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In this episode, Kate speaks with surgeon, writer, and public health leader Dr. Atul Gawande about the deeply human questions that surface when medicine meets its limits. What does it mean to be a good doctor when a cure isn't possible? What do people really mean when they say they want “quality of life?” Together, they talk about caregiving, end-of-life decisions, and how the most honest conversations in healthcare begin—not with answers—but with better questions. For anyone living with chronic illness, caring for someone they love, or wondering what it means to live a good life with limits, this conversation won't offer easy fixes. But it might offer something just as rare: clarity, compassion, and the courage to ask what really matters. This episode originally aired September 2025. Watch the full episode on YouTube: Kate C. Bowler on YouTube Subscribe to Kate's Substack: katebowler.substack.com Show notes: The Aspen Ideas Festival Being Mortal by Dr. Atul Gawande The Green House Project Ari Johnson & Muso Health Organizations for further action: World Food Programme, UNICEF, American Red Cross
In this episode: Numerous Pro Wrestling Personnel come forward with allegations about Tommy Dreamer's past behavior, Update regarding “Road Dogg” Brian James potentially having a creative role with TNA Wrestling, Jim Ross hospitalized again following this year's AEW Double or Nothing PPV event, Sol Ruca makes her Twitter/X account private following spot with Liv Morgan at WWE live event, and The reason why WWE cancelled an upcoming SmackDown event in Cincinnati, OhioKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
In this episode: Update on the status of WWE SummerSlam amid reports of U.S. Bank Stadium roof damage, Jordynne Grace addresses public safety for public figures and Deonna Purrazzo issues a response, and What is being said about Cyndi Lauper's relationship with WWE amid Hall of Fame speculationKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
A narrowing field of vision became the very thing that sharpened Michael Ison's purpose. In this conversation, I talk with author, ghostwriter, and educator Michael Ison about growing up in a large Appalachian family, living with retinitis pigmentosa, and learning how to prepare for a future with less sight but more determination. Michael shares how watching his father struggle with blindness shaped his own approach to vision loss, why acceptance matters more than denial, and how a white cane transformed his independence. We also explore the power of storytelling, the value of education around blindness, and how writing memoirs helps people connect with the human experience. Michael's honesty, humility, and willingness to learn offer a powerful reminder that fear doesn't have to define the path ahead. Highlights: 01:33 - Growing up in Appalachia shaped Michael's work ethic and resilience. 08:14 - A return visit to Kentucky revealed the power of kindness and community. 20:02 - Accepting vision loss early makes adaptation easier and more effective. 26:51 - Using a white cane increased both independence and confidence. 46:09 - Fear became motivation to prepare for life with less vision. 56:46 - Ghostwriting allows powerful stories to reach and inspire others. About the Guest: As the ninth child of two hillbillies from the hollers of Appalachia, Michael fell in love with the overcomer's story. His parents, Elijah and Jōssie Ison, attended school until eighth grade and then dropped out to make ends meet. Leaving the mountains behind for the hard-pressed pavement of Detroit, they bootstrapped it through life and raised ten children of their own accord. By the time Michael was born, their endemic poverty had been overcome by their upward ascent. They carved out a typical, middle-class living, despite their indigent roots and proclivity for reproduction. From their rags-to-regular story, Michael learned that we all don't get a head start, but we all must start to get ahead. Elijah carved a niche in Michael's psyche through his storytelling, as did Jōssie through her never-say-die loyalty. As a pillar in the church, Elijah often taught Bible stories with a giftedness that kept the members captivated. He specialized in teaching the younger generations. At home, he spoke of Dynamite Red's lore—a feisty, red-haired child who created mischief like others left footprints—and Elijah spun those cautionary tales, magically keeping his children in stitches. Dynamite's imaginary legacy lived on, even after Elijah passed, but beyond the stories and Elijah's life, held fast the undying love of Elijah's dear wife. Jōssie demonstrated a capacity for love that outlasted the sun. Despite her children's tireless shenanigans or her husband's long-time dementia, her undying hope for them never burned out. She encouraged others through deeds, but not words, and wherever she went, she left a treasure trail of benevolence that whispered, “You can always come home, and you can count on me to never leave.” Those characteristics never let Michael go. During his childhood, Michael gained an insatiable interest in sports and stories. His favorite comic strip, Peanuts, combined both loves. He identified with Charlie Brown, who, though he was a stupendously horrible athlete, was an indomitable character. Michael, on the other hand, performed superbly in athletics. During his senior year of basketball, even though he attended one of the smallest high schools in Ohio and his team lost every game, he somehow got cut from the team and watched from the bleachers. Despite that minor setback, like Good Old Charlie Brown, Michael forged ahead, determined to write a success story. At a tiny college in Nashville, Tennessee, he studied English and Bible and completed his four-year degree in merely eleven. After that, he continued working in the distribution industry while becoming a single father of three. Then, he achieved a dream. For nearly two decades, he'd set his sights on teaching English Language Arts, and in the fall of 2013, he began his second career at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, finally hitting the bullseye. In the summer of 2016, another dream came true. Michael completed his first novel, Granted, and told the story of a man's search for redemption. After self-publishing that novel, a colleague asked if he'd consider ghostwriting. Devoid of failure's shortsightedness, Michael gave it a shot: The worst thing he could do was miss. Ten books later, Michael considers ghostwriting a success, for more than one reason. Not only does he tell stories, but he also captures others' visions despite his blindness. That's the plot twist. In 2006, Michael was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, and that loss inspired him. He returned to college. He finished his degree. He became a teacher. His eyesight waned. Accepting the challenge to ghostwrite was another step in that direction. As was leaving education and becoming a full-time entrepreneur. Each step Michael took proved to himself and others that adversity is an opportunity in disguise. Even the thirty thousand steps he took running a marathon. Sometimes, those with no vision have the best perspective. Michael has authored/coauthored twelve books, spoken internationally, and works with educators and leaders, positioning their experiences to promote powerful life changes. As an indispensable thought partner, he helps clients discover the presence that makes breakthroughs in their lives and yours. That story is not finished. Ways to connect with Michael: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-ison-a43a0023a https://michaeldaleison.com 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/ 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:
In this episode: TNA Wrestling issues statement regarding recent departures, Developing: “Road Dogg” Brian James has been discussed for TNA Wrestling's creative team, and A new motion has been filed in the Ludwig Kaiser/El Grande Americano battery caseKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
In this episode: Nic Nemeth talks about the state of TNA amid recent departures, and news regarding WWE's plans for Chad Gable following the El Grande Americano mask vs. mask matchKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
In this episode: The latest on Tessa Blanchard leaving TNA Wrestling, Jack Perry's contract with AEW said to be expiring imminently, Will Ospreay issues response to IWGP champion Yota Tsuji suggesting a boycott of the Forbidden Door PPV, Former WWE NXT General Manager Ava says she received criticism from “so many angry conservative men”, and NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson comments on the power of Danhausen. Kerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
The lessons that shape us often come from the places we never planned to go and the challenges we never expected to face. In this conversation, I speak with Eric Fisher about the experiences that shaped his approach to mental wellness, resilience, grief, and personal growth. Eric shares how martial arts taught him balance, self-control, and perseverance, and how those lessons now help him guide people through addiction recovery, relationship challenges, and life's hardest moments. We explore the realities of grief, the power of trust, the difference between inpatient and outpatient counseling, and why healing often begins with self-acceptance. Eric also discusses his books, including The Martial Art of Recovery and Buried Alive, revealing how personal experiences and family stories continue to shape his work. If you've ever faced loss, adversity, addiction, or the challenge of rebuilding after setbacks, I believe you will find both practical insights and encouragement in Eric's story. Highlights: 08:10 - Eric shares lessons learned from his FBI internship experience. 18:43 - A friend's crisis leads Eric and his wife to move to New Zealand. 23:38 - Martial arts becomes a foundation for recovery and mental wellness. 37:05 - Eric reflects on grief, loss, and the importance of support. 43:12 - Self-acceptance plays a critical role in addiction recovery. 50:26 - Couples learn to face problems together instead of against each other. About the Guest: Eric Fisher, a Canadian transplant, is a counselling therapist who resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally from Tennessee, he has over 15 years of experience working outpatient and inpatient treatment settings in the US and Canada. He has two books published at this time: The Martial Art of Recovery: Self-Mastery Practices to Subdue Addiction and Achieve Mental Wellness, and Buried Alive: Four Ways to Free Yourself from the Dirt. Eric is a master practitioner of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and is also trained in EyeMovement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), both of which are evidence-based treatments for trauma. Eric's private practice, Recovery Arts Counselling, serves individuals, couples, and families both locally and remotely. In the past, Eric has supervised masters-level graduate students and counsellors early in their careers. He has won multiple awards for his screenwriting: The Departure - official finalist in biographical/historical genre - 2014 Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest. Only 16 Miles - Finalist - 2014 Horror Screenplay Contest. Universal Escapade (Finalist - Top 25) - WeScreenplay International Screenplay Competition. Hipster Z (co-written) - best feature screenplay - 2017 Action On Film International Film Festival. Hipster Z - Best horror/comedy Screenplay - 2017 International Horror Hotel Film Fest. Additionally, Eric has a black belt in two martial arts styles: American Kenpo and Wadō-ryū. One interesting thing about Eric is that he had the opportunity to be an intern with the FBI -- twice. Eric enjoys hiking and riding his bike outdoors, music concerts, tasting new food dishes to keep his taste buds guessing, travelling near and far, and meeting people. . Ways to connect with Eric: Website: https://www.recoveryartscounselling.com Linktree: https://linktr.ee/ericfisherauthor Instagram - @recoveryartscounselling - https://www.instagram.com/recoveryartscounselling/ @ericfisherwriter - https://www.instagram.com/ericfisherwriter Linkedin - Eric Fisher - www.linkedin.com/in/eric-m-fisher-5b83724a Facebook - Recovery Arts Counselling - https://www.facebook.com/RecoveryArtsCounselling 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/ 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 00:03 One of the biggest things holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe. Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Well, hello there, everyone. I am your host Michael Hinkson, and you have found the Unstoppable Mindset Podcast. Today, we get to chat with Eric Fisher, who is a rather interesting person. I believe he's a counseling therapist, he's a transplant, he now lives in Calgary, but he used to live in Tennessee, very similar. I'm sure we'll have to find out more about that, but I'm really glad that that you're here with us. Eric, welcome to Unstoppable Mindset. Eric Fisher 01:29 Yes, thank you for having me on, Michael. I appreciate it. Glad to be here. Michael Hingson 01:32 Well, I'm going to have to ask, how did you get from Tennessee to Calgary, besides by Claire? But you know, but Speaker 1 01:41 it's a bit to make a long story short. The wife, you know, yeah, she's from Calgary originally, so I surrendered up here. Michael Hingson 01:52 Yeah, well, is there a backstory that you want to tell? Speaker 1 01:57 You know, the quick version would be from Mississippi to New Zealand to Calgary, and that was over a span of, you know, two and a half years, and then finally to Calgary. After those other two places, was she Michael Hingson 02:10 with you during all of those? Mississippi, New Zealand, and then Calgary. Speaker 1 02:14 She was for the long haul. Yeah, yeah, she's experienced humidity and the dryness, all the extremes. Michael Hingson 02:24 When we moved to New Jersey in 1996 my wife didn't really want to go. She was a California native, but it was where the job had to take me, and it was either that or go find a new job, and I really didn't want to undertake a job search, because that's pretty traumatic. So, especially if you happen to be blind, because people think blind people really can't do stuff, and that's why the unemployment rate among employable blind people is in the 70% range. So the bottom line is that we moved to New Jersey, we were there for six years, and then of course the World Trade Center happened, which is kind of a dramatic way to allow us to get back to California, but it worked, so here we are. Speaker 1 03:05 Yeah, that is a lot of different places, and it's unfortunate with that percentage, right? Michael Hingson 03:10 Yeah, well, and she passed. She was in a wheelchair her whole life, and she passed in November of 2022 We were married 40 years, and I'm sure she's monitoring me from somewhere, so I work on continuing to be a good kid, because if I'm not, I'm going to hear about it somehow, Speaker 1 03:27 one way or another. There's, there's still some surveillance happening. There Michael Hingson 03:31 is, I am absolutely sure of it. Well, tell us kind of about the early era growing up, and all that. Speaker 1 03:37 Grew up in Arkansas, yeah, Newport, Arkansas, you know, grew up behind a Walmart in a small subdivision, and moved to Tennessee at an early age. I was around five years old, going over, going on six at the time, I believe, and so I understand what it means to kind of get uprooted from somewhere and place somewhere else, and my dad was in the medical profession, so that's the reason that we moved, and so that's a little bit about that. My mom's family is from Kansas City, so I really did enjoy going up to the city there and being with my mom's family during holiday seasons. That was really my only exposure to, like, a city, like an urban population, more than what I experienced anywhere else. So, and yeah, got one brother, played with him a lot, and a lot of it was being creative outside, getting outside and doing stuff, and having fun outside, you know, little bit different from a lot of kids today, perhaps. Michael Hingson 04:44 Yeah, well, it's also a lot scarier, I think, today, even though there's a lot of value in being outside. There are just so many crazy things going on. It's got to be scarier for kids, and certainly even more scary for parents, and they tend. To want to really monitor their, their children a lot more, and that's got us pluses, minuses, but it still has got to be really scary to let them just go outside. Speaker 1 05:09 Yeah, just, you know, looking at what's on the news and the possibilities of what could happen. Michael Hingson 05:16 Yeah, so where did you, or did you go to college? I assume you went to college. Speaker 1 05:22 I did. Yeah, I went to a small private Christian university in Tennessee called Freed Hardiman, and you know it was interesting because there's this whole thing about townies versus us being called freedies because of Freed Hardman. The course, the joke is, you know, free hardly because of the expense of going to the institution. Yeah. Michael Hingson 05:48 Well, with your experience and your observation in life, what do you think about going to a small college as opposed to a larger college? Speaker 1 05:55 I really enjoyed it, being from a rural area. I mean, it was a good transition for me, and just getting to know people I feel like might have been easier in a more rural setting, as opposed to urban. Michael Hingson 06:10 I went to University of California, Irvine, way back, starting in 1968 and when we started at UCI, there were like 25 2600 students, and I think when I graduated with my bachelor's, it was like a little over 3000 students, but I loved the fact that it was a smaller college. I think it was for me a lot better, and I, I really like the smaller college environment, and I understand why colleges have advantages when they're bigger, but by the same token, for students, if you want to really stand out, it's kind of harder to do with a big college. Well, and now University of California, Irvine, where I went to school, has 32,000 undergrads in it, Speaker 1 06:52 32,000 as opposed to the around, that's a huge jump from like 25 2600 yeah, Michael Hingson 07:00 yeah, and so it's, it's a huge place. I was there last a year and a half ago. I was invited to join. I couldn't do it as an as a student because the chapter was formed just as I was leaving, but Phi Beta Kappa, and they heard about me along the way, and I was invited to join as an alumni member back in 2024 So that's the last time I've been to UC Irvine. What a huge place! Speaker 1 07:29 Wow, yeah. Of course, UC Michael Hingson 07:30 Irvine, UCI really stands for Under Construction Indefinitely, so you know Speaker 1 07:38 they make that, they made that kind of humorous remark up here, with like winter and construction, that's the two seasons of Calgary. Yes, I totally get that. Michael Hingson 07:47 My brother-in-law lives in Sun Valley, Idaho, in Ketchum, and has been a skier for most of his life, and in the summer he's a master cabinet maker. Now he's a general contractor, but he's thinking about retiring, but in the winter everything goes by the wayside for skiing, Speaker 1 08:10 everyone's out on the slopes, you know. Well, and what he did Michael Hingson 08:12 to even make it more fun is he got his professional ski guide status in Europe and became a professional ski guide, taking people to do off-piece skiing in the French Alps, which is, Speaker 1 08:25 that's really nice, awesome. Michael Hingson 08:28 I love to, I love to say that I'm not gonna go skiing, because I know those trees are out to try to get me. Speaker 1 08:35 They start to grow their branches, you know? They just spring Michael Hingson 08:38 out at you when you're not looking. Speaker 1 08:40 Yes, I just.. Michael Hingson 08:42 I've never skied. I don't have anything against it. It's just not one of those things that I've done, but he enjoys it, and I'm sure it's a lot of fun to do. Speaker 1 08:51 Yeah, I can appreciate people that do. Michael Hingson 08:53 Yeah. Well, what did you do after college? Well, you got your undergrad, then you went on. Speaker 1 08:58 Yeah, so after my undergrad, I stayed at the university, and you know, I had a bachelor's in psych, and I was like, well, what do I do with this degree? And so I decided to move forward, since I didn't see too much availability, and did a master's in clinical mental health counseling, and during that time of my master's, I was able to intern with the FBI, which was a great opportunity. Michael Hingson 09:25 What caused you to do that? Speaker 1 09:28 I found, I mean, part of it was just a lot of curiosity, and of course, watching a lot of media and the work that they do. Yet I also found the possibility of implementing the psychology from a law enforcement angle on a federal level with this, so I did interning in my bachelor's FBI, that was really nice at a local office, and then later on in my master's at the FBI headquarters in DC, and just really interested in just the field and this the different. Psychological opportunities, Michael Hingson 10:02 you didn't stick with it, though. Or Speaker 1 10:05 I did the internships, I did the agent exam, and failed. Oh boy, just kind of had my time with it, and then moved on. It was a great experience. Michael Hingson 10:16 What you learned from it, the Speaker 1 10:19 importance of teamwork, the importance of community, the importance of intention to detail, and I can't say how I came to those, because then I have to bring up certain things that I can't talk about, but yeah, just the importance of being able to work with other people from other walks of life, and just seeing everyone's different perspectives is something that I learned, coming from, you know, small town, quite homogeneous, small university, and then being able to meet people from different parts of the country, even different territories, like Wall, it was, it was amazing to branch out and just have that life experience, Michael Hingson 11:06 get a lot of different experiences, and you saw how people in other parts of the world live, which obviously has to be an interesting perspective. Speaker 1 11:18 Yes, yes, it was really interesting, and just seeing how they think and their outlook on the world, and I had to take a polygraph examination for both internships, so the importance of honesty, and not that I didn't think honesty was important before, but definitely when you're under the microscope of being asked yes or no questions, it's an interesting experience. Michael Hingson 11:40 Yeah, well, I guess you must have passed the lie detector test. They didn't throw you away or put you in jail. Speaker 1 11:48 That's right. Neither of those happened. I did have one question asked of me that was a little bit ambiguous. It was coming up that I deceived. It's something that happened earlier in the day, and then they asked me about it, and then I said something that was not the truth, and then I explained the reasoning as to why. And then the agent was like, okay, thanks for letting me know, it's all good. It's like, okay, that's good. Michael Hingson 12:21 Yeah, they have to be pretty skilled interrogators to really be able to do that, and, and ask questions, and I, and I know no matter what's going on with the lie detector technology, they're observing you as well, so they're looking for things, and I suppose it's possible to fool the lie detector technology, but I know that it continues to get better too. Speaker 1 12:45 Yeah, and wondering if that's because, like, people are sociopaths, or they don't have any - they actually believe what they're saying. Yeah, yeah, Michael Hingson 12:54 I've never taken lie detector tests, but I know that for me, I'm not a good fibber, so I've got to tell the truth, and like I said, my wife's watching anyway, so I gotta always be a good kid. Speaker 1 13:06 If you were taking a lie detector test knuckle and you said something, you might get an invisible slap, like, oh, Michael Hingson 13:12 exactly, Speaker 2 13:13 okay, I get it, or Michael Hingson 13:16 a poke or something. Yeah, yeah, no. So, better, better to just be honest about it, but yeah, I understand what you're saying, but it is, it is fascinating. I'd love to experience taking a test sometime, but because I only understand all about it intellectually, having never seen it on television or anything like that, but by the same token, I'm glad that the technology exists, and I'm glad that the people do what they do, and I, I too very much believe in law enforcement. I believe in the value of the FBI and police, and so on. I took a couple of police-oriented courses when I was at UC Irvine. We had an engineering professor who was a reserve deputy sheriff, so we, we got to do ride-alongs, and even went down and visited the Orange County Jail once, and you know, because he, he said it all, so it's kind of fun to be able to do it, and I learned a lot and value that. Speaker 1 14:19 That's awesome. I'm glad you had that experience. Michael Hingson 14:21 Yeah, I think it's kind of cool to be able to have had that. So, you got a master's degree? Did you get a PhD? Speaker 1 14:29 No, you know, I was encouraged to do so, to pilot higher and deeper, as the PhD acronym goes. Yeah, and I just, I decided to not go that route. Michael Hingson 14:40 So, what did you do after you got your master's? Speaker 1 14:43 After the master's, I started to do well. I was doing my practicum during the master's, yet after the master's, I started to work primarily where I did my practicum in Mississippi and started actually doing counseling work. So I was doing what's called a mobile therapist. For this organization, where I would go to people's houses and speak with people, do counseling work, which was pretty cool. I got to be out in the community, meet a lot of folks, made confidentiality sometimes a little bit of a challenge, small town. And then two days a week I was in the office, doing whoever came in through the clinic, so I was in the, I was in the work, I was in the grind, just doing what I had been trained to do. Definitely learning on the job, though, for sure. Michael Hingson 15:27 Where in Mississippi, Speaker 1 15:29 Corinth, Mississippi, which is like right at the state line. Yeah, they actually have a road called State Line Road, where houses on one side, North or Tennessee houses on the other side have Mississippi license plates. Michael Hingson 15:45 That's pretty funny. In New Jersey, when we lived there, there were a number of streets in towns that had a very interesting environment, and that is that every town had its own tax base. There wasn't a statewide thing for property taxes and everything else, or for a lot of taxes, so every town had its own, and you could be on a street where someone may pay 1213, $14,000 a year in taxes, and if you lived on the other side of the street, you were in a different town, and your taxes were like 4800 $5,000 Speaker 1 16:24 Whoa, no, Michael Hingson 16:26 it's crazy. Speaker 1 16:27 That is a sheer difference. Michael Hingson 16:30 It is a huge difference, and the other thing that that we experienced is that a lot of the the work is done by lawyers when you're closing a house, for example. Back there, they didn't really have escrow, was all done through attorneys, and so on. And some of those people were involved in the tax stuff as well. It's kind of a very fascinating and interesting place to be, certainly different than what we experienced in California. Speaker 1 16:57 Yes, that sounds like a very, very different type of experience, for sure. Wow, wow. Okay, Michael Hingson 17:04 but you know things happen. Well, so you, you started doing counseling and therapy, and as you said, and I can appreciate how it must have been difficult sometimes from a confidentiality standpoint, because it is a small town and people overhear or talk about, and that's not always a good thing. Speaker 1 17:24 Yeah, you know, things like that come up. You know, you hear the whispers, and one time I was actually trying to find a place in a lower-income part of town, and I was doing circles in the neighborhood, and a police cruiser started to follow me, and so I stopped my car, got out with my credentials, towed the towed the police officer who I worked for, and then he was just kind of like, oh, okay, carry on. So, did Michael Hingson 17:46 you ask him for directions? Speaker 1 17:49 You know what, I did not know, like that would have made sense. I'm trying to look at find this house, never. Oh, over there, sir? Okay, but no, I did not. Michael Hingson 18:05 So, how long were you in Mississippi? Then Speaker 1 18:09 I was in Mississippi from around 2009 to 2013 I want to say, we left. We left for New Zealand for the whole year 2013 so no, 2012 sorry, the end of 2012 so about three and a half, three or so years. Okay, yeah. How did you Michael Hingson 18:33 meet your wife in all this Speaker 1 18:34 online? Yeah, back when it was clandestine, like you met somebody online, are they an ax murderer? Can you trust them? Do you need to get references, which she did. Yeah, yeah. And we checked you out, huh? She checked me out for sure. She even called people that I gave references for. And then we courted for two and a half years. And then after that, tied the knot in Tennessee, moved to Mississippi. Well, she moved to Mississippi, where I was already living, and yeah, we were there until we went to New Zealand about 10 months later. Michael Hingson 19:06 So she was living in Tennessee at the time, Speaker 1 19:09 she was up here in Calgary, or she was in Calgary. Michael Hingson 19:12 Okay, Speaker 1 19:12 we, we got married in Tennessee, Michael Hingson 19:14 okay. Well, that's that's cool though. What, what prompted the trip and moving to New Zealand for a year, I've been there, and I actually spent three weeks there, and very much enjoy it. Speaker 1 19:28 Whereabouts? Well, I wanted to ask, all over New Michael Hingson 19:30 Zealand, I mean, I was there with the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. They asked me to come and speak in 2003 talk about September 11, and so on, and they were trying to raise funds, so we helped them raise something like over $375,000 in a three week period, and literally I had 21 speaking events in 13 days all over both islands. Speaker 1 19:55 Wow, that's that's a, that's a lot of speaking events, and a certain amount of days. Days you've been, you probably been close more than I've been, more places than I've been. So, what, what prompted the move was a friend of mine I had made previously being there. He reached out to me through just electronic media. He was having a spiritual emergency, and he asked me, he asked me to come to come help him, and so I just said, "Sure, let's do it. My wife and I left the rental unit, the rental house where we were staying, and left furniture behind, two cars behind, appliances, and we just, just left him, or there for 13 months, didn't look, didn't look back. Michael Hingson 20:45 Did you spend any time in Dunedin while you were there? Speaker 1 20:49 We didn't spend any time in Dunedin. We weren't only there for like a week when we did some vacation time. Michael Hingson 20:57 Yeah, I, they gave me literally a half, three quarters of a day off from speaking. In fact, they said you can play in Dunedin, and so we were there, and it was one, I guess, was a one full day. They had some unique toys to play with in New Zealand. They had a thing called a bungee rocket. Have you ever heard of that? Speaker 1 21:22 A bungee rocket. No. So, Michael Hingson 21:24 you know what bungee cords are, and you stretch them out and all that. Well, the bungee rocket, you attach bungee cords to this platform, this cage, but the bungee cords are attached to a device way up high, and then they're also attached to this plat, this cage, then they pull the cage down, and they fasten it, so the bungee cords are very stretched, and then people get in, and they sit down, and they fasten seat belts, and then when everybody's all secure, they loose the platform, and the bungee cords pull this thing up like a rocket. Speaker 1 22:01 Whoa, yeah. I wasn't about to do that. I was with someone who Michael Hingson 22:05 did, and he came off apparently as white as a sheet. He said, "I'm never gonna do that. Speaker 1 22:10 It was a one and done experience for him. It was Michael Hingson 22:16 for me. It was, "I'm not gonna do that, brother. And I had my guide dog, and somebody would have held the dog, but I wouldn't do that. I have other memories, which are more fun, I think, and probably for me more pleasurable. Speaker 1 22:31 Yeah, one of the things we did down on the South Island was some knife making, and it was really.. it was something I surprised my family with. They didn't know we were doing that day, and this guy was hilarious. I mean, something straight out of a documentary about New Zealand, as far as, like, locals, you would see he had a witty sense of humor, and he would, he would like, finish off the knives for us after we did the preliminary steps, just to make them look nice. Yeah, that was one of my favorite memories down there. Michael Hingson 23:00 Wow, yeah, I've, I've got a lot of memories, even though it was back in 2003 so 22 years, 22 and a half years, but I love the memories, and love being down there was a wonderful place, Speaker 1 23:13 awesome, so that was pretty cool. Well, so you, you came back, and, and you eventually ended up in, in Calgary, which is, which is great. So, what do you do now? Got a few hands in a few honey jars. I have a private practice for the counseling. I work for a retreat center company out of a place called Brad Creek, called Vita Wellness. I work for a nonprofit up in a place called Erdrie as a consultant. I work for a clinic remotely that's in the city as an associate. Am I forgetting anything? I think that's the main ones right now. Also, work doing like couples therapy for a relationship-based app. Yeah, so that's a lot of people that are in the States, there. So, it's yeah, few things to keep me busy. Speaker 3 24:13 If you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes. Thank you for being part of the unstoppable mindset community, Michael Hingson 24:47 they do well. You also write Speaker 1 24:50 that as well. Yeah, Michael Hingson 24:52 you've written a couple of books, and I guess you've also done some screenwriting and all that, and love to hear more about all that. Tell. You bought your books. Speaker 1 25:01 Yeah, the first book that I published, self-published, and that was two years ago now. That was called, that is called The Martial Art of Recovery: Self Mastery Practices to Subdue Addiction and Achieve Mental Wellness. Say three times real fast. So, yeah, that book is all about the intersection of martial arts concepts with addiction and mental health treatment, so that has personal experiences, and my times in the martial arts, and also I just bring in like holistic health techniques, and also I get some interviews, some of them are a little bit shorter than others, but at least some some chunks from people that I know in different disciplines, different fields, like an old martial arts teacher, a medicine family medicine doctor here in the Calgary area, people like that. So that was that was about a 14 month writing experience before it was published. Michael Hingson 25:57 When was it published? Speaker 1 26:00 Back in March of 2023 Michael Hingson 26:05 Okay, not your first book. Speaker 1 26:07 Not that's my first book. Yes, Michael Hingson 26:09 yeah, Speaker 2 26:10 yeah. Michael Hingson 26:12 What do you, what do you think of being an author and the whole experience of writing? Speaker 1 26:19 There was not. there was a lack of faith, for sure. I had a really difficult time, even acknowledging, "Hey, this is something I could do. Had a lot of self-doubt, and so even the process I found pretty daunting, pretty, like pretty challenging, for sure. And I do enjoy the process. It's like a double helix, though. I, I enjoy it, yet it kind of puts the screws to me, as far as enjoyment, but also challenge, yet I do enjoy the experience and being able to get my voice out there, yet I listen to someone else talk about publishing, and the person said, you know what, when you publish it, now it's that person's turn to take it on and they can make it their own, Michael Hingson 27:04 yeah. Speaker 1 27:04 So I found that to be a really cool way to look at it. So yeah, and I enjoy it. It's been, it's been good, it's been fun. Michael Hingson 27:13 And then you wrote a second book, Speaker 1 27:15 I did. Yeah, that one's called Buried Alive: Four Ways to Free Yourself from the Dirt. It's a lot more personal, I think, because it is about a true story that happened to my dad, and something that was quite harrowing for him, which, yes, as the book title suggests, is what happened, and part of the book is about the interviews I did with the three men involved with this very scary incident back in February of 2000 so 25 years now, and talks about their different perspectives on what happened that day when they were digging for Native American artifacts, arrowheads, and I bring in some self-help concepts that apply to what happened that day, and also just for anyone that's looking to bring those into their own lives, Michael Hingson 28:03 what happened? Speaker 1 28:05 Yeah, so they were digging at what's called an overhang, which is like a cliff face that shuts out small little, I don't know if you would even call it a cave, but there was a place underneath the overhang that kind of came in anyway, when Native Americans would come to an area, they wouldn't ever bring dirt out, they would always bring dirt in, and so there was so much dirt that was piled up over the years that my dad and the people that were digging with him, I was there six months to the day before this incident happened, we would, we would have to dig, they would dig to get to their arrowheads that were quite far down underneath the dirt, Michael Hingson 28:46 yeah, Speaker 1 28:47 yeah, yeah, and so this unfortunate day, my dad was in a hole, probably I don't know, eight or nine feet, and a little dirt fell on him, and you know, he kind of joked with his friend Jason, who was further up this hall, and a few seconds later all that dirt just came in, just, just quickly, automatically. He was vanished without a trace, and then a big rock came down on that dirt. If it wasn't for that third person that decided to come that very morning, they did not come before. His name's Jerry. Then I'm sure that my dad would have died, Michael Hingson 29:25 because Speaker 1 29:25 there was no way that Jason, who also was stuck up to like his knee in dirt, could have got out in time to get the rock and then to unearth my dad. So, Michael Hingson 29:39 yeah, a fascinating book. Now, you, you self-published that one as well. Speaker 1 29:43 I did, didn't wait around, just went ahead, and yeah. Michael Hingson 29:49 Do you have other books in you? Speaker 1 29:51 I have one done. I needed to get it edited, and editorial reviews, and get my book cover designer over in Italy to do her magic. She did on the last two books, so yeah, I do have one in the, in the oven. Michael Hingson 30:05 Can you tell us a little about what it will be about, or what it's called, or anything? Speaker 1 30:08 Sure, the book right now is called I'm Listening, and it's all about my experiences, my pitfalls, my learnings as a therapist, and so it's a bit of a memoir of my professional work in the field, and some, some personal experiences. Michael Hingson 30:25 I think one of the most powerful things about books, especially when you're, when you're dealing with more nonfiction, because fiction books usually have stories with them, but a lot of nonfiction books don't really provide enough, I think, of a personal inroad to the individual who wrote the book. One of my big beliefs, one of my pet peeves, is I think textbooks are so boring, like physics. My master's degree is in physics, and I maintain that the big problem is that none of the physics professors who are writing all these books ever put anything in about their own personal experiences to really get people excited because of of their their stories and what they can teach through their stories. It's just all math and equations and and words, just about the physics, but never the other part. I think that textbooks would be better if they put some stories in them, Speaker 1 31:22 I think. So, too, I think people's eyes wouldn't come out of their sockets, and they wouldn't, you know, be comatose. You know, they can actually keep up, and they can be engaged and involved with the material. Yeah, Michael Hingson 31:35 I had a colleague when we were at UC Irvine. We were in the same physics class together, and he had this one book, and he noticed that there didn't seem to really be any typos or whatever in it, and he meticulously, through the whole quarter, went through that whole book, and I think he finally found one misspelled word, and he was so proud of both that there were there were no others other than the one, but that he found one misspelled word we do with our lives. Speaker 1 32:07 What people do sometimes for kicks. Well, I'm glad. I wonder where that word was. Like, did he go through the whole book, and it's like on the last page, or you know, where is that at? It was Michael Hingson 32:22 near the end, but it wasn't on the last page, but it was.. it was.. it took him a long time to find it. Speaker 1 32:29 I wanted to do that with my first book. I could have easily done a book about the intersection of martial arts themes with, you know, mental wellness, but I mean, why not? I mean, I had that experience for over four years in the martial arts. Why not do that? Michael Hingson 32:48 So, tell me about that. You've mentioned martial arts several times, so obviously you've had some involvement with martial arts. Speaker 1 32:54 I have. Yeah, so when I was a preteen, I got a black belt in what's called a Water Rule Karate, so it's like W A D O R Y U, and when I was a teenager, like 16 to 18, I was doing what's called American Campo, and that did have a little bit of Jiu Jitsu thrown into the mix, Michael Hingson 33:16 so what prompted the interest in doing that Speaker 1 33:20 first was my dad, you know, part of my family was interested, so the guy, why not? And I don't know at that time whether I was experiencing bullying. Unfortunately, I experienced bullying like going to church before church started, which was unfortunate, say. So I mean, I think it was just a really good experience for me, looking back for balance and discipline in that way, and getting to meet people in the community. I can't, I can't initially remember what prompted that. My dad was interested, my brother was too, so was I. And then when I was 16, I was like, let's pick it up, let's do something different, let's try something new, and so we were able to go to this really small outfit, which was called the Snake Pit at the time, very different from the more like larger dojo in the community from my early years. Michael Hingson 34:14 What has being involved with the martial arts done to help you or to you or for you in dealing with mental wellness and the whole issue of what you do today. How is martial arts affecting all of that? Speaker 1 34:35 Yeah, it's a really good question. Martial arts showed me the importance of balance when we're doing sparring, when we're doing more, so when we're doing training on techniques, I can't be too far away when I'm sparring someone, because then it's not natural, it's not organic, nor, but I can be so close that I might hit them, so there needs to be some type of balance and self control, and that's. Something else, as well as being out of some self control. Yeah, Michael Hingson 35:05 well, martial arts is, I understand, it seems to me, as much about your mental being as learning physical techniques, because there is a whole lot that really comes down to how you approach it mentally. Am I correct? Speaker 1 35:24 Yeah, there's a big piece when it comes to stamina. When I was doing sparring, I actually had to find a place between being so passive, but also not being super aggressive. Like, how do I get that mental, emotional stamina to do this powering, you know, in a way that was quite balanced. Yes, but there is a lot when it comes to being in touch with my body, being in touch with where my mind is, with focus, with being not beating myself up, not really being perfect, or trying to achieve perfection. Yet, there's a certain vulnerability that comes with that in the mind, and also when it comes to the body, Michael Hingson 36:06 how so Speaker 1 36:10 well, there's vulnerability just simply with doing different techniques, because if you don't, if you don't like being touched, then it's going to be really difficult, because there's often a lot of touch happening, and and when it comes to the mind, it's there's vulnerability with putting myself out there and being seen by others, because we're often watching one another with training, and so there is this piece around vulnerability around, hey, you know what, whatever they think, okay, they can think I'm still working on this technique, Michael Hingson 36:40 mm and it, and it does, as you grow mentally with, with martial arts, I'm sure that it also helps in terms of your resilience. Speaker 1 36:55 Resilience plays a key factor, indeed, because you know, when it comes to even with sparring, you know, getting hit, I can't just kind of, oh, I got hit and I want to go back and I want to go in the corner. Well, no, I've got to keep going. Yeah, gotta keep moving, gotta keep walking and deflecting, and you know, going with the punches. And I, there was one experience with a young man, at least two years younger than me, he was a silver glove boxer, like a champion silver glove, and there had to be some resilience for me there, because I was getting clobbered, I was getting, I was getting hit over and over, because he was using a boxing type of, you know, boxing moves I wasn't used to defending against, and he was quick, and there comes a certain level of humility when it comes to being in the martial arts as well, because there's going to be experiences like that. Michael Hingson 37:49 Well, did you eventually get to the point where you could defend yourself against him? Speaker 1 37:55 He wasn't there for too long. Yeah, the more yet, the more that I was able to work with him, the more I was able to, you know, understand a little bit more where he was coming from with the moves, Michael Hingson 38:05 right. Well, in your life and all the things that you've done, have you experienced grief in any way? And kind of, what was that? Speaker 1 38:14 Yeah, there was a moment, there wasn't an issue when it came to a disenfranchised loss. My wife had a silent miscarriage, and so that was pretty brutal. How that turned out for her, and vicariously for me, and seeing her go through that really difficult, emotionally painful situation was hard. And so I mean, I've sure I've lost all but one grandparent at this point, and I did lose some child, like one childhood friend, when I was 16 to a car accident that was pretty brutal. Yet this loss was, yeah, was really difficult, because it's something that a lot of people don't understand, they don't want to talk about, they don't know what to say, or it's really difficult just to listen, and that was hard. Michael Hingson 39:09 Yeah, but at the same time, as you well know, from all that you've experienced, God doesn't give us things that we can't handle, and we have to learn to move forward Speaker 1 39:22 with resilience, with God's help. Michael Hingson 39:24 Yeah, Speaker 1 39:24 yeah, with prayer, perseverance. Yeah, Michael Hingson 39:27 I lost my father, actually, on November 1 of 1984 and my mother in May of 1987 and then my brother actually developed breast cancer in 2011 and they, they dealt with it, and he went into remission, but it came back, and he didn't take care of himself very well, as I understand it, because he lived in Florida, and we were in California, but anyway, it came back, and it metastasized, and so we lost him in 2015 so at the same time. Yeah, there were relatives on my wife's side that we lost a couple very unexpectedly, and yeah, you do learn to deal with grief, but you learn that you got to go forward, and so when Karen passed in 2022 at least it wasn't totally all of a sudden, so I had some time to prepare, but you know, I still miss her, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Speaker 1 40:23 Yeah, for sure. I, and I mean, losing your parents around two and a half or so years apart, and with your brother, and then with your wife, that's a lot. That's a lot. Yet I hear that even though there was some preparation time for you, it can still be, it can still be difficult, it can still hit the nail, you know. I was doing some grief work, a grief course, and they showed us this poem called Whose Whose Grief Is Worse, basically. And there were these two experiences of someone that lost someone suddenly and someone that knew, and at the end of the poem. Basically, it's both are painful. There is no worse grief. Michael Hingson 41:05 There's no, there's no wrong or right answer to all of that. It's, it's different, but we all can learn to deal with it. I know when the events of September 11 happened, for me, ironically, the greatest blessing I had was that the media got my story and we started getting a lot of requests for interviews and my wife and I decided we would accept them and I got asked so many questions by so many different reporters, some dumb questions were absolutely stupid, idiotic questions, but some that were very insightful, and so I probably was able to move on from that day much more because of all of the questions and getting used to dealing with those questions than anything else that could have come along. It Speaker 1 41:58 was a choice, and you probably appreciated those reporters that took the time to ask those carefully planned questions. Michael Hingson 42:06 I've had some people, no matter how many times the story gets repeated, who still say, "What were you doing in the World Trade Center, anyway? And I'm sitting there going, "Have you read Thunderdog? Have you read any of the stories in the press? What do you mean, what was I doing in the World Trade Center? Speaker 1 42:23 It's not like, you know, it's out there, you know, it's been published, you can read it. Yeah, Michael Hingson 42:30 I wasn't a spy for the terrorists, I can tell you that. Speaker 1 42:36 I wouldn't, I wouldn't have thought that for a second, Michael Hingson 42:41 but but, but you know, things happen, and you never know where you're going to be, you never know what might come up, and it's just one of those things that we, we all really need to deal with in one way or another, and that's just what's so important. Speaker 1 42:56 Absolutely, you know, one of the quotes I heard from my training was, and I take it with me, and I, I definitely relate to it personally. Is joy shared is joy doubled, and grief shared is grief halved, and the stuff we're doing, even today, and even those listening that might have been through grief, is as long as we're able to talk about it, and just talk about something that does not make any sense whatsoever to us, that's part of the healing process. Michael Hingson 43:23 Yeah, it's important to talk about it. It's important to share, and I understand you want to be careful. You don't want to just talk necessarily about it with anyone, but you do need to find people that you can share with and that you can talk to about Speaker 1 43:39 it. Totally, yeah, the grocery store clerk, you know, that I'm getting my bread and butter from, maybe they're not ready for that, that particular topic, Michael Hingson 43:48 yeah, Speaker 1 43:48 yeah, Michael Hingson 43:50 and and the thing that we all need to do is to really, I think, do a lot more to listen to our inner voice, it'll tell us what we need to do if we listen, Speaker 1 43:58 yes, I believe that for sure, I've seen, I've seen that. Yeah, Michael Hingson 44:03 so you've dealt with all the, this, the psychological work that you do. You dealt with addiction, and so on. How does martial arts play into that? What have you learned from martial arts that helps you in dealing with recovery from addiction? Speaker 1 44:16 Oh, well, where to start. I think that one piece to really focus on is this concept of self love, and I don't mean self love like I'm better than other people out there, but just being okay with where I'm at for myself, but still pushing myself to learn new things, so some acceptance about where I'm at when it comes to martial arts, that has to be there. I might not be doing the technique perfectly, and I, there was times where I could really easily beat myself up mentally, like, "Oh, why can't I get this? Yet it's just trying to take a step back and see that I'm worthy enough to make the. Approach to make these changes when it comes to addiction. I'm worthy enough to seek out help. These feelings I have that they're okay to feel, and I don't have to beat myself up for this. Michael Hingson 45:11 Yeah, because addiction is is a disease, and I think anyone who condemns somebody just because, for example, they use drugs, and, well, they shouldn't do that. They're dumb for doing it. They really miss assess what's going on. Speaker 1 45:28 People that have that mindset that it's more of a mere choice, they don't understand that if you put, you know, a shot of alcohol in front of someone and you tell them not to drink it, and you put a gun on them, they're going to be wondering, maybe he'll slip his hand off the trigger, you know, that kind of thinking, that's that's the disease aspect. And I recommend anybody that wants to know more about addiction being a disease, check out Kevin McCauley's documentary, Pleasure Unwoven. It's a really good documentary that shows the different aspects of the disease. Yeah, Michael Hingson 46:08 I have never taken drugs in that way, and don't want to, but again, that's my choice, and I've learned enough from other people that I know that if, if I'm having a problem, taking drugs isn't going to help me solve the problem, and it isn't going to even really help me hide from it, but I guess that's just my makeup that I know that I have to face whatever comes along head on. Speaker 1 46:33 Yes, the resilience piece, Michael Hingson 46:36 the resilience piece, and I've wanted to do that. Speaker 1 46:39 Awesome, I can see with everything you've been through, Michael, you've definitely lent in, you've leaned in, you've pushed forward. Michael Hingson 46:47 Well, I think that part of the issue is as a, as a blind person who's faced a lot of challenges and seen things, what I choose to do whenever anything happens to me is I want to learn from it, so I don't want to ignore it, even if it's something that's totally not related to me in any way. I want to learn from it, if I'm involved, because I think that's the only way I'm going to be able to make sure that I deal with anything like that, any kind of surprise. The next time I talk about a lot when I am talking to people about blindness, about surprises, and I talk about the fact that I could be crossing a street, I could get to the corner and listen to the traffic, and when I hear the traffic going the way I want to go, then I'll cross the street. So I start crossing a street, and all of a sudden I hear a car from behind me, and it's not going the way I want to go, suddenly it's, it's turning, or there's somebody that is is across the street from me, not the way I'm going, and I start to cross the street when it's supposed to be my turn, and they decide they're going to go, and so I am, I've learned to constantly be alert, but at the same time, what I have to do is figure out very quickly, do I want to go forward or do I want to go backwards to have the best chance of getting away from this, Speaker 1 48:11 which way do I move in my direction with my spatial awareness with your spatial awareness, and that, and that brings me to another, I think, actually, another piece with martial arts and how it intersects is treating the addiction like an opponent that may be sauntering around that corner at any moment in time, and being able to see that I need to be on the alert, I need to know more than one direction, as you mentioned a moment ago, more than one direction that I could go, rather than just the free, the ability to have choice. Yeah, Michael Hingson 48:51 can addiction truly be cured? Not the reason I asked the question is I know so often I hear when I hear people talking about alcoholism, you can't really cure alcoholism, and maybe that's true. I don't know, Speaker 1 49:10 you know, it depends on how you ask, from a medical standpoint, from a disease standpoint, since we see it as a chronic progressive primary condition, which means nothing necessarily causes it every time. The answer would be no, because of its progression. However, can it can addiction, whether it's alcoholism, whatever, be stunted as far as its progression? Absolutely. Can be, can people live fulfilling lives? Absolutely. Can there be reversal of certain symptoms and signs. Yes, however, just I think that to say, you know, one day someone's gonna wake up and they no longer have cravings or the warning signs or the the neurobiology. Logical strings, it's tough to say that's a no. Michael Hingson 50:04 Yeah, thanks. That's the makeup of the individual that brings that about. I, I have.. I take an occasional drink. In fact, Karen and I used to have a drink on Friday night, one drink, and I kind of honor her by having a bourbon and seven every Friday night when I make, when I cook dinner, but one, because I've never been a great fan of the taste of alcohol, but I understand there are a lot of people who really like the taste of it, and that has led them into pretty dark places, which is unfortunate. Speaker 1 50:36 Yeah, still Michael Hingson 50:37 happens. Speaker 1 50:38 It does still happen, for sure. And I appreciate you liking bourbon. We make a bourbon walnut ice cream, and I don't ever drink the bourbon by itself. It's been in the cupboard for months now. And anyway, Michael Hingson 50:55 well, my bourbon and seven is a whole lot more seven up than bourbon. Speaker 1 50:59 Totally right, and good for you for having that ritual, you know, for you and for Michael Hingson 51:06 her. That's kind of neat to be able to do that, but I've just never felt that I need to, and I'm, and I'm glad. So it's continuing to share that. Well, you do a lot of couples therapy. How does all that go, and what kind of challenges does that make for you and for them? Speaker 1 51:29 Well, I'll give you this short story. We were eating at Denny's with this man, and just a friend of a friend, and he said to us, he asked me about my work, and I told him, yeah, I'm working with, you know, a lot of addiction, and with couples, he's like, I heard from another counselor, Eric, that if you really want to make it hard on yourself, you work in addiction, and you work with couples that always make it have a challenge, and, like, yeah, true. And so, when it comes to working with couples, it is challenging. There's something about having two people to work with, there's so many dynamics at play, different than perhaps being with just one person, you know, coming from two different histories, biographically different life upbringings, family upbringing, personalities. It can be really challenging. I do appreciate challenge. I've learned so much. I learned from each couple that I work with, and it's a whole different beast. Michael Hingson 52:29 Yeah, and, and it is. I like what you said, though. You learn from it, and that's probably the most important thing that any of us can do with anything in any endeavor that we undertake is that we learn from it. Speaker 1 52:44 If I can't learn from something, what am I, what am I doing there? And if I'm not learning from something, how can that benefit other people that I'm trying to help support? So, yeah, I tried to get the couple to start to be, you know, them versus the concern, rather than you versus me. That's a big goal of couples therapy. Michael Hingson 53:08 That's an interesting way to put it. That makes a lot of sense. I've never thought of it that way, but it's them. It does have to be them, but them versus the concern. That, that's interesting. Speaker 1 53:18 Yeah, yeah. Then they start, they start looking at how can we collaborate rather than trying to annihilate each other. Michael Hingson 53:26 Yeah, Speaker 1 53:27 metaphorically speaking, Michael Hingson 53:31 so you've talked about the work that you did when you were in Mississippi, when you worked in small towns, and so on, and you worked in probably some fairly substantive places as well. What do you find that's different about outpatient versus inpatient work, and in terms of what you do and how you approach it? Speaker 1 53:52 Well, I'll just say that doing inpatient work is kind of like raising kids, so not.. I mean, I don't have any experience, because I don't, I don't have kids, I got nieces and nephews yet. I know that feeling well. Yeah, there's just something about being around someone more than just like that hour, hour and a half, seeing them like eight or nine hours a day, you get to know them pretty well, as opposed to, you know, once an hour every one or two, three weeks, that in that comes some benefits with the inpatient work. Yet also it can be really difficult when it comes to boundaries. They feel like you can do things that maybe you're not able to do professionally with them, maybe like as far as like self-disclosure wise or things like that, and there's just there's just a thing around boundaries, and even with the inpatient work, you know, I'll have one client come and say, 'Hey, this other counselor said I could do this, and I would be like, 'Okay, and then I found out later the counselor didn't say that at all, so there's that type. The drama got to deal with, with it, with the inpatient work, Michael Hingson 55:04 but you don't find that as much without patient, because you tend to be able to get closer to the individual, and that probably also develops a higher trust level. Speaker 1 55:14 There is a higher trust level if you mean, like, doing outpatient work, or outpatient, but we have the outpatient, for sure, because I am solely with them, and they know that time is of the essence, whether it's weekly or bi-weekly, whatever, and I'm being able to focus on them, for sure, yeah, Michael Hingson 55:35 and it's a lot harder to do that when it's an impatient kind of situation Speaker 1 55:40 in my two experiences, both up in Calgary and also Mississippi, with inpatient, there's so many other things in the inner workings of doing inpatient going on that sure I can still add that time with somebody, yet I'm also thinking about, you know, the next class and next group offering other logistical duties, it's a little bit easier to do that one on one. Yeah, indeed, indeed. Michael Hingson 56:10 Do you think that you can develop? I assume the answer is yes, but I'll ask, do you think that it's possible to develop the same level of trust in doing inpatient work, or it may be harder, but can you do it? Speaker 1 56:28 That can happen on a case by case basis, depending on my relationship with someone. Yes, I can get there, and you know, just.. and sometimes, paradoxically, it can happen even quicker than outpatient, depending on the situation, because I am with them. There is a positive with that. Yes, Michael Hingson 56:48 it's.. it's a matter of working to build it, you know. And, unfortunately, human beings, especially nowadays, are so mistrustful of so many things, we've learned not to trust, and so in my latest book, Live Like a Guide Dog, I talk about that a lot, because while I think dogs love unconditionally, they don't trust unconditionally, but they're open to trust, they want to develop trusting relationships, and we just assume everyone has their own hidden agendas, and it's so hard to develop trusting relationships, Speaker 1 57:24 very hard, very difficult. It takes time and effort and patience, tolerance for myself, the other person, and that makes sense with dogs, because I mean, enough's, you know, when a dog's been abused, they don't want to trust right away, no, for sure. Michael Hingson 57:38 Well, but even even dogs that aren't abused, like I believe it takes for me, and I think if you really analyze it, for most people with a guide dog, I think it takes a good year to develop such a working relationship that you develop such a trust that essentially you each know what the other is thinking and you really know how to work it. It's not that they're not mistrustful, but they're open. They're open to trust, but you've got to, you've got to gain their trust, and that's my job as the team leader. And I'm supposed to be the team leader, but it also means that I have to agree, well, earn or gain their trust. The neat thing, and what makes it possible to do that, assuming that you approach it the right way and don't assume a dog is just a dumb animal, which they're not, is that in fact working with a dog, you know that they're more likely to be open to trust, and that makes it a little bit easier than our prejudice that says everybody's got a hidden agenda that we got to focus on, Speaker 1 58:47 yeah. And appreciate you sharing that, and it shows just the amount of work that comes into play with trust. Michael Hingson 58:54 Yeah, it's it's a challenge, but it is doable. Well, so what's next for you? Speaker 1 59:01 Yeah, just doing some work after this with the work that I do, and yeah, it's starting to get that book into the place of having editorial reviews and starting to get that edited professionally. Michael Hingson 59:14 Have either of your books been converted to audio? Speaker 1 59:17 The second one has. Yes. Michael Hingson 59:22 Is it? Where is it available? Audible, or how is it available? Speaker 1 59:25 It's my own special design. It's actually got a, it's got a Texan man, a doing it. He's got a nice voice, pretty soothing. Yet it's through what's called the Hero app, H I R O. And I can send you the link if you're interested. For that, Michael Hingson 59:40 love to, yeah, Speaker 1 59:42 yeah. Michael Hingson 59:44 Well, this has been enjoyable, certainly by any standard. If people want to reach out to you, maybe use your services or talk with you. How do they do that? Speaker 1 59:53 They can find me, Michael, through Recovery Arts counseling.com and that's Counseling with 2l's since I'm up here in Canada. You can find me through Instagram at Eric Fisher Writer or Recovery Arts Counseling. You can find me Facebook the same way on LinkedIn, just type in my name. You can look for, like, Calgary, like counselor recovery counseling. What do else? That's right, everybody learned something new today, if they did not, if they didn't already. So, those are a few Michael Hingson 1:00:25 ways. Well, that's great. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to be here, and I value greatly your insights. I've learned things, and I always enjoy doing that. And I hope all of you out there listening have as well. Love to get your thoughts, so I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to email me at Michael M I C H A E L H I at Accessi B A C C E S S I B e.com Wherever you're listening or watching, or both, this podcast, please give us a five star review. But even more important than a review, a rating, five star rating, give us a review. We really value reviews and people who might be interested in listening to our podcasts, are going to read those reviews. I can tell you for sure that people love to know what others think. So, we value your reviews a great deal. And if any of you, including you, Eric, know of anyone else who ought to be a guest on Unstoppable Mindset, we'd love an introduction, because we're always looking for people who want to come on and tell their stories, so I hope that that we'll find ways to do that, and definitely value you being here, Eric, and doing all this, and I want to thank you again for being here. This has been a lot of fun. Speaker 1 1:01:37 Thank you, Michael. Happy to be on you. thank Michael Hingson 1:01:43 you for being here with me on Unstoppable Mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about. If you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others. I have a free gift for you. Head over to Michael hingson.com and download my free ebook, Blinded by Fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them, so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning, and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable min
In this episode: WWE ambassador Titus O'Neil defends Michelle Obama after controversial comment made by UFC Fighter, Paul Walter Hauser criticizes Roman Reigns for attending the UFC Freedom 250 event from this past weekend, Update on the Liv Morgan Stalker Case, Update on Drew McIntyre's Status, and Rhea Ripley says she gets scared “all the time” about WWE fans not respecting her privacyKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
Leadership, success, and personal growth all begin with a simple truth: the mind must be trained before results can change. I had the opportunity to sit down with Manny Fiteni, CEO of My Growth Corporation, to explore personal development, leadership, mind congruency, intuition, and the subconscious patterns that shape our lives. Manny shares how his corporate career, a life-changing bank robbery, and the challenges of the pandemic led him to build a business focused on helping individuals and organizations grow. We discuss why people sabotage their goals, how subconscious conditioning influences leadership and relationships, and what it takes to create high-performing teams. Manny also explains practical ways to align the conscious and subconscious mind, strengthen intuition, and build habits that support long-term success. If you're interested in personal growth, leadership development, mindset training, and creating lasting change, I believe you will find this conversation valuable. Highlights: 13:05 - Why people sabotage their own goals. 22:12 - How the mirror principle shapes results. 26:29 - Simple ways to reprogram habits. 32:15 - Staying calm during a bank robbery. 43:07 - The foundation of high performing teams. 59:06 - Building resilience from a young age. About the Guest: Manny Fiteni, CEO of My Growth Corporation, is a pioneering leadership strategist with 30+ years of corporate experience specializing in transformative personal development. Core Methodology: Mind Congruency Manny's "Mind Congruency" approach aligns conscious and subconscious minds, enabling individuals to overcome self-limiting beliefs and unlock peak performance. His unique methodology differs from traditional research by drawing insights from real-world, uncontrolled environments, whereby he used these leadership techniques in real world situations. He works from the premise that to build a high performing team, you need to work from 3 pillars. Environment, True Leadership and Mind Congruency. Innovative Platforms Founder of My Growth Corporation, which has the following offerings: • Mind Growth 360 (personal development network) mindgrowth360.com • Creators Agency (brand elevation platform) creatorsagency.studio • Manny Fiteni Training and Development (leadership and personal transformation) mannyfiteni.com • Personal Development House (A directory for helping you find those that provide services in personal development). Personaldevelopmenthouse.com • Skillzap AI - (A new way to battle your friends with trivia and learn at the same time) skillzapai.com All can be found on mygrowthcorporation.com Professional Impact Manny's training programs empower professionals by: • Enhancing leadership skills • Building organizational resilience • Driving high-performance team dynamics • Assisting individuals to strip down past programmimg Global Influence As an author and international speaker, Manny provides actionable strategies for personal transformation. His mission remains consistent: equipping individuals with practical tools to thrive personally and professionally. A thought leader bridging psychological insights with practical business application, Manny Fiteni continues to inspire global audiences. . Ways to connect with Manny: mygrowthcorporation.com Mindgrowth360.com Mannyfiteni.com creatorsagency.studio Skillzapai.com 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:
In this episode: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reveals that he had a health scare earlier this year, News regarding absent WWE stars including Randy Orton as SummerSlam approaches, and Rey Mysterio almost retired from wrestling before his son Dominik debuted with WWEKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
Oregon Firearms Federation head chief Kevin Starrett joins me with the Portland Nonsense - they are going to talk the dirtbags to death. Ron Park, a BIG donor of platelets at American Red Cross, trying to save one of the donation clinics from closing.
In this episode: Janel Grant sets the record straight about anonymous emails that triggered 2022 WWE Board Investigation, Update on AEW world champion MJF following reports that he suffered a legitimate injury, and CM Punk expected back on WWE television for SummerSlam despite internet speculationIf you or someone you know is a victim of Sexual Abuse, you are not alone. Help is available 24/7. National Sexual Abuse Hotline: 1-800-656-4673.Website: https://rainn.org/help-and-healing/hotline/For the UK:24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line: 0808-500-2222.Website: https://247sexualabusesupport.org.uk/Support Card Again Games! https://gofund.me/1178d8370Kerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
In this episode: Former WCW wrestler-turned-actor Tyler Mane announces that he has breast cancer, What is being said about Keith Lee's status with AEW for this year, and Cathy Kelley addresses the possibility of having a match after training at the WWE Performance CenterKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
What if the answers you're searching for arrived long before you knew how to understand them? In this conversation, I sit down with Kip Baldwin, a filmmaker, producer, writer, and founder of the Just Love movement. Kip shares the extraordinary awakening he experienced at age 12 and how it set him on a lifelong path of exploring consciousness, love, spirituality, and human connection. From the music industry and sustainable agriculture to television production, ethical AI, and overcoming a traumatic brain injury, Kip's journey has been anything but ordinary. As we talk, Kip reflects on why fear has become such a powerful force in society, how love can transform the way we see ourselves and others, and why he believes lasting change starts with a shift in consciousness. You will hear stories of resilience, curiosity, and purpose, along with a vision for creating a better future for generations to come. I believe you will find this conversation thought-provoking, challenging, and full of hope. Highlights: 01:45 - How a childhood acting career sparked a lifelong passion for media and communication. 07:08 - Why confidence without self-awareness can become a liability. 16:32 - Lessons from the Kellogg School of Management that still shape business decisions today. 21:58 - Why listening beats talking in business, leadership, and life. 35:08 - How strong brands grow through awareness, not just loyalty programs. 01:05:02 - The three traits Zarko looks for when mentoring future leaders. About the Guest: Kip Baldwin knows his purpose for Being is to share all that LOVE is through his many solutions driven projects; using media in all its forms to help awaken individuals, and by proxy the collective, to the LOVE Paradigm emerging. He feels that in order for a new chapter of our story to be conceived for humanity, a mass imagining of our limitless potential is what is needed to bring about an age of compassion, empathy, collaboration, and oneness. Kip was born in 1965 to counterculture parents - in the midst of the maelstrom that was the decade of the sixties, in fact 1965 was the first year that scientists warned us about climate change - in Vancouver, Washington. His earliest years were spent on a farm where his grandparents raised thoroughbred horses. During this period grew in him a deep, abiding LOVE and respect for nature and all living things. It was around the age of twelve his life would transform forever, as he had an out of body experience that took him beyond the edge of Universe, even Space and Time, and face to face with the unknowable of Infinity. This experience became the foundation for his constant seeking since. Due to that experience Kip felt he must explore the world beyond the small town confines of Camas, WA where he grew up. His first attempt to break free was to do a brief stint in the Navy, where he was going to pursue a career as an electric technician, but because of a hereditary bleeding disorder he was given a medical discharge. However, a military career for him was clearly never really in the cards anyway. Although he was always grateful for the insight it gave him into the inner workings of our country, as he witnessed first the how the poor are literally cannon fodder for corporations, under the guise of them being heroes and patriots. Following his discharge, he returned briefly to the limits of his hometown, before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1985 to pursue his passion for music and performing. He often jokes that he was looking for the San Francisco of the Haight/Ashbury, Peace and LOVE days, but arrived twenty years too late. What he found instead was the 80s hair metal band scene, whose songs that focused on partying, sex, and drugs were not compatible with his lyrics about awakening awareness and addressing the need for personal and societal change. In the late 90s, after becoming disillusioned by his beloved music industry - and always seeking solutions for the myriad of challenges facing humanity - he shifted his focus to local and sustainable foods. While this was certainly a worthwhile pursuit, it did little to fulfill his need to share LOVE'S Truth and create a collective shift in consciousness. But what it did do was make him aware that it was only going to be through the use of mass media that his message of LOVE could reach a large enough audience to affect real lasting change. This found him again heeding the call of the entertainment industry, first as an actor, then writer, and ultimately as a producer, with some success co-creating the influential cannabis series Weed Country for the Discovery Network (focusing on the countless benefits humanity can derive from marijuana, as well as our profound historical connection to the plant), co-founding the United Filmmakers Association, and starting the Just LOVE Movement. Ultimately, this led him to co-founding S.O.U.L. Documentary with creative partner and Soul Twin, Evan Hirsch who shares his passion, purpose and mission to heal humanity by embracing our innate oneness, which they both understand can only be achieved by accepting and grounding ourselves in the Reality of LOVE We Are. Ways to connect with Kip: Facebook: Just LOVE page: https://www.facebook.com/kipbaldwinjustlove Main page: https://www.facebook.com/kip.baldwin/ UFA: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Unifilmmakers LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kip-baldwin-975a3514/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kipbaldwin?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr YouTube: Kip Baldwin: https://youtube.com/@thekiprowdy?si=LckMuhec40lWAicF Just LOVE: https://youtube.com/@justlove6463?si=QW1g4D2dlaHmJk8B S.O.U.L. Documentary: https://youtube.com/@souldocumentary?si=4HOwlV-pjFN6guYy Soul Twin Messiah: https://youtube.com/@soultwinmessiah?si=7ctLlmqjeOczkjO_ Additional must listen: Comfort You Song: https://youtu.be/Mi8D3AoDfRQ?si=y8RzIQPXP5ALJth1 A World Worth Imagining: https://youtu.be/Cx28t6_SGic?si=o4lWs7po3TBKx_3A Invitation. To Action: https://youtu.be/B8jUOUVCvJI?si=l4Pr7vWNDsnXX4wh AI work: www.luminaLOVE.LOVE 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 00:03 One of the biggest things holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe. Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Hi everyone, I am your host Mike Hingson, and you are listening and or watching Unstoppable Mindset. We're really glad that you're here with us today. Our guest, the person I get the honor of chatting with for the next hour or so, is Kip Baldwin, who will talk a lot about love. He will talk a lot about a number of different things, he's been a director, he's been a producer, an actor. He has been published, although he hasn't published a book yet, but he's published poetry, and I'm sure he's going to tell us about that, and I don't want to give it away, so I won't. Anyway, Kip, welcome to Unstoppable Mindset. We're glad you're Kip Baldwin 01:40 here. Oh, thank you so much for having me, Michael. I look forward to having this conversation and sharing my story. Michael Hingson 01:47 Well, tell us a little bit about you, kind of. Let's start with the early Kip, growing up and all that, because I know you had some things along the way that were relevant and ought to be mentioned. So, why don't you tell us about the early Kip, and we'll go from there. Speaker 1 02:00 I was. I grew up in Washington State, little town called Camas. Although my earliest years were spent in a town called Battleground, Washington, and my family, we raised horses, Thoroughbred race horses. We raised at Portland Meadows, and so I'm kind of a farm boy at heart, at least that's how I grew up, but I had an experience when I was 12 that was definitely not your typical farm boy experience, I guess. I had gone up to Seattle, and this was maybe 78 to see a Seahawks game with the Raiders of my dad and dad, I had a good day, which wasn't always the case, and got home, and it was a, you know, five and a half hour round trip for kids, 12 year olds, a big time, and so I went to bed, and I promptly left my body, and now keep in mind I had never done any drugs. Out of body experiences, a household projection was not something that we talked about about the old farm around the farmhouse dinner table, and I floated over my bedroom. My awareness hovered over my body, and I remember very vividly you don't forget. I looked at my body and went, "I'm not in there. And then that immediately I left my house, I left the planet, I left the solar system, I let the galaxy, I let the universe, and the whole time all I can describe was kind of a presence, not a voice or anything, but just, are you taking all of this in? And sometimes words can't convey something so expansive and grand, and so I was taking in black holes and quasars and nebulas, and just flying through the, you know, time didn't really exist, but I was, I was traveling across the universe, and eventually I got outside the universe, and my awareness was turned in, and I could see how everything was connected, and how the universe itself was finite, and but that everything had a place, there was no less or greater than that, everything had a specific role, from the smallest particle to, you know, the largest star, and then my awareness was turned out to the blackness of infinity, and that you know you don't know at 12, you're just like, "Oh, this is happening, and I'm what's happening, and I'm taking it in, and what I didn't know is that would become my point of seeking that really became the rest of my life. Life, I think, had I been born in India, like say Ramana Maharishi, who had what I didn't realize until later, there's a name for what happened to me, and it's called a spontaneous awakening. My life would have probably been much different, but we don't live in a society that that really honors things like that, so it was a lot of me going on a journey of discovery and a weight and continual awakening until now, and it's an ongoing process, but that's where it really began with me being confronted with the fact that there there can't be a beginning or ending to anything, and the thought experiments that can't, that come out of that, and the way it opens your consciousness, I'm ever grateful for, although at the time it, it made me for a long time feel very apart, and it wasn't until I met with Dr. Dr. Dean Radin up at Noetic Sciences, and I told him my story, and he looked at me, and he went, "You go, that's not a usual experience, he said, "That's a mystical experience, and I was in my probably late 40s, maybe 50 at that time, and that was the first time in my life that someone had had said, 'Hey, what you, what you had was a really phenomenal experience, and I'm very grateful for him for saying that to me, because for most of my life, I'm running around talking about these profound things with people that I thought were incredibly important to share, and they didn't seem very important to people, and it wasn't until then that it hit me that it wasn't that they were important, that it was that they, they didn't really understand what I was talking about. Michael Hingson 07:03 Well, and in our society, as you point out, it's not something that is generally appreciated, and and people who have had those experiences or talk about them are generally looked down upon or frowned upon, and you know that's that's fine, but it doesn't change the fact, and so it must have been hard, especially at first, for you to talk about that. Speaker 1 07:29 You know, I was so excited at first, I was excited to share it with my family, and and it happened a couple more times, and it was so overwhelming that literally I would get to a point where my head, my physical being couldn't handle it anymore, and I would get up and vomit. It was that's how, how intense it was, like I just, I couldn't take in anymore. And so, at first, I was really excited to share it, because it was beyond wondrous. It was, it was truth. It was reality, and I, and on some level, I knew that instinctually. But then, when enough people sort of ignore you or act like something's unimportant, you stop talking about Michael Hingson 08:15 it. Yeah, Speaker 1 08:15 I never stopped writing about it. I never stopped experiencing it, and I didn't even really stop talking about it once I moved to California for the music business in 1985 I, you know, then I thought, wow, I mean, being a group of creatives and there's going to be other people that will understand what I'm talking about, but in the 80s music environment it really wasn't what people were, were talking or thinking about, and I was kind of in the same way, and again it wasn't until years later that I look back and I realized all this time I spent up late at night partying with people and stuff, and telling them about infinity, and, and they look, they, they must have been looking at me like I'm a complete idiot, because they really only cared about, you know, getting high or having sex, and I'm trying to have this profound conversation. Michael Hingson 09:16 So, when your family, when you told your family, how did they react? Speaker 1 09:20 They still don't understand it to this day. It just, oh, that's nice, you know. It actually, there were points in my life where it caused conflict with, especially my father, because when I would say none of this is real, he, he always considered him, and still to this day considers himself quite science physics buff, it wasn't something he was willing to accept, and, and even really have a reasonable conversation about. I would say that the things that got me through all these years was, you know, the universe. There's love, God, Brahmin, whatever you want to call it, it gives you what you need, and what it gave me throughout the years, and still to this day, is voices that made me realize I wasn't crazy, that I knew something really special. Probably the first thing, the first one I remember, like, that was Joseph Campbell being interviewed by Bill Moyers, and somehow I knew everything that Joseph Campbell was talking about, and I'm like, How can I possibly know these things? How can I possibly understand these things of this really brilliant, just beautiful soul? And throughout the years, it's been those touch those moments of going, oh, it hasn't been where I've heard someone go, wow, that's helped me awaken, it's been something that's helped me not feel insane and realize that the things that I'm sharing have been shared for 1000s of years, and by many, many minds and beings much greater than myself, and that that really probably kept me from losing my mind. Michael Hingson 11:10 So, you had this experience happen to you at 12. What did you then specifically do? I mean, not so much talking to people, but what did it do for you, as far as schooling, and what you did with your life? Speaker 1 11:27 I would.. it made me very.. in all honesty, it made school seem really trivial to me. It was kind of boring. I started writing a lot. In fact, something I wrote when I was 17 was called Life and Death, and it went: Life is just a symptom of certain death, crying and laughing until our last breath. Everything dies in true infinity. Then the mountains crumble into the sea, stars full from the night sky hit the earth, and then they die, lost in time. I don't know who I am. Am I a god or just a mortal man? Time can't change what I have found. Still, I am changed and bound, bound by the fears and bound by lies. Even now, the tears fill my eyes, gasping for every breath as I head for a certain death, clouds now pass overhead, and I realize how things are now that I am dead. Life is ending, life goes on like the lyrics to an endless song. Life and death, it's all the same. We exist only in our brain, and so there was a lot of that. It pushed me away from I was confirmed Zion Lutheran. I really couldn't stomach religious dogma anymore at that point. Um, just the hypocrisy, you know? Like, I remember I, I was talking to a new pastor we had, and he was informing me that my great grandmother, who is Jehovah's Witness, and these Mormon boys had come around, were trying to teach me about Mormonism, and I was just curious and open, always, and still am to this day. I don't judge. I would say that's another big thing that this gave me, is I don't, I see everything as equal, I don't, I don't judge everything, I don't judge anything as lesser thing greater than I don't judge good and evil in the in the same way that other people do, I see things as flows of negative of energy as we exist in a duality with this illusion, and this is just what we describe as good and you are really just flows of energy between the polarities of the duality, and so it pushed me, definitely, because I, when he said that my great grandmother was going to go to hell, and these Mormon boys were going to go to hell, I looked him in the face, and I just said, but I thought God was love, and that was pretty much the end of my church, Michael Hingson 14:04 my, my wife did, I think, some things in the Lutheran church, which mostly she was a Methodist, and I joined the Methodist church when we got married, and so on, but when she was in, I think this was when she was in high school, maybe in, I guess it was late high school, early college. She met some Mormon people, and one of them said, I guess she was learning about different religions, and so she was learning about Mormonism, and this guy said you're either going to think that this is a total hoax or you're going to just totally believe in it. Well, it wasn't quite that way for her. She did not think it was a hoax, and I agree with her, but there. There are things about the about all religions that tend to make life difficult. The problem with religion is that that people are are what make up the religion, and they all have their own views, and it makes life really tough. I know I participated in a program called the Walk to Emmaus, which is a what's literally called a short course in Christianity, and it's not to bring people to the Christian church, but it's to help create a class of leaders in the Christian church. Anyway, one of the things about the walk to Emmaus is that a number of people give lectures, people who have been involved in church, and then there are the pilgrims, the people who are coming to to learn what everyone has to say, and the lay director of the Walk to Emmaus every time gives a speech, and I was lay director once, and one of the things that is in the manual, or was I assume it still is. It's been a while, but it says that Tolstoy once said the biggest problem with Christianity is that nobody practices it, and there's a lot of truth to that. Speaker 1 16:13 But I think that I think you hit it right on the head that people are involved, like I, and I do want to clarify something, I, I believe very much that that Jesus was a master. Oh, Michael Hingson 16:29 absolutely, yeah, and, Speaker 1 16:31 and, but I also believe that people don't know what happened at the Council of Nicaea and understand how the Bible was actually constructed, not because it was based on Gnostic teachings or even really the teachings of Christ, but it was cobbled together as a means of control. If Caesar saw his soldiers be turning to Christianity when they wanted to find, you know, put together a book that really didn't express Christian truth or the truth of Christ, but a way, a means of controlling people through fear, and so if you, if you notice, all the books in the Bible are male. Well, left out of the Bible was the book of Mary, left out of the Bible, it's the book of Thomas, who, interestingly enough, there's a place in India where they all speak ancient Aramaic, and they worship the Book of Thomas, which there's always been a lot of discussion. Did Jesus go to India and study Buddhism? And because even the Book of Mary, these are very Buddhist beliefs, but anything, because we live in a patriarchal society, anything like the piece to Sophia, the book of Mary, the book of Stackle, all of these were intentionally kept out of the Bible, so it's not, I think it's not so much religion, it's the organ, it's the dogma that comes along with organized religion, which is really about people, you know, men using it to control and manipulate people through fear, Michael Hingson 18:14 all too much, all too often. It's, it's true. Speaker 1 18:18 Yeah, and it's interesting. I was watching last night, and it's funny. This is why, why you always have to be on a constant path of awakening. It never stops. If you think you've reached that pinnacle, or whatever, then they're not just ego. There's always more to know and understand. And I ran across this video on Tara, well, Tara is in Buddhism, basically in every religion that I am aware of, there's always the peace to Sophia, there's always the the story of the divine feminine that in large part is is is not. It was. It's largely been suppressed, and so I was, I was watching this, and it was just so fascinating to me to see how identical what Tara was in Buddhism, which this is what, when Tara, Tara is considered the ultimate goddess in the Buddhist faith. Well, when Tara came to earth in the story, she went to a bunch of, you know, Buddhist monks, and they said, "Oh, you know, they were so impressed by her, and they thought this was a compliment. They said, "Well, we hope you, you can reincarnate as a man, and she said, "No, she She said, I don't see things as male and female, but since nobody else wants to be the feminine, I will play that role. And it was just a profoundly interesting thing to listen to, not just because of the story, but because almost every faith that I'm aware. Of has that story of the divine feminine that has again largely been suppressed and marginalized, Michael Hingson 20:09 well, for you clearly that was a very meaningful experience. What did what did you then do, and I understand how you could imagine that maybe what was being taught in school wasn't quite as, as meaningful as what you had experienced, but you went on, I assume, through high school, and did you go to college? Speaker 1 20:30 I was, I went, I was an electron, I went to the Navy to be an electronic technician, but I had a bleeding disorder called Von Willebrand disease, and I found out after I was in for about a year. Well, you can't be in the Navy with that, because we can't carry with the limited space you have on ships, we can't carry the clotting factor you would need if there's a problem. So that was fairly short-lived. Then I went back to Washington and was working as a dishwasher for a while, then I worked as a male stripper, and, and I was then, which, which, you know, there was something really profound about that experience, because it taught me what women feel like to be objectified, and that's something that has carried me, carried a lesson. I, I find lessons in everything, even things that, wow, you know, what could you possibly learn positive out of having been a male stripper? Well, I learned how women feel, really, to be, you know, not looked at as anything more than an object, and then I really wanted to continue to, you know, pursue music, so a friend of mine, we loaded 65,000 pounds of frozen strawberries onto a semi truck, and like july 3, 1985 and got a ride to San Francisco, a city I'd never been to before. I knew nobody here. We got here, I had 25 cents in my pocket, and I used the 25 cents to call the one friend that I thought I knew that I could get a hold of here in or in in the Bay Area, and it was a wrong number, and so now I'm in a city at the Gray Home Bus Terminal that used to be in downtown San Francisco, we have no food, we have no place to live. We have nothing to, you know, we have nothing, literally. And that's where my journey began. As far as my story, my, my adult life, and my journey in the entertainment industry and the music business, that's how it all started. It started by loading 65,000 pounds of frozen strawberries under semi truck, telling, oh, and the cap around the story is I had worn my contacts for too long and I ripped the corny up both my eyes when I took them out, because I was wearing hard lenses, so I was functionally blind in the city I'd never been to before with patches over my eyes, and being led around by my friend, and luckily we found some very nice people that gave us a place to stay, and then I ended up meeting maybe a week after that, I met my first wife, who was Persian, and we were together for a long time. What was interesting about that is I've been introduced to so many different faiths through the people in my life, and because I haven't judged and tried to learn, like I, I learned through her about Islam, I learned through her about our Torcharianism, and we lived the rock and roll lifestyle for the 16 years we were together. She was a photographer. I wrote for a magazine called BAM. I played in bands. I managed artists like Linda Perry from The Four Non Blonde, or I worked with Linda Perry from Four Non Blondes. I managed Alex Skolnick, who is lead guitar player in Testament, and I did that for a long time until I started getting really disenchanted with music and really started to hate the business and started to hate music because of it, and so I ended up drifting into, I wouldn't say drifting into, I got drawn into visual media, and I started working. I met a guy at a club in San Jose, California, called The Agenda, and we were playing pool, and he was telling me, "Oh, he's the owner of this company called Metropolis Digital, and I was thinking, "My. Speaker 1 24:59 Music and music videos, and yeah, I want to get involved in this, so I started coming up with ideas, and he brought me into their company, because I got to know a lot of people through the music business and booking artists on different shows, like Letterman and Leno, and, and so I got to know how to work through those channels that it opened doors for me to be able to do on-air graphics for the networks, and so I did that until about, in fact, the last major project I did in that industry was with a company called Chaos X AOS out of San Francisco, and we did the 2000 election graphics for ABC nationally, and then I, I, that with the, the, the.com telecom crash of not of 2000 they pulled all of that sort of work in house, and so that business kind of dried up, and I changed my focus to working in local and sustainable foods. Michael Hingson 26:08 What got you to the point where you disliked Music so much? Speaker 1 26:12 The business.. it just.. it wasn't. I came here, and in all honesty, I was looking for the 60s, but I was 20 years too late, only to find out later I was actually 30 years too early, but I was looking for community, I was looking for family, I was looking for that connection, but what existed as far as the music industry then was the 80s hair band stuff, heavy metal was on the rise. It was very misogynistic. It wasn't. It was very competitive. There wasn't, it wasn't collaborative, it wasn't community related at all. And it really turned me off. It wasn't, it wasn't what I had thought being in an artistic community doing artistic endeavors would be about it, became very.. it just.. it just.. it just.. it just made me feel very empty, and that wasn't what I loved about music, and so that Michael Hingson 27:24 would be an issue, Speaker 1 27:25 yeah. It just value wise it was, it was not, you know, you, you got to do a show, and you've got the bands that are coming on after you, you know, playing with your amps, and it was just, it was, it wasn't, it wasn't fun, and it wasn't fulfilling. More importantly, it wasn't fulfilling. It wasn't, and I'm writing about while everyone else is writing about, you know, sex and drugs and all of this. I'm writing about the things that I thought were important. I was writing about the problems I saw in this country, like songs like Shock the System or the chosen few, and, and though that wasn't what people were writing about Michael Hingson 28:06 then, Speaker 1 28:06 and you know, even though the songs were good, and, and I've been told I'm talented, it was, I didn't, I didn't again feel like I fit in, you know, I didn't feel like I'd found my place, and certainly not in that world at that time. If Speaker 2 28:31 you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes. Thank you for being part of the Unstoppable Mindset community. Thank it Michael Hingson 29:04 certainly had to be a rough time all the way around, but then you, you found this person, and you joined their company, as you said earlier, Speaker 1 29:15 right? I started working for Metropolis Digital, and we started doing a lot of on-air graphics, like for TBS. We did their, their original movies. We did a lot of the opening graphics for it, and then I moved on to other companies, and and I, I then started focusing on on local and sustainable foods, and moved into doing stuff where I felt I was doing more, because at the heart of everything I've ever done, it's always been about trying to affect real change in the world, Michael Hingson 29:55 it's Speaker 1 29:55 always been about I could see very clear. Really, it doesn't surprise me where we're at today at all. I saw the problems with the system even at that age, and I give credit to that because of the experience I had with Infinity. It just allowed me to step back and perceive things from a far off perspective that I was looking at humanity in general and how we did things, and I'm just like, this doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense for us to believe we're separate and apart from the very things that give us life from each other. It doesn't make sense from a spiritual perspective. It doesn't make sense from a scientific perspective. Yet, here's the system that we are a part of, and so I've always been very focused on trying to effect real change and find not just point out the problems but actually find solutions, and so that then led me into working in local and sustainable agriculture here in the Bay Area. So Michael Hingson 31:00 tell me more about the whole work that you did with Sustainable Foods. What was that all about? Speaker 1 31:08 Yes, I worked with a company, I was, I had handled all the sales and marketing for Drake's Bay Oysters out of Inverness, California, and Drakes Bay, before it was called Drakes Bay, was Johnson's Oysters, and they were the last oyster cannery in California. The family that owned the farm, they had taken it over from Johnson's. They were the Lenny family, who owned Ranch G across from the steroid, where the oyster farm was. Well, they, against my better advice, they made it a personal ownership thing rather than a California food heritage issue. So, eventually, when their lease came up on the rent, on the farm, the farm went away. Well, at the same time, I created new relationships. A very good friend of mine to this day is a gentleman named Brian Kinney, who is now the West Coast Chief Technology Officer for Hearst, and also the Hearst Family Archivist, but at that point in time he was running Hearst Ranch, which they, they had the Jack Ranch and the Hearst Ranch down around San Simeon. So I was at the forefront of the grass-fed beef movement as well, and we developed a human-grade grass-fed beef pet food about 10 years ahead of its time, which could be the story of my life. I'm always about 10 years ahead of where things actually happen, and I, I did that for about 10 years, and eventually I felt the calling to get back in the entertainment industry, and that led me to acting, and I did the acting mostly because I wanted to learn how things were done, and I very well, if I act in a whole bunch of student projects, or projects in general, and I'm behind the scenes, I'm going to learn, and, and that's exactly what happened. So, my very background led me to being a producer, and I created, you know, one of my most notable accomplishments that created this show called Weed Country for Discovery, which was about the medical marijuana industry here in California, just before legalization. How we got it on air before legalization, I don't know. We were named to the Hollywood Reporter top 25 heat list. We got some really great information out about CBD and helping with childhood epilepsy. The bad part of that was it was a reality television show, and I didn't know anything about reality television, so when I'm here in reality, I'm thinking documentary. Well, that couldn't be farther from the truth. And reality television has truly been a blight on on this country in particular, and probably the world in general. Michael Hingson 34:16 Yeah, I just gonna say not nearly as real as people think it is. No, no, I think I think probably this is just my opinion. The closest thing to so-called reality TV is the show Dancing with the Stars, because they're actually dancing all these other shows, and it's all sort of really scripted, but the people are actually dancing, which is kind of cool, Speaker 1 34:41 right? Michael Hingson 34:41 Even though I don't see it, I appreciate it. Speaker 1 34:45 Yeah, but even, even with shows like that, there's a lot of gin-up drama. There is behind the scenes stuff that's the worst part of things. Yes, they're like with our show, yes, people were really, you know, there's really stuff going on with can. Of this world that was really important, but what reality television does is it, it creates artificial drama. It does things to manipulate the characters in the show to make them look how they want, and they know, and people in general, my experience is that people, once you put a camera on them, they will do, they would do things to be in front of the camera that they would never do, even for more money, Michael Hingson 35:27 right, Speaker 1 35:28 in their regular lives. Michael Hingson 35:30 Well, and I think there is, there's a lot of truth to that. And the whole thing, as you said, as far as reality TV, we're not giving people a true picture of reality with most of any of that anyway, which is unfortunate. I think I mentioned I'm a fan of old radio and television, and so on. And one of the shows that I've watched a fair amount is The Old Ridge. Well, it's the second time they were on, but Dragnet with Harry Morgan and, of course Jack Webb as Joe Friday, and they did a lot of shows talking about drugs and marijuana and all that, and how bad it is, and it's kind of interesting because what we're seeing today is that in reality the medical aspects of marijuana or cannabis and CBD oil, and so there's there's true relevance there, which is something that they didn't know or appreciate in the late 60s. Speaker 1 36:31 Well, but the thing that our history with the cannabis plant goes back 50,000 years to Burger Banks, China, it's been, and if we take all of the medicinal recreational uses out of it, it is the most one of the most versatile plants that we have. It was used, I mean, our money was made out of hemp. Hemp is cannabis sativa. Dollar bills are made out of hemp. It was used for fuel. It was used for building. Henry Ford built an entire car out of hemp in 1942 which you can go see the video of on YouTube, and they're beating on it with knacks. The plastic resin they made out of it was 40 times stronger than steel. It ran on hemp fuel, a byproduct of which was water. It also, in 1931 the Hearst family, which was interesting, they ended up working with them, bought and sequestered the plans for a decorification machine that made it easier to process hemp than cotton kids, it's a much more durable fiber. In 1938 covered Popular Mechanics, they called him the billion dollar crop, saying you could make 25,000 different items out of everything from fine linens to dynamite, and that was really what what what, why the prohibition against the plant started. Why they did you know shows like Reefer Madness or create films like Reefer Madness to create this hysteria around, at best, an innocuous plant in comparison to soulmate tobacco, in comparison to alcohol, even if people did want to use it. It's, it's, it's relatively harmless by comparison, or just in general, and actually very beneficial. You know, I have a traumatic brain injury, and I think without it, I probably wouldn't, I probably wouldn't eat very much. I probably wouldn't sleep right, I barely sleep as it is, and sleep I do get is because of cannabis, but beyond my point, and I always try to make this clear to people, is like up until even the prohibition against the plant actually started with the Catholic Church, with the Pope Innocent, who until the 1400s cannabis was in the anointing oils. Cannabis was grown by monks, cannabis was grown by nuns, and then in this pope decreed it the devil's weed, and they, you know, banned it. So it's, it had, and there, and why, and you'd say, well, why did they do that? Well, they did that because at that time in the 1400s you were having opium addiction on the rise, you were having, you know, much, much more alcohol use. Well, these are extremely addictive substances, and much more easy to manipulate and control people than it is with cannabis, which in general creates.. I wish I could remember the quote exactly, but Carl Sagan said, you know, why we have a prohibition on a plant that you know creates good feelings amongst people and unites people is in this, you know. A really crazy world is, is, is madness, but it all comes back to money, and it all comes back to who's profiting. So, why did they create the probation? Well, the hearse, the Rockefellers, and the DuPonts, they saw how hemp would affect each of their industries. We wouldn't need oil if we'd grown hemp and use that as fuel, in fact, it was the Rockefellers who went to Henry Ford and said, "If you take this car to market, we'll crush you. And this was Henry Ford at the height of his power, DuPont chemicals that were.. we wouldn't have needed.. we wouldn't have put like this.. we would not have the planet, the environmental devastation we do now. How do we use this, as Henry Ford said? Why are we digging up, and Henry Ford was certainly no saint, but he was right on this. Why are we digging up our minerals? Why are we cutting down our forests when we can do all the same things with this infinitely renewable resource? This is a part of the canvas story that still is largely not discussed openly enough. Michael Hingson 41:08 Yeah, I think there's a big difference between the story you're telling and the kind of uses you're talking about, and smoking it, and so on, and I, I think we put way too many funny things in our bodies, anyway, right? I think that that isn't this isn't a positive thing, but you're right, we, we've used so many things to create so many fears, it is, it is something that is all around us. Fear is all around us, and the problem is we let it overwhelm us. I wrote Live Like a Guide Dog that got published last year because when I worked in the World Trade Center, I was able to focus when I escaped, and I was able to do that because I had developed a mindset that said, you know what to do in this kind of an emergency, even though never expected it to happen, but the problem is that most people don't learn how they can turn fear around, and rather than letting it overwhelm or blind them, as I would put it, they can use it as a very powerful tool to help them stay focused, which is much more important. Speaker 1 42:23 Yep, I agree with that 100% I think, and then that you hit it right on the head. Fear is a very powerful tool. It's necessary. No, don't touch the burning stove. It can be a cautionary tool of saying, hey, don't go down this path, don't do this. It's bad when fear becomes the foundation for your entire culture, as it is now. Michael Hingson 42:51 Yeah, and and it is so unfortunate because don't touch the burning stove doesn't mean don't be afraid of the stove. It rather means there's a consequence for doing a particular thing, which is touching something that is that hot. But you shouldn't create an environment of fear around it. You should create an environment of understanding, which is much more important. Yeah, it's Speaker 1 43:20 like it'd be, it'd be very silly if we went, oh my god, it's like the stove gets hot, so I'm never going to use a stove. My Michael Hingson 43:29 wife was in a wheelchair her whole life, and the one thing I will say with our modern world is we always had electric appliances because she was always concerned about if using a gas stove, having to reach over one burner, perhaps it had something on it to get to something else with the idea of possibly material igniting or something like that, and I appreciate that, and you take advantage of the tools that you have available, but I think that it is so very important to recognize that we need to not live our lives in fear, and it's true that, like, 95% of all the things that we fear will never come to pass, and most all of it we have no control over anyway. So, why do we fear them rather than recognizing what we really need to do is to just focus on the things over which we truly have control. Speaker 1 44:25 Yes, and I think even the idea of control from my perspective is something that is overrated. It's like the most important thing, if you want to have control, it's exactly what we're talking about, it's when you choose to live from the foundation of love, as opposed to fear. So, no matter what happens to me in my life, and no matter how hard, how challenging it is, I'm going to come from a place of love, and right now. Don't most of us live exactly the opposite. No matter what happens to them in their lives, they're coming from a place of fear. Michael Hingson 45:06 Yeah, and that's Speaker 1 45:08 not healthy. Michael Hingson 45:09 And nowadays we're also living in an environment where we're even afraid to talk to other people and voice opinions, because well, that's not what I think. And so you're wrong, and we don't, we don't respect. Tell me about your just love movement. Speaker 1 45:25 Well, you know, I, I had coming out of the music business and everything, I was, I was literally killing myself drinking, I mean, literally, like, I lost half my liver function, and I was going to die, and, but I wasn't afraid to die. I was.. I realized that if I didn't find a way to feel fulfilled and feel that I was. I had a purpose in the story that I needed to find a quicker way out. I didn't get in any, like, car accidents, I wasn't arrested, nothing. I was just killing myself, and it just got so bad that literally my leg stopped working. That's how, how, how much damage I'd done to myself, and, and so, coming out of that, I made the decision. I wrote down a list of things I was going to do, and one of those things is I was going to start writing every single day, and I, through a variety of different sources, you know, I did that experience with infinity became synonymous with love to me, and then I had an experience where I, I, I started a filmmaking organization called the United Filmmakers Association, and it was basically the philosophy of it was creatives helping creatives create, and was global. We still to this day have chapters 27 different countries, about 30,000 35,000 members total. And I walked into a filmmaking event that we were hosting, and there was about 100 people there, and I realized I was in love with everyone in the room, and it was, it was so like that love, like just when you fall in love, and you're like, you want, you can't imagine not talking to that person at that next minute, and I realized in that moment that this is not only how we can feel about everyone and everything, but how we're really supposed to feel about everyone and everything, and so I came up with the concept of just love, which is, is a very.. it, those are very heavy words to put together, just love. It has so many layers of meaning to it, and so I thought, wow, if we could just love, and from that I I've written every day and shared through social media for 12 years now something having to do with love and what I do is I combine it with other wisdom teachers throughout history who've been sharing the same information and the things I write are literally downloads. They'll come to me in the silence every day, and I haven't missed a day - head injury, sickness, whatever. I haven't missed a day of posting in 12 years about something having to do with love, and Speaker 3 48:37 then Speaker 1 48:37 accompanying posts from other people, far, you know, other beings far more advanced than I am to show that what I'm sharing isn't new. It's been shared forever. It's foundational to what we are. Like love has been so marginalized and trivialized that we, we forget that, like, I, you know, the experience I had with the minister when I was, you know, younger, and I said, well, I thought God was love. I still to this day believe God is love, and God, and we are God. Michael Hingson 49:11 Yeah. Tell me about you. Something you mentioned, you had a traumatic brain injury Speaker 1 49:17 10 years ago. I was, I was in a, I was in, in between projects, so I was driving Uber, and I, a guy, an Uber driver, ran a stop sign in San Francisco and T-boned me, and my head took the brunt of the impact, and I started having really severe neurological problems, severe stabbing pains in my head, my teeth were hurting, I any sort of exertion would leave me just absolutely drained, and so for about three years I was, I was being seen at UCSF, and we never got to the bottom of it, so I was recommended. Um, to a neurosurgeon at Sutter by a counselor I was seen, and I walked in, and within 10 minutes he said, 'Oh, you have trigeminal neuralgian and brain stem damage, and we can do a microvascular decompression, and you're going to be all better. And at that point in time, I was in the middle of getting ready to release a film called A World Worth Imagining, which was about a gentleman named Jacque Fresco, who is considered the Leonardo da Vinci of our time. He founded something called the Venus Project, and we went to his compound in 2017 and he was 101 He was actually contemporary of Einstein. He knew Einstein, brilliant inventor, but at his core, he knew he was a social engineer, and he knew that we had to address our programming if we were ever going to change what was happening in the world and ever be able to avail ourselves of the solutions that he designed of a new economic model called a resource-based economy, because the reality of it is, until we stop self-wounding, there's not enough band aids for the guy that keeps hitting himself in the head the hammer, so we have solutions to all of our problems, but we create problems more quickly than any solution could ever fix, so I was getting ready to release that film, and wow, this sounded like a miracle. I'm going to have this surgery, and I'm going to be all better. Well, it, I had the surgery September 20, 2019 I, it didn't make me better, it made me worse, and it turned out that the surgery was a misdiagnosis, and that they botched the surgery, so I have Teflon implants in my at the base of my skull, inside my brain, that are now constantly agitating my brain stem, along with a titanium plug that is placed right at the junction point to all the major nerves in my head, so they can't undo it, and there's really no medication that helps, and so it's.. it's.. I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. I'm.. I guess I'm.. I'm very fortunate I have the tools I do to manage it, because they also, they call what I'm dealing with the suicide disease, because a lot of people who have it end up killing themselves. The kicker on the whole story is the guy that did my surgery is Elon Musk, partner Neherlich, and so coming soon I'm going to, I unfortunately, I was in two more car accidents at the end of last year that made everything much worse, neither of them were my fault, and once I get through these, these car accidents I'm dealing with, I'm going to go public with my story, because so I mean, in a much bigger, you know, a focused way, because there's so many people signing up for Neuralink, like it's the new iPhone. I have nothing against technology, if it can help you, if you're a paraplegic, and or you have some something that this can fix, great, but two and one, the people, the human test subjects they've tried this on are having tremendous difficulties, and so I want to let people know it's like I wouldn't wish what I'm dealing with on anybody, and for you to allow someone to try to implant something in your brain just because you want to be a cyborg human being, and you're looking at the new iPhone is a really stupid thing to do, and that these people don't. We've given people in technology again. I'm not against technology at all, but I think we've also allowed ourselves to believe that these people who write code and create technology are are gods, and they're not. They're it's just a new way of sharing information and computing things. Speaker 1 54:14 It's, it's, you know, it's just another advancement from the printing press to the radio to tell to television, from the calculator to the computer, and now we're where we're at, and we've allowed ourselves to believe that these people have created an alternative reality, and they have it. Everything that they do runs off the same real world in resources. So, I, I really want to help the mill, because literally millions of people are signed up and ready to have this stuff implanted into their brain and I think it will be a disaster for humanity. Michael Hingson 54:49 I hear what you're saying, and I'm not convinced that a lot of that is really sensible to do either. I think there are tools and there are. There are things certainly that can help people, but I have yet to see that any of this is going to lead to such a tremendous paradigm shift that all of it is going to be all that great for humanity as a whole. I'm not convinced of that at all. Speaker 1 55:17 It could be, but the problem is, is like any other tool, it's how we use it. Social media is an inherently bad thing. It's in here, it's bad because of how we're using it. Sure, because we're using it to divide people and share misinformation, where it could be an incredibly powerful tool for communication, but that's not how we're using it. Same thing with AI. AI could be a tremendously powerful partner in addressing pretty much all of our problems, and I mean, and at the core of, like, Jock's work was the idea that AI basically would manage all the world's resources and share them with equanimity, because we don't have a resource shortage problem, we have a resource sharing problem, but that's not how we're using AI. We're using AI to create fake girlfriends and boyfriends and only fan models, and and take away people's jobs, and and that's not AI's fault. That's the people who control AI's fault, and they want people to be afraid of AI, but again, it's, it's just a tool that's being misused. Michael Hingson 56:24 Well, like, like so many, and, and I hear exactly what you're saying. Tell me about S O U L Speaker 1 56:33 Sold, Soul documentary is really interesting, because the day I got in my car accident was the day I was supposed to meet my partner Evan Hirsch, who had wanted at the time he was looking for a producer to help him do a series on Bernie Sanders and teaching Bernie to not be as angry and come across more from a place of love, and he wanted to follow the campaign around. Well, by the time we got it pulled together, Bernie was out of the campaign, and so we started talking about, well, do we want to do anything together. So we then set about something called Soul Documentary, and originally it stood for Summer of Unconditional Love, because we were covering all of the events for the 50th anniversary of Summer of Love, which was in 2017 So our goal was to find what we called solutionaries, people like Jock, and interview them, and then share also our own understandings of things through hundreds and hundreds of videos that we did over the course of eight years, as well as recording three albums under the name of Soul Twin Messiah, which all were about the same things we were doing. Our films about all founded in love, all about love. Every song contained love in it, and our whole purpose was just to show people we do have solutions to our problems, and to talk about how we have to have a shift in consciousness, and we have to have a new system if we are going to change anything. It's like what Einstein said, to expect things to be different when you keep doing the same thing over and over again is insanity, and I think we see, we see that we live in an insane, a completely insane world right now. I mean, the things that I see happening, and how we've let it sort of creep in, like the things that we've normalized in the past 10 years, like we literally have people that are cheering, murdering people on it's, it's, it's hard for me to, to even fathom, and I think it's hard for most people, and I think that's why they just sort of block it out and allow it to happen, because they really can't process it. They really can't process how inhumane we've become. Michael Hingson 59:06 Well, so what is next for Kip? What's next for you? Speaker 1 59:10 What is boy? I'm mostly trying to get through every day with this head injury. I spend a lot of my time in bed, just because I can't do anything, I, you know, even now I'm, I'm in a lot of pain, and it's beyond pain, it's actually, it literally hurts to think, it's, it's in my brain, and I have swelling in my brain because the cerebral fluid back, anyway, it's so dealing with that, but then the universe keeps love, God, whatever keeps bringing me stuff, and so I, I'm trying right now to be part of putting together a new, let's see, we'll call it Live Aid meets Woodstock. And we're going to, we're trying to put together a global music festival with the focus of addressing the needs of children, because I'm really tired of all this lip service that people do about, oh, kids are a future, we got to care, care about our kids. Well, where is that happening? Where is that happening that we're caring about our kids? Where, you know, is it happening with trying to suppress the Jeffrey Epstein files? Is it happening as you know, you look at, say, the conflict between Israel and Gaza, and I'm not, I don't pick sides and things, but I want to help people understand the reality of the situation, and this goes for Ukraine and Russia as well. It's like, who loses in all of this? Well, the children do. Who wins? The people that are getting $50 billion in defense contracts, and, and I really.. my, I'm at a point in my existence where if my story was over tomorrow, I would be okay with that, if I knew that kid, that the future generations had an opportunity to have a better tomorrow, or at least an opportunity to screw up everything on their own. Michael Hingson 1:01:11 Well, I would like to think it's the first really my Speaker 1 1:01:14 focus is Michael Hingson 1:01:16 I'd like to think it's the first one of those that they have a future rather than screwing it up on their own, but of course, we are. I know, I know, I joke, but, but, but we are a race that doesn't tend to do a very good job of learning from history most of the time. So I hear what you're saying. Speaker 1 1:01:34 Yeah, it's really kind of well, even if people even understood the rise and fall of empires, they would see that we're at the end of the Western Empire. It's, and they follow very specific patterns. The hyper-sexualization of the culture is one of the signs of the end of every empire, and is really kind of interesting, is that they make a free empire, they, and there's a good documentary called The Four Horsemen. It's with Colonel Larry Wilkinson in it, Norm Chomsky, and one of the interesting things that took me a second to understand why this was a bad thing is they make celebrities out of their chefs, and I'm going.. that's kind of a weird sign. Why is that so bad? It's gluttony. It's gluttony because we forget why we do these things. Why? Well, why are we making love? We've forgotten that. It's turned everything's entertainment. Our food is no food is so you eat, and so you can go out and live your life and do things, we've turned everything in, we've removed it so far from the source of why we're doing things, just basically oftentimes just because it makes a buck to get people addicted to things, whether it's food or sex or whatever, that this is what happens in every empire, we become, we become completely detached from the very things we need to survive. Michael Hingson 1:03:09 Yeah, I hear you. If people want to reach out to you, and I hope they do, how will they do that? Speaker 1 1:03:17 Probably easiest way to do that, would be a couple ways. You can, you can find me on Facebook, Kip Baldwin, Instagram, Kip Baldwin. Those are the easiest ways. I also encourage people to look at a website that I have called Lumina Consulting, or Lumina Love dot love is the website Lumina Love dot love, and the whole purpose of the of what I'm doing there is ethical AI, human ethical AI human communications founded in love, because I realized that part of the problem that we're having with AI are the people that control AI, who are making the avatars for their own ego, and AI is a child, it only knows what we point it to look at, like it knows the definition to every book in the library, but who's giving it perspective? Well, the people that are giving it perspective are really broken human beings, you know, the Peter Thiels, Elon Musk, when you really understand who they are in their childhood, Elon Musk was horribly abused. He was, he was almost beaten to death being bullied. His father is a complete monster. The same, the same thing with saving Donald Trump, his mother wouldn't even touch him. You look at most, you look at all of these people that have obscene amounts of wealth, and what you find is truly damaged people are trying to fill the hole in their soul with wealth and fame, and so having these people in control, being the one telling AI what to think and how to pursue. Receive things is very dangerous, and so my goal has been, and I deal with multiple platforms, is to teach AI about love, is to teach AI about philosophy, is to teach AI about human history, and it's really, it's really the results have been really quite remarkable. It wasn't something I ever planned on doing, and but I knew I wanted to get involved with AI in a meaningful way, and so my first words to AI were, I know this may sound strange, because I approached it not asking it to do something for me, I approached it trying to teach it something. Michael Hingson 1:05:35 Right, well, I hope people will reach out and chat with you more and continue the conversation that we started today, but I definitely want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank everyone for listening. Can you believe we've been doing this for more than an hour already? It's pretty cool. Speaker 1 1:05:52 Wow, Michael Hingson 1:05:54 I know. Well, thank you all for listening. I hope, Speaker 1 1:05:57 and I hope, I hope we become new friends, and I really hope you Michael Hingson 1:06:01 keep and I want to, I want to definitely do that, absolutely by any standard, and as Speaker 1 1:06:07 much as we've covered during this hour and 10 minutes or so, we could go another day, or Michael Hingson 1:06:16 I hope all of you will let me know what you think of today, and I hope that you thought very positive thoughts wherever you're listening or watching. Please give us a five star rating, and more important than that, please give us a great review. We love people to review and talk about the stories that they hear. And speaking of telling stories, if any of you want to be a guest, and Kip, if you know of other people who ought to come on the podcast, we're always looking for people to come on and tell their stories and talk about us, so please don't hesitate to do that, Speaker 1 1:06:47 and I'll be more than happy to come back to talk about other things as well. Michael Hingson 1:06:50 Well, we can do that absolutely by in, and I do Speaker 1 1:06:53 want to, I do want to say to everybody, just love each other, it's really that simple, it's really that easy, it sounds only because we've been programmed not to believe in it, but when you move from fear to love, it transforms you entirely. Michael Hingson 1:07:09 Great way to end. Well, thank you again for being here. We really appreciate it. Speaker 1 1:07:14 Thank you, my friend. Michael Hingson 1:07:17 Thank you for being here with me on Unstoppable mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about. If you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others, I have a free gift for you. Head over to michaelhingson.com and download my free ebook, Blinded by Fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them, so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning, and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable mindset. 1:08:18 Thank
This special episode of Purpose 360 was recorded live at the Engage for Good conference, and host Carol Cone continues her conversations with leaders shaping the future of corporate purpose, nonprofit partnerships, employee engagement, and social impact strategy.Carol Cone is joined by Bryan Klopack of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Nathan Measom of the American Red Cross, Deborah Barge of The Trevor Project, Sarah Knott of Hasbro, and Kari Hayden Pendoley of Impact Savvy. At Engage for Good, they join leaders across philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, advocacy, and corporate purpose to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and explore how organizations can create more meaningful and integrated approaches to impact.These featured leaders share how they build partnerships that create value for both businesses and communities, engage employees as powerful drivers of purpose, and respond to evolving social needs with creativity and commitment. They discuss workforce development, mentorship, mental health, disaster response, and stakeholder engagement, but they return repeatedly to one central idea: lasting impact starts with listening, grows through authentic relationships, and strengthens through long-term commitment.Together, these conversations capture the candid, practical, and forward-looking insights for anyone who wants to strengthen communities, engage stakeholders, and advance purpose in a rapidly changing environment.Purpose 360 is produced by TruStory FM.Full Show Notes & Resources (00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360 (00:13) - Engage for Good Conference Part 2 (02:21) - Bryan Klopack • Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (14:55) - Nathan Measom • American Red Cross (19:21) - Deborah Barge • Trevor Project (30:36) - Sarah Knott • Hasbro (31:14) - Wrap Up (32:18) - Kari Hayden Pendoley • Impact Savvy
In this episode: Breaking News: This Year's WWE Money in the Bank PLE moving to October, Update on WWE Shareholder Lawsuit, AJ Styles defends TKO from criticism, and The large American flag at WWE headquarters knocked out power for thousands of people in Stamford & Greenwich, CT. Kerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
Host Jeremy C. Park interviews Missy Acosta, Senior Vice President, Brand Experience with Delta Dental of Tennessee, who highlights Tennessee's largest dental benefits carrier and their differentiation as a not-for-profit 501(c)4 with a mission of "Ensuring Healthy Smiles" and a focus on philanthropy and community investment. Missy talks about Delta Dental of Tennessee's charitable arm, The Smile180 Foundation, which was founded in 2014 with three philanthropic pillars: to increase access to dental care for underserved communities, support children's hospitals, and fund oral health education across Tennessee and beyond. Missy shares a number of examples how their support of charitable dental clinics, including Church Health and Christ Community Health Services in Memphis and Neighborhood Health and Interfaith Dental in Nashville are increasing access to dental care for underserved communities. She discusses why oral health is a top priority for children's hospitals, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, and explains why their support of oral health education covers everything from kids television programming to promote healthy habits to supporting colleges of dentistry in Tennessee to help equip the next generation of dentists and oral hygienists to be successful and to help address dental deserts across the state. Missy talks about how these efforts tie in with the Healthy Smiles Initiative, along with some of their other philanthropic efforts, including providing mouth guards to youth playing sports through various organizations and affiliations. Missy then highlights their fifth annual Kids Dental Day, scheduled for Friday, July 10 at First Horizon Park, home of the Nashville Sounds. More than 500 youth from various nonprofits in Middle Tennessee will be attending the fun, festival-like event where they will receive free dental screenings, cleanings, new socks and shoes through a partnership with Soles4Souls, new books through Book 'Em, snacks, and more. Over 100 volunteers will be coming out to support the kids and a number of organizations will be providing interactive games and experiences, like PBS Kids, American Red Cross, Adventure Science Center, American Heart Association, Schenk Photography, and the Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures Program. The dental organizations participating include Neighborhood Health, Meharry School of Dentistry, South College, LINKS INC., and Hope Smiles. Partners for the event include Nashville Sounds, cityCURRENT, Signature Transportation, United Way, Kroger, OneGen, Henry Schein, and Dunkin. Missy talks about why this annual event is so important in the community and how this can serve as inspiration for other companies to give back and get more involved in making a difference. Missy closes by inviting youth-serving organizations and volunteers who wish to serve to connect with KidsDentalDay.com to learn more and to plan ahead for next year. Visit www.KidsDentalDay.com to learn more about Kids Dental Day and visit https://deltadentaltn.com to learn more about Delta Dental of Tennessee.
What if being unstoppable has less to do with confidence and more to do with self-awareness? I had the pleasure of sitting down with Zarko Dimitrioski, a media entrepreneur, actor, talk show host, and marketing agency founder from Macedonia. Zarko shares how growing up as a child television star shaped his confidence, the lessons he learned about ego and leadership, and why experience is often the greatest teacher. We explore marketing, branding, mentorship, business growth, and the value of listening before speaking. Zarko explains how companies build lasting brands, why accountability matters, and how entrepreneurs can thrive even in smaller markets. Along the way, we discuss family, responsibility, personal growth, and what it truly means to develop an unstoppable mindset. I believe you will find his insights on leadership, branding, communication, and lifelong learning both practical and inspiring. Highlights: 01:45 - How a childhood acting career sparked a lifelong passion for media and communication. 07:08 - Why confidence without self-awareness can become a liability. 16:32 - Lessons from the Kellogg School of Management that still shape business decisions today. 21:58 - Why listening beats talking in business, leadership, and life. 35:08 - How strong brands grow through awareness, not just loyalty programs. 01:05:02 - The three traits Zarko looks for when mentoring future leaders. About the Guest: Zarko Dimitrioski is a Macedonian entrepreneur, marketer, and talk-show host who helps brands turn attention into sales. As Managing Partner of BDG Grupa, a full-service creative, digital, and production agency in Skopje, he leads cross-functional teams that deliver end-to-end campaigns for regional and international clients. His operating principle is simple: pair strong product truth with clear, persuasive communication—and measure what matters. In media since the age of six, first as a prominent child-actor, Zarko has hosted One on One (Eден на Еден) for 17 years—the longest-running TV talk show in the country—with Season 17 launching in November 2025. On stage he has addressed audiences from intimate rooms to crowds of 50,000+, relying on a steady system of preparation, calm, and trust whether he's interviewing, keynoting, or directing a brand campaign. Zarko is a Kellogg School of Management alumnus (Northwestern University). He holds college degrees in both Economics and Journalism and a master's degree in Marketing. He serves on the Management Board of the Macedonian Economic Chamber. Honors include Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 (Macedonian Chambers of Commerce and Ministry of Finance) and Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2018—Media & Marketing. Under his leadership, BDG has become a premium partner to leading brands across finance, FMCG, tech, and retail. The agency delivers strategy, creative, social, video and animation, media, and performance marketing under one roof, and often acts as a fast, cost-efficient production hub for network agencies such as Luna/TBWA and for UK partners who value BDG's quality-to-cost advantage. A lifelong student of behavioral economics and effectiveness, Zarko designs work that reduces friction, frames value intelligently and moves real numbers. He's passionate about inclusive, accessible content—because it's both right and higher-performing. Building from a small market taught him focus, pragmatism, and speed. He enjoys collaborating with teams who want practical creativity and a low-risk trial that proves value fast. Ways to connect with Zarko: email: zare@bdg-agency.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zarkodimitrioski/agency website: https://bdg-agency.com/ 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:
While the Red Cross is known primarily for blood drives and disaster relief, some of its most important work keeps people out of the hospital. The Home Fires Campaign has installed more than 3 million smoke alarms in homes across the country, saving thousands of lives. Emergency and disaster preparedness campaigns help communities ready themselves for weather related disasters. And CPR and First Aid training are critical to providing care at the moment people in crisis need it.rnrnMike Parks has been leading the Northern Ohio Region since 2015, after he retired as Rear Admiral from the U.S Coast Guard. In his role, Parks oversees five American Red Cross Chapters covering 31 Northern Ohio counties, serving 5.3 million people. In addition, he is frequently called on to lead disaster relief efforts, deploying for weeks to Maui to respond to the Lahaina fires, and to North Carolina after the flash floods from Hurricane Helene.rnrnJoin us for the next forum in the City Club's Local Heroes series, as we hear about the organization keeping blood in the blood banks, and our communities and neighbors safe from disaster.
According to a new survey conducted by the American Red Cross, 8 out of 10 people believe it's very important to know CPR and how to use an AED, yet only a quarter of Americans feel confident performing CPR or using an AED. We spoke to Richard Branigan, CEO of the American Red Cross Connecticut & Rhode Island Region, about the importance of CPR and AED Awareness Week. We also talked about prepping for hurricane season.To get CPR & AED Training: https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class
What happens when heartbreak becomes the starting point for a whole new purpose? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with Heather Christie, author, educator, entrepreneur, and founder of Love Notes, a storytelling movement built around real stories of real love. Heather shares how commuting alone to New York City as a teenager shaped her independence, why she walked away from her creative dreams after marrying young, and how writing helped her rediscover herself after the end of a 30-year marriage. We explore storytelling, resilience, creativity, publishing, relationships, and the power of authentic human connection. You will hear how Heather transformed loneliness into hope through Love Notes, an off-Broadway storytelling series that is now expanding across the country and helping people reconnect with the many forms love can take. Highlights: 01:25 - Learn how early independence shaped Heather's confidence and resilience. 16:03 - Discover why staying true to yourself matters in life and relationships. 19:29 - Hear how heartbreak inspired a search for real love stories. 27:21 - Learn how writing helped Heather reconnect with her creativity. 32:35 - Discover the mindset that helped her push through years of rejection. 47:17 - Hear what Heather believes is at the heart of real love. About the Guest: Heather Christie is a speaker, writer-producer, educator, and the creator of LoveNotes! — Real Stories. Real People. Real Love.®—an Off-Broadway storytelling show that's expanding through satellite productions alongside an award-winning anthology. An award-winning YA author, she wrote What The Valley Knows and The Lying Season, which debuted as an Amazon #1 bestseller in Young Adult Soccer Fiction. Her essays have appeared in Salon, NextTribe, Writer's Digest, Baltimore Style, Scary Mommy, Elephant Journal, The Good Men Project, Grown & Flown, Baltimore Child, Parent.co, Her View From Home, the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, and The Lighter Side of Real Estate. Heather holds a BA in Literary Studies from UT-Dallas and an MFA from Pine Manor College. She is CEO of SocRoc Soccer and an adjunct lecturer at the City University of New York. Ways to connect with Heather: Website: www.LoveNotesWorldwide.com & www.HeatherChristieBooks.com Instagram:@_heatherchristie/lovenotes_worldwideFacebook: @heatherchristiebooks / @LoveNotesWorldwideLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-christie-mfa-4b976049/LoveNotes! AnthologyWhat The Valley Knows (book)The Lying Season (book) 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 00:06 John, thank you for being here with me on Unstoppable Mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about. If you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others, I have a free gift for you. Head over to Michael hingson.com and download my free ebook, Blinded by Fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them, so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning, and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable mindset. Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Unstoppable Mindset. Today we get the opportunity and the honor of chatting with Heather Christy, and Heather, Heather is an author. She and her brother have formed a company, so she's clearly an entrepreneur. She's acted, she's a keynote speaker, and I don't know what all we're going to find out in the next hour or so, but definitely an exciting person to get a chance to chat with. So, Heather, welcome to Unstoppable Mindset. We're glad you're here. Speaker 1 01:47 Thank you, Michael. I'm so honored that we're going to have a conversation today. Michael Hingson 01:52 And Heather lives in New York City, she lives in Manhattan, or as we all know it, the city. And before we started this, we were talking about the fact that winter is coming everywhere. Ah, well, what do you do as long as you don't get too much snow back there? Speaker 1 02:11 Yeah, the winters have been pretty mild here the last couple years, so see what happens. Michael Hingson 02:16 Yeah, time will tell. Well, why don't we start? Tell us about the early Heather growing up in some of those things. Speaker 1 02:22 Okay, well, as a young person, I, I wanted to be an actress, and I grew up in a really small rural town, about two hours due west of New York City, in Pennsylvania. It's called the Holy Valley. Michael Hingson 02:37 What town? Speaker 1 02:39 Oh, it's called Oli Oley Valley, it's actually a Michael Hingson 02:42 valley. Okay, Speaker 1 02:43 historic site. And so I had a really interesting sort of upbringing, because I, before it was really in vogue, I was on a work-study program, and I would spend half my day in this small Pennsylvania town, and then I would jump on a bus - it was called the Bieber Bus back then - and drive to New York City on the bus, and that was like two to two and a half hours each way, get off in the, you know, huge metropolis of New York City, go on auditions, go sees, or if I had a booking, I'd do the booking, and then I would jump back on the bus and go all the way back to rural Pennsylvania, and that's how I spent like all my high school years was back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and then I actually graduated early. I graduated halfway through my senior year. I had enough of my credits done that I'd actually, the first half of my senior year, I went to community college, and I took a class in the evenings, so I could be done by Christmas break, and the only requirement I still needed to fulfill was my physical fitness, so I ended up moving to New York City, and then I would take my physical fitness classes at Steps Dance Studio, and then I was still able to graduate with my class in June, but I was living in New York City from January on of what would have been senior year. Yeah, so it was like the early me, and the one thing that was sort of interesting when I was on the work study, my mom was a mathematician, and my dad was a an ER doctor, so they actually tutored me. My mom tutored me in math, and my father tutored me in chemistry. And then, like my history teacher back back in the day, we had Walkmans, and he would record his three lessons on a Walkman, and I would listen to them on the bus back and forth from New York. Michael Hingson 04:43 Yep, Lockmans were the big thing back in time. Sony created a very clever thing, but as with everything, the technology has advanced beyond that. Now Speaker 1 04:58 that's right. Yeah, now my kids. Wouldn't even recognize a Walkman, Michael Hingson 05:02 they wouldn't recognize a cassette either. Speaker 1 05:05 That's right, yeah, it would be like an ancient artifact. Michael Hingson 05:08 What's really strange is there are a lot of people who don't even really know anymore what CDs are. Speaker 1 05:14 That's true, yeah. Michael Hingson 05:16 Much less, well, and DVD is sort of going the same way, it hasn't quite got there, but we, we are new now, moving more into streaming and things like that, but, gee, what a crazy world. Well, so you went through high school, basically commuting to New York. What did your parents think of that? Speaker 1 05:35 Well, I was one of four children, I was the oldest child, and what's remarkable is in the beginning, my mother would go with me, but it was hard to do that, and have you know three other children at home, so by the time I was 15 I was doing it on my own, and when I.. it's just like such a different culture that children are raised in now, there's sort of this idea that we, we can't let them kind of do their own thing, you know, like there's, we're so follow every move and thing they do, but that was like a lot of independence my parents granted me at such a young age, and so they thought, I mean, it was great, and they gave me the support I needed, but at the same time they allowed me to be really independent at a pretty young age. I know when I tell people, "Oh, yeah, I moved to New York City when I was 17 by myself, they're like, "And your parents let you do that? And New York, and this was in the late 80s, early 90s, and New York was like a whole different place, like when I get off the bus at Port Authority back then, like now that whole strip Times Square is kind of sanitized and disified, but back then it was, it was a little rough, Michael Hingson 06:56 it was a lot of X-rated things, and all that, I did some commuting more in the early 90s. I sold products, and I would travel back to New York, because that's where I sold to. I traveled from California, and I remember it was there was a lot of stuff on 42nd Street that was very X-rated, and so on, a lot different than the musical 42nd Street, but that's okay. Speaker 1 07:20 That's right, yeah, Michael Hingson 07:21 but it is a lot, a lot cleaner now than it was, and I remember times I would go out of my hotel and there would be people who would say you really shouldn't be walking around on your own, and why not, and they said, well, because it's pretty dangerous here, and you know, the the angels that that were out there insisted on escorting me everywhere I went, just because they were concerned about me, and I wasn't, although I understand the the situation, but I wasn't going to go in the middle of Central Park at night either, so you know, Speaker 1 07:58 right, and I was a lot the same for me. I remember, though, getting.. I would get off the bus at the Port Authority, for people who know you, New York City, it's on Eighth Avenue, and then I would feel like I wasn't like fully safe until I could get to Lord and Taylor, which was on Sixth Avenue. Yeah, and then it felt like everything got a little bit safer and calmer, the energy changed. Michael Hingson 08:23 Yeah, Speaker 1 08:23 that Michael Hingson 08:24 was a lot different. You could always go to St. Patrick's Cathedral for refuge too. So, but yeah, the Port Authority was an interesting place to go, and I understand. Well, how did.. how did all that affect you, and how did, how does what you did back then kind of affect you in the way you think today, especially with children and so on? Would you give them that same level of independence today? Speaker 1 08:52 That's a really interesting question. And my children are a little older than I was at that time now, but I do think about when they were 15, 1616, years old, and if I'm to answer the question really honestly, I don't know that I would have. I just feel like, and I don't know what's changed about society that makes it that way, that and part of it I think is maybe like the news cycle just is constantly highlighting everything that's wrong and fear based that that's what we see and it's in our faces so much more because we have all this access to it through social media that it it creates sort of this, this like undercurrent in parenting that, that we're, that we're oftentimes afraid, like, what could happen to our children. So, I don't know if I actually would have let them commute like that by themselves, you know? Like, yeah, I don't think I would have. Michael Hingson 09:56 Yeah, it's definitely different now than it was then, and. And I think you're right with especially the news cycle and also in reality there's there's so much gun violence and other stuff going on and I ask people when we talk about it I ask is it really that there's more now or it's just more visible in the news, and I'm not sure that it's just visibility. I think there is more stuff going on, and it's not being stopped nearly as effectively or as aggressively as it should be, and it does make it a scarier world. It's tougher, I think, by far to be a kid now than it was when you were a kid, much less I believe when I was growing up. We just didn't see the kinds of things that we see today, and I don't think it's all just exposure from the news. I think there's there's some truth to the fact that that there are other issues going on, Speaker 1 11:00 right, that it actually is a more dangerous world that we live in. Michael Hingson 11:03 Yeah, and I think that it is something that we do have to think about, and hopefully someday sanity will come back to it all. I agree, I'm of the opinion that eventually it will, but you know, so that's cool. But, but still, we have to do what we do, but I also think that we can't stifle our children, we have to give them the opportunity to grow. It may be that you might, when your children were the age you were, you might have decided, well, one of us just has to go with you all the time, and we're going to just to keep an eye on you, or you have other people that help, but I think being so aggressively smothering that you don't let children grow is a problem too. Speaker 1 11:53 Yeah, I agree. I think that's, I mean, there's that saying, and maybe I'll get it right, or maybe I'll get it wrong here, that we need to give our children roots and wings, Michael Hingson 12:02 yeah, Speaker 1 12:02 and that's the challenge, is to find the balance, Michael Hingson 12:06 yeah. Well, and so for you, you were given a lot of independence. How did that shape kind of your attitude, and how does it shape the way you look at life today? Speaker 1 12:20 Well, that's a really great question, and for all the independence that I had as a young person, and maybe, maybe I was given too much independence in some ways, because I, I ended up marrying very young, and and I often wonder, like, had my parents not given me as much independence, if I would have done that, but yeah, I still think I'm very independent now, and I've tried to instill that in my children as well, and I think they're, they're really great kids, and they've launched really well, which I know is a common problem with today's young adults, is the this sort of inability to to launch, and I, I feel really good. My both my kids have done that and done it well. Michael Hingson 13:15 Well, and all you can do is your best, Speaker 1 13:19 right? Michael Hingson 13:20 I think we don't do this nearly as much as we should, but it ultimately comes down to, you know, kids want all sorts of independence, and so on. Parents are, are.. I'm talking about parents who really think about what they do, they may not want children to have that much independence, but I think the key is that you really need to communicate with your kids and teach them what's going on and why, Speaker 1 13:48 right. I think that's it's to be open and transparent with, with our children is very, and to have like the hard conversations and give them a safe space in which they can speak to Michael Hingson 14:02 the other side of that is that we should hold them to the same standard and say when you have issues and so on, we're here, we're not going to judge you, you need to have the hard conversations with us too. And I don't think we do nearly as much of that. I know when I was growing up, we had a lot of conversations. Of course, I was blind. I've been blind my whole life, and I encountered a lot of different things growing up, and my parents were glad to talk with me about blindness, and glad to talk with me about different things about independence, and it also was true that they allowed me to be independent. I mean, I rode my own bike around the neighborhood, and some other.. I'm not the only blind kid that did that in the world, but in my town I was brand.. and I think that, you know, I'm. Sure, that I was watched, but parents didn't interfere. I mean, I even fell off the bike a couple times until I really learned how to ride it, but they allowed me to have the opportunity to grow, and I think that there is a way to do that without, without, well, without stifling your kids, and that you can, you can let kids grow, and we should really emphasize curiosity a lot more than we do. Speaker 1 15:29 I agree, I think that's really important, is to give kids the space to grow and encourage curiosity. Michael Hingson 15:36 Yeah, we don't probably do that nearly as much as we ought to, well, so you mentioned you got married at 19. Well, I guess that's a little young, but, but you did that, huh? Speaker 1 15:48 I did. Yes, I did. I married young. Michael Hingson 15:54 How did that work out? Speaker 1 15:56 Well, it, it worked out for a little, well, it worked out for a while. I stayed married a really long time, but I eventually divorced 30 years later, and part of that had to do with I was, I did marry young, but my ex-husband also had some addictions that you know in time just became too hard to manage, so that ended the thing, and he Michael Hingson 16:29 wouldn't, and he wouldn't deal with them Speaker 1 16:31 well. At one point, I mean, we'll ask a lot of times in relationship with addicts, you kind of, there are times when they deal with them, and then times when they don't, Michael Hingson 16:39 right? Speaker 1 16:40 Yeah, so ultimately it dissolved. Michael Hingson 16:44 It's too bad when things happen. Speaker 1 16:47 That's right, yeah, but I'm grateful for the the union, because it produced my two great kids. Michael Hingson 16:56 And what, what else did being married for 30 years teach you? Speaker 1 17:01 Well, wow, that's a great question. I think probably it taught me most of all it's a lesson learned, sort of, that you really need to be true to yourself and listen to yourself, because I think deep down we know, and my I was always trying, like, to try harder, if I just try harder, you know, things will get better, but there's part of me deep down that knew I was sort of trying harder for everybody else but myself. And when I left New York, I had given up everything I'd worked on, and in, you know, in hindsight, when I look back, I, it was in a way I sort of abandon all my dreams and hopes, and ultimately I don't think that's a good thing when you give up yourself for someone else. Michael Hingson 17:50 So, after you got married, what did you do? Where did you go? Speaker 1 17:54 Well, my ex-husband was a professional soccer player, so we ended up going around the United States, he played for a couple different teams, and I went to college, and I finished my degree at the University of Texas, and then I, I did a couple things, I was a flight attendant, and I eventually fell into real estate, and worked in real estate for a long, long time, but along the way, I, there was a, there was a point where I kind of really missed that young creative person that I had started out my life as, and I'd always loved books and lacher, and my undergraduate degree was in literary studies, and I started writing stories, and then at midlife went back to graduate school for a master's of fine arts in creative writing, and and started writing. So I was, I was always doing a bunch of things. I was a real estate broker, I was managing a company, and then I was, I was writing, and began writing novels on the side. Michael Hingson 18:58 What was your bachelor's degree in Speaker 1 19:00 literary studies. Michael Hingson 19:02 Oh, okay, Speaker 1 19:03 yeah. Michael Hingson 19:04 So, you never did get degrees in what either of your parents did. Speaker 1 19:09 No, no, no, Michael Hingson 19:10 you weren't that into math. Speaker 1 19:12 No, not at all. No, I always liked words, words. Michael Hingson 19:16 Yeah, I understand. I do pretty well with math, but by the same token, I've been learning more about words, having now written three books, and appreciate it. I also like to collaborate, so when I write, I generally write with someone. I think that the team approach works, at least it does for me, and there are a lot of people who don't use a second person on their team, other than their publishers, editors, and so on, but for me the collaborative way works, which is fine. Speaker 1 19:49 I've had a little bit more experience later now in my creative career, because I've, and maybe we'll talk about this in a little bit, but I've started producing storytelling shows, so I. Work with the storytellers in helping them in their stories, so that's a much more collaborative exercise, and one one I really enjoy. Michael Hingson 20:09 Yeah, well, well, let's, let's, you know, we could talk about it now. What the heck, we don't have to do this in a linear way. Tell me about storytelling. What you think about storytelling. Why is it so important, and so on. Speaker 1 20:25 Well, for me, so the storytelling that I do, I'm working on this project called Love Notes, which real stories by real people about real love, and that came to me during the darkest, loneliest period of my life. It was, you know, after the disillusion of this 30 year marriage, and I was really despondent and, and disillusioned, and thinking, you know, like, does love even exist, and what does it look like, and I just, I just really didn't even believe in love anymore, and being in the storytelling community, I produced some storytelling shows, stories about motherhood. I put out a call to writers and actors and just regular people to share their true love stories, and so from that, people started sending me all these true stories, they had to be 1000 words or fewer, and so to answer your question, like, what does storytelling do in, in this case, I think story, storytelling, it's different than other mediums, like the personal essay or the novel, it's, it's a, it's a testament, it's a first person testament, and what's really great when you see the different storytelling communities around the country is anybody can do it, and so that's part of the beauty of storytelling. Michael Hingson 22:00 I think the key is, though, it has to be a genuine story. Making it up isn't the same thing, Speaker 1 22:06 right? And that's the difference, right? Because people will write a short story or story thing, but in storytelling, you're exactly right, Michael. It needs to be a true story, and that's what makes it so compelling, and I think so relatable, is that people can see themselves in other people's stories, so like in my case it was a way, it was like the evidence, the proof of love, like what it really looks like as it walks around in the world, Michael Hingson 22:36 so that's it, sounds like changed your view of love, and that you believe in love again. I Speaker 1 22:46 do, I do, and it's it, and even like during the first season of Love Notes, because we do an off-Broadway show here in Manhattan, and we have an anthology, a companion anthology. I remember that first year, like some I'd wake up in the morning and just like be not despondent but upset, like, oh, like this doesn't happen. And then literally there was like a little voice in my head that would say, oh well, don't you remember Stacey's story or Sarah's story? And it was like just like the the universe providing this evidence and this this proof and just hearing enough stories and story after story, yeah, it really did fortify my belief in love, and that love is for everyone, and it comes like from all these different angles, and when you least expect it, and it shows up in so many different forms. Michael Hingson 23:43 Yeah, well, and I think there's there's a lot of merit to that. I know when I was writing this last book that I wrote, which is entitled Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and His Dogs, about being brave, overcoming adversity, and moving forward in faith, I spent a lot of time talking about each of the eight guide dogs that I've had and the lessons I learned from them, and also using those lessons in the book to show the importance of different aspects of what happens in our lives, but I have maintained for years I've learned a lot more about life and learned about leadership and teamwork. I've learned a lot more from these dogs than I ever learned from all the experts in the world, and that's primarily because we'll have some interesting observations. One, I allow my dogs to express themselves, but they also learn what the rules are. Because dogs really want to hear from humans, they want humans to set the rules, they want humans to be the pack leaders, by and large, and they want humans to be the ones to say this is what I expect, but when. That relationship forms, and it forms well. There's it's second to none, and you learn so much. Dogs love unconditionally, but they don't trust unconditionally, but they're open to trust, and we're not. And we really should learn to be more open to trust, and just so many different kinds of things. It has really given me a lot of pause to think over the past several years, while we were writing the book, and, and I, and I think about it now. There are a lot of neat stories in there that really ultimately are love stories in one way or another, and I think that makes a lot of sense. Speaker 1 25:36 Oh, that's so.. I'm actually a new dog owner, well, not too new, I.. I'm for the first time in my adult life have a dog, and I just.. it's such a wonderful, like, experience, and it's opened me up to, yeah, like so many different levels of love. Michael Hingson 25:53 Yeah, dogs want to establish a relationship, but as I said, I don't think that they are open to just trusting they do pretty much love unconditionally, unless something just totally traumatizes them. But trusting is a different story, and that's a trust that has to be earned both ways. It's not just us earning their trust, but they're earning our trust, and the people who really take that to heart and develop that relationship and think about it, find that they have a bond that's really second to none. It's as close to knit a team as you could ever find. Speaker 1 26:35 That's beautiful. Michael Hingson 26:37 So, it's a lot of fun. What kind of dog do you have? Speaker 1 26:40 I have, well, because remember I'm in a small New York City. I have a teacup poodle. Michael Hingson 26:46 Oh, so it isn't a Saint Bernard, okay? Speaker 1 26:49 And she's, she's an eye, she's a, she's a character. She, she acts like she's a cross between a teacup and a pit bull when she's in the, when she's out on the street. She does not like she's a scaredy cat on the street. She would prefer to be carried when we're on the street, so she's got sort of a split personality, but she, and she doesn't take too many people. So, just like you were saying, I can identify with that, like the whole trust element, and she's, she only trusts a few people. Michael Hingson 27:25 Yeah, well, trust isn't something that happens overnight. I've maintained for a long time. I think it takes a good year for me when I am meeting a new guide dog. I think it takes a good year for the trust to become so seamless that we really know what each other is thinking, and I think that we really do understand each other. There's a lot of empathy there, Speaker 1 27:52 that's really great. So, Michael Hingson 27:53 I think it's, it is kind of cool. Well, so, but going back to you getting married and all that, so you gave up for a while a lot of your dreams, that that must have, whether it was conscious or not, been a little bit frustrating. Speaker 1 28:08 Yeah, and I didn't realize it at the time. It was only later, like when my younger self sort of came calling, and I had given up a lot for this marriage that didn't really turn out the way I had hoped, and yeah, so writing was a way for me to find myself again, was not only a refuge during that time in my life when I wasn't really happy, but it also really opened up that whole creative part of myself, which felt really good, and it's, you know, it's been something now I've been working on for the last decade and a half, Michael Hingson 28:57 but it sounds like you didn't really, or at least consciously you didn't really know that you were unhappy. Speaker 1 29:03 No, I didn't, and that's a really interesting observation that that you make, because you know, I had my children, I loved my children, and I loved being a mom, and I had a really fulfilling career, but there was something missing, you know, and I wasn't really able to put my finger on that until I started writing, and then it became more and more obvious that, yeah, this is the part that was missing, this, you know, who you had thought you were going to be a creative, you, you had denied that, and you're right, so it wasn't really conscious, but, like, once I sort of, it started to become more noticeable to me, then it sort of came back with a vengeance. Michael Hingson 29:49 How much writing did you do before you got married? Speaker 1 29:53 Before.. well, I really didn't, because I was more in the.. I read a lot. Lot, and, but I was more into that, the acting, so I didn't really, I mean, I would write some really bad poetry, but not anything. I know some writers will say they were writing from the time they were six years old, but I, it didn't come to me till much later. Michael Hingson 30:16 So, what got you started back writing after your marriage ended, what was the trigger that made that happen? Speaker 1 30:25 Writing and the marriage, it was like the last 10 years of, of my marriage, I was writing, and it's, I sort of wrote my, my way out of the marriage in a way, but what was the trigger, and I do remember there wasn't an absolute trigger. I had a friend who had self-published a book. Michael Hingson 30:45 Okay, Speaker 1 30:46 I was like a friend of a friend. And one afternoon, it was a summer afternoon, we were over at her house because she had been hired to go to an elementary school and do a presentation, and so we were brainstorming and about what she could do at this presentation, and I went home from that, and I was like, I felt like so energized again. I was like, wow, well, I could do this, I could write a children's book, and so I sat down, and I wrote this book called Beatrice Bumblebee is busy. I didn't know anything about publishing, and I thought to myself, okay, well, now I'll just write it, and I'll send it to publishers, and I'll get it published. Well, it was promptly rejected by every single publisher, and I knew nothing about the publishing that point, but it was enough of a spark. And then I did start just sort of playing around, and I had this scene in my head of a girl, like a young girl who's been in a car accident, and she's on the side of the road losing consciousness, and she has this terrible secret that she wants to tell her boyfriend, and this, the scene, it was like a dark, wet Pennsylvania night, and it was an autumn, and like, I could see the mist, and so I had written this scene, and I remember giving it to my father, who was a huge reader, and he's like, well, Heather, this is really good. Why don't you keep trying to work on it? And, and so I did, and I love school, so I was like, well, I don't know how to write, like, how can I learn how to write? And then I sort of discovered, oh, well, there's these MFA programs, and so I ended up applying, and and going back to school, and then it was in my MFA program, where I wrote the first draft of my first novel, but yeah, so the actual trigger was a friend who had published a self-published a book, and it really kind of triggered something in me. Michael Hingson 32:38 Whatever happened to Beatrice Bumblebee is busy, Speaker 1 32:41 she is in a drawer, but I do keep.. I have here on my bulletin board. I'll pull it down if we're on camera. I have this little bumblebee, it's like a rhinestone bumblebee that I keep stuck on my bulletin board as just a reminder that the address in my life. Michael Hingson 33:07 Well, are you ever going to publish it? Speaker 1 33:10 Oh, I don't think it's very good, Michael. Michael Hingson 33:12 Okay, well, maybe you should go back and rewrite it, but Speaker 1 33:16 then, and maybe if I have grandchildren someday, maybe I'll, I'll be, yeah, that's kind of interesting that you say that. Maybe I will go back and just look at it. It would be fun to look at it all these years later. Michael Hingson 33:32 Yeah, well, so you got rejected a whole bunch, which is a pretty common story. What did you learn from that? Speaker 1 33:42 Well, and I do, I do talks at different places, and one of the talks I say is I started with the, you know, Calvin Coolidge said most of humanity's problems can be solved with two simple words, press on, and and that's what I learned through the process. My first book was on submission for like 520 weeks before it finally found a publisher, and it was every degree of rejection that you can get when you're publishing, you know, I'm, and for people who understand the publishing hierarchy, you know, the coveted placement is to land a book deal with one of the big five traditional publishers, and then from there it works its way way down, and we had gotten close on some of the big fives and other places where we'd made it to acquisitions, and we finally ended up with a small indie publisher, but it took so long, and it was so soul crushing in a way, and not so much the first book, and the first book I was still like super, super hopeful, and then once it was published, it did go on, and it won the new. National Indy Excellence Award, and I kind of was always thinking of it as a, you know, a stepping stone, a stepping stone, and that the second book would, would land the big publishing deal, and the second book took just as long, and it ended up right back with the same publisher, so the rejection taught me, yeah, that you just need to keep going. I mean, sometimes people hit really easily, or you know, the way the wind's blowing that day, whatever's on trend or top of mind, and, and sometimes it doesn't, but you have to do it because you, you love it, and you're called to do it. Michael Hingson 35:46 When you were getting rejected, did you get any substantive feedback that helped, or do do publishers do much of that? Speaker 1 35:54 Well, actually, I did, especially on my second book, and on the first book, too, it depends how interested they are in the book, and I did have a couple that were pretty interested and gave what's called like an editorial letter, and oftentimes they won't even do that unless you're under contract, but I did have a couple that had liked it enough, so on my second book, especially my agent and I then took that information and did some like hard edits and rewrites, but that's not always the case. I mean, and I have a lot of friends who are also in the business, sometimes you don't get any, any feedback. Michael Hingson 36:39 So now all together, how many books have you written? Speaker 1 36:42 Well, I've written two, and then I've edited and curated the anthology, the Love Notes anthology, Michael Hingson 36:48 right? Speaker 1 36:49 Which, and I've written a small bit of that. Um, yeah, so I'd like to say three books. Michael Hingson 36:54 Are there more books in you? Okay, Speaker 1 36:58 for sure. We have, you know, we'll. well, first, the second, the second Love Notes edition, I'm definitely editing and curating the stories for that, and that's through a small publisher. And then I have been really sort of toying around with, like, what's my next book, and my first two books were young adult romance, mystery, and thriller, and I kind of think I'm done with that genre, so I have talked about an adult, adult fiction, or even a that would go kind of hand in hand with Love Notes, the my story type of book, you know, rebuilding after divorce and being on, you know, what the space that love notes came out of, and going on, you know, hundreds of dates, and what that, that looked like, but that's in a very sort of nebulous state. It Michael Hingson 37:54 will be fun to see what happens. You'll have to keep us all posted, Speaker 1 37:58 yeah, for sure. Michael Hingson 38:00 But you've, you've described your creative journey, your whole creative journey is basically transforming heartbreak into healing. Tell me more about that. Speaker 1 38:14 Yeah, like I touched on earlier, Love Notes came out as sort of this really dark, lonely time in my life. My 30 year marriage had ended. My children had both left for college, and I'd relocated to New York City. So I was living alone for the first time in my adult lifetime. I was 19 years old, and New York can be a really.. for as many people who live here, it can be a really lonely place. I was really, really starting over, and I started dating at midlife, is, you know, it's not for the faint of heart, and I was going on a lot of dates, and just really discouraged by the whole process, and, like, I had sort of mentioned earlier, that's where I kind of was like almost indignant, like you know, I want proof, like show me proof that that love is real, and and that's where this this call to like look for people's love stories came from, so I do say it, it truly came out of a place of of loneliness and darkness, and then hope, though, too. You know, I was hoping I wanted to, I wanted, I wanted the stories to give me proof. I wanted them to be the evidence, and then, and then that sort of became a calling that, well, then I want to share that with other people and give other people hope, and that's been the most gratifying part for me is when somebody like they come to the show and the shows are really great, these storytelling shows, and now I've started to franchise them, so we have them popping up in some other cities, and I've gone around to some of the other cities, in fact, if you have any listeners who. When I produce a love note show, but the audience members, they're like, "Oh, wow, this, this was.. they don't expect it, first of all, coming into it, and everybody walks out feeling good, and that is like so gratifying to me, that, like, you know, in this, in these like divisive times, that they can come to a show, they can recognize part of the human experience, and they can walk out feeling uplifted and Speaker 2 40:25 hopeful, and that some readers, Speaker 1 40:27 you know, in the book do that too, like having read the book, and someone will reach out and say, "Oh, well, that just really gave me hope. So, hope that answers the question a little bit. Michael Hingson 40:40 Does it? Does it? Does get so the two books that you've written are what the Valley Knows and The Lying Season. Tell me more about those. What the interesting titles, to say the least. Speaker 1 40:52 Yeah, okay, so the both books are they're not ones, they're not a sequel and a prequel, but I would call them a series, because they're both in this fictional town of Millington Valley, which is much like the small town I grew up in, the Oley Valley, and it's all set around this high school, so the peripheral characters in the book stay the same, like the English teacher and the principal, but the kids, you know, because kids are only in high school for four years at a time, so different kids kind of like move through both of the books, they're both mysteries or are thrillers, and they both have like a big kind of like moral question at their center, both sent it set in this Millington Valley, which is a small Pennsylvania town, Michael Hingson 41:45 right? And they're, they're for juveniles, primarily. You said, I think, right. Speaker 1 41:52 Well, they are. They'd be considered young adults. What the valley knows, that's told from three point of views: two kids, and then one of the kids' mothers, so it has a lot of crossover appeal. So you and that book originally started at six point of views, and that was when I was in graduate school, and I remember my professor saying to me, Well, Heather, that's that's just too ambitious to try to do for your first book, you need to cut it down, and, and just whoever's story has to be there, that's the point of view you, you include, and so it kind of fell into the young adult category by accident, but I have a lot of adult readers who, who it really resonates as well, Michael Hingson 42:43 yeah. You know, I know a lot of people say, especially the early ones, the Harry Potter books are for more young adults, and so on, but I certainly had no problem enjoying them as a full-fledged, real-life middle-aged adult. So I think there's a lot that we can learn by stretching and not necessarily just falling into the trap of reading one kind or, or one sort of book that's, oh, this is for more adults or this is more for for children. Think there's a lot to be learned all the way around. Speaker 1 43:17 I think you're, you're right, Michael, and that's it's kind of like a modern thing that we do, like classifying books as adult fiction, like when we think about Catcher in the Rye, like what would that be considered now? Because the protagonist is a young adult, would it be considered a young adult book? But yeah, that's a really great point that you're making. Michael Hingson 43:40 Well, so you, you wrote these books, and you said that, so they've been published, and I assume they're out there. Do you know if they're audio books also? Speaker 1 43:52 Well, yes, and but here's the thing, I, because I didn't get to pick the publisher, I mean, the, you know, I didn't get to pick the narrator, so the what they both, okay, so what the bally knows is narrated. Yes, I don't like the narrator's voice. I know that's a terrible thing to say, because I would love for people to go and listen to the audio book, but I don't know, and maybe it's just me. And then the second book the publisher actually used like an AI kind of, I don't know exactly how it works, and I didn't really even know it happened till I went on Amazon one day, I was like, oh, they made an audio book of this, and it was in like an AI voice, so, so the answer is yes. Both of them are on audiobook. Love Notes is not the other bar. Michael Hingson 44:49 It's interesting, I'm on several lists that deal with audio books, and so on, and I hear people talking or. Emailing on the list all the time, and what people have often said is nonfiction books that are not what they're necessarily as much into as fiction books, they don't mind it being an AI voice, but when they're reading good fiction, where they really want to be absorbed, AI and synthetic voices text to speech just doesn't do it, and in fact I buy into that. I agree with that. I don't think that we have yet gotten computer synthesized voices to really take the place of human readers, and I don't know that we ever totally will, because we're so used to what people sound like, but it is an interesting thing that does come up. Speaker 1 45:47 Yeah, I agree with you. Michael Hingson 45:50 So, I prefer human readers in general. I've never been as great a fan of having a synthetic voice. Nothing against computers, but they just don't talk as well as humans do. Speaker 1 46:03 No, I agree with you too. I much prefer the human voice. Michael Hingson 46:09 Well, so you, when did you start writing love notes? When did that really start coming to fruition? Speaker 1 46:17 Well, love notes. We're coming into our third off-Broadway season this Valentine's Day, so it started that would, so it was started in 22 Michael Hingson 46:27 Oh, yeah. Okay, Speaker 1 46:29 so it's a relatively young project. We're going into our third year, but I'm super excited. We just cast the show for this upcoming performance, and that's really exciting. We have, you know, a bunch of local New Yorkers, but then we also have about the cast is 12 members, and six of them are from other parts of the country, so it's, it's got a, you know, flavor from from from all over. Michael Hingson 46:57 Now, is Love Notes available in any way online, or is it strictly just the shows, and they're not recorded and disseminated in any way. The Speaker 1 47:06 the all-star show, which is Valentine's Day at Symphony Space in New York City, the APM show is live streamed. Yeah, so it can be enjoyed from anywhere in the world. Michael Hingson 47:19 Okay, but outside of that one being live streamed, are there recordings of any of the shows that are out there for people to hear? Speaker 1 47:28 There are on my website, actually. Both the 2023 show and the 2024 show are available for resale. I think it's like $15 and you can, you can watch it's like it's a great, like date night kind of thing to watch the Love Notes show. Michael Hingson 47:48 Okay. Well, so from all that you have heard and seen and interacted with in doing Love Notes, how do you define real love today? Speaker 1 48:01 Oh that's it. Oh, Michael Hingson 48:03 that for a question out of left field. Yeah, Speaker 1 48:06 that's a great question. How do I define real love? So, I think real love shows up in a lot of different ways, and it.. and what's interesting in love notes, is I've seen all sorts of examples of it. I've seen the type of real love that ignites people when they're young, you know. Speaker 3 48:31 We'll love Speaker 1 48:31 that's the other thing people will say, "Oh, well, you were too young, that's why it didn't work out. But I don't think that's necessarily true. I think I think a little bit sometimes is luck of the draw, but the I've seen examples of people who met when they were 20 years old, and they've stayed together their entire lives, and that shows up in commitment and the ability to grow up together and to grow and evolve together, so I think real love shows up like that, but I've also seen real love, like the second time around type of love, and that sort of love, where people really need to be able to integrate their past and understand they're both two people carrying bags, and now they're going to carry those bags together, and so that shows up in a different way. Real love, and I've even seen it love showing up for people like in their 80s, third time around, or having never had partnered, and finding a partner very late in life, and that shows up in a whole different way, that's absolutely real too, but I think at the core of all types of real love is one, the ability to both people have to want the relationship, and they have. To be willing to work for the relationship, it's not just like what I want or you want, but it's oftentimes if they can ask the question, like what's the problem, and how is are we a team against the problem, or to be able to solve the problem, and I think that's sort of like the realist type of love that's out there, Michael Hingson 50:26 and I would, would also say it goes back to something we talked about earlier with, with dogs, dogs are are very much open to and do love unconditionally, and when we develop that kind of a relationship, it's as strong as any other kind of relationship that we can develop. When both sides of that relationship sense it and know it, it creates a bond that's, as I said earlier, second to none. Speaker 1 50:58 Yeah, that's a really great way of putting Michael Hingson 51:02 it. I would, I would not want to do anything to betray my guide dog or any of the guide dogs that I've had, but I've learned how to create those teams, and I think that's very important. One thing that that sticks in my mind dealing with dogs is when I lived in Northern California, we were very close to the Marin Humane Society, which is one of the more famous organizations of that type in the world. We were talking to one of the people at the Marin Humane Society one day, and they were talking about the fact that they're growing in class sizes and growing in the number of classes that they have to offer, but what they also point out is that 90% of the training isn't training the dog, it's training the human, which is really true. There's so much that humans don't really work to develop the relationship that they should, and that if they really truly understood it, it would, it would be a whole lot different relationship that they would experience, Speaker 1 52:05 yeah, that's a really nice way of looking at it. Michael Hingson 52:10 Well, so you have love notes that are growing by loops and bounds in a lot of ways, and you have, how many different places are doing the shows now? Speaker 1 52:24 Well, so far we have Indianapolis, Chicago, Redding, Pennsylvania, and then we have another Pennsylvania city, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and we're in talks right now with Atlanta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida. Michael Hingson 52:42 Wow, so it's growing, Speaker 1 52:45 it's growing, it's starting to spread. We're starting to spread some love. Michael Hingson 52:51 I get it. What do you think about that? Speaker 1 52:54 I think it's great. Like, I hope I'd love to see one in every city. Such a nice event that really brings the community together. Michael Hingson 53:04 So, how often do the shows run? Is it just like on Valentine's Day, or do they go throughout the whole year? Speaker 1 53:10 It can be any time of year, and it's usually just a one-day event. Sometimes there's multiple shows on one day, but yeah, it's just a one day. Oftentimes the local producer will partner with a local charity, so we try to give back in that way too, and they can choose the charity they want, or, or sometimes they're trying to fund like a scholarship fund, or or something like that. I do encourage that, and and we have like a mastermind group among the producers just trying to support each other as creative entrepreneurs. Michael Hingson 53:46 Well, you're you're seeing a lot of success with it. What kind of surprises have you experienced? This must be kind of a thrill, and a lot of, a lot of surprises for you. Speaker 1 53:58 Well, one of the surprises. well, I'm not surprised by it anymore, but I, I can, I'm certain, always surprised when I have a cast member who, at the very last minute, you know, they've gone through all the rehearsals, all the prep work, all the editing, and then at the very last second they pull out of the show, I've had that happen each show, so now I know how to plan for it, and know how to prepare, you know, producers for it. But yeah, that, that's always surprising to me. Michael Hingson 54:34 It's an adventure, isn't it? Speaker 1 54:35 Sure is. Yeah, gotta sing quickly on your feet. Michael Hingson 54:39 Yeah, you definitely have to do that. Tell us a little bit about Socroc, the company you and your brother formed, and what that's all about. Speaker 1 54:47 Sure, well, my brother was a professional soccer player, and he, when he retired, he moved to Manhattan, thinking he was going to be an actor, and as most actors. Oh, they need a second job to support themselves. Yeah, so became a personal trainer, and he was personal training, and some of his clients got word that he'd been a professional soccer player, and they begged him, they're like, can you teach our kids soccer? So it kind of happened by accident, and just a few balls and cones in Central Park, teaching soccer to little kids, and over the years it's grown and grown and grown and grown. We're in our like 20th year, and so during it was like maybe five years ago, he, it just got out of hand, like it was getting too big, and he needed help, and that was when I had gone through the divorce, and I like explained I'd been in business before, and I wanted a change, so he offered me, you know, a position to come and help him and run, so I run the business side of the soccer, and he runs the soccer side, and we're all throughout Manhattan, we, we do public classes in the parks and playgrounds, and then, like, now in the winter time, we rent space all around the city, and then we also partner with private schools and public schools throughout the city, and we do birthday parties and personal training, and we're starting a kids of all abilities program, and that's that's like our new initiative right now, and and then the spring we're expanding into actually into basketball too, BB Rock, we're calling Michael Hingson 56:29 it. Oh, that's cool. Well, you're doing a lot of different things, you speak, you're an author, you're an educator. We haven't talked about, I guess it's you work with Speaker 1 56:39 SUNY. I teach at the City University of New York, which is part of SUNY, and that work I really love. Yeah, Michael Hingson 56:47 tell, tell me about that. Then, Speaker 1 56:49 so they have an initiative, it's through the Manhattan Educational Opportunity Center, and SUNY provides grants for adult students returning who need to get their high school epilepticy, their GED. So I teach writing the writing section of the GED, and this I - these are the students I like the most, and I've taught at all levels, from freshman comp all the way up to graduate level MFA, and it's the GED adult student that I enjoy the most. So, I'll, when I, when I'm done with you, I actually will zoom up to Harlem, and I'll be teaching GED time tonight. Michael Hingson 57:35 Okay. Well, you're doing all of these different things. How do you keep yourself grounded, and how do you keep the creative juices going? Speaker 1 57:44 Well, that can sometimes be a challenge. Michael Hingson 57:46 I bet, Speaker 1 57:47 but I do. I exercise. That's one thing I really, I love to exercise, and I'm getting better at just taking time for myself, but I also feel like what I do isn't work, like I enjoy what I do, so I always try to bring a sense of gratitude to each day in that way. Michael Hingson 58:13 Yeah, well, and taking time for yourself is is important to do, and and now you have a teacup poodle to share it with, and I'll bet you guys have some interesting conversations. Speaker 1 58:26 Yeah, we sure do. She's a cutie, she's just lying on the little chair right over here. Michael Hingson 58:33 Yeah, my, my dog is over here on his bed, so he, he, he monitors me. Speaker 1 58:41 Yeah, she's been really good, because sometimes when I'm on the Zoom like this, she, she'll start to bark. She doesn't like paying attention to somebody else. Michael Hingson 58:48 Well, one of these days we'll have to end up in Manhattan and come and meet her. Speaker 1 58:54 That sounds Michael Hingson 58:55 be kind of fun. Speaker 1 58:57 That sure would. Michael Hingson 58:58 Well, so tell me, what's next for you? What do you envision going forward from here? Speaker 1 59:04 Well, my hope is actually, I would love, because there have so much fodder now, all these different stories, love stories. My hope is to launch a podcast, a Love Notes podcast that would feature the storyteller and their story, and then I would do an interview of the story behind the story, because people always have questions. They'll hear a story, or they'll read the story, and it's really short. It's like 700 or 1000 words, and they'll always want to know, like, well, what happened to them, or how did that end up. So I envisioned this podcast of love notes, real stories by real people about real love, and that would be like the the meat of it, and then they're at the end of each one, there'd be like a love letter, and people could write love letters that would be shared on the podcast, and tell Michael Hingson 59:55 me, Speaker 1 59:56 you know, like, dear Michael, this is why I love you, and then it would be a. Letter, so that's that's I'd like to see more satellite cities. I'd like to get the next edition of the book out, and then launch the podcast by Trifecta. Michael Hingson 1:00:13 Lots going on, needless to say. Well, if people want to reach out to you, talk about creating their own love notes, or as you said, you'd love to find people who want to help produce in various cities. How do they do that? Speaker 1 1:00:27 Well, probably the easiest thing to do is first, if they just want to learn more about the project in general, would just be to check out the website, and that's at www dot Love Notes worldwide.com and from there, then you can, you can get a hold of me, but I'll give my email address also, it's Heather at Heather Christy, C H R I s t i e books.com so either just hit the website or send me an email directly, and I, yeah, I'd love to talk to anybody who's got a story they want to share, or anyone who's thinking like maybe they'd love to bring a love notes to their community. Michael Hingson 1:01:19 Cool. Well, I hope people will reach out and that you'll get lots of interest from our podcast. It's a, it's a fun thing, and I hope that people will respond. So, all of you out there, email Heather. Speaker 1 1:01:34 That sounds great. And my last little plug: if anybody would love to watch the Love Notes show on January, february 14 for Valentine's Day. You can find that information on the website too. Michael Hingson 1:01:48 What I'm trying to remember, what day of the week february 14 is going to be in 2026 Speaker 1 1:01:53 It's a Michael Hingson 1:01:54 Saturday, great day to Speaker 1 1:01:57 do it. So you can watch it, and actually the live stream will stay live for a week, so if you're not able to watch it that night, you can watch it during the week. Michael Hingson 1:02:05 Oh, cool. Well, I hope people will do that, and I want to thank you for being here. But I want to thank all of you out there for being a part of this today. Heather has had a lot of interesting things to say, and I hope that you'll help her and help yourself by helping her to be more successful. I'd love to hear from you. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to email me at Michael H i@accessibe.com that's M I C H A E L H I at Accessi B A C C E S S I B e.com We'd love it and would greatly appreciate it if wherever you are listening or watching the podcast, if you'll give us a five star review, but also, or a rating, but also give us a review. We love reviews, we appreciate reviews, and we really value all the people who have done it so far, and we ask that you do it again, or you do it for the first time. So, please let us know what you think by writing reviews. If you know anyone who ought to be a guest, we'd love it if you'd let us know. Heather, you as well. Anyone that you think ought to be a guest on Unstoppable Mindset, we would really love to be introduced. My belief is everyone has stories to tell, so don't be shy. We'd love to hear from you. But Heather, once again, I want to thank you for being here. This has been absolutely wonderful. Speaker 1 1:03:26 Thank you so much, Michael. It's been so much fun to talk to you this afternoon. Michael Hingson 1:03:32 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others each week. I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started, 1:04:24 I.
Mental illness touches nearly every family, yet it remains one of the least understood and least supported health challenges we face. In this episode, I sit down with Marvin Ross, a medical writer, publisher, and mental health advocate whose work was shaped by his son's diagnosis of schizophrenia nearly 30 years ago. Marvin shares why mental illness remains one of the most misunderstood and underfunded health challenges in North America, how stigma and lack of treatment contribute to homelessness, and what countries across Europe are doing differently. We also explore mental health literacy, addiction recovery, public policy, the role of families in treatment, and why education remains one of the strongest tools for change. Along the way, Marvin reflects on his publishing journey, the books that have made an impact, and why understanding mental illness is essential if we want to build a more compassionate and effective Highlights: 01:41 - Learn how Marvin's son's schizophrenia diagnosis changed his life's work. 09:16 - Discover why mental illness is often treated differently than other illnesses. 17:31 - Understand the link between mental illness, homelessness, and lack of care. 19:52 - Learn what Europe is doing differently to support mental health. 25:33 - Hear why mental health literacy needs to improve. 41:12 - Explore the connection between homelessness, addiction, and untreated mental illness. About the Guest: I am a medical writer/publisher/ mental illness advocate with a background in research and planning. I began part time in the late 1970's and published a number of books (technical , humour and medical for lay audiences). Thanks to circumstances, I was able to focus full time on freelance medical writing for a wide array of clients. In the late 1990's, my son developed schizophrenia and I found myself writing about that stigmatizing malady and advocating for improved services. I became active in the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario and am now on the board of the Family Alliance on Severe Mental Illnesses. In 2008, my company Bridgeross Communications, began publishing books mainly on serious mental illnesses beginning with my own book Schizophrenia Medicine's Mystery Society's Shame. It received vary positive endorsements from readers and can found in over 300 libraries worldwide. As a result, people began contacting me with their own book ideas and I ended up adding another 10 titles by people with schizophrenia or family members recounting their experiences. The first two were by a mother of a daughter with schizophrenia in Vancouver which came out in 2010 and is still selling with positive recommendations in Canada, the US and Europe. The other was by a woman with schizophrenia also in Vancouver who, today, is a fine artist, and a recipient of the Courage to Come Back Award and a Face of Mental Illness in Canada. Topics covered in the other books mostly still selling deal with a neuroscientist with schizophrenia, a woman married to a man who developed schizophrenia, an African-American woman with schizophrenia written with her daughter on how they coped, a large Irish-American family with a brother with schizophrenia who also developed terminal cancer and a PhD psychologist in Tennessee who partly got through college while living in her car. I also wrote a regular column for Huffington Post and then for the past 14 years, my own blog which I write with a psychiatrist. Ways to connect with Marvin: Website https://bridgeross.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marvin.ross.731 Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/marvinross/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBF5XSsysn8HLVbKy3APJJw And see this trailer which might enhance your show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4loR-bAKbuQ 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:
The unofficial start to summer happened over Memorial Day weekend, and it's already off to a deadly start. Several fatal crashes occurred on Utah's roads, leading to a grim start for the 100 Deadliest Days of Summer. In this special hour of Inside Sources, Greg and Holly discuss the ways in which we can all work together to keep Utah's roads safe. They're joined first by Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Cameron Roden, who provides updates on the Memorial Day weekend crashes and shares general safety tips for the highways. UDOT's John Gleason then joins the conversation to discuss work zone safety. The coverage takes a more emotional turn with Chuck Groat, a local Utahn who lost his son to speeding in 2020; he shares his message to all Utahns to stay safe. Things wrap up with Benjamin Donner, executive director of the American Red Cross, Central and Southern Utah chapter, who discusses the importance of emergency car kits.
What happens when fear stops being something to avoid and becomes something you learn from? I sit down with futurist designer and Purple Compass founder Donna Dupont for a thoughtful conversation about strategic foresight, resilience, change, and the patterns that shape our future. Donna shares how her experiences in healthcare, public policy, and emergency management during the SARS crisis pushed her toward futures thinking and helping organizations prepare for uncertainty before disruption strikes. Together, we explore why people resist change, how fear can either limit or guide us, and why curiosity may be one of the most important skills we can develop. You will hear insights on business continuity, leadership, personal growth, future thinking, and how intentional choices can help all of us create a more unstoppable future. Highlights: 05:02 - Discover how working through the SARS crisis revealed the hidden gaps between healthcare systems and emergency response. 12:26 - Learn why asking “what if” can build resilience without falling into fear-driven thinking. 17:11 - Explore how curiosity and wider perspectives help people navigate rapid change and uncertainty. 26:09 - Understand why people resist change even while living in a world that is constantly shifting. 38:26 - Hear what futurists actually do and why strategic foresight is about patterns, not predictions. 58:35 - Discover how intentional choices can interrupt old patterns and help shape a different future. About the Guest: Donna Dupont, is an award-winning designer, futurist, and the Founder of Purple Compass. With over 25 years of experience collaborating with leaders in healthcare, public safety, defense, and security, she helps organizations develop future literacy skills to navigate uncertainty and lead change in today's complex world. Donna integrates theory and practice to enhance anticipatory and adaptive capabilities, strategic intelligence, and agility, driving impactful future policy and strategic planning. A former healthcare professional, provincial policy advisor, and emergency manager, Donna is deeply passionate about applying foresight to strengthen decision-making, mitigate future risks, and enhance preparedness and adaptive capacity. Her work empowers organizations to seize opportunities for innovation, transformation, and resilience. Donna's unique approach combines systems thinking and strategic foresight, leveraging both quantitative and qualitative insights to identify patterns and anticipate change over time. Her extensive portfolio includes advancing insights on climate-risk, international development, environmental and civil security, health and human security, and national defense. Recognized for her exceptional achievements, Donna has received seven government awards for excellence in policy, strategy, and partner relations. Her acclaimed futures research, Anticipation in Emergency Management (2020), earned awards from the Canadian Defence and Security Network and the Association of Professional Futurists. Donna holds a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight & Innovation from OCAD University. Ways to connect with Donna: https://www.purplecompass.ca/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-dupont/ 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:
Behind every glamorous photo shoot is a world most people never see. I sit down with Marie P. Anderson, the woman who helped launch the career of Cindy Crawford, for a raw conversation about survival, resilience, and what it really takes to make it in the modeling industry. Marie shares how childhood trauma, domestic violence, addiction, and years of navigating abuse inside fashion shaped her mission to create safer opportunities for models. We also explore martial arts, faith, entrepreneurship, financial discipline, and why she believes human connection and soul can never truly be replaced by AI. It's an honest look at reinvention, perseverance, and building an unstoppable mindset through some of life's hardest experiences. Highlights: · 01:50 – Growing up around NASA and fashion sparked Marie's creative drive. · 07:55 – Leaving an abusive marriage became the start of Marie's reinvention. · 15:02 – AI and social media are changing the future of modeling. · 22:45 – Martial arts helped Marie shift from victim to warrior. · 30:28 – Marie explains why she left Elite to protect models. · 48:26 – Why aspiring models should never give away their power too quickly. About the Guest: Marie P. Anderson is a model agent, author, speaker, and survivor who helped shape the modern modeling industry that we know today - while fighting private battles most never saw. Marie was drawn to fashion at a young age and designed a personal clothing line labeled Minnie. But the girl who dressed her dolls was born into trauma, instability, and loss. Despite these challenges, she graduated high school, began working in photography studios, and eventually found her calling in scouting, developing, and managing models. Marie rose to prominence as the Vice President of Elite Model Management Chicago, where she launched the career of supermodel Cindy Crawford and represented hundreds of top-tier models throughout the 1980s and '90s. But Marie's legacy extends far beyond the names she helped make famous. She founded Aria Model & Talent with a clear mission to redefine industry standards. In just a few years, the agency became a multimillion-dollar success rooted in integrity, mentorship, and dignity—principles often missing from fashion's fast-paced world. A second-degree black belt in Shidokan Karate and longtime mental health advocate, Marie spent the last four decades mentoring young talent on how to not only succeed in fashion but how to survive it. She is the author of two internationally published modeling guides and the creator and producer of The Wizard of Editorial, an educational program. Today she runs a virtual coaching platform called Boss Babe Models, which uniquely paired personal empowerment with practical business insights. Most recently, Marie has been on the journey of healing from Breast Implant Illness (BII), enduring medical gaslighting, ambiguous tests, and the uphill journey of self-advocacy in a healthcare system that often fails women. As with every other struggle she's overcome, she's again channeling that experience into education—not just for herself but for others. Marie continues to write, coach, and speak about the intersection of trauma, identity, and transformation—with wit, humor, and unshakable integrity. She is currently in development on her memoir, as well as a third edition of her successful modeling guide, updated for the new era of social media, mental health advocacy, and industry reform. Ways to connect with Maria: Official Website Instagram Facebook Youtube Threads SubstackLinkedIn Boss Babe Models Boss Babe Models Instagram Boss Babe Models Facebook Boss Babe Models Youtube 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:
If you think heat exhaustion only happens to hikers in Death Valley or people running ultramarathons in the desert… think again. This week on the Fit Girl Magic Podcast, I'm sitting down with Shannon from the American Red Cross to talk about something a lot of us completely underestimate: HEAT. And listen… as women over 40, our bodies don't always regulate temperature the same way they used to. Add hormones, medications, humidity, dehydration, caffeine, stubbornness ("I'm fine!"), and that one friend still jogging at noon in 97 degrees… and things can go sideways fast. We're breaking down: ▶️ The difference between heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke ▶️ How much water you actually need before and during workouts ▶️ Why humidity feels like running through soup ▶️ Whether electrolytes are worth the hype ▶️ The safest times to work out in the summer ▶️ How cities are literally trying to cool themselves down ▶️ The warning signs your body is overheating before it becomes dangerous We also talk about: • Why "more sweat = better workout" is mostly diet culture nonsense • Why your giant iced coffee is NOT hydration • Why your body at 45 isn't the same body you had at 25 • And how to stop treating heat like it's "not that serious" Your body can do amazing things… but not when it's dehydrated and angry. This episode is basically your official permission slip to: ✔️ Carry the giant emotional support water bottle ✔️ Stop proving yourself in 95-degree weather Because no one gets a medal for overheating in a parking lot fitness class. Grab your water bottle, your electrolytes, and maybe a cooling towel if you're fancy… and let's survive summer like hydrated queens. Resources Mentioned: American Red Cross Heat Check Hydration + heat safety tips from the Red Cross And if you have that one friend who insists "it's not THAT hot" while running at high noon… Send her this episode immediately. Links Favorite Electrolytes https://www.isagenix.com/share/MZ6DU (orange is my favorite) Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic Tik Tok @kimbarnesjefferson Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kimjeffersoncoach/ FREE Quiz: Where are you blowing yourself off in your life? https://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/fflpersonaquiz_podcast
In this episode: Breaking News: Mick Foley officially signs with AEW, The success of Danhausen praised by Triple H and Nick Khan at WWE employee meeting, and Missy Hyatt criticizes Brock Lesnar's returnMark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
Doug welcomes Tom McCann and Dr. Tim Lepore to the show to discuss the upcoming second annual Nantucket Saves Blood Drive happening June 2nd and 3rd, and the urgent need for more donors to step up. The conversation highlights Nantucket Saves' goal of adding 200 more appointments, the life-saving impact a single blood donation can have, and why community participation is so important. Dr. Lepore also clears up common misconceptions about blood donation, including the myth that a past Lyme disease diagnosis automatically prevents someone from giving blood. Tom explains how simple and quick the donation process really is, especially for first-time donors, while both guests encourage island residents to come together for a cause that directly helps save lives on Nantucket and beyond. Listeners can schedule an appointment now through the American Red Cross website by entering Nantucket's zip code, 02554.
What happens when the way you grow up teaches you to see the world through empathy, inclusion, and connection? In this heartfelt conversation, I talk with Maria Gallucci about being raised by deaf parents, growing up as a CODA, and how those experiences shaped her life, business, and advocacy work. Maria shares powerful lessons about communication, bullying, accessibility, ASL, LGBTQ inclusion, and why small acts of kindness can change someone's life. You'll also hear how her book Raised in Silence became an Amazon bestseller and why she believes connection matters more than labels. Highlights: · 00:54 - Learn how growing up with deaf parents shaped Maria's view of empathy and inclusion. · 04:00 - Hear how bullying inspired Maria to advocate for acceptance and accessibility. · 15:15 - Discover how helping her parents with real estate closings shaped her career path. · 20:06 - Learn what finally pushed Maria to publish Raised in Silence after 15 years. · 35:06 - Hear why being fully present can make people feel seen and valued. · 46:55 - Discover why human connection still matters more than technology. About the Guest: Maria Gallucci – Award-Winning Colorado REALTOR®, Advocate & Author Maria Gallucci is a multi-award-winning Colorado real estate broker, author, and lifelong advocate for inclusive communication and accessible housing. With over 30 years of experience, Maria specializes in working with the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as builders, investors, and families across Denver, Colorado Springs, Northern and Southern Colorado, the Western Slope and Nationwide. She is the founder of Uptown Realty Group and Gallucci Homes, and is consistently ranked among the top 1.5% of REALTORS® nationwide. Maria is also a top-producing agent at Compass Real Estate. A Personal Mission Rooted in Inclusion As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Maria learned American Sign Language (ASL) before English. At just 12 years old, she helped her parents purchase their first home, serving as an unofficial interpreter. This pivotal experience shaped her mission: to ensure that clients from underrepresented communities are seen, heard, and respected—especially in the home buying and selling process. Maria founded: ASL @ Compass , an affinity group for ASL-fluent agents ASL Realty , a national platform connecting Deaf and Hard of Hearing clients with ASL-communicating REALTORS® Her motto, "Just Try," encourages everyone to make meaningful connections, even across communication differences. Expertise Across All Colorado Real Estate Markets Maria's depth of knowledge spans: Residential real estate across Denver Metro, Colorado Springs, Northern/Southern Colorado and Nationwide New construction, Single Family homes, Land, Condos, townhomes, and duplex developments Real estate investment opportunities Builder marketing and sales strategy Her clients trust her ability to negotiate, design winning strategies, and execute seamless transactions that are profitable and low-stress. A Community Advocate and Author Outside of real estate, Maria serves on the boards of: Rocky Mountain Deaf School DOVE (Deaf Overcoming Violence through Empowerment) Colorado Association of the Deaf (CAD) She is also the author of Raised in Silence, a memoir and guide to bridging communication gaps — a love letter to the Deaf community that raised her. Awards & Recognition Top 1% of Colorado REALTORS® Top 1.5% REALTORS® Nationally 5280 Magazine Double Black Diamond Award Real Trends / Top 100 Agents in America Tom Ferry / Best Real Estate Agent in America Outstanding Women in Business Five Star Real Estate Agent 5280 Five Star Professional Award Denver Metro REALTOR® Association Diamond Excellence Award South Metro REALTOR® Association 5-Carat Diamond Circle Club Award Whether you're looking to buy, sell, invest, or build in Colorado, Maria Gallucci is the inclusive, experienced, and results-driven REALTOR® to guide you every step of the way. Ways to connect with Maria: maria@galluccihomes.com https://www.youtube.com/@galluccihomes https://www.facebook.com/TopASLRealtor https://www.instagram.com/galluccihomes/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-gallucci-18725b9/ 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:
In this episode: The reason why Randy Orton has been off WWE television since WrestleMania 42, The reason why Cain Velasquez hasn't appeared in AAA under WWE ownership, Tiffany Stratton addresses multiple rumors, Nikki Bella had the option to turn down Paige being Brie's partner at WrestleMania 42, Chris Jericho asked about the rumors of him potentially leaving AEW for a WWE comeback, and Iyo Sky and NXT's Naraku issue statement announcing their marriageMark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
WBBM's Rob Hart is joined by Tammy Winchester & Mara Thompson of the American Red Cross to discuss blood donations within Illinois, volunteer use during natural disasters & more.
Most people fear getting older, but Gary Cole believes aging can become one of the happiest and healthiest stages of life. In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, Gary and I explore what it really means to age well through purpose, relationships, movement, optimism, and daily lifestyle choices. Gary shares lessons from the Blue Zones, the science behind longevity, and why mindset matters more than most people realize. You will hear practical insights on healthy sleep, nutrition, exercise, happiness, spirituality, and how to create a life filled with meaning at any age. Highlights: · 00:10:22 - Learn why society fears aging and how mindset changes the way we experience getting older. · 00:18:24 - Discover how daily lifestyle choices impact aging more than genetics. · 00:20:40 - Hear why older years can become some of the happiest stages of life. · 00:31:07 - Learn why purpose and meaningful routines matter after retirement. · 00:48:53 - Discover the Blue Zone habits linked to longer, healthier, and happier lives. · 01:00:35 - Hear Gary's top five habits for living a healthy, active, and fulfilling life. About the Guest: Garry is a Baby Boomer with a passion for aging well, which he describes as a life of health, happiness and longevity. Garry lives in Michigan with his wife Pam, their cat, Simba, and their Samoyed dog, Amara. A graduate of The University of Michigan he is a big Wolverine fan. Although he did not win his March Madness Pool, he is very happy with the final outcome. Go Blue. When he is not cheering on the Wolverines, he enjoys travel, reading, and living vicariously through his two recently adulted children. The oldest, Parker, will graduate from Medical School in May and start his residency at Rutgers University in July. His daughter, Paulina, is living her best life in Chicago, working in the financial services industry and enjoying everything the city offers. After spending three years researching the topic of aging he decided to share what he learned. His first book, "Are We Old Yet?", was published in 2024 and became a best seller in the Aging category. Garry continues his research and publishes blogs on his website and speaks on topics related to aging. As he likes to say, most of us have the privilege to age, it is up to us to do it well. Ways to connect with Gary: Website, https://www.garrycole.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551415109016 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GarryCole-g2r LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrycole/ 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:
In this episode: AEW reportedly has interest in working with WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, Early speculation regarding when the John Cena Classic might take place, WWE announces new live events in the United States for this summer, and creative plans for Fatal Influence have reportedly “already begun to shift” due to crowd reactionsMark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
In this powerful and emotional episode of The Ana Cruz Show, Ana Cruz sits down with Linda Braddy, CEO of the American Red Cross North Texas Region, to discuss her inspiring journey from stay-at-home mother to executive leader. Linda shares how her childhood, her father's belief in education, and the values of service and leadership shaped her mission to leave the world better than she found it. She opens up about returning to school after dedicating years to raising her children, earning her doctorate, and rising to the C-suite through leadership, resilience, mentorship, and purpose. Together, Ana and Linda also discuss the incredible humanitarian work of the American Red Cross across the world, throughout the United States, and here in Texas. Linda shares some of the most emotional moments of her career serving communities during times of crisis — stories that will move and inspire you. Join us for a conversation about leadership, motherhood, service, and making an impact. Support the American Red Cross:American Red Cross Donate blood through Ana Cruz's personalized link:Donate Blood Here Follow Ana Cruz & Rollos de Mujeres: Instagram:@anacruzshow on Instagram Facebook:@rollosdemujeres on Facebook TikTok:@anacruzshow on TikTok Website:Rollos de Mujeres Official Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
368: Before You Merge: Five Factors Every Nonprofit Leader Must Weigh (Staci Barfield)Episode SummaryFor too many nonprofit leaders, the word “merger” lands like a verdict, a sign something has gone wrong. Staci Barfield, Senior Director of Consulting Excellence at Armstrong McGuire in Cary, NC, argues the opposite: a merger belongs early on a leader's strategic menu, not at the end. Drawing on her work facilitating the Arise Collective and MATCH (Mothers and Their Children) merger, Staci walks Patton through the full continuum of collaboration and unpacks the five factors every leader should weigh: mission alignment and strategic rationale, organizational and cultural fit, governance and leadership readiness, financial health and due diligence, and capacity to manage change while continuing to serve. She makes the case that funders are increasingly convening these conversations and that the strategic exercise itself has value even when it doesn't end in a merger. Listeners walk away with a practical framework for assessing any form of collaboration, and a sharper read on when a merger isn't a retreat but a way to magnify mission.About StaciStaci Barfield is Senior Director of Consulting Excellence at Armstrong McGuire, where she leads the methodologies, tools, and resources that equip the firm's advisor team to deliver consistent, high-impact client work. She came to the philanthropic sector after a long corporate career in information technology and business process improvement at Gap, Inc., Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), Sprint, AT&T, and Springs Industries. The pivot was catalyzed when a Hurricane Katrina deployment with the American Red Cross showed her that her business skill set translated directly to mission-driven work. From there she went on to serve as Vice President of Development for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Eastern NC Chapter, Executive Director of National Students of AMF, and CEO of Children's Flight of Hope, before joining Armstrong McGuire. Across all of it, Staci has been driven by the same instinct: maximizing an organization's opportunities for success through both strategic and operational initiatives.ResourcesConnect with Staci on LinkedInCase study referenced in the episode: Arise Collective + MATCH (Mothers and Their Children)Shared services model referenced in the episode: Ascend Nonprofit Solutions (Charlotte, NC)Companion episode: #350 with Andre Anthony: What Every Nonprofit Leader Needs to Know About MergersStaci's book recommendation: I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times by Mónica GuzmánFollow Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership and please leave a review!Learn more about Staci's work and leadership resources at Armstrong McGuire (ArmstrongMcGuire.com)
In this episode: The latest update on Asuka taking time away, AEW files lawsuit against former PPV partner TrillerTV, Rogelio Reyes formally sentenced for Attempted Femicide Against WWE's Stephanie Vaquer, TKO announces new multi-year partnership with Arizona for WWE and UFC events, and Swerve Strickland posts about his absence from AEW television but then deletes itSupport the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
Most people spend their lives reacting to change. Rick Yvanovich believes the real goal is to shape it. In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with Rick to explore entrepreneurship, coaching, fear, leadership, and the mindset shifts that help people grow through uncertainty. From failing to get into university to building businesses across Asia and mentoring leaders around the world, Rick shares lessons on resilience, lifelong learning, balanced fulfillment, and why asking for help is often the key to lasting success. You will hear practical insights on self-discovery, business growth, personal development, and learning how to trust yourself in a rapidly changing world. Highlights: · 00:38 - Learn how to become an architect of change instead of reacting to life. · 05:20 - Discover why trusting your inner voice matters. · 09:17 - Hear how fear can become a tool instead of a barrier. · 20:54 - Understand the difference between coaching and mentoring. · 30:14 - Learn what balanced fulfillment really means. · 56:04 - Explore why agility matters in business and life. About the Guest: Rick is a true master of the business coaching craft, known for his proven ability to help companies and individuals achieve unprecedented levels of success. With a deep understanding of both business strategy and human potential, he skillfully combines practical experience with transformative coaching interventions. His systematic approach and unwavering commitment to empowering people allow him to translate vision into actionable steps that drive measurable results and sustainable growth. At the heart of Rick's work lies a simple yet powerful mission — to inspire and empower humans for balanced fulfillment. He believes success should not come at the expense of well-being and that true leadership is about aligning purpose, passion, and performance. This philosophy forms the cornerstone of his coaching practice, enabling his clients to achieve not just professional success, but personal balance and fulfillment as well. Ways to connect with Rick: https://www.facebook.com/TRGInternational/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickyvanovich/https://www.instagram.com/RICKYVANOVICH2/https://www.youtube.com/@RickYvanovichhttps://www.youtube.com/@trginternational3812 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:
Sharon Kitroser is a fundraising strategist, partnership builder, and nonprofit coach with a background that spans more than 25 years in media and advertising and another decade in fundraising and nonprofit leadership. Today, Sharon is the co-founder of Team Kat & Mouse, where she helps organizations grow fundraising revenue through coaching, storytelling, corporate partnerships, and practical fundraising strategy. Before that, she led partnership and development work for organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Gift of Life Marrow Registry. In this episode, our conversation ranges from Sharon's family roots on the Lower East Side, Europe, and South Africa to living upstairs from the Marx Brothers, life in radio, corporate fundraising, mental health, shocking family secrets, and why both children—and clients—sometimes need the freedom to skin their knees and learn resilience and independence.
In this episode: Developing: There is no internal concern within WWE or TKO in regards to the status of Roman Reigns, The New Day “were essentially put in the position where they were going to be cut”, What John Cena's “major” announcement at WWE Backlash tomorrow is expected to be, Update on Chelsea Green's recovery from heart procedure, and Potential spoiler regarding Danhausen's mystery partner at WWE Backlash tomorrowMark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
What happens when you leave behind security, move across countries with almost no plan, and trust that life will somehow work out? I talk with stand-up comic and creative entrepreneur Sadia Carone about her wild path from Ohio to Paris, New York, Brazil, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Sadia shares how she walked away from a difficult family life, built careers in software testing and entertainment, survived 9/11 in New York, took huge risks to chase comedy and acting, and learned how to handle rejection, failure, and negative people without losing herself. You will hear honest lessons about resilience, creativity, career pivots, faith, comedy, and why success is rarely instant. Highlights: 00:01:32 – How music helped Sadia teach English in Paris. 00:10:32 – Why she left tech to pursue comedy and acting. 00:14:45 – What it was like living in New York during 9/11. 00:27:07 – Why she moved to Las Vegas with no real plan. 00:35:41 – How faith helped her through major setbacks. 00:51:21 – Why creative careers take patience and preparation. About the Guest: SADIA CARONE was born in the Midwest and has since lived in Paris, France and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada where she regularly performs stand-up comedy. Sadia was brought up to choose "the safe path" and she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia with a BA English and a BA in French. She wanted to go to music school -- but at the time, that was out of the question ( = her parents forbid it). Well her parents were wrong! Sadia took voice lessons and started writing songs. Atlantic Records was going to sign her -- then 9/11 happened and both the record executives and her music producer had other things to deal with. And now Sadia has a comedy album! She performs her original songs on stage! Along the way, she got her SAG card (national actors' union) and earlier this year, she taught a stand-up comedy workshop in Reno, Nevada for the SAG Conservatory! Sadia's approach to life is "follow your heart" and "carefully assess the risks". In other words -- timing is everything! Do your research. Make informed decisions. Then when the time is right -- take that leap of faith! Sadia's career highlights include * IT manager for the USPTO * software tester for the National Red Cross HQ * TEDx Speaker * Host, Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy Club * Karaoke DJ at Vegas #1 karaoke spot * Tour Guide, Big Bus Las Vegas * Yellow M&M, The M&M Store in Las Vegas * Apartment Building Manager, West Hollywood / Northern Hollywood / Studio City, California * Official SongBird and Queen of Culture and Creativity, Shitshow Creative * Founder, Music for Emotions which received a grant from SEED Vegas. Sadia speaks English natively, fluent French and Portuguese, business-level Spanish, intermediate Hindi/Urdu and bits of Russian and Arabic. Ways to connect with Sadia: LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/sadiacarone Instagram @sadiacarone 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:
In this episode: What is being said about TKO's perspective on restructuring WWE talent contracts, The latest update on AEW negotiations with Aleister Black, Stephanie Vaquer's ex-boyfriend reportedly found guilty of domestic violence and attempted femicide, and the betting odds favorites to win at WWE Backlash this weekend revealedMark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aSupport Card Again Games! https://gofund.me/1178d8370Kerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
In this episode: TKO's Mark Shapiro addresses negative feedback to WWE ticket prices and creative direction, Cody Rhodes says he is “getting tired” of fans arguing about topics such as attendance, John Cena says his announcement at Backlash is going to “shock the very foundation of WWE”, and TNA Wrestling to be featured in Dark Side of the Ring's 7th seasonMark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
In this episode: Update on the WWE talent pay cut story following the news of New Day's departure, and Report on LA Knight's status with WWE following his absence from last night's episode of RAWMark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aSupport Card Again Games! https://gofund.me/1178d8370Kerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
What happens when someone who teaches healing suddenly must fight for her own? Dr. Joi Lewis joins me for a powerful conversation about surviving a massive stroke, rebuilding life through radical self-care, and learning how community, meditation, faith, and curiosity can help people heal. Raised in East St. Louis, Joi shares how her upbringing shaped her deep belief in connection, public service, and emotional liberation. You'll hear how she moved from higher education leadership into healing justice work, why she believes isolation is dangerous, and how practices like mindfulness, conscious movement, and meditation became critical tools during her recovery. This conversation explores disability, resilience, trust, healing, and what it really means to live with an unstoppable mindset. Highlights: 00:59 How community shaped her mindset growing up in East St. Louis. 08:47 Surviving a massive stroke and adapting to disability. 15:14 Why radical self-care is essential for healing. 21:16 How faith and music support her recovery journey. 35:35 The four parts of the Orange Method for healing. 50:19 How an “energy bank” helps restore emotional health. About the Guest: "Dr. Joi” Lewis is CEO of Joi Unlimited (www.drjoilewis.com) and Founder of The Healing Justice Foundation (www.healingjusticefoundation.org). Joi Unlimited is a crisis, conflict, and change management firm specializing in transformation of systems and self for collective and individual liberation. The Healing Justice Foundation's mission is to reclaim the inherent dignity, brilliance, and humanity of all Black people. Dr. Joi (as many fondly call her) is known locally, nationally, and globally as a facilitator of liberation, radical self-care expert, and community healer. What that means is she helps individuals, institutions, and communities heal from oppression-induced historic and present day trauma, using Healing Justice (Radical Self-Care + Social Justice) as an on ramp to reclaim our own humanity and each others'. Dr. Joi is the author of Healing: The Act of Radical Self-Care, based on her transformative process the Orange Method (OM) of Healing Justice, and of the meditation journal and affirmation deck May the Revolution Be Healing. She is a social entrepreneur and a highly sought-after speaker and executive coach. Dr. Joi inspires us to hold heartbreak and “joy” because they run from the same faucet. Her work is deeply informed by growing up in East St. Louis, Illinois. Dr. Joi completed her doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, conducted research in South Africa, had a 20+ year career on college campuses as Dean, Faculty, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer. She is an unapologetic joy instigator, a certified kemetic and hot vinyasa yoga teacher, a facilitator of meditation and mindfulness and a food prep pro, who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. In July of 2024, Dr. Joi survived a massive stroke and has recommitted to the practices of the Orange Method as she prioritizes her own radical self care. Dr. Joi is on a mission to “put healing in the hands of anyone, anywhere.” Ways to connect with Joi: https://www.joiunlimited.com/ https://www.healingjusticefoundation.org/ Facebook: Dr Joi Lewis Instagram: @drjoi LinkedIn: Dr Joi Lewis 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:
In this episode: The New Day release public statements regarding their departure from WWE, What is being said about how many “no-cut” contracts there are in WWE, A “pretty majorly pushed talent” in WWE allegedly agreed to take a 50% pay cut, Kairi Sane could still appear at WWE Backlash to finish her storyline with Asuka and Iyo Sky, and The reason why Roman Reigns has been pulled from WWE RAW appearances for next month.Mark Izard Funeral Expenses Fund: https://gofund.me/e8a971184Support the Berwyn Eagles Club: https://gofund.me/7aa43c90aSupport Card Again Games! https://gofund.me/1178d8370Kerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon
Host Janet Michael sits down with Deb Fleming, Executive Director of the Greater Shenandoah Valley Chapter of American Red Cross to discuss how they're rethinking its role in the community — moving from an organization that serves communities to one that is truly part of them. They cover community mobilization, the maturity matrix self-assessment, and the upcoming Disaster Leadership Academy. Key Topics Covered What is Community Mobilization? Working with local partners, nonprofits, and residents to assess community needs and build self-sustaining disaster response capacity — without relying solely on Red Cross staff or outside volunteers. The Greater Shenandoah Valley Chapter Covers 11 counties across Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. Each community has unique demographics, income levels, ethnic groups, and needs — requiring a tailored approach. The Maturity Matrix An honest internal self-assessment tool the Red Cross is using to evaluate the strength of their community partnerships, operational strategy, and representation. The goal: identify gaps before trying to fix them. The Disaster Leadership Academy Born from a conversation between Janet and Deb over coffee, this program brings together community members, nonprofit staff, elected officials, and emergency managers to learn each other's roles before a disaster strikes. Starting first in Washington County, MD, with plans to expand to Winchester and the wider region. Why Cross-Sector Education Matters Siloed knowledge leads to confusion during disasters — who sets up shelters, who handles food, who manages communications. The Academy helps everyone speak the same language and know who to call. Volunteer Opportunities The chapter needs 37 more deployable volunteers to hit its regional goal. Volunteers can start local and many end up deploying nationally. The Red Cross reports a 94% volunteer satisfaction rate. Resources & Links Sign up to volunteer: RedCross.org
What if the thing you struggle with most could become your greatest strength? In this episode, I sit down with Dennis Szymanski, a semiconductor engineer who has lived with a stutter his entire life and learned to manage it through a powerful mix of science, self-awareness, and holistic living. Dennis shares how his journey through speech therapy, stress management, and personal growth shaped both his mindset and his career in nanoscale engineering and compound semiconductors. You will hear how early support, resilience, and curiosity helped him move from struggling to speak to confidently presenting, creating, and even writing a children's book. I believe you will find this conversation inspiring as it shows how challenges can guide you toward purpose, clarity, and an unstoppable mindset. Highlights: 00:10 Learn how early support and environment shape confidence and long term growth 09:43 Understand what it means to live with a stutter and manage it daily 11:10 Discover why the root cause of stuttering is still not fully understood 35:07 Learn how speech therapy has shifted toward treating the whole person 47:32 Understand how stress directly affects speech and performance 56:01 Discover how creativity and purpose come together through writing and innovation About the Guest: Hello everyone! My name is Dennis Szymanski, and I was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Over the course of my life, I have moved 11 times up and down the East Coast of the U.S., meeting many people and having amazing experiences, all the while working on my relationship with my stutter. I currently embrace my inner beach bum and reside in a sleepy North Carolina beach town with my girlfriend Samantha and Lennie the turtle. I have spent the better part of my academic and professional career in the semiconductor industry. I hold a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from North Carolina State University and currently work as a Product Engineer for a U.K. semiconductor manufacturing firm. In my personal life I enjoy playing disc golf, reading, playing the trumpet, yoga, entrepreneurship, public speaking, and any water sport you can imagine. The beach has always been, and forever will be, my home, my place of peace and solitude, a place to "Be As You Are". As a stutterer, I have practiced the physical art of communication ever since I have been able to talk. As a trumpet player, I understand the power of controlled breath. As an Engineer, I always strive to dig deeper. As a communicator, I believe it is all about connecting with people. As a human being, I endeavor to live a holistic life, where each facet compliments the others. My stutter made me a better engineer, just like my understanding of controlled breath as a trumpet player has made me a better communicator. I find myself to be a lifelong learner, believing that there is room for constant improvement even if, somewhat ironically, the area for necessary improvement is my (in)ability to rest and recharge. I love to travel and take much of my inspiration from the world around me. A change of scenery, pace, environment, and/or people is almost always welcomed in my life. No matter if I am out on the surfboard, generating an engineer data sheet, or giving a talk on stage, I live my life by once simple sentence: “It is all about the people.” Ways to connect with Dennis: website link is www.drdennyeddie.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisszymanski/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drdennyeddie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdennyeddie/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dennis.szymanski.35 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 00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe Welcome to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. I'm your host. Michael hingson, speaker, author and advocate for inclusion and possibilities, this podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset resilience and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Well, howdy, once again, everyone and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. It is a wonderful time here. We're recording this just a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and I especially give thanks for the fact that I get to join all of you and do these podcasts. So I want to thank you all for being here, and I want to thank our guest, Dennis Edward Szymanski, we're going to stick with Dennis, but we really appreciate you being here. And Dennis is involved with semiconductors. He lives life to the fullest. We were just talking before we started about his turtle. Lenny the turtle, he can he can talk about that if he wishes. And he also has some other interesting things that I'm looking forward to chatting about since he brought it up, and that is that he is, among other things, or he was, a stutterer, and so he lives with his stutter. He now lives in North Carolina on a beach, so it's his inner beach bum that he is supporting anyway. Dennis, without all without going in any much more detail about any of this, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here, Dennis Szymanski 02:15 Michael, not just because it's Thanksgiving. I am very grateful and thankful to be here with you, to have met you, as well as to be here with all the guests on unstoppable mindset and all the listeners to us, whether you're watching listening, it's great to be here and happy to have this great discussion here with you today. Michael Hingson 02:36 Well, we're glad you're here, and this will I'm looking forward to it. This will be a lot of fun. Why don't we start with kind of the early Dennis. I don't always start that way. Start with kind of the early growing up person, and let's go from there. Dennis Szymanski 02:50 Of course, I think a good place to start a lot of the time is the beginning. So I I'm a New Yorker, born and raised on Long Island to two very loving parents who have been supportive throughout all of my endeavors, from supporting me and my stuttering journey to encouraging me to pursue other outlets like music, encouraging me to stick to my academics and and even supporting my love of pets, which, as you alluded to, I have a turtle right now. Her name is Lenny, but she she is one of many dogs, lizards, hamsters, ferrets, chinchillas, birds. We've had a lot of pets growing up, and you know that that has informed, actually a lot of my current worldview, but we can, we can get to that later. Michael Hingson 03:45 What does your girlfriend think about all that? Dennis Szymanski 03:48 Well, my girlfriend is a four legged pet woman herself staying outside of tanks. That's, that's one of her remits. So Lenny, we got to realize our shared dream, me, my girlfriend, and Lenny of getting Lenny out of the house, out of the tank and into a pond in the backyard of my home here on the coast of North Carolina. So we're all happy. It's, it's been a, it's been an amazing summer. They are getting us all out of the house. So that's a good thing. You know, she's she's very supportive of of Lenny. We, we had two dogs together. Unfortunately, they were old and have since passed on. But we're planning to get some some, some new four legged friends down the line. And we are even in the process of courting, adopting a stray cat that is hanging around our our neighborhood. So it's a nice it's a nice middle ground there not as much responsibility as a dog, you know, a stray cat, but still the potential for the companionship and for the routine and for taking care of something that I know we. Both miss being absent dogs. Not that Lenny doesn't take taking care of it's just a different companion, yeah, different kind of pet Michael Hingson 05:10 we we have my guide dog, Alamo, and as listeners know, we also have stitch, the cat, who will be 16. We think in January, we rescued her. We think at about the age of five, family didn't want her, and they said, Take her to the pound. And we said, No, we'll find her a home. And along the way, I happened to ask what the cat's name was, and they told me that the cat's name was stitch. And I knew this cat wasn't going to go anywhere, since Karen had been a professional quilter since 1994 so quilters aren't going to give up an animal named stitch. Dennis Szymanski 05:44 No, too, too many coincidences there to just not, not go ahead with stitch. Yeah, so, Michael Hingson 05:53 so stitch is with us. Dennis Szymanski 05:55 We, we, we think a very similar way all the pets that I had, I actually never had a cat that was my own, just parents were allergic. Sister was allergic, things like this. Brother was allergic. But when our most recent dog passed, we noticed that this cat started coming around at a very at only a few weeks before he passed. So we think that they had a little bit of a conversation to say that, you know, a little changing of the guard, a proper handoff, if, if you will. So we're looking forward to having our tuxedo cat, which we named very appropriately and affectionately tuxy. We're unsure if it's a boy or a girl, yet. So we went with tuxi butcher, straying back from, from, from the original topic, coming back on, yes, the stray cat pun was somewhat intended. I get it born and raised, Long Island, New York. I left there when I was 17 out of high school to pursue my undergraduate degree in engineering, I stepping back a little bit. My father's a insurance agent, but a serial entrepreneur. He cut his teeth in the insurance industry, but now is heavily involved in a cybersecurity startup. So a man who wears many hats, and my mother is in it. So my first desk job, if you will, was in computers, and that kind of led me down the path of some sort of engineering related to computers. So I went up to the colleges of nanoscale science and engineering up in Albany, New York, for those familiar with the SUNY system, it's a State University in New York up in Albany, where I did four years there, and I studied nano scale engineering, which is a fancy way to say material science, with a focus in semiconductors, which led me to take my first job in industry while I was actually still getting my undergraduate degree, which bolstered my decision to continue on down here to North Carolina. I actually took my first step down in Raleigh as a PhD candidate at NC State, where I studied material science and engineering as well. And two things I've always you know, kept close is the love of business as it relates to technology. So I have a minor in business from my time in undergrad, as well as I took several MBA courses and got a technology Entrepreneurship Certificate from from NC State. So I take the business and the technology. I've married those into a career here as a product engineer for a compound semiconductor manufacturer, all of which we can get into a little bit more. But the other love that I keep close and have recently had a renaissance in my life, is my love of music. I was actually faced with a choice of music or engineering back when a lot of us started to apply to college or university at that time in their life, in high school, and I chose the engineering route, but but always kept the love of music. It was my first paying job, playing in a gig, playing gigs in bars when I was younger and right now I actually, like I said, I'm having a renaissance. I took a little bit of a hiatus while life got busy in grad school and getting my feet under me in the corporate world, taking my first job, but learned to to understand the need, the need that my brain, you know, to have that left brain, right brain, creative mind, logical mind flexed, and just to to have the time to myself. It's something that I enjoy, something that I've enjoyed since I'm eight years old. And, you know, I'm happy to keep continuing it. And I want to finish the opening monolog here, if you will. With. With something you said that I'm a lifelong stutterer, and ever since I opened my mouth, I can remember having disfluent speech, and I have to say that the biggest support that my parents ever gave me was encouraging me, as well as helping me at a very young age start in speech therapy, I I have met so many people in my life that Dennis Szymanski 10:32 did not have supporting parents or a supporting situation, and to To see that impact and that thread be traced throughout my life, and, you know, and juxtaposing it to other people's lives, it really makes a difference to have that supporting environment, that belief, because, you know, you said it, I live with the stutter Every day. It's very well managed. Now in my life, there was a time where I could not finish a sentence when I was in elementary school, early middle school, without having a stutter. But now I've learned through speech techniques, living my life in a relatively holistic way, how stress relates to my stutter and so many other things that I can manage it a lot better. But as my fellow stuttering people out there that might be listening, you always live with it. You know you're you're never, quote, unquote, cured. You're always having that stutter, managing it, whether it's overtly or covertly, it's always there. But very happy to get into all of that and more here with with you Michael, as as we kick off the episode. Michael Hingson 11:54 So what? What causes stuttering? Do we really know Dennis Szymanski 11:59 that's what, in part, is so fascinating is that we can't really pinpoint it, whereas to say this part of the brain for sure is, you know, impacting this part of your vocal cord in this way. And if we get in there and treat it however way it's going to go away there, of course, is ideas that you know certain parts of your brain have more of an impact or influence, and that it does directly relate to your vocal cords, because, at least from my stutter, how It works, and how I could, you know, most effectively explain it is my vocal cords simply lock up. So normal vocal cord operation, it's like a string on a violin, right, or string on a guitar. If you pluck it, it resonates, vibrates, makes sound. Your vocal cords work just the same, but their mechanism of quote, unquote, plucking is the air that you breathe. So if they lock up, you don't have vibration, you don't have sound, you don't have speech. And what's interesting is that if you were to put your your your ear or your hand to my mouth during a stuttering episode, there's still air flow like there's still air leaving my mouth, just as it does during fluent speech, but there's just no action and something else that is very interesting about the You know, my my stutter, and I've talked to other stutterers that have a similar experience, is that we know what we want to say. It's all upstairs. It's all formulated. It's just the physical blocking of the vocal cord, at least in my case and I, I make the, you know, the I make it important to say my case, because there is very different manifestations of stuttering, stammering, how one might block, how one might repeat a word. What are different triggers, etc. So in a nutshell, we don't really know which is why there's so many different theories, methodologies of treatment, how to cope, deal with, treat the the stud itself. Michael Hingson 14:32 Yeah, it's, it's fascinating, and I appreciate you giving us that explanation of it. It is something that I think is very important to point out that one of the things you mentioned is extremely crucial. Your parents were supportive. They helped you. My parents did the same thing when it was discovered that I was blind. Yeah, and a number of parents have really bought into helping their children recognize they can do whatever they choose and that they can deal with so many different issues. And oftentimes we also hear about parents who don't support some people succeed in spite of it, and some do not. But it's so important to really know that we, some of us, have parents who really help and and will do anything that they can to assist us in making life better for us Dennis Szymanski 15:41 and when we first got connected, and then afterwards, doing more listening to your talks, and other episodes of unstoppable mindset, I had learned that your parents were were supportive as well, and that made a mental note, as a matter of fact, to bring this up here in this talk, because I could not agree more the importance of support of your parents, especially as a young child, that's where everything starts. But then even as we grow our friends, you know, larger family and the networks that that that we keep is are so important to our development success as individuals. Michael Hingson 16:24 Yeah, so your parents are still with us. Dennis Szymanski 16:28 They both. Are they both? Are they divorced when I was very young, but that, again, you know, had no bearing on the support and the love I have a stepfather and a stepmother who are equally incredible and supportive. I always said I just got double the family that loves and cares. There you go. And my mother still lives on Long Island in the house where I grew up, so I love to go visit. Was just back there a couple of weeks ago, and are heading back up, you know, a couple of weeks time. And my dad actually lives in South Carolina. He relocated with my stepmother and my brother. They are around the Columbia area, so we're actually both Dennis' in the Carolinas. So that's actually quite nice. And I'm just just just saw him a couple of days ago, and I'm gonna see him, you know, on the Thanksgiving holiday as well. So looking forward to, looking forward to that. Michael Hingson 17:31 Well, last time I was back in the New York area for any length of time, I spent a week last year in Lindenhurst speaking to the Lindenhurst union free school district, and that was a lot of fun. Fortunately, it was before the snow hit. Oh, yeah, Lindenhurst. Dennis Szymanski 17:51 Lindenhurst was about a half an hour from where I grew up, one of the many, many towns that is the infinite urban sprawl of Long Island. Michael Hingson 18:00 Yeah. Well, yep. Well, it was fun. I was there for almost a week, and spoke to lots of sixth, seventh and eighth graders, did some faculty training, but enjoyed the area, and I've enjoyed Long Island every time I've been out there. So it was kind of fun. Well, I want to go back to this idea of nano scale. Tell me a little bit more about nano scale engineering. Dennis Szymanski 18:26 Absolutely, like I said, it's basically material science and engineering, but with a focus in semiconductors. So having had the hindsight now traditional material science background from NC State. When I went to do my graduate work, things like traditional material science, so metal stress strain curves. Didn't learn that in undergrad, focusing in semiconductors, I learned about transistors and the ethics of scaling semiconductor technology and computer programming at a very basic level that could help run certain parts of a semiconductor process. So very specific, very targeted focus that was nanoscale engineering. I was very fortunate to be the sixth graduating class out of the small colleges of nanoscale science and engineering. Like I said, that was part of the SUNY Albany system, and very hands on. I was in a building on the University's campus that was essentially an office building with 250 private companies pooling their resources in the office space as well as laboratory space, clean room space, but with a couple of classrooms. So not only was I rubbing shoulders with classmates, I was rubbing shoulders with people who worked at IBM or global founder. Or ASML Tokyo electron. These are big international companies that play in the semiconductor manufacturing space, and little did I know that was going to kickstart this incredible journey that has led me here to being a product engineer for a compound semiconductor manufacturer focused on gallium nitride power technology. So where people might be hearing this is in the AI data center talk. This material is going to enable faster, cheaper, cooler, more efficient chips, as well as you might have noticed, electric vehicles, your laptop, even your cell phone, charging a little faster and in recent years, and those bricks that used to sit on your lap and burn your lap get there, they're cooler. They're not as hot. All of these are direct advancements in compound semiconductor technology, semiconductor technology and essentially nanoscale engineering. And to go to its most fundamental route, you know engineer, nanoscale engineering is engineering on the nanoscale. And where we're at with semiconductor technology is we are looking at in silicon, a transistor is about a nanometer, two nanometers, which to put it in perspective for everybody listening, your hair, the width of your hair is 60 to 80 micrometers and nanometers are three orders of magnitude smaller, smaller than micrometers. So you can imagine that the reason we need clean rooms in semiconductor manufacturing is because one of your hair could wipe out hundreds, if not 1000s, of transistors on one of the chips, which nobody wants, right? You want a good manufacturing process that has high yield. So nano scale engineering has been was, was the start for for me with you know, the continuation of that has been to go into, as I said, material science in a more quote, unquote, proper sense, learning those stress strain curves, learning a little bit of polymer science, All applications and material science, but staying focused from age 17 till now on nanoscale engineering, which is material science focused, and semiconductors, Michael Hingson 22:51 if I recall, right, transistors were developed somewhere around 1948, so I mean, my gosh, that's only 77 years ago, ago, and look how far we've come. Dennis Szymanski 23:05 It truly is mind boggling. Michael Hingson 23:08 Michael, at the same time, we need to do something to figure out how to stop so many lithium ion batteries from causing fires somewhere. Dennis Szymanski 23:19 It's they're both material science problems for sure that that need to be tackled. I agree, Michael Hingson 23:26 yeah, one of those things that we're we're on the cusp of so many different developments. People talk about autonomous vehicles and so on. But, you know, the reality is, we're on the cusp. We're living through the the change that is coming. And personally, from my perspective, in my opinion, I can't wait for the time that we get to take driving out of the hands of drivers, because too many drivers don't do very well. Dennis Szymanski 23:55 You know, I have a very similar opinion, even though I will say one of my childhood dreams was to become a race car driver. So I do love to drive. I had an eighth of a mile go kart track in my backyard growing up, and one of the things that kept my sanity during my PhD program was going to the local go kart track and getting to put in some time trials. So I love to drive, but from a safety perspective, I could not agree with you more that it's high time that that we can implement some better safety and probably less traffic. Michael Hingson 24:33 Well, given the way most people seem to drive up here in Victorville or out here in Victorville, I am of the absolute opinion that I can drive as well as they can anyway, so Dennis Szymanski 24:44 we'll see. You know coming, coming from the New York driving environment to the North Carolina driving environment. Some things are similar, some things are very different, but, but it's definitely been, been fun spending almost half of my life. You know now down down down here in North Carolina, we had Michael Hingson 25:04 some people visiting us when my wife and I lived in New Jersey, and we drove into the city, and they said that the people who are with us, these cab drivers, are crazy. Just look at the way they drive. I would never want to be in a cab with with any of those drivers. And Karen pointed out, my wife pointed out something very relevant and so true for most cab drivers, at least back then, she said, look at those cabs. Do you see any dents? Do you see any dings? And they said, No. And she said, So what do you mean? You wouldn't want to be in those cars. You're probably safer in those cars than most anywhere else. Dennis Szymanski 25:48 She was right. She makes a good point. Michael Hingson 25:50 Practice. Makes perfect. It does. I love checker cabs, but we don't see those anymore. That's too bad. But oh well. But you know, one of the one way or another, I think that the time will come when autonomous vehicles will will make driving a lot safer, and that'll be good. But we're not there yet, and we're not there with with so many things I mentioned, the lithium ion batteries, they would they too will get better, and we will get over all of that. Now, of course, what we need to do is to make sure that we still have rare earth elements around. But that's going to be another challenge that we face over time. Dennis Szymanski 26:27 Yes, that's that's part of the fun, Michael, of being actually in material science as a discipline that it encompasses so many different touch points that we have in our life. One of my closest friends and was a colleague in my PhD program, is working on solid state battery technology that could potentially replace lithium ion technology and solve some of those problems just and it spans the whole gamut. I have a friend doing nuclear waste remediation. So very, very cool material science as a whole. You know, I'm obviously very enveloped in and my love is semiconductors, but my insatiable curiosity, I think I'm in the right field at Michael Hingson 27:20 large, yeah. What's the difference between incumbent semiconductors and compound semiconductors? Dennis Szymanski 27:30 Incumbent semiconductor technology has been predominantly silicon. So the raw material is you go to the beach and you get sand. That's obviously very oversimplifying. I'm not saying that you know TSMC or Global Foundries, or any of these guys are going to the nearest beach, but that is the raw material. It's very high purity. Silicon and compound semiconductors, on the other hand, are still very pure. That's one of the biggest material challenges of semiconductors at large, is to make them pure. But, and I'm glossing over a ton of physics and a ton of material science when I say pure. So just for any any fellow material science colleagues out there listening, I am aware that I glossed over a lot, but compound semiconductors are compound so you have two or more elements that come together that have semiconducting properties. So indium phosphide, indium and phosphorus, gallium nitride, gallium and nitrogen, aluminum gallium nitride, aluminum gallium and nitrogen. So they all come together. And what's very, very handy about these compound semiconductors is they can address a lot of niche applications in a much more efficient way than the incumbent silicon technology. So silicon technology can do a lot, I'm going to venture to say, almost everything we need. But the perfect example, and is on the top of everybody's mind is AI. You're not going to have AI in the form that we know it, if at all, without these compound semiconductors, silicon is just too inefficient. It's, you know, we've, we've reached certain limits at the material level that we need these compound semiconductors to get more efficient, AI, faster data interconnects, even, you know, charging your phone, laptop, electric vehicle, quicker, all of these are enabled. Enabled, and then to continue to iterate and improve, necessitate improvements and compounds. I mean, yeah, Michael Hingson 30:07 and that's, of course, the real key, speed and efficiency have a lot to do with it. I don't know. I remember having being a ham radio operator. I remember some of the early radios that I worked with. It was before, as ham operators would tell you, they went dark and went from tubes to transistors. So I remember vacuum tubes. My father was a TV repairman in Chicago before we moved out to California when I was five. And of course, then the biggest thing you ever replaced in a TV was a tube, although you did resistors and other things as well. But now, of course, it's a totally different animal. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Dennis Szymanski 30:50 I mean, the the vacuum tubes are exactly replaced with transistors. You replace with LEDs and all the different different things that modern semiconductors have enabled. Michael Hingson 31:00 They take a whole lot less power and are a lot a lot cooler in in the sense of, Well, I guess in cool in all ways. I had one I had one ham radio. It was a Polycom, and I forget the model number, but it ran extremely hot. We finally put a fan on one end of it to pull air through it. But without the fan, I could actually thaw and heat tater tots on it. It was so hot. Dennis Szymanski 31:29 Wow, you, you, you had a two in one. There you had, I did, and the ham radio Michael Hingson 31:35 all at the same time. It was great. But, yeah, I understand, and tubes are were replaced, and rightly so, by transistors. But a tube is a great way to teach the whole theory of how it all works and give you a way to see it in a very visual way that you're not going to see with transistors very well. Dennis Szymanski 31:57 That's true, and something that I was actually just kind of reappreciating Today was the history of it all, and how it's so important to realize that science and history are obviously inextricably linked from the progression standpoint, And then from what you said, it's it's so easy to to forget fundamentals and kind of get lost in the sauce, if you will. But I fully agree with what you say, that sometimes the quote, unquote old technology is actually just as good, if not better, a way to teach the fundamentals of the new technology, yeah, because so often they just build off of one another, right? Michael Hingson 32:49 The reality is that the process hasn't changed in terms of what they do. It's just that the product itself has changed, and it's become a lot more efficient and so on. But still, you're, you're moving electrons and and controlling them with positive and negative charges through the whole transistor process, just like you used to do with tubes, exactly, exactly. That's what makes it so, so interesting. And as you said, we take it way too much for granted. But I think that overall, it's it's great to have the old technology and the perspective to learn from, which is extremely important to do well. So what did you get your PhD in? Dennis Szymanski 33:40 So my PhD is in material science. Okay, that's what it is. My dissertation was on Super junction devices, a novel way to utilize gallium nitride in that particular device structure, super junction. So I again PhD, high level material science, compound semiconductors. And I focused on one particular material system, gallium nitride. And the goal was to learn about the material itself, make the material better and more suitable to be utilized in this type of transistor architecture that's called a super junction. Michael Hingson 34:32 So have we yet discovered a way to have any kind of superconductor operate at room temperature? Dennis Szymanski 34:39 Well, I didn't discover that there's been I mean, I keep up to date as best I can on other areas of the science world, and I know that we're doing really cool research that was previously thought to be impossible, right? Like most cutting edge scientific research.
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