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Please donate to the show!Our fourth and final episode in our series on healthcare discusses the findings of an alarming report into the state of health care in Massachusetts conducted by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. We explore the difficulties of getting primary and preventative care in our state, the realities that insurance coverage figures obscure, and what the future of the medical profession in Massachusetts might look like.You can read the HPC report here: https://masshpc.gov/publications/policyresearch-brief/dire-diagnosis-declining-health-primary-care-massachusetts-andYou're listening to Incorruptible Mass. Our goal is to help people transform state politics: we investigate why it's so broken, imagine what we could have here in MA if we fixed it, and report on how you can get involved.To stay informed:Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@theincorruptibles6939Subscribe to the podcast at https://incorruptible-mass.buzzsprout.com/Sign up to get updates at http://ww12.incorruptiblemass.org/podcast?usid=18&utid=30927978072Donate to the show at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/impodcast

#realconversations #nursing #medicationerrors #patientsafety#healthconsumer CONVERSATIONS WITH CALVIN WE THE SPECIESMeet DR JULIE SIEMERS: “When I look in the mirror everymorning during the shaving routine, I see the reflection of a proactive, healthconsumer advocate. I thought I knew broad health concepts. Until just meetingand interviewing Dr Julie Siemers, who is a leading authority in patient safetyas a nurse educator and founder of Lifebeat Solutions. Julie has over 40 yearsof experience in nursing care. What a brave new world of discovery for me. ANDyou. Perhaps up to 250,000 people die from preventable ‘stuff.' Enough said. DrJulie Siemers is riveting and necessary.” Calvinhttps://www.youtube.com/c/ConversationswithCalvinWetheSpecIEs503 Interviews/Videos  8970 SUBSCRIBERSGLOBAL Reach. Earth Life. Amazing People.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE **DR JULIE SIEMERS; The Nurse Who's Saving a Million Lives OnePolicy at a Time; Professor; Dean; LIVE from VirginiaYouTube:  https://youtu.be/ZPB8av2NMvsBIO: Dr. Julie Siemers brings more than four decades ofexperience and expertise in nursing practice, education, and executiveleadership to the healthcare arena. Dr. Siemers direct patient care experienceincludes a wide variety of roles on the medical/surgical care floor, IntensiveCare Unit, emergency department, and trauma resuscitation department atUniversity Medical Center, Las Vegas.Dr. Siemers currently serves as Campus Executive Directorfor a large Nursing University in California and is responsible for providingstrategic direction to successfully achieve academic and operationalgoals—building upon past successes and driving excellence in nursing education.She has served as Chief Flight Nurse and Regional Program Director for MercyAir Services in Las Vegas. Dr. Siemers is passionate about education inhealthcare; she served as an education consultant and Account Executive for a largemedical device company for several years and was instrumental in impactingpositive changes in patient monitoring practices. Dr. Siemers has been a memberof State Boards of Nursing Education Councils to contribute her expertise toenhancing safe nursing practice.Dr. Siemers' has been a great influence in nursing educationfor the past fourteen years serving in various capacities of Professor ofNursing for Adult Health and Critical Care courses, Program Director of theBachelor of Science in Nursing at Touro University, Dean of Academic Affairs,Campus President in Arlington Virginia and Jacksonville Florida for ChamberlainUniversity. Dr. Siemers has been a member of State Boards of Nursing EducationCouncils to contribute her expertise to enhancing safe nursing practice.Current and future nurses need to be vigilant in their practice and care ofpatients to improve patient outcomes and save lives.Dr. Siemers focus and vision for creating radical changes inhealthcare to protect patients from unintended harm and preventable medicalerrors is to inform and educate each and every patient and their familymembers. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. We are all in this together.**Linkshttps://www.drjuliesiemers.comwww.tiktok.com/@drjuliesiemers**WE ARE ALSO ON AUDIOAUDIO “Conversations with Calvin; WE the SpecIEs”ANCHOR https://lnkd.in/g4jcUPqSPOTIFY https://lnkd.in/ghuMFeCAPPLE PODCASTSBREAKER https://lnkd.in/g62StzJGOOGLE PODCASTS https://lnkd.in/gpd3XfMPOCKET CASTS https://pca.st/bmjmzaitRADIO PUBLIC https://lnkd.in/gxueFZw

Navigating New York City can feel daunting and overwhelming, but you can get around easily with the right tools and tips! In this episode, we'll break down three Google Maps hacks that will save you loads of time and effort when mapping your route to your next must-see spot in NYC. Not everyone uses Google Maps to navigate, but we've found it to be the most efficient and accurate during our travels across the globe, specifically in New York. These tips and tricks will be similar to those of other platforms like Apple Maps or Citymapper. We'll cover: Live View Future Train/Route Times Route Filtering 1- Live View New York's streets can be confusing, especially when you pop up from the subway and aren't exactly sure which cross street you're on… enter Live View! When using transit (or walking) directions within Google Maps, you will see an option for Live View for the walking section. Click Live View and then pan your camera around slowly so the camera can capture where you are. Once you do this, Google Maps will tell you exactly where to walk to your destination. Here are photos and a video showcasing how to accomplish this in Google Maps. Step 1- Put your destination in and click “Directions,” and choose the walking option Step 2- Click Live View Step 3- Scan your surroundings Step 4- An arrow will indicate which way to walk 2- Future Train/Route Times If you punch in a location for directions, it will show you the current times. But if you're trying to plan how you'll get from a dinner to a Broadway show tomorrow, that won't help. So, change the time of travel. Here's how: Enter your destination and click ‘get directions' Ensure your starting point is accurate Choose the transit option (train icon) Right under that, you will see text that says ‘depart at (the current time)' Click that and update your preferences accordingly. I recommend choosing the “Arrive By” option 3- Route Filtering Some people want to avoid buses and only take the subway, or vice versa. Andyou can do that in Google Maps! When you choose the transit option for directions, you will find an “Options” menu on the right side of the top menu. Once in the options menu, you can choose to prioritize specific modes of transportation! You can also filter routes based on specific criteria like: Best route Fewest transfers Least walking Avoid stairs and escalators Recap & Next Steps Istanbul Kebab House - This Episode's You'll Have to Check It Out Segment, check it out here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/euY87RtJZ6G6CjKs7 Download the full NYC Navigation & Transportation Guide here: https://rebrand.ly/nyc-navigation-guide Get the NYC Basic Tips & Etiquette book here: https://amzn.to/4fo5TRj

As the calendar year comes to an end, I offer this poem as a re-write of a text that one of my Sanghas has been studying. The text is called The Eight Realizations of Great Beings, one story says it was one of the last teachings given by the Buddha before passing into PariNirvana.I re-wrote the teaching as a way of distilling and remembering the practices we did together during our Autumn Ango. The teaching is about liberation and the profound realization of our interconnected life. I offer it as a capping phrase to this Autumn of our practice life, and as something we can turn over in our hearts throughout the winter and coming year. For the dharma teachings always get better with age.The Eight Realizations: Pith Instructions for Living a Joyful LifeI—ImpermanenceAll the world is impermanent. Change is our nature.Our bodies, minds, the body of the great earth and everyone we loveThe universe with its stars and solar systemsWill change, are changing, will decay and give way toSomething newRealize the truth of impermanenceAnd wisdom will be your guideII—Clinging/SatisfactionWhen we try to hold on to something that is changingWe sufferGreed, hoarding, taking more than one's shareThis is clingingThis is sufferingPractice satisfaction, know how much is enoughLive in reciprocity with the earth and all beingsIII—SimplicityThe mind is insatiable, always wanting moreand more, and moreFollow the path of liberationLive simplyMake wisdom + compassion your sole vocationIV—Joyful EffortTo follow the WayIs like trying to swim upstreamIt takes enthusiastic perseveranceAnd great carePractice with others andYou are buoyed by their generous currentsV—MindfulnessMindfulness is a great friendAttention is healingTruly an act of loveListen to the wisdom of yourBody, feelings, mind and awarenessPractice discernmentAnd you won't be misledVI—GenerosityGenerosity is a pathA generous heart is always fullTake joy in givingAnd receivingAnd you will realizeThe gift of this lifeVII—InterconnectionVast is the Buddha's robe of liberationA formless field of interconnectionAnd kindnessTransmute unskillful desiresInto the heart of bodhicittaFill your bowl with compassionAnd offer it to allVIII—VowIn this world of suffering and loveRemember that you are not separateFrom anyone or anythingVow to walk this pathFor the benefit of all beingsThroughout time and spaceThese are the 8 realizations, the practices of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Ancestors and other great beings. Practice them, develop wisdom and compassion, and live in reciprocity with all beings. This is the way to living a joyful life.I'm Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, budding Astrologer and Artist. I currently live in Columbus, Ohio with my partner Patrick Kennyo Dunn, we facilitate an in-person meditation gathering every Wednesday from 7P - 8:30P at ILLIO in Clintonville through Mud Lotus Sangha. If you happen to be in Columbus, feel free to stop by. We have weekly meditation gatherings and monthly Saturday offerings as well.Thanks for reading friends! The recording is from a dharma talk that was given during Monday Night Meditation. You can find out more below. Also, I would love to hear from you, please feel free to like or comment on this post—and share it!Current OfferingsSpiritual Counseling — IFS informed, mindful somatic therapyAstrology— I am starting to offer astrology readings. I have found astrology to be a helpful map for connecting to the more mythic unfolding of life. It can help us honor our gifts, navigate challenges, get perspective and connect with planetary allies. It can also offer guidance on the questions that arise in our lives and aid us in stepping more fully into our wholeness. I am currently offering the following types of readings* Natal Chart Readings* Astro Counseling Package* Transit Readings* Great Work of Your Life Reading* Astrology Gift Card — give the gift of an astrology readingArt Shop — I sell my original paintings and printsMonday Night Meditation + DharmaEvery Monday 6P PT / 9P ETJoin me on zoom for 40 minutes of meditation and a dharma talk. We are currently exploring a text called The Eight Realizations of Great Beings, which gives us an opportunity to practice inquiry and embodying love as we discover our Awakened Nature together.This event is hosted by the Zen Community of Oregon. All are welcome to join. Drop in any time.Zoom Link for Monday NightSky + Rose: An Emergent Online Contemplative Community Braiding Spirit and SoulSunday Jan 510:30A PT - 12:30P PT / 1:30P ET - 3:30P ETWhat is it? An experiment in the impossible task of excluding nothing and loving everything. An alchemy of play, presence and wandering into the shadows, you could say.Sky & Rose is a practice container that will:* Center group parts work practices to explore the fluidity, span and dream of who we are - somebody, nobody, everybody. You will be invited to express yourself vocally and physically, engage your imagination and play outside habituation.* Do interpersonal and group meditation practices of seeing, being and awakening.* Directly explore emotional embodiment & shadow work* Include Beauty, Art & Wonderment as core practice elementsThrough rituals of imagination, meditation technologies and co-created fields of intentional play, we can slip out, for a time, of confining identities defined by our histories, culture and comfort. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Season 4 of the Motivation Babe Podcast! In this episode, we're setting the tone for personal transformation and growth. I am so excited to pour into you like never before with new perspectives, teachings, and honestly a new me. This season you are getting an entirely new Hills and she is ready to go! Here is a sneak peek of the episodes coming your way in season 4:Rediscover who you are in 3 questionsTaking Radical accountability for your lifeThe Inner work + Personal Transformation Manifesting your dream life Self sabotage + why we hold ourselves backADHD and navigating a new world Battle with Anxiety, Depression Wanting more, letting go, boundaries The glow up My coaching method (TBAR)The season of being “Still” what to do when nothing is happening andYou are the biggest inventment + money mindset Creating confidence and showing up like a badas*How to find instant clarity + direction in lifeGirl talk: getting engaged + relationships + wedding planning You are your brand + creating your signature look + wardrobe must havesIf you liked this episode I would love a 5-star rating on apple podcast, thank you so much for all the love and support in this journey! Make sure to post and share the episode so I can repost you on The Motivation Babe Instagram @themotivationbabe.co YOU GOT THIS BABE!

Lyrics Jesus called me collect last nightIt took all of me not to answer itDaddy warned me the perils of playHard to deal God's standardsFlying high and fearless babyI've kissed death a thousand times beforeRemember me for who I was not who I amI'll pray you never understand thisSweet, sweet, sweet NovemberRemember me for who I was not who I amI'll pray you never understand thisSweet, sweet, sweet NovemberHeard you fucking with Tommy againRemember where that landed you last timeThat nigga don't really love you girlHe just fucks you every night it's his past-timeBlind eye and the feel is dark andYou two might just do it raw tonightHeaven help if he leave you girlHope you bought two new thongs this timeRemember me for who I was not who I amI'll pray you never understand thisSweet, sweet, sweet NovemberRemember me for who I was not who I amI'll pray you never understand thisSweet, sweet, sweet November --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/juljina/message

Matt Wireman00:00:23 - 00:01:00Welcome to another episode of Off the Wire. This is Matt Wireman and I am so thankful to have with me Dr. Brian Arnold, who is currently serving as the president of Phoenix Seminary. And that is really fun to say. I met Brian while he and I were students at Southern Seminary together. And I believe we had an early church history class on Augustine together, if I'm not mistaken. And I had no idea that guys that I was going to school with were going to be president. So here you go. So I'm really thankful to have you, Brian, on this podcast. And I just wanted to thank you for your time.Brian Arnold00:01:01 - 00:01:03Well, it's great to be with you, Matt. Thanks for asking me on.Matt Wireman00:01:03 - 00:01:24Yeah, so you, we were chatting before we hit the record button and you've been at Phoenix Seminary for five years you say and then just recently have taken the post as present. Can you kind of walk us through what that transition has been like and what you find yourself busying yourself with as opposed to what you found yourself busying yourself with?Brian Arnold00:01:25 - 00:02:55Absolutely. So in 2014, actually, I got a call from a friend of mine, Dr. John Meade, who was also at Southern with us. He was doing his PhD in Old Testament and said, hey, are you looking for a job in academia? And I was pastoring at the time, and I'd love to tell more and more about that if you'd like. And he said, there's a position open to Phoenix. So I applied for it and got the position. We moved across the country in May of 2015, which is not the time to come to Phoenix to get the brunt of the brutal summers. See if you're really committed. That's why you went to Phoenix. Absolutely. And taught in church history and systematic theology for those first couple of years. What I recognized pretty quickly about myself is as much as I love scholarship and I enjoy writing and lecturing, I also noticed, one I've noticed this my entire adult life, even before, is a mentorship and a desire to help make things better. So some of my colleagues are exceptionally gifted scholars, but I always found myself drifting into more meetings and thinking through curricular issues and just noticing, especially at Phoenix Seminary, how much potential I saw here and wanted to maximize that as much as possible. And part of it was I never thought I'd actually get a job even teaching at a seminary. And I wanted to make sure the Phoenix Seminary had every chance it had in this kind of environment to be successful in the long haul. So that's what kind of led me to administration.Matt Wireman00:02:55 - 00:03:10Yeah, so your goal was not to be in higher education. It sounds like you were a pastor when you got that phone call from John. So like, what were you thinking? For one, why did you get the PhD if you knew you were going to be a pastor?Brian Arnold00:03:11 - 00:03:28So I almost had to go all the way back to college when I first got a taste for theology,late high school, early into college and started devouring just different books as I found them. I remember even I was a paramedic major in college and so I was in fire and EMS and.Matt Wireman00:03:28 - 00:03:30Eastern Kentucky, right? Is that where you were at?Brian Arnold00:03:30 - 00:05:43I like to say Harvard of the South, nobody else does. But I had a 500-hour internship program that I had to do over the course of a summer in the back of an ambulance and I was doing for a long time, 24 hours on, 24 hours off. And I wanted something substantive to read and my director for Campus Crusade said, why don't you read this book? It's a big fat systematic theology by a guy named Wayne Grudem. And so I went to Barnes and Noble, bought it. And I remember walking in the parking lot looking and seeing like, wow, Harvard and Westminster and Cambridge. And he teaches at this place called Phoenix Seminary and I've never heard of that before. But I read that that summer and fell in love with even academic theology as well as a couple of my roommates in college. And everyone I knew had gone to Southern Seminary. So that was a no-brainer. I was an hour and a half down the road and went to Southern. And really from my first day there, I remember a guy named Scott Davis was in admissionsat the time. And I said, you know, I'm going to go through the MDiv and get my PhD and I would love to teach someday. And he was like, easy there. He hears that from a lot of people. And he said, you haven't even started the MDiv yet. You don't know how hard that is. And also over that same kind of weekend, the New Student Orientation kind of things, Russ Moore, I was sitting next to him for lunch. And he said, you know, one of the founders of Southern Seminary said, if your greatest desire is not to go into the pastorate, then you probably shouldn't be teaching at a seminary. And I thought, you know, I do have a passion for the local church and I would love to pastor. So I kept those two ideas in my mind of what I kind of wanted to do. And then I was realistic. I knew how many guys go and get a PhD and never get a job in higher education. So I thought the chances of me actually teaching at a seminary are very slim, but I love the study of theology. And I knew that even doing that level of work would improve my communication skills, my ability to read better and to write clearly. And so I was really passionate about getting the PhD and either adjuncting somewhere while I was pastoring or writing or any kind of combination of those things. And there was a school near me where I was pastoring in western Kentucky that actually went out of business the day after I went there to talk to them about teaching, potentially.Matt Wireman00:05:43 - 00:05:46Where were you pastoring at in western Kentucky?Brian Arnold00:05:46 - 00:05:50So it was a little town called Smithland, Kentucky, just outside of Paducah.Matt Wireman00:05:50 - 00:05:51Okay, awesome.Brian Arnold00:05:51 - 00:05:54The school that was down there was called Mid-Continent University.Matt Wireman00:05:54 - 00:05:56Okay, okay. Very familiar with it. Yeah.Brian Arnold00:05:56 - 00:06:24They went out and I had been looking for higher ed jobs the whole time. And I told my wife, if I don't hear anything at this ETS, it was going to be ETS in 2014, I'm not going to pursue higher ed anymore. Well, that's when John Mead reached out and said, hey, are you interested? So I always wanted to go into higher ed. I just, in some ways it was hedging saying, I know that it's unrealistic that I'll actually get a position in higher ed.Matt Wireman00:06:24 - 00:06:27Just because it's such a saturation of PhDs, is that why?Brian Arnold00:06:27 - 00:06:52huge saturation of PhDs, less people are going to seminaries, there's a scaling down.There was just all the confluence of issues that make it that much harder to get into the market. I felt like we're happening. So, I'm a pastor, the Lord is really blessing our work there and it was exciting and I could have done that for an entire career and been really satisfied doing it.Matt Wireman00:06:52 - 00:07:12Mm-hmm. So what was it about Phoenix that you would make a move? I mean, because that's not just, you know, right down the street kind of seminary that like you alluded to.I mean, that's a substantial climate change, but also a substantial cultural change. And so what was it about Phoenix particularly that drew you to even apply?Brian Arnold00:07:13 - 00:07:45Yeah, if I'm just being frank, it was a job. I kept telling my wife, you know, we could be,and I always pick cold places, and we almost went to a school in Montreal, actually.That's a bit of another story, but I was like, it could be Alaska, it could be Maine, it could be Canada, and I never even thought about warmer places, and it ended up being Phoenix, and so it was an opportunity to get my foot in the door and begin teaching. So I knew to find a job in higher education, in seminary education specifically, I was gonna have to be open to moving anywhere.Matt Wireman00:07:45 - 00:07:55Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So you were teaching systematic theology and church history.Well, your major was systematic theology, was it, or was it church history?Brian Arnold00:07:55 - 00:08:00I'm Church History, so I study under Michael Haken and particularly Church Fathers.Matt Wireman00:08:00 - 00:08:23Okay, and then you moved to Phoenix in 2014, became the president. Can you walk us through that process? Like, I mean, that's a big jump. So you found yourself more in administrative type meetings. But what was it, I mean, to go from that to, you know, to go from just being in meetings to being a president is a pretty significant change. So walk us through.Brian Arnold00:08:23 - 00:08:45When I was dean for about two months. Does that count? Say what? That I was dean for about two months before I became president. So yeah, it's a bit of a convoluted story. Our president, who'd been here for 23 years, had even been one of the founders of it back in 1988.Matt Wireman00:08:45 - 00:08:47Dr. Del Husey, is that right? That's right.Brian Arnold00:08:46 - 00:12:05That's right. You have Dr. Darolda who say he had been pastor of Scottsdale Bible Church, which is probably one of the first big mega church churches in America. And so his background was more in church ministry, but he recognized even back in 1988, Phoenix is growing. Most people would be surprised, but it's the fifth largest city in the United States. And so here you have a city that's booming and there's no place to get a seminary education. So all of our best and brightest, most talented pastor candidates are leaving to go to seminary and they don't come back. So we need something here. And we were actually a branch campus of Western Seminary in our founding and they were independent from them around 1994 or so. So I was following a pretty long presidency of Dr. Del Jose, which is already a challenge in and of itself for somebody who's that deeply ingrained here. Now he serves as the chancellor and we've got a great relationship, really thankful for him. But he even recognized that they needed somebody who had more of an academic background to take it to the next level. And hesaid, I'm just waiting for somebody to come in and say they want my job. This is my first six months at Phoenix Seminary. And I walked down to his office, I said, I love your job. And I was just kidding. And I said, I'm kidding about that. I just, I know myself, I see myself more gifted and bent towards administration and leadership. So I would love to be mentored by you and really get to understand what higher education looks like from a leadership position. And so early on in my tenure here, I was really getting involved in the leadership aspects. I helped lead us through a major curriculum change. We had a bunch of two hour classes, we moved to three hour class system. So that gave me a lot of understanding in our workings. And through all that, I was coming up under Bing Hunter, our previous provost and dean, and was kind of gearing up for that position. Well, at the same time, the presidency was coming open. And I wanted to throw my hat in the ring because I see so much potential here. I'm very thankful for where Dr. Del Jose brought us. But I also recognize we really can get to the next level here and establish ourselves as one of the major theological institutions in the West, especially the Southwest. And when you think about where Phoenix is located, we're pretty good distance away from a lot of other seminaries. We're back east, they kind of seem to pile up on top of each other. So there's a lot of even geographically speaking, room here to grow. And to really, I tell all of our team all the time, I'm asking people just to grab some basket and pick the low hanging fruit. I mean, we're here with Arizona State University, which is the largest undergrad, GCU, which is now the largest Christian undergrad,we've got a great relationship with Arizona Christian University. So I saw all these things, I kept thinking, how can we grow this potential? And as the inside guy, I knew where our challenges were, I knew where our threats and our opportunities were. And so I just wanted to make a case to the board and say, as the inside guy, I know how to tweak some dials right now, they can get us moving in the right direction. And I think it was a long shot. I was a long shot, I think, from the very beginning of the whole process. And from what I understand, just kept kind of making it through to the next level to the next level to the next level until especially I got to be able to presentMatt Wireman00:12:05 - 00:12:08Survive in advance, right?Brian Arnold00:12:08 - 00:13:53It really is exactly what it felt like. But we used Carter Baldwin, which is an executive search firm. When the rep, you get to the round of eight or nine or so, he flies around the country to meet with you wherever you're at. So we flew back out to Phoenix and we sat down to meet for our interview. His very first question, at the time I was 35, he said, you're 35, you don't have much higher education experience. Why now? You're coming into Dean's role. Why not just learn that and climb the ranks that way? I said to him, honestly, for me, it's an issue of gifting. The gifting and skill set, you need to be a really accomplished dean. A lot of times, it's a very different skill set to be a successful president. Deans are a lot of times, they're the ones that are keeping the trains moving and they're really keeping you within the lanes of accreditation and assessment and all those different pieces with the DOE and ATS and ensuring that the institution is healthy from that vantage point. I see myself more as the big picture visionary. I want to be out there preaching. I want to be casting vision. I want to be meeting with donors. Because for me, donor relationships are not only a great opportunity for pastoral ministry, but it's also a chance to just explain what my heart is and vision is for the seminary, and see if they want to partner with us. When I just look at skill set wise, I saw myself having a better skill set for the presidency. I said, that may come across arrogant, I don't mean it to. It really is just about finding the right seat on the bus for each person. I think I could sit in the presidency and do okay. Here we are.Matt Wireman00:13:53 - 00:14:46So here we are. Yeah, well, I know it's very exciting, very exciting. I'm really thankful that you're in that presidency. Because one of the things that I love about your story is that you said you could be totally content serving at a local church. You know, and a lot of times, even within higher education, Christian higher education, even, that there can be this sense of climbing the corporate ladder, you know, paying your dues and then being entitled to being a successor and all these things. But I love that you framed it and saying, I would have been content and happy and would have lived a fruitful life being a pastor in a town that people hadn't heard of, because that's valuable. Because one of the things that's unique about Phoenix Seminary, what's the tagline or the mission statement for Phoenix? This is a quiz. This is a quiz.Brian Arnold00:14:45 - 00:14:48No problem. Scholarship at the Shepherd's Heart.Matt Wireman00:14:48 - 00:15:36Yeah, so I would love for you to reflect on, not only as the president, but as a formerpastor, as someone who has a pastor's heart, a shepherd's heart, what is that relationship that you view, and you could view it in both sides, because you've had both hats on, of what that relationship is between a seminary and the church. So much of the theological fighting that took place in many of the seminaries took place because there was a divorcing of, or a assuming of, roles as opposed to a tight relationship between the seminary and the church. So I'd love for you to just reflect on why the seminary is valuable to the local church, and why then the local church is valuable to a seminary.Brian Arnold00:15:36 - 00:18:31Absolutely. I think we have to begin with what is God's plan for humanity? And a big part of that is the church. Jesus died for his bride. It is the church. That's his plan for the world. That's his mission for the world. And so I think it's important for people in my position now to always remember that we are really the quartermasters. We're the ones behind, we're off the front lines. We're equipping, we're preparing, we're training, we're sending out. But really the battlefield's out there in the mission field of the church. And so I'm very happy to be recognizing my backseat role as a parachurch ministry, helping undergird God's plan for the world. And what helped me with that is that I've been in both worlds. So I realized very quickly in my pastorate that had I not had a seminary education, I would have been in a tough spot. So why is that? Like, yeah. Yeah. So we moved to Smithland in June of 2012. And we already had a vacation that was going to be planned. So we went on that and I'm on the beach on the East Coast. And I get this phone call from one of my deacons and he was a deacon and his dad was a deacon. And he said, Hey, I just want you to know, my father's kidneys are failing. And we don't know what that's going to mean for him. My wife was just diagnosed with breast cancer and my daughter's best friend just committed suicide. And I remember sitting there on the beach thinking, okay, that was the shortest ministry honeymoon in the history of humanity. I haven't even like really landed there yet. And this is already, I'm already recognizing how messy ministry is and you're really entering into broken lives of people. Well, I was going to be preaching through Philippians first off. And here I am at a local small Southern Baptist church in Western Kentucky preaching three times a week, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. And I'd probably preached 10 times total before I took that position. So in my first month, I'm going to be preaching more than I've preached my entire life. And I'm going through Philippians, all of a sudden you get to Philippians two pretty quickly and you get this issue of kenosis. What does it mean that Jesus emptied himself? If I had a seminary training, the background, understanding my Christology, you can get to a text like that. It's going to take you forever to walk through the challenges that present you in that text. But I was so thankful because the seminary education put me that much further ahead, even to my own preparation and study that I was used to exegeting the text when I came totheological challenges. It wasn't the first time I'd seen them or thought through them before. So that actually freed me up to do more ministry in the church because I had a deeper understanding of the text already. Does that make sense? So, yeah.Matt Wireman00:18:29 - 00:19:32Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, you're not having to try to figure out like so many times I talk to guys who, you know, are in the middle of seminary training or haven't had seminary training and then they, yeah, great, great example, Philippians 2, and they're like, I didn'tknow this was an issue. And then they read one guy and they're like, I think I agree with that. And then they read another guy and they're like, I think I agree with that too. And they're like diametrically opposed to each other. And you're like, well, that will make a dramatic effect on how you for one read all of Philippians and then the entire New Testament and those kinds of things. So yeah, I hear you. And along with that, just a little side note, a lot of times people ask, well, how long does it take you to prepare a sermon? It's like, well, you know, each sermon has got, you know, 20 years of teaching behind it, you know, 20 years of education behind it. It's not something that I just kind of whip up over, you know, in a week. It's something that there is a lot of training that's going behind every single sermon. So it's kind of a misnomer to say, well, how long is your sermon prep? It's like, well, it's a couple decades. That's right.Brian Arnold00:19:31 - 00:20:06That's right. Exactly. David Allen Black says the pastor should be like an iceberg. People see the top 10% above the water, but they know that there's 90% below it as well. But I don't know that we've really helped people in the church see just how important that is or they're not connecting those dots. You know, this is not a knock on where I was coming from and I pastor it. But a lot of the pastors in Western Kentucky did not have a theological education. And I knew some of them who'd show up to church on Sunday morning, do like a flip open method of sermon prep, wherever they open the Bible. It's like, Hey, that's.Matt Wireman00:20:05 - 00:20:12like, Hey, that's, you're not, you're not exaggerating. Right? I mean, this is like, cause people joke about that, but there were people actually doing it.Brian Arnold00:20:12 - 00:20:54who did that down the road from where I was a pastor. And just to show you this, this is not to pat myself on the back, it's to pat seminary education on the back. That's right, that's right, that's right. Is I had a guy who my very first Sunday was my sermon I was preaching to get hired at the church. He's about 75, he graduated by the army. And this guy could have taken me. He's a strong, tough guy. And he pulls me to the side and he goes, we don't need a preacher. Those are a dime a dozen. We need a pastor. Do you understand what I'm telling you? And I was like, yes, sir, I know exactly what you mean. And he wanted to know that as I was coming into my late 20s, that I was going to love people, be there with them, to walk through suffering. Absolutely. I mean, that's my heart. I want to do that.Matt Wireman00:20:22 - 00:20:23That's right, that's right, that's right.Brian Arnold00:20:54 - 00:22:52Same guy, we have a great relationship, but he's not much of a talker over the next three years while I'm pastoring. My very last Sunday, he grabs me again and pulls me to the side. I doubt he even remembered that initial conversation. And he said to me, I've been in the church for 50 years, and I've never learned as much or gone deeper in my walk with Christ or understood the Bible as much as I have these last three years. I only tell that story to say, and I'll tell this to my students, is don't underestimate the power of opening God's Word and preaching through it in an expository way. God will change lives doing that. But it was my seminary education that helped me do that. And even if my church couldn't articulate it, it's like, why is our church... We were growing in a really healthy way. Other churches, you could tell people were like, okay, these people at Smith and First are really getting fed. And I wasn't sitting there drawing the lines all the time for them. But when I left, I tried to help encourage the deacon saying, think about what you said about the preaching ministry here is because I was seminary trained. So go back to that pond and fish again. Because I knew quite literally, there's a couple thousand people just down the road who love the Lord, are committed to the gospel, and have the right type of training to do it. So now on my side of things, that makes me even more passionate, having been a pastor for a couple years, knowing what I needed in the pastorate. And now I can help deliver and train that for other people who are now... You're starting to see students come back and say, oh my goodness, you're right.This is having a significant impact on my ministry. I see guys here, Matt, who have been in ministry for 20 years who are now coming back and getting seminary education, who are lamenting that. And they're saying, I put the cart before the horse. I really wish I had known 20 years ago what I know now. My ministry would have been different.Matt Wireman00:22:52 - 00:24:16Yeah. Well, I'd like to revisit this relationship between the church and the seminary and just your diagnosis of why there is, in some ways, you know, a dumbing down of the pastorate in some ways of where people are like, we don't need all that education. It's like, well, I don't know why the person has to have a Southern accent. You know, Southerners, we get beat up on sometimes. But, you know, you want to say you can preach, period. Like there's a beauty in saying, you know, if God has called you to preach, preach. And yet at the same time, we want to bridle that horse up and be able to say there's a lot of good here. But I just have found like a lot of times people are very quick, and I'm sure medical doctors get this too and lawyers get this too, where people are like, I know you studied for like 20 years, but I read this. I've got a webMD. Yeah, exactly. And a lot of times that happens at the church too, but in some ways, we havebeen the cause of that problem by saying education is not important. So I'd love for you to just kind of tease out a little bit more like how you see the seminary serving the local church.Brian Arnold00:24:16 - 00:27:36Absolutely. And this argument is trotted out quite a bit, but I think it's important. Andyou kind of said it there, people expect their doctors and lawyers to have a certain levelof training because what they're doing is of great importance. How much more the careof souls, the shepherding of people's eternity, and for people to know and understand things. Yeah, there's been a historic challenge here, at least in the last couple of hundred years between the seminary and the church. And when you think back over time, a lot of the people who were most theologically trained were week in and week out pastors. If you think about the Reformation, you think about people like Martin Luther and John Calvin, these guys were pastors who were also leaders in theology. It's really not almost until the Enlightenment where you begin to see a wedge put between the seminary and the church as higher education because of its own kind of thing, where you might have seminary professors who have not been pastors before. And so I think that even then leads further to people seeing a greater divide between them. I think it's everybody kind of knowing those places. So as I mentioned before, recognizing, yes, the church is God's purpose for the world, but there's substantial training that a pastor must have in order to faithfully execute that office. It's a high office that God has called upon. When you think about somebody like Paul man, right, he's converted. He's already well-trained and yet he secludes himself kind of more training. Even think about the apostles before they're sent off in Matthew 28. Jesus is with them for three years. I mean, that's a pretty solid seminary education that they're receiving. And Christian history for the last 2,000 years has been deeply invested in education and recognizing that we are touching sacred things and people need to know those. And so if seminaries recognize their parachurch status more and the recognition that local churches simply cannot do what seminaries can do. I know very few churches, maybe if any, where you have somebody you could teach Greek, Hebrew, systematics, church history, evangelism and discipleship, world missions, all the different things that you kind of get from a seminary education, local church can do this. So the idea is, right, there's a hub of education that many churches can pour into and get trained from and then they get sent back out to their churches. Working together in tandem like that with the recognition that a seminary should be chosen by a student if that seminary is deeply invested in the work of the local church. I mean, if they're not and they're just actually a think tank or an ivory tower, then don't go there. But if a seminary is actually saying, look, our heartbeat is for the local church, that is what God has given us. All we want to do is give you those tools that you can't get from the local church and let us equip you in those ways and then we'll send you right back. Hopefully, we're on fire for God. Hopefully, deeper in their ability to handle the text, more aware of how to do actual practical ministry, all these different pieces so that they don't get this divided. I mean, the saddest stories are oh, Johnny was a great preacher before he went to seminary or, you know, Bill was so in love with the Lord and then he went to seminary.Matt Wireman00:27:36 - 00:27:44What happens to those guys? Why is that sometimes part of the narrative, you think?Brian Arnold00:27:45 - 00:28:43It's a great question. Partly, I often wonder if it's a straw man kind of argument. I mean, you and I were at Southern Together. When I think back, whenever I'd hear people talk bad about seminary, and I'm thinking, I'm with these guys who love the Lord and are bringing their education to the pew week in and week out. I never understood that. I never understood why people say those things. And chances are, a lot of times it was going to be a person who was going to be a bad fit for ministry anyway. Seminary can't, if I can say this, maybe you'll have to edit this part out later, I don't know. But seminary cannot take a weirdo and make them not a weirdo. Right? Seminary can't take somebody who has no actual gifting from the Lord in pastoral ministry and somehow do that. I mean, there's spiritual gifts involved in this as well. Sometimes I think seminaries unfairly bear the brunt of criticism that we're not responsible for.Matt Wireman00:28:43 - 00:29:53Yeah, and in some ways, like people, you know, one of the things at Southern, and I don't know if Phoenix does this or not, I'd like to know, but you know, you have to get a reference from your church that you're a member at. And I think, and I'm afraid that many churches are not doing the hard work of saying, hey, brother, you probably need to get some humility before you go to seminary because there'll be some classes and I know you were in these classes too, not you, you weren't doing this, but there were guys in classes, I was like, I would never be a congregant in that man's church because he is abrasive, he is proud and everyone sees it. And then the seminary is supposed to miraculously just say, hey, you shouldn't be a pastor. It's like, that's not the seminary's job. It's just really frustrating that, you know, the talking heads or the, you know, the heads on a stick as it were, that gets to be the misnomer for seminaries when in fact, it's taking, you know, what Paul said, a fan in the flame, the gift that was given to you and how you do that, well, you put more fodder on the fire and how you do that, you get more training, you get more education to be able to do that.Brian Arnold00:29:54 - 00:31:24Absolutely. Yeah, they should be people that the church is already saying, we see the call of God on your life. And, you know, one of the ways this does go sideways sometimes, Matt, and this is a sad situation is where people are deeply involved and invested in their local church. People do recognize the gift that God has given them. They want them to fan it into flame. They recognize their need for education. They go to seminary and they stop being that involved in their local church. That happens, I think that's a record for disaster, right? So, one of the things that I'm passionate about as a president here is even mentoring. So, one of the things that I did love about Phoenix Seminary as soon as I came here is that every student has a mentor. And I've not really seen that in other seminaries before. And that's one of the areas we're going to be investing in a lot more in the next year or two. But I think about even these books on pastoral calling. The one that always sticks out to me is Paul David Tripp's, Dangerous Calling. And on the original cover, there's five endorsements on the back. Three of them aren't in ministry anymore. On a book on how dangerous pastoral ministry is. So, why are we seeing all these ministries implode? And everybody looks to me as though we're the sole solution. Now, we're going to do everything we can to help bridge that, to remind people that as deep as they go, or maybe as high as they go in academic theology, they need to go deeper into the roots of their spirituality.Matt Wireman00:31:24 - 00:32:01Trust me, just seminaries are not giving people passes. They're not rubber stamping people. They're trying to do their due diligence, teaching students humility by giving them accommodating grades. So, this is actually average or below average, go do work.So, the seminaries are...the ones who are, like you said, embedded within and see theirmission as a parachurch ministry are hugely...are very successful in what they do, but people can't start imputing upon the seminary what they ought to be doing, which is not part of their charter, right? Absolutely.Brian Arnold00:32:01 - 00:33:08That's right. But this is a big fight out there right now and debate between some theologians of what's the seminary's role in these things. And I just see a vicious cycle of churches that are not doing a good job of discipleship because a lot of their pastors were never personally discipled. I was and it changed my life. A lot of people have never had that. And then they go to seminary and they don't really learn that because the seminary says, well, it's not my job. And then we wonder why the local church isn't doing it. And they're producing people who've never seen it. And we're in this pattern.And so I want to just say, what can we do at Phoenix Seminary to just help break someof this pattern to say, look at how powerful and impactful personal mentoring can be.Now, in your church, now that you have this theological education, you've been mentored, how do you start almost like a master's plan of evangelism? I'm going to disciple my elders and deacons. And now they're going to take two or three people and they're going to disciple them. Where would our churches be? That was true. And then even thinking, you know, some people want to use the seminary like it's a Sundayschool class or something, right? Like I want to know more about theology, so I'm going to go to the seminary.Matt Wireman00:32:02 - 00:32:03That's right. That's right. But this is a big.Brian Arnold00:33:09 - 00:33:34I'm fine to train those people. That's great. Come, we'll give you a great education. But what I'm hoping is I'm putting out pastors who can take that to their church and equip the saints for the work of the ministry. So we just have this, you know, I think you used this term earlier, this dumbing down all over the place of where pastors think that what people need is something other than doctrine and theology.Matt Wireman00:33:34 - 00:35:33And other than a good kick in the pants. Yeah, at times. In that, you know, no, you did not exegete this passage appropriately. No, that word does not mean that. And no, you cannot do that. You know, like being able to help push people to say, no, no, no, we are, like you said, I thought so well put that we are shepherding souls. And there is a lot at stake. Most of the people that I have heard of and have met that have been hurt by people are by those who have not gone through the rigors of some kind of training ground. Now, it doesn't necessarily have to be a seminary. It could be a church-based training ground, but some kind of training ground as opposed to like, hey, you know, this is, you know, Johnny Preacher that feels called. And I think in so many ways, people, there are many wounded Christians because they haven't, folks haven't done the hard work of being challenged and having to come up with a biblical explanation of why they believe exe regarding this practice that they believe. That's right. You know, and I do wonder too, if in some ways the seminary is inundated with Christians who love Jesus, but who are not called to ministry because the particularly evangelical church, since that's our context, has not done a good job of heralding vocation. And what I mean by that is, you know, being able to say, hey, what are you passionate about? Did you know that you can serve Jesus faithfully as an electrician, faithfully as a plumber, faithfully as a doctor and a lawyer? Because I remember when I was in college, if you were really sold out for Jesus, you went into full-time ministry. So, you know, I've interfaced with several folks who are like, I don't know if you're called to preaching. Well, I don't think you're called to preaching ministry, but I think you're called to ministry, but your bread and butter may be from somewhere else.Brian Arnold00:35:34 - 00:37:35Absolutely. Yeah. And there's been a lot of confusion. There's been some good work recently, I think, that's overcoming some of those kind of stereotypical type of pieces that we felt when we were coming up through the ranks. It was one of the issues, though, the Phoenix Seminary, I would say, if there was a little bit of mission drift, it was more towards training people who just felt the lack of solid theological teaching in their local churches. One of the things we have in Phoenix is you will have the hour-long worship service, and a lot of times, that's it. There's no Sunday night. Wednesday night, I might have kids and youth kind of ministry things, but nothing for the adults, and then small group ministry. And we've all been helped by small groups. I think those kinds of communities are really great for developing deep relationships with people. But what's missing in the churches now is that educational element where people just don't knowthe basics of the Christian faith anymore. So, even when a person says, I've been really involved in this church, I feel called to ministry, and then they come to seminary, they don't know anything because their churches have never really invested in that. It's one of the interesting trends I think we need to keep an eye on is how many churches are kind of returning to a Sunday school type of model, recognizing the vacuum that's been left when people don't know what the Trinity is and don't know who Jesus is and don't understand salvation. We go down the list, and we have a very illiterate church population today. And this is the wrong time to have that. With the challenges that are happening in society, we need people to know the faith better than ever because there's no cultural assumptions anymore. And in that kind of hostile environment,Christians are gonna have to either know the word deeply or they're gonna be swept away in the time. And that would be really concerned for the kids. And so, yeah, we all know these issues, right?Matt Wireman00:37:34 - 00:38:47Yeah, no, it bears explicating because I think a lot of people know that there's something in the water that's not tasting right, and to be able to call it and say, no, that's arsenic. Or, you know, that will kill you if you drink it because that's...I mean, evenpart of my own story when I was serving overseas, I could smell heresy when I was talking to different pastors at different churches, but I couldn't articulate, oh, that's a heresy because that is the kenotic theory. You know, I couldn't do that, whereas, you know, seminary helped to do that for me. You know, I'd love to, as a seminary president, you're sitting down with someone who loves Jesus and is in a vocation other than being a pastor or a missionary or going into seminary. And they're like, I just want to grow in my faith. My church doesn't have, you know, Sunday school. My church doesn't...like, what you just articulated. So how would you counsel someone who doesn't feel called to pastoral or missionary work but wants to grow in their faith? Are there any books or are there different avenues that they could go down that you would encourage them to get better trained?Brian Arnold00:38:47 - 00:40:12Dr. Seheult- That's a great question, Matt. We are living in a time of great resources.When you think about what's being put out all the time, either through technology oreven through book medium, there's just a lot of helpful things out there. So I would encourage this person in a number of ways. One, if they're looking at any kind of leadership in the church, from deacon to elder, any kind of position like that, I would say seminary education would be really beneficial. You might not need the full MDiv, but getting in and getting kind of a Master of Arts in Ministry that gives you a lot of the groundwork would be really helpful. But again, for the person who just says, I'm an electrician, but I'm passionate about the Lord, I want to know more. I would encourage them to start with one of my colleagues' books, actually, and that's Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. He's got the second edition coming out in December. And so lots more content. And I think that's where I cut my teeth theologically. And I know there's places that people disagree with Wayne on some things. I do too. But it's still, I think, the most readable, helpful entree into theology. So I think starting there to get the kind of the whole picture of theology through the Bible is helpful. And then I would even encourage some intro kind of books to the New Testament and to the Old Testament, things like Carson and Moo on the New Testament to give them those kinds of pieces.Matt Wireman00:40:12 - 00:40:22You're talking about their introduction to the New Testament, right? Absolutely. Google it, Amazon or introduction to the Old Testament. Those are just surveys of those different books.Brian Arnold00:40:22 - 00:41:05Yep, yep. The Faith of Israel by Dumbrell might be a great place to start with the Old Testament. But as a Dominion of Dynasty by Dempster would be another great place to start with the Old Testament. So there's all these resources. And then whoever you want to teach you today, you can find it on YouTube. You can go there and get a lot of great content from some of the best teachers in the world a click away. And so take advantage of yourself those resources. What we can't say is there's not enough resources. Like there's plenty of those. We might say there's not enough time and then I'd ask about your Netflix, binging, you know, we can certainly binge some other things as well that would be more helpful and beneficial to the soul.Matt Wireman00:41:05 - 00:41:34And so some of it too is along with those resources, I've found that there are a lot of folks that feel like they're swimming in a sea of resources and they don't know which are the good ones to be able to find a someone that you trust. And I'm going to avail myself to anybody who's listening to this and I know you would too, Brian, but like, you know, if you need help and direction, just send me a message and happy to happy to direct you because there are tons of resources and there's tons of really bad resources to run.Brian Arnold00:41:34 - 00:41:47That's exactly right. One of the things, I'm happy you said that, Matt. One of the things that, when I got the bug for theology in college, my roommates and I, we'd always get the CBD catalog. Maybe that dates me a little bit.Matt Wireman00:41:46 - 00:41:51Yeah, no, it's still going strong. I still need to get up on there.Brian Arnold00:41:51 - 00:41:57Catalog, why I still use CBD for four. And then, by the way, let's just tell the listeners that's not the oil.Matt Wireman00:41:57 - 00:42:04Yeah, that's not the oil. That's Christian Book Distributors. CVD. That's right. Not O-R-D or something.Brian Arnold00:42:05 - 00:42:51Absolutely. When my wife said, you know what CBD is? I'm like, I've been shopping there for years. Let's clarify that. But that's a great place to get resources. But I can remember getting that and seeing some Old Testament books, especially Gerhard von Raad's Old Testament Theology. It was like six bucks. And I'm thinking, I don't know much about the Old Testament. I really would love a book to help with that. But I knew enough about that name to say, I need to be suspicious. That might not be the best resource. But I don't know what is. When there's almost too many resources, you go to LifeWay, and if I can say this without getting in trouble, a lot of the resources that are fronted there are the last things I would encourage people to read. You got to go back into the back into a small corner section to find the real gems there.Matt Wireman00:42:51 - 00:43:21Well, you know what's been interesting even in the resources that you mentioned is not10 ways to be a better husband or 10 steps to be a more biblical wife. It's actually learn the Bible. That's the dearth of information that we're having a problem with is that people don't know where Malachi is in the Bible. And they don't know that he was a prophet. And they don't know all these things. It's like, get to know the Bible. That's the first place you should start.Brian Arnold00:43:20 - 00:44:21Absolutely. Absolutely. And then, you know, so one of the things that was great for mewith seminary education was I'm learning to even know what the resources are. Like, that was a big part of it for me is now I feel like I can pick things up, know where theywent to school, know when they went to school there, and get a pretty good picture already of where they may stand. And then you get the grid, right, for being able to filtersome things out. But also, I hope you're at a church, and this is another plug for seminary education, where the pastor has a seminary education, who can help provide those resources, who knows those things. So I hope you're at a place where your staff is able to do that. In the meantime, if not, find somebody who is that you trust, and they would be happy. Any time that people come to me and they say, can I get a resource on X, whatever that is, that is one of the things that give me the greatest joy in answering, because that tells me there's another Christian out there who really wants to go deeper with the Lord, and I'm always happy to help resource.Matt Wireman00:44:21 - 00:44:41Yeah, yeah, no, that's great. Now, so for the person who is at a church and they feel like they want to go into full-time ministry, can you just kind of walk through how does someone come to that decision to where they're like, I think I should be a pastor or a missionary?Brian Arnold00:44:41 - 00:44:47Absolutely. I mean, step one, ps.edu, you apply online.Matt Wireman00:44:47 - 00:44:52And he will waive your admission fee.Brian Arnold00:44:52 - 00:44:57Just mention Matt Wireman in the comments or something. No, it's a great...Matt Wireman00:44:56 - 00:44:58No, it's a great. Yeah.Brian Arnold00:44:58 - 00:47:11I wrestled with that as well. I mean, here I was in fire EMS. My dad had been a fire chief.That's the world I knew. And I didn't even think I could have been satisfied in a career doing that. I know CH Spurgeon is often used, if you could do anything else besides ministry, do it. I don't really agree with Spurgeon on that one. Because of why? Well, because I think that a lot of people who do well in ministry are people of deep curiosity and they love a lot of different things and they themselves given 10 lives doing 10 different things. Well put. Right. So I would say that God calls people to ministry and it's not unique to me. It's kind of the historic answer in two ways, the internal call and the external call. The internal call is when you start to say, Lord, is that you calling me to ministry? Like, I feel a passion for this. I want to teach the Bible. When I was in seminary, or I'm sorry, my undergrad, one of the biggest kind of moments in my early life was sitting at a Bible study in Campus Crusade and my campus director is there and he's leading us through Colossians. And I remember thinking, you get paid to teach people the Bible. That's amazing. Like, I would love to do that. That's what I'm so interested and passionate about. So I had that internal call. And then I started going to other people and saying, do you see this gift in me? Could we give me some teaching opportunities where we can actually see, is this there? And could God use me in this way? And I had three or four people in my life who are still in my life to this day that all affirmed that. And so I know that question's more for, should I go into ministry? But even for me with PhD work, I remember Dr. Russ Fuller sitting me down in his office and saying, I think you should consider doing PhD work. And that was a great confirmation to me that I should move on. So I, when weighting these things, more often weigh the external call higher than the internal call because I can be deceived. But chances are, if I'm asking four or five other mature believers, do you see this call of God in my life? And they're being honest, you're going to get some really good answers to that.Matt Wireman00:47:12 - 00:48:38And I think for that person to start with a posture of, I don't see clearly, and God has given other people to me in my life to help me see clearly. Because a lot of times, you know, folks will ask me like, I think I'm called the ministry. And I'm like, well, that's awesome. Celebrate, first of all. And I don't want to stiff arm anybody in that. No, that's right. We need more laborers. But then secondly, listen to somebody that cares for you and actually is in the work of that ministry to say, hey, maybe instead of going to seminary right now, maybe you could just be here for a couple years and get some relational tools in your belt, you know, so that you can learn like, what is it you're getting into? Because maybe in two years of volunteering at a church, you know, and it's not just to get free labor for people, it's actually in a service to them to be able to say, hey, why don't you just serve here as a volunteer, because if you don't want to do it as a volunteer, then you're probably not, it's going to be even more tainted when you get paid for it. I promise you that. If you're not willing to not be paid for this, then it's going to get tainted really fast. I've seen tons of people in full time ministry who depend upon full time ministry for their salaries, and their lives become a shipwreck, because they start to treat God and divine matters as a slot machine, you know, andBrian Arnold00:48:38 - 00:49:00Absolutely. And there's not much in that slot machine. Let's just say that as well. I mean,ministry, it was really hard. I mean, I had breakfast with my wife this morning and we were just kind of going over some different pieces and remembering back to my years in pastoral ministry when things were exceptionally brutally tight. And it was a challenge.Matt Wireman00:49:00 - 00:49:07As you're getting a call about a man who just, you know, has all of those things going on in his life, right? Yeah, yeah.Brian Arnold00:49:07 - 00:50:06Yeah, exactly. And recognizing that there were times that I just needed to keep going back to 1st Corinthians 9. Woe to me if I don't preach the gospel. Like, it has to be so deep-seated in you. And this is where I will tip the hat to Spurgeon a little bit and say I get why he's saying that. Because there has to be that fire in the belly. Even if I'm not getting paid for it, even if I'm booted out of two or three churches, God has put such a call in my life, I must preach the gospel. I want to see the harvest field full of those kinds of laborers who just say, I'm here because God has called me here. And even if I don't get converts, and even if I run into wall after wall and obstacle after obstacle, God has called me to preach and I'm going to do it. And I think back about people like the Puritans as they were getting kicked out of their ministries and then you have the Five Mile Act. They couldn't be within five miles of their old parishes. And yet they're still preachers of the gospel. We need more of that in our day.Matt Wireman00:50:07 - 00:50:20Yeah, that's great. I'd love to ask what you see as a president of a seminary, what you see are some of the challenges to higher education right now, particularly as it relates to seminary education?Brian Arnold00:50:20 - 00:53:22Sure. I think there's multiple, and there are internal threats and there's external threats as well. The internal threats are a lot of what you and I have been talking about today, Matt, and that is back 20 or 30 years ago, if you were gonna go into pastoral ministry, you would not find a position without having a degree. A master of divinity degreewould have been the bare requirement expected of somebody to go in. Well, now, churches don't really seem to care about that or, you know, an undergrad degree will suffice if it's in Bible. But let's be honest, a lot of pastors don't even have that. They were in banking and felt a call on their life. And so that's part of it from where I'm sittingis how many people in churches I see who don't even care about that minimal level of expertise in the field. So that's one of those kinds of threats, I think. Another one, and these go more to external than, is there's a higher ed bubble out there anyway. And everybody kind of sees this out there as the next one that could burst. And if it bursts, that's gonna be catastrophic on undergraduate institutions. Well, I'm downstream of undergraduate institutions. So if there's fewer and fewer people going to undergrad institutions, then there's gonna be fewer people going to graduate school as well. And so I think that could be a place where we begin to take a bit of pressure and a bit of a hit with enrollment that way. I think part of it is gonna be the cultural piece. It's not getting any easier out there. I think Christian institutions in particular that are going to stay faithful on issues of gender and sexuality are going to have a very difficult road ahead of them. And this is where I hope that the Lord gives us the fulfillment of this. And that is, I hope there's always a Phoenix Seminary. If we had to lose our accreditation because of our stances on some of those issues, then so be it. If we lose a lot of donor money because of our stances, then so be it. If it's just us without walls, we're going into a church basement somewhere and teaching theology, I hope there's always something like that. I think about a guy like Dietrich Bonhoeffer with Fingermann. He's, what do you do in the midst of Nazi Germany oppression? You start a seminary, right? It's amazing. The thing that people would think, well, that needs to go. It's like, no, no, no, we need this now more than ever. So all the threats that I see, those being some of the major ones, I still believe that what we are called to do at a seminary is vital for the health and vitality of the church. And as long as the church is here, we're going to need places of theological higher ed to help prepare those people in the word. So I don't worry about the threats too much. I mean, we got to be wise and anticipate some of those things that are coming and get ready. But at the same time, I think our call is always going to be there.Matt Wireman00:53:23 - 00:53:39That's great. I'd love to hear, I got two more questions for you. Just as you explain some of the challenges to higher ed, particularly Christian higher ed and seminaries, what do you see as some of the greater challenges to the church, to the local church now?Brian Arnold00:53:41 - 00:55:19Yeah, a lot of those would be the same kind of ones, right? Is the pressure right now to conform to the world has probably not been greater in American society since our founding, right? I mean, this is a very new shift in Western civilization. And so I can't imagine being a 12-year-old right now about ready to go to junior high and high school, facing the kind of pressures that these kids are facing from a worldview standpoint. And I think churches have not been well equipped to speak into those. And so they're getting a lot of it from culture, not from the church. Well, pretty soon the churches are going to be far emptier than they are now because of just attrition to the culture. So I think that's a real serious, not existential threat because Jesus has promised that the church will not be overcome by the gates of hell. And I believe that promise and I'm not worried about the church from that aspect, but I do think the harder times are coming for the church. But a lot of that to me goes back and maybe I sound like a one-trick pony on this, but I think the deeper that a pastor is able to go and root people in, then it doesn't matter how hard the winds blow, those people will stay rooted. My fear is that we are seeing in the church these trends coming. And so instead of raising the bar, we keep lowering the bar and wondering why people don't hit it and wondering why peopleare leaving, but we're not giving them a beautiful counter narrative to it at all.Matt Wireman00:55:19 - 00:55:22Lowering the bar in what sense?Brian Arnold00:55:21 - 00:55:55Well, even kind of what we're talking about, right? Why is it that the saints of God know so little about the Bible? Why do they know so little about theology? Why is it when Ligonier comes out with these surveys that they do, they had one question in there, it was a couple of years ago now, maybe just a year or two, it was something about Jesus's humanity was Jesus, like, you know, basically was denying the divinity of Christ,almost like an Aryan kind of response. And I don't know if it was the way the question was worded or something, but it was like 75% of people who took it look like they were Aryans. That should never be.Matt Wireman00:55:55 - 00:56:21And if you don't know what an Aryan is, that's A-R-I-A-N, go look it up. That's one way to look it up. If you don't know what something is, there are tons of resources to be able to just look it up. So if you're hearing this and you're like, Aryan? No, we're not talking about a nation or anything like that. We're talking about the Aryanism. So look up Aryanism and you'll find something. Even if it's on Wikipedia, that's better than nothing.Brian Arnold00:56:21 - 00:56:24That's right. That's right. Just don't become one.Matt Wireman00:56:23 - 00:56:25Yeah, exactly, exactly.Brian Arnold00:56:25 - 00:57:34So they're just not ready. And so we have this view in the church that these concepts are so hard, so big, so difficult. We don't want it to feel like school to people. So we would rather give them 10 steps, like you said before, of healthy parenting and marriage. And everybody wants these practical pieces without understanding the substance of the Christian faith, which is the greatest place for the practical piece of Christian ministry. Like the deeper I know God, the better my marriage is gonna be. The better I know the word, the better my parenting's gonna be. I don't need these offshoots. I need people to take me deeper into the things of God through his word so that I'm prepared to handle anything that comes at us. But instead, we keep moving that lower. And I'm always amazed when you have like an astrophysicist in your church who's like, oh, I just don't really understand the Bible. Look, one of the things that we believe is in the perspicuity of scriptures. Now that's like one of the worst named doctrines ever. It just means the Bible is clear and it should be able to be understood by anyone who calls himself a Christian. So I think oftentimes it's not for intellectual ability,it's lack of trying.Matt Wireman00:57:37 - 00:58:09This has been awesome. I'd love to have our time closed by just a final exhortation that you might give to those who are listening as it relates to knowing the Bible. I think you already have done that and I'm thankful for that, but I'd love to hear, like if you were to sit down with someone who's listening to this podcast and you were to exhort them towards greater love for Jesus, a greater love for the Bible, what would you say to them over a cup of coffee?Brian Arnold00:58:09 - 00:59:55Yeah, I think I would reiterate what I have just the last thing I said is, if you really want to grow as a disciple of Christ, it's by knowing Him. It's by loving His word. And so don't think that I need something else outside, you know, the 10 lessons on this or that to actually grow in the walk with the Lord. Get deeper into those things. When I was in college, my life changed when I got deeper into theology. When I got deeper into theology, my walk got deeper. When suffering came in my life, it was the deep rootedness of my knowledge of who God is that got me through, not little trinkets on the side. And so as a theological educator and as one who is pastored, be a person who seeks those deeper things of God. Be a person who, if you're a pastor listening, take your people deeper. If you're somebody who's at a church that they just simply are not going to do that, find a new church. Life is short. You've got to be at a place that is going to take these things to the utmost seriousness. And I think by doing that, Christianity itself will be able to present that beautiful counter narrative to what's happening out there. As the saints of God, know Him better, cherish His word, and recognize that true human flourishing comes through loving God with all heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving neighbor as yourself.Matt Wireman00:59:56 - 01:00:10Amen. Great. Thank you so much, Brian. This has been really refreshing and encouraging to be able to have this time with you. I'd love to ask you if you could just end our time by praying and thanking God for our time together and, and yeah, and then we'll close.Brian Arnold 01:00:10 - 01:01:11I'd be happy to. Matt, thanks for having me. This is great. You bet. God, I do thank you for moments like this when we get to take an hour or so and just dwell on you and think about you. And I thank you for Matt and this podcast that he's doing to help try to equip these saints out there for anybody who's listening to know you and your word better.And Lord, I do pray that there will be an awakening in your church. An awakening begins with people who are so full of the Spirit because they're so full of the Word of God. And I pray for pastors in this labor field who will really get the tools that they need and recognize that those are not some additional thing. But these are actually the tools of our trade to get people into this place where they can really love you, heart, mind, soul, body, strength, and begin to love their neighbor. And that people in this culture that is decaying will see that the gospel is full of life and full of fruit. Praise in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.Matt Wireman01:01:11 - 01:01:13Amen. Thank you, brother.Brian Arnold01:01:13 - 01:01:14Thanks again. I appreciate it.

you want to listen to this episode, where we talk with Katy Boos, CEO and Founder of Remix Communications. Katy founded Remix Communications because she's passionate about creating impactful thought leadership programs for her clients. Brainstorming compelling topics and narratives, Katy helps bring ideas to life on stage at top industry events and in written content for clients such as Adobe, Meta, Stitch Fix and several successful start-ups and growth companies.   Get in touch with Katy Boos online: LinkedIn Instagram: @remix_comms Twitter: @kgboos   Transcript Michelle Kane (00:02): Thank you for joining another episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. And we're so excited today because we have a guest. We love guest days. Today we have Katie Bus. Katie is the CEO and Founder of Remix Communications. She founded Remix Communications because she's passionate about creating impactful thought leadership programs for her clients. That includes brainstorming compelling topics and narratives. Katie helps bring ideas to life on stage, at top, industry events, and in written content for clients such as Adobe Meta Stitch Fix, not too shabby, and several successful startups and growth companies. Before Remix, Katie co-founded a successful Silicon Valley marketing and PR firm earlier. She managed PR programs at Apple for media and entertainment, mobile products and QuickTime. Katie lives in Los Angeles, and she was selected for the advisory committee of South by Southwest. Served as a TEDx speaker, curator and coach volunteers. When do you have time to volunteer at all? Seated in a barn horse rescue, which is awesome, and has been a board member for the Peninsula Humane Society and the Working Wonders Children's Museum. And with all of that, we are so grateful to welcome you today to That Solo Life. Katie? Yes. Katy Boos (01:29): Oh, thank you ladies. . I'm so excited to be here. Michelle Kane (01:34): This is incredible. Yes. So we'll start off, I mean, just tell us a little bit about your client work and, and really where you specialize, because the title of this episode is Stay in Your Lane. And, and we mean that in the most positive of ways because that's the way you can be most impactful. Right? Katy Boos (01:52): Yeah, I love that. I love Stay in Your Lane. I have this sort of traditional PR background as you mentioned, Michelle, in your nice intro. And, you know, after years and years of doing PR programs, traditional media relations, that sort of thing, I really found this love for thought leadership and speaking programs and really helping executives get out there and get their messages out there. Sowhen I had the chance to spin off from my last agency and specialize, I really wanted that focus of thought leadership. And so that's been the focus for Remix Communications. We are definitely niche. There's not a lot of us out there who do exactly what we do, but it's worked out really well. I, I think it's something that, you know, it gives us that real specialty. People know what we do and they can come to us foryou know, for those services. Michelle Kane (02:55): Definitely. Definitely. And you know, we're, we're still in post pandemic world, right? Even though Covid is still around. But I know a lot of us in our event planning, we've had challenges of attendance and things like that. What, are the some of the biggest trends you are seeing happening with events and conferences these days? Katy Boos (03:15): You know, it's, it's changing, right? Kind of as you said, we, you know, everything was gang busters 2019, 2020. The brakes went on big time and clients were trying to figure out what should we do. Virtual events obviously became a huge deal. I will say a lot of us sort of got tired of them. We don't all want to sit in our chair watching events. So when things sort of started to come back slowly, 2021, 2022, we started to see this nice uptick. I'm coming off a month of being at a couple different eventsin person. And I will tell you, I think a huge thing right now is that people are so excited to be around each other. There's just such energy and enthusiasm, the connections that you make in person, there's nothing like it. You know, it's sort of like you need to be there. (04:15): Yes, you can get some of the content online. Definitely that's great if you can't travel, you knowabroad, for example, for Web Summit or whatever. But being there in person, it's those chance meetups if you're waiting for coffee or, you know, one of the writers that we work with regularly sat next to me at an event in Seattle, and we happened to be the two people who, who weren't on our phones at that moment. And we struck up a conversation and I realized, this one's a really talented writer, and now we've worked together. I think it's going on six years. So it's that kind of thing where it's just you know, that networking. So I would say in-person events, definitely that's a huge trend. People wanna be there. I will also say, and maybe this is a result of us being locked down and being on Zoom so much, but sessions are shorter. (05:11): Typically. They need to be livelier. They need to have, do not show up with a bunch of PowerPoint bullets and think outside the box as far as like the presentation. And by shorter, by the way, you might still have an hour slot, but it could be 30 minutes of your session, 30 minutes of a Q&A. And that's something I'm really seeing, you know, just getting back from, you know, a pretty major event where people are just lined up with questions. They want to talk to the speaker. So it's great to deliver information, but it's really great to interact with the audience as well. That was and Karen Swim, APR (05:49): You just answered a question that I had of what are the expectations now? Cause you talk about this excitement of events and you just answered that Yeah. And as you described that, you know, the change, the shift in kind of what the audience is expecting from the content. Are you finding that organizers are looking for something different or very specific now that we're in this era of having been exposed to virtual events and, and the, and those still being, you know, an option mm-hmm. , is there something specific that they look for now that they didn't prior to the pandemic? Katy Boos (06:29): It's a good question. I think this would be true before the pandemic, but maybe more so just that, that content needs to be super engaging. You know, more use of video. Again, more Q&A, more just visual presentations than anything. I'll also say, if you can have a provocative topic andfocus for your session, all the better. Can you be a little bitoff what everyone else is saying, you know like if it, this is imaginary, but like, if somebody stood up right now and said, chat GPT is not useful, you know, we're, we're all seeing it's pretty useful in, in some regards. So would that be interesting enough? Yeah. I mean, maybe that's something people want to listen to, so it's kind of taking that opposing view. And then I would also say, you know, bringing in partners, that's something we do a ton of. We will partner our client with other companies who maybe aren't our client, but we think they've got a good message to make this amazing session and delivered on a silver platter to the organizer. So really, you know, thinking about what would be most engaging for the audience. And again, all of those things were true before the pandemic, but now I think it's even more true. Shorter attention spans. We want good content. Michelle Kane (08:01): Yeah. And I think too, people are more selective with how they spend their time. Some intentionally, some I think without really realizing it, because our rhythms have changed, our, our priorities have changed. A lot of us are, you know, now that things are back up and running, it's everyone's busieryou know, in in a way that it's not just busy work, but they're, they're busy, they're working in their businesses and they really mm-hmm. , it has to be something special to take that time away. But I, I also love that you brought up the serendipity of those chance meetings. I, you know, it's, it's funny, even in my day-to-day, so often, some of the best conversations and the best Intel happens in the parking lot conversations, . Katy Boos (08:45): Oh my gosh, yes. It's so true. It's so true. I just, you know, I was just, I had a client speaking at South by Southwest, and after the session I went up and was talking to two of the audience members. Guess what, they're both new business prospects right now. I mean, that was not my intent. It was . It was just, Hey, what did you think of the workshop? What did you think of this session? And obviously they're there and I can say, oh, and by the way, I, I placed this, I, you know, yeah, I did this workshop . So it was sort of like the best proof in the pudding right there. So it was great. Oh, Michelle Kane (09:22): That's incredible. I love it. Karen Swim, APR (09:25): Tell us, you know, you, you are, you really function in the executive thought leadership lane and you love it there, you live there. Tell us about some of the best practices that our audience can adapt to get their speakers booked for engagements. Katy Boos (09:49): Yeah, I think the number one thing is understand that event that you are targeting intimately. Go to the website, look at past agendas, who spoke there before. Are you proposing a product manager and they only have C level speakers, you know, don't do that. So , I think that's, that's number one. And that's, you know, as all of us, you know, under the umbrella of PR practitioners, that's what we should be doing anyway, right? If you're pitching the New York Times, you want to know that you're going to the right reporter and you have something that they would be interested in, something they maybe have covered or covered around that area. It's no different with speaking. You need to have something that's valuable to the conference organizer. I think a mistake that a lot of people makeand maybe all of us when we first started in our careers, is we go online and we fill out the apply to speak form. And, you know, that's not to say, you know, we still do that. Absolutely. But if you're just kind of plugging in information without really tailoring it, without really understanding the event, that's a miss. And you will, nine times out of 10 not get chosen. You may luck out and, and get to a smaller event. But I think that's number one is really understanding the event, the topics, level of speakersthat sort of thing. So I, I think that's probably the, the first place to start. Michelle Kane (11:30): Excellent. And then on the other side of it, how do you best prepare your clients for these engagements? Katy Boos (11:38): Yeah, we like to load them up with, here's the event, here's everything you need to know. We give them, you know, even here's where you check in. For some major events, we'll let them know about, other complimentary sessions they might want to attend. We get them, you know, Hey, you gotta get your hotel cause it's gonna sell out, you know, in this area. So it's really all of those logistical details that kind of gets into the tactics, but making sure they're all teed up. It hands on making sure that they have a chance to do kind of a tech run through. And that can be, honestly, that can be 15 minutes before the session. Sometimes you can't get in the room until then, but just making sure that they have a backup. Do they have their laptop? Do they have a thumb drive? (12:31): Do they have the presentation with a conference organizer? All of that. And then, you know, sort of backing up a step at a higher level, some of our clients want speaker training and we do offer that. That's something that can be as simple as, Hey, I just want to run this by someone and do a brush up for an hour. Great, we can do that. It could be we want to practice on stage, we want to plan the blocking. I want to know that when I make this point, I'm at this point in the stage and what hand gesture should I use when that sort of thing. So it could really vary, but I do, I think speaker training can be super valuable to people. And then, you know, just beyond that, making sure that people understand the event they're going to. Andyou know, again, what's the focus? Who will be in the audience that's super important. What's the demographics of this event? And speak to them, make sure it's you know, if it's an audience of students, don't talk about, oh, you're a, y mid-career change, you know, midlife career change, you, you would be missing the mark. So just understanding that I think is important. Making sure speakers understand that. Karen Swim, APR (13:52): I love that. Yeah, that's great advice too in about the speaker training because I think so many people can benefit from that. Even if you speak and you're a great speaker, it never, that coaching and then blocking is really useful, particularly if it's, you know, a keynote or, you know, if it's going to be like a workshop in a room, you're probably okay with not doing the blocking because the room is not going to vary that much from what you might be accustomed to. But I I love that. That's great advice. A lot of our solos may be working withexecutives that are fantastic speakers. They're engaging, they've got a great topic, they have all of the things that would make them wow an audience, but they don't have a book. They don't work for a company that maybe everybody knows. How do we get those speakers booked? Katy Boos (14:48): Yeah, it comes down to really being scrappy and we're no different. You know, I will be the first to say, if I go to an event and say, have I have a VP at Adobe who wants to get on stage, what do you think? That's a lot easier than, you know, I have this startup over here in this sort of niche area. And it's much harder. That's when wefor example, right now we're pairing a CEO of a growth company. We're trying to get him at a very, very top event. It's probably the number one event for his space. We're pairing him with a woman who is an expert in this field, and she's nationally known and she's willing to do it. So we went out, we, spoke with her and of course the event's like, Ooh, hey, wow, yeah, we'd love to have her. (15:46): And I'm like, and it's a package deal. , you know, it's, it's a twofer here, but you know, you just, you just kinda have to get scrappy and Yeah. You know, and put people together. And that's, and that's where, you know, again, like looking at other companies that might be complimentary, maybe you put together a killer panel you know and also, you know, I think sometimes people get too narrowly focused on my company is, you know, an AI, whatever, right? And they're like, we, our topic needs to be AI. What if your topic is, you are the first unicorn in this space. How did you get your funding? How did you grow? How did you make a career change? Why did you start this business? You know, there's so many ways to get in there. And that's what we love to do is like when we first get a client, we will meet with them. (16:42): We have what we call story mining sessions. So we're talking with them, we're like trying to get out what's the really interesting angle here? It's great you have this like AI product, that's awesome, but what's the other, what are the other things that will make you stand out, make you unique and make you of interest to an event? So I think that's really important. So just, yeah, those things. Who can you partner with? Can you put together a really compelling panel? All of it goes back to, let's tee this up for the conference organizers. Let's put it on a silver platter and go, here you go. Karen Swim, APR (17:17): I love that you talked about clients and their tunnel vision. I'm sure that got a, a nod of agreement from everyone in our audience because my goodness, sometimes it's so hard to get them outside of their head and, and enable them to see the bigger picture, which is why they have us, right? Because we're creative and we're thinking more broadly. So thank you for reassuring all of us that we're not the only one that, you know, deals with this issue. It is universal in our field of getting clients to see the color that we see instead of just seeing in black and white. And I feel like I have these conversations daily sometimes from the mundane to the extremely frustrating Michelle Kane (18:06): , Karen Swim, APR (18:07): Which describes my morning Katy Boos (18:09): . Oh, no, Michelle Kane (18:12): No, but it's, it's so true. It's in those story mining moments, right? The things that they think are boring and you think, whoa, wait. Yeah, that's a possibility. So true. What I do it all the time every day. Well, yes, exactly. . Karen Swim, APR (18:26): Yeah. Katy Boos (18:27): It's funny, you know, one of our clientswho I won't name, but we, when we first started working with them, the feedback we were getting from conference organizers was, okay, they spoke last year or two years ago, five years ago, and all they did was get on stage and do a sales pitch. And I was like, I can assure you that will not happen. That is not what we're doing. And as a matter of fact, my guidance to clients is, I would say you get one mention, so you can be like, oh, you know, and in, in this case, this is how we would at, our company handle this issue. You get one mention, and then really, I feel like the value is your name, your affiliation, you're being splashed all over their promotions, you know? And it's that credibility that you get beyond that. (19:17): And this is why we love content too. Take advantage of the fact that you are speaking at these events. Do a blog post about it, do social posts about it, you know, just milk it for all it's worth because, you know, it's great if you have those people in the room, but sometimes, sometimes it's 50 people, you know, and is it worth it for you to travel, do this presentation, prep, all of the work that goes into it to reach 50 people? Maybe if they're your absolute targets, but how can you go beyond that? And that's what we're always looking at. We want to reach 5,000 people. And so that's where content comes in, the complimentary side of things. Karen Swim, APR (20:04): I love that. Yeah. And so people may be wondering, like, why, why are you guys subtitling this or titling this staying in your lane with Katie Boos ? Well, there's a reason for that and it's becauseKatie, it's something that you said when we first talked to you and it resonated with Michelle and myself, and I'm sure it'll resonate with our audience because it's about finding what you're really, really good at and doubling down on it. So tell us about your lane and how you found it and why you're staying in it, . Katy Boos (20:42): Yeah, it's so funny because I think as PR practitioners, we are always asked to do so much, right? If you think about the role of a PR person is so broad, which honestly is why I love it. If I had to do the same thing every day, you know, day in and day out, I would not be a happy person. So I love the variety of clients, I love the variety of work. However, if you really want to be a specialist, you know, having that niche is a great way to go. And that's, that's sort of where it was just one of those light bulb moments, maybe, I don't know, 10 or 12 years ago. And it was like, you know, I really love working with events and I love working with event organizers. AndI love coming up with ideas and sessions and getting people on stage and, and it just snowballed from there. (21:34): It's sort of like one of those things, like if you find something you're good at, it just kind of keeps going, right? Because there's success in that. And that's, sort of where we were withthe thought leadership space. So media relations I have always liked, but I haven't loved. And so that's where I was like, you know what, there are people who love that and that's why we love to partner with people who love to do that, you know? And it's also why, you know, flip side, it's really interesting. We were brought in by a pretty major PR agency to do their speaking program for their clients. And they were like, yes, we can do this, but we love having people who live and breathe it day in and day out. And so it's just that wonderful sort of marriage of let's all focus on the things that we love, we're good at, we're specialists. And I do think that's a trend in PR right? People are are like, and, and business in general. People are nicheing down. And I think that's, it's interesting. And, and I think we can all be more successful doing that. So I'll stay in my lane. I won't get into media relations, but , I'm happy to partner with people who love that . Michelle Kane (22:51): And, and I think that's how so many of our solos find success, right? We partner with each other, we're always looking to collaborate and it just helps everyone. Katy Boos (23:02): Yeah. Karen Swim, APR (23:02): Yeah, it does for sure. Katy Boos (23:04): A collaboration's the best. Karen Swim, APR (23:06): This is so good. Katie and I, you know, as I said to you at the top of this, I am sure that we are going to have you on again, have you in front of our audience because you are an expert and you know, I may just have you on the channel to talk about your volunteer work at one point because its so interesting. And we have, you know, I am an animal lover and we have so many animal lovers in our group that would love to hear about what you do there too. Thank you so much for hanging out with Michelle and I today. We Michelle Kane (23:41): Absolutely. Yeah. What's the best way to reach you, Katie? Website or LinkedIn or Katy Boos (23:50): Linkedin is great or feel free to email me too, katie at Remix communications.com. Excellent. Either way or our website Remix Communications. Michelle Kane (24:00): Fantastic. Well, everyone who's listening today, we, well, we don't hope we know you've got something out of this today, but we're grateful for your time with us. And until next time, thanks for listening on That Solo Life.

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Ronald Benjamin, senior director of guest and employee experience at Chipotle. Benjamin's fingerprints are all over Chipotle, as he is in charge of customer care, social media, the employee service center and even the IT help desk. He joined the podcast to talk about that big job, how the guest and employee experiences are interconnected and how technology is bringing all of this together in one big opportunity to provide great customer service.In this conversation, you'll find out why:Technology is your centralized view into all things related to both customers and employeesLeveraging AI and personalized hospitality today is not an either/or situation but a both/andYou should be proactive in addressing anything that might go wrong for the customerCustomers who had a bad experience get corrected tend to come back even moreOne of the best ways to support employees is to automate the mundane Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at sam.oches@informa.com.

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of G Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson, you will:DiscoverA Key of G Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of G Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of G Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou will play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.Use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson for maximum musical growth. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of G Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsLesson RationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to donate to JazzPianoSkills, you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of D Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson, you will:DiscoverA Key of D Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of D Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of D Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou will play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.Use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson for maximum musical growth. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of E Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsLesson RationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to donate to JazzPianoSkills, you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

1 Nowbeforethe Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew thathis hour had cometo depart out of this world to the Father,having lovedhis own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.2During supper, whenthe devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,3Jesus, knowingthat the Father had given all things into his hands, and thathe had come from God andwas going back to God,4rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel,tied it around his waist.5Then hepoured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet?7Jesus answered him,What I am doingyou do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.8Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him,If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.9Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!10Jesus said to him,The one who has bathed does not need to wash,except for his feet,[a]but is completely clean. Andyou[b]are clean,but not every one of you.11For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said,Not all of you are clean. 12When he had washed their feet andput on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them,Do you understand what I have done to you?13You call meTeacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,you also ought to wash one another's feet.15For I have given you an example,that you also should do just as I have done to you.16Truly, truly, I say to you,a servant[c]is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.17If you know these things,blessed are you if you do them.

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of A Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson, you will:DiscoverA Key of A Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of A Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of A Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou will play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.Use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson for maximum musical growth. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of E Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation, you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

GOD Provides GoodShepherdTraining.comRoamns 8:31Genisus 1 Ephesians 6:12 1 John 5:21 peter 5:8 Revelation 12

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of E Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson, you will:DiscoverA Key of E Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of E Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of E Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou will play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.Use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson for maximum musical growth. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of E Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation, you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of B Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson you will:DiscoverA Key of B Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of B Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of B Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou will play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.Use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson for maximum musical growth. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of B Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

A homeowner came home to find a raccoon on the roof in the most hilariously bizarre position.ANDYou'll want to praise God after learning about this miraculous story of how a three-year-old boy survived all alone in the wilderness in Montana for two days.To see videos and photos referenced in this episode, visit GodUpdates!https://www.godupdates.com/raccoon-on-the-roof/https://www.godupdates.com/3-year-old-boy-survived-wilderness-in-montana/

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of Gb Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson you will:DiscoverA Key of Gb Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of Gb Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of Gb Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou are going to play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.For maximum musical growth, be sure to use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of Gb Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of Db Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson you will:DiscoverA Key of Db Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of Db Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of Db Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou are going to play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.For maximum musical growth, be sure to use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of Db Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

Segment 4 – What Do Buyers Agents Really DoAnymore & Hot New ListingsBarb, many times you have told us that mostbuyers start their search online and many willmeet a real estate agent from that search. Whatdo Buyer agents do these days?Technology has made ALL of the listingspublicly available online.If fact the way the MLS is now designed, agentsthat don't have listings use other agent's listingsto get business from it.You would not believe how many times I hearbuyers say: “My “agent” really did not do much,I found the house”Funny Article Written by Robert Farrington titled“What Do Real Estate Agents Really doanymore?”He Researched what a Real Estate agent wassupposed to do according to NAR:o Market infoo Get Financingo Guide you through the processo Understand values, taxes, costso Show you Homeso Facilitate the NegotiationAnti-Trust Lawsuit and the DOJ Price Fixing with Commissions Buyer Agent Commission showed tothe public That way Buyers KNOW if their “agent” istrying to steer them to higher-paid salesFrom Mr. Farrington's experience and an FTHB,they struck through ALL the NAR agent dutiesand found could do it on their own with Zillow,Bankrate and a Transaction CoordinatorYou are listening to the Real Estate Voice that Airs EverySaturday. If you are thinking of making a move you callme at 719 301 3900 or visit BarbHasTheBuyers.com AndYou can see replays of this show on my YouTubeChannel – Barb Schlinker or Listen to the Podcast on allthe Podcast platforms like Apple Podcast, IHeartRadio, and many others.Thank you for listening and to reach me give me a call at 719 301 3900. Thank you forlistening!

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of Ab Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson you will:DiscoverA Key of Ab Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of Ab Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of Ab Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou are going to play Melodic lines using various 8th Note Rhythmic Configurations played over the II-V-I Progression.For maximum musical growth, be sure to use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of Ab Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show

Today, we have somebody in studio, we're not in studio on Zoom, that just started doing video maybe three, four months ago, consistently. He's done it in an area that let's just say most people aren't doing video, and because he was sort of sticking out like a sore thumb, he just shot right up. One of the questions we get is like, how do I use video if I'm going into a new market? Well, we're going to show you that's exactly what we're doing here.Our guest today is Stan Hartzheim is an experienced Mortgage Loan Originator who has a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry with Certification as a Divorce Lending Professional as well as expertise utilizing FHA, VA, USDA, and specialty loan programs. Skilled in Divorce Law, Mortgage Lending, Sales, Budgeting, Customer Service, Contractors, and Nonprofit Management.Three Things You'll Learn in This EpisodeHow to use video when you're new to an areaThe wonders of consistencyCreating a sphere of influenceResourcesLearn more about Stan Hartzheim Real Estate Marketing DudeThe Listing Advocate (Earn more listings!)REMD on YouTubeREMD on InstagramStan's Contact Information: (720)883-8452Stan@dblhloans.comTranscript:So how do you track new business? You constantly don't have to chase it. Hi, I'm Mike Cuevas a real estate marketing dude. And this podcast is all about building a strong personal brand people have come to know, like trust and most importantly, refer. But remember, it is not their job to remember what you do for a living. It's your job to remind them. Let's get startedWhat's up ladies and gentlemen, welcome another episode of the real estate marketing dude podcast. What we're doing today, folks, is we have somebody in studio, we're not in studio on Zoom.That just started doing video maybe three, four months ago, consistently. And he's done it in an area that let's just say most people aren't doing video. And because he was sort of sticking out like a sore thumb, he started just like, shot right up. This is somebody one of the questions we get is like, how do I use video if I'm going into a new market? Well, we're going to show you that's exactly what we're doing here. Before I introduce our guests today, we're gonna discuss like what his journey was. But more importantly, this is a mortgage brokers isn't a real estate agent. It's a mortgage broker, who for the last X amount of years worked primarily in the Denver market, Denver, Colorado, just recently has relocated moved over to just north of where he's at into Cheyenne, Wyoming, and now is building his brand within the Cheyenne Wyoming market and seen and trying to almost like starting over again, right? He's got to create new realtor relationships, you got to create a new sphere of influence, doesn't mean he's not doing business in Denver, but he just starts he knows he needs to start building his brand there as well. So we're gonna share his story see exactly sort of how it works with the man Stan right here. And without further ado, we're gonna introduce Stan the Man to the show. Stan, how are you today, sir? I'm doing great, Mike. Thanks for having me on. Why don't you just do a quick intro to everybody first last name what you've been doing for the last 20 years of your life? And who the hell are you?Yeah, so my name is Stan hearts I'm I run a team called wh Home Loans team with a company out of Dallas, Texas called southwest funding. And I've been in the mortgage business since 2017. kind of creeping up on people, like you said down in the Denver market and building my brand down there building out a little bit of a team have our operations staff still in an office down in Aurora, Colorado,had an opportunity to move up to the wide open spaces, just outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming on a little ranch yet, and man couldn't couldn't be happier. We got 10 acres of land, got a beautiful, sprawling ranch house and a lot of wind, wind. And your and you guys were just you're just moving mainly for lifestyle, right? You just want to get more space. But you're got obviously you're gonna bring your mortgage business up there. And what were one of your biggest concerns you had before going into a new market?You know, I think like, look like anybody when you're starting out in the new market. It's like starting out a new business. And so there's some trepidation of how do I grow that business? How do I grow the brand? I think my biggest fear, however, knowing that Cheyenne was a little bit of a smaller town than Denver, obviously was, I grew up in a small town. So I kind of get it. There's some relationships there that have been going on since you know, elementary school or middle school. And when you come into that new market, how do you win over that business? You're anytime you build a business, you're stepping into relationship with people, and sometimes that means stepping between them in their existing relationship? I'm hate to say it, but that's the reality. And how do you do that? If somebody has been friends since middle school? Right. So that was kind of my challenge coming into a smaller market? Yeah, that makes I mean, that's pretty much with everybody. We get a lot of people that hey, I'm in a new market. I don't have a spare because I don't have that will video work. We will be anywhere from you there. So Stan has been Stan is in full disclosure stands one of our clients, and we want to share a story becauseStan started doing video about four months ago, I believe right about now and you just recently got we're not like creating 30 videos a month, right? We're just doing two videos, keeping it simple. But you just recently got picked up from the new station. I hear. Tell me about that.Well,it's been a variety of things have happened in the last few months. We started doing these videos, not not mortgage related. I talked about mortgages all stinking day long. So I thought it'd be a lot of fun to share my journey of learning about Cheyenne and the surrounding state of Wyoming with as many people as I could. Right away when I got here I found out that thisCities a little misunderstood. It's it's not just cowboys. Andyou know, it's there's a lot I guess I'll let me rephrase that there's a lot to do here, a lot of people don't realize it's very beautiful, it's close to the mountains, just like Denver is are on the other side of the mountain Salt Lake City. And we wanted to just kind of spread the word like this is a growing community that has a great infrastructure and a lot of really friendly people. So we started doing videos just to capture our journey around town. You know, as we met, people are winning and visited establishments, learned about the neighborhoods kind of started to zero in on where we wanted to live. We thought why not record this and have Mike and his team make it look good for us. The name of the show is actually in Stan's model like we had to. And I almost did the same thing. And I wish I would have I'm doing it now. But five years ago, and I moved to San Diego, I didn't know if I was going to sell real estate, I didn't know what the hell is gonna happen. I was literally starting over a brand new career in foreign land, foreign territory, I didn't know what the hell was going to happen. I didn't want to sell real estate. But I did have in the back of my mind that if I was the only story I'd be able to tell would be that of a transplant. And at that time, I was going to create a show called San Diego transplant and I was gonna do was just still myself being a tourist, you know, and just discovering while I learned the city, which is what Stan is doing right now. So in his case, we ended up building a show called why not? Like why not Wyoming? And it all ties in with the branding and on that, but Stan's not talking about mortgages on these videos, are you? Well, not yet. I try to avoid it.You know, I love that we came up with the name, why not? I don't know if the listeners will be able to tell. But I got a fairly dry sense of humor. And using that reverse psychology works really well. For me, I think it becomes a little bit of a funnier thing. But yeah, we try to avoid talking about mortgages, we'll do a bunch of stuff that is mortgage related.You know, what is interest rates and PMI, and so on. We teach classes up here in town, and we'll probably record some of those and get you guys to edit it. You know, it's been a lot of fun where we've caught on, like you mentioned, the news stations have have reached out to us. There's there's two big companies that run before local news stations. And they've been reaching out and asking us, hey, you know, do you want to get on our show? Do you want to advertise with us? You know, you seem like you're doing pretty good with video. The other thing that's happened that kind of came out of left field for me, because I don't think I'm some sort of trending superstar. Butyou are, oh, all of a sudden, like people are like, Hey YouTube guy, would you do our product? Would you do this or that we'll you know, we'll give you a free product, we'll we'll sponsor this or that. I didn't see that coming in a million years, I'll be honest. So that's been kind of fun and interesting to see the variety of people that are interested in what we have to say. And you're coming from a position of value. And that's what like, I think a lot of times, and maybe even now you're starting to see it. But before we even started doing this, I don't know if you'd call this conversation. Like we don't have to talk about mortgages. And as a matter of fact, and last, we talked about mortgages and more attention you're gonna get, because when you when you guys start creating videos, you start creating content, what you're really doing is you're just creating conversations, you cannot create conversations without creating content first, right. AndI want to give you guys a different analogy, especially for all your mortgage brokers out there, or even brokerage owners. And this is what this should click because a lot of times, like Mike, I just don't get it. I don't get how me doing a video on a business or me doing a neighborhood tour, this can lead the business, and I'm going to share with you how. So let's get out of the real estate business Dan, and I'm going to share with youa very important lesson I learned from taking one of the Digital Marketer courses, so I gotta give credit where credit's due. I started studying Ryan Deiss Digital Marketer, which is a very high end, or very advanced called Digital Marketing Company. They are the guys that do traffic and conversion and all these other things. Long story short, I'll never forget this. And this is the way my mind works because of one of the I don't know where I saw this was one of the training courses I bought, I was taking one of the lessons. And Ryan Deiss who's one of the CO owners of the company, back in the day before they became all famous and all that they had to they were just an online digital marketer company, right. And they brought on a roofing client, the roofing client at the time. And in Texas. How long do you think a roof lasts in a house in Texas thenI have to guess it lasts a while 2025 the severe weather that we have up here that's for sure. 2025 years, which means that the person that they sell their roof to either most likely transacts the house or dies before they need a new roof which means there is no repeat business. Right? It's not and it's not in that type of business. It's not like you get a ton of referrals. Like it's not like roofers are like through show me a roofer. It's sort of like a plumber, right? You're like hey, can plumber he's a plumber is an electrician, nothing bad about that. But I'm just saying it's not like a super duper, duper highly referral business where everyone's like, Oh, sending the roofer business. Sowhen you need them, you just need them when you need them. Right and you don't really have any loyalty towards a person that doesn't maybe you know someone maybe you don't, but it's almost like a guyHello page type business you thought you sir, find the first company you see, and that sounds good, and then you roll with it. So the point is, is that they had to come up with a marketing plan online for this company. And here's what they ended up doing. So they knew they had to go a roundabout way and think outside the box. What they did was they created a gutter cleaning service. And in the gutter cleaning service, let's just say the going rates were $99 to get your gutters clean, they charged 25 except all their gutter cleaners were experts at identifying roofing issues.What do you think happened next in?Well, I can imagine they started to identify a lot of faulty roofs or roofs with problems on a percent of their sales went through the roof, but they had to create a gutter cleaning service to identify the roof issues, right. So they had the forward thing. See when I'm looking at a lender, in your case, having video that's exactly what it is. The video is your gutter cleaning service to start having more conversations. This is true for a broker owner that's trying to recruit this is true for a lender that's trying to build more relationships. This is true for anybody. See, what we're doing is we're not creating content and videos to sell our shit. We're creating, we're creating content and videos to have more conversations to build trust that will eventually lead to us selling our shit.Right? And that's just that's just the reality of it. Right? And I want you Let's go through sort of what's happening in your market because I wanted to have you on the show. Becausewhen you have the opportunity to do something different and stick out or stand out. That's the Holy Grail. Everyone's always asking us, okay, I want to get leads. I want to get this. I want to get that, folks. Warren Buffett once famously said, when zig zag or they zag Zig. That's exactly what this business is. Because everyone can trip over a mortgage broker on the street, everyone could trip over a real estate agent on the street. And what really makes someone hire you9.9 times out of 10 it's brand and personal relationship. And if they envision themselves to working with you, would you agree with that, Stan? Yeah, I agree. And I think that is the great unknown about video. I didn't certainly know that even six or eight months ago, how much people get to know you through that video exposure. I mean, people, people walk up to me now, like, they've known me for years. And maybe I've met him once before, maybe I haven't. So the other thing that happens, just intuitively, I at least for me, as I started to create things that I say kind of routinely as part of my video making process, right and, and we went on a road trip, I decided that the best way for me to do these tours, especially in a great big state, like Wyoming was a road trip around. And so I started just telling people in my video just kind of just naturally Hey, jump in the car, let's go we're going on a trip, you know, and now it just opens up like a crazy funny line when I bumped into someone at a coffee house, Hey, come on up. And let's go we're going for a ride, you know, like, let's talk for a minute. And it just kind of it transitioned from video to real life really intuitively. What happened? The smaller the town, the easier it is, believe it or not, because think about it, like you come to San Diego is a lot of people are doing video you go to Chicago, New York or a major city. And then you're not so much you don't have as much attention on there. Even though there's more people, even those a bigger population. But you don't have as much attention because you're just one of many. Whereas in Cheyenne, you're one of only how many other mortgage brokers in the Cheyenne market are doing video.You know, there's a few people doing some real short, you know, the short, short recordings or whatever that they throw on Facebook, or maybe you know, some some reels kind of stuff, but I don't think anybody's doing YouTube. There's one real estate agent that is doing some YouTube stuff, but it's negligible. So you gotta go way up north, there's a there's a Gallup north, it's doing a really good job with YouTube videos and short, short shorts, recordings. But that's it. I mean, in the whole state, there's like two of us. That's why you got the news.I love it. So why don't you share with everybody, you know, are you nervous when you got started? What did you think, like, come through that because most people are usually like, hey, I want to do it. But everyone wants to just be done with it. But very few people actually will take action and go through and actually do it. I never understood why.But my gosh, Mike i i can tell you exactly why. You know, it started out with this goes back years. I'll be honest, this goes back to one of my first jobs when I had to do some phone, some phone work. I worked for a large hospital in Colorado, and I had to do some phone work and I'd always think Man, I hate the way I sound on the phone. And someone told me you know what, whatever you sound like is what you sound like you talk all the dang time you never shut up. So just get over it right and then I started to contemplate doing videosLast year and I'm like, Man, I got a face for radio bro. I don't know if I should be doing these videos and then people are like, whatever you look however you look man, you just, you know, you walk around all day you're not hiding under a rug. So get out there and do it. That was it. And and then the follow up to that it's just, you know, scripting like, do I am I gonna sound like a robot? Or am I gonna sound natural, I'm gonna look natural. How's this gonna come together? And I would say the first couple of videos were pretty brutal. I'm not gonna lie. I won't sugarcoat it. I stumbled over the lines, I think we recorded you know, the first one was a eight minute video, I think we recorded an hour and 20 minutes worth of stuff and just kept kind of getting through it. It wasn't, it wasn't embarrassing, because I knew somebody was going to clean it up first, I guess. But it was it was kind of brutal. But after that one, I would say literally, the very next video got 100 times easier. And then from there, they've gotten easier and easier. I still feel like I tried to read the script, or I tried to, you know, make it real polished or professional. And I'm getting over that, you know, I,you know, maybe your listeners will go check out my channel, we just did a brutal, brutal, brutal pub tour. And there was no scripting like, I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna go visit these 13 places, I'm probably going to get drunk while I do it. And I'm gonna have to try all this stuff that I learned about each of these stops, because I'm doing a little history tour with it. And you know, my brand has to teach people something. So I might as well tell them about these breweries. And you know, by the time we got to the end, did I drop an F bomb? Yeah, I did.I did, and that others did a great job of leaving it in there for me. So that was fun.You just got to have fun with it. And you know, that's what I'm learning and the nerves will go away. Have you ever, like hung out with somebody that you just can't be yourself around?A couple times, I got a brother in law thatwas trying to impress him, right. So I tried to live live large, and it's just, it's uncomfortable. You know what I mean? It's, it's no differently like that on video. Like, when you're creating content, you're just speaking to one person at a time. And you're right, like, you should I always tell people, you can't be nervous about the act of shooting video. Because if you are, why you're you control it, like you could just delete it or not post that video or not do it, you can just reshoot it, right? So the whole act of of shooting and and all that stuff is just mindset. None of this stuff is hard. Like if you truly, and I always say this on the show is like if you surely believe you're the right person for the job, whether you're a lender or a real estate agent, it actually becomes your obligation to let the world know about it. And if not, that's very selfish and shady. And if you don't agree with that, then you're not the right person for the job. So there's either one or the other. There's no in between on this. So you have to really look at that for yourselves. And everyone always says I'm the right person for the job. Well, if you're the right person for the job, why the hell are you so scared to tell the world about it? That's when it comes down to you guys. And it's not that creating content or video and all that stuff is hard. It's just something you're not used to. But I'm gonna go on a limb and stand Do you remember your first loan application? Or actually, let's do your first million dollar loan application. Within the first year or two? Were you fucking nervous?I can remember doing both. My first loan application was was utterly ridiculous in the in the day and age of technology.I wanted to be that personal touch right? So I grabbed my old paper 1003 and ran over to the people's house and wrote down all the information and I was nervous as heck. And I thought, Geez, what if I forget some piece of pertinent information? Or what if I don't, you know, get this right or I don't explain something right. And then I realized when I got back to the office, that that was the stupidest thing to be worried about, because it was a simple phone call to get the rest of the information that I maybe forgot like this. That's how I feel about video and just you maybe you do record, you know, rerecord it or you delete something and start over, but it's not the end of the world if it's not perfect on the first try. And that's kind of how that loan application when I remember the first time my first time I had showings, I was 22 years old, and I got the client from cold calling. So I would just do whatever it took back then. But I was working in the city of Chicago, I just moved back up from Carbondale where I went to college and I didn't know my way around the city of Chicago. So and we didn't have at that time we didn't have phones that had Mapquest on him. We had to go to Mapquest online and then print out the instructions, and then print this shit out. Like I would have outside brains, I would bring the Mapquest and I'd have a sheet of paper like this. And if we're looking at six properties, I would have six sheets of paper, I'd have the listing sheet on top and then beneath it would be the Mapquest instruction because I had no fucking idea where it's going. And I had to go out there and fake it till you make it with these clients. So like so what's this neighborhood like? I'm like a. And as a matter of fact, the day before the showings, I went out and I drove the route, just so I didn't look like an idiot with them in the car with me.Right and you had this is like the type of stuff that I didn't like seeoften be like, Hey, I'm not gonna go any showings because I don't know what the neighborhood is, which is no differently. So I'm not going to shoot this video because I don't know what I'm going to look like. Like folks get over yourself. No one is. And we're not that important, like, I'm not that important stands out to important, the only one who thinks that we're that important ourselves. That's right. And I think that's true as so many things, Mike, you know, we started teaching these classes in front of rooms full of people, and I can tell you even now I get nervous before we're going to go do it. But for me to sit back and say, No way, I'm too afraid I'm not going to do it. The only person I'm hurting is myself, I'm just shoot yourself in the foot with that mentality. So you know, get out of your comfort zone and go do something new. So let's, let's go into your video strategy. Totally agree. So when we started out with Stan, he started out doing a lot of stuff. Like there's different types of content you could create for different reasons. When we saw standard channel, or we're standing the opportunity, we just know that there's no one else in Cheyenne doing enchance, a big city, relatively speaking to the area, it's a city, right, any city gets searched on YouTube. And because Dan was the first one there, that's why we're able to pop his channel and say, pop his channel, he's generating lots of 1000s of views on the videos. And that's what led to him getting picked up by the news and all that stuff. But now that you've built out the channel, and you have that street club, the video that he was doing, he's referencing here is really funny. It was about what, eight minutes long, nine minutes long, give or take. Yeah. And the longer you did, you did a brew tour on site. So you guys had like the city was putting on like a Abreu history tour. Right. So I'm curious, because I haven't talked to you about this. But what people don't realize is the act of shooting, the video turns into relationship building itself, as well as other additional content you could be doing on stories and all this other stuff. So I'm curious to know, like, you're walking around on this tour, how many people were on the tour?You know, it didn't really have like a point, a starting point, you know, and then get to the end line, it was kind of jump in the middle, you know, go at your own pace sort of thing. So, I mean, there were, I don't know, hundreds of people doing the tour, but there wasn't a group of 100 are going from place to place to place, right. So and some people are going backwards to the direction we were going. So we kind of kept bumping into a few people here and there that we'd see over and over at different stops. But yeah, so it was a little bit unique in that way, just because everybody was kind of doing their own thing. How many conversations did just the fact that you had a video camera in your tripod with you start throughout the day? Oh, I mean, we had 13 stops, there had to been 40 kind of I mean, it was three at every every stop probably. And, you know, a half a dozen of those 40 or so conversations were probably people like oh, no, don't get me on camera. And I'm like, don't worry about it. You're gonna be on camera? Yeah.Then I'll get input when you're having a conversation. So what are you doing these videos for? What are you doing this for? And then he's creating an excuse to start? Well, I'm actually a mortgage broker. And what we do is we go around here and you have that conversation, which is totally different than just going up and be like, Hey, do you need a loan? Oh, by the way, my name is Stan. That's like asking a girl to get in the bed the first time you meet them, guys. This is not what you do. Right? You don't you can't just ask for business. Before you even know someone, you have to earn it.And you only earn it came out of that too is meeting meeting people and having those conversations but then also meeting either the management or owners of the establishments we were at everybody was jazzed, right? Like they're like, hey, when you know, When can you come back and let's talk more about my business. I'm like, I'd love to come back and talk more about your business. That was a really powerful part of that tour as well. So I was going right there. Perfect. So like what we should do, we'll just turn this into a coaching session, as long as we're here. What I want you to do and what you should do now is that yes, you had 10 bars, okay, now you could go to all 10 of those bars and do a business owner interview on them that gives you 10 More videos to do. See what's going to happen on the business owner interviews is that those owners are going to share that video around with their friends, family, aunts and uncles and all of those owners lips somewhere. All of those owners have a referral for Stan over the next 12 months. It's just a matter of if they're gonna give it to him. We've seen a guy this is a funny story status is funny. This is what happens with business owner interviews. So we have a dude in Northwest Arkansas and he went out and he did this business owner interview for some kind of like it was in their market it was like the new swanky hotspot right? This dude sort of The Bachelor so he was taking a chick there on a date and he went there on it he takes his girl on a date after he did the business owner interview with the owner right so here he comes he's got it he's got this girl on his on his arm he's trying to he's trying to impress her and all that pulls up to the restaurant the owner steps aside everybody come here come here I got the best table in the whole restaurant for you right here you got the perfect view brings them a bottle of wine on the house and all that the chicks like holy shit, this guy was this guy. And this is what's funny about the story is the guy goes you know later on and they start doing business together. And and he goes like this he goes seeI'd like to say something because Hey, Jay,it's funny that, you know, my wife's cousin is a real estate agent. And, you know, traditionally we're always using her, but you are now my real estate agent now. Right? So he literally, we're just talking about how do you step over prior relationships, and you do it through adding value to other people's lives, you guys know, right. And there's just so much leverage. With video, you can do that. If you're in a market like that, just imagine going out and networking with all the different businesses in that market and let them sell your stuff, right. But you have to give to receive, you should always try to give it's written in the Bible, those who give, give, give, give, get it in return in some way, shape, or form. It's just the way we're supposed to be, in my opinion. Unfortunately, a lot of us always have our hands out.And when we have our hands out, nothing really lands in them to do that. That's right. So I want you guys to think about coming from a value or if you're thinking about video come from a position of value and contribution as opposed to because it's not about the content that you're creating. It's not about what you're doing on video, it's about how you're doing it. And how you're leveraging it. Tell me really quick as a prior to Denver, what are your ratios? versus how much of your business comes from real estate agents? How much your business comes from your own sphere of influence? Where does most of you originate from? And what would you say your largest sources are, um, you know, Don, in our Denver market, I was I was pretty blessed to get in early in my career with a bunch of doctors, nurses and surgeons, and surgical techs. So I got a lot of business out of the hospital environment. Wellness, I'll get into why, but that just I fell into the right niche. And so I was really fortunate to be able to start building up my business by giving out referrals, I wasn't necessarily hounding real estate agents for their referrals, as much as I was saying, Hey, do you want to partner up? You know, I might, I might not give you as many as you give me or, or maybe I will, who knows. So I would say my business down there over the last, you know, five years or four years that I was in that market has been 60%, self generated 40% referrals, and of those referrals, you know, 3030 35% Of that number, that total number was from real estate agents. So we did pretty well within that niche. Up here in Cheyenne, it's a little different. Everybody starts out at the real estate agent level.It feels like I mean, I'm still getting another lay of the land. We've only been up here since December. Butthe banking industry is very strong here, right? A small town people are familiar with their bank, they've been banking there for a long time. So we have to overcome the stigma of going outside of the bank for a mortgage, and the relationship that that person then might have with their real estate agent friend that they've known since they were 12.You know, we we've really, I spent a lot of time last year, you'll remember some conversations, my eyebrows, like what does it mean to brand yourself like I have a logo was that my brand, like trying to make a brand. And what I found out is when we created this show, in large part thanks to you, Mike, you got me off of that topic and said, hey, it doesn't matter what that branding piece looks like that logo, you have a brand that fits your personality and who you are. And what I realized, that I love doing was teaching people stuff. And that's how the whole video series has come together, we were taking people on a ride to teach them about our local area about a local business. And that has translated from the show being called Why not Wyoming to why not university right? We got why not you and we're doing these whole series of classes around town. And when I go talk to the Board of Realtors, it's it's really interesting people know that I am there when I stand up to talk, I'm going to tell them about some new educational opportunity that's going to grow their business. Yeah, and that has been our value add that I don't think I would have put my finger on without you kind of steering my show in a direction and then allowing my personality to come out. If I was just doing mortgage related content. I just be up there droning on and on. Most peoplewhether regardless of what business you're in, even me like I'll do a video on how to do video. It's the least engaged stuff I post I swear, like and it'll be really good content. It's like our training content. Like I'll do a video on how to script a video through story. And that'll be you're gonna copy all great video good video, but truth is, is that that doesn't generate a shitload of views and attention a lot of times, same with real estate. However, I do create a lot of it because there's different content for different reasons. You see, like if you guys want to go to my website, you can go to www dot real estate marketing do.com And what you're gonna see on the website is a bunch of content. Every page on the site has a video and the reason why I created all thatstuff over the last five, six years is because when people visit our site, they're not questioning whether or not I know what I'm doing. It's sort of self evident. They're questioning how I'm doing it. And if they like me, Can you envision yourself working with a dude? Can you not envision yourself working with a dude? And truth as you guys get my personality, if you listen to my show, you know, I'm not the most perfect human being I sit every day. However, I'm 100% authentic. And what what what people really want is just a trust, and you cannot outsource authenticity, you cannot.You just can't do it. And when people I believe when people look at a lender, or an agent, or financial planner, or anybody, the first thing that comes through their mind, and people always say you don't judge a book by its cover, you're shady. If you do that, well, I'm sorry, that's just the way God made you. Everyone's going to judge a book by its cover. It's just the way that it is guys. Right? That's just the reality of it. And when you look at somebody, I could like, look at somebody, like, I could tell I'm gonna get along with that guy. Right? You get that same feeling, right? I could, I've liked that person's Mojo, I'm gonna, I'm gonna I want to drink a beer with that guy, I want to hang out with a guy. You just know who your tribe is. There's a reason why elephants hang out with elephants. Like I've never seen an elephant and a cat hanging out and watching a movie together. It's because we're naturally attracted to people that are like us, whether way way shape or form they may be there might be personality that might be erased, that might be in skin color that might be in whatever it is. But whatever it is, understand that you're the only one like it out there. And when you embrace your own individuality, and your uniqueness and your authenticity, and you scream it from the rooftops, and you're damn proud about it, that's what people are attracted to. No differently than what Stan is doing now and Wyoming no differently than what I've done on the show for the last six years. Some people are gonna like it. A lot of people aren't.I love when a lot of people aren't, because if you don't have haters on your shit, you're not doing it right. You're not meant to be perfect. It doesn't exist. God's the only perfect beam that exists in the world. And you're not him. Don't even try to compete. What you can do is embrace what you are, whom you are, how you do it, and scream that from the rooftops. And I believe that you'll be rewarded through people just like you because that's who you will track. There's not a shortage of business.There is everyone I look everyone I look at, like literally, everyone lives somewhere unless I check.So it's not a matter of if they're going to move, it's really a matter of when they're gonna move folks. Statistically, in Chicago, when I was practicing in the city was three to five years in the suburbs was four to seven. I knew my numbers because I knew if I just stayed in front of people, everything we're talking about when it comes to branding, content creation, the more people who know what you are, the more opportunities that open up. But it is mathematical not theory.If 100 people see your content, 10 to 15 of them are moving this year.The question is, are they going to use you when they do?The more you're on top of mind, the more likely that happens? Right? So this isn't rocket science. This is relationship building.This is leveraging content. And this is all based upon your personal brand.Stan, what are you going to do with? Have you tried any events with real estate agents yet on the video stuff, if you taught a I think your next move is a teacher scripting class, you have the social St Cloud scribe to do it now. And you could literally just launch an education series towards real estate agents. You could partner with real estate agents and do different neighborhood tours. You could partner with real estate agents and do different construction tours. Because you're not a real estate agent. Your job is not to sell those properties. It's their job. But you still share the same client.Yeah, I think some or all of that is in the works. You know, we we launched our educational series for real estate agents. In fact, we're doing a class this evening. It's going to be tailored at mortgages, mortgage one on one workshop, because we had to start somewhere. I would love to start at the beginning of the year. And then goal planning and you know, Vision boarding and all kinds of fun, cool, ethereal stuff like that. But here we are in May. So we thought we're gonna start with some mortgage stuff. So people remember what we do. And then next month, we've already announced our June class is going to be on social media and some video stuff. So exactly what you said. But we have been reaching out to there's a few people that like I said, are doing some of the short, you know, forum video stuff that have been doing some neighborhood tours, we want to put that on steroids. So I've been reaching out to them because they're already fairly comfortable with that given area or that neighborhood. So we're gonna go back and kind of recreate some of their neighborhood tours, but we're gonna put it on steroids with a little more viewership. You know, a little bit better quality, so on and so forth. And thenyeah, just continuing to do what we do with the business owners. I think that's that's really our kind of our strategy for the next you know, two to three months is continue getting these videos, these people on video that are owning businesses. You know, like you mentioned earlier, when youWhen you do an interview of the business owner, they let you, you know, take them in or they share it or whatever I found even on our on our beer tour, I asked every single manager of every, every all 13 places we went, I was like, Hey, do you mind if I share this, like, I'm gonna take you in this? And they were like, Yeah, that's fine. But what I found is you can't always take a business page, but you can check in at their location, which achieves kind of the same results. So I just, I'm gonna go back. And you know, we've already pushed that video out, but I'm gonna go back and repost it and just check myself in at these various different locations, even with the video we already have created, and then that way, they'll get a double dose when we go back and do their interview. So yep, I would go, definitely, I would go back and think of diners, drives and drives, but recreate that for Cheyenne, and hit up all these different pubs and bars. And I bet you that well, I mean, I know what's gonna happen, but do it. And then maybe we'll have you back on the show. And you can tell people what happened. We Awesome. Hey, I wanted to say one other thing when you were talking about not being perfect, too.You know, what a true statement. And And yet, the imperfections are the things that people are drawn to quite often. When I look at the commentary that comes through my videos, it's, it's funny how often somebody, you know, it's easy to get defensive. And so I'll read a comment where somebody's like, Hey, you didn't pronounce that, right? That's not how we say that, or whatever. And I could be like, hey, what a jerk. Why are you all up in my grill over this? I didn't even know like I say in the in the video I'm visiting, how the heck did I know that? But instead, I'm like, hey, thanks so much for educating me. That is awesome. Man, I will absolutely remember that now for the rest of my life, you know? And if you take that approach that yeah, we're not perfect. And people are going to call you out for that. But it was that that even got the engagement started. And if you don't get defensive, and you just stick with the engagement, man, all of a sudden, you're having three or four more conversations that you wouldn't have had otherwise, you know, if everything had gone perfectly, so embrace those imperfections. That's a great point, I think Jay Baer wrote a book called Hug Your Haters, addressing how to hug on haters, and then how you flip those into, you know, conversion, because you'll be amazed a lot of people will go out there and yeah, they'll hate and then you'll just address it. And then they'll before you know it, they'll be you guys will be best friends. Right? You'll just see some of those people you get, you will get some keyword keyboard warriors out there, no doubt. But that's good. Like, there's everybody who said the same, but there's no such any PR is good PR year and all the time. And who cares? If people are talking, then it's working. That's all that matters. So any other closing thoughts, Dan, that you have any tips for people advice for people, I think you want to mention, I will just go back to where I started, which is what my mentors told me your voice is, you know what it is you sound how you sound and you look how you look. And unless you're living under a rug. Don't be afraid to put that on a recording or on a video because it is who you are. And the more you act like who you are, the better the results are going to be. Love it. Stan, if you folks are in the Wyoming area, but you're licensed in other states to maybe an agent wants to reach out to you or something. Why don't you go ahead and tell people how they can reach you, they could connect with you go ahead and tell them what channel you have. And they could follow you on there if they want to check out some of your content.For comment, yeah, for sure. If you want to see the comment, it's why not? Wyoming wy And O T question mark, Wyoming. That's our YouTube channel, we are@www.db l h loans.com. That's our website. And you can always call me direct. If you have any questions about how to implement some of this stuff or what my experience has been. I'd love to answer it. 720-883-8452 Appreciate it. Stan. Keep it up, dude. Stay the course excited to see what happens in the next three to six months with this. You're doing everything right. Just keep doing it. Folks, thank you. And don't you stop listening to this podcast if folks if you need any help. And you like what you heard here today on Stan story, feel free to reach out to us. We'd like partnering with different mortgage brokers, investors, lenders, real estate agents, broker owners, recruiters, you name it in their local markets. And this is all we do. We script that and distribute videos but more importantly, we give you the right strategy that should fit your brand so that you're actually not looking awkward on video you're actually excited to get on video and that all dials and dials in with the picking up the right strategy, which is my expertise. So appreciate guys listening. Feel free to reach us you can visit real estate marketing do.com Real Estate market.com leave us a review here connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and check out our channel real estate marketing do it on YouTube. And so make sure you subscribe but we will see you guys next week. Have a great day. Stan, thank you so much. And we'll talk to you guys next week. Bye. Thank you for watching another episode of the real estate marketing dude podcast. If you need help with video or finding out what your brand is, visit our website at WWW dot real estate marketing do.com We make branding and video content creationSimple and do everything for you. So if you have any additional questions, visit the site, download the training, and then schedule time to speak with a dude and get you rolling in your local marketplace. Thanks for watching another episode of the podcast. We'll see you next time.

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of Eb Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson you will:DiscoverA Key of Eb Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of Eb Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of Eb Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou are going to play Melodic lines using various Whole Note, Half Note, Quarter, and 8th  Note Rhythms played over the II-V-I Progression.For maximum musical growth, be sure to use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of Eb Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=ZZEBGDF38VFNS)

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of Bb Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson you will:DiscoverA Key of Bb Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of Bb Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of Bb Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou are going to play Melodic lines using various Whole Note, Half Note, Quarter, and 8th  Note Rhythms played over the II-V-I Progression.For maximum musical growth, be sure to use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of Bb Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=ZZEBGDF38VFNS)

Welcome to JazzPianoSkills; it's time to discover, learn, and play Jazz Piano!Every JazzPianoSkills weekly podcast episode introduces aspiring jazz pianists to essential Jazz Piano Skills. Each Podcast episode explores a specific Jazz Piano Skill in depth. Today you will discover, learn, play a Key of F Major Melodic Workout. In this Jazz Piano Lesson you will:DiscoverA Key of F Major Melodic WorkoutLearnHow to "think" within the Key of F Major, MelodicallyPlayThe Modes of the Key of F Major plus Inverted Melodic Arpeggios from various entry points (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).ANDYou are going to play Melodic lines using various Whole Note, Half Note, and Quarter Note Rhythms played over the II-V-I Progression.For maximum musical growth, be sure to use the Jazz Piano Podcast Packets for this Jazz Piano Lesson. All three Podcast Packets are designed to help you gain insight and command of a specific Jazz Piano Skill. The Podcast Packets are invaluable educational tools to have at your fingertips while doing a Key of C Major Melodic Workout.Open Podcast PacketsIllustrations(detailed graphics of the jazz piano skill)Lead Sheets(beautifully notated music lead sheets)Play Alongs(ensemble assistance and practice tips)Educational SupportCommunity ForumSpeakPipeEpisode OutlineIntroductionDiscover, Learn, PlayInvite to Join JazzPianoSkillsRationaleExploration of Jazz Piano SkillsConclusionClosing CommentsVisit JazzPianoSkills for more educational resources that include a sequential curriculum with comprehensive Jazz Piano Courses, private and group online Jazz Piano Classes, a private jazz piano community hosting a variety of Jazz Piano Forums, an interactive Jazz Fake Book, plus unlimited professional educational jazz piano support.If you wish to support JazzPianoSkills with a donation you can do so easily through the JazzPianoSkills Paypal Account.Thank you for being a JazzPianoSkills listener. It is my pleasure to help you discover, learn, and play jazz piano!Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=ZZEBGDF38VFNS)

69回目のテーマは「目標12　つくる責任つかう責任」。ゲストは、パーティドレスのシェアリングサービスを展開されているANDYOU代表取締役社長の松田愛里さん。お金の心配をすることなく、素直に新郎新婦をお祝いしたい！世代が抱える悩みに寄り添った取り組みをご紹介します。

Happy Holidays from Nation of Animation! For our last episode of the year we countdown our favorite holiday episodes! We talk about Holidays, growing up with Santa, and Christmas Balls! HO, HO, HO!If you like the show, don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. Follow our Instagram and Twitter @cartoonbookclub, and follow our hosts @thebrookesmith and @ryanwithcheese on TwitterBIG THANKS TO:Jacob Menke for our themeFollow them @menkemaster&Urvashi Lele for our art Learn more about Urvashi Lele's animations by visiting www.sirpeagreenstudios.com and follow their endeavors on instagram at @sirpeagreen and @maisonaudmi& a special thanks of the week to:Rarecho, Ben Edlund, Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm, Craig Bartlett, Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Paul Germain, Seth MacFarlane, Loren Bouchard, Mike Judge, Matt Groening, Stephen Hillenburg and for the cast and Crew that makes these part of our Holiday traditions!AndYOU! Our fans! Thank you for this incredible year! We'll be taking a short break for the holidays and be back in time for our anniversary! The State of Animation is (strong) Festive!Series we discussed:Aggretsuko- We Wish You a Metal ChristmasAmerican Dad- Rapture's DelightThe Tick- The Tick LOVES Santa!Batman: The Animated Series- Christmas With The JokerKing of the Hill- ‘Twas the Nut Before ChristmasThe Simpsons- Miracle on Evergreen TerraceSpongeBob SquarePants- Christmas Who?Hey Arnold!- Arnold's ChristmasRugrats- A Rugrats Chanukah?????- ?????Our Favorite Christmas Songs: Brooke: Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartneyRyan: Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra This podcast is a part of Audio Mint. If you want to follow us, check us out on Instagram(@audiomintchi) or on Facebook, at Audio Mint. If you wanna support us even more, check out our Patreon by searching Audio Mint on the app or the website!

Your long-term goal of achieving the role of Chief Financial Officer is ambitious and will require planning, commitment, and hard work. You must be seen as a knowledgeable and professionally credentialed leader in Finance and Accounting. Commit to owning your career today so you plan out moves that contribute to you advancing. Be comfortable taking risk and have a written plan. Episode outline:You must own your career,The experience and background of the typical CFO,The CFO selection process,Become a leader in Finance and Accounting, andYou need to start your planning and preparation today.Please follow me on:1. Instagram: stephen.mclain2. Twitter: smclainiii3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiiiConsider joining The Finance Leader Podcast Community Facebook Group, where we can talk leadership and the other topics I present here on the podcast. https://www.facebook.com/groups/financeleaderpodcast  This is a good time to jump in and start sharing ideas and thoughts about leadership so we can help each other.For more resources, please visit stephenmclain.com. On the website, you can download the Leadership Growth Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Managers. You can use this guide to develop your leadership by focusing on communication, and growing and empowering your team.You can now purchase a course to help you advance your career from financeleaderacademy.com. It's called Advance Your Finance and Accounting Career: Developing a Promotion Strategy that Sets You Apart.

⚠️ Warning: The Million Dollar Edit course will be closed down for good tonight at MIDNIGHT (roughly 16 hours from now).So if you're still on the fence, I'd grab your seat now, before it's too late.And remember, if you don't like it, we'll give you your money back.No questions asked.You Could Spend $50 on DoorDash…OR… 🍔The $49 to get started right now will be a fraction of what this course makes you in the long run of your editing career.You could go spend $50 on a fancy dinner, or a new outfit, or the latest new gadget...but those things fade. The $49 you could spend on this course is an investment in yourself, your business, and your future.If this information does a fraction of what I say it can do, it’ll still change your business forever and give you the advantage you’re looking for.So, you have 2 choices...invest a quick $49 in this program today and finally learn how to create videos that excite your audience into paying customers, and could help you turn $49 into $2,000....or $5,000 into $1,000,000......or, you can do nothing.And you’ll be in the exact same place you’re in right now.I’m guessing you like Option #1 better, or you wouldn’t be reading this email in the first place.Am I right?I don’t know about you...but Option #1 always leaves me off a lot happier.PRE-ORDER now and get 50% OFF - Go from $99 to $49Click Here Now to Purchase - https://geni.us/million-dollar-editAgain, this pre-order special will EXPIRE in 16 HOURS!If you’re still wondering what The Million Dollar Edit course is, how it will help you become the go-to video editor with your clients, or why you should grab it today, read the email below:Blow Your Clients Away with Your Next Editing Project… 🤩If you're currently an in-house or freelance video editor, and you're trying to further your career and wow your audience...then The Million Dollar Edit™ is exactly what you've been looking for.Whether you want to learn how to edit videos that bring in seven-figures, or simply to get your audience to watch to the very end...Then the system behind The Million Dollar Edit™ course has been perfected over the last 15 years, and is the same system that allowed me to create campaign after campaign that was able to bring in over $2,500,000 in sales.Keep The Jobs Rolling in… 📈Keep the video jobs rolling in and your clients happy…VERY happy.Like I said earlier, the line between success and failure is razor-thin. Having been there myself, I can tell you that it really all boils down to one thing...Finding the beat - the heart of the edit.Listen, if your clients are spending $50K+ on a video campaign, then are expecting you as the video editor to help double, triple or even 10X their return.And we've got a way to ensure you deliver every time.Throw That Macbook in the Trash… 💻🗑️Like I've said before...You don't need an expensive M1 MacBookYou don't need a RED CameraYou don't need a fancy film degree, andYou don't need to watch 1,000+ hours of tutorials on YouTubeWe've done all the heavy lifting for you.Being able to drive your audience into the buying process through the power of video is exactly what your clients are looking for…Which is why The Million Dollar Edit™ is here!This brand-new course will walk you through a proven step-by-step formula for video editors to produce million-dollar videos that get your audience AND your marketing team more excited than they've ever been.Get hired for that next project, become the go-to in-house video expert at your company, and be proud to say that you too have been able to create million-dollar edits.And it's ready today!Here's What You'll Learn Inside the Course… ✨The House Party DJ Method, a proven strategy that will crank up the emotional intensity.How to get my audiences excited enough to follow through and buyWhich types of editing styles you need to make my videos a slam dunkGetting your marketing team back on your side as their go-to video editorI know that we're all just ONE small tweak away from turning our dull, boring videos into multi-million dollar edits.Tap into the beat to get audience engaged to actually watch the video.That's all it takes.Like I said, The Million Dollar Edit™ is available to pre-order…FOR THE NEXT 16 HOURS.Enroll now and get a special 50% OFF - https://geni.us/million-dollar-editWhat You're About to Get… 🎁The Million Dollar Edit™ Course ($999 Value)Promo Project File ($2,999) Value)Editor's Cheat Sheet ($199 Value)The Video Strategy Checklist ($499 Value)...A Total Value of $4,696!!Quick Question for you…😀...If all this course did was finally get you just ONE video edit under your belt that got kudos from your marketing team or your clients...would it be worth it?...If all this course did was give you a better shot in the edit bay at creating a video that engaged your audience to watch to the very end...would it be worth it?...If all this course did was help you reach a new level of confidence in your editing abilities...would it be worth it?I sure hope so!So here's the deal... 🧻Pre-order The Million Dollar Edit™ and receive a special 50% OFF PLUS all the Bonuses that are going to fast-track you to becoming a Million Dollar Editor.You can get access for just $49 today.PRE-ORDER now and get 50% OFF - https://geni.us/million-dollar-editAgain, this pre-order special will EXPIRE in 16 HOURS…See you on the inside!JordanP.S. Here's the link to the checkout page AND a preview of the course library.Enroll Here for 50% OFF - https://geni.us/million-dollar-editPreview the Course Library - https://geni.us/million-dollar-courseP.S. - Did you know that you can directly reply to these emails? (All replies are privately sent to my inbox)📧 If you're a Gmail user, this newsletter may automatically get routed to your "Promotions" tab. To avoid this, just drag the newsletter to your "Primary" tab — and you'll never miss a post.100% Typo Guarantee —This message was made with love, not spellcheck. No English teachers were harmed in the making of this email. Subscribe at jordanpanderson.substack.com

We're picking up on last week's episode where I almost casually made four really important points... when you're using you mind in an ordinary way:You have no idea what's going onYou haven't a clue what you should be doing or how to do itYou don't know who you are andYou don't know what you really want to achieveSounds weird - but it's the stuff of ordinary everyday life - because it is designed to be ordinary, to feel mundane.But your life is only ordinary because you're using your ordinary mind in an ordinary way.What if you started using your mind differently? If you could use your mind in an extra-ordinary way, your life would become extraordinary... as surely as night follows day.And the mundane? Listen and learn!!

For the next 10 days we will be praying Psalm 24, one verse a day. You can bookmark this podcast and use the series to pray through a fast, to pray through a time of preparation, or simply to pray devotionally to realign yourself with who God says He is. ⁣ ⁣ https://tinyurl.com/Psalm-24-Playlist ⁣ If you want more information on how to take a psalm and find related scriptures to it, you can email me at the address below and I'd be happy to send you some resources.⁣ ⁣ Scriptures prayed through today (all ESV):⁣ ⁣ Psalm 24:1⁣ The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all those who dwell therein.⁣ ⁣ Psalm 80:12⁣ If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are Mine.⁣ ⁣ Psalm 89:11⁣ The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours, the world and all that is in it, You have founded them.⁣ ⁣ 1 Chronicles 29:11⁣ Yours oh LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heavens and the earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, oh LORD, andYou are exalted as head above all.⁣ ⁣ Psalm 104:5⁣ He set the earth on its foundations so that it should never be moved.⁣ ⁣ itsagiventhing@gmail.com

What If You Were The Perfect Parent?I asked this the other day in one of my Impact Parenting Group calls. This idea of "perfect" parenting kind of shook the zoom room. There's so much shame around the word "perfect". Most parents just believe that they aren't perfect and that they aren't good enough. If you're like most parents, you believe this too, and it leads to shame, worry, and fear.BUT, . . . . . . What if YOU were the perfect parent?What would that change in your life? What would that change in your parenting?What would it change about you?If you're like most parents, you have never even considered the possibility that YOU ARE the perfect parent. Yet, if you're like most parents, you've probably considered that you might be the "worst" parent ever. I want you to consider this instead . . . "What if I AM the perfect parent for my teen?"What is YOUR Definition of Perfect?The problem is, if you're like most people, your definition of "perfect" is what the world has told you is the definition of "perfect".The world will tell you that "perfect" means doing everything "right" and/or making no mistakes. But what if I told you that this is not what makes you a perfect parent. The truth is, your teen is not perfect, and you are not perfect, and this is what makes you perfect for each other. My definition of perfect is more like being a "good fit" or being "exactly what is needed" or "doing your best."YOU get to define what "perfect" means for YOU in your role as a parent. For me, being the perfect dad means that I am willing to love my teen no matter what. It means that I am doing my best. It means that I am an example of making mistakes and making the most of it. It means that I am exactly what my teenager needs.What If You Believed You Were The Perfect Parent?I want you to really ask yourself this, "What if I believed that I was the perfect parent?"What would that change for you?If you're like most of my clients, if you believed that you were the perfect parent, . . .You would have more compassion for yourself,You would have more confidence,You would trust yourself, andYou would be happier!What if YOU believed that you were a perfect parent? What would change for you. For me, I started trusting myself. I started having my own back. I started believing that not only is my best good enough, but it is exactly what is needed. Believing that I am a perfect dad has helped me parent with confidence. It has helped me be happier in my relationships with my kid. It has completely changed how I see myself. My brain is now looking for evidence that I AM the perfect parent. You Are The Perfect Parent!You are the perfect parent!Being the perfect parent doesn't mean that you never make mistakes. Being the perfect parent means that you trust Call to ACTION!Come join me in the Firmly Founded Parent Membership!JOIN HERE!

JB Braden, Founder of Beyond the Field CoachingIs a certified coach who specializes in working with Entrepreneurs, Corporate Leadership Teams and Business leaders helping you develop superior presentation skills and exceptional leadership skills! Teaching you how to craft a Signature Talk specifically designed to inspire, engage, educate and convert your prospects to clients.Giving you the tools and techniques to master the art of public speaking!Training you to communicate your message more effectively.Helping You "Speak with a Purpose"Giving leaders the tools necessary to develop strong leadership teams.================================================Ari Gronich (0:14):Welcome back to another episode of Create a New Tomorrow, I amyour host Ari Gronich. And today, I have with me another one of the Achieve alpha leaders.Achieve Systems is an organization that I've been part of about 14 years. And today I havewith me JB Braden, he is an inspirational speaker, trainer and speaker coach, he actually forachieved does the speaker trainings helps people get on stages, get their voices out there inthe world. JB I'm gonna let you talk a little bit about your background. But let's just kind ofgo through a little bit, you're a certified life coach, or certified business coach really is lifebusiness, same thing. You work with entrepreneurs, corporate teams, business leaders, inteaching them how to develop superior presentation skills, teaching them how to craft theirsignature presentation, I'd like to talk a little bit about that specifically. And, you know, yourmission here is to impact empower the lives of millions of people, and inspire them to createextraordinary success, teaching them how to think live and lead and win like a champion. SoJB, welcome to the show, let's, let's tell the audience a little bit about your background,because I know you didn't kind of start out the same place that you've ended up and thenwe'll get into like, why achieve, why you, why achieve and some of that stuff. So, take itaway.JB Braden (1:45):Yeah, sure, man. Thank you for having me on. It's always a pleasure toconnect with you and, and see you. So, thank you for that. But a little bit about me, as yousaid, I'm a certified coach, certified, and I specialize in working with leaders, executivesuccess teams. My goal is to create success in people's lives, create success in my life, andto teach people how to create success in their lives. And to do it in a sustainable way. So, Iwork with leadership teams, I work with entrepreneurs, because I'm also a speaker, coach,as you mentioned. And I've been speaking for well over 20 years. And I've been coachingspeaker's half that time. And so, when I met Robert, a few years, about four years ago, wecreated the speak with a purpose workshop, that I use to help people put together trainingfor a speaking for their marketing tool for their business, as well as a signature presentation.So, I do a lot of that. But yeah, that's a little bit about what I love to do what I'm called to do,and a little bit about me, I was born, I was born and raised in Alabama, but I live in Coloradonow. Now, I was raised by a single mom. And she one of the things that she taught megrowing up was, she taught me a couple of things. One of the things that she taught me Ariwas, you know, treat people the way you want to be treated. And that those words shall helpshape my life. And it helped me find my calling and my gift, and my gift and calling to speakinto other people's lives and empower them. And so that's what I do.Ari Gronich (3:29):Nice. So, I like that. Here's my thing about it, right? We always say thatthis golden rule of treat other people the way you want to be treated. But here's the thing.And as a healer, you notice this as somebody who's in business, you hear all the self-talk asa business coach and life coach. People don't treat themselves very well know that, right?Yeah, I don't want to be treated the way I treat myself, the way the right, you know, I wantto be treated the way I treat others, right. So, I think the golden rule needs a little shifting.But I do like the premise of the golden rule, which is that we want to treat people like our kinlike but then I go okay, but kin, you know, family, we don't treat our families very well.James Braden (4:27):Right, right. Yeah. Well, it's so interesting you say that Ari becauseI've actually, you know, that was the basis for a lot of things that I do. And I actually tookthat, that what people call the golden rule and elevate it, you know, so it's not just treatedpeople the way you want to be treated, but treat people the way they want to be treated.You know, and then and it really comes down to this, you know, my mom's you know, treatpeople with respect, you know, and respect is earned, but she also another thing that shetaught me was people are people you know, doesn't matter what color we are, how tall orshort we are, how much money we have, we don't have, you know, we're all people and weall deserve to be treated with respect. And, you know, that's how I live my life. And, youknow, by doing that, you know, I treat people, I take that, like I say that one step further totreat people the way they want to be treated. And the only way you can treat people theway they want to be treated, is you, you have to do something, you have to spend time toget to know them. Okay? That's what am saying, and that was one of the key things is you,we're all individuals, you know, and so get to know a person for who they are. And Iremember being in high school man, and, you know, people would go around me, they'd saystuff about people and say this and say that, and I was always debunking, I'm like, Look,man, I don't know that person. So, I'm not gonna sit here and, and chat with you anythingabout that person. But I would go out of my way to get to know a person for myself, youknow, and that's the challenge that I have for a lot of people get to know people for whothey are, make your own damn opinion. And then, you know, and then you know, how totreat those people treat them the way they want to be treated?Ari Gornich (6:08):Yeah, you know, it's interesting, we definitely, and this goes back tobusiness as well as life in general, relationships in general, is the assumptions that we makeon how a person is or who a person is based on the stories that we've heard of them. And Idon't know about you, I've met a lot of people in my life, that other people might say, thatperson is this or that person is that or this person has this stereotype or, or because of their,you know, color. I mean, I had roommates that are were Palestinian Muslims. I was like, mysister, you know, like my family. And, and I was all you know, you can't be friends with thosepeople. You know, doesn't matter what people they are. Right? can't be friends with thosepeople. I was the guy when I was growing up, that parents said, you can't be friends withhim. He's a bad influence. So, I never, ever wanted to do that to another human being.Right. So, I agree with you like, getting to know somebody. But you know, it's funny. Mybuddy, AJ Ali is a documentary film producer. And he's actually Robert knows him and hewrote a movie, did a movie called Walking Wall Black, Love is the answer. It's a fantasticdocumentary. He's just been shown it to police and homeland security all over the countryto deal with the lack in police, black and blue issues, you know, really is the black and blue.And love is the answer is an acronym. And the first letter is the L right? And what is that Lstands for is learn about your neighbors. Learn about who it is that is next door to you, learnabout the people that you live near. Go and introduce yourself. There used to be a time inthis country, when you moved into a neighborhood and you had five neighbors bringing youbrownie and things and welcoming you to the neighborhood. We don't do that kind of thinganymore. But God, what a what a benefit. It would be if we kept doing that if we chose tolearn about our neighbors and our people.JB Braden (8:36):Yeah, now I agree with you. I think that's the one key that's missing, youknow. Part of my background and speaking as I spoke, I've spoken a lot of high schools,right. And one of the programs that I spoke for, that I do still do some speaking for, but I dida lot of speaking for in the past as an organization called Rachel's challenge, right. RachelScott was the first person killed on the Columbine tragedy. And after she died, her father,they her family discovered that she had a goal to start a chain reaction of kindness. So, hecreated this program to take into schools to challenge the students has challenged thefaculty to start a chain reaction of kindness. Okay, well, you treat people with kindnesswhere you stopped excluding people. And so, I say the reason I bring that up is because it'skind of stems to what you just said, getting to know people, you know, a lot of times likeright now the day we're in a big world of social media right now. Right? And so, but we're abig social media and so, you know, a lot of people they are, all about how many friends do Ihave on Facebook. But I've always said this, and I used to say this to the students that Iwould speak to, social media is great. But it doesn't replace social interaction. Okay, truesocial interaction. And here's what I believe some people may disagree with this. But willyou remember you and I are about the same age. And so, when we're in school, when we'rein school, when we had a beef with someone, we would go to them and we would talk it out.Okay. And sometimes we will come to blows. But then we would hug and we would make up,right?Ari Gronich (10:26):Yeah. Usually, the people who got in the biggest fights became thebest of friends right afterwards. And that was because not only did they confront the issuedirectly, instead of withholding it and bottling it up and all that. But you know, it was like,when you go toe to toe with somebody, you gain a level of respect, regardless of outcome.JB Braden (10:55):You gain a lot of respect. That's correct. And sometimes it works out.Well, you become closer, sometimes you don't. But the bottom line is you dealt with thatissue, as opposed to, as you said, letting it fester. Okay. And then you had those. So, whathappens now is people hide behind social media, okay. And they think that's theirconnection to people. And what has happened in our society, is there's a loss of how peopleshould, people don't know how to really build true connection, connection that lasts alifetime connection that changes, you know, changes people, changes generation,connection that when you're going through something so hard, and so terrible. Becausewe're disconnected these days, it's easier for somebody to pick up a gun, and go blast abunch of people that they don't know. But when they have, I feel like when you have a trueconnection with people, when you have that connection, it can help eliminate that. Becausenow you got some people that you can rely on, because this world is hard man, which is whyI'm calling to do what I do to be able to help empower people and inspire people and pickpeople up and let people know that you'll have to live by yourself. It's struggling to getpeople around you that can help you.Ari Gronich (12:18):It's funny, they did a documentary, I think it was Michael J. Fox, whodid this documentary called happy. And they, they were studying what made people happythroughout the world. And they found that the happiest place on earth was this town, inTibet, in the Himalayas. And they actually don't measure gross domestic product GDP, theydon't measure that they measure Gross National Happiness GNH, how happy their society isas a whole. And that's a measurement that they actually use in order to determine if theirsociety is being successful or not. And they found that, that these societies, this one,especially the biggest difference, and this happens in all the Blue Zones, as well, thecenturion, places where they're living over 100 years old, is that the biggest similarity is notdiet, it's not anything other than connection with other human beings. They are a family,they are a community to the true sense of the word, they take care of each other. Theydon't let somebody fester in depression. If somebody is depressed, they surround them.They don't try to fix them by the way, that's the other thing that they do not do, they do nottry to fix them. They just surround them and let them know that they are the support at anypoint, right? They are. They are the they're the wall. They're the rock. And that's the biggestthing that I think we're missing in this world because, as you said, everybody's on socialmedia, but there's such an anonymity to saying fuck you to somebody on text versus sayingit to their face. There's such an anonymity to destructive behavior that you would never doin person. You can do because why, there's a text box and a screen between you.JB Braden (14:29): Yeah, I think social media gives people a soft, a false sense ofconfidence. They'll say things. They'll say things on social media they wouldn't dare say andother people in front of people's face. You know, I call the keyboard bully is what I call it.Okay. And because I mean, I can remember being in high school if we had something to sayto somebody would say it to their face, and we wouldn't say it, you know, then we'd hash itout. But people now man they just, we got a bunch of keyboard bullies out They, have afalse sense of security and false sense of confidence that I'll say what I want to say. But theywon't say it in front of your face. If you were sitting face to face to him, they wouldn't daresay it, because they don't have the balls to say it, you know, and so nor because it's justdifferent, when you have a human connection, we have such a disconnect in our world now.And a lot of that is because people think they are friends on social media. And that's not the,we've lost the sight of what a true friend is, without looks like.Ari Gronich (15:35): So, let's kind of take this back to a slightly different, different angle.And that angle is going to be, in all of this noise and all of this social media noise and all ofthe things that we have to experience millions and millions and billions and billions andtrillions of bits of data more than our primal history, even 40 years ago, is able tocomprehend I mean, the amount of technology has increased so drastically that we're inliterally adrenal shock, on 100%, daily basis, just in the amount of things that our body andour senses are taking in. So, in all of this noise, and all of this stuff, right? We're gonna go tothat signature presentation, how does somebody step out of that noise and become heardbecome seen? Because to me, I have this saying, a bully's best friend is silence. Silence is abully's best friend. How does one break out of the noise so that they get heard when theyare talking? Because what you've said is true, that people are holding back and notspeaking, at least not in person. But the other part is that when they are speaking, they'renot being heard. They're not being listened to. They're not being seen. And so, in business,and in life, right, we all need that be seen, and you do this signature presentation, which Ibelieve is one of the ways but why don't you talk about this a little bit? How does somebodystep out of the noise?JB Braden (17:27):That's very good question. And when I when I want to teach and talkabout the signature presentation, there's two key components that we look at. And we willmake sure that no matter which clients, we're working with the two key questions that weasked them Ari, and one of them is who's your target audience? Okay. And so first of all, yougot to be clear on who your target audience is, you find the right target audience, you'regoing to be heard. Okay. So that's the first thing. And then the second question that wealways ask is, what's the problem that you solve for your target audience? Right? That's veryimportant. Because if you don't understand the problem, you solve that you can'tcommunicate that problem to your target audience. But you want to talk about being heard.When you get in front of the right audience with the right message, you know, deliveringand communicating the problem that you can solve their problem, whatever the problem orproblems maybe, then you will be heard. Okay. And so that's, that's how you can find yourvoice. That's how you can be heard by speaking to the right audience, and communicatingto them that you can solve their problem. Does that make sense?Ari Gronich (18:46):Yeah, absolutely. The I guess the question becomes, you know, I feellike, let's say, I've been in this industry, 27 years, right. And there's been times when I'vehad a really fantastic booming career with athletes and actors and A list celebrities andpeople who, you know, that was my target market back then I was living in Los Angeles thatwas those were the people that I was looking for, right? And then and then 911 happens,and all the studios shut down. Right. And so, I didn't really know who my target market wasand so nothing that I was saying was getting out to the world. So, I'm kind of, I'm kind ofplaying this, this scenario, so that the audience maybe can get an idea of how it plays out.Once I figured out Okay, my target audience now is gonna be just the athletes. I'm no longergoing to be doing studio work, because the studios are shut down. So where do I go right?And so back then there wasn't really internet, you know, is web TVs and maybe a little AOLand prodigy with some chat rooms. But I'm taking myself, you know, I remember my 486sXcomputer that was this big. Right? I'm here and I'm going okay, so what do I do to get thesepeople? So, my target audience was high end athletes, Olympic guys, right? So, what did Ido? I was living near Muscle Beach. And so, I go down to Venice to Muscle Beach to theGold's Gym. And I could pick two or three athletes out of that place at will, because I knewmy business, and I was going to where my target was, right? so I got heard. And then I went,you know, there was another crisis, right? And, and so I didn't know who my target audiencewas. And then, and then the 2008. And I had at that point, I had just bought a house is amillion-dollar house in LA, right. I'm like, now my house is worth 600,000. All of my clientswho were high end at the time business profile, people, lost their hedge funds, lost theirhouses lost their shirts and all of a sudden, you got to pick up and who's my target audiencenow. So, this is not, what I guess what I'm getting at is one, the stories that might help theaudience get to a place where they, okay, I can re-assess my audience, but also letting themknow, yes, you can. This is a living thing. Right? This isn't static. And so, people, the biggestI think thing I hear when I hear people talking to you, and you tell them to niche down is, butI serve everybody.JB Branden (23:41):Yeah, and I've heard that before. And if you serve, if you serveeverybody, then you wouldn't be struggling for clients. There's no such thing. You know, oneof the things that T Harv Eker says in his millionaire marketing course is, your ideal clients,are clients who are willing to work with you, okay, your ideal clients are not everyone, andquite frankly , when you think about it Ari, you don't want to work with everyone. Okay. Andthen think about you think about Nike, you think about some of the big companies out there,okay. They don't target everyone. But they know who their target market is. They know whotheir demographics is. And that's what they target. Now that does people outside of theirtarget market, purchase their things? Absolutely. But that's not who they go after. And that'llhappen. And so, the people that say that, you know, I target everybody. That's where you'remissing out. Because you when you target everybody, then you're targeting no one. Okay?Because no, we all don't have the same problems. All right. And so how can you get clear onthe problem you solve, when you assume that everybody in the world has that problem thatyou solve, that's not the case. And so, the two go hand in hand, if you think about it, it's notjust the target audience, but it's also the problem that you solve for that target audience.They both go hand in hand. And when you understand that, and you understand both ofthem together, then you understand. You're target audience is not everyone.Ari Gronich (23:41):Right. So, as you know, I'm a solutions guy. And every time I talk toyou, one of the fun things that that I have is that you're a solutions guy, too. You're not,you're like, I don't want to talk about the problem. Let's get to a solution. Let's get to wherewe can fix this. Let's get to the, you know, the meat. And so, I have this new saying that Icame up with recently and it's “I want to stop gathering to complain and start collaboratingto succeed”. Right, that's what we want to do in life. We want to stop gathering to complainand start collaborating to succeed. And one of the things that Achieve Systems does iscollaboration at a scale hardly ever seen in the industry, right? So, we bring together healthprofessionals, fitness professionals, nutrition, I mean speaking coach, visibility, marketing,all these things, we collaborate, right. So, what is the one thing that you found as a benefitto collaboration versus competition and why Achieved Systems kind of excels in that arena?JB Braden (24:56):Oh, wow. The biggest benefit is perspective and experience fromothers and support. Think about this. Most entrepreneurs, they feel like they're out there bythemselves all alone. Okay. And being an entrepreneur being a business owner, it's like aroller coaster ride when you agree. And so when you have a community where you cancollaborate with people, on those times where you're stuck, where you're dealing with fear,where you're dealing with limiting beliefs, when you have when one of the things that what Icall it the surrounding yourself with ass Kickers, right? Okay. So when you have that, whenyou surround yourself with those ass Kickers, those people that you collaborate with, andyou're going through those tough times, is easier to pull yourself out of it, because you gotyou because you have their strength as well as your strength working together, which is howit's meant to be, you know, so for me, the biggest thing about Achieve is having thatcommunity of people that will not let you let yourself down, does not allow that you letyourself down, you know, if it is that you find yourself going a different direction, because aslong as you're in lockstep with the people that achieve, then you will, you will succeedbecause that's what we, we want you to succeed. And so that collaboration is like is like thatforce of energy moving forward. And that's the that's the most important thing, man.Ari Gronich (26:34):Yeah, I want to add to that it's not just the support, because, youknow, there's a lot of mastermind groups, and there's a lot of, you know, inner circles andsupport groups. Right. And I don't really like to think of achieve as a support group forbusiness owners, right. I think of it as a place where you can get the support, yes, you couldget the actual help, not just the advice, not just the support, not just the advice, not just thehelp, but you can actually find partners and people to collaborate with directly to build otherretreats and build products and build other things with I mean, I've had the honor of writingthe foreword for two people or two books, writing a chapter in another book for achievedmembers, right? That's area where I'm supporting them, but also collaborating andpartnering with them. So where are some of the places I know you have? where some of theplaces that you've collaborated? To make a successful exit, so to speak with an achievemember?JB Braden (27:52):Oh, yeah, no, those are good questions. Um, we have a whether it beworking with a group with a mastermind. That's always good. One of the things that I love is,that's a good collaboration is I'm part of the achieve leads group, okay. And I actually call itachieve mastermind group, but we work together, helping each other, cultivate and findleads. And so, that collaboration, is like you said, it's not just about the support, but it's also,what I've learned from it, is the different approaches, the different perspective that peopletake, you know, but also, you meet people that you would never have never met. And that'swhat I love about it, when you collaborate, you can introduce to let's just say, of you and I,and some of the people that I've collaborated with, in achieve, I've had the opportunity toget to know people on their network, and they've had an opportunity to get to know peopleare in my network. So, collaboration, when you collaborate with other people, then you havethe opportunity to also connect other people to collaborate, that's what I found. So, it's likekind of building on it. And so being a being a part of achieves, leads group, I've been able todo that, and have that collaboration with other people, and then connect them with otherpeople, You know, a lot of times we'll be sitting around, say, hey, do you know, you know,anybody good CPA, or do you know anybody that does this? Or does that, whatever the casemay be? Say? Yeah, now I know a couple of people. Let me introduce you. And there you go.And so that's why that collaboration is so powerful.Ari Gronich (29:31):Awesome. So, I don't want to leave out competition, because I dotend to, you know, put competition on a little bit further down the totem pole forcollaboration. I don't want to completely destroy competition, although I do a little bit. Butwhy don't you tell me what in your mind, healthy competition looks like?JB Braden (30:00):Competition in business. That's an interesting. First of all, when itcomes to competition, I think about this first thing I'll think about is being very good at whatyou do. When you're very good at what you do. You spend time making sure that youcontinue to be good at what you do. And then being afraid of competition isn't a thing forme. Okay. It's more of how can I dominate my sector? Okay, how can I dominate my sector?And what I mean by that is, when people when people think about speaking and speakercoaching, I want them to think about me. Okay. And so that's my goal. So, there's not somuch about having competition. Here's what happened. Competition does, it keeps yousharp, it keeps you honest. It keeps you striving to be better. Because think about is if youdon't have competition, would you when you say that if you don't have a competition, youmay become complacent.Ari Gronich (31:12):So that all depends. I'm going take it a different step with you adifferent way. Because I don't believe in competition with anybody else. I don't believe thatI've ever been in competition with another massage therapist, sports therapist, right. But Iam in competition with yesterday's version of me. That is who I'm in competition with everysingle day. Some days I win that competition, and some days I lose it. I'll be honest, right?I'm not in competition with anybody else. for any other reason, or comparison. And anymore, you know, I used to be like, somebody skinnier than me got bigger muscles than megot, you know, higher IQ than me, you got whatever, you know, whatever it is, right? Got abetter more degrees than me. I don't have any degrees. You know, like, everybody gotdegrees. No, I'm not in competition with anybody else anymore. I'm in competition withyesterday's version of me every single day. And I find that the more I look at perspectivethat way. I could go up to somebody who I might have thought was competition in the pastand say, “Hey, I saw that you guys open a gym right next door to my gym? What do you dodifferently than I do? I could send some people your way.” And we could create collaborationbetween the two gyms between the two personal trainers between the two therapistsbetween the two hypnotherapist all that you know, is like, we could create partnerships andcollaboration with the people who are better than us at certain things, and not be incompetition with them specifically, in competition with the previous version of ourselves.And that's something I think Achieve Systems is really designed to help people with is not bein competition with others in our field, but be in competition with our previous version ofourselves with the person who thought I can't do business, I'm too spiritual, I can't acceptmoney for this, or whatever the block whatever the thing is that stopping somebody frombeing that better part of themselves.JB Braden (33:37):I love that. I love the Ari because when you think about it, I've neverlooked at myself. I've never looked at other speakers and speaker coaches as mycompetition. I never have. And so, I love how you put that that I'm in competition withmyself being a better version of myself. And how do you do that you look at the people inyour field, what they're doing. And my approaches this, what are they doing, that I canincorporate to make me better? Is there anything they're doing that I can make me better?That's how I always look at it. I have a lot of speaker friends around the country. And that'sone of the that's one of the things that we've been able to help each other get betterbecause I can look at something that they may do on stage and say, Oh, I like that. I'm goingto try that. Or I'm going to try this version of that, you know, that sort of thing. That's howyou get better. And so I love that you said that because I've never looked at people in myfield other coaches as my competition. I looked at I look at them as my allies. Okay. How canwe learn from each other, make each other better at what we do? And like you said, that'swhat's great about Achieve, okay, because that's one of the things that we love to helppeople Do it's not about you being competition, but it's how can you take what I'm doingincorporated into your business if we're in the same business and make you better, and viceversa? Love that.Ari Gronich (35:13):Yeah. And that goes to the same thing with life. Right? I'm divorcednow, right. But every minute since the time that I've got separated, beyond the trauma,right of the experience, my thoughts have been How can I be a better man? How can I be inbetter relationship? How can I take ownership of every bit of my responsibility in thisdebacle that has occurred? You know, how can I How can I be a better man in a betterrelationship with people. And I spent, I talked about this a lot, but I spent about 300 plushours inside of a mirror. naked, staring at myself, crying, wailing, screaming, stunned andshocked. I mean, in in any emotional state, you could imagine. Until I worked that out ofmyself until I was a better version of me until I had stripped, I call it stripping the layers ofmasks of trauma. Stripping the layers of masks because we have this inauthenticity fromtrauma that stops us from being the best we can be. I'm going to relate this back to youbecause the biggest fear is not fear of snakes. It's not fear of flying. It's not fear of falling.It's fear of speaking. Public speaking.JB Braden (37:04):Yeah, you've heard it said, and that's a huge fear for a lot of peoplefear of speaking, and it's a real thing. And some of my clients have had it. And, you know,we work through it, and allow them to get to the crux of what that fear really is, you know.And then once they get to the crux of what it really is, they can move past it. And so, do alot of work around that. It is a big fear for a lot of people. A lot of a lot of fear around it isunsubstantiated. And it's just it stemmed from a limiting belief, or, another fear, you know,some of them. Some I've heard people say all the time, well, I'm afraid of messing up. Okay,well, how can you eliminate that fear? And then we work on it?Ari Gronich (37:56):That's up a lot. That's how you eliminate the fear. Okay. I messed up.JB Braden (38:01):And here's the thing, you know, and basically, because that was one ofmy fears, plus 20 plus years ago, and then I was like, Well, how can I eliminate that? Well,prepared to the best of my ability. Okay. And that's all you can do.Ari Gronich (38:18):Right? Just a question. Do you still get the butterflies when you go upon stage?JB Braden (38:25):I do. But it's not from fear. Now. It's excitement. I think people thinkthey feel that and I think, because if you think about it, fear and excitement can feel thesame. It's the same energy. And so people ask that all the time and said, Do you get the youget afraid? I said, No, now I just feel excited. You know, so it's a different feeling than achannel because I've done it so much now. And I know how to prepare. I prepare myself tothe point where that fear that fear of messing up has no power. Okay. Is it still there? Yeah,but it has no power because I've taken the power away from that. Now it's just it's just anexcitement of being able to share my message with a group of people.Ari Gronich (39:15):You know, it's funny, I've been speaking 27 years. My grandmotherwas 40 years, head toastmistress in San Diego, was a speaker. My mom is a teacher. Mybrother is a teacher. My dad was a master debater, you know, in the debate clubs and stuff.So being on stage, and I grew up in Hollywood, so I've been acting and in commercials andstuff like that all my life. And what I find to be fascinating is how much I hate being on videohow much I dislike the look of myself on camera, still, how much I dislike looking at thepictures of me on stage or video of me on stage. And then I look at the pictures of theaudience while I'm on stage, right, afterwards or I look at the response that I get, makes allof that dislike of not wanting to be seen not wanting to be heard, not wanting to beacknowledged, because every time growing up I did, it was some kind of trauma you know,some kind of trauma happened, if I got seen, whether it was, you know, physical abuse,sexual abuse, didn't matter, mental abuse, it was, if I got seen, there was trauma. And so, Ididn't want to be seen. So, you know, what's funny is the only way to cure the somatictrauma of not wanting to be seen, is to be seen a lot, and to be seen in a place that's safe.you know, so part of what I love about achieve, and what I love about what you do withachieve, especially in the speaker sector, is that you provide and we provide a safe place tohave different somatic experiences, so that you can get seen often, and have it be such asafe container that you can become comfortable being seen, you can release those traumasthat are embedded in the soma, in the tissues in the memory, because we create that safeplace. So, talk a little bit about why that safe place is so important, especially for seekers,and especially for people who have that trauma of not being worth and not being seen. Andyou know, not being valuable. Because I know you and I feel pretty much the same thateverybody has some amazing value to offer others. It's just a matter of getting them to bewilling to share, right?JB Braden: Exactly. Yeah, that's a good point. And so, for people who, what you said aboutthe safe place is so important. And how do you create that safe place, you make sure you letpeople know It's okay. It's okay to make a mistake, you're not going to be judged. Thisdoesn't define who you are. And so, creating that gives people permission and a lot of times,that's what we need, we just need permission to try that it's okay, if we don't, if it doesn'tturn out the way we think is going to because most of the time it doesn't. So we spent, Ispent a lot of time helping change people's perspective on fear of failure, so to speak, okay,because it's not about failing is about learning the lesson from what you just done, youknow, learning the lesson that you need to learn and you're supposed to learn. And so,creating that safe place for people to do that, it's kind of goes back to think about this kindof goes back to when we were all toddlers starting to walk. Okay, our parents created a safespace for us to continue to fall as we went through that, right. And so, it's the same thinghere, we create a safe place for people to learn to walk in business, so to speak. Right? Witha permission to It's okay, that you're gonna fail at this or you're gonna fail at that. But thegoal is to continue to get up. Always get up, always keep moving forward. And we have thatsafe space. And that support for people to do that. It's so important.Ari Gronich:Yeah, it's so nice that you can get up with somebody pulling you up, instead ofon your own accord. You know, it's so nice that you could have an Achieve, you know, wehave 20 people to put out their hands. Hey, I'm here. You know. That to me, is incredible.One of the things I tell people I tell therapists a lot is, if you're a healer, if you're a therapist,if you're whoever, right, in the healing arts, that your clients will only heal to the level atwhich you've healed. Meaning the level at which your boundaries and your barriers havebeen washed away, have been cleaned up have been cleared. That's to the level at whichyour patients can heal, that's to the level, which if you're a business owner, your businessescan heal. Right? If you're a business coach, because, it's all you know, it's like, it's justhealing, right? it's like, you know, it's not putting band aids on P&L. It's healing the P&L, it'smaking the P&L better, so it doesn't need band aids anymore. So, you know, we look at life alittle bit differently, I think you and I, then then most we're looking at it from this holisticpoint of view. And for the audience, who is listening. Give us some of your perspective, onresilience, in business, in life in general and I guess, resilience with a map, resilience with aplan, because resilience is awesome to have but if you don't have a plan, you're spinningyour wheels. There's no amount of resilience that adds gonna stop you from, you know, like,getting exhausted and falling on your butt on the hamster wheel. Right? So let's talk aboutresilience, but also making a plan that makes that resilience worthwhile.JB Braden:I love that. And the first thing that you said, that's so important is and that andthat aspect is having a plan. Okay? having a plan and knowing where you want to go, okay,what's your purpose? You got to be able to ask answer that question. What's your purpose?What's your Why? Why are you doing what the hell you that you want to do? Okay, what'syour purpose for doing that? And where do you want to go with it? I see a lot of people inbusiness. They don't have that. They don't have that dialed in. They don't know wherethey're going. Okay. And so, then they get dragged all over the place. And they get draggedinto all these different things. And so first of all, having a plan. Here's what I was telling thatguy, I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday, that's so important about having a plan,your plan is not going to be perfect. How many people have you met Ari say, well, as soonas this plan is perfect that I'm going to watch. That's not what that's not the purpose of aplan. A plan is to get you out of the starting blocks. Okay? Jeff also talks about in this book,The slight edge, a plan is never going to fucking be perfect. Okay, get that out of your head.It's just to get you off the damn starting block. Because 10 yards down the road is gonnachange, something's gonna cause a change. Okay, something in the plan is not gonna work,you're gonna have to course correct. And you're gonna have to pivot. And so, part of thesome of the things that you heard me, we were talking earlier, before we started thepodcast about one of the series that I've been working on that I've been was the, you know,the habits, thoughts and actions that cultivates success. Right, and so a couple of thosethings fit into this resilience that you talked about. Okay? And so, I'll give you a couple ofthem. First of all, one of the ones that we talked about, he's got to have a can-do attitude,right? I can do this, have a can-do attitude that builds that depth of resilience, right?embrace, change, embrace change, and be open to change. Because when you're open tochange, then you it's easier for you to course correct. Okay. And also, when you're open tochange, it leads into the other one of be okay, being uncomfortable. Because when you'reuncomfortable, then you're in growth mode, right?Ari Gronich: I don't remember a day in my life that I've ever actually been comfortable. So,I think I've just been constant. But yeah, I don't get the people who say I want to becomfortable.JB Braden: Yeah, me either. Because I get why they say it. But I don't think theyunderstand what they're saying when they say that. Okay. It's not about being comfortable.It's about being the best you. And that doesn't always feel comfortable.Ari Gornich:Right. think what people are wanting when they say comfortability is they'rewanting peace inside of the uncomfortability. They're there wanting the mental state ofbeing that I have the storm, that wizard, right. So, that's a totally different thing than thecomfortability. So that's what I think people are trying for is peace with it. Like, I love whenchaos is happening around me and I'm still calm. That's like, that's the ultimate for me.Place where I know I've arrived at another level, right? I could calm inside of the storm.JB Braden:Right. Yeah. I love that. And then on the other key that's so important tobuilding that resilience, and having that plan. And I mentioned this earlier is to surroundyourself with ass kickers man. Okay, I can't say that enough. Surround yourself with peoplewho are rowing who are doing who are creating success, because success begets success.Right? And you know that, and I know that. But that's so important when you have thatwhen you when you start to put those things together. That's where you build thatresilience. Because one of the things that you said earlier, that's so important is there's a lotof times that we can get up on our own. But those sometimes we get hit so fucking hard thatwe need help getting up off the damn canvas. And that's why you have those as kickersaround you that that can pull help pull you up off the canvas, because the most importantthing is to always get the fuck back up. Right.Ari Gronich:Yes and I just want to because we kind of mentioned it a little bit ago with theTibetans. The other part of that is not trying to fix the person who's down. Right. But we pullthem up by being okay and being comfortable in their uncomfortability and that's kind of thepoint I was making with the therapist and the level of healing is so many therapists get souncomfortable with their patients' pain. That the patient will never heal because thetherapist is so uncomfortable. Right? And so that's the same thing with, like, let's say you'rea speaker, coach, and you're comfortable with everything right. But let's say you had anexperience of trauma. And then you had a speaker student, who was triggering that trauma,specifically, over and over again, every single time they got up to speak in front of you,right? When you're teaching them. What do you do?JB Braden:You got to work through the trauma first, you have to. In order for you to get toa point where you can be the person you need to be for your clients, you got to workthrough some shit so to speak, okay. Because of what you're talking about, that translatesand people pick up on that and you're doing your clients a disservice. If you're still in it, weall have things, okay. But we have to work through those things, okay, order to be better forourselves, so that we can be better for our clients and the people that we're supposed toserve, and the people that we that we live with, and that we love. Okay. And so, the goal isnot to hang on to the trauma. But to find out, what do I need to do to move forward? Andhow can I use this to propel me forward, so to speak?Ari Gronich:Right? What's the lesson? And this is a good question to ask what it's a goodquestion to ask yourself, like, every day, what? What's the lesson in this? Right? So, youknow, I know we kind of jumped around a little bit on my show, because this is all aboutcreating a new tomorrow today. And, and that's not a linear conversation. But the fact thatyou and I are both solution oriented people I want to kind of give an always do this on theend of every show is three tips, tricks, skills, things that people can take away immediatelyto create their new tomorrow today and activate their vision for a better world. So, this time,I want three from you, as JB, the speaking coach, and then I want three from you as JB theAchieve Systems leader, who has something to say to the people in our industry, you knowabout business, so..JB Braden: Okay, all right. Well, it's very interesting, but they're probably the same. Andhere's what I mean by that. It goes back to exactly a couple of things that I've already said.First of all, you need to know your why and everything that you do in life, why the hell areyou doing it? Okay, so you need to understand that, whether it be business, relationships,finances, it doesn't matter. What is your why. And you need to understand that. And here'swhat I say, Well, here's what I tell people all the time. And I learned this from one of mymentors, your why there needs to be an emotional connection to your why or what you do.Okay, that is so strong, that no matter what happens, it's not going to knock you off-course.That's the first thing. understand and know your why, and be connected to your why. That'sthe first thing. The second thing is understanding the importance of taking steps each day.Understand what success looks like. And then one of my favorite books is the Slight Edge byJeff also he talks about this. People think success is this quantum leap, it's not.JB Braden:Is consistent doing the right actions consistently over time. Okay, that's whatsuccess really is. We just we just we look at somebody and we look at their success, and wethink it happened overnight. We don't see the 10,000 hours of Malcolm Gladwell talks aboutan outliers that they put in. We don't see that. okay. But you truly want to be successful. Dothose right actions consistently over time. And here's the thing that I tell people, allow timethe opportunity to do its work. Because the time is the catalyst, a lot of times we give up,and we say, well, this isn't working. It takes time. And some things take more time thanothers, we need to give it time. If you're doing the consistent actions over time, 12 monthsfrom now, 20 months, 24 months from now, and I related to, let's just take it back to health.All right, think about this. If you have a goal to lose weight to get in shape and you're doingthe exercises and the workouts three months from now, if you continue to do that, you'regoing to see a little change. 13 months from now, 24 months from now, how much of achange, you're going to see if you can consistently do that action.Ari Gronich:You mean, I can't go to the gym for five hours today and then not go back andhave a six pack abs in a month? No, Oh my god. Oh, and in here, I was doing it all wrong.JB Braden:Right. But see, that's what people think. You see people with ABS you say, oh,man, that's awesome. Man put a lot of work into that shit. Right? So, it's consistent actionsover time. What are the consistent actions over time that you need to do to create thesuccess in your business and your relationships and your finances? Okay, and it's not justquantum leap. So those are the key things that I that I tell people and business and speakingknow your why understand the consistent actions that you need to do over time and beconsistent doing those things. Okay. And so those are key things.Ari Gronich:Yeah. You know, from that perspective, I have a quick story of a patient that isin Pennsylvania, that I've been working with, I'm in Florida, how do you work with a strokevictim after you know, from online, right, but I've been training him because the nursinghome he's in, frankly, should be shut down and reconfigured, they have no idea what they'redoing in there. They basically have told him that if he comes in that, he probably will neverleave. And he's 52 years old, had a stroke, not like an invalid, you know, he's not an elderlyperson who's not going to be capable. But he's from the Bronx. And he's a PR guy who'sbasically toured with rock bands his whole life. As you know, the stage crew, basically, heruns the whole production for rock bands. And, and so he got to get the personality of a guyfrom Brooklyn who's kind of like that, right? They don't have a slowdown button. They don'thave a can't do button, they have, I'm going to go until I break myself button. And so, I'vebeen telling him slow and steady wins the race over and over and over again, slow andsteady, slow and steady build the foundation first slow and steady. So, it's almost been ayear at the end, at the end of April, beginning of May will have been a year that he's been inthis nursing home, where they told him they'll be for the rest of his life. And I get messagesevery single day just about nowadays, with I just stood up in the shower and without holdingmyself up for the first time. And I didn't need to sit in my wheelchair anymore. And like, I'mgoing to get out of this place. And I walked up a grassy hill that was uneven. And you know,it's like he's doing all this progress. At first, it was no progress at all, that he could see thatno progress at all. No progress at all. No prior months and months of I don't see anyprogress. And then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Because once you getthat foundation, which is the hardest thing to build, the kitchens easy, the bathroom is easy,the beautiful fixtures are easy once you have the foundation, but if you don't have thefoundation, you'll never have the beautiful structure above. Right? So, this is what I tell him.It sounds like this is kind of the similar thing to what you're saying is so slow and steady bepatient, take your time build your foundation strong and know your why. So, what's yourwhy?JB Braden:Exactly? You're asking me that question? I love it, I love it. My why is to fulfill mydestiny. Okay, my destiny and my calling I know this I learned it a long time ago when I wasa teenager. My why is to empower and inspire people to be their best. I'm called to speakinto other people's lives to be there for other people. Okay. And you know what, know whatthat does for me Ari, in order for me to be there, for other people, I got to be at my best,which means I got to continue growing. Okay, I got to continue being better. Because I'm nogood to anyone else, If I'm not at my best, okay. And so, my best continues to grow. Thatchanges, right? And so, but my why? My true why is to create success in other people'slives. And I do that by creating success in my life. Because I want people to understand thatit's their obligation, it is their duty to create success, because here's the thing that peoplemiss. Here's the thing that people miss, and I learned a long time ago, there are people thatyou haven't even met yet that you're supposed to serve. There are people that you don'teven know yet that they are supposed to learn from you and your life lessons. Okay. Sothat's my why is to make sure people are tapping into their greatness and to beextraordinary, so that they can make the world an extraordinary place, their world anextraordinary place.Ari Gronich:That's awesome. How can people get ahold of you, JB if they want to get aholdof you? And how can they get ahold of Achieve if they're interested in becoming a part ofour family?JB Braden:Oh, good stuff. Well, you can reach out to me at JB@beyondthefieldcoaching,you can go to my website beyondthefieldcoaching.com, those are places you can reach outto me. As far as reaching out to Achieve and learning more about that you can go to ourachieve website which is achieve.com. I think that's right, in there right to achieve.com,achievesystems.com, I knew it did sound right, achievesystems.com that's how you can findout more about Achieve. But you can also contact me and I can connect you with the rightpeople and Achieve as well.Ari Gronich: Awesome. Thank you so much for being on. This has been another episode ofCreate a New Tomorrow. I've had a great time talking to JB Braden, he is a friend andcolleague and absolutely amazing speaking coach, trainer, business person, but really just afriend, mentor and a good person to know he's got a lot of connections. So, if you areneeding anything, you know, feel free to get ahold of him. And you could connect with me aswell if you'd like to learn a little bit more about Achieve Systems, but here is to Creating aNew Tomorrow today activating our vision for a better world. Let's all go out, stop the bulliesstop the silence speak our truth into people so that they too can get inspired. I know for memy why is I have to do this stuff. I don't have really a choice. It's part of the calling that I'mbuilt for. And you know, I'm called as my Why? Why do I do this to wake people up to therealization that we made all this shit up, and we can do better. Andso, let's do better to livetogether collaborate for success. Thank you so much for being here and we'll talk to younext time.

Kate Ferguson of Kate Ferguson Therapy & Associates joins me. In her practice, they work alongside women as they navigate life transitions, parenthood, infertility, grief, their identity, and purpose.  We talk about: -post-partum anxiety and depression-things you don't need to feel guilty for-social media self-care vs. real self-care-boundaries-instead of thinking either/or.....I can think both/andYou can get more information about Kate Ferguson from her website https://www.katefergusontherapy.com

Chapter 109　　At the sight of that bag, Pinocchio felt slightly happierand thoughtto himself:　　"My friend must be suffering from the same sicknessthat I am! Iwonder if he, too, has donkey fever?"But pretending he had seen nothing,he asked with a smile:　　"How are you, my dear Lamp-Wick?""Very well. Like amouse in a Parmesan cheese.""Is that really true?""Whyshould I lie to you?""I beg your pardon, my friend, but why then areyouwearing that cotton bag over your ears?""The doctor has ordered itbecause one of my knees hurts.　　And you, dear Marionette, why are you wearing that cotton bagdown toyour nose?""The doctor has ordered it because I have bruised9 my foot.""Oh, mypoor Pinocchio!""Oh, my poor Lamp-Wick!"An embarrassingly longsilence followed these words,during which time the two friends looked at eachotherin a mocking way.　　Finally the Marionette, in a voice sweet as honey andsoft as a flute10, said to his companion:　　"Tell me, Lamp-Wick, dear friend, have you eversuffered froman earache11?""Never! Andyou?""Never! Still, since this morning my ear has been torturingme.""So has mine.""Yours, too? And which ear isit?""Both of them. And yours?""Both of them, too. I wonderif it could be the same sickness.""I'm afraid it is.""Willyou do me a favor, Lamp-Wick?""Gladly! With my wholeheart.""Will you let me see your ears?""Why not? But beforeI show you mine, I want to see yours,dear Pinocchio.""No. You mustshow yours first.""No, my dear! Yours first, thenmine.""Well, then," said the Marionette, "let us make acontract.""Let's hear the contract!""Let us take off ourcaps together. All right?""All right.""Readythen!"Pinocchio began to count, "One! Two! Three!"At the word"Three!" the two boys pulled off theircaps and threw them high inair.皮诺乔一看见帽子，就觉得心宽一些，马上想：　　“我这位朋友说不定也是跟我害一样的病吧？他也在发驴子的高烧？……”　　他装作什么也没看见，微笑着问他说：　　“你好吗？我亲爱的小灯芯？”　　“很好，就像一只耗子住在一块干酪里。”　　“你这是真话吗？”　　“我干吗要说谎？”　　“对不起，朋友，你头上干吗戴那么一顶棉的大尖帽，把你的耳朵都盖住了？”　　大夫吩咐我这么办，因为我这个膝盖不舒服。亲爱的木偶，那你呢？干吗也戴这么一顶棉的大尖帽，一直拉到鼻子底下呀？”　　“也是大夫吩咐的，因为我一只脚擦伤了。”　　“噢，可怜的皮诺乔！……”　　“噢，可怜的小灯芯！……”　　讲完这番话以后，两个朋友老半天不说话，只是用讥笑的眼光你看着我，我看着你。　　最后木偶用很甜很细的声音对他的同学说：　　“我很想知道，请你告诉我，我亲爱的小灯芯，你从来没害过耳病吗？”　　“没有！……你呢？”　　“没有！不过从今天早上起，有一只耳朵叫我很不痛快。”　　“我也是的。”　　“你也是？……你哪只耳朵不舒服？”　　“两只都不舒服。你呢？”　　“也是两只。害同样的病吗？”　　“我怕是的。”　　“你肯答应我一件事吗？小灯芯？”　　“很乐意！打心底里高兴。”　　“你让我看看你的耳朵好吗？”　　“有什么不好？可我想先看看你的，亲爱的皮诺乔。”　　“不行、先看你的。”　　“不，不，亲爱的！先看你的，再看我的！”　　“那么，”木偶说，“咱俩订个君子协定。”　　“先听听协定的内容。”　　“咱俩同时摘帽子，同意吗？”　　“同意。”　　“好，准备！”　　皮诺乔开始大声数：　　“一！二！三！”　　“一说到三，两个孩子同时摘下帽子，扔到半空。9 bruised [医]青肿的，瘀紫的参考例句：·his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子·She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。10 fluten.长笛；v.吹笛参考例句：·He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。·There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。11 earachen.耳朵痛参考例句：·I have been having an earache for about a week.我的耳朵已经痛了一个星期了。·I've had an earache for the past few days.我耳痛好几天了。

IntroductionLet's begin this morning with an egg.What can you tell me about this egg by looking at its shell? You can tell me its size: medium. You can tell me its color: white. But there are all kinds of invisible things just beneath that shell that are super significant and really, really matter.For example, it could be a freshly laid egg, ready to eat.It could be a six month old rotten egg filled with salmonella.It could be hard boiled. You can't tell.Now I'm going to claim that this is actually a fertilized egg. And because it is fertilized, this egg will grow into a chicken. What this egg will become is determined but not yet known.The present exterior gives you no clue about the inside. But the inside is what determines the future exterior. And there are lots of possibilities of what this future exterior could look like.Even though none of us can tell by looking at the shell, this egg will turn into one and only one of these very specific chickens. 100 times out of 100 this egg will turn into that exact same, very specific chicken. Why? Because the parents of that chicken gave that chicken a DNA sequence that positively, undoubtedly, inevitably, inescapably, assuredly results in one and only one variety. The second that egg is fertilized, its destiny is determined.What is the only thing required for that future destiny to be known? Time. Time simply reveals what is inside.Now all of you came in this morning with a shell. I look at all of you right now and you know what I see, I see a bunch of beautiful shells. I can tell your size and your color and that's about it. Our eyes can't penetrate the exterior to know what is going on inside. But there is something inside. And just like the chicken, that something will come out in time. Your external behavior is determined by what is inside.Now in today's passage, Jesus is going to make a point about the spiritual DNA that exists inside our hearts. Jesus makes this point: not only is it true that physical traits are handed down from parents to children, it's spiritually true as well. We have spiritual genetics at work in our hearts. By virtue of the fact that we are children of Adam, we have sin woven into that spiritual double helix. There are certain guaranteed behaviors that will surface. There are absolute outcomes.And Jesus has one point he wants to make in this passage: you need new DNA.You might think that what you need is new behavior (a little less jealousy, hatred and lust. A little more patience).You might think you need new circumstances. If I was just out of this stressful situation…You might think the problem is the person you are married to or the kids you've been given.Jesus says none of that will change anything. You're doing exactly what you are programmed to do. What you really need is far more radical than that. What you really need is new DNA from a new father. You want to change? Well, you need to be BORN AGAIN.Jesus is actually going to explain how that spiritual transformation happens. Now let's connect it to last week.ReviewLast week Jesus said that freedom is a result of abiding in Jesus. Why? Because when we abide, we know the truth. What truth? The truth that Jesus loves us and when we know the truth that Jesus loves us, THAT truth will set us free from slavery and bondage of performance based righteousness.What we discovered last week was that God wants for you to relate with him not as a slave to a master but as a son to a father. But the Jews he is talking to refuse to go there. They insist, “We already have a father.” We don't need to follow you. We are followers of Abraham. Our spiritual father is Abraham.And so Jesus says, you want to talk spiritual genetics? Let's do that. I don't think your father is who you think he is. A person can't be a descendant simply by claiming it. You have to have proof. There has to be a likeness. You have to possess the TRAITS. If you do not possess the traits of the person you claim is your father, then he is not your father.Now it's pretty humorous on one level what is going on here. Jesus says, I know you are claiming to be spiritual descendants of Abraham. But claiming it does not make it the case. Let's just settle this and run a spiritual DNA test. Let's look for the spiritual traits. After all:The behaviors and values of the father must be passed on to the sons.The conduct, actions, and lifestyle of the father must be passed on to the sons.The things that the father loves and desires must be present in the son.So who is your father? Now biologically speaking, the options are in the billions, but spiritually speaking, there are only two options. You are part of one of two families. You either are the son of the devil or the son of God. So Jesus says, let's compare the traits of God vs the traits of the devil.God is kind, the devil is cruel.God is full of love and the devil is full of hate.God is open-hearted, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. The devil is closed-hearted, quick to anger and abounding in bitterness and retribution.Now let's see here? Who do you resemble most? You want to kill me. You want to take a rock and crush in my head. Just sayin…Jesus says, I'm not buying it. There's a bit of a smokin gun here. The evidence is pretty convincing. The proof is in the pudding. Which, by the way, I discovered this week where that phrase comes from. The phrase is very old. It actually started out, the proof is in the eating. Which makes a lot more sense. It means that you have to taste the food in order to know whether it is good or not.Centuries ago in England, pudding referred to something different than we understand it today. Pudding was a kind of sausage, filling the intestines of some animal with minced meat and other things - something you probably want to try out carefully since that kind of food could be rather treacherous.So to put Jesus' words in terms of that phrase, you claim to be this delicious sausage. On the outside you look great. But the proof is in the pudding. What's inside that sausage? Inside you are dead men's bones. You are filled with giardia and salmonella. Your very nature kills, your very constitution kills people. Your problem is your essence.Jesus is making the very strong point that there are only two possible families. Your actions come from your insides and your insides come from the devil.Race and CultureNow, I want to interrupt this sermon for a very special mid-message application. This is a very, very significant point in our cultural moment as a nation.Our country is horribly confused and divided over racial issues right now. There is all sorts of hatred, shame, guilt, embarrassment and misunderstanding. Who is your father? What genes did you inherit? What race are you? Currently there is tremendous debate and discussion right now over how racism is experienced.Now there are two basic ways in which racial differences have expressed themselves in societies. One is through dominance. My race is better than your race. So because we are superior, there will be one of three outcomes:The dominant race will either oppress the less dominant races (slavery)The dominant race will marginalize the less dominant (class structure)The dominant race will destroy the less dominant (genocide)So racial differences are worked out through brute strength. So the solution in this model is dominance.The second way it's worked out in societies is through multiculturalism. Multiculturalism says all cultures are equally valid and therefore no one culture has the right to extend dominance over any other culture. Now the most recent expression of this is critical race theory which suggests that the most important thing about a person is their race. And at the heart of all power struggles in the world, if you boil it down to it's fundamental elements, you will find that race is really what it's all about. So in this model, the solution is to destroy the power structures of whatever race is currently dominant.What Jesus is doing here is completely different. It's actually quite radical because it ignores both of these approaches. Jesus isn't going to approve CRT and say that all cultures are equally valid nor does he say some cultures are superior. Instead he says there is a fundamental standard deeper than all cultures, a supreme standard that actually judges all cultures.Why is this so helpful and significant? Because what it does is it puts race in its proper place. Yes, it's real. Yes it matters. But what matters infinitely more is your spiritual race. Your relationship to Jesus Christ.It makes what seems supremely important, superficial by comparison. Do people make judgments about one another based on the shell? Yes, of course they do.But these differences on the outside make almost no difference when compared to the difference on the inside. All other differences are superficial by comparison - you could almost say insignificant by comparison. The ultimate difference between people, the greatest difference, the difference that truly divides is a theological one.How we relate to God is so significant, so fundamental to who we are as a human race, that the stuff on the inside will eventually grow and become too large for that shell and it will crack that shell and the shell will fall away and all that will remain is the life that was growing beneath.This is why I can go across the world and have deep, deep fellowship with my brothers and sisters in India or Mexico and even though we have totally different cultures, even though we look completely different, we have a connection that binds us together like family. The gospel makes the shell fall away.It's also why I can find someone who looks like me, has grown up in the same town, has all the same hobbies, likes the same music but he's not a follower of Jesus Christ; I feel like I'm connecting with a stranger. The shell is not what I'm ultimately interested in.It's why Christians are allowed to marry interracially but not allowed to marry unbelievers. It's not about the shell.Because this is the ultimate dividing line, the only dividing line that truly matters. Who is your father?Listen to this quote from A.W. Tozer,Our mental conception of God has more impact on the way we live, the way we relate to one another, the way we treat one another than any other thing about us. It is the great unifier and the great divider of all people. Who is Jesus Christ?If you believe Jesus is God, the 2nd person of the trinity, and you follow him as Lord, you abide in his love, you receive his forgiveness, then you are given new DNA and you become an heir of the kingdom of heaven and exhibit the traits of a child of God.If you don't believe Jesus is God, and you deny that he is Lord, then you are left with your current DNA which means you're a member of the kingdom of darkness and you will exhibit the traits of darkness.Again, according to the Bible, there are only two options. This is why Jesus' message is so devise, so upsetting. You are either a follower of a real person named Jesus Christ or a follower of a real person named the devil. You are either a child of God or a child of the devil. Educated people just want to gag over this. Why are these the only two options? Child of the devil? Come on.Listen, if Jesus was a real person then so is Satan because Jesus speaks of Satan as a real person with a personality and an agenda. He refers to him as the god of this world. The devil is said to have followers.So what will it be? You see the very fact that offense is the reaction is evidence of it's truthfulness. The very fact that people so violently, instinctively oppose it, is evidence that there is something that they insist must not be true.Many of us have the same reaction the Jews have. That's my reaction. What do you mean I am a child of the devil. That's absurd. I'm a good person. That's absurd. How can you say that? The reaction is always the same. It's hate.So we are going to see 3 traits of hate.When we don't like someone, when we take offense at something said against us, without a moment's thought, we attack the character. We launch a smear campaign. And the idea is that if we can attack the credibility of the person, then their words will lose power. The more respected a person is, the more serious it is when they point out flaws and folly in us. But if they are disrespected then their words have little impact.And this is exactly what happens. When Jesus suggests that they are children of the devil, they begin a smear campaign.Almost certainly this is a reference to the rather strange circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth. In other words, the Jews say to Jesus, Oh, you want to talk about pedigree. You want to talk about genealogies and lineage.You've got some considerable nerve to talk about paternity: at least we are not born of fornication (wink, wink). At least we aren't born of sexual immorality. Jesus, who are you to talk? You are an illegitimate child. There's a word for that.You've got some considerable cheek to bring this up, my friend. I believe we've got the high ground here.Jesus isn't phased by their attack. He redirects the conversation. He says, no, I'm not talking about a physical father. I'm talking about spiritual.You are slaves of sin. And because you are slaves of sin, that is evidence that your father is the devil.That was not how they viewed themselves. That was not their conception of reality.He says, the reason you must deny my words, is because my words are too painful for you. The truth is too difficult for you to swallow. You have too much pride. Your entire identity is built upon what I am challenging. And so you can't let this be true. You must deny it.You cannot bear to hear my word. The implications are too severe.Remember last week we talked about the difference between the slave and the son. What happens when a slave drops the vase? Be sure your sin will find you out. He must hide, he must deny, he must shift the blame. Why? Because his status in the house is conditional upon performance.The Jews Jesus is addressing are slaves to their performance. They cannot handle the accusation that they are sinners. Everything they've built their lives upon tells them they are not sinners. They believe their righteousness, their acceptance in the house was a function of their performance. And so their only option is denial. They ‘cannot bear to hear Jesus' word.'Contrast that with the security of being loved as a son. You drop the vase. But because you are a son it allows you to confess, to hear the truth without being threatened by it or destroyed by it. It provides the space and security to ACTUALLY listen, to ACTUALLY appreciate the feedback, to ACTUALLY grow and change because you are able to hear it.Think of the people in your life you respect. They have this trait.They have nothing to proveThey ask for nothing in returnThey never need to force their opinions on you.But most of all they are honest with their failures. When their mistakes are pointed out they both laugh at it but deeply receive it. They are genuinely thankful when their failures are revealed because it creates opportunity for growth.Contrast that with people who, when failure is revealed they feel the need to attack.What you'll find is someone with lots of insecuritySomeone who is carrying a lot of anger or jealousyYou'll find someone who feels the need to force their opinions on others for approval or validation.Jesus says, you are attacking me because you are angry, jealous and insecure. You can't bear to hear my words. I want to help you and I am able to help you but you have to be born again. You need new DNA. You need a new father.The truth by itself is powerful. And so if you don't like, it has to be covered up in some way. Attacking character is one way. Denying it is another. Here's a third way.When we speak lies, we present information as if it were truth. And the reason we lie is to change people's evaluation of us. The truth as presented makes us look really bad. The lie counters the judgment of the truth. If what we presented was true, then the attacker's judgments would be incorrect and we'd be exonerated. But of course the huge problem is, it's not true. It's a lie.And Jesus points this out.Jesus says, the very nature of God is truth and the very nature of the devil is lies. God speaks truth because it comes out of the very character of who he is. The devil speaks lies because he is speaking out of his very character.Jesus is trying to get them to self evaluate. The person who lies convinces himself that what he is saying is true. He has to sell it to himself first so that he can be convincing when he sells it to others. If he doesn't believe it, it will be obvious.And after selling it to yourself long enough this transformation happens.At first you,re confronted by your conscience that it's a lie,You know it's a lie. You seer that conscience for a while, you can get periods of rest from that thought.Then you remember it's a lie,Then you have to force yourself to recall that it's a lie andYou forget that it's a lie,Then you believe that it's the truth.You know the biggest lie that we tell ourselves. I'm a pretty good person. That's the biggest lie we tell ourselves. All of us do this comparison game, “We look around and we say, at least I'm not like that. At least I'm not Hitler or Pol Pot.” People who falsely believe that the criteria for entrance into heaven is goodness, 99 times out of a hundred say to themselves, Phew, well I guess that means I'm in. I'm a pretty good person.Jesus says to the Jews and he says to all of us, “No you are not. You are a slave to sin. You are a child of the devil.”That truth is too terrible for many of us. We can't handle the truth.ConclusionYou want to know what the Bible calls the sum total of these traits of hate: spiritual blindness. Someone who is a slave of sin, who recoils at the suggestion that there are problems within that need addressing, someone who denies the truth, who is willing to speak lies, a person in this state is unable to see reality. They are truly blind.This last week, I had an interaction with one of my sons (I've got four of them so his name will be mysteriously anonymous). There was a certain way that he was putting dishes into the sink that both Lisa and I had repeatedly asked him not to do. And he did it again and it kind of triggered me. So I sat down next to him on the step and started confronting him on it. And he claimed that he never remembered us telling him to do that. And so of course we go back and forth a few times. Yes, I did. No, you didn't. Yes I did. No, you didn't. Super productive conversation.And then he said, “Dad, I remember everything you tell me.” And then I said, “Of course it feels like you remember everything we tell you. But isn't that the very nature of the problem? You won't be aware of the things you've forgotten.” And we both kind of smiled at each other.It's kind of a silly discussion to say, “Can't you remember this thing you have completely forgotten?”That's the type of problem Jesus is addressing. Can't you see this thing your eyes won't let you see?Jesus says, “you are under the power of sin. You are being controlled by sin. You are a slave of sin.” You're so deeply in it's clutches you can't see it. But you aren't aware of it. Spiritual blindness won't let you see that.You are enslaved because you can't confess. There's been a lot of study on the psychology of enslavement in the last 20 years. People can be enslaved to all sorts of things. We can be enslaved to social media, to pornography, to alcohol, to another person's opinion us, to our jobs.How is that thing enslaving? Where does its power come from? A massive part of that power over a person is their denial that they're under it. A big part of being out of control is denying you're out of control. So the first step to being back in control is to admit you're not under control.In spiritual terms, the admission, the confession is I am not righteous. I am out of control in my sin.We feel in control when we believe that our performance is the reason we have value.We feel in control when we believe that the things we are doing contribute to our righteousness. That keeps us enslaved to sin.It's hard for most of us to admit that everything we've built our life upon is filthy rags.If we cannot admit; we cannot see. So what's the solution? We need spiritual sight. Spiritual sight = admission. When a person can't admit, all they are left with is character assassination, denial and lies. When a person can admit, they confess. But how do we get it?I'm partially color blind but that's all I've ever known. I don't feel like I'm missing out at all. My world rocks. My wife tells me otherwise.In my case, my colorblindness is a genetic problem. To fix the problem, I'd need to be born again with new genetics.And that's exactly Jesus' point here. Your inability to hear truth is because your soul isn't tuned to the proper spectrum. There's a wavelength of the heart that is inaccessible.The problem is so radical, so pervasive, so fundamental, so intrinsic to the essence of who we are that we actually need to be born again. We need a new nature. And how do we get that?Do you remember back with Nicodemus? Do you remember the egg?Nicodemus asked Jesus, “How can I be born again? How do I get new DNA so I can be born of God?” The answer is belief. BELIEF IS WHAT GIVES YOU NEW DNA. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.The only way you can actually admit you are a sinner is to realize that all your sin has already been paid for and that you are loved. That's the gospel. That's what God is asking you to believe.Let me quote Tozer again.If you believe that God is a slavemaster who will accept you only if you perform, you will never be able to admit that you're a sinner. Do you see how this mental conception of who God is can set the whole entire course of your life? Is God a slavemaster?No. God wants to relate to you as a father does to a son. Do you believe that Jesus loves you? Do you believe that he knows all your sin? Do you believe that he sent his son to die for that sin?If you believe that truth IT SETS YOU FREE. Free to what? Free to admit failure. Free to admit weakness.If this is your mental conception of God, then it sets the whole entire course of your life in a different direction.Because you are a son, you can admit it. You won't be cast away. Yes, my condition is very bad. Yes, I was a child of the devil and a slave of sin.But can you believe that in that ugly condition, Jesus did not cast me away?What is the TRUTH? The truth is that Jesus loved me and died in my place. Do you see the gospel?When you believe, that is when the new DNA is given.The new DNA is given when you receive a righteousness that is not your own. When that righteousness is IMPLANTED in your heart.That's when spiritual sight is given.That implanted RIGHTEOUSNESS will change everything about you.

HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO THE PODCAST!! I'm so excited for today's episode! I have 2 of my team members with me today, Madison Brown & Courtney Albertson.Madison is my Bookkeeper and the CEO & Owner of Madison Dearly BookkeepingCourtney is my Content Strategist and is the CEO & Owner of Courtney Ann Virtual SolutionsMany of you have asked how I do it all --- and if you didn't catch Episode #112, go back & listen to that episode because the truth is, I don't do it all. I have an amazing team that works alongside me!In today's episode, we're hosting an ASK BROOKE ANYTHING hot seat! We're talking about it ALL...-#momlife- Enneagram Number- What is the biggest win in my business since starting my own business- Favorite animal + why- Word of 2021- Taking life season by season- Life motto- Self-care- #1 Question as a photographer- #1 Question as an educator- Blueprint Program talk- Entrepreneurial spirit- What I would do if I wasn't doing photographyand, SO MUCH MORE!! If you've been wanting to get to know me on a more personal level or you've had some burning questions you've wanted answered...this episode is for YOU! Madison & Courtney didn't hold back on anything & I didn't hold back in my responses.You can follow Madison on Instagram @madisondearly andYou can follow Courtney on Instagram @courtneydoesstrategyP.S.Have you heard?The Boost Your Bookings Bootcamp is quickly approaching!Do you find yourself staring at your empty calendar wanting to book more clients?Want to learn the 5 strategies to become a profitable and sustainable photographer?Come join me for a week long Bootcamp where we will go in depth on these strategies!Save your seat here: www.brookejefferson.com/bootcampJoin the #1 community for photographers:Social Selling for Photographers: Book More ClientsOh! And, if we're not already connected on Instagram, you can find me here @brookejanaephotography

You got a dollar in your pocketYou got a pebble in your sock andYou've got a mind of gold you keep secretI gotta hope that one day you'll use itI get tongue-tied every time I tryTo tell you what I think is rightCause I think it's wrong when you sit aroundLooking like a toy in the lost and foundI am telling you something you might've heard beforeAnd forgot on the spot

You got a dollar in your pocketYou got a pebble in your sock andYou've got a mind of gold you keep secretI gotta hope that one day you'll use itI get tongue-tied every time I tryTo tell you what I think is rightCause I think it's wrong when you sit aroundLooking like a toy in the lost and foundI am telling you something you might've heard beforeAnd forgot on the spot

You got a dollar in your pocketYou got a pebble in your sock andYou've got a mind of gold you keep secretI gotta hope that one day you'll use itI get tongue-tied every time I tryTo tell you what I think is rightCause I think it's wrong when you sit aroundLooking like a toy in the lost and foundI am telling you something you might've heard beforeAnd forgot on the spot

Hey there friend so today I wanted to talk about something that I've been thinking about a little bit and it is client side routing. So Ryan Florence actually tweeted about this. I think like a year ago or something and and I talked about it recently on a podcast that I was on I think Dev mode FM or something. But yeah his tweet was basically like I kind of feel like client side routing is a mistake and we're better off with like actually going to get the document on it, you know, full-page refresh basically on every page. AndI I've talked with Ryan Florence about this quite a bit. And here are just some thoughts that I have about it. And I kind of agree with him sort of. So basically what what I'm thinking is that with client side routing by default or let's take a step back. So like before client side routing goes the thing you'd find a link on the page you'd click on that link and then you would see like the browser would give you some indication that something's happening. So you'd get the spinner at the top where the favicon is and you'd get.Like some information on the bottom typically telling you that you're waiting on a particular resource and then while that's happening you actually still get to see the page that you were on before. So you still may be able to make use of that information or something or notice something or whatever. And then when we move to client side routing then pretty often what happens is you click on the link and you immediately navigate to the page that you're going to and then you see a bunch of spinners all over the place. Or even worse you don't see spinners andYou just you land on the page and then things pop into place as they become available and that typically will happen when the developer who worked on the page was on a really fast internet connection just didn't really consider what a loading experience would be like. And in fact, very very often our designers don't design loading experiences. And so we have to be explicit about it. And so what's interesting is that the the default behavior gives you all the right affordances for the loading state. And when you go to client side routing,You have to opt into giving those affordances so there's some indication that a loading state is showing it's something is loading and you have to worry about when things load and when things pop into place and stuff and so yeah, it's it's a little bit of a step back maybe you just have to be a lot more intentional and so maybe the default of having it do a full page refresh essentially is an entirely a bad one from that perspective and then when you go to client side routing, you just really have to think about those things. So anyway, just some thoughts hopefully,

GEORGE: Welcome to another episode of the mind of George show, where I pretend to have a radio voice on a free for all Friday before I interview a new dear friend of mine and I say friend, because I feel like I found my long lost brother in a different country that thinks like I think, feels like I feel values the same things that I do.  And quite frankly actually gives a shit. About people when it comes to marketing and help people achieve their goals and achieve their business. So I have my friend, Jonathan and I should have known like right from the beginning, he calls it no fluff marketing. He takes the same approach as me and quite frankly, we rag on the same crap that happens across the industry.And I love connecting with people that put the heart back in marketing, but not from some spammy scammy. Let me snake oil, you, but like, Hey, this is how you apply to a business and actually build and run it profitable business to have a bigger impact. And so without further ado, I would love to welcome. Well, my friend, Jonathan Callinan, welcome to the show. JONATHAN: Thanks for having me, buddy. It is an absolute pleasure and a privilege to be on here. I'm very much in my happy place. Thanks manGEORGE: Yeah, man, love it. I always hate interviewing people with accents because I all, I always lose the cool points, like right off the bat and you're going to take over the episode. So I'm okay with that though. I'm coming to terms that I don't have to go to acting school or I just have to accept that this is, this is my voice and I didn't grow up in another country.JONATHAN: I was just thinking, as you were introducing me there, this is a marketing gig. Well, I know you're sort of immersed in the entrepreneurial world and just bloody good at it. So it will work out. But if it never worked out in a different parallel universe, you know, you could always be engaged in authentic standup. GEORGE: Yeah. I, I like it. I think I, I I've gotten some feedback cause you and I laugh about some of these videos. I do this dead pan delivery, the amount of people that think I'm serious.Yeah. And I can sell it and deliver it. It's actually quite alarming to me. And I was like, Oh, but I've just seen so much shit in our industry. I'm just pretending to be like them all day. So maybe I really am like a good actor. Like I'm just acting out what they do. So that's enough about me. I do want to get into you. And so in. Typical George fashion. You've listened to the podcast. You probably know what the first question is, but I think it provides so much insight and context and, and you're somebody who's been in this game for a long time. You've been working online for 12 years. I think you've generated over 500,000 appointment bookings just for health people.Which is mind blowing and that's an amazing industry. So you've had some experience you've been in SAS companies, you have some membership stuff, all of it. And I would venture to say, you probably have some really deep keels when it comes to lessons and things that you'll never do again. And so what I want to know is what is the biggest mistake that you've ever made in business? What did you learn from it? And then how do you operate from this point forward to prevent that from happening?JONATHAN: That's a great question out of the bat. Yeah. I didn't know that question was going to, I just want to just prefix it a little bit because I'm a massive fan of collaboration with the right people. And there's a caveat there. With the right people, because one of the biggest mistakes I made in business, I'm a very enthusiastic and I'm very optimistic and I'm a sociable type of guy, you know, as you know, but when I first started out back in what was my second company, 2009, the wellness star atria.I was launching that a live public event. I spent six months rallying speakers up for the event. And these were people. I knew that, that I trusted and thought, yeah, they would do a great job providing value to the audience there. And obviously the highlight would be the fact that I was launching this kick-ass online health directory to all these practitioners and therapists. Lightworkers you name it? And what actually transpired was we had six or seven, seven, I think seven main speakers and myself. And it was a all day event. And at the end, when people were supposed to sign up for the actual software and the advertising within the directory, No one signed up, no one had a clue because they just, everyone was buzzing.Everyone loved the event, but it was info overload. That was too much, there was too much cooks, spoiling the marketing broth that day. And because I was a great lesson for me that if you give people too many options and it doesn't matter how good they are, brother, if you give them too many options, they'll take.  So that was my launch. That'd be working on for 18 months and yeah, it launched badly. GEORGE: So, so in that, in that launch, and, and this is something I've, I've taught, I'd actually, don't think I've talked about this on a podcast yet. And, and this might be a thread to really pull, cause I know this is something that you've had experience with and you've done this with clients as well, but you know, Two things that I really want to unpack from your brain. Cause I appreciate the way that you see these things is first is what you pre texted that with contextually of, you know, collaborations, believing collaborations. And one thing is for me, what I feel like makes a collaboration quality or effective is handled expectations and tight containers. And so like clear communication things along those lines.And so I'd love to hear kind of how you do that because you've worked. And a lot of spaces and you're one of those people that's very collaborative. Like you love people. And I love that about you. And I think the dark side of the loving people thing is that it's really easy for a lot of us to either feel taken advantage of feel jaded, collect evidence or resentment, or get taken advantage of. And I think most of it really boils down to communication. So I'll unpack that one. So I would love to hear your thoughts on that. JONATHAN: Yeah. Where did you start? I mean, I think when you're naturally enthusiastic person and, you know, you build up other people's energy that you feel that you're aligned with you, you naturally just want to do things all the time and jump in and to projects together. And, you know, you trust people and, and look, the reality is they probably are trustworthy people as well. But they're just until you actually start working with collaborators and, you know, actually doing the nitty-gritty in the trenches stuff. You've got no idea with kind of, you know, who you're actually working with.I kind of liken it a little bit to, you know, going out on a date and, meeting, you know, this guy that you've been dating for months out, you know, and it's all been lovely and beautiful and, you know, and you just can't wait to move in together. Then when you move in together as an absolute nightmare, and I kind of feel, yeah, this is a similar kind of way with collaboration side.I really appreciate that question because I've changed my whole approach from the way I used to do it. Now I'll reach out. I'll do certain calls. We'll work on a project together. We'll exchange some clients together or whatever, but we'll do some stuff, you know, together before we do any big. A joint venture type projects together rather than just going. I really like you. I really love what you stand for. Let's jump in.GEORGE: You mean you actually work on building a relationship and not falling in love with the dopamine from quote unquote relationship.JONATHAN: That's the one. Yeah. GEORGE: Yeah. Well, I think, I think it gets really, really important, right? Like I learned this lesson a long time ago when I was in the military, like. I had this illusion at 20 years old of who I was as a man, right. 20 right. Cause I was really seized and came from a broken home, made it through bootcamp. I had that inflated ego. I'm like this robot killing machine. And then I'll never forget. The first time I saw a bomb went off and I was it's like, I am nowhere near where I thought I was, I am not a tough guy.Like I am. But then  when you get put under pressure, You know, what you lose is you lose the veils, you lose the masks. And masks, aren't a bad thing, veils on a bad thing. But when you're going to go into business with somebody, whether you're doing joint venture partnerships, whether you're doing influencer partnerships. Whether you're doing co-branded stuff, creating content together, even doing interviews like this, I think it's really, really imperative that you get to know somebody at their core. And that can only come with like time and touch points and relationships. And like, I dunno, like for me, I think we did that.Like we bumped into each other because somebody tagged me, I think Benetti tagged me or somebody tagG me. And then you and I started DM-ing and then I saw your content. I was like, God, I really loved this dude's posting. Then I started engaging on your content and then you engage on mine. And then we were audio messaging, and then we set up a video call and we took that call. And then it led to you telling me about your program and then me reviewing it and introducing some of my people to you. And I was like, Hey, will you come on the podcast? Like, it probably took a month. Yeah to get here. And I was like, cause the way that I think about it, right. I'm like, okay, if something happened right now and my world ended and I just died in this moment, could you continue run the podcast and be trust what you'd say and then publish it anyways. And I'm like, yeah. And that's kinda how I go about like having guests on here, but I think you really need to know people. And I do, I do have a question for you in that though, because I think there's a lot of gold in there and I'm already talking way too much on this podcast. But this gets me excited because JONATHAN: I can I just say as well, but you're saying that it wasn't month, but that whole relationship was effortless as well. Effortless. When you connect with the right people, it's not, Oh, I've got to send an audio. Hey, I've got a follow up here. I've got to, you know, really make the effort here. Yeah. It's just, the whole process is effortless.GEORGE: I think there's like, I go on my Facebook right now and there's 17 unread messages that I've opened and marked as on red again, cause I'm not ready to respond to them. And then basically you can tell if we're in a good space, like if I'm like, yeah, responding right away, it feels easy. It doesn't feel like a chore, like. It doesn't feel transactional. It just feels authentic. And you know, I think there was even one point you sent me an Irish, like, Hey man, I don't have time to listen to the audio right now. I'll get back to you. And like just being authentic. But yeah, it feels, it feels really easy, but I actually think that's a good thread to pull on this one with that though, you know, you've been in this game for a long time. You're about collaboration. You're about knowing people. Yeah. I think something you said. Is really imperative is that you get to figure out who people are, but also, how do you look at being able to say no and understanding, you know, when it's a good time to say yes, when it's a good time to say no, because you know, relationships happen for a reason, a season or a lifetime, and You know, your barometer is typically pretty accurate. So like how do you navigate that? Because there's a lot of times I've said no, but it was like a no right now. Not a no forever, but yeah. How do you go about weighing that? Because there's umpteen opportunities to do JV partnerships, to work with influencers, to have somebody buy my product, or somebody do a shoutout, but there's only certain ones that'll actually help you. And so how do you navigate that? JONATHAN: Maybe the same way you navigate it. It's called gut intuition. And, you know, people are that align with our core values and we are, they have a good feeling in our gut and, you know, we feel like we energetically aligned with that person or not. I mean, I get, I get messages all the time from people and they sound nice and, you know, and then they've gotten a product opportunity and that's great as well.But yeah, I always come back to that and I go up, but if I want it to work with that person, Would they be the messages that I would have wanted to receive from that person, those first three or four messages, would that be the ideal person that I would want to work with? So I'd kind of try and look at it a bit sort of retrospectively in the present, and just then just align with my gut feeling as well.GEORGE: I love that. I love that, because that, in that moment, like they're reaching out to you cold and like, Hey man, love to connect. What do you do? That's my favorite one, by the way, I'm like, you added me as a fucking friend. What are you asking me? What I do for but then, you know, what's funny is I'll respond with that. And I I've said this before. I'm like, well, you added me as a friend.  So I'm not going to answer that question, but why did you want to connect? And typically the answer to that one, determines where I go and I've had quite a few of them be like, you know what? You just showed up in the recommended friends.And we have a ton of mutual friends that I have no clue what you do, but I'm super interested in, like, I can respond to that. Like you were honest with me. Like, and then I love the fluffy ones. Well, I saw that you were into I'm like, that's not me, man. Like I didn't got Forex. No Bitcoin, no, no, no stuff here.But I think that's a really, really good. Good understanding to have, and to carry forward. Like when we think about collaborations, we think about business, everything we're doing is collaboration, everything collaboration with team influencers, even our customers, like we collaborate with our customers every day And so. I love it and I'm summarizing, but I love the fact that you look at it through this barometer lens of like, God, if I was working with this person, but I want that message to go out or do I want them to talk to my team like that or to respond to a customer service inquiry, like add or get interviewed on a podcast like that and not, yeah, go ahead.JONATHAN: But on that note while you're saying that just popped into my mind, I have to get this out of my head. Otherwise it's gone like Harry Houdin, but you know, it's, when you talk about collaboration, I used to collaborate with everyone. Now I've got probably a core team of 12 collaborators joint venture partners.Like if this was me 12 years ago, that would probably be triple that and I'd be wasting a lot of energy and time and spinning a lot of wheels. Working out who, you know, who's the best person to approach, but I want to just say, because we do have collaborators everywhere, like you eloquently put buddy, and, you know, I think a lot of it comes down to our people.Talking to you like a business, or are they talking to you like a human being first and foremost? And that, that for me is imperative. And I think about some of the partners that have occurred just in the last 12 months, one of the partners over in California guy called Cody you know, we connected on Facebook.The guy sent me four audio messages. Just telling me what he does. Talk, talking about what I done, what I do, wasn't offering asking for anything, but just, just without one, just introducing himself and connecting on that human level. And you know, when someone does that, they stand out like a beautiful sore thumb, and you can't help, but go. You know what this man is. Cool, dude. I've got to send some audios back and it was similar connection with ourselves. GEORGE: Yeah. Yeah. I absolutely absolutely love that. And you know, it's funny. It's like we talk about, and you, and I see the world very similarly when it comes to relationships, when it comes to all of this and you know, for everybody listening, like, I'm not like, Oh, you're damned.If you send a message of like, Hey, what do you do? But I look at it more of like a missed opportunity to improve upon the silence, right? Like, like you just said, like, we, we unfortunately live in a world. And the jury's out on like what I blame in this. . But we live in a world where transactions tend to be the currency.How many eyeballs can I get? How many touch points can I get? Whether they're negative or positive. It's like, you know, I'll send a hundred messages out to you to get one response to that. One might close. And, and my brain is always like, but what about the 99 no's and what that's going to do to like your reputation to, you know, how people talk about when you come up in a conversation.And so, yeah, it's really refreshing. It's really refreshing to hear, but, you know, I went through a similar thing. So I'd love to hear your process on this. Cause you said it, but you know, for me, four years ago I was an entrepreneur. My vision of an entrepreneur is how can I get more people to know who I am and like me with as much with. And a minimum depth as required. And so I was like, I'm collaborating with everybody. I own this I'm consulting this. I, and, and it was like, I had a Rolodex of bullshit to spit at you and you asked me what I did and all of it lacked everything. But you said, you know, like a couple of years ago you would have been, you know, in 36 or 48 or 72 and you were collecting quantity, but now you collect quality. So like first off, like what was the hardest part? About that transition. And how did you go about it? And like now, how do you measure where that fits in to make sure that it's hitting your KPIs? JONATHAN: Yeah. Well, I mean, I, I've kind of answered that sort of back to front a little bit. Maybe start with the successful JVs that have, you know, we just, it's very clear. It's very structured. It's very, the expectations are very clear on, you know, what we're going to do for each other. Yeah. There's a little bit of paperwork involved, but it's minimum and it's kinda like, well, you know, our core values align, we're going to do this,love it. If you can help us with this buy gifts for each other and all that sort of lovely stuff and you know. And that's the  difference between energetically aligning with a successful JV partner, as opposed to just aligning with a name or you know, just focusing on quantity over quality here. And now going back to your other question about sort of, how did, how did I sort of shrink that number? Well, that just came through just mistakes and spending my time in the wrong place, spending my energy in the wrong place, trying to align with people that weren't a good fit for me.And interestingly, you asked that brother because 12 months ago, I sort of sat out on this journey and I scrapped all my business connections. Scrapped all of them, because all I was doing was spinning my wheels, going to, you know, different people, wasting time, wasting energy on, you know, Projects that weren't working out as well as they should have done. And so I scrapped all my connections and I just started again. I just literally started again and just because I accepted the part of that may as well, and how I was relating to people and how I was showing up and how that initial kind of relationship, you know, wasn't working. So yeah. Yeah, I think, again, it comes down to what you asked at the start.You have to make those mistakes to kind of go well, either keep having more of this nonsense and BS. And we know, we say nice things to each other, but get very little done or I just reinvent actually what I really truly want and work with the people that I envisaged that are going to help me get to where I need to.GEORGE: Yeah, man. I, I think that that's pivotal and so. I've been through something similar. And you know, you, you did this, you were like, okay, cool. It sounds like what you did is like, you're like, I gotta audit what's here. And you got to a point where you're like, okay, this is exhausting. I have no idea. And you were like clean slate and then being very intentional. But I imagine that you went through a period. Or I can only speak for myself, but I I'm going to ask if this rings true. Cause I would love your perspective on this. I did a similar thing. I deleted my phone number, changed my email, and then I went through a period of like, what the hell am I supposed to do with my time?And on paper. I know like, Oh, I should write that email. I should launch this course, but my day was so filled with just attention or dopamine or validation or things along those lines. Like I went through, it felt like a detox and then I was actually nervous. Unlike bringing relationships in. And so I would love to hear your thoughts of like, once you did that, like, what were you looking for?Did you do like an audit of like, okay. Cause it sounds like you did an audit and you're like, I'm starting scratch, right? Like, like a social media detox, a business connections, detox. But then once you were through that though, what did you start to look for? Like, how did you structure your day? What did you look like? And strategically, because I think it's really important because you are successful way. Do you manage a lot of relationships? Really, really well but one of the fears I had was, well, if I get rid of all these relationships or if I'm not watering them that I'm not gonna make any money or succeed, even though on paper, I wasn't making any money or succeeding with them in the first place.JONATHAN: Yes. Yeah. Yeah, totally hear that. It's a big leap of faith. Rather to get rid of contacts that are not serving. It's a bit like getting rid of friends, you know, so-called friends that aren't serving you as well as, you know, the person you are and the person you're becoming but I, I think what I will say is it's a good time.So cleanse having a good poach and, you know, knocking them out. But in terms of like structuring the different structure, that's a really good question as well, mate, because I think at that point it was of 12/18 McKnight. Let me just think, where are we? We're in 2020. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was about 18 months ago and yeah, totally restructured the way I was doing everything in business.I wasn't, at that time working on like three hour intensive blocks in my business, I I'd read everything like the one thing that's 12 hour work week and you know not 12 hour work. Hold on four hour work week but the 12 week year by Brian Moran and all that stuff was sitting in there, but I was still wasn't acting.So at that time it was taking action on a lot of that being more efficient and actually creating collaboration, intensive work blocks as well. Because look, you get what you put your energy on. You know, you get the quality of what you get is  proportional to the amount of energy you put into it.So if you're not going to really bother putting much into collaborations, you're not really gonna bother showing up camera on lives or from your Facebook group or wherever it is, then you're just going to get this sort of fam yeah. Near, so, so type, kind of results. So I was actually putting three hour blocks in at least three times a week, too.Build relationships with likeminded, similar core values, those, those types of people that just. Basically a similar type audience, but they resonate with me on a human level. And a lot of it in the early days was just really jumping on calls and actually just kind of jamming and doing now. Talking about our visions and what we want to do in business because I think we, we lose our, like we, we forget about our actual core purpose, you know, let's, let's not forget our collaborators need to align with our core purpose and who we really are and what we really want. Look, I appreciate that. Not everyone knows that. But I do urge people to work on that because that's the only way we're going to attract the type of people that are going to be valuable to us and vice versa.GEROGE: Yeah, I love that. you know what it sounds like is like, you, you look at, you did this audit, you cleaned all this stuff out 18 months ago and you had this like empty slate and you're like, okay, cool. I know collaboration's powerful. Right. But what I also know is that the 76 people, I was. I was hoarding potential with, right.If I'm going to do this relationship thing, if I'm going to do this collaboration thing, I'm going to be intentional about it. And, and as our, you know, my dear friend, Alex Charfen say it's process structure, routine process, structure, routine, and. It's no different. You have to water the plant that you plant, right?You have to attend to it. You have to care for it. It sounds like you were intentional. You created these blocks and you're like, okay, three hours a week or one hour, a week or 20 minutes a day. All I'm doing in that time is going to water the garden. Right? I'm either going to plant a seed. I'm going to go ask them if I can eat one of their strawberries or I'm going to water, what I'm growing to help it realize its potential. And it sounds like it's paid off dividends. JONATHAN: Yep. And you, but you, like you said, it's the word intention is absolutely found out there. You have to have that intention. Otherwise you're just going to be kind of in that reactive sort of state, rather than that proactive state, which is absolutely essential to success in any business.And I actually set up the, and I don't know if you've done the similar thing with your podcasts, but I set up the no fluff marketing show to be a bronch. Of that sort of strategy side of thing, you talked about you know, process structure strategy. So the strategy, so I was, you know, no fluff marketing shop was part of that to collaborate with people first and foremost. but also to obviously then provide, provide value as well. So I don't know if there's that similar type thing that you do. GEORGE: Yeah. You know, I, I started my show because my wife's like, you talk too much and if you don't start talking more at work, this isn't going to work anymore. Right. Like. I I'd want it to I'd want it to start a podcast for nine years. And Travis Chappelle and I talked about this on an episode recently, and I was too busy collecting the fun stuff with doing it, right? Like buying the microphone instead of actually just doing it, like picking up my phone, pick up an audio thing. And so when the world went crazy, I was basically given an ultimatum by my team and my wife to hold me accountable to what I told them I wanted to do nine years ago. And so then I was like, boom. And then I will say though, like Brad  and I, who will be coming on the show soon. Talk about this a lot. You know, podcasts are one of the best tools in the world for creating connection, meeting people, serving them.And quite frankly, I've had a few people I've interviewed and these interviews are not published and they will never be published because how they are on one space versus when I get them interviewed are completely different and that's fine. Right. And I was like, Hey, this just doesn't fit. Thanks for coming on the show. Let me know how I can support you. That episode is not going live. And now all of you listening are going to be driven nuts, who it was. I interviewed. That didn't get published. That's a marketing lesson from Jonathan on Zeigarnik Effect.I think it, I think it's really powerful, man. When you say intention and actually I'm going to close this loop all the way back to the beginning of your biggest mistake, because what you're talking about, an intention, like you created that space, then you realize like I'm going to fill this space. I'm going to be intentional about these relationships. What I build in my business, launching my podcast, which. Intention really just requires some level of clarity of where you want to go. But then you said the other mistake in the business was giving people way too many choices. And I think there's two sides to that coin. I think the first side is us creating way too many choices for our customers, because we don't really know where we want them to go, or we don't really believe that we can deliver the results yeah. That are promised where we want them to go. And so. You know, for you, one of the mistakes you made is giving people too many choices. So, you know, the answer of that, the inverse of that is obviously we'll give them one and a clear path. Right. And so after that launch, and after you learn that lesson, where did you dive into that to realize, okay? Like obviously you learned some big lessons around that. Right. And then what was the adjustment and the pivot made. And then where did you go from that point to figure out like the next steps. JONATHAN: Yeah. just before I go into that, I just want to say who sides there you're right. And especially that latter oneyou didn't, you know, you don't think you can deliver those results. Well, I don't know if it was so much that, but there was a deep, it was, if I look back now retrospectively again, it's there was a deep insecurity about the fact that I could do it on my own.Andbe enough with, with one service, one advertising service in the health industry. So what did I do? Let's create a value Bonanza instead and get so many others in spec and then completely dilute the whole message of the day. Soyeah, I'm totally with you, but it's, there's an insecurity attached to that second one, which is absolutely fantastic. You nailed it. But what I did differently from them was. Well, but I'd hope most people would do. Okay. Well, it didn't work having lots of speakers in now do it myself. And what have fell out from that afterwards was a period of five years. I'd ran about 20 of my own marketing business workshops over here in New Zealand, up and down the country.And they were way more successful when done, but it was a great lesson because it taught me that  you can actually provide the value that those other speakers would offering on the day and you can do it better. And how many times do we see that in business? Where we go, Oh, I don't know. They can probably do it better. Or, or I don't think I'm quite enough to, you know do that. So I'll leave that out. And, you know, the majority of the time and the audience that you're serving. You know, more than enough, you have more than enough skill and experience and value to really provide them. And so it was a really good lesson, buddy. And from there that went to Australia. GEORGE: Have you ever listened to the book or read the book winning through intimidation by Robert  Ringer? I just started it today. Somebody recommended it. And it's funny cause I read the title. I'm like, I am not reading this book. I am not. And in the intro of the book, he talks about how nobody would buy the book because of that. But it really talks about not believing the insecurities and the stories and the winning through intimidation is Knowing that you're going to be intimidated by insecurity in the world, but yet when and work through it anyways, and it's this really powerful concept, the way that he positioned it is, is really good.And so, yeah, I think, I think with what you're saying, And the latter for me, like, I don't know what to call that insecurity. It's come up a lot.  I've had imposter syndrome galore. I've had a, who am I to say? I've had the, well, I created all those results for other people, but not myself. Like, yeah.You know what? It's funny. Yeah. All of us have it. And it's just a different fucking wrapping paper, like suit that fits and all of us just need to tell the shit, sit the shit down and like shut up. Right. And, and you nailed it. Like what, what you did is you, you went through this time, you did a social audit, you had this launch that didn't work.You came out and you're like, all right, cool. I'm in charge of my success. Right. And if I'm intentional about my time and I pick away at it over and over and over again, and I keep choosing to learn and to iterate and to learn and to iterate you end up where you are now.Yeah. And what I love too. And I catch this in how you talk a lot. I catch this and how you talk. It sounds like you have a lot of grace for yourself now. Right? And I think grace is an entrepreneur is, you know, success. Isn't like, Oh, I nailed this home run. Success is how many times am I willing to try until I figure out the winning combination? You know, that's a lesson that, you know, I haven't wanted to learn nor accept because I'm like, don't, you know who I am like, come on, I do it better than them, but why can't I just have a $28 million launch on day one with no audience and no product and no results. Like I've had those actual thoughts and fears, but I love that. Like in the name that you have, by the way, with no fluff marketing is, you know, so perfect. JONATHAN: Born out of frustration. GEORGE: Yeah. I need to Lynch the entire industry by name yet, but they're starting to come out piece by piece. They're starting to get dropped here. JONATHAN: You can just telepathically do it through this. GEORGE: I think, I think if Jonathan, I just pause in silence and I just say scammy slimy in congruent marketing. And we sit here quietly. You'll figure out who we're talking about.JONATHAN: Yeah. Hi P noisy.GEORGE: The list is still going, right? Yeah. It's long. It's long. Right? So pick your, pick your poison. But what I love about that is, so you, you have this, you have the same thing you are on this thing. You realize that you can do it just as good. And, and what I think is powerful about that, like all of us, like there's. There's original stuff.But not that much. Like I was a food blogger. Everyone's like, you know, like I made up that I'm like, you didn't make a banana bread. Somebody made that shit up 2000 years ago. Stop claiming you invented banana bread. We're just literally putting our spin on somebody else's creation. But I think that's, what's powerful. And what I love about you. Yeah, you have a heart, you have this concept, you understand marketing, you understand humans, and then you apply your no fluff approach to it. Right? And you help people. You, you really were like out of frustration, no more bullshit. You know, cut the fluff. I don't care about how many trials you can get. I don't care about, you know, how many eyeballs you can get, like what I care about and what I think you embody is like, how many results can you create? JONATHAN: Yeah. Yeah. And how many lives can you actually change at bleep as not, not as a statistic or a dark bit data point, actually, how many people can you actually improve and, you know, as a person and as a business.GEORGE: Yeah. Well, and that's what I wanted to ask you a question about because you help a lot of companies, a lot of entrepreneurs with memberships with. Helping serve their clients with whatever. And in my world, I've seen one of two when I help companies like that. I see one of two options out there. Nobody's buying the membership or everybody's biling and canceling. And so this is your area. And so w when we think about this, like, when we think about businesses in particular that serve customers, like what are the biggest mistakes that you see them make when it comes to everything we've been talking about, but in this delivering results, making a difference in their life, what are the biggest mistakes that you see?And like, how do you recommend people go about either auditing it, fixing it, plugging it, or doing something to make sure that we're not burning bridges and we're delivering on our promises.JONATHAN: Totally brother. The first one is real simple. It's people are just guessing what they think their audience wants. They're guessing they're kind of like that. Well, this sounds cool. This person's doing it. Let's test a version of that and let's get rich, just like the other person. That's absolute BS and you and I both know that. But you know, your audience has total. Different set of needs, different situation, different emotional needs, different everything, different stages of their business and life journey.So the only way to know exactly what your audience needs right now is to ask them. And so many people don't do it. It's incredible. People just set this up, thinking it's a great idea, or they'll do the next worst mistake, which is ask a handful of people and they tend to be friends or they tend to be, they're their best type of client that's going to say yes. Anyway, that's lovely. Go for it. And then they spend the next six, 12 months, you know, Procrastinating over a service or membership or a program or whatever it is, you know, and setting something up that their audience doesn't even probably want or need at that point. GEORGE: What do you feel? I feel like the biggest reason people don't ask the right people for feedback is.JONATHAN: Really good question, buddy. I know you'd asked lots of good questions today. That's what your show is all about. Isn't it? The quality of the questions? I think a lot of it is down to the fact that. There is this kind of ego in business in that  we know what our audience wants. There is a part of that and we kind of, we're the expert. We know what our audience wants kind of nonsense. The other part of it is that people just don't like to ask questions. You know, and you see that. And certainly with a lot of clients I work with and ask them, yeah. Have you sent out, formulated email type thing, you know, to get some real quality feedback from your service, your program or what you're doing right now.Oh, no, I haven't thought about that or why not? That should be the first thing you should be doing after like, literally as soon as someone praises you, or as soon as someone says, this is really cool or a light bulb goes off or, wow, this is the best thing I've tried sound this year. That is a feedback moment that you have to be asking for.And in fact, even better than that should be automated into some sort of sequence that goes out to clients, you know, like products do product companies do that well, but service-based businesses don't do it well. So I think there is this kind of fear or reluctance to ask. People, you know, what perceived uncomfortable questions, which actually people love to give anyway. They love to give feedback. GEORGE: Yeah. Yeah. I, I, and I asked you this intentionally, because this is something I've worked through a lot. Right. And it's like funny. Cause you, you can hear all the hyperbole of like "success coaches" but if you listen to what's underneath it, what it is over and over again, it's like, I got feedback.I got feedback. I got feedback. I got feedback. I improved and iterated. I improved. I iterated. And something, I struggled with immensely for a long time. And I feel like you might have as well, especially given that launch was that I looked at the feedback, like it was who I was not how I played the play.And I think I've spent a lot of time being able to now differentiate between how I played the entire game versus how I played for one second in the game.  And I've equated it. I'm not even a sports fan, but like I equated it to like, you know, American football or basketball. Right. Like if I miss a shot, I don't quit. I'm not like, Oh, don't tell me I missed the shot. Like I know, I know I missed the damn shot. How can I not miss it again? Yeah. And I, and I, what I tend to miss. I think it's so imperative because what you and I talk about so much when it comes to business and marketing is relationships, right? And the success of our customer is directly tied to the depth of the relationship. We create to both understand where they are, where they need to go, and then how we're going to get them there. Will they feel safe enough to execute on that vision? Yeah. And I've fallen into the trap you just described where it's like, well, I know I'm the best I did this with this company.And like, even in the last couple of weeks, I've had more momentum and clarity in my business by being like, I have no fucking clue. Can you help me? JONATHAN: That's beautiful. Isn't it? When you can just.GEROGE: Yeah, well, like I've, I've asked you and I'm like, Hey, can you give me feedback? Like, what'd you think about this? And like, I have like eight coaches in my corner every day. Like, and yeah, there's plenty of times I don't open their audio messages cause I don't want the feedback. And then I open it and they're like, you're amazing. And like I should open this sooner. Right. But I think it's really, really important because what you talked about is like the first step for everybody, when it comes to marketing being effective or your business or your service or your product is being in a relationship with your customers.JONATHAN: It is interesting, isn't it? Because they are in is we're empowering them to give us feedback and building that connection by doing it as well. GEORGE: Yeah. It's like, w what's nuts to me is I just don't understand why people think that, like, you shouldn't like somehow you're going to benefit by not having a relationship with a customer potential customer or like, yeah, they're going to go recommend me to all their friends because I ignored their emails. Or I told them they were wrong when they told me my product didn't work or that it was their fault. Like it's, it's mind blowing. So first thing you'd recommend is ask. So like deepen your relationship with your customers, ask them open-ended questions, ask for feedback, like share things before they launched with them and, and get their direct feedback.Ask them what the experience life. How could you make it easier for them? Like, those are things that are there and then that's number one, then what's the next step for people? They ask, they get really clear, really connected. They get that feedback. Right. And then it's like, all right, cool, Jonathan. They told me these 74 things that I have to do. And I'm like, I can't do all 74 of these at once. JONATHAN: Yeah. Yeah, completely buddy completely. I think what you've got to do is you've got to see patterns, trends you know look for that in the responses. And I think you've got to be very clever with the way that you ask the questions as well, because, you know, open-ended sure, but some close ended there as well, just to really make sure that, you know, when you get your, your chart from all the data you've got back. You can actually see, you know, the trend and where to follow. So yeah, deciphering the data is definitely a challenge. So you the quality of the question is very important there. If we're just talking about bringing a new product or program to market, If it's getting testimonials from people that's a really easy, I've got four proven, fantastic questions that can go out to people and generate a yeah, absolutely World-class videos. GEORGE: Do you know, what, do you know what those are off the top of your head?JONATHAN: it's just really taken the through the before, during and after journey. And it's like, what would have stopped you from using this type of product or service before? You know, what was the one thing that you know has really impacted your business and life. And how then has, what changes have you seen from that? How has that emotionally made you feel and why? And then just. Would you recommend us? We'll obviously yes, but would you recommend us to other services now? You put that in a video Forman, but that's what people are looking for.They're looking for that journey, aren't they, which, you know, under your masters, they're looking for that before, during after journey. And as soon as they get that, And it takes all those objections in their head, the internal dialogue that's going through people's head when they're on a website or yeah, but that video does it does the job.So again, it's strategic structural you know, make our lives easier, but yeah, so we get the feedback for the program, buddy. And then we've got something to work with right now. We're in beta. We're actually doing a pilot run of our own all in one website landing page and course builder software here at OVA.We feel it's going to be a real healthy addition to the e-learning space as it is right now because there's a lot of fantastic courses. Core software out there. They do a great job. Don't get me wrong, but there aren't. Many that do it well with the whole marketing and a whole holistic type, landing page tools ease of use course building software and that sort of stuff with the community.So we're really excited for that, but I bet the reason I brought that up is to sort of, because you know, we're going through that pilot run process. So. We've been doing that now for seven weeks, you know, we didn't just create a piece of software and launch it out there and go pay payers, pay us half price.And you know, you get a great deal because you're one of our first 10 users or whatever. And then for them to come back a month later and go, Oh, this didn't work for me. This didn't work for me now. Price is really isn't important. So we've had like 50 about 50 users go through over seven weeks. All we've done is we've set up a real intimate Facebook support group with myself and my business partner here. And we said, we've just been answered them basically twice a week, say, how's it going? Do you need any support? What, what have you noticed? What's working well, what's not working and all of that is just invaluable. Kind of feedback, you know, quantitative data that we can actually use. Then when we do launch at the end of this month, finally and we can be 95% cause you never a hundred percent, but 95% confident that the launch is going to go well. And there's going to be people that are going to actually enjoy using it.GEORGE: And I'm going to, I'm going to make a sweeping assumption here, but I think it's probably there. When you say confidence, I think it's really easy. You know, for entrepreneurs, business owners to stay stuck for too long, because they want more evidence that it's going to work. But when you say confidence, I think what, and my sweeping assumptions that you mean confidence in that you're going to be able to get a person to their after state and then improve upon the process or the software as you go.Exactly right. Like, yeah. Yeah. Cause like, I think, I think there's so much to be learned about entrepreneurship just through SAS companies alone or for those like SAS software as a service. But you know, like tech iterations, you know, the agile model, software services, things like that. Like the iPhone for an example, like I would never use an original iPhone, but I will sure as shit use the one I have now. And I did use that one because it gave me ease of use and simplicity, but then they iterate and they iterate and they iterate. And I think that that's one of the biggest lessons we can learn from SAS companies  that you do, like talking about this, like you just said it, like you're offering a solution right now. Of course, commander, you know, it's a website builder. I think it's a landing page builder. It, what was it? Oh, and course builder all in one. Right. And so you're like, I have this idea you've been on all the platforms, you know, they exist. You're like, Oh yeah, here it is. And then you build it and then you're like, Hey, can we show you, what does this look like?How does this feel? What could we do differently? Has this worked for you? Are there any sticking points? And then you iterate and you get to a point where it sounds like you're confident that the end user or your ideal customer could achieve the desired results. Maybe not perfectly, but they could achieve it. Pretty close, then you launch and then you use that money to fund and iterate and continue to research. Yeah. That platform JONATHAN: Beautifully articulated brother. And that's exactly what it is. GEORGE: And I think too, and the reason, yeah, the reason I say that is because like, when you think about a course, when you think about a physical product, when you think about a digital product, even if you think about a webinar, I think we should look at them the same way.JONATHAN: Yeah. Right. And that that's that, that's it. Your Sensor gray, like you said, it's a right example.Where, you know, business doesn't really connect with humans, isn't it? Because you know, you you've used so many sounds products. We've spent probably hundreds of thousands of marketing dollars on SAS products where we've just felt like another number or statistic.We haven't used the software to its full potential and we've kind of come away feeling a little bit.blur because we didn't really get any value from, we didn't get any education. We didn't get any sort of customer touch points or we didn't actually feel like we were a customer and a kind of service to business type.You know, scenario. So there is, I feel there's a great opportunity and, and, and that kind of knocks down to memberships as well for service-based businesses right now, to do it differently, do it better, be more intimate with those lower ticket type customers that you can nurture into higher ticket customers, or if you're not wanting to nurture customers, then. Pivoting, you know, increasing your revenue each month, just by amalgamating, the existing resources that you've got and having a leverageable online membership product that existing customers would happily pay for right nowGEORGE: Yeah. Well, I think there's a ton of opportunity, so let's go back. Cause I think this is important.Yeah. There's a ton of opportunity. I think, I think. 99% of business owners, entrepreneurs, or people that have a product or a service could benefit from having a membership. Right. But what I think is really important is to understand that that membership has to serve a purpose and it's not a one day purpose or a one-month purpose.Right? So like, when you think about that, you have a lot of experience here. What are the mistakes that people make and what should they really focus on? Like, if they want to launch a membership platform or if they have one and they want to tweak it, like where do you see the biggest fall off? And then how do you improve upon that so that they can serve their customer and then serve their business to make it bigger.JONATHAN: Great question, buddy. Great question. And it's a unique blend of automation and human interaction, which makes the, you know, makes up the best type of membership experience. So biggest kind of mistake that a lot of businesses will make is they'll go. Okay, great. I'll just Chuck in a load of templates, couple of videos, and, just offer this at $97 a month to existing customers and everyone will be happy and they'll keep paying me. No. That doesn't work. It doesn't cut it. What we should be thinking about is, okay, well, how can I create kind of a low level type coaching, not, not with you doing so much in a one-to-one capacity, but in a one to many capacity,, for that hundred $97 membership. So absolutely have the PDF templates and have the video resources and software.If you've got it that, you know, customers wouldn't be able to access elsewhere but at the same time, you have to have that human input as well. So there has to be some type of community around that. And if there's no community people aren't going to stay because people stay for the community, but they sign up for the products.So if you're looking at your customer lifetime value, you know, you're looking at probably three months or less, if you haven't gotten that community on average, GEROGE: I think first thank you for making that point and I think one of the distinctions that I've learned, especially when it comes to membership and service-based models, is that. it's really easy to get disillusioned that they're buying for you or that your, the answer. Yeah. And the truth is is that if that thought processes, they're like, Oh, they're buying for access to me, or they're buying for this. Then you're going to lose the game because the solution has to be agnostic of you. There has to be a plan, a protocol, a journey, and then you get them in and you introduce community for accountability to get momentum and yeah, I love that, man. I absolutely love that. And so when you think about that, right, there's so much when automations and so much with, you know, interactions and there's possibilities galore for like, where should I be human? Where should I automate? Where should I have TAC? Where should I have a person when they arrive. It's really mind blowingit's internal internally to the company, but it's also externally to the customer or the potential customer. Like how much of my customer service should be bot related versus human related. How much of my social media posting should be automated versus human? How much am I responding? So like, when you think about that, and I think this is a really good. Rabbit hole is like, how do you prioritize which one? And like, what are your determinants for? Like, should this be automated? Should this be tak, should this be human?Like how do you see that? And then how do you decide and put that into practice? JONATHAN: I'm not a big fan of automated support tickets and the support like bots and stuff like that. In terms of when you've got paying customers meetings, I think if they put their credit card details down, you should have enough respect to at least have some human answering a question. That can be someone that's knowledgeable that is on $4 an hour in the Philippines. That's absolutely fine. That's a human experience. Aand you've got to absolutely leverage it, especially in the SAS world. I get it. You know, you don't have to be sitting at the computer helping everyone. So absolutely there should be some human experience and within the community itself, You know, there needs to be obviously people in that community and you nailed that word, buddy accountability. And that's what people stay for, the accountability. The community, the support aspects, where people can help each other as much as you can have your own input. But in terms of the automation side, that is really important as well.So like with the course commander software for example, one of the things that we have really kind of. Double down on is the ability to be able to emailmembers when they haven't been logged in, say, for example, for like two weeks an email goes out to them say, Hey, is everything all right? Do, do you need any help with anything? You know, that should be automated. All of that sort of stuff. Those email touch points. Also, you know, if you're adding new content or I'm keeping that, that should be an automated way to do that. So there is a good, fine balance there, buddy. But the reality is, as I said, people will stay because of the human experience because there's only so much content and value you can provide through content. Let's face it. No matter how good it is, it will wear off. GEORGE: Totally. I mean, I think about the amount of products in my life that I complained about, but my endowment is too deep to change because I like the community or I'm like, it's okay. They do all of this, right? Like I make excuses for other companies, so I don't have to change their product. Like, and I think, but what that really is a Testament to is how they make us feel right. Like these are companies, I feel a part of, I feel like they've thrown a gift into my box to me. I feel like they respond to my emails every time. Like it's my coffee shop. Like yeah. My coffee shops expensive, but there's like 21 employees in every one of them knows my name. And like, that's a big difference when people come to town and like, where should I get coffee? Like, go here. They're like, that's the furthest one away. I'm like, go. And I was like, if you go anywhere else, don't bring that shitty coffee in my house. Like, I fight for them. Hard. Love it. And then I was like, even today I was a year should give me a discount.I send you so much business. That's mind blowing. They're like, we know. And I was like, yeah, but don't change anything. Right. But I think, I think you nail that. Right. So what I'm hearing you say is like, And the, and the core of all of this Jonathan, when you, it really gets down to it for you. I think it's really, really simple that human is at the core of everything and cut all the bullshit away.And like, let's be really, really clear. Be open, have a relationship with your customers. They give you feedback on something with no fluff that can help them figure out how to fix it, and then not let it happen again. Automate the things that should be automated, automate the customer journeys, automate some of the accountability, automate the things that help them achieve the desired result.So you can serve that one to many and create that semblance of safety, and then ensure that you have the time or the capacity to be human customer support tickets, responding to emails, responding to social media, because in my opinion, those are the instances that are going to keep them in momentum and help get them unstuck that an automation couldn't do.JONATHAN:  Absolutely brother. And those people that are helping us on a human level, they need to buy into the culture of the business and the core values of the person behind it, pulling the strings because,  I mean, you know, touchpoints better than anyone. Yeah. You know, customer experience journey, you know, you are the mass weight counselor.But what I see with a lot of businesses, a lot of small businesses is they're trying to grow and scale without giving a shit about the customer journey. Yeah. And that's the problem and that's, and that's the coming across inauthentic you know, and almost kind of a bit scam worthy because they're getting big, but the customer is like their, their revenues going here, but their customer satisfaction is going down.  It should be level. Yeah. Cause you get bigger. The customer support and attention should be, it should be level. It shouldn't go that way.  GEORGE: one thing that drives me. Yeah. The one thing that drives me fucking nuts is when a company is built on relationships, right? To like, Hey, we're this SAS company where this product where the services is a membership, you're a founding member.We love you. We love you. We'll always be here. And then as they get bigger, they decrease. Yeah, the time in relationship, they're like, Hey, you run a platform and you make money on our platform as an entrepreneur seven days a week. But we're only going to have customer service Monday through Friday nine to five in India, central time, even though you're in California, I'm like, do you know how much money I generate for you a month?Like I can't. And like there's times where I've like waited three days to get something tweaked that I didn't have access to tweak, but I think what you now there's that like, It actually isn't building and scaling. If you're not deepening the relationship with the customer, you're creating a liability.JONATHAN: Yeah. Yeah. You're creating a fake business in a sense, because it's not a business built on happy customers. And if it's not a business built on happy customers than it is just a, you know, a time bomb. it's not a business, it's not a business, just numbers, you're playing the numbers and the stats game. And it goes back to what we're saying about, you know, the hype, noisy, inauthentic type businesses, marketers that, you know, across our social media feeds, they're doing that. They're playing the numbers game, they're building their business on their bottom line, the numbers, the users, but the customer support. And we all know who they are, are absolutely lacking to, you know, just incredibly, incredibly poor. Yeah. I just can't emphasize that enoughGEORGE: one of my, one of my friends Gareth Everhart, Gareth launched the, I got his last name. I stepped on her wide, launched the Get Kedo device, had a Ray razor comedy, Rockwell razors.And he said, this amazing thing to me,at one of our mastermind events, he said, there's only two things you can innovate on. You can either innovate on product or customer experience. And he's like, when you really get down to it, there's not much product innovation left, right? Like you said, this, there's only a certain amount of information, only a certain amount of ways to do it.And so what you're left with is the one thing that you only, you can uniquely innovate on at a level that nobody else can do, which is customer experience, which is relationship based. Yeah. And it sounds like what you did with course commanders. You're like, okay, how can I remove all the distractions that prevent entrepreneurs from being in a relationship?So here build your website. Here's your landing page? Here's your membership software. The automations are handled for you now spend all of your time building relationships with your customers, potential customers, and you do that through your communityJONATHAN: because that's what people remember, isn't it, they remember the, that those actual human touch points and it's like, it doesn't matter if it's software or a service or whatever. It can be anything program it's yeah. It's coming across. Like you give a shit and actually asking questions and yeah, I'm getting feedback. Because look at the end of the day, customers, you know, are they're multi customers they have their credit cards in many companies, you know, they forget about you.It happens. You don't wantthem to forget about you and for you to not have actually touched base with thembecause every time, and this is one thing I also learned about the customer support side of things is every time you get in touch with a customer and they forgotten about you. That's actually a tick that's tick of credibility, a stamp of credibility in your favor, because they've got, Oh my God, I forgot.But they didn't forget about me. And it's that kind of sort of mindset.So, and it's a bit like, you know, when people think I'm emailing people too much. Well, actually, you know, they're only going to see one to five emails probably that you send that week. but they'll kind of go, ah, They haven't forgotten about. They're still emailing me really good conduct even though I haven't been engaging in it. Yeah. I haven't talked to principal GEORGE: ver seen a customer get pissed. Like I'm so mad that you helped me so much today. Like I'm so bummed that you made me feel so good. Five times in the last week with your email, like I'm just so pissed that you had so much value to my life. You want to know why people complain about email when you send them shitty emails too much. Right. And try to transact and don't have that depth. And so, yeah, man, I'd love it. So course commander, is it live yet? Or it might be live.JONATHAN: It's live at the end of this month fella. We're going to bejust working like we're doing some iterations now and with a lot of fam. Pilot users, if there's anyone watching this that wants to jump in and try it outtwo weeks and without want, just don't try it. We'll set up a mini Facebook support group. Andyou know, if you're looking at a website landing page or course or anything like that, or we'd like to try an alternative to what you're using for any of the reasons that we've spoken about today. Absolutely be a delighted to set you up with an account just for a couple of weeks and. Let's see what you think GEORGE: What's the name of your Facebook group is your Facebook group is fun. I have fun contributing into that group and, you know, calling them the BS marketing up, but what's the name of your Facebook?JONATHAN: Yeah, and I love who are in poverty. It's a No fluff Marketing for awakened entrepreneurs. GEORGE: Yeah. So if you're not awakened, I don't know why the hell you're listening to this part cast. Cause you all don't want to lose your hair and we do know fluff. So, so one of the things that I want to end with, because I really value your input and opinion, you have a lot of experience here.You've helped so many people and you really give a shit. And I know it because we're, we connect personally on a lot of different levels, but if you could leave anybody, like, from this point forward, like I have customers, I have a service based business. I'm going to be marketing for the rest of my life.Like, what is the one thing that no matter what they should focus on and how can they focus on it that will improve upon their current game when it comes to marketing or relationship building, like, what are some of the things that you would leave people with? So we can make sure that we're improving upon the silence for them.JONATHAN: Yeah, I would think, first of all, get clear on exactly what your vision is for your business and how that merges with your life. And, you know, look at really dig deep, do the exercises, do the work to find out what your real purpose is and why you're doing what you're doing. Because when you've got that clarity, then you can, other doors will open for y

Alright, everybody. Welcome back to the hungriest episode of the mind of George show. And I'm going to be really, really honest. Some of you know, I'm doing the 75 hard challenge and I have to eat a certain way to support everybody and follow Andy's thing. And my guest today is probably the worst guest to have when it comes to being hungry and the best cast to have when it comes to business resiliency, overcoming challenges, mindset, leadership, and everything in between.Right. So like, let me just throw this out here before I bring Nick and, but we're talking world pizza team went from pizza delivery guy to owning six franchises awards across the board. Motivational speaker, everything that you can imagine. Podcast hosts has a book out there and really like probably a man after my heart.Every single thing that we talk about, or every single thing that he has somehow has pizza or food involved. So that inner fat kid that I work really hard to keep at Bay is going to be happy for today's episode. So without further ado, Nick, welcome to the show.  Nick: Thanks for having me, George, I'm super excited to be here.George: Thanks for your time. And I'm, I'm just excited after digging into like your story, I found a keynote talking about you as a child and a resiliency and mindset. One of the first things that I always love to ask my guests, and I think this is so right up your alley and something that you're probably experiencing now and also have experienced in the past. But I always ask people like, what was one of the biggest challenges or struggles or failures that you you've had in business. And what was the lesson that you learned?Nick:  There's there's been a lot of them. I think a lot of times people think that it just, everything happened overnight. They see the success and they think, wow, you know, this guy got lucky, but I think that any entrepreneur knows out there that, there's a lot of opposites and it's a giant roller coaster.From the very beginning giving I was a pizza delivery driver finally got my own shot at my own restaurant. And I had a partner from the very beginning and  It, that was it. That was the big mistake. It lasted. We took over the restaurant September 14th and by Thanksgiving I had to tell my partner, he had to go because he just could not stop drinking.We bought a restaurant and a bar andhe was somebody I knew for eight years, good friend. He was going to be high. I was going to be the knowhow behind it. And I had to tell him he had to get out and he was okay with it because he really thought, you know what? I'm okay. It's okay. Because he's not, there's no way I was going to come up with the money. And I'm the guy, the issue there who were selling it to a saw how hard I was working. So they were like, you know whatwe don't like your partner either because every time we're here, he's drunk. So we'll just go ahead and we'll finance it over five years.Give us what you can give us this amount and the rest is history, but I think the lesson I learned from that is, you know, believe in yourself, you know what? I think a lot of times people get into business and they think they need a partner. And you know, if you work hard enough and think smart enough, and there's a lot of people out there that you can ask for for help, like, don't be, you know, be humble, be somebody that will ask for help when you know.George: Yeah, man, I, I love that it, and I think that's something that you like after digging in a little bit like full disclosure. You're probably the only guest I researched because you're like the most interesting man to me. And I was like, I got to keep finding out more. And like, even at a very young age for you though, like even when you were growing up, I think you have like four brothers, right?So three brothers, even at an early age, you found that you tilted more towards like wanting to be a coach, wanting to be a leader, like finding out these parts of yourself that you could share with other people, but you had it like a pretty young age we're interested in like, Believing in yourself and doing the work on yourself, right?Like what was that, what was that journey like? I mean, I can't imagine being like 13 years old and be like, I don't want to be the star. I'm like, I want to go be a leader today. Like that didn't get into me until the Marine Corps shoved it down my throat. And I'm so grateful that they did there. There was just punk kid in me until that point. So it sounds like you've, you've kind of been on this journey for a long time and now you're kind of living in the results of it and doing it. But what was, what was that like? Like, what was your childhood like? Like where did you get started in all of this and come up and kind of keep that leadership mentality and apply it to where you got to today.Nick: Well, my older brother is a number two, so my older brother's seven years older than me. So when I was 11, he was off to college. So it was my younger brothers were four and six years younger than me. So there you're okay with a seven year old brother and a five year old brother and really for the next step. Four years, you know, it was us and he went we live in Pittsburgh. He went to college in Daytona beach. So he was for the most part, he was gone for next week, four years. So, you know, I became, I guess the older brother. And I was, I love sports. I would sit there and watch sports center every single morning with my cereal.But I sucked me. I was just a kid that was so uncoordinated and you know, there were certain, certain sports, I guess, that I would just try really hard at it. And baseball, I just could never get the hacker pack of it for the hang of it. And then football, I was just always too skinny and you know, I was probably like, I don't know, maybe. It might five, five something like maybe 70 pounds. Like I was just a beanpole. So it translates into one, I think. And that's coach. So I really enjoyed watching my younger brothers, whether it was you know helping with their baseball teams and being like the third base coach and the kid that was always keeping score for their teams.And then we had a youth foundation right down the Hill from my house and I became the floor hockey coach and volunteer the month down there. And I just was found that I love to leave and I didn't really realize it. And there were times where, you know, stupid kid stuff. And I remember a guidance counselor pulled me in probably about six or seventh grade.And he said, you know you're a leader. Don't be following the other kids. I always thought maybe it's bull crap. But the more that I look back on that. I don't know what it was, if that was just the line he gives to everybody or if he actually really saw something in me, but I was, I always have to be the one that kinda was the leader or kind of, and I didn't realize that.And I think as I got older you find that out with your friends too, like, you know, you have a certain group of friends and each one has, and I was you know, one of the ones that was always, coming up with something to do or go somewhere and I just enjoyed.  being part of sports that actually felt like I was, I was good at something.When the other kids didn't have practices and we'd win the championships and everyone wanted to be on my four HOckey team. And you know, we'd have pizza parties for, to, for the team when we won. And yeah, all kind of just little things that there was a lot of fun and like, you know, it's really hard to ask kids 16, 17, 18, what do they want to do the rest of their life?I really didn't know. I always thought maybe it was something with sports and I'll never forget. I was sitting at the lunch table in junior year and I said to my buddy, man, I'm making a lot of tips washing cars. And he said, I'm making way more tips delivering pizzza. And that was, I was hooked because I always worked from like, maybe even like 10 or 12 one, I was.Whether it was cutting lawns, lemonade stand, a baseball card show. I didn't just like go in and sell the baseball cards or flip cards. I was actually  putting the show on it that same youth foundation I'd find out that for 85 bucks, I could rent the youth foundation out on a Sunday.  So once I rent, the space offer for 85 box, we went ahead and I would go to the flea market that I went every week with my mom. She would sell chocolates there and I would go around to the guy selling baseball cards and tell them, Hey, I'm having a show. would you like to buy a table? And then beforeit I'd be putting on these baseball card shows.  So I think it was just like, I didn't realize that I was had entrepreneurial spirit in me. But,  my uncle was a butcher, always had his own business and they had a gas station and he was kind of like a, so when I really looked up to, and then my other we'll have  an awning and a roofing company.AndI just think that it somewhere in me. It was I always looked up to people who had their own businessreally thoughthat was something.George:  Yeah, man, I was riding my bike in the woods. And you were taking over trade shows at like your local center to be an entrepreneur. Like I I'm like sitting here. I'm like, man, I got such a late start hearing you, but I love it. What do you think it was like, um, you know, basically like for me, when I hear you talk about leadership and like. You know, when you talk about like you were coaching your brothers and then you were having them practice when others weren't like, it sounds like you really understood, like, okay, we put in the work, we're going to have success.Like it's inevitable, but also like, there's this piece of me that feels like you just really love people. Like you like love finding the best in people and bringing the best out of people. Is that kind of like, what kept you going? Like, I, I just can't imagine it like 14 years old being like, Oh, well I could go to a baseball card show or I can figure out that I can rent the hall for $85, put on my own flip tables and get it going.But it just sounds like every ounce of what you did was you were just like, I know I can do it. I believe in myself. I know it's just a matter of time if I keep going, but. It also sounds like at the core of it, you really just understood that people were at the core of everything that you did.  NIck: Well, I think there's a lot of truth to that. And I think the other part was by putting on the shows, I became friends with these 40 year old guys. So, you know, that was really to put a timestamp on it. And it was when the 89 upper deck Griffey Jr's came out. And so it was right around that like real big baseball card, crazy. And. And, um, you know, I guess side note, I think it's so awesome to partner to come back and, you know, Gary V's pushing them.So I think it's pretty cool that you're seeing baseball cards and everything come back around. But at that time I became friends with these older guys. So it was like they were giving me deals and I was able, none of that was putting on the shows. Like I was like almost they're equal. Sowere hooking me up in my car I was getting great cards and it just worked. I think it worked really good.  There's a certain point where yes. You know, um, Everything's about people. It doesn't matter from the pizza business or whatever it is, you're in the people business. And I guess I always go to certain things that you hear throughout your life the golden rule and treat others how you want to be treated.And I always say there's reasons that you hear these things all the time and it's because they're true. You don't just hear these things all the time because your grandma liked to repeat them. Like there's a lot of things that are just true. And I think the other part thatsome of it's how you're wired and that's the self awareness and getting into knowing yourself.But I definitely am one of those people that I'm either all in or all out. Like it doesn't matter what I do. I do it full tilt. I cannot justdo something a little bit. Like I can't, it doesn't matter if I've got a hobby and I'm feeding the birds. I've got the biggest baddest bird feeder. It's just the way how I'm wired. And if I'm in the pizza business, like there's no way I'm going to have just one restaurant. You know, that's a local mom pop shop and there's nothing wrong with that. That's great to be that community one shop, like I'm going to be the destination.I'm going to be the guy that's on the map. I'm going to be going to Italy to compete in competitions. I'm going to be speaking at the competence, speaking at the competitions and the expos. I'm going to write a book about it. Like that's jus the way I'm wired.  Goerge: So, yeah. Well, I mean, I think it speaks to the results, but also the practice, just something like the embodiment, right?There's a big difference between being interested in being committed and being interested as a hobby that produces part-time results and being committed. You're like, I'm going to do whatever, like you and I get along great. Like. My wife went to the pet store with my kids to get a hamster and came home with a pet snake. And I was like, Oh geez, here we go. And then I was like a week later, I'm like a professional herpetologist, right? Like I'm like their humidity. This is their feeding schedule. Their cages needs look like this. This is how we take care of them. Now, a month later we have three snakes and I'm like, literally like the snake whisper. My wife's like, you're obsess about this. Like, no. Well, if we're going to have them. We're going to have them perfect. They're going to have everything they need. I'm going to know everything about, I'm going to make sure they get taken care of like you and you. And I would be dangerous in a business together because it really, I feel the same way. But I also feel like that's one of the thing that's missing in today's market. Like, I feel like there's a lot of businesses. There's a lot of internet marketing. There's a lot of, you know, everyone's like, Oh, it's so easy here. Go buy this, go buy this.  But if you're not all the way in, like self-aware of like who you are and what you want to do. And then having that to go find your customers, know how to support them, know how to serve them and then apply that in your business, like it can't work. And like, I, and I'm going to give you kudos. Like you went into one of those hardest businesses that there is like not only the restaurant business, but the low margin restaurant business. That really isn't like something that was like going out for this Michelin star pizza. It's like a hobby and it's a consumable, but it's a hard industry. Like I grew up working in pizza shops and all I have left to show for it is still the burns of my arm.  Cause my armor gets stuck to the top of the oven, like once a month. Cause I wasn't paying attention, but. You know what I love about that. And I want to transition this cause now you own what?Five locations,  five or six?  Nick: We all do have five kind of mixed the six one. We were going to do one in April. And when Covid came on strong  and March, I just could not pull the trigger for a 7,000 square foot restaurant. And I'll tell you what, it was super hard decision because I'm just like you, everything. I just said, I'm always full steam ahead. Like. Man. I was like, am I being lazy? Am I being paranoid? Am I like taking the risk? And I was like, no, I think I'm actually being a little smart here, you know? But that was tough, but yeah, I have, I have five. we're going to celebrate our eighth year, um, coming up here in September and we're going to do roughly,right around $10 million in pizzas this year. Wow. Over by stores.  George: That's amazing. And so you started. You went from, okay, I'm a coach to hosting pizza parties, which I love that was just the seed you need. I have a feeling you've loved pizza your whole life, basically. Yeah. Okay. And then you went from that to like your buddies, like I'm making way more tips as a piece of delivery driver, which, by the way, I was a pizza delivery driver and I made a boatload of tips cause I treated people good. And then you're like, okay.Yeah. I want to buy this restaurant. You learned your lesson and you lost the partner. Which was a gift. Like you molded that one out and then you took off. And then what was that like first year? Like that first two years, because you had one and then what was that journey like to go from like, okay, I'm financing this pizza shop to, I have to flip this thing around. I have to make it profitable. Then I have to expand. Like, what was that journey like?  Nick: Well the journey  really starte a lot younger and a lot longer  than when I opened it. When we bought the business, I was 34. Just to give you an idea. my wife and I, we just celebrated 20 anniversary. And so we have a 20year old and 18 year old. So really when I was 21, 22, you know, father when we found out we're going to have our daughter as like in seven and a quarter an hour andwhy wait, so what are we going to do? And I said, well, we get married, get a house, you know, okay, it's a deal.And a man the next 14 years, I just really grinded. And people use that word all the time and, and I, I think I used that word before. It was cool. Like I was 80, 90 hours a week. Literally five jobs all in the same week. And, and it wasn't like side jobs. It was like straight on like full time mailman at the post office where I always say dreams go to die. And then full time at Papa John's being the general manager. I was I'm delivering it to other pizza shops. I was counting the money at the civic reader where the Pittsburgh penguins played at night. And man, I just everything I could have a normal family, you know? Yeah. And,try and raise two kids without a college degree.And I think I always was that guy and all the differentDomino's Papa John's that I worked at, they would go in and build the sales. I learned at a very young age. A manager was going to go ahead and,ire, I made the supervisor because my walls were dirty. The album was dirty and I was working 80, 90 hours a week.And we went out to a meeting in a, because that's where the other eight franchise stores were. And there was four in Pittsburgh. So every month we, you drive out to Ohio, me and three other general managers were all older than me. We would get out there. Everybody would always go ahead and go clap for whoever had the highest sales.So they'd be like, Hey, art, Nashville is up 10% clap for him. Next meeting Joe, and Youngstown's up 10% clap for him. When I heard it was going to fire me. I was like, you know what? Sales fixes everything. And I was like 22 years old and I read a guerrilla marketing, went to borders when there was a border, but guerrilla marketing right in front of the back.I can't say there's anything in there that like stood out to me besides the concept that you have to get out of your comfort zone. You have to get out of your space and go and get the sales and not wait for them to come to you. Next meeting everyone clap. Nick's up 10% next meeting. I'm ready. Clap for Nikki's up 20% next meeting Nick's up 45%. Nick tell everybody what you were doing. And what I was doing was that what the school board and I sold them on selling pizzas for school lunches. I went to the school board and being in the football stadium and the baskets.Cool sling contracts. So it was like, you know, I build myself up as a sales builder, so I always could make money for everybody else. And I think there was a certain point where, um, I guess, I guess the other part of the story, you know, real, real big part was, you know, that's probably like 22, 23, 24, 25. So right around there, dominoes picked me off and they moved me across the state to Wilksbear.And when I got out the Wilksbear was same thing. They put me in a store that was doing 15 grand. I took it to 25 grand within a year. And, know, the kids were maybe like four and two at the time or five and three,just to get an idea, it's still in Pitt, still in Pennsylvania, but it's like five hours away.It might as well be in another state. And our family's always been real close. So, you know, my wife was took her away from her family and were on the other side. And I always say we moved back again because we were homesick, but the truth was how I told you thateverything I do that I do full tiltI have become a horrible drug addict and a worse,  alcoholic.And you know, probably about 28 years old at that time. And I can say October would be 15 years clean and sober for me. No drugs, no alcohol. And what it was was, you know, she said, look, I'm going home. I don't care if you come with me or not. And I went ahead and I, I quit my job. She took the car back and the car and the phone.no kids, no wife's. And just the next day, I really, I reached down for the toilet papers and the toilet paper, and I said, you know what, I got nothing and I just hit my knees. And if you're real helped me. That was it. That was my moment. That everything changed. And,  I just realized that when I came back when my mother in law had said, Hey, my there's some counseling at church.And, that will that do, my wife needs counseling, but really I needed the counseling and the counselor said, look, if you've got you've got to take your drugs and alcohol serious and go to at least a class about it. And I was like, wow, don't have a problem. And I went and done, man, that was it.That was like where my life started, really for me and then after that everybody always talked about here was this pizza guy and family, friends. Everyone was like, you need to get a real job. That's what I kept hearing. So I did, I'm sorry, radio advertising.  I asked my favorite interview question of all time.When they're done this, a tip for anybody out there, Rick, right at the end, when they say, do you have any more questions? The best question to ask is there any reason you wouldn't hire me? And they said, because you never sold anything. And I told them about all the contracts with pizza and everything else.And they went ahead they hired me and I sold radio for the next six months and I hated it. Anyone cool itself, more power to you? I can not just walk into place and try and sell him something, not for me. Um, then I started delivering pizzas six months in and, you know, um, I was delivering pizzas.I was working all the different jobs like I was saying. And then really what happened was, is I kept hearing this real job thing. I bought about a very nice house for 170,000. Well showing my income of all the pizzas that I delivered in all my time. . So, you know, bottle off of that, I'm still with friends and family.It was like, Oh, he must be selling drugs. And he bought a house, but he was like, no, I really was, you know, I was turning my life around at that point. It was like two years into being sober. And, um, you know, I got a job at the post office cause everyone's like, Oh, you need a real job. And like I said, when I went to the post office and I looked around and I was like, you know what this is where dreams go to die, come here. And they say, we're going to work here in the next 40 years and that's it, they're gonna retire. And then really, you know, side note because everything that's going on with the post office in the news, you know, just a fact when you become a full time post office employee, the government has to back that retirement for the next, however long you're going to be at the post office until you're 65. They pay for your pension all at once. So that's why they're bankrupt. They won't tell you that on TV. The reason is because they didn't want to start here. They pay their next 40 years of pay is already in the retirement paid for. So it's like, you know what? That just tells you like that for dream to gets die.As soon as I went there, I was like, you know what, I'm going to own my own business. I don't know why it's pizza that I'm good at, but that's what I'm good at. And I love it. So I'm going to figure out how to do it myself.So that's the journey before the journey. So to answer your question and I will well ramble as long, but the, what happened was, is then that the time to figure out how to open a restaurant, I just walked in the pizza shops, once the partner said, Hey, I'm going to max out my credit cards andlet's do this thing. I, we were in the city of Pittsburgh, right by where university of pity is. And I would walk in and say some of your pizza shop and these old guys, like get the hell out of here. The fifth guy walked into so my buddy has a shot for sale in Bloomfield, which is over the bridge from university of Pitt.Still, you can deliver it. I walked in and I said, Oh my God, it's a bar. No, I walked the back full pizza, kitchen, everything, and we need, and all the numbers line up and everything.  I like to say for the next six months, I kept saying all I wanted was the pizza shop. The key moment there was, I said to my wife, or she said to me, are you going to be okay?Because at that point I wouldn't even go to the liquor store for her. I was seven years sober. I wouldn't, even if she wanted a bottle of wine, she knew not to ask me. And I said, you know what? This is a means to the end. And I asked my partner, you're going to be okay because he had a alcohol addiction, but he never reallyexpanded on or got help for it.And he said, Maybe, and that should have been assigned because it was terrible to see. You know it was the one guy that like really believed in me and not to be put his money where his mouth is. I really wanted it to work. It was a really to see how it went. That was really the struggle.And then I think the other part was, it just was, to anybody that's envisioning in the very beginning, usually I just have to do something every single day. That's that's what you have to do. I'll show you this right here. See the elephant one bite at a time. That's the elephan and that's why it's up there.That's the way I approach business every single day wasjust a little bit, what can I do today? So that, so when I leave tonight, it won't be the same as when came the day before. And every day I did that. And if you have that mentality, that every day you're changing stuff, when you look back in a year, you're like, Oh my gosh, like I built this awesome place, everything's different. Yeah. But you know, yeah. That's the way you have to approach it. That's how I approached it. Yeah, man.  George:  There's so much gold in there. I mean, there's so much to unpack. I mean, like you were working at Papa John's and then you read a book on guerrilla marketing. Seth Godin is a coauthor that book and You're like, it wasn't anything, but it shifted your perspective. You're like, I'm going to find opportunity or I'm gonna make opportunity. Right. And then it's like boom. And then it comes up. And there's a lot of gold there and it's kinda be that like Pittsburgh, like blue collar thing. Like you guys are like the hardest workers, like I ever seen in my life, like ever.And I love it. And the pride that comes into it, but like what you just shared. I think is probably one of the biggest challenges that I see in today's day and age. Like, I was lucky that I was like on deployment when the internet got popular.  Like they couldn't have a Facebook account. I didn't get in trained in social media. I was just doing hard labor in the middle of the desert, but like now, I have to remind myself daily, like just one more thing, one more step back basics, like do this thing. And like there's so much gold in that to where I think now we look at marketing sales business and it's like, we live in this delusion that it's like, I'm going to have a unicorn tomorrow, or it's going to build itself. Or it's kind of convert itself or it's going to figure itself out and like what you just said, like every single day, like just do one thing that makes it better. One thing that moves it forward, one more email, one more post, one more phone call. Like man, like I love that. Like, it there's so much gold wrapped up in that simplicity of it. I just, I absolutely love it. Now you went from that one. And then how long did you have that one before you expanded? Nick: Well, I had three goals when I took over the store in the very beginning, you know, it was very simple. Number one, to buy a car in this century, cause I was the King of $500 cars. So I won a car in the century. Second goal was, I want a little bigger house, that was, you know what, we want to win a little bigger house. And then the third one was, I want to know how I was going to pay for my kid's college because they were12 and 10 at the time. And I didn't have a single penny saved. And it was important for me to be able to do that for them. So really a year in, I was like, man, I'm going to have all these goals accomplished. Like I can see the light in the tunnel. I was like, well, well now what is that really? How I'm going to judge my success? And I said, you know what?It's not. When I can create an environment that the people who work for me can accomplish, there are three goals from working for me. Then I could feel successful. So that's what's fueled the expansion. So I was like, we have to go open another store. So, and we werea bout two years in, it was 25 months.We opened the first one in September, the second one, two years later in October. And then, the third one was 16 months after that. And then the the fourth one was, um, about the. Well, 18 months after that. And then yeah, one was a year after the first or the fourth one. So it was like every  year and a half, we were over and stores pretty much.And same reason every time, when I got to the second one, I still was like, I really, I didn't need to open more stores we've created a lot of career positions. We have over about roughly 200 employees, definitely before COVID, we still have bartenders and servers not working at the moment. We're somewhere between the one 50 and 200 brands of employees we've created great Christmas parties and holiday parties and summer picnics. And a place where people want to work andpromotions, we make a big deal of, and we just really love our people. That's what it's all about. And I think I just wanted to create an environment that somebody would actually like to work there and that's  kind of what we've created.George: Yeah, man. I mean like you literally, like, I hear my heart gets so happy hearing you talk about this. Like, I feel like as an entrepreneur, my biggest struggle for years was, is I didn't know where I wanted to go or where I was going. Like, I didn't have a goal. I didn't have a direction. Like I had a why. I want to break my pattern. I don't want to end up in the abuse cycle an addict anymore. Cause I've been through 12 step meetings and like, I want it to break it all. But there was still this level of like aimless. And I always tell people yeah. To have a why greater than yourself and you know, what it was for me, it was my children like that.Oh, was it? It was like I don't have a choice any more, like I have to do it. You know, you said that. And then the one thing that like, I want to highlight that you said that is so powerful. Well, and literally the secret to every business success. And like, you need to make this a tweetable. You're like, it wasn't enough to accomplish my goals. Your measuring stick was when the people who work for me accomplish their goals. That's how you knew that you made it, like that's what you were working towards. Like that is the secret to every single business success that it's there, empowering the people to achieve their goals, having a why, a business greater than yourself. Like that just speaks to your character and like what you've done. Like I'm not, I'm surprised you don't have 85 restaurants and 8,000 employees at this point. It's a very, very grounded noble amazing thing to do in everybody should carry through. And I was like, yep. This is the people guide like all day.I love it. I love it. And I also want to talk about though or something I heard you talk about. And I think this was when you opened your first pizza shop, right? So we hit your people. We hit your clarity, but like, Some of the stuff that you did in marketing when you were making an improvement every day, like, what is this concept of like hot selling, right?Like you had pizzas, but instead of waiting for somebody to order a pizza or buy a pizza, you would make like 90 pizzas and you would send your drivers out and have them sell the pizzas. Like you made them like mini pizza hustlers, right?  Nick:  So basically what I did was I needed to raise the sales and what I decided to do was. I called out back and I said, Hey, can I get some steak dinners for my guy? Some gift cards, I'll trade you pizzas. They said sure. And I told my guys, I was like, Hey, if you sell all your pizzas that I give you this week, I'm going to give you a  top of your pay and, everything. You're going to get a steak dinner. So for every time you sell all your pizzas. So we basically have three drivers coming in the morning, give him 30 pizzas. Each back then pizzas were six bucks for 14 inch pizza store kept five. They kept one. And they would go to big box stores, construction anybody on the side, the road, local businesses anywhere where there was people when they'd sell pepperoni and cheese pizzas for six bucks a piece and we'd sell 90 a day without the phone ever ringing.  And we did this for years. It really, the only place that it stopped working was this was great in the suburbs. But when I got a hold of some city stores, there was a lot of permits about how you can sell food in the city. Man we'd hustle. You'd walk into Walmart andthey'd buy it for the staff and everything else.And we were'nt selling 90 pizzas a day for a long time that nobody ever ordered. And then I think that's going back to where the sales fixes, everything, there was so much that yeah, I learned at a young age with marketing and all always go back to. Sometimes in school you pick up something that you didn't even realize you picked up and you know what it  was an English class in sixth grade, we had to write a fan letters and you had to write them to 20 people. And so we wrote them to 20 people and know movie stars and such like that. Everybody get a couple of letters back that,  I remember getting one back from the wonder years from Fred Savage rope hump, you know be cool when I decided to do of course, cause it can't do just a little, anything, you know, just a little bit.I wrote every single baseball team. Hey, I'm, I'm your favorite? The New York Yankees. I'm the favorite fan of them? Boston Red Fox. I'm the whatever. Before you know it all summer long, I'm getting all this cool shit in the mailbox every single day, you know, hats and a baseball bats, authograph and I mean, it was awesome.And what I learned later on was that's kind marketing. Like if you're putting yourself out there. Sure. Maybe teams like the Baltimore girls didn't send me anything. But the Yankee sent me, a ball signed by like 10 people, you know, and then maybe the Royals didn't send me anything, but the twins sent me,  this hat and scarf and winter jacket and shit like, you know, so it gave me an idea, like if you're out there, when I got in business, you can, don't worry about the no just keep going for the yes. Just keep going, just keep going. And that's what I would do. And I think it was a lesson at a very young age that I didn't really even catch. Do I have a lot of older that there is there's power in numbers. You know, the more that you're out there doing stuffthe bigger your results are going to be, and it doesn't matter how much you're doing.And then, then somewhere along the line I would say probably when I, after addiction, I really got into personal development, like real big, you know, like, I really liked what you said when we were off air, but, you know, to help with the scars, you know, and that really was, was the truth. I didn't even, I don't think I realized until you said that, but that was probably where to personal development came in.And I read a great book called the sales machine by Chet Holmes. And one of my favorite parts in there was about the dream 100. And what I would do is on the pizza world. We sold extra large  pizzas for $8.99, if you had a big order. So I went ahead and made the professor special $8.99 for the order five or more extra large pizzas.I've made that flyer. I shoved that ever under every single door and in every professor mailbox at Carnegie Mellon and the university of Pitt, and we had orders of 20 pizzas, a hundred pizzas, 75 pizzas, 160 pizzas. And I we would come in at nine in the morning, just start stretching pizzas for these giant lunches.And I mean, the professor special was like the biggest. Get the, there was, so there were so many things that I've done marketing. I really feel like on top of being the people person, I've always had a niche for the marketing. And I think that was where my cousin had hair salons and she always believed in me before I opened my own pizza shop.And she said, Nick, you can do it. You know how to market. And that's, you know, a huge part of business, like, and you're good with people. She's like, you've got to do for yourself. Like you'll be successful. And I think I'm. No, that was a lot of it. It's just believing in yourself.  George: Well, totally. I mean like this whole episodes so far, like when you really think about it, like, what you're talking about is like, you're just a walking marketing example. Like I tell people, my definition of marketing is a two way value based longterm relationship. Like that's it, that's marketing. It's a, I know you, you know me, we have a relationship let's go. And what you just said is something that I think is so prevalent where like you had pizzas, right? I tell people, you can either only innovate on product experience or customer experience.You probably already have the best pizza. You make it the best that you can. The pizza is not going to change. You have to choose change the wrapping paper like that. Professor special is genius. You're like, okay, cool. Well, I'm already doing it. How can I add personalization there? You change the title on a flyer and you slip it under speaking to your avatar. They're like, Oh, I'm a professor. I want five pizzas. Like, I it's like, it's so good. Like, what is your process behind like coming up with some of these ideas? Like, do you just like go meditate, you go for a walk or do they just hit you when they hit you? Do you like. Put it through a process or you're like, you know, this is an idea. I'm just going to try this and see what happens. But like, what's your process behind some of your crazy marketing stuff. Like, cause obviously you have the results to prove it, but I know you probably have thousands of ideas a dayNick: So there's a couple of different methods, you know, I'll be the first to say that if you see somebody else doing something that worksyou should probably try and do it too.Especially this day and age with the internet, you could see all over. People in different markets doing different things. So especially  if you've got a business zone in like pizza business, I've got, you know, I don't know, 500 to 1000 pizza friends all across the country. And, you know, with COVID, I would see so many good ideas that the pizza operators were doing during Covid and we would take that idea and just make our own. We went ahead and started doing pizza kids during COVID. And I would imagine at this point,  you probably have seen him where somebody. Saying, Hey, we're going to give you a no sauce, cheese and pepperoni, and you can take it home for 10 bucks and make it, make it a your place. Just different ideas that like those, like some we do copy, you know, we make, we make our own, but we take the idea and run with it. I think the other one is sometimes there's a, there's a need, you know, maybe we're sitting around like, okay, I'm salesmen down a little bit. Um, great example would be the last couple of weeks.This is perfect. This exact, what you're talking about. And we're, we're down a little bit because they shut down the restaurant completely. The governor did. And then they opened it up to 25% capacity to borrow the restaurant. So we just decided, Hey, we're gonna keep the restaurants close just to pick up and delivery. And I'm like, man, we're done a little bit. How can we pump something up? You know, what can we do? And we just want people to be talking about us. Cause that's what a lot of marketing is to you want people talking about you? How can we do that? And I said, okay, we're turning eight next, next month. You know, we're, we're going to have an eight year anniversary. I said  let's give away eight free pizzas for a year. And then, then we can send the press releases. We can have a contest, we can, you know, put it all over social media that we're giving away eight free pizzas. We're turning eight years old and I'm not just ate three pizzas, but free pizza for a year.Like, like let's enough to break your fast. Yeah. Yeah. I'll take it. Right. So, so that was the idea that we came up with two weeks ago and then we put it into motion, like right then and there. So I think you know, and now if we go on website and everything, it's everywhere about free pizza for a year, you know, your chance to win, enter, and win.But I think To answer your question that sometimes it comes out of neat. Sometimes it comes out of watching what other people do. And then I also think that there's a certain point where the, the mindset, the them meditating you know, I'm really big into, The book that changed everything for me, they went from five jobs to where I am now is think and grow rich book. And that's it just the mindset of, you know, not focusing on what you don't have, but focusing on what, what you do have or what you, you want to have and feeling it and touching it like you already have it now. And then that's kind of where some of those great ideas come in is like, You know, I wake up in the morning or wake up at three in the morning.I pen and pad next to my bed every night. And I'm just like, Oh, that's a great idea. If I wake up in the morning, little groggy and go through my gratitude, go to get up. I look over. I'm like, Oh cool. I had a great idea last night. Like there's a lot of things that like when you get into it, your subconscious there's a lot of things that you don't even realize are running through your mind and like ideas just pop up on no code.And what I've learned is not the question, the ideas. But to try them out and try them outfull, full tilt. And then I really am surprised sometimes when we try something out, I'm like, wow, that was like, well, totally.  George: I mean, like I'll use a Pittsburgh story. Like Vince Papale if he never went and tried out, he never would have been on the team, like never would have happened, like with the Eagles and all the football story. Like. You know what you nailed. Like, I call it those ideas. I call it intuition. Like when you give yourself the space, like you have wisdom, like you have clarity when you're not clouded by all that stuff. And, you know, to tie it back to what you said earlier, Really your belief in itself. It's not a belief in that it will work or won't work.That's not what matters. It's not about the finish line. Like I believe in self that I can try this, that I can put this in. I'm going to give it the licks. I'm going to give it the chance to win. Like if you give something oxygen.  It's bound to work. But what I love is that you're not like I'm changing my whole business model.I'm changing the recipe of the pizza. You're like, no, no, I have that. That's my control. I'm going to try this. I'm going to try to get more attention. I'm going to try to. Innovate on the experience. I'm going to get it in the hands of more people. Like I, I absolutely love it. And for those of you listening, if you haven't read, think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill, please do there's another thing on audible, you might enjoy.Um, they have his on, uh, his recorded lectures that weren't released in a book, but you can buy them on audible and it's all of his lectures, like when he was doing them in person. I think they're actually really, they're really good lessons for me after listening to both of them. And so the eight pizzas for a year thing is that you're giving away. A pizza for a year to eight different people.  Nick: Yeah. So basically the way it works is, um, the IRS is after 600 bucks, you've got to show it on your taxes. So we're giving a $599 and 99 cent gift card to eight different guys, and they can use it any way they want over the next year. That's kind of how we're doing it. You know, that's, that's the part of marketing, you know, another, I love that you love. The, the idea and the uniqueness marketing. So I'm going to give you another one of my favorite. You know, if you had to say, what's your top couple of favorite things you've ever done, this is one of my things. We, I have been feeling Facebook marketing since 2013, Facebook marketing so early, like I figured it out that if I had Facebook followers, it would translate into customers and I figured it out, you know, kind of a side story of how I figured that out.But anyway, from figuring that out, The radio station came out and they had a best pizza in Pittsburgh contest and you had to vote online. So I went ahead and I put paid Facebook ads together, got everybody to vote and we finished third, which may sound okay. Well, what would you do with finishing third? And this is where I, this is my favorite part right here. So the first two that won were institutions in Pittsburgh. They were pizza shops that had been around for years and years. And we had only been around maybe, maybe 12 months at this point. And I just took that and spun, as you know, WPXI the radio station named us best new pizza in Pittsburgh.We finished third, nobody told me we were the best new pizza in Pittsburgh, but the first two were there for 50 years. So we were the best new pizza in Pittsburgh and I took that best new pizza Pittsburgh, and I put it everywhere and I mean, I pounded and for a long time, Andthat's where, you know, that was in between store one in store two. And that's probably where the sales, we took from a $4,000 a week store to like a 20, some thousand a week store just in that first year. And a lot of those, you know, that was a huge part of it, but it's like, how do you play the words and marketing? It's so important.  George: Well, and, and that's, that's really what it is like. I think, you know, when you think, think about your marketing message, I love that. By the way you think about your marketing message, we're conveying the same message, but sometimes you have to change the order or change the language. Like sometimes it's not received in English, even though we intend it to be.And I think that's why like, Normally it's just like marketing to be successful. It's just communication. That works both ways. Right. And so if you have a marketing message and it's not working, it's not because of your product. Right? Like try something different, change the language, change the positioning, go after a pain point, go after a celebratory thing, you have to know your avatar.You have to know what they respond to. Right. And everyone's like, yeah, Everyone wants to try stuff that's new. And like, in my opinion, you should sure shit nailed it. Cause that literally was the best new pizza in Pittsburgh. Right? Like it's, it's awesome. The way that you spell it. That's amazing. I love your marketing brain by the way. I absolutely love how well you think about it and those ideas. Now, when you think about, because what I think is interesting is too, is that. You know, I talk a lot about product experience, customer experience, and I've helped local businesses, but I still, I do a lot of stuff online.  So when you think about your restaurants though, like knowing your marketing brain, knowing your people brain, like how do you think through customer experience? Like when you think through somebody comes into the store, what do I want them to feel? Somebody orders, delivery, like, do you do anything I don't need to ask? Do you, I know you do everything. For customer experience, but like, what are some of the things you do for customer experience, both like in store, in delivery intake, and then like with your marketing and messaging to have that experience with your store.So I think what's unique about everything that you said was, you know, I was a pickup and delivery pizza shop guy when I bought the restaurant and I'll never forget the very first day when I came out and there was a table with 12 and we were trying to figure out how to bring all the food out at once, how to wash the silverware.I'm like, Holy shit. I just bought a restaurant. Like, so it, I, I got to say man, we were really good at the message with the sales and marketing.   But man, we struggled with the service in the restaurant, you know the little things like we didn't have a host this one week open, so somebody would stand at the door for 15 minutes, get pissed off and nobody came up to him and left, you know, they'd finished your meal.And we weren't coaching the waitresses to go and grab their glasses, you know, quicker, get the refills quick enough offer, put their bill down at the end, like right away. Like not, um, you know, wait to put your bill down. Like it's okay to put it down a little bit. Hey, we're not rushing you, but here's your bill and your check if you need it, you know, like, and then checking back to see if it was there.Like we didn't know how to coach any of that stuff. So, you know, I always try to do that. The, the smartest thing I can is if I don't know something, hire somebody who does. You know, that's, that's my approach. So I brought in a great restaurant guy. Who's been with me six years now. He was a brew master, a bartender, a front of the house through and through he's now my beverage director for the whole company.He just came in as like my first bar manager, my first like real, uh, Haas, um, hospitality type guy. Andyou know, he helped us and I read a ton of books and I watched. A ton of bar rescue, and I don't care what anybody says about the yelling and screaming number of rescue, but there's a lot of great stuff in there.And I just really, you know, warmed it as like, I have to learn how, how this all works. So I thinkyou know, now we really try to just make sure that it's every touch restaurant somebody's there to meet, you know, and that, that's what a lot of it is that when somebody comes in the hostess is, you know, eye contact and a smile and, you know, That's what we try to preach is, a lot of it is about the smile, you know,to serve the best pizza we possibly can and serve with a smile.Like, you know, that, um, that's a lot of, a lot of what we try to do. We, we have a ton of meetings first Tuesday of every month is all the managers. Third, Tuesday of the month is upper management meetings. Every single Monday is all the general managers on a phone call. Um, zooms, a little too crazy for us, but  we do the phone call meetings and, you know, we go through all the numbers every Monday.And then the, the first Tuesday of the month with all the managers, we're talking about everything that what worked the month before what's coming on new. And then the upper management meeting is like our brainstorm, Hey, round table. What do you guys need? What do you think we should be doing? Where, you know, here's the direction I'm thinking, what are you, how can we get there? And you know, a lot of it is just the communication ofhow to achieve these things. But I think that's just kinda how it all wraps up. You know, that that's a lot.  George: Yeah. I think what you nail and I'm going to just, you know, disseminate this down is that when you've nailed culture, right? Like your customer culture, like everyone has a touch point. They have eye contact, they feel seen, they feel heard, they feel respected. They feel a part of the family. And then you foster an environment where your managers and your team members are open. It's not a dictatorship, it's a two way relationship.What can we do to get better? What do you need? How can we support you? Knowing that the undertow is you're like my job is to help my employees achieve their goals. And then they have the platform and the, and be like, Hey, Nick, we need to do this. We do this. Can we have this? And you guys foster this growth. And I think really like what I hear that I think is so important for her to take away is that. You never settle. Like there's not a day where you're like, we've made it right. Like we have it all figured out. You're like, Oh, what can I read? What can I do? How can I tweak it? How can I improve it? Hey, maybe I read something that I might want to do.I don't need it now, but I know it's a possibility. It changes the way. I think, like what I love that I hear in everything you say is that. Your a perpetual student in the business and  your focus is improving on your product, your experience, your customers, your team, and you're like willing to do whatever it takes to learn that, to figure it out, right?Like the game is the game is your finish line. You're playing it, you're playing it and you're playing it. And I don't know. I just think that's such a novel thing. I, and I have no. No shock in my body as to why you are where you are and why you do what you do. I mean, it's apparent how much you love people and how that comes up.I actually can't wait to fly to Pittsburgh and taste your pizza.  I bet you, I bet you every customer, I bet you have testimonials left and right where they're like. I can feel the family in this pizza. It feels like love with every bite. Like it, you get that when you foster that culture and that's so important in everything that you do. I absolutely love it. So I forget to do that every time, by the way. I always want to tell people to be getting where to find you. So I can say it multiple times and use some NLP, but I completely forgot at the beginning. I was so excited talking about pizza. So perfectly listening. Yeah. Uh, before we get into another question,  Nick has an awesome podcast. It's called the business equation podcast. He also wrote a book called the pizza equation, you know, like the world champion pizza team, everything like that. But, um, the best place to find Nick of course hit up his podcast on iTunes and Apple, but his website is www.NickBogacz.com.  And I wanted to say it now, cause we're going to say it again at the end, but I want to make sure you guys hear it once. Write that one down. It's I bet you, if you Google him, he's the only one you'll find. So Google would be your friend in this one, Nick Bogacz. I bet you can write like Nick B pizza world champion and find them too.But I want to, I want to close Nick with, with something we're going to end up having to do round two of this podcast. Cause I just want to rip your marketing brain out and give it. People multiple disseminations of it, but I have a, I have a question that's not about marketing, so there's a whole lot of people that have been home and cooped up for a couple of months. What are your best tips to making pizza at home?  Nick: Awesome. Yeah. Very good question. So I think it's really kind of caught fire lately. I think, you know, people are really. The grills have been really popular for for years. And I think then, you know, everybody was smoking everything for awhile, and I think you are starting to see a lot of home pizza chefs right now.And I can tell you some really simpletips, you know, you could go and find a great friend of mine is Tony Gemini. And he has a book called the pizza Bible. And if you want to know how to make any stop pizza at home, that's the book to bu. And then the secret that I will add to that is. When you make the dough. I think a lot of times people think you can make the dough in the morning and you can make the pizza at night. And a secret that I'll tell you is when you make the pizza during the day, that though rest in your, in your refrigerator for about the next three days. So on Monday, you can cook the dough on Wednesday or Thursday.At least two days, but really if you made it on Monday and cook, then on Thursday, your dose is going to be fantastic. That real nice bready, you know, won't be doing any Walton gets under Coke. It's just going to be a great bread flavor. So . Well, a lot of it's about dough, and a lot of it is, uh, you know, having the time for the no to really rise.And you know, it's funny, you said that, but being cooped up and everything, I went ahead andlast year we were in Naples, Italy for a competition. And, you know, the birthplace of pizza everywhere had the beautiful, gorgeous Naples ovens, you know, the Neapolitan style. And man,I need one of those. Like I never thought that I needed to make pizzas at home, like as much, but like, like I, I just felt like I was something that I saw that I needed.So early, early June, I went ahead and got a Neapolitan pizza oven. Put in and I'm in the backyard and it has just been the greatest gift. During COVID you know, whether it's just myself and our family cooking on it, or we do actually have not a gathering, but, you know,, my parents are come over, you know, the laws or something, a few people, and we just make some fantastic pizzas there, but. It's all about the dough. And I think you can use anything out of your kitchen as far as sauce and cheese, it's all preferred on your taste, but you really want to make a great, great dough, check out the pizza Bible and then give it enough time to rest.  George: I love it. I love it. Learning how to make pizza. I used to, by the way, I used to be a food blogger and I wrote a New York times bestselling cookbook.That was where I started in this whole game. Well, we'll have to cover that in another one, cause I really hate cooking by the way. But it was, it's a really interesting story, but  all of that and by the way, I've smoked pizza on my smoker and that's really good as well. But that dough, that Dough tip is, is legit. And there's lessons in that for entrepreneurs patients, you got to let things marinate. You got to let them live. You got to let them breathe. You gotta give them a chance to taste good. And I think that sums up this entire episode. So Nick, I'm going to give you a minute at the end, any closing words, any parting words of advice for everybody listening though?Make sure you go check out Nick, check out his podcast. I've listened to a couple episodes. I think they're great. He's had a few of my friends on and the website. I'm going to spell it again because I would need to hear it a few times for myself. So it's NickBogacz.com you can pick up his book, the pizza equation, which talks about like running a successful pizza enterprise. And I'm sure there's some nuggets. In there for business and marketing and mindset, then you have as podcast, which is the business equation podcast. And then you have Nick, the man himself, Leo checking out the website. So Nick, before we wrap any closing words for everybody, any words of wisdom, anything you want everybody to take away?Nick: You know, I think you could start anywhere that that's the thing, right? Like don't let your past to find you if, you know, if people, your listeners, if they're listening to George right now, they want fat, you know, and you're, you're doing a great job feeding them. And I think. you know, wherever they are, they can start. So, you know, today could be the first day of your new journey and don't let your past define you. And I think that's where a lot of people just get hung up thinking about every failure that they have and every thing that happened to them and everything they went through. And just, just remember that everybody starts up.Start somewhere. And I love when you start reading about, um, you know, whether it's actors or entrepreneurs or, or, um, you know, anybody that started their career late, you know, and everyone will talk guy. I think my favorite one is probably Colonel Sanders, you know, started KFC when he was like 60. Like, you know, it doesn't matter how old you are, you know, you can, you can start today. And I think that's that's a good message to bring out there is, you know, believe in yourself and, and anybody can start from anything.  George: Yeah, man, I love it. I can't even, I'm not going to add anything to that. I think that's so gold. And like you are a walking example of that, like set your focus and just start and go.And you'll figure it out as you go, you'll make adjustments and learn. So, man, it was an absolute honor and pleasure. I know we have many more in the can in the future. We'll, we'll be breaking pizza as soon as I start traveling again. And I can't wait to share. And so thank you so much for being here for everybody listening.Make sure you go check out Nick, check out his podcast, check out his book. And remember, I I'm sure I'm going to do an outro if I remember to do them, but if not remember that relationships, I always beat algorithms. Make sure you subscribe. Make sure you review. And I will see you guys in the next episode.

Welcome back to another episode of the crazy mind of George and today's is going to be a doozy. So ladies strap in to listen to this one, man, get ready to be put in your place. I have two of the most powerful women that I know in the world of digital media marketing, running companies, leading from the heart. First being moms, superheroes, super women. I don't know how they do it. I'm going to humbly sit by and take a lot of lessons today, but we're going to have some awesome conversations about story relationships, community, and how to best do that. So without further ado, I would love to welcome my two friends to the show. So Melanie and April, thank you for being here.  I know we're all going to talk over each other and it's just part of the fun. I think it would happen even in person, Melanie and I have done that to each other. We just start yelling at each other. It's all love. It's all love.It's all love. And  I'm into my first cup of coffee, so my energy will get greater and greater as we go because these 3:00 AM workouts are kicking my butt. And they're good. And let it be an integrity. I wake up at three 30. I get to the gym at three 45, but it's still got a three in it. So I call it 3:00 AM.See, as long as you guys say it counts, I'm good. I'm going to literally be teeing up conversations for me to get permission slips all day I'm like they said it was okay. They said it was okay. They said it was okay. So here's what I want to do. I love asking questions right out of the gate. And I'm going to put you both on the spot really quick and April, you're going to go first. So right before we started today, we were talking about,  April, you're coming up on like your five year anniversary of like when you launched your community, when you get into this. So my question for you is looking back over the last five years or even your entire career, what is the biggest mistake you've ever made in business? And what did you learn?April:   Well, probably two things I would say in sort of mistakes. One is kind of more broad scoped and the other, one's probably a little bit more tactical. But the broad scope one is feeling, and I still make this mistake to this day. So I'm still learning after 25 years of being an entrepreneur. But I would say the biggest mistake is just trying to rush the process.I'm a very impatient person when it comes to my own success and I get really. You know, like in a hurry, like why can't this happen? Like, go ahead and make this, you know, it's big visions, I'm a visionary. And I see these things that I know creating, and I want them to happen tomorrow. And I've been no way for 25 years, my entire career, you know, just knowing that there's a longer road in front of me, but wanting to constantly shorten the path.And I need to remember, and hopefully this will be, you know, helpful for others. If you're feeling that way. To really just enjoy the journey. You know, I teach around storytelling and so that's kind of the beauty of storytelling is enjoying the journey. And then you have the story to tell, but if we're rushing it all the time, which I tend to do in my own life, then you miss the story.You miss the lessons, right? So that's kind of the broad scope. One is I still to this day, catch myself doing that. And I constantly have to reign myself back in and just remind myself to enjoy the journey and pay attention to the stories, because those are the things that I need to learn so that I can go and share those with my audience.The more tactical thing that I would say that I've really learned. And this one I'm clear on, I wish I had hired help sooner. The faster, you can get some assistance and help in your business, even if it's putting your children to work for you, you know, or your neighbor, your babysitter, which is what I, how I started.I literally employed my babysitter first., and then just eventually have worked my way up to some employees. Now that has been crucial to free me up. To go and create and do more things actually create and do the things that I genuinely love doing and less of the things that totally bog me down. So if I could give a piece of advice to anyone, truly, no matter where you are, whether you're starting, you know, where I was five years ago, starting a brand new thing, or you've been at it for a while.You're kind of always going to tell yourself you can't afford it, you know, but you really can't not afford it. Getting help in your business. And that could be hiring coaches and mentors, and it can also be just hiring staff for virtual assistants, whatever it may be.  George: Totally. Yeah. Well, I think, I think, and we'll unpack that a little bit more once I asked Melanie, but I think, you know, it's what you said is you can't afford not.Not too, right? It's the, it's the trap, right? It's that stagnation that happens when we get there and by the way, for everybody listening and listen, I'm not a financial guy. I have one, but tax write offs, depending on what state you live in, you can employ your kids. I'd look it up. Google is your amazing friend. Check out those write-offs because there's nothing like putting family, child labor into a fact and teaching them lessons as we do it.  Like, but it's all love. It's all love. All right, Melanie,  you got the gap. You got the break, you know, what's coming. And I actually can't wait to hear yours, Melanie.So Melanie, when you think back. And just for everybody to give a little context, I'm going to let them share their story of like, how they've got into this and where they are. But Melanie came from a soul sucking industry into a heart centered industry. And so I am sure there are some lessons that came from being an out. I was talking about her being an attorney by the way, to now being where she is now. But Melanie, I would love to hear from you. And like when you look back, like, what do you think one of your biggest mistakes was? And what lessons did you learn? What do you carry forward with it now? Yep.  Melanine: This is not going to surprise you at all George cause you know me well, but the number one thing, I think if I could change things and I do believe like everything unfolds the way it should be, but they're self limiting beliefs.And let me just expand on that a little bit. you know, you, you grow up thinking you have of these character traits. And in fact, I was just talking to someone about this yesterday, cause I don't identify myself as a creative and she sort of stopped me in my tracks and said, Oh my God. Let me tell you 50 ways. You're creative, right? So you jump into these labels and those labels can create a lot of doubt and you start thinking, or at least for me, you start thinking I'm not good at this. I don't have a background in this. I don't have a degree in this. And what am I doing in the commerciall food industry as the former corporate and securities attorney.I mean, there's just, there's a lot to unpack there. But those beliefs in those doubts, really, it may still do it. I have not perfected this. They get in my way. And that doubt such a killer, right? I mean, it's such a, it slows you down and mindset is everything and a business, especially as an entrepreneur, because you get tested every single day. You know, one of my mentors in this industry says working in the food business is like getting slapped in the face and then hugged every day. And you're just hoping for more hugs than slaps. And that could be, I mean, that's so true, right. But if you don't have your head on straight and if you can't like look through all those doubts and go, you know what I was the corporate securities attorney. And now I own a food company. Like if I can do this, I can do anything. And so can you and I speak to a lot of women because our customers are primarily women and, you know they really identify with that belief, that fear of, Oh, but this is what I went to school to do. And this was my path.And you got to get out of that. And this is coming from someone who's super risk adverse, which by the way, doesn't go hand in hand with being an entrepreneur. But that's what they teach you as a lawyer is to spot risk and avoid them. So that those beliefs, you know, those doubts, those restrictions that I've put on myself, It really, it takes a lot to get there through them, but once you do, and once you build that, you have those little wins that build the confidence that you get.I mean you can always things start snowballing as George likes to say that you get momentum and then you get that confidence and it grows, but anybody who's experiencing that self doubt or. I don't have the training that allows me to do X. I mean, I'm just a perfect example of why you should just throw that belief out the window.George: So I and Melanie, and just for context guys Melanie and me and her husband and, and our, our families are friends. We're business partners. We know each other really well. So it's kind of really easy for me to pry the lid off of this one. And Melanie, I've had some deep, deep talks about this, cause both of us share a lot of.Similarities when it comes to mindset, but I think what's really important, Melanie. And I just remember this distinction. You talk about that doubt in your brain and like how it's there. I think there was also a big point. You and I had a conversation where we both acknowledge and accept that it never goes away. We just become aware of it. So now I know, like, you know, we're in the middle of, you know, craziness in the world and we're doing it. And I know there's times that thing creeps in. So how do you handle it now? Like how do you become aware of it? How do you mitigate it? What do you do to put into practice or shift it the other way? Like, I was just kind of love to hear your process.  Melanie: Absolutely. And I think if you don't shift it, it is the slippery slope of just going downhill.  So that doubt creeps in all the damn time. I mean, I think that any entrepreneur would tell you that, but for me, the awareness was step one. Right. And George and I, we did have really in depth comments.I think I actually cried, which I never cry. Like but just really figuring out where some of these and unpacking where these limited limiting beliefs came from was pretty powerful for me. So you gotta do that work. I think it's not only recognizing them. It's figuring out why they're there.For me personally, I had some, I had a lot of experiences, a kid is being picked on by other girls and bullied, and I don't think I realized the effect that had on my life. And the limiting beliefs that caused and all the confidence issues. And so really unpacking that and going, Oh crap. Now I see why I've developed the propensity to feel X or Y or do Z.And so when  it comes up, I pause and it is really that moment where I pause and I go, this is that ego or that belief, and it's popping up. And I take some really deep breaths and it sounds corny, but it is just a way for me to reset. Cause if I don't do that, it will just keep crumbling in, you know, I'm someone who I can get really anxious about finances, which by the way, if you own a startup or any kind of business like that, obviously all the damn time.So if I don't take that moment to just stop and pause and like, be aware and then go, okay this is coming up. I know it's coming up and now I get to pivot. And then I just think about something really freaking positive. And for me, like I'm a dancer, so it might be like a dance choreograph going through my mind.Literally, that sounds cheesy, but I have to switch it up to be able to turn it off and then I can just kind of plug through my day. Now I do a lot though, too, to work with this. I met, I exercise all the time.  I'm just now starting to focus on breath, actually your recommendation on the book I'm currently reading. And I think all that goes into it. It's not just something you can do. Like, Hey, we'll just recognize that limiting belief and then stop it. It takes practice. Yeah. But I think if you don't practice, then you'll sabotage yourself or at least that's my experience.  George: Yeah, no, I love it. And just the book that she's referencing, by the way, it's called Breath by James nester. If you've done breath work, or if you wonder about a lot of the stuff in the world I highly recommend reading this book. It kind of blew my mind on how much we have de evolved as humans from, inappropriate breathing, not chewing foods the right way and the effect that it has on our physiology, which then affects our performance. It's  mind blowing. And just, if everybody wants to try this cause Melanie's in my mastermind and we do breath work a lot, you know, like intra-nasal breathing things like this, but I thought that was enough. Now when I do two workouts a day, I literally. Cover my mouth or keep my mouth shut the entire time.And I challenge every, I try to go for a 45 minute walk and breathe through nothing but your nose and have some tissues for like the first five minutes. Cause you're going to detox some stuff out, but it's really powerful, like what it does to your body inside. And so before I get into anything deep on your pass, I have a question for both of you, because I think it's really prevalent and. Idon't know and April, I think it probably comes up in storytelling a lot. So you build community through the power of story. And then Melanie, you use your story to empower women to take action. But I think there's this, and I don't know, I'm not a woman, obviously. So I'm leaning into you guys on this one.I think it's really easy just to accept that, like women tell stories and they want to be emotional and they want to put it out there where like, Guys don't right. And I see this all the time. I see this all the time. Cause like I'm not going to be authentic. And then we just have like this expectation, but I want to know from you guys, when you're going through your journey is when you're in your stories and you know that these stories share and they inspire and they empower, how do you walk that line of like, is this intimate or is this authentic? Like, does this belong out there or does this belong in here? And it's kind of like that barometer, like how do you guys dictate? Like what gets shared to the world? Is it going to be positive impact? And so April, I kind of love to hear your thought process on this one, because I think it's prevalent across the board, but I would love to hear from your perspective.  April: Yeah, that's such a great question because I actually think that women still struggle with this. Quite honestly, even though we are more prone to storytelling and we're probably more prone to kind of sharing our stories with each other versus men, to your point, they still, we still have this filter that we run everything through of what are other people going to think. You know, what, if I'm not enough?What if my story doesn't matter? What if it doesn't have an impact or what if I scare the crap out of somebody that tell them they'll my truth. You know, so I think that we still have this really huge filter that women and this is really what I try and love to do at light Beamers is try to help women walk through that filter and get on the other side of it so they can share their story very boldly and brightly and in a positive way. For me I have found that I know when I'm hitting the story, either for someone else or even myself, when there's emotions. And when there's real vulnerability and Bernay Brown, you know, of course talks about vulnerability at length and with great brilliance.And I, you know, couldn't agree more that when we are tapping into that thing into our stomach, that just makes us feel so, you know, fearful of what are others going to think, or what if this is too much or what if it's not enough. And all of those, what ifs, those are really like powerful things to pay attention to.And that vulnerability is usually a signal that you're tapping into your truth and that truth should be shared. It's not too much, it's not sharing, things that are not appropriate. It's sharing honesty, your truth your real power or what the light that I'm, you know, think that our stories hold, I just had a call with a client who kind of like she's a podcaster and she has an episode coming out literally tomorrow. And two days ago after she finished recording it, she gets on SOS with me. And she's like, I am freaking out because I just shared some stuff on this recording and I don't know what to do.I think I need to erase it or delete it. And I was like, don't you dare because what you're feeling right now, Well, once you release this on Wednesday and you turn around and see the reaction it's going to get from your audience there, you're going to draw so many people closer to you because once you share your truth, it gives someone else permission, or at least takes a step towards sharing their own.And so it's just, it's the thing that builds us up in community. It's the thing that connects us. And so it's vulnerability that real pit in your stomach that. This makes me so nervous, but here's the real barometer. Ask yourself if not sharing it is an option, right? Are you going to feel suffocated and silenced and muzzled? And like, Oh my gosh, like a raging tiger in a cage.If you do not share that story. And the answer is, yes, you really know that's the story that needs to be shared.  George: I love it. I love it. Yeah. I have a, I want to unpack that, but now, I want to hear your thoughts on this one as well. And just to be clear, like I'm not saying that men and women do it differently, but we, in my experience looking, and I'm sure you guys can see this the way in which it's approached, like storytelling, doing marketing, like for whatever reason, it's seen different and there's different expectations. And I feel like the playing field needs to be leveled. It needs to be human.  Not, you know, man woman masculine, feminine, boom. Like it just needs to be human. Like story is everything and our voice and our story is what creates possibility for other people. And so, yeah. So Melanie, I would love to hear your thoughts on this one, because you are doing an amazing job of sharing your story and you unpack it piece by piece, but how do you feel about this?Melanie: Well I come from a really weird perspective because, cause I, you know, and I'm not trying to label myself, I've always been and described as a pretty unemotional at least outwardly woman. I mean, I was career woman at a big law firm and you know, any of showing any emotion and work just gets kind of beaten out of you. Like, you know, don't ever let them see you cry was the advice I got on day one. and I went through two pregnancies at that law firm. And I remember like crawling under my desk because like the hormones are asking, you know, acting up, but I'm like, I got release. I can't let anybody see me. And so after several years of that, you start hardening  and I really have experienced that.And I think the issue with that is it made me a little bit less relatable to a lot of other women because I'm not emotional. You know, my husband always tells me like, God, your emails are really direct. You're going to offend people. And I'm like, Oh, my God. I'm not trying to be offensive. I'm just kinda like that. Get to the point, you know, give me the facts. Cause that's what I, that's what I learned. I've always been very driven and come from a family that really pushed, you know, make good grades and be very driven and get to the top. And so it has taken the last couple of years when I, for the first time experienced personal development work and emotional IQ.And I really, I didn't have much, and it very eye opening for me to be like, Holy crap. I actually don't have any problems sharing my story, but it is, it's usually very fashionable, so it's not in a way that people can relate to. So I remember George went one of, maybe one of the first times it was at your mastermind. When I had talked about some of my experiences at it as a child and you either turned to me or Zeke, I can't remember Zeke told me, or you did. And you were like, Oh my God, look at how she says that there's no emotion to it. It's just like very factual. And that landed, you know, I'm like, Because I want to be relatable because of my story to help other women. and they can see how Jgenuinely passionate and I am about powering other women and making sure nobody's left out and inclusivity and propping other women up. I mean, that is really what I stand for. So if that isn't not coming across, like that's doing myself disservice, cause I am so passionate about it.So I think for me, I've had to take some steps to try to like, peel back the layers and put the wedge in cause some cracks and come out a little bit and it's taken some work. It's taken some really hard emotional work and I'm still doing it, but I'm committed to it because I do want to be related relatable and feel that people see me as being authentic rather than just like, you know she's not really feeling it. So is it real or what is she talking about? So I'm a working progress, I guess.  George: Yeah. Well, I think we all are right. I think that's the point of all of this. I know April is going to be like, that's power of story, document the process.  I love it. And the thing I'll say Melanie is, I don't think, I think there's a difference between being direct and being disconnected. Like I love the directness, like emotionally grounded, connected people are direct. I mean, you know, my wife, I love how direct she is most of the time, except for when I'm off the rocker and it like cuts through my soul and I have to let go whimper in the corner and I'm like, Oh, I'm such a bad little boy. And that had nothing to do with it, but I have to go work through that now. And then I go to the gym at 3:30 in the morning to get it out. I smashed weights to get rid of it. And so when, when you think about this for both of you, what I love and you both kind of tapped on this, right? I think and April, when you were talking about this, like really checking in and getting your story, when you get that pit in your stomach and you have that.I think that's the difference between sharing your authentic voice and creating a voice. And I think what we see a whole lot of now is we see a whole lot of check boxes when it comes to marketing and business, right? Like I'm supposed to say this, I'm supposed to post this. It's supposed to look that way.And on paper, the recipe looks like it would succeed and we all get the phone calls. It's not working. Nobody's responding. And so what are some of your gauges April? Like, how do you feel when you get into story? Like I said, a couple of years ago, and I think I live this way. I'm like life happens in the messy details, so fuck it. I'm sharing it and that's just what it is at this point for me. And that's been kind of my therapy, but there's also been times on the other side where I'm like, okay, I can't do it unless it looks  this way or this way. Cause everybody's doing it this way. And so how do you navigate that April? Like how do you look at like what to share when to share how to be like you versus like what world wants or what are your thoughts on that? When it comes to putting it out into the world?  April: Well, I think for marketing and branding, right? Which a large part of this audience is probably interested in that topic. There's definitely a piece of you that wants to show up on brand and on message and polished and the things that were taught and is attractive. And I believe we also can share that behind the scenes, pull the curtain back and be real. And so I don't think I don't really subscribe to a philosophy. It needs to be all one way or another. I believe in some sort of balance. Sort of teach a formula to my clients about  T I C S and I'm like, look just create content and share with your audience stories that can teach andinspire connect and sell or think of sharing instead of selling and selling makes you nervous.And so if you show as the branding person, the expert in your field, you can teach, you can share high value and share the brand message and then you're inspirational and you're connecting content and posts and emails and marketing can be more of like behind the curtain. Like, look, I'm just going to share with you April instead of like light Beamers.I'm just going to be who I am today and share with you and maybe share some of my fears. Share with you something that I'm experiencing right now that feels like a failure. Something that isn't as pretty and can be in the messy middle. It's not really polished and ready for that brand statement and it's going to go out on the website. But it can still be part of who I am. I am. And so I think it's important. This is just what I subscribed to. I think it's important that not only like brands and solo preneurs and entrepreneurs and small businesses, but I would really love to see larger corporations and organizations doing this more.There are a few out there that I think do it really well, but I still think by and large our culture in this country subscribes to the former. Like we've got to be buttoned up and polished and we can't really show our cracks because if we show our cracks, no one will trust us and want to hire us. I'm thinking it's really the opposite. If you went to show your cracks and show that you're human, they're going to fall in love with you even more and they don't even care what your prices are at that point. They're going to choose you over the RSP,they just got in the mail. We write our email, whatever. So I just. I wish we could. And Hey, it's good. It's a sign that I can be around for a while. Teaching what I teach, because there's plenty of people that still need to learn.  George: Not when we're doing an April, we're doing it. We don't have to wish we're doing it. And just for everybody wondering RFP is request for proposal. Just we're throwing around like corporate lingo over here. Nobody's going to start dropping like contract names. I just happen to know some of them. So yeah, no, I think I absolutely love that. And when I think about it, I agree by the way, there's very few big brands and things that I see, like put the human in marketing. But at the end of the day what I think most people forget, like sales is a transference of energy, right? Which means in order for a sale to happen, it has to be human to human, which therefore marketing is just a human being, showing up authentically to attract another human being. And then that's what allows the possibility for it to happen.And yeah, I think. I think too. And Melanie, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Cause you've evolved so much when it comes from like business, like you literally went from basically they told you be a man in a man's world as a woman, and I'm like, Hey, all of you go shove that shit down your fucking throat, quite frankly. And I'll kick you in the shins, right? Like that's part of the problem with your toxic masculinity. Bullshit. I'm sorry, that's another podcast Stephanos and I'll do it later.  it's coming, but when, what, when you think about that you were in that world and he, like, you have this voice, you have this, like, you're a mother, you're a powerful woman.You want to empower other women and you transition out and you came from the old boys club and then you had to kind of transition over and it's been a process I'm sure. How have you felt on that, because what I love about you that I see from the area outside is that you're not afraid. Sometimes you tell me you are, but I don't really believe you.You're not afraid to like, document your journey and go through that growth process. So how has it been for you versus like in the beginning when you were like, I'm, non-emotional, don't cry, don't be here to like, Hey, here's who I am piece by piece, I'm working towards it. Like, how does it feel? Does it feel different? Is it inspiring to you? Are you getting into that momentum? I would love to hear your thoughts on that.  Melanine: Yeah, it's been liberating for me. Just to go back where  when I was interviewing to work at the, this big law firm, which was a great job, I'm not bashing the law firm, but I remember. Being like, Oh God, I have to put on my resume that I studied abroad. And I was actually scared to do that because I was like, Oh, they're not gonna want to see that they're going to want to see like total dedication student government law review all this stuff. And then when I got there, as it turned out, most of my conversations in that interview, cause you interviewed with 10 people when you're going to a big law firm was about that period of time.And most of them said to me, God, I wish I would have done that. I was so concerned about what my resume looked like. I wish it would have done that. And look, that didn't flip me right then. I mean, there were still so worried about telling people you got pregnant. I remember I was so scared to just tell people it really it is an old boys club.It's still the case, even though. Things are evolving and it's been better. And I had some really strong female mentors at that firm for the most part. It's a good old boys club. It was in Texas. It was very conservative. So anyhow  you see a lot of that. So when I stepped out of that and dove head first into this.I was like, I'm going to become the anti-corporate  no more pantyhose. I'm not wearing a suit. We are going to have fun every day. A lot of our marketing is  cheeky and sassy. Cause I could never be that way at the law firm. I had to be very serious and professional. I'm still professional but I have to have fun. Otherwise, why am I doing this? So I think. For me, one of the first things we did, it was really spend a lot of time identifying our core values. Our number one core value is empowering women. Like every, everything that I post, I look to our list and go, does it meet one of these and it's not like I'm checking it and really worried about it.But my most recent example I'll give you, cause this is totally fitting here is. There was this, or may still be going on this Facebook challenge for women, you had to be invited by another woman to post a picture of yourself. And it was this women's empowerment, social media thing. And  I mean, talk about when you talked about ticks, I thought you meant like those triggers.I was like, what about all the women who don't get an invite? And I was pissed and I had to like, Step back and go, okay, I have to write a post about this because I am feeling very emotional about it and it's strong. And when that happens, I really do want to write about it because that's important for me in my growth process.But I also realize that the feelings I had were the antithesis of the reason for the post. it was supposed to be women's empowerment. And I really had this struggle of  am I going to be seen as this person who's bashing, what's supposed to be a great thing because I have this issue with the fact that it doesn't apply to all women.And ultimately, I just, couldn't not say anything like you were saying April. I had to say something about it.  I wrote an invitation to everybody in the world to post that. Cause I was like, you don't even invite, I don't want you to be sitting at home, waiting for an invite and feel like. You're not included.And so for me, it's, those things are very powerful and it's therapeutic for me to write that go through the process of writing the post that I did and actually put it out there and how it's going to be received. But I am my brand and  not everybody's going to love me, but what was interesting about that experience is I had about 10 women text me personally and say, Oh my God, I read your posts. I felt the same way. I just didn't want to post about it. There is so much power in that, like these women off the hook and there's nothing wrong with not saying anything, but how cool that there were people out there who related to me. So that is kind of, you know, I wish there was more of a formula.George: This is why I'm so stoked to have both of you, like leadership is an active role. There's no passive leadership, right? Like we are either,  evolving or we're dying. We're either progressing or regressing. And so Melanie, I love that. The formula is to show up and you said something. And what I loved about what you said is you were like, there was a point where I was like, I just have to fucking say something, right? Like that is leadership. Like that is authenticity.  And knowing, and the second part that you see said, and I don't care whether you're a man listening as a woman, listening to this, a business, an entrepreneur. Just starting or all the way up. You can never, and I mean, you can never turn down the volume of your voice and expect a positive result ever. It is a guaranteed success for failure. And so Melanie, I'm fucking proud of you. And I saw that post by the way, and I read it, but it actually like, I'll give you a perfect example.And I think both of you will appreciate this. Like we're in a car. There they are. It's all right, we got dogs. We got kids. We don't edit any of this out. This is unscripted. I told you guys, you don't want to get plugged into my real brain, but this is a little of the craziness that happens in there.Melanie knows more than anybody. We've had some tears. We've had like some brother and sister, like I fucking lie. Hey, love you. It's amazing. But this morning, I was sitting here and I meditated this morning. And like, we're talking about a lot of stuff. We're talking about authenticity. We're talking about our voice. We're talking about how to show up in the world, how to make a difference in people's lives, how to empower women, how to empower men. And this morning I was triggered as shit. Like I was triggered. I went to the gym, I got the workout out. I'm sitting here and I made the mistake of logging in Instagram before I did my journaling.And I see some state of the world and somebody responded to me and they're like, don't send me all this stuff. It's bullshit. And I was like, okay, got it. And then I was like, Oh, and my brain was running on, like, you can't be a leader with blinders. You can't pretend it doesn't exist. Oh, you have to. And like every part of me, and I mean, every part of me wanted to write this post and be like, you need to do this and you need to do this and you need to do this. And then like, I really sat with it and I was like, I need to do this. I need to do this. And I ended up writing a post about where I get to change in leadership, where I get to go deeper, where I get to go into the dark and where I get to explore those different things.And I think it's really powerful for everybody listening this to be as connected to yourself as possible and start to understand and learn your barometer. Like what that thing is.  I wrote an email about this. I think Melanie you read it? We have two choices. We can either be a thermostat or a thermometer.And our job is to be a thermometer. Because the thermostat just tells you what's happening, it posts out. It's a part of the problem. It's like, Oh, it's cold. Oh, it's hot, but it can't do anything about it. But a thermostat like, Oh, it's cold. Let me turn it up a little bit. Oh, it's hot. Let me turn it down a little bit.And I think it's really powerful. So Melanie, I'm proud of you for posting that and for writing that ending in that do you, either of you ever find it challenging? Like when you're. Like Melanie, for example, like you were triggered in April, you help people uncover parts of their story and you teach storytelling.Do you guys ever find it challenging when you get that, like pit in your stomach or something you want to share to like put it out there? Like, how does it feel? Do you just. You're like, I dunno, April, if you're like me, you're like, screw it. I feel it I'm shipping it. And Melanie like gets to a point where she's just boiling over and she's like, absolutely not.And I know Melanie like yells at herself too. I love it. It's like, but like, what's the hardest part I'd like, would love to know like what the hardest part is about like sharing your story or breaking through or sharing some of those things April. Like what's the hardest part for you in that. And then how do you overcome it? Because I know there's a lot of people myself included that still to this day, I write a post and I'm like, I can't, I just, I just can't write. And then like, I do this funny thing where I'll literally hit post and I'll run away and workout for two hours. I'll turn my phone off. I won't do anything. And my gauge is if I come back and I don't have any text messages, it was a good post. If I have a, are you okay? What the fuck did you just post to my, Oh, I should probably go read that again, but I would love to know your thoughts on that April.  April: You know, it's funny. I spent a good portion, really the first half or frontload of my career interviewing people. And so my job was to be a bystander and emotionless similar to an attorney apparently.To be emotionless and just be a vehicle with that story could be shared. And so I spent so much time and energy pouring into other people's stories. When I started building my business and especially using social media and, building my brand, so to speak online, it was really funny to me that I was like, Oh, I actually have to start sharing my story now. No one's ever interviewed me to find out how this works for me. And that has been such an interesting thing because suddenly I could more deeply relate to my own clients now who I've been like, Oh shit, what's the big deal. Come on. These are the things that matter, like let's do it, right. Like I just think let's just, it's out there.Let's, it's, you know, I know the magic that the story holds for other people, and I've always been focused on the audience what they're going to get out of it and what it can do for the person who shares that story. but when I actually had to start doing this myself and really tapping into my own vulnerability, It was hard as hell and it still is.Something that even though on a so-called storytelling expert or that I do this, and I've been doing this for 25 years, plus doesn't mean I'm immune that I just get a free pass and that it's really easy. And so it's those same things we've been talking about when I get that pit in my stomach.When I feel that vulnerability, when I feel my emotion.I have to examine it. And I just, I try to say, is this useful? I have a motto that when we share our stories, we shine a light. And I just think to myself, if I share this, would it be helpful for someone else? And if I can kind of run it through that barometer, then that's my free pass to share.Even when I don't have it all figured out, it might be a little messy. It makes me extremely nervous and so that has given me free given me freedom to share my story more, even though I'm still applying my own technique to myself, to pull out my own stories, to share if I can run it through and say, Hey, this is at least what's coming up for me right now.You know, maybe if I share this one, other person would benefit from it. And if so, then I just give myself full permission to share. There are still pieces of my story that I'm struggling with. There are pieces of my story that I've never shared. I mean, I've shared with. You know, confidant and my husband and people in my family close friends, but I have not made those known publicly. And, you know, I'm keeping like a little running tab, like, okay. You know, one day April, you've got to, you've got to get up the nerve to share those stories because I've already run them through the barometer. And I know that they actually would benefit someone else.But it takes guts. So share your story. And it takes bravery. I did a whole symposium this last year with women and it was all about stepping into your brave and we have to step into our brave to share these moments in our life that feels so scary. It feels scary to share what we're really thinking inside. So some days I went at that and some of them I'm still working on.George: I'd say that you always win, by the way, just so you know, and I don't, you said something you're like, Oh, I'm keeping a tally because I haven't shared. But then, because it requires me to be brave. You're already fucking brave. Stop. Stop. Yeah. Come over there and kick you in the shin. Like you're already brave stop. I was like, that was literally like the longest stretch hose. Most passive, like put yourself down. I'm like, no, you're such a powerful person. I do have a question about that though. When you said shared, it helps somebody else, do you ever share, because it just helps you like your journey, your post and your process.  Melaniel: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's probably the second part of what I would say about when you share your stories. You shine a light that light shines for someone else and little secret sauce, it's shines  for you, the brightest, right? It shines for you the brightest. And so then like, Our stories are healing that's why sharing the story can be the most healing thing that you could ever do for yourself, regardless of what it does for someone else, because you will get such clarity and peace.Andyou said something earlier about when you were sharing your story and learning to kind of break free of your life of the attorney and being, you know such, you know, never share your story, never let them see you cry and sweat. And you used a word that you used to describe it, which was liberating.And that is really such a freeing feeling to feel liberated. And so we can get liberated from our own chains that years of storytelling has been holding over us from things in our childhood, things that we've experienced relationships that we've had. If we can break those chains free. Then that's, what's waiting for you on the other side of sharing that story, right? So yeah, it can be about your audience and yes, it can grow your brand and yes, it can help you bring in money to your business. And yes, it can help you do all those things, but more importantly, more than anything else, it will show you what you're capable of and how powerful you are. Just because you owned that story. You learned to harness the power of your own story. At that point, instead of letting the story have power over you.George: That's stuff, that's the mic drop moment when you take it out of your brain and put it into the world, it neutralizes the charge. So, yeah. And it's something we all talk about. We all have stories. And April, I think you nailed something that. Is so it's like this broken paradigm in the world of life. Like not even business and entrepreneurship life that like, somehow there's a finish line, right? Like, Oh, I shared my story. It's gone. Or I won the race so I can sit on the couch and be a fat ass for the rest of my life. Like, no, like I think I referenced this a lot. Cause Joseph Campbell obviously put this in the hero's journey. And I think everybody misses the fact that after you slay the dragon, there's still another step. And they missed that one where you have to go back and teach the village. And then when you're done, another journey starts and the dragon gets bigger.  Melanie: It's a new level of next devil, right? I mean, you're right. It's like you break through to one layer and then guess what? There's a whole another storyline waiting on you that you've got to go in and break through that one too. So it's a never ending process, but it's a good process because that's part of personal development and growth.  Melanie: Totally. So Melanie, I have a question for you. So now that you're on the other side of this, right? When you're went from vampires to like, heart-centered like giving life, right? Like we'll pick our analogy.What was the hardest part, because I know there's a whole lot of people here that are listening that hear this, like I have a brand, but I've never shared my story. Or I am sharing that story. The one that everybody wants to hear.  So, Melanie, what I would love to hear from you is like, what was the hardest part for you?And then how did you step through that? Because obviously it wasn't an overnight thing where you're like, okay, I went from lawyer to, I'm going to run a CPG food company. And like you have those values. And just because you define the values, doesn't mean like every day you're like, I'm going to go dance on camera today. I'm going to go on Instagram. I remember when we met, I was like, yo, goon camera,  go. And I think I challenged him, like, go live if ever do for 30 days or we're not going to be friends. I make these like completely empty threats all the time. Cause I don't really know how else to make them, but I was like, just do it.So what was the hardest part for you? And then now that you've shared your story and you're documenting your process, like, how has it changed your thinking on like how you show up in the world and how you show up on social?  Melanie: Yeah. I mean, honestly, and this may be, this is going to sound very simple, but the hardest part for me was allowing me to be myself.I mean, I had this thought that I needed to portray this image of a leader and that meant professional and serious. ThenI knew I was getting away. I knew I didn't have to wear a suit anymore, but I just had this belief that people gonna buy my product if I'm really myself and are they going to think I'm serious? All of these  questions were going around in my head. And so it took a while to migrate over to I can be totally fine. Making a total ass out of myself on any. Social media posts, or even though it still scares me to go on and basically live. I don't know why. I mean, I can talk in front of a room.No problem. But you put a phone with really could be no one on the other end in the, , it starts and I'm like, ah, I'm. So it's funny how that works, but it was really just giving me permission. Like it's okay. It's okay to be myself and. What I was finding as the more and more I would do that. And I would be authentic and I would share things.It's kind of like when you're a teacher and you're in the room and someone's afraid to ask a question, but it turns out 10 other people have that question. I mean, same thing. I would start posting about things that were personal and people would actually engage with me like, Oh, I'm really having that issue.  How did you combat it? And I realized that this stereotype of a leader that I had learned and had been sort of ingrained in my mind for so long maybe isn't wrong, but it just wasn't me. It just wasn't me. So when I was not offensive or when I was trying too hard or when I was not being myself, which by the way is how I felt my entire career at the law firm. I just didn't feel like I'm right then I didn't really feel satisfied. I mean, I didn't feel fulfilled and  for me, I get grounded every day and my mission of helping other women. But if I am not being authentic, it almost, it's like a can't. I can't achieve that balance where I feel like I'm making progress and really honoring what's important to me.So I would say. That would be the hardest thing. I mean, it's, it goes back to those limiting beliefs, like get out of your own way. Like who cares if you look like an ass or, you know, for me I'm such a perfectionist, like if I've words misspelled it post healthcare. So it's really just been dealing with that. I bet, I guess.  Geroge: Yeah. Oh whatever we want to call it. I mean, we could put labels on all of this all day, right? Like the unattachment being the final goal of all of this before I forget, by the way, guys, I'm loving this conversation so much. I normally tell people where to find you in the beginning of the episode.So I'm just going to seed it now, cause we're not done, but April, would you mind sharing for everybody the best place to find you to learn more about storytelling, how to get into your world and community? Yes, I'm pretty easy to find mine my brand is light Beamers.. And I have a community on campus, Facebook, a private Facebook group called the light Beamers community. And that's probably the best easiest, and it's freebest place, easiest place to join me and just start learning some of the things that I teach in there. Plus it's all about community. Because I'm really big on getting more women to share their stories. And so I've just created a platform for them to have a safe place to do it.You know, like it's scary to do this for the first time, if you've never shared your story before. And we have a lot of examples in our world of being attacked and criticized for our words. And the light Beamers community is a place where you can come and never be criticized or attacked. For exploring the power of your own voice. So I would say join there first and yeah. If you want to learn more about what I do and what to offer, you can go to light beamers.com.  George: I'll say this too, the worst place to be as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, as a human is in an echo chamber alone, nobody in their corner. So the more places that you can find yourself aligned with the mission, like Benjamin Hardy talks about this and personalities and permanent, right?Like you have to envision who you want to be. If you want to be that person that wants to share your story, be around people that shared their story. If you want to be that. $10 million business owner be around people that have built it, been there or are there. And so you are future pacing yourself to get there.So go check out April's group and then Melanie, let's talk about it. Where does everybody find you?  Melanie:  Also you can find me on social mainly Facebook and Instagram and it's Empact bars,  EMPACT bars. And then I also have a private Facebook group for women only, sorry, dudes, just for us, which is out there, women. And then you can find me@impactbars.com. If you're interested in our products, we've got, we're a natural snack food company for women, but we're mission based. So my passion is helping women. And a variety of ways.  George: just full disclosure. I am a partner in that company and if you don't go support, Empact bars, I'm not going to support you. There's one of those empty threats again.but I will sayI'm so for those of follow me, I'm doing at high speed daddy, one of our other companies, I'm doing this 75 hard challenge that Andy Frisella put together, Melanie is in the middle of two. What day are you on Melanie? 14 14. I think I'm on day 36 today.And so for everybody, what is that? It's two 45 minute workout today. It's 10 pages of reading a progress picture every day, a gallon of water, and thenno cheat meals and no alcohol basically as the whole thing. And so I'm dialing in my macros and I've never paid attention before, but I'm actually just trying to get into this.And it's almost impossible because I'm an adult, I'm an adult. Addict to condiments, right? Like Manet's number one, olive oil number two, creamy Buffalo sauce number three. And I realized I was knocking down like 300 grams of fat a day and they're healthy fats, but when I'm eating those with carbs,  I have a lot of energy, but not really anything else moves on the scale. My body, my pants tend to get a little bit bigger. And so I've been playing hang with it, but we made it this new product and God, I don't even remember when I had it for the first time, but we have this trimmed down shake at impact and it is a cinnamon sugar dream donut in your mouth, especially when you make it right.So for everybody listening, I want you to go get this trimmed out. Shake, go to EMPACTBARS.COM We have bars too, but this shake will change your life. Get get the powder two scoops with 12 ounces of macadamia nut milk, and a banana with some ice cubes. Absolutely mind blowing. You're welcome. I'm just, you can thank me in advance. You're welcome. Go get it. That's it. Okay. We'll get back to the interview now. Thanks. Delicious. Yeah. Well, April, we'll send you some, I mean I literally what I love about Zek and Melanie and they don't admit that they're addicts yet. But they are the biggest sugar and sweet addicts I've ever met. They just pretend not to be because they make healthy products that tastes like things you should not be able to eat. Like that's the best way for me to describe them. I'm just waiting for them to come out of the closet. They're like, all right, guys, we ate 84 donuts a day for 12 months to figure out how to make this flavor.Because every single product is like chocolate date night and peanut butter party in your blah. And I'm like, how do you even do this? And I just get to be the guy that gives marketing advice. So. I dunno, I have the easy job I get to eat it, drink it. Maleny. You can own that. You're a sugar addict. It's okay.  Melanie: I'm totally a sugar addict so much so that we created a sugar detox plan. It's like, Oh my God, it's ironically, it's zero sugar. But like, Oh my God, you put a cookie in front of me and I cannot resist. So that is why all this challenge that George was talking about. You get to design your own nutrition plan, which is one thing I love about it, because if it were no sugar, there's no way out, huh? Doing no meat, which as you know, a West Texas born girl who grew up on chicken fried steak, it's pretty hard. I've never gone this long without me ever in my life. But I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm just giving it a whirl and I'm going to see what it does, but, um, but it's been interesting, but I couldn't do no sugar.George: No way. I don't think, I don't think any human should, I don't. I think we have too much sugar in the world, but like, I think you have to have that amount that like the level of happiness. We've got to live a little bit here. So choose the cleanest one. You can and have some fun with it.So we've been talking a lot about like sharing our story, authenticity, vulnerability, but I have a question for both of you. If you could change anything about the current state of the market, as an entrepreneur, as a woman, entrepreneur, as a storyteller social media, like when you look at the world that we live in and all three of us work online, we have social profiles, we all have this. If you could change anything in that space, April, what would you change and why?  April: I would changed  the, just the nonstop pounding of mixed messages that we get and that we are overwhelmed by. and I'm kind of raising both hands over here because I suffer from it. And I also know that I'm also sending signals out there.So I struggle with that because I know I'm out there trying to get my message heard and I'm out there playing the game and I'm also on the receiving end and everyone else also trying to do that, so I wish, or we could come up with a way that we could filter our news feeds in a way that those names out there they're like Facebook and Instagram don't get to control because of money. That we get to control because that's really who we want to be here. I'm just in out balance, so I'm trying to figure out how to be a voice in this space and taking up space with someone else and being really cognizant of time and energy that someone is spending with me consuming my content, making sure that. I try to give as much value as possible because I understand they're also being pounded. So I don't know how to fix that. I'd love for you to share George, your mind of George on that one how we can really true beat the algorithm. I know it's with relationships, that's what you teach. And that's what I totally subscribed to. And I just have to keep reminding myself to just follow that, just to follow that path that keeps sharing my story. To encourage other women and the people in my life, the community that keep sharing their stories and that at the end of the day, it'll beat the funnel or algorithm out there. And to, again, going back to the very first lesson I shared with you at the beginning of this recording, which is just to remember to enjoy the journey. Because again, I want to like 10 X everything by tomorrow because that's just my human nature. And I kind, I'm sure everyone else, a lot of people feel that way. Why can't we just have it by tomorrow? Why can't the funnels and everything to be working.  George: Can you could get and read an entire book in one minute, since your own story, you wouldn't read any books. There's no journey in that process. And I remember at the beginning, you're like, Oh, I'm impatient. Like I want it now. I think personally that the solution to that is twofold. Number one is that. Us as the influencers, as the leaders, as the entrepreneurs, as the storytellers, we have to have tight containers and consistency. Cause I think   on our patr I think it's an equal 50/50. We contribute to the problem by being loose and bowing to the rules of the game that we think we have to play.And then on the receiving end is people thinking that over consumption is going to somehow give them  more and more when an actuality it gives  less and less. And so the way that I think about it, right. You know, shopping Malls aren't gonna exist in a couple of months. But when I think about like, when I was like 16 years old, I used to walk by the mall and they would always have that teriyaki chicken sample on the toothpicks. And I would walk by 45 times and never grabbed one. Then I would grab one. I always knew it was there though. I could smell it. I knew it was there. I would see it. There were times I wanted to eat at times that I didn't times I took four samples. Didn't buy any food and times I bought a sample and bought the entree and like, that's the best way that I can describe digital marketing. And like how it should be. When we talk about your story. It's about being consistent and congruent, what you hit, right? Consistent and congruent playing the long game. And then from the consumer side, respecting the customer journey that all of us go through buying cycles different. We go through emotional cycles, life cycles, financial cycles, relationship cycles, and all of those have implications on the way in which we consume, create and grow.And so it has to be on both sides. And so on the consumer side, We also as, because we're all consumers, you guys consume my content. I consume yours. I eat a whole shit ton of empact bars in that shake. Like I consume, but we all on both sides of the coin have to be intentional about how we do it.And we all have to have that container of like you can sit here all day, listen to this podcast. You can listen to every podcast that we've ever put out. It's not going to change anything in your business. Not whatsoever. It's going to change your brain. And most likely it's going to hurt your business, increase the reactants to changing because now you feel even more fricking stuck.  And so I think that it's understanding that we're responsible on all sides to lead by example. And the one thing  that I sad over and over again is that everybody has to understand that the only reason the game is still played, the way that it is because everybody accepted the fucking rules.This is not a dictatorship. We make the rules based on how we play the game every day. And so that's why I challenge everybody to play the game and be where you want to be and go on one platform. If you want to go on one and not on the other seven, right? Write an email every day. If you want to, or write one a week, I don't give a shit, just pick one and being consistent so that we can grow and you can grow. You can create those relationships and move forward. And so, yeah, that's, I think about this one a lot. I really. I mean, I. I reflect on this. It's probably one of the biggest questions I ask. And like, obviously we teach relationships,beat algorithms. But that all comes from us getting plugged into ourselves.Because relationships only work if you know who you are who your team is, you know, who your customers are and in burst on that one. So,that's a really good one. And I love that too. And I think it's really important to be self aware.  April what you said is you're like I send mixed I'm impatient, like. You're not any of those things. Those are things that you have in the moment. They're not who you are, but it's the awareness of those that allow you to shift them. And that's really the secret sauce here. So Melanie, I'm going to, I'm going to X the conversation over to you. I'm going to toss it over to you with the same question. Like when you think about maybe it's your role in this world, an Empact bars, or maybe it's you and your journey, or maybe because you and I live in the CPG world where really shooting relationships. People take, they want everything upfront. It's all transactional. If you don't have money, you don't exist. Like if you look at this world of entrepreneurship, like in any part of it, what is one big thing that like you would change or want to see done differently?  Melanie: Yeah. I think one thing I've noticed recently, and even with myself is of course there's a lot of fear and there's a lot of negative feelings right now people are unsettled, unclear what the future holds and they're scared. And. I've seen a lot of people just become paralyzed and have made the decision that like, I'm not gonna do anything. I'm just gonna wait it out. I'm gonna live in inaction for a while. And I actually think that's the worst thing we can do right now.Like rather than letting this situation and environment define me I'm choosing to define,, take control of this situation and to find it myself. So look it was not hard for me when this first hit, I have three young kids. I would add a new business. I'm trying to do virtual schooling, which is a total crap shoot when you have young kids and one of my kids is too. I mean, it was laughable what we were trying to do every day in the house with three kids at home and a business. And. It was very easy for me to get stuck and I'm not out of it. It's been tough. I mean our business, every just like every other business we've had to pivot. And, but, but what I've done is really I have done so many things to not let this define me.I'm like, you want to give me a 75 hard challenge that's going to kick my ass. I'll take it. you want to throw a new business idea at me. I'll do it. I'm experimenting with breath, work and new kinds of meditation. And it's really interesting cause for someone who personal development, it was just not on my radar until about two years ago.  I just didn't understand it. I didn't like the word self help book. I still don't love that word. It's a bad description for what they do, but you know, I was defined by my environment and so I can relate to people who are, but I think inaction is the worst thing we can do right now. I think waiting it out.Like I understand the people are in tough situations and I mean, Everybody's situation is unique, but for me, I'm going to do everything I can, if anything, just to help me financially, but also with my mindset. So I'm not, you know, the statistics on depression right now and alcoholism are growing every day and like, I don't want, I don't want to be there and I'm committed to not letting that happen to me.So it may look really weird what I attempt to do. I mean, I may do some crazy shit just to get through this, but for me, at least I'm taking the steps to take control of it. And so if I could have anything changed and I'm certainly not trying to be judgmental on anybody, but it's just taking that action, join a challenge, like work towards something, be inspired. I mean, I think you right now, though, less and less of that is falling in our laps and we have to make it happen ourselves. Totally. And that's fine. That's what I think it would be.  George: This is my podcast. Nobody's fucking coming to save you. Nobody. And like, I mean that with love, right? Like I even looked at the beginning of this when this happened. And I was like, Oh, we'll be fine. Oh, we'll be fine.And now I'm two companies down and. Almost six figures a month lost revenue. I'm like, Oh shit. Okay, cool. And then if I look back and here's the thing, I look back, I'm like, what could I have done differently? And I'm like, Oh, I could have done this. I could have done this. I could have done this. I'm like, great. I couldn't do it then, but I can do it today. And like, that's the path forward?  Like Stefano says thisone of my business partners who coaches men and. He's like, you know, we ask all the time, like, how can I better serve? How can I better help? And the answer is always, you have to deepen your practice to deepen your service, right? Like you have to go in, there's a lot of opportunity here. There's a lot of loss. There's a lot of pain. And there has been for a long time in entrepreneurship which by the way, I think is one of the.The silver linings in this is that it's putting a magnifying glass on like how unsupported small businesses are, how tilted in the favor of big business and power control and everything is, and now it's really coming o

Life Is Work - Ep 24 - ApologizingArea of Work: Intersectional EquityCo-hosts, Producers:Danielle Stenger Cameron Navarro, LMSW  Mel’s Mindful Minute: 42:02Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-FOwner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellnesswholemoonwellness@gmail.com Contact Info:WebsiteEmailTwitter Instagram Music:Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic LightningMMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic LightningOutro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff ApologizingRESULT: To explore the concept and necessity of apologies, how and why they are often not done well, and how to do them better.Danecdote - French & loving to be rightProtein - Main Event - Topic d’jourDefinition - a regretful acknowledgment of an offense or failureNote that it means you acknowledge that you made offense AND are regretful about itHow they are often done wrongDo not understand why an apology is neededRefusal to admit faultDefensivenessPutting the responsibility on the other personOften called a “non” apology“Sorry you took it the wrong way”“I’m sorry your feelings are hurt”“Sorry you heard me wrong”“I’m sorry, but they started it”Anytime they include the word “but”Why they are often done wrongPower dynamicsMore degreesHigher job titleParents (normalize apologizing to kids!)Bitch, be humbleFear of changeIntention/EffectChange in understanding of what we know/how we perceived somethingA word about cancel cultureCancel culture exists because we are not good at acknowledging the harm we have caused with sincerityMe too (all pins, no acknowledgement - reminder about technical and adaptive - without adaptive, technical just looks like symbols!)Correlation of level of harm and likelihood of apologyRequires a solid foundation of self worthUnderstanding that mistakes do not define who they are(related - fear of public speaking, fear of failure, fear of imperfection)How to do them wellStep 1: Self reflection. Return to NVC to understand where you are atFeelings/NeedsGround yourselfYou are not your mistakes ANDYou are accountable for your mistakes, even if you didn’t mean themListen carefully to the hurt that you have causedStep 2: Acknowledge and take responsibility for the hurt or harm you caused or were complicit inI statements onlyNo butsName the actionI am sorry that I…..Did not speak upWas wrong and did not listen.I did not take your concern seriouslyMade the assumption that…Shared something that you shared in confidence with me with someone elseI made a mistake.” “It was my fault.” “I did/I do ______.” “I didn’t/I don’t _____.”Step 3: Acknowledge the impact (impact =  greater than intent)Exercise in compassion/empathyI understand privacy is important to you and I violated that trustIt must have felt like betrayal when I did not support youI know this is important to you and I did not honor itStep 4: Do Better, even when it’s hard (esp when it’s hard)I will support you the next time xyz speaks over youI will let you know if I am unable to follow through on a commitmentI will honor your trust and privacy by not sharing what you’ve shared with me with othersApologies are really about the ppl apologizing AND it is not required to be acceptedMel’s Mindful Minute: 42:02Journaling & BreathingWe Are Always StudentsWhy Won’t He Apologize? | Harriet Lerner | TEDxKCBrene Brown Podcast (2 parts) How To Apologize & Why it MattersLeaving Evidence Blog Post - How to Apologize/Transformative JusticeRoxane Gay put out a tweet asking if anyone had written an essay on how to apologize, lots of good responses (2 of which are included above!)Sharing is Self-CaringSelf-careWhen was the last time you apologized?When did you do it well?What could have been better?Reflect and let your reflections inform how you might go about things differently in the futureCommunity-careWhen you feel someone owes you an apology, use NVC to communicate your feelingsI feel__/because I need__Ex. from Dannectote:  I feel angry, because I need understanding and support. I want to be seen and understood by you, because these issues are important to me and our wider world.Systems-careWhat power structures exist that prevent apologies from being accessible to those who hold power?Reach Out!lifeisworkpod.comFind questions submission linkInsta & Twitter - @ lifeisworkpodinfo@palanteconsulting.com

As much as you like this podcast, I'm certain that you're going to love the book that I just released on Amazon, fuel your legacy, the nine pillars to build a meaningful legacy. I wrote this to share with you the experiences that I had while I was identifying my identity, how I began to create my meaningful legacy and how you can create yours. You're going to find this book on kindle amazon and as always on my website, Sam Knickerbocker calm.Welcome back to fuel your legacy. Today we have a very interesting exciting guests. Some things that I love when I search for people to be on my podcast as people from different industriesdifferent life experiences. And the reason for that is everybody has different legacy and, and it's important to hear how different people are fulfilling their purpose in life. So, today we have on I'm gonna make sure I say his name properly. Andrea site Andry site completely wrong.That's all Andre Andre psyche a man. That's okay. Every time so Andre psych and he's a freelancer performer music, sorry musician, mystic. And he makes daily commits to himself and to the world. He's a human, that the human heart to Him is the most powerful tool for success on the planet. And and he has been bathing. His Okay, I love how this phrase has been bathing his human heart, in self love for years. What's it got? What has it gotten him as a question? We're going to find out today. So, Andre, just let us know a little bit about your history. How did you discoverthe importance ofself love for yourself at and why is it phrased that exact way like bathing, bathing your heart and self love. I love it. Oh, well first of all, like I am a poet, so I'm trying to I'm trying to convey deep emotional meanings through you know, through simple language. And once you get to a point of this, of this, this, whatever it is, it truly feels like there's this, this this ethereal substance that's surrounding you and you're just, you're just floating in it. And that's that's where a lot of your mystical principles or religious principles, or Buddhist or anything of that nature says, Don't get attached to anything because once you once you let go of all attachments and you just you attach yourself to the current moment, you start to see yourself floating through life through the universe and things start to get a little a little interesting for the individualYeah, go ahead and go ahead and share with us your story of how that all came to be where, where you started, and where you are today and where you're headed. Sure. So I was just like everybody else, I'll try to keep this 10 minutes, obviously, just like everybody else. And I went to, I have my path place in front of me, you're going to go to the university, you're going to get, you're going to study medicine. I'm from a Russian family, and you know, my parents are like, you're going to go and be, this is gonna be your legacy. You're gonna be a doctor, you're going to save lives, you're gonna make money, people gonna respect you. And I'm like, yeah, we're gonna do that. So going through high school, I had a lot oflow cop, low self confidence. You know, I was bullied a lot I was picked on. And then it got to a point where I was like, I'm not worth this. So I turned into the bully and I started picking people in and I had this, I adopted this, this masculine mindset of just, you know, go out there and just just beat the shit out of the world until it's reduced to your willAnd I lived in that sort of mindset for a really long time, went through college, went to university, studied biology, studied medicine, and got to the point of graduating and I was like, Alright, let's go work with the doctor and see how this is all gonna pan out. So, as long as I'm working and I'm living with this mindset, it feels like it's me against the world. And I'm but I'm proving myself to the doctor, to my patients to everybody. And my doctor says, All right, like you got great potential. Let me send you to the, to my med school where I went to New York and things will be hunky dory. I was like, cool. Let me think about this.After about a year of doing this and continuing to do this daily grind and showing up and and still loving it. I really enjoy theinteraction between people. I got to a point where I said, I'm going to do this, take the plunge and go be a doctor and had a realization in my mind as I was driving home to my parents.to their home, it should say, I had this flash of clarity at least for that moment that I've never experienced before. And it gave me the understanding that it was love that I was pursuing it was, it was the tenderness. It was the connection the community that I was looking for, rather than anything monetary or anything of that nature. And I and I projected forward and ask myself, is this what I really want to do? Do I want to be stuck, dedicating another decade of my life to education, to to get glory, to give money to get pride to get all of these things? Or do I want to be with my family helping raise my myyoung step steps, Pastorbe with my mom be with my dad, my brother and actually see how their life progress throughout this decade. And to me it just it just hit me, hit me right in the heart. That was the first moment where I allowed love to take over and I said you know what, I don't want to give up this once in a lifetime moment. For sure.Something prestigious, like like a title or, or a paycheck. SoI was coming home to tell them that I was gonna leave for New York in the next couple of weeks. And instead, I was like, Listen, I'm gonna quit my job, I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna leave my apartment, I'm gonna leave everything behind. And I'm going to come and help my mom, she runs her own custom manufacturing business to go and help you with the business. So this is a perfect time because my stepdad died. And she was just really struggling. So I came in, I started learning how to work with my hands, actually started using my knowledge, as hands on knowledge and create things on the spot. And at this moment, I know I was hoping it was already functioning business. She just she was struggling. So money wasn't necessarily a problem there. I'll just go out there and learn sales I learned networking, customer relationships, all that stuff. And I went out and just did my job basically almost took a took the business over from her and became a protegeSo what happened isI started creating, with, with, with, or playing with with just random things, you know, up until this point art was worthless music was worthless. I thought why would anybody be spending time on this, it's just background noise. It was still a lot of tech now just to get me pumped about doing whatever the flip I was doing that was that I founduseful. And I had this moment of transformation, I was running my CNC router to engrave some sort of image, and boom, just lightning just hit me. And I had this understanding this clarity, this embodiment of the knowledge that I am the creator of my life, that anything and everything that happens around me, whether it's the relationships that form in front of me, or even even the state of the world, I accept a responsibility for how it is. And from that moment on, I was like, Okay, I can't I can't sleep on this information. I can't. I can'tI put out the fire of My Spirit on this moment and I have to go and express myself fully. So that moment that realization allowed me to just go into painting, go into poetry, going to music, going to dancing, going to act and go to all these ways of expression, because I understood it to be deeper than just that expression understood to be the creation of the individual that would participate in the world to then create ripples effects that happen between you know, connections of other people. And and it's like the butterfly effect, you know, one good deed lease another good deed lease another good deed and then before you know it, boom, the world is a is a much happier place. And that's it. So once I hit me, I just I just couldn't sit back and stop creating excuses. I dove into meditation dove into spirituality, dove into health, because health is the greatest key to freedom. If you don't have health, you can't do anything, no matter how much desire or passion you might have. So I started cleaning outMy world has started cleaning up clean up my body to show up ready to, for anything, no. And very slowly through a lot of a lot of discipline work and late nights and early mornings. I find myself here and just in a completely transformed life where love has found me personally as to just accept myself for who I am for anything that might happen inside of me. I don't bottle up anything anymore. As you can see, these are all my emotions on all my things here. And it I've come to a place that feels likelike just almost like emptiness, like a Zen Zen spot where I'm in the I'm in the center of the the eye of the hurricane. And from there I can make much better judgments about where I can go and where I can lead other people to find their own peace.Hopefully that was good. Oh, awesome. No, I love it. There's so much here. That is, I thinkcrucial to it's fascinating actually to hear your experiencecompared to my experience while ending in a very similar position. So one thing that I found interesting over, if you listen to the podcast, then you'll hear lots of different stories, I find a lot of people end up in this place of love. But we all have different paths to get there. And for mine, for me, I would say my path was more. There's a lot of similarities, but there's also a lot of differences. So things that were similar that I recognized inside of myself, I'm the seventh of 11 Kids was raised by in an abusive home, mentally, physically, verbally. All those, all those forms of abuse, thankfully, no sexual abuse that that I experienced, and I'm grateful to report that you know, but ultimately, I don't blame anybody in my household for what happened in fact,There's just a lot of compassion there. But there was a point in my talk in my life where you described it as, hey, I'm not worth this abuse from others or this bullying, so I'm going to become the bully or right? For me, that same result happened, but instead of me saying I'm not worth it,in my mind, and keep in mind, this is all my self aggrandizingperception of what was going on when I was, you know, 1011 1213 years old. But I thought, well, if there's if this is it, the extrinsic bullier of all of the group. Well, if Itake the leadership role, and make sure that they do what they're doing, then I will abuse my family less than the other abuser. And then things will be better because there will be less abuse even though I'm the one now inflicting the pain versus the other person. I will do it better andmore controlled than this person. This was my stuff. This is my, what I believed about myself, right? Not necessarily true. And it took me to have my oldest, oldest, but one of my older brothers come in and like, actually show me hold me down in a physically restrictive position and tell I calm down because I was not freaking out when he was getting his grip on me. And then he just explained, hey, this is how people feel, emotionally when you walk into the room. I mean, the tension was powerful. And I was like, what I'm saving you like, in my mind, I'm the Savior and you feel oppressed, like what the heck. But it took me a while for the penny to drop and for me to start seeing it and start looking at it from a different perspective and seeing all the damage I had caused by me being oppressive. It's interesting because most of us grew up with having this person who we felt was betraying us but we've never really felt like that because we were born on the seventh11 so my younger siblings were born into an abusive situation. So we didn't really know anything different. But it's it is different when you see somebody who you thought was your ally become the abuser. Like that's a whole nother part of trauma thatwas lost on me for a while. But as I started to see, it was really interesting. So that's one thing that I think is so crucial for us to understand and for us to ask ourselves, where are we doing that? The reality is, Andre probably still does aspects of that in his life because they're their old habits. I still do it in my life sometimes until I recognize Oh, I'm doing that habit again. I don't like that habit. And then I have to go Say sorry and say, Okay, I'm not doing that anymore. That happens. The one thing thatis interesting, though, is that love is the goal for me love was the goal toto even for my siblings, the ones that I ended up being the oppressor for love was ultimately the goal. I wanted to help them not be abused as much, you know?And when you recognize love was the goal, things changed in your life about what you were chasing? And I'm curious about this one question.When you say don't be attached to things, but attached to the current moment, where did you hear like, Where did you experience or learn that that type of phrasing or experience, like what led you to that experience of Look, I'm not going to attach to anything physical, I'm just going to attach to present. Sofor the longest time, you know, like I said, I jumped into a lot of meditative practices. And as I was experiencing these shifts of myself on my energy, coming from a scientific perspective of being an atheist, I needed the language that could describe what I was going through. So I was like, Alright, here's the things that I've been experiencing what is out there that can put some words to it. So I started diving into, you know, Buddhism, Hinduism, mysticism.hermeticism just a lot of different things.I've been around for a really long time. And Buddhism is one of the things that really grabbed me early on with with that, quote, Buddha said, attachment leads to suffering. And you know, for a while you can mold it over. It's like, what does that even mean? And there's a story where he says, All right, you have a vase, and you love this face. If you're attached to this face, when the face breaks, you're gonna, you're going to feel a severing, and you're going to feel pain, because you've been attached to this face. But if you live every day, as if the face was already broken, then every moment you spend with that base is going to be is going to be filled with pure love. And the day that it is broken, gets broken, which eventually will you don't feel that loss because it's been broken all along, if that makes sense. So, it later so that idea I practice heavily. Like when I when I was starting to just remember, there was there's this moment that I flipped 180 and I could even see myself looking back at myself, and I was like how the flipped and I get hereHow I can see that man I can see that person right there. But I'm not that man, I can see a clear distinction between these two points and it happened right here. And I remember practicing this and I had a girlfriend a time a brand new one just came along and I even told her the same thing. I love you. Not attached to you if you ever want to leave like please, please do. And this is completely backwards from how it was the first relationship you can even second relationship because I was so attached so much codependency like he can't leave. You must be with me. I don't want you to go out there. I don't want to lose you. And the goal was always like how do I love you, I want to love you. I just want to protect you. I want to make sure you feel loved. But what it was, yeah, it was again is the abuser. I was projecting my own insecurities. I was projecting my ownown misunderstanding of what love was. And when I realized to let go of attachment and just be there with the present moment, then it's like the universe opened up and love made more sense. You know, love is just the appreciation of that moment and taking taking it in as it is rather than putting your moneymental projections on an individual or an environment, and then living in a fantasy world that doesn't exist. If you can let go with attachments you can be present and actually see for what it is. And from that, oh my gosh, you can start creating just unimaginable portraits with your life. I completely agree. It's so funny actually. I told my I told a lot of girls that most of them left.My wife didn't though. So thank goodness. But yeah, she's my wife now. But yeah, that that statement, she felt a lot of insecurity when I told her that, like, Look, I don't, this isn't meant to be rude. I was literally on a client call just before this. And same thing. She's the client is thinking about working with me. And as a business partner, I was like, Look, I don't need you to work with me. I want you to I'd love to help you. I'd love to help you in your marriage succeed. But like,if you come work with me,that's great. If you don't, my family's still here.I family still drinks I family still has a house over the head like, I don't need you for me to make money. Now, I'd love to help you make money in which case I'll make money, right? But I don't need you here. And that concept is so that is opposite opposite. Because those people you're telling that to they have the insecurities that they need you and so they're like, Oh crap, well, if he doesn't need me, why is he gonna stick around in an environment where I need him? So that that concept I would highly encourage you to consider as a listener, what what exactly are you holding on to that you need? That would be better off if you let go. Another thing that you said there this is fascinating to me is as an atheist, so for me, I'm a deeply deeply religious person.AndI That being said, I view all religious narratives, right because religion isdifferent than theism in my mind, butIt's like ritualistic, right? Religion is for rituals. Andin that situation, the same thing, it's necessary. What is the narrative that you're going to use to describeyour experiences? Right? Because I think that's what all religious texts were about. That's what everything is about is they had a narrative that they felt, hey, if we share our experience in this narrative, it's an easy understandable at least gives people the basics of what's going on. If they want more information, they need to get connected with themselves or spirit or God or the Creator, whatever. But the end goal is the same right? That I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Andthat one of the I would say that key teachings that is doctrinally in the church, but I would say, very rarely practiced by its members. Okay, is the idea of creation.Like, it's, it's taught into the doctrine of the religion, that you're a creator, your ultimate objective is to become a creator. And this is a training ground like that is the doc, if there was like one overarching that's the whole point of this universe. That's the overarching point of it. They call it the planet happiness, planned salvation, whatever. But point being helping people get to the point where not only do theyknow, right, because we have this language that we're taught from a young age that you're a creator. And it's up to you to be the creator of your universe, but to actually put into practice it and so I love that you found that that you are and the way to do that is to, to unattach yourself from everything. Mm hmm. And that, it's like the simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Because the more unattached you are, it's almost like the moreconnection you feel with everything. So the less attached you are, the moremore connected, you become,which is this fascinating, seemingly paradoxical thing, but it's not at all.The other thing I want you to speak to here because this is, this is different than my situation. So for me to come to a lot of these enlightenment's in myself, and observations for myself, had to put in a lot of effort, a lot of work.I heard somebody else had this experience that I was like, almost chasing this experience doing everything I could meditating things like that. When you said, almost every time you mentioned that you had this aha moment, it seemed, seems to me that they came duringwhat I would consider a more mundane task. Okay. The reason this is important is because,again, if you're looking at the mind, and how the mind operates, when you're performing mundane tasks, you're in a state of mild hypnosis. You're basically on offer.Pilot not connected to anything, or not attached to process or anything, you're just going about your regular business on autopilot. So explain that a little bit as far as like why you think that your aha moments cameduring that that type of environment. So, the mind is a beautiful thing. And this is why like, you know, I love digging, you know, kind of, like you said kind of mindless tasks, because those mindless tasks are, it's when you allow your your, your your brain your thoughts to just kind of rest into, into a meditative state like you said yourself, alpha brain or beta or delta I'm not to get into one of those. And as I as you kind of get yourself into that mental state, you start to what's the word?contemplate contemplation, right? It's different from thought thoughts, who will sit there and they will eat you up and what if this and what if that future is past you know, all these things that don't exist? contemplationIt's just a thought about, you know, ideas, and you allow an idea to just kind of marinate and evolve into whatever it is, you know, you just plant a seed and you allow the tree to just sprout out there. So to get to that point, same thing, you know, I was meditating I took health seriously, I started cleaning my body, you know, took, start eating organic, took all the pests, pesticides out, exercising regularly, or at least being very active.And all of that. And literally crying almost every night from my meditations because I'll be uncovering so many deep buried emotions and deep Barry just just interactions moments that I was like, Man, that was me. I said that to my mother. I said that to my best friend, and I'd come out just tears. And the next day I would have to come out and just retribution Yo, I'm sorry, I did that. They're like what? So it doesn't matter if you don't remember, I did this. And I know it was it was, I don't say wrong or right because it does don't exist, but I know it was painful for you.Asthree hours a day, probably on in the morning, one but day one at night. And it was that fertile ground I created that then when I found myself in these Monday tap mundane tasks, and I found myself contemplating whatever ideas were all around me, you know, just just clarity this pyramid, I feel like I was in the right place to to have thatlightning strike hit me my aha moment, my moment of enlightenment that allowed me to see something beyond myself. As soon as I took myself out of the picture, then you can start to see the universe that is around you. And I'm so I don't credit the mundane task, but the task definitely gets you into a place where then you can become receptive to whatever is around us. Sure. I think what's fascinating to me as often is to manage so many different schools of thought, right.And I'm of the opinion just from like a neuroscience perspective. So I tend to be more scientificallyminded, then purely ethereal. So like if it's too woowoo. And I'm like, show me some data, show me some realistic reasons why this is happening.And I think it's all there. I think that meditation or any of this can't be tracked. I think there's maybe certain limitations currently of how we're tracking stuff that we don't have complete understanding. But the more and more that we're able to track the more and more like, Okay, this makes complete sense between brainwaves between energy between electricity, electricity, I mean, all those things. They're all real things. And so it's all trackable. But what's interesting is people that aren't there arepockets ofman, what's it called? A different I would say studies whether that'sjust different areas where they're, they're focused on meditation, yoga, things like that. And they arein their mind, for whatever reason that gets translated to the rest of the world who doesn't quite buy into it yet, that meditation looks a certain way. And that is cool. I was having this conversation with my wife a few days ago. She's like, well, Sam, why don't you meditate daily? Why don't you because I was saying, hey, these are things that have helped me in my life. Why don't you meditate? And daily, why aren't you having somebody who does NLP practices on you and all these things that she said? And I was like, okay, so that assumption is that because my top form of meditation doesn't look like what you think meditation looks like that I'm not meditating. In my mind. Meditation is at its basic core, anything that puts you into this, this mild hypnosis state. And so if running, all that's required for your body to run is like three or four processes to run. That's a meditative state. Even if all you're doing is just you're running through, you're lifting weights.Or you're running through your, your driving routine, whatever, those are all meditative states that you can be in. So don't mistake and think that the only way to meditate is to find a dark, quiet room, maybe meditation is playing the drums. Maybe meditation is listening to techno music, right? whatever it is that's so habitual in your life, that it doesn't require active thought, is meditation. It's like basic, basic core. And so I love that and I'm glad you you had brought that out. One that you would prepare yourself for it mentally to flow those to open those those flow states up, but also that you are, you're actively doing things that you already were comfortable doing to allow that negative state. So one more thing here that Ijust want you to speak to. I don't know what's going to come out here, but I'm just interested in it. Andyou had said when you're talking about a peaceful emptinessOkay, so there's so many people I deal a lot with single mothers or our parents in general and they feel empty inside they feel like they're so busy in life trying to help everybody else trying to work for everybody else that they would say they feel empty.My belief is their profit based on based on this statement, right? So I, this is me first, really contemplating this analogy. So I'm formulating My mind is mine.ButI don't think they're really empty. If you are, if you're having stress, if you're having fear, if you feel empty, you're not you're not empty, there's something that you feel a lack of. The peaceful emptiness comes from the lack of connection, sorry, the lack of attachment to what's going on, and that's when you truly are able to empty any attachmentThat's when you're empty. And that's also in my mind that using these words I've never used these verses described as though. But that is the ultimate peaceful state that is the Nirvana that is there like, Look, no, I'm not attached to anything. I don't, I don't have an outcome that I'm attached to does that that doesn't mean I don't have goals. That doesn't mean I don't have objectives. I'm just not attached to Xyz outcome.speak to that for a second, like,the kind of contrast between, I don't know at this point now in the conversation, it's attachment and connection and empathy. So speak that for a second. Okay. So So I completelyagree with with what you're saying. And when when somebody is feeling the way they're, and they feel like they're empty. They're actually full of other people's garbage basically, right? And they're empty of their own desires. They're not they're not following their own heart. Soin this scenario,I guess I wanted to take thisinto a little bit of philosophy. So I don't know if you've ever read Nietzsche or just even that kind of understanding. But he has. He talks that every individual has threestages of life. You're either the camel in our in today's terms, like the sheep, the lion, or the baby, or the child. So the camel, he goes out there and he goes to the world, he just lives doing normal, mundane tasks of whatever it may be just, you know, go to work, have kids buy things, whatever it is, and it's a life right? If you want to choose that you want to live that life. It's also in it's, it's also life. Like every every life is worth living. There's no wrong, right? There's a wrong if you get to the point and start questioning that it's like, wait, what am I really doing here? Get this one of a line. And the job of a line with the second stage is to is to find all that thou shalt and thou shalt are attached to a dragon. Each scale has thou shalt love your mother, thou shalt listen to your boss. That wasShout whatever anything that we've been programmed to believe this dragon has him on every scale and the Java line is to come in there and rip every scale off every single one. And the moment, and it's gonna take a long time, the moment that you've inspected every single contract that you've signed willingly or unwillingly, and you inspect it and say, all right, put this down, you get to a point of this nothingness of this emptiness. Now, life has no meaning. Now, life has no objective, it has nothing that you need to do or need to abide by. And a lot of people can find this spot as scary because it's almost like death, because it is death. It's the personal death is the death of a personality of the ego. That's why most people will not go there. They're afraid of death. But you find yourself there. There's two kinds of people, one will go into nihilistic terms. It's like, oh, there's a point. Okay. And the other people are like, oh, there's no point I get to create the point. If it gets to that point. Now you're the child. Now you have the understanding of if this is all just a huge playground, what do I want to fill up?With a fella with these sort of relationships, I feel with this sort of work, I'm filled with this sort of government, I'll fill it with this, anything and everything until you're just completely satisfied. So that's I want to pick it back to the to the death part. Like personally, man, I love that so much. I think death is the most beautiful misunderstood thing that we share into the world. And there'll be so afraid of the of the unknown, but they're known as the most beautiful, beautiful part. You know, we can consider and conceive what can be what will it be, but if you find yourself in love with death, if you find yourselfnot running toward it, but looking forward to the to the encounter of this event that only happens once in a lifetime, you give yourself the permission to to live every single day, because now you're like, Alright, well, that's gonna come and I'm going to look forward to that. What am I What am I going to do until I get them to the point of getting there? And if you're not afraid of death, every single day, you'd be like, well, I can take a risk. What's the worst thing worst that can happen? Death all over that, you know, soAt least personally for me, that that was initially what got me there just understanding of death a little bit better, and then starting creating the life that I wanted to live. That's, that's beautiful. I love it that another friend of mine he she,regarding deathhe wouldhe describes depression and anxiety or suicidal thoughts. He says, look, you are suicidal. And that's a great thing, right? That's an indication that part of you needs to die. The part of you that is so unhappy with life, the part of you that is worried about X, Y, or Z, all of that stuff, you need to kill that like you need to become a murder of all those pastlives of yourself to so you can truly be present. And it's okay. This is another conversation that my my wife and I have these conversations all the time because that's where my mind is that most of them but we had this conversation.How I don't feel guilty for pretty much anything in life. Like it's just like whatever like that happened. Am I? Is it a little bit embarrassing? Yeah, like in the, if it was brought in certain forms of light is a little embarrassing, but like at the end result like I don't regret anything now are the things that I wouldn't repeat that I would hope never to do again, totally. But when I look back yesterday, I think I did yesterday or this morning or two hours go right?I look back I'm like, No, that was weird. That wasn't even me Who did that? Like? That's how, like what you mean? Do you mean this body perform that action? Or said that thing or? Like what? That's just not even that does not who I am, you know. And so my identity is not tied up in my habits or how I'veunfortunately been programmed over 27 years to be, but my identity internal identity is separate. And so I don't feel guilty about stuff that happened 1020 years ago. It's justlike whatever, like it happened, that's not who Samuel is. So that's just unfortunate that he acted that way at some point or that that other being did, but that guy's dead. And so many people have a struggle understanding that, but if you look at any religion, we all have that built into your religious structure, the idea of repentance is nothing less than having a new view of yourself in orientation to in Christendom, God, but you could say if you don't believe in God into the more the most perfect version of you, the ultimate creator of you, all you have is a new perspective of where you are at in relation to them. That's the definition of repentance and changing and ultimately reorienting yourself towards progression towards a more perfect version of yourself. And so it's built into every narrative religious atheism. Football doesn't matter what it is, any religious narrative is built into the ideaI have progression. And I just love that.I love that. Like, that's why when I started diving into it, like I became anonymous now I'm just like, Alright, I see the truth and everything. So because before man, you say the word God and I cringe.And I'm just like, all right, like, this is what it is. And there's all this beauty around me. Okay, let's take this, here's a piece of the truth, he's a piece of the truth. And yeah, religions or spirituality or anything of that nature, it's all a unifying idea of, hey, let's all get connected with ourselves with with everybody else because we are the same. We're just, we're different expressions of the same entity have the same essence, like so when that again clicked with me. I was like, ah, unconditional love just came flowing and that nothing matters. Like you can come in here and you can say all bunch of negative things or you can just spit in my face trying to punch me and I'm like, Alright, I know you're feeling that way. And you're trying to project that onto me. And how can I get you to forget about that moment, that part and elevate you to a better part?And honestly, like I find so much beauty in, in human interaction now, anytime I go anywhere and just just you'll just meet people, I just best friends everywhere, it's, it's gold and contrasting it to the very beginning of my of my life.I could have never imagined that because again, that mentality me versus the world, it showed itself everywhere. And now it's me with the world. And it shows itself out of everywhere. So that really plays to the fact of you know, what, you get what you want, you get what you think about, if you if you want your life to change, if you want to build a legacy, if you want something beautiful to happen, you have to create that within and then it's going to express itself without and again, so many religions say thatas above so below as the universal the soul.It's, it's amazing. And it's so,so amazing. It's magic. Yeah. And that's the funniest thing when it comes to religion aspeople who have and this is not I mean, it's just is what it is peoplehave not gotten to that perspectivethat, I guess that I hadn't have said this, we all use the same language to describe it. And so what's fascinating about it is you have somebody who doesn't understand it, and you try to say this is this is the feeling and you're using their same language to describe and like, No, that's not what those words mean. Like.Okay, what they, I don't know how else you could say it like, this is the best language I could have is like I love in Christian, right, but it happens in all of them. But the intercessory prayer where Jesus Christ is sitting, sitting there saying, hey, I want to be on you. You'd be me, all of us be in God. And I'll be one of you, right? Oh, that means x, y, z or whatever. But it's like, no, he just wants us all to be of the same intention, same connection, and be literally in each other not. Anyways, once you've accomplished the feeling of we're all connected, and you understand thatunconditional love. That's like what he's saying is the most direct, literal way to say it. And it's still over people's heads.As funny to me. So,yeah, what it is, I read somewhere, it's like you can't, you can't. You can't speak the truth injust blatant terms kind of thing. Because people can't accept that. That's all you have to write it in symbology you have to write in a language that they can personallyplace themselves into. That's at least where like, where my poetry my philosophy comes in. In philosophy, I try to write it blatant truth. I was like, here's what happens. And honestly,I've had much more positive response to the poetry book that I wrote. And it's a lot more you just like kind of like Rumi, little mysticism in there. And it's, you know, I create a, like a lattice of words that create imagery andsensations that then people can project their own life onto and then see themselves in it. And I think that's what separates like, you know, good art or bad or not saying I'm a good artist, but at least I've had good positive reflections of people say, Hey, I see myself in this in this in this poem. And I'm like, sweet, awesome. Yeah. And that's because we all share that, that commonality of that of the pain of being distance from from the source from art from whether you say to God or universe or our greater or greater self, our perfect self. We have that separation here. And it's always that, that that step up to get close to that pureness, you know?h

Dr. Mansfield Mela is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan. His clinical practice is out of the Forensic Outpatient Clinic at University of Saskatchewan and the Forensic Inpatients Services at Regional Psychiatric Center, Saskatoon. His interest in FASD began with a desire to better understand and assist his clients who he felt at the time were not co-operating.Get your learning game on as Dr. Mela drops mega information bombs about FASD and aggression that will leave you informed and ready to diffuse frustration and aggression in your household. He provides excellent insights on the current pandemic, and what it means for caregivers and individuals with FASD. He reminds us despite the uncertainty: This is our opportunity to load up on compassion and gratitude.In addition, we learn:·        What aggression is, what is happening in the brain and types of aggression;·        Biological and behavioural reasons for aggression;·        Brain Domains that are more susceptible;·        What lifestyle components can trigger frustration and aggression; and·        Specific strategies and support you can implement; andYou will come away understanding: “We need to look at aggression in the context of the brain's ability. We cannot hold someone accountable for something they can't help.”FREE FASD & Medication WebinarVisit: www.fasdsuccess.com/medwebinar Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FASDSUCCESS)

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Alright, welcome to the Gut Check Project. This is episode number 23. You're here with your host, Kenneth Brown, MD. And I'm Eric Rieger. Let's, uh, let's talk a little about what we got going on Ken.Well, we're, like always we're trying to push some boundaries. And one of the things that I see as a doctor is that I want to make sure that my patients are very healthy, both mind and body. And when ever my patients come up, and they're going through a stressful situation, they manifest it in their guts. And one of the most common things I see that I can't help them, which is why we brought our guests on today is that when people go through financial trouble or when they're stressed out about their money, they can manifest in their guts. They show up with all kinds of stuff so they end up at a gastroenterologist office, and I can't give them any real advice on their finances and how to help them with that. So like we always do with the Gut Check Project. Let's bring him in. Let's check our egos at the door and let's learn a little bit. We got some experts here with us today and that is Mr. Patrick Brewer and Mr. Tim power both from Surepath Wealth.Yeah.Thank you guys for coming up all the way 35 to Dallas from Austin. How y'all doing today?It was a joy. Well, we didn't die. Yeah, that's the first step. We made good time on a rainy Thursday morning.Now, that being said, I know that you said we didn't die. But Tim said, but if you would have your family would have been covered.They would have been covered. Yeah, least 3 million. Maybe more than that.So Surepath Wealth Management. It's far more than just taking care of someone's finances. Correct?Yeah, I mean, the way we think about it, it's similar to being a doctor, right? And you have a holistic approach and you want to solve the person's problem. And sometimes they present with one issue that they think is really important, you know, they may have some issues with their their stomach or I'm not going to pretend to know exactly all the things that people could present with. I'm sure there's some, some strange ones out there, but they present with a particular problem. And they you know, that's what the that's the problem that thye think they need to have solved but in reality it's it's more than that there's other things that are contributing to the initial problem and making it worse. So our role similar to a physician, I think, is to lay all the pieces of the puzzle on the table and then start to assemble them and really get to know what's driving our clients and or people in general, and just figuring out what their motivations are and what they're trying to accomplish. And then, once we have a good sense of that, just putting it all together and hopefully solving the problem.Absolutely. I mean, there's a lot of similarities. I mean, people come to you people come to me with very intimate problems. People come to you guys with similar issues. Yeah, When people somebody shows up to your office, they're saying, I'm going to give you my world, the world that much like the great prophet Kanye West said, money isn't everything but not having it is. And so when you get to the point where they're like, look, I've got this What can I do to grow it? What can I do to not lose it? That is one of the most vulnerable things just slightly less vulnerable than somebody taking their pants down and letting me stick a finger in their butt.I don't know. I mean, I think it's about equal.For some people that can be really stressful, there's some there's a lot of shame around money. There's it's a very intimate discussion, because you don't know the beginning of the conversation, what their experiences have been. Maybe they've made some poor decisions in the past, and they're reluctant to admit those, maybe there's some controversy with them and their spouse, they could view money differently the way they were raised, and the way that they think about money in general about how they could use it in their life or even their preferences for what they're going to do with it and retirement or when they pass away and they want to leave a legacy, do they not? So there's all these embedded psychological and emotional factors that go into how people interact and make decisions about their money. And the first step, similar to being a physician, I think is to peel back the onion a little bit and see what are what are the driving forces here that are actually contributing?I want to get into all that Eric, can you explain actually that it isn't exactly like we just bumped into you guys on the street. Can you give a little history as to why we have these two super smart guys here on the show?Sure. So we are a part of a mastermind group and Tim and Patrick both happen to be a part of it. The reason why we joined that entrepreneur group is we're all aligned from the same orientation that we want to be able to serve our fellow man the best way possible for us through healthcare. It's how do we reduce stress and increase health for y'all? It really is, just as you said, Patrick, it's a holistic approach to managing your own wealth and finances. And the great thing that I've seen and learned from both of you all over the course of the last year is you treat your clients like family, because this isn't an opportunity to shame someone with their previous financial troubles, etc. The thing I found really interesting though, is you and I have talked over the last several episodes and over the last several years about how can you help someone reduce their external stressors, right? Because by having that you lead insomnia, you lead to catecholamine circulation from high stress situations. So we've talked about people that regularly see a doctor usually end up decreasing chance of disease they, they come in to see a gastroenterologist, they're usually not going to have a polyp that turns into a cancer because it'll be detected. So what I found kind of interesting is someone who turns to someone for wealth management actually has less potential to gamble. They actually are better prepared for their financial future, obviously reducing stress so they reduce stress, they reduce their risk of bankruptcy, regardless of their income level. And then obviously, their family conflict is reduced. I don't remember what the crazy stat is, but it's well over 70% of marital strife comes in originates from some element of financial problems or disagreements in the first place, simply by having someone that I didn't have someone tell me when I was younger simply by having someone help you forecast and help you put your money where it would serve you better will ultimately reduce your stress and work out better for you and your family. So that's how we met Surepath.I think we just met on the side of the highway.When no one knows because you muted your mic.I didn't mute my mic. I said, I think we met on the side of a highway. But I guess maybe we met...Well, I mean it. And Eric said I was stupid for standing on the side of a highway with a sign that said, I'm looking for better than 8% yield. And you stopped. Let's talk. Because, and I said also, I'm looking to diversify my risk by hiring 20 advisors. And you're like, yeah, let's have a little talk. Yeah. So one of the things that I was really impressed with is you gave a lecture at the conference we're at , and I wrote down a few notes, which was really very interesting to me because everyone tries to outsmart the market. Everyone tries to do this stuff. We want to invest in America, America.We're Americans.You said several different things which were really interesting, like how percentage of stocks in the stock market that is outside of America. Can you get into some of the stuff you talked about in the lecture?Yeah, for sure. So I mean, with investing, there's so much that you can do. And what I found is that investments that they're kind of like a bar of soap, the more you handle them, the less you're going to have the highest level. A lot of physicians, they, they overcomplicate things. So the biggest thing that I've seen is the desire to have passive income, which I think is great, you should pursue passive income, you work really hard and you should have investments that are working on your behalf when you're asleep, and you're not having to trade your time for dollars or scale up really complicated like multi specialty surgery centers. There's, there's ways to generate passive income that put you in a position later on where you don't have to work as hard. But what I've what I've seen is in our industry, when you start to take things that are really complex, different investment processes that could be really complex and you start to layer them into your portfolio, you start to drive up expenses, you start to drive up something called turnover, which increases your taxes, and you start to drive up your tax and your legal bills, because then people have to figure out what the heck is going on in order to give you advice. So what I've found is that most people, physicians or otherwise would be best served by starting with owning every single company in the entire world. You know, a lot of people just focus on the companies in the United States. And they're like, well, I own a couple stocks or I own, you know, the s&p 500. And when we think about the markets, we always ask like, well, how's the s&p doing? How's the Dow doing? Well, the Dow is only 30 companies, and yes, and s&p only 500. But there's over 12,000 stocks all around the world. And what most people don't realize is that only 44% of the global market cap is in the US. There's actually more stocks available outside of the United States and there's a lot of benefits to holding securities that move differently during different periods of time. So we generally talk to people about international and even emerging markets investments as a way to increase the returns potentially diversify and expose themselves to different areas of the world that might move in different directions in the US.I just want to make sure that we get Tim in the picture here. He keeps leaning back further and further.Relaxing back there. Listening.Great tea. It's Yeah, this is actually really good stuff. Well, let's talk about that real quick. So what do you think about this tea that we've had here?Think I burped three times.Yea it's really good.I quit drinking beer three years ago, and I love the taste of this because it tastes like a beer. Yeah. Yeah, there's not a drop of alcohol in it whatsoever. It's tea with with some hops in there. Thanks to Lovich.Yeah.Introducing this. Boulders finest too. Yea. Straight out of Boulder, Colorado.Yeah. So let me ask you a question. So as somebody who tried So I have my own company Atrantil Atrantil go to lovemytummy.com/spoony still are we doing? We are all right, lovemytummy.com/spoony or go to KBMD for your CBD. So as somebody who is a physician that has tried to raise money for a startup, yeah, I was a little bit shocked. And then when you and I talked a little bit where you said, Yeah, well, physicians tend to do some of the most esoteric investments and not be not actually tend to be patient and do exactly what you're saying, just invest in every company in the entire world. And eventually you will win. Yeah, in the long run. So when I was over there out there trying to raise money and like, this is an opportunity. Yes, it's a startup. But it's in a field, you know, it's a you know, we can sit there and do this and we can grow it. I was absolutely shocked at the conversation that I had most of the time was, I would love to, but I lost 50 grand and an emu farm. I tried to do you know, I lost money in three restaurants and I'm like, What are you doing in the restaurant? By the The time doctors get asked to do investments and stuff like that. I pretty much think the good money is already out. Yeah,yeah. I mean, unless you're like an early mover you have controlling most private investments, the people making the money or the the managers of the private investment i mean if you think about it, right, they've put together a deal. And on average, just take private real estate as an example, you have private real estate investments. There's actually huge public real estate funds and the public real estate funds have way better liquidity. They have the same types of properties. On average, they're better diversified because they have properties across different geographies and different scopes, buying power and they're mark to market so they trade every single day. So you have full liquidity on that. But if you take a private real estate investment, it sounds a lot sexier, like I buy private real estate, and I get 8 to 10% rate of return. But what you don't realize is it's not repriced every single day. It's not liquid, and the people that are managing it are charging you a pretty significant management fee for finding and sourcing these properties and managing them and yes you may get a good rate of return, but why would you expect a different rate of return in a private investment versus a public investment in real estate? It doesn't make any sense to me. So what I found is that our industry, this is not the physicians fault. Our industry has done a good job of manufacturing products that sound really good, that are actually available in a much lower cost more liquid environment, but it's not as sexy. So if you don't really understand exactly how the markets work and how returns are created, and what a fair return is, you can get sucked into these schemes. And these schemes are what keep you locked in your seat having to trade your time for money. So I love entrepreneurialism. I love what you guys are doing here. It's a fantastic product. I take it myself. I think the key is figuring out what lane you want to be in right and how much money is enough like at what point can you say, I can if I produce this amount of income, I can relax and maybe relax to you or any other position or person listening is I want to go out and build more companies. Well, that's great. Well at least now you have a passive income stream that's coming into allow you to do that where you don't feel like you have to put your foot on the gas if you're not really feeling up to it. So I love entrepreneurialism, I think if you're a physician and you're called to continue to build companies and to continue to create jobs and do those things, that's absolutely where you should put your time, your energy and your money, you just want to make sure that you don't get pulled into some type of a scheme that isn't really designed to enrich you. It's designed to enrich someone else.I think, during your lecture, the way you described, that is first achieve stability, then go for growth.Yep. Yeah, you want to you want to figure out a baseline, you want to know, you want to make sure that you're protected. You have a sufficient asset protection in place could be insurance, it could be estate planning, trust, things of those nature. And then it's really like what what's the baseline living expenses for you to be able to be okay, and then after that, you can take, you know, strategic investments and growth and that might be in yourself. It might be in your business, it might be in the markets, it might be in real estate, a lot of it just depends on your preferences as far as how hands on you want to be?Yeah. Let me throw this to Tim. So we, at that same meeting several questions. So the thing I like, let's get back to why I think doctors don't do this, which is the same reason why people come to me. And at times, I'm like, why didn't you come to me sooner? And it's the same thing. It's, I'm, I'm embarrassed. I'm whatever. Like, it's embarrassing to sit down with people. And I'm, I'm technically a highly educated person went to school a long time doesn't mean I'm highly educated. No, it doesn't. I didn't go to i didn't i didn't go to Texas Tech. So I'm already starting lower than everybody else. Yeah, it's not your fault.You were born in Lubbock, but you ran away. I know. So you know, had I had I been gifted to be able to go to Texas Tech. Things would be different. I wouldn't be on the podcast right now.Yeah, you can be the sidekick like me.Tell us toto.So, but it is it is really interesting because what I would I'm embarrassed that I have this, you know, whatever, however many years of education and I I'm gonna say, should I get whole life? What the heck is my wife? Simple things like that, that to you is like no big deal.Well, it is. I mean, it took me years to figure out what was behind the curtain of some of these products that Patrick was talking about earlier. I mean, they there's this incredible sales training to get folks into these products that seem very good for your family, you're protecting your family, you're doing all these great things, but there's all sorts of underlying fees and costs and limitations to access in that money. And so I think a lot of times we we get products pitched at us they sound like they solve a number of problems with one deal so it's great you know, cuz I don't have the time to deal with 15 different things so perfect. This one thing does it all and and then you don't even know really what you're in or why you're in it. 10 years later, you like what happened to this thing? You know, and it's yeah, so it just it's not part of a plan always. It's got to you know, planning has to be part of a plan just like diet does. So yeah. Whether or not you should have whole life term life or universal life. I mean, it really just comes down to what your needs are, how much money do you want to put away, if you've already maxed out all these other areas, maybe you can use some. But it's also a great tool for like estate planning or tax preservation and things like that. Because insurance offers immediate leverage, it kind of buys you time to build up $10 million in assets, you can just buy a policy for $10 million, and you're immediately worth that. Explain that a little bit. Yeah, so insurance offers an incredible benefit. I mean, if if, if you are your life right now, as a physician, you have what I would call a massive human capital. So if we were to look at a pie chart,Look dude, I'm trying to lose some weight. I don't really consider myslef...I'm working on it.I mean, stressed I got several companies.You can can barely fit at the table.You know, I got I got a great solution, but so no, the so your life is part of your investments. And you're a big part of that because you have a human capital, you have a big investment in you and so that's a risk right there. So the rest of your portfolio should be weighted appropriately. Because you don't need to take on a ton of risk because you have a risky profession. And you could have all sorts of liabilities in there. So we look at the whole picture. And if you needed to protect that risk of your human capital, what it's worth call it $10,$20, $30. And you pass away young and you leave your wife and children on the lurch, and they don't have all that future income coming in. You could have solved that problem by buying a life insurance policy and just immediately having a you know, $3 million policy sitting outside or $10 million.The problem is like when you're first coming out of school, and you're really busy, and you're trying to do a million different things, and you get approached by someone who tries to use a product in order as Tim said, to solve your problems and then you get a bad taste in your mouth because you're like, wow, I bought this product that didn't work for me and it's just it's it's not really the physicians fault and it's not really the financial services person's fault. It's the system. The system manufacturers this because you have someone who's really busy a lack of attention, and they believe that everyone else is about is out to help, which is the physician because that's their out to help generally, right. So they project that image on to other industries. And then you have the financial services industry, which is originally created to monetize people's lack of attention, right? So they find people that...Monetize people's lack of attentionThey put a lot of time into these things, like oh, yeah,It's like, I'm busy, you know, give me a product and you're like, okay, yeah, we'll manufacture something for someone who's busy, who doesn't want to do the due diligence and doesn't want to do the hard things, right. The way I think about it is, you know, going to the gym and lifting weights consistently and eating healthy versus getting the steroids shot. To me, products are kind of like the steroids shot. In most cases. It's like, I don't want to do the hard things like have conversations with my wife, I don't want to think about where I'm going to be in 15 or 20 years. I don't really want to think about you know, saving for my kids college just like give me the steroids shot and I'll be on my way and then 10 years later, you didn't step foot in the gym and you're like, man, I'm all kind of chunky and I don't look good. Like, yeah, man, you just took steroids and you didn't go to the gym like, of course, you're going to look bad. But it's it's kind of like, it's an unfortunate situation that that is really transpired between, you know, the medical field and then financial services. But I think we're starting to come full circle. And the reason why is there's a lot of really great financial advisors and wealth managers, and a lot of them are in kind of hiding in secret because there's so many advisors out there that say their financial advisors, but there's a collective group, I would call it about 40,000 around the country that are CFP, use fancy words like fiduciary, you know, and they really take into account everything that's going on in someone's situation. So if you're lucky enough to meet one of those folks, it's usually a little bit later in life after you've kind of had one of those situations where somebody kind of burned you with the product. But at that point, you know, you're able to slow down and create enough space and both of the parties at that point are in a position where they can really help each other.What about for someone who isn't trying to bridge the gap between a high income level such as medical and still knows that they need to seek wealth management or financial management or they happen to be coming right out of school and they haven't even put together anything. How do they find someone to turn to?That's a challenge. Yeah, it's a really great question. There's a couple organizations that I'd recommend people check out. There's one it's called NAPFA. NAPFA.org I believe it's National Association of Financial something. But they're all advisors had been vetted out they're generally fee only they tend to do what is in the best interest of the client. So I'd say that's a really good starting point. But choosing an advisor is kind of like choosing a doctor, right, you know, your bedside manner. That's really important. It's hard to evaluate that through a website, you know, or through credentialing. You know, I feel like trust is a fairly simple equation. You know, I've read it in a book it was a couple years ago, but it's stuck with me. And I think this holds true for any service based profession, but trust is really credibility, plus reliability plus intimacy, divided by self orientation. And if you're a physician and you're only prescribing one, one drug, let's say, you know, you have a very high level of self orientation, because let's say that you get kickbacks for that drug. I know you guys, and this doesn't have it's not common practice and practice at all in your industry. But in our industry, like maybe somebody is maybe somebody only has one or two products, right? So they have a very high level of self orientation, which makes it a lot harder for them to build trust or to sustain trust. So I think it's really taking into account based on your interactions with with that advisor or that doctor, like, are you picking up signs of credibility? Are you picking up signs that these people are going to be reliable? And then also, are they doing a good job of asking you good questions and understanding what drives you and like, you know, how you think and what you want, right and creating that intimate relationship?Well, you bring this up, but it's always like, like everything. It's a two way street. So describe to me, both of you, your ideal client.Yeah, I mean, I think it's... Your ideal partner. Because it's really because at that point, it's no longer a client. We should be partners in this situation.Yeah. And and Tim, you can answer this as well. But I would say from from me and Tim, Tim and I, I think every person is a little bit different in our industry, I really like significance driven people that want to do something be bigger than just provide for themselves. So whether that's their family, where they want to build a business to help others, where they have charitable endeavors, or legacy goals that they want to nurture over time, those type of people light me up because there's more opportunities for advanced planning, there's more opportunities to have discussions about things that are really going to help them and frankly, it's just better for the world, right? There's more humans that we can help if we have bigger vision, so I'm kind of a big vision guy, and then I use financial services as as my vehicle to be able to help folks. So that for me, that's kind of my ideal client, but I know you know, I consult with hundreds of advisors around the country and want to have a similar podcast to this focused on the financial services industry, but every advisors a little bit different, you know, some I talked to and they're like, Hey man, I'm feel really called to serve widows and others are like, you know, I really like people, that are getting close to retirement because I feel like I'm great at retirement income and I can counsel those people, as you know, the markets go up and down. So I think a lot of it just comes down to like, what's your frequency? Like, what what type of people really light you up? And for me, it's kind of that significance driven person.Yeah, I would say very similar in a lot of ways, but it's almost like the law of attraction. If that's such a thing, but where you feel like you're finding other people that are in a similar spot in life, but you can add a lot of value to them just through your knowledge. So I've always kind of looked at the relationship side of things and just going deep with people and kind of hanging in there. And I feel like similar to Pat, like I do this as a mechanism to be able to stay in touch with so many different people and then continue to stay relevant and help them and just win that trust. And it's like the the financial aspects of it and what we make off it, it's, of course, it's there. Of course, you're always thinking like, hey, we have some things we'd like to pay off debt, get a bigger office, all these different things are of course we're human, help the children, you know all those things, but it's very much more about the relationship and seeing those, the trust, build and then helping them and then making a big difference and seeing their accounts doing what they're supposed to do. And there's tax savings in line with what they want to do. And it's just I don't know, it's kind of a anyone that's willing to be open to advice and values that but also sees it as deeper than that. Those are the people I like working with. That's actually how Eric and I started working together. I mean, one of the things one of the bonds that we have is that we're both, well, dude, I mean, we're both really into being dads. And I knew that Eric was really into his children. When I went to his house one time and his son gage was on a unicycle and Mac was juggling. Like these these flame things, they weren't lit yet. And I was like, What are you doing? He's like, in case since he is in the same boat as me, where there's lots of risk and if he dies, the family's dependent on it. He's like, I'm not going to leave my family destitute these kids will learn a circus skill before I get out of here. And that's when I realized we're on the same boat. We're going to take care of our families.We were in the middle of building the spinning knife throwing wheels.That's amazing. It is amazing. Thanks, Tim. Because what we do our side hustle as a family is circus acts. And it is awesome thanks. So anyway.But that just shows it's similar things. So now this is why I thought we could have you guys on you don't have to do that anymore. You can actually get insurance.Yeah,To help with that. And we lost we lost a couple...And now you have to admit to being psychotic.You have to but and we got a cousin that lost a few digits last week. But other than that, it's okay.Well, go ahead.Well, the other really thing, the thing that you talked about in your lecture, the other really thing that's good, that's good English.Solid grammar. SolidThe other thing that really impressed me with your lecture was the fact that you when you with clients a lot of times the spouse is not involved. And you know we already discussed that financial issues can be a real stressor on on spouses and and I was thinking about that this morning I went to an article on investapedia where spouses don't just the six things that are not discussed that you should discuss with your wealth manager mine yours ours Have you actually discuss what is what actual debt didn't even dawn on me that like people hide debt and then get married. And it's like, surprise, there it is. Yeah. personality type saver versus spender power play children. Do you know that it costs $233,610 to raise a child right now to the age of 18? That's a bargain.Yeah, that doesn't sound anywhere close.I was like, I think I spent 233,000 on tennis trips last year. No, I did not. That's been sarcastic.They start making bad decisions and it can get even worse.Oh, my gosh.It doesn't say after 18 what that cost is.Well alright. Alright. You caught me Patrick. I bet on my kid and I lose a lot. So yeah, you're right. Yeah. But it's funny. And then the thing that really hit me on this is the extended family. So at my age, I'm in this sort of sandwich situation where I've got my mother and my father's passed away. My father in law passed away. I've got my mother in law, and I've got my kids and you start looking at this and you're like, Oh, this is you starting to feel a little bit. Yeah, for sure. And this is gets thrown into your guys's laps. And so I was very impressed when you said now you got to sit down and just wow, talking about being vulnerable. Yeah. Saying look, this is everything I have going on right now.Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, Tim, do you want to take that? I mean, I feel like you've done a great job with a lot of that.It's huge. I mean, I think pulling we really don't move forward in a planning relationship unless the wife is on board or the significant other and that matter, so we just make sure of that because even when you got the hard charging entrepreneur type that we're working with, and there's they think in their mind like no, no, my spouse doesn't want anything to do with this and, and guys and girls, I mean, it's sometimes the women driving it, sometimes the guy driving it and their spouse is either taken to hear the kids hanging out, doing other things. They just don't want to be involved. But then you get the spouse talking, and you start finding out all sorts of stuff. They just help their mom who went through hospice, she had Alzheimer's, she was alive 17 years with Alzheimer's, it was this long drawn out, you know, event that they had to take care of. So she's got a whole different set of priorities and fears and thoughts about money. And the other person, the other spouse might not even be thinking that. They're just so focused on on doing what they're supposed to be doing that they lose, you know, they forget to pull them in. And so it's important to make sure everyone's on the same page. And then it's a real holistic plan. And then that way, you're making sure that everything's covered and that they have legacy they have charities they want to give to and you're making sure that the spouse is pulled in on that. So good piece. Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing is making sure that your accounting for both sides of that that sandwich, right? You know, it's easy to not think about the future and just live in the present and not realize what's eventually going to happen. And it's like, we've had a lot of issues where, you know, we've encountered people too late in the cycle, and they're like, Oh, my parents are moving in with me. And we're like, Okay, well, I mean, based on the projections, I don't think there's a whole lot you're going to be able to do if you want to actually provide care for them, it's going to have to be you because they didn't make the decision early enough on in their life to get something and protect themIs that a really common thing that you're seeing? I meanIt's starting to become a little more and more.Yeah cuz people are just living longer at this point. And part of the challenge is long term care is not a product that people want to buy, you know, it's not like, again, it's not a sexy product.You don't think about someone's like pulling you out of bed.I could never lose one of my five you know, core abilities right.We hear guys say it all the time. Oh, my long term care plan is a boat without an anchor or something. And I'm like, what? And you know, it's just a very bad idea of what it is.Well it just sounds dangerous and silly. It does sound dangerous for anyone.That's not to go off on a tangent but that is something that I'm very interested in because when we discuss lifespan versus health span Mortality verse morbidity. Yeah, so when you're sitting there talking about these kind of things so as a as a physician what we're trying to do right now is for myself, I'm like when I think about me working out and stuff I think about my my personal trainer is my 80 year old self saying don't do that. That that that looks stupid. Don't do that.No more no more back squats. You're done. No, yeah,Well, I pretty much tell my trainer to you know, beat it. I'm gonna try it anyways. This guy next to me just did and I'm sure I can do it.Load it up, six plates.So but it is interesting because right now I'm viewing everything as well. I need to be healthy when I don't want to be in a situation. My my whole our whole message is brain gut. You have to I believe that health begins and ends in the gut and I believe that it affects the brain and we have an epidemic of dementia and Alzheimer's happening. So we're having this situation where a lot of people are losing their capabilities. So even if you wanted to have a long boat ride without an anchor, you forgot it. Yeah, yeah, it's no longer in the boat and you don't even probably own the boat. Someone stole it, because you left the keys out, ya know, like, it's, yeah, we're seeing that a lot more frequently, as you guys probably have noticed an uptick in a lot of what's called inflammation related diseases, and those come into your brain. And then before you know, it's an epidemic, and that epidemic is going to work its way into the financial side. And we're starting to see the outcomes of that now. There's the link. That is fascinating. That is exactly because if I can help prevent some of that it can help some of your clients down the road. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, we used to do, part of our company was helping people with Medicare and it was crazy like the people that would come in that lived in more, let's call them like rural areas where they didn't have good access to food they didn't have good access to you know, good information around diet, their reaction time and their ability to process information and just how they could retain information, even in their mid 60s blew me away compared to other areas that were a little bit more affluent where, you know, they had access to food and that type of information. I mean, those people were, you know, whip smart, and they were able to, you know, have dialogues and remember what we talked about I was I think it's going to be a really big problem and it is now I think it's gonna get worse.An article just came out today, Bill and Melinda Gates are investing in a company to do micro encapsulation of nutrients they can actually get through in a be absorbed, so they can just sprinkle it as a powder in third world countries to try and help with these sort of micronutrient deficiencies. That when I see when I see stuff like that, when you guys are dealing with people, when you say, you know what would be really cool is to work with clients that can leave a legacy. That's pretty cool.Yeah. Being Bill Gates is probably pretty cool, too.Yeah. It's his... Bill, if you're listening we're open for business.Yeah. Like or subscribe or both.Yeah, yeah, it is a big epidemic that's coming I think... Melinda, I'm gonna give them a thumbs up. Are we cool with this? Yeah,It's tough too with the one last thing on care the care part of the plan most financial plans don't even think about that, you know, they're thinking so much about right now they're thinking about paying off debt and they're not looking at your family's your mom and dad or your mom down the road and how you're...The interesting thing is like, you would think our industry would be proactive in solving their own financial challenges, right? You think if you're a financial advisor, I'm sure you have your estate planning done. I'm sure you have all of your insurances in line, I'm sure you do proper tax planning, you know, got your investment portfolio property allocated for my, you know, work andYou didn't say Elvis collector plates, which is what 70% of my portfolios andWell, I mean, you're a great investor. So, you know, we can discuss that later. But you think that financial advisors would be the probably the first one on the list to get their financial house in order, but it's interesting how many Don't Oh, I've been on the consulting side, prior to starting my own firm and just having conversations with these folks and kind of looking through some of the, you know, the numbers and things in their own practice, it's, it's alarming how many people really don't do their own proactive financial planning, even if they're a financial planner, wealth manager. So I think it's, you know, if you're feeling any apprehension to like coming in and having those discussions, I mean, you're really not the only person. Like, it's pretty common.I just realized that we share a common spot here, which isbuy health insurance, or prepare for the future. A lot of people have to make this choice.Yeah. Now it's a good point.And I didn't even I didn't even think about that, that my parents generation did not really prepare for the future. And it's not their fault. They were post World War or my dad was post Korean War. And I don't know it was just they didn't really plan and soyeah, Yeah, I mean, Social Security's. I mean, a lot of folks are just retiring. And all they have is Social Security and Medicare. And I mean, it's medical expenses are through the roof, I don't need to tell you guys this, so I'm curious to see how we were able to address this problem, I think there needs to be a big change and, you know, outcomes for folks on the health side, because the health really drives your ability to either create or preserve wealth. And the worse off the average American is from a health standpoint, the more they're going to take from the system. And I just see that number keep going up and up and up. So hopefully, you guys can do good work and solve some problems. That's fascinating. I think that doctors and wealth managers need to be teaming up more and figuring out how, and be much more much more transparent about every Absolutely. Because even the way billing and all those things, there's so many things we can do now that are much more better outcomes and better for the client. The one other last thing about our parents generation, it's really tough about it all is that they were also conditioned to be very closed. Not every one of them but man. It's really really hard to talk to like, a dad or a mom sometimes and they don't always tell the children what they what they're doing with the money and you try to help them or different things. It's a, they're not super transparent. I don't know what it is, but it's a little tough.I think each generation has their own challenges. I think, you know, the silent generation is just like very close to the vest, you're not getting any information from that generation, the baby boomers, it's kind of hit or miss, you know, some of them done a great job with planning and others, you know, not so much. I think our generation like the Gen X, Y, I would say Gen X is the type that is reluctant to ask for advice, because they want to seem, you know, like they're an expert. You know?Gen X is?Gen X is, I don't know the exact age cuts, but I would say probably like 37 to 50. So early 50s. You know, and and this is really just kind of a heuristic. And this isn't like actual science or anything but just my observation interacting with folks. And then I would say Gen Y is done a terrible job of just saving in general. You know, like, it's more about living in the moment and travel and those types of...Gen Y is?20...late to mid twenties.So this is, so it's Gen Y millennial... Millennial. Yeah, Gen X is I think, a Gen X. But I think each generation presents with their own set of challenges that need to be worked through. And that's what I've learned over time as, as people walk in, and we have conversations with them, probably similar to you guys, when you meet with patients, you kind of know, generally what to expect and how to open up the dialogue and how to have questions to help them understand kind of the value of, you know, either good eating habits or good, you know, saving habits, depending on kind of the context that you're meeting them.You addressed a little bit Patrick and Tim, what it's like to have someone who now has a parent whose outliving  or outliving the coverage that they thought they were going to live. So we're talking about the health span versus lifespan situation and whether or not as you referenced they're going to move back home. What about the way that things have changed in terms of inflation specific to people as they plan for college now, probably over the last 15 years, and we've seen reports probably over the Last 10 where more and more people at the age of 18 don't tend to move out of the home. So, in other words, how do people retro actively kind of back plan by coming and talking to you on how they can readjust finances, because oftentimes the pride kind of plays into it. They're like, I don't want to look like I didn't plan for this. But the truth is, it's okay to say, I didn't plan for this. Help me get out of this. How do you approach someone like that?So just so I'm clear and clarifying. It's someone who hasn't adequately planned for some of these expenses, and then they're coming in and how do we kind of help them get through?Yeah, the environment changed to where whereas when, whenever I graduated was, whether you're going to go to college or service or just going to go and start your own business at 18. You're leaving, and over the last 15 years, more and more people graduate. They they stay at home. It's very expensive. The rate of inflation both for collegiate education is completely changed. I mean, my most expensive year or semester was 1500 dollars. Yeah. And that's obviously not going to happen anymore.I mean, I think it starts with just an acknowledgement that it's a trade off, right. So you there's only so much money to go around. And you need to rank your priorities. And if you have people living in your home, and that's taking away money that you could be putting towards your retirement. I mean, basically, what you're saying is that right now supporting your kids and making sure that those types of expenses are met outranks the priority of saving for retirement and other goals that you may have in the future. But it starts with an honest conversation about what are your priorities, and it is someone else, whether you love them or not, are they hijacking the vision that you have for your life? And are you okay with that? And I think that's really the first step. It's not really like, did you make good decisions or could you make better decisions, it's more, you know, here's where we're at, and it's not for good or for bad. This is a situation that we're in. Let's figure out what we want. If we can figure out what we want, then we can figure out the best path forward. And I think to add on to that, for people that are starting to have kids or maybe have young kids and you know, at some point they may be sending their kids off to college, should they put money in a savings plan for that, should they not? I think a lot of it just comes down to, you know, just being intentional about what you're you want. And then also, you know, what your, your kids may want too because I think that college will eventually decrease in cost. I think there's going to be, you know, opportunities for people to learn skills, and the workplace is rapidly changing. It's getting more competitive, in general to do business. So I think people are just going to be expected to have more skill sets in college right now the structure of it doesn't really lend itself to that. So I think we're going to see more dynamic learning environment, which should cut costs and be on average better for folks around the country.It's funny when you said to be saving that my I joked about tennis, but I do have a really big tennis family and I remember my son was 8 years old, and they brought in this consultant from England to talk about growth and adolescence. And somebody actually asked of the kids that you coach, how many of them went on to get a full ride scholarship? These are eight year olds. She lost it. She goes, here's a great idea. All the money you're doing spending on traveling all the money you're doing spending on private lessons, everything. Why don't you just put it into a college fund? There you go. And I just went, oh my god. Yeah, that's right their eight and they're asking you about college scholarships. Holy cow. We are. I mean, completely misguided here. So..Especially with the college system today in a lot of ways it's pretty broken. I mean, you definitely don't learn anything about real finance. You don't learn how to balance your budget. You don't learn about the tax code. You know?What if you happen to make it all the way through be a star athlete in football and get paid tons of money if you don't have a financial plan? Someone straight out of Austin, not that long ago, was a national champion quarterback has nothing to show for it and netted over 20 something million dollars?Yeah, I would say most athletes are just the deck is stacked because they have such a short career span, and you get that rapid rise. And they don't get good advice because the people giving them advice are the agents and it's a very kind of... It's an industry loan, you're loaning it for 5,7,10 year contract. Just the way that it's structured.And then it pays it back to the contract owner.It goes back to exactly what Patrick said, you have to be intentional. You have to be intentional with what you want to do. So if you want your kids to go to school, do something intentional and save for it. If you're going to make it all the way up, be intentional with this nice, this nice cash sum that you have it because it's not going to last forever. And there's no guarantee that even if your kids good enough that they're even going to want to play that sport when they get to school.Yeah, totally. You know, being intentional because we're talking we jumped right in and just started talking about all the stuff that we want to be excited about which is health and finances and stuff. But the reality is, how in the world did you guys meet? How did you form Surepath. Let's let's get into the stories now. I mean, clearly you guys, clearly you guys know what you're doing clearly you have the best intention of your of your partners, your clients. Now I want to know how this thing even came about how you built this.I mean, I I'm from Boston, Pat's from Philly area, and I moved down to Texas in 2013 2014. And so I had had a practice up in Boston and my family was that ended up down here in Austin. And so I was going back and forth just to service those clients. And there was an incredible time I was able to stay with some great families, and Finny Kuruvilla and a bunch of people like that who I only bring up because he's disrupting education right now with Sattler College. Their tuitions five grand a year and it's a fully accredited college Finny's a doctor and everything went to Harvard and MIT. But anyway, so I got to meet a lot of amazing people build some incredible community and things. But during that time, when I would come back to Austin for a few weeks, had a lot of downtime. I was going through a lot of family transition and things like that. So I started volunteering at a prison. And every Tuesday morning for about two years, I would go down there. And, and it was like towards about 18 months in. One of the lead guys in the prison ministries wife was a big financial advisor in town, and she wanted to talk about working together. And I'm like, that'd be great kind of having my practice here. And so let's talk. So, another new volunteer overheard us talking in prison, and they were walking into the actual prison to meet the men in there that we would meet with every week. And the new guys like, Hey, I heard you talking in the lobby, like what do you do? And I'm like, I don't really network at prison, but I will tell you, I do a little finance and things And then I walked up in a jumpsuit.That makes total sense why you guys felt comfortable stopping with me while I was holding the sign.If we can get this guy 10%.But anyway, long story short, he said, you ought to meet my partner. We do some Medicare things and he's a great guy. He's a CFA and a CPA and I'm like, Medicare CFA CPA. Interesting. So yeah, I'll meet I'll absolutely meet with him. So the next day I went and got a haircut and met with Pat and we just really hit it off. We were at Whole Foods in Austin it's about a coming up on February's of 2016 is when we did that.Did they give you a release?A temporary release, I had to wear one of those weird anklets. And I have like a guy following me.But yeah, so we met there. And then I think really just Pat was unwinding some other companies. He just moved back to Austin. He was doing some stuff back and forth in California another wealth management firm. And where I was at in life where he was at, like we started sharing some clients and ideas and before you know it, he's like, hey, man, here, the new business cards, website, everything like whoa, man, okay, this is awesome. And I didn't realize that he was as hard charging and together as he was, I mean, I knew he was but it was pretty impressive to see what he had already built out. So I left my other practice and full time we started Surepath. That was July 1 of 2016. And so that's how we met just a lot of good similarities in life. He's a bit nine years younger than me or so but about 20 years smarter than me. So it's a really good partnership.But that didn't prevent y'all from sharing some toilet wines. So that's pretty sweet.True. So that's, that's my side. You might have a couple of little details in there. But I think that's... Yeah, I mean, I think that's a great summary. I would say that, you know, what attracted us together I think, was just the the different skill sets. So Tim is like, great at meeting like if you're, if if you're a physician, and you go and meet someone, and if let's say Tim was a physician, and he would walk into the room, he would, every person would like him, like, in like two seconds, they go, Oh my god, I love my doctor. He's great. So Tim is great at building trust very quickly. On the relational side. I am more strategic and analytical. So I like to focus more on the practice and making sure that we're, you know, structuring everything correctly with like taxes and investments and financial planning and just better controlling the outcomes for folks and doing everything we can to deliver on our promise which is to help them reach the goals. So it's just a great combination where you know, I would, I get drained if I have to be in front of people like 10 hours a day, but Tim will be in front of people for 12 hours a day and then he'll go talk to a fence post for another 6.I'm sorry! I'm aware of that but it's just a...Alright seven seven hours.You want me to pull the splinters out or what? I gotta go talk to this dandelion.You're really going out with that guy? yeah, yeah he's a good dude. Okay, so great story about Tim is when the last time we were all together we're listening to live music. Remember, Tim took off to go to a friend's wedding up in Boston.Which shows which which in itself just shows total loyalty. which is...Total loyalty to your friends because you left that morning to go yeah, what's up Matthew don't know you. But I know this guy loves you. Because he left early in the morning from Salt Lake and then suddenly, he appears late night while we're listening to Christian Mills bands, right? Yep. And then... They're doing a Stones cover I think yea,Yea Tim rolls up with his with his beanie on and then... It was cold that night. It was snowing.Well wait, let's let's go ahead and paint the picture a little bit better. It's on the top of a mountain.Yes. Very top of the mountain. I could barely breathe.Yeah, high altitude sickness potential And much like Ron Burgundy here comes. But it was also kind of set up in a way that the top of the mountain had like different camps so if you want to be down at the campfire if you want to be at the live music, so I was kind of hanging out at the live music for most of the night. And then I just heard it as I was walking by it was loud. I mean, you can hear the on top of the mountain but it was yes. And then I'll stop talking.You know what, I'm gonna disagree with that because basically I saw your Uber barely make it up to the top mountain. Then you jumped out you're like I told you to wait till I got here.You pulled your your harmonica out of your sleeve and... You did jam though. Do you have your harmonica on you?You know I left it in the car.Can you go get it? Yeah. While we're sitting here talking a little bit. Just keep the mic on you're good.Yeah.Even if it's turned on?Don't go pee or anything and pull a Naked Gun move.ooh?I got you muted until you get back.All right, while we're sitting here waiting, let's talk personal stuff like, what's what's going on like the wife married?Yep, married. My wife is Brazilian. So we met about 10 years ago. She is a you know, she she was a crazy story. I wish she was here to tell it. But she, she started as a babysitter. She flew over from Brazil was going to school here. So she's an Au Pair program. And I grew up in Philadelphia, you know, we all look the same and Philly, like, you know, and then I'm out for my 23rd birthday. And I'm like, well, I had a couple drinks. So you know, a little bit stronger than hop tea. I look arond and go, you look a lot different than everybody else. So I walk up to her and you know, 23 years old and I'm like, Hey, how's it going? And she's like, couldn't speak English at that time. So, you know, I'm trying to talk to her and she's like, I can't speak English. And I'm like, that's okay.Did you ask her can you not speak English? Or am I just really drunk?Yeah, I think it was a combination.But no she really couldn't speak at that point. And I was like, Hey, can I get your number? Like, can I get you a drink? And she's like, No, she totally shut me down. I'm like, all right, well, I'm going to go then. So I accidentally, coincidentally rather ran into her three months later, at another place like 45 minutes away, and she recognized me at that point. And she could speak so that's that was the beginning of our relationships. So and she went from that to being like the head of sales for a tech startup in in Austin. So she covers like all of Latin America and is always like kind of in the air and manages a team of sales professionals and blows me out of the water.Next time she goes to Cabo man, that'd be a great trip for you guys but...Every time she posts on LinkedIn, like I do a lot of social media stuff like of a podcast and videos or I may  post something I get like 12 likes, my wife posts one thing 274 likes, like what, how do I how do I capture some of this start. She's a great woman.Awesome. Awesome person. No she's she's fantastic. No kids yet so we're planning on that soon. And I live in Austin, Texas. So I've been there for ever since I moved from Philadelphia really sitting there for about 10 years. How do you guys like Austin? We love it. Yeah, not probably not going to move, honestly. I mean, it's one of the one of the things like we're in an industry and wealth management, wealth management industry where I feel like it's important to be part of the community and like, have a physical presence so that we can actually meet with folks. So I do believe that being in Austin is important for our business, but I also really just like it, you know, it's a great, great city.I saw the other show are you guys actually in Georgetown. Is that where your physical office is?We have a Roundrock location we're actually getting hopefully a new office here. Like this week or next week. We're potentially moving spaces down towards downtown so we have a couple satellite offices and you know, but we're getting the main hub which will be fun.Yea it's a nice place. You'll have to come down. We're hoping to have a nice little setup like this.That's awesome. Hey, what was the song that you played?Oh, it was a was a Rolling Stone song and truth be told I don't play harmonica regularly. I just happened to have it in that bag because when we were in Croatia, the acoustic guy in Croatia was playing a lot of really pretty songs and I was like, man, I wish I brought my harmonica because I know I didn't bring mine too so I said I'll bring mine to the next event. So I had it with me and I didn't know if he was gonna be playing it was Christian Mills and it was the other guy with the longer hair... You weren't there you were in Croatia so that's why I brought it so I just had it on me for that reason. Where did you get the tombstone style hidden gun thing where do like a little spring loaded thing?Did I do that you know when I pulled it out? Yeah. Yeah. You know, well, I was talking to Christian you know, as musician speak you just kind of ,I'm not really a big musician, but I was looking at him I was like, I held up my harmonica and I just pulled it out and then when I went up there...you know if you play that we can't, we won't be able to layer it on YouTube.Oh, that's right. You can't just play other people's I was gonna I was gonna play the same song. And let you kind of rock on with it.It was the Stones? What was what song was it? It was a I forget the name of it...It wasn't give me shelter.No, it was.Are you able to do that?Yeah, inverted yield curve?  That will probably be you. Yeah.Well, I was just gonna say what I want to do is hear a little I want to hear a little harmonica. And one of the neat things that we have here in the studio is we've got a whiteboard and I want to ask, I just want to draw out something that is typically kind of hard for somebody some, I'm just a simple country, butt Dr. from Texas. And so I if I could see it on a whiteboard. And one of the things one of the things you were talking about during your lecture was this inverted yield thing and I was like, I don't know what that is but...I'll give a little intro for the inverted yeild curve.So let me go ahead and set that up.This things kind of a little old so...Some set up music here by Mr. Tim Power. Oh there's no reason to stop we're just now pulling the curtain back. There was nothing wrong with that at all.If the music's playing I can jump in I play a lot better just on my own it's a little harmonica is a little insolated.That harmonica means the whiteboard is coming out.Maybe it was a little higher up than i thought. The air was a little thin and all of us were like...Well with the band like the Christian Mills it was it was just a no brainer so I knew I could get up there and just play anything and it would sound okay.Well I'm gonna throw it to either guy but it's kind of interesting because inverted yield. I was trying to talk to.Pretty weird right?  It is super weird. So we got some markers here. I'm going to bring you a camera. Tim you can narrate while you draw and then Pat, wait I'm sorry, Pat, you can narrate Patrick.So Tim if you want to narrate or who's gonna draw? Yeah whatever.You just move your chair.I get the cordless mic. Sure. The director's chair.The director's chair.And I might move that a little too. First time we're trying to move. There we go.You get that okay? Good enough? Good enough. Alright.We're gonna do a whole little lecture on inverted yield and why this is important to understand that so that as we're looking at investments, You can just draw kind of a vertical horizontal guy. And so you're going to do Time, time over here, interest over there. Yeah. So time.Time is going to be on his x axis, and the interest is going to be on the Y the vertical.So generally, just to kind of set the stage here, because this is actually a fairly complicated topic these guys gave us absolutely no heads up on the inverted yeild card. But usually what you would expect as you go out over time that you would be compensated by increased rates. So for example, let's say a bank was going to lend you money and they were going to lend you for, you know, 15 years, right versus a year. Imagine, actually, let me back up. So imagine you were gonna to lend someone money and and you could lend them an amount of let's call it $100,000 for a year, or you could lend them $100,000 for 15 years. Imagine why would so why would you ever lend them $100,000 for 15 years, if you got a lower rate of interest, then if you could lend for one year, right? So the weird thing about an inverted yield curve is it's exactly that. You can lend in the short term for higher rates than you can lend in the long term. So if you think about it, from an investor's perspective, there's really no reason to take any risk. There's no reason to go out and lend for 10,15,20,30 years out on the x axis, because you're not compensated for doing that risk and return are generally related. So what you would expect is if you're going to lock up your capital, and you're going to land for 5,10,15,20 years, and you're not going to see that back for 5,10,15,20 years, you're going to want a higher interest rate. Well what happens with an inverted yield curve is you actually get a lower interest rate, which is counterintuitive. So it's the market generally signaling that interest rates are expected to fall in the future.So where where does that signal come from? This is where I'm confused.So the way that markets price interest rates are securities, it's kind of there's a number of factors, right? So there's supply and demand. There's people coming to the market and saying, I want to lend and I'm, I'm willing to lend and other people saying I want to borrow, right. So part of that is going to drive the interest rate. So supply and demand. The other thing is market forces, right? So you got things like quantitative easing, and have happened, you've got, you know, just fluctuations in, you know, how how liquid capital is, and how available it is money supply. So there's a lot of factors that could potentially go into the shapes of the yeild curve. But there's really no explanation that is 100% accurate to say how the yield curve is going to shift or change. It's very, very hard to predict changes in the yield curve. So really the only thing that you can do is act based on the information that's available to you. And what this yield curve that Tim has so beautifully drawn up here tells me as an investment manager is, I'm not going to take turns, it's called term risk. There's really no reason for me to go out and take term risk, because I'm not compensated for it. I'm not willing to lend for 10 years for 1%. I'd rather lend for 10 years 1% I'd rather lend for one year and maybe get three to four. Right? There's, there's no reason for me to take that bet. And the interesting thing is, yeild curves, if you look at the data, they can also have some predictive power as far as how financial markets are going to go. This is a this is a, a bad sign, gen

https://youtu.be/bIjcCT9HYl0 In this episode we're going to talk about hiring a financial advisor and one questionYou should never hire a financial advisor without asking firstThis is the only one aio financialSeries with Bill and Jason we discuss personal financial issues including insuranceinvestments retirement planning estate planning and taxesLittle of everything Letta anything to do with personal financesAbsolutely. Well, thank you for joining us heresothe questionWill just get right into it that you should never hire a financial adviser without asking first is how do they get compensated?for what they do for you, sothere's a lot of IguessMystery about this within the industry for a lot of clientsSo it's not always transparent as far as how your advisor is getting paidAnd so we want to kind of break it down for you the different ways that advisors get paidWhat we believe is the best way to go and what you should look forAnd then just kind of get into some of those details with you to help you make that decisionSo when you're looking for an advisor, you can make a well informed decisionYeah, that's a great question is how they're getting compensated and there's three main types of advisors. There are fee onlyFiduciary financial planners who are getting compensated only by the clientsthere are Commission brokers or Commission advisors who are much more common than fee only and they're gettingCompensated by the products. They're selling to clients andthen there's a mix this fee based orCommission and feeAdvisers who are getting some of both they're getting a fee from the client. Plus they're getting compensated from the products. They're sellingyeah, and so as you might guess thethe way that you're probably going to be mostAs an advisor is if you're getting a flat feeto manage the account or to manage their entire financial plan andYou don't get paid for specific products because in the financial industry certain products pay a much highercommission than othersSo for example an annuity versus a CD a lot of timesYou'll see an advisor use an annuity in place of a CD or something similar to itthe annuity will pay a huge Commission the CD next to nothing if anything about soThat that's the type of thing that you want to be consideringBecause it may make a big difference to that advisor as far as what they recommend for you now both might be sort ofOkay, but how do you know that?They're really making that decision based onWhat's best for you versus what's going to earn them a higher paycheck at the end of the month, soyeah, and in addition tothe unbiasness if you're compensated differently for different products, there's also just theTransparency of it. It's not really clear in most cases how much theadvisor is gettingcompensated by selling you a CD versus an annuity versus a bond fund versusYou know other products there can be upfrontCommissions that they get paid there can be ongoingPayments that they're receiving for this products for the productsThere could be penaltiesif you get out of the product like an annuity ahead of time that you might not be aware of so that they're gettingCompensated no matter what once you you've gotten into itSo the unbiasness, but also just how much it is so the fee only advisors they're charging you a fee it's very clearHow much it is it's their only compensation. There's no otherKickbacks for referrals or any other compensation that's given to themYeah, exactly. Soyou know something else too to bring up we were kind of looking at stats on this so out of about300,000 financial advisors and financial planners in the US Oh only somewhere around17% are on the fee only basis, soIt's not the most commonI guess scenario out thereSo if you currently have an advisor, it's definitely worth looking into to see how they're getting paidAnd definitely if you're you know shopping for a new one or the first financial planner that you've worked withIt's important to understand thatBefore you assign any s...

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.I'm finishing up my PhD here at the University of Regina.Whoo Boy, that's a big question.Um, let's just say it's asystems theory, I guess would be theone word or two words. Yeah, so systems theory.On systems theory is applied to interactive hardware, specifically stuff to do with, like Arduino and DIY hobbyist electronics.How's that being evaluated? Well, it's a sort of theoretical field. So essentially, I'm taking some really really old math from the 1940s.And trying to bring it up to speed with other contemporary ideas, especially pertaining to the maker movement was actuallyYeah, no worries. Um, well, back in the 1940s, there was this movement to take all of the different disciplines and unite them under one banner, and they were calling that general systems theory. And so the idea is that you can takethe grand unified, yeah, the grand unified theory.A kind of in a way yeah, that well, the grand unified theory in physics, I actually have a bachelor's degree in physics. The grand unified theory of physics was trying to unite quantum mechanics in general relativity. Now, General systems theory was actually founded by a biologist by the name of Ludwig von Berg handling fee andHis idea was thatyou could potentially describe biological, physical, chemical electronic systems all using the same type of language. And so back in the 90s Yeah, well, so back in the 1940s and 1950s they started fiddling around that this ideait's exactly that.Yeah, it's uh, it's uhhuh, yeah, well in its kind of, so you have in computer science, which my PhD work is, that's the what will be my PhD here in a few months. But in computer science, you have kind of like two disparate sorts of fields, looking at how people and non computer systems interact with computers and those two are cybernetics and human computer interaction.And human computer interaction that looks at interactions with machines as almost human conversations. But cybernetics takes the other approach and it says, Okay, well let's look at humans as if they work computers and systems theory kind of bridges. Systems Theory kind of bridges the gap between the two by saying no, let's look at everything like it's a system.I am trying toyou yeah, essentially take that third stance that if we look at everything as if it's a system,meet in the middle, somewhere between machine and man, then we can potentiallybreak through with all sorts of, well, essentially new philosophies and new ways of looking and designing things.Mmhmm.Yeah, that's no that's, that's exactly it.Exactly. And I've never been one to, like just take a very specific problem and say, I'm going to learn more about this very specific problem and then come up with a superficial answer. I've always been someone who has to drill down to the very core of what makes a discipline tick and then work from there, which is a huge pain in the ass for me, butI'm not quite sure exactly what do you mean by that?No, that's okay. That's okay.No worries. I know I think I think I understand what you're saying. The way that we look at things. Yeah, I think well, that's the most important thing or not the most important thing but that isn't an important thing isThat first you get your definition straight. And one of the problems with systems theory is you have sort of two different areas of systems. There you have the early systems theorists which their work was in trying to define systems using mathematical models like using set theory, and then the later system, and then the later systems theorists are more like experimentalists, and the experimentalists, they take a look at inputs and outputs, and then reverse engineer the system, kind of the black box method of engineering. And so my work fits in sort of in between them, trying to bridge the gap. And that involves being very careful about definitions, because there's a misunderstanding between what we meant by systems and what we know mean by systems, at least in my estimation.Nope, this is a this isThis is all just set theory. So it's not even. There's like no programming involved in that.And, yep.How does this relate to that? Well, my actual PhD, has very little programming in it. So the PhD thesisother than the demonstrator here in there, doesn't use a whole lot of Python. However, I use Python a lot in what I do mostly, which is teaching. I spend most of my time as a session, a lecturer and teaching three, three different classes this semester. And then I have to over this. Yeah, and I use Python a lot for that.Currently.Yeah, why? Yeah, why don'tteaching a it's all CS classes currently and teaching an 800 level class let's graduate students, some teaching a grad level course currently on,on what is it interactive hardware, which doesn't really involve much Python, I'm teaching to undergraduate courses as well. One of those is interactive simulation methods, which is all done in Python.And then I'm teaching another course on Unity game development, which of course is done in C sharp butBut currently, I'm working on developing a couple of new courses, one on information theory and another one on data acquisition and analysis from the internet. And both of those areboth of those are using Python. Those are both grad classes that I'm teaching over the summer.Information about information. I like it. That's meta.Yeah, information theory. Well, information theory is kind of this old branch of science that originated with Claude Shannon, back in the 1940s 1950s,when they were starting to think about, rather than the universe as an analog place. They're certainly think about the universe as a digital place as opposed to the way that we've traditionally thought of it. And so the idea behind information theory is that pretty much everything can be described in terms of yes or no questions. So, for example, you can ask the question.Yeah, well, every question. So the definition of information is the resolution of uncertainty. And the way that we resolve uncertainty is by asking yes or no question andYou can ask question like, Is it warm out today? And the answer would be yes or no. But of course, implicit within that you have to define Well, what do you mean by warm? And so you'd have to get specific. Is it greater than 30 degrees Celsius today?And then yeah, and then the question the answer that question would be today, no, here in Canada, or here in Regina know, so it wouldn't be warm today. So that's the answer of yes or no question. And of course, when you have a yesMmhmm.I'm drawing a blank thereIknow I'm I'm mostlymost of my programming is done in Python so i i think i think you're right though I think you're I think you're on the right track though.I physics background Yeah. Oh well in Math Math was my minorYeah, you can see thathuh? Yeah, math isyeahmental math is math is the language by which themath is the language by which the universe is governed. And physics is the result of that governments I suppose you could say.Mmhmm yeah, that would beyou probably thinking ofGosh, what's his name?throughout Ragnar rum which means calculating space, trying to think of his nameThat sounds kind of likehmmwellwell the concept of information sorry the concept of information actually in, ininLike Shannon's Shannon, Shannon systems that aren't sorry Stratton's information theoryis almost a physical rather than in a subjective thing, you can measure it.Well, no, I don't necessarily say that. I mean,there are certain things thatyou want to get metaphysical about things. There are certain conclusions that you can draw, I suppose, from thinking about the universe in terms of both information and systems. And if you want to take that extrapolate that and apply that towards See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Joan Behnke founded her namesake design studio in 1999. Since then, she has been trailblazing a path studded with interior design gems from LA to DC. Joan views interior design as a fine art and an exercise in self-expression. It’s both intimate and created for the world to see based on the unique personality of its inhabitant. I met Joan at her studio and we sat for quite a while. She is in a really good place. The firm has enjoyed international recognition and while that is important, she has built her firm on her own ideas of what makes the work, good and worthy. I enjoyed my time with Joan, she is soft spoken but her words have tremendous impact and she is fierce in her ideas about design and the personal nature by which she connects it to her clients. We talked about exquisite craftsmanship and lasting beauty, both of which are key elements to her design philosophy. This is Joan Behnke. If you like this episode of the podcast, and I hope that you do. Why not subscribe to the show? It’s easy, fast andYou can find Convo By Design wherever you download your favorite podcasts. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/convo-by-design/id937267494?mt=2 TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture/Convo-By-Design-p724759/ Player.FM https://player.fm/en/podcasts/convo-by-design #Design #Architecture #ConvoByDesign #InteriorDesign #Hollywood #Art #LuxuryDesign #HomeDecor #SnyderDiamond #SubZeroWolf #VONDOM #WestEdgeDesignFair #DIEM #JoanBehnke

When you hit a certain level of success and notoriety, you co from having two names, to being known by one. In the design and architecture circles of Southern California, the name "Rocky" leaves no mistake about whom we are speaking. Rocky LaFleur is a fixture of the design and architecture scene. Rocky has been in West Hollywood for over 40 years, dedicating his time to promote our community and help mentor the next generation of design professionals. I met Rocky at the Pacific Design Center and we talked for a while. He told me his story, his views on interior design in Southern California today and what it was like when he first got here. This really is the story of a small town boy coming to LA and helping to shape the design landscape. His influence is inextricably tied to the interiors in and around Los Angeles if for no other reason than the affect he has had on those he meets and mentors. Rocky is also one of the most positive people I know, always a good word and he is just a joy to be around. Enjoy this conversation with Rocky LaFleur. If you like this episode of the podcast, and I hope that you do. Why not subscribe to the show? It’s easy, fast andYou can find Convo By Design wherever you download your favorite podcasts. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/convo-by-design/id937267494?mt=2 TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture/Convo-By-Design-p724759/ Player.FM https://player.fm/en/podcasts/convo-by-design #Design #Architecture #ConvoByDesign #InteriorDesign #Hollywood #Art #LuxuryDesign #HomeDecor #SnyderDiamond #SubZeroWolf #VONDOM

This is a conversation about teamwork, luxury design, collaboration and longevity. More specifically, how Brian Pinkett of the Landry Design Group structured his career. If that sounds contrived, listen to him describe it. He knew what he wanted to do at a very early age and built his work life around his passion. I wish I could have found my passion early, I didn’t and I would say that is most common. Ito took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do, what made me happiest. Brian found it early and he was able to craft his work life around that. The result is a storied career with the majority of that at the Landry Design Group where he is a big part of building and training a team to consistently attain some of the most amazing and luxury design in the business today. That team and the concept of team is of critical importance to the Landry Design Group philosophy. I really enjoyed this conversation with Brian Pinkett and I hope you do as well. It was recorded in front of a wonderful audience at the WestEdge Design Fair. If you like this episode of the podcast, why not subscribe to the show? It’s easy, fast andYou can find Convo By Design wherever you download your favorite podcasts. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/convo-by-design/id937267494?mt=2 TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture/Convo-By-Design-p724759/ Player.FM https://player.fm/en/podcasts/convo-by-design #Design #Architecture #ConvoByDesign #InteriorDesign #Hollywood #Art #LuxuryDesign #HomeDecor #LandryDesignGroup #BrianPinkett #SnyderDiamond #SubZeroWolf #VONDOM

Convo By Design is recorded in the Living Kitchen Studio and this week, you are going to hear from an amazing talent and wonderful guy. This is Peter Gurski, set decorator and the man behind the look and feel of Will & Grace. Peter is a multifaceted creative meaning he is also an interior designer and has held multiple other roles within the art department including production designer and art director. But this is special for me and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Peter. He invited me to the Universal City Studios to walk the set, and talk a little bit. We talked a lot about the business, his role and vision for the reboot of an immensely popular show with extremely vocal fans. Peter talks about the show and more specifically, the characters who you got to know between 1998 and 2006, now reintroduced in 2017 and guess what, they have changed, just like you and me. Peter and his team imagined their personality and life development but also incorporated who they were to deliver the same characters 10 years later. Brilliant. Peter captured the past work of set decorator Melinda Ritz who worked on the first 10 seasons and moved from there. We walked and talked and you can see images from the set on social media and make sure to check out the YouTube channel for a video from our time together. If you like this episode of the podcast, and I hope that you do. Why not subscribe to the show? It’s easy, fast andYou can find Convo By Design wherever you download your favorite podcasts. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/convo-by-design/id937267494?mt=2 TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture/Convo-By-Design-p724759/ Player.FM https://player.fm/en/podcasts/convo-by-design #Design #Architecture #ConvoByDesign #InteriorDesign #Hollywood #Art #Will&Grace #HomeDecor #WillandGrace #PeterGurski #SDSA #SnyderDiamond #SubZeroWolf #VONDOM

On Joy and Sorrowby Kahill Gilbran欢乐与忧伤---纪伯伦Then a woman said, “Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.”And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.And the selfsame well fromWhich your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.一位妇人说：请给我们谈谈欢乐和忧伤。他回答：你们的欢乐是无法掩饰的忧伤。你欢笑的泉眼常常也饱含着泪水。And how else can it be?The deeper that sorrow carves into your being.The more joy you can contain.Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cupThat was burned in the potter’s oven?And is not the lute that soothes your spirit,The very wood that was hollowed with knives?除此之外，又当如何？镌刻在你们身上的忧伤愈深，你们能盛装的欢乐愈多。斟满了美酒的杯盏，难道不是曾在陶工炉火中锻造的杯盏吗？When you are joyous, look deep into your heart andYou shall find it is only that which has givenYou sorrow that is giving you joy.When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,And you shall see that in truth you are weeping forThat which has been your delight.当你们快乐时，审视自己的内心，你们会发现曾经的忧伤如今却让你们快乐。当你们忧伤时，再次审视自己的内心，你们会发现曾经的快乐如今却让你们流泪。Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”But I say unto you, they are inseparable.Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.你们中有些人说：“欢乐胜于忧伤。”另一些人则说：“不，忧伤更伟大。”但我要说，他们是相辅相成的。它们一同降临，当其中一个单独与你同坐时，记住另一个正在你的床上安歇。Verily you are suspended like scalesBetween your sorrow and your joy.Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weighHis gold and his silver, needs must yourJoy or your sorrow rise or fall.的确，你们就像在忧伤与欢乐之间摇摆不定的天平。只有当你们彻底空虚时，你们才能平衡稳定。把你浮沉不定的快乐和悲伤都留给那用你来称量金银的守财奴吧。Kahill Gilbran:纪·哈·纪伯伦（1883-1931）黎巴嫩作家、诗人、画家，是阿拉伯文学的主要奠基人，被称为艺术天才、黎巴嫩文坛骄子。其主要作品有《泪与笑》《先知》《沙与沫》等，纪伯伦、鲁迅和拉宾德拉纳特·泰戈尔一样是近代东方文学走向世界的先驱。

Mistake # 1: The absence of a methodology – most investors make ad hoc investment decisions. How can you expect to win the game if you have no game-plan?Mistake # 2: Belief that they can make quick profits – too many people thing too short term.Mistake # 3: No patience – invest in quality assets with a quality (proven) methodology and then have the discipline to ride through the volatility.Mistake # 4: Almost no diversification – diversification is by far the biggest single necessary ingredient to winning the game of share investing.What is the simple solution to these four mistakes?The antidote to these four mistakes is very simple and available to all smart investors. Essentially you need to do three things:You need to adopt a proven, low risk methodology. I am a strong believer in the passive investment methodology. Its low-cost and very diversified and proven to generate higher returns.You need to invest in a manner that you would be comfortable doing so for the next 10 years. You need to avoid the temptation of trying to predict market returns – “market forecasters will fill your ear but will never fill your wallet” – yes, another Buffett quote; andYou need to diversify markets and assets classes. This means that you should invest outside of Australia – particularly in the US market as it makes up over half of the world index and provides tech exposure as discussed above. You should also consider defensive assets such as bonds too.Visit this blog for more information.

【点击微信右上角+号---添加朋友---公众号---搜索“为你读英语美文”---关注后查看原文，垫乐，参加互动，活动】 【第205期】《大自然在说话》系列合集一去年5月，主播Sally在为你读英语美文主播微信群分享了《大自然在说话》系列的视频，并且提议做成节目。于是，我们找到了《大自然在说话》系列的所有文本，并且由13位主播分别演绎了12个角色。这个系列节目持续了一年，我们完成了所有角色。我们把所有音频整理成为了两个合集，今天要和大家分享的是合集1：由Sally, 永清，熊叔，筱思，尚尚，黄茜分别为水，雨林，海洋，花，珊瑚，大自然母亲发声。希望通过我们的声音，让大家倾听大自然的所知所见，更重要的是，倾听大自然给予大家的建议，让我们一起携手保护自然。Water 水I am water. To humans I am simply justthere.我是水。对于人类来说我司空见惯。I'm something they just take for granted.我对他们只是理所当然的东西。But there is only so much of me. And moreand more of them every single day.但是我是非常有限的，而人类的数量却每天都在增长。I start as rain in the mountains flow tothe rivers and streams. And end up in the ocean.我化身为雨水落入山中，流进小溪与河流并最终汇入海洋。Then the cycle begins again.然后循环再次开始。And it will take me 10,000 years to getback to the state I am in now.要回到我现在的状态需要一万年。But to humans? I'm just water. Just there.然而对于人类来说，我只是水，理所当然就在那里。Where will humans find me when there arebillions more of them around?如果人口再增加几十亿，人类还能找到我吗？Where will they find themselves?他们自己又将如何生存？Will they wage wars over me?他们会为了我而发动战争吗？Like they do over everything else?就像他们为了其他事而做的那样？That's always an option. But it's not theonly option.那倒是一种选择，但并非唯一的选择。 Rainforest 雨林I am the rainforest.我是雨林。I watched them grow up here.我看着他们在这里成长。They've left. But they always come back.他们离开了。但他们总是会回来。Yes, they always come back.是的，他们总会回来的。For my trees, their wood.为了获取我的树木，作为木材。My plants, their medicines.为了采集我的植物，充当药材。For my beauty, their escape.我的美丽是他们的世外桃源。I've always been there and I have been morethan generous.我有求必应。我慷慨大方。Sometimes I gave it all to them. Now goneforever.有时候，我付出了全部。现在一切不复返。But humans, they're so smart. So smart.但人类啊，他们真的很聪明，真的很聪明。Such big brains and opposable thumbs.这么智慧的大脑，灵巧的双手。They know how to make things. Amazingthings.他们善于创造，了不起的创造。Now, why would they need an old forest likeme anymore?现在，他们还需要我这片古老的森林做什么呢？Jungles? Trees? Well, they do breathe air.需要我的丛林还是树木？对了，他们总得呼吸吧。And I make air.而我制造了氧气。Have they thought about that?他们意识到这件事了吗？Humans, so smart. They'll figure it out.人类，这么聪明。他们会想出办法的。Humans making air. That'll be fun to watch.人类制造氧气。那可太有意思了。 Ocean海洋I am the ocean. I'm water. I'm most of thisplanet. I shaped it.我是海洋，我是水，我覆盖了大部分地球。我创造了它。Every stream, every cloud, and everyraindrop. It all comes back to me.每一条河，每一朵云，每一滴雨，都将回到我的怀抱。One way or another, every living thing hereneeds me.不管怎样，地球上所有的生物都需要我。I'm the source. I'm what they crawled outof.我是源头，所有的生命都来自于我。Humans? They're no different.人类？他们没有什么不同。I don't owe them a thing.我不欠他们。I give. They take. But I can always takeback.我付出，他们索取。但是我可以随时收回。That's just the way it's always been.人们一直都是这样做。It's not their planet anyway. Never was.Never will be.毕竟这不是你们的星球，以前不是，以后也不是。But humans, they take more than theirshare.但人类，他们贪得无厌。They poison me, then they expect me to feedthem.他们毒死我，竟然还想让我继续养活他们。Well it doesn't work that way.这怎么可能。If humans want to exist in nature with meand off of me,如果人类想在大自然中与我共存，赖我而生， Isuggest they listen close. I'm only going to say this once.我要你们听仔细我只说一次。If nature isn't kept healthy, humans won'tsurvive.如果没有健康的大自然，人类将走向灭亡。Simple as that.就那么简单。Me, I could give a damn, with or withouthumans.至于我，有没有人类都无所谓。I'm the ocean. I covered this entire planetonce.我的海洋。我曾经覆盖过整个地球。And I can always cover it again.我也可以再一次把它全部覆盖。That's all I have to say.这就是我要说的。Flower花I am a flower.我是花。Yes, I'm beautiful. I've heard it beforeand it never grows old.人们常说我很美，我知道I'm worshiped for my looks, my scent, mylooks.你们喜欢我，迷恋我，我的外表But here's the thing. Life starts with me.但是，你们别忘了，没有我，生命无从谈起You see I feed people.想想看，谁在哺育你们？是我Every fruit comes from me.每个水果，来自于我Every potato. Me.每个土豆，也来自于我Every kernel of corn. Me. Every grain of rice.Me.每颗麦子，每粒米，都来自于我Me, me, me, I know. But it's true.我，我，我，难道不是吗And sometimes I feed their souls.有些时候，你们的心灵也会需要我I am their words when they have none.当你无法表达的时候I say “I love you,” without a sound. “I'msorry,” without a voice.我可以轻而易举的帮你说出“对不起”，还有“我爱你”I inspire the greatest of them.那些不朽的创作啊Painters, poets, pattern makers. I've beena muse to them all.我更是你们灵魂的源泉But in my experience, people underestimatethe power of a pretty little flower.可惜，即便如此，你们仍然低估了一朵美丽的小花Because their life does start with me andit could end without me.有没有人告诉过你，我没了，你们也就没了Coral珊瑚I am coral.我是珊瑚礁。Some people think I'm just a rock.有些人认为我只是岩石。Well, in fact, I'm the largest thing aliveon this planet.但事实上，我是这个星球最大的生命体。I'm so big, I can be seen from space. Butfor how long?大到从太空都可以看到我。但还能持续多久？I grew for almost 250 million years andhumans came along and now one fifth of me is gone.我来到这里大约2.5亿年后人类出现了，从那时起我已经失去了我的五分之一。Sure, l live at the bottom of the sea. Andyou might not see me that often.是的，我生活在海底，你们很少能见到我。But you do need me.但是你们需要我。Do you realize that one quarter of allmarine life depends on me?你们知道有四分之一的海洋生物都依赖我生存吗？I am the nursery of the sea.我是海洋生物的栖息地。Little fish depend on me for food and tohide from the big fish.我为小鱼提供食物，为它们提供躲避大鱼追捕的庇护所。And guess who eats the big fish?猜猜谁吃大鱼呢？That's right. You do.是的。是你们。I'm the protein factory for the world.我是全世界的蛋白质工厂。Yet you raise the temperature of the oceanso I can't live here anymore.但你们却让海洋温度不断升高，使我无法继续生存。And when big storms and tsunamis barrelthrough the ocean, I'm your fortress.当风暴和海啸灾大洋上呼啸而过时，是我在为你们遮挡。Yet you tear me apart with dynamite andpoison me with cyanide.然而你们却用炸药把我撕碎，用氰化物来毒害我。Well, here's a crazy thought: Stop killingme.我有一个疯狂的想法：不要再伤害我了。Mother Nature大自然母亲Some call me nature.有人称我为大自然Others call me “Mother Nature.”也有人叫我大自然母亲 I've been here for over 4.5 billion years.我已经度过了40亿年22,500 times longer than you.是你们人类存在时间的两万两千五百倍 I don't really need people.我并不需要人类But people need me.人类却离不开我 Yes, your future depends on me.是的，你们的未来取决于我 When I thrive, you thrive如果我繁盛，你们也会繁盛When I falter, you falter.如果我衰败，你们也会衰败Or worse.甚至更糟 But I've been here for eons.我已经存在了亿万年 I have fed species greater than you.我养育过比你们强大得多的物种And I have starved species greater thanyou.也曾让比你们强大得多的物种因饥饿而死亡 My oceans.我的海洋My soil.我的土地 My flowing streams.我的河流My forests.我的森林They all can take you or leave you.他们都可以左右人类的存在 How you choose to live each day,你们如何选择每天的选择，whether you regard or disregard me,是否在意我还是无视我，doesn't really matter to me.我都不在乎 One way or the other. Your actions willdetermine your fate. Not mine. 不管怎样，你们的行为决定你们的命运，而不是我的 I am nature. I will go on.我是大自然，我将会继续存在I am prepared to evolve.随时准备进化Are you?而你们呢？-文本源于《大自然在说话》系列视频为你读英语美文的主播们, 希望通过自己的演绎，倡导大家关爱环境，保护自然；也希望大家关注Nature is speaking 的发起机构-保护国际基金会。BE PART OF THE SOLUTION. PROTECT NATURE.中文网址：http://www.conservation.org.cn英文网址：http://www.conservation.org图片源于网络文字，音乐版权归作者或版权方所有【更新频率】由于我们都是业余在做节目，为了保证每期精品，每周三推出一期新节目，其他时间可能会复推老节目，会推出活动，也会更新福利节目哦~微信公众号：为你读英语美文官方新浪微博：@为你读英语美文

【点击微信右上角+号---添加朋友---公众号---搜索“为你读英语美文”---关注后查看原文，垫乐，参加互动，活动】 【第205期】《大自然在说话》系列合集一去年5月，主播Sally在为你读英语美文主播微信群分享了《大自然在说话》系列的视频，并且提议做成节目。于是，我们找到了《大自然在说话》系列的所有文本，并且由13位主播分别演绎了12个角色。这个系列节目持续了一年，我们完成了所有角色。我们把所有音频整理成为了两个合集，今天要和大家分享的是合集1：由Sally, 永清，熊叔，筱思，尚尚，黄茜分别为水，雨林，海洋，花，珊瑚，大自然母亲发声。希望通过我们的声音，让大家倾听大自然的所知所见，更重要的是，倾听大自然给予大家的建议，让我们一起携手保护自然。Water 水I am water. To humans I am simply justthere.我是水。对于人类来说我司空见惯。I'm something they just take for granted.我对他们只是理所当然的东西。But there is only so much of me. And moreand more of them every single day.但是我是非常有限的，而人类的数量却每天都在增长。I start as rain in the mountains flow tothe rivers and streams. And end up in the ocean.我化身为雨水落入山中，流进小溪与河流并最终汇入海洋。Then the cycle begins again.然后循环再次开始。And it will take me 10,000 years to getback to the state I am in now.要回到我现在的状态需要一万年。But to humans? I'm just water. Just there.然而对于人类来说，我只是水，理所当然就在那里。Where will humans find me when there arebillions more of them around?如果人口再增加几十亿，人类还能找到我吗？Where will they find themselves?他们自己又将如何生存？Will they wage wars over me?他们会为了我而发动战争吗？Like they do over everything else?就像他们为了其他事而做的那样？That's always an option. But it's not theonly option.那倒是一种选择，但并非唯一的选择。 Rainforest 雨林I am the rainforest.我是雨林。I watched them grow up here.我看着他们在这里成长。They've left. But they always come back.他们离开了。但他们总是会回来。Yes, they always come back.是的，他们总会回来的。For my trees, their wood.为了获取我的树木，作为木材。My plants, their medicines.为了采集我的植物，充当药材。For my beauty, their escape.我的美丽是他们的世外桃源。I've always been there and I have been morethan generous.我有求必应。我慷慨大方。Sometimes I gave it all to them. Now goneforever.有时候，我付出了全部。现在一切不复返。But humans, they're so smart. So smart.但人类啊，他们真的很聪明，真的很聪明。Such big brains and opposable thumbs.这么智慧的大脑，灵巧的双手。They know how to make things. Amazingthings.他们善于创造，了不起的创造。Now, why would they need an old forest likeme anymore?现在，他们还需要我这片古老的森林做什么呢？Jungles? Trees? Well, they do breathe air.需要我的丛林还是树木？对了，他们总得呼吸吧。And I make air.而我制造了氧气。Have they thought about that?他们意识到这件事了吗？Humans, so smart. They'll figure it out.人类，这么聪明。他们会想出办法的。Humans making air. That'll be fun to watch.人类制造氧气。那可太有意思了。 Ocean海洋I am the ocean. I'm water. I'm most of thisplanet. I shaped it.我是海洋，我是水，我覆盖了大部分地球。我创造了它。Every stream, every cloud, and everyraindrop. It all comes back to me.每一条河，每一朵云，每一滴雨，都将回到我的怀抱。One way or another, every living thing hereneeds me.不管怎样，地球上所有的生物都需要我。I'm the source. I'm what they crawled outof.我是源头，所有的生命都来自于我。Humans? They're no different.人类？他们没有什么不同。I don't owe them a thing.我不欠他们。I give. They take. But I can always takeback.我付出，他们索取。但是我可以随时收回。That's just the way it's always been.人们一直都是这样做。It's not their planet anyway. Never was.Never will be.毕竟这不是你们的星球，以前不是，以后也不是。But humans, they take more than theirshare.但人类，他们贪得无厌。They poison me, then they expect me to feedthem.他们毒死我，竟然还想让我继续养活他们。Well it doesn't work that way.这怎么可能。If humans want to exist in nature with meand off of me,如果人类想在大自然中与我共存，赖我而生， Isuggest they listen close. I'm only going to say this once.我要你们听仔细我只说一次。If nature isn't kept healthy, humans won'tsurvive.如果没有健康的大自然，人类将走向灭亡。Simple as that.就那么简单。Me, I could give a damn, with or withouthumans.至于我，有没有人类都无所谓。I'm the ocean. I covered this entire planetonce.我的海洋。我曾经覆盖过整个地球。And I can always cover it again.我也可以再一次把它全部覆盖。That's all I have to say.这就是我要说的。Flower花I am a flower.我是花。Yes, I'm beautiful. I've heard it beforeand it never grows old.人们常说我很美，我知道I'm worshiped for my looks, my scent, mylooks.你们喜欢我，迷恋我，我的外表But here's the thing. Life starts with me.但是，你们别忘了，没有我，生命无从谈起You see I feed people.想想看，谁在哺育你们？是我Every fruit comes from me.每个水果，来自于我Every potato. Me.每个土豆，也来自于我Every kernel of corn. Me. Every grain of rice.Me.每颗麦子，每粒米，都来自于我Me, me, me, I know. But it's true.我，我，我，难道不是吗And sometimes I feed their souls.有些时候，你们的心灵也会需要我I am their words when they have none.当你无法表达的时候I say “I love you,” without a sound. “I'msorry,” without a voice.我可以轻而易举的帮你说出“对不起”，还有“我爱你”I inspire the greatest of them.那些不朽的创作啊Painters, poets, pattern makers. I've beena muse to them all.我更是你们灵魂的源泉But in my experience, people underestimatethe power of a pretty little flower.可惜，即便如此，你们仍然低估了一朵美丽的小花Because their life does start with me andit could end without me.有没有人告诉过你，我没了，你们也就没了Coral珊瑚I am coral.我是珊瑚礁。Some people think I'm just a rock.有些人认为我只是岩石。Well, in fact, I'm the largest thing aliveon this planet.但事实上，我是这个星球最大的生命体。I'm so big, I can be seen from space. Butfor how long?大到从太空都可以看到我。但还能持续多久？I grew for almost 250 million years andhumans came along and now one fifth of me is gone.我来到这里大约2.5亿年后人类出现了，从那时起我已经失去了我的五分之一。Sure, l live at the bottom of the sea. Andyou might not see me that often.是的，我生活在海底，你们很少能见到我。But you do need me.但是你们需要我。Do you realize that one quarter of allmarine life depends on me?你们知道有四分之一的海洋生物都依赖我生存吗？I am the nursery of the sea.我是海洋生物的栖息地。Little fish depend on me for food and tohide from the big fish.我为小鱼提供食物，为它们提供躲避大鱼追捕的庇护所。And guess who eats the big fish?猜猜谁吃大鱼呢？That's right. You do.是的。是你们。I'm the protein factory for the world.我是全世界的蛋白质工厂。Yet you raise the temperature of the oceanso I can't live here anymore.但你们却让海洋温度不断升高，使我无法继续生存。And when big storms and tsunamis barrelthrough the ocean, I'm your fortress.当风暴和海啸灾大洋上呼啸而过时，是我在为你们遮挡。Yet you tear me apart with dynamite andpoison me with cyanide.然而你们却用炸药把我撕碎，用氰化物来毒害我。Well, here's a crazy thought: Stop killingme.我有一个疯狂的想法：不要再伤害我了。Mother Nature大自然母亲Some call me nature.有人称我为大自然Others call me “Mother Nature.”也有人叫我大自然母亲 I've been here for over 4.5 billion years.我已经度过了40亿年22,500 times longer than you.是你们人类存在时间的两万两千五百倍 I don't really need people.我并不需要人类But people need me.人类却离不开我 Yes, your future depends on me.是的，你们的未来取决于我 When I thrive, you thrive如果我繁盛，你们也会繁盛When I falter, you falter.如果我衰败，你们也会衰败Or worse.甚至更糟 But I've been here for eons.我已经存在了亿万年 I have fed species greater than you.我养育过比你们强大得多的物种And I have starved species greater thanyou.也曾让比你们强大得多的物种因饥饿而死亡 My oceans.我的海洋My soil.我的土地 My flowing streams.我的河流My forests.我的森林They all can take you or leave you.他们都可以左右人类的存在 How you choose to live each day,你们如何选择每天的选择，whether you regard or disregard me,是否在意我还是无视我，doesn't really matter to me.我都不在乎 One way or the other. Your actions willdetermine your fate. Not mine. 不管怎样，你们的行为决定你们的命运，而不是我的 I am nature. I will go on.我是大自然，我将会继续存在I am prepared to evolve.随时准备进化Are you?而你们呢？-文本源于《大自然在说话》系列视频为你读英语美文的主播们, 希望通过自己的演绎，倡导大家关爱环境，保护自然；也希望大家关注Nature is speaking 的发起机构-保护国际基金会。BE PART OF THE SOLUTION. PROTECT NATURE.中文网址：http://www.conservation.org.cn英文网址：http://www.conservation.org图片源于网络文字，音乐版权归作者或版权方所有【更新频率】由于我们都是业余在做节目，为了保证每期精品，每周三推出一期新节目，其他时间可能会复推老节目，会推出活动，也会更新福利节目哦~微信公众号：为你读英语美文官方新浪微博：@为你读英语美文

Brought to you by -Conscious Spirit-Coaching- A ONE-on-ONE Service of SHAMANIC direction, guidance, personal support & inspiration to eventually induce undeniable first-hand spiritual & multidimensional experiences on a consciously aware level. - Learn More about this & A Course in Miracles ACIM @ www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The HD version of this program and many others, are available by generous donors, like yourself @: www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - lesson 342 â??I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given me.â?? â??I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I made. It is not real.AndYou have given me the means to prove its unreality to me.The key is in my hand, and I have reached the door beyond which lies the end of dreams. I stand before the gate of Heaven, wondering if I should enter in and be at home. Let me not wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let creation be as You would have it be, and as it is. Let me remember that I am Your Son, and opening the door at last, forget illusions in the blazing light of truth, as memory ofYou returns to me.â?? Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with me.And as we go the world goes with us on the way to God. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - READ All LESSONS OF â?? A Course in Miracles â?? HERE: https://acim.org/Lessons/toc.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Have any Questions or Advice? Contact us @: OpenandClear@GMail.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please Like Us on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/openclear - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Deep thoughts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamacim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PHISHMANPERSON - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/iamacim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.OpenandClear.com

Brought to you by -Conscious Spirit-Coaching- A ONE-on-ONE Service of SHAMANIC direction, guidance, personal support & inspiration to eventually induce undeniable first-hand spiritual & multidimensional experiences on a consciously aware level. Learn More @ www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The HD version of this program and many others, are available by generous donors, like yourself @: www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - lesson 327 â??I need but call andYou will answer me.â?? I am not asked to take salvation on the basis of an unsupported faith. For God has promised He will hear my call, and answer me Himself. Let me but learn from my experience that this is true, and faith in Him must surely come to me.This is the faith that will endure, and take me farther and still farther on the road that leads to Him. For thus I will be sure that He has not abandoned me, and loves me still, awaiting but my call to give me all the help I need to come to Him. â??Father, I thankYou thatYour promises will never fail in my experience, if I but test them out. Let me attempt therefore to try them, and to judge them not.YourWord is one withYou.You give the means whereby conviction comes, and surety of Your abiding Love is gained at last.â?? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - READ All LESSONS HERE: https://acim.org/Lessons/toc.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Have any Questions or Advice? Contact us @: OpenandClear@GMail.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please Like Us on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/openclear - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Deep thoughts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamacim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PHISHMANPERSON - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/iamacim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.OpenandClear.com

Brought to you by -Conscious Spirit-Coaching- A ONE-on-ONE Service of SHAMANIC direction, guidance, personal support & inspiration to eventually induce undeniable first-hand spiritual & multidimensional experiences on a consciously aware level. Learn More @ www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The HD version of this program and many others, are available by generous donors, like yourself @: www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - lesson 280 â??What limits can I lay upon Godâ??s Son?â?? Whom God created limitless is free. I can invent imprisonment for him, but only in illusions, not in truth. No Thought of God has left Its Fatherâ??s Mind. No Thought of God is limited at all. No Thought of God but is forever pure. Can I lay limits on the Son of God, whose Father willed that he be limitless, and like Himself in freedom and in love? â??Today let me give honor to Your Son, for thus alone I find the way to You. Father, I lay no limits on the SonYou love, andYou created limitless.The honor that I give to him is Yours, and what is Yours belongs to me as well.â?? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - READ All LESSONS HERE: https://acim.org/Lessons/toc.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Have any Questions or Advice? Contact us @: OpenandClear@GMail.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please Like Us on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/openclear/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Deep thoughts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamacim/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PHISHMANPERSON - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/iamacim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.OpenandClear.com

Brought to you by -Conscious Spirit-Coaching- A ONE-on-ONE Service of SHAMANIC direction, guidance, personal support & inspiration to eventually induce undeniable first-hand spiritual & multidimensional experiences on a consciously aware level. Learn More @ www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The HD version of this program and many others, are available by generous donors, like yourself @: www.OpenandClear.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Have any Questions or Advice? Contact us @: OpenandClear@GMail.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please Like Us on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/openclear/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Deep thoughts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamacim/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PHISHMANPERSON - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/iamacim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - READ All LESSONS HERE: https://acim.org/Lessons/toc.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - lesson 242 â??This day is Godâ??s. It is my gift to Him.â?? I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world. And so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness. For there is OneWho knows all that is best for me.And He is glad to make no choices for me but the ones that lead to God.This day I give to Him, for I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to Him. â??And so we give today toYou.We come with wholly open minds.We do not ask for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us.You know all our desires and our needs.AndYou will give us everything we want and that will help us find the way toYou.â?? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - READ All LESSONS HERE: https://acim.org/Lessons/toc.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.OpenandClear.com

If it's proper for ladies to go first, then men surely must follow. You'llget a peek at what's in store if you're a Jewish kid, andYou'll meet a Jewish Six-Gun Shooter, along with a poem about A BookSearcher.Follow along with the happenings of Kish Mir in Yiddish at:https://www.facebook.com/KishMirinYiddishhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/406164584451364