Podcasts about Average

Sam and Carolyn reached financial independence in their thirties through frugality, real estate investing, and building side hustles that generated $10,000 per month. Then they made a bold move—quitting their jobs and briefly relocating to Canada. This Episode Covers: How Sam and Carolyn house-hacked their way to a multi-property real estate portfolio The unconventional side hustles that generated $10K monthly in additional income Their complete financial strategy: savings rate, expense tracking, and investment allocation The decision to quit their jobs and achieve full financial independence in their thirties Why they moved to Canada and how universal healthcare and education factored into their FIRE plan Navigating the challenges of early retirement and aligning goals as a couple Building systems for long-term wealth preservation and flexible lifestyle design Lessons learned and advice for aspiring FIRE seekers Whether you're just starting your FIRE journey or looking for creative ways to accelerate your path to financial independence, Sam and Carolyn's story offers actionable strategies you can implement today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's MJ Morning Show:The endorsement Fester lostWoman's body found in Dollar Tree refrigeratorMorons in the newsInmate's last meal delayedLabubu maker has a new productWoman picked the wrong day to shoplift at WalmartNo Powerball winner last nightAmazon documentary about Bucs shows MJNew holiday cocktail... ew....Co-worker's breathDoor Dasher shows up with a cloud of pot smokeAverage American's net worth.. We took callsRob Reiner update... argument with son at Conan's partyAbout which actor is someone posting this story?Anthony Geary RIPMerriam-Webster word of the yearHow many drinks should you have at a party?Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are both drinkers... when does the blow-up happen?Christmas lights... are they on the decline?Elton John videoCar sold by Carmax was stolenRV sold to customer left in limbo as dealership changes ownership2026 healthy food to become popular... crown cabbageCannabis medical effects don't meet expectationsWhat's the best seat on a flight to avoid getting sick?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the biggest travesties in our country is the number of unhoused individuals and families. Home Again LA is changing the narrative around homelessness by recognizing it as a situational crisis, not a personal failure. Through innovative partnerships with faith-based organizations, corporations, and community agencies, HALA has helped over 600 families transition from homelessness to permanent, stable housing while building resilience and hope. Albert Hernandez, CEO of Home Again LA, shares his personal journey from a family on the brink of homelessness to leading one of the most impactful nonprofits serving unhoused families in Los Angeles County. Albert's Personal Story One of 11 siblings raised in Koreatown, Los Angeles Father passed away when Albert was 14; mother worked two jobs to support the family Started working at Boys and Girls Club at age 14 with a 4.0 GPA Every paycheck went to help his mother with rent, food, and family necessities Worked in the nonprofit sector for 20+ years before joining Home Again LA as CEO in July 2015 The Homelessness Crisis Most Angelenos are one paycheck away from homelessness Post-pandemic cost of living increases: Food costs have doubled 1-bedroom rent: $1,800 → $2,400–$2,500/month Families have deep roots in Los Angeles County and often cannot simply "move elsewhere" The unhoused community is vastly misunderstood Home Again LA's Core Programs 1. Emergency Shelter (Core Program) 90-day program for families with children experiencing homelessness Operates like a "boot camp"—fast-paced, goal-oriented Average turnaround: 54 days to permanent housing Congregations provide overnight housing (6 PM–7 AM) Day center offers showers, laundry, job training, case management, Wi-Fi Key requirement: Children must be enrolled in school and attending regularly Serves families fleeing domestic violence and those experiencing job loss/income disruption 2. Rapid Rehousing Program 6-month program (launched 2017) Our organization pays a portion of the security deposit and rent Month 1: 90% of rent Month 2: 80% of rent Gradually decreases so family takes over 100% by end of program Results: 471 families served; all but 2 successfully took over their leases 12-month follow-up support to ensure housing stability 3. Eviction Prevention Program Started during the pandemic Provides financial assistance for families with rental arrears Includes employment support and financial stability planning Impact (2020–2021): Leveraged over $2 million in federal, state, and county funding Continues today as cost-of-living crisis persists 4. Financial Education/Outreach Program Classes on credit vs. debit, building emergency savings, understanding interest rates Partnership with Operation Hope for homeownership certification classes Success story: 3 families who were living in their cars are now homeowners 5. After-School Care Partnership Partnership with local Boys and Girls Club Scholarships for all families' children Allows parents to work full 8-hour shifts (pickup as late as 5–7 PM) Critical for parental employment stability THE FAITH-BASED PARTNERSHIP MODEL Origins: Founded in 2008 by faith-based community members who recognized the fastest-growing unhoused population was families with children No dedicated shelter facility — congregations provide evening beds (6 PM–7 AM) Parishioner involvement: Provide meals, homework tutoring, mock interviews, emotional support Corporate partnerships: Walt Disney Company, Logix Federal Credit Union, National Charity League (mothers & daughters volunteer group) Not a faith-based organization — rather, a secular nonprofit that works alongside faith communities Impact: 90% of graduating families report that "being treated like any other community member" was the most impactful part of the program AHA MOMENTS The Estrada Family Story Single mother and teenage son fleeing domestic violence Mother had zero credit history — no credit card, apartment, or vehicle in her name She was "invisible" to the housing system Required 116 days in shelter (vs. typical 90 days) Successfully housed; son is now in college and volunteers for program participants Lesson: No credit history is worse than bad credit; flexibility and advocacy are essential BEST PRACTICES HIGHLIGHTED Quality over Quantity: Focus on compassionate, individualized care rather than serving maximum numbers Treat the nonprofit like a business: Sustainable fundraising, financial reserves, and operational planning are non-negotiable Collaboration is essential: Leverage partnerships with Boys and Girls Club, financial institutions, corporations, and faith organizations It takes a village: No single entity can solve homelessness; success requires community infrastructure Flexibility within structure: Accountability (school attendance, job seeking) balanced with compassion for unique circumstances 12-month follow-up: Maintain relationships post-housing to ensure long-term stability Treat people with dignity: Break bread together; ask "How can we help?" not "How did you fail?" ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS Challenge: Landlord hesitancy to rent to formerly unhoused families Solution: Education, advocacy letters, and relationship-building. Today, landlords proactively call HALA when units become available. Challenge: After-school childcare prevents parents from working full shifts Solution: Partnership with Boys and Girls Club providing scholarships for all families' children. Challenge: Pandemic-era income loss and rental arrears Solution: Eviction Prevention Program leveraging $2M+ in government grants (2020–2021). HOW TO GET INVOLVED Website: HomeAgainLA.org Phone: (818) 562-7778 Services Available: Emergency shelter for families with children Rapid rehousing assistance Eviction prevention support Financial education classes Employment support and job training Volunteer opportunities Facility tours Ways to Help: Donate to support families Volunteer with congregations or corporate teams Host a meal or tutoring session Provide job training or mock interviews Become a landlord partner NOTABLE QUOTES "One of the biggest travesties in our country is the number of unhoused individuals and families. We are a developed country, after all, and often fail to take care of our own." — Dr. Laura Scherck Wittcoff "Most of us are a paycheck away from losing our homes. The reality is, we're just trying to survive." — Albert Hernandez "It's not a handout. There are some requirements. The family has to have some skin in the game." — Albert Hernandez "Being treated like any other member of this community was the most impactful part of the process." — 90% of HALA graduates "They're not just making and serving dinner. They're actually breaking bread with the family." — Albert Hernandez, on volunteers RECOMMENDED LISTENING FOR Nonprofit leaders and staff Social entrepreneurs and business leaders Faith community organizers Policymakers addressing homelessness Corporate volunteer coordinators Anyone interested in community-based solutions to homelessness Job seekers and career counselors Listen to the entire episode at SmallandGutsy.org    

Andrew Ward and Jake Long got the second NFR average titles of their careers and their first world titles in 2025.Ward and Long went 3.9 seconds in Round 10 of the 2025 NFR to split the round win and take home the average title with a 44.0 on nine steers. It also sealed the deal on the world championship, bringing them to $373,838.26 and $372,091.71 on the year. Ward and Long join The Short Score to talk about their run, the wins and more.__This episode is brought to you by Oz Ona Hot Streak,, the Nebraska-raised stallion built for both AQHA gold and NFR pressure. Oz is the 2019 AQHA Jr. Heading World Champion, a top-ten heeler, and the first stallion with that title to rope inside the Thomas & Mack. During the NFR, Solo Select is offering $500 off every Oz breeding. Lock your contract in at SoloSelectHorses.com or by calling Madison at 940-580-0156.

Andrew Ward and Jake Long got the second NFR average titles of their careers and their first world titles in 2025.Ward and Long went 3.9 seconds in Round 10 of the 2025 NFR to split the round win and take home the average title with a 44.0 on nine steers. It also sealed the deal on the world championship, bringing them to $373,838.26 and $372,091.71 on the year. Ward and Long join The Short Score to talk about their run, the wins and more.__This episode is brought to you by Oz Ona Hot Streak,, the Nebraska-raised stallion built for both AQHA gold and NFR pressure. Oz is the 2019 AQHA Jr. Heading World Champion, a top-ten heeler, and the first stallion with that title to rope inside the Thomas & Mack. During the NFR, Solo Select is offering $500 off every Oz breeding. Lock your contract in at SoloSelectHorses.com or by calling Madison at 940-580-0156.

Average and Whip talk about everything from holiday traditions to the interconnectedness of every life choice and just how much different everything might be if different choices might have been made.

By his early 30s, Josh had already built a 3-property portfolio – with homes in Twizel, Christchurch, and Milton. In this episode, Ed and Andrew sit down with Josh to unpack how he used creative saving tactics, family deals, and long-term planning to build wealth early.You'll learn:How Josh turned a $210k section in Twizel into a future development opportunityThe clever negotiation that saved $20k on a Christchurch co-ownership dealWhat buying from family taught him about money, boundaries, and mindsetJosh's journey shows that you don't need luck to get started – just a plan, persistence, and a few unconventional choices.Don't forget to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠create your free Opes+ account and Wealth Plan here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.For more from Opes Partners:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the weekly Private Property newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What do glow-in-the-dark sunglasses, a stuck locker, and an illustrated snowfamily have in common? They're all part of Average Boy's story about the importance of finding trustworthy people in your life. Join Bob and Jesse as they discuss how the kindest people (like janitor Mr. Gribble) are the best ones to know. This week's episode also tackles a big listener question: How do we know God is real? The guys break down the evidence for God found in creation and the power of faith. Click here to see the new Average Boy book title and cover! Click here to visit the Average Boy Store to gain access to books, devotionals, subscriptions to Clubhouse Magazine, and much more! We'd love to hear from you! Visit our Homepage to leave us a voicemail. If you enjoyed listening to The Official Average Boy Podcast, please give us your feedback.

Statistically, it's terrifying. All the things that can go wrong. But you need to remember that statistics are about averages.

What do glow-in-the-dark sunglasses, a stuck locker, and an illustrated snowfamily have in common? They're all part of Average Boy's story about the importance of finding trustworthy people in your life. Join Bob and Jesse as they discuss how the kindest people (like janitor Mr. Gribble) are the best ones to know. This week's episode also tackles a big listener question: How do we know God is real? The guys break down the evidence for God found in creation and the power of faith. Click here to see the new Average Boy book title and cover! Click here to visit the Average Boy Store to gain access to books, devotionals, subscriptions to Clubhouse Magazine, and much more! We'd love to hear from you! Visit our Homepage to leave us a voicemail. If you enjoyed listening to The Official Average Boy Podcast, please give us your feedback. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1443/29?v=20251111

UK Property Market Weekly Update - Week 48, 2025 I look at the UK property market in the ‘UK Property Market Stats Show“ for the week ending Sunday 7th December 2025 with the brilliant Toby Martin from ‘We Are Unchained' YouTube https://youtu.be/yiu-A9bWAD4 ✅ New Listings * 19.4k new properties came to market this week, down as expected from 22.7k last week. * 2025 weekly average: 34.4k. * 9 year week 48 average : 22.8k * Year-to-date (YTD): 1.652m new listings, 0.2% higher than 2024 YTD (1.649m) and 7.7% above the 2017–19 average (1.534m) ✅ Price Reductions * 12.8k reductions this week, lower than last week's at 13.2k (Estate Agents seem to forget they can reduce houses prices after the first week in November!). 23.2k is the average weekly number of reductions for 2025. * 8.8% of resi homes for sale were reduced in November. Compared to Oct 12.8%, Sept 14.1%, August 11.1%, July 14.1% in July and 14% in June. * 2025 average still remains at 12.8%, versus the five-year long-term average of 10.74%. ✅ Sales Agreed * 18.5k homes sold subject to contract this week, down expectedly from 20.3k last week. * Week 48 average (for last 9 years) : 20.6k * 2025 weekly average : 25.4k. * YTD: 1.221m gross sales, which is 2.6% ahead of 2024 (1.190m) and 11.6% above the 2017–19 average (1.094m). * Some will note Gross Sales in Q4 were higher - this was the first time buyers were buying homes to beat the March 2025 stamp duty deadline ✅ Price Diff between Listings & Sales * Average Asking Price of listings last week £406k * Average asking price of Sales Agreed (SSTC) last week was £352k * A 15.3% difference (long term 9 year average is 16% to 17%). ✅ Sell-Through Rate * 13.5% of homes on agents' books went SSTC in November. Down from 15% in October, 14.1% in Sept, 14.5% in Aug, 15.4% in July, 15.3% in June, and 16.1% in May. * Pre-Covid average: 15.5%. ✅ Fall-Throughs * 4,783 fall-throughs last week (pipeline of 482k home Sold STC). * Weekly average for 2025: 6,100. * Fall-through rate: 25.8%, slightly up from 24.9% last week. * Long-term average: 24.2% (post-Truss chaos saw levels exceed 40%). ✅ Net Sales * 13.7k net sales this week, down expectedly from 15.2k last week. * Nine-year Week 48 average: 15.4k. * Weekly average for 2025: 19.3k. * YTD: 929k, which is 2.2% ahead of 2024 (909k) and 8.6% above 2017–19 (855k). ✅ Probability of Selling (% that Exchange vs withdrawal) * November Stats : 54.3% of homes that left agents' books exchanged & completed in November. (Note this figure will change throughout the month as more November stats come in). (65.3k exchanges & 55k withdrawals as at 8th Dec 2025) * October 53.3% / September: 53.1% / August :55.8% / July: 50.9% / June: 51.3% / May: 51.7% / April: 53.2%. ✅ Stock Levels * 678k homes on the market on the 1st of December, down from 742k on 1st of November. December '25 is identical to December '24. * 482k homes in sales pipeline on the 1st December, almost identical than 12 months ago. * ✅ House Prices (£/sq.ft) * November 2025 agreed sales averaged £342.27 per sq.ft. 0.7% higher than 12 months ago and 12.6% than 5 years ago. The £/sqft at sale agreed matches the HM Land Registry Index with a 98% accuracy, 5 months in advance. That is why it is so important. November figures will follow in next weeks show. ✅ UK Rental Market Overview * Average Rent in November - £1,791 pcm - compared to £1,785 in Nov 2024 and £1,557 in Oct 2017. * Available Rental Properties in November '25 - 321k compared to 300k in November '24. * Notable increase of 22.8% more rental homes in Outer London than 12 months ago, yet a 3.7% decrease in Inner London - Not sure why ✅ Graphs https://we.tl/t-KxpRzfwuvw

Hey everyone, December started strong and does NOT want to slow down!? OpenAI showed us their response to the Code Red and it's GPT 5.2, which doesn't feel like a .1 upgrade! We got it literally as breaking news at the end of the show, and oh boy! The new kind of LLMs is here. GPT, then Gemini, then Opus and now GPT again... Who else feels like we're on a trippy AI rolercoaster? Just me?

I've been seeing a disturbing trend online where women claim that "incredible men are just average women," implying that men are simply playing catch-up to a female baseline. In this episode, I dive into the dangers of this "female supremacy" narrative and what I call the "Patriarchy Virus," which frames men as the root cause of every societal problem. I also break down why judging men by female metrics destroys relationships and discuss the immense, often overlooked effort it takes to chisel yourself into an exceptional man.SHOW HIGHLIGHTS00:00 The "Incredible Men Are Just Average Women" Narrative01:43 Introducing the Patriarchy Virus03:09 The "One Up, One Down" Relationship Dynamic05:10 Society Values What Men Contribute, Not Who They Are06:23 Identity: Community vs. Competency08:52 Why Modern Culture Demonizes Hierarchies10:04 Applying Female Metrics to Male Psychology11:50 Misandry and the Contempt for Men14:14 The Reality of Women Who Buy Into This Narrative16:03 It Is Hard to Craft Yourself Into a Great Man***Tired of feeling like you're never enough? Build your self-worth with help from this free guide: https://training.mantalks.com/self-worthPick up my book, Men's Work: A Practical Guide To Face Your Darkness, End Self-Sabotage, And Find Freedom: https://mantalks.com/mens-work-book/Heard about attachment but don't know where to start? Try the FREE Ultimate Guide To AttachmentCheck out some other free resources: How To Quit Porn | Anger Meditation | How To Lead In Your RelationshipBuild brotherhood with a powerful group of like-minded men from around the world. Check out The Alliance. Enjoy the podcast? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Podchaser. It helps us get into the ears of new listeners, expand the ManTalks Community, and help others find the tools and training they're looking for. And don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | SpotifyFor more, visit us at ManTalks.com | Facebook | Instagram

Send us a textOur Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/HockeyCardsGongshowOn this episode of the Hockey Cards Gongshow podcast we start with Get To Know Your Hockey Hall of Famers, this time looking at the life, hockey career, and hobby market for hockey hall of famer, Ernie Russell (13:21). Next, we look at the craziest hockey card sale from the month of November; we gave you choices, you voted and we share the results (25:43).  In hobby news, Kabuto King proves the inflationary powers that one person can have on the hobby, Quinn Hughes trade rumors heat up, and an Ivan Demidov hobby market update (44:04).  Is the average collector getting priced out of the hobby (1:05:08)? In new product releases, we take a look at the upcoming product release calendar from Upper Deck (1:34:27), then end the show with personal pickups (1:41:36).Partners & SponsorsGongshow Reloaded - https://www.GongshowReloaded.comHockeyChecklists.com - https://www.hockeychecklists.comSlab Sharks Consignment - http://bit.ly/3GUvsxNSlab Sharks is now accepting U.S. submissions!MINTINK - https://www.mintink.caPSA - https://www.psacard.comGP Sports Cards - https://gpsportcards.com/Private Collection Insurance - https://privatecollectioninsurance.comSign up for Card Ladder - https://app.cardladder.com/signup?via=HCGongshoFollow Hockey Cards Gongshow on social mediaInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/hockey_cards_gongshow/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@hockey_cards_gongshowFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/HockeyCardsGongshowTwitter - https://twitter.com/HCGongshowThe Hockey Cards Gongshow podcast is a production of Dollar Box Ventures LLC

Mortgage rates tick upwards. AP correspondent Alex Veiga has the latest.

China's major airlines have extended free refund and rescheduling policies for Japan-bound tickets as weekly Sino-Japanese flight volumes sink to their lowest level in a month and Chinese travelers redirect their winter holiday plans toward emerging hubs in Russia, Central Asia and domestic ice-and-snow destinations.中国主要航空公司已延长日本航线机票的免费退改政策，因中日每周航班量跌至一个月来最低水平，中国旅客正将冬季度假计划转向俄罗斯、中亚新兴枢纽及国内冰雪旅游目的地。On Friday, major domestic airlines, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, extended their previous Dec 31 deadline for refunds and rebooking to March 28 next year, the end of the winter-spring travel season.周五，包括中国国际航空、中国东方航空和中国南方航空在内的国内主要航空公司，将原定于12月31日的退票和改签截止日期延长至明年3月28日，即寒假春假出行高峰期的结束之日。The extensions follow China's travel advisories issued in mid-November discouraging trips to Japan after erroneous remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding China's Taiwan. Chinese airlines have since recalibrated capacity, with reductions concentrated in leisure-heavy routes.此次延长禁令源于中国11月中旬发布的旅行建议，该建议因日本首相高市早苗就中国台湾问题发表不当言论而劝阻赴日旅行。此后中国航空公司已调整运力配置，削减主要集中在休闲旅游为主的航线。Data from Flight Master, a travel services platform, show that round-trip Sino-Japanese flights fell to 1,167 during the week of Nov 24-30, the lowest weekly volume in a month, with the recovery rate sliding to 78.1 percent, a new low. As of Dec 1, the projected cancellation rate for Sino-Japanese flights scheduled in December rose to 26.4 percent, continuing an upward trend.旅行服务平台Flight Master数据显示，11月24日至30日当周中日往返航班量降至1167架次，创下一个月来最低周度水平，复航率滑落至78.1%，再创新低。截至12月1日，12月中日航班的预计取消率升至26.4%，持续呈上升趋势。Industry insiders said that the impact is likely to extend beyond the Spring Festival period, with aircraft redeployed to Southeast Asia and domestic routes.业内人士表示，该影响可能持续到春节假期之后，部分航班将被调往东南亚及国内航线。As travelers look beyond Japan for winter sports and seasonal scenery, travel demand is rising across a widening set of destinations. One of the most significant shifts is toward Russia following Moscow's decision to grant Chinese citizens visa-free entry for up to 30 days through Sept 14 next year.随着游客将目光投向日本以外的冬季运动和季节性景观，越来越多的目的地正迎来旅游需求增长。其中最显著的变化之一是俄罗斯旅游热潮，因为莫斯科宣布自即日起至明年9月14日，中国公民赴俄可享受最长30天的免签待遇。UTour, a Beijing-based travel agency, said inquiries doubled immediately after the policy took effect, driven largely by Spring Festival travel plans.北京优途天下国际旅行社表示，新规生效后咨询量立即翻倍，主要受春节出行计划推动。Huang Zhaoyang, the company's Russia product manager, said Murmansk, known for its aurora and ice-snow resources, is attracting attention under the new policy. Russia's overall appeal is expected to strengthen and help woo a wider range of Chinese travelers, he added.该公司俄罗斯产品经理黄朝阳（音译）表示，以极光和冰雪资源闻名的摩尔曼斯克在新政策下正吸引更多关注。他补充道，俄罗斯整体吸引力有望增强，有助于吸引更广泛的中国游客群体。Outbound travel is also pivoting notably toward Central Asia and Northern Europe, with Kazakhstan rapidly emerging as a winter sports hub. Tongcheng Travel data show that flight bookings from major Chinese cities to Kazakhstan between early December and the New Year holiday climbed more than 50 percent year-on-year, while hotel reservations climbed more than 80 percent, with Almaty and Astana ranking as top choices.出境游目的地也明显转向中亚和北欧地区，哈萨克斯坦正迅速崛起为冬季运动中心。同城旅游数据显示，12月初至新年假期期间，中国主要城市飞往哈萨克斯坦的机票预订量同比增长超50%，酒店预订量增幅更达80%以上，其中阿拉木图和阿斯塔纳成为最热门目的地。Analysts at Tongcheng's tourism research institute said the "Japan substitution effect" has accelerated since late November, with outbound ski demand that once concentrated on Japan increasingly shifting toward Kazakhstan and Nordic destinations. They added that domestic ski areas are also becoming popular alternatives to Japan's ski destinations.同程旅游研究院分析师指出，自11月下旬以来，“日本替代效应”持续加速，原先集中在日本的出境滑雪需求正逐步转向哈萨克斯坦及北欧目的地。他们补充道，国内滑雪场也正成为日本滑雪目的地的热门替代选择。European destinations are witnessing a similar upswing. Hotel bookings in Germany and Spain have increased by more than 300 percent year-on-year, while Denmark and Switzerland have posted gains exceeding 200 percent.欧洲旅游目的地也呈现出类似的增长态势。德国和西班牙的酒店预订量同比增幅超过300%，而丹麦和瑞士的增幅则超过200%。Domestically, local governments are racing to capture winter travelers through substantial incentives. Jilin province rolled out 100 million yuan ($14.1 million) in ice-snow vouchers and offered free ski passes to university students, while the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions have introduced similar discounts.国内方面，地方政府正通过大幅优惠政策争相吸引冬季度假游客。吉林省推出价值1亿元（约合1410万美元）的冰雪消费券，并为大学生提供免费滑雪通行证；内蒙古和新疆维吾尔自治区也推出了类似的折扣政策。Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency, said hotel bookings in Xinjiang's Bortala region rose more than 80 percent year-on-year from November to late January of 2026, while reservations in the northeastern cities of Dandong, Liaoning province, Liaoyuan, Jilin province and Yichun, Heilongjiang province, each grew around 30 percent.北京在线旅游平台途牛旅游网表示，2026年11月至次年1月底期间，新疆博尔塔拉地区的酒店预订量同比增长逾80%，而东北地区辽宁省丹东市、吉林省辽源市及黑龙江省伊春市的酒店预订量均增长约30%。Demand for trips to glaciers and snow mountains has also surged, with ticket bookings for sites such as Meili Snow Mountain in Yunnan province and Xiling Snow Mountain in Sichuan province doubling year-on-year.前往冰川雪山的旅游需求也大幅增长，云南梅里雪山、四川西岭雪山等景点的门票预订量同比翻了一番。According to a white paper on China's ski industry, China currently has 748 operational ski resorts, including 66 indoor centers. Total ski visits reached 26.05 million last winter, up 12.9 percent.根据中国滑雪产业白皮书显示，目前中国共有748家运营中的滑雪场，其中包括66家室内滑雪中心。去年冬季滑雪人次达到2605万，同比增长12.9%。The white paper also noted that China's total ski visits last season surpassed Switzerland's 23.1 million, reflecting the growing scale of China's winter sports market. Average ski days per participant in China rose from 1.80 to 1.92, indicating increasing skier engagement and loyalty.该白皮书还指出，中国上赛季滑雪人次总量已超越瑞士的2310万人次，彰显中国冬季运动市场规模的持续扩大。中国滑雪者人均滑雪天数从1.80天提升至1.92天，表明滑雪参与度与忠诚度正逐步增强。recalibratev./ˌriːˈkæl.ə.breɪt/重新校准

Go tell it on the mountain! Tom Homan is coming to town! Jasmine Crockett's in-house rapper. Introducing Kris Cruz … secretary of egg. President Trump sits down to answer questions on everything from birthright citizenship to the current state of the economy. Average price of gas and average price of eggs. Boat video fun. FLASHBACK: Barack Obama on drone attacks. A brand-spanking-new "Chewing the Fat" song! Elvis is back! Top comedians of the 21st century. Did Vice President Vance show up at a restaurant in a T-shirt and berate Usha? Catholic church vs. ICE. AI is getting more and more real-looking. Elon Musk shares his thoughts on God. Rooting out Somali scams nationwide. Cancer stats coming in among those with the COVID vaccine. The history of legal immigration in America. Muslim businessman saves Christmas in Dearborn, Michigan. Zohran Mamdani and the ex-con. Pee-wee Herman and the REAL meaning of Christmas. 00:00 Pat Gray UNLEASHED! 03:03 Tom Homan is Tracking You Down! 05:53 Jasmine Crockett on Crime and Criminals 11:21 President Trump Explains Birthright Citizenship 12:32 President Trump Asked about Elections in Ukraine 13:54 President Trump on the State of Europe 16:20 President Trump Grades the US Economy 17:13 Prices in America 23:53 Fishing Boat Update 27:05 FLASHBACK: Obama Explains Using Drone Strikes in 2013 31:40 Chewing the Fat 48:05 Talking about Peewee's Playhouse 51:48 "ICE Was Here" Nativity Scene 57:26 AI Priests are Here? 1:00:42 Hank Johnson is BACK! 1:12:12 Elon Musk Believes in God? 1:16:13 Gavin Newsom Laughs at Tim Walz 1:20:29 Somali Fraud in Ohio? 1:24:29 Is USAID Closed? 1:27:31 Cancer & Vaccine Studies Update 1:28:49 Stephen Miller on Immigration 1:32:47 Muslim Business Buys Christmas Tree for Town 1:33:25 Zohran Mamdani on Ex-Con Appointment 1:34:41 Peewee Herman on the True Meaning of Christmas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shoot us a Text.Episode #1215: Today we break down why monthly payments keep climbing despite improving fundamentals, VinFast's shrinking U.S. footprint as it pivots overseas, and VaynerMedia's Anti-Trend Report showing why trend-chasing is officially dead in 2026.Show Notes with links:New-vehicle payments hit a November record at $760, but underneath the headline, several affordability pressures are actually starting to ease. Softer interest rates and strong used-vehicle values are helping cushion buyers as the market normalizes into year-end.Rates dipped to 6.1% and robust used values are keeping trade-in equity near historic highs.Dealer profits stayed steady at $2,161 per vehicle, showing margin stability.However, negative equity rose to 27% of all trades and lease expirations are down 15% YoY and 50% vs. 2023“How aggressively manufacturers choose to adjust discounting and promotional activity during December will be critical in shaping the close of 2025.” said J.D. Power's Thomas King.VinFast's retreat from the U.S. market is accelerating as its retail network falls below two dozen active stores. Falling sales, stalled product plans, and shifting global priorities are prompting dealers to exit while the brand refocuses on markets where demand is stronger.Holman's North Carolina store — VinFast's first U.S. franchise — ends sales Dec. 31, marking the third dealer exit in six months.U.S. registrations fell 57% through October, even as overall EV sales grew 11% in the same period.Several listed stores show no inventory or are “coming soon,” and many active rooftops have 15 or fewer vehicles in stock.“Given the tariff situation and the instability in the EV market, we just need to see how that settles before we push hard in the U.S.,” said VinFast chairwoman Thuy Thu Le.VaynerMedia's new Anti-Trend Report argues that social trends are collapsing faster than ever, making 2026 the year brands stop chasing virality and start pursuing genuine relevance. With algorithms fragmenting attention, emotional connection becomes the new competitive advantage.The report says trend fatigue is accelerating — trends now fade 14x faster than they used to, and 1/3 of consumers think brands “jumping on viral trends” is embarrassing.Platforms are blurring: TikTok layouts show up on Instagram, Facebook-style text posts appear everywhere — meaning content format matters more than platform identity.Audiences expect authenticity, not broadcasts; brands must create two-way social conversations, not passive content streams.“In 2026, the brands that win won't be those who shout the loudest, but those who show up the most real.” — Allan Blair, SVP & Head of Strategy, VaynerMediaThank you to today's sponsor, Mia. Capture more revenue, protect CSI, and never miss a call or connection again with 24/7 phone coverage and texJoin Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.Get the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/

Chuck Zodda and Paul Lane explain how rate cuts by the Federal Reserve impact average Americans. Why this may be the last rate cut for awhile. Warner Brothers' bidders brace for a fight that will last months. Todd Lutsky joins the show to explain how to know when it is time to update your estate plan.

Jake & Ben Full Show from December 10, 2025 Hour 1 After entering into a deal with a Private Equity Firm, will University of Utah Athletics begin to price out its average fan?  Top 3 Stories of the Day: Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark went after Notre Dame's Athletic Director instead of campaigning for BYU. The Utah Mammoth are hosting the Florida Panthers tonight. The Great Cougar Comeback... Again.  Local Reality TV Star is being released from prison.  Hour 2 Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark went after Notre Dame's Athletic Director instead of campaigning for his own teams.  What You Got Wednesday: Best Local Athletes of last 25 years, Things that are dying in our culture.  How do you feel about leaked recordings of coaches and players? 

Hour 1 of Jake & Ben on December 10, 2025 After entering into a deal with a Private Equity Firm, will University of Utah Athletics begin to price out its average fan?  Top 3 Stories of the Day: Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark went after Notre Dame's Athletic Director instead of campaigning for BYU. The Utah Mammoth are hosting the Florida Panthers tonight. The Great Cougar Comeback... Again.  Local Reality TV Star is being released from prison. 

What does it really take to build a multi-six-figure author business with no advertising? Is running your own warehouse really necessary for direct sales success — or is there a simpler path using print-on-demand that works just as well? In this conversation, Sacha Black and I compare our very different approaches to selling direct, from print on demand to pallets of books, and explore why the right model depends entirely on who you are and what your goals are for your author business. In the intro, Memoir Examples and interviews [Reedsy, The Creative Penn memoir tips]; Written Word Media annual indie author survey results; Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition; Business for Authors webinars; Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant; Camino Portuguese Coastal on My Camino Podcast; Creating while Caring Community with Donn King; The Buried and the Drowned by J.F. Penn Today's show is sponsored by Bookfunnel, the essential tool for your author business. Whether it's delivering your reader magnet, sending out advanced copies of your book, handing out ebooks at a conference, or fulfilling your digital sales to readers, BookFunnel does it all. Check it out at bookfunnel.com/thecreativepenn This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Sacha Black is the author of YA and non-fiction for authors and previously hosted The Rebel Author Podcast. As Ruby Roe, she is a multi-six-figure author of sapphic romantasy. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Two models for selling direct: print on demand vs running your own warehouse. Plus, check out Sacha's solo Rebel Author episode about the details of the warehouse. Cashflow management Kickstarter lessons: pre-launch followers, fulfillment time, and realistic timelines How Sacha built a multi-six-figure business through TikTok with zero ad spend Matching your business model to your personality and skill set Building resilience: staff salaries, SOPs, and planning for when things change You can find Ruby at RubyRoe.co.uk and on TikTok @rubyroeauthor and on Instagram @sachablackauthor Transcript of the interview Joanna: Sacha Black is the author of YA and nonfiction for authors, and previously hosted the Rebel Author podcast. As Ruby Roe, she is a multi-six-figure author of sapphic romance. So welcome back to the show, Sacha. Sacha: Hello. Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure to be here. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you today. Now, just for context, for everybody listening, Sacha has a solo episode on her Rebel Author podcast, last week as we record this, which goes into specific lessons around the warehouse in more detail, including financials. So we are going to come at this from a slightly different angle in our discussion today, which is really about two different ways of doing selling direct. I want us to start though, Sacha, in case people don't know your background, in case they've missed out. Can you just give us a quick recap of your indie author journey, because you haven't just come out of nowhere and jumped into this business and done incredibly well? Sacha's Indie Author Journey Sacha: No, I really haven't. Okay. So 2013, I started writing. So 12 years ago I started writing with the intention to publish, because I was writing before, but not with the intention. 2017 I first self-published and then two years after that, in 2019, I quit the day job. But let me be clear, it wasn't because I was rolling in self-published royalties or commissions or whatever you want to call them. I was barely scraping by. And so those are what I like to call my hustle years because I mean, I still hustle, but it was a different kind. It was grind and hustle. So I did a lot of freelance work. I did a lot of VA work for other authors. I did speaking, I was podcasting, teaching courses, and so on and so forth. 2022, in the summer, I made a realisation that I'd created another job for myself rather than a business that I wanted to grow and thrive in and was loving life and all of that stuff. And so I took a huge risk and I slowed down everything, and I do mean everything. I slowed down the speaking, I slowed down the courses, I slowed down the nonfiction, and — I poured everything into writing what became the first Ruby Roe book. I published that in February 2023. In August/September 2023, I stopped all freelance work. And to be clear, at that point, I also wasn't entirely sure if I was going to be able to pay my bills with Ruby, but I could see that she had the potential there and I was making enough to scrape by. And there's nothing if not a little bit of pressure to make you work hard. So that is when I stopped the freelance. And then in November 2023, so two months later, I started TikTok in earnest. And then a month after that, December the eighth, I went viral. And then what's relevant to this is that two days after that, on December the 10th, I had whipped up my minimum viable Shopify, and that went live. Then roll on, I did more of the same, published more Ruby Roe books. I made a big change to my Shopify. So at that point it was still print on demand Shopify, and then February 2025, I took control and took the reins and rented a warehouse and started fulfilling distribution myself. The Ten-Year Overnight Success Joanna: So great. So really good for people to realise that 2013, you started writing with the intention, like, seriously, I want this to be what I do. And it was 2019 when you quit the day job, but really it was 2023 when you actually started making decent money, right? Sacha: Almost like we all need 10 years. Joanna: Yeah. I mean, it definitely takes time. So I wanted just to set that scene there. And also that you did at least a year of print on demand Shopify before getting your own warehouse. Sacha: Yeah, maybe 14 months. Joanna: Yeah, 14 months. Okay. So we are going to revisit some of these, but I also just want as context, what was your day job so people know? Sacha: So I was a project manager in a local government, quite corporate, quite conservative place. And I played the villain. It was great. I would helicopter into departments and fix them up and look at processes that were failing and restructure things and bring in new software and bits and bobs like that. The Importance of Business Skills Joanna: Yeah. So I think that's important too, because your job was fixing things and looking at processes, and I feel like that is a lot of what you've done and we'll revisit that. Sacha: How did I not realise that?! Joanna: I thought you did know that. No. Well, oh my goodness. And let's just put my business background in context. I'm sure most people have heard it before, but I was an IT consultant for about 13 years, but much of my job was going into businesses and doing process mapping and then doing software to fix that. And also I worked, I'm not an accountant, but I worked in financial accounting departments. So I think this is really important context for people to realise that learning the craft is one thing, but learning business is a completely different game, right? Sacha: Oh, it is. I have learnt — it's wild because I always feel like there's no way you can learn more than in your first year of publishing because everything is brand new. But I genuinely feel like this past 18 months I have learnt as much, if not more, because of the business, because of money, because of all of the other legal regulation type changes in the last 18 months. It's just been exhausting in terms of learning. It's great, but also it is a lot to learn. There is just so much to business. Joanna's Attempts to Talk Sacha Out of the Warehouse Joanna: So that's one thing. Now, I also want to say for context, when you decided to start a warehouse, how much effort did I put into trying to persuade you not to do this? Sacha: Oh my goodness, me. I mean a lot. There were probably two dinners, several coffees, a Zoom. It was like, don't do it. Don't do it. You got me halfway there. So for everybody listening, I went big and I was like, oh, I'm going to buy shipping containers and convert them and put them on a plot of land and all of this stuff. And Joanna very sensibly turned around and was like, hmm, why don't you rent somewhere that you can bail out of if it doesn't work? And I was like, oh yeah, that does sound like a good idea. Joanna: Try it, try it before you really commit. Okay. So let's just again take a step back because the whole point of doing this discussion for me is because you are doing really well and it is amazing what you are doing and what some other people are doing with warehouses. But I also sell direct and in the same way as you used to, which is I use Bookfunnel for ebooks and audiobooks and I use BookVault for print on demand books, and people can also use Lulu. That's another option for people. So you don't have to do direct sales in the way that you've done it. And part of the reason to do this episode was to show people that there are gradations of selling direct. Why Sell Direct? Joanna: But I wanted to go back to the basics around this. Why might people consider selling direct, even in a really simple way, for example, just ebooks from their website, or what might be reasons to sell direct rather than just sending everything to Amazon or other stores? Sacha: I think, well, first of all, it depends on what you want as a business model. For me, I have a similar background to you in that I was very vulnerable when I was in corporate because of redundancies, and so that bred a bit of control freakness inside me. And having control of my customers was really important to me. We don't get any data from Amazon or Kobo really, or anywhere, even though all of these distributors are incredible for us in our careers. We don't actually have direct access to readers, and you do with Shopify. You know everything about your reader, and that is priceless. Because once you have that data and you have delivered a product, a book, merchandise, something that that reader values and appreciates, you can then sell to them again and again and again. I have some readers who have been on my website who have spent almost four figures now. I mean, that is just — one person's done that and I have thousands of people who are coming to the website on a regular basis. So definitely that control and access to readers is a huge reason for doing it. Customising the Reader Relationship Sacha: And also I think that you can, depending on how you do this model, there are ways to do some of the things I'm going to talk about digitally as well. But for me, I really like the physical aspect of it. We are able to customise the relationship with our customers. We can give them more because we are in control of delivery. And so by that I mean we could give art prints, which lots of my readers really value. We can do — you could send those digitally if you wanted to, but we can add in extra freebies like our romance pop sockets, that makes them feel like they are part of my reader group. They're part of a community. It creates this belonging. So I think there is just so much more that you can do when you are in control of that relationship and in control of the access to it. Joanna: Yeah. And on that, I mean, one of the reasons we can do really cool print books — and again, we're going to come back to print on demand, but I use print on demand. You don't have to buy pallets of books as Sacha does. You can just do print on demand. Obviously the financials are different, but I can still do foiling and custom end papers and ribbons and all this with print on demand through BookVault custom printing and bespoke printing. The Speed of Money Joanna: But also, I think the other thing with the money — I don't know if you even remember this, because it's very different when you are selling direct — you can set up your system so you get paid like every single day, right? Or every week? Sacha: Yes. Joanna: So the money is faster because with Amazon, with any of these other systems, it can take 30, 60, 90 days for the money to get to you. So faster money, you are in more control of the money. And you can also do a lot more things like bundling and like you mentioned, much higher value that you could offer, but you can also make higher income. Average order value per customer because you have so many things, right? So that speed of money is very different. Sacha: It is, but it's also very dangerous. I know we might talk about cashflow more later, but— Joanna: Let's talk about it now. Managing Cashflow With Multiple Bank Accounts Sacha: Okay, cool. So one of the things that I think is the most valuable thing that I've ever done is, someone who is really clever told me that you're allowed more than one business account. Joanna: Just to be clear, bank accounts? Sacha: Yes, sorry. Yeah. Bank accounts. And one of my banks in particular enables you to have mini banks inside it, mini pots they call it. And what I do with pre-orders is I treat it a bit like Amazon. So that money will come in — you know, I do get paid daily pretty much — but I then siphon it off every week into a pot. So let's just say I've got one book on pre-order. Every week the team tells me how much we've got in pre-orders for that one product and all the shipping money, and I put it into an account and I leave it there. And I do not touch it unless it is to pay for the print run of that book or to pay for the shipping. Because one of the benefits of coming direct to me is that I promise to ship all pre-orders early, so we have to pay the shipping costs before necessarily Amazon might pay for its shipping costs because they only release on the actual release day. But that has enabled me to have a little savings scheme, but also guarantee that I can pay for the print run in advance because I haven't accidentally spent that money on something else or invested it. I've kept it aside and it also helps you track numbers as well, so you know how well that pre-order is doing financially. Understanding Cashflow as an Author Joanna: Yeah. And this cashflow, if people don't really know it, is the difference between when money comes in and when it goes out. So another example, common to many authors, is paying for advertising. So for example, if you run some ads one month, you're going to have to pay, let's say Facebook or BookBub or whoever, that month. You might not get the money from the sale of those books if it's from a store until two months later. In that case, the cash flows the other way. The money is sitting with the store, sitting on Amazon until they pay you later. This idea of cashflow is so important for authors to think about. Another, I guess even more basic example is you are writing your first book and you pay for an editor. Money goes out of your bank account and then hopefully you're going to sell some books, but that might take, let's say six months, and then some money will come back into your bank account. I think this understanding cashflow is so important at a small level because as it gets bigger and bigger — and you are doing these very big print runs now, aren't you? Talk a bit about that. The Risks of Print Runs Sacha: Yeah. So one of the things I was going to say, one of the benefits of your sell direct model is that you don't have to deal with mistakes like this one. So in my recent book, Architecti, that we launched at the end of September, we did a print run of a thousand books, maybe about 3,000 pounds, something like that, 2,000 pounds. And basically we ended up selling all thousand and more. So the pre-orders breached a thousand and we didn't have enough books. But what made that worse is that 20% of the books that arrived were damaged because there had been massive rain. So we then had to do a second print run, which is bad for two reasons. The first reason is that one, that space, two, the time it's going to take to get to you — it's not instant, it's not printed on demand. But also three, I then had to spend the same amount of money again. And actually if we had ordered 2,000 originally, we would've saved a bit more money on it per book. So you don't — if you are doing selling direct with a print on demand model, the number of pre-orders you get is irrelevant because they'll just keep printing, and you just get charged per copy. So there are benefits and disadvantages to doing it each way. Obviously, I'm getting a cheaper price per copy printed, but not if I mess up the order numbers. Is Running a Warehouse Just Another Job? Joanna: So I'm going to come back on something you said earlier, which was in 2022 you said, “I realised I made a job for myself.” Sacha: Yeah. Joanna: And I mean, I've been to your store. You obviously have people to help you. But one of my reservations about this kind of model is that even if you have people to help you, taking on physical book — even though you are not printing them yourself, you're still shipping them all and you're signing them all. And to me it feels like a job. So maybe talk about why you have continued — you have pretty much decided to continue with your warehouse. So why is this not a job? What makes this fun for you? The Joy of Physical Product Creation Sacha: I wish that listeners could see my face because I'm literally glittering. I love it. I literally love it. I love us being able to create cool and wacky things. We can make a decision and we can create that physical product really quickly. We can do all of these quirky things. We can experiment. We can do book boxes. So first of all, it's the creativity in the physical product creation. I had no idea how much I love physical product creation, but there is something extremely satisfying about us coming up with an idea that's so integrated in the book. So for example, one of my characters uses, has a coin, a yes/no coin. She's an assassin and she flips it to decide whether or not she's going to assassinate somebody. We've actually designed and had that coin made, and it's my favourite item in the warehouse. It's such a small little thing, but I love it. And so there is a lot of joy that I derive from us being able to create these items. Sending Book Mail and Building Community Sacha: I think the second thing is I really love book mail. There is no better gift somebody can give me than a book. And so I do get a lot of satisfaction from knowing we're sending out lots and lots of book presents to people and we get to add more to it. So some of the promises that we make are: I sign every book and we give gifts. We have character art and, like I've mentioned before, pop sockets and all these kinds of things. And I get tagged daily in unboxings and stories and things like this where people are like, oh my gosh, I didn't realise I was going to get this, this, and this. And I just — it's like crack to me. I get high off of it. So I can't — this is not for everybody. This is a logistical nightmare. There are so many problems inherent in this business model. I love it. Discovering a Love of Team Building Sacha: And I think the other thing, which is very much not for a lot of authors — I did not realise that I actually really like having a team. And that has been a recent realisation. I really was told that I'm not a team player when I was in corporate, that I work alone, all of this nonsense. And I believed that and taken it on. But finding the right team, the right people who love the jobs that they do inside your business and they're all as passionate as you, is just life changing. And so that also helps me continue because I have a really great team. Joanna: I do have to ask you, what is a pop socket? Sacha: It's a little round disc that has a mechanism that you can pull out and then you — and it has a sticky command strip back and you can pop it on the back of your phone or on the back of a Kindle and it helps you to hold it. I don't know how else to describe it. It just helps you to hold the device easier. Joanna: Okay. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was confused. I'm like, why are you doing electrical socket products? Know What Kind of Person You Are Joanna: But I think this actually does demonstrate another point, and I hope people listening — I hope you can sort of — why we are doing this partly is to help you figure out what kind of person you are as well. Because I can't think of anything worse than having lots of little boxes! And I've been in Sacha's thing and there's all these little stickers and there's lots of boxes of little things that they put in people's packages, which make people happy. And I'm like, oh, I just don't like packages of things. And I mean, you geek out on packaging, don't you as well? Sacha: Oh my goodness. Yeah. One of the first things I did when we got the warehouse was I actually went to a packaging expo in Birmingham. It was like this giant conference place and I just nerded out there. It was so fun. And one of the things that I'm booked to do is an advent calendar. And that was what drove me there in the first place. I was looking for a manufacturer that could create an advent calendar for us. I have two. I'm not — I have two advent calendars this year because I love them so much. But yeah, the other thing that I was going to say to you is I often think that as adults, we can find what we're supposed to do rooted in our childhood. And I was talking the other day and someone said to me, what toy do you remember from your youth? And I was like, oh yeah. The only one that I can remember is that I had a sticker maker. I like — that makes sense. You do like stickers. And I do. Yeah. Digital Minimalism vs Physical Products Joanna: Yeah, I do. And I think this is so important because I love books. I buy a lot of books. I love books, but I also get rid of a lot of books. I know people hate this, but I will just get rid of bags and bags of books. So I value books more for what's inside them than the physical product as such. I mean, I have some big expensive, beautiful books, but mostly I want what's in them. So it's really interesting to me. And I think there's a big difference between us is just how much you like all that stuff. So if you are listening, if you are like a digital minimalist and you don't want to have stuff around your house, you definitely don't want a warehouse. You don't want all the shipping bits and bobs. You are not interested in all that. Or even if you are, you can still do a lot of this print on demand. Then I think that's just so important, isn't it? I mean, did you look at the print on demand merch? Did you find anything you liked? The Draw of Customisation Sacha: Yeah, we did, but I think for me it was that customisation. We are now moving towards — I've just put an order in this morning for 10,000 customised boxes. We've got our own branding on them. We've got a little naughty, cheeky message when they flip up the flap. And it's little things like that that you can't — you know, we wouldn't have control over what was sent. So much of what I wanted, and some of the reasons for me doing it, is that I wanted to be able to sign the books. I was being asked on a daily basis if people could buy signed books from me, and it was driving me bonkers not being able to say yes. But also being able to send a website mailing list sign-up in the box, or being able to give them a discount in the box. I mean, I know you do that, but yeah, there was just a lot more customisation and things that we could do if we were controlling the shipping. Also, I wanted to pack the boxes, the books better. So we wanted to be able to bubble wrap things or we wanted to be able to waterproof things because we had various different issues with deliveries and so we wanted a bit more control over that. So yeah, there were just so many reasons for us to do it. Print on Demand Is Still Fantastic Sacha: Look, don't get me wrong, if I suddenly wanted to go off travelling for a year, then maybe I would shut down the warehouse and go back to print on demand. I think print on demand is fantastic. I did it for 14 months before I decided to open a warehouse. It is the foundation of most authors' models. So it's fantastic. I just want to do more. Joanna: Yeah. You want to do more of it. Life Stage Matters Joanna: We should also, I also wanted to mention your life stage. Because when we did talk about it, your son is just going to secondary school, so we knew that you would be in the same area, right? Sacha: Yeah. Joanna: Because I said to you, you can't just do this and — well, you can, you could ditch it all. But the better decision is to do this for a certain number of years. If you're going to do it, it needs time, right? So you are at that point in your life. Sacha: Yeah, absolutely. We — I mean, we are going to move house, I think, but not that far away. We'll still be in reachable distance of the warehouse. And yeah, the staying power is so important because it's also about raising awareness. You have to train readers to come to you. You have to show them why it's beneficial for them to order directly from you. Growing the Business Year Over Year Sacha: And then you also have to be able to iterate and add more products. Like you were talking earlier about increasing that average order value. And that does come from having more products, but more products does create other issues like space, which may or may not be suffering issues with now. But yeah, so for example, 2024, which was the first real year, I did about 73 and a half thousand British pounds. And then this year, where — as we record this, it's actually the 1st of December — and I'm on 232,000. So from year one to year two, it's a huge difference. And that I do think is about the number of products and the number of things that we have on there. Joanna: And the number of customers. I guess you've also grown your customer base as well. And one of the rules, I guess, in inverted commas, of publishing is that the money is in the backlist. And every time you add to your backlist and every launch, you are selling a lot more of your backlist as well. So I think as time goes on, yeah, you get more books. Kickstarter as an Alternative Joanna: But let's also talk about Kickstarter because I do signed books for my Kickstarters and to me the Kickstarter is like a short-term ability to do the things you are doing regularly. So for example, if you want to do book boxes, you could just do them for a Kickstarter. You don't have to run a warehouse and do it every single day. For example, your last Kickstarter for Ruby Roe made around 150,000 US dollars, which is amazing. Like really fantastic. So just maybe talk about that, any lessons from the Kickstarter specifically, because I feel like most people, for most people listening, they are far more likely to do a Kickstarter than they are to start a warehouse. Pre-Launch Followers Are Critical Sacha: Yeah, so the first thing is even before you start your Kickstarter, the pre-launch follow accounts are critical. So a lot of people think — well, I guess there's a lot of loud noise about all these big numbers about how much people can make on Kickstarter, but actually a lot of it is driven by you, the author, pushing your audience to Kickstarter. So we actually have a formula now. Somebody more intelligent gave this to me, but essentially, based on my own personal campaign data — so this wouldn't necessarily be the same for other people — but based on my campaign data, each pre-launch follower is worth 75 pounds. And then we add on seven grand, for example. So on campaign three, which was the most recent one, I had 1,501 pre-launch followers. And when you times that by 75 and you add on seven grand, it makes more or less exactly what we made on the campaign. And the same formula can be applied to the others. So you need more pre-launch followers than you think you do. And lots of people don't put enough impetus on the marketing beforehand. Almost all of our Kickstarter marketing is beforehand because we drive so many people to that follow button. Early Bird Pricing and Fulfillment Time Sacha: And then the other thing that we do is that we do early bird pricing. So we get the majority of our income on a campaign on day one. I think it was something wild, like 80% this time was on day one, so that's really important. The second thing is it takes so, so very much longer than you think it does to fulfil a campaign, and you must factor in that cost. Because if it's not you fulfilling, you are paying somebody else to fulfil it. And if it is you fulfilling it, you must account for your own time in the pricing of your campaign. And the other thing is that the amount of time it takes to fulfil is directly proportionate to the size of the campaign. That's one thing I did not even compute — the fact that we went from about 56,000 British pounds up to double that, and the time was exponentially more than double. So you do have to think about that. Overseas Printing and Timelines Sacha: The other lesson that we have learned is that overseas printing will drag your timelines out far longer than you think it does. So whatever you think it's going to take you to fulfil, add several months more onto that and put that information in your campaign. And thankfully, we are now only going to be a month delayed, whereas lots of campaigns get up to a year delayed because they don't consider that. Reinvesting Kickstarter Profits Sacha: And then the last thing I think, which was really key for us, is that if you have some profit in the Kickstarter — because not all Kickstarters are actually massively profitable because they either don't account enough for shipping or they don't account enough in the pricing. Thankfully, ours have been profitable, but we've actually reinvested that profit back into buying more stock and more merchandise, which not everybody would want to do if they don't have a warehouse. However, we are stockpiling merchandise and books so that we can do mystery boxes later on down the line. It's probably a year away, but we are buying extra of everything so that we have that in the warehouse. So yeah, depending on what you want to do with your profit, for us it was all about buying more books, basically. Offering Something Exclusive Sacha: I think the other thing to think about is what is it that you are doing that's exclusive to Kickstarter? Because you will get backers on Kickstarter who want that quirky, unique thing that they're not going to be able to get anywhere else. But what about you? Because you've done more Kickstarters than me. What do you think is the biggest lesson you've learned? Reward Tiers and Bundling Joanna: Oh, well I think all of mine together add up to the one you just did. Although I will comment on — you said something like 75 pounds per pre-launch backer. That is obviously dependent on your tiers for the rewards, so most authors won't have that amount. So my average order value, which I know is slightly different, but I don't offer things like book boxes like you have. So a lot of it will depend on the tiers. Some people will do a Kickstarter just with an ebook, just with one ebook and maybe a bundle of ebooks. So you are never going to make it up to that kind of value. So I think this is important too, is have a look at what people offer on their different levels of Kickstarter. And in fact, here's my AI tip for the day. What you can do — what I did with my Buried and the Drowned campaign recently — is I uploaded my book to ChatGPT and said, tell me, what are some ideas for the different reward tiers that I can do on Kickstarter? And it will give you some ideas for what you can do, what kind of bundles you might want to do. So I think bundling your backlist is another thing you can do as upsells, or you can just, for example, for me, when I did Blood Vintage, I did a horror bundle when it was four standalone horror books in one of the upper tiers. So I think bundling is a good way. Also upselling your backlist is a really good way to up things. And also if you do it digitally, so for ebooks and audiobooks, there's a lot less time in fulfillment. Focus on Digital Products Too Joanna: So again, yours — well, you make things hard, but also more fun according to you, because most of it's physical, right? In fact, this is one of the things you haven't done so well, really, is concentrate on the digital side of things. Is that something you are thinking about now? Sacha: Yeah, it is. I mean, we do have our books digitally on the website. So the last — I only had one series in Kindle Unlimited, and I took those out in January. But so we do have all of the digital products on the website, and the novellas that we do, we have in all formats because I narrate the audio for them. So that is something that we're looking at. And since somebody very smart told me to have upsell apps on my website, we now have a full “get the everything bundle” in physical and digital and we are now selling them as well. Surprising. Definitely not you. So yeah, we are looking at it and that's something that we could look at next year as well for advertising because I haven't really done any advertising. I think I've spent about 200 pounds in ads in the last four months or something. It's very, very low level. So that is a way to make a huge amount of profit because the cost is so low. So your return, if you're doing a 40 or 50 pound bundle of ebooks and you are spending, I don't know, four pounds in advertising to get that sale, your return on that investment is enormous for ads. So that is something that we are looking at for next year, but it just hasn't been something that we've done a huge amount of. A Multi-Six-Figure Author With No Ads Joanna: Yeah. Well, just quoting from your solo episode where you say, “I don't have any advertising costs, customers are from my mailing list, TikTok and Instagram.” Now, being as you are a multi-six-figure author with no ads, this is mostly unthinkable for many authors. And so I wonder if, maybe talk about that. How do you think you have done that and can other people potentially emulate it, or do you think it's luck? It's Not Luck, It's Skill Set Sacha: Do you know, this is okay. So I don't think it's luck. I don't believe in luck. I get quite aggressive about people flinging luck around. I know some people are huge supporters of luck. I'm like, no. Do I think anybody can do it? Do you know, I swing so hard on this. Sometimes I say yes, and sometimes I think no. And I think the brutal truth of it is that I know where my skill set lies and I lean extremely heavily into it. So what do I mean by that? TikTok and Instagram are both very visual mediums. It is video footage. It is static images. I am extremely comfortable on camera. I am an ex-theatre kid. I was on TV as a kid. I did voiceover work when I was younger. This is my wheelhouse. So acting a bit like a tit on TikTok on a video, I am very comfortable at doing that, and I think that is reflected in the results. Consistency Without Burnout Sacha: And the other part of it is because I am comfortable at doing it, I enjoy it. It makes me laugh. And therefore it feels easy. And I think because it feels easy, I can do it over and over and over again without burning out. I started posting on TikTok on November the 19th, 2023, and I have posted three times a day every day since. Every single day without stopping, and I do not feel burnt out. And I definitely feel like that is because it's easy for me because I am good at it. Reading the Algorithm Sacha: The other thing that I think goes in here is that I'm very good at reading what's working. So sorry to talk Clifton Strengths, but my number one Clifton Strength is competition. And one of the skills that has is understanding the market. We're very good at having a wide view. So not only do I read the market on Amazon or in bookstores or wherever I can, it's the same skill set but applied to the algorithm. So I am very good at dissecting viral videos and understanding what made it work, in the same way somebody that spends 20,000 pounds a month on Facebook advertising is very good at doing analytics and looking at those numbers. I am useless at that. I just can't do it. I just get complete shutdown. My brain just says no, and I'm incapable of running ads. That's why I don't do it. Not Everyone Can Do This Sacha: So can anybody do this? Maybe. If you are comfortable on camera, if you enjoy it. It's like we've got a mutual friend, Adam Beswick. We call him the QVC Book Bitch because he is a phenomenon on live videos on TikTok and Instagram and wherever he can sell. Anything on those lives. It is astonishing to watch the sales pop in as he's on these lives. I can't think of anything worse. I will do a live, but I'll be signing books and having a good old chitchat. Not like it's — like that hand selling. Another author, Willow Winters, has done like 18 in-person events this year. I literally die on the inside hearing that. But that's what works for them and that's what's helping grow their business models. So ah, honestly, no. I actually don't think anybody can do what I've done. I think if you have a similar skill set to me, then yes you can. But no, and I know that I don't want to crush anybody listening. Do you like social media? I like social media. Do you like being on camera? Then yeah, you can do it. But if you don't, then I just think it's a waste of your time. Find out what you are good at, find out where your skill set is, and then lean in very, very hard. Writing to Your Strengths and Passion Joanna: I also think, because let's be brutal, you had books before and they didn't sell like this. Sacha: Yep. Joanna: So I also think that you leaned into — yes, of course, sapphic romance is a big sub-genre, but you love it. And also it's your lived experience with the sapphic sub-genre. This is not you chasing a trend, right? I think that's important too because too many people are like, oh, well maybe this is the latest trend. And is TikTok a trend? And then try and force them together, whereas I feel like you haven't done that. Sacha: No, and actually I spoke to lots of people who were very knowledgeable on the market and they all said, don't do it. And the reason for this is that there were no adult lesbian sapphic romance books that were selling when I looked at the market and decided that this was what I wanted to write. And I was like, cool, I'm going to do it then. And rightly so, everyone was like, well, there's no evidence to suggest that this is going to make any money. You are taking a huge risk. And I was like, yeah, but I will. I knew from the outset before I even put a word to the page how I was going to market it. And I think that feeling of coming home is what I — I created a home for myself in my books and that is why it's just felt so easy to market. Lean Into What You're Good At Sacha: It's like you, with your podcasting. Nobody can get anywhere near your podcast because you are so good at it. You've got such a history. You are so natural with your podcasting that you are just unbeatable, you know? So it's a natural way for you to market it. Joanna: Many have tried, but no, you're right. It's because I like this. And what's so funny — I'm sure I've mentioned it on the show — but I did call you one day and say, okay, all right, show me how to do this TikTok thing. And you spent like two hours on the phone with me and then I basically said no. Okay. I almost tried and then I just went, no, this is definitely not for me. And I think that this has to be one of the most important things as an author. Maybe some people listening are just geeking out over packaging like you are, and maybe they're the people who might look at this potential business model. Whereas some people are like me and don't want to go anywhere near it. And then other people like you want to do video and maybe other people like me want to do audio. So yeah, it's so important to find, well, like you said, what does not work for you? What is fun for you and when are you having a good time? Because otherwise you would have a job. Like to me, it looks like a job, you having a warehouse. But to you, it's not the same as when you were grinding it out back in 2022. Packing Videos Are Peak Content Sacha: Completely. And I think if you look at my social media feeds, they are disproportionately full of packing videos, which I think tells you something. Joanna: Oh dear. I just literally — I'm just like, oh my, if I never see any more packaging, I'll be happy. Sacha: Yeah. That's good. The One Time Sacha Nearly Burnt It All Down Sacha: I have to say, there was one moment where I doubted everything. And that was at the end — but basically, in about, of really poor timing. I ended up having to fulfil every single pre-order of my latest release and hand packing about a thousand books in two weeks. And I nearly burnt it all to the ground. Joanna: Because you didn't have enough staffing, right? And your mum was sick or something? Sacha: Yeah, exactly that. And I had to do it all by myself, and I was alone in the warehouse and it was just horrendous. So never again. But hey, I learned the lessons and now I'm like, yay, let's do it again. Things Change: Building Resilience Into Your Business Joanna: Yeah. And make sure there's more staffing. Yes, I've talked a lot on this show — things change, right? Things change. And in fact, the episode that just went out today as we record this with Jennifer Probst, which she talked about hitting massive bestseller lists and doing just incredibly well, and then it just dropped off and she had to pivot and change things. And I'm not like Debbie Downer, but I do say things will change. So what are you putting in place to make sure, for example, TikTok finally does disappear or get banned, or that sapphic romance suddenly drops off a cliff? What are you doing to make sure that you can keep going in the future? Managing Cash Flow and Salaries Sacha: Yeah, so I think there's a few things. The first big one is managing cash flow and ensuring that I have three to six months' worth of staff salaries, for want of a better word, in an account. So if the worst thing happens and sales drop off — because I am responsible for other people's income now — that I'm not about to shaft a load of people. So that really helps give you that risk reassurance. Mailing Lists and Marketing Funnels Sacha: The second thing is making sure that we are cultivating our mailing lists, making sure that we are putting in infrastructure, like things like upsell apps. And, okay, so here's a ridiculous lesson that I learned in 2025: an automation sequence, an onboarding automation sequence, is not what people mean when they say you need a marketing funnel. I learned this in Vegas. A marketing funnel will sell your products to your existing readers. So when a customer signs up to your mailing list because they've purchased something, they will be tagged and then your email flow system will then send them a 5% discount on this, or “did you know you could bundle up and get blah?” So putting that kind of stuff in place will mean that we can take more advantage of the customers that we've already got. Standard Operating Procedures Sacha: It's also things like organisational knowledge. My team is big enough now that there are things in my business I don't know how to do. That's quite daunting for somebody who is a control freak. So I visited Vegas in 2025 and I sat in a session all on — this sounds so sexy — but standard operating procedures. And now I've given my team the job of creating a process instruction manual on how they do each of their tasks so that if anybody's sick, somebody else can pick it up. If somebody leaves, we've got that infrastructure in place. And even things down to things like passwords — who, if I unfortunately got hit by a car, who can access my Amazon account? Stuff like that, unfortunately. Joanna: Yeah, I know. Well, I mean, that would be tragic, wouldn't it? Sacha: But it's stuff like that. Building Longer Timelines Sacha: But then also more day-to-day things is putting in infrastructure that pulls me out. So looking more at staffing responsibilities for staffing so that I don't always have to be there, and creating longer timelines. That is probably the most important thing that we can do because we've got a book box launching next summer. And we both had the realisation — I say we, me and my operations manager — had the realisation that actually we ought to be commissioning the cover and the artwork now because of how long those processes take. So I'm a little bit shortsighted on timelines, I think. So putting a bit more rigour in what we do and when. We now have a team-wide heat map where we know when the warehouse is going to be really, really full, when staff are off, when deliveries are coming, and that's projected out a year in advance. So lots and lots of things that are changing. And then I guess also eventually we will do advertising as well. But that is a few months down the line. Personal Financial Resilience Sacha: And then on the more personal side, it's looking at things like not just how you keep the business running, but how do you keep yourself running? How do you make sure that, let's say you have a bad sales month, but you still have to pay your team? How are you going to get paid? So I, as well as having put staff salaries away, I also have my own salary. I've got a few months of my own salary put away. And then investing as well. I know, I am not a financial advisor, but I do invest money. I serve money that I pay myself. You can also do things like having investment vehicles inside your business if you want to deal with extra cash. And then I am taking advice from my accountant and my financial advisor on do I put more money into my pension — because did I say that I also have a pension? So I invest in my future as well. Or do I set up another company and have a property portfolio? Or how do I essentially make the money that is inside the business make more money rather than reinvesting it, spending it, and reinvesting it on things that don't become assets or don't become money generating? What can I do with the cash that's inside the company in order to then make it make more for the long term? Because then if you do have a down six months or worse, a down year, for example, you've got enough cash and equity inside the business to cover you during those lower months or years or weeks — or hopefully just a day. Different Business Models for Different Authors Joanna: Yes, of course. And we all hope it just carries on up and to the right, but sometimes it doesn't work that way. So it's really great that you are doing all those things. And I think what's lovely and why we started off with you giving us that potted history was it hasn't always been this way. So if you are listening to this and you are like, well, I've only got one ebook for sale on Amazon, well that might be all you ever want to do, which is fine. Or you can come to where my business model is, which is mostly even — I use print on demand, but it's mostly digital. It's mostly online. It's got no packaging that I deal with. Or you can go even further like Sacha and Adam Beswick and Willow Winters. But because that is being talked about a lot in the community, that's why we wanted to do this — to really show you that there's different people doing different things and you need to choose what's best for you. What Are You Excited About for 2026? Joanna: But just as we finish, just tell us what are you excited about for 2026? Sacha: Oh my goodness me. I am excited to iterate my craft. And this is completely not related to the warehouse, but I have gotten myself into a position where I get to play with words again. So I'm really excited for the things that I'm going to write. But also in terms of the warehouse, we've got the new packaging, so getting to see those on social media. We are also looking at things like book boxes. So we are doing a set of three book boxes and these are going to be new and bigger and better than anything that we've done before. And custom tailored. Oh, without giving too much away, but items that go inside and also the artwork. I love working with artists and commissioning different art projects. But yeah, basically more of the same, hopefully world domination. Joanna: World domination. Fantastic. So basically more creativity. Sacha: Yeah. Joanna: And also a bigger business. Because I know you are ambitious and I love that. I think it's really good for people to be ambitious. Joanna: Oh, I do have another question. Do you have more sympathy for traditional publishing at this point? Sacha: How dare you? Unfortunately, yeah. I really have learnt the hard way why traditional publishers need the timelines that they need. This latest release was probably the biggest that — so this latest release, which was called Architecting, is the reason that I did the podcast episode, because I learned so many lessons. And in particular about timelines and how tight things get, and it's just not realistic when you are doing this physical business. So that's another thing if you are listening and you are like, oh no, no, no, I like the immediacy of being able to finish, get it back from the editor and hit publish — this ain't for you, honey. This is not for you. Joanna: Yeah. No, that's fantastic. Where to Find Sacha and Ruby Roe Joanna: So where can people find you and your books online? Sacha: For the Ruby Empire, it's RubyRoe.co.uk and RubyRoeAuthor on TikTok if you'd like to see me dancing like a wally. And then Instagram, I'm back as @SachaBlackAuthor on Instagram. Joanna: Brilliant. Thanks so much for your time, Sacha. That was great. Sacha: Thank you for having me.The post Two Different Approaches To Selling Books Direct With Sacha Black And Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Want access to exclusive content & more? Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/edhrecastGets RulesDeck here: https://www.reactionsdeck.com/products/commander-rulesdeckGet new cards on Cardsphere! https://www.cardsphere.com/welcome?referrer=edhrecastProud partners with DragonShield: https://www.dragonshield.com/?ref=edhrecast Check out ALL our decklists: https://edhrec.com/articles/edhrecast-our-decks/ Azula: https://archidekt.com/decks/17822108/upping_the_average_fire_lord_azula Toph: https://archidekt.com/decks/17824522/upping_the_average_toph_the_first_metalbender Aang: https://archidekt.com/decks/17821769/upping_the_average_avatar_aang Iroh: https://archidekt.com/decks/17585780/upping_the_average_iroh_grand_lotus Zuko: https://archidekt.com/decks/17810596/upping_the_average_fire_lord_zukoTitle sequence by Daniel Woodling / MTG Explainers: https://bit.ly/3982yYaCard images courtesy of Scryfall: https://scryfall.com/Elevate by LiQWYD https://soundcloud.com/liqwydCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/liqwyd-elevateMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/nwSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this 3–5 minute sneak peek from our full conversation with John Barrows, CEO of JB Sales, he shares the blunt truth every sales rep needs to hear: AI isn't replacing sales… It's replacing sales reps who bring nothing to the table. John explains why: - Inbound SDR roles are disappearing - AI now answers buyers' questions better than reps - Product knowledge and real value matter more than ever - Average reps will be automated out of existence - The top 10–20% will thrive by becoming “Ironman sellers” - Curiosity + EQ will be the ultimate superpower in 2025 If you're in sales, this is your wake-up call. Full episode drops tomorrow at 5pm. Subscribe so you don't miss it. Stay sharp. Stay valuable. Don't get replaced.

Index Annuities and Index Universal Life products sometimes receive a bad reputation due to low returns. To win a horse race, you need a fast horse and a good rider. The index is the horse. An index that has a strong history of returns is more likely to continue significant future returns vs an index that has never produced decent returns.   The Index Performance Report shows the 1, 5, and 10-year returns of indexes offered by index annuities and index universal life policies. There are 50+ insurance companies and 600+ index options. About 80% of the indexes average low single-digit returns, while about 20% indexes of the indexes have 10-17% average annual returns for the past 10 years. The Index Performance Report is the only way to find the indexes that offer the highest potential returns.  Index returns are not typically public information. It is difficult to find. The Index Performance Report provides the return history. This is proprietary software. Very few advisors/agents have access to this info. Most are not aware that this info is available. Without the index return history, the agent/advisor has to rely on marketing recommendations and is mostly "flying blind". This is game-changing. Ferenc also shares when to use and not to use a bonus and common misconceptions regarding cash (accumulation) value and guaranteed lifetime income.

What Does a Perfect Bowling Game Have in Common With Top-Performing Sales Reps? Walk into a bowling alley on a Friday night, and you'll see a scene that looks like pure recreation. The crash of pins, the rumble of conversation, the squeak of shoes on the approach. But beneath all that noise is something far more serious: discipline, repetition, emotional control, and the relentless pursuit of mastery. That's the real game. And it's the exact game top performers play in sales. Selling rewards consistency, mental toughness, and the willingness to execute the fundamentals long after everyone else has checked out. When you break the sport of bowling down frame by frame, it mirrors what we teach every day at Sales Gravy. Fanatical Prospecting. Emotional control. Owning your process. Staying steady under pressure. Winning one shot at a time. Each frame reveals a truth about the way elite sellers think and operate. Frame 1: The Approach — Fanatical Prospecting In bowling, the shot starts before the ball ever moves. The routine is deliberate: same steps, same breath, same commitment. That's where consistency begins. In sales, your approach is prospecting. It's the moment you decide whether you're a professional or a hobbyist. Pros don't wait for a pipeline crisis. They build a non-negotiable daily rhythm of fanatical prospecting, exactly the way Jeb teaches it. “One more call. One more conversation. One more connection.” That mindset is your approach. That's the discipline that separates a bowler stepping onto the lane with purpose from the one sitting at the bar making excuses. You pick a target, commit, and move. Frame 2: The Lane — Owning Your Sales Process A lane looks the same every time, but it rarely plays the same. Oil patterns shift. Friction changes. Conditions evolve. Your sales process is no different. You can't control a buyer's internal politics or shifting priorities, but you can control how you move through your process. You can control your cadence, your discovery, your follow-up, and your commitment to advancing every opportunity with intention. Average sellers blame the lane. Pros read it. They ask better questions. They recognize where deals stall. They adjust without abandoning the fundamentals. The arrows exist to guide the ball; your process exists to guide you. Ignore it, and you drift straight into the gutter. Frame 3: The Ball — Your Message and the Triangle of Trust A bowler's ball is drilled to fit their hand, weighted for their style, and chosen for the conditions. Your ball is your message—your story, your questions, your ability to connect what you sell to what the buyer actually cares about. When you balance logic, emotion, and values, the ball rolls true. Most sellers throw the same generic pitch at every buyer. Pros tune their message. They refine their openings. They speak the buyer's language. Hit with too much emotion and no substance, you lose credibility. Hit with pure logic and no emotional relevance, you miss the pocket of influence. The goal is simple: strike emotion first, let logic clean up the rest. Frame 4: The Pins — Prospects, Objections, and Physics Pins obey physics. They aren't out to get you. Prospects are the same. Some fall quickly. Some require finesse. Some need a second shot. This is where many sellers unravel emotionally. They take objections personally. They turn one “no” into a story about themselves. Objections aren't judgment. They're feedback. “We're happy with our current vendor.” “Call me next quarter.” Objections are indicators, and tell you where your angle is off. Pros adjust. Ask a different question. Reframe the problem. Bring a story that hits harder. Then take another shot. The frame isn't over until you quit. Frame 5: The Shoes — Mindset and Emotional Control No one bowls in street shoes. You'll slip, lose balance, and go down hard. Your mindset is your pair of bowling shoes. Without emotional control, every call feels unstable. Every objection knocks you off center. Every tough moment spirals. Pros prepare their mind before they prepare their day. They visualize tough conversations. They decide how they'll respond to setbacks before they happen. They choose composure over reaction. A confident mind produces a confident delivery. Buyers feel both. Frame 6: The Equipment — Tech as an Amplifier, Not a Crutch Pros carry multiple balls, tape, tools—gear that helps them adjust and stay consistent. None of it bowls for them. Sales is full of tools too: CRMs, AI, sequencing engines, dialers. But tools only multiply effort. They never replace it. Weak sellers hide behind technology. Pros use it to increase conversations and stay organized. Tools help you understand the “oil pattern” of your territory. But at the end of the day, it's still you, a buyer, and a conversation. No technology closes deals for you. Frame 7: The Team — Culture and Accountability Bowling looks individual, but leagues win seasons. Behind every high average is a team pushing each other, challenging complacency, and celebrating progress. Sales is the same. Great cultures are built around coaching, accountability, and emotional safety. Teams share insights, review calls, and collaborate on tough deals. When someone hits a strike, everyone feels the lift. When someone struggles, the team rallies. You're competing, but you're not competing against each other. You're competing against your potential. Frame 8: The Scoreboard — Metrics and Truth The scoreboard doesn't lie. It doesn't care how busy you felt. It only reflects execution. Your sales scoreboard measures the same: dials, conversations, opportunities created, conversion rates. These numbers are feedback tools. High performers study them. They adjust mechanics, behavior, and cadence based on the data. You can't manage what you don't measure. Frame 9: The Follow-Through — Closing with Composure A bowler's follow-through is controlled and deliberate. The ball is gone, but the motion stays disciplined. Closing requires the same composure. Many sellers execute well early in the cycle. Then, at the moment of truth, they flinch. They rush. They soften.  Pros stay steady. They recap value clearly. They ask directly and confidently. They handle final concerns without panic. Closing is the natural output of a disciplined process. Frame 10: The Final Frame — Finishing Strong with Follow-Up The tenth frame separates casual bowlers from champions. Tired, under pressure, and out of margin for error, pros sharpen their focus. In sales, the tenth frame is follow-up. It's the week after the demo. The stalled proposal. The buyer who goes quiet. Most sellers mentally check out and tell themselves the wrong story: “If they wanted it, they'd call me.” Pros don't buy that lie. Deals are won in the follow-up—professional, relevant, value-driven persistence. That's where reliability is proven. The Game That Never Ends Sales doesn't have a perfect 300 game every time. Some days everything strikes clean. Some days you grind for spares. Some days the ball finds the gutter no matter how good your form feels. The separator is what you do next. Pros study the lane. They adjust their feet. They breathe. They get back on the approach and commit to the next shot with the same intensity as the first. So as you head into your day, think like a bowler playing the long game. Lace up your mindset. Respect your process. Choose your message with intention. Read your buyers the way pros read the lanes. Lean on your team. Track your scoreboard. And never cheat the follow-through. The pins are set. The lane is open. You've always got one more frame. Step up with purpose. Roll with confidence. And when in doubt, make one more call. Ready to take your sales game to the next frame? Build discipline, track your process, and crush your goals with the FREE Sales Gravy Goal Guide. Start mastering your results today.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm talking about why most Americans never reach financial independence and become wealthy.  So far this week, I've talked about the typical path that many Americans take that set them up for failure when it comes to reaching financial independence: Taking on student loan debt (average repayment = $500+ a month for 10+ years)  Buying a car (2nd highest expense for young people behind housing. Average monthly car payment for Gen Z today = $577). For many, it's not unusual to carry car payments of $1000 or more. Average credit card debt is $6700 at 23% interest - another few hundred a month in paying it off.    Then we come to the biggest expense - housing. The median monthly mortgage payment for U.S. homebuyers today is currently $2,259. That reflects today's higher interest rates and higher home prices. It's not surprising then that the average age of first-time homebuyer is 38. For many of you listening, you bought your first house when you were in your late 20s or early 30s. Today's first time homebuyers are now middle aged.

Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Booker T. Washington.

Anyone can wholesale real estate!Take it from Dustin Ring. He comes from humble beginnings, lives in a rural area, and works a 9-5 IT job. His first 3 deals fell through, but he was able to close 11 deals in a month-one of which is an $80,000 turnkey house that he's moving into!In this episode, Dustin will share how he got into wholesaling real estate and the marketing channels he utilizes to get most of his deals. He will also give a quick breakdown of his $15,000 mega deal, offering advice for people who are just starting out or are afraid of getting into this business. Join the TTP training program today.---------Show notes:(0:55) Beginning of today's episode(2:44) Why did it not work out the first time?(9:10) Finding leads on Facebook(10:38) How was he able to balance everything(12:40) Average deal size(15:20) Realtors are not going after the same deal because of fear(21:05) Breaking down a mega deal----------Resources:Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert KiyosakiREI RadioBatch Skip Tracing (Code: TTP)DealMachineDustin Buys Houses Fast Facebook PageEmail Address: dringbuys@gmail.com To speak with Brent or one of our other expert coaches call (281) 835-4201 or schedule your free discovery call here to learn about our mentorship programs and become part of the TribeGo to Wholesalingincgroup.com to become part of one of the fastest growing Facebook communities in the Wholesaling space. Get all of your burning Wholesaling questions answered, gain access to JV partnerships, and connect with other "success minded" Rhinos in the community.It's 100% free to join. The opportunities in this community are endless, what are you waiting for?

Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Booker T. Washington.

Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Booker T. Washington.

What Is The Average Allowance For Kids In 2025? full 522 Thu, 04 Dec 2025 15:04:43 +0000 5OfrPRvqIpW2XwJuQDmlUT2BtMI5w4y8 allowance,music,society & culture,news Kramer & Jess On Demand Podcast allowance,music,society & culture,news What Is The Average Allowance For Kids In 2025? Highlights from the Kramer & Jess Show. 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Music Society & Culture News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-l

Welcome to another episode of Freedom In Five Minutes! I'm Kevin, team member here at Pro Sulum, and today we're diving deep into a crisis that's absolutely crushing multi-unit franchise restaurant operators across the country.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm talking about why most Americans never reach financial independence and become wealthy.  Most of you listening to this podcast are boomers and gen Xers. College debt wasn't the crisis back then it was today. In fact, for many of you listening, unless you went to law school, medical school, or got some advanced degree, there's a good chance you graduated college with little to no debt.  Unless you've been living under a rock, that's obviously not the case today. Average student loan debt is now $39,075. Repayment usually takes 10-20 years at $500+ per month.

If you're trying to scale your business without burning cash flow, this episode breaks down how entrepreneurs are getting access to up to $250K in working capital at 0% interest — and what you need to qualify. Giovanni Kisesa lays out the fundamentals of business credit, why it beats using personal credit, and the exact metrics lenders care about.What's in it for you: a clearer path to securing large, low-interest capital so you can invest, hire, or expand — without putting your personal credit on the line. Make sure to check TTP training program for more REI tips.---------Show notes:(0:57) Beginning of today's episode(1:30) Working capital(5:15) Debt to income (8:00) Benefits of business credit vs personal credit(18:16) Who can qualify for this?(18:24) 700+ credit score(20:15) Average people to get approved(24:34) Collections vs late payments----------Resources:Swift Line CapitalFollow Gio on InstagramTo speak with Brent or one of our other expert coaches call (281) 835-4201 or schedule your free discovery call here to learn about our mentorship programs and become part of the TribeGo to Wholesalingincgroup.com to become part of one of the fastest growing Facebook communities in the Wholesaling space. Get all of your burning Wholesaling questions answered, gain access to JV partnerships, and connect with other "success minded" Rhinos in the community.It's 100% free to join. The opportunities in this community are endless, what are you waiting for?

HOUR 2: What is the average monthly allowance for kids these days? full 1722 Wed, 03 Dec 2025 21:00:00 +0000 eZxjXrwbOk8cL8JKz27zIgdcXLpxZyc5 news The Dana & Parks Podcast news HOUR 2: What is the average monthly allowance for kids these days? You wanted it... Now here it is! Listen to each hour of the Dana & Parks Show whenever and wherever you want! © 2025 Audacy, Inc. News False https://player.amperwavepo

For episode 647 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Tobias van Amstel, CEO of Altitude. Traditional lending is quietly being disrupted by decentralized finance (DeFi). It's not just about lower interest rates and faster approvals; it's about financial empowerment for people without access to traditional systems. DeFi lending platforms are becoming the "new banks" as outlined by real people who turned to Altitude Finance for loans to pay for their rooftops and plots of land. ⏳ Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction(0:58) Who is Tobias van Amstel?(3:16) What is Altitude?(4:32) How does Altitude automate DeFi?(6:30) Average expected farming APYs(8:06) Capital efficiency improvements(9:40) Use-cases(12:25) Why do users take DeFi loans?(13:28) Future of onchain lending(16:55) Agentic AI in DeFi(18:36) State of the Crypto market(22:45) Altitude roadmap for 2026(24:21) Events & conferences(25:29) Altitude website & socials

Mark Schlereth joined Nick and Jonathan on Afternoon Drive to preview the Browns' match up with the Titans. He talked about why Myles Garrett is not only the most impressive defensive player in the league, but the most impressive player in the league period. He shared his analysis of both Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders and what he thinks the rookies need to do in order to be successful starters in the NFL, as well as what he's seeing in his film study of both teams.

In this episode, Dr. Rena Malik, MD is joined by sex coach Caitlin V Neal to explore practical strategies for improving sexual satisfaction, particularly for men with average or smaller penises. The conversation covers topics such as sexual positions, AB testing adjustments, masturbation techniques, and the importance of synchrony and self-care. Listeners will discover actionable tips for enhancing pleasure, lasting longer, and deepening connection in intimate relationships. Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content: ⁠renamalik.supercast.com⁠ Schedule an appointment with me: https://www.renamalikmd.com/appointments ▶️Chapters: 00:00 - Stimulating Deeply with Average Size 00:07 - Sex Positions: Core vs. Acrobatic 01:15 - Micro-Adjustments and AB Testing 02:00 - Adjusting Lubrication for Sensation 02:38 - Leg Position and Orgasm 03:13 - Unique Anatomical Fits 05:04 - Porn vs. Reality in Positioning 06:12 - Importance of Synchrony and Warm-Ups 07:01 - Premature Ejaculation: Causes and Tools 12:45 - Masturbation as a Tool for Better Sex 18:05 - Reframing Masturbation and Self-Care  Get 15% off Branch Basics with the code RENA at https://branchbasics.com/Rena #branchbasicspod Stay connected with Caitlin V Neal on social media for daily insights and updates. Don't miss out—follow her now and check out these links! INSTAGRAM -⁠https://www.instagram.com/caitlinvictoriousx/?hl=en⁠ FACEBOOK - ⁠https://www.facebook.com/caitlinvspot/?locale=de_DE⁠ TIKTOK - ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@caitlinvictoriousx_?lang=en⁠ X - ⁠https://x.com/caitlinvneal⁠ Caitlin's YouTube Channel if you want more free advice - ⁠http://youtube.com/caitlinv⁠ Caitlin's homepage where you can check out the programs she mention on the podcast - ⁠http://caitlinvneal.com⁠ Pre-Order Bonuses for Caitlin's upcoming book Harder Better Longer Stronger - ⁠https://harderbook.com⁠ Let's Connect!: WEBSITE: ⁠http://www.renamalikmd.com⁠ YOUTUBE: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RenaMalikMD⁠ INSTAGRAM: ⁠http://www.instagram.com/RenaMalikMD⁠ TWITTER: ⁠http://twitter.com/RenaMalikMD⁠ FACEBOOK: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RenaMalikMD/⁠ LINKEDIN: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/renadmalik⁠ PINTEREST: ⁠https://www.pinterest.com/renamalikmd/⁠ TIKTOK: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/RenaMalikMD⁠ ------------------------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER: This podcast is purely educational and does not constitute medical advice. The content of this podcast is my personal opinion, and not that of my employer(s). Use of this information is at your own risk. Rena Malik, M.D. will not assume any liability for any direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 - How is the average ownership of a new car in the 50s? President of Power the Future, Daniel Turner joins us today as he explains what he thinks of the fuel efficiency standards hurting the consumer? How is it a miracle that having a President who believes in the free market can lower gas prices? 120 - Should we even care about Catherine Zeta-Jones? Your calls. 130 - We welcome Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West to the show today to get his reaction to the continued bombing of unlawful combatants off the coasts of South America. What makes these drug dealers “unlawful combatants”? Could Lane Kiffin teach our politicians a thing or two on carpetbagging? Would a moderate liberal have won the special election in Tennessee? 140 - Your calls. 150 - Who are the real targets in the War on Drugs?

Cailin Marcel Manson is a conductor, baritone opera singer, and longtime vocal studies teacher who's performed on some of the world's biggest stages — from the Conservatoire de Luxembourg to Carnegie Hall. In this episode, we talk with Cailin about what it means to command a space long dominated by white men — armed with Black skin, a bit of Philly swagger, and a corset.Homegoings is a production of Vermont Public. Follow the show here.This episode was hosted and reported by executive producer, Myra Flynn and mixed by Sarah Baik. Our video director is Mike Dunn and Aaron Edwards is our story editor. Myra composed the theme music with other music by Blue Dot Sessions. Kyle Ambusk is the graphic artist behind this episode'sHomegoings portrait.Thank you for listening. You can see this episode on our YouTube channel.To continue to be part of the Homegoings family: Subscribe to our YouTube channel Sign up for the Homegoings newsletter Write to us at: hey@homegoings.co Follow us on Instagram @wearehomegoings Make a gift to continue elevating BIPOC storytelling Tell your friends, your family or a stranger about the show! And of course, subscribe!

In this episode, we showcase student research at the 2025 ADSA Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Abstracts can be found here: ADSA 2025 Annual MeetingAbstract 2186: Effects of feeding alternative forage silages on early lactation performance and gas production in multiparous Holstein cows. (00:15)Guests: Barbara Dittrich and Dr. Heather White, University of Wisconsin-MadisonCo-Host: Dr. Clay Zimmerman, BalchemBarbara substituted rye silage, triticale silage, rye-camelina-hairy vetch silage, and triticale-camalina-hairy vetch silage to replace 10% of the alfalfa silage in the control diet for her experimental diets. Dry matter intake and gas production were similar across diets. Average milk yield was higher in the rye mix silage group compared to the triticale mix silage group, but no treatment was different than the control.  Abstract 1602: Optimizing starch concentrations in low-forage diets. (11:22)Guests: Irie Moussiaux and Dr. Kirby Krogstad, Ohio State UniversityCo-host: Dr. Jeff Elliott, BalchemIrie investigated different levels of starch in a low-forage diet (12.5% NDF) by replacing soybean hulls with corn to yield 20%, 25%, or 30% starch. Dry matter intake and milk production were the same for all three starch concentrations; however, the low starch diet had the highest milk fat yield and energy-corrected milk yield. Abstract 2183: Effects of partial replacement of corn and oat silages with extracted stevia plant on production, behavior, and digestibility in dairy cows. (17:05)Guests: Mariana Marino and Dr. Jose Santos, University of FloridaCo-host: Dr. Clay Zimmerman, BalchemMariana fed stevia plant byproduct as a replacement for corn and oat silage in lactating cow diets. All diets had 40% grain and 60% forage. Stevia byproduct was included at 0, 25%, or 40% of diet dry matter. The byproduct is of very fine particle size and is relatively high in lignin. This resulted in higher dry matter intake, but lower milk production for the highest stevia diet. Abstract 2472: Evaluating feed sorting behavior and TMR composition in roughage intake control feeding systems. (26:38)Guests: Sophia Green and Dr. Heather White, University of Wisconsin-MadisonCo-host: Dr. Ryan Pralle, BalchemSophia evaluated feed sorting in a research intake control feeding system (RIC bins). Feed sorting primarily occurred in the last 12 hours of the feed day, and particle size was smaller at the end of the day than earlier. Compared to fresh feed at hour zero, the chemical composition of the diet did not change throughout the feed day. RIC bins did not introduce additional variance in nutrient consumption. Abstract 1603: Assessing an ex vivo assay with gastrointestinal tissue sections to investigate mucosal immune responses in dairy calves. (35:24)Guests: Paiton McDonald and Dr. Barry Bradford, Michigan State UniversityPaiton challenged explants from the ileum and mid-jejunum in the lab with rotavirus or E. coli compared to a control. Pathogen stimulation increased mRNA abundance of TNF and IL6 above control. Ileal sections secreted more cytokines than jejunal sections. Abstract 1466: The short-term effect of increasing doses of palmitic and stearic acid on plasma fatty acid concentration and mammary arteriovenous difference in Holstein cows. (40:17)Guests: Alanna Staffin and Dr. Kevin Harvatine, Penn State UniversityCo-host: Dr. Jeff Elliott, BalchemAlanna fed mid-lactation cows 0, 150, 300, 500, or 750 grams of palmitic acid, stearic acid, or no supplement control. Palmitic acid increased milk fat yield at lower doses compared to stearic acid. Alanna found that the mammary gland increases its arteriovenous (AV) difference and uptake of palmitic acid when higher concentrations are provided, but AV difference and uptake of stearic acid did not change. Abstract 2006: Does hay improve performance in pair-housed dairy calves? (50:00)Guests: Gillian Plaugher and Dr. Melissa Cantor, Penn State UniversityGillian fed pelleted hay to pair-housed dairy calves along with milk replacer and calf starter. Control calves received milk replacer and calf starter only. Hay-fed pairs grew faster than controls after day 21 and were heavier at day 70. Hay feeding did not impact calf starter DMI or feed efficiency. Abstract 1463: Dietary metabolizable protein and palmitic and oleic acids affect milk production in early lactation dairy cows. (1:02:03)Guests: Jair Parales-Giron and Dr. Adam Lock, Michigan State UniversityCo-host: Dr. Clay ZimmermanJair fed two different levels of metabolizable protein and 3 different levels of supplemental fatty acids from 1 to 22 days in milk followed by a common diet to evaluate carryover effects to day 50. Metabolizable protein and fatty acid supplementation had additive effects on milk production. Cows fed the highest dose of both metabolizable protein and fatty acids produced 8.9 kg more energy-corrected milk per day compared to the low metabolizable protein diet without fatty acid supplementation.

In this episode of “From Busy to Rich,” host Wes Young interviews financial advisor and coach Sten Morgan about his journey in the financial industry. Sten shares lessons learned, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness, mentorship, and designing a unique career path. They discuss overcoming resistance, the value of feedback, and building on natural strengths. Wes explains his coaching methods for new advisors, including self-review and recorded practice. In today's episode we will cover: Sten's journey into the financial advisory business and his initial challenges. The importance of self-awareness in personal and professional growth. Strategies for navigating the financial advisory industry to achieve success more quickly. The role of mentorship and the concept of a “Sherpa” in guiding new advisors. Understanding and leveraging one's natural talents and tendencies. Resources: Submit your podcast question here! Transform your practice! Attend a Live How to Charge event! Other Listening Platforms: Listen on Apple Podcasts Stream on Spotify Watch on YouTube Connect with Us: Instagram X Facebook LinkedIn Youtube Wes Young Live Website

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In this episode of Bourbon Lens, Jake and Scott sit down with Field of Dreams Whiskey Co-founders Andy Keller and Drew Storen, former Major League Baseball pitcher, to talk about how their shared passion for the game and great whiskey turned into one of the most unique whiskey projects in America. The conversation dives into the origin story of Field of Dreams Whiskey, Drew's journey through the Major Leagues, and what life looks like after baseball. Andy and Drew share how the spirit of teamwork, community, and nostalgia behind Field of Dreams continues to inspire their approach to whiskey making. Listeners will also get an inside look at Field of Dreams Small Batch Bourbon and their newest release, Field of Dreams 2025 All-Star Whiskey — a truly historic blend. This one-of-a-kind whiskey brings together: 30 distilleries in one bottle, the largest blend in whiskey history Field of Dreams Bourbon plus a whiskey component from every major league market Expert blending by Murphy Quint of Cedar Ridge Distillery A mix of bourbon, rye, single malt, wheat, and Canadian whiskeys Average age of 7 years, with barrels aged 1–25 years 108 Proof (54.0% ABV) and limited to 10,000 bottles nationwide Whether you're a baseball fan, whiskey lover, or both, this episode tells an inspiring story about passion, creativity, and collaboration.

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. What will a 5-index golfer score on a "standard" hole? In this episode, Lou asks Mark and Greg the scoring average for a good golfer on a 150 yard par 3, a 375 yard par 4, and a 500 yard par 5. Social media golfers might consider these "gettable." Are they? Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. We will discuss what you can learn, and most importantly, how you can apply this on the golf course to lower your scores and lower your handicap. Listen on your drive to the golf course or over your Saturday morning coffee! Data is sourced from Arccos Golf. They have over 1 BILLION shots in their database.  Check them out at: https://www.arccosgolf.com/  Use code MARK15 for 15% off! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Affordability Narrative Democrats were previously dismissing inflation and now emphasizing affordability. Democrats are trying to portray the economy as a disaster and blame Trump. Gas Prices & Energy Positive news: Thanksgiving gas prices at their lowest since the pandemic. National average forecast: $3.02 per gallon. Nearly 30 states have prices under $3; Oklahoma leads at $2.50. Liberal states like California have much higher prices ($4.63), attributed to regulation and taxation. Trend framed as a result of Trump’s energy policies. Holiday Spending U.S. holiday spending expected to top $1 trillion for the first time. Mixed consumer sentiment: Surveys show some tightening (Gen Z plans to spend 23% less). National Retail Federation predicts sales growth of 2.9–3.4%. Concerns about tariffs and shipping delays; advice to shop early. Thanksgiving Meal Costs Down 5% from last year, lowest in four years. Average cost for 10 people: $55.18. Sharp decline in turkey prices (down 16%). Contrast with Biden-era inflation: Prices surged 14% in 2021 and 20% in 2022. Overall increase of ~24% during Biden’s term. Please Hit Subscribe to this podcast Right Now. Also Please Subscribe to the The Ben Ferguson Show Podcast and Verdict with Ted Cruz Wherever You get You're Podcasts. And don't forget to follow the show on Social Media so you never miss a moment! Thanks for Listening X: https://x.com/benfergusonshowYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob "Average Boy" Smiley (AKA the masher of Mom’s merriment) shares an unforgettable story about a Thanksgiving meal prepared by his dad, his brother and him. From exploding blenders and deep-fried turkeys, the lessons are almost as numerous as the side dishes. Tune in for the laughs (including some appeeling potato jokes) and an important discussion about how all of us are called to be super average missionaries, sharing the Good News of Jesus right where we are! Click here to see the new Average Boy book title and cover! Click here to visit the Average Boy Store to gain access to books, devotionals, subscriptions to Clubhouse Magazine, and much more! We'd love to hear from you! Visit our Homepage to leave us a voicemail. If you enjoyed listening to The Official Average Boy Podcast, please give us your feedback.