Podcasts about Berkeley College

Jonathan Stark is based in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended the Berkeley College or Music, with a dual major in song writing. He ended up going back to computers to make ends meet while he was gigging - and he figured out he really enjoyed watching people use the software he built. Outside of tech and professional life, he's married with 2 kids and 2 dogs. He is an avid martial artist, as are his kids, and got his 2nd degree black belt at age 53.At his prior company, Jonathan was leading teams to build software. He wanted to hire senior engineers, but was told junior engineers would better fit the budget. He couldn't figure out why, but then it dawned on him - hourly billing a junior created more margin. He wanted to pivot away from hourly billing as a company and went solo to figure out how to do this. Once he did, he never looked back.This is the creation story of Jonathan Stark and Ditching Hourly.SponsorsSpeakeasyQA WolfSnapTradeLinkshttps://jonathanstark.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanstark/Our Sponsors:* Check out Vanta and use my code CODESTORY for a great deal: https://www.vanta.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Busie's father's sudden death 2 months before her graduation walk, changed her walk. She was to work for Citigroup and move back to Uganda. But she stayed and became a workaholic to deal with that trauma and thrust herself into entrepreneurship while working a 9-5pm job. As a result, she founded one of the first fashion tech companies which was then twice acquired.Another significant pivot was the birth of her 2nd child, who had severe food allergies. She was forced to move to remote working in 2012 as she was her daughter's primary caregiver. Busie left regular employment to become a stay at home mom then eventually a work from home mom. This moved her into consultancy as well as policy driven assignments such as board position, as she realized mom's careers suffer most and they are usually driven to make decisions which impact our families and the broader community. Busie realized, that we need more women at the policy tables. She has been fortunate to have doors open for others and believes also in amplifying others. She believes, if we light more candles we illuminate more light and there's an African Proverb which says "If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far, go together. Let's continue to build and amplify!!She reflects on what she has learned, we need to be anchored by a strong ecosystem, and that it's imperative that we intentionally and deliberately harness positive relationships. That's why some people bounce back more easily from adversity than others. Who you surround yourself matters. It's like a charging bank, a reserved you may tap into because of one's investment.A serial entrepreneur widely recognised for her impact leadership, Busie Matsiko-Andan is an award-winning global strategist and Board Trustee who has held positions on Wall Street at Smith Barney, Oppenheimer & Co and Citibank. She currently advises multilaterals like the African Union, Afreximbank, the Africa Renaissance and Diaspora Network, Lalela Project, and the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa on private-sector scaling and development. As a global strategist and CEO of Pont Global, Busie has been instrumental in successfully scaling and growing companies and organizations. She is also the Executive Director of The Africa Future Summit which brings together investors and leaders in technology,entrepreneurship, and politics to address the challenges that affect Africa's future. She is also the first black woman trustee of Berkeley College, in the US. Busie was the founder of one of the first fashion technology companies, Fashion Indie, and also created RESET, a platform to discuss business strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her initiatives have been featured in international and local publications. Busie is also a sought-after keynote speaker and moderator. Busie is the founder and president of the New York African Chamber of Commerce.To learn more about my guest, please visit her social media pages and websites:Instagram: @busiematsikoandanLinkedIn: Busie Matsiko-AndanWebsite: New York African Chamber of CommerceTo learn more about SHIFT HAPPENS, click here To learn more about Claudia's business Curated Conversations and her Salons in New York, Zurich and Berlin, click hereYou can also connect with Claudia on Instagram @shifthappens.podcast and LinkedIn at ClaudiaMahlerNYCThis podcast is created, produced and hosted by Claudia Mahler.Social Media support Magdalena Reckendrees 

Brandon Pak is a singer, songwriter, Deseret book recording artist, and a graduate of Boston's Berkeley College of Music. He's had the opportunity to perform with and for artists such as Andy Grammer, Charlie Puth, Justin Timberlake, Pentatonix, the Truman Brothers, the Bonner family, and featured in movies and soundtracks like Daddy's Home 2. He lives in Roosevelt, Utah with his beautiful wife, Katie, and his 17 month old baby girl. Whether it's writing first dance songs for weddings or writing worship music, he loves helping people connect through music and connect with Christ.IG @brandonpakmusic instagram.com/brandonpakmusicYT  Brandon Pak - Topic youtube.com/channel/UC8pOJefZ_ypkwGc87e4sRhw

Our guest today is Ian Stewart - a mastering engineer, author, and audio educator from the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. He has worked with artists, including KRS-One and Mr. Lif, and he codeveloped the Baselane Pro plugin, released by Tone Projects, in 2022. He is currently an assistant professor at Berkeley College of Music and operates out of his home studio, Flotown Mastering which he founded in 2011. We talk with Ian about teaching mastering at Berkeley, getting out of the studio to balance our mental health, and what life has been like since Baselane Pro was released. This episode's music is brought to you by Broken Robots from Chicago, IL. For more information on Broken Robots, point your web electrons to: https://www.brokenrobotsmusic.com For more information about Ian: Check out https://www.flotownmastering.com And you can find him on Instagram: @Ianstewartmusic --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/speaksvolumes/support

El músico y guitarrista ferrolano Carlos Campoy selecciónado como finalista representado a España en el Tour Music Fest 2024. Carlos estará en la fase final de este concurso que se celebrara a finales de noviembre en San Marino. El músico ferrolano representara a España para darlo todo en la final. El Tour Music Fest es un certamen internacional considerado el más importante para músicos emergentes, fue creado para descubrir y promover nuevos talentos de la música en Europa en colaboración con Berkeley College of Music, en el que participan todos los países de la Unión Europea.

How do successful real estate agents manage to build lasting relationships in a fast-paced, transactional industry? In this engaging episode of the Real Estate Excellence Podcast, Tracy Hayes welcomes Amber Strong. Amber is a dedicated real estate professional with over a decade of experience in the real estate industry. Her journey began in 2011 while attending Berkeley College in Manhattan, where she obtained her real estate license and worked for Nancy Packes, Real Estate Marketing. During her time in New York City, Amber specialized in leasing luxury condos throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, honing her skills in one of the most competitive real estate markets in the world. Amber talks about the dynamics of relationship-based transactions in real estate, the significance of maintaining long-term client relationships, and effective strategies for managing difficult clients. Amber shares her journey from working in the hospitality industry to becoming a leading real estate agent, highlighting the importance of open communication, active listening, and personalized attention. She explains how she was able to transition from a salaried position to commission-based work, the challenges of competing with new construction homes, and the benefits of aligning with a supportive brokerage. Tune in as Amber shares her practical advice when you provide on maintaining professionalism, continual learning, and leveraging technology for client interactions!   Highlights 00:00 - 02:13 Amber Strong: Real Estate and Yoga She Is Obsessed ·        We welcome Amber Strong. ·        Amber's ability to save clients time and money through: o   Open communication, o   Active listening, and o   Personalized attention. ·        Remi Graphics Advertisement. 02:14 - 08:57 Challenges in Real Estate Transactions ·        Amber reflects on her career journey and working in the hospitality. ·        Her experiences in hospitality provided her valuable customer service skills, which later proved beneficial in a decade-long real estate career. ·        The importance of listening and staying calm when handling difficult clients. 08:58 - 21:21 Finding the Right Brokerage ·        The challenges and strategies in handling difficult clients and transactions in real estate, particularly through phone communication. ·        The importance of listening calmly and responding with facts ·        The influence of an agent's experience on negotiations ·        Maintaining a positive and professional demeanor. ·        The sales processes in leasing high-end properties versus selling individual homes, emphasizing client education on amenities and community aspects. ·        Dealing with market competition from builders and the value of mentorship for new real estate agents. 21:22 - 36:34 Realizing Real Estate as a Lifelong Career ·        Amber emphasizes the importance of researching brokerages and finding a supportive team. ·        Her journey from housekeeping to real estate, starting as a listing coordinator and moving up by learning from top agents and networking strategically. ·        The value of aligning with growth-oriented individuals ·        Transitioning from transactional to relationship-based client interactions and continuously learning. ·        Gaining confidence about the necessity of human interaction in transactions. ·        The significance of maintaining client relationships. 36:35 - 46:53 The Value of Continuous Learning and Training ·        Amber talks about when she decided to commit fully to the industry. ·        The importance of building relationships and leveraging networks for long-term success. ·        Transformative strategy involving asking contacts for referrals, which significantly impacted their mortgage business. ·        The evolving requirements and best practices for real estate agents, including ongoing education and readiness for regulatory changes. ·        She shares their experience transitioning from a large brokerage to a smaller, more communicative one, and the value of strong core teams in real estate. 46:54 - 01:05:01 Maintaining Consistency and Making Connections ·        The importance of continuous education and adaptability in the real estate profession. ·        She talks about time-blocking strategies for training and client interactions: o   The value of attending training sessions with other agents, o   The significance of building relationships, and o   Credibility in the industry. ·        Handling stress through laughter and consistent routines, such as yoga and making extensive daily phone calls. ·        The role of video communication in building trust with out-of-town clients. ·        The importance of staying knowledgeable about market trends, specifically interest rates, and always providing value to clients. 01:05:01 - 01:12:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts ·        The anticipated post-election impact on real estate, including a specific focus on interest rates and infrastructure developments in Northeast Florida: o   Local knowledge for agents, o   The value of maintaining connections and networking, and o   Balancing new online leads with referrals. ·        Effective marketing strategies such as using local coupons (Lolo) to engage past clients. ·        Leveraging support structures within a real estate team to handle high transaction volumes. ·        Reaching higher productivity levels and the significance of having an assistant or transaction coordinator to manage workload and maintain work-life balance.   Quotes: “We network and we mastermind with agents throughout able to find and connect, and I can feel confident to know that I'm aligning you with the right agent.” – Amber Strong “Staying in front of them, just checking in. I mean it could be as small as a text just to stay top of mind. That's when I started realizing that this is something I'm going to do for life.” – Amber Strong “I want to be at the bottom, so I can see my way up to the top and learn and then you can kind of evaluate, who are those people that I want to align myself with. So, you kind of get different perspective.” – Amber Strong   To contact Amber Strong, learn more about her business, and make her a part of your network, make sure to follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Email.   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingamberyogi/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amber.lloyd.52 Email: amber@floridacoastalteam.com   If you want to build your business and become more discoverable online, Streamlined Media has you covered. Check out how they can help you build an evergreen revenue generator all powered by content creation!   SUBSCRIBE & LEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW as we discuss real estate excellence with the best of the best.

We discussed a few things including:1. Their career journeys  2. Gen AI and education3. Nihat's iLearn schools4. Jason's teaching and AI journey5. Trends, challenges and opportunities re tech and educationNihat Guvercin is an educational administrator passionate about enhancing public education through technology. He holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, a Master of Education in Administration, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics, providing him with a solid educational foundation and diverse experience.  He has been recognized for his accomplishments, notably as the Administrator of the Year by the NJ Charter Schools Association in 2010. Guvercin is well-versed in current educational trends and best practices, having spoken at numerous Ed-Tech and leadership conferences.Since 2008, Guvercin has been the CEO of iLearn Schools Inc., where he has showcased his visionary leadership. He is dedicated to creating student success opportunities, firmly believing in education's transformative power. His commitment to excellence is evident in all his endeavors.At iLearn Schools, Guvercin's leadership and vision drive the commitment to innovative education that equips students for success in the digital age.----Jason Gulya is an English professor and Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Council at Berkeley College in New York. He is also an AI consultant and Keynote speaker. A prolific content creator and social media influencer, Jason is vocal about the use of AI in education.  He has earned a significant following through his practical and balanced advice. Jason has worked with thousands of educators, students and administrators to leverage AI. He has been featured in Insider and Forbes for his approach to education and AI.He holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Rutgers University.  #podcast #afewthingspodcast 

In this episode of The Digital Executive Podcast, host Brian Thomas sits down with Marcus "Bellringer" Bell, a visionary in the music industry whose career spans decades of innovation and creativity. Marcus shares his journey from his early days at the Berkeley College of Music to becoming a renowned music producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. As the CEO of Bellringer Productions, Marcus discusses his groundbreaking work in music sync licensing and his passion for nurturing over 300 recording artists.He delves into the transformative impact of AI on the music industry, highlighted by his creation of Ravyn Lyte, a photorealistic AI music artist designed to uplift humanity. Marcus also reflects on memorable collaborations with industry giants like Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, and Timbaland, and his experiences in global music cultures. Tune in to explore the future of music and how AI is shaping the next era of creativity.

Welcome to another incredible episode of the Ed Parcaut Podcast!

I count it a blessing to have my sister Kim Douglas on the show. Kim has a Non-Profit Organization "Beautiful I Am" Her organization is gear to help young girls and young teenagers in life. Her organization teaches financial skill, social skill and the worth the have inside of them. Kim is also a vocalist, she has graduated from Berkeley College with a degree in music. But most of all she loves people. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/daniel-a-nelson/support

Teenagers all share the same stress and anxiety but teen performing artists (musicians, dancers, singers, etc) have an extra layer on top. They often connect their self worth to their craft and when they encounter a poor audition or recital, the negative self talk becomes deafening. It's hard to navigate consdiering they put themselves in a vulnerable place; on display for the world to see! Today, I brought on dancer, educator, and mental health professional Erin Pompa. Erin shares her personal journey from a dance educator to a passionate advocate for mental health. Our wide ranging conversation spans many topics such as cultivating acceptance and gratitude while providing valuable insights for educators and students alike! As a New Jersey native, Erin has dedicated over 20 years to the field of education, earning a master's degree in dance education from NYU. She served as the dance director at Rosa l Park School of Fine and Performing Arts for 14 years and was an adjunct professor at Berkeley College, where she taught "The Art Of Ceativity". Erin's experience in the arts, education, performance, and curriculum design uniquely positions her to deliver impactful and inspirational presentations to youth. Her focus areas include mental health awareness, substance abuse prevention, and leadership development. Beyond her work in schools, Erin is a sought after speaker at youth conferences, colleges, and dance studios. As mentioned, head over to https://www.erinpompa.com/ and download Erin's workshop "Becoming A Gratitude Ninja"!   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Don't forget to subscribe to the show! If you'd be so kind as to leave a rating and review, that would help tremendously!   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Book Kevin to speak at your school or event!   Learn more about Kevin's speaking programs here!   Follow Kevin on social! Facebook Instagram Linked In Tiktok Twitter    

In this engaging episode of "Champion This Podcast," hosts Brianna Salvatore Dueck and Chelsea Poppens welcome Isaiah Weatherspoon, a professional drummer and music producer. Isaiah shares his inspiring journey into music, highlighting his early exposure to gospel music and his passion for the drums. He discusses his experience at the Berkeley College of Music, where he discovered the diverse opportunities available to musicians beyond performance. Isaiah delves into his transition into music production and shares valuable insights into being a professional musician, including memorable performances with iconic artists like Sister Sledge and Justin Timberlake. Through his children's music coloring books, Isaiah aims to empower youth and promote music education in the community, emphasizing the importance of pursuing one's passion. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Isaiah Weatherspoon is a professional drummer, music producer, and graduate of the prestigious Berkeley College of Music. With a passion for music stemming from his early childhood in a musical household, Isaiah has cultivated his talent in drumming and music production. He is also an author of two children's music coloring books – Music is Cool and Music is Cool, Too. As a content creator and a recent nominee as a voting member of the Recording Academy, Isaiah is dedicated to using his platform to create positive change in the world through music. YouTube Apple Podcast Spotify FOLLOW CHAMPION THIS:  Instagram Facebook TikTok ISAIAH'S SOCIALS:  Amazon Link to Coloring Books Cymbals Instagram YouTube Website Canvas Rebel Website  

Send us a Text Message.Few artists have achieved the kind of acclaim and achievement garnered by Lucinda Williams over the course of her career. Having composed the oft-covered song “Passionate Kisses,” often described as “an Americana classic,” she went on to release any number of landmark albums, among them, Sweet Old World and Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, all of which have made her one of the most celebrated performers of her time. She's garnered three Grammys over the course of her career as well as 17 nominations, ranked high in practically every critic's poll there ever was, received two Americana Awards, achieved exceptional status on rankings by both VH1 and Rolling Stone, received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berkeley College of Music and named America's Best Songwriter by Time magazine. Lee and Billy had the opportunity to talk with a woman who can clearly be considered a leading light in the world of Americana music. And what a wonderful conversation it was. Listen in as Lucinda provides listeners with insights into her amazing career. Learn more about Lucinda Williams at https://www.lucindawilliams.comHost Lee Zimmerman is a freelance music writer whose articles have appeared in several leading music industry publications. Lee is a former promotions representative for ABC and Capital Records and director of communications for various CBS affiliated television stations. Lee recently authored the book "Thirty Years Behind The Glass" about legendary producer and engineer Jim Gains.Podcast producer/cohost Billy Hubbard is an Americana Singer/Songwriter and former Regional Director of A&R for a Grammy winning company. Billy is a signed artist with Spectra Music Group  and co-founder of the iconic venue "The Station" in East TN. Billy's new album was released on Spectra Records 10/2023 on all major outlets! Learn more about Billy at http://www.BillyHubbard.comSupport the Show.If you'd like to support My Backstage Pass you can make a donation to Billy & Lee's coffee fund at this link https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MyBackstagePassMy Backstage Pass is sponsored by The Alternate Root Magazine! Please subscribe to their newsletter, read the latest music reviews and check out their weekly Top Ten songs at this link http://www.thealternateroot.com

In this episode of The Life Wisdom Project, join host Scott Langdon and Dr. Jerry L. Martin alongside special guest Dr. Jonathan Weidenbaum as they explore the vivid drama and insights from God Takes Me Back To The Beginning Of Everything. From exploring the divine creation and personal revelation to unraveling the meaning of existence and the essence of personhood, this episode takes listeners on a thought-provoking journey through the depths of spirituality and philosophy.Discover the beauty of aesthetic flow in creation, the evolution of relationships, and the embrace of the unfinished cosmos. Dr. Weidenbaum and Dr. Martin go beyond traditional philosophy to discuss the drama of the divine and existence, offering fresh perspectives and intriguing insights.Tune in for a captivating exploration of life's mysteries and stay connected with God: An Autobiography, The Podcast for more profound conversations.Meet Dr. Jonathan Weidenbaum, who teaches courses in philosophy, world religions, ethics, and bioethics at Berkeley College in NYC and St John's University in Queens. He writes and publishes in the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of humor, among other topics.Relevant Episodes:[Dramatic Adaptation] God Takes Me Back to the Beginning of EverythingOther Series:Life Wisdom Project- How to live a wiser, happier, and more meaningful life with special guests.From God To Jerry To You- A series calling for the attention of spiritual seekers everywhere, featuring breakthroughs, pathways, and illuminations.Two Philosophers Wrestle With God- Sit in on a dialogue between philosophers about God and the questions we all have.What's On Our Mind- Connect the dots with Jerry and Scott over the most recent series of episodes.What's On Your Mind- What are readers and listeners saying? What is God saying?Resources:READ: "I Breathe Life Into Matter."THE LIFE WISDOM PROJECT PLAYLISTHashtags: #lifewisdomproject #godanautobiography #experiencegodShare your story or experience with God! We'd love to hear from you!

Join us on a captivating journey as we delve into the life and career of Abegasu Kibrework Shiota, a musical maestro whose roots span across continents. Born to a Japanese mother and Ethiopian father, Abegasu's upbringing intertwined the rich cultural tapestries of both nations. From his early days in Japan to his formative years in Ethiopia, and later his pursuit of musical excellence at the prestigious Berkeley College of Music in Boston, Abegasu's story is one of cultural fusion and artistic brilliance. In this episode, we explore how Abegasu's diverse background shaped his musical identity and influenced his approach as one of Ethiopian pop music's most sought-after producers. Through insightful interviews and captivating anecdotes, we uncover the inspirations behind his groundbreaking work and the challenges he faced in navigating the intersections of different cultural landscapes. From blending traditional Ethiopian melodies with contemporary beats to fostering cross-cultural collaborations, Abegasu's contributions to the music industry transcend boundaries and celebrate the beauty of diversity. Tune in as we celebrate the life and legacy of a visionary artist whose passion for music knows no borders.

In this episode Toby sits down with Matt Henderson aka Wildcard of H2O/Eulogy/Madball/Agnostic Front! That chat about growing up in Minnesota, Blind Approach, NYHC, joining AF & Madball, changing sound of 90's hardcore, Berkeley College, song writing, family, raising 3 sons and playing in H2O. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe and visit us at https://www.youtube.com/tobymorseonelifeonechance Please visit our sponsors! Athletic Greens https://athleticgreens.com/oloc Removery https://removery.com code TOBYH2O Liquid Death https://liquiddeath.com/toby

In this episode, I speak with the Jason Gulya who is one of my top voices of AI and education. Note that this was a conversation we had back in November 2023, but due to a computer crash and loss of files it has taken me time to restore and fix all files. I was able to save this file thank goodness.Here is his bio so you can learn more about himI am currently Professor of English at Berkeley College. I have been working in higher education for about 10 years and--before coming to Berkeley--have held positions at Rutgers University, Raritan Valley Community College, and Brookdale Community College.As a professor I teach onsite and online courses on a variety of topics--including composition, literature, film, and the humanities more broadly. I am also a proud member of the Honors Program faculty at Berkeley. In 2020, I received my college's award for Excellence in Teaching.My research focuses primarily on literature, pedagogy, and grammar. I have published in a wide variety of journals, including (but not limited to) "Literary Imagination," "Pedagogy," "Dialogue," and "eCampus News." I have also written chapters for the books "Allegory Studies: Contemporary Perspectives" (forthcoming from Routledge), "Adapting the 18th Century" (University of Rochester Press, 2020) and "Reflections on Academic Lives" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). My research has been supported by fellowships and grants from Berkeley College, Rutgers University, Harvard University, and Cornell University. WHERE CAN I LISTEN?No matter how you listen to your podcasts I should be there.Check the link here to follow and subscribeAnd I recently started posting on my YouTube channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@coffeechugDirect Link: https://coffeechug.simplecast.com/episodes/190 Challenges & GoalsJason's main challenge is adapting traditional teaching methods to incorporate emerging technologies like AI. His goal is fostering an environment conducive for experimentation and innovative learning practices.How do we face the challenge of reducing low-level managerial tasks without compromising foundational knowledge? Perhaps a goal is to use AI to automate certain tasks, freeing up time for more enriching activities.Surprising TakeawaysJason advocates for educators being open about trying new things, even if they are not fully formed ideas yet.Emphasizing the importance of restorative breaks where individuals engage in mindless yet mentally refreshing activities.Jason would never automate his social presence because he learns from talking and writing.Giving students the ability to choose, not just whether they're using AI, but how they're using it and how it's actually being worked into their process.Emerging PatternsBoth of us are grapple with shifting from traditional learning methods towards technology-enhanced ones.There's a common theme among educators that while automation can be beneficial, it should not replace all human elements in education or daily routines.Key MomentsQuotes from Jason:I think one of the productive things that can come out of this level of disruption is a culture of experimentation.We ask our students to experiment all the time. Like that's that, especially in the K to 12 certainly. And higher ed too that we want our students, you know, we give them something new. We do this all the time. I don't even think about it. We say here's something new to read, something new to watch, something new to process and engage with it. Just experiment, test it out whether it's in, you know, traditional assessment or nontraditional assessment. And so in many ways, we need to just practice that. We need to do that, right? We have this new stuff. So experiment play with it, iterate, see what works And then you kind of go from there. And I think that we all have this desire um from the instructor side for perfection. We want, we think that and I think this is an error. We think that the best way to serve our students is to give them a fully realized polished product, right? Which is the course. But I think the exact opposite is true. I think something changes when you tell students that I'm trying something new, I'm gonna try a different form of assessment and I want your feedback about how it worked. I think that fundamentally changes the feel of the virtual room or actual physical room. So I think that the culture of experimentation is something we need to really, really conserve and prize because that's, that's what we want our students to do. You want them to experiment and play?....sometimes the key to making an assignment A I proof is to create a better assignment.So normally with the essay form, I would spend the first hour looking, not even reading anything, not even like doing like what we all do and what, what we like, you know, giving feedback and engaging with ideas. But going through the Turnitin reports, scanning them, finding information. I would lose an hour to two hours. And then sending emails to students that it came up a 70% on Turnitin. So I'm not doing that anymore. I no longer have that task. So the, the amount of time that I put to create the assignment I save later on at least a little bit.It's not that you're you're saving time but repurposing time and how much better time spent for you and for the students to be engaged in reading their thinking and having conversations about their thinking. That's such a more enriching learning opportunity for everybody involved, the educator and the students versus what we're doing now.What assessment can I create today that I continue to teach? One year, five years, 10 years down the road?  I think that we have to be willing as a part of our job to change how we're assessing things if something does need to change about them.RESOURCESJason on LinkedIn where he shares and I do my learning from him!Reference to his assignment he made AI proof(it includes movie Inception!)

In this profound episode of God: An Autobiography, The Podcast, join host Scott Langdon and join the transformative conversation between Dr. Jerry L. Martin and returning special guest Dr. Jonathan Weidenbaum. After hearing from Jonathan about living truthfully, explore this new discussion that unfolds the essence of wisdom- a journey through life that teaches us to discern what truly matters. Meet Dr. Jonathan Weidenbaum, who teaches courses in philosophy, world religions, ethics, and bioethics at Berkeley College in NYC and St John's University in Queens. He writes and publishes in the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of humor, among other topics.Jonathan shares a poignant personal story involving loss and a moment of self-discovery during a challenging period. The conversation deepens as they explore the role of prayer and its ability to ground in times of crisis. Jerry emphasizes the importance of quiet reflection, whether through prayer, meditation, or other means, to connect with what holds the most meaning and truth in our lives.This episode encourages self-love as a foundation for loving others, fostering a love that overflows naturally. Explore the concept of regret and discover the transformative power of embracing the moments of profound connection and fulfillment, even in the face of loss and adversity.The conversation touches on the profound meaning of religious life, not just in fixing external problems but in providing an internal anchor that sharpens and strengthens individuals.Tune in to this soul-stirring episode, dive into the realms of philosophy, spirituality, and the human experience, and share your thoughts with us! Relevant Episodes:[Dramatic Adaptation] I Ask God Hard Questions About Ego And Suffering[Life Wisdom Project] The Encounter With Novelty And Living TruthfullyOther Series:Life Wisdom Project- How to live a wiser, happier, and more meaningful life with special guests.From God To Jerry To You- Calling for the attention of spiritual seekers everywhere, featuring breakthroughs, pathways, and illuminations.Two Philosophers Wrestle With God- Sit in on a dialogue between philosophers about God and the questions we all have.What's On Our Mind- Connect the dots with Jerry and Scott over the most recent series of episodes.What's On Your Mind- What are readers and listeners saying? What is God saying?Resources:READ: "The Soul is at One with God"THE LIFE WISDOM PROJECT PLAYLISTHashtags: #lifewisdomproject #godanautobiography #experiencegodShare your story or experience with God! We'd love to hear from you!

We have some hot takes when it comes to how AI is being used in education. Universities are letting students down by the way they are/aren't using GenAI tools. Jason Gulya, Chair, Artificial Intelligence Council at Berkeley College, joins us to discuss the current state of AI in higher education and how to fix its shortcomings. Newsletter: Sign up for our free daily newsletterMore on this Episode: Episode PageJoin the discussion: Ask Jordan and Jason questions on AI and educationUpcoming Episodes: Check out the upcoming Everyday AI Livestream lineupWebsite: YourEverydayAI.comEmail The Show: info@youreverydayai.comConnect with Jordan on LinkedInTimestamps:[00:02:00] About Jason and his role at Berkeley College[00:05:00] Attitudes toward LLMs in Higher Ed[00:10:00] Why universities use AI or ban it[00:14:40] Using AI in education responsibly [00:21:50] Advice for universities not wanting to use AI[00:28:40] How GenAI enriches learning[00:32:20] Future of Higher Ed and AI[00:35:40] Jason's final takeaway Topics Covered in This Episode:1. The Changing Landscape of Higher Education and AI2. Challenges and Opportunities in Integrating AI in Education3. Ethical Use of AI in Education4. Utilizing AI for Teaching and Learning Enhancement5. Collaborative Approach and Future Vision for AI in EducationKeywords:AI in higher education, responsible AI use, involving students, transparency, accountability, trust in colleges, job preparation, generative AI skills, professors experimenting with AI, AI-related committees, AI policies, optimism about AI, AI integration in curriculum, ban on AI, AI detection tools, skepticism about AI tools, English professor, AI consultant, changing nature of writing, humanities in the age of AI, large language models, ChatGPT, enrollment cliff, traditional academic silos, personalized learning, best practices in teaching, community of practice Get more out of ChatGPT by learning our PPP method in this live, interactive and free training! Sign up now: https://youreverydayai.com/ppp-registration/

Our guest today is Jonathan Wyner - a mastering engineer and educator based out of Boston, Massachusetts.  He is the chief engineer at  M-Works Studios in Somerville and teaches at Berkeley College of Music. In 2021 he was president of AES, The Audio Engineering Society. He's worked with Jean-Claude Risset, James Taylor, David Bowie, Aimee Mann, and Miles Davis, among many others. We talk with Jonathan about transferring and mastering reels of David Bowie records, spawning creativity in a world of limitless possibilities, AI and getting beyond the lowest common denominator, conversations and expectations with mixing engineers, deconstructing what loudness actually is, and caring about yourself and your craft. This episode's music is brought to you by nxtime from New York City produced by Mike Rogers. For more information on nxtime, point your web electrons to ⁠https://⁠nxtimemusic.com For more information about Jonathan: ⁠https://college.berklee.edu/faculty/jonathan-wyner⁠ ⁠https://www.aes.org/aes/jonathanwyner/⁠ ⁠https://www.m-works.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/speaksvolumes/support

On this episode of The Adventures of Pipeman, we're joined by special guest JVK at Louder Than Life. The band from Berkeley College of Music discusses the route they took to end up performing at Louder Than Life. The band shares stories from performing around Berkeley and the sense of community they receive from their classmates and professors. The band just released a new EP “Who is JVK?” on all streaming platforms on September 15th. You can find more information about the band's upcoming tour dates, merch, and latest releases at JVKtheBand.com.Take some zany and serious journeys with The Pipeman aka Dean K. Piper, CST on The Adventures of Pipeman also known as Pipeman Radio syndicated globally “Where Who Knows And Anything Goes”. Listen to & Watch a show dedicated to motivation, business, empowerment, inspiration, music, comedy, celebrities, shock jock radio, various topics, and entertainment. The Adventures of Pipeman is hosted by Dean K. Piper, CST aka “The Pipeman” who has been said to be hybrid of Tony Robbins, Batman, and Howard Stern. The Adventures of Pipeman has received many awards, media features, and has been ranked for multiple categories as one of the Top 6 Live Radio Shows & Podcasts in the world. Pipeman Radio also consists of multiple podcasts showing the many sides of Pipeman. These include The Adventures of Pipeman, Pipeman in the Pit, and Positively Pipeman and more. You can find all of the Pipeman Podcasts anywhere you listen to podcasts. With thousands of episodes that focus on Intertainment which combines information and entertainment there is something for everyone including over 5000 interviews with celebrities, music artists/bands, authors, speakers, coaches, entrepreneurs, and all kinds of professionals.Then there is The Pipeman Radio Tour where Pipeman travels the country and world doing press coverage for Major Business Events, Conferences, Conventions, Music Festivals, Concerts, Award Shows, and Red Carpets. One of the top publicists in music has named Pipeman the “King of All Festivals.” So join the Pipeman as he brings “The Pipeman Radio Tour” to life right before your ears and eyes.The Adventures of Pipeman Podcasts are heard on The Adventures of Pipeman Site, Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, Talk 4 Podcasting, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and over 100 other podcast outlets where you listen to Podcasts. The following are the different podcasts to check out and subscribe to:• The Adventures of Pipeman• Pipeman Radio• Pipeman in the Pit• Positively PipemanFollow @pipemanradio on all social media outletsVisit Pipeman Radio on the Web at linktr.ee/pipemanradio , theadventuresofpipeman.com, pipemanradio.com, talk4media.com, w4cy.com, talk4tv.com, talk4podcasting.comDownload The Pipeman Radio APPPhone/Text Contact – 561-506-4031Email Contact – dean@talk4media.com The Adventures of Pipeman is broadcast live daily at 8AM ET.The Adventures of Pipeman TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).The Adventures of Pipeman Radio Show is broadcast on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) and K4HD Radio (www.k4hd.com – Hollywood Talk Radio part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). The Adventures of Pipeman Podcast is also available on www.theadventuresofpipeman.com and www.pipemanradio.com Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

On this episode of The Adventures of Pipeman, we're joined by special guest JVK at Louder Than Life. The band from Berkeley College of Music discusses the route they took to end up performing at Louder Than Life. The band shares stories from performing around Berkeley and the sense of community they receive from their classmates and professors. The band just released a new EP “Who is JVK?” on all streaming platforms on September 15th. You can find more information about the band's upcoming tour dates, merch, and latest releases at JVKtheBand.com.Pipeman in the Pit is a music and interview segment of The Adventures of Pipeman Radio Show (#pipemanradio) and from The King of All Festivals while on The Pipeman Radio Tour. Pipeman in the Pit features all kinds of music and interviews with bands & music artists especially in the genres of Heavy Metal, Rock, Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Punk Rock, Goth, Industrial, Alternative, Thrash Metal & Indie Music. Pipeman in the Pit also features press coverage of events, concerts, & music festivals. Pipeman Productions is an artist management company that sponsors the show introducing new local & national talent showcasing new artists & indie artists.Then there is The Pipeman Radio Tour where Pipeman travels the country and world doing press coverage for Major Business Events, Conferences, Conventions, Music Festivals, Concerts, Award Shows, and Red Carpets. One of the top publicists in music has named Pipeman the “King of All Festivals.” So join the Pipeman as he brings “The Pipeman Radio Tour” to life right before your ears and eyes.Pipeman in the Pit Podcasts are heard on Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, Talk 4 Podcasting, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and over 100 other podcast outlets where you listen to Podcasts. The following are the different podcasts to check out and subscribe to:•The Adventures of Pipeman•Pipeman Radio•Pipeman in the Pit•Positively PipemanFollow @pipemanradio on all social media outletsVisit Pipeman Radio on the Web at linktr.ee/pipemanradio, theadventuresofpipeman.com, pipemanradio.com, talk4media.com, w4cy.com, talk4tv.com, talk4podcasting.comDownload The Pipeman Radio APPPhone/Text Contact – 561-506-4031Email Contact – dean@talk4media.com The Adventures of Pipeman is broadcast live daily at 8AM ET.The Adventures of Pipeman TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).The Adventures of Pipeman Radio Show is broadcast on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) and K4HD Radio (www.k4hd.com) – Hollywood Talk Radio part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Pipeman in the Pit Podcasts are also available on Pipeman Radio (www.pipemanradio.com), Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

In this episode of Dr. B Show, Dr. B is joined by Nancy Robles, President of Eastern Funding, shares her journey from being a single mother on welfare to becoming a successful finance executive. She emphasizes the importance of education and how her degrees from Berkeley College and the University of Phoenix have helped her gain confidence and advance in her career. Nancy also discusses the lack of diversity in the finance industry and the need for companies to create a culture of equity and opportunity. She shares her experiences in breaking through the glass ceiling and offers advice for middle management professionals looking to advance in their careers.in the industry.KEY TAKEAWAYSEducation played a crucial role in Nancy's career development, helping her gain confidence and overcome the challenges she faced as a first-generation immigrant.Nancy believes that companies need to create a culture of equity and opportunity to increase diversity in leadership positions.Nancy emphasizes the importance of finding an organization with the right culture that values diversity and provides real opportunities for advancement.Nancy encourages middle management professionals to seek out mentors and advocates within their organizations to help shatter the glass ceiling.QUOTES"I needed to find confidence in myself and my abilities, and education was the key to that." - Nancy Robles"Diversity usually stops at entry-level positions. We need advocates in the room to push for real opportunities for people from minority backgrounds." - Nancy Robles"Put more energy into finding an organization with the right culture that has real opportunities for advancement." - Nancy RoblesYou can learn more about Nancy Robles in the links below.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-robles-27240535/If you're listening to the Dr. B Show Podcast, please subscribe, share, and we're listening for your feedback. You can also learn more about Dr. Jairo Borja at http://borjaconsultinggroup.com/.

Join Ben and Alex in this captivating podcast episode as they explore their love for grapefruit, discuss their favorite movies, and debate the perfect consistency of microwaved ice cream. Get ready for a heated discussion on the impact of the American system on critical thinking, and uncover fascinating insights into Berkeley College of Music graduates. Finally, explore the significance of childhood in shaping productive adults. Tune in for a thought-provoking episode filled with humor, insights, and unconventional perspectives. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therealdevilsadvocatepodcast  Website: https://www.therealdevilsadvocatepodcast.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealdevilsadvocatepodcast  IG: https://www.instagram.com/therealdevilsadvocatepodcast  Twitter: https://twitter.com/devil_podcast  Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1527651661082644/  Intro Theme Music Written By Ben Altizer and Alex Ward Cover Art Designed by Justin Catron @Plagued1994 Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by ©Altizer Audio

Maryland accomplished blues singer/songwriter Lauren Glick (Spectra Music Group) talks about her latest release “Lush” featuring “Don't Add Up”, “Little White Lies” and her previous songs “Free', “Be Strong”, “I Had it All” and more! Lauren is a graduate of Berkeley College of Music and accomplished bassist/pianist opened for America, Beach Boys, Cheap Trick and a local favorite at Sunfest, Springfest, Freedom Stage, etc. plus talks about how she started in her career, major influences, upcoming plans for 2023 and more! Check out the latest release by the amazing Lauren Glick on all major platforms and ⁠www.laurensings.com⁠ and ⁠www.spectramusicgroup.com⁠ today! #laurenglick #spectramusicgroup #lush #dontaddup #littlewhitelies #berkelycollegeofmusic #oceancity #salisbury #maryland #america #beachboys #cheaptrick #iheartradio #spotify #apple #youtube #anchorfm #podbean #mikewagner #themikewagnershow #mikewagnerlaurenglick #themikewagnershowlaurenglick --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/themikewagnershow/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/themikewagnershow/support

Maryland accomplished blues singer/songwriter Lauren Glick (Spectra Music Group) talks about her latest release “Lush” featuring “Don't Add Up”, “Little White Lies” and her previous songs “Free', “Be Strong”, “I Had it All” and more! Lauren is a graduate of Berkeley College of Music and accomplished bassist/pianist opened for America, Beach Boys, Cheap Trick and a local favorite at Sunfest, Springfest, Freedom Stage, etc. plus talks about how she started in her career, major influences, upcoming plans for 2023 and more! Check out the latest release by the amazing Lauren Glick on all major platforms and www.laurensings.com and www.spectramusicgroup.com today! #laurenglick #spectramusicgroup #lush #dontaddup #littlewhitelies #berkelycollegeofmusic #oceancity #salisbury #maryland #america #beachboys #cheaptrick #iheartradio #spotify #apple #youtube #anchorfm #podbean #mikewagner #themikewagnershow #mikewagnerlaurenglick #themikewagnershowlaurenglick   --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/themikewagnershow/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/themikewagnershow/support

Jason Gulya is a Professor of English at Berkeley College. In 2020, Jason received Berkeley's Faculty of the Year Award for Teaching Excellence. He is also a higher ed consultant who helps students and professors prepare for the future and gives advice on how to utilize artificial intelligence in and outside of the classroom.Jason has a wealth of knowledge and actionable advice for using A.I. He outlines many great resources that you can use immediately to make yourself more productive at work. We talk about the future of the humanities, white collar work, the idea of a second brain and the emergence of a new profession he calls an A.I. Prompt Engineer. He even shares A.I. hacks for creating online classes and training manuals in record time.If you are an educator, entrepreneur or just someone who is interested in A.I. and how to “work smarter, not harder” then you will enjoy this podcast.Discussion Topics:(1:06) A.I. tools you need to be using right now.(10:50) What A.I. means for the future of work.(13:00) A.I. and the future of the Humanities.(18:33) Second brains and offloading effects.(26:45) Using A.I. to build a business.(36:00) Who owns A.I. copyrights?(41:25) OpenAI Codex.(44:38) Advice for educators. Grade the interaction with A.I.(45:27) New careers as a prompt engineer.(49:34) Advice for colleges and universities.(54:42) What does the future look like?(59:19) Rapid fire questions.

The Perennial Philosophy, or Perennialism for short, claims that the depth traditions found within the major world religions all converge upon the same metaphysical vision - namely, the identification of our deepest selves with a divine, transcendental ground. Popularized by Aldous Huxley in his 1945 The Perennial Philosophy it has a natural appeal to many thinking, spiritually inclined individuals - including those who have never explicitly heard of it. - Jon In this debate Jonathan will critique the perennial philosophy; Zevi will defend it. Jonathan Weidenbaum is a professor of philosophy and world religions at Berkeley College. Zevi Slavin is a seeker, a teacher, and creator of Seekers of Unity. See Jonathan's work here: https://berkeleycollege.academia.edu/JonathanWeidenbaum https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/Jonathan-Weidenbaum/103460987 Particularly: A Little Disillusionment is a Good Thing: Perennialism, Process Theology, and Religious Diversity The Metaphysics of Alterity and Unity: Levinas and Perennialism Why I am Not a Pantheist (Nor a Panentheist) Metaphysics, Totalization, and the Cosmos With Open Doors and Windows, Doing theology in the spirit of William James Upcoming with Nicholas Colemean: The Bell and the Hammer: for and against a perennialist philosophy (seeking a publisher, if you know any…) 00:00 Introduction: Omar Lughod 00:54 Introducing Perennialism: Jonathan 06:09 Critiquing Perennialism: Jonathan 31:50 Defending Perennialism: Zevi 51:50 Response: Jonathan 56:38 Response: Zevi Q&A Session 1:01:27 What about religions that disagree? 1:04:12 From debate to discussion 1:07:53 What would it take to change your mind? 1:13:11 Is this all just ideas to you? 1:16:53 Baruch Thaler: What's the bottom line? 1:18:46 What's with all this New Age-ism? 1:33:03 Closing words “Neither the mystic nor the philosopher can remain content with an irreducible heterogeneity of mystical experience, the mystic because the ultimate character of the experience implies a universal claim, the philosopher because a diversity of ultimate claims is a challenge not a resting-place. Thus, it is not an uneducated essentialist desire, but religious integrity or philosophical urgency that leads those who no longer find an exclusive claim by any single tradition convincing to seek an underlying unity and to investigate the equivalence of symbols under their diversity.” - Charles Davis in his review of Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis, by Steven Katz, ed. Join us: https://discord.gg/EQtjK2FWsm https://facebook.com/seekersofunity https://instagram.com/seekersofunity https://www.twitter.com/seekersofu https://www.seekersofunity.com Thank you to our beloved Patrons: Francis, Etty, Stephen, Arash, William, Michael, Matija, Timony, Vilijami, Stoney, El techo, Stephen, Ross, Ahmed, Alexander, Diceman, Hannah, Julian, Leo, Sim, Sultan, John, Joshua, Igor, Chezi, Jorge, Andrew, Alexandra, Füsun, Lucas, Andrew, Stian, Ivana, Aédàn, Darjeeling, Astarte, Declan, Gregory, Alex, Charlie, Anonymous, Joshua, Arin, Sage, Marcel, Ahawk, Yehuda, Kevin, Evan, Shahin, Al Alami, Dale, Ethan, Gerr, Effy, Noam, Ron, Shtus, Mendel, Jared, Tim, Mystic Experiment, MM, Lenny, Justin, Joshua, Jorge, Wayne, Jason, Caroline, Yaakov, Daniel, Wodenborn, Steve, Collin, Justin, Mariana, Vic, Shaw, Carlos, Nico, Isaac, Frederick, David, Ben, Rodney, Charley, Jonathan, Chelsea, Curly Joe, Adam and Andre. Join them in supporting us: patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seekers paypal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=RKCYGQSMJFDRU

How can we live better, healthier, happier, and wiser lives? The Life Wisdom Project explores lessons and insight from each chapter of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher and the takeaways for everyday living. Meet Dr. Jonathan Weidenbaum, who teaches courses in philosophy, world religions, ethics, and bioethics at Berkeley College in NYC and St John's University in Queens. He writes and publishes in the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of humor, among other topics. This philosophical and spiritual conversation between friends will provide inspirational answers that may surprise you and motivate your spiritual journey! Inspired by a gentle, understanding God, Jonathan and Jerry talk about living truthfully, the power to doubt, and appreciating others' worldviews.What is the canary in the mine?We revisit I Ask God About The Beliefs I Grew Up With, the third episode of God: An Autobiography, The Podcast, and the dramatic adaptation of the book:Jerry wonders if he is living a life of truth and proposes to Abigail. God and Jerry have a deep conversation about Christianity, Jesus, Jews, and the covenant. Jerry asks God difficult questions and receives unsettling answers, and he struggles to share these answers with his Jewish wife, Abigail.Read God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher.Begin the dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A PhilosopherRelated Episodes: [Dramatic Adaptation] 3. I Ask God About The Beliefs I Grew Up With [The Life Wisdom Project] 93. Introducing The Life Wisdom Project | 94. Tuning In To God | 99. A Lesson In ObedienceRelated Content: [Video] Dr Jerry L. Martin and The Theology Without Walls Mission | God, What About Sin? | Why Did God Pick Me to Talk to?  Share Your Story | Site | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube |

New Spiritual Podcast Series | The Life Wisdom ProjectJerry wonders if he is living a life of truth and proposes to Abigail. Abigail gives a surprising but thoughtful response. Will God be present at their wedding?God and Jerry have a deep conversation about Christianity, Jesus, Jews, and the covenant. Jerry asks God difficult questions and receives unsettling answers, and he struggles to share these answers with his Jewish wife,  Abigail.In next week's Life Wisdom Project episode, meet Dr. Jonathan Weidenbaum, Professor of Philosophy and World Religions at Berkeley College in New York, for a memorable discussion of episode three, which we revisit today- I Ask God About The Beliefs I Grew Up With. The Life Wisdom Project explores lessons and insight from each chapter of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher. From Jerry's conversations with God, the Life Wisdom Project will look at the takeaways from God and the book for everyday living. How can we live better, healthier, happier, and wiser lives?The dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher, is brought to life through Director and Host Scott Langdon's dramatic and vocal talents as Dr. Jerry L. Martin, and Dr. Martin's reenactment of the voice of God- as he heard it.Read God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher.Begin the dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A PhilosopherRelated Episodes: [Dramatic Adaptation] 3. I Ask God About The Beliefs I Grew Up With [The Life Wisdom Project] 93. Introducing The Life Wisdom Project | 94. Tuning In To God | 99. A Lesson In Obedience Related Content: [Video] God, What About Sin? | Why Did God Pick Me to Talk to? Share Your Story | Site | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube |

Powered by tbk247.com, theBookkeeper247 launched its very own podcast focusing on upcoming Christian artists.On this podcast, we Interview Artists we feel should be on everyone's radar and discuss music and other topics throughout our culture.theBookkeeper247 Podcast wanted to create a show to highlight the artist and find out more about the individuals and their music.Episode 25 Details: 1st Generation American/Culture Differences/Faith Journey/Near Death Experience/Testimony/See/Miles Minnick/Invasion Tour/Berkeley/Sex Trafficking/KNDY  In the 25th episode, Daryl Chops it up with Christian hip hop Artist, Solachi Voz. They discuss her latest single “See”, performing at Berkeley College, her testimony, and her Faith journey which prompted her to leave her home and move to California.Solachi Voz also discuss her company called “Solachi Writes Ink,” her latest clothing line, “Needy”. It's a dope interview. You definitely will want to tune in until the end.Don't forget, if you really want to help us grow, smash that like button, subscribe to the channel, and hit the alert button to be notified for the most in-depth show in Hip Hop, “theBookkeeper247 Podcast”Thanks for joining us Solachi Voz.Follow Solachi Voz:Follow Solachi Writes Ink:Twitter:Instagram: YouTube:Spotify:Soundcloud:Apple Music:Website:Music From Solachi Voz During Podcast:1.) “See” https://tbk247.com/solachi-voz-see-produced-by-lucas-quinn/2.) “Seven” feat. Miles Minnick https://open.spotify.com/album/5HFjtWn3cT6KKA6JXABzGJ?si=kxZxDfR-S-6d8hu6nkWksg If you would like to bless this ministry here is a PayPal Link:Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showConnect with Us “tBK247 Media:Visit Us:YouTube:Email Us:Submit Audio & Video Here:Services:

Estevez v. Berkeley College

Chris Wilson has made a career out of helping others to love and appreciate music the same way he does.Chris transitioned from being a student at Berkeley College of Music and a professional musician to being an entrepreneur. He has done that by providing lessons, writing books, and opening up an academy that actually provides an outlet for all different types of artistic abilities. In addition to this, Chris also uses his many years of experience as an entrepreneur to teach others through his coaching business.

If you think being a rock star isn't hard work, think again. Ivan Bodley aka Funkboy is a bass player who has appeared on Broadway and been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. He's performed with music icons like Sting, Carlos Santana, and the Temptations. Plus, he's a magna cum laude graduate of the premier Berklee College of Music. In this interview, he chats with Dr. mOe about his impressive career, life on the road, and his new book "Am I Famous Yet? - Memoir of a Working-Class Rock Star." Hear Ivan perform and learn more about his journey at   Transcript is auto-generated: [00:00] Dr. mOe Anderson: Welcome, Ivan. [00:02] Ivan Bodley: Thanks so much. Great to see you. [00:04] Dr. mOe Anderson: And you as well. I've been looking forward to talking to the legendary Funk Boy. We're going to have some fun today. You're quite the god. My goodness, talk about being versatile. You have a BA in psychology from V Two Lane University in New Orleans. I'm headed there soon. You were also a publicist with Epic record Sony Music. How did you go from that to working class musician? How did this journey begin? [00:35] Ivan Bodley: You know, that was an interesting kind of career transition. Yes, you're right. I have an undergraduate degree, and then I went into the music business, and I was a junior executive, and I had a corporate Amex card, and I seemed to be on that path as a career path for life. And after about three years of being in the music business, I realized that the music business is pretty much a marketing company. It had very little to do with creativity and creation of music. Certainly we were getting to hang out with the rock stars we were promoting, but we weren't involved in any of the creative aspects of making this product. So I kind of had a moment of realization, and it was kind of a difficult one because I realized there really wasn't anything else I wanted to do but to try to be an actual performer. And when you come to realization like that, you kind of realize, like, wow, that's a tough road to ho, as they say. There's no guarantees of success, and I have nothing else I really wanted to fall back on. There's nothing else I wanted to do regardless of education or qualifications or anything else. So I was like, I kind of resigned myself. Well, I guess I got to try to make it go of this if I'm going to do that. And then once I came to that realization, I was like, all right, well, if I'm going to do this, I need to go ahead and get myself more specifically formally educated in music, because most of my study at that point had been self study or with private teachers or that kind of thing. So then I went back as a slightly older person. I was in my mid twenties after 26, I think. Then I went to the Berkeley College of Music. Well, and then I'll slip in that I managed to graduate from there, magna cum laude, too. So I really tried to dedicate myself to my studies to give myself the tools that I needed to hopefully then have any success in the business. In a business where no success is ever guaranteed, you then have to have a good deal of hard work and good fortune on your side to try to rent. That's what happened. I kind of took a bizarre leap of faith after I was resigned to my fate, and somehow, looking back now, 30 years later, it worked out. [03:13] Dr. mOe Anderson: Absolutely. I talked about your impressive CV in the intro. I would say it has more than worked out. And what I'm particularly impressed by is that I'm a creative as well. So I know how it is when you have those two sides, the corporate and then the fashion and artsy side of you, but that you fully committed to what you wanted to do, whether it was the corporate side or the music that you went all in. And a lot of people get stuck because they want to love everything, but we got to do some stuff we don't like so much to get to the point where we can do what we really want to do. That's just part of the process. So from there you've studied, you've got a great background in business and music based on that investment in yourself. How did you go from that to becoming a freelance professional musician because you've worked with some of the biggest people in the music business. [04:13] Ivan Bodley: Well, after I got my degree from Berkeley, I came back to New York City because that's kind of where I thought I knew that I always sort of wanted to be musically. A lot of the music that I was sort of interested in was coming was emanating from here. So I had a grand career set of goals, and what I was going to do was I was going to become a famous musician. I was going to play at Madison Square Garden. I was going to play on The Tonight Show and the David Letterman Show and Saturday Night Live. These are my career goals, the trifecta, right? And I can tell you with great confidence, 30 years later, exactly none of those things actually happened. But a bunch of other things happened along the way that sort of made it worthwhile. When I got here, I started typing resumes. I was a temp secretary. I had the temp gig for like three years during the day, world's longest temp gig. It was three years long, and I was typing resumes for the people that the phone company was laying off. It was this bizarre, weird, good karma job I was trying to help, working this career resource center of the phone company, believe it or not. And then little by little, step by step, inch by inch, just over time, over that three year period, the evening freelance music career became just enough to tip the balance, to go ahead and pay the rent and take an additional leap of faith and leave the temp gig. And that was the last time I had a day job, was 1995. [05:52] Dr. mOe Anderson: Oh, you lucky, lucky man. [05:54] Ivan Bodley: I know. True. That is true. That is true. [05:57] Dr. mOe Anderson: But you worked hard at it. You even took a job that you were overqualified for until you could fully pursue your commitment and your passion, your talent for music. And, you know, you call yourself almost famous, but you performed at Carnegie Hall the Kennedy Center. You're in the Blues freaking hall of Fame, right? You've been music director for Sam and Moore, Sam and Dave for my old schoolers, Martha and the Vandelas. But you've also performed with Sting the Temptations. Benny King,  Chaka Khan Wynonna Judd and David Foster! I don't normally tik off a list like that, but most people don't have a list like that. [06:45] Ivan Bodley: It's funny. I have a joke sort of my resume, which is included in the end of my book, and I will send it out to some people. It's on my website. It's seven pages long. It's unconscionably long. There's no possible reason people shouldn't have that much information. But what happens is I find over and over again and you just demonstrated this exactly. I'd never know which name on the resume is going to resonate with somebody. Like, you have a personal relationship to, say, Sam and Dave, for instance, and people go, wow, you play with Sam and Dave. But it's always one that I don't expect. Like, I'll have seven pages of information and some people will say, like, wow, you play with Buster Point extra. I'm like, yeah, I did. That's the one that turned you on. Great. Perfect. Now we can talk about that. [07:30] Dr. mOe Anderson: Yeah, it is funny. And it just tells us that we have some lives well lived when we can make references to people throughout multiple generations. And that's exactly what you've done. Because, like, my mom would be way Sam and Dave, right? And she listened to music all the time. And I'm not that much older than you. I'm not trying to throw shade, but no, that's my Sam and Dave and Martha Reid's reference. But then when you get to Chakra Khan and Rufus and why not especially David Foster. Oh, my God, he's a genius. That's when you're getting into my influences and just all around. It's just exciting reading, and I can't imagine what it was like. Do you have any funny story you can share with us about your life on the road or with one of these celebrities? I know there's a bunch of them in the book, but is there one you can share with us now? [08:26] Ivan Bodley: There's a whole bunch of them. Actually, you're right. That's the reason I did write the book, because there's so many of them. I do want to correct you on one small point. I didn't ever actually play with the band Rufus. I played with Rufus Thomas, the world's oldest teenagers of the man who did the funky chicken down in Memphis, Tennessee. I don't want to misappropriate my strange celebrity resume. [08:49] Dr. mOe Anderson: Hey, my bad. That's so mean. Folks, I corrected and I'm okay with that. [08:54] Ivan Bodley: All good. We opened for Chaka. I was playing with Solomon Burke at the where was this? The Saratoga Jazz Festival in New York. Excuse me. And the act immediately after us was Chaka Kahn So I feel like I've been on the same stage with her, but I've not actually played in her band yet. I'm available, Chaka, if you're around. If you need me, I'd be happy to come out. I love sliding medieval, that's all. It's all a shameless self promotion that never kind of ends. And a funny story, that show with Solomon Burke, I think we had a twelve piece band. Solomon Burke at that time in his career was, I believe, £425. He was a formidable gentleman of certain stature. So on his technical rider, he had a king's throne to be placed at the front of the stage and he sat down on the throne and conducted his business from the front of the stage using just the power of his voice. And he ran for 15,000 people and he moved, like emotionally moved the entire audience with just the sound of his voice. It was the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen. He also had on his technical writer two dozen long stem roses with the thorns removed that he had to have by the throne. So he gave them out one at a time to ladies in the front row in the audience as he was performing. He was a master showman and very sort of like old school, old world RMB. And then at the end of the show, like for the big climax of the night, his big stage move was he stood up on a high note, he stood up from the throne and the audience was like, wow. It was just unbelievable. Like you see performers dancing and sweating for 2 hours. He had one move and it was as effective as any Britney Spears concert you've ever seen. Amazing former. [11:04] Dr. mOe Anderson: And that's what I always say about singers versus entertainers. I'm a big deal fan, for example, I don't think she has a move other than turning to one profile side or the other. But she doesn't need one. [11:18] Ivan Bodley: She doesn't need it. [11:19] Dr. mOe Anderson: It's so amazing. Now, if you can sing and dance to Kudos to you, but if you got a pig, I'll take a singer over an entertainer any day and I just can't even imagine someone just sitting on their throne like a sovereign management rising 15,000 people. That is a gift. That's a form of genius. And whether people recognize it or not, that is not an easy thing. Thanks for sharing that story. [11:47] Ivan Bodley: Furthermore, as the band, as the backing band, I think we rehearsed with him one time, the first time we met him, and then never again. Because what he did was the other thing too. Like all of his songs, the only thing you knew about what he was about to say was that it was in the key of G. He stayed in the same key for the entire evening and it was never, ever dull. So he had a group of songs that were hits for him back in the Atlantic record spaces. So I kind of had, like, a little cheat sheet sort of in front of me, like a three or four page thing that kind of happened. So what he would do, he would just start singing a melody, a capella. And as the backing band, we had to figure out what song he was on. And then we had to catch up because he was already two bars into the song. So he got to get you into my life. And we're like, okay, all right. Figure out what song was. Figure out what the changes were and catch up. And he did this over and over again. And it was just such an amazing exercise for us to try to listen and try to respond to him live like that. [12:50] Dr. mOe Anderson: And then he would do that with you guys. Said he had a lot of confidence in you, too, and your musical abilities, because that is really some Southern Black Baptist Church stuff right there. [13:04] Ivan Bodley: Exactly what it is. Never had a set list, never premeditate. What's going to happen now that you said that? Now I can tell you the next story. We're playing with him at Lincoln Center. At Avery Fisher Hall. This is the jazz festival thing. We're in this very prestigious concert event opening for Wilson Ticket. Wilson, the mighty, wicked Picket. So Dr. Burke is like to be referred as he was a doctor of mortuary sciences. Dr. Burke started Sigma. I'm 100,000% serious. He was a many faceted, individual, fascinating human being. [13:50] Dr. mOe Anderson: That's crazy. [13:51] Ivan Bodley: He started singing in the same manner I just described to you. He would just start singing a melody. So he started singing the Ray Charles classic drowned in My Own Tears. And between, I looked at the keyboard player and the keyboard player look at the guitar player, and the guitar player looked at me. And we realized between the three of us, none of us knew the changes exactly to the song. We're like, oh, we're live on stage being reviewed by The New York Times at Lincoln Center, and we don't know the song that he's now singing. And he realizes within 20 seconds or 10 seconds, like, we're not with it. So he sings a couple of lines of it, then he moves on to something else, and we're back in the fold, and the concert continues on. We got away with it, really. Probably. We were only the ones that noticed it. But then as we're leaving the stage at the end of the night, triumphant standing ovation, he got the whole thing. The greatest jockey and record producer, Bob Porter with the MC for the evening. So if we're coming up to the wings, bob Porter looks at me and he says, Drowning My Own Tears. So I was like, oh, man, you heard that? [15:04] Dr. mOe Anderson: There's a lot of nonverbal kind of back and forth. I'm not a musician. I'm a creative. I write and speak. But just that, you guys. I mean, I kind of see it when I see the biopics and the movies, but you guys just kind of feed off of each other, get to know each other to that degree that he knew to just move on. Okay, they're not getting it. He moved on. And it's just like a seamless communication. [15:34] Ivan Bodley: We don't call it eyeballing. We call it earballing. [15:37] Dr. mOe Anderson: Earballing. I was searching for a word. Thank you. I was like, there's got to be a term for that. And that makes sense. And it is a relationship just like every other relationship, even if it's just for an hour or two. And that's what's another thing that's so beautiful about music and what you do and that you've been able to perform with all these different types of musicians. You've also worked for a major record label and you've been a musician. What is it like to work for a major record label? You alluded to it, but a little bit more of what that life is like. [16:21] Ivan Bodley: Well, that's what I did coming out of my college years. While I was at Two Lane, I was also the music director of the campus radio station. There's a station there called Wtwo two Lane radio. And it was a 1500 watt station which covered all greater metro New Orleans. So had a potential listenership of like a million people. Not that we had those kind of numbers, but it had a very wide coverage and as such, it was a very influential station. So the record companies knew this and they would promote directly to us and have us interview their artists when they would come through town and send us. So my job was to sort of be in contact with the record companies and make sure that the station had all the latest product and all this kind of thing. So that was kind of my entree into the music business, was doing it from the radio station side. And because I really didn't pick up a bass guitar until I was a senior in high school, I was 17 years old. So when it was time to make the decision to go to college, I was in no position to say, I'm going to be a music major. I didn't have that much experience. I actually started Tulane as a biomedical engineering major first, and after about two years of that majoring actually in college, radio, I ended up with a psych degree. So because of the context that I'd made through the music directorship, then that's how I was able to parlay that into an assistant job in the publicity department at Epic Records. And then at which you start out making Xerox copies and making coffee and running errands, whatever you need to do. [17:51] Dr. mOe Anderson: Back in the days when we worked. [17:53] Ivan Bodley: Our way up from the bottom, that's exactly what happened. [17:56] Dr. mOe Anderson: You know, they come in privileged and expecting to have a corner office. Initially, no shade. [18:03] Ivan Bodley: That's exactly what it is. And then after about a year and a half of being successful doing that, an office opened up and it was the manager of West Coast publicity I was in New York initially, the manager of West Coast publicity for Epic Portrait and CBS Associated Labels. So I had to move out to Los Angeles midway through my record company career. And that's when I got the business card, the corporate Amex card. And it wasn't the corner office, but it was an office with a window and all that kind of nonsense. And I was working for, I guess, my sort of pride and joy projects from that time where the band Living Color, we were working on their first project called Personality on the Vivid album. I was working with Stanley Clark, the great jazz bass player who's been a dear friend of mine ever since George Duke. [18:53] Dr. mOe Anderson: Stanley Clark. [18:54] Ivan Bodley: George, exactly. Big Daddy. We called George Duke Big Daddy. And I was working with near. Not directly with, but certainly near. I have a platinum plaque on my wall now. That was all the gold and platinum records. I'm looking at it right now from the year 1988. So in no particular order. Gloria Estefan, Cheap Trick, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Ozzy Osbourne the Band europe Shade Joan Jet And The blackhearted Weird Al Yankovic Alexander O'Neill and REO Speed Wagon So those were the clients that I was dealing with at the label at that time. [19:33] Dr. mOe Anderson: I saw some of those during our pre call. You have a very interesting office or whatever the room you were in as we were talking, I was just looking at the guitars and all the boards and the gold platinum records. Just amazing just being in that environment. And sometimes people like, I have some degrees and family pictures and art in the room on my office. And sometimes people are like, oh, that's your ego wall. But you know what? For me, it's a hustle wall. It's like what you can do when you try really hard. And frankly, I'm the one in here ten to 12 hours a day. It's not like I'm out on the street like, look at this, look at this. It just reminds me that hard work and effort gets results. And to keep at it, keep at it, don't get discouraged. [20:25] Ivan Bodley: I remember when I saw the picture of your office as well. I call them my own. I call them the bowling trophies. These are the bowling trophies. And having a platinum record up that I was presented with 35 years ago, does that mean something now? Like, yes and no. It's part of my origin story. And it's one of those things when you see it, it looks impressive. And occasionally I'm reminded to look at it and go like, oh, yeah, I did that. [20:48] Dr. mOe Anderson: I did that. And at the end of the day, it's by you for you to do what you want to with. That's why I love it. I was very inspired just seeing it, honestly, and I'm glad I had that opportunity. [21:01] Ivan Bodley: Yes, good. Thank you. [21:02] Dr. mOe Anderson: So you talked about all the sides of it, that you've been on the corporate side file, you've done whatever was necessary, ultimately. We Heard You trifecta The Tonight Show, medicine Square Garden And So forth. [21:19] Ivan Bodley: None of that happened, by the way. [21:20] Dr. mOe Anderson: None of it happened, but none of it a lot of people have lofty goals like that. What advice would you give to someone chasing fame and fortune. [21:32] Ivan Bodley: That is so difficult? Because I'm not sure I've gotten either one, even though I've been a successful, quote unquote, successful, working class musician my whole life. [21:40] Dr. mOe Anderson: Right. The key was the chase, though. For someone, that's their objective, to chase rather than producing something excellent or a service or commitment or a mission. But that's the end goal. I just want to be famous, right? [21:59] Ivan Bodley: Yeah. The fame part of it, that's a very tenuous thing. And I've had brushes with fame. Certainly you've seen the photo album, stood next to some very famous people for very short periods of time to get a photo. But like, for instance, when I was doing the Broadway show Rock of Ages, which was like the 80s rock musical, the band was on stage, we were on stage, we were in costume and makeup and flipping our hair around for two and a half hours. So when we would come out of the stage door, very often there would be people waiting to meet the actors and get their playbills signed and maybe take a picture of that kind of thing. So when you would come out the stage door, people go like, Yay, it's the bass player. And then you were known by an audience all the way up until you turn the corner on 7th Avenue and you're famous for half a block. And then as soon as you turned the corner on 7th Avenue, you were right back into obscurity. Nobody knew who you were, nobody seen you, and it was right back to normal, everyday life. To me, fame is tenuous at kind of every level. I mean, even if you look at somebody sort of uber famous, like, I don't know, Justin Bieber or something, I have to understand that my parents generation have no idea who he is, and they don't care. It's not for them. So, yeah, he's as famous as you can get, and still not everybody is going to know him. But for me, the key was to give myself the tools that I needed to allow myself to be able to succeed. And for me, that was going back to musical, that's what I needed to do was sort of plug in the gaps in my education and give myself the possibility of them succeeding. Then once I had that possibility, then I knew it was just going to be a lot of hard work. It's still hard work. I'm still taking jobs that require a lot of transcription time, a lot of practice time, preparation time, sometimes a lot of driving, you know, like drive from New York City to Buffalo is going to be 6 hours to do a job that's going to pay me $300 which barely pays for the gas and tolls in my time. But it's all part of it. It's all part of the journey because you never know what leads to what. And all the gigs that I've told you solomon Burke and Sam Moore and all those Martha Reeves, all those gigs came from working with a band here in New Orleans called the Uptown Horns Review. The uptown Horns. They're the Horns section who played on James Brown Living in America. B 52 Loveshack Cameo ward up. They're a very famous, well established horn section. So I became their bass player through two things. One, I was touring with the Sherrells and their drummer Crusher Green was also the drummer in the Uptown Horns Review. And the other thing was, I did a $50 blues gig in Manhattan one night with a friend of mine named Timothy Beckerman, the blues siren of New Orleans. She was up here in New York and the sax player was Crispincio, who's the lead alto player in the Uptown Horn. So from a $50 job and then also from this recommendation, I got from the drummer, suddenly I started working with this group which introduced me to everybody on that list that we just talked about. And there's no way to have anticipated that that $50 job is going to lead to everything else. So you just kind of have to take everything, do everything, be prepared and show up on time. [25:32] Dr. mOe Anderson: Unfortunately. I just like to that you're saying that it was your dedication to the craft not just do anything outrageous, outlandish or whatever to get attention and be famous, but your dedication to the craft led to you getting in the company of the right people and networking and just having what is really an amazing life. These names you drop like they're nothing are just people who are legends to me. I've got vinyl in there with these folks pictures on them, which is the closest I'll ever get to them. So I'm just a little bit envious. Don't be upset with me, but I'm a little bit envious. [26:15] Ivan Bodley: I'm not mad at all. I'm a fan too. That's how I started doing this. I'm a fan of this music. My mom's record collection was Gladys Knight and the Pips and Stevie Wonder and King Floyd and I can tina Turner. Those are the records that I grew up in the house and they trained in Georgia. Thank you. That's what I grew up with. Gladys was my mom's absolute favorite. So then dedicating myself to working with these classic soul artists. This is, for me, a pilgrimage. Yeah. I love it. I can't get enough of it. The other thing too, is sort of like preparing yourself, what you're talking about, sort of doing things to get attention. That's all well and good, but then once you're given the opportunity, you need to have the goods to back it up, to be able to do the job right. Yeah, publicity stuff, that's all great, but then they say, okay, come on our stage and play. If you're not really dedicated and ready to do the job, you're not going to get a second call. It'll be a one and done. [27:17] Dr. mOe Anderson: I know, exactly. And there's a maturity and growth that happens, too. Personal growth that happens during all that. You've been through all that. I've been through all that. So many people who've worked hard and suddenly are almost famous, and people don't see everything that came before that. Which leads me to your memoir. What inspired you to write? Am I famous yet? Memoir of a working class rock star. [27:46] Ivan Bodley: I think the title describes exactly who I am. I stand next to rockstars occasionally for long enough to take a photo or play a concert, but most of what I do is I lift my own amps, I drive my own car, I work for a living. Definitely what would happen was if something crazy would happen at a sound check, for instance, between sound check and the show, usually there's a dinner break for the abandoned crew. We'll sit down and have a little catering or somebody who's going to order out sandwiches or pizza. And what would happen was I would be like, you know that thing that just happened? It reminded me of another thing that just happened on another job that was even stranger or even weirder. And I would start telling these stories to my bandmates and my compatriots and anyone who would listen. And I was told over and over again, they say, you should really write these things down because you've got so many of these road stories at this point. And I was thinking to myself, back in my publicity days for the label, I used to write the artist BIOS and the liner notes and the press releases and that kind of stuff. I always had the writing gene has always been part of what I do. So as I was being encouraged to do this, maybe about four years ago, I sat down during the winter, which is kind of my slow season, and I said, Let me start to see if I can assemble enough of these stories to see if it's a book. And I started writing and writing and writing and writing in my spare time, such as it was. And about three months in, I'm like, yeah, I think it's a book. I think we have a book there, but never quite got it finished until the world shut down two years ago. And suddenly all the live gigs dried up and we basically sat home for 15 months. It was a very scary. Time in the music business for us, everybody. But what I tried to do during that time was make lemonade out of the lemon. So I had time to finish the book, get it edited and send it to my aunt is a copy editor for Time magazine, so she kindly copied the whole book. I got it formatted. I got it put up on Amazon. I was able to finish it sort of with the time that I had. All the while, I was also, like doing home recordings via file sharing with all my other musician friends who were similarly displaced and out of work, and they're all happy to play. So I did about two albums worth of material during that time, too, which got me signed to a record label for the first time in my life as well. [30:24] Dr. mOe Anderson: Congratulations. Which record label, if I may ask? [30:28] Ivan Bodley: It's a company called Color Red. Music. Color REDCOM out in Colorado. It's run by Eddie Roberts, who is the leader of the new Master Sounds, which is a British band, like a new British version of The Meters or Booker T. And the Mg is kind of like an instrumental funk band. Really interesting. And it's a great platform for these independent musicians and they have a whole licensing wing. So hopefully one day one of my songs will show up in a TV show or commercial and like, that returns on investment. [31:02] Dr. mOe Anderson: I hope that for you. And again, congratulations. That's great news. A lot did happen during that period, but I saw some videos, I think, on YouTube, and I didn't jot down was a crab walk or crab tree. [31:20] Ivan Bodley: Crab walk. [31:22] Dr. mOe Anderson: I got to drop that in the show notes. You are hilarious. A talented musician, but also very funny and a great, great storyteller. Ivan. [31:32] Ivan Bodley: Oh, thank you. Yeah, that was another thing. During the Quarantine, I had all the time in the world to shoot my own little independent video clips to go with these projects. All that stuff is on YouTube as well. [31:43] Dr. mOe Anderson: And people can hear you and get engaged and they can connect with you on YouTube. But where else can people find you? Learn more about you download this book on Amazon guys, and my famous yet memoir of a working class rock star. But how can they connect with you online? [32:00] Ivan Bodley: The book is available as hardcover, soft cover, Kindle edition, as a podcast, as YouTube clips in any possible format that you consume. Media. I believe there's a version for you. Links to everything, everything are at my website, funkboy. Net. Funkboy. Net. Not Funky Boy. Funk Boy. Everybody spelling counts in this day and age. But it's got links to Amazon. It's got links to the YouTube stuff, it's got links to all of the recordings and way too many pictures of me standing next to famous people, which are highly amusing. [32:40] Dr. mOe Anderson: I think there is no such thing. I happen to love looking at videos and photos. And Instagram is leading the social media war right now because of their big focus on Photos. So keep posting those, keep doing your videos and keep making great music. You guys connect with Ivan. Follow him online. He is a fun and talented guy. And you just heard a story of perseverance, excellence and success. And for this moment, for this episode, I thank you. Ivan the famous Funkboy. [33:21] Ivan Bodley: Thank you so much, Doctor mOe. I really appreciate you taking interest in my work. [33:27] Dr. mOe Anderson: Wasn't that a great program? Oh, love that episode. I enjoyed it. I hope you did too. Please remember to like, subscribe and share. Learn more about me on my website, dr. Moanderson.com. That's Moe. You can read book excerpts, watch videos, learn about the services that I offer, and book me for a speaking engagement. I'd love to talk with your group and I'd love to work with you. So until the next time, review, renew and renew. Thank you.

One of the most liberal places in the US, both politically and theological, is Berkeley College in Berkeley, CA. We are going to hear about what happens when you share the Gospel with people on the campus.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Mayor Michelle Wu discusses her administration's strategy to combat climate change, as well as the rise of extremism in Boston, and the city's new Police Commissioner Michael Cox. She also answers listeners' questions during “Ask the Mayor.” Callie Crossley talks about teen activist Olivia Julianna's abortion fundraising off of Rep. Matt Gaetz's insulting her appearance, school segregation in the U.S., and National Chicken Wing Day. Crossley hosts GBH's Under the Radar and Basic Black. Charlie Sennott shares his thoughts on the latest from the war in Ukraine, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's potential trip to Taiwan, and the U.S. strategy to get WNBA player Brittney Griner back from Russia. Sennott is a news analyst for GBH and the founder of the GroundTruth Project. Sue O'Connell reacts to Gov. Charlie Baker signing a bill to protect abortion, Verizon deciding to drop One American News (OAN), and Republicans' hypocrisy concerning the same-sex marriage vote. O'Connell is the co-publisher of Bay Windows and South End News, and contributor to Current, on NBC L-X and NECN. Ron Savage and Larry Ward from the Cambridge Jazz Foundation talk about their work and the process of putting on the Cambridge Jazz Festival, and played some music. Ward is the executive producer of the Cambridge Jazz foundation. Savage is the Dean of the Professional Performance Division at the Berkeley College of music and the artistic director of Cambridge Jazz foundation. We end the show by asking listeners if they avoid working on Fridays.

Ivan Bakrac - is a Senior DeFi Market Strategist at ConsenSys, as well as Adjunct Professor in Blockchain Technologies & Decentralized Finance at Stevens Institute of Technology, and Adjunct Professor - Global Fintech: AI, Blockchain, Business Data Science at Berkeley College.Ajay Mittal - is a Senior Strategist, Cryptoeconomics at ConsenSys, as well as Co-Lead of Treasury at Friends With Benefits.James Chung - is a Senior DeFi Market Strategist, Cryptoeconomics at ConsenSys, as well as Founder at BANKR.David Shuttleworth - is a DeFi Economist at ConsenSys, with a history in HealthTech, data analytics, and token engineering.

You're well aware that this podcast is about public policy and so often we focus on that, but today, we're also bringing you the creative side of policy making. So many of the policies that we fight to implement are created as a way to protect and preserve our ability to be creative. We know that for many professionals, it's hard to be able to live a completely creative life, while balancing it with work and earning a living.   In a podcast first, we begin today's episode with a poem by our guest, Anita Balaraman. The poem is called “Doubt” and you can read it on Medium.com.   Anita never specifically sought out a creative life. Anita is a technology product leader with more than 10 years of experience in building technology products that delight the customer both in the B2B and B2C domain. She is also an adjunct faculty at UC Berkeley, teaching and coaching hi-tech product management. She is currently the founder of an early stage ed-tech startup. Most recently she led the digital customer experience practice at Cisco Systems, designing and launching enterprise solutions for customer experience. Prior to that, she led the product team at WalmartLabs launching products that combine machine learning, predictive analytics and personalization. She consults independently and on the board of technology startups in the advertising, ecommerce, and ed-tech space. Anita received her MS in toxicology and applied statistics, and an MBA, both from the University of California, Berkeley.   Experiencing Creativity As Anita has gotten older, her view of creativity is much different than it would have been when she was in her 20's. Now, it's more of having the ability to move forward, regardless of the constraints that are imposed upon you. We all deal with different challenges and constraints, and Anita sees creativity as almost being a river which flows around the boulders and roadblocks in our way. Your roadblocks are what make your path unique, but it's also what allows you to tap into that creativity.   Rethinking Overly Technical Job Descriptions   Recently, Anita published some research indicating that overly technical job descriptions can actually discourage some of the most creative people from applying for the job. The problem with that is in tech and cyber security, many minority populations are already underserved and these highly technical job descriptions can further exacerbate the problem.    Translating the Technical-Speak   One of the issues that many newly minted interns are seeing in their job searches is that job postings tend to lean heavily on engineering and technical data, and it seems as if they are only wanting applicants with very specific majors. The reality is that the technical data in the job posting rarely captures what the job actually is, and it doesn't show the impact that the employee will have in their role. So it almost takes some translation to let the job posting paint the picture of the actual role.   Hard Skills, Competencies and Skill Sets There is little doubt that many of the hard skills and competencies that a company would want could be clearly articulated in a job posting, but so often we default to a technical context that only attracts applicants with certain degrees. The reality is that most of the hard skills and competencies that a company would desire in a role would be possessed by applicants with a range of degrees.    There is a plethora of anecdotal evidence that these types of highly technical job postings discourage even the most skilled and qualified women or minorities from applying for the job. So, this segment of the population has removed themselves from the job pool and it becomes increasingly homogenous over time.   Multiple Streams of Income Having multiple roles and multiple streams of income can really broaden your skill set. This is especially true if one role requires you to be in touch with the technology for the sake of technology, and then maybe another role is in product development which would involve technology for the sake of a social reason, or to solve a problem. Then it becomes critical to stay in touch with customers and users, in addition to having a handle on the technology, so it's very beneficial.   You Have A Much Right As Anyone Else Jane Goodall is a world renowned expert on chimpanzees and other wildlife that she works to preserve, but Jane Goodall never even got a college degree. Her natural curiosity in chimpanzees drew her into her work and research and she made herself an expert. Jane's admonition to women who find themselves in a workplace or collaboration where they feel insecure about their credentials, or even as if they don't have the same brilliant mind as everyone else in the room was, “You have just as much right to be in the room as anybody else.” It's important for women to realize this and to pursue jobs they would be qualified for.   Women Leaving Tech There are some inherent blind spots in the struggle for equity in the workplace. As much as companies or males in the workplace try, they don't always get it right. Men, be careful about validating an experience or feeling of another person in terms of relating your own experience. When women hear a man say, “I felt that way too.” or “The same thing happened to me”, we understand that there is a societal contract that wants us to find commonality with our peers, but you are discounting the different starting point of the other person. You need to get through the layers to fundamentally understand how the experience from the same trigger could be different for other people who are different from you.   As we approach the future of work in some ways, how we think about STEM, how we think about cybersecurity being one of the STEM areas, how we think about equity, how we think about the purpose for the technology that's being built, it's becoming more and more critical. And having technology be for technology's sake, in some senses is a moot point, especially when you have the demand for these roles outstripping the supply. We need to be smarter, better at attracting the talent to opt into these fields and keep them there and enable them to do the work that they do. And we don't have the luxury of writing job descriptions or fostering an environment which in some ways is a weed out rather than opt in kind of a frame. Links: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Washingtech.org Berkeley College of Engineering Doubt, by Anita Balaraman An obedient child Never wild Begged to be schooled Never one to do, what she wants to. Somewhere in my teens I grew To my parents, a quarrelsome, defiant point of view. Aspired to cross the oceans blue To America for graduate school to pursue. Girls can't be safe, outside of parents' purview Unless she has a husband, never mind she is just twenty-two! In Berkeley, I was told you can be what you want to Even a brown girl with big starry eyes, can dream one day to be a researcher, a professional, or a professor someday. Worked hard, very hard, or at least I thought, For I've been given a chance, a really long shot. But told that I may never be a researcher sought There must be more than just the grades, I thought. Despite how hard I fought… Hiding my feminine brownness was like adding a nought[*]. Perhaps they are right, went my train of thought… Why else would I not see someone like me in doctoral gown? Oh don't be sad, said my loved ones around You can be happy, rich, and successful without a doctoral gown- hands down. Look at the valley of silicon and sand A dreamland of success, prestige and wealth For those that are committed to technology at hand. Yes, but my mind wandered… Where did I lose the defiance in my view? I really care about children and leukemia And I can build risk models that I learned in academia. But can you blame them if they did not trust The models I built that needed their process to adjust. I don't look like them, or speak like them The assumptions in my models are hard to trust. I found my kind, the brown variety, Who spoke bad English with no anxiety. The friends at home and those at work Looked and spoke like they belong to the same network. No apologies for being a vegetarian during team lunch Who clairvoyantly knew that salad wasn't a good munch. This must be beautiful- to feel like you belong Without having to rehearse your lines so I don't say something wrong. To work with the bunch where I hoped I belonged, I got another graduate degree, not the Ph.D. I longed. A business degree, hoping to correct the wronged. A Mom twice over, a wife and an employee, ‘you can't get promoted if you leave at 5', would annoy me. Benevolent prejudice, paternalism, and sexism: Belonging, I understood, with deep skepticism. A misfit perhaps, have always been A toxicologist, but not the wet-lab kind A technologist, but not an engineer's mind An entrepreneur, who venture capital declined An educator, living the adjunct grind A researcher, without the terminal degree- unrefined. Seeking belonging, but always unaligned. Perhaps down in my subconscious mind the fringes appeal more than the straight jacket kind? The fringes feed concern for mistakes, Suspended between two or more contradictory states. An indecision between belief and non-belief Hiding, somewhere, is a fictitious fig leaf? Belonging requires suspending the lunatic fringe To honor and reflect the collective doubt. But that is harder to live, day in and day out Easier it seems to simply not honor their doubts?

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but how much of our perception of what we perceive as 'beautiful' is being prescribed, moulded, and manipulated through marketing campaigns and products? What if beauty brands were regulated by a set of ethical standards that didn't allow them to prey on our insecurities to sell their products? Let's be real, beauty brands have a vested interest in you not feeling good about yourself, in you wanting to change something about your appearance or enhance your features; It's how they sell their products.      We're exploring all these topics and more today on the podcast, as Tahnee chats with prolific beauty industry journalist and author of The Unpublishable, Jessica DeFino. You may have read some of Jessica's articles in Vogue, Harper's BAZAAR, Allure, The New York Times, Elle, Cosmopolitan, or Marie Claire. Jessica has earned herself a reputation for debunking marketing myths, exposing the ugly truths behind beauty product ingredient lists, and as the HuffPost once put it, "basically giving the middle finger to the entire beauty industry". We love Jess for this and are so excited to share this podcast with you.   In this episode, Tahnee and Jessica deconstruct the beauty industry as we currently know it. The insidious impact patriarchy, white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism have on the industry, how things like colourism, sexism, and ageism are enforced constantly through marketing campaigns, the ethical dilemma of dermatologists offering (and often suggesting) aesthetic cosmetic procedures like Botox and fillers, the role of self-care as we age, and so much more. Most importantly, Jessica talks about the power individual behaviours have when it comes to shaping culture and the future of beauty culture for the better. Jessica also breaks down how and why we need to stop participating in this psychologically damaging industry that is the root cause of so many physiological and psychological disorders. There is so much in this episode; Jessica inspires transparency, truth, and the kind of beauty that can only come from within.     "I want the next generation of humans to feel worthy, to raise their voices, be seen, heard, acknowledged, accepted, and embraced by the people around them without worrying if they're pretty enough to ask for that acknowledgment and acceptance. And I mean, that's my whole motivation. I don't think anybody should feel the way myself and billions of people around the world currently feel. I want that to change. And the only way I know how to do it is to change myself and inspire the change in others".  - Jessica DeFino     Host and Guest discuss:   Botox. Topical steroids. Filter vs. Reality. Psychodermatology. The Skin/Brain connection. How meditation benefits the Skin barrier. The ploy of 'community' used in branding. The problem with the clean beauty industry. Jess's natural skincare routine and suggestions. The culture of consumerism and the beauty industry. Performative beauty masquerading as empowerment. Self Care; What It Means and How It Changes As We Age. Racism, colourism, sexism and ageism in the beauty industry. The Kardashian's, and the beauty standards they perpetuate. The most pressing health issue in beauty is the psychological harm of beauty standards.   Who is Jessica Defino? Jessica DeFino is a beauty reporter working to dismantle beauty standards, debunk marketing myths, and explore how beauty culture impacts people — physically, psychologically, and psychospiritually. Her work can be found in the New York Times, Vogue, Allure, and more. She also writes the beauty newsletter The Unpublishable.    CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON APPLE PODCAST    Resources: Jessica's website The Unpublishable Jessica's Instagram    Q: How Can I Support The SuperFeast Podcast? A: Tell all your friends and family and share online! We'd also love it if you could subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes. Or  check us out on Stitcher :)! Plus  we're on Spotify!   Check Out The Transcript Here:   Tahnee: (00:00) Hi everyone, and welcome to the SuperFeast Podcast. I'm here today with Jessica DeFino, who is one of my favourite follows on socials. She's also the author of The Unpublishable, which is this amazing newsletter you guys should all sign up to. I've heard you describe yourself as pro-skin/anti-beauty product. I love that. So yeah, thanks for joining us here, Jess. I'm really excited to have you.   Jessica DeFino: (00:23) Thank you so much for having me.   Tahnee: (00:25) Yeah, really, really cool. And you're such a prolific writer. You've been in the New York Times, Vogue, Marie Claire, all over the place, plus all of those amazing online platforms we have access to today. But then you're kind of this punk, which I love. You're sort of in the beauty world, but also tearing it apart from the inside. So would that be fair to say?   Jessica DeFino: (00:45) Yeah, I think that is fair to say. It's definitely a balancing act and a tight line to walk.   Tahnee: (00:56) Yeah. I often say to my husband, because I really respect that line you're walking, and I think any of us in any industry, it's really important to be critical of like the work that we do and the kind of culture and everything, and also to love and enjoy what we do. And I do get a sense that there's that sort of dance there for you. You really love what you do, but then there's also this like.   Jessica DeFino: (01:23) Exactly. I mean, the whole reason that I got into the beauty industry is out of love and out of a passion for it. And yeah, I think we do critique the things that we love the most because we want them to be the best possible version of what they can be and sort of serve the highest good. And currently, I don't think the beauty industry serves the highest good, and I think it can, and I would love to be part of that transition.   Tahnee: (01:47) Well, you're doing a good job of getting us there. So thank you. So how did that sort of manifest for you? You are obviously a writer. Did you sort of always want to get into the beauty space or were you drawn into it for a certain reason or?   Jessica DeFino: (02:01) No. I was always interested in writing. In college, I studied songwriting. I went to the Berkeley College of Music in Boston. And I sang, I played guitar and songwriting was my main passion. After school, I decided I wanted to be more in the music industry. So I pivoted. I moved to Los Angeles and I decided to work for a wardrobe stylist in the music industry. So I was assisting her on shoots and helping to cultivate the look for rock stars like Green Day and Linkin Park and Daughtry.   Jessica DeFino: (02:34) And that was really fun. And eventually I missed writing. And because I sort of had this foothold in the celebrity space, I pivoted it into celebrity lifestyle writing for magazines, which eventually led me to a job working for the Kardashians, which eventually led me into the beauty space. So it was a long winding path.   Tahnee: (02:58) Okay. So I have to stop at the Kardashians because I've never watched that show. But no matter how avoiding the Kardashians you are in life, they seem to be everywhere. What were you doing for them? What was that?   Jessica DeFino: (03:10) I was part of the launch team that created content for their official apps. So in 2015, all the Kardashian and Jenner sisters launched their own individual apps. And they had content that was fashion related, beauty related, lifestyle. I mostly did Khloe's app. I wrote her sex column. I wrote her beauty column.   Jessica DeFino: (03:32) So it was really funny. It was really fun. It was definitely a learning experience for me. And I think looking back that's part of what inspired me to get into the beauty industry. Well, for one, it was a high stress environment and my skin kind of freaked out during the time I was working there. So I started independently researching a lot about skincare and beauty.   Jessica DeFino: (03:57) And then working for these women, you sort of see how beauty standards are created, and how they are consumed, and how that is a very strategic thing in order to get clicks and sell products. And so I started deconstructing that in my head and applying it to different aspects of the beauty industry. And eventually I was like, "You know what? This is super messed up. I want to do something about it."   Tahnee: (04:27) Well, that's kind of what made me start with that, that name in particular because I feel like they've really shaped, I guess ... Again, I'm not sort of someone who's super across all the trends with face things. But people have the skin that's really shiny and the implants and all the injections and all of these things these days. And it's like I really see they were part of that first wave of celebrities that were really, I guess, pushing that. And they're such an interesting family because they have sort of darker skin, but they're not black and they're sort of in this weird world. What sort of has come from that for you? You are obviously, I love how you call it dewy, diet culture. It's one of my favourite things. But where have you landed after this sort of journey from the Kardashians to now?   Jessica DeFino: (05:17) From the Kardashians? Well, when I started, I truly did think that they were great examples of empowered business women. I really thought like, "Wow! These people started out with not much talent to work with, and they've created these huge empires. And how amazing is that?" And that was definitely an early part of my own feminist learning and understanding, and journey.   Jessica DeFino: (05:43) And now where I am is recognising that those things aren't necessarily empowerment because that sort of empowerment within a patriarchal culture, what kind of power is that truly. I'm less interested in those forms of power and beauty as capital, and infiltrating the male business world as capital. And I'm more interested in chasing collective liberation, which I think looks very different.   Tahnee: (06:16) So where does beauty even sit in that, because I think that's such an interesting ... My partner and I talk about this as well. We're both white, fairly attractive people who run a Taoist tonic herb company. And I have to think if I was Chinese, I probably wouldn't be as successful as I am just because of the way our culture reflects back that sort of stereotype. And it's something I sit with a lot and I don't have any answers about yet. But I think it's a really interesting time because beauty does give us leverage and it does give us space in the world to take up.   Jessica DeFino: (06:53) I think an interesting path to go down, if you are interested in learn more about that and learning more about beauty and how these standards evolved, is just getting into the history of beauty standards. And when you do dive into the history, I wrote a pretty long article on that for Teen Vogue, if anybody wants to Google it, about the origins of beauty standards. But basically beauty standards all came about through four particular forces in society, patriarchy, white supremacy, colonialism and capitalism. Any beauty standard from the beginning of time can be traced back to one of those things.   Jessica DeFino: (07:35) Beauty standards are how things like racism, colorism, sexism and ageism are enforced. These aren't just fun things, even though we tend to think of them that way now. These standards emerged to support these sort of more nefarious societal forces and to, not to get too conspiracy theorists about it, but convince us to reinforce these social structures. So when we are participating in beauty standards, a lot of the time we are reinforcing the very societal structures that oppress us and we don't even know it.   Tahnee: (08:16) I think that's such an important mic drop moment because we are all co-creating and participating in the ongoing perpetuation of these forms without any awareness around how we're actually contributing to that. And that's what I've loved about your work. You're really trying to bring that to the fore. And for me, it's been a big sort of, I think obviously that's been happening in my life for a while. But then your work has really helped me give words, I guess, to sort of some of the stuff that's been brewing in my thinking, because I did some modelling when I was younger and it was quite toxic for me.   Tahnee: (08:55) I know some people don't have that experience. But I had an eating disorder. I felt like people were constantly looking at me and judging me and just it really turned this kind of cog in me that made me very self aware and very uncomfortable. And I've noticed myself over the last probably 20 years just like I don't by stuff anymore. I barely use anything on my skin. My skin seems to be about the same as when I used all the things. It's really funny. Kind of as I decondition myself, it's like my life becomes a lot simpler.   Jessica DeFino: (09:29) Yeah. What strikes me there is that we often hear in the mainstream media beauty sort of touted as this path to empowerment, and beauty is empowering, and beauty builds confidence. And sometimes those things can be true. But more often what beauty culture does is it disempowers us because studies show that it contributes to things like anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, self harm, and even suicide.   Jessica DeFino: (10:00) So it's really important to examine when we hear this beauty product is empowering or this thing is self care, because the flip side of that is that this disproportionate focus on our physical bodies actually leads to all of those things that I just mentioned. So we sort of have to weigh that and say, "Okay. Is the confidence that I get from getting this injection of Botox worth the anxiety that I get from now constantly worrying about my wrinkles for the rest of my life?"   Tahnee: (10:39) That's a tricky one. I know people in their twenties now getting Botox and I'm like, "Woo." And I think that's ... I mean, you've lived in LA. There's certain pockets where that pressure is really high for people. And I think it's definitely an interesting time to be a human. And that's something I really appreciate about your critique is you talk about this idea of brands and how they perpetuate this idea of community. And again, my brand is probably contributing to that in some way. But I think that's a really interesting conversation again around well, if someone is just getting money out of you and really selling you a narrative, is that actually a community, and is that actually sort of something you want to be a part of? Can you speak a little bit to that sort of, cause I see that as a theme in your work?   Jessica DeFino: (11:27) Yeah. I mean, I think community has become this sort of catch phrase that brands are using now. And it's an attractive one and it's one that really grabs our attention because I think as humans we crave community. Humans are creatures of community. We crave it on a biological, instinctual level. And because we have been so steeped in this culture of consumerism, we can't really see out of it. We don't really see any different. And it's really easy to latch onto this idea that this brand is my community and the other people that buy from this brand are also my community.   Jessica DeFino: (12:08) But it's not a community. There's inherently a power and balance in that relationship in that a brand's main interest is always going to be their financial interest. Brands don't do things unless they further the brand and make the brand money and further their reach. If something that is good for the customer also comes out of it, that's a bonus. But that is never the initial goal. The initial goal is to make a living. And so that inherently creates this power imbalance with brand and customer. And to call that a community is just, I think it's a little bit a psychological mind fuckery. I don't know if I can say that on you podcast.   Tahnee: (12:49) Of course, you can. Feel free. I think that's a really interesting ... So you probably don't know this, but I used to be a yoga teacher full-time and had a studio. And I found that really interesting when I worked in yoga before having my own business that, this is probably not a great thing to say. I won't name names. But people would talk behind students' backs and kind of be quite critical. But then to their faces, do the whole yoga thing.   Tahnee: (13:21) And similarly, within the teaching community, there was a lot of backstabbing and kind of really awful behaviour, and then this front facing kumbaya, look how spiritual we all are kind of stuff. And I found it really challenging and kind of went off and did my own thing. It was financially successful enough for me, but I really notice that when you focus on that community aspect, so much energy, so much time, so much of yourself and you can see why that's not a commercial proposition for most businesses. It's not a way to go and make you millions. But rewarding for other reasons. But I think it's like that word has become so loaded and so misused that it's really tricky now to even know what people mean when they say community, especially.   Jessica DeFino: (14:10) I mean, it's just, especially with beauty, beauty brands have a vested interest in you not feeling good about yourself. They have a vested interest in you wanting to change something about your appearance or not thinking your current appearance is enough as it is. And whether they frame that as "fixing your flaws" or "enhancing your good features", which sort of means the same thing, the baseline has to be there in order for them to be successful. You have to think your good features aren't enhanced enough. You have to think that your flaws aren't fixed.   Jessica DeFino: (14:50) I always like to use the Dove campaign, that everybody is beautiful campaign from years and years ago. That was kind of their first body positive thing. It was founded on this marketing idea of empowerment, and we're going to make everybody feel beautiful. But again, in order for a campaign like that to succeed long term, depends on most customers not feeling beautiful and needing to buy into this message of confidence and empowerment. So your insecurity has to be there in order for these brands to survive even if their marketing message seems positive.   Tahnee: (15:28) I do know. And I don't see that much difference you in the wellness space, if I'm honest. I know I seem to make those comparisons. And I think that's something that I'm aware of in terms of the world we live in, which I guess like you Americans, that sort of we are a version of Moon Juice or those kinds of companies here, obviously with less of a fashion focus than they have. But I think it's a really interesting thing because it's like the premise can be literally there's something wrong with you. You need to buy X, Y and Z to be healthier, or better, or in this perpetual grind toward optimization and stuff, kind of improvement. So can you speak a little bit to that, how you see that overlap up between wellness and beauty in what's happening?   Jessica DeFino: (16:16) Well, I think what has been happening more so is that the shift in messaging is less about outer beauty and physical appearance as it is health. Health has sort of become the beauty standard. And now of course we associate health with having all of these aesthetic markers that are not necessarily signs of health. For instance, beauty brands will use glowing glass skin, healthy skin, and glass skin. That look is not a marker of health. That's not what healthy skin looks like.   Jessica DeFino: (16:57) And I think wellness brands will do the same thing. They'll use health as this marker, but the things that they're positioning as health are not necessarily health, or maybe they are, but it's not going to be fixed by a supplement or a tincture. A lot of the problems that wellness brands are trying to solve are structural societal problems that require collective action and policy change, and not just a stress relieving tincture. So sure, a stress relieving tincture might help. But it's not actually solving the underlying problem. And I think if brands don't acknowledge that, it's pretty disingenuous.   Tahnee: (17:39) So it's really pointing to root cause, which is one of those foundations of neuropathy. And all of these, in theory, wellness things anyway, rather than going at what's the outside symptom.   Jessica DeFino: (17:51) Exactly. Which is so ironic for a lot of wellness brands because they claim to be treating root cause. A lot of the wellness philosophy comes from root cause medicine and holisticism and or holism and and all of that. And still, they're stopping at individual solutions rather than looking wider to systemic solutions. And again, that's not to say you can't do both. As a brand, you can of course say, "Hey, this blend of ashwagandha and whatever might help you feel less stressed throughout the day. And also-   Tahnee: (18:28) So you can go tackle the patriarchy.   Jessica DeFino: (18:31) Here are the systemic reasons why you're feeling stressed, and here is how we as a brand are going to encourage change in those areas too.   Tahnee: (18:41) Well, I think that's such a, not trying to point the finger at America, but that individual pull yourself up by bootstraps. That's such a cultural ... When I was at uni, we studied cultural colonialism. And it's something that really landed for me is how much we've digested that American like, "You can do it." But then it really takes out that we do need to come together as a community and there's this sort of usefulness in us having these conversations to together and sharing them widely. So I noticed that's changing in America slowly, I think, maybe. Are you saying that?   Jessica DeFino: (19:21) I think so. I think, again, it starts with buzzword. And that's not exactly a bad thing. But like just how we set ed brands are starting to use community. Okay, it feels a little disingenuous. But also, okay, it's getting the idea of community out into the collective consciousness and we can start valuing that more. So I am hearing more community, collectivism, collective care. And that feels really good. And I think what needs to happen is just sort of taking that next step from absorbing it as a marketing term and adopting it as a way of life.   Tahnee: (20:00) Yeah. And actually changing culture and letting that filter through. I wanted to step back to self care because you mentioned that before and it's something. I guess we both using Instagram. It's kind of one of those things that always makes me cringe a little bit when I see someone with their bubble bath and their face mask, whatever. And for me, self care has a pretty different definition, especially being a mom. It's usually like my practise and meditation and sleep. They're my pillars. But I'm interested for you obviously having been in the beauty industry and now sort of holding this space of holding up a mirror literally to this strange industry, how has self-care changed or been redefined for you over the last sort of decade or so?   Jessica DeFino: (20:47) I think for sure, I used to definitely give into the brand focused definition of self care as being like, "I'm going to do a face mask, and I'm going to take a bubble bath, and even I'm going to go for a run, or I'm going to exercise." And I mean, those are all valid things. It took me a really long time to realise, or not to realise, but to embody and incorporate the idea that yourself isn't your skin, and yourself isn't your body. Yourself is your values, your purpose, your passions, your deeper wants and needs, your emotions. And all of those things require care too.   Jessica DeFino: (21:33) So if my self-care stops at a face mask, it's literally stopping at the surface, not actually addressing the self. It's just addressing the fleshy coating that encapsulates my spiritual self. So just having that sort of aha moment was huge for me, which is not to say that I'm necessarily great at self-care. I still work too much and don't take time every day to meditate, and don't particularly feel like I'm in a season of my life where I am actively caring for myself the way that I should. But at least I have an awareness about it now. Is that any better? I don't know.   Tahnee: (22:16) I think so. I think that's a step. I mean, my experience is similar of being this, even though I'm a yoga teacher, been practising since I was 15. At the beginning, if I'm really truly honest, I was practising because I didn't want to get fat and I wanted to have a strong body and a healthy body. But it was quite an external motivation. It wasn't to connect to myself or to feel more calm in my existence or whatever. Now it's literally this thing that reminds me of my spaciousness and my connection to life and nature and all of it, and why I'm a mother, and why I'm ... But that took me, I'm 36. I would say in the last 10 years, that's really landed for me. But that's a long time with one discipline really to get to a place of not using it to beat myself up, I suppose. And I think it's a process.   Jessica DeFino: (23:15) Yeah. And it's also fine because I have said many times before that vanity was my entry point to wellness. So the reason I started meditating was because my skin was so inflamed, and I had been through the ringer with dermatologist. I had been on a prescription steroid treatment. It actually really damaged my skin. I went to topical steroid withdrawal and I couldn't put products on my skin.   Jessica DeFino: (23:40) And so I started looking at stress reducing exercises to sort of minimise the impact of stress on my skin because you get stress breakouts, stress can cause acne and rosacea, all of that. So I was like, "Okay, I'm going to clear my skin." So I started meditating. And it was for purely vein reasons. And then once I got into the practice, it expanded and it became so much more. And it became not about my appearance at all. So I think it's fine to have these sort of vein superficial pursuits be your entry point, as long as you are able to cultivate that awareness and allow yourself to expand further and maybe even use it to let go of the original vanity and the original superficial reason why.   Tahnee: (24:33) I think that's so true because that sort of evolution of self has to be honoured and acknowledged. And I think that's probably what I see as so insidious about the kind of those four pillars you were talking about of patriarch and white supremacy and all these things. It's like it's so insidious and it's designed to really trap us in this cycle. And I actually do think it takes quite a lot of strength and self awareness to step out of that. And then I think what you are doing to sort of help raise collective awareness about these things, it's a big task and it's not ... So I think however people get there, it's great.   Jessica DeFino: (25:14) And it's also not easy. So I know like my work and my writing can come off as very harsh. And people will sort of come at me for it and be like, "I don't want to let of this certain beauty procedure or my Botox appointment or my lipstick. And I don't think you should be telling people to let go of these things. And how dare you? And blah, blah, blah." And that's a valid perspective too. And I think what we all need to realise is that so many of us have formed these beauty habit and these beauty behaviours as a coping mechanism. We are coping in a world where we are judged by our beauty. And it has material effects on the quality of our life. "Pretty people" make more money, get better jobs, have better social standings, have better legal outcomes even. There are material benefits to performing beauty.   Jessica DeFino: (26:11) And so when we develop these habits and these behaviours, those are natural and totally understandable reactions to living within a world that judges us based on our outside appearance. And then I also think we need to acknowledge that as we slowly let go of these behaviours, we are changing the culture that instilled them within us. We have that power collectively to change the way things are. And I personally think that it has to start with us individually and collectively deciding to stop participating if and when that is emotionally available to us.   Jessica DeFino: (27:00) If abandoning a beauty behaviour is giving you extreme anxiety and affecting the quality of your life, don't do that. Work on the anxiety thing first. And then maybe later in your life, you will start to let go of the beauty behaviour that prompted it. But there's a balance there where you have to protect your mental wellbeing, while also divesting from this industry and this culture that tells us our appearance is the most important thing about us.   Tahnee: (27:33) So you're still a fairly young woman like me. I often think, I'm not going to speak about other people. But for myself, I've often been like, "When I'm 60, I'll just kick around with my grey hair and not worry about how I look." But that was definitely more so in my 20s. As I'm getting older, I'm sort of integrating more. But how do you personally dance this dance between performative beauty and, I suppose, I guess wanting to present? I love mascara. I have blonde eyelashes. Mascara makes me happy. Those are things that I don't want to give up. Are there things for you that sort of still draw you into this world or?   Jessica DeFino: (28:14) Yeah. I mean, I think the big thing for me is my eyebrows. So I have, it's a mental disorder called trichotillomania, called hair pulling disorder. So when I get really anxious, I actually pick out my eyebrows. And I can't help it. I can't stop it. There is no approved treatment for it. It's just something that I do, and I've done since I was 16. And seeing my bald eyebrows is really traumatising for me. It makes me even more anxious, and then I pick even more.   Jessica DeFino: (28:51) So for me, eyebrow makeup and microblading is something that I'm currently not emotionally able to let go of because it does affect my quality of life if my eyebrows are completely bald, because it triggers the trichotillomania. It makes me remember of like, "Look what you've done to yourself." It starts it all over again. And so I always use that as an example of like this is not a safe beauty behaviour for me to let go of because it harms me to let go of it at this point. I'm working on that emotionally and maybe be someday I will be able to let go of that. And that would be a beautiful thing.   Jessica DeFino: (29:30) And I think I also still have a lot of anxiety around my acne scars. I have had pretty severe cystic acne since I was 14, 15. I've gone through the ringer for treatments of it. And I've done a lot of work to not have to wear a full face of makeup every day. I mean, in my early 20s, I would put on liquid foundation, concealer powder, lipstick, eye line, all of it to go to CVS for toilet paper. I could not be seen without it.   Jessica DeFino: (30:00) And now I pretty much don't wear makeup. But in social situations where I need like a little bit of cushioning to not feel different or weird or ugly, I have gotten down to just tinted moisturiser, a little concealer, blush and eyebrows. Those are my four. And I would love to be at a place where I felt like I didn't need makeup in those situations. But I still do feel like I need it. And so I'm slowly easing my way out of it and being gentle with myself when I do need that sort of skincare security blanket.   Tahnee: (30:42) I think it's such an important thing to talk about because I have a little girl. She's five, or she'll be five in two days. I'm making a rainbow cake right now. It's highly stressful.   Jessica DeFino: (30:53) Oh, so cute.   Tahnee: (30:56) But I watch her. I'm like you. My makeup kit is literally tinted moisturiser, a blush thing, mascara and an eyebrow grooming tool. But I will put that stuff on before we go out for dinner or do some kind of an event of some kind. And I've just watched her, without any encouragement from me, sort of integrate this idea that she now has to ... She doesn't sort of want to put it on every day or whatever. But if she sees my little makeup kit lying there, she'll grab it and she'll start putting on blush. And she'll ask me if she looks pretty, and this part of me dies. I'm like, "Oh my God! What have I done to her?" And then this other part of me is like, "This is life and we kind of have to navigate these things with our kids."   Tahnee: (31:46) But it's been a really interesting dance because I've sort of, I was raised with a mom who didn't really wear makeup at all. And in many ways, I found her lack of self care and presentation almost a bit confronting. It was like can you at least try? Can you put on some ... So it's this sort of interesting thing. And I haven't got any answers at all. But I think we all have to find a space where we're comfortable with what we're putting out there. And I think the piece that you really have been pointing to and we've been dancing around is it's that conscious awareness and choosing what we engage with and what we don't, as opposed to being unconsciously moulded by an industry that's designed to be very toxic for us.   Jessica DeFino: (32:27) Yeah. I mean, I think the mother daughter pipeline is such a powerful example of how individual behaviours shape culture, and how working on our individual behaviours and changing our individual behaviours can shape the future of beauty culture to be better, to be safer, to not be as stifling and suffocating. I think a lot of times people read my work and they think that I have completely freed myself from the pressure of beauty standards. And that's not true at all. I feel so weighed down by the pressure to be beautiful or to look a certain way or to ... I feel that all the time, that I'm not good enough, I'm not pretty enough, I'm not beautiful enough to use my voice in the particular space. I am not pretty enough to be looked at and to be like a public figure or whatever.   Jessica DeFino: (33:25) And so many people feel that. And that is my main motivation, is like nobody should feel that way. I want the next generation of humans to feel worthy raising of their voice and being seen, and heard, and acknowledged, and accepted, and just embraced by the people around them without worrying about if they're pretty enough to ask for that acknowledgement and acceptance. And I mean, that's my whole motivation. I don't think anybody should feel the way that I know I feel, and it sounds like you have felt and millions and billions of people around the world feel currently. I just want that to change. And the only way I know how to do it is to change myself and inspire it in others.   Tahnee:  (34:15) Yeah. I think that one thing, this is weird. It's sort of a segue, but it's linked. My husband, when I first got with him, I was like, "You don't use anything." Literally, the guy doesn't use shampoo, he doesn't use soap. He doesn't. He literally goes in the shower, kind of maybe every now and then he'll use Dr. Bronner's on his armpits or something. Seriously, his little man bag when we travel is toothbrush, toothpaste, not even a hairbrush, a hair tie. And I'm like, "Hang on a second. This person-   Jessica DeFino: (34:49) And I bet he has fine hair and skin.   Tahnee: (34:52) No, beautiful hair and skin. I'm always like, "What the fuck? How come you have this amazing hair and this amazing skin and you've never used any of the stuff?"   Jessica DeFino: (35:06) That's the secret.   Tahnee: (35:08) I know. So I'm interested in this because my daughter, we've never used shampoo and things on her. We've used some conditioner because she has my hand. It gets really tangled. And she barely uses soap, all of these things. And I guess kind of inspired by my husband. I haven't quite got to his level of self corporation. But I'm really interested in that because I mean, yes, patriarchy. But bodies, they're sort of not these filthy beasts that can't take care of themselves. They have these self cleaning mechanisms. You speak about this a little bit. What's your kind of current deep dive into this world? How is that?   Jessica DeFino: (35:46) Sure. Well, I always like to say human skin survived and thrived for literally millennia before pre-bottled products were invented. So it's fine. It's truly fine to not use almost anything. The skin has built-in mechanisms to self cleanse, self moisturise, self exfoliate, self heal, and self protect. And oftentimes what we do when we apply all of these products, and again, not again, but a reminder, your scalp is skin. So this stuff applies to hair as well. When we add all of these external products, we actually interrupt the skin's inherent functions and we change the signals they get, because sort of the extension of your skin is the environment. It gets a lot of its cues out how much sebum to produce or how many dead skin cells to shed from the environment it's in.   Jessica DeFino: (36:42) So when you sort of cut off the connection to that environment with skincare products, you interrupt these mechanisms and they kind of go haywire. And then you become dependent on the products to keep your skin in that cycle because your skin hasn't needed to interact with its actual environment and figure out how to regulate itself. So oftentimes when you just stop using products, it'll take a week, two weeks, sometimes a month. A skin cycle is 28 days. So that's what I generally recommend. When you stop using these products, you'll find that skin self regulates and you actually don't need many products or sometimes even any products. Of course there are like some modern changes to the environment that we can account for. For instance, pollution levels are a lot higher, sun exposure is a lot more harsh.   Tahnee: (37:37) Air conditioning.   Jessica DeFino: (37:37) Yeah, exactly. So SPF, great. Sometimes your skin will need a little bit more moisture in that case. I love to use Jojoba oil on damp skin. Jojoba oil is like a 97% chemical match to human sebum. So your skin really responds well to it as if it were it's own. And I personally cleanse with Manuka Honey, and really-   Tahnee:  (38:03) I've seen you talk about that.   Jessica DeFino: (38:04) I love Manuka, but-   Tahnee:  (38:05) Well, I love it too. But I mean, I tend to use it on wounds and internally. So what's your take on skincare? I've used as a mask before.   Jessica DeFino: (38:14) Yeah. Well, exactly. It's used in hospitals for wound healing, for burn healing. And that's because it really supports the skin's inherent repair and healing mechanisms. So if your skin is acne prone or eczema prone, or psoriasis, rosacea, any of those big skin issues, Manuka is beautiful. It's so great for it because it supports your skin's inherent healing. It's a prebiotic. So it supports your skin's microbiome. It's food for all of those great beneficial bacteria that live on your skin. It's full of antioxidants. Antioxidants are great for fighting free radicals like pollution particles. There are just so many things. It's also humectant. So it draws moisture into your skin. So your skin is able to stay moisturised on its own. It's just, to me, a perfect product. Of course, if you don't have prevalent skin issues, a normal honey will usually do the trick. It has a lot of the same properties. It's just that Manuka has really special healing properties.   Tahnee: (39:25) Yeah. So you're talking about, they're the ones we use medicinally, they're the ones with the pluses. I can't remember what the compound is right now. I should know.   Jessica DeFino: (39:33) It's called the UMF rating. Unique Manuka Factor. So for skincare, if you're using it topically for its healing properties, you want to look for a UMF plus rating of 15 or higher.   Tahnee: (39:47) Yeah. Because I think it can go quite higher from memory. The New Zealand honey industry is thanking you right now for the plug. Well, I guess on a really practical note, it's very sticky. So how do you get around that?   Jessica DeFino: (40:01) Well, I mean I use it as a cleanser. So I will splash my face with water and then just take like a finger full and massage it onto your face for about a minute, and then wash it off. It's really not sticky at all. If you're doing it as a face mask, yeah, it'll be a little sticky. You're not going to be running around the house in it. But you also can't run around the house in a sheet mask. So take those 15 minutes to just chill. Don't touch your face. You'll be fine.   Tahnee: (40:31) Yeah, great. And I mean, are there other things you've sort of changed in your routine from your little research dives? Or like what else are you looking into?   Jessica DeFino: (40:41) Yeah. I mean, the bulk of my like "skincare routine" is mindfulness practices because one of the most fascinating finds of my skincare research has been the field of psychodermatology, which focuses on the skin brain connection. So the skin, the gut and the brain, it's called the gut brain skin axis, are all connected. They form from the same bit of embryonic tissue in utero, and there they form these pathways and these connections that are there for life. So that's why what you eat can affect your skin. It's the gut skin connection. And even what you think can affect your skin. That's the skin brain connection. And we usually see this in more negative settings. So if you're stressed out, and you get a stress pimple, anxiety acne, or when you're embarrassed and you blush, or when you're scared and the colour drains from your face. These are all everyday examples of the skin brain connection.   Jessica DeFino: (41:39) What I found in my research is that it actually goes the other way. So if you actively cultivate a calmer mindset, it results in calmer skin. So for instance, meditation strengthens the skin barrier. It makes your skin are able to hold in moisture. So it actually does create that, we call it, an inner glow. But it's actually an outer glow. It's actually your skin barrier getting stronger and being better able to hold onto moisture and producing balanced levels of oils. So that has been fascinating to me. So I try to incorporate practices like that in my routine.   Jessica DeFino: (42:15) And then a big thing for me was researching the skin barrier and realising that, it sounds so obvious. But your skin is built from within. Your skin cells come from the deepest layer of your skin, work their way out and then eventually shut off. So you're focusing on putting skincare on your face, you're caring for them at the final stages of their life.   Tahnee: (42:41) It's like palliative care.   Jessica DeFino: (42:45) Exactly. If you focus on consuming the nutrients that your skin needs to create healthy skin cells, you're great and you're actually not irritating your skin barrier with external products. So omega-3s and omega-6s are huge for the skin barrier. They're essential fatty acids. They are integral to skin barrier function and the body can't produce them on its own. It can only get them via diet. So once I started incorporating omega-3s into my diet through a supplement, but also through like salmon, nuts and seeds are huge sources of omegas, my skin saw the results of that very quickly. And that's goes onto your skin.   Tahnee: (43:29) And that's going to be overall. Yeah. I was going to say feel better.   Jessica DeFino: (43:30) Exactly. I mean, it's great for brain function, for hormones, for heart health. They're so important. And also yeah, it makes you glow. So why not?   Tahnee: : (43:40) Win-win.   Jessica DeFino: (43:42) Exactly.   Tahnee: (43:44) And topically, you're sort of just sticking to really simple stuff like you.   Jessica DeFino: (43:47) Yeah. Topically, I don't do much. Honestly, the best thing you can do for your skin is leave it alone. It does so much for you, and it doesn't really want to be bothered. So I really don't wash my face in the mornings. Sometimes I'll spritz it with water if I need to, and I'll put on a little bit of jojoba oil if it's feeling dry. On damp skin and if I'm going outside, mineral SPF. And then at night, I'll wash off the SPF or any makeup that I have on with jojoba oil as an oil cleanser, Manuka honey as a cleanser. And then that's it. I love to leave my skin bare overnight because overnight is when a lot of the skin's repair and renewal processes take place. And again, it needs to interact with your environment in order to do those to the best of its ability. So I just love a skincare free evening.   Tahnee: (44:43) Well, it's so interesting you say all of that because I've landed at a similar place. I basically use jojoba, if I do wear mascara, to get that off and then I wipe my face with a cloth at night, and then I wipe my face with water in the morning. And that's pretty much it. If it's dry, I'll use oil.   Jessica DeFino: (45:02) I love that.   Tahnee: (45:05) Like you said, it took a little while for my skin to sort of, I think probably like a month, just to feel like it was ... It was a bit patchy, I think, or something. I just remember it not being amazing for a little bit. And then it was totally fine.   Jessica DeFino: (45:19) Yeah. And part of that process is also like letting go of these arbitrary aesthetic expectations that we have placed on our skin. Your skin's not going to glow like a piece of freshly polished glass from doing nothing to it. But that's also because your skin is not supposed to glow like a freshly polished piece of glass. Things-   Tahnee: (45:41) Does that basically mean you've taken off, because it sort of seems to me you're taking off that protective ... My understanding is the skin's more mechanical. But it's a protective area and it's meant to be there, and you shouldn't probably be exactly deleting it.   Jessica DeFino: (45:53) Yeah, exactly. Everything that's happening on your skin is happening for a reason. It's meant to have a barrier for a reason. Dead skin cells are there for a reason. They're actually really important to skin functioning. And actually, your dead skin cells are the only skin cells that are equipped to hold external moisture. So when you absorb moisture from the environment rather than drinking it, your dead skin cells are the only cells that can actually do that. So if you're exfoliating them away every day, your skin is going to be dry.   Tahnee: (46:24) Then you need more moisturising things, and vicious cycle.   Jessica DeFino: (46:29) Yeah, it's important. Yes. It's important to just keep everything in place. And the reason that we have, part of the reason that we have come to repeatedly damage our skin through skincare and think that it looks good is because we're actually creating these micro injuries on the surface of our skin every time we do that. So for instance, intense exfoliation will often make you look very smooth and shiny. And we like that. And so we keep chasing that. What that is is your skin's repair process kicking in. When it's injured, your skin, your body, sends all of these healing nutrients and molecules to the surface, collagen, hyaluronic acid, which are supposed to be in the deeper layers of your skin, all of these other things. They flood the injured area with nutrients to sort of heal and repair. And we think that looks good because suddenly we're getting this rush of blood to the surface and all of these good molecules. And what it is is it's a response to injury. And we shouldn't have that happening all the time. [crosstalk 00:47:37].   Tahnee: (47:37) It sounds like a drain on our resources as well.   Jessica DeFino: (47:39) Exactly. Your skin doesn't want to be in repair mode constantly. So I think with glass skin and things like that, we've sort of normalised the look of injury, which again, traces back to capitalism because if you're constantly injuring your skin, you constantly have to repair your skin. And it's just a process that requires product after product, after product with no end in sight. And if you sort of chill and let your skin re-regulate, you can honestly wean yourself off of most of those products.   Tahnee: (48:10) It feels like it's gotten worse since Instagram. I don't know if I'm sort of ... Like I said, I don't really, my one kind of delve into this world, which my husband finds really funny is every now and then I read Into The Gloss Top Shelf, just because I find it incredibly amusing how much shit people have.   Jessica DeFino: (48:27) It is fascinating.   Tahnee: (48:29) Yeah. And I get down into this like, "Wow! This person uses 93 creams in the morning or whatever. And how do they have time? And they must be so rich." And anyway, it's just this funny little reality TV show world of mine. But that, sort of I've noticed. I remember when I first started reading, which would've probably been five or six years ago maybe, there was a lot more sort of, it was quite simple, I feel like, whereas now it feels like people are using a lot of different things. And you see these skin care routines that are 9,000 steps. And I wonder is that because, do you think that's in part because of this filter culture? And I mean, you call everyone dewy dust bunnies, which I love. But there does seem to be, and actually another thing you wrote, which I really loved was like is this fear of dead skin cells related to our fear of death?   Jessica DeFino: (49:21) Oh, yeah.   Tahnee: (49:24) I think it's a really interesting thing because it's like we've suddenly kind of got this platform where people are sharing these kind of quite synthetic versions of themselves. And then we're trying to match our 3D reality to this thing. And it's a bit of a concern.   Jessica DeFino: (49:38) It's so much. I think there are a lot of factors at play there. I think one of them is just that's the nature of consumerism. It's this constant need for more and more and more and more and more. And we've seen that grow in real time through Instagram. I think too, this skincare boom that sort of started with Glossier, beauty has always been messaged as this ethical, moral imperative. It's always been this ethical idea. Beauty historically has been associated with goodness. And so we sort of feel this moral obligation to be as beautiful as possible.   Jessica DeFino: (50:14) Recently, I think through the start of COVID, science has sort of been messaged as this ethical ideal as well, western science. And health has always been an ethical ideal. Of course, these things are not moral, but they have been messaged as such. And so with skincare, you get a lot. You get this sort of moral validation of, "Oh! This is something I'm doing for my health." Even though it's mostly just aesthetic, it's messaged as a healthcare thing and a self care thing. And so that feels really good. And so people are emboldened to share more of it and do more of it.   Jessica DeFino: (50:56) And then there's also this scientific intellectual aspect of skincare where people are just over the top about knowing everything about this particular active ingredient, and whether this ingredient mixes with this ingredient, and what this other ingredient does to your skin. So skincare offers a lot of ways to sort of show off and feel good about yourself. There's the science intellectual aspect, there's the health aspect and there's the beauty aspect. So I think all of those combined into this huge, just overwhelming mass of just skincare bullshit.   Jessica DeFino: (51:29) And then also, as you said, the filter thing is for sure part of it. We're seeing people through filters, and we're seeing less of people in person, especially again through COVID. So we're getting all of our information about what human skin looks like we're seeing through a screen, and we're actually not getting any validation of what real human skin looks like in person, because we're really not seeing people. Most of our interactions are through a screen, through a filter, through lighting, through all of these things that warp our perception of what our skin is supposed to look like.   Jessica DeFino: (52:07) So we're seeing everybody else out there looking "perfect" and we're seeing our actual skin, in an actual mirror, with no filter and we're saying, "Oh my God, what's wrong with me?" And so we start buying and applying all these products to try and match our real life skin to this sort of virtual ideal that doesn't exist in real life. And all of it is just this huge recipe you for, one, consumerism, and two, just skin stress.   Tahnee: (52:34) Insecurity. I think that filter, I'm thinking about the metaverse right now, whatever Facebook. I'm like, "Oh God, this is going to get more interesting." I mean, you've spoken a bit about, I guess we've sort of touched more on what I would say the conventional beauty industry. But clean beauty has become this thing in the last again maybe decade. I'm not really sure on the timelines. And it's sort of the same thing, right? Are you seeing any distinction in this clean beauty space or what's your rate on this trend?   Jessica DeFino: (53:11) I think the ethos behind clean beauty is admirable and necessary. There are a lot of unnecessary ingredients in our beauty products. There are a lot of potentially harmful ingredients in our beauty products and the science bears this out.   Tahnee:  (53:27) Well you also made a note of a dinner you went to where the person was sharing.   Jessica DeFino: (53:31) Oh, my gosh!   Tahnee: (53:31) I was like I wonder if you'd had a few wines when you wrote that?   Jessica DeFino: (53:37) Oh my God. I'm privy to some beauty industry insider information. And it's not good. There are-   Tahnee: (53:47) This particular comment was like, "Yeah, this is not good for people." And they're putting it in this mass produced product.   Jessica DeFino: (53:51) I was talking to a product engineer who was telling me that the ingredient that this cosmetic corporation was using as its star ingredient in a lot of new products was not safe. And they were trying to tell the company, "Hey, we can't use this." And the company was saying, "We're going to use it." So just know behind the scenes there's a lot of stuff going on. There are ingredients that just don't belong in beauty products that are in beauty products. They're not going to kill you, most of the time. They're just ...   Jessica DeFino: (54:22) And I say that talking about extreme examples of a couple of years ago, there was a moisturiser that was contaminated with mercury. That was a counterfeit product. And it actually did put a woman in a coma. Is that going to happen every day with the products you buy at CVS and Target? No. But there are these outlier cases. So I'm not trying to fear longer there. I'm just trying to say like, "Hey, stuff happens." So I do think that the ethos of clean beauty is a necessary one. But it has become this marketing monster and it has gotten so out of control. And a lot of the statistics that clean beauty brands and clean beauty influencers are using are actually scientifically incorrect. And so it undermines the more admirable overall mission of clean beauty.   Jessica DeFino: (55:16) And so I do have a lot of problems with that. I also think that the solution to most of our problems is not cleaner beauty, but just less beauty. We just need to be using less of everything. I see clean beauty products that have 52 natural ingredients in it. And it's like the skin doesn't want 52 ingredients on it. That's going to cause irritation. That's not a better product in any sense of the word.   Jessica DeFino: (55:41) And then finally, I think that in non-toxic beauty, we are focusing on the wrong toxicity. Sure, some of these ingredients can be harmful. But the most toxic thing in the beauty industry are beauty standards. And these products promote unrealistic beauty standards. And these beauty standards that these products are pushing, even clean products, are leading to physical and psychological health issues in humans all around the world, from anxiety, to depression, to eating disorders, to dysmorphia, to self harm and even suicide.   Jessica DeFino: (56:20) And that is what's toxic in the beauty industry more than anything. So I wish that the industry overall could adopt this attitude of clean beauty and apply it to the ideology of the industry and clean up the standards that we're selling people because if you're concerned is a health issue, the most pressing health issue in beauty is the psychological harm of beauty standards.   Tahnee: (56:48) And I mean, I'm just thinking about dermatology, because I know you've mentioned that before, and you've had your own experience with that. And the topical steroid piece you wrote was really interesting because I've not had any experience with it. But I've heard from a lot of people that come through our doors how damaging, and I guess my understanding is it's quite a commonly recommended first step is like, "Use this quite strong product. And I think what I've heard you point to a few times in this podcast is how much that psychological factor is influencing what's showing up on us.   Tahnee: (57:23) And I have a similar, I don't know if your stress was work related mine. I left a partner of 10 years. And it was a big life change for me, and came off the pill at the same time. So it was a combination. Or I'd come off the pill for years earlier. But it was a combination of things going on. But I can really trace my kind of emotional instability at that time to what was reflecting on my face.   Tahnee: (57:49) And I've studied all these practises, Taoist healing and things. And we speak about how these organs and these parts of body, like the emotion, if the body can't hold it, it comes out through these elimination channels. And I think that's a really interesting of an untouched topic. And I don't see dermatology really addressing that. I think what I tend to see as people getting trapped in these loops with prescriptions and kind of appointments. And is that sort of your experience? I mean, I don't know heaps about the dermatology world. But is that your experience?   Jessica DeFino: (58:20) Yeah. I mean, I will say that there are great dermatologists out there, and I do think dermatology is of course necessary for your annual skin cancer screening and anything relating to actual physical health issues that are manifesting specifically on the skin. That being said, in my experience in interviewing thousands of people or over the years and in researching the field of dermatology, the main goal for dermatologists day in day out with their patients is to eliminate the physical symptoms. That doesn't mean treating the root cause, and that doesn't even mean promoting skin health. So a lot of the very powerful drugs that dermatologists are describing will eliminate the physical skin symptoms for a time. And they often do this at the expense of overall skin health and skin functioning.   Jessica DeFino: (59:19) So for example, antibiotics are the number one prescription in skin care. Antibiotics actively kill the bacteria of your gut microbiome and your skin microbiome, which are huge factor in healthy skin long term. And that can lead to more skin issues down the road. Something like Accutane, while it can be very helpful for a lot of people psychologically because it can wipe out acne very quickly, it does this by destroying and damaging your sebaceous glands. And that's a direct quote from a dermatologist. A dermatologist told me in an interview that we damage and destroy sebaceous glands.   Jessica DeFino: (59:58) I was on Accutane in my early twenties before I knew much about it. And my skin still struggles to moisturise itself. I have not regained the sebaceous function at all. So again, this is an example of a prescription that sort of damages the skin long term. Steroids, for sure. I mean, there's a lot of scientific literature on how steroids damage the skin's inherent functions. So dermatology is still very much steeped in this world of aesthetics where it's just trying to create this certain aesthetic as quickly as possible, and that doesn't necessarily serve you or your skin in the long term.   Tahnee:  (01:00:36) So that's sort of making the problem go away without really addressing why it's cropped up in the first place.   Jessica DeFino: (01:00:41) Exactly. I also think there's a huge ethical dilemma to the fact that a lot of aesthetic cosmetic procedures are offered by dermatologists like Botox and fillers. These things are not markers of health. And I do think it's a huge conflict of interest that healthcare providers are not only offering these services, but suggesting them. Offering them is one thing. If people are going to get them, they need to get them in a safe way. But I have heard from dozens and dozens of people who will go into their dermatologist for an annual screening and their dermatologist will say, "Hey. So you recently turned 28. Have you thought about Botox?" And this is your healthcare provider who is now planting this.   Tahnee:  (01:01:25) That's so unethical.   Jessica DeFino: (01:01:26) It's so unethical. And planting the seed of doubt in your brain like, "Oh no, I look old. I need to do something about it. And my healthcare provider is telling me that this is an option. So it must be safe and it must be healthy." And it's equating aesthetic with health again. And it's creating this really, I think, toxic cycle of obsession with our appearance outside of health.   Tahnee: (01:01:56) Is there a long term effect to Botox? Because I've heard about people having preventative Botox, which I'm not ... So my husband's mom is disabled and she has Botox in her leg because it actually is a medical treatment, which was sort of new to me. I knew it had been developed for that, but I sort of figured it had become a beauty thing. But I've sort of been seeing it around that people use it preventatively. Does it actually? It doesn't work long term though, right? It stops after a few months.   Jessica DeFino: (01:02:24) No, it doesn't work long term. It wears off after a while. So you have to keep getting these injections. And just applying common sense, there's no way to know that Botox is preventing anything. You say you're using it preventatively, but what are you preventing? Everybody ages in different ways. Some people get really deep lines and some people get no lines at all. And I mean, there is just no scientific way to prove that you're preventing something. So that is just a, that's marketing. That's nothing more than marketing.   Tahnee: (01:03:01) And kind of we haven't spoken a lot about race. But I'm obviously conscious of time with you. But with things like gua sha, and even I've been seeing face yoga on Instagram recently and these things. I'm interested in, again, from my understanding of yoga, maybe I'm wrong, and of Taoist practices, gua sha, yes, there's the aesthetic, but also it moves Chi, it helps move fluid. It's this really powerful ... I use it on my body because it's this really powerful way of clearing chafe from the meridians and stagnation, these kinds of things. But I'm seeing it a lot now as this really popular trend to get rid of wrinkles and do this and do that. So it's like we've sort of taken, I guess it's the same thing with this whole conversation. It's like we take the real root essence of something and turn it into just an aesthetic kind of.   Jessica DeFino: (01:03:51) Yeah. I mean, to me, that is like the real tragedy of gua sha getting so huge and facial massage getting so huge is that there's been this focus place on it as this is a way to get rid of wrinkles, or it's a way to look younger, when actually these practices offer so many overall health benefits to not only you and your skin, but also your mind. Massage in any form is this huge form of stress relief. It sends a physiological chemical cascade through your whole body that lowers cortisol and promotes skin health and also promotes overall health. And there are just so many benefits to these practices beyond aesthetic.   Jessica DeFino: (01:04:31) And I think we do them a real disservice by focusing on the aesthetic benefits rather than the fact that facial massage supports your skin's inherent cleansing mechanisms, it supports your skin's inherent moisturization and exfoliation mechanisms. It boosts blood circulation. It brings nutrients to your skin cells so that they are healthier and more efficient and better equipped to protect you and to heal you. These are all wonderful reasons to engage in these practices. And I think that should be the focus rather than you're going to look younger.   Tahnee: (01:05:06) Yes, it's funny. I mean, it crossed my mind when my daughter was born. She's got that porcelain baby skin. It's like, "Oh! It's a shame we don't get to keep that." But it's also very vulnerable, right? And so you're always trying to pr

The Piano Man of 2021. Keegan Farrell at a young age played piano and even attended Berkeley College of Music in Boston Massachusetts. Farrell studied the works of old-jazz and R&B greats, which has allowed him to learn and create his own uniquely his own. Keegan Farrell made appearances on The Voice Season 20. After The Voice Farrell moved to Nashville and now focuses on writing and performing his music. He also produces his music and many artists. Listen to his music on Spotify and follow him on all social media. Let us dive into the piano man Keegan Farrell's story and career.

Episode 115: The Business of Fitness with Nate Telow Today I (Jeffrey Su) took the mic and hosted the show and we had fellow Massachusetts native Nate Telow on to talk about his various roles and adventures in the business of fitness and what success and happiness means to him in hindsight. From the halls of Berkeley College to personal training to managing corporate gyms, Nate weaves his detailed story of leadership, business lessons, relationship building and what it means to find courage under pressure. If you are a coach or a trainer this is a story you must listen to. www.theexcellencecartel.com

On the 36th episode of EdUp EdTech, I got to chat with an amazing faculty member at Berkeley College, Dr. Jason Gulya. In this episode, Jason shares how learning more about the field of instructional design has helped him reflect on and improve his teaching methods making for a more student-centered learning experience. He drops plenty of knowledge bombs in this episode including a simple yet profound quote, "in the end, everyone just wants to learn." More About Jason Jason Gulya is a Professor of English at Berkeley College, a career-focused institution. His training is in 18th-Century Literature. More broadly, he researches the intersection between the worlds of college teaching, career preparation, and instructional design. In his mind, the first step needs to be breaking the silos between these disciplines, to think about how they do (and should) interact with one another. How to Connect Connect with Jason on LinkedIn Sponsorship: This episode was sponsored by ATTECS, LLC check out their website for more info about the fantastic services and support they can provide to your institution or organization. Connect with the host: Holly Owens Check Out Our Show's Podpage: https://www.podpage.com/edup-edtech-hosted-by-holly-owens/ Join the EdUp community at The EdUp Experience! Follow us the EdUp Experience - https://www.edupexperience.com/ We Make Education Your Business!

On this episode I had an encouraging conversation with my friend Ryan Chew. Ryan is a Maryland based artist, songwriter/worship leader who is making real impact with his music. Ryan has been serving in the local church since he was 16 and following closely to where God has been leading. From leading worship, to attending Berkeley College, to now writing and releasing music under his own name, he has been pursuing God's call the entire time. Ryan has many amazing songs streaming now. If you haven't heard his music yet, I strongly suggest checking out “I Am Yours." This is a powerful worship song and Ryan gave us some insight on the writing and recording in this episode!To follow Ryan Chew head to:InstagramFacebookSpotify Come join us on our CIAS Facebook group! Click HERE to join NOW!

How do you make a career out of doing what you love? The path may be long and squiggly, but we now have living proof that you can get there, too. Joining us on the show today is a dear friend, fellow musician and health entrepreneur, Justin Nault. Justin is a certified nutritional therapist and health coach, host of The Clovis Culture podcast, and also a talented musician who's been entertaining crowds—including us—across the U.S. for over 15 years now. Justin received his bachelor's degree from the Berkeley College of Music. Some of his original tunes have been featured in popular films and TV shows, and he even appeared as a contestant on the ABC reality TV show series, The Big Time. And on today's show, we're chatting about: Why health is a survival skill Making a career out of doing what you love Positive forms of escapism The dark side of the music industry Reconnecting with our ancestral roots in music, song and dance Health benefits of singing with your spouse The craft of learning new things instead of Netflix binging—no judgment here And tons more… Read the show notes: https://fatburningman.com/justin-nault-how-to-make-a-career-doing-what-you-love/ Check out and support Justin Nault at iamclovis.com Join The Wild Guild and get freebies on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/abeljames  Like the show on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fatburningman  Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fatburnman  Let's be friends on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatburningman/ And click here for your free Fat-Burning Kit: http://fatburningman.com/bonus

How do you make a career out of doing what you love? The path may be long and squiggly, but we now have living proof that you can get there, too. Joining us on the show today is a dear friend, fellow musician and health entrepreneur, Justin Nault. Justin is a certified nutritional therapist and health coach, host of The Clovis Culture podcast, and also a talented musician who's been entertaining crowds—including us—across the U.S. for over 15 years now. Justin received his bachelor's degree from the Berkeley College of Music. Some of his original tunes have been featured in popular films and TV shows, and he even appeared as a contestant on the ABC reality TV show series, The Big Time. And on today's show, we're chatting about: Why health is a survival skill Making a career out of doing what you love Positive forms of escapism The dark side of the music industry Reconnecting with our ancestral roots in music, song and dance Health benefits of singing with your spouse The craft of learning new things instead of Netflix binging—no judgment here And tons more… Read the show notes: https://fatburningman.com/justin-nault-how-to-make-a-career-doing-what-you-love/ Check out and support Justin Nault at iamclovis.com Join The Wild Guild and get freebies on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/abeljames  Like the show on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fatburningman  Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fatburnman  Let's be friends on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatburningman/ And click here for your free Fat-Burning Kit: http://fatburningman.com/bonus

From then to now, everyone has a story that has placed in their current circumstance. Our guest, Josephine Elliott gives us a brief glimpse into her life and her experiences with therapy. Meet Josephine Elliott. She is an entrepreneur and founder of Business Life Guru a business consulting firm that specializes in branding. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Josephine was brought to America at 5 years old. She grew up in New Jersey and attended Berkeley College and earned a Marketing degree. She has a experience in finance and has hosted live business consulting events. She enjoys politics, Broadway, reading, drawing, and investigative drama.” --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/speakingwithgravity/message

It's been a while since his days of investment banking at Lehman Brothers, but the party hasn't stopped. Now the CEO of WindowsWear, he's been featured on television and through print and digital publications like ELLE, WWD, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, was featured as a top 40 under 40 fashion professional and awarded as a top investment banking analyst by Lehman Brothers once upon a time. Jon Harari also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Baruch College, a board member of Berkeley College's Fashion Advisory Board, Indiana University's Apparel Merchandising Advisory Board, and several charitable non-profit organizations in New York City. To learn more or to contact Jon Harari, visit his website www.jonharari.com/. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Pittsburgh singer/session guitarist Brady Novotny talks about his rise in the music world served as worship leader/guitarist at several megachurches, attended Berkeley College of Music and master in Psychology at Duquesne, his most recent release "Passions Collide" featuring "Redemption's Cry" and his upcoming project in "Guitar Wizards Vol. 5"! Check out his works at www.bradynovontymusic.com! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/themikewagnershow/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/themikewagnershow/support

In this Best of Episode we help Daniel decide if he's expert enough to start his online business. This episode was originally published on July 10, 2018.  You can check out the original episode here:  http://flippedlifestyle.com/podcast212 FULL TRANSCRIPT Jocelyn: Hey, y'all!  On today's podcast, we help Daniel decide if he's expert enough to start his online business. Shane: Welcome to the Flipped Lifestyle podcast where life always comes before work.  We're your hosts, Shane and Jocelyn Sams. We're a real family who figured out how to make our entire living online.  And now, we help other families do the same. Are you ready to flip your life?  Alright, let's get started. What's going on everybody?  Welcome back to the Flipped Lifestyle podcast, it is great to be back with you again this week!  Super excited to have another member of the Flip Your Life community on the show today. I've been looking forward to this specific interview all week, and you're going to learn why here in just a minute. Jocelyn: I'm pretty sure he's talked about it like every single day.   Shane: Every single day.  I'm so pumped up right now to welcome Daniel Hulsman to the show.   Daniel, what's up man?   Daniel: Hey, how you guys doing?  It's really good to be out here and talking to you both!   Jocelyn: We are pumped to have you here, as Shane has mentioned.   Shane: I am super pumped to have you here! Jocelyn: Shane loves telling stories, so I'm just going to let him take it away.   Shane: Alright, here's how Daniel and I got together, okay? Jocelyn: Something I should know?   Shane: No, no.  This is a G-rated show, Jocelyn.  Alright, so Daniel sent me an email during a recent launch.  A few weeks ago, we opened the doors to the Flip Your Life community and started giving everybody out there a month for free.  Daniel apparently heard this and signed up and you know, and he went through a couple of the emails and things like that. He had not joined yet, he had not joined the membership yet.  So, I wake up one morning, and I get this email because yes, we check our emails, okay. And I get a message and the first line -- what was the subject line on this? Daniel: I'm just shaking my head over here.   Shane: I know, right.  There was some hater-ade in this email, people.  This is a critique, is what I'm about to show you, I'm not going to read the whole thing.  But Daniel's sends me this email and says two things -- a little smug Daniel, I'm not going to lie -- but it said two things: "One, your customer service link in this email leads to a 404 page.”  So that is not a good sign when somebody pointing out a broken link. Jocelyn: When your email starts like that it's probably not going to go too good. Shane: And he made the emoticon, it wasn't even the Emoji.  He actually used the type of symbols of a smiley face with a tear.  That's sad, guys, we're supposed to have all this together, right?  And then he goes on with this giant block text of paragraph about just all sorts of stuff he didn't like in our marketing and things like that, but here's what drew me in.  Are you ready for this Daniel? This is the turn to the positive, this is the turn to the light side of the force. Daniel: (sighs) Shane: So he's critiquing all of our sales techniques and blah, blah, blah, and I just heard all of this skepticism in all of this stuff.  And then he said, "And you gave me a heart attack on Episode 200 when you said goodbye because I did not want your podcast to go away.”   So that's where the turn was and it says, "You are changing lives of people like me who want a better life for their families.”  I read every word of this email and it was really long, and that's the point where I was like, man, I saw something there. I was like, “This guy wants a better life.”  Then he went on to say, "I've been struggling to get my website off the ground for a few years, and your story inspires me to keep trying." So, all of that criticism, all of that critique, when I got to the end, I realized it was just frustration.  It was just a little frustration, a little skepticism, a little "Is this real?" and you've been doing this for a while, and I sent him a message back, my email.  I purposefully had to write more words than you did. Daniel: Oh, that was a good little novella.   Shane: Yes, yes.  There was some massive… this was a no-sugar soliloquy.   Jocelyn: Oh, now we're going to get tons of hate mail, so people will get to have--   Shane: Yeah, everybody will just send me hate mail now, like, "Shane will write me back if I do that!”  Here's what's funny though. This is the difference between me and Jocelyn. I was writing this email, and when I was doing it, Jocelyn was like, "Are you still writing that guy back?"  And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, I'm still writing. I'm doing it!” Jocelyn: I'm trying to talk to him about stuff, and get things done.  And he's like, "No, no, no, I'm writing this email!” Shane: "No, Daniel is getting a message back from me.”   Jocelyn: I'm like, "Okay.”   Shane: I could have gone a thousand ways with this email.  I could have gone, "How dare you find my broken link.”   Daniel: Or just deleted it.   Shane: Or just deleted it and I could have just ignored it.  But I really just felt drawn, and there was potential there and you wanted something more, and that's what we're here for -- that's our mission.  So basically I won't read the whole soliloquy. Jocelyn: Please don't.   Shane: I won't, I won't.  I won't read this parable that I wrote you back.  But in the future book, it will come out. But my main point was, “Are you going to let a link that goes to a 404 page or a sales page hold you back, and are you going to look back again in a few years from now and say, ‘Man, I've struggled for a few years and I'm done,' or are you going to look back and say, ‘That was the moment I actually took action and took my next step.'” And I challenged you.  I just said, "Go join! It's free for 30 days.  You go look at every course we've got and you see if it doesn't move you forward.”  And I said, "Instead of critiquing our sales process, watch the magician's hands. You've been struggling for a few years, and we have it.  Maybe there's something there. Maybe there's something we're doing differently.” I've got to read what you sent me back. Daniel: Oh, yeah.  Please go ahead, I was angsty. There was a long time of just reflection before I sent anything back.   Shane: I jumped up, man, and you can ask Jocelyn.  I started going crazy and pumping my fist because I was so excited.  You sent me this message back, and it said, "I started to spend a few minutes, trying to think of a clever yet grateful response to your candid feedback--" and I like how you said 'candid feedback' because if anyone saw this message, it was pretty candid.   Daniel: Yeah.   Shane: And it says, "But I think I'll just shut up and get started instead.  Sounds like I've got some work to do. I just finished the form, I'm logging in, and when I get home, I'm printing your email and hanging it on my wall next to my computer.  Thank you for the much-needed kick in the (blank)!” So I just want to say, you're welcome for the boot print on the back of your pants. Daniel: Thank you, sir.   Shane: And I am so glad that you are a member of the Flip Your Life community now, and that we turned a critic into a customer.  After you followed up, and I saw what you have going in your business, I know that you've got a great, great potential to do something with it, okay, so Kudos to you, man.   Jocelyn: We love these kinds of stories so much because it's just awesome.  So many people want to point fingers at other people and say, "You're doing this wrong, you're doing this wrong.”  But most of the time it's more like a mirror. They're looking back at themselves, and thinking, "My life is not perfect either.”  None of our lives are perfect. So that's the cool thing about this, is that we're able to help each other and we don't just give up on people. I mean, if you were like a blatant hater or... Shane: There is a difference in a critic and a troll.  I was actually very thankful you found that link.  Before I wrote you back, I emailed our team and I said, "We've got to fix this link.”  That's how I started my email back to you, so I was actually really grateful that you sent email in the first place.  It helped us, and I wanted some reciprocity there to help you back. Jocelyn: And so we knew that we had to talk to you because of this crazy story, and we just love it when things like this happen, so thank you for being here today! Daniel: No problem.  And I'm sure my wife's going to get a real kick out of listening to this as well because when I finally told her that you had offered to speak with me this morning, she was like, "Why?!" And then I had to tell her the whole backstory.  And she's like, "I am a little surprised that you sent that email, but sounds like you deserved your response." Shane:  That is absolutely hilarious!  Jocelyn: Okay.  If we're being honest with ourselves, like everyone listening to this show, myself included, we've all done something like this.  This is not something-- we're not trying to pick on you and say like, "Oh, you shouldn't have done this or whatever." Shane: This is like when you get mad and you honk at somebody or give them a rude gesture on the highway for doing something you did a week ago.  It's all it is. I've seen so many emails like that. There's a difference between a troll, and a guy who's like, "Guys, I really like what you're doing and I'd love to have it, too.  And I think I could get it, but I'm frustrated, and nothing's just working and I'm just trying to vocalize that, and I don't know how to do it." Daniel: Yeah, I mean, I feel like I've been beating my head against a wall for years.  The whole way that I started my current website, I actually bought another course, a $500 course years ago.  I've been a longtime listener of that podcast, and I signed up. They're very adamant, don't skip any steps. As a good little soldier, I did all the steps and at the end I had ended up with this website and like a tiny little affiliate sale every now and then.  And a website that I felt was nice, but it was a website, it wasn't a business. I just didn't know where to go after spending all this time pouring myself into this and years later here I am still not sure how to course correct. Shane: Well, listen.  You're not the only person that's ever done that.  The next step is always the most frustrating step that never goes away.  We're sitting here figuring out our next step just like you are. It's just at a different level.  That frustration is part of the journey and hey, man, we'll get you past it, and let's get you to the next step and that's what we're here for so we can help you do that.   Jocelyn: The reason that we started this trial because we feel like there are so many people out there who are frustrated, and they don't know what to do next.   Shane: Or they've been burned by that $500 course in the past and nothing happened.  Like I got burned by a course like that! What happened in 2012, when I first started this, the first thing I discovered was Google ad marketing, like where you make a niche website that has like five pages and you put Google ads on it and the gurus all said you'd be a millionaire in six months.   Jocelyn: All that was before the big Google smackdown, they call it.   Shane: So I built a couple of these sites and, granted, it did make our first ad click, which was eleven cents that inspired us that it's possible to make money online.  But I'm paid a dime and a penny! If you can't pay my groceries with this thing, you can't even get the cart at Aldi! That's a quarter. For anybody that has an Aldi, you know what I'm talking about here, you can't even get the cart out at the grocery store for a dime and a penny.  But what happened was -- it's so funny-- I got frustrated, but once we figured that out, I bought another course about email marketing. I noticed, not that that guy was email marketing for affiliates.  I noticed that his email marketing was to sell his course on email marketing and he was selling his own product.  That was really the epiphany that we had was, it's not about partnering and JV Partnerships. That's cool, that's later.  It's not about affiliate links, it's not about ad clicks, it's not about Amazon and all that. You're not going to make any money that way.  It's about figuring out how you can serve other people, creating a product that solves their problem and that's what you promote. That may be the next step for you too.  Alright, so rewind! Jocelyn: That was a lot of information. Shane: It's still one of my favorite stories ever and it always will be, and I'm going to be so proud of you, not only because you joined, but I can't wait to see you succeed.   Jocelyn: I can't even express the joy that Shane had when you decided to join the membership. Shane: Oh my gosh, when you joined the membership, I was like, "That dude joined.  Holy cow, that's unbelievable!” Jocelyn: That's his mission in life.   Daniel: You know what it was.  It was the last line in your email.  It just went off on me and then at the end, the last time was just 'Finish', with a link back to the form that I didn't complete.  That was just the word that echoed in my subconscious until I did it. Shane: Oh yeah.  I see it now.  It just says 'Finish:' and then the form.   Jocelyn: I hope that, if nothing else from this story, I hope that people understand that we really do care about you and we want what's best for every single person listening to this podcast.  That's the reason why we do what we do. Yes, we are a for-profit business. We have to pay our bills, but we want everyone out there to succeed, and that's why we're offering this free trial.  So I hope that if nothing else, people understand that we really do want what's best for every single one of you. Shane: And I also realized too, there's a lot of movement out there.  People want to shut everyone out of their lives and all these gurus are like, "Well, if anyone hates you, delete them, and if anyone critiques you, screw them, and if anybody, whatever, whatever, whatever," but like man, 90% of the people that even send you feedback, they're just really asking you for some advice.   Jocelyn: And if somebody has taken their time to email you, even if it's something you'd really don't want to hear-- Shane: They care.  They at least care.   Jocelyn: They care enough to send the email.   Shane: Love it, hate it, but never ignore it, man.  Help somebody next time they send you a bad email, send them back and say, "You alright?  What's going on? Can I help you?" Jocelyn: That being said, please don't send us a lot of hate mail! Shane: I can read through the fake hate mail guys.  I know fake hate from real hate. Okay, so let's do it!   Jocelyn: Alright.  So before we get more into the story, let's go back just a little bit.  We want to know about you, your background, and what you have started so far online.   Daniel: Sure, so, by day, I'm a father.  I live in Boston and I am a full-time music teacher at an inter-high school in Boston.  I grew up in Delaware. Go Blue Hens! Our mascot's a giant blue chicken, really exciting!   Shane: We have a mascot in the Kentucky school called, “The Hilltopper.”  It's literally a red pile of dirt. That's what he is. The Hilltoppers and the Blue Hens can go to war.   Daniel: I don't even know what to say about that.  That's so strange. But you know, why not? Sure.  I graduated with my music education degree looking to be a music teacher, and then that was 2008 and then the economy crashed.  All the arts jobs disappeared so I had to kind of scramble and figure out something else to do. I ended up working for Apple for a few years doing B2B sales, and then I just started nerding out on online marketing stuff after reading the Four-Hour Work Week.  I ended up getting a job at a marketing software company called Hubspot. Worked there for a year before getting back into teaching.   So it's been kind of a bit of an eclectic journey professionally.  But then on the side of that, two years ago, as I said, I started, you know, I did an online course and at the end of that I had a website for video game composers because I love video game music and I've always loved to do games and stuff.   Jocelyn: Okay.  I need to just stop you right there because in your intake form, it says I manage-- Shane: 'Intake Form.' That sounds like he's getting up for parole, and your intake form-- "Your podcast application" would be better, probably. Jocelyn: On the podcast questionnaire, how's that?   Daniel: Perfect.   Jocelyn: Okay.  I just have to ask you about this because I don't know what this means.  Okay, it says, "I manage a choir that records professional video game soundtracks twice a year.” So let's back the truck up. Shane: That seems like the coolest job ever!   Daniel: Alright, sure.  So I ended up by networking in the Boston scene here, which actually there's an orchestra called the Video Game Orchestra in Boston and they started as a club out of Berkeley College of Music, and then they ended up becoming a full-blown professional orchestra that records the live music for video games.  I happened to meet and befriend the guy who runs that. Over a couple of years, just because he knew I was a singer, I ended up getting pulled into a choir to record a trailer for a game called, “Final Fantasy 15.” Shane: Are you kidding me?  You sang on Final Fantasy 15?! Daniel: I did.  I sang on the trailer, and then I sang on 10 tracks on the soundtrack.   Shane: Dude, I am so glad you wrote me hate mail! Jocelyn: Who gets this job?   Shane: Yeah, this is amazing.   Jocelyn: "Yeah, I sing on video games.”   Daniel:  It's a very fun thing to drop in a conversation.  I've got to admit. I mean, you know, it's very few and far in between, but the gigs are extremely fun.  I've just wrapped up a second one or our first one for the year. It's just a lot of fun. But the third grader in me is just elated.  Every time I go into the recording studio and get the recorded video game music, I got the music pumping into my headphones, and with the school to sing-- the instrument that I was trained on was voice.  And so it, you know, I'm really thankful for that because now I get to go and sing on video games. Jocelyn: My nine-year-old son would think this is the coolest thing ever.   Shane: Oh yeah, because he loves music, he loves video games.   Daniel: Then you know, he and I, we understand each other, then.   Shane: What's cool about this, too, man, is I can see where this is going.  One thing that people love about the Flip Your Life community, and once again there are needs for life coaches and business coaches, but everybody doesn't have to be one.  The variety of niches and our community is second to none. Like we have people, we talk about it all the time. We've got people doing everything you can imagine. Ninety percent of our people are doing something besides life coaching.   And you hear about this, I would never think, oh, there's a niche for video game music composing.  But even as you say this, we've got a member named Chris Greenwood, he goes by the name, Manafest. Really big Christian artist, awesome guy.  His songs, though, one of the ways that he markets his music is he licenses it for games and licenses it for movies. And now you're actually recording original tracks for things, so there are so many niche markets out there that you wouldn't think people would want to get into.  But then you're like, "Well, wait a minute, if you're doing it and he's doing it and somebody else is doing it, well, there are probably thousands of people that want to do it.  Right?" And uh, that's where this kind of came from. Jocelyn: Okay, so your site is about this video game music, correct.   Daniel: Yup, to help new and aspiring video game composers.   Shane: What is it called?  What's the domain name?   Daniel: VGMacademy.com Shane: videogameacademy.com, okay.   Daniel: You can go to either videogamemusicacademy.com, or you can go to vgmacademy.com, and it'll redirect you.   Shane: You actually own a three letter domain?   Daniel: vgmacademy.com Shane: Wow, that's really awesome that you have that, you know what I'm saying?  Because those are hard to get. Daniel: Well, it was kind of those dot academy ones, I wasn't that fast.   Shane: I got you, I got you, I got you.  Now tell everyone a little bit about where your community is, because you've actually built a community, an audience around this.  We've not monetized it yet, which is very common, right? So tell everybody else about the other assets that are around the website.   Daniel: Yeah, sure.  So I've got an email list that has got currently over 2,600 people on it, which I feel pretty good about that number.  I just obviously don't know what to do with it at this point. I've got a pretty sizable Twitter following of like 4,500 people or somewhere around there right now.  But my thing that I really liked the most at this point is that I've got a private Facebook group that has just reached 1,000 members.  It's like a no-spam, no-self-promotion zone for people to get in there and get questions and ask help, but also engage in anything that's going on with the website.   I've got a community challenge that I run over the summer.  So this is the second time I'm doing it, starting in a couple of days in July.  It's a 21-day challenge for composers to get in there, and just write something, even just like a little tiny something.  One little musical idea, just write something new every day for 21 days straight to make it a habit, and everyone goes in there.  Last year it was awesome! Everyone posted, you know, put up a graphic for each day. Shane: Is this free?   Daniel: Yeah, this is free! Yup! Shane: Do you make them opt in to get in the challenge?   Daniel: Yes.  Yeah. Shane: Okay, that's good.  Do you create content regularly on your website?  Like blogs or videos or anything like that? Daniel: I used to, but this past year, to be completely upfront and honest, I've just been kind of burned out and frustrated.  I feel like anytime I come back and pour energy into it, I feel like it's misdirected, or it doesn't really move the needle on anything.  So this past year, it's been pretty inconsistent. Shane: Listen, you have no idea what you've got in your hands.   Jocelyn: You're doing so many things right!   Shane: So many things right, so many things that other people can't even figure out how to do or won't figure out how to do.  Like how to do a challenge, how to opt in for it, how to get them in a private Facebook group. And your audience? I mean you have 2,500 emails.  Do you know how many people would drive to Boston and punch you in the face to steal 2,500 emails from you? You have this Facebook group with a thousand people, Twitter followers.  You have an audience that you've built! When Jocelyn and I launched our first product that did like thousands of dollars, we had less than 400 emails total, and it did like almost three grand in like the first week.  So you've got the people, you've got the thing, you've proven that people want this, and these challenges, you've proven that people will opt in. It's not a large stretch to just say, "Well, what if I charged for a challenge that got more involvement with me?" Jocelyn: Or at the end of my challenge, I'll give them their next step and I charge them for it?  Daniel, this is not hard! Shane: Yeah, you got this, man, dude.  I want to talk about two things, first, really quick is fears and obstacles.  Something's holding you back because you've got the tools in place. Jocelyn: What's going on inside your head that's saying, "I can't do this?   Shane: What are you afraid of?  What's the fear that's holding you back?   Daniel: The biggest thing is that I feel like-- and this is again a part of the result of that original course.  I ended up with a website and a community that's really looking for someone. In some ways at least I feel like I'm not qualified enough to take people to the next step that they want because I'm not a full-time working video game music composer.  I'm a music teacher. I know a lot of basics in terms of songwriting and composition. But in terms of like a lot of the technologies that people want help with the digital audio workstations, people can spend and waste countless hours of time diving into the audio technology and the audio engineering part of it.  And that's just something that's a huge time investment. I'm not able to become the expert on that as fast as I think I would need to be at this point. I feel like I'm in a lot of ways behind the ball of my audience in terms of the audio engineering component.  But that's the biggest thing: I kind of feel like in some ways I'm just not qualified. In other words, I think I am.  I think that I know a decent amount about marketing, I know a little bit about negotiating, which is something that comes up with freelancing.  So I got some transferable skills, you know, music theory and that kind of stuff. But I just don't know if I'm at a point where I have put myself in a position where I can be as helpful as I originally intended to be.  I think I have really big and ambitious dreams. But then becoming a parent, apparently you have a lot less free time and energy. So yeah! Shane: You have less time than the millennial on the beach in Thailand? Daniel: You know, believe it or not, I have a little less time than them, you know.  And that was the thing that shocked me. That was, I was definitely one of those, "I'm going to make it, I'm going to figure out how to manage this and make it work for me,” sort of people.  But then I had a kid that didn't sleep for two years. Jocelyn: Okay, let's push pause on that because that's a different issue.   Shane: Let's pause! Okay.  We've pulled out a fear and an obstacle.  The obstacle is kids that don't sleep on time.  We'll get to that in a minute. Now the fear is this: let me do a mock conversation for you here, okay.   I walk up to you and I'm like, "Oh man, I would love to compose music for video games.  Man, that'd be a cool job. I would love to do that, but Daniel, I think you could maybe teach me how to do that, but you know what?  Like I just want to make sure that you're even expert enough.” So then it comes back to you, "You look at them and say, 'Have you sang on Final Fantasy 15?' And that guy goes, 'No,' and you look at him and you say, 'I have.  Sit down and listen.'" Okay, so let me just dispel that: you're expert enough!  What you're trying to do is what a lot of people do: you think you have to know every single thing ever about your topic.  There are things that we don't know about online business. I meet with people that are very high level all the time in different spaces.  I'm in a mastermind group with some ballers and they're good dudes and we all do our businesses very differently and sometimes they say things and I can't even wrap my brain around it, what they're talking about.  But that's okay because I don't teach that thing even though it's still online business. What we teach is how to start, how to find an idea, how to get your website going, how to get your product created, how to get it out to market, how to start a membership site and create stable recurring income.   I don't know anything about JV partnerships and affiliate marketing, but I've got a friend who's made millions of dollars doing it, but I don't teach that.  I don't have to teach that and I don't have to go learn that. You don't have to learn all the digital audio mixing and stuff like that.  You could partner with someone who sells that and be an affiliate for them though, and then you could teach composition, negotiation, how to get the job, how to keep the job, how to make sure they call you back because you're getting called back.   You got to teach what you know and then point them to other people.  We don't teach people to do public speaking even though that's a big part of some brands.  Jocelyn and I, the only public speaking we do is at our own live events, we don't have time to go do all that other stuff.  But if I wanted to send someone to teach public speaking right now, I would send them to my friend, Grant Baldwin, The Speaker Lab, because he knows how to teach public speaking.  But I'm not going to go learn how to teach public speaking just so I can create a course about it, that doesn't make sense for us. Jocelyn: Let me tell you, and everyone who's listening, a secret.  And it's not really a secret. But you are not for everyone.  We are not for everyone. There are people out there who say, "You know what, I've grown my business and you know, I'm making a million dollars a year, and your stuff is beneath me.  Like I don't know how to get to the next level, and you're not going to be able to help me.” No, we're not, because that's not who we serve. Shane: I don't want to help you get to 10 million dollars a year.  Fine, you're a millionaire. You figured it out! You know what I mean?  Like that's not our point. Our mission is to help 100,000 people start their online business, and get to a point where they could have the decision to quit their job.  That's our mission is to help people start that journey. Our mission is not to take the person from a million dollars to 10 million dollars.  I'm not going to go try to figure that out. I'll leave that to somebody else. Same thing here, don't think you've got to teach all these other things.  I don't know the Video Game Music Act that requires you to have so many hours of certain degrees to teach people how to get into the industry. That doesn't exist.   Jocelyn: Let me tell you what this is, though.  This is you looking at yourself saying, "I'm not perfect in these ways, and I don't want someone to point out those flaws," and let me tell you how I know that because this is my everyday life.   Shane: Yeah, Jocelyn always does that.  We might have a deficiency. Like, one of the things that we struggle with is leading our team.  Jocelyn and I are very much like visionary, mud-on-the-wall, let's go, let's figure this out, and sometimes it's hard for us to pull back and lead our team.  But we have a really big team and we've got to actually go and sort this out. We have to be better. Jocelyn: It's just not something we enjoy doing.  Therefore, we don't want to do it. Shane: But we do share our struggles with our community.  We share our struggles on our podcast, and those struggles are just as valuable as someone who's got it figured out.  You could even talk about that. Listen, what if someone is a composer, and understands music because they went through music, and the band, and choir, and all these things, and they went to college, and they were vocal, and they learned how to sing.   What if the millions of people who do that never learned how to use these digital audio things?  And now you can say to them, “I don't have this skill, but I made it. I figured it out and I can help you do it, too!” Jocelyn: Do you know what the beauty of having a community for this is?  You don't have to know all the answers. You are surrounded by lots of other people who are interested in the same thing and guess what?  They might be strong where you're weak. It's just like our community. Like there are things that I'm not fantastic at, but there are hundreds of people inside our community, and a lot of them might have experience with it where maybe I don't.   That's the awesome thing, is that I can go in and say, "Hey, I've never done this, but our member, Kevin, has done this," or, "Our member, Karen, has done this.”  You know, I can pull out names of people who are an expert in this field and I don't have to be. So that is the awesome thing about doing that. Shane: That's one reason that we always say people come for the content, but they stay for the leadership in the community, because the leadership guides them to what things that leaders don't even know.  Like I can at least point to you the direction where you need to go, and the community fills in gaps of knowledge because if we have thousands of entrepreneurs in one place that are dealing with the three-year-old who doesn't sleep, that are dealing with the fear of being expert enough, that are dealing with how do I overcome this software plugin or whatever, then now we get to fill in the gaps and we get to work together and you can create that same dynamic.   You've probably seen this, I bet, in your community, haven't you?  Like people are talking about things and giving feedback that you didn't even think of and conversations and challenges. Have you seen that in your community? Daniel: Yeah, yeah! It's funny that you mentioned that because you know in a way I haven't needed to talk about the technical stuff in terms of the software in the Facebook group because a lot of times when people ask that question, which is not as often as I would've expected, but when those questions do come up, a bunch of people jump on them.   Shane: Exactly.  And that's why a community is really important in this kind of thing because what you have to do is say, “What CAN I teach people?  That's the most important question. “What problem CAN I solve?” And we so often get bogged down in the things that we can't solve.  "Well, I can't solve this for them. Well, I can't teach them this so I must not be sufficient," but you are sufficient. You are good enough and you are awesome at these things.   You have to make a bulleted list of “What Can I Teach Them?”  Well, I can teach them to the composure. I can teach them to negotiate.  I can teach them where to look for these gigs because you've probably got an idea of that, you know, you can teach them all those things.  That's what forms the basis of your content and then your leadership with coaching or community and things like that, that's going to guide them to the next step.  And that's what you are. You're a lantern bearer on a dark path, you're going down a path, you're showing them where to go. Jocelyn: You've already found the lantern.   Shane: That's right, you got it.  So you know where to go. You came back and got somebody else.  Now, you're taking them to where you were. And another thing I really sensed from you is you really want these people to do this.  Like, you know this is awesome, and these people want to do it. And you're like, "Man, I really would love for everybody to get to sing on Final Fantasy 15, right?" Daniel: Yeah, I mean, one of the biggest kicks I got doing this challenge last year was that, I was blown away by -- I was very clear with the community that I was really only looking for you to show up and write two to four bars of music a day.  A few seconds of music, a little idea. People really just created some really beautiful, some really awesome tracks, and a lot of them were doing full-blown, completed tracks almost every single day. That to me was a huge win. There was so much really great music that came out of it.  And I was just really happy! Jocelyn: But here's the problem.  You pumped the brakes, you gave them something awesome.  And he said, “Okay guys, see you next summer. We'll do this again.”  Daniel, stop it! Shane: You're like, "Look, I'd love to create a course, but I got to write some hate mail to Shane.  That's what I've got to do here." Daniel: I've got emails to write.   Shane: “I've got emails to write, y'all.  I know we're making great music, but I'm writing great copy here.”  I love your mission that poured out right there. Your mission is to help people write great music.  Your mission is to give them a doorway, an opportunity to go the next step. Your mission is not to teach them the mixer, teach them the thing, get them the job, all of that.  The first step that you can teach everybody is that you can do this. because you do it every day in your classroom, you do it every day in your group, you do it on all these challenges. You can teach people to make music that's changing their world, the people around them.  They're releasing new things into the world that never existed before, and then they have the opportunity to go the next step, And then they have the opportunity to learn the technology. And then they have the opportunity to apply for the job, but until they write that music, until it's released into the world, they don't have that opportunity.  Your endgame for them might be to do what you've done, but you have to help them get started and give them the opportunity. Jocelyn: And I'm going to tell you something.  I talked about this a few weeks ago on the podcast.  I feel like I can speak freely with you because, well, this whole podcast this week is kind of crazy.   Daniel: Yeah, it's free, pretty free.   Shane: There's been some free speaking.   Jocelyn: But here's the thing.  I talked about this, I think the 200th episode.  You are being selfish by holding this gift back, so stop it.  You have to do this. You owe it to these people who have a dream, who have something that they want to do, you're being selfish by not giving them the next step.   Shane: Your mission is not to get people a video game job.  That's a result! Your job is to help people unleash music that's inside of them into world through the conduit of video games.  I play Fortnight with my son. Daniel: Nice! Shane: Isaac and I play all the time.   Jocelyn: Not so nice for me.   Shane: Yeah, Jocelyn loses about an hour and a half a day of her life, so we play Fortnite together.  We play almost every day. I love the music at the beginning of Fortnite. I just love it, it makes me happy.  But going back before that, before I had kids, and right up when we had kids, I played Halo, that very famous game.  And I looked it up one day. Jocelyn: That music haunts me.   Shane: Yeah, the music haunts her.  It's not just the music. I looked it up one day and it keeps all your stats, and me, my brother, and my two best friends from high school, we lived far apart from each other when we were adults, right?  So Halo was a way that we got to connect every night. We got to get together for an hour before we had kids and we could actually play games and we got to connect virtually. When I hear Halo's music, I don't just think of the video game, I don't just think of the actual looked-up-in stats, ninety days of my life in actual hours, that I put into that game over a few years in Halo 3.  I don't think about that. I think of laughter, and I think of joy, and I think of all the good times and good conversations that I got to have with my brother who lived five hours from me, with my best friend who lived five hours from me.  Like that's what I think about. If that guy doesn't write that music that was the soundtrack of that game, then those memories don't happen and that nostalgia doesn't come back when I hear that music again.  That's your mission, bro! It's the help these people unleash music that can be used in these games, not only for them, but for all the people that are going to hear it. You've got no choice, man. You got to do this and you are expert enough. There is no degree, there's no certification that can make you more qualified for what these people need. Jocelyn: And I want to say, too, before we move on from this, think about people that you respect as leaders, just in everyday life, maybe in online business, every different area of your life.  Do you respect somebody more who is perfect and never makes mistakes, or somebody who says, "Hey, I don't know everything, but I'm going to help you. I'm going to do the best I can to help you get to the next step," and I feel like that's why people follow us because we're not perfect, we're not polished, we're just regular people who are trying to help other people have a better life.  So, who do you prefer to follow? Shane: Yeah, let me tell you a story about a guy.  This podcast may never end. We're going to talk for a while, we're just sitting back.   Daniel: This is my first day of summer break.   Shane: You're good.  Alright, cool, man.  Our kids are probably doing something right now.  I haven't seen them in about an hour, whatever. They'll be all right.  I can see the lake behind our house. So as long as they're not going into that, we're cool.   Okay, so I had a very influential man in my life who was a teacher of mine in high school.  He actually was what made me even consider being a teacher when I got a history degree because he was my history and political science teacher.   He really taught me a lot about how to argue politics, and think about deep issues and you know, look at both sides, and not be so hateful like everybody is on Facebook these days and all this other stuff.  He was very good at playing devil's advocate and arguing socratically. But that's not where he made the most influence in my life. I actually took a media class and I got to be the director and producer of our school news show when I was a senior in high school.  And I was a hoodlum! But when people see what I do now and my teachers, they're like, "Wow, you're not in jail! That's pretty amazing.”  And then when people see Jocelyn, like from her high school, they're like, "Why did you marry that guy? Because he had very great potential to go to jail.”  For him to give me a leadership position like that and give me that opportunity, it was amazing. I so appreciated it because he knew that I had a passion for the video editing, the audio editing, and the production of it.  I still have a passion for that stuff today with our podcast, with our videos and things like that. Here's why this story is so related to what we're talking about.  He took the media class because he liked the journalism aspect of it. He liked the telling stories aspect of it. He couldn't use a video editor. He could barely use a VCR.  We're going way back now. He didn't know which way to put the tape in the VCR.  It would've been upside down, inside out and he didn't understand how to use anything technology-wise.  And we had got a grant, and they had bought us all this video editing stuff. So this was like professional tape editing stuff back in the day, right?   Daniel: Yeah.  We had the same stuff.   Shane: Yeah.  So we go in and he's like, "Shane, you're the producer, you're the director.  So you've got to figure all this stuff out. I don't know how to do it, but I'm going to tell you how to organize the show.  I'm going to tell you how to lead your team. I'm going to tell you how to do this.” And we would sit in there.  I would remember me sitting at the station just slaving, I would stay hours after school.  I'd leave the school at like 8:00 in the night right after school. Loved it, editing the broadcast for the next day, and he never left me.  He was always right there beside me, and it's really emotional, thinking about it like right now, how much that changed my life because it kind of was a foundational thing for now, like what we do.   I always remember him just sitting there with his leg crossed, reading his newspaper and every once in a while, he'd look over and go, "Shane, how's it going?" Or I'd look back at him and say, "Hey, do you think this story should go before this story?  How should I edit this?" But I had to figure out the technology. He had no clue how to do it. But he taught me how to lead and he taught me how to put things in the right order and how to compose the show. And it didn't matter if he didn't know how to do the editing, and it doesn't matter if you don't know how to use the technology.   You're leading them and you're teaching them how to compose and you're pointing people in the right direction to figure it out.  He gave me the instruction manual. I just had to read it. And that's really what you're doing for your people is you're just leading them, and you're helping them compose and you're giving them the chance, the opportunity, and who knows what happens to those people 10 to 20 years from now?  That's up to them. You're going to give them the chance and they're going to pay you for it, and then some of them probably the minority are going to do something with it. It's going to be inspiring and it's going to be world changing, and that's going to be because you made the decision, "I am qualified to do this, and by God, I'm going to teach it.”  Okay. Whew!   Jocelyn: Whew! That was a lot of information.   Shane: Oh my gosh.  I'm sitting in here, teared up thinking about that guy, and how much it changed my life and it tears me up because I know we've changed lives, but not all of them, the minority because the majority can't cut it.  And if you're in the majority, you need to get over in the minority, if you're listening to this podcast. I know you can change lives and I know that everybody listening has something but they can do! All that guy did was sit beside me and read the newspaper, answer a question here and there.  He didn't answer every question. He answered maybe one question a day. We'd sit there for four hours together.   Daniel: And he just gave you the opportunity.   Shane: And he just gave me the opportunity, man.  That's what everyone listening to this podcast right now has to do, is release what you know into the world and give people an opportunity.   Jocelyn: Okay, Daniel, we have said a lot of words.   Shane: Which, for an introvert like Jocelyn, this was like triple the word count of the normal podcast.   Jocelyn: I know, my word count for the day is over, so I'm not going to be talking anymore.   Shane: Oh, yeah.  Now, my wife will not speak to me until tonight!  I know that she's going to go into her cave, watching Netflix and it's over.   Jocelyn: Okay, but in all seriousness, alright, how do you feel about all of the stuff we just said?  I know it was a lot to process, but how do you feel about that and how do you think that it can hopefully help you to move forward to the next step?   Shane: It's not what me and Jocelyn think your next step is.  It's, what do you think your next step is? Daniel: I think I need to stop trying to be everything and really focus on what I know.  As I was listening and I had been thinking about this and going through the content in the Flip Your Life community this week, I think what's kind of been slowly shifting to the surface is this idea that I know music theory, I know how to teach that.  I know how to teach the basics of composing a good tune. And that's something that is missing a lot in this niche. A lot of people go towards the technology and they go towards the audio engineering and spent hours and hours and hours and making a really basic thing sound really complicated and expensive but the music is forgettable, so it doesn't take it anywhere. So, I think I need to focus more on the piece that I know, and divorce myself from the piece that I don't need to focus on.   And then I guess in terms of specific steps, I need to come up with a core product offer I can lead people to.  Get them the end result of getting their music, getting music that is not only memorable but the music that they'll like themselves the next day, which I think is like a huge pain point.   I think that I'm thinking of like a lot of the people who get into this niche, they have these composers that they've been listening to since they've been growing up.  And there's this one Japanese composer who is like the John Williams of video game music. Shane: John Williams is the greatest composer of all time who did Star Wars -- I just want to show my nerd cred. Daniel: Well done, sir.  Well done! Tip of the hat to you.  People constantly are comparing themselves to this guy.  They always hold him up as the example that they want to aspire to.  He was fantastic at writing great melodies and he was fantastic at using, you know, really beautiful harmonies and then people go out and they write these like beats and there's no melody, and they have no idea how to get over that hump. I think it's just a piece that's missing because they went to the technology but they don't have music education, the formal education.  The technology's there, they have access to that. They've got a lot of resources to learn that, but not everyone went through a formal music education degree or knows where to look or what the problem is. Jocelyn: Right.  And I think that we can really help you craft your offer in the community.  Like, that's something that our community members can really latch onto and help you with because I really think that you need to launch something off this next challenge.  That is really, really important. So we can definitely hash through all that. Shane: And it could be ready in 21 days.   Jocelyn: Absolutely, yeah.   Shane: It's already named, it's the Video Game Music Academy, right?  So you have to open a membership area, and your whole thing is give them the training they need to write these things, and then give them a place where they can share music for you to listen to so you can tell them what to do next.  That's it! That's the whole concept of your membership, is that they need someone to show them how, a place to let people hear it, and some feedback, and then they can go and take the other courses that you make, like How to Contact the Video Game, how to submit your music, how to do that stuff.   Jocelyn: We will get into that inside the community a little bit more, and I wanted to touch on one other thing that we kind of glossed over.  It was the time aspect because we've talked about this a million times. Everyone has the same amount of time, but here's the thing: Once you can get clear on your mission, and you can get clear that you are enough of an expert or whatever mindset hurdle is holding you back, I promise that time will not be as much of an issue going forward.   Shane: You've been obsessed so far with how to monetize a product.  That's not exciting. But now, you have a passionate mission to reach into people's hearts and unleash music into the world that can change other people's lives AND maybe make those people a living.  That's deep, dude! That's going to make you find the time, that's going to push everything that's taking up your time to the side, except the things that matter, your mission, your family, your focus.  You're going to see your calendar changed dramatically over the next couple of weeks. I promise you. Daniel: Sounds good.  Sign me up! Jocelyn: Alright, Daniel.   Shane: I'm signing off.  Jocelyn usually signs off, but listen, man, I am so glad that you wrote me that email!  I'm so glad that you wrote it in the way you did, where it was a critic, but it wasn't hateful.  You let yourself be vulnerable there and you were like, "Man, I'm just frustrated, and it frustrates me that you're doing this stuff.”  I'm just really glad that you were also responsive to my feedback back to you and most importantly, that you took action because if you don't take action, right, wrong or indifferent-- I'm not going to say that that hateful email was right, wrong or indifferent.   But like if you don't take some action, right, wrong or indifferent, nothing happens.  You took action and it turned into another action, and then it turned into a better action and now you're going to take even better actions going forward.  And that's how we all get to where we want to be, is just taking action. So, hey man, I'm glad you're in the Flip Your Life community, and I cannot wait to see how you change the world through this music business and it's going to be awesome watching your journey going forward, Daniel.   Daniel: Yeah.  Thank you, thank you both!  And for anyone else who's listening, who is not sure about whether or not to finish that form, shut up and do it.  You'll feel a lot better. Like I said, I've been through a course before. I was super impressed once I got into this.  I mean, you know, everyone's in there, everyone's doing the work and I've been checking in every day and, the videos, and it's like... it's bulletproof.  At the end of every video, there's a giant yellow button telling you what to do next. I'm not confused. I know what I need to do, so I'm feeling better.  I think I know what I need to do next now, and I'm looking forward to having you help me out craft my offer. Shane: All right man.  Awesome stuff, dude!  Welcome to the community!  Let's get it going. Daniel: All right.   Shane: Hey guys.  Thanks again for listening.  We hope you enjoyed today's podcast.  If you still need more help with any of the topics that we discussed today, or maybe you have a question about something that we went over, we have all the training and support you need inside of the Flip Your Life community.   With over 50 training courses on dozens of online business topics, active community forums, and live member calls with me and Jocelyn every single month, the Flip Your Life community is your opportunity to get the help and support you need to make your online dreams a reality.   And the best part is you can get started today for free.  That's right! All you have to do is go to flippedlifestyle.com/free, and you can get full unlimited access to everything we offer inside of the Flip Your Life community at no cost for 30 days.  Your first month is absolutely free! If you sign up today, you can get unlimited access to all of the courses inside of our training area, unlimited access to all of our community discussion forums, and you'll get to attend our next two live member calls with me and Jocelyn, where you can ask questions about your online business.   And it's all free for the first month.  All you have to do is go to flippedlifestyle.com/free and start your free month today.  That's flippedlifestyle.com/free. We can't wait to see you inside! Shane: Before we go we like to close every single one of our shows with from a verse from the Bible.   Today's Bible verse comes from Proverbs 11:3 and the Bible says, "Honesty guides good people.  Dishonesty destroys treacherous people.” Make sure you are always building on an honest online business that's full of integrity and you treat people the way you would want to be treated.   That's all the time we have for this week! As always, guys, thanks for listening to the Flipped Lifestyle podcast.  Until next time, get out there, take action, do whatever it takes to Flip Your Life. We will see you then. Jocelyn: Bye! Links and resources mentioned on today's show: Daniel's Website Flip Your Life community PROLIFIC Monthly Enjoy the podcast; we hope it inspires you to explore what's possible for your family! Join the Flip Your Life Community NOW for as little as $19 per month! https://flippedlifestyle.com/flipyourlife

This week, the #butterchickenboys continue their Tamil tour with their Chennai-born brother Sid Sriram. @DJSharad and @DJJuicy learn about @sidsriram and his illustrious career - from growing up in a family of classically trained Karnatic musicians and his education at #Berkeley College of Music, to working closely with @arrahman and navigating his own path through multiple aspects of his identity. We learn about delectable Tamil cuisine (#SweetAndSpicy), the importance of holding on to your individuality, and the vulnerability and ultimate joy that comes with finding yourself. Catch Sid's album #Entropy, which released in February, and his illuminating melodies and lyrics. We were blown away by his knowledge, and are sure you will be too!