Podcasts about big sisters

GFCC: BIG BROTHER & BIG SISTERS, CONRAD MANSION MUSEUM TRT: 10:10

Tracy Anderson  - Big Brother Big Sisters of Dane County On the Value of Being a Mentor to a Kid: "When you spend time with a child, it's shown to prove that they'll likely go to college when they grow up or have a better paying job or not partake in violence, alcohol or drugs." As entrepreneurs, we strive to do our best every day.  We push and drag ourselves, our employees, our clients and our vendors to join us in growing our business.  We do all of this for many reasons, but for many of us, that reason is based on two words, Growth and Freedom. What is interesting is that not everyone has that mindset, or has even had the opportunity to be exposed to that mindset.  Not everyone knows that you can do and be better.  Some people simply have not been shown all of the opportunity they really have. That is one of the reasons I became a Big, with Big Brothers Big Sisters and why we are lucky to have Tracy Anderson, of BBBS Dane County in Madison, Wisconsin to chat with us about the difference a mentor can make. Tracy explains what all Big Brothers Big Sisters does for kids, adults, the community and society at large.  All of this rolling around the idea of people sharing time, experience and ideas with each other, thinly veiled as just having fun hanging out. If you have ever wondered how you could make a difference in the world, as a way to show gratitude for the success you have achieved, I'd highly suggest becoming a Big. Listen as Tracy explains what it takes to be a Big and the challenges Big Brothers Big Sisters has continued to overcome, just like any business.  Often success can be measured by a bank account, more importantly, it can be measured in smiles and expanding the opportunity that you were lucky enough to learn about. Enjoy! Visit Tracy at: https://www.bbbsmadison.org/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 Building Birdhouses and Life Lessons 03:59 Mentoring Program: One-on-One Impact 07:04 "Child Signup Process Overview" 12:07 Revamping Recruitment Post-COVID 14:58 Interview Process for Kids and Bigs 18:14 Event Hub: Free, Discounted Activities 21:27 Unbreakable Bonds Through Mentorship 23:50 Podcast vs. Gaming Popularity Dilemma 28:31 "Community Outreach & Partnerships" 31:03 Economic Uncertainty Hits Spending 34:54 Dane County Scavenger Hunt Adventure 36:56 Team Roles: Fundraising and Missions 38:58 Mission-Based Team Challenges 44:43 "Team Building and Mission Alignment" 47:46 Transformative Experience Perspective 48:44 Mentorship Boosts Future Earnings 54:38 "Girls on the Run Program" 57:52 Local Giving Transparency in Madison Podcast Transcription: Tracy Anderson [00:00:00]: So it's a one to one mentoring program. So it's all about spending that one on one time. It truly makes a difference. And when you spend time with a child, we create new matches, ages 6 to 13. Another great reason why mentorship works. I mean, you're getting out of a different environment and you're being asked to do things that you know are going to help you when you become an adult. James Kademan [00:00:34]: You have found authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. We are locally interwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link fund@drawincustomers.com and today we're welcoming, preparing to learn from Tracy Anderson of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Dane County. So, Tracy, how is it going today? Tracy Anderson [00:00:58]: Good, good. James Kademan [00:00:59]: I'm excited for you to be here. Tracy Anderson [00:01:00]: Thank you. James Kademan [00:01:01]: I've been a big. I guess I'm not technically a Big anymore, but I was a Big with Danny. We got connected when he was 11. Tracy Anderson [00:01:08]: Okay. James Kademan [00:01:08]: So it's like I said, is almost forever. It's been a while.

It's been a minute since we did a dilemma episode, but the wait is over!First, thank you for being so open with us—sharing your dilemmas really helps us figure out what conversations we need to lean into more.Got a dilemma? Slide into our DMs! We might reply to you directly, share it (anonymously, of course) on our stories—with your go-ahead—or even bring it up in an episode.Link to Lyd's therapists highlighthttps://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTI2ODkxODY2MDk0OTI3?igsh=YWRhZ3o4cDNpNA==Engage us:YOUTUBE: TMI Podcast KE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6fVFxrbf0HDRW3B2mdWFGA INSTAGRAMTMI Podcast KE - https://instagram.com/tmipodcastke?utm_medium=copy_link Lydia KM - https://instagram.com/_lydiakm?utm_medium=copy_link Murugi Munyi - https://instagram.com/murugi.munyi?utm_medium=copy_link TIKTOK TMI Podcast KE - https://www.tiktok.com/@UC6fVFxrbf0HDRW3B2mdWFGA Lydia KM - https://www.tiktok.com/@UCuuTRxZ1bUjg6daywCC6hPA Murugi Munyi - https://www.tiktok.com/​⁠@UCRfGbRcRH9dcMv6nyGkUfyQ

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

In this powerful episode of Fostering Conversations, host Amy Smith sits down with Sheri, a resilient young woman who aged out of Utah's foster care system and is now thriving as a leader at Angels Landing Foundation. Sheri shares her deeply personal story from entering foster care at age 12 after bravely reporting abuse, to cycling through 13 foster homes, and ultimately finding healing, empowerment, and purpose. Listeners will gain insight into: The emotional reality of sibling separation in care The challenges of instability and aging out alone The importance of supportive adults and safe spaces How Angels Landing Foundation is transforming outcomes for aged-out foster youth Sheri's journey highlights the real-world impact of organizations like Angels Landing, which provide community, mental health support, life skills training, and financial empowerment to young adults aged 18–26 transitioning out of care.  Resources Mentioned: Angels Landing Foundation: angelslandingfoundation.org Follow Angels Landing on Instagram: @angelslandingfoundation Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: bbbs.org Learn About Foster Care in Utah: utahfostercare.org Transcript: Episode 62: Aging Out Strong Amy: Thank you for joining us for Fostering Conversations. I’m your host, Amy Smith. Today we have Sheri who grew up in foster care and aged out of the foster care system. She currently works at Angels Landing, and we’re so excited to have her with us today. Thanks, Sheri. Sheri: Thank you. Amy: You have a really incredible story and I’m sure filled with also a lot of heartache and pain as well. So we wanna be sensitive to that. But would you just start by introducing yourself? Sheri: Absolutely. [00:01:00] Like you said, my name’s Sheri. I’m 23 years old. Gonna be turning 24 this year and I , work at Angels Landing. I, that’s like the best introduction I think I’ve got. Amy: I love it. So tell us a little bit what Angel’s Landing is for those who don’t know. Sheri: So Angels Landing is a nonprofit organization that serves young adults from eighteen to to 26. And our mission statement is Angels Landing builds community centered on empowering young adults transitioning from foster care to achieve self-sufficiency and create a life that they love. And so that is absolutely something that I needed when I aged out of foster care. And it’s been an absolute great opportunity and another resource as someone who doesn’t have tons of resources, and especially that family unit. Having another spot is always something that creates [00:02:00] So much support in my life. And so Angel’s Landing been great and I’m excited to, to dive into what that looks like. Amy: I love that. So maybe start by telling us a little bit about your story and how you found. Sheri: I aged into foster care when I was 12 years old. My mom passed away when I was three and a half, and so she passed away in a car accident on Valentine’s Day, Amy: Oh man. Sheri: so it’s the love day. So I try to always look at it like all the positives, right? But yep. Lost my mom at three and a half years old and. I’ve got a beautiful, twin sister and another big brother. He’s about a year and a half older than I am, and then an older sister who’s seven years older. So there’s four of us total. But yeah, so growing up, um, didn’t have a, a mom for, for very long and, um, after she passed away, it was really hard for my dad and I have a hard [00:03:00] time saying my dad, but just ’cause of that, the trauma. the history in there. Unfortunately, we were left with our dad and he was abusive and in all ways emotionally, but vocally, all the things. As we got older, I, I thankfully had other. People in my life that weren’t that way. I had my grandma and school teachers that treated me with love. And I soon began to realize how the way that I was being treated at home was very different from the way that I was being treated in other places. And I really liked the way that I was being treated in other places than at home. And at 12 years old. I, I made the courageous act of turning my father in. That was a really hard thing. Amy: Yeah, I. Sheri: But it needed to happen because it was the life I needed, this life that, that, that love that I always felt [00:04:00] from the outside. And I wanted to live that every day. And so heard of this thing called foster care, and you get a new mom and a new dad, and I was like, man. That is exactly what we need. That is exactly what we need. And we’ll be perfect you guys. I promise. My brother was really scared. My sister was like super trusting and so early morning, two hours we ended it outside of school. But as soon as That door opened, we went inside the school and we advocated for ourselves at 12 years old and what was going on and some situations that had happened at home. And thankfully, after about eight hours at school the conversations had ended and the foster care journey had started. And it was hard. That was hard too, but it was much better than what we were dealing with before anything. Give me anything. Foster care’s hard, but it was better. And that’s how it all started for us. For the beginning of that [00:05:00] entering of foster care and, not starting that big, that journey without a mom and then really not starting that journey, a supportive. Father figure that I could look up to I felt that foster care was our golden ticket, and it truly was in a lot of ways. I am so 100% grateful for foster care and yeah, it took me out of a really dark place at home and it was hard. And yeah, then the journey started. Amy: That is, I think that’s a really unusual story. I think a lot of kids come into foster care and they’re trying to hide this trauma And abuse that’s going on and they’re not brave enough to go and tell a trusting adult, Hey, this. Is not okay. So I find that really admirable that you and your siblings were able to do that. That’s really amazing. Sheri: Thank you. Amy: yeah. The bio that you sent over before this episode, it showed that you bounced around quite a bit in foster care. Are you [00:06:00] able or willing to touch on, you know what, so you entered foster care and, and it was a relief in some way, but. What were the hard parts of foster care and where were the pains and the struggles in the foster care system? Sheri: Oh man. See, there’s a polarity of the two, right? Yeah. Where do I begin? Is where my head starts, and I think the beginning of it is, I was eventually separated from my siblings. And, that’s very common in foster care. It’s not something that anybody wants, but unfortunately that’s just sometime is the case. And being separated from my brother, my big brother was one thing, but being separated from my twin sister was. S completely different.  She was the person that I walked into the school with to tell the counselor what was going on at home and she was the person I wanted to grow up with, as sisters do. And so eventually we had, I think about. Two foster [00:07:00] homes together about maybe a year and a half, two years until we were separated. And that was a very big heartache and super, super hard. Still something that today in my life and a her life that we are actively trying to create this relationship and.Kind of fix that gap that we got in foster care. Amy: Yeah. I bet. Sheri: Yeah. Being separated for her was, it was like a, it was like a movie. We had our hands like this until we just couldn’t anymore. It was the most dramatic thing you’d ever see, Amy: Yeah. Sheri: but just definitely shows how much love there is there and how important family is. And yeah. After that I, I went through a lot of homes. Total. There was 13 foster homes from 12 to 18 years old. The longest that I was placed in a home was about 10 months, so never a full year in any home.That [00:08:00] itself created a lot of instability in my life. And actually before I, as I’ve been. This podcast has been coming up for me. I’ve been digging into my past a little bit and getting back into that little girl who was living in that.And something that, I’ve realized and I’ve learned is I’ve kept a ton of journals. That was, That was my outlet, that was the person that I confided in, was my journal. ’cause there were so many therapists, there were so many foster parents. And so the one person that always stuck with me was my journal. And so I’ve just got Amy: What a gift to have that now, wow. That’s cool. Sheri: Yes. And so being able to dive back in that has been such a eye-opening thing. But I’ve got about 10 journals just filled, and I’ve seen just through the process when you open this first journal of this 12-year-old girl, she’s so sweet and she’s excited and innocent and. I hope that I find my mom and dad and just [00:09:00] really have so much faith in that, and that’s something I really have always carried. there’s even still a little something in there still just that love and that faith. But. Throughout the years of foster care from 12 to 18 in those journals, you see this innocence this faith after the many homes to fade away. It’s just a little bit of the hardening. A little bit more of those guards start to come up after each, door of a home. And some homes didn’t work out because for my own preference, it was maybe that family was a very different lifestyle than I could. That would make me genuinely happy. Or, it just didn’twork out on their part too. I’ve had, there was multiple homes that I had that were, they were very young foster parents. One was 27, and then I even had a pair of foster parents that were 23 and being 23 years old now I’m just like. What in the world, where Amy: Having a teenager. Can you imagine? Sheri: yes. And so [00:10:00] I, I have so much grace now for it, Amy: Yeah. Sheri: but it was definitely tough. And so realizing that I needed a very stable and sturdy home and during that time, and it was definitely a rollercoaster for sure. I’d love to touch on my longest placement For a little bit, if that’s. Okay, so my longest placement was In Salt Lake City and this placement was just after a previous home that I was potentially going to be adopted from. And this woman was 20, I think she was 27. She was the one of the younger ones. She was so amazing. The second I saw her, I was like, wow, she would be the best mom in the world. Amy: Wow. Sheri: And I spent four months in her home before I got moved and that, that didn’t work. And like I said, now as an adult, I’m just like, yeah, I totally understand. And she’s sweet. She’s told me you helped me [00:11:00] more than I helped you. And I’m like, man, thank you. And if you’re welcome, Amy: Yeah, exactly. Sheri: she’s a sweetheart and. All grace to it, it’s really lessons that I feel like we can pull from it, like for foster parents listening, like making sure that they’re at a age and they’ve got that experience that they’re really ready to take on that kind of a role. After this move, I moved up to Salt Lake City, Utah, and coming from St. George and that potential adoptive home was in Manti. So I’ve only ever experienced small town. Amy: Yeah. Sheri: Thanks. And next thing I know, I’m being moved up to West Valley, Utah in, a very big city and I was just like, whoa. And I was just had turned 16 out there just , becoming this young woman and I’m, I’ve just gone through all these homes and now I’m in this big city and I’m just like, holy moly. Life is wild. [00:12:00] But just always, still carrying that attitude of, just getting through it and I think a big thing that really got me through it was, of course my sister. Just having that person to want to keep going for and that person to want to be like, how do, sorry, gimme just a second how I explain this. Be a role model for her, because I won’t, wouldn’t want my sister to be sad. I wanna be a good, I wanna be happy, I want, so that, that can be shared and that can be, like, I’ve seen Lots of people around us, that just feel really sorry about their situation and so just doing, I’ve always had that attitude of just doing my best in. And being a light and just being as positive as possible. But after entering Salt Lake and going through about 10 homes at this point and leaving a home, I didn’t get adopted in. I was feeling pretty, [00:13:00] pretty sad. And then being this big city, just feeling like really small, big tall cities, Amy: very overwhelming. Yeah. Sheri: And actually when I got moved over to this home, half of my stuff didn’t get moved over, Amy: Oh man. Sheri: and so when I had been moved over, it was wintertime and up north you get snow down St. George, you don’t even really need to buy a big fur coat, you just need a hoodie and you’re fine. I needed a big code out there and going through homes and having this instability, something I had a hard time in learning was how to advocate for myself. How to ask for help. And so I didn’t even think about asking my foster mom for a pair of socks and a jacket, and I didn’t have socks and I didn’t have a jacket. So I layered up five long sleeve shirts and I just got as warm as I could and I had my little vans on and I walked to school and I had to walk a while to get to the bus, and the bus would take me to the train. And then after the train, you walk [00:14:00] to school and. After a few weeks of doing that, this was my first entry into West Valley. And the city was winter. And not having the the basic needs to feel warmth and how to advocate for myself. And I’ll never forget this moment. I love sharing it. And about two weeks of walking in the snow, each step just got more painful. This little cheery, like we can push through. It was just like This sucks. I’m really starting to say it like this is just starting to suck, and so I got to this point where I had to wait for the crosswalk and I raised up my fists and I finally let some emotion out and I said, God, could it get any worse than this? And a school bus drove right past me and splashed cold water all over me. And I said, okay, I hear you. It could get worse. But interesting enough, [00:15:00] I look at other kids and I would completely understand to com have a complete fit. At that point, I was so happy. I felt that I had just gotten an answer and that.I was exactly where I needed to be and that things could be worse and that things are gonna get better. And That really carried me through foster care. And yeah, just having a lot of that faith and, I eventually came back to St. George and was able to be with my siblings and went to a lot of different schools. I went to seven high schools total in just the span of four years. I have a lot of friends, a lot of connections. Amy: yeah. Sheri: I could, I take the pros from it. There’s lots of pros from it and so I just really try to look at life that way. I think that’s the best way. For me, so Amy: I think that’s actually quite unusual. I think there’s a lot of youth who experience [00:16:00] similar things to what you’ve experienced. They experience aging out. We all know the statistics. They are not great. So I think that’s really remarkable that you have been able to have such a positive attitude and have that kind of faith and have, you are a remarkable person that you’ve endured so much and you’re just keep going and you have a beautiful demeanor about you and you’re happy and finding the good. I think that’s really unusual and really beautiful. Sheri: Thank you. It’s that polarity, right? Amy: I guess so. Sheri: I love it. I love it. Yeah. Amy: So tell us about how you found Angels Landing and what that offered you and what it can offer other kids that are experiencing similar life circumstances. Sheri: So after aged out of foster care I didn’t have the foster parents. I didn’t have the caseworkers. I had bills after I had bills and I had to go to work and there was no more school and there was no more hanging out with friends. It was time [00:17:00] to start growing up and it was time to start figuring out what life I wanted to create and make that for myself. And so at 18 years old, after all those homes and all that, really it was. It was hard to transition into that. I, it took me a while. I think I still tried , be a kid as long as I could. I think the biggest piece of it though, was after finally getting out of, I wouldn’t say getting out of foster care because really the goal was to get adopted for me. But that’s not the case for everybody. And so once I did age out of foster careI, got a job and I think the biggest piece of it for me was that once I aged out of foster care, I could now finally start to process all of it because being in it, there was no chance of that. Okay, Amy: Interesting. Sheri: so for the last five years I’ve been processing all of it. And 18, 19, you’re this young [00:18:00] still kid, right? You’re labeled an adult, but you’re still really a kid. And so just figuring that out and processing it all. But now that my frontal lobe’s getting closer to developing, that’s something I could, I’m excited about. But really I think just the time. It’s the time to be able to process what I had just went through and that was hard. Doing that alone at 18. Like I said, my mom passed away when I was three and I turned my dad in at 12. And so he was incarcerated for 10 years and that’s not a connection I’m willing to have. And so there was no such thing as a parental figure in my life after foster care. And even in foster care, I had people I could look up to, but there really wasn’t a solid, too much of a solid person. Amy: Right. Sheri: And just to advocate, I feel that this is something I would love to share is shout out to Big Brothers and Big Sisters program seriously be [00:19:00] because I’ve had a big sister from Big Brothers Big Sisters since I was 12, and she. Wasn’t my mom, know, didn’t have to take on this big duty, but she took on this role as a sister and she was my sister throughout foster care and, she’s still my big sister now.  And so she was someone I was able to really look up to and have that solid connection. Amy: That is amazing. Sheri: It’s probably over 10 years now, Amy: Yeah, Sheri: yeah. Amy: and I think a lot of times we talk about in foster care, you just need one caring adult and it would be lovely to have 10 or 20 caring adults, of course. But it sounds like you have that caring adult and you have that person who you can rely on. Maybe they’re not your mom, maybe you weren’t adopted by them, but you have that stable connection. That’s incredible. Sheri: So it didn’t for me in this case, it didn’t need to be that, but it did need to be somebody. That’s, and that’s so true that one caring adult. And for me that was Katie. Her name’s Katie, and she’s absolutely [00:20:00] phenomenal. And I think I bug her and call her as much as she used to try to get ahold of me when I was a kid. She’s got, she’s got her own now. Yep.  They’ve totally turned. I love it. But she’s, I say that she’s really a big reason of who I am today and just been able to be that stable person. So I had her in foster care after aging out, and she took me to get my first set of groceries, everything I needed, and laundry detergent and just all the stables like, here it is, this is what you need. Go get ’em, sister. And she just totally believed in me and set me up for success. And yeah that was great. But like I said, she’s got tables of turns. She’s got her own kids now and. I was still very young and needed some support. And navigating that alone for some time in some spaces were hard, but very growing. And that’s just when Amer clap happened for me and for, for Utah. And that’s when Angel’s Landing came around. And seriously, it was just like, wow, all my [00:21:00] prayers have been answered. When I was a kid in foster care, I always wanted to be a part of something that helped young adults that have aged out or just in something. And I just, I love the goal of it. It’s beautiful. And Angels Landing They help young adults that wanna create a life they love and former foster youth. There’s a certain, there’s a specific dynamic, this specific space, and I love that’s. That’s important to this community and that’s a part of this community. And being around other like-minded individuals that aren’t defined by their past and don’t wanna be defined by their past And come together and and create the life that they love and have that opportunity to do so through different things, different resources, like Angel’s Landing has. Activities once a month. So that’s providing, new experiences that maybe one wouldn’t get to have. Amy: Yeah. Sheri: Going hiking to Zion or going boating out in San Hollow. They really try to incorporate these [00:22:00] experiences that we. Adults like to have and give our own kids and that really are showing casing that there is so much life to live and so much fun to have. And that’s such a beautiful piece of just that community and get getting together. That just is really awesome. And they also have core classes. They do. Let’s see here. I just wanna go off of our website just to give some real real service here. And so the biggest service of Angels Landing is mental health, because I know that, okay, these guys have been through so much, which is so true. It’s not a, it’s not a normal situation. And so being able to provide a space where that can be worked out and processed and free, it is such a resource. And so Angel Landing provides that and it’s absolutely awesome. They have really cool learning opportunities that teach different skills that any young [00:23:00] adult would wanna know, like finances housing wellness.Tools transportation, how to buy a car, what all of those things look like. Here are the tools. Here’s the information. And then after that, they provide that financial support so that, that gap can really be bridged and that opportunity can really be given because in a world that we are in, that’s something that’s necessary.And if there’s that, that beautiful, that leg up, that financial support with that learning opportunity, it’s. So awesome because it feels so earned and it’s just man, I’m really getting on this path of success here. Like these people are really seeing this, writing this, path out for me and giving this opportunity for me to have, and then of course, just that community piece with those activities. So it’s a wonderful opportunity for young adults that have been through foster care and need that kind of support. Amy: I think all those things that you’re saying, those are [00:24:00] things that parents should be teaching that role models should be teaching, that healthy adults should be teaching. So kids that are aging out, they have missed that opportunity and it is. Horrible. They should never have had to miss the opportunity. But having this program, this nonprofit that’s now providing these resources, that is invaluable and it’s gonna change the statistics of kids aging out, Sheri: It is gonna a hundred percent change the statistics. And, I always say like you might be seeing and hearing one person right now, It’s, gonna be a generational thing because I’m gonna go on to teach my kid these skills and then that kid’s gonna do the same, and then those statistics will get lower. And that’s just how it works. I just love it. I just, I love the mission of it all. It’s. Amy: No, it’s, it is amazing and I didn’t even know it. existed, and I. I. have closed my foster care license, but. I have been a foster parent. And I think this is really important for foster parents to know about to teach the kids, show them this resource that they do have and [00:25:00] also to educate the public. Kids are aging out with no support. Some kids are aging out with awesome foster parents, right? That happens too. And so just educating the public that this is a resource for. Kids that have experienced aging out of the foster care system, that is invaluable. So where are the best places that people can get information? Do you guys have a website, an Instagram? What’s the best place that someone can reach out and find ways to get support? Sheri: Yes, so we’ve got a website, angels landing foundation.org. And we’ve also got an Instagram, Angels Landing Foundation. Amy: Okay. Awesome. So those are two really easy ways that foster parents or kids that are aging out or have aged out and need resources can reach out to you guys. I love that. On a personal note, I would love to know what the outcome of your twin sister and your brother were in the foster care system. Sheri: Great question. Thank you. Me and my sister live together now. We’re together now. Um, yeah, it’s definitely something that [00:26:00] we have to, really practice our, as just sisters do and family does. But on top of just what we’ve been through, it’s definitely been a learning curve and twins, but we love each other and she’s doing amazing. She’s actually an Ayurvedic chef. Amy: Wow. Sheri: she’s cooking at a retreat center and diving into holistic medicine and wellness and just, yeah. I think just providing the tools we can to live our best life. That’s what we wanted when we were 12, when we were leaving our situation, and it’s what we still want now.And yeah just, yeah. I’m so proud of her and what she’s doing and I love that we’re both in this realm of kind of.Giving backand providing the tools for ourselves but also not being defined by our pasts.And I love how that shows light to other, other people. I I’ve had, there’s young adults that walk into Angel’s Landing and they say she was a she was in foster care. Like what? [00:27:00] They just can’t even believe it. And it’s like you have this light inside of you as well and you are capable of all of these things as well. And none of that is even the you You’re not your past. And so it’s just super cool to be able to round like-minded individuals and it’s wonderful. Amy: I love that. That is beautiful. Thank you so much. And it truly is,as a foster parent who has had a lot of kids come through my home, it’s really remarkable to see. How courageous you are, how much you’re giving back the good that you’re doing for yourself and for the community. It’s just, it’s really remarkable. And I just wanna commend you on that ’cause you’veendured a lot. I can imagine. And you’re really putting your best foot forward for yourself and for others. And that’s, it’s really beautiful. So thank you for all that you’re doing in the community. Thank you so much for joining our podcast today. We are so excited for our listeners to be able to have the chance to listen and learn from you, and [00:28:00] hopefully they can head over to Angels Landing Foundation to learn more. If our listeners have questions about foster care, they can head over to Utah foster care.org to learn more.

Fran Duffy is in the house as we continue to raise money for Big Brothers, Big Sisters and we're turning the clock back to when a bunch of Eagles like Jalen Hurts, Cooper DeJean, Nolan Smith and more were entering the league as draft prospects. How did Fran evaluate them back then? Tune in to find out and join the contributions.

Calvin Quallis has built a mission and purpose-driven business from scratch. He is the founder and CEO of Scotch Porter, a grooming and wellness business that he launched from his kitchen built into a highly influential brand. Calvin is also the founder of Calvin Quallis Brands and an active member of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America. In this classic episode, Calvin joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to discuss his entrepreneurial career, self-care, helping men improve their mental health and more. This episode of the Elevate Podcast is sponsored by: Brevo: ⁠⁠brevo.com/elevate⁠⁠ Masterclass: ⁠⁠masterclass.com/elevate⁠⁠ Northwest Registered Agent: ⁠⁠northwestregisteredagent.com/elevate⁠⁠ Shopify: ⁠⁠shopify.com/elevate⁠⁠ ExpressVPN:⁠ ⁠expressvpn.com/elevate⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Big Sis Energy! We're back and kicking things off with a deep dive into the influencer world, pulling back the curtain and giving you the real, unfiltered look at what goes on behind the feed.In this episode, we're letting you in on everything influencers don't usually share—how we turned a 2019 hobby into a full-time career, what the day-to-day actually looks like. From brand deal negotiations and platform strategy to what brands really look for, we're giving you the insider scoop. Also answering your assumptions about “Influencers”, and what they are really like in person !Here's what we're spilling:• The real journey: How we became influencers and made it our full-time job• What a “day in the life” really looks like—from filming and editing to pitching and planning• The truth about brand deals, PR packages, and how much creators can actually earn• How to stay relevant in a fast-changing industry (and why you always need to pivot)• What nobody talks about: comparison, body image, and maintaining authenticity onlinePLUS, we answer listener questions in our Help a Sister Out segment where we offer real advice and share more behind-the-scenes stories.Whether you're curious about becoming a creator, already in the game, or just want the real tea—this episode is packed with value, insights, and the kind of honesty you can only get from your Big Sisters.✨ Subscribe and join the sisterhood! Follow us on IG: @bigsisenergyy

Most people dream of breaking into luxury real estate, imagining a glamorous life of lavish parties, jaw-dropping listings, and red-carpet moments.  They see the glossy Instagram photos, the million-dollar deals, and the VIP lifestyle. But what they don't see is the grit, sacrifice, and relentless hustle behind the scenes. The truth is, success in luxury real estate isn't just about "looking the part", it's about building the skills, relationships, and experiences that get you in the right rooms. And yes, sometimes that means “faking it till you make it”, but in the right way.  One of the fastest ways to do that? Joining the right team.  When you're starting out, you might not have a portfolio full of luxury listings yet, but your team's reputation and experience can open doors you couldn't access alone.  By aligning with a strong team, you instantly gain credibility, mentorship, and access to higher-end deals that help you level up faster than you ever could solo. Today's guest, Julia Spillman, is the CEO of the Eklund|Gomes Team at Douglas Elliman, a powerhouse team that's shattered the billion-dollar sales mark and expanded across New York, LA, Miami, and beyond. In this episode, we dive into the real blueprint for making it in luxury real estate, the power of starting from the bottom, and the strategic use of teams to leap into higher price points.   Find the balance between being authentic and still selling to high end clients, looking luxury but also being very approachable. -Julia Spillman   Things You'll Learn In This Episode The right way to “fake it till you make it” How do ambitious agents break into the luxury market without being scammy, and why is teaming the ultimate shortcut to real success? Why teams are a launchpad, not a crutch What makes teams so powerful for growing your price point, client base, and credibility faster than you could solo? The myth of overnight success Why do people think luxury agents just appear out of nowhere? What does the real path look like behind the scenes? How your background becomes your superpower How did growing up in a tiny town, and working through the 2008 crash, prepare Julia for leading a billion-dollar brand today?   Guest Bio Julia Spillman is CEO of Douglas Elliman's celebrated Eklund|Gomes team. The Kentucky native is the architect of Eklund|Gomes' unprecedented nationwide expansion and in addition oversees all operations, sales and agent hires. Energetic, people-oriented and a brilliant communicator, Spillman has been with Douglas Elliman for a decade and has honed her abilities to tap networks, streamline data and watch markets at the micro and macro level. Her dedication and spirit have paid off – in 2018, she led the team to break a billion in annual sales. Spillman's past experience as a residential lender for firms such as HSBC and Merrill Lynch give her an understanding of the importance of providing service at every level of highly complex transactions. Her advisory of a customized Customer Relationship Management platform allows her and the Eklund|Gomes team to pick up precisely where they left off in any relationship or project. Her ability to cultivate and retain high-net-worth clientele is matched by her power to harness and interpret information and to balance a keenly held intuition with a trove of knowledge. Spillman's ambition is matched by her commitment to community. She has provided years of fundraising and service to Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Easter Seals, and the New York City Junior League. She is active with the American Ballet Theater and served as the Former 2015 and 2016 Junior Council Chair and Junior Chair of the 2014 ABT Spring Gala. Follow @juliayagerspillman on Instagram.    About Your Host Remington Ramsey is a speaker, author, entrepreneur, and visionary in the world of real estate. As the creator of "Real Producers", a widely acclaimed magazine connecting top agents and industry leaders, Remington has built an impressive platform dedicated to celebrating and elevating the real estate community. Remington is also the author of Agent Allies: Building Your Business With Strategic Real Estate Partnerships. With a passion for motivating and mentoring, he's shared stages with some of the biggest names in business, helping professionals break through barriers and reach new heights. When he's not busy being a real estate guru, Remington is known for his contagious energy, practical wisdom, and a good dose of humor—because let's face it, navigating life and business requires both grit and a sense of humor. With multiple successful ventures under his belt and a reputation for engaging storytelling, he has the rare ability to make even the driest industry stats sound exciting.    To learn more about the podcast or give feedback and suggest a guest, go to https://podcast.realproducersmag.com/.  Start a Real Producers Magazine in YOUR Market! Learn more about franchise opportunities at realproducersmag.com   Follow the show on our website, Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don't miss a single inspiring episode! Start a Real Producers Magazine in YOUR Market! Learn more about franchise opportunities at realproducersmag.com

ICYMI: Laura & Matt have announced baby number 3! This is the moment Marlie & Lola found out that they were having a baby brother (and they didn't quite have the reaction we were expecting). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we catch up with Nick Speed, the founder of Ujima, a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing food justice and empowering youth in St. Louis. Nick shares an update on the Sunflower Institute, Ujima's flagship program that provides a comprehensive approach to youth development, covering areas like urban farming, outdoor education, culinary arts, professional development, and mental health support.Nick discusses the recent HBCU Climate Change Conference in New Orleans, where the Sunflower Institute team had the opportunity to learn from and connect with a diverse group of students, farmers, and activists. He also highlights the organization's expansion plans, including increasing the program's capacity and providing more robust year-round support for participants, addressing challenges like housing and financial aid.Notably, Nick emphasizes the importance of the Sunflower Institute's mental health initiatives, including the implementation of the Team Mental Health First Aid training. This certification program equips both the Sunflower Institute staff and the broader community with the skills to support young people's mental health needs, a critical aspect of holistic youth development.Throughout the conversation, Nick's passion for empowering the next generation shines through, as he shares his personal journey and the driving force behind Ujima's mission. This episode offers valuable insights for those interested in personal and professional development, urban farming, outdoor education, teen mental health, first aid, housing, and entrepreneurship.Follow Nick:Nick's Previous Podcast Episode - https://youtu.be/mcBAZp8gpec Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrnickspeed/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nickolas.speedLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickolas-speed-7b368558/Follow Ujima:Instagram -  https://www.instagram.com/ujimastl/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UjimaSTLLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/ujima-stlYouTube - https://youtube.com/@ujimastl?si=z6-lIQLhJi3VhG2k Newsletter - https://ujimastl.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d684fd04a4462757d465ab902&id=ee7c5e38b3Email - ujimastl@gmail.comResources & Shout OutsDr. Brittany Conners - Optimistic Theory - https://www.optimistictheory.com/ - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-brittany-conners-a6b48218/ Brittany's Previous Podcast Episode - https://open.spotify.com/episode/3HAkNsU67bV4iJdvioexhI?si=d5478420e52e4b5c Earth Dance Organic Farm School - https://earthdancefarms.org/Big Brothers, Big Sisters - https://www.bbbsemo.org/Zion - @cucumbacool IG - https://www.instagram.com/cucumbacoolKim - @liberatedrootsco IG - https://www.instagram.com/liberatedrootsco/Roots Oasis - https://liberatedroots.com/Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girl's Club - https://www.bgcstl.org/mathewsdickey/AmeriCorps - https://www.americorps-stl.org/United Way - https://helpingpeople.org/George Washington Carver Farms - https://ujimastl.com/gwc-farmsYouth In Need - https://www.youthinneed.org/STL Youth Jobs - https://www.stlyouthjobs.org/Community Healthcare Workers - https://www.stlchwcoalition.org/homeAlign With Anna®️ is a holistic healing and wellness company dedicated to guiding individuals, families, and organizations toward alignment, ease, and transformation. Through sound healing, intuitive coaching, and immersive experiences, Anna creates safe spaces for self-discovery, deep healing, and authentic expression. Learn more about Align With Anna®️ at https://www.alignwithanna.com/linksFree Discovery Callhttps://calendly.com/alignwithanna/discoverycall YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaeTf6THAIjZtNdxUmhXnZg Bloghttps://www.alignwithanna.com/blogNewsletterhttps://www.alignwithanna.com/contactAffiliate Linkshttps://www.alignwithanna.com/affiliatesBecome an Affiliatehttps://alignwithanna.com/get-paidWork With Me https://alignwithanna.com/services Shop Aromatherapyhttps://alignwithanna.com/wholesale

In this special episode of Marketing Your Private Practice with Kathy C, we take a break from marketing strategies to spotlight an incredible cause - Big Brothers Big Sisters. As part of the worldwide Podcasthon https://podcasthon.org/  Kathy shares her personal experience as a Big Sister and talks with Bethany Porter, the mentoring and volunteer coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Halifax.Kathy opens up about what inspired her to join the program, how easy it was to get started, and the rewarding experience of mentoring a 9-year-old young girl in her community. Bethany provides some insight into the organization's mission, the impact of mentorship, and how just a few hours a month can create lasting change in a child's life. They discuss the matching process, common misconceptions about the time and financial commitment, and a couple of success stories of matches - many of which turn into lifelong friendships.With 107 children currently on the waitlist in Halifax alone, the need for volunteers is urgent. Whether you're 19 or 90, there's a child who could benefit from your time and kindness if not here in Kathy's city - then in your own city or town too!  If you've ever considered becoming a Big Sister or Brother with this organization but felt unsure, this episode will give you the clarity and encouragement you need. Be sure to check out the links and resources mentioned on our show notes page at http://marketingyourprivatepractice.com/142  or visit halifax.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca to learn more and take the first step toward making a difference.Maybe you can't help out as a mentor yourself, but you can support Kathy and Skyla's fundraising for the BBBS Bowl-a-thon happening this May. Visit  https://www.canadahelps.org/me/RYrdWkG to donate directly to their team - the Slay Queens Strike Again. Please visit www.podcasthon.org to discover hundreds of other associations through the voices and talents of amazing podcastersClick here to send Kathy a text message about this Episode

On International Women's Day, we ask you to tell us about a woman you admire with Amanda Sayfy from Dress for Success Vancouver and Big Sisters of B.C. Lower Mainland executive director Chantelle Krish.

February is National Mentoring Month. Big Brothers, Big Sisters has about 80 children waiting for a mentor in greater Chattanooga alone. Make a difference that can last a lifetime! Shadrina Booker, CEO of BBBS, explains how to become a mentor and walks the talk. Not only does she lead a mentoring organization, but she is also a mentor herself. Learn more at bbbschatt.org .Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshow/wmbwSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Okay, so one time Andrea promised to never release an episode of The Watchers longer than the episode of Yellowjackets we're reviewing. But if this show has taught us anything, it's that women from Jersey simply can't be trusted. Jodie and Andrea watched “Them's the Brakes,” episode three of season three of Yellowjackets, and we've got a lot to say about it.In 1996, Ben and Mari star in our new favorite buddy comedy. Our soccer team goes spelunking. And we're reminded that it's probably about time to test the batteries in our CO detectors. In 2021, Lottie's the world's worst Big Sisters of America volunteer. Shauna and Misty go for a wild ride. And Van and Tai hear the wilderness . . . and the ice-cream man?If you're reading this, that means you've probably got your podcatcher of choice open right now. It would be SO helpful if you gave our little show a follow. If you like what you hear, you could even leave us a review.mentioned in this episode:The Watchers Watch:- The Adventures of Pete and Pete, “What We Did on Our Summer Vacation”- I Saw the TV GlowNew Jersey Is the World: Scene Report: The Land of Make BelieveNot Eureka's Castle: Weinerville“‘Yellowjackets' Boss Jonathan Lisco Explains That Wild Hallucination Sequence” - Jackie StrauseFollow:The Watchers on Instagram (@WatchersPodNJ)Andrea on Instagram (@AQAndreaQ)Jodie on Instagram (@jodie_mim)Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

​Big Brothers and Big Sisters is asking New Brunswickers for the gift of time this year. The non-profit provides children across the province with mentors, and has a growing wait list of children. Jeanne Armstrong spoke to John Foley, executive director for Fredericton and Oromocto.

Tom Cole moved to Southern Oregon in 1995 with the thought of starting a new regional chapter of Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Instead, what he saw around Medford made him realize the community was full of families whose children weren’t getting the educational support they needed, many of them low-income and from households that didn’t speak English. In 1998, Cole piloted an after-school program at one school, serving 50 students with a $500 grant. Since then, his efforts have turned into a full-fledged nonprofit called Kids Unlimited, which operates in nearly every public school in the Medford School District. In 2013 the organization launched the Kids Unlimited Academy, a charter school for underserved communities. Lupita Vargas was in kindergarten when she started in that first Kids Unlimited after-school program. At that time no one in her family spoke English, she says, and the tutoring and other support that the program provided to her and her three siblings was life changing. Vargas joins us, along with founder Tom Cole, to tell us more about her family’s experience, and talk about her job now as the nonprofit’s director of educational services.

REPLAY (Original Air Date Feb 19, 2024) Today on the Social-Engineer Podcast: The Security Awareness Series, Chris is joined by Mary D'Angelo. Mary helps clients understand the threats that exist on the dark web and how to use that intelligence to bolster their cybersecurity programs. With a solid foundation from the University of Washington, where she earned her Bachelor's degree, Mary has rapidly ascended as a global leader at SearchLight Cyber. Her expertise, honed over six years, delves deep into understanding the nuances of dark web threat actors and their intelligence. Mary's and her company's insights and analyses have been instrumental in shedding light on the shadowy aspects of cyber threats emanating from the dark web. Her work not only aids in neutralizing these threats but also contributes significantly to the broader understanding of cyber security dynamics. Additionally, Mary's passion is volunteering her talents into nonprofit organizations. She was a mentor for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Recently, she has devoted her time to a nonprofit called, The Innocent Lives Foundation, which uses Dark Web Threat Intelligence to help law enforcement stop child traffickers. [Feb 19, 2024]   00:00 - Intro 00:41 - Intro Links: -          Social-Engineer.com - http://www.social-engineer.com/ -          Managed Voice Phishing - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/vishing-service/ -          Managed Email Phishing - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/se-phishing-service/ -          Adversarial Simulations - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/social-engineering-penetration-test/ -          Social-Engineer channel on SLACK - https://social-engineering-hq.slack.com/ssb -          CLUTCH - http://www.pro-rock.com/ -          innocentlivesfoundation.org - http://www.innocentlivesfoundation.org/                                                02:56 - Mary D'Angelo Intro 04:12 - What is a Dark Web Threat Intelligence Advisor? 04:36 - One Giant Leap 07:04 - On the Front Lines 11:53 - Deep Web, Dark Web, Clear Web...Oh My! 13:43 - Shifting to the Deep 14:58 - Crime Pays 17:39 - 2024 Forecast 19:00 - Left of Boom 20:53 - All in this Together 21:53 - An Ugly Example 25:19 - Timely 26:30 - Relevant 28:02 - Actionable 29:58 - What's Next? 30:54 - Mentors -          Siblings -          Larry Littleton 32:05 - Book Recommendations -          The Practitioner's Guide to the Dark Web - Searchlight Cyber -          The Ride of a Lifetime - Robert Iger -          Never Split the Difference - Christopher Voss &Tahl Raz 33:33 - Find Mary D'Angelo Online -          LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dangelomary 33:55 - Wrap Up & Outro -          www.social-engineer.com -          www.innocentlivesfoundation.org

**This episode is our FIRST-EVER SPONSORED EPISODE! Keep scrolling for more information. Scroll further down for details!** Being a Jew is difficult. Being anyone is difficult but the difficulties of existing as a Jew in this turbulent world is ever more clear, especially after October 7th, 2023. It's nearly impossible to navigate this world alone and that's why mentors exist.  Cari Uslan of Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Los Angeles knows this too well. She helps run an organization built on making life more manageable. 'Littles' get assigned 'bigs' and vice versa, all to clear the fog that is reality. Uslan elaborates on the Jewish approach to mentorship in this special episode of Bad Jew.  00:00 Introduction AND sponsor message 06:26 Jewish identity is inescapable; mentors guide. 07:15 Mentors expand worldview, crucial for personal growth. 10:44 Mentors inspire transformative growth and opportunities. 15:22 Impactful Jewish mentorship changes lives positively. 20:07 Commitment-focused vetting and support for mentors. 21:02 Mentorship: Supportive guidance, friendship, showing up. 25:24 Giving time enriches mentors and community. 28:22 Excited partnership offers mentorship resources, visit jbbsla.org. About Cari Uslan: Cari B. Uslan has been a nonprofit leader for over 20 years. In 2016, Ms. Uslan joined Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles (JBBBSLA). Currently serving in her third year as Chief Executive Officer; she spent two years as the Executive Vice President, and two years as the Vice President of Development. As Executive Vice President, Ms. Uslan was responsible for overseeing Camp Bob Waldorf, College Access + Success, and the Development department. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was integral in transitioning JBBBSLA's in-person programming to virtual programming and ensuring that all youth and their families being served by the agency were being fully supported by JBBBSLA. Ms. Uslan has also led the organization through financial challenges. Her focus on new fundraising efforts, increased communication, and creative outreach strategies ensured a lower than anticipated deficit in 2020, 2021, and 2022. She also led JBBBSLA through difficult employee transitions. Under Ms. Uslan's leadership, JBBBSLA created the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) committee that is comprised of a diverse group of staff members representing all staffing levels in the agency. In all cases, her adept leadership and open communication has allowed the organization to overcome the current challenges and continue to grow in the future. Prior to JBBBSLA, Ms. Uslan worked at MAZON, developing their national fundraising strategy to fight hunger in the U.S. and Israel. Ms. Uslan also served as a Development Officer for Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Ms. Uslan is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and has served on several nonprofit boards. Connect with Cari Uslan: https://www.jbbbsla.org/contact-us/ IG @JBBBSLA YouTube: @JBBBSofLA   FB: https://www.facebook.com/jbbbsla SPECIAL THANKS TO THE SPONSOR OF THIS EPISODE: JEWISH BIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS OF LOS ANGELES! Become a big today! JBBBSLA.org/mentorship Connect with Bad Jew:  BadJew.co https://linktr.ee/badjew BadJewPod@gmail.com Ig @BadJewPod TikTok @BadJewPod

This is a Special Move Happy Movement Podcast©️ episode dedicated to a great youth organization called Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Our local Executive Director of BBBS, Sandra Brandon, spills the tea on the cool things happening in the community

Two of the funniest gals in town Alana Johnston (Self Esteem Party) and Alison Rich (Pathological) go head to head this week where we tackle questions about Goosebumps, newspapers, movies, Arrested Development characters and a very fun double duty theme round! Alana is playing for OXFAM while Alison is playing for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Play along with us and be sure to subscribe, rate and review wherever you listen to pods and follow us @youshouldknowbetterpod!

In the first hour of today's Sports Rush, we are joined by the Head Coach of Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Men's Basketball, Jon Coffman! Jon joins Brett on the show today to share the exciting news that the Mastodons will be taking on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a Charity Exhibition Basketball Game at the Memorial Coliseum on October 30th! Not only is this a chance for Fighting Irish and Purdue Fort Wayne fans to see a fantastic matchup at the Coliseum before the start of the regular season. Not only that, proceeds from the game will benefit both the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana, but also the Boys and Girls Club of Fort Wayne! Also in the first hour, we talk to Eli Rider who's with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of NEI in order to talk to him about how this event came about, what their organization does, and what this charity game means to the organization as well!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two great episodes from the award-winning police documentary Dragnet starring Jack Webb.

From Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Deanna Sauceda comes in to discuss "200 Men 2 Months" which is a program developed to recruit more men to become mentors for young men/boys. All this and more with TJ on News Radio KKOBSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Website

Brad Aronson is the author of the best-selling book, Humankind, Changing the World one small act at a Time. Brad Aronson non-fiction micro historical novel was chosen as the international book award winner. Proceeds from Brad Arison's book and his speaking tour go the organization, "Big Brothers, Big Sisters." Brad Aronson is also the founder and director of the nonprofit Hope Works where he teaches entrepreneurship.

Willie talks about the Cincinnati Open and Bengals Stadium News with Dave Young, Kamala's ideas for reparations with Giancarlo Canaparo and Big Brothers, Big Sisters with Deb Haas. Willie also takes your calls and hears your frustrations and concerns with politics.

Today, we chatted with Mark Knackendoffel, the recipient of the Vision Cornerstone Award at the Community Foundation Awards. This award recognizes those who saw the potential of what a community foundation could do for Manhattan. During our discussion, Mark shared his journey from leading the trust department at First National Bank to founding his own company and becoming a key player in forming the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. Mark's first interaction with philanthropy in his early days with the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program inspired his lifelong efforts with Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. Get ready to be inspired by his personal stories of influence from his wife Ann and various mentors, along with his love for cooking, sports, and community involvement.GMCFCFAs

Willie talks about the Cincinnati Open and Bengals Stadium News with Dave Young, Kamala's ideas for reparations with Giancarlo Canaparo and Big Brothers, Big Sisters with Deb Haas. Willie also takes your calls and hears your frustrations and concerns with politics.

Willie talks about the Cincinnati Open and Bengals Stadium News with Dave Young, Kamala's ideas for reparations with Giancarlo Canaparo and Big Brothers, Big Sisters with Deb Haas. Willie also takes your calls and hears your frustrations and concerns with politics.

It is without a doubt that Dilemme episodes are y'all fave … riiight ?

Trisha joins the show to discuss the Jewish Big Brothers & Big Sisters program of greater Boston!

Trisha joins the show to discuss the Jewish Big Brothers & Big Sisters program of greater Boston!

Join us as we engage once again with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. We talk about the Daffodil Run in 01002, Bueno Day, Lunch Buddies, and Matches that Work. Miranda Maguire Program Supervisor, Ann Walsh Development and Partnerships Manager, and Bob Lowry Owner of Bueno y Sano discuss how BBBS impacts them and the greater Hampshire County community. Since 1975, BBBS HC has been impacting the lives of Littles so that they may have meaningful adult relationships in their lives but they are not the only ones to benefit. Mentoring is proven to be an important factor in the development of youth and BBBS is fulfilling that need. Bob Lowry is a 3x Big and now major supporter of BBBS. Tune in to learn how you can give of your time or talent in order to make this program even more successful than it already is.

Micah LaCerte is the co-founder of Hitch Fit Online Personal Training and Hitch Fit Transformation Gym with his wife Diana. He is also the Co-founder of SoulFIT Retreats and Conferences where they lead through faith, fitness and fun. Micah is a Muscle Model World Champion, Iron Man fitness magazine cover model, TV Personality, Author, and Motivational Speaker. Micah is also known for being a pioneer in the Online Personal Training Space building it to 82 countries and helping clients shed over 700,000lbs   Micah's passion for the past 25+ years of his life had been helping transform people inside and out through proper lifestyle, positive choice making, nutrition and fitness. Micah was a pioneer in the Online Personal Training space, starting in 2006 utilizing Myspace, making him one of the very first to do it. Since then, he and his wife have helped clients in 82 countries lose over 600,000 pounds and their business Hitch Fit has consistently been rated one of the top online personal training businesses in the world for the last decade.   His proudest moment was not in fitness but in giving back in Haiti. He and his wife have sponsored a school of over 80 children monthly for over 10 years giving back a minimum of 10% of all revenues made through their gyms. They also were a part of giving back within Big Brothers and Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Club.     Micah Lacerte shared in this episode: How his journey started from pain of being overweight, having anxiety, depression. How fitness, health and faith helped him transform to being on purpose and impact How he felt inspired to help others How his results helped him get on covers of magazines How he started helping people online (this didn't exist at that point, so he had to innovate and pioneer) How he leveraged clients results for great PR  Went and found sites like bodybuilding.com to showcase their work - by offering value to help them How his business grew and grew very quickly over the first 4 years He works 7 days per week and have for a long time  Live a very disciplined life, and have non negotiables in life: Faith, Relationship (now 15 years together) and, Health How eating right and working out combats the stress and anxiety that business owners are going through His Faith - was raised with faith and christ and lord. His life changing question: What can I do today to make myself better tomorrow? How the choices you make every day will dictate where you want to be The importance of cutting out the negative habits, one at a time  And much more... Resources Mentioned In The Show: www.soulfitretreats.com www.hitchfit.com IG- MRHITCHFIT   If you would like more insights on profit maximization for your business, visit www.ProfitHive.com.au  

Being a “big”. We spoke to Big Brothers Big Sisters about how the need for mentors and volunteers has exploded over the past couple of years.

It is a pleasure to welcome DJ Ashton Martin, one of my longtime friends, back to the Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar platform and, for the first time, to the podcast. Ashton differs from your average DJ in his ability to turn each performance into an epic party. Having grown up in the industry and began his music education at a young age, Ashton captures crowds with an immense music repertoire and high-voltage performances. Quickly mixing effortlessly between musical genres has become a trademark quality, a rare skill set that guarantees crowd excitement.  DJ Ashton Martin has residencies at Kansas City attractions such as Aura, the Fall, Fontaine Hotel, the Scarlet Room, Society, Westport Ale House, and Woodside Pool.  He also had sets at DNVR and the Tivoli in Denver, the McFadden's Social House in Phoenix, and the Crown Room in St. Louis.Ashton has been the official DJ for Sporting KC since 2019 and was the official DJ of the Kansas City Royals from the 2021 to 2023 seasons. He also performed for various charitable organizations, including the Alzheimer's Association, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Hope House, the Kansas City Art Institute, and Operation Breakthrough.  The Kansas City community awarded Ashton for all his efforts as he was voted the Best of KC Club/Party DJ four times by The Pitch Kansas City from 2013 and 2018 through 2020. Kansas City Magazine was declared Best of KC in 2013, 2020, and 2021.  Ashton entertained the College World Series from 2017 to 2022 and performed at several New York City Fashion Week events. He also opened for 98 Degrees, DJ Pauly D, Jack Harlow, and Tory Lanez. Since 2021, he has been involved in the Tacos and Tequila Festival, where he shared the stage with Ludacris, Mario, T.I., and the Ying Yang Twins.On this episode of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, DJ Ashton Martin spoke about DJing at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium when Sporting KC took on Lionel Messi and Inter Miami and previewed the 2024 Tacos and Tequila Festival. Let's connect on social media! You can find me on:A) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacobElyachar/ B) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacobelyachar/ C) Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jacobelyachar D) TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealjacobelyac E) Twitter: https://x.com/JacobElyachar F) YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JacobElyachar/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.

13-year-old Otis Maclin, mentored by Roy Hass through Big Brothers and Big Sisters, stands out as a promising cyclist, consistently achieving podium placements. This episode also delves into the experience of being a young cyclist in the era of social media influencers. We even had to have Otis translate some terms into "old people" language. It was a good time.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Cape Breton will be using a one time payment from the Provincial government to try to triple the number of children they can serve.

Today, on Notable Leaders' Radio, I speak with Stephanie Baker, Chief Experience Officer at WAEPA. She shares the role her life experiences, learnings, and challenges have played in guiding her all the way to the C-suite. In today's episode, we discuss:   Never give up! No matter what others say or think if you are met with resistance when you speak up…keep on going while leaning into your support system   To live your most robust life and career, be open to new things, curious about what is possible, and have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, This will serve you in ways you can't imagine.   When living through challenging times in your life and career, it is important to take time out for yourself.. Celebrating your wins, both large and small. Evaluate the situation, what is here to learn from, how will you show up differently next time, how can you use this experience to become even better, stronger, and wiser at what you do.   Don't wait for your mentor to find you. Identify the person with the experience, vision, and shared values…and ask them to mentor you to achieve all you desire. That is how Stephanie found her first mentor. Working with him taught her things about herself that she didn't know and built a strong foundation of confidence that still serves her today.   Have a strong face, not front. Be who you are. Guest Bio: Stephanie is an accomplished executive with a successful strategic and tactical leadership track record. Visionary and creative with a steadfast commitment to excellence. She has been involved in leading service operations as well as serving as the Business Project Leader for IT enterprise-wide solution projects. Stephanie is the Customer Experience Officer of WAEPA (Worldwide Assurance for Employees of Public Agencies). She is responsible for leading all facets of the member and employee experience. Stephanie is also responsible for leading the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts for WAEPA.   Stephanie is an IASSC-certified Six Sigma Yellow Belt.   Ms. Baker serves on the Board of Directors for the Y in Central Maryland, is Chair of the Consumer Council of Maryland, Founding Member of Chief, Former Chair-Elect and Board Secretary of Executive Alliance, Former Member of the Board of Trustees for Baltimore Center Stage and Former Board Secretary of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake.   Stephanie lives in Maryland with her husband, Vincent, her Rottweiler, Zoe' and her cat, Chloe.   Email: slbaker28@gmail.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-baker-5833b78   Belinda's Bio: Belinda is a sought-after Leadership Advisor, Coach, Consultant and Keynote speaker and a leading authority in guiding global executives, professionals and small business owners to become today's highly respected leaders. As the Founder of BelindaPruyne.com, Belinda works with such organizations as IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, BBDO, The BAM Connection, Hilton, Leidos, Yale School of Medicine, Landis, and the Discovery Channel. Most recently, she redesigned two global internal advertising agencies for Cella, a leader in creative staffing and consulting. She is a founding C-suite and executive management coach for Chief, the fastest-growing executive women's network. Since 2020, Belinda has delivered more than 72 interviews with top-level executives and business leaders who share their inner journey to success; letting you know the truth of what it took to achieve their success in her Notable Leaders Radio podcast. She gained a wealth of expertise in the client services industry as Executive Vice President, Global Director of Creative Management at Grey Advertising, managing 500 people around the globe. With over 20+ years of leadership development experience, she brings industry-wide recognition to the executives and companies she works with. Whether a startup, turnaround, acquisition, or global corporation, executives and companies continue to turn to Pruyne for strategic and impactful solutions in a rapidly shifting economy and marketplace. Website: Belindapruyne.com Email Address: hello@belindapruyne.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belindapruyne  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotableLeadersNetwork.BelindaPruyne/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/belindapruyne?lang=en  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belindapruyne/   

This is the full episode of The Morning Show with Preston Scott for Wed. Apr. 3, 2024. Our guests today include: Molly Lord from Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Big Bend, and J.D. Johnson from the Talon Training Group and Talon Outdoors Show. Follow the show on Twitter @TMSPrestonScott.Check out Preston's latest blog by going to wflafm.com/preston. Check out Grant Allen's blog by going to wflafm.com/grantallen.Listen live to Preston from 6 – 9 a.m. ET and 5 – 8 a.m. CT!WFLA Tallahassee Live stream: https://ihr.fm/3huZWYeWFLA Panama City Live stream: https://ihr.fm/34oufeRFollow WFLA Tallahassee on Twitter @WFLAFM and WFLA Panama City @wflapanamacity and like us on Facebook at @wflafm and @WFLAPanamaCity.

Tracey Garbutt Dolan joined me to discuss the overlap in UFO studies and metaphysical consciousness. Tracey also shared her thoughts on the recent ARRO “Historical” report Volume 1. Among other topics of intrigue, we discussed what would happen to puiblic interest in UFOs and other fringe phenomena if the U.S. government disclosed the existence of non-human intelligence.Tracey is a professionally trained remote viewer, and is co-founder / Director of Richarddolanmembers.com. Many of Tracey's remote views have been regarded as exceptional, including a striking example of accurately perceiving a location 2600 miles away through the eyes and sense organs of another person. Tracey has also had a number of direct contact experiences with apparent non-human intelligences, all of which she has carefully recorded, and one of which occurred while present with another witness.Born in Canada, Tracey worked as a graphic artist at EA Sports in Vancouver. Upon coming to the United States, Tracey earned an Interdisciplinary Bachelor's degree in Psychology and International Studies at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg (Magna Cum Laude). In 2016, she founded and served as President for Big Sisters of Psychology, becoming a widely-recognized leader who inspired many students on their journey of self-discovery. In 2016 Tracey met her husband, UFO researcher Richard Dolan, with whom she has continued to explore spiritual and philosophical paths. Currently, she is conducting research into dreams, with a focus on lucid dreams, suspected contact dreams, and the symbolic language of the subconscious.She has also explored theories of Right/Left Brain dominance as they relate to experiencers and other individuals who have had UFO sightings. She also remains dedicated to understanding global cultures and developing ethical conflict resolution techniques to create a better world. She can be reached at richarddolanmembers.com, and via email at traceygarbutt@mac.comPLEASE HELP THE CHANNEL GROW ☕️ SUBSCRIBE, like, comment, and click the Notification Bell so you don't miss a show. Thank you! https://www.youtube.com/mysticloungePlease leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts.LINK TREE: https://linktr.ee/CoffeeandUFOsHALF LIGHT documentary: https://tubitv.com/movies/678744/half-lightCheck out other fantastic Un-X shows at https://www.unxnetwork.com/shows   #uap #ufo #nhi #remoteviewing

Mark interviews engineer and author Jeff Krehmer about his new book Infinite Resources: How to Sustainably Develop the Arctic, by Supplying Green Hydrogen, Fresh Water, and Healthy Food to the World. Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor. Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #InspireInclusion. Learn more about International Women's Day and find resources at: InternationalWomensDay.com   In the interview, Mark and Jeff talk about: Jeff's background in various disciplines, including mechanical engineering, project management, software, computer sales Sitting on the vision for this current book project for more than ten years, and how having a heart attack two years ago prompted the idea that he should get that work out into the world The basic premise of the book in that the arctic can create a sustainable solution if we leverage it in the right way "If global warming is the problem, then shouldn't we be maximizing global cooling?" The boiling temperature of different liquids, such as propane Some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded on earth How the book has numerous possible target audience readers, depending on which of the world's problems they are looking to solve (or the economics they want to reap benefits from) What people can do to help And more . . .   After the interview Mark reflects on the fact that, in the same way that humans have had an impact on the world, and Jeff is reminding us of the positive impact we can have if we learn and we act, we have an impact on one another. This is a reminder to authors of the powerful impact that they can have with the words they write and share.   Links of Interest: Infinite Resources Website Jeff Krehmer on LinkedIn International Women's Day ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link) Mark's YouTube Channel Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries Smashwords Link  (eBook 57% Off until end of Feb 2024) The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard   Jeff Krehmer is a professional mechanical engineer and the author of “Infinite Resources.” He is president and chief engineer at Big Time Engineering Corp. During his engineering career, Jeff has worked as a salesperson, technical support technician, estimator, project manager, product designer and engineering manager. He has more than a decade of experience designing equipment for the oil and gas sector and is a Certified SolidWorks Professional (CSWP). Jeff has volunteered with and received awards for his volunteer work with the Canadian Ski Patrol System, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and APEGA, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta.     The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Finally a Dilemma episode this is not only an episode filled with tea and juice but there's also lots of learning one can get from these episodes

Today on the Social-Engineer Podcast: The Security Awareness Series, Chris is joined by Mary D'Angelo. Mary helps clients understand the threats that exist on the dark web and how to use that intelligence to bolster their cybersecurity programs. With a solid foundation from the University of Washington, where she earned her Bachelor's degree, Mary has rapidly ascended as a global leader at SearchLight Cyber. Her expertise, honed over six years, delves deep into understanding the nuances of dark web threat actors and their intelligence. Mary's and her company's insights and analyses have been instrumental in shedding light on the shadowy aspects of cyber threats emanating from the dark web. Her work not only aids in neutralizing these threats but also contributes significantly to the broader understanding of cyber security dynamics. Additionally, Mary's passion is volunteering her talents into nonprofit organizations. She was a mentor for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Recently, she has devoted her time to a nonprofit called, The Innocent Lives Foundation, which uses Dark Web Threat Intelligence to help law enforcement stop child traffickers. [Feb 19, 2024]   00:00 - Intro 00:41 - Intro Links: -          Social-Engineer.com - http://www.social-engineer.com/ -          Managed Voice Phishing - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/vishing-service/ -          Managed Email Phishing - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/se-phishing-service/ -          Adversarial Simulations - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/social-engineering-penetration-test/ -          Social-Engineer channel on SLACK - https://social-engineering-hq.slack.com/ssb -          CLUTCH - http://www.pro-rock.com/ -          innocentlivesfoundation.org - http://www.innocentlivesfoundation.org/                                                02:56 - Mary D'Angelo Intro 04:12 - What is a Dark Web Threat Intelligence Advisor? 04:36 - One Giant Leap 07:04 - On the Front Lines 11:53 - Deep Web, Dark Web, Clear Web...Oh My! 13:43 - Shifting to the Deep 14:58 - Crime Pays 17:39 - 2024 Forecast 19:00 - Left of Boom 20:53 - All in this Together 21:53 - An Ugly Example 25:19 - Timely 26:30 - Relevant 28:02 - Actionable 29:58 - What's Next? 30:54 - Mentors -          Siblings -          Larry Littleton 32:05 - Book Recommendations -          The Practitioner's Guide to the Dark Web - Searchlight Cyber -          The Ride of a Lifetime - Robert Iger -          Never Split the Difference - Christopher Voss &Tahl Raz 33:33 - Find Mary D'Angelo Online -          LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dangelomary 33:55 - Wrap Up & Outro -          www.social-engineer.com -          www.innocentlivesfoundation.org

The SLO Bigs (Big Brothers and Big Sisters) join CJ in studio and share about how their organization connects people throughout San Luis Obispo! Also, CJ spends Valentine's day talking about her long-time love for sports! Thanks to all my partners: Dr. Daniel Lapidus & Larry Ackerman, Dr. Brad Kurgis of Kurgis Dermatology, California Fresh Markets, The SLO Wellness Center, Avila Bay Athletic Club & Spa, Joy of Shell Beach,  Michael Moore Sports Recovery, Gymnazo, and SLO Big Brothers Big Sisters.

On this week's episode of Score Values, Alex Kuhn chats with Dr. Carla Beatrici the Vice President of Clinical Programs for Smart Love Family Services & Jeremy Foster, The President & CEO of Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Metropolitain Chicago.

Trisha from Needham talked to us about the Jewish Big Brother Big Sisters of Greater Boston!

Lifelong Artist (www.c-hammer.com) serial entrepreneur, board member, public speaker and technology executive with a career spanning 30 years including leading digital transformations and the creation of Direct to Consumer businesses; with influential roles at Nike, AppNexus and Wayfair. Notably today I am the Chief Executive Officer for Vala-AI and President of BBBSIC (Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Island County) amongst other roles. Key Points [03:10] Young entrepreneur sells origami throwing stars, trouble ensues. [07:05] Switched between big companies and smaller start-ups. [10:42] Big Brother of the Year, showing gratitude. [14:33] Confidence amid self-doubt; value in options. [17:07] Finding trustworthy friends is essential for humans. Find Hammer Online https://vala-ai.com https://techtastic.tech https://www.linkedin.com/in/chammer1/ https://c-hammer.com/ If you're enjoying Entrepreneur's Enigma, please give us a review on the podcast directory of your choice. We're on all of them and these reviews really help others find the show. GoodPods: https://gmwd.us/goodpods iTunes: https://gmwd.us/itunes Podchaser: https://gmwd.us/podchaser Also, if you're getting value from the show and want to buy me a coffee, go to the show notes to get the link to get me a coffee to keep me awake, while I work on bringing you more great episodes to your ears. →  https://gmwd.us/buy-me-a-coffee Follow Seth Online: Seth | Digital Marketer (@s3th.me) • Instagram: Instagram.com/s3th.me Seth Goldstein | LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/sethmgoldstein Seth On Mastodon: https://s3th.me/@pch Seth's Marketing Junto Newsletter: https://MarketingJunto.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2-of-2Ad-free, premium version. Exported in 320kbps mp3 format for high-definition audio (approximately 2x the quality of the public feed). Available at patreon.com/tapesfromthedarkside.—In a video on the official Facebook page for the USA's largest volunteer-supported child mentoring group, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Eleanor Hunton Hoppe stares down the barrel of the camera's lens and states:"I'm Eleanor and I support Big Brothers and Big Sisters because our mentoring model works."Eleanor was employed by the organization from December 2017 to June 2019 and once even served briefly as their interim Director of Philanthropy.This is one detail among a cache of brand-new information we have unearthed for you in this episode.Information that—as far as we're aware—has not yet been covered by any news media organization, outlet, blog, or website.We're breaking this one wide open.Help the podcast grow. Tell a friend about us. Thanks love you all.—Support the show and get access to our ad-free premium feed. Plus...bonus episodes, merch, and more. patreon.com/tapesfromthedarksideMassive merch store update coming soon.Sneak Peek: https://i.imgur.com/byi3pCm.png—SUPPORT: patreon.com/tapesfromthedarksideFACEBOOK: facebook.com/tapesfromthedarksideFACEBOOK GROUP: facebook.com/groups/tapesfromthedarksideINSTAGRAM: @thedarksidepodINSTAGRAM PATREON BEHIND-THE-SCENES: @enjoythedaylightTWITTER: twitter.com/theDARKSIDEpodThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5124234/advertisement