Podcasts about claremont university

What if you had a magic wand and could better the world in any way? What would you do? We explore a practice shown to help you find your purpose and feel more motivated, resilient and fulfilled in life.Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bp7wv7ftEpisode SummaryWhat's your greater purpose in life? It's a tough question, especially if you're feeling uncertain about your future. In this episode, our guest explores that very question—and gets handed a magic wand with the power to make the world a better place.How To Do The Magic Wand Practice Set aside 15 minutes to reflect and write.  Think about the world you live in – your home, your community, and the world at large. Imagine you've been given a magic wand, and you can change anything you want to change in the world. What would you want to be different? Why? Describe your ideal world in writing. Now, reflect on what it would take to change the world in this way. Is there anything you can do to help move the world closer to this ideal? If so, explain how; if not, explain why not. Guest: Selina Bilal is a UC Berkeley undergraduate student who is studying psychology, and a Fellow at Greater Good Science Center, where we produce The Science of HappinessExpert Guest: Kendall Cotton Bronk is a professor of psychology in the Division of Behavioral & Social Sciences at Claremont University.  Learn more about Bronk's work: https://tinyurl.com/3s9sjp2d Connect with Bronk: https://tinyurl.com/3p5cepy3 Science of Happiness Episodes like this one How to Find Your Spark in Life: https://tinyurl.com/yc8j9a4u What's Your “Why” in Life? https://tinyurl.com/2vnaswpt Happiness Break Related Episodes  A Meditation to Inspire a Sense of Purpose: https://tinyurl.com/54uuvh7z Visualizing Your Purpose, With Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/3jvnv35y Message us or leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod.  E-mail us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.Help us share The Science of Happiness!Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

In this episode, Dan and Lauren discuss the latest issue of New Directions for Student Leadership with special issue co-editors Rian Satterwhite, Director of the Office of Service Learning & Leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and teaching faculty at Claremont University, Kate Sheridan, Associate Director of Alumni and Employer Networks in the Center for Career Development at Duquesne University and Dr. Whitney McIntyre Miller, associate professor of leadership studies in the Attallah College of Educational Studies at Chapman University. The trio recently edited NDSL issue #179, released in the Fall of 2023, and titled “Teaching Sustainability in Leadership Education.” The group discusses the push for both research and action in sustainability utilizing the UN Sustainability Development Goals as a framework.

In this episode, Dinesh expounds what an incident at the Claremont University philosophy department tells us about the fate of philosophy in academia. Dinesh and Debbie discuss the GOP horse race, the depth of Biden family corruption, how to bring the cartels to heel, the misbehavior of a former January 6 prosecutor, and whether X is really a free speech platform.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of Spotlights features Matthew Segall, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Matt discusses a recent conference celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Center for Process Studies, which is a research center at the Claremont School of Theology at Claremont University, focusing particularly on the relevance of Alfred North Whitehead's process-relational philosophy. Whitehead has been a profound influence on environmental ethics and eco-theology for several decades. Matt also discusses his forthcoming book (to be released on Earth Day 2023), Crossing the Threshold: Etheric Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Whitehead. He highlights the role of imagination in bringing science, spirituality, and philosophy into harmony with one another and with our planetary and cosmic context.Recordings of the conference livestream are available through the following links:Day 1 on Reimagining ReligionDay 2 on Science and PhilosophyDay 3 on Practical Applications

JOEL DANIELS is my former pastor and current Interfaith Chaplain at Claremont University. I have known Joel since we moved to Boston 11 years ago. Where he jump-started a faith community in Somerville called Reunion. Beyond his spiritual influence, Joel has been someone who continues to see life through a prism. To consider, acknowledge, and understand multiple perspectives at the same time. His greatest strength (beyond his sense of humor) is his ability to articulate and navigate the intersection of mental and spiritual health. His way of living inspires people to live with heightened awareness and consideration, with abundant care and generosity. During our conversation today, you are going to hear about the importance of healing as a process. Something that inevitably will touch us all. This conversation is worth your time and attention – grab a pen and paper and let's see what he can teach us with his lesson “Healing is Continuous” – here we go!

In today's episode, I have Thomas Jay Oord back on. We are looking at St Augustine's view of divine love. Tom argues that his own kenotic view of God's love is better than Augustine's. Credits Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a visiting professor of philosophy at Palm Beach Atlantic University and the University of Lucerne. Guest: Thomas Jay Oord (PhD, Claremont University) is the director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology. Music by Rockandmetal_domination – Raising-questions. rtmullins.com Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=66431474 https://ko-fi.com/rtmullins

The John A. Widtsoe Foundation is deeply committed to elevating dialogue between members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other religious communities. This year's Church-wide study of the Old Testament presents a unique opportunity for members to better understand and learn from our Jewish neighbors, who have engaged with these scriptures for thousands of years. Each month, a Widtsoe Foundation board member will host a live online conversation and Q&A with a leader or scholar from the Jewish community about an upcoming topic from the Church's Come, Follow Me curriculum. This series will serve to educate Latter-day Saints about the rich history of Jewish scriptural interpretation and application, while at the same time modeling meaningful interfaith conversations and empowering Latter-day Saints to do the same in their own communities. These events will be made available on The Widtsoe Foundation YouTube Channel and podcast soon after the live event. For this live event, we'll talk about the book of Jonah from a Jewish perspective with our special guest Marvin Sweeney, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Claremont University, and Jared Ludlow, BYU Religious Studies Center Director.

I Should Have Known Today:  It's time to man up and abandon the Democrat party.  A study by a Claremont University neuroeconomist purports to show testosterone induces a red shift in weakly-affiliated Democrats.  So, take the red pill?   Then, Joe Sweeney, founder of the Asservo Project and former defense contractor in Afghanistan, talks about human trafficking and remembering the evacuation on it's one-year anniversary.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we welcome writer & philosopher Jack Call to The Psychedelic Christian Podcast. Jack received his PhD in philosophy from Claremont University, and taught philosophy at Citrus College for 19 years. He is the author of Psychedelic Christianity and three other books on philosophy & religion. He currently serves on the Vestry of Saint Matthias … Episode 011 – Interview: Jack Call Read More » The post Episode 011 – Interview: Jack Call first appeared on The Psychedelic Christian Podcast.

Jaime Levy, Ux Strategist, Speaker and author of UX Strategy: Product Strategy Techniques for Devising Innovative Digital Solutions available in 6 languages and now also on Audible You can find Jaime on LinkedIn and on jaimelevy.com   ----------------- Katty: I've been watching your career trajectory, and I was super excited to see that you had written a book, UX Strategy and that the audio version has just come out. So I wanted to have a conversation about you, about the book, and how you started your path. One thing that I've noticed is this trend of reinvention with you from a designer to a strategist to an author to a public speaker to a professor, and how all of that's going to come together for you. I just found that fascinating, so I'd love for you to talk about your origin story and what's steps you've taken to come here. Jaime: Let's see. Well, I guess it started even before the browser when I was creating my floppy disk magazines, and I was a graduate student at NYU, and just really interested in nonlinear storytelling.  And then trying to invent this new medium like it was just this total insane dreamer thing. And I guess because of the floppy disk I made, I actually finished it, and then I successfully brought the product to market by selling it. A floppy disk that opened into a HyperCard or Director presentation. I know for all the newbies, they're like, “What are you talking about?” Don't worry, you don't need to know this old-school stuff.  But you know it used to be really hard to make interactive presentations, but the upside of all of that was that you could be the first or you could do something that is only mediocre in design. But because it was the first it was like “yay.”  That was how I started out. I was a horrible interface designer and a horrible coder. But I just kept pounding on these floppy disks, and then, the short version of it is Billy Idol bought one, and then it got launched as a commercial endeavor and then I got my gigs at EMI records and Viacom. And it all just kept going from there you know to eventually, doing an online magazine, and then getting a creative director role and just constantly working.  I really believe that if you just keep working, and applying yourself, and learning new things, that eventually you'll connect and get whatever it is that you want. Some job, or some gig, or an opportunity. And I think that relentlessness to persevere was something that has stayed with me, and I actually need to kind of manifest it now as I'm starting the next chapter of my career.  Before UX, it was called interface design and then after interface design, then it was web design and then after web design, then we had information architecture and interaction design. And by the time I got back to LA after 9/11 and the dot com thing crashed in New York, as well as, San Francisco and LA, I came back here and it seemed at that point I needed to focus.  And I should mention early on as a result of the (floppy) disk I was asked to be a part-time professor at NYU, and I did get flown around the country and the world, to speak at conferences, and I think like when you have that success when you start out you think that's normal. And so for me, it's just been catching up with my old normal, and it's a curse and a blessing, and the blessing is obvious because you're like, oh, I just want to continue to be a public speaker, I want to continue being known or recognized for my work. But the negative consequences, it's an addiction, it's like a high that you set here and you think, Oh, I always have to be at this level of an overachiever. And so, you know, in that sense I feel like I didn't engage in my own personal life, you know because I sacrificed it for my career so much and didn't really like relax into it until my 30s when I got back to Los Angeles. Katty: Interesting. I saw you actually speak about it in one of your talks. I think was your Brazil talk about being an overachiever and what that means and constantly trying to do things, new things, or do things in a new way. I found that fascinating, it went through that same reinvention theme that I recognized in what you were talking about. So thanks for sharing that. So you mentioned, the new chapter, a new iteration of Jaime. Jaime: New? It's in progress. So, you know, I did my first book and I did really well with the first book. I was insane to write a book. That was so crazy. But I just felt like UX strategy was so interesting and even though nobody was paying me to write it, you certainly don't make money off of the book. I just was like okay I'll take a year and a half and spend my savings and write a book and sit in the library. And it was really rewarding.  And so then when it came time to do a second edition, if I want to be current I did that. And I did it during the lockdown so that was kind of a good thing to do when you can't really go teach in a classroom or go run workshops in a public space. But basically, my book is now out in the second edition and is being translated into languages, and I just found out it's in German and Italian, and Portuguese this time, you know, on top of the other six languages and that's really exciting.  But the thing with the book is you need to promote it, and you know and you need to go do things to market it. Whenever you make anything whether it be a floppy disk or a website or an app or a book or you're marketing yourself as a public speaker, it's one thing that you do it, but the other half of it is in order to be successful, you just got to market yourself or your product. And it's fine when I get paid to do growth design and markets and run experiments to market other people's products. But I think, I'm kind of at least right now, I feel I'm just kind of over-marketing myself. All of a sudden I feel like, ah, can't life just be simple again? Let me just get a job ideally as a UX strategist and, you know, and that's it, let things quiet down.  And so you can say it's an existential post-midlife crisis, or maybe it's a phase but I just had a job interview with a company that I hope I get, and they were telling me that they just had written an article related to this subject about so many people basically looking at their careers and saying, “Do I even want to do this?”  I feel like COVID Hit the reset button for a ton of people and so now I'm less killing myself about, “Oh wow, I'm really not going to go crazy promoting this book because I don't feel like it? Is there something wrong with me? Or is it just like maybe I just have to accept to let people read the book. I hope they like it.” And if people ask me to speak fine, but you know, I think it's like at a certain point you have to say okay where's friction and friction is trying to go tour and do workshops at what we hope might be the end of the pandemic but isn't. You know, it's like I suffered the same fate as people who, you know we're in an orchestra, you know, or who had movies that came out. So I'm in great company of people who made their money by doing things for the public and in person and now that you know, there's no UX conferences really planned. I'm speaking at the one in Estonia, one, this year, zero last year zero the year before, you know. So it makes you say what am I going to do now? Katty: You're right, it definitely has been a reset button on many fronts. We've seen this so much with so many other candidates that we work with who are re-evaluating “I've been doing XYZ until now, do I still want to do it, do I still want to live here?” Just really evaluating everything, but I totally hear you about the book because I also wrote a book during this pandemic. I had been working on it for three years, which was far too long but that's just the length of time that it took. The circumstances where we found ourselves allowed me to finish it, so I am grateful for that. That was the silver lining in this crazy year and t it allowed me to finish it and get it out. But it's just sitting there and it's nowhere near where it needs to be... but it is what it is. It's a story I needed to get out. I got it out. Now, if people find it, awesome, and if they don't then we'll cross that bridge.  Jaime: What's your book called? Katty: It's called The Butterfly Years, and it's just my personal story dealing with grief and has nothing to do with Artisan Creative and it has everything to do with me. Obviously, as somebody who's running a company, it is going to have to come to grips with having to manage grief and make that work otherwise it permeates everything. Katty: If it helps people out there, it's there. If somebody is going through it and they need to hear somebody else's story who's been in the same boat. Then I've done my job.  Katty: Yeah, So when I heard that you had done your second edition and you had just done an audiobook. I thought you know I want to talk to her and see how that whole process was for her.  Katty: Congratulations on your interview and I hope that it ends up being the right next thing. Jaime: I hope so too. That would be great if my first interview turned into a job offer. Katty: Putting out the good vibes. Jaime: They were very surprised because it was a UX strategy position and I didn't have anywhere in my portfolio that I wrote it. I didn't want to say that I literally wrote the book on UX strategy because then they think oh she's not humble or she's too experienced so I didn't mention it. They saw something in there and I'm like, “Oh yeah, I wrote a book kind of related to UX strategy.” and they're like what's it called, I'm like, UX Strategy. I can't even own it. I can't even own it, you know, I'm just like, ahh so shocking. Yeah, you know, I want the opportunity to practice what I preach. Enough, running around with the same lectures and enough training.  I've done so much training in the last year, I think sometimes we just need to go back and forth and be okay with it. I'm not saying I'll never do workshops again, I just need to take a break from that part of it or and pursue it. So yeah hopefully something will come up for me that is enjoyable. Because I think it's important to have a job if you like and what I was shocked by when I looked at the job market this time was, oh my god there's 8,624 UX jobs in this country and 30 or 40% of them are remote, and there's actually jobs advertised for UX strategist title. It used to just be me and two other people. I don't know if my book helped define the industry but it seems like when I read the job description, it had everything that I wrote about in my book so it's a really exciting time that there's so much opportunity out there. Katty: Yeah, for sure. I'd love for you to maybe help define that a little bit, because obviously, we hear you know there's on the design side of it, UX there's XD. Now it's customer experience, employee experience. Can you talk a little bit about that I know for just what I've heard you talk about before, it's really the research and the strategy is the precursor before you even get into the design part of it. And I learned that thinking time is so important to be able to do that? Can you talk a little bit about that? Katty: A little bit of both, actually. Jaime: Sure. So I basically define UX strategy as the intersection between product design and business strategy. So business strategy is the top-level vision of an organization. How do we make money, who are our customers? You know business is defined, ultimately by their customers.  So they have a vision and the vision might be a platform, multiple products, a suite of products, or one product. And then it's like how do you really elevate that product, and bring it to market? So that when people have that first whiff of it, they're like, smells awesome. And so when I started doing discovery phases back in 2008, 2009 for Schematic and for Huge, I really fell in love with it. Because I love doing competitive research. So interesting, I mean who doesn't want to get paid to research the marketplace? And I loved the idea of finally getting to do user research. And so that was when I really became interested in it and realized that there was nothing out there that told us how to do it. I would just make things up as I went along and as I moved from different organizations, I would clean up my deliverables and take them to the next level.  And then when Lean Startup came out--People don't think of Lean Startup, as a product strategy methodology but I certainly do. It's this idea to build the smallest version of your product, get it in front of your target customer, learn from it, whether it be an alpha or prototype, extract data from these learnings and learn from it, and then iterate.  All of a sudden the discovery phase became not something like Waterfall; first, we do discovery, then we do the implementation, then we do usability testing and find out at the very end that not only does our product suck but nobody wants it. It was insane. And now all of a sudden, the discovery phase became something that can be iterative and cross into the implementation phase, and you can start building products and doing strategy, and testing it and validating it in much smaller loops all along the way. So that's what's really exciting is an opportunity to run some kind of experiments to knock out, to do rapid prototyping, to use whatever it is like sketch XD, other prototyping tools to get business concepts in front of the target users, and start doing user research that's more focused on validating a value proposition, versus, you know, is this thing usable? Even if it's really usable, but nobody wants it, then who cares if it's usable, right? Katty: Yep. Very good, and with plenty of products out there with great usability but they're sitting on the shelf. I probably have a few of them. Katty: Fantastic. You talked a little bit about this but I think, given where you are going, pivoting, and where you see the future to be for you at this juncture. What can you share with people who are either just starting out in their career path? And/or because of this past year, lost their positions, and they have to reinvent themselves. Where is it that you dig down deep to find that inspiration and that determination to just say you know what, this isn't working, let me figure out where it is that I want to go? Jaime: Yeah, I think just to be honest it's very different for someone like me with two to three decades in the industry versus somebody who's starting out. So I wouldn't give someone the same advice I would give myself, there's definitely different things going on. I can remember very well when I was starting out and the same feelings that I have now are similar. My dad gave me this great advice. When you're looking for a job, or when you're starting on your career, and when you interview with people, you want to be careful that you don't have this flashing L on your head. Loser, loser, loser.  Because people will spot this lack of confidence or low self-esteem, you know, and it doesn't matter how successful you are, or have been, like me. Because you can still have low self-esteem or imposter syndrome, and so, it's like you need to somehow put all of these fears of I suck;. I'm not gonna make it; I'm an imposter;I am so crazy that I thought I could do this film, to begin with. I'm too old or I'm too young or my portfolio doesn't have X, X, X.  I have to constantly work on this, to this minute, which is spinning a much more positive narrative in my head that, “No, no, I have something of value to give”. And then putting that negative energy into therapy, exercise, whatever you need to do to take care of yourself, but I still to this day, put it into how can I showcase my work, what's missing? You know, look at my portfolio. Okay, it has all this but it's missing, you know, this one deliverable. Well, I better make it, fake it till you make it, you know, and figure out a way to like get it in there.  And the funny thing is is they may not even ask for it on that job interview, but if it's like this thing that you think is missing, then it's going to be flashing the L on your forehead and so to me, it's like puffing yourself up and what is it going to do to make you confident for these interviews and if showing your portfolio and getting excited around the storytelling of your UX design which, it still is for me, then get that into your portfolio and any missing things.  Don't spend eight hours a day looking for a job, spend four hours and the other four hours teaching yourself a new tool because there's always going to be new things to learn. And if you're not open to learning new things, up until, you know, your 50s and 60s, then whenever that is where you're not open to new things, you better be at that last job that you're going to station yourself at, because the industry, I promise you, just keeps on changing. You know it's amazing. Katty: Gosh. Great advice. I think for all levels of career and years in the industry and also not even to have to do with business. I think for anything where we tend to sometimes focus in on the thing we don't have versus on the things that we do have it's just such a great lesson to say you know what to say we have to reshift that mindset.  There's a great book that I read a couple of years ago by this woman called Sally Helgason, and it's called How Women Rise, and she talks a lot about specifically women and how we get into this mindset of, oh, but you know what, let me work harder because I'm missing this 10% thing and not focus on the 90% that I have and it's just crazy. I see it all the time. I see it, not just in candidates I see it in myself. And putting myself out for a conversation or a talk or something and if I don't get it's like, oh, that's because I didn't talk about this. You know what, maybe just wasn't the right thing. So, yeah, great lesson. And I think also that that whole thing also speaks of desperation, and I think that that comes through, so loud and clear, it erodes the confidence that would naturally be there if somebody has worked on their craft. Jaime: Yeah and we need to in this field of product design or research, ultimately we're making something that we need to upsell, at the very end, even if it's to our boss and say yeah this is awesome, you know, and it's like, oh my gosh if we come to it from this place of fear, we're never going to sell it.  So I think it's easy to focus on the negatives for a lot of us, and we can't afford to do that in our field because we're always upselling our work. Katty: Yeah. Have you ever taken the StrengthsFinder assessment? Have you ever done that?  Jaime: No, I don't even know what that is. Katty: It's similar to a DISC or Myers-Briggs. But it focuses on your strengths. The reason I like it, we do it for our company and we talk about our strengths all the time. Its created by Don Clifton, and is now as part of Gallup and it's a personality assessment. The reason for him creating this was that he felt people focused on their weaknesses, and not on their strengths. The whole thing is about what are your top five strengths and let's lead with your strengths and not focus on a thing that is number 30 something for you, let's focus on the things that you're really good at and then find someone else who your bottom five is their top five and then collaborate. So it sounds like it's just human nature that we go there. If we could learn not to go there, it would be less, I think less of a headache for all of us. Katty: Crazy. So, I know you're teaching, you're doing online courses, you mentioned that you're doing a talk in Estonia. Are you doing that in person, are you doing that virtually? How are you managing your time and all the different places you need to be, or how did you manage your time and all the different places you need to be? Jaime: Yeah, I don't know how I'm managing my time right now yet. I'm still waiting to see where a bunch of things land. But the Estonia conference is the first onsite conference since COVID, since March of 2020. Well, basically there's very few conferences in the beginning of the year for the first quarter anyway.  So, anyway, it's Web Usability Day I think is their legacy name. But it's a one-day conference and then there's workshops, three days prior to it. It's in Estonia, it's very affordable, it's gonna bring in like a massive crowd of UX professionals. A lot of new ones but people mid-level and all over the place. And they're coming from Estonia, but they're also coming across the Baltic from Finland, and a couple of other Baltic states. So, I'm closing the conference, I guess I'm kind of headlining it, and then my workshop is one day right before that. So November 25th,iis my UX Strategy Workshop and then November 26th is the conference. It's a Thursday, Friday, so but I'll be in Berlin back in November, and then I'm doing a couple of talks, just private ones where I'm flying in. And then going back to Berlin and then I'm going to do this thing in Estonia.  I am so over this idea of more online workshops. I think they're a joke, sorry guys, but the whole point of conferences was to get people together physically in a space to network and touch base with other people and build relationships. And it seems I've done a bunch of these fake conferences, and it doesn't feel the same, they never pay and it's a joke. So I'm not into those anymore.  I'm really stoked that these people you know, the COVID cases are extremely low [in Estonia]. I've had my third vaccine. already so I'm totally going. I won't be taking too much risk but definitely, I'm really excited to be around humans and doing my thing. Katty: Yeah, humans, human connection. I'm traveling internationally for the first time since March of last year as well, and I'm going to Mexico and then to Dubai. But, I have to navigate the whole PCR test thing because I'm not going to be in the States for three days before I go so I got to figure that part out. Jaime: Yeah. It's a crazy time. I can't believe really what happened. How much the pandemic just changed everything, it's just, it's shocking. Katty: Are you seeing that in the world of products, are you seeing what's happened with a pandemic impact, whether it be design thinking or about how people are approaching research. I would imagine that it's changed how people are looking at how they go forward. Jaime: Yeah well, everything's online now. When I left Huge back in 2009, 2010. It was because I didn't want to drive in my car in rush hour to agency land in Culver City, and I didn't want to work in person, I wanted to work from home. So I've been working remote since 2010 and it's not new to me, and Cisco Systems when I worked for them as a UX strategist, everybody was a remote workforce. So finally, the rest of the world is catching up with us and learning that it is possible, and even outside of product so I think it's opening up opportunities in many ways. But, the negative consequence, and I felt this when I taught my last course at Claremont University, was that my students who were graduating, were just getting internships, but they're online.  At Facebook or wherever, and at any point in your life where you need human contact, and you need the nuance of someone kind of seeing that you're confused, and you need mentoring or you need to get the confidence to ask for help, we need that to be in person. I feel like the people that are getting the worst end of the deal is the college graduates, the people who are just starting their career who have to start it by themselves in Zoom rooms. Hopefully, there's going to be some way that it isn't just this experience of online collaboration, because I just feel even when I had my second or third cat life of getting into the UX world, I can't even imagine that I would have had the trust and camaraderie that I had with people at Schematic who came over and showed me how to wireframe when nobody was looking. So hopefully maybe there's some way that people can reach out and have people to connect with for that kind of support since they can't get it in person. Katty: The whole mentoring piece of it. Yeah, taking somebody under your wing. It's harder to do it this way. Yeah, you're absolutely right. I have some nieces and nephews who started their first year in college last year. You've worked really hard to get into the school of your choice, but you don't get a chance to really experience that. So now as a sophomore, they're getting to experience it for the first time because now some other classes are in person. So really interesting to kind of watch this new generation of those who are starting and those who are graduating, it's just a very different world, for sure. Jaime: Yeah it's crazy. It's really crazy and maybe five years from now we'll look back on that and go, Oh man, it was so great, why didn't we just do all that remote work and it was so easy. But it is weird, I just got off the phone with a client and he's just saying that he's not leaving the house and he doesn't want to get the vaccine because he almost died from a vaccine from something else a long time ago, so he's just like staying in his house for his whole life. And I just, I feel in our field where we're designing products for customers and users, it's like, “Nah, we need to have human contact and get out there.” When I'm feeling really low, I reach out to a friend and I have to dump, and say “Ugh”, and have them tell me. I just hope we don't lose everything as a result of this, online world that we live in now. Katty: I don't think so. I mean I certainly hope not. I do feel that there's a hybrid version of it that's going to be more pronounced. I mean we went to such an extreme this past year, I do think there's going to be a hybrid world in front of us. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but little by little I think we'll fall into place. Let's end on a couple of inspiration pieces. Where do you get your inspiration? Jaime: My inspiration now is probably-- I consume a lot of film. I like to have a big impact. I actually went to the movie theater, on Sunday, by myself, bought a ticket to go see Ich bin dein Mensch, I'm Your Man, a German film about a man robot who was built to learn on what a woman wants and then they program him to be the perfect partner. It was amusing, to walk into it, to have it open up and see all of Mitte Berlin and see the TV tower and see the food and see inside the flat. I miss Berlin so much right now, I felt like when I got out of there  I had just gone to Berlin. It just reminded me of all these tiny little things. So I get a lot of inspiration from being able to transport myself into different realities physically and through film, and right now, traveling is limited,but I definitely get my inspiration from seeing other cultures, other ways to live.  I lived in Berlin for most of the pandemic, and it took months, but after being there and away from here for so many months it really-- when you experience other cultures, it makes you appreciate and also find things you don't like about your own culture. But I feel like having perspective is what inspires me. Katty: Love that, and for creativity to bloom, do you need that spark of inspiration for creativity to happen, or is there another thing you tap into when you sit down to write or to do another wireframe or to create, what would you tap into for that? Jaime: I don't know, I wish I could answer that. I don't know. I spend my days at the computer then I go and walk on a trail. It's extremely important for me to get out and walk in nature and I do that every day and I listen to the same 3 podcasts. The New York Times Day thing, The Berlin Briefing, and then Doug Rushkoff's Team Human And that stuff, while I'm like in nature and walking around listening to these podcasts, again, I guess I feel transported and I feel immersed. I think that when I leave the house, and when I come back, whether I'm jogging or listening to music and weird experimental atonal music that nobody would like unless they're into weird music. That helps me really reset the crazy stuff we're telling ourselves in our head or just like being in a mundane moment. I think sitting at a computer for more than four hours, not healthy for me.   Katty: I love that. Both for creativity and inspiration, it's not going to happen nine to five necessarily looking at a little screen. To be able to get out of this and just get other influences. I find nature so healing in so many ways and my ideation just goes off the roof when I'm out and about. Jaime: Where do you go, where do you get your nature?  Katty: My favorite place is Point Doom in Malibu. It's a very easy little hike, but you are at eye level of the pelicans flying by. It's just the most incredible sensation sitting there and you see these majestic birds flying right at your eye level. So whenever I can, whether it's a birthday or an anniversary or something special, that's where I like to go.    Jaime: Nice. Yeah.   Katty: Well Jamie where can people find you?   Jaime: People can find me on LinkedIn, @Jaimerlevy. I'm on Twitter, I'm not tweeting so much. I was told I need to get on Instagram but I'm like, “What?”. And then Jaimelevy.com and then the book userexperiencestrategy.com. I'd love to just mention if people don't like to go walk in nature. I recorded my audible book at this great studio in the valley, where I grew up, and it's me reading my book and doing some impressions of myself, and it's a lot of stories and so far the reviews have been really favorable. And so if you're not a big reader like me I hate it, I don't really like reading. I can read an article but long-format, not so good. Check out my audible book if you're not sure go to userexperiencestrategy.com and listen to the first two chapters and try it on. But I'm really excited about the audible, you know for my book I self-produced it, paid for it, and it's mine. So that was important to me, you know.      

Key Resources for Productivity On My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle, the podcast for ambitious small business leaders, I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting and learning from world-class authorities on the topic of productivity as it applies to business leaders of small and mid-sized firms. Table of ContentsThe Essential Guide to Productivity for Small Business LeadersUse this table of contents to easily find helpful resources. Key Resources for ProductivityWhat is Productivity?Productivity Includes:Industry Leaders and Sources for ProductivityTop Works in the Productivity Domain for Small Business LeadersDavid Allen is one of the top productivity consultants in America. Stephen Covey was an author, educator, businessman, and motivational speaker. James Clear is a bestselling non-fiction author whose book sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian-American psychologist and professor at Claremont University. He is best-known for his work and recognition of the psychological concept of flow, a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity. Martin Seligman is a top figure in the scientific community of positive psychology. Angela Duckworth is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is best-known for her work in grit and self-control. Brian Tracy is a top motivational speaker, and bestselling author of self-help books. He wrote over eighty books which are translated to many languages and sold worldwide. Greg McKeown is a top tier business strategist and speaker know for his leadership programs. Tim Ferris is an author, lifestyle-guru, businessman and host to one of the most popular podcast show is America, The Tim Ferris Show.James Loehr and Tony Schwartz – James is a world-class performance-psychologist, author, and co-founder of the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute. Tony Schwartz is a journalist, author, and the founder and president of The Energy Project.Sam Horn is a world-class speaker, author, and communication strategist.Productivity Resources on My Quest for the BestFeatured Interviews on Productivity300: Live and lead without limits or procrastination with guest expert Sam Horn197: Deconstructing Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less for Small Business Leaders with Greg McKeown328: The secret to having your habits propel you to success with guest expert Marc Reklau​​283: Ask the Right Questions, But Take No Shortcuts on the Road to Success with Jeff Haden​​283: Ask the Right Questions, But Take No Shortcuts on the Road to Success with Jeff Haden102: So Good They Can't Ignore You – Featured Interview with Cal Newport200: Chris Bailey – Use Your Hyperfocus to Accomplish More in Astonishingly Little Time282: How to Break The rough to New Levels of Achievement through Asking with Mark Victor Hansen311: Making Transformational Changes with guest expert Jen Groover320: Avoid Squandering Your Energy and Attention on Things that Don't Matter with guest expert Eileen McDargh308: Aligning your organizational style with your personality traits with guest expert Kelly McMenamin288: Create your destiny through clear vision and skillful asking with guest expert Crystal Hansen330: Courtney Kenney, author of Creating Space to Thrive: Get Unstuck, Reboot Your Creativity and Change Your Life289: Think of therapy as a shortcut to freedom from past hurts with guest expert Robert Grigore316: Having a strong mindset is different from having a closed mind with guest expert Marcia Reynolds​​287: Becoming the best version of yourself and helping each person on your team do the same with guest expert Mitzi Perdue266: How to use your mindset to unlock your abilities and success with Maki Moussavi261: Using authority, warmth, and energy to get exceptional results with Steve Herz244: Julie Winkle Giulioni discusses career conversations organizations need and employees want199: Highly Sensitive Entrepren...

Making conversations about networking count! Dr Ivan Misner is the Modern Father of Networking. With 36 years of continuous growth through the BNI network he founded in 1986, the organisation now has over 275000 members across 10000 chapters in 72 countries. Compelling author and contributor of 26 books including his latest titles 'Who's in Your Room?' and 'Infinite Giving'. In this episode, Ivan and Wendy explore how conversation is the foundation of all growth and learning. How times have changed, looking back and also predicting our future generations' experiences, yet communication will still be the underpin even if how that looks has changed. Tune in to hear this pivotal moment and how listening to your instincts can send you on a new trajectory of success. We just wish we had chance to ask about his amateur magician skills! From the blog https://ivanmisner.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IvanMisner.BNIFounder/      Timestamps 00:00:00: Introduction 00:02:03: BNI's global reach 00:03:51: The effect of COVID on BNI 00:05:40: The value of your network 00:07:03: Pandemic success stories 00:10:11: Ivan's pivotal moment 00:12:21: Networking for the younger generation 00:15:42: A glimpse of Ivan's bibliography 00:17:36: "Who's in Your Room?" 00:20:01: Final thoughts     INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT  Making Conversations Count - Epsiode 14 January 21st 2021  Wendy Harris & Dr Ivan Misner    Wendy Harris: You are listening to the official Making Conversations Count podcast with me, your host, Wendy Harris.  I am so excited today to be able to introduce to you, author of "Who's in Your Room?", father of the modern networking, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, who has just celebrated a mammoth 36 years of growth and generated a record amount of revenue for its members last year; it is, of course, Dr Ivan Misner.  Ivan, how are you and where are you today? Ivan Misner: Thank you, Wendy, I'm doing great; and, you obviously listen to the BNI podcast because Priscilla asks me that most of the time, because I travel all over the world now.  Of course, in this zoom era, I'm doing zoom travel, which is really awesome because not long ago, I was in India in the morning and then I was in the UK in the afternoon; and, I think I was in Dubai later that afternoon.  You couldn't do that in real life. Wendy Harris: Certainly!  Please pass on our best to Priscilla in the UK; we love her.  We just always hang on that first opening sentence to you and yeah, of course, it's like we're time travellers now, isn't it; you really can travel the world? Ivan Misner: So, do you know why we came up with that phrase?  We came up with it because years ago, I got this email from somebody that said, "You're probably on the beach in LA drinking Mai Tais; you're not really doing anything", and I'm like, oh my goodness, this guy does not see my calendar!  And so, we started talking about where I was and it completely eliminated this, "Oh, you're in your ivory tower" concept, where I was visiting regions. I have 2.3 million miles on one airline alone, so I have travelled all over the world for BNI and it's been amazing and I've enjoyed it, but it's work. Wendy Harris: Well, I think when you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work, and that's the best kind of work to do? Ivan Misner: Yes, absolutely. Wendy Harris: How many members have you got in the network now, Ivan? Ivan Misner: We have over 275,000 members worldwide. Wendy Harris: Wow!  And, I think I saw a little clip that you'd reached a target of chapters as well? Ivan Misner: I'll tell you the story.  I had a friend and I went to him and I said, this was the middle of 1986 so BNI had been around for a year and a half, and I said, "You know, I think BNI someday might be able to have 10,000 chapters?" and he looked at me and he said, "And, how many chapters do you have now?"  I said, "30".  He laughed at me, "10,000?  It's good to have goals, Ivan; very good to have goals".  "No, really, seriously, I think it's possible". Now, I'll be honest with you, Wendy, I did the calculations.  I thought it would take 75 years to get to 10,000.  I didn't think I'd see it in my lifetime.  We did it in half the time; we hit 10,000 chapters at the end of December last year; 10,000 worldwide. Wendy Harris: That's incredible, isn't it, really when you think that you've done it in half the time?  So, here's a question for you then, Ivan: what's the next goal? Ivan Misner: BNI wants to be in every entrepreneurial nation in the world, and there are some countries where that's just not going to happen any time soon, but there are still many countries to go.  We're in 70 countries worldwide, so we literally could triple the number of chapters that we have in the organisation, which means that we then would make a difference for more and more people. Last year, in the middle of COVID, this craziness of COVID, our organisation passed almost 12 million referrals.  We generated for our members over $16 billion worth of business during COVID and, to me, this is the most amazing statistic: in December of 2020, our members generated more business for each other than they did in December of 2019, which is incredible. Wendy Harris: Wow.  I think, in lots of respects, I know that the current global situation has had a devastating impact on all corners of life; however, I do also see it's almost like from the ashes that the little seeds are growing, and there are so many good things happening that we're kind of more focussed than ever before on making sure we're spending time with the right people in the right places; would you agree? Ivan Misner: I agree, and you use a word that I think is very a propos, and that is "focussed".  I see people who get frozen by fear or focussed by fear, and BNI's been around 36 years; I've seen that a lot.  We live in fearful times and I get that.  Those people who allow that fear to focus them are way more successful than those who just get frozen by fear.  Today, more than ever, you need your network.  Your network of people is there to help you and support you to get through difficult times, and I saw that over and over again in the last year.  I am humbled by the things that I've seen, in terms of BNI members supporting one another and getting through these challenging times; it's truly amazing. Wendy Harris: Certainly, with only being able to do very limited face-to-face in the little breaks in the UK, where we've been able to socially distance in very small groups of six, I've not really met any of my chapter members, apart from a couple of people that I maybe knew from before I joined BNI, or somebody that I brought into the chapter; and, I know that I can pick up the phone anytime to them.  Certainly, joining BNI through these times has made a real big difference to my business. Ivan Misner: Our membership went up during COVID.  You know, I would say the first six months, many people were frozen in fear, and I've seen this in previous recessions.  At some point people go, "This isn't working for me; I need to do something".  And, during every recession in the past, our membership went up.  During COVID and the resulting recession, our membership went up because people recognised that their network is so incredibly important. Wendy Harris: Well, certainly my network in my chapter, at any point they're my safety net.  This morning, I had a little wobble about something else and I reached out to, you know, I would consider a really good friend, and basically she gave me a big strong talking to and said, "Pull your socks up", and that's the value of having a network.  Yes, it takes time, but it's like family. Ivan Misner: Your network is a beacon of hope in a sea of fear.  They are the people that are there to help you and to support you, and we certainly have seen that in this last year and I think we're going to need to continue to see it for part of this year, at least. Wendy Harris: I think it would be unrealistic to expect anything to change overnight.  BNI itself has just proven that you can continue to thrive. Ivan Misner: Imagine if this had happened in the late 1980s or 1990s; there'd be almost no way to stay connected with people.  At least, we have the technology that exists.  Yes, it's two-dimensional, but we can see each other and have conversations with each other.  We can have meetings and BNI has continued to have our meetings worldwide via our online platform, BNI Online, as opposed to in person. If this had happened 20 years ago, I would have literally seen the company that I've worked my entire life for go up in viral smoke. Wendy Harris: Yeah.  There are some small blessings that it didn't happen sooner.  Certainly, in terms of the storm that we're in, everybody's in that same storm, but they're dealing with their own individual circumstances.  What would you say is your best advice to sort of weather it out? Ivan Misner: I think you've got to activate your network, sit down and have conversations with them.  I've seen people during the COVID pandemic do some amazing things and most of them came out of doing online one-to-ones with people; two that really stand out in my mind. One was a furniture re-upholstery company in the US and she had to let go of all her employees, because it's hardly an essential business.  This was back in March/April of 2020.  She did a one-to-one with one of her BNI members and the member just had an offhanded comment.  He said, "You have a lot of cloth, don't you?" and she said, "I literally have tons of cloth".  He said, "Have you thought about making COVID masks?" and she said, "No, I haven't".  He said, "You know, you could go into the COVID mask manufacturing business to hold you over during at least the first few months of this?" So, she went out and made 100 masks and gave two of them to each one of her BNI members and a few friends and said, "One's for you; one, would you be kind enough to give it to a hospital worker, you know, a nurse, a doctor, a senior centre employee; somebody that really, really needs these masks, and give them my card and let them know that I'm now making these?" She got so many orders, she was able to rehire her entire workforce because now, she became an essential business.  She rehired her workforce and they physically distanced; I don't like the term "social distancing", we need to be more social than ever.  And, she hired them all back and she got into the COVID mask manufacturing business. I talked to a member in Australia, who'd had a brewery, and he had to close down his brewery.  But, somebody in a one-to-one said, "You have a lot of alcohol, don't you?" and he said, "Yeah, of course".  He said, "Have you thought about making hand sanitizer?" and he said, "No".  So, he went into the hand sanitizer business. Wendy Harris: I know exactly who to blame for the gin shortage now! Ivan Misner: Yes!  It's been amazing and it's all happened when people got focussed by fear, as opposed to being frozen by fear. Wendy Harris: My business sort of closed overnight.  I had one day a month work at the end of March.  My husband, he's self-employed, but he can turn his work on and off like a tap.  For most businesses, it is really not that simple, and he couldn't understand why I was going up to my office all the while, working hard and talking to people. What came of that was a transition, a book, my podcast, which I'm so proud of, and joining a network that was my safety net.  All those conversations that were compounded at the beginning of the crisis has meant that I wasn't on my own, and that I was able to help other people in their need as well.  We are, as you say, physically distanced, but even more socially connected than ever before. Ivan Misner: Yes, very important to stay socially connected. Wendy Harris: So, Ivan, I ask every guest to think of a pivotal moment in their life or career that really has created a turning point.  I think that these stories really do help up-and-coming business leaders, and even people like me.  I've been in business 16 years and I'm still learning every single day.  Please, share with me and our listeners, your pivotal moment? Ivan Misner: For me, I like to call it "my Brody moment".  Martin Brody is the character played by Roy Scheider in the movie, Jaws.  When he saw the shark for the first time, he said, "We're going to need a bigger boat". I think my Brody moment came in December of 1985, and it stemmed from a conversation that I had in March of that year.  But, in December of every year, I sit down and I reflect, how did this year go according to plan; where do I want to be a year from now, five years from now?  And, in March I had one chapter at BNI and a woman came to me.  She couldn't join that chapter, because her profession was already represented and as you know, we only allow one person per profession in our BNI chapter.  She said, "This is amazing.  I could get a lot of business, but I can't join.  Would you help me open up my own group?" and at first I said no to her.  This isn't what I do; I'm a business consultant; I don't run a network.  And she said, "Well, this is kind of consulting.  You're helping me build my business".  I was like, "That's kind of a stretch, but okay".  My head was saying, "Don't do this, it's not your business", but my intuition was speaking to me and I think it's important to listen to your intuition, because it's your soul talking to you. I said yes and I'm so glad I did because, as a business consultant, I could maybe help a dozen clients, 15, 20 clients at a time.  But, in BNI, this company's helping 275,000 people and I really feel like that was my Brody moment.  That was my pivotal moment in my career, listening to that little voice inside me saying, "Yeah, you should do that". Wendy Harris: That need to help that comes to the forefront? Ivan Misner: Yeah, exactly, because we don't teach this in colleges and universities anywhere in the world.  We don't teach networking, referral marketing, social capital; it's just not taught.  And, one of the things I determined at that time was that we need to teach it; I should be writing books, articles, material; and, we need to teach people how to build their business through referrals, because it's not being taught in school. Wendy Harris: Yeah.  But, something that I know is a hot topic of conversation is how our younger generation are coming through and they're so indoctrinated with screen time, than having a conversation and knowing how to approach a stranger or somebody new or whatever, that it's even harder for them to socially connect without it being on a keyboard. Ivan Misner: Maybe.  There's certainly some truth to what you're saying, but I look back to when I was a young man.  I started BNI when I was 28 years old.  I had no idea how to network; I was clueless.  The one thing that the younger generation has that I did not was they do know how to network.  It's online, but they do know how to connect. We look at a generation and we see sometimes what we want to see.  There's this great quote, and I'm going to really mangle it, but it's something to the effect of, "The younger generation today has no respect for their elders.  They play games rather than work".  Do you know who wrote that?  Socrates. Wendy Harris: Okay! Ivan Misner: It's an issue that goes through the generations and I think, "Yes, you're right".  They are very much online and they need to learn how to network in person, but I didn't know how to do that when I was in my twenties.  I method acted my way through the process and there are tools and books and materials and websites and videos that help the younger generation that we didn't have in my generation and so, I wouldn't give up on them. I think they have more opportunities to learn than I did when I was in my twenties. Wendy Harris: I think you make a good point there actually, Ivan, that in lots of ways, they're practising online.  So, it's kind of like a mirror, a reversal if you like, whereas where I method acted was on the market stalls, and you'd see the characters that would shout and scream and get attention and draw the crowds to their stalls and things, and you would adopt little nuances that you could see that worked that got people's attention and how people wanted to be treated. So, yeah, I guess it is just a question of what's fashionable, because trends come and go. Ivan Misner: They come and go; it's what's available too.  We didn't have any of that available to us and for me in particular, my generation, networking was basically face-to-face cold calling.  We didn't understand how to network.  We didn't understand that networking was more about farming than it was about hunting.  I wrote the first doctoral dissertation on networking ever written. Wendy Harris: I didn't know that! Ivan Misner: Yeah.  It was published in 1993 at the University of Southern California.  I wrote the first book on networking back in 1989.  We didn't have any of that.  So, we look at who we are now and we compare ourselves to the young people, we compare young people to us, but we have to look back at who we were in our twenties; and, I think we had as many disadvantages, just different disadvantages than they do. Wendy Harris: I would be interested, Ivan, to go back to that book from 1989 and you could almost create a new book just by referencing back how things were there.  My training was in 1988 and I see a lot of what I was taught initially, I'm relying on as my foundations now to everything that I do.  So, I wonder what would crop up as the rising stars and the rising changes in that initial book? Ivan Misner: The first book I wrote, I think sold like 20 copies, so it didn't do well.  But, I took content from that book and expanded it greatly, and that became a book called, "The World's Best-known Marketing Secret", and I published that in 1994 and it's now in its fourth edition.  I think that book has done what you're suggesting there. What's interesting is that I took it to 43 publishers.  42 publishers rejected it; the 43rd said yes.  That book now has sold over 250,000 copies; it's been translated into probably half a dozen to ten languages, so it's done pretty well.  But, the marketplace just didn't see the need. Do you know what the number one question I got in the 1980s from the media was?  "Isn't this networking thing just a fad?"  That was the number one question I got! Wendy Harris: That's what people are talking about now about Clubhouse.  If you'd like an invitation, I have a spare one; I'd invite you? Ivan Misner: I've been invited! Wendy Harris: I bet!  It's what stands the test of time, isn't it?  I think that it is that we just genuinely want to be connected and we do want to be helpful, and that's the reason for getting up in the morning, isn't it? Ivan Misner: It is.  I just did a book, I don't know if you've seen it?  It's called, "Infinite Giving".  I did it with two Brits; a yank and two Brits.  We had to figure out whether to do it in Queen's English or American English, so we did it democratically. Wendy Harris: But, you did it phonetically? Ivan Misner: We flipped a coin and the yank won!  It's called, "Infinite Giving: The 7 Principles of Givers Gain" and one of the things we say in there, and I've got a whole chapter on this, is that, "Giving isn't new-age psychobabble; it's science".  We quote the studies done by Yale, by Harvard, by Claremont University, about how giving actually improves performance; giving thanks.  Helping people actually increases performance for both the giver and the receiver, and it's hard science; it's not new-age psychobabble. Wendy Harris: I think it's incredible.  I love your latest book, the "Who's in Your Room?" Ivan Misner: Infinite Giving actually came out after Who's in Your Room. Wendy Harris: Oh, did it?  You're just a prolific book writer, Ivan. Ivan Misner: It's what I do now.  I'm working in my flame.  So, would you like a minute on the concept of Who's in Your Room? Wendy Harris: Yeah.  Really, since I discovered this, it has dented the front of my brain. Ivan Misner: Right, here's the concept.  Imagine you live your life in one room and that one room has only one door, and that one door is an "enter only" door, so that when people come into your life or into your room, they're there forever; you can never get them out.  Luckily, this is a metaphor, Wendy, but if it were true, would you be more selective about the people that you've let into your life? Wendy Harris: Oh, definitely.  I'd be pushing them out the way. Ivan Misner: I would argue that it's actually more than a metaphor.  Wendy Harris: Yeah. Ivan Misner: Here's what I want you to do and if you're listening to this podcast, I want you to do the same thing.  I want you to think of somebody that you got out of your life and I want you to think about why you wanted them out.  Were they toxic; were they difficult; what were the reasons you wanted them out of your life? Now, I'm not going to make you say who it is, but I want you to think of someone.  Do you have someone in mind? Wendy Harris: Uh huh! Ivan Misner: Now, if you're listening to this, I want you to do the same; I want you to think of that person.  Now, I want you to think about why you wanted them out; what did they do to you?  Think about something specific they did that just really upset you which was maybe one of the reasons why you wanted them out of your life; have you got that in your mind? Wendy Harris: Yes, I'm holding on to that. Ivan Misner: Okay, so here's the thing.  If they're still in your head, they're still in your room, and they will be for the rest of your life, because the room starts on this temple and ends on this temple.  It is everything in between your head, your mind; that's your room.  So, the people who have come into your room, have come into your life, they're fingerprints are all over your brain and they will be forever. So, it's very important for us to learn how to screen people out from getting into our room who aren't a good fit, and we talk about how you do that and what techniques you use to do that.  Then, we need to figure out how to deal with the people who have gotten into our room.  Sometimes, they're family members; we had no choice. Wendy Harris: That's really helpful.  I will check out some of those exercises to exorcise the people that I don't want in my room. Ivan Misner: Well you can never get them out, but you can put them in a box and put them high on a shelf in your room. Wendy Harris: Yes.  Ivan, honestly, I just love talking to you; I could talk to you forever.  I'm sure there are lots of valuable insights there for the listeners.  I know that they can pick up the conversation with you; you have your own website.  Where's the best place for them to find you? Ivan Misner: Ivanmisner.com.  I've been writing there for 14 years, twice a week, tons of free content.  And of course, on social media, I'm on most of the platforms; Facebook, in particular, I've got about 175,000 followers on my Facebook page. Wendy Harris: That's brilliant.  Ivan, thank you so much for coming on the show.  For the listeners, please do make sure that you subscribe on our channel; it's www.makingconversationscount.studio/podcast.  You can listen on any of the platforms of your choice.  Do subscribe, because you don't want to miss any of our past guests, future guests, and I just thank you for tuning in today.  Ivan, thanks again. Ivan Misner: Thanks for having me, Wendy.

Jim Collins (Good to Great) gave an incredible speech at the Centennial Celebration of Peter Drucker’s life in 2010.  It is certainly worth your time to listen… should you care to watch, you can click HERE.

THE ONLY TRUTH THAT MATTERS by Joan W. Hunter and Steven Cobos In May 1944, citizens are anxiously awaiting the Allied invasion of Europe while a gang war is brewing in the streets of Los Angeles. Cliff Thoms, an attorney forced from the DA’s office and now in private practice, and Lou Gomez, a homicide detective dogged by his checkered past, encounter gangsters fighting for control of the black market, the staff and patrons of illegal casinos, and a movie studio “fixer” who will go to any lengths to make problems disappear. The story provides a window on the wartime home front and the realities of the air war in the deadly skies over Germany as we follow the trials of Cliff’s client, Zoe, and her family. While her husband and older son are employed by mobsters and her younger son serves as a bombardier overseas, Zoe, “business consultant” and psychic, assists Lou and Cliff in their search for a pair of killers. Like in the preceding novel, The Truth Won’t Help Them Now, Cliff and Lou struggle to sort through lies and betrayals, and mete out some rough justice. As the characters wrestle with the big and little truths in their lives, love, war, and death force them to acknowledge the only truth that matters. Joan W. Hunter holds a master of arts in Spanish and a Ph.D. in Education from Claremont University and worked in public education for more than forty years. She retired in 2003. Until recently she and her husband lived off the grid on twenty acres of forested land in the Sierras where they cultivated Giant Sequoias. Steven Cobos earned a bachelor of arts in social sciences and religious studies from UC Santa Barbara and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of La Verne. Recently retired, he practiced law for twelve years followed by a twenty-one year career teaching classes for adults. Steven and his wife have two adult sons and live in Southern California. https://www.amazon.com/ONLY-TRUTH-THAT-MATTERS/dp/1952182026/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&qid=1599949645&refinements=p_27%3AJoan+W+Hunter&s=books&sr=1-3&text=Joan+W+Hunter http://www.bluefunkbroadcasting.com/root/twia/jhuntscob.mp3

Richard Sudek is the Chief Innovation Officer at UC Irvine, and Executive Director of UCI Beall Applied Innovation.  Over the last 5 years there, he’s firmly established the center as a key part of the innovation ecosystem here, connected it to the OC community and what he calls an “innovation district”, and accelerated UC Irvine’s efforts in commercialization of its research and IP, and created an entrepreneurial energy and activity at the school that’s at an all-time high.  He also teaches entrepreneurship at UCI.He was previously at Chapman University as both a professor of entrepreneurship and director of their entrepreneurship center.  Prior to that Richard received a masters and PhD in Management from Claremont University. He’s a former chairman of Tech Coast Angels here and has made many angel investments. He was also a successful entrepreneur as CEO of Nadek Computer Systems.He is a great example of a leader and key stimulator of innovation activity in Orange County.

Judy Pham is a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who grew up Buddhist in Northern California as a child or Vietnamese Immigrants. She moved to New York as a teenager and lived there for 10 years before moving back to the West Coast. Judy has was chosen to share her experiences at the recent Mormon Studies Conference at Claremont University as part of a panel of 4 LDS people discussing Millennials and mormonism. On today’s episode Judy and Nate discuss the fascinating statistics regarding Millennials and their influence on changes in church culture, policy, politics and more. She provides some very thought provoking ideas that were shared regarding LDS singles, LGBTQ issues, Millennial men leaving the church, Race and socioeconomic status within the church and the differences between culture across locations.

Dr. Ayanna Howard is a Professor and the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Endowed Chair in Bioengineering in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is also the Associate Chair for Faculty Development in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Human-Automation Systems Lab. In addition, Ayanna founded and is the Chief Technology Officer of the company Zyrobotics which provides mobile therapy and educational products for children with differing needs. Ayanna likes to exercise and do Zumba in her free time. She has been a certified Zumba instructor now for about eight years, and it has been a fun way for Ayanna to unwind from her work. In terms of her research, Ayanna is a roboticist who builds, designs, and programs robots that interact with people in the real world. Ayanna completed her undergraduate studies in engineering at Brown University, received her master’s degree and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, and earned her MBA from Claremont University, Drucker School of Management. Before joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, she worked as a Senior Robotics Researcher and Deputy Manager in the Office of the Chief Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. Ayanna has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Brown Engineering Alumni Medal, the Computer Research Association A. Nico Habermann Award, the Anita Borg Institute A Richard Newton Educator ABIE Award, The National Society of Black Engineers Janice Lumpkin Educator of the Year Award, the IEEE Early Career Award in Robotics and Automation, the California Women in Business Award for Science and Technology, Engineer of the Year Award from the Los Angeles Council of Engineers and Scientists, the Allstate Insurance Distinguished Honoree for achievement in science, the NASA Space Act Award for Fuzzy Logic Engine for Space Applications, the NASA Space Act Award for Path Planning Graphical User Interface, the NASA Honor Award for Safe Robotic Navigation Task, the NASA Lew Allen Award of Excellence for significant technical contributions, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technology and Applications Program Honor Award. She has also been awarded the Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering Outreach Award, Faculty Woman of Distinction Award, Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award, and the Residential Life Cornerstone Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Community. In addition, Ayanna has been named an Honoree of The Root 100 and among the MIT Technology Review Top 100 Young Innovators of the Year. Ayanna joined us for an interview to discuss her life and science.

Max Dashu founded the Suppressed Histories Archives in 1970 to research and document women's history from an international perspective. She built a collection of 15,000 slides and 20,000 digital images, and has created 150 slideshows on female cultural heritages across human history. (For titles and descriptions, see the online catalog.) Read some of the enthusiastic responses to these dynamic presentations here. Her work bridges the gap between academia and grassroots education. It foregrounds indigenous women passed over by standard histories and highlights female spheres of power retained even in some patriarchal societies. For over 40 years, Max Dashu has presented hundreds of slide talks at universities, community centers, bookstores, schools, libraries, prisons, galleries, festivals and conferences around North America and in Mexico, Germany, Ireland, Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Australia, Belgium, and Austria. She has keynoted at conferences (Feminism in London, 2015;Women's Voices for a Change at Skidmore, 2013; Association for Women and Mythology, 2010; Pagan Studies at Claremont University, 2008, and Domestic Violence Conference at Rutgers, 2005). Dashu is known for her expertise on ancient female iconography in world archaeology, women shamans, witches and the witch hunts, mother-right cultures, patriarchies and the origins of domination.

The USC Price Center for Economic Development (CED) welcomes the first Advanced Manufacturing Partnership for Southern California (AMP SoCal) Bi-Annual Meeting. Speakers: David Blanco President, Performance Ascent, Inc. Operational Improvement & Capital Access Chair, AMP SoCal Mike Quindazzi Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) David J. Blanco is the President of Performance Ascent, Inc., a California company that supports the mission of assisting aerospace and defense (A&D), and other major industry suppliers to develop supplier competitiveness across the U.S. He is a leader in implementing continuous improvement systems for small- to mid-size business suppliers to help them become significant players in the A&D industry. He is a former member of the Board of Examiners for the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, former Senior Examiner for the California Awards for Performance Excellence (CAPE), and CAPE Judge, as well as numerous community and civic organization boards. Blanco is also a former founder and Board Officer of the Supplier Excellence Alliance (SEA). Blanco currently serves on the Board of Directors for California’s Baldrige program, co-chairman of the SoCal Aerospace Council – an LAEDC initiative. His education in Business Management includes undergraduate studies at the University of Redlands, and graduate studies at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont University. Mike Quindazzi is Managing Director for the Pacific Southwest region of PwC. He has over 25 years of management consulting and industry experience. He is responsible for growing revenues for a $650M business unit within PwC and developing innovative approaches to solving complex business issues. He is a frequent speaker on PwC's Global Megatrends that influence business, emerging technology and society alike. Recently Quindazzi and his team worked closely with the LAEDC & SDREDC on “The Changing Face of Aerospace in Southern California” report. Quindazzi’s team oversees PwC’s local community service efforts with a focus on youth education. He is active with the LAEDC Board of Governors and the Co-Chair of the Aerospace Council with passion for economic development. Quindazzi holds a BA from Montclair State University where he graduated with highest honors, Summa Cum Laude, and was granted honorary membership from the Phi Kappa Phi Honor.

Susan Walters is the Senior Vice President of the California Emergency Technology Fund a non-profit that focuses on closing the digital divide in California. She was previously the Regional Director of Community Relations for Citibank in Greater Southern California. Prior to Citibank she operated a small consulting practice in corporate social responsibility. The work focused on building strategic partnerships between nonprofit organizations and corporations, strategic planning, communications and marketing. She has worked in myriad areas ranging from telecommunications policy, disability access to multimedia projects. Examples of her work include designing a highly successful technology job training program for low income adults and youth, creating a brand strategy for a buy local food campaign and marketing programs to reach emerging markets. Her firm's clients included: AOL, Verizon, Microsoft, Independent Television Service (ITVS), San Francisco Giants, Freddie Mac Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the FoodRoutes Network. Susan has held senior positions in Communications and Marketing with Odwalla and Pacific Bell. Prior to her work in the private sector Susan served as a senior staff member to Willie L. Brown, Jr. during his tenure as Speaker of the California Assembly. She is an alumna of the Coro Fellows Program, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters of Public Policy degree from Claremont University. She serves of the Board of Directors for CD Tech, Bay Area Video Coalition, World Institute on Disability and the Center for Accessible Technology.   In this episode we discussed the homework gap. the history of the FCC's Lifeline program. how to expand Lifeline to make high-speed Internet more affordable. Resources California Emerging Technology Fund Internet for All Now The Good Lord Bird by James McBride