Podcasts about Connector

Welcome back to Energetic Radio! In episode 369, hosts Dale Sidebottom and Paul Campbell kick things off with contagious energy, ticking off the to-do list, fueling creativity, and finding happiness in the everyday. They delve into why having a personal project or two (whether it's building a golf studio, mastering swimming, or simply painting a fence) can bring a genuine sense of accomplishment and joy.This episode is packed with insights on balancing work, play, and self-improvement:Personal Projects & Happiness: The guys discuss how focusing on yourself and having tangible projects (even backyard golf sheds!) sparks creativity, purpose, and genuine happiness.Play-Based Leadership Unveiled: Dale and Paul introduce their new Play Profile tool, a quick and insightful quiz that uncovers your play-based leadership style (Connector, Creator, Challenger, or Carer). Discover why understanding your own style is essential and how it can positively impact your team's energy.The 'Pressure is a Privilege' Mindset: A lively chat about reframing pressure, building resilience in adults and kids, and the power of adding "yet" to your self-talk for growth.Being Present & Ditching Devices: The hosts get passionate about the need for more phone-free spaces, whether at restaurants, kids' activities, or just while kicking the footy outside. It's all about creating memorable, genuine connections.Aussie Nostalgia: Hear how neighbourhood street cricket, footy, and outdoorsy community vibes are making a comeback in Paul and Dale's worlds, and why we need more of this classic fun.Quick Life Audits: A simple, powerful self-check: Would your body/mind pack up and leave if it could? Dale and Paul explore what this means for self-care, burnout, and bouncing back.Plus, they answer some spontaneous "questions without notice," share good laughs about avocado trees, and drop practical tips for parents and leaders on building better habits and keeping a joyful life.Links & Resources:Play-Based Leadership Play Profile Quiz Find your style - Click HERE Connect with Dale & Paul for leadership workshops and speaking gigs (now booking for 2026!)Learn more about SchoolOfPlayTakeaways:Whether you're after more creativity, practical wellbeing boosts, or ready to be the "kick-the-footy-on-the-street" neighbour, this episode serves up plenty of real-life inspiration and fun.

Today's episode is being released on the heels of the two year anniversary of October 7th.  We come to you as we wait hopefully for the release of ALL of the hostages from Gaza.  It was recorded earlier in 2025. Lindsay Spolen Pinchuk is the owner of her own marketing firm and the creator of Dear FoundHer (a podcast and community for female entrepreneurs).  According to her website, she is an Entrepreneur, Marketer, Consultant, Educator, Speaker, Connector, Community Builder, Podcaster, Former Corporate Executive, Small Business Advocate who makes marketing simple. On today's episode, she shares her formula for "showing up" for her community and the Jewish People.  Her bold and unabashed attitude pushes the limits to defend against antisemitism and anti-Zionism in our modern world.  She is a powerful messenger in a challenging time for the Jewish people and women around the world. https://www.lindsaypinchuk.com/ https://www.dearfoundher.com/   Edited by: Alex Wolf Original Music Composed by: Dan Hacker   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/templeisraelmi  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/templeisraelmi/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn9spWvsCBvcQ-o5XLeFLHKcLoj2nBAfM  Web: https://www.temple-israel.org/wakinguptolifepod  You can get this podcast anywhere you get your media.  Join over 10,000 listeners who have been inspired by the show. And if you have someone with a story to tell, please contact me at josh@temple-israel.org

What does leadership look like at the highest levels of service?  SUMMARY In this episode of Long Blue Leadership, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black '85 discusses his journey from cadet to commanding the White House Communications Agency. He reflects on what it means to be a calm, steady presence in high-pressure environments — and how small daily practices can shape a lifetime of leadership. The full episode is now available.   SHARE THIS PODCAST FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   MICHAEL'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Develop a personal leadership philosophy that guides your actions (like Michael's 5F's: Family, Fitness, Flying, Fairness, and Fun). Always be aware that people are watching you and learning from your example, even when you don't realize it. Nurture relationships continuously - they are critical for long-term success and mentorship. Practice empathy and compassion, especially during difficult moments like delivering challenging news Maintain a holistic approach to fitness - physical, mental, and spiritual well-being are interconnected. Take pride in leaving organizations better than you found them and focus on developing future leaders. Be fair and be perceived as fair - understanding different perspectives is crucial to effective leadership. Incorporate fun and balance into your professional life to maintain team morale and personal resilience. Stay connected to your roots and be willing to mentor the next generation, sharing your experiences and lessons learned. Continuously practice self-reflection and ensure you're living up to your core values and leadership principles.   CHAPTERS Chapter 1 - 0:00:00 - 0:08:55: Family and Military Roots   Michael Black shares his background as a military brat and the educational legacy of his family. Chapter 2 - 0:08:55 - 0:12:10: Delivering a Difficult Notification A profound leadership moment where Black sensitively delivers news of a combat-related death to a staff sergeant's family. Chapter 3 - 0:12:10 - 0:18:40: The 5F Leadership Philosophy Introduction Col. Black explains the origin and core components of his leadership framework: Family, Fitness, Flying, Fairness, and Fun. Chapter 4 - 0:18:40 - 0:25:59: Detailed Exploration of 5F Philosophy   In-depth breakdown of each leadership principle, including personal anecdotes and practical applications. Chapter 5 - 0:25:59 - 0:32:21: Family Legacy and Academy Experience   Discussion of his son's Air Force Academy journey and the importance of nurturing relationships across generations. Chapter 6 - 0:32:21 - 0:38:36: Mentorship and Relationship Building Michael shares his approach to mentoring cadets and the significance of maintaining long-term professional connections. Chapter 7 - 0:38:36 - 0:40:13: Leadership in Civilian and Nonprofit Sectors Reflection on applying military leadership principles in private and nonprofit environments. Chapter 8 - 0:40:13 - 0:41:28: Personal Reflection and Leadership Advice  Final thoughts on leadership, self-improvement, and the importance of continuous personal development.   ABOUT COL. BLACK BIO Michael “Mike” B. Black, vice president for Defense, joined the nonprofit Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association International in July 2022. He is a senior cyber/information technology leader with more than four decades of experience in cyber operations, communications, project/program management, leadership disciplines and organizational development. As AFCEA's vice president for Defense, Col. Black builds strong professional relationships with government, industry and academia partners to position AFCEA International as a leader in the cyber, defense, security, intelligence and related information technology disciplines. Col. Black leads defense operations in support of planning and executing global, large-scale, technically focused, trade shows/conferences supporting Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Operations, Cyber and Homeland Security.  Col. Black is focused on providing opportunities for engagement between and among government, industry and academia. Prior to joining AFCEA International, Col. Black served as chief operating officer at Concise Network Solutions for four years, directly supporting the CEO in developing, executing and managing CNS's master business plan. Prior to joining CNS, he served as the COO and chief corporate development officer at JMA Solutions for two and a half years, working in concert with senior executives to lead operations and the planning and execution of strategies. Prior to joining JMA Solutions, he served as the COO at Premier Management Corporation for four years, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations, all business units and the company's profit and loss. Prior to joining the private sector, Col. Black spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force holding various communications and leadership positions at many levels. He culminated his distinguished military career as a colonel, commander, White House Communications Agency, leading a 1,200-person team of selectively manned military, then-Department of Defense civilian and contract personnel to provide “no fail” telecommunications services for the president, vice president, named successors, first lady, senior White House staff, National Security staff, U.S. Secret Service and the White House Military Office. Col. Black holds a Bachelor of Science in basic science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was a Distinguished Military Graduate. He holds a Master of Science in national resource strategy, with an information operations concentration, from the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces; a Master's Degree in military arts and science from the Army Command & General Staff College; and a Master of Arts Degree in management from Webster University. He is a published author, including writing several leadership articles for The New Face of Leadership Magazine as well the thesis Coalition Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence Systems Interoperability: A Necessity or Wishful Thinking? BIO EXCERPTED FROM AFCEA.ORG   CONNECT WITH MICHAEL IG: @chequethemike FB: @michael black LinkedIn: Michael Black   CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS   TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black '85 | Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, where transformative journeys of Air Force Academy graduates come to life. There are moments in a leader's life that leave a permanent mark. For my guest today, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black, USAFA Class of '85, one such moment came when he was actually sent to deliver news of a combat-related death. It was the first time he'd ever been tasked with that duty, and knew he only had one chance to get it right. As he sat with the widow, Michael found the strength to guide the family through their grief. That part of Michael's story speaks to the depth of his empathy and the calm steadiness that defines him as a leader. We'll explore much more of Michael's journey, from leading the White House Communications team to mentoring cadets at the Academy to daily practices that ground him and the framework that guides him today, what he calls the five Fs of leadership: family, fitness, flying, fairness and fun a guide not only for his life, but for the leaders he inspires. Michael, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Michael Black Naviere, thank you for having me, and thank you for that very kind introduction. I'm so happy to be here, and I'm just thankful for what you guys do, the AOG and putting this together and telling stories. I think this is amazing. So thank you for the opportunity. Naviere Walkewicz Well, we're grateful you're here. You got your silver on. You got your ‘85 Best Alive, you know, I mean, I'm just blown away here. The class crest… Michael Black Yeah, got it all, you know, the crest and the two squadrons that I was in. I'm just excited, back here for our 40th reunion. Yeah. So that's amazing. So fellowship and fun with your classmates, and just seeing the mountains, you know. Getting off the plane and looking west and seeing the mountains and seeing God's creation is just amazing. And then, of course, the Academy in the background, you know, pretty excited. Naviere Walkewicz Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we're going to jump right in. And actually, the topic is a bit sensitive, but I think it's really important, because we know that when we all raise our right hand, some are prepared and they give all. But not everyone has to actually give the news to the family when their loved one is lost, so maybe you can share what that was like. Michael Black Thank you for allowing me to talk about that. You hit the nail on the head when you said you only have one chance to get it right when you're talking to the family. And so I had a young staff sergeant that was deployed down range at the Horn of Africa, and he happened to be a radio operator in a helicopter supporting the Marines. And there was a mid-air collision that happened while he was deployed, and he was one of the people that perished. So the first notification that I had to make was duty status: whereabouts unknown — to say that to the family. And of course, you can think about the range of emotions that are associated with that. They don't know. We don't know.   Naviere Walkewicz There's still hope. There's not hope.   Michael Black So that was the first day. So going over there with my first sergeant, a medical team, chaplain, you know, that kind of thing, to support us and the family.   Naviere Walkewicz And what rank were you at that time?   Michael Black So I was a lieutenant colonel. So I was a squadron commander of the 1st Comm Squadron at Langley Air Force Base. And I like to say, you don't get to practice that. You have one time to get it right. At least back then, there was not a lot of training to do that. It doesn't happen that often, and so having to make that notification was a tough thing. It was one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing, I had to do in the service. Two young boys. He had two sons, and at the time, his spouse was military as well, so I go over there to do that the first day. You can imagine, you know, knocking on the door, right, and I'm in uniform, and just the emotions that they can be going through. So we're sitting on the couch in their house, two young boys. I believe their ages were 3 and 5 at the time, they were very young. And I explained to Michelle what we knew. And again, it's scripted. I can't say more or less than that, because 1) don't know, right? And 2), you just don't want to speculate on anything. And then we're waiting to find out his status. So then I have to go back the next day to make that notification, and you're representing the chief of staff of the United States Air Force, and that's kind of something that's scripted for you. “I'm here on the behalf of the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, and I regret to inform you of the untimely death of your spouse.” The part that was even more heartening for me was after I told her, and with the boys sitting, I believe, on either side of me, she said, “And now Col. Black is going to tell you what happened to your dad.” That was a tough thing to do. And I would say it was the hardest thing that I had to do in the Air Force, in my career, and reflect on “you have one chance to get that right.” I believe we got it right, me and my team, but that was tough. Naviere Walkewicz Wow. Have you kept in touch with the family? Michael Black Yes, I keep in touch with Michelle, just from — just a personal because I'm very personal, outgoing, as you know. And so I've kept in touch with Michelle and the boys. But we're forever bonded by that, and I think that's important to stay in touch. And that's kind of one of my things I think we'll get into a little bit later in the conversation, but that's what I do. Naviere Walkewicz Well, it touches, certainly into, I think, that the family aspect of the five Fs, and because it seems like you even take in them as your family. And I'm curious about your family, because when you're going through that, I mean, you have at least a son — you have son, right?   Michael Black Yes, and two daughters.   Naviere Walkewicz Two daughters. So were you thinking about — did you put on your dad hat in that moment?   Michael Black I certainly did put on my dad hat and, and I think that helped in things. And I think all of the training that I got along the way about dealing with tough situations, and being a leader, it helped. But I took it upon myself after that to talk to other commanders. And in fact, my wing commander at the time, Burt Field, Gen. field was a '79 grad, and we talked, and that also brought him and I closer, because he also asked me to brief the other squadron commanders on that process and how I handled that. And I know when — to this day, Gen. Field and I are still very connected, and he's pretty engaged right now with the Air Force Association's birthday and all that. But a great mentor of mine who also helped in dealing with that. But he was extremely supportive and, and I think that had a factor in just how he evaluated me, right, how I handled that situation?   Naviere Walkewicz Well, it sounds like you certainly picked up some of those traits of taking care of your people recognizing empathy within processes and sharing it. I'm curious, were you always like this, or did you see some of this emulated from your family? Michael Black No, it's a great question. I am a military brat. My dad was in the Army. My dad went to Tuskegee — it was called Tuskegee Institute at that time. My mom went to Alabama A&M, so two schools in Alabama. They're from a very small towns in Alabama. My dad's from Beatrice, Alabama — which is less than 200 people today — and my mom is from Vredenburgh, Alabama. It's about 15 miles away, and it's even smaller than Beatrice. But they went to the same elementary school and high school, so high school sweethearts, and then they went off to college. And then dad got a direct commission in the Army, the Signal Corps. Well, he started out Medical Service Corps, but getting back to your question, so yes, family with that, and even take a step further back to my grandparents, on both sides of the family, but particularly with my paternal grandparents, they went out and visited the Tuskegee Institute at that time, and they saw the statue of Lifting the Veil of Ignorance there, and they decided at that point that they wanted their kids to go to that school. And so there's seven kids within my dad's family, and six of them went to Tuskegee. Naviere Walkewicz   Wow. So I want to fast forward a little bit, and you can certainly share whether it was during the Academy or after graduation, but you have kind of had this great foundation from your family. Let's talk a little bit about the Academy or after-Academy experience, where you had seen additional time where you had grown as a leader. Was there a particular experience that can come to mind, where another shaping of this leadership journey that you've been on? Michael Black Yeah, I think there's multiple throughout my career. I mean, I went to the Army Command and General Staff College for my intermediate professional military education. And there's a story there too. My dad was in the Army, and so I wanted to experience some of the things that my dad did, even though I was Air Force. And so one of my mentors, now-retired Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, was instrumental in me getting selected for Army Command and General Staff College. And so I went there, and I think that was a big portion of my shaping, although had mentors and folks and coaches in my life leading up to that were, you know, helped shape me, but going to that school… And what I noticed when I got there that the Army was very serious about leadership and leadership philosophy, so much so that we took a class on that where we had to develop a leadership philosophy. And so in taking that class, before the Christmas break, I found out that I was going to be a squadron commander. So I was a major, and I was going to be a squadron commander. And so in that leadership course, I said, “Well, I'm going to go be a squadron commander. I'm going to the fifth combat con group in Georgia. Let me make this philosophy that I'm doing in class be my philosophy, so that when I get there…” And that was really the first time that I thought very serious about, “OK, what is my leadership philosophy?” And I had been a flight commander before, and had people under my tutelage, if you will. But being a squadron commander, you know, being on G series orders. And you know, we know how the military takes the importance of being a commander. And so having that so I did decide to develop my philosophy during that time. And you mentioned the five Fs earlier. And so that was — that became the opportunity to develop that. So family, that's what it was. That's when I developed that — in that course. So family, fitness, flying, fairness and fun — the five Fs. I worked on that when I got there. And so then when I got to take command, I had prepared all of that stuff in this academic environment, and I used it to a T and I briefed the squadron after I took command. I think this is my command philosophy, the five Fs. I subsequently had the opportunity to command two more times after that, another squadron, and then at the White House Communications Agency, which is now wing command equivalent. So had the opportunity to tweak and refine, but the foundation was still the five Fs. And so in doing that, and I can go into a little detail. So you know, family is your immediate family, your your blood family, and that that kind of thing. But family also encompasses your unit, your extended family, you know, and part of that. And so I always tell people you know, your family, you don't want to be the only one at your retirement ceremony because you neglected your family. And I've done many retirement ceremonies. In fact, I've done 25-plus since I retired. Well, that shows you really made no so family is, is important, take care of your family. And I, you know, one of the things I said about that to the folks was if you in your unit, if folks are getting assigned unit, permanent changes, station, PCS to your unit, and they haven't found the place to live in the due time and whatever the house hunting days are, I always gave my folks the option of give them some more time to find a place. They may be looking for schools, I mean looking for a place that just fits the environment that they need. And let's give them that time now, because they're not going to be effective in the organization if they're worried about where they have to live, where their kids are going to go to school and that kind of thing. So take care of all of that, and then get them to work, and they'll be that much more effective because they won't have to worry about where they're living, where the kids are going to school. So take care of your family fitness. You understand physical fitness and what you do and all of that, and I admire all of your accomplishments in that. And so physical fitness in the military kind of goes without saying. You have to maintain certain standards and do that, and do a PT and take a test and that kind of thing. But fitness is more than just physical fitness. It's spiritual and mental fitness. Now I would never be one to tell somebody this is how you need to nurture your spiritual and mental fitness. I think that's personal. But if your spiritual mental fitness is not being nourished, you're not going to be doing yourself any good, your team any good. And honestly, you would be able to tell if an individual is struggling with their spiritual or mental fitness, particularly as a leader and just kind of looking and observing characteristics and the behavior of folks. So I basically told my team, I want you to do whatever it takes to nurture your spiritual and mental fitness, whatever you need to do — if it's meditating, if it's praying, if it's walking, whatever is personal to you, but make sure that it's nurtured. But I also told my folks that if you think my spiritual fitness and mental fitness is out of balance, I want you to tell me, because I might have blinders on. I could be focused on things, just like they could be focused on things, and I would tell them. And I think folks really appreciated the candor and the openness of the leader, the commander, you know, saying that, yes, I want you to tell me if you think my spiritual mental fitness is, you know, is out of balance.   Naviere Walkewicz Did you ever have anyone tell you that?   Michael Black I did. I had strong relationships with my first sergeant, or my command sergeant major, the senior enlisted adviser. So we were, you know, we're hand-in-hand and all the places I was at. And so, yes, I've had them. I've had my wife tell me that. So I think that's important. I just — like I said, you can easily have blinders on and maybe just not see that or have blind spots. And speaking of that, I've written a leadership article on blind spots. I've kind of studied that and understand that. Flying — at the time the primary mission of the Air Force was flying. And so I'd always say, “What is your role in supporting the primary mission, or what is our role in supporting the primary mission of the Air Force?” So make sure you understand that. As a communicator, how do you contribute to the primary mission, or as a logistician, or as information management? But understand what your role is in the primary mission of the Air Force. Fairness, as a leader — it is so important for the leader to be fair, right? It can affect good order and discipline if you're not fair, but equally important is to be perceived as being fair. So I could think I'm being fair, I could think that I'm being fair, but if the perception of the unit, the team, is that I'm not being fair, that's just as detrimental to the mission as actually not being fair. And so I think perceptions are important, and you need to understand that. You need to be aware of the perceptions; you need to be ready to receive the information and the feedback from your team on that. And so I stress the importance of also the perception people have different management. I could be looking at something over there, and I say, “OK, yeah, sky is blue over there,” but somebody's looking at it from a different you know, they may see a touch of some clouds in there, and so they see some light in there, and from their vantage point. And it's just like that in life: Respect everybody's vantage point in things. And so that was the fairness aspect. Then finally, fun. I'm a person that likes to have fun.   Naviere Walkewicz You are?!   Michael Black Yes, I am. I'm a person that loves to have fun. And so for me, I grew up playing sports. And so I played sports throughout my Air Force career. So that was kind of one of the things I did for fun, intramurals.   Naviere Walkewicz What was your favorite sport?   Michael Black My favorite sport was baseball growing up. I mean, I dreamed about trying to play in the Major Leagues and that kind of stuff. And I played on a lot of baseball teams growing up, and then when I got into the service, played softball, and I played competitive softball. Back in the day, they have base softball teams, and so you would, you know, try out for the team, and I would try out, and I played on base team at probably at least four or five bases that I was at. So I was, these are my own words: I was good. So I played and was very competitive in intramurals. That's another way to bring your team together — camaraderie. They see the boss out there playing. And I always would tell folks that on the squadron team: They're not playing me because I'm the commander. They're playing me because I'm good. I can contribute to the wins in a game. But so it's very competitive. I wasn't a win at all costs, but it wasn't fun to lose. So being competitive and fun. So that's one of the things I did for fun. I also follow professional sports. San Antonio Spurs is my basketball team; Washington Commanders, my football team. So I would go to those events, those games, those contests and stuff like that. Music, concerts, still do that kind of stuff with my kids and my family incorporate fun into — so it's not all work and no play. I think you do yourself justice by, winding down relaxing a little bit and having fun and that kind of thing. And so I encourage my team to do that. Wasn't gonna tell people what they needed to do for fun. I think that's personal, but having fun is important and it helps strike that balance. So that's really the five Fs. And I carried that, as I said, every time I command, every time I've, you know, unit that I've been associated with, particularly after the 2000 graduation from Army Command and Staff College. And I still carry that five Fs today And incidentally, I think the if you bump into somebody who was in one of my units, they're going to remember the five Fs, or some portion of it. In fact, I have a couple mentees that commanded after me, and they adopted the five Fs as their command philosophy. And that's kind of something that's very satisfying as a leader to have somebody adopt your leadership style. They think that it was good for them while they were in the unit. And it's very flattering to see that afterwards. I mean, so much so that I've had people that were in my unit, and then they got assigned to one of my mentee's unit, and they would call me up and they'd say, “Hey, Col. Black, you know, Col. Packler says his command philosophy is the five Fs.” Yeah, I said Marc was in my unit at Langley, and he probably felt that. But that's, that's a true story. Naviere Walkewicz That's a legacy, right there; that's wonderful. Well, speaking of legacy, you have a son that's also a graduate. So talk about that. I mean, you were expected to go to college. It wasn't an if, it was where? How about your children? Was that kind of the expectation? Michael Black So my wife is a college graduate. She's a nurse as well. And so we preached education throughout. And just as an aside, shout out to my wife, who just completed her Ph.D.   Naviere Walkewicz Wow, congratulations!   Michael Black Yes. Wilda Black, last week, in doing that. And so between my family, my immediate family — so my wife, and my two daughters and my son, there are 15 degrees between us.   Naviere Walkewicz And you?   Michael Black And me. So five us, there are 15 degrees. My wife has two master's, a bachelor's and now a Ph.D. My oldest daughter has a bachelor's and two master's. My son has a bachelor's and a master's. My younger daughter has a bachelor's and a master's, and I have a bachelor's and three master's degrees. So I think that adds up to 15.   Naviere Walkewicz I lost count. Social sciences major here.   Michael Black So yes, education. And so my son — he really liked quality things, likes quality things growing up. And so he was looking at schools and researching and looking at the Ivy League, some of the Ivy League schools, and some other schools that, you know, had strong reputations. I purposely did not push the Air Force Academy to him because I didn't want him to go for the wrong reasons. I didn't want him to go because I went there and that kind of thing. But late in the game, you know, in his summer, going into his senior year of high school, he came to me and said, “Hey…” and I'm paraphrasing a little bit, “Dad, you know, your alma mater is pretty good, you know, pretty, you know, pretty has a strong reputation.” And I said, “Yeah, you know, you know, strong academic curriculum and everything else there.” So that summer he said, “Well, I'm thinking I might want to go there.” And I'm thinking to myself, “That's a little bit late in the game, like the summer going into senior year.”   Naviere Walkewicz Did you recruit your mom again?   Michael Black Mom got involved. And then I think you know Carolyn Benyshek. So Carolyn was the director of admissions. I reached out to her and just said, “Hey, I got my son that's interested.” They were actually coming to Baltimore, I believe, for a…   Naviere Walkewicz The Falcon Experience. Right.   Michael Black And so we went to see her, and I'll just kind of say the rest is history. Through her help and guidance, through my son's qualifications — he was able to get in. He went to the Prep School, which is great, and I just want to give a shout out to the Prep School for that. I did not attend the Prep School, but I saw the value of my son going to the Prep School and then coming to the Academy. So I just to this day, thankful for our Prep School and how they prepare folks.   Naviere Walkewicz We feel similarly about that.   Michael Black So, yeah. So he went. And so, of course, a proud dad, right? Your son following in your footsteps, and that kind of thing. So Clinton, Clinton Black is in the Space Force now, and he's assigned to Vandenberg. But my son, he was a soccer player growing up, played a lot of competitive soccer, came here and decided that he wanted to do Wings of Blue, and so he was on Wings of Blue parachute team. And the neat thing about that is that the jump wings that my son wears are the jump wings that my dad earned at Airborne School in 1964, '65 — sometime in the early ‘60s. And so my dad was still living at the time and so he was able to come out here and pin the wings on Clinton. So it skipped a generation because I didn't jump or anything. But my son jumped, and he has mid-500 number of jumps that he's had. And so my dad was able to see him jump, and that was even though Airborne is a teeny bit different than free fall, but still, you know, parachuting, and all of that. So getting to see Clinton excel and do that and see him jump into the stadium, and that kind of thing. He jumped with some of the former Navy SEALs in the X Games, you know, in the mountains. So that was just a proud parent moment. Naviere Walkewicz Wow. That is very exciting. And so, through all of these experiences that you had, I keep wanting to go back to the five Fs .yYu had mentioned earlier that you did some refinement to it. So where you are now, how are you using them? How have they been refined? I mean, flying. What is that? Michael Black So, I asked people to take a little bit of a leap in that, understand where it came from, in my 5s but that aspect refers to the mission, right? And so the Air Force mission has evolved to include space and that kind of thing. But even on the private side, the civilian side, I still use the five F's. And so the flying aspect just refers to the mission, or whatever the mission of your organization is. And so there was some refinement as we brought in space into our mission, but it really reflected on the mission. And so I had different AFSCs that worked for me in in the different units that I was at, and also different services. And so understanding the service aspect of things also was something that I had to take into consideration as far as keeping and refining that, at the White House Communications Agency, about 1,200 military — more Army than Air Force, more Air Force than Navy, more Navy than Marine Corps, and more Marine Corps than Coast Guard. And so being an Air Force commander of a joint unit that had more Army folks in it, you have to understand that lingo, and be able to speak cool and that kind of thing. Dad loved that. And so going to the Army Command General Staff College, and, getting some of that philosophy and understanding that. And then I went to what's now called the Eisenhower School, now ICAF, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, which is another joint school. And so being around that helped me in those aspects. But really applying that throughout and after I retired, I did 10 years in the private sector with a couple of different small businesses that were government contracted focused, providing professional services, but still, as the chief operating officer of each one of those, it's a pretty high leadership position within the company and so I talked about the five Fs in some terms that my team could understand that, and so still apply that. And then now, with three years working for the nonprofit, the AFCEA organization, where we bring government, industry and academia together to do IT, cyber kind of things, machine learning, artificial intelligence — I still have that philosophy to buy that and what I do, I think it's something that's applicable across the board, not just military. At least I've made it applicable. Naviere Walkewicz I was just gonna ask that, because talk about the private sector and — some of our listeners, they take off the uniform, but they still have that foundation of the military, but they're working with people who maybe don't have that foundation of the military. So how did you translate that in a way that they could feel that same foundation, even though they hadn't gone through a military family or through the Air Force Academy? Michael Black Yeah, no, that's a great question, Naviere. And I think, as a leader, you have to be aware of that. You have to be aware of your team and their background and their experiences. You also you have to speak their lingo, right? I mean, I can't talk just Air Force or military lingo. We talk a lot in acronyms. Naviere Walkewicz Like AFCEA. And I'm sure many know it but would you mind spelling it out? Michael Black Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association. And even though we have that we are more than the armed forces now, so we really are known by just AFCEA, even though that's what that acronym stands for. So I mean, I work with Homeland Security, VA and that kind of thing. But to your point, getting folks to understand where I'm coming from, and I need to understand where they're coming from, you have to take the time, put in the work to do that, so that you can communicate with your folks, and so that they understand where you're coming from, and also, so that they feel valued, right? That you understand where they're coming from. And I think all of that is important. And I tried to make sure that I did that, and I had coaches, mentors and sponsors along the way. So I learned when some of my mentors transition from the military time, and so when they went to go work in the private sector, I still lean on them. “OK, how did you make this transition? And what is it about? And what are the similarities and what are the differences? What do I need to consider in doing that?” And I'm thankful, and that goes back to one key point that I want to make about relationships and nurturing that relationship. I mentioned Gen. Field, worked for him in the early 2000s. But here we are, 2025, and he's in my contacts, he will take my call, he will respond to a text, and vice versa. You know, building that relationship. And so he's with a nonprofit now, and so I still stay in touch with him. The director of the White House Military Office was a Navy admiral that I worked for when I was at the White House. He is now the president and CEO of the United States Naval Institute — Adm. Spicer. You know, 20-something, 15 years ago, worked for him and now we're working together on a big conference. But those relationships are important in nurturing those relationships. And I learned about nurturing from my family. You know, my grandparents, who did that. My grandfather was a farmer. He had to nurture his crops for them to produce. So the same thing, analogy applies in relationships; you have to nurture that relationship. And you know, it circled all the way back to, you know, our 40-year reunion now, and my classmates that are here and nurturing those relationships with those classmates over the years is important to me. I'm the connector within my class, or the nucleus. I mean, those are two nicknames that my classmates have given me: the Col. Connector and Nucleus, and I embrace those. Naviere Walkewicz Yes, that's wonderful. I know that you also mentor cadets. And I think my question for you, from the aspect of some of our listeners, is, did you seek out the cadets? Did they seek you out? How does that mentorship relationship start? Because you talked about how, like, for example, Gen. Field, you had that relationship years ago. That's kind of carried through. But how do you know when that mentorship is beginning? Michael Black I think both of those aspects, as you mentioned. Do they seek that? There are cadets that seek that based upon just what they've experienced and what they've learned. And then some of the cadets know people that I know, and so they've been referred to me, and all that. Some were — like their parents, I worked with their parents. I mean, particularly in the Class of 2023 there are three young ladies that I mentored in the Class of 2023 one whose father worked with me on the White House Communications Agency, one whose mother babysat my kids OK. And then one who's ROTC instructor in junior in high school was my first sergeant. So in those three instances, I was connected to those folks through relationship with either their parents or somebody that worked for me and that that kind of thing. And that was a neat thing to, you know, to be here. I did the march back with those young ladies, and then I connected those three young ladies who did not know each other at the march back, when we got back on the Terrazzo, I found all three of them and explained my relationship with each of them. And they were able to be connected throughout and two of them I actually commissioned, So that was really, really nice. And so, you know, seeking mentorship is, well, mentorship has just been important to me. I benefited from mentorship, and I want to return that favor. I am the chairman of the Air Force Cadet Officer Mentor Association, AFCOMA, whose foundation is mentorship, fellowship and scholarship, and so I'm passionate about mentorship and doing that. I've seen the benefits of it. People did it for me, and I think you can shorten the learning curve. I think you can just help folks along the way. So I'm very passionate about that. Naviere Walkewicz Well, this has been amazing. I think there's two questions I have left for you. The first one being — and I think we've learned a lot about this along the way — but if you were to summarize, what is something you are doing every day to be better as a leader? Michael Black I think every day I take a deep look inside myself, and am I living and breathing my core values? And what am I doing to help the next generation? You know, trying to put that on my schedule, on my radar, that's important to me. And whether I'm at work with AFCEA, whether I'm out here at my 40th reunion, whether I'm on vacation, I always take the time to mentor folks and pass on that. I think that's something that's passionate for me. You mentioned, when we talked about the retirement ceremonies. I mean, I've done 20-plus since I retired. In fact, I have one in November, but it will be my 27th retirement ceremony since I retired. And those things are important to me. And so I reflect, I try to keep my fitness — my physical, spiritual and mental fitness, in balance every day so that I can be effective and operate at a peak performance at the drop of the hat. You know, being ready. And so that's important to me. So there's some self-analysis, and I do live and breathe the five F's. I think that's important. And I think I've proven to myself that that is something that is relatable, not only to my time in the military, but my time in the private sector, and now my time in a nonprofit. And I just continue to do that so self-reflection and really practicing particularly the fitness aspect of the five Fs. Naviere Walkewicz Wow, that's outstanding. And then you probably share this with your mentees. But what is something that you would help our aspiring leaders — those who are already in leadership roles in any facet of it — but what is something that they can do today so that they will be more effective as a leader? Michael Black So I think being aware that people are watching you and your actions. Even when you think that somebody is not watching, they are watching. And so they are trying to learn what to do next, and to be aware of that. And so I think, again, that goes with what you asked me first: What do I do every day. But also being aware of that, so that you can be that example to folks. And then take the time, have some pride in leaving the organization better than it was when you got there. I mean, it's a cliche, but I think I take a lot of pride in that. And then, when the team does good, everybody does good, so you shouldn't necessarily be out there for any kind of glory. That's going to come. But do it for the right reasons. And provide… give the people the tools, the resources and the environment to be successful. And in… I just take satisfaction when I see one of my mentees get squadron command, go do something like the current commander of the White House Communications Agency, Col. Kevin Childs. He was a captain and a major in the organization when I was there. Nothing makes me happier than to see my mentees excel. And then, in this particular instance, he's holding a job that I had, and we still talk. I mean, he had me come out there to speak to the unit about a month ago. And those things give me a lot of pride and satisfaction and confirmation that I am doing the right thing. And so I'm excited about that. Naviere Walkewicz Well, I can say, from the time that I met you a few years ago, you are living what your five Fs. I see it every time you help champion others. Every time I'm around you I'm  energized. So this has been a true joy. Has there been anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to share with our listeners? Michael Black Well, I do want to say personally, thank you to you for all that you do and what the association is doing here. This Long Blue conversation, Long Blue Line — I think this is important to share. There's a Class of 1970 that's in the hotel with us, and I don't know, really, any of those folks, but when I see them walking around with their red hat on — that was their color — and I think about, “OK, 15 years before me.” And so I'm 62. These guys are, if I did the public math, right, 77, 78, maybe even older, depending upon what they did, and still out there doing things, and some of them here with their spouses and that kind of thing. I was just talking to one of the classmates this morning, I said, “You know, I wonder if we're going to be like this when our 55th reunion is,” and they were walking around, and most were in good health and able to do things. So that gives a lot of pride. But, what you're doing, what the rest of the folks here are doing, I think this is amazing. I love the new building, the studio that we're in. This is my first time in the new building, so I'm thankful for this opportunity, and just excited about what you guys do. Naviere Walkewicz Well, thank you so much for that. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on Long Blue Leadership. Michael Black Well, I appreciate it. It's been an honor, and I'm glad you guys timed this for my '85 Best Alive reunion and in the new studio. Naviere Walkewicz Yes, wonderful. Well, as we bring today's conversation to a close, Michael left a reminder for us that stands to me. As a leader, you're always on, you're always being watched. You know your steady presence and deep empathy were forged in life's hardest moments, from guiding a young family through unimaginable loss to breaking the barriers at the highest levels of service to mentoring cadets who will carry forward the legacy of leadership. And then there's that framework he lived by, the five Fs of leadership. It is practical as it is powerful, family, fitness, flying mission, fairness and fun, each one a reminder that leadership is about balance grounding and the courage to keep perspective no matter the challenge. His story reminds us that true leaders create more leaders, and when we anchor ourselves in purpose, faith and these five Fs, we leave behind a legacy that lasts. Thank you for listening to Long Blue Leadership. I'm Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz. Until next time. KEYWORDS Michael Black, Air Force leadership, 5F leadership philosophy, military mentorship, leadership development, combat communication, White House Communications, Space Force, veteran leadership, empathetic leadership, military career progression, leadership principles, professional growth, organizational effectiveness, cadet mentoring, military communication strategy, leadership resilience, Air Force Academy graduate, leadership philosophy, team building, professional relationships.       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation    

Some filmmakers chase trends. Eddie Musa chases truth. Born to Sierra Leonean parents and raised on the beats of hip hop, the grit of 90s Black cinema, and the shadows of Italian neorealism, Eddie doesn't just capture stories — he conjures them. This episode of Visual Intonation Podcast brings you deep into the mind of a filmmaker who sees the world in frames, colors, and feeling.He built his own lane. From student activist to CEO of Musa Majic TV, Eddie turned vision into vocation. You'll hear how he went from college classrooms to directing shorts like Sugar Daddy and Flowers, all while building a creative agency rooted in authenticity. No shortcuts. Just hustle, clarity, and craft.In this conversation, we break down the process. The pressure. The poetry. Eddie talks about making moments that stick — in the mind, in the culture, in the memory of the lens. It's not just about the shot. It's about the soul behind it. The why. The weight. The work.If you care about cinema that moves you, if you live for visuals that speak before words arrive, this one's for you. Eddie Musa doesn't just make films. He makes meaning. Press play.Musa Majic TV LLC.Source: IMDbEddie Musa - IMDbSource: FilmFreewayEdward Musa - FilmFreewaySource: InstagramChief Musa (@musamajic) • Instagram photos and videosSource: LinkedInEdward Musa - Film Director and Freelance Producer at MusaMajicTV ...Support the showVisual Intonation Website: https://www.visualintonations.com/Visual Intonation Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualintonation/Vante Gregory's Website: vantegregory.comVante Gregory's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directedbyvante/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): patreon.com/visualintonations Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@visualintonation Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@directedbyvante

Coaching through uniqueness and building trust with the strength of Individualization

Most people have that one memory that makes them cringe - the party where they said the wrong thing, the meeting where they stumbled over their words, or when a simple "no thanks" to a drink turned into the most awkward moment of the night.   You spend so much energy trying to avoid these uncomfortable situations, building elaborate strategies to never feel that squirmy sensation again. But what if this avoidance actually makes social situations harder, especially when you're trying to change your drinking habits?   Tune in this week to learn how awkwardness impacts your ability to say no to a drink, why the Connector and Mask archetypes struggle most with this, and a simple reframe that transforms awkwardness from proof that something's wrong with you into a normal part of being human.   Find a personalized approach that helps you change your habit in my new book, The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Less, here: https://rachelhart.com/guide/   Discover alternative approaches to drinking less inside our membership program, Take a Break: https://rachelhart.com/tab/   Get the full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://rachelhart.com/440

What does it really mean to live and connect with radiance? In this episode, Joshua Palassis and I dive into the dance of masculine and feminine energy, the importance of discernment in relationships, and how polarity shapes the way we show up in the world. We explore the pursuit of excellence, the unique challenges men face today, and why women thrive when they have peace and nurturing. You're going to love this conversation, and you're going to want to share it with everyone you care about who also desires to look and feel their best too!Learn more about Joshua Palassis:Joshua is a multi-faceted entrepreneur from sales to marketing to overall referring to himself as "The Connector." His mission and focus currently is growing my influence and connections to be able to build people, businesses and a life that honours God. He wants to be healthy, wealthy and wise and take a lot of people along with me.Connect with Joshua:https://www.instagram.com/palassisStep into your Radiance Sanctuary in the Membership https://www.theschoolofradiance.com/membershipFor more resources related to today's episode, click here for the podcast episode page: https://www.theschoolofradiance.com/podcasts Follow Rachel Varga Official on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelvargaofficial/ —Catch full episodes of The School of Radiance Podcast here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RachelVargaOfficial —Subscribe to the YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@RachelVargaOfficial —Follow me here:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelvargaofficial/ Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/rachelvargaofficial/ Website: https://www.theschoolofradiance.com —FREE STUFF: Download my FREE Skincare Checklist, sign up for my FREE 30 minute biohack your way to clear skin and slowing aging training now, and my newsletter for promos and exclusive events just for you! https://www.theschoolofradiance.com/freebiesEveryone gets one FREE call! Book your free 15-minute call with Rachel Varga to see which options will help you achieve your skin radiance goals! https://rachelvarga.as.me/YourPersonalizedRadianceConsultation —Looking for Skincare products, Tutorials, booking YOUR private One-on-One, and the deep dive Radiance Membership?SHOP skincare: https://alwaysradiantskinshop.comBOOK your private One-on-One: https://rachelvarga.as.me/Initialconsultation REGISTER for Tutorials and/or Membership: https://theschoolofradiance.com As a disclaimer, please note that the information shared in this podcast and interview is not to be taken as medical advice, and it's always important to consult with your physician before making any lifestyle changes. Rachel disclaims any responsibility for inaccurate credentials of guests or information used that may cause harm.Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The School of Radiance with Rachel Varga (formerly The Rachel Varga Podcast and The Always Radiant Skin Podcast)!Rachel Vargainfo@theschoolofradiance.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The hype cycle is over; the results era is here. We unpack how finance moves from shiny demos to measurable outcomes by pairing agentic AI with the enterprise plumbing that actually makes change stick: orchestration, shared standards, and rigorous governance. Along the way, we confront the 93% project failure narrative and show why a simple time filter—necessary, automatable, delegable—cuts through noise and aligns work with true ROI.We walk through real examples that shrink lending cycle times from months to minutes, explain why outcome-based pricing beats per-seat models, and clarify the critical differences between reactive generative tools and proactive, goal-driven agents. Then we zoom out to the architecture that turns outputs into outcomes, from orchestration as the command layer to BIAN's service domains and business object model that finally give banks a common language. Security and resilience get equal weight as we step into the AI-versus-AI battlefield and map how DORA and the EU AI Act overlap, including provider vs deployer responsibilities and incident reporting that keeps operations and model risk in check.There's more: the accessibility mandate reshapes what “done” means for digital onboarding and automated flows; wealth tech emerges as the next growth engine with a massive generational transfer on the horizon; and social impact cases show AI driving nonprofit income stability and financial literacy at scale. Through it all, we return to the human edge—professionals who translate automation into trust, navigate ambiguity, and make better decisions with cleaner data and clearer guardrails.If this conversation helps you see where AI creates real value in your stack, support the show: follow, share with a teammate, and leave a quick review with your biggest takeaway.Thank you for tuning into our podcast about global trends in the FinTech industry.Check out our podcast channel.Learn more about The Connector. Follow us on LinkedIn.CheersKoen Vanderhoydonkkoen.vanderhoydonk@jointheconnector.com#FinTech #RegTech #Scaleup #WealthTech

In this episode of the Q Method podcast, host Quinn interviews Joshua Palassis, a connector and entrepreneur who shares his journey from military service to the world of entrepreneurship. Joshua discusses the importance of mentorship, the role of sales in personal branding, and how health and fitness serve as the foundation for success. He also reflects on his evolving definition of success, emphasizing the need for clarity and faith in one's path.Follow him on instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/palassis?igsh=MWFrNTFtZnN4eGh1

You never know where a cup of coffee meeting might go – it could land you with the theme music to Pickle Planet Moncton's podcast! Join Jenna & Tosh as they kick off Season 8... The post Connector Program Creating Strong Networks in Moncton | Pickle Planet Podcast S8E01 first appeared on Pickle Planet Moncton.

Vic Thiessen offered a reflection on the recent film, The Life of Chuck, and all the ways that a series of 'coincidences' in his life keep pointing to the deep significance of our connectedness and how God's role in those connections underlines the meaning of life and death. The post God the Connector and the Life of Chuck appeared first on St. Croix Church.

Scopriamo le novità di oggi dal mondo Tesla!Se vuoi supportare il canale con una donazione:

How could bartending teach you the essentials of sales and connecting with people? Glenn and Julie sit down with Neil Rogers, owner and VP of Sales and Marketing at Rogers Marketing—a leading promotional marketing firm in New England. From overcoming self-doubt to thriving as a connector, Neil's journey is all about embracing process, adapting, and helping others succeed. If you're ready to grow your business—and yourself—this episode is for you!Neil is not just a marketing powerhouse; he's also the bestselling author of “Bar Tips: Everything I Needed to Know in Sales I Learned from Behind the Bar,” and co-founder of Positive Activity, a program dedicated to helping people achieve their goals one step at a time.In this lively and candid conversation, Neil takes us back to his roots growing up in Melrose, Massachusetts, sharing stories of large family life, early struggles with self-esteem, and how discovering his people skills behind the bar set him on a lifelong journey of sales and entrepreneurship. Neil opens up about his path to building a business, the importance of positivity and process, why being coachable made all the difference, and how his “make it happen” mindset has led to decades of success—not just in business, but in life.Here are three key takeaways that resonated with us:Start Every Day With Positivity: Neil emphasized the importance of beginning each day with a growth mindset. Approaching problems with a solution-oriented, positive attitude leads to more productivity and greater creative thinking.Be Coachable and Embrace Mentorship: One of Neil's major turning points was becoming open to feedback and guidance. Being receptive to mentorship allowed him to accelerate both personal and professional growth—an essential mindset shift for any entrepreneur.Process Drives Progress: Whether behind the bar or running a business, Neil credits consistent processes and paying attention to the little things as the foundation for his long-term success. Show up, engage, refine, and keep moving forward—success is built one step at a time.This episode is brought to you by PureTax, LLC. Tax preparation services without the pressure. When all you need is to get your tax return done, take the stress out of tax season by working with a firm that has simplified the process and the pricing. Find out more about how we started.Moments00:00 "Growth-Driven Marketing Insights with Neil Rogers"06:04 Discovering a Passion for Bartending06:43 "Rejecting Hospitality Career"10:03 Lifelong Love for Entertainment13:56 "Make It Happen Team"16:48 "We're in the Hospitality Business"22:29 Creativity Boosts Productivity and Solutions25:33 "Independent Logo Franchise Owner"27:13 Creative Roles: Focal, Augmenter, Connector, Expander30:11 Positive Activity: Info & InsightsRunning a business doesn't have to run your life.Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it's easy to be so busy ‘doing' business that you don't have the right strategy to grow your business.Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for successOur clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a...

Send us a textEver feel like you and your partner just aren't speaking the same sexual language? You're not “broken,” you might just be mismatched. In this episode of Talk Sex with Annette, I sit down with Nicholas Velotta, Head of Relationship Research at Arya and PhD researcher at the University of Washington, to unpack the Erotic Persona Framework—the 4 sexual archetypes that explain why routine sex fizzles, why desire misfires, and how to finally sync with your partner.We cover:

Aplikasi Pasar Kolaboraya hadir sebagai platform digital inovatif yang memfasilitasi kolaborasi dan interaksi antar peserta melalui empat tahapan utama yang terstruktur. Mari kita telusuri secara mendalam bagaimana aplikasi ini bekerja untuk menciptakan ekosistem kolaborasi yang efektif. Tahap pertama dimulai dengan proses Bergabung, yang mencakup pendaftaran dan profiling. Setiap peserta yang telah diterima akan mendapatkan tautan khusus untuk mengunduh dan mengakses aplikasi. Proses login dilakukan menggunakan kredensial yang telah diberikan sebelumnya. Setelah berhasil masuk, peserta akan mengisi profil diri mereka melalui formulir digital yang dilengkapi dengan panduan step-by-step yang komprehensif. Sistem dilengkapi dengan indikator progres yang menunjukkan seberapa lengkap data yang telah diisi, misalnya "3/5 data terisi", untuk memotivasi peserta menyelesaikan pengisian data secara menyeluruh. Dalam tahap awal ini, peserta juga akan menentukan peran mereka dalam ekosistem. Aplikasi menyediakan beberapa pilihan peran seperti Builder, Connector, Enabler, Funder, dan Advocate. Setiap peran dilengkapi dengan deskripsi detail melalui pop-up atau ikon informasi yang membantu peserta memahami tanggung jawab dan ekspektasi dari masing-masing peran. Peserta memiliki fleksibilitas untuk memilih satu atau lebih peran yang paling sesuai dengan profil dan minat mereka. Setelah semua data terisi lengkap, sistem akan melakukan validasi otomatis dan menghasilkan barcode unik yang terintegrasi dengan profil digital peserta, berfungsi sebagai tiket masuk sekaligus kartu nama digital di lokasi acara. Tahap kedua berfokus pada Koneksi, di mana aplikasi memfasilitasi pertemuan tatap muka menjadi jaringan digital yang terstruktur dan terukur. Ketika peserta memasuki lokasi acara, modul koneksi akan aktif secara otomatis. Di bagian tengah layar, terdapat tombol "Pindai Barcode" yang mengaktifkan kamera untuk memindai barcode peserta lain. Sistem menggunakan mekanisme permintaan dan persetujuan dua arah yang sophisticated - setelah memindai, layar akan menampilkan pop-up profil peserta yang dipindai dengan opsi untuk mengirim permintaan koneksi. Peserta yang menerima permintaan akan mendapatkan notifikasi in-app dan dapat melihat profil pemindai sebelum memutuskan untuk menerima atau menolak koneksi. Fitur unggulan pada tahap koneksi adalah dasbor real-time yang menampilkan statistik koneksi secara komprehensif. Peserta dapat melihat jumlah total koneksi mereka, analisis keragaman peran yang terhubung (misalnya "terhubung dengan 5 builder dan 3 funder"), serta visualisasi geografis yang menunjukkan persebaran koneksi berdasarkan kota atau daerah asal. Tahap ketiga membahas Kolaborasi, yang mentransformasikan koneksi menjadi kerja sama nyata dalam ekosistem. Aplikasi menyediakan galeri interaktif yang menampilkan 18-21 Ekosistem Perubahan Sosial, masing-masing dengan kartu profil yang mencakup nama, logo, dan tagar relevan seperti #Pendidikan, #Lingkungan, atau #Teknologi. Peserta dapat mengeksplorasi detail setiap ekosistem dan mengajukan diri untuk bergabung melalui sistem yang terintegrasi. Halaman detail ekosistem menyajikan informasi komprehensif yang mencakup visi dan misi, tantangan sistemik yang ingin dipecahkan, serta status dan kebutuhan spesifik ekosistem. Misalnya, ekosistem dapat mencantumkan kebutuhan seperti "Mencari data scientist atau jaringan dengan lembaga riset". Peserta dapat menawarkan kontribusi mereka melalui tombol "Saya Siap Berkontribusi" yang mengarah ke formulir detail kontribusi, di mana mereka dapat menspesifikasikan bentuk dukungan yang dapat diberikan, seperti "pembuatan prototipe digital selama 3 bulan". Tahap terakhir adalah Kolektif Aksi, yang memfasilitasi komitmen jangka panjang untuk proyek-proyek besar. Aplikasi menyediakan ruang virtual khusus untuk presentasi Ekosistem Raya - gabungan dari 3-4 ekosistem yang berkolaborasi. Dalam ruang ini, peserta dapat menyaksikan presentasi yang menjelaskan visi, target, dan rencana proyek besar yang akan dilaksanakan di tahun mendatang. Sistem dilengkapi dengan mekanisme komitmen yang memungkinkan peserta menyatakan dukungan mereka terhadap proyek yang dipresentasikan. Setelah acara berakhir, aplikasi secara otomatis menghasilkan laporan status kinerja personal yang dapat diakses melalui dasbor pribadi. Laporan ini terbagi menjadi tiga kategori utama: Laporan Koneksi, Laporan Kolaborasi, dan Laporan Kolektif Aksi. Setiap kategori memberikan visualisasi data yang jelas dan terukur. Laporan Koneksi menampilkan grafik atau bagan lingkaran yang mengindikasikan performa networking peserta dengan status Baik atau Buruk, disertai statistik detail seperti jumlah total koneksi, persentase koneksi berdasarkan peran, dan jangkauan geografis koneksi. Laporan Kolaborasi menunjukkan status Kuat atau Lemah berdasarkan interaksi di Tahap 3, termasuk data jumlah proposal kolaborasi yang diajukan dan diterima, serta deskripsi sumber daya yang dibagikan. Sementara itu, Laporan Kolektif Aksi memvisualisasikan status Besar atau Kecil berdasarkan tingkat partisipasi dalam proyek-proyek kolektif, termasuk jumlah komitmen proyek dan peran yang diambil. Dengan alur yang terstruktur dan fitur-fitur interaktif yang komprehensif ini, Aplikasi Pasar Kolaboraya berhasil menciptakan platform yang memungkinkan peserta untuk membangun koneksi bermakna, berkolaborasi dalam proyek-proyek impactful, dan berkontribusi pada perubahan sosial yang berkelanjutan. Sistem pelaporan yang terukur juga membantu peserta memahami dan mengevaluasi kontribusi mereka dalam ekosistem kolaborasi ini.

How connected do your people feel? Phil Thomas is the Chief Creative Officer of Informa Festivals. They're the company that owns Cannes Lions. And Phil has recently been named as Chairman of Comic Relief. One of the things that I've learned hosting this podcast is that the most powerful leaders rarely get remembered for their titles. They're remembered for how they made people feel. In this conversation with Phil, what stood out most weren't his achievements. It was his perspective on making people feel connected. As you'll hear, when you emphasize connection in your leadership, kindness, challenges, accomplishments, language shapes the culture, and the trust that follows becomes invaluable currency that maximizes creativity. Connection is also one of the 13 conditions that's measured by FORM, the creativity diagnostic that I've been developing. Because in every organization that I've studied, when people feel seen, heard, and respected, creativity is unlocked and businesses grow faster. And, memorably, this conversation with Phil is a reminder that connection isn't a soft skill, it's the foundation of creative leadership and the impact that that leadership leaves behind. How connected do your people feel to your organization? Do they feel seen, heard, and respected?

Andrew

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The session focused on expanding teams and recruiting agents through relationship-based approaches. Screen-share shared their journey to 100 agents, highlighting the power of social media, storytelling, and sharing opportunities that impact lives. Guest trainer Dan Rochon applied sales principles to recruiting, stressing goal setting, understanding personal “superpowers,” and leveraging attraction styles (Producer, Promoter, Influencer, Coach, Connector). Participants took a personality quiz to identify strengths and discussed strategies like networking, social media, and warm calls. Dan introduced his CPI model (connect, question, listen) to improve conversations and emphasized building genuine relationships over pitching. The meeting wrapped with encouragement to align recruiting strategies with personal strengths for sustainable growth.

In this episode, host Katie Rodwell speaks with Laura Morrison, a sheep and beef farmer from Rangitikei and a passionate agri-sector leader. Earlier in the year Laura joined a cohort of food and fibre representatives on a leadership trip to Singapore, designed to challenge traditional thinking and foster new approaches to collaboration and innovation.She shares her reflections on the trip, what Singapore's unified vision taught her, and why stronger connections across New Zealand's value chain are key to a more resilient future.Tune in to hear Laura talk about how New Zealand's agri-sector has strength in its people and products—but to remain globally competitive, we must embrace collective ambition. “Status quo is not what's going to save us.”Like what you've heard? Follow our podcast for more great content.Full show notes for this episode:Farming and Leadership in RangitikeiLaura farms 270 hectares near Marton with her husband, Richard, including 70 hectares of native bush. Alongside raising two young boys, she's actively involved in industry leadership, serving as vice chair of Manawatū-Rangitikei Federated Farmers, a national meat and wool executive member, a Beef + Lamb Farmer Council rep, and part of the AgriZero collective. She also chairs the steering group for Connector, a new Rural Women NZ initiative supporting rural community wellbeing.Why Singapore?Laura was part of a cohort representing all parts of the food and fibre value chain—farmers, processors, investors, iwi, researchers—on a trip to Singapore, organised by Food HQ with support from ASB and AgriZero. The goal: immerse themselves in a market known for its innovation, strategic partnerships, and food security solutions.A Culture of CohesionLaura was struck by Singapore's collective mindset—“buy in or ship out”—which stands in stark contrast to what she sees in New Zealand's fragmented agri-sector. With deep alignment across government, industry, and private investment, Singapore shows the power of unified effort. The trip highlighted for Laura the need to move beyond traditional, siloed thinking and toward genuine collaboration in New Zealand.Opportunities for New ZealandFrom coffee roasting to centralised food manufacturing and strategic export logistics, Singapore offered multiple examples of market innovation. Laura sees opportunities for New Zealand to pursue deeper partnerships, move beyond commodity exports, and embrace consumer-focused product development.Applying the Lessons at HomeLaura hopes to bring back a spirit of proactive engagement—calling on farmers to connect more with the wider sector, contribute to change, and avoid “head in the sand” attitudes. Through her leadership roles, she's committed to fostering open-mindedness, collaboration, and a willingness to evolve.Key TakeawayNew Zealand's agri-sector has strength in its people and products—but to remain globally competitive, it must embrace collective ambition. As Laura reminds us, “status quo is not what's going to save us.”

Finance is being fundamentally rebuilt and re-architected as credit becomes woven into our digital lives rather than something we seek out separately. This shift toward invisible, embedded finance is changing how individuals and businesses access and manage money, with fintechs often leading the charge.• Invisible lending is embedding finance directly into digital experiences like e-commerce checkouts and business software• Traditional banks risk becoming less relevant if they don't adapt to new distribution models in digital spaces• AI is transforming financial processes, completing credit assessments in minutes instead of hours or months• European and Asian regions approach fintech innovation differently – Europe like chess (methodical, rule-heavy) and Asia like go (fast, agile, experimental)• Cross-border credit invisibility affects thousands of Europeans who become "credit invisible" when moving between countries• Only 1% of VC funding in Europe went to women-only founding teams in 2023 despite research showing strong returns• The future of property finance involves holistic dashboards tracking value, renovation opportunities, and environmental impact• Revenue-based financing provides SMEs with flexible repayments based on actual income, better matching business reality• Singapore demonstrates integrated property tech systems connecting smart buildings, resident apps, and digital financing• The Nordics show successful collaboration between banks and fintechs in creating agile lending ecosystemsAs finance becomes more embedded and invisible, the challenge becomes ensuring your financial reality is fully seen and properly understood by AI systems and platforms.Thank you for tuning into our podcast about global trends in the FinTech industry.Check out our podcast channel.Learn more about The Connector. Follow us on LinkedIn.CheersKoen Vanderhoydonkkoen.vanderhoydonk@jointheconnector.com#FinTech #RegTech #Scaleup #WealthTech

Industrial Talk is talking to Jim Mayer, Founder and Host of The Manufacturing Culture Podcast about "His passion and drive for manufacturing success". Scott Mackenzie interviews Jim Mayer, a manufacturing industry expert and podcaster, on the Industrial Talk Podcast. Jim shares his journey from construction to manufacturing, highlighting his roles at Fastenal, West Coast Aerospace, Keyence, MSC Industrial, and NTMA. He discusses his transition to running his own company, focusing on employee engagement and culture in manufacturing. Jim emphasizes the importance of authenticity and human connection in his podcast, "The Manufacturing Culture Podcast," and "The Manufacturing Connector" YouTube channel. He also touches on the challenges of digital transformation, the need for employee buy-in, and the role of AI in enhancing industry processes. Action Items [ ] Connect with Jim Mayer on LinkedIn. [ ] Check out Jim's website, The MFG Connector, for more information. [ ] Subscribe to Jim's podcasts, including the Manufacturing Culture Podcast and the Manufacturing Connector YouTube channel. Outline Introduction and Initial Greetings Scott Mackenzie introduces the podcast and the guest, Jim Mayer, highlighting his role in the manufacturing industry. Scott emphasizes the importance of amplifying one's voice and using modern marketing platforms for future success. Jim Mayer expresses his admiration for Scott's voice and shares a humorous anecdote about their first meeting. Scott and Jim discuss the weather in Phoenix, sharing personal experiences and humorous stories about the heat. Jim's Background and Career Journey Jim shares his background, mentioning his 25 years in the industry and his initial struggles after leaving college. He describes his journey from retail and restaurant jobs to construction work and eventually finding his passion in manufacturing. Jim recounts his experiences working in construction, including the dangers of roofing and the influence of a Fastenal rep who encouraged him to sell supplies. He talks about his transition to working in machine shops and his successful career with various companies, including MSC Industrial and NTMA. Transition to Podcasting and Culture Consulting Jim explains his decision to leave the corporate world and start his own company, focusing on employee engagement and talent management in manufacturing. He discusses the challenges of positioning himself as a culture consultant and the initial failures he faced. Jim describes his shift to creating content through podcasting, starting with the Manufacturing Culture Podcast. He shares the story of how a friend encouraged him to start a podcast and the initial success of his first episode. The Manufacturing Culture Podcast and Its Impact Jim details the structure and content of his podcast, emphasizing the importance of creating a narrative arc and engaging stories. He explains how he conducts research on his guests and their companies to ensure the content is informative and engaging. Jim discusses the feedback he received from listeners, highlighting the importance of addressing both solutions and personal stories. He mentions the creation of the Manufacturing Connector YouTube channel to focus on tools, technology, and solutions for the industry. Challenges and Solutions in Digital Transformation Scott and Jim discuss...

Timestamps: 0:00 Not sure what the alternative is 0:19 iPhone Air, Foldable iPhone, other leaks 1:42 ASRock GPU Cable Fix 2:33 Elon's Macrohard AI Company 3:38 Micro Center! 4:24 QUICK BITS INTRO 4:37 Florida Drone School Defense 5:07 Netflix House Opens in US 5:39 Food Delivery Robot RM5 6:09 Nvidia Jetson AGX Thor Devkit 6:46 AMD 2026–2027 Mobile Roadmap NEWS SOURCES: https://lmg.gg/oMzcB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know God has been dreaming about you? He has dreams not only for the good he's specifically called you to do, but also for who you'd become. This week, we explore the second of four roles of our "Dream Disciple" at Wawasee. God longs for each of us to be a Courageous Connector—to take relational risks, be honest about personal struggles, and foster community with humility and love. Drawing from Philippians 2, where Jesus empties himself and models perfect humility, the challenge becomes clear: forge unity in the church by humbly prioritizing others and creating belonging like Jesus.

LVN Board Members Keith Maziarek and Justin Ergler host Patrick Fuller, Chief Strategist for ALM. The trio discuss Patrick's role in analyzing law firm data, market trends, and client challenges. The discussion also highlights the importance of understanding indirect market impacts, such as talent supply and operating costs in emerging markets. Patrick emphasizes the need for law firms to raise rates to maintain profitability and discusses the potential benefits of private equity investment in the legal industry. The conversation also touches on succession planning, client relationships, and the impact of remote work on firm culture and talent retention.

Alright rebels, this one's a treat. Today, we're joined by the incredible Tash Pennant - a woman who's built a career (and a life) out of bringing people together in the most genuine, human way. From advising government leaders to hosting radio shows and making sure nobody leaves a room without feeling seen, Tash is known as the Connector for a reason. We're talking about how real connection cuts through titles, how soft power is often the most powerful of all, and why being a decent human is still the ultimate networking strategy. Highlights:(03:10) Why Tash thought Ngozi owned a restaurant(12:45) Manners will take you round the world(24:30) How Tash built soft power, not loud titles(38:50) Living with MS: The 15-year journey(51:10) Toilets: The best networking spot(01:02:20) You're not AI, set some boundaries!To find out more about Tash: visit www.tashpennant.co.ukConnect with Tash on LinkedIn: @TashPennantFollow Tash on Instagram: @TashPennantEmail Tash: tash@tashpennant.co.ukTake the Aurora 360 Quiz: How Effective Is Your Company's Wellbeing Strategy? Click HereConnect with us here:Website: aurorawellnessgroup.co.ukLinkedIn: NgoziLinkedIn: ObehiAurora Company Profile 2024Book a Call here

All Home Care Matters and our host, Lance A. Slatton were honored to welcome Michael Ellenbogen as guest to the show.   About Michael Ellenbogen:   Michael Ellenbogen was diagnosed with Young-Onset Alzheimer's Disease at the age of 49. Prior to his diagnosis, he was a network operations manager for a Fortune 500 financial institution. Difficulty with work-related tasks eventually led to his early retirement.   As a world-renowned International Dementia Advocate & Connecter, he has been featured in nationally syndicated TV, radio and other media outlets. He has written for blogs, newspapers, journals and websites and shared his personal perspective as a guest speaker. Michael served on the PA Alzheimer's Disease Planning Committee and other advisory councils. He testified before the government, and has three letters published in the U.S. Congressional Record.   He was a regular speaker at NAPA and was featured in the ADI's 2012 World Alzheimer's Report. He represented the U.S./World for people living with dementia at the World Health Organization in Geneva. He is interested in motivating those with Alzheimer's to raise their voices and reduce the stigma surrounding the disease. Michael wrote about his journey with the disease in his book entitled “From the Corner Office to Alzheimer's.”

Today we are talking about Working from home, heading back to the office, and the current state of remote work with guest Kaleem Clarkson. We'll also cover Microsoft 365 Connector as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/513 Topics Exploring Remote Work with Kaleem Clarkson Trust Issues in Management Employee Red Flags and Data-Driven Decisions Managerial Concerns with Return to Office Policies Respectful Implementation of Return to Office Challenges of Enforcing Office Mandates Benefits of In-Person Work Hybrid Work Models and Their Challenges Variations in Hybrid Work Policies Impact of Seniority on Office Policies Cutting DEI Initiatives: Fear and Legal Risks Employer Brand and Social Contracts Resources Blend Me Inc Guests Kaleem Clarkson - kclarkson Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Rich Lawson - richlawson.co rklawson MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted your Drupal site to integrate with Microsoft 365, so users can log in with their Azure AD credentials, and then have direct access to shared files, see recent emails, and more? There's a module for that. Module name/project name: Microsoft 365 Connector Brief history How old: created in July 2019 by immoreel, though the most recent release is by Boris Doesborg (batigolix), both of Finalist, a Dutch Drupal shop Versions available: 5.0.22 and 5.1.0-beta1, the latter of which supports Drupal 9.4, 10, and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Test coverage Two documentation guide available Number of open issues: 18 open issues, 1 of which is a bug, though it is postponed waiting for more info Usage stats: 365 sites Module features and usage This module integrates your Drupal site with the Microsoft Graph API, a unified API that provides a single endpoint for accessing data and intelligence from Microsoft 365 services, including Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and more Microsoft 365 Connector includes more than a dozen submodules, each of which provide specific capabilities like Single Sign-On, syncing data to Drupal user accounts, sending Teams messages from within Drupal, and more You can also use this module to do things like automatically add an event node to your Outlook calendar, and invite other people at the same time It's worth noting that in the documentation guide the submodules are named “Office 365”, which is probably what the module was named until around 5 years ago when Microsoft retired the Office 365 name Finally, setting up this module requires registering an app in Azure AD, so it's not for the casual user. But if you're working on an intranet or similar collaboration platform for an organization that is heavily invested in the Microsoft 365 suite, this could make for a compelling integration

This week's special guest is  the multifaceted Cóilí Collins aka DJ Shampain. ing in Galway nearly 10 years ago as a duo with Evan Campbell KETTAMA as VSN. The pair went on to form G-Town Records, and brought Galway to the world stages of dance music, with Shampain playing everything from Boiler Room to tours of China. Shampain and Kettama's Galway influence on the scene culminated in the pair taking over The Big Top marquee outdoors during the Galway Arts Festival in 2023, and putting on an eclectic night with drag artists and drone artists in Salthill. But DJing is not the be all and end all for Cóilí. Shampain is a creative fella who doesn't rest - that means presenting Éire Eile, a TV show on TG4 about subcultures, jointly running a barber shop called Poblacht in Galway city, doing alternative silent film soundtracks with Slaughterhouse, running a mixed media / magazine and label called Freak and this year, finally releasing his own original music, with more to come. The night after our chat, Shampain plays the Big Top again with Interplanetary Criminal and Tommy Holohan and next week you can catch him at Jameson Connects The Circle Stage at All Together Now closing the stage after David Holmes. The Jameson Connects: The Circle stage at All Together Now features some Nialler9 favourites including Dry Cleaning, David Holmes, Maria Somerville, God Knows, DUG, Sloucho, Curtisy, Róis, Shampain, Adore and more. Listen on Apple | Android | Patreon | Pocketcasts | CastBox | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed | Podlink * Support Nialler9 on Patreon, get event discounts, playlists, ad-free episodes and join our Discord community  

Fifty high school students have been supplementing their learning this summer in a wide range of topics set to get them ready for adulthood. Teri Vos with the WorkSMART Connector says their organization was a partner for

Are you living life fully or just ticking boxes?Meet Sara Byers!Sara is a CEO, Chair of multiple boards of directors and has been appointed by multiple governors to state initiatives. She is an Inspirational Speaker, Writer and Connector.She has received numerous awards and given several commencement speeches at colleges and continues to serve her community.Sara's professional success continues to be expanded by her Soul Exploration journey. During this conversation, she demonstrates how bringing together both worlds is the ultimate recipe for true success.Listen as Sara shares:- why she has written over 3,000 poems- how the journey of Soul Exploration starts- why so many do not take the time to look inward- what about "in-sight" is so important?- how is Soul Exploration relevant to leadership- what truly enhances your life experience- connecting within and with others- tools and strategies to get started on your journey ...and so much more!Connect with Sara:Website: https://sarasbyers.comInstagram: @dearjoyloveListen to the Podcast, subscribe, leave a rating and a review:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dream-big-love-fully-live-true-reclaim-the-leader/id1614151066?i=1000718290057Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/65rzsvk41jGLNKJxxCTdDP?si=b6mQIZIZQgyKuSRZfB5i4AYouTube: https://youtu.be/_xLaDHQSZ4M

James Turk is an executive coach, keynote speaker, and CEO of The Turk Group—a boutique learning and development firm with over 25 years of experience. James designs and delivers leadership, sales, change management, and strategic planning programs for some of the world's biggest brands, including Spotify, Squarespace, Goldman Sachs, and Equinox. His approach blends a strong foundation in service, life-long learning, and real-world business experience to help leaders become the kind of people others truly want to follow. On this episode we talk about: How James made his first dollar (and learned his first ethical lesson!) selling his sister's belongings—and then launched a legitimate lawn care business as a teenager The value of learning to hustle early, earning the “extras” in life through work and responsibility The importance of thoughtful spending—knowing when to invest and when to enjoy spending for its own sake Why James self-published his book, The Giving Game: Becoming the Leader That Others Want to Follow, and the lessons learned creating a quality product How being of service and adding value shaped his coaching and leadership development philosophy The unique art-meets-business history that shaped James' style, from running a Chicago gallery to acting and performance His advice to parents and entrepreneurs about instilling hustle, grit, and sound financial values Building a referral-based business with high-profile clients and why relationships and service are more powerful than marketing budgets The power of events, comped workshops, and "connector" strategy to maintain long-term business relationships How B2C and B2B strategies can reinforce each other, and why giving to your network always pays dividends over time James' book and free resources for new leaders navigating their first 45 days Top 3 Takeaways Service Drives Success: Approach business and leadership as a “giving game,” not just a guessing game—when you focus on adding value, relationships and opportunities follow. Relationships > Marketing: Doing high-quality work and maintaining great relationships opens doors (and doors within doors). Consistently show up, serve, and keep your word. Be a Connector, Build Community: Hosting events, sharing knowledge, and connecting others multiplies your value and helps you stay top of mind in your network. Notable Quotes “The show is about making more money, but it's also about building real relationships and adding value—that's the real long game.” “Make yourself easy to work with, keep your quality high, and focus on service; good things will follow.” “Every interaction is an opportunity to build your network and your reputation as someone who gives, not just takes.” Connect with James Turk: Website: theturkgroup.com

Stephanie O'Brien formed her company, Coach Client Connection, 13 years ago to help coaches and experts connect with the people who need their services. She grew up in Manitoba Canada. She says that as a child she had great difficulties in developing relationships with her fellow children. As she said during our conversation, she tended to be too clingy among other things.   She began writing at an early age and wrote her first full-length novel at the age of twelve. She has written 14 books, four of which she self-published. As she matured, she began connecting with writers online and found that she could create relationships with them. She then learned how to make others around her feel interesting and thus also began learning how to establish real relationships with others.   As she tells us, she also began meeting with coaches and others to improve herself and her self-esteem.   We talk quite a bit during this episode about coaching and how Stephanie has created a program to help coaches better interact with clients and others. She even gives us a free gift to help us learn how to choose and interact with coaches.     About the Guest:   Stephanie O'Brien, founder of Coach Client Connection, has been helping coaches and experts to connect with the people who need them since 2013.   Throughout her childhood, she struggled to make connections with others. As the kid who was always sending invitations to the other kids, and seldom being invited herself, she knows what it's like to feel invisible and unwanted.   She immersed herself in her writing, and completed her first full-length novel at the age of 12. She went on to write 14 novels, four of which she self-published as ebooks (she calls the rest “teenage practice”).   As she began to connect with other writers online, she gradually honed the art of building relationships by making the people around her feel interesting, wanted, and understood. She also sought healing through coaching and therapy, and experienced firsthand the transformations coaching can bring. This gave her a passion for helping coaches to share those transformations with more people, so those people can enjoy the same freedom, joy, and recovery from old wounds that she did.   Since then, Stephanie has spent over 10 years helping coaches to get noticed, connect with the people who need them, and turn their expertise into coaching programs that their clients can easily understand, implement, and turn into real results.   When serving clients, she draws on her decades of practice in writing fiction and nonfiction, her ability to see both the big picture and the little details, and her experience as a client of both great coaches and coaches who left her discouraged and disappointed. She also uses the relationship principles she discovered to help set coaches at ease, draw out more of their expertise than they even knew they had, and make the process of creating their programs easy and fun. Ways to connect with Stephanie:   https://www.coachclientconnection.com/ https://www.instagram.com/stephanieobriencoaching/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-obrien-program-design/ https://www.facebook.com/StephanieOBrienCoaching   Free Gift: https://www.coachclientconnection.com/How-to-Pick-a-Coaching-Topic-that-SELLS/   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 ** 01:21 Well, hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. We're going to try to be unstoppable today as much as much as we can. Our guest is Stephanie O'Brien. O'Brien, good Swedish name Stephanie. I couldn't resist. It's a it's pleasure to have you here, and it's a pleasure to have all of you listening. Stephanie has been involved in coaching and connecting coaches and clients for 13 years now, my gosh, a long time, and we're going to learn all about that. And I know that Stephanie's got a lot of words of wisdom to talk about. So without further ado, as it were, let's get into all of this. So Stephanie, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 02:03 Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me here. I'm looking forward to this,   Michael Hingson ** 02:07 and as I told Stephanie earlier, the rule of the podcast is you got to have fun. So, you know, we do our best. But anyway, let's start out with kind of the early Stephanie, growing up and all that. And you know, just to learn a little bit about you if we can   Stephanie O'Brien ** 02:22 sure, a big part of the reason why later came to have a focus on helping coaches connect with people was because for me, connecting people was connecting with people was really difficult. When I was young, I'd be the kid who on Saturday morning, I'd get on the phone at a call each of my friends one by one, only to be told that they didn't want to hang out. And I was seldom the one who got a call in return. So I had a really hard time connecting with people. Admittedly, I could be a bit clingy and boring, so I have to recognize my own faults and where I had to grow from there, but at the time, I didn't really know how to fix that. So yeah, I had a hard time connecting with people. Eventually, I started connecting with people through writing. I was a pretty prolific novelist. I finished my first novel when I was 12 years old. Terrible novel. Mom told me, Steph, don't delete it. And I tell her, no, no, it's so bad I'll never want to see it again. Mother knew best. I shouldn't have deleted it. But I went on to write 14 novels, four of which were good enough by adult needs standards, to Self Publish. And while I was doing all this writing, I started connecting with other writers, talking with them about their stories. I got very good at building relationships and asking the right questions to keep the conversation going, but I just kind of learned how to connect with people through trial and error. Though I've been still worked with some mentors to get better at it still. So now I use that experience, the writing experience, the ability to phrase things in a way that's easy to understand and connect with that experience. With building relationships, I help coaches to connect with more of their ideal clients now.   Michael Hingson ** 03:49 So have you always been in Manitoba? Yeah,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 03:53 I've always lived in Manitoba. Sometimes vacations are traveled outside if it always lived here, oh   Michael Hingson ** 03:58 yeah, lot of snow in the winter, oh   Stephanie O'Brien ** 04:01 yeah, it's been less severe lately, like it's in the last few years, we've had more 30 degree days in summer, fewer 40 degree below days in winter. But it still can get pretty cold.   Michael Hingson ** 04:14 Isn't that crazy? Well, but, and of course, some people say there's no such thing as climate change. So what do you do?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 04:20 You put out the pictures of me trick or treating as a kid versus me at Halloween this year, like I went from trick or treating in blizzards to walking on grass in November one. There's a difference.   Michael Hingson ** 04:33 Well, so you you went to school? Did you go to university? Or any of that? I   Stephanie O'Brien ** 04:38 was actually homeschooled, and I went to Athabasca University online, but I didn't take a full formal university education. Instead, I learned. I took courses from various coaches and business owners to learn how to run an online business. Wow, Peter, if you're gonna do a secondary education, you may as well learn from someone who's doing what you want to do, and to teach you how to do it   Michael Hingson ** 04:57 well. And as long as that, we're. For you that that's a good thing to do.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 05:01 Yeah, you've got to choose your education based on what you're trying to learn and what you're trying to accomplish. I don't like the cookie cutter model, or you got to get a college education because, yeah, learn what's relevant.   Michael Hingson ** 05:13 Well, I think there's value in college and or university, absolutely. And I went, I went to to the university, and I think for me, probably it was the best thing to do, because back in well, in 68 to 76 when I was at the University of California at Irvine, there weren't a lot of alternatives other than college for getting access to material, accessible stuff wasn't there. In fact, majoring in physics, my books had to be transcribed into Braille and and that that was a challenge, because professors didn't always want to provide information about what books they were going to use until as late in the process as they could, just in case a new book came out. And that that didn't work for me, and so one of the things that I learned was how to work with professors, and when necessary, use higher authorities than professors at the university to get them to provide what needed to be done. So that was that was useful, but the material wasn't accessible without me making a major effort. So probably college was would have been, anyway, for me, the way to do it. But obviously what you did worked for you. And so, you know, I figure it's important to   Stephanie O'Brien ** 06:29 just go to figure out what you want to do with your life, figure out what information or courses you need on that, and then, you know, pick the source that is most appropriate to provide it. It's there's no one size fits all,   Michael Hingson ** 06:41 no, and I agree. What do you do with people who say I don't know what I want to do with my life?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 06:48 Those generally don't tend to be our target audience, but I can help them in a few ways. I can give them a few questions that they can answer. You know, they can look at what is something that they really love to talk about can't get enough of talking about so they could study this forever. Is it something that they could you know, an area where they can help get results for people. Let's say they are really into relationships. They're fascinated by human relationships. Can they help people to communicate better? Can they help people to find better, healthier partners? Can they help them to avoid common conflicts with other people? Or, you know, what's a problem that they've solved for themselves, that they've healed in their own life. You know, maybe they had a really rough cancer journey and found out, you know, what went wrong, what went right, what could have gone right more to make it easier for them. Now, I know one person who she got through breast cancer and now teaches other people how to navigate that journey a lot more smoothly than what she experienced. Yeah. So, yeah, I encourage people to, you know, look at their lives. Look at what you do for free, if you had the option, if money wasn't an object, what fascinate? See what you're passionate about, and just see, is there a way you can use that to make other people's lives better?   Michael Hingson ** 07:54 Well? And that makes a lot of sense. And we, we all should do a whole lot more introspection and analyze what we do and and even ask ourselves why we do it, because we we tend to just move ahead and do stuff and we don't think about it. And the other part of what happens as a result of that is that we try to control everything that we do, we don't think about what we're doing, and we're a lot more afraid than we should be, and then we need to be, if we would only take the time to really be introspective and learn what is it that really is going on? Why do I feel this way? And as you're pointing out, what can I do about it? But if we really take the time to analyze. Then we figure out somewhere along the line, you don't need to worry about what you can't control, just focus on the things that you can and your life is a whole lot better anyway. Oh yeah,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 08:54 yeah, at Holyoke, give me the strength to control, our strength to change what I can the grace to accept what I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 09:02 well, and the reality is that one of the things that I talk about a lot is the mind's a muscle, and you need to develop it whoever you are, and the best way to do that is to think about what you do. I've learned that I'm not my own worst critic, I'm my own best teacher, and that's the way it should be. But I have to be open to learning and letting me and my inner voice teach. But if I do that, then I'm oftentimes, as I think back on it, very amazed at what I suddenly discovered that I didn't know before because I wouldn't take the time to think about it and study it.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 09:40 Yeah, we can get so busy, so caught up in our day to day lives, so ingrained in our routine. Sometimes it can be challenging to rattle ourselves out of that, and sometimes we need another set of eyes, or someone asking the right questions,   Michael Hingson ** 09:53 yeah, and then, and we need to take that time so. So for you. You, you studied, you worked with people. And so you what? Well, what kind of jobs did you have early in your your job world? Or did you always coach?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 10:12 Um, my first jobs, that was actually a waitress for a restaurant my mom owned, along with a couple other people. They were going to run the restaurant along with us. They were going to be the main ones owning the restaurant, and then they just kind of ditched us and left us with a restaurant we didn't know what to do with. So I was a waitress there for a bit before we sold the building and moved on. Then we tried owning rental properties for a bit, and honestly, no, never again. We were not cut out for that. It   Michael Hingson ** 10:34 was terrible, scary thing. Yeah,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 10:37 yeah, it's done. I can still lose like I'm fine with being responsible for me. I don't need theory to be responsible for me and all the tenants who call me during supper to mediate between their fights. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 10:50 this only so many hours in a day, and people need to take responsibility for themselves. So I hear you. So what did you do after that? That   Stephanie O'Brien ** 10:57 was after that that we started getting into coaching. You I'd been writing novels for pretty much as long as I could write, and I was going with mom. She was becoming a coach. She was studying under Mary Morrissey, so I went with her to learn how to use my fiction writing skills for business. And I started studying under Brendan Norman and then Ted McGrath. And yeah, they it was actually Brenda Norman who introduced me to the world of writing for marketing, and, you know, knowing how to focus on the results that people care about instead of the process that they don't really care about, how to phrase things in terms of the actual experiences that they long for, instead of just giving dry, vague descriptions issues kind of my gateway To the world of marketing.   Michael Hingson ** 11:37 So you you really, essentially came by the whole concept of coaching pretty naturally, by by just the the evolution of of what you did, which is pretty cool. How about your books, though, are, are any of them still available for people to get?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 11:56 Yeah, got four novels on my website. It's Stephanie O'Brien books.com where I host my novels, my short stories, my comics, my art, basically all my creative stuff that isn't coaching. And I've also got one non fiction book, one month program builder up on my website. I have written another one tell people with their marketing message, but that one needs to be updated. I'm planning to update and republish it eventually, but it just hasn't been   Michael Hingson ** 12:20 a top priority. So have you published all of your own books? Or have you worked at all with traditional   Stephanie O'Brien ** 12:26 publishers? It's all been self published. A lot of the traditional publishing route just seems like too much of a pain for them, still expecting me to do Mark most of the marketing. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 12:35 that's one of the things that has happened, is that publishers tend to not do nearly the marketing that they used to, which is, which is fine for those who really do know how to market, but there is also value in publishers doing a lot more to help than I think probably a lot of them do, but it's the way the world is going that we've we are so steeped in social media and everything now, people think that's the only way to market and it's not.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 13:06 Yeah. Anytime someone says their way is the only way, I immediately get suspicious, like they instantly lose credibility. There are so many different ways to market yourself and grow a business. The important thing is finding a way that works for you. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 13:21 And ultimately, one of the tests of whether it works for you is whether you see results or not. But, but true, it is still there is not just one way to market or sell for that matter,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 13:32 yeah, and if you're not having fun doing it, you know, it's kind of like your podcast, if you're not having fun doing it, especially because, yeah, I found that if I try and commit to a marketing method that I just really hate doing, I will struggle every day to get it done. I'll wind up procrastinating, I won't do it as consistently as I should, and I won't get results. So yeah, when you're choosing your marketing method, you gotta pick something that even if you're not totally ecstatic about it, you at least enjoy it enough that you can do it consistently   Michael Hingson ** 14:00 well, and you may discover later that you really do enjoy it, and that's that's part of it. We don't always necessarily know everything in our own minds the way we ought to. But if we, if we keep looking and we keep trying things and we find something, well, this is working. I'm not a great fan of it, but 10 years from now, you may discover that you learned a lot and you really love it.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 14:23 Yeah, you can always just experiment with it. You'll give it a 90 day shot it, don't. You don't want to just poke at it and then go, Oh, it didn't work instantly. But, you know, give it a be a good old college try. Give it a 90 day genuine try. And if you're really hating it, if it's not getting results, be willing to let it go. If it's getting results, if you're enjoying it, keep on going, working on refining it   Michael Hingson ** 14:42 well. And if you're getting results and you don't enjoy it, then it's probably worth exploring. Why don't you enjoy it? Yeah, that might be very telling also.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 14:53 And if it's something that can be outsourced, then you might want to look at outsourcing. Actually, it depends on the nature of what it is you.   Michael Hingson ** 15:00 Yeah, there is that. But if it's working that that, in of itself, is something right off the bat. Yeah, you   Stephanie O'Brien ** 15:06 don't want to ditch what's working unless you got something better to replace this.   Michael Hingson ** 15:10 That's that is always true. Well, so anyway, so you started studying, and eventually, when did you start your your business, and start coaching, seriously.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 15:24 Um, see, I kind of, I was kind of half probably coaching, partly writing for people, as early as 2013 that's where I got my start. And then just kind of gradually got more and more into coaching, as opposed to writing for people. So of course, even the other process of writing for people still involves a certain amount of coaching, because you have to help them understand, Okay, here's why I'm doing it this way. Here's what we need to communicate. Here's what you need to communicate as a follow up afterward. So there's a certain amount of coaching involved in that too, but it's been the last few years that I've shifted my focus more fully to helping people create their coaching programs, as opposed to, you know, writing marketing materials for the programs they already have. Now,   Michael Hingson ** 16:00 you've written a number of fiction books, right? Tell me about that that I'm still trying to figure out how to write a fiction book   Stephanie O'Brien ** 16:10 for me. Most of the time. It starts with me having a few ideas for scenes or relationships, etc, and then spending the rest of the time trying to justify their existence. Like here are a few really great scenes, and now I need to figure out all the other plot points that lead to this moment the books I've published so far. One of them is called cat girl roommate. It takes the concept of a cat girl, except that instead of being the stereotypical sexy cat girl, she's a cat girl who actually acts like a cat and thinks like a cat. I've owned cats pretty much as long as I can remember, so I just took a whole bunch of their ridiculous shenanigans, and put them into this one cat girl, like, how she'll, you know, the her roommate who's taking care of her, he'll make the same meal for both of them. But she doesn't want her. She wants his. It's the exact same thing, but she's sure that his is better. Such a cat thing to do another it's called a heroic lies. It's, um, kind of a dark twist on the superhero genre, where you've got this villain who keeps on kidnapping people, keeps on trying to fight the hero, except that there seems to be nothing in it for him. It kind of explores that whole Why is the villain putting so much into the fighting the hero instead of making his own life better with his own genius, and kind of puts dark twists on it? Oh, shoot. That's why.   Michael Hingson ** 17:20 Cute. Well, and speaking of cats, see who I have on the back of my desk chair here. Yeah,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 17:28 I noticed him moving around. But enough, I got one sitting in a chair right over there.   Michael Hingson ** 17:32 Well, stitch usually isn't in with me, but our house is being cleaned, and so her bed is is under attack, as far as she's concerned. So, so she came in here, which she usually does, and she'll just stay up on the chair. She's fine,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 17:48 yeah? My cat tape laundry day sometimes I finished, you know, laundering the sheets and making the bed. Okay, Brandy, your bed is ready.   Michael Hingson ** 17:56 Yeah? Well, stitch, stitch copes pretty well. And then there's my guide dog, Alamo, who's down on the floor. You can't see him, but he's he's down there and quite content. But stitch seems to be pretty well. She moves around a little bit, but she's planted herself on the back of the chair. And I didn't even think about it when I bought this desk chair to get something wide enough so that she could be on it, but it's worked out really well.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 18:23 And yeah, she seems very cozy and   Michael Hingson ** 18:25 content she is. And for those who don't know, stitch is my, my main coon rescue cat. We've had her now for 10 years, over 10 years. So since the bed is is being made and washed and all that. Then she's in here and she's fine. She'll get bored eventually,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 18:47 Hey, as long as she isn't wandering around screaming, as mine sometimes does.   Michael Hingson ** 18:50 Yeah, yeah, that's the big issue. Well, so you you got into this whole business of of coaching, and how did you start or working with her? How did you decide to start working with other coaches and coaching them in terms of dealing with clients and so on. While   Stephanie O'Brien ** 19:11 I was accompanying my mom to all these the training events, I just started falling in love with coaches and coaching. I saw all these amazing people who are trying to be their best selves, live their best lives, break free from their old patterns and beliefs and ways of being, instead of just being ruled by them their whole lives, and trying to help others to do the same. I just fell in love with it, of the idea of the ripple effect I could make by helping these people. I also became a client of some coaches, and I found it was really it really changed my life in a lot of ways, like helping me to overcome the emotional difficulties from that childhood I described, where people didn't want to be around me, where I couldn't make friends seeing the change it made in myself. I wanted to help more people to experience those transformations, and I wanted to help the amazing coaches who were making such a change to have more success and joy in their own lives, too. Yeah. But you know, as I was interacting with them, I found that I think they were in some ways, kind of too educated for their own good, because they say stuff like, I help you shift your paradigms. And I think I might have mentioned that earlier, but yeah, they they didn't realize that these things that had so much meaning for them wouldn't have the same meaning for someone who didn't have their training. So, you know, they here shift your paradigms, and they can instantly mentally connect it with a result, whereas the lay person here is that they can kind of speculate about the result that they don't immediately look up and say, Yes, that's the exact change I need in my life. But I was kind of the universal translator from Star Trek, helping them translate their coach speak jargon into layperson's terms and into the terms of here's what the people actually want.   Michael Hingson ** 20:42 If you were to define it, what would you say is the definition of a coach? What is a coach?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 20:50 I'd say it's somebody who that works. Doesn't just put a training program for someone to go through on their own pace. It actually works directly with the person. You're helping that person find the answers that they need, helping them to work through their own minds, their own circumstances, their own desires, and helps them ask the right questions is someone who helped them to figure out their own life or some specific aspect of their own life. They don't just give education. They also receive what the client has to say, and help the clients to work through it and understand it.   Michael Hingson ** 21:21 Yeah, I once heard a definition the difference between a coach and a therapist, mainly is that a therapist helps you find the answers, but the therapist knows the answers and can give you the answers, but a coach guide you, because you're the one who really has to discover the answers and figure out what it is that you need to deal with. So the coach will guide you and help you discover, but you have to be the one to do with the coach doesn't necessarily know nor provide the answers.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 21:56 Yeah, and when I'm working with coaches, that's definitely the case where you know they're the subject matter expert on whatever they're trying to teach on. I'm just the person who knows which questions to ask to draw out their expertise and help them to share it in a more effective way and to come up with it. Or you could draw it out of hiding in a more efficient way, instead of spending weeks trying to figure out what to say. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 22:19 So in general, what I you've talked about a little bit, but what are some of the challenges that you first saw in dealing with coaches when you first started?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 22:29 Well, there was the one I mentioned, where they didn't really know how to explain their services in a way that resonated with people. You know, they talked about the process they took them through, or the amount of content they were going to give them, or the amount of time they were going to spend with the person. Thing is, you're asking for a bunch of a person's time. That's not a selling point. That's a chore. You're you're going to spend five hours of your weekend on this. That's an anti selling point by helping if they one of those challenges then was, you know, not knowing what it is that their clients really want and addressing that. Another is time. Is a huge issue, I think, in the business world in general. So a lot of people struggle to find the time to create their coaching programs, or what time they have they don't use it officially, because they don't have a system for quickly and easily drawing out all that content and organizing it. Another is money. A lot of coaches are having trouble finding the right clients, connecting with them, conveying the value of their products and services to them, so that they actually go get those clients and get the money. So those I find, are three of the big challenges that coaches run into.   Michael Hingson ** 23:31 Yeah, I can say, having observed a lot about it, that a lot of people seriously undervalue or don't recognize the value that they bring, and so as a result, when they're creating courses or coaching or whatever, they undersell and don't charge what they're necessarily really worth. And there are reasons to avoid that and really charge what you're worth, but you also have to learn how to do that and learn how to figure that out. But people do tend to sell themselves short way too often.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 24:13 Yeah, when you're really immersed in your own expertise, can be so easy to start feeling like what you know is common knowledge, when in reality, it's stuff that a lot of people don't know. And even if they know some of the surface stuff, they don't know the same kind of depth as they don't know it in the same kind of depth as you do. Now, I've actually got exercises I take my clients through so they can kind of remind themselves of the depth of their own expertise and how much they know that their clients don't know. I'd be happy to share that if you want. Sure. Yeah. And for those of you who are listening, I hope you've got something to write this down and record this so I'm going to walk you through this exercise. Not only does it help you to really boost your confidence in your own expertise, it'll also help you come up with a ton of content for your coaching programs, your training programs, your content marketing, podcasts, newsletters, social media, posts. So, so yeah, definitely be ready to take notes on this. So your first step is to figure out what are the things that you can help people with. You know, just write it down in broad categories. Maybe you could say, I help them with marketing, with JVs, with getting referrals. So you put those broad categories, kind of break them down by the results. What are the results that you can help people get then pick one of those results. I like to use the example of a relationship coach who helps a single men to meet and marry the woman of their dreams. So the result is that this person has a loving marriage with the woman of his dreams, but right now he's single and lonely and doesn't know how to approach women. So then for step two, what you do is you'd write down the steps that you take your clients through, preferably in chronological order. I know not everyone can do chronological order, because some processes just don't happen in a specific timeline or a specific sequence, but if you can do it in chronological order, it's best to do so. So the steps that you'd write down say you're this coach you could write down, helping him to figure out what kind of woman he wants to meet, helping him to figure out where these types of women might hang out, how to approach her, how to have a conversation, how to get a first date, how to see if, how to conduct himself on that first date, and see if she's the kind of person he wants to keep dating. How to get a second date, if he wants and so forth. So once you've written down all these steps in chronological order, pick one of those steps and break it down further, this is where you really start to see the depth of the expertise that you have. So step one was figure out what kind of woman you want to meet. So you could ask questions like, what kinds of experiences do you want to have with your partner, and what kind of person would want to have those experiences with you? What kind of experiences do you not want to have, and what kind of person would give you those bad experiences? What kind of positive experiences have you had in the past that you want more of you if you need help to figure out what you want? Does Do you want a partner who wants to be a homemaker or a career woman or a business owner? Do you want a partner who wants to have kids with you, or who I'd rather stay childless? Does give them really specific questions that they can ask themselves to better understand you know what they wanted to better understand how they can go about this. And if you want to give them instructions for how to do something, make those instructions so specific that if an alien never even heard of your subject of expertise before were to read the instructions, the alien would know exactly how to do it. You don't feel like those software developers who go, okay, just click on this tab, this tab and this tab, okay, but how do I get to that tab in the first place? Don't assume that your clients know how to do the first few steps. Some of them will some of them won't. You don't want to leave that second category behind. And you can also look at what are the best practices they can use while doing this. What are some common mistakes? What are some examples you can give them of people actually doing this. And by doing going through this exercise, you can really get a clear view of just how much depth and detail you know about every single step in this entire process. And when you really break it down, every single step that goes into the process has so much nuance, so much detail, so many things that you could teach them, so many nuggets of wisdom you probably have that you might have even forgotten since it's become so second nature. I encourage you to do that exercise and remind yourself what an expert you are and come up with a huge amount of content at the same time.   Michael Hingson ** 28:22 Right? And then what happens? So   Stephanie O'Brien ** 28:27 what happens next? Of course, depends on what you're trying to accomplish. You know, if you once you've done this exercise, if you're trying to create a coaching program, you still need to figure out how you're going to deliver it, whether it's in group coaching calls one on one, a hybrid, or if you want to make a training program as opposed to a coaching program, you need to figure out how to price it, how what kind of posting software you want to use to deliver it. Those are some of the steps that come after. And of course, you need to figure out how to sell it, how to market it in a way that works for you   Michael Hingson ** 28:59 well. So coaches are human, like, like everyone else, at least, that's, that's the theory. And so you observed coaches having challenges. You've observed people not necessarily dealing with discovering the things that they should discover in order to be able to coach or to to progress. How do you find or how do they overcome those challenges? What do you do to help them overcome those challenges?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 29:31 It kind of depends what the situation is that's preventing them from progressing. So yeah, my first step would be, of course, to talk with them and figure out, Okay, what's stopping you from progressing? Is it that you feel you don't know enough to create a coaching program? In that case, let's see how we can draw out more information from you. Is it that you have too much information and you don't know which information to put in each offer because you don't want to try and shove it all in the same offer? It's just going to get cluttered, and people will feel it ripped off if they're paying for information they don't need. That might help them figure out if they. How many offers Do you want to make? What information goes into each offer if they're having trouble with time in my program, creation Made Easy. Course, the first thing I do with people is actually look at their schedule and figure out, okay, what are your priorities? What needs to be in your schedule, what can be paired out? Where can we make time to actually create your coaching program? So those are some examples of how I help people with some common challenges.   Michael Hingson ** 30:24 Do you find a lot of resistance people don't want to, or think they don't want to overcome the challenges because they don't really exist? Do you see a lot of that kind of challenge and that people just resist because they're really not thinking in as I put it, being introspective.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 30:44 I'd say one of the biggest challenges I find people run into that stops them from working with me is they want to do it on their own. And some people can do it on their own, but others wind up working on it for weeks on end. You say, Oh yeah, I'm working on figuring out this content. Then weeks later, I follow up, hey, how are you doing? I'm still working on it. We could have had it done in 60 to 90 minutes. Here, just one call with me, 60 to 90 minutes, and that could have been done. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 31:10 well, that's your expertise that brings that. And the result is that, again, people aren't thinking it through, and so the result is that they they continue to go in circles and not necessarily move to where they ought to be as quickly as they should. But at the same time, there's only so much you can do, because you can't force people to listen.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 31:39 Yeah, all I can do is, as with any business owner, work on getting better and better at communicating my value and helping people see why they're better off working with me.   Michael Hingson ** 31:47 Well, that's an interesting point. It's as much a learning experience for you, isn't it?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 31:55 Yeah, absolutely. Anytime you're finding that people aren't really responding here to your messaging, you need to look at your messaging or the way you're presenting it, and see, okay, Where can this be improved, and even if your messaging has been working, you know, things can shift to trends can shift. People can get overloaded on a certain amount of certain type of messaging. So you need to be prepared to adapt and to listen to people and see how their needs and their preferences are evolving.   Michael Hingson ** 32:19 Yeah, and I you, you bring up a really good point that I like a lot, and that is that things may be working. You may be doing something well, the question is, can you do it better? And I think that's a question that we should always be asking ourselves, can I even improve what I'm doing that takes humility to be able to ask that question. But it is still true. It's something that we should do, and that is really look at by doing this the best way I can. Can I improve it? And of course, that is something that you as a coach brings to it as well, because sometimes, if they consult with you, they can find out that you may approve of what they're doing, you may like what they're doing, but you can come up with other solutions that are even better. I love the whole idea of collaboration, and we don't. We don't see nearly as much of it as we should, and I think way too often, as you point out, people just want to do things on their own, but none of us are really an island.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 33:27 Yeah, I've had lots of mentors who helped me to get where I am, and I'm still learning from other people as I go, it   Michael Hingson ** 33:35 gets to be a real challenge. And again, you can't force people to do things that never is going to work. So you can't necessarily do that. And   Stephanie O'Brien ** 33:45 I hate that sales tactic where you try and force or bully someone into it, go run to the bathroom room and buy my stuff, or else you're going to be a failure in business forever. I am so over that, and if someone tries to pressure me into it, that tells me that they care more about their agenda than they care about me, and then they don't respect my boundaries in that point, their odds of making a sale pretty much hit the floor and start digging.   Michael Hingson ** 34:06 Yeah, you know, I learned a long time ago that people who really sell and do it well recognize that what they truly are are educators or counselors. You don't force people to do things. You need to really look at what a person needs and wants, and if you've got something to help them, then you you bring that into the conversation, but you don't, and you shouldn't force people. I've had so many situations where I sold a product and the product that I well, I should say I wanted to sell a product, but my product wouldn't necessarily do what the customer really needed. There were issues, whatever they are. So what am I to do? I could try to just continue to push our product on them, but I know that in the end, that's going to backfire. It's. Not going to work, people are then going to hate me or resent me, and they're never going to want to do business with me. So it's important to not push something that doesn't work. But I also took it a step further, more than once, which is to say, here's what will work, even though my company doesn't happen to have it, and when you really develop that level of trust by being honest with someone and pointing out this is what really works in the long run, that's going to earn you a whole lot more than you would have ever gotten any other way.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 35:34 Absolutely, it can make you more of a go to authority. I mean, people need something. They can come to you, even if it's not what you offer, you may not be the provider, but you know the provider, and it helps to foster good relationships with other business owners. If you have people that you know is trust and can refer to, I recently sought out a grant a person who's an expert in Grant. I've noticed her on a networking event, and I'm not really looking for a grant myself. Don't have much interest in grants at the moment, but I've had a few people for some reason, approach me and ask me, Hey, can you help me get a grant? No, not remotely. And you know, the first few times I had nobody I could even refer to, I tried to find some people who I could refer to, but couldn't really find anyone appropriate. So I finally find this one just, Oh, thank goodness you actually help people to find grants. Like these people wanted me to help them find a grant. Never mind, apply for it. Find one in first place, and I can't do that like I could learn, but I don't want to. But then here's this person who specifically teaches people how to do it, though, even though it wasn't my expertise or even something I needed, I sought her out just so I'd have that ability to refer people next time.   Michael Hingson ** 36:36 Well, that's pretty important to be able to do. I in my case, I'm thinking of a particular incident where we, I and a sales guy, one of my sales people, who had set up an appointment to go see a customer, and they wanted his manager to come, which was me, and we went. And I'm unusual anyway. I mean, how often do you see a blind sales guy coming in, holding a laptop projector and doing other things like that. And I actually did the presentation, and I also happened to be very technical, and so I asked a lot of questions, and learned that our product wasn't going to do what these people needed. But by the time we were done with the whole presentation, I said, and you can probably see our product won't do what you need, and here's why. But then I did, and that's the first time I really did it. I took the next step and said, but here's a company, and here's what product really will do exactly what you need, and here's why. The result of that was that two weeks later, we got a call from the same company saying we really took what you said to heart, and now we have another project. And because of everything you taught us, we know that what you have to offer is exactly what we need. Just tell us what it's going to cost, and we will order it today. We're not even going to put it on for bid, and that's what trust is all about,   37:59 absolutely,   Michael Hingson ** 38:01 and it's, and it's so exciting, but it's, it's unfortunate that all too often, people don't really look at the whole value of developing that trusting relationship, and that's got to be a volitional part of whatever you do in coaching, or anything that we do in business, or anything in our lives?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 38:21 Yeah, I've had too many people try and pitch me without first, building that trusted. And even if it's a free thing, like a free webinar, there's no such thing as free, yeah, even a free webinar still costs time that I won't get back. So it's like and see when COVID just comes crashing into my inbox. Pitch first that tells me they care a lot more about their agenda than they do about me, especially if it's something that's clearly in applicable, like, No, I am not going to join your group for single mothers. I've never had a kid. I mean, granted, I have this cat, and she is kind of a toddler, but I've never had the kind of kids you teach people to work with.   Michael Hingson ** 38:54 Yeah? So you've, you've never had kids yet.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 38:58 I'm not really planning to have already got cats.   Michael Hingson ** 39:00 Yeah? Have you gotten married? No, so you're not even in that but you've got cats. Well, that's fine. Now, when my when my wife and I got married, we decided that we were going to have kids. She was in a wheelchair her whole life, and she said that she was concerned it would have too much of a bad effect on our body. And what we decided to do, in addition to having dogs and cats, was to welcome nieces and nephews into the house, because we could kick them out at the end of the day, and that worked out   Stephanie O'Brien ** 39:31 really well, yeah, just hop them up on sugar and send them back. Yeah, that's what my grandparents did,   Michael Hingson ** 39:37 yeah. Well, worked for them, right? Yep, you seem to be surviving as a result. Well, I didn't die. Yeah, you're still you're still coaching. So that's pretty cool. Well, let me ask you this, if I can, if someone is thinking about being a coach or selling their expertise, how do they determine. Or how can you help them determine whether they're really qualified? Or how can they decide that they're qualified?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 40:07 I'd say the big thing is just to ask yourself, can I consistently get people results in this area? Now, obviously that depends on the other person actually doing the work to get the results. But do you know how people can get results in a specific area in a repeatable, reliable way. It could be anything from your relationships, improving your relationships, improving your health, improving your business, and it doesn't even have to be the whole journey. As long as you can help people take one significant step, you can help improve their lives, like even if you can't help a person go from single to married, if you can, say, Help married couples to stop having a specific type of argument. And for that matter, the more specific the problem you solve, the more people who have that problem. I want to see, oh, that's exactly what I need you. I don't need this generic relationship advice. I need relationship advice. I want this thing in particular, like, think about when you're, say, having a technical issue, and you want to say, let's say last night, I was looking for how to widen the navigation bar in a WordPress site, and I see all these results for you, how to improve your navigation bar, how to make a navigation bar, how to change a navigation bar. No, I just want it wider. The only result I'm interested in clicking on is how to make it wider. It's the same thing with your customers. You know, the more specific the result you can help them to get, the more the people looking for it are going to say that's exactly what I need. So don't assume that you're disqualified if you can't help them with their entire journey. Just focus on what is one big result that I can help people get. If you know how to get that, help them get that result, then you can help them to do that,   Michael Hingson ** 41:42 and it might also be that you do what you can do. But again, like you said about the lady who you've met who does grants, you can also get people in touch with other people who may be able to augment the successes or the results that you've already achieved, who may be able to do it better than you? So that you create essentially a teaming approach, even though each of you are working individually to help this individual? Yeah,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 42:10 absolutely. And you can do it kind of sequentially or concurrently. You could have someone be offer a guest module in your coaching course, if you say, you help people with nine steps out of 10, but it's one step in the middle. Isn't your expertise that you can have a guest expert come in and present in your course. Or if you help them with one step of the journey, but not the subsequent step, once they're done working with you, you can refer them to somebody else. Or if they're not ready to work with you, let's say you help people get on stages and present, but they that only really works and can be monetized if the person has something worth selling to sell. So if you meet someone who wants to get on stages but has nothing worth selling, though, you could refer them back to me, and I could get them ready for your services,   Michael Hingson ** 42:52 right? It's a process. And again, a lot of people don't think they're they're capable of selling. They they don't have the self worth, or don't think they have the self worth. And even the whole concept of this podcast, as I've said to many people, one of the main reasons that I love doing this is I get to show our audience members that they're more unstoppable than unstoppable than they think they are. And whenever I hear someone say, I learned this from this particular podcast, and it really showed me how I can be better than I thought I was. That doesn't get better than that. Oh yeah. And even   Stephanie O'Brien ** 43:35 if you're just starting out, just starting out, can actually be kind of a superpower, as I was mentioning earlier in this interview, people can get so ingrained in their own expertise, it can become so second nature. They forget what other people don't know, which can result in overly broad or vague explanations. Like I've seen some mindset coaches saying stuff like, notice what stories you're telling about the telling yourself about this situation, or notice what limiting beliefs you have well, if not, unless you're trained for that, you're not going to notice what the story or what's a limiting belief versus what's just a fact. You don't know how to tell the difference. So that's an example of how a coach who's really in their own expertise can totally forget that other people don't know how to do what they do. For someone who's just starting out and who remembers the very vividly what it's like not to know these things. It's less likely to make that mistake, more likely to be able to put themselves in the client's shoes, understand what the client does and does not know, and explain it in ways that a person who's new to this can understand. I thought to say a more seasoned coach can't do that, but there is that risk that they'll forget. So if you're just starting out, it can be just easier to relate to people who are also starting out and who are just a step behind you.   Michael Hingson ** 44:44 How do you teach people who are clearly experts in what they do, but who have forgotten that they weren't always experts in the people they're dealing with aren't experts? How do you teach them to go back and recognize. Recognize that and remember those things that they've clearly forgotten that would make them so much better, because they could then relate better to other people,   Stephanie O'Brien ** 45:08 mostly by asking questions. Do I kind of come at it from the standpoint as if I was their client? Okay, you just told me to do this, but how exactly do I do it? What are the exact steps I need to take, or what questions can you ask me to help me to figure this out. Now I basically act like I was there. We don't necessarily role play, but I do ask questions as if I was their client and didn't know how to do this thing.   Michael Hingson ** 45:30 Yeah. What do you do to help the person who's say, fairly new to coaching and doesn't think that they're good enough? And how do you teach them to recognize that really maybe they are or or maybe they'll discover that they're really not. But how do you how do you deal with that?   Stephanie O'Brien ** 45:50 Um, I take one of the things I do is I take them through that exercise I did earlier with you. Write out the list of steps you take. Break it down into sub steps. I often remind them how being new can be a superpower. I also invite them to look at the results they've gotten for themselves and other people in the past. Have you healed this issue in yourself? Have you helped yourself to lose weight? Have you helped yourself to raise your kids better? Have you helped yourself to improve your health? Or have you helped other people? Is this something that other people come to you for advice, and have those other people gotten results from working with you. Now, if you've never really gotten results for yourself or for other people, then you might want to make sure that you're able to actually get those results before try to teach people, because if you don't know how to get the result, then you're really not qualified to coach but if you can get the result, then you know how you got the result and can replicate that process with other people, then you are ready to coach people. You are ready to help them to do what you know how to do. One of   Michael Hingson ** 46:46 the things that I have always done when I hire new sales people, or even today, when I'm talking to people who are fairly new and something that they've decided to explore, take at least a year and be a student. You should always be a student, but especially for the first year, play the student card. Don't hesitate to ask questions. Don't hesitate even to ask your customer questions, because the more you ask, the more you'll learn. Because mostly people really want you to succeed, and they want to succeed, and you're bringing something to the party, you may need to figure out what it is, but if you start by being a student, then you're really at least half the way there to figuring it all out.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 47:35 Yeah, absolutely. And you know, having a podcast can be good for that. You can interview people and get there to share all this free information, and they get exposure. You get free information, you get content to share with your audience. It's a great way to open doors.   Michael Hingson ** 47:49 Well, it's true, and you know, in the it works both ways, because hopefully, for example, when I ask questions or we're talking about different subjects, hopefully you get something out of it too, and that's, that's what makes it really fair,   Speaker 1 ** 48:05 that's important to have win wins, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 48:08 well, so clearly, you know, we're dealing with a lot of different kinds of environments, and you're dealing With a lot of people. What about the person who doesn't think they have the expertise and so they're reluctant to charge more or charge what they should be charging? I think I probably know the answer to this, but I'm going to, you know, ask anyway, what do you how do you help those people recognize, let's assume, that they do have the expertise to expertise, but they don't think they do.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 48:44 One thing I can help them to do is look at the results they get and see just how valuable it is for their clients. So for example, let's say you help somebody to sleep better at night and have more energy. Obviously, there are health benefits for that. Here, you are less likely to have diseases. You're less likely to get into a car crash because you were groggy. You're probably going to have a better immune system the breakdown. I could break it down by the various categories of life. What are the benefits in their health, of course, in their relationships, if they have more energy, if they're less cranky, if they're in a better mood, they'll be more pleasant to be around people who want to be around them more they'll probably have better relationships with their kid, their friends, their spouse, their boss, their clients, their coworkers, and understand relationships that's healthy. And also look at time. How much time are they wasting on doing things slow, hard way because they're groggy and brain foggy and unable to work well? Yeah, I encourage you to look at every different area of your life that it the client's problem is affecting and that would be affected positively by the solution you give. I think this will help remind you just how valuable your solution really is. And if you're not completely sure that you can help people to get results, you know, look at the results you've gotten for yourself. Look at the results you've gotten for others. If you. Do have a good track record of getting results, then you know that's the site that you already have proof that you can if you don't have a history of getting results, then you need to work on developing your skill set learning systems that can get results consistently, or look at some other area of your life where you've already gotten results. But yeah, the important thing is that you need to be able to get results. And of course, you do have to also be realistic about okay, you can teach people how to get these results. You can also do things with them to help maximize the chances that they actually do the things you're teaching them and thus get results. But you do have to recognize that some people are going to choose not to do the things, and they will therefore not get the results. So as long as you know that if your system is followed and will get results, you've done your part, the rest is also on them.   Michael Hingson ** 50:47 Yeah, and a lot of times they may not get results, and who knows specifically why, but it's really important that they understand why they're not getting results. And maybe it is only, and I don't want to mitigate it, but it's only they don't have the confidence to ask, or they don't have the confidence to to reach out to help somebody get the results, which is also part of what they need to work on.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 51:14 Yeah, one thing coach that I like did, instead of just asking, do you hold He did ask, Do you have any questions? But if the people on he was coaching with didn't in his group called, didn't have any questions, he'd ask them to give an update. You know, what were you working on this week? What results were you trying to get? What results did you get? And this often resulted in him finding things to coach on that the person hadn't thought to ask. So, yeah, it's important to check in with your clients to see what kind of results they're getting, what kind of results they're not getting, and if they're not getting results, then explore that with them. You know, why are you not getting results? What did you do the action steps? Okay, if so, did you do them right? Did you do them wrong? If they didn't do the action steps, why not? And how can we adjust your schedule so that you actually can fit them in? What kind of resistance is there against doing these action steps, and how can we clear that resistance? That's really important to stay in touch with your clients and to get consistent updates on what milestones they are or are not hitting and why they are not are not hitting them, and be be prepared to address those underlying issues. Because often, while you're working on doing something, questions will come up that you didn't think you had earlier. You you discover nuances to it that you didn't know about, or you'll meet mental resistance that you didn't realize you were going to have.   Michael Hingson ** 52:29 Part of it, though, is also the art of asking questions and the art of asking the right questions. I, for example, really don't like to ask yes or no questions, closed ended questions, if you will, because you don't learn much that way. And so that was also one of the things that I did with the customer we mentioned earlier. I'll always ask open ended questions, because I really want to get not only the information that they they have that I feel is important for me to have, but I also get to know them a lot better. When I ask open ended questions and get them to really give me a detailed response, I'll learn a lot about them as well, and I think that's extremely important.   53:12 Now that makes total sense,   Michael Hingson ** 53:15 yeah, because it's it's so important to be able to ask tell me more about this. Or what is it that you find doesn't really work here? Or why do you like that? And really get questions that will make people think that also helps keep me alert when I when I keep thinking of questions. So it works both ways.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 53:43 Yeah, I'd say the ability to ask the right questions is one of the most important things for a coach.   Michael Hingson ** 53:47 Yeah, and if you don't necessarily know the right question, again, asking some open ended questions, and sometimes you might even want to say, what else is there that you want to tell me about this, or tell me more about this, so that you get people to offer information? And I've been in situations where I wasn't sure what to ask, but I can always ask something that will get people to offer more, that will help me think about, oh, I need to ask about this. Yeah.   Stephanie O'Brien ** 54:18 And you could kind of write a list of the pieces of information that you need to know about your clients you know, like, say, going back to that relationship coach, example, the piece of things that you need to know in order to help someone

In this episode of the On Track Podcast, President Eric Ritchie sits down with Northern Maine Regional Manager Tim LePage and Superintendent Scott Blanchard to reflect on the completion of the largest project in Sargent's history—the I-395/Route 9 Connector. The team revisits some of the early challenges and predictions they made in 2023, including handling wick drains, ultra-lightweight fill, and complex site logistics in the Felts Brook area.If you liked this week's episode and are interested in becoming an Employee-Owner at Sargent, please visit our careers page on the Sargent website. https://sargent.us/apply/If you have an episode suggestion, please send your idea to:sbennage@sargent.us

John continues his conversation with Peter Awad. In Part 1, Peter shared his story of growing up in a grocery store and his transition from running multiple businesses to becoming a coach. In this episode, Peter discusses building real connections with his coaching clients, why he started White Stone Coaching, why he works with Christian businessmen, and explains the 70/30 framework to help people work more in their Zone of Genius. Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - Intro [01:07] - How Peter helps his clients [05:35] - Why Peter started his coaching company, White Stone [08:28] - You only need to be one step ahead to be a coach [10:33] - Impact of Peter's faith on his business [14:14] - The analogy of life purpose to being a puzzle piece [16:04] - Traits of a great leader [18:27] - Peter's definition of success [19:34] - The 70/30 concept in coaching [22:31] - Peter's top daily habit [23:55] - Peter's best advice [25:58] - Question to ask when things aren't going well [26:51] - What Peter wants his legacy to be [29:29] - How Peter invests in his personal growth [32:03] - Creating meaningful memories with family [35:50] - Best way to connect with Peter [38:03] - Book recommendations [42:43] - Closing remarks NOTABLE QUOTES: “If you're a coach, you only need to be one step ahead of the person you're coaching. You can be further ahead, but you only have to be one step ahead.” “You can't be a disciple maker if you're not a disciple first.” “You can't take people higher up in the mountain than you've been.” “Great leaders come in with nothing to hide, nothing to prove, nothing to lose.” “You only need to be one step ahead of the person you're coaching.” “Sometimes all it takes is a small shift in perspective to open up a whole new world.” “Athletes have coaches, but everyone else is just told to figure it out.” “We're all a puzzle piece in this giant puzzle … When we discover our identity and we're living in our purpose, then we are linking arms, yoked with the other pieces around us.” “If we want to go fast, we've got to go together.” “You think about something you buy and you're really excited about, and it almost immediately loses value. The longer you have it, the more it degrades. Soon it's just junk, and you throw it away. Experiences are like wine — they get sweeter.” “We prioritize meetings with people we don't know or don't even like, but we leave it up to chance to hang out with the people that matter to us most. What are we doing?” BOOKS MENTIONED: 48 Days to the Work You Love: Preparing for the New Normal by Dan Miller (https://a.co/d/g6ZPdo4) Living Fearless - Exchanging the Lies of the World for the Liberating Truth of God by Jamie Winship (https://a.co/d/5OeeW2B) 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan (https://a.co/d/cshTgD6) The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dr. Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan (https://a.co/d/cBTQdjU) The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer (https://a.co/d/6MzZufd) USEFUL RESOURCES: https://whitestonecoach.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterjawad/ https://www.instagram.com/thepeterawad/ https://www.facebook.com/thepeterawad https://x.com/peterawad CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen    X - https://x.com/johnhulen    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLX_NchE8lisC4NL2GciIWA    EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/ 

Setting boundaries doesn't make you mean - it makes you magnetic. If you've ever felt exhausted by your clients, drained by your inbox, or trapped in family drama… this week's Chill & Prosper episode is for you. I'm answering listener questions about what to do when you're the “fixer,” the over-giver, or the one everyone leans on, and how to reclaim your energy without burning bridges. This is perfectly timed for those Nurturer and Connector archetypes who may struggle with setting boundaries or putting themselves first. 

Welcome to another powerful episode of The Power of Owning Your Career podcast! Have you ever wondered what it truly takes to pivot from a successful corporate path to building your own empire, all while navigating life's biggest challenges? This week, host Simone E. Morris interviews the phenomenal Dr. Cree Scott—founder and CEO of Serenity Psy Consulting, an executive coach, and a consulting psychologist with over 15 years of experience. Dr. Scott brings a wealth of knowledge in human-centered leadership development, change management, and cultivating employee well-being.   Dr. Scott shares her remarkable and often winding journey to entrepreneurship in this incredibly inspiring conversation. You'll hear about the pivotal moments that led her to bravely leave a thriving corporate role, how her courageous battle with breast cancer profoundly reshaped her approach to career ownership and well-being, and the wisdom she gained every step of the way.   Simone and Dr. Scott dive deep into critical strategies for aligning your professional life with your deepest personal values, the essential role of experimentation and faith when taking bold career risks, and the immense power of staying curious and connected throughout your professional evolution. Dr. Scott also opens up about the invaluable lessons gleaned from her diverse experiences—from thriving as a consultant at major firms to her lifelong pursuit of learning and growth.   Whether you're actively contemplating a significant career pivot, searching for tangible ways to take charge of your professional path, or simply looking for the ultimate inspiration to bet on yourself, this episode is an absolute must-listen. It's packed with practical insights, heartfelt stories, and the motivation you need to confidently get—and stay—in the driver's seat of your own career.   Don't miss a single moment of this transformative conversation! Tune in now and start owning your career today.   Episode Time Stamp: 00:00 Career Reflection: Lost in Advancement 03:43 Reevaluating Life and Career Choices 07:15 Finding Spirituality After Cancer 12:57 "Charting My Leadership Path" 14:35 "Embracing Adventure with Purpose" 17:37 Impact of Doctorate Degree 20:55 Betting on Faith and Self 24:06 Embracing Life's Uncertainty 27:00 "Connector of Diverse Identities"   ✴️ Resources: Book Recommendations: Reinventing You by Dorie Clark The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav Books by Wayne Dyer Audible (as a resource for listening to books) Virtual connections and networking conversations Serenity Psy Health website (www.serenity.psyhealth.com) LinkedIn for professional networking   ✴️ Connect with our guest, Dr. Cree Scott: Dr. Cree Scott recommends reaching out to her on LinkedIn—search for "Cree Scott" (with or without the "Dr." in front). She personally manages her social media and welcomes direct messages if you want to connect or have a conversation. You can also visit her website at www.serenity.psyhealth.com for more information.   ✴️ Connect with the show's host, Simone E. Morris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonemorris/   ✴️ Want to apply to be a guest or recommend someone for the show?   Visit: https://bit.ly/pooycshowguest   ✴️ Get More Support for Your Career:

If you've ever dreamed about starting a podcast or are wondering how to get your current one to actually work for your business this episode is for you. Mariah sits down with Alesia Galati, founder of Galati Media, a full-service podcast management agency dedicated to helping impact-driven entrepreneurs create connection, community, and cashflow through their shows.Alesia shares her real-life journey from working in manufacturing to launching her own podcast agency, all while raising two kids and navigating business with heart. She and Mariah talk about how podcasting builds deeper trust than social media, how to strategically use your podcast to generate leads, and why consistency (not downloads!) is the real secret to success.This one is packed with strategy, stories, and so many mic-drop moments for moms ready to amplify their voice and vision.On Today's Episode, You'll Learn:How Alesia went from wine-mom blogging to building a 6-figure podcast agencyThe power of podcasting as a lead gen and community-building toolWhy you don't need 10K downloads to have a profitable showHow to launch a limited series podcast and avoid burnoutCreative ways to monetize your podcast without sponsorshipsThe 3 C's Alesia looks for in every guest: Connector, Collaborator, or ClientWhy podcasting gives you a longer content shelf life than social mediaConnect with Alesia:Website: helpmypod.comInstagram: @galatimediaBook A CallWays to Connect Outside the Podcast Follow CEO & Founder on Instagram: @mariahstockman Follow Made for Mothers on Instagram:@madeformothers.co Join the Virtual Village: A community and monthly membership for business owning mamas! Special promo for our podcast listeners, get 20% off your first quarterly enrollment with code TWENTYOFF at https://www.madeformothersco.com/membership SHOP CEO MAMA MERCH designed just for business-owning mamas https://shopmadeformothers.com/

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Choosing the right tech for your advisory firm can feel overwhelming. In this episode, we talk with Joe Moss, COO at January Capital Advisors and founder of Connector, about how to build a tech stack that actually improves your client experience.Joe shares his story from mowing lawns to helping advisors cut through the noise of outdated and overpriced software. He explains how to evaluate tools based on ease of use, real value, and what people actually use—not just name recognition.Joe also talks about why your technology choices shape your client experience and why human connection still matters in an AI-driven world. As someone who is building community and creating content consistently, Joe brings a mix of practical tips and big-picture thinking.Whether you are just starting out or looking to improve your current setup, this episode will help you make smarter tech decisions and stay focused on what matters most: serving clients well.Connect with Joe on LinkedIn (Joe Moss

Big shifts are happening in Central Florida! Waymo is testing self-driving cars in Orlando! what does this mean for traffic, safety, and the future of mobility? We're also covering recent attraction closures at Universal and Disney, plus new road changes to the Flemings Road connector that could transform how Lake and Orange County connect near Sawgrass Bay.

Our necks are hurting from the whiplash of information regarding what tyres are actually fastest off-road. Ronan teases a fresh discussion he had about optimising one sponsored rider for Unbound and some surprising lessons that came from that. It's a topic that continues to fascinate, especially given some of the world's best cross-country mountain bikers have been racing Short Track on 50 mm gravel tyres.In addition to that, you'll hear Dave Rome, Alex Hunt, and Ronan McLaughlin explain why none of them are currently choosing to use 3D-printed saddles. There's a PSA for anyone with wireless shifting, and of course, there's new stuff to talk about, too.As usual, members also get our Ask a Wrench segment, which this week sees Dave Rome and pro race mechanic Brad Copeland answer a handful of questions, including: how keep 11-speed shifting running long-term, understanding bike handling, and best practises for travelling with new SRAM Full Mount derailleurs (Transmission and XPLR). Members can submit new questions here.Timestamps:5:15 - Corrections corner related to 55 mm road tyres8:40 - Corrections corner related to the Zipp 303 SW naming11:00 - So mountain bike tyres aren't always faster off-road?24:00 - DT Swiss joins the gravel suspension game29:30 - Why we don't choose 3D-printed saddles42:10 - A PSA to wireless shifting44:30 - Polygon's new Helios A road racer50:30 - Goodyear's new Connector gravel race range55:00 - HED's new gravel wheels58:30 - Ask a Wrench with Brad Copeland (member-only)59:40 - Keeping SRAM 11-speed going long-term1:05:30 - How to understand rear handling?1:09:00 - Travelling with SRAM T-Type/Full Mount derailleurs

John talks with Michelle “MACE” Curran — former combat pilot & F-16 fighter pilot, former Thunderbirds demonstration team pilot & lead pilot (2019–2022), author, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and founder of Upside Down Dreams. Michelle shares her journey of becoming one of the few female combat pilots in the U.S., the story of how she got her call sign “MACE,” finding her true purpose beyond the cockpit and much more! Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - Intro [01:16] - Michelle's bio [02:00] - Thunderbirds and Blue Angels [03:42] - Children's books written by Michelle [06:02] - Discovering her purpose by accident [09:48] - What drew Michelle to become a fighter pilot? [11:44] - Transitioning from college to the military [12:55] - The process of becoming a fighter pilot  [15:08] - Deployments and military assignments [19:42] - How Michelle received her Callsign “MACE”  [23:21] - How our pain shapes our purpose [25:06] - Sharing the tough parts, not just the cool fighter pilot stuff [26:33] - Majority of professional speakers are introverts [28:53] - What it was like to join the Thunderbirds [31:13] - Outro NOTABLE QUOTES: “There is power in seeing someone that you can personally relate to doing something that feels big and scary. And I know there are all these women, and all these little girls, watching those shows who rarely saw themselves represented.” “I was willing to overcome another fear, of being a public speaker, and the fear of the judgment of others that comes with really putting yourself out there in the public eye, because I knew I could truly change lives in a positive way.” “I'm going to start showing up more as just me and stop being hyper-vigilant about everything… how I react to jokes people make, and all the things. I'm just going to show up and be me.” “I'm just going to show up and be me, because this is not sustainable, playing dress-up.” “If I didn't talk about the painful parts, it (speeches) would not have the impact that it does, not even a fraction.” “You have to push through the uncomfortable, the anxiety, the scary part, because the rewards are massive.” USEFUL RESOURCES: https://macecurran.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/macecurran/ https://www.instagram.com/mace_curran/ https://www.facebook.com/macecurran/ https://x.com/mace_curran https://www.youtube.com/@mace_curran5 "The Flipside: How to Invert Your Perspective and Turn Fear into Your Superpower" (https://a.co/d/6zgzEbT) "Upside Down Dreams" (https://a.co/d/5HlDvhl) "What's Your Callsign?" (https://a.co/d/ilF0djX) CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen    X - https://x.com/johnhulen    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLX_NchE8lisC4NL2GciIWA    EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/ 

This week, Rudi is joined by transformational coach, speaker, and Flipping the Lid podcast host, Brian Bogert, for one of the most powerful conversations ever recorded on The InPowered Life. At just seven years old, Brian's life changed forever after being run over by a truck, severing his left arm. What followed was a 33-year journey through physical, emotional, and mental pain—and ultimately a radical awakening.In this episode, Brian unpacks how trauma shapes identity, how emotional pain manifests in the body, and how true healing requires surrender, not force. He breaks down how to shift from performing through pain to living in aligned presence. This is a masterclass on personal freedom, self-awareness, and the power of vulnerability.If you've been fighting to hold it all together, this episode might just set you free.

What if the way you listen to yourself could change everything? In this heartfelt and revealing conversation with host Meredith Bell, Peter McCammon explores the depths of self-awareness, self-love, and the radical power of listening with intention. He shares how learning to recognize and soften harsh internal judgments opened up new ways of being towards himself and others. The discussion uncovers how personal transformation begins not with changing the world around us, but with choosing how we listen to and speak about ourselves.The episode also takes a profound look at spiritual growth, humility, and the courage to evolve. Peter reflects on the creation of a personal document that guides his commitments and shapes his reality, an act that not only altered his coaching practice but transformed his relationships and business. With honesty and warmth, the conversation invites you to consider how language, reflection, and presence can unlock deeper levels of connection, growth, and possibility.About the Guest: Peter McCammon is a transformational coach who works with business owners and leaders to help them escape stress, overwhelm, and self-doubt. He guides clients toward clarity, confidence, and success—not by striving harder, but by embracing who they already are.https://www.linkedin.com/in/petermccammon/https://www.facebook.com/petermccammonAbout the Host: Meredith is the Co-founder and President of Grow Strong Leaders. Her company publishes software tools and books that help people build strong relationships at work and at home.Meredith is an expert in leader and team communications, the author of three books, and the host of the Grow Strong Leaders Podcast. She co-authored her latest books, Connect with Your Team: Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills, and Peer Coaching Made Simple, with her business partner, Dr. Dennis Coates. In them, Meredith and Denny provide how-to guides for improving communication skills and serving as a peer coach to someone else. Meredith is also The Heart-centered Connector. One of her favorite ways of BEING in the world is to introduce people who can benefit from knowing each other. https://growstrongleaders.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithmbellThanks 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 podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings 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.

First Call- Hillary Saved By the Butt Connector by Maine's Coast 93.1

She Cut the Bum Connector by Maine's Coast 93.1

In real estate investing, raising private money is often seen as a numbers game, but at its core, it's really about relationships. This is precisely the message Jay Conner and his guest, Kevin Thompson, share in their enlightening conversation on the "Raising Private Money" podcast. Kevin, an entrepreneur with a proven track record of facilitating hundreds of strategic partnerships, brings knowledge about the true power of relationship capital.The Power of Relationship CapitalBusiness success, especially in fields reliant on collaboration and investment, doesn't exist in a vacuum. Kevin Thompson's journey highlights how critical relationships are—not just transactional contacts, but meaningful, mutually beneficial connections. Over the years, Kevin has helped fellow entrepreneurs generate millions in revenue, not by relentless self-promotion, but through thoughtful introduction, collaboration, and service.A central idea in Kevin's approach is treating relationships with genuine care. Relationships aren't merely a means to an end; they are the end in themselves. The entrepreneurs who grow their businesses consistently are those who invest time and authentic energy in nurturing their network. Whether it's private lenders in real estate or partners in other industries, the principle remains the same: showing up with a servant's heart creates a ripple effect that supports long-term growth.Defining and Creating Strategic PartnershipsMany business owners misunderstand the essence of strategic partnerships. It's not simply finding someone to promote your offerings for a cut of the revenue. Kevin emphasizes that a successful partnership is two people coming together to achieve more collectively than they ever could individually. The most fruitful collaborations begin not with, ‘What can you do for me?' but with, ‘How can I help you serve your clients better?'This shift in mindset is transformative. It allows both parties to explore their unique skills and resources and see how they can uplift each other. The real value isn't just sales or dollars but the experience and trust that's built along the way. Kevin's network is a testament to this philosophy—he's facilitated over 400 strategic partnerships by focusing not on what he can gain, but on how he can help others grow.Being the ConnectorKevin has become known as "The Connector," not simply for the sheer volume of relationships he's built, but for the quality and impact of those connections. His approach is proactive and intentional. Rather than wait for opportunities to come to him, Kevin reaches out to those who inspire him, often from something as small as a thoughtful social media post. He compliments, appreciates, and asks probing questions—curious to learn what excites the other person and how he might contribute to their success.Even when facilitating introductions between others, Kevin's focus is on alignment of values, interests, and intention. True partnerships are only possible when there's a natural fit, and Kevin's intuition allows him to discern these opportunities effectively.Leading with Service—The Secret to ReciprocityOne of the most powerful lessons from Kevin's story is the approach of giving without expectation. Giving appreciation, attention, and help without any strings attached creates an environment where reciprocity happens naturally. Sometimes the benefits return directly from the person you help, other times from an unexpected source. This is the essence of the "law of reciprocity"—what goes around, comes around, often amplified.Implementing Relationship-Building in Your BusinessFor those wanting to implement these principles, the process begins with genuine curiosity. Start new conversations by asking sincerely what the other person is passionate about or currently working on. Listen with intent, not with an agenda. Look for way