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Lesley and Brad are back to recap their conversation with Dr. Shanté Cofield, The Movement Maestro. They share how showing up as yourself makes the hard days easier, why boundaries are non-negotiable, and how letting go of the “struggle equals success” myth frees you to enjoy the work you love. And because it's not all business, Lesley answers a listener's fun question about how she manages to look fresh after a long flight.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Why authenticity makes showing up easier and attracts the right people.How boundaries set the tone and teach others to respect your priorities.The risks of building a brand that doesn't align with who you are.Why success doesn't require constant hustle or exhaustion.Lesley's favorite skincare and travel beauty tips for long haul flightsEpisode References/Links:Winter Tour - https://opc.me/tourCambodia Retreat Waitlist - https://lesleylogan.co/retreatsPilates Journal Expo - https://xxll.co/pilatesjournalContrology Pilates Conference in Poland - https://xxll.co/polandContrology Pilates Conference in Brussels - https://xxll.co/brusselsLesley's Skincare Recommendations - https://xxll.co/skincareSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsThe Movement Maestro - http://www.themovementmaestro.com If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! 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DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  If you are afraid to post on socials, or you're afraid of market yourself or put yourself out there, just know that if you're putting your true self and what you believe in out there, it's gonna be so much easier to show up on a hard day, and people are gonna truly start to connect with that. Will everyone connect with it? No, and that's a good thing. Lesley Logan 0:17  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:56  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the incredible, amazing, badass convo we have with the one and only, Shante Cofield. Brad Crowell 1:10  Shante.Lesley Logan 1:11  The Movement Maestro. Brad Crowell 1:12  Oh yeah. Lesley Logan 1:13  Oh my gosh. It was in our last episode. And if you haven't listened to that one, you've missed out on life. You really like you kind of fucked up. You got to go listen to it. You can listen after this, and you can listen and then like, usually like, depend on how you set your podcast situation up. It could be right after this. If you're listening to the OPC app, it's right below this one. If you're in your Apple app, good luck. They've changed it all the time. It's hard to find an episode you missed. Then that's why we do these recaps. But first, today, it is October 9th, it's Curious Events Day. Brad Crowell 1:42  Curious Events Day. Lesley Logan 1:44  I chose this because of Shante. So, the other ones seemed quite boring. There was World Post Day, and I was like, oh, that's so Shante, but it means like, mail, like. Brad Crowell 1:53  What do you mean male? Lesley Logan 1:54  Like, post mail, like mailing a letter, World Post Day. Not as not as in, like, social media post. Brad Crowell 2:00  I was definitely not thinking M-A-I-L. Lesley Logan 2:03  Yeah, mail. So I didn't choose that one, because that would be the opposite of Shante. But, Curious Events Day is October 9th, and it's a day to wonder about everything we've ever wondered about. So how do you get those little ships into the bottles? I think they do it like they're flat and they put it in. But you should, if you still wonder, you should look that up. Who figured out how to tie shoelaces? That is curious. What is the most recent sighting of Bigfoot in North America? I'm seriously doubting where the feedback might come from. I definitely do mean, pick your sources wisely. Why can't we figure what happened in Roswell? Be inquisitive, be persistent, and be careful, don't forget that old adage, curiosity killed the cat, and then the end is that satisfaction brought it back. But do be mindful. Brad Crowell 2:49  And then it's like, but I had nine lives, so you're good. Be curious. Lesley Logan 2:52  But also, like, do judge your news sources carefully. Brad Crowell 2:57  Oh my gosh. Please, please validate things. Lesley Logan 2:59  Please. Also, like. Brad Crowell 3:01  Anytime, anything seems like, oh yeah, that, that news makes sense. No, go, look it up. Lesley Logan 3:06  Also, don't just look at headlines or scan things. Read. Use your reading skills. Like, use them. It's very, very important. And it's, it's something that's like, I think what I like about world curious day or nationally curious day is, like, just it, it's a way to get off of social media and then go. Brad Crowell 3:28  Curious Events Day.Lesley Logan 3:29  Curious Events Day and go look up things, you know, maybe use a library, like, I don't know, be curious there, too. Anyways, so our Winter Tour is announced, y'all, it announced, well, a while back, and if you haven't bought your tickets yet, you could, it might be Slim Pickens. So go to opc.me/tour to see all the incredible cities. We are recording this before October 1st, so I actually have no idea where we're going yet. We are.Brad Crowell 3:55  We're still working all that out, but it but there's, you know, we got like 25 cities on the docket that we're trying to figure out. Lesley Logan 4:01  That's the goal. Brad Crowell 4:02  It's even bigger and better than we've ever done before. And it's only possible because you come to see the events, and see each other and hang and, you know, come meet us in in real life and we love it. Lesley Logan 4:15  It's kind of how all things work. Brad Crowell 4:15  And the dog, you know. Lesley Logan 4:15  If you like this podcast, you gotta leave a review, share it with a friend and listen. You gotta. If you, if you like our show, you gotta like, you got like, there's things you have more power than you realize. And if you don't attend an event, we don't go back. Brad Crowell 4:30  That's very key. Lesley Logan 4:31  Even if we like this city. So, opc.me/tour. Also, we're currently in Cambodia for our retreat. If you're not on the waitlist yet, you're gonna want to get on that, because in January, we're opening up the early bird special for the retreat, and only those on the waitlist get the early bird option. You don't have to get on the waitlist, but you get to pay full price. And that's that's just like we're spelling out for you.Brad Crowell 4:54  Just to put this out there, we've had a lot of people asking about October 2026. So, a lot of people, and there is only room for, you know, there's a limited amount of space we have.Lesley Logan 5:04  As much as we love you and we hate saying no.Brad Crowell 5:08  I would love to, you know, make sure everybody can join us. But, you know, there's a limited amount of space.Lesley Logan 5:15  Well, because, to be honest, like, we just like the smaller busses, because it means, like, we get to spend more time with you versus the bigger bus, and it's like not as much time with you. And also the bigger bus means less sites to see because the busses don't fit in certain places.Brad Crowell 5:27  Yeah, it is, you know, I mean, what we'll, look, we'll bring the bigger bus if we have the group for the bigger bus, but, yeah, we are limited on we can't go through the big temple.Lesley Logan 5:35  There's only so much room on the patio, so get your spot quickly by being on the waitlist.Brad Crowell 5:44  All right, and then we're excited. On October 19th, we're actually going to be going to Singapore. Oh, for the waitlist people go to lesleylogan.co/retreats plural lesleylogan.co/retreats. On October 19th, we're fired up to be coming to Singapore. This is a new thing for us. We were invited. It's a private event, but I just want to put that out there, you know, for you, if, if you want to host us coming through, just reach out, and we'll see how we can figure it out.Lesley Logan 6:10  Just ask. We actually just came back yesterday when we're recording this from U.K. and people were, I shared, like, oh, we're we actually are here because people asked. Like, it wasn't like we had a studio owner ask, and then we had another studio go, hey, how do I get that at my studio? And then we put the events together. And so, you know, we, we, sometimes we have to plan years in advance, like, this particular event was actually planned two years ago, but we can do that. And we, we actually are the kind of people that don't just show up on your door unannounced. We do need an invitation. And so we already talked about Winter Tour that's coming up in December. Then January is gonna be the Pilates Journal Expo. It's in Huntington Beach. If you go to xxll.co/pilatesjournal, you can get your tickets for that. I've got a world premiere of a workshop, which is really fun for me, because I just like having a space where you can ask whatever question you want about Pilates. Don't worry, there's some other nuggets around that, but, like, it's really a space for that.Brad Crowell 7:04  What was the URL again?Lesley Logan 7:07  xxll.co/pilatesjournalBrad Crowell 7:10  Yeah, we got a new URL shortener, y'all. xxll.co Lesley Logan 7:14  Yeah, because, you know, it's what they needed. Brad Crowell 7:15  We did that instead of a phone number. Lesley Logan 7:17  They still want the phone number. Brad Crowell 7:19  Yeah, the phone number is not gonna be. Lesley Logan 7:21  I still want it. We haven't looked at it. We haven't looked into if we can have a like, you know, 310 just be it.Brad Crowell 7:27  In March, we're gonna be.Lesley Logan 7:27  In Poland. We're gonna be in Poland again. I'm so excited to be back in Poland with Karen Frischmann. So it's, like, kind of amazing you get to learn from the two of us at the same time, which means a bigger bang for your buck, xxll.co/poland, anyone can go, by the way, just because, Karen and I speak in English, okay, that's how we teach. And then it's translated into Polish. But you can just come and then Karen and I will drag Brad, Brad through Europe, all the way over to Brussels, and we are going to be. Brad Crowell 8:00  I will not be complaining. Lesley Logan 8:01  At El's Studio in Brussels. Very, very excited about this. Brad Crowell 8:05  L-L-E Elle's. Lesley Logan 8:06  Oh, actually it's E-L-S.Brad Crowell 8:07  E-L-S apostrophe El's Studio.Lesley Logan 8:08  Yeah, I think it's El's with the apostrophe, because then it's else's. That's what I learned when there's an S, you just put the apostle on the other side. Anyways, you can go to xxll.co/brussels to grab your tickets for that. And in April, we can announce this right now. Brad Crowell 8:28  We can talk about that. I'm pretty sure we already did. Lesley Logan 8:31  So there's something, oh, we might have. We're going to be in London. There is a there is a POT in London. And what I'm doing in London is not yet to be announced, because I haven't signed my contract. So we're gonna be at the POT in London. We're doing something. Brad Crowell 8:45  We're gonna have a booth, and we're gonna be talking about flashcards. So, come hang out. If you've never been to a Pilates On Tour, it is a lot of fun. They're amazing events. They really do a great job with that. And we can't wait to be back in London, it's gonna be amazing.Brad Crowell 8:55  And you can buy day passes for that so. Brad Crowell 8:59  Cool. Love it. All right, before we get into this incredible interview with Shante, we actually had a question, and the question was from Pilates Physio.Lesley Logan 9:08  So there's two people sent in the same question within two weeks. And I like when you read these out loud. Just read them out loud. Read them both. Brad Crowell 9:16  Okay, so Pilates Physio said, how do you look this fresh flying UK to Australia, I always look dragged through the hedge backwards.Lesley Logan 9:26  Hedges backwards, Sorry. Brad Crowell 9:27  Hedges? Lesley Logan 9:28  Yeah, the hedges backwards, sorry. My nails are too long. I typed it up myself.Brad Crowell 9:32  Okay. And the next one is Pilates, Inhale Pilates asks, how the hell do you look so fresh and glowing after all of that flying that is so unfair. And let me tell you my secret. Lesley Logan 9:45  Oh, yeah, you want to tell your secret. So I love both these women, because one of them asked it after I did story, when we had just landed in the UK, and we were driving to (inaudible) and we landed in Edinburgh and we were driving into (inaudible) and then the other one asked it after I we landed, went through security, got through our Global Entry, and we were in the, like, baggage claim area, and I did it. And so it's really quite funny, because for the first one, I actually purposely didn't wear any makeup, and just did my brow stuff because we were flying overnight, and I knew I'd be trying to sleep, and it was like about 30 hours of travel, and you don't wanna have makeup. And for the second one, we had a whole day flight, and I was like, I gotta do stories. I gotta do this. I gotta have my makeup on. And I am so proud of how amazing my makeup survived the Edinburgh, Heathrow, Heathrow to L.A. I did I will say I looked pretty ragged by the time we did L.A. to Las Vegas. I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. So it wasn't like I was dragging a hedge backwards.Brad Crowell 10:43  We both were (inaudible) out on the plane home, like we were, we were asleep before we left the ground. I don't remember taking off.Lesley Logan 10:48  Yeah, I think we just like, I fell asleep so hard. So I will say, I think it's really easy on social media to look at someone who like and go, oh, they look so great. And to be honest, like in that moment, I caught the right light, but I will. So here's what I told them both, really great skin care. You have to have a great skin care routine. You must be doing this all the time. There isn't any makeup hack you can do that can out do bad skin care. Like every makeup artist I've ever worked with, is like the first step to great makeup is the skincare. So fine. When you like, I love the one I use. We don't have a short link for it. We have, like, a long link for it. Brad Crowell 11:30  We can get a short link for it. It's the the tarantula.Lesley Logan 11:34  No, I don't, I don't have, I don't have a social I don't have an affiliate for that. I'll tell you what that is. But, yeah, it's in the sponsors page. Yeah, so, so we'll drop that in there. He'll give it to you in a second. So, great skincare. Must, must, must, must do. Second, if you are flying long, like U.K. to Australia or the U.S. to Europe, like anything, that's 12-hour flight and it's overnight, I highly recommend no makeup, because you are going to try and sleep. But I do believe in mascara and brow gel like and I really do believe in it. It has changed the life. And if you're like, oh, I over plucked my brows when I was younger, you gotta go you gotta follow Striiike. You gotta follow, Striiike is the Instagram account Kristie Streicher. She has a (inaudible) three i's, she will, she will teach you how to grow your brows out, you guys. She was a client of mine. I was a client with of hers. I have not seen her in years, and I'm so proud of what my brows are doing. But I hire because what happened like your eyebrows and your lashes, like frame your eyes, and it can make a tired eye look happier. So we don't have affiliates for Striiike, but go and just learn from them. They have tons of tutorials. Tarantulash is by Bakeup Beauty again, no affiliates. I can't make any money off this, but I'm obsessed. I buy two sticks of mascara every time I shop with them, because you can get the free shipping, The, so once you have a good brow, good mascara you like and great skincare, you can fly anywhere. You also have to drink water. You must drink water when you fly. You have to drink water when you fly. I did not, I do not sleep well on most flights, especially long ones. In fact, when Pilates Physio asked that question, I had not slept at all because the flight sucked so much. On the way home, I think I got a little bit of sleep so, so I would love that. Then, when you want to apply makeup, like I had makeup on the second one, when you want to apply makeup, you you do want to find a makeup line that is easier for you to use, so that it doesn't take too long, and second that through the day, it looks better. No affiliate for Westman Atelier, I have tried multiple times. But I actually love their free concierge program. You can get on a call with someone. They can pick your colors for you, and it is she, she's a great it's a clean beauty line that actually, as a day goes on, it kind of just like melts into your skin more. So it doesn't streak as the day goes on, it's almost like, it's not that it rubs off, but it just like kind of becomes your skin. So I like that. Brad Crowell 14:03  All right, I think I'm also just gonna interrupt you and say, I love all of these amazing things that you've been figuring out. So the skincare link is xxll.co/skincare. Lesley Logan 14:12  Okay, there you go. Brad Crowell 14:12  So xxll.co/skincare and you'll be able to see what Lesley has been using for skincare. I was also just going to jump in there and say, I don't know anybody else in the world who prioritizes their sleep the way that you do.Lesley Logan 14:29  I know I wish I could sleep on a plane, but I do prioritize it outside of planes. Brad Crowell 14:33  Yeah. And so, you know, when you're asking, like, what is it that you're doing? I think it is, you know, it is built on this foundation of consistent sleep. Lesley Logan 14:42  Yes. Well, I think all of it is, right, but I will say, like, great skincare, great sleep. Drink some water. You'd be surprised. And also just be a little nicer to yourself, like the fact that you think that you've, of course, I thought I looked like hell on the first one. You know what I mean. But like. You smile and you look like more awake. Find the sunshine. You'll look more awake like I think we are constantly thinking that we are supposed to look like supermodels all the time, and no one does, including supermodels. They look like shit actually, most of the time, when you see them outside, but they have a confidence to them that they're beautiful people. And you have to start liking yourself, and you have to start to know that you have so many beautiful features, highlight them and have a great day. Brad Crowell 15:23  Yeah. And have a great day. Look, if you have any questions, Lesley clearly would love to answer those questions, just text us back at 310-905-5534, or you can submit it at beitpod.com/questions, that's beitpod.com/questions.Lesley Logan 15:44  I also just love the ones.Brad Crowell 15:45  You can also leave your wins there, too, for our Friday episodes. Lesley Logan 15:49  And also, I think I just get excited when it's, like, a non Pilates question, because it's like, here is all the research I've done. I figured it out. This is the mascara, you know. Brad Crowell 15:57  I love it. Lesley Logan 15:58  All right, let's talk about Shante.Brad Crowell 16:00  All right. Stick around. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 16:03  All right, welcome back. Let's talk about Shante Cofield. I just want to say I love Shante. She's amazing, and we actually do know her in real life. We had a chance to hang out with her a few times over the years. She's just fantastic. So, Shante has created this persona called The Movement Maestro.Brad Crowell 16:21  I don't think it's a persona. It's her. It's.Brad Crowell 16:25  It's a, yes, so it's a persona. Actually, that's the definition of it. All right, so Shante is known as The Movement Maestro, and she's actually a physical therapist by trade and an entrepreneur by choice. And she said that on the the interview, and I thought that's a great way to say that. A physical therapist by trade, entrepreneur by choice. She's based in Southern California, and she now focuses on online business coaching, specifically helping health and fitness pros run, build and grow profitable online personal brands. So loving that. And she primarily uses Instagram as their quote, unquote top of funnel for lead generation, and she's just super great at it. She's been doing it for a long time. And she's also the business partner. She's business partners with Jill Coleman for a group coaching program that they do together, that we would absolutely recommend. Of course, Jill was also our coach. If you remember, Jill's been on the pod, all the things, but what a fun conversation. I mean, also, I just wanted to say,Lesley Logan 17:22  Secretly, I just wanted to talk with her, so I brought her on the pod.Brad Crowell 17:25  Well, she, she says this thing that I think is really funny when she when she's agreeing with you, she says this, this, this.Lesley Logan 17:33  Oh, I felt like I had just a cheerleading session. I was, like. Brad Crowell 17:37  Amazing. Lesley Logan 17:37  I, anytime I'm like, doubtful of, like, the do I know what the fuck I'm talking about? I'm just listening to this episode and hear her like compliment the fuck out of me.Brad Crowell 17:46  What was one of the things that you loved that she said.Lesley Logan 17:51  I mean, aside from how amazing she made me feel about myself, so she said that one of the biggest gifts is showing up authentically, because that is what you actually give other people permission to do the same. So when you show up authentically, you invite other people to do this. And I couldn't believe, I couldn't agree more. I think, like when I get to come to a workshop, and people are nervous, and, you know, I'm even nervous because I'm like, oh my god, they paid all this money, they traveled all this way. I hope I don't disappoint them, like, because people might have a different idea of me on like, from online stuff. I don't know. You know what I mean. People tell a story about them, about somebody, and then you meet them, but I. Brad Crowell 18:36  Don't meet your heroes. Everyone always says, Lesley Logan 18:36  Yeah, well, because some of those people suck, not me and not Shante, but, I.Brad Crowell 18:39  I think if you're showing up authentically online when you met someone in person, then you know what you're gonna get. Lesley Logan 18:45  Of course. Brad Crowell 18:46  That's the goal. Lesley Logan 18:47  I but I will just say, like, I always make sure that even when I feel nervous, I have like, the more authentic I can be to myself, the more every one of these people in this room will drop the nerves, will, will will show up and will have a great time with us. So it's really, really fun for me, so I couldn't agree more, and it helps you get out of your own head, because sometimes we get in our own head about things, and it's like, if you are just being your authentic self, it's one, so much easier, and two other people will be the same, and you won't have to worry if people are being real or not about you. Shoot. We also talked about declaring boundaries and priorities and that you the when you say, like, this is what I do, or I'm putting myself first, you model this behavior for others. I mean, like, can she and I just go on a tour together and tell people to prioritize themselves first. I love this. It's so, so good for the people in your life, for the partners in your life, for the friends in your life, like, and I just, I'm just, like, obsessed with all those things, yeah.Brad Crowell 19:45  I mean, I love that. I think it's important. I think it's great. Lesley Logan 19:45  She also, this is very important. She said, anything but yourself is unsustainable. So, like, if you're trying to be other people, yeah, like, it's so unsustainable.Brad Crowell 19:58  That's why I was gonna chime in, one of the stories that she told was when we follow these people online, and then, and then they quit, and they're like, actually built this thing, and I don't like anything about it and all this stuff. And, you know, it's amazing, because you can build things with marketing. When you do marketing properly, it will build a thing. But you need to make sure you like the thing, you need to make sure you like the people that you're going to be talking with, you know, because otherwise it will be unfulfilling. And I think that if you are talking about something that you don't believe in, it's not sustainable. And that's where this authenticity comes in. When you talk about something you're passionate about, or you believe in, or you really, you know, are wanting to encourage others to tackle and change and do all the things. It comes through, it shines through, right? And also is it allows it for you, you can stand by your word, you know, so that I think that.Lesley Logan 20:53  I also think like it when you're consistent, people do see that, even if they're not buying your thing right away, like, and it doesn't mean you don't get to pivot or evolve. But I have noticed, like, people who keep changing this, oh, I'm doing this now, I'm doing this now. I'm doing this now, and they're so different. Oh, I'm back to this now. I'm like, are they okay? What are they doing? You know. So I do think that the way, if you are, if you are afraid to post on socials, or you're afraid to mark your market yourself, or put yourself out there. Just know that if you're putting your true self and what you believe in out there, it's gonna be so much easier to show up on a hard day, and people are gonna truly start to connect with that. Will everyone connect with it? No, and that's a good thing. You don't want everyone to connect with you. I promise you that. There are some crazy people out there. You don't want them to like your stuff, so be your authentic self, and it will repel them.Brad Crowell 21:45  Yes, yes, yeah, and not even in a negative way. It just they won't be attracted to it. So I really loved when she was talking about the societal lie that success requires struggle. And I found this really intriguing, because I I lived this, this story of, we've talked about this a little bit before, but the bootstrapping, the solopreneur, I gotta do it all myself. Why? Because I'm broke and I can't afford to whatever. And it became a story that I told myself. And then what happens is, it becomes your MO, it becomes your persona.Brad Crowell 22:19  Yeah, well, you tell a story, but also, but you feel like it has to be hard all the time. Brad Crowell 22:20  It has to be hard all the time. But it's not even, it's not even that it has to be hard all the time. That's not the story we initially tell ourselves, but it becomes a lived experience that we then adopt. Right? And so all of a sudden, you're like, like, because when you start to delegate, when you do have a team, and you start giving things over to the team, such as, I'm a teacher, I'm teaching 7000 hours a week, you know, all of a sudden you're not teaching that much anymore. But you've, you've adopted this. It's got to be challenging, or we're not moving forward approach, you suddenly feel like you're doing it wrong, or you're or like some something, something is wrong. You can't, you can't figure out what it is. But it's because we've built this on this foundation of it's got to be hard for it to be right. Lesley Logan 23:09  Well, all the I work with a lot of teachers like, Oh my god, but if I do it like that, then the clients aren't going to because they want to feel burn. It's like, do you want to teach like that? If you don't want to teach like that, stop teaching like that, because they like educate people on what it is. You're making it hard on yourself, and then it's not going to be fun to show up all the time, and you're not going to like it and that, you're like, oh, but it's, it's got to be hard. I it's got to be a struggle. And then I'll get to the other side. You got to do things you like and and there. And success does have obstacles, but it doesn't have to be like you're trudging through like quicksand.Brad Crowell 23:41  Yeah, I mean, you're, you're not here to be miserable every day and faking this thing, right? I think that I just really liked what she said about it. And she said, of course, work is hard, but when it but when it comes to what things that you enjoy doing and the people you enjoy being around, it can still be fun, even when you are working hard, but the but the high level effort doesn't have to be, like killing yourself to make it. Like the struggle, I think the we jokingly say the struggle is real. But also, you know, it doesn't always have to be a struggle every day. Lesley Logan 24:21  Correct. And also, like, I just posted about this today on Instagram, because multiple times during the two events we had people were like, you must be tired, and I was like, oh, I'm not tired. You know, I might be tired. I'll be tired tonight. I might even be a little bit tired tomorrow. But like, I'm not tired right now because I love what I'm doing. I didn't put anything up here that you could buy that would exhaust me.Brad Crowell 24:42  Yeah, well, I think this weird assumption with that, like, wow, you must be tired means you must be burned out, because what you do is so much, like, I cannot fathom how you're able to execute it all you know, and still have time for yourself.Lesley Logan 24:57  Yeah. Well, that goes back to what we said with Shante said earlier, I prioritize myself and I have boundaries. Big time, big time. And I recognize that, like people have kids and blah, blah, blah and all this stuff. I still think that, because she said, we are a mirror, and we, when we are ourselves, other people do the same. If you put yourself first, other people see this, and they too will do it. So we it's not like people will just assume, oh, I gotta not bother that person. You have to say, I can't do that right now. But like, if you are doing something you love, yes, it'd be hard days, but it doesn't have to be a struggle. Brad Crowell 25:27  Yeah. Well, look, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into the Be It Action Item that Shante left us, right after this. Brad Crowell 25:36  Alright, finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Shante Cofield. Lesley Logan 25:46  You go first. Brad Crowell 25:47  Okay. She said when starting out or starting something new, she advised, if someone chooses to believe in you, believe them. And I just loved this. I loved this because this concept of borrowing confidence. I've never thought of before, I never heard of before, but it's so real. Lesley Logan 26:04  This is so brilliant. Brad Crowell 26:04  Because what like, it's almost insulting if you don't believe the person, like, I believe in you. I believe that you can do the thing and you're like, you're right, you're wrong, I'm gonna fail. Right? It's like, you kind of are throwing it back in their face, right? But I also love this reframes this whole idea. When someone is like, I know you can do the thing. You can borrow that confidence from that. What a cool idea. She said, then advise. She said, afterwards, celebrate. Clap yourself. Clap for yourself, and go learn the thing, and then get in those reps. Choose to believe the evidence of your growing confidence, right? And I think when you're when you're, especially when you're starting something new, if you have a mentor or a friend who's like, really, really cheering for you, they're seeing something that you might not see in yourself in the moment, you know, but it doesn't mean you don't have it. So, yeah.Lesley Logan 26:55  Yeah, yeah, okay. It's like, she also just loves our anthem, being in this pod, because she said do it scared. Yep. She said, confidence is a byproduct. It's on the other side of action. So a byproduct of taking action is confidence. That's how you get confidence. Everyone's waiting for confidence. Take action. You gotta take the action to get the confidence, and waiting to feel better about it is a trap. One must still have to take action and show up in this way. So you've got to take the action, guys. And she also said, the confidence, the happiness, the understanding, the clarity that you are looking for, the guidance, the direction, the answers that you're looking for are on the other side of doing the thing. So do it scared and freaking. Say this episode and go back and listen to her tell you that, because it's I couldn't I was just like, yeah, this is why she's on the pod. Like, literally, to remind people so you be it till you see it. I'm obsessed with you Shante, you guys, they have their own podcast. I also know that since we interviewed them for this and I was like, what do you do right now, they were, you know, sharing like, (inaudible) they did a podcasting course.Brad Crowell 28:00  Oh, cool. The podcast is called Maestro On The Mic.Lesley Logan 28:03  Maestro On The Mic. And also, I love their weekly newsletters. I highly recommend. It's an email I actually do read every week. I really, really like it. And it's also I got her on the pod because I got one. And I said, I fucking love this one. Brad Crowell 28:14  Side note, she's a doctor. Lesley Logan 28:16  Yeah. All right, sorry, Dr. Shante, anyways, she is a doctor. She is a badass. I love her journey. I hope that you saw yourself in some of these things that she said. And Shante is gonna wanna know what your takeaways are, so definitely send her a DM what your favorite part was? Send it to the Be It Pod. Share this with a friend who needs to hear it. This is how we be it till we see it and until next time, Be it Till You See It.Brad Crowell 28:39  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 28:41  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 29:23  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 29:28  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 29:33  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 29:39  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 29:43  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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Trey, Katie, and Jake share their “Correct Opinions” this week: Trey claims he's not mean—people are just dumb, Katie takes on board game maniacs, and Jake exposes the lies of YouTube Zen. Plus, they debate the funniest names for throwing up . VISIT http://GrowTherapy.com/CORRECTOPINIONS Whatever challenges you're facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0, depending on their plan. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. VISIT http://FUNCTIONHEALTH.COM/TREY The first 1000 get a $100 credit toward their membership. use gift code TREY100 at sign-up to own your health. Get your Lola Blanket today! Use code: CORRECTOPINIONS for 35% off at http://lolablankets.com

In this conversation, Massachusetts Rep. Jake Auchincloss and I discuss the government shutdown, the abundant falsities in modern media, the true value and meaning of serving our country, and more.

Wolf and Luke react to Jonathan Gannon being fined $100,000 by the Arizona Cardinals for his interaction with Emari Demercado and why the Indianapolis Colts have been so good so far.

Pastor Chris Baldwin continues our series Life of David with a powerful message on the kind of friendships God uses to shape our future. In this fourth week, we move from David's anointing as king (1 Samuel 16) and his victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17) into one of the most meaningful relationships in Scripture — the covenant friendship between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18–23). A biblical covenant friendship is more than casual connection; it's a God-centered, mutual, and enduring relationship marked by loyalty, sacrificial love, and a shared desire to pursue God's purpose together — even through hardship. Jonathan laid down his own claim to the throne, choosing to strengthen David's calling and stand by him when Saul turned against him. From these passages we learn that true, Godly friendships: Help us in our time of need (1 Samuel 20:18-23) — they show up when life is hard and offer protection and encouragement. Correct us when we need it (Proverbs 27:5-6; Ecclesiastes 7:5; Proverbs 27:17) — real friends speak truth and sharpen us toward wisdom. Push us toward God's call on our lives (1 Samuel 20:35-42) — they remind us who God says we are and help us walk in obedience. We also see how to cultivate these kinds of friendships ourselves: See what God sees, not what man sees — Jonathan recognized David's future as king and surrendered his own claim (1 Samuel 18:4; 23:16-18). Be selfless, not selfish — Jonathan risked his own standing and even his safety to protect David (1 Samuel 20:27-34; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Center relationships on Jesus — friendships rooted in Christ endure and strengthen both people (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Practical next steps: join a small group, serve on a team, or simply invite someone to lunch and begin building intentional, Christ-centered connections. This message reminds us that none of us step fully into our God-given calling alone. We need covenant friendships that strengthen, challenge, and guide us toward all God has planned.

If you searched the question:“What player has won the most Wimbledon singles titles,” Google will tell you it's Roger Federer with 8 wins.But that's incorrect. Martina Navratilova has 9. This week, we look at remarkable ideas that promote gender equality. Including an idea called Correct the Internet.com And one that challenged menstruation taboos with a program called “Touch the pickle.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're kicking off a new series called Truth in Love: The Courage to Correct and Be Corrected. In this episode, we take a fresh look at what correction really is—not punishment, but an invitation. Not shame, but love. You'll learn how God uses correction to shape us, not reject us—and why we so often resist it. I'll share a personal story about how one letter from my mom became a turning point in my spiritual walk, and we'll explore why biblical correction is one of the most powerful tools for growth in our relationships and in our walk with God.Clarity + Courage is my monthly coaching membership for Christian women who want to become the woman God says they already are—and finally think clearly, feel better, and move forward.Join HERE for less than $2 a day! Discover ways to work with me at www.thehappiestlives.com or www.myhappyvault.comQuestions? Email Jill directly at Jill@thehappiestlives.com

What does it mean to retire at 23—and still work with passion and purpose?In this episode of The Uncommon Leader Podcast, host John Gallagher welcomes Maritza Davila, a business consultant, speaker, and bold believer in values-driven leadership. Maritza's journey is anything but conventional—and her frameworks are designed to help leaders move from chaos to clarity.Whether you're an executive, an emerging leader, or someone navigating faith and ambition, this episode offers practical tools and deep inspiration.

Host of the Mind Movement Health podcast, Kate Boyle breaks down the top five mistakes that are ruining your feet and shows simple, daily steps to correct them. Learn why over-supportive shoes, poor toe and ankle mobility, mis-alignment, and waiting for pain can harm balance, gait, and overall movement. You'll get practical tips you can start today, from short barefoot practice and toe exercises to ankle mobility drills and alignment awarenes, plus how to prevent common issues like plantar fasciitis and bunions. Want to go deeper? Kate shares details about her Foot Fix workshop to restore strength, mobility and resilient, pain-free feet.   If you're struggling with foot, knee or hip pain, read this...  Most people don't realise it, but the root of your pain might not be where you feel it.

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AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports on an extraordinary meeting of the Pentagon's top officers.

9-29 Cam Inman joins Papa & Silver to discuss what went wrong with the 49ers vs Jacksonville and if they can correct things on a short week against their division rival in LASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

9-29 Cam Inman joins Papa & Silver to discuss what went wrong with the 49ers vs Jacksonville and if they can correct things on a short week against their division rival in LASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nate details how to deploy the #ZeroG draft strategy in your 2025-26 drafts to maximize value at both the goaltender and skater positions and runs down his goalie tiers. Where would YOU draft Linus Ullmark this year?Download the Apples & Ginos 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey Draft Guide here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/apples-ginos-26-137903611?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

1 He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy. 2 When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan. 3 Whoever loves wisdom brings joy to his father; but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth. 4 The king by justice makes the land stable, but he who takes bribes tears it down. 5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. 6 An evil man is snared by his sin, but the righteous can sing and be glad. 7 The righteous care about justice for the poor. The wicked aren't concerned about knowledge. 8 Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a foolish man, the fool rages or scoffs, and there is no peace. 10 The bloodthirsty hate a man of integrity; and they seek the life of the upright. 11 A fool vents all of his anger, but a wise man brings himself under control. 12 If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials are wicked. 13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: Yahweh gives sight to the eyes of both. 14 The king who fairly judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever. 15 The rod of correction gives wisdom, but a child left to himself causes shame to his mother. 16 When the wicked increase, sin increases; but the righteous will see their downfall. 17 Correct your son, and he will give you peace; yes, he will bring delight to your soul. 18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but one who keeps the law is blessed. 19 A servant can't be corrected by words. Though he understands, yet he will not respond. 20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 21 He who pampers his servant from youth will have him become a son in the end. 22 An angry man stirs up strife, and a wrathful man abounds in sin. 23 A man's pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor. 24 Whoever is an accomplice of a thief is an enemy of his own soul. He takes an oath, but dares not testify. 25 The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe. 26 Many seek the ruler's favor, but a man's justice comes from Yahweh. 27 A dishonest man detests the righteous, and the upright in their ways detest the wicked. Listen Subscribe: Proverbs Daily Podcast Psalms Daily Podcast

Please Subscribe and Review: Apple Podcasts | RSS Submit your questions for the podcast here News Topic: Tylenol and autism: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YLD5ywh-WM0 https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1971019653624496521 Show Notes:   X post by Andrew Zywiec MD  DNA analysis with Dr. Anthony Jay Article from Smart Cities Dive: Life as a Lunatic: Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin Mark Moss: The Wealth Boom The Government Doesn't Want You To Keep Questions:    Autoimmune Relief Seth writes: Robb, I know that back in the early days of Paleo, there were people (at least a few) who felt they cured their RA. At the time, I noted this but didn't delve into it because I didn't think it applied to me. Well. . . you know how that goes. Now I have a very similar condition (it's called mixed connective tissue disease and is like a combo of lupus and RA). Of course, there's nothing, not even any hint, in any mainstream info about anything approaching a cure. Doing a Google search now ONLY shows mainstream stuff -- WebMD, Healthline, etc. Do you have any ideas where I can search in the Paleo-sphere for folks who have had success and what they did? I really cannot just keep adding on meds that only partially manage the pain I'm in. There must be a better way. Thanks.   Gut Testing Resource Tyler writes: Hey Robb and Nicki, I'm a long time listener, maybe not one of the original six but well back into the Paleo solution days and the Paleo solution was one of my first forrays into an ancestral way of eating and really changed my life for the better. Now onto my question: are you able to share the specific lab/testing you did that uncovered your candida/round worm/giardia this last go around? I listened to the most recent episode where y'all talked about it and you also mentioned there maybe being a stateside option as well? Asking mostly for my wife, who has had similar chronic gut issues, difficulty gaining weight, etc, and after I listened to the episode I asked her and turns out a lot of it started after she lived in China for a year, including a fair bit of time traveling through rural China. So now I'm pretty keen to the possibility of a chronic parasite of sorts. Thank you again for all y'all do, it's greatly appreciated and I think makes a big difference.   Could there be a fortuitous transfer of labor from driving to regenerative agriculture?  Paul writes: Good day Robb and Nicki, First, thank you for your years of effort in guiding and curating health information that is not so easily found in the mainstream. I am curious to hear your perspective on what the potential future of labor. With the development of self-driving cars, there are likely to be many folks who find themselves out of work in the not so distant future. Meanwhile there seems to be a growing demand for sustainably produced food. Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that raising food in this manor tends to be more labor intensive. Do you see a future where labor from driving jobs could be moved into agriculture? A side effect would be a population shift out of city centres and into more rural areas. It seems that is could be a beneficial secondary result for individuals overall health and community engagement. I am curious what your thoughts are on this possibility and what could be done to reveal this possibility to the masses. Again, thank you for your work and example.   Sponsor: The Healthy Rebellion Radio is sponsored by our electrolyte company, LMNT. It turns out that electrolytes don't need to be brightly colored and full of sugar...in fact, the brightly colored and highly sugared concoctions on store shelves often contain very few electrolytes…the sodium, magnesium, and potassium that your body needs to perform at its best. That's why we created LMNT! Become an LMNT INSIDER and buy 3 boxes and get the 4th box free! As always, LMNT offers no-questions-asked refunds on all orders - so you can try  LMNT 100% risk free.  Click here to get your LMNT electrolytes  

Sit back and relax but pay attention to my conversation with Gee Ranasinha. Gee lives in the Northeast part of France. As he puts it, his marketing experience goes back to the “days of dial-up internet and AOL CDs”. During our conversation Gee tells us how he progressed from working with film, (do you know what that is?), to now working with the most advanced digital and other technological systems.   He is the CEO of his own marketing company KEXINO. He talks a bit about what makes a good marketing firm and why some companies are more successful than others. He says, for example, that most companies do the same things as every other company. While labels and logos may be different, if you cover up the logos the messages and ways to provide them are the same. The successful firms have learned to distinguish themselves by being different in some manner. He practices what he preaches right down to the name of his company, KEXINO. He will tell us where the company name came from. You will see why I says he practices what he preaches.   Gee gives us a great history of a lot of marketing efforts and initiatives. If you are at all involved with working to make yourself or your company successful marketing wise, then what Gee has to say will be especially relevant to you. This is one of those episodes that is worth hearing more than once.     About the Guest:   Gee has been in marketing since the days of dial-up internet and AOL CDs. Today, he's the CEO of KEXINO, a marketing agency and behavioral science practice for small to medium-sized businesses. Over the past 17 years KEXINO has helped over 400 startups and small businesses in around 20 countries grow awareness, reputation, trust - and sales. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute Of Marketing, Gee is also Visiting Professor at two business schools, teaching Marketing and Behavioral Science to final-year MBA students. Outside of work Gee loves to cook, listens to music on a ridiculously expensive hi-fi, and plays jazz piano very badly.    Ways to connect with Gee:   KEXINO website:  https://kexino.com LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/ranasinha YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/Kexino Instagram:  https://instagram.com/wearekexino TikTok:  https://tiktok.com/@kexino Threads: https://www.threads.net/@wearekexino BlueSky:  https://bsky.app/profile/kexino.com     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 ** 01:16 Well and a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, you are now listening to an episode of unstoppable mindset. I am your host, Mike or Michael. I don't really care which hingson and our guest today is Gee Ranasinha, who is a person who is very heavily involved in doing marketing and so on. Gee has been marketing for a long time, and reading his bio, he talks about being in marketing since the days of dial up and AOL and CDs. I remember the first time I tried to subscribe to AOL. It was a floppy disk. But anyway, that's okay. The bottom line is that does go back many, many years. That's when we had Rs 232 cables and modems. Now people probably don't mostly know what they are unless they're technically involved and they're all built into the technology that we use. But that's another history lesson for later. So Gee, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. This should be a fun subject and thing to talk about.   Gee Ranasinha ** 02:27 Well, thank you very much for inviting me, Michael, I do. I do appreciate it.   Michael Hingson ** 02:31 Well, I'm looking forward to it and getting a chance to talk. And love to hear some of your your old stories about marketing, as well as the new ones, and of course, what lessons we learned from the old ones that helped in the new ones. And of course, I suspect there'll also be a lot of situations where we didn't learn the lessons that we should have, which is another story, right?   Gee Ranasinha ** 02:50 Yeah, history does tend to repeat itself, unfortunately, and   Michael Hingson ** 02:55 that usually happens because we don't pay attention to the lessons.   Gee Ranasinha ** 02:59 Yeah, yeah, we, we, I think we think we know better. But I mean, it's, it's, it's funny, because, you know, if you look at other other industries, you know, if, if you want to be an architect, right, you would certainly look back to the works of, you know, Le Corbusier or Frank Lloyd Wright or Renzo Piano, or, you know, some of the great architects, and you would look back on their work, look how they did it. And you would, you know, turn back the the annals of history to to see what had gone before. But for some reason, in our industry, in marketing, we we don't think we can learn from the lessons that our erstwhile peers have had in the past, and we've so as a result, we tend to sort of rename things that have gone before, so that the newer generation of marketers will actually pay attention to them. So we give things new names. But actually, if you, if you scratch the surface and look a little bit deeper. It's actually nothing new at all. And I don't quite know why that is. I think people think that they know better than the people who've gone before them, because of the technology, because you know so much of the execution the promotion side of marketing is technology based. They I'm guessing that people don't see a relevance to what happened in the past because of the technology aspect being different, right? But what I contend is that the the essence. Of marketing is about understanding human behavior and their reactions to particular inputs, impulses, right? Um, in which case, we have plenty to learn from the people who've you know, who've walked in our in the walk this path before, and we should be a little bit, maybe a little bit more humble and open minded into accepting that we don't know everything, and we maybe don't even know what we don't know.   Michael Hingson ** 05:36 I always remember back in what was it, 1982 or 1983 we had a situation here in the United States where somebody planted some poison in a bottle of Tylenol in a drug store. I remember that, yeah, and within a day, the president of the company came out and said, This is what we're going to do to deal with it, including taking all the bottles of all the pills off the shelves until we check them over and make sure everyone is clean and so on. And he got right out in front of it. And I've seen so many examples since of relatively similar kinds of crises, and nobody takes a step to take a firm stand about how we're going to handle it, which is really strange, because clearly what he did really should have taught us all a lesson. Tylenol hasn't gone away, the company hasn't gone away, and the lesson should be that there is relevance in getting out in front of it and having a plan. Now I don't know whether he or anyone really had a plan in case something happened. I've never heard that, but still whatever he got right out in front of it and addressed it. And I just really wish more marketing people, when there is a crisis, would do more of that to instill confidence in consumers.   Gee Ranasinha ** 07:07 He did the right thing, right? He did, he did what you or I would have done, or we would like to think we would have done in this place, right? I, I'm, I'm guessing it was probably, not the favorite course of action, if this had been debated at board stroke shareholder level. But like I said, he he did what we all think we would have done in his place. He did the right thing. And I think that there are many instances today, more instances today than maybe in the past, where the actions of an individual they are. An individual has more freedom of expression in the past than they've had in the in the present, and they don't have to mind their P's and Q's as much. I mean, sure we know we're still talking about profit making organizations. You know, we're living in a pseudo capitalist, Neo liberal society. But surely we're still there still needs to be some kind of humanity at the end of this, right? You know, reputations take years, decades, sometimes, to build, and they can be knocked down very quickly, right, right? There's so I think some somebody, somebody, somebody a lot older and wiser than me, well, certainly wiser older. Said a brand's reputation was like a tree. It takes ages to grow, but can be knocked down very quickly, and there are plenty. You know, history is littered with examples of of organizations who haven't done the right thing.   Speaker 1 ** 09:16 Well, the Yeah, go ahead. No, go ahead. Tell me   Michael Hingson ** 09:20 the I observed this actually not too long ago, on a podcast, this whole discussion to someone, and they made an interesting point, which I think is probably relevant, which is, today we have a different environment, because we have social media. We have so many things, where communications go so quickly, and we we see so many people putting out information right or wrong, conspiracy or not, about anything and everything that comes up, that it causes people maybe to hesitate a little bit more to. Truly study what they want to say, because everyone's going to pick up on it. But at the same time, and I appreciate that at the same time, I think there are basic marketing principles. And as you point out, and as you're well aware, there is such a thing as human behavior, and while people want instant gratification, and they want to know right now what happened 20 minutes ago. The reality is we're not necessarily going to get that. The media doesn't help because they want to put everything out and get the story. But still, the reality is human nature is human nature, and ultimately, Truth will win out. And what we need to do is to really work more toward making sure that that happens.   Gee Ranasinha ** 10:48 I, I actually don't agree with that. Okay, in in, you know, in the, in the with the greatest respect, firstly, I think, I think as a cop out to use social media, information channels, news cycles, that sort of thing, because, if anything, because of the pace of the news cycle and The, you know, the fire hose of social media today, me, we're in a better position to say what we mean and not regret it, because it's forgotten it 20 minutes. Yeah, so it works, it's, it's an argument for what we're talking about not, not against   Michael Hingson ** 11:41 it, yeah. I agree. Yeah, go ahead,   Gee Ranasinha ** 11:45 yeah. And the second thing you said, truth will out. And I think truth does not without and there are plenty of people who continue to spout out misinformation and disinformation, yeah, constantly at every level of corporate at a corporate level, at a political level, at a geopolitical level, or at a local level, right? I don't want to sort of go down that rabbit hole, right, but there are, there are plenty of misquotes, myths, truths, which are never, never withdrawn and never counted, never excused and live out there in the ether, in perpetuity.   Michael Hingson ** 12:35 Yeah, it's true, but I also think that in the end, while some people continue to put their inaccurate information out, I think there are also others who have taken the time, or do take the time they put out more relevant information, and probably in the long run, more people buy into that than to misinformation. I'm not going to say it's a perfect world, but I think more often than not, enough positive information comes out that people eventually get more of the right answer than all the yammering and bad information. But it may take time.   Gee Ranasinha ** 13:18 I would love to believe that, Mike, I really would maybe I'm just too cynical, right?   Michael Hingson ** 13:27 I hear you, I hear you, and you know, I don't know I could be just as wrong. I mean, in the United States today, we've got a government with people who are definitely talking about things and saying things that most of us have always felt are untrue, but unfortunately, they're being said and pushed in such a way that more people are not opposing them. And how quickly that will change remains to be seen. And for all I know, and I think, for all I know, maybe some of what they're saying might be right, but we'll see.   Gee Ranasinha ** 14:05 I think that's the issue. I mean, I, as I said, I don't really want to jump down that politics rabbit hole, but no, not really. I think, you know, the issue is, if you say a lie enough times, people believe it. Yeah, right, yeah. And the fact that nobody's fact checking this stuff, I'm like, I said. I'm not. I'm not singling out politics. I'm singling out messaging in its widest in its widest interpretation, right, false messaging of any sort, if left unchecked. Yeah. Correct. I think the people who know an alternative reality or know that it's a lie know that it's an untruth by not publicly facts checking it, by not calling these. People out are complicit in spreading the lie.   Michael Hingson ** 15:03 Yeah, well, I think that's true, and you're right. It doesn't matter whether it's politics. It doesn't matter whether it's well, whatever it is, it's anything. And I think there's one of the beauties of of our country, your country. And I didn't explain at the beginning that G is in the you said, northwest part of France, right? Northeast, northeast, well, east, west, northeast part   Gee Ranasinha ** 15:29 of Yeah, well, near enough, you know, if you go, if you go, if you go east, far enough times you get, you get to West Anyway, don't you? Well, you get back where you started. Or maybe you don't, I don't know if, depends who you listen   Michael Hingson ** 15:39 to, right? If the Earth is flat. Well, even the Flat Earthers have had explanations for why the earth is flat and people don't fall off, but that's okay, but yeah, so northeast part of France and and I hear, I hear what you're saying, and I think it's important that people have the freedom to be able to fact check, and I, and I hope, as we grow more people will find the value of that, but that in all aspects, but that remains to be seen.   Gee Ranasinha ** 16:14 Well, I think especially in you know, perversely, now that we have the ability to check the veracity of a piece of information a lot easier, right? Almost in real time. Yeah. I think the fact that we can means that we don't, you know, you probably know the quote by what was his name? Edwin Burke, who may or may not have said that, you know, evil triumphs when good men do nothing or something like that. Along that sort of lines, some people say that he didn't say that. He did say, it doesn't matter who said it, right? It's a great quote. It's a great quote. It's a great quote. And that's what I mean about being complicit, just by the fact of not calling this stuff out, feeds the fire. Yeah, to the to the point where it becomes and especially, I'm talking with people who maybe are a little bit younger and haven't and are more likely to believe what they see on screens of whatever size, simply because it's in the public domain, um, whereas The older strokes more cynical of us may may question a lot more of what's thrown in front of our eyes. So I think all of us have a responsibility, which I don't think all of us understand the power that we yield or we're afraid to or afraid to? Yeah, absolutely.   Michael Hingson ** 18:08 So tell me a little about kind of the early Gee growing up and so on, and how you got into this whole idea and arena of marketing and so on.   Gee Ranasinha ** 18:18 Well before this, I was the CMO of a software company. I was there for seven years, and before that, I was working for a company in London, working with in the print and publishing industries. So I've been around media for most of my working life, and after, after being at the software company for seven years, sort of hit a little bit of a ceiling, really. I mean, the company was a small company, and it could only grow at a certain rate, and so I wasn't really being challenged anymore. I had to wait a little bit until the company could fill the bigger shoes that had been given, if you like. You know, I mean growing pains. It's very common for companies of all sizes to go through this sort of thing. So to be honest, I probably was treading water a bit too long. But you know, you get you get complacent, don't you, you get comfortable in in the, you know the corporate job, and you know a salary at the at the end of every month, and you know corporate travel and company BMWs and expense accounts and all of that sort of trappings. And you know, I, I fell for all of that. You. Um, but I finally realized that something needed to happen. So at the end of 2007 beginning of 2008 Me and a couple of colleagues decided to start the agency, which, as you will remember, 2008 was not exactly the best time to start a marketing agency. Good time to start any agency,   Michael Hingson ** 20:29 to be honest. The other hand, there were a lot of opportunities. But yeah, I hear you. Well, yeah,   Gee Ranasinha ** 20:34 glass half full. Glass half empty, right? Yeah. But you know, luckily, with with a number of very, very supportive clients in those early days, you know, we weathered the post recession? Yeah, slow down. And 17 and a half years later, here we are. We've now. We started off with three. We were three. We're now 19. We're in nine countries. Nine of us were in the US. The rest are in Europe, South Africa, Japan, and two people in Australia. That's that, that's, that's who we are. So, you know, we're a a team of marketing, creative and business development specialists, and we work with startups and small businesses primarily in the US, even though we're based all over the place, and we combine marketing strategy, proper strategy, with a thing called behavioral science, which works with organizations to increase their awareness, their reputation, their trust, and most of all, of course, sales Right? Because sales is name of the game. Sales is what it's all about. So yeah, I'd say probably 80, 90% of our clients are in the US and, well, certainly North America anyway, and it's all sorts of industries, all sorts of sizes. We've we've got, we certainly had in the past. You know, solopreneur type businesses, small businesses and larger businesses, up to around 40 to 50 mil to revenue that sort of size, anything bigger they usually have, usually got, you know, quite well, working teams within the organization. So we're, you know, the amount of effective contribution that we can add to that is, it's obviously going to be as a percentage, much lower. So it's, it's, it's really for that, that smaller sized profile of organization, and it's not sort of limited by particular industry or category. We've, you know, we work with all sorts. We've worked in sports, healthcare, FinTech, medical, professional services, software, publishing, all sorts, right across the board.   Michael Hingson ** 23:34 What got you started in marketing in the beginning, you you know you were like everyone else. You were a kid and you grew up and so on. What? What really made you decide that this was the kind of career you wanted?   Gee Ranasinha ** 23:46 Marketing wasn't my first career. I've had a few others in the past. I actually started off my first first company, and I founded, way back when was a media production company. I was a professional photographer, advertising photographer, working with advertising agencies as well as direct corporate commissions. This is in the days of film. This was way before digital image capture.   Michael Hingson ** 24:20 So this is going back to what the 1980s   Gee Ranasinha ** 24:23 it's going to late 80s to early 90s. Yeah, and I was working with eight by 10 and four by five view cameras, sometimes called plate cameras. It was mainly studio stuff. I was happier in the studio that we did location stuff as well. But studio was where I was happiest because I could control everything. I suppose I'm on control freak at the end of the day. So I can control every highlight, every nuance, every every part of the equation. And. And and that's where I started. And then after doing that for a while, I came I got involved with professional quality digital image capture. Is very, very it is very, very beginning. And was instrumental in the the adoption of digital image capture for larger print and publishing catalog fashion houses who were looking for a way to streamline that production process, where, obviously, up until then, the processing of film had been a bottleneck, right? You couldn't, you couldn't process film any quicker than the film needed to be processed, right the the e6 process, which was the the term for using a bunch of chemicals to create slides, die, positives, transparencies. I think it used to take like 36 minutes plus drying time. So there was a, you know, close to an hour wait between shooting and actually seeing what what the result was. And that time frame could not be reduced up until that point in time, the quality of digital image capture systems wasn't really all of that, certainly wasn't a close approximation to what you could get with with film at The time, until a number of manufacturers working with chip manufacturers, were able to increase the dynamic range and the the total nuances that you could capture on digital Of course, the problem at that time was we were talking about what, what were, What today is not particularly large, but was at the time in terms of file sizes, and the computers of the day would be struggling to deal with images of that high quality, so It was always a game of catch up between the image capture hardware and the computer hardware needed to to view and manipulate the image and by manipulate it was more more manipulation in terms of optimizing the digital file for reproduction in print, because obviously that was the primary carrier of, yeah, of the information. It was for use in some kind of printed medium. It wasn't like we were doing very much with with email or websites or anything else in the in the early 90s. So the conversion process to optimize a digital image captured file, to give the best possible tonal reproduction on printed material has always been a little bit of a black art, even when we when we were digitizing transparency films, going to digital image capture made things a lot more predictable, but it also increased the computational power needed, number one, but also for photographers to actually understand a little bit more about the photo mechanical print process, and there were very few photographers who understood both, both sides of the fence. So I spent a lot of time being a pom pom girl. Basically Mike. I was, I was, I was waving the pom poms and preaching large about the benefits of digital image capture and how and educating the industries, various in photographic industries, about, you know, possible best practices. There weren't any sort of standards in place at the time,   Michael Hingson ** 29:41 and it took a while for people to really buy into that they weren't visionary enough to understand what you were saying. I bet   Gee Ranasinha ** 29:48 Well, we were also taught very few were enough, and there were two reasons. One of them was financially based, because. We were talking about a ton of money, yeah, to do this properly, we were talking about a ton of money. Just the image capture system would easily cost you 50 grand. And this, you know this, this was in the days when 50 grand was a lot of money,   Michael Hingson ** 30:18 yeah, well, I remember my first jobs out of college were working with Ray Kurzweil, who developed Omni font, optical character recognition system. Oh, my goodness me, I did not know that. And the first machine that he put out for general use, called the Kurzweil data entry machine, was only $125,000 it worked. It still took a while to make it to truly do what it needed to do, but still it was. It was the first machine, and a lot of people just didn't buy into it. It took a while to get people to see the value of why digitizing printed material was so relevant, some lawyers, Some law firms, some banks and so on, caught on, and as people realized what it would do, then they got interested. But yeah, it was very expensive,   Gee Ranasinha ** 31:14 very expensive. And I think the other reason for the reticence is just nature, to be honest. Mike, I mean, you know, as as people, as human beings, most of us are averse to change, right? Because change is an unknown, and we don't like unknowns. We like predictability. We like knowing that when we get up in the morning, the sun's gonna come up and we're gonna go through our our usual routine, and so when something comes along that up ends the status quo to the point where we need to come up with adopting new behaviors that's very uncomfortable for many people. And you know, the adoption of digitization in, you know, any industry, I think, in everybody who's worked in any particular industry has has plenty of anecdotal evidence to show how people would consciously or unconsciously dragging their feet to adopt that change because they were happier doing stuff that they knew,   Michael Hingson ** 32:32 who went out of their comfort zone, right?   Gee Ranasinha ** 32:35 Absolutely, it's natural, it's, it's, it's who we are as as as human beings, who most of us are as human beings with, obviously, we're talking about the middle of the bell curve here. I mean, there are plenty of wackos on either side just go out and do stuff, right? And, you know those, you know, some of those get, you know, locked up with in straight jackets. But the other ones tend to, sort of, you know, create true innovation and push things forward.   Michael Hingson ** 33:04 Steve Jobs, even Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, good examples of some of the people who did things that most people didn't think could be done.   Gee Ranasinha ** 33:18 You know, the true innovation always happens at the periphery, but we tend to over emphasize the median. We know we try to make averages of everything, yeah, but averages aren't what moves the needle, right? No. And you know Britain, you know, for even for marketing, obviously, that's very much, very, very much my sort of thing. Um, most organizations, most business owners, certainly most marketing managers, find comfort in in executing their marketing in ways in which they are comfortable, in ways which are somewhat expected within the industry. But the problem is, it doesn't get you noticed. It doesn't get you attention. If you're in the middle, right? You know the worst, the worst place to walk on the in the street is in the middle of the road right, pick a side, but don't walk in the middle.   34:27 Not a good idea yet.   Gee Ranasinha ** 34:30 That's our our job is to is to, number one, generate attention, because there's no way we can communicate a message unless we have someone's attention. Everything starts from the attention side of things. Now there are very, you know, various ways that we can attract attention, but attention needs to come and needs to come from somewhere. And you know the definite. Of creating attention is to to create some kind of visual, audio, or combination of the two, experience which is somewhat outside of the norm, and create some kind of emotional response that our brains want to pay attention to, right? Want to notice? Because if you're not noticed, then there's no it doesn't matter how great your product is, doesn't matter how wonderful your customer service is, or it's available in 27 colors, or it's free delivery, or what you know, all the rest of it doesn't matter, because you know, unless people know who you are, what you do, who it's for, and why they should give a crap, then you know anything else you do after that Time is is moot, is irrelevant.   Michael Hingson ** 36:00 I read an interesting email this morning from someone who was talking about why speakers don't tend to be as successful as they should be. And this person talked about you could have the greatest speech in the world. You could be   Michael Hingson ** 36:17 talking and getting standing ovations and so on, but you're not getting a lot of speaking engagements, and his comment was the reason you're not is that your talk isn't necessarily relevant. I thought that was interesting. I think there's some things to be said for relevance, but I think it's also that you're not helping to get people to think and realize that being different and getting people to think and value that is more important than we tend to want to recognize as well.   Gee Ranasinha ** 36:59 I would, I would, I would wholeheartedly agree relevance is a very important component. But, you know, I maintain that it starts with attention. Yeah, relevance, I think, within the speaking world, I yes, there's so much we can do with relevance by by coming at a subject matter topic from a totally different perspective. Yeah, right. You know, just because you have the same message as 100 other competitors doesn't mean they have to say something in the same way, right? And so even if the core message is similar, the way that we choose to present that can be, you know, 100 101 different ways. And I think that is something that we forget, and I think that's one of the reasons why so much of the marketing that we see today is ignored. Yeah, you know, there's a there's a marketing Well, I wouldn't say the marketing model. There's a communication model, okay? Sales model actually called Ada, Ida, a, I D, A, okay. So even if you've not, not worked in sales or marketing at all, if you've even seen the film Glengarry Glynn Ross, or the play that it was based on. It's actually playing in New York City at the moment. I believe, yeah, a, I D, A, which is tracking the customer experience in four steps. So the idea is you have awareness, interest, desire and action, right? A, I, D, A, and it's understanding that there are four steps to getting to the position of negotiating the deal with a prospective buyer, but number one starts with awareness. You know they need, they need to be aware that you exist and nobody's going to buy from you if they don't know who you are. They need to know who they need to know who you are before they'll buy from you. Right then obviously needs to be an interest a product market fit what you're selling is something that they could conceivably use in terms of solving a particular problem that they perceive as having the desire. Why should they buy from you, as opposed to somebody else? Why do they. Need to buy your product, as opposed to a competitive product, and then finally, action, right? So that's what we might call sales, activation or performance marketing, or, you know, sales in the old terms, right? As they would say in that film, it's getting the getting the buyer to sign on the line that is dotted. But all of this stuff starts with attention and when we're not doing a very good job, I think as a mark, as an industry, we used to be really good at it, but I think we've taken our eye off the ball somewhat, and hoped that technology would fill in the gaps of our incompetence at being able to, excuse me, being able to shape the way that we market to customers, to buyers, in ways which create the memory structures in the brain to a sufficiently acute level so that when they are in The position to buy something, they think of us, as well as probably a number a handful of other suitors that solve their problem. And this is why, I think this is the reason why, because of the over reliance of technology, I mean, this is the reason why so much of our marketing fails to generate interest, sales to generate the tangible business results that are expected of it. Because we're, we're marketing by bullet point. We're expecting buyers to buy off a fact sheet. We've, we've exercised the creativity out of the equation. And we're and, and we were just producing this vacuous, generic vanilla   Michael Hingson ** 42:12 musach, yeah, if you   Gee Ranasinha ** 42:14 like, Okay, I mean, again, you know, think of any particular industry, you can see this. It's pretty much endemic. You can have two totally different organizations selling something purportedly solving the same problem. And you can look at two pieces of you can look at a piece of marketing from each company. And if you covered up the logo of each person of each company's marketing output, 10 will get you five that what's actually contained in the messaging is as equally valid for company A as it is for Company B, and that's a real problem.   Michael Hingson ** 43:00 It's not getting anyone's attention or creating awareness.   Gee Ranasinha ** 43:03 It's not creating attention or awareness. And worse, it's creating a level of confusion in the buyer's mind. Because we're we're looking for comparisons, we're looking at a way to make an educated decision compared to something else, and if we can't see why product A is miles ahead in our minds of Company B or product B, what often happens is rather than make a wrong decision, because we can't clearly differentiate the pros and cons between the two products, what we end up doing is nothing. We walk away. We don't buy anything, because we can't see a clear winner, which impacts company A and company B, if not the entire industry. And then they turn around and say, Oh, well, nobody's buying. Why? Why? Why is our industry lagging behind so many others? It's because we're just on autopilot, creating this, this nonsense, this generic sea of sameness in terms of communication, which we just don't seem to have a grip on the fundamental understanding of how people buy stuff anymore. We used to Yeah, up and up and up until probably the 90s. We used to know all this stuff. We used to know how get people going, how to stand out, how to create differentiated messaging, how to understand. Or what levers we could pull to better invoke an emotional reaction in the minds of the target buying audience that we're looking to attract. And then for some for, you know the if we plotted these things around two curves, you know, the point at which these curves would cross would probably be the adoption of technology,   Michael Hingson ** 45:29 whereas we came to reproduce the same thing in different ways, but you're still producing the same thing. The technology has limited our imagination, and we don't use re imaginations the way we used to.   Gee Ranasinha ** 45:43 We we've we're using, we're using technology as a proxy for reach. And getting in front of 1000 eyeballs or a million eyeballs or 100 million eyeballs doesn't necessarily mean any of those eyeballs are fit in the ideal customer profile we're looking to attract. Right? More doesn't mean better, and what what we're doing is we're trying to use technology to to fill in the gaps, but technology doesn't understand stuff like human emotion, right, and buying drivers and contextual messaging, right? Because all of this stuff human behavior is totally contextual, right? I will, I will come up with a and I'm sure you're the same thing. You will have a particular point of view about something one day and the next, the very next day, or even the very next hour, you could have a totally different viewpoint on a particular topic, maybe because you've had more information, or just maybe for the for the hell of it, right? We know we are we are not logical, rational, pragmatic machines that always choose the best in inverted commas solution to our issue.   Michael Hingson ** 47:23 Do you think AI will help any of this?   Gee Ranasinha ** 47:29 I think AI will help in terms of the fact that it will show how little we know about human behavior, and so will force forward thinking, innovative marketers to understand the only thing that matters, which is what's going on between the ears of the people we're trying to attract. I think AI is already showing us what we don't know, not what we know,   Michael Hingson ** 48:04 right? And it's still going to be up to us to do something about that and use AI as a tool to help possibly create some of what needs to be done. But it still requires our thought processes ultimately, to make that happen,   Gee Ranasinha ** 48:23 AI can't create. All AI can do is remix what has already been in existence, right? Ai doesn't create what AI does. The thing is, we're using AI for the wrong stuff. AI is really good at a ton of things, and it sucks big time at a load of other things. But for some reason, we want to throw all our efforts in trying to make it better at the things it's not good at, rather than use it at the things that it's really, really good   Michael Hingson ** 49:04 at, such as,   Gee Ranasinha ** 49:08 such as interpreting large data sets, Creating models of financial models, marketing models, marketing matrix, matrices, spotting, spotting trends in data, large, huge, like huge models of data, which no human being could really, in reality, Make any head in the tail of finding underlying commonalities in in the data to be able to create from that, to be able to draw out real, useful insights on that data to create new. New messaging, innovative products, services that we haven't thought of before because we haven't been able to see the wood for the trees,   50:13 if you like, yeah, right   Gee Ranasinha ** 50:17 for that sort of stuff, for the grunt work, for the automation. You know, do this, then do this, and all of that sort of stuff, A, B, testing, programmatic stuff, all of that stuff, banner ads and, you know, modifying banner all of that stuff is just basic grunt work that nobody needs, needs to do, wants to do, right? Give it all to AI it. Most AI is doing it, most of it anyway. We just never called it AI. You know, we've been doing it for 25 years. We just called it software in those days, right? But it's the same. It's the same goddamn thing. Is what we were doing, right? Let it do all of that stuff, because it's far better. And let's focus on the stuff that it can't do. Let's find out about what levers we need to pull at an emotional level to create messaging that better resonates in the minds of our buyers. That's what we need to do. Ai can't do that stuff right.   Michael Hingson ** 51:16 Where I think AI is is helpful today, as opposed to just software in the past, is that it has been taught how better to interact with those who use it, to be able to take questions and do more with it, with them than it used to be able to do, but we still have to come up with the problems or the issues that we wanted to solve, and to do it right, we have to give it a fair amount of information which, which still means we've got to be deeply involved in the process.   Gee Ranasinha ** 51:53 I mean, where it's great. I mean, if we're looking at, you know, Text, type, work, right, right, or I, or ideas or possibilities, or actually understanding the wider consideration set of a particular problem is that the hardest thing is, when you're staring at a blank piece of paper, isn't it? Right? We don't need that's the hardest thing, right? So we don't need to stare at a blank sheet anymore with a flashing cursor, right? You know, we can engage in a pseudo conversation that we need to take into consideration that this conversation is taking place based upon previous, existing ideas. So the chance that we'll get something fresh and original is very, very small. And as you just mentioned, you know, the quality of the prompt is everything. Get the prompt wrong and without enough granularity, details, specificity, whatever else you get just a huge piece of crap, don't you? Right? So in other words, having a better understanding of how we as humans make decisions actually improves our prompting ability, right, right?   Michael Hingson ** 53:12 And I think AI, it is not creative, but I think that AI can spew is probably the wrong word, but AI can put out things that, if we think about it, will cause us to do the creating that we want, but it's still going to be assets involved in doing that.   Gee Ranasinha ** 53:35 The problem is, and what we're seeing, certainly in the last couple of months, maybe even longer, maybe I just haven't noticed. It is just we were, you know, there's this old saying, you know, just because you can doesn't mean you should, right? I just see an absolute tsunami of vacuous, generic nonsense being spouted out across all types of channels, digital and otherwise, but mainly digital, all of it AI generated. Sometimes it's images, sometimes it's videos, sometimes it's both, sometimes it's text, whatever. But we we're adding to the noise instead of adding to the signal. So the inevitable result of all of this is going to be numbness. We're going to becoming different to marketing of all sorts, the good stuff as well as the bad. You're going to be it's we're just gonna get numb. So it's going to make the attention stuff. That's why I've been banging on about attention all this time, right? It's gonna, it's, yeah, there's, see, there is a method to my madness here. So the the point is that creation and maintaining. Attention is going to be even harder than it would have been before. Yeah, and, and we, you know, we're getting to the point where, you know, you've got agentic AI, where you've got agents talking to other agents and going around in this feedback loop. But we're not, we're not, we're not creating any emotional engagement from a, from a from a buyer perspective, from a user perspective, yes, it all looks great. And as a, as an exercise in technology, it's fantastic. So wonderful, right? But how has it increased sales? That's what I want to know has has it reduced or altered the cost of acquiring a customer and maintaining that customer relationship, because that's where the rubber hits the road. That's all that matters. I don't care whether it's a technological masterpiece, right, but if it hasn't sold anything, and actual sales, I'm not talking about likes and comments and retweets and all of that crap, because that's vanity metrics. Is nonsense   Michael Hingson ** 56:11 signing a contract. It's, you know,   Gee Ranasinha ** 56:16 there needs to be as an exchange of money at some point in time. Yeah, right. Is that happening? And I contend that it's not. And I think there are loads of people, loads of business owners, who are throwing money at this in the vain hope they you know that basically they're playing the numbers. They just need one horse to come in, 100 to one to be able to justify what they've spent on all of this stuff, right? Yeah, but I think those odds are getting longer and longer as each month goes, yeah. Well, you I think there's going to be an inevitable backlash back to stuff that actually resonates with people at a human level, at an emotional level, a psychological level, it has to   Michael Hingson ** 57:08 you started your marketing company 17 and a half years ago, caxino. Where'd that name come from?   Gee Ranasinha ** 57:18 From nothing? Okay, it doesn't mean anything I needed. I needed to have something which number one, that the domain was available. Of course, I needed to have something which was short, something that didn't mean, you know, something incongruous in another language and and so after a lot of to ing and fro ing, there were two schools of thought. At the beginning, we didn't know whether to go with something abstract, like caxino or something which was, you know, based based upon the the butting up of two existing words you know, like you see, you know, so many times, you know, big red table, or, you know, whatever. So we did, we decided to go with something abstract, so that we weren't encumbered by language.   Michael Hingson ** 58:22 You practiced what you preach pretty much. You're different, yeah, but why don't you call it? You don't refer to it as a digital marketing agency. Why is that?   Gee Ranasinha ** 58:34 No, I don't see us as a digital marketing agency, because digital marketing is not all we do. And not only that, I think, Well, I think there's, there's a number of reasons. Number one, I think we're using the word digital is, is a curveball. Firstly, because everything that we do is digital, right? Everything is already digital. Print is digital, TV is digital, billboards are digital. So saying digital is like saying electrical, electrical marketing agency, it makes as much sense to be honest. So that's number one. But I think the bigger issue is that by categorizing a marketing agency as being a digital marketing agency does a disservice to its work and indeed its outlook, because The object is not to be digital in your marketing, it's to do marketing in a digital world, which are two very different positions, okay? Because digital, the way that we're talking about it, is not a attributive noun, and it's certainly not an adjective. You. In the context that we're talking about it, digital is a channel. It's simply one way of getting in front of our audience. But it's not the only way of getting in front of our audience. Okay? So, yeah, along with many other reputable agencies, we happen to use the most appropriate channel of communication that makes sense to address a particular target audience group, and that's it. Okay, if that's digital, great. If that's walking down the street with an A frame with something written on the front of it, that's also great, okay, but it's, it's, it's not about it's not about the channel. It's about you being in the places where our target target audience group expects us to be. And so that's why I don't think of us as a digital marketing agency, because digital is only part of what we do, right? And we do many other things. And also, I think it puts it, it puts blinkers on things right? Because if you know, supposing, supposing you go to a Facebook marketing agency, of which there are many. Now, if you go to a Facebook marketing agency and you say, Okay, I want to do some ads. Where should I advertise? What are they going to tell you? Right, maybe Facebook, right? So there's, there's a thing called Maslow's hammer. Okay, in Maslow, as in the hierarchy, the Hierarchy of Needs Maslow. Okay to say, Maslow. He came up with this idea of Maslow's hammer. It's also known as the law of the instrument. And basically what it means, we can distill it down, is, if all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail, okay? And what that means is, you're looking to solve any problem that comes along by the tools that you have in your toolbox, regardless of whether that's the best way of moving forward, which I think is a very short term and myopic view. So that's why we we don't like to think of ourselves as the marketing agency, because there are many other there are many ways of solving a particular problem, and it doesn't necessarily have to be   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:50 digital,   Gee Ranasinha ** 1:02:51 digital or promotional or, you know, it's, it's like, you know, are we a video marketing agency? No. Does that mean we don't do video, not at all. Of course, we do it, right? We're not an AI marketing agency, right? In the same way, okay, when we're not a we're not a YouTube marketing agency,   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:11 you're a marketing agency. We're a marketing agency, right? What are some of the biggest mistakes that small businesses make when it comes to marketing?   Gee Ranasinha ** 1:03:21 I think the single biggest mistake, and I speak to business owners pretty much on a daily basis, right? I think the single biggest issue that comes up again and again and again is something which I call self diagnosis, which is the business owner, approaches the marketing agency, or even digital marketing agency, approaches the marketing agency, and says, You know what, I need you to do this for me. Whatever that this is, okay. So you know, maybe it's some digital ads, maybe it's some videos, maybe it's a website, maybe it's a whatever. It doesn't matter what it is, but basically, the business owner is coming to us, coming to the marketing agency, dictating what the tactic is to be, which presumes a number of things, not least, that they think they have come to the conclusion that this particular tactic is going to solve their marketing problem based upon usually waving a wet finger in the air, yeah, or they've seen a YouTube video or something, okay, it's not based on any marketing knowledge experience or education, because, with the greatest respect, these people do not have any marketing knowledge experience. Into education, right? And why would they? Because they're running a business, right? They don't, you know, they it doesn't mean that they've had to do this marketing stuff. So they're, they're, they're presuming that a particular tactic is going to solve a business problem, a marketing tactic is going to solve a business problem. And so what what happens is the the particular tactic is is executed. Nothing changes revenue wise. And so the business owner says, well, that marketing agency was crap. Let's go to another marketing agency and ask them to do something else. So it's playing pin the tail on the donkey. Really, just trying stuff and hoping so. The point is that. The point is that if you're going to pay somebody who does this for a living, the idea that you know more than they do is already setting the relationship on a uneven kill, right? Yeah, you know, if I, if I go, if I go and see my doctor, and I say, and I wake up in the morning and I've got a pain in my chest, and I thinking, oh my goodness, I go and see the doctor, right? So on the way to the doctor's office, I do the worst thing possible, which is go on the internet and say, Okay, what does pain in my chest mean? Right? And I go into the doctor's office, and I sit down and I say, Okay, I've got a pain in my chest, doctor, that means I've got angina. Can you give me some heart medication, please? What's the doctor gonna tell you? Doctor's gonna tell you, shut the hell up. Yeah, I'm the doctor in the office. I'm the actually, where's, Where's, where's your medical degree doesn't exist, does it? No, and   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:00 just because you have a broken rib, we're not going to talk about that. Are we right?   Gee Ranasinha ** 1:07:04 So, What? What? So what's the doctor going to do? The doctor is going to ask you a bunch of questions, right? What did you do the last couple of days? Right? What did you eat? Did you go to the gym and over exert yourself? What's your history? Do you is there a history of heart disease in the family, you know, maybe there's is going to he or she is going to take some blood, maybe they're going to run a few other sort of tests. They're going to do a diagnosis, and at the end of this diagnosis, the doctor is going to come back to you and say, You know what? So, based upon all the questions that you've kindly answered, and based upon the blood work and all these other tests and scans we've done, it turns out that the the pain in your chest is nothing to do with angina. The reason you got a pain in the chest is because you had some spicy food last night. So you don't have you don't have Anjali, you have gas. Yeah, right, right, so I prescribe you a couple of packs of Tums. Yeah, sorted, right. And that's the point. The point is the doctor knows what he or she is doing, and you have to have confidence in that particular medical practitioner to diagnose the issue and prescribe a solution to that issue, right? Your job is not to say what you think is wrong with you at this stage of the conversation. Your job is to tell me where it hurts. That's it right now, I'll come back to you with a list of things which I think we need to do to move forward. Now you can go and get a second opinion, just like at a doctor's office. You may think I'm full of crap, which is absolutely your prerogative. Or you may say, I know better than you. I'm going to do my own thing, which, again, it's your time Absolutely. But if it all goes to crap, you can't turn around and say, well, if only this person had said this, or, you know, If only, if only, if only, and play the victim, because that's also just not going to wash. And I see this time and time and time again. You know, we've tried, well, we've tried a number of different agencies, and none of them have been able to help us. And then you sort of dig a bit deeper, and it's because they're never allowed to do what they're supposed to do, because they've always been second guessed. Yeah, that is probably the single biggest issue that I see coming up again and again and again with small business in market now, if and if it's a question of not having faith in that. Uh, agency, then you shouldn't have been employed. You shouldn't have that agency in the first place.   Michael Hingson ** 1:10:05 Get a second opinion.   Gee Ranasinha ** 1:10:07 You know, not all, not all agencies are great, just like not all plumbers are great. Not all mechanics are great. Same thing, right? It takes time to find the good ones, right? Um, but just because you found a bad one, because I don't know they were cheap, or they were local, or they were whatever, you know, whatever, whatever criteria you tend to use to base your decision upon, right? You can't, you can't criticize what they did if you didn't allow them to do what they were actually being paid to do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:10:47 Well, speaking of that, if people want to reach out to you, how do they do that?   Gee Ranasinha ** 1:10:53 Best way to get hold of me. Gee is on LinkedIn. I spend most of my time on LinkedIn. I post twice a week. I post videos about some of the sorts of things that we've been talking about today, and they're only sort of 60 seconds long, 90 seconds long. It's not sort of taking up anybody's time very much. You can find me there. Would you believe, Mike, there is only 1g runner scene on LinkedIn. Can you imagine fortuitous? How fortuitous is   Michael Hingson ** 1:11:27 that? Yeah, really, and G is spelled G, E, and how do you spell your last name?   Gee Ranasinha ** 1:11:33 You could eat. I'm sure all of this still, the stuff will be put in. It will, but I just figured it we could. But yeah. G, renasina, you can find me there. Otherwise, obviously you can find us on Kexino, k, e, X, I, N, o.com, which is the website, and there's plenty of information there textual information, there are videos, there are articles, there are all sorts of bits and pieces that you can find more about us   Michael Hingson ** 1:12:04 there. Well, this has been absolutely wonderful, and I really appreciate you taking more than an hour to chat with us today. And I hope this was fun, and I hope that people will appreciate it and will reach out to you and value what we've discussed. I think it's been great love to hear from all of you out there. Please feel free to email me. Michael H, i@accessibe.com so that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, and love to hear from you wherever you're listening. Please give us a five star rating. We value those ratings very highly, and we'd love to to to hear and see you rate us and get your thoughts. If you know of anyone else who might be a good guest for unstoppable mindset. Gu as well, we'd sure appreciate your referring them to us. Introduce us. We're always looking for more people to to chat with, so please do that and again, gee, I just want to thank you one more time for being here. This has been great,   Gee Ranasinha ** 1:13:02 absolute pleasure, delighted to be invited.   Michael Hingson ** 1:13:10 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Kiera is joined by Dr. Hunter Bennett of Bonita Endodontics to dive into the ins and outs of dentistry partnerships, including hiring for passion, splitting tasks, going DSO, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am like beyond excited for this podcast. This is all of my worlds combining into one in such a beautiful, magical way. The guests that I have on today actually is a throwback to my Midwestern days. So I met Dr. Hunter Bennett at Midwestern when he was a pre-dentist ⁓ in the sim clinic of good old Midwestern University in Arizona. ⁓ That school is better known as the Harvard of the West and Hunter was a dental student there.   And then he went on for endo residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2017. Following his residency, he returned to Arizona and practice in the mountain town of Prescott for two years. In 2019, he moved his family across the country all the way over to Florida. He is married to his beautiful wife, Lacey. They have five kids from 12 to seven months old, 12 years old to seven months old. Hunter is busy. And the reason I wanted to Hunter on is because yes, I love a good throwback to Midwestern. Like it is truly the highlight of highlights, but Hunter has gone through   being an associate, being an owner, selling to a DSO. And I wanted him to come on and give perspectives of all of those, because I think so many dentists are questioning, what's my path? What's in front of me? And Hunter is kind of like, I feel like you're the buffet of dentistry. So like, which one was actually best for you? And I'm really excited for that. So Hunter, welcome. I'm so proud of who you are. I'm like, mama bear heart over here. Just so proud of you. Welcome to the show today. How are you?   Hunter Bennett (01:25) this is so good. I'm so excited. I love the buffet of dentistry. That's like maybe the nicest name anybody's ever given me. I love it. It's so good.   The Dental A Team (01:31) Hey, you're welcome.   You're welcome. And how fun is this? As we were like prepping, told you, was like, Hunter, it's just like you and me, Sim back in Sim clinic. Like we're over there. Like you're prepping your like class ones, classes. I still remember you walking up with loops, gloves on. You knew I'd smack you with a ruler. Like not really smack guys. I was nice in that. But if those gloves did not come up at Sim, like take those off. Kiera, come on. Do I really have to? Yeah, gross. I'm training you. Do not have cross contamination. So welcome back to Sim. It's so good to see you again.   Hunter Bennett (01:59) I   haven't forgotten that I changed my gloves just literally all the time all the time so I appreciate it. It's how this has come full circle though truly I mean like and you haven't changed like you're still the same person just awesome and you're just always that bright personality that bright in the lab so and it's cool just to see how far you've come I'm really proud of you it's awesome.   The Dental A Team (02:19) Thank you, thank you. I think it's serendipitous because the whole reason I built the company was for students like yourself. I think the love, I feel like emotions coming on and I don't wanna cry. Like I genuinely just love the Midwestern students so much. I like just so proud of you guys. I watched your journeys. mean, shoot, how long has it been since we graduated? Like I left Midwestern in shoot, like 2015, 2016 realm.   Hunter Bennett (02:44) That's where   I was. I think you got hired like when we got there. I think that that was your first year was my first year in the sim. And then you, I think you left with us too. So yeah, we kind of went to dental. We basically went to dental school together essentially. So yeah, you're basically a classmate. Yeah. 100%.   The Dental A Team (02:47) I did.   I think I did.   We did and helping you guys learn x-rays. Honestly, Dr. Smith   and Dr. Morrow did tell me that I care if you ever want to come to dental school, we don't even care. I didn't like confess this on like to the world. They didn't say all these words, but it basically was like, hey, we don't care what your death scores are. Like we'll accept you no matter what. I'll be that student. But then I decided I just love helping dentists. I love helping you guys. I love being that teammate to you. Like I was able to be in sim. I love seeing you succeed. I love being that support.   Hunter Bennett (03:06) Yeah, they won't care. They won't care.   Just get in. ⁓   The Dental A Team (03:23) that person that's there. Like when you're having those bad practicals or you need to chat shop or whatever it is. it's just real fun. And again, like mama bear proud of where you are and what you've done. and I ran into each other at the Dennis Money Summit together. And that was a throwback. You, Jeremy Mahoney, was like Midwestern crew was back together and just a fun time.   Hunter Bennett (03:28) Yeah.   You don't even, you   don't realize how huge our little side conversations were to me. And I texted you a little bit about this, but like, we don't have to get into all of that, but like just those few conversations literally changed my life. And I'm not exaggerating. I'm not exaggerating. So we can talk about that later, but ⁓ yeah, I so appreciate you and some of your insights and watching your journey and your presentation was just so off the charts.   The Dental A Team (04:03) Yeah. ⁓   Hunter Bennett (04:10) Everything about it was so good. Your stage presence, the delivery, ⁓ the message. I still can remember a lot of the stuff you said. So, ⁓ yeah, good job. It's just, I'm not surprised you are where you are. And like I said, it's been fun to watch and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to connect again. So, but yeah, you literally was life-changing for me. I'm not exaggerating.   The Dental A Team (04:18) Thank you. Thank you.   Well, that makes me really happy. And thank you. And we'll say that that's the dessert of the dentistry buffet here. So we'll save that conversation for our dessert. ⁓ But I think what you just said is what Dental A Team's purpose is like my purpose is life is my passion dentistry is my platform. And so I feel so blessed and lucky that dentistry brought all of us together and but able to help you have your dream life to be able to give conversations about that.   Hunter Bennett (04:34) Okay.   Sure.   The Dental A Team (04:56) At the end of the day, if businesses aren't serving our lives, then what are we doing? And I'm really getting sticky on that. I'm really starting to hunker down on that harder because I think it's so easy to obsess about the profit, the numbers, like what route should I go? But at the end of the day, if it's not serving the bigger purpose of our life, of our family, of who we want to be, I really think it's a good time to question that and to ask to make sure the star we're headed towards is truly the North Star that we actually want to achieve.   Hunter Bennett (05:01) percent.   The Dental A Team (05:23) So I'm really grateful and yeah, I'm just excited for you to share with our audience of Hunter Bennett going through a associateship, residency, ownership, DSO, and then cherry on top of side conversation that we had. ⁓ and just know that all conversations, I think it's a good Testament. They're just, they're genuine. Like, I just want you guys to succeed in whatever path that looks like. And if I can be a guide in any of that rock on, that's what I'm here for. So just like I used to give you teeth.   help you learn to take your gloves off. I'm here to help you make life choices and better practice decisions too.   Hunter Bennett (05:58) Absolutely. You're crushing it. Well, so yeah, yeah. Pros and cons. So I think, you know, before diving into that decision, I think it's really important. Like the big part of my journey was I've just learned so much along the way that my first job was in a place where in Prescott, like that's where I wanted to like, was like, okay, this is, I'm going to be in this town until I die. Like I'm so happy here.   The Dental A Team (06:00) Okay, take it away. Walk me through. Walk me through the pros cons. Let's hear about it.   Hunter Bennett (06:24) And I was in an amazing practice. Like he was such a good practice. the guy that I replaced, ⁓ Nate Duesnup, he, my coming there sort of sparked his leaving because that he had been trying to get in that practice as an owner for quite a while. He'd been there seven years. so my coming sparked a lot of those conversations and they didn't really come to an agreement per se. so ⁓ Nate went and bought a practice in Florida. I, you know, I kind of found that out along the way and I showed up and then me and Nate became friends.   But I knew within probably the first two months I wasn't going to stay at this practice like long, long, long term. Um, it was very clear to me that there wasn't going to be a pathway to partnership. I was a business major. I always planned on owning practice. Um, but this was a really good opportunity. I'm really, really grateful for, um, just that, that chance that I had, but I knew immediately, like I wasn't, um, I wasn't seen as a partner, you know, which is very like, wasn't, I was just an associate and I felt like I just had way more to offer.   The Dental A Team (06:59) you   Hunter Bennett (07:22) I was, I was probably as much of a gung ho person as, as you can be coming out of residency as far as trying to be an owner. ⁓ but I was willing to like sort of sweat my way in if that's what it took just to be where I, where I wanted to live. ⁓ so long story short, like I learned pretty quickly that wasn't going to happen. So started just taking a bunch of CE, ⁓ traveling and then became good friends with Nate. Nate's like, Hey, just come check out Florida, you know? And, ⁓ so yeah, I went out there and, and, ⁓   The Dental A Team (07:35) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (07:52) If I've ever had a prayer answered as clearly as that, that was it. I mean, was, was clear as day. That's where my family was supposed to be. I actually served a mission for my church in Florida. I never planned to go back. ⁓ And that's ⁓ Tampa. So they actually, yeah, it was inside my mission, but I live in Naples and so didn't spend a ton of time in Naples, but yeah. So anyways. ⁓   The Dental A Team (08:03) No way. Same place?   Yeah?   I know Naples. I consulted a practice in Naples.   It's a beautiful place. Yeah, it's awesome.   Hunter Bennett (08:16) Yeah, yeah.   It's a, it's an awesome place and, ⁓ coming here was, it was definitely not like what I envisioned, but the practice was and the partnership was, and we experienced just like when I got here, he had bought the practice and the old owner was staying on like 50 % of the time and Nate was just grinding, you know, expanded the office. He had already done a lot of the footwork to get us to seven ops and.   We grew so fast, like we tried to find associates, like within my first six months, I didn't even bought in yet. We were already interviewing for associates and we couldn't find anybody that we just really wanted to send offers to. But yet we were just like in the chair all day. And I'm sure you hear this all the time. Like, I'm sure you get this all the time, Cary. It's like just grinding and grinding and then like you get done and then you're dealing with, you know, assistance and days off and they want to raise and, and just drama.   The Dental A Team (09:01) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (09:12) Taxes, know workers comp I mean you name it like all the things that come after work that are so stressful and Having a young family and and then just like like responsibilities outside of work like, know for us like there's a lot of stuff going on at church ⁓ At home. I was coaching my kids. So again, I think a lot of people that are listening can relate to this lifestyle and I think   The Dental A Team (09:14) Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (09:36) I as as I prepped for this conversation, we had a couple options. One option was to bring in a consultant, which we had thought about, and we already because we both came from the same practice in Arizona that had used a consultant, we felt like we sorta. We already knew how to be efficient. We already had a ton of systems in place. I think we struggled a little bit culturally. And I think frankly, this isn't a. You didn't put me up to this, but like had we hired someone like you like honestly, we may not have gone to DSO route. Frankly, like.   The Dental A Team (09:50) Yeah.   Sure.   Hunter Bennett (10:05) Cause all the things we were struggling with, think could have been dealt with in a different way. But we saw the DSO route as, as an option, you know, um, and there's, mean, we went back and forth and like, that's all we would talk about. We'd get done and then we talked about it for like an hour and then we'd go in cycles and circles. And this is the pro, this is the con. And ultimately we landed on, you know, um, this is just a really good way to sort of bring some balance in our lives. And I'll be honest with you. I, I hated, hated.   The Dental A Team (10:10) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (10:35) hated like the first six months, the transition period for us was particularly hard. We have a very unique practice. But I'm in almost four years now, and I will say like, I feel like it all happened for a reason. And it's really allowed me a ton of flexibility in my life, and my lifestyle has improved a ton. So kind of what you described as sort of your purpose and letting people   The Dental A Team (10:40) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (11:03) kind of see like what is your North Star? Like what is your real purpose? ⁓ I don't think that would have been, I don't think I would have been able to discover that had I continued on the path that I was on, honestly. So a DSO I think is good. First of all, when you talk about like a DSO, it's like a swear word, right? Because there's so many types of DSOs and there are some bad players out there for sure. And so like deservedly so, there's a lot of companies that should have a bad name, but there's also some really good ones.   The Dental A Team (11:14) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (11:33) And that was one   thing, like we interviewed around and we met with a lot of different groups and talked to people from different groups. And I think there's a lot of good groups out there, but I'm actually quite happy with our group overall. And it's been four years and I will say like a lot of the turmoil I felt in that first six months was just the change, know, the change in trajectory, like giving up. I still run my practice. The thing is like, no one knows that I'm in a DSO. Like people know like my referring doctors now, but like they don't care.   The Dental A Team (11:44) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (11:59) Because nothing changes like nothing I run the way I want to run it and that's very unique to my group. I would say we hire we fire we make days off like we do pretty much anything we want we bought you know, we can get equipment so I Feel like my day-to-day really hasn't changed and I know that's not true for every DSO I think DSOs can be compared to like like restaurants for example. It's like ⁓ don't go out to eat because it's not healthy It's like well, I mean generally speaking probably true, but there are some healthy options out there   The Dental A Team (12:00) Right.   Mm-hmm.   Totally.   Right.   Hunter Bennett (12:29) And   ⁓ that's kind of how I see DSOs is like I do think there are some healthy options out there and it totally depends on personality. So. ⁓ I will say like the pros for me so far and you can ask me like maybe some more specifics, but yeah, yeah, so I'm so. Yeah, like that's that's just the general story, but I will say like you know this far in like that's kind of the general gist of my experience and if I could do it all over again, I I probably would. ⁓   The Dental A Team (12:37) Mm-hmm.   I'm going to ask some questions. I'm like plunging behind. I've got a decent amount. I'm excited for it.   Hunter Bennett (13:00) I say though, like I am very curious to see what it would have been like to have hired, you know, like to bring you in and just say like, all right, come in here. And a couple of my assistants were like, don't bring the consultant, don't hire a consultant. And I don't think that really influenced me as much as I felt like, honestly, I just felt like I didn't need one, but looking back now, I think that definitely would have been a really good option. So I think you either go the DSO route or you bring someone in. But again, I talked to dentists, I work with a bunch of different dentists. I talked to a bunch of guys all the time, every day.   The Dental A Team (13:08) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Sure.   Hunter Bennett (13:30) And they haven't had such good experiences with consultants either. So I'm sure you'd get the same thing, you know, but.   The Dental A Team (13:33) I do. That's   one of my first questions when I walk into an office. Tell me what you think about consultants and it's a rip. And I want them to, because why not? Like let's get it on the table. And I think, I think the difference with us consulting versus others, because consultants are going to be there's good and bad, just like there are of DSOs, just like there are of marketing, which is like there is a people. I think the difference is one,   Hunter Bennett (13:39) Yeah, yeah, totally.   The Dental A Team (13:58) I come a team member first. So like my job is to help dentists and I'm a business owner and a multimillion dollar business owner second. And so when you combine those two perspectives together, I very much understand the business side of it. And it's not just theories and ideas. It's true, like hard knocks, ⁓ hundreds and thousands of offices and team members of what are the processes. But second, like I don't hire MBA students. I don't hire people that are just like,   you know, they, want to be a consultant. hire people that have a passion for it. They've been in the front and the back office. So I think teams, that's why I actually named it Dental A Team. want it to be dentists and teams because so many consulting companies either focus on the dentist or they focus on the team, but not both. I'm like, but you have to get both on the same page. And teams are freaked out by consultants. Consultants come in and fire. Consultants are stressful. Consultants are rigid. They make you do it this way. And my thoughts are no one, it's you with your vision.   Hunter Bennett (14:42) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (14:55) it's what do the numbers tell us and the profitability and three based on those two pieces, what are the systems that we need to improve based on like the problems in the practice too. And when you go about it that way and my job is to make life easier, not harder. I think when you go about it that way, teams are not as scared. And that's also why we built the podcast. So teams could hear us. They could learn like, what do we talk about? Because I think a lot of it's just the unknown. And so I, that's going to be like my two cents for a consultant, but I'm going to like back up for you Hunter on, have questions for you.   Hunter Bennett (15:24) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (15:25) I have question marks all the way around. One, think actually excellent point on the associateship and doctors listening, Hunter, you said you were a very equipped, very eager associate. You have a degree in business. I mean, you've got like the little gold star around you, a prime, ⁓ an associate prime for partnership that I think so many doctors are afraid and they don't know how to build partners in that they actually miss a lot of golden opportunities. And so   I like that was one of the nuggets I picked up from your story of like, I don't know who the doctor was and I'm not here to judge. They have their own story, their own reasons. But I think when doctors have great associates like yourself, you're destined to like, I know you're going to own a practice. When you come in with that type of acumen behind you, you're going to own a business. So either I can be smart and snag you and partner in with you and have you help me build and create it. Or I can let you go and you're either going to become my competitor or you're going to go somewhere else. And so there's no right or wrong.   but I think so many owner doctors, do see this. They're afraid bringing on a partner, you do like take home less pay. Like with air quotes, you get paid upfront, but you're like day in, day out is less. ⁓ But I really wanted to highlight that because I think like, well, it all worked out perfectly for you, Hunter. I think doctors listening to this could definitely learn from that. And it's okay if you don't want a partner. Some people are adamant of no partners. They don't want to give any of that up. They don't want to give away the control. That's okay. Don't hire someone like Hunter.   Or be okay that he's gonna probably leave you in about one to two years. And like any thoughts around that? They do.   Hunter Bennett (16:50) Yeah. I think everybody goes through that. Yeah. No, a   hundred. Like I have a ton of thoughts about that because it's, it's, I do, because I mean, I hear it all the time, like every week where Dennis is like, well, I'm just going to plug in an associate and then I'll just take some time off. it's like, that's not really how it works because you have to decide in like Jeremy Mooney, for example, like I talked to Jeremy all the time. He's one of my best friends and you sort of, I know it, I feel like every time I talk to him,   The Dental A Team (16:57) Talents.   Hunter Bennett (17:19) And he wouldn't mind me saying this, like just inevitably what happens is when someone doesn't buy in all the way or they just treat it like a job, like they come and go, you know, and that's, that's the price you pay. And so as a specialist, like we have to maintain relationships and referring offices. if associates are coming and going, that is such a, it's it's a rough look. And then for a dental practice, it's the same thing where patients, know, patients come to me they're like, I went to this practice and I saw the third doctor in my third visit, you know, and it's, they don't like that turnover.   And so what you make in money you pay for in stress and headache, I think on an associate, like when you're making money on your associate, not to mention all the headaches that come with training, reviews, stuff like that. ⁓ And so, yeah, I think ⁓ I totally see both sides of it. And the doctor that Nate and I both work for, he's got like four associates now and he's crushing it. So like, good for him. know, like that's, he's doing really, really well.   The Dental A Team (18:14) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (18:16) ⁓ Me and eight are like best friends and we have this relationship that like will be friends for life like he's like he doesn't have any brothers like I'm like his brother he's like my third brother, you know, it's just We just have this amazing relationship that I wouldn't trade for anything, you know, and not all partnerships are that way I think we've been super super blessed and super lucky that way but when both partners are both givers and you both want to just work hard and you have their back no matter what like you can find that man like   The Dental A Team (18:21) Mm-hmm.   Agreed.   Hunter Bennett (18:44) whatever money you give up by being a partner, you'll get back in like that, just sitting down at the end of the day and having someone to talk to that you're equal in business plan with, to take risks with, to, you know, even just to have like that comfort of talking to someone, you know, like you you get done with a tough day and just having that person there is, is priceless. I don't think you can put a price tag on that. So I wouldn't give up my partnership with Nate for anything, you know, and, and,   The Dental A Team (19:00) Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (19:09) Yeah, and and I think that's quite unique like in our DSO like no one really knows like we have like 400 partners I think now and Like when they think of Nate they think a Hunter or when they think a Hunter they think about Nate like we're just known like you usually don't see one without the other so to the doctors out there that own if you can find someone like that or someone even remotely close like man and someone that's gonna stay long-term like you eliminate so much stress and so many headaches by being open to having a partner and then if you have associates that might come and go   The Dental A Team (19:20) Awesome.   Hunter Bennett (19:38) And you want, you have the space and the availability and you want to do that, that's an option. But if you feel like you're drowning and you can find someone that's a really good business partner, I definitely see the value. Cause Nate and I, spent the better part of two years looking for associates to work for us. And again, it's that whole thing of like, well, man, I don't think they're going to be, I don't think they're going to have the personality that we need. But you know, then you hire, then you interview the really good ones. You're like, well, they're going to want to be a partner so we can't hire them. So you're just always playing that game of like.   There is no perfect answer. You know, you don't, you don't have like a unicorn associate that's just, and maybe there are a few where they just are just a total 10 out of 10, but then they just don't want to own. just want to show up. So it's pretty rare. They will. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (20:17) Totally. And some will. It is.   But okay, that actually led me to my next point I wanted to dig into because partnerships, some are magical like you guys have and others sink ships. So I want to hear how did you get into the partnership? Like what, what does that look like? How much did you both bring? Like as much as you want to get into the nitty gritty with me, because I think partnerships are so challenging to do well and to hear that you and Nate have a great thing. So I'm almost like, okay,   Hunter Bennett (20:24) Yeah.   Yeah, totally.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (20:46) There were some tips about associateships and bring us and I agree like, welcome down, like have these people with you. They're going to grow your business. I could not do a Dental A Team does without incredible consultants. And while none of them are partners per se, a lot of them, I've given them opportunities to do different pieces, tip from the get-go. We talked about, offered her to be a partner. She's like, heck no, I want nothing to do with that, but give me my time and give me my life with my child and girl I'm with you forever. So get read, there are different things, but I mean,   Did I give up money when I first brought in all these other consultants to help out? The answer is yes. But I look at it now and it actually like makes me so giddy to see there are so many practices we're impacting that me as a solo person could not serve at that level. So that's, think the beauty of like, yes, there's a dip, but there's also growth in and serving that you can do at a higher level. So with that said on associates, now we're moving into partnerships. Walk me through Hunter. I want to know the like ins, outs, good, bad, like partnerships. I'm sure you guys have had.   some knockout drag outs. I'm sure you guys have had highs and lows in partnerships. I'm sure you like, but I'm curious, like, how did you guys structure it to make it great for both of you? And then I'm to go into DSO. So I want to know partnership though, because like, it's my buffet. I'm choosing an associate now buying and being partners in DSO.   Hunter Bennett (21:57) Yeah.   Yeah,   yeah, for sure. think the key was ⁓ for me and Nate, like we're both givers. And so, you know, we never have fought over money. you know, there's just never, we've just been lucky to not have that. We're very similar because we kind of cut our teeth in the same practice. We had the same philosophy too. Like just we're very, very efficient. both work super, super hard.   The Dental A Team (22:25) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (22:26) So we're both hard drivers that way. We're both very perfectionistic Like we we both do the same type of root canals like we we kind of have the same treatment philosophy, you know, ⁓ And granted he's seven years older than me So like Nate you I have to give him a ton of credit because he's just been super helpful clinically and like I felt like after years like I was actually I wasn't at my prime prime for sure But like I was I was I was cooking I was doing pretty good and he helped bring me up to where I am   The Dental A Team (22:50) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (22:53) Now, you know, I've been here like seven years now, but like that first year, like he still just helped me, you know, deal with some of the tougher cases. Naples is just a place that tough cases. But the thing that, thing, yeah, it's old people, retired, calcified, whatever stuff from Europe. That's like totally, totally crazy. But ⁓ he was just so patient. And so just, man, he was just so happy to have me here. Cause he was like, he was burning out. Like he was so tired. And so he was just grateful I was here. He always told me that.   The Dental A Team (23:01) Right? is. It's a good place for business.   Hunter Bennett (23:20) The way we structured it. I worked for him for a year and I was supposed to buy in after the first year, but COVID had hit. so banks weren't like, they were like, hold on, chill out. Like it was literally like March I was supposed to buy in. And so like, you know, we were like, me and him were like alternating days and like, you know, like sharing N95s cause that's all we had. And I mean, that's a whole nother thing. So that delayed the buy-in like six months. And during that time, like, yeah. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:27) ⁓ huh.   Yeah.   And hold on, before you go to that, when you moved out there, was it part of   your contract and agreement that you were going to buy in in a year? Was it 50-50? Were those things like in place? Were those like in your contract? Okay.   Hunter Bennett (23:51) Yeah, one year. Yeah, yeah, it was all agreed to.   And you know, I actually don't know if it was in, so the thing was like, when I was in Prescott, I went to the same church that Nate had gone to, like I went to the same congregation. So everybody that knew him just absolutely loved him. Like he was like the cream of the crop. Everybody was just like, you know, like I felt like I was partnering with like, you know, just this.   The Dental A Team (24:10) Mm.   Hunter Bennett (24:18) Completely amazing person which he is so I had no doubts. Yeah, it's like the Michael Jordan like not even I don't even know like analogy would be like Muhammad Gandhi like he was like just such this Just a good dude, you know and so I didn't have a lot of reservations as far as our agreements go and then just again, maybe not the smartest thing but like I don't know it may have been in the writing but I don't really remember and I wasn't that worried about it because I guess naively I trusted him and just felt like it would work out but this was all verbally agreed to   The Dental A Team (24:18) Michael Jordan of dentists.   Wow.   Because I do know for some people   like some people have it's the verbal agreement. I'm sure   Hunter Bennett (24:47) I would, mean, he would have been willing to, he would have been willing   to, and maybe it was, like it might have been in our first contract. I had David Cohen write it up, I had to go back and look, but he did our partnership agreement too. He's awesome for anybody that needs an attorney, but yeah, I've sent him a ton of people. But that was the thing, like we had all that agreed to, then the other conversation that I know a lot of people don't have, and a lot of people hold resentment about is how you're gonna   The Dental A Team (25:00) We do love David Cohen. We refer to him quite a lot.   Hunter Bennett (25:17) split profits. And so we decided early on, it's like, eat what you kill. Like if you do, so the way I did it, I, we, sort of calculated a rough guesstimation of what our overhead was. And then we gave ourselves like, we would do, okay, you get this percentage. We each get this percentage of our production. And then let's say it was like 45, 55, then we split the profits that same way. Whatever's leftover, we're going to split by that same amount. And frankly, like, I don't think we were ever correct.   The Dental A Team (25:18) Totally.   Mm-hmm.   by the amount that you produced? Is that correct? So,   okay.   Hunter Bennett (25:45) collected. we're   fever like our collection is same as product like we're yeah, so it's the same number but Yeah   The Dental A Team (25:50) Right. So sorry, let me back this up. So you guys go produce   and let's just use numbers. Usually in GP, it's 30 % of what you produce. Usually in specialty, you're like 40, 45 % of what you produce. Like let's just use some like loose numbers, hypothetical.   Hunter Bennett (26:03) Sure.   The Dental A Team (26:04) Nate, you produce, you're welcome. We've got this. So let's just say you produce 100 grand in a month. Nate produces 100 grand in a month. Let's say you guys are both taking 30 % your specialist. So giggle at me because I know you're not 30%. You both would be taking 30 grand of that leaving. We've got 70 from each of you, but we have overhead in that as well. So we've got to take our overhead out of there. So we've got 70, 70 hypothetical we're going to take. Let's just do let's leave at the end there's 60,000.   Hunter Bennett (26:21) Yep. Yep.   Yep. Yep.   Say 50.   The Dental A Team (26:33) 60,000 of profit   Hunter Bennett (26:34) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (26:34) at the end of it after you guys have produced 200,000, collected 200,000, you both have been paid your 30,000 each. Of that 60,000, how was that split? Was that a 50-50 split or was it based on like, let's say you produced 100 grand, but Nate produced 200 grand. Did the 60,000 at the end get split based on production amounts or was that like, how was the profit split?   Hunter Bennett (26:54) Correct.   Yeah, so we would just split the profit exactly like you described in the latter example where it's based on what you produced that month or collected that month, then we would split the profits that month. And I just had a spreadsheet, I did all the math. And so we would just work it out between the two of us. And we never had an issue. I would just plug it and just plug and chug and it was never an issue. And truly like...   The Dental A Team (27:09) Nice.   Hunter Bennett (27:19) We were never more than like 52 48, you know, that might've been like, ⁓ you know, I don't remember a month ever being off by more than 2 % or 4%. So it really wasn't a big battle. And one thing too, that I told Nate going into this, and this was for me, I had to just like, was president of like my business school, like my junior year president of the whole business school, like the vice president of all business school, my senior year, like   The Dental A Team (27:23) Thank you.   interesting.   Hunter Bennett (27:45) I was used to being leadership positions. I was used to sort of being in charge. But I knew coming here, he was there first. And I told him, was like, I know you're going to be the alpha. All the referrals know you. I'm just going to have to take that backseat role. And I think me just acknowledging that and accepting that was so important because I had no ego. I didn't have to prove that there was no competition between me and Nate. We were 100 % on the same team.   The Dental A Team (27:56) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (28:12) ⁓ Again, and maybe that's unique to a specialty practice because you're kind of working together maybe more than you would in a GP office. I don't know. ⁓ Or maybe you're competing for patients a little more. I'm not sure. I've never worked in a GP office. But the dynamics for us is like, we're just, there's like all the referrals. It doesn't matter which doctor you want. Like you're getting your next available doctor unless there's a few exceptions. So we were very good about having no egos. And that was really important to our partnership too. But   financially it was quite easy for us and convenient just because our numbers were pretty similar. Or if he took a couple weeks off, then obviously he'll still get his collections from that month, but then I would get a little bit bigger chunk of the profit. But then when I took my time off the next month, they would just work itself out. so, ⁓ and he was always, like I said, he was always at the end of the year, Nate always produces just a little more than me. And I was just okay with it. You know, I was like, whatever, hang on.   The Dental A Team (28:46) Mm-hmm.   Sure.   Sure.   Hunter Bennett (29:06) And this I think is the desert that we can talk about later because how do we   The Dental A Team (29:07) Fascinating. Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (29:10) measure success? How do we measure fulfillment? And when we tie it to profits and numbers and income, it's just not super healthy. And I've had to learn that. Like that's probably been one of my biggest paradigm shifts over the last year, year and a half and sparked by your presentation and the conversations that we had. So.   The Dental A Team (29:27) Well, that's fascinating to me and thank you. That's a huge compliment. ⁓ I'm fascinated by that partnership split and the fact that you both were eat what you kill. I actually love that because then you got two very motivated partners. Also, you don't accidentally get one partner who's not pulling their weight. I know a lot of times ⁓ and I think the difference that I sometimes see in GP versus specialty is sometimes I have a super producer in GP.   So one who's doing hybrid and implants and all these different cases. And then I've got another doctor who's doing bread and butter. Well, obviously the super producer is going to produce more, but you need the bread and butter dentist to be taking care of all those profie patients and all the day in day out. So you can super produce. So those ones, often will see that it's more going to be a 50 50 split, but I do oftentimes see the super producer gets a little annoyed because they're like, if they're not both givers.   ⁓ I've seen this wax hard on partnerships just in the fact of you look at the numbers and what are you putting up on the board? But I think those partners really have to look at this. It's the ultimate whole. And if the ultimate whole of the business is doing well, both parties are winning. And they have to just see that they bring different strengths to the table, just like in a marriage. And we're not looking at dollars on the board. We're looking at collective as a practice. But that is one where I do watch. And so I do think in specialty, that might be something I had not thought of.   but I love to hear how you guys broke it down, how you picked it apart. And also the fact that there was no ego on taking a patient. Cause I do sometimes see that in partnerships where, if I'm going to get what I kill, I want more of these patients. I want to take them on because that's going to impact my production. But at the end of the day, you guys are still doing well on the profit side. So fascinating to me to hear how it was set up, how you guys got into it, how the buy-in was, ⁓ and then moving forward. And I'm guessing Hunter, I don't know Nate.   Hunter Bennett (31:01) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (31:18) But I'm excited. I mean, I have a quote over here by Gandhi. So when you said that I was like, well, perfect. ⁓ But my hunch is typically in a partnership, I see someone who's like yourself, who's really big into business, like they know the numbers, they have the business acumen. And usually the other partner tends to be more of the people side or this is like, you usually have a separation. So I again, I don't know Nate, but my guess would be not to say that you're not great with team members to   but I'm guessing you're very business savvy, you're very system savvy, and he's gonna be more people savvy and relationship savvy. Again, I don't know, maybe both of you had that, but I'm curious, did you see that dynamic in your partnership that maybe blended you guys really well coming together?   Hunter Bennett (31:54) Yeah, no, that's a really good point and we do compliment it. You're pretty much spot on. would say Nate definitely like is a lot more of a calming, know, I'm kind of like people tell me I'm just fiery, you know, like we've had different.   The Dental A Team (32:07) You   I do remember you walking   up. You wouldn't even shut your light off on me. Like you were busy. You were down to business. Like, here, I need these things in the most respectful way. ⁓   Hunter Bennett (32:14) Yeah, I'm   Pretty pretty focused. Yeah, pretty focused I would say and so I would say there is that little bit of balance But Nate's not a dummy like he was harvard number two in his class at harvard like he's super smart and so He would always lean into me for the business stuff just because I had a degree and I could speak the language and accounting and depreciation and all you know, like that stuff I think sort of intimidated him more than it needed to because once you explain it, know, you know But because he hadn't trained that way like he would sort of lean into me and that stuff   The Dental A Team (32:33) or.   Right.   Hunter Bennett (32:43) But even having someone to talk about because he'd already dealt with the accountant. He already dealt with workers comp. So I'd be like, hey, how does this work? Cause I'd never done it. So he'd explain it to me. And then as a team, we would work it out. You know, as a team, we would make big decisions. So yeah, I mean, you'll both bring different things to the table. And it's actually good that you can be different. I had another opportunity to partner somewhere else before Nate. I was way too much like that guy. I was like.   The Dental A Team (32:49) Thank   Yes.   Hunter Bennett (33:10) This isn't gonna work. I knew right away like I said, you know I went and visited the practice did the whole thing sent like a follow-up email and I think we both knew it's just like yes, isn't gonna work and The negotiations didn't go very far and it was fun. It was like we're still friends and we keep in touch So I think it's important to like you think ⁓ we're so alike man That's not always like the best thing. And so our differences are actually probably what what bring us together and make us strong ⁓   The Dental A Team (33:19) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   No.   Hunter Bennett (33:37) Yeah. And so that's, that's like a, that's a super fair point about that. And again, a lot of it's just been serendipitous. Like that just happened to fall into place. It just, it's just worked out that way, but it's, it's like a marriage. That's the perfect thing. It's like, it's like a marriage without all the benefits per se. Like you just, you're just like, you're just, you just get the hard part of them. Yeah. You just get the hard, you get the hard part of the marriage where you have tough conversations, but again, you just take them head on. And when you have no ego and, or a limited ego, and when you just want your partner to succeed, like   The Dental A Team (33:38) Yeah.   You get the profits benefit.   Hunter Bennett (34:08) You can't really fail in my opinion. ⁓ even when it came to like negotiate, like I had six months of partnership income that I was missing out on, but then there's the COVID thing. And, at the end of the day, said, Nate, like what number, like what, what, what do want me to do the whole valuation? I didn't really care. I was willing to pay whatever I didn't. To me, the relationship was way more important than any number. And so we just came to a number that we both felt good about based on the valuation, but I was flexible and frankly, I didn't care because it was so important to me. And, ⁓   The Dental A Team (34:09) That's awesome.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (34:37) And we came to what we thought both was fair and it's been, it's been a dream. you know, and those, we're like best friends and those conversations can still be a little awkward and a little hard, but they don't have to be. And they, they were always fine. You know, um, if there's a book I could recommend, talk about it all the time. It's Crucial Conversations. Um, one of my favorite books of all time. think everybody should read it before you get married. You should read it like in college. Like I think it should be required reading before you graduate college.   The Dental A Team (34:50) Right.   Hunter Bennett (35:04) But that's one book that's just helped me a ton. As a leader, business owner, as a partner, ⁓ husband, it's just helped me a ton.   The Dental A Team (35:05) Definitely agree.   I love that. I also love that you guys just, I think when you said like it just works and it was serendipitous, I think that's something to look for in a partnership. I think if anybody's looking at partners, if it's hard and it's just not flowing, don't force it to work. ⁓ The best partnerships I really do see where they kind of fall into place this way, they're aligned, you hire people that are complimentary to you, not just like you, because you do need the two halves to a whole.   Hunter Bennett (35:29) Hmm.   The Dental A Team (35:39) to make it really great. And then I think you guys have done a good job of keeping egos in check. think you guys, what you said Hunter, that I hope all partners listening to this or potential partners, you want your partner to succeed and that's your ultimate goal and that's what you're driving for. when Jason and I learned that in our marriage, where like my greatest success is Jason's success, it went from a like, what are you giving for me? And what am I getting out of this relationship to a like,   I want Jason to give me five stars because he's a raving fan because like I am, I'm doing all that I possibly can to make sure he's succeeding and his life is incredible. And when both partners are in that, it goes away from you and it goes to them and to make sure that they're succeeding. And I really do see that that works great in marriages, partnerships. So I'm obsessed with that. Kudos to you guys on that. I love that also Hunter, I hope people buying in.   the partnership and having that, I say the way you start a partnership is how you're going to end the partnership. I love Hunter that you came in as the quote unquote junior partner, but you, leveled yourself up to be an equal partner to him. And I'm really proud of you because I think a lot of associates are stay very timid. They say very junior. They act like they don't know anything rather than being like an equal partner. And I'm like, no, no, no, if you're going to be a partner in this, you need to be a partner and bring your weight. So kudos to you on that.   Hunter Bennett (36:49) Yeah.   Totally.   The Dental A Team (36:57) And then I also just really love that you guys have just had multiple conversations that you just have blended it so beautifully and that you said you were willing to pay whatever he wanted. Like, of course, you're going to be fair. You knew the numbers, but the partnership and the success was more important to you. And I think when you go into it and that's how you start your partnership, I can tell why you guys are actually really great partners. So great job and thanks for highlighting that. And now I want to know about selling to a DSO because I do agree. ⁓ Having a consultant.   oftentimes makes it where you don't have to sell to a DSO. And we do that sometimes. Sometimes I'll grow the practices for you and it's like, well, why would you sell to a DSO when they're just gonna come in and grow your business anyway? Like, let's do this on your own. I had a doctor who we were chatting and he's like, yeah, Kiera, they're gonna give me five mil for it. And I said, cool. Next year, you're probably gonna do five million on your own or within two years. So you can pay them out and they're just gonna do what you were already going to do. And agreed, a lot of that stress comes.   Hunter Bennett (37:36) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (37:55) from that, but Hunter, you said something in the very beginning that struck me when you said you sold to the DSO. You said your life has exponentially gotten better. Your work life balance has gotten better since selling to the DSO, but you also said that you're doing pretty much all the same things you were doing as a business owner. So I'm super curious. How did your life get better while you're still doing, like you were like, I'm still hiring, I'm still firing. And I was like, so what was the perk of selling to a DSO and helped me understand how your life got better?   Hunter Bennett (38:19) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (38:23) And then I also want to know about your cell deal too, if you're open to that.   Hunter Bennett (38:27) Yeah, for sure. don't, um, I probably should have illustrated the point that it's not like we didn't just get overwhelmed and all of sudden decide, okay, we're not, we're just going to throw up our hands and sell. Like we had hired a different office manager who was like, went through like Gary Katas's training. Like, like she was phenomenal. She was amazing. In fact, like she was a lot like you in a lot of ways, just really great personality, new dentistry. And I thought she was going to change our lives, you know, and she is awesome. Like she's an amazing person.   But it didn't end up working out. She left the practice that was being transitioned to a new doctor. So she came with us for a few weeks and it was going okay. And then they had a big crisis back there and she's like, is it okay if I just go back and help for like a week? And we're like, yeah, do what you need to do, you know? And then that doctor offered her equity in his practice. And so she ended up staying there, whatever. Yeah, whatever, it is what it is. And so my point is, like, I feel like we tried a different office manager. We tried restructuring and we tried.   The Dental A Team (39:15) I mean, good deal.   Hunter Bennett (39:25) The only thing we didn't hire a consultant, we definitely talked about it, but we didn't, I think in some ways I was probably just a weak leader in that way where I was maybe a little bit too proud to just get the help that we probably needed and instead just went a different route, you know? And so hindsight's always 20-20, but that just to create a little bit of the background to the story though. So it's not like we just, you know, all of sudden decided, you know, we're gonna,   The Dental A Team (39:47) Of course.   Hunter Bennett (39:55) just sell. So we had done all this other footwork. Sorry, what did you want to know about like the structure of the deal or what? Yeah. Okay. So when we, so when we, you know, after having done all this, we kind of, we had interviewed all these doctors, we had one kind of in the holster, maybe you can associate and we were just like, we were interviewing people, but we was just so, we were just tired. It's just like when you're doing root canal, it's like from like seven to five and you don't even have time to use like the bathroom.   The Dental A Team (40:03) I do, I do want to know structure of the deal. Yeah, tell me it.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (40:25) get a drink of water. It's just, we just burned ourselves out because we were chasing something and I don't even think we, we just wanted to change growth. Like we just wanted to, we just wanted to grow. We just always said all the time, were just grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. And so we just kept the pedal to the metal. Excuse me. And I would say we just sort of outgrew ourselves and not that the wheels ever fell off, but like the culture in our practice was okay. Like we had good people, but we did have some of the wrong people on the bus. ⁓   The Dental A Team (40:27) Yep.   Hunter Bennett (40:52) And so when we started talking to DSOs, they saw our numbers, they saw our trajectory and we knew we had a lot of leverage. It was 2021. So the market was just red hot. We got a really good evaluation. We got a really good multiple. they were, you know, and so, you know, I actually talked to Matt Molcock, you know, he's my advisor and, ⁓ and just, I talked to my mentors, Dr. Jones, like, you know, ⁓ just people that I really respect. He's the man he had started nine, nine different endo or worked in or started nine different practices and   The Dental A Team (40:59) I see. That is hot.   Mm-hmm.   Aw, Dr. John.   Hunter Bennett (41:19) And his advice to me was like, you know, like I would do it if I were you. And so a lot of people would just had kind of encouraged me. And so at that point, me and Nate said, you know, we, and we got opinions both ways. And at the end of the day, our conclusion was it doesn't matter. Like, if I'm being honest, like that was kind of our answer to a kind of a joint prayer was like, it's not going to matter. Like it just, doesn't matter which way you go with this. ⁓ for the things that are truly important, it's not going to matter what you do.   The Dental A Team (41:35) Agreed.   Hunter Bennett (41:46) And so we, we, we decided to do the deal and I will say, like I said, the first six months were rough, but to the credit of my, company, like the group that I'm with, like our team and the people that we work with, they're phenomenal. Like I've never like had a, they, they just always bend over backward to accommodate us and help us. And we've done our part. We've grown like crazy, you know, are there times where I'm like, man, we could have done this on our own and, ⁓ our   The Dental A Team (42:06) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (42:12) whatever, you know, and you look at your paycheck now because now I'm paid on a percentage and I have equity in the company. And so you're just waiting on a recap. And that's a whole, again, talking about, we can get into this too is DSOs have so many different types of structures. Ours is not like a joint venture. So we don't, we don't profit share in ours. It's all in our equity. so equity events are like super important for us. and so Scotty Hudson Smith is our CEO and he's the one that did smile docs. they, he's done it three times.   The Dental A Team (42:21) Yep.   They are.   Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (42:41) He came to our dinner like the night that they were recruiting us and he wasn't officially the CEO yet But like he was sliding in that role. It just hadn't been announced I think it was like the next week or something, but he came and he just sort of created the vision for us and we just honestly we a little bit of a feeling and sort of that answer like it's not gonna matter and Now looking back Are there days that are where I have resented like seeing what I produce versus what I take home sometimes?   But I've got to remember they give you five or six years of your profitability upfront. And I've been able to put all that to work, you know, for the most part, I've done pretty well with that. Like not like home run, like you, you know, it's not like crazy stuff, but it's fine. I'm diversified now. Um, it's not all in my practice, but I do have a bit still in equity quite a bit. we did a 70 30 split. did 70 % cash, 30 % equity in the group. Um, and I just,   The Dental A Team (43:09) Sure.   Sure.   Right.   Nice.   Hunter Bennett (43:36) Some groups will give you flexibility, some won't. That's just the number that we wanted and they agreed to. And looking back, I'm still glad I did it that way. I actually had an opportunity to buy more equity about a year in, which I did. And so I bought more. And so that allowed me to just be a little bit more leveraged into the company.   on a bigger scale, like me and Nate work real hard for each other, but now you just got all these partners that are counting on you. And I think the mojo and the culture in our group is quite good. So.   The Dental A Team (44:04) Yeah, that's it. That's actually really, really good to know because I think so many people wonder about DSOs. And so what did the DSO take off of you guys? Because I know there's some people that get scared of the equity. Like they get scared of equity because some DSOs have actually gone under. And so I actually love to hear that you were a 70-30 split, then you were able to buy in more if you wanted to, because if it goes under, that is your retirement. And so I love that you were able to put money into work so your retirement's not solely like   Hunter Bennett (44:12) Yeah, that's what you asked.   ⁓ Yeah.   The Dental A Team (44:31) vested into this company. I really am big on that when DSOs do purchase, but what did they take off your guys's plates going in as a DSO?   Hunter Bennett (44:31) Totally.   Yeah, sorry, that's what you asked me and I kind of got off track there, but...   The Dental A Team (44:40) That's okay. I wanted   the deal. I wanted the deal. I actually wanted to know that a lot.   Hunter Bennett (44:44) So we skipped to the deal,   but going back, like the thing that they've helped with the most, would say is like, just as an example, like, like, ⁓ there's like this employment tax, you know, that we'd always get these letters about every year with Florida and we'd call them and then I spent an hour on the phone, finally getting to someone. And then I had already canceled it, but then they automatically renewed it for it. And so it's just like, that's like one example, work, workman's comp. ⁓ even just like we had an office book for like policy.   And again, this might speak more to maybe my lack of strong leadership where when a team member says, well, I understand that's the policy, but this is what I have going on. And then when you bend the rules for one person, then it sort of just creates this culture of favoritism. And again, that was probably partly being a new owner and then a people pleaser. and something I've worked on a lot. And again, I'm not the same leader I was even five years ago, you know, four years ago when we sold, but, ⁓ having seen that now they, because there are just   The Dental A Team (45:34) Totally.   Hunter Bennett (45:40) company policies in place. And again, it might be a little maybe feel corporate, but now you sort of see the reason why things are corporate because otherwise people, if you run it like a small business and you do those little things here or there, all it does is create resentment within your team. And so ⁓ I will say just having a really, we've gone through like, man, we hired like two or three different office managers through the company that they helped us hire. And finally we hired internally and she's   The Dental A Team (45:53) Totally.   Hunter Bennett (46:09) man, she's phenomenal. she has just totally, she was at our front desk, she wasn't in dentistry, she came to the front desk and really for first couple of years she was pretty quiet. And then when we interviewed, we're like, we need to interview, are you interested? And she said, yeah, like I would. And she's absolutely just crushing it. And so she is a big reason because we finally, you know, like it's just a good fit for her, you know? And our old office manager is still with us and she's amazing, she's amazing. And she's just so humbly taking the role. She's she's like,   The Dental A Team (46:10) Amazing.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (46:37) just want to be in the front and she's the best front office person in the world. You know what I mean? And that's she didn't want to be an office manager and so it's kind of worked itself out and but I don't know if we would have made those decisions without being sort of forced into it with it with our structure in the corporate, you know in the corporate group. If I'm being honest, you know, there's a couple things like we were salary like we just paid our girls salary for example and so there was always sort of this resentment because here it's very seasonal.   The Dental A Team (46:39) Mm-hmm. Yeah.   Totally.   Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (47:06) So during winter, like our population in Naples doubles. And so the girls are working more hours. So they might work 42. I don't know if I should say this is, I guess it doesn't matter because I don't do it anymore, but they might work 42 or 44 hours one week. But in the summer, they're probably working 32, 34, 36. Or I'd just say, go home or whatever. So over the year, it just worked out. so they came to us, like, you can't do that. And so was like, so then we had to switch to hourly, which I really resented in that first six months. I was so mad. But now looking at it, it's actually the   The Dental A Team (47:06) Right.   Right.   You   Hunter Bennett (47:35) It's actually the fair way to do it. You know, it actually makes sense. ⁓ they like our, always get.   The Dental A Team (47:38) It is. So it sounds like you just got a lot of like,   you got like a lot of company backing is what I feel like it is like the structure of a business. Yeah. Yep.   Hunter Bennett (47:44) Totally, it's just more structure, more structure. I didn't have to be the bad guy, I guess. I sort   of get to say that's just how we do it. And so again, I think now, like the older version of Hunter sees that as, well, man, were kind of, you could have been a stronger leader, but I didn't know what I didn't know. ⁓ But now again, too, like looking at it, like this is exactly the path that I'm supposed to be on and it's fine. And truly like...   The Dental A Team (48:01) Totally.   Hunter Bennett (48:11) There's so many reasons to join a DSO. Some people are looking for an exit. Some people are looking for a lifestyle. And for me, it's just worked out that I, don't know what I was looking for besides relief from all the pressure I felt and, um, and it's worked out, you know? And so I still make enough money that I can do the things that I need to do and want to do. And if the equity works out, that's a cherry on top. And if it doesn't like it's okay for right now. And if I want to do something later,   I can do something else, you know, and that's the other thing too, like with, with the DSO is if, if you want to leave at some point you can. And I don't really have plans to leave per se, but like I, now it's an option. Whereas if I own the practice, that was one reason too, with me and Nate, who part of our thought process was, well, we're from the West in 10 years. If we want to sell in 10 years, who's going to buy us? Are we going to wait 10 years? Why don't we just do it now and grow with the DSO? So that was a big part of it too, is like, what is our exit? And so even though I'm only, I'm not, I'm 40 next year.   The Dental A Team (48:38) can.   Totally.   Hunter Bennett (49:08) I still was sort of planning an exit at some point because the practice was so big and we couldn't find a partner. So maybe that gives some insights retrospectively into our thought process because we did the same conversation every day for six months. But looking at it now, like that's what they've taken off our plate is all those little nuances that are just so mentally exhausting that now when I come home, I can just be present with my kids. I've changed my schedule. Like it's totally benefited my life.   The Dental A Team (49:14) Totally.   Hahaha!   Hunter Bennett (49:38) Lifestyle wise but it's not perfect but I would say an overall net positive, you know If you're not just looking at money, you know If you're not just looking at your month to month income I would say that's like the only downside is I don't make as much money as I used to but my lifestyle is way better so   The Dental A Team (49:43) That's amazing. Sure.   And so we traded a few things, but who knows it can pan out as well to where you actually make more in the future. That's not a given, but like today you're at least in a good space. You've traded ⁓ like money for time. And I think that that's one of the most beautiful things, which ties to, as we like quickly wrap up. I love that you just talked about all the pieces of DSO. I love that you have a great experience. I love hearing the pieces that they were able to take and agreed a lot of businesses actually need to sell to a DSO because they've grown too big that there's not a buyer for them. And like that is   Hunter Bennett (49:57) Yeah. Good.   Yeah.   The

How protected is your wealth if something goes wrong? In this episode of Passive Income Pilots, Tait Duryea and Ryan Gibson sit down with asset protection expert Adam Kintigh to share practical strategies every pilot and high-income professional should know. From real estate privacy trusts that cut transfer taxes to Wyoming LLCs that safeguard syndications, Adam explains how to structure your assets the right way. You'll learn why a clean tax return matters, how partnerships and S-Corps simplify filings, and why umbrella policies aren't enough. If you're growing wealth through rentals, syndications, or brokerage accounts, this episode shows you how to keep it safe and secure.Adam Kintigh is an asset protection strategist with over 24 years of experience, currently with Nevada Corporate Headquarters (NCH). He specializes in forming entities, estate planning, tax and accounting strategies, and business structuring for investors nationwide. Adam is an expert on practical, legally sound frameworks for protecting rental portfolios, drawn from decades of industry knowledge and client success.Show notes:(0:00) Intro(02:32) Why asset protection matters now(06:45) Real lawsuit examples and lessons(10:40) The truth about anonymity and privacy(13:44) First rental: when to start protecting(19:02) Insurance basics every pilot needs(27:33) Why true anonymity doesn't exist(30:08) Alternative structure to LLC stacking(37:10) How partnerships clean up tax returns(44:10) Correct way to hold syndications(49:07) Moving brokerage accounts into LLCs(51:27) OutroConnect with Adam Kintigh:

Prayer for Letting Spirit Correct Our Errors for her Daily Spiritual Espresso published on September 25, 2025 which you can access here: https://powerofloveministry.net/the-auto-correction-of-love/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the Episodes of the Heidelcast Subscribe to the Heidelcast! Browse the Heidelshop! On X @Heidelcast On Insta & Facebook @Heidelcast Subscribe in Apple Podcast Subscribe directly via RSS Call The Heidelphone via Voice Memo On Your Phone The Heidelcast is available wherever podcasts are found including Spotify. Call or text the Heidelphone anytime at (760) 618-1563. Leave a message or email us a voice memo from your phone and we may use it in a future podcast. Record it and email it to heidelcast@heidelblog.net. If you benefit from the Heidelcast please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts so that others can find it. Please do not forget to make the coffer clink (see the donate button below). SHOW NOTES How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Academic) Recovering the Reformed Confession (P&R Publishing, 2008) Why I Am A Christian What Must A Christian Believe? Heidelblog Contributors Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to: Heidelberg Reformation Association 1637 E. Valley Parkway #391 Escondido CA 92027 USA The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Daily Morning Prayer and The Litany (9/24/25) from Trinity Anglican Church (Connersville, IN): Psalms 116-118; Zechariah 12; Matthew 25; Metrical Psalm 6:1-41 Thy dreadful anger, Lord, restrain, and spare a wretch forlorn; Correct me not in thy fierce wrath, too heavy to be borne. 2 Have mercy, Lord, for I grow faint, unable to endure, The anguish of my aching bones, which thou alone can cure. 3 My tortured flesh distracts my mind, and fills my soul with grief; But, Lord, how long will thou delay to grant me thy relief? 4 Thy wonted goodness, Lord, repeat, and ease my troubled soul; Lord, for thy wondrous mercy's sake vouchsafe to make me whole.To read along, visit: https://ie.dailyoffice1662.com/To sing along with the Brady and Tate Metrical Psalter, visit: https://www.friendsofsabbath.org/cgmusic.com/workshop/newver_frame.htmTo own a Bible, visit: https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/product/kjv-center-column-reference-bible-with-apocrypha/To own a prayer book, visit: https://anglicanway.org/product/the-1662-book-of-common-prayer-international-edition-hardcover-march-2-2021/To own a hymnal, visit: https://anglicanhousepublishers.org/shop/the-book-of-common-praise-of-the-reformed-episcopal-church/

Zipper merging is the correct way to drive HR 2 full 2372 Wed, 24 Sep 2025 16:46:45 +0000 YgZdMVVCpqCaPL1bIjKSYxXuJbJi85po news MIDDAY with JAYME & WIER news Zipper merging is the correct way to drive HR 2 From local news & politics, to what's trending, sports & personal stories...MIDDAY with JAYME & WIER will get you through the middle of your day! © 2025 Audacy, Inc. News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-

Daily Morning Prayer and The Litany (9/24/25) from Trinity Anglican Church (Connersville, IN): Psalms 116-118; Zechariah 12; Matthew 25; Metrical Psalm 6:1-41 Thy dreadful anger, Lord, restrain, and spare a wretch forlorn; Correct me not in thy fierce wrath, too heavy to be borne. 2 Have mercy, Lord, for I grow faint, unable to endure, The anguish of my aching bones, which thou alone can cure. 3 My tortured flesh distracts my mind, and fills my soul with grief; But, Lord, how long will thou delay to grant me thy relief? 4 Thy wonted goodness, Lord, repeat, and ease my troubled soul; Lord, for thy wondrous mercy's sake vouchsafe to make me whole.To read along, visit: https://ie.dailyoffice1662.com/To sing along with the Brady and Tate Metrical Psalter, visit: https://www.friendsofsabbath.org/cgmusic.com/workshop/newver_frame.htmTo own a Bible, visit: https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/product/kjv-center-column-reference-bible-with-apocrypha/To own a prayer book, visit: https://anglicanway.org/product/the-1662-book-of-common-prayer-international-edition-hardcover-march-2-2021/To own a hymnal, visit: https://anglicanhousepublishers.org/shop/the-book-of-common-praise-of-the-reformed-episcopal-church/

Lesley sits down with coach, author, and podcast host Wendy Valentine to explore radical self-transformation in midlife. Wendy shares how to shed limiting identities, align with your true self, and treat “energy” as a constant evolution. You will hear practical steps to envision who you're becoming, invite her in, and take bold action without waiting for perfect timing.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Chiseling away identities that are not you to reveal your authentic self.Comfort zones vs. growth: why familiar isn't the same as aligned.Wendy's midlife pivot from breakdown to purpose-driven rebuilding.Her BE IT method: Become, Envision, Invite, Take action.Feeling your way through life instead of overthinking every move.Episode References/Links:Wendy Valentine Website - https://wendyvalentine.comWendy Valentine Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wendy_valentine_Free Access to FREEDOM Meditations - https://beitpod.com/freedommeditationsThe Midlife Makeover Show - https://wendyvalentine.com/podcastBook: Women Waking Up by Wendy Valentine - https://wendyvalentine.com/womenwakingupEp. 400: Gay Hendricks - https://beitpod.com/gayhendricksStephanie Gass on Cathy Heller's Podcast - https://beitpod.com/stephaniegassGuest Bio:Wendy Valentine is a speaker, certified professional life coach, and author of Women Waking Up—a midlife rebel with a mission to help women reignite their spark and embrace the magic of midlife. As the host of The Midlife Makeover Show podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally and #1 in midlife on iTunes and Spotify, Wendy inspires her listeners to embrace the magic of midlife and live with passion and purpose. Through her transformative group coaching program, F.R.E.E.D.O.M. at Midlife, and her in-person retreats, Wendy helps women kick fear to the curb, reclaim their joy, and live life on their terms. Whether she's soaking up the beauty of Madeira, Portugal, or cruising across the USA in her trusty motorhome, Felicia, Wendy lives for adventure and believes that life only gets better with age. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Wendy Valentine 0:00  So if you think about it, you should always have that chisel in your hand in the nicest of ways, but constantly and consciously be chiseling away at the things that are not you. And we, deep down, know what those things are, but sometimes we still cling to those things that we are not, right, because it feels comfortable.Lesley Logan 0:20  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:59  All right, Be It babe. I'm so obsessed. I'm so obsessed with today's guest. Like, there's times I'm like, oh, I love all these people. And then there's times I'm like, okay, this guest, I want to be friends with. I want to have coffee with. I want to have a weekly date with. When I enter her, I'd say, like, she is like, this beam of light. And I'm telling you, she's a beam of light, and she really, really, really creates this amazing space for you to step up into the woman that you are wanting to be it till you see it. So Wendy Valentine's, our guest, super, super fun. She's the host of the Midlife Makeover Show, and I was on her show. So if you want to go check out that show to get to know her more. And you know, that's a good episode to start with, because obviously you trust me, so there's that. And then you can, like, go through all of her catalog. She's just so amazing. So I'm gonna let us get into this episode so you can get all the good stuff coming from Wendy Valentine. Lesley Logan 1:45  All right, Be It babe, today's guest and I are already having too much fun. She's only in Sedona right now, so she's not too far off, but I feel like we should be hanging out in real life. Wendy Valentine, you're just, tell everyone why you're just such the magical like beam of light that we all want to be around and be your best friend.Wendy Valentine 2:16  How much time do we have?Lesley Logan 2:21  I mean at least 30 minutes of you telling us why you're so amazing.Wendy Valentine 2:27  There is one word that I hear all the time. It's a word that's used to describe me the most. No, it's not crazy. I do get that sometimes, but it's energy, energy, energy, energy. And I was thinking about this this morning, because, as we know, like, energy cannot be created or destroyed. Yeah, it's only transformed into something else, right? You had an ice cube on the pan back there in the RV, and then it melts into water, and then eventually it goes into steam. And I think that's like, I feel like, for myself right now in my life, like I am becoming that steam and moving into the universe. That sounds all so voodoo, but it's like that constant evolving, which I think is so magnificent, and just moving into the energy of it all.Lesley Logan 3:18  Yeah, I think that's so cool. So how did you become someone who is, like, known for energy? Like, how did this like, have like, were you born this way? Was this your job when you were in your 20s? Did this just happen?Wendy Valentine 3:30  Well, you know, I mean, good question. I mean, as you know, we're all energy, but I think it's when I really started to own, to own it, to own who I am and to create who I wanted to be, not to family and friends and society and all that other crap wanted me to be. It's when I finally stepped into my true self and my true calling. And I think you know what? Like that whole like, be your authentic self, be your true self, that's all like being thrown around a lot these days. We're like, what does that mean? What does it mean, really?Lesley Logan 4:04  I know, but tell me how, but tell me how. Because I was born like I was raised in like, follow these instructions. Do this work. If you do all these things, then everything works out, which is bullshit and so and then people go and then be your authentic self. And I'm like, okay, but how? Because I don't think I've ever been, I was never taught to be authentic. I was taught to follow the rules. Wendy Valentine 4:23  Yeah, you know what though? It's more about it's not learning who you are to become. It's learning who you are not. And I love the analogy of Michelangelo and the beautiful statue of David. Let's all picture him for a moment. Oh yes. But when they when they asked Michelangelo, how did you carve the statue of David? He's like, oh, that was easy. I just carved away everything that was not him. So if you think about it, you should always have that chisel in your hand in the nicest of ways, but constantly and consciously be chiseling away the things that are not you. And we, deep down, know what those things are, but sometimes we still cling to those things that we are not, right, because it feels comfortable. Even though it's uncomfortable, it's comfortable, it's like, but this is who I am. This is my identity, yeah.Lesley Logan 5:14  Well, and I think, like, I think a lot of people, you said it's my identity, it's their identity, to be always going through drama, to be always like, to always have a shit day at work. Like, can you believe it? Can you believe this happened? Like those, it's that's some people's identity. And, like, I get so annoyed with myself when I, like, hear myself repeating the same negative, bad thing that happened, and I'm like, is this becoming something that has, like, a growth on my shoulder, or like, like, is this becoming part of the of like, of the not the costume, but like, what is Lesley? Because it's like, I don't want to hear this anymore, so I definitely don't want to stick around. So I love the idea of a, I go a visual, physical chisel going no, no, no.Wendy Valentine 5:58  Part of you know that is not you. There's that quote from Marianne Williamson, it is my fave, and it's got me through the toughest of times, or gotten me to where I'm at now. And she says, our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us, because you think about it, if you were to step fully into your light, what does that mean? Like what does that look like? Right? Because that would require, possibly, just like myself, it would require maybe a divorce, maybe quitting a job you hate, maybe moving, maybe buying an RV like I did. Maybe, I mean, it's going to require you to actually move and do some shit in your life if you truly stepped into your light, but, or you could just stay right there in the dark because it's more comfortable, because it's predictable. The darkness is predictable, the the uncomfortable comfort zone is predictable, predictable, right? Yeah.Lesley Logan 7:03  Yeah, I mean, I don't know who said it, but, like, there is, like, that story of, like, why does a dog, like, not move off of sitting on that rock? It's like, well, the rock isn't uncomfortable enough, you know, and so a lot of people wait to, wait so long, and so they're so uncomfortable, and then they shed it all, and then they step into this light. And that, it can be scary. Like we interviewed Gay Hendricks on this podcast, and he is the, I know, I fucking love him, he's such a sweet man. He's just, he, like, every time I go to Cambodia, he's like, did you get some milk fruit? Like, he's just, he's like, it's the best fruit. And he is right. It is the best fruit. And it's only available half of the time, so I'm never there, but I got to have it. But at any rate, he talks about your big leap is, like, because, like, when you are in your comfort zone, you can even, like, he even called like, your your like, zone of genius, and you're like, okay, well, that's a good spot to be in. Like, that's like, amazing, but it's or zone of excellence, excuse me. Like, of course I would like to be there. Like, that sounds really good, but like, that's actually still uncomfortable, but like it's comfortable, like it's actually not where your light is, that you're talking about, it's like, it's like, there's another layer, there's an outer ring, there's that ring of light around Saturn, and you're supposed to be there. Wendy Valentine 7:03  That's just like, dipping your toe in the water. Lesley Logan 7:13  Yeah, but then he and he talks about, like, how, well, when you get to that zone of genius, when you get to that outer ring, you get to your light, then there's, like, a few things that we do to just fuck it all up and bring us back to that comfortable discomfort, you know, like that self-deprivation.Lesley Logan 7:13  And a comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.Lesley Logan 8:38  Oh, Wendy Valentine, say it one more time.Wendy Valentine 8:44  Soak it up. Soak it up. A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there. So if you want to grow, I know y'all do, you have got to get out of that damn comfort zone. You know, I want to say though, I was on the treadmill this morning, and I was thinking. Lesley Logan 8:58  Do you have a treadmill in your RV or do you go the gym? Wendy Valentine 9:04  No, I'm actually at this nice resort. I mean, RVing has come a long way, y'all, thank God.Lesley Logan 9:09  I mean, we live in our van like it's it's not so bad. Sometimes it's better than the hotel.Wendy Valentine 9:12  We got, we got hot tubs, we got swimming pools, we got food trucks. I mean, we don't mess around over here. But yeah, I was at the gym this morning and I was walking on the treadmill, and I was thinking, I love the name I have since the moment when I met you and I heard about your podcast. I love the name of your podcast. Be It Till You See It. And I got choked, people were probably like, why is that lady over there balling on the treadmill? And you know, right now, I'm reaping the benefits of what I sowed years ago and getting outside of my damn comfort zone. But you know, what's so cool? I might cry right now. I did not put on waterproof mascara, but I am seeing it in my life, all those seeds I planted years ago, and that amount of time. I watered and watered those damn seeds. It's like, I'm seeing it. It's like, it's so freaking cool when you get to that other side, and yes, you will, is so it is beautiful. It's much more beautiful. And, and yes, you will grow when you get to the other side of it. If you want, I can take y'all back to my breakdown to breakthrough. Lesley Logan 10:22  I was just gonna say, I think we need to go back to the seed planting days, or at least, like, the days before the RV, the day before the book, the days before the podcast. Like, what, what? Like, who were you? How did because we love you now. But like, we loved you then. But like, what? What was the reason for all what was the reason for all this, you know, seed reaping? Wendy Valentine 10:43  And we all love a good breakdown and a breakthrough story. Lesley Logan 10:46  Yeah, we do. Wendy Valentine 10:47  But make sure everyone grab your violin, (inaudible) sad song right now. So let's see. For about 45 years old, here I was. I was living in Virginia, going through a divorce, empty nest. I had chronic illness, black mold toxicity, Lyme disease. We'll toss in a little menopause, just, for fun.Lesley Logan 11:10  Yeah. I mean, for sure, probably, yeah.Wendy Valentine 11:13  Yeah, yeah. I was at least 150 grand in debt, unemployed. Let's see what else. Oh, within a six week period, I had to watch my dog die, my cat die, and my brother die. And then from all of that, I started experiencing panic attacks, anxiety, and needless to say, I went into a massive, deep, dark, awful depression. So here I was, 45 years old, and I was like, shit, now what? And, I mean, I kept thinking, I was like, I only turned 50. That's like, like, that, that halfway mark, if you're that lucky that it's an halfway mark, right? And I don't know if anything could have gotten worse for me in that moment. And let's, let's just all imagine the scene. I literally was laying on my bathroom floor, like laying there, bawling my eyes out, feeling sorry for myself, I'll admit, and I was thinking, What the hell am I going to do? And all of a sudden, like, and it was part of me like this, this vision popped in my head, and it was, it was a little bit of an escape, I'll admit, but it was a beautiful escape. And I was like, wouldn't be nice to just get the fuck out of here? You know, like, I just want to escape my my life that I was in. And I was like, I want to drive an RV across the country. And then I'm like, man. And then, of course, that nagging voice in my head was like, yeah, you're broke, you don't have a job. How that? How are you going to do that? And but then I was like, you know, I just want to sit here and think about this dream. It was the only thing that gave me hope. And so I thought, you know what? What the hell like my life. I was already down here. The only way was going up, right? I was like, let's just go for it. What's the worst that could happen? I'm gonna fucking go for it. So I got up and I started applying for jobs all the way across the country, like I was, I was so desperate. I was like, I'll take anything. Okay, I'll sell popsicles in Mexico. I don't care, whatever. So then I get a job offer a week later, selling, you'll probably, you're probably familiar with his name, Pulte, Pulte Del Webb, I got a job offer with Pulte to sell new construction homes in Chicago. And I was like, Chicago. Never been there. I didn't know how to sell homes, but what the hell. I pack off the U-Haul. I drive from Virginia to Chicago. I start my job on Monday. About a year later, I went from making $0 to a half a million dollars. Obviously, paid off all my debt, bought this RV that I'm sitting in right now. Now, mind you, okay, I love Pulte, and it was a great, beautiful company. But I am not a corporate girl. I am not. Like, that's a chisel where I was like, girl listen here, you're not you, you know. And I will have to say, that's a lesson in itself, right there. Don't be afraid to try something. That does not mean if you try something, you can't pivot, okay?Lesley Logan 14:33  Right and also, like, can I just, like, say, like, I mean, clearly, Pulte was, like, quite the bridge to show you what you're capable of, and it get was a one, the fact that in one year, you can make that much money, going from zero to that much money, and not become someone who doesn't like, take your dreams the next level. You actually like, used it to launch yourself. I think it's like, I think it's so cool. Wendy Valentine 14:57  Yes and how easy would it have been for me to stay there. Lesley Logan 15:00  Oh, yeah and so. Wendy Valentine 15:01  Everyone was like, why are you gonna leave this job that you're you're killing it, killing it. I was like, yeah, but this is not for me. The chisel.Lesley Logan 15:09  Well and also, yeah, the chisel, I love that. And also, like, we had a lot of people that are like, I want to do this thing. I'm just gonna go all in. And I'm like, honey, if you can't pay for your bills, you can't pay your food, you are going to put pressure on this dream you have. Go get a job at Starbucks, make sure your bills are paid, have health insurance, all the things, and then use every other minute to make this thing happen. So I actually think it's really cool that not only you did it in a year, but that you, at a year, were able to, like, evaluate and go, I gotta chisel this off, because this isn't me, and not listen to the family who's like, you should just stay and make all that money. Wendy Valentine 15:46  Yes and remind yourself, if you are in a job you don't love, you're you're in a relationship you don't love, you're living in a place you don't love, remind yourself this is temporary. Everything is temporary, right? I mean, all in all, everything is temporary. Just remind yourself like this is just for now. This is just for now. Like, every day when I'd be, like, driving in the snow in Chicago, heading to this job to, like, talk about granite countertops. I was like, It's okay. I can do this. I cant do this. But then, yeah, I was like, all right, well, what am I going to do? I don't want to work for corporate. I and I was like, you know, I've always, I want to be a writer. I always knew I would become a writer. I was like, I want to be a writer. How am I? How am I going to become a writer? And I always wanted to have my own show. So I was like, how am I going to do this? And I had to be able to work remotely. Obviously, because traveling in an RV, I had to be able to work remotely, right? So I was listening to Cathy Heller's podcast and she was interviewing Stephanie Gass. And something, you know, it's like, if you get that funny feeling in your tummy, that gut instinct of like, I need to move on this. I don't know what it is, just do not question it. Just go for it. I hired Stephanie Gass, and within 30 minutes, I knew exactly what my niche was going to be and what my podcast was going to be called. And I was like, that's it. I had I had it. I was like, I'm going to talk about midlife. I'm going to talk about not even just midlife, but transforming your life. Because I did it, like, I was the guinea pig, right? I'm like, I did, I know how to do it. So I kept my day job, and then at night, I started working on my dream business. I started working on the website and then the photography and the the podcast, all, all the stuff, you know, right? Started doing my research and just little by little, and then eventually, the RV, finally, I ordered it like eight months before, finally arrived and it was go time to quit my job and take off into the Sedona sunset.Lesley Logan 17:51  Okay but also, like, I think it's so, I wanted to say, like, I think sometimes we, like, underestimate what we can do in a short period of time, because you just celebrated 50. Am I correct?Wendy Valentine 18:01  Yeah, yeah. So it took me, well, actually, I'm 52. It took me from the moment, like when I moved to Chicago, to taking off in the RV, it took me approximately two and a half years, and then I've been on the road for three so, yes, it takes time. And is it easy? Hell no. Is it worth it? Hell yes.Lesley Logan 18:23  Yeah, yeah. I mean, like, there's, you know, like, I think things happen faster than we think, and some things are a little slower than we expected. Like, the time, we never get the timeline exactly right. But also, like, it would have been so like, could you imagine on the bathroom floor being like, well, it's gonna take a long time. I don't know. Like, I bet, you know what I mean, I think we just take, we talk ourselves out of things so and we also think, well, I'm at this age. I should be already. Like, I should be doing this program. I should have this already. I mean, like, I kind of think it's really cool that you were the guinea pig and you can actually, like, guide so many women who, for sure, are, I said, someone on the podcast, she's like, I'm a bird launcher. I'm not an empty nester. Like, I want I like, I launched some birds. And she's, you know, but you can take the.Wendy Valentine 18:24  That's what I did. I was like, shoo, shoo. Get out. Lesley Logan 19:05  Yeah, get out of the nest. It's mine now. But like, I think that there's a ton of people who work, not given the opportunity or encouraged when they were moms and wives and partners to be selfish and do their thing like I do believe that there's a ton of women who did and so, so if you're listening, yay for you, but I think a lot of people were not, and they had to wait, and then they waited, and then they're like, well, I don't even know who I am, and everyone says to be authentic. And so I feel like you asked to be you to help people so you're right and then you have this amazing podcast, which, I got to be honest, is amazing. And it's like, but it's mid it's called Midlife Makeover. Correct? Wendy Valentine 19:51  Yep, The Midlife Makeover Show.Lesley Logan 19:53  Yes. Okay, so let's talk about like, do you feel like you do what you do? Do you feel like you'll ever run out of topics to talk about when it comes to midlife? Like, what are you and then, and then also turn it into a book. So let's go into, like, how you've, like, really made this whole thing happen.Wendy Valentine 20:10  You know, what I love about my niche is that there's so much going on in midlife. I mean, like, if I had to talk about one topic every day, oh, my God, I could not stand it. I mean, yesterday I interviewed a lady where, like, it was about grief. She lost her daughter. Daughter was 17 years old when she died. The day before, I got to talk about hormones and menopause, and then the day before that, I got to talk about divorce, like there's so, because there is so much going on. And I love, I love being the catalyst to help other people make their dreams come true. I love that I can provide that hope, whether it's with me or with a guest, or whether it's just simply, I mean, right, the best way we can teach others is by example. Like I don't, I don't fluff anything like you, what you see is what you get. Like, I didn't just say I did it or say that I'm gonna do it. Like, here you go, you know. And you know, I, what was I going to tell you? Oh, I did create the acronym for you. I have four little lessons to teach you today.Lesley Logan 21:16  Do you want to teach us now or do you want to put in the Be It Action Items?Wendy Valentine 21:20  I'm gonna teach it to you really quick. Lesley Logan 21:21  Okay, let's do it. Wendy Valentine 21:22  It's, it's the Be It, right? And this is what I just told you, that story, these are four little guide posts that you can follow so that you, too, can actually, no matter if it's a little tweak in your life or a big tweak, a big change, you can make it happen. So the B in Be It is become your own BFF like you have got to be so nice to yourself, and you have got to listen to that ticker tape of thoughts running across in your mind. And you've got to stop that ticker tape of thoughts and replace it with some really good, friendly thoughts. Because this right here, I'm pointing to my head with my large head of hair, this will either be your best friend or your worst critic, and you are the one that decides, not Instagram, not your mom, not your dad, not your partner, not your kids, it's you like that is the one thing that you have, not one, but one of the many things you have control over. And actually starting there, it's a ripple effect of everything else in your life. If you can get that under control, and yes, you can, you change your thoughts, you change your beliefs. We've all heard it before, but do we really apply it and really try it? So, yes, become your own BFF, just love the shit out of yourself. The E is envision. You've got to envision who you want to become, not the what it's great to, to, like, dream about things and RVs and (inaudible) right, but who do you want to become? Journal about it. Think about it. Take a walk and just imagine the woman that you would want to become and without limitation, right? The I is invite her in. You have got to literally, every single day, and this is exactly what I did, because my Aunt Annie said to me, when I was like in the down, down in the dumps, in depression, and I'm sitting on the couch when she goes, darling, you have always wanted to be an actress, so why don't you just start acting like the woman you want to become? And I was like, oh, I can do that. And I thought about that, right? Like we're all we're all brainwashed. We're all brainwashed into whoever we are, but we can brainwash ourselves into becoming whoever the hell we want to be. Lesley Logan 23:39  Yes, yes. Wendy Valentine 23:41  Yep. So I did. I was like, you know what? How, like you, imagine a drone flying over your head and observing you all day long. How is this woman, this powerful, amazing, gorgeous woman? How does she walk? How does she walk into a room? How does she talk? How does she eat? How does she sleep? How does she, what did she do when she first gets out of bed? Like, is she like, oh my god, I think I'm so grateful I'm alive. Thank you. Thank you. Observe her like and and be her like, literally when you put your shoes on, you put your slippers on or whatever, imagine that those are her shoes and that, and literally act like her, even if someone else is like, why she acting so funny? Just keep doing it.Wendy Valentine 24:26  Yeah, no. I mean, let them, let them wonder why you're acting so funny. Wendy Valentine 24:27  Yes, yes, exactly. Lesley Logan 24:28  They'll just wonder. They get to wonder. And if you want to go talk about it to people like, I thank God for my time in L.A., where I learned, like, all publicity is good. Like, there's no such thing as bad, you know. Let them talk on how weird you are.Wendy Valentine 24:45  (inaudible) Yeah. Finally, T is take action. I think you even say that in your intro about taking action, right? You have to, like, how do you get courage? By taking action. Like if you, if you had a jar, an empty jar, and I have an empty jar, how do you fill up your jar of courage? And how do I fill up mine? We each have to do that on our own. I cannot hand courage. It would be great, right? If like, here, here you go, Lesley, let me give you some courage. You have to do that your own. And you do that by taking action, even if you fall on your face, even if you fall on your face. I didn't know how to even drive an RV. I was like, oh my god. So you figure shit out, right? Like, leap of the net will appear. Like, leap you will figure this stuff out. And that's how you become so resilient and strong. And then it's the tiniest of things I don't know about you, it's like the tiniest of little accomplishments. You're like, that's right. I did that. Like, that's right. I just actually figured out how to dump the dumper on the survey (inaudible) things. I'm like, I did that. (inaudible) So don't forget to celebrate yourself.Lesley Logan 25:53  I believe, all of a sudden, I think like, that is where confidence comes in. Like, people think like confidence comes like, you have to wait for you, once you're confident, then you can do the thing. It's like, no, actually, you get confident by doing the thing. Like, I remember we bought our van, which is not even as big as an RV, we don't need a special license for it. It actually fits in parking spaces. I mean, it's the it's the longest and the tallest of the vehicles that you don't need another license for. And the first time we took it on we took we drove it. I had no problems driving out of the gas station. I had no problems. Like, once we were like, pointing the right direction, like, I'm like, I got this. But one time we were needing to go, and Brad was asleep, and I'm like, I have to hit reverse. There's no rear view mirror. Like, I gotta do this with this tall vehicle. I'm super long. I got a white like, I and it has a camera. It's like, just follow the camera. I'm like, I can't even it's like, this big, just the camera? What, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I hope it beeps. If someone's wrong, I like, what if there's a pole, you know, like one of the, so I like, literally, get out of the car, got out of the car and I do a walk around. I'm like, okay, there's no poles. So the worst thing that happens is that someone or something drives behind me while I'm doing this, and it's supposed to beep, and I'm gonna trust that, and now I come back anytime I want, like, but you I had to, I could not, Brad's telling me you can do this. Like you used to drive jeeps, like, you know what you're doing. Like, he's like, you can none of that confidence and courage being told at me helped me get the confidence, like actually reversing the car and doing it myself.Wendy Valentine 27:32  And sometimes it's the tiniest of things that just gives you a little boost. It's a little reminder that, yes, you can do this and keep going and keep going. Yeah, yeah.Lesley Logan 27:41  Okay, you published a book. Now, can we talk about it? I mean, it says, Women Waking Up: The Midlife Manifesto for Passion, Purpose, and Play. Women waking up. Also, I love the colors. It's like every beautiful shade of pink lipstick, like, yes, yes, yes.Wendy Valentine 28:00  I know, isn't she? It's my little baby. This is actually, like, this is the advanced copy. So it's not even a real copy. But yes, I know. It just went into preorder this week. Lesley Logan 28:10  When is it publishing for reals? Wendy Valentine 28:12  Um, it publishes, it comes out on 9-9. Lesley Logan 28:15  Okay. Wendy Valentine 28:16  9-9 is the time, but and you know what? Before I got into writing books and things like that, I didn't know, I was like, why is everyone why don't they do the preorder? Why? Because I don't get the book. I'll give you $500 worth of reasons (inaudible). Literally, right now, pre-order the book. Because here's the thing, you could if you wanted to, you can literally start making changes today, just with the bonuses that you get with the book. Let me tell you what the bonuses are. Lesley Logan 28:44  Tell us, tell us because this is going to come out before 9-9 so you all can take advantage of this. Wendy Valentine 28:48  Oh yeah. You get the Women Waking Up Playbook. It's like 100 plus pages. You can download them. They are cute, colorful and cute and wonderful. You get the Freedom At Midlife Meditations that go along with the book, just to elevate your mind and help you become your own best friend, right? You get the Map At Your Midlife Dream Workshop, your customizable digital vision board. Thank you very much. I love that thing. Love it. I love it. Love it. What else? A $200 voucher to my Freedom At Midlife Program, and my fave, the Women Waking Up Spotify playlist. Yeah, so that's it. You literally get all of that. Lesley Logan 29:30  Before I even read the book. I can change my life before. And then when I read it, I mean, like, reminding me all these amazing other things. Wendy Valentine 29:37  Yeah, I know. And by the time the book arrives, then you'll get to read the rest of the story and then be like, Yeah, I already did that. Check, check, check. Lesley Logan 29:44  Yeah. So you're just putting all these little drops of confidence into your bucket as you read it, and then you get more, oh, I love this. Wendy, we need more time with you. I need, we need to hang out. I'm not, I'm not kidding. Like, is your RV heading my way before it's too hot? Like, I would just like to know.Wendy Valentine 30:01  You know what? I was gonna go to Nevada, because I'm starting this book tour now, but now I'm going up towards Denver. (inaudible) Maybe when I come back.Lesley Logan 30:07  On the way back, on your way back, you can do it. There's a great book shop called Writer's Block. There's some really cute bookstores in Vegas that are, like, great for doing some sort of tour of some kind, I agree, yes. Or you can go to one of my friends' amazing shops, and they'll, they'll host you. So just let me know, because I'll help make it happen. Because there's women here who need you. Oh, my God, we have to take a brief break, and then we'll get all your links and how we can, like, totally like, stalk you and like, the kids call you, stan you, you know, like stalker fan in one, one moment. Lesley Logan 30:34  All right, Wendy Valentine, favorite place to hang out on the internet, where's the links to pre-order the book, like, where, where's give us everything.Wendy Valentine 30:53  Do all the things. Okay. Instagram, it's got to be my fav. And I do share some cool, fun stuff, right? Lesley Logan 30:57  You do. I love watching your life. You carry a dog with in a bag. Wendy Valentine 30:58  I have some valuable content, with fun stuff too. So yes, Wendy Valentine on Instagram, and probably the best hub is wendyvalentine.com and from there, I know a lot of people have freebies, but my freebies really are awesome. Lesley Logan 31:16  Yeah there's 100 page freebie. I'm just gonna tell you right now, you, above and beyond, lady. Wendy Valentine 31:22  Yeah, yeah. So click, there's a freebies tab. You can even take a superhero quiz on there. That's my fav. There's a book tab on there that is where you can get all of your bonuses when you pre-order the book. And the book is everywhere, Women Waking Up, it's Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target. It's everywhere. And what else? Yeah, that's, that's it. And then, The Midlife Makeover Show, that's everywhere, where you listen to podcasts, even on YouTube, you can even watch the, you know, the playback of of me interviewing people in an RV.Lesley Logan 31:52  Yeah, yeah. You can listen. You can also watch the Be It Pod, you guys, we're on YouTube as well. You know, it's, I know, it's this fun thing. You do this thing for audio, and then people want the visual. So you we gotta do it all. Wendy Valentine 32:01  Give them the visual. Give them the visual. Lesley Logan 32:01  Okay, I love your acronym. So if you want that to be your Be It Action Item, we can replay that, that is totally fine. But if there's anything else we have to give these women that helps them ditch perfection, take that messy action, what bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps should they take, what else?Wendy Valentine 32:23  I would have to say, this is, I'm adopting this from Deepak Chopra, because I used to go to a lot of his retreats. And there was one thing he said to me, it's in his cute little accent, and he goes, you have to feel your way through life. I was like, what does that mean? I was like, feel my way through life, and we're so used to thinking everything through and probably overthinking, right? But ask yourself, no matter what it is that you're doing or thinking about doing, how does it feel to you? And most importantly, how does it feel to this new person, this new woman that you are creating in your life. How will it feel? Does that align with her? Does she like that? Does she not like it? And just enjoy. I mean, this, you get this tiny little we're like little blip of time on eternity in eternity, right? Like, just live it up in this little space and print in these parentheses. Just live it up and enjoy and stop overthinking. Just feel your way through life. Lesley Logan 33:25  I love that. And I actually really love him. He, I listened to him, remember, Oprah would actually release like, interviews on her like, podcast channel? And I listened to him talk about this time when he would go be a monk, right? Like his like, you know, go for like, I don't know, 30 days or something like that. And he the monk, his like, monk guide, was like, Oh, how was it walking through the jungle? And he's like, well, it hurt my feet. You know, it hurt my feet. And he and the guy goes, oh, well, when your foot is not on the ground, does it hurt? And he goes, No, I don't think so. He's like, well, then think about the other foot, right? Anyways, my husband is gonna love it. I have remembered that. Out of everything he said, I have remembered that so much because whenever my husband's like, oh, my knee hurts, I'm like, maybe you should think about your other knee. And I'm sure he's like.Wendy Valentine 33:26  Yeah or yeah, my arm hurts when I move it, like this, well stop moving it. Lesley Logan 33:35  What is your other arm, like, he like, heard something and I like, hit the other arm, and he's like, what are you do doing? I'm like, distracting you. It's from Dee it's from Deepak, fill the other one.Wendy Valentine 34:29  Refocusing, refocusing. You know? Lesley Logan 34:31  But I do agree. I think, like, you know, I know, I know the listeners, and I one of the reasons I want to have you on the show after I met you, is like, I know the women here will love listening to you, because we all came from this like time of overdoing overthinking. Have to map it all out. Has to has to feel like the right time, but not feel because we're not listening to our feelings, we're thinking our feelings and and so thank you for that. Be it actually, because I think we. Actually have to get into the feeling more, the actual feeling more, not the brain thinking feeling more. Wendy Valentine 35:04  Yeah, exactly. And especially since RVing, like, I'm on the no plan, plan like I don't. I used to plan everything in detail, and if I did not have that plan in place, I would not make a move. Now I'm like, I mean, 90 days is probably as much as I can plan, even though I like to dream and envision and things like that. Planning out too much does not leave room for miracles and spontaneity and the fun stuff. So don't forget to have fun and just enjoy, yeah.Lesley Logan 35:31  Yeah. Uh, I adore you. We'll have to run in, we'll run into each other someday, because I also love to get to we're gonna, we're gonna head down on our Summer Tour into Arizona, so maybe if you're still there, you know it's it's a little more than 90 days. So I'll ask you when it's closer, but you know, Wendy, thank you so much. Thank you for being you. Y'all go listen to her podcast. Go pre-order her book. Let us know. Tag Wendy. Tag the Be It Pod. Let us know what your favorite takeaway was. And by the way, I can't think of another episode you could send to like any woman over 40 right now that she will love. So do that, support the pod and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 36:13  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 36:56  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 37:01  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 37:05  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 37:12   Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 37:16  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Arif and James are back to discuss a win over the Bengals that almost doesn't seem real. We go overe Wentz's performance, signing the correct Rodgers, and the franchise record for FG.    You can become a sustaining member of the show and access exclusive content at  Arif - @Arifhasannfl James - @bigmono Please send any questions or feedback to  or tweet to @norsecodeDN. If you like our show please donate to We have merch! You can visit our shop at: Also a special thank you to DrawPlayDave for our new logo and merchandise design! You can follow him on bluesky @thedrawplay.com‬ and visit his main comic page here:

(Sorry about the editing error earlier) Nvidia is investing in self-driving AI tech. Google has given up the ghost and is making Chrome a full AI tool. Would you tolerate advertisements on the screen of your smart refrigerator? And why Apple executives are growing worried about OpenAI's hardware plans. ⁠⁠Nvidia in talks for $500mn investment in UK self-driving start-up Wayve⁠⁠ (FT) ⁠⁠Google Injects Gemini Into Chrome as AI Browsers Go Mainstream ⁠⁠(Wired) ⁠⁠Software update shoves ads onto Samsung's pricey fridges ⁠⁠(ArsTechnica) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: ⁠⁠Since Leaving Washington, Elon Musk Has Been All In on His A.I. Company⁠⁠ (NYTimes) ⁠⁠OpenAI Raids Apple for Hardware Talent, Manufacturing Partners⁠⁠ (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode you will hear:   (06:10) Question from a Listener   Hilary and Mark answer a question from a student from rural Kentucky and then Hilary and Mark discuss whether a student needs to talk about academics in their Personal Statement   (21:00) Our Roundtable is back. Susan, Julia, Hilary and Mark discuss the Secondary School Report, what is it and how does it factor into admission decisions-Part 3 of 3   (37:22) College Spotlight Interview, Grant Gosselin, Chief Enrollment officer at Boston College   o   Mark shares about 8-10 impressions that students he is working with have, after they visit Boston College, and Mark asks Grant, if he feels the impressions his students have are accurate.  This entire segment is dedicated to Grant sharing whether he agrees with the impressions Mark's students have of BC after they visit; I hope you find it helpful. Listen and enjoy   Recommended Resource-Guide to help first year students complete the Common Application-     Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast.   You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day.   To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses.   Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions:   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed. Twitter message is also the preferred way to ask questions for our podcast:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript   We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK.   Please subscribe to our podcast. It really helps us move up in Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast.   If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful!   If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live.   Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends:   Check out the college websites Mark recommends:   If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link:     If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

Your health isn't a number on the scale—it's how you treat your body every single day. In this recap, Lesley and Brad dive into the wisdom of Amber Romaniuk, an emotional eating, digestive, and hormone expert with over a decade of experience and host of The No Sugarcoating Podcast. This conversation challenges the myths we've been sold about health and inspires you to listen to your body, trust your instincts, and finally put yourself first.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co .And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why Pilates footwork is a full-body exercise, not just about the feetWhy BMI is outdated and misleading as a health measure.Why we get stuck in suffering because it feels familiar.Daily habits that support hormones and digestion.How to advocate for yourself with providers.Episode References/Links:Follow Amber on IG https://www.instagram.com/amberromaniukAmber Romaniuk Website - https://www.amberapproved.caNo Sugarcoating Podcast - https://amberapproved.ca/podcastP.O.T. Chicago 2025 - https://pilates.com/pilates-on-tour-chicagolandCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comWinter Tour Waitlist - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Expo Journal - https://www.pilatesjournalexpo.com/los-angeles-pilates-expoThe Aligner from Balanced Body - https://opc.me/alignerSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsThe Aligner from Balanced Body - https://opc.me/aligner Camp Shame - https://beitpod.com/campshameEp. 400: Gay Hendricks - https://beitpod.com/gayhendricksEp. 177: Lindsay Moore - https://beitpod.com/ep177Ep. 39: Jessica Valant - https://beitpod.com/ep39Ep. 41: Dr. Kelly Bender - https://beitpod.com/ep41Ep. 183: Dr. Kelly Bender - https://beitpod.com/ep183FemGevity - https://beitpod.com/femgevityIf you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  If you're feeling overwhelmed by what's going on in the world, because you've got stuff in your own life going on, it is your number one priority to heal yourself, to go figure out, like, what people, what services, what you need to heal so that you can go out there in the world and be this amazing, evolved human who helps and supports and inspires other people. Brad Crowell 0:19  Yeah. Lesley Logan 0:20  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:59  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the beneficial convo I had with Amber Romaniuk in our last episode. Nailed it. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause this now. Go back and listen to that one, and then come back and join us. You guys, I also think last week, I don't even think I said Jon's last name correctly, like I, I gotta you guys.Brad Crowell 1:22  You got close. It's okay. We. Lesley Logan 1:23  Okay, I think it's really important you know, I went to speech therapy, okay, as a child, I had a stutter. I had a lisp. I do think I'm slightly dyslexic. I, I'm doing the best I can here. Brad Crowell 1:37  You're doing great, babe. Lesley Logan 1:39  Today is September 18th 2025 and it's World Water Monitoring Day. And I got some fucking neighbors I'm monitoring. Anyways, every year, around 150 countries come together to honor World Water Monitoring Day. It just rolls off the tongue, don't you think? Brad Crowell 1:55  Yeah. Lesley Logan 1:55  Water, as we've been learning since a young age, is an extremely important source for keeping all living beings alive and well, you can go without food for a long period of time, about three weeks, but your body will most likely start showing signs of shutting down if you haven't had enough water intake for even a short period of time, about three to four days. I can't even go fucking three to four hours without some water. So I just so you know, if I'm ever kidnapped and tortured, I don't think I'm gonna make it three days. I'm gonna I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna drown. I'm gonna die. The human body is, after all, made of 60 to 70% of water. We're like cucumbers, everyone. Water is so important. I have, are cucumbers more than 60% water? Brad, will look it up. Water is so important that much of the space exploration budget is solely dedicated to finding water sources on other planets. A huge chunk of the earth's ecosystem.Brad Crowell 2:47  Cucumbers are 90, 95 to 96% water.Lesley Logan 2:50  Okay, so we're not like a cucumber, but we should act like we're, be it till you see it as a cucumber, guys. A huge chunk of the earth's ecosystem is also made of water, with countless organisms dependent on it, yet things like water pollution and climate change are threatening our water sources, which is why it has become more important now than ever to regularly monitor the water bodies around us. I kept interrupting myself, but I just want to say, like I did do a whole thing, you can drown yourself if you drink too much water, you can it's called hyponatremia,neutramia, nitremia, hyponatremia, nutremia, anyways, it's the opposite, and so.Brad Crowell 3:26  Hyponatremia.Lesley Logan 3:28  Natremia. So here's the deal. You do want to. Brad Crowell 3:35  The sodium levels in your blood become abnormally low because you're (inaudible). Lesley Logan 3:36  If you look at, like, cyclists or marathon runners, they're not just drinking water. They have electrolytes in it, you A.K.A., there's salt. So make sure that you be it till you see it like a cucumber, but put some salt in your water. Okay? Also, you know, while we're at it, research the companies who are putting salt in your water, because some of them are dick heads. Some of them don't believe in science, which is pretty fucked up, considering that they're fucking scientific. They're supposed to be scientific in what they're doing. Brad Crowell 3:59  I think we can call one out. Lesley Logan 4:01  Yeah, LMNT apparently supports MAHA. And I'm pretty pissed off.Brad Crowell 4:04  The two founders are, like, lockstep with RFK doing, you know, like de-science-sizing our science.Lesley Logan 4:14  So anyways, I'm pissed off because I really liked it. However, the great thing about being cookied and like algorithms following us is, I use Brad's phone several times to research different companies that are not LMNT, that don't have stevia or sugar, and not only do we come up with a few because of, like, a chat bot of Brad's, but now he's getting ads for some and I think one of the ads you got is brilliant, and I'm really excited about it, so. Brad Crowell 4:38  Yeah, it's a shame, because I really like their product. It was actually really great. Lesley Logan 4:38  It was really great, but, you know what. Brad Crowell 4:38  It still is great. I disagree with their. Lesley Logan 4:38  Clearly, since they don't believe in science. Brad Crowell 4:39  Well, I disagree with their opinions. Lesley Logan 4:43  But also, since they don't believe in science, there's probably a better scientific electrolytes out there. So we're gonna find those, and once we do, you'll know, because I'll just make us an affiliate, and we'll shout it up from the rooftops. But my fucking goodness, protect your water. Make sure, like, look, make sure that even if you live in a place where the water is abundant, we were, I could not believe how much water is in Idaho. I could not believe the amount of water in Idaho. I'm like, no one. California is like, just wasting water. There's no water. Like, when you live in the southwest, when you live on the west, like it's not exactly like, abundant. Brad Crowell 5:20  It's a desert, hello. Lesley Logan 5:21  Yes, I know. So anyways, it happened in Vegas. We found out that, like, when we use water out of our faucets and our sinks and our showers, like 98% of that, or something like that, is actually able to be reused, like cleaned and all that stuff. So, like, that's really nice.Brad Crowell 5:35  I don't know what the percentage is, but. Lesley Logan 5:36  It was over, it was over 90. Brad Crowell 5:37  Yeah, they're very intense in Nevada about water conservation and reuse. Lesley Logan 5:42  We're doing a great job in Nevada, because, we have. Brad Crowell 5:44  Specifically in Las Vegas. Lesley Logan 5:46  Yes, because our population has increased ridiculous amounts, and we've decreased our water consumption. And you know, the fact that people are fighting for their fucking green lawns pisses me off, because unless you live where it rains all the time, then by all means, like, lawn away, but like, if you don't, you know, lawns don't even capture water. Like, that was the shocking news to me. Brad Crowell 6:08  No. The only thing that grass does is look pretty. Lesley Logan 6:10  Looks pretty. Brad Crowell 6:12  That's it.Lesley Logan 6:12  So clearly, I'm against golf courses. But look, if water is natural where you are, and it rains and it can keep grasses green, then have them. But why are we doing the grass in the desert? It piss, like, those kinds of things are stupid. They don't make sense. It, just going with our you know, talk about believe in science. Anyways, at Be It Till You See It, we believe in science. We just got back from the U.K., literally two days ago. We are home, are catching up on work. We're filming stuff for OPC. We're recording stuff for this podcast, and then we're going to, this is our tour, we're gonna go to Chicago. I will be at POT for balanced body in Chicagoland in Burr Ridge. We're gonna celebrate our anniversary together, 10 fucking years married. Holy moly, can you believe that?Brad Crowell 7:00  That's insane. Lesley Logan 7:01  Yeah. I was like, are you still here? Brad Crowell 7:03  Yeah. Lesley Logan 7:04  So, 10 years married, and then from Chicago, we're gonna go to Cambodia, and we're gonna run our retreat in Cambodia. I'm so excited for the epic humans we're gonna hang out with in Cambodia. It's gonna be so (inaudible) and then we're gonna head up to Singapore on our way home. I'm teaching a workshop there. Go to crowsnestretreats.com for our retreat info. Brad Crowell 7:21  Yeah and if you're if this one is too close, because it literally is a couple weeks away, no problem. Get on the waitlist. Lesley Logan 7:24  You're not spontaneous, but they can't be spontaneous. Brad Crowell 7:31  No, you're allowed to be spontaneous. I get it. But also, like doing an international trip within a month can be challenging. So I understand that, I recognize that, if.Lesley Logan 7:39  My mom's friend did it in two weeks. Brad Crowell 7:41  She did. You're 100% right and you should do that, too. Drop your life and come join us. If that's not an option, then come join us next year, we are going to be doing this again in October of next year. We'll be announcing all the dates in January. So go to the website. Go to the website and get yourself on the waitlist. Go to crowsnestretreats.com.Lesley Logan 8:00  Then, on you on our way home, go to Singapore, and then we come home, we hang out for a month. Brad's parents are finally visiting. It's only been 10 years. Don't throw them under the bus. They're lovely people. Anyways, we love them very much. And I just, I just love this 10-year vacation that we're on. Every 10 years. But anyways, we'll announce the winter tour deets on October 1st, actually. So the winter tour is going to release before you leave for for Chicago. So you want to be on the waitlist. opc.me/events to make sure you get that link. Also, 2026 is literally around the corner. We come home from winter tour. I teach at a Pilates Expo Journal. Brad Crowell 8:35  That's in L.A. Lesley Logan 8:36  That's in L.A. adjacent. I just as an Angeleno, I have a really hard time saying that something is in L.A. when it's not in L.A., because I just feel like it's not in L.A., and then we'll be in Poland. So if you are wanting information about that, check out my Instagram account. I'll put that stuff up there. We'll get the links up here in an upcoming episode. Before we get into Amber's amazing takeaways, what is our question this time, babe?Brad Crowell 9:00  etaine.pilates, yeah, is asking legs in parallel, hip distance apart, legs together, zipped midline, either or both? And this is. Lesley Logan 9:01  A footwork question. Brad Crowell 9:05  A footwork question.Lesley Logan 9:06  We got so many footwork questions. I was like, I'll just and some of them are longer than I can type a character count of Instagram. So here is the deal, footwork from Joe, if you're doing it Joe's way, on the Reformer or on the Wunda Chair or on a Cadillac or anywhere footwork is, you start with heels together, toes slightly apart. Brad Crowell 9:33  But if you're doing it Brad's way, you just put your feet completely 180. Lesley Logan 9:37  Yeah, he does his own way. Brad Crowell 9:38  But don't do that. Lesley Logan 9:39  So don't do that. So slightly apart. Like, people like to say Pilates V Pilates V is not first position. So don't get them confused. There's actually no. Brad Crowell 9:39  First position, meaning dancing. Lesley Logan 9:40  Dancing. It's a little that's a little too externally rotated, so it's a slightly apart. The other thing is, it's like, actually your neutral position of your femurs, like, when the body is in neutral, your femurs are slightly turned out, like, that's what footwork toes is. So that's heels, the other toes apart. Then when you move to arches and heels, ideally, you are zipped, zipping the midline together. However, bodies are interesting shapes. We have some people have bony ankles. Some people have large calves. You know, some people have thigh abundance. Some people are Knock Kneed. So here's the deal, if you cannot zip your legs together and get everything to touch so ankles, you know, knees, thighs, what you can do is. Brad Crowell 10:29  Oh, the zip starts all the way down there? Lesley Logan 10:31  Oh, ideally. Doesn't your zipper start at the bottom of your coat? Brad Crowell 10:34  I don't know, whenever I hear that term, I think it's like zipping from my core, so like from my my belly button up, zipping my ribs and, you know, or. Lesley Logan 10:43  Yeah, you could think that, it's fine. Brad Crowell 10:45  But I didn't think about it all the way down to the heels.Lesley Logan 10:48  Sorry, from the bottom, now we're here, babe. So gotta start from the from the feet up. We are talking about footwork, yes, but if you can't, because of your body shape, Balanced Body makes a really cool thing called the Aligner. You can put that between your ankles or your thighs. They have two different ways you can use it. It's really, really cool. We have an affiliate link for that. We'll toss that in the notes, and then, if that's but if that's more than you need because it is a little bit bigger, just roll up a towel, um, or get a little squishy ball and or get a yoga block. Or, like, get a get the dog's toy, put it between your the place in your body that has a hard time, like that's touching, like you don't like when your ankles touch, or your knees knock, put up between something close the chain, so your inner thighs activate. It's really, really important that the inner thighs activate so that you're not just using quads in your footwork. We want the inner thighs, want the hamstrings, want the glutes to work. So it's a full body exercise. So it's all the things you asked Heather, all of them. Brad Crowell 11:41  It's all the things. Lesley Logan 11:42  If you want to dive in deep to footwork, one, I think I'm teaching a workshop. I taught a workshop in the U.K., so that's passed, missed out on it, but we have free tutorials on our YouTube channel, on any place you can do footwork, and it's in our flashcards, and you'll can hear why I'm obsessed with it. If you have a question, go to you can text us at 310-905-5534, we're plus one country code, I guess, so, +1-310-905-5534, or go to beitpod.com/questions, you can submit a win or a question. I want to shout your wins out. That's what makes a Friday episode fun, is your wins. Brad Crowell 12:17  That is what does it and you should definitely be doing that, so. Lesley Logan 12:20  You should be. If you're not doing that, you're doing life wrong.Brad Crowell 12:22  I mean, y'all, we should have so many wins that we don't, we have to pick between them. So, let's go, step it up. Go to beitpod.com/questions.Lesley Logan 12:30  Here's what people, my win's not very big or I don't want to take up space. You want to know something? That's what the fucking patriarch wants. They want you to not take up space. Because if you're quiet and you're humble and you think your win isn't anything, then you then they get have an easier time controlling you in your life. So take up space. Celebrate your wins. You're inspiring other people to see what they can do, and it makes the world a fucking better place to live in. Ladies, take up some fucking space.Brad Crowell 12:54  Take up some space. Lesley Logan 12:55  Share a win. Brad Crowell 12:59  By the way, the link for the Aligner is opc.me/aligner. Lesley Logan 13:04  Aligner. Good luck spelling that there is a silent G. Brad Crowell 13:07  A-L-I-G-N-E-R Lesley Logan 13:08  What's that comedian who, like, does a whole thing on like this, saying the silent letters in the U.S. and like, the English language, we call it aligner.Brad Crowell 13:15  Oh yeah. I don't know the name of the comedian, but that's hilarious. Yeah, go check it out. All right. Stick around. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 13:22  Welcome back. Let's talk about Amber Romaniuk. Amber is an emotional, eating, digestive and hormone expert with over 11 years of experience and the host of The No Sugar Coating Podcast, which boasts 1.9 million downloads over 500 episodes and is listened to in over 88 countries. Her mission is to help guide women worldwide towards food and body freedom, a state where they understand and address their physical, hormonal, digestive and blood sugar issues, alongside the habits and mindsets that hinder their healing. Her backstory is very involved with her mission today. Her passion for helping women stem from her own profound struggles, which began at a very young age, and some of it was learned from family. Some of it was due to bullying. She shares a little bit about that on the interview. So if you haven't had a chance to go listen to that interview, definitely go, you know, hit pause. Go back. Listen to that. It's worth a listen. When she was a child, she developed an unconscious emotional connection to food, and it revolved around sugar and processed foods, and it led to full, full blown food addiction. And that's part of the story she shares. It's a bit shocking. And it's also, you know, I actually think it's something that is very relatable. And it's not just women who deal with this stuff, you know as well, food can become an addiction, just like cigarettes, like drugs, like whatever working out can be an addiction. For her, food became an addiction.Lesley Logan 14:47  Yeah, I just it's really interesting, because I, while we were on our tour, I listened to like, every podcast I could, and I actually ran out of episodes to listen to. I can tell we're on tour like I ran out of episodes I found this podcast. Podcast was about a camp that, like, heavyweights was based off of actually. And podcast series is really, really cool. It's called Camp Shame. You want to listen to it. And they did a really great job explaining, like, how, just how, historically, then this became associated with, like, healthiness and how, especially in the US, but in most Western cultures, we have really fucked people up by, including our medical world, by thinking that you just have to lose weight and that has created these food addictions and these other and these other ways of eating disorder addictions. And I think it's just.Brad Crowell 15:41  I think losing weight certainly can be the solution, but how could it possibly always be the solution?Lesley Logan 15:47  Oh, and that's exactly it. Because, like a lot of people who do have, do have a little bit more weight on them, doctors are always like, oh, go lose some weight first, before they even, like, listen to their fucking symptoms. And so then their issues get worse. Anyways, all this to say, I really enjoy that I really like when people are willing to share their stories of healing and then how they're going, because I think it's so important to normalize these conversations so that people can realize that, first of all, your weight often has zero to do with width of your health. And we know that now we have a lot of more information now than we did before, because, actually, of science and people studying these things and. Brad Crowell 16:09  Can you explain that? Because that's not intuitive. How is it that your weight could be? I mean, your weight has to have something.Lesley Logan 16:31  So first of all, everybody thinks a BMI is like your insurance companies will use your BMI to determine if you're healthy or not, and what your insurance rate should be. Your BMI was actually never supposed to be used for what health is? The scientists who did it was for another reason, and it was only sitting on men. And BMI means your height to weight ratio. Well, a bodybuilder could have what would be considered obese BMI because the weight. Brad Crowell 16:53  They could be short and huge, but they're intentionally huge. Lesley Logan 16:56  But their their muscles and their body so their body fat percentage is quite low, right, versus somebody who's the same height and maybe even the same weight, but doesn't work out, right? But, but by the way, we're we're acting like that guy with muscles is healthier than the guy without muscles, because we have been conditioned to think that that is healthy. That person might be on steroids, they might be under eating, they might. Brad Crowell 17:19  They could be starving themselves (inaudible) Lesley Logan 17:21  Correct. Right. And then the other thing is, is that, like, you're, a lot of our health conditions are actually genetic versus, you know, a lot of things, and we are, different races have different body shapes. And so we're saying, oh, if you're not heroin chic, then there's something wrong with you. Because the best way to describe the way that the 90s thought health and wealth and beauty was like fucking stick pencil thin. Those girls were eating cotton balls soaked in orange juice. Literally, you can go watch documentaries on this like that is how they were staying the shape that they needed to be to make money. And then we're all chasing this dream when our bodies actually don't want to look like that. They don't. That's not healthy. And so, at any rate, health, signs of good health, your weight is like, truly not one of them, unless you are on the very, very, very ends of a spectrum, but in the middle, there is a wide range of health that could be and your outside appearance is rarely able to to significant like, the indicator of what your health is, we have to look at your sugar levels. We have to look at like, do you digest sugar? Are you digesting your food? Are you absorbing nutrition? Like your microbiome is a better signifier of health than your weight on the scale. And so it's really fascinating, because we have a humongous population of women and men who are raised to think that I just have to be thinner. And so there's a lot of people, a lot of people, a lo t of people listen to this podcast who probably struggle with, I was at the gym today, right? And this woman, she is so, so sweet. She looks so cute. And she's like, yeah. She's like, I'm carrying 30 pounds more because of an injury. And like, the fact that she felt like she had to tell me that because she's a Pilates instructor. And so she's like, yeah, I was like. I was like, who cares? Like, I listen to her. Who cares. You are having the most fun. You're rocking your Pilates practice. Who cares? So the point is, all this to say, like, we, this country is fucked up, in how it thinks of health, and so people are worrying about what the scale says, versus, like, going to their doctor, getting their lungs listened to getting their heart listened to getting their blood checked, and then researching, like, what is, what's in range, hormones, hormone health, that kind of stuff. But like, we're, we're so obsessed with what the scale says, versus like, what does your blood fucking say? What does your blood say? So anyways, back to Amber. She said, we get comfortable in our comfort zones of suffering. And I think this is really, really important. A lot of us are afraid of being on the other side of whatever our addiction or whatever our thing is, because suffering has become comfortable. We know it. We know what to expect. We like certainty. We'll hear more about certainty in a couple weeks with Brad Bizjack. But like we like knowing these things, but we have to we, our comfort zone of suffering is not uncomfortable enough for us to want to get out of it. She said, we continue to do what is familiar because it feels safe to your brain. You can listen to Gay Hendricks or read his book about like your brain, like wanting to be in this comfort zone we will sabotage right? She described being terrified of the unknown. This is, I am familiar with this, like you're so terrified of, like the unknown, like I'll just stick in my suffering, because the other side, the thing that I want, is actually scary, because I don't know what's it going to feel like and but she said the suffering became bigger than the fear of change, and that is so key. Like, sometimes we just have to figure out what that's going to be for us. And she said your healing is one of the most valuable journeys you can choose, is going to help you grow and evolve in ways you can't even imagine. And I think this is so important, like, whatever is going on in your life, if you're feeling overwhelmed by what's going on in the world, because you've got stuff in your own life going on, it is your number one priority to heal yourself, to go figure out, like, who, what, what people, what services, what you need to heal so that you can go out there in the world and be this amazing, evolved human who helps and supports and inspires other people. Right? Anyways, so many good things in there. What did you love?Brad Crowell 21:32  I was digging where she's talking about, your actual body is always trying to heal. Doesn't matter where you are in your life cycle. And what she was talking about, what I what she was referencing there was the different, like hormonal stages of a female body, specifically with the perimenopause, menopause, you know, post she said, however, we have to look at what is in the way of healing. And it's not, not even just those stages, but it, you know, your mindset is so much a part of this healing, right? And whether you're seeing doctors or not, that's what we can contribute to the fix that we may be getting from an expert, right? But our mindset and our habits, the behaviors that we have. She said, she also, you know, when it comes to age and certain ages, right? I know from just being around people who are older than me, they have this idea that they're set in their ways, and there's nothing that can be done about it. And that's not true, you know, like, it doesn't matter when how old you are, you can start to create change and the internal, the way that we internalize, the way that we think about ourselves and think about the change and the hope and the shift in our health, will contribute significantly to whatever actual like, you know, whether we change our sleep or our food or our workout or our, you know, supplements or whatever, any of that, but the way we think about it is going to change, is going to support that or it's going to make it effective, right?Lesley Logan 23:15  Well, we talked about those habits, right? We have a whole habit series coming out, by the way, in December, so I'll dive in more there. But like, if you shame yourself after doing making a mistake in a change you want to make, your main mindset will keep you from making those changes again. Like you will not be able to do it even though your body wants to do it, even though you say you want to do it, like how your mindset is absolutely a huge part of making the changes and allowing your body to heal. Because your body wants to do it, but you're, you're getting in the way.Brad Crowell 23:43  Yeah and also your mindset of your provider, right? The, it's hard to change a provider, but I, you know the response that you mentioned earlier, oh, just go lose some weight first, and then we will do X, Y and Z, you know, like, that's some bullshit. That's such a cop out. Lesley Logan 24:00  Find a new provider. Brad Crowell 24:01  Yeah, and like, if you're getting told something like that, you are, you absolutely can go get a second opinion. Lesley Logan 24:08  You can also tell them, no, I've already have, like, there, in one of the FYFs, I think I actually brought up, like, things that you can say to a doctor. But like, and unfortunately, people who are in what's considered a larger body, you might have to say to the doctor, but I want you to know, come into this I've already lost X amount of weight. I have had this pain for this long. Unfortunately, no matter who you are, even if weight is not a thing, you're gonna have to say how long things happen. Because some people, some doctors, do not take some symptoms seriously until it's been a significant amount of time. Brad Crowell 24:45  Well, let's, let's, let's think about this here, like from the perspective of a doctor, it's a puzzle, okay, you are a puzzle to them, and they like figuring out puzzles, and they've educated themselves in a crazy way over many, many, many, many years to understand all the variables that are involved so, but, they're still human, right? And they're going to do what brains do, which is the fastest, easiest way to find the answer, the solution. That's what their brain is doing for them. So they're gonna look at it and go, well, step one is, is it fucking plugged in, right? Just like any of the stupid customer service calls. So what are they gonna say? They say, well, you're clearly overweight, so go lose some weight, right? And that is the easy answer for them, but there's more to it than just that. But they can say, well, this is definitely something that has to be solved anyway, and it could be a very likely contributor to whatever the problem is that you have. So what are they going to do? They're going to go to the easiest answer first. Now there could be far more to it, or if you can give them a clearer picture of the puzzle, you can already say, this is how long this thing's been happening. I have already lost X amount of weight. I have already done these other things. I have already changed my eating, my sleeping, my this. Yet the problem persists. Now they have a clear picture of the puzzle, and they can go, hmm, the easy is it plugged in response doesn't work here. What's the next thing on my mental checklist of things? Right? So it's really important to be communicative. It's important to be paying attention to yourself. It's important to have those numbers and statistics and like, you know, things that you've already tried, and to share that information, because otherwise you're gonna get the is it plugged in answer.Lesley Logan 24:53  And they don't, and to their to also like to be on their a little on their side, they are, they have to see a ridiculous number of patients in a day. They have, they're given six minutes with you, and so the more you can have your thoughts organized. Listen to the episode with Lindsay Moore and also Jessica Valant on, like, advocating for yourself in healthcare, but like, have these notes, because it will help your healing process if that's the route you have to go. And if you're going a route of a therapist or something like that, find one like it might take a few different people. And I know that's annoying. I know like, when you're when you are suffering and you're finally ready to make a change, it can be fucking annoying to start over week after week after week with a different therapist until you find what you like. But you have, you owe it to your future self and you owe it to the people that you're going to change their life by being yourself. Brad Crowell 27:05  Yeah, I mean, think about, think about it from the perspective of of a Pilates teacher or a fitness coach or whatever, like, if you are in the Pilates world, what we always coach our clients through Agency. We say not, you are not for everyone, and that's okay. The therapists are for everyone, and that's also okay. You're not going to connect the same way with this, with every person, but there is going to be one or more than one person that you're gonna be like, oh my gosh, I totally vibe with this person, and you'll be willing to connect with them in a in a better way. Doctors are the same way, right, like, so anyway, the Lindsay Moore episode is episode 177 and who else did you say? Lesley Logan 27:47  Jessica Valant, her first episode. Brad Crowell 27:49  Jessica Valant is episode 39 so go back and check out those interviews that both will be very helpful and supportive for this conversation as well. And yeah, the I think that you know, to sum this all up, if you're frustrated with the attention or lack of attention that you're getting from your provider, you are allowed to advocate for yourself. No one is going to advocate for you unless you hire someone to advocate for you or engage you know someone advocate for you, or maybe you have a family member who's willing to to play that role, but you can advocate for you, and it's also okay to go get a second opinion and to dig deeper. You know, you're allowed to do that, you know? So she, she said, we need to recondition ourselves, to normalize investing in our health. And what she's specifically talking about in that is that she's Canadian. They do have health care as a country. She said just because we get health care doesn't always mean that it's great health care, right? When she started having this, these deeper conversations with her doctors, she started cutting out some of the middleman and paying to go directly to the experts. Right, because she said, well, I couldn't get the referral, but I disagreed with them. I went to someone else. And just because the way the system was structured, it wasn't an option. So for me, I had to go straight to the expert, and that meant I had to pay out of pocket, and that sucks, because I did have access. I do have access to a healthcare system, however, that wasn't, that wasn't solving my problem and and I think in the United States, the irony is, we still have to fucking pay for things anyway, because our insurance system is so backwards. So, you know, I would say, you know, I agree with her that we need to recondition ourselves to normalize investing in our health, and that's that's exactly why we encourage people to go work out, too.Lesley Logan 29:44  And then, you know, call your fucking Congress person and tell them how much you would invest. Tell them what you want to see changes are. They work for us. And every country that you have some sort of voting system, the person who represents you is supposed to work for you whether you voted for them or not. So like be something in there, like be in their fucking bonnet about it, but first you have to heal yourself. And that does, unfortunately, there's like a statistic that it's like a ridiculous amount of money that women will spend on their health care versus men, because we are often getting second opinions because, unfortunately, they didn't study women's bodies. Brad Crowell 30:19  I think women also live longer than men. So maybe there's something to it.Lesley Logan 30:29  Especially if you don't get married. There's, like, a lot, so there's a fuck ton of study. Brad Crowell 30:53  Wait a minute. Lesley Logan 30:27  Yes. So it says if you're basically, the science is, if you're a man, you need to be married because you'll live longer, but if you're a woman, you should not get married because you will live longer. And so it's just, like, really interesting thing that, like women actually provided we still get to have our credit cards and our bank accounts and vote. You know, we will live longer if we just live by our like, live on our own or live in a commune with each other. Brad Crowell 30:53  Well, there's that. Lesley Logan 30:54  Sorry, babe. I love you, but.Brad Crowell 30:56  I love me too, so, you know. Lesley Logan 30:57  Okay. Brad Crowell 30:58  All right, stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to dig into those action items. Those Be It Action Items that we got from Amber Romaniuk. Brad Crowell 31:05  All right, so let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your conver conversation with Amber? She said, hey, the best habits for hormone and digestive health, start getting into a mindful eating practice and start having good sleep hygiene. And what she was specifically saying about mindful eating practice, this is really interesting, y'all, because we're glued to our phones, I'm just as guilty of this, like 100%, she said, for eating, put down your phone, sit and eat your food mindfully. Why? What does she actually mean by that? She said, Well, there's two elements to eating, and we're distracting ourselves from one of the two elements when we're not focused on eating. What are those two elements? There's the physical state of eating, and then there's the emotional state of eating. And if we are not paying attention to our food, there's very high chance that emotionally we won't even realize it, and we will just keep eating, because we don't emotionally think, feel, you know, that we're full, right? And also, there's still that, that element with the physical you know, you're not necessarily paying attention to your stomach, you're paying attention to your phone, right? So you could just keep going past the point of being full. So I just thought it was really interesting. It's not the first time we've heard this. In fact, I think Dr, Kelly Bender also mentioned eating and putting your phone away and just focusing on eating. Can't remember which interview that was, because she's been with us for a few, but. Lesley Logan 32:39  Yes, but you can go listen to them. Brad Crowell 32:41  Yeah, she, she was in episode 41 and 183 Dr. Kelly Bender, so we'll put those links in the show notes. But she, she mentions the same thing, like put your phone away while you're eating. And I never thought about it as as a mindful practice, but disconnect from that technology. And she said, same goes with sleeping. And of course, we've talked about this before.Lesley Logan 33:00  Mindfully sleep, put your phone away. You can actually sleep.Brad Crowell 33:04  Yeah, not mindfully sleeping, but like preparing for sleep, like actually preparing for sleep. And I know you went through a couple different extreme things where you would leave your phone in the other side of the house.Lesley Logan 33:16  I know I still want to do that. I just haven't figured out how to do that. Brad Crowell 33:21  It's tough too, because their phones are our alarms all the things. But like, you know, disconnecting from tech, she said 15, 30 minutes before going to bed, you know. And then also, she said sleeping before 11pm especially for women, because optimal hormone balance occurs between 11pm and 1am I don't actually know how that statistic comes to be, I think every body is a little bit different. And so, you know, we all have our own sleeping patterns. So I think it's important to understand your own circadian rhythm, a tool that we use to help us find ours, has been a ring like the ring that monitors your heart, your health, your blood, you know, your blood, all that kind of stuff, your blood pressure, I mean. And then it actually can identify your natural rhythm.Lesley Logan 34:05  We'll have to, we'll have to find out where that is, because I do, there is information that our liver also does its own, like clean, like cleaning out thing around 2 to 4 a.m. and so that's why a lot of people get up at two in the morning having to pee. Like, it's actually, like, there are, there are some things that the body just does at a certain time. Brad Crowell 34:21  But, but also, like 2 to 4 a.m. for me is not 2 to 4 a.m. for somebody else. So that's what doesn't make sense like, because the time zones like so, so I think, I think there's a, there's a there's like a guideline there. But, you know, I think it's obviously different forever. We live in different parts of the world.Lesley Logan 34:37  Luckily, for you, Brad, you can be a lark, you can be up, or whatever it's called, owl, you you don't your hormones will be fine. If you stay up past 11, it's okay.Brad Crowell 34:44  High level, she said, get your hormones tested. So.Lesley Logan 34:47  Get them tested multiple times, multiple times, because they they do change throughout the day, but also throughout your cycle. And also find a doctor, if not working with Amber or FemGevity, find fucking someone who actually gives a fuck. Because it took me, I knew I did not have testosterone for years, and I had it took me forever to find someone who would fucking listen to me, and so it is annoying, and you gotta advocate for yourself, but you need to find someone who actually gives any fucks about hormones. So whatever it is, find the person you're and yes, it takes time. I know you're busy. Brad Crowell 35:11  I think we could talk about FemGevity here. I mean, you probably heard the commercials that we throw in occasionally here. But you know, Lesley has been working with a female telehealth medicine company that is only in the United States. Sorry, Canadians, but.Lesley Logan 35:33  That's why they have Amber and anyone can well, you can be outside the States, outside of Canada, and work with Amber as well, of course, I guess, but yeah, you gotta find people. So if so cannot talk to Amber, contact FemGevity, but contact interview people who and see if they fit your vibe. Do they understand what your goals are? Like are, does it make sense them? If they're not, it's okay. It's not like, oh my god, they're an asshole. They don't get me. They're not the right person for you.Brad Crowell 36:00  Yeah, they're not the right person for you, or they don't have the time for you and so you can find somebody else. What about you?Lesley Logan 36:06  Becoming in tune and learning how to listen to your body, most powerful gift you can give yourself. I think it's kind of free, guys, as well. Yeah, it's free. She said, do a self-assessment. What symptoms are you experiencing? Rate your intensity, a one to attend, to effectively commute with a healthcare professional. So you could just literally take notes on your phone. And when you wake up, you could just, like, ask yourself, like, well, how do I feel? What am I experiencing right now? Like, in the morning, I'm experiencing a runny nose, oh, it's because I need to take my allergy medicine, right like, or, and in the afternoon, might sit down for lunch. You can go, what am I experiencing right now? And it's like, oh, my nose is still running. Maybe this is not allergies, right? Like, you know? And then after dinner, like, what? Instead, it could be part of your gratitude practice like, I'm grateful because I feel hot, I'm grateful because I feel tired, part of it, but start to rate it, so that you have notes, and you can start to see patterns. And then when you actually do talk to a healthcare professional, they can see that you are paying attention to yourself. Yeah, like, you know, it's really hard when you go, I don't know it's been a while since I've been feeling this way. Since when? They're going to know since when? Because a while for some people is three days, and for some people it's three fucking years. So you want to say since January 27th, every night I feel like this. You know, like that is important information. Build a self-care routine, if we I mean, we know that this is a big thing. I'm a big fan of, you know, even if it's just sitting or slowing down and practicing the art of doing nothing. That's a great thing.Brad Crowell 37:29  Oh yeah, that was a whole interesting part of the conversation. She said, we need to take 10 minutes and literally do nothing to regulate our nervous system every day. And I thought, huh, do I ever give myself time to do nothing? No, you know why? Because I've got a damn phone and I'm like, scrolling Instagram. If I, if I'm doing quote, unquote relaxing, I'm still doing something.Lesley Logan 37:55  You know what? Also, even if, like, here's the deal, you can walk your dog, which is going to be doing something, but then do nothing while walking your dog. And like so, but find ways to get bored. You know, our yoga teacher always talked about, when his kids go, I'm bored, he's like, you're so fucking lucky. It was one of the greatest things you could ever be, is bored. And lastly, Amber advised us to be patient and compassionate with our with yourself. Try to build a friendship with your body. Whoo, that one, that one, if you do nothing on this world, but like, build (inaudible).Brad Crowell 38:25  I mean, you asked, like, how do we not be impatient when we aren't seeing immediate results? And that's where she said, be compassionate with yourself.Lesley Logan 38:33  Yeah, if you were your friend, telling your friend, I'm not seeing X, Y and Z results, you your friend, would be like, okay, but how long has it been? Okay, but you. Brad Crowell 38:41  It's been a week. Okay, it took me 40 years to get here. Lesley Logan 38:44  Yeah, be nice. You're not a robot. Speaking of not being a robot, I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 38:49  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 38:51  Thank you so much for listening to this episode. Thank you for sending in your favorite parts of the episode. Thank you for sharing what you love and your suggestions. Send your questions and your wins in to beitpod.com/questions. Share this episode with a friend who needs friend who needs to hear it, especially Amber's interview with your friends who are struggling with their health right now and their health journey. It gets really inspiring. Brad Crowell 39:09  beitpod.com/questions Lesley Logan 39:11  Oh, beitpod.com/questions that's more helpful. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 39:17  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 39:19  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 40:01  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 40:06  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 40:11  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 40:18  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 40:21  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, host Josh interviews Steve Simonsen, CEO of SYMO Global, about strategies for private label sellers and brands facing economic challenges like inflation, rising Amazon fees, and shrinking margins. Steve shares actionable advice on SKU-level profitability analysis, disciplined inventory management, negotiating with suppliers, and liquidating slow-moving products. He emphasizes the importance of understanding financial statements and maintaining financial discipline. The conversation offers practical tips for navigating uncertain demand and highlights the need for proactive, data-driven decision-making to thrive during tough economic times.Chapters:Introduction & Economic Context (00:00:00)Josh introduces Steve Simonsen and sets the stage: inflation, rising Amazon fees, squeezed margins, and a pending recession.State of the Economy & Inventory Focus (00:00:55)Steve discusses the reality of the recession, economic slowdown, and the importance of managing inventory on the balance sheet.SKU-Level Profitability & Declining Unit Sales (00:02:03)Emphasis on granular SKU-level profitability analysis and the impact of declining unit sales despite higher top-line revenue.Supplier Negotiations & Cost Control (00:04:04)Strategies for negotiating with suppliers, leveraging currency shifts, and pushing back on costs to improve margins.Inventory Valuation & Trash to Cash (00:05:58)Advice on devaluing inventory, taking write-offs, and converting slow-moving inventory into cash.Liquidation Strategies & Q4 Considerations (00:07:21)How to liquidate inventory, use Q4 for retail-value sales, and categorize inventory for effective action.Actionable Takeaways Recap (00:08:46)Josh summarizes three actionable takeaways: SKU-level analysis, turning trash to cash, and cautious inventory forecasting.Financial Discipline & Mindset (00:11:06)Steve stresses the importance of understanding financials, cash flow, and developing discipline during tough economic times.Closing Thoughts & Contact Info (00:13:44)Final advice on mindset, encouragement for entrepreneurs, and where to follow or contact Steve.Links and Mentions:Tools and WebsitesParsimonyAdditional ResourcesSteve Simonsen on LinkedInTranscript:Josh 00:00:00  Today I'm speaking with Steve Simonsen, owner and CEO of SYMO Global. Steve, you've got such great experience. You have. It sounds like a great network in terms of supplier relationships. Because of your vast experience with SYMO Global, you've already got so many different contacts in those different countries as we were in a difficult economic period right now. Right. We have inflation that's been going up. Amazon fees continue to go up, right. margins are getting squeezed. And then we have this pending recession on our hands where consumers are starting to pull back on some of the consumer spending. I think we're seeing that. I want to ask what you're seeing from your perspective. And then for our audience that are established brands that want to take it to the next level. What should they be doing? What strategies should they be employing over the next little while?Steve 00:00:55  Gosh, yeah, that's there's a lot in there. And the truth is, like we're already in a recession, right? It doesn't matter what the politicians say.Steve 00:01:04  It matters only what the numbers say. And the numbers are very clear, right? There is a slowdown, not just a slowdown, a reduction of economic output. And that doesn't mean the world's coming to an end. It just means there are some economic, reasonable laws that have to be dealt with. Right. It's like gravity. You can't argue whether gravity exists or not. It's there and you have to deal with it. So, what that means to us is like dealing with, you know, a reducing kind of economy and an increasing level of inflation. This is the ultimate squeeze. Nobody wants to see it, but where it's upon us. So we're we're we approached this from a very disciplined mathematics perspective. Like we especially we look at the balance sheet. It's like what is the biggest thing on the balance sheet we need to manage. And for private label sellers it's all about inventory, right? There's nothing bigger on your balance sheet typically that inventory. You know, maybe you got some cash here and there.Steve 00:02:03  But if you're a growing business, inventory is dominating that balance sheet. And that means that inventory, which, you know, may exist as a single line item on your financials, I don't know. But we get granular. We want to know every line item. We want to know every Asin, every SKU. However you refer to it and we want to know its profitability. We want to know what people are going to do when it comes to crunch time, right. If demand goes down, I'm here's a little insider secret. It's already gone down, right? Yeah. Units sold are already down the the cost or the pricing. In other words, the sell through may be higher, but that's that's a misleading stat. Yeah. Even if sales are up 8%. You got inflation units are down for sure. Correct. It's not in every category but many categories are experiencing it. So we've got to get scrutiny to level ten on every, every line item on that inventory sheet.Josh 00:02:57  Yeah, I think that's words of wisdom right there, because we are also seeing that from our perspective.Josh 00:03:03  You know, a lot of our products are more in the, you know, consumer discretionary items here. And so they're not essential for people. But we have also started to see year over year sales declines in the number of units that are being sold. Now our, you know, top line revenue looks good. Well, that's because we've increased prices to make up for the increase in Amazon fees and inflation and all of that. So to your point like don't just look at you know, hey, this aggregate number amount of money that's being sold or whatever, you know, Washington wants to, you know, state publicly, you know, with, oh, things are just fine. Like, look at these numbers. At the end of the day, there are fewer numbers of fewer units being sold. you know, the consumers are starting to pull back. So, Steve, what is something that you do as you work with, you know, your suppliers? Is there a way that you can reduce, you know, whether it be your Cogs or reduce like your mocks for certain products.Josh 00:04:04  Like how do you navigate this delicate balance of like, I don't know how big of a pullback this is going to be, but I don't want to just I'm not going to order and say, hey, whatever we did in 2021, let's let's do that because that's what's going to happen.Steve 00:04:17  Well, it is it's the ultimate question, but it's it also just goes back to the most simple, basics. It's like, you know what? Every controllable variable you better push on. Right. So currency is wildly shifted year over year between China and the US as an example. You better take advantage of that and at least understand that many times if you try to just call your supplier and go, hey, great news. There's been a 10% shift in currency. That means I get a 10% discount on my products. Now they'll go, no, no, no, we had a cost increase of labor and the cost increase of Covid. You know, there are plenty of reasons they want to they want to fight against you.Steve 00:04:54  but I'm telling you proactively that every point, whether it is the inputs of raw materials and checking those commodity prices, whether it's currency, like every piece of that puzzle you need to push back ...

   As we close in on five years of KKHI I can honestly say I've never seen a reaction from listeners like the past week. Everyone is upset and motivated after the assassination of Charlie Kirk and we all want to do something. It's inspiring for sure.  It's been mostly good news of people on the left losing their jobs after saying horrible things about this tragedy.   But KU is standing by the employee that referred to Kirk as "worm food."  This can't stand.  Let's get busy and call 785.864.2700 or email publicaffairs@ku.edu and let them know how you feel.      Mizzou and Starbucks get it right by having the exact same policy.  We should consider it a win and not complain about it.    Media reports indicate Xavier Worthy is likely to play Sunday night in NY against the Giants.  If he does, it appears he will be playing with a torn labrum.    It was a record night at Kauffman Stadium for Seattle's "Big Dumper."   He broke a record set by Mickey Mantle.  KC's Carter Jensen also had a huge night and this sure bodes well for the future.    A single cocktail at the US Open made them enough money to pay the first place prizes for the men's and women's singles champs.  Wait until you hear how much one drink made.  And our Final Final is a celebrity that truly needs help with his TDS.

Your Fear Of Wasting Time And Money In Course Creation Is Costing You (+ A Hack To Fix It Fast) If you've been sitting on a course idea for months (even years), telling yourself you'll do it “someday,” chances are fear is in the driver's seat. Maybe you're worried it will take too much time, cost too much money, or flop without the perfect polish. I know those fears all too well, because I've made expensive mistakes myself… including one that cost me $20,000. But looking back, those so-called mistakes became the lessons that built my confidence and gave me the stories, strategies, and success I have today. In this episode, I walk you through the mindset shift that changed everything for me when I felt frozen by fear. You'll hear a powerful tool I learned from my friend Jill Stanton called “Capture, Cancel, Correct,” which stops negative thoughts before they derail you. I also share why keeping your first course simple is actually your secret weapon to keeping costs down, and how to tap into what you already know instead of starting from scratch. Plus, you'll hear inspiring stories from my students who launched without all the bells and whistles, validated their ideas, and built profitable businesses step by step. By the end of this episode, you'll see that the only real waste of time and money is doing nothing, pushing your launch, and delaying compounding revenue. HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ A proven way to stop fear in its tracks – The “Capture, Cancel, Correct” method gives you a practical tool to recognize limiting thoughts, shut them down, and choose a more empowering belief that keeps you moving forward. 2️⃣ Why simple beats perfect every time – Your first course doesn't need to be polished to succeed. A streamlined, minimal viable course gets you into action faster, helps you earn revenue sooner, and gives you real student feedback to improve with each launch. 3️⃣ You already have everything you need to get started – You're not starting with a blank page. The steps, strategies, and advice you've been sharing with clients, friends, or your community can be packaged into a clear, repeatable framework that becomes a long-term business asset. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Join my FREE Masterclass: The New & Better Way To Create And Sell A Profitable Digital Course In 2025 → amyporterfield.com/masterclass MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

"Understanding the Times"Colossians 2:6-8; 1 Chronicles 12:32Pastor Nate ClarkeSeptember 14, 2025The government has gone out of its lane:https://youtu.be/Kd9ZG5pMYFIShould Christians pay attention to POLITICS? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak82aD16r04Have you heard the news about the FUTURE of Oasis Church?https://www.oasischurch.online/futureSERMON NOTES:- Colossians 2:6-8- 1 Chronicles 12:32- Understanding the Times- Wise: rejoices in and embraces the truth   Foolish: ignorant of or ignores the truth   Wicked: hates and attacks the truth- Encourage, spur-on, and feed the wise  Correct, teach, and guide the fool  Drive out the wicked- John 10:11-13- Positive World (pre-1994): Society at large retains a mostly positive view of Christianity. To be known as a good, churchgoing man remains part of being an upstanding citizen. Publicly being a Christian is a status-enhancer. Christian moral norms are the basis moral norms of society and violating them can bring negative consequences.- Neutral World (1994-2014): Society takes a neutral stance towards Christianity. Christianity no longer has privileged status but is not disfavored. Being publicly known as a Christian has neither a positive nor a negative impact on one's social status. Christianity is a valid option within a pluralistic public square. Christian moral norms retain some residual effect. - Negative World (2014-Present): Society has come to have a negative view of Christianity. Begin known as a Christian is a social negative, particularly in the elite domains of society. Christian morality is expressively repudiated and seen as a threat to the public good and the new public moral order. Subscribing to Christian moral views or violating the secular moral order beings negative consequences. - Positive World (pre-1994)  Neutral World (1994-2014)  Negative World (2014-present)- “We shall soon be in a world in which a man may be howled down for saying that two and two make four, in which furious party cries will be raised against anybody who says that cows have horns, in which people will persecute the heresy of calling a triangle a three-sided figure, and hang a man for maddening a mob with the news that grass is green.” GK Chesterton- Patriarchal if you believe what the Bible says about men's leadership in the home.  Sexist if you believe what the Bible says about wives prioritizing the home and following their husbands leadership.   Racist if you believe what the Bible says about a biblical definition of justice.   Homophobic if you believe what the Bible says about marriage and sexuality.   Transphobic if you believe what the Bible says about gender.- If you believe someone is mistaken, you try to persuade them. If you believe someone is evil, you feel a moral obligation to stop them. - “Bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards who shrink from disagreeable truths that save souls.” Charles Spurgeon - So what do we do?- Recognize it is a spiritual battle. - Ephesians 6:10-12- Pray for boldness and courage.- Acts 4:29-31- “A scared world needs a fearless church.” AW Tozer- Let your light shine in grace and in truth.- John 1:14- John 8:32- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5Oasis Church exists to Worship God, Equip the believers, and Reach the lost.We are led by Pastor Nate Clarke and are located in Richmond, VA.Stay Connected:Website: https://oasischurch.online Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oasischurchva/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OasisChurchRVA/

The crew discusses Husum Wind, Arthwind's blade consulting work featured in PES Wind, and a major cable damage incident at Taiwan's Greater Changhua offshore wind project. They also cover Japan's plans for a national floating wind test center, Australia's offshore wind development struggles, and feature Scotland's Moray West wind farm as the Wind Farm of the Week. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Speaker: [00:00:00] You are listening to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by build turbines.com. Learn, train, and be a part of the Clean Energy Revolution. Visit build turbines.com today. Now, here's your hosts. Allen Hall, Joel Saxum, Phil Totaro, and Rosemary Barnes.  Allen Hall: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your host, Allen Hall, and I'm here with Joel Saxum up in the great state of Wisconsin. Phil Totaro is in California, and Rosemary Barnes is here, but she's in a vehicle in Australia somewhere. But there has been a tremendous amount of news over the last couple of days, and I think we should talk about some of them. Uh, I guess it's, it's a where the group would like to go. This week, guys, you know, we've been talking about the administration for the last several weeks and about administration out, uh, the latest is with, uh, the administration in [00:01:00]court about Empire Wind. Do you want to even talk about that stuff this week or do you wanna move on to some things? A little happier? Let's do happier. Alan. I think we should, we need some different news. I feel the same way, Joel, you know, uh, when this podcast comes out, everybody's, everybody's gonna be in Husam, Germany having a great time, uh, talking wind energy, particularly in Europe. And it sounds like that event is gonna be bonkers from what I can tell on LinkedIn.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. The, I mean, HU is only second to Hamburg right in, in Germany there. Everybody that I go, they enjoy it. Husam is like the, the. Correct me if I'm wrong, Phil, but I think it was like the first place they had onshore wind in a big way in Germany. Phil Totaro: Yes. So it's vestus, um, put up a factory there, uh, and was selling wind turbines to farmers. It's also where they used to do, the reason that it's there is they used to do an agriculture. Um, event and then they used to invite some of the wind guys. This is going back to like the, you know, late eighties, early nineties. [00:02:00] They used to invite the wind guys, or the wind guys used to show up to try and sell turbines at this agriculture event. The amount of people interested in wind got to such an extent that they started doing a separate wind event. Um, and it got. Before they started the separation with the, the Wind Energy Hamburg, um, event, they, uh, that got to a point, I mean, I remember being there in what, 2015 or 2016 when it had to have been. 30,000 people in a field in Huso. You know, I, my best memory of it, I think was when, uh, well it was eon at the time, but, uh, they had a guy running around, passing out hot dogs. And I had a eon hotdog.  Joel Saxum: Phil, I wanted to share with you. This was a Deutsche Wind Technique show, San Antonio a CP. They had margaritas with the Deutsche Wind Technique logo in the margarita, like foam, the foam on top of the margarita once, and they were passing those out at an event. I thought that was spot on.  Phil Totaro: The hot dogs [00:03:00] are not branded in any way, although that would've been a good idea to like, you know, stamp the button or something.  Joel Saxum: What,

Is the Word Worship Correct?In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word Shachah means “to bow down, to prostrate, to surrender in reverence.” Abraham uses this word in Genesis 22:5 when he says, “We will go and worship.”In the New Testament, the Greek word Proskuneo means “to bow down or kiss toward,” an intimate act of adoration. And Latreia speaks of service, devotion, and offering our lives as worship—like Romans 12:1 says, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”www.worshipingmusician.orgReflection & ResponseThink about this today:Has my definition of worship been too small?How can I worship through obedience and surrender this week, not just in song?How can I, as a musician, help expand others' understanding of worship?Prayer & DeclarationLet's pray:“Father, thank You that You are worthy of all worship. Forgive us for making worship too small. Teach us to live as true worshipers, in spirit and in truth, offering You our whole lives. In Jesus' name, Amen.”A declaration for you:“I declare that you are rising into the fullness of worship—not limited to a song, but as a living sacrifice. Your daily walk, your music, and your obedience will carry the fragrance of heaven. You are a true worshiper in spirit and in truth.”

Is one permitted to add in Al Haetz for Less than a kezait if he is already making an al hamichya!? What to do if one made the wrong bracha and when is it too late to correct!? Does Al haetz also cover borei nefashot needed for a regular fruit!?

What is happening with France? Glenn lays out what went wrong in France and why its government is collapsing. The prime minister of France says the hard part out loud: We have to love those who are hard to love while also dealing with their negative impact on the economy. Despite the failures of France being apparent, New York City is months away from electing somebody who will implement the exact same policies that destroyed France. Glenn recounts the story of a terrifying warning he received regarding his reporting on George Soros. America is on a dangerous path, and Glenn warns that if we don't change course soon, we'll live to regret it. Our Republic co-founder and president, Justin Haskins, joins to discuss a troubling poll that shows a growing number of young Americans support socialist policies. Glenn explains how America hasn't been a capitalistic country in decades. The younger generation is correct to reject America's current economic system, and Glenn makes the case to allow the free market to make a comeback. Glenn outlines why civics is a critical subject that isn't being taught enough in schools. The guys debate the political beliefs of various Hollywood celebrities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are you spending on annual fees? What's the holy grail of first-class suites? We answered these and many other questions on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on September 3rd, 2025.(00:37) - As banks tighten up on credit card approvals, I'm sure many have received a denial for “lack of recent installment loan information.” Has anybody taken out a loan to improve their odds? To me, it makes sense to take out a loan where interest is

Title: How to Quit Your W-2 and Never Look Back with Jamie Bateman Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes Jamie, a military veteran turned real estate and mortgage note investor, who shares his story of transitioning from a W-2 career into entrepreneurship and financial freedom. Jamie discusses the phases of his life, including collegiate sports, military service, and a long stint at the Department of Defense before pivoting to real estate and eventually mortgage note investing. He emphasizes how discipline shaped his journey and how shifting mindset, focusing on strengths, and leveraging his network were key to taking ownership of his life and finances. Jamie also dives deep into the mortgage note investing space, explaining how performing and non-performing notes work, the active nature of the business, and how he now offers passive investment opportunities for accredited investors. He closes by highlighting the importance of planning with intention, overcoming perfectionism, and using passive income to create margin and freedom in life. Links to Watch and Subscribe:  https://youtu.be/nRyX8_YA9YI Bullet Point Highlights: Discipline builds freedom - Sports, military, and entrepreneurship all instilled the value of discipline, which Jamie says is critical for success and freedom. W-2 life wasn't the path - Jamie recognized through his commute and stagnant career trajectory that he didn't want to follow the traditional path, sparking his exit plan. Mindset shift was essential - He stopped consuming negative news and started focusing on education and his strengths to shift into entrepreneurship. Mortgage note investing explained - Performing notes offer cash flow while non-performing notes offer the chance to add value, akin to fix and flips. However, both are active businesses, not passive. Passive income fuels risk-taking - Creating passive income streams allowed Jamie to take entrepreneurial risks while maintaining financial security. Action beats perfection - As an entrepreneur, chasing perfection isn't practical. Done is better than perfect. Reverse planning drives clarity - Backwards planning from a vivid vision 3-5 years into the future increases urgency and helps set clear, intentional actions. Final advice - Start by investing passively to learn, and later you can decide whether to become active. Don't underestimate the transferable skills you already possess. Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.062) What's up, builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game.   If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Jamie, what's going on, brother? Welcome to the show.   Thanks Seth, is awesome. I'm excited to be here and I'm hoping to add some value.   Absolutely, man. Third time's a charm. We've been trying to get this scheduled after I was on your show, which was fantastic. Had a really good time on that show and I think it turned out pretty good. I know we're going to deliver on this one as well.   Yeah, we're gonna try to try to I'll try to do as good a job as you did. So yeah, was that was a yeah, no, I that was a very, very good episode from adversity to abundance. highly recommend your your listeners check that one out to your episode on that show. So thanks for thanks for doing that.   (Seth Bradley) (01:20.086) Absolutely, man. You're an incredible interviewer. I've net, that's the only, I've been on dozens of podcasts and, you know, you pulled out a lot of things for me that I've, I've never talked about on the air. So it's pretty, pretty awesome. Pretty awesome show, man.   Appreciate that.   Cool man, well let's just jump right into your background man. What's your story? Take it back as far as you'd like to brother.   Yeah. Man, I'd like to think that life has phases. So I've had a few different phases in my life. I come from a large family. I'm the oldest of seven kids and we always had a competitive background as far as team sports and things like that. So I played lacrosse in college. That was always a foundational piece of my life and just kind of   think from there learned how to be a part of something bigger than myself and how to work toward a common goal with a with a team. So that's been something that's been a kind of a thread through my life and then got married and joined the military and actually joined the military technically before I got married, but seemed like I got married and then ran off and ran away from my wife. But it's not exactly what happened. But   (Jamie Bateman) (02:36.02) I joined the military, was an officer in the US Army. I did miss my first three wedding anniversaries through deployment and things like that. And again, it was a matter of trying to be plugged into something, you know, to serve and be a part of something bigger than myself and trying to add value like I think we all want to do. I've obviously glossed over a lot of details, but those were a couple of inflection points, I guess, if you will, like you like to talk about, I know.   And so my military career transitioned into a career with the Department of Defense as a civilian, and did 14 years as a civilian with DoD at Fort Meade. And the first half, so the first seven, for all you math wizards out there, was full time. And then the second half, the second seven years was part time. And that   seven years is when I was really building my businesses, which are largely real estate investing and mortgage note investing focus. So we can get into the details there. And then in 2022, I ended up quitting my job and now I have a few different small businesses that I run. And like you, Seth, I've got a lot of different things that I'm juggling and   You know, so, but yeah, I love talking about taking ownership of your financial situation and taking ownership of your life really. And I know that you and I have that in common. So yeah, that's a high level overview of my background.   Awesome, man. I appreciate that. There's a lot to unpack there. You know, going back to playing sports all the way up to the collegiate level, that's incredible. I always like to think even playing like popcorn or football back in the day, you need a way to instill discipline in yourself. And that's kind of the oldest memory I can think of where it was hard, right? Like it was like you've got a coach screaming at you.   (Seth Bradley) (04:38.134) Like back in the day, it's like, you know, they wouldn't give you water unless you like, you know, for like an hour, which I don't think they do that anymore now. But, you you had to earn that drink of water and all those sorts of things. But you you really learned what it's like to work hard and you really learned what discipline was all about. And I would say that and you can you can expand on this. But I would say that, you know, being in the military yourself, that takes it to a whole new level.   Right. It's like you got that from sports. You got that from the military.   Yeah, definitely. I mean, obviously, they're very different in a lot of ways. But that is certainly a common theme is being disciplined. And people, people shy away from that word, because it just sounds like work or no fun and no flexibility. But I found that having discipline in your life ends up adding more freedom in a sense, because you kind of have your foundational pieces set in stone, you don't have to think about those. And so, yeah, regarding   team sports, it's really a matter of, you know, everyone doing their part, right. And so there's a level of individual discipline and, and then just, and then also just kind of putting the putting the group ahead of yourself. Obviously, you know, you want individual, there's nothing wrong with individual accolades. And I was certainly chasing, you know, those individual accolades. It's not something I shied away from, I was definitely was wrapped up in   trying to be an All-American and that kind of thing. And did get that a couple of times, you know, but at the end of the day, nobody really cares about that. And the way I viewed it was if I was doing my part, and I got those, you if I was scoring goals in lacrosse, as an example, that means I'm contributing to, you know, to the team, right. And so there's obviously a fine line there, but of going too far, either way. But yeah, that discipline is critical.   (Jamie Bateman) (06:36.73) you know, even it's certain I played at a high level in college and there was year round your training your your your into it. It was a division three school but it but the reality was we worked just as hard as any any D one program and yeah, it's it's a these are skills that have paid off and are absolutely transferable to the rest of life.   For sure. Yeah, I think you've got to get those intangible things. You've got to develop them somewhere along the way, whatever that is, if that's sports or the military or from your parents. mean, you can get it from different places, but you definitely need it. I mean, we're in different stages of our life at this point. talking about a lot. We talk about freedom and flexibility and fun to try to get away from kind of the W-2 mindset.   But in order to achieve freedom, flexibility and fun in a successful way, have to be disciplined to be able to get there. You had to have done something successfully to be able to get there or maybe what separates you from the guy living in a van down by the river. That guy has freedom and flexibility. I don't know about fun, maybe fun, but it's a different, obviously it's a different outcome.   Yeah, and I, I think I still need, you I still use a lot of discipline today. It's still, still required, but it's, I guess it's self imposed. And, you know, I just love, love having that flexibility and that freedom that comes along with being an entrepreneur. So yeah, it's been a central piece to my success for sure. But I still, I don't think it ever, you know, goes away. I just get to pick and choose what, you know, what discipline I want to   kind of enforce on myself, I guess. So yeah, absolutely. And as you said, the military was a huge part of that for me as well. I mean, that's a different kind of, different kind of discipline and different kind of teamwork and different, you know, if you lose the lacrosse game, okay, you lost the lacrosse game, but military the stakes are a little higher. So maybe certain things are more important attention to detail or critic is critical and   (Jamie Bateman) (08:53.73) But at the end of the day, it's, the same principles apply across both, I guess, sectors, if you will.   For sure. So let's dive into that transition. You started working kind of part-time there for seven years, so that seems like a transitional period. How were you able to progress from that W2? And what I've heard you say is call yourself a W2 quitter. I love that. How were you able to progress from a W2 person to a W2 quitter? What enabled you to do that and what that transition looked like?   I mean, you know, I do remember in 2015, probably a little bit maybe maybe say 2014. But I just you get, you know, I had a wife and two kids and I had the commute the long commute that I know a lot of people can identify with. So it just was Groundhog Day was the same thing over and over and over. And that's not me sitting here complaining about my family or having having the opportunity to work.   But after a while, it gets old. Let's just be real, right? So it's like you're sitting in traffic and I just, you start looking at, you know, I worked for the government and you look around and you say, who, okay, who's sort of ahead of me on this? Like you, like I think you probably mentioned on our, on your, your show and my, show, your episode, you look around to the people who are more kind of further along the path than you. You say, do you want to be that person? Is that the life you want? And man, I did not want that.   And it just just having that just super long term just you know, pot at the end of the rainbow, I guess, nothing driving me in the interim, man, it was it was just it was brutal. So I probably did a little woes me for a little bit there a little victim mentality for a bit. But then you start to realize, like, okay, if you don't take ownership of your own life, no one's going to right. So   (Jamie Bateman) (10:54.934) No one's going to come in and do this for you. So I'm not sure what truly, you know, created the change in my mindset, but my mindset absolutely started to change and it just made a shift. And I, and I stopped watching cable news. I stopped, just, you know, stop paying attention to all the things that I can't control. And I couldn't control back then and, and started saying, no, what do I have? What are my strengths? Who is in my, who's back to the team thing.   who's on my team, who's in my network that I can add value to and who can add value to me. So I started looking around and my father was a realtor for many years. My brother was a loan officer. We had one rental property at the time. I had worked at, I didn't mention, I worked at a title company and I worked for a mortgage broker before as well briefly. So I had this experience that a lot of people don't have and that's   you know, that doesn't mean I'm better than anyone. It just means these are my strengths. So let's point to that. And let's use that. So I started really being intentional about focusing on my strengths and my assets that I had in my life, right. And then another asset that I used to see as a liability was the time in the car. So I started listening to podcasts. you know, and then it turned into wait, I don't even want to go into work yet. Because this this podcast episode is amazing. And I'm learning so much.   know, bigger pockets and all the other real estate podcasts and different investing podcasts and started using that mental bandwidth instead of focusing on national media stories that I have zero influence over. Here's something that I can actually take action on. And so in mid 2015, I went part time and it just so happens that at   DoD is one of the few agencies in the in federal government where you can go part time and still keep your benefits. So I still had health insurance for my family. You know, most people don't have that option necessarily, but well, I did. So that's what I did. And, and, you know, that's, again, decided to decide to start building my my other streams of income outside of my W two.   (Jamie Bateman) (13:15.752) my circumstances been different if I was single, I probably would have just quit the whole thing, right? But I was able to have that kind of laddered approach, I guess, or tiered approach to kind of ripping off the bandaid.   Yeah, yeah, no, that's awesome. I love just the idea of taking ownership of your life, right? Like everybody has those moments where they're feeling sorry for themselves. But the successful people, they don't sit there and stay in that mindset. They move on. You're going to be there sometimes where you've got to get out of it. You got to say, OK, what can I control? What can I change? And you don't say you don't give other people the power to control.   you and your mindset and how you feel about your life. Right. Like that's that's that's the thing. Like if you you're constantly blaming someone else or saying this happened to me rather than what can I do to get myself out of it, then you're going to be stuck there forever. You're going to be absolutely going to be spinning your wheels forever. And a lot of that, I think, helps because you said you don't listen. You don't watch the news. I don't either. No, it's a waste of time. What control? What does that do for us? If I do watch it.   I literally do it for entertainment and you look at it as an entertain. I look at it like I'm watching. I look at it like this is funny. Like I can, you know what I mean? You kind of analyze it like, this is funny. This guy's saying this in a debate. Right. This guy's saying that it's not taking it as a news and this is how I should live my life because of what they're saying.   sports almost.   (Jamie Bateman) (14:43.341) Fact.   (Jamie Bateman) (14:48.078) Absolutely. And it's not to say that none of these topics are important, mean, global war, politics, poverty, global warming, whatever, it's all very important, but I have zero control over it, almost zero, right? And then the other thing is fear sells and that's what they're selling. And so it doesn't mean that every story is invented and it's all fake news, but it's   it just doesn't serve me. And so I'd rather focus on, you know, go ground up and kind of just, I see it in people, maybe older people in my own life now who maybe are retired and they watch the news all day. And it's like, they won't travel because they saw a news story that the airports are packed or something. And, you know, it's, I'm sure that story was, was accurate, right. But it, but the, but the news can filter out and you end up only focusing on   the negative really, and it just didn't serve me. yeah, during that lot, the second seven years, I was able to build out my wife and I were doing single family real estate investing and doing a lot of the BRRRR method that maybe some of your audience is familiar with. And so kind of putting that capital back into the rental property machine and expanding our portfolio. And then eventually last year, well, and   2018, made the pivot, I kept the rental properties, but made a pivot to also add on mortgage note investing. And that's been my primary focus as of late. And if you want, can tell the story quickly about how I actually quit my job in 2022. I think it's kind of a funny one.   Absolutely, let's do it.   (Jamie Bateman) (16:38.318) All right. So, I, so I, two years ago, I was playing badminton and, I'd been doing now, mind you, I used to be like tough, you know, athlete. And like I did, you know, did jujitsu for three years right up before this. And, know, I used to lift weights a lot and still do it here and there, but, you know, I think I'm tough. Right. And,   ruptured my Achilles playing badminton. So that's an ego blow to add on to the physical pain that you know, especially with the recovery. So rupture my Achilles a little over two years ago today and I was out of work, it was my right right foot. And the reason I bring this up is not for sympathy, but to say, you know, I couldn't drive for three months. So I actually, yeah, and I had tons of leave from from work and   By this time, I was tired, really tired of my, I was pretty much checked out. Like I think you, might've been at your, your big law job, but I was, I was checked out. mean, I wasn't the best employee at this point. And so I took as much leave as I, as I could, you know, reasonably right. And so, but couldn't drive. And so I was out for three months and I come back. So come back into work and I'd had discussions with my wife about, about leaving. was just a matter of, of when, not if.   That's right   (Jamie Bateman) (18:04.43) I can tell you truthfully, I had no idea that I was going to quit this day, but I came back in from having been out for three months. Mind you, no one gave me a call. No one from work, no one from my management gave me a call the entire three months I was out, other than to say, to ask me, are you vaccinated? Because you have to be vaccinated to be, to get inside the building. Now, I don't want this to turn into some controversial vaccine discussion.   or get your podcast banned from something but yes, I'd been vaccinated to answer the question. But no one asked me how's your how's your recovery going? Like how you what do you you know, how's your life? You know, what's it's just are you vaccinated, you need to get that shot before you come in? Okay, great. Thanks. I really feel welcome here. So I'm already just, you know, you know what, screw this place, right? Come back in and just   go to my desk, and this is this is an office space kind of thing where I go to my desk and there's some there's an Air Force kid at my desk and long story short, they kind of moved me somewhere else without telling me I can't find my desk, I finally find it, it's got a box with my name on it with, you know, monitors sideways and all and clearly not a functioning desk and, you know, office space. So I literally quit that day. And I just say that it's just like,   I knew 100 % I was done. My wife didn't know I quit, but I quit that day. Still worked for another month or two, but there was no question, zero question in my mind, I'm done with this place. So that was March of 2022. And ever since then, I've just focused on building out my businesses and having look back.   That's awesome. Sometimes you just know, right? Like sometimes it's done. You just knew. I love that story, man. For me, it was a little bit. You already know the story, but for me, it was a little bit more of someone else's decision. I got fired. mean, and you mentioned that, you you weren't the best employee at that point. Correct. I knew the same thing. And it's great to have awareness and perspective and kind of looking back now, you're like, I would have done the same thing. Like this guy doesn't want to be here.   (Seth Bradley) (20:21.292) His output isn't what it should be. Like, he's got to go. mean, he's not the best employee. And as a business owner now, I have really good perspective of that and seeing that. And they were doing me a favor by being like, hey, your heart's not in it, it? And I'm like, no, it's not.   It's not. Yeah. The reality is for me, it's really hard to work. know, once you go part time, I mean, I knew I was casting a vote against my career progression there. So as soon as I went part time in 2015, I wasn't saying I'm in this for the long haul guys. This is this is my focus. You know, it's the writing's somewhat on the wall. Looking back, it's almost surprising. I lasted as long as I did. But so, yeah, haven't looked back and just loved love the entrepreneurial   you know, day to day and freedom that you alluded to and just the multiple streams of income and certainly has its challenges. I probably work harder now than ever than I ever have. But it's by choice. So I love it.   Exactly. Same here, man. mean, it's, you my days are long. I mean, I get up way before I used to get up when I had a 95. I worked past when I would have worked a 95 and definitely more hours. But when you're doing it for yourself and you're doing it because you're working towards something that you believe in, it doesn't feel like you're putting that much time in.   Definitely. I wake up early. A lot of days not on purpose is because I'm just excited to get cracking.   (Seth Bradley) (21:55.886) So, yeah. absolutely. Yeah. Well, let's kind of get into your current business. I know you mentioned that you focused on your strengths and your assets. Yeah. And, you know, I think it's important. just say it's important to take an inventory of what your strengths are when you're kind of considering going into something else, because a lot of our listeners are attorneys, they're doctors, folks like that. They kind of feel like maybe they're pigeonholed, right? Like, well, if I'm not an attorney, what the hell else can I do?   Right. And like, I don't know anything about real estate investing or node investing or starting a business or anything like that. But if you really take a step back, you probably have a lot of skills that you've learned and honed in your career that you can use for something else moving forward. And that was that's what you were able to   to do. Definitely. And one thing I'd say is that, you know, one thing that's always comforting for me is nobody knows everything, right? So you can always find somebody who knows more than you in a certain area. You know, there's one quote about every man is my superior in something, right? So basically, it gives me a lot of comfort to know, like, just because an attorney listening to your show knows a   way more than I do about a particular topic and probably many, many other topics. That doesn't mean I'm less of a person or you know, I don't know more than that attorney does in another area. So it's okay, I'm never going to know everything. There are other people who've already figured it out. So you know, that's, that's always comforting to me is to when I say look to your strengths, it's also looking to the people in your network who know, it can help you get to where you want to go. So yeah, I mean,   So many things we take for granted that we do know. you know, example, when I started working at a title company, fresh out of college, because it was my first real job, and it paid, you know, a salary. I realized quickly how little I knew about title insurance settlements, you know, just just basic stuff. Now looking back, pretty basic stuff. But you don't know that unless you work for a title company, or you're heavily involved in this, you don't you're not.   (Jamie Bateman) (24:10.03) trained in that in school typically, right? So, you know, you forget and so your your listener out there, the attorney, the doctor, guarantee they have a lot of life experience, not just from their professional world, but just life experience that they shouldn't take for granted. And the fact that you can go through law school and then be, you know, be an effective attorney, or go through medical school and be an effective doctor, that that means you you can learn things, right? And so   Again, I'll go back to life as seasons. I mean, you've shown that in your own story, Seth, like, you know, it's a, doesn't mean just because I started a certain business doesn't mean that's going to be what I'm going to be doing for the next 20 years, or just because I'm an attorney now, it doesn't mean that's what I have to do for the rest of my life. So we always have options. mean, you might look back and wish you'd done something differently or something, but you only have one chance at this. And so,   you know, just make the most of it and just keep, think, keep learning constantly is critical. I just hired a business coach, we've had one call. But one of his mottos is, you know, one of his sayings is that he's always he's in permanent beta. So he's always changing, always improving, he's always growing. So I'm trying to trying to implement that as well.   (Seth Bradley) (25:40.64) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more.   Yeah, I love that permanent beta. I haven't heard that before, but I like that. I like that phrase. like that phrase. So tell me about your current business. Tell me about MortgageNode Investing. Start with the basics. What is it?   Yeah, so and, and I'll try to keep it, there's so much to it. But again, none of it is difficult. It's just a lot of moving parts and you've got to, you know, takes time to learn. We buy debt, so we buy a mortgage note, and that could be performing or non performing. The real high level version is, is a performing note is kind of like a long term buy and hold rental property.   but you're buying the debt and becoming the lender, becoming the bank, if you will. And so you're buying that performing note for cashflow. So I buy a performing note, the borrower now pays me through a loan servicer and I get monthly payments. So that's a great way to go. The problem with that is you can't really add value to that asset very well. You're kind of, it is what it is. And in fact, with mortgage notes, the value actually goes down over time, generally speaking, because   principal balance goes down. So it's just, it's worth less than, you know, then, you know, then it would then it was when you bought it. Then on the other side, the non performing side of things, we buy those as well. And those are more like a fix and flip property. So although we're still buying the debt, we're not buying the property. But there's a chance to add value, there's an opportunity to buy distressed asset and add value to that asset and then sell that that non performing note, either well,   (Jamie Bateman) (27:49.826) I should say sell that asset, whether that's as a re performing note, or as through the the real estate itself, there are a few different ways you can exit a non performing note deal. And but, but back to your kind of one of the themes thus far, one of the reasons I got into specifically that space was that I understood the real estate space. So I understood the single family, residential real estate space. So it wasn't a huge leap for me to go from   owning the property to now owning the debt on that property. Whereas it would have been a lot bigger leap for me to say, I to start buying distressed, you know, multifamily debt, which I know you could probably help me understand better. But at that, you know, it's like, incremental progress and change isn't that scary. So I kind of expanded my, you know, toolbox, if you will.   and got into the mortgage note space. So we have a couple of note funds. One is open currently and they're all for accredited investors. the income fund that's open pays a monthly, aims to pay a monthly preferred return. I know you and a lot of your listeners are attorneys, so I gotta hold the line here. And...   So the fund is structured to pay, to aim to pay a monthly return of 8%. It's not a, there's no growth in that fund. It's literally a cashflow play and diversification play. You're putting your capital in. We buy assets across the country. We've bought notes in probably 25 states at this point. And so the investment is diversified across geographic areas, across borrower types.   And we buy for a certain yield, we take a small management fee, and then we ideally pay the preferred return that we're aiming for to our investors.   (Seth Bradley) (29:56.686) Yeah, nice. 506c, you're able to talk about it. It's a credit investors only. Just want to that out there. yeah, I mean, so just going back to the basics a little bit and we'll get back into the fun. Like, how do you, how do you even find these things? mean, yeah, that's, how do you get started? How do you find these things?   So I mean, that is an ongoing challenge. I'm not going to lie to you. That's one of the things that truthfully a passive investor who doesn't have time to develop the network to go find these assets, they're just not going to have success. They might here and there, but it takes time. It's a word of mouth industry, just like real estate itself is. so we've built out a network of sellers and that could be   quite honestly, I've never had luck buying directly from banks. It's really either a larger Mortgage Note fund that's closing. So it might be a three year fund and then they've got to, they've got to liquidate, they've got to figure out how to sell off what to do with these assets. And so that's a great opportunity to buy is just a fund that's closing or somebody a note investor who's getting out of note investing or they've had a life change or something, you know, where   they just, there's an opportunity to buy from them as well. And so there are other, you know, I guess we buy from hedge funds, note investors, other note funds. There are also note brokers as well out there. There are also some online exchanges like paper stack and a couple of others that you can go and I've bought and sold on paper stack and other exchanges as well.   And you can find assets there. But at the end of the day, have our list of people that we work with regularly. And I would say one thing is that doing due diligence on a note seller is just as important as due diligence on the assets that they're selling. And so it's taken some work and it's a work in progress always. But it is the million dollar question is where do find these assets?   (Seth Bradley) (32:12.598) Yeah. So that's the hard part, right? Finding these assets is the hard part. Have you ever had to foreclose on any of these notes and actually acquire the property? And I guess a follow-up question is, do you ever look at a non-performing note like, hey, I actually want to own that property?   So, great questions. Yeah, great questions. To be clear, we're not trying to kick people, you know, grandma out on onto the street or anything like that. You know, that's not our goal typically. Well, that's never our goal. But we're never trying to kick someone out of their home. But the reality is, some people honestly need a little bit of a kick in the pants. And oftentimes, that's not really the best them staying in the house is not often   the best scenario for them. know that might sound harsh, but at end of the day, if someone can't afford to live somewhere, sometimes these people are living in squalor and they really need a change of environment. To answer your question about do we target the property? Yes, sometimes we do. In fact, we just closed on to, they're called heckum loans or reverse mortgages, where the borrowers are deceased. The property is underwater, meaning, you know,   the loan amount is higher, than the property value. And it should be a quick exit through the property. So HUD will sell off these big pools of reverse mortgages. And we were able to purchase two of them very recently. It's a vacant property, you're not doing an eviction, borrower is deceased, you've got to work through the heirs or foreclosure and exit the property that way.   If your listener wants to go to my website, I've got a really good Jacksonville blog post, I've got a couple of blog posts about this deal. I still hold this rental today. And it was a non performing note that we purchased a few years ago. And I had no intention of exiting through the property or holding, holding the property as a rental property, but running the numbers, it just was too good to, to let go. so long story, but we, we   (Jamie Bateman) (34:22.51) ended up doing a deed in lieu of foreclosure actually in this case and got the property back and now it's a long-term buy and hold property for my own rental portfolio.   Yeah, that makes sense. It makes sense. There's always multiple ways to look at an investment, right? But it does sound, you know, it's not something that I've executed on myself, but it sounds like this is an active business, right? And that's why you've put together an income fund for people that want to get involved passively. as everybody knows, there's active investments, there's passive investments. If you're to do something active.   Maybe your returns are going to be a little bit better, but you're going to give up a lot of time and effort to get those returns. So if you want to go the passive side, if you're still full-time in your career, you're a full-time doctor or lawyer or whatever you are, these passive investments are the way to go without having to know every single detail about a new business.   Yeah, and I don't know if you can see this, but I wear this specifically for your for this   There it is. There it is.   (Jamie Bateman) (35:29.272) Passive income. You're absolutely right. You know, these gurus, some of the some of the note investing gurus out there will try to sell, you know, notes as passive. We have another blog post that talks about just the it's a spectrum, there's active and passive on either end. But at end of the day, if you're going to note investing in my world is very, very active. And we have a non performing note fund that's considerably more active than the performing note fund. So   You're dealing with foreclosures, bankruptcies, deed and loo, tracking delinquent property taxes. Do I have to physically go anywhere? No, but it is not passive. But that's why we offer the passive investment for people who, like you said, have maybe more capital than time or energy, and they want to put that capital to work.   That's right. There are certain gurus out there that, know, whatever it is that they are pitching, they tend to always pitch it as passive, even though it is an active business, that's money. Whether that's a mortgage note or I mean, people will pitch Airbnb short term rentals as passive. They're like, well, you can delegate this and you can, you know, you can automate that and there's software for all these things. But you still got to put all that stuff together.   Mm-mm.   (Seth Bradley) (36:48.396) You've still got to monitor all those things. still got to oversee all these different aspects of a business. And that's what it is. It's a business that you're running and it's not passive. Like, it's not, it's not. And it is on a spectrum. Some things are more passive than others, but when you're investing in, you know, as a passive investor into some sort of a fund or syndication, that's really leaning really far into the passive side.   Absolutely, 100%. And I'm, as you are, Seth, I'm, I assume you are, I know you're an active investor, but I do have passive investments myself in other, other funds, other note funds, and, and my own, my own note funds as well. And so nothing wrong with doing both, but I would say you need to be careful about, you know, you got to make a decision at some point, do you want to scale this thing and make this really a business? Or do you do you are you satisfied with?   potentially a little bit lower return and you are giving up some control but much, you know, much fewer headaches and just a lot less work.   Right. Yeah. And a lot of, you know, lot of the listeners are high income earning professionals. So they've already dedicated, put a lot of time and effort into being able to earn this much money from their W2. And that's probably your best bet, to be honest with you. I've been there. I was in those shoes. You're probably better off putting your head down and like, let's grind for a few years. Let's not spend every single dollar that we make on all the new stuff on a new car every two years or every year.   in a bigger house that you don't need. Like, let's set aside some of that and invest it passively. And then maybe one of those will stick. Maybe one of those passive investments will be a mortgage no fund where you're like, man, I kind of like this business. I like the sound of it. I've learned about it. And then you start maybe progressing on the active side and maybe that takes over. And you want to get into that as a business, as an entrepreneur. But a great way to kind of dip your toe in the water is to become a passive investor. That's the way that I did it in the,   (Seth Bradley) (38:53.186) multifamily syndications. invested passively in a number of deals first and kind of learned about it, learned the ropes and I'm like, I can do this. And then that's when I made the transition.   Yeah, definitely. It really comes down to what your goals are and what your situation is, for sure. I'll say I was too passive initially when I went into notes, because personally, just don't... You were probably a little better student, Seth. Not that I was a bad student, I invest... Unless I'm actively investing, I'm just not going to learn a lot. So the reality is, yeah, it's fine to learn about the asset class. You definitely should learn about the operator for sure.   you're putting capital with them, but you're not going to once you're getting your checks and your disbursements, you're not going to probably learn a whole lot about how to do that on the active side. And so that's what we're here for.   Yeah, yeah, it's more of like a spark of an interest, right? Like maybe you already have that spark and then you invest passively. Then you're like, OK, well, now I'm invested. Like, let me learn about this. And you have to have to actively go out there and educate yourself and network and talk to people that are in the business.   Definitely, 100%.   (Seth Bradley) (40:01.71) Alright man, before we jump into the Freedom Four, you have one last golden nugget for our listeners.   Oh, I would say within when it comes to investing, you know, take the long term view. Don't chase immediate returns. You know, I do think just, yeah, it's certainly we all want to make a million dollars tomorrow. But I think it's it's a play the long game when it comes to investing. I think that's critical.   Love that man. All right, let's jump into the freedom form. What's the best thing you do to keep your mind and body healthy?   Yeah, I mean, one thing that I instituted this year, actually, is breathwork. And it's, you know, it's so it takes 10 minutes. And per day for me, at least. And it's been phenomenal. And it's something that quite honestly, as a, as a, you know, athlete back in the day, or even in the military, I would have scoffed at something like this, to be honest with you, because it's just, you know, it's not manly or whatever. And it's like, it is phenomenal. So breathwork,   I mean, I do other things for sure. But that's certainly this year, it's been a game changer for me. I just feel like it resets my central nervous system. It just gets me focused. And I know there are other physiological benefits that you can ask Dr. Andrew Huberman or somebody else about.   (Seth Bradley) (41:26.153) Cool. I'll have to look into that. actually have it. mean, obviously everybody talks about it's a hot topic. Yeah. I haven't gotten into it. I haven't gotten into that plus like the cold plunges and that sort of thing. Yeah. But I really want to want to   So I don't know how much you can cut this out if we don't have time, but I had a, I'm just going to be, be open about this. I just had a, you know, in late December, I got a viral infection, like a neurovirus. And then I had, I had a, what I think was a pretty severe panic attack and it was super scary. And so that's why I started doing this. And somebody on my team actually sent me a, I guess we'll call it an implement or a tool that   I use for the breath work. It's blue. There's a Bluetooth connection to your phone and it's pretty cool. So it's structured and back to that discipline, right? But yeah, so it's, there was a reason I started doing it and it's, it's so accessible in five to 10 minutes a day. You can start doing it. So I recommend. Cool.   Thanks for sharing that man. With all your success, what is one limiting belief that you've crushed along the way and how did you get past it?   I think just, you know, being afraid to, you know, that you have to be perfect, right? So I used to be an editor back in the day. And so many things would just not get done or not get completed within our team, our organization, because it had to be perfect. And it's like, I think as I've progressed into more of the entrepreneurial lifestyle and   (Jamie Bateman) (43:02.35) is just it's not a it's not an option anymore. So yeah, I think just taking action has kind of overcome that limiting belief of chasing perfection.   Yeah, I can agree with you there. Done not perfect. Yes. My background as an attorney, mean, we're paid to be perfect. We can't make mistakes, especially in contracts and the way that we write things. But when you make that transition over to being an entrepreneur, there's too much to do to be perfect. You just got to get it done. Good enough.   Absolutely. Good enough. You have to be willing to accept that for sure.   What's one actionable step our listeners can do right now to start creating more freedom?   I'll use the military here, which is where I learned kind of reverse backwards planning, reverse planning. literally just, and I'm not going to tell you I'm perfect at this, but, you know, think about what, create a vivid vision for your life in the next three to five years, pick it, pick three years out from today. And what do you want your life to look like? And then backwards plan. And now I'm not saying you need to plan every minute of every day, but   (Jamie Bateman) (44:20.876) you can be that will that will increase the urgency, sense of urgency in your life and the intentionality of every every hour and every day because you realize this is doable, but I got to take ownership of my current situation if I want this to be the reality in three years. So I would say, create a vivid vision and and kind of reverse or backwards plan to get there.   Perfect, perfect. Last but not least, House Passive Income made your life better.   Yeah, I mean, I think in multiple ways, but a big one that stands out is giving me, I guess we'll call it margin to take some more risks on the entrepreneurial side. And because I do have alternative sources of income, passive income, it's allowed me that kind of mental and financial bandwidth or margin to maybe invest in a company that even if it   doesn't go perfectly, or doesn't go well, it's not profitable, that's okay. I still have that cushion for me and my family. that's, yeah, it's a huge, it's been a huge factor in that regard.   Yeah, absolutely. Game changer, man. It just changes your mindset, changes your life in so many ways. Jamie, this has been incredible, dude. You've got so much great content to share in your brain, man. You got to get out there. know you've got an awesome podcast that I was on, Adversity to Abundance. Everybody should check that out. Other than that, Jamie, where else can people find out more about you? Yeah.   (Jamie Bateman) (45:54.924) Just two things I'll mention very quickly. Literally got my book delivered today, like an hour before I hopped on here. It's from adversity to abundance. It is based on the podcast. So I encourage your listener to check that out from adversity to abundance is the book that's out. then labradorlending.com, L A B R A D O R.com is where you can check us out.   All right, man. Awesome. I'll drop all that in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on, brother.   Thanks for having me, Seth. This has been great.   (Seth Bradley) (46:26.978) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Jamie Bateman's Links: https://x.com/batemanjames https://www.facebook.com/batemanjames https://www.threads.com/@batemanjames11?xmt=AQF0nwaIL6JD_GK94lbTvHphHOmWwlUyt3TkeHLav-vXU_E https://www.instagram.com/batemanjames11/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-bateman-5359a811/ https://labradorlending.com/about/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-adversity-to-abundance/id1618672867 https://open.spotify.com/show/7JjGWsKVzzEI8UwXP9GONZ https://www.youtube.com/@FromAdversity2AbundancePodcast

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Duji confuses two different stories. Snitzer is a pronunciation Nazi. People are upset by the name of a sports bar that opened in New York. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Radio host Gary Dee was arrested for hitting his wife in 1980. Winning the lottery is like guessing the correct second in the past 9 years. New allegations claim that the Clippers circumvented the salary cap for NBA player, Kawhi Leonard.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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