Podcasts about developing

In this episode, we're joined by Philippa Hann and Dr. Moira Somers, co-authors of The Fault Lines of Finance: Understanding and Preventing Financial Misconduct, for a deep dive into why good people can do bad things with other people's money. Philippa brings two decades of experience suing financial advisors, wealth managers, and banks, while Moira brings her expertise as a clinical neuropsychologist working with financial professionals, families, and the human side of money.   We explore the psychology and systems that can allow financial misconduct to happen, from financial stress, incentives, and information asymmetry to workplace culture, poor training, exhaustion, and the pressure to please. Philippa and Moira explain why ethical behavior is not simply about knowing right from wrong, and why developing "ethical health" requires understanding your own vulnerabilities, building a moral operating system, and having people you can turn to when doing the right thing becomes difficult.   We also discuss how investors can evaluate financial professionals, why complexity and exciting financial products deserve extra scrutiny, the role of regulators and insurers, and why financial sophistication doesn't necessarily protect people from being exploited. Along the way, Philippa and Moira share case studies illustrating ethical drift, confirmation bias, and the ways seemingly small decisions can compound into serious misconduct. The conversation ultimately makes the case for moral humility, strong relationships, healthy organizational cultures, and the willingness to tolerate discomfort when something doesn't feel right.   Key Points From This Episode: (0:00:00) Introduction. (0:02:02) What financial misconduct means and why "other people's money" matters. (0:02:35) Philippa's 20 years in litigation and the core question: why do good people do bad things?  (0:05:02) Moving beyond harm prevention toward promoting positive change in financial services.  (0:07:36) Why financial services are especially vulnerable: access, incentives, and opportunity. (0:09:40) Information inequality and extraordinary client trust in advisors. (0:11:15) Even sophisticated investors can fail to ask critical questions. (0:11:57) Misconduct isn't simply "good vs. bad people." (0:12:45) How systems, incentives, and culture can draw well-intentioned people into misconduct. (0:17:40) Ethical drift: how innocent mistakes can escalate into lying and misconduct. (0:19:05) Building a personal "moral operating system" to prepare for dilemmas.  (0:20:00) Identifying vulnerabilities: people-pleasing, exhaustion, dependence, conflict avoidance. (0:21:00) Journaling, defining non-negotiables, and developing ethical self-awareness. (0:25:22) Importance of trusted people who can challenge your thinking. (0:27:13) Personal strengths (confidence, ambition) can become vulnerabilities. (0:28:38) Systems and culture can enable misconduct or make ethics easier (0:30:10) Organizations must make it safe to surface mistakes. (0:34:43) Developing "ethical health" alongside physical and mental health. (0:40:15) Ethics requires more than knowing the right answer—it requires character and motivation. (0:44:29) Why traditional ethics training often fails in real-world dilemmas.  (1:14:11) The moral operating system as an actionable framework for behavioral ethics. Links From Today's Episode: Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/   Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)  

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by Sam Hamstra, Lead Pastor of Anthem Church, a fast-growing, multi-ethnic and multi-generational church serving Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. Anthem became an independent church in March 2020—the same week the world shut down—and has since grown to multiple locations and thousands of people. In this conversation, Sam shares how clarity around mission, values, discipleship, and vision has helped Anthem develop a distinct ministry culture and sustain healthy growth. Does your church know exactly who it is and how it does ministry? Are your leaders aligned around a shared playbook—or are you borrowing someone else's model without adapting it to your context? Sam offers practical lessons on creating organizational clarity that shapes everything from calendars to leadership development. Move from imitation to innovation. // Sam is quick to acknowledge how much Anthem learned from churches and networks that came before them. But even before Anthem launched, he began recognizing that another church's model could not simply be copied and pasted into Northwest Indiana. The local culture, demographics, ministry environment, and people were different. Healthy leaders learn from others while also doing the harder work of discerning what God is uniquely calling their church to become. Clarity takes courage. // Copying an established model feels safe because leaders can see evidence that it works somewhere else. Developing your own approach requires greater faith because the outcome is less predictable. Sam believes churches must have the courage to move into that uncertainty. Rather than endlessly chasing the next successful strategy, leaders should prayerfully identify the unique blueprint God has given their church and commit to it. Define your “way.” // Inspired by Patrick Lencioni's The Advantage, Sam and his leadership team spent roughly nine months working through five foundational questions: Why do we exist? How do we behave? What do we do? How do we live? Where are we going? Their answers eventually became what they call “The Anthem Way”—a framework that brings clarity to mission, values, discipleship, spiritual formation, and long-term vision. Mission and vision are not the same thing. // Anthem's mission is to lead people to know Christ and make Him known. That mission remains constant because it flows from the Great Commission. Vision answers a different question: where is God taking this particular church? Separating those ideas has helped Anthem distinguish between the timeless calling of the church and the specific future they believe God is leading them toward. Let your discipleship pathway drive the calendar. // One of the biggest benefits of clarity has been simplifying Anthem's yearly ministry calendar. Instead of allowing every ministry to bring new ideas and events to the table, leaders evaluate opportunities through their defined discipleship pathway. The result is greater focus and consistency. Sam says their annual rhythm has remained largely the same for years, helping both staff and attenders understand what comes next. Boring can be a strength. // Churches often feel pressure to constantly create something new, but Sam has learned that repetition can be one of the greatest drivers of health. Anthem maintains a weekly prayer gathering, predictable discipleship rhythms, and recurring ministry events rather than continually reinventing the calendar. The goal is not novelty. It is consistency around the few things the church believes matter most. Create intentional invite moments. // Anthem builds four major invite opportunities into its annual rhythm: Easter, a Summer Kickoff, Homecoming, and Christmas. These predictable moments give the congregation specific opportunities to invite friends and family. Sam has seen the church grow following these events because people know when the church is intentionally creating space for them to bring someone who may not normally attend. Values have to become behaviors. // Anthem's core values include “We Love People,” “We Choose Joy,” and “We Bleed Passion.” But Sam emphasizes that values only matter when people can see them lived out. Loving people means creating a culture where people can belong before they behave. Choosing joy means approaching ministry with gratitude rather than obligation. Bleeding passion means refusing to settle for the status quo and remaining willing to change as God leads. Use clarity to protect multisite culture. // As Anthem expands to additional locations, the Anthem Way provides clear boundaries for what must remain consistent. Sam is not claiming Anthem's approach is the only way to do church, but he does believe it is important for every one of their locations to understand and embody Anthem's distinct way of doing ministry. That documented clarity gives leaders freedom while protecting the culture across campuses. Check out Anthem Church’s About page to see how their story, mission, values, and discipleship pathway fit together. You can also follow @SamHamstra and @ThisIsAnthemChurch on Instagram. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. Really looking forward to today’s conversation. This is a funny one because literally yesterday I was talking to a church in a coaching call. We were talking about this exact issue that we’re going to unpack today. They’re wrestling with these things. I know that this is going to help you. So you’ve tuned in for a great conversation today with Sam Hamstra. Super excited to have him. He and his wife, Taylor, they founded Anthem Church in March 2020 with a vision and heart to lead people to know Christ and make them know known. Rich Birch — Over the past few years they have seen this mission become a reality, continues to grow. It’s a multi-ethnic, multi-generational family made up of thousands of people from all walks of life in Northwestern Indiana, Chicagoland, and beyond. It’s one of the fastest growing churches in the country. So honored that you’re with us today, Sam. Welcome.Sam Hamstra — Rich, so honored to be with you. This is a full circle moment for me. I’ve been following you for quite some time. So super honored to be on your on your show.Rich Birch — Oh, come on. That’s I’m glad you’re here. We, we’ve got a lot to learn from you today. So March, 2020, it’s one of those dates that sticks in all of our brains. Cause like, we all know, what were you doing? March 15th, 2020. We all can say exactly what we’re, where we were. That’s a wild month to, to launch.Rich Birch — It’s funny because I keep bumping into people who are telling a similar story. They’re like, we started during the pandemic, right at the beginning, right after that sort of thing. Give us a picture today and kind of from that moment all the way on to today, kind of bring the story, bring us, tell us a little bit about Anthem. Give us a flavor of the church.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so we currently today we’re headquartered in Hammond, Indiana, which when we say Indiana, different people have different thoughts. But we’re we’re actually butting up to Chicago.Rich Birch — Yep.Sam Hamstra — Joking around right now, we’re going to be the future home of the Chicago Bears soon.Rich Birch — Nice.Sam Hamstra — Yeah. But um yeah, so we’re headquartered in Hammond. Our second location is in Merrillville, Indiana, about 30 minutes from here. So currently um our family’s grown to about 2,500 people in English. And we also have a Spanish service as well. And God’s done a phenomenal work over a six-year time frame.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so we did launch in March of 2020. Our first Sunday was the same Sunday the world shut down.Rich Birch — Wow.Sam Hamstra — And so the third week of March was our first service on the internet.Rich Birch — Dude, that’s amazing.Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — That’s incredible.Sam Hamstra — Yes. So in God’s divine plan, kind of underneath our origin story, we we were actually a part of a church in Tinley Park, Illinois. We were a location of that church called Christian Life Center.Sam Hamstra — And our senior pastor and I, Pastor Jerry McQuay, we had been having an ongoing conversation about him making us independent, which is a whole long story. And he decided to really lean into what he believed God was doing in our lives and in this region and made us independent in God’s divine plan. That started in March of 2020. Rich Birch — Wow.Sam Hamstra — And so we transitioned from being a multi part of a multi site church a location up to being independent in March. And yeah, we started with nothing. We didn’t have any cameras, didn’t have anything. I called our media guy and said, do you have anything at your house? And he brought it. Yeah.Rich Birch — What gear you got in your basement? Yeah, that’s amazing.Sam Hamstra — Yeah and he he brought a camera from his house. And yeah, that’s how we started. One continuous shot streaming online. And that was the start of Anthem Church in March of 2020.Rich Birch — Wow. Yeah, that’s amazing.Sam Hamstra — So God’s done a great work.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s amazing. That’s incredible. That’s cool to hear and fun to see where it’s come, you know, since then. When you look back on that experience, you know, a lot of what you’re trying to define in those early days of a church, you’re trying to bring clarity to like, what is our approach? And part of what we do is you know, we there’s ah there’s, I think, some good copying and pasting. You’re like, hey, here’s the way they do it over here. Maybe we could try a little bit that. But then eventually you start kind of coming up with your own way. You kind of birth your own a approach, playbook, you might call it. Rich Birch — When did you start to feel… ah the kind of transition from, hey, I just want to do it like in this case, either CLC or another church over there. And you started to realize, hey, there’s something unique here at Anthem. And we got to try to define some of that. Talk us through maybe from um a timeline point of view or from a revelation point of view, like, oh, this is kind of things I started to see. Talk us through what that looked like.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so about two years before we launched Anthem, God started to really kind of do a work in our heart just on unique DNA. And we were coming out of like heavily influenced by ARC, Church of the Highlands, and learned so much from there.Sam Hamstra — And we’re seeing just how like clarity really was so important on where we’re going.Sam Hamstra — And so we were coming in there and I just was really praying and seeking the Lord on, okay, this is great. But in our context here, there’s some some differences, there’s some nuances.Sam Hamstra — This is, um we’re over here. what What does this look like here? And so really took the foundation of that and started looking at what does this look like? So when we started Anthem, it was with the thought of, we really want to lean into this unique blueprint of how God designed us and what God has called us to here. Sam Hamstra — So it really started from the jump from from day one. And so but it was a couple years ahead of time to say, OK, this is great. Let’s let’s use this. Let’s we’ve been imitating. Let’s imitate now move to a little bit of innovation and what the Lord would have for us.Rich Birch — Yeah, and there’s obviously there’s like an art and science to that, right? There’s like the, the yeah, insert whatever church, Church of the Highlands is fantastic. They’re doing a great thing, but you’re not Birmingham, Alabama. And you know and so there’s cultural differences, there’s community differences, there’s different resources and all that. That’s like the kind of science-y part of it. Rich Birch — But then there’s the art part of it, which is a little bit more… like intuitives, it’s like vibes, that kind of thing. How did you discern, okay, what are those things that we should be thinking about that are different that you start, or maybe things you started to see, evidence you started to see like, oh, maybe this isn’t working, just importing. Was there evidence of that that you saw?Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so like, and it was like small things, you know, just on approach to Sunday service. Rich Birch — Right.Sam Hamstra — You know, like, hey, this is open door, we don’t do this on Sunday. And we had just been starting to see like pretty early on, we’re we’re reaching lost people through like a hard approach to the gospel.Sam Hamstra — And it was just like, it wasn’t really seeker sensitive. Rich Birch — Sure.Sam Hamstra — It wasn’t, not saying they are, but just, it was just a little bit different in in our context where people were coming from. On the multi-ethnic side, it was just some approaches being super intentional with sounds, sights, all of that in in our context. And so, and even on the discipleship model, you know, groups, what kind of groups are we doing? How are we setting these up?Sam Hamstra — And so it was definitely like these nuances in the different categories, I would say, of discipleship that we started to pay attention to. That that was really the start, I think, of innovating what we have now.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool. Why do you think so many of us just reach for someone else’s model rather than doing the longer, harder, deeper, like it’s more annoying work to try to define you know our own thing and and then ultimately to document it which we’re going to get to here. what What did you actually do to kind of try to codify that? But why do you think we avoid that as leaders?Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so I think on one end, what’s established, you can see that the model works. And so um there’s great success you’re seeing. I mean, it’s working everywhere. And so I think it’s safe. And so deep down, it’s like this is established. I see it work. And so I can kind of press play on this. And and I know to a level that this this works. Sam Hamstra — And so it takes courage to do something that you haven’t seen before. Rich Birch — Right.Sam Hamstra — And deep, deep down, i think in our hearts, to me, that’s probably foundational thing. It’s like, man, I haven’t really seen this so his is going to require some courage, require some faith to press into the unknown.Rich Birch — Right. Right. Sam Hamstra — And so I do think that unknown word leads to some different decisions sometimes.Rich Birch — Well, and your church is an interesting um example just because it’s grown so quickly. I, you know, even in the… the lead up to it, I was thinking about, you know, the word, the term church plant.Rich Birch — Like, I don’t know when that term, you know, I was talking with a church that had been around for 30 years and they’re a big church. They’re like 20,000 people. And they, the lead pastor was like, well, we still think of ourselves as a church plant. And I’m like, yeah, I don’t at some point you stop being a church plant and just be, you start being a church. Rich Birch — And I think actually this is one of those, one of those differentiations is when you start saying, okay, like we’re going to, we believe that kind of God’s called us to this unique thing. There’s something in there. You built something that I think you call the Anthem Way. Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Rich Birch — Walk us through what that is. How does it function? What is the Anthem Way? Help us understand that.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so this was actually birthed in an odd place. I was reading “The Advantage” by Patrick Lencioni,…Rich Birch — Yeah. Sam Hamstra — …and he was talking about organizational health, and one of the keys is clarity. Rich Birch — Yes.Sam Hamstra — And I had I have kind of, I’m somewhat of a mutt in church in my upbringing. Rich Birch — Love it.Sam Hamstra — So I’ve been in a lot of different environments and seen to a lot of different things. And so it was really just kind of like looking like, how can we just be crystal clear on who we are, where we’re going and different things. And so I read that book and in that book, he actually laid out these questions that he was like kind of pointing to every successful organization needs to answer.Sam Hamstra — And Iwas kind of seeing that with some of the stuff I’ve been hearing. And I’m like, and there’s a couple of missing pieces for me that he pointed to that I thought was so important in church world that I would actually point to that have been some of the biggest things I think that have been what I would call probably the secret sauce of what we’ve seen as far as clarity. Sam Hamstra — Just the separation of something simple, but the difference between mission and vision, you know, why we exist compared to where we’re going. And so, yeah, I read that book and in there he laid out questions that you need to answer. I took that to our leadership team and we wrestled with these probably for about nine months. Sam Hamstra — I’m just going back and forth on wording, how we say things. question by question in five different questions. We answered those and we gave it a name called the Anthem Way. And so that was the foundation, but I want to give credit where credit is due. It came through the book, The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni. Yeah.Rich Birch — Yeah, no, that’s great. That’s fantastic. And I, you know, one of the things I love that you’ve hit on here is I’ve talked in other contexts that our vision, well, this is the problem with with vision, mission stuff is it’s like, first you have to have a conversation. How do you define vision? How do you define mission?Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — But the big thing that we’re called to, the big idea, it comes from Jesus, right? We’re supposed to reach people and grow them up in in in relationship with him. All churches should have that as their core. That is at the core of what we do. Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Rich Birch — But getting clear on how we do that, you know, these other questions I’m assuming has helped give you a bit of a more of an edge, something that’s a little bit different. Do you want to rattle through the five questions… Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Rich Birch — …and maybe some high level, I know we can’t get into all the detail, but kind of high level how you’ve answered it. And then the follow-up I’m going ask you is, which are those couple that have given you what you think are the biggest distinctives around Anthem… Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Okay. Rich Birch — …that kind of that that kind of, um you know, that provide that edge that’s a little different, you think.Sam Hamstra — Yeah. So five questions and I’ll rattle them off quick. But so first one is why do we exist? Mission – the mission question, um which you just said it, I 100% agree, you know, every church really is called to the same thing. Let’s make disciples who make disciples, the Great Commission is still our first priority.Sam Hamstra — And so the way we say that is to lead people to know Christ and make them known. That was something we just prayed into language. We want to share language that people could really rally around. Sam Hamstra — Next question is how do we behave? The values question. We wanted to boil down in our culture those not aspirational values like truly who we are. So we boil those down to three things and wrestle with the language a lot. We wanted them actionable, but we choose joy. We love people and we believe passion. Sam Hamstra — And those all have disclaimers and really feed into our culture of what we call multi-everything. We love people from all walks of life, belong before you behave, and all that falls in there.Sam Hamstra — What do we do? Patrick Lencioni was talking about how that’s really your your business definition, so to speak, not for external use, but internal. We answered that with, we provide defined discipleship pathway.Sam Hamstra — It’s what we do day in and day out. It’s why we wake up in the morning. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We’re not a country club. We’re not here to make money, we’re a church and and this is this is how we do, like what we do to ah to reach our why.Sam Hamstra — How we live is the spiritual question for us. We wanna make disciples. So we wanted to be able to weigh spiritually what a disciple is. And so we looked at Acts 2:42, which we felt like was a really good, definition of these handles on a disciple. And so we have five kind of disclaimers on what we want to see in our people at our church. And we offer resources on those, but from daily devotion to prayer to we share our Jesus story. How do you testify? How do we share? How do we make Christ known?Sam Hamstra — And then the last one is where are we going, which is the vision question. And we’ve we’re wrestling with the timing right now. We currently have a 10 year vision statement, which is just kind of pointers on like, this is where we believe God is taking us as a people.Sam Hamstra — And so those five questions are give us the framework for what we call the Anthem Way. What I’ve seen, as basic as it sounds and in our context. And I don’t know if this resonates with anybody. One of the most frustrating meetings I had in church context was the yearly calendar meeting.Rich Birch — Yeah, so true.Sam Hamstra — And I just felt like everybody was coming every year with their own ideas. Some of them had to do with our mission, some didn’t. And these are just in past experiences. And so it just felt like everybody was trying to, and some, you know, just different reasons, good, bad, indifferent.Sam Hamstra — And what what gave me great clarity was to look at our defined discipleship pathway and say, this is how we create our calendar. And um that’s been one thing that has simplified everything for us.Sam Hamstra — So every year in the last six years, our our yearly calendar flow has been the same. And our people are starting to understand it. The next steps fall within it when we even, you know, baptisms, we’re doing it this time. And So that’s been one thing is basically that sounds like what do we do?Rich Birch — No, no, that’s good. I like it.Sam Hamstra — I found a lot of confusion on that in the past, on like, how do we do groups? How do we have services? To define everything within that in the discipleship pathway, to me has been life-giving, not only for us as a team, but as as our church as well.Rich Birch — Yeah. Pull that apart a little bit more. I think, because I think this is where we fall down on this type of work is, you know, and, and I know it’s none of the people that are listening in, but there are churches that like, they do a retreat and we’re like, we’re going away. We’re going we’re reading Lencioni. We’re going to define the five questions. We even make a snappy poster and we put it up on the wall. And then we go back to business as usual. It’s the same thing we’ve always done. But you’ve been able to make the connection there, particularly with the calendar.Rich Birch — Maybe talk us through, give us some examples of how this work is shaping, how you’re actually defining, you know, how you operate as a church.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so one example I would say is prayer. I had somebody call me and I like to think our prayer culture is strong. And they said, how did you get your prayer culture strong? And I said, well, this is really mind blowing. We have a weekly prayer meeting.Rich Birch — Right. Right.Sam Hamstra — And so because of that, and and still as the lead pastor still today, I take responsibility for leading that because I believe it’s it’s a high value for the church. Rich Birch — Right.Sam Hamstra — So it’s on the calendar. We you know And we’re not adding to it. It’s just 6 p.m. to 7 every Thursday. And we support it, which I think is the secondary layer behind that because it’s important. Now we have staff support. We have worship team support. We’re, we’re like staying very focused, on a few things rather than getting broad and going to a retreat and saying, this is a silver bullet. I don’t think there, I think the whole thing is a silver bullet, the whole pathway.Rich Birch — Right. Sure.Sam Hamstra — And so we always say, you know, I took this from somebody, but, you know, we want to be Ruth’s Chris, not Ponderosa. We want a one page menu and we really want to just do that.Rich Birch — Yep.Sam Hamstra — And it might even get boring. And we we’re trying to learn that boring is good.Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah. Boring stuff grows churches. I love it.Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — One of those five is sharing Jesus. Every disciple has one mission, to make Christ known. We don’t keep the gospel to ourselves. We share it through our words, our actions, our lives, wherever we go. We carry the hope of Jesus to a world that needs him.Rich Birch — Unpack some ways that that value drives behavior at the church, that actually drives calendaring and and you know what you’re talking about, that sort of thing.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so deep, you know, we always want to empower everybody to be inviters and not just share. I think the key word in that is share your Jesus story. You know, we have to be people who understand how to share a testimony outside the four walls with it, you know, with a pretty quick invite to be like, hey, come be part of this community if you don’t have a community.Rich Birch — Right.Sam Hamstra — And so that is really through calendaring. We that’s really probably intrinsically baked into what we’re doing. So anytime I bring a guest to church, I’m saying it from the pulpit. And this is my friend. They’re here. I invited celebrating those through baptisms.Sam Hamstra — We let people testify of so you’re hearing stories of that. And then really resourcing people to make Christ known by sharing their story, teaching them how to do that.Sam Hamstra — So In the context of the calendar, um you know I took this from your playbook, sir, so thank you. We wanted to create four big events in our flywheel… Rich Birch — Yep. Love it. Sam Hamstra — …that are big invite events, that these are the moments where you need to bring 10 people. Rich Birch — Right. Sam Hamstra — We have found in our calendar since day one that we are seeing people respond to that and our church grows after every single time we do a big event. Rich Birch — That’s great.Sam Hamstra — And so we’re we’re doing four quarterly things.Rich Birch — Are those are those four the same every year? Are they, are they, yeah.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, yes.Rich Birch — So what are they? What are those four? If you don’t want me asking.Sam Hamstra — So, you know, Easter, of course… Rich Birch — Yep. Sam Hamstra — …summer kickoff was something we just created… Rich Birch — Yeah, great. Sam Hamstra — …to start the first Sunday of June. We rented a football field and we just say, bring everybody. We don’t… Rich Birch — That’s great. Sam Hamstra — …in our culture here, this is one thing, like, we’re like, we don’t shrink in the summer. This is a great time to grow.Rich Birch — Keep going forward. Yep. Love it.Sam Hamstra — Yeah. And then we created something years ago called Homecoming, just, you know, it was really show up Sunday, invite day. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yep. Sam Hamstra — And then Christmas. Rich Birch — Love it.Sam Hamstra — So those are our four homecomings in November on the calendar. It just kind of flows quarterly for us that way.Rich Birch — That’s great. I love it. Well, I love what we’ve seen in fastest growing church in the country, friends that are listening in, is, you know, lots of churches will get, they have two big days, Christmas and Easter. But what we see is the behavior that you’re doing, which is you kind of end up having to make up a couple other days where you’re kind of injecting energy. We’re recording this in the summertime. You know, lots of churches have pulled a page out of Life Church’s book around At the Movies. And they, at the movies is one of their biggest attended days of the year on the the front end of that.Rich Birch — It’s just made up. There’s no reason for you to come the first week of August… Sam Hamstra — Yeah, absolutely. Rich Birch — …but they’ve decided, hey, we’re going to do that. That’s great. So we’re going to link to your about page where a lot of this is on that that page.Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — On the how our core values, how we behave: We love people. We bleed passion. We choose joy. There’s some unique stuff in there. So talk me through. We love people, I think could be universally true of lots of churches… Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Rich Birch — …but I’m not sure that every church would say we bleed passion. We choose joy. Talk me through those as how those are kind of a unique thing that is helping you define what it means to be Anthem.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so you know on the love people thing, is you do hear that a lot. And I found there’s a difference between hearing it than living it out. And in religious environments sometimes, you know, I think we all pray we wanna reach the lost until you reach the lost. Rich Birch — True.Sam Hamstra — And our first service, our first Easter Sunday here, we only had one door into our auditorium. And I still remember we had the whole back of the auditorium smelled like weed.Rich Birch — Oh, wow. Okay. Love it.Sam Hamstra — And it was like this tense moment, you know, like of like, okay, this is what we pray for.Rich Birch — Yes.Sam Hamstra — And kind of diving deep into that. So we really own that language within that of we belong before we behave. And so we’re, you know, you can come from all walks of life and we believe Jesus died for all people. So we love all people.Sam Hamstra — And then the we choose joy…Rich Birch — I love that. Before we move on, the thing I love about that… Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Rich Birch — …that you’re calling out, that I do think is a nuance that we miss in too many churches, which is oftentimes we say we want to reach people. But what that comes with is messy pastoral care, hard conversations, stuff that doesn’t make sense, and long nights. Like, it’s just hard. Rich Birch — And, um you know, if you’re, it’s easy to reach Christians from the other church across town. It’s hard to reach people who don’t normally journey in this stuff.Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Yeah.Rich Birch — And I love I love that story, even of your opening weekend with the the smell of weed in the back of the room.Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — I love it.Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Definitely messy.Rich Birch — That’s great. Yes, yes, love it.Sam Hamstra — Yeah. You know, the “We choose joy” has just been, um i think one of the greatest testimonies we had was from somebody that just, it was their first time guest. So like, man, everybody feels like they’re the same here. Everybody’s so happy. And we just wanted to build in just this, we believe that, you know, joy should be a badge that every believer wears. It’s just been, you know, you go into the different environments and some people just, it seems like a chore to be alive.Sam Hamstra — And so we just wanted to drive in. This is a privilege to be part of what God is doing in the earth in this hour, even if it doesn’t look perfect. Rich Birch — That’s great. Sam Hamstra — And then with “We bleed passion”, um that’s really our way to say here, you know, if you’re looking for a place that’s content with status quo, you’re probably not going to like it here. We’re always going to be changing. We’re always going to be moving. We’re always going to be shifting. We always want to go with where the Lord is leading. And so we’re a sending church. Don’t get comfortable. There’s always going to be more services. There’s always going to be new churches. Sam Hamstra — So we tried to to really get that in the DNA from the front side.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. I love it.Rich Birch — I love that “we choose joy”. When I was at Liquid Church, are one of our three in this in this coupling was “Church is fun”. And you know the way we would talk about that is we would say, you know we we we say good news or we say gospel. We’re like, we should be gospel people or we should be good news people. Rich Birch — But what that actually means, how that actually should work itself out in our culture is when people interact with us, those people are a lot of fun to be around. Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Rich Birch — Because they’re redeemed people who have figured out, man, we’re following a God who loves us dearly. So what that should actually like, I love the way you’ve said it, we choose joy. Joy should be the natural outcome of our churches… Sam Hamstra — Yes. Rich Birch — …which is, again, that should not be rocket science, but it’s amazing how much that is a cultural difference or can be a huge cultural difference in many churches.Sam Hamstra — Yes. 100%. Yep.Rich Birch — That’s cool. So um you’ve been using this really throughout your how you develop leaders, how you onboard people, how you, you know, how do you come back to this time and time again? What are you using? How are you using these tools in your leadership development, in your raising up of volunteers, that sort of thing?Sam Hamstra — Yeah, so foundationally, I got to give credit where credit is due once again on this. I heard University of Kentucky’s baseball coach say this about culture, and it was like the best thing I’ve ever heard. He totally transformed his program, and he said it was culture at at the root of it. He said culture is every day. Culture is what you accept, and culture is what you reinforce.Rich Birch — It’s good.Sam Hamstra — And so we try to keep that in front of us as much as we can. It’s you know not something we just say we want to lead the way every day. So within these three, we actually just came out with 10 leadership values that all fit within those three…Rich Birch — Oh, that’s cool.Sam Hamstra — …that give a little more language to our leadership, like, you know, we love people, so we park in back. And so really speaking to the culture of, you know, we put other people first, we serve. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good.Sam Hamstra — And so, you know, we try to outdo each other. You know, I park about a half mile away from church on Sundays. We don’t we don’t do pastor parking, you know, or anything like that. umAnd so just, it’s every day.Rich Birch — Yes.Sam Hamstra — We do a value at every single one of our pre-service huddles on Sunday. So we’re taking those three values every Sunday, one, here’s what we’re doing.Sam Hamstra — And then Leadership Pipeline, we implemented this two years ago and we’re teaching our Anthem way across the board to a new set of leaders three times a year. And so we really zone in on culture a lot. We’ve just realized people coming from a lot of different places and what makes our culture, our culture are these distinctives. And so we’re teaching those and then really trying to walk them out. And the best testimony we’ve been hearing is people say, yeah, we see that in the leadership of the church. So that’s been really cool to hear.Rich Birch — That’s really cool. I love it. And friends, this just reminds me of the like such a foundational thing we’ve all got to get right and work on and then repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.Rich Birch — We’ve got to keep on top of this language and and just come back to it time and time again. So you’re multi-site, you’re you’re going to launch more campuses down the road. Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — How does this tie into that conversation around, you know, there can be in you know, some multi-site churches, there’s like this tension of uniformity, you know, versus autonomy. And like, how how does that how does how does your thinking work out with the Anthem Way in multiple locations?Sam Hamstra — Yeah. So I want to preface this with I’m new, so I am figuring this out in real time. Rich Birch — Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.Sam Hamstra — I’m coming from from being a campus pastor to now being in the position I’m in. We’re two years into our first ah plant location campus. So and we’ve seen it be successful.Sam Hamstra — But what we’ve agreed on is we are going to be uniform in the Anthem Way. So we’re choosing uniformity and everything that falls within that box of the Anthem Way. Um, and so that has been like the running lanes for us to define what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, the way we talk, the way we move, our style of church, um, and all of that. So that’s been, you know, we’ve been really struggling with, with, with what you just said, that uniformity versus unity versus, you know, autonomy. Sam Hamstra — And so, the Anthem Way is to become our framework on how we’re starting locations. And we feel like as long as everybody’s in sync with all, and it and it entails a lot, right? I mean, how we do church, our approach to a lot of things.Sam Hamstra — And so that’s been that’s been our overarching theme is we want to be uniform in this. Rich Birch — yeah that’s good. Sam Hamstra — And so that’s what we’ve been trying to make sure it’s documented, ready to go.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Yeah, that’s an interesting, that’s like a, we could have a whole other half an hour just on on on that issue.Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — But one of the things we have seen over the long arc of the multi-site movement is churches that are choosing clarity and um and more, yeah, an understanding of, in your case, what is Anthem and how do we do what we do, those churches are the churches that, from my perspective, and not just statistically, are actually benefiting more from the multi-site movement. Rich Birch — The churches where they’re like, hey, let’s spend a lot of time. It can actually be the worst model because it’s like, we have a lot of people thinking about all the different ways you could potentially do church. As opposed to saying, no, no, like this is the way we’re not, we’re not saying this is the best way. We’re just saying it’s our way. We’re not saying that this is the only way to do it.Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — We’re just saying this is the way we do it. And, um and we’re okay with that. We’re settled on on that as an issue.Sam Hamstra — Yeah. That’s good. That’s good.Rich Birch — That’s interesting. Is there anything that changed or that has changed as you, I realize you’ve influenced ben to this from the beginning, but like, has there been anything that has kind of changed as you got clearer on the Anthem Way over the over the years? You know, something you cut or improved or, you know, is there anything that jumps to mind on that front?Sam Hamstra — Yeah, we’re would I might use the word refined rather than changed. Rich Birch — Sure. Yep, that’s good. Sam Hamstra — I was just talking to our discipleship director this morning just on, you know, is there is there a small group model? So like our three kind of handles in our discipleship pathway are know Christ, grow in Christ, and and make Christ known.Sam Hamstra — And, you know, our small group model isn’t working. We added what we call the Mosaic School of Ministry, which is is another thing in Grow. And we’ve actually seen way more interest and success in that. And so, you know, we have a way higher percentage right now going through what we call a School of Ministry, which is classes and and discipleship then we’re getting in small groups. Sam Hamstra — And so we’ve been just kind of wrestling with that a little bit. Like, is that culture, is it good, is it bad? And so I think those those refining moments have have really changed. We started off, though, I feel soft saying this, but it worked in our context. But we would start every year with 21 days of prayer and fasting in the beginning. And do 21 days again in the fall.Rich Birch — Love it.Sam Hamstra — We’ve actually gone down to seven days to start the year. There’s seven days in the fall. We just feel like we’re seeing actually better results with more people getting involved just with those minor tweaks, just to say this…Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Sam Hamstra — …his is we’re we’re seeing bigger impact there. Rich Birch — Sure. Sam Hamstra — But so I think those refining things have been really good.Rich Birch — Has there been any of that refining that has come not from you, but from a member of your team? Like, has anyone called you out or called the church out on like, hey, like on prayer or on any of these where, you know, like when that’s happened in my life, I kind of like that. Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — I’m like, oh, well, that’s a pleasant thing that just happened there, even though it feels weird to be the person being called out.Sam Hamstra — Yeah.Rich Birch — Have you had any experiences like that?Sam Hamstra — Yeah. Yes. I’m laughing because, yeah, I’ve had quite a few. I could point to the one with prayer fasting. Rich Birch — Yes. So somebody on our team was like, hey, pastor, you know that there’s really no a place in the Bible where there’s a three week corporate fast. Rich Birch — Sure. Sam Hamstra — Yeah like where the whole church is coming together for three weeks and I’m like well I got a challenge, I’m gonna look. And I’m like sure enough you know, I’m maybe somebody could find it, but it was like these times and seasons where people come together for specific things of like, oh man you’re right. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, love it. Sam Hamstra — So and so that was like one of those um yeah it’s it’s definitely happened quite quite a bit and so which I love that too and so it’s been such a blessing of solid team that feels free to speak when when they need to.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Well, this has been a good conversation, just as we’re kind of coming to land. If you think about a church out there that feels like okay they’ve listened to this and they’re like okay, we maybe they’ve opened up your website. And they’re like, hey, we’re not as clear on this that as we could be, we need to get much clearer on that.Rich Birch — What’s kind of one first step that you would encourage people to take? What would be kind of the best first step towards getting clarity on this front?Sam Hamstra — Write the vision, make it plain so that he that reads it may run.Rich Birch — Dude, I love it. And with that, we end the episode. That’s fantastic. No, that’s great. Unpack that a little bit.Sam Hamstra — Um, you know, I for so much of my life, I was always looking to be so unique and so different. Rich Birch — Right.Sam Hamstra — And I felt like I just needed the next best thing. And it was wasn’t until I just locked into this is what the Lord has for us. And it might sound like somebody else it might look and that’s OK, but this going to be very unique to us. And this is what we’re doing. And just to be very clear on that and then just this is for me, but I get bored so easily. And to just, just not get bored and just keep doing the same thing in the same direction day after day.Rich Birch — Right.Sam Hamstra — And in that that flywheel, to use your words, it does work. And just to see that go and to to get very clear and and simple and and let people know where you’re going and just keep saying the same thing over and over is so life-giving.Rich Birch — That’s so good. So good.Rich Birch — Well, I really appreciate you being here today. If we want to send people anywhere online to track with you or to track with the church, where do we want to send them?Sam Hamstra — So first name, last name would be all my personal stuff. So @samhamstra, last name H-A-M-S-T-R-A.Sam Hamstra — And all church stuff is weareanthemchurch.com. And then weareanthemchurch on social as well.Rich Birch — Love it. So good. Appreciate that, Sam. Thanks so much for being here. Honored that you take some time to be with us today.Sam Hamstra — Yeah, thanks so much, Rich, my honor.

The 49ers are officially taking flight for Australia! Before the team crosses the Pacific, we're breaking down the latest progress reports on every rookie—from De'Zhaun Stribling's record-setting preseason production to the “adaptable length” featured throughout Raheem Morris' new-look defense. We also discuss John Lynch's “sons of Marines” comments, the latest injuries along the defensive line and why the 49ers believe drafting older, NFL-ready rookies could give them an immediate advantage this season. Timestamps: 0:00 - Pre-flight fuel at Taqueria San Bruno1:06 - James Thompson Jr. and McKinley Jackson injury updates2:00 - Defensive tackle shuffle: Gracen Halton vs. CJ West4:48 - De'Zhaun Stribling's record-setting preseason6:13 - John Lynch's “sons of Marines” quote8:43 - Romello Height managing the NFL marathon10:12 - Enrique Cruz Jr.: Developing behind Trent Williams13:16 - Kaelon Black: More than a one-dimensional running back14:27 - Carver Willis: The 49ers' center of the future?16:58 - Jaden Duggar and Ephesians Prysock bring adaptable length17:40 - Practice-squad rookies to watch18:32 - Australia flight details and final thoughts #49ers #SanFrancisco49ers #NFL #FTTB #DeZhaunStribling #JohnLynch #RaheemMorris #Niners Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sprint NOW to LIVE Longer Podcast | VyVerse.comFIVE PRIMARY POINTS of the PODCASTCoffee is a powerful vitality enhancer. New data from 2,264 people found that each additional cup of coffee was associated with roughly 2% higher testosterone in men, while both men and women who drank more coffee tended to have less body fat and more skeletal muscle. Other research links coffee with lower inflammation, better gut health, less depression, younger biological age, and improved focus.Blueberries are brain food. Research suggests blueberries can improve memory, executive function, processing speed, attention, and brain blood flow. Studies cited in the podcast found cognitive benefits in both middle-aged adults at increased dementia risk and school-aged children. Roughly half a cup of blueberries may be enough to provide meaningful benefits.Vitality is a gift you give yourself. Vitality is defined as “purposeful, energetic, and connected living.” Developing it begins by creating space to think, becoming more intentional with time, and defining a clear personal purpose. A concise purpose acts as a filter for deciding what deserves your time and energy.Protect your energy and invest in your relationships. Daily energy depends heavily on discipline, sleep, and fitness. Eliminate “life leaks” such as mindless scrolling and minimize time with “energy vampires.” Instead, invest that energy in meaningful work and the people you love—put down the phone, listen closely, serve others, and treat important relationships like “precious jewels.”Vitality is a skill—and awareness is the first step. You can deliberately train your physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being through practices ranging from exercise and weight management to recovery, stress reduction, optimism, and meaningful connection. Start by honestly identifying what you are doing well and what needs improvement, then take ownership and make one decisive first move.Copyright, VyVerse, LLC. All Rights Reserved. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vitalityexplorers.substack.com/subscribe

What does it take to become a leader worth following and create an environment where people can truly flourish?On Episode 248 of the Fortified Life Podcast, Jason Davis welcomes Dr. Randy Ross—bestselling author, keynote speaker, craftsman of culture, and CEO of Remarkable.Dr. Ross helps organizations develop stronger leaders, healthier workplace relationships, and purpose-driven cultures. Through practical wisdom, contagious humor, and decades of leadership experience, he encourages people to discover greater meaning in their work while creating lasting value for others.Dr. Ross has worked with globally recognized organizations, including Delta Air Lines, Darden Restaurants, GE Appliances, McDonald's, Panasonic, Cox Communications, Compass Group, Chick-fil-A, Berkshire Hathaway, and InterContinental Hotels Group.His leadership philosophy is built around a powerful truth: when people enjoy what they do, they do it better. When they value the people around them, they work better together. When they recognize the positive impact they are making, they experience greater meaning, fulfillment, and purpose.This episode highlights principles connected to Dr. Ross's most influential teachings, including Make Life Good, Choose to Be Remarkable, Fireproof Happiness, and Relationomics. Listeners will be encouraged to move beyond ordinary leadership, strengthen their relationships, navigate adversity with hope, and create a legacy that benefits others.About Dr. Randy RossDr. Randy Ross is a compelling communicator, bestselling author, and respected authority on organizational culture and leadership. As CEO of Remarkable and a former Chief People Officer, he equips leaders and teams to address some of the greatest challenges facing today's businesses, tomorrow's workforce, and the future marketplace.He is the author of multiple books, including Make Life Good, and is passionate about raising leaders worth following who create relationally rich environments where people can flourish. Dr. Ross lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife, LuAnne, and their four children.Topics Highlighted• Becoming a leader worth following• Creating relationally rich workplace cultures• Finding passion and purpose in your work• Building healthier professional relationships• Moving beyond conventional or “usual” leadership• Creating value for others through generosity and service• Applying hope during challenges and setbacks• Developing happiness that can withstand adversity• Connecting personal values with organizational success• Building a meaningful and lasting legacyKey Takeaways• Remarkable leadership begins with creating value for others.• Healthy relationships are essential to successful teams and organizations.• Purpose and fulfillment grow when people understand the positive impact of their work.• Hope is practical—it helps people confront difficulties, improve relationships, and lead effectively.• Extraordinary organizations move beyond maintaining the status quo.• Strong leaders build environments where people feel valued, connected, and empowered to flourish.Listen to Episode 248 of the Fortified Life Podcast and discover how to make life good, choose to be remarkable, and lead with greater purpose, hope, and influence.Learn more about Dr. Randy Ross at DrRandyRoss.com.

Maybe summer threw your routines off a bit, or life has just been full, and you've realized you haven't been spending as much time in God's Word as you'd like. I'm raising my hand here with you because it's where I've found myself recently. Sometimes the Bible reading plan that worked for us in one season just isn't working in another. Maybe we need to simplify things a bit. Pick a time, pick a place, and pick a plan—and if you've gotten behind, you don't have to catch up on everything you missed. We don't need the perfect plan or the perfect morning. We can just open our Bibles and begin again today. ❤️ Head over to ThankfulHomemaker.com for full show notes on all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode.  Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary RELATED EPISODES: EP 95: Developing a Daily Bible Reading Habit EP 53: Daily Bible Reading (Spiritual Disciplines Series) RESOURCES: Join Thankful Homemaker for access to the Free Library of Resources Follow ThankfulHomemaker on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest & Instagram Join the Thankful Homemaker Facebook Group Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Favorite App  Online Courses & Printables Thankful Homemaker Merchandise Buy Marci a Cup of Coffee xo 

Will Donald Trump's new oil deal with Venezuela actually lower gas prices at the pump, or is it political optics? In this video, we break down the claims surrounding the White House's agreement with Venezuela involving 65 billion barrels of subterranean crude oil. From the fine print involving Barbados-headquartered North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) and businessman Alejandro Betancourt, to the massive infrastructure hurdles facing Venezuela's oil sector, we separate energy market facts from campaign narrative. In this video, we cover: • The reality behind the "65 billion barrels" claim and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve • The role of NABEP, private oil leases, and taxpayer risk exposure • Why energy economists agree this deal won't lower short-term gas prices • Major oil companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips hesitating over contract sanctity • The legal and constitutional questions surrounding interim President Delcy Rodríguez • How public financial guarantees socialize risk while privatizing profit Key Takeaways: Raw crude trapped thousands of feet underground cannot immediately affect global crude markets or retail pump prices. Developing these unrefined fields requires hundreds of billions in capital expenditures and years of work. Discover why this high-risk arrangement benefits private corporate interests while leaving American taxpayers on the hook. #energypolicy #GasPrices #OilMarket #Venezuela #Trump #Midterms #EconomicPolicy #StrategicPetroleumReserve Independent media has never been more important. Please support this channel by subscribing here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkbwLFZhawBqK2b9gW08z3g?sub_confirmation=1 Join this channel with a membership for exclusive early access and bonus content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkbwLFZhawBqK2b9gW08z3g/join Five Minute News is a MeidasTouch Podcast, covering politics, inequality, health and climate - delivering independent, unbiased and essential news for the US and across the world. Visit us online at http://www.fiveminute.news Follow us on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/fiveminutenews.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram http://instagram.com/fiveminnews Support us on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/fiveminutenews You can subscribe to Five Minute News with your preferred podcast app, ask your smart speaker, or enable Five Minute News as your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing skill. CONTENT DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed on this channel are those of the guests and authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Anthony Davis or Five Minute News LLC. Any content provided by our hosts, guests or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything, in line with the First Amendment right to free and protected speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BMitch and JP loved the tennis action last night.

In this episode of the Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers is joined by Ashley Napier of Solomon for a conversation about recruiting, developing, and retaining talent in an insurance industry increasingly obsessed with artificial intelligence. Ashley explains that development cannot stop after hiring. Agencies need intentional onboarding, clearly defined expectations, and a progression where leaders demonstrate the work, perform it alongside the employee, allow the employee to take the lead with assistance, and eventually step back and observe. David and Ashley challenge the idea that AI should automatically replace employees who struggle in certain areas. Instead, leaders should identify what people do exceptionally well and use technology to strengthen their weaknesses. AI should assist people rather than become the entire agency strategy. David also warns that agencies can become so consumed with the latest AI tools that they overlook foundational technology such as CRMs, processes, data collection, and training. The conversation then moves directly into producer development. David shares his own experience of having to reset the training process with a producer after realizing that both of them had drifted away from the established framework. The lesson: having a process isn't enough—you have to execute it and hold people accountable to it. They also discuss the value of immediate post-appointment coaching. David credits the "curbside chats" he received early in his insurance career—immediate conversations about what worked, what didn't, and what needed to change—with accelerating his development as a producer. Finally, David translates leadership development into a middle-market sales strategy by explaining the Stop, Start, Continue exercise. Producers can anonymously gather feedback from a client's employees to uncover operational problems contributing to workers' compensation, commercial auto, and general liability losses. Connect with:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠David Carothers LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ashley Napier Linkedin ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Visit Websites:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Killing Commercial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Crushing Content⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Power Producers Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Policytee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Dirty 130⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Extra 2 Minute⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   

What do you do when the path to motherhood keeps asking you to let go of the way you thought it would happen?I sit down with life coach and single mom by choice Victoria Kennedy to talk about her five-year journey to becoming a mother... a journey filled with difficult endings, unexpected pivots, heartbreaking losses, and ultimately, a deep trust in herself and the life she wanted to create.Victoria shares how she walked away from a seven-year toxic relationship at 34 and took the time she needed to rebuild herself before dating again. Motherhood was still something she deeply wanted, and when a later relationship came with an ultimatum — choose the relationship or keep pursuing fertility treatment — Victoria had to decide what she was and wasn't willing to give up.Victoria and I discuss:Choosing your desire for motherhood when a relationship asks you to give it upNavigating six IUIs, five IVF cycles, fertility setbacks, pregnancy loss, and an ectopic pregnancyMaking the emotional pivot to donor eggs and grieving the loss of a biological connectionSetting boundaries with well-meaning family and friends during fertility treatmentLetting go of the timeline you thought your life would followHow Victoria's experience led her to life coaching and helping women recognize "micro-self-abandonment"Developing the self-trust to make hard decisions without needing everyone else to understand themYour Next Steps:Learn more about Victoria Kennedy at https://www.victoriakennedy.studio/Connect with Victoria on Instagram at @VictoriaKennedy.studioSign Up for Community Groups: Connect with women on similar paths by signing up for upcoming groups at https://www.singlegreatestchoice.com/community-groups.Connect with me on Instagram: Follow @single_greatest_choice for daily inspiration and insights.Join the SGC Village: Become part of the community and stay up-to-date by joining our newsletter. You can sign up HERE at the bottom of the page.

Scott Lessing shares the remarkable story of planting a church inside Lorain Correctional Institution and how prison ministry can become true disciple-making and church planting. Through consistent relationships, weekly worship, leadership development, and reentry ministry, Scott and Grace Church are seeing God transform lives both inside and outside the prison. Scott serves at Grace Church, a Christian and Missionary Alliance church near Cleveland, Ohio. What began when the warden asked for something more than traditional prison ministry has grown into a church community with weekly services, dozens of volunteers, Bible studies, Alpha, Rooted, recovery ministry, baptisms, a School of Ministry, and intentional discipleship. Greg and Scott also explore the biblical foundation for this work through Luke 4:18 and Matthew 25, discussing Jesus' call to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, and to care for those who are incarcerated. Scott explains why the goal isn't simply to bring a church service into a prison but to build relationships and make disciples who can eventually disciple and lead others. One of the most powerful stories is of a man who spent 47 years incarcerated, completed Grace Church's School of Ministry, was released, joined the church's staff, and was preparing to return to the prison—this time to preach. The church also walks alongside people after release through employment connections, housing support, community, and continued discipleship. Scott's story challenges every church leader to reconsider what it means to go to people instead of simply expecting people to come to church. As he explains, their prison ministry has changed Grace Church itself, creating a congregation that looks more diverse, more broken, and, in his words, more like the first-century church. Resources: True Freedom Ministries — the Ohio prison ministry discussed in the episode; its current site describes ministry at Lorain Correctional Institution. True Freedom Ministries Leadership / Michael Swiger — learn more about Michael Swiger, whom Scott discusses in the episode. Scripture mentioned: Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61, Matthew 25 Table of Contents:  00:00 – Meet Scott Lessing and the prison church story 03:27 – Why prison ministry matters for church planting 06:18 – How the prison church began 11:16 – Luke 4, Matthew 25 & the biblical foundation 13:43 – Reentry ministry and discipleship after prison 14:33 – What a weekly prison church service looks like 16:07 – Developing leaders inside the prison 18:27 – Baptisms, Bible questions & life transformation 21:37 – Going to people instead of waiting for them to come

Developing the whole student athlete is at the center of Tara Brisson's approach at Tilton School Basketball. After 18 years at Tilton, Brisson explains why her program focuses on helping players grow as people, students, and basketball players rather than treating development as only an on-court process.Brisson breaks down how Tilton prepares players for college basketball through strength and conditioning, fundamental skill development, and a training structure designed to resemble the college game. She also explains why playing time is earned, why toughness and defense can separate D1 guards, and how transparency shapes her approach with players and families.For players and parents considering prep school, reclassing, or a post-grad year, this conversation also explores college placement, NCAA eligibility, academic support, recruiting fit, and the value of spending more time developing in the right environment. Brisson shares why choosing the best fit matters more than chasing the school that gives a player the most attention.⏰ Timestamps:00:01:33 - Tara Brisson's Basketball Background00:03:54 - Tilton School and Girls Basketball00:06:13 - Tilton's Championship Success00:07:47 - How Prep School Basketball Has Changed00:09:19 - Player Development at Tilton00:11:16 - Earning Playing Time00:12:59 - College Placement at Tilton00:15:17 - College Counseling and NCAA Eligibility00:17:02 - What It Takes to Be a D1 Guard00:19:19 - College Recruiting Mistakes00:20:45 - Reclassing vs. a Post-Grad Year00:22:29 - Post-Grad Academics at Tilton00:24:38 - Extra Training and Facility Access00:26:16 - The Caitlin Clark Effect00:27:31 - CrossFit, Coaching, and Leadership00:28:38 - Quick Hitters00:30:34 - Wrapping Up

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Lulu's VP of Software & Product Development, Nick Foster! Tune in for a conversation exploring the development of Lulu's publishing technology, the parallels between creators and developers, and how tools like the brand new Lulu Direct Buy Button came to life. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the episode on YouTube.Dive Deeper

This podcast was created using NotebookLM.This podcast describes the Community Oral Health Program at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, emphasizing its role in addressing the national shortage of dental professionals.

In this episode, I'm talking about what it takes to build both the mental and physical toughness needed to perform when the pressure is on. Tune in as I share how to prepare horses for the situations they'll face in competition, how a horse's physical and mental performance are connected, and how repetition helps turn the right responses into habits. Whether we're preparing ourselves or our horses, the more comfortable we can become in those game-time situations, the better prepared we'll be to handle them when they count.

In this solo episode, Travis wraps up his deep dive into context and clip culture by focusing on practical strategies to retrain your brain and think more clearly. He explains how intentional long-form consumption, better questioning, and curating high-quality information sources can dramatically improve your judgment, relationships, and decision-making. Drawing on real-world examples and personal experiences, Travis shows how developing context awareness can become a powerful competitive advantage in today's attention economy. On this episode we talk about: Why balancing short-form and long-form content is critical for mental performance How to retrain your brain using intentional long-form consumption habits The “three context questions” that improve critical thinking and decision-making How to curate better information sources and avoid low-context content traps Why context awareness is a major competitive advantage in business and life Top 3 Takeaways Treat your content consumption like a diet—too much “junk” content weakens your thinking, while long-form builds mental strength. Asking simple questions like “What's missing?” and “Who benefits?” can instantly improve your judgment. Developing context awareness puts you ahead of the majority who react emotionally instead of thinking critically. Notable Quotes "Clips are like candy—long-form content is protein for your brain." "If you're going to form a strong opinion, you owe it to yourself to get more context." "If you can think clearly when others are triggered, you gain a massive advantage." Connect with Travis: LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/travischappell⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/travischappell⁠ Other: ⁠https://travischappell.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if the biggest thing holding your dealership back isn't the market, the leads, or even the competition... but the habits happening inside the store every single day? "The biggest bad habit you have is that you allow your employees to run your dealership." - Sean V. Bradley In this episode of the Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast, Sean V. Bradley and LA Williams take a hard look at the small, repeated behaviors that can quietly limit performance across every level of a dealership, from salespeople to leadership. "You've got to expect greatness from yourself." - LA Williams The conversation explores how complacency, inconsistent follow-up, underused technology, negative thinking, and drifting away from proven processes can slowly become part of the culture if they are not addressed. Sean and LA also challenge automotive professionals to think bigger about ownership, accountability, and personal growth, including what it really means to maximize the tools, training, opportunities, and resources already available to you. "If you don't know the tools inside and out, you're only using 10% or 20% of the potential value of it." - Sean V. Bradley If you are serious about becoming sharper, more disciplined, and more intentional in your career, this conversation will definitely make you look at your daily routine a little differently! Key Takeaways: ✅ Many sales professionals fail to fully utilize the advanced tools and systems available at their dealerships, thereby limiting their potential success. ✅ Developing a proactive mindset and treating car sales as an entrepreneurial endeavor can significantly enhance individual and dealership success. ✅ Effective training and personal development go beyond learning sales tactics, encompassing mastery of digital marketing, customer relationship management, and personal branding. ✅ Managers and dealer principals need to enforce accountability and ensure their teams adhere to proven processes, instead of allowing complacent behaviors. ✅ Reflecting on personal weaknesses and embracing continuous improvement can lead to personal and professional transformation.   About Sean V. Bradley Sean V. Bradley is a renowned entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a company specializing in training and consulting automotive dealerships to improve sales and operations. With over two decades of experience in the automotive industry, Sean is a celebrated author and is recognized for his innovative strategies in digital marketing and customer relationship management.   About LA Williams LA Williams, also known as the Blind Master, holds the position of Vice President at Dealer Synergy. He is the co-creator of the Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast and an acclaimed author. Despite being totally blind, LA has achieved significant success by leveraging his unique frameworks to inspire and educate automotive professionals to overcome adversity and maximize their potential.     Harnessing Success: Dissecting Effective Strategies from Automotive Sales Titans Key Takeaways Understanding and leveraging tools and technology is imperative for maximizing success in the automotive sales industry. The mindset of treating automotive sales as your own business can lead to unparalleled growth and innovation. Leadership rooted in authentic practice and constant self-improvement sets the groundwork for dealership excellence.   In the high-octane world of automotive sales, the difference between mediocrity and greatness isn't just about product knowledge or charismatic sales pitches. As illuminated in a vibrant exchange between industry veterans Sean V. Bradley and LA Williams, the path to monumental success encompasses mindset mastery, strategic tool utilization, and transformational leadership. With Sean's no-nonsense approach to self-empowerment and LA's captivating advocacy for greatness, automotive professionals are invited to embrace a revolutionary perspective on sales, management, and personal development.   Mastering Technology in Automotive Sales One of the most pertinent themes discussed is the underutilization of technology and resources within dealerships. Sean V. Bradley emphasizes the necessity for employees to fully engage with their available tools, stating, "You are only as strong as your weakest link." This indicates that even the most advanced technologies, akin to the latest iPhone features, yield little value if only used for basic functions. In dealerships where resources like CRM systems, AI integration, and data mining tools are abundant, the challenge is not in their availability but in their effective utilization. As Sean elaborates using the analogy of a ninja equipped with an arsenal of weapons, the expertise lies not in possessing tools but in mastering them: "Can you imagine if you only were able to use it basic or rudimentary?" The implications of this extend beyond individual success, reflecting on the dealership's profitability and competitive edge. With every employee maximizing their toolset, the collective efficacy of the dealership multiplies.   Adopting an Entrepreneurial Mindset Transitioning from technology to mindset, Sean and LA underscore an entrepreneurial approach to automotive sales, treating it as one's own business. Many salespeople fall into the trap of dependency, leading to complacency and stagnation. Instead, Sean encourages a paradigm shift, "You are building your business within the dealership's business." This self-starter attitude circumvents any limitations posed by the dealership's supply of leads or market fluctuations. By pursuing eight varied strategies for car sales—ranging from walk-ins to referrals and beyond—sales professionals can expand their influence and multiply opportunities. This entrepreneurial mindset not only fuels personal income growth but fosters an environment where innovation thrives, setting apart top performers like Cody Carter, who achieved remarkable earnings by mastering these principles. The broader impact of this theme reveals a market characterized by agile, autonomous professionals poised for optimum success.   Transformative Leadership and Accountability Effective leadership, as addressed by Sean, emerges as the backbone of all transformative practices within a dealership. Critically, he observes a pervasive issue: leaders allowing employees to dictate the pace and quality of operations. "You allow your employees to run your dealership," Sean firmly states, highlighting a common pitfall among dealers. For an organization striving for excellence, leadership rooted in authentic practice and unwavering accountability holds the key. The narrative implores leaders to embody the values and discipline they wish to instill in their teams. "Are you the personification of what you're trying to articulate to your people?" Sean challenges. By doing so, they ensure that processes are adhered to and that strategic goals are not just theoretical ideals but operational realities. This approach to leadership extends beyond immediate organizational benefits, fostering a culture that values integrity, dedication, and continuous improvement. As these qualities permeate through all organizational levels, the dealership elevates its standing and success in the competitive automotive landscape.   In examining the dynamic dialogue and intricate strategies shared by Sean V. Bradley and LA Williams, automotive professionals are invited to transcend conventional practices and embrace transformative methodologies. From mastering cutting-edge technologies to adopting an entrepreneurial spirit, and executing authentic leadership, the road to monumental success is paved with conscious decisions, self-mastery, and community empowerment. This profound discourse draws a blueprint not merely for immediate gain but for enduring excellence and innovation in the automotive sales industry.       Resources + Our Proud Sponsors:   ➼ Podium: The AI Platform Powering the Modern Dealership. From instant lead response to seamless test drive scheduling, Podium's AI Employee Jerry works 24/7 to turn every lead into a conversion, so your team can focus on closing. Trusted by thousands of dealerships nationwide and proudly featured on the Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast. Learn how Podium can help you sell more cars, book more service appointments, and grow your dealership. Discover how Podium's innovative AI technology can unlock unparalleled efficiency and drive your dealership's sales to new heights. Visit www.podium.com/mcs to learn more!   ➼ The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group: Join the #1 Automotive Sales Mastermind Facebook Group with over 29,000 automotive professionals worldwide. The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group is the go-to community for car salespeople, BDC agents, sales managers, general managers, and dealer principals looking to increase performance, income, and leadership skills. Inside the group, members collaborate daily on automotive sales strategies, lead handling, phone scripts, closing techniques, CRM best practices, dealership leadership, and accountability systems. Learn directly from top automotive trainers, industry mentors, and high-performing sales leaders who are actively winning in today's market. If you're serious about growing your automotive career, increasing car sales, and building long-term success, join The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group today!   ➼ Dealer Synergy: Dealer Synergy is the automotive industry's #1 Sales Training, Consulting, and Accountability Firm, with over 20 years of proven dealership success nationwide. We specialize in helping car dealerships increase sales, improve processes, and build high-performing Sales, Internet, and BDC departments from the ground up. Our expertise includes automotive phone scripts, rebuttals, CRM action plans, lead handling strategies, BDC workflows, Internet sales processes, management training, and accountability systems. Dealer Synergy partners directly with dealership leadership to align people, process, and technology, ensuring consistent results and scalable growth. From independent dealers to large dealer groups and OEM partnerships, Dealer Synergy delivers measurable performance improvements, stronger teams, and sustainable profitability.   ➼ Bradley On Demand: Bradley On Demand is the automotive industry's most advanced interactive training, tracking, testing, and certification platform for car dealerships — built to develop top-performing teams across Sales, Internet Sales, BDC, CRM, Phone Skills, Leadership, and Management. In addition to LIVE virtual automotive training classes and a library of 9,000+ on-demand dealership training modules, Bradley On Demand now includes AI Phone Roleplaying and Coaching to help salespeople and BDC agents practice real dealership conversations before they ever get on the phone with customers. This AI-powered roleplay technology strengthens phone scripts, objection handling, appointment setting, lead follow-up, and closing skills, while providing measurable coaching feedback for continuous improvement. Bradley On Demand empowers dealerships to train faster, coach smarter, improve call performance, increase closing ratios, and sell more cars more profitably — all through structured, trackable, modern automotive training.

What can neuroscience teach us about creativity? And as artificial intelligence changes how we create, do we need to rethink what we mean by creativity?   In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett welcome Dr. Adam Green, professor at Georgetown University and director of the Laboratory for Relational Cognition, for a conversation about neuroscience, creativity, the ECHO Project, and AI. The conversation explores how researchers can study what happens in the brain during creative thinking and how this work might eventually help inform the development of better learning experiences. Adam also explains why neuroscience should add to what educators already know from observing and assessing students, rather than replace those approaches. The discussion then turns to the ECHO Project, a global collaboration involving nearly 200 creativity scholars. The project found significant agreement among researchers about the language used to describe creativity and related concepts such as imagination, problem-solving, and innovation. Developing a shared understanding can help educators be more precise about what they want students to develop. The episode also explores the growing role of AI in creative work. While AI can produce polished results, research discussed in the episode suggests that it may also make people's ideas more similar to one another. This raises an important question for educators: Are we using AI to support the creative process, or simply to produce a better final product? The conversation closes with a story about creativity, adaptation, and joy from Adam's experience at a camp for children with chronic illnesses. His story highlights how creativity can help us find new ways to create meaningful experiences for people with different needs. Key Takeaways Neuroscience can offer another way to understand what happens when people engage in creative thinking. The ECHO Project found significant agreement among creativity researchers about how creativity and related concepts can be understood. Distinguishing creativity from imagination, problem-solving, and innovation can help educators think more clearly about what they want students to develop. AI may make creative work look more polished while also making ideas more similar, raising important questions about the creative process. Creativity is not only about producing something new. The process itself can provide opportunities for learning, challenge, ownership, and joy. About Dr. Adam Green Dr. Adam Green is a professor at Georgetown University and director of the Laboratory for Relational Cognition. His research focuses on human creative intelligence and the neuroprocesses involved in creative relational reasoning. He also led the ECHO Project, bringing together creativity scholars from around the world to develop a shared understanding of creativity. Be sure to subscribe to your favorite platform and sign up for our Extra Fuel newsletter for more resources and inspiration. Visit FuelingCreativityPodcast.com for more information or email us at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com.

In this episode, Sean Barnes breaks down how executive communication evolves as leaders move from manager to director, vice president, and eventually the C-suite. He explains why senior leaders must shift their focus from individual execution to developing high-performing teams, understanding the broader business, communicating in business terms, and becoming strategic thought partners. Sean also explores the role of executive presence, personal brand, networking, and industry visibility in leadership development. If you're working toward a director, VP, CIO, or other C-suite position, this episode provides a practical look at the communication skills and business acumen required at each stage of executive leadership.   Key Moments 00:00 – How your communication can create a ceiling on your career 00:49 – The leadership journey from manager to director, VP, and C-suite 01:23 – Why what made you successful won't always get you to the next level 02:21 – Moving from individual productivity to becoming a force multiplier 03:00 – Building a team that can operate without you 04:05 – What changes when moving from director to vice president 04:36 – Learning other areas of the business by solving problems 05:38 – Developing a holistic understanding of the organization 06:08 – Why C-suite leaders must understand how the entire business operates 06:42 – Becoming a strategic thought partner in the boardroom 07:16 – Why your public-facing executive brand matters 08:12 – Networking, industry events, and learning from your peers 08:44 – Bringing outside insights and competitive intelligence into the boardroom 09:20 – Why becoming an executive takes time 10:27 – The hardest part of career growth: changing yourself 10:57 – Growing into a new version of yourself at every level   Key Takeaways Your communication must evolve with your role. What works as a manager won't necessarily work at the executive level. Executives understand the whole business. Learn how other functions operate and communicate in terms of business impact. Every promotion requires a new version of you. Advancing means changing how you lead, communicate, think, and create value.   Podcast Show Notes – Episode 297 | 09.01.2026 Episode Title: Is Your Communication Holding Back Your Career?   Host: Sean Barnes Wolf Executives, Houston, TX   Website: https://www.wolfexecutives.com   https://www.seanbarnes.com   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanbarnes/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/wolfexecutives https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewayofthewolf/ LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7284600567593684993/   Twitter: https://x.com/seanbarnes https://x.com/wolfexecutives   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_seanbarnes https://www.instagram.com/wolfexecutives   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_seanbarnes   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theseanbarnes

Willy, Adam and Dmase answer some titans questions and the first one was Why Have The Titans Failed Developing Highly Developed QBs. They talked about the problems that may have happened over the years. Then they shift to the next question on should we be concerned for Cam Ward. The some big news that has been revolving the NFL fake niners player Daejon Love scamming Women for over 1.5 million dollars.

What if the symptoms we associate with PMOS are actually signs of a much bigger metabolic picture? In this episode of the IRH Clinician's Corner, Margaret Floyd Barry sits down with one of IRH's most esteemed faculty members, Sara Fields, to unpack a major shift in women's health: the renaming of PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) to PMOS (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome). Together, they explore what this new name truly means for clinicians and clients alike, why it's a long-overdue change, and how it reflects a deeper understanding of the metabolic and endocrine complexities behind this common condition. Inside this episode, we explore: Why PCOS is becoming PMOS The symptoms practitioners may be missing Insulin resistance as a key driver The gut–hormone connection Essential testing for suspected PMOS Addressing root causes, not just androgen levels The Clinician's Corner is brought to you by the Institute of Restorative Health: https://instituteofrestorativehealth.com/ Upcoming Event: Margaret Floyd Barry is teaching a free session on September 15 for practitioners who want a smaller, structured offer to bring new clients in the door. She's walking through how to build a challenge-style entry point using CGM data, tested across real client volume in her own corporate wellness practice. If you've been asking too much, too soon, of new clients before they know you, this is worth an hour. Register Here! Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/instituteofrestorativehealth/ Join our email list here: https://instituteofrestorativehealth.com/join-our-email-list/ Book a call with the admissions team to continue your training: https://instituteofrestorativehealth.com/study-with-us/?utm_source=email Connect with Sara Fields: Website: https://sarafieldswellness.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarafieldswellness/ Timestamps:  00:00 Expanding the conversation on diagnosis 08:48 Shifting focus to endocrine aspects 12:33 Patient involvement in global initiative 22:06 Understanding insulin resistance in PCOS 25:56 Hormonal Imbalances in PMOS 28:55 PCOS diagnosis criteria updates 34:59 Gut Health and Hormonal Balance 40:45 Importance of gut testing 48:43 Developing client treatment protocols 52:02 Addressing sleep apnea in PMOS 58:32 Connecting the dots on symptoms 01:03:26 Broadening diagnostic perspectives Guest bio:  Sara Fields has been an instructor with IRH since March 2019. She teaches and mentors across all four levels—GI Healing, Hormones, Blood Chemistry, and Clinical Mastery—and has played a supportive role in the organization's leadership team. Sara has been immersed in the world of food and nutrition for over 20 years. Her journey has taken her through organic farming, sustainable agriculture, specialty food retail, and, ultimately, to certifications as a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (2014) and Restorative Health Practitioner (2015). Her passion for the tools she learned at IRH led her to become the very first intern and, eventually, a lead instructor for all of the courses. In her private practice, Sara Fields Wellness, she and her team take a gut-centric approach to supporting clients with chronic and complex health concerns, including skin conditions, autoimmunity, digestive issues, and metabolic challenges. She has also developed and taught fertility and prenatal nutrition classes for a local childbirth education organization, hosted community wellness meetups, and taught garden lessons at her children's elementary school. Keywords: functional health practitioners, polycystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS, PMOS, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, metabolic health, endocrine system, reproductive hormones, insulin resistance, blood sugar dysregulation, testosterone, DHEAS, sex hormone binding globulin, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, estradiol, progesterone, ovulatory cycles, cardiometabolic health, gut health, microbiome, estrobolome, estrogen detoxification, beta-glucuronidase, visceral fat, lipid panel, hs-CRP, adrenal hormones, HPO axis, blood testing Disclaimer: The views expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series are those of the individual speakers and interviewees, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute of Restorative Health, LLC. The Institute of Restorative Health, LLC does not specifically endorse or approve of any of the information or opinions expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series. The information and opinions expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series are for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. If you have any medical concerns, please consult with a qualified healthcare professional. The Institute of Restorative Health, LLC is not liable for any damages or injuries that may result from the use of the information or opinions expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series. By viewing or listening to this information, you agree to hold the Institute of Restorative Health, LLC harmless from any and all claims, demands, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with your participation. Thank you for your understanding.  

VR doesn't just have a vacancy problem. It has a pipeline problem. What if the answer to VR's workforce shortage isn't simply filling the next vacancy? Across the country, VR agencies are competing for talent, losing experienced staff, and trying to prepare a new generation of professionals—many of whom may not even know that VR is a career option. In this episode of the Manager Minute, George Michna of Connecticut and Mario Lucero of New Mexico join Carol Pankow to talk about a different approach: intentionally building the VR workforce pipeline. Drawing from their National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute (NRLI) project, George and Mario explore how career pathways, mentorship, apprenticeships, stronger onboarding, and leadership development can help agencies move from reacting to vacancies to developing talent for the long term. They also tackle an equally important question: once we bring talented people into VR, what makes them want to stay? If your agency is thinking about recruitment, retention, succession planning, or developing its next generation of leaders, this conversation is worth a listen.   Listen Here Full Transcript {Music} George: One of the biggest values of NRLI was the opportunity to step outside of your day to day work and to engage with colleagues, people who eventually become good friends of yours that live across the country, who are dealing with many of the same challenges. Mario: We've really invested hard in our leadership team, and we're seeing the results of that now. We got out of a cap. We're really making positive progress towards meeting our performance metrics. We have a way better understanding of our data, and now we're really focusing on leadership and culture within our agency.   Intro voice: Manager minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow. Carol: Welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining me in the studio today are George Michna, Bureau Chief for Community Living from Connecticut Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, and Mario Lucero, Field Operations Director for New Mexico General. So, George, how's it going in Connecticut? George: It's going good. Actually, the weather's finally holding it up here, so it's kind of nice to finally enjoy. Hopefully, a really nice summer. Carol: Yeah, that is awesome. I know we've all been talking a lot about the weather in Minnesota. It's hot and sultry. It was 95 yesterday so you never think of that here. And Mario was so great to have you here as well. How are things on your end in New Mexico? Mario: Thanks for having me, Carol. We're doing good here in New Mexico. Had a little bit of rain the last two weeks, which is really welcomed because we have been so dry and we have problems with forest fires here in New Mexico. So any rain that we get is welcome. So we're doing well. Carol: Well, I never think of New Mexico and forest fires. I'm sorry Mario, I just think of you as being more deserty. But I know you have trees. I know you have... Mario: We do. Carol: So today we're going to talk about a topic that's coming up across the country and it's the workforce challenges in vocational rehabilitation. And George and Mario, part of a cohort from the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute, or NRLI, which is a leadership program that brings together emerging leaders from across the VR system to take on some of the field's biggest challenges. And as part of that experience, their group developed a project focused on career pathways as a strategy for recruitment and retention in VR. And we're going to unpack what they found and why it matters right now. So let's dig in. So let's start with each of you. How did you get into VR and what has kept you in this work? And Mario, I'm going to go to you first. Mario: Thanks, Carol. Well, for me, vocational rehabilitation is always aligned with who I am personally and professionally. I've spent my life around ministry, teaching, and helping professions. My father was both a minister and a teacher, and I think that shaped how I view people and purpose. I also live with significant physical disabilities myself, so I understand firsthand the importance of opportunity, independence, dignity, and meaningful work. VR gave me the opportunity to turn that into a lived experience and into a career where I could help others overcome barriers and pursue employment goals they may have once thought were impossible. What's kept me in this work is honestly the mission. We're not just processing cases or authorizing services. We're helping people build lives, support families, and regain confidence in themselves. You get to see real transformation in people's lives, and that's hard to walk away from once you've experienced it. Carol: I love that, Mario, Thanks for sharing that. George, how about you? George: So my pathway into vocational rehabilitation started in education. I was a special education teacher, later taught pre-service teachers. It was also a school administrator and then worked for the Connecticut State Department of Education. A lot of it has just been through those roles is that one thing that became clear that we put a lot of effort into supporting students while they're in school, but there's a disconnect. when it came to what happened after they exited school. So students would graduate, but the transition to employment or post-secondary pathways was not always strong or consistent. And I think that's really what drew me into vocational rehabilitation. It's one of the few systems that is specifically designed to bridge that gap between education and employment. And I think that what's really kept me here is both the impact and the work that we do. You see real outcomes when someone moves into employment and independence. And in my current role, I'm focused on kind of how those systems connect, both on the employment side and within community living, as well as education through a grant that we're running. So that's really kind of what's kept me engaged in the work, and just having those meaningful conversations with individuals about finding success in their lives. Carol: Yeah, I had no idea about you. George: Yeah. Carol: Being an educator, that is very cool. It's always fun to see people's stories and how they get into this sort of a career. Appreciate that. So I know you both participated in NRLI, and I just wondered if you could tell our listeners a little bit about what that experience was like. And how did that shape your thinking as a leader? And George, I'll tag you first on that. George: First and foremost. NRLI gave me the opportunity to step outside of my state and look at vocational rehabilitation from more of a national perspective. We were teamed with about, I think, 30 individuals or so as our cohort, and they represented both VR, general VR Blind and also combined agencies. And so you really get a mix of perspectives from individuals. And I think that's really powerful. And the other thing was, is that what really started finding, for example, was, is that, you know, you start looking at issues with your workforce, challenges that you might have, bringing in counselors and the like, and you start finding out that others are facing similar challenges. So you're able to have these kind of sidebar conversations throughout the time that you spent together. And you really get to learn from individuals about what other states are doing and how to kind of effectively problem solve. Mario: And NRLI was an incredible experience because it forced us to step back and think beyond just our own state systems and day to day operations. You're sitting in a room with leaders from all over the country who are dealing with many of the same challenges, but often approaching them in different ways. For me personally, it challenged me to think more strategically and systemically as a leader, instead of only asking, how do we solve today's problem? It pushed me to ask, how do we build sustainable systems for the future? One of the biggest takeaways for me was realizing that many of our workforce challenges in VR are not isolated problems, they're national trends. That realization helped reinforce the importance of collaboration, innovation and leadership development across the entire VR system. Carol: Well, I think we're definitely better together. NRLI, I love that bringing that sense of community because you can feel very isolated, you know, in your individual states and your agencies, and you learn how to do things a certain way. So you guys bring up a good point. You know, you hear other people with the same challenges, but they've tackled them differently. And so I love that kind of that transplanting of ideas that happens naturally through that cohort model. And you get, you know, you're with your group a whole year and you really get to know people. And I think that transplanting of ideas and that building that network that you can rely on later, because I'm sure you probably each have like email groups and all of that good stuff or chat groups with your folks from NRLI that you can just like, hey, we have this going on. What do you know about this? Or what are you guys doing? I think there's a lot of value in that. So I know as part of NRLI, your group focused on workforce and career pathways. How did you guys come up with that as your project? George: Well, I gotta say this, it wasn't a project that we landed on right away. The way NRLI is structured, we do have multiple weeks that we meet across the year, and we also had opportunities to connect virtually to work through how the paper would shape out. Really, in the beginning, it was a lot of brainstorming where we were sitting, you know, outside by the pool on a break. And I still remember this to this day. And we went around the group just kind of mentioning some of the hot topics that we had and what were we thinking about. And really kind of what we started coming back to was the same issue was kind of a staffing piece. And I think that's kind of where we ended up thinking about the staffing and then kind of what solutions could we bring from our various states to address that? And I guess from a point of view, it was kind of a self-discovery process of the group in realizing what to write about. Carol: Very cool. I love that organic. I know. Other groups too. They said they struggled like they might have come up with a particular topic. And then they were like, hey, we don't want to do that anymore. And they kind of move through the year and got exposed to different things. Other ideas came forward and they pivoted to something else. George: I would say that was exactly the same experience that we had, and almost feeling at some point that we had to figure out something because time was running out. Mario: I still remember that first day that you said when we sat around the pool and we were just brainstorming and we threw out like 50 million ideas. I think how we finally settled on career pathways and recruitment and retention was that we saw that this was a problem that we could realistically solve. We didn't want to bite off too much that we couldn't chew. And so we thought that maybe this was something that we could have an actual impact on. Carol: So Mario, a little more about that. You know, it's a problem you were trying to solve. Why do you think this is so important right now. Like what's going on? Give it kind of the picture of what's happening out there. Mario: Well, you know, Carol, the biggest problem we identified was that vocational rehabilitation is facing a workforce pipeline issue at a time when demand for services continues to grow. Across the country agencies are struggling with vacancies, burnout, retirements and turnover. At the same time, fewer people are entering the field intentionally because many people simply don't know that VR exists as a career pathway that creates a long term sustainability problem for the public VR system. What made this especially important to us is that workforce shortages don't just affect agencies internally, they directly impact the participants that we serve. Vacancies can lead to delayed services, increased caseload sizes, and less capacity for innovation and individualized support. So our group started asking instead of only reacting to vacancies after they happened, how do we intentionally build built pathways that introduce people to VR earlier. Developing future talent and creating opportunities for long term career growth within agencies that shift from reacting to shortages to proactively developing talent really became the foundation of our project and our paper. Carol: Nice. So what are you guys seeing right now across the states in terms of the staffing shortages and turnover? I just wondered if there's been any kind of movement where it's getting a little bit better. I just, what did you find out. George: When we looked at the work, kind of to build out the paper, we were seeing kind of a consistent piece where I think states were kind of dealing with this combination of persistent vacancies and high turnover, and that some states are, you know, obviously making a little bit of better progress in that. I think, you know, going back to looking at with Connecticut, I came to our agency on the heels of the Covid 19 pandemic. If you think about it, about five years ago, I was coming out of that rebounding. From that, we saw individuals with disabilities wanting to get back into employment. So you had this influx of people requesting services, but what you saw on the staffing side from the agency was, is that we had a lot of staff that either retired early or had kind of exited the employment of the agency. And so we were in the process of trying to refill those positions as we could. And we've done a really good job at that. But the implication of that is, is that we now shifted the agency from a mid to late career group of counselors to a workforce that's now more heavily weighted towards early mid-career staff. And that has implications for us because newer counselors often require smaller caseloads and more support to kind of ensure the quality services, as well as trying to ensure how do we prevent burnout among those staff as well? Also, what's happening is, is that we're seeing an added strain on our community rehabilitation providers in the state, and we see them as a critical part of the service delivery system. And so this now speaks to kind of the broader system that how can it then support individuals in achieving career goals? So that's kind of the perspective here in Connecticut. Carol: Here you bring up a really good point, George, you know I hadn't thought about that with the newer counselors coming in. I guess just the way you had stated it and having people earlier in their career, you are shaping then you have in a smaller caseload, which impacts then your overall capacity for serving folks. So when you have a big bulk of people in that early part, even though you have the same number of people, they can't produce the same amount of work. George: Exactly. Carol: Yeah, you always need exponentially more folks to carry that out. And it takes a while. This system is hard, like to learn and understand and really feel like you're getting good and proficient at it. So we've kind of lost those later career counselors that were also serving as mentors and such. And I know in some states people are saying like, hey, we've got a whole new group. You've got 90% of your people have been there five years or less. You don't have that other group that can help to support them. George: You know, it kind of then impacts your ability for supervisors to effectively mentor those staff because the added impact on them as well. So the entire system starts feeling that strain. Carol: Yeah, it's really a ripple effect for sure. So I know you guys have mentioned before that people don't always choose VR as a career. So why does that matter for recruitment? Mario: It matters because many of us in VR didn't grow up saying, I want to work in VR someday. Most people find this field accidentally through counseling programs, disability services, workforce programs, social work, education, or even personal life experiences such as myself. The challenge with that is that people don't know the profession exists. They're never going to intentionally pursue it. Other helping professions like teaching, nursing or social work. They have clear career pathways and pipelines and stronger public awareness. VR doesn't have that. So VR agencies are competing for talent in a field that many potential candidates never even heard of. That's why career pathways and apprenticeship models are so important. They create exposure. They allow students, paraprofessionals, community partners, and individuals with lived disability experience to see VR as a meaningful career option before they're already established somewhere else. I think the field has a huge opportunity here, especially because VR work is incredibly mission driven, that once people understand what we actually do and the impact we have, they'll be drawn to it, and the challenge is getting them exposed to it early enough. Carol: Well it does really fit with our new administration. I mean, maybe not so new with our president now he's, you know, in his year two, but very big emphasis on apprenticeships and career pathways. And so it lines up with the administration's thinking on that as well. George, I know you've had a little touch with this. What would it look like, kind of the career pathway and apprenticeship model in a VR agency. George: in Connecticut, we're starting to put together a formalized kind of mentorship program, if you will, where we're bringing in staff within our community, rehabilitation providers, where we can then provide a structured mentorship for them to kind of upskill their knowledge of working within kind of the VR space. The hope there is, is that they can gain experience in the areas like eligibility, plan development, employer engagement, and being able to kind of have that mentorship and feedback that's built into the process. And so our hope really is, is that kind of, you know, if you think about this as about opening the door wider at the front end, so that way we can become more intentional about how we develop staff once they're within our agency or within a provider. Again, this isn't about just simply filling positions. It's more about creating a pathway where someone can enter the field, develop the necessary skills over time, and see a future in the work. And I just want to say, you know, to your question before, if I can, I'm kind of a perfect example here because coming in from education, right? At no point in my kind of career trajectory was vocational rehabilitation presented as kind of a viable option for what I was doing. But an interesting note here is, is that within our NRLI cohort, and I was thinking about this, you know, in kind of getting ready for this podcast, there was at least three other individuals who started in special education and eventually ended up in VR. So I think there's something powerful there in terms of how we think about where we can draw upon individuals to help do the work that we're doing. Carol: Absolutely. There definitely is a natural alignment there. I know back in the day, even in Minnesota, there was a while where school districts were laying off school counselors because they didn't have the funds. And we found that the school counselors had such a interesting background in the training they had that was super transferable over into VR because they're helping students think about employment goals. You know, think about all of that and then that group of people and you're like, why didn't we think of this before and had some really lovely staff come in from that background. I love that. Yeah, it's smart to think about what we align with. Now, I know in NRLI, the fourth week is always the DC week and that can be super impactful. You get to meet the, you know, agency kind of heads from all different, you guys were at Labor and Department of Ed with the Rehab Services Administration. Did you guys have an opportunity at all to share your work and get any sort of feedback from the feds about what you were working on here with this paper? Mario: Yeah, we did. We had the opportunity to discuss our project and our paper and engage with leaders and stakeholders who are thinking about these same workforce challenges. One of the encouraging things was that the feedback we got really validated that this issue is being felt across the country. People recognize that recruitment and retention challenges are not just temporary, they're systemic issues that require long term strategies. And there was strong interest in the idea of developing intentional career pathways and apprenticeship style models because they create a more sustainable workforce pipeline instead of relying solely on traditional recruitment methods. I also think people appreciate that our approach focused not just on filling vacancies, but on developing leaders, increasing retention and creating growth opportunities within the VR agencies. That's important because recruitment and retention really go hand in hand. Bringing people in is only half the battle. You also have to create environments where people want to stay and grow, right? Carol: Yeah. Excellent point Mario, because if you bring people in and they don't stay, you just have a churn that's not going to help anything. You've got to create that inviting, welcoming, wonderful environment that people can learn and grow. Because that's what lots of our, you know, our young people coming in, they aren't coming to the state to just work for 40 years like maybe their parents had or someone else. They want a job they can grow into. Mario: And to add to that, Carol, I've been in the field of VR for almost 19 years now. I can remember going back to the early 2000, when a lot of the people in VR had a master's in VR, and there were plenty of people within the field offices to mentor new counselors coming in. But ever since the mid 20 tens, you know, WIOA came out, that's really dwindled. And we have people with less and less experience and really nobody to mentor. And as George mentioned, really heavily, depending on the program managers to be those mentors and trainers, It's just too hard because they're also having to drop below their 3000-foot level, down to the 1500 zero foot level to take on case load work, you know? Carol: Right. Mario: And he's not able to provide that mentorship as well as we maybe once did in VR in previous generations. Carol: Yeah, we got to look at this in a whole different way. So speaking of looking at this, looking ahead, what's one change you guys hope to see in the VR workforce because of this work? And George, I'm going to throw it to you first. George: It's like the million dollar question right? Carol: Yes. Drum roll. George: Drum roll. (laughter) George: I think the biggest thing I would like to see is a shift in how we think about building the vocational rehabilitation workforce. And what I mean by that is, is that a lot of energy goes into reacting to vacancies and trying to fill positions quickly. And I think what we really need to do, kind of what Mario was mentioning earlier is, is that, you know, building something that looks a little bit more intentional that we have these clear pathways into the field. We have strong mentorships, better onboarding, and real opportunities for growth over time. And I also think that I'm really hoping that we are able to continue strengthening the professional identity of VR. This is incredibly meaningful work for anyone that does this. It truly sits at the crossroads of education, workforce development, disability services, employment, and a host of other things. But what's kind of unfortunate is, is that a lot of individuals are just not aware about the field or the impact that it can have. So it's kind of an interesting paradox, and I would love to see individuals more intentionally choose VR as a career because of how powerful the mission is. I think Mario had mentioned that before about a mission, and I think that that kind of holds true there. If I had a wish, I guess that's what it would be. Carol: I love it. Mario, how about you? Mario: Well, if I could say ditto, I would. But what George and I have said today is that our paper and our project, we wanted to be more intentional about workforce development within the VR system. We'd love to see students, interns, apprentices, and professionals from all related fields become aware of VR much earlier in their careers. We also hope that agencies continue building cultures that invest in mentorship, leadership development, and professional growth so employees can see long term futures within the system. But ultimately, we hope this work helps strengthen the stability of the VR workforce because when agencies are fully staffed, supported and developing future leaders, participants receive better services and better outcomes. And at the end of the day, that's what we're really all about, right? Carol: Absolutely. I think it'd be super cool if somebody came up and did this and came up with that. Like the registered apprenticeship for this, for the VR program, if someone took that on and, and did the thing because it would set the way for the rest of the country. And who knows, you could end up getting some credentials there, Mario and George, You know that you could report on your common performance measures and all of that. I think it would be pretty incredible. Okay. I'm going to throw you guys one last question. I wanted just to circle back to NRLI. I know we have lots of listeners and people are on the fence about whether, you know, to do something or make that investment because it is an investment of time and money for that year. In doing that kind of training, do you have any kind of little parting comment or little plug you could do for NRLI? And George, I'm going to throw out to you first. George: To me again. Oh boy. All right Mario, you can't say ditto. Okay. Without a question, 100% hands down. I would recommend it. I can't even talk enough about it. It was an amazing experience. You're absolutely correct, Carol, it is a lot of work. There certainly are some time constraints, me being on the East Coast, for example, having to go out to San Diego three times a year and then DC also, you know, just kind of the impact on terms of like how you can do your normal job, right? And as well as kind of your personal and family commitments. But I think we said this earlier was, is that one of the biggest values, if you will, of NRLI, was the opportunity to step outside of your day to day work and to engage with colleagues and actually people who eventually kind of become good friends of yours that live across the country, who are dealing with many of the same challenges. We have text groups, we kind of have friended each other on social media. And, you know, we're kind of, you know, shooting questions back and forth to each other to this day. And I think that speaks a lot to what NRLI can give to an individual. So it's certainly about value and relationships and this national network of individuals that are still kind of keeping in touch with. And I think probably the saddest part of the entire experience, if anyone wanted to ask, was that last day when we were all leaving DC and kind of realizing that we're not really going to have an opportunity to see each other. Carol: Yeah, well said George, well said. Mario, you get our last word, but it can't be. Ditto. George: Yeah. Mario: All right. You know what I would have to say is, if I'm speaking to the directors of VR agencies, and especially those that are kind of on the fence of sending staff from their agency to NRLI, What I would definitely say is it's a commitment and it's a long term commitment. And what I mean by that is you can't just send a few once and think that that's enough value added to your agency. You've got to commit over a long time horizon to send staff each year. And you know, Carol, you worked with New Mexico VR through the VRTAC. I'm sure that you've seen our leadership team within New Mexico really grow and develop over the last few years. And that's because the New Mexico VR agency has sent cohorts to the last, I would say at least six, maybe even seven cohorts. And so we've really invested hard in our leadership team in New Mexico. And we're seeing the results of that now. We got out of a cap, we're really making positive progress towards meeting our performance metrics. We have a way better understanding of our data. And now we're really focusing on leadership and culture within our agency. And we're really hoping that going forward, New Mexico VR will be a real place that people want to work at and stay. Carol: Yeah, it really is an investment in your people. I've seen it all over the country and my own, my work with you all, I've seen it, seen the deck chairs move. People have been in interline. They've moved up in their career in New Mexico VR, like I've seen folks in new positions. And it's really been lovely, lovely to see. And I've been appreciative of the management they're investing in VR and we are just so our listeners know why I'm plugging NRLI. It is part of our VRTAC grant and so we do support NRLI. A number of us on the TAC also serve as instructors throughout the various sessions, in addition to there's a faculty for NRLI. So I appreciate you both. I think you did a great job on your paper. If people want to see your paper, they can go to VRTAC.org and go to our top nav NRLI. There's a whole section on NRLI. And you can see the cohort's paper right there. So thank you both. I hope you have a great day. Thanks for joining me. Mario: Thanks, Carol. George: Thank you, Carol. {Music} Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time. One minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

What's is this episode about? In this episode, hear Professor Joanna Stalnaker on death and philosophy, writing at the end of life, last works, Enlightenmentthinking, women and philosophy in the Enlightenment, teaching, pedagogy, and her experience of discovering she had a brain tumour causing an unexplained obsession with Harry Styles and fan fictionWho is Joanna?Joanna Stalnaker is the author of two books: The Rest Is Silence:Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death and The Unfinished Enlightenment: Description in the Age of the Encyclopedia. She teaches in the Department of French at Columbia University. She is currently developing a new course, co-taught with an art historian, called Birth, Death and the Human. Her currentproject is a memoir about her experience of living with an undetected brain tumor and developing an unexplained obsession with Harry Styles and fan fiction. You can read more about Joanna here. You can buy The Rest Is Silence:Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death her with code FAL25 for 30% off. How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?To cite this episode, you can use the following citation: Stalnaker, J. (2026) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox,B. and Visser, R. Published 1 September 2026. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.33406186 What next?Check out more episodes or find out more about the hosts! Gota question? Get in touch.

You can't hold yourself to a higher standard if you haven't clearly defined what they are - you need a target to aim at if you want to hit it!Would love to chat about a new process to define your standards: Click here to find a time to connect!

Learning from your last speech or presentation is how the next one gets 1% better.Imagine mastering the skills to keep your cool when everything goes wrong. What if you could walk into any room and adapt on the spot, no matter what chaos unfolds? That's exactly what you'll discover in this episode.Developing high-performance skills through speaking can transform not only your business, but your life. You'll hear real stories about facing big obstacles, quick pivots, and gaining the confidence to lead, connect, and bounce back stronger after slip-ups.Here's what you'll learn:Keeping your composure when a room goes sideways, like losing half your speaking time without warning, is a skill you can train, and why the audience should never feel the chaos you're managing behind the scenes.Having a handful of flexible stories ready to reshape for any room, before you ever open your mouth, means you can always hand an audience the lesson they actually came for.Presence doesn't switch off the moment you step off stage, the moment you realize the version of you people meet backstage has to match the one they just watched speak.>>>Book a Speaker Success Call at https://speakandstandout.com/speaker-successExperts Edge newsletter delivered right to you inbox: https://speakandstandout.com/bid-newsletterConnect with me on:LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-ann-murabitoInstagram: @laurieann.murabitoVisit my website for more advice and tipsThank you for listening, LA

Some conversations deserve to be heard again.In this throwback episode of The Burn Podcast, Ben Newman sits down with longtime friend and fellow Spartan Dr. Lorenzo Guess for a conversation about what it REALLY takes to develop greatness.Dr. Guess has spent his career around high-level athletes and championship programs, but his approach has never been about talent alone. It's about developing the PERSON behind the athlete—building discipline, demanding accountability, paying attention to the details, and creating standards that prepare young men for far more than what happens on the court or field.He also shares the experiences that built his own Burn—from growing up in a single-parent home with a desire to create a different future, to completing his doctorate after his daughter challenged him to finish what he started.Ben and Dr. Guess dive into championship culture at Michigan State, lessons from working alongside Tom Izzo, the responsibility coaches have to the people they lead, and why even the most talented individuals still need to be held accountable to the standard.Years after this conversation was originally recorded, the message remains the same:Talent can open the door. But discipline, accountability, consistency, and character determine what YOU do once you're there.************************************Connect with Dr. Lorenzo Guess: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-lorenzo-guess-mba-mscc-cscs-ab61a016/Book: https://a.co/d/0gyuyKqY************************************Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LR91sFBPu2gListen on all platforms: https://www.theburnpodcast.com************************************Learn about upcoming events and coaching: https://www.workwithbnc.comGet Ben's latest book The STANDARD:  https://amzn.to/3DE1clY1stWork directly with Ben: https://www.bennewmancoaching.comConnect with Ben Newman:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/continuedfightFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Continuedfight/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ContinuedFightLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-newman-b0b693Qlogix: www.Q-logix.com/benhttps://www.bennewmancoaching.com************************************Learn about our Upcoming events and programs:https://www.workwithbnc.comLet's work TOGETHER https://www.bennewmancoaching.comLet's work together to write YOUR next book- BNC PublishingSend us a messageOrder my latest book The STANDARD: Winning at YOUR Highest Level: https://amzn.to/3DE1clY1st Phorm | The Foundation of High Performance Nutrition1stPhorm.com/bnewmanConnect with me everywhere else:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/continuedfightFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Continuedfight/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ContinuedFightLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-newman-b0b693

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode has been adapted from guidelines published by the Illinois Lodge of Research, and is brought to us by WBro "Big Papa" TJ Olson, Somerset Lodge #34, Skowhegan ME. Developing the ability to write a paper can be beneficial to a person in his vocation, in his church work, and in his community projects. There is great demand for persons who can do research work and write papers and make speeches within the Craft. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner makes the case for the Socratic method as a team development tool. He opens with an analogy. A person drowning in the water needs a rope, not a question about how they ended up there. There are moments when a team member needs the answer handed to them, and moments when the better move is to draw the answer out of them.Bradley walks through what skilled questioning looks like in practice, including Dan Martell's one, three, one method and the questions he used during a performance improvement plan conversation six months ago. He shares two situations where digging past surface behavior changed the outcome, and explains why the person asking the questions is the one in control of the conversation.This conversation moves past scripts and into curiosity. When was the last time you dug more than an inch deep with someone on your team? Do you know enough about where your people came from to understand how they see the work? And are you coaching everyone the same way when they each need to be met where they are? If you want to become a better coach to the team you already have, this episode is for you.Join us in the free Circle community and hop on the email list to get practical tools, resources, trainings, and updates on what we're working on next.https://blueprintos.com/assets/Resources MentionedGo back to Bradley's earlier episode on coaching versus consulting.Listen to the Develop A-Players Playbook episodeListen to the episode on performance improvement plansListen to the episode on the functional areas of businessThanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.

Get more at PatRigsby.com What does it take to build a championship-level program—and become the kind of coach people want to follow? On this episode of The Winning Coach, I sit down with my longtime friend and highly respected college baseball coach Brian Harrison, Head Baseball Coach at Baldwin Wallace University. Brian has built Baldwin Wallace into one of the top Division III baseball programs in the country, with nearly 600 wins as a head coach and multiple trips to the College World Series. But the real story isn't just the wins. It's the leadership, player development, culture, relationships, and constant evolution behind them. Brian and I talk about what it takes to build a successful baseball program from the ground up, develop players at a high level, hire and empower great coaches, and create a culture where players want to stay, improve, and take ownership. One of the most important ideas Brian shares is this: "The best player development is coach development." If you want to develop better players, you have to become a better coach. We also dive into clarity in coaching, building trust with players, recruiting, team culture, player retention, leadership, coaching philosophy, adapting to change, and finding competitive advantages—not only in college baseball, but in any environment where you're responsible for helping people become better. Brian shares how his coaching philosophy has evolved over nearly two decades, why great coaches need to continually learn, and why becoming wiser often means eliminating the things that don't matter so you can focus more intensely on what does. We also discuss the changing landscape of college baseball recruiting, the transfer portal, technology in player development, limited resources in Division III athletics, and how coaches can create an advantage by focusing on people and relationships. This is a conversation about much more than baseball. It's about leadership, personal growth, developing people, building culture, and becoming better at what you do. If you're a baseball coach, sports coach, athletic leader, business owner, entrepreneur, or anyone responsible for developing other people, there's a lot to take away from this conversation. In This Episode: Building a championship-level baseball program The connection between coach development and player development Creating clarity within a team Building trust and authentic relationships Developing a strong team culture Recruiting and player development Hiring and empowering great assistant coaches Retaining players in a changing college sports landscape Using technology effectively in coaching Developing hitters, pitchers, and defenders Adapting your coaching philosophy over time Finding competitive advantages and marginal gains Leadership and servant leadership How parenting can make you a better coach Learning from other coaches and sports Why great coaches never stop developing themselves The best coaches don't just develop players. They develop themselves so they can better develop everyone around them. That's what this episode of The Winning Coach is all about.

Add this at the top of the Austin episode notes:As part of our Creativity Series, we're revisiting Austin Kleon's *Show Your Work!* — a practical guide to sharing your ideas, building creative confidence, and finding your audience.The biggest takeaway is simple: start sharing early. Don't wait until your work is perfect. Share the process, the progress, and the things you're learning. Small, consistent acts of openness can build momentum, connection, and confidence over time.In this exciting new episode of the Moonshots Podcast, Mike and Mark explore Austin Kleon's influential book “Show Your Work!” They also discuss how to embrace and share one's creativity with the world. Links:• Buy The Book on Amazon• Become a Moonshot Member on Patreon• Watch this episode on YouTubeThis episode features insightful clips that highlight key themes from the book: 1. INTRO: • Austin Kleon speaks with Brian Johnson about the most significant misunderstanding of the book.Clip: Start Sharing Early (2m47) 2. Insights from Mike Nardi: • Mike Nardi encourages listeners to be more open with their interests and creativity.Clip: You Don't Have to Be a Genius (57s) 3. Advice from Brian Johnson: • Brian Johnson emphasizes the importance of working hard and finding rhythms of rest to foster creativity.Clip: Micro Sabbaticals (2m49) 4. OUTRO: • Austin Kleon closes the show by highlighting the value of reading other people's work.Clip: Start Absorbing Today (2m32)About “Show Your Work!” by Austin Kleon:“Show Your Work!” is a guide for people who want to share their creativity and get discovered. The book outlines ten simple steps to make sharing your work and ideas less daunting. Here are some key concepts: 1. You Don't Have to Be a Genius: Focus on the process, not the product. Share your journey and the work you do daily. Kleon emphasizes that you don't need to be an expert to share your work. Instead, being a learner and sharing your progress can inspire others. 2. Think Process, Not Product: Show your process, the behind-the-scenes work, and how you make what you make. Sharing the steps and thought processes involved in your work makes it more relatable and exciting to others. It can also help you build a community around your creative process. 3. Share Something Small Every Day: Consistently share small bits of your work, including notes, sketches, and ideas. This habit keeps your audience engaged and allows them to follow your creative journey. It also helps you build momentum and stay motivated. 4. Open Up Your Cabinet of Curiosities: Share your influences and inspirations. Let others see what you find interesting. You provide context for your work and help others discover new ideas and perspectives by showcasing what inspires you. 5. Tell Good Stories: Learn to tell your work story and journey. People are drawn to stories because they create emotional connections and make your work more memorable. Developing storytelling skills can help you communicate your ideas more effectively. 6. Teach What You Know: Share your knowledge and what you've learned. Teaching can be a great way to connect with others. By explaining your methods and insights, you help others and reinforce your understanding and expertise.About Moonshots Podcast:The Moonshots Podcast is your go-to source for unleashing the best possible version of yourself. Hosts Mike and Mark delve into the secrets of success by dissecting the mindset and daily habits of the world's greatest superstars, thinkers, and entrepreneurs. Join them as they learn out loud, exploring behind the scenes to discover actionable insights that can be applied to your life.Don't miss out on this inspiring episode! Tune in now and start showing your work!Links:• Buy The Book on Amazon• Become a Moonshot Member on Patreon• Watch this episode on YouTube

The gym owner horror stories continue.In Part II, Scott Carpenter and Andy Boy Miller get into another side of business ownership that can be just as painful as bad leases, permits, and construction problems:The people side of the business.Scott shares the story of a longtime personal training client who injured herself after doing something her trainer specifically told her not to do—only for an attorney's letter to show up shortly afterward.Even with liability waivers, insurance, certifications, and documentation, Scott and Andy explain why there is no contract that can completely eliminate your risk as a business owner.Then Andy shares one of the most difficult lessons from the early years of his gym.When he first opened, he gave several close friends discounted "lifetime" memberships. Years later, when the business could no longer afford those rates, he asked them to move toward the gym's standard pricing.He expected his closest friends to understand.Instead, every conversation went badly.Some of these were people Andy had vacationed with, invited to his wedding, and considered close friends—and the situation ultimately cost him both memberships and friendships.The conversation becomes a bigger lesson about separating personal relationships from business decisions, understanding that clients will usually make choices based on what's best for them, and developing the emotional resilience required to stay in business long term.Scott and Andy also discuss how stoicism helped them through some of their most difficult seasons as entrepreneurs, including Scott's recommendation of Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle Is the Way.Because in business, things will eventually go sideways.The goal isn't to avoid every problem.It's to build the perspective, systems, and resilience to handle them when they happen.In This Episode:00:14 – Recapping Gym Owner Horror Stories Part I00:35 – Why liability gets more complicated as your business grows01:09 – Why waivers and contracts can't completely protect you01:24 – How lawsuits can become a financial war of attrition02:15 – The insurance loopholes gym owners need to understand03:41 – Scott's story about a longtime personal training client05:10 – The gym injury that happened after a client ignored instructions06:26 – Why every gym should have an incident report process07:02 – When the client's tone suddenly changed08:36 – The attorney letter that showed up a week later09:00 – How documentation and text messages helped protect the business10:43 – Why problems can come from the people you least expect11:20 – Andy's biggest early pricing mistake12:07 – Asking his founding members to move to normal rates12:55 – Why every single conversation went badly14:22 – Losing customers AND close friendships16:37 – Developing a thicker skin as a business owner17:34 – The reality of putting your clients' needs ahead of your own18:58 – Bad reviews, chargebacks, and long-term clients turning against you20:36 – Why you can't take every business setback personally21:15 – How stoicism helped Scott and Andy through hard times21:36 – Scott's recommendation: The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday23:39 – Preparing yourself for the inevitable problems of business ownershipThe Biggest TakeawayProtect the business, but don't let the business destroy you emotionally.Have your waivers.Keep your certifications current.Document incidents.Save important communications.Be careful with special pricing and promises that could become unsustainable later.But also understand that even when you do everything right, people may still leave, complain, threaten legal action, dispute charges, or turn against you.That doesn't mean you stop caring about your clients.It means learning to make decisions based on what's sustainable for the business instead of making every decision out of fear of disappointing someone.As Andy explains in the episode, business owners in service industries naturally care deeply about their clients—but your clients aren't necessarily thinking about what their decisions will do to your business or your family.And when the hard seasons come, perspective matters.Don't take everything personally. Learn from it, adapt, and keep moving forward.

This week, Amy and Alan take a close look at the cost approach.

What does becoming a master-level coach actually involve, and is the gap between where you are today and coaching mastery as large as it can sometimes feel? In this episode, we explore the journey towards master-level coaching and why accreditation is about far more than accumulating coaching hours. Whether you are an experienced coach considering your next accreditation or at the beginning of your coaching journey, understanding the pathway early can help you make intentional decisions about your professional development. We explore three important areas that contribute to coaching mastery: professional maturity, reflective practice and contribution to the profession. Contribution can take many forms, including volunteering with professional bodies, sharing learning, publishing, research, supervision, participating in professional groups or creating resources that help other coaches. The important distinction is that genuine contribution extends beyond promoting our individual coaching businesses and demonstrates an ongoing commitment to strengthening the wider profession. Professional maturity is also about far more than time served. Different accrediting bodies have different requirements around experience, coaching hours and training, but mastery also involves developing a distinctive professional identity, learning to work with complexity, navigating ethical dilemmas and integrating our learning so that we are no longer dependent on individual coaching models. Our CPD choices gradually tell the story of who we are becoming as coaches and the areas in which we are choosing to deepen our practice. Finally, we look at reflective practice and the value of building strong habits long before an accreditation application is due. Coaching logs, reflective diaries, supervision and peer reflection all help us understand how our practice is evolving. We also encourage coaches who aspire to mastery to spend time with master-level practitioners. The differences between coaching levels can be subtle yet significant, and the journey becomes far less intimidating when we see mastery not as an unreachable destination, but as the cumulative result of thoughtful development, reflection, experience and contribution over time. Timestamps 00:09 What does master-level coaching mean? 00:48 Three elements of the pathway to mastery 02:46 Why contribution to the profession should start early 03:56 Different ways coaches can contribute 05:35 Contribution versus promotion 07:23 Coaching supervision as professional contribution 09:00 How supervision can open new opportunities 09:58 Publishing, volunteering and professional bodies 12:00 Planning for mastery before you need accreditation 13:15 Different accreditation requirements 13:42 Developing a distinctive professional identity 15:01 Ethical maturity and experience 16:31 CPD and the story of your coaching development 18:26 Consistency and reflective practice 19:32 Keeping coaching logs and recorded reflections 21:33 Supervision and advanced coach development 22:11 Final reflections and resources Key Lessons Learned Master-level coaching is not purely about accumulating coaching hours. Professional maturity, reflective practice and contribution to the profession are all important parts of the journey. Coaches benefit from understanding the requirements of their chosen accrediting body well before they are ready to apply. Contribution to the profession should be genuine, sustained and broader than marketing an individual coaching business. Volunteering, publishing, research, professional groups and supervision can all provide ways to contribute. Coaching supervision can deepen reflective practice while also creating opportunities to support the development of other coaches. Professional maturity includes developing a distinctive coaching identity and becoming increasingly comfortable working with complexity. Ethical maturity develops through experience, reflection and navigating challenging situations. CPD is more powerful when it shows consistent curiosity and development over time rather than becoming a last-minute accreditation exercise. Regular coaching logs and reflective records make future accreditation considerably easier. Spending time with master-level coaches can make the pathway feel more tangible and achievable. Accreditation Note The episode discusses examples of requirements from professional coaching bodies, including the EMCC and ICF, as they were understood at the time of recording. Accreditation pathways and requirements can change, so coaches should check the current criteria directly with their chosen professional body before planning or submitting an application. SEO Keywords master-level coach, coaching mastery, master coach accreditation, coaching accreditation, professional coach development, reflective practice, coaching supervision, coach CPD, EMCC accreditation, ICF accreditation, coaching professional development, advanced coach training Links & Resources In Good Company: igcompany.com Coaching Supervision Training: www.igcompany.com/supervisiontraining  Professional organisations discussed: EMCC: European Mentoring and Coaching Council ICF: International Coaching Federation Association for Coaching CIPD: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development ILM: Institute of Leadership and Management

In episode 624, depth psychotherapist and astrologer Shawna McGrath, LMFT (she/her) discusses the archetypal combination of Mars and Saturn from a depth psychological perspective, particularly the them of Mars and Saturn representing the development of mastery or an advanced practice in any field of study.Reference: https://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2017/08/seeking-advanced-practice.htmlNEW COURSE

In this episode of All Power to the Developing, Desire Wandan sits down with Dr. Chris Hoff, a narrative therapist, educator, author, and host of The Radical Therapist podcast. We get to know Chris and the journey that brought him to this work, while exploring the ideas that continue to shape his practice. Chris introduces us to narrative therapy and its unique way of relating to people, problems, and the stories we tell about ourselves. Together, they explore identity, relationships, radical helping, imagination, and what becomes possible when we challenge the stories we've inherited and create new ones together. It's a conversation about who Chris Hoff is, how he came to this work, and how changing our relationship to our stories might help us create new possibilities for ourselves and our communities.    Website: Dr. Chris Hoff Socials: @drchrishoff Substack: Chris Hoff on Substack Current project: Dangerous Stories: A Therapy Salon New book: Contemporary Narrative Therapy: Maps and Methods for Collaborative Clinical Practice  Routledge book page Contact: info@drchrishoff.com ----more---- Welcome to All Power to the Developing, a podcast of the East Side Institute. The Institute is a center for social change efforts that reinitiate human and community development. We support, connect, and partner with committed and creative activists, scholars, artists, helpers, and healers all over the world. In 2003, Institute co-founders Lois Holzman and the late Fred Newman had a paper published with the title “All Power to the Developing.” This phrase captures how vital it is for all people—no matter their age, circumstance, status, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation—to grow, develop and transform emotionally, socially and intellectually if we are to have a shot at creating something positive out of the intense crises we're all experiencing. We hope that this podcast series will show you that, far more than a slogan, “all power to the developing” is a loving activity, a pulsing heart in an all too cruel world. ----more---- The East Side Institute is a hub for a diverse and emergent community of social activists, thought leaders, and practitioners who are reigniting our human abilities to imagine, create and perform beyond ourselves—to develop. Each episode will introduce you to another performance activist or play revolutionary from around the world.   To learn more about the East Side Institute you can go to https://eastsideinstitute.org/   Made possible in part by Growing Social Therapeutics: The Baylah Wolfe Fund.

In this solo episode, Travis dives deep into a topic he's been reflecting on for years: the importance of context in a world dominated by short-form, out-of-context content. Drawing from personal notes, observations, and research, he breaks down how “clip culture” is shaping the way we think, judge, and remember—and why developing a discipline around context might be one of the most valuable skills you can build today. On this episode we talk about: What “context” really means and why it's essential for understanding information How short-form content and “clip culture” distort meaning and fuel misinformation The way your brain fills in missing context—and why that can lead to false conclusions How context influences memory, perception, and decision-making Practical ways to build “context discipline” in a fast-paced digital world Top 3 Takeaways Your brain is wired to crave context—when it's missing, it automatically fills in the gaps, often with bias. Short-form, out-of-context content can distort reality, leading to misinterpretation, poor judgment, and false memories. Developing a habit of seeking full context before forming opinions gives you a major edge in a world driven by quick reactions. Notable Quotes "If you don't control context, somebody else is going to control the conclusions that you come to." "Your brain doesn't just accept missing context—it fills it in, and that's where the trouble starts." "We live in a world that runs on 10-second clips, but your brain was built for full stories." Connect with Travis: LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/travischappell⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/travischappell⁠ Other: ⁠https://travischappell.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wild bird contacts can shape a pointing dog in ways a training setup cannot. Mark Payton joins Nick to talk about first seasons, launchers, steadiness, and letting birds teach. Mark is the author of Favorite Ways to Train Your Bird Dog and a longtime bird hunter who has worked dogs for the public for about 15 years. He returns to the podcast for a listener-question episode built around developing young dogs, carrying yard work into new places, and recognizing what a dog is saying before adding more pressure. I have a new setter pup at my feet this season, so this one landed at the right time. We talk about how little formal work a young pointing dog may need before its first fall, what early wild-bird opportunity can open up, and why a puppy's light-bulb moment tends to stick with the person holding the gun. Mark remembers Izzy pointing a quail single before she was six months old. With another dog, he went into the field with a puppy and came out with a bird dog. The conversation also gets practical. Mark explains his wooden backing silhouette, his use of remote launchers, the difference between steady to flush and steady through the fall, and why he treats a launcher as a stand-in for a wild bird rather than a machine for making a dog point. His recurring question is a useful one: what would a wild bird do? Later, we get into whoa posts, flank collars, relocation, gun introduction, e-collar timing, trash breaking, retrieving, and the limited role of a wing on a string. The larger idea stays simple. Build the dog's love for birds, give it meaningful opportunity, and pay attention to the small signals along the way. Chapters 00:00 Let the wild bird teach the dog 02:37 Short bird dog training sessions and consistency 04:58 Mark Payton's bird dog background 11:33 How much training does a young pointing dog need? 21:47 Letting the dog and bird work it out 22:14 A young bird dog's first hunting season 28:24 Building bird drive in a hesitant puppy 31:02 Developing range and independence 33:26 Teaching backing with a wooden silhouette 43:16 Helping dogs generalize training in new places 46:05 E-collar timing and command reinforcement 48:58 When a young dog catches a training bird 50:37 Using a launcher like a wild bird 54:35 Steady to flush, wing, shot, and fall 1:00:00 Whoa posts and flank collars 1:03:54 Letting a pointing dog relocate on moving birds 1:07:28 Reading small signals during gun introduction 1:10:28 Trash breaking and deer chasing 1:14:37 Retrieving and force fetch 1:19:15 The limited role of wing on a string 1:28:00 Birds, breaks, and taking away the chase 1:30:16 Why wild birds become the best teacher 1:33:47 Where to find Mark Payton Questions from the episode How much training does a young pointing dog need before its first season? Mark keeps the early program fairly light: recall, collar conditioning, bird introduction, gun introduction, and enough bird work for the dog to begin pointing. He prefers to build a love for birds and let the first hunting season provide experience. More formal polish can come later, often when the dog is roughly nine to 15 months old. Is it a good idea to hunt a puppy during its first season? Mark believes a first season can be valuable when the puppy is physically ready and has the basic preparation to be safe in the field. The goal is opportunity, not finished performance. His own young dogs pointed wild quail and woodcock before six months, while another dog needed more time before the light came on during a scattered covey. What does a young bird dog's light-bulb moment look like? It is the point when bird contacts begin to make sense to the dog. Nick remembers Rose moving from a very young puppy to reliably pointing grouse as the season progressed. Mark remembers one dog sticking quail singles so clearly that he felt he had walked into the field with a puppy and walked out with a bird dog. Why does Mark Payton use a remote bird launcher? Mark treats a remote launcher as a tool for simulating the consequence a wild bird would give a dog. If the dog crowds the scent cone, approaches from the wrong side of the wind, or gets too close, the bird leaves. That loss of opportunity helps many dogs learn to stop and point without the handler manufacturing the point. Will catching one training pigeon ruin a pointing dog? One caught pigeon is unlikely to create a lasting problem, especially with a young dog still developing bird drive. Repeated catches are different because they can teach the dog that birds are available to grab. Mark moves away from easy catches once the dog's interest is established and uses stronger-flying birds or launchers to preserve the bird's advantage. What are the different levels of steadiness in a pointing dog? The terms vary among trainers, but Mark separates them by what the dog remains still through. Steady to flush covers the handler moving in to produce the bird. Steady to wing adds the bird taking flight. Steady through shot and fall asks the dog to remain until the bird is down and the handler releases it. What small signs can show a gun introduction is moving too fast? A dog may keep chasing while still showing uncertainty. Mark watches for ears lowering, a brief hesitation in stride, or a small change in the tail after the shot. Those details can be easy to miss. A handler who reads them early can pause rather than escalating from one light shot to several hunters firing at a covey. What does Mark mean by an honest bird dog? An honest bird dog is genuinely trying to find, point, and handle the bird for the hunter. A bump can still happen because of wind, distance, or a running bird, but the dog is not deliberately trying to flush ahead of the gun. Nick describes that trust with Rose, especially when she relocates on moving ruffed grouse without being directed. Connect with Mark Payton Email: payton1221@yahoo.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Payton1221 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark_payton_gundogs/Favorite Ways to Train Your Bird Dog: Contact Mark at payton1221@yahoo.com for availability. Companion backing and honoring video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDYj9K6QrSc Listen and follow Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birdshot-podcast/id1288308609 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@birdshot.podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdshot.podcast/ Website: https://www.birdshotpodcast.com/ Sponsors This episode is brought to you by Upland Gun Company, Final Rise, and Irish Setter Boots. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if the biggest thing holding you back behind the chair isn't your talent—but the way you value your time? On this episode of The Danielle K. White Show, Danielle sits down with hairstylist and educator Ricky Hodge for a candid conversation about what it actually takes to build a successful, sustainable career in the hair industry. Ricky didn't start his career in cosmetology expecting to build what he has today. After working in retail, waiting tables, running a motel, and eventually deciding to invest in himself through cosmetology school, he built a career around developing undeniable skill, cultivating the right clientele, and refusing to let life behind the chair consume his entire life. One of Ricky's biggest beliefs? Your schedule should dictate what you charge. When you're booked months in advance, coming in early, staying late, afraid to take a vacation, and constantly squeezing another client into your schedule, the answer isn't necessarily to work harder. Sometimes it's time to raise your prices. Danielle and Ricky get into: • How to know when it's actually time to raise your prices • Why raising prices can—and sometimes should—cost you clients • Building a clientele versus intentionally cultivating one • Attracting the kind of clients you actually want to serve • Why hairstylists burn themselves out trying to make everyone happy • Creating boundaries behind the chair • Treating hairstyling like a real profession and career • Developing specialized skills that separate you from the marketplace • Ricky's passion for the dying art of scissor-over-comb cutting • Personal branding, authenticity, and standing out without getting caught in industry drama • Why new artists need real training—not years of folding towels • Setting a vision for the life you want and reverse-engineering your career to create it • What it takes to become one of the artists who actually makes it in this industry Ricky also shares how he grew from simply trying to make what he once made waiting tables to building a career where his skill, reputation, clientele, and personal brand have opened opportunities he never expected. For the hairstylist who's exhausted, undercharging, questioning the industry, or wondering whether there's actually a future behind the chair, this conversation is a reminder: There is enormous opportunity in this industry—but you have to decide what kind of career and life you're actually trying to build. Listen to the full conversation and share it with an artist who needs to hear it.

Sensitive people often experience emotions, moods, and energetic shifts that seem to appear suddenly or intensify around certain people and environments. Developing emotional awareness and energetic discernment can help create greater clarity about what you're feeling and why.In this episode, I explore how to tell whether an emotion is your own, how emotional resonance works, and why learning this distinction can be an important part of healing and intuitive development.We'll explore:• how to tell if an emotion belongs to you• emotional sensitivity and empathic awareness• why empaths absorb emotional information• the difference between resonance and absorption• how emotional patterns become activated• energetic awareness and self-connection• why grounding changes the experience• developing discernment as a sensitive personMany people assume they are carrying other people's emotions when they may actually be experiencing an emotional response, resonance, memory, or activation within themselves.Understanding these distinctions can bring greater clarity, self-awareness, and compassion to your healing journey.We'll also discuss how staying connected to your own body, emotions, and inner experience supports stronger intuitive awareness and emotional discernment.If you've ever wondered:• Is this emotion mine?• Why do I feel different around certain people?• Am I absorbing other people's feelings?• How do I stay connected to myself as an empath?This episode will help you better understand emotional sensitivity, intuitive awareness, and the deeper relationship between your emotions and the energy around you.If you're looking for ongoing support in your healing and intuitive development, I invite you to join The Sanctuary.Each month you'll receive access to a live Divine Guidance Healing—a channeled healing experience designed to support emotional clearing, energetic alignment, grounding, and connection to your intuition.

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Why call her a dog? Translation or interpretation? Developing prudence? Don't miss on today's episode of Called to Communion with Dr. David Anders.

Most lawyers are taught how to practice law, not how to lead people. Then one day, they are handed a team and expected to figure it out. In episode 633 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Stephanie Everett talks with Debbie Foster about leading people, the second cornerstone from their book, Be a Next Level Leader.  Debbie and Stephanie break people's leadership into four essential responsibilities: building trust, developing others, communicating clearly, and holding standards. They explain why trust grows through small, human interactions, why leaders often overload their most dependable employees, and how delegation can become a tool for development instead of a way to clear your own plate.  They also explore why teams cannot meet expectations that were never clearly communicated, how positive and constructive feedback help people grow, and why “no news is good news” is not a leadership strategy.  If you want to build a team that can take greater ownership, perform at a higher level, and succeed without relying on one overburdened A player, this episode offers a practical place to start.  Listen to our previous episodes on Law Firm Leadership, Delegation, and Building Stronger Teams.  #632: Law Firm Leadership: How to Lead Yourself Before Leading Your Team, with Debbie Foster & Stephanie Everett Apple | Spotify | LTN  #631: Tune In Before You Jump In: A Better Way to Delegate, with Shawn Vanderhoven Apple | Spotify | LTN  #616: From Solo to CEO: Letting Go of Legal Work to Grow Your Firm, with Ellen Williamson Apple | Spotify | LTN  #615: How to Stop Being the Bottleneck and Build Stronger Teams, with Debbie Foster and Stephanie Everett Apple | Spotify | LTN    Have thoughts about today's episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!   If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.   Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.   Chapters / Timestamps  00:00 – Introduction  00:21 – Track Your Firm's Progress with the Small Firm Scorecard  03:17 – Leading People: The Second Leadership Cornerstone  04:25 – Trust, Development, Communication, and Standards  05:59 – Why Law Firms Do Not Teach People Management  07:42 – Building Trust Through Real Relationships  08:58 – Small Conversations That Strengthen Trust  10:54 – Delegating to Develop, Not Just to Offload Work  11:26 – The Overburdened A Player Problem  12:48 – Becoming a Multiplier for Your Team  13:31 – Match Delegation to Skill and Readiness  14:52 – Set Clear Expectations Before Asking for More  16:38 – Why Feedback Is a Leadership Skill  18:33 – “No News Is Good News” Does Not Work  19:08 – Learn How Your People Want to Be Recognized  19:53 – A Simple Framework for Better Feedback  21:14 – Holding Standards Without Being Harsh  22:15 – Closing Thoughts and What Comes Next 

In this solo episode, Josh Hadley explores how the CEO's role evolves as an ecommerce business scales. He traces the journey from hands-on operator managing every detail to strategic leader focused on high-level priorities. Drawing from his own experience, including a four-week time study, Josh outlines where CEOs should invest their time at each growth stage. Key focus areas include attracting top talent, defining brand vision, building strategic partnerships, and optimizing financial models. His core message: delegation and strategic focus, not micromanagement, are what drive businesses toward eight and nine figures.Bullet Points:The evolving role of a CEO in an ecommerce business as it grows.Transition from hands-on management to strategic leadership.Importance of delegation and hiring specialized talent.Conducting time studies to identify CEO-level tasks versus delegable tasks.Challenges of micromanagement and the need to trust team members.Strategies for investing regained time effectively.Attracting and retaining top talent within the organization.Defining and communicating a clear brand vision.Developing strategic partnerships to enhance business opportunities.Financial stewardship and optimizing revenue models for growth.Timestamps:00:00:00 Introduction to the Evolving CEO RoleThe host introduces himself and the topic: how a CEO's responsibilities must change as an e-commerce business grows.00:02:00 The CEO's Time StudyThe host shares his personal experience conducting a four-week time study to identify and delegate non-CEO level work.00:03:04 The "Subject Matter Expert" PhaseIn the beginning, the CEO is the hands-on expert, handling everything from product research to PPC campaigns.00:04:03 The First Million-Dollar MilestoneAfter hitting $1 million, the CEO's role shifts to reinvesting for growth, often by expanding product offerings.00:05:07 The Cycle of Growth and DelegationThe CEO identifies bottlenecks, hires specialists to solve them, and then doubles down on other sales-generating activities.00:06:57 Leading Through PeopleCrossing the $20 million mark requires a transition from hands-on execution to leading managers and department heads.00:08:00 Common Pitfalls for CEOs with Free TimeCEOs who delegate successfully must avoid wasting their newfound time or, most damagingly, starting another distracting business venture.00:09:53 Investing in Your TeamThe first priority for a CEO should be retaining talent by improving team experience, building culture, and supporting people.00:11:21 Focusing on Brand VisionThe CEO must clarify and communicate the brand's long-term vision to guide the company and retain key employees.00:13:13 Developing Strategic PartnershipsCEOs should spend time building relationships with key industry players, potential hires, and co-branding partners for future growth.00:14:11 Overseeing Financial HealthA key CEO role is allocating resources effectively, managing cash flow, and ensuring the business can support its growth.00:15:11 Architecting the "Money Model"CEOs must focus on engineering the business model to maximize customer lifetime value, not just front-end acquisition profits.00:17:21 The CEO's High-Level FocusThe CEO should work on the big picture—people, vision, brand, and money model—not tactical day-to-day tasks.00:19:19 The Most Important CEO Skill: SellingA CEO's number one skill is selling the vision to recruit and retain top talent, which provides the most leverage.00:20:20 Helping Others Become MillionairesThe ultimate mindset shift: a CEO's goal should be to build a business that helps their key leaders succeed financially.Links and Mentions:Tools and Concepts"AI": "00:02:00""Time Study": "00:02:00""PPC (Pay-Per-Click)": "00:05:07"Books"$100 Million Money Models by Alex Hormozi": "00:16:49"Key Concepts"Product Market Fit": "00:04:03""Brand Vision": "00:11:58""Customer Lifetime Value": "00:15:41"Recommendations"Develop Partnerships": "00:12:51""Financial Health of the Business": "00:13:45"Quotes"If you want to become a billionaire, you've got to get really, really, really good at helping other people become millionaires.": "00:20:42"Transcript:Josh Hadley 00:00:00  Today, I'm going to dive into how the role of a CEO entrepreneur has to evolve over the growth of that business and the tasks and the roles that that CEO is responsible for. Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast. I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own ecommerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. First of all, my name is Josh Hadley. I am a man of faith. I am a husband to a beautiful wife and a father of four children. I have been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, doing multi-million in revenue on channels such as Amazon, TikTok, Shop and Shopify. And I am also the host of the number one business strategy podcast for ecommerce entrepreneurs. And that is E-com breakthrough. Today, we're going to talk about what it means to actually be a CEO, especially when you're the entrepreneur who built the organization from scratch.Josh Hadley 00:00:58  And here's the challenge. There's not a direct playbook that applies to every single business that you have to follow. And so the role of the CEO is, frankly speaking, quite nebulous. And it requires a massive amount of adaptability and extensive leadership skills in order to pull this off in a significant way. At the end of the day, if you look at any $100 million brand, it all goes back to how good the original leader or founder was or was not. Sometimes there is kind of like lightning strikes and it's a really crappy leader and a really crappy founder, and they just hit a significant product market fit. That does happen. And honestly speaking, those are more often than not, a lot of the news stories that you hear about doesn't mean they were actually that good of an operator or that great of a leader. And so with that being said, what do you do and how do. How does your role as a CEO have to evolve as your ecommerce brand is growing over time? And so let's talk about it because this is something that has happened for me in my own business, and I'm speaking from experience.Josh Hadley 00:02:00  And to be honest with you, right now, I'm going through another weird inflection point in my business, and that's where this is coming from. I recently conducted a four week time study where I studied my time literally from sunup to sundown. I jotted down everything I did in 15 minute increments, and using AI and using my own human intelligence, I thought through and said, hey, what am I doing right? That is actually CEO level work, and what am I doing that like, is not CEO level work that needs to be delegated, deleted, or sometimes doubled down on. And so it's from that mindset that I understood, wow, there's a lot of things that I need to add, delete and delegate to other people. And that honestly leaves me in this like weird spot where, hey, if I'm delegating that to somebody else, what am I supposed to be doing? And so it's in that question of me asking ...

Most churches don’t start thinking about leadership development until a key person resigns. By then, the only real option is to post the role and hope someone qualified applies. In this special compilation episode, we’ve pulled together four conversations with leaders who have built the habit of developing people long before the seat opens up. The churches growing fastest right now are rarely the ones with the best job postings. They’re the ones who already know who’s next. Don’t miss the four critical lessons every church should consider as they head into fall hiring and budget planning. From the leadership model that quietly keeps benches empty to a mindset shift about where leaders actually come from to a challenge you could give your team on Monday to the structure that produces people you can genuinely put on payroll, each conversation offers a practical step forward. The Model Nobody Names Out Loud Tim Foot explains what he calls hero-driven leadership: the habit of relying too heavily on standout individuals to carry the mission. It produces short-term results, but it creates burnout, unrealistic hiring expectations, and fragile systems. What makes it so hard to escape is that it feels good. It feels productive to be the person who solves the problems and holds the answers. Foot also names the “shiny object trap,” where churches chase talent from larger organizations only to discover that the leader arrives with a playbook that doesn’t fit and no systems to support them. Key Takeaway // Hero dependence is a staffing strategy, whether or not anyone chose it on purpose. Healthy teams are built when leaders get comfortable saying they don’t know what to do next, because that’s what opens the room for collaboration. Listen to the Full Episode // Hero Dependence Is a Terrible Growth Strategy with Tim Foot (June 18, 2026) The Leaders Are Already in Your Building Spence Shelton draws a parallel most church leaders have never made. We all agree that growing a church by reaching lost people beats growing it by transfer from other churches. Then, when it comes to leaders, we reverse the logic and look for someone who’s already trained elsewhere. Shelton makes the case for the shoulder tap: intentionally asking someone whether God might be calling them into ministry. At Mercy Church, both executive pastors and two of three campus pastors came out of the marketplace, from banking, plant management, and physical therapy. None of them would have applied. Somebody had to ask. Key Takeaway // Many future ministry leaders never consider vocational ministry because no one ever raised the possibility with them. Developing from within takes longer than hiring from outside, and it produces leaders shaped by your church’s culture rather than someone else’s. Listen to the Full Episode // Stop Plucking Talent, Start Developing It with Spence Shelton (August 6, 2026) The Challenge That Costs Nothing Chris Vaught faced the constraint every growing church knows well. Connection Point was growing fast, but budget always arrives last, and southeastern Missouri isn’t a place people relocate to for a ministry position. So the church started looking at its own congregation and treating volunteers as unpaid staff with real roles and responsibilities. The starting point was a single challenge to every staff member: go find your Timothy. One person you invest in deeply enough that if you were out on a Sunday, the ministry would still run. Key Takeaway // A leadership pipeline doesn’t have to begin with a budget line. It can begin with one question asked of every staff member about who could carry their ministry if they weren’t there next weekend. Listen to the Full Episode // From 300 to 2,500: Building a Leadership Pipeline That Fuels Growth with Chris Vaught (September 25, 2025) Training Is Not Development Dave Miller draws a distinction that reframes what most churches call leadership development. Churches are excellent at training: the sermon, the class, the book of the month, the small group discussion. All of it is content delivery, and content has never been more available. Development is something else. Miller’s team identifies seven ingredients: training, spiritual formation, soft skills, ownership, mental wellness, and developmental conversations. He also challenges leaders on where accountability sits. When a sports team wins, we talk about the players. When it loses, we replace the manager. Church leaders should apply the same standard to the people they’re developing. Key Takeaway // If content were the key ingredient, leadership development would already be solved. What emerging leaders need is proximity, ownership, and someone willing to slow down and have the conversation. Listen to the Full Episode // Who’s the Next You? Building a Gen Z Residency Pipeline with Dave Miller (September 11, 2025) These four conversations form a ladder, and you don’t have to start at the top. Most churches never start at all because they assume the only real option is a residency program they can’t yet afford. Tim named the model keeping your bench empty. Spence gave the mindset shift and the shoulder tap. Chris gave the first move that costs nothing. Dave gave the structure that produces people you can hire. As you head into this fall, the question worth bringing to your next staff meeting is simple: who on our team has never been tapped on the shoulder, and what would it take to have that conversation this month? Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: TouchPoint As your church reaches more people, one of the biggest challenges is making sure no one slips through the cracks along the way.TouchPoint Church Management Software is an all-in-one ecosystem built for churches that want to elevate discipleship by providing clear data, strong engagement tools, and dependable workflows that scale as you grow. TouchPoint is trusted by some of the fastest-growing and largest churches in the country because it helps teams stay aligned, understand who they're reaching, and make confident ministry decisions week after week. If you've been wondering whether your current system can carry your next season of growth, it may be time to explore what TouchPoint can do for you. You can evaluate TouchPoint during a free, no-pressure one-hour demo at TouchPointSoftware.com/demo. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — At the beginning of 2026, we surveyed executive pastors like you and nearly one in four named that staff health and structure, how we get our teams to work together was your top fear going into 2026. You know and I know it, you probably have an open role at your church that you’re trying to fill, or you’re maybe about to have an open role. When a key person leaves your team and your instinct is just to post it, what can we do?Rich Birch — Finding, releasing, equipping leadership is critically important. Welcome to the last compilation episode of summer 2026 here on the unSeminary podcast. Super excited about today’s conversation, all about developing leaders within our organizations.Rich Birch — I know that in many churches, we think of this as a season where new staff are hiring or we’re hiring them into new roles. We’re working on budget planning for next year. There’s all the fall ramp up.Rich Birch — All four of these conversations are going to be helpful for you. The first one, we’ve got Tim Foot. He is the CEO of Slingshot, has nearly 30 years in ministry leadership, and his team has literally worked with thousands of churches on staffing.Rich Birch — Listen to this kickoff to today’s conversation, really setting up the tension that we find ourselves in. He names the leadership model that most of us have absorbed without anyone talking about it out loud, and it could be derailing your church and my church. Let’s listen in to what Tim has to say about developing leaders. [Clip 1 Begins]Tim Foot — Yeah, I mean, the model we see is hero-driven leadership. It’s when we rely too much on individuals to actually carry the mission. And I think the cracks have happened.Tim Foot — I mean, we’ve seen it, Rich. You and I are similar ages. I think the cracks are happening generationally.Tim Foot — The builders and boomers were wired differently for a different time and culture. And us Gen Xers, we can code switch. I mean, we see that happening all the time.Tim Foot — And as we stepped into leadership, the cracks started to appear. I mean, we see it every week, another leader burning out, doing stupid things because of too much pressure. Then Millennials and Gen Z are now leading in a new way that we need to embrace.Tim Foot — And so I think we’re seeing those cracks around that hero dependence, and we’re starting to see the need more than ever to have a team awareness, a holistic approach, or we’re just going to have leaders continue to burn out. And we see it around unrealistic hiring expectations, lack of support for great leaders when they’re hired, a lack of development. Hero dependence is a terrible staffing and growth strategy and becomes a massive trap when it comes to a number of the key focus areas or patterns we’ve seen that healthy teams focus on a move mission forward.Rich Birch — Yeah, see, this is the thing when you I heard you say that once and it literally I sat up and I was like, oh, man, I’ve seen that in my own, you know, my own hiring. I’ve seen that in the way I’ve talked with, you know, I see the leaders around me. You see these people who they’ve kind of built the entire ministry around themselves and they’ve built it’s like it doesn’t work if they don’t. It’s like they’re such a unique individual. They have to lift it all. Rich Birch — Like, why do we keep coming back to that? Why? Even if we know like intellectually in our heads, yeah, that’s not a good idea.Rich Birch — But what makes that model so sticky? It feels like we just keep coming back to this same thing time. In fact, we actually reward it. We’ll be like, wow, isn’t that great? This person’s amazing. And we just kind of keep moving on. Why is that?Tim Foot — It’s the shiny object trap. I mean, the shiny object, aka the talented leader that we think is going to catapult the ministry. Often we see it in hiring conversations when a particular organization wants to go after somebody that’s been in a much bigger organization than them.Tim Foot — And often that person, if they can attract them, will come in with a playbook that isn’t uniquely suited to the organization they’re stepping into. Or there aren’t systems to support that new leader and the growth that’s going to happen. And burnout happens at every level.Tim Foot — But we both know, Rich, busy work makes us feel productive. But is it the right work? And we know that we can be ourselves the shiny object. It feels good to be the hero. It feels good to be the one that’s solving problems. It feels good to be the one that has all the answers.Tim Foot — And I think that’s one of the biggest threats in healthy leadership today, is feeling like you have to have all the answers. Because I think one of the most powerful statements from healthy leaders and healthy teams is, Hey, we don’t know what to do next. Because it actually opens up the room for new thought. It opens up the room for collaboration. And it opens up the room for teamwork. Tim Foot — But it’s easier to move quick. It’s easier to move quick and be surrounded by people who agree and play it safe. And then down the road, we realize that we weren’t growing in every sense of that word. And the mission was stalled out.Tim Foot — We know we often have to slow down, re-strategize, look at who’s around the table, work out how we work together to move faster in the long term. We have to be vulnerable to make a team work. And sometimes it requires us to actually help others win than focus on heroes.Tim Foot — I mean, you think about a winning sports team. It’s not about just one person out there doing all the work. We’ve got to work together as a team.Tim Foot — You know, it’s how do we work together and have less dependence on that shiny object, those standout leaders or those heroes. [Clip 1 Ends]Rich Birch — Oh, so good. You know, Tim named something there. Man, it feels good to be the person with all the answers.Rich Birch — Can I have a little confessional time with you, friends? Earlier parts of my ministry career, I have really struggled with that. I wanted to be the person who had all the answers, but it’s a trap. And most of us find ourselves in it. Rich Birch — We’ve got to move beyond hero dependence, either wanting to be the hero or to find heroes. It’s not a character flaw. It’s a system that ultimately rewards the wrong thing. Rich Birch — So the question that I have is what is the alternative? Where do we go if we’re not just trying to hire the next shiny object?Rich Birch — The thing that will, the person that will, you know, plug in like a thing, where do leaders actually come from? I love this conversation coming up with Spence Shelton as the lead pastor of Mercy Church in Charlotte, planted in 2015, now three campuses online, plus launching a family of churches. I want you to listen for a few things.Rich Birch — First of all, Spence parallels, makes a parallel that I really have not heard many people say between how we think about reaching people who are far from God and how we think about finding leaders and how these two are connected. Listen carefully for the shoulder tap that he talks about. You know, oftentimes one of the things I find most revealing about podcast interviews is people say things just in the sides that really do under that, that give you a sense of what’s actually going on under the hood and pay attention to where his executive pastor campus pastors come from.Rich Birch — Let’s listen in to what Spence Shelton has to say. [Clip 2 Begins]Spence Shelton — I think that mentality starts all the way down to the idea of reaching people that don’t know Christ versus just sheep swapping from one church to the other church, right? So you can grow your church by transfer growth, which I actually am one who, hey man, if somebody’s on the sideline in one church and then they plug into your church, I’m all for it. And if the same thing happens with Mercy, all for it.Spence Shelton — But our aim, what we all know as pastors and ministry leaders is our aim is, man, let’s reach lost people and then disciple them, right? The same thing I think should be true with leadership development. For some reason, when it comes then to developing leaders, we tend to go a different direction and think, well, let’s just go find where some leaders are and get them to plug in.Spence Shelton — It’s like, we don’t do that even with discipleship. Why are we switching our mindset? And so I want to just kind of, I have to, I was convicted and wanted to call our church and I would call others to the same mindset that you have with discipleship.Spence Shelton — Let that carry over into your leadership and your leadership development as well. And I think that’s how we’re going to grow, just as how we’re going to grow the kingdom by reaching lost people, how we’re going to grow the leaders in the kingdom, the number of leaders we have, it’s going to be developing them in our church. And I just, I don’t know that we’re even thinking that way and asking the question, is the guy who’s a 27-year-old physical therapist in my church, has anybody ever bothered to tap him on the shoulder and ask, Hey man, could God be calling you into ministry because I watch you?Spence Shelton — And no, we’re not doing the shoulder tap, man. And so, um, our right now, I just, I love it. I’m just a little bit of the story of our church. Our exec, both of our executive pastors and two of our three campus pastors were all in the marketplace. Spence Shelton — One of our executive pastors was in banking. Another was a plant manager. We have two campus pastors who were both, I use physical therapists cause they’re both former physical therapists. And you know, we’re sitting there having these conversations. You know, what makes a great pastor is someone who has sat with person after person, told them, Hey, you should do this to feel better.Spence Shelton — And then they come back to you later and say, Hey, I don’t feel better. And you say, did you do the thing I told you to do? And they say, no. And you say, well, you should have done that. Spence Shelton — And a patient long suffering physical therapist turns out to be a great pastor, but somebody has got to tap him on the shoulder and say, Hey man, I think God might be calling you into this. Spence Shelton — And so my, my encouragement to anybody who’s in ministry right now, kind of in that leadership development role. And you’re like, I don’t know, we’re going to have to go outside to find some talent. I promise it’s going to take longer the way I’m talking about. But if you will seek the Lord, ask the Lord, and then start shoulder tapping and giving some opportunities for guys to lead for men and women to lead there in your ministry and whatever the leadership roles might be. I think there might be more people in there than you realize, because I believe that God provides for the church that he’s growing, that he’s called you to lead. And so I think that’s true with leaders as well. [Clip 2 Ends]Rich Birch — Hey, friends, 9 out of 10 campus pastors, they do come from within. So if you are launching new locations in the future, man, we got to start developing campus pastors today. Rich Birch — But I know some of you are saying, listen, listen, listen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That all sounds good. Shoulder tapping. Great, great, great. Rich Birch — But how, how do I do it? How do I train my team to do it? How do we motivate, stay focused on this? Rich Birch — The gap that my, what I have found, it’s not desire. It’s not even understand that people don’t understand that that’s how we do it. It’s not a resistance to those things. It’s none of that. It’s just that nobody owns it because you see development is everyone’s job, which means that it’s nobody’s job.Rich Birch — It’s easy for this to fall through the cracks. Aren’t we all supposed to be developing leaders? So if we’re all developing leaders, my experience has been that means that really none of us are or we’re not doing it in a systematic way.Rich Birch — Super excited to have Chris Vaught with us. He is the lead pastor of Connection Point Church in Missouri. Listen, it grew from 300 people in 2011 to 2,500 today across multiple campuses.Rich Birch — And he outlines one challenge that Chris gave every staff member. And I really want you to listen carefully for this, because to be honest, this is pure unSeminary magic. This is like what I love about our podcast.Rich Birch — You could take this out of this interview today and put it into your next team meeting on Monday. Apply it to your church. Let’s listen in for what Chris wants to say to you about how we train people to shoulder tap, find leaders and release them. [Clip 3 Begins]Chris Vaught — You can only hire out so much, right? Because even though our church has grown fast, budget always comes up last. But you have to look at other avenues other than just, oh, I’ll hire another position.Chris Vaught — So we started looking at congregation. We began to develop our own leadership pathway or pipeline to develop not only volunteers, but our future staff. We knew we grew really fast. We need to hire from within, but we still couldn’t hire every position. Chris Vaught — So we started looking at our volunteers as almost as non-paid staff positions. And so we have an atmosphere of expectation of roles and responsibilities and also the value of what they’re doing.Chris Vaught — That the kingdom is dependent upon all of us using our gifts and talents. And so we started this pathway. And at first it was simply a challenge to every staff member. You go find your Timothy. You go find one other person that you can invest yourself into, a volunteer. Chris Vaught — So that if on Saturday night, and here was kind of the criteria for us: if on Saturday night, something were to happen and you catch COVID. Okay. We’re at that time. Could this ministry run the next day because of the person you have personally equipped… Rich Birch — I love that clarity. Chris Vaught — …to hold the ministry.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good.Rich Birch — We began to put those pieces together. That’s right. You go ahead. I cut you off there. Chris Vaught — No, no. I was just saying that’s what we began. We began this pipeline and that was really the basic level at first. Every staff member finding that one Timothy, if you will, if you want to use that terminology, that could run that ministry if you were out. [Clip 3 Ends]Rich Birch — See what I told you? The Saturday night test is literally the cheapest leadership development tool in this entire episode. If you do nothing else out of today’s episode, do that.Rich Birch — But I know, listen, there can be a gap on that, a ceiling. Finding your Timothy fills gaps, but it does not produce people necessarily kind of week-in, week-out that you could put on print a payroll. You need to also do some development. You need to have some intentional leadership development.Rich Birch — Most churches, again, think that they’re developing leaders, but they’re really just handing out books or running a monthly team meeting, that sort of thing. I want to introduce you, reintroduce you to my friend Dave Miller. He’s a former worship and creative arts pastor in Las Vegas, in Kentucky, in Michigan, and he and his team have worked with over 150 churches and over 160 residents.Rich Birch — What do we mean by residents? These are people that are in the pipeline for thinking clearly in their lives about joining your staff team or staff teams of another church somewhere across the country. He defines seven ingredients.Rich Birch — Listen, I had the honor of writing the foreword to Dave’s book, Who’s the Next You? I would highly recommend you pick up a copy of that and think through that. But let’s listen in a little bit of what Dave has to say today. [Clip 4 Begins]Dave Miller — Well, we would say there’s seven ingredients. There’s a chapter in the book, seven ingredients. You can get it on our website right now.Dave Miller — Seven ingredients of what we would say is leadership development. So what you’re talking about, really, a sermon is training, if you think about it, like in a, in a market sense, I’m going to talk at you for 35 minutes. There’s four points. It’s very good. It’s inspired. It’s like Ted, Ted, long Ted Talk every 52 times a year, plus Christmas Eve and whatever.Dave Miller — And I would just say, we call that training. Churches for a long time have done really, really well with training, right? It’s either it’s the sermon or it’s Sunday school. It’s even the AI delivered small group questions I get from my men’s group, right? Dave Miller — It is staff. When I say, do y’all do leadership development? Yeah. Tell me about that.Dave Miller — And they start talking about your book or Carey's book or Craig Groeschel's book. It’s a book of the month. It’s conversation. Even now, now we’ve taken training and we’re still delivering the content, but we’re discussing it and we’re filling in blanks. Right. And we do that. Dave Miller — And, or spiritual formation. I had a well-known keynote kind of person. We just need to disciple these kids and get out of their way. And I was like, Oh, neat. Actually we don’t. Dave Miller — We did that once. It’s called the Jesus movement. I think that was the Jesus movement or the Jesus people in the early seventies, which kind of mirrors what’s going on on college campuses, you think. Dave Miller — We don’t need to just disciple them and get… We got to go with them. So, so training, spiritual formation, soft skills, which is the pain point of all the bosses, the emotional lack of intelligence of things. Those would be the three core ones.Dave Miller — And then we have to provide best practices. We have to, we have to provide ownership, which is a big thing for us in our small business, small church world at the 12 month mark. When we’re saying, well, she just doesn’t get it. She didn’t get, Oh, what doesn’t she get? Dave Miller — He just doesn’t understand what… We talk about our downline people as if they’re executive leaders with 20 years of experience. It would be totally fine for someone to accuse me of something like that.Dave Miller — But like when we think of sports, we don’t talk about individual players. We talk about the coaches. When the team’s losing, whose fault is it? As a lifetime Cincinnati Reds fan we change the manager. We don’t talk about number 78 and 14. Dave Miller — When the team’s doing amazing, it’s about the player.He’s killing it. She’s killing it. He’s killing it. When the team is losing, we have to own it similarly.Dave Miller — This is on us. Rich Birch — Wow. Wow. Dave Miller — Mental wellness. One of the seven things, mental wellness. If you can’t prove to me that you know, I’m not, I’m not here giving you even a theological construct. Cause we work with all sorts of churches that believe all sorts of things, right? But mental health, if you can’t prove to me that you have a plan, at least, or you’ve thought about it, that’s gonna be a problem. We’re checking it on. Dave Miller — And then finally developmental conversations. This is not delivered only through training to your point. [Clip 4 Ends]Rich Birch — What a fantastic group of conversations. Just a thin slice of so many of the conversations we’ve had over the last year in this whole area. Rich Birch — Tim, he named the model that can keep your and my bench empty. Spence gave us the mindset shift and the shoulder tap. Chris gave us the simplest form of the really first move that costs you absolutely nothing. And Dave finally gave you the formal structure that produces people you could hire, put on your team long-term.Rich Birch — Listen, you do not need to start at the top. Most churches never start at all because they only think the real option is just going out and hiring people externally. Listen, really the question I want to leave you with is where Tim started us at the beginning.Rich Birch — Maybe dear listener, you are listening in today and you have the hero mindset. Maybe you need to start with you and figure out what you can do in your area to pass it all along. Listen, we’ve got links for all these four episodes in the show notes here at unSeminary.Rich Birch — We’re on a mission to help 100 churches grow by a thousand people. We do that through these free podcasts, courses, coaching, cohorts. We do a lot to try to get in your corner.Rich Birch — We’ve got so much coming up this fall. Stay tuned. Some great stuff coming your way to see your church be more effective.Rich Birch — Thanks so much, friends. Take care.

In this episode, hosts Frank La Vigne and Andy Leonard sit down with Lawrence Snapp, CEO and board member of TrustScale, an innovative AI trust and verification platform. Together, they explore the crucial topic of trust in artificial intelligence—how hallucinations from AI models can spiral out of control and why it's essential to catch them early. Lawrence Snapp pulls back the curtain on TrustScale's journey from early AI and translation work in the 1980s and call center solutions, to its modern-day mission: empowering humans to verify and trust AI outputs with products like Argus. You'll hear about real-world impacts in fields like healthcare, legal, and research, learn how TrustScale's deterministic engine outpaces humans in hallucination detection, and dive into debates around truth, trustworthiness, and the future of configuring AI values. Whether you're an industry veteran or just curious about how we build trustworthy AI, this episode is packed with insights on technology, responsibility, and the power of rigorous engineering.LinksWatch on YouTube -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjM7lxn3Qk8Lawrence on LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-snapp-408339/Time Stamps00:00 Funny AI-generated story03:37 Company's Evolution from Translation to AI07:32 Developing the TrustScale engine11:35 Using AI for collaboration13:39 Building a trust scoring system18:12 Working at BASF and AI testing19:32 New developments in voice assistants23:41 Trust scale and company confidence26:13 AI mishap in medical drama32:48 Overcoming AI recency and cost challenges36:54 AI's impact on career growth38:50 Interviewing and developing talent43:31 Starting with Polaroids and AI goals46:54 Discussing TrustScale and AI interactions50:42 Empowering AI customization for users51:45 AI ethics discussion in Los Altos

When change is moving faster than your team can process, clarity becomes the leadership move that holds everything together. Rosie sits down with Carajane Searcy Moore, President and Partner of Big Hunt Sales, to unpack what it really means to step up and step in as a leader. Carajane shares how she was unexpectedly thrust into leadership after major personal and business challenges, and how that experience shaped her passion for helping leaders create clarity, alignment, and measurable expectations. Together, Rosie and Carajane explore why so many change efforts fail, the critical role of middle managers, how to "complain up" instead of down, and why vague leadership requests create confusion instead of accountability. From the black pen, red pen strategy to the reminder that "general requests create failure," this conversation is packed with practical wisdom for people-first leaders navigating growth, change, and the messy humanity of work.   Additional Resources: Connect with Carajane on LinkedIn Get your copy of "Future-Proofing Leadership" Dr. Rosie Ward! Connect with Rosie on LinkedIn Learn more about Salveo Partners Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network   Key Takeaways: Clear expectations prevent confusion, frustration, and avoidable failure. Middle managers are the glue during organizational change. Everyone can lead by asking for needed clarity. Peer support makes lonely leadership roles more sustainable. Change succeeds when people feel included, not pushed.

Speaking to a group of young actors, Academy-Award-winning actor Denzel Washington encouraged them to begin each day with prayer, suggesting they “put your shoes way under the bed at night” to ensure they "gotta get on your knees in the morning.” Developing a regular habit of prayer might take some thoughtful and even creative planning, but it’s a practice that has sustained God’s people throughout history—especially in difficult times. We see this in the life of Daniel, who was served in King Darius’ administration. He quickly distinguished himself as the top government advisor, which angered local officials. Out of jealously they plotted to oust the prophet, but they quickly realized the only charge that would stick was related to Daniel’s well-known habit of prayer. Even after the officials tricked the king into making it illegal for Daniel to pray, Daniel still “got down on his knees, and prayed . . . just as he had done before” (Daniel 6:10). A consistent prayer life was essential for Daniel to experience God’s sustaining strength and peace (Psalm 29:11). It helped him to triumph over the forces seeking to destroy him. In the same way, establishing a regular time to meet with God in prayer and making it a daily priority can help cultivate our relationship with Him. During each difficulty we face, it’s His strength that will sustain us.

This week Chris sits down with Lucy Billingsley, Co-founder and Partner of Billingsley Company, the Dallas development firm she started with her husband Henry in 1978. Lucy is the daughter of Trammell Crow, who built the largest real estate development company in America. She left the family business because she did not want to be a minority vote. She and Henry built their own firm instead, and today they run it with their kids. Billingsley plays a longer game than almost anyone in real estate. They buy land 30 or 40 years before the growth arrives and hold it until the market is ready. Cypress Waters alone is 1,300 acres zoned for 10,000 apartments and over 12 million square feet of office. They discuss:• Why every building they develop goes in the kids' names from day one• The rule that keeps siblings from ever voting on each other's deals• The lake at Cypress Waters they bought for 50 cents a foot• The difference between a park people look at and a park people actually use• Why new office space now rents for more than Dallas has ever seen• Where AI is already saving them real money in construction Timestamps(00:00) Intro(00:52) Building a Family Business and Putting Assets in the Kids' Names(05:55) From the Dallas Market Center Into Development(09:15) Picking Land and Staying Ahead of the Growth Wave(14:33) Designing the Public Arena to Make a Place(18:00) Zoning Is an Art, Not a Guarantee(20:52) What Cities Want and What the State Took Away(22:31) The Future of Office and Why Amenities Win(28:44) How They Decide What to Build and Where to Buy Next(33:15) The Events Business and Public-Private Partnerships(36:52) Buying a Lake for 50 Cents a Foot and Draining It(37:54) Construction Costs and the Frozen Single Family Market(42:07) Reinventing Herself and the Cypress Waters Trail(46:37) Going All In on AI === Presented by True North Advisors:True North Advisors is a multi-family office and private wealth advisory firm serving business owners, entrepreneurs, and families since 2000. With over $5.6 billion under management, they're real investors offering conflict-free counsel and portfolios built around your life. Learn more at https://truenorthadvisors.com === Sponsored by: AirshareAirshare is trusted across the country for fractional ownership, jet cards, charter, and aircraft management. They give you a smarter way to fly private, over 25 years of experience, operating their own fleet, with the top safety ratings in the industry. Drive up to the FBO, walk on, and go. Go to flyairshare.com to learn more. Collateral PartnersCollateral Partners builds institutional-grade investor materials for private credit, private equity, real estate, and family office firms, the kind of marketing collateral that helps you close capital. Learn more at https://collateral.com/powers Relay Human CloudRelay Human Cloud gives you pre-vetted, fully managed global talent for up to 75% less than hiring locally. Your best people stop doing repetitive work and get back to the work that moves your company forward. Learn more at https://www.relayhumancloud.com/powers === Chris on Social Media:X: https://x.com/fortworthchrisInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepowerspodcastLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd Watch POWERS on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNXVisit our website: https://www.powerspod.com/Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO

Caleb Ralston is a strategist and brand builder for some of the biggest names in business. His breakthrough was back in 2018 when he grew GaryVee's TikTok from 300k to 3.5 million followers in just 3 months. In 2022 he joined Alex and Leila Hormozi's team as content employee #1, where he grew their audience from 1.2 million to 11.5 million. Caleb just doesn't miss – and now that he's out on his own, he's here to help YOU. In this episode, you'll learn the content strategy he used, how to improve your content, and where to start if you're feeling overwhelmed. ⁠⁠⁠Full transcript and show notes⁠⁠⁠ Caleb's ⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ / ⁠Instagram⁠ *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) The Secret Man Behind GaryVee and the Hormozi's (01:11) How Often Do the Top 1% Post? (03:31) The Brand Journey Framework (05:18) Being Intentional With Your Content (08:51) Is It Possible to NOT Niche Down? (13:55) Say the Same Things in Different Ways (18:07) Tracking and Analyzing Data (22:36) Maintaining Quality While Increasing Quantity (24:27) What it Actually Takes to Perform like the 1% (27:21) Where to Start (30:22) Building a Personalized Team (34:54) Agency vs Full Time vs Contractor (41:58) Developing a Content Strategy (45:15) Width Content vs Depth Content (46:55) Scaling Trust Using Educational Content (50:02) Best Call to Action Strategy (52:10) Email and Web Traffic Strategy (55:27) How Caleb is Going About Hiring His Own Team (58:53) The Correct Way to Give Feedback to Your Team (1:03:17) How to Take Inspiration from Others (1:04:55) Which Platform Has the Biggest Opportunity (1:06:57) Audio Content Strategy (1:08:47) Why You Need to Collaborate with Others *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#175: Angus Parker – Ali Abdaal's right-hand man shares a YouTuber's guide to hiring.⁠ *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → ⁠⁠⁠Submit your question here⁠⁠⁠ *** WHEN YOU'RE READY