Podcasts about Empower

God’s strength is not reserved for elite athletes or extraordinary moments—it’s available for everyday life. This Crosswalk Devotional, God’s Strength Will Empower You by Whitney Hopler, draws from 1 Chronicles 16:11–12 to remind believers that lasting strength comes from continually seeking God’s presence, not relying on limited human ability. Whether facing pressure at work, health challenges, family tension, or personal uncertainty, God’s power meets us right where we are. Highlights God’s strength empowers believers beyond human limits Seeking God’s presence should be continual, not crisis-driven Spiritual endurance grows through daily dependence on God Remembering God’s past faithfulness fuels present faith Temporary success never replaces eternal relationship with God Our worth is rooted in being God’s beloved children, not performance God walks with us through both victories and failures Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! This episode is sponsored by Trinity Debt Management. If you are struggling with debt call Trinity today. Trinity's counselors have the knowledge and resources to make a difference. Our intention is to help people become debt-free, and most importantly, remain debt-free for keeps!" If your debt has you down, we should talk. Call us at 1-800-793-8548 | https://trinitycredit.org TrinityCredit – Call us at 1-800-793-8548. Whether we're helping people pay off their unsecured debt or offering assistance to those behind in their mortgage payments. https://trinitycredit.org Full Transcript Below: God’s Strength Will Empower YouBy: Whitney Hopler Bible Reading:“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered.” - 1 Chronicles 16:11-12, ESV The 2026 Winter Olympics (Milano Cortina 2026) shine a spotlight on some of the strongest athletes in the world. No matter what sport they compete in, Olympic athletes are constantly seeking strength. Many of them pray for God’s help to be the best they can be, both physically and mentally. That includes help from God for the discipline and endurance they need to practice and compete well. But you don’t have to be a downhill skier or a figure skater to understand why it’s important to be strong. Whether you’re launching a new project at work, dealing with a challenging health situation, trying to resolve a family conflict, or facing any other stressful situation in this fallen world, you know how much God’s strength can empower you. God’s help is vital to succeeding with whatever you’re trying to do, whether or not you’ll get a gold medal when you win. In 1 Chronicles 16:11-12, the Bible encourages you to look beyond your own limited power to seek God’s strength, which can empower you without limits. These verses call you to seek God’s presence continually. Instead of just saying a one-time prayer during a crisis, you should notice God’s presence with you throughout your day and check in with God regularly through prayer. When you make a habit of seeking God’s strength, you’ll find the power you need to help you with any kind of situation – even the most challenging situations that seem like they would be impossible to overcome. These Bible verses also encourage you to remember the wondrous works God has done, like his miracles and judgments. Olympic commentators love to talk about an athlete’s “track record.” They look back at each athlete’s past competition results and other information from the past (like injuries and recoveries) to predict future success. You can do the same with your faith. When you feel overwhelmed by a challenge you’re facing right now, look back on how God has helped you in the past. Think of the times when you’ve already experienced the wonder of God’s work in your life – like when God provided exactly what you needed, or when God empowered you to do something you couldn’t do on your own. The more you remember God’s past faithfulness, the more that will fuel your faith to look for the wonder of God’s work in your life every day and let that evidence inspire you to trust God now. In this year’s winter Olympics, thousands of athletes will chase gold, silver, and bronze medals. But those prizes are temporary. God’s presence with you is something you can enjoy both now and forever. As you work toward your own goals and pursue your own adventures this year, don’t get so caught up in trying to achieve temporary results that you miss your wonderful Creator and Heavenly Father walking right beside you. Whether you reach the podium of success or make mistakes that hurt like falling on ice, God will be there with you, empowering you with his strength. You can afford to bravely take big risks to keep learning and growing, just like Olympic athletes do. Your worth doesn’t come from your performance; it comes from your relationship with God as one of his beloved children. So, whatever challenge you’re facing today, seek God and his strength. God is with you, and he’s ready to give you everything you need for the journey ahead. Intersecting Faith & Life: As you consider why it’s important to seek God and his strength, reflect on these questions: If you were training for your current life season like an Olympian, what’s the one area where you most need God’s strength right now? How can you seek God’s presence “continually” rather than just when you’re facing a challenge? What will help you remember to ask God for more strength on a regular basis? Think of one “wondrous work” or miracle God has done in your past. How does remembering that help you face a fear you have today? What’s one way you can celebrate this week to thank God for answering a prayer you prayed in the past? Can you plan to look at old photos that remind you of God’s answer, post about it on social media, or share the story with a friend? Further Reading:Isaiah 40:31Philippians 4:13Psalm 105:4Hebrews 12:1Psalm 77:11 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Sean Shannon's three-decade broadcasting career taught him that true business disruption comes not from clinging to outdated models but from recognizing when market fundamentals have shifted and redefining value accordingly. By repositioning radio stations as marketing strategists rather than advertising vendors and creating in-house creative agencies, he fundamentally changed client relationships from transactional to consultative. Sean's evolution from individual contributor to leader also revealed a critical insight—everything that makes exceptional salespeople becomes a liability in leadership, requiring a complete mindset shift toward empowering others. Sean's current mission addresses the exact problem preventing most small and medium-sized businesses from scaling: seventy-five percent of SMB owners with sales teams don't have documented processes, meaning all business development falls on the founder. His frameworks address the real gaps—aligning sales and marketing around what customers actually need to hire your product to do, understanding team composition, and validating value propositions through direct customer conversations that generate both testimonials and referrals. If founder-led growth has become your ceiling, Sean Shannon's expertise in knowledge transfer and team empowerment can unlock the scaling you've been unable to achieve alone. Book your free sales assessment and consultation or connect directly with Sean to discover how documented processes and empowered teams can drive the twenty-five to thirty-five percent growth your business is ready for. For the accessible version of the podcast, go to our Ziotag gallery.We're happy you're here! Like the pod?Support the podcast and receive discounts from our sponsors: https://yourbrandamplified.codeadx.me/Leave a rating and review on your favorite platformFollow @yourbrandamplified on the socialsTalk to my digital avatar Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What are the “rugs” that your association keeps tripping over but no one talks about? What if there was a common, accessible language to help your staff and board name and move those obstacles? How can an association help members lead with more heart in a fast-moving, AI-driven world?In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Sherry Budziak, Founder and CEO, and Kevin Ordonez, President and Managing Director of OrgSource. Sherry and Kevin discuss:Why they wrote their new book, RUG: How to Move What You're Tripping Over and Lead with Heart, and how the real-life story of a literal rug in a boardroom inspired it.The H.E.A.R.T. Framework: Humanize, Empower, Ascend, Reimagine, and Transform.How the book offers a practical toolkit with discussion questions and “micro-moves” to help teams identify and address cultural and operational obstacles.Why the rug metaphor is so powerful, creating safe, non-threatening language to name problems.How using “the rug” as a metaphor has allowed teams to have more honest conversations and make real progress.Examples of typical “rugs” in associations: over-reliance on outdated processes, fear of making decisions, board bottlenecks, and member experiences designed for internal convenience.How leaders often misattribute cultural or operational issues to technology alone.The need for associations to reframe how they see AI not just as a tech initiative but as a strategic shift in how work gets done.Why leadership involvement is key to moving the “AI rug” and reimagining what's possible.OrgSource's new Mastermind and AI Accelerator groups that help leaders and teams take action on these ideas.References:.orgSource WebsiteGet the book: Rug: How to Move What You're Tripping Over and Lead with H.E.A.R.T.

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After Hoda departed TODAY in January 2025, Jenna Bush Hager spent a year sitting side by side with a rotating group of friends, but as it turns out, her permanent partner was someone who had been part of the TODAY family all along: Sheinelle Jones. On the heels of the launch of TODAY with Jenna and Sheinelle, Hoda sat down with Jenna and Sheinelle for a SiriusXM Front Row Conversation at SiriusXM's New York City studios to talk about their official beginning as co-hosts, the lessons Sheinelle has learned in the wake of losing her husband, Uche, and how grief and joy can exist side by side. Plus, what having Sheinelle by her side means for Jenna, and reflections on her path to this moment. (Originally broadcast on SiriusXM TODAY Show Radio.) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Could AI wipe out half of entry-level accounting roles? Blake and David recount a brazen “courier scam” on David's porch to unpack how deepfakes and spoofed calls fuel today's fraud (“less than 10% can tell AI video from real”). You'll learn practical controls—family code words, approval workflows—plus hands-on AI updates: Claude's Excel plugin and desktop agent, Gusto payroll in ChatGPT, and a prompt that forces AI to ask clarifying questions and wait for “go.”SponsorsUNC - http://accountingpodcast.promo/uncEarmarkCPE - http://accountingpodcast.promo/earmarkOnPay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/onpayChapters(02:02) - Personal Fraud Story: A Cautionary Tale (03:35) - Elder Fraud and AI-Driven Scams (06:53) - AI's Impact on Fraud and Security (11:39) - AI Tools for Accountants (19:40) - Earmark: CPE for Listening to Podcasts (22:01) - AI's Threat to Entry-Level Jobs (27:11) - AI Agents in Payroll and HR (35:20) - The Future of AI in Blue Collar Jobs (38:18) - AI's Role in Government Efficiency (39:52) - Simplifying the Tax Code with AI (41:42) - Payroll Innovations and AI (49:18) - Intuit's Career Pipeline Program (51:24) - Xero's New Features and AI Integration (58:48) - Conclusion and Upcoming Topics  Show NotesAI fakery turbo-charging fraud, cyber attacks https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/ai-fakery-turbo-charging-fraud-cyber-attacksThe Turing Reel https://runwayml.com/research/theturingreelThe Adolescence of Technology https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technologyLong-term Fears Build As 60% of U.S. Workers Say AI Will Cut More Jobs Than It Adds In 2026 https://allwork.space/2026/01/long-term-fears-build-as-60-of-u-s-workers-say-ai-will-cut-more-jobs-than-it-adds-in-2026/ADP® Accelerates AI Leadership with Launch of New AI Agents Designed to Solve Workforce Challenges https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adp-accelerates-ai-leadership-with-launch-of-new-ai-agents-designed-to-solve-workforce-challenges-302672772.htmlExclusive: Gusto launching payroll inside ChatGPT https://www.thisweekinfintech.com/exclusive-gusto-launching-payroll-inside-chatgpt/Trump DOT Plans to Use Google Gemini AI to Write Regulations https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-artificial-intelligence-google-gemini-transportation-regulationsIntuit Launches New Career Pipeline Program to Empower the Next Generation of Accountants in the AI Era https://investors.intuit.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1296/intuit-launches-new-career-pipeline-program-to-empower-the-next-generation-of-accountants-in-the-ai-eraNeed CPE?Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark: https://earmarkcpe.comSubscribe to the Earmark Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.comGet in TouchThanks for listening and the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser. Call us and leave a voicemail; maybe we'll play it on the show. DIAL (202) 695-1040.SponsorshipsAre you interested in sponsoring The Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus.Need Accounting Conference Info? Check out our new website - accountingconferences.comLimited edition shirts, stickers, and other necessitiesTeePublic Store: http://cloudacctpod.link/merchSubscribeApple Podcasts: http://cloudacctpod.link/ApplePodcastsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAccountingPodcastSpotify: http://cloudacctpod.link/SpotifyPodchaser: http://cloudacctpod.link/podchaserStitcher: http://cloudacctpod.link/StitcherOvercast: http://cloudacctpod.link/OvercastWant to get the word out about your newsletter, webinar, party, Facebook group, podcast, e-book, job posting, or that fancy Excel macro you just created? Let the listeners of The Accounting Podcast know by running a classified ad. Go here to create your classified ad: https://cloudacctpod.link/RunClassifiedAdTranscriptsThe full transcript for this episode is available by clicking on the Transcript tab at the top of this page

In this episode, I sit down with longtime friends and CrossFit athletes Annie Thorisdottir and Katrin Davidsdottir to talk honestly about their journeys into motherhood as elite athletes. We reflect on how pregnancy and postpartum seasons have reshaped how they view training, identity, and long-term athletic sustainability.   We discuss the importance of shifting expectations, letting go of the pressure to "prove" anything during pregnancy or postpartum, and instead focusing on building a strong foundation for health, recovery, and longevity. Annie and Katrin share real experiences—both physical and mental—that highlight how transformative these seasons can be, even for the most seasoned athletes.   This conversation is a reminder that pregnancy and postpartum aren't detours from athletic life—they're powerful catalyst seasons that can ultimately make you a more adaptable, resilient, and grounded athlete.   Connect with Annie & Katrin:

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Alicia Lyttle. SUMMARY OF THE ALICIA LYTTLE INTERVIEW From “Money Making Conversations Master Class” with Rushion McDonald [ 1. Purpose of the Interview The purpose of this interview was to: Showcase Alicia Lyttle, CEO and co‑founder of Air Innovations, known widely as the “Queen of AI.” [ Educate small business owners, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits on how to leverage AI for growth. Highlight her mission to empower the African American community to not only keep up with AI—but lead in it. [ Demonstrate how AI tools can transform operations, content creation, finances, and productivity in minutes instead of months. Inspire listeners through her entrepreneurial journey, professional pivots, and personal resilience. 2. High-Level Summary Alicia Lyttle returns to the show two years after her last appearance, now positioned at the forefront of the global AI movement. She explains how her work has shifted from annual summits to monthly AI Business Summits, teaching tens of thousands of entrepreneurs how to use AI hands‑on for content, marketing, operations, and scaling. She breaks down how simple tools—such as NotebookLM, ChatGPT, Jasper, Gemini, and HeyGen—can turn a single piece of content into newsletters, PowerPoints, videos, study guides, and more. She stresses that AI is now accessible, especially with free versions like ChatGPT. Alicia also shares her origin story in AI, beginning with a 15‑year‑old speaker at Walmart Tech Live describing IBM Watson. This sparked her fascination and ultimately led her to pivot her entire company toward full-time AI training and consulting by 2022—despite skepticism from her peers. She details the massive growth of her brand, including 21,000+ live summit attendees and explosive social media expansion. The interview also addresses AI’s role in finance, healthcare, government, job disruption, and how individuals can future‑proof themselves. Her personal story of overcoming a restrictive ex-husband who told her she would “never speak again” underscores her powerful message: no one should silence your gifts. Now she speaks to thousands, leads major events, and helps others build new careers in AI. 3. Key Takeaways A. AI Is Evolving Fast—and So Must We AI is changing so quickly that entrepreneurs cannot afford to wait for annual updates. This is why Alicia shifted to monthly training summits. People need ongoing education to stay competitive. B. Hands‑On AI Education Is the Key Alicia doesn’t just lecture—she walks participants through real demonstrations: Uploading YouTube links Creating summaries Generating emails, mind maps, PowerPoints, quizzes, videos, and more…all from a single input. Her approach eliminates fear and teaches entrepreneurs how to use AI immediately. C. Accessibility Has Changed the Game The release of ChatGPT, especially the free version, democratized AI. Before that, tools like IBM Watson were too complex and expensive. Now anyone with a laptop and internet connection can build websites, write content, or automate business flows in minutes. [ D. The African American Community Must Lead—Not Follow Alicia emphasizes that historically, Black communities have been “last in line” in tech innovation, but this AI era presents a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to jump ahead.She sees it as her mission to speak everywhere Black entrepreneurs are to ensure they seize this moment. E. AI Will Replace Tasks—But People Can Future‑Proof Themselves Jobs are already shifting. Companies are laying off non–AI‑literate employees.Alicia urges people to: Become AI‑fluent Join AI committees at work Pursue certification Use AI to become their company’s internal expert “There’s no maybe—you have to learn AI,” she warns. F. AI is Transforming Every Sector: Finance, Healthcare, Government She provides insights on… AI receptionists (“Monica” and “Leslie”) that boost customer interaction to 92% Financial analysis using secure ChatGPT setups AI mental health companions Government calls for national AI leadership G. Alicia Monetizes Through Education, Certification & Consulting Her business model includes: Free monthly summits Paid masterclasses Corporate consulting AI certifications Live Atlanta workshops She teaches others to become AI consultants too. H. Her Personal Triumph Story Inspires Thousands A powerful moment is when she recounts her ex-husband saying: “There’s only one quarterback on a team—and you will never speak again.”Yet today, 1,200+ people attend her live events, and tens of thousands join her virtual trainings. Her success proves resilience and purpose overcome adversity. 4. Key Quotes On AI Opportunity “Never has there been a better time in history to start, build, or scale a business than right now.” On Training Entrepreneurs “Open your laptops… use the same prompt I use. See what results you get.” On the Power of AI Tools “You can take one episode and repurpose it into all these different content ways.” On Pivoting Her Entire Company “In 2022, I said we’re closing this business and going all in on AI.” On Being Black in Tech “My mission is to make sure our community is not left behind—but ahead of the curve.” On Personal Resilience “You will be speaking on the best stages… people will come to see you.”(A friend’s response after she was told she’d “never speak again.”) On Future-Proofing Careers “Those using AI will replace you. You have to learn how to leverage AI.” On AI as a Human-First Technology “AI plus human intelligence—that’s what takes things to the next level.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSupport the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Alicia Lyttle. SUMMARY OF THE ALICIA LYTTLE INTERVIEW From “Money Making Conversations Master Class” with Rushion McDonald [ 1. Purpose of the Interview The purpose of this interview was to: Showcase Alicia Lyttle, CEO and co‑founder of Air Innovations, known widely as the “Queen of AI.” [ Educate small business owners, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits on how to leverage AI for growth. Highlight her mission to empower the African American community to not only keep up with AI—but lead in it. [ Demonstrate how AI tools can transform operations, content creation, finances, and productivity in minutes instead of months. Inspire listeners through her entrepreneurial journey, professional pivots, and personal resilience. 2. High-Level Summary Alicia Lyttle returns to the show two years after her last appearance, now positioned at the forefront of the global AI movement. She explains how her work has shifted from annual summits to monthly AI Business Summits, teaching tens of thousands of entrepreneurs how to use AI hands‑on for content, marketing, operations, and scaling. She breaks down how simple tools—such as NotebookLM, ChatGPT, Jasper, Gemini, and HeyGen—can turn a single piece of content into newsletters, PowerPoints, videos, study guides, and more. She stresses that AI is now accessible, especially with free versions like ChatGPT. Alicia also shares her origin story in AI, beginning with a 15‑year‑old speaker at Walmart Tech Live describing IBM Watson. This sparked her fascination and ultimately led her to pivot her entire company toward full-time AI training and consulting by 2022—despite skepticism from her peers. She details the massive growth of her brand, including 21,000+ live summit attendees and explosive social media expansion. The interview also addresses AI’s role in finance, healthcare, government, job disruption, and how individuals can future‑proof themselves. Her personal story of overcoming a restrictive ex-husband who told her she would “never speak again” underscores her powerful message: no one should silence your gifts. Now she speaks to thousands, leads major events, and helps others build new careers in AI. 3. Key Takeaways A. AI Is Evolving Fast—and So Must We AI is changing so quickly that entrepreneurs cannot afford to wait for annual updates. This is why Alicia shifted to monthly training summits. People need ongoing education to stay competitive. B. Hands‑On AI Education Is the Key Alicia doesn’t just lecture—she walks participants through real demonstrations: Uploading YouTube links Creating summaries Generating emails, mind maps, PowerPoints, quizzes, videos, and more…all from a single input. Her approach eliminates fear and teaches entrepreneurs how to use AI immediately. C. Accessibility Has Changed the Game The release of ChatGPT, especially the free version, democratized AI. Before that, tools like IBM Watson were too complex and expensive. Now anyone with a laptop and internet connection can build websites, write content, or automate business flows in minutes. [ D. The African American Community Must Lead—Not Follow Alicia emphasizes that historically, Black communities have been “last in line” in tech innovation, but this AI era presents a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to jump ahead.She sees it as her mission to speak everywhere Black entrepreneurs are to ensure they seize this moment. E. AI Will Replace Tasks—But People Can Future‑Proof Themselves Jobs are already shifting. Companies are laying off non–AI‑literate employees.Alicia urges people to: Become AI‑fluent Join AI committees at work Pursue certification Use AI to become their company’s internal expert “There’s no maybe—you have to learn AI,” she warns. F. AI is Transforming Every Sector: Finance, Healthcare, Government She provides insights on… AI receptionists (“Monica” and “Leslie”) that boost customer interaction to 92% Financial analysis using secure ChatGPT setups AI mental health companions Government calls for national AI leadership G. Alicia Monetizes Through Education, Certification & Consulting Her business model includes: Free monthly summits Paid masterclasses Corporate consulting AI certifications Live Atlanta workshops She teaches others to become AI consultants too. H. Her Personal Triumph Story Inspires Thousands A powerful moment is when she recounts her ex-husband saying: “There’s only one quarterback on a team—and you will never speak again.”Yet today, 1,200+ people attend her live events, and tens of thousands join her virtual trainings. Her success proves resilience and purpose overcome adversity. 4. Key Quotes On AI Opportunity “Never has there been a better time in history to start, build, or scale a business than right now.” On Training Entrepreneurs “Open your laptops… use the same prompt I use. See what results you get.” On the Power of AI Tools “You can take one episode and repurpose it into all these different content ways.” On Pivoting Her Entire Company “In 2022, I said we’re closing this business and going all in on AI.” On Being Black in Tech “My mission is to make sure our community is not left behind—but ahead of the curve.” On Personal Resilience “You will be speaking on the best stages… people will come to see you.”(A friend’s response after she was told she’d “never speak again.”) On Future-Proofing Careers “Those using AI will replace you. You have to learn how to leverage AI.” On AI as a Human-First Technology “AI plus human intelligence—that’s what takes things to the next level.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Alicia Lyttle. SUMMARY OF THE ALICIA LYTTLE INTERVIEW From “Money Making Conversations Master Class” with Rushion McDonald [ 1. Purpose of the Interview The purpose of this interview was to: Showcase Alicia Lyttle, CEO and co‑founder of Air Innovations, known widely as the “Queen of AI.” [ Educate small business owners, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits on how to leverage AI for growth. Highlight her mission to empower the African American community to not only keep up with AI—but lead in it. [ Demonstrate how AI tools can transform operations, content creation, finances, and productivity in minutes instead of months. Inspire listeners through her entrepreneurial journey, professional pivots, and personal resilience. 2. High-Level Summary Alicia Lyttle returns to the show two years after her last appearance, now positioned at the forefront of the global AI movement. She explains how her work has shifted from annual summits to monthly AI Business Summits, teaching tens of thousands of entrepreneurs how to use AI hands‑on for content, marketing, operations, and scaling. She breaks down how simple tools—such as NotebookLM, ChatGPT, Jasper, Gemini, and HeyGen—can turn a single piece of content into newsletters, PowerPoints, videos, study guides, and more. She stresses that AI is now accessible, especially with free versions like ChatGPT. Alicia also shares her origin story in AI, beginning with a 15‑year‑old speaker at Walmart Tech Live describing IBM Watson. This sparked her fascination and ultimately led her to pivot her entire company toward full-time AI training and consulting by 2022—despite skepticism from her peers. She details the massive growth of her brand, including 21,000+ live summit attendees and explosive social media expansion. The interview also addresses AI’s role in finance, healthcare, government, job disruption, and how individuals can future‑proof themselves. Her personal story of overcoming a restrictive ex-husband who told her she would “never speak again” underscores her powerful message: no one should silence your gifts. Now she speaks to thousands, leads major events, and helps others build new careers in AI. 3. Key Takeaways A. AI Is Evolving Fast—and So Must We AI is changing so quickly that entrepreneurs cannot afford to wait for annual updates. This is why Alicia shifted to monthly training summits. People need ongoing education to stay competitive. B. Hands‑On AI Education Is the Key Alicia doesn’t just lecture—she walks participants through real demonstrations: Uploading YouTube links Creating summaries Generating emails, mind maps, PowerPoints, quizzes, videos, and more…all from a single input. Her approach eliminates fear and teaches entrepreneurs how to use AI immediately. C. Accessibility Has Changed the Game The release of ChatGPT, especially the free version, democratized AI. Before that, tools like IBM Watson were too complex and expensive. Now anyone with a laptop and internet connection can build websites, write content, or automate business flows in minutes. [ D. The African American Community Must Lead—Not Follow Alicia emphasizes that historically, Black communities have been “last in line” in tech innovation, but this AI era presents a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to jump ahead.She sees it as her mission to speak everywhere Black entrepreneurs are to ensure they seize this moment. E. AI Will Replace Tasks—But People Can Future‑Proof Themselves Jobs are already shifting. Companies are laying off non–AI‑literate employees.Alicia urges people to: Become AI‑fluent Join AI committees at work Pursue certification Use AI to become their company’s internal expert “There’s no maybe—you have to learn AI,” she warns. F. AI is Transforming Every Sector: Finance, Healthcare, Government She provides insights on… AI receptionists (“Monica” and “Leslie”) that boost customer interaction to 92% Financial analysis using secure ChatGPT setups AI mental health companions Government calls for national AI leadership G. Alicia Monetizes Through Education, Certification & Consulting Her business model includes: Free monthly summits Paid masterclasses Corporate consulting AI certifications Live Atlanta workshops She teaches others to become AI consultants too. H. Her Personal Triumph Story Inspires Thousands A powerful moment is when she recounts her ex-husband saying: “There’s only one quarterback on a team—and you will never speak again.”Yet today, 1,200+ people attend her live events, and tens of thousands join her virtual trainings. Her success proves resilience and purpose overcome adversity. 4. Key Quotes On AI Opportunity “Never has there been a better time in history to start, build, or scale a business than right now.” On Training Entrepreneurs “Open your laptops… use the same prompt I use. See what results you get.” On the Power of AI Tools “You can take one episode and repurpose it into all these different content ways.” On Pivoting Her Entire Company “In 2022, I said we’re closing this business and going all in on AI.” On Being Black in Tech “My mission is to make sure our community is not left behind—but ahead of the curve.” On Personal Resilience “You will be speaking on the best stages… people will come to see you.”(A friend’s response after she was told she’d “never speak again.”) On Future-Proofing Careers “Those using AI will replace you. You have to learn how to leverage AI.” On AI as a Human-First Technology “AI plus human intelligence—that’s what takes things to the next level.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSteve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the greatest threat to our witness today isn't culture—but division within the church itself? In a time when opinions are loud and loyalties are competing, it's easy to prioritize being right over reflecting Christ. In this episode, Christine Caine walks through 1 Corinthians 1 to remind us that what unites us in Jesus is far greater than anything that divides us. Paul's words to the Corinthian church speak powerfully to our moment—calling us back to humility, unity, and the centrality of the cross. This message challenges us to elevate Jesus above personalities, preferences, and opinions, and to live in a way that truly reflects Him to a watching world. Unity isn't optional—it's essential to our witness. ✨ In this episode, you'll discover: ● Why unity matters more than ever in a divided world ● How the cross confronts pride, power, and human wisdom ● What it looks like to live and lead with Jesus at the center

RPH co-host Melanie Yazzie continues our series of frontline reports from Minneapolis. In this episode, Melanie speaks to Rachel Thunder from the Indigenous Protector Movement and NDN's Lorenzo Serna. Watch the video edition on The Red Nation Podcast YouTube channel Empower our work: GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/empower-red-medias-indigenous-content  Subscribe to The Red Nation Newsletter: https://www.therednation.org/ Patreon https://www.patreon.com/redmediapr

What does it take to fly a plane? For TED Fellow Refilwe Ledwaba, it took perseverance and drive — and an instructor who took the time to teach to her learning style. Today, as founder of Girls Fly Africa, Ledwaba is empowering the next generation of pilots, particularly young women, with the engineering skills, professional networks and hands-on experience they need to take flight into a sky-high career.After the talk, Modupe shares tips on how you can go the extra step as a mentor.Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this powerful episode of RISE Urban Nation Podcast, host Taryell Simmons sits down with Constance “Serenity Sage” English, founder of the UnYes Movement and Siblings United Visitations, to explore how she transformed foster care trauma into a faith-rooted national reform movement. Serenity shares her journey from being silenced and separated from siblings to becoming a bold advocate for family preservation, sibling restoration, and healing-centered systems change. Drawing on her lived experience, spiritual grounding, and visionary leadership, she introduces the UnYes Movement as a reversal of every harmful label placed on foster youth—a resounding YES to identity, belonging, faith, and justice. This conversation is a call to action for leaders, advocates, and changemakers to move beyond awareness into restoration, and to help build communities where children are seen, heard, and never alone again. Links & Resources:

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260201dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious. Isaiah 42:21 A Gift Worth Opening You receive a gift. You open it up. The gift may tell you something about the person who gave you the gift. Are they a big spender? Do they have a solid grasp on current fashion? Do they know you well or not? The same happens when you open God’s gift to you–his Word found in the Bible. Each day as you open that gift, what will you learn about your God? You will learn that he is wise and powerful and loving. And, as the prophet Isaiah writes in our Bible passage today, you will see that the God who loves you is righteous. God wants you to know his righteousness. So, God made his Word great and glorious. He did this, not to make it a “great read” or best seller (although it is). He made his Word great and glorious so that you would clearly see and know his righteousness. And the One who is righteous makes you righteous, too. Perhaps one of the most important clues you may pick up from a gift you receive is a clear indication of what the giver thinks of you. But many gifts from others often don't accurately reflect this. Perhaps they like you, but not as much as their lavish gift seems to indicate. Or they deeply love you but are lousy gift givers. In the Bible, you clearly and repeatedly see that God loves you. That's a gift that’s worth opening every day! Prayer: Gracious Lord, thank you for the great and glorious gift of your Word. Give me the time and desire to regularly read and study your Word. May the Holy Spirit give me understanding, wisdom and increased faith in you. Empower my faith to shine in a life of love for you and others. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Read OnlineWhen Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:1–3The Beatitudes call us to the heights of morality and holiness. Those who live according to these divine precepts are blessed beyond measure. The promises to those who live this high calling are great: They become children of God and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Furthermore, they receive comfort, satisfaction, mercy, purity, and peace. Though the rewards are great, so are the requirements: spiritual poverty, holy sorrow, meekness, longing for righteousness, a merciful heart, purity, peacemaking, and patient endurance during persecution.The Beatitudes reveal the culmination of God's moral teaching and the highest revelation of the Christian life. To fully appreciate their significance, it is helpful to understand the history of moral revelation. Doing so is more than a history lesson on God's deepening revelation, it also reveals the path for our spiritual journey toward perfection.Morality begins with the Natural Law—the innate understanding of right and wrong written on the human heart. This Law is from God and is often described as living in accord with right reason or common sense. All people have access to this moral law within their own consciences, enabling them to recognize God as the Creator, honor Him, respect human dignity and the common good, and refrain from acts such as murder, theft, and deception. Though universally present in all people, sin and our fallen human nature cloud our ability to clearly see and follow that law.In the Old Testament, God slowly revealed Himself and called His people to greater holiness and moral living by adding to the Natural Law through revelation. From Abraham and his descendants, God raised up Moses through whom He revealed the Ten Commandments—a concise moral code rooted in Natural Law but explicitly revealed by God that called His chosen people to right worship, justice, and love for one's neighbor.Through the prophets—such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel—God called Israel to move beyond mere external observance of the law to an interior conversion of heart. Isaiah emphasized the virtues of justice and mercy, Jeremiah prophesied a new covenant in which God's law would be written on the hearts of His people, and Ezekiel promised that God would give His people a new heart and a new spirit, enabling them to follow His statutes.The wisdom literature—Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Sirach—deepened the understanding of moral life by revealing moral gifts, such as the Fear of the Lord, the blessedness of righteousness, and the call to trust in God's providence and live a virtuous life.The Beatitudes elevate all laws of the Old Covenant. Jesus not only calls us to profound holiness, He also provides the means to achieve it through His Sacrifice, transmitted through the grace of the Sacraments. To live the Beatitudes is to live in imitation of Christ, who perfectly embodied all virtues in His life, Passion, and Resurrection. Hence, the Beatitudes are not only a moral code we must follow, they are a participation in and union with the Son of God, Who lived the Beatitudes to perfection.As we ponder the Beatitudes, reflect today on their high and glorious calling, as well as their rewards. Sometimes, reading the Beatitudes can leave us discouraged, as we are aware of how far we are away from perfecting them. Dispel discouragement and know that these new divine precepts are attainable by grace. Set your eyes on the heights of perfection and open yourself to the abundant grace offered. Doing so will not only result in glorious spiritual rewards in this life, it will also result in the greatest eternal rewards in Heaven.Lord of perfection, You lived the Beatitudes to the fullest during Your life on earth and continue to manifest those perfections from Heaven. Please open my heart to Your grace and fill me with Your Holy Spirit, so that I may answer the call to the new and glorious moral state to which I am called. Empower me to live fully immersed in and guided by Your Sacrificial Love. Help me to inspire others to embrace this path of holiness, so that we may journey together toward the eternal joy of Your Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You!  Image: Église Saint-Martin de Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsSource: Free RSS feed from catholic-daily-reflections.com — Copyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. This content is provided solely for personal, non-commercial use. Redistribution, republication, or commercial use — including use within apps with advertising — is strictly prohibited without written permission.

There's nothing like the first time your parents go away for the weekend and leave you to take care of the house. Yes, the sense of freedom is exhilarating, but there's nothing like the validation of being trusted with such a big responsibility. And one of the reasons they trust you with the responsibility is they've equipped you to handle yourself – and the house! This week, we're pausing our Psalm 23 series to look at an important passage from 2 Corinthians to reflect on one of the primary responsibilities of disciples of Jesus, and why we can be confident in our ability to accomplish it.

Guest: Michael Toth. The segment focuses on California's strategy to empower the Attorney General to sue fossil fuel companies for rising insurance premiums. Toth argues these lawsuits are politically motivated and legally weak, noting that even insurance companies refuse to sue because attributing specific damages or deaths to corporate emissions is factually difficult.UNDATED

Premium This is a preview of our premium episode. Full access is available only to premium subscribers. Click here and learn about the Premium Podcast to access this interview and transcript... Play audio-only preview episode | Play on YouTube | Play on Spotify Episode Summary Leadership is not defined by rank, title, or position, but by how well leaders take care of their people. In this conversation, Cornelius Fichtner speaks with Sergeant Major Jill E. Johnson about leadership grounded in service, trust, and responsibility. Drawing from more than two decades of military experience, including deployments and senior enlisted leadership roles, Jill explains how effective leaders build commitment by focusing on people before personal advancement. She shares how early career experiences, unexpected recommendations, and continuous preparation shaped her leadership path, even when she did not initially plan to pursue a long-term military career.

Tune in to this week's Tea & Consciousness session, where natural healing, holistic wellness, and the mysteries of consciousness take center stage. Discover practical insights and transformative approaches to nurturing your health and expanding your awareness.

Inspire, Empower & Educate with Doc JC (@doc.jclewis) where they share their biggest lessons learned and words of wisdom from losing herself and graduating medical school!   Find out more about them at Website: https://www.adventureswithdocjc.com/ Join the FREE Facebook group for The Michael Brian Show at https://www.facebook.com/groups/themichaelbrianshow   Follow Mike on Facebook Instagram & X

Beyond the Stage: How Tony Saint Tone Uses Music to Empower and HealTony Saint Tone is an award-winning singer-songwriter and full-time musician who has performed over 7,000 shows worldwide. Blending pop, rock, and country with positive affirmations and motivational stories, he creates music that uplifts, entertains, and inspires. Through his songs, live performances, and nonprofit work, Tony helps audiences find energy, empowerment, and joy.Links:https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/1198989/sites/154206859744511464/9uWlNohttps://www.instagram.com/sainttone21/Tags:Motivation,Musician,Positivity,Spiritual Growth,Supporting A Charitable Cause,Beyond the Stage: How Tony Saint Tone Uses Music to Empower and Heal,Live Video Podcast Interview,Interview,Podcast,PodmatchSupport PEG by checking out our Sponsors:Download and use Newsly for free now from www.newsly.me or from the link in the description, and use promo code “GHOST” and receive a 1-month free premium subscription.The best tool for getting podcast guests:https://podmatch.com/signup/phantomelectricghostSubscribe to our Instagram for exclusive content:https://www.instagram.com/expansive_sound_experiments/Subscribe to our YouTube https://youtube.com/@phantomelectricghost?si=rEyT56WQvDsAoRprRSShttps://anchor.fm/s/3b31908/podcast/rssSubstackhttps://substack.com/@phantomelectricghost?utm_source=edit-profile-page

On this week's interview Paul sits down with Dr. Deane Waldman and Vance Ginn, PhD. They are authors of the new book "Empower Patients: Two Doctors' Cure for Health Care." They discuss the issues facing American health care and then discuss specific issues in New Mexico (Dr. Deane once lived in Albuquerque and served at UNMH). Ultimately, their book and this interview attempts to provide an answer to the question, "How can policymakers at both the state and federal levels solve our crisis in health care?" 

Hello beautiful Souls!! Have you ever noticed that you're doing “well”… but something still feels off?Like you're responsible, capable, respected, yet somehow stuck inside a version of yourself that feels too small?What if the problem isn't your effort, your skills, or your discipline… What if it's the identity you've been living from?In today's episode, we're talking about a quiet shift, not a hype moment, not a motivational speech, but the kind of internal decision that changes how you lead, how you choose, and how heavy life feels. I'll share the belief I had to unlearn, the question that changed everything for me, and why so many high performers are successful but still living under their real potential.As you listen, you'll feel seen. You'll probably feel uncomfortable in a good way, and you'll start to notice where you've been holding it all together instead of actually expanding.You'll learn how identity drives your limits, why pushing harder isn't the answer, and what happens when you stop asking “can I handle more?” and start asking a different question altogether.While listening, try this: Pay attention to what hits you emotionally. Notice where you feel tension, resistance, or relief. That reaction isn't random, its awareness doing its job.This episode isn't about doing more. It's about who you're becoming next.If something in you knows there's another level calling you forward, this conversation is for you.Remember - YOU have full control of the wheel.With much love and gratitude,NancyListen to this episode now on YouTube or Apple Podcasts, Empower with Nancy.Don't rush it. Let it land.

Send us a textChris Stevenson, Founder of The Empower Group, joins Zack Oates to explore what it really takes to create guest experiences people remember. Drawing from his background in fitness, hospitality, and live entertainment, Chris shares why empowering teams, simplifying processes, and focusing on service recovery can dramatically improve loyalty and engagement.Zack and Chris discuss: Why memorable experiences matter more than perfection How empowerment improves both employee and guest satisfaction What easy, effective, and enjoyable really looks like in practice Why service recovery creates stronger loyalty than flawless service How data helps brands move from feel to real decisionsThanks, Chris!Links:https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevensonempowers/https://www.linkedin.com/company/theempowergroup/about/https://www.youtube.com/@theempowergroup

What if the greatest tragedy isn't dying too soon, but living without purpose? Your life was made to be filled with intentionally, a God adventure, and purpose – it's time to live like you believe that! In this episode, Christine Caine unpacks Psalm 90 and challenges us to stop drifting through life and start living intentionally with eternity in view. With honesty, biblical insight, and personal reflection, she reminds us that our days are numbered – and that truth is meant to awaken wisdom, joy, and purpose so we can make every day count for the glory of God. ✨ Discover today: ● Why numbering your days leads to wisdom and intentional living ● How to stop drifting and start living on purpose ● What it means to live fully in time while keeping eternity in view

Red Power Hour is back! The RPH crew discusses the fascist attack on Minneapolis by ICE and the mass mobilization against it. Joining co-hosts Melanie Yazzie and Elena Ortiz is TRN comrade Demetrius Johnson. Empower our work: GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/empower-red-medias-indigenous-content  Subscribe to The Red Nation Newsletter: https://www.therednation.org/ Patreon https://www.patreon.com/redmediapr  

Host: Annik Sobing Guest: Jordan Welke Published: January 26, 2026 Length: ~30 minutes Presented by: Global Training Center ACE Up Your Trade Game: Modernizing Family Logistics This week on Simply Trade, host Annik Sobing chats with Jordan Welke, next-generation leader of Welke Customs Brokers & International Freight Forwarders, about evolving a family-owned logistics firm in a changing trade landscape. From rented desks symbolizing rapid 2025 growth to blending old-school service with cutting-edge tech, Jordan shares how Welke transformed challenges into expansion. Whether you're scaling a brokerage, managing hybrid teams, or navigating tariffs, this episode reveals strategies for staying nimble, compliant, and people-focused amid industry shifts.​ What You'll Learn in This Episode: Origins of Welke: Founded in 1985 from a basement brokerage to North America's magazine specialist 2025 breakout: Two new U.S. offices, 10 hires, NV OCC licensing for freight forwarding Hybrid culture: Three office days, flying teams for unity despite remote options Tech-service blend: Automating data entry to free staff for concierge client care Growth drivers: Capturing clients from acquired competitors, handling supply chain chaos Branding edge: Fun website vibes (shipping container dreams) driving inbound leads Leadership scaling: Empower divisional managers while communicating 5-year vision company-wide Adapting to pitfalls: Nimble mindset, owning mistakes, constant education like CVSA exams Future-proofing: Compliance tech, agency feeds, and hiring hustlers for U.S. sales​ Tips for Getting Started: Honor roots: Pair personalized service with AI for mundane tasks—keep humans on exceptions. Build online presence: SEO-optimize with personality to stand out in searches. Scale smart: Hire/promote leaders per office, share vision to preserve "mom-and-pop" feel. Stay adaptable: Embrace failure as learning; invest in team training amid tariffs/strikes. Respond fast: Answer crisis calls instantly—turn disruptions into loyalty wins.​ Key Takeaways: Welke proves family businesses thrive by modernizing without losing heart—40 profitable years into 2026 growth. Tech enhances, doesn't replace, expert people in complex trade. Nimbleness, culture, and quick service capture market share as boomers retire and chaos rises. Data-driven branding and automation build credibility for enterprise plays.​ Resources & Mentions: Jordan Welke: Connect on LinkedIn (search Welke Customs Brokers) Welke Customs Brokers: www.welke.com — Customs brokerage, freight forwarding, 3PL across North America Hiring: U.S. freight/customs sales roles open—DM Jordan for culture-fit hustlers Industry context: Tariffs, CARM, supply disruptions boosting demand for agile partners​ Credits Host: Annik Sobing Guest: Jordan Welk Producer: Annik Sobing      Subscribe & Follow New episodes weekly! Presented by: Global Training Center

Dr. Aman Kaur, Founder & President of Women in DSO & Dr. Greg White, CEO of Pepperpointe Partnerships discuss: Empower & Grow - March 5-7 Rise & Lead Program Upcoming Global Summits Much More Save 20% by using code GDN26 on registration here - https://dso.pub/WDSO26 To learn more about Women in DSO visit - https://womenindso.org/    

Dr. Aman Kaur, Founder & President of Women in DSO & Dr. Greg White, CEO of Pepperpointe Partnerships discuss: Empower & Grow - March 5-7 Rise & Lead Program Upcoming Global Summits Much More Save 20% by using code GDN26 on registration here - https://dso.pub/WDSO26 To learn more about Women in DSO visit - https://womenindso.org/    

Episode 88 - Stuti Jalan and Birgit Hass turn stories into impact - from amplifying women's voices worldwide to making finance human. Founders, connectors and change-makers bringing meaning, markets and movements together.Disclaimer: Please note that all information and content on the UK Health Radio Network, all its radio broadcasts and podcasts are provided by the authors, producers, presenters and companies themselves and is only intended as additional information to your general knowledge. As a service to our listeners/readers our programs/content are for general information and entertainment only.  The UK Health Radio Network does not recommend, endorse, or object to the views, products or topics expressed or discussed by show hosts or their guests, authors and interviewees.  We suggest you always consult with your own professional – personal, medical, financial or legal advisor. So please do not delay or disregard any professional – personal, medical, financial or legal advice received due to something you have heard or read on the UK Health Radio Network.

“If you're not making decisions about tech in your clinic… someone else is.”Sharif Zeid returns to the Pintcast to talk about the AI wave, automation, and why PT clinics need more leadership — not more software. This episode peels back the hype and hits the reality: you either adapt, or you get buried in admin, inefficiency, and turnover.Topics include:Why AI ≠ robots taking your jobHow smart automation actually looks in practiceThe mindset shift needed for modern clinic leadersWhy “doing nothing” is the most expensive optionTech, culture, and the systems that scale???? Guest & Tools:Sharif Zeid → EmpowerEMR.com????️ Sponsor Mentions:PRE-ROLL: Empower EMRBig thanks to Empower EMR. If your clinic is stuck in an EMR that slows you down, Empower gives you speed, clean workflows, and features PTs actually asked for. Better notes, faster documentation, smoother operations — all wrapped in customer support that doesn't ghost you. → empoweremr.comMID-ROLL: Brooks IHLShoutout to Brooks IHL. If you're thinking residency, fellowship, or just want deeper clinical mastery, Brooks IHL has programs that actually shape better clinicians — not just give you letters. → brooksihl.orgPRE-PARTING SHOT: U.S. Physical TherapyToday's episode is supported by U.S. Physical Therapy — a national network of clinics focused on developing clinicians, not burning them out. Leadership tracks, mentorship, career growth, and the stability to build your future in PT. If you want a place that supports how YOU want to practice, that's USPH. → usph.com

Tune in to this week's Tea & Consciousness session, where natural healing, holistic wellness, and the mysteries of consciousness take center stage. Discover practical insights and transformative approaches to nurturing your health and expanding your awareness.

Inspire, Empower & Educate with Sarah Turner (@flourishcourses) where they share their biggest lessons learned and words of wisdom from mental health and emotion regulation struggles!   Find out more about them at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-turner-4637ba34 Facebook: www.facebook.com/STTherapyServicesLTD Join the FREE Facebook group for The Michael Brian Show at https://www.facebook.com/groups/themichaelbrianshow   Follow Mike on Facebook Instagram & X

What if the most valuable currency in your career isn't money, but authentic relationships nobody can take away?In this urgent episode, guest host Sivana Brewer digs deep with John Rubino, COO and founder of JID Investments and a US naval aviator turned business leader. Together, they unravel how military discipline, open-book honesty, and relentless connection-building are the forgotten keys to thriving in today's high-stakes market.Discover the proven systems, mindset shifts, and emotional skills John uses to lead through market chaos, burnout, and uncertainty. If you're tired of surface-level business advice and want the real trade secrets to scaling impact and resilience, you need this now.Listen or risk missing out on the exclusive moves that successful second-in-commands use to win, when everyone else is underwater.Timestamped Highlights[00:00] – Transitioning from Navy pilot to COO: war stories behind real discipline[02:05] – How John's military roots shaped his leadership style and investor trust[04:40] – The wild pivot: launching a business before leaving active duty[07:07] – Top Gun moments, family legacies, and the dream of commanding multi-million dollar assets[10:53] – Secret systems for managing 18+ deals and 200+ investors without chaos[14:02] – Navigating COVID uncertainty—how top COOs adapt and overcome[17:02] – The hidden ROI of real relationships and why most companies are doing it wrong[29:44] – Masterminds and tribe thinking: the best advice John gives his own kids[34:02] – John's high-impact daily process for balancing work, team, and personal lifeAbout the GuestJohn Rubino is the COO, founder, and co-managing partner of JID Investments, where he's raised over $45M and delivered returns across dozens of real estate projects for 200+ investors. With more than 20 years as a U.S. naval aviator followed by a decade in private equity, John is renowned for his disciplined, relationship-first approach to investing and leadership. He also coaches real estate and financial professionals in strategic wealth-building at KW United Wealth.

Sharif Zeid joins Jimmy to unpack the true root causes of clinic burnout, wasted revenue, and team frustration. Spoiler: it's not your EMR, and it's not “kids these days.” It's the manual, outdated, or bloated processes you're too busy to see.Learn:How tracking too many metrics slows your teamWhere most clinics lose time (and don't know it)What automation actually changes firstWhy your team's happiness is your best KPIHow to spot "noise" and double down on "signal"???? Resources:Sharif Zeid → EmpowerEMR.comFollow PT Pintcast on all platforms: YouTube, Apple, Spotify & more????️ Sponsor Mentions:PRE-ROLL: Brooks IHLWorld-class residencies, fellowships, and CE designed to turn good clinicians into great ones. Their mentors walk the walk. Check out Brooks IHL and see how far you can go → brooksihl.orgMID-ROLL: Empower EMRBig thanks to Empower EMR. If your clinic is stuck in an EMR that slows you down, Empower gives you speed, clean workflows, and features PTs actually asked for. Better notes, faster documentation, smoother operations — all wrapped in customer support that doesn't ghost you. → empoweremr.com

In this episode of Life Equals Choices, Choices Equal Life, host Kim Olver continues her conversation on self-discovery with Liz Hansen, owner of Chicago Boudoir Photography. Liz shares her powerful journey from education to photography and explains how boudoir photography can become a deeply transformative experience for women at every stage of life.This candid conversation explores confidence, body image, self-worth, and the courage it takes to step outside your comfort zone. Liz describes how thousands of women have walked into her studio feeling unsure and walked out feeling empowered—not because their bodies changed, but because their relationship with themselves did. Together, Kim and Liz discuss why worth is not earned through roles, achievements, or appearance, but exists simply because you are alive.You'll hear how boudoir photography challenges long-standing cultural beliefs about women's bodies, beauty standards, and who confidence is “for.” Liz explains what actually happens during a boudoir session, how trust and safety are built, and why seeing yourself—unfiltered and unedited—can be a profound act of self-acceptance. This episode also addresses common reasons women choose boudoir experiences, from milestones and new beginnings to healing after loss, illness, or divorce.If you're navigating self-discovery, rebuilding confidence, or learning to honor your inherent worth, this episode offers a refreshing and empowering perspective. It's a reminder that your body is not something to fix, but a vessel that has carried your story—and deserves to be celebrated.Be sure to tune in next week for Part Two of this inspiring conversation.

Kathie Lee Gifford has spent decades connecting with audiences as a television host, author, producer and storyteller whose faith and optimism have shaped her work. In her first-ever appearance on Making Space, Kathie Lee reunites with Hoda for a conversation about the bond they built working side by side, navigating grief and loss while celebrating new beginnings, and finding purpose through every stage of life. Plus, she opens up about life as a grandmother to five and why she believes we are always still becoming. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thanks for listening!Visit us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.salvationnow.ca⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram, TikTok & Twitter @tjmalcangiSubscribe to our YouTube channel “TJ Malcangi”God bless you!

Are you secretly worried your growth will wreck the “family” vibe in your business or that tighter systems will make top talent leave? In this episode, Sivana Brewer interviews Erica Wright, COO of VRA Realty, whose systems-first playbook catapulted the brokerage from 85 to 115 agents, spanning five states.They dig into the raw truth of building infrastructure for explosive scale (without losing loyalty), balancing tough accountability with real compassion, and leading teams remotely while launching new ventures abroad. Discover how Erica harnessed her psychology and sales background to build trust, manage visionaries, and create a culture where hard conversations actually drive growth.Don't miss this episode if you want to avoid costly attrition, burnout, and lost culture. Listen now for exclusive, actionable insights. These proven moves aren't taught anywhere else!Timestamped Highlights[00:00] – Erica's bold entry: transforming chaos into compliance with her first CRM rollout [05:51] – How a psychologist became an operations powerhouse (and opened 8 offices in 6 months) [09:45] – Balancing ambition and deep family ties after personal loss—the surprising lessons for remote executives [13:46] – Color-coded calendars and time-blocking rituals: how Erica runs five business lines from Mexico [16:01] – Her step-by-step playbook for deciding what to delegate, outsource, or tackle solo [19:11] – The “idea overwhelm” dilemma—how to hold visionaries accountable to the real mission [21:37] – Inside the first 90 days: building trust, rolling out new systems, and avoiding agent revolt [25:27] – The truth about “family cultures”: love, accountability, and how to fire without guilt [28:07] – Why being COO feels lonely (and what to do about it, ven if you're building a team abroad) [31:31] – Emotional management, therapy sessions, and creating radical honesty in a high-turnover industry [39:28] – Erica's regrets—and #1 advice for any new COO about setting boundaries with their CEO [41:05] – Her next big move: remote work, funds management, and two brand-new business launchesAbout the GuestErica Wright is the Chief Operating Officer of VRA Realty, a fast-growing boutique real estate brokerage now spanning five states and over 115 agents. Known for her powerhouse systems mindset and global operations expertise, Erica engineered VRA's scale through smart hiring, process revamps, and authentic relationship-building. She brings a rare blend of psychology, direct sales, and hands-on leadership from international markets, transforming loosely organized teams into high-accountability, high-loyalty cultures. Erica is also the founder of Steven's Wings, a nonprofit for underserved youth, and is launching “This Might Be a Bad Idea”—a podcast about life and leadership abroad.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Willie Jolley. SUMMARY OF THE INTERVIEW In this energetic and motivational conversation, Hall of Fame speaker Dr. Willie Jolley joins Rushion McDonald on Money Making Conversations Masterclass to discuss his new book, “Rich Is Good, Wealthy Is Better.” The interview covers the difference between being rich and being wealthy, the mindsets required for long-term financial growth, and how individuals—no matter their background—can build generational wealth. Jolley also emphasizes discipline, humility, planning, multiple streams of income, overcoming setbacks, and the importance of insurance and protection of assets. PURPOSE OF THE INTERVIEW The interview aims to: 1. Introduce and promote Dr. Jolley’s new book “Rich Is Good, Wealthy Is Better” and the teachings within it. 2. Educate listeners on the distinction between rich and wealthy Jolley wants audiences to understand wealth in generational, not short-term, terms. 3. Motivate individuals to shift their financial mindset From “working money” to “mailbox money.” 4. Empower entrepreneurs and families To adopt discipline, drop pride, and create multigenerational financial systems. 5. Share Jolley’s personal setback‑to‑success story To reinforce that anyone can grow wealth with the right principles. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Rich vs. Wealthy Being rich = high income, often tied to active labor (e.g., athlete contracts). Being wealthy = passive income, ownership, generational sustainability. A rich football player earns millions; the team owner earns billions and doesn’t have to “run up and down the field.” 2. The Five Money Mindsets Jolley explains five financial mindsets: One‑day mindset – living day to day. 30‑day mindset – fixed incomes/check-to-check living. One‑year mindset – annual thinking (raises, annual income). Decade mindset – typical for entertainers/athletes with multi‑year contracts. Generational mindset (Wealth Mindset) – building wealth to last multiple generations. Jolley’s goal: move people up just one level at a time. 3. Five Types of Wealth Jolley breaks wealth into five categories: Financial Wealth Health Wealth (“A sick person has one dream; a healthy person has a thousand.” – Les Brown) Relationship Wealth Reputational Wealth (Brand) Intellectual Capital Wealth (What you know and can charge for) 4. Discipline Is the Key Wealth requires: Living below your means Investing the difference Consistency Avoiding arrogance and ignorance 5. Pride Is an Enemy of Wealth Pride leads people to overspend to keep up appearances.Jolley argues that pride “kills wealth” and must be replaced with planning and humility. 6. The Three Legs of Wealth To build sustainable wealth, you need: Income Investment (letting money work for you) Insurance (life, health, car, disability, long-term care) 7. Multiple Streams of Income Jolley urges everyone to build at least two streams of income from: Stocks Bonds Real estate Crypto Collectibles Jewelry Art Content creation 8. Overcoming Setbacks Jolley details his own journey from unemployed nightclub singer to globally recognized motivational speaker.He reinforces that a setback is a setup for a comeback—the core message of his earlier bestselling book. 9. It’s Never Too Late to Start He cites examples of: A secretary who retired with $8M by investing small amounts over time Invested $12,000 at age 65 and grew it to $890,000 by age 72 NOTABLE QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW On Time & Opportunity “I have only just a minute… but it’s up to me to use it.” On Mindset “Wealth starts in your mind.” On Rich vs. Wealthy “Regular folks work for their money. Wealthy people make their money work for them.” On Pride “My pride was killing my wealth.” On Growth & Learning “If you’re willing to learn, no one can stop you.” [On Setbacks “A setback is a setup for your greater comeback.” On Starting Late “When is the best time to plant a tree? Eighty years ago. The second-best time? Today.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSupport the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Willie Jolley. SUMMARY OF THE INTERVIEW In this energetic and motivational conversation, Hall of Fame speaker Dr. Willie Jolley joins Rushion McDonald on Money Making Conversations Masterclass to discuss his new book, “Rich Is Good, Wealthy Is Better.” The interview covers the difference between being rich and being wealthy, the mindsets required for long-term financial growth, and how individuals—no matter their background—can build generational wealth. Jolley also emphasizes discipline, humility, planning, multiple streams of income, overcoming setbacks, and the importance of insurance and protection of assets. PURPOSE OF THE INTERVIEW The interview aims to: 1. Introduce and promote Dr. Jolley’s new book “Rich Is Good, Wealthy Is Better” and the teachings within it. 2. Educate listeners on the distinction between rich and wealthy Jolley wants audiences to understand wealth in generational, not short-term, terms. 3. Motivate individuals to shift their financial mindset From “working money” to “mailbox money.” 4. Empower entrepreneurs and families To adopt discipline, drop pride, and create multigenerational financial systems. 5. Share Jolley’s personal setback‑to‑success story To reinforce that anyone can grow wealth with the right principles. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Rich vs. Wealthy Being rich = high income, often tied to active labor (e.g., athlete contracts). Being wealthy = passive income, ownership, generational sustainability. A rich football player earns millions; the team owner earns billions and doesn’t have to “run up and down the field.” 2. The Five Money Mindsets Jolley explains five financial mindsets: One‑day mindset – living day to day. 30‑day mindset – fixed incomes/check-to-check living. One‑year mindset – annual thinking (raises, annual income). Decade mindset – typical for entertainers/athletes with multi‑year contracts. Generational mindset (Wealth Mindset) – building wealth to last multiple generations. Jolley’s goal: move people up just one level at a time. 3. Five Types of Wealth Jolley breaks wealth into five categories: Financial Wealth Health Wealth (“A sick person has one dream; a healthy person has a thousand.” – Les Brown) Relationship Wealth Reputational Wealth (Brand) Intellectual Capital Wealth (What you know and can charge for) 4. Discipline Is the Key Wealth requires: Living below your means Investing the difference Consistency Avoiding arrogance and ignorance 5. Pride Is an Enemy of Wealth Pride leads people to overspend to keep up appearances.Jolley argues that pride “kills wealth” and must be replaced with planning and humility. 6. The Three Legs of Wealth To build sustainable wealth, you need: Income Investment (letting money work for you) Insurance (life, health, car, disability, long-term care) 7. Multiple Streams of Income Jolley urges everyone to build at least two streams of income from: Stocks Bonds Real estate Crypto Collectibles Jewelry Art Content creation 8. Overcoming Setbacks Jolley details his own journey from unemployed nightclub singer to globally recognized motivational speaker.He reinforces that a setback is a setup for a comeback—the core message of his earlier bestselling book. 9. It’s Never Too Late to Start He cites examples of: A secretary who retired with $8M by investing small amounts over time Invested $12,000 at age 65 and grew it to $890,000 by age 72 NOTABLE QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW On Time & Opportunity “I have only just a minute… but it’s up to me to use it.” On Mindset “Wealth starts in your mind.” On Rich vs. Wealthy “Regular folks work for their money. Wealthy people make their money work for them.” On Pride “My pride was killing my wealth.” On Growth & Learning “If you’re willing to learn, no one can stop you.” [On Setbacks “A setback is a setup for your greater comeback.” On Starting Late “When is the best time to plant a tree? Eighty years ago. The second-best time? Today.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Willie Jolley. SUMMARY OF THE INTERVIEW In this energetic and motivational conversation, Hall of Fame speaker Dr. Willie Jolley joins Rushion McDonald on Money Making Conversations Masterclass to discuss his new book, “Rich Is Good, Wealthy Is Better.” The interview covers the difference between being rich and being wealthy, the mindsets required for long-term financial growth, and how individuals—no matter their background—can build generational wealth. Jolley also emphasizes discipline, humility, planning, multiple streams of income, overcoming setbacks, and the importance of insurance and protection of assets. PURPOSE OF THE INTERVIEW The interview aims to: 1. Introduce and promote Dr. Jolley’s new book “Rich Is Good, Wealthy Is Better” and the teachings within it. 2. Educate listeners on the distinction between rich and wealthy Jolley wants audiences to understand wealth in generational, not short-term, terms. 3. Motivate individuals to shift their financial mindset From “working money” to “mailbox money.” 4. Empower entrepreneurs and families To adopt discipline, drop pride, and create multigenerational financial systems. 5. Share Jolley’s personal setback‑to‑success story To reinforce that anyone can grow wealth with the right principles. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Rich vs. Wealthy Being rich = high income, often tied to active labor (e.g., athlete contracts). Being wealthy = passive income, ownership, generational sustainability. A rich football player earns millions; the team owner earns billions and doesn’t have to “run up and down the field.” 2. The Five Money Mindsets Jolley explains five financial mindsets: One‑day mindset – living day to day. 30‑day mindset – fixed incomes/check-to-check living. One‑year mindset – annual thinking (raises, annual income). Decade mindset – typical for entertainers/athletes with multi‑year contracts. Generational mindset (Wealth Mindset) – building wealth to last multiple generations. Jolley’s goal: move people up just one level at a time. 3. Five Types of Wealth Jolley breaks wealth into five categories: Financial Wealth Health Wealth (“A sick person has one dream; a healthy person has a thousand.” – Les Brown) Relationship Wealth Reputational Wealth (Brand) Intellectual Capital Wealth (What you know and can charge for) 4. Discipline Is the Key Wealth requires: Living below your means Investing the difference Consistency Avoiding arrogance and ignorance 5. Pride Is an Enemy of Wealth Pride leads people to overspend to keep up appearances.Jolley argues that pride “kills wealth” and must be replaced with planning and humility. 6. The Three Legs of Wealth To build sustainable wealth, you need: Income Investment (letting money work for you) Insurance (life, health, car, disability, long-term care) 7. Multiple Streams of Income Jolley urges everyone to build at least two streams of income from: Stocks Bonds Real estate Crypto Collectibles Jewelry Art Content creation 8. Overcoming Setbacks Jolley details his own journey from unemployed nightclub singer to globally recognized motivational speaker.He reinforces that a setback is a setup for a comeback—the core message of his earlier bestselling book. 9. It’s Never Too Late to Start He cites examples of: A secretary who retired with $8M by investing small amounts over time Invested $12,000 at age 65 and grew it to $890,000 by age 72 NOTABLE QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW On Time & Opportunity “I have only just a minute… but it’s up to me to use it.” On Mindset “Wealth starts in your mind.” On Rich vs. Wealthy “Regular folks work for their money. Wealthy people make their money work for them.” On Pride “My pride was killing my wealth.” On Growth & Learning “If you’re willing to learn, no one can stop you.” [On Setbacks “A setback is a setup for your greater comeback.” On Starting Late “When is the best time to plant a tree? Eighty years ago. The second-best time? Today.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSteve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

116 Ethical AI in Business: How to Empower Employees Without Replacing Them | James Lang   The Entreprenudist Podcast https://entreprenudist.com Artificial intelligence is transforming the workplace, but poor implementation can create fear, disruption, and chaos instead of progress. In this episode, we speak with James Lang, Managing Partner at OverLang Venture Partners, about the importance of ethical AI adoption and how organizations can use AI to empower employees rather than replace them. This conversation is essential for business owners, executives, and decision-makers looking to adopt AI responsibly while protecting their teams and long-term success. -------------------------  About James Lang James Lang is the Managing Partner at OverLang Venture Partners, where he focuses on helping businesses adopt ethical and responsible AI strategies that empower employees, drive innovation, and ensure sustainable growth. OverLang partners with organizations to integrate AI solutions that enhance decision-making, improve operations, and protect workplace culture. ------------------ About the Host:  Randolph Love III is the Founder and CEO of ShieldWolf Strongholds, where he helps Franchisors, CPAs, Attorneys, Doctors, Realtors, Contractors, and other Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Home Owners, and Retirees, secure lasting financial legacies.  He is also a trusted franchise consultant, author of the book The Miracle Money Vehicle: How To Make Money Make Babies, and host of The Liquidity Event, a premier gathering on business growth, financial independence, and legacy planning.  As host of The Entreprenudist Podcast, ranked in the Top 10% worldwide by ListenNotes.com, Randolph shares bold, practical insights that challenge traditional thinking. A sought-after speaker, his dynamic style empowers audiences to reduce taxes legally, grow wealth strategically, and take control of their financial destiny. Additionally, he is also the publisher of The Liquidity Journal, a dynamic publication for business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, retirees, and investors. Focused on leadership, strategy, systems, and motivation, it delivers actionable insights that empower readers to grow, lead, and innovate in today's business world.

What if the most transformative thing you can do for your writing craft and author business is to face what you fear? How can you can find gold in your Shadow in the year ahead? In this episode, I share chapters from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words. In the intro, curated book boxes from Bridgerton's Julia Quinn; Google's agentic shopping, and powering Apple's Siri; ChatGPT Ads; and Claude CoWork. Balancing Certainty and Uncertainty [MoonShots with Tony Robbins]; and three trends for authors with me and Orna Ross [Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast]; plus, Bones of the Deep, Business for Authors, and Indie Author Lab. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and memoir as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. What is the Shadow? The ‘creative wound' and the Shadow in writing The Shadow in traditional publishing The Shadow in self-publishing or being an indie author The Shadow in work The Shadow in money You can find Writing the Shadow in all formats on all stores, as well as special edition, workbook and bundles at www.TheCreativePenn.com/shadowbook Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words The following chapters are excerpted from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words by Joanna Penn. Introduction. What is the Shadow? “How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also if I am to be whole.” —C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul We all have a Shadow side and it is the work of a lifetime to recognise what lies within and spin that base material into gold. Think of it as a seedling in a little pot that you're given when you're young. It's a bit misshapen and weird, not something you would display in your living room, so you place it in a dark corner of the basement. You don't look at it for years. You almost forget about it. Then one day you notice tendrils of something wild poking up through the floorboards. They're ugly and don't fit with your Scandi-minimalist interior design. You chop the tendrils away and pour weedkiller on what's left, trying to hide the fact that they were ever there. But the creeping stems keep coming. At some point, you know you have to go down there and face the wild thing your seedling has become. When you eventually pluck up enough courage to go down into the basement, you discover that the plant has wound its roots deep into the foundations of your home. Its vines weave in and out of the cracks in the walls, and it has beautiful flowers and strange fruit. It holds your world together. Perhaps you don't need to destroy the wild tendrils. Perhaps you can let them wind up into the light and allow their rich beauty to weave through your home. It will change the look you have so carefully cultivated, but maybe that's just what the place needs. The Shadow in psychology Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychologist and the founder of analytical psychology. He described the Shadow as an unconscious aspect of the human personality, those parts of us that don't match up to what is expected of us by family and society, or to our own ideals. The Shadow is not necessarily evil or illegal or immoral, although of course it can be. It's also not necessarily caused by trauma, abuse, or any other severely damaging event, although again, it can be. It depends on the individual. What is in your Shadow is based on your life and your experiences, as well as your culture and society, so it will be different for everyone. Psychologist Connie Zweig, in The Inner Work of Age, explains, “The Shadow is that part of us that lies beneath or behind the light of awareness. It contains our rejected, unacceptable traits and feelings. It contains our hidden gifts and talents that have remained unexpressed or unlived. As Jung put it, the essence of the Shadow is pure gold.” To further illustrate the concept, Robert Bly, in A Little Book on the Human Shadow,uses the following metaphor: “When we are young, we carry behind us an invisible bag, into which we stuff any feelings, thoughts, or behaviours that bring disapproval or loss of love—anger, tears, neediness, laziness. By the time we go to school, our bags are already a mile long. In high school, our peer groups pressure us to stuff the bags with even more—individuality, sexuality, spontaneity, different opinions. We spend our life until we're twenty deciding which parts of ourselves to put into the bag and we spend the rest of our lives trying to get them out again.” As authors, we can use what's in the ‘bag' to enrich our writing — but only if we can access it. My intention with this book is to help you venture into your Shadow and bring some of what's hidden into the light and into your words. I'll reveal aspects of my Shadow in these pages but ultimately, this book is about you. Your Shadow is unique. There may be elements we share, but much will be different. Each chapter has questions for you to consider that may help you explore at least the edges of your Shadow, but it's not easy. As Jung said, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” But take heart, Creative. You don't need courage when things are easy. You need it when you know what you face will be difficult, but you do it anyway. We are authors. We know how to do hard things. We turn ideas into books. We manifest thoughts into ink on paper. We change lives with our writing. First, our own, then other people's. It's worth the effort to delve into Shadow, so I hope you will join me on the journey. The creative wound and the Shadow in writing “Whatever pain you can't get rid of, make it your creative offering.” —Susan Cain, Bittersweet  The more we long for something, the more extreme our desire, the more likely it is to have a Shadow side. For those of us who love books, the author life may well be a long-held dream and thus, it is filled with Shadow. Books have long been objects of desire, power, and authority. They hold a mythic status in our lives. We escaped into stories as children; we studied books at school and college; we read them now for escape and entertainment, education and inspiration. We collect beautiful books to put on our shelves. We go to them for solace and answers to the deepest questions of life. Writers are similarly held in high esteem. They shape culture, win literary prizes, give important speeches, and are quoted in the mainstream media. Their books are on the shelves in libraries and bookstores. Writers are revered, held up as rare, talented creatures made separate from us by their brilliance and insight. For bibliophile children, books were everything and to write one was a cherished dream. To become an author? Well, that would mean we might be someone special, someone worthy. Perhaps when you were young, you thought the dream of being a writer was possible — then you told someone about it. That's probably when you heard the first criticism of such a ridiculous idea, the first laughter, the first dismissal. So you abandoned the dream, pushed the idea of being a writer into the Shadow, and got on with your life. Or if it wasn't then, it came later, when you actually put pen to paper and someone — a parent, teacher, partner, or friend, perhaps even a literary agent or publisher, someone whose opinion you valued — told you it was worthless. Here are some things you might have heard: Writing is a hobby. Get a real job. You're not good enough. You don't have any writing talent. You don't have enough education. You don't know what you're doing. Your writing is derivative / unoriginal / boring / useless / doesn't make sense. The genre you write in is dead / worthless / unacceptable / morally wrong / frivolous / useless.  Who do you think you are? No one would want to read what you write. You can't even use proper grammar, so how could you write a whole book? You're wasting your time. You'll never make it as a writer. You shouldn't write those things (or even think about those things). Why don't you write something nice? Insert other derogatory comment here! Mark Pierce describes the effect of this experience in his book The Creative Wound, which “occurs when an event, or someone's actions or words, pierce you, causing a kind of rift in your soul. A comment—even offhand and unintentional—is enough to cause one.” He goes on to say that such words can inflict “damage to the core of who we are as creators. It is an attack on our artistic identity, resulting in us believing that whatever we make is somehow tainted or invalid, because shame has convinced us there is something intrinsically tainted or invalid about ourselves.” As adults, we might brush off such wounds, belittling them as unimportant in the grand scheme of things. We might even find ourselves saying the same words to other people. After all, it's easier to criticise than to create. But if you picture your younger self, bright eyed as you lose yourself in your favourite book, perhaps you might catch a glimpse of what you longed for before your dreams were dashed on the rocks of other people's reality. As Mark Pierce goes on to say, “A Creative Wound has the power to delay our pursuits—sometimes for years—and it can even derail our lives completely… Anything that makes us feel ashamed of ourselves or our work can render us incapable of the self-expression we yearn for.” This is certainly what happened to me, and it took decades to unwind. Your creative wounds will differ to mine but perhaps my experience will help you explore your own. To be clear, your Shadow may not reside in elements of horror as mine do, but hopefully you can use my example to consider where your creative wounds might lie. “You shouldn't write things like that.” It happened at secondary school around 1986 or 1987, so I would have been around eleven or twelve years old. English was one of my favourite subjects and the room we had our lessons in looked out onto a vibrant garden. I loved going to that class because it was all about books, and they were always my favourite things. One day, we were asked to write a story. I can't remember the specifics of what the teacher asked us to write, but I fictionalised a recurring nightmare. I stood in a dark room. On one side, my mum and my brother, Rod, were tied up next to a cauldron of boiling oil, ready to be thrown in. On the other side, my dad and my little sister, Lucy, were threatened with decapitation by men with machetes. I had to choose who would die. I always woke up, my heart pounding, before I had to choose. Looking back now, it clearly represented an internal conflict about having to pick sides between the two halves of my family. Not an unexpected issue from a child of divorce. Perhaps these days, I might have been sent to the school counsellor, but it was the eighties and I don't think we even had such a thing. Even so, the meaning of the story isn't the point. It was the reaction to it that left scars. “You shouldn't write things like that,” my teacher said, and I still remember her look of disappointment, even disgust. Certainly judgment. She said my writing was too dark. It wasn't a proper story. It wasn't appropriate for the class. As if horrible things never happened in stories — or in life. As if literature could not include dark tales. As if the only acceptable writing was the kind she approved of. We were taught The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie that year, which says a lot about the type of writing considered appropriate. Or perhaps the issue stemmed from the school motto, “So hateth she derknesse,” from Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women: “For fear of night, so she hates the darkness.” I had won a scholarship to a private girls' school, and their mission was to turn us all into proper young ladies. Horror was never on the curriculum. Perhaps if my teacher had encouraged me to write my darkness back then, my nightmares would have dissolved on the page. Perhaps if we had studied Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or H.P. Lovecraft stories, or Bram Stoker's Dracula, I could have embraced the darker side of literature earlier in my life. My need to push darker thoughts into my Shadow was compounded by my (wonderful) mum's best intentions. We were brought up on the principles of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and she tried to shield me and my brother from anything harmful or horrible. We weren't allowed to watch TV much, and even the British school drama Grange Hill was deemed inappropriate. So much of what I've achieved is because my mum instilled in me a “can do” attitude that anything is possible. I'm so grateful to her for that. (I love you, Mum!) But all that happy positivity, my desire to please her, to be a good girl, to make my teachers proud, and to be acceptable to society, meant that I pushed my darker thoughts into Shadow. They were inappropriate. They were taboo. They must be repressed, kept secret, and I must be outwardly happy and positive at all times. You cannot hold back the darkness “The night is dark and full of terrors.” —George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords It turned out that horror was on the curriculum, much of it in the form of educational films we watched during lessons. In English Literature, we watched Romeo drink poison and Juliet stab herself in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. In Religious Studies, we watched Jesus beaten, tortured, and crucified in The Greatest Story Ever Told, and learned of the variety of gruesome ways that Christian saints were martyred. In Classical Civilisation, we watched gladiators slaughter each other in Spartacus. In Sex Education at the peak of the AIDS crisis in the mid-'80s, we were told of the many ways we could get infected and die. In History, we studied the Holocaust with images of skeletal bodies thrown into mass graves, medical experiments on humans, and grainy videos of marching soldiers giving the Nazi salute. One of my first overseas school field trips was to the World War I battlegrounds of Flanders Fields in Belgium, where we studied the inhuman conditions of the trenches, walked through mass graves, and read war poetry by candlelight. As John McCrae wrote: We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Did the teachers not realise how deeply a sensitive teenager might feel the darkness of that place? Or have I always been unusual in that places of blood echo deep inside me? And the horrors kept coming. We lived in Bristol, England back then and I learned at school how the city had been part of the slave trade, its wealth built on the backs of people stolen from their homes, sold, and worked to death in the colonies. I had been at school for a year in Malawi, Africa and imagined the Black people I knew drowning, being beaten, and dying on those ships. In my teenage years, the news was filled with ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and massacres during the Balkan wars, and images of bodies hacked apart during the Rwandan genocide. Evil committed by humans against other humans was not a historical aberration. I'm lucky and I certainly acknowledge my privilege. Nothing terrible or horrifying has happened to me — but bad things certainly happen to others. I wasn't bullied or abused. I wasn't raped or beaten or tortured. But you don't have to go through things to be afraid of them, and for your imagination to conjure the possibility of them. My mum doesn't read my fiction now as it gives her nightmares (Sorry, Mum!). I know she worries that somehow she's responsible for my darkness, but I've had a safe and (mostly) happy life, for which I'm truly grateful. But the world is not an entirely safe and happy place, and for a sensitive child with a vivid imagination, the world is dark and scary. It can be brutal and violent, and bad things happen, even to good people. No parent can shield their child from the reality of the world. They can only help them do their best to live in it, develop resilience, and find ways to deal with whatever comes. Story has always been a way that humans have used to learn how to live and deal with difficult times. The best authors, the ones that readers adore and can't get enough of, write their darkness into story to channel their experience, and help others who fear the same. In an interview on writing the Shadow on The Creative Penn Podcast, Michaelbrent Collings shared how he incorporated a personally devastating experience into his writing:  “My wife and I lost a child years back, and that became the root of one of my most terrifying books, Apparition. It's not terrifying because it's the greatest book of all time, but just the concept that there's this thing out there… like a demon, and it consumes the blood and fear of the children, and then it withdraws and consumes the madness of the parents… I wrote that in large measure as a way of working through what I was experiencing.” I've learned much from Michaelbrent. I've read many of his (excellent) books and he's been on my podcast multiple times talking about his depression and mental health issues, as well as difficulties in his author career. Writing darkness is not in Michaelbrent's Shadow and only he can say what lies there for him. But from his example, and from that of other authors, I too learned how to write my Shadow into my books. Twenty-three years after that English lesson, in November 2009, I did NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, and wrote five thousand words of what eventually became Stone of Fire, my first novel. In the initial chapter, I burned a nun alive on the ghats of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges River. I had watched the bodies burn by night on pyres from a boat bobbing in the current a few years before, and the image was still crystal clear in my mind. The only way to deal with how it made me feel about death was to write about it — and since then, I've never stopped writing. Returning to the nightmare from my school days, I've never had to choose between the two halves of my family, but the threat of losing them remains a theme in my fiction. In my ARKANE thriller series, Morgan Sierra will do anything to save her sister and her niece. Their safety drives her to continue to fight against evil. Our deepest fears emerge in our writing, and that's the safest place for them. I wish I'd been taught how to turn my nightmares into words back at school, but at least now I've learned to write my Shadow onto the page. I wish the same for you. The Shadow in traditional publishing If becoming an author is your dream, then publishing a book is deeply entwined with that. But as Mark Pierce says in The Creative Wound, “We feel pain the most where it matters the most… Desire highlights whatever we consider to be truly significant.” There is a lot of desire around publishing for those of us who love books! It can give you: Validation that your writing is good enough Status and credibility Acceptance by an industry held in esteem  The potential of financial reward and critical acclaim Support from a team of professionals who know how to make fantastic books A sense of belonging to an elite community Pride in achieving a long-held goal, resulting in a confidence boost and self-esteem Although not guaranteed, traditional publishing can give you all these things and more, but as with everything, there is a potential Shadow side. Denying it risks the potential of being disillusioned, disappointed, and even damaged. But remember, forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes. Preparation can help you avoid potential issues and help you feel less alone if you encounter them. The myth of success… and the reality of experience There is a pervasive myth of success in the traditional publishing industry, perpetuated by media reporting on brand name and breakout authors, those few outliers whose experience is almost impossible to replicate. Because of such examples, many new traditionally published authors think that their first book will hit the top of the bestseller charts or win an award, as well as make them a million dollars — or at least a big chunk of cash. They will be able to leave their job, write in a beautiful house overlooking the ocean, and swan around the world attending conferences, while writing more bestselling books. It will be a charmed life. But that is not the reality. Perhaps it never was. Even so, the life of a traditionally published author represents a mythic career with the truth hidden behind a veil of obscurity. In April 2023, The Bookseller in the UK reported that “more than half of authors (54%) responding to a survey on their experiences of publishing their debut book have said the process negatively affected their mental health. Though views were mixed, just 22%… described a positive experience overall… Among the majority who said they had a negative experience of debut publication, anxiety, stress, depression and ‘lowered' self-esteem were cited, with lack of support, guidance or clear and professional communication from their publisher among the factors that contributed.” Many authors who have negative experiences around publishing will push them into the Shadow with denial or self-blame, preferring to keep the dream alive. They won't talk about things in public as this may negatively affect their careers, but private discussions are often held in the corners of writing conferences or social media groups online. Some of the issues are as follows: Repeated rejection by agents and publishers may lead to the author thinking they are not good enough as a writer, which can lead to feeling unworthy as a person. If an author gets a deal, the amount of advance and the name and status of the publisher compared to others create a hierarchy that impacts self-esteem. A deal for a book may be much lower than an author might have been expecting, with low or no advance, and the resulting experience with the publisher beneath expectations. The launch process may be disappointing, and the book may appear without fanfare, with few sales and no bestseller chart position. In The Bookseller report, one author described her launch day as “a total wasteland… You have expectations about what publication day will be like, but in reality, nothing really happens.” The book may receive negative reviews by critics or readers or more publicly on social media, which can make an author feel attacked. The book might not sell as well as expected, and the author may feel like it's their fault. Commercial success can sometimes feel tied to self-worth and an author can't help but compare their sales to others, with resulting embarrassment or shame. The communication from the publisher may be less than expected. One author in The Bookseller report said, “I was shocked by the lack of clarity and shared information and the cynicism that underlies the superficial charm of this industry.” There is often more of a focus on debut authors in publishing houses, so those who have been writing and publishing in the midlist for years can feel ignored and undervalued. In The Bookseller report, 48 percent of authors reported “their publisher supported them for less than a year,” with one saying, “I got no support and felt like a commodity, like the team had moved on completely to the next book.” If an author is not successful enough, the next deal may be lower than the last, less effort is made with marketing, and they may be let go. In The Bookseller report, “six authors—debut and otherwise—cited being dropped by their publisher, some with no explanation.” Even if everything goes well and an author is considered successful by others, they may experience imposter syndrome, feeling like a fraud when speaking at conferences or doing book signings. And the list goes on … All these things can lead to feelings of shame, inadequacy, and embarrassment; loss of status in the eyes of peers; and a sense of failure if a publishing career is not successful enough. The author feels like it's their fault, like they weren't good enough — although, of course, the reality is that the conditions were not right at the time. A failure of a book is not a failure of the person, but it can certainly feel like it! When you acknowledge the Shadow, it loses its power Despite all the potential negatives of traditional publishing, if you know what could happen, you can mitigate them. You can prepare yourself for various scenarios and protect yourself from potential fall-out. It's clear from The Bookseller report that too many authors have unrealistic expectations of the industry. But publishers are businesses, not charities. It's not their job to make you feel good as an author. It's their job to sell books and pay you. The best thing they can do is to continue to be a viable business so they can keep putting books on the shelves and keep paying authors, staff, and company shareholders. When you license your creative work to a publisher, you're giving up control of your intellectual property in exchange for money and status. Bring your fears and issues out of the Shadow, acknowledge them, and deal with them early, so they do not get pushed down and re-emerge later in blame and bitterness. Educate yourself on the business of publishing. Be clear on what you want to achieve with any deal. Empower yourself as an author, take responsibility for your career, and you will have a much better experience. The Shadow in self-publishing or being an indie author Self-publishing, or being an independent (indie) author, can be a fantastic, pro-active choice for getting your book into the world. Holding your first book in your hand and saying “I made this” is pretty exciting, and even after more than forty books, I still get excited about seeing ideas in my head turn into a physical product in the world. Self-publishing can give an author: Creative control over what to write, editorial and cover design choices, when and how often to publish, and how to market Empowerment over your author career and the ability to make choices that impact success without asking for permission Ownership and control of intellectual property assets, resulting in increased opportunity around licensing and new markets Independence and the potential for recurring income for the long term Autonomy and flexibility around timelines, publishing options, and the ability to easily pivot into new genres and business models Validation based on positive reader reviews and money earned Personal growth and learning through the acquisition of new skills, resulting in a boost in confidence and self-esteem A sense of belonging to an active and vibrant community of indie authors around the world Being an indie author can give you all this and more, but once again, there is a Shadow side and preparation can help you navigate potential issues. The myth of success… and the reality of experience As with traditional publishing, the indie author world has perpetuated a myth of success in the example of the breakout indie author like E.L. James with Fifty Shades of Grey, Hugh Howey with Wool, or Andy Weir with The Martian. The emphasis on financial success is also fuelled online by authors who share screenshots showing six-figure months or seven-figure years, without sharing marketing costs and other outgoings, or the amount of time spent on the business. Yes, these can inspire some, but it can also make others feel inadequate and potentially lead to bad choices about how to publish and market based on comparison. The indie author world is full of just as much ego and a desire for status and money as traditional publishing. This is not a surprise! Most authors, regardless of publishing choices, are a mix of massive ego and chronic self-doubt. We are human, so the same issues will re-occur. A different publishing method doesn't cure all ills. Some of the issues are as follows: You learn everything you need to know about writing and editing, only to find that you need to learn a whole new set of skills in order to self-publish and market your book. This can take a lot of time and effort you did not expect, and things change all the time so you have to keep learning. Being in control of every aspect of the publishing process, from writing to cover design to marketing, can be overwhelming, leading to indecision, perfectionism, stress, and even burnout as you try to do all the things. You try to find people to help, but building your team is a challenge, and working with others has its own difficulties. People say negative things about self-publishing that may arouse feelings of embarrassment or shame. These might be little niggles, but they needle you, nonetheless. You wonder whether you made the right choice. You struggle with self-doubt and if you go to an event with traditional published authors, you compare yourself to them and feel like an imposter. Are you good enough to be an author if a traditional publisher hasn't chosen you? Is it just vanity to self-publish? Are your books unworthy? Even though you worked with a professional editor, you still get one-star reviews and you hate criticism from readers. You wonder whether you're wasting your time. You might be ripped off by an author services company who promise the world, only to leave you with a pile of printed books in your garage and no way to sell them. When you finally publish your book, it languishes at the bottom of the charts while other authors hit the top of the list over and over, raking in the cash while you are left out of pocket. You don't admit to over-spending on marketing as it makes you ashamed. You resist book marketing and make critical comments about writers who embrace it. You believe that quality rises to the top and if a book is good enough, people will buy it anyway. This can lead to disappointment and disillusionment when you launch your book and it doesn't sell many copies because nobody knows about it. You try to do what everyone advises, but you still can't make decent money as an author. You're jealous of other authors' success and put it down to them ‘selling out' or writing things you can't or ‘using AI' or ‘using a ghostwriter' or having a specific business model you consider impossible to replicate. And the list goes on… When you acknowledge the Shadow, it loses its power Being in control of your books and your author career is a double-edged sword. Traditionally published authors can criticise their publishers or agents or the marketing team or the bookstores or the media, but indie authors have to take responsibility for it all. Sure, we can blame ‘the algorithms' or social media platforms, or criticise other authors for having more experience or more money to invest in marketing, or attribute their success to writing in a more popular genre — but we also know there are always people who do well regardless of the challenges. Once more, we're back to acknowledging and integrating the Shadow side of our choices. We are flawed humans. There will always be good times and bad, and difficulties to offset the high points. This too shall pass, as the old saying goes. I know that being an indie author has plenty of Shadow. I've been doing this since 2008 and despite the hard times, I'm still here. I'm still writing. I'm still publishing. This life is not for everyone, but it's my choice. You must make yours. The Shadow in work You work hard. You make a living. Nothing wrong with that attitude, right? It's what we're taught from an early age and, like so much of life, it's not a problem until it goes to extremes. Not achieving what you want to? Work harder. Can't get ahead? Work harder. Not making a good enough living? Work harder. People who don't work hard are lazy. They don't deserve handouts or benefits. People who don't work hard aren't useful, so they are not valued members of our culture and community. But what about the old or the sick, the mentally ill, or those with disabilities? What about children? What about the unemployed? The under-employed? What about those who are — or will be — displaced by technology, those called “the useless class” by historian Yuval Noah Harari in his book Homo Deus? What if we become one of these in the future? Who am I if I cannot work? The Shadow side of my attitude to work became clear when I caught COVID in the summer of 2021. I was the sickest I'd ever been. I spent two weeks in bed unable to even think properly, and six weeks after that, I was barely able to work more than an hour a day before lying in the dark and waiting for my energy to return. I was limited in what I could do for another six months after that. At times, I wondered if I would ever get better. Jonathan kept urging me to be patient and rest. But I don't know how to rest. I know how to work and how to sleep. I can do ‘active rest,' which usually involves walking a long way or traveling somewhere interesting, but those require a stronger mind and body than I had during those months. It struck me that even if I recovered from the virus, I had glimpsed my future self. One day, I will be weak in body and mind. If I'm lucky, that will be many years away and hopefully for a short time before I die — but it will happen. I am an animal. I will die. My body and mind will pass on and I will be no more. Before then I will be weak. Before then, I will be useless. Before then, I will be a burden. I will not be able to work… But who am I if I cannot work? What is the point of me? I can't answer these questions right now, because although I recognise them as part of my Shadow, I've not progressed far enough to have dealt with them entirely. My months of COVID gave me some much-needed empathy for those who cannot work, even if they want to. We need to reframe what work is as a society, and value humans for different things, especially as technology changes what work even means. That starts with each of us. “Illness, affliction of body and soul, can be life-altering. It has the potential to reveal the most fundamental conflict of the human condition: the tension between our infinite, glorious dreams and desires and our limited, vulnerable, decaying physicality.” —Connie Zweig, The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul The Shadow in money In the Greek myth, King Midas was a wealthy ruler who loved gold above all else. His palace was adorned with golden sculptures and furniture, and he took immense pleasure in his riches. Yet, despite his vast wealth, he yearned for more. After doing a favour for Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, Midas was granted a single wish. Intoxicated by greed, he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold — and it was so. At first, it was a lot of fun. Midas turned everything else in his palace to gold, even the trees and stones of his estate. After a morning of turning things to gold, he fancied a spot of lunch. But when he tried to eat, the food and drink turned to gold in his mouth. He became thirsty and hungry — and increasingly desperate. As he sat in despair on his golden throne, his beloved young daughter ran to comfort him. For a moment, he forgot his wish — and as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek, she turned into a golden statue, frozen in precious metal. King Midas cried out to the gods to forgive him, to reverse the wish. He renounced his greed and gave away all his wealth, and his daughter was returned to life. The moral of the story: Wealth and greed are bad. In Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is described as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner.” He's wealthy but does not share, considering Christmas spending to be frivolous and giving to charity to be worthless. He's saved by a confrontation with his lonely future and becomes a generous man and benefactor of the poor. Wealth is good if you share it with others. The gospel of Matthew, chapter 25: 14-30, tells the parable of the bags of gold, in which a rich man goes on a journey and entrusts his servants with varying amounts of gold. On his return, the servants who multiplied the gold through their efforts and investments are rewarded, while the one who merely returned the gold with no interest is punished: “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Making money is good, making more money is even better. If you can't make any money, you don't deserve to have any. Within the same gospel, in Matthew 19:24, Jesus encounters a wealthy man and tells him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, which the man is unable to do. Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Wealth is bad. Give it all away and you'll go to heaven. With all these contradictory messages, no wonder we're so conflicted about money! How do you think and feel about money? While money is mostly tied to our work, it's far more than just a transactional object for most people. It's loaded with complex symbolism and judgment handed down by family, religion, and culture. You are likely to find elements of Shadow by examining your attitudes around money. Consider which of the following statements resonate with you or write your own. Money stresses me out. I don't want to talk about it or think about it. Some people hoard money, so there is inequality. Rich people are bad and we should take away their wealth and give it to the poor.  I can never make enough money to pay the bills, or to give my family what I want to provide. Money doesn't grow on trees.  It's wasteful to spend money as you might need it later, so I'm frugal and don't spend money unless absolutely necessary. It is better and more ethical to be poor than to be rich. I want more money. I read books and watch TV shows about rich people because I want to live like that. Sometimes I spend too much on things for a glimpse of what that might be like.  I buy lottery tickets and dream of winning all that money.  I'm jealous of people who have money. I want more of it and I resent those who have it. I'm no good with money. I don't like to look at my bank statement or credit card statement. I live off my overdraft and I'm in debt. I will never earn enough to get out of debt and start saving, so I don't think too much about it. I don't know enough about money. Talking about it makes me feel stupid, so I just ignore it. People like me aren't educated about money.  I need to make more money. If I can make lots of money, then people will look up to me. If I make lots of money, I will be secure, nothing can touch me, I will be safe.  I never want to be poor. I would be ashamed to be poor. I will never go on benefits. My net worth is my self worth. Money is good. We have the best standard of living in history because of the increase in wealth over time. Even the richest kings of the past didn't have what many middle-class people have today in terms of access to food, water, technology, healthcare, education, and more. The richest people give the most money to the poor through taxation and charity, as well as through building companies that employ people and invent new things. The very richest give away much of their fortunes. They provide far more benefit to the world than the poor.  I love money. Money loves me. Money comes easily and quickly to me. I attract money in multiple streams of income. It flows to me in so many ways. I spend money. I invest money. I give money. I'm happy and grateful for all that I receive. The Shadow around money for authors in particular Many writers and other creatives have issues around money and wealth. How often have you heard the following, and which do you agree with? You can't make money with your writing. You'll be a poor author in a garret, a starving artist.  You can't write ‘good quality' books and make money. If you make money writing, you're a hack, you're selling out. You are less worthy than someone who writes only for the Muse. Your books are commercial, not artistic. If you spend money on marketing, then your books are clearly not good enough to sell on their own. My agent / publisher / accountant / partner deals with the money side. I like to focus on the creative side of things. My money story Note: This is not financial or investment advice. Please talk to a professional about your situation. I've had money issues over the years — haven't we all! But I have been through a (long) process to bring money out of my Shadow and into the light. There will always be more to discover, but hopefully my money story will help you, or at least give you an opportunity to reflect. Like most people, I didn't grow up with a lot of money. My parents started out as teachers, but later my mum — who I lived with, along with my brother — became a change management consultant, moving to the USA and earning a lot more. I'm grateful that she moved into business because her example changed the way I saw money and provided some valuable lessons. (1) You can change your circumstances by learning more and then applying that to leverage opportunity into a new job or career Mum taught English at a school in Bristol when we moved back from Malawi, Africa, in the mid '80s but I remember how stressful it was for her, and how little money she made. She wanted a better future for us all, so she took a year out to do a master's degree in management. In the same way, when I wanted to change careers and leave consulting to become an author, I spent time and money learning about the writing craft and the business of publishing. I still invest a considerable chunk on continuous learning, as this industry changes all the time. (2) You might have to downsize in order to leap forward The year my mum did her degree, we lived in the attic of another family's house; we ate a lot of one-pot casserole and our treat was having a Yorkie bar on the walk back from the museum. We wore hand-me-down clothes, and I remember one day at school when another girl said I was wearing her dress. I denied it, of course, but there in back of the dress was her name tag. I still remember her name and I can still feel that flush of shame and embarrassment. I was determined to never feel like that again. But what I didn't realize at the time was that I was also learning the power of downsizing. Mum got her degree and then a new job in management in Bristol. She bought a house, and we settled for a few years. I had lots of different jobs as a teenager. My favourite was working in the delicatessen because we got a free lunch made from delicious produce. After I finished A-levels, I went to the University of Oxford, and my mum and brother moved to the USA for further opportunities. I've downsized multiple times over the years, taking a step back in order to take a step forward. The biggest was in 2010 when I decided to leave consulting. Jonathan and I sold our three-bedroom house and investments in Brisbane, Australia, and rented a one-bedroom flat in London, so we could be debt-free and live on less while I built up a new career. It was a decade before we bought another house. (3) Comparison can be deadly: there will always be people with more money than you Oxford was an education in many ways and relevant to this chapter is how much I didn't know about things people with money took for granted. I learned about formal hall and wine pairings, and how to make a perfect gin and tonic. I ate smoked salmon for the first time. I learned how to fit in with people who had a lot more money than I did, and I definitely wanted to have money of my own to play with. (4) Income is not wealth You can earn lots but have nothing to show for it after years of working. I learned this in my first few years of IT consulting after university. I earned a great salary and then went contracting, earning even more money at a daily rate. I had a wonderful time. I traveled, ate and drank and generally made merry, but I always had to go back to the day job when the money ran out. I couldn't work out how I could ever stop this cycle. Then I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, a book I still recommend, especially if you're from a family that values academic over financial education. I learned how to escape the rat race by building and/or accumulating assets that pay even when you're not working. It was a revelation! The ‘poor dad' in the book is a university professor. He knows so much about so many things, but he ends up poor as he did not educate himself about money. The ‘rich dad' has little formal education, but he knows about money and wealth because he learned about it, as we can do at any stage in our lives. (5) Not all investments suit every person, so find the right one for you Once I discovered the world of investing, I read all the books and did courses and in-person events. I joined communities and I up-skilled big time. Of course, I made mistakes and learned lots along the way. I tried property investing and renovated a couple of houses for rental (with more practical partners and skilled contractors). But while I could see that property investing might work for some people, I did not care enough about the details to make it work for me, and it was certainly not passive income. I tried other things. My first husband was a boat skipper and scuba diving instructor, so we started a charter. With the variable costs of fuel, the vagaries of New Zealand weather — and our divorce — it didn't last long! From all these experiments, I learned I wanted to run a business, but it needed to be online and not based on a physical location, physical premises, or other people. That was 2006, around the time that blogging started taking off and it became possible to make a living online. I could see the potential and a year later, the iPhone and the Amazon Kindle launched, which became the basis of my business as an author. (6) Boring, automatic saving and investing works best Between 2007 and 2011, I contracted in Australia, where they have compulsory superannuation contributions, meaning you have to save and invest a percentage of your salary or self-employed income. I'd never done that before, because I didn't understand it. I'd ploughed all my excess income into property or the business instead. But in Australia I didn't notice the money going out because it was automatic. I chose a particular fund and it auto-invested every month. The pot grew pretty fast since I didn't touch it, and years later, it's still growing. I discovered the power of compound interest and time in the market, both of which are super boring. This type of investing is not a get rich quick scheme. It's a slow process of automatically putting money into boring investments and doing that month in, month out, year in, year out, automatically for decades while you get on with your life. I still do this. I earn money as an author entrepreneur and I put a percentage of that into boring investments automatically every month. I also have a small amount which is for fun and higher risk investments, but mostly I'm a conservative, risk-averse investor planning ahead for the future. This is not financial advice, so I'm not giving any specifics. I have a list of recommended money books at www.TheCreativePenn.com/moneybooks if you want to learn more. Learning from the Shadow When I look back, my Shadow side around money eventually drove me to learn more and resulted in a better outcome (so far!). I was ashamed of being poor when I had to wear hand-me-down clothes at school. That drove a fear of not having any money, which partially explains my workaholism. I was embarrassed at Oxford because I didn't know how to behave in certain settings, and I wanted to be like the rich people I saw there. I spent too much money in my early years as a consultant because I wanted to experience a “rich” life and didn't understand saving and investing would lead to better things in the future. I invested too much in the wrong things because I didn't know myself well enough and I was trying to get rich quick so I could leave my job and ‘be happy.' But eventually, I discovered that I could grow my net worth with boring, long-term investments while doing a job I loved as an author entrepreneur. My only regret is that I didn't discover this earlier and put a percentage of my income into investments as soon as I started work. It took several decades to get started, but at least I did (eventually) start. My money story isn't over yet, and I keep learning new things, but hopefully my experience will help you reflect on your own and avoid the issue if it's still in Shadow. These chapters are excerpted from Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words by Joanna Penn  The post Writing The Shadow: The Creative Wound, Publishing, And Money, With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Send us a textIn this enlightening episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we sit down with Dr. John Cusatis, founder and CEO of Aquatic Research Laboratory. A dedicated US Air Force veteran and first responder, Dr. John shares his mission to enhance public health and safety through innovative water treatment solutions. He recounts his journey from raising northeastern blue tilapia to developing groundbreaking products like Aqua Dichlor and Fluoride Be Gone, aimed at eliminating harmful contaminants from our water and consumables. Dr. John dives deep into the science behind these products, explaining how they work at a molecular level to detoxify and purify. He also discusses the alarming presence of fluoride and other chemicals in our everyday lives, and the importance of informed consumer choices. With heartfelt stories of personal impact, including how his products have helped families, Dr. John emphasizes the role of faith and community in fostering wellness. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in health, safety, and the science of clean living. Discover more about Dr. John and his work at chembgone.com use code living the dream for a discount on the products.Support the show

1. Bruce Pearl’s Career & Background Former Auburn basketball coach; won a Division II national championship and reached the Final Four twice. Unique fact: Pearl never played organized basketball (not even JV) before becoming a Division I coach. Started as a manager at Boston College, later became an assistant coach at Stanford under Tom Davis. Emphasizes making yourself valuable and being authentic as keys to success. 2. Coaching Philosophy Core principles: “Coach them as hard as you love them” – building deep relationships with players. Empower players and trust them; avoid micromanaging. Great coaches excel at creating offense and getting players good looks. Importance of roles and dimensions in a team: maximize strengths, hide weaknesses. Advice for young athletes: develop a unique skill or dimension that makes you stand out. 3. NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) & College Sports Pearl criticizes the NCAA for failing to adapt, calling it “arrogant” and responsible for chaos. NIL has transformed college sports: Top rosters now cost $35–$40 million annually. Smaller schools and Olympic sports are at risk of being cut. Advocates for urgent reform: Limited antitrust protection and congressional action to create fair rules. Warns that without changes, college sports will shrink to 30–50 elite programs. 4. Transfer Portal & Player Relationships Challenges in building trust and love when players stay only 6 months. Compares transfer portal dynamics to personal relationships—loyalty matters. 5. Broader Issues in Sports Concerns about betting and commercialization. Advice for high school athletes: play multiple sports early, specialize later, focus on nutrition and toughness. 6. Views on Israel & Anti-Semitism Strong advocate for Israel; sees American Jews as “the country’s greatest patriots.” Personal connection: family escaped Europe in 1929; others perished in the Holocaust. Believes silence equals complicity; stresses unity between Jews and Christians. Addresses rising anti-Semitism but emphasizes America still offers opportunity. 7. Cultural & Historical Insights Discusses theology, covenant, and shared values between Jews and Christians. Critiques “replacement theology” and urges solidarity against bigotry. Please Hit Subscribe to this podcast Right Now. Also Please Subscribe to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson and The Ben Ferguson Show Podcast Wherever You get You're Podcasts. And don't forget to follow the show on Social Media so you never miss a moment! Thanks for Listening YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruz/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/verdictwithtedcruz X: https://x.com/tedcruz X: https://x.com/benfergusonshowYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Mindy Pelz is a New York Times bestselling author and clinician focused on women's health, hormones, menopause, and aging. She sits down with Hoda to talk about her latest book, Age Like a Girl, and how studying menopause changed the way she views the female body's evolution through midlife. Plus, she shares why challenges later in life offer an opportunity to live more intentionally.Listeners should consult their healthcare provider before making changes to their diet or fasting routine. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.