Podcasts about gen xers

Send us Fan MailYou know that thing where a fitness instructor grabs your knee without asking? Yeah, we're done with that. Sofia Engelman — owner of Brooklyn's Queer Body Pilates and genuinely one of the most thoughtful humans working in movement today — joins me to talk about what consent actually looks like in a Pilates class, why the word "burn" is doing a lot of dirty work in so-called body-positive spaces, and how cueing into the posterior chain can quietly sidestep a whole lot of dysphoria. We get into trans-affirming movement, supporting clients through gender-affirming surgery, Sofia's upcoming book Pilates for the Revolution, and why your language IS your politics whether you meant it to be or not. Also: haunted speaker systems, leather jacket divination, and why I — a Gen Xer who got hit as a kid — am still unlearning a lot. Sofia is 28, deeply wise, and I'm taking notes. You should too.Sofia's website here.    Leave your message for the Speaker Box here.Watch this episode on YouTube here.  For more AGECRAFT content, join the Substack here. To work with Julia and/or learn more about her, go here.  CBDMD website here.Use code julia_g_wellness to get 15% off Episode SponsorBe one of the helpers! SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on APPLE PODCASTS or SPOTIFY and leave us a review on APPLE PODCASTS. 

33% of Gen Xers are still dependent on their parents, things you can to do for future you that will make you happy and we find out the Soup of the Day!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, chats with Sonia Barajas-Najera, vice president of franchise administration for Shakey's Pizza. Shakey's began franchising in the 1950s shortly after it was founded.After a number of ownership changes, the brand currently has 43 units. There's a new flagship in Culver City that took two years to design and create, Barajas-Najera said, and has been well received by consumers who enjoy the restaurant's retro vibes, warm colors and 1980s memorabilia. Shakey's also did a rebrand, but at the core of the company is its food, which remains the same. Shakey's is known for its thin-crust pizza, as well as its pan pizza and proprietary items like its chicken and its iconic Mojo potatoes.With an 80s throwback style at its core, how does Shakeys keep the brand feeling cool for Gen Z while still being a home base for the Gen Xers who grew up there?"There's the Gen X, there's Gen Z. Everyone is in there," Barajas-Najera explained. "We've created a place that has allowed people to come in and just be themselves and disconnect from everything that we're always doing, rushing. We're coining it as slow, casual, because we're not fast, we're not casual. We're just a slow casual. Come in, have a good time, be entertained."When looking for franchisees, Barajas-Najera said they seek people who are passionate about the Shakey's Pizza brand. The Shakey's team gives its franchisees lots of support before, during and after opening.Barajas-Najera suggests potential franchisees do their due diligence and really research a brand before signing on the dotted line. Shakey's is a brand with 70 years of experience behind it, but it's going through an exciting chapter."We feel like we're restarting," Barajas-Najera said. "We're just relaunching."To learn more about Shakey's and Barajas-Najera's role in its expansion plans, listen to the podcast in its entirety.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE has dropped. What do two gay Gen Xers think of it? MARVEL COMICS has dropped its Pride Issue and we are disappointed. Find out why. We also catch up on some X-MEN books! And in other TV reactions, we talk about DRAG RACE ALL STARS 11 Bracket 2 results and that iconic WIDOW'S BAY Bogeyman / Patricia episode.

In today's episode of Scaling UP! H2O, host Trace Blackmore sits down with workplace resilience expert and U.S. Marine veteran Tiffany Wentz‑Root to decode how different generations show up in the industrial water treatment industry. From the Silent Generation's post‑war loyalties through Baby Boomers' commitment to long hours, Gen X's distrust of corporate loyalty, Millennials' desire for purpose and feedback, and Gen Z's demand for emotional literacy, the conversation illustrates how each cohort was shaped by historical and technological upheaval. The discussion reframes "hustle culture" and argues that a focus on mental health and values alignment can increase retention and performance. Generations and the events that shaped them Tiffany explains that generations are roughly 20–30 year cohorts defined by shared formative experiences. The Silent Generation (1928‑45) endured the Great Depression and World War II; Baby Boomers (1946‑64) were taught loyalty and stability; Gen X (1965‑80) witnessed mass layoffs and became fiercely independent; Millennials (1981‑96) were helicopter parented and accustomed to participation trophies; and Gen Z (1997‑2012) grew up online, socializing via games and apps and weathering school shootings and a pandemic. These histories explain why Baby Boomers and Gen X equate "hard work" with hours logged, whereas Millennials and Gen Z measure effort by pride, alignment and emotional impact. Gen Z's exposure to constant online crises makes them the "anxious and afraid generation" with record rates of anxiety and depression, highlighting the need for supportive leadership.   Hustle culture versus emotional literacy The conversation challenges the idea that toughness equals success. Wentz‑Root stresses that leaders must "stop prizing strength" and recognize that feeling and processing emotions is hard work. She advocates for environments where people can bring their whole selves to work rather than suppressing feelings in order to conform to traditional hustle culture. She notes that Gen Z sees phone calls as "prehistoric" and prefers to communicate via apps like Snapchat or Discord, so older professionals should adapt their communication style—using fewer capital letters, punctuation and more emojis or GIFs—to avoid appearing angry or dismissive. For water treatment companies seeking to recruit young professionals, she urges them to articulate company values and support mental health, because Gen Z will leave if work doesn't align with their skills or passions. Practical strategies for leaders and organizations To bridge the generational divide, Wentz‑Root proposes creating a "social contract": a collaboratively defined set of values, behaviors and communication norms that are revisited regularly. Such agreements encourage teams to discuss how they prefer to give and receive feedback, when to use Slack versus meetings, and what good work looks like across ages. She also recommends structured cross‑mentorship, matching senior employees who are nearing retirement with junior colleagues based on skills rather than age, so institutional knowledge isn't lost. She cautions against judging younger staff as entitled or weak; rather, leaders should ask why behaviors exist and treat differences as strengths. Lastly, she reminds Baby Boomers and Gen Xers that sharing decades of hard‑earned experience with Gen Z isn't charity—it's how you build a legacy and ensure the industry thrives. For water‑treatment professionals, recognizing that "different doesn't mean wrong" can unlock better collaboration, innovation and resilience. By replacing judgment with curiosity, establishing social contracts and mentorship programs, and adapting communication to younger workers, leaders can turn generational tension into an asset. Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge! Timestamps 02:32 — Trace Blackmore introduces the episode and sets the context: exploring generational dynamics in the industrial water treatment community 09:20 — Tiffany Wentz‑Root introduces herself as a Marine Corps veteran and therapist who helps corporations improve communication, empathy and resilience. 15:07 — Definition of a "generation" and how cohort boundaries from Silent Generation to Gen Alpha are defined 18:06 — Examination of how Baby Boomers were taught loyalty and work stability, Gen X learned independence after witnessing mass layoffs, and Millennials received participation trophies and craved feedback 00:24:33 — Wentz‑Root calls for leaders to stop equating strength with suppressing emotion; feeling and processing emotions is difficult work 25:02 — Gen Z is described as the anxious and afraid generation with record levels of anxiety, depression and suicide, shaped by school shootings and constant online news 27:03 — Contrasting COVID experiences: Trace led a team through uncertainty, while Tiffany's son saw the lockdown as "awesome" because he stayed home playing games. 28:41 — Discussion of how Gen Z socializes through apps like Snapchat, Discord and Steam; texting is archaic and phone calls are "prehistoric" 32:09 — Panel reflections: Baby Boomers and Gen X define hard work by hours worked, Millennials by pride in results, and Gen Z by alignment with skills and passions 33:37 — Tiffany emphasizes that "different doesn't mean wrong," urging listeners to see younger workers' needs as strengths 40:26 — Introduction of social contracts: teams co‑create values, behaviors and communication norms to bridge generational expectations 42:42 — The role of cross‑generational mentorship; match people by skill and career stage, not age, and leverage Gen Z's expertise with tech and communication platforms 01:13:26 — Trace's closing reflections: in male‑dominated, hustle‑driven industries, ignoring emotions isn't sustainable; sharing knowledge now ensures a legacy and a thriving future   Quotes "We need to stop prizing strength first and foremost. We need to understand that emotions are very difficult to face. To feel your feelings, to name them, to process them—that's hard" "When I asked, 'What's your definition of hard work?' the baby boomer said, 'I put in a lot of hours.' Gen X said, 'I put in a lot of hours.' Millennials said, 'I get the job done and I'm proud of it.' Gen Z said, 'It's when the work that I've done aligns with my skills and my passions, and I feel good about what I did'" "Judgment kills curiosity … When I see someone of a different generation with a different way of communicating, I automatically go, 'That's bad, that's weird.' Instead, I want you to step into curiosity and say, 'Why would they do that? What happened in their life that shaped them to be this person?'"   Connect with Tiffany Wentz-Root Phone: (425) 359-5088 Email: tiffany@resilientroots.com Website: resilientroots.com  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanywentz-root/    Guest Resources Mentioned  Generational Diversity Outline  Bridging the Gap: Navigating Generational Diversity at Work 17776: What football will look like in the future by Jon Bois Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style (Paperback) by Kurt Vonnegut (Author), Suzanne McConnell (Author) Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations by John Avlon   Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned  AWT (Association of Water Technologies)  Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses  Submit a Show Idea  The Rising Tide Mastermind    Words of Water with James McDonald Today's definition is an ion with a net negative charge, formed when an atom or molecule gains one or more electrons. Examples include bicarbonate, chloride, and sulfate. Can you guess the word or phrase?   2026 Events for Water Professionals  Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we've listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE.   

Broadcasting LIVE from Black Matt Studios, THE BOOMXERS are four friends too young to be Baby Boomers but too old to be GenXers. We get together every week to Jibber Jabber about music, entertainment, rural news, crazy inventions, portmanteaus, and so much more. Featuring the phenomenal music quiz known as JIMMY READS. The BoomXers: Unfiltered, Unpolished, Unapologetic, and Unsponsored.

Send us Fan MailToday on Carpooling with Paul, Paul reflects on an article about the health habits many people develop during midlife—and why so many of them hit close to home.As members of the “sandwich generation,” many Gen Xers find themselves balancing careers, aging parents, grown children, financial responsibilities, and everything in between. Somewhere along the way, taking care of ourselves often falls to the bottom of the list.Topics include:✅ Sleep and why quality rest matters more than ever ✅ The challenges of balancing work, family, and self-care ✅ Exercise, nutrition, and staying active as we age ✅ Ignoring aches, pains, and warning signs from our bodies ✅ The importance of social connections and friendships ✅ Stress, burnout, and maintaining a positive mindset ✅ Why many of us struggle to prioritize our own healthPaul also shares some personal reflections on habits he's trying to improve and why midlife can be both rewarding and challenging at the same time.It's a candid morning commute conversation about getting older, staying healthy, and finding balance in a busy life.

Professor-turned-comedian Nick Harrison (@mrprofessor318) joins the podcast to talk about his journey from the classroom to the comedy stage. As a member of the Gen Xers comedy group, Nick shares how the COVID era helped kickstart their content creation efforts and how he went from deleting TikTok entirely to creating content for it. The conversation dives into music, creativity, and the art of blending genres like to create something fresh from familiar songs - like Yacht Rock! Nick also talks about upcoming tour dates, a cruise performance scheduled for March 2027, and the balancing act of being both a dad and a rockstar. As a devoted Buffalo Bills fan, Nick finds himself right at home when Rob shares stories from the golf course involving Bills players and teammates. The episode also includes plenty of music talk, with Rob and Darren offering up their favorite yacht rock recommendations along the way. All of this — and more — on this episode of Riggle's Picks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unusually for me, I feel like I should come to the defence of Gen Z. These are the kids aged 14-29. We complain a lot about them, about how soft they are, how they lack resilience, and what a bunch of complainers they are. The latest to join in this week was Michelle Obama, who said they aren't developing the resilience they need because of a culture of instant gratification. And then told them they need bad bosses and boring jobs if they want to be successful. Now, Michelle Obama is right. We've all had to pass through the boring jobs. For me it was the drive through at McDonalds in Bombay. We've all had to be paid poorly – $32,000 a year is what I started on. We've all had to have the awful boss, or bosses. Gen Z is only experiencing what we all did, and like we also did, they have unrealistic expectations about how awesome and fantastic life is going to be as soon as they get their first paycheck. And sure, some of them do have a lack of resilience. That's what happens when your parents are Gen Xers and millennials who helicopter parented you and gentle parented you and you never learned how to feel properly sad or uncomfortable. But they are also, I think, better at setting boundaries than any of us before. And some of that is what we're seeing and calling "complaining" and "a lack of resilience". We put up with demands to do extra work, unpaid. They know that's a rort. We went to parties and get-togethers we didn't want to just because we thought we had to. They say no. We allowed our bosses to give us zero pay rises while inflation shot up. They know that's basically a pay cut. I think it's two sides of the same coin. And again, we probably have gentle parenting to thank for teaching them to use their words and set boundaries in a way that most of us never learned. So next time we hear criticism of Gen Z, and trust me they're annoying so it will happen, it might pay to ask; is this a lack of resilience, a lack of toughness, or is it just that they know how to say no? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's up everyone and welcome to The Corporate Bartender!"Rub some Dirt On It" is a thing of the past. Kicking off a career out of school is a different animal than it was when us GenXers were coming up. The Dr. Cox approach (if you remember that character from Scrubs) doesn't fly these days, and kinds coming up today didn't have the same set of experiences that we did. The pandemic changed a lot of this.Well, if you have kids, or know someone who's about to launch, you're in for a treat. We've got Jenny Lavey on the program today. Jenny's a lifer in HR, co-host of the podcast, "WTF is Business Casual," and is the co-founder of Rise HR. Oh! And she's an OG TCB'er!!This conversation was a BANGER, and I know you're gonna dig it!If you want to skip straight to the interview, 2:19 is your spotTCB Layout:0:00 - Show Open & Intro0:57 - Titles1:29 - Kickoff 2:19- Jenny Lavey Interview56:21 - Last CallWebsite: https://www.risehumanresources.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylavey/Join our community!https://skyeteam.cloud/tcbTheme Music by Hooksounds.comGood Feels Stories Copyright Paramount/CBS

This week on Ask Farnoosh, we're tackling one of the biggest money questions of all: When can I retire?Inspired by a viral Instagram reel about repeatedly refreshing a retirement calculator in hopes of finding financial freedom, Farnoosh breaks down how to determine your retirement readiness—and why retirement may not be the right goal at all. Instead, what if the goal is optionality?In this episode:Why so many Gen Xers are obsessed with retirement calculatorsHow to calculate your "freedom number"The 4% rule explained simplyWhy Social Security may be worth more than you thinkHow home equity changes the retirement equationFour retirement personality typesPractical ways to move your retirement date closerWhy burnout—not retirement—may be the real issuePlus:Farnoosh weighs in on the controversy surrounding Belle Burden's bestselling memoir Strangers following a recent New Yorker investigation.An update on the new Trump Accounts program, including why Farnoosh believes it could become one of the most powerful wealth-building tools for children.Related Listening:Retiring on Social Security AloneLearn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a profound grief associated with not having kids if you really wanted them, one that's rarely acknowledged, even less understood. But there's also an unexpected joy when you come out the other side. In today's conversation, Good Weekend senior writer Katrina Strickland discusses the ups and downs of her own path into childlessness with Good Weekend editor Melissa Stevens. They traverse what medical developments have given young women today, the potential downsides - and what those worried about the decline in global fertility rates should be paying attention to. They discuss, too, what Strickland wants Millennials and Gen Zs to know: it will be ok, however it turns out for you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Staci Miller, founder of Gen UX Consulting, shares her winding path from fashion design and psychology to human factors engineering in MedTech. Staci explains what human factors is—through stories from World War II aviation and modern healthcare—and why the FDA now mandates usability work to reduce catastrophic use errors. She breaks down formative versus summative/validation studies, the role of risk documentation (URRA/UFMEA), and why founders should think about usability as early as they think about risk. Staci also opens up about the challenge of starting a second business after losing her first in 2008, how she built Gen UX from $0, and the leadership lessons behind year-over-year growth.   Guest links: https://www.genuxconsulting.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/company/gen-ux-consulting/  Charity supported: Feeding America Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host & Editor: Lindsey Dinneen Producer: Velentium Medical   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 081 - Staci Miller [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host, Lindsey, and today I'm delighted to welcome as my guest, Staci Miller. Staci is the founder at Gen UX Consulting. Her expertise is in applying user-focused research to develop innovative solutions, and it's essential to the growth of any technology organization. As a detail-oriented and tenacious executive in human factors engineering and UX design, she has a proven record of elevating the end user experience and achieving targeted client outcomes. She has created innovative medtech and big tech solutions through a comprehensive user-centered development process, leveraging artificial intelligence and industry agnostic design tools to optimize products and services. In her current role with Gen UX, she's a key leader facilitating strategic company growth plans and service offerings while managing the capacity and workflow of the UX HF design team. Well, Staci, welcome to the show. I'm so excited to talk with you today. [00:01:49] Staci Miller: Me too. I've been looking forward to it all week, so I'm very excited to be here. And I don't know what the day has in store. I, I know that there was like a, a, a kit that you sent out and I didn't read it on purpose, so everything's gonna be organic. [00:02:03] Lindsey Dinneen: Perfect. Those are my favorite conversations anyway, so I'll take it and run. Some people I know really love to have the questions ahead of time, and others are just like, "Yeah, I don't want to know. I'm just gonna go off the cuff. Here we go." So, brilliant. All right, well, let's start, if you don't mind, by sharing a little bit about yourself, your background, and what led you to medtech. [00:02:24] Staci Miller: That is, those are my favorite questions. So, I have a background in fashion design, psychology. I spent most of my classes in cognitive psych, but it wasn't like a difference of degree, it was just psychology. And then I have a master's degree in human factors and ergonomics. So I went the psychology route and the design route. That's kind of my background. So when I graduated my master's degree, through my master's program, I was able to intern for both years and one was in tech, big tech. I interviewed and landed a, great one year long internship at Samsung, which was actually supposed to be just three months, and I stayed there for a full year. So they kept me through my whole, my whole semester, which is something they don't normally do, which was really fun. I mostly just said, "Hey, can I stay here for the year?" And they're like, "Great, no problem. Sure. We'll figure it out like that seems like a good option. We like you, you like us. Cool. We'll do that." And my second internship was in medical device at a company called Interface and Analysis. My, that was actually my internship. My second one was at Samsung, so I got to really look in like I, I guess you got the curtain. If you think about Wonderland and Oz and the curtain and being able to pull back the curtain between both industries, what did I like better? I ended up liking medical better, mostly because the research was more structured and not necessarily conversations about, "Yeah, so how do you feel about that? Did you like it?" Like to me, that's not really. What I would consider the best opportunity to gain data. Data to me, like there has to be like a clear objective as to what you're doing, the whys behind it, and what do you wanna learn. And I found that in, when I worked with engineers in medtech, they definitely had things that they wanted to learn, whereas in tech, they just had so much money. They were like, "Yeah, let's just see what people think about this." And I'm. Okay. And then when I would be really structured and I was working with people who didn't have backgrounds in research, had very strong, very good backgrounds in design, like legitimately awesome, they were leading the research and they were missing the boat. So the narratives started to be focused on the N of one. This one person said this really interesting thing, so let's base our whole design off of what they said. And I'm like, "Dude, wait a second. Wait a second. All of them said this thing about the design though, and like we have four or five data points about when you ask this question." They're like, "Yeah, but that's not interesting." And I was like, "Okay, keep my mouth shut. I got it. Move on." Like from that moment forward, I, it wasn't like "Staci, don't talk, it was more like this is how we design based on the narratives that we've learned how to, how to research on." And so it wasn't as I would say-- it wasn't considering the actual 360 view of the user. It was considering the really cool thing that happened this one time that was like totally an outlier. And it happened consistently when I was working in big tech. So I was like, uh, medtech, probably more my speed. And then my first job was at Abbott. [00:05:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Nice. [00:05:40] Staci Miller: And I ended up there. Yeah, [00:05:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay, great. Well. [00:05:42] Staci Miller: Cool. [00:05:43] Lindsey Dinneen: Lots of questions based on this incredible background. I want to go back a little bit. So fashion design, was this something that you grew up thinking, "Oh, this is what I wanna do and be okay?" Right. All right, so... [00:05:57] Staci Miller: it's all I ever wanted and I did that. So... [00:06:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:06:02] Staci Miller: That's a, that's a great question. I think that my interest in fashion peaked around when I was 12 years old and during the time, Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell, and I was so fascinated by how beautiful these women were. And, and fashion was a thing in the nineties. There was like a lot of Dolce and Gabana around, and I loved it. And I couldn't wait to get my new print of Vogue every, every season. I loved Harper's Bizarre, and I would just pull pictures out of these models and what they were wearing. And then I would start you know, freehanding stuff and things like that. And I think a lot of people do that when they're really interested in clothing and things like that. And if you really think about it, fashion is art that people wear. So I was very attracted to that part of it. And it's all I wanted to do. So after high school, I went to FIDM and studied fashion design. And right outta FIDM, I started my first company in fashion design, and I was a clothing manufacturer, and we had 500 open doors in the United States and in Canada, and I was hoping to expand, but unfortunately 2008 hit and they hit it hard and fast and I lost most of my managing capital in the year that I think was my tipping point. So it was the, the year that I finally got a lot of traction and had a lot of repeat business and a lot of new business as well. And a lot of those new businesses just refused orders. Just from the east coast to the west, and it was just tons of money out that wasn't gonna come in. So there was really no way to, make that work after that, like I lost literally all the money I had in my business in like the span of, I would say three, four weeks. It was just mortifyingly scary. But I was young and people who are young are resilient and they move on and they find a new dream. And it took me a minute, like I didn't really know what the french toast I was gonna do. And I was like, well, I was still planning on staying in fashion and long, short, I was offered a job to do and run production for a one, a different company. So make sure that their goods were produced on time. Deal with the, the timing of all the orders, making sure the product line. So it was basically operations for manufacturing. And I was super excited about the job and I moved back to my parents' house at the time because things were just that tight financially for me. My parents were like, "Yeah, just, you know, come back, we'll figure it out." And I remember saying to my mom and dad, I'm like, "If this job falls through, do you mind if I just go back to school and stay here?" And they both started to laugh at me like, "Your job is fine, but if the sure why, why not?" And they, they thought it was crazy. And then I ended up back in school. So, they were like, "Whoa, that was really insane," 'cause that was in the end of 2008, starting 2009. And so the company rescinded their offer and they were really like, so sad about it, but they went to a market to sell their clothes and they got zero orders that year or something like close to that. So it was just, it was just a really intense time in the fashion industry and I was looking for jobs and I wasn't getting anywhere. So I only had an AA, and at the time that really didn't matter, but I went back to school and I'm like, "If I'm going back to school this late in age, I'm getting a master's degree." I had no idea what I was gonna get a master's degree in. I was like. I like clothes and design. We'll figure it out from there like that. And I was like, "Well, maybe I'll be..." this is crazy. But I was thinking about being a lawyer, like a property law lawyer. So, because when you are a designer in clothing, people can just knock you off. And you've seen that happen like pretty much everywhere. And people can just take advantage of your intellectual property and never pay you for it if they change enough of it. And so I was like, "You know, this would be something I'd probably be good at." So I went back to school thinking I was gonna go into that type of law. I took psychology courses and I took philosophy courses. And philosophy courses really do lean you, get you thinking very specifically about law. That's what philosophy was basically geared towards anyways. And you take these psychology courses and they're about people and how people process information, how people behave based on their behavior and things like that. So I thought the combination would be really good. Well, I ended up not liking, I did like philosophy, but philosophy's "let's think about thinking about it." And psychology is-- which is great. It's great, but psychology is like more applicable when you're interacting with others. And I found it super fascinating. And then I got really into like cognitive psychology and I'm like, "What the french toast am I gonna do with this? I can't do anything with cognitive psychology. Like I need to make money. I'm a grownup. This isn't ah, I'm gonna study underwater basket weaving and come out and go work in communications at Fox." Like I had to have an actual plan. So in my college at the time, there were these classes and they were like introductory to what you can do with your degrees. And that's literally where I found human factors. And there weren't very many schools that did it, but I was taking most of my classes at that point in cognitive psychology, which is how people process information, not their feeling based stuff. Like I didn't wanna have conversations with people about their feelings. Get that off of me. Like that's not, that's not my jam. I'm like, "Sorry, you're sad, but I'm not sad and I don't wanna be sad, so I'm gonna keep, keep going." And I'm like, "How am I gonna work this into my, you know, I love design, I wanna keep that in my background, and how am I gonna, what am I gonna do?" And so the study of human factors really is the intersection of design and research, and how people interact with said products based on the design. And you get to research that. And I'm like, "Sold. Good. I'm, I can do this. This is like this, I didn't even know this thing existed." This is crazy good. And I never looked back. [00:11:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:11:50] Staci Miller: I got into a master's program the next year. I, and because I was in that specific program in San Jose State, that's why it was so easy for me to work for Samsung because it was in my backyard. And that's why it was easy for me to work for Interface Analysis because Tony was the owner of that company. Tony, he was my professor. So he just was like hiring people and I, I answered his response and I was like, "Hey, I, I'm looking for something." Do you like, he didn't say it was his company. He said, "I have a friend looking" and I'm, you know, like when I know I need to make some money, I'm gonna try to hustle up and make some money. So I'm like, "Hey, I'm open to that." He's like, "Why don't you come by my office and we'll talk?" And I was like, "That's weird." He said It was for some other, I'm like, "Sure, no problem." So I go to his office and he offered me an internship right then and there 'cause it was for me. "I just wanted to see who would respond," 'cause you are the only person that responded. I'm like, "Guess you're gonna hire me then." [00:12:37] Lindsey Dinneen: Amazing. All right. That's great. Thank you so much for that background. And it is so interesting how sometimes our paths are very, very windy to get to where we end up being and we Yeah, exactly. What, what ends up being a really good fit. But, so can you explain a little bit more about human factors, especially, maybe to help folks who have maybe some misconceptions or don't fully understand what it is just in general, but then also relate it specifically to medtech and why it's so important within the medtech industry? [00:13:11] Staci Miller: I can give you a story that probably would do both. So human factors was, was actually founded pretty recently in our timeline of psychology and understanding people. In World War II, there were a whole bunch of fighter pilots ejecting themselves from planes that caused, even in World War II, millions of dollars to produce and nobody could figure out what the problem was. They checked the planes. The planes were operating correctly. They did psychology, like psychological backgrounds on the people who are fighter pilots. I mean, they have to, to get into the military and to fly those planes, you have to be pretty good under pressure. They interviewed them, they were fine. They didn't have any breakdown of stress, and it wasn't happening on a small scale. This was happening on quite a large scale. So they, again, they went, they're like, "Okay, okay." Well, the military went back and " Well, it has to be the plane." So they looked through the plane, wasn't the plane, talk to the people, wasn't the people. So then the psychologist started to ask questions. They're like, "Well, if you're saying that it's not the person's emotional state and you're saying it's not the plane, well then what happened? Something had to happen. Something changed. What changed?" It turned out that the engineers had moved the throttle button with the ejection button in the planes. [00:14:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh. [00:14:31] Staci Miller: So the pilots were originally trained to hit the throttle button on the certain side that the throttle button was in the cockpit. So instead of hitting the throttle, because that was their original training, they hit the ejection button. So they ejected themselves out of the planes, which is why human factors was born. Those little changes that people don't understand about human beings. So when we learn something for the first time, because like even if you think about being a kid or being a baby, or learning a really tough lesson, right? You remember that lesson. And so what happens is that's your default setting. "This is the lesson I've learned. This is how I react." Now for that lesson, it doesn't matter if it's like an emotional exchange or if it's a physical one. So because they were taught where the, the pilots were taught specifically where the throttle was in the first place when they were under attack and they were in a high cognitive loaded space, they went back to their original training. [00:15:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Mm-hmm. [00:15:32] Staci Miller: And then the engineers were like, "Well, we told them. We told them." So, so, because they didn't wanna take the blame, right? Nobody wanted to take the blame ruining millions of dollars of planes. So this same type of thing happens in the medical industry. I mean, you can see it pretty easily, right? So you're trained on System X. There's an update, a 510K release to it. The system works differently. Errors are made, people are hurt. [00:15:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Mm-hmm. [00:15:58] Staci Miller: That's how it translates to medical. So aviation was a really big part of human factors and it still is to this day. Like NASA used to hire quite a few of my classmates. And I know that Boeing and a lot of those other, even BMW hire people that do what I do for a living and test the responses during drive time. And if you think about it, if you look at a Tesla versus a BMW, those are very different driving experiences. Like I had to relearn how to drive a Tesla, right? And like it has a one pedal situation. So now when I get into regular cars, I'm like, "Wait, what? What am I doing? What? What kind of car is this? Like how do I drive this thing again?" I know that sounds silly, but it, it's true 'cause you kind of just get used to the thing that you have. And that's exactly why human factors is prevalent in medical device or in aviation or in, you know, like any kind of like navigation systems. The reason the FDA mandated it is because a lot of products were coming to market and there was a very large influx of critical catastrophic errors in hospitals. People were suffering consequences of bad interfaces or lack of instructions on products. I know that there were a lot of intravenous medications given that weren't supposed to be IV medications in like in certain-- yes, you're supposed to inject it, but not. Intravenously and those charged caused people to perish. So that's when the FDA stepped in and said, "Okay, we were asking you as a favor to do these usability studies, but now officially they're part of your risk requirements and they're part of your requirements to get to market." And I think that happened about the time I graduated grad school, around that time. So about 15, 16 years ago. [00:17:50] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. Yeah. Well that's a fascinating story, and I'm sorry that that is the impetus for the results that we have today, but also how incredible that that is something that's being prioritized and mandated now. And I'm wondering too, when a startup company is developing their technology, how soon should they be thinking about human factors, usability, UX/UI. [00:18:17] Staci Miller: As fast as they're thinking about risk. if you're already thinking about risk at phase zero, that's when you should be thinking about usability and UI and interactions based on user processes, because that's when this kind of conversation really needs to start with regulatory, with your team, with the engineers. So even if you don't have a human factors engineer on staff, like you can find a company that can give you like some fractional support, just, you know, to talk to and to understand what their, what, what their responsibilities are, and what their requirements are to get to market. I have found that a lot of founders don't think that it's a requirement. And I, and I'm really not sure why, but that's been happening a lot lately. [00:18:59] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. So because it's a requirement, because you should be thinking about it from the get go, what are some things that you've seen work really well in terms of, putting together this kind of this testing and whatnot versus things that might seem like they could work. Like perhaps somebody feels that they could maybe do some of this testing themselves. You know, just, just things that maybe people who aren't really familiar with all the regulations would perhaps do, and that could cause problems down the road. [00:19:32] Staci Miller: So there's a, these are all really great questions and let's, let's unpack the idea of research, right? So some people think that research is finding out if somebody is happy about a product and would use it, like product market fit, right? Some people do marketing for that, and I can, that's the type of research that is not technically human factors, but it is something that Gen UX can do, right? So it's just research. I, I call it like insert white meat or insert protein. We can do the research, right? So when it comes down to it, there's, I would say that research is split into two buckets, which is UX/UI, which is very popular and people understand that, which is a formative in the FDA guidance and then validation slash summative. So the validation studies are very clean cut. So I'll explain those first. And they are to validate that the user can use the system in its environments safely. So the alpha for that is the user is successful at using this product and the uses, uses and use environments correctly and safely. And this is all based on your risk documentation from your URRA or your UFMEA. Some people use ADFMEA, which is based on design, and I suggest that they don't use that because that focuses more on the system than it does on the user. And the FDA has really cracked down on that. So if you are a founder and you think you can get just one system, ADFMEA, you are probably already starting off on the wrong foot. Make sure you have your own usability. Because human factors work really focuses on two things in the medical industry. One, it focuses on helping develop the device while breaking down risks. So if you have mitigations and your system's designed a certain way to avoid a risk, that's very important, and that's really also usability testing. And I can explain this in two ways. I've worked at Meta, I've worked at Samsung, I've worked at a lot of different big tech companies, and I've worked at a lot of medtech companies. So I think that people think that human factors is different than user research, and they're right. Human factors is much harder than user research. And you really actually need a background in research methods and an understanding of how the application of research works. Formatives can be used for two reasons. One, to support the need of the product in use and to check how people are actually using the system in real life. So sometimes people are really good at thinking-- so engineers are amazing at building systems, right? I can't do what they can do. I'm not gonna pretend like I can. What I can do is help them build it for their end user, because a lot of the times engineers think very differently than the average human being. They're much more educated. Schooling for engineering is extremely difficult. A lot of it's mathematical computations, understanding actual physical properties of things in their environments and how that they work, right? So those are the things that engineers think about all day long. That's fine. I think about the user all day long. So you can create a system that an engineer thinks that is fine, but then the user is " I don't really know how to use this. What are you talking about?" Right? And so that's what user research informatives avoid. They avoid, they break down risk and they are able to help form the product. So those, those user research studies, like before, let's say phase zero to phase four in a market cycle, if phase five is market release, are for those things. And then as you get later in the cycle, you wanna do more rigid research, that's really breaking down the risk and really focusing on the user interactions within the system and med device. And making sure that they're assessing the risk based on your user, but they're very specific to the user interactions that are critical tasks and higher. Or things that lead up to the critical test and come away. So like you have to be able to do the steps before, do the thing that's really hard to do, that could hurt somebody and then make sure coming away from them you don't cause any harm either. That's the best way to look at these types of tests. And we do the exact same thing in validation for systems. So, in software you test to see if the software can do the thing that it's supposed to do. When you check that box, the software does the thing and it did it, and we're good to go. You do the same thing with mechanical engineering. The system has this, this range of motion here and this range of motion here, and it doesn't deviate from plus X to plus Y and therefore the system does what it's supposed to say. So you're verifying and validating that the system does what the system is planned to do. It's really no different in users, it's just that you're dealing with human beings and it's not, it doesn't work the same way, right? Because like people are variables no matter what. And that was really long worded. So there's like tons of different research to do, but if you don't do your summative and you don't do your risk documentation, you're not getting to, you're not gonna get to market approval. Just, there's no way. [00:24:34] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, that is incredibly helpful insight. And you know, so I wanna go back to, you had this company before, right? So you had already built a business and it was thriving, and then unfortunately life intervened a little bit. When you went to start Gen UX, did you have moments... [00:24:57] Staci Miller: Of PTSD? [00:24:58] Lindsey Dinneen: Of, yeah. [00:25:01] Staci Miller: Yes. [00:25:01] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:25:02] Staci Miller: Yeah. I had major PTSD. Like I, so the concept of Gen UX was a play on words like, so I'm a Gen Xer, no biggie, but like I think that every Gen Xers, millennials, I feel like both of our generations very much identify with our generation. And I thought it would be kind of a fun play on words to identify to people that are also Gen Xers that, yeah, we do UX work and we're Gen UX, as a Generation X, like it was very important, right? So I kind of came up with that idea, thought it was cute. But at the time I was working for Meta, and Meta had been doing quite a bit of layoffs at the time. Nothing wrong with that, that happens with every company. But I have survived in Medtronic and Abbott and all these other companies. I had survived so many rounds of layoffs. I'm like, "One day my number is gonna be, it's just, it's just gonna happen." So, we started at Meta internally, really like they, they were very open and honest with people. They're like, "This is when this is gonna happen. We are gonna lay off more people. This is when this round is gonna happen. We're gonna lay off more people, and then this is the final round and this is when we're gonna lay off these people." So each of our groups of things like, so it was like engineers, lawyers, researchers. Like we, we had timelines that we knew if, if it was gonna happen, this is when it was gonna happen, this would be the day. [00:26:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:26:17] Staci Miller: So I started to really think about what that meant, and I'm like, "Okay, well I'm not gonna start looking for jobs right away because I want my severance package." I definitely wanted that 'cause I, and then I wanted a break if I could have it. So I was like, okay. I, in between working at I was working at EDA as a contractor and that was super fun. Like I had my own time kind of, and I enjoyed the work and I got put on other projects whenever they needed me. And it was like, but I was constantly on a project, so I'm like, "I, maybe I'll go into doing IC work by myself" and I'm like, "No, I can't make enough. If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna build something." And then I'm like, well, I started to talk to my friends every single one of my friends, including Interface Analysis' owner, Tony Andre was like, "Start your own business, Staci. Start your own consulting firm, just do it. Don't even look back. Just do it. People will end up coming to you because you know how to do this." He's like, he's it's, "You know, the first years they are what they are and everybody knows what that looks like. It's, it's rough. You have, it's like a mental game. You're like, I am gonna do this. And you just have to be consistent and can continue down your path. And more and more people will show up." And that's been true every year. But that's how GenX was started. And yes, there was this whole trepidation about, "Am I gonna make it? Am I gonna make it through this?" And I was like, "You know what, Stac, you're starting in a recession in your, in your industry. If you can get it done, if you can get two years in and be successful, you're fine." I'm in year three. [00:27:50] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah! [00:27:51] Staci Miller: Yeah, I mean, year three, woohoo. And we're increasing 50% year over year in year three, and I started it with $0. So, and I'm not, I'm not saying like a hundred to 50, like $50 to a hundred, we're, we're talking a couple hundred thousand dollars here, a couple hundred thousand there. But it's modest and I do expect that growth, and I do expect that to continue. And the other thing I think about is becoming very malleable in, in your spaces, like what's working for you and what doesn't work for you. But I feel like that's kind of off topic from what you asked. But yeah, I had PTSD gave myself at least two years and I'm like, "I can do anything for two years. If it doesn't work out, you know, like I have everything that I have and I can go back into corporate if I need to." And I really, I really was tripping, like just to be nineties about it, I was tripping. Like I was really like, "You know, I don't know." And my husband was like. He was my biggest cheerleader. He was like, "You've gotta do this. He's you're gonna, you're gonna be able to do this. You have something that I don't have. You're really great at networking people like you." I'm like, "Do they really like what?" And he's, " No, people like being around you. You make friends easy and people really do enjoy being around you and they like know that you're smart and you're gonna be able to do this." So, that's how this all started. And yes, I was really freaked out when I first started, but every day when I had bad days, I'm like, "Everything always works itself out." [00:29:14] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:29:14] Staci Miller: "Have you ever not been in a situation where everything works itself out?" "No. No." So I'm like, "Well, if I, if it doesn't, I'll get a new dream, but I don't-- once you hit this, this year, like year three and you know you're still growing, you don't have to get a new dream, you just keep going and you're like, this dream is happening. I'm gonna keep it going." [00:29:34] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. What was it like building a team? Did you start off as a one-woman show, or did you have support at the beginning? How did that work? [00:29:43] Staci Miller: So at first, actually my designer's father was working with me and he called me out of the blue and he's " Hey. I have this client, she doesn't have any human factors person working with her, but I know that she needs it and do you wanna talk to her? I know you're not working at Meta," because I put on my, oh. LinkedIn profile Open to Work. So he called me like within two days, like seriously, like people started to call me and that was when I was already like, "I'm gonna do my own thing. I'm just gonna do my own thing." So the universe just brought me a gift, right? And I met this first client and I started to work with her, and at first everything was super cool. The first year it was great, and I really liked working with her, but she also needed a couple of other things. She needed an IFU and she needed design quality assurance. I'm like, "Check, check. I can get both those things done." So I called my friend Maria, "Hey, do you wanna work with me? She's " Hey. Yeah, totally." Because we had already worked together and we knew each other pretty well. So it wasn't like it was difficult to make that connection. And, and she knows my personality. I know her personality, and I know we both work extremely hard and we have that in common. So I wasn't, never, would I be worried about Maria. And then I found I wasn't, I didn't even have a designer yet on staff. And I found someone who used to do instructions for use for a different company I worked for. I called him like, "Hey, can you do this?" He's " Yeah, yeah." So I got all that done for this other client. I'm like, "I can do this. I can do this. I can, I can find people." I know so many intelligent people who love what they do and have a fire for it every day. And then the evolution started to happen. And then I asked someone to work with me to do sales, and then they said, "Yes." And then we started to pitch people that I was friends with and knew, and sometimes they said yes, and sometimes they said no. I think the first year, I think I pitched over like $4 million in business and I got 20,000. No, I got, I got 80,000, something like that. Something, something small and I'm like, "Why am I pitching so much? This is like taking so much time outta my day," that I found someone to work with me. His name was Adam and I still actually work with Adam and he, but he's a big picture guy and he started to work with me a little bit and help me like navigate through some things. Even to this day, we talk and he's not fully, fully, fully on onboarded, but if, if some. Of the clients that he lands do come on board, he will be back on board and he will be working with me again. And then I had a salesperson this last year and I realized just I needed more of a hunter-gatherer. So like we're just going in a different direction, right? So I had that, and then last year my goal was to bring my designer Maddie on full-time. And I was able to do that too. So everything that I've kind of just said, "I'm gonna do this this year, I've been able to do this year." And I'm not taking this lightly. Like I have a board of directors, which are people who are, have different perspectives on finance because that's my weakest link, I would say. A professor at UCLA, his name's Sean Pat, also a good friend of mine. He's on my board. And my brother-in-law and my nephew, who is new in his life and on his journey, is on my board as well, and I kind of wanted him on my board so he can see what it looks like to be an entrepreneur and see what growth looks like year over year because he is already working for companies. He's, he's like 25, I think, and he's already being groomed to be in upper management. He's got upper management written all over him as like the, as like people would say in like cute little circles. And then my my brother-in-law, he is one of the CFOs at Mayo Clinic, so these are people who have some in medical, some in finance, some in finance, in medical, just helping me like grow. I throw things past them and they help, you know, make decisions for the year. And they tell me like, they give me feedback and, and work through things that I'm doing and what they think is right, what they don't think is right. And sometimes I listen, sometimes I don't. You know, like... [00:33:28] Lindsey Dinneen: Well, yeah. [00:33:29] Staci Miller: Just really depends like where I'm at and what I wanna do and where we wanna grow. [00:33:34] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Excellent. Okay. So I'm curious, especially within medtech specifically, are there moments that really stand out to you as just affirming, "Oh my goodness, I am in the right place at the right time." [00:33:49] Staci Miller: Things keep happening, so, every time I speak, like I, I spoke at Project Medtech, people bombarded me. They're like, "We wanna work with you. We wanna work with you. We should talk, we should talk." Anytime I go to a symposium I walk away with two or three leads. People coming up to me, "Oh, do you do this thing? We should really talk. We should really talk." So, just being in the situation like that kind of tells me that I'm in the right direction. And the other thing is we're growing year over year. If you take a 10,000 foot view of where I was year one versus year three now, very, very different. Extremely different. And like I said, I do have, I do have other consultants that work with me. I don't want you to think it's just like a two person shop. It's not, there's other consultants that work with me but they're as needed. They're not full employees, which I think is really helpful in a situation like this. If you're a founder starting up from scratch and you're not, you don't have, I'm not trying to get angel investors. I'm not trying to get people to push money into my company. I am building it literally from zero to whatever it is that I make. And so that, that's a, what I would call like a slow burn of, you have to build your foundation, you have to manage to the capital that you do have, and then you, then you go to the next level and you do the same thing and then you do the same thing. And there's a lot of consistency with the business now, and I see a lot of people targeting me for that consistency. And as, as we are growing, like people are engaging with us on a different level, which is exciting to see. That's always exciting. [00:35:20] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. [00:35:20] Staci Miller: That's kind of how I know. Yeah. [00:35:23] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Awesome. Okay, so pivoting the conversation a little bit just for fun. [00:35:28] Staci Miller: Cool. [00:35:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Imagine that you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want. Could be within your industry, but it doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach? [00:35:40] Staci Miller: That's a great question. I love, I think it's very important when you do what you do for a living to have something that isn't that for yourself. So I, there's very specific ways as to how I unwind at the end of the day. One of those things is cooking. I would totally do a masterclass in being a home chef. Like I'm, I'm not even a chef like that. I've never gone to culinary school, but I absolutely, I make my own breads. I make chutney sometimes when, when I want some. I would do a masterclass on-- I'm not Gordon Ramsey. I'm not Thomas Keller. Here's what it looks like to be a home cook. And here's the, the five things that you actually need. And this is what you should learn how to make first. Like I remember the first time I was trying to make pasta or something, I boiled the water to death. There was no water left in the pond. Like I didn't even know what I was doing. I, maybe I walked away from it, I don't know, but I destroyed the pot. My mom's " What were you doing?" I was like, "Making pasta." And she's " What, what, what happened? You ruined the pot." I'm like, "I'm not, I just did it wrong." So I would probably do a masterclass in how to just take that first step learning how to make your own food, right? And talk about food 'cause I like food. There you go. That's what I would do. [00:36:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Love it. I love food and I love talking about it. So, that sounds like a great class. [00:36:58] Staci Miller: I would do, I would totally do it. [00:36:59] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay, and then how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:37:07] Staci Miller: This might be dating me, but Roy Orbison who wrote the song, "Pretty Woman" that was also in the movie, "Pretty Woman" wrote that he "just wanted to be remembered." And I thought that was really interesting. And I think that everybody knows that song knows that it's the guy like, I don't know if you know like the artist, but I think even to this day, that song, generationally, people know that song. I don't know how I wanna be remembered, but this is how I wanna impact the world. So it's kind of like that, but kind of not. I believe that knowledge transfer is the most powerful thing that we have amongst generations. And I want the next generation to be better than me, which is probably, in my opinion, I'm kind of kind of strict about this, probably a tall order, 'cause I'm like very picky. But, I have mentored and, and taught people my craft, and I want them to be better than me so they can mentor people and be better at this craft. So if I leave one mark on this world, it's that I have taught somebody what I know how to do and I expect them to do it better than me. And I don't mentor just anybody. So if I'm mentoring you is, and I'm putting all this energy into you, you better, you better bring it. And the people that I have worked with and have mentored are doing extremely well in their careers, and that's, that's kind of a thing that I like about, like what we do and how I do it. So I don't know if I would be specifically remembered for that, but I do know that it would move our industry forward and that makes me happy. [00:38:39] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. That's a beautiful legacy. All right, and then final question. What is one I know, what is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:38:52] Staci Miller: When I see what I'm building or, or how I'm building it in the future and I really go deep within my, my consciousness about this is what I'm gonna do next. This is how I'm gonna do it. This is what makes me feel really alive. I get so excited. I get like goosebumps. I start smiling. I, I'm a big-- I don't know if you do this, Lindsey, but I do this-- I kind of dance around a little bit. Like I dance when I'm making food, I dance and most people dunno that about me. But I, but my closest friends I remember I was working with this one guy and he looks at me, he's " Do you ever stop dancing?" I'm like, "Nope. Nope, Nope. Gotta dance." So all that stuff like starts to happen. And I just get really excited about the things that I'm trying to build, what I'm trying to master in my own world, what I'm trying to create. And that's what gives me like so much excitement. And then a number two would be my cats, because they're ridiculous and I love them and they give me so much love and they make me smile all the time too. [00:39:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh yes, those are great answers. I love that so much. It is exciting to see. Dreams come true. I can totally understand that answer of getting the, the excitement, the tingles, and then yeah, I, yeah, I, I obviously relate to dancing around all the time, and especially like celebratory dances. They're, my celebratory dances are the goofiest, most ridiculous things you've ever seen, but I'm happy! So. [00:40:20] Staci Miller: As long as you're happy, that's all that really matters, right? Like that vibe that you're putting out there and the happiness and the giddiness, like the things that I'm building in my mind, like they haven't happened yet, but I'm dancing like they have, you know, because I hope that they do. Like there you go. And I think that's important. I love it. [00:40:35] Lindsey Dinneen: True embodiment of the vision. I love it. Well, well, Staci, this has been a great conversation. Thank you so much for your insights and your stories, and we are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf today to Feeding America, which works to end hunger in the United States by partnering with food banks, food pantries, and local food programs to bring food to people facing hunger, and also they advocate for policies that create long term solutions to hunger. So thank you so much for choosing that charity to support. And gosh, I just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:41:15] Staci Miller: Thank you, thank you. It was so much fun being with you today. I appreciate this and it was so much fun to talk about. And yeah, I can't wait to see you in the next couple weeks too. So we'll see each other soon. [00:41:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Yay! Sounds good. Well, thanks again and have the best rest of your day. [00:41:32] Dan Purvis: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium Medical. Velentium Medical is a full service CDMO, serving medtech clients worldwide to securely design, manufacture, and test class two and class three medical devices. Velentium Medical's four units include research and development-- pairing electronic and mechanical design, embedded firmware, mobile app development, and cloud systems with the human factor studies and systems engineering necessary to streamline medical device regulatory approval; contract manufacturing-- building medical products at the prototype, clinical, and commercial levels in the US, as well as in low cost regions in 1345 certified and FDA registered Class VII clean rooms; cybersecurity-- generating the 12 cybersecurity design artifacts required for FDA submission; and automated test systems, assuring that every device produced is exactly the same as the device that was approved. Visit VelentiumMedical.com to explore how we can work together to change lives for a better world.

Broadcasting LIVE from Black Matt Studios, THE BOOMXERS are four friends too young to be Baby Boomers but too old to be GenXers. We get together every week to Jibber Jabber about music, entertainment, rural news, crazy inventions, portmanteaus, and so much more. Featuring the phenomenal music quiz known as JIMMY READS. The BoomXers: Unfiltered, Unpolished, Unapologetic, and Unsponsored.

We kick off this episode of the show by considering various ways a person today might "take the black" (little Game of Thrones reference there). We compare our lists of all-time Spotify streams, and then play a TikTok about Trump's recent DOJ deal, discussing whether such corruption is relatively new or whether it was just more hidden in times past. We compare TV and movies as forms of art, and then we do another segment of "Pastor  Jack's Off" where Jack Hibbs whines about Muslims or something. We close with the suggestion that the cultural touchstone that just may unite Gen-Xers, Millennials, and Gen-Z is Survivor.

Mike and Bill discuss being Gen-Xers, Vertigo's Bleeding Hearts #1, End of Life #1 and The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1, Savage Dragon #279, Skinbreaker #1, Blackhawk #110, All American Men of War #43, Sisu 2 Road to Revenge, Parenthood, Neighbors, Three Amigos, Funny Farm, Gen V, Old Guard 2, […] The post Geek Brunch 463 – We are lucky to be Gen-X first appeared on DC Noise.

Zacks GenXers Tracey Ryniec and Mark Vickery look back on the late 1990s and compare it with 2026's AI Revolution. (1:00) - What Can We Takeaway From The Past Stock Market Bubbles? (10:15) - Will AI Be The Next Dot-com Bubble? (21:45) - Breaking Down The Current Valuation of The AI Trade Right Now? (46:45) - Episode Roundup: MSFT, GOOGL, NVDA

Most people know Social Security exists, but very few understand where it came from, what it was actually designed to do, or why the math behind it looks the way it does today. Before you make any decisions about when to file, you need to understand the full picture. In today's conversation, Nic and Randy clear the table on all things Social Security. From its origins in 1935 and the generational math that's quietly straining the trust fund, to the real trade-offs between filing at 62 versus waiting until 70. This episode is designed to replace fear and confusion with clarity and confidence. ⸻ ⏱️ Episode Highlights [00:35] – The origin story: How Otto von Bismarck's walk through the streets of Europe gave birth to the concept of Social Security. [01:25] – The design problem: Why Social Security was never meant to be a pension, and how we turned it into one. [03:01] – The generational math: 72 million Baby Boomers drawing down. 29 million Gen Xers paying in. Why don't the numbers add up? [06:37] – The Millennial factor: Why 80 million Echo Boomers may be the unlikely heroes of the Social Security story. [08:10] – Filing at 62: When taking Social Security early is actually the right decision, and why no one should guilt you out of it. [10:39] – Waiting until 70: The case for an 8% guaranteed compound growth rate that almost nothing else can match. [13:45] – The trust fund reality: What depletion between 2033 and 2034 actually means, and why 70 to 75% of benefits are still projected to be paid by 2070. [14:50] – Beyond retirement: Why Social Security also matters for widows, survivors, and disability benefits. ⸻ Links & Resources Mentioned • Email: connect@meritfa.com • Website: meritfinancialadvisors.com ⸻ Closing Thoughts If today's episode resonated with you, please rate, follow, share, and leave a comment, it helps us reach more people who deserve clarity over confusion when it comes to Social Security. If you don't have a Social Security filing plan or you're unsure when and how to file based on your situation, reach out at connect@meritfa.com. We'd love to help you make the right call,  on your terms, not out of fear. Stay coachable! Investment advice offered through Merit Financial Group, LLC., an SEC-registered investment adviser.  

May 19, 2026 ~ Chris and Lloyd find out about the $600 million being spent on Michigan's Gubernatorial race; ask about expanded Amazon drone deliveries in the area; learn why Gen Xers are drinking and socializing less and hear about scrap tires being used to repair Michigan's roads. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

BUY THE SLOW LIVING BOOK HERE! Feeling stretched thin between student loans, raising kids, career pressure, and caring for aging parents? In this episode Stephanie dives into why so many Millennials and Gen Xers feel overwhelmed, overcommitted, and stuck chasing a version of “caught up” that never seems to arrive. She explores the hidden cost of constantly saying yes, the moving goalpost of success, and why more money or more time doesn't always create more peace.Stephanie shares practical ways to embrace slow living, protect your time and energy, and focus on what truly matters in this season of life. From redefining what “enough” looks like to stepping away from quiet competition and burnout culture, this episode offers encouragement and actionable mindset shifts for anyone craving a simpler, more intentional life. If you're ready to create more balance, peace, and purpose, this conversation is one you won't want to miss.Want to know more about living a slowed down life?!Simple Shortcuts to Peace Course - https://stephanieodea.com/peaceNew Year, New You Mini Challenge - https://stephanieodea.com/newyouJoin me for my LIVE Masterclass - https://stephanieodea.com/masterclass/Website - https://stephanieodea.comBlog - https://stephanieodea.com/blog/Slow Living Podcast - https://stephanieodea.com/podcastSpeaking Opportunities - https://stephanieodea.com/speaking/Coaching Opportunities - https://stephanieodea.com/coaching/Courses - https://stephanieodea.com/courses/Contact - stephanieodea.com/contact/

Hello, wrestling fans! It's time for Episode #220 of Shut Up and Wrestle, with Brian R. Solomon! Get ready for some sweet '80s nostalgia, as Brian welcomes '80s wrestling fan, pop culture aficionado and quizmaster Noah Tarnow to the show! Listen in as two disgruntled GenXers explain exactly why wrestling in the '80s was so … Continue reading Episode 220: Noah Tarnow → The post Episode 220: Noah Tarnow appeared first on Shut Up And Wrestle with Brian Solomon.

Hot off the news that he's just sold one million copies of his books, my wonderfully talented friend, KING OF ASHES and ALL THE SINNERS BLEED novelist S.A. Cosby returns to the pod this week for a delightful episode Gen Xers in particular will love. Listen in as we wax nostalgic, nerdy, & philosophical about the American independent film scene, video stores, actors with faces, Sundance, the New Queer Cinema movement, & iconoclastic filmmakers of the 1990s. We started with groundbreaking director Gregg Araki's TEEN APOCALYPSE TRILOGY, then went everywhere, & obviously, fittingly, NOWHERE. The three main films in the trilogy that we discuss are TOTALLY F***ED UP, THE DOOM GENERATION, and NOWHERE, but we bring in myriad other films, directors, and actors from this terrific era that valued original voices and stories that no one else could tell.Orginally Posted on Patreon (5/14/26) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/158267662Donate to the Pod via Ko-fi & PayPal Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopTheme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Broadcasting LIVE from Black Matt Studios, THE BOOMXERS are four friends too young to be Baby Boomers but too old to be GenXers. We get together every week to Jibber Jabber about music, entertainment, rural news, crazy inventions, portmanteaus, and so much more. Featuring the phenomenal music quiz known as JIMMY READS.

How Sabado Walked Away From the Corporate Machine at 51 Guest: Sabado, The Everyday RetireeAfter 25 years leading HR for Fortune 500 companies, Sabado walked away from corporate at 51 after realizing he was being paid 40 percent below market while the goalposts kept moving.Today, he is a University of California Certified Master Gardener and the voice behind Ask Sabado, where Gen Xers come for real retirement strategy, financial freedom, and the wellness side of building a life beyond the 9 to 5.His philosophy is simple:When you ditch the corporate calendar, Saturdays become a permanent state of mind.

With Commencement season upon us, the State System of Higher Education is sending thousands of graduates out into the workforce. Nearly 20,000 students are graduating from state system universities. Nearly 90% of the students are from Pennsylvania and most graduates stay in the state. Four-day school schedules are gaining in popularity across the country. Starting this fall, students at a Catholic secondary school in Williamsport, Lycoming County are joining the trend.The State Department of Health is working closely with health care providers in Lebanon County after three individuals were hospitalized with measles. The Office of State Inspector General has new office space in Forum Place in Harrisburg.  State Inspector General Michelle Henry says the move allows her entire department to be located on one floor, as opposed to three.A state House committee is advancing a suite of six bills to combat child sex trafficking Wellspan Health has officially opened Wellspan Carlisle Hospital.  It's the third new hospital Wellspan has opened this year following locations in Newberry and Shrewsbury, York County. York is being awarded $1.5 million to help city officials convert the vacant Dentsply Sirona property into affordable housing including 81 apartments, plus retail and office space. York's funding is part of a total of $10 million Governor Shapiro is awarding for affordable housing programs across the state.Who owns blighted homes in the city of Reading? The answer is often unclear. And it's hampering city officials from tracking down those owners and ultimately increasing the city's housing stock and tax base. You can learn more about this story on our website, here. And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this: There's a new free online quiz to predict and plan for longevity. It's good timing, as the oldest millennials turn 45 this year - and the oldest Gen Xers are 60. What's your longevity score? Take the quiz and find out, in a story from NPR, linked here. 

On this episode of the NCS Podcast we talked to Jare C of the Lavender Room. The Lavender room is a queer ran mutual aid DIY promo and production team. We talked to Jare about her beginning and coming to buffalo and her work with the Lavender Room. We also talked to Jare about her band All Main Points. We learned a lot about all of the great work she is doing to help queer youth and the disenfranchised in general and with us of straight Gen Xers it was cool to be educated on what she is doing and the ideas behind it. Was definitely an informative episode. We recommend supporting the Lavender room in any way that you can.https://linktr.ee/lavenderroomny

On this episode of the NCS Podcast we talked to Jare C of the Lavender Room. The Lavender room is a queer ran mutual aid DIY promo and production team. We talked to Jare about her beginning and coming to buffalo and her work with the Lavender Room. We also talked to Jare about her band All Main Points. We learned a lot about all of the great work she is doing to help queer youth and the disenfranchised in general and with us of straight Gen Xers it was cool to be educated on what she is doing and the ideas behind it. Was definitely an informative episode. We recommend supporting the Lavender room in any way that you can.https://linktr.ee/lavenderroomny

REALITY BITES —  I am Gen X. I'm telling you this because, well, this is hardly something that is ever relevant to any conversation when, in fact, it is also always relevant to everything. But I just don't talk about it because who cares when I was born, or that we Gen Xers all live in the long and darkest of dark shadow of Boomers, or the loud echo of Millennials, or the annoyingly brash and unknowing living of whatever the other younger generations are called. I'm Gen X, and I just know one thing: there are more of you than there are of me, and there always have been. I'm saying all this because today we're gonna talk about Geezer magazine, as if any Gen X-er in their right mind would ever call themselves a geezer, because that's Boomer stuff. And hey, did you see we're turning 60? For fuck's sake. As if. So yes, Geezer, a magazine by and for Gen X that is both completely irreverent and surprisingly serious and even tender, that balances nostalgia with irony. And while Gen X's favorite word might be whatever, the secret is we care what you think. We always have. You just have to first extract a whole lot of other stuff, that cold exterior built up as a defense mechanism against a world that is stupid, and that for whatever reason the Boomers keep running. Meaning sure, we like to say never mind, but we also sang “Don't You Want Me” and “Debaser.” So just take a chill pill. I promise we'll talk about a rad magazine on today's show.. — This episode is made possible by our friends at Freeport Press. A production of Magazeum LLC ©2021–2025

Raleigh's next wave is here. Some make a living—others make a mission. Across the city, a cohort of savvy young Gen Xers and elder millennials are channeling their drive into something bigger: turning ideas into action and igniting the city's next chapter in real time. Meet the people refusing to play it safe—and shaping what's next for Raleigh. Raleigh Magazine's Firestarter 40sStay in the KnowGet SocialMeet Our Sponsors:SwimWoodhouse Spa RaleighTimber PizzaGet the issue to your door! Subscribe Now

Our need and desire for connection doesn't retire as we grow older. NextAge Season 2 explores love, intimacy, and companionship in the second half of life.Through personal stories and expert insight, we're covering topics from digital dating, sex, and changing bodies to medical myths, healing psyches and long-held identities finally coming into full expression. Today's episode kicks off another season of our special series featuring stories and information about growing older in the 21st century — and how Middle Tennesseans are reframing aging. In Tennessee, our population that's 60-plus now includes the oldest GenXers and is projected to grow by 30% in the next 15 years. Today, we review some of the stories and topics from last year and how it led to new reporting on  what it means to keep falling in love with others — and ourselves.Guests: LaTonya Turner, news editor & on-air host, WPLN News Natasha Senjanovic, journalist & contributing producer

Send us Fan MailRetirement today looks nothing like it did a generation ago. With fewer pensions, longer lifespans, and more personal responsibility, the real question isn't when you retire, it's who you become next.In this conversation, Joy Levin, Certified Professional Retirement Coach reframes retirement as an encore chapter; one rooted in values, meaning, community, and intentional experimentation.Key Takeaways

This week Eileen and special guest Kimmi Berlin, founder and creator of the non-profit organization BuildUpBoys discuss parenting, mentoring, and nurturing boys. These two GenXers are all too familiar with the clear gender roles of generations past which is why they had so much fun criticizing cultural norms and challenging society's idea of what a man should or shouldn't be. Boys aren't bad, it isn't in their biology. We can nurture boys' ability to remain attuned to their emotions, love unabashedly, and communicate. Turns out boys will be boys... but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. BuildUpBoys serves boys from Pre-K through 6th grade. But also educate their parents, grandparents, caretakers, teachers, and coaches on why encouraging them to feel, express, and regulate their entire range of emotions is so important. If you would like more information or to donate, please visit www.buildupboys.comSupport the showStrangers With Kittens is a podcast created by Eileen Kelly and Produced by Ashley Aker. You can listen to full podcast episodes on Spotify, Amazon, Audible, and Apple Podcasts. Follow Strangers With Kittens On Social Media Facebook InstagramTikTokYouTubeKeep The Conversation Going https://www.strangerswithkittens.com/

Gen Xer and Goldmine editor Patrick Prince talks to his co-host, Gen Zer Holden Russiano, about this year's Record Store Day experience at Luna Records in Franklin, Tennessee (and, of course, other record stores). What RSD releases sold the most? Was there an overnight line? How many people showed up? Was there a great sale on used records? The hosts run the gamut, and discovered that they liked the used records that they found on sale as much as the RSD releases that they were lucky to pick up. Overall, a great day for record collectors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send a FanMail to the GenX Stories gang via text message!Ever wondered what happens when an entire cruise ship full of Gen Xers decide to relive the greatest decade? Wonder no more. In this week's episode, we're taking you aboard the 80s Cruise - where the fanny packs are unironic, the hair is big, and the hits just keep on coming. We're talking live concerts, old-school heartthrobs, neon everything, and a crowd that still knows every single word to every single song. Whether you're a die-hard cruise lover or someone who swore they'd never set foot on a ship, this episode may have you reconsidering your stance fast. Plus we have a kick ass guest sitting in with us  who just came back from her second 80s cruise and is already signed up for her third (and planning for her 4th so she can offically “graduate”.)So is the 80's cruise totally rad or totally bogus? Listen now and you can be the judge.Episode links80's cruise official websiteBest Moments of the 2025 80's cruise The 80s Cruise: Why A Music Theme Cruise is the Best Party at SeaVideos from the 80's cruiseInstagram for #The80scruiseReada Kessler infoInstagramThreadsFacebookWTOP RadioWTOP ProfileTelling the traffic story with Reada KesslerConnect with usSubscribe to GenX Stories in your favorite podcast appBuy some kickass merchWrite us a reviewVisit our site

Most people leave corporate and immediately chase the familiar paths — consulting, coaching, fractional work. Those are valid. But they take time, runway, and a warm network. In this episode Brett breaks down three unexpected ways GenXers are generating real income right now, using skills they already have, without needing a big audience or startup capital.The backdrop is an AI world that most people are reading completely wrong. AI didn't shrink the opportunity for skilled humans — it exploded it. Because now there's an entire population of people who are aware of their problems, have access to the information, and will still pay someone else to just handle it.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN✅ Why AI makes YOUR corporate skills more valuable, not less✅ The "skill flip" model — how to charge for what you already know✅ What UGC is, why GenX is uniquely positioned for it, and how to start✅ How to turn what you know into paying clients without building a course empire✅ Why your first dollar outside corporate changes everythingTHE 3 PATHS01 — The skill flipTomi Mikula spent 10 years on the dealer side of car sales. He now runs Delivrd — charging consumers $1,000 flat to negotiate car deals on their behalf. 300 customers a month. $300K in monthly revenue. His customers could use AI to do what he does. They pay him anyway. Because the problem was never information — it was execution, accountability, and not wanting to deal with it. That's the model. Find a high-stress transaction, one side has information the other side doesn't, and charge to be the expert in the room. HR disputes, salary negotiation, medical billing, contractor bids — it's everywhere.02 — UGC (User Generated Content)Brands are paying real people — not influencers — to record short videos about products they actually use. No following required. Platforms like Billo and JoinBrands connect brands with creators, paying $150–$500 per video. GenX is ideal for this: authentic, credible, and speaks to a demographic most brands can't reach. Brett just signed two deals in one week for just under $1,000 combined. You don't need an audience. You need a phone, a face, and something real to say.03 — Teaching what you knowNot a course empire — just solving one specific problem for one specific person who's standing exactly where you were. The AI translation angle is huge right now: small business owners know they're falling behind and will pay someone who speaks both business AND AI to help them catch up. And you don't need to be far ahead — you just need to be far enough ahead. The people in Brett's community who are winning fastest are teaching hyper-specific things to people one or two steps behind them on the journey.MEMORABLE QUOTE"The problem was never information. It's about execution, accountability, and people just not wanting to deal with it. Your 20 to 30 years of corporate experience puts you right in the middle of that opportunity."

We talk to Hogan Gidley about Iran, then a detailed mission ops from Jim Carafano. Wiggins America looks at the worthless advice Gen Xers got that doesn't matter now.

A preview episode into why you ought to order my new book & watch the show Landman. You have 2 order options: Signed copies: https://www.coachbru.com/shop/p/crude-wisdomVia Amazon: https://amzn.to/4tF4RaXBook Description: Crude Wisdom is a fast-paced, humorous, and practical leadership guide that turns high-stakes drama into real-world decision-making tools.Using on-screen case studies from the hit Paramount+ series Landman as “film room” breakdowns, this book translates chaos into coaching — showing leaders how to stay steady, act decisively, and keep teams together when everything is on fire (sometimes literally).Written in the sharp, conversational style John Brubaker has become famous for, this book blends storytelling, leadership insight, and team culture clarity. Each chapter walks through a real crisis moment from the show, breaks down what worked and what didn't, and connects it to proven principles from business, sports, military leadership, and history. The result is a field manual for anyone who leads under pressure — without reading like a boring textbook or powerpoint deck.You'll learn how to:​Make better decisions when the clock is against you​Communicate clearly when stakes are high​Build teams that hold under pressure​Create cultures that tell the truth early​Turn setbacks into strategic advantages​Lead with calm instead of noise​Use humor and perspective to keep people moving​Install crisis habits before crisis hitsWhether you lead a company, a team, a classroom, or a crew, this book delivers practical crisis leadership lessons with grit, wit, and straight talk.Because plans fail. Pressure arrives. And leaders are revealed — not when things go right, but when they go wrong.

In this episode of The Clay Edwards Show, Clay delivers a refreshingly honest reminder that it's not only okay — it's healthy — to have real passions and interests outside of politics and the endless culture war. He opens up about his personal Facebook page, where politics barely exists. Instead, it's packed with pictures of his dogs, animal rescue shares, killer food, wrestling, sports, boxing, MMA, and all the fun stuff that actually makes life worth living. Clay pushes back hard against the toxic crowd that hunts him down on his personal profile just to attack him, acting like you're not allowed to enjoy anything if you have strong political opinions. As a proud Gen Xer, he celebrates how his generation made it normal for grown men to still collect the toys they loved as kids — GI Joes, Star Wars figures, wrestling memorabilia — and to keep enjoying comic books, action movies, and the hobbies that bring real joy. “Wrestling's fake? So is the news you watch every night,” he quips with classic Clay humor. Politics and culture war battles aren't #1 or even #2 in his life, and he says they don't have to be in yours either. This one's a fun, human, no-BS segment about balance, joy, and remembering there's a whole world outside the outrage machine.

Rob and Darren welcome fellow Gen Xer, social media guru, and the host of the podcast The Dad Bod Veteran, Jon, for a discussion about getting older and embracing the changes that come with it. From slowing metabolisms and the realities of andropause to sleep habits and stand-up comedy, the conversation reflects on life in the Gen X era. They also talk about podcasting, fatherhood, and the experiences that shape the “dad bod” phase of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is all about the stress of people — managing them, working with them, attending to them, etc. Tiff and Kristy discuss what it means to manage results and lead people, and how sticking to systems of accountability in your practice can take a lot of that stress off your shoulders. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back here today with another amazing podcast. I say that because I just know this is gonna be incredible content. I'll introduce myself again. I realized a podcast ago that I never introduced myself. I'm Tiffanie I am a consultant, a dental consultant here with the Dental A Team. I've been here for a really long time, so I guess I just assume everybody has also been here for a really long time. I think everybody's like my best friend and I sit here.   on this podcast, Kristy with you and with all of the listeners, just talking to my best friend. Like that's just how I roll. So I'll take the moment to say hello, welcome. Thank you to those who have been listening for a long time or a short time or a new today. We love being able to reach new people. Part of our mission is to reach as many people as we possibly can. And it's worded much better than that, but that's the gist of it. And Kiera, know, get, Kiera likes to quiz us.   every now and again and I fail every time you guys. It's just like words in my brain get jumbled. It's okay, it's totally fine. So our mission is here. We are so excited to welcome you. Kristy, I am excited to welcome you here with me today. You have been on a podcast roll with me. We have busted out so many. I really truly appreciate you for that and for so many other reasons. So thank you for being here today, Kristy.   The Dental A Team (01:18) Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.   The Dental A Team (01:21) Yeah, thank you. We have been chatting quite a few things. KPIs, I think this is the month of KPIs and results and it makes sense because Q1 is behind us. We're rolling into Q2 and making sure that we are set for success because my opinion is if we wait until November, but even July, if we're like, gosh, Q3, what are we doing? What are we doing? You're already behind you guys. You got a lot to make up at that point. You might as well just start now.   I love this role that we've been on today. We also always get to hit some personal development pieces, which is fun as well. So today, where this podcast right now, we really want to talk about the human side of things. Kristy, something that I notice, I get the luxury of seeing Dental A Team from all of the different sides. I get to see it from sales side, from marketing side, from development side, like all of education, from consulting.   every space of Dental A Team, I feel like I have a little toe dipped in there, just because I've been here for so long and I've helped in so many different facets to create what we are doing today. And with that, I get to see all of the different reasons that all of our clients are attractive to us and the people who are not yet clients or have just come for, know, tell me what my gap is and let me work on it. All those people, all the doctors, all the teams,   are typically coming and they're saying, I say this all the time, they're saying systems, right? We need systems. Clean up my systems, Kristy. My systems are broken. And they're like, please. And I've watched it. I've watched new to Dental A Team consultants be like, okay, let's start and we'll dig into systems. And I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Do we know that that system's broken? Like, let's take a step back and really figure out what it is, what it is and why you're actually here.   because your systems is the word that you're using to describe your issue, your symptom. And what typically is happening is we have stress. Things aren't working. They're not aligning just right. And we think, well, my systems are broken then. And your systems may not be broken. They may need adjusting or we may need to add some systems. We may need to do away with some old systems, right?   I've got practices that I'm like, think we're just billing this way because we like to, because we've always done it this way. I have to tell you, side tangent for a second, I love this office and when they listen to this, they're gonna know exactly who they are.   I was like, what do you mean you have a black book? What is a black book? Like I don't understand what this is. And they're like, Tiff, like you don't understand how much time we're spending tracking metrics. You're saying we're not tracking. And I'm like, well, I just need them on this Excel sheet. Like where are they at? And they have this old school accounting black book. Like I can't even show you how big it is. It's just like this massive ledger and they have a pencil and these little tiny cells and every day they're writing.   The Dental A Team (04:17) you   The Dental A Team (04:26) production, adjustments, collections, where the collections is coming from. And I was like, wow, Open Dental tells us all of this every day. You just have to print it. You can even keep it. You don't need to, because it's always accessible. But if it makes you feel better, print it daily and keep it. What are we doing? And so I say that because there are some systems that are just like, we've just always done that. My dad owned the practice and this is how he did it. And it was successful and cool.   We can keep doing it or we don't have to. It's up to you. But the stress is actually the underlying issue and it's usually financial stress or misunderstandings, missed expectations. I expected to make more money than I did. I expected to be able to do my expansion and I can't. I expected to have another dentist on board. I expected to be able to find a hygienist. I expected someone else to talk to all the...   team members on my team. It's missed expectations and it's stresses. And Kristy, something I wanted to dive into today was really how, one, I do think systems help those things. So yes, there is a deep dive onto the systems, but really understanding the stress behind a lot of it and the why I think is key. And Kristy, I don't know if you noticed this in your office, just tell me what you see.   I think one of the number one stressors that I see for doctors, for business owners, and for even office managers who have already taken on this role and doctors have delegated this to them, one of the number one stresses that I see is the stress of people. It's dealing with people, right? Whether it's the patients or the team, but really the HR management side of managing people, like dentistry is not hard, right? Work isn't hard, people are hard. And dealing with that,   tends to be the crux of a lot of stress for doctors that they think the systems will fix, which we'll dive into how they can help that. But Kristy, do you agree? Are you seeing that within your practices as well?   The Dental A Team (06:34) Yeah, 100 % across the board, whether it's doctors or leadership, it's definitely the people driven. And you hear the things like, people just don't show up like they used to or, you know, those little sayings are, they don't respect our time. And so yes, 100 % from patients to team members, to be honest with you, but people.   The Dental A Team (06:55) Yeah. I agree.   I agree. I get the like work ethic, like work ethics changed. These Gen Zers or Gen Xers or Gen whatevers. They're different. And I'm like, yeah, they are different. 2020 taught us a lot of things and things are different now. And we can keep standing here saying, you know, we want to be on this box that was old and is breaking or we can move forward onto the new box. I totally agree with that.   The Dental A Team (07:03) Yeah   Thank you.   The Dental A Team (07:25) When I think of stress of people, I agree. I think people can be hard. Managing people can be hard. And I think leading people is a very different statement. And leading people makes management easy, if that makes sense. I believe in managing results and leading people. Systems without accountability.   The Dental A Team (07:50) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (07:54) lead to micromanagement and a lot of stress around your people management.   The Dental A Team (07:59) I agree 100 % Tiffanie, you said that like so spot on. And accountability is one of those things that everybody wants and everybody's gonna also gripe about. But I will also say, I was privileged to go, I think it was one of the HR companies like Cedar, Ben Erickson or one of them had talked about. ⁓   You know, they do this stuff day in and day out. And they said the number one reason somebody will leave you is because you don't have accountability. And the number one thing they'll complain about is accountability. So it really cemented it. I mean, coming from an HR company that deals with people all day, every day, and probably the worst of the people ⁓ saying that really, really taught me that we need that clarity. Every one of us needs that clarity and we all need that accountability.   And so you're spot on. And when we can make it about that clarity, what we're looking for and not so much about the person, it makes the leadership a lot easier. You're like, uh-huh.   The Dental A Team (09:09) Absolutely.   Yes. Yes. And that's, think, what I mean by managing the results. Right? And I even that what you just said right there is like not making it about the person. I just had a call right before we started podcasting. And he was like, gosh, I have, you know, and we've had this. had I had a team member that I was like, my gosh, I think her dryer is broken. Like, she smells like mold. Right. Or we're wearing way too much perfume. that shirt is way too low cut. that's not really appropriate.   The Dental A Team (09:16) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (09:39) Gosh, I had a girl that would wear the wrong color sweater and I'm like, it's black. Like we just, it's black. That's all we got, black and white. That's all you got, right? And this blue, like I know this Navy is really close to black, but it's not black. Those conversations, those are the stressors, right? It's hard. It's like, come on. And my doctors are like, we're all adults. I agree with you, but we're all gonna do whatever we can to get away with whatever we can. And if we're gonna slide in a Navy blue sweater, because it almost looks black.   The Dental A Team (09:45) Hahaha!   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:08) except for next to my black shirt, right? And if I don't say anything, I don't hold the person accountable to our dress code, the next thing I know, she's wearing a light blue sweater. And Marjorie in the back, she decided hot pink was cool today. And I'm like, what is happening you guys? Well, guess what? I didn't hold accountability to the lines. We had a boundary and the boundary was crossed and I didn't use clear as kind and hold the boundary. And it is clear as kind.   It's like, hey, love the sweater. Just keep in mind, remember, it's gotta be black or white. I do love it though, it just doesn't fit within our guidelines. Period. There's no questions. And it's kind. I don't dislike the sweater. It's just not appropriate for the office, right? Love the enthusiasm. Let's use this verbiage with that enthusiastic flair. Let's see if we get a different result.   The Dental A Team (11:07) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (11:07) It's less about, because it's not the person. She's not a bad person for trying to wear a blue sweater. She was in a hurry. She was in a hurry that morning and she grabbed what she could and she thought it would be fine. I remember the day like it was yesterday because she was like, what? It's fine. And I was like, it's not. I get it and I understand. But if I don't say anything, like if I'm going to say something to someone else, I have to say it to you too. And it's my job and I'm just.   I'm upholding the standards. So it's not a big deal. I don't want you to feel attacked like you're fine, we're fine. We're black tomorrow. And if I need to get you a black sweater, tell me, I'll order you a black sweater. Right? It doesn't have, it doesn't, wasn't about her, right? It's not, there's nothing wrong with the person. Right now it's about the result. And when we make it about the person, it is really hard. And when I get doctors that are like, I don't want to hurt her feelings.   The Dental A Team (11:54) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (12:05) Well, you've made it about the person. Now it's about the person. But is there something wrong with her that you have to this conversation? Or is this conversation about something that's completely outside of her? They're like, well, no, right? She's wearing too much perfume. Cool. Love your perfume. Could be an issue for our patients. Please dial it back. It's not about her, right?   The Dental A Team (12:30) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (12:33) And I told my doctor recently, one of my doctors that I had a similar conversation with, I said, I have to take a step back. That same thought process goes through my mind too. It happens to all of us because we're like, I don't want to turn people away. I don't wanna push anybody away. I don't wanna lose anyone. It's our survival mechanisms are in tune with saying, don't push people away. Pad the situation and be nice so that people don't run away. But nice.   I think of it this way, whenever I feel it, I'm like, nope, take a step back, because I have to think and consider if I feel that I have to be nice and not be clear and kind, if I feel that I have to be nice, I am also then saying that this person across from me is not strong enough to take a clear and kind conversation, and I'm.   Like, what's the word I want? Making them smaller by being nice to protect them because they can't handle it and protect themselves. So to me, I have to tell myself that story often because it feels way worse to say the person on the other side of this conversation can't handle this conversation than to say I might hurt her feelings for a moment by telling her that her perfume is too strong. at the end of the day, she's gonna be like, cool, I'm gonna say perfume.   The Dental A Team (13:58) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (14:02) she's gonna be fine, right? Like we make these situations so much bigger than they need to be and we stress on the potential outcomes because the people management is hard. But the lines are there, the boundaries are there, the accountability is there. And when we hire capable, strong people and we believe in the human, the conversation's gonna go fine.   The Dental A Team (14:23) Yeah, Tiff, I love that you said that. it's kind of funny because it's taking me back to even in office and training things. I'm like, guys, almost all of the situations that we don't like, we've created. And I can almost always prove it. And even in this situation, we create bad employees or people not following the rules because we've created that situation, truly.   The Dental A Team (14:47) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:48) be whether it's   The Dental A Team (14:49) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (14:49) not having a caring conversation or whatever it is. I always, to your point, whenever I have to have these type of conversations, I like to follow the rule of state the behavior, what it's causing, and then state the behavior you wish to see. Because again, then you're not putting the person on the spot and you're talking about...   the subject. So even or item like you were saying instead you'd state the blue shirt as you came in. Do you remember this was our guidelines for what we wear? And so moving forward, can you please wear the black or the white? You know, because then it's easy if they don't follow the rules next time to say, hey, we talked about this. You agreed. What's getting in the way of it? It's not it's not attacking that person, but truly   And in leadership, our team is looking to us for holding people accountable in that way, truly. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (15:50) I agree.   I agree. Go ahead.   The Dental A Team (15:54) I was going to say also, I just said the team's looking for us as leadership to hold people accountable, but I also just had this conversation in office too. It isn't just leadership to hold people accountable. We hold ourselves accountable first and foremost, and then peer to peer, it's our job to hold each other accountable too, not just the leadership team, guys. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (16:18) Yeah,   I love that so much and I don't know how many times I've preached that and witnessed it and done it. Because I'm like, gosh, if I put myself in leadership shoes, I'm not going to be like, there goes Candace again with the wrong color shirt. I'll be like, Candace, girl, if I have to wear this shirt and I can't be colorful, you better get in line too because you're making me mad. I remember. And I will tell this story till the day I die. And when she listens to this, she's to know exactly what I'm talking about. She's one of my best friends.   The Dental A Team (16:46) I don't know.   The Dental A Team (16:48) I love her dearly, and there was a moment in time we did not love each other so much. And this girl, every time I walked by her TC office, I was like, listen, you're on Facebook again. We got internet taken away from us because of you, and I remember the day I walked by and I like, I swear, if I get something else taken away from because you're doing this, I'm gonna freak out.   The Dental A Team (17:05) you   The Dental A Team (17:13) And she was not happy, but I was just like, girl, how many times do we have, like we're all getting talked to, we're all getting things removed, we're getting new rules implemented, and you're blatantly not doing them. I'm not okay with that, and I'm not okay with the disrespect that you're showing to the rest of the team, including leadership and doctor, because that's disrespectful to me. You're not caring that your actions are having a consequence on me. No, no, I'm not gonna stand for that because I have   higher respect for myself and boundaries for myself than to allow something like that to continue. So I love that you said that and I think there's a when and there's a where and there's a how. And as long as we're coming at it from a space of respect and we're coming at it from a space of results, not attacking the person, that's the difference maker. And your stress will exponentially decrease when you stop micromanaging systems.   The Dental A Team (17:55) Yes.   The Dental A Team (18:12) You manage results and you lead people by accountability. And when there's confusion within the accountability, then go back to the system and make sure that the accountability is clear. Like what is the system supposed to be doing? What does the accountability look like? And stop saying accountability is hard. Accountability is not hard. Backtracking because you never held somebody accountable, that's hard. But the accountability of like, hang on, tell me more about this. How come we didn't get there?   The Dental A Team (18:17) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (18:43) Not, hey, why didn't you make 10 calls yesterday? You were supposed to make 10 calls. That's micromanaging a person. But saying, hey, I see that you weren't able to get to your 10 calls yesterday. Tell me more about that. What was your day like yesterday? Where could we have made sure that you had time? What got in the way of that? Now the person is like, yeah, you're right. I was swamped with X, Y, and Z. And we can diagnose, is that a one-off? Like, okay, that was a really busy day.   Or is that a space of you're carrying too much and some of that needed to be delegated? So Kristy, I think that's a massive difference in accountability of the like, hey, you didn't do, that's managing. Or, hey, I see that you didn't get to, tell me more about that. You know?   The Dental A Team (19:16) Mm-hmm.   Yep. It's   coming from that curiosity and concern, and it already lowers the feelings, I guess, you know what I mean? Yeah. And again, as a leader, using the call scenario, that also gives you the chance to re-cement that, making these calls is really, really important. And so maybe we can carve out extra time to get to those today, you know, and coming up with a solution together. So 100 % Tiff.   The Dental A Team (19:36) Yeah, the reaction. Yeah.   Yes.   The Dental A Team (19:56) on board with you there. think it goes back to creating our heart, right? And having those conversations, which also made me think of, guys, and we see this every day all day when we go on practices too, Tiff, or even on calls. Please, please, when you have to have a one-off conversation, don't address the whole room. Your face.   The Dental A Team (20:02) Mm-hmm.   Please, for   the love of all things, please, please listen to Kristy.   The Dental A Team (20:24) Yeah, right. Because truly the person that needs to hear it, they don't know it's them. I promise you, they don't know it's them. Go have the one-on-one caring conversation, and that's how you can get the buy-in from them and be able to circle back for future conversations.   The Dental A Team (20:41) Yes,   yes, my gosh, I love that you said that. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. If someone is doing something, don't make everyone suffer through the conversation, because 90 % of the people are like, what are we talking about? And then one person's like, my gosh, it's me, I'm so stressed. And you're like, and then they come to you, how can I do better? And you're like, it wasn't you. ⁓ so now I'm stressed for no reason, but I'm also not believing you, because I'm positive that it was me, and now we've ruined someone.   The Dental A Team (21:07) We were winded.   The Dental A Team (21:08) ⁓ And the   person that it was is like, you guys suck. You guys should really stop doing that. I can't believe someone here did that. You're like, my golly. Yeah, that was part of my conversation today. Yes, I love that with my practice. So every day all day I see that generalizations kill a team. If there are multiple people doing it, fine. Reestablish your baselines. Reestablish your boundaries and your handbooks. Sure.   The Dental A Team (21:14) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (21:36) But if someone is causing a scuffle, someone is causing a stress, talk to that person. Just nip it in the bud. Because I guarantee you, blue sweater would not have known I was talking to her. And she's gonna wear that sweater again and I'll be like, bro, we talked about this. She's like, no, we didn't. We did not, because we didn't. But I did, and it never happened again. She didn't love me for it. She had some choice words to some people, but it was fine. And we were fine at the end of the day. We get a little ⁓ upheaved sometimes.   The Dental A Team (21:42) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (22:06) because as much as we want to be seen, it's also really scary to be seen. And so we'll be like, I know I'm in the wrong. Like you get defensive because you already knew you shouldn't have worn the sweater. You already knew it was out of dress code. So when I talk to you about it, you were already prepared to be defensive and defend why it was fine because you knew it was coming. That's okay. I'm okay with that. Cause tomorrow we're both better for it.   The Dental A Team (22:28) Yeah.   I love it, Tiff. I think truly, and again, guys, when you make the conversation around your culture and the easiest way to do it truly is on your mission and core values, tying probably that blue sweater back to your core values would have been a huge way to, again, approach the conversation and let that person know they're not living in community. ⁓ To that being said,   There's many times when we go in practices and I'm asking, I need you to have it truly. So you guys, you're on, if you're a client of mine, you probably know it's coming. You better be prepared. I'm going to ask you what your mission and your core values are because truly I like to say the mission is our boss. That's who we're serving, not our leadership team. That is our boss. And the core values demonstrate how we behave.   So in any of these situations when you're having to have a caring conversation, I'm not gonna say it's a hard, it's a caring conversation, we choose to make it hard. ⁓ Tie it back to your core values, because that's how we behave, and it's gonna make it easier for you to tackle those conversations.   The Dental A Team (23:46) I love that so much and I think that is the perfect spot to wrap because tying back to your mission vision core values is key to business success. So I love that Kristy. Thank you. I would say action items, are those done? Do you have job descriptions done? Do you know what the responsibilities of each individual are? Do they know? And what is the accountability follow up there within it? So if you're stressed out, yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:59) Thank   to one more action. Leadership, is there anybody you need to put on your list to have a conversation with?   The Dental A Team (24:18) Do it.   Ooh, I like that. Good job.   Make them think. I love that. Okay, you heard it right here. You heard it from Kristy. Go do the things. remember, stress is a symptom of something. We're not just stressed. Okay, I just, I just had a stressful day. No, it's a symptom of something. And typically, I've found in my personal experience, at least, that if I'm stressed, it's usually because I've let a boundary slip.   and somebody's crossing over that boundary, and I'm actually kind of upset, hurt with myself. I'm mad at myself for allowing it to happen. So, do a gut check if you're stressed. Why are you stressed? It's just a symptom. It's not a forever and it's not a lifestyle. So, go figure it out. Go figure out your accountabilities. If you need help with it, you guys were here for it. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, reach out. TheDentalATeam.com, you can sign up for a free assessment with our team. We will help you see those gaps. We will help you see where you can   thrive and not just survive and not die. We will help you with all of those. So drop us a five star review below. We'd love to hear what you thought. Kristy, this was so much fun. Thank you for busting so many out with me today and thank you for this specific podcast. I had a ton of fun with you.   The Dental A Team (25:37) Yeah, back at you. was fun having a little conversation and hopefully they see it as a challenge.   The Dental A Team (25:41) I love it.   I know, I think they will. You guys got a lot here. Awesome, thank you all and we will catch you next time. Bye bye.

There's a little red Japanese fire truck rolling around all over San Francisco. But instead of putting out fires, Kiri the Japanese Fire Truck is spreading joy and inspiring smiles. In this episode, meet and get to know Todd Lappin, the human being who brought Kiri from Japan to the US—Bernal Heights specifically. We start with Todd's life story in Part 1. He has lived in the 94110 ZIP code for 34 years. But he's originally from New Jersey. "Even after 34 years, New Jersey is like a stain that doesn't wash out," he says. He grew up in what he calls the "Ohio part" of the state. I call it "the pretty part," meaning not New York City-adjacent. Todd is a self-described Gen Xer—growing up mostly in the Eighties, latch-key kid, etc. Most of the growing up happened in Hackettstown, NJ, one of the places where M&M's are made. It's not far from the eastern end of I-80, also. NYC was an hour away and Todd spent plenty of time there as a kid. In addition to being born in New York and raised in New Jersey, Todd spent one year in Oakland as a kid when his navy dad got stationed in Alameda. He's long held a fascination with cars, specifically what are known as "working vehicles." Think of them as cars people use for jobs. He appreciates the aesthetic honesty of such automobiles. Though it was and still is small, Hackettstown served as a hub for surrounding farmland and even smaller nearby towns. When Todd was in high school, one of those surrounding towns' volunteer fire department sold a Cadillac ambulance for $600. He didn't buy it, and regrets that to this day. It's his "Rosebud," so to speak. When he was young, he also started getting deep into Asian culture. For Todd, this fascination stemmed from diving more into the US war in Vietnam. He learned about Confucianism. He ended up going to Brown University for college and getting even deeper into Asian history and culture—focusing first on Chinese, then moving onto Japanese. Todd did a semester abroad in Japan, in fact. He didn't love the school part of his time there, but ended up traveling around the country on his own. Those travels eventually led him into China. After this, he pivoted from studying modern Japan to digging into ancient China, with a specific focus on Daoism. He ended up with a degree in Chinese intellectual history. Going back to Todd's Bay Area connections, besides that one year in Oakland when he was little, he'd visited with his parents when he was a teenager. When he graduated from Brown, he was dating a woman from here. But it was a high school spring break visit that really cemented it for him—this is where he wanted to be eventually. For young Todd in the Eighties, San Francisco felt urban in a way that reminded him of his time in NYC. After that, it was the beauty, the thoughtfulness, as he puts it, that hooked him. Six years or so after that spring break visit, Todd put down roots in SF. The two of us digress to talk in some depth about differences between SF and NYC. One way that Todd characterizes it is: The East Coast anoints. The West Coast creates. I can see what he means. Todd still loves Providence, RI, where Brown is. But a year after graduating and staying there, that SF "hook" pulled him here. When he landed in early-Nineties Mission (1991), it felt like Providence, so there was a familiarity to his new hometown. Zine culture was still big at the time, and Todd did a little writing, much of it journalistic. One of those gigs was to edit a book by one of his mentors—Orville Schell, who was once the dean of the UC Berkeley journalism school. Like Todd, Schell studied Chinese history and culture. So, that was 34 years ago. Todd doesn't think the 94110 has changed, or, as he puts it, hasn't changed enough. The City has grown, but the Mission and Bernal for him are mostly the same. He eventually got a job at and worked for Wired for a while. Years later, he launched Bernalwood, a blog about his neighborhood. This is where Todd's and my worlds first intersected. Todd sees blogs as a natural progression from zines—both have low barriers to entry and so foster a more-independent spirit than established or corporate news orgs. I agree, having been part of the blogging world myself. At this point, we turn to the topic of this episode—Kiri, the tiny Japanese fire truck. Todd shares that story with us all here. Going back to his pivot from studying Japanese to studying Chinese culture, Todd says at that point, he felt he was done with Japan. But in 2004, a friend who was going through a divorce mentioned wanting to visit Japan and Todd accompanied him. This trip brought it all back for him. He had enough of the language stored in his brain to be able to function and had a terrific time. With that flame reignited, Todd has visited Japan "nonstop" since then. On one of those trips, he met someone who'd become something of a "car creator," meaning he was making content around cars and publishing it on YouTube. Todd had been driving Jeeps and SUVs back in the US, automobiles that he'd outfitted to look like company trucks. This is where Telstar Logistics—a fictitious company he created—comes in. But that new friend who made videos about cars introduced him to a Nissan Skyline R32 while he was in Japan. Todd was so taken by the car that he bought and imported one back to California. Through that importation process, he learned that any car that was 25 years or older could be brought to the US from another country. There were some other California-specific hoops he had to jump through, metaphorically, but he had learned what it took. Check back Thursday for Part 2 to hear how Todd locked sights on the automobile that became known as Kiri. We recorded this episode at Pinhole Coffee in Bernal Heights in February 2026. Photography by Nate Oliveira

Discover how aging can be a new chapter of empowerment and entrepreneurial success. Join host Nancy Griffin and guest Jeanette Anderson, founder of Maturepreneur World, as they explore the opportunities, challenges, and mindset shifts needed for older adults to thrive as entrepreneurs.About JannetteJannette is the bold, brilliant force behind  Maturepreneur  World, where 55 plus isn't a finish line—it's a launchpad. Her mission? To make “retirement” the new dirty word, and elevate the undervalued wisdom workforce who are #NotDoneByALongshot into the global economic powerhouse we truly are!  She's the business expansionist, the Why Whisperer, and a master at getting the four inches between your ears working so your business can work! Her transformational Clarity Compass--Create Purpose and Profit After 55 workshop, "What's Next?" expert coaching and Next Chapter Launchpad program are designed to make you visible, financially viable, and valued.She shows Maturepreneurs how to rewrite what success looks like after 55 so you can step off the sidelines and take the helm of your own purpose-fueled, profitable ventures.Why? Because she knows that age doesn't make you obsolete—it makes you unstoppable!Key TakeawaysWe've been sold a myth: that life follows a fixed script—go to school, get a job, climb the corporate ladder, get married, have 2.5 kids and a white picket fence, work until 65, retire, and then quietly fade into thebackground until life ends.There's a growing poverty crisis among older adults—about 65% of North Americans can't afford to retire. It's no surprise, then, that Boomers and Gen Xers are becoming the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs.One in four people report feeling lonely—and say it'simpacting their mental health. The rates are even higher among older adults andsolopreneurs.Finding our “why” is essential for effective marketing and standing out in a crowded marketplace—because people don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it.Adopting a growth mindset over a fixed one is a choice. Pay attention to your beliefs, question whether they truly serve you, and choose to tell a more empowering story.Build your business around your life—not your life around your business. Who do you want to be? What difference do you want to make in the world? What kind of lifestyle do you want to create? What truly lights you up?

Join us as we brave one bee, discuss some Epic annual pass inquiries, and then play a totally retro game themed to Universal. All you Gen Xer girls out there know the one. It's MASH! Or Universally-themed, it's VIEU. Visit UFpodcast.com⁠⁠ to contact us and find us on socials. Please add The Universal Family Podcast to your library wherever you listen to your podcasts. We hope you enjoy our show about all things Universal Orlando!

In a special interview, Will chats with Mario Toscano (Back to the 80s), Jim Butler (Children of the 80s), and Eric Shoars about the continued influence of 80s music in our lives. We also talk about Eric's new book Life Goes On, which is a collection of essays by Gen Xers that examines this topic.0:00 - Introduction1:24 - InterviewFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1980snow.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1980snowCheck out Back to the 80s with Mario: https://www.fm80s.com/Check out Children of the 80s with Jim: https://bit.ly/4bVI4BTGet your copy of Life Goes On: The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Music anywhere books are sold.

Bridget reacts to her recent "leave me behind" essay going viral and dives into why legacy media stars are desperately chasing a youth demographic that doesn't care about them. She breaks down the difference between building a "territory" for your work versus fighting for "hierarchy" in an algorithm-driven world. It's a call to stop performing for 20-somethings and start focusing on the "invisible audience" of late Boomers and Gen Xers. #GenX #MediaCriticism #DumpsterFire #Algorithm Topics covered: Why Gen X is being left behind, the "pick me" energy of modern pundits, Stephen Pressfield's "The War of Art," the Artemis II moon mission launch, and why you shouldn't chase the youth demographic. 

Sean Penn, puffing away inside the Beverly Hilton at the Golden Globes. Kylie Jenner, with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth, on the cover of Vanity Fair. Nurse Dana, taking a drag on The Pitt. Smoking is back — both IRL and on screen — just as Hollywood's shrinking career ladder leaves many millennials feeling stuck and a stressed-out Gen Z, inheriting the collapse, searches for connection and release. Editor, writer and former pack-a-day smoker Degen Pener joins Elaine Low and Sean McNulty to explain what's driving young Hollywood workers to light up after talking to young industry workers outside clubs across Los Angeles — and what Gen Xers like him and Sean make of it. Plus, Elaine and Sean debate which generation really has it worse in today's business — and whether boomers are to blame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, Heather is at the LA studio and welcoming her first live callers! These hussies really bring some wild spring break Absolutely Not's to Heather and we are forever changed! We have callers that were down at the Villages, on a hetero bachelor party in Baltimore, wheelin' and dealin' in Daytona as a newly crowned amateur stripper, a near miss on girls gone wild Gen Xer and someone who voluntarily went on a Greyhound for over 24 hours.Episode Sponsors:Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/absolutely. Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you.Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/ABSOLUTELY! #honeylovepodLearn more about Camp Unwritten under Limited-Time Offers at experiences.hyatt.com.Visit yasso.com/absolutely to enter and upgrade your freezer! Find full giveaway details, rules, and regulations. Yasso awarded as product coupons. No purchase necessary. Open to 50 US/DC, 18+. Ends 11:59pm ET 4/30. Rules: Yasso.com/ABSOLUTELYReady for your own reset? For a limited time, Prolon is offering Absolutely Not listeners 15% off sitewide plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their 5-Day Program! Just visit ProlonLife.com/absolutely to claim your 15% discount and your bonus gift.Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 1, 2026 is: shenanigans • shuh-NAN-ih-gunz • plural noun Shenanigans is an informal word used to refer to activity or behavior that is either not honest or proper, or is mischievous or high-spirited. Its oldest meaning, and the one most likely to be encountered as the singular shenanigan, is “a devious trick used especially for an underhanded purpose.” // The CEO resigned amid accusations of financial shenanigans and dubious deals. // The tween sleepover shenanigans involved goofy hats, fake mustaches, and giggles galore but everyone eventually fell asleep. See the entry > Examples: “Do you remember what it was like to be bored—like really bored? As a Gen Xer, I didn't grow up scrolling social media or playing endless hours of ‘Minecraft' to keep me busy; instead, I spent a fair amount of my free time after school crafting the perfect prank call. ... In retrospect, it was time well spent. Well, maybe. Some shenanigans may have gone too far.” — Elana Rabinowitz, The Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026 Did you know? Fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us. Either way, we call it shenanigans, employing a word whose history is as slippery as the monkey business it names. We know that the word likely first appeared in print in the 1850s in the western United States. But most theories of its genesis assert that it was born in the British Isles, with potential origin words referring to such things as silly behavior, feigned illness, and a sweet rum-beer libation. Although the “underhanded trick” sense of the word is oldest, the most common senses in use now are those referring to the dishonest or improper activity of “political shenanigans,” or to the high-spirited or mischievous behavior of “youthful shenanigans.”

Why GenX Retirement Is Harder Than Boomers or MillennialsGenX retirement was supposed to be simple: work hard, save consistently, retire comfortably. Yeah... about that.In this episode of Queer Money, we break down why GenX retirement feels so much harder than what boomers often describe and what millennials get all the headlines for. For many Gen Xers, especially gay Gen X men, retirement planning has been shaped by market crashes, the shift from pensions to 401(k)s, rising debt, mortgage pressure, and a culture that told us to figure it all out ourselves. In other words, classic GenX: no map, no backup, and somehow we're still expected to make it look easy.We unpack the seven major reasons retirement has been harder for Gen X, including getting caught in the pension-to-401(k) transition, entering adulthood around recessions and Black Monday, carrying more consumer and student debt into peak saving years, and taking major hits from the dot-com crash and Great Recession at the worst possible moments. If you've ever looked at your retirement accounts and thought, “Why does this feel harder for us?” this episode gives language, data, and context to what many GenXers have lived through.We also go deeper into what makes gay GenX retirement even more complicated. Gay Gen Xers are the first large cohort of gay men to survive into retirement after coming of age during the HIV/AIDS crisis. That shaped how many of us think about money, aging, planning, and whether we even expected to live long enough to retire. Add in decades of workplace discrimination, being closeted on the job, lower earning opportunities, and a stronger pull toward living for today, and you've got an entirely different retirement equation.This episode is honest, validating, and practical. We also walk through how a retirement gap can play out in real life using the Happy Gay Retirement Calculator, showing the difference between retiring with not enough and retiring with room to breathe.Takeaways in this episode:Why GenX retirement planning got harder when pensions disappearedHow market crashes and recessions hit Gen X at critical wealth-building yearsWhy debt, mortgages, and caregiving are slowing retirement progressWhat makes gay GenX retirement different from other generationsHow to start closing the gap and build a more confident retirement planIf retirement feels harder than it should, you're not broken. You're Gen X. And there are still smart ways to make the next chapter fabulous.Chapters:00:00 Intro01:43 - The “pensions → 401(k)” swap03:18 - ‘Double Dip' Recessions05:17 - Calculator Intro06:17 - Calculator example 112:51 - Calculator example 214:26 - More consumer-debt baggage16:02 - Dot Com crash18:51 - Great Recession21:17 - First generation to “survive into retirement”24:24 - The last workplace ‘closeted generation'25:36 - OutroMentioned in this episode:Get Your Portugal Golden Visa Here!Make your retirement fabulous! Not sure if you can retire or when? Worried about how much you can safely spend without running out of money? We help you get clear answers and the systems to retire with confidence and peace of mind. Let's go!Queer Money Retirement VaultWant the confidence to retire when and how you truly want?If you're considering retirement abroad, or simply want a second & third set of eyes on your retirement plan, we help gay foks retire fabulously — wherever that may be. Our retirement mentorship can help you gain the confidence to say yes to retirement! Queer Money Retirement MentorshipYour fabulous retirement in Portugal is calling!Ready to turn your IRA assets into a gateway to living in Europe? With the Optimize Portugal Golden Opportunities fund you can do just that. Join hundreds of other U.S. investors taking control of their retirement and using the assets they have to open doors to freedom. Click below to get your Portugal Golden Visa!Get Your Portugal Golden Visa Here!

On episode 736 of the 40+ Fitness Podcast, host Coach Allan sits down with returning guest David Frost, NFPT Certified Master Fitness Trainer, champion masters rower, and author of Strong to Save: Your Gen X Imperative to Die Harder and Later. Together, they dive into what it really takes for Gen Xers—and anyone over 40—to extend not just their lifespan, but their healthspan by training smarter and embracing functional fitness. You'll hear David Frost break down his practical framework of moving from "decent" to "good" to "great" when it comes to strength and wellness, discuss the crucial difference between healthspan and lifespan, and challenge popular anti-aging and "super ager" myths with his no-nonsense philosophy on aging well. Coach Allan and David Frost also get real about the importance of sleep, nutrition, and recovery, and share actionable strategies to enhance your quality of life right now—regardless of where you're starting. If you're curious about how to unlock more energy, strength, and resilience as you get older, and want to take away powerful insights you can put into action today, this episode is for you. Time Stamps: 03:39 Invest in Your Future Health 07:04 Get Decent, Live Longer 12:20 Progression and Healthy Aging 16:48 Fitness Years Over Calendar Years 18:34 Heart Health and Superaging Insights 21:11 Essential 5 Movements for Fitness 25:56 Exercise, Aging, and Joint Care 29:37 Training Power for Real Life 30:55 Rowing, Power, and Endurance 36:39 Sleep, Health, and Recovery Insights 39:12 Competitive Approach to Activity Tracking 42:16 Be a Student, Start Now https://wellpastforty.com