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Are homoerotic friendships a canon queer experience?
Send us a textThank you for a fantastic season 2. I'll be taking a short break before coming back for season 3. Happy Holidays!Kristen's Book:A Flair for Trouble by Kristen Bahls (On KU)No Spice Books:Find your next no spice read HERECaroline's YouTube Channel:Watch HEREBooks Mentioned:Since We've No Place to Go by Kate Watson (On KU)O'Goalie Night by K.M. Gillis (On KU)Check the Halls by K.M. Gillis (On KU)A Christmas Spark by Cindy Steel (On KU)Sin Bin by Chelsea Curto (On KU)Faceoff by Chelsea Curto (On KU)Something Wicked by Falon BallardDating at the End of the World by Jeneva RoseThe Game Changer by Lana FergusonGifted Books:Fake Skating by Lynn PainterSoul Searching by Lyla SageTruly Devious by Maureen JohnsonMetal Slinger by Rachel SchneiderWell Actually by Mazey EddingsSince We've No Place to Go by Kate Watson (On KU)Currently Reading:Time of the Child by Niall WilliamsRevolve bFor links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list. For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above. For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.
A look back at the biggest clean energy developments of 2025 — and we reveal why electric trucking in China may be the most important story of the year. We break down record global growth in solar, wind, and EV adoption, explain how renewables are now outpacing fossil fuels in new investment, and explore why China's rising clean power generation is finally pushing its CO₂ emissions lower even as electricity demand grows CES 293 - Google Docs. (Letters are being held over until our next bonus episode.) The show also checks in on Norway, the world's EV laboratory, where electric vehicles now dominate both new sales and the overall vehicle fleet. The hosts discuss what Norway's data tells us about the future of gas, diesel, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids — and what it means for automakers still betting on combustion engines. Other highlights include a major San Francisco power outage, Volkswagen shelving the ID. Buzz in the U.S., and encouraging new data suggesting the world may have passed peak air pollution. Links mentioned San Francisco power outage (CNN): https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/21/us/outage-sf-power-san-francisco Norway EV market update (CleanTechnica): https://cleantechnica.com/2025/12/22/evs-take-98-4-share-in-norway-bev-fleet-overtakes-diesel/ World may have passed peak air pollution (Our World in Data): https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/the-world-has-probably-passed-peak-air-pollution Volkswagen shelves ID. Buzz in the U.S. (Electrek): https://electrek.co/2025/12/19/volkswagen-shelves-electric-minibus-for-us-not-forever/ CES 293 - Google Docs The Lightning Round Global EV sales are projected to hit 20 million vehicles in 2026 Contact Us cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean Support The Clean Energy Show Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet! Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations. Store Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!. Copyright 2025 Sneeze Media.
TL;DR LLMs pretrained on data about misaligned AIs themselves become less aligned. Luckily, pretraining LLMs with synthetic data about good AIs helps them become more aligned. These alignment priors persist through post-training, providing alignment-in-depth. We recommend labs pretrain for alignment, just as they do for capabilities. Website: alignmentpretraining.ai Us: geodesicresearch.org | x.com/geodesresearch Note: We are currently garnering feedback here before submitting to ICML. Any suggestions here or on our Google Doc are welcome! We will be releasing a revision on arXiv in the coming days. Folks who leave feedback will be added to the Acknowledgment section. Thank you! Abstract We pretrained a suite of 6.9B-parameter LLMs, varying only the content related to AI systems, and evaluated them for misalignment. When filtering the vast majority of the content related to AI, we see significant decreases in misalignment rates. The opposite was also true - synthetic positive AI data led to self-fulfilling alignment. While post-training decreased the effect size, benign fine-tuning[1] degrades the effects of post-training, models revert toward their midtraining misalignment rates. Models pretrained on realistic or artificial upsampled negative AI discourse become more misaligned with benign fine-tuning, while models pretrained on only positive AI discourse become more aligned. This [...] ---Outline:(00:15) TL;DR(01:10) Abstract(02:52) Background and Motivation(04:38) Methodology(04:41) Misalignment Evaluations(06:39) Synthetic AI Discourse Generation(07:57) Data Filtering(08:27) Training Setup(09:06) Post-Training(09:37) Results(09:41) Base Models: AI Discourse Causally Affects Alignment(10:50) Post-Training: Effects Persist(12:14) Tampering: Pretraining Provides Alignment-In-Depth(14:10) Additional Results(15:23) Discussion(15:26) Pretraining as Creating Good Alignment Priors(16:09) Curation Outperforms Naive Filtering(17:07) Alignment Pretraining(17:28) Limitations(18:16) Next Steps and Call for Feedback(19:18) Acknowledgements The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: December 20th, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TcfyGD2aKdZ7Rt3hk/alignment-pretraining-ai-discourse-causes-self-fulfilling --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:
Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. My Guest: Nick Gray is the author of The Two-Hour Cocktail Party and founder of Museum Hack. He's mastered the art of hosting events that strengthen networks and build genuine connections. In this conversation, he shares practical systems for hosting gatherings, why every leader needs a personal website, and lessons learned from his viral blind date trip to Tokyo. The Learning Leader Show Key Learnings Two Great Ice Breaker Questions: What's a compliment that someone has given you that you've never forgotten about? If you could teach any class about a topic that you're an expert on, what would it be? The power of a network is real: As a leader, you're probably hiring people regularly or looking for investors. By hosting simple, lightweight meetups or dinner parties, or happy hours once a quarter, you can strengthen your network, build it, and keep those loose connections or weak ties warm. Mix professional and personal contacts: For me, a really boring event would be all work people. Look for occupational diversity. If you're hosting a work event, invite some other random folks who you know are gonna be good conversationalists and add to the energy. Don't reach for the top shelf first. Most important advice for leaders: do not invite your most impressive contact to your very first happy hour or meetup. Your first party should be for your neighbors, the parents of kids at your school, those LinkedIn connections, high school buddies you haven't seen in a while. Your first party should be a comfortable meetup for 15 to 22 people that you host at your home with just cocktails, not a dinner party. Then slowly, once a quarter, you'll be adding more people to it and filtering your list. Collect RSVPs to ensure attendance. New hosts are absolutely terrified that nobody will arrive. As long as you get a minimum of 15 people to show up, your party will generally be a success. Use platforms like Partiful or Mixily (not Paperless Post or Evite) to get people to RSVP, let them know what to expect, and send reminder messages. Ten days before, send a reminder message hyping up the party. About a week before, send another reminder message with a little dossier of who the attendees are. Write something little: "Ryan Hawk hosts a podcast. He wrote a book. He lives in Ohio. Ask him about the ski trip he went on with his family." This serves to make anxious people or socially awkward feel like they're welcome and they have a conversational access point. Practical hosting tips on event day: Label your trash cans and your bathrooms. As people arrive, greet and welcome every single person, and make them a name tag. Write it out right in front of them, first name only. Do not pre-write your name tags. Force collisions through structured activities. Your job as a leader is to go through life collecting the interesting people that you meet and helping them meet each other. Can you become a connector? One way to be a connector is to host these meetups and force the collisions. Lead two or three rounds of introductions at your meetup. Make a little announcement 30 minutes after it starts: "There are so many interesting people here. I want you all to meet each other. We're gonna split into small groups. It might seem silly, but I promise the purpose tonight is for you to talk to as many new people as possible. We're gonna split into small groups of three or four people, and you're gonna go around and tell your life story in two minutes." End on time, especially for weekday events: Host from 6:30 to 8:30 PM with a hard stop on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. People appreciate having an end time because they have responsibilities. Having that end time makes them more likely to RSVP yes and actually attend. "I get more compliments on my party ending on time, and they leave with a positive experience, so they want to return for another." Why every leader needs a personal website. If you have a blue check verified on Instagram, if you post at least once a month on LinkedIn, you probably need your own personal website. It's proactive reputation management. People are out there searching for you on Google and on ChatGPT. It may not happen every single day, but it probably happens every week. Whether it's parents of your kids at school, whether it's new employees, people are googling you. You want to have a personal website to put your best foot forward and make a good impression. Carrd.co to create a simple homepage or cloudflare to set up your domain name. Keep it simple: You don't need a Gary Vee type page. Your page can look like a Google Doc. Feed these large language models your story and bio. My website is plain text, simple homepage. I used to have a fancy design site. Now I'm like, dude, it doesn't matter. 80% of my visitors are on their cell phone and just want to read some text and have some links. The tweet from 2024 that changed everything. The viral Tokyo blind date trip taught me I was ready to share my life with someone. I ended up meeting my wife a couple of months after this experience because I realized I was ready. From a business perspective, one of the most interesting things while that was happening and for about a week afterwards: anyone would accept my phone call. My callbacks were instantaneous. My dial to answer fast. People were reaching out from everywhere. I was like, whoa, is this what it's like to be a celebrity? "I came back to Texas after the trip, ready to truly settle down and find a relationship and meet my now wife." Write like you talk: The best book about storytelling is Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks. Don't try to write a LinkedIn post that says "I'm happy to announce." Would you actually say that to someone? No, you wouldn't. Say it like you talk. Advice on Blind Introductions: Use a double opt-in intro. Reach out to one person first, "Hey, are you taking new clients before I connect you with a friend?" Get both parties' permission, separately - then send the email. Give yourself a Free Day: Dan Sullivan suggests one free day a quarter from work. Make it a weekday, and even get a burner phone so you can't check your work text/emails, so you're completely disconnected from work. The keys to being a great host/MC: Priya Parker does such a great job talking about the theory of being a good leader. The host that doesn't do a great job is the one who's too cool to care. Give explicit instructions to people. You are a ring leader for an event, and you're in charge of everyone's energy levels and keeping the show on the road. Add value before taking value. Never send someone a message, "I'd love to pick your brain," or "I'm looking for a mentor." That is take, take, take. Think about how you can add value first. When you add value first to people, it's some sort of law of reciprocity. They're much more likely to want to help you out or do something in return. Advice for new grads in the AI era: AI and new tools are eating into the ability for companies to hire low-level employees that do grunt work. Learn how to use the tools themselves. Work with small businesses and entrepreneurs where you can make a difference. Develop a writing practice: Matthew Dicks has this activity called Homework for Life where every night you write down some note, some anecdote, something that stuck out for you. It gives you ideas about things to write about. Use AI as an editor, not a writer: Don't outsource your thinking to AI. Use the tools, understand how to use them, but don't outsource your thinking. It'll spit back something decent, but you don't want to outsource your thinking, especially as a leader. Reflection Questions Nick says your first party should be for neighbors, school parents, and LinkedIn connections you haven't seen in a while (not your most impressive contacts). Who are 15-20 people in your life that fall into this "comfortable but haven't connected recently" category that you could invite to a simple cocktail party? He emphasizes "add value before you take value" and never says "I'd love to pick your brain." Think about someone you want to connect with. What's one specific way you could add value to them first before asking for anything in return? Nick hosts events once a quarter to keep weak ties warm instead of trying to have individual coffee meetings with everyone. What's one relationship-building activity you're currently doing inefficiently that could be replaced with a group gathering? Additional Learning #663 - Priya Parker: The Art of Gathering #545: Will Guidara: Unreasonable Hospitality #430 - Matthew Dicks: Change Your Life Through The Power Of Storytelling Audio Timestamps 02:06 Icebreakers and Personal Stories 02:55 The Art of Hosting Events 08:27 Practical Tips for Successful Gatherings 20:16 Mastermind Events and Personal Websites 25:36 The Importance of a Personal Website 26:47 Crafting an Engaging Bio 29:27 The Viral Tokyo Trip 37:04 Living an Interesting Life 41:57 The Art of Hosting and MC'ing 44:50 Advice for New Graduates 46:35 The Power of Writing and Storytelling 49:07 EOPC
On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner Sam and Ivan hit the Wiles interview, Trump's prime time speech, the need for all of you to add stuff to our predictions Google Doc, if bills and coins are still useful, the Epstein redactions, the tendency of bystanders to crimes to do nothing, Trump as lame duck, and lots lots more. So listen! Show Details: Recorded 2025-12-20 Length this week 2:00:42 0:00:21 - But First Predictions Google Doc Unlimited Vacation Affordability Crisis Movie: Singin' in the Rain (1952) Movie: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) 0:48:12 - But Second Kennedy Center Epstein Redactions Ignored Reports Diddy Parallel Bystanders Do Nothing 1:16:31 - But Third Wiles Interview Discharge Petitions Trump Speech Lame Duck Bills and Coins The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch. Our intro is The Oh of Pleasure (Amazon MP3 link) Our outro is Celestial Soda Pop (Amazon MP3 link) Both are from the album Deep Breakfast (iTunes link) Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.
There are only a few weeks left in 2025. That means for those of you who resolved, at the beginning of the year, to do more reading — it's crunch time. Did you actually put down your phone long enough to get through a book this year? It's not too late. Many great books came out this year. If you need suggestions for something to read or to give to someone who really ought to be reading more, we've got you covered. GUESTS: Misha Stone, reader services librarian, Seattle Public Library Spencer Ruchti, author events manager, Third Place Books RELATED LINKS: Our list of books we loved! Yes, it's a Google Doc. Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Send us a textThank you to Harper Collins and Author Robyn Green for talking to me about The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose. Author Robyn Green:Purchase The Dramatic Life of Jonah PenroseFollow her on InstagramWebsiteBooks discussed in this episode:Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. SchwabThe Road Trip by Beth O'LearyFor links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list. For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above. For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.
Google vient peut-être de frapper un grand coup dans le monde du développement logiciel avec "Antigravity", un nouvel environnement de travail qui semble privilégier la productivité réelle des codeurs plutôt que la simple "hype" autour de l'intelligence artificielle.Antigravity est un fork de VS Code de MicrosoftPour commencer, il faut souligner une décision pragmatique, bien que discrète, de la part de Google. Antigravity est en réalité un "fork", c'est à dire une version modifiée du célèbre VS Code de Microsoft.C'est une excellente nouvelle pour les professionnels, car cela signifie que cet outil s'appuie sur une interface que la grande majorité des développeurs maîtrisent déjà sur le bout des doigts.Loin de vouloir réinventer la roue ou d'imposer un écosystème fermé et déroutant, Google a donc choisi d'intégrer ses nouvelles fonctionnalités agentiques directement dans un environnement familier.Comprendre et interagir avec ce qui se passe à l'écranLà où Antigravity se distingue nettement de la concurrence, c'est par sa capacité à comprendre et interagir avec ce qui se passe à l'écran. L'outil ne se contente pas de lire du code. Il peut prendre ses propres captures d'écran et même réaliser des enregistrements vidéo de vos applications.Grâce à une extension Chrome, l'IA peut aussi exécuter votre code dans une véritable instance de navigateur. Mais aussi observer le comportement réel de votre application web, et agir en conséquence.C'est une avancée majeure par rapport aux simples assistants textuels. Vous pouvez par exemple demander à l'IA, propulsée par le modèle Gemini 3, d'implémenter une fonctionnalité, puis regarder l'agent vous faire une démonstration vidéo du résultat.Et si cela ne vous convient pas, vous pouvez annoter directement la vidéo ou la capture d'écran, comme vous le feriez sur un Google Doc, pour guider l'IA vers la correction souhaitée.Un tableau de bord pour orchestrer plusieurs agents IAEnfin, Google repense la gestion des tâches avec une interface appelée "Manager surface".L'écran d'accueil d'Antigravity devient un véritable tableau de bord pour orchestrer plusieurs agents IA en parallèle (voir vidéo ici). Concrètement, vous pouvez avoir un agent qui travaille sur le code d'un projet, pendant qu'un autre génère des éléments graphiques, comme un logo, via l'outil de génération d'images Nano Banana directement intégré à l'IDE.Cette approche permet de gérer plusieurs espaces de travail simultanément. Mais cela demandera sans doute une certaine gymnastique mentale pour suivre tout ce que ces agents font en même temps.C'est une vision du développement où l'IA n'est plus seulement un assistant passif, mais un collaborateur actif capable de réaliser des tâches complexes de bout en bout.Le ZD Tech est sur toutes les plateformes de podcast ! Abonnez-vous !Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
We can already see the writing on the wall that there are certain things the market is naturally gravitating toward in 2026...In-person events...Live webinars...It's my prediction that there are TWO words that will define everything that works in 2026 (and everything that transcends AI and algorithm dips).Tune in and I feel like it's going to be a massive aha moment.And if you want to learn more about my thoughts on what works (and what doesn't) - grab a copy of my Biz Trend Report (The Big Online Shift) - it's a free Google Doc. Grab it here.
Sign up for Xero using my link here! http://www.xero.com/hicommunications Sign up to The Best 90 Days Ever here! https://www.hicommunications.co.uk/best90daysever Episode 166: Being a Person Who is OrganisedIn this episode, Hannah Isted explores what it truly means to be "organised" in business and marketing. While she admits she hasn't always felt like an organised person, she shares the specific systems and mindset shifts that allow her to stay consistent and avoid the overwhelm of content creation.Hannah explains that organisation starts with a clear structure, beginning with a year-long marketing overview that identifies upcoming launches, holidays, and growth goals. She emphasises that planning ahead makes a person much more likely to follow through with their intentions. To support this, she highlights the importance of content batching sessions, which provide a "bank" of ideas and posts for an entire quarter, effectively removing the daily stress of wondering what to say.A central theme of the episode is the necessity of a dedicated "home" for your content. Hannah shares her personal reliance on Trello for organizing launches and seasonal content, though she notes that tools like Notion, Google Docs, or even a large sheet of paper can work as long as a consistent system is in place. She also discusses the benefits of using templates in Adobe Express or Canva, explaining how keeping these projects labeled and organised saves significant time when repurposing content from previous years.The episode concludes with a call to make a conscious mindset shift toward becoming an organised person. Hannah encourages listeners to gather their scattered ideas from notebooks and phone memos into one central place where they will actually be used. By putting these systems in place now, business owners can ensure that "future them" is grateful for the preparation and ease created for the year ahead.The Best 90 Days Ever: The next round of this marketing membership starts January 1st, featuring daily 10-minute tasks, goal setting, and community support via Slack.Year of Marketing in a Day: An exclusive workshop for members held on Thursday, January 8th, to plan out the entire year.Content Batching Session: A three-hour deep dive on Wednesday, January 21st, to create a quarter's worth of marketing material.Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Xero, the small business accounting software designed to help you save time on admin and stay on top of your finances.
Thank you for tuning in to Episode 311 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair KAL News Events Contest, News & Notes On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Kris' Christmas socks Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners in the Fairy Lights colorway & Patons Kroy in Red for heels Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page I knit pair of socks out of this same colorway for Mom in 2019- Ravelry Project Page here. That was my 100th pair of OMG Heel socks. Elsa Pattern: Queen Elsa Amigurumi by Chiara Cremon (free crochet pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Knit Picks Brava (worsted weight acrylic yarn) Hook: D (3.25 mm) Ravelry Project Page Fantastic, really clear pattern. Body is worked from the bottom up all the way through the head, then you add two arms and a cape on the back. I ironed the cape and body to smooth out the fabric. Penguin Pattern: Penguin by Lion Brand Yarn- free crochet pattern on the Lion Brand website Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted minis in Black, Clarity, White and Orange colorways Hook: C (2.75 mm) Ravelry Project Page Over the Rainbow Socks Yarn: Cashmere & Coconuts MCN Sock yarn in the Somewhere Over the Rainbow colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Woolens & Nosh 2025 Advent Socks Yarn: Woolens & Nosh, 75/25 Superwash Wool/Nylon 2025 Advent Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Kirby Wirby 2025 Advent Socks Yarn: Kirby Wirby 75/25 Superwash Merino/Nylon in the 2025 Advent Christmas Toys from the 80s 24 Stripe Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Yarn theme: Christmas Toys from the 80s Very Hungry Caterpillar Socks Yarn: Teal Torch Knits Splendid Sock (100% SW Merino) in the Emerald Colorway, Murky Depths Deep Sock in the Age of Aquarium Colorway & Legacy Fiber Artz Steel Toes in the Vanilla Bean colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) and US 2 Ravelry Project Page Cast on 56 sts with US 1.5 for cuff. After cuff, knit a few rounds. 4 sets of increases (4 increases each time) to get to 72 sts. Then change to US 2 needles and test for stretchiness after first block of colorwork. Mapped out the colorwork for one sock based on Pacific Knit Co's Garden Doodle set. Sheri's Christmas Socks Yarn: Gusto Wool Echos in Colorway 1515 (blue to purple gradient in 2-50g skeins) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page I cast this on to bring to Rhinebeck on my Lemonwood Mini Minder (I have this Art Deco one) so I could walk and knit. Cast on cuff of sock #2 on a separate pair of needles before going to see Hattie in Shrek so I had that ready to work on. Back at home, I finished the first leg and heel and am on to the foot. Gus the Dino Pattern: Gus the Dino by KP Crochet Patterns. $8.50 US Pattern on Etsy (on sale right now) Yarn: Bernat Blanket in Misty Green & Parfait Chunky in White Hook: J (6.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Brainstorming I shared a check in on Christmas making plans/schedule From the Armchair Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab. Amazon Affiliate Link. Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover. Amazon Affiliate Link. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. KAL News Pigskin Party '25 Event Dates: KAL Dates- Thursday September 4, 2025- Monday February 9, 2026 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions- ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Check out this Ravelry Thread with helpful tips for the event, crowd sourced from our incredible players. Updates In This Episode Count On It Challenge hosted by Twice Sheared Sheep, Official Sponsor for Quarter 2 (November). Details in this Ravelry thread. Winner announced. Official Sponsor for Quarter 3 (December)- Suburban Stitcher Mini Maker's Merry Month See details in this Ravelry Thread. Stay tuned for more about our Official Sponsor for Quarter 4 (January)- Yarnaceous Fibers November participation prize winners were announced Commentator Update from Mary- links in this section bring you to Ravelry Inspired by the Q3 challenge, there's lots of chatter in the December huddle about things to make with mini skeins! If you are at a loss for what to make, head on over to the huddle for some ideas! Three players have already submitted for points in the Q3 challenge--and all three of them made patterns by PSP sponsor Sarah Schira (Imagined Landscapes) * Esalaza made a super cute textured stripe scrappy hat in red, green, and white....very festive! * Fgcreations made a gnoel gnome--also very festive in Christmas colors! *Amazeh made a Gnatty the Unexpected Gnome Way to rack up those points by combining a sponsor pattern with the Q3 challenge! Speaking of racking up points...I was curious what the highest scoring single point project is so far. DebLinden got 1155 points for one project! How'd she do it, you ask? *She knit a sweater holding two yarns together using 3639 yards (plenty of yardage for a blitz!), *She used 4 pigskin exclusive products, and *She used 3 additional proshop sponsor products. Well done! Wishing you all a happy holiday season! Contest, News & Notes Check out my 2025 Vlogmas Playlist on YouTube On a Happy Note Laura texted me a photo of she and her friend Arielle wearing socks I knit them! Dad, Dan and I went to the Irish pub for Dan's birthday Dad's knee replacement surgery went really well. Seeing Hattie in Shrek and spending the afternoon with Riley. Sue and Chelsea from Legacy Fiber Artz sent me their 4 Sundays Advent- micro sock sets Our friend Merry came to visit and brought homemade food for Dad. She also brought me a beautiful bracelet whose beads are made with Mom's funeral flowers in Wizard of Oz colors. Riley and Milie came down this weekend. We did lots of knitting, crochet and a bit of latch hook. Check out the 13th and 14th vlogmas videos for more. Quote of the Week "Welcome winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless." —Terri Guillemets ------ Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! 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TLDR: It was Claude :-)When I set out to compare ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and ChatPRD for writing Product Requirement Documents, I figured they'd all be roughly equivalent. Maybe some subtle variations in tone or structure, but nothing earth-shattering. They're all built on similar transformer architectures, trained on massive datasets, and marketed as capable of handling complex business writing.What I discovered over 45 minutes of hands-on testing revealed not just which tools are better for PRD creation, but why they're better, and more importantly, how you should actually be using AI to accelerate your product work without sacrificing quality or strategic thinking.If you're an early or mid-career PM in Silicon Valley, this matters to you. Because here's the uncomfortable truth: your peers are already using AI to write PRDs, analyze features, and generate documentation. The question isn't whether to use these tools. The question is whether you're using the right ones most effectively.So let me walk you through exactly what I did, what I learned, and what you should do differently.The Setup: A Real-World Test CaseHere's how I structured the experiment. As I said at the beginning of my recording, “We are back in the Fireside PM podcast and I did that review of the ChatGPT browser and people seemed to like it and then I asked, uh, in a poll, I think it was a LinkedIn poll maybe, what should my next PM product review be? And, people asked for ChatPRD.”So I had my marching orders from the audience. But I wanted to make this more comprehensive than just testing ChatPRD in isolation. I opened up five tabs: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and ChatPRD.For the test case, I chose something realistic and relevant: an AI-powered tutor for high school students. Think KhanAmigo or similar edtech platforms. This gave me a concrete product scenario that's complex enough to stress-test these tools but straightforward enough that I could iterate quickly.But here's the critical part that too many PMs get wrong when they start using AI for product work: I didn't just throw a single sentence at these tools and expect magic.The “Back of the Napkin” Approach: Why You Still Need to Think“I presume everybody agrees that you should have some formulated thinking before you dump it into the chatbot for your PRD,” I noted early in my experiment. “I suppose in the future maybe you could just do, like, a one-sentence prompt and come out with the perfect PRD because it would just know everything about you and your company in the context, but for now we're gonna do this more, a little old-school AI approach where we're gonna do some original human thinking.”This is crucial. I see so many PMs, especially those newer to the field, treat AI like a magic oracle. They type in “Write me a PRD for a social feature” and then wonder why the output is generic, unfocused, and useless.Your job as a PM isn't to become obsolete. It's to become more effective. And that means doing the strategic thinking work that AI cannot do for you.So I started in Google Docs with what I call a “back of the napkin” PRD structure. Here's what I included:Why: The strategic rationale. In this case: “Want to complement our existing edtech business with a personalized AI tutor, uh, want to maintain position industry, and grow through innovation. on mission for learners.”Target User: Who are we building for? “High school students interested in improving their grades and fundamentals. Fundamental knowledge topics. Specifically science and math. Students who are not in the top ten percent, nor in the bottom ten percent.”This is key—I got specific. Not just “students,” but students in the middle 80%. Not just “any subject,” but science and math. This specificity is what separates useful AI output from garbage.Problem to Solve: What's broken? “Students want better grades. Students are impatient. Students currently use AI just for finding the answers and less to, uh, understand concepts and practice using them.”Key Elements: The feature set and approach.Success Metrics: How we'd measure success.Now, was this a perfectly polished PRD outline? Hell no. As you can see from my transcript, I was literally thinking out loud, making typos, restructuring on the fly. But that's exactly the point. I put in maybe 10-15 minutes of human strategic thinking. That's all it took to create a foundation that would dramatically improve what came out of the AI tools.Round One: Generating the Full PRDWith my back-of-the-napkin outline ready, I copied it into each tool with a simple prompt asking them to expand it into a more complete PRD.ChatGPT: The Reliable GeneralistChatGPT gave me something that was... fine. Competent. Professional. But also deeply uninspiring.The document it produced checked all the boxes. It had the sections you'd expect. The writing was clear. But when I read it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was reading something that could have been written for literally any product in any company. It felt like “an average of everything out there,” as I noted in my evaluation.Here's what ChatGPT did well: It understood the basic structure of a PRD. It generated appropriate sections. The grammar and formatting were clean. If you needed to hand something in by EOD and had literally no time for refinement, ChatGPT would save you from complete embarrassment.But here's what it lacked: Depth. Nuance. Strategic thinking that felt connected to real product decisions. When it described the target user, it used phrases that could apply to any edtech product. When it outlined success metrics, they were the obvious ones (engagement, retention, test scores) without any interesting thinking about leading indicators or proxy metrics.The problem with generic output isn't that it's wrong, it's that it's invisible. When you're trying to get buy-in from leadership or alignment from engineering, you need your PRD to feel specific, considered, and connected to your company's actual strategy. ChatGPT's output felt like it was written by someone who'd read a lot of PRDs but never actually shipped a product.One specific example: When I asked for success metrics, ChatGPT gave me “Student engagement rate, Time spent on platform, Test score improvement.” These aren't wrong, but they're lazy. They don't show any thinking about what specifically matters for an AI tutor versus any other educational product. Compare that to Claude's output, which got more specific about things like “concept mastery rate” and “question-to-understanding ratio.”Actionable Insight: Use ChatGPT when you need fast, serviceable documentation that doesn't need to be exceptional. Think: internal updates, status reports, routine communications. Don't rely on it for strategic documents where differentiation matters. If you do use ChatGPT for important documents, treat its output as a starting point that needs significant human refinement to add strategic depth and company-specific context.Gemini: Better Than ExpectedGoogle's Gemini actually impressed me more than I anticipated. The structure was solid, and it had a nice balance of detail without being overwhelming.What Gemini got right: The writing had a nice flow to it. The document felt organized and logical. It did a better job than ChatGPT at providing specific examples and thinking through edge cases. For instance, when describing the target user, it went beyond demographics to consider behavioral characteristics and motivations.Gemini also showed some interesting strategic thinking. It considered competitive positioning more thoughtfully than ChatGPT and proposed some differentiation angles that weren't in my original outline. Good AI tools should add insight, not just regurgitate your input with better formatting.But here's where it fell short: the visual elements. When I asked for mockups, Gemini produced images that looked more like stock photos than actual product designs. They weren't terrible, but they weren't compelling either. They had that AI-generated sheen that makes it obvious they came from an image model rather than a designer's brain.For a PRD that you're going to use internally with a team that already understands the context, Gemini's output would work well. The text quality is strong enough, and if you're in the Google ecosystem (Docs, Sheets, Meet, etc.), the integration is seamless. You can paste Gemini's output directly into Google Docs and continue iterating there.But if you need to create something compelling enough to win over skeptics or secure budget, Gemini falls just short. It's good, but not great. It's the solid B+ student: reliably competent but rarely exceptional.Actionable Insight: Gemini is a strong choice if you're working in the Google ecosystem and need good integration with Docs, Sheets, and other Google Workspace tools. The quality is sufficient for most internal documentation needs. It's particularly good if you're working with cross-functional partners who are already in Google Workspace. You can share and collaborate on AI-generated drafts without friction. But don't expect visual mockups that will wow anyone, and plan to add your own strategic polish for high-stakes documents.Grok: Not Ready for Prime TimeLet's just say my expectations were low, and Grok still managed to underdeliver. The PRD felt thin, generic, and lacked the depth you need for real product work.“I don't have high expectations for grok, unfortunately,” I said before testing it. Spoiler alert: my low expectations were validated.Actionable Insight: Skip Grok for product documentation work right now. Maybe it'll improve, but as of my testing, it's simply not competitive with the other options. It felt like 1-2 years behind the others.ChatPRD: The Specialized ToolNow this was interesting. ChatPRD is purpose-built for PRDs, using foundational models underneath but with specific tuning and structure for product documentation.The result? The structure was logical, the depth was appropriate, and it included elements that showed understanding of what actually matters in a PRD. As I reflected: “Cause this one feels like, A human wrote this PRD.”The interface guides you through the process more deliberately than just dumping text into a general chat interface. It asks clarifying questions. It structures the output more thoughtfully.Actionable Insight: If you're a technical lead without a dedicated PM, or you're a PM who wants a more structured approach to using AI for PRDs, ChatPRD is worth the specialized focus. It's particularly good when you need something that feels authentic enough to share with stakeholders without heavy editing.Claude: The Clear WinnerBut the standout performer, and I'm ranking these, was Claude.“I think we know that for now, I'm gonna say Claude did the best job,” I concluded after all the testing. Claude produced the most comprehensive, thoughtful, and strategically sound PRD. But what really set it apart were the concept mocks.When I asked each tool to generate visual mockups of the product, Claude produced HTML prototypes that, while not fully functional, looked genuinely compelling. They had thoughtful UI design, clear information architecture, and felt like something that could actually guide development.“They were, like, closer to, like, what a Lovable would produce or something like that,” I noted, referring to the quality of low-fidelity prototypes that good designers create.The text quality was also superior: more nuanced, better structured, and with more strategic depth. It felt like Claude understood not just what a PRD should contain, but why it should contain those elements.Actionable Insight: For any PRD that matters, meaning anything you'll share with leadership, use to get buy-in, or guide actual product development, you might as well start with Claude. The quality difference is significant enough that it's worth using Claude even if you primarily use another tool for other tasks.Final Rankings: The Definitive HierarchyAfter testing all five tools on multiple dimensions: initial PRD generation, visual mockups, and even crafting a pitch paragraph for a skeptical VP of Engineering, here's my final ranking:* Claude - Best overall quality, most compelling mockups, strongest strategic thinking* ChatPRD - Best for structured PRD creation, feels most “human”* Gemini - Solid all-around performance, good Google integration* ChatGPT - Reliable but generic, lacks differentiation* Grok - Not competitive for this use case“I'd probably say Claude, then chat PRD, then Gemini, then chat GPT, and then Grock,” I concluded.The Deeper Lesson: Garbage In, Garbage Out (Still Applies)But here's what matters more than which tool wins: the realization that hit me partway through this experiment.“I think it really does come down to, like, you know, the quality of the prompt,” I observed. “So if our prompt were a little more detailed, all that were more thought-through, then I'm sure the output would have been better. But as you can see we didn't really put in brain trust prompting here. Just a little bit of, kind of hand-wavy prompting, but a little better than just one or two sentences.”And we still got pretty good results.This is the meta-insight that should change how you approach AI tools in your product work: The quality of your input determines the quality of your output, but the baseline quality of the tool determines the ceiling of what's possible.No amount of great prompting will make Grok produce Claude-level output. But even mediocre prompting with Claude will beat great prompting with lesser tools.So the dual strategy is:* Use the best tool available (currently Claude for PRDs)* Invest in improving your prompting skills ideally with as much original and insightful human, company aware, and context aware thinking as possible.Real-World Workflows: How to Actually Use This in Your Day-to-Day PM WorkTheory is great. Here's how to incorporate these insights into your actual product management workflows.The Weekly Sprint Planning WorkflowEvery PM I know spends hours each week preparing for sprint planning. You need to refine user stories, clarify acceptance criteria, anticipate engineering questions, and align with design and data science. AI can compress this work significantly.Here's an example workflow:Monday morning (30 minutes):* Review upcoming priorities and open your rough notes/outline in Google Docs* Open Claude and paste your outline with this prompt:“I'm preparing for sprint planning. Based on these priorities [paste notes], generate detailed user stories with acceptance criteria. Format each as: User story, Business context, Technical considerations, Acceptance criteria, Dependencies, Open questions.”Monday afternoon (20 minutes):* Review Claude's output critically* Identify gaps, unclear requirements, or missing context* Follow up with targeted prompts:“The user story about authentication is too vague. Break it down into separate stories for: social login, email/password, session management, and password reset. For each, specify security requirements and edge cases.”Tuesday morning (15 minutes):* Generate mockups for any UI-heavy stories:“Create an HTML mockup for the login flow showing: landing page, social login options, email/password form, error states, and success redirect.”* Even if the HTML doesn't work perfectly, it gives your designers a starting pointBefore sprint planning (10 minutes):* Ask Claude to anticipate engineering questions:“Review these user stories as if you're a senior engineer. What questions would you ask? What concerns would you raise about technical feasibility, dependencies, or edge cases?”* This preparation makes you look thoughtful and helps the meeting run smoothlyTotal time investment: ~75 minutes. Typical time saved: 3-4 hours compared to doing this manually.The Stakeholder Alignment WorkflowGetting alignment from multiple stakeholders (product leadership, engineering, design, data science, legal, marketing) is one of the hardest parts of PM work. AI can help you think through different stakeholder perspectives and craft compelling communications for each.Here's how:Step 1: Map your stakeholders (10 minutes)Create a quick table in a doc:Stakeholder | Primary Concern | Decision Criteria | Likely Objections VP Product | Strategic fit, ROI | Company OKRs, market opportunity | Resource allocation vs other priorities VP Eng | Technical risk, capacity | Engineering capacity, tech debt | Complexity, unclear requirements Design Lead | User experience | User research, design principles | Timeline doesn't allow proper design process Legal | Compliance, risk | Regulatory requirements | Data privacy, user consent flowsStep 2: Generate stakeholder-specific communications (20 minutes)For each key stakeholder, ask Claude:“I need to pitch this product idea to [Stakeholder]. Based on this PRD, create a 1-page brief addressing their primary concern of [concern from your table]. Open with the specific value for them, address their likely objection of [objection], and close with a clear ask. Tone should be [professional/technical/strategic] based on their role.”Then you'll have customized one-pagers for your pre-meetings with each stakeholder, dramatically increasing your alignment rate.Step 3: Synthesize feedback (15 minutes)After gathering stakeholder input, ask Claude to help you synthesize:“I got the following feedback from stakeholders: [paste feedback]. Identify: (1) Common themes, (2) Conflicting requirements, (3) Legitimate concerns vs organizational politics, (4) Recommended compromises that might satisfy multiple parties.”This pattern-matching across stakeholder feedback is something AI does really well and saves you hours of mental processing.The Quarterly Planning WorkflowQuarterly or annual planning is where product strategy gets real. You need to synthesize market trends, customer feedback, technical capabilities, and business objectives into a coherent roadmap. AI can accelerate this dramatically.Six weeks before planning:* Start collecting input (customer interviews, market research, competitive analysis, engineering feedback)* Don't wait until the last minuteFour weeks before planning:Dump everything into Claude with this structure:“I'm creating our Q2 roadmap. Context:* Business objectives: [paste from leadership]* Customer feedback themes: [paste synthesis]* Technical capabilities/constraints: [paste from engineering]* Competitive landscape: [paste analysis]* Current product gaps: [paste from your analysis]Generate 5 strategic themes that could anchor our Q2 roadmap. For each theme:* Strategic rationale (how it connects to business objectives)* Key initiatives (2-3 major features/projects)* Success metrics* Resource requirements (rough estimate)* Risks and mitigations* Customer segments addressed”This gives you a strategic framework to react to rather than starting from a blank page.Three weeks before planning:Iterate on the most promising themes:“Deep dive on Theme 3. Generate:* Detailed initiative breakdown* Dependencies on platform/infrastructure* Phasing options (MVP vs full build)* Go-to-market considerations* Data requirements* Open questions requiring research”Two weeks before planning:Pressure-test your thinking:“Play devil's advocate on this roadmap. What are the strongest arguments against each initiative? What am I likely missing? What failure modes should I plan for?”This adversarial prompting forces you to strengthen weak points before your leadership reviews it.One week before planning:Generate your presentation:“Create an executive presentation for this roadmap. Structure: (1) Market context and strategic imperative, (2) Q2 themes and initiatives, (3) Expected outcomes and metrics, (4) Resource requirements, (5) Key risks and mitigations, (6) Success criteria for decision. Make it compelling but data-driven. Tone: confident but not overselling.”Then add your company-specific context, visual brand, and personal voice.The Customer Research WorkflowAI can't replace talking to customers, but it can help you prepare better questions, analyze feedback more systematically, and identify patterns faster.Before customer interviews:“I'm interviewing customers about [topic]. Generate:* 10 open-ended questions that avoid leading the witness* 5 follow-up questions for each main question* Common cognitive biases I should watch for* A framework for categorizing responses”This prep work helps you conduct better interviews.After interviews:“I conducted 15 customer interviews. Here are the key quotes: [paste anonymized quotes]. Identify:* Recurring themes and patterns* Surprising insights that contradict our assumptions* Segments with different needs* Implied needs customers didn't articulate directly* Recommended next steps for validation”AI is excellent at pattern-matching across qualitative data at scale.The Crisis Management WorkflowSomething broke. The site is down. Data was lost. A feature shipped with a critical bug. You need to move fast.Immediate response (5 minutes):“Critical incident. Details: [brief description]. Generate:* Incident classification (Sev 1-4)* Immediate stakeholders to notify* Draft customer communication (honest, apologetic, specific about what happened and what we're doing)* Draft internal communication for leadership* Key questions to ask engineering during investigation”Having these drafted in 5 minutes lets you focus on coordination and decision-making rather than wordsmithing.Post-incident (30 minutes):“Write a post-mortem based on this incident timeline: [paste timeline]. Include:* What happened (technical details)* Root cause analysis* Impact quantification (users affected, revenue impact, time to resolution)* What went well in our response* What could have been better* Specific action items with owners and deadlines* Process changes to prevent recurrence Tone: Blameless, focused on learning and improvement.”This gives you a strong first draft to refine with your team.Common Pitfalls: What Not to Do with AI in Product ManagementNow let's talk about the mistakes I see PMs making with AI tools. Pitfall #1: Treating AI Output as FinalThe biggest mistake is copy-pasting AI output directly into your PRD, roadmap presentation, or stakeholder email without critical review.The result? Documents that are grammatically perfect but strategically shallow. Presentations that sound impressive but don't hold up under questioning. Emails that are professionally worded but miss the subtext of organizational politics.The fix: Always ask yourself:* Does this reflect my actual strategic thinking, or generic best practices?* Would my CEO/engineering lead/biggest customer find this compelling and specific?* Are there company-specific details, customer insights, or technical constraints that only I know?* Does this sound like me, or like a robot?Add those elements. That's where your value as a PM comes through.Pitfall #2: Using AI as a Crutch Instead of a ToolSome PMs use AI because they don't want to think deeply about the product. They're looking for AI to do the hard work of strategy, prioritization, and trade-off analysis.This never works. AI can help you think more systematically, but it can't replace thinking.If you find yourself using AI to avoid wrestling with hard questions (”Should we build X or Y?” “What's our actual competitive advantage?” “Why would customers switch from the incumbent?”), you're using it wrong.The fix: Use AI to explore options, not to make decisions. Generate three alternatives, pressure-test each one, then use your judgment to decide. The AI can help you think through implications, but you're still the one choosing.Pitfall #3: Not IteratingGetting mediocre AI output and just accepting it is a waste of the technology's potential.The PMs who get exceptional results from AI are the ones who iterate. They generate an initial response, identify what's weak or missing, and ask follow-up questions. They might go through 5-10 iterations on a key section of a PRD.Each iteration is quick (30 seconds to type a follow-up prompt, 30 seconds to read the response), but the cumulative effect is dramatically better output.The fix: Budget time for iteration. Don't try to generate a complete, polished PRD in one prompt. Instead, generate a rough draft, then spend 30 minutes iterating on specific sections that matter most.Pitfall #4: Ignoring the Political and Human ContextAI tools have no understanding of organizational politics, interpersonal relationships, or the specific humans you're working with.They don't know that your VP of Engineering is burned out and skeptical of any new initiatives. They don't know that your CEO has a personal obsession with a specific competitor. They don't know that your lead designer is sensitive about not being included early enough in the process.If you use AI-generated communications without layering in this human context, you'll create perfectly worded documents that land badly because they miss the subtext.The fix: After generating AI content, explicitly ask yourself: “What human context am I missing? What relationships do I need to consider? What political dynamics are in play?” Then modify the AI output accordingly.Pitfall #5: Over-Relying on a Single ToolDifferent AI tools have different strengths. Claude is great for strategic depth, ChatPRD is great for structure, Gemini integrates well with Google Workspace.If you only ever use one tool, you're missing opportunities to leverage different strengths for different tasks.The fix: Keep 2-3 tools in your toolkit. Use Claude for important PRDs and strategic documents. Use Gemini for quick internal documentation that needs to integrate with Google Docs. Use ChatPRD when you want more guided structure. Match the tool to the task.Pitfall #6: Not Fact-Checking AI OutputAI tools hallucinate. They make up statistics, misrepresent competitors, and confidently state things that aren't true. If you include those hallucinations in a PRD that goes to leadership, you look incompetent.The fix: Fact-check everything, especially:* Statistics and market data* Competitive feature claims* Technical capabilities and limitations* Regulatory and compliance requirementsIf the AI cites a number or makes a factual claim, verify it independently before including it in your document.The Meta-Skill: Prompt Engineering for PMsLet's zoom out and talk about the underlying skill that makes all of this work: prompt engineering.This is a real skill. The difference between a mediocre prompt and a great prompt can be 10x difference in output quality. And unlike coding or design, where there's a steep learning curve, prompt engineering is something you can get good at quickly.Principle 1: Provide Context Before InstructionsBad prompt:“Write a PRD for an AI tutor”Good prompt:“I'm a PM at an edtech company with 2M users, primarily high school students. We're exploring an AI tutor feature to complement our existing video content library and practice problems. Our main competitors are Khan Academy and Course Hero. Our differentiation is personalized learning paths based on student performance data.Write a PRD for an AI tutor feature targeting students in the middle 80% academically who struggle with science and math.”The second prompt gives Claude the context it needs to generate something specific and strategic rather than generic.Principle 2: Specify Format and ConstraintsBad prompt:“Generate success metrics”Good prompt:“Generate 5-7 success metrics for this feature. Include a mix of:* Leading indicators (early signals of success)* Lagging indicators (definitive success measures)* User behavior metrics* Business impact metricsFor each metric, specify: name, definition, target value, measurement method, and why it matters.”The structure you provide shapes the structure you get back.Principle 3: Ask for Multiple OptionsBad prompt:“What should our Q2 priorities be?”Good prompt:“Generate 3 different strategic approaches for Q2:* Option A: Focus on user acquisition* Option B: Focus on engagement and retention* Option C: Focus on monetizationFor each option, detail: key initiatives, expected outcomes, resource requirements, risks, and recommendation for or against.”Asking for multiple options forces the AI (and forces you) to think through trade-offs systematically.Principle 4: Specify Audience and ToneBad prompt:“Summarize this PRD”Good prompt:“Create a 1-paragraph summary of this PRD for our skeptical VP of Engineering. Tone: Technical, concise, addresses engineering concerns upfront. Focus on: technical architecture, resource requirements, risks, and expected engineering effort. Avoid marketing language.”The audience and tone specification ensures the output will actually work for your intended use.Principle 5: Use Iterative RefinementDon't try to get perfect output in one prompt. Instead:First prompt: Generate rough draft Second prompt: “This is too generic. Add specific examples from [our company context].” Third prompt: “The technical section is weak. Expand with architecture details and dependencies.” Fourth prompt: “Good. Now make it 30% more concise while keeping the key details.”Each iteration improves the output incrementally.Let me break down the prompting approach that worked in this experiment, because this is immediately actionable for your work tomorrow.Strategy 1: The Structured Outline ApproachDon't go from zero to full PRD in one prompt. Instead:* Start with strategic thinking - Spend 10-15 minutes outlining why you're building this, who it's for, and what problem it solves* Get specific - Don't say “users,” say “high school students in the middle 80% of academic performance”* Include constraints - Budget, timeline, technical limitations, competitive landscape* Dump your outline into the AI - Now ask it to expand into a full PRD* Iterate section by section - Don't try to perfect everything at onceThis is exactly what I did in my experiment, and even with my somewhat sloppy outline, the results were dramatically better than they would have been with a single-sentence prompt.Strategy 2: The Comparative Analysis PatternOne technique I used that worked particularly well: asking each tool to do the same specific task and comparing results.For example, I asked all five tools: “Please compose a one paragraph exact summary I can share over DM with a highly influential VP of engineering who is generally a skeptic but super smart.”This forced each tool to synthesize the entire PRD into a compelling pitch while accounting for a specific, challenging audience. The variation in quality was revealing—and it gave me multiple options to choose from or blend together.Actionable tip: When you need something critical (a pitch, an executive summary, a key decision framework), generate it with 2-3 different AI tools and take the best elements from each. This “ensemble approach” often produces better results than any single tool.Strategy 3: The Iterative Refinement LoopDon't treat the AI output as final. Use it as a first draft that you then refine through conversation with the AI.After getting the initial PRD, I could have asked follow-up questions like:* “What's missing from this PRD?”* “How would you strengthen the success metrics section?”* “Generate 3 alternative approaches to the core feature set”Each iteration improves the output and, more importantly, forces me to think more deeply about the product.What This Means for Your CareerIf you're an early or mid-career PM reading this, you might be thinking: “Great, so AI can write PRDs now. Am I becoming obsolete?”Absolutely not. But your role is evolving, and understanding that evolution is critical.The PMs who will thrive in the AI era are those who:* Excel at strategic thinking - AI can generate options, but you need to know which options align with company strategy, customer needs, and technical feasibility* Master the art of prompting - This is a genuine skill that separates mediocre AI users from exceptional ones* Know when to use AI and when not to - Some aspects of product work benefit enormously from AI. Others (user interviews, stakeholder negotiation, cross-functional relationship building) require human judgment and empathy* Can evaluate AI output critically - You need to spot the hallucinations, the generic fluff, and the strategic misalignments that AI inevitably producesThink of AI tools as incredibly capable interns. They can produce impressive work quickly, but they need direction, oversight, and strategic guidance. Your job is to provide that guidance while leveraging their speed and breadth.The Real-World Application: What to Do Monday MorningLet's get tactical. Here's exactly how to apply these insights to your actual product work:For Your Next PRD:* Block 30 minutes for strategic thinking - Write your back-of-the-napkin outline in Google Docs or your tool of choice* Open Claude (or ChatPRD if you want more structure)* Copy your outline with this prompt:“I'm a product manager at [company] working on [product area]. I need to create a comprehensive PRD based on this outline. Please expand this into a complete PRD with the following sections: [list your preferred sections]. Make it detailed enough for engineering to start breaking down into user stories, but concise enough for leadership to read in 15 minutes. [Paste your outline]”* Review the output critically - Look for generic statements, missing details, or strategic misalignments* Iterate on specific sections:“The success metrics section is too vague. Please provide 3-5 specific, measurable KPIs with target values and explanation of why these metrics matter.”* Generate supporting materials:“Create a visual mockup of the core user flow showing the key interaction points.”* Synthesize the best elements - Don't just copy-paste the AI output. Use it as raw material that you shape into your final documentFor Stakeholder Communication:When you need to pitch something to leadership or engineering:* Generate 3 versions of your pitch using different tools (Claude, ChatPRD, and one other)* Compare them for:* Clarity and conciseness* Strategic framing* Compelling value proposition* Addressing likely objections* Blend the best elements into your final version* Add your personal voice - This is crucial. AI output often lacks personality and specific company context. Add that yourself.For Feature Prioritization:AI tools can help you think through trade-offs more systematically:“I'm deciding between three features for our next release: [Feature A], [Feature B], and [Feature C]. For each feature, analyze: (1) Estimated engineering effort, (2) Expected user impact, (3) Strategic alignment with making our platform the go-to solution for [your market], (4) Risk factors. Then recommend a prioritization with rationale.”This doesn't replace your judgment, but it forces you to think through each dimension systematically and often surfaces considerations you hadn't thought of.The Uncomfortable Truth About AI and Product ManagementLet me be direct about something that makes many PMs uncomfortable: AI will make some PM skills less valuable while making others more valuable.Less valuable:* Writing boilerplate documentation* Creating standard frameworks and templates* Generating routine status updates* Synthesizing information from existing sourcesMore valuable:* Strategic product vision and roadmapping* Deep customer empathy and insight generation* Cross-functional leadership and influence* Critical evaluation of options and trade-offs* Creative problem-solving for novel situationsIf your PM role primarily involves the first category of tasks, you should be concerned. But if you're focused on the second category while leveraging AI for the first, you're going to be exponentially more effective than your peers who resist these tools.The PMs I see succeeding aren't those who can write the best PRD manually. They're those who can write the best PRD with AI assistance in one-tenth the time, then use the saved time to talk to more customers, think more deeply about strategy, and build stronger cross-functional relationships.Advanced Techniques: Beyond Basic PRD GenerationOnce you've mastered the basics, here are some advanced applications I've found valuable:Competitive Analysis at Scale“Research our top 5 competitors in [market]. For each one, analyze: their core value proposition, key features, pricing strategy, target customer, and likely product roadmap based on recent releases and job postings. Create a comparison matrix showing where we have advantages and gaps.”Then use web search tools in Claude or Perplexity to fact-check and expand the analysis.Scenario Planning“We're considering three strategic directions for our product: [Direction A], [Direction B], [Direction C]. For each direction, map out: likely customer adoption curve, required technical investments, competitive positioning in 12 months, and potential pivots if the hypothesis proves wrong. Then identify the highest-risk assumptions we should test first for each direction.”This kind of structured scenario thinking is exactly what AI excels at—generating multiple well-reasoned perspectives quickly.User Story GenerationAfter your PRD is solid:“Based on this PRD, generate a complete set of user stories following the format ‘As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit].' Include acceptance criteria for each story. Organize them into epics by functional area.”This can save your engineering team hours of grooming meetings.The Tools Will Keep Evolving. Your Process Shouldn'tHere's something important to remember: by the time you read this, the specific rankings might have shifted. Maybe ChatGPT-5 has leapfrogged Claude. Maybe a new specialized tool has emerged.But the core principles won't change:* Do strategic thinking before touching AI* Use the best tool available for your specific task* Iterate and refine rather than accepting first outputs* Blend AI capabilities with human judgment* Focus your time on the uniquely human aspects of product managementThe specific tools matter less than your process for using them effectively.A Final Experiment: The Skeptical VP TestI want to share one more insight from my testing that I think is particularly relevant for early and mid-career PMs.Toward the end of my experiment, I gave each tool this prompt: “Please compose a one paragraph exact summary I can share over DM with a highly influential VP of engineering who is generally a skeptic but super smart.”This is such a realistic scenario. How many times have you needed to pitch an idea to a skeptical technical leader via Slack or email? Someone who's brilliant, who's seen a thousand product ideas fail, and who can spot b******t from a mile away?The quality variation in the responses was fascinating. ChatGPT gave me something that felt generic and safe. Gemini was better but still a bit too enthusiastic. Grok was... well, Grok.But Claude and ChatPRD both produced messages that felt authentic, technically credible, and appropriately confident without being overselling. They acknowledged the engineering challenges while framing the opportunity compellingly.The lesson: When the stakes are high and the audience is sophisticated, the quality of your AI tool matters even more. That skeptical VP can tell the difference between a carefully crafted message and AI-generated fluff. So can your CEO. So can your biggest customers.Use the best tools available, but more importantly, always add your own strategic thinking and authentic voice on top.Questions to Consider: A Framework for Your Own ExperimentsAs I wrapped up my Loom, I posed some questions to the audience that I'll pose to you:“Let me know in the comments, if you do your PRDs using AI differently, do you start with back of the envelope? Do you say, oh no, I just start with one sentence, and then I let the chatbot refine it with me? Or do you go way more detailed and then use the chatbot to kind of pressure test it?”These aren't rhetorical questions. Your answer reveals your approach to AI-augmented product work, and different approaches work for different people and contexts.For early-career PMs: I'd recommend starting with more detailed outlines. The discipline of thinking through your product strategy before touching AI will make you a stronger PM. You can always compress that process later as you get more experienced.For mid-career PMs: Experiment with different approaches for different types of documents. Maybe you do detailed outlines for major feature PRDs but use more iterative AI-assisted refinement for smaller features or updates. Find what optimizes your personal productivity while maintaining quality.For senior PMs and product leaders: Consider how AI changes what you should expect from your PM team. Should you be reviewing more AI-generated first drafts and spending more time on strategic guidance? Should you be training your team on effective AI usage? These are leadership questions worth grappling with.The Path Forward: Continuous ExperimentationMy experiment with these five AI tools took 45 minutes. But I'm not done experimenting.The field of AI-assisted product management is evolving rapidly. New tools launch monthly. Existing tools get smarter weekly. Prompting techniques that work today might be obsolete in three months.Your job, if you want to stay at the forefront of product management, is to continuously experiment. Try new tools. Share what works with your peers. Build a personal knowledge base of effective prompts and workflows. And be generous with what you learn. The PM community gets stronger when we share insights rather than hoarding them.That's why I created this Loom and why I'm writing this post. Not because I have all the answers, but because I'm figuring it out in real-time and want to share the journey.A Personal Note on Coaching and ConsultingIf this kind of practical advice resonates with you, I'm happy to work with you directly.Through my pm coaching practice, I offer 1:1 executive, career, and product coaching for PMs and product leaders. We can dig into your specific challenges: whether that's leveling up your AI workflows, navigating a career transition, or developing your strategic product thinking.I also work with companies (usually startups or incubation teams) on product strategy, helping teams figure out PMF for new explorations and improving their product management function.The format is flexible. Some clients want ongoing coaching, others prefer project-based consulting, and some just want a strategic sounding board for a specific decision. Whatever works for you.Reach out through tomleungcoaching.com if you're interested in working together.OK. Enough pontificating. Let's ship greatness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firesidepm.substack.com
Could blending global awareness with local relevance enhance our students' ability to develop true global understanding and empathy? Our guest, Erin E.H. Austin models this “glocal” approach. Erin is a U.S. National Board Certified French teacher, an author and an NEA Foundation grant reviewer who presents nationally on Global Education, mentors National Board Certification candidates and serves on the board of a yoga-based non-profit in Wisconsin whose mission is to bring yoga to those with financial or geographic barriers.Guiding Question: “How can international educators deepen their classroom efforts to 'go global' with their students?”Resources: Erin shared so many helpful resources that our word count exceeded the limits for podcassting apps show notes! So we've compiled them in this Google Doc for those who would like to further explore these ideas.Recorded: July 11, 2025. Categories: Curriculum | Global Education | Teacher Entrepreneurs Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.
Send us a textEric continues the 12 Days of Christmas series on Clipped—12 quick tips to help creators sharpen their workflow and head into the new year with a stronger content system. Today is Day 10 of 12, and this episode focuses on creating a daily capture file so you never lose valuable ideas.He breaks down why documenting ideas in the moment—whether through your Notes app, a Google Doc, or a quick voice memo—keeps inspiration from slipping away. Ideas show up unexpectedly, and capturing them consistently helps fuel content, interviews, digital products, hooks, and more.
Today on the podcast, Chris Maynard sits down with filmmaker Kevin Lewis—yes, that Kevin Lewis, the mad genius who gave us Willy's Wonderland and cemented his place in modern cult horror. He's back with a new Southern-Gothic nightmare, Pig Hill, a film that premiered at FrightFest and is now available on VOD courtesy of Cineverse, the folks behind Terrifier 3 and The Toxic Avenger.Pig Hill follows Carrie, played by Rainey Qualley, a young woman obsessed with the eerie legend of the “pig people”—grotesque creatures said to stalk the wooded hills of her rural hometown. As the disappearances of local women reach a chilling tenth victim, Carrie, her brother (Shiloh Fernandez), and their friend Andy (Shane West) begin digging into the folklore… and discover there may be more truth to the stories than anyone wants to believe.Today's episode of the Following Films Podcast is brought to you by Google Workspace. We keep things running smoothly and efficiently at Following Films with the convenience of cloud-based Google Workspace programs. Google Docs lets you work and save on Google Drive, Hangouts lets you video chat, Gmail gives you a professional email, and Calendar lets you organise – from anywhere, at any time. You should try it and see how it can help your business, too. Google Workspace is offering a 14-day trial. If you sign up using my link, I can give you a discount, and it helps to support the show go to https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/G6uFSo let's dive into Pig Hill, the filmmaking process, and what keeps Kevin chasing the next nightmare. Pig Hill is available on VOD today—and I'm thrilled to welcome Kevin Lewis back to the pod.
The Overtired trio reunites for the first time in ages, diving into a whirlwind of health updates, hilarious anecdotes, and the latest tech obsessions. Christina shares a dramatic spinal saga while Brett and Jeff discuss everything from winning reddit contests to creating a universal markdown processor. Tune in for updates on Mark 3, the magical world of Scrivener, and why Brett’s back on Bing. Don’t miss the banter or the tech tips, and as always, get ready to laugh, learn, and maybe feel a little overtired yourself. Sponsor Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all eCommerce in the US, from household names like Mattel and Gymshark, to brands just getting started. Get started today at shopify.com/overtired. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to the Overtired Podcast 01:09 Christina’s Health Journey 10:53 Brett’s Insurance Woes 15:38 Jeff’s Mental Health Update 24:07 Sponsor Spot: Shopify 24:18 Sponsor: Shopify 26:23 Jeff Tweedy 27:43 Jeff’s Concert Marathon 32:16 Christina Wins Big 36:58 Monitor Setup Challenges 37:13 Ergotron Mounts and Tall Poles 38:33 Review Plans and Honest Assessments 38:59 Current Display Setup 41:30 Thunderbolt KVM and Display Preferences 42:51 MacBook Pro and Studio Comparisons 50:58 Markdown Processor: Apex 01:07:58 Scrivener and Writing Tools 01:11:55 Helium Browser and Privacy Features 01:13:56 Bing Delisting Incident Show Links Danny Brown's 10 in the New York Times (gift link) Indigo Stack Scrivener Helium Bangs Apex Apex Syntax Join the Marked 3 Beta LG 32 Inch UltraFine™evo 6K Nano IPS Black Monitor with Thunderbolt™ 5 Join the Conversation Merch Come chat on Discord! Twitter/ovrtrd Instagram/ovrtrd Youtube Get the Newsletter Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at overtiredpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Find Brett as @ttscoff, Christina as @film_girl, Jeff as @jsguntzel, and follow Overtired at @ovrtrd on Twitter. Transcript Brett + 2 Welcome to the Overtired Podcast Jeff: [00:00:00] Hello everybody. This is the Overtired podcast. The three of us are all together for the first time since the Carter administration. Um, it is great to see you both here. I am Jeff Severance Gunzel if I didn’t say that already. Um, and I’m here with Christina Warren and I’m here with Brett Terpstra and hello to both of you. Brett: Hi. Jeff: Great to see you both. Brett: Yeah, it’s good to see you too. I feel like I was really deadpan in the pre-show. I’ll try to liven it up for you. I was a horrible audience. You were cracking jokes and I was just Jeff: that’s true. Christina, before you came on, man, I was hot. I was on fire and Brett was, all Brett was doing was chewing and dropping Popsicle parts. Brett: Yep. I ate, I ate part of a coconut outshine Popsicle off of a concrete floor, but Jeff: It is true, and I didn’t even see him check it [00:01:00] for cat hair, Brett: I did though. Jeff: but I believe he did because he’s a, he’s a very Brett: I just vacuumed in Jeff: He’s a very good American Brett: All right. Christina’s Health Journey Brett: Well, um, I, Christina has a lot of health stuff to share and I wanna save time for that. So let’s kick off the mental health corner. Um, let’s let Christina go first, because if it takes the whole show, it takes the whole show. Go for it. Christina: Uh, I, I will not take this hold show, but thank you. Yeah. So, um, my mental health is okay-ish. Um, I would say the okay-ish part is, is because of things that are happening with my physical health and then some of the medications that I’ve had to be on, um, uh, to deal with it. Uh, prednisone. Fucking sucks, man. Never nev n never take it if you can avoid it. Um, but why Christina, why are you on prednisone or why were you on prednisone for five days? Um, uh, and I’m not anymore to be clear, but that certainly did not help my mental health. Um, at the beginning of November, I woke up and I thought that I’d [00:02:00] slept on my shoulder wrong. And, um, uh, and, and just some, some background. I, I don’t know if this is pertinent to how my injury took place or not, but, but it, I’m sure that it didn’t help. Um, I have scoliosis and in the top and the bottom of my spine, so I have it at the top of my, like, neck area and my lower back. And so my back is like a crooked s um, this will be relevant in a, in a second, but, but I, I thought that I had slept on my back bunny, and I was like, okay, well, all right, it hurts a lot, but fine. Um, and then it, a, a couple of days passed and it didn’t get any better, and then like a week passed and I was at the point where I was like, I almost feel like I need to go to the. Emergency room, I’m in pain. That is that significant. Um, and, you know, didn’t get any better. So I took some of grant’s, Gabapentin, and I took, um, some, some, uh, a few other things and I was able to get in with like a, a, a sports and spine guy. Um, and um, [00:03:00] he looked at me and he was like, yeah, I think that you have like a, a, a bolting disc, also known as a herniated disc. Go to physical therapy. See me later. We’ll, we’ll deal with it. Um. Basically like my whole left side was, was, was really sore and, and I had a lot of pain and then I had numbness in my, my fingers and um, and, and that was a problem the next day, which was actually my birthday. The numbness had at this point spread to my right side and also my lower extremities. And so at this point I called the doctor and he was like, yeah, you should go to the er. And so I went to the ER and, and they weren’t able to do anything for me other than give me, you know, like, um, you know, I was hoping they might give me like, some sort of steroid injection or something. They wouldn’t do anything other than, um, basically, um, they gave me like another type of maybe, maybe pain pill or whatever. Um, but that allowed the doctor to go ahead and. Write, uh, write up an MRI took forever for me to get an MRI, I actually had to get it in Atlanta. [00:04:00] Fun fact, uh, sometimes it is cheaper to just pay and not go through insurance and get an MR MRI and, um, a, um, uh, an x-ray, um, I was able to do it for $450 Jeff: Whoa. Really? Christina: Yeah, $400 for the MR mri. $50 for the x-ray. Jeff: Wow. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. Brett: how I, they, I had an MRI, they charged me like $1,200 and then they failed to bill insurance ’cause I was between insurance. Christina: Yes. Yeah. So what happened was, and and honestly that was gonna be the situation that I was in, not between insurance stuff, but they weren’t even gonna bill insurance. And insurance only approved certain facilities and to get into those facilities is almost impossible. Um, and so, no, there are a lot of like get an MR, I now get a, you know, mammogram, get ghetto, whatever places. And because America’s healthcare system is a HealthScape, you can bypass insurance and they will charge you way less than whatever they bill insurance for. So I, I don’t know if it’s part of the country, you know, like Seattle I think might [00:05:00] probably would’ve been more expensive. But yeah, I was able to find this place like a mile from like, not even a mile from where my parents lived, um, that did the x-rays and the MRI for $450 total. Brett: I, I hate, I hate that. That’s true, but Christina: Me too. Me too. No, no. It pisses me off. Honestly, it makes me angry because like, I’m glad that I was able to do that and get it, you know, uh, uh, expedited. Then I go into the spine, um, guy earlier this week and he looks at it and he’s like, yep, you’ve got a massive bulging disc on, on C seven, which is the, the part of your lower cervical or cervical spine, which is your neck. Um, and it’s where it connects to your ver bray. It’s like, you know, there are a few things you can do. You can do, you know, injections, you can do surgery. He is like, I’m gonna recommend you to a neurosurgeon. And I go to the neurosurgeon yesterday and he was showing me or not, uh, yeah, yesterday he was showing me the, the, the, the scans and, and showing like you up close and it’s, yeah, it’s pretty massive. Like where, where, where the disc is like it is. You could see it just from one view, like, just from like [00:06:00] looking at it like, kind of like outside, like you could actually like see like it was visible, but then when you zoomed in it’s like, oh shit, this, this thing is like massive and it’s pressing on these nerves that then go into my, my hands and other areas. But it’s pressing on both sides. It’s primarily on my left side, but it’s pressing on on my right side too, which is not good. So, um, he basically was like, okay. He was like, you know, this could go away. He was like, the pain isn’t really what I’m wanting to, to treat here. It’s, it’s the, the weakness because my, my left arm is incredibly weak. Like when they do like the, the test where like they, they push back on you to see like, okay, like how, how much can you, what, like, I am, I’m almost immediately like, I can’t hold anything back. Right? Like I’m, I’m, I’m like a toddler in terms of my strength. So, and, and then I’m freaked out because I don’t have a lot of feeling in my hands and, and that’s terrifying. Um, I’m also. Jeff: so terrifying, Christina: I’m, I’m also like in extreme pain because of, of, of where this sits. Like I can’t sleep well. Like [00:07:00] the whole thing sucks. Like the MRI, which was was like the most painful, like 25 minutes, like of my existence. ’cause I was laying flat on my back. I’m not allowed to move and I’m just like, I’m in just incredible pain with that part of, of, of, of my, my side. Like, it, it was. It was terrible. Um, but, uh, but he was like, yeah. Um, these are the sorts of surgical options we have. Um, he’s gonna, um, do basically what what he wants to do is basically do a thing where he would put in a, um, an artificial or, or synthetic disc. So they’re gonna remove the disc, put in a synthetic one. They’ll go in through the, the front of my throat to access the, my, my, my, my spine. Um, put that there and, um, you know, I’ll, I’ll be overnight in the hospital. Um, and then it’ll be a few weeks of recovery and the, the, the pain should go away immediately. Um, but it, it could be up to two years before I get full, you know, feeling back in my arm. So anyway, Jeff: years, Jesus. And Christina: I mean, and hopefully less than that, but, but it could be [00:08:00] up to that. Jeff: there’s no part of this at this point. That’s a mystery to you, right? Christina: The mystery is, I don’t know how this happened. Jeff: You don’t know how it happened, right? Of course. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Brett: So tell, tell us about the ghastly surgery. The, the throat thing really threw me like, I can’t imagine that Christina: yeah, yeah. So, well, ’cause the thing is, is that usually if what they just do, like spinal fusion, they’ll go in at the back of your neck, um, and then they’ll remove the, the, um, the, the, the, the disc. And then they’ll fuse your, your, your two bones together. Basically. They’ll, they’ll, they’ll, they’ll fuse this part of the vertebrae, but because they’re going to be replacing the, the disc, they need more room. So that’s why they have to go in through the, through, through basically your throat so that they can have more room to work. Jeff: Good lord. No thank you. Brett: Ugh. Wow. Jeff: Okay. Brett: I am really sorry that is happening. That is, that is, that dwarfs my health concerns. That is just constant pain [00:09:00] and, and it would be really scary. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. It’s not great. It’s not great, but I’m, I’m, I’m doing what I can and, uh, like I have, you know, a small amount of, of Oxycodine and I have like a, a, a, you know, some other pain medication and I’m taking the gabapentin and like, that’s helpful. The bad part is like your body, like every 12, 15 hours, like whatever, like the, the, the cycle is like, you feel it leave your system and like if you’re asleep, you wake up, right? Like, it’s one of those things, like, you immediately feel it, like when it leaves your system. And I’ve never had to do anything for pain management before. And they have me on a very, they have me like on the smallest amount of like, oxycodone you can be on. Um, and I’m using it sparingly because I don’t wanna, you know, be reliant on, on it or whatever. But it, it, but it is one of those things where I’m like, yeah, like sometimes you need fucking opiates because, you know, the pain is like so constant. And the thing is like, what sucks is that it’s not always the same type of pain. Like sometimes it’s throbbing, sometimes it’s sharp, sometimes it’s like whatever. It sucks. But the hardest thing [00:10:00] is like, and. This does impact my mental health. Like it’s hard to sleep. Like, and I’m a side sleeper. I’m a side sleeper, and I’m gonna have to become a back sleeper. So, you know. Yeah. It’s just, it’s, it’s not great. It’s not great, but, you know, that, that, that, that, that’s me. The, the good news is, and I’m very, very gratified, like I have a good surgeon. Um, I’m gonna be able to get in to get this done relatively quickly. He had an appointment for next week. I don’t think that insurance would’ve even been able to approve things fast enough for, for, for that regard. And I have, um, commitments that I can’t make then. And I, and that would also mean that I wouldn’t be able to go visit my family for Christmas. So hopefully I’ll do it right after Christmas. I’m just gonna wait, you know, for, for insurance to, to do its thing, knock on wood, and then schedule, um, from there. But yeah, Jeff: Woof. Christina: so that’s me. Um, uh, who wants to go next? Jeff or, uh, Jeff or Brett? Jeff: It’s like, that’s me. Hot potato throwing it. Brett: I’ll, I’ll go. Brett’s Insurance Woes Brett: I can continue on the insurance topic. Um, I was, for a few months [00:11:00] after getting laid off, I was on Minsu, which is Minnesota’s Medicaid, um, v version of Medicaid. And so basically I paid nothing and I had better insurance than I usually have with, uh, you know, a full deductible and premiums and everything. And it was fantastic. I was getting all the care I needed for all of the health stuff I’m going through. Um, I, they, a, a new doctor I found, ordered the 15 tests and I passed out ’cause it was so much blood and. And it, I was getting, but I was getting all these tests run. I was getting results, we were discovering things. And then my unemployment checks, the income from unemployment went like $300 over the cap for Medicaid. So [00:12:00] all of a sudden, overnight I was cut from Medicaid and I had to do an early sign up, and now I’m on courts and it sucks bad. Like they’re not covering my meds. Last month cost me $600. I was also paying. In addition to that, a $300 premium plus every doctor’s visit is 50 bucks out of pocket. So this will hopefully only last until January, and then it’ll flip over and I will be able to demonstrate basically no income, um, until like Mark makes enough money that it gets reported. Um, and even, uh, until then, like I literally am making under the, the poverty limit. So, um, I hope to be back on Medicaid shortly. I have one more month. I’ll have to pay my $600 to refill. I [00:13:00] cashed out my 401k. Um, like things were, everything was up high enough that I had made, I. I had made tens of thousands of dollars just on the investments and the 401k, but I also have a lot of concerns about the market volatility around Nvidia and the AI bubble in general. Um, so taking my money out of the market just felt okay to me. I paid the 10%, uh, penalty Jeff: Mm-hmm. Brett: and ultimately I, I came out with enough cash that I can invest on my own and be able to cover the next six months. Uh, if I don’t have any other income, which I hope to, I hope to not spend my nest egg. Um, but I did, I did a lot of thinking and calculating and I think I made the right choices. But anyway, [00:14:00] that will help if I have to pay for medical stuff that will help. Um. And then I’ve had insomnia, bad on and off. Right now I’m coming off of two days of good sleep. You’re catching me on a good day. Um, but Jeff: Still wouldn’t laugh at my jokes. Brett: before that it was, well, that’s the thing is like before that, it was four nights where I slept two to four hours per night, and by the end of it, I could barely walk. And so two nights of sleep after a stint like that, like, I’m just super, I’m deadpan, I’m dazed. Um, I could lay down and fall asleep at any time. Um, I, so, so keep me awake. Um, but yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s me. Mental health is good. Like I’m in pretty high spirits considering all this, like financial stuff and everything. Like my mood has been pretty stable. I’ve been getting a lot of coding done. I’ll tell you about projects in [00:15:00] a minute, but, um, but that’s, that’s me. I’m done. Jeff: Awesome. I’m enjoying watching your cat roll around, but clearly cannot decide to lay down at this point. Brett: No, nobody is very persnickety. Jeff: I literally have to put my. Well, you say put a cat down like you used to. When you put a kid down for a nap, you say you wanna put ’em down. Right? That’s where it’s coming from. I now have a chair next to my desk, ’cause I have one cat that walks around Yowling at about 11:00 AM while I’m working. And I have to like, put ’em down for a nap. It’s pathetic. It’s pathetic that I do that. Let’s just be clear. Brett: Yeah. Jeff: soulmate though. Jeff’s Mental Health Update Jeff: Um, I’m doing good. I’m, I’m, I’ve been feeling kind of light lately in a nice way. I’ve had ups and downs, but even with the ups and downs, there’s like a, except for one day last week was, there’s just been feeling kind of good in general, which is remarkable in a way. ’cause it’s just like stressful time. There’s some stressful business stuff, like, [00:16:00] a lot of stuff like that. But I’m feeling good and, and just like, uh, yeah, just light. I don’t know, it’s weird. Like, I’ve just been noticing that I feel kind of light and, uh. And not, not manic, not high light. Brett: Yeah. No, that’s Jeff: uh, and that’s, that’s lovely. So yeah. And so I’m doing good. I’m doing good. I fucking, it’s cold. Which sucks ’cause it just means for everybody that’s heard about my workshop over the years, that I can’t really go out there and have it be pleasant Brett: It’s, it’s been Minnesota thus far. Has had, we’ve had like one, one Sub-Zero day. Jeff: whatever. It’s fucking cold. Christina: Yeah. What one? Brett? Brett. It’s December 6th as we’re recording this one Sub-Zero day. That’s insane. Brett: Is it Jeff: Granted, granted I’ve been dressing warm, so I’m ready to go out the door for ice related things. Meaning, meaning government, ice, Brett: Uh, yeah. Yeah. Jeff: So I like wear my long underwear during [00:17:00] the day. ’cause actually like recently. So at my son’s school, which is like six blocks from here, um, has a lot of Somali immigrants in it. And, and uh, and there was a, at one point there was ice activity in the other direction, um, uh, uh, near me. And so neighbors put out a call here around so that at dismissal time people would pair up at all the intersections surrounding the school. And, um, and like a quick signal group popped up, whatever. It was so amazing because like we all just popped out there. And by the time I got out, uh, everyone was already like, posted up and I was like, I’m a, in these situations, I am a wanderer. You want me roaming? I don’t want to pair up with somebody I don’t like, I just, I grabbed a camera with a Zoom on it and like, I was like, I’m in roam. Um, it’s what I was as an activist, what I was as a reporter, like it’s just my nature. Um, but like. Everybody was out and like, and they were just like, they were ready man. And then we got like the all clear and you could just see people in the [00:18:00] neighborhood just like standing down and going home. But because of the true threat and the ongoing arrests here, now that the Minneapolis stuff has started, like I do, I was like wearing long underwear just, and I have a little bag by the door ready to like pop out if something comes up and I can be helpful. Um, and uh, and I guess what I’m saying is I should use that to go into the garage as well if I’m already prepared. Brett: Right. Jeff: But here’s, okay, so here’s a mental health thing actually. So I, one of the, I’ve gone through a few years of just sort of a little bit of paralysis around being able to just, I don’t know what, like do anything that is kind of project related that takes some thinking, whatever it is, like I’m talking about around the house or things that have kind of broken over the years, whatever. So I’ve had this snowblower and it’s a really good snowblower. It’s got headlights. And, uh, and I used to love snow blowing the entire block. Like it just made me feel good, made me feel useful. Um, and sorry I cough. I left it outside for a [00:19:00] year for a, like a winter and a spring and water got into the gas tank. It rusted out in there. I knew I couldn’t start it or I’d ruin the whole damn engine. So I left it for two years and I felt bad about myself. But this year, just like probably a month before the first big snowfall, I fucking replaced a gas tank and a carburetor on a machine. And I have never done anything like that in my life. And so then we got the snowfall and I, and I snow blowed this whole block Brett: Nice. Jeff: great. ’cause now they all owe me. Brett: I, uh, I have a, uh, so I have a little electric powered, uh, snowblower that can handle like two inches of snow. Um, and, and on big snowfalls, if you get out there every hour and keep up with it, it, it works. But, but I, my back right now, I can’t stand for, I can’t stand still for 10 minutes and I can’t move for more than like five minutes. And so I’m, I’m very disabled and El has good days and bad days, uh, thus [00:20:00] far. L’s been out there with a shovel, um, really being the hero. But we have a next door neighbor with a big gas powered snowblower. And so we went over, brought them gifts, and, um, asked if they would take care of our driveway on days we couldn’t, uh, for like, you know, we’d pay ’em 25 bucks to do the driveway. And, uh, and they were, he was still reluctant to accept money. Um. But, but we both agreed it was better to like make it a, a transaction. Jeff: Oh my God. You don’t want to get into weird Minnesota neighbor relational. Brett: right. You don’t want the you owe me thing. Um, so, so we have that set up. But in the process we made really good friends with our neighbor. Like we sat down in their living room for I think 45 minutes and just like talked about health and politics and it was, it was really fun. They’re, they’re retired. They’re in their [00:21:00] seventies and like act, he always looks super grumpy. I always thought he was a mean old man. He’s actually, he laughs more easily than most people I’ve ever met. Um, he’s actually, when people say, oh, he is actually a teddy bear, this guy really is, he’s just jovial. Uh, he just has resting angry old man face. Jeff: Or like my, I have public mis throat face, like when I’m out and about, especially when I’m shopping, I know that my face is, I’m gonna fucking kill you if you look me in the eye Brett: I used Jeff: is not my general disposition. Brett: people used to tell me that about myself, but I feel like I, I carry myself differently these days than I did when I was younger. Jeff: You know what I learned? Do you, have you both watched Veep, Christina: Yes, Jeff: you know, Richard sp split, right? Um, and, and he always kind of has this sweet like half smile and he is kind of looking up and I, I figured out at one point I was in an airport, which is where my kill everybody face especially comes up. Just to be clear. TSA, it’s just a feeling inside. I [00:22:00] have no desire to act to this out. I realized that if I make the Richard Plet face, which I can try to make for you now, which is something like if I just make the Richard Plet face, my whole disposition Brett: yeah. Yeah. Jeff: uh, and I even feel a little better. And so I just wanna recommend that to people. Look up Richard Spt, look at his face. Christina: Hey, future President Bridges split. Jeff: future President Richard Splat, also excellent in the Detroiters. Um, that’s all, uh, that’s all I wanted to say about that. Brett: I have found that like when I’m texting with someone, if I start to get frustrated, you know, you know that point where you’re still adding smiley emoticons even though you’re actually not, you’re actually getting pissed off, but you don’t wanna sound super bitchy about it, so you’re adding smile. I have found that when I add a smiley emoji in those circumstances, if I actually smile before I send it, it like my [00:23:00] mood will adjust to match, to match the tone I’m trying to convey, and it lessens my frustration with the other person. Jeff: a little joy wrist rocket. Christina: Yeah. Hey, I mean, no, but hey, but, but that, that, that, that, that’s interesting. I mean, they’re, they, they’ve done studies that like show that, right? That like show like, you know, I mean, like, some of this is all like bullshit to a certain extent, but there is something to be said for like, you know, like the power of like positive thinking and like, you know, if you go into things with like, different types of attitudes or even like, even if you like, go into job interviews or other situations, like you act confident or you smile, or you act happy or whatever. Even if you’re not like it, the, the, the, the euphoria, you know, that those sorts of uh, um, endorphin reactions or whatever can be real. So that’s interesting. Brett: Yeah, I found, I found going into job interviews with my usual sarcastic and bitter, um, kind of mindset, Jeff: I already hate this job. Brett: it doesn’t play well. It doesn’t play well. So what are your weaknesses? Fuck off. Um,[00:24:00] Christina: right. Well, well, well, I hate people. Jeff: Yeah. Dealing with motherfuckers like you, that’s one weakness. Sponsor Spot: Shopify Brett: let’s, uh, let’s do a sponsor spot and then I want to hear about Christina winning a contest. Christina: yes. Jeff: very Brett: wanna, you wanna take it away? Sponsor: Shopify Jeff: I will, um, our sponsor this week is Shopify. Um, have you ever, have you just been dreaming of owning your own business? Is that why you can’t sleep? In addition to having something to sell, you need a website. And I’ll tell you what, that’s been true for a long time. You need a payment system, you need a logo, you need a way to advertise new customers. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but that is where today’s sponsor, Shopify comes in. shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gym Shark to brands just getting started. Get started with your own design studio with hundreds of ready to use [00:25:00] templates. 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That was Jeff: Yeah. Cha-ching Brett: they got the chorus, they got the Overtired Christina: You did. You got the Overtired Jeff: They didn’t think to ask for it, but that’s our brand. Christina: shopify.com/ Overtired. Jeff Tweedy Jeff: What was, uh, I was watching a Stephen Colbert interview with Jeff Tweedy, who just put out a triple album and, uh, it was a very thoughtful, sweet interview. And then Stephen Colbert said, you know, you’re not supposed to do this. And Jeff Tweety said, it’s all part of my career long effort to leave the public wanting less. Christina: Ha, Jeff: That was a great bit. Christina: that’s a fantastic bit. A side note, there are a couple of really good NPR, um, uh, tiny desks that have come out in the last couple of month, uh, couple of weeks. Um, uh, one is shockingly, I, I’ll, I’ll just be a a, a fucking boomer about it. The Googo dolls. Theirs was [00:27:00] great. It’s fantastic. They did a great job. It already has like millions of views, like it wrecked up like over a million views, I think like in like, like less than 24 hours. They did a great job, but, uh, but Brandy Carlisle, uh, did one, um, the other day and hers is really, really good too. So, um, so yeah. Yeah, exactly. So yeah. Anyway, you said, you saying Jeff pd maybe, I don’t know how I got from Wilco to like, you know, there, Jeff: Yeah. Well, they’ve done some good, he’s done his own good Christina: he has, he has done his own. Good, good. That’s honestly, that’s probably what I was thinking of, but Jeff: It’s my favorite Jeff besides me because Bezos, he’s not in the, he’s not in the game. Christina: No. No, he’s not. No. Um, he, he’s, he’s not on the Christmas card list at all. Jeff: Oh man. Jeff’s Concert Marathon Jeff: Can I just tell you guys that I did something, um, I did something crazy a couple weeks ago and I went to three shows in one week, like I was 20 fucking two, Brett: Good grief. Jeff: and. It was a blast. So, okay, so the background of this is my oldest son [00:28:00] loves hip hop, and when we drive him to college and back, or when I do, it’s often just me. Um, he, he goes deep and he, it’s a lot of like, kind of indie hip hop and a lot. It’s just an interesting, he listens to interesting shit, but he will go deep and he’ll just like, give me a tour through someone’s discography or through all their features somewhere, whatever it is. And like, it’s the kind of input that I love, which is just like, I don’t, even if it’s not my genre, like if you’re passionate and you can just weave me through the interrelationship and the history and whatever it is I’m in. So as a result of that, made me a huge fan of Danny Brown and made me a huge fan of the sky, Billy Woods. And so what happened was I went to a hip hop show at the seventh Street entry, uh, which is attached to First Avenue. It’s a little club, very small, lovely little place, the only place my band could sell out. Um, and I watched a hip hop show there on a Monday night, Tuesday night. I went to the Uptown Theater, which Brett is now a actually an operating [00:29:00] theater for shows. Uh, and I, and I saw Danny Brown, but I also saw two hyper pop bands, a genre I was not previously aware of, including one, which was amazing, called Fem Tenal. And I was in line to get into that show behind furries, behind trans Kids. Like it was this, I was the weirdest, like I did not belong. Underscores played, and, and this will mean something to somebody out there, but not, didn’t mean anything to me until that night. And, uh. I felt like such, there were times, not during Danny Brown, Danny Brown’s my age all good. But like there were times where I was in the crowd ’cause I’m tall. Anybody that doesn’t know I’m very tall and I’m wearing like a not very comfortable or safe guy seeming outfit, a black hoodie, a black stocking cap. Like I basically looked like I’m possibly a shooter and, and I’m like standing among all these young people loving it, but feeling a little like, should I go to the back? Even like I was leaving that show [00:30:00] and the only people my age were people’s parents that were waiting to pick them up on the way out. So anyway, that was night two. Danny Brown was awesome. And then two nights later I went to see, this is way more my speed, a band called the Dazzling Kilman who were a band that. Came out in the nineties, St. Louis and a noisy Matthew Rock. Wikipedia claims they invented math rock. It’s a really stupid claim, uh, but it’s a lovely, interesting band and it’s a friend of mine named Nick Sakes, who’s who fronted that band and was in all these great bands back when I was in bands called Colos Mite and Sick Bay, and all this is great shit. So they played a reunion show. In this tiny punk rock club here called Cloudland, just a lovely little punk rock club. And, um, and, and that was like rounded out my week. So like, I was definitely, uh, a tourist the early part of the week, mostly at the Danny Brown Show. But then I like got to come home to my noisy punk rock [00:31:00] on, uh, on Thursday night. And I, I fucking did three shows and it hurt so bad. Like even by the first of three bands on the second night. I was like, I don’t think I can make it. And I do. I already pregame shows with ibuprofen. Just to be really clear, I microdose glucose tabs at shows like, like I am, I am a full on old man doing these things. But, um, I did get some cred with my kids for being at a hyper pop show all by myself. And, Christina: Hell yeah. A a Jeff: friends seemed impressed. Christina: no, as a as, as as they should be. I’m impressed. And like, and I, I, I typically like, I definitely go to like more of like, I go, I go to shows more frequently and, and I’m, I’m even like, I’m, I’m gonna be real with you. I’m like, yeah, three in one week. Jeff: That’s a lot. Christina: That’s a lot. That’s a lot. Jeff: man. Did I feel good when I walked home from that last show though? I was like, I fucking did it. I did not believe I wasn’t gonna bail on at least two of those shows, if not all three. Anyway, just wanted to say Brett: I [00:32:00] do like one show a year, but Jeff: that’s how I’ve been for years this year. I think I’ve seen eight shows. Brett: damn. Jeff: Yeah, it’s Brett: Alright, so you’ve been teasing us about this, this contest you won. Jeff: Yeah, please, Christina. Sorry to push that off. Christina: No, no, no, no. That’s, that’s completely okay. That, that, that, that’s great. Uh, no. Christina Wins Big Christina: So, um, I won two six K monitors. Brett: Damn. Jeff: is that what those boxes are behind you? Christina: Yeah, yeah. This is what the boxes are behind me, so I haven’t been able to get them up because this happened. I got them literally right in the midst of all this stuff with my back. Um, but I do have an Ergotron poll now that is here, and, and Grant has said that he will, will get them up. But yeah, so I won 2 32 inch six K monitors from a Reddit contest. Brett: How, how, how, Jeff: How does this happen? How do I find a Reddit contest? Christina: Yeah. So I got lucky. So I have, I, I have a clearly, well, well, um, there was a little, there was a little bit of like, other step to it than that, but like, uh, so how it worked was basically, um, LG is basically just put out [00:33:00] two, they put out a new 32 inch six K monitor. I’ll have it linked in, in, in the show notes. Um, so we’ve talked about this on this podcast before, but like one of my big, like. Pet peeve, like things that I can’t get past. It’s like I need like a retina screen. Like I need like the, the perfect pixel doubling thing for that the Mac Os deals with, because I’ve used a 5K screen, either through an iMac or um, an lg, um, ultra fine or, um, a, uh, studio display. For like 11 years. And, and I, and I’ve been using retina displays on laptops even longer than that. And so if I use like a regular 4K display, like it just, it, it doesn’t work for me. Um, you can use apps like, um, like better control and other things to kind of emulate, like what would be like if you doubled the resolution, then it, it down, you know, um, of samples that, so that. It looks better than, than if it’s just like the, the, the 4K stuff where in the, the user interface things are too big and whatnot. And to be clear, this is a Macco West problem. If [00:34:00] you are using Windows or Linux or any other operating system that does fractional scaling, um, correctly, then this is not a problem. But Macco West does not do fractional scaling direct, uh, correctly. Um, weirdly iOS can, like, they can do three X resolution and other things. Um, but, but, but Macs does not. And that’s weird because some of the native resolutions on some of the MacBook errors are not even perfectly pixeled doubled, meaning Apple is already having to do a certain amount of like resolution changes to, to fit into their own, created by their, their own hubris, like way of insisting on, on only having like, like two x pixel doubling 18 years ago, we could have had independent, uh, resolutions, uh, um, for, for UI elements and, and, and window bars. But anyway, I, I’m, I’m digressing anyway. I was looking at trying to get either a second, uh, studio display, which I don’t wanna do because Apple’s reportedly going to be putting out a new one. Um, and they’re expensive or getting, um, there are now a number of different six K [00:35:00] displays that are not $6,000 that are on the market. So, um, uh, uh, Asus has one, um, there is one from like a, a Chinese company called like, or Q Con that, um, looks like a, a complete copy of this, of the pro display XDR. It has a different panel, but it’s, it’s six K and they, they’ve copied the whole design and it’s aluminum and it’s glossy and it looks great, but I’d have to like get it from like. A weird distributor, and if I have any issues with it, I don’t really wanna have to send it back to China and whatnot. And then LG has one that they just put out. And so I’ve been researching these on, on Mac rumors and on some other forums. And, um, I, uh, I, somebody in one of the Mac Roomers forums like posted that there was like a contest that LG was running in a few different subreddits where they were like, tell us why you should get one of, like, we’re gonna be giving away like either one or two monitors, and I guess they did this in a few subreddits. Tell us why this would be good for your workflow. And, um, I guess I, I guess I’m one of the people who kind of read the [00:36:00] assignment because it, okay, I’ll just be honest with this, with, with you guys on this podcast, uh, because I, I don’t think anyone from LG will hear this and my answers were accurate anyway. But anyway, this was not the sort of contest where it was like we will randomly select a winner. This was the moderators and lg, were going to read the responses and choose the winner. Jeff: Got it. Christina: So if you spend a little bit of time and thoughtfully write out a response, maybe you stand a better chance of winning the contest. Jeff: yeah, yeah. Put the work in like it was 2002. Christina: Right. Anyway, I still was shocked when I like woke up like on like Halloween and they were like, congratulations, you’ve won two monitors. I’m like, I’m sorry. What? Jeff: That’s amazing. Christina: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jeff: Nice work. I know I’ve, you know, I’ve been staring at those boxes behind you this whole time, just being like, those look like some sweet monitors. Christina: yeah, yeah. Monitor Setup Challenges Christina: I mean, and, uh, [00:37:00] uh, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, and I, I’m very much, so my, my, my only issue is, okay, how am I gonna get these on my desk? So I’m gonna have to do something with my iMac and I’m probably gonna have to get rid of my, my my, my 5K, um, uh, uh, studio display, at least in the short term. Ergotron Mounts and Tall Poles Christina: Um, but what I did do is I, um, I ordered from, um, Ergotron, ’cause I already have. Um, two of their, um, LX mounts, um, or, or, or, or arms. Um, and only one of them is being used right now. And then I have a different arm that I use for the, um, um, iMac. Um, they sell like a, if you call ’em directly, you can get them to send you a tall pole so that you can put the two arms on top of them. And that way I think I can like, have them so that I can have like one pole and then like have one on one side, one Jeff: I have a tall pole. Christina: and, and yeah, that’s what she said. Um, Jeff: as soon as I said it, I was like, for fuck’s sake. But Christina: um, but, uh, but, but yeah, but so that way I think I, I can, I, in theory, I can stack the market and have ’em side by side. I don’t know. Um, I got that. I, I had to call Tron and, and order that from them. [00:38:00] Um, it was only a hundred dollars for, for the poll and then $50 for a handling fee. Jeff: It’s not easy to ship a tall pole. Brett: That’s what she said. Christina: that is what she said. Uh, that is exactly what she said. But yeah, so I, I, the, the, the unfortunate thing is that, um, I, um, I, I had to, uh, get a, like all these, they, they came in literally right before Thanksgiving, and then I’ve had, like, all my back stuff has Jeff: Yeah, no Christina: debilitating, but I’m looking forward to, um, getting them set up and used. And, uh, yeah. Review Plans and Honest Assessments Christina: And then full review will be coming to, uh, to, I have to post a review on Reddit, but then I will also be doing a more in depth review, uh, on this podcast if anybody’s interested in, in other places too, to like, let let you know, like if it’s worth your money or not. Um, ’cause there, like I said, there are, there are a few other options out there. So it’s not one of those things where like, you know, um, like, thank you very much for the free monitor, um, monitors. But, but I, I will, I will give like the, the, you know, an honest assessment or Current Display Setup Brett: So [00:39:00] do you currently have a two display setup? Christina: No. Um, well, yes, and kind of, so I have my, my, I have my 5K studio display, and then I have like my iMac that I use as a two to display setup. But then otherwise, what I’ve had to do, and this is actually part of why I’m looking forward to this, is I have a 4K 27 inch monitor, but it’s garbage. And it, it’s one of those things where I don’t wanna use it with my Mac. And so I wind up only using it with my, with my Windows machine, with my framework desktop, um, with my Windows or Linux machine. And, and because that, even though I, it supports Thunderbolt, the Apple display is pain in the ass to use with those things. It doesn’t have the KVM built in. Like, it doesn’t like it, it just, it’s not good for that situation. So yeah, this will be of this size. I mean, again, like I, I, I’m 2 32 inch monitors. I don’t know how I’m gonna deal with that on my Jeff: I Brett: yeah. So right now I’m looking at 2 32 inch like UHD monitors, Christina: Yeah,[00:40:00] Brett: I will say that on days when my neck hurts, it sucks. It’s a, it’s too wide a range to, to like pan back and forth quickly. Like I’ll throw my back out, like trying to keep track of stuff. Um, but I have found that like if I keep the second display, just like maybe social media apps is the way I usually set it up. And then I only work on one. I tried buying an extra wide curve display, hated it. Jeff: Uh, I’ve always wanted to try one, but Christina: I don’t like them. Jeff: Yeah. Christina: Well, for me, well for me it’s two things. One, it’s the, I don’t love the whole like, you know, thing or whatever, but the big thing honestly there, if you could give me, ’cause people are like, oh, you can get a really big 5K, 2K display. I’m like, that’s not a 5K display. That is 2 27 inch, 1440 P displays. One, you know, ultra wide, which is great. Good for you. That’s not retina. And I’m a sicko Who [00:41:00] needs the, the pixel doubling? Like I wish that my eyes could not use that, but, but, but, Jeff: that needs the pixel. Like was that the headline of your Reddit, uh, Christina: no, no. It wasn’t, it wasn’t. But, but maybe it should be. Hi, I’m a sicko who only, um, fucks with, with, with, with, with, with, with retina displays. Ask me anything. Um, but no, but that’s a good point. Brett: I think 5K Psycho is the Christina: 5K Sicko is the po is the po title. I like that. I like that. No, what I’m thinking about doing and that’s great to know, Brett. Um, this kind of reaffirms my thing. Thunderbolt KVM and Display Preferences Christina: So what’s nice about these monitors is that they come with like, built in like, um, Thunderbolt 5K VM. So, which is nice. So you could conceivably have multiple, you know, computers, uh, connected, you know, to to, to one monitor, which I really like. Um, I mean like, ’cause like look, I, I’ve bitched and moaned about the studio display, um, primarily for the price, but at the same time, if mine broke tomorrow and if I didn’t have any way to replace it, I’ve, I’ve also gone on record saying I would buy a new one immediately. As mad as I am about a [00:42:00] lot of different things with that, that the built-in webcam is garbage. The, you know, the, the fact that there’s not a power button is garbage. The fact that you can’t use it with multiple inputs, it’s garbage. But it’s a really good display and it’s what I’m used to. Um, it’s really not any better than my LG Ultra fine from 2016. But you know what? Whatever it is, what it is. Um. I, I am a 5K sicko, but being able to, um, connect my, my personal machine and my work machine at the same time to one, and then have my Windows slash Linux computer connected to another, I think that’s gonna be the scenario where I’m in. So I’m not gonna necessarily be in a place where I’m like, okay, I need to try to look at both of them across 2 32 inch displays. ’cause I think that that, like, that would be awesome. But I feel like that’s too much. Brett: I would love a decent like Thunderbolt KVM setup that could actually swap like my hubs back and Christina: Yes. MacBook Pro and Studio Comparisons Brett: Um, so, ’cause I, I have a studio and I have my, uh, Infor MacBook Pro [00:43:00] and I actually work mostly on the MacBook Pro. Um, but if I could easily dock it and switch everything on my desk over to it, I would, I would work in my office more often. ’cause honestly, the M four MacBook Pro is, it’s a better machine than the original studio was. Um, and I haven’t upgraded my studio to the latest, but, um, I imagine the new one is top notch. Christina: Oh yeah. Yeah. Brett: my, my other one, a couple years old now is already long in the tooth. Christina: No, I mean, they’re still good. I mean, it’s funny, I saw that some YouTube video the other day where they were like, the best value MacBook you can get is basically a 4-year-old M1 max. And I was like, I don’t know about that guys. Like, I, I kind of disagree a little bit. Um, but the M1 max, which is I think is what is in the studio, is still a really, really good ship. But to your point, like they’ve made those, um. You know, the, the, the new ones are still so good. Like, I have an M three max as my personal laptop, and [00:44:00] that’s kind of like the dog chip in the, in the m um, series lineup. So I kind of am regretful for spending six grand on that one, but it is what it is, and I’m like, I’m not, I’m not upgrading. Um, I mean, maybe, maybe in, in next year if, if the M five Pro, uh, or M five max or whatever is, is really exceptional, maybe I’ll look at, okay, how much will you give me to, to trade it in? But even then, I, I, but I feel like I’m at that point where I’m like, it gets to a point where like it’s diminishing returns. Um, but, uh, just in terms of my own budget. But, um, yeah, the, the new just info like pro or or max, whatever, Brett: I have, I have an M four MacBook Pro sitting around that I keep forgetting to sell. Uh, it’s the one that I, it only had a 256 gigabyte hard drive, Jeff: what happened to me when I bought my M1, Brett: and I, and I regretted that enough that I just ordered another one. But, uh, for various reasons, I couldn’t just return the one I didn’t Jeff: ’cause it was.[00:45:00] Brett: so now I, now I have to sell it and I should sell it while it’s still a top of the line machine Christina: Sell it before, sell, sell, sell, sell it before next month, um, or, or February or whenever they sell it before then the, the pros come out. ’cause right now the M five base is out, but the pros are not. So I think feel like you could still get most of your value for it, especially since it has very few battery cycles. Be sure to put the battery cycles on your Facebook marketplace or eBay thing or whatever. Um, I bought my, uh, she won’t listen to this so she won’t know, but, um, they, there was a, a killer Cyber Monday deal, uh, for Best Buy where they had like a, the, the, the, so it’s several years old, but it was the, the M two MacBook Air, but the one that they upgraded to 16 gigs of Ram when Apple was like, oh, we have to have Apple Intelligence and everything, because they actually thought that they were actually gonna ship Apple Intelligence. So they like went back and they, like, they, they, you know, retconned like made the base model MacBook Air, like 16 [00:46:00] gigs. Um, and, uh, anyway, it was, it was $600, um, Jeff: still crazy. Christina: which, which like even for like a, a, a 2-year-old machine or whatever, I was like, yeah, she, my sister, I think she’s on like, like a 2014 or older than that. Like, like MacBook Air. She doesn’t even know where the MagSafe is. I don’t think she even knows where the laptop is. So she’s basically doing everything like on her phone and I’m like, okay, you need a laptop of some type, but at this point. I do feel strongly that like the, the, the $600 or, or, or actually I think it was $650, it was actually less, it is actually more expensive than what the, the, the Cyber Monday sale was, um, the M1, Walmart, MacBook Air. I’m like, absolutely not like that is at this point, do not buy that. Right? Like, I, especially with eight gigs of ram, I’m, I’m like, it’s been, it’s five years old. It’s a, it was a great machine and it was great value for a long time. $200. Cool, right? Like, if you could get something like use and, and, and, and if you could replace the battery or, you know, [00:47:00] for, for, you know, not, not too much money or whatever. Like, I, I, I could see like an argument to be made like value, right? But there’d be no way in hell that I would ever spend or tell anybody else to spend $650 on that new, but $600 for an M two with Jeff: Now we’re talking. Christina: which has the redesign brand new. I’m like, okay. Spend $150 more and you could have got the M four, um, uh, MacBook Air, obviously all around Better Machine. But for my sister, she doesn’t need that, Jeff: What do we have to do to put your sister in this M two MacBook Christina: that, that, that, that, that, that’s exactly it. So I, I, I was, well, also, it was one of those things I was like, I think that she would rather me spend the money on toys for my nephew for Santa Claus than, than, uh, giving her like a, a processor upgrade. Um, Jeff: Claus isn’t real. Brett: Oh shit. Jeff: Gotcha. Every year I spoil it for somebody. This year it was Christina and Brett. Sorry guys. Brett: right. Well, can I tell you guys Jeff: Yeah. [00:48:00] Brett Software. Brett: two quick projects before we do Jeff: Hold on. You don’t have to be quick ’cause you could call it Brett: We’re already at 45 minutes and I want Jeff: What I’m saying, skip GrAPPtitude. This is it? Brett: okay. Christina: us about Mark. Tell us about your projects. Brett: So, so Mark three is, there’s a public, um, test flight beta link. Uh, if you go to marked app.com, not marked two app.com, uh, marked app.com. Uh, you, there’s a link in the, in the, at the top for Christina: Join beta. Mm-hmm. Brett: Um, and that is public and you can join it and you can send me feedback directly through email because, um, uh, uh, the feedback reporter sucks for test flight and you can’t attach files. And half the time they come through as anonymous feedback and I can’t even follow up on ’em. So email me. But, um, I’ll be announcing that on my blog soon-ish. Um, right now there’s like [00:49:00] maybe a couple dozen, um, testers and I, it’s nice and small and I’m solving the biggest bugs right away. Um, so that’s been, that’s been big. Like Mark, even since we last talked has added. Do you remember Jeff when Merlin was on and he wanted to. He wanted to be able to manage his styles, um, and disable built-in styles. There’s now a whole table based style manager where you Jeff: saw that. Brett: you can, you can reorder, including built-in styles. You can reorder, enable, disable, edit, duplicate. Um, it’s like a full, full fledged, um, style manager. And I just built a whole web app that is a style generator that gives you, um, automatic like rhythm calculations for your CSS and you can, you can control everything through like, uh, like UI fields instead of having to [00:50:00] write CSS. Uh, but you can also o open up a very, I’ve spent a lot of time on the code mirror CSS editor in the web app. Uh, so, and it’s got live preview as you edit in the code mirror field. Um, so that’s pretty cool. And that’s built into marts. So if you go to style, um, generate style, it’ll load up a, a style generator for you. Anyway, there’s, there’s a ton. I’m not gonna go into all the details, but, uh, anyone listening who uses markdown for anything, especially if you want ability to export to like Word and epub and advanced PDF export, um, join the beta. Let me know what you think. Uh, help me squash bugs. But the other thing, every time I push a beta for review before the new bug reports come in, I’ve been putting time into a tool. Markdown Processor: Apex Brett: I’m calling [00:51:00] Apex and um, I haven’t publicly announced this one yet, but I probably will by the time this podcast comes out. Jeff: I mean, doesn’t this count? Brett: It, it does. I’m saying like this, this might be a, you hear you heard it here first kind of thing, um, but if you go to github.com/tt sc slash apex, um, I built a, uh, pure C markdown processor that combines syntax from cram down GitHub flavored markdown, multi markdown maku, um, common mark. And basically you can write syntax from any of those processors, including all of their special features, um, and in one document, and then use Apex in its unified mode, and it’ll just figure out what. All of your syntax is supposed to do. Um, so you can take, you can port documents from one platform to another [00:52:00] without worrying about how they’re gonna render. Um, if I can get any kind of adoption with Apex, it could solve a lot of problems. Um, I built it because I want to make it the default processor in marked ’cause right now, you, you have to choose, you know, cram Christina: Which one? Brett: mark and, and choosing one means you lose something in order to gain something. Um, so I wanted to build a universal one that brought together everything. And I added cool features from some extensions of other languages, such as if you have two lists in a row, normally in markdown, it’s gonna concatenate those into one list. Now you can put a carrot on a line between the two lists and it’ll break it into two lists. I also added support for a. An extension to cram down that lets you put double uh, carrots inside a table cell and [00:53:00] create a row band. So like a cell that, that expands it, you rows but doesn’t expand the rest of the row. Um, so you can do cell spans and row spans and it has a relaxed table version where you don’t have to have an alignment row, which is, uh, sometimes we just wanna make quickly table. You make two lines. You put some pipes in. This will, if there’s no alignment row, it will generate a table with just a table body and table data cells in no header. It also allows footers, you can add a footer to a table by using equals in the separator line. Um, it, it’s, Jeff: This is very civilized, Brett: it is. Christina: is amazing, Brett: So where Common Mark is extremely strict about things, um, apex is extremely permissive. Jeff: also itty bitty things like talk about the call out boxes from like Brett: oh yeah, it, it can handle call out syntax from Obsidian and Bear and Xcode Playgrounds. [00:54:00] Um, and it incorporates all of Mark’s syntax for like file includes and even renders like auto scroll pauses that work in marked and some other teleprompter situations. Um, it uses file ude syntax from multi markdown, like, which is just like a curly brace and, uh, marked, which is, uh, left like a double left, uh, angle bracket and then different. Brackets to surround a file name and it handles IA writer file inclusion where you just type a forward slash and then the name of a file and it automatically detects if that file is an image or source code or markdown text, and it will import it accordingly. And if it’s a CSV file, it’ll generate a table from it automatically. It’s, it’s kind of nuts. I, it’s kind of nuts. I could not have done this [00:55:00] without copilot. I, I am very thankful for copilot because my C skills are not, would not on their own, have been up to this task. I know enough to bug debug, but yeah, a lot of these features I got a big hand from copilot on. Jeff: This is also Brett. This is some serious Brett Terpstra. TURPs Hard Christina: Yeah, it is. I was gonna say, this is like Jeff: and also that’s right. Also, if your grandma ever wrote you a note and it, and though you couldn’t really read it, it really well, that renders perfectly Christina: Amazing. No, I was gonna say this is like, okay, so Apex is like the perfect name ’cause this is the apex of Brett. Jeff: Yes. Apex of Brett. Christina: That’s also that, that’s, that’s not an alternate episode title Apex of Brett. Because genuinely No, Brett, like I am, I am so stunned and impressed. I mean, you all, you always impressed me like you are the most impressive like developer that I, that I’ve ever known. But you, this is incredible. And, and this, I, I love this [00:56:00] because as you said, like common Mark is incredibly strict. This is incredibly permissive. But this is great. ’cause there are those scenarios where you might have like, I wanna use one feature from one thing or one from another, or I wanna combine things in various ways, or I don’t wanna have to think about it, you know? Brett: I aals, I forgot to mention I aals inline attribute list, which is a crammed down feature that lets you put curly brackets after like a paragraph and then a colon and then say, dot call out inside the curly brackets. And then when it renders the markdown, it creates that paragraph and adds class equals call out to the paragraph. Um, and in, in Cramon you can apply these to everything from list items to list to block quotes. Like you can do ’em for spans. You could like have one after, uh, link syntax and just apply, say dot external to a link. So the IAL syntax can add IDs classes and uh, arbitrary [00:57:00] attributes to any element in your markdown when it renders to HTML. And, uh, and Apex has first class support for I aals. Was really, that was, that Christina: that was really hard, Brett: I wrote it because I wanted, I wanted multi markdown, uh, for my prose writing, but I really missed the als. Christina: Yes. Okay. Because see, I run into this sort of thing too, right? Because like, this is a problem like that. I mean, it’s a very niche problem, um, that, that, you know, people who listen to this podcast probably are more familiar with than other types of people. But like, when you have to choose your markdown processor, which as you said, like Brett, like that can be a problem. Like, like with, with using Mark or anything else, you’re like, what am I giving up? What do I have? And, and like for me, because I started using mul, you know, markdown, um, uh, largely because of you, um, I think I was using it, I knew about it before you, but largely because of, of, of you, like multi markdown has always been like kind of my, or was historically my flavor of choice. It has since shifted to being [00:58:00] GitHub, labor bird markdown. But that’s just because the industry has taken that on, right? But there were, you know, certain things like in like, you know, multi markdown that work a certain way. And then yeah, there are things in crammed down. There are things in these other things in like, this is just, this is awesome. This Brett: It is, the whole thing is built on top of C mark, GFM, which is GitHub’s port of common mark with the GitHub flavored markdown Christina: Right. Brett: Um, and I built, like, I kept that as a sub-module, totally clean, and built all of this as extensions on top of Cmar, GFM, which, you know, so it has full compatibility with GitHub and with Common Merck by out, like outta the box. And then everything else is built on top of that. So it, uh, it covers, it covers all the bases. You’ll love it Christina: I’m so excited. No, this is awesome. And I Brett: blazing fast. It can render, I have a complex document that, that uses all of its features and it can render it in [00:59:00] 0.006 seconds. Christina: that’s awesome. Jeff: Awesome. Christina: That’s so cool. No, this is great. And yeah, I, and I think that honestly, like this is the sort of thing like if, yeah, if you can eventually get this to like be like the engine that powers like mark three, like, that’ll be really slick, right? Because then like, yeah, okay, I can take one document and then just, you know, kind of, you know, wi with, with the, you know, ha have, have the compatibility mode where you’re like, okay, the unified mode or whatever yo
What if more quizzes created more joy—not stress? Lee Jenkins shows host Andrew Stotz how Deming-inspired practices like random-concept quizzes, student-led charts, and "all-time best" celebrations turn classrooms into true learning systems that build confidence, motivation, and real understanding. A simple shift in method—massive shift in joy. (View the powerpoint referenced in the podcast.) TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm talking with Lee Jenkins, who is a career educator in public schools, completing his full-time work as a school district superintendent. During that work, he was introduced to the teachings of Dr. Deming and has been applying those teachings to his life and work since. In his business, Crazy Simple Education, he helps people apply Dr. Deming's principles in their schools to bring joy back to learning, to help kids learn more. The topic for today is how educators have applied Dr. Deming's ideas to learning. Lee, take it away. 0:00:42.8 Lee Jenkins: Thank you so much, Andrew. It's amazing what Dr. Deming taught in five minutes. I've been able to teach that for over 20 years. It's just amazing. And then you see in the next slide, it was Lou Rhodes. And this is just a short little review of what we did on the first podcast. But he's the one that said, I think you're going to enjoy this. Little did he know how much I was going to enjoy that in 1990 when he said that. And then in 1992, heard Dr. Deming in person as the statistician. And he described in five minutes just a little touch of what was different about a classroom as opposed to all the other systems that he was teaching. And so over time, you're going to see how it's been implemented with great joy with so many people. He taught that education should have a learning system instead of an inspection system. And that's what we have, is an inspection system. The state departments of education inspect the schools and the teachers inspect the kids. We don't have a learning system. So if you think about that distinction, it's truly a learning system. And you're going to see that as we go through this today. 0:01:51.2 Andrew Stotz: Lee, I was just... After listening to you in the last episode and listening to some of our other great guests on the show, I talked to my students about this. And one of my students, after I went through it and talked about the random sampling as an example of questions to understand the level of knowledge that students as a group are getting, one of my students at this prestigious university I teach at in Thailand said, "So why are you grading us? " 0:02:26.1 Lee Jenkins: Yes. Yes. That's it. 0:02:27.4 Andrew Stotz: And I said... Lee, I need help. I gave my best answer and that is, "I decided that right now, the fight with the university to change the way it's done is not a fight I'm prepared to take. But what I'm going to do is try to deliver the best experience I can in the room." Now, that was a bit of a cop out, but that's part of... People who are listening and viewing this are also caught in a system, in a trap, an inspection system. So it's just great to hear you talk about this and it can help us think about how we can handle it. 0:03:09.9 Lee Jenkins: People say that education hasn't been improved for 50 years. Then think about it. We've had an inspection system for 50 years. Maybe that's the problem, right? So here's what Dr. Deming taught. Tell them what you want them to know first week of school. Here it is. You're going to give them a weekly quiz. The quiz is going to be the square root of the total number of concepts you want them to learn. So a teacher teaching a second language, 400 vocabulary words, they had 20 words a week at random out of the 400. It's simple, but it's crazy that you don't... People say, "How can you assess them on something you haven't taught yet? " You can, if you have a learning system. And then he said to build a scatter diagram and a class run chart. And let's look at those two just to review. The scatter diagram, and if you can't see this, it's just across the x-axis on the bottom. It says 1 to 14, which is for half a year. The y-axis goes from 0 to 10 because there are 10 questions every week in this classroom. And we have a dot by how many kids got 0 right, how many kids got 1 right, how many kids got 2 right. And if you look at over a semester, you can see all the dots moving from the lower left corner up to the upper right corner. So that's the scatter diagram. 0:04:29.7 Andrew Stotz: That's all the students in the class. That's not one individual student. 0:04:33.0 Lee Jenkins: That's not one student. It's the whole class because you're the manager of the learning of a classroom. He taught that. And then he said graph the total correct for the whole classroom. 0:04:46.6 Andrew Stotz: So you just did what he said. 0:04:49.8 Lee Jenkins: Yeah, add it up. It is simple and it is crazy. I mean, all the coaches who are listening to this know when you go to a game, you add up the total for every athlete. You add it up to get a total for the team. Then that same coach is in the classroom on Monday and they never think about that this is a team of learners. It's the same thing. Add it up. And they love it. And they help each other and they contribute and they celebrate when a struggling student helps the class out as much as a student that's advanced. 0:05:24.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. I mean we're social creatures, right? We want to be part of a group. We want to contribute. It's just such a clear principle. 0:05:35.0 Lee Jenkins: Yeah, it's simple. So then here's the expansion. Here's different things that happened over time with the process, and we'll share those with you. One was people said, well, ya know, my problem is not... It's partly they don't remember what I'm teaching well enough, but they clearly don't remember the prior courses. So this is a high school math teacher teaching geometry, and so she has half of her questions are coming from geometry because they're teaching geometry. But the other half of the questions come from the four courses they had in math prior because she knows they don't remember it. And then there's a secondary science department. The same thing. They said half of our questions for every quiz have to be from the prior courses, not just the current one. Because students think... 0:06:29.6 Andrew Stotz: Wow! That's fascinating. And before you go for that, so let's look at geometry. You've got these buckets. Before geometry is algebra two, and before that is algebra one, and before that's pre-algebra, and before that is math seven. I remember my pre-algebra class at school with Dr...Mr. Tyler. He was the football coach, and that guy was a slave driver. Even if you got the question wrong, if you structured your answering process right, you would get half points. 0:06:58.9 Lee Jenkins: Oh, okay. Yes. 0:06:59.6 Andrew Stotz: He helped me learn the structure and the order of solving algebra problems, but if I didn't do that well or I didn't have him as a teacher, I could end up in geometry not actually knowing that. But what the heck is this geometry teacher supposed to do if they find out that the class doesn't really understand some of the prior core principles? 0:07:21.7 Lee Jenkins: Well, they, obviously, they need to teach it, and so part of it they do. The other part of it is the kids don't want to forget the prior courses. If you just throw all these into a bucket and they don't say where it's from, they don't... Well, okay, I missed a question. But when you say, you're in 11th grade in geometry, and you missed the 7th grade question, they don't like that. So it builds, it's a visual. It's right in front of the room every day. They can see, I need to know all of this. And the science teacher is the same thing. The kids say, I'm in chemistry now. I don't need biology. Why do I need that? Until you see it right there in front of you every day, and you think, oh, I'm supposed to learn this. 0:08:12.9 Andrew Stotz: Gosh, it just brings me back to when I was in high school, and I really got frustrated because the pace was really fast, and I felt like I didn't fully understand the prior material, and now I'm on to the next. And that was, and I felt like I was building on a shaky foundation, and this is a part of addressing that. 0:08:33.7 Lee Jenkins: It is, absolutely. So that's one of the changes that was made. Teachers took and expanded that to the whole curriculum as opposed to only the course they're teaching. 0:08:43.0 Andrew Stotz: And just to think about that, is that in order to truly do that, you really want to have the math, the pre-algebra, the algebra, the algebra 2, and the geometry teachers all working on the same playbook. 0:08:56.2 Lee Jenkins: Yes, yes. And when we do make those lists for each class, there's no duplicates. 0:09:02.7 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:09:04.3 Lee Jenkins: I mean, like with the science, I remember the biology teacher saying to the chemistry teacher, "You teach that? I teach that also." And they'd been teaching next door to each other for 10 years and didn't know it. So they have to say, who owns that one? So it's all a system that's tightly designed. 0:09:25.1 Andrew Stotz: And in the academic world of universities where I've taught, there's this thing that they want to give you independence to teach what you want in the way you want. I don't know about what's happening in schools these days, but is the curriculum pretty much set and therefore the teacher can't veer from that and therefore this would not be a problem? Or is it that, hey, every teacher's doing something different and it doesn't all work together? 0:09:53.6 Lee Jenkins: Right. What's the "what." The essential "what", needs to be agreed upon no matter who's teaching it. Now, on these lists, we don't put trivia. And trivia should be in the classroom. It's fun. It's interesting, but they're not accountable for it. 0:10:11.3 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:10:11.7 Lee Jenkins: So it's what's essential for the kids to know. And the teachers, when they have time, the principal sets aside a day and said, okay, science department, get together, get this listed, what you want. They like that discussion and the agreement of what's expected. 0:10:30.1 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:10:31.8 Lee Jenkins: The next thing that was added, Dr. Deming did not talk about students graphing their individual progress. So this is a student run chart, not a class run chart. So you can see... 0:10:46.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, that's interesting. Before you even go into that, it makes me think about the factory. It was kind of accepted that the statistics guys would kind of run the run charts and management would look at it. It would be public, it wasn't hidden. But the idea of really bringing the accountability to the people on the production line is what this reminds me of. 0:11:10.0 Lee Jenkins: It's exactly the same, and the kids like making the graphs. When you see, this is a younger child, but it's done by a high school child, not all of them, but some of them, but who like to doodle, they become very, it's kind of pieces of art, but they own it. They own that learning. They can see how they're doing, and they're so happy when it goes up, but it goes down at times. Why does it go down? They went down because bad luck, because it's random. Sometimes you choose the hard ones, but overall, you see a progress of going up and up and up, and so that's why it's not an inspection chart. It's a learning chart. It's showing a picture of my learning. 0:11:58.8 Andrew Stotz: And just to be clear, the first two charts we saw were looking at the overall classroom, but now the chart you're showing is one student mapping their progress throughout the quizzes. 0:12:11.7 Lee Jenkins: Yes, every student does their own, and if the teacher is scoring the papers to give them back to them, the results, they have to change, a slight change, instead of putting how many, they put a plus at how many correct, because you're graphing the number correct. 0:12:30.6 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:12:32.8 Lee Jenkins: And then another thing is kind of a celebration, a thank you, when students do better than ever before. So if a student had two right and then three right, and then they finally had five right, they never had five right all year long, they do something for the kid quickly to just say, yay, this child went and hit the gong. Just means I did more than, got more right than ever before. So what's the power of that? Dr. Deming wants every student to win. And I've been in classrooms six weeks after school started, maybe four or five in that time, and say, "Is there anybody in here who hasn't had a personal best? " I've never had a hand go up. They all have by then. Now, so you can be a struggling student, you can be an advanced student, but they all have a record of doing better than ever before, and we have ways of celebrating that. 0:13:32.4 Andrew Stotz: And that also is the idea of the objective really here is to improve ourselves relative to our prior selves. 0:13:43.7 Lee Jenkins: Yes, you're in competition with your prior self, that's it, yes. And I would say it's even 1% of the time that I saw somebody twist that and make it into a bribe. It's not a bribe, it's a thank you. I'm so proud of you, it's a thank you. It's a completely different mindset. They want to do that. And if we look at the next one... 0:14:09.8 Andrew Stotz: And just to understand this one last thing is that, are you saying that in a classroom when a student hits an all-time high, they go up and bang the gong or the teacher bangs it or what? 0:14:19.3 Lee Jenkins: No, the kid does it, the kid does it. Or whatever's done. One, you know that in sports where they make a tunnel and the athletes run through that tunnel of other athletes. There was a classroom that did that. The kids made a tunnel and the ones who had an all-time best that week ran through the tunnel. Okay? And there's... 0:14:41.0 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And you could do simple things. You could also just say, if you did an all-time best, stand up. 0:14:46.6 Lee Jenkins: Yeah, it could be... But we try to make it something fun. 0:14:51.3 Andrew Stotz: Yep, yep. 0:14:52.3 Lee Jenkins: Something that's enjoyable for them. And it depends on the age. Here's one, another classroom, they wrote their name on a shape when they had a personal best. If you go to the next slide. 0:15:05.4 Andrew Stotz: Okay. 0:15:05.8 Lee Jenkins: You will see there's a collection of probably 200 shapes. With individual kids, they wrote their name on it when they had a personal best. And see, it's everybody. And it's a graphic in the hallway that lets all the other classrooms see, look how much we're learning. 0:15:29.9 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:15:30.3 Lee Jenkins: Because every time you have a personal best, you put your name. This happens to be a star instead of a feather, but they put it up there. 0:15:36.7 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:15:39.1 Lee Jenkins: And then here's a middle school. When they have a personal best, they write their name on the whiteboard. And the kids have made kind of a Scrabble out of it, a crossword puzzle, where they can use the letters from somebody else's name to make their name. They love it. And they particularly like it because their friends who happen to be in that classroom but a different period, when they come in, they see their friends' names. Again, it's everybody. It's simple. Write your name on the whiteboard when you have a personal best. And then this is a high school. They had the game Kerplunk. And if anybody's not seen that, it's a cylinder. And it has holes. About halfway up it has a bunch of holes. And you put straws through the holes. And then you put marbles on top. When a kid has a personal best, they pull a straw out. When you pull enough straws out that all the marbles on top come crashing down, that's why they call it Kerplunk. And then the class does something for a couple minutes of fun. But it's everybody. 0:16:49.0 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:16:49.8 Lee Jenkins: Then here is, they added the word all-time best. That was an addition. 0:16:57.7 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:16:58.1 Lee Jenkins: And this is a class run chart, like I showed you last time, where you add up the total for the whole class. But when the class has more correct than ever before, it's an all-time best. We use that word for kids also, and you'll see in school that the initials ATB are very common in the schools. 0:17:22.1 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:17:23.3 Lee Jenkins: It's one of the most common things. And you can't see it, but I'm looking at this when they had 28 quizzes in the year, and there are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight times during the year out of 28 that the class had an all-time best. Also, if you look at the x-axis, it's 28. Dr. Deming said every week, and it was changed to 28 instead of every week. 0:18:03.6 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:18:03.9 Lee Jenkins: That was a huge deal for me because I knew that every week was too much. There's snow days. There's things that happen, and you just... In the schools, it's too much going on for it to be every week. But I also knew that every other week's not enough. Not for kids to really prove that they're learning. Plus, they like them. They want... 0:18:29.6 Andrew Stotz: So, what does the 28 mean? Why 28? 0:18:33.5 Lee Jenkins: It's seven times a quarter instead of nine times a quarter. That's why. 0:18:37.1 Andrew Stotz: Okay. 0:18:38.3 Lee Jenkins: So, out of a quarter, two times they didn't. And actually, the complaint the kids had was, why aren't we doing one this week? And so, in a sub-sense, it's only for the teacher to just kind of a sense of... It just eases up a little bit. For the teacher, not for the kids. 0:18:55.8 Andrew Stotz: So, in other words, rather than strictly tying it to a week, you tie it to the number of quizzes that you're going to do, and then you manage that. 0:19:08.6 Lee Jenkins: Yeah, and I've never heard anybody say they couldn't get the 28 in. It's reasonable. 0:19:12.5 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:19:13.1 Lee Jenkins: Yeah. It's a reasonable... 0:19:16.3 Andrew Stotz: Just for people that don't recall, like myself, I can't even remember what numbers of days in the classroom and numbers of weeks in a class and stuff like that, can you just remind me what that is? 0:19:29.6 Lee Jenkins: Okay, in a year, the school is divided into quarters, and there's 36 weeks in the year. So, there's nine weeks per quarter, and we're quizzing seven of those nine weeks. 0:19:42.8 Andrew Stotz: Perfect, okay, got it. Okay. 0:19:46.5 Lee Jenkins: Now, here is something else that has been added, and it is the goal. And so, Dr. Deming talks against numerical goals, and we agree with that. That goal is not an artificial number. It's the best from the prior year. So, it's a real number. So, the students are trying to outperform the prior years. 0:20:18.6 Andrew Stotz: So, this is the best that the system could produce in the past period? 0:20:23.8 Lee Jenkins: Yeah, are we smarter than the kids that you had the last several years? Are we smarter... 0:20:29.5 Andrew Stotz: Am I teaching better? Are you learning better? 0:20:33.5 Lee Jenkins: No, it's a challenge. It's a challenge, and they are so excited when they do better than the prior years. So, how did they get so high up there? Part of it is because there are kids who get, on the quizzes, they get perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, and it's kind of boring for them. And so, we've come up with... When you get them all right seven times, it could be five, it could be six, we've usually gone with seven, then you don't take the quiz anymore in the room because you've proven you know it. And then we give you a harder one. 0:21:17.0 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:21:18.3 Lee Jenkins: The class gets credit for the quiz you didn't take, plus how many you get on the next one. So, that helps it to go on up because you've got kids that are, the word we're using is they test out. They've proven they know it. 0:21:34.9 Andrew Stotz: Yep. Yep. 0:21:36.5 Lee Jenkins: We use the, when I talk with the teachers, the flip of the coin statistics. If a kid gets a perfect score, you have a 50% chance they're lucky, and a 50% chance they know all the content for the year. 0:21:49.7 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:21:49.9 Lee Jenkins: You don't know what it is. After seven times, you're up to 99% sure they really do know all of it. 0:21:56.3 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:21:57.1 Lee Jenkins: Yeah. Oh, this day, this is a run chart from a middle school, and they had one more right than ever before. They are beyond happy. And you will see kids in the rooms doing a chest bump. 0:22:20.2 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:22:20.4 Lee Jenkins: A kid that's struggling, and says, it was me. I'm the one that put us over the top. If it hadn't been for my two questions right, we wouldn't all be celebrating. And of course, if you don't count it, you'd never know as a student or a teacher that you had your best. Nobody'd never know. 0:22:43.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Yep. 0:22:44.0 Lee Jenkins: Count it out and graph it. Oh, they're so happy. 0:22:48.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. 0:22:48.5 Lee Jenkins: So that... And then here is a run chart by grade level. This is 16 classrooms together. 0:23:01.5 Andrew Stotz: What does that mean, 16 classrooms? 0:23:03.9 Lee Jenkins: There's four science classes, four English, four math, and four history. And we took all of those questions right from 16 rooms and calculated a percent correct. 0:23:19.2 Andrew Stotz: So in other words, how we're learning as a school or how we're learning all the subjects, how would you describe that? 0:23:25.9 Lee Jenkins: This was grade seven. 0:23:28.3 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:23:28.9 Lee Jenkins: This was for the grade seven teachers. They wanted to have a total for their grade level. 0:23:35.5 Andrew Stotz: And so it starts off on quiz number one, that students got 16% correct. That's quiz number one. 0:23:46.7 Lee Jenkins: Right. 0:23:46.9 Andrew Stotz: Or quizzes number one. 0:23:50.7 Lee Jenkins: For quiz number one. Right. You can't say week one, it's quiz one. 0:23:53.2 Andrew Stotz: Yep, yep. Sorry. 0:23:53.8 Lee Jenkins: And this is for first semester, because there's 14 right there. 0:24:00.4 Andrew Stotz: Yep, yep. And then by the time they get to quiz number 13, that's, or quiz number 13 for all four subjects brought together into one measure, they're at, say, they've gone from 16 to 55. 0:24:14.5 Lee Jenkins: Yes. So you can say that at halfway through the year, the seventh grade class, 16 classrooms, but seventh graders know half of the content. And you know it's in their long-term memory. They couldn't study the night before. 0:24:31.9 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:24:31.8 Lee Jenkins: Because you don't know what's going to be chosen at random. They know half of the content. 0:24:37.8 Andrew Stotz: And interesting that we see kind of a linear rise. I wonder if there's an exponential rise towards the end as the students get totally pumped up and into it and they're learning more. 0:24:47.8 Lee Jenkins: They are. They want to get as close as they can. It won't land on 100%. 0:24:54.0 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:24:55.0 Lee Jenkins: Somebody's going to miss something, but it gets really close. 0:24:57.7 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:25:01.3 Lee Jenkins: Now here's something else we've added. Because Dr. Deming talked about the classroom, this is a whole school. And they're all taking a math quiz. It's an elementary from kindergarten through fifth grade. On Thursday afternoon, the teachers go in to their computer on a Google Doc and they put in how many questions their classroom got right on the quiz that week. It's all set up in advance and there's a total. And then on Friday, the principal announces if they had an all school time best, all-time best for the school. And you can see... 0:25:45.8 Andrew Stotz: And the number here is 3878 I see in quiz number 28. Is that the total number of correct answers out of accumulating all the different quizzes of quiz number 8, all the different classes that do quiz number 28? 0:26:00.4 Lee Jenkins: Yes. On quiz 28, they answered 3,878 math questions correct. 0:26:06.2 Andrew Stotz: And somebody could look at this and say, "Oh, come on, kids are just going to game this, right? It's just quiz questions and all that." Now, I think I understand why that's not going to be the case. But how would you explain to somebody that says that? 0:26:21.4 Lee Jenkins: Hey, as the kids get older... Let's go back. This is math. 0:26:28.0 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:26:28.5 Lee Jenkins: So the concepts are the same, but the questions are different. So they can't game it. And other subjects where it's not math, teachers tell me that three different questions per concept is enough and they don't game it. They can't. But if you only had for every question for the year, I mean, for every concept, if you only had one question, they would game it. They just remember the answer to the question. 0:26:58.7 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:26:58.9 Lee Jenkins: Yeah. As they get older. 0:27:00.7 Andrew Stotz: And what would you say to some people that may look at that and say, "Oh, you're just teaching to the quiz or teaching to the exam? " 0:27:13.3 Lee Jenkins: Well, we're saying, here's what you're going to learn this year. University professors give out syllabuses. A syllabus is what you're going to teach, which is different from stating this is what the kids are going to learn. And so when you list what you want them to learn, this is evidence they learned it. Now, yes, we're teaching to what we said we want them to know. It didn't come... When you teach to the test, that often means that somebody else made up the test that I've got to teach to that test they made up because there's high stakes. 0:27:55.3 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:27:55.6 Lee Jenkins: But when we as faculty say what we want the kids to know, we're not teaching to the test, we're teaching to what we said we want them to know. 0:28:05.5 Andrew Stotz: Yep. Yep. And then the other thing I would say is when you get students so deeply involved in the whole process, ultimately young kids actually are not going to necessarily celebrate cheating. 0:28:22.8 Lee Jenkins: No, no, they're not. 0:28:25.5 Andrew Stotz: They understand right and wrong. They haven't gotten to the level where adults are, where we put a lot of gray area between right and wrong and politicians will lie about this and that to get in office or get money or whatever. 0:28:37.4 Lee Jenkins: Let me tell you a story about the cheating. There were three fourth grades in a row in a school. And in the middle between the other two fourth grades, they did cheat early in the year. They got a very high score. Then the teacher found out how they cheated and stopped it so they couldn't do it anymore. But they couldn't get classroom best because they had an artificial high score. So they're saying to her, "We cheated teacher, take it away that score that we cheated." She says, "No, you cheated." It took them till November before they could have a classroom best. 0:29:16.7 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:29:17.4 Lee Jenkins: So they paid a price for it. Now, people have fun with random. This is out of the state of Delaware. It looks like a skeleton from Halloween and they spray painted lima beans, put them inside the skull, wrote numerals on them and you draw the numerals out and that's the concept you're going to quiz. So there's been fun with how you do random, fun with how we celebrate. 0:29:55.0 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:29:55.2 Lee Jenkins: Fun with making the graph pretty with I get to put Google... I mean, I get to scribble on it and do different things that make it pretty. Yeah. And here is a... There is a styrofoam nose. I'd say it's a meter tall styrofoam nose. And the teacher had slips of paper with the concepts on them. And an eighth grader said, that is boring. Brought in a styrofoam nose and you put the slips up the nostril and that's where you pull out... 0:30:26.2 Andrew Stotz: Only kids are going to come up with that. 0:30:28.1 Lee Jenkins: Yes, I know. And this is a history teacher, world history. She has 65 concepts are going to learn during the year. She gave them the list, put the 65 on a tongue depressor, put them in a bucket. She pulls eight out each week and the kids have to put the eight in chronological order from memory. 0:30:52.3 Andrew Stotz: Right. That's interesting. 0:30:53.5 Lee Jenkins: But they can't do it in the beginning. 0:30:55.1 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:30:56.0 Lee Jenkins: But by the end of the year, you want every kid to be able to pull any eight you pull out and put them in chronological order, not because they know dates, but because they know history. 0:31:06.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Yep. 0:31:10.1 Lee Jenkins: And then here from Saskatchewan is a teacher who hyperlinked the periodic table. It's up on the whiteboard. So in the bucket are the names of elements. So if a student pulls out the word potassium, they go up to the whiteboard and they click on the letter K. It's hyperlinked. When they click on it, up comes a question about biology. The question has nothing to do with potassium. 0:31:42.6 Andrew Stotz: Oh! 0:31:44.4 Lee Jenkins: It's just a clever way to do random. 0:31:48.6 Andrew Stotz: Yep. Yep. 0:31:50.1 Lee Jenkins: Okay. And then we celebrate as a whole class. This is a class that's celebrating doing the wave. They've been to athletic events. They've seen people do the wave at athletic events. When the class has an all-time best as a class, they do something quick to celebrate. They're doing the wave. This classroom, they have a spinner. And the kids chose 10 ways they wanted to celebrate. I said, "What's your favorite? " And they said, "Hamster ball." I said, "What's a hamster ball? " They said, "We've got a hamster in the room. We put it in a hamster ball, put it in the middle of the room and watch where it goes." 0:32:32.7 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:32:34.4 Lee Jenkins: Fun. This is the whole school again. Just celebrating. One principal, when the school had an all-time best, somebody came in and cut his tie off. And he had dads giving him all their old ties to cut off. Yeah. And then they like to do item analysis. That's kids doing that. 0:32:59.0 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:33:00.1 Lee Jenkins: They like to tell you what it is we most need help with. 0:33:04.2 Andrew Stotz: So this is looking at errors to say what we're struggling with. What does that mean? 0:33:07.7 Lee Jenkins: Yeah, here's the most room, most missed item in the whole room, all the way to the right, the item that nobody in the room missed it. 0:33:15.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, like allusion. I'd miss that too. 0:33:21.1 Lee Jenkins: And then we made histograms. So it's taking the data from the scattered diagram and putting a different one together for each week. So the kids see an L-shaped curve in the beginning, a bell curve in the middle of the year, and a J-shape at the end of the year. And this was taken because they were so excited that they could see the J finally. They knew the J was coming, and there it was. 0:33:47.8 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:33:49.7 Lee Jenkins: Yeah. And then we used the information from the scatter diagram to calculate effect size and to see what's the effect of all of this compared to all the other things in the world that have been done. And we got six times the average of the effect size research from John Hattie. If you don't cram and forget, you actually just remember, of course, it's a lot higher. Duh, of course. 0:34:15.5 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:34:18.0 Lee Jenkins: And we did the scatter diagram that I showed earlier, we mentioned earlier, that's what we use. And when John Hattie saw the scatter diagram, he said, "That's what you need for effect size." 0:34:29.6 Andrew Stotz: Right. 0:34:30.3 Lee Jenkins: Because effect size is you increase the mean and you reduce the variation. I've been talking a lot about knowledge. I haven't been talking about skills. The same process works for skills. And this is the dichotomous rubric. It's on my website. It's blank. It's free. And we use the dichotomous rubric to measure skills. 0:34:53.4 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:34:56.6 Lee Jenkins: So this is my pastor. It was, school was starting, he called two kids up on the platform and he said, "What are you excited about school? School started. What are you excited about? " The girl says, "See my friends." And the boy said, "Quizzes." 0:35:09.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, making my charts, seeing the quiz, watching the progress. 0:35:13.3 Lee Jenkins: It's hard to believe, but that's exactly what happens. And there's the Jenkins curve, which is the loss of enthusiasm year by year through the grades. I would have never done this without Deming because he talked about graphs have to be long and skinny. 0:35:29.3 Andrew Stotz: Man, we just grind down the kids in a normal situation. 0:35:32.9 Lee Jenkins: Just grind them down. 0:35:34.4 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:35:34.7 Lee Jenkins: Every year, fewer and fewer kids love school. 0:35:37.3 Andrew Stotz: Yep. 0:35:39.9 Lee Jenkins: So podcast number three, when it comes up, will be the future. What can we do because of all this that we haven't done before? It'll be fun. 0:35:51.2 Andrew Stotz: Wow! That is a lot of stuff. If you were to take all that we just went through, which was really fun and exciting, what would be the one takeaway you want people to get from that? 0:36:04.2 Lee Jenkins: The takeaway is that we can keep the intrinsic motivation alive that children were born with. And when we keep it alive, the complaint in the staff room will be, I can't keep up with all these things that these kids want to learn. 0:36:22.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. 0:36:23.7 Lee Jenkins: Instead of complaining that they won't sit still, they won't do the work, we'd be saying, "I can't keep up. They want to learn so much. I'm overloaded with what they want to know." 0:36:32.7 Andrew Stotz: And the end result is they become lifelong learners. 0:36:38.0 Lee Jenkins: Yes, absolutely. Yeah. 0:36:38.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. 0:36:38.9 Lee Jenkins: Yeah. 0:36:39.2 Andrew Stotz: I'm going to wrap it up there. And Lee, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for this discussion. It was fascinating and it was fun. So for listeners, remember to go to Deming.org to continue your journey. And this is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming that ties directly in to what we've been talking about, and that is, people are entitled to joy in work. And I'm going to add in, learning.
You're in a meeting and another woman says something brilliant. Everyone lights up. And you feel... small. Threatened. Like you just got replaced.Or maybe it's simpler than that — you see two women laughing together and your brain goes: they don't need you anymore.It's embarrassing to admit. You're a grown woman. You're successful. You know this is irrational. But the jealousy? The comparison? The exhausting need to prove you're still relevant? It's there. And it's quietly running your friendships, your collaborations, the rooms you avoid walking into.In today's journaling session, we're going straight to the root: the childhood moment that taught you connection = competition. And we're getting it out of your body.Inside the free journaling guide, you'll get:All 7 strategic prompts with space to journal directly in the docBonus prompts on breaking the cycle and identifying where this shows up in your lifeSomatic release practices to rewire your nervous systemNo email required - just click, make a copy, and start journalingGrab the complete guide here: Strategic Journaling to Process & Release Your Sister WoundsThis isn't just awareness work. This is nervous system rewiring so you can stop performing for belonging and start choosing it. Resources Mentioned:Grab the free Google Doc with all 7 prompts + space to journal right in the document (no email required): Strategic Journaling to Process & Release Your Sister WoundsFree Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter
Before you rush into 2026, there is one move I want you to make: Pause and reflect. That pause will shape your next year more than any strategy, planner, or vision board ever could. Inside this episode, I walk you through a simple end-of-year reflection ritual you can use to close out 2025 with clarity — and step into 2026 feeling grounded, focused, and in control of your next level. You'll get the exact journal prompts to help you decide: What stays What goes What grows And yes, I created a free Google Doc with all the prompts so you can dive in right away. [JOURNAL PROMPTS ]
Send us a textWelcome back for another romance themed Reading Recap! Kristen's Book:A Flair for Trouble by Kristen BahlsBooks Mentioned:The Playbook Series by Alexa MartinThe Cheat Sheet by Sarah AdamsThe Art of Catching Feeling by Alicia ThompsonFaking Christmas by Cindy SteelThe Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally CarterUnbound by Peyton Corinne (Available April 2026)Just Don't Fall by Emma St. Clair (Appies #1)Absolutely Not in Love by Jenny Proctor (Appies #2)A Groom of One's Own by Emma St. Clair (Appies #3)Fake Skating by Lynn PainterSince We've No Place to Go by Kate WatsonFor links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list. For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above. For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.
Who is Kyle?Kyle Beltle is a sought-after advisor for professional coaches and consultants whose businesses are flourishing in the high six figures. Having worked extensively with clients eager to reclaim their time, Kyle specializes in navigating the twin challenges his clients so often face: “tax FOMO” (the fear of missing out on tax deductions) and analysis paralysis. He knows all too well how the constant swirl of social media tips and advice from well-meaning friends can leave entrepreneurs unsure of where to start and anxious they might be missing out. Through patient guidance and hands-on support—including welcoming endless client questions at kickoff meetings—Kyle helps business owners cut through the noise, find clarity, and confidently optimize their financial strategies.Key Takeaways00:00 Coaching Clients' Tax Woes Solved04:39 Experience Over Price09:06 Focusing Intentionally in Business12:55 Maximize 401(k) with Profit Sharing15:58 “Subscribe for Podcast Updates”_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at www.systemise.me/subscribeFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Do You Need a P.A.T.H. to Scale?We help established business owners with small but growing teams:go from feeling stuck, sceptical, and tired of wasting time and money on false promises,to running a confident, purpose-driven business where their team delivers results, customers are happy, and they can finally enjoy more time with their family -with a results-based refund guarantee: if you follow the process and it doesn't work, we refund what you paid.This is THE P.A.T.H. to scale your business.————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDStax strategy, tax planning, proactive CPA, tax deductions, analysis paralysis, tax FOMO, professional coaches, consultants, high six figure business, time management, business finances, business owner, real estate investment, rental property, multi state tax return, online tax software, premium guidance, tax mistakes, tax savings, 401k, retirement planning, profit sharing, S corp, employee benefits, pension contributions, business tax, cash flow management, VAT bill, financial planning, tax professional, small business taxSPEAKERKyle Beltle, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:03]:Okay, we've gone live without the stream coming in, which is really interesting. So welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I'm here with Kyle Bentley Beltly. Sorry, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get that wrong. Kyle. Apologies. Kyle Beltley.Stuart Webb [00:00:22]:Kyle is the owner of ProActive CPA. Kyle is going to talk to us about some really interesting things about how we manage our finances, manage tax, etc. Carl, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science. Five questions over coffee. I hope you've got your coffee in front of you today.Kyle Beltle [00:00:38]:Ready to go.Stuart Webb [00:00:39]:Terrific mug, terrific mug. Let's, let's talk briefly about how you're, who is, who is the person you're trying to help? What's the problem they've got? So that we can sort of, as we were listening to you describe this, we begin to get a sense of is this me that Kyle is talking about?Kyle Beltle [00:01:00]:Sure, sure. So my clients are professional coaches and consultants running businesses that are generating high six figures of sales and they're people who are looking to buy back their time. I would say that the primary issue that people come to me with and I help them solve, it's kind of a twofold. It's first off, it's what I like to call tax fomo, fear of missing out, and it's analysis paralysis. So with the tax fomo, we are inundated with social media posts on tax tips, our neighbors giving us tax tips, our crazy uncle at the family dinner is giving us. And there's this fear that I'm missing out on these deductions that everybody else knows about. But where do I even, where do I even get started? You know, this, this analysis paralysis. And a great example of this is I just started working with a client there and as we were getting ready for our kickoff meeting, he said, I hope you don't mind, I just jotted down a few thoughts.Kyle Beltle [00:02:10]:Well, so Stewart, this guy had composed this entire Google Doc of just all the things that he'd been coming across. And you know, does this apply to me? Where do I start? And so what I do with my clients is distill all that into a crystal clear tax strategy plan for them where they know, a, this applies to me, B, this is how to take advantage of it, and C, here's the savings I'm going to get from it.Stuart Webb [00:02:38]:So let's just, let's try and explore a little bit then on what are the things. I mean, that guy obviously had ideas about what he wanted to do, the problems that he knew had. He Tried anything. What were the things he tried to do to overcome this problem before turning to Kyle and say, carl, can you help me?Kyle Beltle [00:02:57]:So fortunately he hadn't tried anything and sadly that's not always the case. I had a client, I'll call Ian, who just started working with me the beginning of this year and he had heard, real estate's a great investment. I'm going to get into real estate. And he ended up purchasing a rental house that was out of state. So now he's preparing a multi state return and he has to set up a rental property. He was using an over the counter online tax product there. And you know the saying, garbage in, garbage out. Well, the data that he was putting into the software was not correct.Kyle Beltle [00:03:47]:He ended up missing out on a lot of deductions around that rental property. And so when we first started working together this year, I went back, took a look under the hood of the return last year and was able to help him get that rental property set up properly. And the savings, the actual tax savings that he experienced as a result of that were twice what I was charging him there. And so, you know, I have a colleague, Rajo Jose, who likes to say premium guidance cost a lot less than premium mistakes. And so certainly don't, don't try to DIY things when you're working with a complex tax situation.Stuart Webb [00:04:39]:I'm going to have to agree with you, Carla. I know one of the early lessons I was taught when I was a very young business owner was people forget the price long after they've forgotten the lack of quality, so long after they've remembered the lack of quality. So you know, the, the problem that we all try and think of is this may or may not take me a lot of time, but you're not dealing with, you're not dealing with something which, which is, you know, so much time based, are you? Although they are paying for your time, they're paying for the years of experience which you bought into the, you've used as your education and your experience in order to come back and go, this is how much it's valid, the value is to you. This is not about me taking 15 minutes over this. This is 15 years of my life that's taught me how to do this for you.Kyle Beltle [00:05:25]:100%. 100%. And that's not even mentioning the time that they would need to take away from their core business.Stuart Webb [00:05:33]:Absolutely.Kyle Beltle [00:05:34]:To try to learn this or to even, even to execute it.Stuart Webb [00:05:38]:Absolutely. So I think, Carl, you've been very kind to the audience. You have Got a giveaway. And this will be something which is in the vault that we have, which is the systemized me free stuff. So describe what this is, a PDF, I think, which is going to be a great asset to a lot of people. Tell us what's in this PDF and how it benefit them.Kyle Beltle [00:06:04]:So, as I said at the top, one of the issues that so many of my prospects and so many of my clients come to me with is just saying, where do I even begin? So I put together a handout here of my six favorite tax strategies that most people can take advantage of. And so I would download that there and take it with you next time you're meeting with your tax professional to see which one of these can we put into play to maximize my savings.Stuart Webb [00:06:34]:And I would, I'd hate to, to prejudice this, but if somebody comes along and finds they're only using five of the six, they may need to have a word with you anyway.Kyle Beltle [00:06:43]:Yes, absolutely, absolutely.Stuart Webb [00:06:46]:Okay, terrific. That's a brilliant. And I, I'll just repeat, if you go to systemize me free hyphen stuff, you will find that immediately. You can go and download that now and go get that from, from that vault and, and you will be able to get hold of Kyle's top six strategies. Have a feeling he may have more than six in his bank. But that's, that's the top.Kyle Beltle [00:07:09]:There may be a bonus. There may be a bonus one.Stuart Webb [00:07:12]:I love it. I love it. I love it. Kyle, tell us a little bit. You know, how did you become the, the expert that you are on tax? This doesn't happen overnight. It certainly doesn't happen unless you, you set out intentionally to understand these things.Kyle Beltle [00:07:28]:Yeah.Stuart Webb [00:07:28]:Is there a book, a course or something like that that took you to this, this place? That's.Kyle Beltle [00:07:34]:That is a great question, Stuart. And I love when you ask your guests this because you're always, always finding great books, great programs through this, and I've read a lot of books over the years and just trying to think distill it down to one. Ah, it's really tough. But if I had to choose, I would say that the most impactful program in my life has been Earl Nightingale's the Strangest Secret. Are you familiar with it by any chance?Stuart Webb [00:08:05]:It's not one I know. It's not one I know.Kyle Beltle [00:08:08]:So I encourage everyone out there, go look it up on YouTube. The strangest secret. It's originally, I believe it was a radio broadcast that Earl gave. It's only about 30 minutes. It's very concise. Very to the point. And spoiler alert. The strangest secret is that we become what we think about most of the time.Kyle Beltle [00:08:34]:Oh, and, you know, certainly that is by, you know, no means new to any of your listeners, I'm sure. But for me, I came across this early in my career. It was one of the first times I was really ever exposed to the power of being intentional with your thoughts and setting goals there. And so even to this day, I still find it as a great reset any. Anytime I'm stuck to listen to Earl Nightingale's the Strangest Secret.Stuart Webb [00:09:06]:That is a great, great tip, Carl. I thank you for that one because you're absolutely right. Too often we are, we're not intentional with our businesses, are we? We are distracted. I often see business owners, and I deal with business owners most of my day, and I find myself saying, well, why are you doing it that way? And the answer is sometimes it's sort of like, well, I just can't stop thinking about this. And unfortunately you go, well, you're missing out on a bunch of other things which actually you should be focused on and this should not be even in your thing. So you, you tend to end up doing it because you've just got locked in a cycle of focus that is the wrong one. And to switch the focus to what you should be focused on is much more important.Kyle Beltle [00:09:53]:Yeah. If you're just reacting to the latest email, the latest text message that comes across your inbox there. Yeah, you're absolutely right. You're going to get stuck in a cycle that is not productive and not product. You know, really building up your business to the best that it can be.Stuart Webb [00:10:12]:And this is where you have to start thinking a little bit about, like the, the future of your business by focus on those tax strategies which actually enable you to free up the cash, free up the investment that you might need in order to move the business forward.Kyle Beltle [00:10:26]:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. May feel like you're taking some time, some invaluable time out of your schedule to invest one, two, maybe even three hours to sit down with your tax pro and really map out the upcoming year, what you can take advantage of, what you can't. But the clarity that I have seen that give to my clients is worth its weight in gold and more than comes back to them in time savings.Stuart Webb [00:10:57]:Yeah, I'm gonna, I'll tell a small story here. It's one that's rather specific to the. But I came across a business just recently. The business had hit a real problem. They had a real cash flow problem. And I sort of said, what's the real reason for the cash flow problem? Wasn't very obvious from the discussion. They went, we forgot a VAT bill, value added tax bill. We forgot this tax bill was coming in.Stuart Webb [00:11:20]:We completely missed swiped our cash flow. We're now in deep trouble because we had no idea that it was coming in. And I looked at them and I basically said these bills are paid once every quarter. It's like Christmas. It's going to be on the same day, same time every year. What happened? We didn't have a plan. A one or two hour meeting with an attacked professional to just work out where that was would have solved a whole heap of problems for that business.Kyle Beltle [00:11:52]:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely not. Not to mention just the fact that they could have set up a very simple system to, to remind them about that or to automate it there.Stuart Webb [00:12:04]:Yeah, absolutely brilliant, Kyle, I guess we're getting towards the end of this and I'm going to let you go so you can get back to helping other tax professional people get their taxes in order. Professionals get their taxes in order. Carl, there must be a question that you're thinking, well, he still hasn't asked me the real killer one and obviously I might, I might think of it and probably I'm not going to because I'm a person of very little brain. So what's the one question that I should by now have asked you? And as you know what that question is, you better answer it for us as well.Kyle Beltle [00:12:38]:Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of the questions that I was waiting for was what is one tax strategy in particular that could be a quick win for someone today?Stuart Webb [00:12:50]:I am so glad I didn't ask that question because that is such a good question.Kyle Beltle [00:12:55]:And I got to tell you, Stuart, I'll preface this, I know this, this answer, it's not exciting, it's not revolutionary here, but it is, it truly is powerful. And that is for the listeners here in the US to max out your 401k retirement plan there. Now most people, Stewart, very familiar with having some money taken out of their, their paychecks there to put in the 401k and that's great and that everyone should be doing that. However, I'm always surprised that more business owners don't know about the profit sharing options that most for 1k plans have. And the reason that the profit sharing is so powerful, Stuart, is that it is money that the business elects to put into their employees 401k plans. And it's powerful because if the owner owns a company that's taxed as an S corp here in the US that owner will be on payroll and they'll be able to put additional money into their personal 401 while the business gets a tax deduction for it. It's also a great way for employers to reward their employees by giving them a little bit of a bonus that they don't have to pay payroll taxes on. The employees don't have to pay income taxes on there.Kyle Beltle [00:14:26]:So using the profit sharing component of your 401k to really max it out is a very powerful tax strategy that a lot of businesses will will be able to implement this year and get a quick win.Stuart Webb [00:14:40]:Carl, it will not surprise you to learn that is not a strategy that is just related to the US that is also many other countries. Optimizing and maximizing the amount of money you put into a pension is often the best way of saving tax for the business, but also, as you just said, allowing the employee, even if the employee is the chief executive, to get ready for a time when they need to step away from the business anyway and have still got the money coming in that they should have.Kyle Beltle [00:15:11]:Yeah, absolutely, Stuart. You know, as I said, it's not a particularly exciting strategy, but it's, it's been my experience as a professional that oftentimes it's the simple disciplines.Stuart Webb [00:15:23]:Yeah.Kyle Beltle [00:15:23]:Simple steps that we repeat day after day within our businesses that in the long run provide the biggest wins for us.Stuart Webb [00:15:32]:Kyle, that is a great message to end on because I think it is a universal truth. Business is actually really simple. If you boil it down, it's about making a customer and keeping that customer happy. And hey, what could you do better than doing that with your employees by giving them tax breaks and money for when they retire as well. Absolutely brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Kyle, thank you so much for spending a few minutes.Kyle Beltle [00:15:56]:Thank you, Stuart. It's been a blast.Stuart Webb [00:15:58]:I'm. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna encourage people. If you're listening to this, if you're watching this, if you, if you're seeing us live, if you're seeing this in the recording or listening to this in the recording, just please subscribe to the. To the main with the Systemize me forward/subscribe systemize.me forward slash subscribe. You will get an email once a week which will intel tell you who's coming up on the podcast so that you can join live. Ask questions if you want, get on there. If you've got boring, know, really burning questions, that's the time to sort of ask it to experts such as Kyle who's been with us today talking about his stuff. And please go to Systemize me free hyphen stuff to get Kyle's really valuable six plus special special offer.Stuart Webb [00:16:39]:Download as soon as you can. Kyle. Kyle Beltley. I hope I've got it right. At long last.Kyle Beltle [00:16:45]:Yes.Stuart Webb [00:16:45]:Thank you for being with us.Kyle Beltle [00:16:47]:Thank you for having us. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe
Holidays can easily become stressful with so many details to remember. What if there was a simple way to organize everything so you could enjoy the season without being overwhelmed? This episode shares one mom's solution that brought calm and joy back to her family's holidays.Simplify Your Holidays with the Holiday Doc:Never Miss a Tradition: How a simple Google Doc preserves magical family momentsFrom Chaos to Calm: Keep your entire holiday plan in one easy, shareable placeTeamwork Makes Magic: Share the Holiday Doc with your loved ones for smooth coordinationYour Go-To Family Cookbook: Store favorite recipes, grocery lists, and timing notes togetherStress Less Next Year: Use your living document to plan ahead and improve annuallyLearn practical tips to organize your holidays effortlessly and keep cherished memories alive year after year.What can you expect from this podcast and future episodes?15-20 minute episodes to help you tackle your to-do listHow to declutter in an effective and efficient wayGuest interviewsDeep dives on specific topicsFind Diana Rene on social media:Instagram: @the.decluttered.momFacebook: @the.decluttered.momPinterest: @DianaRene Are you ready for a peaceful and clutter-free home? Watch my FREE training video “Chaos to Calm” to learn how it's possible! And find all of my resources here.
Save 30-50% on Learn Dash, GiveWP, The Events Calendar, and more: https://streamlined.fm/fridayWhat if your business could support your life instead of consuming it? That's exactly what Liz Wilcox has built — a $9/month membership that supports her family, her sister, and three other families… all while she takes summers off.In this conversation, Liz shares how she built a half-million-dollar lifestyle business that aligns with her values — without sacrificing her time, her sanity, or her kid's beach days.We talk about launching imperfectly, setting clear expectations, and building a business that runs with your life, not against it. Liz's energy and honesty are unmatched, and her story will change how you think about pricing, productivity, and purpose.Top TakeawaysA low-ticket offer can be high value — if you set clear expectations and deliver consistently.Don't wait for perfect — Liz launched her $9 membership using Google Docs and built from there.Transparency builds trust. Tell your audience what you're doing, why you're doing it, and when they can expect it.Liz's signature $9 membership is here: https://streamlinedsolopreneur.com/liz — hit the hot pink button to grab her free email templates (and sneak a $1 trial of the membership).
Thank you for tuning in to Episode 310 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins From the Armchair KAL News Contest, News & Notes Life in Focus Ask Me Anything On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Stitched by Jessalu Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Dan's Birthday Hat Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood. $5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry & Brooklyn Tweed Site Yarn: Yarnbaker DK ((75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the Burnt Indigo Colorway (dusty navy blue with black Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) & US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page I used 54g of yarn and have 52g left. It was living in my Stitched by Jessalu Rhinebeck bag which is, for now, my hat bag. Game Day Party Socks Yarn: Mandi's Makings SW Merino Fingering Weight Yarn in the Pigskin '25 Exclusive Game Day Party Colorway. Green mini skein for heels/toes from Goosey Fibers (Wizard of Oz Advent Calendar yarn) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Ravelry Project Page Yarn: Pigskin '25 Exclusive- 60 points 62g used Aila's Goose Bag Pattern: None. Using this Ravelry Project Page as a guide Yarn: Loops & Threads Impeccable in the Aran colorway (~400g skein) Hooks: G (4.0 mm) & H (5.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Started at the bottom with smaller hook and holding yarn double. ch31 work both sides of that to create the base. increased up to 62 stitches. larger hook. SC around for sides. 7 sts for handle (smaller hook) with the goose head at end of handle which is attached to other side of the bag. Then I added feet at the bottom. On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Kris' Christmas Socks Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners in the Fairy Lights colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page I knit pair of socks out of this same colorway for Mom in 2019- Ravelry Project Page here. That was my 100th pair of OMG Heel socks. Progress: I am almost to the toe of sock 1. Over the Rainbow Socks Yarn: Cashmere & Coconuts MCN Sock yarn in the Somewhere Over the Rainbow colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the colorway: Yarn was gift from Kris on Mom's 1st heavenly birthday. I decided these will be for Hattie (my niece who is Mom's birthday twin). Progress: I'm on the leg of sock 2. Zoe Hat Pattern: Zoe Hat by Alexandra Davidoff- $6 knitting pattern available on Ravelry Yarn: Berrocco Vintage in a teal color Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) & US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Laura picked out this yarn at Knitty City in NY Progress: I am still on the ribbing. Elsa Pattern: Queen Elsa Amigurumi by Chiara Cremon (free crochet pattern available on Ravelry) Yarn: Knit Picks Brava (worsted weight acrylic yarn) Hook: D (3.25 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: just barely started the legs. From the Armchair Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. Amazon Affiliate Link. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. Amazon Affiliate Link. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. KAL News Pigskin Party '25 Event Dates: KAL Dates- Thursday September 4, 2025- Monday February 9, 2026 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions- ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Check out this Ravelry Thread with helpful tips for the event, crowd sourced from our incredible players. Updates In This Episode Count On It Challenge hosted by Twice Sheared Sheep, Official Sponsor for Quarter 2 (November). Details in this Ravelry thread. Official Sponsor for Quarter 3 (December)- Suburban Stitcher Mini Maker's Merry Month See details in this Ravelry Thread. Stay tuned for more about our Official Sponsor for Quarter 4 (January)- Yarnaceous Fibers Commentator Update (links in this section go to Ravelry) Like most of the knitting internet, our November huddle has had lots of chatter about the game of wool, including tips for how to watch it if you are in the US! This has spawned lots of conversations about: how long it really takes to knit something, how hard on your body it can be to knit for long periods of time, and whether crafting with time pressure is a fun challenge or just robs the joy out of our hobby. Several pigskin partiers have shared their experiences with times crafting challenges, such as the sheep to sweater challenges, sock madness, and the super sock world challenge. In other news, players are posting some amazing projects in the end zone dance thread! A few players have completed some really intricate projects lately. For example, Enchantingpastime recently completed an amazing C2C crochet blanket with a penguin wearing a Santa hat! It is so cute. https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Enchantingpastime/larger-penguin-blanket Fgcreations completed some fabulous colorwork "spooky bogeyman mitts: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/fgcreations/spooky-bogeyman-mittens Adrie9 completed a lovely sunset silhouette hat https://www.ravelry.com/projects/adrie9/sunset-silhouette-hat What a talented group of players we have! Contest, News & Notes Check out this Gay Sheep Fashion Show article that I heard about on the 7 podcast from the Washington Post Life in Focus 25 in 2025 Donate Blood at least 4 times (January, March, May, Sept) - done Go shopping for plants with Dan 4 times in the year Buy new ski boots- done Go camping (scheduled for June)- done Kayak 2-5 times (Saco- 2 days)- done Do at least 5 walks with others- done Take 2-5 yoga classes- will not complete Do at least 30 lessons in Mondly- will still try Spend a day at Raffa Life- done Record 2-5 things I'm grateful for each day before bed (more days than not counts)- I've fallen off. Read all of Simple Abundance- gave up. Got too religious for me. Read at least 60 books- - 58 books as 11/29 Get at least 2 massages at Oasis- done See 2-5 movies in the theater- done Knit 2-5 garments for me- done Finish and enjoy my Christmas Granny Square Blanket- not happening this year. Crochet at least 5 toys- done Use my spinning wheel at least once a month- all but May & June! Calling this a win Have a crafty day with Emelie- done Knit a slouchy hat for myself- not yet but it could still happen. Try out 3 new to me podcasts- done Watch White Christmas with Jenny & Kara- its on the calendar Buy a firebox and put important papers inside- working with Dan on finding the right one. Create a list of things to pack in case of an evacuation- not done yet Purge at least 20 items of clothing/accessories/shoes- done Ask Me Anything Tune in to hear my answer to this question: Hi, I'm a newer listener to your podcast and really enjoy it. But just how fast do you knit? It seems you have a job (in addition to the podcast), have time to be in a musical, family,,...yet your projects seem to fly off the needles. How do you get it all done? Are you knitting constantly?? Slow at knitting, Cathleen On a Happy Note My cousin Jenny hosted a girls/cousins game night. We had a lot of fun! Dad, Jeff, Riley, Millie & I started decorating at Dad's and then had a big Wicked (part 1) watch party in the evening. Megg, Eme, Ois, Hattie, Kris, Aila, Riley, Millie, Kara and Emelie all came. Only 3 of them had seen it before. Laura's visit- our craft fair tradition, lots of laughter with Megg and some great second-hand finds to add to my winter wardrobe Seeing Cabaret with Megg and Terri A surprise 4 Sundays advent box delivery from Legacy Fiber Artz- thanks Sue & Chelsea!! Fiber Club at my local library Thanksgiving with the family! My cousin Joanie gifted Dad, Jeff and me each an ornament with flowers from mom's funeral made into beads and put together with crystals into a beautiful snowflake ornament Wicked For Good! Quote of the Week "Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." — Henry Van Dyke ------ Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.
Before you rush into 2026, there is one move I want you to make: Pause and reflect. That pause will shape your next year more than any strategy, planner, or vision board ever could. Inside this episode, I walk you through a simple end-of-year reflection ritual you can use to close out 2025 with clarity — and step into 2026 feeling grounded, focused, and in control of your next level. You'll get the exact journal prompts to help you decide: What stays What goes What grows And yes, I created a free Google Doc with all the prompts so you can dive in right away. [JOURNAL PROMPTS ]
Your brand isn't just the polished stuff you planned during your rebrand or mapped out in a Google Doc.It's also the unintentional trail you're leaving behind: The throwaway content you post just to stay visible, the clients you take on because you had bandwidth (even though the work doesn't light you up), that random rant you posted on stories that doesn't actually reflect who you are as a service provider.All of it speaks. And all of it's telling a story, whether you meant for it to or not.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS→ How every piece of content shapes perception, and why you can't control which post becomes someone's first impression of you→ The trust gap that forms when your behind-the-scenes content contradicts your polished front-facing brand→ Real examples of how diluting your brand happens—Follow me on Instagram at @pane.marketingSubscribe to my newsletter The Content Pour-Over for your brand's boost of content clarity every Wednesday! Interest
Send us a textSub plans aren't anyone's favorite part of teaching, but having a system that works every single time can take a huge weight off your shoulders. In this episode of That Music Podcast, Bryson shares how switching to a simple Google Doc completely changed the way he handles sick days. No fancy software, no overthinking, just one reliable document he can update from anywhere.He walks through the structure of his digital template, why it's so helpful to keep everything in one place, and how using a shareable link can save you from scrambling when you're already not feeling your best. You'll also hear a few practical tips for choosing activities that any sub can handle and setting yourself up so you're ready for the unexpected without spending hours prepping.If you've ever found yourself stressed about taking a day off (or avoiding it altogether), this episode gives you an easy, doable way to make sub plans one less thing to worry about.Episode Chapters:0:00 Introduction3:35 Getting started with digital sub plans5:51 Template walkthrough7:50 Tips for making it work9:35 TakeawaysLinks and Resources: The Elementary Music Summit®Elementary Newbie GuideDisabilities GuideSteady Beat Survival GuideJoin Elementary Music EDGE™Have questions or want to share feedback? Reach out to us at hello@thatmusicteacher.com - we'd love to hear from you!Have questions or want to share feedback? Reach out to us at hello@thatmusicteacher.com - we'd love to hear from you!
Donald Trump heeft onder druk van het Congres getekend voor vrijgave van de Epstein-files en de eerste twintigduizend documenten staan inmiddels online. Amerika-correspondent Sjoerd Den Daas wierp er een blik in en vond heel veel interessante én heel veel oninteressante informatie. In deze podcast vertelt Sjoerd hoe het Google Docs-bestand waarin alles is verzameld is opgebouwd en hoe hij daarin zoekt. In eerste instantie richtte hij zich op Nederlandse connecties en kwam er zo achter dat Epstein naar Nieuwsuur had gekeken en zich interesseerde in Geert Wilders en Mark Rutte. Komende maand komt er nog 300 gigabyte aan informatie vrij. Dan volgt mogelijk deel twee van Sjoerds zoektocht in The Epstein Files. Reageren? mail dedag@nos.nl Presentatie en montage: Elisabeth Steinz Redactie: Lisa Konings
You know what makes me most excited about artificial intelligence?It's when I see viral posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, whatever platform—people outing others for using AI. Someone includes the wrong kind of prompt in a research paper, and suddenly… it's a scandal. It's a rejection. People get really, really upset.And honestly? That's the moment I start paying attention.It's uncomfortable. It's weird. But these uncomfortable, weird moments?They're almost always signs of a massive shift.It's the same feeling people had with Galileo and the telescope. That thing only magnified by 3 to 10 times, and still—he looked at the sky, and people freaked out. He didn't benefit from it. But the world changed.I remember when people had to switch from typewriters to WordPerfect.It made everyone furious. Teachers didn't want to learn a new system.It felt like everything was falling apart.Same thing with Uber and taxis.With Airbnb and the hotel industry.With Napster and the entire music business.People were outraged—until they weren't.People got upset about electricity.They got upset about disposable diapers.They got upset about the horseless carriage.They got upset about Spotify, about Google Docs, about Grammarly.Heck, even the microwave was controversial when it showed up.We don't like transition. We like control.And so here we are again—freaking out over artificial intelligence.But if you do realize it, you can stop blaming the wrong thing.You can stop calling AI “cheating” and start asking:What is this discomfort trying to tell me?Because this shift we're going through—it's bigger than research.It's going to hit physicians.Architects.Manual laborers.Construction workers.Teachers.Therapists.Probably even dog groomers.I'm not saying it's perfect.I'm not saying it won't replace some things.But here's what I am saying:The laws won't lead us.They'll follow.Just like they always do.And no—we're not going back.We never do.You don't un-invent the car.You don't un-send the email.You don't stop the music once it's streaming.So maybe—just maybe—it's time we stop being afraid.Maybe we stop calling it cheating and start asking:What would happen if we embraced this shift?If we leveraged it?If we used AI to build things we actually want?To make our lives a little easier?To multiply what we already do well?These moments—the ones that make you uncomfortable, make you hide, make you fight—they're just growing pains.We've had them before.We'll have them again.You don't have to love it.But you might want to pay attention.Because we're not going back.
Vanaf volgend jaar kunnen Nederlandse onderwijs- en onderzoeksinstellingen experimenteren met het Duitse samenwerkingsplatform Nextcloud, een Europees alternatief voor diensten van Amerikaanse techbedrijven zoals Google en Microsoft. De Nederlandse ICT-coöperatie SURF maakt dat mogelijk door het platform breed beschikbaar te stellen binnen het hoger onderwijs en onderzoeksdomein. SURF, dat verantwoordelijk is voor de ICT-diensten van universiteiten, hogescholen en onderzoeksinstellingen, voerde het afgelopen jaar al enkele kleinere pilots uit met Nextcloud. Die proefperiode is volgens de organisatie positief verlopen. Daarom wil SURF nu op grotere schaal ervaring opdoen, door instellingen aan te moedigen het platform intern te testen. Zo moet duidelijk worden hoe teams in de praktijk kunnen samenwerken en of Nextcloud een volwaardig alternatief kan zijn voor bestaande platforms. Nextcloud biedt functionaliteiten die vergelijkbaar zijn met diensten die veel instellingen nu gebruiken, zoals clouddiensten, e-mail, videobellen en online documentbewerking. Daarmee bestrijkt het vrijwel dezelfde basistaken als Word, Excel, Gmail en Google Docs. Het platform wordt in eerste instantie een jaar lang naast de bestaande Amerikaanse oplossingen aangeboden. Uit een recente interessepeiling van SURF blijkt dat er brede belangstelling is voor het gebruik van Nextcloud. Meerdere universiteiten, hogescholen, umc’s en onderzoeksinstellingen hebben zich gemeld om mee te doen met de testfase. Volgens SURF groeit het draagvlak voor een Europees platform, omdat de afhankelijkheid van Amerikaanse techbedrijven steeds meer als een risico wordt gezien. Een volledig Nederlands alternatief is er vooralsnog niet, maar met Nextcloud lijkt Europa in elk geval een serieuze optie in handen te hebben.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Clients unable to access Google Drive because they don't have Gmail...Clients unable to send files because they don't have Dropbox...Responding to, organizing, and taking feed back from cluttered email responses and Google Docs...Knowing if clients and prospects actually viewed your pitch deckThese are some of the inefficiencies we've been dealing with in our agency and just a few of the things Tiiny Host solves.This week, we bring Tiiny Host CEO and Founder, Elston Baretto, onto the podcast to talk about what it is, why he decided to take on Google Drive and Dropbox, and why Tiiny Host is a must-have for agencies.----------------------------------The Tiiny Host team has a special deal for The Agency Growth Podcast listeners:Go to: tinyhost.com/agencies Use code: GROWYou'll get 50% OFF your first month of a Pro or Pro Max plan.----------------------------------JOIN THE FREE DISCORDhttps://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRDOur recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencygrowthpodcastTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencypodcastFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u
Send us a textThanks to Cassidy for joining me to talk about our favorite Hockey Romances. Kristen's Picks:Fake Skating by Lynn PainterRookie Season by Katie Bailey and Leah BrunnerCassidy's Picks:The Pucking Wrong Series by C.R. JaneThe Game Changer by Lana FergusonDon't Let Me Series by Kelsie RaeSlap Shot Surprise by Melanie HarlowThe Bad Boy Rule by Maren MooreKristen and Cassidy's Picks:The D.C. Stars Series by Chelsea CurtoThe D.C Eagles Series by Leah BrunnerThe Undone Series by Peyton CorinneThe Vancouver Storm Series by Stephanie ArcherThe Off-Campus Series by Elle KennedyFor links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list. For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above. For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.
You kick off with a blast of rapid-fire tips: instantly saving PDFs from Google Docs, digging photos out of Messages, moving your playlists into Apple Music with iOS 26, tightening up your Digital ID setup, wrangling mail right inside a message, and even retraining Siri when she goes off the […]
Thank you for tuning in to Episode 309 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Brainstorming From the Armchair Crafty Adventures Knitting in Passing In my Travels KAL News On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Fibernymph Dye Works & Imagined Landscapes Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Gary's LeHigh Hat Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood. $5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry & Brooklyn Tweed Site Yarn: Cesium Yarn Strong DK ( 75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the One More Sleep Colorway Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) & US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Project Notes & Mods: did not increase after ribbing as called for. Knit 7 inches before working decreases. I used 52g of yarn and have 56g remaining so I can make another hat with this yarn. Gary's Delaware Hat Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood. $5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry & Brooklyn Tweed Site Yarn: Robin's Promise Yarn Co, Two Birds in the Hand (DK 4ply 100% SW Merino) in the White-Tailed Robin Feather Colorway Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) & US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the Yarn- purchased Rhinebeck Weekend at CAKEpalooza. Its a mostly solid royal blue. This project is living in my new Stitched by Jessalu Rhinebeck 2025 bag. I think this will be my fall/winter hat project and I'll just keep the needles in here and keep replacing the yarn. Yarn Cozy Lite Yarn: Cascade Heritage Yarn (75% SW Merino 25% Nylon) in the Highlighter Guava colorway Pattern: Yarn Cozy Lite by Knitty Natty- $6 pattern available on Ravelry Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) Ravelry Project Page Natalie's video support for the stretchy i-cord bind off is great. Vivienne's Christmas Stocking Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I've also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry Red, Hunter Green and White Hook: G (4.0 mm) On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Pucker Brush Farm BFL Sweater Spin Fiber: 16 oz of multi colored BFL roving from Pucker Brush Farm (purchased at Rhinebeck 2025), 4 oz Merino in a mustard color Ravelry Project Page I am planning to knit a Traveler sweater inspired by Emily Curtis' handmade version- click here for her Ravelry Project Page. I was thrilled to see a recent post on Emily's Instagram that she made a YouTube video about this spin/knit. I found 4oz of Ironwood Hill Farm Roving- Finnsheep combed top that I purchased in April 2021. Unfortunately I can't find more of this on Cece's Wool site or Ironwood's etsy shop, but I think it will give me the idea for a tan/brown color plied with the colorful yarn, so I'll spin just enough to make a sample yarn-- but this Finn is spinning like a dream. Where could I get more? Send suggestions my way Spectrum Socks Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Targhee Sock in the Spectrum Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the colorway- skinny stripes of color with 1 round of black between. Colors include Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, 3 shades of Blue, Pink + Purple. Progress: I've passed the heel on the first sock Game Day Party Socks Yarn: Mandi's Makings SW Merino Fingering Weight Yarn in the Pigskin '25 Exclusive Game Day Party Colorway. Green mini skein for heel from Goosey Fibers (Wizard of Oz Advent Calendar yarn) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Ravelry Project Page Yarn: Pigskin '25 Exclusive- 60 points Progress: First sock done. Onto the leg of the second sock. Hattie knit on them at her uncle's birthday party. Traveler Sweater Pattern: The Traveler by Andrea Mowry ($9 pattern available on Ravelry & the designer's website) Yarn: Hazel Knits Small Batch Sport (90/10 SW/Nylon) Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) & US 4 (3.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Sleeve progress- knit a few more sets of decreases on the first sleeve. Still have a second sleeve to go and the whole hood. Focusing a bit more on Christmas gifts coming up so this one will be taking a backseat. Brainstorming Queen Elsa Amigurumi by Chiara Cremon. Free crochet pattern available on Ravelry. You can find lots of cute character patterns on her Instagram account. Zach- maybe something spiderman From the Armchair Heart the Lover by Lily King. Amazon Affiliate Link. Check out the October Book Club Episode of the Bad on Paper Podcast where they talk about this book. Sandwich by Catherine Newman. Amazon Affiliate Link. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler. Amazon Affiliate Link. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. Crafty Adventures During Gabriella & Zachary's sleepover we pained and made plastic ornaments with spiraled pipe cleaners inside. So cute and easy! Knitting in Passing A cute preteen girl came over when I was crocheting on the train to ask what kind of hook I was using and then asked if I was making a stocking for Christmas. I asked if she crocheted. She said yes but didn't offer more. When she went back to the grown up she was with, they gave her a big high five. So cute. Then the gentleman across from me who saw me counting rows then asked what happened if I lose count. Told him I could read the stitches. He congratulated me onto who new addition to our family. In My Travels I shared highlights from a recent trip to New York City. I spent a wonderful morning at the MET Aida Silvestri- artist from Eritrea who had a triptych of pieces on display. Her work is motivated by social concern, but it also explores the camera's ability to connect people to a place. In these portraits of immigrant women, the artist strategically blurs her subjects' faces. This gesture, born of a need for protective anonymity, seems to evoke a greater enigma of the self. Mapping the course of migration to London are lines of thread stitched into the surfaces of the print- permanent, identity-altering interventions. Silvestri regards her series as a documentary project dedicated to those travelers who never reached their destination. Two embroidery samplers from Bostonian women from the late 1700s that were just beautiful. We visited the Chelsea Flea- I got a cool pair of earrings We got cookies from Levain Bakery We made a quick trip to Knitty City and Laura picked out yarn for a hat Musical- Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York We also saw Blue Moon at the movies. Tells the story of Lorenz Hart's struggles with alcoholism and mental health as he tries to save face during the opening of "Oklahoma!". KAL News Pigskin Party '25 Event Dates: KAL Dates- Thursday September 4, 2025- Monday February 9, 2026 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions- ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Check out this Ravelry Thread with helpful tips for the event, crowd sourced from our incredible players. Updates In This Episode Our Official Sponsor for Quarter 1 (October): Love in Stitches with Knitty Natty- Winner Announced julicorn.makes made a Maxine Hot Water Bottle Cozy by Laura Penrose (fair isle snowflakes)- Ravelry Project Page MrsZoom made Knitty Natty's Yarn Cozy Lite with the new football exclusive pattern in Colts colors- Ravelry Project Page Random number generator chose yesthatshelby as our winner! Pink Challenge is over- details in this Ravelry Thread. Winner Announced! CinderGA made Defying Gravity Socks by Lisa Ross- Paper Daisy Creations- Ravelry page Wizabef knit the Elinor Mittens by Irene Nielson- Ravelry Project Page Random number generator picked Alice Ortega who knit the Barn Swallow Socks by Cheryl Toy- Ravelry Project Page Count On It Challenge hosted by Twice Sheared Sheep, Official Sponsor for Quarter 2 (November). Details in this Ravelry thread. Official Sponsor for Quarter 3 (December)- Suburban Stitcher Details announced. See details in this Ravelry Thread. Stay tuned for more about our Official Sponsor for Quarter 4 (January)- Yarnaceous Fibers Charity Challenge (runs through Thanksgiving)- details in this Ravelry Thread (36 of you have already asked for the address to mail in items! THANK YOU). Please email me to request the address. Commentator Update (links in this section go to Ravelry) Quarter 2 is in full swing and, when I looked today, 9 players had already submitted for points for the Q2 challenge! Are you still thinking of what you can make that is at least 60 rows, using a row counter? Here are some ideas! Hats! Many of our early Q2 finishers completed hats. Neferetri, Hollyelyse and Janknitdun completed beautiful cabled hats...I bet the row counter came in handy for those projects! Kimbuktu7 completed a lovely colorwork hat Adrie9 completed a lovely two colored musselburgh hat Neckwear is also a popular choice among our early Q2 finishers Mikkaelab completed a lovely crocheted cowl and a knit bandana! Sandyrlevin also completed a cowl in steelers colors (note--she used a pattern by PSP Knitty Natty too)--Way to rack up those points! There's still plenty of time for you to get your projects in for Q2. These finishers have definitely demonstrated that there are plenty of patterns with at least 60 rows that work up in a flash! PepperRN added in Pigskin Party Tips Thread on Ravelry If you are budgeting but still want to support sponsors buy something re usable. Stitch markers can be used in 1 project and then when finished in the next. I like knitting hats for charity so I bought a hat pattern from a sponsor. I put that pattern with a sponsor bag and sponsor stitch markers and can knit it over and over during the PSP. On a Happy Note New York City! I took the train this time which was a great option. Laura and I had dinner with two of her pilates clients. We all enjoyed Gabriella and Zachary's first sleepover. We watched the KPOP Demon Hunters movie and after going to bed early and reading the Hot Air Balloon book, wehad fun hunting for the orange eyed monster! Dan made the kids pancakes and we'll put their photos on the collage wall in the guest room. Gabriella asked for a unicorn and a ghost Spiderman. Zach wanted Spiderman. I received a really nice message from my cousin Gayle who was visiting her friend in NH and let me know that Mom's shawl that she chose was keeping her warm. Love you Gayle! My childhood friend Maribeth has shared a few photos of things her family has found when cleaning out her parents' attic- costumes and things my mom made. It was sweet of her to send me those photos so we could reminisce. I finally got to join Beth's Karaoke Night Zoom (part of the Love in Stitches Membership). Dad is recovering from a back injury but doing better. We successfully moved my grandmother into the Memory Care side of the independent living home she's lived at for 5 years. Hope this will be a good fit for her. I got a massage this week! Quote of the Week "In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets." ― Cynthia Rylant, In November ------ Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.
You keep reworking the curriculum of your offer instead of launching it.You're designing a beautiful website, tweaking graphics in Canva, writing posts you never publish.You research.You revise.You overthink.You scroll for “inspiration.”You take notes.You gather ideas.And then you tell yourself it's “not ready yet.”Meanwhile, the days go by.The weeks go by.The months go by.And you're still inside your head…still brainstorming…still “getting things together”…still “working on your offer”…Still.Not. Moving.And here's the truth:Your business will never replace your income if you are avoiding the one action that actually moves the needle.There is ONE thing every successful entrepreneur does.Not the strategy.Not the niche.Not the branding.Not the tech.THIS thing.And until you're willing to do it — like actually do it — your business will stay stuck in place.Let's talk about the moment I realized this…and the six steps that will pull you out of the overthinking loop and into real momentum.Trying to build a business without being seen…When I pivoted into business coaching, I immediately have 7-8 clients I started working with. One day I decided to sit down, and analyze their intake forms for my market research.I sat with them.I studied them.And at some point as I was deep in my analysis of the research, it hit me.The truth was suddenly screaming off the page:They are trying to build a business without being seen. It was like they were hiding in the backend of their business.Hiding behind tasks that “felt productive” but didn't require emotional exposure.Once I saw this pattern… I couldn't unsee it. And the image that came to mind was of my dog in residency, Champion.The hidey hole: The Place You Hide When Something Feels Too VulnerableBack when I was in residency, I had a sweet little dog named Champion.Champion loved me… and was terrified of almost everyone else.So when the dog walker came into my apartment?He would run straight into the back of my closet — this tiny corner we affectionately called his Hidey Hole — and refuse to come out.She'd have to gently coax him out every single time.He wasn't trying to make everyone's life difficult. His nervous system was just overwhelmed and he was instinctively trying to protect himself. What I realized is… My clients were trying to build their businesses from a hidey hole. And maybe this is something you do as well. You're recording podcasts… but sending them to no one.You're outlining programs… but never releasing them.You're creating content… but never publishing it.You're planning and working and creating on your computer… but hesitate to put your work out into the world. You are trying to build your business from a hidey hole because you are afraid of being seen. It's avoidance — disguised as productivity.It's doing the safe work.The solo work.The invisible work.The work that doesn't involve other people, opinions, or outcomes.And just like Champion — you're hiding because something feels scary.Something feels too vulnerable.Something feels too emotionally risky.But here's the real problem:You can't build a business from a hidey hole. Not a real one.Not one that makes money.Not one that replaces your income.Because a business that makes money requires you to put yourself out there. It requires you to get in the arena.Getting in the arenaLet's throw it back to Teddy Roosevelt's man in the arena speech…“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcomingWho knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.And who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”That quote says it all. Being an entrepreneur forces you to choose what kind of person you want to be.Do you want to be in the arena?Or do you want to be a cold and timid soul?Arena Action vs. Hidey-Hole ActionLet's define these two types of actions right now so we are on the same page. Hidey Hole Action involves you and your computerArena Action involves other people.Hidey Hole action is all the stuff you do alone:* brainstorming* tinkering* curriculum building* tweaking graphics* editing modules* planning* re-planning* researching* thinkingAll the internal, safe, low-exposure work.Arena action is anything with a chance of emotional exposure:* reaching out to someone* pitching a collab* posting content* sharing your offer* having market research convos* doing a livestream * hosting a webinarArena action is what actually builds a business.Hidey Hole action is what keeps you busy and distracted. And if you are unwilling to do arena action your business will never make money. So today, I'm walking you through the 6 strategies for getting into the arena. 1. Accept That It's RequiredWhen I first started building my business, I didn't realize what it took to build a business. I signed up for a life coaching certification without actually thinking about how I would get clients. For some reason it didn't seem relevant. But on week 3 of my certification training, I opened the workbook to the section called “Prospecting.”Prospecting — which was really the practicing of building relationships with potential clients. I read through the workbook. Feeling more horrified with each sentence that I read. Stunned, I closed my laptop. Internally I was screaming…” wait I have to do WHAT?”Up until that moment, I hadn't thought about the “business” part of building a business. I wasn't thinking about having sales conversations.I wasn't thinking about doing marketing. So the realization I would have to put myself out there like a mormon on a mission filled me with dread. I seriously thought about quitting right then. Backing out of the whole business thing. But instead, I decided to commit.I realized that entrepreurship required stepping into the arenaover and over agiain.and I decided to rise to the challenge. You know what they say… . acceptance is the first step. So thats what I need you todo first. Take a moment and let it sink in for real.You cannot build a business without being seen.You can't build a business in a hidey hole.You must take bold + vulnerable action again and again to build a business. Entrepreneurship requires you to step into the arena.Period. 2. Choose the Discomfort of GrowthThe concept of comfort zone is a lie. People think they can either choose to stay in their comfort zone, or get out of their comfort zone and grow. That's not the choice. Because the truth is “stay in your comfort zone” is not a real choice. You can stay put where you are, but where you are is not comfortable.If your current situation was truly comfortable… you wouldn't be trying to solve for it. You are not comfortable. You are in familiar discomfort. The choice is NOT stay in your comfort zone or get out of your comfort zone because every path has discomfort. The real choice is which discomfort to you want?The discomfort of stagnationorthe discomfort of growth? You will be uncomfortable either way, so all you can do is choose your preferred discomfort. 3.Leverage your social circleWhen I surrounded myself with other entrepreneur friends — people who were also posting, launching, experimenting it became so much easier to do it myself.Putting yourself out there.Taking on emotional risk to build something of your own became a social currency. A normal behavior. I wasn't the only one feeling exposed — everyone was.We were all in the arena together.And that's the magic of community:Proximity normalizes fear.When the people around you are doing brave things regularly, your bravery starts to rise to meet theirs.4. Learn How to Regulate and Process Your EmotionsThe only reason you avoid stepping into the arena is because you are afraid of your own feelings. * You're afraid you won't get the result you want and feel disappointed.* You're afraid people will judge you and you'll feel embarrassed.* You're afraid of getting a no and feeling rejected. * You're afraid you'll feel like a failure.It always comes back to a feeling. If you weren't afraid of those emotions, nothing would stop you.This is why emotional regulation matters so much.Because when you know how to:* process your emotions* be with your emotions* support yourself through your emotions* expand your emotional capacitythere's nothing to be scared of. Your fear shrinks.Your capacity expands.The reason I can get into the arena on such a regular basis is because I've trained myself to hold all emotions. I feel so confident in my emotional capacity.That doesn't mean I'm not afraid, but I can manage the fear because I trust myself to manage all my emotions. Once you learn how to manage your emotions, the arena stops feeling like an existential threat — and starts feeling like a fun challenge. 5. Anchor Yourself in the MissionWhen you're rooted in your mission the arena stops feeling like a personal performance… and starts feeling like service.This is where your clarity anchors come in:* Who you're here to help* The result you help them achieve* Why you're the one to lead themWhen you're grounded in those three truths, everything shifts.You're no longer entering the arena to “prove yourself.”You're not posting for validation.You're not launching to feel worthy.You're doing it because your people need you.When your mission is bigger than you, your courage increases.Your willingness expands.Your resistance softens.It's not about being selfless — it's about being mission-led.When you anchor into why you're here and who you're here to serve…you stop obsessing over how you look and start focusing on who you can help.That mission pulls you forward in a way willpower never could.And some days, that mission is the only thing that gets you into the arena.6. Make “Getting Into the Arena” the Entire MetricThis is the one that frees you.Most people avoid the arena because they're terrified of what will happen after the action:“What if I launch… and no one buys?”“What if I pitch… and no one responds?”“What if I try… and it flops?”But that fear only exists because you're measuring the wrong thing.Your metric — especially in the beginning — is NOT:* Did it sell?* Did it convert?* Did people like it?* Did it work?Your metric is simply:“Did I get into the arena today?”That's it.Did you launch the thing?Did you post the post?Did you submit the pitch?Did you put yourself out there?That is the only metric that matters at the start.When getting into the arena becomes the whole metric, something magical happens:You stop tying your self-worth to outcomes.You start celebrating your courage instead of critiquing your performance.And once you've mastered that — the consistency, the self-trust, the willingness to show up — THEN you can start focusing on outcomes.But not before.Because you cannot optimize what you're too afraid to do consistently.So let the metric be simple.Did you get into the arena?If yes → celebrate.If no → hold yourself accountable. That's how momentum is built.That's how capacity is built.And that's how businesses are built.It's time to get into the arena…At the end of the day, business is not built in your Google Docs, or your Canva files, or the safe little corners of your brain where everything feels theoretically perfect.Business is built in the arena.It's built in the moments when you choose to feel the discomfort instead of avoiding it.When you choose growth over hiding.When you choose the mission over your fear.When you choose showing up even when there's no guarantee of how it will go.Every entrepreneur you admire has felt the exact same emotions you're feeling right now — the doubt, the fear, the awkwardness, the vulnerability — and the only difference is that they kept going.They didn't wait to feel ready.They didn't wait for perfection.They didn't wait until certainty arrived.They increased their emotional capacity.They anchored into their mission.They made “getting into the arena” the only metric that mattered — until it became normal.And that is available for you, too.So if you take nothing else from this:Stop measuring success by outcomes you haven't earned the emotional reps for yet.Start measuring success by your willingness to step into the arena at all.Because when you consistently show up — even imperfectly, even shakily, even with your heart beating out of your chest — you become the kind of person who can hold the results you say you want.You become someone who can launch.You become someone who can sell.You become someone who can lead.You become someone who can succeed.Not because you eliminated fear — but because you learned how to walk with it.So ask yourself:Did I get into the arena today?If the answer is yes — that's everything.If the answer is no — you know exactly what to do next.Your business will grow in direct proportion to the number of times you choose courage over comfort.Get into the arena.Feel what you need to feel.Show up again tomorrow.This is how you become the entrepreneur you want to be.If you want to join me in the arena, this is exactly what we do inside of Create Your Six Figure Offer. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spirituallyambitious.substack.com/subscribe
Far-right UK activist cleared of charges for refusing to give police PIN to his phone, students using Google Docs as chat clients, Cody Kociemba joins the panel to discuss his No Longer Evil project to revive old Nest thermostats.
Far-right UK activist cleared of charges for refusing to give police PIN to his phone, students using Google Docs as chat clients, Cody Kociemba joins the panel to discuss his No Longer Evil project to revive old Nest thermostats.
What if money in your business made you feel calm, grounded, and safe - instead of anxious, pressured, or exhausted? In this episode, I’m diving deep into one of the biggest transformations I’ve made in my business: creating Peaceful Revenue. I share my journey from “lumpy” and unpredictable cash flow to consistent, predictable, profitable income - and how this shift has completely changed my nervous system, my team, and my life. I share: The reality of how money can feel in business - and why so many women are burning out chasing revenue My early business experiences: from multimillion-dollar highs to sleepless nights over unpredictable cash flow The ATO curveball that forced me to rebuild my money story from scratch The watershed moment after our son was born that made me decide “enough is enough” What Peaceful Revenue actually means - and the 3 core factors that creates it for it The difference it’s made to now have $60k+ in recurring monthly revenue, a doubled salary, and solid financial structures Why profit is a boundary, not a bonus - and how to protect it fiercely If you’re ready to move from chaos to calm with the finances of your business, this episode will show you exactly where to start. To get a copy of my free 16-page Google Doc launch debrief - the strategy behind my easiest, cruisiest, most profitable six-figure launch yet click here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this Write Big Session, Jennie and KJ dive into what it really means to “write big” when you're deep in the messy middle of a novel. KJ shares how she's tackling her new book by working backward from the ending—mapping out the emotional and plot arcs for each character to keep herself focused and out of the coffee-chat scenes she loves to write. Jennie cheers her on, unpacking how this kind of clarity, self-awareness, and trust in the reader is what turns a good book into a great one.TRANSCRIPT BELOW!THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST* The Correspondent* KJ's Review of The CorrespondentSPONSORSHIP MESSAGEHey, this is Jennie Nash, and I wanted to invite you to check out my Substack newsletter, The Art & Business of Book Coaching. It's totally free unless you choose to support me, and it's secretly really great for writers. The reason is that book coaches are in the business of helping writers do their best work. So I'm always talking about writer mindset and things like helping a writer find their structure or find an agent or find their position in the marketplace. If you're considering investing in having somebody help you, it's a great way to get prepared to know who you might want to pick and what you might want to ask of them. You'll get an inside peek at the way that the people who are in the business of helping writers think about writers, and so in that way, it can help you become a better writer just by tuning in. I have a lot of writers following me over there, so if you're interested, come check it out you can find it at substack.com/@JennieNash. That's substack.com/@JennieNash, and it's J-E-N-N-I-E.EPISODE TRANSCRIPTJennie NashHi, I'm Jennie Nash, and you're listening to the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast. This is a Write Big Session, where I'm bringing you short episodes about the mindset shifts that help you stop playing small and write like it matters. Today I'm talking to KJ, and we're going to be doing recurring episodes where we talk about her efforts to play big and write big in her new novel. Hi, KJ.KJ Dell'AntoniaHi! This is going to be so fun. Okay, so I'll tell you what—yeah, I'll tell you what I've been working on. What I'm thinking—like, my theory here is sort of avoid the muddly middle by writing the end, or kind of outlining to the end. So I have about 30,000 words. I've really established things. The main events have really started to happen, and I know kind of where they're going, but I kind of hit a point where I wasn't sure, like, what should happen next, in what order. And I know myself—I am very prone, at this point, to just flaking off into people having coffee and talking.Jennie NashYes, you are! You are really good at that.KJ Dell'AntoniaExactly. And they would be very entertaining and enjoyable scenes of people having coffee and—or doing whatever. But there is—I mean, I have five point-of-view characters, one main one, but—and all of them have lots of stuff going on in their lives, some of which has to do with this, and some of which doesn't. Well, all of it does, but you don't—it's not all the core, either the core emotional plot or the core actual plot. So what I did was to start sketching out the stuff that happens next, and then I kind of have jumped ahead, and what I'm working on now—and I'd love your sort of feedback on this as an idea—is I wrote out, like, okay, here's the emotional end for each of these characters. Here's where they need to end up, and then here's the plot end for each of these characters in, like, the happy ending, if there was an epilogue—which this is not really that kind of book kind of way—just so I know, like, this is where… And now I am focused on, okay, what should, like, the last scene of this be? I know what happens, but I'm trying to figure out, like, what would be the—what would be the last thing? And I may get this in the wrong order, but anyway, that's where I am, and I'm going to build those backwards until I catch up to my middle, and I'm thinking that will keep me—keep my eye on the ball. What do you think?Jennie NashWell, I could not love this more for you. I really couldn't, because I know what you're trying to do, and I feel like you're doing it, and we're getting at this idea of what does it mean to write big, and you're trying to solve for something that you just identified for us—that you have it, you tend to fall into—and you're trying to not do that. And you're trying to write a bigger, better book because of it, and it's so interesting because it's a super nuanced thing you're talking about, but it's also where the difference—that's how you get from good to great—and you're trying to get to great. So I just love this so much. And what I hear is that you've outlined this book, which I know is hard for you, and now you're kind of using that outline to scaffold yourself to write an emotionally satisfying story. So I just—I love it as a tactic for writing big.KJ Dell'AntoniaBecause even if I go back to that outline, like, there are some things happening in these people's personal lives that are deeply important to them—and, I think, important to the reader—but not in the sense that I need pages and pages of either discussion or introspection about them. It's more that those are—that they really need to stay back, not background exactly, but in this intense moment of these people's lives, those things are still in their heads. Like, they're still going, you know, Wait, what just happened means that I am never going to get a resolution to this thing that I'm deeply worried about—but also I have to deal with this, with this death and this crisis. And so I was thinking that doing this would keep me focused on the emotionality of the crisis.Jennie NashYeah, because you're really good at plot. You're really good at plot, and the other component that—underlying what is—the emotion of this person is something you've had to work harder at. And what I love about that is that this is how you get really fully fleshed-out characters. Because, like, I have a friend who is going through a heartbreak, and every single thing she does right now is done through the lens of that heartbreak. So even if she says, “Hey, do you want to go on a whale-watching trip out to the islands this weekend?” it's not just about let's go on a whale-watching trip, right? It's about—KJ Dell'AntoniaRight.Jennie NashBut she's not going to say that when she asks me to go on the whale-watching trip. She's not going to say, “Because, you know, I'm lonely and sad,” you know? So what you're doing is giving your characters these rich lives. But that's not the story.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd also, I think it will help me to trust the readers—to pay attention to what matters about the rich lives. So, you know, to trust the reader to keep in their head that if someone has a passing, fleeting thought about one of those emotional—you know, one of those pieces of emotional background—that they will still either be wondering about it, if I haven't revealed it yet, or, you know, recognize it for what it is. And I suspect that I'm going to forget some of them. As I go back through my outline, I'm like, Oh yeah, totally forgot she had this particular problem, and this is how this is going to be resolved. And that may mean that some of them don't stay, although I think they will. I think it just means that I got—that, you know, ninety thousand words' worth of story is a lot to keep in your head.Jennie NashSo when you sit down to write, how are you doing it differently? I mean, we know that you're very good at productivity—doing the stickers, sitting down, doing the work—but how are you making yourself think in this different way this time?KJ Dell'AntoniaI am not drafting. I am staring. And I have two—oh, I have a Google Doc of about forty-six files at this point. Then—actually, no, I think it's twenty-eight. So I have an outline that you are sometimes looking at, which has everything that I've written so far, and then a chunk of things that I know are coming up, where I could write those pretty quickly. The problem is… I would hit a wall at the end of them. So I want to come back and make sure that they're what I want to—or at least what I think I want to—write. So I'm going into a sort of a secondary outline, and I'm writing things like—because a lot of what's happening now is also that I am figuring out things that are happening now in the story that the reader won't know till the end, because a lot of people did a lot of stuff—Jennie NashYeah.KJ Dell'Antonia—in this twenty-four-hour period, and some of it you may never know, but I need to know how and why—Jennie NashYeah.KJ Dell'Antonia…they did those things. So I'm kind of writing like, “What if he did this?” and, “Oh, you know, but—but wait, why? Why would he show up there at this moment?” and, like, resolving that and kind of coming up with all of that, even though that isn't going to go in those pages. So I did—I worked on that this morning, and then I worked on—I wrote out the emotional ends for everyone. And now I'm just trying to—I'm thinking what I'll kind of do is I'll plot-outline backwards, and then I'll emotion-outline backwards-forwards from there.Jennie NashYeah. Yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaNo, no—well, backwards, I think, maybe because I know where they're going to end. I don't know whether—or I'll sketch, I'll sketch in the emotional bit. So what you—when you were looking at this, you could see that there's a section of about seven lines that are pure plot.Jennie NashYeah. Yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaBecause… that's just me. I think, at this point, because this is a thriller and it's complicated, I need to figure out—and then you and I—we had this great moment where, in one of those, I was like, I don't know whose point of view the scene was from, and you said something very useful to me, which is, “Whose story would seeing this affect most?” And I knew—and I immediately knew the answer to that. So—Jennie NashI… I thought that you might.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat was a great way to deal with that.Jennie NashYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. I thought that you might. So I know we're talking vaguely, but it's this idea that when you have something that happens in the story, and there's choices about what is the result of that action in the story—that different things could happen, different people could show up, different things could be said, different, you know, directions could go from this plot point. And right—the quest—you were saying, I'm not sure who's going to be part of this action?Jennie NashWho's going to find it?KJ Dell'AntoniaRight?Jennie NashYeah, who's going to find this one character having this—I don't—I know—I don't want it to be from that character's point of view. Somebody needs to come upon a character, you know, who's just made a really crushing emotional discovery. And the question of who would—seeing that—whose emotional story would that alter the most? Because the plot at that point is going to be rolling. Like, I almost don't have just the facts of what's happening here; like, the plots are basically almost a one-line thing. So, like, the plot goes… yeah…Jennie NashThat's what we're getting at here. This is what it means to write big—it's what you're thinking about. We know what the plot is. It's really quite simple. I mean, it's straightforward, I should say—how you present it is not simple. And the emotional part—that's what's going to give us the emotional punch—is not simple. And so the decisions about every—at every plot point—what's going to give the most emotional resonance here—that's what writing big is. And you said something that I want to point back to, which is, you're holding all of this in your head. I have always said that I think the primary skill of a really skillful novelist is holding multiple things in their head at one time, right?KJ Dell'AntoniaIt's all in there. It's like a big—it's like a big sack of Jell-O.Jennie NashYeah? But the ability to—I mean, it's funny you use that metaphor—but it's more, it's more like, I think of it as threads. And you're like, “Okay, got this thread, and I got this thread, I'm holding these threads, and I'm weaving them together, and I have a grasp of all the threads.” That's what you're doing, and it's that—it's that skill. You have to have self-awareness, you have to have story awareness, you have to have confidence and authority—like, there are so many things that you have to have to pull that off, and I see that that's what you're trying to do here. And it's so cool to watch. I love it.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd I don't feel like I have those things. And I do think, you know, as I'm thinking about listeners out there going, I don't have those things, I mean, I get that. I don't feel like I have them either. I think when we, as readers, are also seeing ourselves as a writer, like, a really common thing that we think as a reader is, Oh, I know how a story works because I've read so many of them. And then I personally had to learn from Jennie quite a few years ago now that that did not actually teach me how to do this—structure the spot—but the holding the whole mess in your head, I think that may be what you get from a lifetime of reading—is this ability to have a big, loose grasp and, you know, keep enough notes to know that you've put a—you know, a pin in some section to come back to it, and that kind of thing. I feel like that might be the thing that we do have within us.Jennie NashAbsolutely. I'm looking—I'm trying to find—I just started reading a book based on your recommendation, and I can't, I can't find it, but you're going to know what it is. It's the novel in letters, the—uh…KJ Dell'AntoniaOh, The Correspondent.Jennie NashThe Correspondent, thank you. I mean, I—KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's a first novel, but from a very adult human being. You know, it's not a first-first novel by a twenty-two-year-old. It's a first novel from probably somebody who's probably written a few.Jennie NashBut the reason that I—well, I always love the way that you talk about books. Your sense as a reader, I just really appreciate. But you said something about it—that this book really trusts the reader to fill in the blanks, to figure out what's happening. They're not spoon-feeding you. And you mentioned how that felt unusual these days. And I thought, Oh, I want that experience as a reader. And also, I love that experience as a person who studies how books are made, and that trying to build that experience for the reader—that's what you're trying to do. By holding all those things in your head and deciding how and when to share them, or whose hands to put them in in a particular scene, or that sort of thing—that's how you build that. And it's hard. It's really hard. So I applaud you for—you're in there, it's messy, you're doing it, you're doing it. It's so exciting.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd one of the other things that we've talked about is how, like, every time many of us write, we're trying to write bigger. Like, this—it's not an insult to our past work; it's just we're trying to do bigger and do more. And so I'm thinking about—so when I was writing my earliest books, I remember that one of the things I was focusing on in books that I was reading was how people began things, and where, you know, where the turning points were—kind of where the Save the Cat!, moments were, absolutely, in terms of… but not just where those were, but sort of how they were done—like how people regret, and how they demonstrated who the protagonists were. And then I remember moving on to a question of how little does someone put in a book about a secondary character, or someone who really mattered to the protagonist's life, that tells me what I need to know as a reader but doesn't take up a lot of pages.Jennie NashYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd I would literally go in and count—like, okay, how many times did we see this mother that I fully understand how important they were to the protagonist? And it'll be, like, twice and a couple of references. So I remember doing that. And now I feel like what I'm really paying attention to is how little does a book that I really enjoy—the process of sort of working my way through—how little does it give people, and how much does it demand that you figure out?Jennie NashYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaHow little information are you given so that you can do—because that's the good work of a reader. Sometimes you don't want to do that, you know? Sometimes you kind of want it all served up, or you kind of want something where the tropes are simple enough that you can—but sometimes you really want something where you have to do some figuring out. And it doesn't—The Correspondent is not a thriller.Jennie NashRight.KJ Dell'AntoniaBut you really have to figure out, like, who is this person, and why do they do this, and why are they able to do this, and why—how are they making mistakes by doing—and by “do this,” I mean, she's a letter writer. She's the correspondent. She writes letters instead of, as it turns out, really, instead of talking to people. But it's really good, so I do recommend it.Jennie NashSo I like to end these short episodes with a reflection that the listener can do, or something that they can take away to think about based on what we've talked about. Is there something that comes to your mind that you would recommend?KJ Dell'AntoniaWell, it's a little dependent on where you are in your manuscript, but I think—so what I'm really going to recommend is, come at what you're doing from a different angle within the book. Start from something you know happens, and either work backwards up to it or forwards or backwards from it, instead of working chronologically—not necessarily in terms of drafting, but just in terms of figuring out what are the very most important things that have to show up on the page.Jennie NashI love that. Well, until next time, for everyone listening—stop playing small and write like it matters.NarratorThe Hashtag AmWriting Podcast is produced by Andrew Perrella. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work.#AmWriting: A Groupstack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe
Send us a textThank you to Staci Hicks at Romancelandia and Stevie and Makayla for helping with the episode!Author Panel:Harriet Ashford (Author):Book One - The Trouble with Love & InkBook Two - The Trouble with Love & CoachesWebsiteInstagramKristen Bahls (Author):Book one - A Flair for TroubleInstagramMarie Mitchell (Audiobook Narrator):WebsiteInstagramK. Sinko (Author):Sunday SupperScoops Book One - Safe HarborScoops Book Two - Always Choosing You Scoops Book Three - The OfferCall of the LoonWebsiteInstagramFor links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list. For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above. For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.
Launch Your Box Podcast with Sarah Williams | Start, Launch, and Grow Your Subscription Box
If you've ever felt like your email list is too small to matter or wondered what to actually say to the people on it, this episode is about to change the way you think about email marketing. I sat down with Amy Porterfield - yes, that Amy Porterfield - to talk about list building, storytelling, and staying consistent, especially when your list feels like it's barely getting started. Amy went from working in the corporate world for Tony Robbins to becoming one of the most trusted teachers in digital marketing. She's the creator of Digital Course Academy, host of the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, and one of the biggest advocates for growing your business through the power of your email list. Your Email List Is Where the Magic Happens As Amy says, social media is rented land. Your email list is the only platform you truly own. If you have even one subscriber, talk to that person like you're writing just for them. Your list will make you money over and over again, but you have to do the work to grow it. Amy's simple steps: Get clear on who you want to serve and how you want to serve them. Create a freebie (lead magnet) that solves one small problem. Set up your CRM and get that freebie out there. Promote it often! Talk about your freebie on social media every single week. Consistency Builds Trust When I asked Amy how to keep showing up in email, her answer was simple: consistency. She sends her newsletter every Tuesday morning, no matter what. Her formula: Start with a story that connects back to the reader. Share two pieces of valuable content from others. Teach something simple and actionable. End with a personal story (and add her podcast link in the P.S.) People open emails from people they trust. And trust is built when your name keeps showing up in their inbox. Storytelling That Sells (Without Feeling Salesy) Amy shared that storytelling has become one of the most powerful tools in her emails. When people feel seen and understood, they stick around. And they buy. She often shares stories between her email and social platforms. If a story performs well in one place, she uses it in the other. Stories make your audience feel connected, and connection builds conversion. From Email Subscriber to Buyer So how do you actually move people from your list to paying customers? Keep showing up. Tell stories that build trust. Send more than one promo email - your audience needs to hear from you multiple times. Let your personality shine through every message. And if you don't know where to start? Create a simple email template to guide you every week, and do a brain dump in a Google Doc of every story or lesson you could share. Amy reminded me of something she learned from Tony Robbins — and something I've said many times myself. Growth comes from being uncomfortable. You don't need to be perfect. You just need to start. Do it scared. Do it messy. But do it. If you've been waiting to “get your list ready,” this is your nudge. Start small. Share one story. Send one email. Stay consistent. Your email list doesn't have to be big, it just has to be active. Where to find Amy: Amy Porterfield on Facebook Amy Porterfield on Instagram Amy Porterfield's Website Join me in all the places: Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!
I had initial plans for November episodes but this was too important not to share with my community. I recently returned from Orlando at the Menopause Society Conference and the data couldn't be more clear with what I'm about to share with you when it comes to women's health. We'll be talking hormones, HRT, red flags to watch out for, and so much more. Check out my Google Doc in the show notes for additional resources. Time Stamps: (0:50) Recent Menopause Society Conference (3:00) The Big Picture (6:20) My Biggest Takeaways From The Conference (9:55) Access To Hormones Is The Beginning (14:20) Diving Deeper Into HRT (19:00) There's No Universal Perfect (22:48) More Information In The Show Notes (23:38) Red Flags (32:25) Reach Out To Us ---------- Click Here To Access The References (Google Document, Read Only) ---------- Apply for SF Coaching Method https://sarahfechter.ac-page.com/sfhq-cc Complimentary Health Content https://sarahfechter.ac-page.com/Health_Wellness_Community ---------- Follow Me On Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahfechter.ifbbpro/ Check Out My Website - https://www.sarahfechter.com ---------- This Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, other professional health care services, or any professional practice of any kind. Any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk and Sarah Fechter Fitness LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual use of, reference to, reliance on, or inability to use, this Podcast or the information presented in this Podcast. All contents and design for this Podcast are owned by Sarah Fechter Fitness LLC. Always consult your professional team before beginning any exercise or nutrition program.
Thank you for tuning in to Episode 308 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. Full show notes with photos can be found on my website. This week's segments included: Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins From the Armchair In my Travels KAL News Events Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Stitched by Jessalu, Suburban Stitcher, The Wandering Purl & agirlandherwool Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Born to Be Mild Socks Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn Plush Sock in the Born to Be Mild Colorway Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Granny Square Chicken Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Worsted in the Palm Springs Colorway Pattern: Granny Square Chicken by Sweet Softies- $3.99 crochet pattern on Ravelry. Hook: G (4.0 mm) Yarn- self striping with cream, rust, peach, dusty pink, dusty orange. I didn't change color between rounds- I just let the self striping yarn do its thing. I used an organza bag to put the polyfill in. Put the tortoise shell glasses I bought at Another Yarn on her but they're a little big. Essex Beanie Pattern: Essex Beanie by Justine Walley (AlyseCrochet). $5 crochet pattern available on Ravelry Yarn: Berroco Ultra Wool in colorway 3361 Kale (used 68g/ 148 yards for the hat, before the pom pom) Hook: I (5.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Sheri's Christmas Socks Yarn: Gusto Wool Echos in Colorway 1515 Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page I cast this on to bring to Rhinebeck on my Lemonwood Mini Minder (I have this Art Deco one) so I could walk and knit. Traveler Sweater Pattern: The Traveler by Andrea Mowry ($9 pattern available on Ravelry & the designer's website) Yarn: Hazel Knits Small Batch Sport (90/10 SW/Nylon) Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) & US 4 (3.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page Body was done and seamed before I left for Rhinebeck but I had to rip back the sleeve twice because I mis-read the instructions. Finally on track now. Yarn Cozy Lite Yarn: Cascade Heritage Yarn (75% SW Merino 25% Nylon) in the Highlighter Guava colorway Pattern: Yarn Cozy Lite by Knitty Natty- $6 pattern available on Ravelry Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) Progress: I have about 1 inch of knitting left. Game Day Party Socks Yarn: Mandi's Makings SW Merino Fingering Weight Yarn in the Pigskin '25 Exclusive Game Day Party Colorway. Green mini skein for heel from Goosey Fibers (Wizard of Oz Advent Calendar yarn) Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry) Ravelry Project Page Pucker Brush Farm BFL Sweater Spin Fiber: 16 oz of multi colored BFL roving from Pucker Brush Farm (purchased at Rhinebeck 2025), 4 oz Merino in a mustard color Ravelry Project Page I am planning to knit a Traveler sweater inspired by Emily Curtis' handmade version- click here for her Ravelry Project Page. I was thrilled to see a recent post on Emily's Instagram that she made a YouTube video about this spin/knit. Emily made a 2-ply where Gary's LeHigh Hat Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood. $5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry & Brooklyn Tweed Site Yarn: Cesium Yarn Strong DK ( 75% SW Merino/25% Nylon) in the One More Sleep Colorway Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) & US 7 (4.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page From the Armchair The Names by Florence Knapp. Amazon Affiliate Link. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases. In My Travels Rhinebeck 2025 Friday Highlights: Seeing Kacey of Kacey Knits in person at Indie Untangled Seeing Maggie of Yarnaceous Fibers, Emily of Fan Girl Fibers & Jamie of Pacific Knit Co Seeing Christy of Yarn Cafe Creations (she signed up as a Snack Shack Sponsor and donated a skein of yarn)- she also had these cool trinket dishes. I bought 3 for gifts! Love them. Of Dust and Dew had beautiful pottery. I waited too long and didn't get the chicken vase I had my heart set on. It was my first time at A Woolen Affair. Ran into Lori & Justine of Skein Yarn Shop in RI & co-hosts of the Skein Scoop Podcast on Youtube. and their friend Hope of Hope Made Yarn Co. I was thrilled to bump into friend Sarah- themartiniknitter and Katie from Twice Sheared Sheep They had a beautiful art installation called Tributary- "A collective art installation as a celebration of community, creativity and collective power." Saturday & Sunday Highlights: Saturday- we met up with our friend Lauren (lbeth21) and we spent the day together. Lauren kindly gifted me two bars of her homemade soap. Check out her Instagram- Happy Cat Suds (website coming soon) One our first stops was to see Jess and Roger of Stitched by Jessalu. It was an emotional visit and we didn't get a photo together. Across the barn, we saw Beth (mdquilter) along with Pigskin Sponsor Kim Shaffir. 2p Meet-up: Thank you to everyone who came out. Sunday morning we started with breakfast at a diner before heading to the fairgrounds. We made it over to see Amy of Ross Farm. I ran into Hope again and she gifted me a beautiful sock set from her yarn store-Hope Made Yarn Co. Sunday we left around 3/3:30p drove through Saugerties to get dinner so we popped into The Perfect Blend yarn store before we ate. KAL News Pigskin Party '25 Event Dates: KAL Dates- Thursday September 4, 2025- Monday February 9, 2026 Find everything you need in the Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group Official Rules Registration Form (you must be Registered to be eligible for prizes) Enter your projects using the Point Tally Form Find the full list of Sponsors in this Google Doc. Coupon Codes are listed in this Ravelry Thread Exclusive Items from our Pro Shop Sponsors are listed in this Ravelry Thread Questions- ask them in this Ravelry Thread or email Jen at downcellarstudio @ gmail.com Updates In This Episode Our Official Sponsor for Quarter 1 (October): Love in Stitches with Knitty Natty is hosting a Cozy Up Challenge. Check out the details in this Ravelry Thread. Remember, projects need to be finished by 10/31 but you can enter for points until 11/5/25. Official Sponsor for Quarter 2 (November)- Twice Sheared Sheep is hosting the Count On It Challenge. Details in this Ravelry thread. Official Sponsor for Quarter 3 (December)- Suburban Stitcher (minis will be involved) Official Sponsor for Quarter 4 (January)- Yarnaceous Fibers Charity Challenge (runs through Thanksgiving)- details in this Ravelry Thread (21 of you have already asked for the address to mail in items! THANK YOU). Please email me to request the address. Pink Challenge (runs through 10/31)- details in this Ravelry Thread. Commentator Update There's been a lot of activity in the huddle thread recently. Players have been discussing a range of interesting topics such as: * strategy for shopping at fiber festivals, which was partially inspired by Rhinebeck but certainly applies to any festival * suggestions for patterns to use up mini-skeins * recommendations for cruises * board game recommendations * how to balance manicures with crafting time * ideas for handmade gifts for someone going into memory care * and what to do when you've simply lost interest in a project As usual, if you can't keep up--just jump in! I also wandered over to the endzone dance thread today. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of pink projects, cozies, and pink cozies! But players have also recently finished a few Halloween themed projects Links below go to Ravelry: * Karen805 finished a Spiders in the House MKAL Shawl that is super cool! It even includes a colorwork spider motif! *Chiamira finished a Halloween Party Cowl that is all over colorwork and includes cats dressed up like pumpkins! * Cbass and Adrie9 finished Gnettle and Gnumpkin gnomes (from sponsor Imagined Landscapes) * and following up on a previous report, Sandima finished the Wednesday costume for her porch goose...so cute! I am always amazed by the huge variety of projects that pigskin partiers complete! It is so fun to see what everyone likes to create! Events The Fiber Festival of New England. November 1 & 2 Sunkissed Fiber Festival: January 24-25, 2026- just outside Tampa, FL Life in Focus I shared a bit about my recent fibromyalgia pain flare. On a Happy Note 300 Paintings at ART Bethany of the Wandering Purl sent me 2 of her Pigskin exclusive bags with notions pouches! Dad and I went to my nephew Garret's hockey game together. The foliage is gorgeous this year. I signed up for Lauren (agirlandherwool) self striping club and got my first skein! Its great! Love is Blind Season 9- it was a wild and crazy season. I enjoy chatting about it with my friend Laura and am thrilled that the reunion will air while I'll be in NYC with her. So many deer in the yard in the last week and even a buck who has made a few appearances. We had fun at a friends' movie night watching Young Frankenstein. Quote of the Week "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always." ― Mahatma Gandhi ------ Thank you for tuning in! Contact Information: Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link FearLESS Living Fund to benefit the Blind Center of Nevada Music -"Soft Orange Glow" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.
In her first solo episode, Amanda shares 11 tiny-but-mighty tech hacks that instantly make life soooo much easier. From screenshot magic and copy-and-paste across Apple devices to email cleanup tricks and text shortcuts that save your sanity — these are upgrades you can set up in less than 60 seconds and will have you wondering “Why did no one ever tell me this?!”Want the step-by-step so you can follow along? Grab the free Google Doc + video walkthrough at www.indigoorganizing.com/60seconds. And be sure to use code GOODENOUGH for $5 off Amanda's popular Tech Survival Guide: my.indigoorganizing.com/theguide/Visit www.goodenoughish.com for links to everything mentioned on the show.Snag Some Merch: goodenoughish.com/shopJoin the Good Enough-ish™ conversation in our private FB group: Good Enough-ish private Facebook groupIf you like this episode, please take a moment to share a positive review on Apple Podcasts, and share with others who may enjoy Good Enough-ish!We'll be back each week with new topics, stories, tips, and personal experiences, as well as some good old friendly banter and lots of laughter. Don't forget to find us on Instagram @goodenough.ish, or contact us with your episode ideas, questions, and comments.
What if the thing you think is helping you close more sales is actually costing you conversions? My guest today, Jillian Murphy, is about to flip everything you know about selling on its head.Jillian went from being unexpectedly let go from her corporate sales job during the pandemic to building a seven-figure coaching business in just two years, all through Instagram DMs. No fancy funnels. No automation. No sales calls. Just authentic conversations that convert. In this episode, Jillian pulls back the curtain on her entire DM selling method, including how she closes clients up to $56K without ever jumping on a call, why making people book a calendar link is costing you sales, and how her content does 99% of the selling for her.If you've ever felt overwhelmed by all the "shoulds" in online business (the webinars, the ads, the complex funnels), this conversation will be a breath of fresh air. Jillian's approach is refreshingly simple, deeply relational, and incredibly effective. Whether you're selling jewelry, coaching, services, or products, this episode will change how you think about sales forever.In this episode, you'll learn:[2:42] The moment everything changed: How Jillian lost her corporate identity and found her true calling in less than 48 hours[5:14] Why attending a mastermind six weeks before getting fired became the catalyst for a seven-figure business[8:36] The Facebook group strategy that generated $68K in her first launch (and why she still doesn't have a website)[12:00] The Google Doc that replaces fancy sales pages, and why simpler is more profitable[15:58] The "bursting pipe" theory: Why calendar links are killing your conversions and what to do instead[20:11] How to handle ghosting in the DMs without losing your dignity (or the sale)[22:56] The objection-handling framework that closed a $56K deal entirely through Instagram messages[25:10] Why Jillian refuses to automate her DMs, and how she still has time for everythingHere are the resources mentioned in the show:Follow @theJillianMurphy on InstagramJillian's Free Weekly Webinar: Mastering DM Selling (Every Wednesday)Jillian's Podcast: Scale Your SalesJoin the 21-Day Creativity to Cash Flow Challenge ($1/day for 21 days of actionable sales strategies)Are you enjoying the podcast? We'd be so grateful if you gave us a rating and review! Your 5 star ratings help us reach more businesses like yours and allows us to continue to deliver valuable content every single week. Click here to review the show on Apple podcast or your favorite platformSelect “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”Share your favorite insights and inspirationsIf you haven't done so yet, make sure that you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts and on Apple Podcast for special bonus content you won't get elsewhere.xo, Tracy MatthewsFollow on Social:Follow @Flourish_Thrive on InstagramFollow @iamtracymatthews InstagramFollow Flourish & Thrive Facebook
One small but fatal flaw of most LLMs?
Want to stop the revolving door of teachers and create a rock-solid childcare team? Kris talks with Jami Hartmann from Trainual about how the right systems can transform your center's operations. They dig into practical strategies for finding great staff, training them effectively, and keeping them motivated. Jami shares some great insights on getting your whole team aligned, creating smooth onboarding, and using technology to make documentation easier. If you're struggling with staff turnover and want to build a more consistent, high-performing center, this episode is packed with real-world solutions that can help you level up your team. Key Takeaways: [5:00] Kris launches her new book, The Antidote to Fear! [9:02] Alignment is at the core of what Trainual offers, and to think of it as a digital version of your childcare center. [10:05] The need for operational consistency to deliver exceptional customer service and meet parent expectations. [10:35] Jami shares her professional journey, including her transition to Trainual, impacting the maternity leave policies, and the challenges of balancing work and motherhood. [12:35] The beauty of Trainual's supportive work environment. [17:33] Fun fact — Jami was on Wheel of Fortune as a teenager! [19:30] Jami explains how Trainual helps childcare centers by providing a centralized platform for documenting and training staff. [22:09] Graduating from Google Docs and how Trainual allows for the creation of standard operating procedures and having a well-documented and accessible playbook for childcare centers. [26:33] Successful documentation needs everyone on the leadership team to contribute and take ownership of their processes. [28:54] More about the AI component of Trainual, including the content creation piece. [33:31] Jami identifies the top challenges in the childcare industry, including finding and retaining staff and managing parent communication. [35:47] It can be a red flag when a center has constant turnover and a revolving door of staff. [41:55] Jami shares Trainual's plans for future product development, including enhancing AI capabilities and integrating with other tools. [44:33] The feature of a public share link that parents can always refer back to. Quotes: “At the core of what we do is really about alignment.” — Jami [9:06] “The inconsistency, or consistency in operations based on how your staff knows the playbook, is the cornerstone for going towards great customer service and giving parents that exceptional experience. It's very difficult to do that if you aren't all on the same page together.” — Kris [10:19] “At the core of that growth is that we genuinely care about our customers, and our success is dependent on our customers' success.” — Jami [13:17] “Trainual works really well for any people-powered business.” — Jami [30:42] Sponsored By: ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI) Use code CCSC5 to claim a free course! Mentioned in This Episode: Kris Murray @iamkrismurray The Child Care Success Company The Child Care Success Academy The Child Care Success Summit Grow Your Center Childcare Education Institute: Use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal Trainual Jami Hartmann LinkedIn
Your perfectionism isn't protecting your reputation… It's protecting your ego. And it's costing you real money, real impact, and real progress toward the life you want to build. After building my business over the last decade, I've learned this hard truth: perfectionism is selfish. Every minute you spend polishing something that could already be helping someone is a minute you're withholding value from your audience. Every hour spent perfecting is an hour not spent learning from real market feedback. Every delayed launch is revenue walking straight out the door. If you have a Google Doc full of business ideas, a camera roll packed with content you'll "post later," and a heart full of dreams you're not quite ready to share, this one's for you. Goal Digger Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/goaldiggerpodcast/ Goal Digger Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goaldiggerpodcast/ Goal Digger Show Notes: https://jennakutcherblog.com/perfectionism-is-costing-you-money Thanks to our Goal Digger Sponsors: Sign up for your $1/month Shopify trial period at http://shopify.com/goaldigger. Find a co-host today at http://airbnb.com/host. Shop SKIMS Fits Everybody collection at http://skims.com/goaldigger! Create your sanctuary of comfort with Boll & Branch. Get 20% off your first sheet set plus free shipping at https://www.bollandbranch.com/goaldigger. Check out What Should I Do With My Money? from Morgan Stanley. Listen now at https://mgstnly.lnk.to/bqe8HiAC!GD. Experience the power of a Dell PC with Intel Inside®, backed by Dell's price match guarantee. Shop now at https://www.dell.com/deals. Visit http://www.mercury.com/ to apply online in 10 minutes. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.
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