Podcasts about high point north carolina

Coach CJ Lee shares his coaching journey and how his decision to transfer from a scholarship student-athlete at Manhattan College to a walk-on at Michigan has impacted his life. Lee was a standout high school player who was a member of Manhattan's team that won the MAAC Regular Season Championship and knocked off FDU and Maryland in the NIT. When he transferred to Michigan he sat out due to the NCAA transfer rules during Coach Tommy Amaker's final season in Ann Arbor, he earned a scholarship from Coach John Beilein and was a co-captain during his senior season at Michigan. After exhausting his NCAA eligibility he joined the coaching staff as their Administrative Specialist, and then promoted to their Director of Program Personnel. Coach Lee was a part of the coaching staff that took Michigan to multiple NCAA Tournaments including the NCAA Championship in 2013. Mike Maker hired CJ to be an Assistant Coach on his inaugural coaching staff at Marist. Coach Lee was tasked with staying on at Marist until they hired a new Head Coach when they did not retain Coach Maker. CJ's wife accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at UNCG so he put his college coaching ambitions aside for her and accepted the Head Coach position at Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point North Carolina. He won over 40 games at WCA and when the Director of Basketball Operations job opened up at UNCG he applied and was hired in August of 2022. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beyondtheboxscore/support

I do mean “unconventional”. Wait until you hear Evan Robert Brown Walker's story and adventures. Like many guests I have had the opportunity to get to know on Unstoppable Mindset, Evan grew up in a single-parent home and didn't get to know his father until much later. Evan went to school and then to college like many of us, but then he decided to do something a bit different with his life. Mr. Walker graduated from college with a degree in English and writing. He then decided to move totally alone to South Korea where he taught English for two years. He will tell us of his adventures in Korea and even give some sensible advice to others who may be planning to move or travel abroad. Near the end of his time in South Korea, Evan sprained his ankle and discovered that, in fact, he had an extra bone in his foot. He dealt with that once he returned to the United States, but still, what a suddenly new fact to face in one's life. You will get to hear about Evan's job stories after returning from South Korea including how he became a subject matter expert on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He now works full-time in this field. What an inspirational and adventurous episode this is. I hope you enjoy hearing Evan's story and that his words will inspire you as much as they did me. About the Guest: Evan Robert Brown Walker is on a mission to empower others, including those within underrepresented communities, to thrive. He currently works as a Global Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Lumen Technologies, with 2 years of experience in a formal diversity role, and numerous years leading and operationalizing Employee Resource Groups. His expertise and passion led him to earn a Diversity & Inclusion Certificate from eCornell in 2020. Since 2021 he has been both a member of the Thurgood Marshall Partner in Diversity Cohort and was recently promoted from advisory board to the Board of Directors for OutFront LGBTQ+ Theater in Atlanta, GA. He is a graduate of High Point University with English major and Business-Marketing minor, and still considers teaching English in South Korea after college one of his greatest accomplishments yet. Links for Evan: www.linkedin.com/in/evan-robert-brown-walker EPIK (English Program In Korea) TransitionsAbroad.com | Purposeful Travel, Study, Work, and Living Abroad Teach Abroad Programs | Teach English Abroad | CIEE https://www.ciee.org/users/evanw https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-robert-brown-walker (My LinkedIn) http://www.epik.go.kr/index.do (English Program in Korea) https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/10/world/asia/north-korea-threats-timeline/index.html North Korean Missile Crisis of 2013 https://www.transitionsabroad.com/ Transitions Abroad https://www.ciee.org/ Council on International Education Exchange About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:21 Hi there, wherever you happen to be welcome once again to unstoppable mindset. We're inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Unexpected is always fun. But we also talk about inclusion first, because it's the only way to make sure that we deal with everyone. The problem with diversity is it has tended to leave out disabilities some may disagree. But when you hear people discuss diversity, they don't discuss disabilities. Whether we discuss disabilities today are not is another story. But we will definitely be hitting the unexpected. Our guest today is Evan Robert Brown Walker, we're going to call him Evan because he said I could. And Evan is an interesting individual. Evan feels that he's on a mission to empower others, especially in unrep, or underrepresented communities. And he wants to help them thrive, which is as good as it gets. So that gets us to the unexpected, because it deals with all sorts of stuff. But Evan, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. Evan Walker 02:22 You so much, Michael, I'm so happy to be here. And really looking forward to the discussion. Michael Hingson 02:29 Let's go ahead and start by talking a little bit about maybe you growing up and all that where you came from, and sort of all those things that helped shape you where you are. Evan Walker 02:39 Well, I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, I was raised by a single mother, who has been there with me every step of the way. And I of course I'm an only child. So I had a little miniature schnauzer growing up who I considered my brother, I have friends and you know, close people as well. But my mom and my miniature schnauzer and sparkle are miniatures nouns are really my immediate family. And then my dad, I got to know, sort of towards the tail end of my high school career, that's when I really got to know started to get to know him. He's based in High Point North Carolina, I ended up making a decision to go to High Point University. And so he and I became closer, develop the relationship that still lasts today. So that's a little bit about my background. Michael Hingson 03:43 So that's pretty cool. So you made the decision to reach out to him, which is something that has to be a little bit of a brave step by any standard. Evan Walker 03:54 Absolutely, absolutely. Any standard reaching out to a parent you don't know or may not know as well as you think you do. Reaching out to them is always scary. And for me, it was a turning point. One of many turning points in my life that led me to where I am today, but also helped me become a stronger person and just understand more of my family and his roots and where he came from. It was a great, great experience. Michael Hingson 04:27 So you have a relationship with him today, which is which is a good thing. And so you you are fortunate that you have now gotten to know both of your parents. You went to high point and what did you major in there? Evan Walker 04:42 I majored in English writing and I minored in business marketing. Michael Hingson 04:51 Hmm. And when you graduated, what did you do with all that? Well, Evan Walker 04:56 inside, everyone should know that five point is the furniture Capital of the World. There's other furniture capitals, I think, and China and Las Vegas, but my point is still consider the furniture capital of the world. So that's a pretty interesting, interesting fact. Today, I, after I graduated, I decided I wanted to move into something to do with my major. Many of us who graduated from college, need ourselves a stray from what we were going to school for, which is pretty prominent. Not a problem at all. But at the time, I really wanted to do something tangibly connected to English. So I looked at working for a publishing house. I also read a book at the time, I was really into books around oil and gas, fossil fuels, how they make the world turn and work, in addition to the comparison with climate change, and I wanted to work for this gentleman that my father knew at the time, who was an executive at an oil company. Neither of those opportunities panned out my third backup plan. My third option was, why don't I think about living abroad traveling abroad? I'm not quite sure what prompted me, other than it was still the great recession. So the Great Recession of Oh 708, which was catastrophic to many people. And even if it wasn't catastrophic, everyone felt that time in some way. So I knew I didn't want to challenge myself, or struggle finding a job. But I also Evan Walker 06:56 reminisce peripherally from people who in college, I went abroad for study abroad to gap years after high school, and I kind of wished that I had that opportunity. So it was a mishmash between desiring to live abroad, having that job security, but also just challenging myself. Michael Hingson 07:22 And so what did you decide to do with that? So you thought about doing something abroad? And what did you do? I made the decision, Evan Walker 07:34 shortly, I think shortly before graduation, to move to Korea. But the decision that I had to make before I even made that decision was, if I do move to Korea, then I have to choose between teaching English being a professional. Being in the army, or military, I was not going into the military. That was just not something I wanted to do at that time. And I was not a professional who was proficient in the Korean language. So teaching English as I guess, as a native guests, English speaker, teacher was truly my my core option. And the two choices as a guest English teacher, were teaching at a private school, or public school, teaching in a private school, namely, is very different in Korea. They're called Hogwarts, private schools in Korea, where oftentimes you're paid more than what you are in a public school. But benefits are sometimes non existent, sometimes less, or just not as not as broad and much, much longer hours. Those Michael Hingson 08:54 that why is that, Evan Walker 08:56 you know, I really don't know, I know that the education system there is considered to be one of the top in the world. And I would say, in my opinion, just me having lived there that a lot of parents and grandparents want their kids to do the best in school. So these Hawk ones are considered with the long hours of the teaching and the long hours for the students ways for them to accelerate getting their kids into the top schools and universities in the country. Michael Hingson 09:35 So you had a choice of, or at least the potential option of teaching in a private setting or in a more public setting, which did you end up doing? Evan Walker 09:46 I went public only because I wanted to make sure that I had enough benefits as far as health care. The pay was very good. Not as good as a hogwash to private school. But I really wanted to make sure I had those benefits that I had that structure and the benefits offered from a public school. I mean, free room and board. It doesn't get better than that. Free Lunch, you know, so I really just loved the idea of not having to pay for an apartment, getting free lunch. And so I went with Publix. Michael Hingson 10:31 So were in South Korea did you teach? Evan Walker 10:40 So, Korea? In South Korea, I taught in what's called what's referred to there as the inland Island. I'm probably pronouncing this wrong. But the the name of the the city was young young. And the province or the state of Young Young was n was called Young saying Buck dough, which was the the eastern part of the country. Sol Sol sets the Capitol. On the western side, I was on the eastern side. Yeah, my Michael Hingson 11:21 visit to Korea was to Seoul and two places within an hour of it. I went to speak there in 2007. Right, and I had an opportunity to be there and and also see the Korean guy dog schools, which were school, which was started by the President and others of Samsung. And so that was, it was fascinating. I never got to meet him. But we did get to visit the school and do some speaking around Seoul. So that was fun. But I never did get to tour the whole country, which I would have loved to have done. It was a wonderful country. And the people were were extremely friendly to me at least and and to my dog. Evan Walker 12:06 Yes, it's, it's a country that is just like you said, just gorgeous. The country of morning, lands on Morning Calm. It's also a country of opposites in many ways. So really, really hot, summer, sweltering hot, really, really cold winter, Siberian winds. And you know, even even some social norms and things like that. So. Michael Hingson 12:37 So what was it like for you teaching over there? That was a major step out for you to go to a different culture a different place entirely, completely away from your comfort zone? Or what had been your comfort zone? And all that you knew? Via you did it? Evan Walker 12:58 Yeah. Honestly, living there, there are definitely some challenges, I would say, moving there. And all the pieces of the puzzle that you have to put together before you even on the plane. That's a part of that's a part of the two. So thinking about what am I going to do as far as money I need to open a bank account in a country that I don't speak the language, learning a language, sure, but it really needs to think about that. registering with the State Department, getting immunizations and so finally, you get on that plane. And for me, I look back Evan Walker 13:41 subdivider Mom, she wasn't there. And it really hit me like wow, you know, you are on your own. And when I sat down on the plane, it was just pure excitement. It was like, total change of emotions. But when I got there, and I experienced just the kindness of the people, you know, a neighbor who became a friend, he was working at the Korean military base in this rural town, which the town was a rural farming community that farms their major product was spicy peppers. He was living near me and helped me moved from my second my first school to my second school several hours away. He took me to dinners when I wasn't feeling well. And so you know, those kinds of moments and those people the way they care and even this routine me. Oh, Evan Walker 14:47 when you're lost in the city of Seoul. Oh, let me let me help you. Let me help you find what you're looking for. You look lost. It's just so out. opposite from the way we interact in America. And you know, that collective family oriented culture, never eating alone. It really did leave a very good impression on me and made me cherish moment moments when, you know, maybe I was feeling most vulnerable, not knowing the language, not having a large support network of expatriates or foreigners in a small town. That was certainly a, an anchor for me. Hmm. Michael Hingson 15:39 But you did it? Did you learn much of the language? In the time you were there? Evan Walker 15:43 Yeah. So I would say now, I, I know literally choke off, which means a little there, I would go to the grocery store, I would know how, what past means what, you know, just survival turned it around. And so those those terms I knew I knew instinctively and instantly, Teacher Song saying them because titles in Korea mean a great deal more than they do in America. And roles and jobs, like teachers probably mean as much as doctors mean here. So you'll have students running around stranger saying, oh, Song saying noon. It's a form of respect to them. So I would say, you know, now, I've probably lost most of that. I've not kept it up. But even what I didn't know, because Korean is a tonal language. Oftentimes, I wasn't even pronouncing it in the right. So there were constant miscommunications. Oftentimes, yes means no. So they will agree. Because that's a country of collective society of service. What can we do for you, you know, what is the service? How can we how, but at the same time, it was still very, you know, constant miscommunications, based on where I was living and the language. Michael Hingson 17:22 Why ultimately, did you decide to move to Korea to teach what motivated you really to do that? I mean, so you decided to do it, but as you reflect back on it, what, what caused you to decide to do that that's a big step, most people would say, Evan Walker 17:41 it is, it is a big step. I honestly think now looking back, I wanted to experience the world. I also wanted to prove to myself, yeah, I can step outside of having my mom really support me having my dad stepping out of the shadows and saying to myself, for my own self worth, I appreciate me, and to just experience something that no one else had experienced. That I know. Up until that point, no one I knew had lived in Asia. I let alone South Korea. So it was looking back I think a test to myself Michael Hingson 18:31 was a self imposed test. Evan Walker 18:34 self imposed test. Michael Hingson 18:36 So you mentioned that you move from one school to another several hours away. Why Why did you move from one school to another? What kind of prompted that? Evan Walker 18:48 So I Well, the move was for contract. So in Korea, you really learn about flexibility, adaptability, as the best English teacher, you learn at a moment's notice, there's going to be a war drill, or there's going to be, you know, a holiday tomorrow or your contract is still going to end on the same date. But we'd like to extend it or we'd like to shorten it. What do you think about that? There's a lot of impromptu questions all the time. One because of language barrier, two, because three in school systems for the guest English teachers operate on a need to know basis. So you need to know they will tell you what usually is pretty, pretty quick, pretty last minute. I decided with that in mind to renew my contract. This felt like the story was not done for me there and I needed to move to a place that was a little bit more sort of politan I was hoping a bigger city. And that's what I ended up moving to. The English program in Korea was actually the program that I was hired through. And I was hired before that, through the Council on Air National Education Exchange, called CI II. That is basically a recruiter for the English program in Korea, which is a government program in Korea that hires guests, English teachers, and so I knew someone about an hour away, he was the Regional Coordinator for the English program in Korea, he had sent an email to all the teachers in Gung sein buchtel, that we have a role. It's in the Exxon. It's the Boys High School. We'd like to take up this role, let me know. And so it wasn't far for me. But it was closer to school, which was great. And I just wanted to stay and experience in New York City be close to her soul, and continue my learning of the code. Michael Hingson 21:17 So you took it and there you were, how much larger was the second town or the more cosmopolitan area for you? Evan Walker 21:24 I don't know how much larger it was definitely I population. But it was definitely quite large. And not. There was there was a skyline. And I will also say that that city yet John was close to the mask dancing city. So Korean mass dancing is a tradition in their culture. And that city is called on dog. So yeah, Chun and on Dong, were probably about 2030 minutes apart on Dong was an even bigger city. So it was still yet started was still a farming community. But it had enough of an infrastructure socially for me to make the decision with about seven other expatriates. And a few more shops. For me to for me to enjoy. I would say yet, Shawn was about two and a half to three hours from Seoul. Yong Yong was five. So it was a great move in that way that I could still, you know, I could still make that jump in a quicker Michael Hingson 22:45 so when I was there, I never really got to, as I say, do a lot of touring around it to be to be real cute. So did you ever find a cost go in South Korea? That is so Evan Walker 22:57 funny that you asked. I don't recall that. But you know, there's a very similar chain called Home Plus believe that's the name of the chain. And it's basically like a Costco, you've got a lot of a lot of goods in bulk. And so many weekends from yet Shawn, I would take from us to on dog where the Home Plus was, and just buy tons and tons of food and things like that. There was one instance where before I was in yen chart, I actually took the bus with all the names of the buses, all the routes all the time, everything's in Korea. So I took the bus. It was my first winter in Korea. I had some coats, but nothing I needed for sub zero temperatures Fahrenheit. So I took the bus I thought to odd Dong from Yong Yong, which was about two hours or so. What I didn't know was I actually took the bus to Daegu, which was a while longer. And so when I got off the bus and I was realized I was not in on dawn. I was like, well, where's the Home Plus, might as well make the best of it. So I just, you know, went shopping it some coats and hats and things like that. thermal underwear. Michael Hingson 24:37 You found a home plus, Evan Walker 24:39 I found a home vise you've got to be able to adapt, you're gonna miss stuff. Living abroad living in a foreign country. So those kinds of lessons where you can be flexible is really, really important. Michael Hingson 24:57 What would you advise the How to someone, if, if they're thinking of going to a foreign country or living in a foreign country, or even just going as part of a holiday or whatever, what would you advise people? Evan Walker 25:14 What I would advise people living in a foreign country, I would say, there are pivotal moments while you're there. But then there's a pivotal moment of making that decision to even go there, and live there. And I would say, for me, when I made the decision to get on that plane, it wasn't necessarily a no return. But it was a change. And, for me, it's a, it's a point at which he experienced and this changed my life. It started a new one. And so with that froms challenges with all kinds of, you know, items and things in in those challenges such as language barriers, cultural, confusion, cultural and competency, which my job today is developing, and helping to empower and make people knowledgeable of cultural competency. But there's a lot of different roads that you have to pass, once you make that decision, living abroad, living abroad as well. However long you live abroad, you have to remember and know, which I would say was not something that I was made aware of emphatically is that you will have to adjust, you will have reverse culture shock. Now, I would say certain countries, you probably have more than others. For me, being in a western culture being raised moving to an Eastern East Asia, Eastern country, the culture shock was quite great. Especially thinking about when you don't have access to or aren't listening to just think about music, of the current music that you listen to that. Oftentimes, unless you're on YouTube, or your or latest app, you may miss out on that. You also may miss out on trends, and sometimes news and just feel like you're out of place, you come back. So that's really important. I would say just going abroad, period. Register with the State Department in case of an emergency. And just be open minded. Know that you have a bias no matter where you're from, what your background is, when I first got out of the airport in Seoul or Inchon and I looked around at the cars, I just the first thing I noticed was every car is black, white, or gray. I was like, Oh, that was the second point when I realized the gravity of my decision, because it is a collectivist country. Everyone is thinking about each other. There's not a lot of variations and colors and things like such a small, such a small, visually. Interesting fact, but also long standing in terms of the ramifications of that decision. Michael Hingson 28:40 Do you regret having spent two years over there? Or were you? Do you feel that it was a valuable experience? What's your reaction thinking back on it now? Yeah, Evan Walker 28:53 I absolutely think it was a valuable experience. I do not regret it one bit. If I could do it over again, I would probably do some things differently. But every conversation I have meeting someone new, it usually comes up. When I'm interviewing for jobs, like the job I'm in now. It's always a point of pride and our point of experience, something no one can ever take away from you. And I love that. So I I know the way I was challenged in many ways. I had some of the best times in my life, meeting different people from around the world in Seoul coming out, which was not necessarily the best time living there so far from home, but coming out as a gay black man over Skype to my family on my mom's side who was who was very, very welcoming and you know, very proud of you for doing so. And my dad was too, later on. Michael Hingson 30:02 But I was thinking that by that time, we had a lot more ability to communicate. So at least you had some opportunities to talk to people back here in the states that you wouldn't have had 10 or 15 years before. Evan Walker 30:19 Yeah, yeah. And, yeah, yeah, I actually, I will, because I went through a recruiter, the CIA II organization, which I think is now an NGO. They offered me the opportunity to blog about my experiences there. So I was joined by a number of bloggers, guests, English teachers, or I posted about this and that. And I was able to your point to email that blog to family and friends, they could keep up with me. There was one particular time, the summer of No, the spring of 2013, where I was getting a lot of emails because of the North Korean missile crisis. Today, it's looked at as a pivotal point in time or a point in time where really, they had ramped up from February to May, so many different threats to South Korea and to America, which they still do today. They're very frustrated, usually, with our annual military drills. In the spring. That year, it was so bad that they actually scrapped 1953 armistice, they told foreigners, you should probably leave because there's going to be a war. It's going to be violent. It was crazy. It got so bad that my mom and I started talking about escape plans or as breakout a violent war. How are you going to get home? So? Yeah, I would say definitely, you know, there were there were those times when I was especially grateful for the modern communication. Michael Hingson 32:12 So you were over in South Korea for two years? And then you decided that that was enough for what? What was your motivation for them deciding to come back? Evan Walker 32:24 My motivation deciding to come back was, I thought that was enough. I had need what I thought, which is definitely the case, in my eyes, lifelong friends. I had pushed myself to the limit, even from a climate, cultural norms, food perspective, housing perspective. And I wanted to start my professional career back home. Ultimately, I didn't want to I didn't want to push that back any longer. Some people I still know. They're teaching all over the world backpacking thing in Korea, and that works for that. But for me, after two years, I was grateful for the experience. So many great times, challenging times. But I was ready to, Michael Hingson 33:20 to come back. So. So you, you came back? And what were you thinking about doing with your life once you came back? Evan Walker 33:31 So I came back, I honestly didn't know I wanted to process what I just done. And I also went through, I think, three months of reverse culture shock, what I envisioned as the American culture that I left, what I envisioned as the culture of my community, the LGBTQ plus community, the culture of Atlanta, all of those things, as an expatriate living 1000s of miles away, in some way or another, were not what I envisioned them to be, which is just not good or bad. It's just what happens. So I had the privilege, living over there having free room and board to save a lot of money. So I didn't need to work. The first three or so months, that I was, and then I was lucky enough in the spring. So I got back in August. And I got a job in March of following year through British insurance company called Hiscox insurance, and I'm grateful to this day that they hired me what a great, great career there for five years, but you That's really what I did was reflect. I had definitely some, I don't want to say challenges. But it really was a challenge in many ways. Because my, my concern at that point was my health I had come back after spraining my ankle earlier in the year back when I was in Korea. And when I was in Korea, and I went to a doctor. The first time due to language barriers, there was no need for me to wrap my ankle that I had wrapped. Although it was a sprained ankles, of course, I needed to wrap it, then when I went to get I think it was an MRI or an x ray, they actually told me that your foot as an extra bone. And so you probably just surgery to get the bone out. So by the time I got home, you know, again, just reminiscing the good times the challenging times. And then also thinking at some point, I'm gonna have to probably get this out. So again, I was grateful to get the job several months past, but I think anyone coming back from living abroad should really, if they can take that time to just adjust. Michael Hingson 36:29 Because it isn't you have an extra phone in your book. Did you have an extra bone in your foot? If I could talk I'd be in great shape. Evan Walker 36:35 I certainly did. I asserted that I had an accessory bone down there, yeah, and the foot on on the side of my ankle. And so I ended up having surgery. Later that year, after I was fired, it was a reconstructive surgery, the first of its kind that my doctor had done. The reattach the tendon, took the bone out and gave me an arch. So I likely will have to have the same things on my other foot. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Michael Hingson 37:12 So at least they diagnosed it over there. And exactly. That was an interesting experience. I bet you didn't expect. Evan Walker 37:23 Totally unexpected, but that's what comes with doing things that are unconventional. And when you take risk knows, you know, you can't foresee everything that happens, take calculated risks. I also had, you know, a finger, little system, my finger that I had to get taken out. Right before I came home, you know, there's just things like that, coming from a Western country, any country, you live somewhere else did a climate food, you learn things more about your body and your health that you weren't aware of. And you have to be prepared that if there's a language barrier or any other barrier, you may not have the same access to what it is that you need to prepare or recover from any issues with your health. Michael Hingson 38:25 You decided not to do the surgery in Korea, obviously and you came back here to do that. Evan Walker 38:31 Yeah, and Korean has Korea is very good. You know, hospitals, let's be clear, especially in Seoul. I just wanted to be home with family knowing I was coming home the following year. So it really just actually I think that was the same year I came home. Michael Hingson 38:51 So what was the job the insurance company gave you. Evan Walker 38:55 I was an underwriting assistant, which before I really read fiction, I thought it was related to Randy. So I'm like Oh, I'm back in I'm back doing something connected to my major. And it was actually a really interesting job processing job processing along the lines of commercial insurance. So cybersecurity technology errors and omissions really interesting job interesting people learns a lot. Definitely a bit of my time I work till midnight one time I was I was a workhorse at point and I work hard now and I you know work smart, collaborate all of those things but I really try just be in the present and Alan's and integrate my work and life in a way we're not going to burn myself out. As you as a lot have early in earlier in career people tend to disregard coming out just want to prove ourselves and things like that. Let me just work till my wit's end. But no, I don't do that anymore. But it was a great company still have great friends from there are my mentors from the pride resource group. Oh, keep in touch. Michael Hingson 40:27 So when you as an underwriter, you're here doing that work? What is it? You do? So you were talking about everything from dealing with intellectual property and cybersecurity and so on? What do you do? Or what did you Evan Walker 40:41 so as an I was really the underwriting assistant for the underwriters. So they were, look up the risk of, you know, what's the risk of, you know, Michael, Michael Hanson's company having a data breach. So this is what we'll cover, if you have a data breach, this is the amount that will pay. And so as an underwriting assistant, I would then kind of put those words together for them, but more often than not, provide them with a quote to send to you, or rather your broker, your insurance broker, and, you know, this kind of processing, getting those quotes out, getting those declines out, and canceling policies, when when that says, stay out? Michael Hingson 41:38 Well, it clearly can be part of a fascinating process. And I recognize the value in the need of insurance and the whole concept of risk management. And I speak about risk management from another side, which is basically more on the emergency preparedness side. You're in a room, you're listening to me speak. Do you know where the emergency exits are not the door that you came in, but the emergency exits? And the whole concept of risk management from that standpoint, which also, very possibly could affect your insurance? How well do you make sure that people who come to your facility, know what to do in an emergency and how to well you teach people might very well affect what you have to pay in the way of insurance so that you prove that you're being as careful as you can be? Evan Walker 42:36 You know, Michael, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. The importance cannot be understated. And even terrorism, kidnap ransom, shooter, all of all of those, all of those, but I do remember from reading your book, and just looking at YouTube videos and research, that you had all of the plans from, as a survivor of 911, working in a tower, one of the towers, you had those plans in Braille, that you had, basically, were an expert as to how to evacuate before it has to be that happens. occurred. Michael Hingson 43:26 I still remember, I still remember speaking at one organization meeting risk managers in Missouri, I think we were at Branson, but it was a meeting of risk management people from the Midwest. And after speaking, one of the people said, you know, we've never thought about the fact that as as a company, and that was a power company, they were one of the utilities, we have generation generating stations, and we don't teach our people really how to get out that is if there's a fire down in the station, how are people going to be able to get out because they can't see due to the smoke and so on. And we actually work together to develop a mechanism by which there people were able to escape without being able to see the exits because of the smoke. So they took that sort of thing very seriously. And it is and people really need to prepare more than they do. But they put some things in place. It was really cool to hear about it later, which is just really wonderful. So you worked at the insurance company for five years, and that's that's a good long time for for some people but you weren't there for five years. So what what made you leave and where did you go? Evan Walker 44:49 Honestly, I really just wanted to lean in more to that interest that I had found and passion related to ours. City inclusion, belonging and really being able to sink my teeth into a full time diversity, inclusion and belonging role. I was working in my last job as a training coordinator there. So I had some exposure to training courses focused on women in leadership and unconscious bias. But I wanted to do more I had started, what we call it at the time, LG, our LGBT work with whom someone I now call a friend, an executive bear, but also several other employees who are based in London. And so we created this global, what I call now at my current company, employee resource group, erg. And it was very successful. I mean, senior leadership was totally engaged, the visible visibility was global. It was on the top of everyone's minds, and honestly, bias, but I think that it gave other networks, the visibility that they needed, as well. And it put a spotlight on all the efforts that were going on related to vision and diversity. So much so that they asked me to speak to the company, out the networks. Michael Hingson 46:27 What led you to develop the passion? Did you just start to think about it, and it kind of grew or what? I Evan Walker 46:36 still to this day, I'm not quite sure. You know, it's funny because my dad consulted for many years with Christ on crisis management, public relations, and inclusion and diversity. And I never thought that I would be doing the same thing as him. But in many ways, I am following in his footsteps, which was totally unintended. I think that when I was raising my hand during focus groups, for employee networks for initiatives related to inclusion, and diversity, I just was curious and wanted to help in any way. It just kind of rounds me. Michael Hingson 47:25 So you left the company, the insurance company? And did you and your friends start your own company? Or did you go to work for someone else or what Evan Walker 47:36 I so I got a job. About a month later, I was hired by InterContinental Hotels.This was actually the year of 2020. And it was in March. So shortly before I started that job, which was a full time diversity and inclusion role, especially sprawl. I had enrolled in a Cornell online course, certificate in diversity and inclusion. So that was a self self taught course, like we had instructors, but everything was on your own time, rather. So there was no rush for me, but I had it in the event, longer to find a job than I expected. Well, even though I found the job, and I got a job rather quickly. COVID hit, of course. And so just starting there, I was like, Oh, it was a contract, permanent position. And at the time, there were a number of other people who were permanent, I believe, who might have been let go as well. But so many companies were just scrambling as to what to do. Everyone was sent home. And so I just use that time in between jobs to complete that course, which was a very rigorous course about engagement, your own engagement, when you weren't engaged. What did you do? Why do you feel that that was the case? And how do you make others feel engaged included? So that took me about eight months to complete by the end of it, I moved on to another company, I had extended an offer. That company was a great, great role. Great, great company. But after about two years with that company, I decided you know what? I would like to change and I feel like there's a new environment, a new path where I can experience being a diversity and inclusion manager I had left after IHG and starting at this company eight months later, or in the fall, I was a consultant for diversity and inclusion, helping people partnering with an accessibility subject matter expert, others from different parts of the world. And it was a great, great experience for me. But every company is on their own maturity scale. As far as diversity, inclusion, equity, all of these things, I wanted to experience a company that was on a different part of the scale. And so that's what led me to where I am now. Michael Hingson 50:41 So where are you now? Evan Walker 50:43 Now I am at Newman Technologies. I'm one of our global diversity and inclusion, inclusion and belonging managers, we actually are a telecommunications company, transforming as a technology company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. And just a great great company, curious, being present a lot of great values, and just putting our money where our mouth is, and our commitment as well. So I am just elated to be able to do what I do in this capacity, moving a mile a minute, but also seeing the change and being the change you want to see. That is what lumen is and I'm so happy to be along for the ride. So what is it you do? So, as a global as a Global Inclusion, belonging and diversity manager at Newman, I manage are starting to manage our communication in our partnership with the International organizations at lumen. So we have our APAC, India, EMEA. All of those organizations have what we call employee resource groups. And so the thread of that, or the holder of the thread of all of our employee resource groups, comes back to me. So I helped to oversee our disability, and abilities ERG, we have 11, employee resource groups help to see our black professionals ERG, we have a number of emojis that really help create more engagement, more of a safe space, but also just to help anyone feel included. And so that's a part of my role. But there's so many others, and I really just love it. Michael Hingson 52:50 How much influence do you have in getting the company when you discover something that maybe isn't right, from an inclusion standpoint, with one group or another? How much influence do you have in being able to change mindsets and change policy? Evan Walker 53:12 So actually, it's funny that you say that my boss is the chief diversity officer. So she brought all of us in to be curious, of new ideas, different diverse perspectives. And so with that, everything that I think about ideas, I'm not necessarily implementing all of them. Many of the ideas I have or perspectives or feedback related to I'm just gonna say policy, that does go back up to the C suite, just because my boss is the chief diverse diversity officer. So I often in leading taskforce related to changes in policies, how to get more employees engaged at all levels of the organization. And it all is exposed to senior leadership one way or another. So I would say it's pretty close. Pretty well, let me Michael Hingson 54:19 let me rephrase the question slightly. So maybe I should say how much does the chief diversity officer and the department have in the way of influence but let me give you an example. Let's say for example, someone and I will use disabilities here. Let's say a blind person comes along and says, I'm interested in being a part of your company or they get hired and they say, I need a screen reader software to be able to, to read what's on my computer screen because I can't read it otherwise. Or I go to these meetings and people are always handing out documentation at the beginning of the meetings, and then people read it and they discuss it, but nobody provides Is that in a form that I can use, much less provided in advance so that I really have access to it and can become familiar with it before the meeting, which really is the way we ought to handle documentation in general. But so someone comes to you and says, I got this problem. What? And I've gone to my boss, I tell you, and my boss has said, well, that's just the way it is, we're not going to do anything about it. That's clearly discriminatory and non inclusive. How do you deal with that? Evan Walker 55:36 Absolutely. So I would say, my boss would definitely be involved. So if that employee came in email, me or my boss, it would definitely get raised to the leadership level, depending on what the what the request is. In that scenario, I would say, that's absolutely discriminatory. And we do accommodate. We are inclusive of everyone, regardless of nationality, disability, ability, race, ethnicity, religion, all of those all of those inventions. And so it would be a dress, it would be listened to, and we make the accommodation or change needed, do we? Yeah, I'll leave it at that. Michael Hingson 56:27 Yeah. It's, it's an interesting conundrum. Because it all comes down to what people consider priorities and the cost of doing business. So for example, something that a number of us face regularly is we go into meetings, documentation is handed out papers. And they're referred to constantly during the meeting, but nobody makes them available for me to be able to access them. The other part about it is, which really is I think, the more interesting aspect of it, is that all too often we hand out documentation at meetings for people to read and the excuses. Well, we got to wait till the last minute to get the most current data. And the answer is do you really, rather than saying, we're going to provide the documentation in advance, so you should come prepared to discuss it. So at the meeting, you really discuss not spend half of your meeting or a good portion of your meeting, just preparing by reading it. And if you then do it in advance, it's a lot easier to make the documentation or the information accessible in a form that's usable. But getting people to change that mindset is really hard. But really, it ought to be part of the cost of doing business to make sure that true inclusion takes place. And it is so often a difficult thing to get people to change their mindset to do that, which is what prompted the question. Evan Walker 57:53 You're right. Yeah, the mindset change is is difficult, I think at any company specific, typically,around arounds. This this topic in a time of transformation, a time in society where the economy is very uncertain. The times that we're living in, and if you don't have those infrastructure, those systems in place already to support the mindset shift. That makes it even more difficult. I think the way lumen has been committed to inclusion for many, many years, has helped where we are moving forward in our journey. We also have a new CEO, who is from Microsoft spin all over the news and LinkedIn, and she's just wonderful. So she's also very committed to inclusion and diversity. And I think we're on a great, a great trajectory, a great path. But it's not easy for anyone to change those minds. Yeah. But you do have to meet people where they are. So Michael Hingson 59:10 you know, you absolutely do and it is a process. It's a learning process. It's a growing process on all sides. Well, I will tell you, this has been absolutely fun. And we've been doing this for about an hour now. Can you believe it? And so I think what we'll do is we will go ahead and stop but I want to get you back on in the future because I'd love to hear how your your journey and your adventure goes. And hear more about the experiences that you have at lumen and whatever you do, because your whole adventure now dealing with inclusion and diversity and so on is a worthwhile one to continue to discuss. Thank you Evan Walker 59:55 so much, Michael. This has been fun for me as well. I've really ever You're told this story at length, except for into family and friends. So it's been nice. Getting some of these these points out and also going down memory lane, I appreciate you taking me down that too. Michael Hingson 1:00:15 Well, thank you for for doing it and being willing to go down memory lane. And I want to thank you for listening. And I hope that you enjoyed this. Heaven has done a great job of giving us a lot of insights and a lot of useful information. I hope you found it interesting and that you enjoyed the podcast episode today, please give us a five star rating wherever you are. And wherever you're listening to this with whatever system, we would appreciate it. If you'd like to reach out, Evan, if people want to reach out to you, is there a way they can do that? Evan Walker 1:00:50 Yeah, people can just reach out to me on LinkedIn. So Evan, Robert Brown Walker, my name, just type that in on LinkedIn, you're welcome to connect with me send me a message. Also you have questions about actually going abroad and living abroad. There are a number of resources. Michael, I'm going to share those with you. Please, you know, we can we can share as far as links like the Council on International Education Exchange, and their website called transition transition abroad. For research. Michael Hingson 1:01:25 The blog articles that you wrote when you were in Korea, are they available to the public anywhere? That would be a fun series of links are linked to those blogs to Evan Walker 1:01:35 know. Yeah, I It's funny, I was looking, I want to say two or three years ago, and they totally redid their site. I will check with one of their directors. But those blogs I think have since since gone. Yeah. Michael Hingson 1:01:52 Gone to the big recycle bin in the sky. They Evan Walker 1:01:56 recycle then. Yeah, they've been replaced. There's now new bloggers? Well, it's Michael Hingson 1:02:01 fair to Well, again, we appreciate it. And for all of you reach out to Evan, he would love to hear from you, obviously and I would like to hear your comments as well. So feel free to email me at Michaelhi at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com or visit our podcast page at WWW dot Michael hingson H i n g s o n.com/podcast. We'd love to hear from you. And of course those ratings are greatly appreciated. Love to get your thoughts. And if you have people in mind or think of people who you think we ought to have an unstoppable mindset and Evan you as well. Whether it's other people at Lumen or elsewhere, we'd love to hear from you and always are looking for podcast guests who can come on and tell stories. So we'd appreciate you letting us know about those people as well and giving us introductions. Evan Walker 1:02:56 Absolutely. Michael Hingson 1:02:58 Well, thank you one last time for being here. We really appreciate you doing this. And I expect to have you back on and we can hear about more adventures. Evan Walker 1:03:08 Oh, thank you, Michael. Pleasure, meeting you as well. And thank you again for the opportunity. Look forward to next time. Michael Hingson 1:03:20 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

This week, in High Point, North Carolina, trouble springs up in a marriage, but it doesn't seem like anything that can't be overcome. That is, until one of the couple decides to bring 50-60 exotic birds into the house, causing more problems. This all leads to a surprising plan of murder, put together with some close family members. The murder is as cold blooded as it gets, with the murder coming after the victim begging for mercy. But a written letter, that wasn't supposed to opened is sent to the police, cracking the whole plot wide open!!Along the way, we find out that people have strong opinions of their small towns, that if you're going to kill someone, make it worth it, and birds can't be racists, on their own!!Hosted by James Pietragallo and Jimmie WhismanNew episodes every Thursday!Donate at: patreon.com/crimeinsports or go to paypal.com and use our email: crimeinsports@gmail.comGo to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things Small Town Murder & Crime In Sports!Follow us on...twitter.com/@murdersmallfacebook.com/smalltownpodinstagram.com/smalltownmurderAlso, check out James & Jimmie's other show, Crime In Sports! On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Wondery, Wondery+, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Five people are dead after a murder-suicide in High Point.High Point police responded to the 2700 block of Mossy Meadow Drive to find a man and a woman screaming for help around 7:00 a.m. Saturday. "Officers did force entry into the home and went through the home in what we call a protective sweep, to check for victims and anyone in the home. They ended up locating three juveniles that were deceased and two adults that were deceased," said Captain Matt Truitt with the High Point Police Department.READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/5-dead-after-murder-suicide-on-mossy-meadow-dr-in-high-point/83-e3643e9d-a98b-4956-a9cf-4e55482224d6The Iredell County Sheriff's Office reports 22 people were arrested in both the later part 2022 and the start of 2023 for drug charges, characterizing those arrested as drug dealers.The sheriff's office shared a post on Facebook on Friday, which included the mugshots of the people deputies had arrested. The post noted most of those arrested had criminal histories, with 10 suspects on probation when they were arrested and another two identified as gang members.Deputies said all suspects were caught after selling drugs to an undercover investigator.READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/drug-arrests-iredell-county-nc/275-51c78a8a-676d-48c0-9b52-6a5b6f7d7d76Watch Wake Up Charlotte each weekday morning from 4:30 to 7 a.m. on WCNC Charlotte, and as always, join the conversation on social media using #WakeUpCLT! 

Five people are dead after a murder-suicide in High Point. High Point police responded to the 2700 block of Mossy Meadow Drive to find a man and a woman screaming for help around 7:00 a.m. Saturday.  "Officers did force entry into the home and went through the home in what we call a protective sweep, to check for victims and anyone in the home. They ended up locating three juveniles that were deceased and two adults that were deceased," said Captain Matt Truitt with the High Point Police Department. READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/5-dead-after-murder-suicide-on-mossy-meadow-dr-in-high-point/83-e3643e9d-a98b-4956-a9cf-4e55482224d6 The Iredell County Sheriff's Office reports 22 people were arrested in both the later part 2022 and the start of 2023 for drug charges, characterizing those arrested as drug dealers. The sheriff's office shared a post on Facebook on Friday, which included the mugshots of the people deputies had arrested. The post noted most of those arrested had criminal histories, with 10 suspects on probation when they were arrested and another two identified as gang members. Deputies said all suspects were caught after selling drugs to an undercover investigator. READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/drug-arrests-iredell-county-nc/275-51c78a8a-676d-48c0-9b52-6a5b6f7d7d76 Watch Wake Up Charlotte each weekday morning from 4:30 to 7 a.m. on WCNC Charlotte, and as always, join the conversation on social media using #WakeUpCLT! 

James Malinchak is known to many as the “Big Money Speaker,” because of his success as a speaker, a motivator, and an inspiration to those who hear him. When I use the term “unstoppable” I refer, as regular listeners know, to a mindset that people adopt that helps them move forward even in the face of extreme adversity.   James discovered early in life that he would have to adopt his own unstoppable mindset if he wanted to survive and succeed first in the world of finance and then as a speaker who could coach and inspire others to raise their own sights.   Mr. Malinchak has been an extremely popular speaker in the college speaking circuit. Not only is he a quite sought-after speaker, but he does make money speaking at colleges and elsewhere. His secret is simple. “If you don't ask for what you are worth then you will never get it.”   James has appeared on the Television show, Secret Millionaire. He will tell you about his experiences and through them you will get to meet a man whose life philosophy is refreshing, positive and unstoppable.   I look forward to hearing your comments after you listen to James. Please email me at michaelhi@accessibe.com and tell me what you think of this interview. Some directories do not show full show notes. For the complete transcription please visit https://michaelhingson.com/podcast   About the Guest: James Malinchak is recognized as one of the most requested, in-demand business and motivational keynote speakers and marketing consultants in the world. He was featured on the Hit ABC TV Show, Secret Millionaire and was twice named National “College Speaker of the Year.” James has delivered over 3,000+ presentations for corporations, associations, business groups, colleges, universities and youth organizations worldwide. James can speak for groups ranging from 20-30,000+.   Giving back is a big part of James' life as he has raised over $1,000,000 for various charities and organizations and has donated thousands of dollars of his own money to help others.   As a speaker marketing coach and consultant, James is the behind-the-scenes, go-to marketing advisor for many top speakers, authors, thought leaders, business professionals, celebrities, sports coaches, athletes and entrepreneurs and is recognized as “The World's #1 Big Money Speaker  Trainer and Coach!”   For more information & FREE Training, visit: www.BigMoneySpeaker.com   About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes UM Intro/Outro  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:22 Well, hi, everyone. This is Mike Kingston, welcome you to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Glad you're here and hope you will enjoy the show. We have, I think a fun and exciting guest. Just listening to information about his company, big money speaker. Well, you can't get more exciting than that. Can you James?   James Malinchak  01:42 So it's it's better than little money speaker.   Michael Hingson  01:45 That is true. So everyone meet James Malin. Check and James were really pleased and gratified that you came on the podcast today.   James Malinchak  01:53 Thanks for having me, Mike. I appreciate it and hope to inspire some of your your great listeners.   Michael Hingson  01:59 Well, we're glad you're here. Well, let's let's start off and see what what we can learn. So you, you've been in the speaking business as well. But tell us about your last little bit. When you weren't obviously you were born like the rest of us. And where does it go from there?   James Malinchak  02:14 I was born in a van down by the river, right? And now what every motivational speaker says.   Michael Hingson  02:18 Either that or you were born in a log cabin. Yeah.   James Malinchak  02:22 Yeah. No, I grew up in a tiny steel town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania population of about 6000. Great folks. We didn't have much grown up dad was a steel worker and mom was a lunch mother serving lunches to us kids at school. So I had some big dreams and goals. And one of them was the play college basketball. So I accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, right out of high school. And then my coach had gotten relieved of his duties, which is a great way to say he was fired. So I ended up transferring and playing in Hawaii. And unfortunately, in an exhibition game, I caught a pass twisted my knee and ripped up my knees. I was I was done. And so I moved to Los Angeles. My career, dreams of playing pro basketball were done. And I moved to Los Angeles and started my career as a stockbroker. I worked for a major Wall Street investment firm, and won some awards. They're very early in my young years, my first year starting out opened up about 200 Some accounts. And so my phone rang one day. And it was a gentleman, he said, Hey, my son works with you there in the office. And he said, You just really smashed it did really well, I'd love to have you come and talk to my employees. And I said, I don't I don't really speak and do that kind of stuff. I'm just an advisor. And he said, Well, we only really need you to talk for about 40 minutes. And so I don't really speak or do any of that kind of stuff. You know, I don't even know what that means. And he said, and I'll pay $5,000. And I said I speak I speak. I speak.   Michael Hingson  04:01 Hallelujah.   James Malinchak  04:05 Mama didn't raise no for Mike. Yeah, somebody wants to pay you to show up and talk your yo, you're saying the same stuff anyway. And now they're going to pay you. I said, I mean, I don't know what this means, but I'll do it. Easy. Yes. So I went and did it. And on a scale of one to 10 I was probably in my mind that was a negative two. I mean, I thought I was so awful. You know, just a bad presenter. And he came up and he said that was great. And I'm like, Who were you watching? You're watching me because I was terrible. He said, Well, this first lesson I got he said you might not be a good orator presenter. But you're great at telling your story with your message that inspired my folks to want to be better. I'd like to actually have you come back and do it for a couple different divisions two more times and and would it be okay if I paid you the 5000 bucks each time and I was like Yeah, okay, like really? You thought I was good? He said, No, you weren't like good presenter, but your information was really good. And so I did. And, and I couldn't believe it. I was like, holy cow. I did three talks, and they paid me 15,000 bucks. So guess what I did, Mike. I did a really smart thing, buddy. I went quit my job.   Michael Hingson  05:23 And you learn how to be a better presenter, right?   James Malinchak  05:26 Well, let me tell you what I did learn. I learned that. Bookings like that don't fall out of the sky. No. And I was very blessed and lucky on those three, because I blew through my life savings. And I was so financially destitute and broke that I was forced to work in a video store Montrose video in Montrose, California, and I made seven bucks an hour. And I lived in an apartment that had bars on the windows, and it was $400 a month to rent the apartment in Los Angeles. Yeah. And so yeah, a Top Ramen noodles, a pasta diluted with pot with a spaghetti sauce diluted with water, because it would last longer. And I did that for three years. Because I didn't realize I was running a business, you know, and I thought magically cheques were just gonna fall out of the sky for me, and that never happened. So I was on the phone with a mentor. And he was worth about $500 million. And he knew me since I was a kid. And he said, Hey, you know, you can have the best most impactful message in the world, you can have the biggest heart and want to change lives and help people. But if you don't learn how to run this thing as a business, you're gonna be in for rough roads. And so if he told me to eat the pencil, and it would make me successful, I would do it because he pretty much everything he's told me has worked in my life. So I went on, I started learning the business, and how do I do this. And, you know, and that's why my logo today for big money speaker on my shirt is a coin. Because I always say there's two sides of the coin, in speaking or for any business, number one you have what you do to serve people and help people and make a difference, or your message or your information. But then there's a flip side of the coin, it's called the business of speaking. And so once I've mastered the business of speaking and didn't worry about whether I was a great presenter or anything, that's when I went from zero and then book 40 talks the next year, and then 100 talks, the paid talks, not free talks, paid talks the next year. And then never when I was doing full paid speaking that ever book less than 100 paid talks and my busiest year, as I did 157 locations, 157 locations in some locations, I got six checks, or five checks like Valencia Community College in Orlando, Florida has six campuses. So when I went to Orlando, one location, I spoke six times and got six checks. So that's how I did it. Now I've done over 3000, some paid presentations, and very blessed that I've met a lot of cool people and hopefully in some way help them.   Michael Hingson  08:06 And, you know, that is what it's all about. And the reality is a lot of people don't view speaking is a business. And a lot of people who speak don't use speaking as a business. I actually had a conversation with someone that's involved with authors. And we were we were talking about authors and speaking and she said, The problem is we book authors, but you got to understand they're not professional speakers. And I said, you're viewing you're booking authors to speak, of course, they're professional speakers. What am I missing here?   James Malinchak  08:44 Well, if someone got paid to show up and talk them their professional, not   Michael Hingson  08:49 exactly. That's what I would say. I remember the first speech I gave, I don't know how much you know of my story. I'm sure Michelle told you some. But we were in the World Trade Center on September 11. And came out and the media got the story. And a couple of weeks later, we got a call from a gentleman in New Jersey, and he said, I'm a pastor in a church. We're just holding an evening ecumenical service for all the people who were last in the World Trade Center, who are from New Jersey. And we'd like you to just come and take about five or six minutes and just briefly tell your story. And, you know, we can't pay or anything. By that time, I had actually started getting calls from people who said, We want to pay you to come and speak and of course, my belief was being in sales. Why do I want to sell computers when people want to pay me just to talk, you know, but but I said I would come in and speak to this group. And this happened before any of the paid presentations actually took place. But I made the mistake. I love to say it that way of asking him how many people are going to be at the service, probably 6000. So my first speech was a brief one, six minutes, but to 6000 people in an open air service in New Jersey, and it was fun. And hopefully we moved people and it kind of went from there. So I know exactly what you're saying.   James Malinchak  10:11 That's fantastic. Congratulations on that.   Michael Hingson  10:13 It was it was a lot of fun. And you know, it is in part about serving people, but it is a business as well. And it's great when you can, can put the two together.   James Malinchak  10:25 Absolutely. That's why I say there's two sides of the coin. Right, right. And by the way, not just for speaking, but for any entrepreneurial business out there, I've done 2000 2000 plus one on one consulting for business people. And it doesn't matter what they're in, whether they're a dentist, whether they are running a seminar company, whether they're opening a chain of restaurants, you know, there's the one side where you serve folks, and you help them and you make joy in their life with your restaurant with your food, your service, but don't flip side, there's this thing called the business of you got to figure out how to get people to come to your restaurant, how to get them to keep coming back how to get them to talk and refer others how to set your restaurant up to run on systems, you know how to hire retain great people. I mean, that's all business that has nothing to do with the first side of the coin that has everything to do with running a business.   Michael Hingson  11:18 So you learn a lot of that, I would assume and developing that mindset from the fact that you were in an investment firm for a while that that had to have an influence on all that. I would say   James Malinchak  11:30 yes, a little bit, but not really a lot, because that's not an entrepreneurial business. That's corporate America. Sure. Right. And so, you know, they're trained, I always say that, you know, they're trained a lot to do the same thing. And deliver, you know, you go from one office to the other, all the managers are saying the same thing, doing the same thing. So it's pretty much corporate run, coming down from the shareholders and the board and CEO, CFO C level execs. So when I ventured out, I'll tell you the big one of the big mistakes that I made with speaking when I've ventured out into speaking, I didn't realize it was an entrepreneurial business, I just thought, Oh, this is fun, I get to speak and talk to people and this guy paid me money. So this is pretty cool. And I never realized that this is no different than a flower shop and opening that or, you know, restaurant and opening that or a chiropractic office and opening that. You know, a lot of times folks get into speaking and don't realize that it is a actual real business, a real professional business. And that was my one of my big mistakes in the beginning is not grasping that I just thought this is the coolest thing in the world. I get to speak and get paid holy, wow. I never thought of it as a real business.   Michael Hingson  12:50 But nevertheless, with with the training, you had your your mind, internalize that. And you came to that realization that it was a business.   James Malinchak  12:59 Yeah, very quickly, I realized. And then the other thing I realized is like me and it's no one's fault. They've never been taught this. Most speakers, authors, trainers, coaches, if you will never actually run it as a business. It's a hobby. And they don't have systems in place. They don't have a prospecting tool. They don't have referral mechanisms in place. You know, they don't have upsells downsells cross sells, and I didn't either, and it's all because we're never taught that. I work with a lot. I coach a lot of celebrities now and a lot of pro athletes. I just met I was in. You mentioned trade centers. I was in San Diego speaking it was myself. Emmy award winning TV host Leeza Gibbons, good friend of mine that I've helped and Nick Lowry used to be the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs all time leading kicks kicker for the Chiefs all time leading scorer Hall of Fame. And I had a chance to have lunch with a guy that played for the Yankees and one four World Series. He knew I was speaking he saw me on social media, he asked if we could meet for lunch and coffee. And we talked and, you know, it was the the same sort of situation. He's like, you know, I played for the Yankees and won World Series play with Gary Jeter or Derek Jeter, and all these you know, talk Yankees, and Steinbrenner, you know, learned a lot. And I want to get into speaking and I said, Well, you do know you're running a business, right? And it's wonderful. You played for the Yankees and won all these World Series. But that doesn't mean you're going to get booked. What means you're going to get booked is when you actually reach out to the people who have the budgets and make decisions and actually get them to book you. And then get them to book you for four talks instead of one and then get them to book you for four talks plus consulting and coaching for their C level execs after and they said that's all business thing. You know, and so that's what I try to impart on people now is right out of the gate, because I told him I said you're gonna you're gonna have a good message about winning World Series and all the stuff you went through and the ups and downs. But if you don't learn this stuff, stuff, all that stuff is never going to be able to share be shared and impact people because you won't know how to get to decision makers, and you won't know what they're looking for, you won't know how to let set fees, then you won't know how to roll it into $100,000 Follow up consulting contracts, etc. And so that and that was that was something I was never taught. And that's something I don't think people are taught. We just get into it. Hey, you got a great message, go talk. Okay. So I really try to impart the entrepreneurial business knowledge that I've been blessed to gain over the years that has helped me go from working in a video store making seven bucks an hour to literally generating millions of dollars as a speaker.   Michael Hingson  15:42 Well, speaking of millions, you were on ABC Secret Millionaire, I remember that show. And I throw a blessing. I think I remember watching the one that you were on. But tell us about secret millionaire and it's not on anymore. That's too bad. But anyway,   James Malinchak  15:57 well, so there'll be touch on that the reason it's not on is because people started figuring it out. And see what happened is that you don't realize this unless, because all you see is me on television. And I'll get into the show piece in a second. But what you don't realize is that got 15 to 20 people around me, I have one guy who his whole job was to control the microphone. And like he would say, stop, stop, stop, we got to stop filming and be like why? So there's a plane, like, you look up and it was the plane like 30,000 feet and like nobody could see it or hear it. But he could pick it up, which meant it was going to be picked up on television. Right. So that was his whole job. We had people there, their job was to just carry the reflector boards to reflect the light to make sure that there were no shadows on my face as I was walking. I mean, so there were a lot of people around us doing this. So it's not like you could just show up in a town have 15 to 20 people around you with security police, you know, big lights, cameras, like on all angles of the street four cameras and, and not know something's going on.   Michael Hingson  17:09 What was your first clue?   James Malinchak  17:10 Yeah, exactly. So that's the reason why the ratings were fantastic. As a matter of fact, when I was on, we had over 10 million people that watched it that night that I appeared and to put it in perspective, Trump's apprentice Donald Trump's the apprentice was on that night and had 7 million. So we I had 10 million on mine, you know, which was so in other words, like the ratings weren't great. But they were people were starting to figure it out and trying to get on TV, because they knew that the you know, they would be awarded money if they were so it just it deflated the essence of the spirit of the show, which was. So for anyone listening, imagine if someone came and grabbed you by crane picked you up out of your current element and dropped you somewhere and said go ahead and live. And by the way, you're not allowed to have any credit cards, no watch, no cell phone, no outside connection, no internet access, no outside connection to the world. They want you to be fully present in the moment. And imagine if they then said, and for this entire eight days, while you're going to be here, we're going to give you a check to live on. And it's $44.66. Now go live. And we'll see you later. And that's what it was it was taken me out of my current entrepreneurial element, with no resources, dropping me in a place. I had no idea where I was going, which happened to be Gary, Indiana. Oh, boy. Yeah, if anybody knows anything about Gary, two things, number one, Michael Jackson and the Jacksons grew up there on 223 Jackson Street. And number two, at the time I went there, it was the number two murder place in the US. And I had no idea I thought I was going to Indiana to milk cows on a farm. That's all I that's what my perception of Indiana was. And so, and basically they put me there and my purpose was to go through their town. Look for amazing people working for organizations who were changing lives and making a difference. Friend them, start working for them in their, their charity, and then volunteering. And then at the end of my time, when I'm going to leave town I go to them. And I say, Mike, thanks so much for having me here and your charity, allowing me to come into your family and start helping folks and to work side by side. I really appreciate it. I have to head out of town now. But before I leave, there's something I haven't told you. And that's my whole acting. That's the only thing they told me I had to do. So that's my acting move. I had to say that and then pause so my acting move, but big debut of acting was I paused I'll do it again for anybody didn't hear. There's something I haven't told you boom, there we go. I had to pause for three seconds. Everything else was real, except they instructed me. I had to pause for three seconds after I said that, so, and then I rebuild my identity. And the reason for the pause is they wanted to get the cameras on people's faces to catch the what? Like, what? Oh, no, what's going on? Like, they want to catch that shock. And so then, then I just told him, I said, you know, I think what you're doing is amazing, you're impacting people's lives, you're making a difference. And I open up my checkbook, and I start writing them checks. To help further their mission, I wrote over $100,000 worth of checks to them. And hence the term secret billionaire. So that's the whole essence of this show. And Mike, I'll just say the last thing is this. One of the true blessings in my life, I met, not people I met angels, people are just serving and doing good to help the fellow man and fellow woman for no other reason than to help them true angels, Great Spirits of serving.   Michael Hingson  21:04 And that kind of thing is always wonderful and a blessing to encounter. And and define that there are people who are committed to doing that, and they do it very selflessly. And they get they get rewarded for it in various ways. And a lot of times, probably the investment world doesn't understand the rewards that they get.   James Malinchak  21:25 Well, so you're 100% right, my friend. When I was doing the media, I mean, I must have done five 600 media appearances to promote the show, maybe 1000. I don't know I did so many of them. I remember one one time we did. 300 was booked for 300 radio shows like satellite tours where I might I probably did 5080 shows in a day, you know, five minutes here, two minutes here, four minutes here. But that was on the Grammy red carpet. I mean, with all the celebrity Will Smith is right next to me, Justin Bieber, the Oak Ridge Boys, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. I mean, everybody's right there. And so when I would do these interviews, no matter where it was, or to who it was, people would always say, so what was it like to be on that show? And I said, Well, it's called Secret Millionaire. And I appreciate the fact that it's kind of labeled around someone like me, the entrepreneurial millionaire guy, but this show is not about me, this show was about these unsung heroes, who are finally going to get their due and be recognized for the amazing work they're doing in their community, like you said, Mike, that no one ever hears about. So I always say, you know, it was called Secret Millionaire, but it was really about all these people who were doing amazing work.   Michael Hingson  22:40 And continue to do it. It's, yeah, it's a lot of fun. I worked for a nonprofit for a while I worked up at Guide Dogs for the Blind in salt shell. Yeah, and you know, it is all about doing it because you want to, and doing it because you know, you're accomplishing good things. And for me, of course, it's a little bit different than a lot of people who who work there. And of course, using a guide dog. It's, it's different. Because I'm also involved in trying to relay the message, you know, the average individual thing. So it's a blind person who's got a dog, the dog leads them around, never recognizing that the dogs job is to make sure that we don't fall off a cliff, it's still my job to know where to go and how to get there. And that's no different than you needing, needing to know where to go and how to get there. You use different cues than I do. But I give the dog that commands. And so working up at the school, even a lot of people at the school didn't really understand that. So it was and today as I travel and speak, it is all about input, at least in part, helping to educate people to recognize blindness isn't the problem. It's your attitudes and your misconceptions about blindness. That is a real challenge that we face. And the fact of the matter is that we should be inclusive as a society.   James Malinchak  24:00 Hmm, no, I love that. And kudos to what you're doing to help educate all of us who don't understand and better maybe shift our paradigm because we have false beliefs or false misconceptions. But yeah, it's it's amazing. It's amazing that when you just you know, I say that the secret to living is giving and when you come from a servant's heart, and you just truly want to make a difference. My dad and mom used to always tell me when I would do something good, like win an award like basketball or something and I'd come home Hey, Mom, Hey, Dad, I got this and they say, Oh, we love you, son that so proud of you. But remember, you didn't come into this world with anything and you're not leaving with anything. The only thing you got son is the difference that you make while you're here the impact that you make, the lives you change and the legacy you leave. And every time every time I made an award like some sort of warm throughout my whole life. Oh, that's great, son. We love you. We're proud Have you but remember, let it go right back into it. So you're   Michael Hingson  25:04 gonna take, you're not going to take those plaques and trophies with you when you leave   James Malinchak  25:08 100%. I just gathered dust. The it's amazing. It's funny you say that because I have some of those plaques and trophies from basketball or from when I was a stock broker and they literally are in a box in a storage unit. Right? Literally, that's it had been there for years. Yeah, 20 years, some of them.   Michael Hingson  25:32 I, when I first relocated to the New York area, I was there about a year and then got recruited away by a company that I had worked with some and knew the owner of. And I worked there for about a year and a half before I got recruited by quantum to open an office for them in New York, which we did in the World Trade Center. But this company, my first year out, I was number one in sales. And since I hadn't worked for the company before, they gave me Rookie of the Year plaque, which was great. And that was on my wall in the World Trade Center. When the building was attacked, of course, everything was lost. Two weeks later, this guy calls our house and I was in the city, meeting with someone at the time, of course now after 911. And he didn't know whether he's alive or dead. He talked to my wife and finally got up the nerve to say why he was calling. And she said, Well, he's in the city meeting with someone right now. And she said, you could just hear the relief in his voice knowing that I was alive. Well, we met up and he gave me this plaque, this rookie of the year plaque he worked for 9x now part of a reason. He found that plaque in the pile grounds away, counted up. And it's just it is one of those things. So it's taken on a whole lot more meaning but it still is a plaque and it's it's really still what you accomplish.   James Malinchak  26:59 Wow. That's unbelievable that it survived that. You know, what a what a great Wow. I'm speechless, literally speechless.   Michael Hingson  27:09 I it was amazing. When he he found it, he cleaned it all up, it was still in great shape, it still is in great shape. And it's just kind of one of those memories that you have. And memories are good things to have. So it's okay.   James Malinchak  27:23 Oh, yeah, absolutely. But you know, it's the memory I don't I don't really care about the the tangible trophies and all that I have. You know, hopefully, by doing some of those accomplishments, I was able to make someone's life better that that's what really matters to me.   Michael Hingson  27:39 Sure. It's, it's about what you said, it's about what you do. The rewards and all that stuff are great. And the money is great. And we do need money. And that's the way the world is set up. But still, the bigger rewards are what we do to help people and and the things that we accomplish and can look back on and say, I made a difference. Well, what I?   James Malinchak  28:01 Yeah, what I tell folks all the time, I said look, and I asked a friend of mine and you may know him neato Cobain. Nieto used to be the past president of something called the National Speakers Association. And he's the president of High Point University in High Point North Carolina right now a great phenomenal, one of the best speakers ever. And they came to America with $50 in his pocket. And I asked him one time we were sitting in the back of a room, we're both speaking at a Dan Kennedy marketing event. And I asked him, I said, neato. I just Just curious, I've always wanted to ask you this. I said, you're amazing philanthropist you give you serve, you know, you're you're pretty much running this university and taking no payment just because you want to do it and help people help kids. And I said, I know money's not everything. But how would you frame it? He goes, Well, I put money right up there with oxygen. Yeah. So what do you mean? He said, Well, I mean, you gotta have it. Everything we require in life is money. And it's, it's ridiculous for people to think that like, it should be a focus. And then so I always tell my talks, like I said, look, the more money you make, and I tell speakers this all the time more money you make, the more you can give away. Yeah, there is that. The more money you make, the more you can feed people who are hungry. The more money you make, the more you can build roofs for churches, or you could build water wells, or like I have, and I don't ever really talk about my philanthropy, but I have, you know, schools I've built in Africa, for kids who were sitting on rocks to learn because they had no shelter. And I said, this, this is terrible, you know, we ought to be able to do something about it. And so I would give them a whole bunch of money. So we can build schools over there and get textbooks and get, you know, desks and so kids don't have to sit outside and the heat, but like think about it, it takes money to do that kind of stuff. All the pie in the sky. I hear what people talk about manifestation and the secret and all that I get it But at the end of the day, you got to write a check. And at the end of the day, you got to be able to buy tangible stuff. And if you don't have the money in your bank account, you can't build the school in Africa, all the wishing and hoping in the world and getting that school bill, that stroke in a check, to buy concrete to buy supplies to pay the workers to build get trucks to come over and help them build it that that takes money to do that. So I tell people all the time, make a lot of money in your profession, so that you can impact more people. Last thing I'll say is, you know, when I was helping to feed a lot of folks, you know, it was amazing because lunch meat, bread, Manet's drinks, that all takes money to buy it, you know, so that we could actually feed people, even if we made it, we had to hire workers and pay them to make the food so we could feed people. So anyone that thinks that money doesn't play into how big and well you serve, of course, you can serve with time, you can serve with talents, but at the end of the day, if you make some more money than you can help and serve and give back in a bigger way,   Michael Hingson  31:17 as you should,   James Malinchak  31:18 as we all should. Yeah, so I tell people make out gazillion dollars, don't keep any of that, give it away and help a lot of less fortunate folks.   Michael Hingson  31:25 Absolutely. So with things like secret millionaire, and so on, you have faced some pretty challenging things in your life. How do you do that? I think some people would say, without fear. And I know that that doesn't really make sense, because of course, there's fear. But how? How do you deal with challenges like that?   James Malinchak  31:47 Well, my sister Vicki, unexpectedly passed away years ago of a brain tumor. And when she was diagnosed with it, and it was about three months before she passed, I saw her in a hospital room and in a bed, you know, with medication and all these things happening, and never one time. Never once. Did I ever hear her complaint? Never once did I ever hear her say why me? Never once? Did I ever hear her, you know, say anything about that. And I thought that I watched my sister deteriorate and start to pass away. And I said, What the hell am I complaining about? This is a human being that lost her life. And there we know many people, everybody knows someone that lost a life. And so that really changed me and made me realize that why am I scared of things? She wasn't scared of transitioning out of this world into a different place. What I'm going to be scared because I haven't tried something. And by the way, psychologists tell us that human beings are born with two fears and two fears only the fear of falling. And the fear of boom, loud noises. No. So if you have any other fear in your life, that means you created it, and you manifested it. And basically, you know this, whether you think about something good or bad, it expands. So if you think about fear and nervousness, and oh my gosh, here's the thing I learned Mike, when when we say I'm scared of this, I'm worried about this, oh, my god, well, then isn't the focus on you. And so what I do, and all I do in my talks is try to share people with people what I do that works for me, and if it works for you, great, use it. If not, they've crumble up, throw it away. I'm not here to tell you that, like I have figured everything out, I just figured out a couple things for me, and maybe these will work for you. And so what I tell folks is, when you're fearful, either one you haven't practiced, you haven't honed it, you don't have your skills down. Number two, maybe it's brand new, and you haven't tried it before, right? Like first time we tried to ride a bike or something. We were fearful everything we're always first time we started a job, we were nervous. But the third thing to realize is, is if you weren't born with that, right? It's because there was two fears fear of falling and fear of loud noises. So it's Fe AR is, is you've heard this before false evidence. It's false evidence because you weren't born with it, it appears real, because you focus on it and blow it up in your mind. Right? And so then we start the fourth thing is to focus on what what if like, Oh, what if I screw up? What if this doesn't work? I'm scared because of and then you think of a negative but what if you turn that into positive energy? And said, I'm so excited about this? Because I get this opportunity to and then fill in the blank? Yeah. So change your languaging change the way you think about it change the way you act toward it. And the last thing the fifth thing I always say is this for myself. This is part of the process. Because everything I started that was brand new, I was always nervous about and fearful. That's just part of the process. Now, I'll get through this. And then I'll look back on it the same way I look back on learning to ride a bike or learning to drive a car. And I'll look back on this situation and say, What was I so nervous about that nonsense?   Michael Hingson  35:22 Well, and one of the things that that I have learned, especially over the last 20 years, and internalizing September 11, and so on is we do have fears they do happen. And some of those fears can be pretty overwhelming. But they're overwhelming, because we haven't developed a mindset that allows us to look at them, analyze them, which you can do in the blink of an eye, and be able to move forward with we've got this pandemic going on around us. And I submit that a lot of the people who choose not to get vaccinated not to wear masks who claim it's all a hoax, are really reacting out of fear, rather than recognizing there is something going on here. And we can be proud proactive in dealing with it. But mostly controlling our own mindset, so that we can move forward in the circumstances, and deal with them successfully. And with the World Trade Center. There are still people who I know who are afraid to fly because they saw the airplanes hit the towers, or they're afraid of other things, they won't go into tall buildings. And they developed these fears. And as you said, they they let them expand, rather than della developing a mindset to look at how to overcome them or use the fear because they're, there's a part of fear, that's a biological reaction. But use the fear to your advantage to allow you to be motivated to move forward.   James Malinchak  37:03 Right, and you can control your fear. People don't realize that but if you studied neuro linguistic programming and timeline therapy, you could step out of it. Look at it almost as a movie going by see it not actually being engaged and let your emotions be shifted by the situation. And you literally can control that. I'm not fearful, I'm looking at it. And I'm fearful because I'm in it. But if I step back and just look at it metaphorically, then what am I really fearful of it makes no sense. And I'm watching this go by instead of actually feeling it inside of me.   Michael Hingson  37:37 Exactly right. And using what's going on to heighten your senses. So traveling around the stairs at the World Trade Center was not a big deal for me. But I had developed a mindset, because I learned what to do. In the case of an emergency, I consulted with Port Authority, security people, I learned the complex and so on. And I did all that because I ran an office and I knew darn well that if there were ever an emergency, especially if we happen to be in an area that was smoke filled, all you light dependent sighted people are going to have a world of hurt trying to figure out how to get out because you can't see where you're going. And then would take us normal people to get you out. So I, I learned what I needed to know. But I was the leader of the office. So it was my responsibility to do it. But what I didn't realize until later was that was developing a mindset that says, okay, things are happening. You don't have control over some of the things that are happening, perhaps. But you can certainly use all the information that you have and all the knowledge that you've gained to work through it.   James Malinchak  38:41 Yeah, absolutely. 100%. And preparation, I think is a big thing, too. And then there's, there's something too, they teach at Harvard Business School that I always loved. And it's called Future Perfect planning. Right, you plan for the future. And that means good or bad. There's a great book one of my favorite books of all time, and I've read about 5000 Some books now, over the years and one of my favorite books of all time and includes listening to books on audio, I don't want you to think that I just read them. I actually listened to a lot I listened to read, if you will. But it's called the positive power of negative preparation. And it's all it's all about preparing for the negative, there's a positive force in preparing for potential negative situations because God forbid if something happens, as you know, not always are we fully prepared, but at least you have some sort of preparation, an idea of how to handle it as a situation. And so I remember reading that book about 20 Some years ago changed my life because I was like, Oh, I'm not as fearful as certain situations. If I'm preparing for them, there is a positive power in negative preparation, meaning preparing for the negative.   Michael Hingson  39:55 You're not going to be able to prepare them for everything that happens but it's really developing the tools that give you the ability to deal with whatever happens, correct? Yeah. Yeah. And it's an it's something that all too often we don't do do, but it is developing those tools, that's really the big issue that we have to deal with, and should deal with. And fortunately, I did that. Yeah, I'll give you   James Malinchak  40:21 an example. You know, you mentioned the terrible 911 tragedy, which, you know, God bless you that you were able to pull through that. And, man, just, it's an honor talking to you, and you're the first person. And I'll always cherish this first person that I've met in my life to actually survive that situation. So it is truly an honor to be able to know you a little bit and talk to you about it. It's a special bonus for me. But I've never flown the same way ever since. You know, I have a friend who's a when now he's retired, but former CIA agent, and I hired him to consult with me and share ideas on how you know, I'm a speaker, I'm out there, I'm traveling, like how do I protect myself with something I'm on planes all the time. And he gave me a tool or resource, if you will, like I carry what a lot of the CIA officers carry what's called Tactical ink pens, they're pens, but they're tactical, meaning that they have a steel core center, so that you can use them in any situations, and they make them through metal they you can make through, that's the only type of how do I want to say defending mechanism that you're leaning, it's really nice, and that you can actually get through metal detectors, the TSA, right. And all of all of the Secret Service people carry him all the CIA officers, and so I was able to get them through him. And so I carry those on flights in my belt. So literally, they're with me at all times. Now. The other thing is situational awareness, he taught me of knowing where the fire extinguishers are on the airplane, in case someone does do something, you can get to a fire extinguisher, blow that smoke in their face. And with your tactical pens, you'll be able to take them down, taught me techniques to take someone down and disabled people, if they have a knife or box cutters or any kind of object. Well, those are all tools, if you will, like you put it. And thank God and 20 some years, I've never ever had to do any of that. But I never get on a plane without knowing where the fire extinguishers were a matter of fact, I'll tell you this, when I booked my flight, I always took a seat near where the fire extinguishers are, in case, just in case that one time, I need to jump up and grab one of those fire extinguishers. I know where the tool is. And I was prepared by him on how to attempt to handle that situation.   Michael Hingson  42:51 That is most important, the mental tool that you draw in the knowledge and the mindset that you could put that mental tool to work and do whatever you needed to do. I mean, you can think of any number of people who could have those same physical tools, but would freeze up or not know what to do to really use them in an emergency.   James Malinchak  43:15 Sure, absolutely. Well, I'll tell you my mental. My mental motivation was taught by my father, I'll never forget he said I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by six. Yes. I'd trust me, I would have no problems going through that. I don't know how you want to call that. The techniques and the system he taught me? Because what's the adverse effect? Possibly not making it or having others harmed or children harmed for no reason? So that's my motivation. Is it to sit here or do something? Yeah. And if you know what to do and have the confidence to do it, that's really important. And I'll tell you if I didn't know what to do, I wouldn't probably have that confidence. Sure. I wouldn't. I'd probably be nervous and fearful and doubt but because I know step one, this step two is this step three is this got it? You know, here, I'll tell you some LC Tom, because I think it's really important step one, you grab the magazines in the seat, rest and you put them around your waist inside of your pants, because if someone has a box, cutter knife, etc, that's the first place they're going to try and stab you. So if you have padding there, then it doesn't work. You know, second thing is you have your tactical pin in your right hand and you have the fire extinguisher in your left and you blow the fire extinguisher and you step through the smoke because they're going to put their hands up and block their face. You step through the smoke and you go right for their midsection because that's the largest part of a human being. Right so my point is this not to say like this is a self defense podcast, but But it's he gave me step by step of stuff that logically made sense therefore, not as known. Nervous, not as fearful to possibly use those techniques and engage in the system, if you will, I didn't know that, oh, I would be completely fearful and nervous.   Michael Hingson  45:11 Sure. But you made a choice.   James Malinchak  45:15 Yes, 100%.   Michael Hingson  45:17 And that was to learn, which is what it's really all about. And by making the choice and by developing the mindset to deal with fear, and to deal with different situations, and understand as much as you could about different situations, you can live in those kinds of environments, and, and be more unstoppable to use the vernacular of the title of the podcast, but it is all about understanding what you can do and what you can I suppose there is something to be said for Harry Callahan and Magnum Force, A man's got to know his limitations, but you know, you got to really know them, and you know them best by learning them.   James Malinchak  45:53 Correct? Yeah, exactly. Mike, I just want to share with you, my friend, I got about two minutes. And then I've got to jump on the next podcast that someone has.   Michael Hingson  46:02 Real quick. Why is Why do you consider public speaking the highest paid profession? Well, because it's the   James Malinchak  46:11 only profession I know, where you don't have to have any college or high school, even education. You don't need a master's degree a PhD, you need no actual, I hate to say it this way. But real skills, in order to do it, all you have to have is some sort of life experience or, you know, some sort of thing that you figured out that you want to share with others that would help them some sort of steps to teach them. And anybody can do, it doesn't matter if you're tall or short, rich, or poor, young, or old, male or female, doesn't matter where you came from, doesn't matter where you're going, you know, it's the only profession I know, last thing I'll say is where the the more jacked up, you've been in your past, the actual law you're gonna make.   Michael Hingson  46:51 There you go. Well, this has really been an honor. And I am just as blessed to get the chance to talk with you. And I would like to find ways that we can work together and stay in touch definitely. I think it would be a lot of fun to do. And I hope that we can do it. And I think that you've offered a lot here. And you've demonstrated that you clearly are able to deal with a lot of different situations. So I appreciate you being here. How can people reach out to you or learn more about your get a hold of you?   James Malinchak  47:23 Thank you. First of all, it's an honor and a privilege. As I said earlier, you really put a special imprint on my heart, being able to meet someone who went through such a historical, devastating situation in our world. So thank you for allowing me to come on and share with some of your great listeners really easy. I'm on this mission to I took my four day big money speaker boot camp, and I actually have written it into a book. And it's over 250 pages. I'm giving it all away for free. It's how I can leave a legacy and the biggest, better best way. There's nothing to pay, you don't have to get a credit card. You just simply go and download it in a digital format. And please pass it around to anybody that you think it might help. It's www dot fri speaker book.com www dot fri speaker book.com?   Michael Hingson  48:19 Yes. Really cool. And people can find you that way. Is there an audio version?   James Malinchak  48:24 Yes, we actually have an audio version as well. And at some point, we'll also have a video version too. But right now it's the book and then the audio book as well.   Michael Hingson  48:35 Cool. So free speaker book.com Correct. Well, James Belichick Thank you very much for being here. It's been an honor. And for anyone who listens to this, please go. Wherever you get your podcasts and give us a five star rating. We would appreciate it. If you'd like to comment or reach out to us in any way you can reach me at Michael H I M i C H A E L H I at accessiBe A C C E S S I B E.com, who didn't get a chance to talk about accessiBe, but we should sometime it's a great way to make websites more usable and accessible. We got to look at your website and see if it's as accessible as it could be James.   James Malinchak  49:16 Well, thank you, Mike. I appreciate it. Thank you so much, my friend for having me on.   Michael Hingson  49:20 Thank you. It's been an honor. It's my honor. You beat you to my friend.   UM Intro/Outro  49:31 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Melissa Hughes, from High Point North Carolina, is the mother of four children and six grandchildren. Melissa is also a certified nursing assistant. She's currently the executive of Melissa Hughes Ministries, where her message of love is heard around the globe. Melissa's has survived incredible circumstances in her lifetime and she's turned her pain into purpose by God's grace. **Follow her on TikTok at melissahughes198

Today we have a return guest on the show, Gordy Mitchell of Mitchell's Lawn Care LLC, out of High Point North Carolina! Mitchell shares a little bit more about his business story and journey over the last 5 years, as well as the lessons learned from growing his business to all different sizes. Mitchell wraps up the episode sharing some fun updates with his personal house and property, including the building of a massive pole barn that would be sure to turn heads for any contractor! Enjoy! www.Ballard-inc.com (Brians10 Save 10%) www.LawntrepreneurAcademy.com Brian's Lawn Maintenance - YouTube https://linktr.ee/brianslawnmaintenance @brianslawnmaintenance Together In The Trades @mitchellslawncarellc  

On today’s show we interview Luka Kinard, an inspiring 17 year old, and his mother Kelly Kinard from High Point North Carolina, about their struggle with his addiction and how he hopes to help other kids from making the same mistakes he did. Luka got hooked as a freshman in high school. His addiction quickly escalated and led to extreme health consequences and family turmoil. Today, he is no longer using these products thanks to Kelly’s very difficult decision to send him to rehab. Now, Luka travels around the country speaking to other kids about his own personal story.

Joe Sealey is 14 years old and a student at Ferndale middle school and High Point North Carolina. Joe also is a member of the school of hard knocks wrestling club. He is one of the top rising talents in high school in North Carolina. It will be an exciting podcast so please take a listen. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cast_of_champions/support

12 year-old Tu Sen arrived in America from a Thailand refugee camp in 1986, clutching her treasured possessions wrapped in a cardboard box. Eventually settling in High Point, North Carolina, Tu worked in her family’s restaurant for 19 years before opening her own eatery, 98 Asian Bistro , five years ago. Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Tu Sen and meets with Patrick Chapin, CEO of High Point Chamber of Commerce , about the reinvention of downtown High Point.

Dave Phillips: Former US Ambassador to Estonia, Secretary of Commerce, Philanthropist, and Proud North Carolinian. This week join me in High Point North Carolina with Dave Phillips and Journalist Mary Bogest. Dave’s life story of spirit and grit will inspire you to extend a hand to strangers and make new connections, who knows you just might meet the Dali Lama!

Thomas Built Buses ist der führende Schulbushersteller in Nordamerika. Bereits 2013 kam ich als Marketingleiter zu TBB. In dieser Funktion bin ich noch heute tätig. Thomas Built Buses hat bei uns in der Region (und im ganzen Land) einen guten Ruf - klar war ich begeistert, mit einer so bekannten Marke und in einem Unternehmen zu arbeiten, das so hoch angesehen ist. Aber mehr noch: Ich wollte, dass meine Arbeit von Belang ist. Ich wollte eine Arbeit finden, die mir ein echtes Ziel gab, eine, die im Leben vieler Menschen eine Rolle spielte.

Thomas Built Buses is the leading school bus manufacturer in North America. Back in 2013, I joined TBB as the manager of the center of education and marketing, a role in which I still serve today. Thomas Built Buses has a great reputation in the area (and across the country), so I was excited to get to work with such an iconic brand and within a company that was so highly respected. But more than that, I wanted my work to matter. I wanted to find work that gave me a true purpose, one that made a difference in the lives of many.

1.  INTRO In our last episode, #56, we talked about the amazing Designer Experience event we attended that was put together by PBM Brands and Designers Today Magazine.   We were invited along with several interior designers from across the country to Greensboro and High Point North Carolina for a 3 day immersion of the Triad area where we visited some key furniture manufacturers and toured the Sunbrella offices.   One of our favorite events was a visit to The Philips Collection in High Point North Carolina.  2.  ABOUT THE PHILLIPS COLLECTOIN A.     It all started nearly fifty years ago when Larry and Sherry Phillips left their old lives behind to travel the world. When their entrepreneur son Mark and his architect wife, Julie joined them, they created a company dedicated to discovering beautiful and unusual hand-crafted home décor for their exclusive design trade clientele. Today, their children, Jason and Jessica have become integral parts of the business. B.     They are a design leader in the furniture industry and have received some of the top industry awards, including multiple Pinnacle and ADEX Awards, as well as a four-time recipient of the coveted ARTS Award for Top Product Designer. C.     They offer products such as organic contemporary furnishings, accessories, wall décor and sculpture. D.    They are a to-the-trade company with showrooms in Atlanta, Dallas, High Point, Laguna, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York. If you are a consumer you can purchase their products through an Interior Designer or find their products at fine furniture dealers around the world. E.     Commercial Work – There’s a good chance you’ve seen their products at the movies or on TV, as well as your favorite restaurants, bars and nightclubs. We are very excited to have Jason Phillips, Vice President of the Phillips Collection as a guest today. 3.  TELL US THE ROLE YOU PLAY IN THE COMPANY A.     Did you always want to be involved in the family business? B.     How old were you when you started? 4.  THE VIDEOS - EVERY PIECE A CONVERSATION A.     Tell us about your trips around the world and what you search for. B.     Where is your favorite place to visit? 5.  THE PRODUCTS A.     The Origins Collection – Live edge and reclaimed roots made into tables, stools, sculpture and accents – Tell us the story about the tree roots and the fire truck B.     The seat belt chair – such an interesting piece. How did it come to be? C.     What is your favorite piece and why? 6.  FOLLOW PHILLIPS COLLECTION A.     Instagram – www.instagram.com/phillipsco B.     Facebook – www.facebook.com/thephillipscollection C.     Twitter – www.twitter.com/phillipsco D.    Pinterest – www.pinterest.com/phillipsco E.     You Tube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVDPG_UbsHlcQHV-p-YFt6w  

We’re going to play a game on today’s episode! Amy Hedgecock, a third generation property manager in High Point, North Carolina, has a crazy story of when she managed a property for some California investors who never even saw it. When the owner of the property finally flew over to see the property, he was shocked, scared, and given a knife by a tenant for protection before entering a “vacant” unit. Listen in and try to find out where, exactly, things went wrong – and learn how to make sure this never happens to you or your clients! Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or in the Podcasts App on your phone. Never miss a beat from Leigh by visiting leighbrown.com. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:35 – Introducing Amy, a 3rd generation property manager in High Point North Carolina, who has been president of the North Carolina realtors 02:30 – Amy’s CSIRE story 03:00 – She has 500 single-family units and some apartment buildings; she enjoys bettering the properties so her investors have a better return on investment 03:30 – Many California investors were buying investment properties; one bought an apartment building sight unseen and neither the buyer nor seller had a REALTOR® 04:00 – Amy went out to the property and there was a lot of deferred maintenance; she got in touch with the new owners and they knew some money would have to go into it 04:50 – There were apartments missing on the rent roll; it looked 100% rented but only because 7 units were unaccounted for 05:20 – The heat was missing in the vacant units and tenants of other of the missing units had serious issues; the owners sent some money to fix the issues 06:00 – She had hired off-duty police officers to guard vacant units because there were squatters; the rent money didn’t cover all the issues the place had 06:30 – She had to evict half the building because they weren’t paying rent; an owner finally said they’d fly into town to see the place 07:20 – She only went to the property with an officer because it was an unsafe place; when the owner arrived he said, “This place isn’t so bad!” 07:50 – The police officer showed the guy a YouTube channel called “High Point Ghetto Fights” and a fight video was shot in front of his apartment 08:40 – A prostitute from the building followed them while they showed the property to the owner; she yelled “I’m not working today!” to a group of men yelling at her 09:45 – They enter a vacant unit that had been taken over by feral cats; one was dead and melted into the floor 10:30 – The owner opened an old, disconnected refrigerator and it was disgusting; Amy laughed 11:30 – When they reach the last row of apartments, the woman handed the property owner a knife to protect himself from someone in a vacant unit there 11:55 – He skipped that unit and asked an officer to check it out; the property was resold shortly after that visit 12:20 – Amy didn’t take on managing the property with the new owners 12:45 – The lessons 12:50 – The owners bought the property sight unseen, which was a mistake; they didn’t have rent rolls, reports, or P&Ls 13:20 – If you aren’t going to have realtor representation, be smart about the questions you ask and the information you require before purchasing 14:50 – It’s important to use professional property managers for your investment properties 15:30 – REALTORS®, get connected with property managers to help your clients better 17:30 – How to contact Amy: by email at amyhedgecock@gmail.com, by phone (336)883-1333, or at fowler-fowler.com 3 Key Points Ask the right questions before purchasing! Don’t short-cut your property management needs. REALTORS® and property managers should be connected and help each other! Credits Audio Production by Chris Mottram Show Notes provided by Melissa Valder

Da jeg var til et Rotary møde var der en, der sagde: "Du skal besøge Christina, vores danske turistchef". Og da jeg ikke havde mødt andre danskere her i staten, drejede jeg forbi og sagde "Dav". Hør Christinas beretning om, hvordan hun landede lige her for omkring 30 år siden. Spørgsmålet er, om hun stadig kan tale dansk.   

Business Playmakers podcast presents one of many special episodes where we go back to the beginning, when the sound quality wasn't as good, and remix. Proudly we would like to welcome Nathan Morris to the Business Playmakers podcast! Today’s Business Playmaker is Nathan Morris. After graduating high school, Nathan moved to High Point North Carolina to begin a very successful music career. Nathan earned the 2010 Indy Charts Artist of the Year Award, and in that same year his life dramatically changed. Nathan came back home to Owensboro Kentucky for a quick visit, and during that visit he met a young lady who would become his wife. In an exciting turn of events Nathan is now known for innovation in an industry not known for being innovative, in that he manages and owns multiple funeral homes and has an undying passion for helping families plan for arguably their most important event. This is an exciting episode and Nathan has had an exciting life, but after hearing his story you will know the best is yet to come. Enjoy listening and don’t forget to Subscribe, Rate, and Review the Business Playmakers podcast. I Tunes  https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/nathan-morris/id22839480 Youtube https://youtu.be/bWrODnB5m2k Websites http://www.nathanmorrismusic.com http://www.haleymcginnis.com

Fr. John interviews Fr. Christopher Foley of Holy Cross Orthodox Church, High Point, North Carolina.

Today we're talking with former mayoral candidate for High Point North Carolina to discuss important social issues. 

Gretta Bush and Bobby Davis of High Point Community Against Violence explain how the Drug Market Initiative–a program developed by David Kennedy of John Jay College of Criminal Justice–offers a sustainable and effective strategy for ending the violence associated with open-air drug markets. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, this is Rob Wolf, director of communications at … Continue reading Shutting Drug Markets in High Point, North Carolina →