Podcasts about Honestly

During the summer we have run story series, taking breaks, run replays, etc. Honestly there isn't a perfect rhythm and what we have learned is to be flexible. Due to some circumstances this summer I'm unable to record the story series, but I hope you've enjoyed all the interviews I've done so far. There will be more of those to come! Over the next 3 episodes we plan to air replays of some of our favorite interviews from the past or episodes that a lot of people have enjoyed or listened to. We hope this summer for you is a place where you can enjoy your vacations, rest, and find delight in things that might be business adjacent or maybe there are business saturated. I've found there is no one right way to do your summer vacation. —-------Here are some helpful links from the podcast:

The Knicks are your 2025 NBA champions...give me a break. The Let's Go to the Phones boys discuss the current discourse about if Philadelphia fans should be happy for the Knicks (no, they shouldn't) and if the Knicks play "Villanova basketball" (who cares). Honestly, Knicks fans only deserve pain and misfortune in their lives, so no, nobody outside of New York should be happy they won. Not that we're salty. The boys delve into the World Cup, the Phillies, and a possible rift between Jalen Hurts and the Eagles. Who cares!Subscribe, rate and review Let's Go To The Phones on all streaming platformsFollow us on all our socials- https://twitter.com/letsgo2thephone https://www.instagram.com/letsgotothephones/?hl=en

On this episode of the podcast Preeti Chhibber shares her experience taking different characters/nerdom and putting her own spin on them! In her latest book, "House of Harkness", Preeti tackles the Scarlet Witch's story -- told through the lense of a boarding school. What would a Magical Marvel boarding school look like and how would Wanda navigate it? Enjoy! About Preeti Chhibber Preeti Chhibber is an author, speaker, and freelance writer. She worked as a publishing professional. She has written for SYFY, Polygon, Elle, BookRiot, The Nerds of Color, and The Mary Sue, among others. Her debut young adult romantic comedy, Payal Mehta's Romance Revenge Plot is out in 2024. She also co-hosts the podcasts Women of Marvel, Desi Geek Girls, and Tar Valon or Bust. She's appeared on several panels at New York Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con, and on screen on the SYFY Network. Honestly, you probably recognize her from one of several BuzzFeed "look at these tweets" twitter lists. She usually spends her time reading a ridiculous amount of Young Adult but is also ready to jump into most fandoms at a moment's notice.    About 'House of Harkness' Calling all witches! Join Marvel fan-favorites Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch, and Agatha Harkness in this spell-binding graphic novel adventure! Sixteen-year-old Wanda Maximoff is eager for her first day at the highly coveted magic school, the House of Harkness. A place bursting with spellbinding secrets, misfits, and mayhem, Wanda, aka Scarlet Witch, finds herself at odds with the head student and heir to the school, Agatha Harkness. When evil threatens the school, Wanda and Agatha are challenged to put their differences aside to save the day.   Make sure to check out the Dtalkspodcast.com website! Thanks to Empire Toys for this episode of the podcast! Nostalgia is something everyone loves and Empire Toys in Keller Texas is on nostalgia overload.   With toys and action figures from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and today, Empire Toys is a one-stop-shop for a trip down memory lane and a chance to reclaim what was once yours (but likely sold at a garage sale)   Check out Empire Toys on Facebook, Instagram, or at TheEmpireToys.com AND Thanks to Self Unbound for this episode of the podcast: Your quality of life: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, is a direct reflection of the level of abundant energy, ease, and connection your nervous system has to experience your life!    At Self Unbound, your nervous system takes center stage as we help unbind your limited healing potential through NetworkSpinal Care.    Access the first steps to your Unbound journey by following us on Facebook, Instagram, or at www.selfunbound.com

11 years ago I gave a TEDx talk that has now had nearly 9 million views. I haven't watched it back in years, so today I'm rewatching it live, sharing what still resonates, and telling you the parts I never spoke about on that stage. WE'LL TALK ABOUT... The live experiment I opened the talk with, and the man in the audience whose reason for volunteering stopped me in my tracks. Why what's going on in your head has more impact on your results than almost anything else. The period of my life where I went from optimistic go-getter to completely self-sabotaging, and what that actually felt like. The heart palpitations, the ECG machine, and what my body was trying to tell me before I finally listened. Why I packed my bags and flew to Australia looking for an epiphany. The E-Myth funeral exercise that changed everything for me. How I programmed my mind for success, and why I still use these exact tools today. I also share the things that didn't make it into the talk. Honestly, watching this back, I want to hug that version of myself for being brave enough to get up there. Because the biggest thing standing between you and where you want to be is almost always you. And the moment you have awareness on that, everything can shift.  Let me know in the comments what landed most for you. Carrie xx

This week, we are operating on a generally elevated baseline of anxiety. Between hosting an 11-kid birthday party with a piñata, Erin's washing machine dying right when she needs to wash couch cushion covers, and a slammed hand in a truck door, the stress is very real. We crack open a full sugar Red Bull and a Spindrift to try and get through it. We kick things off with some "anti-motivation" for your hot summer runs: when the wind and heat are getting you down, just remember that you could be enduring 36 hours of labor or passing a kidney stone. We also vent our absolute rage over our posture after seeing photos of our rounded shoulders in the new Team Struggle Run shirts. Desk life and side-sleeping are clearly taking a toll, but we do have some positive fitness updates, including Erin mastering the dead hang and building sturdy wiffle ball strength through her pull up training. Next, we go on a massive rant about app registration requirements. We are completely sick of immediate pop-ups, cookie preferences, and forced account creations. Honestly, it would be easier to just hand-deliver our passwords, blood tests, and retinas straight to Jeff Bezos so he can just have all our data once and for all. We celebrate our former podcast guest and track-and-field Paralympian, Beatriz Hatz, who is making history as the first differently-abled contestant on Love Island. We also touch on the crazy drama of a local police officer quitting his force to join the same show. We then dive into a dedicated FIFA segment, covering three wild soccer stories. First, there's an alleged ban on outside water bottles that will force fans to buy overpriced water in the blistering heat. (I think FIFA recently repealed this, but we recorded before that.) We also discuss Heineken's clever "solo fan" commercial featuring Xavi, which leads us to admit we would absolutely fail to recognize a celebrity like Bad Bunny if he sat next to us undercover. To wrap up the sports talk, we share a wholesome video breakdown of the Japanese national team arriving in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in matching suits to receive traditional rancher hats from the governor. Moving into pop culture, we give a behind-the-scenes look at how TMZ actually gets the scoop, from keeping producers stationed daily at hospitals and courthouses to instantly calling everyone from mailmen to neighbors when news breaks. We also issue a quick reality TV PSA regarding Amanda Batula from Summer House: beta blockers are for lowering your heart rate during fight-or-flight moments, not for zoning out like benzos. For our "No Bad, No Sad" segment, we review arguably our best viral video yet, a corporate dad letting his inner DJ out on the turntables at a Guitar Center with his daughter. MERCH - https://nonmembersshop.com/

Is it perimenopause, or are you just finally fed up with the world? Honestly, it might be both.In this listener Q&A, I'm answering the questions so many of you have been sending me, and they're the kind that probably sound familiar. We start with mood, because so many of us feel more irritable, less patient, and a lot less willing to tolerate things we used to put up with. I'll walk you through what's happening with your hormones and neurotransmitters, and why your reasons for feeling done are still valid even when biology is part of the picture.From there, I tackle the big one: the belief that decades of dieting have "broken" your metabolism. I talk about what's really driving the lose-it-gain-it cycle, why intermittent fasting leaves so many women feeling awful, and the food guilt that shows up over something as ordinary as two slices of bread.I also answer a question that pulled at my heart, from a parent who overheard their daughter say she needed to "walk off" her dessert. If you've ever heard your own voice come out of someone you love, this one is for you.If any of this lands, I'd love to keep the conversation going. You'll find a link in the show notes to send me your questions for the next Q&A, and if you're ready for support:Book a callBecome a Feaster Send me your question for a future Q&A episode! Related episodes you'll love:#132: Why You Need to Put Capacity, Self-Compassion & Self-Care on the Menu#147: Why You Keep Starting Over Every Monday#136: Health vs. Weight: Debunking the Biggest Wellness Myth with Val Schonberg, RDWhat did you think of this episode? Click here and let me know!

Is Mixtape a “real game”? Honestly, who cares; we love this coming-of-age story set in the 90s from Beethoven and Dinosaur, through Annapurna Interactive. It's quick, it's robust, and it's memorable, and that's what we're after from narrative-focused experiences like this. Snackaroo is advanced Snap by way of Aardman, for up to 5 players, and while it's a children's game for sure, it's got enough meat in the bun for the parents of those kids too. It's from Rudi Biber and Ravensburger, and we really like it. Plus the wood glue is out for a QoL project to make a complex setup more simple, with the Descent 2nd Edition organiser from The Game Doctors, via Feldherr. All that, and being famous for five minutes on r/CasualUK, on Ep249. 00:00 - Getting Creami with ninjas 09:47 - Snackaroo 22:00 - Kris's house is famous 25:15 - Mixtape 49:44 - Getting sticky with The Game Doctors on Feldherr On this episode were Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner). Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about, our Steam Curator page collects every video game we've ever reviewed available on the platform, and our BoardGameGeek page does the same for every boardgame. And if you'd like to see what we're up to between podcasts, your best bet is our Instagram page. Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

She's 25, owns her home, has paid off her HECS debt, has more than $50,000 in super, is building an investment portfolio and somehow still rated herself a B- when I asked how she felt about her money habits. Growing up in regional Victoria, she got her first job at 14 and never really slowed down. While most of us were spending our weekends hanging out with friends, she was working supermarket shifts, saving for her future and helping her parents renovate investment properties. That work ethic followed her everywhere. Through nursing placements, night shifts, university, a mortgage in her early 20s and a long-distance relationship that somehow survived Melbourne lockdowns. Now she's built a life that's incredibly solid, but what I loved most about this conversation wasn't the numbers. It was her mindset. The way she talks about money feels refreshingly simple. Work hard. Save consistently. Make your money work for you. Repeat. We chat about buying a home at 21, paying off her HECS debt, starting her investing journey, the money lessons she learnt from her parents and grandparents, and why she's already thinking about the financial life she wants to build long before she starts a family. Honestly, this episode is proof that wealth isn't always built through big dramatic decisions. Sometimes it's built one supermarket shift, one mortgage repayment and one very stubborn financial goal at a time. New here? Follow us on Instagram (@shesonthemoneyaus) for Q&As, bite-sized advice, daily money inspo... and relatable money memes that just get you. Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements (nartarshabamblett.com.au) The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 4451289See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jess Kelly is one of those humans who walks into a room, says hell yes before she’s fully qualified, figures it out on the fly, and somehow makes the rest of us feel a little braver for existing near her. In this episode, we talk about business, risk, failure, family, starting again, and what happens when the thing you’ve poured everything into comes crashing down. Jess and her husband spent years building a prefab housing business with a huge vision, a tiny budget, and a whole lot of guts. Then, after years of pushing, pivoting, borrowing, sweating, hoping, and believing, they had to make the brutal call to put it into voluntary administration. But this ain't no doom and gloom chat... Not even close. Jess talks about owning the narrative, choosing family in the middle of the chaos, writing her way through the mess, and why everything is either good news or a good story if you’re willing to look at it through the right lens. We also get into imposter syndrome, shame, the weird freedom of having nothing left to lose, and why curiosity might just be the thing that keeps us moving when life goes full catastrophe mode. Honestly, Jess is a bloody weapon. Funny, honest, optimistic without being fluffy, and wildly refreshing. This one is a big, warm, slightly chaotic permission slip to take the risk, tell the truth, and give the thing a crack before you’ve got the shiny website, the perfect plan, or any idea what the hell you’re doing. SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au TIFFANEE COOK Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches Website: tiffcook.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Praying Honestly to God. Psalm 13. June 14th, 2026. Rick Reeves

In this episode, "Species Spotlight: Tuna" , the crew dives into the chicken of the sea…tunafish! Tuna are incredible animals. They are sleek and fast and get gigantic! Do you know they are warm blooded? Honestly, the moniker, “chicken of the sea” is so unfair to them. They are so much more majestic than chickens. Anyway, join us as we learn all about these powerful apex predators of the ocean!This podcast is brought to you by the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus!  They are North America's most abundant catfish species and they are the most prevalent caught by anglers in the United States. They are also the most commonly found watching their favorite shows on TV and have been known to change the…channel ... .more than any other water dwelling organisms. They also have taste receptors all over their bodies, making them the tastiest fish of all time. But why don't you be the judge of that? Cheers to you, channel catfish!  Thanks for listening to Gettin' Fishy With It! You can find our website at ⁠www.gettinfishywithit.com/⁠. You can find us on BlueSky at ⁠@gettinfishypod.bsky.social⁠, and on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@gettingfishypod⁠⁠⁠. You can also find us on ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠. If you want to drop us an email, you can send your complaints (or questions!) to gettingfishypod@gmail.com.Our theme music is “Best Time” by ⁠⁠⁠FASSOUNDS⁠⁠⁠. This episode was produced and edited by Christine Archer.We very much appreciate you taking the time to listen to our seventy-nineth episode! Please help out the podcast by subscribing on your podcast platform of choice. If you could leave us a review, that would be super helpful!If you would like to support the show, you can sign up as a paid member on our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or you can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠buy us a coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!Thanks and we'll “sea” you again in two weeks!

Matt and Dennis react to the Knicks being a game away from winning the NBA Finals. The Giants have an elite WR room (if the year was 2018, and Matt won't watch college baseball cause he's a turd. Also, we're getting matching UFL rally towels.

 What do Barack Obama, Matt Damon, marijuana, the Mandela Effect, and a rogue ostrich have in common?Honestly… this podcast.In this episode of Stupid People with Pets, host Mr. Burnz Sativa sits down with veteran journalist, editor, cartoonist, and cannabis industry pioneer Peter Moore for a conversation that starts in reality and slowly drifts into absolute madness.From media and journalism to cannabis culture, celebrity stories, strange memories, the Mandela Effect, and some of the weirdest topics you'll hear all week, nothing is off limits. Somewhere along the way, the names Barack Obama and Matt Damon enter the conversation, reality gets questioned, and an ostrich somehow steals the spotlight.This isn't your typical interview. It's part comedy, part deep conversation, part “how the hell did we get here?”

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Part two of Kiera's conversation with Howard Farran on the Dentaltown podcast. As a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself is to get systems in place so you are not dependent on core people. This second part of Kiera's conversation with Howard is about determining your weaknesses as a practice, building systems to fix those weaknesses, and letting your practice hum regardless of who's sitting in the seats. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:02) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and quick heads up, today's episode is a special repost from a podcast I joined as a guest. It is a great conversation for practice owners who want to progress without carrying everything. I cannot wait for you to hear it. Let's dive right in.   speaker-0 (00:16) And you know, I was doing a million dollars in the eighties, a million dollar practice, and I went to two and and I I thought I actually think I had a higher treatment plan acceptance rate than my buddies on just measuring the same day. My clothes is always like, you don't want to come back. I mean, we could you know, I'm when I'm doing the hygiene check, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna leave. The hygienist gonna Denise Missy, they'll numb me up.   speaker-1 (00:21) They're like eight million now there, Howard.   speaker-0 (00:44) And and then and then move her to room eight and we'll we'll we'll knock this out in 30 minutes because you don't want to drive all way from work and then kid and school. You just pulled your kid out of school, now you want to do it twice. It I just always s insisted on just the same day because if we do this because from my perspective, if we do this filling a day, it's two fifty. If you walk out that door, half of you never come back until it hurts, and then it's a twenty five hundred dollar root connected crown.   speaker-1 (00:50) Amen.   speaker-0 (01:12) It's only one tenth the price to do the filling. I got a room. The hygienist can numb you up. And then I always hit the hygienist on the show and said, You should have numbed her up before I got here and I could be doing it right now. And she laughed and she said, but that's illegal. I said, I'm not a lawyer. I'm a dentist. Let's get this done. But just by really leaning on same day. And I really think that was a huge part of our success.   speaker-1 (01:37) Well, and Howard, I think what you said is like going back to the COVID crank, I think so many business businesses right now have lost that like customer service and let's make it easy. Like, as you said, one of our core values in Dental A Team is ease. And I'm always like, How can you make it easy for everybody? Because that's what people want. Like you said, like no one wants to take time off for the dentist. I'm switching dentists right now and they're like, So you're gonna come in for a hour appointment and then we'll bring you back in like three months for your hygienist. And I told my assistant, I was like, just call them back. I was like, tell them no, no, no, like   Make it easy. I don't want to come back. And so I think when offices take on the mentality, I have grown practices 10, 20, $30,000 a month just by same day treatment. Like just get it done. Let's train our team. Like, let's be quick. Let's have that quick turnaround time. Now, of course, doctors, you've got to be like Howard can get that done and he can rock it out and he's great. If you're a dentist that is not quite that quick, like we do not want to scale back all your patients. So maybe you do like add, add on an extra filling that's already in the quad that you're getting numb.   Like, where can we do it? Can we add that fluoride in today? Can we add in this thing? Can we take the scan today? Because you're right, no patient wants to take time off of work to come to the dentist. So like let's just rock it out, make them a raving fan because we went above and beyond to make them happy.   speaker-0 (02:49) And and and it also is a good variance counterbalance to no shows and cancellations. You know, she said yes, and then your next patient didn't show up as opposed to reschedule this one a week from now and then then this doesn't show up. But hey, I want to ask you, I'm gonna hold your feet to the fire on this. True. Would you rather build a dental office on rock star employees or rock star systems?   speaker-1 (03:16) ⁓ this one is I think the this it's ⁓ it's interesting because I think that there's space for both. However, Rockstar employees can walk out that door and then you are left. And I say that this to me is where as a business owner, you're shackled and you're always going to feel scared. You're gonna feel scared to hold accountability, you're gonna feel scared to ask people to do their job because you're so afraid of them leaving. Whereas if you have systems, I'm not here to say be a jerk, like that's not what we're here for, but it becomes so much easier to just   plug and play. And then also for team members, they tend to stay longer because they understand they've got clear systems. And people get really weird on systems, Howard. And I think they feel like systems are so hard. And it's like, I'd rather just bring someone in who knows what they're doing. And I'm like, but make that repeatable. So if they're out and I make my rock stars go on vacation for a week. I'm like, absolutely. And people are like, no, no, no. I don't want them to leave. And I'm like, you need them to leave because you need to see where it breaks down and you need to build systems. But I will say as a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself   is to get systems in place where you are not dependent on those core people. Like I want great team members that love my patience and do what they have, but I want it to be a repeatable process that every time, no matter if I've got Susie, Sarah, Jenny, Mike, John, anybody, we're giving the exact same experience. Like I look at Chick-fil-A and it's the same amazing experience. Every time I walk in there, they say the same thing and none of us are annoyed by that. And teams are super happy and thriving. I interviewed a guy who's a big wig in Chick-fil-A and I was   Fascinated by the culture. I was like, tell me more about this. And he's like, we have systems. We have buddy systems. We have it built on systems. That is the core to great success. And it's the core to like less stress in your business. Like obsessively, I am so obsessed about simple systems. I've been called the Dr. Seuss of systems. Make it so simple that anyone can do it. And then hire amazing talent that treats your patients with the great culture that you want.   speaker-0 (05:08) Yeah, and if the systems are so good, they don't even have to have dental experience. I mean, I the best receptionist I had was the the teller at Chase Bank next to me and I absolutely said her, I said, You are so dang good. You're always happy, always you remember my name. I said, What do I have to do to get you to work for me? And she she told me and she's been here for you know, over a decade. just the same things.   speaker-1 (05:36) Howard, I want to highlight, I hope dentists listen to you. ⁓ there are not a lot of dentists that are scrap like you. And that's something I love about you. And this is just like a little, it's not intentional, like boost your ego, but like please take it. Like it's a good boost. You are so scrap, right? It's like, let's just get that done. Like again, like let's do same-day treatment. My best employee in the company was my next door neighbor. I knocked on her door. She like took care of my plants when I traveled. She's like, those things are gonna die. I was like, the fact that someone as a neighbor just watered my plants to be nice to me.   She's been amazing. She's been with me five years, best incredible EA I've ever had. You ask the bank teller. We look for great talent. You build on systems. And I just hope the dentists realize like, just saying yes and GSDing, like, let's just get it done. That is something that I think so many people have like lost that art. And truly, that's what impresses me with your podcast, with who you are. And I just hope that people here, you don't have to go for perfect. You don't have to find this perfect person. You just gotta be scrappy and gritty.   And your practice will grow and you'll have great team members with you. Like it's not actually hard. And I think we make it hard, but just hearing your examples, I hope people listen as a dentist, this is what makes successful dentists in dental offices and great team culture as well. That is the core vote values that he's got. And it is why he's so successful. And I hope dentists can learn from that.   speaker-0 (06:53) Well, thank you. And I got did I ever tell you a story about the third hygienist they hired? I I already had my two full time hygienists, everything was great. And ⁓ this ⁓ young girl walked in, just graduated straight out of hygiene school, and I could hear someone giggling up front and they said I was busy, you know, she wanted to talk to me and then she just took it upon herself just to just to walk through the office and I I er and anyway, long story short, I finally got done. I broke, I met her.   speaker-1 (06:57) Tell me, I'm ready.   speaker-0 (07:20) And had no opening for hygiene, and she was so into the office, and she's asking all the right. I can just feel her energy, she's like sucking out my soul. And I and the first thought I said is she's from Alwatukee, she lives in Alwatuki. Do you want to compete against this girl for the next 40 years? Or you know you want her on your team, you don't have room for her on their team, but she ain't gonna end up across the street. I hired her and told everybody we'll just have to figure it out because this is a rock star personality.   I mean, you know, she just walking through like she owned the place and probably probably one of the top two or three, her and Jan, probably the best employees I ever had. I mean, unbelievable. ⁓ how do you get the dentist to stop being the limit to his own growth? I mean, it's it seems like I don't know about dental school curriculums, and it seems like shooting yourself in the foot has got to be the first and the last course they teach you there. How do you get the dentist to quit being the ceiling to their own practice?   speaker-1 (08:21) Think it's a I actually want to just like shout out a lot of the dentists. I feel that the new generation of dentists coming through actually are very prone and open to understanding business and recognizing there's so many books out there that talk about like CEOs and owners of businesses are the bottleneck to their success. And so I just want to say, like, I think a lot are starting to recognize that, but I think that there's still a lot that don't. And I I usually help people say, like,   When the pain is bad enough is usually when people change. Or you can recognize that you need to get yourself out of the weeds. You need to become the CEO of your business. You need to be working at the highest level of your ⁓ license. And everybody in your practice needs to be doing the same. And if you're not, like I do a delegation exercise. I just did it with our doctors on Tuesday. I was like, write down everything that you're working on right now, everything on your to-do list, everything there. And then I want you to go back through it and I want you to literally look at that and like only things that you can do. And like, please don't like   Boost your ego, but what are the things that only you could do? And I had a group of 50 doctors the other night and they were like, really, it's like vision, culture, and profitability. Like everything else can be someone else can do. And so when doctors recognize like that is your sweet spot and no one else is doing that, you need to have other people in there. Like you're welcome to hold it all yourself. But there's also another path where you can elevate people around you. You do great dentistry and you own the visionary and the CEO seat. Be obsessive in there.   But I think so many of them want to just do everything. I'm like, that's great, but you're gonna run right into burnout really quickly. So it's a helping them realize, go look at your to-do list. Honestly, of that, who can you delegate this to? Who can do it better than you? And who's gonna be somebody that's gonna light up and be excited about it and get yourself continually moving towards that CEO seat? I think so many dentists don't realize that they are a CEO of a multi-million dollar business. And I think, like, look at Jeff Bezos, look at some of these really prominent people.   That are great CEOs. What are they doing all day long? They are not answering emails. They're not responding to these things. Like they're not doing any of that. They've got teams around them that are incredible at that. How can you get yourself closer to that? Because that is where the practice flourishes. But if you're sitting there doing every single thing, you're stopping it constantly. It's truly a bottleneck. ⁓ and I think that's when people are ready for it, when people actually recognize that, there's there's two types of dentists. There's the one who calls when they're absolutely burnout, exhausted, and they can't see like past like one foot in front of them.   There's the other dentist that realizes I don't want to be that. I've seen too many dentists like that. And I want you to coach me into how to become like not there. And I say, like, life's so much easier. I have a dentist hired us two months before he started his practice. As a brand new practice owner, this year he should be clearing 2.5 million. And I'm like, why? Because he recognized, get out of the way, have these other people do it, train my team. I'm going to bottleneck this. I don't want to be burnt out. I want to be present for my kids.   Teach me how to be the CEO of my practice and empower my team. And so I'm like, again, it's choose your hard. Which path do you want to live? It's all in Wonderland. There's both, there's paths. It's just what path do you want to go on? And also what mentors and what people be the CEO of your practice. Do not be the operator that's doing it all.   speaker-0 (11:35) You know, I always call a great idea is I always call them a giraffe. I'll never forget when I took my kids ⁓ to a ⁓ Serengeti and the guide was so funny, he would he would all of a sudden he'd stop. Well he stopped for a reason. He's giving us a guide and and it was one of these long tour to trucks where you'd stand up in the middle and you look out, and after about five minutes, we just said, What? What? And he's like, It's right in front of you and we're just like, Well, we're looking all around, my boy, everybody's gonna find it.   And he says, Are you kidding me? Look at that tree. Look at to the left of that tree. And it was a giraffe standing right next to the tree. Totally camouflage. And that that's what I mean when I say, you know, they can't see the giraffe. And here's a missing giraffe for 40 years. Remember the great Jennifer D. St. George? She's still out there. I love her to death. And she had this lecture on schedule. It's called Rocks, Sand and Water. She goes, You gotta schedule your rocks first. Do all your rocks. And then she'd fill up a glass with rocks.   And then she say, Then you can do your sand. And she'd pour like a half glass of sand on top of the rocks and you still didn't have a full. And then she'd say, and then the water, then she'd take like a full bottle water and pour it in the sand and and it was still full. And I already know when you talked about block scheduling, I already know that at least fifty to a hundred and fifty percent of the dentists said, ⁓ I don't care if I do a root canal in the morning or night. I they they don't understand block scheduling.   They don't understand rock, standing water. They haven't for 40 years. Jennifer lectured for 40 years and and I still don't think anybody saw the giraffe. Can you just slow down and talk about you just made the example about how all you did was change the scheduling and you got the it up. So show that giraffe. What what does that giraffe look like?   speaker-1 (13:23) Well, thank you, Howard, because I do love giraffes. I do have freckles and have I've definitely been like and have a very long neck and I'm very tall. So I do love giraffes in and of itself. So thank you. Like let's just talk about it. ⁓ but I I agree. It's so I don't know. I think as a team member, you just get obsessed with making puzzles. And like for me, I'm like, how can I maximize and squeeze more juice out of your lemon tree? Like, let's just do it. It's gonna be a great time. ⁓ and so what I love to do is.   Like, let's just go through and build you a perfect day. And I love to build my rocks. And I used to do like high production. And then I learned it was even more fun if I put a dollar amount on those high production blocks. Because as a team member, like, hi, Kiera, I'm Kiera. I sit up front. I am now looking for puzzle pieces that are coming through my puzzle. And instead of just filling your day with a bunch of water, aka no production, I'm actually able to like fill you full.   Make sure I've got you up to production and then I move on to my next day. And then as I have my little water that comes through, I just fill in the gaps. And you, doctor, are so happy. And I did this with an office and the doctor was like used to making five, seven thousand dollars a day max. We got him to a twelve thousand dollar day and he walked out the door at four o'clock. And normally he was there till 536. And he's like, Here, how'd you do it? And I was like, Because we actually put in blocks, we actually scheduled it of what's the most efficient way to use your time.   And it's playing seduco in a schedule is how you really do it. It's like perfect. Where is the doctor? And then where does doctor need to be for hygiene exams? What does my hygienist need to be producing? How much period do I have? How many new patients do I have? Let's block those so I can get those people in on our schedule. Make sure my hygienists are up to goal every single day. So, like, what are they supposed to be producing? Usually three times their pay is typical. And then on the doctor side, doctors, what do we want to be producing for the year? What do we need to be producing per day? Let's build in those dollar amounts.   That is going to make you feel so easy to get through to get to exams where you're not running behind. And now let's figure this out. And when we go through, and I look to see how much procedures cost, how much like on average, how many new patients we need, how many SRPs we need, how many perio maintenance we need. And then you take those pieces, those are your rocks, and I'm gonna go build a schedule to where it actually flows really, really well. And then from there, I'm gonna duplicate that over every single week.   And what's crazy about it is when you do this, people realize they're gonna be walking out with $10 to $12,000 days, getting out on time. We're doing the easy stuff in the afternoon, the harder stuff in the morning or whatever you like to work. I don't care. And when people see how much they can produce with minimal effort, no extra patience and no extra time, like usually that's how it builds. You're able to, like you said, see the draft, but it's crazy because you're a happier dentist, you're not running behind all day long, and you're actually profitable. We hold those blocks, I usually say for 24 hours as team members.   And me as a treatment coordinator, I am scanning my canvas, I'm scanning my own scheduled treatment to find something of that dollar amount or that rock to fill in my blocks. And I'm not gonna put multiples in there. We're gonna make sure if you only have one root canal system, we're not putting two next to each other. If you have one implant system, I'm not doing two back to back. Like you just have it to where the day flows and 85% of your days will be great. And the other like, you know, 15% are like, shoot, we couldn't get anybody in it. We just fill it with whatever we can, get you up to that, put emergencies in there.   But that's how you do it. And it's so, it's so satisfying. I've got an office that they lost two doctors. So I've only got two doctors. We are producing as much as they were on four doctors with better blocks, better scheduling. And it's just incredible to see how much more efficient you can be with your time without more patience, more effort. And it's very, very fun and fulfilling. And when people follow it, they're shocked at how much their practice grows without any, like hardly any extra effort.   speaker-0 (17:07) Tell me, tell me this. Why do my DSO buddies, who have hundreds of office locations, tell me that that when someone calls their office, they can convert 70 to 80% of the people on the phone to getting their butt physically measured in the chair? And that in private practice, it routinely shows up at about 42%. How can Heartland   close seventy to eighty percent of the callers as measured by you called on the phone and now your butt is sitting in a chair in private practice forty two percent. What do you think explains that the most?   speaker-1 (17:44) I think Howard, it's they're obsessive about numbers. I have an office that works for Aspen and I've just watched like they are obsessive about KPIs and tracking and measuring. And I feel like in private practice, we don't track and measure nearly as much as they do. Like they've got metrics, they've got numbers, they're looking at it. And so what they do in Heartland and corporate, they're smart businesses. They look to see where is our leaky hole and how are we going to fix it. So I know what they're doing is they're watching their call conversions.   They're talking to their offices and they're setting this of like your goal is 75%. And this is the training and the verbiage. And we're going to track this and we're going to measure it because what we track and measure improves. And I like tell me a private practice out there that's like, we know our call percentage rate. None of them could probably tell us, but you ask a DSO and you better believe they're going to know all their metrics. And that's where I love like so many offices are obsessed about systems and what system do I put into place and how do I grow my practice? And I'm like,   Number one, let's figure out where you want to go and what's your vision. I call that why. And then E is earnings and profitability. Like based on those two things, based on where you want to go and what the profitability and our our numbers are, then you determine the systems. And then we look at those metrics of the profitability and our KPIs and the metrics, and you put systems into place for that. So these DSOs are so good at tracking and measuring. And like I've got a practice doing 29 million. And what we do is we have a scorecard. They know.   We just hit the most important things that are going to drive the needle forward and we watch those numbers like a hawk and that's all we coach and focus on. You coach and focus on those items, your practice will grow. But I promise you it's because they're tracking, measuring, and training to that and having metrics of what they need to hit. They're not better than us. They're just better at measuring and then improving those numbers.   speaker-0 (19:24) Well, they they say that just by weighing yourself at the same time every day will start bringing your weight down just because you're focusing on it. Totally. And things like that. ⁓ I want you to do the same thing to treatment plan. Why do you think most patients are saying no? And what's the draft that one of my homies could listen to right now that could help him increase his treatment plan acceptance rate?   speaker-1 (19:46) I think the no is just surface level. And what you gotta hear is what they're not saying. And I also would say a lot of people, they're like, it's about money. And I'm like, again, you're looking for reasons and you're gonna continue to find that. So for me, my mantra, and this is a great thing for the homies out there, my mantra is everybody says yes to me and everybody loves me. Like, no joke, I say that every time I'm going into a treatment plan. Why am I sitting here thinking about my gosh, they can't afford it or they can't do this? You're creating more of that.   Rather than going in with a confidence, they're buying your confidence. Like hands down, I can I can close a fifty thousand dollar case same day. Let's swipe a credit card, like let's buy a boat. But it's confidence. And I'm walking in there of like, we're doing this, we're doing it now. My job is just to figure out how you're paying for it. And so when we look at that case acceptance, I've coached an office and we've added, I've got five locations. All I do is train their treatment coordinators. I just rep them. We are constantly going through reps. We add   One to two million annually amongst those five offices just by focusing on it. And I'm like, it's 80% psychology. What are you thinking about? You walk in there, everybody loves me, everybody says yes to me, and let's make this happen. And I do it in a way where I love them. I give them like a warm virtual hug, like I'm not actually hugging. I want them to feel so comfortable, so confident. But then I also say, like, watch out. How are you using words? Words are free, Howard. Like, I'm not going to lead with, do you want to get this done? No, I'm going to assume they want to get this done.   Hey Howard, let's get that treatment done. So I'm gonna schedule you. Doctor is really busy. So I'm gonna do Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. ⁓ Kiera, I want to talk about fees. Howard, absolutely, I'm gonna talk about fees. Let's just make sure we get this time locked in. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which do you prefer? We schedule you on Wednesday. You're already halfway there for me. I've got you scheduled. Perfect. So treatment's gonna be this amount. This is what the total will be. This is what our insurance estimates are, this is what our total will be when I see you on Wednesday. What questions do you have for me? Howard then asked me. I'm not gonna say I'm like, so do you want to talk about money? Do you want to get scheduled?   Like, why? Why am I bringing this up? Like, let them come up with it. Give them the time. Have the things. Don't bombard them, but be so confident. If I've got a great dentist that I know has great dentistry, they diagnose my job is to close and let's have that type of attitude. Walk in their doctors, don't be like, I don't know if they want to do this. Like, what if they can't afford? No, be the freaking clinician that's like amazing and like they all love you. They say yes to you. Diagnose them. Stop scrimping on them. Like morally, that is your job is to tell me what's going on.   Your job is to diagnose for me and then I get to make the decision from there. But truly it's eighty percent psychology. What are you thinking about? What's your mantra? And then twenty percent is skill, but get that confidence because they're buying your confidence, they're not buying dentistry.   speaker-0 (22:18) Then I want you to pontificate on ⁓ this. ⁓ I watch this in my own eyes. ⁓ every American I know that's as old as me, ⁓ or by the time they die, has bought one new car in their lifetime. Am I right? You know any do you know anybody that lived to be 80 that never bought a new car? Yeah, yeah. And right now the average new car is 50,000.   speaker-1 (22:41) They all do it.   speaker-0 (22:45) And I would say ninety-five percent of all the dentists go to retirement and they never sold one case for the price of a new car, which would be fifty thousand dollars a day. And then I watched Clear Choice, my favorite DSO, because they rolled out a hundred locations, and the only thing they sell is fifty thousand dollar two arcs all on fours, twenty-five thousand dollars an arch. They rolled into Phoenix and all the world surgeons and paradox, like, I don't know, I don't know if I like this.   And they start doing all these infomercials. Remember, remember, orthodontists have always been ahead of general dentists in advertising. All the orthodontists were advertising before 10% of the flipping general dentists were. And when the general dentists finally got to like two or three percent, the orthodontists were at five. And now all my two million dollar dental orthodontist offices on up are spending eight percent on marketing. Here's clear choice.   You go through the channels, they got all these 30 minute infomercials and and all this stuff like that. No, I never I never had heard of an all on four until I heard it on a clear choice deal. And then all my paces were coming in saying, Do you do all on four? I'm like, what are you even talking about? Then then they tell me, and then because I I would have called it a you know, four implant. You know, I didn't think of four, say whatever. And and then the next thing you knew.   Every oral surgeon and peridonist in the valley of Arizona was doing more cases because they were selling it to so many people that our pace that we were benefiting from it. So I just want to hold your feet to fire. How come ClearChoice with a hundred locations? Don't tell me it's demographics. They're in the hundred biggest cities in America. And and in each one of those cities, 95% of the dentists will retire without selling a single $50,000 case. And ClearChoice is doing it in their backyard.   Every single day of the week. Explain that to me.   speaker-1 (24:42) gosh. I I don't disagree with you. And I think there's I I ⁓ to me it's kind of like the four minute mile, right? Like so many people did not think that they could do it. And then once the four minute mile broke, it was like, my gosh, now all these people can do it. I still cannot run a four minute mile mark. Like I'm still working on that, Howard. So I get it. There's like limitations still. But I think a lot of dentists I watch, a lot of them get weird. Like they get uncomfortable. They feel like, well, do they really need it? Should I really offer this? Like   They get into this weird space in their head rather than just like, why don't I just offer it? Like I have a dentist who literally presents $250,000 treatment plans consistently. And they do all like full cosmetic. I have another doctor. It's 75 per arch, 75k per arch, and they're closing them consistently. And I think there's a space of like, why are we not doing this? And like you said, clear choice is doing it in their backyard. I think there's a   My background's marriage and family therapy as well. So I studied that when I was in college. And so I love the psychology of it. And I think so many people are truly afraid of rejection. And so they're like, I'm just not going to offer it. And they like justify it in their brain of why, like, I don't need to do that. Like other people can do that. Like, I want to make sure I'm taking care of my patients. And they live in this world that's their own reality. And I think that we all create our own reality. And clear choice is like, no, there are patients out there that do this. My client that does 250,000 consistently.   My other client who does 150,000 consistently, that's just their level of comfort, right? And so, how can dentists get to a higher level of comfort? I think one, be confident in your clinical skills. If you know you're the best dentist out there and you can do this, like for me, I feel like that's my moral obligation to make sure that patients are getting the best dentistry because they don't know if Howard or John or Sarah or Tom is a better dentist than you. So if you aren't confident that you are a dang good dentist,   Your job is to make sure that those patients know that. The second thing is get more confident presenting larger cases. and I tell all the offices I coach on these large cases, like please drop the mindset of a large case. I think we psych ourselves out by being like, ⁓ it's like a $30,000. Like, no, it's just a case. There's no big, there's no small. It's just a case. And I'm going to present what this patient needs and I'm going to present it to them. And I'm going to believe that they want this and I'm doing the best thing. And then we get to decide from there. And our job is to make this to where it's easy. We follow up.   There are so many people that want to do this, but I think people hold themselves back and they live in lies that they choose to tell themselves, but they believe are truth. But they're only the truth to you because there's other people doing it just like the four-minute mile, and you can too. So I think it's a matter of why not? And so when dentists are nervous about this, the way I usually am able to break it is like going from a $5,000 treatment plan to a $50,000 treatment might feel a little scary.   And so I'm like, perfect. Let's just diagnose one more thing or let's present one treatment that we normally wouldn't. And let's start to like build that confidence for you. And whether they choose to say yes or no, you just got to work on your presenting, like presenting skills. It's not like they're not saying yes or no to you. It's just how are we presenting it? How are we using the words? Are we assuming the yes? Are we assuming that they want to do it? There's so many ways that you can present treatment better. Like it's an art, it's not a skill. But I think people choose like Howard, they   They just want to live in this world and they believe that that's the world. And so I'm like, until you choose to get uncomfortable, it's like we've got a little thermometer in our world and in our world. Like if I say that I am comfortable at 75 degrees, if the temperature goes up to 78, I'm like, this is out of control. Get it back to 75. If it drops down to 70, I'm like, it feels uncomfortable. So how can we take it to where I can get comfortable getting out of my 75 degrees and move me to the next level of whatever that is, to where that becomes my new norm. And then I move myself up to the new norm.   There are people doing 35, 75, 150,000. And I don't say that for you to like belittle yourself, but to see that's possible. Other people are doing it. Believe in yourself. If you're the best dentist, be confident in that. And then truly, please, for the love of everything, I am a patient. No hygienist offers me fluoride Howard. No dentist offers me emphasizaline. I would say yes to both of you, but you are selfish. And I'm saying this with like love and respect. You are selfish by not giving me the chance to say yes or no to you.   And I would say give more people the opportunity to say yes to you, offer it, get better at it, check to see why they're saying no to you, refine that and keep offering. I love my offices that set it a 35% case acceptance because I know that they're presenting 50, 2000, like they're sending 10,000, 15,000, $50,000 cases consistently because they know that the more things that they say yes to with great dentistry and great confidence, the more people will say yes to them. But like get out of your own way.   nudge it up a little bit more, get uncomfortable, but truly do great dentistry, offer to patients and stop like holding back and assuming that they don't want to do it because more patients want to than you believe that they do.   speaker-0 (29:37) And you know, a lot of dentists don't like the blood and guts. They don't want to place implants. They don't want to play certain modes. I get it. But you know what? I know a handful of dentists, at ⁓ five at least. I think the sixth one might have retired, but one of the reasons they're probably so big, they didn't they didn't like blood and guts either. But they would always tell ladies, they go, Well, I'll tell you what, before you go back to your twenty fifth wedding ⁓ school high school anniversary or or whatever, I mean tell you what, you always remember   For 50 grand, the price of a new car, what we do here is we take everything out, every filling and crown comes out, we put it all back in in the most beautiful portion. You'll leave with a Hollywood movie star smile. I know it's a lot of money, it's 50 grand, but you gotta think about that. And he and they both tell me they say, Well, you know, if you say that 10 times a month, yes, someone always always says it. And they go, Really? I'd have a movie star smile, and I'd say,   Absolut flipping Lutley, man. We take all that old crap out and veneers, inlays, onlays. I mean, when you're done, you'll look like a movie star. And and and I got a a a couple that is in not so rich areas of town like Tempe and Chandler Mesa. And they say that they have to say that about 10 times ⁓ to get one or two to do it. And in North Scottsdale Paradise Valley, ⁓ boulder area, ⁓ they they they say it's about a one in three close rate. If they just say it right like,   Be because when when someone gets a new car, what do they do? They drive around, they show it to everybody, you know, they just they they just love it. So I we're over an hour and we try to keep it under hour. So I wanna ask you one question. But first you said your background's a marriage advice and I just wanna tell you the best marriage advice you can have. Just like you're saying, it's all in your attitude. You don't you know, you start every day. When you wake up, the first thing you do is you tell your wife, I love you. Not you again. And ⁓   speaker-1 (31:35) I agree.   speaker-0 (31:35) If you if if you just drop the U again and it's so last question. What are ⁓ the one or two KPIs that ⁓ you think every dentist should be reviewing every single week? And what should they stop tracking? That's my final question.   speaker-1 (31:49) Hmm, this is a great one. ⁓ KPIs for dentists to be tracking specifically. ⁓ I really feel like the things that are gonna move you forward on a weekly basis are we've talked a lot about them. Your case acceptance is gonna drive you fast, like forward the best. Like track that, look at that, review it, get really good with that. And then I also really like to look at my hygiene. How is my hygiene doing? What's my what are they producing?   And then if you wanna add a third, like look at your schedule maximization and optimization. Like those are gonna be like really big, like heavy hitters for you constantly. And then I'm gonna throw in one on a monthly basis because I'm really big on I prefer weekly, but I get most aren't obsessive with me. I call it like my mind and my money. So every morning I meditate and I look at my money. So that's like my mantra of how I do it. But if you wanna do it at least monthly, you've gotta be looking at your overhead and your PNL and like what you're producing, what you're collecting, and what you're spending. ⁓   Just if you look at it alone, you're gonna get better. So it's like weighing ourselves. Now things for them to stop tracking. Gosh, there's like to me, I actually feel like really I don't want to say everything, like keep tracking, but I actually think people over track on a lot of things that don't move the needle forward. Like we want to track on, I don't know, I just see people like, well, we're gonna track on this and this and this. And like it's just like it feels like it's such a smorgasborg of items. But I'm like, what really is gonna move your practice forward?   Production collections, new patients, case acceptance, our scheduling optimization or overhead. Like those things and like sure you can look at like dollar amount per patient if you want, like so our marketing ROI. But like that's like really the core. And the more you can simplify it down, the easier it is for you. Cause like you can get lost in data, like buried in it, and actually not be able to execute on what really is gonna move you forward. And I'm like, I've got offices and I'm just a broken record. I say profit and production, profit and production, and that ties to collections. If you focus on that, your practice will grow.   So those would be the things that I'd end with.   speaker-0 (33:42) Garrett, you are a gift to dentistry. Thank you so much for all that you do for dentistry and thank you so much for coming back on the show. You gotta promise you'll come back again before the dirt nap. Gonna come back on again.   speaker-1 (33:52) I will.   I will. Don't take a dirt nap anytime soon, Howard. The world needs you and I'm grateful to be a part of it. So thank you.   speaker-0 (34:00) ⁓ thanks for all you do. It was an honor to podcast you.   speaker-1 (34:03) Likewise, thank you so much.   The Dental A Team (34:05) And that wraps up today's guest interview. If you liked this style of episode, let us know and we'll be sure to share more of them. For more resources, events, next steps, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

I recorded this episode in the middle of one of the most emotional weeks of my life. My daughter Cora was three days from graduating high school, and I found myself at backyard parties where the conversation kept drifting to the same familiar places: the weather, work, the kids.And I felt that quiet ache I believe so many of us are carrying right now. The longing for something deeper. More real. More connected.So that's what today's episode is about: how we find the courage to have more connection.Something Is ShiftingBecause I think we all feel it. This quiet ache underneath the busyness of our lives. We reach for our phones in line for coffee instead of turning to the person next to us. We text instead of call. We scroll instead of sit. We show up to gatherings and perform a version of ourselves the edited, polished, “I'm fine” version instead of actually arriving in all our beautiful messiness.And from this? We feel less connected. More lonely. More invisible.Here's what I've learned in 25 years as a therapist: loneliness isn't about being alone. You can be surrounded by people at a party, in a marriage, in an office full of colleagues and still feel profoundly unseen. The opposite of loneliness isn't proximity. It's depth.And the data tells us loneliness is worse for your health than smoking, obesity, or high blood pressure. Anxiety and depression are the highest ever, and we are more likely to die from feeling lonely. The epidemic is real.But here's what I know after 25 years of sitting with people in my office: loneliness is not the problem. It's the symptom. Connection is the medicine. And the prescription? COURAGE.The courage to ask a real question. To say the true thing. To let someone love you back. So here are the four pillars of courage to create more connection and therefore more LOVE.The Four Pillars of Courage for Connection✨1. Ask for HelpHere's the thing about asking for help: we avoid it because we think it makes us look weak or like a burden. A Harvard and Wharton study found the number one reason people don't ask for help: it makes us feel incompetent.But here's what the research actually shows. When you ask someone for help, they see you as more competent. They trust you more. And this is the part I love so much: they feel like they matter.I have been a therapist for decades, and I still feel resistance every single time I walk into my own therapist's office. But this week, in the middle of all the graduation chaos, I asked a couple of friends for help. And I felt the weight lift. I wasn't just giving love anymore. I was letting people give me love back.Next time someone asks how you're doing, try this instead of “fine”:“I've been wrestling with something lately. Can I get your take on it?”“Honestly, I could use some advice. I've been dealing with something hard.”Watch what happens to their face. Watch their eyes change. You just told them they have something real to offer you. You just allowed them to love you.✨2. Be AuthenticI know authenticity gets thrown around so much it almost loses its meaning. So here's what I actually mean by it: tell the truth. Not the highlight reel, not the LinkedIn version. The real one.I was on a walk with a dear friend recently, and I could feel she'd been carrying something heavy for months. I kept holding back, not wanting to push. But finally I said: “I see something going on with you. I feel like you're carrying something hard. Can I be here for you?”She was honest. She cried. And then I could share my own fears about Cora leaving for college. We walked away closer than we'd been in years.Try slipping one of these into your next conversation:“What's been the hardest part of your week?”“If you're being totally honest, how are you?”People might pause. It might get a little uncomfortable. The Buddhists teach that we need to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.✨3. Make ChangeYes, the world is noisy. Yes, our phones, schedules, and the general chaos of life are real. But we still get to choose where we spend our time and if we want to connect on a deeper level.It is our responsibility to create the rituals, the invitations, the conversations for more connection. A month ago I challenged myself to walk up to a table of strangers, young, hip, athletic mountain bikers, and ask if they'd be on my podcast. My heart was pounding. But when I did, they looked up. They smiled. They felt seen.And at a graduation party recently, I stopped a new friend and said, “I'm challenging myself to go deeper at these parties. So here's my question: in a year from now, what do you want to be celebrating?”We both got quiet. Then she said: “I want to be celebrating that I don't worry as much. That I've let go of the weight I carry around my kids and my divorce. That I'm finally celebrating who I am.”That is the kind of conversation that stays with you. That's the one you remember.✨4. Be in Service: Show Up to See, Not Just to Be SeenMost of us walk into a room carrying some version of the same quiet anxiety: Do I look okay? Will people like me? Am I enough? You are not alone in that. I feel it every time too.But what if you walked in with just one question in your heart:“Who in this room needs to feel less alone today?”That is the shift. That is everything. When you become the person who asks the real questions, who listens without fixing, who makes eye contact and says “tell me more,” you become magnetic. Not because you performed well. Because you made someone feel like they mattered.Some of my favorite questions to bring to any gathering:“What's something you wish more people asked you about?”“What's the best thing that's happened to you in the last month?”“How do you want to live?”I heard that last one recently from a son speaking at his father's funeral. I haven't stopped thinking about it since.This Is the MomentWe keep waiting for the right time to have the real conversation. The right setting. The right moment. The right person to go first.There is no right time. This is the moment.By the time you read this, Cora has already graduated. The cap, the gown, the ugly crying it's all happened. And I can tell you that the conversations I will carry from this season are not the ones about the weather. They're the ones where someone looked me in the eye and asked something real.At your next gathering, be the one who goes first. Ask the brave question. Sit with the pause. Put down your phone and let it go somewhere.The world doesn't need more small talk. It needs more of you the real, brave, loving, beautifully messy, imperfect you.That is the magicxoLots of love, Molly 

Allen Nejah, CEO and System Solution Architect of SunMan Engineering, is driven by a lifelong passion for aerospace, invention, and solving complex engineering problems. From dreaming of becoming an astronaut as a child to working with major aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, robotics, IoT, and semiconductor organizations, Allen has built a career around turning ambitious technical ideas into real-world systems. We explore The Allen Nejah Engineering Framework — Live with Integrity, Be Intensely Curious, Get Organized, Plan Every Baby Step, and Learn from Mistakes — a practical mindset for building breakthrough technologies with discipline and resilience. Allen explains why integrity must exist not only in business relationships but also in the engineering itself, how complex projects must be broken into testable steps, and why curiosity, visualization, planning, and iteration are essential to solving problems across industries. He also shares the story behind InfiniGear, his AI-powered adaptive transmission system, and the healthcare technology inspired by his mother's experience in assisted care. — Building the Connected Car Before the iPhone with Allen Nejah  Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and my guest today is Allen Nejah, the CEO and System Solution Architect of SunMan Engineering, dedicated to providing customers with high-quality, on-time engineering and on-budget solutions for their product development and prototyping needs. Allen, welcome to the show.  Yes, that is correct.  Great to have you on the show. And I’d like to ask you my favorite first question: What is your personal ‘Why,’ and how are you manifesting it in your business?  So Steve, first I want to thank you for having me on your podcast. I really appreciate your time and interest. Of course.  As a kid, for whatever reason, I always wanted to have an airplane manufacturing company, an aircraft manufacturing company—something I always wanted to have. And I always wanted to be an astronaut. As a matter of fact, I studied aerospace and mechanical engineering with the dream of being an astronaut, going to fly and all that. So that’s kind of something that’s still in my pocket and that I still want to do. From there, it kind of pushed me in this direction. And yeah, now I work with a number of different companies in the aerospace industry. I work with the Air Force. I’ve worked with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and a number of others. And I work on both space and aviation projects that really kind of bring my dream to life. So I still haven’t gone to outer space yet, but I still have a little more time.  Yeah. Elon Musk is promising a million people, and his bonus is linked to putting a million people on Mars as the first colony. So there may still be room there.  They need a lot of us to go there, trust me. Well, actually, we’re going to do a lot of activities on the Moon first, and then from there, I’m sure they’re going to be looking for older people, older men, to do some tasks over there. And I’d volunteer to go.  You may be familiar with the Mars trilogy—Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars. It talks about people moving to Mars and how they terraform it. And then they figure out how to extend life to 150, 200 years. So if that works out, then maybe there’s another lifetime to be lived on Mars.  Yeah. I definitely believe that we will end up living on other planets, for sure. I see that very clearly. It could be 50 years or more before we actually become a space-based civilization. But the Moon has already started, right? We’re going to be there in the next 5 to 10 years, trust me. So anyway, I’m very excited about that. Yes.  Yeah, it is very exciting. What I’m looking for on this podcast—what makes it kind of unique—is that I am a junkie for frameworks and mental models. We are almost 400 episodes in, and every episode has a different mental model that our guest comes up with or shares. So think about something that helped you build your business, or maybe helped you develop your products, or how you work with your engineers, or how you work with clients. So think about something that has three to five steps or three to five aspects that create a result.  That’s very clear to me. Those are the key things for any successful person. First of all, honestly, you have to be interested. You have to be in “go” mode. You cannot push somebody to start building something, like a building or actual construction, if their mind is not into it. The very first thing is, it’s got to be you. That’s number one, right? And you know it. Definitely organization is a very key factor for me. Being organized, being detail-oriented—that’s something that is super, super important. Planning and organization make a huge difference in whatever you do, right? And most importantly, integrity. I mean, that’s number one. That’s number one, number two, number three, number four—all of it.  So integrity is all of it. No matter what you do, if there’s no integrity, people will walk away from you. At the beginning, every business makes mistakes, and they learn and so on. So don’t beat yourself up. It’s okay. You make a mistake, you learn from it, and then you don’t do it again, right? Learn from it. So yeah, I would say those are at least three. If anything else comes to mind, I definitely will share it with you. But the most important things are integrity, organization, and clear planning based on knowledge. Not just planning for the hell of it, but planning based on understanding what you’re doing. That’s important. Integrity comes into your personality. It comes into the quality of the work you do.  It comes into the engineering you do. It comes into all of that, right? Even in engineering, it’s not only on the personal level that integrity has to be there. On the engineering level, integrity has to be there too. Whatever you do, you’ve got to make sure it’s working. One of the things we learned the hard way after 35 or 36 years is that it’s very important to have the knowledge base and to do things in a very organized way. And that’s kind of part of my personality. If I’m not confident about the end result, I don’t even commit to it. I’ve got to see it in my mind. Whatever problem comes up, if I don’t see the solution in my mind, I won’t even commit to it. It comes back to quality, integrity, and all of that. And I guess what I was going to say earlier is that everything that we do—as part of, again, the quality and integrity I mentioned—is that we have a lot of baby steps built into the process.  That’s what I wanted to say earlier. So for every step, the whole plan is split into, I don’t know, tens, hundreds, or thousands of different steps and branches. Because technology is not one thing. It’s usually a combination of different sciences. So mechanical engineering, electronics, material science, firmware, AI—those are all different types of expertise. And you’ve got to bring them all together. And for all of those baby steps, you’ve got to have some sort of test at the end of each step before you move on to the next one. Iteration.  Yeah. So, okay, what I’m hearing is integrity is number one. And then curiosity, perhaps. So curiosity is this driving force. Visualization is important. I’m thinking about Einstein, who said that imagination is more important than knowledge because imagination is infinite, while knowledge encircles the world. I think it was something like that. So visualization is important. Get organized. Do thorough planning. And learn from mistakes.  Yes. Absolutely. Okay.  That’s great. So what do you call this? Is this the Allen Nejah Framework, or what’s it called?  One more thing. One more thing. Again, that’s kind of under the umbrella of integrity. So I have two families. It’s one family. I have a family at home, and I have a family at work. And believe it or not—and you already know this—we all spend more time with our family at work than with our family at home. That’s true. It’s true for me. It’s true for a lot of people. You go to work, I don’t know, from 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00 in the morning until 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, or 9:00 at night. That’s almost 12 hours. And by the time you go home at 5:00, 6:00, or 7:00, what? You spend two hours with your family, maybe three hours at most, and then it’s back to work. So the team is part of my family, and truly it is part of my family. Those are the first group of people, the first group of associates, that you have to take care of.  You have to be a brother to them, be a friend to them, be a father to them, be a mother to them. Seriously, it’s all about human interaction. It’s all about, “I like you, I don’t like you,” and it goes from there. “I feel good about you. I don’t feel good about you.” And so it’s very important to have those relationships in your business, or whatever it is you do. For me, all our people, all our employees—even from 35 years ago—are still in touch with us. I have kids who came through as junior-high interns, then high-school interns, then university students, even master’s degree students. Now they’re 40 years old. And we’re still in touch. So I’m in touch with hundreds of engineers and people that I’ve worked with over the past 35 years. And that’s a lot of value. That’s the biggest asset.  Yeah. Basically, they call it a school. You create a school, right? Your own professional school. That’s wonderful. So tell me about this special gear called InfiniGear. How is it special? How did you come up with it, and how is it being used? It’s an interesting question. First of all, let me explain to you very quickly what I-Gear is. So I-Gear is an AI robotic adaptive gearbox, or transmission, and that’s a mechanical transmission. It’s not an electronic transmission. It’s an actual mechanical gearbox that goes into any machinery or equipment. I mean, obviously, the one that everybody can relate to immediately is cars. Every car—not EV cars, but every car—has a transmission. A transmission usually is bigger than the engine. It’s heavier than the engine. It’s the guy that goes through all the center of the car, takes all that center, okay?  That’s it—a transmission. It’s big, it’s heavy. By the way, it’s amazing how it works. It’s absolutely amazing how it works if anybody gets into a transmission and sees all of it. There are about 300 to 400 gear sets in there. There are about six or seven clutches. There’s about 3,000 to 4,000 parts in a standard transmission. So that’s why it’s so big and so heavy. The efficiency is so low because all these gears have to be interacting with each other. As a matter of fact, believe it or not, the transmission efficiency is only 50%. So it’s actually as low as you can get. But you have to have a transmission in the car. If you have no transmission in the car—I’m talking about ICE cars with an engine—they’re not even able to drive because the engine has no initial power and no initial RPM.  The AI transmission, the robotic transmission that I have invented, and that we have developed over five to seven years— Since 2017 or ’18 we’ve been working on it. It’s a gearbox that has only two gears versus 200 to 300 gears, and it’s one-fourth or one-fifth of the size. And also, while your standard transmission has five or six or seven or eight gears in your car, this has unlimited gears, okay? And it’s AI, so it can see what’s going on with the road, what the weather is, and all combinations of conditions. If you’re going onto a hillside, it’s already going to shift for you, so it saves energy. So that’s what we have developed. It’s a robotic transmission.  Right now, we’re actually talking to the U.S. Army, and they have some interest. We are at a very initial stage with them. And it’s kind of difficult to bring it into the market because it’s a safety factor, and there are a lot of requirements and tests that have to go into it before we can actually get it into trucks and cars. To summarize the benefit, if you put that transmission into an EV, we can increase the range by 40%, which is huge. A company that can improve a battery by 1% gets millions of dollars thrown at it. Once we can prove that this is working and pass some tests and so on, it’s going to be very huge. Wow. When do you expect this to happen?  I’m hoping within the next two years. Hopefully, by the end of those two years, we make it home and get it into cars and trucks and commercialize it.  Then you will turn into a unicorn—a big unicorn, right?  Yeah. Again, EVs are only one application. There are wind turbines, tanks, boats, some aircraft, and helicopters. A helicopter’s transmission is half the size of the helicopter itself, so the weight and everything else become very significant. So if we can eliminate that weight and size, we can gain a lot. Especially in vehicles, it makes a huge difference and all that.  Wow. That’s probably something that drones would benefit from too. Yeah. It’s mind-boggling. So what drives growth in your business other than your inventions?  So at SunMan Engineering, we have two arms. One arm is that we provide engineering services, product architecture, and product development to other companies—small companies, mid-size companies, and bigger companies like IBM, Sony, Samsung, and Apple. We have about 300 or 400 of those clients. And we also work with government agencies and contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Kaiser Electronics, just to name a few. We have also had contracts directly with the Army and the Navy in the past. And that’s what we’re trying to do now—to gain some of those projects again. And InfiniGear, the I-Gear, could be a project that, fingers crossed, we’d be working on with the U.S. Army. So that’s one arm of what we do. The other arm is that we develop new technologies. We develop them, work on them, and then license them, or let our clients utilize them in some of their projects through partnerships and so on.  So you’re a service company as well as a product company?  Yes. We are a systems and product company. We’re considered a systems and product company, yes.  Now, do you call this systems integration? In the IT world, they used to call it systems integration when you had different systems and—  We are more than systems integrators. Systems integrators buy different technologies and put them together. It’s still engineering, don’t get me wrong. Yeah. You still have to engineer everything and put it together. But what we do is actually customize things from the ground up. Sometimes we do integration because it’s faster, easier, and sometimes cheaper. Some of the components and some of the functionality can be integrated. But generally, we customize every project from the ground up. And generally, for your information, we cater to aerospace, robotics, and IoT. IoT is communication—all sorts of wireless and different types of communication: Wi-Fi, 5G, Bluetooth, all sorts of stuff, right? And also medical. So medical, robotics, aerospace, IoT, and also semiconductors, which also serve these different industries.  So how is it possible? I mean, you have a relatively small team, right? Fifteen people or so?  Twenty-seven, twenty-eight people.  Twenty-seven. Okay, sorry.  Yeah. With a small team.That’s exactly the very first question you asked me. That’s exactly how it affects and how it comes into the picture. Being organized—I mean, we’ve done this so many times. It’s like we make things so efficient because we already have a plan. Every project we do, in concept, is the same thing. The process is the same. The application is different, but the process is the same. So going through that process and having a very reliable process in place that we follow very religiously makes us super, super efficient. And also, being small, we don’t have to go through a number of different layers. Everything comes to one or two people, gets approved, and we get it going. Everything happens the same day. Nothing waits until the next day here.  Are you involved in every project?  Fortunately and unfortunately, I’m involved in every project. And one of my goals is to eventually focus on fewer projects so I’d be more effective and efficient. So that’s one of my goals for the next few years. I-Gear is one of them, and we’re also working on another project. It’s for healthcare, it’s for the elderly and infants. Eventually it’s going to be a robot, but right now we’re making the device that is the brain of the robot. So it gets to know the person, it gets to know their habits, it gets to know everything about the person, about their family, about their health, about how they behave. We can remind them of different things. We can assist them with different things. We can watch them. We can emotionally work with them. There are so many different applications that we’re working on now. We can even do preventive diagnostics.  What “preventive diagnostics” means is that before the patient or the person gets sick or develops some sort of disease, we can actually identify it before that happens. That’s great. And that’s the most important part of this device. It has so many different applications and different ways it can help and assist an elderly person. And within the next two or three years, my goal is to integrate this into a robot. So we’re going to have a robot that physically helps you as well. My mother ended up in one of those care centers, and I saw how much she was declining on a daily basis—not weekly, not monthly, but daily.  And there was nothing, unfortunately, that I or any member of our family could do. I mean, we were there every day, don’t get me wrong, but that’s all we could do for her. We’re all busy. We all have lives. I mean, we were there almost every day, but really, she did not get the care that she needed. And that’s what kind of put me in that frame of mind—how can I help someone like my mom? And that’s how it started about two years ago. And as a matter of fact, now it’s one of the biggest markets. Yeah. It’s one of the biggest. So that’s fascinating. So how can you have so mental bandwidth that you can cover different industries, go deep into different industries, and innovate and invent stuff? How does that even happen?  Honestly, I personally work pretty much 12 hours a day. Even on my vacations, I work. Don’t get me wrong, I have a very good life. I work hard and I play hard. I am a very active person. I played as a semi-professional soccer player until I was 58 years old, believe it or not. Actually, next week I’m going to be 65. I still can play. I still can go and compete with 25- and 30-year-old kids, and I still do good, I think. So I keep myself in very good shape. I do mountain biking. I do about 10 to 15 hours of heavy-duty exercise on a weekly basis, and that kind of balances what I’m doing. To answer your question, yes, it’s too much, but yeah, we have to spend more time. There is no magic to it. Sometimes it gets to be too much, but I like what I’m doing, so I enjoy it.  Yeah, it shows. Elon Musk is also an example of being able to run six big companies in different areas and be a groundbreaker. But you’re doing something very similar. You are breaking ground in different industries.  Yeah. Actually, as I mentioned, I have established different startups and sold them. I have worked on a number of different companies and technologies. As a matter of fact, back in 2005, I brought a whole bunch of different technologies to cars. Any type of car you drive—I don’t care what it is—almost everything in the dash belongs to technologies that we developed from 2005 to 2008. There are some videos and some information on my LinkedIn. I invite people, including yourself, to look into it. The stuff we did back then was in 2005. The iPhone only came out in 2007. We came out with these technologies between 2005 and 2008. Back then, we had Genie. Today they have Alexa and I don’t know what everybody else calls theirs.  Yeah. We had Genie. Genie would talk to you. I mean, I’m not just saying it. Please go watch the videos. We have them. So you would just talk to the car, and the car would do everything for you. We came up with a device that initially you could install as an aftermarket stereo in the car. Basically, it would connect all the sensors in the car to the outside world. This was the very first time. As a matter of fact, internet connectivity in the car is my technology. Every single car in the world since 2014 has been connected to the internet, and that’s my technology, my patent, and my license. Of course, I’m not getting much money from it. Unfortunately, I’ve kind of been robbed on that. But at least I can brag about it—that’s our technology. So yeah, we brought a whole bunch of technologies to market. My vision back then was to make the car robust enough to drive without a driver.  That’s happening now.  It’s happening now. As a matter of fact, we had a car that we put our system into, and we were demonstrating it. And again, there are hundreds of videos about that technology that you can find on the internet. As a matter of fact, we were on PBS for nine months in 27 countries talking about future cars, and that video is also out there. So that was in 2010. They had a half-hour program with my company and with me about future cars. And everything we said, we had the basis for it, and it happened.  So, Allen, if you had a magic wand and you could wish for anything to happen in your business, what would that be? So as I said earlier, I like to be more focused now. I’m very spread out with the business—not only with the technical side of things, but also with the business side of things. I really want to get away from the business side and just focus on the technology. That’s what I enjoy more. I do the business side because I have no choice. That’s part of the work, right? But I would like to get to the point where I can focus only on technology, and other people can worry about the other things. So that’s my goal.  Okay. So if someone is listening to this and they would like to be like you, what would you advise them? Let’s say they are 20 years old and they want to grow up and be an inventor, come up with solutions, work in different industries, and solve big problems. What’s the path? What would you tell them?  So first of all, don’t be like me, that’s for sure. Honestly, you’ve got to enjoy life more than I do. And I do enjoy life. Again, I have different hobbies. I do different sports. I ski, I bike, and those are my hobbies, right? Most importantly, again, we talked about this at the beginning. You’ve got to like what you do. And doing business is not easy. Don’t expect to get into it and have everything work out. Usually, by default, everything goes wrong. So that’s normal. It used to bother me. It used to make me upset, nervous, and all that. But over the last seven to ten years, I learned that things happen, and you just have to resolve them and go through them. Bad things can happen. Good things can happen. It’s all part of the mix. You’ve got to have a very strong personality. Generally, a good percentage of people go paycheck to paycheck, and it’s mental—it’s in their mind. They make a lot of money. They make $100,000 every paycheck. But if you get a paycheck, your mind is like, “Okay, my next paycheck is coming two weeks from now, then another one two weeks after that,” right? And if those two weeks come and you don’t get your paycheck, they go nuts. They go crazy. So if you’re like that, you cannot go into business. In business, it’s all about failure and success. If you’re lucky, that’s a different story. I can go buy a lottery ticket, and only one person out of millions wins. That’s luck. That’s different.  But then they lose it all. Lottery winners tend to lose it. Within a year, they’re broke.  Yeah, that’s a different story, of course. What I’m saying is that, yeah, some people get lucky. That’s the exception. Don’t compare yourself to that. Don’t go after that.  Don’t count on it.  Doing business is usually a challenge, no matter what. So you’ve got to have a very strong personality.  So yeah, resilience is everything. Well, that’s wonderful. So if someone would like to learn more about SunMan Engineering, or they want to connect with you, what should they do and where should they go? Yeah, the best thing is to please visit the website, which is sunmantechnology.com. There is a contact form there, and you can contact us. We’d be happy to get in touch with you and see how we can help.  Okay, fantastic. Well, Allen Nejah, the CEO and chief engineer of SunMan Engineering, and the inventor of many products in different industries, including InfiniGear, which is going to revolutionize transmissions. Thank you for coming on the show and sharing your insights and wisdom. And those of you who are listening, if you enjoyed this, make sure you subscribe and follow us because every week I bring on an amazing entrepreneur to talk with you. Thanks for coming, Allen, and thanks for listening. Important Links: Allen's LinkedIn Allen's website

Scandal, sun, and secrets—hello, summer reading! These are all the ingredients that make up the irresistible literary cocktail that is The Island Club by Nicola Harrison.Set on Balboa Island in the 1950s, this captivating novel transports readers into a world of housewives, tennis clubs, social expectations, and women searching for their identities beneath the polished surface. It's the perfect blend of glamour, intrigue, and heart.Nicola and I chatted about her research process, her writing journey, and so much more. Honestly, it's shocking this is her first time on the podcast, we've been internet friends and mutual fans for years!If you love Big Little Lies, a dash of Real Housewives drama, and stories centered on complicated women and juicy secrets, you'll want to add this one to your summer stack immediately.

Spencer Pratt is moving to Austin and we can't wait to see him at the Comedy Mothership. Eddie gives Brent a cognitive test, and they both manage to fail! Subscribe to the pod ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/@ohhellyeahpod?sub_confirmation=1 Follow the pod http://instagram.com/ohhellyeahpod https://www.tiktok.com/@ohhellyeahpod Follow Eddie Della Siepe http://instagram.com/Eddiedellasiepe https://www.eddiedellasiepe.com Follow Brent Flyberg http://instagram.com/brentflyberg A concept seldom found in the podcast world. Two male comedians having a free flowing conversation in a garage converted into a studio. Honestly...it's never been done. Comedians Eddie Della Siepe & Brent Flyberg dare you to listen to the Oh Hell Yeah! podcast every week. They bet you can't do it. Prove them wrong.

Movies, Music and even newscasts are no longer original. There's a sad sameness to it all. Honestly, it's just a shell of what it once was. Of course, this is my opinion and I'll explain in this episode.

You can listen wherever you get your podcasts or check out the fully edited transcript of our interview at the bottom of this post.In this episode of The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, I interviewed Hayden Ahlbrandt, a certified Synergetic Play Therapist. Hayden shares some really helpful thoughts and strategies on both how we can prevent meltdowns and how best to support our child—and ourselves—once we find ourselves with a meltdown on our hands. We focus on connection, co-regulation, mindfulness, and creating safety.Know someone who might appreciate this episode? Share it with them!And if you love the podcast, FREE ways to help us out:1- Rate and review the podcast in your podcast player app2- “Like” this post by tapping the heart icon ♥️3- Share this with a friend. THANK YOU!We talk about:* 00:00 – Sarah introduces Hayden Ahlbrandt, certified Synergetic Play Therapist. Overview of meltdowns, regulation, and co-regulation* 05:25 – Viewing behavior through a nervous system lens* 10:30 – Understanding Meltdowns Through the “Pop Bottle” Analogy* 12:00 – Why some days kids can handle more than others* 1:00 – “Regulation Is Connection to Self” - Helping kids discover what naturally regulates them* 20:00 – Why Regulation Tools Need to be Practiced Outside Meltdowns* 22:00 – Preventing Meltdowns* 24:00 – The Three Rs: Regulate, Relate, Reason* 30:00 – Mindfulness and Co-Regulation* 32:30 – The Parent's Nervous System* 36:00 – Aggression During Meltdowns* 38:30 – Making the Environment Feel Safer* 42:00 – Parenting Advice Hayden Wishes He'd Known EarlierResources mentioned in this episode:* Hayden's website * Hayden's IG @lowtideplaytherapist* Synergetic Play Therapy Institute* Yoto Screen Free Audio Book Player* The Peaceful Parenting Membership* Evelyn & Bobbie brasConnect with Sarah Rosensweet:* Instagram* Facebook Group* YouTube* Website* Join us on Substack* Newsletter* Book a short consult or coaching session callxx Sarah and CoreyYour peaceful parenting team- click here for a free short consult or a coaching sessionVisit our website for free resources, podcast, coaching, membership and more!>> Please support us!!! Please consider becoming a supporter to help support our free content, including The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, our free parenting support Facebook group, and our weekly parenting emails, “Weekend Reflections” and “Weekend Support” - plus our Flourish With Your Complex Child Summit (coming back in the fall for the 3rd year!) All of this free support for you takes a lot of time and energy from me and my team. If it has been helpful or meaningful for you, your support would help us to continue to provide support for free, for you and for others.In addition to knowing you are supporting our mission to support parents and children, you get the podcast ad free and access to a monthly ‘ask me anything' session.Our sponsors:YOTO: YOTO is a screen free audio book player that lets your kids listen to audiobooks, music, podcasts and more without screens, and without being connected to the internet. No one listening or watching and they can't go where you don't want them to go and they aren't watching screens. BUT they are being entertained or kept company with audio that you can buy from YOTO or create yourself on one of their blank cards. Check them out HEREEvelyn & Bobbie bras: If underwires make you want to rip your bra off by noon, Evelyn & Bobbie is for you. These bras are wire-free, ultra-soft, and seriously supportive—designed to hold you comfortably all day without pinching, poking, or constant adjusting. Check them out HERESarah: Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Peaceful Parenting Podcast.Today's guest is Hayden Ahlbrandt. Hayden is a certified Synergetic Play Therapist who lights up at any opportunity to teach, educate, and support adults in how they can best support the children in their lives.He specializes in meltdowns, and that's what we're going to be talking about today. Hayden shares some really helpful thoughts and strategies on both how we can prevent meltdowns and how best to support our child—and ourselves—once we find ourselves with a meltdown on our hands.I think you're going to find this episode really useful, no matter how old your child is. One thing I really appreciate is that Hayden sees meltdowns through the lens of the nervous system and in terms of regulation, dysregulation, and co-regulation.I'm definitely going to be thinking about a phrase he shared: “Regulation is connection to self.”If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. Word of mouth is the best way to get more eyes and ears on the podcast.If you're a fan of the podcast, you can help us out not only by sharing it, but by leaving a review and a five-star rating in your podcast player app. While you're there, don't forget to follow the show so you don't miss an episode.If you'd like to support us even more, you can become a supporter on Substack to help us offset the cost of making the show.You can also check out our sponsors: Yoto Audio Players for Kids, a screen-free alternative that makes listening, learning, and entertainment easy with no screens, and Evelyn & Bobbie Bras, the most comfortable and flattering bra I've ever worn.Links are in the show notes.Okay, let's meet Hayden.Sarah: Hi, Hayden. Welcome to the podcast.Hayden: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.Sarah: Yeah, I'm excited to have you. I found you on Instagram, and I love all the reels that you make. I love your energy and how you show up for parents so they can show up for their kids. So I'm really glad to have you on the podcast.Hayden: I appreciate that.Sarah: Tell us about who you are and what you do.Hayden: Yeah. Well, obviously, my name's Hayden.I'm a certified Synergetic Play Therapist, and I have my own play therapy practice. Like you mentioned, my Instagram has become something I've had a lot of fun doing. It's really given me an avenue to work with adults and support them in how we support kids.So I kind of have a two-pronged approach right now. I work with kids in my play therapy practice, but I also do a lot of speaking, presenting, workshops, and that kind of thing—giving parents the tools from the training I have so they can better support kids.My specialization has really become focused on big behaviors and meltdowns. I also work with a lot of anxiety.So that's the quick elevator speech.Sarah: Yeah, it makes sense because you have the kids for maybe an hour a week—or whatever your typical amount is—but then they're off with their parents for all of the rest of the days and hours of the week.If parents don't know how to support them during that time, it probably makes your job not work as well, right?Hayden: Yeah, definitely.I always explain it as wraparound support. I think we can do so much in our time together and in our work during sessions, but things are just going to move so much quicker when parents are involved.Ultimately, that's how I view my work as a play therapist. We're not trying to make drastic changes or fix things. We're trying to help the child feel better because, typically, when they're coming in, it's because something in their world feels really big, really hard, or really challenging, and that's coming out as behaviors.Sarah: Right.Hayden: I kind of view it that way. We're trying to help the child feel better, which is going to help the whole family system feel better.Typically, with the kinds of things I mentioned—if a child is having really big, intense meltdowns that are above and beyond what's developmentally appropriate—it can be really hard on the entire family system: siblings, parents, whoever it might be.I talk about it as creating as much wraparound support as possible because it's going to help the child work through whatever feels clogged for them in that moment.Sarah: What's a Synergetic Play Therapist?Hayden: Yeah. Synergetic Play Therapy is a modality, an approach—a specific type of play therapy.The way I typically explain it is that we're really working through the lens of nervous system regulation.That's one of the core tenets of Synergetic Play Therapy: viewing the behaviors we're seeing as symptoms of nervous system activation.So when we're talking about anxiety, meltdowns, or big behaviors, we're viewing those as symptoms that the nervous system is activating.Sarah: Yeah, that's really aligned with the work that I do, too, teaching parents about their kids' big behaviors.You mentioned before we started recording that your oldest child is six. Were you a play therapist before you had kids?Hayden: Yes, briefly.I actually started out in schools. I was working as an elementary school counselor when I finished my graduate program in counseling.The opportunity to explore Synergetic Play Therapy kind of fell into my lap while I was doing that.There's now something called the Synergetic Education Institute, and their whole approach is bringing neuroscience and nervous system understanding into school settings.We were one of what I would call the pilot programs for that. As they were figuring out what worked, what didn't work, and how they wanted to implement it, we started bringing these ideas into our school setting to change the school culture and ask, “How do we support the behaviors we're seeing?”In my school counseling role, I was given the opportunity to start learning more about this.As I did, I thought, This is magic. I love doing this.Sarah: That's so cool.Hayden: Talk about fate.So it was one of those things where I liked working in schools, but doing this in a private practice setting and working one-on-one with a child felt like what I was meant to do.I just loved it.I still enjoy the adult piece. I mentioned that earlier. I like supporting educators, and that's something I bring into my Instagram content sometimes—helping classroom teachers think about how to bring these ideas into the school setting.Ultimately, though, I found that I really enjoy being in the role of working one-on-one with the child.That's what my school opportunity allowed me to do, and it's how I got to where I am now and what I feel I specialize in.I was being called in to support behaviors, so I really learned how to implement this one-on-one while supporting a child.I always say I have the utmost admiration for teachers who are trying to learn this, do this, and implement this with 25 or 30 kids in a classroom.Sarah: Seriously.Hayden: That is a whole different beast than sitting one-on-one with a child and co-regulating.Sarah: It's so needed, though.I find, through the clients I work with, that when kids are having trouble at school, most teachers and administrators are not very aware of the nervous system and how that factors into behavior.So it's great that there are people out there trying to bring that understanding into schools.Just as an aside, do you have any resources for parents who are listening and want their school to be more nervous-system informed? Do you have any resources we could share in the show notes?Hayden: Yeah.My free resources page has some templates and tools that start creating that understanding.Honestly, I think my Instagram is a great place to start because what I try to do there is take these big topics and make them really simple. We're trying to fit them into one-minute videos, so my goal is to give people a little bit of the understanding in a really accessible way.Another resource is the Synergetic Education Institute.Sarah: Great.Hayden: That's their entire focus: bringing this into districts and schools. I'm always happy to share them as a resource because that's exactly what they're doing.Sarah: Perfect. We'll share those in the show notes.Okay, so you've mentioned meltdowns a couple of times and that a lot of your work centers around helping parents and kids when meltdowns and big behaviors are an issue. One of the reels I saw when I was preparing for this interview was the one where you were using the pop bottle analogy. And I think some people may have heard about that, but maybe you could explain the pop bottle analogy and how that relates to meltdowns.Then we'll talk about what we can do preventively. What I always say to parents is that when you have meltdowns, there's what you do in the moment, but there's also everything that was leading up to the moment.You can be preventative about meltdowns, and sometimes that really helps a lot. Other times, you try, but you still find yourself in that meltdown space.What I'd like to get from you today is both the preventative piece and the in-the-moment piece.But back to the pop bottle. Maybe you could explain that analogy and then talk about how it factors into thinking about prevention.Hayden: Yeah, definitely.The one you're referring to, I've previously explained to families I work with as almost like a pressure gauge.Things are building and building, and the pop bottle came to mind because if you're shaking up a bottle of pop and you open it all at once, it's going to explode everywhere.The picture I was trying to create is: can we open it a little bit and close it, then open it a little bit and close it? Can we let a little bit of steam off throughout the course of the day?Going back to the pressure gauge analogy, how do we let a little bit off so it's not ready to explode at any given moment?That's how I think about the preventative side. How do we bring in little bits of regulation throughout the day so we can let off some of that steam?I think there are a couple of ideas that help this make sense. One is the concept of the window of tolerance. The window of tolerance is basically how much stress your nervous system can tolerate before you become dysregulated.It's that same idea: as the pressure builds, that window gets smaller and smaller.Sarah: And if I could just jump in, bringing that back to the pop bottle analogy: if you imagine your child as a bottle of pop, some kids can take 25 shakes of the bottle and not have much pressure build up, while other kids might only take one or two shakes before the pressure starts building.That's the window of tolerance, right? How many stressors can your nervous system deal with before you move outside that window of tolerance?Hayden: Exactly. And the thing I always add when I'm talking to people about this is that our window of tolerance is not static. Some days I might be able to handle 20 shakes. Other days it might be one or two. It's going to depend on things like whether I'm hungry. We've all heard the term hangry, right? You're quicker to frustration if your body is hungry. Or tired. Having little kids, right? The nights I sleep less—Sarah: Yeah.Hayden: —I'm just easier to frustrate.Sarah: Totally.Hayden: So it's this idea that it's not static. It's not like your child operates at one fixed level.They may have a general baseline, but there are things that will widen or narrow that window. Maybe I did something today that I'm really proud of, and that widens my window. I can take on a little bit more because I'm feeling good about myself.Or maybe I skipped breakfast and I'm a little hangry, so I'm quicker to frustration. It's both-and.The other piece I was going to tie in here is the way I've come to think about regulation, which really comes from my training in Synergetic Play Therapy. Lisa Dion, who created this modality, explains regulation as connection to self.The way I like to explain that is this: In adult language, we've all heard people say, “I was so mad I blacked out,” or, “I was so mad I was seeing red.”The idea is that the emotion overwhelmed you and you kind of disconnected from yourself.When we think about regulation, it's not just take a deep breath. Sometimes that might be what I need in the moment, but sometimes it isn't what helps me come back to myself when things feel really big or overwhelming.One of the things I like to do when I'm working with families is figure out how their child naturally regulates already. Do they like proprioceptive input? Do they like deep pressure? Do they like to jump and crash into things?Sarah: Can you explain proprioceptive input?Hayden: Yeah. Really, it's our sensory system's way of figuring out where our body is in space. The examples I just mentioned are ways kids get proprioceptive input. That deep pressure gives the sensation of, My body is right here. Jumping and crashing into things does the same thing.A lot of times, parents describe their kids as being like a bull in a china shop. They're bumping into things and seem to have a hard time figuring out where their body is in space. Whenever I talk about this, I always say that my understanding of it really comes more from the occupational therapy world. I know enough to talk about it, but it's not my primary area of expertise.What I focus on is asking: if we see that's the way our child regulates, how do we intentionally bring more of it in? For adults, when I think about regulating myself, sometimes I feel like I need to give myself a little massage, or rub my head, or apply some pressure. We all do that thing where we go, ugh, or rub our hands against our cheeks when we're overwhelmed.That's proprioceptive input. Sometimes that kind of input is really regulating.Other examples might be movement or heavy work—pushing and pulling activities. If we see our kids doing some of these things instinctively or intuitively, how do we meet that and bring it into those moments so it becomes a regulatory tool? All of that comes back to the idea that if we can give children little bits of regulation throughout the course of the day, it's not a magic fix, but it lets a little steam out of the pop bottle.The goal is to create more capacity and help widen that window of tolerance so they aren't right on the edge of exploding all the time. I always like to add that caveat: it's not the magic fix.Doing these things doesn't mean there will never be another meltdown. What I really try to teach adults is: how do we help children have these experiences and learn how to do these things? Because what we're really doing is laying the groundwork for them to eventually be able to do these things on their own.Above all else, I don't want parents to think they're failing if their child is still having meltdowns. It doesn't mean it's not working. We're helping them discover what helps them in those moments so they build templates they can keep returning to over and over again.Sarah: What are some other things that parents might notice their kids do that, after listening to this conversation, they might think, Ah, that's my child instinctively knowing what regulates them?I'm thinking of my nine-year-old niece. She finds jumping very regulating, so she uses a trampoline and jump rope. My sister eventually realized, “Oh, she seems a lot calmer after she's been doing those things.”What are some other things parents might notice that are instinctively regulating?Hayden: Going back to the idea that regulation is connection to self, I've come to talk about it as something that can almost be anything.What do you notice your child doing that seems to genuinely help them? The examples you mentioned are great ones. Jumping. Spinning. Those are common.As you were talking, I was thinking back to a training I did with Lisa Dion.She talked about these umbrella categories—not necessarily saying they are regulation, but that they can help us generate ideas. One category was stillness. Like you mentioned: lying down, being quiet, reading a book.Another category was movement, which is the opposite end of the spectrum—jumping, spinning, stomping. Then there's the proprioceptive input we talked about before: deep pressure, giving yourself a massage.And the last one was breath. Breathwork can absolutely be a fantastic tool.But I think we often get sucked into this idea that here's a regulation strategy—use it and it'll help.Sarah: Right.Hayden: But when we think about our own experience, I think we often approach it from the mindset of, Here's a strategy to give my kid, and they'll use it and feel better. I think about my own experience. Through this work, I've realized how anxious I was as a kid, so working on my anxiety has been a long process for me. And when I'm feeling anxious, doing a breathing exercise for 10 seconds doesn't make the anxiety disappear. It might not be what I need in that moment. I might need to get up and burn some energy. I might need to go for a run.The real question is: what do I need in that moment to help move that energy and help me come back to myself?Sarah: Right. And as you point out, if regulation is connection to self, it's different for everybody. I think you're right that the thing parents hear most often is, “Just take a deep breath.” There are all these strategies—pretend you're blowing on hot chocolate and all of that. Maybe that works for some kids, but for other kids it won't help at all.Hayden: Definitely. And to build on that, before I learned a lot of this—and what I hear from parents all the time—is: “My kid won't do any of these strategies.”Even if we have a toolbox and say, “Here's 20 ideas, let's figure out which one works,” their child won't do any of them in the moment. Because they're dysregulated.Absolutely. You're right that Part 3 drifted back into a transcript layout with too many short paragraphs.Here's the same section in the publishing-ready style you've asked for: bold speaker names, no content removed, no summarizing, but with natural paragraphs and cleaner flow.Sarah: Yeah.Hayden: And I think we can get into all the science-y reasons why that makes sense, but the bigger picture is this: what I try to do on my Instagram is ask, How can we make this fun and playful? How can we make it something kids actually want to do?You mentioned things like blowing on hot chocolate. One of the things I really try to do is help people build a toolbox of ways to make regulation fun and playful. Thinking about our own adult experience, if I'm frustrated and my partner comes in and tells me, “Calm down,” or, “Take a deep breath,” my response is probably going to be, “Absolutely not.” It just makes me more frustrated.So how do we make it a fun and playful invitation rather than saying, “I'm telling you to do this because I'm noticing you're upset”?Some of those breathing activities can become games. One of the things I talk about is practicing these things in regulated moments so that when your child is dysregulated and you bring them in, they think, Oh, I know what's happening. We play this all the time.Again, none of this means it's going to work every single time, but it gives us—Sarah: I just want to highlight what you said because I think it's really important. If you're only using these strategies when your child is dysregulated, they're going to develop a negative association with them. Partly, I think they'll feel manipulated. They'll think, Oh, my parent is just trying to get me to calm down.And they'll be resistant because they associate those strategies with negative feelings and experiences. So I love that you're saying to do these regulating things at other times too and make them positive experiences that you can draw on later rather than just tools you pull out to end a meltdown.Hayden: Definitely.And just to tie in some of the science behind it, when we think about this from a nervous system lens, dysregulation is our body sounding the alarm bells and saying, There's something happening here that requires activation.When we're talking about meltdowns, that's typically the nervous system escalating into a fight-or-flight response. If we think about fight-or-flight biologically, its primary goal is to keep us alive. That's why we move into that state.So if we're trying to get our child to do anything in that moment, it makes sense that we'd get an immediate response of, I'm not trusting anything right now because my goal is survival.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Hayden: When we practice these things during regulated moments—when they're not in those big emotional states—it becomes familiar. It's not, I've never tried that before. I don't know if it'll work. It's, Oh, we do that all the time. That's fun. That's familiar. I know that.Again, it doesn't mean they're necessarily going to jump right into it, but it gives us a much better chance than saying, “Hey, here's this thing we've never done before. I know your body is biologically trying to stay alive right now, but trust me and try it.”Because the biological response would be, “Absolutely not.”Sarah: Right. That makes sense.We've drifted a little into what to do in the moment of a meltdown, which is great, but is there anything else you wanted to add about prevention? You mentioned making sure resources are high—things like hunger, tiredness, and those sorts of factors. You talked about opening the pressure valve throughout the day with regulating activities.Is there anything else you've noticed that helps when a child is having a lot of meltdowns?Hayden: Yeah. I think those are some of the biggest things.My whole approach is rooted in connection as well. A lot of times, parents tell me that sometimes they can catch it—they can see the signs that a meltdown is coming—and other times it feels like things go from zero to 100.If we're able to notice those signs that things are building, that our child seems more on edge or more hypervigilant, that becomes a great time to bring in some of these strategies. But tying it back to what we've already talked about, I want to do that from a place of connection.It's, Hey, I'm right here with you. Let's do this together.Not, Here's a strategy. Go do it by yourself.Because connection itself is incredibly regulating.Sarah: So the whole co-regulation piece.Hayden: Exactly. It's kind of a both-and situation. We can use connection before the meltdown, and we can use it as we're moving into one.I wanted to bring that in because connection itself can be a regulatory tool. And it also ties into your next question.Sarah: What about empathy? You were talking a lot about connection, and to me they go hand in hand. Do you find yourself talking about empathy very much with parents?Hayden: Yes. Typically, we talk about it more in the moment, although it fits into both areas.One of the reasons we focus on it during the moment is because I teach parents about Bruce Perry's Three Rs: Regulate, Relate, Reason.I really like this framework because it helps us understand where a child is in their brain and how we should meet them there.If they're operating from their brainstem—the lowest, survival-oriented part of the brain—we meet them with regulation.Sarah: That's the fight-or-flight part.Hayden: Typically, yes.Then the next level up is the limbic system, which is our emotional control center.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Hayden: There we meet them through relating, or what parents often hear called validation.Then, when they're operating from the cortex—the highest part of the brain—we can reason with them.The reason I'm bringing this up is that empathy really lives in that relating stage. That's where we're saying, I'm in this with you. This feels frustrating. This feels overwhelming. This feels scary.That's where empathy naturally fits.So if I'm noticing my child starting to become emotional and I sense that we're moving toward a bigger meltdown, that's a great opportunity to step into that relating and validating stage and connect empathetically.Sarah: Okay, nice. So reason is when they're not really losing it yet? That's when we might explain why they can't climb the bookshelf or something like that?Hayden: Right. Reasoning is when they're logical and rational.Sarah: Thinking clearly.Hayden: Exactly.That's when logical conversations make sense.One question I get a lot is, “How do I know where my child is?” And the truth is, you probably don't always know. It's a bit of feeling out the situation.You might notice that you're trying to be logical and rational, but it's not landing. That's your clue.Sarah: Right.Hayden: At that point, we drop down a level and try validating or relating. Or maybe we're supporting a big meltdown and we're regulating, and then we try saying, I get it. This feels really frustrating, and it only gets bigger.Okay, that didn't land. Let's drop back down and spend more time regulating.Sarah: Right.Hayden: It's an ebb and flow. We're trying things and seeing what works.Sarah: I love that framework. It's really helpful to think about what to do when something isn't landing.I saw you talking about that on Instagram, and it reminded me of Larry Cohen's work. In The Opposite of Worry, he says that if reassurance doesn't work within 20 seconds, it's not going to work. When a child is anxious, they're not operating from the reasoning part of their brain.And I think the same thing probably applies here. If your child is moving into a meltdown and your explanation doesn't work within 20 seconds, it's probably not going to work.Hayden: Definitely. You can talk until you're blue in the face, but if it's not landing, it's not suddenly going to start landing.And it gives us the opposite lesson too. When we're supporting a meltdown, we so often want to fix it. We want to move right into being logical and rational. Or sometimes we jump to consequences. We're giving consequences in the middle of the meltdown.None of that is going to land.Working in schools, I saw this all the time. “You'll have to finish your homework at home,” or taking away recess. The child doesn't care because they're not operating from the part of the brain that cares about those things in that moment.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Hayden: All of those conversations—making amends, talking about what happened, figuring out solutions—can absolutely happen. But they need to happen when the brain is ready for them.Sarah: Right. Not during the meltdown.Hayden: Exactly.Sarah: What else do you want parents to know about those meltdown moments?Hayden: My approach is very co-regulatory. The Three Rs are a great foundation because they help us understand that first step of regulation, then relating, then reasoning.There are lots of things we can do within that framework.One thing I hear from parents all the time is, “So am I just supposed to sit here with my child for an hour while they melt down? I can only keep my cool for so long.”And my response is: I totally get that. That's valid.Co-regulation doesn't mean sitting there forever doing nothing. Yes, a big part of our goal is allowing them to have their emotional experience rather than shutting it down. But another big part of our goal is teaching them how to regulate when things feel overwhelming.So I like to bring in little invitations. They're probably not going to do exactly what I tell them to do, but I can offer invitations back to themselves.One of my favorite ways to do that is mindfulness.And when I say mindfulness, I don't necessarily mean trying to get my child to do something. Instead, I'm having a mindful experience myself and offering it as a gentle invitation.For example, if we're sitting together and I'm regulating myself, I might say, “Oh, there's a squirrel in the tree outside.”It's just an observation. I'm not telling them they have to look.But as they start moving up through the brain and through that Three Rs framework, sometimes they'll suddenly say, “Oh, I want to see the squirrel.”Or I might notice, “The air from the fan feels cool on my face.”It's just an observation. I'm not directing them. I'm simply staying present and offering little invitations back into the present moment.Sometimes they don't care. Sometimes it even escalates them. But I'm making those observations for myself first.As I'm keeping myself regulated, I'm giving them opportunities to join me in the present moment.Going back to regulation as connection to self, they're disconnected from themselves in those moments. They're overwhelmed by emotion.So the goal of mindfulness is to gently invite them back into the present moment with me. If you're in the present moment, you're here. You're noticing what's around you.That's why I like to bring mindfulness into these conversations. Because no, you don't have to sit there doing nothing while waiting for it to end. There are things we can do to help bring our children back to the present moment.First, by keeping ourselves regulated. If I'm staying mindful and present, it keeps me from losing myself.Second, it teaches them what it looks like to come back when things feel overwhelming.Sarah: That makes a lot of sense.What do you find gets in the way of parents being able to do that? Are there common stories they're telling themselves? Fears they have?In my work, I hear things like, If they're like this at five, what are they going to be like at fifteen? Or, Nobody else's kid acts like this.Things like that.Hayden: Absolutely.My answer to both of those is usually the same: our own dysregulation.I talk about this from the theoretical soapbox of Here's the ideal model. But I tell every family I work with: this is the water I swim in every day, and I still don't get it right every time.I'm a human being. I have my own activation.When I hear examples like the ones you mentioned, those are usually signs of dysregulation. If my mind is spiraling into the future, that's a clue that I'm no longer present. I'm worried about something else.So none of this is to say that staying regulated is easy. It's completely natural to become dysregulated when we're around dysregulation.At the same time, the more we practice it, the easier it becomes. It's like yoga. The more we practice, the more accessible it gets.I think one of the biggest challenges is the guilt and shame parents feel. They think, But I get dysregulated. And my response is: that's okay.When we're supporting a meltdown, it might look like staying regulated the whole time. But more often, it looks like a dance. I regulate. I notice I'm getting dysregulated. I come back to myself. Then I regulate again.That cycle happens throughout the experience. It doesn't mean you have to stay perfectly regulated from beginning to end. And honestly, there's benefit in both versions. If I stay regulated, I'm creating a calm space. But if I become dysregulated and then regulate myself again, I'm also modeling something really powerful.I'm showing my child:“I disconnected, and now I'm back.”“I disconnected, and now I'm back.”We so often think we have to teach children by telling them what to do. But there is tremendous power in modeling it. Simply showing them what regulation looks like when things feel really big and overwhelming is teaching them.Here's Part 4 cleaned up in the same publishing-ready style as the revised Part 3: all content preserved, no summarizing, no omissions, bold speaker names, and natural paragraphs rather than one-line transcript formatting.Sarah: Options.Hayden: It might not be that they turn around and do these things immediately, but we are showing them, “Look, I'm right here with you. I get overwhelmed. I get dysregulated.”And one last thought within that: so often I hear this from the kids I work with—“Nobody else is like this. I'm the only one who feels this way. I'm the only one who gets so overwhelmed by my anger.”Sarah: Aw.Hayden: So I think there's so much normalization in naming our own experience. Maybe it's naming our own experience, but maybe it's even just showing them: “Ah, I got really frustrated, and now I'm coming back and regulating myself. I'm making repair. I'm taking accountability for it.”All of those pieces matter. There's power in all of them, I think, and that's something I hope I get across to the families I work with. I think there's often this guilt or shame of, “I'm not doing a good job at this.”And it's like, there's value in all of these things when you can bring some intentionality to them.Sarah: I love that.I'm kind of springing this on you, and I don't know if I've seen you talk about this specifically in your reels, but do you have any specific strategies for aggression that comes with a meltdown?Hayden: Yeah.I think the thing that's really tricky with aggression is that, especially when we're talking on social media, I'm not there. I don't know your kid. So it's really hard for me to tell you exactly how to support them in the moment.I always start with a very generic statement: we have to create safety first.I can't tell you exactly what that's going to look like because every situation is different. But you have to make sure you're safe, your child is safe, their siblings are safe, their friends are safe—whoever is around needs to be safe.We have to create physical safety first and foremost.Then, from there, I think it's helpful to understand that the fight-or-flight response is what's happening. It would make sense that we've reached a level where things have gotten so big that the child is now fighting. That's the response that's happening.In that moment, we're really trying to communicate, “This isn't warranted right now. You don't need to be in a fight response.”The ways we do that include the co-regulation we've already talked about, but also being very aware of how we're presenting ourselves.How are we appearing? Are we cornering them? Are we standing high above them? Can we get down to their level?Those subtle things can send the message: “Everything is activated. The alarm bells are going off. There's this thing hovering over me. I'm cornered in my room, so I have to fight my way out.”Can we bring just a little bit of awareness to those dynamics, as best we're able, once we've created safety?Some of those pieces can be really difficult because we're trying to keep our kids safe. We may need to be in their personal space to prevent them from hurting themselves.But once we get to a place where they're no longer actively hurting themselves, can we begin sending signals that—Sarah: That they're safe and that you're not a threat.Hayden: Exactly.And it's not even necessarily that you are the threat. It's more about asking, What can we do to help simmer things down a little bit?One of the other things that comes to mind is talking less and keeping things really simple.If they're in that level of activation, it's not the time to reason. It's probably not the time to talk about how frustrating the situation is for them.Sarah: Right.Hayden: It might simply be:“I'm right here.”Sarah: Yeah.Hayden: “I'm right here.”Just a steady presence. Keeping it calm, quiet, and simple.“You are safe.”Really short, simple phrases.I think another idea that comes to mind is thinking about the activation in the body. When we're talking about nervous system activation and fight or flight, things are escalating. Things are speeding up. That energy is getting big.It makes sense that it's coming out through the extremities—through hitting, kicking, biting, screaming. The energy is trying to get out of the body.So if our child is hitting, can we find a way for them to move that energy through their hands?Maybe I have a pillow and I'm letting them push against it.Again, this has to be balanced with safety. I can't tell every parent, “This is what you should do every time.” But with some children—especially smaller children—if their arms are flying around, I might be able to create a situation where they can push against a pillow.If they're kicking and their legs are flailing, can we do something similar where their feet are pushing against something?We're giving some proprioceptive input while simultaneously allowing the energy to move through the part of the body that's already showing us where that energy wants to go.Sarah: That makes sense.When you were talking about creating safety through your physical presence when someone's having a meltdown, I was reminded of something.It's funny—I don't know if you find this in your work—but sometimes I use an analogy or example for years and then kind of forget about it.I was reminded that I used to talk to parents about pretending they'd just come across a wild dog that was acting aggressively. I'd ask them, “What would you do to get past this wild dog?”They're always saying things like, “Well, I'd talk softly. I'd get lower. I'd...”Instinctively, we all seem to have a sense of how to demonstrate to another creature that we're not a threat.And then I'd say, “Okay. Do that with your kid. Do that with your kid.”What you were saying reminded me of that.Hayden: Absolutely.I think that visual of a cornered animal is a really powerful one because it makes sense.As you were talking, I was thinking about a book by Dr. Stuart Brown about play. One of the things he talked about was how animals have this moment of uncertainty when they encounter each other.It's almost like they're asking, “Are you a threat or not?”If two dogs are approaching each other, there's this moment where they're feeling each other out. We don't know which direction it's going to go until they determine things are okay. Then their tails start wagging, and they begin jumping around and playing.But first there's that period of interaction where they're assessing the situation.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Hayden: That's the idea we're talking about here.One of the things I discuss is using playfulness as a strategy to support regulation—even sometimes during meltdowns. This is a little different from the aggression question, but it connects.If I come in trying to be playful when a child's brain is trying to figure out what's happening, they may think, “Wait, what is going on? I don't understand this.”It can almost feel like an uncertain threat.Sarah: Or, “Are they making fun of me?”Hayden: Exactly.And so it's the same principle we've been talking about throughout this conversation.We're trying to lay a foundation. When I talk about co-regulation, we're really trying to co-regulate the environment.It's not necessarily about getting our child to do something. It's about decreasing the intensity of the environment.Whether we're talking about aggression or anything else, can we be intentional about helping the environment feel a little less intense?Can we help our child feel safe enough to move out of that fight-or-flight state?Sarah: Fantastic. This has been so helpful, Hayden.Before I let you go, there's one question I ask all my guests. If you could go back in time—and for you it's not that far back because your kids are still little—and tell your younger parent self something, what advice would you give yourself?Hayden: I think—and this may be a controversial one—but I would tell myself to take myself less seriously.There are so many stressors. There are so many things we think we have to do. We have to be on time. We have to present ourselves a certain way. We have to manage all these responsibilities.Just have some fun.Take yourself a little less seriously and bring in more silliness, fun, and playfulness.That's something I really try to communicate now. It's why I bring playful strategies into my work.When I think about the beginning of parenthood and how overwhelming it was—having little kids, trying to balance everything, coming out of COVID when everything felt weird—I wish I had remembered to enjoy it more.And that's not to say it's always fun, enjoyable, or easy.But it also doesn't need to feel stressful all the time.Sarah: I got you.And if that's controversial, it shouldn't be.It reminds me of when I worked in early childhood education before I had kids. I used to go home and say to my husband, “Oh my God, parents are crazy.”I shouldn't use ableist language, but I didn't know another way to describe it at the time. I couldn't understand how parents could get so upset about things.Then I became a parent and thought, “Oh my gosh, I totally get it.”But it's that reminder that things aren't all-or-nothing.When I look back now—and I'm in a very different stage of parenting—I think about things that felt like a huge deal when my kids were little. Things I worried about endlessly.And now I think, “I wish I hadn't taken that so seriously.”I wish I could have remembered that they were all eventually going to sleep through the night.Hayden: Mm-hmm.My partner has brought in this language that I really love:“You are more important than whatever.”Sarah: Mm-hmm.Hayden: So, “You are more important than us being on time to this event.”Or, “You are more important than the glass of milk that got knocked over.”Sarah: That's beautiful.Hayden: It's just a reframe.Yes, that thing happened. But you are more important than that thing.Sarah: That's beautiful. I love that.Hayden: Yeah.Sarah: We'll put links in the show notes, but if you want to give a shout-out to your Instagram account, it sounds like that's probably the best place for people to learn more about you and what you do.Hayden: Yeah, I think that's a great place to start because it gives people a little more of what I do.My Instagram is Low Tide Play Therapist, and that's probably the best landing spot.Then the more business-focused side is lowtidecoaching.com.Sarah: Great.What's the story behind Low Tide?Hayden: It's actually how I named my play therapy practice.At the time, we were living in Wilmington, North Carolina. We only had one child, and I was wrestling with what I wanted to call the practice.Our child was very young, and suddenly the ocean felt a little intimidating. That was a new experience for me because it hadn't felt that way before.One day we went to the beach during low tide. There were little tide pools everywhere, and it felt very safe and non-threatening.And ultimately, I think that's what play is.It's a space where we can explore things that feel big, challenging, or overwhelming in an environment where there aren't huge stakes attached to them.As I watched my child playing in those tide pools—with no giant waves, no threat—I thought:“That's it. That's the name.”Low Tide Play Therapy.Sarah: I'm glad I asked because that's a great story.Hayden: Yeah.Sarah: Well, thank you so much.Hayden: Thank you. I appreciate it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sarahrosensweet.substack.com/subscribe

Andrew Musgrove shares his view on the NEW Newcastle United home shirt which has caused a bit of controversy! Chronicle Live's Craig Connor went up early doors to interview fans who had queued from 4am! --- As always a big thanks to our sponsors NORD VPN and Saily - two products that will enhance your travel abroad. NORD VPN providing the safety and security you need while browsing, and Saily giving you that affordable e-sim and network coverage. You can get discounts by hitting up the links in the description box. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ ⁠https://nordvpn.com/toon⁠ Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Another fabulous week, another fabulous Coffee Sprudgecast episode. We're going full Proof of Taste on the pod this week, with several coffees ranging from outstanding to thank god we're still standing. Little Buddy, Danny Devito, Small Americano, Italiano. Call it whatever you want, but let's be real: three, four ounces of hot water with espresso, this little drink is delightful, and we slam one down using Equator Coffees latest offering from Thailand: Chaiprakarn Red Honey. We climb to the tippy top of Tug Hill and cup coffees from this artisan roaster out of Lowville, NY. Honestly, what a treasure. We love it when listeners of the show send us delicious coffees to try and we were absolutely cupping bowled over by the exquisite coffees Tug Hill sent us. The coffees? Pink Ranger and Ihcato. Do yourself a favor: run, don't walk. To celebrate pride, we make ourselves a cup of Albert Goldman's favorite morning brew: Turkish Coffee. We do this with a fancy piece of Turkish Coffee gear: the Saki Turkish Coffee maker. Gwar, unh! Good god, y'all, what is it good for? Absolutely…coffee? That's right, Gwar-heads, Gwar coffee. The Berserker Mode Blend. We drink it! Finally, as if we hadn't had enough coffee, we taste test of the Oreo Tiramisu Thins. Our verdict? Well, you'll just have to listen. This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by DONA, Pacific Barista Series, and La Marzocco.

55% of orgs expect AI tool experience to be their most in-demand skill within two years!  Honestly, most of us are still figuring out what to have for lunch, so the timeline feels…a little aggressive.  In this final episode of the four-part AI Readiness Gap series, presented in partnership with TriNet, DeAnn Alcantar, Learning and Development Manager at TriNet, and Kelly Pacatte, Lead HR Compliance Consultant at TriNet, give us a north star for AI readiness so that we know what to focus on in that timeframe! We're getting into what it takes to close the gap: the technical stuff, the deeply human skills that matter more than ever, and the mindset shift that's going to define which HR leaders are ready for what's coming and which ones are not. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:12 - The Urgency of AI Proficiency 00:05:07 - Is Two Years Enough to Be Efficient With AI as an Org? 00:10:32 - The Human Skills That Are Going to Matter More Than Ever 00:14:44 - The Evolution of How HR Will Function at Orgs 00:22:58 - The One Mindset Shift HR Leaders Need 00:26:31 - What Every HR Leader Feeling Behind on AI Right Now Needs to Know --- Running a small business is hard, and HR should not get in the way. TriNet helps small businesses by outsourcing HR to professionals. This lets business owners get back to the real work: building a company, and leaving a legacy. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about TriNet⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- If you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba's newsletter! It's for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration. ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/⁠⁠⁠⁠ And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here⁠⁠⁠⁠ for even more exclusive insider content! --- Follow Our Guests DeAnn Alcantar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannealcantar Kelly Pacatte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellypacatte   Follow Hebba YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠ LinkedIn:⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠ Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠

First Fruits Escape Judgments (1) (audio) David Eells - 6/10/26 Friends, time is running out to be in the first-fruits and to escape the judgments that are soon coming upon the unrighteous and apostates. Please listen closely to these prophetic warnings from some who have been in the wilderness for many years.   Jesus is Coming Unexpectedly Tubby Miniard (David's notes in red) I had a dream about a preacher I met many years ago in Baton Rouge. (He met me there) He asked me, “Do you want to see Jesus?” I said, “Yes”. I became very excited. I looked to the left, then to the right. On the right, I saw a door. It was open. I watched the door, expecting Jesus to walk through it. The man tapped my shoulder. I looked at him. He asked, “Do you want to see Jesus?” I said, “Yes”, and returned to staring at the door, expecting Jesus to walk through it. He tapped my shoulder again, and I looked at him. Again, he asked, “Do you want to see Jesus?” I got angry. This was the third time he had asked me this. I said, “Yes, I need to see Jesus. I need to talk to Him”. He said, “Okay. Look at me”. We were facing each other. He put his hand at the top of his forehead. Then he pulled off his face. There was Jesus! This was not what I expected. I thought Jesus would walk through the door I was looking at. (This is not to brag on me for sure but because of my name I represent here the David man-child ministries who will be the first fruits. Jesus, came as a man in the flesh calling himself the Son of Man, Who was the manifested Son of God in the Spirit, said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Can His disciples come into His image and pass on His likeness? This is why His disciples were called Christians. He said, “He that receiveth you receiveth Me”. Paul called this “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.) His eyes were two large diamonds. Light came from His eyes. They sparkled brightly. (Those who can pass on this image have very valuable, clear sight. They have eyes for the Light only.) His face and hair were red. They were flaming fire. I was amazed. I was speechless. I just stared at Him, His face flaming like a fire. As I stared at His face, my eyes began to turn into diamonds and my face began to flame. It was awesome. 2Co.3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.) When He saw this, He smiled and said, “Now you get it”. He turned and walked toward the open door and I watched as He walked through it. A woman stepped up and stood in the threshold of the door. She called to me and said, “You need to hurry”. I noticed that the door was slowly closing by itself. (The door to be in the first-fruits Man-child is closing.) I kind of knew that when it closed, it could not be opened from my side. I began to run toward the door as fast as I could. (The door is Jesus. Run, saints, to the “prize of the high calling of God in Christ”.) I woke up before I could reach it. But the door was still open. Heb.12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord. (There is more to this text concerning those who will not make it through the door; continuing in verse 15 looking carefully lest [there be] any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby the many be defiled [some who knew of this opportunity are now defiling many]; 16 lest [there be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat [which represents walking after flesh] sold his own birthright [to be a first born son of Abraham]. 17 For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected [Greek: adokimos; “reprobated”]; for he found no place for a change of mind [in his father,] (who then refused to give him the first fruit blessing) though he sought it diligently with tears. Oh, friends, heed the warnings. They can't change their mind, meaning they cannot repent.) I don't complain about the mean people anymore. I just try to stay out of their way. They can have it all. I want Jesus. Psa.27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek. Scripture study for the dream This is the heir of promise: Rom.8:17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. Gal.4:1-7 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all; 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed of the father. 3 So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world: 4 but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Heb.1:2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds; The fully-grown man: Eph.4:13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: The perfect: 1Co.13:10-11 but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. Luk.6:40 The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. The Man-child; the rapture Hos.9:11 As for Ephraim (Jacob called Ephraim “a multitude of nations” -- Genesis 48:19), their glory (which is Christ; Luk.2:32 A light for revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of thy people Israel. Col.1:27 …the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:) They will overcome the lure of the world like a bird.…(Psa.68:13 It is as the wings of a dove covered with silver, And her pinions with yellow gold. Mat.24:28 Wheresoever the carcase is (I.e.,dead to self), there will the eagles be gathered together. Psa.84:3-4 Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, My King, and my God. Psa 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: Proverbs 23:5 …certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.) From the birth, from the womb, from conception (Rev.12:5 And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. Isa.66:7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Mic.5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.) Hos.9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left… (False teachers cannot bring forth first fruits. All fully-grown men and women become one in Christ [Galatians 3:28,29] and shall escape) – Jer.31:9 They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. God spoke to Moses face to face – Exo.33:11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend….; Deu.34:10 And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face. God will speak to the Man-child face to face -- 1Co.13:12 For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. The door – Mat.25:10 And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut. Luk.13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are;   Salesman Preachers, Usurpers Tubby Miniard (David's notes in red) I dreamed that I was a forward observer at the front line. There were eight of us. We were in pairs, dug in, waiting for the enemy to attack. It was dark, and a dense fog fell over our line of defense. Suddenly, one forward observer yelled, “They're here!” We jumped from our places to meet them. There were so many that they poured in like a flood. (Who is the true Church fighting these days? The tares that are sown among the wheat. Satan's emissaries to defeat the Church from within.) We fought back-to-back for protection. It was very effective. We slaughtered them. None of us was hurt. We fought all night. As the dawn was breaking and the mist began to rise, our army arrived, and they very easily overwhelmed the enemy. The enemy left was already wounded and weak, so it was easy for them to take them out. Next, I was at my grandpa's house, where my mother lived. I asked her, “Do you need anything?” She said, “Yes, I need wood for the fire”. I said, “Okay”. I got wood and filled every room in the house. I told her, “This is enough wood, so your fire will never go out, and I have a good fire going in the fireplace”. She said, “You're a good son”. (Those who have fought Satan's army ahead of the front line of tribulation will be there to defend the woman Church from false usurpers during the tribulation. The good son will provide plenty of fuel to see to it that Mom's [the true Church's] fire will never go out. It says in Lev.6:12 And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning thereon, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall lay the burnt-offering in order upon it, and shall burn thereon the fat of the peace-offerings. 13 Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually; it shall not go out.) There was someone knocking at the door. She went outside, and I followed her. It was a salesman wearing a spotted suit. (These proud fakes that Satan is raising up will be known by the elect because of their slick attempts to sell themselves with their spotted garments of a rebellious, egotistical life. Jude 23 and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Rev.19:8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [and] pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 2Co.11:15 It is no great thing therefore if his [Satan's] ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.) He was fat and the suit was too small (overcome by flesh). He looked funny. (Children who do not look like the Father because they are of another seed than the Word.) I stepped between them. I felt protective of her. I didn't trust him. He began to tell her of the great war and mighty victory our nation had won. (Our one spiritual nation of true Christianity?) He was bragging and boasting. (A sign of a usurper.) He wanted her to think he was a patriot. (They are untried with no accomplishments or authority.) He spoke as if he were there. I said, “You're lying. I was there. I'm a Forward Observer in front of the front line. They call us the eyes of the artillery. (Calling in strikes from the angels) There were eight of us. (The gematria of Jesus name - 888) We fought all night. When our people arrived, there wasn't much to do”. My Captain (Jesus) told me, “Don't come see me unless you win a star”. I won a star for valor in battle. I took it and gave it to my Captain (Jesus). He gave it back to me as a reward, a medal of honor. I held up a star. I had it on a necklace. A brilliant light shone from it. It was amazing to see. “And here is my sword”. I pulled out a sword covered with blood. Jer.48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently; and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. When he saw the sword, he turned very pale and turned and ran away. (The usurpers are powerless before the Word of God.) I laughed. I told Mother, “You're safe now. He won't be back. Now that they know I'm here, they won't bother you anymore”. She said, “You're a good son”. I told her, “I have things I must do. If you need me, just call, and I will be here swiftly”. I got into a car and drove away, feeling very proud of my star and sword, and satisfied that Mother was okay. (The Man-child sons will defend the woman in the wilderness.)   Flood of Deception Cuts Off Escape Tubby Miniard (David's notes in red) I was running through a barren, very dry land. All the trees looked dead—no leaves, no grass, no flowers. Nothing was green. I noticed there were a lot of very dry thorn bushes. Isa.24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. I was calling to people, warning them of a flood that was soon approaching. (The Lord spoke to me about the flood. He said, “This flood is the son of perdition.”) (Perdition means destruction where they go. Representing Judases and their hidden evil lives, lack of fruit, and hatred of good, and fake Christianity.) They laughed at me and ran from me down paths hedged in by thorn bushes. Some of them were drinking wine. The women had silver cups to drink from. The men had wine bottles from which they drank. The bottles looked nasty and old. They were laughing as they ran. (They are spiritually drunken, speaking as fools, perverting reality, overcome with delusion.) I thought, How could anyone be happy in this barren, dry place? Suddenly, two men called to me. They were standing by the bridge. They said, “Time's up. (meaning for the righteous to be in the wilderness) Cross the bridge now”. I said, “Okay”. I ran across the bridge. As I was crossing, I saw a wall of water coming down the river. (He said, “The bridge is the cross of Christ, the altar of burnt offering.” [Those who believe in the cross of sacrificed flesh and bear theirs will escape. Heb.2:3 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard. Rom.2:3 And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? 2Pe.2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.] The wicked will remove the cross, causing the continual sacrifice [of their old life] to cease.) (Then the fleshly beast will rule in the temple of God as an abomination that maketh one desolate of God.) As soon as my feet touched the bank, I turned around to watch. The flood hit the bridge hard, knocking it out and washing it away. I looked across the river and thought, Now they can never cross over. I felt bad for them, but this side was great. Everything was alive— trees, flowers, grass, birds singing; it was nice, blue skies. (what,no chemtrails?) There was a door there with nothing around it. I opened it and went in. There were lots of people there. Everyone was happy, laughing, singing, and bragging on Jesus. They rushed to greet me, saying, “We have been expecting you. We're so glad you're here”. I was happy I was home. I had this same dream a second time about six months later. (When a dream is doubled, it is certain to happen -- Genesis 41:32; Daniel 2:45.) In the second dream, when I crossed the bridge and looked back I noticed the women did not wear shoes. I thought, That doesn't look safe -- no shoes in this place. (Representing dirty walks; not sanctified from the earthly.)  I didn't grieve as before. I was angry and thought, “You had a bridge, but you refused to cross over. I warned you all, but you laughed and ran away. All of you deserve this. It's your fault you're stranded over there.” (Under the dominion of Satan's Beast and the curse. Please hear the Word and obey.)   Tribulations: Tests of Obedience Judy Gregerson - 04/02/2010 (David's notes in red) I was walking around with someone, and a great windstorm whipped up. (Walking with the Lord as the tribulation arises. Winds of false doctrine and tribulation are coming to test the saints to prove whether or not they are obeying the Word. We see here that after knowledge comes testing to see who has built on the Rock of obedience.) Mat.7:24 Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock: 25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. 26 And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof. ... Eph.4:14 that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error. I was around these huge, old trees, and branches started breaking off in the wind. This old growth was not strong; in fact, it looked rotten in these old trees. (The old churches, denominations, and ministries that refuse the new growth of the reformation message are being revealed as rotten and corrupt by the winds and storms of tribulation now whipping up in the world. Judgments in finances, politics, life, weather, earthquakes, wind, earth, and changes in the heavens, etc. Those one with the vine have regeneration. Joh.15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If these old churches were of God, they would bring forth His fruit as the nature, character and authority of Jesus. But even though they appear great in the eyes of man, inside they are rotten and dead.) And I kept walking and, finally, two or three small pieces of branches came flying at me. (People from the churches who come against us, especially their leaders, just as they persecuted Jesus and His disciples.) One piece about two feet long hit me, but I felt no pain and I wasn't hurt. But huge branches were falling all around on other things. (God's judgment on big apostate church leaders and ministries as they FALL in tribulations.) I was amazed by the old growth. I was looking up in these trees, and I knew that this old growth (Apostate Christians walking in old tradition and error) was all going to be blown off these trees and hurt a lot of things on the ground, but it couldn't hurt me, even when it came FLYING at me with great power. (The Christians living close to the world will suffer as they and their apostate leadership are broken off and exposed. The falling away of branches of Christianity will come against and persecute the elect. Act.8:1… And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church.)   World Covenant and End-Time Ministries Amos Scaggs - 3/4/2007 (David's notes in red) I saw a bust figure of two breasts covered up with an angora goat hide, and over that was another material used to secure everything in place. (I thought the breasts were bound up for a time when they would be used for feeding. An angora hide is set apart from all others, being considerably more expensive.) The angora hide without its flesh represents the old man who is dead and now a new person of great value. This angora hide now covers the two witnesses who share the milk of the Kingdom and are an extension of the Man-child ministry. The true milk of the Word is permitted to be restrained until God's anointing breaks the yoke to release it to the multitudes. According to scriptural type, this will be when the tribulation has come. But David and Moses, as types of the Man-child, fed and defended those few sheep in the wilderness before coming to their greater kingdom ministry to the multitudes of God's people. There was a poster graph scale with 10 men's faces on it. There were nine men in place on the chart and colored in with black. The tenth man's silhouette was in white at first glance. There was a disagreement or a struggle between two people over when to put the 10th man on the chart. Then the tenth man was put on the chart, and half of his face was colored in with black to satisfy the others. I thought the men represented a period of time before completion. Whatever that period of time is, it is very short. This could be the time when Jesus will start to feed his people, who also walk in darkness, through the Man-child. 10 men's faces represent the 10 kings of the world continental divisions of the beast kingdom. One-half face could be the time until the beast covenant is completed at the beginning of the tribulation, and the man-child/witnesses begin to feed the milk to the young church on a worldwide basis. (The half black face could represent that one kingdom is divided over its support of the beast. Satan is the deceiver of the whole world outside of Christ.)   It's Confirmed: It Is the End Times Brandon Corsi - 02/04/2011 (David's notes in red) I wanted to give a testimony of a couple of dreams the Lord gave me within the past year and a half concerning my belief that the end times are coming soon. The first dream came about a year and a half ago. I never waver in my belief in the Lord (not that I never waver in obedience), but I was really struggling with unbelief about some end-times prophecy I was hearing from people and seeing online, some even from UBM (I was just a casual listener then). Might I also add that I was not raised to be a Christian nor in church, and if anything, the beliefs I was taught were more agnostic than anything. My father, being a science-minded person who graduated with a degree in science, didn't push any beliefs on me, but being a young boy, I think I unknowingly adopted his beliefs and carried them with me longer than I knew or wanted to. That is, until the Lord changed my life. Anyway, I think I was still getting rid of the last of those remnants of the old Brandon. I began my real walk with the Lord a few years ago, so my faith in Jesus was as strong then as it is now. But I had trouble with the skepticism inside of me. Well, I took it to the Lord for the first time, asking Him before bed to please give me a dream to show me the truth that tribulation is coming very soon. Well, I got one. It was a year ago, and I didn't write it down, but in the dream, I remember I found a card with a number on it. So when I awoke, I decided to see what page in the Bible it was and, sure enough, it was page 753 in my Bible, which includes Revelation 11:1-2, which speaks about the tribulation (I'll explain the significance of that in a moment). He gave me what I wanted, so I was at peace for the time being. Four or five months later, I got some more unbelief on me, as I was hearing more and more specific and amazing prophecies about the rapidly approaching tribulation; by the way, all these things I had heard were from very credible sources, including UBM. Once again, I became troubled by the fact that I was skeptical about them. Honestly, all I wanted was to just believe. I wished I hadn't ever had doubts, but I did. So I went to the Lord again, although a little more reluctantly this time, for He already showed me once, and I didn't want to fall out of His favor. I asked Him, once again, to please give me one more confirmation that I can believe these things. And I had another very powerful dream, in which I was sitting in my bedroom as a child and got the urge to go look at a Bible that was on my sleeping mother's nightstand. I crept in there quietly to get it and saw she was sleeping, so I went over and got the Bible. In the dream, I didn't even know why I wanted to look at it -- I just did. I opened the front cover, and it read, “Revelation 11:1-2”. So in the dream I opened to this scripture, and it is in the exact scripture text which gives the time period for the tribulation: 42 months or 1260 days. Right before I woke up, I heard a voice speak to me, an unrecognizable male voice. It said, “Do not ask me this again”. I woke up very shaken but happy and filled with praise for the Lord for giving me this second confirmation. Might I also add that those are the only two times I have ever asked the Lord to show me proof that the end times are approaching, and He answered both times. I was already very satisfied with my answer, but I decided to go ahead and read Revelation 11:1-2. A double surprise! Not only did it mention specifically the time period of the tribulation, but it was on the same page -- 753 -- as the other dream had me go to! Praise God! Rev.11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (Notice that there is an exhortation here for Brandon and you: The people who are in the temple and altar, meaning abiding in Christ and have their flesh on the altar of the fiery trial, will escape being trampled under the feet of the beast because they are not in the outer court and are close to the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. This is why the Lord gave this text to Brandon.) In closing, I hope and pray that any unbelief that may come upon me, God strikes it down. (This is part of leaving the flesh on the altar to burn up; we are to cast down fleshly imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.) I am still working on improving my walk with God. I have made some bad choices in the past, but He is working very quickly in me lately, and I praise Him for that because now I know that time is short. I hope and pray that I might have a chance to become a disciple of Jesus Christ before time is up. God Bless.   Wilderness Just Ahead Deborah Horton's vision - 09/7/2005 As I lay back down for a little more sleep after getting my husband off to work, I closed my eyes, and before my head hit the pillow, here is what I saw. (I'm pretty sure I wasn't asleep because it was over when my head touched the pillow and I immediately sat back up.) I saw a large motor home that was towing a car with its two front wheels up on a trailer behind it. (Years later they ended up living in just such a vehicle and still do.) as it pulled in for gas at the Fast Stop convenience store, which in real life is at the entrance to our subdivision, on Highway 176 at the entrance ramp to I-26. My eyes were drawn to the license plate on the motor home, and I saw it very clearly. It was similar to the North Dakota plate, which has a landscape and bison silhouette on it, but the one on the motor home had the silhouette of a cow, in red, facing toward the right. As I sat back up, I exclaimed, “The red heifer!” The motor home was not a luxurious land yacht with all the bells and whistles; it's one that is frequently seen on the highway, so I went to my local dealer to find out what the model name is. The motor home was a Fleetwood. The car being towed was small, not a full-size model, but I don't know what make it was. I also wasn't shown any license plate on the car. With a great deal of help from several Godly friends, here is what has been deciphered: Deborah: From Deuteronomy, the red heifer in its entirety was sacrificed outside the camp, then the ashes were mixed with water and used to ritually purify the altar, other implements used to minister to the Lord, and the people who were to minister to the Lord or who had become ritually unclean. Without the red heifer, the Temple and worship were unacceptable. David: The motor home is a mobile tabernacle prepared to go into the wilderness. The fuel for the motor home is a derivative of oil, which represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The anointing of the Man-child comes at the beginning of the wilderness as it was with Jesus and Moses. Like Moses and Jesus carried Israel through the wilderness to the Promised Land, this motor home is carrying this car through the tribulation. The motor home is powered and steered by the Lord Himself. Like many immature Christians, the car in tow has no driver yet and it cannot steer for itself. The motor home, as the Man-child has to steer it. Like many weak Christians, the car's power is not being used. As it was in Jesus' time, so it will be in ours. The license with the red heifer symbolizes the legal, scriptural right, by virtue of a crucified life, to lead others through the wilderness on the highway of holiness. Like the red heifer, the corporate Man-child will have presented his body as a living sacrifice. His old life will be burned up on the altar of fiery trials. The ashes of this purified life will be mixed with water, which is the Word of God, making a fully mature son of God. The heifer is facing to the right, symbolizing East, or the direction of the coming of the sun or Son in his life. This life will then be the wisdom and direction used to purify the altar for the rest of the remnant to be sacrificed in the wilderness. There, they will learn to submit to their driver and be steered with power from God. Our way of life is coming to a fast stop at the edge of the coming wilderness. Deborah: The model of the motor home, Fleetwood, also confirms this. We find the words “flee”, “fleet”, and “wood” indicating wilderness. However, an RV is not an off-road vehicle. Pro.16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul. Isa.11:16 And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. Isa.35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose ... 8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. Deborah: I was asking the Lord why the motor home, representing the first fruits, was so large, and the car, representing the remnant, was so small in comparison. I got that the faith of the relatively few first-fruits was that much bigger than all the faith of the greater number of the remnant. David: It's true. I once ministered to a Presbyterian lady who got filled with the Spirit and then left her church. She had a dream of going to three houses and when she knocked, harlots answered each door. After that, at the next house, I answered the door. I asked her how many religions she had been in before coming to us. She said three. It was at this time that she received deliverance from the religions of men. Then she had a vision of me being a giant. I told her it was because I had outgrown the doctrine she was now receiving from me, a long time ago. In the same way, the first-fruits will be big. Jesus delivered, healed, and brought truth to more people than all the Pharisees put together. He was and still is big. R.S.: The crude oil that comes out of the ground needs tons of refining into gasoline or diesel before it's usable by the earthy, natural man. Man's soul is also in dire need of the refined life of the Spirit in order to become a vessel fit for His use. Isa.1:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and will thoroughly purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin. Zec.13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; and they shall call on me, and I will hear them; I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God. Dan.12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. Mal.3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in the day that I make up my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son, that serveth him. Deborah: Also, the two highways which intersect: Highway 176 = (5) grace; and Interstate 26 = (8) new beginnings. I was encouraged by them that the remnant would be given the grace they need when the time comes to quickly flee to the new beginnings of the wilderness.

We all now know Grogu and Rotta are the best of friends and this week we are talking all about just how deep that connection goes! Listen as we go over how they both share similar inspirations, they're both daring to be cute and they both speak to a core aspect of the Star Wars magic. So get that Baby Yoda Fever, celebrate the love and listen today! JOIN THE BLAST POINTS ARMY and SUPPORT BLAST POINTS ON PATREON! MANDALORIAN SEASON 3 BOBA FETT BEACH PARTY COMMENTARY! NEW ANDOR SEASON 2 EPISODE COMMENTARIES! HEAR EPISODES EARLY! Theme Music! downloadable tunes from episodes! Extra goodies! and so much MORE! www.patreon.com/blastpoints If you dug the show, please leave BLAST POINTS a review on iTunes, Spotify and share the show with friends! If you leave an iTunes review, we will read it on a future episode! Honestly! Talk to Blast Points on twitter at @blast_points "Like" Blast Points on Facebook Join the Blast Points Super Star Wars Chill Group here www.facebook.com/groups/BlastPointsGroup/ we are also on Instagram! Wow! www.instagram.com/blastpoints Your hosts are Jason Gibner & Gabe Bott! contact BLAST POINTS at : contact@blastpointspodcast.com May the Force be with you, always! This podcast is not affiliated in any way with Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, The Walt Disney Company, or any of their affiliates or subsidiaries.

Continuing education on your mind? What about areas in your practice you want to grow, or strengths and skillsets you want your team to have? Tiff and Kristy discuss the power of continuing education, including why it changes lives (and offices), where to fit it in your schedule, how to add makeup days of production, and a ton more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Tiff (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to have you here today. I know there's an intro you guys listen to that says we're excited for you, and what you're listening to today is the consultants, and we're taking over. ⁓ and and we really are excited to be here today. I have the one and only Kristy Treasure with me this morning. And ⁓ Kristy, I had a client this morning.   that they have a client that is a client of yours. And they were like, Who is it? It was, it's, it's treasure, right? Is that her last name? And I was like, that's truly her last name. She truly is a treasure. And they were looking at it. ⁓ your client had recommended you to them. ⁓ and they they were like, is Treasure really her last name? So I felt like I needed to say it tonight. How are you? I know it was it was cute. Yeah. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (00:37) No.   ⁓ that's so cool. Good. Yeah.   Tiff (00:48) It's the middle of the week for us. This is a wild podcasting day for us. but here we are. Kristy, thank you for being here. And you've got a full week of calls this week too. It's first week of the month for us recording this and how's ⁓ how's everything going over there? How are you how are you doing? How are your clients looking? What have you what trends are you seeing on your end?   The Dental A Team (01:09) Yeah.   It's crazy because I'm seeing a lot of clients have things fall out of their schedule in May, yet we had great numbers. I'm like, is May gonna be the new September or like what's happening here? But I I don't know if it's weather related, graduations. I don't know. It's it's weird.   Tiff (01:24) Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah.   I totally agree with you though. ⁓ here like rounding out end of May, like looking at Maine numbers. I've seen the same thing. I've seen a lot of practices that had some stellar production and some stellar collections. And I even have a few practices yesterday that were shocked when they looked at their numbers because they felt like they were so much worse because the schedule kept falling apart. ⁓ yeah, and I said the same thing. I know my o my Ohio office, I said it's cause it's finally not like   The Dental A Team (01:51) Yeah.   Tiff (01:57) like fifty degrees and ninety mile an hour winds, people are trying to get outside. So we're definitely hitting that season. And I think people are maybe prioritizing their personal lives a little bit more than maybe we're used to ⁓ in dentistry and we might be seeing that. I don't know. But I agree. I'm seeing that for sure.   The Dental A Team (02:17) Yeah, and it seems like it's coast to coast. So and the weird thing is is I d even if I say graduations and stuff, that's not new for May, but we'll see. We'll see. Yeah.   Tiff (02:26) I know, I know.   Yeah, yeah, I do agree. I do agree. Well, I'm excited for the summer. I know here in Arizona it's getting warmer, but we've had a pretty tame summer so far and the rest of the country's catching up to us. So I thought today would be a good day to get us some podcasts under our belt and we chatted before this and decided we're gonna chat about CE, you guys, ⁓ continue continuing education and   Honestly, Kristy, continuing education is something I think you really, really love personally, professionally, and for your practices. It's something I see you prioritize a ton. And so actually, this is a perfect podcast subject for us. And I thought let's chat through some of the CE opportunities, but also, Kristy, I know you and I both work with a lot of practices and a lot of dentists who do a ton of CE.   And making sure we add that into their budget is something I think both of us prioritize. So I thought we could chat about that some as well. So first and foremost, Kristy, personally for you, I would love to hear like what does your CE and your life look like and how how have you successfully prioritized it? Cause I think others can see that in themselves as well. And you truly do. I watch you. You're you're constantly learning, you're constantly absorbing something. ⁓ and how do you how do you fit that into your life?   The Dental A Team (03:52) Yeah. Well, I I am much like you in that we like to prioritize things and be efficient at it. And having gone through James Clear book for atomic habits, I think it's actually up there on my shelf, but we talk about this all the time and I like to combine, hey, every morning I have to get ready and so why not listen to a podcast or an audio book ⁓ while I'm getting ready? And so   Tiff (04:00) No.   The Dental A Team (04:20) A lot of times I will do that for sure. But then also, you know, you, me, all of the coaches, we look at lag measures within a practice and lead measures. And in the next few months, I we're talking about summer, but September is going to be here around the corner too. And we start looking forward to the new year. And as part of our process for looking into the new year, part of that planning can be planning for continuing to education.   Tiff (04:38) It is.   Okay.   The Dental A Team (04:50) What are areas within our practice that we want to grow or grow for ourselves and or for practice needs and literally starting to map that out and what it looks like for next year.   Tiff (05:05) Yeah, I completely agree. I completely agree. And I do think this is the time of the year to think about that because also if we haven't budgeted for it yet for this year, now we need to start looking at what would that budget look like for next year. And I know, Kristy, to your point, there are so many doctors that I've worked with that get to June and they're like, Tiff, there's this thing I want to do in October, but it's full, so I'm on a wait list. And I'm like, Well, when did the list start? Can we do that in twenty twenty seven or whatever the next year is?   Can we do it in that year to also budget for that and be like top of top priority on that list instead of on that wait list? So I totally agree. This is the time of year to start that. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (05:44) For sure. I was gonna say too   Tiff with CE, listening to you talk. I think about it almost like we break marketing into internal and external. I think with CE, we can almost break it that way too. There can be some very low cost, no cost, just like the podcast or webinars, or take time out of the practice, even to work on some of your internal systems. And that is continuing education for your team too.   Tiff (05:55) Yeah.   For sure.   The Dental A Team (06:14) So you could break it into two different buckets. And I know today we were talking about budgeting for the external CE, if you will, but I think teams need to think about that too. And there are the priority of mandatory CE, your HIPAA, your OSHA, making sure we're planning those and blocking them in our schedule too.   Tiff (06:31) Mm-hmm.   Yeah, that's a really good point. And to your point, the like webinars and the ⁓ team and staff trainings and all of those like OSHA HIPAA ⁓ team training just in handoffs in general, what you guys do with Dental A Team when we come into your office, all of those pieces are continuing education. I totally agree. And sometimes you do have to shut down the office. I know Kiera and I talk about this a lot actually in our COVID shutdown is when Dental A Team like we we were we   busted at the seams. We had so much ⁓ work to do. It was wild, but it was because it was that forced shutdown. There wasn't an option, right? And so rather than having the force shutdown and the practices that we knew really not doing anything, they decided, hey, Kiera, Tiff, we need you to train our teams virtually while they're while they're sitting here so that we can continue paying them and they can continue to grow. So when we come back, our systems are solid. So we were building out operations manuals. We were doing   ⁓ we were doing CEs, we were doing how-to's, we were doing everything you can think of, training practices and ⁓ teams in that capacity to your point where it's like, yeah, we just shut down and we're just doing an overhaul of these pieces to get it to where we can run again as soon as we get back. And that is a a massive point because it is continuing education and the budgeting portion of that.   still is okay, great, we're gonna shut down for three days. What does that look like? How do we add that three days worth of production into the rest of the month to make up that shutdown?   The Dental A Team (08:09) Absolutely. And sometimes it may be cost effective or more cost effective to bring people into the practice versus going outward. But looking at what you have in budget and what it would cost to do it beforehand. Yeah. Huge.   Tiff (08:18) Absolutely.   Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree. I remember one of the first offices that I went in practice to a long time ago, right? We've been doing this for so long now. But one of the first practices I went to, they were like, Whoa, wait, you want me to shut down my afternoon? And I was like, Yes, I do. And they were like, We can't, we can't lose that production. I was I promise you, you're gonna make it up tenfold after the fact because you're all gonna be rowing in the same direction. So no matter what we do during this meeting,   It's gonna be incredible. Your your meeting's gonna be incredible. You're gonna learn great things. The consultants know some amazing things, but you're all rowing in the same direction. And so the production that's gonna come after the meeting in the months, weeks, all of that time frame is tenfold gonna be more than what you might lose, quote unquote, in those couple of hours that you shut down for that training in the afternoon. So I think that's a great that's a great point, Kristy, is bringing people in and you don't have the hotel, you don't have the flights, you don't have all those costs as well.   The Dental A Team (09:19) Yeah. The other thing to that too, Tiff, is if you're going externally, make sure you come up with a plan. How are we gonna come back and implement this? So many times we invest in that CE and we go and then we come back. Maybe we learned about sleep or we learned about, you know, a new service, but then we come back and we never really launch it because we didn't develop a plan for how we were gonna come back and integrate it. We just jumped back into the same old routine.   Tiff (09:28) Yeah.   Yes, which is easy. They talk about like your teeth have that muscle memory. So if you don't wear your retainers, your teeth are gonna go right back to where they're suppos where they're supposed to be, right? Where they grew to. And so your brain is the same. Your brain has that muscle memory and honestly your capacity is the same. So you do you or even having having us in or having another trainer in office, you're like, Yeah, let's do it, let's do it. But to your point, if there's not an actionable, okay, do this, which we leave with, right? We say, Okay, you're gonna do these things, you're gonna do it.   this many times or to this percentage and by this state and so there's an action plan left but if you don't leave with that come back with it or that trainer leaves and you have that your muscle memory and your capacity is gonna flip back to what's easiest and what's easiest is to do what you were doing even if it was hard and not getting the result you wanted it's what you know. So even though it's hard having teeth that are misaligned, your teeth know that space they're gonna go back to it. So you're gonna do the same thing and so will your team.   The Dental A Team (10:45) Yeah. You know, something else that was coming to my mind is so many doctors hear these new things and they it's like we talk about the shiny object, right? Have you ever with some of your doctors or teams, like before they jump in and invest in that, actually pull your patients and see is this a service that they're looking for or would be interested in?   Tiff (10:55) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (11:08) 'Cause sometimes they invest a lot, right? And then they come back and they're really disappointed because it was like, Man, I didn't have the market for that or how do I have to market it to really make it work, you know?   Tiff (11:11) Yeah.   Mm.   Yes, that's huge. And I think that is something originally this topic was given to us as trends in dentistry. And it's like, gosh, trends in dentistry could be so vast, right? And it's like, to your point, it ch it truly just depends on the doctor and the patient base, the demographic that you're in. I've worked with plenty of practices that are in a demographic that doesn't support sleep, but they want to do sleep, right? But they're in ⁓ like a a Medicaid.   you know, area. They they take Medicaid and they do the and yes, I want to offer that service, but to your point, is that something that your patient base is looking for in that area? Yes, I want to give it to them, but the cost might not be worth the value back, the ROI that you're gonna get in return for the CE that you just took.   The Dental A Team (12:10) Yeah, one hundred percent. Or you're gonna have to spend a ton more in marketing to draw from a greater area, right? And so now your investment just got even greater.   Tiff (12:14) Yeah.   Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah. And that's the difference I think, Kristy too. I I have a dentist, he loves CE, like loves. I have a bucket, he pours into his CE bucket every single month because he spends a n ton of money on CE every year. And I'm we're like, cool, fine with it. We budgeted for it. But to that point, there's CE that he does that he does because he's interested in it and wants the knowledge. He just likes to learn.   And there's CE that he does that he knows he's gonna actually implement and get a great ROI on in the office. And so he knows those two like demographics, right? He knows those two differences in the CE and he plays to whichever side or team, however you wanna say it, he's playing to to get that to get that done.   The Dental A Team (13:07) Yeah. Going into it eyes wide open, right? That's that's the best. So then the expectation meets your outcome. But yeah.   Tiff (13:10) Yeah.   Yes. Yes.   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause there's so many things. There's a million things I want to learn that I'm interested in. But it's like, okay, well, the ROI has to be there for the time, for the finances, for the input, the output, all of those pieces have to make sense. So yeah, I love that. I do have practices too when we're talking, you know, quote unquote trends that do have like I I talked to a practice yesterday that has a a trainer that comes in for Sarah.   The Dental A Team (13:30) Yeah.   Tiff (13:43) crowns, right? So we know all of those. We've got the Sarat Crowns, we've got a bunch of trainers that do come in. We've got practices that come, we come in two practices, but then practices that come to us two times a year. So there's those as well. And there's all the sleep apnea, the implants supported. And I'm a huge advocate before I'll go on this tangent before we move forward. I'm a huge advocate for like going back and learning something you've already learned.   So a lot of doctors that I work with are like, yeah, I took that, I took that implant pathways course, you know, 10 years ago. I'm like, awesome. Do you think anything's changed in the last 10 years that maybe hasn't popped up on a forum for you? Right. Like there's so many things that I think if you if you're not going back and getting that exposure again and retaking classes or getting recertified or what have you, I think there's a lot to be lost in there with how quickly dentistry moves and progresses, especially with technology.   I think it's really easy to fall behind in those spaces.   The Dental A Team (14:45) I agree with you a hundred percent, Tiff. Yeah.   Tiff (14:48) Yeah. Yeah. So budgeting for it is easy, right? Well, from our perspective at least. Like from my perspective, it's easy. ⁓ when I think when you're in it, I do this personally. I think when I'm in it, I'm like, yeah, I want all of those things. And then I'm just gonna figure out how to afford them. But what we do is we take a step back and say, Okay, cool. What do you want to do? And and like you said, do the research on what is your patient base, what are they using? And I like to look at what are you referring out the most that you want to keep in house that you would   that you would want to do. If you don't love root canals, don't do root canals. Refer those out. But if you're like I could place implants and I could enjoy that, great. Then maybe we look at an implant course depending on how many you're sending out. So do that due diligence and then start vetting courses. Like what courses have the best reviews? Where how far are they? I make my doctors look at the course cost, which is always easy. We think of that. But then on top of that, what is your travel?   The Dental A Team (15:21) Right.   Tiff (15:48) Right. And I think maybe Kristy that comes from us traveling. It's very easy for us to think that far ahead to be like, okay, well, what about a rental car, a flight, and a flight home and a hotel and food? Like we're doing this every other week. So I think it's easy. But I have them like lump all of that together and then literally build a budget so that they're saving a certain amount of that goes into their not their   Bam per se, right? Because that's how do we keep the practice open. But it's their BAM of well, if we want to make this happen, that's the in access bam that we're saving.   The Dental A Team (16:22) Yeah, I agree with you. And then that way too, we chunk it down, right? If the course is next September, we have this many months to add that to our bucket, so to speak, to pay for it, right? And same thing if they're looking to take team with them, it makes it a a lot more affordable than fo forking it all out at once. And then we also know what we have to hit every month, like you said, to the BAM. We make it a goal with the team and we achieve it together.   Tiff (16:26) Yeah.   Yep.   Yes.   Yeah. Yeah.   Yes, and we move the money. Don't leave it in the account that can be spent. We move the money. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I have an office that I had a ⁓ an office manager call me just frantic. And she's like, my gosh, there's this thing coming up. It's this massive thing that doctor decided she wants to send everybody to. And it's in three months. And she's like, I don't know how we're gonna afford it. That's not like great question. So we had to work backwards, you know, and it   The Dental A Team (16:58) Absolutely agree with you a hundred percent.   Tiff (17:23) It was a stretch and it was hard, but I was like, cool, now we know this is something that you guys are interested in and it's gonna happen again next year. So if we're gonna go again next year, now we know the costs and we can pay for this this year, figure out how to pay off that credit card, and then start saving for the next one. And we worked it for the office manager. It was very easy because we had worked something similar for a bonus that they   we're working towards and so she could like relate it. She's like, this is exactly what we did for that the cruise we want to take or whatever it was, the Hawaiian vacation, whatever wherever they were sending them to, I can't remember, that she could relate it and say, ⁓ I can do that. And I'm like, gosh, we make it so difficult, right, to budget these things out. But we do it in our personal lives when we're like, I want to go to Europe. I want to go on a trip. I want to go to California, wherever. We're doing the same thing, but we forget to do that in business.   The Dental A Team (18:15) Yeah.   I love that you talked about the bonus because literally I was gonna say these CE things can be a very rewarding thing to take the team to and use it in that capacity. And to be honest with you, Tiff, I there's been so many times where I've seen doctors go, Well, I'll take my key players. And then they come back and they regret that they didn't bring the whole team because hearing having the whole team go to some of these things.   Tiff (18:33) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (18:41) ⁓ number one, the bonding experience for team can be huge. And number two, we all hear things differently. So we're gonna bring back a different piece of the pie and literally to hit the ground running and really implement some of these things coming back can be hugely beneficial to bring the whole team if you can budget and afford it, right? So with that being said, to add that to the budget and plan for it can be rewarding in more than one way.   Tiff (18:48) Yep.   Yeah.   Absolutely. And I think it shows the investment in the team, Kristy, because as you're talking, I'm thinking of all the excuses I'm gonna hear from doctors, right? Like, well, my team turnover. I don't know if that like what if they leave? And it's like, what if they do leave? But showing if you have the availability and if it's a desire of yours. I'm not saying change your perspective and change your thoughts and ideals. Like I it's neither here nor there to me, but my perspective can be on this.   If I show the investment to this team and I truly believe in them and I want them here, I'm investing in them and I'm having fun with them. I'm integrating them as my team and I'm not sitting here saying I'm the only one who can do this. So I'm gonna go and bring it all to you guys, but you guys can come with me. I think Kristy that helps that bond and it helps that tie to the doctor and the practice and increases the culture value. So you're actually potentially with the right people.   less likely to lose people than more likely to lose people if that makes sense.   The Dental A Team (20:09) Yeah,   one hundred percent. And and I've heard that in my a lifetime in dentistry too. But I will tell you that, you know, it it's CE has been one of the things that's really helped form me. And I'm very grateful for the people that invested in me. And you know, to that point too, Tiff, sometimes we have to look like I did come back and maybe they only stayed a year or two. However, they might have brought more to the bottom line too that wouldn't have been there.   Tiff (20:23) For sure.   The Dental A Team (20:38) So don't always see it as a loss either. And you never know what's going to come back around. You know, even if those people leave, they may be referring patients to you just because you have that knowledge and know the skill set.   Tiff (20:39) Yeah.   Yeah. And building, I think to your point, building ⁓ systems and protocols and settings things into stone thereafter the CE, right? Like there's so much groundwork that's being laid, whether they leave or not. They're doing so much for the future people who are coming in and potentially even referring other employees to your practice, not just patients as well.   The Dental A Team (21:01) Yeah.   Yeah. I'd say, you know, last year, at the end of last year, I had one of my clients that was looking to go to an Invisalign course and she literally was worried about bringing the whole team and stuff. But afterward, she was ready to book another one. And literally at that meeting, you know, we talked about it. Set your goals. And they literally ⁓ set their Invisalign goals and got to Pearl level like within less than a year.   Tiff (21:29) Yeah.   wow.   The Dental A Team (21:42) And so it really did number one, bomb them and the team got rallied and excited and it affected, you know, how they were treating patients and team. So they all benefited.   Tiff (21:54) Yeah. That's awesome.   That's amazing. I love that. I love that. So I think this one kind of I this was more of a conversation and I loved it. And I knew it would be because it was a it's a controversial subject and there's so many different angles to take on it. So thank you for having that with me. I would say C E is important. It's summertime, so it's time to   Make sure you've got your CE this year. If you need it for your license, by the way, start looking if you don't have that yet. And secondary to that, Kristy, I totally agree. It's time to start thinking about next year. So 2026 right now, so whatever year you're listening to this, it doesn't matter. ⁓ next year is still next year. So right now, start thinking about 2027 and budget it. I think Kristy, you're 100% right. Inventory your practice. What are what are things you're referring out that you could keep in that you would want to keep in? I talked to a dentist yesterday that does not want to do root canals.   Don't do them if you don't want to do them. Like you only do the things you want to. So then look for the courses, price it out, price out the whole thing. If you're leaving, price it out. If you're bringing someone in, price it out. Like whatever that is, what is the production you're gonna lose both ways? If you're leaving the office or if somebody's coming in, what's the production loss? ⁓ price it out and then prep for it. So start budgeting that every single month and moving that money. I have a lot of doctors who will prepay for CE at the end of the year.   to get rid of some of that cash so that they're not paying taxes on that chunk of cash. And that's a really easy way to do it. I know we do try to do end of year spending. What better time of year to start prepping for that than mid year? Yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:29) Absolutely.   Couldn't agree with you more, Tiff.   Tiff (23:32) Awesome. Okay, well guys, that's a wrap on our CE chat for today. I hope that you find something really, really fun. Leave us a review below. Let us know what you decided to do and if there are any courses that you guys suggest for other practices. We are all about sharing best practices and sharing just a wealth of knowledge from wherever we can gather it. So leave that in the comments as well or reach out to us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   And we will be more than happy to take your suggestions and also help you budget if you need help budgeting. So that's a wrap. Kristy, thank you so much. I know this was a slam dunk of a scheduling opportunity here. So I appreciate you being here today with me, and I appreciate you always making podcasting so easy. Yeah, awesome guys. And I hope you go have a wonderful summer, and we'll catch you next time.   The Dental A Team (24:14) Thank you.  

School teaches you how to land a job, but no one teaches you how to leave one. In this episode, Lesley Logan reunites with longtime friend, novelist, and PhD candidate Clare Solly to talk through what most career advice skips: how to actually walk out the door. They cover how to know when it's time to go, how to figure out if you can afford to leave, how to rehearse the resignation conversation, and what to do when you're the one being let go. Whether you're eyeing the exit or recovering from a layoff, this conversation gives you the words and the plan to move forward without losing yourself. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:What jealousy of your friends' jobs reveals about you.How to know if you can afford to leave your job.What to expect when you tell them you're quitting.Why staying graceful matters even when you're fired.The exit plan you can write before you ever need it.Episode References/Links:Clare Solly's Website – https://www.claresolly.comClare Solly on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/actinglikeclareClare Solly's Novels on Amazon – https://beitpod.com/novelsbyclareClare Solly's Novels on B&N – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/clare%20sollySubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsGuest Bio:Clare Solly is a modern day Renaissance woman living in New York City. She is an actress, writer, national pageant queen, and by day she is an executive assistant. She has published three books: The Time Turner, Christmas and Cleats and Save The Last Piece. Clare runs two theatre companies in NYC: The Bechdel Group and Company of Fools Theatre where she loves to foster and challenge new writers. She also is an avid bookstagrammer who grew her followers to almost 11K in 5 months time.If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Clare Solly 0:00  So we learn how to do a job in school, and then we learn how to sort of kind of interview for a job, but nobody ever tells you how to leave a job, like how to quit, how to prepare for leaving a job, yeah, how to like deal with being in between jobs, like no one trained you for that.Lesley Logan 0:18  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast, where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained 1000s of people around the world, and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity, and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring bold, executable, intrinsic, and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and be it till you see it. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 1:01  All right, Be It babe, get ready to totally listen to two friends talking about a topic that we had a lot of fun talking about without you. We're like, we should turn on a recording device and some microphones and lighting and share this with you, because I keep getting great guests who talk about leaving the thing you don't love and doing the thing you love, and it's like, okay, but how? And some people have given some nice things, but I've always just felt like, as a person who's very action-oriented, who's very much like, "Tell me the first next step, because if I can get the first next step, then I can get the second next step." I wanted to have an episode for you like that. And so we have Clare Solly back on the pod. You've heard her on recaps, if you have been listening to this pod for a long time, you've even heard her on episodes if you've really been with us since starting episode 19, and now you can hear us talk about exit strategies and how to exit things. So here is Clare Solly. Lesley Logan 1:47  Hey, Be It babe. Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It podcast. I am so excited because I have Clare Solly back, and we just wrapped two recap episodes. You've been on the pod, we've had two interviews with you on the pod, correct?Clare Solly 2:00  I think two interviews, and I've done several recaps.Lesley Logan 2:03  Month of recaps for me.Clare Solly 2:06  Yeah.Lesley Logan 2:07  It was so fun. I was like, what are people gonna say? You know what? They loved it, the listeners stayed the same.Clare Solly 2:11  You know what? I will sit and chat with you forever and ever and ever, because we've been friends for a million years. But it was also really fun to do Brad recaps.Lesley Logan 2:19  Oh, just to talk about Brad. I listened to him because I was like, I wonder what they're talking about. But you know what's really nice? I often think about, like, what if I need someone to stand in for me, you know, like with OPC we have enough recordings that we could just replay them and people would be like, send us our favorite ones and we'll just replay those. But for the pod, if it's not me, Brad could do some interviews, but you can always step in, which is great. It's so wonderful.Clare Solly 2:45  Redheads, so it works.Lesley Logan 2:46  It really does. It really does. We're both, we're both redheads. So Claire's here, and we were like chit chatting, while you know, she was on the shake plate, I was on the red light. We're talking about, like, I've had a lot of guests on the podcast talk about, like, exiting, like it's okay to leave things, and I have found that the answers to a lot of my guests, when I'm like, okay, but how do you leave, have been kind of not helpful, yeah, like, I love my guests, and I, and I get it, like, especially if you just ended something, you might not be able to describe how you did that, and also sometimes the ends of things are embarrassing, like, yeah, you know, like, whether you wanted to end them or they were ended for you, or I will say, like, some of the.. we're talking more about exiting jobs, but I will say, like, exiting relationship, I sucked at the only time I have ever broken up with someone? I did the worst job doing it, absolute worst, the absolute worst job, like just terrible job, terrible job at it. And it's because, like, I never broken up with anybody. I kind of also didn't date enough to, yeah, to get broken up, and I feel like one of my breakups was more of a ghost team.Clare Solly 4:00  Yeah, I kind of had that too. I kind of had that,Lesley Logan 4:02  So like, to like sit down and like tell someone, and like I guess you'll never have a good answer for why you're ending something, really. So like I just didn't have a good answer, and I just kept going, okay, so I'm gonna go.Clare Solly 4:14  Yeah.Lesley Logan 4:16  So anyways, I so I think like I think exiting things is a muscle. I think like learning how to exit things, itClare Solly 4:21  absolutely is. We learn how to do a job in school, and then we learn how to sort of kind of interview for a job, but nobody ever tells you how to leave a job, like how to quit, how to prepare for leaving a job. Yeah, how to like deal with being in between jobs, like no one trained you for that.Lesley Logan 4:39  Well, and there's like some sort of, sometimes there's shame, there's embarrassment, there's all these things. First, before we get into this, I did a terrible job.Clare Solly 4:46  You heard it first on this episode, everybody.Lesley Logan 4:48  You know what, guys, I'm also.. I'll just be really honest with my B. A pod listeners, so I've been.. I've been diagnosed with the ADHD that you all knew I had before I had it. So today is the first day on medication, and I am just. Seeing how I'm doing, and so clearly it's doing something. It's not helping me, it's not helping me be more organized. She looks great. I'm supposed to say, Claire Solly, will you tell everyone who you are and what do you rock at?Clare Solly 5:14  My name is Clare Solly. I rock at pretty much anything I try, and if I don't, I rock at trying to figure out how not to be too terribly disappointed. I am a quadruple six tuple hyphenate. I am an actress, singer in New York City, have a day job that I really find a lot of crazy fun in. I'm also a novelist, for those of you that have listened to podcasts with me on it before. New news in my life: I've actually gone back to school, and I'm working on getting a PhD in creative writing. Lesley Logan 5:46  I can't wait to call you Dr. Clare Solly.Clare Solly 5:48  Oh my god, can I tell you, I read this meme the other day, that once I have my doctorate, I'm so excited to order something and have it come in and be like, look, this is what the doctor ordered. It's such a dad joke that I will totally use in my life. I have three self-published novels, you can find them on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. They're women's fiction. I run with theater companies in New York City and do all kinds of things, so I'm all over the place and making magic happen.Lesley Logan 6:22  So we met at a job.Clare Solly 6:24  We met at a job. I actually hired you at a job, pretty much.Lesley Logan 6:27  I remember thinking you were standing on an elevated step when I brought my application in, but no, you're just a giant.Clare Solly 6:34  Yeah, because I was behind a counter and I came around. I remember you looking me up and down and going, oh, that's you.Lesley Logan 6:42  I thought she was on an elevated platform, but she was just wearing heels.Clare Solly 6:48  Yep.Lesley Logan 6:49  And so we got to work together, we opened a business together, we had a shoe company together for two years. Fun fact about me, I used to design shoes. I should keep that as part of my two truths and a lie. Clare Solly 7:09  Shoe designer right here. And we spent long nights and long days sitting together and laughing our asses off and drinking.Lesley Logan 7:17  Oh my god, yeah, that was crazy. And probably because we're high on glue, we used deck varnish to make these shoes you guys have no idea.Clare Solly 7:27  By the way, if anybody out there has a pair of Snip and Tuck shoes. Lesley Logan 7:31  Snip and Tuck's Opinionated Shoes. Clare Solly 7:33  Oh that's right. Snip and Tuck's Opinionated Shoes. If somebody has a pair of those still in existence, please write into the pod. I need pictures of them.Lesley Logan 7:43  I'm gonna pull them. I think I kept a shoe from each of the ones that I had. Yeah because I'm not wearing them so I was like I'm not going to keep both. I'll find it in the closet for you. My sister still has a pair.Clare Solly 7:54  Oh my gosh, I didn't keep mine because I've moved too many times.Lesley Logan 8:01  Same. That's why I think I have a shoe from each pair. But anyways, we were talking about this because I interviewed a woman and she talked about the pros and cons, like how much it costs you to stay in the thing you're in. So Clare, how many jobs, you've counted your jobs, I haven't counted mine, so how many jobs have you had? Clare Solly 8:18  Well, actually counting Snip and Tuck, if we count self-employment, I've had 34, I've worked for 34 different companies or people, because I've worked for private families. Lesley Logan 8:29  Oh my god, I worked at a coffee shop, I worked at a doctor's office, then I worked where we worked together, and then I worked for a high-end fitness company. Clare Solly 8:38  Did you work for that? Remember we had that friend that we worked with, that and had a separate job, and did you ever go work for her at all? No? Okay.Lesley Logan 8:45  Then I worked for myself, and it was Snip and Tuck's. And that's all I've had. Clare Solly 8:55  Have you worked, you've worked for two gyms or just one?Lesley Logan 8:57  Just the just the one gym, just by, but here's the thing, in the job we worked together, I did every job, every job, and then.Clare Solly 9:06  We can count that as 20, if you want.Lesley Logan 9:07  Yeah, yeah, so that, well, that's like four, four, five classes.Clare Solly 9:10  Becaus you had five different positions in that.Lesley Logan 9:12  Yeah, cashier, sales, key holder, assistant manager, manager, and then I was hoping to be like an area manager, but then you know, life, and then at the fitness company I was an instructor and a manager and a teacher trainer, and then a regional manager, and as a group fitness instructor. So we're at like 20 jobs, yeah, yeah, we'll go there. So anyways, I feel more like an elder millennial now that I'm at 20, but like some of them I can most I can say, like I left the coffee shop job in a fine way, I left the doctor's office job at a fine way, but I'm not sure. Clare Solly 9:42  The coffee shop, they wouldn't let you go home for breaks in college, and they were always asking you to pick up shifts. You were beloved at that coffee shop.Lesley Logan 9:52  Yeah, I know. And I actually, when my in-laws got us an espresso machine, Brad was reading the directions like, I know what I'm doing.Clare Solly 10:00  Yesterday, when you were like, 'Do you know how to work a coffee machine? I was like, 'Nope, but you do.'Lesley Logan 10:04  I know. So, but I can say, like, you know, those jobs ended because I moved, and so it was like, "Of course, they know I was." Yeah, the other jobs were... I felt like I owed them more when I was leaving, versus, like, "Oh, this is just a job." You know what I mean? But I feel like, because I give my all, I kind of felt like I owe... maybe I should give them a month's notice, maybe I should give two months' notice. So let's talk about, you know, what should you be thinking about if you're exiting on your own terms?Clare Solly 10:36  I think you need to think about the value of yourself, what it is, like, what your skills are, right? This is also kind of helping you gear your mind towards rebuilding your resume and refocusing, like, what you want to do. Also, this is sort of tangential, but just stick with me for a second. When you find yourself jealous of your friends, especially with things that they do in their job, or specifically how their life revolves around their job, look at what that jealousy actually is, right? So you run your own business. I have another friend who runs her own business. I'm not afraid to say this, I'm jealous of both of you. And why is that? Because I like the freedom, the freedom, air quotes, I like the perceived freedom that I think that you have. I like the ability. Lesley Logan 11:21  I laugh because we're sitting here recording this podcast because I have a schedule and I have deadlines, and we can do this today, but it's a perceived freedom. Yes, you choose your boss. Clare Solly 11:30  Well, and that you get to travel, which that one is true, that you get to travel and you get paid for it for the most part. What else? I like... well, we'll just stick with those. Those three things are enough. Okay, so then I need to take that back and say, oh, that jealousy... oh, I actually would like a job where I travel, where I have a perceived freedom, a.k.a. I don't need to be lashed to a desk from eight to five, Monday through Friday. I want to do some things where maybe I'm out in the world doing things, and I work at a desk a couple of days a week, right? So look at yourself and not only what you value, but what skills do you have, do I have—we'll just use me—that can get me to where I want to be, right? So I can't magically leave my desk job and then go travel the world and make money, but I have to go figure out things like you did back when you were at the company we both worked at.Lesley Logan 12:24  Yeah.Clare Solly 12:24  And you went and you were taking classes, and then those classes turned into trainings, and then you went and educated yourself while you were making the money to do so. I mean, listen, if you want to be a babe and you want to like just quit your job tomorrow and run off into the sunset and go make magic happen, as whatever you want to do, live your best life.Lesley Logan 12:47  I do think that, depending on where you are in your life, there's different opportunities to blow things up versus not.Clare Solly 12:53  Oh, yeah, and in my 40s, I give very few (inaudible).Lesley Logan 12:56  Yeah, yeah. And I will say, like, I kind of blew up my life as far as personal life goes. I've never, I'm not someone who's ever blown up my life when it comes to the money I make, because I wasn't raised with a lot, and so for me, I want to be, when it comes to exiting things, I've always made sure I had a runway. So when I was,I actually, the job that we had together, I actually thought I would just be there like two days a week, because I thought I could do that. I thought, I'll do the two days a week, and that means I can keep my customers and keep my clients, my commission, my extra money. And then I'll have this business. And what happened is they were going to fire another salesperson so I could be the two-day-a-week, they were going to fire the other two-day-a-weeker, and I was like, oh, and it made me go, but she really needs this job. I need this job too, but also I have enough clients, and the company that I was teaching at part-time on top of my private Pilates business was going to, I knew they were going to offer me a management job, so if push came to shove, I knew I could just accept that job and reclaim that money in some way. So I actually decided to fully quit there versus do a little slowly stop working for them, because I just didn't want someone to lose their job, especially in early 2010. That just felt like that's a hard thing for her to go and replace. But when I left the fitness company, what I did is I figured out how much, I love your description of, like, what are you jealous of? It's also like, what are you finding you're resenting, like when people email and you're just like, you have instant irritation. And so for me, I felt even though they didn't think, and my friends who still work for them, they don't feel like it's a beck and call. It felt like to me it was a beck and call, clearly my ADHD signs, but really a beck and call to me. And so what I decided was, I sat down, it's like, okay, if I want to give up this job, how many Pilates clients would I need to have to replace this salary? And that salary included health benefits, that included my 401k, all these different things that I really think about. But then when you do the math, it really helped me go, okay, so I need to get this many clients coming twice a week. But what's the reality with how many hours I have to do that with? And so I had to go, okay, at the point that I get five clients who come two times a week, I can quit the salaried part of the job, and so I was able to go. I'm no longer going to manage, but I still taught there, was still a teacher trainer. And then it took me one year from that to let go of all of it. So I will say, like, if you do have the control, give if you need a runway, because money is a thing that you don't have extras of, an abundance of, to go remake yourself. It's really figuring out, like, the skills you'll need to have, the money you need to have, and knowing the numbers. I think that really puts you in a power position. I actually felt really confident letting go of that.Clare Solly 15:52  Yeah, and to, you know, add kind of to the money conversation, make sure you have a little bit more runway than you actually think that you'll need. Staying in a job that you hate for one more month is not going to be terrible compared to the two months you might be out of work and are panicking because you're like, where's the money going to come from?Lesley Logan 16:11  Yeah, I couldn't agree more. We had somebody who wanted to start her own business, and she... but her current job was just really, really stressful, really exhausting, and so Brad and I were like, "Hey, let's be honest, how much are you making here? Okay." So I looked up, I'm like, "If you worked at Starbucks 20 hours a week, you can make 80% of what you're making at this job." Yeah, so could you live off 80% of what you're making, right? Could you... I don't know your numbers, I don't know what that is. Maybe you need to, for the next three months, you just actually try to live off 80% and you bank up some money, right? And then you go find a job where you clock in and out, right? You just clock in and out—like no one who works at Starbucks is thinking about mochas when they leave, like they're not, right? Like, maybe a manager is, but I'm not saying that, I'm saying, like a barista, like just going in. So find a job that is actually not stressful, or where you get to leave the job when you're there, and then you can build your thing. If you can't do what I was able to do, which is like slowly leave away, is there a way that you can live off a little less money and do a different job that you could just leave it there? But I.Clare Solly 17:21  Now that's really smart.Lesley Logan 17:22  I think that it's always better if you can do it on your own timing. But yes, I agree, you need a little bit more money than you think, and you might want to start thinking, like, how can I make myself live on less money so I can be banking it, so I could have that runway, that two months' savings you have for rent and things like that.Clare Solly 17:38  Yeah, I like the strategy of having like a standby job. Let's talk about quitting.Lesley Logan 17:44  Yes.Clare Solly 17:44  That's like, how do you quit, right?Lesley Logan 17:46  Because, okay, wait, we made the plans, but now we have to tell them we're quitting. Clare Solly 17:52  Which is is terrifying, terrifying.Lesley Logan 17:54  Thank you for saying that. I thought I was the only person who's just like, oh my god, I know something that they don't know.Clare Solly 17:58  No, the best thing you can do is like almost get together with a friend and rehearse.Lesley Logan 18:04  Okay. Okay.Clare Solly 18:05  So we've made our plan like whatever it is, you know, you make sure that you've got enough money, that you've got sort of a runway, you make sure that if you have the friends or the family that are able to support you emotionally, mentally, whatever, you might just make sure that's part of your setup of moving forward. And then I, it's funny, I want to go in and quit always. I do these steps, I have found, because I've also done the thing where I'm like, "I'm moving," and pretended that I had a fake reason to leave a job. I've done that, and that doesn't feel good. The best thing to do is to go in, figure out kind of a script for yourself, and also be prepared to have them have different reactions. Like, they could ask you to stay and give you more money, so if you obviously hate the job, but money was your reason for leaving, maybe you might want to consider that, so be prepared for that as a conversation. Be prepared for them to just not care whatsoever. And then people also don't like any kind of leaving separation, whatever; they kind of can lash out at you, which is why it feels terrifying, because you're like, oh my god, they're going to hate me forever. You're leaving the job; they might hate you for a month or two, but they won't care.Lesley Logan 19:25  Also like, if they're going to hate you forever, do you really want to work there?Clare Solly 19:29  Exactly.Lesley Logan 19:30  I mean, that is terrifying. Like, I don't want anyone to feel unsafe, but I really think, like, really ask yourself, if someone's going to hate you forever, do you really want to work for someone just because they'll like you? I do like the idea of playing... like Brad did that with me. I was leaving when I was leaving the fitness job, because I was in management and all these things. He was like, "Well, what if they ask you that they're going to pay you more?" And I had to really think about that, but I also knew I'll just take every promotion someone gives me. So, to be honest, I was literally quitting so they wouldn't offer me another promotion.Clare Solly 20:00  Yeah, I mean, and that's hard, because it's like ultimately you're like, oh, well, things seem to be getting better, so maybe this is... which is why you should be prepared for it, because if you really don't like the actual job you're in, or the company that you're in, there's nothing wrong with that. You have just outgrown that space.Lesley Logan 20:19  Well, that's the thing, like leaving a job is like leaving any relationship, and I think, especially as women, we're not taught that. Like, you can leave friends behind. I think fondly of the friendships I had in elementary, high school, college, you know, even the friendships I had at different jobs, but I don't think that the version of me today could be friends with the version of them... you know, maybe we could be friends today, but we outgrew each other at some point. And maybe we could have reconnected, and I'm not saying that we never will, we might, we might run into each other, but I do think that people think we have to keep all of these people all the time, and so you've outgrown the position. Now, if you are someone who's like, oh my gosh, they're going to give me more money for staying, and you're like, "I could handle this for six more months," and you don't have another thing, then there's nothing wrong with staying and banking up more money, like that's fine too. But I do think that rehearsing that, so you know... and so Brad was like, "If they offer you more money, what are you doing?" I said, "I still need to go. I can't keep going the way this is going, and I already have a good thing lined up, and I'm going to bet on myself." Also, I kind of figured they would just hire me back if I needed to.Clare Solly 21:25  Some jobs can, some jobs can, but yeah, definitely. Like, you should wrap your mindset, and I'm not saying... I'm a chronic overthinker, so I'm not promoting overthinking quitting, but at the same time, make sure you are ready for the different options to be thrown at you.Lesley Logan 21:42  So maybe they might be like, "Okay, great, bye," and you might be like, oh. And the other thing is, depending on the state you live in, you might not get to finish the time.Clare Solly 21:50  Yeah.Lesley Logan 21:50  That you have. so I just want to say, be strategic about that, because I worked for a company where if someone put their notice in, the soonest.Clare Solly 22:00  You get walked out the door.Lesley Logan 22:01  Yes, as soon as we could legally give you the paycheck that we could owe you, we would let you go, yeah. And that's not because we didn't like you; it's actually because the transition process was a lot better, and the liability, all these different things. Like, I remember when we worked at the store, if someone gave us their two weeksClare Solly 22:16  Yeah. Lesley Logan 22:16  For the most part.Clare Solly 22:17  It's awkward too.Lesley Logan 22:18  For the most part, they were pretty much like, okay, we can have a paycheck to them by tomorrow. What's the schedule? Okay. And we literally, they would come in for that day, and I'd go, "Thank you so much for the day you just had. Here's your final pay, it includes today, you know?" They would FedEx it to the store so I could give it to them, and IClare Solly 22:36  Forgot about that, actually.Lesley Logan 22:37  Yeah, and we would live short-handed, because, honestly, it wasn't even personal to them. Putting the business owner hat on, they could steal, there's different things they could do, they could try to spend the next two weeks seeing their customers' information. So there's all these different things about protecting, and that back then, like, we remember, we had the customers' phone numbers and credit cards book, yeah. So there's a lot of information to protect at the fitness place. We wanted to transition the clients as quickly as possible, so we would do that. So I would just say, be mindful of where you're at, because it might be that it might end sooner than you were ready. Yeah, when I tried to exit a rental situation, the contract meant that I didn't have to give them any notice, but they also could just kick me out at any time. We were friends, so I thought they would honor that we're friends, and I wanted... I could see that they were turning away other renters, and I was their number one renter. So I was like, "Hey, these are my friends, I want to let them know, you guys, in four months I'm going to open up my own space, just so I can film whenever I want to. It's not personal." They seemed really, really fine about it, and then three months later they weren't fine.Clare Solly 23:42  Yeah.Lesley Logan 23:43  I don't know what changed. I know what changed now, but at the time I didn't know it changed, and so they literally kicked me out. And I had a month before my equipment was going to show up, and I had the studio, I didn't have a trash can. I had to text all my clients like, "Come to this space, we're moving in early." And then I called all my Pilates friends, and I borrowed equipment from them, and I made it work for a month. So I was, I mean, I'm pretty good to move on my resource, I'm so resourceful, Aquarian with ADHD, like, when the shoe drops, I am so much better than when everything is good. But you just don't know, so you just need to take... I would write down, what would I do if this happened? What would I do? What's the worst-case scenario? And also, here's the thing, the worst-case scenario rarely happens, but even if it did, have a backup plan for that. I think it's helpful.Clare Solly 24:30  Yeah, and like, I'm also kind of, if you have a personal space at the place that you work and you keep personal things there, you might slowly start to take them home, you know, not everything all at once, so it doesn't, you know.Lesley Logan 24:43  Yeah.Clare Solly 24:44  Flags to anybody.Lesley Logan 24:45  I haven't had an office job, so thanks, Claire.Clare Solly 24:47  I'm absolutely not saying do not take anything against company policy, don't do that. And in fact, make sure that anything you might have... because I mean, I work from home like two days a week now in my current job, but you might start bringing back things that might be company property, and just start leaving them at your desk instead. So just start the severing a little bit early if you know it's going to happen.Lesley Logan 25:15  I think so. I think so. Okay, so we talked about if it's on your own terms, we talked about like planning, and we talked about leaving. I guess we didn't really say, like, how do you say I'm quitting? What do you say?Clare Solly 25:28  It's different every time.Lesley Logan 25:31  Do you give a story ahead, or do you just start with I'm quitting?Clare Solly 25:34  Honestly, I think the best is short and sweet. Like, they don't... you don't owe them anything, they don't really owe you anything. I mean, yes, you've invested your time and your intellectual powers to them for however long, but you don't owe them anything. And I really think, too, like telling them where you're going, unless they're asking you, that's your business, you don't have to tell them. Even if they ask you directly, straight out, where you're going, you kind of don't have to tell them.Lesley Logan 26:02  Depending on who it is, I might not. I might say, like, I'm just, I will say, like, when I was leaving the fitness jobs, the management job, I said, "You know what, after we get married, the management responsibilities are not going to be something I'm capable of doing in the best way." And I used my marriage, but it was just like telling them I'm going to go teach somewhere could have meant that they would have fired me from all of my teaching gigs.Clare Solly 26:30  Yeah.Lesley Logan 26:30  You know, so, and by the way, I was legally allowed. I lived in the state of California, there's no non-competes, like I could do whatever I wanted, but you just... I didn't trust the person I worked with to not be vindictive, so I just was like, I'm just going to use my marriage.Clare Solly 26:42  You have to do what's best for you. But honestly, the best policy is just saying, you know, walk in, "I'm so sorry, I found XYZ. I found another job, I'm getting married, I'm moving," whatever it is. Keep it short. "I would like to put in my two weeks for you, if you'll accept that." You can say something bullshitty like, "I've enjoyed working here," or something that is sort of true, "I've learned a lot working here." You don't have to tell them why you're leaving, like, "Hey, you're a bullshit boss." Like, you don't have to tell people that. No, if you want to burn the bridge, you take those matches, baby, and you burn, but it's best to get in, get out, I think.Clare Solly 27:20  I think so, and also, as much as you want to tell if somebody is worth... like, "Oh my god, this person's the most abusive person," unless they want the criticism, they're not going to listen to you. Yeah, you know, so I just think that some lessons they have to learn on their own. But I also just think that I was raised by people and grandparents who worked for their companies forever, all the decades, retired, started the job and retired with the job. And so I was raised with these people like, you do the best, you do better than they're asking, right? And the reality is that in today's world, that is actually very different. They just stop paying you for what they were paying you, and you're just doing more, and not all bosses are aware that you're actually giving above and beyond. You have a family member who just retired, and they had to hire three people to replace him, but were they paying him three people's jobs worth? No, they were just working him to the ground. And so I think we do need to say... like, I'm not saying that all companies are evil, but a company will replace you. The thing that I learned early on when I ran that jewelry store is everybody's replaceable, even your best salesperson. And that's terrible, and that's awful, and I will remember all the personalities, but the truth is that a lot of us are being replaced by AI.Clare Solly 28:42  Or not even that we're being replaced by, people you and I are of the age where companies are reskilling and they're replacing people with newer skills, whether fresh out of college or fresh out of a program, right, rather than somebody who's been there with a longer tenure. Lesley Logan 29:00  Yeah.Clare Solly 29:00  And it's not necessarily the age thing; it's like what you know and what you're able to do. Lesley Logan 29:04  Well, and also, even for those who are going to start your own thing, when you become a business owner, you start to realize, like, "What can I pay for this role?" So you might... we have lost some people on the team. We're actually, I'm really proud of us, we're really good at weeding people out in the interview process. We keep our team members for a long time, but we've been around for a long time. Like, this business I've been running, I've been running it by myself starting in 2016 full-time, right? Yeah. And then my first hires were in 2016. Brad came on full-time, and we started hiring more. We had about six people in 2020, now we're more like over 20, but we lost three people due to life situations at the same time. One went on maternity leave forever, one was moving and needed to be paid more for the same job. And it's like, but the role is this pay, like, that's the budget, and that's the role.Clare Solly 29:54  You can tell them that too. You can say, "Hey, I got this job in another company and it pays more." Yeah, I'm welcome, you know.Lesley Logan 30:00  And we will take all of them back in a heartbeat, but also as a business owner, sometimes I can love someone so much, and I have to let them grow somewhere else because where my budget is for that role that they're doing isn't what they are wanting or feel they deserve, right? And that's not personal, and that's the hard thing.Clare Solly 30:22  Yeah, yeah. And also, like, if you're leaving a job because you got more money, you don't have to open that door for them. You just say, "I'm getting more money." Again, just the facts, minimal details, and just the facts.Lesley Logan 30:37  I'm having a life change, those are changes in my life, whatever, my life needs, whatever, you don't owe them more information than they actually need. You just, you really, really don't.Clare Solly 30:47  It's literally like, "Hey Lesley, I loved working on the Be It Pod. I'm so sorry, I've got a job that is willing to pay me more to do podcasts, and I'm excited about it." Lesley Logan 30:57  Yeah. And it would suck so much. And, you know, we can talk another time of how our team always prepares for anybody to be sick for any amount of time because we have to keep going. Like, you know, and I want to honor people's mental health days and things like that, so we have like a lot of redundancy so we can make sure that we can be there for people, but also so people can go and someone can take their place. And it would suck, and I think of them so fondly, and all that stuff.Lesley Logan 31:21  Okay, what if your exit is not your own, like you're fired or the company closed? Like, what happens if the exit happened to you? Clare Solly 31:30  Oh, definitely, definitely. Lesley Logan 31:31  Everything happens for you, but let's be real, like, it happened to you. Clare Solly 31:35  Definitely throw as many things as you can, break as many things on your way out, you know, stab tires. No, don't do any of that. Be as graceful as possible, right? I think one of the best, it hurts, right? It is an ego thing, and it is an ego stab in your heart, and you just have to go. just keep a brave face while you're in front of colleagues, etc., and be as polite as possible because it is a small world. I do not care who you are. I do not care what job you're in. Somebody knows somebody who knows somebody's sister, who knows who's married to somebody who knows you in the next company you go to. It is a small world.Lesley Logan 32:18  Yes.Clare Solly 32:18  Or it'll get back to you in some weird way, 20 years in the future. We are in a social media-heavy world where everybody knows everything. And I'm not saying you have to be happy about it. I am just saying don't go crazy, just try to hold everything in. And you might,in the back of your mind now, because I generally kind of knew when either I was unhappy or my company was unhappy with me, and I knew, because I've been fired, I'm going to say I've been fired four times. You know, once was like a redundancy, once was because the manager hated me, and I can't remember the other two times, but I've been fired a decent amount, and it hurts every time. And no matter how prepared for it you are, you're never prepared for it. So just kind of pick up on the clues in the background, and just don't sit there every day going, "Oh, I'm going to get fired," but maybe start, you know, hit the rewind button, listen to the beginning of this podcast, this episode, and kind of prepare, and then be as graceful as possible. Get your things together as quickly as possible. Don't talk to anyone that still works for the company. Lesley Logan 33:28  Yeah I agree. Clare Solly 33:29  Even if you have a BFF that works for the company, like, especially don't put anything in writing, don't blast anybody, because a lot of times if you are being let go, they're giving you some sort of package, hopefully.Lesley Logan 33:42  Yeah, I would hope so. And I think, even if they don't, even if they're terrible, even for the worst, I just want to reiterate, like, you might end up somewhere, even two jobs from now, where there's someone else who worked there. It just happens, and you don't want your worst day to be the thing that people remember about you when they see you next time, or when someone does ask. Like, sometimes people do call your references in your past jobs, sometimes they call your past jobs, and you don't want the tone of voice to change. So I think... but that's why you go to these new rage stations, and then you break things.Clare Solly 34:27  Definitely go to a rage station.Lesley Logan 34:28  So, okay, so don't burn the bridges, that's good. Go to a rage place, yay! But, like.Clare Solly 34:34  Have a safe friend to talk to, like, that doesn't work at your company.Lesley Logan 34:39  This is good advice for everything. Have someone to talk to about everybody who doesn't know the people involved.Clare Solly 34:45  You know, and maybe that's somebody you pay, maybe that's a therapist, maybe that's a safe space. I would sort of stay away from telling your mom or your dad, or close family, because family always has opinions on these kind of things.Lesley Logan 34:58  Until you're ready. I do think that there are certain things... you kind of have to get your wits about you before you tell the people. It depends on how your relationship is with them, but if they're opinionated, and you often feel like you're constantly letting them know, "I'm not a child anymore." You know, it's the same as a breakup. I don't tell people until I'm like, you have to heal from things before you talk about it sometimes.Clare Solly 35:18  So you're human, and we all try things, and we fail things, and failures are hard, and you don't need somebody poking at your failures or asking you. Like, my least favorite thing is when a relationship ends, people are like, "And when are you going to date?"Lesley Logan 35:35  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's like, "I just got fired. Okay, so is your resume together?" But I will say a tip: maybe have a little thing in your calendar, like every six months, that you just update your resume. Clare Solly 35:47  Yeah. I get mine updated, so (inaudible).Lesley Logan 35:50  Yeah, so it's ready to go, because you just never know these days. You never, you never know, like, people think that the companies will be around forever, and they're not. So I think that that's a really, I think also I just want to highlight what you're saying, it's like, I think you need to grieve a little bit.Clare Solly 36:02  Yeah.Lesley Logan 36:03  Because maybe you had ideas about what that job could be or what it was going to let you do. I do think a little grieving process is important.Clare Solly 36:11  Well, and no matter if you are let go, if you are given severance, or if you are choosing to leave a job, I highly recommend making sure you give yourself space. Make sure you take a week off between jobs, take a couple of weeks, make sure you can, or try your best to afford that. But before you start running again in any capacity, you have to decompress. We take vacations for ourselves from the jobs that we're currently in; we need to do that as well when we are doing anything involved with work.Lesley Logan 36:48  I love this idea, so it's like, call the unemployment office first thing, yeah, call your therapist, and then take a beat, just a beat.Clare Solly 36:57  Take a beat,Lesley Logan 36:58  Yeah, maybe, so hopefully, usually they fire you on a Friday, so hopefully you can take the weekend, like use some credit card points, get a hotel.Clare Solly 37:05  Yeah.Lesley Logan 37:06  You know.Clare Solly 37:06  I mean, I've rage-updated my resume before, and it never works that well, and I have to redo it all.Lesley Logan 37:11  Okay, so don't, so you're saying go grieve first, then resume later.Clare Solly 37:15  Yeah, yeah. I mean, still check in with the unemployment office, and still check in with like your therapist, and I would check in with your bank account and make sure that you're good there.Lesley Logan 37:24  Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think that, you know... but I do think you're allowed to be upset, you're allowed to be sad, you're allowed to be frustrated, you're allowed to be like, "The reason this happened is because of them."Clare Solly 37:35  Yeah.Lesley Logan 37:35  But also, depending on where you live in the states—I don't know how it works in the rest of the world—but I'm of the management style that you kind of are quitting on me before I fire you. I'm giving you talks, and those talks... at least in California, I had to give you written notices, and these are the dates you've improved these things by, so if you're around number two or three, they're probably not happy with you. So you can plan for that, but if you can't, it is out of your control, and it happens sooner than you thought. I do think grief and taking a pause is really nice.Clare Solly 38:12  Yeah, and I think, too, to some extent, when you were saying that, it just kind of came to my head, like, maybe just when you're in a thoughtful moment, and you can handle that thought, just write yourself just like a little exit plan in your notes app in your phone or something like that. So that... we have an emergency strategy if your house is on fire, right? You know where the exits are. Maybe you just give yourself that when you're in a good space. You know, what are my steps that I need to take? Who are my emergency contacts? Where am I in the level-set of money and my trajectory, and all that?Lesley Logan 38:49  I also think, even if it was your dream job, I would sit down and journal. I would write down all the things that you hated about it, and all the things you loved about it, right? This is something we do all the time. Like, when people are like, "I need to get a scheduling tool," I'm like, "Write down all the things you want it to do, like, what are your dream things?" Same as if you're going to date someone where they have to have these qualities. I would say take a moment to think about what is the stuff that you loved about that job, and then what are the things that you fucking hated, even as a dream job. There are always things that are irritating, like working for anybody is irritating, so it has irritating moments. So I would write that down, because that way, when you are updating your resume, you're updating it with the ideas of the qualities you want to enhance and highlight, and you're looking for the jobs that have the keywords that are in the love section, and you are a little bit more aware of the things where you're like, "I don't do well in these spaces." Yeah, if you're not a team player, then a job that is like, "You're going to be working on this team, and it's integral that you work with the team," you can go, "Oh, I need a more solo job." It's okay.Clare Solly 39:47  Yeah. And then also, instead of trying to... because the instinct is to pick at yourself and go, "What did I do wrong? What was wrong with me?" Right? We do that in any kind of relationship, whether it is a work relationship or a personal relationship. We focus it back on ourselves, and sometimes it's not you. I mean, sometimes it is, but sometimes it's just not what you're capable of, or not the skills that you have, or not the education you have. So when you start taking yourself apart, turn it back positively. And maybe instead of sitting there... we all get to mourn, right? We all get to mourn, we all get to hurt. But instead of sitting there and picking apart yourself and panicking about not having a job, go on YouTube and look up some skill videos. Yeah, go to university websites and take a look at courses.Lesley Logan 40:46  Universities give courses for free.Clare Solly 40:47  Yeah, and if you find yourself sort of like rage-scrolling through LinkedIn or something like that, looking at your colleagues or looking at people that have similar jobs to you, look at their resumes and go, "What are the skills they have? What can I add to my resume that makes me more excitable as a hire? What am I missing?" and just kind of re-level set yourself.Lesley Logan 41:07  Yeah.Clare Solly 41:08  Instead of going internal, look to the external and see how you can grow, and be it till you see it.Lesley Logan 41:15  I love that. Oh my god, we could talk forever on this topic because I feel like there's just so much to say, but I do feel like that's some great, helpful stuff because being it till you see it often isn't staying where you are, it's acting like the person you want to be when you're there, and that can mean building an exit strategy, or it could mean letting go of the place that you're at. So I love this, Clare. We're going to take a brief break, and then we're going to find out where people can find you, follow you, connect with you, and get your Be It Action Items. Lesley Logan 41:44  Okay, Clare, where do you hang out these days?Clare Solly 41:48  I am still on the Instagram as a bookstagrammer. You can find me at @YouWontBeSolly on the Instagram and the TikTok, although I'm slow to post these days. You can find me and my books at www.claresolly.com Clare with no I, and there will be more news in a couple of years once I get that PhD rolling and going.Lesley Logan 42:08  I know. I'll have to have you back on for that. "How did you 'be it till you see it' to call yourself a doctor?"Clare Solly 42:13  I know, I'm so excited I'm here. Schedule me now for that. Set your alarms. And I would say for this topic, my Be It Action Items.Lesley Logan 42:21  Bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it until they see it. I mean, I know you know the thing, but I gotta say it, you know, for the new listeners.Clare Solly 42:29  I love it. New listeners.Lesley Logan 42:30  New listeners, this is the section where they tell us your action items.Clare Solly 42:35  I mean, I think take a look at yourself, where you are, look at where you can improve, and create an exit strategy if you are ready to leave, just so you have it. In a sane moment, you're ready to go when you have that crazy moment later.Lesley Logan 42:53  Yeah, yeah, I think it's important. Why not, while you don't need to do it, think about what to do, because it is really hard to do it when you, unless you're like me, and you're clear-headed when the shoe drops.Clare Solly 43:09  Yeah.Lesley Logan 43:10  And some people are, but I think a lot of people need a little more time to wrap their heads around it, and that's okay.Clare Solly 43:15  We think about retirement, we think about when our job is ending towards the end of our life, we think about again when you're in a fire situation, when you're in an earthquake situation, like, we practice those things. And even though it feels a little bit like dun dun dun to think about the ending of your job, if you prepare for it now, you'll be ready for it when it happens. If it happens, maybe it won't, maybe you'll be forever in your job and happy.Lesley Logan 43:41  Yeah, well, I hope so. Okay, thanks so much, Clare, for being you and bringing up this topic. I think this is so fun. You guys, make sure you tell us which parts of this you loved, and I know it's more conversational if you're used to listening to this, but I think that that's also even more fun. So I'm kind of into that as well. And share this with a friend who needs to hear it, share with a friend who's like constantly complaining about their job—like, you don't have to be their coach for them. Guess what, you could just go, "Wow, you should listen to the Be It Till You See It podcast, yeah, with Lesley and Clare on this topic." And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 44:11  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 44:53  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 44:58  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 45:03  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 45:10  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 45:13  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We're kicking off this Monday challenging some conventional wisdom to help you do thing, rather than think about the thing!

In today's r/AITAH story, OP sees a new trend online where couples share what they would change about the other and OP goes ALL IN.00:00 Intro00:19 Story 1 u/National_Bison_676402:12 Comments05:02 Update06:12 Story 2 u/EnvironmentalOkra60010:12 Update11:46 Update 215:55 Update 319:49 Comments20:08 Update 423:48 Comments24:20 Update 527:48 Comments Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode, I'm doing a book review of How to Deal with Your ____ So Your Kids Don't Have To by Eli Harwood. One of the things I loved most about this book is the reminder that good movement truly starts with US.Honestly, it's not about perfection - it's about growing our capacity to hold our own emotions, so we're not unintentionally passing them on.If you've ever found yourself wondering how to better process your emotions, respond instead of react, or better support the people you love without carrying old patterns into your relationships, this one is a worthwhile read!If you enjoyed this episode and found it helpful, I'd love to hear from you. We might have to make book reviews a regular thing around here!In this episode, I cover:Why this book stood out as a top recommendation for beginning inner workHow processing our own emotions impacts parenting, relationships & everyday interactionsThe connection between emotional capacity and “good movement starts with us”The book's practical structureWhy the encyclopedia-style format makes it easy to revisit specific struggles when neededMy personal favorite featuresWhy this book earned a full 10/10 recommendationMake sure to hit subscribe/follow so you never miss an episode!Find the complete show notes here: https://terryndrieling.com/book-review-eli-harwoodConnect with Terryn:Follow on Instagram @terryn.drielingCheck out my websiteSend me an email at terryn@terryndrieling.comResources & Links:How to Deal with Your So Your Kids Don't Have To by Eli HarwoodRaising Securely Attached Kids by Eli HarwoodFollow Eli Harwood on Instagram @attachmentnerdSchedule a free consult and see if 1:1 Good Movement Guidance is right for you - mention "castpod" when you book to receive 10% off!Check out my merch shopJoin the waitlist for the Good Movement CollectiveGood Movement music by: Aaron EspePodcast produced by: Jill Carr Podcasting

"I didn't realize running a nonprofit was this much work." Honestly, many people don't realize it because they were never shown what actually goes into operating an organization beyond the mission and the programs. I've seen passionate leaders enter this work with good intentions, only to become overwhelmed by everything happening behind the scenes. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or surprised by the weight of leadership, this conversation will help you understand why, and what needs to change moving forward.

.There was also a heap of playoff rugby across the URC and Super Rugby, although if we're being brutally honest, a lot of the games were a bit one-sided and a touch meh. Plenty of lovely tries, great skills, and individual moments of brilliance, but not a huge amount of jeopardy.The URC probably delivered the better drama. Leinster were ultimately too good for the Stormers, but the Stormers made them work for it for a decent stretch. Meanwhile, the Bulls pulled off a cracking come-from-behind win against Glasgow, who were playing at Murrayfield — when, let's be honest, they probably would've much rather been at their actual home ground.In Super Rugby, things got a bit ridiculous. The Hurricanes, who qualified number one, played the Brumbies, who qualified sixth, and absolutely pumped them. Which raises the very fair question: what was the point of that game? The format seems designed to suck the jeopardy out of the tournament just so we can squeeze in three quarter-finals. Honestly, just give us a top four and be done with it.Elsewhere, the Blues looked like they remembered how to play rugby for brief periods, before also remembering they had the defensive structure of a wet paper bag. The Crusaders put plenty on them down in Christchurch, and yet somehow, despite losing a worrying number of games in a row, the Blues are now semi-finalists thanks to the “lucky loser” system.The best Super Rugby game of the weekend was probably Chiefs v Reds, even though the Chiefs still managed to win it relatively comfortably and end the Reds' season.So yes, we talk dads, rugby, playoff formats, lucky losers, one-sided quarter-finals, and the general absurdity of it all. Tony, in particular, has a bit of a whinge.Grab a beer and enjoy.

Flagging smooth sailing area of life. Accepting myself deeper. Honestly forgot the rest but dopeness as usual. Donation: https://www.paypal.me/wickushMerch: https://mr-bush-shop.fourthwall.comSave 15%: https://buy.linqapp.com/discount/By+The+Way+By+The+Way?redirect=%2F%3Fafmc%3DBy%2BThe%2BWay%2BBy%2BThe%2BWayMusic: https://on.soundcloud.com/dpYPigrxR3zyeRZ7GM #haritaki

The Two Bobs episode 315 for Monday, June 8, 2026: What are The Bobs drinking? Rob enjoyed a Pure Michigan Cherry Kolsch from Shorts. https://untp.beer/7f405bf755  Robert nursed a Blonde Betty from Feel the Rain Brothers Brew. https://untp.beer/mM6d3  Follow us on Untapped at @RobFromTTB and @PintPatrol or we'll adopt a 37-year-old in your name. This week's CRAZY NEWS is being shipped to Hammond, Indiana since Chicago doesn't want it anymore. A police officer in South Carolina was fired for pointing his gun at a colleague who was microwaving fish at the police station. Honestly, we think it was justified. https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/us-news/cop-arrested-fired-after-allegedly-pointing-gun-at-fellow-officer-for-microwaving-fish-at-police-station/  A Pizza Hut worker in Oklahoma was attacked for screwing up a customer's order. https://kfor.com/news/local/del-city-pizza-hut-worker-attacked-after-getting-order-wrong/  A family in Brazil adopted a 37-year-old woman, thinking she was 12. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15870013/Woman-37-adopted-unwitting-family-14-months-convincing-12-year-old-fled-abusive-parents.html  A Rhode Island woman was arrested for bringing drugs to a police station to complain she was sold fentanyl instead of cocaine. https://turnto10.com/news/local/woman-arrested-after-bringing-drugs-to-police-station-in-coventry-compaint-fentanyl-cocaine-charged-posession-controlled-substance-may-29-2026  Trump just launched an $88 billion retribution fund for guys that have been rejected by women. https://theonion.com/trump-launches-88-billion-fund-for-anyone-who-has-ever-been-rejected-by-woman/  Find us wherever you get your podcasts. Rate, review, and tell your equally twisted friends. Join us on all the social things: Follow us on Blue Sky Follow us on Twitter Check out our Instagram Find us on YouTube Follow Rob on Untappd Follow Robert on Untappd The Two Bobs Podcast is © The Two Bobs.  For more information, see our Who are The Two Bobs? page, or check our Contact page.  Words, views, and opinions are our own and do not represent those of our friends, family, or our employers unless otherwise noted.  Music for The Two Bobs was provided by JewelBeat (which doesn’t exist anymore but we still put it here because we like to do the right thing)

Honestly, The White Shaderoom is accurate. Somebody is always fighting in the comments.

Joining us this week are April Vasquez and Lauren Tolley, two of Moser's Data Intelligence interns. In today's conversation, we'll talk about career goals, technical growth, workplace culture, the realities of entering today's workforce, and the fears and uncertainty many students face while preparing for life after graduation. As technology continues to evolve through AI, analytics, automation, and data visualization, students entering this field are navigating a career landscape that's exciting, competitive, and constantly changing. We'll hear directly from them about what motivates them, what concerns them, and what they hope to gain from this experience.We'll also get to know April and Lauren outside of work, hear what excites them most about the summer ahead, and ask what they THINK they'll say at the end of this internship experience. 

This week, we SPIDER! After resting up from ATX Fest, we settled in for a little 1930s black and white (or is it in color??) mystery with Nic Cage and the greatest Electro ever done on-screen. Did we love it? Honestly, yeah. It's pretty fun. Find out all the things we dug (and a few things that stuck in our craw) in this week's episode! Plus - new FROM! That HACKS finale! Nick dives into the AMC Immortal Universe! Will our hearts survive? 1:25-12:30 TV Diaries 1:25-12:30 Nick joins the Fang Gang 12:30-16:20 Rick and Morty S09 18:40-26:18 From 26:18-40:25 Hacks Finale 40:45-Spider Noir  

Do you suffer from 'Spoiled Pig Syndrome'? Honestly, maybe. We unpack Lena Dunham’s latest theory that we’ve all become a little too accustomed to getting the treat before we’ve even learned the trick. Plus, Former The Hills Reality TV star Spencer Pratt is officially running for Mayor of Los Angeles. We’re nominating our top contenders if Aussie celebs entered politics. SUBSCRIBE to Mamamia and never miss a word of Out Loud. Plus get access to every story and our exercise app, MOVE. Also, paper straws, automatic taps, hand dryers and Bluetooth. It’s 2026. So why are there certain things that just don’t work? We have a simple request for the universe: be better And, we’re bedazzling now. Em is excited. SUBSCRIBE here: Support independent women's media Recommendations Em recommends Torriden Dive-In Low Molecule Hyaluronic Acid Serum. Clare recommends The Crash documentary on Netflix. Holly recommends The Four Seasons on Netflix. What To Listen To Next: Listen to our latest episode: Don’t Go To Uni, Baby Doll Dresses & The World’s Coolest Wedding Hat Listen: Reading-Gap Relationships & The 'Daddy' Of It All Listen: A Woman Got Pregnant & ‘Betrayed Us All’ Listen: FREE SUBS TASTER: The One Big Lie Blown Up By The Kylie Doco Listen: Bed Shaming & A Terrible Excuse To Skip Your Son’s Wedding Discover more Mamamia Podcasts here including the very latest episode of Parenting Out Loud, the parenting podcast for people who don't listen to... parenting podcasts. SUBSCRIBE here: Support independent women's media You can now watch our show in full length video on the Apple Podcast app - make sure your phone is up to date and we can't wait for you to see Mamamia Out Loud on Apple What to read: The one thing happily married women have quietly stopped doing. 'My partner kept putting off trying for a baby. Then I got a text that explained why.' 'I spent years working in reconciliation as a non-Indigenous person. Here's the thing we never want to admit.' HOLLY WAINWRIGHT: The one question I really wanted to ask Jacinda Ardern. THE END BITS: Check out our merch at MamamiaOutLoud.com GET IN TOUCH: Feedback? We’re listening. Send us an email at outloud@mamamia.com.au Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message. Join our Facebook group Mamamia Outlouders to talk about the show. Follow us on Instagram @mamamiaoutloud and on Tiktok @mamamiaoutloud CREDITS: Hosts: Holly Wainwright, Clare Stephens & Emily Vernem Acting Group Executive Producer: Sasha Tannock Executive Producer: Grace Rouvray Video Producer: Josh Green Associate Producer: Tessa Kotowicz Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we have recorded this podcast.Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Original Air Date: Jun 26, 2018   Today we examine more info on demon-linked killings, discuss how to fix evolution, and look at bizarre disappearances while wondering how you would deal with a "Lost" situation. The idea of "Michigan Blue Hell" is a terrifying one, to me at least. Supposedly it is a tear in the fabric of space-time that will allow someone to fall out of our reality and into something else entirely. While looking into crazy disappearances, I found out about the "Sarah Joe." It is a little known story outside of Hawaii of five men who went fishing and only one was ever found. 10 years later. In a grave no one knows who dug it. And XXXtentacion is back in the conspiracy circle as yet another post is made detailing demonic involvement in his death. Listen, his death was tragic. But demons had nothing to do with it. It's called human greed.   Patreon (Get ad-free episodes, Patreon Discord Access, and more!) https://www.patreon.com/user?u=18482113 PayPal Donation Link https://tinyurl.com/mrxe36ph MERCH STORE!!! https://tinyurl.com/y8zam4o2 Amazon Wish List https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/28CIOGSFRUXAD?ref_=wl_share Dead Rabbit Radio Archive Episodes https://deadrabbitradio.blogspot.com/2025/07/ episode-archive.html https://archive.ph/UELip Dead Rabbit Radio Recommends Master List https://letterboxd.com/dead_rabbit/list/dead-rabbit-radio-recommends/   Help Promote Dead Rabbit! Dual Flyer https://i.imgur.com/OhuoI2v.jpg "As Above" Flyer https://i.imgur.com/yobMtUp.jpg "Alien Flyer" By TVP VT U https://imgur.com/gallery/aPN1Fnw "QR Code Flyer" by Finn https://imgur.com/a/aYYUMAh Links: Michigan Blue Hell In Brief https://dubiouspanda.wordpress.com/2018/01/08/michigan-blue-hell/ Archive https://archive.ph/6pEYc Michigan blue Hell https://web.archive.org/web/20190216024515/https://yuki.la/x/20154671 The Sarah Joe Mystery: Disappearance in the Pacific https://www.historicmysteries.com/unexplained-mysteries/sarah-joe-mystery/8517/ The Wiretap Rooms https://theintercept.com/2018/06/25/att-internet-nsa-spy-hubs/   ------------------------------------------------ Logo Art By Ash Black Opening Song: "Atlantis Attacks" Closing Song: "Bella Royale" Music By Simple Rabbitron 3000 created by Eerbud Thanks to Chris K, Founder Of The Golden Rabbit Brigade Dead Rabbit Archivist Some Weirdo On Twitter AKA Jack YouTube Champ: Stewart Meatball Reddit Champ: TheLast747 The Haunted Mic Arm provided by Chyme Chili Discord Mods: Mason, Rudie Jazz Forever Fluffle: Cantillions, Samson, Gregory Gilbertson, Jenny the Cat http://www.DeadRabbit.com Email: DeadRabbitRadio@gmail.com Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DeadRabbitRadio TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@deadrabbitradio Dead Rabbit Radio Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/DeadRabbitRadio/ Paranormal News Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ParanormalNews/ Mailing Address Jason Carpenter PO Box 1363 Hood River, OR 97031 Paranormal, Conspiracy, and True Crime news as it happens! Jason Carpenter breaks the stories they'll be talking about tomorrow, assuming the world doesn't end today. All Contents Of This Podcast Copyright Jason Carpenter 2018 - 2026

Close your eyes. You're standing in the hills of Ireland. The music is drifting up from the valley below. That's where we're headed tonight. Welcome to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #761  -  -  Subscribe now at CelticMusicPodcast.com! Gerry O'Connor, Fialla, The Diviners, Meerrant, Jesse Ferguson, Clanna Morna, Faoileán, Brad Reid, High Octane, The Drowsy Lads, Robin Huw Bowen, DRD, Jiggy, Alexander James Adams GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Enjoy seven weekly news items with what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Subscribe now and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2026 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create this year's Best Celtic music episode. You have just three weeks to vote this year. Vote Now! You can follow our playlist on YouTube to listen to those top voted tracks as they are added every 2 - 3 weeks. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:06 - Gerry O'Connor "Stereo Connor (Polkas)" from Last Night's Joy 4:23 - WELCOME 5:07 - Fialla "No Fear No Grace" from A Rare Thing 9:28 - The Diviners "Steppin' Out / Farewell to Connolly Road" from Earshot (EP) 13:22 - Meerrant "To Carolan" from Fells 16:57 - Jesse Ferguson "Jock o'Hazeldean" from Ten 20:45 - FEEDBACK 23:26 - Clanna Morna "Virginia / Martin Wynne's #2 / Morning Dew" from From The Lowlands To The High Seas 27:36 - Almost Seamus "Danny Boy" from Almost Seamus 31:55 - Brad Reid "Lads of Liltington" from The Bridge 34:31 - High Octane "L'heure du goûter" from High Octane 36:00 - THANKS 37:52 - The Drowsy Lads "Boys of the Old Brigade" from Everyone In 41:36 - Robin Huw Bowen "Y Pural Fesur" from Iaith Enaid 48:02 - DRD "Moxeca" from DRD 51:21 - Jiggy "I'm With You" from Translate 55:00 - CLOSING 55:57 - Alexander James Adams "Blue Heron/Cranky Crawdads/Mittens on the Moon" from Cat & the Fiddle 1:00:46 - CREDITS Support for this program comes from Hank Woodward. Support for this program comes from Dr. Annie Lorkowski of Centennial Animal Hospital in Corona, California. Support for this program comes from John Sharkey White, II. Support for this program comes from International speaker, Joseph Dumond, teaching the ancient roots of the Gaelic people. Learn more about their origins at Sightedmoon.com Support for this program comes from Cascadia Cross Border Law Group, Creating Transparent Borders for more than twenty five years, serving Alaska and the world. Find out more at   www.CascadiaLawAlaska.com The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. Visit our website to follow the show. You'll find links to all of the artists played in this episode. Todd Wiley is the editor of the Celtic Music Magazine. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. 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I love listening and discovering new artist and songs every week. I wanted to share Hildaland with you (https://hildaland.bandcamp.com)  -  check out Ettrick, the poem by Lady Jane Grey they set to music, or The Selkie of Sule Skeery  -  two of my favorites in their latest EP. Slainte!" Cody Holtzclaw emailed: "Hey man, I just wanted to reach out and tell you how nice it was to hear that you had a good back and forth with the guy who disagreed with your political stance. Too often nowadays, people see differences of opinion as a sign that they are enemies so I love to see when people can have a good conversation from either end of the political spectrum. Respectfully, I'm very conservative so we probably disagree on some things too, but just know you have the support of some people on the right. Honestly after all the epstein files I believe even more that the goal of the elites is to keep all of us focused on each other instead of them. Love the music man. 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Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by Ted Coniaris, lead pastor of Community Christian Church in the greater Chicagoland area. After an intentional and extended succession process with founding pastor Dave Ferguson, Ted has stepped into the lead role during a pivotal season for the church. In this conversation, he shares what it looks like to lead through transition, clarify vision, and build a disciple-making ecosystem for the future. A transition built on trust and clarity. // Ted describes a multi-year succession process that included months of private conversations, an 18-month apprenticeship, and a highly visible transition with full support from church leadership. One of the most unique elements was launching a new vision before the transition was complete. While unconventional, this approach created immediate alignment and buy-in across the church. Because the process was prayerful, transparent, and unified, the congregation experienced less anxiety than expected, resulting in what Ted describes as a surprising sense of peace and readiness for what's next. Renovating, not rebuilding. // Ted uses the language of “renovation” to describe the church's next chapter. Community Christian Church has a rich 37-year history of helping people find their way back to God, especially those far from faith. Rather than starting from scratch, Ted is focused on building on that foundation while addressing a critical gap: what happens after people come to faith? This has led to a renewed focus on creating a clear and intentional disciple-making ecosystem. A bold, layered vision for the future. // Ted outlines a four-part vision that builds sequentially: every heart on fire, every person a pastor, every child and student equipped, and every neighborhood a thriving church. This framework begins with spiritual passion—not just participation—emphasizing that people today are searching for something deeper than casual faith. From there, the vision moves toward activating every believer in ministry, taking seriously the priesthood of all believers. The end result is a multiplying movement of disciples impacting communities at scale. Rethinking discipleship through Growth Track. // To support this vision, the church is developing a clear pathway called Growth Track, built around three movements: Alpha, Disciple, and Pastor. The goal is not just information or assimilation, but transformation and activation. Ted emphasizes helping every person identify their calling, answering the question, “Who am I called to reach?” This reframes discipleship from passive participation to active mission. Ancient practices for modern renewal. // One of the more surprising shifts has been a return to ancient spiritual disciplines. Through rhythms like “Ignite Week”—a church-wide season of prayer, fasting, and reflection—Ted is seeing increased spiritual intensity across all age groups. These rhythms create deeper roots than one-time events, shaping both individual lives and the overall culture of the church. A multiplying model through microchurches. // In addition to strengthening internal discipleship, Community Christian is expanding outward through a rapidly growing microchurch movement. With hundreds of microchurches already launched globally, the model focuses on simple, scalable principles: low control, high support, and strong coaching relationships. Rather than centralizing growth in large gatherings, this approach empowers everyday people to lead and reach others in their own contexts—creating the potential for exponential impact. The leader's soul is the strategy. // Ted closes with a powerful reminder: the most important strategy a leader has is their own spiritual health. Passion for God, integrity, and relational support are foundational. Ministry is difficult, but leaders who tend their own spiritual lives and refuse isolation will be better equipped to lead others effectively. To learn more about Community Christian Church, visit communitychristian.org. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Your church is doing really well right now, and your leadership team is looking for solutions to keep momentum going! It could be time to start a new location. Maybe you have hesitated in the past few years, but you know it's time to step out in faith again and launch that next location. Portable Church has assembled a bundle of resources to help you leverage your growing momentum into a new location by sending a part of your congregation back to their neighborhood on Mission. This bundle of resources will give you a step-by-step plan to launch that new or next location, and a 5 minute readiness tool that will help you know your church is ready to do it! Click here to watch the free webinar “Launch a New Location in 150 Days or Less” and grab the bundle of resources for your church! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. Super excited to have you listening in today. GI gotta be totally honest. I asked this person to come on today to have a bit of an update conversation from a conversation we had out just over a year ago. I’m really excited for this because it’s kind of fun to follow along with this story. And this is an area that really is, applies to all of our churches and I want all of us to lean in. And so pay attention, whether you’re cutting your grass or whatever you’re doing for the next 30 minutes, it’s going to be a great conversation.Rich Birch — We’ve got Ted Coniaris with us. He is the lead pastor at a fantastic church, a multi-site church in the greater Chicagoland area called Community Christian. They have, if I’m counting correctly, seven physical locations, as well as micro churches that meet in homes throughout the week and online space, plus community freedom locations, which meet in correctional facilities across the region as well. Ted, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here.Ted Coniaris — Thanks, Rich. Really glad to be here. Great to see you again. We get to cross paths a few times a year, so it’s always great to connect. Appreciate the time.Rich Birch — I appreciate you you taking time to come on and and connect. Friends that are listening in, just kind of bringing you up to speed. We’ll link to the previous episode if you want to go back and and check that. But the last time we talked, you were apprenticing as the lead pastor at Community Christian under Dave Ferguson. And I think that was a year ago. And you you know there’s all the steps. I think you were step three, step four, somewhere in there. Ted Coniaris — Yeah.Rich Birch — And there was this handoff on the horizon. And now we’re on the other side of that. And so that’s part of why I wanted to get you on. Here we are a year later. Let’s talk about those things. You’re still there. So that’s a good thing.Ted Coniaris — I mean, as far as you know, this could be a fake backdrop. Who knows?Rich Birch — Yeah, true this is the… Yeah, so you know what? You were…Ted Coniaris — No, it is true.Rich Birch — It takes a lot of time. Talk to us through, you know, what’s happened since then. Talk us about that transition. Kind of bring us up to speed.Ted Coniaris — Absolutely. So as you said, we went through an 18 month apprenticeship, but before that we had about six, eight, probably eight months of conversations just Dave and I, before we went above ground with elders and everything else, maybe even a little longer than that. So it was quite a long process walking through our apprenticeship process as a church and really wanting to do that at the highest level, just like we do at every level of leadership as a church. Ted Coniaris — So that was an amazing process. Dave is an incredible leader and even better man and somebody that it was a great privilege to spend more and more time with him. He and Sue—his wife—Melissa and I spending time with them, and then John and and Lisa, his brother and his wife. We spent a lot of time together, so it was great. And then since then, May, they’re still around. They’re still a part of our church. Dave is now the CEO of Exponential, spending full time doing that.Ted Coniaris — And John is leading something called the Chicago Collective, which is a network of churches, networks of churches throughout Chicagoland, working to plant more churches, which we desperately need in Chicago area. So if you’re listening, you’re like, man, I’m thinking about planning a church in Chicago. Please reach out to me. I would love to help you do that. We desperately need more more churches here.Ted Coniaris — So since then, it’s been great. Honestly, there’s been so much change, so many things going on, but it’s truly, truly been really, really good. I think I’m tired in the right ways. Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — I’m probably also tired in some of the wrong ways too… Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — …but it’s been a great it’s been a great transition.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool. You know, when we you were on last time, you were talking about really stewarding the mission of the future, while also chasing new vision, which is, is at that phase kind of easy to say, you’re like, okay, we’re looking forward to the future. Now you’re in the seat. And it’s like, you got to keep doing that. Now that you’re sitting there.,you know, what’s become clearer for you as you’ve thought about the next chapter and, and, you know, as you think about the future, what are, cause there may be some questions you’re wrestling with as you’re thinking, you know, up over to the horizon. Yeah. What are the things that are, are, are bubbling in your brain on that front?Ted Coniaris — Yeah, great question. I mean, so much has become more clear. But one of the great gifts that I felt like the Lord gave us as a church in this transition on the very front end was a real clarity and unity around our new vision as a church. It’s not so typical to launch a new vision for the church before the transition has even occurred. And I wouldn’t recommend that in other situations, but it just, the way that it went with us, this just felt like what the Lord was leading us to do.Ted Coniaris — So we actually actually launched the new vision for the church while Dave was still the lead pastor. And he stood right there beside me and in full support with our elders and everyone else. And so it was actually unique in that way. But that’s just really been confirmed. Honestly, that’s been one of the biggest things that I am grateful for through this process is just the Lord’s gift of clarity on the front end and just giving me ah real clear direction to run. Ted Coniaris — And I would say too, that there’s a big difference between a transition that’s been prayed over for years. Rich Birch — That’s good. Right, right.Ted Coniaris — It just lands differently than a transition.That’s just like been negotiated in some back room somewhere. You know, it’s like this…Rich Birch — Right. Right. Right. Yeah.Ted Coniaris — This has been prayed through and put above ground and has been a really healthy, visible process that I think resulted in the church just being wide open, saying, yeah, this feels right. This feels good. And we’re in. And so almost it’s like a a sense of exhale that I’ve been experiencing, which has surprised me…Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good.Ted Coniaris — …in the church.Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — I thought there would be more anxiety in the transition. Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — But there’s really been like a quiet permission-giving that’s happened.Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good.Ted Coniaris — Almost like, you know, just the family knew the transition was healthy so they could just sort of relax into it and say, okay, what’s next?Rich Birch — Right. Right.Ted Coniaris — And in hindsight, what felt a little crazy of launching the vision now feels like if we hadn’t have done that, we would have missed a real amazing opportunity because people were really bought in right from the get-go, which has been great.Rich Birch — Well, and what, yeah, that’s great. And in hindsight, being able to look back at that moment and saying like, no, like, yeah, maybe not the kind of thing that you write in a book and say, that’s the way to do it. But it’s like, we did that. And there’s in hindsight, man, amazing to have kind of both of your endorsements on the future direction. And like, Hey, we’re excited to be going in this direction. There was a mutual support there that ended up accelerating pointing things to the future. That’s incredible. That’s great.Ted Coniaris — Yeah.Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — And so now it’s really…Go ahead. Sorry.Rich Birch — No, you go ahead. You go. Go ahead.Ted Coniaris — Okay. Yeah. Now it’s in the season where it’s how do we take that vision, that sort of north star for the future and building on their 37-year history as a church that’s been so rich and good in and move in this new direction, but also be aligned with our past.Ted Coniaris — You know, it’s not about tradition, but it is about, you know, God has been doing a unique and wonderful thing here that we want to continue in, but also kind of build on what’s next. So I felt like as a church, one of our great strengths as community, and this is really a reflection of Dave and John, is we’re a community where everyone is welcome. Like that that’s without a doubt. Anybody and everybody can walk through these doors and probably tens of thousands of people have over these last 37 years, and found their way back to God. It’s incredible. Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s amazing.Ted Coniaris — I mean, when it comes to that zero to one, those people finding the Lord from a really hard spot, man, God has just used this church in such miraculous and amazing ways for so long. And we want to keep that. Like we love that about this place and just think it’s an amazing amazing strength of this community. But now we want to answer sort of the next question, which is now what? So everyone’s welcome.Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — Now what? Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — And so we want to build on that path towards what’s in the future. And the way we’re talking about it here is sort of renovating our disciple-making ecosystem, which is a big mouthful. But you know it’s renovating, and it’s a certainly a lot of you know jargon, but bear with me for a second.Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — You know, we’re renovating because we’re not starting from scratch.Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — We’ve got a great house, a great church.Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — Things are great. It’s time for a renovation. And what we’re renovating is a very clear, focused outcome, which is disciple-making. And I think that’s an area where we have not been as strong over the years. It’s like that first part of the journey. And we have a lot of evangelists here and we’re passionate. We want to keep that. But we also want to answer that that: now what? That disciple-making ecosystem. And it’s an ecosystem because not any one thing, this program doesn’t make you a disciple-making church. Rich Birch — Right, right. Ted Coniaris — Or just a good teacher doesn’t make you a disciple-making church. It’s all of these things kind of together create an environment and a path for that to happen. And so we’re just renovating all of those things with the vision, teaching, creating new rhythms as a church, and also creating a, for the first time for us at least, a clear disciple making process, which we’re we’re calling it Growth Track.Ted Coniaris — And a lot of churches use that term. But just trying to say, okay, our vision is to see every person step into their God-given calling to be a pastor. If every person is a pastor, it’s like, what if we actually took the priesthood of believers seriously? Right? And how would that change our disciple-making process if that was the end result? Rich Birch — That’s cool.Ted Coniaris — Right? I think a lot of times we can slip into being really like our disciple-making becomes more about assimilation. Or more about collecting a certain level of information or knowledge or even practice.Rich Birch — Yep. Yep.Ted Coniaris — But we’re trying to have a different output. We want to see people finding their way back to God, which has always been the core of our mission, and then released as pastors in the world and equipped to do that. Ted Coniaris — And so what’s our process for taking someone from a seeker to a pastor. We really didn’t have that. Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — And so we’re in the process right now of just building all of that out, aligning all of our teams and creating just a clear answer to that, that “now what” question.Rich Birch — Yeah, love that. And, you know, that makes sense for a church of of this age. You know, people have changed, you know, what we used to call seekers or the people that were arriving, they’re different. It’s like the most obvious thing to say, but people are different today than they were 37 years ago when this ball got rolling. Rich Birch — And and what what are some of those early changes that you’ve made to renovate? What are some of those things that that do look a little bit different or are are, you know, kind of pointing in a new direction? Where where what are you learning on that that front?Ted Coniaris — Well, obviously the first one is the new vision, and I’ll just share that really, really quickly.Rich Birch — Yep.Ted Coniaris — But it’s, and they all build on each other. That’s really the the key for us. And while this is unique to Community Christian Church, it’s not a vision that’s unique to Community Christian Church. Like, I think this is really like a biblical thing, but it starts with every heart on fire.Ted Coniaris — And it talks about, when you ask the question about what’s different, I think one of the things that’s really different, people aren’t looking just for a place to blend in the background and be like, oh, this is cool.Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — You’re cool Jesus followers. I’m cool. We can be cool together. This is cool. That is, that is… Rich Birch — That’s amazing. I love it. Ted Coniaris — That is not what the next generation is looking for. Rich Birch — No.Ted Coniaris — They are looking for fire.Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — They are looking for passion. And rightfully so. Rightfully so. Thank God for that. Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — And so we want to lean into it. We don’t want to be a place where everybody’s buddies with Jesus. We want to create a place where people are consumed by him. Rich Birch — That’s good. Ted Coniaris — Just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus talked about, you know, we’re not our hearts beating or burning within us when they talk with Jesus along the road. That’s that’s the kind of community we want to be, a consumed community. And that’s the starting place for everything else. Everything else. And that’s not just emotionalism. It’s a passion for. It’s it’s a a focus on. Ted Coniaris — The second part, which builds on that, it’s not even worth going to the second part if you don’t do the first thing. The second part is every person a pastor, right? Because if you start with every person a pastor, but the heart’s not on fire, there’s not a passion and a consuming focus, you know, what kind of pastors are you raising, right?Rich Birch — Right, right.Ted Coniaris — It’s not the kind that the world needs. And so it’s every heart fire, then every person a pastor just really taking seriously the priesthood of all believers. I’m not the pastor, you know. You all are the pastors. I function as a pastor in this context, but you function as a pastor in whatever context God has placed you.Ted Coniaris — And if we could do those two things, if we can have every heart and fire and every person released into their God-given calling as a pastor, then maybe we could accomplish the third thing, which is every child and student equipped. Rich Birch — Wow. Yep.Ted Coniaris — Because that’s going to take all hands on deck. What our kids, what my kids, I have 16, 14, and 10-year-old, all boys. So please pray for us. But what what my boys are facing today, it’s like the challenges I faced have been weaponized and placed in the hands of every single kid. And yet our student and youth ministry, our kids and and student ministry, looks almost identical to what it did look like 37 years ago. Why is that? I mean, there’s different strategies, practice in those sort things.Rich Birch — That doesn’t make sense. Yeah.Ted Coniaris — But if you look at like the form even of itself, we’re like, it kind of looks the same. It looks sort of like the youth group I went to as a kid. Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — And I think we need to be doing a lot more and investing more in the next generation in in relational deep ways. But it can’t happen without every heart and fire and every person being a pastor. And if we can do that, every heart of fire, every person pastor, every child and student equipped, then we can accomplish the Great Commission, right? Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — And that’s really the last part of the vision, which is every neighborhood a thriving church. Because the way you change the world is by having you know a community of Christ followers, place where Jesus is King, we’re on mission together within arm’s reach of every person on the planet.Ted Coniaris — You know that’s, that’s the plan. And so that’s what we’re targeting and going after. So that’s different. And so for us to do those things, there’s things we’re trying to change and layer in behind that. Really renovating our teaching ministry. We’re kind of going old school. We’re going back through like long series, books of the Bible, just walking through scripture, teaching people the Bible, just like the disciples on that road to Emmaus. You know, that was when Jesus opened the scriptures to them. It’s lit this fire inside of them.Ted Coniaris — I think that’s even more necessary. 37 years ago, basically a Christian culture-ish. Rich Birch — Yep.Ted Coniaris — Today, not so much. Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — So nobody’s walking through the doors with like this biblical knowledge. They’re walking through the doors with nothing.Rich Birch — That’s so true, yeah.Ted Coniaris — And so, you know, we need to do that. So we’re doing that, creating rhythms in our calendar years. A lot more I could say about that. Spiritual disciplines communally, not just as individuals, feels maybe like a little spin on liturgical calendars of old. Rich Birch — Yep. Ted Coniaris — We’re embracing some of that in a new way for us.Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — And then this this Growth Track is a big part of that. Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — And then there’s there’s more beyond that, but that’s just a few of the things.Rich Birch — Dude, I love it. I love I love the how those four layer on. I love the focus. I think it totally just feels right on with where you know culture’s at. Could you unpack a little bit of what you’re doing with Growth Track? What does that look like, that particular tactic in the… You know I think the idea of every person a pastor is a very compelling, that’s like a lean-in, “what did you just say?” kind of thing. Ted Coniaris — Yeah.Rich Birch — And then but what are you, you know, help us, help us understand, you know, a little bit of that, what you’re doing with Growth Track to kind of point towards that.Ted Coniaris — You mean like the mechanics of it or like just the overall strategy?Rich Birch — Yeah. How’s it work? What are you teaching there? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What, yeah, what’s, what is it?Ted Coniaris — Well, it’s all…Rich Birch — How’s it work?Ted Coniaris — Yeah, we’re getting ready to to launch it all this fall. Rich Birch — Great. Ted Coniaris — And yeah, we’re really excited about it. But essentially, it’s it’s three steps. “One. Life. Go.” is kind of how we talk about the Growth Track. And the first step is tried and true. It’s Alpha. Rich Birch — Yep. Ted Coniaris — I think Alpha is probably the single greatest tool available… Rich Birch — Sure. Sure. Ted Coniaris — …to help you know my friends and neighbors and family find their way back to God. I I love Alpha. I’m running an Alpha right now at an office with a buddy and his partners, all the partners of his business.Rich Birch — Yep. Ted Coniaris — We’re doing Alpha together over lunch. It’s amazing.Rich Birch — Love it.Ted Coniaris — So Alpha is step one.Ted Coniaris — Step two, we call disciple because disciple is both a noun and a verb. It’s who you are and it’s what you do. And so it’s, you know, we’ve used Rooted in the past as a church and Rooted is fantastic. We love Rooted. It’s been helpful to for us. But we felt like there were ways in which we wanted to adjust that to our context a little bit more… Rich Birch — Sure. Ted Coniaris — …and also have an opportunity for people to make a commitment to the church. We don’t do membership, but we do ask people to commit to belonging here. And honestly, I think that’s a big missing step in the overall discipleship of a lot of like churches like ours. Because if you don’t have a commitment, and there’s just kind of growth that happens in your life that only can happen in a committed relationship. And it’s not about you committing to me. It’s really about us committing to each other. And when we do that, it opens the door to a different layer and level of transformation in your own life.Rich Birch — Yeah, I love that.Ted Coniaris — And committing to that unity on the front end is is really important. And so we want to do that. We also do several other things a part of that, but that’s kind of a general idea. Ted Coniaris — And then the third step is pastor. That’s the goal. That’s where we’re going.Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — It’s also a noun and a verb, right? Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah. Cool.Ted Coniaris — It’s who you are and it’s what you do. Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — And this is designed to do that. So we took some learnings actually from Brian Sanders, and he has something called the Calling Lab. He does the Tampa Underground down in Florida.Ted Coniaris — He’s done some great work on that.Ted Coniaris — And it’s essentially a similar process of triangulating your true sense of calling. We want everybody in our church to be able to say, I exist to help blank find their way back to God. Rich Birch — That’s cool.Ted Coniaris — Like, who are you called to reach?Rich Birch — That’s cool.Ted Coniaris — Because what’s a starting ground for someone to be a pastor? You know, like, is it education? Is it more this, more that? Well, I think the journey of learning and growing and honing your gifting, it has to start with the calling. And I think there are so many people who just, they don’t know how to finish that sentence. Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — Even if it is your kids or your neighbors or your coworkers, have you really done the work? Have you invested to say, no, these are the people, like names and faces that I’m called to reach. And then I’m released into that context as a pastor. So when I show up to work, I want to show up. I’m the pastor of BMO Harris Bank today because that’s where I work and I’m a teller there.Rich Birch — Right. Yeah.Ted Coniaris — you know I’m the pastor of You know, my neighborhood and in Downers Grove, in my part, my north, you know, little west quadrant there. That’s what I want to show up. That’s what I want our whole church showing up as. Thousands and thousands of pastors released into every arena of life. And so a lot of churches have Growth Track, or something like it. We’re really trying to say, okay, what’s what is the unique thing that that we’re feeling Lord’s calling us to produce here? And that’s it. And so we’ve designed these steps to work together to produce that that thing in us.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s very cool.Ted Coniaris —Hope that’s helpful.Rich Birch — I love that. Oh, it’s super helpful. I love I love what you’re doing there. And that’s thanks for taking the time to unpack that. Rich Birch — Pivoting in a slightly different direction, we were together at Exponential at Dave’s event. And well, it’s not Dave’s event. I understand that. At the Exponential conference. And we were at a breakfast together. And you mentioned about some just kind of in passing some stuff that was going on at the church that was and part of it was some of this around spiritual vitality, you’re seeing that increase.Rich Birch — I’m assuming that some of these, you know, pieces of these puzzles coming together. But then you also talked about the kind of growth of your microchurch, you know, planting movement that’s connected to Community. Could you unpack that a little bit more? Tell us a little bit about, you know, that that, how does that fit into the whole story that God’s writing here?Ted Coniaris — Yeah, I think the spiritual vitality, I’ll start there. The way we talk about it a lot is it just feels like everywhere you go, the spiritual temperature is just increasing. In kids, in students, in adults, our small groups, in our services, it’s just across the board. There’s just like an increased heat or passion around our faith.Ted Coniaris — I think a part of that is is truthfully in a season of transition, there’s always an opportunity to be open to something new. And we’ve been trying to really place our focus on, well, what’s the new thing? Like, how what is the condition of your heart? Are you on fire, truly on fire? I think putting that question, that vision in front of us as a church has been refining – that in and of itself. Ted Coniaris — But we’ve also just seen, I mean, there’s so much I could speak to on this, but one of the things I’m just really excited about is what’s happening with our students right now. We talk a lot about students being the leaders of tomorrow’s church, but I’ll tell you here, they’re the leader of today’s church. Rich Birch — So true. Ted Coniaris — I mean, they are setting a tone with passion and a desire.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s very true.Ted Coniaris — Like we do our services. I’m at the Yellow Box location, right? It’s our Naperville church here. And teaching here on Sunday. And there’ll be a group of students that will just come and sit on the ground in front of the stage… Rich Birch — Right. Right. Ted Coniaris — …have their Bibles open with their notebook, taking notes. And then during worship, it’s like they’re in the pit of a concert. You know, they’re at the stage, hands up.Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, it’s true.Ted Coniaris — And you’ve got a room full of thousands of adults watching this and they’re leading us. Nobody asked them to do it. Nobody told them to do that.Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — So I think some of it, I point to that. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool.Ted Coniaris — Others other parts of it is we’ve really kind of pushed our chips into the middle on some of the ancient stuff instead of new trendy stuff… Rich Birch — Yeah. Ted Coniaris — …specifically prayer and fasting.Rich Birch — Oh, that’s cool. Tell me more about that. I’d love to hear about that.Ted Coniaris — So yeah, earlier I talked about, you know, we’re embracing the calendar rhythms as a church.Rich Birch — Yep.Ted Coniaris — I really believe that, you know, rhythms are so much more powerful than events because, you know, an event is just a drop in the ocean. But if you can build some rhythms, you could actually build some roots. Rich Birch — That’s cool.Ted Coniaris — And, you know, our most valuable resources, our people, and our most valuable real estate is our calendar. And so we’ve said, you know, three times a year as sort of the calendar turns and that’s sort of the rhythm of our community. There’s sort of three seasons, there’s winter, there’s fall and there’s spring/summer. So to launch those seasons, we do what we now call an Ignite Week where we ask the whole church to commit to a full week of prayer and fasting. Rich Birch — Wow. Very cool.Ted Coniaris — And then we have intentional programming in that week to do like a full spiritual reset to say, okay, God, what are you saying to me right now? For the individual, we have like prayer and fasting guides to help guide people through that experience. For the groups, we do these discipleship conversations where we want everybody in each group to say, okay, what is God saying to me right now? And what am I doing to say yes to him?Ted Coniaris — And then for our locations, we take a break from all of our regular series stuff and we do Hearts on Fire Sunday. And we just say, okay, God, what are you doing here? What are you doing today? What are you doing right now? And it feels very different than our regular Sundays. Ted Coniaris — And then for the church as a whole, all of our locations together, we do what we call our Ignite Gathering on Saturday morning. It’s actually coming up this Saturday. And we just gather the whole church together. And what’s happened in these Ignite Gatherings is really exciting. It feels like a a catalyst for the rest of the church. Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — It’s like the church we’re going to be a year from now, we get to see in that room on Saturday morning. Rich Birch — That’s very cool.Ted Coniaris — And ah after a week of prayer and fasting, gathering the church together to worship, to break the fast together in communion, it’s it’s powerful. Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — I mean, it is powerful. The environment of that space is so different There’s such a hunger for the Lord and honestly, a true actual physical hunger after all that fasting.Rich Birch — Yes. Yes.Ted Coniaris — But it’s it’s it’s really changing the whole, as I said earlier, this ecosystem of our church. so those are some of the real important you know pieces of that ecosystem. Rich Birch — Oh, I love that. Yeah, I love that. And and um it isn’t isn’t it interesting? So we’re seeing lots of that kind of things or echoes of that across the country where, you know, there’s a there’s been a shift that, you know, we’ll probably understand better five years from now. We’ll look back and we’ll put all the pieces together and understand what God’s doing. But it does appear like, you know, the Spirit’s on the move. They say, what is that? Aslan’s on the move, right? Something is shifting in people. And you know, we’re trying to keep pick keep pick up keep up with it and do what we can to continue to steward what’s here.Rich Birch — And my experience with, you know, our our churches would have similar backgrounds, similar history. You know, we’re a heart for people who don’t, and your church has a heart for people who who don’t follow Jesus. You know, we’re trying to create a space for those folks. But though my experience has been those people are different today than they were 20 years ago. That people are coming much more, it’s like they’re farther along in the process. They’re they’re much more engaged than than um than they have been in the past. And so they’re willing to jump into the deep end of the pool on some of this stuff, maybe even more quickly than our long-term people… Ted Coniaris — Yeah, I think that’s true. Rich Birch — …because of whatever God’s doing in in their life. That’s that’s, yeah, that’s really interesting. That’s a cool thing to, you know, to be a part of, to hear you know a part of that. What about on the microchurch side? What’s happening there?Ted Coniaris — Yeah.Rich Birch — What is that? Yeah, what’s that? What’s happening with that?Ted Coniaris — So during COVID, we just sort of began dipping our toe in the water of starting microchurches under this belief that the macrochurch movement, even megachurch, doesn’t need to be at odds or in conflict with the house church and microchurch movement. Rich Birch — Yep.Ted Coniaris — Like, is there way for us to just see that as one thing instead of competing things, reaching all different kinds of people? And so we’ve just kind of dipped our toe in that. And here we are a few years later. Took us few years kind of figure out what we wanted to do. Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — We’ve been doing it for about three years now. We have you know somewhere around, i was just texted the guy for the today number because it’s growing so fast, somewhere around 350 microchurches all around the world.Rich Birch — Wow.Ted Coniaris — And it’s it’s a simple, simple, simple strategy where you’re just basically saying anybody in the world, anybody on planet Earth, feeling called the planet Earth or maybe you already have and you don’t know what to do with it. Rich Birch — Right.Ted Coniaris — And what’s interesting is that there are, I don’t know how many people, but there are a lot of people on this Earth. And a lot of people are asking that exact question and they just need someone who’s going to say, we can help you. We can help you.Rich Birch — Interesting.Ted Coniaris — We want to help you do that. We want to coach you, train you, and then set you up with a cohort of others doing the same thing to help you do it in a sustainable fashion. It’s it’s very low investment. It’s very low control, but it’s super high results.Rich Birch — Yeah. Huh.Ted Coniaris — And so it’s it’s sort of a little mind shift because a lot of times we want to have everything controlled. We want to have everybody’s theology statement. We want to have all this stuff. We want to know it’s going to be successful. We want to da-da-da-da-da. It’s like we’re not doing any of that. We obviously do teach some theology, but what we do is just keep like, what are what are these sort of ecclesiological minimums?Rich Birch — Yeah.Ted Coniaris — And how can we just center on those things… Rich Birch — Yeah. Ted Coniaris — …and launch as many people as possible and see what the Lord does? And he’s been doing some remarkable things. And I think you know our world has a giant need. We need to see millions of people find their way back to God. And a lot of us have strategies where the wild success is if we had thousands of people come and find their way back to God over decades.Ted Coniaris — This this is a strategy that could reach millions. Like I think we legitimately can see a network of these and people down the chain will have no idea kind of where it came from and they don’t need to. But I legitimately think in 10 years time, we could easily reach a million people and have a a church of a million people, but not in the traditional sense.Rich Birch — Right. Ted Coniaris — But through this.Rich Birch — Yeah. Well, I love that because, man that’s a great vision to cast. Because you can’t build enough or a big enough yellow box for all of even Chicagoland, right?Rich Birch — Like that’s just not going to, you know, you can’t.Ted Coniaris — Oh, yeah. No.Rich Birch — And and that is a, you know, it’s a just a resource intensive, you know, that’s been my life’s work. I've spent a lot of time on that. it’s not I’m not downing that, friends. Save your cards and letters. I still think that’s a piece of the puzzle. Ted Coniaris — I agree.Rich Birch — But how do we, is there a way for us to, work together to find solutions? How what how does the, I appreciate the, know, we’re not trying to be high control. We’re trying to, you know, we’re not you know we’re trying to really foster something that’s already in happening. We’re going to we’re going to get behind it, do what we can to support it. And we’re not going to try to over control. But I’m going to ask the control question. How do you, what is the kind of level of interaction that you’re, you’re finding is kind of the appropriate, it’s the, you know, not too little, not too much. Where have you found that’s like, hey, this, this is the kind of good sweet spot that that we have found so far with these, you know, 350, you know, microchurches.Ted Coniaris — Are you asking like, what’s the relational rhythm or…Rich Birch — Yeah. What is, yeah. What is the connection? What’s the relational rhythm between, or even connection between community and those 350? Like, are they, how are they, how do they relate to you and your team, your people, your volunteers, and then vice versa? What does that, you know, how does that, what’s that look like? What’s the connection there?Ted Coniaris — Yeah, it’s it’s purely coaching, training and ongoing support.Rich Birch — Yep.Ted Coniaris — And we also make it clear there’s no financial arrangement – them to us or us to them.Rich Birch — Yep.Ted Coniaris — And what we find is that just keeps the relationship very clean.Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, that’s good.Ted Coniaris — We’re here to coach, support, train, launch, walk alongside.Ted Coniaris — It’s a relational currency. Rich Birch — Yeah. Ted Coniaris — And it’s an expertise currency and a material and resource are the currencies. And so that’s really what we’re doing so when it comes to you know what is the relational controls or how do you keep tabs or you know, whatever might be behind the question for us it’s more about that thriving coaching relationship… Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Yeah. Ted Coniaris — …and that this is a journey and you know if somebody is unwilling or unable to connect, I mean, they just go do their own thing. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah.Ted Coniaris — And we’re not going to try to stop them. Rich Birch — No. Yeah.Ted Coniaris — You know, we want to be dancing with the people who want to dance. We’re not you know spending our time or energy on that. And so it’s really that that coaching system and network. That’s the key in scaling that coaching system and network is how you reach a million people.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s great. That’s a huge vision. I love that. That’s that’s super inspiring. Rich Birch — Well, Ted, this has been a great check-in and lots of good stuff. Just want to encourage you in your leadership at Community. Appreciate what you’re doing there. Thanks for letting us kind of pull back the curtain a little bit and and get a sense in there. Any kind of final words you’d have for leaders that are listening in today? You know, we’ve covered a lot of ground, but anything you know you’d you’d want to kind of remind us just as we close off today’s conversation.Ted Coniaris — Yeah. And you know, the thing that’s just sort of striking me in the moment is just to encourage the pastors who are listening in particular to, to really remember that, that the strategy is your soul. And your own passion and hunger and thirst for the Lord and your integrity and walking that out, that is the key strategy. That is the most important thing. And you can’t do that alone.Ted Coniaris — You know, a lot of times talk about leadership being lonely. I kind of have a different view. I think loneliness is a choice. And I think you can choose not to be lonely. And so I know there are people who feel discouraged and that discouragement leads to isolation and that isolation feels like loneliness and it just becomes this downward spiral. There are different choices you can make to change the direction of that.Ted Coniaris — I know a lot of people are are struggling. The ministry is hard. It’s really hard. But I think that if you can really focus on your passion, your fire, tending your flame with the Lord, it will make the work of ministry lighter. It will make the successes and failures less impactful on you. And to find to find some people who can you can really be vulnerable with, who are sharing the same kind of load that you carry, that would be if I could just say one thing to a group of, you know, 5,000 pastors, that’s probably the thing I would just say right now.Rich Birch — That’s so good.Rich Birch — So good. Well, Ted, I appreciate you coming on today. Where do we want to send people if they want to track with you or with the church? Where do we want to send them online?Ted Coniaris — Communitychristian.org, church website, probably the best place. You can find us on socials and stuff like that. I don’t really do social stuff. It’s not my thing.Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah.Ted Coniaris — But you could go to the church. You can find all that. So it’s Community Christian Church in the Chicago area, and you’ll find everything.Rich Birch — That’s great. Thanks so much, Ted. Appreciate being here today, sir.Ted Coniaris — Thank you, Rich. Appreciate you too.

Longtime Milwaukee Brewers Radio Network Producer & Engineer Kent Sommerfeld joins Trevor and Dario on Inside Wisconsin!Kent worked alongside Bob Uecker for 39 years.Honestly… that should be enough right there.We're talking Brewers baseball, life behind the mic, stories from the booth, and what it was like working with one of the most legendary voices Wisconsin has ever known.This is a good one. Join us on Inside Wisconsin!Watch now at YouTube.com/InsideWisconsin & listen wherever you catch podcasts.

If you've ever been passed over for something you really wanted, congratulations — you and Moon have something in common.In this episode of The Rizzuto Show, Moon discovers the shocking truth behind why he lost his shot at riding with the Blue Angels. After weeks of paperwork, physicals, anticipation, and what can only be described as aviation-level excitement, the dream gets grounded. The replacement? Not a celebrity. Not a war hero. Not even a local legend. The reveal sends the entire show spiraling into a hilarious investigation that somehow turns into a full-scale interrogation.Meanwhile, the gang debates who would have been an acceptable replacement. Jon Hamm? Sure. Steve Templeton? Absolutely. A famous dog? Fine. A tax mascot dancing on the side of the road? Honestly, still acceptable.Elsewhere in the chaos, the crew reacts to the bizarre vandalism targeting Steve's Hot Dogs in St. Louis. Why would someone repeatedly smash windows at one of the city's most beloved local spots? The theories get weirder, the outrage gets louder, and everyone agrees Steve deserves better.Lern takes the conversation in an unexpectedly heartfelt direction when she shares the story of a memorial bench dedicated to her late father in West Frankfort, Illinois. What starts as a conversation about hometown drama turns into one of the sweetest moments of the episode — before the show immediately ruins the sincerity by discussing wedding brawls, biker bars, and memorial statues people apparently grind on for fertility.Speaking of that...The crew somehow ends up deep in a discussion about a famous Paris cemetery statue that has become a tourist attraction for reasons no travel brochure would ever properly explain. This naturally leads to debates about Rizz's upcoming trip to France, whether the Eiffel Tower is overrated, and what kind of monument each member of the show would want after they're gone. Some answers are touching. Some answers should probably be reviewed by legal.The gang also tackles an internet debate that has parents everywhere arguing: are you raising a living-room kid or a bedroom kid? The conversation turns surprisingly relatable as everyone reflects on childhood habits, family dynamics, and why hiding in your room sometimes felt like the greatest life strategy ever invented.From Blue Angels drama and local weird news to family memories, Parisian oddities, and classic Rizz Show derailments, this episode is packed with exactly the kind of unpredictable nonsense that makes this a daily comedy show listeners love.Whether you're here for the laughs, the St. Louis stories, or the ongoing mission to find out how Moon keeps getting robbed of cool experiences, buckle up.Because no matter where the conversation starts, it never stays there.This daily comedy show delivers everything you'd expect: ridiculous debates, unexpected emotional moments, questionable travel planning, and enough side quests to make GPS systems quit.If you're looking for a daily comedy show that can go from aviation disappointment to cemetery fertility statues in under ten minutes, congratulations — you've found it.Follow The Rizzuto Show → https://linktr.ee/rizzshow for more from your favorite daily comedy show.Connect with The Rizzuto Show Comedy Podcast online → https://1057thepoint.com/RizzShow.Hear The Rizz Show daily on the radio at 105.7 The Point | Hubbard Radio in St. Louis, MO.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You Have to Meet My FriendsAmanda Vegas answered and her is the link that you will all be asking for! Click hereI had an idea recently that felt either incredibly brilliant… or like the beginning of a mild public humiliation.Honestly, the jury is still out.So here's what I started doing:I go live on my podcast, scroll through my phone, randomly call my friends, and they have absolutely NO idea they're about to be on a podcast.No warning.No prep.No “Hey, do you have a few minutes?” text.Just me out here risking lifelong friendships for content

ou've heard what we had to say and now it's your turn! Join us as we listen to over 30 fans giving some fresh out of the theater reactions to the movie! PLUS - how were our third and fourth viewings and Rotta reads his poetry! So get that Grogu lipstick bag, celebrate the love and listen today! JOIN THE BLAST POINTS ARMY and SUPPORT BLAST POINTS ON PATREON! MANDALORIAN SEASON 3 BOBA FETT BEACH PARTY COMMENTARY! NEW ANDOR SEASON 2 EPISODE COMMENTARIES! HEAR EPISODES EARLY! Theme Music! downloadable tunes from episodes! Extra goodies! and so much MORE! www.patreon.com/blastpoints If you dug the show, please leave BLAST POINTS a review on iTunes, Spotify and share the show with friends! If you leave an iTunes review, we will read it on a future episode! Honestly! Talk to Blast Points on twitter at @blast_points "Like" Blast Points on Facebook Join the Blast Points Super Star Wars Chill Group here www.facebook.com/groups/BlastPointsGroup/ we are also on Instagram! Wow! www.instagram.com/blastpoints Your hosts are Jason Gibner & Gabe Bott! contact BLAST POINTS at : contact@blastpointspodcast.com May the Force be with you, always! This podcast is not affiliated in any way with Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, The Walt Disney Company, or any of their affiliates or subsidiaries.

This episode starts with me confessing that my p*ssy may have unlocked a new superpower

I know what you're thinking—what do hearing god's voice and christian weight loss challenges have to do with each other? Honestly, that's exactly what I thought too, until I realized the same key has the power to unlock both doors. It's not just about what you're eating; it's about the food noise and mental static preventing you from true spiritual clarity. In this episode, I'm joined by mental fitness coach Eryn Kubinski to uncover the hidden connection between self-sabotage, physical health, and your walk with Christ. We dive deep into how rewiring your thought patterns—your mental fitness—is the secret to breaking cycles of emotional eating and finally opening up the space to hear God clearly. This is a radical look at spiritual warfare and how prioritizing your christian mental health is essential to experiencing the freedom God has for you body, soul AND spirit.Key Talking PointsThe Mental Fitness Connection: Why the same patterns that lead to weight loss stagnation are often blocking your ability to discern the voice of god.Identifying the Sabotage: How to spot the root of self-sabotage that keeps you stuck in cycles of guilt, shame, and overeating.Quieting the Noise: Practical, biblical weight loss strategy to silence food noise and create the mental quiet needed for hearing god clearly.Rewiring for Transformation: Moving from negative thought patterns to discernment—the foundation for christian fitness and lasting transformation.The Spiritual Root: Why addressing your thoughts as part of your spiritual warfare strategy changes everything about your relationship with food and faith.Start hearing God's voice in 5 Days with this short email series. Grab it now! ⁠https://www.subscribepage.io/HearGodSeries⁠------------------------------------------------------------CONNECT WITH ERYN & JEN:Think yourself Thin Freebie: ⁠https://adventuresofhealth.com/think-yourself-thin-8440⁠⁠Her Website: ⁠https://adventuresofhealth.com/⁠

WEIRDOS!! For this month's BONUS EPISODE, Ash & Alaina dive fang-first into Breaking Dawn: Part 1. Share in the trauma of the ATROCIOUS Cullen wigs, the weird internalized misogyny of vampire reproduction,  and the fact that Jacob imprints on a child with a name that sounds suspiciously like a pharmaceutical side effect! Honestly, NOTHING is marked safe from discussion! Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.