Podcasts about i rob

Hammer made A.I Rob last week, so it's only fair the other half of Kendall and Casey joins in on the fun! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob from Kendall and Casey join to talk about upcoming S.O.T.U address and a first-time appearance from A.I ROB! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Embark on an audible adventure with Daniel Finton, Alfie Culshaw, Rob Worthington, and Mac Johnson as they analyse all of the latest news regarding The Arsenal. This week, Rob and Mac discuss Arsenal's HUGE 3-1 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League which puts the Gunners back on track in the title race. Sadly, we felt compelled to discuss the Celebration Police for the first 20 minutes, so do skip through if you don't want to hear that chat. We then delved into our Good Stuff from the day, waxing lyrical about the tactical set-up, a strong left-sided display from Arsenal, and a number of strong individual performances, specifically Jorginho's! We hope you enjoy episode 206, I (Rob) wrongly labelled it 205 at the end of the podcast. No doubt Alfie will be on my case for that. Anyway, enough of me. Like, share, and enjoy!

Brand Crowd: https://www.brandcrowd.com/apparelsuccessFree Clothing Brand Course: https://www.apparelsuccess.com/freecourseIn this episode of Apparel Success, I Rob shares insider industry tips for how to start a clothing brand in 2023. Sharing 5 tips about how to launch a clothing brand that I've discovered over the past 7 years running my own private label clothing brand. This video is for anyone starting a clothing brand, clothing line, fashion line, fashion brand, streetwear brand, print on demand (POD), dropshipping and beyond!1:35: Brand Concept & Name2:53: Launching Products4:25: Building Brand Identity5:48 Manufacturers & Suppliers7:30: Creating Systems Hey there, it's Rob from Apparel Success, and let me tell you, starting your very own clothing brand is an absolute rollercoaster of excitement and challenges. First and foremost, you've got to have a clear vision of your brand's style and know who you're designing for. Your brand identity sets the stage for everything else. Once you've got that nailed down, it's all about sourcing top-notch materials and crafting designs that make heads turn. Manufacturing, distribution, and deciding whether to go online or set up a physical store are the logistical puzzles to solve. But the real secret sauce? Building a loyal tribe of fans through savvy marketing, killer social media, and top-notch customer service. It's a wild ride, no doubt, but the satisfaction of bringing your creative vision to life in the world of fashion? Well, that's the real reward. Keep hustling, my friend!

In April of 1983 Minor Threat released their only studio album. Clocking in just north of twenty one minutes over the course of nine tracks, the album is a blisteringly fast DC hardcore assault with some surprising pop hooks peppered in. It is single-handedly responsibly for the straight edge movement, which in turn makes it responsible for that time I (Rob) got kicked in the head for smoking a cigarette at an Avail show fourteen years post the record's release (A story I would have told had I been on this episode). Let's talk Minor Threat, Out of Step!

Another year, another collection of strange, terrible, funny, and sometimes lovely Christmas songs from all over the world and throughout the last 100 years of recorded sound. I (Rob) am joined as every other year by my buddies Jill and Josh. We had to record this at midnight because Jill is back in Tokyo, Josh has added somewhere between 3 and 10 children to his house since last year, and I was at a double feature of terrible Christmas horror films. We didn't have the time to troubleshoot why Josh's mic was blowing out, so apologies for that, but I cut out most of the stuff that was truly indiscernible. If you want help tracking down any of the songs we play clips from, reach out to me at rob@undressingunderground.com and I'll do my best to figure out whatever the hell Jill is playing. Also, don't forget to check out the PPA talk with Christmas Underground from a couple weeks back. His 2022 mix is also now up at his website. If you or someone you know wants to talk Christmas music with any of us next year, let us know. Brandon, Jennifer, and I are already figuring out who we could manage. I don't care if we do 10 Christmas episodes next year.

00:00.00 mikebledsoe Oh last too bad. Yeah, it's great. It's great. 00:00.00 Dr_ Placebo All on my end I Still don't see it look. Do you see that see the levels. There's nothing there. You think it's great that we can only hear you talking on the recording is that what you're telling me. 00:15.28 mikebledsoe Now I can we can hear you just fine. We're working on Max's audio again. Um, how's your week ben. 00:17.27 Dr_ Placebo If you say So oh. 00:28.30 Dr_ Placebo My week's been good. How about you. 00:33.35 mikebledsoe Ah, man, it's been ah, it's been a lot of lot of fun I'm I'm rereading a book right now dollars flow to me easily by Richard dots and highly recommend it to anyone who well. Wants easy transformation. So that's really the book has little to do with money has everything to do with ah creating an inner state that ah of goodness allowing that to emerge and then ah. 01:00.62 Dr_ Placebo Oh. 01:10.26 mikebledsoe Allowing the universe to deliver all your intentions and desires to your doorstep. So if if money is what you need to reach your desires then you know I find that when I find that inner peace and goodness and just sit in that. Really cool things. Emerge. 01:33.25 Dr_ Placebo Kind of reminds me with ah dog training that it's not about training the dog. It's about training the person a lot of the time and as far as creative work is concerned if you are in a. 01:42.60 mikebledsoe Um, yeah for. 01:49.42 Dr_ Placebo Ah heightened state of some kind whether that's a flow state or otherwise you're just going to do your best work right. 01:55.49 mikebledsoe Yeah, you know what? I Also find that I've never figured anything out in Business. It's never been. You know there's definitely things to Learn. There's skills to learn. You know, managing finances and budgets and. Learning how to copyright and all these things are really useful skills and it doesn't mean you need you, You should avoid learning anything but it ah for me to sit with oh I'm going to sit and think my way to a solution when I'm having a problem is rarely. 02:26.51 Dr_ Placebo What. 02:32.43 mikebledsoe Ah, how it works out I can't even think of a time where I thought my way to a solution most of the solutions that have occurred to me has just been. You know you're in the shower or something or ah, you know I'm thinking about something I go to the fridge. 02:37.25 Dr_ Placebo Um. 02:43.83 Dr_ Placebo And. 02:49.87 Dr_ Placebo Who. 02:50.15 mikebledsoe So it's um, yeah, what I like about this book is it really puts me in that place of just observing what's good and then watching these things these ideas emerge and I definitely had that experience yesterday and um. 03:03.19 Dr_ Placebo O. 03:09.23 mikebledsoe Was being interviewed by John North um of weightlifting talk and he he and I had like similar rises of notoriety in the in the weightlifting Crossfit world and like at the same time and then also had you know. 03:24.60 Dr_ Placebo Ah. 03:27.79 mikebledsoe Kind of disappeared into the ether around the same time I I ah regularly get hit up by people on Instagram or Twitter and they're like oh shit, you're still alive like yeah yeah, still hanging out still doing some stuff and we had he. He. 03:30.30 Dr_ Placebo And. 03:37.52 Dr_ Placebo Yeah, yeah. Um, funny wo who. 03:47.14 mikebledsoe He asked me he goes he goes look. We can talk about all the good stuff we could talk about the good times. But why don't you tell us about the dark moments in your career in business I was like oh boy, Oh boy I can deliver that. 04:01.74 Dr_ Placebo Um. O. 04:05.32 mikebledsoe There's some dark moments. And yeah I don't know how long the show went on for it felt like 2 hours and it was you know I think it's the most emotional I've ever been on a podcast I don't think I've ever been interviewed and gotten that emotional. 04:09.82 Dr_ Placebo Whoa. 04:14.54 Dr_ Placebo Whoo. 04:19.92 Dr_ Placebo Woo Whoa. Oh. 04:25.11 mikebledsoe And um, yeah I really just I but basically I covered the year of 2017 for me and I didn't go through the whole year in detail but I went through the the thing a lot of the stuff that you know it's a good story. So I recommend anyone go listen to that. Um. 04:45.43 mikebledsoe Ah, do weightlifting dot com and you click on the podcasts. Ah and it was.. It was so emotional and it brought up. You know? Ah, Ah, you know if I could label the emotions. It was just there were it was just ah, a constant flow so much. So like I don't think I felt my emotions that deeply for that period that extended period of time in a very long time and when I got off the show. My fiance she she went off to dinner with a friend of hers. So I go sit in the sauna afterwards and meditate and just Sawa and cold plunge and then came home and got in bed and it. It occurred to me I was like this story that this story of 2017 is there's so many lessons that I learned that I really a lot of times I share the lessons in a very straightforward way but not in. But I could be sharing it from a place of storytelling which as you know that's the best way to get a point across is if you can embed it in a story. 05:52.98 Dr_ Placebo So. 06:00.80 Dr_ Placebo We need an arc with no arc no one care. No one cares without an arc. It might be true. It might be correct, but no one cares and that's been ah that's been something that I have hardly capitalized on much. 06:03.72 mikebledsoe Yeah, so no one cares. 06:17.43 Dr_ Placebo Because I don't care about the story interestingly enough I just want the I want the bullet points I want them in the correct sequence and I want as little fluff as possible but that's just not how people work. 06:23.76 mikebledsoe I yeah. 06:34.10 mikebledsoe No yeah mean we live by narratives and archetypes and archetypes is even a narrative about a type of person and ah you know? And yeah, so in in the world of you know speakers you know. 06:35.16 Dr_ Placebo The. 06:51.61 mikebledsoe I know you know this is every great speaker has got their keynote story and speakers that have been around for a long time people who get on stage. They'll have 2 or 3 depending on the situation and I've had so many I've had like so many they. So. 06:55.80 Dr_ Placebo A good. 07:10.83 mikebledsoe Speaking Coaches Love targeting me as a client they're like okay you know you're you're good on Stage. You're good at telling stories all this but you haven't really honed in on a story that converts people into a product that you're selling or a service. Or whatever and I go Yeah, you know, ah all the greats. The people who can sell a lot. They do it through storytelling and I've tried different stories and nothing really nothing really stuck. Nothing was super powerful and. 07:48.58 mikebledsoe I'm in bed last night and I'm I'm simply in the fields of my feelings and emergency goes. Oh that's that's the story. You should tell because these guys were on the edge of their seat at the end they were blown away they were it was it was obvious it was and I had never told the story in. 07:56.13 Dr_ Placebo Are. 08:07.62 mikebledsoe That much detail before on a podcast partly because lawsuits are a part of it and ah you know while lawsuits are going on. You can't go around telling stories about it. But it's ah. 08:19.40 Dr_ Placebo Um I would check with someone who knows these things rather than your hunch. 08:23.37 mikebledsoe I Think enough time has passed I think I'm okay. 08:31.30 mikebledsoe Ah I'm pretty sure. Um, yeah, the contract said something about 3 years and it's been more than three years. So I'm not too worried about it. 08:42.63 Dr_ Placebo Yeah, it's Interesting. You mentioned that because I find I know I'm in the minority but I find ah nothing ah less genuine and more fake when I see a speaker going through this big personal story. I'm like I I want to go like I know what you're trying to do. Can you stop it. You're annoying me like I came here to learn something and if you give me this long thing about your life I'm only going to leave. Basically so I I I know I'm in the minority. Um, with with that. But I mean. 09:02.81 mikebledsoe Okay, yeah. 09:12.55 mikebledsoe You are. 09:17.76 Dr_ Placebo Really successful guys. Ah, really do like Tug the heartstrings they play they play a crowd like a fiddle and it's quite a cool skill. But if I'm in the crowd I I like start to hate that person almost and I hate that person that's too strong but it makes me. 09:30.94 mikebledsoe Yeah there. 09:36.60 Dr_ Placebo It makes me ah feel less connected to them because I know that they're not doing this to provide a service they're doing this to like puff up their character right? who. 09:48.20 mikebledsoe Right? right? Yeah I mean um I think you and I are like in that way and that might be why we avoid you know, telling that story and um. 09:54.98 Dr_ Placebo It depends on what message you're trying to convey to right? like it's possible to tell a good story without making it about yourself right? You can talk about like. 10:08.66 mikebledsoe Um, yeah. 10:12.65 Dr_ Placebo Costs and benefits and consequences and archetypes without telling a 20 minute personal story during a 30 minute lecture 10:21.35 mikebledsoe Well one of the most popular one of the most popular books on leadership a couple years ago was extreme ownership and I don't know if you read that is by Jocko willing and the entire the there's like ah a paragraph that gives the lesson embedded in. 10:28.43 Dr_ Placebo Yeah I did. 10:37.93 Dr_ Placebo These war stories. It's worst. It's war stories and I was like what what? yeah. 10:39.20 mikebledsoe this this story it's all war stories war stories with like ah like you could you could have gotten the point in like 2 pages the entire book. But it's buried in all these war stories and everyone loved it and I was like I like I was it was okay. 10:54.25 Dr_ Placebo I Find that? yeah well, what's funny is um, like I I don't like the book I think he is a really interesting character and it's the perfect example. Of who you want to lead a team of killers like but but is that who I want to emulate in my personal life as a leader and it's like I don't think so you know there are qualities that you can pick and choose and that's why it's so tricky to. 11:13.20 mikebledsoe Yes. 11:21.66 mikebledsoe Right. 11:30.89 Dr_ Placebo Pick someone to emulate consciously or subconsciously because you're only ah seeing a window into their life and you may not want their life. Um, right. 11:40.31 mikebledsoe Well in addition to that I mean you referred to dwayne the Rock Johnson in that regard before I think even on the last show but the the and I agree with the Jocko thing there was there were. 11:50.95 Dr_ Placebo That's my go to. 11:56.52 mikebledsoe There were certain things about that book and his attitude that just don't don't jive with me either and it's always been funny because people people are like oh my God It was so good I'm like well what parts are like all of it I'm like ah maybe not all of it. But some of it was Good. Um. And it because we do. We do need to be careful about who we model and. 12:21.57 Dr_ Placebo We're supposed to think that the books are good sometimes sometimes you're just supposed to think a book is good like my ah my friend was really kind. She got me a Tony Robbins book ah his newest who is his newest one life force. 12:33.64 mikebledsoe I who. 12:37.66 Dr_ Placebo Um, and before you think this is a plug This is the opposite of a plug. Whatever I'm about to do right now I was like I was it was fucking unreadable. It was so embarrassing like it was a giant infomercial of widgets that he's invested into. 12:41.84 mikebledsoe Ah me. But. 12:49.41 mikebledsoe A. 12:57.47 Dr_ Placebo Very unclear, very superficial, hardly practical, really like off the-wall shit that applies to nobody I Fucking hated it and of course I told my friend this too I told my friend this I was like that's one of the worst books about health that I think I've ever Read. It was hard to Read. It wasn't Useful. It wasn't simple. It wasn't clear but I really appreciate the gift. You know what? I mean like don't like hey I I Really appreciate that someone would buy a book for me I Think that's really nice but I don't have to like it just because. 13:25.97 mikebledsoe Ah, good effort. 13:36.43 Dr_ Placebo Um, you're supposed to like it and I think that happens quite a lot and. 13:39.62 mikebledsoe Well, you're gonna be my editor for my book. So it's gonna it's gonna have to pass the the max shank Sniff test. 13:47.69 Dr_ Placebo Ah, oh dude, ah call me the copy doced. Yeah copy doctor a doctor the copy up I'm I'm great I'm great at that sort of thing. 13:50.91 mikebledsoe The what the copy Doc Oh okay, all right, all right? Perfect Oh perfect, all right look at that look at that folks. We finally agreed to do something outside of the podcast. So. 14:04.44 Dr_ Placebo Oh perfect. 14:10.16 mikebledsoe Ah, well you brought up something interesting and because ah we are we learn through modeling but we also have anti-models and there are people that we don't want to be like and we got to be ah, equally careful of that. So. There's a number Tony Robbins would fall in this category right? Maybe maybe for you I'm the same way I've never. 14:34.73 Dr_ Placebo I Think he does some great stuff by the way I think there are people that he legitimately helps so much and I think that's fantastic and I think that book was awful. 14:42.98 mikebledsoe I agree. Yeah well I think his style overall is just not for me I don't think you're going to find max and I and a crowd of 10000 people you know psyching ourselves up. It's just not kind of not going to happen and we don't need that we're we're past that. 14:53.93 Dr_ Placebo Woo Totally right? Hey people like different things. 15:01.96 mikebledsoe And people like different things but we're not going to model Tony Robbins you're you're not going to find max or I on stage. You know, screaming at people and getting them pumped up with music and jumping around and it's just not going to happen. And we should. We should just do it just to just a fuck with people like. 15:20.32 Dr_ Placebo Cut to a year we're both on stage with headsets on. Are you guys ready to do fire breathing and then ah. 15:32.28 Dr_ Placebo I would do I would do a fake one I would I would do a fake one and just ah play a character I think that would be hilarious. 15:37.80 mikebledsoe Too bad We don't live in the same town Anymore. We can make a bunch of Spoofs about personal development programs. But ah, we got to be equally Careful. So ah, you know I don't think I shared this with you privately. But I didn't share this On. Podcast and I'll I'll share it I won't mention who this person is but I was hanging out with this person and they refused to wear a seatbelt why because they were because there's a law that says they're supposed to so they just don't want to do it and then the same person. 16:13.64 Dr_ Placebo Rebel without a cause sure. 16:15.25 mikebledsoe Ribble without a cause and the same person opens up their mail at the house opens it up. There's a picture of a license plate and saying you were speeding in the zone or whatever he rips it in half throws in the garbage can he's a god that's the thirteenth one this year and. Ah, and you know I I don't disagree I would handle that differently. But there's a lot of like really easy easy legal ways of getting out of traffic tickets that involve automatic cameras. They pretty much have. You pretty you challenge it at all and they have to drop it because nobody caught you in the act. So ah, the the point is is a lot of times people who who are the rebel without a cause they just rebelling so they they may find some. We could say some people just rebellious in nature like I'm I'm very rebellious you're rebellious I can tell you that you you don't match the status quo heartily at all and yeah, and. 17:18.57 Dr_ Placebo But only because they're really Ill like if they were healthy I would like I I don't even really want to be a rebel I Just want to get a good result. But. 17:26.76 mikebledsoe But to be. Yeah, you're selective right? And so I remember you know I'm in the car with the person and they're not wearing their seatbelt I'm like why you know why didn you put on the seatbelt like yeah, that and I go Well, you know it's it's you're following in the same trap of lack of critical thinking. 17:48.68 Dr_ Placebo Oh. 17:49.85 mikebledsoe You don't want to be like this person so you don't do anything like that person does it like ah Tony Robbins like you were saying there are some aspects of his life that should definitely be emulated. But if you go look I don't like Tony Robbins I'm not can do anything and this is a lot of people and people general. 18:00.13 Dr_ Placebo Yep. 18:07.15 Dr_ Placebo So it's the devil. 18:07.59 mikebledsoe A lot of times generalize this to say wealthy people. Oh I don't wanna be like I don't want to be like that greedy rich guy. So I'm not gonna have any money I'm like you know you can have money without being greedy right? like there's and there's collapsed distinctions in there but you gotta be careful about. 18:20.98 Dr_ Placebo Right? Yep I know Yep, it's the same ah like God and the devil ad hommonym appeal to authority thing. 18:27.37 mikebledsoe Who you're modeling and then who you're anti-modeling. 18:36.32 mikebledsoe Um, yeah, um. 18:36.94 Dr_ Placebo Over and over like if you dislike somebody personally and that causes you to ignore the lesson they have that would help you then you're an idiot you're you're overly emotional and you're conflating this personality that you don't like. Thinking that they are wrong and that's just simply not the case right? You have to be able to dislike somebody and still be able to use your logic to determine whether they're right about something or not and I've had plenty of opportunity to do this because ah, especially. In ah like the copywriting world right? like there's there's a supreme emphasis on exaggerating the truth and maybe even being like a bit of an egomaniac and so those are traits that I really dislike personally and there are even people. 19:18.11 mikebledsoe Um. 19:33.63 Dr_ Placebo That I dislike personally but I still want to take the um the idea separate from the individual. It's like ah is Bill Cosby still funny yes absolutely fucking. Hilarious 1 of the best comedians of all time and whether you think he is ah guilty of certain crimes or not should be irrelevant to the comedy. Um, and this is not a popular take by the way I'm not going to win any friends with this. Idea. Ah okay I think people like ah Bill Cosby less than hitler somehow even though it's entirely possible that the guy was completely set up which is crazy to think about you know, speaking of all that I think it's so funny. 20:08.60 mikebledsoe Um, I'm going to follow it up with a hitler one. So we'll just lose everybody. 20:21.27 mikebledsoe Yeah Trump. 20:27.20 Dr_ Placebo That we we collectively kind of watch the news and we see something or we hear something we're like whoa how did that happen and then we watch a movie and we go whoa. That's amazing. So realistic and we never think that some of those movie people would. Like create some news like if you're directing a movie. You're organizing thousands of people, computer programmers actors extras camera people and it's like you think these ah geniuses of illusion. Never fabricate some sort of reality of. 20:48.91 mikebledsoe No, ah. 21:05.31 Dr_ Placebo Of course they do is. It's very. It's very interesting. How quick we are to throw people under the bus just because ah he said she said kind of thing. 21:13.40 mikebledsoe Yeah, that's absolutely right? Yeah, the the I would say the movie. What's happening in movie theaterore and what's happening in the news is is very much alike I think there's tons of crossover there I mean it what this is. 21:28.87 Dr_ Placebo Of course, there's incentive to do So What do we? What do we know? if there is an incentive and opportunity it happens like there's enough people that if there's incentive and opportunity. It's happening. You don't have to like it. But that's what's happening. 21:36.50 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 21:44.67 mikebledsoe Yeah, there's I'm gonna go into like conspiracy theory land a bit but that but there's there's actual evidence of cia being involved in hollywood in the early stages of of Hollywood coming around. Um. 21:46.43 Dr_ Placebo Are. 21:58.48 Dr_ Placebo If if they weren't They'd be stupid to be the central stupid agency if they weren't using the fucking movies and like I mean are you kidding me like this whole. 22:00.92 mikebledsoe They yeah. 22:08.93 mikebledsoe Ah. 22:12.14 Dr_ Placebo Even the word conspiracy is used as an ad hominem attack when the word conspiracy just means that people meet up in secret everybody people meet up in secret all the fucking time That's like almost all that happens. 22:19.88 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and um, and people have theories about them about these meetings now it and ah even before the cia I mean that's how they drummed up. 22:27.71 Dr_ Placebo No deck. 22:35.18 mikebledsoe Ah, interest or support for the war effort in World War two is they would they would show these they would they would show these hype videos like sizzle reels basically of why you should support the War effort World War Two and. 22:38.52 Dr_ Placebo Oh. 22:51.86 mikebledsoe It worked it hyped everybody up and they use movie theaters for that early on so when you look at what how that was used then and then you look at ah who if you watch the news like so Cbs is probably the worst Cbs Nbc you watching these major news networks. Almost every evening you're going to see them interviewing somebody from the cia or somebody who used to work for the cia or the Fbi or something like that these intelligence agencies have totally got these ah news agencies by the balls. 23:19.54 Dr_ Placebo A. 23:30.74 mikebledsoe Like they they basically get to weave whatever narrative and they desire and people just buy it hook line and sinker and so I bring this up because yeah, the differences between Hollywood and what's happening in the news same thing same people. Ah. 23:34.41 Dr_ Placebo Well. O. 23:47.63 Dr_ Placebo Yeah, no doubt like there's too much incentive and opportunity for that to not be going on I would say it would be foolish to not do that if one of the main goals is to control the domestic population and then. 23:50.16 mikebledsoe Same narratives. 23:56.61 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 24:07.36 Dr_ Placebo Maybe like a secondary goal is ah to defend against foreign invaders because one of them is way more likely to cause a problem actually historically speaking I mean yeah. 24:15.85 mikebledsoe 1 the and the United States that's absolutely true because get waging war on the us is difficult. There's you know two oceans between every yeah, geographically we're positioned really well. There's there's a lot of reasons. 24:25.97 Dr_ Placebo Yeah, there's a lot of reasons lot of reasons. Yeah, you got to watch out for Knida I hear their military has grown to 2000 people I don't know why I'm talking I don't know why I'm talking on Canada. 24:34.42 mikebledsoe Um. 24:38.76 mikebledsoe Sorry Canadian listeners to get fired up. 24:45.18 Dr_ Placebo Like Well what's the point there's it's like ah it's like picking on the small kid that's like hardly fair. Yeah, it's kind of funny I Guess yeah. 24:51.51 mikebledsoe Is got. It's like ah south part in South Bark and the was it Terrence and Philip did you ever watch south part. 25:02.14 Dr_ Placebo I watched ah tons of South Park I actually even caught their ah concert they did to celebrate their ah 25 year ah anniversary um, is on. It's on Youtube they showed the whole thing. It was incredible. 25:08.11 mikebledsoe Did you? Oh I thought you caught it live. 25:16.96 Dr_ Placebo Oh no, no I didn't go live but I did watch it at home. It was fantastic Man it was crazy I mean they got like ah the remaining members from rush to come play. You know they had they had like these serious rock stars like come out of retirement. 25:26.18 mikebledsoe Oh man. 25:34.67 Dr_ Placebo Just so they could play with the guys who made south park and I mean it just shows that what they've created ah goes across all these different genres of art and culture and I think those guys are absolute creative monsters. They played a ton of so it was just those guys are crazy talented crazy motivated. It was a hell of a cool thing to see ah six days to air. Great documentary. Terrific. That's how they stay so current. Meanwhile you know Simpsons. Ah. 25:59.88 mikebledsoe Well they they put the shows together in six days yeah Yeah 26:14.16 Dr_ Placebo Which also ah used to be a great show. Um, they're like six months out basically of what's going on so South Park is always crazy current on what's going on because they ah condense that creative work so much. 26:31.13 mikebledsoe Yeah, my my my favorite south part ever to this date I think I laughed harder on any other one was the ah when they covered the recession 2007 2008 and and when they chopped it. 26:42.57 Dr_ Placebo Oh that was good. So so funny. 26:46.97 mikebledsoe Head off the chicken and let it run around to figure out which who's gonna get bailed out next shit shit sent me over the fucking Moon I was I lost it ugly these people are complete geniuses is this so good. 27:01.42 Dr_ Placebo He's like trying to return a margarita v he's like well what we did is we took your Margaritaville loan and we bundled it together with a bunch of other Margaritaville loans and we traded it on the open market and then we have people betting. On the viability of the payback of those marker. It's like a fucking margarita maker but they're just going through the whole thing. Ah but through the lens of like an overpriced beverage machine is so funny. Those guys are absolute studs anyway, yeah so. 27:26.21 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 27:32.76 Dr_ Placebo Back to conspiracy theories. Ah which are really just ah I Guess it's like ah hypotheses right? It's not like it depends on. 27:42.35 mikebledsoe Right? Well here's the thing is here's the thing is I think we're conspiracy theories people with conspiracy theories get in trouble is when they believe them ah or people who hear conspiracy theory they believe it and it's as if they forget the theory part. And ah, you know there's you know who people are treating like conspiracy facts or conspiracy truth or whatever you want to call it and that's it's it's funny I get sometimes I'll meet somebody who's way into that I'm like like.. What do you believe? I'm like dude I have a hard time believing my own thoughts most of the time let alone some really complicated explanation of how we got this result and somehow you've connected all these dots. 28:27.26 Dr_ Placebo A. 28:34.74 mikebledsoe That are this infinite amount of information and go I know who the bad actorress I'm like oh I don't fucking know but I I do know who to avoid though. 28:41.80 Dr_ Placebo You know what? I think about all this I think that well when when I think about this sort of thing because I I try to use the scientific method which is not ah science tm it's the scientific method. Which is ah see guess test and record right? And if you're really being scientific about things. It really means you're using the scientific method and one of my favorite examples of abandoning the scientific method. Is by people who are atheists. This is a very very funny thing to me because in order to be an atheist the definition of an atheist. Is you believe there is no god certainly but what's funny is that is so far. Equally unproven as the fact is there are 1 or more gods now once again, it depends on your definition of god if you say god is something you believe without proof then there are ah you know certain gods available. Some people could say that money fiat money. Which is faith money is a type of god based on your semantic definition. But what's funny to me is that atheism is a religion of there is definitely no god meaning it is having faith that there is 0 gods. 30:16.86 Dr_ Placebo And religion is a faith based on. There is 1 or more gods. But if you are truly scientific about it. They are both equally invalid because the burden of proof should be on the one who's trying to prove it. So to me atheism is the absolute funniest religion because it's just based on elitism of I'm too smart to believe in 1 or more gods. But I'm also but that's what I'm saying. It's ah it's a cult. 30:41.50 mikebledsoe Well I think a lot of people just that they claim it because they don't want to appear stupid. Yeah. 30:50.28 Dr_ Placebo Of I'm smart. It has no bearing on science whatsoever agnostic is perfectly reasonable but atheism is ah like super unscientific right? So just because no one has proven. There is 1 or more gods doesn't. 31:02.36 mikebledsoe Yeah. 31:09.83 Dr_ Placebo Mean that there is definitely no gods. So it's ah it's like the funniest tribalistic religion that claims to be scientific, but their proof that there is no god is just as scientific as the proof that there is 1 or more which is zilch. If we're talking about the scientific method and that's what's so funny to me. So it's that my favorite example is that atheism is a religion also with no proof and so like like it's it's great. 31:43.30 mikebledsoe Yeah, there's I think there's a ah Terrence Mckenna quote and he he says something. Ah I'm not gonna quote it exactly but basically take a a scientific based sciencebased atheist and. 31:44.77 Dr_ Placebo You. Oh. 32:00.98 mikebledsoe To explain how the world started and it's like look you just give me 1 single miracle and I can explain everything else and it's like oh yeah, so you kind of stuck there. 32:07.90 Dr_ Placebo Right. 32:15.95 Dr_ Placebo Ah, totally even the name is very funny. The big bang that it's like the least scientific ah label I've ever heard. There was a it. It sounds like a a fucking ah ah, primitive tribe. 32:21.47 mikebledsoe Yeah, it's um. 32:33.90 Dr_ Placebo Trying to explain lightning or the sun. First there was a big boom and then there was fire. 32:34.12 mikebledsoe Well. 32:41.51 mikebledsoe Um, as you're you're so spot on so well we got this new telescope out there supposedly I don't know what to believe anymore. Um, probably cgi. Well you you know about the new telescope they put out there that makes the hubble. It's like 20 32:49.88 Dr_ Placebo I Think telescopes are awesome I Well I I I totally telescopes are cool telescopes and microscopes are. 32:58.47 mikebledsoe I Forget how many more times more powerful than the hubble it is but. 33:06.81 Dr_ Placebo Incredibly cool. 33:08.71 mikebledsoe So cool. So um I guess that all these scientists are questioning themselves now they these astrolog astronomers now astrologists astronomers. Um. 33:19.35 Dr_ Placebo K five. 33:25.48 mikebledsoe They're questioning everything because they're looking out there and going oh is the universe contracting and they're doing their job. So but here's. 33:31.70 Dr_ Placebo Wait They're questioning everything. Do you mean? they're doing science. 33:43.50 mikebledsoe I Mean we've already talked about this the scientific community at large is primarily filled with institutional thinking you know and ah yeah, so like I think some of these scientists are having you know existential crises at this moment is what it sounds like. 33:45.82 Dr_ Placebo Um, ah so it's a it's a little religion. It's a little religion. Yeah. 34:01.84 mikebledsoe Because the the new findings put the big bang in question and now they're going. Well we got to find an answer and it's interesting how we as humans. It's like we need to have some type of ah there's this desire to to ah Certainty. It's like if you. If you're an atheist or you're a Christian or you're a muslim or whatever it is. There's a level of certainty that's being clung to and that creates ah safety. So if I can come in the room and I can create certainty in the room then people feel safe and they. Their nervous system calms down and. 34:42.51 Dr_ Placebo That's why people make bomb shelters and and hide away bunkers. It's because there's a natural tendency to expand your sphere of control and um. So that that is a hunger that can never be totally filled because you're always going to find some new thing further as you project into the future. So. The only path is some acceptance right? But if you're a hardcore control freak and you must know and you must have certainty. Then there's no end to the certainty because then you'll be like okay, what about 10 years from now. Okay, what about 15 years from now. Okay, what about 50 years from now. Okay, what about my great-great-grandchildren how do I make sure that they survive to be 1000 years old and. 35:31.58 mikebledsoe Yeah, well, it's interesting. You bring that up the so we think about certainty and we're we're talking about how the universe started people are desiring to have certainty around that so they either choose a religion that has a story about how it started or. 35:32.70 Dr_ Placebo There's no end to it. 35:47.45 Dr_ Placebo Um, how nice that they don't have any real problems. 35:51.22 mikebledsoe Which which I I really like I really like ah yeah I like and I really like a lot of ah religious genesis stories because there's so many metaphors in these genesis stories around language and basically. 36:09.88 Dr_ Placebo Um, in the beginning there was the word and the word was god. 36:09.99 mikebledsoe Ah, the the exactly and so yeah and if you if you it's so easy I remember being a kid and hearing that and I go I don't know what the hell that means and. All right? So then he created Adam and then he created the mountains and the earth and oceans and all the ship in the the birds and the fishes and um, it's really like the way I read that now is it's um, it's a metaphor for consciousness. 36:28.41 Dr_ Placebo Right. 36:42.33 mikebledsoe Consciousness came online for human beings when language came online. Oh I now have a word for this and this word separates me from the from God the natural world and when when read that way. It makes a lot more sense to me. But when some. 36:45.15 Dr_ Placebo Oh. 36:57.72 Dr_ Placebo To me God is the genesis of an idea like that's why they say ah you know the word is God and God is the word is that that's the genesis of an idea. So ah, interestingly enough by that logic God is in fact, real. It's just been made by man just like logic is real and it's also a God Basically an idea that's been invented by man. Yeah. 37:24.78 mikebledsoe Well the well the idea the idea that um was it men don't have ideas ideas have men. Ah who that that's ah man was that voltaire not quite. 37:30.73 Dr_ Placebo Yeah, yeah. 37:37.64 Dr_ Placebo I think that was ah max shank who said that actually I'm just going to misattributing all these baller quotes from like many centuries ago and they'll be like wasn't that Plato I was like no that was me. 37:41.55 mikebledsoe Um, so ah, the a did I I. 37:55.31 Dr_ Placebo Because no one will no one will follow up very few people. 37:59.22 mikebledsoe I love posting really like I'll come across a quote and I'll put it on Twitter and then one out of 10 times I was like you know that's normally attributed to Martin Luther King Junior however it was really said by so I'm like get the fuck out of here focus focus on the quote. Don't worry about where it came from. 38:12.43 Dr_ Placebo Yeah I used to be like that too I used to be totally. Ah well my favorite quote is what's more important the quote or the quoter and that's ah my quote which is fucking hilarious I think because does it really matter who said it and what's funny. Is it. 38:24.97 mikebledsoe Ah, oh. 38:30.16 Dr_ Placebo Does it does a lot of the time sometimes there's a great quote from like an unknown monk in ah, 1500 Bc or something like that or 500 a d or whatever and people are like oh that's really cool but that would be the easiest quote to poach. 38:49.00 mikebledsoe Right? Like you know or you know the and Chinese proverb unknown um know yeah and you know that who you're quoting a context matters. So you know if it's a quote. Yeah, but. 38:52.78 Dr_ Placebo Right? right. 39:01.32 Dr_ Placebo The appeal to Authority That's God Also so God is the genesis of an idea. It's a word. It's a new idea and it's also um, that appeal to an authority. It's ah like a focal point. 39:11.28 mikebledsoe Well are are you coming? Are you coming at this from the perspective that that people create thoughts or ideas. 39:23.61 Dr_ Placebo Um, that's a good question I I believe that ah the thoughts that people have are a combination or permutation of what they have experienced. So. If you put a human being in a vacuum and just gave it food. It wouldn't learn. Ah how to speak it wouldn't learn language so it's just some sort of um. Synthesis or combination or permutation of everything that you are aware of and that's why the idea of having like the genesis of language at all is very interesting and there's a specificity of language. That occurs in many different animals like dolphins and orca have different languages or at least Orca have different languages based on the pod or the family that they're a part of ah green monkeys can lie and say look out. There's a hawk or and we don't know if it. It means hawk or if it just means danger from above but they have distinct calls for danger from above or danger from low below and what they'll do is they will lie. So like if you have a banana I'll say look out a hawk in green monkey language and you'll look out for the hawk and then I'll snatch your. 40:38.97 mikebledsoe A. 40:51.33 Dr_ Placebo Ah, your your banana right? So like it's literally the oldest trick in the book which is look over there while I Rob you so so language ah is I I think um the genesis of some ideas. But. 40:57.26 mikebledsoe Yeah, so. 41:08.71 Dr_ Placebo You know a polar bear may not have language but it can still plan a spider doesn't have language but it can still plan out an attack where it will like walk around and jump around until they're above their prey and then dangle themselves down mission Impossible style. So. 41:23.92 mikebledsoe Well well the question I got to ask next is so are are you I find there's 2 camps. There's one camp which is the most popular camp which is. The the materialistic view which is ah consciousness is a byproduct of biology like the biology exists not is what makes consciousness possible or is our. 41:51.49 Dr_ Placebo Um. 41:56.59 Dr_ Placebo And. 41:57.93 mikebledsoe Is physical matter a ah ah manifestation of consciousness. 42:05.38 Dr_ Placebo Um, you know that's a I knew that's the question you were going to ask actually? um, ah fortunately I have the exact correct answer which is ah how could I know? Ah, it's like ah I. 42:15.78 mikebledsoe Ooh. 42:21.20 Dr_ Placebo I can think so does that mean I am so is it I think therefore I am or I am therefore I think basically so our sensory ah Organs influence the way we interpret the world. 42:28.17 mikebledsoe Right. 42:40.26 Dr_ Placebo as well as um the the influence of our surroundings like in Africa there's way more words for green because the distinction between different plants is a little more important different words for snow in the inuit tribes. Because that distinction is way more important for survival. Um, whether you are ah, an animal having ah an experience of consciousness or whether you are a consciousness who has called yourself an animal is sort of like a chicken or the egg type of situation. My. My personal perspective is that the I that I refer to as I is um, basically a fabrication of our culture so without these ideas of. Names and things like that you would just be an animal and all animals have some level of consciousness ah mushrooms have some level of consciousness. It's it's a different level of consciousness than a human being. But the fact that they can you know send information miles across a web of mycelium as soon as they figure out how to digest a certain type of material like the biggest living organism is actually a mycelium I think it's an Oregon. 44:11.64 Dr_ Placebo And it's several square miles in size which is pretty cool and what'll happen is they'll encounter a material that they can't digest figure out a way to digest it and that information that signal will get sent all the way across the mycelium. 44:14.54 mikebledsoe Yeah. 44:29.63 Dr_ Placebo To the other side and then they'll start being able to digest that material whether that's like some sort of rocky mineral or ah or what have you? Ah so different animals and fungi have different levels of consciousness but ah just like the. Story of of God or no God or these gods or those gods. That's that's our invention. 44:57.47 mikebledsoe Yeah, the um, the perspective I I tend to hold is consciousness creates. There's when I when I went through the hermetic principles. The first principle is that everything is of mind and ah. The idea is that ah everything everything occurs in the mind first and when I when I'm holding that perspective I I find that to be the most useful I don't know which one is true and. 45:31.88 Dr_ Placebo And. 45:34.10 mikebledsoe Like you had said, there's no way to know. Um, you know I I think some people have had some experiences that would have them really believe one way or another for me personally I find it to be more useful to ah to be of the. Belief that consciousness is creating everything it to me. It makes everything a little more malleable and if I believe that anything could be changed through thought. Ah then. 46:10.40 mikebledsoe Then that that seems much more powerful to me and. 46:14.32 Dr_ Placebo There's a great book by Richard Bachman called illusions that I really like it kind of talks about that. How you you know like ah the only reason you can't swim through the earth and stand on the water is because of your belief in the illusion. 46:18.25 mikebledsoe I've read that? yeah. 46:30.80 mikebledsoe Well here's the thing is okay so I the way I see is you don't have a separate mind that I have there's one mind we all share it. You just have different you just you just? yes, you just. 46:30.87 Dr_ Placebo That it can only work a certain way. 46:42.87 Dr_ Placebo For humans humans only so one species has one hive mind. Basically yeah. 46:52.15 mikebledsoe Yeah, we have a certain filter. Um, you know what? I'm gonna have to sit with that one I'm gonna go back and sit with that that question ah because they animals just may have the filter. So the way I see is we share the same mind Consciousness is expanding. 46:59.74 Dr_ Placebo And. 47:09.81 mikebledsoe Um, the universe is doing its thing and um may Ornet may not be expanding I'm sure it goes through expansions and contractions just like everything else. Another hermetic print principle being as above so below and. 47:21.46 Dr_ Placebo How could we measure. 47:27.20 mikebledsoe We can measure it to a point. But yeah, once you get out there. It's not going to happen. Ah so ah, we all have like this super mind and this is why a lot of the same ideas occur to people around the planet simultaneously or they've done studies with rats where. They're teaching them something in a lab in France and then a lab in Alaska they see those rats be able to solve whatever puzzle that was taught to the rats in France and so you know there they never so met they stayed in those locations. There was no. 47:53.45 Dr_ Placebo M. 48:03.33 mikebledsoe No communication between the two that we we would know about and yet they still do that So there. There are some I don't of I would call it ah evidence for it. But there's definitely correlative evidence for that argument and so I really like to think about it as like. These aren't even my thoughts I'm not these are thoughts that are flowing through me and my filter is allowing me to have you know certain thoughts where I'm allowing those thoughts to come and go and so I become a lot less attached to like this is even mine I get a conversation with someone we're having where brainstorming. It's like. This isn't really my thought it's not your thought it's you know it's this is just a thing that's happening right Now. So I like the thing about it like that and I find that to be ah the most useful there's another point I was going? yeah. 48:49.32 Dr_ Placebo Ah. 48:57.34 Dr_ Placebo It makes you sound pretty cool Either way I but I think so ah yeah, it's like ah I I don't think you're using it that way. But it's funny because it's kind of like. 49:01.28 mikebledsoe Does it perfect. That's what I was going for I mean that's the real use utility here. 49:14.95 Dr_ Placebo Kind of like the coolness factor is apathy. So the super enlightened factor is it's not about me man. It's just about you know the collective. Whatever's going I'm just a conduit I'm just a channel for what's happening now there there is no me man and you're like fuck that guy sounds really cool. 49:25.33 mikebledsoe Yeah. 49:33.24 Dr_ Placebo And then what ends up happening is the guy's like fuck. Maybe I am really cool and then it it comes like crashing down and I've experienced that personally a few times myself where I'm like oh man I'm really just like you know I'm I am I'm in it. It's not. There's no me I'm just like. 49:40.90 mikebledsoe Um, be. 49:52.95 Dr_ Placebo It's all happening right now and I'm a big part of it and then I go fuck I think I must be pretty enlightened and then just fucking back to the basement like shoots and ladders all the way back to level 1 49:58.48 mikebledsoe Yeah, the the prop the problem is when you get credit for it. That's that's when it happens someone else gives you credit you give yourself credit and then yeah, then it all just falls at pieces. 50:06.65 Dr_ Placebo Well, that's what. 50:14.14 Dr_ Placebo Well and that's also like the the bane of the guru like I was talking um talking with my buddy Brian this morning. Um I know I was well I was talking to him. But yesterday I was talking to ah another gal who works with me Victoria and she got me this lovely book. Ah, that I haven't read yet. Just got it for me wrote a really nice note in it. Ah and I was like oh man, that's so nice and it's by brene brown and brene brown is one of those people who if you're a lady you have to think she's awesome and. I think she is I think she's got a ton of really good ideas. But I think um as you embody the guru more and more you have to create more stuff so you have to muddy the waters a little bit otherwise you sound like what people call a broken record. So what I notice. Is that someone will have a few fantastic idea and I don't know I haven't read the book. It could be like life changing best book I've ever read. But if a pert. 51:18.31 mikebledsoe Rene Brown is good but to me falls into a similar categories Tony Robbins there's some good stuff in there. But if you dig further beyond the self-love conversation. She gets look. She's an expert in 1 thing and. And think she got lost in some other stuff. 51:35.24 Dr_ Placebo So selling herself right? And that's what I'm talking about with guruism like you have people with good ideas like Jocko. Ah good ideas. But there's a hunger for more and people are like guru. Ah please tell tell me what. Tell me the truth illuminate the way and if the guru says I already did it fits on an index card like I'm done like go do the thing I said people are like I think I'll find a new guru and they're like wait a second I just thought of something in fact, in. 51:57.77 mikebledsoe Yeah. 52:08.50 mikebledsoe I got bills to pay. Ah. 52:11.00 Dr_ Placebo In fact, it's even it's even better than what I taught you before. In fact, this secret I Just I just unveiled and you know so like the that's what I mean with like the bane of the guru is now you have embodied the guru. And I felt that happen to myself which is why I just fucking vanished off the face of the internet for several years and people are like what what totally totally man. 52:34.54 mikebledsoe As you're as you're talking about this. Um I relate completely because I I kind of I fell off as well. Yeah, it was like it's like oh I got to keep making shit up. Ah life is actually pretty good. It's pretty simple, pretty straightforward. 52:45.86 Dr_ Placebo I Wrote 200 plus articles about exercise I Taught 200 seminars all over the world I wrote all these books and video courses and they're excellent by the way like my latest couple primal athleticism and elasticity available on maxshank.com Are so good. They're They're really good. But also if you are having to keep pace with some sort of artificially imposed ah like guruism you're going to muddy the waters a little too much and that's. Um I don't know other than repeating yourself a lot if there is a way to avoid that because there's definitely a hunger and a thirst for knowledge and if you have embodied the characteristics or the character. The avatar of the guru. There's There's definitely a pressure to to make more of this this thing than there actually needs to be. 53:43.48 mikebledsoe But me. 53:50.60 mikebledsoe Yeah, well um, think of my friend Jesse Elder who's amazing. Love that guy and so inspired by his creativity and he tends to attract hit huh. 54:07.11 Dr_ Placebo Here comes here. It comes. Ah. 54:07.94 mikebledsoe But he had. He's very good at attracting a crowd and he's got that guru vibe goinglling on and the thing that impresses me with him is when I met him in 2014 he was just getting started on the like speaking gig thing. 54:12.97 Dr_ Placebo So ah. 54:23.49 Dr_ Placebo Um. 54:24.94 mikebledsoe And what he was talking about then and what he's talking about now is very much the same but he's so good at creating new context and and weaving together stories to bring people in so like it's it's he he really has gotten it to some core truths and he's really good at. 54:38.74 Dr_ Placebo Whoa. 54:44.85 mikebledsoe Ah, communicating it. But what I'm most impressed with is is a ability to communicate those in a way that people can receive has continuously improved over the years and I love seeing you know I'll see him speak and then three months later seem to speak again and he's cleaned it up or he's tightened it up or he's. 55:02.41 Dr_ Placebo Yeah. 55:04.37 mikebledsoe Ah, or he's using a new analogy to get the point across like guy. He's like oh now he's nailing it now. He's nailing it. It's almost like watching you know a comic you know, develop a routine over a year yeah it's like the first show you're like yeah, it's a little clunky and then by the time they're on Netflix special. it's it's tight 55:09.85 Dr_ Placebo Who hone their routine. It's magic. 55:24.50 mikebledsoe So I think that there's I think there's ah that impresses me and I really like that. So there's that's somebody who does have he doesn't I don't think he tries to be a guru but he definitely has you know people people follow him like. 55:27.13 Dr_ Placebo Whoa. 55:34.36 Dr_ Placebo Oh. 55:43.60 mikebledsoe Cult Leader style. 55:43.21 Dr_ Placebo And that's what will happen if you get better and better at transmitting ideas right? is you will You will attract a crowd and so it's like can you maintain that integrity without the crowd. 55:48.34 mikebledsoe Yeah. 55:59.52 Dr_ Placebo Transforming you into something different like I saw this great video the other day by this Youtube channel after school and it showed this ah transformation of this kid who was like a violin prodigy and then he turned into this guy who just. Eats tons of food like he challenges himself. So the guy gained like hundreds of pounds of fat. He oh dude. So it's like 1 of the most recent after school videos Skool and it goes through this like no one cared that he was ah. 56:22.31 mikebledsoe What. 56:36.21 Dr_ Placebo A Violin prodigy but he like ate a big meal once and people were like yeah we like that and so he he was transformed by by the audience because they were craving something else and he's like okay I'll I'll just be that right. 56:51.38 mikebledsoe Or he's craving validation are you? Oh you're gonna validate me. Yeah, we want to be loved. 56:56.51 Dr_ Placebo Aren't we all We want to be Loved. We want. What do we want? um attention power Love mostly we want Love if we can't get Love. We'll settle for power if we can't get Power. We'll settle for attention and if you ah aren't getting the attention you want. And then you do something and suddenly you are oh look out that's temptation big time like I used to get ah like high fives and praise and people would even applaud if I could drink the most poison in college like if I could drink a ah. An alcoholic beverage Really fast. So before I knew what was going on I'm taking like 4 lokos and shotgunning them before ten a M because everyone's like Wow What a what a tough cool guy you are and I I Really liked that positive feedback. So yeah, it's.. It's easy to see why people go down certain paths because these ah these base desires for love power attention ah are almost impossible to avoid. 58:10.55 mikebledsoe Well that that makes me think about my my fitness career and I remember I was I was fifteen years I was like well I had like um. 58:15.49 Dr_ Placebo Me too I talk about that all the time. 58:24.23 mikebledsoe I didn't feel like I was getting love. So yeah, maybe it was attention but the what ended up happening is I remember I couldn't I couldn't wait till my fifteenth birthday because on my fifteenth birthday I was allowed to go to the gym and lift weights because my parents didn't want me to stunt my growth and which we know is all bullshit now. But. 58:39.13 Dr_ Placebo But depends on depends on the level I think if you do gymnastics from age 5 You're probably going to grow less. 58:43.77 mikebledsoe Like a lot mom. 58:50.42 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah, so ah, as soon as I turned 15 I started working out all the time. My dad worked construction. He saw that I was basically burning a lot of energy unnecessarily you know wasn't. 58:54.93 Dr_ Placebo O who. What right? right? o. 59:06.26 mikebledsoe And wasn't making any money. Ah, he's used to like yeah pick up heavy shit and walk around and you know we make money when we do it. We're we're being of service and and my perception of how he viewed what I was doing was ah that it was just a ah superficial. Ah, frivolous pursuit and he was like he's like you're never going to make any money. Ah, you're never going to make any money working out and I remember thinking I was like I'll fucking show. You. 59:27.30 Dr_ Placebo Frivolous. 59:36.94 Dr_ Placebo Um, I'll show you dad I'll show you? um oh my God are those like the famous last words I'll show them I'll show all of them. 59:45.80 mikebledsoe Um, and that's what you want to make yourself miserable live like that. So and there were what will ended up happening is I ended up proving him wrong. Um. 59:54.71 Dr_ Placebo Ah, bro. 59:58.53 Dr_ Placebo And. 01:00:01.65 mikebledsoe And but it's not like I only got paid to work out sometimes I was getting paid to work out but I was getting paid for a bunch of other shit too And um, no, that's not true when I was in the Navy I got paid to work out. 01:00:06.44 Dr_ Placebo Yeah, dude, you never got paid to work out though you got paid to like run a company built around people working out you. 01:00:22.13 Dr_ Placebo That's ah like you got paid extra. You didn't get paid to work out motherfucker you got paid to be in the Navy bitch. Basically what I'm saying is your dad was right. 01:00:23.50 mikebledsoe No, no, no I mean it was it was. 01:00:32.97 mikebledsoe Ah, well I'll tell you there there is that I was I was. 01:00:38.20 Dr_ Placebo Your dad was right? That's all I'm saying. 01:00:41.75 mikebledsoe I do remember I was I was nineteen years old I was in I was in coronado I'm running on the beach with a group of guys and all we're doing is you know, swimming running and managing being cold as fuck and that was it and I was like I was like. 01:00:48.10 Dr_ Placebo Oh. 01:01:01.79 mikebledsoe Fucking Did it I'm getting paid to work out and you know it was very short lived Um, because. 01:01:02.41 Dr_ Placebo And also not true. You were basically paid to be a weapon and your exercising was like greasing the barrel and the parts basically like. 01:01:14.92 mikebledsoe Um, you are 100% accurate about that. Yeah I was ah you know, ah, it's so funny like people are like wow thank you know you're a veteran. Oh thank you I'm like um I'm like I'm like as I got duped you know like I got. 01:01:25.35 Dr_ Placebo Thank you for your service. 01:01:35.14 mikebledsoe Like you're like congratulating me for being a ah for getting duped I appreciate it. Yeah I went and basically worked for the the biggest gangsters on the planet. So cool you know? ah I was muscle for the biggest gangsters on the planet for. 01:01:47.53 Dr_ Placebo Um, hey if you're gonna be in a gang be in the toughest one. It's still like. Ah. 01:01:51.85 mikebledsoe Ah, through a period of time being the biggest baddest toughest one and I was so so eat it. 01:01:59.91 Dr_ Placebo It's still the great. It's It's still the great pirates. It's the same shit is still ah the great pirates who has the fastest boats who has the best range. It's ah hilarious. How true that is. 01:02:02.28 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 01:02:08.18 mikebledsoe Totally yeah so it's funny because a number of years ago. Not that long ago I remember I had that memory I go I go oh my god this is about five years ago I was like oh my god is my entire. Fucking career built around that moment where I was going to prove my dad wrong. do I do I really like working out. Ah do I like talking about fitness do I really like these things and the reality is is yeah I do love health and fitness and I i. Find time in the gym almost every day and I enjoy myself in there. It's one way I show myself love and it doesn't play nearly the role it used to There's so many other interests that get play time and then in addition to that i. I'm showing myself love by taking care of my body but I'm not working out for any type of validation from other people anymore. So it's it's caused me to be in a much better spot and dude I probably make less money because I I seek less validation. 01:03:08.31 Dr_ Placebo Yeah I get it. 01:03:21.22 mikebledsoe Ah, if I if I was one of those people I I listen like no like no the Alex warmosi was talking about this in a video. He's basically saying like insecurity is what you need to be a you know 100 millionaire I'm like you might be right because i. 01:03:22.39 Dr_ Placebo You don't have the same motivation to like you don't care like so value. 01:03:38.94 mikebledsoe Have very few insecurities these days and the necessity that. 01:03:42.22 Dr_ Placebo If you don't feel secure if you don't feel secure with $50000000 then a hundred isn't going to make you feel secure. You know what I'm saying like that that's sort of like what I'm talking about is like who's to say that what's right for you is right for me. It's like why? ah like Gary Vaynerchuk 01:03:51.67 mikebledsoe Um, a. 01:03:59.16 mikebledsoe Yeah. 01:04:00.33 Dr_ Placebo Gary Vee that fucking guy that guy to me is out of his god damn mind and he might have a few good ideas like let's not discount it. But. 01:04:08.94 mikebledsoe Ah I'll say he's made improvements over the years his message five years ago versus today has as improved and from what I can see. 01:04:16.60 Dr_ Placebo And that's cool, but like what we said is you know when we see other people we see through a window so we don't see the big. We don't see the whole thing that's going on and there is nothing to cloud our evaluation of it. When we look at ourselves we look into a mirror so we see basically the whole thing and we have our ego in the way. So that's why I say it's harder to look into a a mirror than it is to look through a window but of course that's because you don't see the big picture. You're more objective rather than subjective about the whole thing. But with um, you know these guys who assume this avatar you know they they embody this persona and you're almost caught in a loop where you're it's sort of a sunk cost fallacy you know Gary Vee I got to own the jets. Someday and look for him that might be exactly the right thing. So I don't want to say that that's a bad goal because it's his goal but it's not my goal like I would not trade ah playing tennis and hanging out with my dogs more often. Ah. To sacrifice maybe owning a sports team because to me that's like no extra value. You know what I'm saying so that idea of insecurity will lead you to a hundred million I mean maybe maybe not but like. 01:05:48.19 Dr_ Placebo Why do you want that in the first place is it because you really believe in what you're doing is it because you feel like 10000000 just won't be good enough or 20 or or whatever I mean it's ah it's really a funny thing like how we fall into these patterns. 01:06:00.19 mikebledsoe I I invested in a sports team once to look cool. Yeah yeah, and then the entire league went belly up like two months after I invested and I lost all my money. 01:06:06.17 Dr_ Placebo Really nice. 01:06:16.55 mikebledsoe That I what I felt cool for about three days and I I got like I got like 15 now I would say the highlight this is the highlight. 01:06:16.61 Dr_ Placebo did you feel cool for two months though did you feel cool for two months though did you get any swag like like ah a hat. 01:06:35.50 mikebledsoe Is what $60000 got me by the way is got me about 10 or 15 tickets at Madison square gardens in New York City ah some like front row shit and I got to like. 01:06:42.97 Dr_ Placebo So. 01:06:48.19 mikebledsoe All my all my northeast friends I called him up I was like meet me at Massison You know we're gonna meet at the bar Beforehand have some drinks go watch the teams compete. So like I had ownership in it. It was the grid league. It was that Crossfit Rip off. 01:06:56.30 Dr_ Placebo Ah, what? what? sport. 01:07:05.34 Dr_ Placebo Nice. 01:07:06.80 mikebledsoe And which I think that sport still exists I actually prefer it over c

Webby wasn't feeling well this week so Devin, Apple, Donnie and I (Rob) recorded an episode on various, mostly D&D topics.  Then I completely forgot yo post it...... But here it is! only two days late...... That's ok right? RIGHT?!?!?!?   Host: Webby- @JaxForestwalker Featuring: Apple!!!!- @appleschloss21 Devin!!!-@DMP_Pookie Rob Edquist!!!- @Confessor_x and Donnie - @dbrauner21   SU now has it's own twitter if you'd like to submit topic ideas, questions or advice- @simplyunprofes1 Music by Ross Malcolm Boyd Please give us a rating and review wherever you listen to us, and as always check out our Website (distractionsmedia.com) for links to other things we do!

We're back and this week we're taking it easy. We talk about the five-night Disney Dream cruise I (Rob) just got back from, as well as robo-Spider-Man beefing it at Disney's California Adventure, the new look for Buzz, and a six-figure Disney adventure.  Thanks for listening and have a GBBT! (+110000) Check out the TTA Podcast Patreon here! Check out Christine's Discord here!  Have a question for us or your own two cents on a topic? Leave a message over at the TTA Podcast website or leave a message at (516) 900-4628.  Find us on the internet! Rob's History Channel Christine's YouTube Channel Christine's Twitter

Hey folks! I (Rob) have started a new side project all about video games, I said I'd drop episode 1 into our feed here to give you a taster. All links are below and you can find it by searching Video Game Waffle into your fave pod player! Hope you enjoy it, all plays/reviews are appreciatedhttps://pod.link/1595613767

Paul Casey: Bulls are the gasoline that make the vision goes somewhere, Speaker 2: Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington, it's in Tri-Cities influencer podcast. Welcome to the TC podcast. We're local leadership and self-leadership expert Paul Casey interviews, local CEOs, entrepreneurs, and non-profit executives to hear how they lead themselves and their teams. So we can all benefit from their wisdom and experience. Here's your host, Paul Casey of growing forward services, coaching and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success. Paul Casey: It's a great day to grow forward. Thank you for joining me for today's episode with Zahra Roach. She is the executive director of the children's developmental center and a fun fact about her. She tells me this since English, isn't her first language once in a while, she might mess up a colloquialism. So Zahra, tell us, tell us about that a little bit. Zahra Roach: Yeah. So my first language, thank you, Paul, for having me, my first language is the fifth, most spoken language in, in the world. And I learned like many people English when I started kindergarten. And then I went on to be an English major and teach English at the high school, high school level. But every once in a while I do use certain phrases incorrectly. Like I will say, you know, staff turnover and then my spouse, John will laugh heartedly and say, no apple turnover, staff overturn. And so it's, it's not very frequent that it happens, but you know, he gets a kick out of it. And so did others. Oh yeah, you are not a native English speaker. So yeah, that's just, Paul Casey: That's awesome. And what about grit and what a great way to learn English is to major in it? Well, we're going to dive in after checking in with our Tri-City influencer sponsors, take back your weekends and let Senske services be your green team. Senske services is a locally owned and operated company founded in 1947. That has been working with families for nearly 75 years to help create and maintain environments that are great places to live, work and play. They're a family business built on family values and skiing dedicated to delivering quality and providing exceptional customer service. Senske offers a variety of services, including full service, lawn care, pest control, tree care, and Christmas decor. You may have seen their holiday light show at the corporate office. It is a must see every year services are backed by the Senske promise, which means the job will be done right. Paul Casey: Or they come back out to learn more about the services Senske provides and the offers available to you visit [inaudible] dot com. Thank you for your support of leadership development in the Tri-Cities. Well, welcomes our era. It was a privilege to meet you a boy. It was between two and four years ago. I was doing a strategic planning retreat for the children's developmental center. And yeah, I think you were very pregnant at the time for our member. Right. And you had barely come onto the board have moments, so your eyes were big and this was my first meeting of you. Zahra Roach: That's right. And that was six years ago. I know, just because my daughter's about to have her sixth birthday. And so she was an honorary board member. She came to those meetings with me first and you know, the card carrier then as she got a little bit bigger and started crawling around and we couldn't contain her to just the car seat, I had to leave her at home, but that's right. Yeah. The children's developmental centers that in my life and yeah, our children's lives for some time now. Paul Casey: Yeah. Look at you now, executive director so that our Tri-City influencers can get to know you a bit. Tell us about the CDC. What, what the mission is there and then tell us a little bit more what you do as executive director. Zahra Roach: Yeah. So the children's developmental center been in existence and Benton and Franklin counties for 44 years and has been serving families, children in particular with therapeutic services for developmental delays and disabilities. So what that means is we have speech, language pathologists, occupational therapists, a physical therapists, special education teachers and educational assistants. And so they address those early interventions as early as they are made known to us. So we get a referral and we see a kid as soon as possible, because I know from my own educational experience and profession and education is that you address those interventions and delays early on. Then you have the greatest amount of success for that child in their life. So, and a little bit of what I do for my organization, you know, is to support that, you know, support the day-to-day that my staff does because it's really important work. It's transformative work in the lives of those family members and that in particular, that child, right, they may not know it cognitively yet, but they may later on, Paul Casey: Thanks for making a difference. That is what a great mission. And it's been great to be associated with the organization and see it go it's ups and downs through the years and how funding streams change and the school district relationships change. And here at the end of 44 years still rocking it Well in your journey to where you are today. What have you learned from previous bosses, previous supervisors? I'm sure there's good and bad that, that you keep in mind today as you leave. Zahra Roach: You know, I think for me the type of learner that I am, I learn, I seek out feedback. I seek out reflection as often as possible. One of the things that my mentor Jerry Bell taught me early on when I was a student teacher, was that, you know, you keep a notebook and you look back at your day or your week, whatever time increment you want and write down the things that went well and not to well, and what would you do to change it? And so I think that's one practical thing that, you know, my mentor taught me to do that I still do today. The frequency is kind of spotty, you know, these days. But I was, whenever I remember I pull out my notebook and I try to do that for myself. And I think, you know, some of the things that I have seen in terms of, you know, leaders who are in need of, of, of just either a break or they are burnt out and you can see that, that the intention is good and it's there, but they are stretched too thin. Zahra Roach: And that, that becomes really clear and evident when you're in close proximity to them. And yeah, it's not necessarily feedback I would give unsolicited, but, but, but definitely visible. So I think that's something that I have to check into too. It's counterintuitive, right? Every Sunday I get, I take out my work laptop and I try to get ahead of the week by doing work before the week starts. And the counterintuitive thing to do is completely allow myself to enjoy the downtime that I have so that I am re-energized for the work. So yeah, that's just, I guess those are just a little bit of tidbit to buy a house. Paul Casey: That's so good. I love the celebrating of wins that your mentor shared with you. I try to do that with all my clients in every session, whether that's an individual session, a group session, often when I do strategic planning with the company, we talk about the winds. So it was just something that, what it does for your morale when you, when you go back, because our heads go down and we just like keep grinding on the next thing and what's the next problem to solve. And it's great to capture those, those thoughts, those positive thoughts. I I'm, I'm a journaler. And so I try to capture my wins or what I'm grateful for from yesterday. When I wake up today and I've been doing that for so many years, I've filled many journals and it is just a great practice to do. I love also what you shared about the, you know, the, the, the leader who may not be aware of how they're coming across, when they're running ragged. And what, what advice would you give to leaders to help them be more self-aware because clearly you've, you've experienced leaders who weren't self-aware and they're that you were getting some backlash from their over busy-ness and they're not stepping back and relaxing enough and recovering. What, what, what advice would you give? Zahra Roach: You know, just, you know, the advice that I did give, but I guess to get into more specificity, it would be too. I think we all, as individuals know the places that allow us to unplug go off the grid and recharge, whether that's in a book, whether that's going swimming, a hike, I don't know a certain place, but allowing for it to be a certain amount of time, because you do come off of work and you're still charged from it. You're still processing. Well, this conversation took place. How do I resolve this problem? And so it takes we're humans. It takes time to kind of decompress from that, to be able to enter that sort of reset space, allow yourself that, that time, you know, whether that's a day, two days a week, I'm not sure, I guess people would have to ask that themselves for me, I think it's, I think it's a week minimum week to decompress. Zahra Roach: And then I think too, for me, it's, you know, really emphasizing just the importance of sleep. And I get to the place where I am physically tired at night and, but my brain is still going. It's still actively like, oh, I've got this tomorrow and oh, this on Thursday and this on Friday. And if I do this before Friday, then I'll be even better prepared. And so kind of creating routines that help to have healthy habits around completely unplugging mentally, even if you're physically away from that workspace so that you can just recharge and come back to it with a smile. Paul Casey: That's so good. Totally agree with you. And yeah, they say that they people say, ah, you need at least three days on vacation to just flush work before you're totally pro. Especially if you're more type a wired, you know, it takes you a long time to purge work and I've found that true. Then I'm like the third day of vacation. That's when I really sleep in, like, my body's still wants to wake up at work time for a few days. And then it's like, oh, now I'm officially relaxing. So like you said, a week is probably a good timeframe for a vacation, but we also need those small recharge times as well, daily and weekly, so great stuff. So that's the decompressed times is there, we also have to fire ourselves up as leaders when we're not feeling motivated. You know, even in this last year, year and a half of COVID, where do you go for inspiration as, as a leader? Zahra Roach: You know, as strange as it sounds, sometimes I would say a couple of places sometimes within, and I have to ask myself if I weren't in the position that I were in, who might be doing it. And oftentimes I see people in leadership positions and this is, this is one of my motivations to, to get into leadership is that we see people in leadership positions who are, they are there for the ego part of it. And that is not a healthy leadership stance. And then you can see it in their organization or their work or their speaking. And so I think that, you know, one of the places that I have to go is within to ask myself that question, when I don't feel fired up and say, who would be serving in this space, if I weren't serving in a space, you know, my leadership philosophy is very much a servant leadership philosophy. Zahra Roach: You know, I'm not too good to change a paper towel roll or put on my jeans and Tenny and come to work and move boxes out to the shed or storage shed with other staff members and do the work side by side with them because all of the work is my work to do. And so those are the types of things that I have to kind of just revisit for myself. One of the, I guess, inspirational people that I just, you know, found when I was doing my master's in education was Parker Palmer, the author Parker Palmer, the courage to teach. And so whenever I pick up one of his books and revisit, just, you know, open it to a random page and go, oh yeah, you know, like this is the, this is the vocation. And to be honest, everybody, everybody is in some sort of leadership position. It may be more evident for some of us like myself and less evident, you know, like a child who might be the eldest in their family. Right. So it's all about what do we do with that, that power, that authority, how do we use it? How do we communicate with others? And so I've always just felt like tapping into Parker Palmer's books have just always reminded me about the, the servant leadership philosophy and why it's so important to, to continue to, you know, lead in, in that, that lane, that philosophy. Paul Casey: Oh yes. I really believe it's the only philosophy for leadership is that servant leadership philosophy. For sure. And I'm glad you've got a book to go to that sort of gets you recharged. I was just reading Patrick Lencioni's newest book, the motive. And by the way, if you like Patrick, Lencioni's five dysfunctions of a team guy, the death by meeting the advantage, he's got so many good books. He says the read this one first, you know, it's his most recent book because it's all about the motive in leadership. And like you mentioned, a lot of people get in there for ego or for the perks. And that is not the right motive to lead. It is all about being a servant leader, good stuff. Well, leaders also have to continuously improve right. To set the tone for leadership development of their team. So Zahra, what are you currently working on to better yourself as a leader? Zahra Roach: No, I am right now just working on jelling with my supervisors. So we are engaged in a year long process of just training where we, once a month, we have an hour and a half of kind of training or professional development in which we engage in, like, what are our learning styles, communication styles, how to give him how to give feedback, how to receive feedback, how to deliver difficult news. And so it's, I think that's one way in which, you know, I, I learned who my team is and they learn who I am and we learn how to best serve our organization and mission to the best of our capability. Paul Casey: Yeah. Great stuff. And, and you've been in your position for how long now? Your executive director position. Zahra Roach: Yeah. Paul Casey: I, I totally recommend like you're doing just to build relationships with your, your core team and, and get, like you said, get to know them, their personalities, their learning styles. So if you're, if you're a new leader, Tri-City influencers relationship building is really agenda item, number one in those first 90 days, because that's where you're building trust with your people. Great stuff. Well, how do you balance or integrate family time with work time? So you're, you're a mom, you're a wife, you're a nonprofit leader, your community focused a lot of different hats that you, you wear in life. How do you make sure everybody gets priority? Because we all know work-life balance. Isn't a real thing. Zahra Roach: Yeah. And sometimes my family suffers sometimes work suffers. Sometimes council suffers. I mean, it just is like, it is an ongoing struggle, and I don't have it perfected. So I couldn't tell you what the secret sauce is. Cause I don't know. I'm still figuring it out. I think it's a lot of it has to do with time management and figuring that out. My solution might go to seclusion for that every time it was like, well, if I do this the night before, if I make my breakfast the night before, then that I don't have to think about so I can actually eat and have mental energy do the work if I, so yeah, I think it's, it's the time management piece. Definitely a big part of it. I think it goes back to the time to unplug and just say, okay, I'm not looking at my phone. Zahra Roach: I'm, I'm fully paying attention to whatever my son is. Teaching me about Minecraft, that he is speaking a different language to me, but I'm going to pay attention to it, you know, and, and kind of just accepting out loud and saying it to people, not necessarily apologizing for it, but thanking them for their patients. Like, yeah, I was, I was disconnected for a week cause I was on vacation or I was, you know, thank you for waiting for me. I had this happening, you know, a back-to-back zoom meeting all day and I just needed to take a few bites of something before I joined your meeting five minutes late, you know, whatever it is, it's, it's, I'm still learning it. And I think that, you know, this last year has definitely taught us a lot of different lessons about time management, you know, early on in the pandemic we thought, oh, we're home. We can get so much done because now we can just go to meeting after meeting, after meeting back to back. And that's not necessarily the case. Paul Casey: I know, right. It was like, I don't even need my travel break, you know, in between clients. And then I realized, wow, that's sort of wears on, you know, looking at a screen for six, seven hours a day. So yes, we did learn a lot about time management in this pandemic, for sure. Well, Hey, before we end our next question on a, I'm going to ask her about hiring and retaining great employees. Let's do a shout out to our sponsors. Are you dreaming of a lush weed free lawn? Have you heard what your neighbors are saying about their Senske lawn, a lush weed-free lawn in, within your reach? Don't just take it from us. Listen to what people in our community are saying about Sinsky services. Lavando Elle of Kennebec said I've been a customer for several years and I can depend on Senske to take good care of my lawn. Paul Casey: I always get a call before each treatment and a detailed report after Mildred w Kennewick said, the workers are always willing to satisfy the customers. And that says a lot. Thank you for everything. Since key services is a locally owned and operated company that has been in the business of lawn and tree care for nearly 75 years. This means nobody knows green lawns. Like Senske let Sinsky help you achieve the lawn of your dreams by visiting sinskey.com today, to learn more, those are, let's talk about hiring and retaining great employees. And I know you're in your six month there, but what's your philosophy on attracting great talent. And on the, on the other side of things, what are you going to do or starting to do intentionally to make your workplace a place where employees want to stay for a long time? Zahra Roach: Paul, it is so difficult to be at an employer right now. And there is, you know, I think we are hiring and hiring for multiple positions. And I think that, you know, this past year has just caused so much change in the nature of how we work, that it's got people exploring other options. And so, you know, how do I attract the right personality? It's, it's really difficult. And I would take, I mean, you may know, I think you do know my spouse, John, and, you know, has his own company called full story. And that's what his company is all about. So I have gleaned a lot of information from him about just how do you have an authentic interview? How do you pull out relevant information about a person's character, not just their technical skills. And so it's really in the quality of questions that are asked at the time of an interview, it's about knowing your own organization and knowing your own team dynamics well enough to know what it is you're looking for in, in the soft skills of an individual and how you want them to fit into your team. Zahra Roach: And, you know, to, you know, pull from somebody famous Brine brown. It's a lot of it is about vulnerability. How do we, how do I attract somebody who is able to be vulnerable? Who knows, you know, has the humility to know that they are not perfect. They are not the expert. They're not the best they have room to grow because I think that's one of the things that no, as I said before, I am really committed in my organization to professional development and training staff and supervisors. And that goes for me as well as a former teacher, I think, you know, being a lifelong learner, that's one of those habits of mind that I have never departed from. And I still feel very strongly about that. I'm still growing and learning. And if you know, that's, what I want out of out of a staff member is that they still have that mindset as well to, to grow and learn. Paul Casey: So good. It's, I'll do a quick plug for your, for your husband's company. What's the website, Zahra Roach: It's whole story, hq.com, Paul Casey: Whole story, hq.com. Awesome. I think that's going to be even more and more important for hiring here in the, in the future. So it tries to the influencers. If you're hiring, you've got to get this information from John Roach. Yeah. I love the Bernie brown stuff too. I can't wait to listen to another audio book by her. I just bought it at the store. And all of that, the power of vulnerability is such, it builds trust so much and those soft skills are the strong skills. Right. And that's, that's what we want to listen for in those interviews. And it's tough. So the power of a, of a, a powerful question is huge. Well, there's so much to do while in the leader's chair. So there are, how do you feel about delegation? Do you struggle with it? Is it easy for you got any delegation tips that you'd like to throw out there today? Zahra Roach: Yes, I would. I am a type one personality reformed OCD, individual, and, and I still slipped back into it. Right. And it happens when I'm at my worst, when I'm at my worst, I slipped back into that. Like, if I can control everything, it will be all right. And that is completely wrong. I can't control everything. That's an illusion not possible. And so, yeah, learning to delegate is something really difficult to do because if I'm a good leader, then I know what my staff is capable of, but I simultaneously know what their deficiencies are. And so, you know, and sometimes I think, gosh, if I give this work to so-and-so, it is, there's the possibility of ABMC not happening correctly or, you know, I can identify what the potential pitfalls will be, but if I don't do it, what I have more work on my plate. Zahra Roach: Right. And, and then I'm stretching myself too thin to go back to what I said before burnout. But then also, I, I kind of robbed the opportunity from a staff member to, to push beyond what their capabilities are, what their natural talents are. I Rob both of us from a learning teaching moment and you know, me of the, the leadership moment of being able to coach a staff member into something that they haven't been able to do before. And so I have to just be more strategic about, well, what, you know, I want to set them up for success, not failure. So, you know, giving them a bite size amount of, of challenge with that delegation of doing something that they haven't done before, instead of overwhelming them with too many things at once. So yeah, it is, I would say it's, there's, there's degrees of, of how I have to handle that delegation and, and make sure that it goes off, that I handed off well, but I handed off with still a little bit of a challenge for that receiving that, that task or that project. Paul Casey: Yeah. Tri-City influencers. Anybody else struggled with that? When you get your back against the wall, you want to control everything. I think there's probably some others nodding their head with that as well. Is that interesting that we do that? We feel like we've got to control something because our life feels a little bit out of control. So we've got to be self-aware of that, but delegation is one of the ways out of the prison of that burnout and feeling overwhelmed. So love your tips on that. Delegation develops, it's a two word sentence, delegation developed period. Well, what key moves did you have to make for your organization? Just since you've been in the leader chair, maybe you're in, you're currently having to make those, you probably inherited some of the pandemic changes for just serving the children that you serve. How are you strategic in this very uncertain time, Zahra Roach: Not live inside of your strategic vision? I would say being able to modify it to what is more important right now than other strategic email objectives during this pandemic, because, you know, for us, I think it's been watching other local nonprofits who have been really successful in the virtual online space. And that has been a place where this children's developmental center has not thrived. And so that was something, as I, you know, as I interviewed for my position was something that I brought up and it was relevant. And six years ago, we were not doing that way before the pandemic. We're not doing that during pandemic either. And it does not allow us to engage with community in the place that is really the place where we're mostly at right now. And so, yeah, I've been working actively with, you know, with, let's see focal point media, we are doing a kind of a refresh of our logo. Zahra Roach: We are working with underground, creative on updating our website, working internally with staff about how to use Facebook and social media platform to better communicate our mission and what we do on a day to day basis. And those little baby steps are making a huge difference. So we have, you know, our, our supervisors are now sharing a little bit more about with parents, parent coaching tips on Facebook, they are sharing a little bit about just, you know, developmental markers to be on the lookout for. And it's driven our Facebook engagement up considerably just in the month that we started doing it. So, yeah, I think not losing sight of what are the most relevant strategic objectives for your organization. Paul Casey: Yay. Just embrace that technology. And I love what you said, focal point underground, creative, the website, the logo, I'm doing that right now as well with Spotify, digital going to refresh my website and logo. And there's just some, some, some groundedness, some foundation that links to that strategic vision that we can do when we can't do all the other live in person, things that we want to do. So kudos to you all for taking leaps forward and it's already paying off with the parents. That's pretty cool. Well, finally, Zara, what advice would you give the new leaders or anyone who wants to keep growing and gaining more influence? Zahra Roach: Yeah, I think, you know, for me, particularly right now, it's one of those counter-intuitive things. Strategic vision is like my that's my map as an executive director, how do I, you know, how do I lead this ship into the future? And, and, and then ask myself how I'm going to do it. And we are, so we are amidst like a time of so much change that it's being very intentional about how much more change to introduce right now. And so it's this balance that I have not ever had to strike before, because I'm very much, like I said, before, type one do, or like let's cross items off the list, let's get it done. And I have to be more intentional and mindful about what are already, we went from last year, never doing tele-health to completely 100% doing telehealth. And now we are in a hybrid form that we also never did before. Zahra Roach: And so I just have to know that everybody's along with me and if I charged forward and I still have people adjusting to whatever the last changes, I'm going to lose folks along the way. And so, yeah, I'd have to, I just think that it takes mindfulness about your strategy or your visioning, hold that vision you've been in your head, don't lose the vision and I'm, I'm not trying to live by fishing. I see a bright future out of all of this, but I think it's how for me, how I set the pace to get to that vision is that is the key right now. Paul Casey: Well-spoken be careful of the pace, keep the vision in mind, but be careful to pay especially of introducing change so that you can still bring everybody with you on that journey to that awesome vision. Love that. Well, how can our listeners best connect with users and also the CDC? Zahra Roach: Well, definitely connect with us on social media. I'm with the children's developmental center, there are ways with, in which people can get involved, that they can give their time or can pass forward to others in this community. The mission of what we do, because I think there's probably at least one person that we each individually know in our friends or family network that have a delay or a disability. And so I think a lot of people encounter us when they are the parent or grandparent and their child or grandchild is receiving services. And so many times I encounter people who have that moment of like, gosh, I never knew you existed before until, you know, we got our referral. And so that's something we, you know, we want people to know who we are that we've been serving this community for 44 years and doing it in a reputable way that we have been, you know, for years the lead agency in Benton and Franklin county. So I would say until we get that new website up and running, which we anticipate to be in the next month or so. Yeah. You can engage with us on social media, on Facebook. Paul Casey: Awesome. Well, thank you again for all. You agree to make the Tri-Cities afraid place and keep leading. Well, Zahra Roach: Thank you. Paul Casey: Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. I don't know if you're a team leader and you would just love to have some plug-in plate tools to be able to implement with your team, or that's a performance review form or a one to one agenda or anything like that. That's, that's what I offer through a program called bullseye. It's a new membership community that I've just launched. And if you're a team leader, it's for you, I've got videos that you can play for your team and, and at staff meetings where you can send them an email to inspire them. I have recorded some audios for you as the leader to help you as you just work on your own mindset and to have that leadership view of things, there'll be icebreaker questions for your one to ones. There'll be links to other great leadership resources. You get a discount for growing forward products and services. And once a month, I'm going to bring in an influencer here in the Tri-Cities for a live Q and a that you can ask questions to someone you might normally not normally get a chance to connect with. So check out, bulls-eye go to Paul casey.org, and it's just $29 a month. And you're going to get just action packed stuff every single week on Thursdays. Paul Casey: Again, this is Paul Casey. I want to thank my guests, our approach from the children's developmental center for being here today on the Tri-City influencer podcast. We also want to thank our TCI sponsors and invite you to support them. We appreciate you making this possible so we can collaborate to help leaders in our community. Finally, one more leadership tidbit for the road to help you make a difference in your circle of influence it's from Zig Ziglar. He said, gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you'll have even more to express gratitude for until next time. Kgs keep growing forward. Speaker 2: Thank you to our listeners for tuning into today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him@growingforwardatpaulcasey.org for a consultation that can help you move past your current challenges and create a strategy for growing your life or your team forward. Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done every day by offering you is free control my calendar checklist, go to WW dot, take back my calendar.com for that productivity tool or open a text message 2 7 2 0 0 0, and type the word growing Speaker 4: The Tri-Cities influencer podcast was recorded at fuse SPC by bill Wagner of safe strategies.

Welcome watch fans, to another very special episode of Watching Sports And Sporting Watches. Today, I (Rob) am joined by Fred Buyle, Ulysse Nardin ambassador, professional free diver, passionate conservationist, and, perhaps most interestingly for our community, a real watch guy.You'd probably expect a lot more ambassadors to be as into watches as Fred clearly is, but it really isn't the case. I've encountered sports stars and celebrities that have no idea what their agent is telling them to strap to their wrist. I think that's a real shame. When I was working for NOMOS Glashütte, we discussed the possibility of hiring an ambassador —something the brand has never done — frequently. We came close to a decision several times, but we always backed away at the very last. It never felt genuine. It never felt on-brand. Oh, how wonderful would it have been to have a genuine collector in the limelight profess his or her love for NOMOS and solve the problem organically. It didn't happen then. In truth, it rarely does. But, in one of those seldom situations, it seems the very best man ended up with the right job for Ulysse Nardin.There's a bit of a running joke about how many free divers there are representing watch brands. It kind of gives the impression that 80% of the people you meet on the street can hold their breath for seven minutes or don't bat an eyelid when confronted with a Great White Shark. That isn't the case, of course. As such, I'd never actually met or had the pleasure of speaking with a professional free diver. I relished the opportunity to ask all the stupid questions a sub-aquatic novice might wish to.What's the deepest you've ever dived? Is it cold down there? Does it hurt? What's the most memorable experience you've had beneath the waves? Surprisingly, however, Fred's interest and genuine passion for watches meant the conversation was able to stay very much within the intended wheelhouse of this pod column. I hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as I did recording it.Follow me on Instagram @robnudds

In which our heroes talk s*** about Kanye West.After listening to Watch the Throne for the first time (for last weeks podcast), I (Rob) took a tumble down a Kanye rabbit hole. Over one weekend I listened to "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", "Yeezus" "Life of Pablo" "Ye" and "Jesus is King". After hearing a decades worth of material over a few days I summoned Sam for an EMERGENCY PODCAST!!!So armed with a few pages of notes and some sizzling hot takes I lay down some theories for confirmation/ridicule. Join us as we talk about the rapper as an artist, use of sexual imagery as metaphor, reacting to the whirlwind of celebrity, creating while managing bi-polar disorder, whether an artists background dictates their medium and other such arty bulls***. Personally speaking this is our best episode yet, a spontaneous discussion about a truly important and divisive artist. Find us everywhere else here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Medtronic 770G pump was released in the United States just a few weeks ago and Robe Howe is one of the first to use it. Rob shares his first impressions and tells us what he'd really like to see in pump technology. (Rob is a paid ambassador for Medtronic, but they did not clear or review his comments for this interview). Rob & Stacey spend a lot of this episode on other issues, talking about whether people with type 1 are "disabled" and what it means to use that word. Rob talks about achievement bias (and explains what that involves) and a lot more. We also find out about his fun modeling gig with Express and about his COVID-adjusted wedding in 2020. Previous episodes about Medtronic here, including our in-depth discussion about the 770G and what else is on tap. Our first episode with Rob Howe (all about using so-called Walmart insulin) In Tell Me Something Good – legislative action, a diabetes blog gets a shout out and a new tip makes a difference for a site location. And Stacey makes her predictions for 2021. This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider. Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom! Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group! Sign up for our newsletter here Tell me something good links: New Washington State Law Caps Insulin Price type 2 blogs ----- Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners! ----- Get the App and listen to Diabetes Connections wherever you go! Click here for iPhone      Click here for Android Episode Transcription  Stacey Simms  0:00 Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dario Health. Manage your blood glucose levels increase your possibilities. By Gvoke Hypopen the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom. Unknown Speaker  0:22 This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.   Stacey Simms  0:28 This week, Rob Howe is one of the first people in the US to use the new Medtronic 770Gpump. We'll talk about that. But our conversation got a lot more personal, including a discussion about whether most people with diabetes consider themselves disabled and everything that goes along with using that word.   Unknown Speaker  0:47 I want  to say like I Rob Howe, professional athlete, the guy who's goes and speaks and is like, you can do whatever you want. I identify as disabled, I am disabled, I have a disability. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to wake up tomorrow. And if my blood sugar's high, I'm just gonna quit and be like, you know, sayonara team   Stacey Simms  1:01 Rob is also a podcaster. And he turned a few questions around on me, we went a few places I wasn't expecting, including my hard “no” stance on Disney guest passes from years ago, and a lot more. And we do talk a lot about the 770G as well. In Tell me something good legislative action, a diabetes blog gets a shout out and a new tip makes a big difference for site location. Plus, at the very end of the show, I'm going to do my predictions for diabetes in 2021, technology,  community, and more.   Stacey Simms  1:32 This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider. Welcome back to another week of the show. I am your host, Stacey Simms, and we aim to educate and inspire about diabetes with a focus on people who use insulin, my son was diagnosed with Type 1 14 years ago, my husband lives with type two, I don't have any type of diabetes. I'm the broadcaster. And that is how you get the podcast. I released an episode on New Year's Day about the COVID vaccine. And we've had a big response to that the episode was about health care providers with type one who had received the very first batches some of the first people in the US to get that first of two COVID shots. But the response was mostly people wanting to know where they fall in the priority order for receiving it. Dr. Ponder Dr. Steven Ponder was in that episode. And he's an endocrinologist in Texas. He had been trying to get Texas to allow type one into the higher tier. But it looks like this is going to vary state to state, I would urge you to jump into our Facebook group. It's Diabetes Connections, the group and I'm just start a thread. Let's try to get everybody up to speed whatever state you're in, link up the health department look up a news story that you know of let us know what's happening where you live. Here in North Carolina, they're talking about chronic conditions for one of the phases but it's not clear if it's just type two with type one will be included. As Dr. Ponder said, How are they going to check? Right? Do we really want the people giving the vaccines to have to worry about you know, give me your paperwork or your type two type one. Where's your doctor's note? I mean, it's already so much less efficient than we all had hoped. I do think they are making good progress. As I'm taping this at the end of the first week of January. Here in North Carolina, where I live, they have announced that they will be using the National Guard to help out which I think is terrific. And as I mentioned with a husband who's got type two, with my 16 year old who has type one who is eligible for the vaccine, we are going to watch closely to see when it is our turn. But again, I'm hoping we can get a big Clearinghouse going in the Facebook group with information with sourced information about when and where the vaccine will be available, where you live. My talk with Rob Howe about Medtronic and this talk really did turn into something more. It's not a typical interview for the show. I think we'll get to that in just a moment. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dario. And one of the things that makes diabetes management difficult for us. It really kind of annoys me and Benny, it's not really the big picture stuff, right? It's all the little tasks adding up. Are you sick of running out of strips? Do you need some direction or encouragement going forward with your diabetes management and with visibility into your trends help you on your wellness journey? The Daario diabetes success plan offers all of that and more. No more waiting in line at the pharmacy. No more searching online for answers. No more wondering about how you're doing with your blood sugar levels, find out more go to My Dario dot com forward slash Diabetes Connections. My guest this week has been on the show before with a very different focus. Rob Howe joined me two years ago to talk about so called Walmart insulin which he used for a while as kind of an experiment if you want to hear how it went. I will link up that episode from 2018. Just go to Diabetes connections.com click on this episode or the show notes wherever you're listening We have a pretty robust search on the website as well if you prefer to search it that way. Rob is the host of the podcast, diabetics doing things. He is a former Washington Generals player. That's right. He's the bad guy. He was on the bad guy team against the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters. And this year, Rob became a model in a very cool campaign for Express and he got married. So Rob has a lot going on. And we've talked about quite a bit of it here. There is also a video of this interview over on our YouTube channel on Diabetes Connections over on YouTube, if you prefer to watch it's kind of fun to be doing more video interviews, let me know what you think about that. In addition to the audio, Rob is a brand ambassador for Medtronic, and he started using their newest pump, the 770G in December, we talked about that, and then had a conversation about everything from the word disability to why I never got Benny, a guest assistance pass at Disney. In fact, I put my foot down and said no to what he calls achievement culture within the diabetes community. Always great to catch up with Rob how from diabetics doing things, podcasts, and so many other things in the diabetes community. You become the go to emcee, I see you all over the place at virtual events. Thanks for jumping on. It's great to talk to you again.   Rob Howe 6:13 Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I've become what I call, and literally no one else says this except me. I'm the host with the most Insulet on board. So yeah.   Stacey Simms  6:23 Oh, I'm gonna steal that the next time I introduce you, I'll make sure to say that please   Rob Howe 6:26 Please do.   Rob Howe 6:28 I love it. Well,   Stacey Simms  6:30 listen, we've got a lot to talk about today, I want to start off by just jumping in because the latest thing for you really has been not a change of technology. You've been a Medtronic guy for a long time. But you've got the latest version of Medtronic pump. So tell me, when did you start using the 770?   Rob Howe 6:49 Yeah, so I am very fortunate. I've worked with Medtronic for a long time. And I've been a patient of Medtronic for even longer. So today, as of recording, it's December 16. And I think I've been on the Medtronic 770Gnow since December 1, right around there. So it was in the first wave of of Medtronic, folks, employees Ambassador group to get access to the new pump. And it's exciting. I mean, I think for me, I've been on the 670 g now for almost three years. So you know, one of the criticisms of the new pump is that it really isn't very different, in turn from a technological standpoint, except it does have what we've always been very critical. And I mean, we as the diabetes, greater community of the 670 was that there was no Bluetooth connectivity to the phone. So I think this is Medtronic response to say, Hey, we hear you we got to have Bluetooth connectivity. And it's great. It actually, the app is super intuitive, the mini med mobile app and it has your basically your sensor glucose like you would normally see on your pump display, but it also has your 24 hour time and range. So just a quick little swipe, you can get over there and see your your 24 hour numbers, which is kind of nice, especially if you've had a really good day, you can see that you know those high time and range numbers. So it's exciting. And you know, I think for people who are, you know, really into the nitty gritty, it's also a new transmitter for the sensors. So it's still the Guardian three sensor, but a new GL three transmitter, which just has a few of the, you know, annoying, calibration tweaks that some people have, I think more vocal people than I have have, for sure lamented. So the the new transmitter is excellent and has fixed a lot of the challenges from the early days.   Stacey Simms  8:26 We talked to Medtronic a couple of weeks ago, and I'll link up that episode in the show notes here to go through all of the features and what's coming next. But it really is interesting how so often these companies and it's not just Medtronic, I would kind of compare it to Omnipod dash right so they have one version, then they almost have a stop gap, which has some improvements but isn't the big shiny thing that we're waiting for you know the if you're looking at the technology so carefully, which will be the 780 which is out in Europe and will be out soon. But you know, I have heard a couple of people who have used Medtronic for a long time like you have say the phone stuff would be nice but I don't really need it. And now that you have it, you really look at it more i mean i don't have diabetes and so I'm trying to get myself from following Benny so often to not looking at it 24 seven, but was it really that different for you to kind of just look at your phone more than your pump   Rob Howe 9:15 right now. I'm operating mostly from home so there isn't a you know, work meeting where I would feel better about pulling the phone out versus taking the pump out of my you know, pocket and I am an insulin pump in the pocket person so I don't wear like a holster or anything like that. And obviously Medtronic pumps have tubing, but I think it's nice to just be able to you know, you're on the phone all day all day. Anyway, I'll admit I spend a lot of time on my phone and being able to click over in the night. You know, I think that's been the time that I've used the app the most when you know in when I'm laying in bed,   Stacey Simms  9:47 I think it's huge to have it on the phone. My kid is a pump in the pocket kid too. And he would never look at it. If he didn't have to. He's on the phone and it would you say maybe a couple of directions. He it would be really a big deal. If he suddenly lost that which he hasn't even had for that long, right? Well, anyway, you get used to.   Rob Howe 10:04 Exactly. And I think that's where I think as consumers, and this is sort of my you know, before getting more and learning more about what goes into diabetes technology from a FDA approval standpoint, and all of the sort of hurdles that they have to go through, you know, I was sitting there streaming a movie on my iPhone on an airplane, and I'm like, wow, if I can stream a movie on my iPhone on an airplane, we for sure should be able to look at your blood sugar numbers on a phone. But I'm very much like Benny, I love the phone, very familiar with the interface, I use it quite a bit. So I think, you know, in terms of having that convenience, it's just so nice. It's kind of just takes away, you know, I think Medtronic has really done a nice job in past years. And also going forward of really relieving that mental burden and making diabetes integrated into your life. And this is definitely something that makes diabetes just more integrated in the way that you already use technology, the way that you're already on your phone. And I can get a push notification. Now my alert on high if I'm, you know, I got my high alert set at 160 get the alert on high, it pops up in my phone, just like a normal notification. And I can take care of it then. So yeah, I really love it. And I think that's kind of like what you said with Benny, you get really used to it really quickly of having it there and having those numbers all the time. So it's just nice to have it a little bit more integrated into our everyday life.   Stacey Simms  11:15 Are you a big auto mode guy? Do you use the features of the 670. And now the 770   Rob Howe 11:21 I am I stay in auto mode. I'm a big auto mode guy. And I think the criticisms that I see of it online are fair, and it's not perfect. And I think Medtronic has done a great job of talking about those, you know, initially, this was like 1.0 of the hybrid closed loop systems, you know, so the algorithm is now in technology world is a little dated. But now, like you said, mentioned 780 coming soon, in the US. You know, the next version of that, I think is really exciting. But for me, I'm an auto mode guy. And I think the the biggest example I'll give for listeners is I love to play golf, I have a weekly golf round that I play on Sunday mornings, and I set it on auto mode. And before auto mode, I would go out and you know, my basil would be what it was and I have to set a temp target or attempt basil and you know, even before cgms I just basically have to have gummy bears stashed in my golf bag. And on auto mode. Thankfully, you know, I go in with no insulin on board in the morning if my morning starts off really smooth. And I can go through my entire round walking or in the cart and not have to worry about correcting and not have to worry about high so it's it's really nice. I love auto mode. That Blue Shield gives me a lot of confidence.   Stacey Simms  12:25 That's awesome. It's funny though, looking at as we're recording this on video I can see into your house is basketball stuff all over the place. Now I know you're big basketball player. We've talked about that we talked in the past. So I'm interested that you brought up golf and rather than basketball.   Rob Howe 12:38 Well, you know, I'm aging gracefully, Stacy. Like, you know, I think I still love playing basketball. And I think that's one thing that sentimentally I think there's been so many terrible things that have been taken from us because of COVID. And the thing that's been really eating away at my heart, and my soul is not being able to play basketball and because it's just not safe. And I think in Dallas, especially we have so many cases and I've been able to do some training in a gym, by myself wearing a mask, but I just missed competing and I think golf, you know, you're competing against yourself. So it kind of scratches my itch a little bit. So that's been my COVID pivot.   Stacey Simms  13:14 That's awesome. I've been playing golf since I was 22. So I'll take you out sometime when we got   Rob Howe 13:18 ready to say no more. I'm ready.   Stacey Simms  13:22 You know, one of the things that really made me smile in the last couple of weeks was that terrific video you posted. Your it was it was announcing the partnership you have with Medtronic now but the video itself was so great. It was you know, if you haven't seen it, we'll link it up. How would you describe that like an athlete grabbing a sponsorship or getting recruited for a team?   Rob Howe 13:42 Yeah, you know, I, I was stuck on this concept of signing day. And this announcement, this announcement kind of felt like that. And for me, you know, I've worked with Medtronic for a number of years as an ambassador as a consultant. And now kind of deepening that partnership into a more formal role. It just came to mind. And I thought, you know, this is true to who I am as an athlete, and seems like a fun way for and you know, that's a big part of what we're working on together is doing some outside the box, maybe not traditional Medtronic type announcements. And I would classify this as sort of in that realm. And I'm just very fortunate that my team and Medtronic is so on board with hearing sort of outside the box ideas. And so getting to produce this fake press conference about my signing day and learning that there are no Medtronic hats and having to get a Medtronic hat made for me to put on so now I have like the one on one of one Medtronic cat, which I love. It was really cool. And the response was great. And again, I just I'm glad that my team didn't roll their eyes at the pitch. They were like, Oh, yeah, this actually sounds great. We'll we'll do this. And I can only imagine as it went through legal what legal was thinking of just reviewing that video, so very fun. That is funny. I   Stacey Simms  14:48 think I have one of the remaining animus shirts left in existence from what I used to do appearances for them.   Rob Howe 14:54 Yeah, you gotta gotta save that merge. It's like it's retro. You know?   Rob Howe 14:57 That's really funny.   Stacey Simms  15:04 Right back to Robin just a moment, but first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by g Volk, and almost everyone who takes insulin has experienced a low blood sugar and that can be scary. A very low blood sugar is really scary. That's where Jeeva kaipa pen comes in. It's the first auto injector to treat very low blood sugar. chivo hypo pen is pre mixed and ready to go with no visible needle. That means it's easy to use in usability studies, 99% of people were able to give GMO correctly. I'm so glad to have something new, find out more, go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the G book logo. g Vox shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma visit g VOCA glucagon comm slash risk. Now back to rob, and he is talking about new technology that he's looking forward to.   Rob Howe 15:52 I'm very excited about the integration of the phone as the software back end to the pumps and the devices. I think that adding diabetes technology to the Internet of Things is a huge milestone in healthcare. It's a huge milestone for people with diabetes. And it's just going to make this whole user experience more intuitive. I think the DIY loop community has shown how you know how powerful it can be when technology and people helping each other and really dialing in features that they need and that are important. And working with some of these larger manufacturers, I think kind of opened up this Pandora's box of questions for these bigger companies to ask themselves are our technologies right for our customers, are we meeting them where they are, and I'm sure as you encountered in your conversations with Medtronic, that's a big focus for them right now is meeting patients with diabetes where they are. So you know, you've seen this year now the acquisition of companion medical, to bring multiple daily injections into the Medtronic suite, which previously they were a pump company. And I think now they're really focusing themselves on being a diabetes technology company, which is cool. And I think it's good for patients good for Medtronic good all around?   Stacey Simms  17:01 Well, it's interesting, because for years, people were saying, you know, this stuff's got to look better, you live with it, it's on your body, you want it to look less like a medical device. And there was a lot of pushback from people within the community, as well as on the technical side, who were saying who cares, just make it work better. And I think we are at a place now at a point now where there is enough, even though there seems to be fewer pump companies, there's enough competition, that they do have to look good, they do have to feel better. I mean, I don't remember what you used when you were first diagnosed, but it's changed a lot in the Gosh, in the almost 14 years I've been he's been using an insulin pump, it's not a brick anymore.   Rob Howe 17:35 Right, it doesn't have a Gameboy screen, it doesn't look like a calculator, you know, I think all that really comes down to me is just user experience in general. And you look at iPhone, for example, and the transformative qualities that that piece of technology has had on society in general. And I think that that is sort of the the gold standard now and that filters down to healthcare companies, something that we talked about in my agency world is that, you know, most people, when they think of competition, they think of, you know, immediately in their industry, their top two or three competitors. for consumers, they don't look at it necessarily that way, they're looking at you online as your competition is Apple, and Chase, and Amazon. And if your online experience, if your device experience doesn't mirror those, and isn't on par with those companies, which is really unfair for a lot of businesses, a lot of brands, because they're they don't have the ability that or the scale or the infrastructure to deploy at that level. But if you're not on par with those companies, users will tune out, they're looking for best in class. So I think that's been a big shift for all the major diabetes technology companies, and I think outside of diabetes as well.   Stacey Simms  18:40 Alright, let's move on just one of those other issues, you and I saw a conversation online that we wanted to talk about, I think this was mostly on Twitter, where the word disabled or disability, it's interesting when using that with diabetes, because Ben, he was diagnosed before he was two. And all I heard for this first few years was he can do anything, it's not going to stop him. But then you get to school. And it's like, he needs a 504 plan because he has a disability. And he's covered. I have my own take on it. And I'm curious what you think is the person who lives with diabetes? Is that a bad word for you?   Rob Howe 19:11 You know, that's really interesting. I seen that conversation. I think I want first of all people to know that I see both sides. I think I see people who argue on one side or the other. I you are seeing and I think for me, it's very similar to your story of Benny, you know, I was told from the get go from the jump that whatever dreams you have for your life are still within reach. I have perpetuated that idea at the beginning of all of my talks, all of my messaging, I believe I'm living proof that you can do things with diabetes if you want to and take care of yourself. I mean, there's other factors involved, obviously, but at the same time, I think denying the fact that you're disabled denies all the hard work that you put into your life to stay alive every day. And let's be honest, I think none of us would put the amount of work mental, physical, financial into anything else that we put into diabetes without compensation, expected compensation or some sort of like just reward you know, and I think that's really where it nails home for me is like if you factually like scientifically, under the Americans with Disabilities Act or the ADA, people with diabetes have a disability. That doesn't mean that you can't do the things that you want to do. But it also doesn't mean that you're not disabled. And what really reinforced this for me was a few months ago, there is a documentary on Netflix called Pistorius, which is about Oscar Pistorius, the Olympian who was born with defects in his legs, and he runs on the Nike blades, the legs that that allow disabled runners to run. And he competed not only in the in the Paralympic Games, but also against non disabled athletes. But in this documentary, and obviously, tragically, he murdered his girlfriend, killed his girlfriend, and you know, is on permanent house arrest, I believe it was so interesting to see the rhetoric by which he referred to his situation, his disability, and he's like, I don't identify as disabled. And that was something that I think, in the early years of my life with diabetes, when I was a younger man, less gray hair. But I identified with that I was like, I don't want people to treat me differently, I want to show them that I can do this. But when you deny that disability, again, when you when you close yourself off from things like diabetes community, when you close yourself off from benefits, like your 504, when you close yourself off to identifying as disabled or taking advantage, God forbid, you don't take advantage of the concessions that have been granted to you because of the struggle and the burden that you're carrying because of this disease. You know, I think you close yourself off to all the work that you're doing. And that's really where I want people to know that like, hey, yeah, I at face value, am a fit, athletics, successful, quote, unquote, successful person with diabetes, but I very much identify with Own your disability, that doesn't make you and I think there's a lot of conversations about ableism that I think we as a culture need to do better about because I think you alienate people who are disabled by saying, Well, I'm not I don't identify as disabled or I have a disability, but I'm not disabled, I think those are our negative, you know, negatively affect people who you know, really identify as disabled. So I want to say like, I Rob, how professional athlete, you know, the guy who goes and speaks and it's like, you can do whatever you want, I identify as disabled, I am disabled, I have a disability, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to wake up tomorrow. And if my blood sugar's high, I'm just going to quit and be like, you know, what, sign our team, but it What it does mean is that I see you out there struggling, the burden of diabetes is taxing, I feel you, I see you. And I think it's better for all of us to just work harder on accepting the fact that with diabetes, you have a disability that allows you some advantages, and allows you access to some things that people without this disability don't have access to. And to deny yourself that is, I think, a disservice to yourself.   Stacey Simms  22:57 It's such an interesting topic, because you really centered on what bothers me the most about it. And that is that as a society, we look down on disabled people in our language and our actions, it's just baked in. And it's come out so much better in the last few years that we're even able to talk about it. You know, even in the elections, I never thought about that. You know how we don't help. We don't even make it equal access for people with disabilities. And so there's this whole society burden of not wanting to admit that we have anything wrong with us, because then we're stigmatized, it doesn't even it's not even just diabetes. But I also think that, you know, trying to raise a child with type one, many would never say, I don't think he would say even today, and you know, it's not it's his voice is not mine to speak for, I don't think he would say I have a disability, I don't think he would raise his hand like you were doing. But I do think that he should, because all of the fights that have gone before, you know, it's easy, or it's easy, it's never easy, but it's easier to be a elementary school kid or a middle school kid. Now with a pump or a CGM. And with all the education and with a 504, than it would have been in the 70s, or the 80s, when a kid was doing shots and couldn't leave to go to the bathroom, and we've heard all these horrible stories or an employee back then it wasn't protected. And I will say he's had an easier because he has a lot of access and a lot of privilege, you know, these words that we throw around, but he really does. He's got me as his mother with a big mouth and a microphone. But also, you know, I guess I'm trying to say is all that work that went into protecting people with disabilities, as you said, it's really important to honor now, and to understand that if you're a cashier, and this happened in North Carolina, and in other states, leave your cashier at the Piggly Wiggly, and you need to treat your blood sugar with juice, and they won't let you you're covered. You're not gonna lose your job, we're gonna get paid back. And that's the kind of coverage that I think we need to think more about. But I will tell you a funny story about how I didn't help me and I stand by this when we went to we've gone to Disney World many times never been to Disneyland. We live on the East Coast but we've been to Disney World many times. We've never used the disability pass or the guest assistance. Pass or whatever they call it. The reason is, because when we first started talking about it, it was presented to us like a reward. It was like, Oh, you have diabetes, you have this great thing, and you can cut all the lines. And it wasn't presented to me as, hey, Benny might have a low blood sugar or might have a high low blood sugar, you know, high situation, you might need it. And I said to myself, I'm a crazy Disney planner, like, I am good to go. We don't wait in lines, whenever because I plan it. I'm, I love it. So we never did it. And I've talked about this, I was called out on it at a conference, once we're just having a casual conversation, and somebody in their 20s said to me, you know, you're doing him a disservice, because you're teaching him that he shouldn't take advantage of what's out there. And I said, Well, he shouldn't because it's not a reward. And she said, it's not a reward. It's not like a golden ticket, it's there if he needs it. And if you don't need it, fine. But if he needs it, when he goes, he shouldn't feel bad about using it. And she reframed the whole thing for me, and we still haven't had to use it. But I have definitely been less judgmental, and Kinder about other parents that I know who have used it. So if you're somebody that I've, I've been snarky too. I apologize. That's what I think   Rob Howe 26:05 that speaks to your capacity to learn, Stacy, I mean, you know, we all this would be shocking, probably not to no one. But we don't always make the right decision. You know, and we learn new information. And we reframe conversations. And, you know, I'll piggyback on that I, when I was younger, I was traveling a lot for basketball. And I like to get on the plane early, because I was like, Oh, I'm flying Southwest, I'm in the the B section, I'm not going to get a great seat. But since I have diabetes, that's, that's all good, I can go get whatever seat that I want. And then I stopped doing that. And I did that bait for a couple of reasons. I think consciously, I would see people who needed real assistance to board the plane early. And I wanted to be respectful of their space. And whether it's wheeled wheelchair access, or, you know, just extra medical supplies, I find that the you know, like the the accommodation that is made on airlines for people with diabetes is mostly to make sure they can get their medical supplies nearby on with them. And I, for the most part, my supplies, because I'm a dude probably are always a smaller footprint than some of my lady counterparts. And also, maybe I'm just a little bit more of a free spirit and be like, Hey, you know what I'm going to take, I'm going to be out of town for a week, I'm going to take two or three infusion sets and a couple of miles Insulet in my backpack, and we're going to go for it. So it was always close by to me anyway, and all that to say I don't do it today. But I know it's an option. And if I feel like the flight is oversold, or I'm gonna have to make a quick connection, and I want to make sure that my medicine is within reach, I will take advantage of it because I know it's there. And I think having that knowledge and being willing to accept that assistance except those accommodations. And and knowing that that space is available for you is positive. Yeah,   Stacey Simms  27:51 I mean, for me, as I have learned and changed my mind, and I probably will continue to my philosophy is now if you need it, or think you might take it, it's there to help you if you think it's going to you know it be if there's someone else's more need. If you know you don't need something, right. It's like parking in a handicapped spot. When you really don't need it, you're driving your grandmother's card, it's got the ticket on it, and you're just like I'm in a hurry. Don't do that. Right. But you know, but if you need it, use it. And don't be embarrassed or ashamed. And I hope all of you don't even know how to if I'm even saying this the right way.   Rob Howe 28:27 I think there is there is shame wrongfully pointed out, people who look. And I think that's back to that sort of ableism narrative perpetuated in this country. You mentioned like the election. I'll give you another example. Governor Greg Abbott in Texas is in a wheelchair. He had a there was an accident when he was a child, and it caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. So while I don't agree with a lot of the things that he does, politically, I stay away. And there's been a very big movement online of people who disagree with him, staying away from the low hanging fruit of making fun of his wheelchair, and his disability, because that's not what makes him make poor decisions. from a policy standpoint. That's just the easiest, most that's just like a kid, when you're young kids pointed the first different thing that they can see. And oftentimes, that's very hurtful. But we are adults. And we can see that, you know, that that's unproductive. And I think, again, coming back to not not alienating anyone who has a disability. It's it's more focusing on policy and actual, you know, politics in the case of Governor Abbott that are detrimental to what's going on here, not his disability, I think his disability is completely off of the ballot.   Stacey Simms  29:37 Yeah, it should be it really should be in the diabetes, so much of what you all deal with is invisible, or, you know, you're able to make it invisible. So it's even harder in some ways. So I don't know. And I   Rob Howe 29:48 mean, I think even even on that point, there seemingly is a stigma to, you know, letting your diabetes be shown. And I think there's a lot of people who share they're now very proud of their cgms they're proud of their pumps. To wear them out. They're proud of sharing their numbers on social media. I you know, I get a lot of laughs from people sharing your 69 blood sugar's with me and, you know, I think that that sort of empowerment and saying hey I can I can be publicly facing with this and there's a community with that is great because, you know, look at me I'm like the poster child for some of the negative achievement culture things around diabetes I am you know, handsome white guy who used to have a six pack and you know, got to play sports and live his best life. And you know, he's not held down by his diabetes and what you don't see our bloody sights. And you know, all of the adhesive that you got to wipe off your arm after you change the site, or, you know, the feeling of less than after you're at a pool party pre COVID, and your site got too wet and you got pulled out really easily and you have to go home, you know, or just waking up on a vacation with a high blood sugar and it ruined your day. Like, those things don't always get shown. And I need to be better about sharing some of those low moments personally, on our platforms. But you know, just because you're not you don't look like a Olympic endurance champion with, you know, hollywood abs and a great tan and you know, living in your best life always time in range at 100%. If that doesn't sound like you, that's super okay. And I see you and that doesn't mean that your life with diabetes is less than I think there's there's downsides. And I and I've benefited a lot from achievement, culture and diabetes, but my love, I'm an I'm an achiever, that's what I try it. That's, that's sort of wired into me. And, you know, as I get older, I learn more about myself and why I do things. And I love following the rules. I love having a structure so I can try to achieve that's just what speaks to me.   Stacey Simms  31:40 Wait, I need to ask you though. Okay. I love everything. You've said, achievement culture, though. I'm not up on that as the world's worst diabetes. Mom. I mean, I'm kidding. But you know, I'm all about mistakes. And that's been my platform. And I mean, my brand, I have to call it that. But that's truly how I parent and I've never gone for more I'm what does it cheapen culture mean? Is that that you can do anything? Or I'm only showing the beautiful stuff? or What   Rob Howe 32:04 does that mean? I think that's part of it. I'll reinforce something that I'm sure will speak to you, in a way think about podcast guests. What's more interesting to someone who like at face value, we have two people, we've got a mom with three kids who gets her kids to school on time, leaves with diabetes, and you know, is just juggling a regular life. Or we have you know, two time Olympian bobsledder who, you know, has been around the world 50 times and you know, has been on the ESPN body issue or whatever the case, right? So at face value as a journalist, who are you going to pick for the more juicy story? Yeah, the bobsled guy, the guy, the boss like guy. And I don't know, any type ones that bobsled. So I think it's a good sport, because I'm not singling anybody out in particular. But I think as a diabetes community, I have also been guilty of like, Oh, I'm in this position where I can go speak or I can have, you know, people follow me and they follow the podcast, and I get these opportunities to represent people with diabetes. So I got into this sort of negative pattern of thinking where I was like, What do I have to do next? Like, what is my, I've already given my podcast, talk to all these jdrf chapters? Well, they're not going to invite me back next year to give the same talk, I've got to do something else that achieve something else. So like, right now, even the talk that I give is called from professional basketball player to professional diabetic. And inherently in that title, while it is good, and people click on it is ableism. And it's like, oh, you're only worth speaking at these events. If you achieve something crazy, like proven playing pro sports. And I think I'm really trying to be more aware and more, not cautious is the wrong word. But just more mindful of the things that I say and the things that I do that are rooted in an achievement culture that rewards extraordinary feats, and also tends to erase living a normal life and making that unsuccessful.   Stacey Simms  33:56 I'm going to arm chair psychologize on why it didn't resonate with me, moms aren't allowed to have achievement culture, we are not allowed. And I'm using that term very loosely, because Screw it, I'll do whatever I want. You won't allow me. But truly, if my brand was the best diabetes, Mom, I got it right. And you don't or professional mom, right? You're not going to see anybody talking about that, because we don't talk about moms that way. And I think that's, I know, this isn't about me, I'm glad to have you on as a guest. But I couldn't help but share that because of what you said, I was thinking to myself, How on earth would I achieve something like that? Or what can i and it's really interesting to think about it in those terms. And I think a lot of diabetes moms, what resonates with us is you know, oh, I'm the worst I made a mistake. I'm failing my kid, I got a report card. You know, it's all this negative talk. And that's a problem in and of itself. And you got other things to work on. You got to worry about. I'm succeeding. I'm great. You want to bring me to talk because I'm doing so well. It's so fascinating how we can do this.   Rob Howe 35:00 You know, and I think too, you know, speaking to diabetes moms, which I love, and I think that's a demographic of people, I never thought I would get to meet as intimately as I have. And, you know, I think people like me, and people who achieve are great to show to kids, you know, because hey, look at look at Rob, he's living his best life. He has a podcast, he talks about diabetes, he's not embarrassed. And I live for those moments where I can be the person that I needed when I was 16 years old, and have somebody who's accessible and wants to give back and wants to have those hard conversations and can say, you know what, I do see you man, like, you know, your 16 year mom doesn't know what's going on. You don't want to talk to her. And somehow I managed to remain young looking enough that I can communicate with somebody, hopefully,   Stacey Simms  35:43 you when you talk, you're like with Newsela What are you like, 30?   Rob Howe 35:46 I'd like 32. So yeah, I mean, I see. But you know, Stacy, you're not on tik tok. Right, you know, you know, if you put me on Tick tock, I'd be so canceled. I can't dance. You know, I mean, so I think for me, I just want to try to remain like as tuned into what people with diabetes are going through, that they may not even be aware of. And I think this is in this sort of chronic, all the chronic things that we're juggling, I think chronic focus on achievement, within, you know, some of the diabetes online community cultures is important for us to call out and I think I've benefited from it. And it's important for me, it's important to me, that I make sure to bring people in, who maybe haven't benefited from it and use that to highlight important stories, because you know, what's crazy, and surprised me back to the podcast example, when I first started, and I was really, really digging into what episodes are resonating with people, the one that was far and away the most resonant of my first like 15 episodes, was really the most simple basic, it was a story of a type one mom and how she prepared for her first and second pregnancies with T one D. And, you know, for me at the time, like a 27 year old jock tech bro. I was like, you know, it was a great conversation. And my my friend, Lindsay, who's my friend in real life, did an amazing job. But I never would have guessed that that would be the one that would have taken off of the first group. And it wasn't necessarily the achievers. It's the people who achieve in spite of there being no big reward publicly.   Stacey Simms  37:15 Yeah, well, I think we need and I know you'll agree with this, we need everybody in this community, right? We need the people who go up Mount Everest meet the people sitting at the desk job. But what has resonated with my listeners is anybody they can learn from. And I think it's interesting. And especially at first you want those high, high achieving successful people, those Olympians, and those rock stars, because as a parent of a kid, you can look at this person and say, Okay, this person was type one is super successful. So my kid probably has a pretty good chance of being a mid level executive, you know, at Staples, or whatever, right? They're going to be okay, or IBM, I shouldn't, whenever IBM even exists anymore, I'll show my age. But, you know, we do need those other people who have shown us how it's done something as complicated as a pregnancy with type one to something as simple as, it's not really that simple. But how did you transition from elementary school to middle school with your kid, right? Those are the things that we all want to learn. And I think what's really cool about social media, and somebody like you who's you know, super big on Instagram, and all that stuff, is you get to show, as you said, the cool looking stuff, but you know, it looks great, it looks perfect, but then it's also a chance to show all those crummy site changes. And those days when you don't feel good. And you don't have to polish it all up. I mean, you just snap a picture or talk about an Instagram. And you do that all the time. I think it's great.   Rob Howe 38:29 Yeah, it's new. You know, I think maybe I've even mentioned it before in this pod. But in 2018, at ADA, I found this poster board study in the in the poster Hall, talking about the ANC outcomes and involvement in the diabetes online community. I mean, just that sort of osmosis of encountering people with diabetes on a regular basis, and the things that they do makes you better at diabetes, I don't know. It's just it's normalizing. And I think that's what's so important, and what the Internet has brought. And I think even still, I'm even more learning about sort of the micro communities and diabetes, where you're able to find people that look like you people that are interested in the things that you're looking for. And otherwise, like, where would you find those people. And you go back to when Benny was diagnosed, you basically had the only people in your immediate area were the people that you could stay in contact with early blogs, maybe kind of just starting to sprout. And now you can just go to some of these big diabetes accounts and search for people or look on the hashtag and look at the locations and say, well, wow, there's somebody with diabetes there. You know, I got to be a part of this really great campaign this summer with express a global brand, you know, and   Stacey Simms  39:34 Oh, yeah. Wait a second. Wait a second. Tell me about that. Because that wasn't diabetes, you're like this, like a model? I mean, right. Or model. What was that? That was amazing.   Rob Howe 39:42 I can I guess I can put like publish model on my resume. Now. You know, what's cool about that campaign, and first of all, the Express team was really great to work with. They're all pros. And I think just hearing sort of the creative outline of what they were trying to do as a person with diabetes as a person with a disability as a person with something that makes them different, was just really cool to be there representing people with diabetes. So they sent out like a cold casting call, it had a bunch of stuff, as you know, or maybe not like, I'm very interested in fashion, I love style is something that I just I don't know why you   Stacey Simms  40:16 post your outfits on Instagram,   Rob Howe 40:19 feel free to gather fit pics are my thing. I love them. And you know, my wife and I are currently you know, just having a turf war over who needs more closet space. And I will not lose, I will not lose that, that I just don't put it on put on record. But the cool thing about Express was they said, Hey, we're looking for people who are on Instagram, but it's not a requirement. We're looking for people who have some sort of social good or community type. It's not required. We're looking for people who have an interest in fashion, but it's not required. And I was like, wait a minute, I have all three of those things. Let me like really try to get this. And so it was a cold call. I put together a pretty good application and response. And then I set it and forget it. And like it was 90 days later until they got back to me. And I sort of put it out of my mind. And they said, Hey, Rob, like, we're really excited to have you part of this campaign. Like, can you talk on this day? And I was like, wait a minute, did I book it? And they said, Yes. And so it was really cool to be able to out a big panel. I know, first of all, I was all over the world. inexpressive. I mean, it was a year of COVID, obviously, so not as many people saw me, but like on the front page of Express calm, very visible. And I was not just a model, I was representing myself, I was like Rob, like, hey, Rob is the Express model, and he lives with diabetes. And that was something I had never experienced on a mainstream level before. It's one thing to go to these diabetes events and celebrate those all together. But to be different on a panel full of other amazing superstars, frankly, like, who have achieved way more than I have. I was there as a person with diabetes. And I got to talk about like at base level what type 1 diabetes is and talking about the insulin affordability and talking about what it's like to have an insulin pump attached to your body at all times. And to see people be like, wow, I had no idea about any of that was just really cool to be a part of and like tan France from queer. I was the host on one with tan France. It was unbelievable.   Stacey Simms  42:07 Was he nice?   Rob Howe 42:08 Oh, yeah. Oh, how can he he's like he was so giving. He seems like the nicest guy, an absolute Pro. And honestly, I've done a lot of interviews. I was admittedly not really super nervous for our conversation today. Because I know you and I figured it would be nice and easy, but I was like sweating bullets. Getting ready in my like this in this office in here for 10. France. I was like, like, What's my name? Like? What do I do just like to make sure I don't stumble, you know, but it was a really awesome experience. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity. And, you know, hopefully it's the the first of many. That's awesome. You know,   Stacey Simms  42:39 I worked at Express. When I was in college, I worked at the express in the carousel center mall in Syracuse. So if you shopped there in 1991 or 92, I helped you out. Not you, Rob, you're looking like you're looking through the time. You were not there. It might be wondering. Well, the   Rob Howe 42:57 thing I was actually thinking about is my wife was born in Cheryl in New York. So he was born in 1991. So maybe her mom this call   Rob Howe 43:05 is over?   Rob Howe 43:06 Yeah. Yeah, sorry. Technical difficulties were not cut off. But yes, my wife is a is younger than I am. Which is really funny. And yeah, that's a small world. I didn't know that. You had the upstate New York time?   Stacey Simms  43:19 Oh, yes. I went to Syracuse University. And then my first job was in Utica. And then I moved back to Syracuse for my another job. And then I came to Charlotte where I am now. I was up there for 10 years in the snow.   Rob Howe 43:30 Oh man. very snowy. Very Yeah.   Stacey Simms  43:31 But I grew up. I grew up in New York, so not too far.   Rob Howe 43:33 People were asking me like, so do you shop at Express. And I said, You know, I haven't shopped there recently as much. But when I was getting my first job, and I needed to get rid of my college, bro clothes and like, put on some real professional clothes I went to express so it was like cool to be like, oh, they're like, yeah, like, that's a big part of the consumer that we're trying to reach. And you know, really people who have an interest in fashion, this is a first step for them. And it was it was cool to be very, I felt very seen and very, the team that express was awesome.   Stacey Simms  44:01 That's terrific. Yeah, I worked there. And then I got a job at a radio station in Syracuse. And then that was the end of that. never looked back and worked weekends. Why are   Rob Howe 44:09 you found it you found your Yeah,   Stacey Simms  44:12 I knew what I wanted to do was very cool. Are you going to be working on things like that is modeling something you would like to continue to pursue or the fashion industry?   Rob Howe 44:20 Yeah, tell me what you're advertising I do to being a model for Express wasn't on my vision board for 2020. But I don't know, it was cool. It was just just to be a part of it to, you know, be in front of camera. Like you mentioned, I work in advertising and have been parts of shoots like this, behind the camera and working on the campaign and working on the creative direction, but to be in front of the camera and kind of collaborate with people whose jobs I know intimately. And it was a very small crew because of COVID. And they came they came to Dallas and it was cool to just be able to be in a small collaborative group of people who like I was just a photographer, the director and the videographer and myself. And we just got to hang out all day and talk about ideas and be creative and Yeah, I think I would love to do that again.   Stacey Simms  45:01 Nice. You know, we've been talking for a long time, I didn't even ask you or congratulate you on your wedding, which happened this year. Yeah. So congratulations on that. That's Thank you big, big,   Rob Howe 45:10 wiseguy big fan of my wife.   Stacey Simms  45:13 Good to hear good to hear what's up with you all in 2021. I mean, you're moving ahead with Medtronic. Moving on with the ad agency, you are married, man. I mean, 2020 was a difficult year, let's admit that. But any anything on top, I think I'm almost afraid to plan for 2021 in a way,   Rob Howe 45:29 me too. I I don't want to get too far ahead of my skis, you know, I think we are still a ways away of putting COVID completely behind us. And I also want to be very present in like, how What a tragedy it is. And I think even personally, within my friend group, there's been some very recent developments that are just awful. So I think we need time to heal. And I think we need time to, you know, mourn sort of our old selves, you know, like it or not one way or the other, we're all different because of 2020. And hopefully, we can build sort of on the ashes of everything and be better to each other longer term. We got some cool projects. I think this this question came from Peter from the, from the Instagram story that I posted the other day. And, you know, we're I have a cool series that I'm working on called more than a diabetic, which is going to be debuting next year with some awesome community members. So that's up first. You know, in terms of brand partnerships, obviously, Medtronic has a couple other long term partners that I've had that I want to do some deeper, cooler campaigns with, I'm sort of in a, I don't need new stuff I really want to care for and sort of nurture my existing relationships. And my existing, I don't know whether partnerships are you know, I have my a lot of irons in the fire, I don't need more irons, I need to just really focus on you know, my relationship with my wife, my relationship, my family, my my two businesses, and really focusing on being a good steward of what we have and continuing to do, right for people with diabetes. That sounds like a great plan. I want to have some fun, you know?   Stacey Simms  46:55 Yeah, definitely. And hopefully, we can see each other again and travel a little bit towards the end of the year. And I would just love that. That would be wonderful for me.   Rob Howe 47:03 Yeah. If I want to manifest anything for 2021, I put my hands in the air because I'm manifesting this my manifesting. Okay, if you're listening, you're missing out. I want to go on a honeymoon with my wife in 20. Oh, love that. That would be a fun thing. Travel, you got my wheels turning, I love to travel. And I have missed that sort of being held down at the house this year. So Excellent. Well,   Stacey Simms  47:22 I hope we can do that. I'll keep you posted on anything I can help with. Thank you so much for spending some time with me, Rob, it's always fun to catch up. And you caught me, you know, me talking more than I usually do on these interviews, I think but thank you.   Rob Howe 47:33 I like that. I think it's just the my inner interviewer. And, you know, thank you for all the work that you put in Diabetes Connections. I think when you're a diabetes mom, there's so much work that goes into that anyway, and I just applaud people like you. And then frankly, there aren't that many like you at this point. You've been doing this a long time and do a great job. So I hold you in high regard. I'll just leave it at that you do a great job and I appreciate you.   Stacey Simms  47:55 Well, that's very good. Thanks, Rob.   Announcer 48:02 You're listening to Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.   Stacey Simms  48:08 I'll link up lots more information about the topics we spoke about, especially the Medtronic pump if you'd like more information on that, and you can go back just a couple of episodes. We had the folks Medtronic on in the fall of 2020. To go through all of the details. I'll link that up in this episode as well. And I'll put a link into Rob's Instagram where you can see everything we talked about. He is quite prolific on Instagram and his wonderful wedding photos, the modeling, even the Medtronic signing announcement that I kind of teased him about there. It was great to talk to him and I hope it was okay that I talked so much. It was odd to be on the other side of the microphone, but it was fun to hopefully you enjoyed it as well. We are going to have my favorite segment of the week coming up Tell me something good. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dexcom. It is so hard to believe with Benny 16 years old now, almost six feet tall that he was ever a toddler. And I mean it was also just like it was yesterday. It's bananas. When you have a toddler diagnosed with type one. You do hear rumblings for a long time about the teen years people start scaring you about that right away. But when it hit us at full force a little early, I was really glad we had Dexcom Benny's insulin needs started going way up around age 11 and along with the hormone swings all the growth, I cannot imagine managing diabetes without the dexcom continuous glucose monitoring system. We can react more quickly to highs and lows. see trends adjust insulin doses with advice from our endocrinologist. I know using the Dexcom g six has helped improve Benny's agency and his overall health. If your glucose alerts and readings for the G six do not match symptoms or expectations, use a blood glucose meter to make diabetes treatment decisions. To learn more Just go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Dexcom logo.   I got a bunch of Tell me something good submissions this week. So if you are not featured and you popped one into the Facebook group. Please stay tuned I will be sharing them in the weeks to come. Corinna posted a great article from Washington and New laws taking effect this year from Washington State caps the cost of insulin at $100 per month health plans issued or renewed after January 1 2021. Must cap Insulet co pays deductibles and other forms of cost sharing at $100 per 30 day supply. I'll link up that article and I do think we're gonna see more and more legislative action this year and next year when it comes to insulin so Corinna thanks for sharing that and Corinna’s blog also got an honor. Recently, she writes type two musings, and she was featured in an article on everyday health about the top type two diabetes blogs to watch this year. So I'll link that up as well if you haven't checked her out. She's a longtime advocate and blogger in the diabetes community. Thanks for sharing that. And just a little good news from Carol Who says I discovered the secret to five sites use six millimeter cannula instead of nine millimeter, whatever works. The thigh site is one that Benny has struggled with. He just does not like it. He's done it here and there over the years. And you know, it's just not his favorite. So Carol, I'm really glad that that worked. You know, we used a longer canula for a while and if you're not familiar for not a pumper. So the canula is how the pump gets the insulin infuses the insulin under the skin, you have usually an inserter of some kind, it puts a needle under the skin immediately withdraws and leaves a tiny canula six millimeter or nine millimeter under the skin where the insulin drips through when Benny was 10 or 11. And we kind of noticed his insulin use going way up. We didn't really think about the cannulas and the insets being overwhelmed. We thought well, maybe we just need to use a longer inset maybe it's a problem with scar tissue. And we switched to the nine millimeter for a couple of months. It made zero difference for him. It was one of the things that led us to untethered, which if you're new to the show, we used a combination of long acting and pumping for two years when Benny's insulin needs went way, way, way up. And it took a lot of the strain off the inset. It helped him measurably it was just wonderful. His insulin needs have gone down. He is 16. He is coming out of puberty. And so we are off untethered. But I didn't mean to be under there, Carol. Sorry. Thank you so much for sending that in. And I'll add something good in that Benny has started back with wrestling practice. Now this season is going to nothing like any season in the past. I'm not sure they'll ever even actually wrestle for the rest of this school year. But we're back practicing. They are either indoors with masks, I think when they're outdoors, they're wearing masks depending on where they are and how close they are together. But he is really psyched to be back with the wrestling team and working hard. And he's really been working hard all this year. And I'm really proud of him. I don't like to say too much. I'm very superstitious. I'm knocking on wood even as I'm talking, which is why I don't brag about him more. But isn't that ridiculous, but I am superstitious, but he is doing well. And it's cool to have the wrestling practices back again. So that's my Tell me something good. Please feel free to email me with your good news or post in the Facebook group when I ask and just tell me something good.   One of the conversations we had in the Facebook group recently was about predictions for the new year. And I meant to give mine during the last episode, I want to put this on tape so you can laugh at me. We can play it back next year and see if I cut anything right. So here were my predictions. And this was about diabetes technology. I'll go big. I think we're gonna get Tandem bolus by phone approved that has been submitted according to investor calls, I think we're gonna get that approved and rolled out by third quarter of 2021. I think we're gonna get Dexcom g7 approval and rolled out by the third quarter of 2021 as well, that one I don't think has been submitted yet. So that one might be a little bit more hopeful. But come on. I do also think no direct to watch. Sorry, for g7 I still think you'd have to use a phone. But I do predict that the DIY crowd will find a way to crack it. And you'll be able to go direct from the g7 transmitter to a watch. That's very, very helpful. And it's also set up with zero knowledge about what it would take to do something like that. Love you guys. I have no idea. I think you're all geniuses. I think we're gonna get Omni pod five powered by horizon. Not until the fourth quarter. I think they're just a little bit behind only because I mean COVID delayed everything and my understanding is that have not submitted yet. Omni pod folks, you are more than welcome to come on the show. I'd love to get an update about that. Let me know. And I do think we'll also see another viable CGM competitor ready for submission to US FDA by the end of the year by the end of 2020. I think it will be submitted.   So those are my technology predictions. I think, as I've said, really, in this episode in many in the past, I think this is going to be a big year for conversation and education about insulin pricing, not just because the democrats are in charge in DC because let's face it, they didn't do anything last time around about insulin pricing, but I am very encouraged by the education and the advocacy. Frankly, the impatience among many people I'm seeing now, I think it is going to be different than last time around. Look, don't misunderstand my comment. Nobody said anything about insulin pricing for 30 years under any administration, it h

Today we discuss a passage from The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. I (Rob) love this book and the many thoughts that spring from it. Join us as we chat about life’s dragons. Support us: The Internet Safe Cell: http://gabbwireless.com/promo/TWOLIGHTS Get $10 off when you use promo code: TWOLIGHTSFind us on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twolightspodcast/ Twitter: @Twolightspod Email: TwoLightsPodcast@Gmail.com Web page: https://twolightspodcast.buzzsprout.com/ Mister Exposition by Kevin MacLeod Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109

This week we talk about the newly opened Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and Mickey Short Theaters, but I (Rob) manage to keep it spoiler free! Then we touch upon a serious subject for a bit and talk about the parks and the Coronavirus. Have a GBBT (+1971.10) Check out Christine's Discord here! Want to support The TTA Podcast & look rad while doing it? The TTA Podcast T-Shirts! The TTA Podcast Pin!  Have a question for us or your own two cents on a topic? Leave a message over at the TTA Podcast website or leave a message at (516) 900-4628.  Find us on the internet! The TTA Official Unofficial Subreddit! Rob's Disney History Channel Christine's YouTube Channel Rob's Twitter Christine's Twitter Rob's Vlog Channel Rob's Patreon! Rob Plays Pins!

Welcome back to the 16th episode of the All We Hear Is Purple podcast. We were without Gabey this week, so Andrew sounded the Horn of Gondor and I (Rob) came running to help fill in for our missing compatriot. The big news of the week is of course the early signing period, which Andrew and I discuss in great detail. That, and we also preview Washington's matchup this Saturday against Boise State in the Las Vegas bowl. Topics include: The early signing period Washington's 23 signed recruits Our favorite recruits and sleeper picks in this class 5* Sav'ell Smalls The Las Vegas Bowl What to look for The final score/outcome And as always, what is going on this week that you should go see/read/watch/do? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vanessa and I (Rob) are very excited to start this podcast! Join us as we both bring topics to the table and discuss them for your entertainment! You can send us your topics and questions that we can discuss through our Twitter account: https://twitter.com/crazytalkpod Rob's Twitter: https://twitter.com/InduoRob The music is made by my buddy Josh, you can follow him and listen to his Album 'Stillness'! Josh's Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoshPevehouse Josh's album 'Stillness': https://open.spotify.com/album/77QSDiNPGFVXxndfNv5Dq5?si=V8VpBp3zTYSVp9g94wGnPw --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/crazytalk/message

I (Rob) met Chad Prince in late 2018 at Perry Marshall’s Paradigm Shift ad writing workshop. At the workshop we spent two days working on Perry’s Swiss Army Knife ad writing method. We wanted to know: with enough creative minds in the room, could we quickly write 50 or 100 very different ads? Listen now to learn: The big hole people get stuck in when writing ads How to apply the 80/20 principle to your ad testing How to test a wide variety of ads without spending a fortune How to kill ineffective ads quickly How to accelerate the ads learning curve How the Swiss Army Knife works How to employ accelerated human creativity Why to test both positive AND negative emotions How to avoid getting emotionally attached to your ads How to convert high-performing email subject lines into Google or Facebook ads How to create banner ads on Google without a graphic designer Why you’re ‘farming’ your ads, not setting and forgetting Links Perry Marshall’s Swiss Army Knife tool training is available here. Perry’s 80/20 Sales and Marketing book (mentioned by Chad) is here. The Swiss Army Knife tool (also mentioned by Chad) is here. Chad’s email address is cp@chadprince.com.

What's up podcast! In today's episode Will and I (Rob) talk all about personal brand-building. Building a personal brand can be a daunting task when just starting out, so Will and I created today's episode to give you some super important takeaways that are worth keeping in mind. ________________________________________ What's up podcast! Welcome to The Tricast Experience, hosted by young Entrepreneur, Philosopher, and Creative Marketer Robert Taylor Davidson and fellow Entrepreneur, Creative Director, and YouTube Vlogger Will Higley. On this audio program you’ll encounter our “in the trenches” hot takes and point of views from our young, entrepreneurial journey in the video production, creative marketing, and e-commerce industries. We talk about current marketing, artistic, and general business developments, mixed with interviews with opinion-leaders and bar-talk on topics such as ethics, culture, and local interests. ________________________________________ Like what you listened to? Get connected with us and give us a follow on social so you can tell us what you loved most! Our Website: Click Here Will’s Youtube: Click Here Rob’s LinkedIn: Click Here The Triangle Company LinkedIn Page: Click Here The Triangle Company Facebook Page: Click Here The Circle Community Facebook Group: Click Here The Triangle Company Instagram Page: Click Here Rob Davidson’s Instagram Page: Click Here Will Higley’s Instagram Page: Click Here Spotify Playlist: Click Here Spotify Podcasts: Click Here

Finnegan returns....again. Yes, we still love Finnegan. Yes, we talk often. Yes, he's still basically Andy Dwyer from the TV show Parks and Rec. Listen in for an update on Mike's life, car projects, and ability to appreciate "dad jokes" on the new Avengers movie! So, big news! In this episode you get to hear from not one, but TWO unbelievable Dukes of Hazzard stunt performing super-heroes. We just interviewed Jack Gill himself - the man that went through the barn on the Dukes and was the guinea-pig of the jump vest. That vest is what stopped people from breaking their backs and is still in use today! Jack worked on the DUkes, Knight Rider, Fast and Furious, and is a wealth of knowledge. The edited interview will release next week but a sneak peek is here for you now. The FULL intervew is already out for our Patreon supporters! Details below for that. Following Jack, listen in to a past interview I (Rob) did with Corey Eubanks in 2011. It's pretty eye opening to the life and times of what he did back in the day. Enjoy!    Patreon Peeps, your April 2019 Q&A show has dropped as has the full length interview with Jack Gill! Just click the link below or check your Patreon app to listen to both, plus every single past release for Patreon supporters only as well. As we shared in the April show....the future of Kibbe and Friends really is likely built around Patreon. Thank you SO MUCH to those of you who have joined in and also to those of you who have chosen to increase your contribution! We're working hard to start finding even more ways to reward every level - with extra perks for those at the $10 level especially. The reality is, without you all this show can't happen. Thank you!! To get in on the action and support the show with a minor financial contribution just click the link below to sign up and get started! We have $5, and $10 monthly options available. You ROCK! Visit www.patreon.com/kfshow to get in on the fun. The post K&F Show #108: Mashup Extravaganza: Finnegan, Jack Gill’s Interview Preview, and Corey Eubanks! first appeared on The Muscle Car Place.

Charmies, season 2 of Charmed is almost upon us but we thought we would say hello and give you a little tease as what is to come of our indie show. We review Shawn's initial thoughts of season 1 and what he expects to see going forward. I (Rob) allowed him one question and possible spoiler of Season 2. What question do you think he asked? We also reveal the Ultimate Charmie Hot Man Meter list of hot men of season 1. Enjoy our teaser of Brunch with the Halliwells. Season 2 begins Feb. 10th Rate and Comment on your favorite podcast app - Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Ijvtj4skgvhztp6ggchd6tt7sbu Anchor FM: https://anchor.fm/bwthpodcast Itunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/brunch-with-the-halliwells/id1434416319?mt=2 Follow us on social media: Instagram - brunchwiththehalliwells Twitter - @bwthpodcast Second Podcast Instagram - Moviegeekandproud Twitter - @mgnppodcast Theme song provided by Purple Planet Music - Darkness https://soundcloud.com/purpleplanetmusic

This week I (Rob) am retelling my tales of what Disney World is like during the holiday madness. We also talk about Aladdin, new land at Disney, and Mary Poppins! Soarin' - Legs Out Arms Out! And to all celebrating next week, have a safe and jazzy Christmas! Want to support The TTA Podcast & look rad while doing it? The TTA Podcast T-Shirts!  Have a question for us or your own two cents on a topic? Leave a message over at the TTA Podcast website or leave a message at (516) 900-4628.  Find us on the internet! The TTA Official Unofficial Subreddit! Rob's Disney History Channel Rob's Vlog Channel Rob's Patreon! Christine's YouTube Channel Rob's Twitter Christine's Twitter

Welcome to the first installment of 'Rob's Tech Tape'. This is where I (Rob) cover all the nerdy tech questions that you have about professional motorcycle road racing. I read rulebooks in my spare time, go over every tech article, and listen to every crew chief interview I can find. So I'm not completely full of it :D. I kind of went overboard with selecting questions. But you asked them on Instagram and Facebook, so I'm going to answer them.If you have any more tech questions or if you think I got anything seriously wrong, leave some comments on social media for BrotoGP. I'll be making these videos as long as you keep asking questions!

This episode is sponsored by GREATS, makers of the all-time GREATS -- classic, stylish, and comfortable sneakers sold at a great price! Visit GREATS.com - and use the code KAFS on checkout! OK, if you have never ever seen this movie before, I (Rob) can tell you all you need to know to want to go watch it: this movie is why Finnegan is Finnegan. Seriously. Check it out. Watch the motive and tell me I'm wrong. That aside, this move is the story if high school shy guy Layne Meyer, and his desire to win back his long lost girlfriend Beth after she dumped him for the Captain of the High School Ski Team. Along the way Layne befriends the french speaking foreign exchange girl, she fixed his awesome '67 Camaro so he can finally defeat the Asian brothers in a drag race, and Booger from Revenge of the Nerds delivers the classic line that forever changed America, "Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn." Oh, and the kid that wants $2 for deliver papers is in it. And so in Winchester from M*A*S*H. And a hamburger plays Eddie Van Halen's guitar. The post K&F Show #48: Our Amazing Review of Better Off Dead: Go that Way, Really Fast. If Something Gets in Your Way, Turn! first appeared on The Muscle Car Place.

Spreaker Live Show #115 for June 7th, 2017Show Today:-New Podcaster Fears and Frustrations-What is a “podcast?” Am I one or Not on Spreaker?-Is content you only upload to YouTube a podcast?-Is there such a thing as a Live Podcast?-Seems over my head to understand how to podcast!-Listener CommentsShow Duration: 58 minutesHost: Rob Greenlee, Head of Content, Spreaker @robgreenlee - rob(at)spreaker(dotcom)Co-Host: Alex Exum, Host of “The Exum Experience Podcast” on SpreakerSpreaker Retreat in Bologna, Italy next week. No Spreaker Live Show next weekI was on the “Onward Nation Podcast” this week “Episode 507: The strategy of being helpful, with me”http://onwardnation.com/rob-greenlee/Play a 4 minute clip from the show - I explain my background and how I got started in radio/podcasting On the show today:We discuss the Most Common “New Podcaster Fears and Frustrations”Then we chat about last week’s “Listener Comments” Starting a podcast is not always easy, we at Spreaker make it as easy as possible, but even we present frustrations to the process because you must learn how to use the platform. I (Rob) spends a lot of time each week with new podcasters to help them get through these Frustrations and Fears. Every podcaster has some of these fears and frustrations.. I still have them after 13 years of podcasting. “Frustrations with learning all the tools and processes needed to start and operate successful podcast” “What is a “podcast?” Am I one or Not on Spreaker?” “Is content you only upload to YouTube and Do Live on Facebook a podcast?”“Is there such a thing as a Live Podcast?”“I hate it when my volume levels are all over the map in my show” “I am scared to setup an RSS Feed, is Intimidating”“I don’t like my voice and cannot listen to it, no one else will like either”“What is and How do I get quality cover art? “Scared about doing a podcast and no one listens or friends judge me” “How do I do mobile on the road recordings and the setup needed?” “People will hate my show”“Scared to learn all that needs to be learned to podcast”“What will my boss think if he learns I have a podcast?” “What microphone should I get?” “Who and How do I get my show into all the listening platforms?”“How do I get a Skype caller on my show?” Listener Comments: Tamara FordGreat show gentlemen. Alex, I totally agree with you about satellite radio, I'm surprised the services are still alive. I'd NEVER pay for it. I rarely listen to the radio. I stream podcasts on my phone using a few different apps, connected to my car via Bluetooth. I also listen to audiobooks. Linda IrwinI actually up-load everything in 44.1 *.wav so that it will be better when it compresses than if it is double encoded as *.mp3.Linda IrwinI am addicted to coffee, too.

Spreaker Live Show #115 for June 7th, 2017Show Today:-New Podcaster Fears and Frustrations-What is a “podcast?” Am I one or Not on Spreaker?-Is content you only upload to YouTube a podcast?-Is there such a thing as a Live Podcast?-Seems over my head to understand how to podcast!-Listener CommentsShow Duration: 58 minutesHost: Rob Greenlee, Head of Content, Spreaker @robgreenlee - rob(at)spreaker(dotcom)Co-Host: Alex Exum, Host of “The Exum Experience Podcast” on SpreakerSpreaker Retreat in Bologna, Italy next week. No Spreaker Live Show next weekI was on the “Onward Nation Podcast” this week “Episode 507: The strategy of being helpful, with me”http://onwardnation.com/rob-greenlee/Play a 4 minute clip from the show - I explain my background and how I got started in radio/podcasting On the show today:We discuss the Most Common “New Podcaster Fears and Frustrations”Then we chat about last week’s “Listener Comments” Starting a podcast is not always easy, we at Spreaker make it as easy as possible, but even we present frustrations to the process because you must learn how to use the platform. I (Rob) spends a lot of time each week with new podcasters to help them get through these Frustrations and Fears. Every podcaster has some of these fears and frustrations.. I still have them after 13 years of podcasting. “Frustrations with learning all the tools and processes needed to start and operate successful podcast” “What is a “podcast?” Am I one or Not on Spreaker?” “Is content you only upload to YouTube and Do Live on Facebook a podcast?”“Is there such a thing as a Live Podcast?”“I hate it when my volume levels are all over the map in my show” “I am scared to setup an RSS Feed, is Intimidating”“I don’t like my voice and cannot listen to it, no one else will like either”“What is and How do I get quality cover art? “Scared about doing a podcast and no one listens or friends judge me” “How do I do mobile on the road recordings and the setup needed?” “People will hate my show”“Scared to learn all that needs to be learned to podcast”“What will my boss think if he learns I have a podcast?” “What microphone should I get?” “Who and How do I get my show into all the listening platforms?”“How do I get a Skype caller on my show?” Listener Comments: Tamara FordGreat show gentlemen. Alex, I totally agree with you about satellite radio, I'm surprised the services are still alive. I'd NEVER pay for it. I rarely listen to the radio. I stream podcasts on my phone using a few different apps, connected to my car via Bluetooth. I also listen to audiobooks. Linda IrwinI actually up-load everything in 44.1 *.wav so that it will be better when it compresses than if it is double encoded as *.mp3.Linda IrwinI am addicted to coffee, too.

In case anyone forgot, this is 2016 - a year in GP to expect the unexpected. Just when you think that 9 winners isn't going to happen, Dovi pulls it out. Malaysia was insane with hot wet weather and new asphalt that never dried. All 3 races fit the bill perfectly. Kev's bromance takes another turn as he tells us how he's been feeling about Dovi this year. Then we touch on #MakeDucatiGreatAgain and the next step in their resurgence. Rossi and Marquez come up with a slight amount of disappointment and plenty of "wtf?". We hit up Zarco in Moto2 as he finally put in a race worthy of being a 2-time champion. Then things go a little nutty as we drop the ball on calling the Moto3 race. Hopefully all you listeners make it to the end on this one. Kev was hinting at a rant all episode and I (Rob) finally give in.

Well we finally started it. This is the first episode were I (Rob) and my new Co-Host (Matt) got together and recorded a show. In this episode Matt and I answer your questions. We both had a lot of fun doing it and will continue to do shows together, so please check it out and let us know how you like it. My Odeo Channel (odeo/9557826f25be4e0b)

Markeia McCarty of Afterbuzz TV joins Rob & Jeff for our 100th episode! Markeia helps us reach outside the insider wrestling bubble to preview WWE SummerSlam and NXT Takeover happening this weekend. Markeia hosts WWE post shows on Afterbuzz TV, and you can check her out @markeiamccarty. She was absolutely great, and gives us a fresh perspective of non-hardcores going into the WWE weekend. Special thanks to Chris Trew (@christrew) for trying to join us, but an emergency came up a few minutes into the show. If you're a fan of awkwardness, fun WWE talk, emergencies, Jeff's laugh, poor jokes, and Baron Corbin praise - Then this is the show for you! Thanks to everyone out there seeing this for being a part of us getting to 100 episodes of Shake Them Ropes. I greatly appreciate it. I (Rob) still find it amazing how many people each week download the show, and I'd love to hear from as many of you as possible @ShakeThemRopes. I hope you enjoy, and we'll keep trying to get better for you all! Thanks so much!!!!!!!! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/shake-them-ropes-pro-wrestling-podcast-wwe-nxt-njpw/donationsWant to advertise on this podcast? Go to https://redcircle.com/brands and sign up.