Podcast appearances and mentions of James Moll

In today's episode, we sat down with James, a Freelance Web and Graphic Designer based in Bedford, Bedfordshire, who brings a wealth of experience in creating websites for Coaches. During our chat, we covered a lot of useful topics that can really help you level up your coaching website. We started by demystifying the differences between graphic and web design. Then, we dug into how to make sure your website truly reflects your coaching services and personal brand. James shared some great tips on planning out your website content effectively, and how to present your services in a way that resonates with your potential clients. We also explored how your website can connect better with your ideal client and the strategies you can use to keep them engaged and interested. Ever wondered whether you can change your website once it's up? We talked about that too. Plus, James shed some light on the ongoing maintenance that websites might need, and what to look for when choosing a website host. Whether you're a seasoned coach or just starting, this episode has something for you. In this episode James and I discuss about: The difference between a graphic and web designer How a website represents your personal brand How to plan out my website content How to position my services on my site What strategies can I use to engage potential clients and encourage inquiries? Is a website a static thing or can it be changed once I get it back from the designer and much more Ep 170 transcript [00:00:00] Sarah: Hello, Humane Marketers. Welcome back to the Humane Marketing Podcast, the place to be for the generation of marketers that cares. This is a show where we talk about running your business in a way that feels good to you, is aligned with your values, and also resonates with today's conscious customers because it's humane, ethical, and non pushy. [00:00:23] I'm Sarah Zanacroce, your hippie turned business coach for quietly rebellious entrepreneurs and marketing impact pioneers. Mama bear of the humane marketing circle and renegade author of marketing like we're human and selling like we're human. If after listening to the show for a while, you're ready to move on to the next level and start implementing and would welcome a community of like minded, quietly rebellious entrepreneurs who discuss with transparency what works and what doesn't work in business, then we'd love to welcome you in our humane marketing circle. [00:00:58] If you're picturing your [00:01:00] typical Facebook group, let me paint a new picture for you. This is a closed community of like minded entrepreneurs from all over the world who come together once per month in a zoom circle workshop to hold each other accountable and build their business in a sustainable way. [00:01:16] We share with transparency and vulnerability what works for us and what doesn't work so that you can figure out what works for you. Instead of keep throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks. Find out more at humane. marketing. com And if you prefer one on one support from me, my Humane Business Coaching could be just what you need. [00:01:40] Whether it's for your marketing, sales, general business building or help with your big idea like writing a book. A book. I'd love to share my brain and my heart with you together with my almost 15 years business experience and help you grow a sustainable business that is joyful and sustainable. If you love this [00:02:00] podcast, wait until I show you my mama bear qualities as my one-on-one client can find out more at Humane Marketing slash coaching. [00:02:10] And finally, if you are a marketing impact pioneer and would like to bring humane marketing to your organization, have a look at my offers and workshops on my website at humane. marketing. [00:02:29] Welcome back to the humane marketing podcast. Today's conversation fits under the P of Promotion. If you're a regular listener, you know that I'm organizing the conversations around the seven P's of the Humane Marketing Mandala. And if you're new here, then you probably don't know what I'm talking about with these seven P's and the mandala, but you can download your one page marketing plan with the Humane Marketing version of the seven P's of marketing at humane. [00:02:58] marketing [00:03:00] forward slash one. page, the number one and the word page. And, uh, humane is with an E. So not human, but humane with an E at the end dot marketing. It comes with the seven email prompts to really help you reflect on these different Ps for your business. So humane marketing is not prescriptive. [00:03:21] It's not a six. step approach. It's a reflective approach. It's, uh, where I ask you to question all your assumptions that you have about marketing. So that's what you get with the one page marketing plan for the seven piece of humane marketing. Today I'm speaking with a new friend, James Mall, who's a web and graphic designer. [00:03:44] Uh, but before introducing you to James, I want to remind you that I'm talking to potential participants for the Marketing Like We're Human program, also known as the Client Resonator. This three month program is my main offering and it's connected [00:04:00] to this podcast and based on the seven Ps of the Humane Marketing Mandala because we'll dive deeply into these seven Ps during the program to help you discover your true self and passions so you can bring more of your. [00:04:16] into your marketing. It's really about marketing from within, marketing authentically. It's also much more than marketing. It's really about business building. And I do bring in kind of this different. business paradigm. While the main goal is to connect with your ideal clients, it goes beyond marketing. It forms the foundation of your life's work. [00:04:41] We'll start by focusing on things like passion and personal power, your why, and then move to other aspects like people, product, pricing, promotion, and partnerships. The program is in a small group setting, ensuring therefore a meaningful experience that aligns your business with your values. [00:05:00] It's a mix of videos, 20 to 30 minutes, uh, video per week. [00:05:05] Uh, beautifully designed workbook with lots of questions. My program is for deep thinkers, those who want to really roll back the sleeves and think deeply about, um, how they want to market, how they want to run their business, journal prompts. And then of course the live group calls in which I facilitate the conversation to take us even deeper into the topic of the week, who's this program for? [00:05:32] It's for entrepreneurs. Uh, who are quietly rebellious as well as change makers who have different levels of business experience, whether you've been in the game for one year, five years, or even 10 or more, it really is never too late to build a strong foundation for your business and your life's work. [00:05:52] So. If you want to know more, check out humane. marketing forward slash program for lots [00:06:00] of testimonials and case studies from past participants. And if this program feels like it might be the right fit for you right now, let's talk. There's a button on that page to schedule a call with me. So, uh, yeah, please do that. [00:06:15] We're starting on August 24th. All right. Thank you so much for letting me share about this. Now let's go back to today's podcast and back to James. So James is a freelance web and graphic designer based in Bedford. Bedford Shire, uh, that's the UK. And having worked with a variety, variety of clients, his portfolio includes fashion, swimwear, academics, coaches, property, charities, and photographers. [00:06:47] He now specializes in building websites for business coaches, and he loves and believes in helping coaches to build a better web. experience for their clients and themselves. In our [00:07:00] conversation, we talked about the difference between a graphic and web designer. I think that's really key for, uh, clients to understand. [00:07:09] How a website represents your personal brand, how to plan out. Your website content, how to position your services on your site, what strategies you can use to engage potential clients and encourage inquiries, uh, whether a website is static or whether it can be changed once you get it back from the designer and so many more topics. [00:07:34] So let's dive in with, uh, James Moll. Hi, James. I'm so happy to hang out with you. Welcome to [00:07:42] James: the show. Hi, Sarah. Thanks very much for having me. Thank you. [00:07:47] Sarah: Yeah, I'm delighted to have this conversation about websites. So let's see all the different topics we could get into. Um, we tried to beforehand, right? [00:07:57] Come up with some, some questions. [00:08:00] And so I do want to ask you one that you're like, Hey, maybe not this one, but I'm like, well, I'm going to ask you anyway, because, because actually, you know, in the bio that I just read about you, um, I did say you're a, uh, uh, web and graphic designer, right? So website designer, graphic designer. [00:08:19] And, and I know that quite a lot of people sometimes get confused. Well, what is what, who does what? And so I'd like to start us off there so that you can kind of give us a good Um, distinction between what does a graphic designer do and what does a web designer do? And if I need a website, who do I look for [00:08:44] James: then? [00:08:45] Yeah, sure. Um, yeah, it's actually quite a good question, I think, for people that are not aware, obviously, the difference between a web and a graphic designer. Being in the industry, um, a lot of people are aware. So, so a graphic designer is someone [00:09:00] that designs, uh, graphics. It could either be print based or digital based. [00:09:04] So it can either be. Uh, brochures, leaflets, um, billboards, um, and they could do digital design as well. So they could design adverts on social media. Um, there is crossover between that and websites. So they can design graphics that specifically go on websites as well. So they can sit on a, on a, um, a website, but how they differ from a web designer is that they're not techie. [00:09:29] So they're not able to, most graphic designers are not able to develop, uh, and build websites. So web designer is. actually more technical in terms of they're able to either code, uh, build a website with code, HTML, um, WordPress, um, software like that, or they can, uh, use no code software as well, which I, I worked with as well. [00:09:52] So I worked with a program called elemental along with WordPress. So I'm able to kind of use drag and drop software. Um, some like I've come, I'm [00:10:00] coming from a graphic design background to a website background. So there is some crossover, um, but generally. Graphic designers tend to design, um, the graphics either for print or digital. [00:10:13] Um, and they don't really tend to do websites. So they differ in that instance. I hope that kind of clears [00:10:20] Sarah: up things. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I guess. A graphic designer can learn to be a web designer and then be both, which is your case. And a web designer can also, or that's a question, do web designers sometimes also go into graphic design? [00:10:40] Or maybe that direction is less common. What would you say? [00:10:45] James: Um, I've actually met quite a few people that have gone both. So from like myself on graphic design into website design, and then vice versa, website design to graphic design. And I think it just [00:11:00] matters on your technical ability and what you enjoy. [00:11:04] If you enjoy graphic design, if you enjoy sort of creating. You know, anything from logos to branding, you know, brochures, um, graphic design is so wide as well. Um, and then it easily crosses over onto, um, website design. Um, it's kind of similar to coaching in a way, I guess, because a lot of sort of business coaches, for example, that I work with tend to do, you know, personal coaching as well, life coaching, um, and vice versa. [00:11:36] So there's some crossover there as well. So, um. Yeah, they can be cross over as well. [00:11:41] Sarah: Yeah. Yeah. In my, um, sense of understanding this is the graphic design has to do with the beauty. It has to do with the aesthetics, with the art, with the colors, with the logo, uh, you know, with the, yeah, the word says it graphic, right? [00:11:58] And so [00:12:00] the web designer would be probably more, um, oriented towards the functionality of the site. Uh, of the website. So being like, you know, all of these click funnels and lead generation things that, that is more tech related. So, uh, in a way, I guess it's a good idea to look for someone who has an understanding of both. [00:12:24] Because then you get an aesthetically good looking website that also has the functionality behind [00:12:30] James: it. Right. Yeah, that's right. And that's why people like to hire me. Yeah. Because, uh, yeah, because I'm able to do, to do both. And, um, you know, from a UX and UI point of view, I'm able to kind of wireframe, uh, create like a blueprint and a map of, uh, the user experience as well, which is quite key. [00:12:51] I think a lot of web designers. Don't tend to think of that as well. Um, so it's not just making sure the website looks pretty, but also the [00:13:00] fact that you're thinking about calls to action, you know, your call to action buttons, getting people to book discovery calls or sign up to your mailing list. Or, [00:13:09] Sarah: yeah, so let's get in all of that because there's a lot to, to uncover. [00:13:13] So, so basically, yeah, we now know that there's both, right. There's the aesthetics and then there's the actual user friendliness and the. The functionality behind the site. So, so maybe before we go into the functionality, like what I, this is embarrassing, but like more than 15 years ago when I started out, I actually also designed some small websites for, for clients, you know, WordPress was like really new back then. [00:13:43] And so I quickly noticed how difficult of a job it actually is. Not so much big because of, you know, I was using WordPress. So it's pretty simple to put a website together, but where I always got stuck is with the [00:14:00] clients and their content, like the, the, the design of the site and their actual understanding of what needs to go on a site. [00:14:09] So I think that's also why there's. A lot of people, I don't know if that happens to you, but I know it happens to me that come with baggage and they complain about their website designer. They're like, it just didn't work out. Uh, and oftentimes it's because there is a miscommunication of who does what and in what kind of timeframe. [00:14:31] And so how can we help or, or, uh, to which level do we as the client have to be prepared? Uh, when we go to a website designer in terms of our content, in terms of knowing what needs to go on this website. [00:14:50] James: Yeah, so the content is, um, is a key thing in any website. And before, when I kind of started out, I used to kind of [00:15:00] rely on the client giving me the content and it doesn't always work out because what you've, you know, you designed a website and you put everything together and you made it look nice and you've put stock images there and you've put some. [00:15:12] Laura Ibsen text to kind of fill the gaps and you create a nice looking website and then the client either They do two things that either hand you Very little content. So there's hardly any text or any writing that they've put together themselves Or they can either give you too much Content so there's a lot to kind of pick pick out and put on the website And the information is is key because the information is what's gonna Sell your services. [00:15:40] So it's it's one of the most important things On a website and before when I started out, I used to always think about the design side and coming from a graphic design point of view as well. I used to always think about looking at making the website look pretty and probably less on the content, but as I've developed as a web designer and working with with coaches. [00:15:57] Now, I realized that, you know, [00:16:00] part of what we do is working with the coaches and having copywriters on board to help them create. Copy that is great to go on the website. Um, and that, you know, it's talking about their target clients, um, addresses, um, their pain points, um, and sells their services in a way that, um, reflects them, uh, in a, in a positive light, really. [00:16:25] Yeah. Yeah. [00:16:26] Sarah: Yeah. So, so you see the same thing is like, it can really be a, this idea. Oh, I need a website. But then once they talk to you or talk to any website designer, then they tell them, well, have you thought about, you know, who's your ideal client? How are you going to describe it? So it's like, it's this basically box of worms that all of a sudden gets. [00:16:52] you know, discover is like, Oh, I thought that was going to be quick and easy. And then I have, you know, all these other things that I now [00:17:00] need to look at and write about. [00:17:01] James: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the planning stages is key with any website. Um, you know, sometimes clients will come to you and I used to have this a lot when I was starting out, you know, they'll say we need a website done in a week or two weeks or, you know, unrealistic deadlines and they're kind of rushing and they've got. [00:17:19] content ready and they're trying to create a website and they think that, you know, you can very easily create a website, you know, in a matter of a few days or a week and you can, but you know, it's like with anything, it's good to sit down and plan out, you know, the user experience, uh, wireframe and on paper, just, just even sketch out what, what kind of number of pages, the menu structure, uh, the calls to action, uh, what kind of information you're going to have, testimonials, um, All of that kind of stuff, social proof, um, and then layout, what kind of, what goes where, and think about that and spend time thinking about that [00:18:00] before you've done any kind of development or design. [00:18:03] That is a, is a must, I think now working with clients because we spend, we spend a good couple of weeks actually just, just on that. Um, when I work with clients now, uh, before we do any development work. [00:18:16] Sarah: Right. So take us into this user experience because you mentioned it a few times now. So, so what does that mean? [00:18:24] Take me on this journey. So let's say, you know, I'm landing on a website for the first time. Uh, I'm on the homepage. What needs to happen next? So take me through that journey. [00:18:39] James: Yeah, so when you're, when you've landed on a, um, homepage, for example, which is a, um, land, another word for landing page as well. So a landing page could be any page really on the website. [00:18:49] It's the first page that you're directed to. And often that is the homepage. But often you'll see a homepage and you'll see, you know, you've got the menu at the top. You've got your, um. [00:19:00] Items below it. So you would have like a hero image and you would have welcome to the website or whatever the company or person does on the website. [00:19:09] And then you'd have, you know, testimonials below it and you would have services, uh, what the coach does, for example, calls to action. Um, but it's. really mapping out clearly what goes where in terms of the information. So you want to be, for example, you don't want to be telling people about you necessarily what you do and how great you are. [00:19:33] You want to be talking about how you're helping them with their, with their problem, this problem solution. And you'll, you know, you, you've got a list of. your ideal client, you know, what kind of issues they're going through. Uh, for example, if they've, um, if you're in a corporate kind of coach, um, that's helping people that are coming out of corporate, the corporate environment, you want to say that, you know, uh, here's a, [00:20:00] this is what I do. [00:20:01] You know, are you coming out of a corporate job? Are you looking to start your own business getting into coaching, for example, and As soon as they see that at the top, you know, they know that this site is for them because people would immediately turn off in the first, you know, couple of three to five seconds. [00:20:18] If they don't see any benefit in, in, um, in the website and they'll just click, click off. So you have a high bounce rate as well. [00:20:27] Sarah: Yeah. It's actually in what we're just talking about this today in the humane marketing circle is the unique value proposition. You know, what it is you are offering To me, as the visitor to your website, how is it different from anybody else's offer? [00:20:44] And, uh, yeah, do I feel concerned? Like, yeah, do you speak to me or, you know? Yeah. Instead, do you just speak about yourself? And then I have to figure out if you're actually the right [00:21:00] fit for me. Um, [00:21:01] James: yeah, yeah. I think a lot of people make that mistake because. They want to say, you know, how great they are, you know, how many qualifications they've got, certifications, um, testimonials. [00:21:12] They want to, you know, literally tell the whole world about how great they are, but they forget about the client that they kind of helping. And what their problems are and really speaking to the client, you know, everything that you should be doing should be speaking towards your ideal client. And again, that's tied into the marketing side of things that you're aware of. [00:21:33] And a lot of web designers or graphic designers don't tend to think about that because it's a shame because a lot of web design and graphic design is quite separate from marketing. So coming from a background of both, I'm able to kind of use have both sides and think. You know, from a customer user point of view and think from a technical point of view, uh, and also from a design and colorful and making [00:22:00] everything look pretty kind of point of view as well. [00:22:02] So that it's a problem that I think we have in the industry where. In the whole kind of design industry where there's a miscommunication often between the marketing message and what you're trying to portray on an advertisement or a website. Um, there could be a misalignment there. Yeah. [00:22:24] Sarah: Yeah, I totally agree. [00:22:25] I think that the, you know, it's often a case in corporations as well, where they separate marketing from sales and, and here it's the same marketing should be part of it because that's essentially what you're doing with your website. You're not wanting to talk to yourself. You're wanting to talk to your ideal clients and everything you just said about the homepage. [00:22:48] I learned it's the same thing about on your about page, uh, on your about page, of course we think, Oh, it's about me. And yes, it is, but only in a second instance, it really [00:23:00] is again. Uh, people come to your about page because they want to find out if you're a good match for them. So they're really looking at the about page as a mirror much more than, you know, I'm so interested in this person that they don't know yet. [00:23:15] Right. And so it's kind of like just more like a checklist. Okay. Yes. This aligns this lines. Uh, and so it's the same thing for the about page. Um, so talk to us a bit more about the, uh, engagement. So. You know, it could be perceived that a website is a static thing because, you know, it just sits there. So how do we make it engaging, um, that actually people stay on it, first of all, you know, read our information and then maybe even go a step further. [00:23:50] How do we get them to stay in touch? [00:23:53] James: Yeah, I mean, One of the key things is not to put all of the [00:24:00] information out there in terms of content. So if you want to create engagement, for example, um, FAQs are a good example of this. So you don't want to frequently ask questions that you have. You don't want to sort of list them all out on the website. [00:24:14] You want to have options where people can click on a, on a question and they have a drop down and it tells them a little bit more about it. So anything that kind of people can interact with and engage with buttons that lead them on to another page, for example, that tells them a little bit more information. [00:24:31] So if you've got like a book, for example, that you're selling and you said, you know, do you want to buy this book right now? And then you clicked on the book and it just went to the purchase page. And it was just like. selling you the book, you know, from a buying point of view, it's not a great sales experience because you're not really giving them any more information about the book that they're buying. [00:24:51] So you want to create, um, almost like a sales funnel where you're, they click on, uh, to find out more about the book that you're selling, for example, [00:25:00] uh, how it can benefit them. Um, maybe give them like a free sample or demo, uh, That they can download like a PDF and then an option afterwards to then click and purchase. [00:25:14] So it's very much thinking about that user again, thinking about the user journey and experience rather than, you know, people are so desperate to kind of, you know, sell stuff, for example, or book a discovery call. And it's very much that you've got to kind of educate people. You've got to create that. Um, That trust, you've got to build that up, I think. [00:25:33] And you can't just rush into it. It's, it's, it's again, it's like us talking for example, now, and if we were at like a networking event and we met for the first time, for example, when you often meet people at networking events and, you know, they're just telling you how great they are and they're just like, do you want to buy my stuff? [00:25:47] Do you want to have a, let's book a call. Let's let's talk by my stuff. It's all me, me, me. And they don't really kind of create that opportunity where they, you know, you, you kind of. Meet them or add them on online or, um, go [00:26:00] to the website, find out a little bit more about them. And then a little bit later on, in the, in the kind of buying decision, you kind of decide that you want to work with them, um, rather than sort of rushing in. [00:26:13] It's kind of people kind of rush in. Um, [00:26:15] Sarah: yeah. Tell us how this would apply to the discovery call, because I like that a lot. So, so, um, and, and I'll share what I have in place, but yeah, I'd love to hear from you. Like, Okay. So I get it for the book. Yeah. How would you apply it to a discovery call? [00:26:34] James: So for a discovery call, for instance, you will, um, you've also got call to action on the site. [00:26:40] So I've got call to action. If people do want to book a discovery call straight away and they can click, you know, book a discovery call. So that's for people that have already made their decision. Um, so they've looked at your website, they've seen your homepage senior about page. Um, What you offer us is, you know, problem solution. [00:26:58] You can [00:27:00] help them with their, um, what their, whatever their problems are, issues are, and they've already made the decision to work with you. And they, you know, just click book a discovery call. So they're those kind of people are, um, sort of warm leads and they kind of, they're in that sort of. Uh, they want to buy from you and they want to buy what you're, what you, what you've got, but people that are, um, maybe need to be a bit more educated, for example, um, you'd kind of maybe I've got a few landing pages, for example, um, I've created for coaches where they could find out a bit more about me. [00:27:36] Uh, about what I do, the kind of clients that I work with. So it's kind of testimonials, social proof, um, talking through people, through, through the discovery process that I go through with clients. Um, and then they can, from there, they can decide to book a call at the end. So they can scroll right down to the bottom and then they can decide to book a call. [00:27:59] So those kinds of [00:28:00] people need, um, probably a bit more. educating and kind of getting to know you. Um, it just depends. I think if people are coming from online and if they've never met you before, then they're going to need a bit to know a bit more about you and probably add you on social media as well. [00:28:13] Follow you on, on LinkedIn and Facebook and Instagram, um, for, you know, at least a couple of months or, or, or whatever time period. And before they start working with you, uh, people that you've already met from online or networking or face to face networking, and they kind of know you and aware. The problems and solutions that you kind of solve. [00:28:36] Um, they're a little bit of more of a warmer lead. So they, they can, they just want to book a discovery call and they just want to talk to you. Right. Yeah. [00:28:44] Sarah: I would say the quality then also of this discovery, discovery call is, is very different. Um, if Someone comes to your site for the very first time and then just books a discovery call to me, those are often the clients [00:29:00] who just want to discover about, you know, website design. [00:29:04] Uh, so it's not like they are necessarily already. Um, on the gentle sales paths, like I call it that, that they don't know about you. They're not buying into you yet. They're just buying, they just need a website. Right. And it's like, Oh, this is one of them. Okay. Let me book a call. And then you're basically spending your whole time on this call, educating them, uh, instead of actually them, them educating themselves on their own time. [00:29:33] That's how I look at it. I'm like, well, I have all these things on my website. Spend some time there, you know, listen to the podcast, read the books, whatever, you know. There's a lot of information there. And then let's get on a call because otherwise, what often happens is we can spend our days on these discovery calls and then kind of end up being frustrated because, you know, people are just not there yet in [00:30:00] terms of where they are in their, um, sales decision. [00:30:04] Uh, and so that's, that's why often people who come to me and say, you know, I'm not closing. I'm like, well, you know, what do you have on your, I call them signposts. What do you have on your gentle sales path? Like your, um, like your templates that you're going to share with us for the landing page, right? [00:30:23] It's education like that, that then also leads to a better quality, uh, sales call. So, so yeah, I totally see that. Um, I also have an intake form. Where I didn't actually ask, you know, have you read, uh, my blog posts? Have you listened to the, so that I also come to this conversation knowing where they're at, because there's nothing worse than to be on a sales call and feel like being sold to, and, you know, and then. [00:30:52] After I do all this talking, they're like, actually, you know, I just want to talk to you and see how we can get started. [00:31:00] And so it's really good to pick them up [00:31:01] James: where they're at, right? Yeah. And also you don't want to be in that position of convincing them kind of thing as well. I think in my earlier days, I would often have to convince clients because, um, before I kind of niche down and work with. [00:31:16] Coaches and consultants and mentors and, you know, speakers and authors. Um, I used to work with quite a large variety of clients and I didn't really niche down in anything, so I didn't specialize in anything. So, um, I was seen more as a commodity. So, um, you know, it was all about price and it was all very much, um. [00:31:38] Yeah, fix it on price. So I'm kind of like, I lost track of where we were. Right. Checking around. Where were we? Sorry. Yeah, [00:31:46] Sarah: it's so important. Um, yeah. Any, any other things about the, you know, engagement and, and how to get more inquiries? Cause I think that's something that, you know, people [00:32:00] are really. Yeah, wanting to know more about, like, which part is content related and which part then is, like, we didn't talk about newsletter signups, right? [00:32:11] What are some mistakes you, you see there that, um, on websites related to that? [00:32:18] James: Um, I think a lot of times I think people have a newsletter signup and they don't really know what it is or, um, they don't really have a newsletter in place. So I think one of the key things is to have a just a mailing list. [00:32:34] Or a newsletter in place and tell people like, I've got one that's coming soon at the moment. So I'm just taking emails at the moment. So I actually don't have a newsletter at the moment. But a lot of the times people are just having a newsletter for the sake of having a newsletter. And I think you could have some sort of strategy behind it and know, because it is another way of bringing in leads. [00:32:54] Um, but it's not going to be straight away. Like, it's not going to be a, like, So today, tomorrow or next [00:33:00] week, you know, you you're still educating people about what you do. And it's again, it's the same with a blog on your website, you know, people come back and they will read your blog newsletters. So people are aware of, you know, your services, what you're offering, and they can see you on social media as well. [00:33:19] And if they've signed up to your newsletter, for example, as well, they see you quite active. So the more you're kind of, they're aware of what you do and who you are as a person, um, they, they have you in mind. So even if it's not for them, um, they will have you in mind for someone else. So as long as you're like that person that they think of when they think about sort of, um, You know, humane marketing, for example, um, and, uh, me being a web design consultant, working with coaches, um, you know, want to be like the first person that they think of. [00:33:55] So you want to have that, the newsletters were part of that sort of, that sort of [00:34:00] marketing strategy. Um, I think people don't often look at that hand in hand, like together, they just sit kind of separate. Um, but Anything that you do, if it's even if it's, you know, social media posts, um, uh, newsletters or blogging, you should always have like an end goal when you should always think about it from what, you know, what benefit are you giving to your clients? [00:34:27] Um, and it shouldn't really be just, you know, bragging about how great you are again with the website. A lot of times, you know, people are bragging about what qualifications or what things they're getting up to and what they're doing. As opposed to, um, how they're benefiting their clients and what kind of problems they can solve them for their clients. [00:34:44] Sarah: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. So let's say, okay, we have designed this, this website, we have the content, uh, everything is in place. And then, I'm sure you're used to that, the client's like, Oh, I need to change, [00:35:00] you know, this copy again and, and, and this and that. When, when do you hand the site over and is there, you know, can we still change it? [00:35:11] I think that's probably a question that people wonder is like, okay, uh, I've heard of WordPress, uh, you know, how easy is it to then change the site [00:35:21] James: myself? Yeah, so it depends. I mean, if the client either wants content or design changes, um, I have a, um, maintenance, uh, package that I offer clients that for the upkeep of the site and, uh, updates as well. [00:35:41] Um, so that could be an ad hoc kind of basis, um, or, or they could, yeah, pay as and when they need it. Um, but ideally, um, I also do videos as well. So I do a video to show clients how to edit the [00:36:00] site themselves. So they've got like that on their dashboard, um, how to upload images and text and change all that stuff. [00:36:06] But it just depends on the client. If they're You know, it's like a lot of coaches are too busy, so they don't have time to update their site themselves. So they either fall into two categories, the one that, you know, they do have time and they would like to do it themselves, or they're too busy and they don't, they would like you to do it. [00:36:23] So it depends on, on the, on the, um. So basically [00:36:27] Sarah: it can be changed, it just needs time. Yeah, yeah. Or you can do it for them and, and well, it takes money. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's always that equation. [00:36:38] James: But it should always be changed. I mean, I would do recommend for, you know, keeping a site regularly up to date, um, helps with your SEO, um, search engine optimization. [00:36:48] Um, you know, Google likes it when you've got up to date blogs and content on there. So a lot of times people will design a website, have it designed, and they [00:37:00] will just get excited and launch the website and make a lot buzz around it. And then within a few months or a year down the line, they've done nothing with the website. [00:37:10] So they've not added to the website and there's nothing new on their website. So from a search point of view, it gets ranked lower. Um, so the more engagement you've got on site, the more, um, people that are clicking on the site. So you want to constantly be putting content on the site and advertising on social media, for example, and plugging the site as much as possible. [00:37:33] Um, but it should always be Up to date in terms of content as much as possible. Um, but yeah, again, it's an, it's an additional charge. So once the site has been done and handed over to you, it's, um, it's an additional charge, it's kind of like. Decorating, for example, if this room that we're in, for example, if, you know, it's painted white, but if you wanted to paint it, you know, yellow or whatever, you know, there'll be an additional charge to purchase paint and do repaint the [00:38:00] whole room. [00:38:00] And then again, you want to pay it like orange or something or purple in a year's time. It's again, it can be done, but it's an additional. It's going to cost more time and money to kind of do that. Yeah, of course. [00:38:12] Sarah: So you mentioned, um, maintenance to me, there's two different things. There's maintenance, uh, which is kind of like updating the plugins and making sure it's the last, uh, and most recent WordPress, uh, addition, things like that. [00:38:28] Um, Or, you know, even backups and then there's updates, which is content updates or even design updates. So they're separate things like so like how much maintenance so purely functionality oriented maintenance does a website take once it's. [00:38:51] James: Yeah. So once a website is published, um, no matter what kind of software you're using, I mean, I build websites using WordPress. [00:38:59] Um, [00:39:00] if you could be using Wix or, or another software, for example, um, but it may certainly needs to be maintained in terms of security, uh, any kind of bugs that can happen on a site. Um, so it needs to be all anything plugin related that you've got any software that you use to kind of build, for example, if you've got, um, Um, I'm trying to think now, uh, scheduling software, any kind of, uh, appointment booking software, any additional plugins that are required. [00:39:29] If you've got Google, for example, or you've got Google site kit on there, uh, you've got Yoast SEO, um, on there. So you've got all these kind of different plugins, um, on there. They need to be kind of up to date and maintained. Um, otherwise they can kind of break the site as well. So if you've, uh, not updated a site after a while, if it runs into any kind of conflicts with plugin, um, Um, different plugins. [00:39:51] It can actually break the whole site. Uh, so you've got that as one issue. And then also you've got potential any, any site is vulnerable, [00:40:00] uh, online is vulnerable to being hacked as well. So, uh, twice to me [00:40:04] Sarah: already. So yeah. Yeah. So it's not like this. Thing that never happens. It [00:40:07] James: doesn't happen. Yeah. Yeah. So again, um, software in terms of security wise, um, needs to be monitored, monitored. [00:40:15] Um, so there's all that kind of stuff to kind of think about. And that's the more kind of techie kind of stuff. And that's the stuff that A lot of people don't like to kind of think about, but it's very important because obviously in terms of the longevity of the site, it's not nice to have a site that's being, being hacked. [00:40:32] Um, you know, so, um, it's always good to kind of, it's almost like insurance is always good to kind of just pay the extra to, to, to, to have someone do it. Or at least invest the time, you know, you could watch YouTube videos and learn how to do it yourself. But again, it depends if you want to spend the hassle time kind of learning that as well. [00:40:53] But it's the, it's [00:40:55] Sarah: the hassle of learning it, but it's also then the hassle of finding somebody who's [00:41:00] gonna fix your hacked site, right? Yeah. Where if you have kind of put aside some, uh, some for maintenance. Then that person somehow becomes responsible as well of, uh, having to fix the site or at least you'll come up with a fair price where if you just come to a new person and say, Hey, please, can you fix my site? [00:41:23] It's been completely hacked. They're going to charge you quite a bit to do that. [00:41:29] James: Yeah, yeah. Again, obviously with the backups, um, you know, all our sites are backed up. Um, content and design is backed up regularly. So if there is a problem, we can get back to a backup. Um, uh, so it's quite easily, uh, again, a lot of people don't back up their site. [00:41:49] So a lot of people, um, Sort of presume that's really done. And I've seen it in the past with clients that come to me and they've had cheap hosting in the past where they said, you know, they can get hosting for [00:42:00] like, I don't know, like 499, 599 or 10 pound, 10 or whatever it is a month or whatever it is. [00:42:07] And they think they're really happy with the hosting, but then they don't realize the fact that there is no added security or backups in place. And when something does go wrong, they All their content, everything is lost on the site again as well. And if you've got no backup of that all, um, you've got, for example, your blogs, if they're written in sort of Word documents and you've got them stored on, on your computer, it's good, you know, that's another backup. [00:42:34] Um, but again, you've got to go for the hassle of. You know, republishing everything, republishing everything and that sort of thing. So it's very, that's a hassle as well, you know. [00:42:44] Sarah: Yeah, yeah. All right. We want to end in a positive note, not in a, Oh my God, it's so scary out there. Um, yeah, just like everything. [00:42:55] Yes, everything can happen. It's, it's online and, and, and there is. That, [00:43:00] um, kind of tech stuff that, that happens. So, um, but yeah, like I said, let's, let's not end in a, in a negative note. Um, do you have a template that, um, you're sharing with our listeners? So. Why don't you tell us a little bit of what that is and where people can find [00:43:19] James: it? [00:43:20] Yeah, sure. Um, so I'll provide a link. Um, it's called the two week landing page challenge for coaches. So it's, um, a lot of people, a lot of clients just come to me that used to have, you know, trouble creating a landing page. And, um, I realized that I didn't really have. You know, if it's stuck in my mind and I like kind of can do it, but I don't realize that all this information was out there. [00:43:44] So I put it create like a template for people to kind of for coaches to download and very easily kind of put together. So, um, I'll provide the link for that. But yeah, it's just anyone else kind of. in the coaching space that needs to create a landing page to [00:44:00] sell a book that they're providing or um, a call to action, um, book a discovery call or any kinds of call to actions that they really just want to that specific key rather than providing it on the entire website. [00:44:12] They just want to specifically one pager, one pager. So it's a template that people can freely download. Um, and again, if you did want to book a discovery call with me and if you needed any help, I'm available to, um, help you out with any questions as well. [00:44:27] Sarah: Wonderful. Yeah. Thanks. We'll make sure we, we link to that. [00:44:31] And, um, yeah, your website is also in the, in the, um, in the text, uh, jamesmall. co. uk. Right. Uh, where are you most hanging out? [00:44:42] James: Sorry. And it's forward slash coaches to go on the actual coaching landing page. [00:44:46] Sarah: Okay. Great. And you're mainly on which social media platforms? So I'm [00:44:52] James: quite active on LinkedIn. [00:44:53] LinkedIn is probably the most best place. It's the best place to kind of connect with me and find out more about me and um, [00:45:00] just DM me and I'm always happy to talk. So. [00:45:02] Sarah: Wonderful. I always have one last question that is, what are you grateful for today or this week? [00:45:10] James: What am I grateful for today? Um, I suppose I'm grateful for feeling a lot better and being able to eat normal food again. [00:45:19] Uh, cause I've had a ongoing, I've had an ongoing chest infection for the last couple of months. So yeah, I did kind of stop working for a little while and I couldn't eat some foods. Um, so I'm, I'm glad that I got my energy back and, you know, I'm able to kind of, I'm out of breath and I'm able to enjoy food. [00:45:38] Um, [00:45:39] Sarah: which is a big deal. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We don't realize it until we don't have it anymore. [00:45:44] James: Right. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm actually going to a Retreat this weekend, helping my friend up, um, we were talking about it earlier. Um, so I'm going to be helping them out in the kitchen and there's going to be yoga and meditation and sound therapy there. [00:45:58] So yeah, I'm grateful [00:46:00] for being able to kind of take part in that as well. So, um, delightful. So yeah, I'm grateful. [00:46:06] Sarah: Thank you. Awesome. Well, thanks so much for coming on to the show. Really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks, James. Thank you for inviting me. Thank you very much. Thank you. I hope you got some great value from listening to this episode, especially if you're new to business and are needing to build your website. [00:46:26] You can find out more about James at jamesmall. co. uk. And as he mentioned, James also has a gift for us. It's a coach's landing page template, uh, which you can get at jamesmall. co. uk forward slash humane marketing. Uh, this is also a page where you'll find the two week challenge that, uh, James mentioned when he was speaking, James mainly hangs out on LinkedIn. [00:46:57] So make sure to send them a message [00:47:00] there, connect with him and tell him that you listened. And if you're looking for others who think like you, then why not join us in the Humane Marketing Circle? You can find out more at humane. marketing. com You find the show notes of this episode at humane. marketing. [00:47:21] com 1 7 1, sorry, 1 7 0. And on this beautiful page, you'll also find a series of free offers, uh, such as the Humane Business Manifesto, the free Gentle Confidence mini course, as well as my two books, Marketing Like We're Human and Selling Like We're Human. Thanks so much for listening and being part of a generation of marketers who cares for yourself, your clients, and the planet. [00:47:51] We are change makers before we are marketers. So go be the change you want to see in the world. Speak soon.[00:48:00]

For 29+ years, Kirkland Moody has been a workhorse in the entertainment business. His breadth of experience from actor and casting associate to session director and casting director gives him a bedrock foundation for his current work with Clockwork Casting.Kirkland got his start in Orlando, Florida when he worked with Herb Mandell casting films, TV, commercials, industrials, and starting an extras company. Upon moving to Los Angeles, he stepped directly into casting with Danny Goldman for 4 years. He then helped open AKA Talent Agency as their first employee, then moved back to casting working with Beth Holmes Casting. In 2002, he went freelance working with such casting directors as Dan Bell, Lisa Fields, Cathi Carlton, RMB Casting, Shane Casting, ASG Casting, and then primarily with Francene Selkirk.During this period, he was also a casting director for a variety of films, pilots commercials and music videos, including working with James Moll on the Steven Spielberg project “Oswiecim: Auschwitz” for the Shoah Foundation, a film permanently installed at the Auschwitz Memorial.Also during this time, Kirkland was an actor in 40 commercials, so he truly understands being on both sides of the camera.As a casting associate or session director, Kirkland has worked with: The Coen Brothers, Larry Charles, Harold Einstein, Tom Kuntz, Craig Gillespie, Zach Braff, Brian Billow, Douglas Avery, Chris Smith, Mark Pellington, Rosey, Joe Pytka, Benji Weinstein, Nicolai Fuglsig, Aaron Stoller, Tony Kaye, Matt Smukler, Chris Wilcha, Brent Thomas, The Doctor Twins, Fred Goss, Trish Sie, Phil Joanou, Fred Savage, Steve Rogers, Dave Merhar, David McNally, Zach Math, Rob Pritts, Sean Ehringer, Nick Ball, Kevin Thomas, Renny Maslow, Boris Damast, Tom Routson, Ray Dillman, John Mastromonaco, Kinka Usher, Roger Donaldson, Mark Romanek, Brad Parker, Alan White, Marcus McCollum, David Kellogg, Lisa Rubisch , Paul Dektor, Sam Jones and Henry Winkler.Follow us on instagram @slateitpod.

Ray Zahab is a Canadian Explorer, ultra distance runner and Founder of non-profit impossible2Possible. A recent recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada, Ray is an Explorer in Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2015 Canadian Geographic recognized Ray as one of Canada's Top Explorers. He has ran 17,000+km across the world's deserts, and unsupported expeditions in some of the coldest places on the planet. On November 1, 2006, former “pack a day smoker” turned ultra runner Ray Zahab and two friends, Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin, set out on an expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. 111 days and 7,500 kms after leaving the coast of Senegal, Africa they completed their journey by stepping into the Red Sea. The expedition had the trio running an average of 70kms a day without a single day of rest, for 111 days. National Geographic tracked the expedition by web, as well as the documentary film ‘Running The Sahara', produced by Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll, was created in an effort to raise awareness for the drinking water crisis in North Africa. After witnessing and learning about the water crisis in North Africa, Ray decided to leverage his future adventures to help raise awareness and funding for causes, like this one, that he supports and believes in. In fall 2007, Ray ran the three coastal trails of Canada back to back and each leg virtually non-stop, for a total distance of 400 kms. Logistics were as much of a challenge as the run, and Ray ran The Akshayuk Pass on Baffin Island, East Coast Trail Newfoundland and West Coast Trail in British Columbia, with just enough time to travel in between. In spring 2008 Ray partnered with the ONExONE Foundation for a unique ultra running project. Accompanied by a team of runners, Ray ran an average 80 kms per day in each of Canada's 13 Provinces and Territories in 13 days. Once again logistics were a huge challenge. School visits were arranged along the way, students participated and communities became engaged in the run which supported the work of ONExONE, which supports various charities addressing children's issues globally. In Saskatoon alone, several thousand students and 27 schools were involved in school rallies and a city wide relay with Ray and the team. In 2008, Ray founded impossible2Possible (i2P) (impossible2possible.com) an organization that aims to inspire and educate youth through adventure learning, inclusion and participation in expeditions. Youth Ambassadors are selected from around the world, and then participate, at no cost, in all aspects of the expedition, from logistics and running to creating educational content and team support. All of the i2P Youth Expeditions have included various challenge based initiatives through an Experiential Learning Program, in which thousands of students participate as active ‘team members' during the expeditions, from classrooms all over the world. This program and its technology is also provided at no cost to the students or schools participating. Since its inception, i2P Youth Expeditions have included 14 gruelling expeditions; Baffin Island, Tunisia, the Amazon, Bolivia, India, Botswana, Utah, Peru, Chile, Italy, California, Greece, Death Valley and Canada. The programs and expeditions are 100% free of cost.   SOUTH POLE QUEST EXPEDITION   In 2009, Ray and two fellow Canadians, Kevin Vallely and Richard Weber, broke the world speed record for an unsupported expedition by a team to the Geographic South Pole. In the process, Ray trekked this traditional route from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, a distance of 1,130 kms, solely on foot and snowshoes, without the use of skis. Students from all over North America joined the team on a daily basis, a program provided through impossible2Possible, as the trio continued their southern trek. The students received daily communications and actively took part in every step of the trek. Essentially becoming “teammates” of the expedition, and teammates of the Guinness World Record achieved. In winter 2010, Ray and Kevin Vallely ran the length of frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia, 650 kms, over the course of 13 days, totally unsupported. Once again communication with satellite video conferencing to schools brought the expedition into classrooms, and classrooms onto the expedition.   ATACAMA EXTREME EXPEDITION   In February 2011 (Summer), Ray became the first person to run the length of the “driest desert on Earth”, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, solo. Temperatures exceeded 50c as he ran and navigated the 1,200 kms in 20 days with minimal daily re-supply, and with emergency supplies on his back. Thousands of students joined this journey, again under his i2P organization, via live web and video conferencing. In August 2011 (Summer), Ray and Will Laughlin ran from the north park boundary to the south park boundary of Death Valley National Park, totally off-road. The 237 km run saw temps reaching over 120 degrees F. This would be followed in 2015 with an abbreviated off- road crossing from north park boundary, exiting at the Badwater Basin after crossing the Devil's Golf Course. Beginning June 23rd 2013 (Summer), Ray ran over 2,000km, solo, across Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, with minimal daily resupplies. Support team included both a film crew and photographer who recorded not only the expedition, and created an archive sharing the stories of the people and culture of Mongolia to schools around the world. In February 2014 (winter) Ray completed his 4th unsupported crossing of Baffin Island through the Akshayuk Pass (he would go on to complete 8 unsupported crossings in various seasons). In January 2015 (summer) Ray ran 1,000km across the Patagonian Desert, and then in summer 2015 Ray did a partial crossing of Death Valley National Park, his second project in the area.   ARCTIC 2 ATACAMA EXPEDITION   In February 2016, Ray Zahab (CAN), Jen Segger (CAN) and Stefano Gregoretti (Italy) set out on a unique and challenging expedition that spanned 100 degrees celsius on the thermometer. The team journeyed from -50°C (-58F) to +50°C (120F) over 1,500km, on mountain bikes and foot, crossing both Baffin Island in Canadian winter, and the Atacama Desert in Chilean summer. This would mark Ray's second crossing the length of the Atacama Desert. In February 2017- Ray Zahab and Stefano Gregoretti would go on to complete the second and third stages of a three part expedition in the Canadian Arctic after a near disastrous start in which Ray broke through a frozen river in the Torngats Mountain Range. The duo rallied back to ski unsupported across Baffin Island, and then fatbike across the Northwest Territories along the Mackenzie Valley Winter Road (500km). Beginning mid January 2018 (Summer), Ray once again teamed up with Stefano Gregoretti to run the length of Namibia, crossing the Namib Desert, approx. 1,850km. Summertime temperatures were intense, and terrain was a mix of cross country, open desert, canyons, gravel roads and track. September 2018, Ray completes his 7th crossing of Baffin Island, in 25.5 hours, coast to coast through the Akshayuk Pass. Fall 2018, Ray, along with close friends, establish KapiK1 Expedition Co, with the goal of giving people the opportunity to join them on adventure travel based expeditions to many of the regions of the world Ray and his team have previously explored. www.kapik1.com In winter (February 2019) Ray and teammate Stefano Gregoretti attempted an unsupported crossing of the Kamchatka Peninsula in far east Russia. After 19 days of brutal conditions, the team (no longer unsupported) was prevented from moving forward due to dangerous and fast flowing open rivers, and were unable to achieve their goal of reaching the east coast. July 2019 (summer), Will Laughlin and Ray Zahab successfully transect Death Valley, from west to east, across the Panamint Mountain Range, Death Valley Basin, and the Amargosa Mountains. It took the duo 35 hours to complete the crossing, moving virtually non stop, taking breaks only at resupply caches. September 2019, Ray completes 8th crossing of Baffin Island, Akshayuk Pass. His brother John joined him, almost 20 years since he first inspired Ray to change his life and pursue a life in the outdoors. They completed their run in roughly 25 hours. January 2020, Ray successfully completes a solo traverse from the island community of Qikiqtarjuaq, across the sea ice to Baffin Island, and onto Pangnirtung Fjord. It was the first January crossing for Baffin, and took 5 days, dragging all of his supplies with him. Intense cold, little daylight, boulder fields, overflow and heavy winds were among the challenges. This was Ray's 9th crossing of Baffin. July 2021, Ray and Will Laughlin abandon an attempted retracing of the 2011 North to South crossing of Death Valley, off road. After the first 24 hours of moving non-stop, temperatures reached a world record high, and became too dangerous to proceed. At Furnace Creek, recorded temps reached 134F. March 2022, Kevin Vallely and Ray have to cut their attempted crossing of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic short due to several ongoing setbacks. The duo plans a return to complete their expedition in collaboration with friends who live in the region. July 2022, Ray and Stefano Gregoretti successfully complete a West to East crossing of Death Valley NP, at its widest point in summer. They collected ongoing weather data as they made their transect, for use in a future impossible2Possible Youth Education program. They planned for 48 hours but were able to complete the transect in 34 hours, with resupplies 20-30km apart along the way. Ray has also found the time to write two books about his life and adventures. Running for My Life published in 2007 and Ray's second book, geared at youth readers, Running to Extremes, which recently became a National Best-Seller in Canada. Both books focused on Ray's transition from an unhealthy life- both physically and emotionally, to ultra runner and beyond- and the philosophy that we are ALL capable of achieving the extraordinary in our lives. He is currently writing his third book. In addition to being an adventurer, youth advocate and runner, Ray speaks around the world at events such as TED, IOC World Conference, Idea City, The Economist World in 2010 and 2011, World Affairs Council, and numerous Apple Distinguished Educator events internationally, as well as numerous corporate events. He has been interviewed and appeared on several talk and news programs including CNNi, CNN, The Hour, CBC, CTV, BBC, Jay Leno, OLN and Discovery, and has connected his expeditions live, using satellite to both mainstream and social media. He has also appeared in print media globally, and has been interviewed on numerous popular podcasts. Ray was the host of Project Guatemala which aired on OLN, and co hosted-guided a few episodes of Finding Sarah on OWN. Outside of his own organization Ray has volunteered as a board member, Ryan's Well Foundation, volunteered as Athletic Ambassador of the ONExONE.org, and SpreadTheNet. He has previously volunteered with Run For Water, The Assembly of First Nations, and various other initiatives. Ray received the ONExONE Difference Award in 2007, and the Torchbearers Award in 2010. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In spring 2012, Ray was invited by H.E. Tsogtbaatar Damdin (Minister of Environment, Mongolia) to join their Internal Advisory Committee. In 2015 and 2019 Canadian Geographic recognized Ray as one of Canada's Top Explorers. In December 2015 Ray was presented with the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada by the Governor General of Canada. In 2018 Ray was named Explorer in Residence by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He continues today with life as an adventurer and as a volunteer with impossible2Possible. Transitioning from an unhealthy lifestyle to ultrarunning races to ‘Running The Sahara' would begin a lifelong journey of discovery. A journey of learning that some of the greatest barriers to achieving our goals are the ones we put upon ourselves. By breaking these down, Ray has learned that we are all capable of achieving truly extraordinary things…a message he continues to share with his two young daughters! Please scroll to bottom of this page for chronological list of projects and expeditions!

Mike Dowling is an Emmy nominated producer, author, and veteran advocate based in Los Angeles. Mike enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2001 and was in boot camp when 9/11 happened. Enlisting on an open contract, he was assigned to be a military policeman, became the distinguished honor graduate of his class, and would serve as a military working dog handler deploying with his Military Working Dog Rex to Iraq in 2004. They were attached to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines surviving the Triangle of Death and the First Battle of Fallujah. His book “Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between A Marine and His Military Working Dog” (Atria Books/2011) is a memoir of his service as a K9 handler. Since leaving the miliary, Mike shifted his career to film and media. He has been a military consultant on a wide range of productions for CBS, ABC, Animal Planet, and for Netflix working with Academy Award winning producers James Moll and Robert Zemeckis on the Medal of Honor docuseries (2018). Instagram: @miked0wling Mike Dowling's website: https://www.officialmikedowling.com/ Sergeant Rex is available for purchase at: Amazon Barnes & Noble Google Audible iTunes Support the show and become a War Stories patron: https://www.patreon.com/warstoriespodcast Website: https://www.warstories.co

David Eric Grohl was born in Warren, Ohio on January 14, 1969. Mom is teacher Virginia Jean Hanlon and dad was news writer James Harper Grohl. In addition to being an award-winning journalist, Dave's dad had also served as the special assistant to Republican Congressman and US Senator Robert Taft Jr.  When Dave was young, the Grohl family moved to Springfield, Virginia. When he was seven, his parents divorced, and he was raised primarily by his mom. At the age of 12, he began learning to play the guitar. He grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, eventually playing in bands with friends. He said, "I was going in the direction of faster, louder, darker while my sister, Lisa, three years older, was getting seriously into new wave territory. We'd meet in the middle sometimes with Bowie and Siouxsie and the Banshees." At 13, Grohl and his sister spent the summer at their cousin Tracey's house in Illinois. Cousin Tracey introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by several different punk bands. His first concert was Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago in 1982. Grohl recalled, "From then on we were totally punk. We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll, (a punk subculture music zine that ran from 1982 to 2019) and tried to figure it all out." In Virginia, he attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman and was shockingly elected class vice-president. He taught himself to play pieces of songs by punk bands like Circle Jerks and Bad Brains and, using his clout as vice president, would play them over the school intercom before his morning announcements. His mother decided he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because he was smoking too much weed and it was affecting his grades. He stayed there for two years, one of those repeating his first year.  After his second year, he transferred yet again to Annandale High School. While in high school, he played in several local bands, including a short stint as guitarist in a band called Freak Baby. It was during this period that he thought it was a good idea to switch to learning drums. When Freak Baby kicked out its bass player and reshuffled its lineup, Davel took on the role of drummer and history was made. Show's over, folks! The band then changed their name to “Mission Impossible.” Dave has said he did not take drumming lessons and instead learned by listening to Rush and punk rock bands. Obviously, insanely talented and possible robot and Rush drummer Neil Peart was an early influence: "When I got 2112 when I was eight years old, it fucking changed the direction of my life. I heard the drums. It made me want to become a drummer." During his beginning years as a drummer, Grohl cited John Bonham as his greatest influence, and eventually had Bonham's three-rings symbol tattooed on his right shoulder. Mission Impossible changed their name once again to “Fast” before breaking up, after which Dave joined the hardcore punk band Dain Bramage in December 1985.  Dain Bramage ended in March 1987 when Dave up and quit without warning to join Scream, having produced the I Scream Not Coming Down LP. Many of Dave's early influences were at the 9:30 Club, a music venue in Washington, D.C. He said, "I went to the 9:30 Club hundreds of times. I was always so excited to get there, and I was always bummed when it closed. I spent my teenage years at the club and saw some shows that changed my life." As a teenager in D.C.,Dave briefly thought about joining shock-rocker punk/metal band, GWAR, who were looking for a drummer around this time. At age 17, Dave auditioned with local Washington, D.C. favorites Scream to fill the vacancy left by the departure of drummer Kent Stax. In order to be considered for the position, Dave lied about his age, saying he was 34. I'm kidding but he did say he was older. To Dave's surprise, the band asked him to join and so he pulled a Jay-Z (last week's Icon) and dropped out of high school in his junior year. He has been quoted as saying, "I was 17 and extremely anxious to see the world, so I did it." Over the next four years, Grohl toured extensively with Scream, recording a couple of live albums (their show of May 4, 1990 in Alzey, Germany being released by Tobby Holzinger as Your Choice Live Series Vol.10) and two studio albums, No More Censorship and Fumble, on which Grohl penned and sang vocals on the song "Gods Look Down". During a Toronto stop on their 1987 tour, Grohl played drums for Iggy Pop at a CD release party held at the El Mocambo, which became best known for the 1977 surprise show by The Rolling Stones, which became popular when then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's wife, Margaret Trudeau, showed up and partied with the Stones.. In 1990, Scream unexpectedly disbanded mid-tour when bassist Skeeter Thompson left the band. Nirvana (1990–1994) We obviously can't talk about Foo Fighters without discussing Nirvana. They'll definitely have their own episode so we won't get too into them today. While playing in Scream, Grohl became a fan of the Melvins and eventually befriended them. During a 1990 tour stop on the West Coast, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne took his friends Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, of future Icons Nirvana, to go see Scream. Grohl called Osborne for advice after Scream disbanded and Osborne informed him that Nirvana was looking for a drummer. He gave Dave the phone numbers of Cobain and Novoselic, who then invited Grohl out to Seattle to audition. Grohl soon joined the band. Novoselic later said, "We knew in two minutes that he was the right drummer." Dave told the U.K. based magazine Q: "I remember being in the same room with them and thinking, 'What? That's Nirvana? Are you kidding?' Because on their record cover they looked like psycho lumberjacks... I was like, 'What, that little dude and that big motherfucker? You're kidding me'." When Dave joined Nirvana, they had already recorded several demos for the follow-up to their debut album Bleach, produced and recorded by Butch Vig. Initially, the plan was to release the album on Sub Pop, but they received a ton of label interest based on their demos. Dave spent the initial months with Nirvana traveling to various labels as the band shopped for a deal, eventually signing with DGC Records. In the spring of 1991, the band entered the infamous Sound City Studios in Los Angeles to record Nevermind as seen in Dave's amazing documentary, Sound City, from 2013. The album Nevermind was released later that year and exceeded all expectations becoming a worldwide commercial success. At the same time, Dave was compiling and recording his own material, which he released on a cassette called Pocketwatch in 1992 on indie label Simple Machines. Rather than using his own name for the project, Dave released the songs under his pseudonym "Late!" In the later years of Nirvana, Dave's songwriting increased. In his first months in Olympia, Washington, Kurt Cobain overheard him working on a song called "Color Pictures of a Marigold", and they wound up working on it together. Dave would later record the song for the Pocketwatch cassette. Dave stated in a 2014 episode of the documentary series, Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, that Kurt kissed him when he first heard a demo of "Alone + Easy Target" that Dave had recently recorded. According to Dave, "I'd told him I was recording and he said, 'Oh, I wanna hear it, bring it by.' He was sitting in the bath-tub with a walkman on, listening to the song, and when the tape ended, he took the headphones off and kissed me and said, 'Oh, finally, now I don't have to be the only songwriter in the band!' I said, 'No, no, no, I think we're doing just fine with your songs.'" Nirvana would jam Dave's song on soundchecks during their 1991 European tour. Dave reluctantly held back his songs in the beginning. In a 1997 interview he said, "I was in awe of [Kurt Cobain's songs], and [I was] intimidated. I thought it was best that I kept my songs to myself." During the sessions for In Utero, Nirvana's third and final studio album, the band decided to re-record "Color Pictures of a Marigold" and released it as a B-side on the "Heart-Shaped Box" single, with a slight title change; "Marigold". Dave also wrote the main guitar riff for "Scentless Apprentice", another song on In Utero. In a 1993 MTV interview, Kurt had said that, at first, he thought the riff was "kind of boneheaded", but was happy with how the song developed. Part of this development process can be heard  in a demo on the Nirvana box set ``With the Lights Out”, released in 2004. Cobain had said that he was excited at the possibility of having Chris Novoselic and Dave contribute more to the band's songwriting. Before embarking on their 1994 European tour, Nirvana scheduled session time at the popular Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to knock out some demos. The recording session was only 3 days long and Cobain wasn't there for most of it, so Chris and Dave worked on demos of their own songs. They completed several of Dave's songs, including future Foo Fighters songs "Exhausted", "Big Me", "February Stars", and "Butterflies". On the third day, Kurt finally arrived, and the band recorded a demo of a song later Titled "You Know You're Right". It was to be Nirvana's last studio recording.   After the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, the band known as Nirvana broke up. Dave received numerous offers to work with various artists and there were rumors saying he might join Pearl Jam. Dave almost accepted a position as the drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He later said: "I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life. I thought that I would rather do what no one expected me to do."  Instead he booked time at Robert Lang Studios in October 1994 and began recording 15 of his own songs. Dave played every instrument and sang every vocal part on the record with the exception of one guitar part on "X-Static", which was played by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs,.  He completed an album's worth of material in only five days and handed out cassette copies of the sessions to his friends for feedback.   Dave hoped to keep his anonymity and release the recordings in a limited run under the title "Foo Fighters", taken from the World War II term "foo fighter", used to refer to unidentified flying objects. "Around the time that I recorded the first FF tape, I was reading a lot of books on UFO's. Not only is it a fascinating subject, but there's a treasure trove of band names in those UFO books!" he said. "So, since I had recorded the first record by myself, playing all the instruments, but I wanted people to think that it was a group, I figured that FOO FIGHTERS might lead people to believe that it was more than just one guy. Silly, huh?" Continuing, Dave contends that a better band name could have been created. "Had I actually considered this to be a career, I probably would have called it something else, because it's the stupidest fucking band name in the world."   The demo tape circulated the music industry, creating serious interest among record labels. This WAS the drummer from arguably the biggest rock band in the world, right?  Dave put together a  band to support the album. He talked to Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic about joining, but they both decided against it; Dave said it would have felt "really natural" for them to work together, but would have been "weird" for the others and place more pressure on himself.   Having heard about Sunny Day Real Estate breaking up, Dave snagged the group's bass player, Nate Mendel, and their drummer, William Goldsmith. Dave then asked George Ruthenberg to join the band as their second guitarist. George, better known as Pat Smear, played as a touring guitarist for Nirvana after the release of In Utero. Pat was one of the founding members of the iconic punk band, The Germs, and Dave was a huge fan.   Dave then licensed the album to Capitol Records, releasing it on his new record label, Roswell Records. Get it? Roswell. UFO's?   The very first Foo Fighters show happened on February 19th, 1995. They played above a boat house in Seattle in front of friends and family. They made their official live, public debut on February 23rd, 1995 at a gig at the Jambalaya Club in Arcata California. They just happened to be in the area mixing their album when a local promoter asked the cover band, The Unseen, if Foo Fighters could open for them. They agreed.   Dave and his band of Foo Fighters then embarked on their first US tour in April of 1995 in support of The Stooges and Porno For Pyros bass player Mike Watt's solo tour. This tour featured an additional new band called “Hovercraft”, an instrumental outfit featuring Pearl Jam singer, Eddie Vedder. Dave refused to play large venues or even do interviews to promote their debut album. The first single, “This Is A Call”, was released in June of 1995 and the album, “Foo Fighters”, was released in July containing the follow up singles “I'll Stick Around”, “For All the Cows”, and “Big Me”.   Foo Fighters toured for almost an entire year and then jumped right back into the studio. This time it was Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, Washington with English producer Gil Norton who produced the Pixies, Jimmie Eat World, Counting Crows and so many more.   Dave, of course, wrote the songs but the band had a hand in arrangements. Nearly finished, he took the rough mixes to LA to finish his vocal and guitar parts. As he was listening to the mixes, something just didn't sound right. It wasn't what he envisioned. The drums weren't perfect, not that they were bad. Dave was a drummer. He knew drums. He had a career based on playing the drums and could arguably be considered one of the greatest rock drummers of all time. So, he set up some drums, mic'd them up and re-recorded the drums for the album. All of them.   Dave wanted Goldsmith to remain as their live drummer, but he was rightfully butthurt. Goldsmith quit. He quit what would become one of the biggest rock bands ever. Recently, drummer William Goldsmith has said “It was a pain in the ass. Like, that's the only band that I wish I could just, like, remove that from.” He continued by saying: “It doesn't matter what happened because the Foo Fighters are like Disney. Everyone wants to love Mickey Mouse. Everyone loves Mickey Mouse, so it's a difficult thing, but sometimes Mickey Mouse is a little rough around the edges. It's a no win scenario, so I'd rather remove it. I think the best thing to do is have a one on one conversation with Mickey.” He has gone to say that he has no ill will towards Dave.   Shortly after this, Pat Smear decided to leave, as well, claiming he was exhausted and burnt out. Goldsmith and Smear were replaced by the late, great Taylor Hawkins and former Scream guitarist Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl was fired before the recording of the group's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose in 1999.    Drummer Taylor Hawkins had played as Alanis Morissette's drummer from June of 1995 until March of 1997 in support of her “Jagged Little Pill” and “Can't Not” tours.   I thought it would be cool to hear Taylor explain how he wound up being Foo Fighters drummer and Dave Grohl's best friend. This is all from interviews Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohkl did with NME, Entertainment Weekly and Kerrang.   “I'd met Dave at this [US radio station] K-Rock Christmas show because Foo Fighters were on their way up and Alanis Morrissette was through the f***ing stratosphere at that point,”. “Me and Dave just looked like long lost brothers in a weird way.    “We had a similar vibe and I don't know why. I remember my friend playing with the Foo Fighters before I met Dave and watching them goof around backstage. He said to me, ‘That guy could be like your brother.' “And sure enough, when we met, we just thought, ‘We're brothers from another mother!' It was instantaneous – so much so that Alanis Morrisette just said ‘What are you going to do when Dave asks you to be the drummer in the Foo Fighters?'” “I was driving with my girlfriend at the time, and we were listening to KROQ,” “I heard William had departed and they were looking for a new drummer.”   Tylor immediately called Dave. “I said, ‘I heard you guys are looking for a drummer,' and he said, ‘Well, do you know any?' I thought Alanis wanted to go in a more laid-back direction, and it seemed like the right time to jump. Alanis didn't need me! I basically said to Dave, ‘I'll play drums for you,' and we jammed a couple of times.  “I remember I was at home watching Showgirls with my girlfriend, and Dave called to ask if I wanted to join.” Initially, Dave never thought Taylor would leave Morissette and Taylor's allegiance was always with Alanis; that's why he asked Taylor if he knew of any good drummers. When Hawkins agreed to join, all Dave cared about was that he was getting a friend, not a great drummer.  Dave told Entertainment Weekly, “I sent Taylor a tape of one of the new songs. It was ‘Monkey Wrench.' I went over to his little house in Topanga Canyon, he sat down and played for three seconds, and the first time he hit a snare drum, I knew it.”  Dave knew Taylor was the guy. “I swear to God, I was like, ‘That's all I need to f***ing hear. I love you as a person. You've just given me hearing damage for the rest of my life in three seconds. You have to be in the band.” Later, Grohl said Hawkins came into his life like an F5 tornado. “When he joined the band, his drumming was the least important factor – I just thought I want to travel the world with this guy, I want to jump on stage and drink beers with this person. That was my biggest concern,”. Morissette didn't take Hawkins leaving personally. They remained friends over the years. Taylor has said he would have been delivering pizzas if it wasn't for her. She was the first person who gave him a break in the music world. “She gave me a lot of space to do what I wanted. It was probably the biggest album of the year (referencing her debut album “Jagged Little Pill”), and there was a lot of pressure on her. She was having to learn to be this leader on the job, which isn't easy. But it was really one of the most fun times of my life.” The band announced Tylor would be its new drummer on March 18, 1997. His first appearance with the Foo Fighters was in the music video for the 1997 single "Monkey Wrench", although the song was recorded before he joined the band.   Foo Fighter's second album, “The Colour and the Shape” was released on May 20th, 1997 through Capitol and Roswell Records with the legendary singles, “Monkey Wrench”, “Everlong” and “My Hero” blasting through the airwaves. The album charted at number ten on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy in 1998 for best rock album. It has sold more than 2 million copies.   The band then traveled to Dave's home state of Virginia in 1998 to record their third album, “There Is Nothing Left To Lose”. Dave and Pat Smear's replacement, Franz Stahl, just couldn't see eye to eye as songwriters. Dave said "in those few weeks it just seemed like the three of us were moving in one direction and Franz wasn't." Franz was Dave's childhood friend and the decision to fire him from the band was a hard one.    Then, shortly after Franz's termination, bassist Nate Mendel called Dave and said he was quitting to rejoin Sunny Day Real Estate, but the next day changed his mind and decided not to leave.    Dave, Taylor and Nate spent the next several months recording their third album at Dave's home studio. “There Is Nothing Left To Lose” spawned mega hits like “Learn To Fly”, “Stacked Actors”, “Generator” and “Break Out”.    “Learn To Fly” was the band's first single to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100.   Right before the album was released, the president of Capitol Records (Foo Fighters record label), Gary Gersh was forced out and with the help of a “key man clause” in their contract, they were allowed to leave Capitol upon Gersh's release. They left Capitol to sign with RCA who then bought the rights to their previous albums from Capitol.   Upon completing the recording of their third album, the band started auditioning guitarists. Foo Fighters selected No Use For A Name and, what I didn't know, Me First and The Gimmie Gimmies guitarist, Chris Shiflett. He was only supposed to come into the fold as the band's touring guitarist, but was hired on full time before they recorded “One By One”, their fourth studio album.   Right around 2001, Dave and Taylor, being diehard fans of the band Queen, established a relationship with the future Icons and Outlaws episode subjects. Dave and Taylor had the distinct pleasure of inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that same year and joined them to perform the 1976 classic, Tie Your Mother Down, with Taylor playing drums alongside Roger Taylor. Queen's legendary guitarist Brian May even added a guitar track to Foo Fighters' second cover of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar", which was on the soundtrack to Mission: Impossible 2. In 2002, guitarist Brian May contributed guitar work to Tired of You and an outtake called Knucklehead. The bands have performed together on several occasions since, including VH1 Rock Honors and Foo Fighters' headlining gig at Hyde Park in London, England.   At the end of 2001, the boys got together to record their fourth studio record, “One By One. They spent four months in a LA studio and something was off. The spark just wasn't there and the band were having issues, internally. So, Dave stepped away for a while and worked with Queens of the Stone Age, helping them complete their 2002 record, “Songs for the Deaf”. Touring commenced for Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, but the internal struggles were still there and just as they were about to call it quits, they hit the stage at Coachella. Dave and Taylor wanted to complete the album and the next day, they rocked the festival and agreed to do so.   Almost every part of the album was scrapped and re-recorded at Dave's studio in Virginia, in only ten days. Seven songs from the original recording of One By One eventually leaked, but the full album has never been released. That record has often been referred to as “Million Dollar Demos”.   The band finally released its fourth album, One by One, in 2002. This record had hit singles like “All My Life”, “Have It All”, “Low” and “Times Like These”. This was Chris Shiflett's first recorded appearance as part of the band and where Taylor played all of the drums. “One By One” topped the charts globally and sold a million units in the U.S., bringing home a Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2004.   Supporting One By One by touring for a year and half, Dave wasn't in a hurry to record another Foo Fighters album. He was more interested in doing an acoustic, solo record but it turned into a full band ordeal. They built a new studio in Northridge, Los Angeles, called Studio 606 West and began recording their 5th album, In Your Honor, a two disc set with full blown rock songs on one and the other with acoustic tracks. It was released in 2005 and had the hits, “DOA”, “Resolve” and one of my all time favorites, “Best of You”. The album also had guest performances by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Queen of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and Norah Jones. It also featured their new keyboardist, Rami Jaffee of the Wallflowers, who wouldn't become a full-time member until 2017.    “In Your Honor” was nominated for five Grammy Awards, hit the number one spot in five countries and number two in the U.S., selling more than a million copies.   Foo Fighters released their first live CD, “Skin and Bones” in November of 2006, with 15 songs recorded at a 3 night performance at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. The album featured a violinist, Pat Smear joining in and a three song encore with Dave playing “Best of You”, “Everlong”, and “Friend of a Friend”. The record debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200, sold 49,000 copies in its first week and over 357,000 total.    Foo Fighters released its sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in 2007 and recruited producer Gil Norton, who worked on the band's “The Colour and the Shape”. This was primarily because Dave felt the songs were different from the band's previous input and "had the potential to be something great". So, he considered that instead of doing something like the last three albums, the band had to go out of "our own comfort zone" and "needed someone to push us out of there".   Preparing to record this album was extensive: first Dave started off developing demos with Taylor, but for the first time he tried to input vocals and lyrics early in the writing phase. After finalizing the song's composition with guitarist Chris and bassist Nate, Dave spent two weeks with Gil Norton discussing "arrangements, harmony and melody" and condensing the song ideas. They then spent four weeks rehearsing, and playing "a song a day, from noon to midnight". Taylor stated that "we basically played each of these songs 100 different times, trying every little thing every different way" and that it was the first time since The Colour and the Shape ``that Dave had to deal with someone in the room questioning all his ideas". Dave claimed the choices were for the "most powerful, dramatic songs" and that there was an effort to "make everything sound as natural as possible – just like on the albums we grew up listening to".    On this album's sound, Taylor Hawkins said: "We haven't been ready to write a record like this until now. I know that Dave wouldn't have been comfortable putting violins on a song before. But for whatever reasons, it just felt like the right time to explore those things now. The last record, obviously, was half heavy stuff, half acoustic songs. So it really was like two sides of the coin. It sounds obvious, but this time around we weren't afraid of incorporating everything into one song if it felt right." The first single, “The Pretender”, topped Billboard's modern rock chart for 19 weeks. Other singles from this album were “Long Road to Ruin”, “Let It Die” and “Cheer Up Boys”. It was nominated for five Grammys, winning Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance and won the Brit Award, (Britain's version of the American Recording Academy) for Best International Album.   Foo Fighters hit the road again in 2007 on a world tour and at the European MTV Music Awards, Pat Smear was confirmed as a returned member of the band.   June 7th, 2008 saw Foo Fighters headline the world renowned Wembley Stadium in London, England. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin joined them on stage and after rocking out the songs “Rock and Roll” and “Ramble On”, Dave excitedly shouted “Welcome to the greatest fucking day of my whole entire life!”   The attendance at this amazing sold out concert was 85,000.  In August 2010, the band began recording their seventh studio album with the return of producer Butch Vig. The album was recorded in Dave's garage using only analog equipment. The album won five Grammys and was nominated for six.    Planning the seventh album, Dave realized he was bored of the band's typical recording process. Even though the group own 606 Studios, he is still a punk rocker at heart, and found himself yearning for a grittier, wholly analogue approach to recording. One night in his hotel room in Melbourne, while on tour with Them Crooked Vultures (his side project with Josh Homme and John Paul Jones), he hatched a plan to return to recording basics for what was to become Wasting Light. Dave told Sound on Sound.com, "I thought, rather than just record the album in the most expensive studio with the most state‑of‑the‑art equipment, what if Butch and I were to get back together after 20 years and dust off the tape machines and put them in my garage? We've recorded an album somewhere where no‑one has ever recorded before. We've not gone to the studio where Zeppelin made In Through The Out Door, we've gone into my garage. The only person that's recorded in my garage before is me for shitty demos that I've done for the last two records.”   The first single from Wasting Light, "Rope", was released to radio in February 2011. On April 16, 2011, Foo Fighters released an album of covers, Medium Rare, as a limited-edition vinyl for Record Store Day. Wasting Light debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the band's first album to do so. Other singles for the album were "Walk", "Arlandria", "These Days", and "Bridge Burning". Alongside Wasting Light's release, the band released a rockumentary, directed by Academy Award-winner James Moll. The film, titled Back and Forth, chronicles the band's career. Current and past members, and producer Butch Vig, tell the story of the band through interviews. After debuting on March 15, 2011, at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, it was released on DVD three months later.   The first batch of ‘Wasting Light' CDs include pieces of the album's analog tape master Look inside your CD copy of the band's Wasting Light album. If you were one of the first fans to pick one up, chances are it includes a piece of the original analog tape the album was recorded on. After announcing a break after touring in support of Wasting Light, Dave said in 2013 that they were starting to write new material for their 8th studio album, “Sonic Highways”, bringing back Butch Vig. They announced their return to the stage by posting a video of Erik Estrada, one of the main actors from the 70's motorcycle cop show, CHIPS, riding a motorcycle and delivering each member of the band an invitation to play in Mexico.    They announced that their eighth album would be released in November of 2014 and they would commemorate it and their 20th anniversary with an HBO TV series called “Sonic Highways”, directed by Dave, himself.    Eight songs were written and recorded in eight studios in eight different American cities with video capturing the history and feel of each town. Each track features contributions from one or more musicians with ties to that city's musical history.   The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, with sales of 190,000 copies in the United States. It has sold over 617,500 copies in the US and had amazing songs like “Something From Nothing”, “The Feast and the Famine”, and “Congregation” featuring country artist, Zac Brown Foo Fighters were the last musical performance on Late Show with David Letterman on May 20th, 2015, as he retired from his 33 year career as a late night show host.   On June 12th, 2015, Dave had the misfortune of falling off the stage in Gothenburg, Sweden and breaking his leg during the second song. The band kept playing while Dave was fixed up by the medical staff and then RETURNED TO THE STAGE to finish the last two hours of their set while sitting in a chair and a medic taking care of his leg. He was flown to London, England after the show and received six metal pins to stabilize the fracture in his leg.   There was speculation that Foo Fighters would drop out of their 20th anniversary, fourth of July bash, after canceling their remaining European dates following Dave's accident. Instead, The band performed for 48,000 people with Dave in a custom-built moving throne which he claimed to have designed himself while on painkillers. They renamed the following tour the “Broken Leg Tour”.   November 25th, 2015 Foo Fighters released a surprise EP named “Saint Cecilia”, available for digital download, and Dave announced an indefinite hiatus. This EP peaked at number 3 on Billboard's mainstream rock songs chart.   Krist Novoselic, who played with Grohl in Nirvana, described Saint Cecilia as Foo Fighters' "statement on how they are the biggest rock band in the world". Novoselic also said that "Saint Cecilia is more straight-ahead rock that is done really well", and went on to say that "I went to the Foo's last gig at the Moda Center in Portland and they rocked a packed house. I love the drummer Matt Sorum (Guns and Roses). However, he is so wrong in his statement about danger and the Foo's somehow lacking it. First off all, I know about danger in rock. I was the bassist in Flipper — and survived! Look at a band like Queen, who totally rocked. They were way more dandy than danger. Queen knows how to rock a stadium. So do the Foo Fighters and you'll hear big rock on Saint Cecilia". Rumors about Foo Fighters breaking up were everywhere so, the band released a mockumentary video in March 2016 portraying Grohl leaving the band to pursue an electronic music career and Nick Lachey (formerly of 98 Degrees) becoming the group's new singer, ending with: "For the millionth time, we're not breaking up. And nobody's going fucking solo!"   Dave announced that the band would spend most of 2017 recording their ninth studio album, “Concrete and Gold”. On June 1, 2017, their new single "Run" was released. Run topped the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart the following month. On June 20, 2017, the band announced that their new album, Concrete and Gold, would be released in September. On August 23, 2017, The Sky Is a Neighborhood was released as the second single and topped the Mainstream Rock chart. The Line was released in promotion of the album and later as the third single in 2018. Concrete and Gold was officially released on September 15, 2017, produced by Greg Kurstin. Concrete and Gold also features Justin Timberlake on vocals for Make It Right, Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Menon backing vocals for the song Concrete and Gold, and Paul McCartney on the drums for Sunday Rain.   Concrete and Gold has sold over 262,000 units.   In October 2019, the band announced that they were recording their tenth studio album based on Dave's demos. In November 2019, the band began releasing a series of EPs under the umbrella name of the Foo Files, largely consisting of previously released B sides and live performances. By February 2020, Dave  announced that the new album was complete but by May, it was delayed indefinitely because of a little unforeseen event called the COVID-19 pandemic, saying, "We've kind of shelved it for now to figure out exactly when it's going to happen." Starting in November 2020, promotion for the album ramped up. Its title, Medicine at Midnight, and release date, February 5, 2021, were announced. The band released three singles ahead of the album: "Shame Shame", "No Son of Mine", and "Waiting on a War".  On February 10, 2021, Foo Fighters were announced as one of the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees in their first year of eligibility as their debut album had been released 25 years prior. On May 12, 2021, Foo Fighters were announced as one of 6 performer inductees. For Record Store Day on July 17, 2021, the Foo Fighters released an album of disco covers, Hail Satin, under the name Dee Gees. The album contains four Bee Gees covers, a cover of Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing", plus five live versions of Medicine at Midnight tracks.] On February 25, 2022, the band released a comedy horror film, Studio 666, directed by BJ McDonnell. It stars the band members as themselves, alongside Will Forte, Whitney Cummings, Jeff Garlin, and Jenna Ortega. In the movie, the band attempts to record an album in a haunted mansion; Dave is possessed by a demonic spirit and the other members are killed off one by one.  It was filmed in the same mansion in which the band had recorded their most recent album, Medicine at Midnight. Studio 666 is currently available on Amazon Prime Video.    Dave has recently released an EP of songs from the film, Dream Widow, on March 25, 2022. On March 25, 2022, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died in his room at the Casa Medina hotel in Bogotá, Colombia. No cause of death was given. Taylor had suffered chest pain, and had ten substances in his system at the time of his death, including opioids, benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, and THC. Foo Fighters were scheduled to perform that night at the Estéreo Picnic Festival as part of their ongoing South American tour; the festival stage was turned into a candlelight vigil for Taylor. A few days later, the band canceled all remaining tour dates. According to Sony Music Japan, FOO FIGHTERS sold over 32,000,000 albums worldwide, including 9,065,000 in the United States and 5,260,000 in the United Kingdom. The best-selling album by FOO FIGHTERS is GREATEST HITS, which sold over 2,775,000 copies .

For our first segment, we're talking about The Last Days, a documentary that originally came out in 1998, directed by James Moll, and focuses on the lives of five hungarian Jews who survived the Holocaust. Recently rereleased on Netflix, it got us thinking about Holocaust education, and how it's changing in a world where there […] The post “The Last Days” & the Pew Survey of Jews in America appeared first on Jewish Public Media.

For our first segment, we're talking about The Last Days, a documentary that originally came out in 1998, directed by James Moll, and focuses on the lives of five hungarian Jews who survived the Holocaust. Recently rereleased on Netflix, it got us thinking about Holocaust education, and how it's changing in a world where there […] The post “The Last Days” & the Pew Survey of Jews in America appeared first on Jewish Public Media.

For our first segment, we’re talking about The Last Days, a documentary that originally came out in 1998, directed by James Moll, and focuses on the lives of five hungarian Jews who survived the Holocaust. Recently rereleased on Netflix, it got us thinking about Holocaust education, and how it’s changing in a world where there […] The post “The Last Days” & the Pew Survey of Jews in America appeared first on Jewish Public Media.

1998's Academy Award Best Feature Documentary, THE LAST DAYS, filmed in five countries, traces the compelling experiences of five Hungarian Holocaust survivors who fell victim to Hitler's brutal war against the Jews during the final days of WWII. Including newly discovered historical footage and a rare interview with a former Nazi doctor at Auschwitz, the film tells the remarkable story of five people – now a grandmother, a teacher, a businessman, an artist, and a United States Congressman – as they return from the United States to their hometowns and to the ghettos and concentration camps in which they were imprisoned. Through the eyes of the survivors and other witnesses, THE LAST DAYS recounts one of the most brutal chapters of this dark period in human history, when families were taken from their homes, stripped of their dignity, deported to concentration camps and ultimately murdered. Above all, THE LAST DAYS, is a potent depiction of personal strength and courage. Director James Moll joins us to talk about the film's recent remastering and upcoming re-release, the enduring power of the five survivor's stories and why the THE LAST DAYS continues to cast a very long and cautionary shadow over contemporary history. For news, screenings and updates go to: thelastdays.com

For Video Edition, Click and Subscribe here: https://youtu.be/NsZk9DEpuCw https://www.alanmercer.com/ Alan Mercer has been involved with portraits for over 40 years. First as a painter and sketch artist endorsed by Andy Warhol. Then in 1997, Alan decided to concentrate on celebrity photography, and, in a move that was pretty cutting edge at the time, launched his web site in the hopes that he would be discovered. It worked. Oscar winning director, James Moll, found Alan’s website and hired him to photograph his portrait for the DVD ‘The Last Days.’ From there, Alan was tapped for a special project to assemble and photograph Steven Spielberg and six other great directors. Since then, Alan has been called upon by the biggest names in music, film, and television with many magazine covers, book covers & album covers. Besides seeing his work on these covers, you can also see many of his portraits on television documentaries and billboards. Since relocating to Texas 7 years ago, Alan has been enjoying the rich music scene in Texas and photographing some of the most popular and important musicians.

Here is the new episode of The Interview Series on the MULTI-MEDIA MEN podcast network, where the show is related to all things Movies, Music, and Entertainment! Here on this new episode, host Bryan Kluger from Boomstick Comics, High Def Digest, and Screen Rant, join in on the fun. Our Feature Presentation this episode is a wonderful talk with composer/musician - BENJAMIN WALLFISCH! About Benjamin Wallfisch: Composer of Andy Muschietti's IT and IT Chapter 2, David F. Sandberg's SHAZAM!, Leigh Whannell's THE INVISIBLE MAN and co-composer of Denis Villeneuve's BLADE RUNNER: 2049 (with Hans Zimmer), Benjamin Wallfisch has worked on over 75 feature films and received Golden Globe, BAFTA, 2x GRAMMY and EMMY nominations for his work.  He is currently scoring Simon McQuoid's MORTAL KOMBAT for New Line/Warner Bros and was recently nominated as 'Film Composer of the Year' in the World Soundtrack Awards for the second consecutive year. To date, the movies he has scored have made over $2.5 billion in worldwide box office receipts, and in 2019 Variety inducted him into their ‘Billion Dollar Composer' series in recognition of this. Other recent projects include Academy Award Best Picture nominee HIDDEN FIGURES, directed by Ted Melfi (in collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer) and David F. Sandberg's box office hits ANNABELLE: CREATION and LIGHTS OUT. On the invitation of Zimmer, he wrote 'Variation 15', based on Elgar's 'Enigma' Variations, for Christopher Nolan's DUNKIRK. In recent years, Benjamin has also scored Gore Verbinski's A CURE FOR WELLNESS, the Steven Spielberg produced the short film AUSCHWITZ, directed by James Moll, KING OF THIEVES, starring Michael Caine and directed by James Marsh; and Steven Knight's SERENITY, starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. He also recently completed scoring HOSTILE PLANET, a six-part series for National Geographic. With over 25 albums of his music released to date on labels including Deutsche Grammophon and Epic Records, Benjamin has performed live in over 100 concerts worldwide, leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Sydney Symphony at venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House, and Royal Festival Hall. He has collaborated, recorded, and performed his music with artists including Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock, and Yuja Wang, and has over 50 concert music commissions to his name. He has also collaborated three times with Pharrell Williams, including a live performance at the 2015 GRAMMY Awards, and recently partnered with Adele, arranging her 2017 GRAMMY performance of George Michael's 'Fast Love'. A member of the BAFTA® Academy since 2009, Benjamin was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London in 2014. In 2017, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.   Benjamin and I start the show with origin stories, how he got into music and playing piano and his transition from classical to film composing was accomplished. We move onto his work in horror films, his friendship with Hans Zimmer, and even talk about his grandmother, who has an incredible journey and tale of music and history. Then, of course, we get into the fun questions. Enjoy the show! VISIT BENJAMIN WALLFISCH HERE And don't forget to visit iTunes , Stitcher , I Heart Radio, and Spotify to subscribe to our podcast. You can also email us at mybloodypodcast@gmail.com. Enjoy the show and see you next week! Thank you for listening. https://boomstickcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ben-wallfisch.mp3

Can we truly live a life of adventure and bring others along on the journey? Meet Ray Zahab: a Canadian Explorer, ultra distance runner and founder of the non-profit, impossibe2possible. He’s a recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada, an Explorer in Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2015 Canadian Geographic recognized Ray as one of Canada’s Top Explorers. He’s run 17,000km across the world’s deserts and unsupported expeditions in some of the coldest places on the planet. On November 1, 2006, former “pack a day smoker” turned ultra runner Ray Zahab and two friends, Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin, set out on an expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. 111 days and 7,500 kms after leaving the coast of Senegal, Africa they completed their journey by stepping into the Red Sea. The expedition had the trio running an average of 70kms a day without a single day of rest, for 111 days. National Geographic tracked the expedition by web, as well as the documentary film ‘Running The Sahara’, produced by Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll, was created in an effort to raise awareness for the drinking water crisis in North Africa.  In 2008, Ray founded impossible2Possible (i2p) an organization that aims to inspire and educate youth through adventure learning, inclusion and participation in expeditions. You can visit www.rayzahab.com to learn more about him and www.impossible2possible.com for his youth adventure initiatives.   Feel free to tell me a bit about how this episode resonated with you by leaving a review of this episode and share anything that resonates with you. If you’d like to hear from me on new episodes or simply want to elevate your inbox, give me a visit at www.neelamtewar.com to sign up for weekly updates from me. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charlie Engle is one of the most accomplished ultramarathon runners in  the world, winning or placing in many of the most punishing endurance races across the globe. Charlie competed . In 2007 Engle's historic and record setting  effort to be the first person to run across the Sahara Desert was documented in the film Running the Sahara which was narrated by Matt  Damon and directed by James Moll (both Academy Award Winners). He was joined by two other runners: Ray Zahab of Canada and Kevin  Lin of Taiwan. This transcontinental run through deep sand and politically unstable countries remains one of the top accomplishments in the sport. The runners completed over  4,500 miles, averaging over two marathons per day, for 111 consecutive  days.  Out of this project he helped launch the non-profit Water.org which helps people around the world access safe water. Jamie and Charlie talk about his battle with addiction to drugs and alcohol early in his career and the key moments that led him to sobriety.  His extreme highs and lows continued after the fame and worldwide speaking engagements at places like the United Nations from Running the Sahara when he was sent to federal prison for mortgage fraud.    Charlie's engaging personality and openness make this episode a must listen! Please consider leaving a rating and review on your favorite  podcast platform. Tell Charlie and Jamie what you think about this episode.   www.bigideabigmoves.com    Need Help Getting Back to Work? Visit:   https://mailchi.mp/f53826f39bca/careercoaching   JazzHR - awarded the most UserFriendly ATS   https://www.jazzhr.com/?utm_source=partner-epitomehr. http://charlieengle.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Running-Man-Ultra-Endurance-Charlie-Engle/dp/1476785791/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1480513198&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.com/Running-Sahara-Charlie-Engle/dp/B01AVDSZ2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510684367&sr=8-1&keywords=running+the+sahara

Ray Zahab was a pack a day smoker who dreaded gym class growing up. BUT now he's an ultra runner who's been named one of Canada's Top Explorers. He's run over 17,000 kms across the world's deserts and some of the coldest places on the planet. His trek across the Sahara desert was captured in the documentary, Running the Sahara, produced by Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll. Ray is a world record holder, humanitarian and a best-selling author. In this interview he talks about what triggered this drastic life change and the greatest lessons he's learned from putting his body and mind to the ultimate test. Listen NOW. 

Welcome to my hour of power with Ray Zahab. A 51 year old Canadian Adventurer, Ultra Runner, Founder of a not-for-profit organisation Impossible2Possible and father of two. In addition to being a captivating storyteller - he has run over 17,000kms across some of the world's hottest deserts, at the HOTTEST time of the year, including the Namib, Gobi, Atacama and Sahara desert. He has also completed multiple unsupported Arctic expeditions, including a Guinness World record expedition for the fastest unsupported trek across Antarctica, all whilst raising awareness and funds for environmental education programs. He has also completed multiple other unsupported Arctic expeditions. Ray is a former pack-a-day smoker and discovered the world of sports & endurance in his 30's in the pursuit of happiness. He is now undoubtedly one of the greatest adventurers of our time, a true example of how humans can transform through the power of the mind, experience, preparation and persistence. 3 years after his first ultramarathon he ran 7500kms across the Sahara Desert with Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin. Running an average of 70kms a day, with NO days off, for 111 days, through 6 countries - this monumental feat of endurance was made into a feature documentary RUNNING THE SAHARA narrated and executive produced by Academy Award winner Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographic society, holds the Meritorious Service cross of Canadian and is the founder of not for profit Impossible2possible that enables youth to experience adventures. You can learn more about Ray on his website: www.rayzahab.com and on all social channels @rayzahab ** Music is Junket by Robert John. Link - https://bit.ly/2QVsiNr License - https://bit.ly/2Joz36k **

Welcome to my hour of power with Ray Zahab. A 51 year old Canadian Adventurer, Ultra Runner, Founder of a not-for-profit organisation Impossible2Possible and father of two. In addition to being a captivating storyteller - he has run over 17,000kms across some of the world's hottest deserts, at the HOTTEST time of the year, including the Namib, Gobi, Atacama and Sahara desert. He has also completed multiple unsupported Arctic expeditions, including a Guinness World record expedition for the fastest unsupported trek across Antarctica, all whilst raising awareness and funds for environmental education programs. He has also completed multiple other unsupported Arctic expeditions.Ray is a former pack-a-day smoker and discovered the world of sports & endurance in his 30's in the pursuit of happiness. He is now undoubtedly one of the greatest adventurers of our time, a true example of how humans can transform through the power of the mind, experience, preparation and persistence.3 years after his first ultramarathon he ran 7500kms across the Sahara Desert with Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin. Running an average of 70kms a day, with NO days off, for 111 days, through 6 countries - this monumental feat of endurance was made into a feature documentary RUNNING THE SAHARA narrated and executive produced by Academy Award winner Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll.He is a fellow of the Royal Geographic society, holds the Meritorious Service cross of Canadian and is the founder of not for profit Impossible2possible that enables youth to experience adventures.You can learn more about Ray on his website: www.rayzahab.com and on all social channels @rayzahab** Music is Junket by Robert John. Link - https://bit.ly/2QVsiNr License - https://bit.ly/2Joz36k **

In this episode of the Wired Educator Podcast, I had the privilege to sit down in person with Ray Zahab after his keynote at the Leadership and Learning Academy 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. Ray is one of my heroes. I love how he connects with educators and students. You are going to love this episode. Than you for listening! Ray Zahab is a Canadian Adventurer, ultra distance runner and Founder of non-profit impossible2Possible. A recent recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada, Ray is an Explorer in Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2015 Canadian Geographic recognized Ray as one of Canada's Top Explorers. He has ran 14,000+km across the world's deserts, and completed multiple unsupported expeditions in some of the coldest places on the planet. On November 1, 2006, former “pack a day smoker” turned ultra runner Ray Zahab and two friends, Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin, set out on an expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. 111 days and 7,500 kms after leaving the coast of Senegal, Africa they completed their journey by stepping into the Red Sea. The expedition had the trio running an average of 70kms a day without a single day of rest, for 111 days. National Geographic tracked the expedition by web, as well as the documentary film ‘Running The Sahara', produced by Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll, was created in an effort to raise awareness for the drinking water crisis in North Africa. After witnessing and learning about the water crisis in North Africa, Ray decided to leverage his future adventures to help raise awareness and funding for causes, like this one, that he supports and believes in. Ray founded impossible2Possible (i2P) (impossible2possible.com) an organization that aims to inspire and educate youth through adventure learning, inclusion and participation in expeditions. Youth Ambassadors are selected from around the world, and then participate, at no cost, in all aspects of the expedition, from logistics and running to creating educational content and team support. Ray has also found the time to write two books about his life and adventures. Running for My Life published in 2007 and Ray's second book, geared at youth readers, Running to Extremes, which recently became a National Best-Seller in Canada. He is currently writing his third book. In addition to being an adventurer, youth advocate and runner, Ray speaks around the world at events such as TED, IOC World Conference, Idea City, The Economist World in 2010 and 2011, World Affairs Council, and numerous Apple Distinguished Educator events internationally, as well as numerous corporate events. He has been interviewed and appeared on several talk and news programs including CNNi, CNN, The Hour, CBC, CTV, BBC, Jay Leno, OLN and Discovery, and has connected his expeditions live, using satellite to both mainstream and social media. He has also appeared in print media globally, and has been interviewed on numerous popular podcasts. Ray was the host of Project Guatemala which aired on OLN, and co hosted-guided a few episodes of Finding Sarah on OWN. Outside of his own organization Ray has volunteered as a board member, Ryan's Well Foundation, volunteered as Athletic Ambassador of the ONExONE.org, and SpreadTheNet. He continues to volunteer with Run For Water, and various other initiatives. Ray received the ONExONE Difference Award in 2007, and the Torchbearers Award in 2010. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In spring 2012, Ray was invited by H.E. Tsogtbaatar Damdin (Minister of Environment, Mongolia) to join their Internal Advisory Committee. In 2015 Canadian Geographic recognized Ray as one of Canada's Top Explorers. In December 2015 Ray was presented with the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada by the Governor General of Canada. In 2018 Ray was named Explorer in Residence by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He continues today with life as an adventurer and as a volunteer with impossible2Possible. ‘Running The Sahara' would begin a lifelong journey of discovery. A journey of learning that some of the greatest barriers to achieving our goals are the ones we put upon ourselves. By breaking these down, Ray has learned that we are all capable of achieving truly extraordinary things…a message he continues to share with his two young daughters! Mentioned in this podcast: Ray's TEDtalk Ray's website Ray's Instagram Ray's Foundation: Impossible to Possible Ray's book: Running for My Life Ray's book: Running to Extremes Ray's book: Just Deserts Kasey Bell's Google Certification Online Courses for listeners of The Wired Educator Podcast! This course closes Dec 3, 2019. 

In this episode of the Classic Movie Recall podcast, James Moll and Lara Scott review one of the greatest swashbuckling adventures of the 1930s, CAPTAIN BLOOD stars Errol Flynn in the role that made him a star. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz (of Casablanca fame) and co-stars Olivia De Havilland. Now you'll know why all these sword fighting, swashbuckling pirate films caught on as a staple of classic Hollywood movies.

This weeks episode features Ray Zahab who is a Canadian Adventurer, ultra-distance runner, and Founder of the non-profit impossible2Possible.  A recent recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross of Canada, Ray is an Explorer in Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2015 Canadian Geographic recognized Ray as one of Canada’s Top Explorers. He’s run 14,000+km across the world’s deserts and completed multiple unsupported expeditions in some of the coldest places on the planet.  Of note on November 1, 2006, the former “pack a day smoker” turned ultra-runner and two friends, Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin, set out on an expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. 111 days and 7,500 km after leaving the coast of Senegal, Africa they completed their journey by stepping into the Red Sea. National Geographic tracked the expedition by web, as well as the documentary film ‘Running the Sahara’, produced by Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll, was created in an effort to raise awareness for the drinking water crisis in North Africa. In 2008, Ray founded impossible2Possible an organization that aims to inspire and educate youth through adventure learning, inclusion, and participation in expeditions. This one's a keeper!

Claudette Colbert jumps ship (literally) to escape her father’s disapproval and she ends up meeting Clark Gable on a bus. What could possibly go right? Join Lara Scott and James Moll as they welcome Randy Haberkamp from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to talk about one of the greatest and earliest romantic comedies of all time: Frank Capra’s IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT.

Splendor In The Grass (1961) by James Moll & Lara Scott

Powered by http://www.GrandeurHats.com Ray Zahab speaking is a Canadian long-distance runner and public speaker. Adventuring across several countries including the South Pole, Siberia, and the Atacama Desert in Chile. He starred in the 2007 documentary film "Running the Sahara" narrated and produced by Matt Damon and directed by Oscar-winner James Moll, which follows three men as they run across the Sahara Desert, a journey of 111 days and more than 4,300 miles of challenging terrain. Ray currently works for a non-profit who's mission is to blend traditional curriculum and adventure through the use interactive Internet and satellite technology with the goal of providing an education resource to tens of thousands of students from countries all over the World. Topics of this chat include: • Hitting a low • Finding inspiration • Compounding changes • Finding happiness • Overanalyzing • Planning • Failure and reinvention • Content creation • Education through experience • Not limiting yourself http://www.RayZahab.com http://www.NewAgeNomadPodcast.com Don't forget to subscribe to our channel as well as on Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-age-nomad-podcast/id1125732194

The Philadelphia Story(1940) by James Moll & Lara Scott

In each and every one of us, there's the capacity to do amazing things - Ray Zahab Ray Zahab and Stefano Gregoretti will run 2,200km (1,375mile) across Namibia with the primary goal of using satellite technology to bring their expedition into classrooms, and classrooms onto the expedition. Join them on instagram, Facebook and their official website www.transnamibia.com ! EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS The condition Ray has that I can't pronounce and that he doesn't think about A lot of the great things we do are quick decisions How risk-taking is a forgotten quality Origins of ImpossibletoPossible (i2P) The most difficult things we do in our lives are very relative to us as individuals Crossing the world's deserts and the Trans Namibia Expedition ABOUT RAY ZAHAB Canadian Adventurer & Founder of impossible2Possible (i2P) Challenge. Distance. Discovery On November 1, 2006, former "pack a day smoker" Ray Zahab and two friends, Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin, both accomplished runners, set out on an expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. 111 days and 7,500 kms after leaving the coast of Senegal, Africa they completed their journey by stepping into the Red Sea. This epic expedition had the trio running an average of 70kms a day without a single day of rest. National Geographic tracked the expedition by web, as well as the documentary film 'Running The Sahara', produced by Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll, was created in an effort to raise awareness for the drinking water crisis in North Africa. After witnessing and experiencing this water crisis in North Africa, Ray decided to leverage his future adventures to help raise awareness and funding for causes, like this one, that he supports and believes in. In 2007, Ray ran the three coastal trails of Canada back to back and virtually non-stop, for a total distance of 400 kms. The Akshayuk Pass on Baffin Island, East Coast Trail Newfoundland and West Coast Trail in British Columbia. Motivated by the Sahara run - Ray conceptualized the Canada ONExONE Run in May 2008. Along with a team of runners, Ray ran an average 80 kms per day in each of Canada's 13 Provinces and Territories in 13 days. School visits were arranged along the way, students participated and communities became engaged in many of the issues which ONExONE endeavors to address to help improve the wellbeing of the world's children. In Saskatoon alone, several thousand students and 27 schools were involved in school rallies and a city wide relay with Ray and the team. In 2008, Ray founded impossible2Possible (i2P) (impossible2possible.com) an organization that aims to inspire and educate youth through adventure learning, inclusion and participation in expeditions. Youth Ambassadors are selected from around the globe then participate, at no cost, in all aspects of the expedition, from logistics and running to creating educational content and team support. All of the i2P Youth Expeditions have included various challenge based initiatives through an Experiential Learning program, in which thousands of students participate as active 'team members' during the expeditions, from classrooms all over the world. This program and its technology is also provided at no cost to the students or schools participating. Since its inception, i2P Youth Expeditions have included 9 grueling expeditions; Baffin Island, Tunisia, the Amazon, Bolivia, India, Botswana, Utah, Peru and Chile. The programs and expeditions are 100% free of cost. In 2009, Ray and two other Canadians, Kevin Vallely and Richard Weber, broke the world speed record for an unsupported expedition by a team to the South Pole. In the process, Ray trekked this traditional route from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, a distance of 1,100 kms, solely on foot and snowshoes, without the use of skis. Students from all over North America joined the team on a daily basis, a program provided through impossible2Possible, as the trio continued their southern trek. The students received daily communications and actively took part in every step of the trek. Essentially becoming "teammates" of the expedition, and teammates of the Guinness World Record. In winter 2010, Ray and Kevin Vallely ran the length of frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia, 650 kms, over the course of 13 days, totally unsupported. Once again communication with satellite video conferencing to schools brought the expedition into classrooms, and classrooms onto the expedition. In early 2011, Ray ran the length of the "driest desert on Earth", the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Here he ran 1,200 kms in 20 days with minimal daily re-supply and with his camping gear on his back. Thousands of students joined this journey, again under his i2P organization, via live web and video conferencing. In summer 2011, Ray and Will Laughlin ran from the north park boundary to the south park boundary of Death Valley National Park, totally off-road. The 237 km run saw temps reaching over 120 degrees F. Beginning June 23rd 2013, Ray ran over 2,000km across Mongolia and the Gobi Desert. He was accompanied by both a film crew and photographer who recorded not only the expedition, but also created an robust film archive sharing the stories of the people and culture of Mongolia. This marks the beginning of the "To The Edge" series chronicling the stories and people and that Ray comes into to contact with on expeditions...situations and people that occur when at the edges of the Earth! In Winter 2014 Ray completed his 4th unsupported crossing of Baffin Island on the Akshayuk Pass. Ray has also found the time to write 2 successful books about his life and adventures. Running for My Life published in 2007 and Ray's second book, geared at youth readers, Running to Extremes, which recently became a National Best-Seller in Canada. In addition to being an adventurer, youth advocate and runner, Ray speaks around the world at events such as TED, IOC World Conference, Idea City, The Economist World in 2010 and 2011, World Affairs Council, and numerous Apple Distinguished Educator events internationally. He has been interviewed and appeared on several talk and news programs including CNNi, The Hour, CBC, CTV, BBC, Jay Leno, and Discovery. Outside of his own organization Ray further dedicates portions of his time as a previous board of Directors - now an advisor to the Ryan's Well Foundation, he is an Athletic Ambassador/board member of the ONExONE.org, and is a representative of SpreadTheNet. Ray was the recipient of the ONExONE Difference Award in 2007, and the Torchbearers Award in 2010. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Canadian Geographical Society. In spring 2012, Ray was invited by H.E. Tsogtbaatar Damdin (Minister of Environment, Mongolia) to join their Internal Advisory Committee.. He continues today with life as an adventurer and as a volunteer with impossible2Possible. 'Running The Sahara' would begin a lifelong journey of discovery. A journey of learning that some of the largest barriers to success are the ones we put upon ourselves. By breaking these down, Ray has learned that we are all capable of achieving truly extraordinary things. GUEST LINKS Trans Namibia Expedition impossible2Possible (i2P) RayZahab.com ​Facebook: Instagram twitter: i2P Facebook BOOKS/MEDIA Running for My Life: On the extreme road with adventurer Ray Zahab Running to Extremes: Ray Zahab's Amazing Ultramarathon Journey Running the Sahara LEADERS' CALL TO ADVENTURE RATE OR REVIEW THIS PODCAST EPISODE PAGE ON LEADERS' CALL TO ADVENTURE

Tim Calandrello shares a fascinating story about how he was able to break into the industry through the editing room. We discuss his preference for NLE’s and the difference between scripted and documentary editing. We also discuss the genesis of his production company, Twisted Pumpkin Inc. (a film and television production and marketing company that specializes in documentaries, theatrical trailers, and promo campaigns), as well as the importance of creating great trailers for documentary filmmakers. Tim also shares the importance of referrals and explains what it was like working with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Nancy Spielberg, Morgan Spurlock, James Moll, Francis Ford Coppola, Meryl Streep, and many others. He has worked exclusively with musicians and composers including Hans Zimmer, Nathan Wang, The Crystal Method (who also scored Hired Gun), Foo Fighters, Everclear, and others. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1872054

James Moll moderates the Meet the Nominees: Documentary Symposium featuring Otto Bell, Ezra Edelman, Josh Kriegman, and Roger Ross Williams on their nominated films. Nominees Raoul Peck, the director of I Am Not Your Negro and Elyse Steinberg, the co-director of Weiner were not available to participate. The discussion covers a variety of topics including editing and interacting with the subjects of their films.

What we cover: Despite being a one-time pack a day smoker, Ray Zahab decided on New Years Eve 1999/2000 that it was time to be truly happy. And that quest for happiness ultimately led him to the open road. In this case though, the term Open Road is a loose one, at best. This is a guy who has run across the Sahara Desert. He’s run across the Gobi Desert. And he’s traversed the South Pole – and he was the first person to do it entirely on foot and snowshoes, and not on skis. So there’s that. In 2007, my husband Chad – himself a one-time cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking, hamburger-eating, dude – was preparing for his first ever Ultra Marathon, after being introduced to Ironman a couple years before. I bought him the book called Running for My Life: On the Extreme Road with Adventure Runner Ray Zahab. I bought it for him because Ray’s story is the one of The Every Person who made the decision to change. For Ray, his vice was partying and smoking and just living a lifestyle that wasn’t conducive to any joy – not the real, meaningful kind of joy. That book was a game changer for Chad – and for me, I loved it. It’s an inside peek into the mindset of transformation, and a reminder that we all have the power to transform if we are willing to dig a little deeper. If we’re willing to be uncomfortable – because that’s what it takes.  In addition to being the subject matter of the 2008 documentary Running the Sahara produced by Matt Damon and directed by James Moll, Ray is co-founder of the super impressive organization: Impossible2Possible, which is all about facilitating real life expeditions with Youth Ambassadors who report back in real time over social media to thousands of students in schools around the world, exposing everyone involved to the great big world out there. Of course we talk about that as well. (And, we even manage to talk about the planet’s ultimate equalizer, the universal punch-line: Poop jokes.)  

James Moll produced "Farmland", a documentary about six farmers and ranchers from across the United States. The funding for the film came from the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance but Moll says he had complete editorial control. The film had its debut on Thursday, April 14 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Five of the farmers featured in the film attended the gala event. Moll is a very high profile film maker for this type of project. He has academy award credits to his name but says he had never been on a farm until he produced "Farmland". His point of view remains understated as he says he wanted the farmers to speak for themselves and tell about their industry and affection for their livelihood and lifestyle.James MollJamesMoll.jpeg