Podcast appearances and mentions of joy bus

The Joy Bus, Must The Media, & Gas Light Me Harder Baby @bradbinkley | Linktree https://linktr.ee/bradbinkley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Caraway is a chef, co-author of “More Than a Meal," and "Chopped" champion. But her most important work is The Joy Bus Charity.  This non-profit was inspired by Jennifer's dear friend Joy, who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Jennifer would make her foodie treats to help her feel better, and that inspired Jennifer to try to help others that perhaps did not have the same support system.  Together with farmers, chefs, volunteers, and local businesses, they prepare and deliver free meals to homebound individuals. The Joy Bus Diner was opened to fund the mission, but it also created a community.  A current campaign is hoping to raise funds to help serve more patients, with an ultimate goal of 2500 home visits per week. The new location will also include a culinary program and a teaching kitchen. Jennifer is more than an inspiration, she is the living embodiment of hard work, perseverance, and a big heart.thejoybusdiner.com/

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is proclaiming today "Joy Bus Day" in honor of the local non-profit that has served 20,000 meals to homebound cancer patients. Caraway joins Arizona's Morning News to talk about how much that honor means and the restaurants future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Men at the Movies podcast, we get you ready for summer with Field of Dreams. In a vibrant life with God, He is always offering invitations to us. But we must cultivate the conscious awareness to notice when He is speaking. And when we embrace the risk and act on what he says, the story will always be better than we thought it would be. So let's follow the voice and go the distance, and discover God's truth in this movie. About Aaron Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer, and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your Job. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together. He and his wife Leith live in Colorado Springs, CO. They are celebrating twenty-five years of marriage in December. Their marriage has survived the death of their twelve-year-old daughter Hadley in 2011. Their twenty-two-year-old son Holden lives in Costa Mesa and is thriving in recovery three years clean and sober. Their youngest daughter lives at home still. In 2015 they rebooted their lives, sold their house and all of their belongings to reboot their life and start their life over again. It hasn't been easy, but they would do it again. They love traveling, drinking box wine and spending time with their creative, hilarious and courageous kids. Aaron's website: https://www.aaronmchugh.com/ Aaron's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aarondmchugh/ Aaron's Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarondmchugh Aaron's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worklifeplay Aaron's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmchugh/ Questions Where have you heard or experienced God's voice in your life? Where have you done something crazy that didn't make sense to anyone else? How did that turn out? How do you feel if you don't follow the voice? What bold moves God is inviting you to participate in? What are the small moves, the internal shifts, God is inviting you to engage in? What is God up to in your life? Where do you feel like your life is in a small story? Where do you feel fenced in? Where do you try to make your life larger than it is right now? When have you heard a voice that sounds like it might be reckless? To dive into this content even more, visit our website: www.menatthemovies.com/podcast. You will find resources mentioned on the podcast, plus quotes and themes discussed. If you would like to support our work (and get some behind-the-scenes perks), visit our Patreon page, www.patreon.com/menatthemovies. Get invites to livestreams, ebook devotionals drawn from a movie, even free merch. If you'd like to do a one-time contribution (a cameo appearance), visit www.menatthemovies.com/investors. Edited and mixed by Grayson Foster (https://graysonfoster.com/) Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead). Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock

Welcome to the Rock Your World Naturally (RYWN) Show! In this episode of RYWN, Rekishia McMillan, also known as the Total Health Coach, interviews Jake Shumate. Jake has worked as a Firefighter/Paramedic for 15 years and has witnessed that most of the illness that people experience could be avoided! Jake created Joy Bus Journeys to inspire people to live a healthy life through eating delicious nutritious food, experiencing simple adventure and caring for the environment. In this exclusive interview, Jake shares Joy Bus Journey, his online show highlighting restaurants that are creating amazing food through non-conventional means such as locally sourced ingredients, using only organic produce, sharing vegan or gluten free dishes. All of this is filmed while cruising in a 1973 VW Bus…the Joy Bus!   Jake's own story started about 12 years ago when he was overweight and lost his ability to do the things he loved.  After hearing about eating a gluten free diet from a Naturopath Doctor he decided to give it a try.  That started him on a journey of life change where he lost 50 pounds and regained his health back.  Once his eyes were opened to a new way of living he started to observe other peoples lives and saw a huge correlation between what people eat and how healthy they were.   As a Firefighter/Paramedic for 15 years, Jake  is able to see peoples homes in a way that most others never observe. This gives him a glimpse into how people really live and provides a huge amount of information about people by observing them in their natural setting.  For years Jake compared how people lived (what they ate, what they watched on TV and their social beliefs) to their overall health and observed a correlation between what they consumed (food and information) and how healthy they were.  His heart was heavy for people because, like his own story, they have no information on how to live a healthy life by making small changes. Jake believes that if people made simple, easy changes to their eating habits it would increase peoples health and the health of the planet. Because of this he created his online show called Joy Bus Journeys.  Joy Bus Journeys was created to show people that a healthy life is accessible. Eating healthy food can be delicious and simple. Joy Bus Journeys highlights restaurants, farms and chefs sharing easy ways to make amazing food. When people choose healthy food they are also making the planet a better place!  The show is light hearted, fun and engaging. The star of the show is Jake's 1973 VW bus (aka the Joy Bus) that we use to go to all these amazing places.  Who does not love a VW Bus?! Discover More About Jake Shumate =>  https://www.joybusjourney.com  https://www.facebook.com/JoyBus73  https://www.instagram.com Find Rekishia online at => www.RockYourWorldNaturally.com Facebook and LinkedIn @RockYourWorldNaturally Instagram @RockYourWorldNaturally Twitter @RockYourWorld28 Get Rekishia's latest books Rock Your World Naturally: 7 Divine Keys to Unlock Extraordinary Health & the companion Journal, 28-Days and Beyond Wellness Journal https://www.rockyourworldnaturally.com/rywn-the-book

Jake Shumate created Joy Bus Journeys, an online show where he  cruises in his 73 VW Joy Bus to go on amazing adventures, visit healthy restaurants, and explore local farms.

“People are really created to have adventure, to experience adventure.” ~ Jake Shumate How would you like to travel the country in a 1973 VW Bus, experiencing great food and enjoying outdoor adventures, all for the purpose of inspiring others to live a healthy life? Our guest today does just that! In this episode we learn about how Jake combined his own personal wanderlust with his desire to regain and retain health and fitness, and how to help us all be more aware of our 5 senses. We also learn about where he thinks everyone should visit, find a fish taco or three, walk a beach or climb a mountain, and get back in touch with nature. And it's all in his own backyard of Laguna, CA. As a Firefighter/Paramedic for more than 16 years, Jake Shumate has witnessed most illnesses people experience can be avoided. To fight fire with fire, Jake created Joy Bus Journeys, a fun online show to inspire people to live a healthy life. Each episode, Jake takes viewers on a Joy Bus Journey where they learn the benefits of eating delicious nutritious food, enjoying simple adventures, and caring for the environment.   Listen in !! Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoyBus73 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joybusjourney/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Pn7g2k3tocmWiS-RUNMdQ   People are really created to have adventure, to experience adventure. [04:10] When you experience nature your stress levels go down. 04:34] People's actual environment, that they live in has a huge indicator of how healthy they are going be. [05:13] Wherever you are there is some kind of adventure to be had, and its radically important for all of our health and wellbeing. [06:33] Because we are so disconnected from the earth we have lost this ability to get rid of the negative ions. [13:46] The idea of meditation is, awareness within yourself but if you do a walking meditation it's really about awareness of what's around you and how you are interacting with your environment. [14:26] Something that I do when we go for a run, there is a spot with 6 trees and I would go to the trees and touch each of those trees. What I am running is connecting with the environment around me. [15:02] It's so helpful for our health physically, mentally, emotionally to remove ourselves from the story we are telling ourselves and move into something that is really present and around us. [16:16] Commercial &Marketing U. [16:39] What really folks don't know about Laguna beach is that it's definitely a food hotspot. [19:30] For me and my family, going on adventure or a trip goes with eating delicious food. Those two things have to go together. [20:05] One of the important things is that when you travel, you can use technology to your advantage, and go with what your intention is. [22:54] Think outside the box, you can go to a local farm that does farm dinners or farm dates. [24:22] When we eat it makes a big difference. [27:44] When we eat and make choices about what we eat and where its sourced from we are helping the planet and helping ourselves. [27:59] If it green and came out of the ground, it's probably safer to eat that something that comes out of a bag. [28:15] If you look at the ingredients and you don't know what it is, don't eat it. [28:20] …………………………………………… Thank you to our June Sponsor: &Marketing U Solopreneurs and small businesses often struggle to create effective digital marketing programs. It's hard to know where to start, what to prioritize, how to sift through confusing information and solutions that seem too good to be true. Agencies and full-time marketing employees are expensive! &Marketing U is a modern marketing course with all the tools, education, and accountability you need to grow your business without that extra set of hands or high overhead costs. You will learn exactly what you need to do to execute a concrete marketing strategy by dedicating just 2-4 hours per week. &Marketing U will help you execute: Strategy, Messaging, Content Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Paid Digital Advertising, and more. You'll have access to on-demand resources, live courses, group coaching sessions, community forums and networking, plus the exact templates and tools you need for success. Our CPO took this course and one of the biggest benefits we gained was developing a competitive strategy that aligned our social media playbook and website to generate highly qualified leads. For all the tools, education, and accountability you need to grow your small business at a fraction of the cost of hiring a traditional agency or additional employees, go to:  www.and-marketing.com/u, and use the code SHOCK to receive 10% off any program!

In this episode, Kelly chats with Jennifer Caraway of the Joy Bus Diner about her mission to provide free, chef-inspired meals to homebound cancer patients across the Valley of the Sun. 

Life - it can be a joyous adventure or it can be an unhealthy experience.I am happy to have Jake Shumate on the show.Jake currently works as a firefighter/Paramedic and has seen it all. He also hosts the program, "Joy Bus Journey" where he travels around the US and highlights his adventures.Jake will share with us his insight into how important he has learned that eating healthy and making life an adventure makes such a difference to our overall quality of life.Please join us.Dr Doug Radio Radio Show is broadcast live at 11am PT Tuesdays on K4HD - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com ) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). This podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com).

In the years leading up to starting Joy Bus Jennifer Caraway explored the world mostly focused on culinary endeavors. From owning a fine dining restaurant to working in food distribution it wasn't until her friend Joy really needed her that Jennifer found her true path. Jennifer found that bringing her friend, who was battling cancer, a home cooked meal and providing companionship can go a long way. That sparked the start of The Joy Bus in 2011 to provide meals and love to homebound cancer patients. 

Delivering heart and hope to cancer survivors through tasty meals. In This Podcast: COVID caused a shift towards a new normal way of life with social distancing protocols and at-home confinement, yet, for cancer patients this is their everyday life. However, Jennifer Caraway became inspired to lead a movement that supports cancer patients in need after the loss of a close friend to cancer. Listen in to learn about the heartfelt story behind The Joy Bus Meal Program, what kind of meals are patients receiving, and how the program is supported by the wider community. Don't miss an episode!visit www.urbanfarm.org/podcast Jennifer loves serving good food. Starting out as a dishwasher at the age of 14 and working absolutely every position within the front and back of the house, she opened her first restaurant at the age of 26 and later several more both in the US and in Mexico. Among her many awards she is the 2018 recipient of the Organization for Nonprofits Executives ‘Organizational Accomplishment and Innovation Award' and a Food Network Chopped Champion. Jennifer has leveraged her deep knowledge of the food industry to establish The Joy Bus Diner, a breakfast and lunch hotspot that funds her established non-profit The Joy Bus program, which delivers gourmet meals, friendly conversation and education programs free of charge to homebound cancer patients. Visit www.urbanfarm.org/joybus for the show notes on this episode, and access to our full podcast library! Jennifer Caraway on The Joy Bus Meal Program.

Join us as we talk to our friend Jake Shumate about his awesome web show Joy Bus Journeys and what it looks like to strive for health and wholeness in our world today. Check out Joy Bus Journeys at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Pn7g2k3tocmWiS-RUNMdQ :: https://www.instagram.com/joybusjourney/ :: https://www.facebook.com/JoyBus73 :: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BtvNJ_L4GE :: https://www.patreon.com/joybus Also check out Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer. https://www.amazon.com/Let-Your-Life-Speak-Listening/dp/0787947350 Intro/Outro Music Provided by bensound.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/toddrodgodpod/message

Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer, and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your Job. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together.Aaron works as an Affiliate Advisor to Aberkyn, a division of McKinsey & Co as a facilitator of transformation and executive coach.Aaron loves ideas. He loves to dream up new adventures. He is a Starbucks French press coffee snob and is at his best if he gets out for his daily run. He works for a global change leadership consulting company alongside Work Life Play.He and his wife Leith live in Colorado Springs, CO. They are celebrating twenty-five years of marriage in December. Their marriage has survived the death of their twelve-year-old daughter Hadley in 2011. Their twenty-two-year-old son Holden lives in Costa Mesa and is thriving in recovery three years clean and sober. Their youngest daughter lives at home still.In 2015 they rebooted their lives, sold their house and all of their belongings to reboot their life and start their life over again. It hasn’t been easy, but they would do it again. They love traveling, drinking box wine and spending time with their creative, hilarious and courageous kids.In Work, he’s covered the spectrum from ringing in the Opening Day trading bell at the London Stock Exchange to humble beginnings of selling office supplies door-to-door.In Play, he’s an adventurer. He’s an Ironman triathlete, mountaineer, and is learning to surf. He recently accomplished a Life List dream of mountain biking the entire Colorado Trail from Durango to Denver.Inside This EpisodeMoving From Fear to FreedomOptimize Your Life By Adding PlayStop Keeping Score If You Really Want to WinCreating Flow through PlayGetting Back Into AlignmentThe Power of Developing CraftsmanshipWhen Is It OK to be a “B” Player?Where is the Responsibility for Performance & Engagement?Finding Your Spiritual FoundationGoals, Purpose, and MeaningHow to Be a ‘Heretic’ By Questioning ConstraintsFlipping Hardship Upside-DownLinks:Aaron’s website: https://www.aaronmchugh.com/Aaron’s Email: am@aaronmchugh.comAaron’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aarondmchugh/Aaron’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarondmchughAaron’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worklifeplayAaron’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmchugh/ 

Aaron McHugh joins us today as a special guest on the Dad Hackers Podcast. Aaron is a writer, podcaster, adventurer, and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: A Manifesto to Rethink How You Think About Work. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together. Grab the show notes as resources at https://dadhackers.us/123-2 Here's some other ways to connect with us: Check out the Iron Men Mastermind: https://dadhackers.us/ironmen Support Dad Hackers by grabbing some merch: https://dadhackers.us/store Connect with us: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dadhacker1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dadhacker1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickantonucci/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/dadhacker1 Leave us a rating: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dad-hackers-becoming-the-men-god-designed-us-to-be/id1397765356

Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer, and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your Job. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together. Aaron works as an Affiliate Advisor to Aberkyn, a division of McKinsey & Co as a facilitator of transformation and executive coach. Aaron loves ideas. He loves to dream up new adventures. He is a Starbucks French press coffee snob and is at his best if he gets out for his daily run. He works for a global change leadership consulting company alongside Work Life Play.

Today we have an awesome guest, Aaron McHugh. We cover some awesome topics about how to "Fire Your Boss" and transform your life.Who exactly is Aaron?Aaron McHugh is an executive transformation coach, enterprise agility consultant, writer, podcaster, adventurer, author of Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your Job and career liberator who is learning to master sustainable work-life play rhythms woven into his everyday routine. He hosts the fast-growing podcast “Work-Life Play,” leads Reboot Your Life experiential weekends, speaks widely, and is an Affiliate Advisor for Aberkyn, a division of McKinsey & Co, helping drive large culture transformations in North America.When he’s in his happy place he’s on road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together.Aaron loves life. He loves to dream up a new adventure. He is a Starbucks French press coffee snob and is at his best when he runs daily.He and his wife Leith live in Colorado Springs, CO. They are celebrating twenty-seven years of marriage in December. Their marriage survived the death of their twelve-year-old daughter Hadley in 2011. Their twenty-four-year-old son Holden lives in Costa Mesa and is thriving in recovery five years clean and sober. Their youngest daughter lives in Orange County with her brother.In 2015 they rebooted their lives, sold their house, and all of their belongings to reboot their life and start their life over again. It hasn’t been easy, but they would do it again. They love traveling, drinking box wine, and spending time with their creative, hilarious, and courageous kids.In Work, he’s covered the spectrum from ringing in the Opening Day trading bell at the London Stock Exchange to humble beginnings of selling office supplies door-to-door.In-Play, he’s an adventurer. He’s an Ironman triathlete, mountaineer, and is learning to surf. He recently accomplished a Life List dream of mountain biking the 500 mile Colorado Trail from Durango to Denver.We cover topics such as:What is a tip for someone dissatisfied with their current career?How can you fire your boss?Aaron's biggest secret to successWhere can you find out more about Aaron and Firing Your Boss?LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmchugh/Insta - https://www.instagram.com/aarondmchugh/Twitter - https://twitter.com/aarondmchughFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/worklifeplayWebsite - https://www.aaronmchugh.com/Book - Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your JobSupport the show (https://podcast.entrefied.com/gift)

I spoke to Alfredo Gomez after he spoke at a Circles of Men Project gathering. The theme was “If you know yourself, you can move past fear.” It was his first time at a Circles of Men gathering, and he was inspired to share. When I later asked if anyone would be willing to speak for a podcast, he contacted me to share his story in a little more detail.Thank you so much, Alfredo, for sharing. I think it means a lot for men to be able to model openness and vulnerability to other men, and your story was moving and definitely relatable.Our theme song is “Start Again” by Monk Turner + Fascinoma. All other music in this episode was made by me using my new toy that I’m having so much fun playing with and learning: Ableton Live. So much fun! I hope you’re all finding ways to learn and grow and connect while we’re staying the hell away from each other.Here’s the transcript:I was born in Mexico. I was born one of 12 kids, and my mother had kids kind of like in a row, like almost every other year or every year. And so there was 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters before I was born, and then the rest of them followed, so I’m the 5th kid. Well, I felt like because of the number of kids that my mom, the large number of kids that my mom had, she just couldn’t, didn’t have the time to attend every one of us, and she neglected some of us.And my father was a federale in Mexico, which is kind of like the Texas Rangers used to be back in the day. And he was rural, which means that he had machine guns, shotguns, .45s, carrying, you know… So he was very aggressive, and he would take some of that aggressiveness to the house. And he had a horsewhip for us. Sometimes he used the handcuffs on my older brother that I saw that he did. He handcuffed him to the window and whipped him with the horsewhip.My mom, she would try to stop him from beating us, but then she would become a victim herself. He would push her out of the way, and then he would, that would really, made him more angry than anything because he would continue the beating, and then he would hit her after that for getting in the middle or trying stop him.And so all those things made me fearful. I mean, I got horsewhipped too, but more than anything, what scared me the most is watching a lot of the stuff, my mother getting beat. It was just a lot of trauma. For me, just watching that and even my older two brothers were fighting at one point, and I went and told my dad so he could make them stop. They were hurting each other, I mean, there was blood. So I went and told my dad. I said, “Hey Dad, you know, they’re fighting.” So I wanted him to stop the fight. So he goes and stops the fight, of course, and whips both of them, and then he comes and whips me for being a snitch. And as a 6, 7 year old, you don’t understand what you did wrong. I didn’t understand what I did. And so it was, to me, very brutal.And then so when we came to the States when I was 12 years old, the whole family. My dad, my mother, and all my brothers and sisters. We all came. Well my father had a job. He first came in and got a job here in Corpus Christi. He did a lot of construction. And then he brought us after he got settled, he brought us into the States.I couldn’t speak English. I went to the school, and next thing you know, people don’t like me. They’re being mean to me, and they’re telling me, I don’t even understand what they were saying, but they kept on repeating this word “wetback,” and I didn’t know what that meant. I really didn’t know. That was my first time… Living in Mexico, there’s no, everybody’s the same, you know? There’s no racial tensions or any of that stuff, and so when I came here, that was foreign to me and a different culture.So things didn’t get better for me. And then going to the school and then not being able to speak the language, the teachers would get mad because I was speaking Spanish. But what else was I going to speak if I can’t speak English, right? So then I would get in trouble for that.And my English teacher, we were reading, everybody was reading out loud, and then she called me to read, and I had a really heavy accent, and she made me read out loud, and if you can imagine, the rest of the kids laughing at the pronunciation, giggling and all that. It was really hard for me. Being there, kind of like in front of everybody so everybody can laugh at.So then I was 15, and my father had a gun in the kitchen, and I knew where he kept it, a small .22 revolver. And I decided that I just wanted to just finish this, finish with this anger, this anxiety, this hate that I was feeling constant. So I went to the kitchen and reached for the gun. And I looked in the chamber, and it had bullets, all of them. So I put it on my head and decided to, started squeezing the trigger. Well, being that it’s a revolver, and it’s, you know, as you’re squeezing the trigger, the hammer was all the way up, and I figured OK, it’s got to go off any time, and then there was a little pause in my mind that said, OK, what are you doing?And then I stopped and thought for a second, and I say, maybe this is not what I should be doing. So I took it off my head, grabbed the hammer and put it back into place slowly. I put the gun back in the kitchen, and I went and picked up a Bible. Just a Bible. I just wanted to read something, something reassuring. The first thing that I read, I just opened it at whatever it would come up, and it was a scripture that I read somewhere along these lines. “God gave you life, thou should not take it away.” And then from then on, any time I felt that that was the answer, I knew it wasn’t the answer, taking my life out. So I decided that was never going to be an option.It’s kind of funny because my father talked about the Bible a lot, and he said he had read the Bible, but it seems like he was choosing the things that kind of stuck, like using the rod and not letting kids get away with anything, but instead he used the whip, the horsewhip and belts and whatever. And then, I never saw him go to church, but he would send us to church. And there was a bus from the church that they would send by our house, and so I really enjoyed those times because they called it the Joy Bus, and so we were all singing church music and church songs, and it was really nice. I really enjoyed that growing up. But still, I always felt like I was alone, because I couldn’t talk about the stuff that was happening at home anywhere else. This is kind of like a secret, or a family secret. Still I felt alone during those times.Then I got into athletics. I kind of decided that athletics was a good thing for me because I felt a lot of anxiety, and I felt like by doing athletics, by exercising, by running, by playing a sport, it would get my mind off and concentrate on something else than all the stress and all the anxiety at home and at school and so on. I tend to be competitive, if I couldn’t depend on people, I could depend on my own self by being the best that I could be on whatever sport that was.And so the abuse with my father still continued, but I joined the track team when I was a sophomore, and I became a very good runner. I was a naturally good athlete, and they put me on the JV team, and because I joined like a week before the first cross country meet, and I was training by myself on my own, I had no knowledge about training, but I would just run as fast as I could for as long as I could, and that was my training. So my coach puts me on JV not knowing anything about me. And he told me before the race, Alfredo, if you get tired, just walk. He did a prayer also, before the race, and that was really neat, and I really liked that.And when the gun went off, I ran into the guys in front of me because they were going like, they weren’t racing, they were jogging. So I went to the front with the frontrunners, and they were doing the same thing. They were jogging. In my mind, it’s like, you run as fast as you can. It’s a 3 mile race, cross country. So I’m like, OK. I ran with them for about 2 or 3 blocks, and then it’s like, I have enough. I just took off. I took off. I tried to relax as much as possible, but I ran at 90% effort, 85% effort, and then if I got tired a little bit, I would slack off a little bit and then resume again. That was my first 3.1 mile race, a 5K, and my time was a 16:08. As a sophomore in JV. And the winning time for varsity was a 16:06. So then my coach was just so happy, he’s like, oh my God, who are you? Tell me more about you! So the next time, he puts me on varsity.So then I felt stronger, too, as a sophomore, and I started working at Kentucky Fried Chicken part time after school. And so my routine was to go to the gym at 5:30, go for a 3 mile run or lift weights, and then be at the school at 7:30 to start the classes at 8. And then after school, and after the track training, I would go to the house, and then get ready, go straight to work at Kentucky Fried Chicken, and then get off at 10 o’clock, do my homework, and then get up early in the morning the next day. And that was my sophomore year.But then one day I decided, they were having something where they had some balloons that the manager said, hey, you want to take these to your brothers and sisters? Three helium balloons. And I said, yeah, I have a little brother and 2 little sisters I can give them to. So I took those helium balloons to the house, and I gave them to each one of them. And then my younger brother wanted the balloons, the girls’ balloons. And I told him, no that’s, you have yours, and you have yours, and you have yours. Now my dad was spoiling kids now. Now he wanted to change his ways, I guess. So he spoiled the youngest one, and he told the girls, give him their balloons. And I’m like, no Dad, that’s, everybody has a balloon. And he got really mad, and he started yelling and cursing at everybody, saying give the boy the balloons.So he walked away, I went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and popped all 3 of them. Well, if you can imagine my father. He goes, oh, you see what you're going to get. So he goes inside to the bedroom, comes back with the belt. I’m 16 years old already. And he’s coming towards me, and I stopped him. I put my hand up, and I said look, Dad, if you hit me, we’re going to fight. I’m just telling you what’s going to happen. I’m going to fight you. I’m probably going to be on top of you most likely. I’m just letting you know, and I don’t know what’s going to happen after that. I’m not going to let you hit me again.Well, he looked at me, and he saw that I was very angry. He knew that I wouldn’t have it any more. He looks at me, he says, well just don’t do it again, turns around and walks away. That was the first time I felt some relief. I felt some relief that that stopped. My father was never going to hit me again, and now I could stand up to him.I mean, it was still the struggle. And my father was still very loud and aggressive and abusive with my younger siblings and with my mom. But he knew that he couldn’t do the stuff that he used to do to me. So I felt safe, but I would see what he was doing with everybody else.And then my brothers, my brothers used to drink and do drugs. And I was a freshman and sophomore in high school, and one of them was more aggressive than the other towards me and everybody else. He was more angry. And one day, about the same time that I stood up to my dad, he came in, and I was playing with my youngest sister, and I was sitting on the floor with her playing, and he was sitting on one of the couches behind me. And then he told me to leave her alone.So I looked at him, and I saw that he either had been doing drugs or he was drunk, one of the two, so I said, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just playing with her. And then he kicks me in the back of my head and tells me again, I told you to leave her alone.So when he kicked me, I got up, and I felt that anger rise out of me, and then I hit him. I just hit him one time. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the expression, turning off the lights, but I did turn off the lights on him. He couldn’t see. I didn’t knock him out or anything, but I hit him like right on the temple, and he could not see for like 15 minutes.And I just had so much anger already, and I just had enough, everybody beating me up, and everybody… And I couldn’t talk sense into them, so I just felt like I had to use physical aggression. And now that I was running and lifting weights, I felt like, you know, I’m going to defend myself now. And I don’t feel good about it, but that’s what I did as a 16 year old. I hit him.But you know what? That was the last time he ever tried to hit me again.So then, it’s like I feel OK. I feel better now. They can’t mess with me anymore. But I felt like a lot of the damage was already done. But running would help me get out of the house, and I became one of the fastest, like I said, I won district in the mile, the two mile, in cross country. My sophomore year, my junior year, and senior year, in a 5A, which was the biggest division there was. And then I went to regionals and won the mile, or the two mile at regionals, and then I went to the state. I ended up 4th my senior year, and I think it was also 4th in the mile and two mile.So I started getting scholarship offers, and I could go anywhere in the country, basically. I never thought about going to school. Well, with that, being that my brothers were also working construction, my dad worked construction, I’d be the first boy to go to college. My grades were OK. But my coach said to me, Alfredo, you ought to try it. Try to go to college, and if you don’t like it, try it a little bit more. And if you still don’t like it, try a tiny, tiny, tiny more before you… What I’m saying is, just give yourself a chance. And once you give yourself, you tried, and you didn’t do it, and you couldn’t do it, and you tried again, you couldn’t do it still, then you can say, at least I tried. So I said, well, I’ll try it coach. And next thing you know, I graduated from Rice.But going through Rice and going through college, I found myself with a lot of anxiety. Doing presentations, I would feel that anxiety getting in front of groups, large groups in front of the classroom, I felt a lot of anxiety.R: Did you think about those kids laughing at you in high school, and that fear of being laughed at?A: Yeah, being laughed at, that I wasn’t smart enough, that I didn’t belong there, almost kind of like I felt like I didn’t belong in the States, coming here to the United States, because I was a wetback. I felt like I didn’t belong at Rice, that I shouldn’t be there. Same old feelings. And then getting in front of a classroom, I felt a lot of anxiety in speaking in front of, in doing a presentation.But then after I graduated from Rice, I decided to teach there at Lamar High School in Houston. And I was teaching there, Spanish and coaching soccer, and I did that for one year, but again, I felt a lot of anxiety being in front of, in the classroom. And Mondays was like my worst day of the week. Well, actually Sundays, like the anticipation of Monday, and then Monday was terrible my first hour or two, and then I felt better towards the end of the day. And then Tuesday was better than Monday. Wednesday was better than Tuesday, and so on. And then Friday is like, what the heck was wrong with me on Monday, right? Well, the weekend came, and then Monday came again, the same feeling again. I felt awkward. I felt insecure. I felt, and I’m like, OK, it’s going to get better, right? And people say, well, it’s natural. You know, you get over it after awhile. It just wouldn’t go away. And I’m like, what’s wrong with me?R: Why do you think you were drawn to that profession when you had such anxiety about standing in front of people?A: Well, because I care about kids. I wanted to help kids. Helping people, even like love and affection, or caring for your students, showing them that you care for them, and that kind of thing. I really liked that, but I didn’t like to be in front of the class all the time. And I know that that was what I was signing on for, and I thought that I could handle it, being that I’m not talking to a whole bunch of professionals. These are high school kids, right? But then still I felt that anxiety of being in front of the class, like I said, Monday through Friday. And it was a cycle. It never got better.So I moved to Austin from Houston. I started working for Texas Employment Commission, and I did a lot of good programs for them. I did Communities in Schools, which is a dropout prevention program. And I also did the Job Corps program, helping kids get education and training, and a lot of those kids had problems with the court system or with the law, and they were on probation and trying to get their life together. So I was trying to help those kids, and I did that for awhile, altogether for like 10 years working for the state.But then I had my first panic attack. I didn’t know what that was. I found myself that I couldn’t breathe, and I was breathing very heavy and hard. The breathing would not slow down. So I’m like, what the heck is wrong with me? So then I started getting light-headed, and I felt like I was going to pass out. This is at the office. And so somebody said, you’re having a panic attack. You need to go to the doctor about it. And I went to the doctor, and they said, yeah you did have a panic attack, and he prescribed Xanax.I was doing the Unemployment Services also for the Texas Employment Commission, so I was always doing presentations at which I felt anxiety, but it was a little bit more controlled, suppressing some of those feelings. And I would still do my job, but it got to the point where it was kind of like putting stuff under the rug all the time and just piling and piling. I mean, the medication would help me, but it never solved the problem. To me, it was just kind of masking my feelings and my emotions.So after the Texas Workforce Commission, I got a call from a new program that was starting. It was Steve Jackobs from Capital IDEA. Capital IDEA is basically getting people into careers, not just a job, but a career. So we provide the training, the education, everything that they need so they can get a good quality job with benefits and the whole 9 yards, not just a job. It was 5 of us that started that program from scratch, and we started recruiting, we started doing presentations. I worked for Capital IDEA for almost 5 years.But it got to the point where I felt that I’ve taken a deep dive, and I was running out of oxygen. And I could see the surface, but I didn’t think I had the energy to swim all the way to the top. That’s how I felt when I left Capital IDEA. And they offered me all kinds of different options, work from home, part time, don’t leave, what about your benefits, and all this and all that. I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything. I just wanted to leave. I couldn’t handle it anymore, and I went into a deep depression, anxiety, paranoia.R: Were you doing anything besides the medication, like seeing a therapist or counselor or were you involved in church or anything?A: No, not at that time.R: Just on your own, huh?A: On my own. So when I had, I call it a nervous breakdown, I mean, because I totally went under the radar after that. I just stayed at the house after that. I didn’t want to leave. I even felt embarrassed going to the mailbox to pick up the mail. So I just kind of stayed in one spot on the couch or whatever and just stayed there all day. And it was really dark for me.That lasted for about 3 years, until I just felt that I needed to get a job, get back on my feet, and I got some medication. They thought I was bi-polar, and then they thought maybe it’s just anxiety, and then depression, so I was taking medication for just about everything for a large number of years. But it wasn’t doing anything for me. I mean, I would gain weight, it made me foggy, and it wasn’t just doing the trick. I had a lot of side effects that were kind of worse sometimes. I felt worse.So I tried everything, and so then, so what is the answer? What can I do now? I started to look at more manual work, more using my hands more, and trying to ease the anxiety. So I tried to look for work that was less involved with the office and meetings and stress and the anxiety that I felt and working more on my own. So, and then for the next, I don’t know, 15 years, I would get a little job here and a little job there.So then I started reading more about... and reflecting. Why am I so nervous? Why am I feeling so anxious? What happened to me that’s causing me… Is it in my blood? Is it passed down from my mom or my dad? What’s going on? Why do I feel so awkward? Why do I feel so much anxiety? So I started reading more about it, educating myself more about it. I went to church too, praying. Maybe I don’t have enough faith. More prayer. Maybe God, I need to get on my knees more often. So I was trying to do all kinds of things to help me deal with my anxiety, but I wasn’t finding a lot of positive feedback from a lot of that stuff.My girlfriend and I were looking at documentaries, and we were looking into yoga, and then she was telling me, because she's been into yoga a lot herself, and she was telling me about it. And then we were looking at some documentaries from some of those masters, like the Dalai Lama and all those guys that are very deep. And then we saw Thomas Keating. And I'm like, oh, who is this guy? I don’t know, So when I saw the documentary of Thomas Keating, a guy that gave his life to God basically when he was 5 years old, because he got really sick, and he heard the nurse and the doctor talking about his condition that he might not make it. OK, I want to know more about it. So I started watching the documentaries, and I started, and then we start buying books, so we started reading about Thomas Keating and his beliefs and his findings and all of that. He studied all religions, not just the Catholic Church, or Christianity, but all the religions around the world. And at the end, you know how we have this little, something is missing in our lives? Everybody’s got that almost, like maybe you think it’s money, maybe you think it’s a relationship, maybe you think it’s a hobby, or a house, or something that you’re always trying to get to fill that little empty hole, that little empty thing in your heart. And what I’m gathering is that it’s the union with God, that you have to have that union with God in order to fill that empty hole there.So then I started to do that for myself. I want to feel close to God. How do you get that union with God? Well, through prayer. And silence. So then I started doing some meditation, some prayer, and I started looking into yoga. And I started looking at Thomas Keating for answers, and I felt like that was one person that I could trust. One person that I know I can trust because his intentions were good from the beginning. He could have been a millionaire, he could have been whatever, if it was about money. But he saw that that was not him. So I found a little bit of a relief reading about him and what he's saying about our intentions, and to be kind to yourself, you know, and I've never been kind to myself. I hated myself for the longest. I hated falling short, not measuring up, and I’ve never been kind to myself.But I started thinking about all that. And then, so my understanding of prayer was that you pray, and you’re always asking God for something. God, can you help me with this? God, can you give me this? Always asking. And I felt, and thankful, you know, thank you for the health. Thank you for helping me today, for this, with this.But then when I started listening to Thomas Keating, he was talking about more, you kind of surrender to Him in silence, and you want to connect with Him in silence. You do that for like 20 minutes, most of the time, because of my anxiety and all the things that I'm always thinking about something, it's very hard for me to get anywhere because always, he talks about not getting on the boats that are passing by because your mind goes somewhere, and get off the boat and go back to the word that you, for the prayer. I find myself that for the first 20 minutes I was thinking the whole time about something else. And then the little alarm that I set up goes off. It's like, Oh my God, I didn't get to do the silence as much as I wanted to.But it takes practice. It takes practice. So then I would do like, I'll try it again, and then I would get somewhere. I did it one time where I actually did 20, about 20 minutes of totally silence, and I felt getting deeper and deeper with union with God, and I felt the connection of almost kind of like stages as meditation and being in union. I felt so much peace. And I'm like, I want more of that.So now one of the things that I'm beginning to realize in being kind with myself is that I do get a physical reaction with stress and anxiety. I do. I don't want it, but it happens. It's kind of the fight or flight sort of deal response for me because it happened to me for the first 16 years of my life. Even though I understand that is what is happening, I have to acknowledge that and not try to change it, but accept it sort of, and be kind to myself and tell myself that, yes, this is my body reacting because of my trauma, but it's not really who I am.And so I joined the men's group, the Circle of Men. It's like 30 people in a group, 25, 30 people. And when Clay Boykin did the introduction about, OK, we're not here to judge anyone. We're here to support everyone, and this is not a group. This is a network. And we love each other. We care for each other. And what’s said here, stays here. And I felt a lot of love from everyone.And I'm still, with my fear, with my anxiety, my fear’s always on guard. I always have my hands up for whatever happens. So then I started dropping my guard down, and I started listening to the stories or the conversation. I felt that I needed to come out, and I told my story in short, very compacted, but just basic, I came from Mexico, and all the things that happened to me at home, my dad was very aggressive and abusive and my brothers and sisters, and so on, and growing up and then coming to the States. And I, oh my God, my nerves were just, I felt it all over me. I was shaking inside me. I was sweaty. My body was reacting, and I was like, what is happening to me? as I'm talking and telling my story.And the group was just so understanding and so compassionate with my story. And then I put my head down, and I said, I'm sorry guys, I'm feeling this way. And everybody's like, no man, there's nothing to be sorry about. There's nothing. They were giving me assurance and acceptance for the very first time in a large group like that. And I still, I was, I felt embarrassed. I felt the shame. I felt all these negative feelings about myself because I just kind of like, I've been carrying this load of rocks and I just dumped it right in front of the group. And when I did that, I was apologizing for that because the group had to hear it. And everybody was so understanding and caring, and loving and supportive and all that, that it was the very first time. I've been afraid of men for a long, because my history and everything that I experienced in my life, and I was angry at men.So being in a group of nothing but men and feeling a little bit of acknowledgement, acceptance. Validation. I just felt like, ah, man. After I finished doing my spiel and feeling embarrassed and all that, I usually, when something like this happens, I tell myself that was stupid. Don't go back there. You're an embarrassment, sort of thing. I tell that to myself, so my natural reaction is like, OK, I’m out of here, I'm not coming back. I'm so embarrassed and so ashamed, I’m not coming back. But I told the group, you know what, I am coming back.We are harder on ourselves. I've learned that, and for me, people are nicer to me than I’m nice to myself. And, and I realize that, and I realized that that's how we are. I tell my daughter who's 15 years old, that has some of the, as a 15 year old girl going to school, and the friends and all of that, and being very critical of themselves again. It's like no mama, just, it's like, I don't even tell that to myself and then I'll tell her, and it’s like, I should listen to myself when I'm talking to her. It's easy for me to tell her that, but it's hard for me to tell myself.That helped me a lot being in that group. But still, I'm always going to come out with my hands up, guarding myself, especially the first 5, 10 minutes. And then I feel more at ease. Now can I stop my body from reacting? So far I haven't been able to stop my body from reacting. I don't want to fight it. I just want to be kind to myself and saying, it's OK, Alfredo. You've been through some hard, it's OK. Don't be anxious about being anxious. But I just have to be kind to myself, accept it.And maybe sharing. Maybe others might feel the same and maybe I can talk to them about it, compare notes and help each other out. This past meeting, we were talking about free will and what is God's will. But I really believe that God's will for everybody is for everybody to be nice and be the best human they can be. You got struggles? We all have struggles, some worse than others. But at the end of the day, God's will for us is to be the best person that we can be. Help each other out, be there for each other, give somebody your hand so they can lift them up, and maybe they'll lift you up next time.

Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer, and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your Job. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together. Aaron is on a quest to climb all fifty-eight of the fourteen thousand foot peaks in Colorado. He has seventeen more to go. Aaron has mountain biked the Colorado Trail, traversed the Wind River Range in Wyoming and is an Ironman triathlete. Aaron’s corporate success led to a 6-figure income and he even had the opportunity to  ring  the opening bell at the London Stock Exchange. Then came the moment when he realized the money was not enough. SInce then he’s been focused on mastering the art of living and helping others do the same. You can reach Aaron at: Website: https://www.aaronmchugh.com/

Jennifer Caraway started the Joy Bus in her own kitchen to help her friend, Joy, who had cancer. The Joy Bus now delivers hundreds of amazing meals to cancer patients all over the Valley. Aside from winning Chopped in 2018, Jennifer continues to grow the organization and restaurant, Joy Bus Diner. Support the show (http://www.bossbiztalk.com)

This week, Travel Today with Peter Greenberg comes from The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona. Peter talks with the Mayor of Scottsdale, W.J. “Jim” Lane. And Christina Barruea reports on the exploding Scottsdale food scene (with some real surprises). We’ll explore the latest from Museum of the West, the Heard Museum, and one of Peter’s favorites…The Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting. And a fascinating chat with Jennifer Caraway, Founder and Executive Director of The Joy Bus. It’s a compelling story of an amazing non-profit organization that’s feeding thousands of people in need every week — and how you can help next time you travel. There’s all this and more as Travel Today with Peter Greenberg comes from The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This week, Travel Today with Peter Greenberg comes from The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona. Peter talks with the Mayor of Scottsdale, W.J. “Jim” Lane. And Christina Barruea reports on the exploding Scottsdale food scene (with some real surprises). We’ll explore the latest from Museum of the West, the Heard Museum, and one of Peter’s favorites…The Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting. And a fascinating chat with Jennifer Caraway, Founder and Executive Director of The Joy Bus. It’s a compelling story of an amazing non-profit organization that’s feeding thousands of people in need every week — and how you can help next time you travel. There’s all this and more as Travel Today with Peter Greenberg comes from The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Jennifer Caraway, Founder and Executive Director of The Joy Bus and The Joy Bus Diner, is an accomplished restauranteur, Food Network’s Chopped Champion, and a true pioneer in the field of social entrepreneurship. She has dedicated her life and passions to serving her community and the culinary medicine movement.

I sat down with Jennifer Caraway - founder of The Joy Bus, The Joy Bus Diner, badass mom and Chopped Champion. We cover how she won the TV show, balancing work and family and much more.  The Joy Bus is a Not for Profit organization whose sole purpose is to relieve the daily struggles of homebound cancer patients with a fresh Chef Inspired meal and a friendly face. Their vision is to elevate the livelihood of their patrons with the joy of culinary sustenance. Founded in 2011 and named in honor of their dear friend Joy who struggled with the painstaking side-effects of cancer, ultimately losing her life to this horrific disease. Joy suffered from cancer in the 4 “L” s (in Joy's words) “Lungs, Liver, Lymphoids and Loveries”. Her drive and determination are inspirational to all those who fight her same battle and if a hot meal and a little compassion can brighten her day then it’s the least we can all do as humans and as a part of a community. Millions of cancer patients are left to fend for themselves during this turning point in their lives. The Joy Bus will relieve the burden put on families during this time by providing healthy meals specified to meet their patron’s needs. The Joy Bus delivers not only quality meals to your doorstep but compassion and a smiling face.   Support them by visiting www.thejoybusdiner.com   

Time: ~30 min. Originally aired on KWSS Radio It was so wonderful to meet Jennifer, founder of The Joy Bus! They are a Not for Profit organization whose sole purpose is to relieve the daily struggles of homebound cancer patients with a fresh Chef Inspired meal and a friendly face. We talked about how the Joy Bus came to be, then from there the Joy Bus Diner, and of course Rock The Bus! fundraiser happening this Friday (the 14th) at Crescent Ballroom. You will also learn how YOU can get involved with this amazing organization.  *The Joy Bus WEBSITE Music From: The Soft White Sixties Yip Yops Paper Foxes

Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer, and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: A Manifesto to Rethink How You Think About Work. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together.Aaron works as an Affiliate Advisor for Aberkyn, a division of McKinsey & Co as a facilitator of transformation. He also works with Moving Performance, facilitating leadership change through the power of music.He and his wife Leith live in Colorado Springs, CO. They are celebrating twenty-five years of marriage in December. Their marriage has survived the death of their twelve-year-old daughter Hadley in 2011. Their twenty-two-year-old son Holden lives in Costa Mesa and is thriving in recovery three years clean and sober. Their youngest daughter lives at home still.In 2015 they rebooted their lives, sold their house and all of their belongings to reboot their life and start their life over again. It hasn’t been easy, but they would do it again. They love traveling, drinking box wine and spending time with their creative, hilarious and courageous kids.

“I've fallen so many times and I'm very well aware of how easy it is to get back up.” Jennifer Caraway, Founder of The Joy Bus talks about being on her own since the age of 15 and turning hardship into success. Jennifer refused to let fear get in the way of her success. Jennifer grew up with a father who was both an alcoholic and abusive. At the young age of 15, Jennifer's family abandoned her, and she was left without a home. Instead of fear, she felt relief being on her own. Jennifer kept going. She was determined to finish high school and motivated to succeed. She explains that being scared was just not an option for her. Jennifer says she was driven to prove that she is capable of anything. That determination helped her not let fear get in the way of her success. Today, Jennifer Caraway is the founder and owner of The Joy Bus Diner, an idea that was founded after her friend, Joy, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She explains that while Joy was sick, making food for her was a way to support and comfort her friend. The Joy Bus Diner is a restaurant that donates 100% of its proceeds to support The Joy Bus. The Joy Bus, also created by Jennifer, is a non-profit organization that prepares and delivers meals to homebound cancer patients. It is Jennifer's goal to make those of less fortune feel as if they are going out to have a nice meal. Jennifer states that, “If I can do something to help someone, and make their journey just a little bit less painful, then I am stoked.” Jennifer says before The Joy Bus, she had a, “bitter chip on her shoulder” and viewed people as selfish. It has been in working with the many selfless volunteers for The Joy Bus, that she now sees people differently. Jennifer's biggest piece of advice would be to volunteer and don't be a victim. She explains that by being a victim it allows the other person to win. She goes on to say how important it is to surround yourself with good people. Through her selfless efforts and motivation, Jennifer is a shining example of someone who did not let fear get in the way of her success. She is determined to continue making a difference in the world every day. The post How To Not Let Fear Get In The Way Of Your Success appeared first on Inspired Media 360 TV - Inform | Inspire | Engage.

Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: A Manifesto to Rethink How You Think About Work. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together. For information on his Reboot gathering, visit https://www.aaronmchugh.com/rebootworkshop/

Rolf Potts is a travel writer, essayist, adventurer and teacher. I discovered Rolf Potts from listening to Tim Ferris. Rolf's book, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to The Art of Long-Term World Travel is attributed by Ferris as the basis for his stick-it-to-the man 4-Hour Workweek. I sat down with Rolf Potts over Skype from our Joy Bus to learn from him about learning to live curiously. Potts calls rural Salina, KS home after having his pick of equitably frugal options abroad. His Mid-West roots pulled him back to be near family and friends. Key insights from Rolf Reframing your thinking enables you to power jettisons from real life to discover long-term world travel. If you wait until society tells you to go, you never will. We forget how easy it is to give to ourselves. Insulating yourself from discomfort limits our travel adventures. How to build a Time-Wealth philosophy to create enough time to experience the travels you dream about. GO. GO. GO. Stop waiting. About Rolf Potts Rolf Potts has reported from more than sixty countries for the likes of National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Slate.com, Outside, the New York Times Magazine, The Believer, The Guardian (U.K.), Sports Illustrated, National Public Radio, and the Travel Channel. His adventures have taken him across six continents, and include piloting a fishing boat 900 miles down the Laotian Mekong, hitchhiking across Eastern Europe, traversing Israel on foot, bicycling across Burma, driving a Land Rover across South America, and traveling around the world for six weeks with no luggage or bags of any kind.

Rolf Potts is a travel writer, essayist, adventurer and teacher. I discovered Rolf Potts from listening to Tim Ferris. Rolf's book, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to The Art of Long-Term World Travel is attributed by Ferris as the basis for his stick-it-to-the man 4-Hour Workweek. I sat down with Rolf Potts over Skype from our Joy Bus to learn from him about learning to live curiously. Potts calls rural Salina, KS home after having his pick of equitably frugal options abroad. His Mid-West roots pulled him back to be near family and friends. Key insights from Rolf Reframing your thinking enables you to power jettisons from real life to discover long-term world travel. If you wait until society tells you to go, you never will. We forget how easy it is to give to ourselves. Insulating yourself from discomfort limits our travel adventures. How to build a Time-Wealth philosophy to create enough time to experience the travels you dream about. GO. GO. GO. Stop waiting. About Rolf Potts Rolf Potts has reported from more than sixty countries for the likes of National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Slate.com, Outside, the New York Times Magazine, The Believer, The Guardian (U.K.), Sports Illustrated, National Public Radio, and the Travel Channel. His adventures have taken him across six continents, and include piloting a fishing boat 900 miles down the Laotian Mekong, hitchhiking across Eastern Europe, traversing Israel on foot, bicycling across Burma, driving a Land Rover across South America, and traveling around the world for six weeks with no luggage or bags of any kind.

We did the deal in a McDonald’s parking lot half a mile from the Portland airport after a 20-minute test drive and a rusty glove inspection. It took $6,700, four plane tickets and six months of looking for her. The Joy Bus was ours. The story began when my daughter Averi blurted out this dreamy statement, “When I graduate from high school, Maya and I are going to buy a VW Bus, road-trip to California and surf for the summer.” After more banter about this idea, we began to think, Why not? Averi is our youngest of three children. With Averi’s older brother, I would have likely offered a litany of logical facts as to how improbable dreams of surfing the Cali coast would be for two 18-year-olds. The truth is, I wasn’t always willing to embrace the wonder of big, audacious dreams. Nor was I fanning the flame of our children’s dreams to muse about what lies beyond tomorrow. After 20 years of practice, trials and mistakes, I am becoming a much better father. Averi and I started riffing on the idea of finding a Bus and fixing it up together as a father-daughter project. “Let’s do it,” I said. “Let’s see where this story goes.” Our two older children no longer live at home and the reality of Averi’s post-high school departure is motivating to make our time together count. Compounding my awareness of the countdown to Averi’s launch is how her brother and sister left home. After an unsuccessful freshman first semester, our son was admitted into a drug and alcohol recovery program in California. Averi’s older sister passed away Jan. 28, 2011, after 12 years of living confined within her special-needs body. Our daily life story needs an infusion of more joy. I’m guessing you can relate in some way to the toll that life can take on your resilience and joy. A vintage Volkswagen Bus became the perfect symbol to envision bumping up our joy meter. Last summer we started driving around with eyes wide open scanning for our Bus. It became like a Where’s Waldo? treasure hunt. Averi and I started trading texts, “I spotted one downtown today. Army green. Roof Rack. Rusty.” Even if the VW candidates weren’t posted for sale, we stalked them anyway. I found a 1971 VW Westphalia camper outside of Buena Vista. It was tired. Grass grown up around her, bald tires, sliding door cocked open revealing her romping bruises. We door knocked, left notes on the porch and tracked down a phone number of the owner. It turned out that his late father purchased the Bus new in 1971. Three generations later, it ended up in the front lawn waiting for the grandsons to resurrect her. After six months of picking fields and alleyways, we concluded that we should revise our search to a Bus that was reliably running and looking decent—one that could be restored with a little love and patience. We found our Bus in Issaquah, Washington. Her original owner coddled her for her first 36 years. The seller clinched the deal by narrating the stories of his 2,500-mile adventure Bus tour of Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Averi and I were high-fiving with optimism: “This is the one!” We called in a favor and got our friend Scott Witteveen involved, president of the local Pikes Peak VW Club. He made a few investigative phone calls to confirm our Bus’ history. “She checks out solid,” he said. The 1,300-mile car-camping road trip in 20-degree temps was too adventure-soaked for my brother and his 11-year-old son to pass up. Now a party of four, Averi, Matt, Nate and I boarded our new 1974 VW Bus and navigated back roads and interstates through five states to bring her home to Colorado Springs. The kids bunked in the Bus on the fold-down camper bed. My brother and I braved the winter brisk in a tent beside the Bus. We warmed ourselves with cheap whiskey and high school reminiscences of our barely running 1974 VW Super Beetle. Our joy meter was topping out. Back in Colorado Springs, my wife confidently proclaimed, “We should name her The Joy Bus. Done. A perfect name for the joyful story we are aiming to live. Averi and I are tinkering on weekends, slowly improving her. We make a great cleaning team. I must admit, I’m not a great mechanic, so I leave most of the VW wrenching to MotoWorks Restorations. The story is happening. We are making the time left with Averi count. We’re not just letting time pass to eventually wonder, Where did it go? Instead, we are tilting towards a trail marked “Adventure and Relationship.” I’m not sure I’m up for Averi and Maya taking the Joy Bus to California after graduation. We don’t need to make that decision just yet. For now, she needs to learn how to drive a stick shift. Until then, the Joy Bus is our excuse to chase adventure, build memories and choose joy—together.

We did the deal in a McDonald’s parking lot half a mile from the Portland airport after a 20-minute test drive and a rusty glove inspection. It took $6,700, four plane tickets and six months of looking for her. The Joy Bus was ours. The story began when my daughter Averi blurted out this dreamy statement, “When I graduate from high school, Maya and I are going to buy a VW Bus, road-trip to California and surf for the summer.” After more banter about this idea, we began to think, Why not? Averi is our youngest of three children. With Averi’s older brother, I would have likely offered a litany of logical facts as to how improbable dreams of surfing the Cali coast would be for two 18-year-olds. The truth is, I wasn’t always willing to embrace the wonder of big, audacious dreams. Nor was I fanning the flame of our children’s dreams to muse about what lies beyond tomorrow. After 20 years of practice, trials and mistakes, I am becoming a much better father. Averi and I started riffing on the idea of finding a Bus and fixing it up together as a father-daughter project. “Let’s do it,” I said. “Let’s see where this story goes.” Our two older children no longer live at home and the reality of Averi’s post-high school departure is motivating to make our time together count. Compounding my awareness of the countdown to Averi’s launch is how her brother and sister left home. After an unsuccessful freshman first semester, our son was admitted into a drug and alcohol recovery program in California. Averi’s older sister passed away Jan. 28, 2011, after 12 years of living confined within her special-needs body. Our daily life story needs an infusion of more joy. I’m guessing you can relate in some way to the toll that life can take on your resilience and joy. A vintage Volkswagen Bus became the perfect symbol to envision bumping up our joy meter. Last summer we started driving around with eyes wide open scanning for our Bus. It became like a Where’s Waldo? treasure hunt. Averi and I started trading texts, “I spotted one downtown today. Army green. Roof Rack. Rusty.” Even if the VW candidates weren’t posted for sale, we stalked them anyway. I found a 1971 VW Westphalia camper outside of Buena Vista. It was tired. Grass grown up around her, bald tires, sliding door cocked open revealing her romping bruises. We door knocked, left notes on the porch and tracked down a phone number of the owner. It turned out that his late father purchased the Bus new in 1971. Three generations later, it ended up in the front lawn waiting for the grandsons to resurrect her. After six months of picking fields and alleyways, we concluded that we should revise our search to a Bus that was reliably running and looking decent—one that could be restored with a little love and patience. We found our Bus in Issaquah, Washington. Her original owner coddled her for her first 36 years. The seller clinched the deal by narrating the stories of his 2,500-mile adventure Bus tour of Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Averi and I were high-fiving with optimism: “This is the one!” We called in a favor and got our friend Scott Witteveen involved, president of the local Pikes Peak VW Club. He made a few investigative phone calls to confirm our Bus’ history. “She checks out solid,” he said. The 1,300-mile car-camping road trip in 20-degree temps was too adventure-soaked for my brother and his 11-year-old son to pass up. Now a party of four, Averi, Matt, Nate and I boarded our new 1974 VW Bus and navigated back roads and interstates through five states to bring her home to Colorado Springs. The kids bunked in the Bus on the fold-down camper bed. My brother and I braved the winter brisk in a tent beside the Bus. We warmed ourselves with cheap whiskey and high school reminiscences of our barely running 1974 VW Super Beetle. Our joy meter was topping out. Back in Colorado Springs, my wife confidently proclaimed, “We should name her The Joy Bus. Done. A perfect name for the joyful story we are aiming to live. Averi and I are tinkering on weekends, slowly improving her. We make a great cleaning team. I must admit, I’m not a great mechanic, so I leave most of the VW wrenching to MotoWorks Restorations. The story is happening. We are making the time left with Averi count. We’re not just letting time pass to eventually wonder, Where did it go? Instead, we are tilting towards a trail marked “Adventure and Relationship.” I’m not sure I’m up for Averi and Maya taking the Joy Bus to California after graduation. We don’t need to make that decision just yet. For now, she needs to learn how to drive a stick shift. Until then, the Joy Bus is our excuse to chase adventure, build memories and choose joy—together.

Morning Musings: Episode 11- Get On The Joy Bus, Part 3: Jealousy Steals Our Joy. Hosted by Stephanie Ecke, professional counselor and Life Plan Facilitator with Pathways To Purpose Ministry. Theme music is "Morning Has Broken" by The Chieftains. Special Thanks to Clifford Sound for providing the bandwidth for this podcast!!

Morning Musings: Episode 10- Get On The Joy Bus, Part 2. Hosted by Stephanie Ecke, professional counselor and Life Plan Facilitator with Pathways To Purpose Ministry. Theme music is "Morning Has Broken" by The Chieftains. Special Thanks to Clifford Sound for providing the bandwidth for this podcast!!

Morning Musings: Episode 9- Get On The Joy Bus, Part 1. Hosted by Stephanie Ecke, professional counselor and Life Plan Facilitator with Pathways To Purpose Ministry. Theme music is "Morning Has Broken" by The Chieftains. Special Thanks to Clifford Sound for providing the bandwidth for this podcast!!