Podcasts about Leading Women

This episode of The Other Side of the Bell, featuring trumpet legend and women's trumpet trailblazer Marie Speziale, is brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass. This episode also appears as a video episode on our YouTube channel, you can find it here: "Marie Speziale trumpet interview" *Note to listeners and viewers: we're rebalancing our podcast release schedule, to alternate The Other Side of the Bell with our other two podcasts: Trombone Corner and The Horn Signal. Hence the back-to-back episode of TOSOTB this week!  If you haven't already, check out our other two shows for more fantastic interviews with horn-playing legends!   Trombone Corner The Horn Signal     About Marie Speziale:   Acknowledged as the first woman trumpeter in a major symphony orchestra, Marie Speziale retired from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1996 after having served as Associate Principal Trumpet for thirty-two years (1964-1996).   A graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati (CCM), Ms. Speziale studied with Robert Price, Eugene Blee and Arnold Jacobs. Her tenure with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) included playing with the Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati May Festival, Cincinnati Ballet and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. She performed under the batons of Igor Stravinsky, George Szell, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Eugene Ormandy, Eric Leinsdorf, Max Rudolf and so many more.   In addition to solo appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Pops and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestras, she was featured on NBC's Today Show at age 15, in an impromptu jam session with Duke Ellington shortly after joining the orchestra, and with Dave Brubeck on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show, the CSO European tour, and at the Interlochen Arts Academy. While a student at CCM, she recorded sound tracks for James Brown, whose career was launched by the historic King Records in Cincinnati.   Marie served on the CCM faculty, 1964 -1973, on the faculty at Miami University of Ohio, 1973 - 1979, and returned to CCM as Adjunct Associate Professor, 1979 - 2002. She was appointed Professor of Music at Indiana University 1999, serving there until a year after her 2001 appointment as Professor of Trumpet and Brass Department Chair at the prestigious Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.   In 1999, Marie was one of six Americans (and the only American woman) to be invited by the Tokyo International Music Festival to perform in its first Super World Orchestra. In addition to the National Trumpet Competitions, she has served as adjudicator for the ITG, IWBC and the prestigious Fischoff National Chamber Music competitions.   In 1996, Ms. Speziale performed with the Monarch Brass on its inaugural tour. She conducted the Monarch Brass at the 1997 and 2014 conferences, and played, toured and recorded with Monarch Brass Quintet and Monarch Brass Ensemble until retiring from playing.   President of IWBC, 1997 - 2001, Marie hosted the 2000 conference at CCM and served on the Board of Directors.   Ms. Speziale has won many awards and honors, including Leading Women in the Arts Award from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition of Women's Organizations, the Outstanding Woman of the Year in Music Award from the Tampa Tribune, the SAI Chapter, Province and National Leadership Awards, the Pioneer Award from the International Women's Brass Conference, the Golden Rose Award from the Women Band Directors International, the Woman of Excellence Award from the Italian Club of Tampa, the Distinguished Alumna Award from CCM and the Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Cincinnati.   In 2018, Marie was inducted into the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame as part of their recognition of the Symphony Jazz Quintet, of which she was a founding member. She was presented with the prestigious Honorary Award from the International Trumpet Guild at their 2018 conference. In 2019, Ms. Speziale was one of 100 women recognized by Cincinnati Arts Wave in their Celebration of Women in the Arts: Power of Her.   Marie Speziale retired as Professor Emerita from Rice University in 2013. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Emeritus Board of the IWBC.   Podcast listeners! Enter code "podcast" at checkout for 15% off any of our Gard bags! Visit trumpetmouthpiece.com for more info.     Episode Links: International Women's Brass Conference, May 19-24, Hartford, Connecticut. Register: myiwbc.org Sign up sheet for valve alignments: bobreeves.com/iwbc International Trumpet Guild Conference, May 27-31, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Sign up sheet for valve alignments: bobreeves.com/itg William Adam Trumpet Festival, June 19-22, Clarksville, Tennessee. williamadamtrumpet.com  Sign up sheet for valve alignments: bobreeves.com/williamadam   Podcast Credits: “A Room with a View“ - composed and performed by Howie Shear Podcast Host - John Snell Cover Art - courtesy of Marie Speziale Audio Engineer - Ted Cragg  

Send us a textThis week on The UpLevel Podcast, we welcome the extraordinary Julie Barker-Merz, Regional President of BMO Bank of Montreal for Greater Toronto. A visionary leader with a bold heart, Julie is known for breaking new ground in corporate leadership and uplifting women across business, sport, and community. Julie shares deeply personal insights on how to lead with heart while holding big responsibility. From her signature “four-legged stool” principle of balance to her unwavering belief that difference is power, Julie brings inspiration, wisdom, and courage to the conversation.In This Episode:What it means to be in right relationship with yourself, in your leadership, your health, your home, and your heartThe power of leading from authenticity, clarity, and shared values, and how that shifts culture from the inside outSmall “c” vs. Big “C” coaching, and why that distinction matters for creating real transformation in people and teamsHow choosing curiosity over control opens doors to growth, connection, and possibilityWhy difference is power, and how Julie leans into discomfort with openness, not resistanceThe role of failure, feedback, and fortitude in shaping resilient, conscious leadershipJulie's guiding principle of the “four-legged stool,” and how she uses it to stay grounded across every area of life.From marathon training to scrapbooking retreats, how she protects her energy and recharges with intention.Integration over isolation, why weaving together fitness, friendship, and family creates more sustainable successCuriosity in conflict, how asking instead of assuming can turn tension into trustThe power of finding your people, and why women thrive in communities built on support, not competitionBio:Julie Barker-Merz is the Regional President, BMO Bank of Montreal, for Greater Toronto, where she leads a team of personal banking professionals across 9 markets and 170 branches. She is a board member of Tree Canada, past-Chair of the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, and the former Director and Treasurer of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. She is a long-standing and strong supporter of women in business, sport, and the community and a 2015 recipient of The International Alliance of Women's (TIAW) Top 100 World of Difference awards, as well as one of Canada's Top 50 to watch in Wealth Management in 2016 during her time as President of BMO InvestorLine. And in 2018, she was awarded Ontario's Leading Women, Building Communities Award of Excellence, and in 2023, the WXN DEI Award for her role on Corporate Boards.Throughout her 25+ year career with BMO Financial Group, Julie has earned the reputation of being a leader who executes with pace, courage, and excellence, inspiring multi-disciplinary teams to come together towards a common vision. Julie received her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa, her Fellow from the Institute of Canadian Bankers, and her MBA from Dalhousie University.  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-barker-merz-9206a418/

ABOUT THIS EPISODEI had the joy of meeting Cal in person at the Women in Business Golf event that she hosted in September, 2024 and where my colleague Natalie Shering and I led an experiential workshop on leading with confidence. I was inspired before the event and even more so during and after by Cal's unswerving commitment and passion to enable women to connect and network with each other through playing golf. Cal has created a community of women, who enable, inspire and support each other personally and professionally - on and off the golf course. Cal is on a mission to change the face of women's golf. In our conversation Cal offers valuable insights into:How women can feel empowered if they play golf - on and off the golf course;The importance of social connection to Cal personally and within the community that she has created;How authenticity is integral to her personal life and to her business Cal's Three Key Encouragements to Leaders: We can always be learning and it's essential to stay open-minded - to acknowledge and consider the value in other peoples opinions and suggestions - no one knows everything!Make sure you're a strong communicator. Don't over complicate things, be direct and concise, but it's essential to be kind in your delivery. Create a vision that people are excited by and willing to follow.How to connect with Cal:LinkedIn: Caroline Shukla Website: www.skratchwomen.comInstagram: @skratchwomenTo listen to other Leaders in Conversation with me Anni Townend go to my website, www.annitownend.comA big thank you to SHMOGUS Media for the wonderful production and marketing of the podcast.To contact me Anni Townend do email me on anni@annitownend.com visit my website www.annitownend.com, subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on LinkedIn. I look forward to connecting with you, thank you for listening.

We need to bust the myth that women aren't good with money. Thanks to this BS belief, we have more trouble getting business loans and more anxiety about investing and financial planning. Here's the thing: we're actually better at managing money — so let's change the narrative and take control of our financial health!My guest for this episode of Marketing Sucks was named one of the Top 50 Leading Women in Wealth in Canada for two years running, one of the Top 50 Advisors in Ontario, and is the #1 person I want to talk to about ANYTHING finance! As the founder and owner of BlueRidge Private Wealth, Kerry Rizzo helps people and businesses uncover their best financial goals, minimize their taxes, and make smarter investing decisions. Listen in as this award-winning Sr. Investment Advisor shares the best steps female entrepreneurs can begin taking right now to build a strong foundation for long-term financial stability. Marketing sucks. Let's learn together. Hit play to discover:‌ ‌Why money management is less complicated than we think and how to automate our savings effortsWhat it actually looks like to work with a financial advisor (and when to work with one!)Key mistakes women make when it comes to their finances — and why we're actually better stewards of money than men!Please rate, review, and subscribe!Guest bio: Kerry Rizzo has worked for 3 of the top 5 financial institutions in Canada, receiving multiple promotions and awards. Since leaving corporate brokerage, Kerry founded BlueRidge Private Wealth, operating under the brokerage banner of Harbourfront Wealth Management. She also founded and owns Kerry Knows Money, a firm designed to empower financial education and financial independence with a focus on increasing female representation for investors and advisors.Timestamps:‌ ‌00:11  Meet Kerry Rizzo05:38  Kerry's journey09:54  First steps for financial stability 13:59  Get comfortable & have the conversation19:47  Working with an advisor24:46  Key mistakes27:22  Start early30:34  Your action item35:18  Outro Links mentioned:‌ ‌Kerry Rizzoblueridgeprivatewealth.com kerryknowsmoney.com linkedin.com/in/kerry-rizzocfp Instagram: @KerryKnowsMoney TikTok: @kerryknowsmoney6 —

In this episode of Higher Ed Pulse, Mallory Willsea welcomes Kelly Sinacola, VP of Solution Engineering and Integration at Element451 and one of ASU+GSV's “Leading Women in AI,” to unpack higher ed's ever-evolving relationship with artificial intelligence. From student support bots to responsible AI partnerships, this episode explores how institutions are moving from resistance to full-on adoption. The conversation dives into what true AI literacy looks like, why trust is key, and where the next wave of innovation may hit.Related Articles: Champlain College partners with Anthropic to advance artificial intelligence in higher educationBusiness schools ease their resistance to AIGuest Name: Kelly Sinacola, Vice President Solution Engineering and Integrations, Element451Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-sinacola - - - -Connect With Our Host:Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/https://twitter.com/mallorywillseaAbout The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you'll like other Enrollify shows too!Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.Attend the 2025 Engage Summit! The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

In this episode of Blacklisted Conversations, we sit down with award-winning filmmaker and historian Shola Lynch, celebrated for her powerful documentaries centring Black voices and untold histories. With a legacy that includes Free Angela and All Political Prisoners and Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed, Lynch brings a distinct, truth-driven approach to storytelling.We dive into her latest work as director of the Leading Women in Hollywood segment of the Apple TV+ docuseries Number One on the Call Sheet. Lynch shares the care and craft behind building trust with initially hesitant icons like Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, and Gabrielle Union — ultimately capturing deeply personal reflections on navigating stardom as Black women in the industry.From the politics of representation to the pursuit of creative freedom, this conversation explores the resilience, legacy, and quiet power that fuel both her subjects and her own journey as a filmmaker.

Send us a textWelcome to a truly game-changing episode of Marketing in the Madness! Recorded live at our International Women's Day 2025 event, this episode is all about empowering women to speak up, stand out, and own their success

It's international women's day tomorrow and we have two pieces of good news. Ireland has been named 2nd in Europe for investment in women-led start-ups. Also a study from Trinity found that the average daily rate for female contractors is now higher than for men. So joining us to discuss their own senior jobs and positive changes such as these we have Lisa Toomey is the Hotel Manager with Ashford Castle, Emer Higgins is the minister of state at the department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with special responsibility for Public Procurement, Digitalisation and eGovernment and also Natasha Jamal from MasterCard.

When the topic of startups comes up in a conversation, one of the first thoughts is a company created by young people chugging Red Bull and leaving empty pizza boxes on the floor. OK, perhaps we exaggerate a little bit. However, the co-founders of Defy The Odds, formed to lend a helping hand to other startups, aren't your stereotypical startup trio. Sue Schneider, Paris Smith and Kelly Kehn have a combined 75-years plus in the gambling industry and have individually been among the leading crusaders for women in a business that has historically been heavily male skewed. The three gaming leaders were Steve McAllister's guests on a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by GBG Plc. They provided McAllister with the back story on the creation of Defy The Odds at the end of 2024, and the new company's recently announced partnerships with Thundr,QueenBHive, and Let's Fantasy Game. Schneider, a frequent guest on the GNCS, Smith and Kehn also spoke about their mentors during the early days in the industry, and the need to continue pushing the envelope on DEI initiatives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textThis week, I'm joined by Katherine Moloney, pilot and founder of Elevate Her Aviation! With over 350 rotary hours, a PPL (A) and PPL (H) certification, and a mission to inspire and support women in aviation, Katherine is paving the way for the next generation of female aviators.In this episode, we dive into: ✈️ Overcoming flying anxiety and why aviation is one of the safest industries out there. 

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Janet Arzt, Founder and Managing Partner of Parere Advisory, an independent consulting firm guiding clients across all stages of family office strategy, development, operations, and implementation. Prior to founding Parere Advisory, Janet served as Chief Executive Officer of a newly launched family office in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she built out and oversaw investments and operations for the family and its businesses. In 2020, Janet was named one of the “Top 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds” by The Hedge Fund Journal in association with Ernst & Young. In this episode, we'll talk about the role and experience of women in the world of family wealth and wealth management. Janet shares the historical perspective of how women have been involved and positioned in the enterprise family and family wealth space, both as wealth owners and as wealth manages or advisors. The environment today is transforming quickly, and Janet describes what is happening now in the family office field and the changes she is seeing that impact women in wealth. Janet offers her tips and suggestions for women who are wealth owners, or who are stepping into family leadership or family office principal roles in the midst of the “greatest generational wealth transfer” that is already under way. We also talk about the “supply side”, i.e., the family wealth advisory firms and the women who are family wealth professionals. She provides some tips for wealth advisor firms about serving female clients and to women who are in wealth management, family office, and wealth advisory roles at external advisor firms. Please enjoy this informative conversation with an experienced and successful professional in the family wealth space.

Kathryn Valentine is the Founder of Worthmore Strategies, a research based firm aimed at advancing women in the workplace by partnering with companies to deliver negotiation training to women. Kathryn developed her approach to leadership in the years she spent at McKinsey and at a couple of apparel companies.In this conversation we discuss her journey, her leadership style, and she shares a number of actions that women can use to improve their negotiation skills.Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.comWebsites:al4ep.comworthmorestrategies.comAdditional Guest Links:List of 76 things to ask for in negotiations: www.76things.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kval/Instagram (corporate): @worthmorestrategiesAuthentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino CattaneoDino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneoPodcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edpMusicSusan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Have you ever reviewed your finances and felt a wave of anxiety? When financial matters are disorganized, the impact can reach every part of life—affecting mood, productivity, and even relationships. In this episode of the Productivity Smarts podcast, host Gerald J. Leonard speaks with Tina Tehranchian, an award-winning financial advisor at Assante Capital Management, about how financial planning is not merely about wealth accumulation. Rather, it's a path to creating stability that enhances productivity and overall well-being. Tina emphasizes that financial stress can greatly impair focus and performance, both personally and professionally. The discussion also touches on those who may be starting over later in life due to circumstances such as divorce or bankruptcy. Tina offers reassurance that it's possible to rebuild and highlights the importance of openness with financial advisors during these transitions. Gerald highlights the value of long-standing relationships between clients and advisors, with Tina reflecting on her pride in working with clients for decades. The episode emphasizes that effective financial planning is key to reducing stress and enhancing life satisfaction. What We Discuss [02:01] Introduction to Tina Tehranchian [06:03] Keys to success [08:04] Importance of a financial plan [09:54] Starting financial planning [14:04] Client success story [16:08] The role of financial advisors [17:52] Impact of financial planning on productivity [20:28] Risks in wealth building [22:45] Advice on financial well-being [23:38] Starting over financially   Notable Quotes [00:03:14] “When your financial life is not together, it can create a lot of stress in people's lives. But when you have an inkling of how to start and how to budget, it brings a lot of relief and fluidity in your life.” - Gerald J. Leonard   [00:10:23] “Removing that stress can definitely help with improving productivity. Many people get overwhelmed when they think about their financial planning, but you have to take the first step and do it in small steps.” - Tina Tehranchian   [00:14:04] “A good example that comes to mind is one of my clients who's been a client for over 30 years. When I met him, he was up to his neck in debt, but we started tackling the debt, and now he's retired with enough wealth to be concerned about taxes.” - Tina Tehranchian   [00:24:02] “It's perfectly all right to start all over again. Things happen in life. Don't be ashamed of your situation, whatever it is.” - Tina Tehranchian     Our Guest Tina is a distinguished Senior Wealth Advisor at Assante Capital Management with over 30 years of experience. She has received numerous awards, including being the first Canadian and woman to earn the Senior Wealth Advisor of the Year title from the International Association of Top Professionals in 2020. In 2021, she was named Senior Wealth Advisor of the Decade and Empowered Woman of the Year. Recently, Tina was recognized as one of Wealth Professionals Canada's *Top 50 Leading Women in Wealth* for 2023 and a Five-Star Advisor in Ontario in 2024.   Resources Tina Tehranchian Website - https://tinatehranchian.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinatehranchian/   Productivity Smarts Podcast Website - productivitysmartspodcast.com   Gerald J. Leonard Website - geraldjleonard.com Turnberry Premiere website - turnberrypremiere.com Scheduler - vcita.com/v/geraldjleonard   Kiva is a loan, not a donation, allowing you to cycle your money and create a personal impact worldwide. https://www.kiva.org/lender/topmindshelpingtopminds  

She is indeed a book whisperer and a great storyteller. Our guest this time is Bridget Cook-Birch. Bridget grew up, as she says, being a tom boy. However, she also had an insatiable appetite for reading as much as she could even from an early age. She will tell us about her growing up years and So I will leave that for her.   She had a near death experience that showed her that she had a greater purpose in life than she thought. She found it when she began to write. To date she has written several bestselling books and she has helped others to successfully create and tell their stories. Bridget is firmly convinced that stories of all kinds are an extremely part of all our lives and that we should tell them.   We get to learn much about today's publishing industry and how we can each begin our own story-telling journey. I am sure you will leave this episode and possibly be more ready to tell your own story. If you are, by the way, I would love you to reach out to me at michaelhi@accessibe.com to arrange a time for us to discuss you coming on Unstoppable Mindset. Enjoy this episode with Bridget.       About the Guest:   Bridget Cook-Burch's clients call her “The Book Whisperer”. She is a New York Times & Wall Street Journal bestselling author, mentor, trainer, mamma-bear humanitarian, and speaker known for riveting stories of transformation. Her powerful work has been showcased on Oprah, Dateline, CNN, GMA, The History Channel, NPR and in People among many others. She is the CEO and Founder of YourInspiredStory.com and Inspired Legacy Publishing. Bridget is also a co-founder and former executive director of SHEROES United, a non-profit organization that helps women and girls rise from trauma. As a leader, storyteller, trainer and humanitarian, her greatest passion is helping others to discover the importance of their own story, and to become leaders in their own communities, and worldwide. Bridget's many national bestsellers include Divine Turbulence; The Witness Wore Red; Shattered Silence; Skinhead Confessions; Leading Women; and also Living Proof.   Bridget invites you to believe in the power of your story to change the world. Join her writers' retreats and leadership retreats in Utah, Italy, Ireland and more.  Find out more at www.YourInspiredStory.com and www.SHEROESUnited.org.   Ways to connect with Bridget:   Linkedin:  Bridget Cook-Burch “The Book Whisperer” - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/   Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/bridgetcookburch   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch   YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@inspiredlegacypublishing       About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hi once again, wherever you happen to be, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. Today we get to visit with someone who is known as the book whisperer. How about that? Bridget Cook-Birch writes a lot of stories. She writes a lot of books. She is a storyteller, and I love that about Bridget because I believe that everyone in the world has stories to tell that they can tell, and if they don't necessarily know how to tell the stories themselves, they should seek people who can help them bring the stories out into the open for people to hear however they want to do that. But I think we should never be afraid of telling our stories whatever they happen to be. So this is going to be, needless to say, a fun podcast episode to do, because stories really is what it's all about. So with that Bridget Welcome to unstoppable mindset, we're really glad you're here.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 02:18 Thank you, Michael. I'm so honored to be here, and I cannot wait, because I know we're going to have so much fun. And I've, as   Michael Hingson ** 02:24 I've told a number of people, the only hard and fast rule on this podcast, and it's what I've really only made up in the last few months, but it is, we both have to have fun, or there's no sense doing it so. And the other part of that, I suppose, is that listeners have to have fun too, so we'll work on that. We need to make it fun for them and and that's as good as it gets. Well, let's start a little bit by maybe you telling us kind of the story about the early Bridget, growing up and all that.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 02:52 The early Bridget, oh, that's scary.   Michael Hingson ** 02:55 Early Bridget,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 02:58 well, the early Bridget was adopted by two extraordinary beings, Dick and Pat whirling, who were just amazing folks. But I did have three sets of parents by the time I was six months old, and I didn't know that. Unconsciously there, there were a lot of belief systems like, oh, I can't really trust because the big people will always leave. And so I was pretty firely independent, but they were very patient with me, and I had some amazing siblings, and I read books like crazy. So I was one of those nerds that was a tomboy whenever I was outside. So I play football and climb trees and mountains and, you know, play with rattlesnakes and all the fun stuff. And then when I would go home, I would read every book I could get my hands on, read out the school library, read out the bookmobile, and my mom would let me go downtown to read out the public library. So I read a lot, and I read a lot of things that many people didn't read until they were college age, but they were important to me, and I was profoundly affected by some of those early stories, like the Diary of Anne Frank and Uncle Tom's Cabin and To Kill a Mockingbird. And I think deep down, it inspired within me to do storytelling that could change the world. So   Michael Hingson ** 04:31 now you got me curious. Tell me about playing with a rattlesnake.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 04:36 Well, we lived up against the Rocky Mountains, and we were kind of in a deserted area. And where was this? What's that?   Michael Hingson ** 04:46 Where were you?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 04:47 I was in Brigham City, Utah, in Utah. Okay, great. All places. My folks had adopted me from, Laramie, Wyoming. And yeah, my folks were from Detroit originally, and they. Came out so my dad, who was an engineer, could work on the Minutemen missile. And, yeah, so he was a, he was a cowboy in in always, except he wasn't from here. Yep, he wore the cowboy boots and a belt buckle the size of Texas and a 10 gallon hat. And loved to take us on historical, you know, sites all around the West. So   Michael Hingson ** 05:26 So playing with rattlesnakes, playing with rattlesnakes.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 05:28 Yep, we we used to climb up into the mountains behind our house, and they were full of rattlesnakes. When I was little, I didn't understand that the baby rattlesnakes were actually more poisonous. I just thought they were kind of cute. So I would do a little playing around with them, until I found out that that that was not the smartest thing.   Michael Hingson ** 05:53 Did you ever get bit by one?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 05:54 You know what? I never did. I think it's because I have a lot of affination for nature. I had a lot of peace when I was out in nature, and it seems like I never got bit or scratched or anything else. So I was very blessed. We will tell you that, because there is no way that a ambulance would have made it up the mountain, and the baby rattlers are actually more poisonous than the adults, so   Michael Hingson ** 06:23 they're more prone to strike because they don't really have, or at least they haven't yet developed some of the things that they will learn later. But yeah, that is true. My brother in law, so my what my late wife and her family grew up in Fontana and Rialto in California, also sort of on the the lower desert, but lots of things around. And one day, my brother in law, Gary, came into the house holding a black widow spider, and was showing off to everybody. And of course, everyone was just freaked out. And so he then took it outside and let it go, but still, he carried this black widow spider into the house fearlessly. Wow, that   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 07:13 I was not as fearless of spiders. I could handle snakes quite a bit, but no spiders. I would just run screaming from spiders.   Michael Hingson ** 07:22 I have occasionally been in a position where I ended up sitting very close to spiders and didn't know it, but, but nevertheless, I and black widows, among other things, when I was growing up on the desert in Palmdale, that's sort of the high desert, and we had a lot of critters. Of course, my favorites were tortoises, and we had several tortoises come up to our house, and if you decided to live with us for a little while, which is fun. Now we don't see tortoises anymore, unfortunately.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 07:51 Oh, that's too bad, but I do know that they don't bite poisonously, but you still have to watch for them biting you. Well, tortoises, tortoises,   Michael Hingson ** 08:01 you know, there's tortoises and terrapins, which are sometimes called snapping turtles, but tortoises generally won't if you're friendly and and don't do anything that you you shouldn't do to an animal or anyone else. One of the things that I did was fed them lettuce and rose petals and occasionally cantaloupe. And even when they weren't eating, if I would put my hand down in front of a tortoises nose and then slide my finger under the nose, they would stick their head out of the shell to get their neck scratched. They loved it. Oh, yeah, tortoises can be very friendly. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, they're they were fun. And we, we had them a fair amount. And then after growing up and living on the East Coast and coming back to California, we we didn't really have so much with tortoises, it's unfortunate. They're more endangered, I think, than they were, but really enjoy them, which was a lot of fun.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 09:00 Yeah, there's a lot of things that our kids don't have as easy access to, in terms of animals and nature that we once did. Yeah, I hope that shifts. I hope that changes   Michael Hingson ** 09:12 I do too. I think we also need to learn not to be afraid of so many things. I mean, I would say you'd be cautious around rattlesnakes, but I think fear is one of the biggest problems that we face, because animals can sense when you're afraid, like people say, if you're caught out somewhere with a bear or with a wolf or or even dogs that tend to Be aggressive, they're going to be more. So if you're showing fear,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 09:45 I'll tell you what. I had a situation up in mountain green. I was a single mom, and I had my sweet husband. Now I was dating. We had so much snow that our dog. Were walking out of this the fence, and so he put up like a little compound, and so that they couldn't walk walk out, and a wolf jumped over the fence to get to the dog food, but then couldn't jump back out. And I, you know, and I had kids, and I have Mama Bear instinct when it comes to kids, to my dog, so I ended up having to open every door in the house that led outside to the other and and then finally opened the sliding glass door so the wolf could go all the way through my house and up through and and escape, but that was a pretty harrowing experience. But you said we have to be careful about fear, because they do sense that. And you know that because of all you know your your dogs, and I'm sure that you've had pretty intense connections with certain animals   Michael Hingson ** 10:57 well, and I value that a great deal. And in fact, later this year, we're publishing a new book called Live like a guide dog, true stories from a blind man and his dogs about being brave, overcoming adversity and walking in faith. And the idea is that I use lessons that I've learned directly from all of my dogs on my wife's service dog, Fantasia, to deal with fear. And I'm it's the first time I've really started to work to try to teach people that they don't need to be, as I call it, blinded by fear or paralyzed by fear, that you can use fear as a very powerful tool to help you and that you can use it to help you focus. It isn't to say don't be afraid, but it is a question of how you're afraid and what you do with it. So yeah, I'd be really concerned about a loose wolf or cat in my yard, but I think that the thing to do is to figure out how to deal with it and and try to be peaceful with it. And mostly you can do that unless there's some disease around that, like rabies, that you don't and they don't have any control over and having gotten but mostly, I think we really can learn to be a lot more focused and use fear as a very powerful supportive tool than not. So it is, is something that will be out later this year. It's going to be out in August, and I'm looking forward to it. People have seen links to it. We've already tindalled. The publisher has already put out some pre order links and so on, and people are saying very kind things about it with so I hope it'll be as successful as thunder dog was back in 2011 which was my   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 12:38 first question to say, I can't wait to read this one, because I really enjoyed thunder dog. I enjoyed the storytelling. I enjoyed the teaching that you did with it. Some of those stories, though were were really something in the stairwell, but also when you were out of the building, and you did use fear in a in a smart way and saved people's lives like that was incredible. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 13:05 thank you. And I think that that's really what's important. And I realized when the pandemic occurred that I've been talking about not being afraid for song, but never really worked to try to help people learn how to control fear. So that's what it's about helping people. I'm and really enjoying being able to have the opportunity to get people to understand we're all better than we think we are.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 13:32 I would agree with that 1,000%   Michael Hingson ** 13:36 so you want you went off? Did you go to college? I did,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 13:41 I started off at University of Utah, and then I ended up at Utah State, little more smaller school that I liked better for just a few different reasons, but especially because I could just be immersed in nature, like the canyon was right there in my backyard, and I spent a lot of time up in the canyon. And so I went to, I've got a BS and a BA. I took political science and Russian language and all different, all different aspects. I got a couple different minors as as well as a couple majors and and loved it. Nothing in English, nothing on writing. So it all had to do, really, with with human relations and international relations. So it was one of those things that I thought I would do, until I began writing, and now I incorporate all of it.   Michael Hingson ** 14:34 So what did you do after college?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 14:37 Well, I got married, and that's   Michael Hingson ** 14:41 a full time job. Yes,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 14:43 while I was while I was in college, I had a pretty intense near death experience that solidified my faith in God in a really remarkable way. But it also I've, I've talked to a lot of people who've had near. Experiences and shared death experiences, and it seems like you you often come back with a gift, and the gift that I came back with was to be able to see people's stories in an extraordinary way. And I can almost like they'll be telling me a story, and I can see the threads of it and how that could be used for a speech, or how it could be written into a book, and how it could be, you know, even more compelling in the way that it's told. And and so I was, I was able to see that, and after college, I was able to start writing and working on some of these stories. So it really turned out to be a boon and a blessing for me.   Michael Hingson ** 15:44 If you want to, can you tell us a little bit about what happened with your near death experience?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 15:50 Yeah, there was a time I was afraid to talk about it because it was so sacred, yeah, but I was also worried that, you know, people might think I was crazy. I hadn't in the beginning. When it first happened, I was in my early 20s. I was working three jobs and going to school and overworking. I got very, very ill and ended up in in the hospital and listening to a couple nurses outside in the corridor saying, this girl's not going to make it until morning. And Michael, I don't know how you felt in the tower, except from what you wrote in the book, but the one thing I knew was that I had not fulfilled the measure of my creation, and I had no idea what that was. I was pretty clueless for a college student, had big dreams, but I didn't know what the fulfillment of my my creation was, but I just knew I hadn't done it yet, and I was so sad that I wasn't going to have that opportunity. And you know, I had what I would call intercessory prayers, my mother really praying to save my life. And I had other people that were praying and and I had a I had actually two figures that filled my room, one I know is an angel, and then one that for me was definitely Jesus Christ, my Creator, and he told me that I was being given a second chance at life, and I didn't take any of it for granted and and the for the first time in days, I fell into a real deep sleep. My fever came down, and when the nurse came in, she's giving me more intravenous antibiotics because I've been so sick. And I told her, I just had this knowledge, like I said, you can give me every single one of these antibiotics, but not this one. It's killing me. And she thought I was a fruitcake, you know, she's like, this is the only thing saving your life. We thought you were going to be gone. And I'm like, No, I can have every one of these, but not this one. And fortunately, I had a doctor who had patients who'd had other experiences, and he listened and he says, well, we might as well take her off this one. She's on the rest of these. And because of that, I was able to walk out of the hospital in the next 24 hours under my own power. So   Michael Hingson ** 18:25 did they ever decide that you were allergic to it, or explanation   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 18:30 deeply allergic to one of those intravenous antibiotics? The moment they took me off, I started doing better. Wow. So it was pretty crazy.   Michael Hingson ** 18:41 Yeah. Well, you know my experience from Thunder dog, where I heard God's voice in in chapter 10 of thunder dog, and that was as real as it could get. And it's one of the things that led me to believe that when one door closes, a window opens, as Alexander Graham Bell once said, and the whole point is that there are things to do, and I didn't even worry about trying to figure out what they were what I needed to do was to look at opportunities as they came along and Do something with them. Of course, the next day after September 11, so on the 12th, Karen, my wife, said, You want to really call Guide Dogs for the Blind and tell them what happened, because several of them had visited us in the World Trade Center. So I did, and that led to the Director of Public Information wanting to do a story. And also she said, you're going to get visible on TV, I bet, where do you want to be first? And I wasn't thinking so. I just said, Larry King Live. And on the 14th of September, we had the first of five interviews on Larry King Live. And you know, the issue is that, again, that led to people starting to call and. And saying, We really would like you to come on and speak to us and talk to us and tell us what we should learn about September 11 and such things. And so I decided to start doing that. And I realized if I could tell people about what happened and teach them how to move forward from September 11, if I could teach people more about blindness and what guide dogs are all about and such than it was worth doing. And that's exactly what I did, and I've been doing it ever since. And then the pandemic came, and some things changed, but we continue to move on. And now I'm actually starting to ramp up speaking again, and looking for more speaking engagements to to help with the the income process, because not ready to retire yet, and don't have the money to retire yet. So anybody who needs a speaker out there, I'd love to talk with you about it. But you know, the the issue is that God gives us the opportunities, and that's really important to deal with. So anyway, I think we really do need to look at opportunities that come. And I really appreciate you talking about what you experienced, because it certainly told you that there's more to do. And I think that for all of us, there's a lot more that we can do, if we would but listen and and ponder and think about and look at what's happening in our lives to be able to move forward.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 21:36 I would agree with that 1,000% and hopefully it doesn't have to take a Mack truck or a near death experience for us to recognize like, what a gift life really is and what a gift our story is, and how we can serve and support and lift one another.   Michael Hingson ** 21:55 Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's really important that we do focus on the stories and so well, tell me a little bit more about you and stories. You you believe that words can change the world and that we all should be telling stories. Talk more about that, and also just about the whole idea of when we're talking about stories. Do we really want to talk about the stories that limit us, and do we focus on those, or the stories of possibilities, or does it really even matter?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 22:30 Oh, I'll tell you what it does matter. I've seen it over and over again, but I'll tell you a little history of how I discovered that. Uh, so after my near death experience, my husband and I moved to Denver, Colorado, and I had the opportunity to work as a PR consultant for a company called community learning centers, and I got to interview high risk kids, gang youth and others, but especially the ones who had turned their life around. And I was listening to stories that so different from how I had grown up that I was fascinated, but I also saw how the stories that we tell ourselves are the most important stories, and I began to see incredible patterns from that, and from that, I thought I would write a fictional book, like a story of forgiveness and redemption, and was even writing this book and and then I had a dream about this book, but it was different than what I had been writing. And in my dream, the book was about, you know, a gang, gang member who had left his gang had a huge price tag on his head, and in the dream, it was a skinhead. And I didn't know anything about skinheads, because the the kids I worked with in Denver were Bloods and Crips and we stra Familia and several others, but not any white supremacists. I had to do all kinds of research and discover their ideology. And then, you know, it was fascinating. Michael was to to have this dream and have to do this research find out more. And then I come across this guy's website, and he was looking for someone to write his life story that I had been writing from this dream. So to make a long story short, I recognized something guided and divine about stories, at least in terms of of where I was finding them, because they continued to find me. And a woman read his book and and she reached out to me, and she said, You know, I think if someone could take a story of darkness and create something of hope and healing, it would be you. And then she told me that she was the. Happy Face serial killer's daughter and asked if I would write her story. And I gotta tell you what. You know, it was difficult enough for me to write the skinhead story, but I learned and grew so much so I wasn't afraid of the story. I just didn't know how I was going to write something of hope and healing about a serial killer's daughter and and then I interviewed her, and I also received a lot of just inspirational downloads on how to write the book and, and I will tell you, because we chose to be of service. And I think this is really important for anybody who's choosing to write a book, is who are you writing to and how do you want to reach them, because when you choose to write a book to be of service, especially in non fiction. You know, in fiction, there's all different reasons to write education and entertainment, but in non fiction, we have, we have different levels that we can go to and and we chose to be of service. And I think because of that, that book did extraordinary things, and continues to it was on Oprah and Dr Phil and CNN and Good Morning America, and it still remains in the top true crime. And it's transformational true crime, because it was not only the victim story, but the rise of Melissa from victim to Victor. Now she's a producer in LA she's been doing tremendous things. I'm her biggest fan, except for her family and and I gotta tell you just that writing that book and seeing what could happen with a story that could change the world, it changed me and and it made me more open to seeing how one person could change the world. And I got to write my next story was of a woman who was the 19th wife of 65 women right here in our country, and she got married to the Prophet of the FLDS Church, which was an extreme organization, and and they were trafficking children in the name of God. And there were a lot of good and innocent people in that group, and then there were nefarious leaders. But I saw the power of this one woman, Rebecca Musser, to help dismantle an organized crime unit in the name of God, and she put Warren Jeffs behind bars for life plus 20 years. And it wasn't all her. There was a huge team. And there was these amazing you know, like attorneys and Texas Rangers and AGs office members, you know, down in Texas, and they all work together along with other witnesses. But she was a primary player. And what was really cool about that, Michael, I'll tell you, is, is Warren Jeffs had outlawed the color red because that was supposed to be the color that Christ would wear when he came again. And so none of his people were allowed to have red cars or red toys or red clothing. And every time that Rebecca testified more than 20 times in a court of law, she came Sasha and in and in some sort of red which I loved, because it was her way of telling this, this man who said he would break her, that she you know, that he did not break her and and it was really lovely. But the last time she went to testify, she had to face Warren Jeffs on her own because he had fired his attorneys. And I know that she was petrified on the inside, but she she comes into court, and she's wearing this beautiful red suit, and she turns around to be sworn in at the end, sees the galley, and I'll never forget, because I was sitting in the galley watching her, and the whole galley was filled with with red red ties on the Texas Rangers and red flowers and women's hair and, you know, red dresses. And I, I witnessed firsthand the power of one woman to change the world again. And ever since then, I've just been recognizing more and more things about story, and I've written some really incredible books since then. But I wanted to share a quote with you, because you asked about, you know, the stories that we tell ourselves, and another author that I love. He was a professor, Harold Goddard, and he said the destiny of the world is determined less by the battles lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in. And my question to the world is, so are you? Are you going to let. Those stories that you love and believe in be stories of limitation or of possibility. And I've been able to see what happens when someone says, All right, I'm gonna begin to tell myself stories of possibility.   Michael Hingson ** 30:17 How true and so eloquently said. And the the issue is that we we limit ourselves. I've told people on this podcast a number of times that I used to always say to myself, I'm my own worst critic when I'm thinking about things. And I realized over the last year, wrong thing to say. We need to get out of the negative mindset so much in most everything that we do, and I now say I'm my own best teacher, because in reality, I'm the only one who can teach me things, people can offer and give information, but I'm my own best teacher, and I should approach everything that way. And I think more of us should really approach life from a learning and an adventure standpoint, because life really is an adventure, and it's there to give us the opportunity to learn. If we but we'll do it,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 31:10 I would agree 1,000% it is an adventure, and I think, I think a lot of us will stay in this just just barely getting by, you know, scraping by, whether it's physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, that we hold ourselves in in a box and we're afraid to venture out in the last few years like I love that you realize that people needed a way to overcome fear and really be able to face it and lean into it. And the last several years in our country, we've we've just been facing some things that have made fear come straight up in our face. I think there's a reason for that. I think all things happen for a reason, and it's time for humanity to be able to move beyond fear and to use it as a tool, as you mentioned, but but also as a stepping stone to so many greater things, including, you know, not not having to tear one another down. We've, we've been very territorial, and some of that is, you know, 1000s of years in our DNA of creating an us versus them so we can protect ourselves. And, you know, we've, we've held a lot of judgment for others, but there's this unique and beautiful thing that happens when we let down our walls. And yeah, we still need to discern. We need to, you know, if somebody tells us who they are, we need to believe them. But I also think there's so much good in people, and if we can begin to lift one another up, all the boats rise together, that humanity has some really exciting things in store.   Michael Hingson ** 32:57 We have been experiencing in so many ways from some of our political leaders, and I sort of put leaders in quotation marks, but we've been seeing so much fear. And the other thing is that a lot of people say, Well, I trust what this guy says. I trust what that guy says. And my response is, why do you trust them? Well, because he talks to me, he says what I want to hear again, whoever it is that they're talking about, and my response is, and where it gets back to the whole issue of fear is, how much of it do you verify? And it doesn't matter what political side you're on, how much of it do you really think about and analyze and really look at what one person or everyone is saying right now, I'm in California. We have the the one of the Senate races going on, and there are two major Democrats running, and one is Adam Schiff, who was involved in, of course, the whole issue of the investigation of January 6. And the other one is a woman named Katie Porter. And Adam Schiff's commercials oftentimes talk about, well, they play segments of speeches, and they do other things, and they talk about his accomplishments. And Katie Porter talks about, she doesn't take political PAC money, or federal or large corporate PAC money and other things like that. And when I heard a few of the commercials on both sides, I step back and I say, what is this person really done? Why do I want to vote for this person just because they don't take PAC money or what have they accomplished? What have they done to show me that they're truly going to be able to make our world better than than it is? And I think that it's my obligation as a voter to really look at that. And again, it doesn't matter whether it is in the Democratic side or the Republicans. Side, we really have to analyze, and if we do that, we won't be nearly as fearful of so many things as we are today.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 35:08 I would agree with that. I'm I love what you have to say about that, because a lot of things have to do with tearing one another down, or, like you said, the fear based. But you know, what is someone's track record in building something, in creating something. So that's a very good point. Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 35:29 well, I think that we we really need to look at more than just listening to words. It's our job to to think about, to synthesize, to internalize and come up with answers based on everything, rather than relying on what some people say. I love all these conspiracy theorists all over the place are are so amazing. And you know, I don't know what to say, other than prove it, and   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 36:03 right know is that they know how to use the power of story. They just happen to be using it to tear people down. And if we're not careful, we can get sucked into a rabbit hole. And I love what you said, like more than words. What are they doing? But also, I think it's important for us to do our own research, not believe something just because everybody else says it. In fact, Michael, I had a funny experience last, last year, the year before, when some of these conspiracy theories were really hitting some high points. And there was a lot going on in terms of of human trafficking and and some of these world power theories on that. And, you know, we found out some of these were true in terms of of, you know, some high profile celebrities that got in trouble, when, when some things were going down. But was interesting because I I found out that I was on a hit list that was going out to many people that were going down these rabbit holes of conspiracy theories. And I was grateful that they were trying to do the work, but they accidentally put me on the other sheet, like, here's the enemies that we're going to go after, and then here are those people that actually will do the journalism and the research, and they'll help to bring it down. And I was supposed to be on the journalism and research and writing books that will help to bring you, know, bring down some of these monolithic crime units, and I ended up being accidentally put on the other list. And luckily, a friend of mine said, whoa, whoa, wait a minute before they publish the list. And she says she's actually see supposed to be on the on the other list. But I thought how quickly my reputation could have been ruined a split second, and that that is happening all across the United States, all across the world, and so that's why we have to stand for our own stories, because sometimes we're going to be put on the wrong list, or someone's going to hate something that we have to say. But But I also think it's, it's really important for us to take a stand for something. You know, we're really good at taking stands against things. But what are we what are we good at taking a stand for?   Michael Hingson ** 38:35 Yeah, so tell me, what do you think the deepest need is that humans have, and what do stories have to do with it?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 38:44 I honestly deep question. It is a deep question, but it's cool, because I get to see it every day. So I'm glad that you asked that the deepest need that I see humans need is for significance. They need to know that they're here for a reason, that they're wanted, that they're needed, that they're seen and heard and valued by someone, and stories can go such a long way in doing this has to start inside of us, because whatever stories we're telling ourselves, we write the script for other people to treat us that way. I see that over and over as well. But then there's also, how do I present myself and my stories out in the world. Doesn't mean that everybody has to write a book or be a best selling author, but every day, we tell stories. We tell stories to ourselves. We tell stories to our spouses. We tell stories to our bosses and the people that are in our chain of command, or our associates. We tell stories to the the grocery clerk, and and and stories are really remarkable in their power. We were just talking about conspiracy theories, and I think we're seeing some huge things happening the last couple years in Russia too, how Russia was able, just like we've seen in the last several World Wars and other altercations, where propaganda could sway an entire nation to go up against their neighbor, who a lot of them were family members, and to believe lies about that neighboring nation. And so stories are relevant. They are important. Ever since we were around the campfire, you know, as early education of humans took place in the storytelling. At that point, we learned our roles, our responsibilities, what was possible, what we believed was impossible. And the beautiful thing is that we continue to show that we're way beyond what we once thought was impossible, and now the question is, is you know, what are we going to do with it? But stories are vital to humankind,   Michael Hingson ** 41:13 and we should appreciate them and love them and and use them to allow us to teach ourselves more things. You know, you talked earlier about fiction isn't so much about service. And I'm not totally sure I would say that. I think that the Yeah, fiction is intended to entertain. So a lot of non fiction, but, but the issue is, I think of books like the Harry Potter series, which really are so inspirational and offer so many lessons that all of us can use. And the reality is, some people say, Well, yeah, it's fiction. Well, really, so what? How many times do we hear about people who have done so many things that no one thought they or anyone can do. And one of my favorite stories is, of course, it was said for many years that no one could break the four minute mile. You would die before you could make the break the four minute mile, until Roger Banister did it in what 1956 I think it was, or 57 and then everybody started to do it, but people said that he would die before he would be able to do that, and it was a medical impossibility. But the reality is, he believed that he could, and he did,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 42:33 I agree and and how beautiful that, that all of a sudden, he broke that entire barrier of beliefs for people. And I love that you mentioned Harry Potter. I love JK Rowling. I do too. I love what she's created. And she's done what a lot of people considered impossible, you know, a single mom with a little baby and that she had to care for, and she's riding on cocktail napkins, you know, on the train rides and and doing things. And she did something so extraordinary and reinvigorated an entire world, children and adults to want to read again. And how, how beautiful that is. And you're right, there's, there's so many lessons and other things and she does more than entertain, and I would agree with that. I also just want to share too that, you know, our world has changed quite a bit, and in which the literature for young people doesn't include as many of those profound elements of lessons and morals and friendships, and what do we do? There's a lot of darker elements to our entertainment for young people. And the one thing that I would caution in that is I can't tell you how many people you know who I've helped with their stories and write their books and other things, and they were heavily influenced by the media of that time, in that day. And so, you know, it's one of those things where I still think it's important for writers to be able to influence young people towards believing in themselves, believing in possibilities, and to believe that light can be greater than the darkness. I think we all need that right now.   Michael Hingson ** 44:28 I love Stephen King. I think he's a very creative writer, but I don't like to read nearly as much of the dark stuff as I used to. But I also think that he, like so many people, demonstrates a lot of creativity, especially in some of his earlier books, in a lot of different ways. And so I can appreciate that. And I think that any good author is one that you have to look just beyond the words to. What's going on in the story, what kind of creative things that that they bring to it. And he clearly is a good storyteller.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 45:08 He's extremely talented. Yeah, he's jealous as I am, but charts talented, that's for sure, jealous   Michael Hingson ** 45:15 as I am. And, you know? And then there are others. Go to the Western Louis L'Amour and Zane gray. Now, Zane Gray, of course, long time ago, but one of the neat things about Zane Gray was, and is, with his stories, he's so descriptive, he draws you in and makes you feel like you're in the country he's writing about, and he talks so much about the land in the country that he he makes you feel you're there, which is so cool.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 45:46 Oh, that's neat. I you know what? I've not read a lot of Zane Gray. I think only one or two of his back in the day, but I read a lot of Louis L'Amour Yeah. Also add Zane gray to my readers list.   Michael Hingson ** 45:58 I keep looking every so often, in case I find that there's a little and more book I haven't read because I really enjoy his writing. And yeah, a lot of them are all the same sort of basic plot, but, and it's the but, it's the difference, and his stories are all so good,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 46:14 yeah. And it's interesting about Zayn gray too, finding out that he was a dentist, and always wonder like when he was working in people's mouths, was he, was he crafting plots and storylines, and, you know, other things, I think, and   Michael Hingson ** 46:29 telling stories? Yeah, now you mentioned once that Warren Buffett has an interesting quote that you think is extremely valuable. What is that?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 46:38 Well, Warren Buffett, as as most people know, has been this incredibly influential business leader.   Michael Hingson ** 46:47 Talk about being a bright and creative guy, a bright and creative guy who's   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 46:51 who's worth so much more than any of us can not any of us, but many of us can conceptualize. And one of the things he's famous for teaching is, you know, if you want to be worth several times more in your lifetime, learn how to express yourself on paper and in person. So he truly believed in the power of story, and I think we've seen that through some of the smartest CEOs of our generation have been the creative storytellers, you know, the ones who who recognize the power of story, and then we're able to put that together. Apple is one of those, those fabulous examples of, you know, when they would fail and then when they could succeed spectacularly is when the storytelling got as good as the technology. The storytelling beam even better than the technology for that particular year, but they've been able to shine because of it.   Michael Hingson ** 47:57 Well, when Steve Jobs really started expressing his vision and talking about what a piece of technology should do and could do, and motivated people to then make it happen. That's so important, I think in an organization,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 48:15 I think so too. I think so too. And I think we're going to be seeing more and more of that, and sometimes we see when, when some of these leaders fail, you know, they they tell too big of a story, and they can't manage the expectations, or they fall flat in the storytelling, or they hurt someone in the storytelling, which actually ends up not doing them good in the long run, but I think what's important is, can you be inspiring? Can you motivate? And can you be your word when you're when you're choosing to use those stories for for a greater good?   Michael Hingson ** 48:55 Another thing that's coming up, and I was going to call it the elephant in the room, but that's not fair to it. It's not fair to do that. But what about the whole issue of AI and chat, GPT and so on? Where do you see that that fits into the world today and going forward?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 49:11 Well, that's a fascinating question. And you know, who asked me this the most are some of the young people when I'm on their podcast and I sound so old, like a grandma, and I am Grandma, you know, I'm a Mimi but, but the but these young podcasters, they want to know too, like, hey, you've been around the block. What do you think about AI? And I'm going to tell you something. There's some people who are completely against it, and they feel like we're going to hell in a hand basket really quickly because of AI and and then there are those who are saying, Hey, this is the end all, be all. And, you know, we shouldn't, and couldn't be doing anything without it. And I'm going to tell you, I'm I'm in the middle. I'm going to tell you why. Um, the reason I think that there is merit to AI is that there's certain things that it's going to do so much more quickly for us. It's going to help us with ideas, and in terms of writing, it's going to help us edit more quickly so we can communicate better. Where we run into trouble is if we're asking AI to be our brain, to be our creativity, to be our thinker. And sometimes people get really nervous about that, because they think kids will use AI and that they won't think on their own. But I will tell you this, the kids I've been seeing, even the young ones with AI, it sparks their imagination greater. They're asking smarter questions. They're wanting to see more. They're coming alive with a fire of creativity. They're not relegated to, oh, you couldn't spell a word to save your life. Well, this will spell the word for me, but I want to tell this story, and I want the graphics to look this way, and I want to create a movie and and it it enables the human imagination to take off. All I would say is, don't let it be your brain.   Michael Hingson ** 51:13 I had the honor to talk with someone a couple weeks ago, a gentleman named Glenn Gao, who's a e business coach and supports AI a great deal. He would agree with you and and me, by the way, I believe the same. One of the things that that he said was that he went to a company who wanted his coaching, and they talked about AI, and one day the CEO called his major people together and said, Take the day and study AI and then come back to my I think it was, the next day, and tell us how we should incorporate AI in one way or another, chat, GPT or whatever, into our business. And the creative, incredible ideas that people came back with the next day totally astounded the CEO, and they put things in place, and it improved the company a great deal, because the idea still is it shouldn't be the job of artificial intelligence, I think, no matter how advanced it gets, to be the end all and be all, as you said, it is Still something where I think there's a component of us that we're not going to be able to to create in the near future. Dr Ray Kurzweil would say, We'll join the human brain with with a computer, and that will change all that. I'm not convinced of that. And I know Ray, I used to work for him. I think that the reality is that artificial intelligence is a tool, and I think in the classroom, if teachers embrace it correctly, what they will do, if they think that students are starting to really use it to create their papers is teachers will get more creative and say, Okay, class, everyone's turned in their papers. Now I'm going to call on each of you, and you have a minute and a half to defend your paper in front of the whole class. I mean, there are ways to deal with it, to make sure that the students are really still doing what they should do. And I've used chat GPT to help compose some things that I've worked on. And for me, I get all that I can, I think, from the artificial intelligence system, and then I turn it into my own work by by changing things, adding things that AI didn't catch and I know making a much better article because I started using something else to help me, and I just view it as a collaborative effort, a team, and AI as part of the team.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 53:53 And sometimes it can provide a really valuable framework for the imagination to take fire. So I, yeah, I'm with you on that. I think that there's a lot of beautiful things that can be used for   Michael Hingson ** 54:08 and I think over time, we'll realize that it's, it's such a big hot issue right now, but, you know, the internet was a big hot issue, and we still have the dark web today, and it's it's there with us, but people, by and large, have now accepted the value of the internet and what it can bring I have always believed it's a wonderful treasure trove of information, so I have a lot of fun exploring the internet. Haven't ever been to the dark web. Don't know where it is, and if I ever found it and I discovered it wasn't accessible, I'd see who I could go off and sue because they didn't make it accessible, but that's another story. That's my conspiracy for the day.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 54:47 That's your conspiracy for the day. I've hired private detectives to go on the dark web to research situations for safety for my authors. But that's as far as I've gone.   Michael Hingson ** 54:58 I have. No idea how to get to the dark web or, you know, I mean, I can conceptually, intellectually understand the process, but would have no idea where to go to find it. So I have to, you'll have to tell me when we're done here. I've always been curious, but I hear what you're saying. And the reality is that the internet and AI are two tools that can enhance what we do so much, and I think people will eventually recognize that and will become better for it.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 55:34 I think so too, and again, I just think we have to have faith in each other in humankind and in our own imagination. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 55:45 we just have to work on it, and we have to recognize and think it through and then take action. And we can learn to do that very well. I love to tell people, the best thing I think anyone could do is to take time at the end of the day and while you're falling asleep, think about what happened that day. Think about what worked, what didn't work, and even what worked, what could you do better with it? I never talk about failure, so the things that didn't work aren't failures. It's a learning experience, and we grow from it. And I think we can do that, but I think that it's what we have to do to become better than we are, and we can do that every single day, which is, for me, such a cool idea, and what I like to do. Well, what are some of the problems that you think exists in the world today that we as individuals can change?   56:34 How's that for a general   Michael Hingson ** 56:36 question, for you question,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 56:37 Michael, Well, honestly, it's, it's pretty crazy. It's pretty wonderful. I I remember sometimes that I have felt helpless in the world when something has happened, particularly like in terms of of humankind, right? Sometimes there was a crime committed, and I felt helpless. Sometimes there was like a school shooting, and I felt helpless, a world disaster, and I felt helpless and I wanted to serve and do something in some capacity, and then I get asked to write a story, or I get asked to help an author, and it's just like God brings me a story to show for one thing for me to let down my judgments and and to see that there are so many solutions out there. So one of the things I'll I'll just say, is that you at talk about conspiracy theories, there is an author that I'm working with who has this tremendous story, and I can't tell you all about it today, but I'll, I'll be singing his praises to high heaven in in a few months. But what I will tell you is he had to come across one of the the roughest and nefarious conspiracy theorists of our time, and and he learned to own his voice, and he learned to be able to tell the truth In a really beautiful, extraordinary way, and part of that was was creating something that made other conspiracy theorists think twice before they were going to tell lies about individuals or families just for their own agenda or to make their own money. That's powerful. You know, when someone can use their own personal story to bring down a conspiracy theorist who's making millions of dollars based on those conspiracies that that tells you, again, the power of one person. I'm seeing world leaders do extraordinary things in terms of, how do we lift one another on the planet? How do we take care of our planet? As you know, nature is so important. Animals are so important. How are we going to take care of that? I love that you are one of those authors who in terms of accessibility and making sure that that people are being taken care of in all their forms. You're you're one that brings solutions. So I love that. Can I share story?   Michael Hingson ** 59:29 Oh, sure.   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 59:31 Okay, so one of the things we've been facing, as we've been discussing, is the last several years, this predilection for humankind to tear down one another in our fear. And I had the opportunity to work with an extraordinary person. His name is Gary Lee price, and he faced a lot of that tearing down when he was a child. He had. A mother and stepfather who he lost through murder suicide on an army base in Mannheim, Germany, and he and his baby brother were shipped from the frying pan back into a couple of horrific situations, and Gary himself faced all kinds of abuse, the worst kinds of abuse and and really a slavery in his own house and, and part of it was because the adults were working nights and they didn't know that he was being tortured and abused. And instead of becoming a horrific, violent, bitter person, Gary found God, and he found art, and he became a very famous painter in his area by the time he was in high school, but was when he found this three dimensional miracle called clay that all of a sudden his imagination took flight literally, and he's, to this day, created 1000s of sculptures that lift humankind, and they're in corporate offices and arboretums and churches and outside the Vatican and in the Hong Kong library like they are all over But in terms of solving human problems or inspiring our solving of problems. Gary was asked to create a symbol that was inspired by Dr Victor Frankel. And you know who that is, right? So he had survived four Nazi concentration camps in three years, and he lost his entire family to the gas chambers, into illness and and he got out, and he wrote this extraordinary book, Man's Search for Meaning. And in that book, eventually, and also when he would teach in the United States, he would say, you know, in the United States, it's wonderful that you have the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast. And he said, but in Vienna, we learned that that Liberty itself is not the only answer. You need to have responsibility, because without responsibility, there is no liberty. And you know, he'd seen irresponsibility and anarchy and dictatorship and annihilation. And so anyway, Dr Stephen Covey thought, wouldn't it be awesome to honor Dr Frankel with creating a symbol of the statue of responsibility, and Gary created this symbol. And after everything he'd been through as a child, when he was thinking, what is a symbol that can inspire all of humankind? And it was the symbol of one hand reaching down to grasp another to lift it up. And he says, Sometimes we're the hand reaching down, and sometimes we're the hand reaching up. And here's the COVID, Michael. In our lifetime, in fact, very soon from now, we will be seeing the beginning of the building of the statue of responsibility, and it will be 305 feet tall to match the Statue of Liberty, and it will have interactive museums and discussions for children, like, what does responsibility mean? And there's, there's many other things, but this is one of the ways that stories can change the world for the better, and symbols and art and imagination can lift us rather than destroy us,   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:47 and it should be that way. Well, tell me you've written a number of books that have become bestsellers. How does that happen that they become bestsellers?   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 1:03:58 Well, it can happen a number of different ways, especially you've probably noticed, but publishing has changed tremendously over the last 20 years. Yes, and there used to be a time when traditional publishing was pretty much the only way, and there were a few people who wrote books and and and they would do their best to get it out there. And if it was accepted by traditional publishing, it was such a glorious thing, but most people only sold between 250 and 300 books in their lifetime. And then we had the advent of Amazon, and then we had the advent of self publishing, which I'm not going chronological self publishing, it's been around for a long time. Vanity press, also for a long time, and also indie publishing, which helps to create every service you would get through traditional publishing, but you get to keep your own intellectual property and most. Of your proceeds, rather than the lion's share going to traditional and I've had the luxury and pleasure of being able to work on all sides of that like my first two books were published through a small publisher who took a chance and shattered silence when it was on. Oprah became their number one best seller for two years in a row. So it was a win for them, and it was a huge win for me. And then my third book, when it came out, we had a New York agent, and she negotiated an incredible deal with a chat and Grand Central publishing, which was one of their publishing labels underneath a shet so one of the largest publishers in the entire world, and I got to see all the beautiful machinations that New York publishing offers, all the services, all the wonders of that and the credibility that goes along with it, and and also, since that time, I've also been able to help people with national and international bestsellers on Amazon, and that's a different ball game. It's different than a New York Times or a Wall Street Journal bestseller, and it has to do with there's there's two aspects of it is, number one, making sure that all the information is set up well, and that you're in the right categories, and that you're being seen and being visible. And then the other part of the strategy is that you know, you get everyone that's in your inner circle and anyone and everybody in your family and friends and everything else, to purchase your book on the same day, close to the same time, because it raises your visibility in the ranks. And you want to become a hot, new best seller on Amazon. You want other people's eyes to be able to see it. And if you're lucky enough to have an international team, then you can often become an international bestseller and be seen in countries like France and Australia and Canada and and other things. So it's it can be a game and and you've gotta be careful, because in every every industry, they're scammers, yeah. And in terms of of indie publishing and self publishing and traditional publishing, there are scammers out there, and you've got to watch it, but it's it's a smart and fun business. Part of the business strategy in terms of pre launch, launch and post launch, you just need to make sure that you're working with reputable people who care about the longevity of your book, not just a flash in the pan, but something that's going to serve people and have a ripple effect, you know, you hope for 50 years from now, right? And that someone halfway across the world can be absolutely inspired by your book, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 1:08:01 And whenever I get comments from people, even today, some 13 years later, and I think that will continue to happen. But who say I read your book and it's it's such a joy to hear that I'm able to help inspire people and show them something, because it's about it's about them, it's not about me, and that's really the way it should be. Well, last question for you, what's one thing that you would advise someone who wants to write a book for the first time and maybe is a little bit reluctant to do it,   Bridget Cook-Birch ** 1:08:39 so fiction or non fiction? Yes. Okay, I usually have a little different answer, but I will tell you this for whoever your main character is. So if it's non fiction, that main character is going to be you. If it's fiction, you will have an aspect of yourself in that character, but I highly recommend that you put together a chronological timeline, because every good story has backstory, and then it has the current story, and then it also has where you're taking the reader and the journey that you're taking them on. And a lot of times when we're thinking of stories, or writing stories, or writing about our own stories, we'll take down little bits and pieces, but we don't always remember the order in which they happened, or why we reacted a certain way, or certain things happened. When we put together a chronology for our character, there's so much magic that happens. You see patterns of story like, oh, we had this conversation, and then he said this, and I reacted this way, and then I got this phone call, and I said, Yes, and all of a sudden we realized, wow, there were five things that raised the stakes, that built up the tension, that. Created a change in the decision and a commitment to that change, or whatever it might might be, and we understand ourselves better, or we understand our characters better, but we can also tell a much better story to our readers,   Michael Hingson ** 1:10:20 makes perfect sense. And as I think back on thunder dog, although I didn't up front specifically thinking the way you're talking about that is the way the book actually ended up not only being written, but I had the tools that really did go in chronological order. So I was guided to do it, I guess, but it was a lot of fun, and certainly now with the new book, live like a guide dog. We, we definitely spent a lot of time on making sure that it that we did things in a very chronological way, and looked at it a lot of times, kept going back over

Catherine Gray, the host of Invest In Her, interviews Nancy D. O'Reilly, PsyD, founder of Women Connect4Good, Inc., a 501(c)3 foundation. She founded the foundation to help support other organizations working to advance women and girls. She also serves on the boards of several social-profit groups, including the National Women's History Museum. Dr. Nancy's latest books, In This Together: How Successful Women Support Each Other in Work and Life (Adams Media/Simon & Schuster, January 2019), and Leading Women: 20 Influential Women Share Their Secrets to Leadership, Business, and Life, were both released as audiobooks in 2022, and she has two new titles scheduled to be released in 2024. Supporting women is Dr. Nancy's passion and purpose. Her popular podcast “Smart, Amazing Conversations with Dr. Nancy” examines the stories of life and leadership of smart, amazing women and men whose stories connect us, and helps listeners understand that the possibilities are endless if we support each other and lift one another up.    www.drnancyoreilly.com   www.sheangelinvestors.com    Follow Us On Social Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn  

Life often takes unexpected turns, leading us down entirely new paths. Some fear these unpredictable changes, while others embrace them with open arms.  This episode's GAME CHANGER, Cathy Hackl, has built her journey around constant change, overcoming obstacles, and embracing surprises – some anticipated, others completely unexpected. Cathy Hackl is a tech and gaming executive and CEO of Spatial Dynamics, a company specialising in spatial computing and AI solutions, including gaming. Recognized as one of Ad Age's Leading Women of 2023, Cathy also graced the cover of Forbes Latam's 100 Most Powerful Women 2023 issue and was named as one of Vogue Business's 100 Innovators. Tune in to this episode for inspiration on how to transform unexpected challenges into game-changing moments. (00:00) Introduction (11:35) My North Star. (07:58) When someone tells me NO! (26:09) What was the last new thing you tried?  (15:10) Everything I do moves me forward Find out more about our hosts ⁠Charlie Martin

In this special episode, I invite Lindsay, Jen, and Allison back to the show to dive into the raw reality of burnout, particularly for women in tech. We share our personal experiences, uncovering how burnout manifests in our careers and lives, and discuss the various ways we cope—sometimes successfully, sometimes not. From recognizing the signs to understanding the causes like micromanagement, we explore the complexities of burnout and the lessons we learn along the way. We also dig into strategies for tackling burnout, from self-awareness to mindfulness practices, and discuss the crucial role of leadership in creating supportive environments. Ready for the insight and encouragement you need to approach burnout in a healthier, more effective way? Let's go to the show! We dive into: Understanding and overcoming burnout as a woman in tech Lindsay, Jen, and Allison's career backgrounds and coaching support needs Causes and signs of burnout Strategies to tackle burnout: what works & what doesn't Leadership's role in preventing burnout And more **Useful links** If you'd like to let go of your self-doubt, don't forget to check out my free course ‘Ditch The Self Doubt'.  If you are ready to uplevel your career, get unstuck or you are simply ready to unlock those leadership time-management techniques then join us in my monthly career & leadership coaching program exclusively for women in tech: https://www.tonicollis.com/academy  Catch the show notes, and more details about today's episode here: https://tonicollis.com/episode216  Check us out on Youtube. Join the Leading Women in Tech community in Slack where we discuss all-the-things for women's tech leadership, covering everything from early-career leadership to C-level executives.  

Send us a Text Message.In this Episode: Christi Powell and Angela Gardner welcome Abigail Richardson, a civil engineering team leader from Seaman Whiteside. Abigail shares the story of the company's Women's Initiative, which started in 2021 and focuses on inspiring female leaders in a male-dominated industry. She discusses the initiative's successes, including mentorship programs, professional development events, and community engagement activities. Abigail highlights the importance of retaining female talent and ensuring a supportive workplace environment. The conversation also touches on the company's competitive parental leave policy and efforts to integrate employees back into the workforce. Overall, the initiative fosters a culture of allyship, professional growth, and teamwork within Seaman Whiteside.Support the Show.

In this episode, I dive deep into how to evaluate fitness content and influencers, focusing on the importance of quality movement and effective training. Here's what you'll learn: The Warrior Queen Olympics Why it's crucial to train your eye to recognise good versus poor movement, both in yourself and on social media. Observations on a highly-followed fitness influencer who, despite her large following and success, demonstrates poor movement techniques and ineffective training methods. Critique common fitness trends like HIIT and ab-centric workouts, explaining why they may not be sufficient for building strength, improving body composition, or reducing injury risk. Key Elements of Good Movement: Technique, Range of Motion, Control and Stability & Flow and Fluidity Evaluating the weight being lifted and the intensity of the workouts. My personal criteria for accepting health and fitness advice, focusing on the alignment between body composition and effective training practices. How the objectified body often overshadows the importance of functional training and proper movement. Insights into making informed decisions about your own training and offer guidance on what to look for when assessing fitness coaches and influencers. I recommend following several leaders in women's strength training: Libby Wescombe: Known for her strong training philosophy and experience in female body composition Kitty Blomfield: Recognised for her effective training methods and strength Hattie Boydle: Noted for her impressive strength, physique and training practices in bodybuilding Kelly Matthews: Praised for her strong movements and training approach Meg Squats: Renowned for her focus on effective strength training Hunter Elam: An Olympic weightlifter demonstrating top-notch technique and training 00:00 Welcome to the Warrior School Podcast 00:16 A Weekend of Filming 01:55 Introducing the Warrior Queen Olympics 03:35 Training Like an Athlete 06:18 Focus on Skill and Performance 10:23 The Importance of Beautiful Movement 16:27 Recognising Good vs. Bad Movement 18:40 The Role of Strength Training 23:34 Identifying Quality Training Content 37:33 Light and Fast Training: Analysing Body Composition 37:49 The Importance of Lifting Heavy Weights 38:14 Evaluating Coaches: Do They Walk the Talk? 39:26 The Significance of Proper Training Techniques 41:54 Show, Don't Tell: Identifying Good Coaches 43:51 Long-Form Content and Building Trust 48:24 Experience Matters: Finding the Right Mentor 51:05 Spotlight on Leading Women in Strength Training 55:42 Warrior School Testimonials: Real-Life Transformations Warrior School https://warriorschool.co/ The 'gram' https://www.instagram.com/amykatebowe/ Warrior School Prospectus (25-page guide on Warrior School) https://warriorschool.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Warrior-School-Prospectus-1.pdf

See full show notes: https://www.airmantomom.com/2024/07/shamsa-lea/Mentioned in this episode:Propel Her: https://groundedcuriosity.com/propel-her/Episode 171: https://www.airmantomom.com/2022/02/joining-the-marines-as-a-woman/ Resources:Women of the Military Mentorship ProgramGirl's Guide to Military Service available where books are sold. Signed copies of A Girl's Guide to Military ServiceGirl's Guide to the Military Series

Follow AniMel on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@itsanimel https://linktr.ee/itsanimel I am happy to host Mel from ItsAnimel on YouTube to talk about our favorite female protagonists in anime and how we are possibly experiencing a new golden age of female characters leading some of the most critically acclaimed anime and manga in recent years! Become part of my show on Instagram & Threads! @treehouseanimepod Join our community on Discord! https://discord.com/invite/UGmCFnWtrB

She may have started playing gully cricket in the bylanes of Pune when she was eight years old but only discovered girls could play leather-ball cricket only after turning 18. Not only did she represent India as an allrounder but Devieka Palshikar has also emerged as one of the prominent women's cricket coaches in India. A bespectacled Devieka narrates her journey in a freewheeling chat with Amol Gokhale on "Kattyawarchya Gappa"   तिने आठव्या वर्षी टेनिस बॉलवर गल्ली क्रिकेट खेळायला सुरुवात केली, पण १८ व्या वर्षापर्यंत मुलीदेखील 'लेदर बॉल' क्रिकेट खेळतात याची तिला कल्पनाच नव्हती. तिथून त्यांनी महाराष्ट्र, एअर इंडिया, आसाम आणि भारताचं प्रतिनिधित्त्व केलं आणि आज त्या महिला क्रिकेटमधील एक अग्रगण्य प्रशिक्षक आहेत. पाकिस्तानविरुद्ध पाकिस्तानमध्ये संस्मरणीय पदार्पणाच्या त्यांच्या काय आठवणी आहेत? रेल्वेमधून किटबॅगवर झोपत साध्या तिकिटांवर प्रवास ते ऑस्ट्रेलिया-न्यूझीलंडमध्ये पुरेश्या थंडीच्या कपड्यांअभावी क्रिकेट खेळणं हे दिवसदेखील त्यांनी बघितले. प्रशिक्षक म्हणून आसाम, मुंबई, भारत आणि बांगलादेशच्या खेळाडूंबरोबर काम करतानाचा काय अनुभव होता? अमेरिकेत क्रिकेटमध्ये काम करताना कुठल्या गोष्टींशी जुळवून घ्यावं लागलं आणि तिथलं स्थानिक क्रिकेट कसं आहे? मुंबई इंडियन्स भारतीय क्रिकेटमधील सर्वोत्तम संघांपैकी एक संघ का आहे? या व भारतीय महिला क्रिकेटमधील विविध विषयांवर अमोल गोखलेबरोबर दिलखुलास 'कट्ट्यावरच्या गप्पा' मारल्या आहेत देविका पळशीकर यांनी

Bridget Cook-Burch's clients call her “The Book Whisperer”. She is a New York Times & Wall Street Journal bestselling author, mentor, trainer, mamma-bear humanitarian, and speaker known for riveting stories of transformation. Her powerful work has been showcased on Oprah, Dateline, CNN, GMA, The History Channel, NPR and in People among many others. She is the CEO and Founder of YourInspiredStory.com and Inspired Legacy Publishing. As a successful entrepreneur, Bridget has also owned and operated a multimillion-dollar trucking company, a phone book and a PR agency. She is also a co-founder and former executive director of SHEROES United, a non-profit organization that helps women and girls rise from trauma. As a leader, storyteller, trainer and humanitarian, her greatest passion is helping others to discover the importance of their own story, and to become leaders in their own communities, and worldwide. Bridget's many national bestsellers include Divine Turbulence, The Witness Wore Red; Shattered Silence; Skinhead Confessions; Leading Women; and also Living Proof. She is getting ready to publish three more in 2022. Bridget invites you to believe in the power of your story to change the world. Join her writers' retreats and leadership retreats in Utah, Italy, Ireland and more. Find out more at www.YourInspiredStory.com, www.YourInspiredStory.com/publishing and www.SHEROESUnited.org.

In this episode of Investing In Integrity, Ross Overline speaks with Helene Glotzer, Head of Risk at Bridgewater Associates. Helene has spent nearly two decades at Bridgewater, one of the top hedge funds globally. In 2018, Helene was named among the 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds by the Hedge Fund Journal. Prior to her role at Bridgewater, Helene spent ten years as an attorney in the Enforcement Division of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. From 2004 to 2007, she co-headed the enforcement program for the SEC's New York Regional Office, where she supervised investigations and litigation involving allegations of insider trading, market manipulation, and other types of fraud and misconduct. Together, Ross and Helene discuss the unique culture at Bridgewater, which focuses on transparency, radical openness, and integrity. They explore what principles lead to high-performance teamwork and the key leadership values Helene has garnered over the years. She also emphasizes the importance of personal growth, transparency and candor.

In this episode of "Flourish or Fold: Stories of Resilience," I'm so very grateful to be joined by Tamsen Fadal, an accomplished journalist, passionate women's health advocate, and creative digital content creator. Our conversation was not only enlightening but also deeply inspiring, as we delved into the world of women's health, the power of resilience, and the transformative nature of storytelling.The M Factor: Shining a Light on Women's Health: Tamsen Fadal is at the forefront of a groundbreaking movement with her upcoming film, The M Factor, which aims to demystify menopause and advocate for women's health. During our discussion, Tamsen shared her enthusiasm for the project and the critical importance of bringing women's stories to the forefront. She believes that by breaking the silence around women's health care and advocacy, we can empower women to take control of their health and well-being.Challenging Misconceptions and Myths: The evolving conversation around women's health and menopause is gaining momentum, and Tamsen is a driving force behind this change. We tackled the common misconceptions and myths surrounding menopause, such as the stigma that it signifies old age or invisibility. Tamsen also shed light on the concerning lack of education among doctors regarding hormone therapy and stressed the need for proactive approaches to women's health care.A Holistic Approach to Health Care: Our dialogue touched on the necessity for a more holistic and less painful approach to women's health care, especially in procedures like mammograms. Tamsen emphasized the significance of education and the proactive partnership between patients and medical care providers in ensuring better health outcomes.Personal Reflections on Resilience: Tamsen opened up about her personal experiences, reflecting on how she would have navigated her menopause journey differently in her 30s and the importance of a proactive and preventative approach to health. She also shared her story of resilience through the challenges of her divorce and the loss of her mother. Tamsen spoke candidly about the emotional and financial complexities of her divorce and the process of rebuilding her life and self-worth. She highlighted the importance of taking small steps, finding confidence in everyday activities, and the power of personal stories in helping others through similar experiences.The Transformative Power of Storytelling: Tamsen's insights on the power of storytelling and sharing personal experiences underscore the impact of resilience and introspection. Her journey from a successful journalism career to focusing on women's health advocacy exemplifies the courage and determination needed to pursue meaningful change. She also discussed the internal barriers we face, such as feelings of selfishness, worthiness, and “enoughness,” that can hinder personal growth and decision-making.Letters to My Younger Self: Reflecting on her past, Tamsen shared the advice she would give to her younger self, urging her to not feel pressured by societal timelines and to focus on what she truly desires. She encouraged her younger self to trust her instincts and surround herself with supportive friends, emphasizing the importance of not seeking validation from others before making decisions.Starting the Conversation Early: If Tamsen could turn back time, she would have started the "What do I want?" conversation much earlier in her life. This introspective question is a powerful tool for personal growth and aligning one's actions with their true desires.I extend my deepest gratitude to Tamsen Fadal for joining me on the podcast and for sharing her invaluable experiences and insights. Her dedication to women's health advocacy and her resilience in the face of personal challenges serve as an inspiration to us all.Tamsen's journey reminds us of the importance of self-reflection, self-compassion, and the courage to share our stories. It is through these shared experiences that we can uplift and empower one another, fostering a community of resilience and hope.Connect with Tamsen Fadal: For those inspired by Tamsen's wisdom and advocacy, she invites you to connect with her through her website and on social media. She actively engages with her community through her newsletter and live interactions, offering a space for continued learning and connection. To learn more about Tamsen and her journey visit:https://www.tamsenfadal.com/https://www.instagram.com/tamsenfadal/https://www.facebook.com/tamsenfadal/https://twitter.com/TamsenFadalhttps://www.tiktok.com/@tamsenfadal Here are some highlights of the episode to look forward to:Tamsen Fadal's Background (00:00:00): Dr. Taryn Marie introduces Tamsen Fadal and highlights her achievements and work in advocating for women's health.The M Factor Film (00:03:09): Tamsen discusses the upcoming release of the M Factor film, focusing on women's menopause stories and women's health care advocacy.Conversation on Women's Health and Menopause (00:04:14): Dr. Taryn Marie and Tamsen discuss the evolving conversation around women's health, aging, and menopause.Challenging Misinformation (00:06:33); Tamsen addresses common misconceptions and misinformation about menopause, including the stigma and lack of education among doctors.Improving Women's Healthcare Experience (00:08:58): Tamsen and Dr. Taryn Marie discuss the need for a more comfortable and proactive approach to women's healthcare, including mammograms.Taking a Proactive Approach to Menopause (00:12:19): Tamsen emphasizes the importance of starting to think about menopause and making lifestyle changes in one's late 30s.Educating Women on Menopause (00:14:32): Dr. Taryn Marie and Tamsen discuss the need for women to educate themselves about menopause and its impact on their lives.Personal Resilience Journey (00:17:18): Tamsen shares her personal resilience journey, including facing challenges during her divorce and emotional abuse, and learning to rely on herself.The dichotomy of success and personal struggle (00:19:39): Exploring the contrast between professional success and personal struggles, including imposter syndrome and bridging the gap.The transformative power of sharing stories (00:23:20): Discussing the transformative nature of sharing personal stories and how it can inspire and help others navigate their own challenges.Embracing change and making a career switch (00:29:07): Tamsen shares her journey of transitioning from journalism to women's health advocacy, the challenges, and the fulfillment it brings.Overcoming uncertainty and making a leap (00:35:07): Tamsen discusses the process of getting unstuck, asking oneself what they want and why they wouldn't pursue it, and how it helped her make the leap into a new career.What do you want? (00:38:16): Tamsen talks about wanting freedom, time with her husband, and storytelling opportunities.The minority of women asking themselves what they want (00:39:15): Discussion on women not asking themselves what they want and focusing on others' needs.Struggle to answer what one wants (00:40:07): Tamsen's struggle to answer what she wants, leading to midlife realizations and changes.Dealing with feelings of worthiness and enoughness (00:41:41): Tamsen's ongoing struggle with feelings of selfishness, worthiness, and enoughness in pursuing happiness.Encouraging self-affirmation and support among women (00:43:29): The need for women to affirm each other's worth and provide support, similar to how men support each other.Reflecting on the past and writing letters to younger selves (00:44:21): Discussion on the idea of writing letters to younger selves and the age Tamsen would choose to meet her younger self.

Alison Cork, MBE Behind National Women's Enterprise Week is author, columnist, presenter, and powerhouse in women's enterprise, Alison Cork. Awarded an MBE in 2023 for her services to female entrepreneurship, Alison has been a role model and champion to women in business for over 35 years. After floating a publishing and mail order business in 1994, making her the youngest female founder of a public company at the time, she later founded the Alison at Home interiors brand. Alison has seen firsthand the lack of female role models, starting her first business in the 80s – which ignited her passion for empowering women of today to consider entrepreneurship as a natural career choice and possibility. It was because of this core belief that Alison founded and funded Make It Your Business and from which NWEW was born. As of today, Make It Your Business has seen thousands of women attend its free networking and online training sessions. Also an ambassador for the British Library Business & IP Centre supporting start-ups and scale-ups (66% of which are female-led), Alison continues to help women nationwide of all ages to achieve their economic potential and financial independence.   ----- SOCIALS: @alisoncork_home (insta) @alisoncork (Twitter)  

At the heart of The Prophets' vision are “The 24 Essential Supply Chain Processes.” What are they? Find out, and see the future yourself. Click here In the latest episode of the Auto Supply Chain Profits podcast, hosts Terry Onica and Jan Griffiths interview Carrie Uhl, who is the Chief Procurement Officer at Danaher Corporation. Carrie shares her extensive knowledge and experience in the automotive and healthcare industries, helping to bridge the gap between these two seemingly different sectors.Carrie's journey from Magna to GE Healthcare and now Danaher shows how versatile supply chain expertise can be. Despite the differences in products, the core challenges remain consistent—such as security of supply, cost reduction, talent acquisition, and digitalization.Technology plays a significant role in both industries. Carrie talks about how it enables communication and process adoption and facilitates lean manufacturing. She emphasizes the importance of supply chain technology for enhanced visibility and effective risk management strategies.Carrie highlights the collaboration between the automotive and healthcare industries during the COVID-19 pandemic in the rapid production of ventilators. Showcasing how different sectors can come together to support each other in times of crisis.The episode covers topics such as supply chain resiliency, supplier relationship management, and early supplier involvement in product development. It addresses the need for the automotive industry to recognize suppliers as essential partners rather than adversaries.In the end, Carrie calls upon automotive leaders to prioritize supplier segmentation and proactively engage with key suppliers to leverage their expertise.Themes discussed in this episode:The need for professionals to adapt to industry transitions and leverage transferable skillsExploring the differences and similarities between the automotive and healthcare industriesThe importance of leveraging technology, such as ERP systems and digital tools, in supply chain managementStrategies for enhancing supply chain resilience and effectively managing risksThe value of proactive engagement with suppliers and early involvement in product development processesWhy continuous improvement and optimization are essential for supply chain processesMoving away from treating suppliers as adversaries to building partnerships focused on mutual successFeatured on this episode: Name: Carrie UhlTitle: Chief Procurement Officer at Danaher CorporationAbout: Carrie is the Chief Procurement Officer at Danaher Corporation, where she spearheads initiatives to enhance quality, cost efficiency, and supply continuity. With a background encompassing leadership roles at GE Healthcare and Magna International, Carrie brings a wealth of experience in procurement and supply chain management to her current position. Recognized for her contributions to the automotive industry, she was named one of the 100 Leading Women by Automotive News and featured in Procurement Magazine's Top 100 CPO list.Connect: LinkedInMentioned in this...

Today's podcast comes with an exceptional Sacred Remembering story from soul warrior and values-driven cowgirl MaryBeth Hyland.  As I relistened to our conversation, I was blown away by how much it encompasses and how much embedded wisdom it contains.  MaryBeth is someone who has and continues to walk the walk, and her embodiment of power and wisdom here is clear.  Themes inside of this sacred conversation: + Shame, worthiness, and lovability + Personal evolution of self love + MaryBeth's very own Heartland journey! + Women, land, and new earth abundance + Inheritance (the good, the bad....) + Building community + Soul initiations + Ancestral and lineage clearing in real life + Mental health & normalizing fluctuations + Making money in alignment with intuition, values and Nature + It's always an inside job! + Whole-self alignment and integration+ Intuitive business decisions + Abuse & power + Taking your power back     Bio:  As the Founder and Chief Visionary of SparkVision, MaryBeth Hyland knows that extraordinary success is rooted in the vision, values, and culture crafted by purpose-driven leaders and their tribes. With over 12 years of experience, built on knowledge from a BA in Social Work and MS in Nonprofit Management, she's known for her ability to create movements across generations.   And she does that with the understanding that we all have a deep desire to know and return to our most authentic selves – at work, home and within.   As a certified mediator, mindfulness instructor, and values expert she engages audiences and teams all over the world with her authentic style of facilitation, leadership keynote speaking, coaching and empowerment. Her recent awards include: “Circle of Excellence“, “Innovator of the Year“, “Top 100 Women“, “Civic Engagement Leader“, and “Leading Women“.   Her personal life's mission is to create spaces where voices are heard, stories are released, and purpose is ignited. Find MaryBeth's work at:  www.corevaluesquiz.com www.marybethspeaks.com www.sparkvisionnow.com    Join the Live Sacred Remembering Community of women standing in the truth of who we are at www.sarahpoet.com/community.      #sacredremembering #souljourney #spiritualawakening #womensvoices #womenswisdom #intuition #intuitivebusiness #heartland #land #equinetherapy #cowgirl #mentalhealth #ancestralhealing #Alignment #soul #mystic #power #personalpower #reclaimingpower #sovereignty #feminineenergy #newearth #womensresources #womenandland 

BONNIE WAN is Partner and Head of Brand Strategy at the world-renowned advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), Wan leads strategy for Fortune 500 companies including Blackstone, BMW, Comcast/Xfinity, Frito-Lay, Kraft-Heinz, and PepsiCo. She's is also the creator, author, and teacher of The Life Brief, a profound and empowering tool that distills the practice of brand strategy into its simplest, clearest, and most effective form to help people get clear, take meaningful action, and live with greater intention and imagination. With The Life Brief, Bonnie guides us in breaking through the clutter and creating a life that is wholly and uniquely our own. Bonnie was recently named to Ad Age's 2023 Class of Leading Women and 2022's Chief Strategy Officer of the Year. LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE IF: You've ever wondered, “Is this all there is?” You want to live a purpose-driven life You want to learn from one of the world's greatest brand strategists You want insights on how to build a living, breathing life plan Follow: INSTAGRAM: @bonniewanofficial FACEBOOK: @livingthelifebrief LINKEDIN: @BonnieWan

Join us as we delve into the stories and experiences of the remarkable women leading the way at FIT Technologies. In honor of Women's History Month, we're shining a spotlight on these trailblazers, exploring their journeys, insights, and contributions. Tune in to gain inspiration and celebrate the achievements of FIT's leading women.

We kick off International Women's Day with this inspiring episode featuring Lynn Sontag, Menttium's owner, and Missy Chicre, Menttium's CEO.  Lynn and Missy share their powerful stories of learning, growth, and surprises during this year of transition.  They role-model a transformative mentoring partnership and offer authentic acknowledgments to each other.  They also reveal their visions for the future of Menttium.  

Each episode we cover the different complexities, trends, methods and resources for  group life in churches all over the world. On today's show, Brian Daniel and Haley Malone discuss women's ministry with Kelly King.  Kelly is the Women's Minister at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, OK. Recently, she served as the manager of Magazines/Devotional Publishing and Women's Ministry Training for Lifeway Christian Resources. She is the author of Ministry to Women: The Essential Guide to Leading Women in the Local Church. She is a contributor to the Lifeway Women's Bible, as well as several Lifeway Women Bible studies. In addition, she spent four years as a cohost of the MARKED podcast for Lifeway Women. She has a Master of Theology degree from Gateway Seminary as well as a Doctorate in Ministry degree.Kelly shares with us why gender specific groups are important, what to look for in emerging leaders, and how to help guide women in their next best step! Thanks for listening and sharing this episode with a friend!SHOW LINKS:Marked Podcast Seamless by Angie Smith From Beginning to Forever When You Pray Is God Calling MeEcclesiastesUnreasonable Hospitality

“If we go look in the mirror & say “I am fat, I am worthless, and I am not enough,” guess what we are attracting, guess how we are demotivating ourselves. Literally what we are doing is we're creating the disconnection of those neuron connections in our brain related to our goals and we lose motivation that is driving change.” -Danita

“I literally felt like I was having a mental breakdown & I was scared. I felt like I was drowning & I reached out for help. I started to “let's try this,” “let's do this,” because I have been on a healthier journey and because I was working out, that helped slow things down. I didn't realize that but learning all these new things, I am going through.” -Mary

“It took me a long time to really accept what I look like & everything. I decided that I was good enough. I am in my 50s, almost going into my 60s and I am healthy, I can work out. Most people at this age have a really hard time walking a couple miles or lifting weights so I am blessed. I have to remind that person to remember what they have been blessed with & stay strong.” -Norma

“Focus on bettering yourself, for yourself! Not for anybody else. That's the most important thing & wasting time and energy on methods that are not going to be successful for you. You're gonna keep going through that cycle over & over again. That is why women are so discouraged as we are set up for failure by the weight loss industry.” -Mandi 

“We can live our life in fear, which is a contracting energy, which you saw Jennifer doing. Self isolation and avoiding people or yourself does not help you reach your goals, I will tell you that right now. It is a contracting energy, it shrinks you. It shrinks you, your goals, and your potential.” -Danita

“Find out as much as you can because I didn't know. I was the first girl out of 5 boys and then I have sons for myself. It's like I can't just talk to them. I felt like i Literally had a mental breakdown and I was scared. I felt like I was drowning & I reached out for help. I kept saying, I want to learn this, let's see this, let's do this. I have been on a healthier journey.” - Mary 

In this special episode of the Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast, join the Millionaire Car Salesman Hosts, Sean V. Bradley, and LA Williams, alongside Dealer Synergy's CEO - Karen “Karina” Bradley as they delve into the challenges that dealerships are confronting in today's automotive market. The trio sheds light on the Automotive Industry's market transition from high demand and low inventory to a more competitive and demanding landscape. Emphasizing the significance of a proficient sales team, they explore strategies to navigate these changes and deliver exceptional value to customers.  Join us for these illuminating executive discussions, offering invaluable insights on navigating 2024 successfully. The hosts delve into strategic approaches and share secrets that will empower you. Plus, they unravel the exciting prospects awaiting dealerships at the upcoming Internet Sales 20 Group conference. Don't miss this opportunity to tap into the wisdom of top Dealer Synergy executives and gain a competitive edge!   Key Takeaways The automotive market is shifting, and dealerships need to adapt to the changing conditions Dealerships that have invested in training and developing their sales teams are better equipped to handle the challenges of the current market The Internet Sales 20 Group conference provides an opportunity for dealerships to learn from industry experts and network with other professionals in the field   "If you don't have the appropriate mindset, and if you haven't been building that along the way… your actions are going to stem from whatever paradigm or particular mindset that you carry through this time." - Karen “Karina” Bradley   About Karen “Karina” Bradley Karen Bradley, is the CEO of Dealer Synergy, an Award Winning Training, Consulting and Accountability Firm that specializes in building Internet Dealerships or Full Blown Business Development Dealerships Internationally. She is also the Co-founder of Internet Sales 20 Group, an education company that specializes in training automotive sales professionals through their first-class national bi-annual conference. Karen has over 13+ years of Automotive Sales experience and her sole mission has been to help car dealerships and their personnel achieve their maximum potential. She has directly helped over 1,300 rooftops and tens of thousands of Automotive Sales Professionals evolve personally and professionally; and is an NADA Convention Speaker! Karen also has 16 years of Accounting experience and 11 years of experience as a Certified FranklinCovey Trainer and Facilitator for the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity. She is an instructional design and curriculum development specialist, a Time Maximization and Efficiency Expert, as well as a process engineer. She has been recognized by the National Speaker's Association for her skills in public speaking and was nominated in 2015 as one of the top 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry, by Automotive News. Karen has also graced the covers of several major automotive magazines; including AutoSuccess' , for her expertise on the importance and usage of video. Karen's most important role is as a proud wife and mother of 4 kids, ranging from 6 years old to 21 years old. Combining this role with her role as an owner of multiple companies, by living the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Karen is truly able to achieve “Work / Life” Balance.       The Shifting Landscape of Automotive Sales: Challenges and Opportunities Introduction In the fast-paced world of automotive sales, staying ahead of the game is crucial. The industry has experienced significant shifts in recent years, with the pandemic exacerbating existing challenges and creating new ones. As we enter the final month of the year, it's important for automotive professionals to take stock of the current landscape and prepare for the future. In this article, we will explore the key themes discussed in a recent podcast episode of "The Millionaire Car Salesman" and analyze their implications for the industry.   The Impact of Shifting Market Dynamics The automotive industry has seen its fair share of ups and downs, and the recent shift in market dynamics is no exception. The past few years have been exceptionally profitable, with high demand and limited inventory driving up prices. However, as the market begins to normalize, salespeople are facing new challenges. Many have become complacent during the boom times, relying on high prices and limited inventory to make sales. Now, they must adapt to a more competitive landscape and develop the skills necessary to succeed in a changing market.   The Importance of Training and Skill Development One of the key challenges facing automotive professionals is the lack of training and skill development. During the boom times, salespeople didn't need to rely on their skills or knowledge to make sales. However, as the market shifts, those who haven't invested in their training find themselves ill-equipped to handle basic objections and provide value to customers. This lack of skill not only affects individual salespeople but also contributes to a toxic culture within dealerships. It's crucial for dealers to invest in training and development programs to ensure their teams are prepared for the challenges ahead.   The Role of Culture in Success Culture plays a significant role in the success of any organization, and dealerships are no exception. The recent shift in market dynamics has led to increased turnover and a negative impact on morale. Salespeople who were used to easy sales and high incomes are now facing a reality check. This toxic culture can be detrimental to the overall success of the dealership. It's essential for dealers to foster a positive and supportive culture that encourages growth, learning, and accountability. By creating a culture of excellence, dealerships can attract and retain top talent and position themselves for success in the changing market.   Opportunities for Growth and Success While the shifting market dynamics present challenges, they also create opportunities for growth and success. Dealerships that adapt to the changing landscape and invest in their teams will be well-positioned to thrive. One example of this is Bob Ruth Ford, a dealership that recently broke a record by closing out the month with 225 internet deals. Their internet department accounted for 94% of the dealership's business, showcasing the power of a well-trained and motivated team. By focusing on internet sales and leveraging technology, dealerships can reach a wider audience and maximize their profits.   The Power of Outsourcing and Remote Teams Another opportunity for growth lies in outsourcing and remote teams. With the rise of remote work, dealerships can tap into a global talent pool and access highly skilled individuals at a fraction of the cost. Outsourcing BDC reps to countries like the Philippines has proven to be a successful strategy for many dealerships. These reps are highly motivated, coachable, and dedicated to their work. By leveraging remote teams, dealerships can extend their hours of operation, increase coverage, and capture more business. It's important to note that these remote teams are not outsourced call centers but individual employees directly employed by the dealership.   Conclusion and Future Outlook As we approach the end of the year, it's crucial for automotive professionals to adapt to the shifting landscape of the industry. The challenges presented by the changing market dynamics can be overcome through training, skill development, and a positive culture. By investing in their teams and embracing new opportunities, dealerships can position themselves for success in the future. Outsourcing and remote teams offer a cost-effective solution to staffing challenges and can provide access to highly skilled individuals. As the industry continues to evolve, it's essential for automotive professionals to stay ahead of the curve and embrace change. By doing so, they can navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead.       Resources Dealer Synergy & Bradley On Demand: The automotive industry's #1 training, tracking, testing, and certification platform and consulting & accountability firm. The Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast: is the #1 resource for automotive sales professionals, managers, and owners.  Also, join The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group today! Win the Game of Googleopoly: Unlocking the secret strategy of search engines.   The Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast is Proudly Sponsored By:  Dealer Synergy: The #1 Automotive Sales Training, Consulting, and Accountability Firm in the Automotive Industry! We have been building Internet Departments and BDCs for over two decades! It is this experience that has allowed us to develop the absolute best automotive Internet Sales, BDC, and CRM solutions for car dealerships. We have created the most effective training programs and processes. Phone scripts and rebuttals are our specialties, while CRM action plans, strategies, and templates are our expertise! Dealer Synergy will take both your tools and your people to the next level. Bradley On Demand: Automotive Sales Industry's #1 Interactive Training, Tracking, Testing and Certification Platform. With over 7,500 training modules, our platform has everything you and your dealership need to sell more cars, more often and more profitably! Money Mind Mapp (M3): Visit MoneyMindMapp.com for help in revolutionizing your business to help you sell more cars by tracking, projecting, and forecasting your personal sales goals!  

“The journey of self-healing should be a fun one. The moment you find what works for you, it won't feel overwhelming. Worrying about having to do this, this, and this, then becomes again stress for you. So lead yourself with love, then it becomes sustainable.” -Dr. Patricia

“It is hard because you do have to own up to what you have done in the past and just say, that wasn't working, I made some mistakes here. But you will see such a clear divide between your old ways & your old self, and the new & improved you and that is FANTASTIC!” - Mandi

“I have spent so much time of my life when I could've been spending it with my kids, worrying about my weight, what I look like. It has taken away from things, ya know? I feel like when I found Booty Bands, it saved me if that makes sense. It's what I definitely needed & I hope women see this and understand the importance of doing this program instead of trying all these fad diets & pills because it's not going to work." - Whittney

This week we dip back into the postbag to look at some more listener questions. First up we return to our episode looking at recent shifts in abortion rates – is the narrative of ‘it's my body and I'll do what I want' what is truly driving increases in abortion figures in recent years, or is that a bit of a myth? We also take a closer look into recent reports that expose how cutting-edge artificial intelligence models are being trained by incredibly underpaid and exploited workers in the developing world. How should we as Christians respond to what is being claimed as the exploitation of workers around the globe in the name of technological advancement that seeks to benefit humanity? Should governments moderate this kind of employment or is there an argument that digital technology is actually positively transforming economic outlook in the third world? Finally we wrap up today's episode considering if the UK government's recent AI Safety Summit is meaningless ‘motherhood and apple pie' platitudes and, if so, how can we actually push for meaningful regulation? - The WIRED article on the underpaid workers from poorer nations helping train AI data sets https://www.wired.com/story/millions-of-workers-are-training-ai-models-for-pennies/ - The UK government's Bletchley Declaration on AI safety https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-safety-summit-2023-the-bletchley-declaration/the-bletchley-declaration-by-countries-attending-the-ai-safety-summit-1-2-november-2023 - Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 - If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com - For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

“Fear can be a good thing but it can also limit you, right? So then we get into those self limiting beliefs and everything that was placed into us just from childhood, same with emotions. A lot of people, especially me growing up, I was afraid of emotions. I didn't know how to process them.” -Daisy

“Finding somebody to talk to, who understands or who has gone through it. Not even somebody who has gone through it, but someone who does understand. Being able to express my vulnerabilities and when I broke through that, my mindset alone & being able to accept the help was the biggest thing.” -Margaret

“I surrounded myself with the right people, speaking the right language. And provided me with information that I needed to have, which I didn't have 30 years prior to that. Thinking I had to starve myself to lose weight. No I didn't.” -Susan 

In this episode, we dive into the fascinating world of storytelling with the remarkable Bridget Cook-Burch. She's not just a New York Times & Wall Street Journal bestselling author; she's also a mentor, trainer, compassionate humanitarian, and a captivating speaker celebrated for her riveting tales of transformation.   Despite holding degrees in law, Bridget realized early on that her true calling lay beyond the courtroom. Her passion for words and storytelling was undeniable, propelling her on a journey where she didn't just tell her own story but also helped others give voice to theirs.   Join us in exploring Bridget's incredible journey as she shares how she confronted her own demons through writing about abuse. She fearlessly ventured into the darkest corners of her experiences to eventually bask in the radiant light of healing and empowerment.   Bridget Cook-Burch invites you to embrace the extraordinary power of your own story to create positive change in the world. Tune in and be inspired to unlock your storytelling potential. Guest Bio: Bridget Cook-Burch's clients call her “The Book Whisperer”. She is a New York Times & Wall Street Journal bestselling author, mentor, trainer, mamma-bear humanitarian, and speaker known for riveting stories of transformation.    Her powerful work has been showcased on Oprah, Dateline, CNN, GMA, The History Channel, NPR, and in People among many others. She is the CEO and Founder of YourInspiredStory.com. As a successful entrepreneur, Bridget has also owned and operated a multimillion-dollar trucking company, a phone book, and a PR agency. She is also a co-founder and former executive director of SHEROES United, a non-profit organization that helps women and girls rise from trauma. As a leader, storyteller, trainer, and humanitarian, her greatest passion is helping others to discover the importance of their own story and to become leaders in their own communities, and worldwide.    Bridget's many national bestsellers include Divine Turbulence, The Witness Wore Red; Shattered Silence; Skinhead Confessions; Leading Women; and also Living Proof. She is getting ready to publish three more in 2022.    Bridget invites you to believe in the power of your story to change the world. Join her writers' retreats and leadership retreats in Utah, Italy, Ireland, and more.   Find out more at www.YourInspiredStory.com and www.SHEROESUnited.org. ___________________ Subscribe to this podcast and download your favorite episodes to listen to later:       ___________________   ⚕️ Are you a woman healthcare professional who is struggling to juggle everything in your personal and professional life?  

Today we're celebrating 200 episodes of the MARKED Podcast! We wanted to take an episode to celebrate God's faithfulness with MARKED over the years, so come along with us as Kelly and Elizabeth recall some of our favorite moments, talk about the logistics of making a podcast, share which of our episodes are the most listened-to, and more. Thanks for listening! RESOURCES: Chatologie with Angie Elkins MARKED Podcast episode with Point of Grace MARKED Podcast episode with Beth Moore MARKED Podcast episode with Laura and Francine Perry | Transgender to Reformed MARKED Podcast episode with Kelly Minter and April Dace MARKED Podcast episode with Ellie Holcomb MARKED Podcast episode with Amy-Jo Girardier MARKED Podcast episode with Chris Adams MARKED Podcast Lifeway Women Academy miniseries | Jen Wilkin on Hermeneutics MARKED Podcast episode with Jennifer Rothschild RECOMMENDED: Interested in getting another behind-the-scenes peek of Lifeway Women? Check out this behind-the-scenes blog post of The Gospel on the Ground Bible study production. MARKED is a podcast from Lifeway Women: https://women.lifeway.com/blog/podcasts/. Hosted by Kelly King and Elizabeth Hyndman. ABOUT ELIZABETH HYNDMAN Elizabeth reads, writes, and argues about the nuances of punctuation. Officially, she's an Editorial Project Leader at Lifeway. She managed to find a job where she uses both her English undergraduate and her seminary graduate degrees every day. Elizabeth grew up in Nashville, sips chai lattes every chance she can get, and believes everyone should have a “funny picture” pose at the ready. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram. ABOUT KELLY KING Kelly is the manager of Magazines/Devotional Publishing and Women's Ministry Training for Lifeway Christian Resources. She holds a Master of Theology degree from Gateway Seminary and was previously an adjunct professor at Oklahoma Baptist University while serving as the Women's Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Kelly continues to serve in local church ministry as a women's ministry volunteer and small group leader for high school girls. She is the author of Ministry to Women: The Essential Guide to Leading Women in the Local Church.