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Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 2317: Shawna Scafe explores the concept of intentional parenting, contrasting it with the autopilot mode many parents often fall into. She emphasizes the importance of modeling the behavior and values we wish to instill in our children, focusing on mindfulness and deliberate choices in daily parenting. By setting clear goals for the kind of adults we want our kids to become, we can take meaningful steps toward raising them with purpose and intention. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://simpleonpurpose.ca/starting-intentional-parenting/ Quotes to ponder: "Unless we are raising cheese-eating, floor-sweeping, laughing women who randomly break into song, let's hope they pick up some more useful traits from their father and the people we surround ourselves with." "Like Lisa and her husband, making their kids travel companions for a life-changing adventure, the best way to teach them is to model it." "A part of me is overwhelmed by getting this list to become lesson. The other part of me rolls her eyes and sips her coffee, my kids will be fine, I know." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore the transformative aspects of feminine energy in this insightful Recap episode with Brad and Lesley. Together, they debunk common misconceptions and underline the significant benefits of feminine energy in empowering women to lead with both vulnerability and confidence. Focusing on critical life areas—love, career, and friendships—this episode invites listeners to evaluate their own beliefs, values, and the energies they embody. Discover the importance of balancing masculine and feminine energies, a key to achieving both personal well-being and professional success.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Recognize the benefits of employing feminine energy.Identifying your core values by reflecting on what you don't want.How to examine your masculine energy to shift into a feminine space.Why managing your energy contributes to creating a positive environment.Episode References/Links:OPC Summer CampCambodia 2025 Early BirdOPC Summer TourBarrels Flashcards2025 eLevate Round 5 & New Release of the Mat FlashcardsTower Power Happy Hour with Liza OsoteoMary McMonagle LinktreeMary McMonagle InstagramMary McMonagle PodcastKelli Adame Episode 346 on Masculine Energy  If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar  Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramFacebookLinkedIn  Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  What I would say is see your feminine energy as a superpower. And be okay being in it and then also be okay tapping into the masculine energy and just go back to last week's episode and realize if you got stuck in one of those energies, pick the gas pedal off the floor, unstick it from your cyber truck and, you know, shift gears a little bit. Lesley Logan 0:23  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host and life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the transformative convo I had with Mary McMonagle in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that episode, feel free to go back and listen to that one and then come back and join us. Or you should just listen to this one and then like roll right into the next one. You could add it to your queue. There's different ways to listen to podcast. So thank you for being here. Brad Crowell 1:25  Queue it up. Lesley Logan 1:26  Today is May 16th 2024. And it is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. So this day is a focus on accessibility and Global Accessibility Awareness is celebrated every third Thursday in May. This year, it takes place on May 16th. People are encouraged to discuss, debate and educate themselves on access issues on Global Accessibility Awareness Day. You know, I'm just going to add to this. It doesn't have to be digital. Make yourself aware of things that like would be inaccessible to a lot of people. We were in Nashville and I noticed there are no sidewalks in most of the neighborhoods. I'm like what if someone is in a wheelchair? How are they getting around in this neighborhood? They're not. They're not. You couldn't even walk. And then we were in Mexico. And I was like, how? How is this person going on this sidewalk? So like just you know, different things. Also shout out to Jane Fonda. Who was like doing activism for blind people. I think it's blind people might have been deaf people. No, no, it was deaf people. She learned sign language so she can accept an award in sign language. So she's freaking awesome. I'm not saying you have to go learn sign language, although that does feel like a really cool skill set to have. But just you know, make yourself aware of accessibility issues that could be where you are we can affect places that we are available at and around is a key event that spotlights digital accessibility and inclusion for persons with disabilities to raise awareness and inspire action. Increasing the usability and accessibility of digital products like websites, mobile applications and other online tools is important as everyone needs to have access to the same information no matter what their design disabilities may be. So you know, if you have a website, it's you got to do all the things, guys. You got to, there's an ADA compliance in the United States. And if you are in a different country, it's probably called something else. So figure out what that is. But yeah, I just think it's really cool to just think about because we don't think about things that don't affect us. So try it sometime. It makes you feel like you're part of a bigger community.Brad Crowell 3:18  It's true. Let's get into here's what's coming out.Lesley Logan 3:22  What's coming out, babe? You take it. Brad Crowell 3:23  Okay, okay. Next up is OPC Summer Camp. Y'all were really, really fired up about this. June 1 and 2 join us live for the party. We are going back to camp and it's going to be the best one because you don't have to get dirty. You don't have to use the buddy system to go to the bathhouse you don't have to worry about creaky cabins. You don't have to worry about terrible food. No mosquito bites. No one's going to try to drown you in the lake. Lesley Logan 3:49  Brad and I are your camp directors. Brad Crowell 3:51  Yeah, there's nobody accidentally archery practicing like shooting at kids. You're good. Lesley Logan 3:57  Yeah, we are the camp directors and you have 14 camp counselors. Well, 13 because I'm one of them. Brad Crowell 4:02  Because we're gonna be on Camp Zoom, y'all. Lesley Logan 4:04  Yeah, Camp Zoom. And if you are not catching the vibe of what we're throwing down, think Wet Hot American Summer y'all like it is but without the sexual innuendo jokes. At any rate, we are having a great time. We have seven classes and seven workshops over two days. It is done live but there will be replays in perpetuity for those who purchased them. So if you cannot join us live, you are going to miss out on Camp Zoom, but you are still going to be able to be part of summer camp in a way that you never ever could before because you know if you, in camps, usually you have to be there. Brad Crowell 4:38  And speaking about making accessible. Our whole goal with this was to put you all who are probably, many of you are probably way into Pilates because obviously that's most of the community that we speak to but we're putting a bunch of classes and workshops in for people who might not be Pilates diehards, right, but this will be a really appealing topic to them such as. Lesley Logan 5:01  Every single class and workshop is meant for whether you're a Pilates lover or a Pilates teacher so, because everybody is a Pilates practitioner. Yeah, so the topics include pelvic floor, knee pain, hypermobility, breast cancer survivor. We have endurance athlete workouts. We have a happy hip workout. I'm super excited about we have a workshop on modifications for the Wunda chair if you have back issues, we have Rachel Piper's doing the long stretch series. We've got Control Your Balance on the Mat. So many. Oh, Tammy is helping us build strength on the reformer.Brad Crowell 5:37  Love it.Lesley Logan 5:38  So many I mean.Brad Crowell 5:39  And we have a happy hour. So if they don't want to do anything else tell them to come to the happy hour. Lesley Logan 5:43  So tower power happy hour's Liza (inaudible). It's a class. She said bring your, bring your own bubbles and so I'm sure she means she's doing sparkling water but that one you'll actually like feel you're laughing the whole time. Like Lisa just makes me laugh. So at any rate, come. Come, sign up. Brad Crowell 6:01  So go to opc.me/events, opc.me/events.Lesley Logan 6:04  And you can buy ala cart or you can buy the day pass. Savings is at the day pass but get it while it's on Early Bird, guys.Brad Crowell 6:10  Do it, do it, do it. All right, next up, we got Cambodia. We are going back again to Cambodia. We've been talking about it this trip, this year for our 2024. But guess what? This year is sold out. What? So we decided to add early next year, February 2025. We're going to be going it's also another amazing time of the year this is actually the two times a year that we historically had gone until COVID really jacked everything up. But we would go in Feb and we would go the end of the year.Lesley Logan 6:38  Except for that time we did March and it was really hot and it was right before the pandemic so we were alone in the country. It was amazing.Brad Crowell 6:45  That's true. But, go to lesleylogan.co/retreats with an 'S' to get on the waitlist. We may actually be on early bird right now as you're listening to this. So when you sign up for that waitlist we'll send you an email right away telling you hey, actually, it's open check it out. But, lesleylogan.co/retreats.Lesley Logan 7:03  And the OPC Summer Tour is around the corner you know.Brad Crowell 7:07  Yes, not to be confused with Summer Camp. Lesley Logan 7:09  No, these are two different things. Brad Crowell 7:10  This is Summer Tour. Lesley Logan 7:10  Summer Camp, you join us on Zoom. Summer Tour, we're coming to you.Brad Crowell 7:13  We're coming to you.Lesley Logan 7:14  And our headline sponsor is Balanced Body again. So lots of good things are coming from that. Brad Crowell 7:19  Yeah, it's gonna be great. Lesley Logan 7:20  So you want to go opc.me/tour so that you can find out what stops we're going to and I'm just saying if it's under four-hour drive, you should do it and we did have people who did six hours just to come to class so just. We definitely did and it was a party. No pressure. Brad Crowell 7:32  We had a really good time. And okay, next up. Y'all know how much time and energy I have spent trying to write all these damn flashcards for the barrels? Lesley Logan 7:40  Zero for me, but for me, we're over 400 hours. So you want to go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist this might be the last chance to get on that waitlist to get the presale price. We areBrad Crowell 7:50  We may be in presale for this right now as well. Lesley Logan 7:52  Yeah and it's a short window. So opc.me/flashcardwaitlist for the barrels flashcards.Brad Crowell 7:58  If you missed the barrels window, just add yourself to, we still have one more deck coming up next year. Lesley Logan 8:03  Yeah, so just add yourself to the waitlist anyways, for that. I'm not telling you the thing that we gotBrad Crowell 8:07  Next up we got eLevate. So Lesley is going to be doing eLevate round five in 2025. Right? So we're going to be figuring all that out and doing enrollment and everything this summer. But if you've ever wanted to know all the things that Lesley has learned from her teacher, Jay, who was a student of Joseph Pilates, this is where Lesley gets to actually pass on all this information. It is a nine-month program. It is incredible the transformation (inaudible).Lesley Logan 8:34  And when you graduate, you still chat with me, I actually tell a few girls today about some stuff that's going on in theirBrad Crowell 8:39  There's a thriving alumni community. But the transformation for you as someone who was like already teaching Pilates is you will be connecting the dots on all the pieces of equipment. You will be understanding the Pilates method at a higher level. You will be confident when you meet a client that you don't have to spend an hour preparing for them before you teach them, right? You'll be able to look at their body and understand this is what they need to get them to the goals that they have, right, and it takes away all the class planning time. It's just been amazing for me to hear all the feedback from everyone who's gone through it. And then really what isanother incredible thing is you're building new relationships with amazing women all around the world that are gonna last you for a lifetime. Right? It has been so fun for us to see people partner up, go through this program together. And then they're besties it's like, you know, like how often does that happen?Lesley Logan 9:36  Heather and Christine actually teach each other every single week. Every single week. Brad Crowell 9:40  Yeah. Amazing. So go to lesleylogan.co/ew that's for eLevate waitlist. E-WLesley Logan 9:48  We'll be opening up the application this summer for 2025. So and it's limited. I only take 12 people in a group. Brad Crowell 9:54  That's right. All right. Lesley Logan 9:56  All right. Before I go into Mary's amazingness Do we have an audience question?Brad Crowell 10:00  Yes, we sure do. This is from Prada. Lesley Logan 10:03  Prada and Pilates, Brad. Brad Crowell 10:05  Oh, Prada and Pilates. Yeah, I thought it was Pilates IG. Yeah. Prada and Pilates from Instagram. When is your next in-person event, Dear Lesley?Lesley Logan 10:16  So it's going to be the Summer Tour. Yeah, that's our next in-person. And then there's a winter tour. And in between there's a retreat. But if you didn't, if you're not signed up for that, you can't sign up for that yet it's in February. So yeah.Brad Crowell 10:30  Yeah. Sorry you missed it. No, so Summer Tour is going to be in August. Winter Tour is gonna be in December. Summer Tour, we're going through the Midwest. Like we said, winter tour we're probably going to do.Lesley Logan 10:39  We're doing a lot, everything but the West Coast. Brad Crowell 10:41  Yeah, we're going all the way up. We make all the way to Maine, y'all. Working it out, working it out. Lesley Logan 10:46  You're asking because I don't do a lot of in-persons anymore. And I just had someone asked me when I'm gonna come to Greece and teach. So here's the deal if you were wanting me to come somewhere to teach, and you do not live in the continental United States, where I can put it on a tour. I don't know. Because I'm not doing a lot of in-person pop ups all over the place. Unless I can actually connect a bunch of cities at one time. To be honest, I love going in and teaching around the world. Like I'm so blessed and honored that I get to do that. But pre-COVID, every month, every two weeks, I was flying to a different country. I like I literally went to Spain, came home for five days and then went to the UK. That's stupid. It was amazing. But it was crazy. And I'm 41. And I love where I live. And so I want to come and see you. But I have to put things together so that Brad and I can like make the most of a 12-hour flight, make the most of an 18-hour flight. And so if you want me to come where you are, let me know. And what we'll do is we'll gather up all of you I'm gonna come to a similar area, and we'll figure out a way to make a European tour or Canadian Tour or Australian tour. It's definitely that I want to do it. I just also want to honor my family and my dogs and my business. It's whenever we leave, the whole business actually like stops and they, our team makes things go but like, it's really hard. Brad Crowell 12:11  So get yourself on a waitlist of ours, right? Lesley Logan 12:14  Lastly, I just want to say, it would be weird of me to coach you on being it until you see it and having boundaries and taking care of yourself first if I didn't do it first. So this is not, I don't like you or I don't want to. I absolutely want to. I want to make it work for everybody. Brad Crowell 12:28  It's not you. It's me. Lesley Logan 12:29  It really is. And it's, it sounds cliche, those people, you know, people fuck that up in the dating world. It is okay for it to be you. It is okay for it to be me. And it's okay for us to figure out a way to make it work together. So thank you for this question. I hope to see you on Summer Tour.Brad Crowell 12:42  Yeah, go to opc.me/tour. All right, now let's talk about Mary McMonagle. Mary is a New Jersey-based intuitive healer and feminine energy coach specializing in guiding high-achieving women from masculine-driven control to a life lead with heart and vulnerability. Founder of True Tribe and host of the Living Your True Vibe Podcast, Mary empowers women to lead with their feminine energy, ensuring they remain grounded, yet flow effortlessly to achieve their aspirations.Lesley Logan 13:15  Yeah, I'm actually going to have an episode on her podcast that should be coming out at the same time that this one is.Brad Crowell 13:21  Oh cool. Lesley Logan 13:21  Yeah, it's really cool. We had a really great conversation, I really enjoyed the questions she asked. So she's, she's a cool chick. And she's done some amazing things. And she shares a lot of vulnerability. So I love that. She, one of the things I liked that she said, it's so important to really look at your values and ask yourself are you being that. And I think a lot of times when we're really frustrated with ourselves, we're outside of our values, we are not in alignment with our values. And that is when things can get a little frustrating. And when we are within our values were aligned with our values, it makes it so much easier to talk ourselves off a cliff. We're like, Oh, my God, I didn't do the thing over there. It's like, well, if it's not aligned with your values, so you didn't do it. So you can actually just live confidently in that. And I think, I think a lot of ways to actually have confidence is going back to last week's episode for a second is, knowing what your values are. And if you don't know what they are, it's really hard to be in alignment with them. So homework, if you don't know your values is to do them. And if you came on the business retreat we did this year, you got your values, and it was so fun to see those girls get their values. And so at any rate, I thoroughly agree with that. So yeah, I thought that was really fun. What about you? Brad Crowell 14:27  Yeah. Well, before we even go into that, this has been a couple times that we've had this idea of feminine versus masculine energy on the podcast, and Lesley Logan 14:38  Oh yeah, people love episode 346. Shout out to Cassie. Brad Crowell 14:41  They did. Well, you know, when I heard this again, I was like, huh, we're going to talk through this again. And I thought it was interesting to hear her talk about the benefits of feminine energy versus just feminine versus masculine. The way that I imagined feminine energy is it's not, it's not a good thing. It's not a win. It's not a positive, right? And she she kind of broke down the misconceptions, the preconceptions that we have, between the two, the two things and why you would want to incorporate feminine energy in. And not only that, that bringing feminine energy into your world does not mean that you still can't be a badass, you still can't be a supermom still can't be, you know, taking names. It's just a different approach. And I thought it was, I thought it was revealing, I thought it was really helpful for me to kind of understand that a little bit better. So I appreciated that. One of the things that I loved, she said, we figure out what our values are by identifying what we don't want. You know, like, if you feel stuck, when someone's like, what do you want to be when you grow up? You're like, I don't know. But I definitely don't want to be this other thing over here. That's a great place to get started. You might not know what you want. But you probably can say, well, I definitely know what I don't want. And so if you're ever feeling stuck, you can flip it on its head and ask that question of like, what's the opposite here? Maybe I can identify what I don't want. And that can help me slowly piece together this bigger vision for my life? Lesley Logan 16:22  Yeah, I think we've had that same sentiment come up before in the podcast on different things. That's like, Who do you want to be? It's like, Who don't you want to be? What do you want? Sometimes it's hard for us to envision, like, I think the other day you mentioned, like, what do you want, and you're like sleep. And it's a little weird that that's the first thing that comes up. It's like, for me, it's a G Wagen. Clearly, but sometimes we don't know what we want to get, we get so out of alignment, that it's going to take us a while we have to start with what we don't want to help us envision that. I want to just highlight like, I just want to go back to the feminine/masculine energy. I think society will say that being in your feminine is a negative thing. So I just want to clarify that you, Brad don't think that the feminine energy is a negative thing. But like that, the people will say, oh, like because people will think that you have it's weaker or like it's wrong to show your feelings. Brad Crowell 17:12  Yeah, there are negative connotations associated with it. And no, I don't think I mean, you know, that, that having feminine energy or focusing on feminine energy is bad. And I alsoLesley Logan 17:23  I think, because it's like a superpower to be a vulnerable person who can also receive, receive support, receive love receive?Brad Crowell 17:30  Well, also from Kelli Adame what she was talking about with it, is that there are times when men are also employing feminine energy. Right? And that is also a positive thing. Lesley Logan 17:40  Because we have both energies inside of us. Brad Crowell 17:42  Yes, yes. We're not one or the other. Lesley Logan 17:44  Yes. And, and so.Brad Crowell 17:46  But again, that's a preconception. Lesley Logan 17:47  Yeah. And I, 100% what I would say is see your feminine energy as a superpower. And be okay being in it. And then also be okay, tapping into the masculine energy. And just like, go back to last week's episode. And realize, if you got stuck in one of those energies, pick the gas pedal off the floor, unstick it from your cyber truck, and, you know, shift gears a little bit, you know, we're allowed to flow between the two in your day.Brad Crowell 18:16  Well, that takes you right back to the second part of what I wanted to talk about, which is, you know, just, it is important to identify if you if you're feeling stuck identifying what you do want, then maybe you can employ identifying what you don't want, but you don't wanna get stuck in what you don't want. Right? The idea is that planning negativity, and that whole energy is it's easy to tap into that and then we we end up staying in that. So don't do that. Okay. Lesley Logan 18:45  Don't do that. Brad Crowell 18:45  This, this is what I don't want. But it's going to help me identify what I do. Lesley Logan 18:50  Yeah, I love it. All right, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. Because I took over Brad's role, hahaha.Brad Crowell 18:56  What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items, can we take away from your convo with Mary McMonagle? She said, do something you are avoiding. She talks about how like something that you might be craving, somehow you could also be avoiding that. Be specific. When I think of something I'm avoiding, it actually causes stress, like in my gut, in my heart right inside of my chest, actually. And because I know I should be doing the thing, but I just don't want to do it. Right? Whatever the thing might be. And that could be you know, it's probably not like tackling a project in the shed that doesn't really matter. It doesn't really affect things, but what it could be is, you know, booking a doctor's appointment, you know, because whatever reason, it's just the last thing on my list that never gets done. Right? And I'm not craving booking my doctor's appointment, but it is something that I might have been avoiding. Right? So the idea is ultimately be specific. You know, you don't want to say I want to be better at you know, I guess what you could say is I want to be better at community right? So if you want to be better at community, that's not specific enough. You want to say, alright, what are some things that I could do to further that? Right? So maybe it's I'm going to text a person, what to think about them. And that could be as simple as that. And it just takes two seconds of like, hey, I'm thinking about you hope you're well, right kind of a thing. But that's being specific that will help you in your overall journey of, you know, working on community.Lesley Logan 20:25  Yeah, I think I really enjoyed that. Like, I think it's a really good place to start. Okay. Brad Crowell 20:32  What about you?Lesley Logan 20:32  So she brought up the masculine and feminine energy for Be It Action Items. I mean, she was like, a way to start shifting into your feminine is to examine your masculine first, and we have another mirror, be it, which is really funny that these are two happening two weeks in a row. But this one is to examine three areas in your life, love, career and friendships, and start to think about your Brad Crowell 20:51  Love, career and friendships. Lesley Logan 20:53  Yeah, love, career and friendships, sort of think about your beliefs that are around feminine energy. Two, is to focus on what will be your values around feminine energy, meaning what foot the focus on the being. And then three, let go of the title, mom, business owner, etc. and ask, what is that vibrational frequency? And are you allowing yourself to receive that first and so there's a lot here to unpack. To me, I think it's going to take some time. But I think if you actually I'm gonna bring in Norda Kaiser's amazing little are you a star athlete or are you a fan? And so if you look at love, and you ask yourself, am I star athlete or am I a fan? Here's how do you know. A star athlete would actually look at the areas that they did really well and examine how they did that. And then they would look at the areas where they didn't feel they did well and then they would go and do practice to get stronger at that. A fan is who are, oh they missed that. Super judgmental, super excited about things when they go well, but if they don't go well, they're like, he missed that. And it's very judgy. And so just notice where you are judging yourself in the love, career and friendships and shift into being that star athlete. And that is going to actually, when you put yourself in that place, yes, it can be more masculine the way to think about taking action, but the way to actually take the action is to receive, receive feedback and support and be in a more feminine space to actually get into being an observation and not being like super judgy. So that's just that's just a way that I interpreted how to like, examine those two, those three areas. And then I loved, I really loved the part where it's like the vibrational frequency because we when we put titles like mom, entrepreneur, you know, different titles, wife, we actually often put definitions that we didn't actually take the time to create. And we put, we use the title has different definitions that the world has told us what a mom is, you know, if somebody's friends who like Brad Crowell 22:53  Let's break this down, I'm a little stuck on this concept of a vibrational frequency. Ask what is that vibrational frequency? I don't know what that means. Lesley Logan 23:00  Yeah. So okay. The way I understood it, the way I'm taking it is, it's a be it till you see it kind of thing. How do you want to feel, what is the energy you're going to bring to the title before you put the title in front of it. So if you are a mom, there's all this mom guilt that's going the fuck around. And it's like, as soon as you're, as soon as the baby is born and they hand you the baby and a load of mom guilt. And it's kind of crazy to me, because like, who is actually doing that? Who is actually putting the guilt on you? Right? Those people shouldn't be your friends. But if you were to take mom away, and you ask yourself, Who do I want to be in this role? And how does that, what is that frequency? So going back to Gay Hendricks because we talked about frequency with him, fear and excitement are on the same frequency. It's just that like, you actually are going from worry to joy. So if you actually can think about like, some feelings have a lower vibration, right? A lower like negative, like heavy, some things have a higher vibration. That doesn't mean you need a high vibration all the time and low, like high and low don't mean bad or good. But like, what, how do you want to feel? What is the energy you want to bring to the role that you're doing? And then you can actually put yourself in that position versus if you put the title on it sometimes we put that title comes with the definition and it comes with expectations that are not the same as what you would bring to that. So that would be the more masculine energy around like trying to be what the, what society tells you a mom is or business owner is versus like how you want to have, how you want to be at that moment and then that could allow you to be in a feminine energy around that thing or masculine depending on what you want to do. It's complicated. Lesley Logan 24:45  Well, that was just a lot. I mean, definitely little more clarity on that. Just over here trying to define woowoo words. Brad Crowell 24:54  Well, I appreciate it. Lesley Logan 24:55  Everything has a frequency, though. Brad Crowell 24:57  It does. Lesley Logan 24:57  Yeah, and that's why I like, also, you know. Brad Crowell 25:01  That you were talking about your feeling, you were talking about with the dog today when you were out. Like my own response to some people versus others. Don't even pay them any money. Lesley Logan 25:10  Oh, yeah, like this one woman, we were standing in line, and there's one right behind us. And he didn't even like go to her and another woman got in line and he went right up to her. And she was like, ready to receive him. Like, just like, how does he know that she's a dog person, right? So we all are putting these frequencies out. Also, you got to notice like, sometimes if I'm in a low vibration, I am aware because I, you start to respond differently to me. And vice versa. Sometimes I've had to say, you need to leave the room because your vibrate., your energy is changing the vibe.Lesley Logan 25:42  Yeah, we also associate this with charisma. Yes, yes. Brad Crowell 25:47  Yeah. Totally. Lesley Logan 25:48  I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 25:49  And I'm Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 25:49  Thank you so much for listening to this episode today. How are you going to use these tips in your life we want to know. Make sure you tag the Be It Pod. Share this with a friend. That's how the podcast grows is if you share it with a friend. We, podcast need reviews and listeners. That is currency for us. Brad Crowell 26:02  So dial up your frequency and get it out there. Lesley Logan 26:04  Yeah, you'll have to step into your masculine to send it out but then let your friends be in the feminine and receive. Boom, there it is.Brad Crowell 26:11  Solve the world's problems.Lesley Logan 26:12  Right there. Have an amazing day and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 26:16  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 26:18  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day.  Lesley Logan 26:45  Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod. Brad Crowell 27:00  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 27:05  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co. Brad Crowell 27:10  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi. Lesley Logan 27:17  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 27:20  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time. Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Show Open 04.06.24-Don't look up during the Solar Eclipse-Elizabeth Hurley's Instagram in Pete's feed-There's news for people like Lisa who are STILL watching 'Grey's Anatomy' To subscribe to The Pete McMurray Show Podcast just click here

A growing number of research studies show that the cognitive and brain development of low-income children differs from that of children in higher income families. For any family, that is a concerning statement. Today's podcast features a project called Baby's First Years, a multi-year effort to test the connections between poverty reduction and brain development among very young children. Here to talk about what the study has revealed so far is Dr. Lisa Gennetian from Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, and Dr. Sarah Halpern-Meekin from the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Transcript Sarah, let's start with you. What is the Baby's First Years study?  Sarah - So the Baby's First Years study is a study of how having additional income matters for children's development and for family life in families that had incomes around the federal poverty line when they had a child. And so, it includes two main components. The first is a randomized control trial that tests the effects of families receiving either a large or a small monthly cash gift each month, families get either $333 or $20 each month on a debit card from the time their child was born until just after the child's sixth birthday. Lisa and our colleagues, Katherine Magnuson, Kimberly Noble, Greg Duncan, Hiro Yoshikawa, and Nathan Fox lead this part of the study. They've been following mothers and children from a thousand families over the past six years. The other part of the study is a qualitative study in which we do in-depth interviews with a subset of those families because we want to learn more about how they think, about making financial decisions, the values and dreams for their children that guide their parenting and how they think about their money they're getting from Baby's First Years each month. This study is complex and would require time to observe change. Can you tell me about the length of time your team has been doing this intervention? Sarah - So the first families started the study in 2018. Lisa - One thing that's unique about this intervention is its length. As Sarah mentioned, it's starts at the time of birth and it's monthly. And families will be receiving this cash for 76 months. So, they'll be receiving it through the first six years of their child's life. Thank you for that detail. Lisa, what is the landscape for food programs and assistance in the United States, particularly for families with infants and young children? Lisa - There are two major programs that are federally funded in the US that are particularly targeted for families with infants and children. One of them is called the Women, Infant, and Children's Program, or WIC for short. The WIC program, let's see, in 2022, served about 6.3 million participants, but it provides a mix of core nutritional needs, breastfeeding support, information and referrals. And the second big safety net program in the US around food is called SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This one's broader and has served over 40 million people in 2022. And together both these programs have been pretty core to providing food and nutritional support to families, including those with young children. Thanks for that context. So now, how does the cash gift intervention differ from, or fit with other food assistance programs that these families may participate in? Lisa - The thing that cash can add above and beyond that, so thinking about how this Baby's First Year study might help supplement resources is in two ways. One is thinking about how money that might have been spent on the foods that are provided by these programs are now being taken care of through these food subsidies. One direct way that the BFY cash money can help is by increasing those net resources available for other types of food or for other things in the household. It's a real compliment to these what we call in kind or conditioned kind of food subsidy programs. The second is that there are no conditions. And so, what WIC and SNAP provide, which is really formative and really important for a lot of families, is also has some real parameters on what could be purchased. And so having extra cash means sort more flexibility around direct food resources. And that's actually something we start to see a little bit in the Baby's First Year study. Wow, Lisa, thank you for that. Given that these are means-tested programs, the cash infusion from Baby's First Year's project could influence participants' eligibility for other programs, right? How did you deal with that? Lisa - Oh yes, it's a really great question. Thanks for asking that. For the purposes of this study, we, for several years, worked closely with all layers of government, federal, state, and local to think hard about how to protect the families receiving this cash gift from losing eligibility for these other programs because as you say, right, we're increasing their income implicitly through this cash gift. And so, we did that through some administrative rulings, meaning states agreed that the families would be exempt and to the states, we had legislation passed to protect these families from their eligibility being affected by receipt of the cash gift. We did that as comprehensively as possible. There are some exceptions, but we think that it's been pretty effective kind of strategy we use to ensure that families, when they get this cash gift, that they're not mechanically losing eligibility for these other programs. So, the way to think about this cash and supplementing people's lives and supplementing and accompanying everything else, is also helping how families might think about access to these other programs and choices around that in ways that they might not have had before. That sounds like a large undertaking, and it took extensive planning to get to that point. I imagine you wouldn't want families to lose their benefits because they participated in this study. Sarah, I want to come back to you. What are families' experiences with Baby's First Year and with government-provided food assistance programs in the United States? Sarah - So families in both gift groups are appreciative of having extra money every month. That's even more so the case for those in the high gift group mothers not surprisingly, some mothers in Baby's First Year struggle to make ends meet, for others, even if they can cover their bills every month, having just that little bit extra breathing room is pretty welcome. Like Lisa was talking about across the country, in Baby's First Years, the vast majority of families have experience with food assistance programs, either currently or in the past. It's pretty rare for them not to, relatively speaking, while families often receive WIC, that's the Women, Infants and Children program that Lisa mentioned, when they have babies, many stop getting WIC after their babies turn one, despite the fact that they remain income eligible for that. Most families also receive some benefits from SNAP. And in some qualitative work that I did with my colleagues, Carolyn Barnes and Jill Hoiding, we heard from families about how they thought about engaging with the WIC program. They thought about the value of the benefits they could get from doing so, but also the costs of doing that, like how hard it is to make it to appointments, to fill out the paperwork to use those benefits once you're at the grocery store. And they weighed those costs and benefits as their children grew up when they were thinking about whether or not to pursue those benefits. So Lisa, what are you learning from the Baby's First Year study about where and how families and children are getting food? Lisa - So Sarah has talked about the richness of speaking to moms directly at holistic types of interviews. Alongside that, we've annually been going back and speaking to mothers and collecting information about them and their children. And part of our, so these are our annual surveys, they are in or near the children's birthdate, and we ask them a bunch of questions about how life is going, about their spending, what's happening with income and employment and childcare, their own health, their mental health. One of the areas that we focus on is around food. And one of those food items is called a food security scale. This is a six item, a USDA-approved scale. It asks questions like not having enough money to buy food, questions about hunger, questions about eating balanced meals. It includes a set of items that we would call pretty subjective. For example, the question on balanced meals, but also less subjective. Is there literally enough money to buy enough food for the household? And so, we're learning some really interesting things. First, we're learning that there is very high connection to this food safety net that we were just talking about. So, far majority of the families are connected either to WIC or the food assistance program called SNAP. And that's pretty consistent. Sarah just talked about a little bit of the drop off of WIC, but we certainly see consistent connections to SNAP, all the way through the first three years of the child's life. We see that generally as sort of a kind of good news story. So, these are families who are eligible for these programs, their family's drawn from four very different dates and sites. They're very diverse in their racial ethnic composition and whether they've been born or not in the US in terms of the moms. The fact that there is very high connection to a food safety net system while raising young children, we think is a really positive signal of the food safety net system potentially working pretty well. And then we're not seeing big differences between the high cash gift group and the low cash gift group on this food security measure. In fact, we're seeing pretty high food security amongst these families with very young children on the scale. That doesn't mean that any one of these items, we're not seeing high reports of things like scarcity. So even though the families are very low in food insecurity, we do see that about a third of them are reporting some kind of food scarcity. So, 31% report that the food they bought did not last and they sometimes often didn't have money to get more. For example, we're also hearing from families, they're relying on free meals from non-federal sources. We haven't talked yet about the importance of the faith-based kind of system and support and informal networks in providing food. We ask families this when their children were about three years old, and roughly 10% report some receipt of free meals from other sources. We are inevitably also seeing, as you might expect, some variation across these sites. So that's sort of a hint on what we're seeing around food security and connections to the safety net. We also ask about spending, and we're not seeing overall differences in how much money is being spent on food with one very interesting exception. That's on money, on food spent eating out. We don't ask a whole bunch of information about nutrition, but when the children were toddlers, moms do report, who are receiving the high cash gift, they do report higher consumption of fruits and vegetables among their toddlers. It is a very sort of unique and narrow question, but positive, so more fruits and vegetables and not more of other things like salty treats, flavored drinks, sodas, sugary sweets. And we're looking forward to continuing to follow up on items of nutrition when the children are four. This is fascinating, and I'm so grateful that your team is paying attention to these families' experiences and engagement with the social safety net and the charitable food sector. Sarah, we often understand food, particularly healthy food, as a way to deliver nutrition that promotes health and development. Of course, food provides much more than nutrition. What, if anything, are you learning from the study about the social meaning of food and what it represents to families? Sarah - I really appreciate this question because it's something we've been looking at and thinking about a lot in our research, in the research other people have done before, and in our own study we really hear a lot about the role that food plays in families, beyond nutrition. In so many cultures, food plays a really core role in social time and in family time. This can be things like turning family movie night into something a little more special by microwaving popcorn. It can be having special mom and me time with mom taking a child out to go get a cake pop at a coffee shop. It can be eating a meal at a sit-down restaurant to celebrate a special occasion, a child's middle school graduation, for some of these purchases, you can't use food assistance. And so having cash on hand is really essential to engaging in these kinds of special rituals and family time. Like your question implies, it turns our attention to the role that food plays in family bonding and in socializing. We really want to think about the multiple roles that food serves in our lives and how having this kind of extra income on hand for families who are often income constrained, can change these opportunities for those special family times around food.   Bios   Dr. Lisa Gennetian is an applied economist, Professor of Public Policy, and the Pritzker Professor of Early Learning Policy Studies at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. Drawing on perspectives from the behavioral sciences, psychology, and child development, her research focuses on the economics of child development, specifically child poverty, parent engagement and decision making, and policy and social investment considerations. Dr. Sarah Halpern-Meekin is Vaughn Bascom Professor of Children, Family, and Community in the School of Human Ecology and the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also an affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty. She is a sociologist whose research focuses on family, adolescence, social policy and the welfare state, class and inequality, and qualitative methods. Her current research includes examining the role of parents' churning (on-again/off-again) relationships in family life, exploring the experiences and financial decision-making of mothers who are receiving monthly unconditional cash gifts, and understanding how rural men make ends meet, spend their time, and make meaning while disconnected from the formal labor force.

She IS awake ! ... and so are we!  Well folks it is time for all one-eyed polar bears to make their way off to that ice cave for a big long snooze, because Issa, Jodie, Kali, Finn and team … including Fiona ( I gut coyotes and polish my rifles on New Year's Eve for fun) Shaw are delivering us from the darkness of our wildest conspiracy theories, into the light (see what I did there?) of clarity. Well, maybe ...did this most watched season of True Detective of all time tie up all the loose ends flapping around the Ennis permafrost? Almost! Listen to Lisa and Dean break it all down for you.  But wait !  This week we are joined by fellow podcasters Sarah Callen and Jennifer Han. Like Lisa and Dean, Sarah and Jen have been recapping this series on THEIR fantastic podcast titled ‘TV & Us. Check them out here https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tv-us/id1681955735 or wherever you get your pods. Your Dynamic Duo (squared) will dig into the finale like one of Qavvik's pups eating their reindeer kibble .. and reassemble it in one easy to digest TV dinner of explanatory goodness. I could go on here with the Shownotes (sez Dean) but why not just ‘go on' on the pod ! Holy rolling oranges Batman ... to the Ice Cave !

Lisa discusses how Proverbs 31 holds wisdom for all of our relationships. Lisa discusses healthy relationships formed by God's Word.   www.ladies4Jesus.org

Have you ever pondered the key to the success of billionaires and millionaires? Today, we're delving into a revealing topic: real estate wealth. 90% of these financial giants credit their prosperity to real estate. Their savvy investments and strategic portfolios harness the cash flow from real estate assets, leaving behind a legacy of enduring affluence.   During our discussion, we uncovered the fundamental strategies and insights that paved the way for their success. Like Lisa's transition to real estate, it's a tale of resilience and progress – embracing determination and inspiration to achieve objectives, no matter the obstacles.   Join us to witness how Lisa courageously navigated her real estate journey, acquired a new outlook on achieving financial success, mastered securing earnings amidst life's unpredictabilities, and unlocked the strategy of constructing assets that yield returns even while you sleep.   Lisa Copeland is a Global Real Estate Influencer and experienced mortgage industry professional with over 25 years of experience. She reinvented “The Art Of Real Estate”.  She is the founder of The WOW Network for women real estate investors.    Felecia Froe, MD is a licensed urological surgeon with over 20 years of experience. She owns Money With Mission, an investment company that empowers professional women to build wealth and achieve financial freedom through social impact investing. 00:00 - Entrepreneurial Grit: Lessons from My Fearless Dad and the Rise of Fiat 10:10 - Defying Fear: My Real Estate Journey with Tarek El Moussa 13:47 - Unveiling the Billionaire Blueprint: Real Estate Riches 101!  19:46 - WOW:  Women of Worth, Women of Wealth 24:47 - Building Wealth While Paying Off Debt 28:08 - Leveraging Experts to Optimize Your Financial Strategy 29:50 - Building Wealth Amidst Changing Times 34:12 - Closing Segment Lisa Copeland Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/real_lisacopeland/ Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaccopeland/ Be the Boss of Your Own Money and Own Your Future. Connect with us and Discover Investment Strategies Designed to make a Difference. Website: https://moneywithmission.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moneywithmission Quotes: “Just because something else fails doesn't mean your next thing will fail, but it's so easy to get into your head." - Lisa Copeland   ​”You look at every billionaire and every millionaire. They got rich in real estate. 90% of them built their wealth on real estate.” - Lisa Copeland

Have you ever pondered the key to the success of billionaires and millionaires? Today, we're delving into a revealing topic: real estate wealth. 90% of these financial giants credit their prosperity to real estate. Their savvy investments and strategic portfolios harness the cash flow from real estate assets, leaving behind a legacy of enduring affluence.   During our discussion, we uncovered the fundamental strategies and insights that paved the way for their success. Like Lisa's transition to real estate, it's a tale of resilience and progress – embracing determination and inspiration to achieve objectives, no matter the obstacles.   Join us to witness how Lisa courageously navigated her real estate journey, acquired a new outlook on achieving financial success, mastered securing earnings amidst life's unpredictabilities, and unlocked the strategy of constructing assets that yield returns even while you sleep.   Lisa Copeland is a Global Real Estate Influencer and experienced mortgage industry professional with over 25 years of experience. She reinvented “The Art Of Real Estate”.  She is the founder of The WOW Network for women real estate investors.    Felecia Froe, MD is a licensed urological surgeon with over 20 years of experience. She owns Money With Mission, an investment company that empowers professional women to build wealth and achieve financial freedom through social impact investing. 00:00 - Entrepreneurial Grit: Lessons from My Fearless Dad and the Rise of Fiat 10:10 - Defying Fear: My Real Estate Journey with Tarek El Moussa 13:47 - Unveiling the Billionaire Blueprint: Real Estate Riches 101!  19:46 - WOW:  Women of Worth, Women of Wealth 24:47 - Building Wealth While Paying Off Debt 28:08 - Leveraging Experts to Optimize Your Financial Strategy 29:50 - Building Wealth Amidst Changing Times 34:12 - Closing Segment Lisa Copeland Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/real_lisacopeland/ Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaccopeland/ Be the Boss of Your Own Money and Own Your Future. Connect with us and Discover Investment Strategies Designed to make a Difference. Website: https://moneywithmission.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moneywithmission Quotes: “Just because something else fails doesn't mean your next thing will fail, but it's so easy to get into your head." - Lisa Copeland   ​”You look at every billionaire and every millionaire. They got rich in real estate. 90% of them built their wealth on real estate.” - Lisa Copeland

This week on the podcast we dive into the origin story of Wilde Bicycle Co with founder, Jeffrey Frane. As a child, Jeffrey found the bike and along the way found freedom, adventure, and ultimately, a calling. Jeffrey has spend over twenty years in the bike industry finding himself at QBP managing the All City Brand since its earliest days. His experience and passion has led to the founding of Wilde Bicycle Co. Wilde Bicycle Co. website  Episode Sponsor: Hammerhead Karoo 2 (use THEGRAVELRIDE for free HRM) Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00]Craig Dalton (Host): Hey Jeff, welcome to the show. [00:00:04]Jeff Frane: Uh, hey Craig. It's great to be here. [00:00:06]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah, this is gonna be a lot of fun. I'm excited to learn more about you and more about the Wild Bicycle brand. So let's, let's start off by where, where'd you grow up and how'd you discover the bike? [00:00:16]Jeff Frane: All right, so, uh, for the listeners joining us, uh, my name is Jeffrey Frame and I am from, I grew up in the North Woods of Wisconsin. In a small logging slash milltown called Rhinelander, Wisconsin. A shout out to the Hoda. Um, so I grew up small town Wisconsin and luckily there were a bunch of mountain bikers around and we had, you know, several mountain bike races like twice a year. And, um, all these woods to explore. And got hooked on bikes as a kid because it was the only way I could leave my neighborhood. I lived outside of town where most of my friends lived in town, so I had to get there somehow. And my parents had jobs, so it was ride the bike and I just never stopped. You know, when I was 16, when most people, you know, kind of put down the bike. I was really afraid of killing somebody. I was, I was immature. I'm, you know, I, I, up until like my 40th birthday, I was pretty immature. Um, but I was afraid of hurting somebody with, you know, the power of an automobile scared the crap out of me. So I just like never got my license and I just kept riding. I did eventually get my license, you know, when I was 20 years old, but, so I just never stopped. [00:01:34]Craig Dalton (Host): and was it just sort of pleasure riding back then, or you'd mentioned there was a couple [00:01:37]Jeff Frane: Yeah. [00:01:38]Craig Dalton (Host): Did you get drawn into the race scene at all? [00:01:40]Jeff Frane: did. Um, and it was, it was wonderful. My parents were always incredibly, uh, supportive of my sporting endeavors. And, um, in Wisconsin, we're really blessed to have the Wars series, uh, the Wisconsin Off-Road series, which is one of the largest and longest running, I think, state series in the country. And, uh, they would take me to the races. I started racing in junior high, uh, in the local stuff on my Little Trek eight 30. And, uh, that was wonderful and then kind of progressed. And then in high school we started racing full war circuits and my parents were awesome enough to take the time off of work and to kinda lug me around so that I could get, you know, fifth place in a sport class or whatever. [00:02:20]Craig Dalton (Host): I love it. And was there, was there a high school mountain bike scene back then, or was, were you a little bit of a, an outcast? [00:02:26]Jeff Frane: yeah, I was the only, I had some friends kind of coming up or growing up who raced with me, but once we got to high school, it was largely me. You know, we didn't have Nica or anything like that. In fact, I remember I played hockey as well, that um, I got a local sponsorship from Schwinn and like it was this big kerfuffle cuz like, they didn't know if I was still eligible for hockey and all these people were really upset about it and, you know, whatever. Um, I was, it turned out I was eligible for hockey, but, [00:02:55]Craig Dalton (Host): Some, someone just need to explain to the hockey world that bicycle sponsorship is not exactly making a living. [00:03:00]Jeff Frane: no, and you know, there was no money. But, uh, so, you know, I, I just, I just kept racing and mountain bikes were my first love and it was just a way of exploring, you know, the area around me. And we had a cool local shop, Mel's trading post, and they were super rad to me and put me on the little bike team. And then we got, that team got sponsored by Schwinn and, um, you know, it all, all just kind of held together until I went to the university and. As a poor college student, I really couldn't afford to race, but I was able to still ride my bike all the time. [00:03:32]Craig Dalton (Host): Were you still in Wisconsin at that point? [00:03:34]Jeff Frane: Yeah. I went to the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, [00:03:37]Craig Dalton (Host): Okay. [00:03:37]Jeff Frane: um, which is like a, a rivertown and, you know, a couple trail systems, but found, started finding like the bigger community, you know, there were a bunch of really fast racers and I learned so much by chasing these people around, you know, eventually got to. I still raced a little bit in college and was able to race expert where I got my butt absolutely handed to me. Um, and then after, after college, I spent a couple years living in my van, uh, 1992 Dodge Caravan. [00:04:05]Craig Dalton (Host): out Dodge Caravan. [00:04:07]Jeff Frane: I was gonna, I was like, I can't shout out too many things, but yeah, the Dodge Caravan was a, was a workhorse. Really good car. Went through transmissions like he wouldn't believe though. Uh, so lived in that for a while. And then, um, I got tired of, of living on people's couches and just being broke and there was a, a person I wanted to date. So I came back here and now I live in Minneapolis. I've been here since 2005. And like that's really kind of when I think things really took off for me in terms of bicycles as a lifestyle. You know, that was the height of the fixed gear. Boom. And, you know, so I, I moved to the, I moved to city, the city with like a single speed Magna Mountain bike that I had cut the bars down. I had like my little Dickies Messenger bag and I was like, oh, you know, like in the big, I'm gonna cut traffic. And cuz I had grown up like seeing bike messengers and like MTV sports and stuff [00:04:57]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. [00:04:58]Jeff Frane: and uh, you know, got a job at a bike shop, started wrenching. And, um, started my little company Bike Jerks. So if you find me on Instagram, my handle is bike jerks, uh, which was a dumb inside joke at the shop. And it seemed like a real funny thing to call my, my little company, uh, when I was 25. Now I'm 43. Not as funny, but I'm stuck with it. Um, and the reason that started is like I needed a, I always needed a creative outlet and I really wanted to participate in the community. I wanted to organize, I wanted to throw races. So I needed a platform to do that. So I invented this thing, bike Jerks, which was the little, um, you know, platform for me to throw Alley Cats and Bandit Cross and, and other events. [00:05:41]Craig Dalton (Host): gotcha. Yeah, it seems like that Minneapolis bike scene is, has always been so creative and spanned so many different disciplines of the B of the sport, including disciplines that no one knows even exists, like tall bikes and random cobbled together bikes. [00:05:58]Jeff Frane: Yeah, it's, it's weird being here cuz we're a straight flyover country. You know, anything that gets media attention or national renowned is pretty much coastal. Um, so we, it's awesome to hear people say that. And, you know, people know that we're a bike city, but like, nobody comes visits Minneapolis, you know, um, we're kind of forgotten about. But we have this really, really special and unique culture. And, you know, there was Gene Ober, pillar and Hur ever stone. And Paul Ziegel and you know, the surly bikes and there's all these pretty amazing contributions that have been made. You know, single speed mountain biking. It wasn't invented here by any means, but I think it took on like its bigger cultural relevance. There was a huge push for that here, especially with, you know, surly bikes coming on outta the scene. Um, so we're standing on the shoulders of giants. There is an amazing, amazing culture that goes back generations, uh, here in the Twin Cities. [00:06:53]Craig Dalton (Host): And then I'm not sure exactly when quality bike parts came to be, but qbp is this cornerstone sort of backbone of the bicycle industry. Maybe you can describe who they are and what they do. [00:07:05]Jeff Frane: Yeah, so q uh, so the first shop I worked at here in Minneapolis was FreeWheel Bike. It was originally a co-op. By the time I got there, it was no longer a co-op. Uh, but, uh, what Steve Flagg, the owner of qbp, was one of the owners of the co-op, and they were, Essentially frustrated not being able to get small repair parts from Europe. And so he started bringing in repair parts and boom, that's how Quality Bicycles products got started. Him and his wife Mary, and you know, now it's the largest bicycle distributor distribution business in North America. They own Surly, they own Salsa, they own All City. They own whiskey. They own 45 North. Um, you know, it's a, it's a massive, massive operation. [00:07:48]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. Yeah. Super interesting. I never, I never knew that backstory, but I've, I've certainly known Q BP my entire cycling life, it seems like. And you've ultimately, you've found your way [00:07:58]Jeff Frane: to Q. Yeah. So you know, there Qbp was always like the, you know, like the beacon on the hill kind of thing. It was like all the shop rats were like trying to get to Q and uh, I was lucky enough to get hired there, so I worked like part-time seasonal at FreeWheel bike my first year in Minneapolis. Got laid off for the winter, uh, took a bunch of weird random jobs and eventually, um, QVP was hiring for warehouse people. And so I started there. I think in, it would've been 2006, uh, as part-time seasonal picking, packing, labeling, like literally the bottom rung on the totem pole. You know, it doesn't get much lower. Um, you know, in terms of. I mean, it's a fine job. I don't mean to say that the job was low, but you know, as far as the ranking goes, you're a part-time seasonal employee. [00:08:52]Craig Dalton (Host): it's the entry point. The very [00:08:53]Jeff Frane: Yeah, it's the entry entry point for sure. Um, so I got a job there and you know, by that time I was already kind of getting a reputation as like the fixed gear guy and I was already active in the community here in Minneapolis, organizing events. And they recognized that love and that passion that I had. And so, um, a few years in, I was able to start suggesting some product to Lisa Snyder, um, who was the brand manager of Dimension at the time. So there was the Dimension brand and they had like some track things and you know, kind of the whole thing was I was like, Yo, I'm really into track bikes and you have nothing I wanna buy. Like I'm buying all my stuff from Mary Sales and from these other distributors, Euro, Asia, imports, et cetera. Like, what's going on? Like, you're freaking qbp. Like, y'all need to do better. And so I started suggesting some product to her and she brought them in under the dimension label, and they did well. And then I was able to suggest more products. And then those did well. And eventually, um, I kind of got the, I was talking to Lisa about doing some other stuff. It just didn't go anywhere. And eventually I kind of got the guts up to say, oh, screw it. I'm going right to the top. And I drafted this, like, you know, at the time I thought it was really like rock solid, but it's ridiculously amateurish, like little business proposal for a brand that I was calling All City. Um, and the reason I needed a name change was I was like, I wanna do nicer stuff and people don't wanna buy nice stuff from dimension like that is repair level parts. So, I wanted a track crank, um, because there was a shortage at that time of 1 44 bolt, circle, diameter, you know, track cranks. And um, so I was like, let's call it All City. So All City Championships was the name of my alley cat that I was throwing every year. So the name comes from, uh, graffiti, uh, in New York City. Um, There's a term called being All City. And what that meant was that you had a piece on, on a train in all five boroughs. You were all city. So my race went to every part of the city, so that's why it was the All City Championships. And I just thought that would be a slick name for, you know, an urban track bike brand. And so, [00:11:14]Craig Dalton (Host): such a cool origin story of the name All City. I'd never heard that before. [00:11:20]Jeff Frane: Yeah, well, there's not many people, many. There's no one left to tell the story, like, I'm it, I'm the dinosaur. Um, [00:11:27]Craig Dalton (Host): So you started out All City and and didn't know this also All City started out with a basic concept of more premium track. Track componentry. [00:11:37]Jeff Frane: to make nicer stuff and I didn't think anybody would buy nicer stuff with the dimension label. Um, you know, it was kind of a weird deal cuz I like nice stuff. I've always been in a vintage bicycles and so like we had to kind of Trojan horse some of the ideas in, so like, I was like, okay, cool, now we have these parts. I wanna do a track bike and I wanna do a Minneapolis track bike. And we have winners in Minneapolis, which means, and fixed gears are like, are the best thing for winter commuters because, Maintaining a geared bike is just, that's way too much work. You know, I want the simplest bike I possibly can for these salty, crappy, slushy wind, you know, weather we have. Um, so I want our track bike that's a real track bike with real track geometry, but I wanna be able to fit a bigger tire. And, you know, at that time, like $500 complete fixed gears we're like dominating the market. And so I'm like, yeah, we're gonna do a $500, you know, uh, track bike just to like get the project rolling. Knowing damn well I don't wanna ride a $500 track bike. Like, no way. I wanna, I like nice stuff. Um, so then it was, you know, we kick off the project and I'm like, you know, I've done some market research and I really think that that price point is saturated. Like what we really need to do is do a thousand dollars track bike. Uh, no one's there, like no one's in that market space and we can put all our own parts on it and we don't have to use this cheap stuff. And that's how the big block was born. That's why it's a nice bike. Uh, because I convinced them that the $500 price point, price point, there was too much competition and we could never win that game. So we need to go upmarket. [00:13:10]Craig Dalton (Host): And at that point had QBP acquired or started any other, uh, full bike brand [00:13:15]Jeff Frane: Yeah. So Surly started, um, in like 1999. They changed their name to Surly in 98. So 1998 was when the Surly, or was when the one by one. Which was the precursor name to Surly Rat Ride came out and they had done some parts before that. Uh, sh I'm gonna do another shout out to Wakeman Massey, uh, founder of Surly Bikes. He, um, freaking visionary surly bikes, in my opinion, is the most influential bike brand of the last, you know, 30 years. Um, the steel Renaissance fat tire clearance. Every modern gravel bike is a crosscheck. Like I know they're, they didn't invent that stuff. Um, you know, big tire clearances, blah, blah, blah. But they popularized it and democratized it, and I think brought it to the forefront of the culture. [00:14:03]Craig Dalton (Host): Certainly democratized it. I would, I would double click on that one. And yes, double shout out to Wakeman. He may, he definitely doesn't remember this, but I met him back when I was at Dean Bicycles. I think he rolled in his first, Ever framed that he welded himself at university, a 24 inch dirt jumper that was ratty as hell, but he was super enthusiastic and passionate, and I think we even tried to hire him, but he wanted to go move somewhere else other than Boulder. [00:14:30]Jeff Frane: Yeah. Um, you know, and the fat bikes and 29 ERs and blah, blah, blah. Like surly, you know, they've done some really special things for sure. Um, and you know, QBP had already bought salsa, um, prior to that. So they had salsa and qbp, or I'm sorry, salsa and surly they had Sylvia at that time. Um, [00:14:51]Craig Dalton (Host): had, you started to kind of understand what a supply chain for a full bicycle looked like at that point when you brought the idea of the track bike to them. [00:14:59]Jeff Frane: I mean, kind of, you know, so like I, again, like with it was all baby steps, right? Um, You know, I was at first when All City started in 2008. It was 15 hours a week, and I was the sales and marketing coordinator, and then I made it to 20 hours a week, and then I made it to 30 hours a week. Well, you know, I was still doing warehouse stuff and all this, you know, and eventually it got to be a full-time position for me. Um, with Lisa still, like with Lisa still in charge. Like Lisa was awesome. She was the operations person and she had a really strong product background. [00:15:37]Craig Dalton (Host): yeah. [00:15:38]Jeff Frane: Um, and I was able to contribute, you know, my ideas and passion for the urban, you know, what we used then called urban cycling, um, for that. And, you know, we were a really, really great team. [00:15:50]Craig Dalton (Host): So that was probably the urban cycling angle for all cities, probably where my knowledge intersected with the existence of all cities. I started seeing these steel bikes underneath who were clearly passionate commuters in San Francisco. So how, how quickly did it kind of go from track bike? It's a commuter bike. And when did you start to see, hey, people are using these to ride on dirt? [00:16:14]Jeff Frane: Um, I mean, so right away the big block cleared a 32 seat tire, which in 2009 was like a pretty good sized tire. And you know, we were, before track lacrosse was track lacrosse, we were riding our fixes, you know, in the dirt, uh, doing that kind of stuff. Um, I had gotten interested in cycl lacrosse. We put out the Nature Boy, which is a single speed cross bike. You know, all city's evolution was always, there were always constraints for all city. We had surly on one side of us, we had salsa on the other. And it was like, how are we going to be different and offer something actually unique and not just, um, you know, compete with our sister brand. So, you know, the Nature Boy was a dedicated single speed, which didn't exist in the QBP for portfolio, you know, and when people came up, they're like, oh, that's just a stop and crosscheck like, what are you idiot kids doing? It's like, well, you know, ride the thing like, Um, you know, the nature boy, all the canal cities, I think have, have aged really well and become kind of culty classic bikes. Um, so, you know, I think, I think that came out well. We, we put out a bunch of fixie freestyle bikes if people remember fixed gear freestyle, which were also super fun to ride on dirt cuz they had big tire clearance. Uh, then we did the Nature Boy. Um, I think the bike after that was we went geared with the, with the macho man. And the Mr. Pink and the Space Horse and the Space horse was like the bike that really unlocked all cities potential. And you know, we've always been, I've always been interested in all facets of cycling and, you know, we saw what was happening with the crosscheck and it was like, well let's, if we make a bike like that, we're gonna sell a bunch. And that was the Space Horse, and it was our own spin on things. It was as sporty of a light touring bike as we could possibly make. Um, You know, that was Anna Schwinn's design and she absolutely crushed it with that. And that's the one that like started really opening doors and opening a lot of outside eyes to the brand because it was just a really good looking, functional and practical bike. [00:18:17]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah, yeah. And and clearly quite versatile. I think if you talk to anybody who's been around gravel for a while, as people were getting those first generation gravel bikes, you were seeing people on that bike, on the trails. [00:18:29]Jeff Frane: For sure. [00:18:30]Craig Dalton (Host): I already have the first generation. It's been underneath my legs for a few years. [00:18:34]Jeff Frane: Well, and you know, the Mr. Pink cleared 30 twos, so that was my, uh, I, I raced gravel on that for a number of seasons. You know, um, the, the, the Minnesota gravel at that time was strictly like gravel roads. Like we weren't doing like, necessarily a much of like minimum maintenance stuff or double track. It was gravel, gravel. The El Manzo 100 and you could ride a 28 C in that race. Uh, Mr. Pink Fit 32. So that was my gravel race bike at that time. I eventually moved over to the space horse because it had longer chain stays in a lower bottom bracket, which as you know, our awesome for descending fast on gravel. Um, you just, it's just significantly more stable and more planted in, I think, confidence inspiring. And so then, then the space horse. And my big regret with the space horse is that so many people got them and just put racks and fenders and they became these beasts of burden. But if you build built a light space horse canny, it was a ripper of a gravel racer. Um, it was fast and it was fun, and it really came alive under power. [00:19:41]Craig Dalton (Host): And you know, looking at the other Q BP brands was all city, and I know, I believe Surly is the same way. All City was always focused on steel as the frame material. [00:19:51]Jeff Frane: Yeah, I mean steel was definitely our focus. Uh, we did have an aluminum track bike because aluminum in, in track, velodrome racing is an incredibly relevant material. But yeah, it was always steel. And you know, as I was saying, we were always trying to find that niche and there were all these guardrails. Well, you know, how am I gonna make a steel bike that's different than surly. Well, I love ornateness in bikes. You know, I love those classic details. And so it was, let's design our own fancy pants dropouts. Uh, let's do the reinforcement stars on the bottle bosses. Let's design our own braised on seat collar. And you know, my whole, the whole concept there was if you stripped the frame of all of its paint, could you still tell it wasn't all city and nothing else? And that was what we were going for, was, you know, unique detailers and details and bringing. Back kind of beauty into a production bicycle. Cause like a surly is a pretty utilitarian, stripped down thing. And so we wanted, uh, and, and you know, the salsas were kind of, of that ilk too. And so we wanted a little more embellishments, a little more, um, call out to the, you know, the, the, the frame building, uh, heritage of the sixties and seventies and eighties, you know, internal top tube cable routing. You know, those kind of details became an important signifier of the brand. [00:21:03]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. Gotcha. I wanted to spend a few minutes on your QBP experience, cuz I just think it goes to underscore how much time you've thought about bikes, bicycle frames. [00:21:14]Jeff Frane: adult life, like this is it. Um, you know, and, um, so I, I became the brand manager and the leader of All City, officially, uh, Lisa was needed elsewhere in the company. And they were like, okay, dude, like, you're ready. I, I wasn't ready, turns out. But they were like, all right, so in 2013, I became the brand manager and kind of started assembling a bigger team because the brand was growing and you know, we put out a lot of bikes that I'm really proud of. Uh, you know, the cosmic stallion I think was a pretty, a pretty special and cool, uh, steel gravel racer, you know, and that was really the first gravel race bike that we, that we put out. You know, prior to that it was, we were using our cross bikes. Um, for these things, and now it was, okay, this is like, this is what a dedicated gravel bike should be. [00:22:07]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. Yeah. So obviously working within an organization like Q bp, you've gotta advocate, you've gotta create the business case, but they've got the capital to bring an idea to market, and they've got the infrastructure to get it out. You've subsequently left qbp and you decided to go on your own journey and create your own brand in wild. What was, what was that journey like and. Why? Why are you doing wild? [00:22:36]Jeff Frane: Um, so in 2019, I left qbp, um, after being with them for, what, 13, 14 years. And, you know, I, I had a really, really wonderful experience. I, I learned so much at QBP that it was really time for me to move on. I'm kind of a weird dude. And, you know, in a corporate environment, any kind of nonconformity will only be tolerated for a finite period of time. And we were starting to reach that point. And so I left in 2019 and, uh, you know, I never intended to start a bike company again. Um, you know, this is the thing I know how to do. I know how I have, I'm really good at having a vision and driving towards it. Obviously I know how to run a bike company cuz I had been doing it at Q P P for, you know, quite some time. Um, but kind of a random encounter with Paul Crick, uh, who owns Donkey Label here in Minneapolis. Donkey label's a clothing company. He was starting up a fab shop, uh, for the brand Stomper here. And, um, we ran into each other kind of on the massage table. Um, cuz he has like a fit studio and a sports masseuse and stuff, um, in his building here in Minneapolis. And he was like, oh, you can write work on bikes. Like, I need a mechanic. And so I was like, all right, cool. Um, started with Paul part-time and then he found out about my background and what I could do. And so I started taking over some of the operations, um, here in Minneapolis for Stomper. Um, and it was a pretty casual arrangement. Um, and so this is 2019, right? And so 2020 comes around and I have the opportunity. So my background is in marketing. Um, that was my, um, comparative studies in religion and marketing with a re I got at Eau Claire, which is why I ended up in a bike shop in Minneapolis. Like those things, uh, wasn't super employable at the time, so, Um, marketing came knocking and I had the opportunity to move to Portland to work with, uh, Billy Siford and his team at Echoes Communication. And I was really excited about that. Um, you know, I, I enjoy marketing. I was really excited to work with their portfolio of brands And I [00:24:59]Craig Dalton (Host): is a, echos a marketing PR agency that works with a bunch of different brands in the bike [00:25:05]Jeff Frane: Yeah. And they're the ones doing the maid show, so the maid, hand-built bike show that's happening in Portland this fall. Um, it's an echoes thing, so I had the opportunity to do that and I was like, all right, yeah, of course. Like I'm, I'm there, you know, Billy's been a friend of mine for a long time. He calls, I answer like, no problem. And so I was, uh, I quit my thing at Stomper and I was gonna go be, you know, a marketing dude in Portland, Oregon. Um, pandemic hits. I'm one week away from moving to Oregon and everything just freaking shuts down. So, you know, he is like, you know, don't come dude. Like, I don't know what's gonna happen. And I was like, that sounds really reasonable. I'm not gonna come. No worries my friend. You know? And so I'm here in Minneapolis and while I was working with Paul, working on his operations, um, was one I learned how to paint, which was amazing. Painting bicycles, super fun. Uh, but I had developed an American supply chain and there was nobody really using that supply chain. And some people hit me up when they were like, Sorry, I'm ahead of myself. So while I was working at Stomper, I built what is a, what was the first Earthship? I built this personal bike for me and Paul was in the process of potentially changing the name of the company. There wasn't a solid name and I was like, you should call it wild. Like that's a good name for a bike company. Naming bike companies is hard and I think this is solid. So I painted wild on the side of, of my titanium bike. Um, and then shortly after left, and so I had this bike wild that people were seeing on my Instagram and people started reaching out to me and they're like, yo, I see you got this bike. Like, what's up with that? Can I get one? And I was like, yes, actually, yeah, yes, you can get one. Like, let's, let's, let's freaking go. And so started kind of doing onesie twosies there. Um, building, you know, in Oregon, uh, was simple. And then at Waterford, um, so using a couple different fabricators and started making a few, few bikes on my own. Um, it was going really great. But, [00:27:12]Craig Dalton (Host): And were you just following where the customer was taking you at that point? Like if they wanted a, a gravel bike, you were building a gravel bike. Road bike. A road [00:27:20]Jeff Frane: a absolutely, you know, one of my biggest pleasures is working with a customer to co-create the bike of their dreams. So I don't ever try, I have a vision for these things and I've been riding bikes and testing bikes and evaluating bikes my entire professional career now. Um, so I have a pretty good idea when they describe how they want a bike to handle what we have to do to get it there. And, you know, I have a strong vision, but it's really about facilitating their, what they want. Um, you know, and some people are like, I want this hedge two bangle and this C two bangle. And I'm like, bet. Like that's cool. And then some people are just like, describe a feeling they want or the best bike ride they've ever been on, or tell me about the bikes they've rid the past that they've really liked. Um, so at qbp, I was leading the team, uh, that created these bikes, but I wasn't, I wasn't the engineer. [00:28:12]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. [00:28:12]Jeff Frane: Um, and I wasn't the product manager. Like I was authoring the briefs and then leading the team of the engineers and the product manager to the, you know, to the finished product. But now, I got to learn all the things. Uh, I got to learn how to do everything. And it, it is been amazing. Um, I consider myself to be pretty darn good at bike geometry now. Um, you know, I'm the one drafting all the bikes. I'm the one doing the mo doing, doing geo. Um, I was doing a lot of the tubing choosing, but I'm finding out that there's significantly more knowledge than I have in that regard. And so I'm always all about turning over those things to the best people, you know, who, who, who will get me the best outcome. And so, you know, we're working with our fabrication partners on that part of it now, but I get to be significantly more involved with product than I ever was at Q, which has been really, really super fun for me. [00:29:08]Craig Dalton (Host): I bet. So it sounds like, you know, people were coming to you, they were interested in the bike that you were riding and, and showing on your Instagram feed, et cetera. Was there, was there a moment that you sort of decided, Hey, I've made six or 10 for people I know I need to really kind of build some infrastructure around this brand, put up a website, get a little bit more structure so I can build a little bit more scale to this business? [00:29:31]Jeff Frane: well, you know, um, building bikes in the US is really challenging. Um, there's capacity issues in terms of how many frames we can get made. You can't really scale up a ton, um, or at least at the level I was at. And more importantly, one of the driving factors for me is working with my friends at the bike shops. So many of my best friends, uh, own shops and. The US stuff is, is awesome, but it's hard for them to make margin on it. And so I knew that I wanted to be in business with my friends and I knew that the best way to secure financial stability for my company was going to be to use my connections in Taiwan to have frames made. And luckily I was able to partner up with, um, Leche International Amazing Trading agent. Um, I could name off a bunch of brands that they work with, but I don't know if that would be polite, cuz I don't know if people want that information out there. Um, and we partnered up with them, right? I knew I wanted to do these Taiwanese frames, but I didn't have the resources to do it and nobody was gonna give me a loan for the money I needed. But luckily, Because I like to work with my friends, I was able to reach out to my buddy Josh at the Angry Catfish, Josh, uh, and Andy Co-Own Angry Catfish, which is a pretty well known bike shop here in Minneapolis. And they were into it, you know, they were having was pandemic time, so they were having all these issues with their supply chain and they wanted to, they, they, they didn't really feel like they could depend on anyone in the bike industry. To supply them. So they were like, hell yeah. What we wanna do is to take more of our future into our own hands as well. And so by owning a bike company, we can make sure that our bike shop has frames to sell, has bikes to sell. And so they were all about it. And that gave me the financial, uh, horsepower to be able to afford to do our first batches of frames in Taiwan. And we partnered up with the Max Way factory. Max Way is one of the best. One of the, one of the best places to make a bike. Um, their knowledge and depth in the industry is, is just incredible. The quality of their bikes are superb. Um, they're not the cheapest by any means, but they are really, really great bicycles. And so now we have this Taiwanese product that we're able to sell to our dealers at a decent margin where they can make a living and partner, partner with us. And I don't know, it's just really cool that our small business. Supports their small business. And it's the same thing when we work with our fabrication partners here in the US and we work with, um, you know, our designers and we work with our bag makers. We try to make as much stuff locally as we possibly can. It's our small business supporting the community, supporting their small business, keeping the money in the wealth in the community, among the culture creators. And that's become really kind of a rai and detra for us is, um, building, building strong community, and. Trying to keep as much of the wealth as we possibly can inside this kind of network of friends. [00:32:36]Craig Dalton (Host): Amazing. So if I'm understanding you correctly, if a customer comes to your website and they're interested in the bike, they've got two paths they can go down. One is kind of working with you on a custom US made frame. Second is either buying from you or from one of your bike shop partners, a production frame that you've designed. [00:32:55]Jeff Frane: Yeah, so we do custom uh, and production here in the us you know, and there's all shapes to that. Like somebody might say, Hey, I like the custom geo, but I want this and this, this paint job. You know? Um, I'm in the business of saying yes. Like, if you wanna do some stuff, you wanna try something And we haven't done it. Like I'm game. Like this is how we ex expand and grow our capability. And so, yeah, pretty much everything's on the table. Yeah, we have the Taiwan stuff. Um, it's cool because I feel like we can serve a customer at all levels of their kind of journey through bikes. Um, where they, where they don't, I mean, they can leave us if they want. Like you can buy whatever you want, but they weren't gonna outgrow us. Cause it's like, okay, you're gonna get in with a $2,300 complete Taiwanese bike. Awesome. And then maybe a few years down the line you're like, you know, I really want, have this idea that I wanna see come to life. And then you order a custom, uh, you know, steel bike from us, uh, that we make here in the USA to your specifications. And maybe a little later you're like, oh, you know, I also need, um, you know, a titanium mountain bike. Like, let's go wild. Like, can you make that? And then the answer is, hell yeah, we can, like nothing would give us the greatest pleasure. So it's cool cause I'm hoping that customers kind of get in. They, they love their bikes and then they continue growing with us. [00:34:14]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. Gotcha. I love that vision. So on that $2,300 price point, which I think is so amazing, I mean, it's so often that. We get people on the podcast and the, the bicycles they're talking about are just unattainable by the majority of the population and you need to start somewhere. So the reason I was asking the question about kind of custom versus production line, the Taiwan Taiwanese lineup, you had to make some decisions there because it wasn't a customer coming to you saying, I want 50 millimeter tire clearance, or I want this head two bangle. Tell me about the design of that bike. What's, who's the rider that you designed for, and what are some of the attributes of that, of that model? [00:34:56]Jeff Frane: Yeah, so if we're talking about the Rambler, which is our Taiwanese made gravel platform, we sell it in two versions with a carbon fork. We call that the SL super light. And then we have the steel fork version that we just call Rambler. Um, that is kind of based on the earth ship as, um, it kind, it borrows heavily from the earth ship. So in my lineage, as I progressed through the industry, we had the Space Horse, then we had the Cosmic Stallion, and then I created the Earth ship, which was an iter iteration of those works, an evolution of those works. And now we have the Rambler. And so when I, things I like in gravel bikes. I believe that an endurance bike comfortable is fast. Um, I love a tall, I have a bad back, uh, as we talked about before the podcast. Um, so I like Tall Stack and I'm super stoked that the industry trend is going more and more towards tall stacks because, you know, high-end bikes serving elite athletes, professional racers is freaking ridiculous. Um, you know, most of us who ride even. Those of us who ride, you know, 10,000 miles a year, we still don't hold like that riding position for a long period of time. Um, the way a professional can, um, so you know, comfortable is fast. So taller stacks. I like to design our gravel bikes with a relatively quick handling front end. I try to keep the trail number in the low sixties because I want it to be really agile. Um, I like bottom bracket heights. That are just slightly, they're slightly lower than a road bike. Um, you know, traditionally, like a touring bike was an 80 mil bottom bracket drop. Uh, with a space horse, we have that cuz we want it to be sportier at 75. Uh, I think the cosmic stallion is 73 and the Rambler hits at 72 with the carbon fork on it. And I really think that's a good, uh, position for it to be in. Um, for, you know, keeping it stable on those gravel descents, having it be very confident, inspiring. Uh, we spec a big tire and with big tires come longer, chains stays. Our chains stays are 4 38, uh, which I kind of think is a magic number in terms of still being agile, but giving you a little bit of cush from that rear end. Um, kind of interesting with the rambler is that the steel fork and the carbon fork have a little bit different geometry. The steel fork needed to be a little longer to clear that big tire. And I'm actually really excited about the change because it makes the, that version of the bike really slick for gnarlier double tracks. Um, some, you know, single track more, more aggressive off-road terrain as well as it makes it really good for six 50 B conversions. When that conversion, it's, it's designed for it. So a six 50 B set up, [00:37:43]Craig Dalton (Host): And what is, what is for 700 C? What kind of tire clearance were you able to achieve? [00:37:48]Jeff Frane: uh, a 50 in the rear, and then the fork clears a two, one. [00:37:51]Craig Dalton (Host): Okay. [00:37:52]Jeff Frane: You know, I, I mean, to me that's gravel standard now. Like if you're not clearing a 50, like you're off the back. [00:37:57]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah, totally agree. It's been interesting, like the journey over the last, at least for me, the last five years to come to that point and see the industry come along and you know, when I first got into it, it was like you had to have two sets of wheels because. If you wanted to get big tires, you had to go down to six 50 B and now not the case. Right. I can run 700 by 55 on my current bike and that's, that's ample, right? [00:38:21]Jeff Frane: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I love that. Um, like every once in a while, like a, like something that's really popular, like, I'm gonna use the example like blood stones are really popular the last couple years, right. And I just so happen to be amazingly comfortable. Awesome shoes, like gravel bikes are super popular and they're also the most versatile, most practical bike you can freaking buy. Like, it's spectacular when. The really good, smart thing also becomes the popular thing, cuz that's not always the case. [00:38:51]Craig Dalton (Host): Yep. Yeah. The, the idea that we have this one bike in our quiver that can do so many different things and have so many different personalities depending on where we wanna ride, is absolutely what's drawn me to the sport. There's no question about it. [00:39:05]Jeff Frane: Totally. And you know, um, so I designed the Rambler so that it can also flex into bike packing if you want. It'll fit a, a, a two two or 2 3 6 50 B. And, um, like on the Earthship, which is a, a dedicated gravel race product, um, I have just bottle mounts in the main triangle and a bottle mount underneath the down tube. Uh, but on the rambler we have three pack mounts on the top of the bottom of the down tubes. A little more versatility there. I don't have rack mounts on the earth ship because it's a gravel race bike. But the rambler being, because it's a little more of an all arounder, will have your rack mounts. Um, you know, all of our bikes have three-pack mounts on them because I think that's standard internal dynamo routing, you know, um, all the features that I think should, should be on a, on a, on a current modern gravel bike. [00:39:57]Craig Dalton (Host): All great stuff, Jeff. So if people are interested in finding out more about the brand or ultimately purchasing one of these bicycles, how, where are you encouraging them to go? I know you wanna work with local bike shops whenever possible, but what? Yeah. Tell me about your vision for how you interact with customers. [00:40:15]Jeff Frane: well, um, you know, we're working to expand our dealer network. Uh, we're trying to keep it, we were trying to keep it significantly tighter. Um, but now we're ready, now that we have a decent amount of inventory from Taiwan, like we're ready to expand. The reason I wanted to keep it tighter is because I don't wanna be a crappy supplier. I don't wanna open up all these dealers and then not have the product to serve them well. [00:40:37]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah, [00:40:38]Jeff Frane: So we're starting to expand a little bit. It's tough because people are like, oh, I saw this on your Instagram. Is there a place where I can go try it in my area? And for most of the people right now, the answer is no. There, there, there isn't really. Um, you know, I think we have 20 dealers around the country at this point, and then we have some in Canada and Japan as well. So, So it's a little tough, you know, here in Minneapolis, like Angry Catfish has all of our stuff on the floor and that's been a really awesome resource for it. I feel a lot of conversations, uh, you know, of emails and such from, from customers asking about the product, um, it's kind of handy cuz in a lot of cases I can be like, well, do you, can you write a space horse? Is there somewhere you can go check out a space horse or a cosmic stallion? Um, our bike is not the same geometry as that, but if that feels good to you, This was my previous, this was the previous work. Check out the new iteration. I dunno if that sounded like a d Was that a jerky thing to say? I hope not much love to, to all this stuff that, you know, we've done in the past and much love to all city. [00:41:43]Craig Dalton (Host): So are you guys holding inventory? Like if someone came to you today and said, I need a rambler, [00:41:48]Jeff Frane: absolutely, absolutely. Um, you know, the struggle that we're having a little bit is, uh, we're offering complete bikes. Which is important and we're offering complete bike shop bikes to our dealers. Um, cuz you know, it's one thing to sell a frame to a dealer, but chances are that frame's just gonna sit there. Like, people need to, like to need, people need to be able to test ride it and, and see it and touch it. Um, so we're selling our shops complete bikes as well, and it's proving a little bit of challenging to put together kits sometimes, but we're doing, uh, as good of a job as we possibly can. [00:42:20]Craig Dalton (Host): And then on the custom side, if someone came to you and said, Hey, I want you to build this dream bike for me. What does that timeline look like and what's sort of the process they go through? [00:42:27]Jeff Frane: Well, uh, I didn't answer the first part of your question, which is do we have inventory? Oh, yeah. We, we absolutely do. We have ramblers in stock. We have our bike packing bike Super Tramp. I have earth ships, US made gravel racers in stock ready to jam. Um, those are really interesting because it's some of the last stuff to come outta Waterford before Waterford closes its doors. And so if you wanted something from that historic, um, historic place, Um, we've got earth ships for you and every time I kind of sell one I'm like, Ooh, there's one less Waterford, Mike, like, we're getting down to the end. [00:43:00]Craig Dalton (Host): I hope the people who are buying them know that that's where they were fabricated cuz that is a meaningful origin of that bike. [00:43:07]Jeff Frane: absolutely. I mean, Waterford is American cycling to me, uh, Richard and his crew there. It's a legendary place with legendary people. You know, I was fortunate enough to work with his daughter Anna, at All City, uh, who I mentioned earlier. And, um, it's a huge, huge loss culturally to us and to the American bicycle industry, um, that they're closing shop, but at the same time, Richard, that's a freaking well earned retirement and what a legacy he li leaves behind. So many happy riders, so many great bikes. [00:43:40]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. If you, if for the listener, if you haven't heard of Waterford, just do a little Googling and you'll see what we're talking about. [00:43:46]Jeff Frane: Um, to answer your question about timeline, usually takes us about three to four months for a steel or titanium, uh, frame set for a custom. Uh, some of that, you know, we've got a pretty good handle on production time. Uh, some of the variability comes with finishing. Uh, you know, we use a number of people depending on if you want a saraco or if you want powder coat, or if you want. Or if you want really, really, really fancy ano, like those are all kind of different vendors to get us that. [00:44:16]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. [00:44:16]Jeff Frane: so there's a little bit of variability, but typically four months, [00:44:20]Craig Dalton (Host): Nice. Nice. Anything else that we didn't cover about the brands that you'd like to share, [00:44:27]Jeff Frane: man, Craig, um, you know, I, I, I couldn't be happier with where we are. Um, I get to continue to contribute to the, to the cycling world in some small way. And, you know, I'm super excited about that. Um, I do have something to say though, um, which is this brother. Um, when I trying to figure out how to, how to like, segue into this with, I'm just gonna say it, um, to all the people listening out there, the thing that. Um, has really changed for me in my career and that has really helped me develop as a human being is this, um, you know, we live in a a, we live in the United States of America. We live in a capitalist society and we all have to work and we all have to hustle, uh, to make, to make life work. And, um, you know, one of the big things that, that, that happened to me, Was that I was so, I loved all city, I loved Q bp. I was so emotionally connect, interconnected with this thing. And you know, I was Jeff from All City. Like, that was my identity. My work, my job was such a huge part of my identity that when it was time to leave, that it was like this huge crushing, I mean, it ended up being the best thing that could have possibly happened to me, um, because I was able to develop, um, into the human being. I am, I am today, which is a much healthier. But I had conflated that my work with my value and my identity, right? And, um, so what I want everyone to just to know and to reiterate, like, you're not your job. You're not your output. You aren't how many freaking widgets you made in a day. Um, you're a beautiful special human being who deserves love. And you know, for me, part of that deserving love is deserving to ride my bike every day. Because that's when I feel at, at most, at peace with the world, at most, at peace with myself. Like, that's what bikes are. Bikes are fucking, bikes are salvation. Pardon of my language. Um, and so I just, I don't know, like this is like the message that I wanna just tell everyone is that, um, you're amazing just the way you are. You don't have to make anything. You don't have to produce anything. You don't have to do anything. Just you being you, um, brings a big, big, big, big, big light into this world and. That I love you so much for everyone out there and, uh, yeah, [00:46:51]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. Thanks brother. I appreciate the sentiment and I appreciate all the, all the good energy you've put into the world, into the bike community. I mean, I think we all realize this, that, you know, we're, we're. It's a luxury to be able to ride these great bikes that we ride. It's a luxury to have the time. It's a luxury to have the community and the environment to get out there and do what we do. And for people like you who are putting it out there in good energy and creating brands like wild, I wish you all the success in the world. [00:47:19]Jeff Frane: Yeah. Well, and thank you so much again for the opportunity to be here. It's, um, you know, it takes a village. Um, we're a little brand just trying to make our way in the world. You know, the, the biggest thing for us is like, people just, it's not that people aren't willing to choose us. It's like that people don't even know we're an option. And it's really hard to build an audience with, like, the way the algorithms are set up. These days. So, you know, opportunities like this to be on the Gravel Ride podcast are, are freaking huge for us. [00:47:47]Craig Dalton (Host): Yeah. Well, awesome. I appreciate the conversation, Jeff, and it was great to get to know you and we'll make sure everybody knows how to get in touch with you guys. [00:47:54]Jeff Frane: Yeah. If, if y'all are looking for, you know, if y'all are looking for bikes, we got 'em. And, uh, I think they're real nice. [00:48:01]Craig Dalton (Host): I love it. Thanks, Jeff. [00:48:03]Jeff Frane: Thank you Craig.    

Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance Podcast, hosted by Mary Shirley and Lisa Fine. In today's episode, the Great Women in Compliance podcast delves into training and learning with Maria D'Avanzo, who is the Chief Evangelist Officer for Traliant.  Prior to joining Traliant, Maria was the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and Chief Privacy Officer for Cushman & Wakefield. Like Lisa, many of you may be wondering what a "Chief Evangelist Officer" does in compliance, and Maria's role is one which is more often seen in tech companies, where there is a person who is dedicated to improving the customer experience in all areas, from product development to customer servicing, using her perspective as an E&C officer.  She shares some of what she has learned from customers and her views on trends and current issues, including the use of AI and best practices.  She also talks about her experiences in financial compliance, and may be the first podcast guest who holds NASD Series 24, 7, and 63 licenses. You can find the Great Women in Compliance Podcast on the Compliance Podcast Network (CPN) where you can find several other resources and podcasts to keep you up to date in the Ethics and Compliance world. You can also find the GWIC podcast on Corporate Compliance Insights (CCI) where you can learn more about the podcast, stream prior episodes and catch up on Mary's monthly column "Living Your Best Compliance Life.” Corporate Compliance Insights is a much-appreciated sponsor and supporter of GWIC, including affiliate organization CCI Press publishing the related book; “Sending the Elevator Back Down, What We've Learned from Great Women in Compliance” (CCI Press, 2020). If you enjoyed the book, the GWIC team would be very grateful if you would consider rating it on Goodreads and Amazon and leaving a short review.  Don't forget to send the elevator back down by passing on your copy to someone who you think might enjoy reading it when you're done, or if you can't bear parting with your copy, consider it as a holiday or appreciation gift for someone in Compliance who deserves a treat. If you enjoyed the book, the GWIC team would be very grateful if you would consider rating it on Goodreads and Amazon and leaving a short review.  Don't forget to send the elevator back down by passing on your copy to someone who you think might enjoy reading it when you're done, or if you can't bear parting with your copy, consider it as a holiday or appreciation gift for someone in Compliance who deserves a treat. You can subscribe to the Great Women in Compliance podcast on any podcast player by searching for it and we welcome new subscribers to our podcast. Join the Great Women in Compliance community on LinkedIn here.

On this episode of Tradeswork: The Rocky Mountain Mechanical Contractors Association Podcast, we welcome Lisa Hough, President and CEO of Adams County Regional Economic Partnership (AC-REP). As a public/private, nonprofit economic development organization, AC-REP serves the Greater Adams County region, its 10 municipalities, more than 10,000 companies, and just over a half a million residents by working to write the next chapter of the region by amplifying its unique business story, championing area real estate developments, and focusing on new infrastructure. Here are some of the questions you can expect to be answered on the show: What are some new projects underway in Adams County? What makes the demographics unique in Adams County? How is the region navigating the workforce challenges faced by the entire state? What is the top regional challenge? What is Lisa most excited about for the region? What is the overall mood of the business community she serves? This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere. Please rate, review and subscribe. For more information about AC-REP, please visit their website. For more information about Rocky Mountain Mechanical Contractors Association, please visit our website.

The issues mount as November's election closes in. Recent decisions by the Supreme Court have sent shockwaves across the country – and particularly here in Texas. In Houston, the threat of a shaky electric grid is an omnipresent source of concern, with heat records falling constantly. As these issues heat up, so has the rhetoric, and it all leads to one simple question: Does Beto O'Rourke have what it takes unseat Governor Abbott, whose war chest is perhaps more lucrative than the Republican National Committee itself? Today, we speak to Scott Braddock of Quarumreport.com, who details for Lisa some of the problems that Republicans have been dealing with, and, what it will take for Beto to be competitive as the election approaches. Be sure to check out Scott's website. He is also up on Texas political events on Twitter, so check him out here! Like Lisa said, make sure to sign up for the newsletter here. We cover all kinds of great food, events, books, plays – all the things that make Houston great! Like Mr. Braddock, we're also active on Twitter: @CityCastHouston You can also leave us a voicemail (or text us!) at +1 713-489-6972 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we talk all about Mary's many comments about Jennie, see Whitney finally launch her Wild Rose rebrand, and Meredith has questionable choices in clothing and friends. Also are we starting to… LIKE Lisa? We also discuss some off-air Jen drama and our predictions for Jen and Lisa's fight next week. If you like this episode PLZ share it with your RHOSLC friends and we hope to see you next week! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tyler-murphy63/support

On this episode, Audre and Devin sit down with professional dating coach, Lisa Shields, for part two of a two-part series. If you found this episode useful, please consider buying us a cup of coffee - or even becoming a member of the Here's the Deal podcast family! Members receive exclusive episodes, the opportunity to vote on show topics, live Zoom chats, and more. Audre Nelson is a licensed therapist and life coach. Devin Kleffer is a professional educator and business owner. The situations and insights shared on Here's the Deal are meant as generalized advice and in no way are a substitute for individualized professional therapy from a licensed therapist. Some topics and episodes may contain material or language not suitable for young listeners - please use your own discretion. Here's the Deal is a production of Be Heard Studios. Please visit Be Heard Studios to discover how we can help you launch and maintain your own podcast, or checkout our book "Be Heard! The Definitive Guide to Podcasting." KEYWORDS: mental health, goal setting, resolutions, lifestyle

On this episode, Audre and Devin sit down with professional dating coach, Lisa Shields, for part one of a two-part series. If you found this episode useful, please consider buying us a cup of coffee - or even becoming a member of the Here's the Deal podcast family! Members receive exclusive episodes, the opportunity to vote on show topics, live Zoom chats, and more. Audre Nelson is a licensed therapist and life coach. Devin Kleffer is a professional educator and business owner. The situations and insights shared on Here's the Deal are meant as generalized advice and in no way are a substitute for individualized professional therapy from a licensed therapist. Some topics and episodes may contain material or language not suitable for young listeners - please use your own discretion. Here's the Deal is a production of Be Heard Studios. Please visit Be Heard Studios to discover how we can help you launch and maintain your own podcast, or checkout our book "Be Heard! The Definitive Guide to Podcasting." KEYWORDS: mental health, goal setting, resolutions, lifestyle

Infinite Energies with Lisa Benitz  Designing Your Life begins with you. Are you ready to create a design that works with your life? To book a discovery call with Lisa go to infiniteenergies.timetap.com *Listen now on the Inspired Choices Network app!  https://linktr.ee/inspiredchoicesnetwork ~ More About Infinite Energies ~  Join Lisa Benitz, Space Whisperer™ and Founder of Creating Conscious Spaces™ on her weekly Radio show as she discusses everything from the perspective of how our spaces, affect our bodies, relationships, money, business, and so much more! What are the infinite possibilities with Infinite Energies?! When you acknowledge that all of your spaces are a reflection of what is going on in your life, you will begin to see ways to shift things to create more of what it is you desire.  What is truly special about this show?  Lisa can energetically tap into your space wherever it is in the world and read the energy, live without ever having to see a photograph.  Incredible, absolutely!  Lisa embodies, kindness, and a sharp awareness of what is asking to shift in your spaces to set you on the path of change!  This show is a place without judgement and full of fun.  Its time to stop procrastinating and get started in your life! Lisa Benitz is a Space Whisperer™,  Interior and Exterior Space Specialist, International Facilitator, Coach, Speaker, Radio Host, and Writer. She has turned her love of working with spaces into a unique business that creates actionable results for people in all sectors of their lives. The founder of Creating Conscious Spaces™, a customized workshop, facilitated in English, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Chinese, continues to grow its' reach worldwide. Lisa continues to inspire others around the world to learn the practice of how perceiving and connecting with their environments and others can create a greater future for all. "Changing the World One Space At a Time™" has become a worldwide movement. lisa@infiniteenergies.ca ~ https://www.facebook.com/infinitenergies ~ https://www.infiniteenergies.ca/ To get more of Infinite Energies with Lisa Benitz, be sure to visit the podcast page for replays of all her shows here: https://www.inspiredchoicesnetwork.com/podcast/infinite-energies-with-lisa/

IF THEY AREN'T IN SCHOOL BY THE THIRD EPISODE I'M OUT! On this new episode of Kawaii Five-0 both hosts are sore from doing nothing except being over the age of 30. The show starts off with some light chat about what the hosts are currently watching; Like Lisa watching dark deep shit, as Alex is watching some demon girl slice of life trash, along with what they are excited for coming up. Later they get into the nitty gritty discussing anime villains, or in Alex's case, high school rivals. Lisa breaks down her top villains as Alex ask 'why'? Followed by a casual game of 3 Words. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the podcast! Follow us on Twitter: Alex, LisaWe have a Kofi!Youtube: SoonDiscord: SoonAnime discussed on this episode:Hunter x HunterAttack on TitanDemon SlayerJojo's Bizarre AdventureDropout GabrielLove is WarWelcome to Demon SchoolThe Fate Series(A couple others probably xD)   

In our one hundred and fourth episode we have the pleasure of speaking to Lisa, aka @queencityketo on Instagram who just had a keto pregnancy and is currently using a keto diet while breastfeeding her beautiful 2 month year old daughter. Have questions on keto during pregnancy? This is a great listen! SPONSORS: Pili Hunters Pili Nuts Code: Ketoconnect for 10% off your order! FBOMB Code: Ketoconnect for 10% off your order!

Do happy adoptees exist? In this episode, Lisa interviews Melissa about her life as a Korean adoptee, what her parents did right, connections to culture, and many other fascinating topics. We also talk about her life as an adoptive mom and how being an adoptee influences her. Like Lisa, Melissa holds two roles in the adoption triad. She's an adult adoptee and an adoptive mom. Her positive adoption experience contributed to her decision to become an adoptive mom, which has been a much more complex journey. We hope you love this episode as much as we enjoyed creating it. Links Relevant to this episode: #23: My 2 Parts in the Triad -Lisa's Story of Being a Birthmom and Adoptive Mom Join our Facebook group The volunteers who held Melissa from Korea to Baltimore.First day home.Melissa with mom and siblings.Melissa with her best friend.Some of the family together for Christmas 2018!

Do happy adoptees exist? In this episode, Lisa interviews Melissa about her life as a Korean adoptee, what her parents did right, connections to culture, and many other fascinating topics. We also talk about her life as an adoptive mom and how being an adoptee influences her. Like Lisa, Melissa holds two roles in the adoption triad. She's an adult adoptee and an adoptive mom. Her positive adoption experience contributed to her decision to become an adoptive mom, which has been a much more complex journey. We hope you love this episode as much as we enjoyed creating it. Links Relevant to this episode: #23: My 2 Parts in the Triad -Lisa's Story of Being a Birthmom and Adoptive Mom Join our Facebook group The volunteers who held Melissa from Korea to Baltimore.First day home.Melissa with mom and siblings.Melissa with her best friend.Some of the family together for Christmas 2018!

While I've mentioned I don't want Seize the Yay to be about just business, health and women, I couldn't help but showcase another incredible female founder and CEO in the wellness space, Julie Stevanja, who I am also lucky to call my friend. Like Lisa and Rach, I met Julie at my first major speaking gig a few years ago and am continually in awe of how stylish, successful and savvy she is! She is CEO of one of my favourite online retailers, Stylerunner, which grew by 1736% to a multimillion dollar company value in the first three years. The website ships to 100 countries around the world and stocks more than 50 brands, including their own label Flight Mode which I absolutely adore. She is the epitome of style, somehow integrating Activewear into street style in a way that very few others could pull off. At that very first speaking gig when I was super nervous, she told me she was a closet introvert and gave me a quick schooling on the psychology of power posing and I've never forgotten it. So glad to have her on the podcast to share some of her many other pearls of wisdom. And since the sun was shining on this beautiful day we recorded outside so the birds provide some beautiful ambiance but you'll have to excuse an airplane or two! + Show notes are available here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

While I've mentioned I don't want Seize the Yay to be about just business, health and women, I couldn't help but showcase another incredible female founder and CEO in the wellness space, Julie Stevanja, who I am also lucky to call my friend. Like Lisa and Rach, I met Julie at my first major speaking gig a few years ago and am continually in awe of how stylish, successful and savvy she is! She is CEO of one of my favourite online retailers, Stylerunner, which grew by 1736% to a multimillion dollar company value in the first three years. The website ships to 100 countries around the world and stocks more than 50 brands, including their own label Flight Mode which I absolutely adore.She is the epitome of style, somehow integrating Activewear into street style in a way that very few others could pull off. At that very first speaking gig when I was super nervous, she told me she was a closet introvert and gave me a quick schooling on the psychology of power posing and I’ve never forgotten it. So glad to have her on the podcast to share some of her many other pearls of wisdom. And since the sun was shining on this beautiful day we recorded outside so the birds provide some beautiful ambiance but you’ll have to excuse an airplane or two!+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Holly is a Certified Sunday Basket Workshop Organizer, promoting her Professional Organization Business, as a partner with Organize 365.  In this week's podcast episode Lisa poses many questions to Holly, who is now in her second year in business. Holly decided to become a Professional Organizer working full time for a corporation, doing a job she loves. She never intended to set out to own her own business,but has been inspired by women who retired "from corporate life" in their 50s to work on their own businesses full time. She was a huge fan of Lisa Woodruff and Organize 365. She was feeling good and getting her house under control, and it made her curious to see what other organizing podcasts were out there. She stumbled on this podcast, when it was first released, was a listener and thought it would be fun as a career after she retired. Inspired by Organize 365, she decided to take the plunge!  Her advice for anyone considering becoming a Professional Organizer? "Listen to POTtank and suck up as much knowledge from that as possible to get started. Come to Lisa's live events to hear her motivate you in person and network with other POs. But really if you're starting a business yourself and you want to be your own boss you have to look inward, find your passion/your "why" and everything else can fall into place. Like Lisa says 'you are enough' - you have it in you to be what you want to be, so you have to find the confidence to know you're worth it and deserve it. Get to know yourself so you can develop a unique personal brand and go after clients that you will work with well. Having your own business means you don't have to work with anyone and everyone. Hiring a coach you can have one-on-one sessions with really helps with this personal development. Oh and don't compare yourself to the what everyone else is doing. There is no 'right way'. It does help to find a mentor/model who is only a tiny bit further than you in the process of starting the business." One thing that Holly feels is unique about her business/services is her name. "I picked my name HAP Organizing Solutions to mean various things. On one hand it stands for my initials Holly A. Perez, but it really stands for Happy and Productive. This is the emotional base for what I'm offering to clients. It also can abbreviate Home offices and Paper. :) I use my corporate experience to focus on efficiency and streamlining the home's operations as if you were improving processes at work. It's about gaining savings of time and money. My philosophy is that we don't need to waste time/money on organizing products in order to make a significant impact. It's all about prioritizing the client's most impactful project to build momentum and experience the benefits right away." Listen in as Holly and Lisa share what it's like to be a Professional Organizer today!  You can listen here! You can learn more about Holly's business here!

In an All-Message show, Psychic Medium Lisa Bousson shares her intuitive gift with those who were on the live webinar show. To be notified of upcoming shows, “Like” Lisa’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/lisabousson   Listen to the podcast on itunes. The post Ep15: All-Message Show on In-Sight with Psychic Medium Lisa Bousson appeared first on Lisa Bousson.

Psychic Medium Lisa Bousson offers free mini readings in her All-Message Shows. Like Lisa’s business Facebook page to learn about upcoming shows, topics, and notable guests in the fields of metaphysics, spiritual healing, spiritual development, animal communication and so much more! Watch the entire webinar on YouTube Here. The post Ep11: In-Sight with Psychic Medium Lisa Bousson All-Message Show 1017217 appeared first on Lisa Bousson.

  In this All-Message show, Lisa shares Psychic intuitive insight with guests on her podcast show. To be notified of upcoming shows “Like” Lisa’s business Facebook page. In-Sight with Lisa Bousson is normally aired live on Tuesdays at 12:00 pm, EST. To be included in a show you must have the audio and video working […] The post Ep5: All-Message Show with Psychic Medium Lisa Bousson appeared first on Lisa Bousson.

Peter & Lee's summer hiatus continues in preparation for the Story Pirates Podcast relaunch in the fall.  Until then the Story Pirates present a Summer Grab Bag of old classics.  This week features two songs.  The first is from a then-fifth grader named Chuck and it's called "The Rundown." The second is from a then-first grader named William and his story is called, "I Like Lisa."

This Episode’s Focus on Strengths This month’s episode features Gary Ware, whose mission is to help people “energize their work.” If you find that your job is sometimes humdrum, and that your team’s ability to create new, innovative ideas is stifled, then this is the episode for you. Gary provides practical tools (and cool examples) you can use to get creative juices flowing. And, there’s even a bonus – tips to improve your interviewing skills. You can use those tips on both sides of the proverbial interviewing table. To give you a hint about Gary's essence, here’s his favorite quote by Plato. He lives his life by it: “You learn more about a person in an hour of play, than a lifetime of conversation.”   What You’ll Learn Practical tools to improve creativity and problem solving at work: Use this lesson from Improv: be in the moment and be fully present. If you're not fully engaged, your ability to contribute to a proposed idea will be limited. Gary and Lisa both practice the concept of "soft focus" that comes from improvisation. In practicing soft focus, you're fully tuned into what's going on in the room. Rather than thinking about what you're going to say next, you're fully there with the intention to listen and soak in what's going on around you. Use the words “Yes, and…” instead of cutting off someone’s idea with a "Yes, but." Make an effort to see where the idea takes you as a group, and don't deviate from a concept until it’s fully played out. Ideas are different from execution, yet often people squash ideas by thinking about impractical execution details as ideas get launched. This is why you hear "Yes, but" so often in meetings. The challenge is that ideas need space. When a team member thinks his idea will get slammed, he won't bother throwing it out. And his idea might just be the one that inspires his teammate's genius breakthrough that would have come 7 ideas down the line. Notice what works. When you keep going, and when you get stuck, that’s where you get the amazing stuff! Spend time debriefing as a team. Talk about what brings out your biggest ideas. Talk about what makes you feel your best. Share moments of success because noticing what works will help you get more of what works. Accepting and considering ideas, no matter how crazy, will lead you to innovation and creative breakthrough moments. Allow yourselves to get stuck so that you can get to the breakthrough. Don't disregard them.  Take the word “but…” out of your vocabulary entirely. That’s just another way of saying no. It's a way of disregarding a person’s contribution, which may inhibit them from speaking up when they have their next incredible idea. Many leaders and team members think they're being practical when they pick ideas apart. On the surface it feels like a way to quickly cull and make decisions. Yet actually, it creates a situation where people don't want to speak until they have a great idea. Find your openness. Enter creative sessions with a sense of curiosity and possibility. If needed, tell everyone that this meeting isn't about making a decision. Tell them it's about coming up with ideas. If needed, create a silly mantra like "thank you for that idea" that everyone says in unison after every idea. Rather than commenting on an idea, you simply thank them, accept the submission and keep moving to the next idea. That way, you're not categorizing ideas as good and bad, you're simply generating the list of ideas. Step into their shoes. Remember that we all see things through different lenses. Try to see ideas and concepts as others do. Consider that their perspectives, assumptions, and experiences are leading them to show up with a unique perspective. Using this mental practice is great for team building because it asks you to consider how someone else might view a project or problem.   Bonus tools to help you during an interview: If you are thrown off during an interview, compose yourself and be real. If you don’t know an answer, be honest. They’ll know when you're flustered, and making up an answer is not a good option. Hiring managers want to know who you are. They want to know how you work. With all things being equal, people are going to hire those they like, so be your true self. Your resume tells them what you've done. That's easy enough to read, so use the interview to show the who and how. Have some stories about yourself ready. Use these stories to highlight your strengths. Lisa recommends coming up with one example for each of your Top 5 StrengthsFinder talent themes. Since your natural talents are more about how you work than what you do, they make for great behavioral interview answers. For example, if you have a story about how you used your Includer talent to bring success to a high-stress project, you can use that example for many common behavioral interview questions, such as "tell me about a time when you overcame a challenging situation" or "tell me about a time when you dealt with a difficult person." If you're a hiring manager, try the Monkey Wrench Game that Gary and Lisa demonstrate during the episode. This is a tool you can use in an interview to see how someone thinks on the fly. And like the Plato quote above, you can tell a lot about a candidate through their play.   If you manage a team, try the activities that Gary and Lisa demonstrated in a team meeting. These Improv exercises are a fun way to do a five minute team building exercise at the beginning of your next team meeting. They're a great way to set the tone for a creative, collaborative conversation.   Yes, And Interview (San Antonio Zoo Interview was the example in the episode) Objective: Hold a 1x1 conversation between two people at a time with no pre-planned expertise or interview questions. Time: 10 min. This could take 30 min or an hour if you have a large team. Be sure to set the stage so people know they should try to keep their answers to 1 minute or less. An average-size team will be finished in 10 minutes + instruction time. Purpose: Get your team in the moment and fully present so that they "Yes, And" their way to a full conversation. The purpose is to generate collaboration, ideation, support, creativity, and of course...fun. Preparation: Bring a pad of sticky notes. Get two volunteers. One person will be the interviewer, and one will be the first interviewee. The interviewer will be the same person during the entire game. This person should be a good communicator who will enjoy being part of the exercise the entire time. The interviewee will change after each question, so each team member will take a turn. Tell the team that you'll be building on a conversation (a mock expert interview) as you go person by person. Encourage them to call back to each other's references. Ask them to try to transition into their response seamlessly, as if it is one conversation. Do a quick demo so they get the idea before you get started. How to do it with your team: Ask each person to write one noun on one sticky note and one verb on a second sticky note. When people are finished, have them put those on a wall or in the middle of the table where everyone can see. This is your pile of inspiration words. Get your interviewer to pick one of the words. That person starts the interview with, "thanks for coming in to share your expertise on [word]" - then the interviewer continues by asking a relevant question about that word. The interviewee answers and then says, "I think you should also talk to my friend [teammate's name] he/she is an expert when it comes to [word]." Then the interviewer asks the new person a question about that word. The interview continues until all teammates have answered a question. Key: this needs to feel like one conversation. That's where the Yes, And comes into play. Try to transition into their response seamlessly, as if it is one conversation. On a flip chart or whiteboard, write, "I think you should also talk to my friend [teammate's name] he/she is an expert when it comes to [word]" - this will help them remember how to generate the handoff from one interviewee to the next. Debrief the experience: Ask how that exercise mimicked things that happen at work on a regular day. Ask what it felt like when the transitions were natural and tied together. Ask what it felt like when someone abruptly moved to the next topic in the interview. Note: the lesson you're drawing out is what it feels like when you use "Yes, And" to collaborate and build on each other's ideas. It's to talk about what it feels like when you show up as a fully present participant who accepts what "is" and moves forward from there. If you have a team with a lot of emotional baggage or a habit of squashing infant ideas, this would be a great exercise.   Monkey Wrench Story (this was the ranch story from the episode) Objective: Hold a conversation in pairs where the storyteller flexes the story based on random words inserted by the randomizer. Time: 3 min + instruction time. Purpose: Get your team out of an over-analyzing mode; practice full presence; have fun; practice adaptability and innovation; experience change with no luxury of planning. Preparation: Get a timer. You can likely use the stopwatch feature on your phone. Have everyone pair up. One person will be the storyteller (this is the role Lisa played in the example in the episode). One person will be the randomizer (this is the role Gary played).  Ask them to decide who will play which role for their 3 minute story. Do a quick demo so they get the idea before you get started. How to do it with your team: Tell the storytellers that their job is to tell a story that begins with "once upon a time...", to try to create some excitement in the middle, and to bring it to a close in a relatively short period of time. Tell the randomizers, in advance, to think of 5 unrelated words. Have them write them on a piece of paper that only they can see. Tell them that their job is to insert those words randomly in the middle of a sentence (not the end) while the storyteller is talking. The storyteller's job is to accept the word and smoothly weave it into the story. Tell them how you will call them back together. All pairs will be talking at once, so the room might get loud. Tell them how to know it's time to cut off their story if it hasn't finished when you call time. Key: this needs to feel like one story. That's where the Yes, And comes into play. They're practicing the idea of changing direction quickly, and not being able to plan their responses. Debrief the experience: Start off by hearing a couple of the interesting story topics they covered. Ask who wants to do a 15 second story synopsis. It's fun hearing that one group talked about aliens inventing a revolutionary code that will forever change software development, whereas another group talked about hardcover books being distributed by orphaned dolphins who swam with the books on their fins. Ask how that exercise mimicked things that happen at work. Ask what it felt like to the storytellers when they had to shift the story into an unexpected direction. Ask what it felt like to the randomizer to hear where the story goes versus where they expected. Ask what was difficult; ask what was easy. Note: the lesson you're drawing out is what it feels like when you're fully present--when you come without assumptions or expectations about what's next. And you get to experience what it's like being fully in the moment. It's not to show that future thinking or learning from past failures is bad. Of course, if you know us at Lead Through Strengths, you'll know we love the talents of Futuristic, Context, and Strategic. Instead, this is to get people to also experience what it feels like to be fully present in the moment and to support ideas in a different way. If you have a team with a lot of competing priorities and distractions, this would be a great one. Using these tools and techniques helps teams create and innovate, while allowing all people to feel valued and appreciated.   Resources of the Episode To connect with Gary, check out his website, and follow him on twitter.   Subscribe To subscribe and review, here are your links for listening in iTunes and Stitcher Radio. You can also stream any episode right from the website. Subscribing is a great way to never miss an episode. Let the app notify you each week when the latest episode gets published.   StrengthsFinder Mini-Course For Managers If you’re a people-manager and you want to sharpen your strengths based support, come join our mini-course. We don’t charge for this because we want to help you keep the StrengthsFinder momentum going. Teams who receive strengths feedback have 8.9% greater profitability. Yowza! Sounds like a great reason to join. Source:  Asplund, J., & Blacksmith, N. “Strengthening Your Company’s Performance.” Gallup Business Journal. Read the full conversation: Lisa Cummings: Today you'll get some serious depth on the concept of energizing your work. Your guest host a show called Breakthrough Cocktail. He helps teams get out of their funk, through improvisation and through play. Now, if that sounds just a little bit too much like a boondoggle of a work day for you, hey, listen through anyway, All right, because improv has helped me become such a better player at work and beyond the distressing and beyond the fun that it brings you, there are real productivity benefits to this stuff. It helps you think on your feet. Lisa Cummings: It helps you innovate and you learn a ton about your teammates. By being in Improv games, you get to simulate your decision making responses. You simulate the default ways that you act in different situations. Yet you do it in a way that is accepting of each other's ideas and building instead of stripping down, basically you give huge support to each other. Yes, even to the people who annoy you and it shows you a whole new way to value them and what they bring to the team. So, Gary Ware, thank you for bringing us some productivity boosting fun and games today. So why don't you get us started by telling us your perspective on play at work. Gary Ware: Yeah. I actually have a quote that summarizes that and it's from Plato and it says you learn more about a person in an hour of play than a lifetime of conversation. Like Lisa, I totally agreed. I got hooked on during Improv because it was something, there was something about it. Yeah, you can do these icebreaker games, but it was just something about Improv and just letting yourself go back and play and discovery that it was like I was transformed back to when I was five in kindergarten on the, on the playground, just doing silly things and there was no care in the world. Lisa Cummings: Yeah, I know that you've said you love being goofy and I love being goofy too, so it certainly feeds that part. Yeah, just the play and not planning what to say. I'm very much like that. I plan a few steps ahead. I want to be careful about what I say and it, it's the opposite of that and not being seven steps ahead. So really just being in the moment, being fully present. It's just so cool. I could go on, I could gush. Gary Ware: Yeah, I know. Exactly. And it's just a new way of thinking. So Lisa, question for you. So you got into Improv and it sort of transformed your life. Can you talk about a few other areas of, of how just Improv this impacted you? Lisa Cummings: The “yes, and” part has been huge for me. So anybody who's listening who's not familiar with “yes, and” it's, it's kind of a basic tenants that you're going to support what's going on in a scene or in a moment and build on it rather than cutting it off or saying no to what's happening. And so putting yourself in that mindset of you're in the scene or at work, you're at work and then going with what is happening and then making the best of it, building on it and making it better as a completely new way. It shifted me in many ways like down to the basics of trying to get “but” out of my vernacular, unless you're talking about a literal butt on a body, it's “the yes, and” or I'll say yet I won't say, but if I'm being conscious of it because it does, it changes the way you actually think and put things together and it, it just changes your frame of mind. So that's been a huge one for me in life. How about for you? Gary Ware: It causes me to think of other possibilities. You're right when you are saying “yes, and" you are agreeing 120 percent with someone and you're building on that and everything's a possibility because I know we're so quick to say “no” for whatever reason. It could be that you're just scared or you really think that you have an idea that is stellar and you're not listened to and sometimes it's just all about; let’s support what's already out there Lisa Cummings: And it teaches you about yourself in a way that you. I understand more about your assumptions. So, I'm remembering back to a recent class and so I'm an Improv and you're in this scene. Work with a person and they're doing something and so as the recipient or you're, you're up there with them listening and trying to understand what they're doing through their actions. The guy who was up there with me he was being a cook in his mind and so he was chopping something with a knife and what I saw was a guy working in his wood shop and as a perfect example of “yes, and” because I started commenting on what he was making in his wood shop and it was after the scene we were debriefing when he said, I was actually starting as a chef. It turned in a completely different direction and just imagine if we weren't in front of an audience, it was in the class, but if we're in front of an audience and he's like, hey dummy, I'm not in a wood shop. Lisa Cummings: I'm in a chef. Hello. Can you not see my knife? Would have ruined the whole thing. He just went with it and then there's something human and real that happens too because you see his face, he's shifting gears. He's recalibrating, okay, now I'm going to shop and what am I holding and what I was seeing him like with a rasp or something and it's just for me, that's very insightful when you think about it. Applied to work because you see the world through your eyes and you have no idea where they're coming from and you can assume yet getting in and saying yes and going with what's happening really helps you understand. You come from a place of curiosity, come from a place of openness and then you start to see, oh yeah, there are different people who see things differently. And my way is not the only way to go about the world. Gary Ware: I totally agree. And myself coming from a very creative background and working in the agency world by saying, yes, it opens up in endless possibilities for innovation because I know far too often, if you're in a brainstorming session and again, everyone wants to get their ideas heard and like every time we deny someone's idea. And we throw someone else’s idea out. If you start over again and, but just by throwing all egos aside and just supporting what is out there and just agreeing 110 percent and just not, you know, exploring that until it's completely done. And then, before we move onto any new concepts, you will get awesome ideas. And another example of- this was something how we brought one of the tenants of Improv “yes, and” into the brainstorming scenario so when we would brainstorm, it would be uber focused, brainstorm, so it would be on one concept, but we could not explore outside of that concept until we explored everything about that concept. And so no one can throw any new ideas into the mix until everything from the very first idea has been explored and it makes you think… in the beginning, you get all the obvious things out. But then that's where the magic happens is we can't move on because that's typically what happens. You get all the obvious stuff and then you get stuck and then you move onto something else and then you have to start over. But You keep going and then that's where you get those breakthrough moments. Lisa Cummings: Yeah, those are great. It's kind of like, oh, for anybody reading, if you're really into this stuff, it's convergent and divergent thinking. And the typical brainstorm, people are always talking about, oh, blue sky, you know, think about anything wacky out there and you do come up with good ideas there and that's more of the divergent. But if you create the constraint and you say, all right, we're living inside of this limitation. What can we come with? Insight of the limitation, the ideas I see come up are better when you're limiting yourself, constraining yourself, because then you can get real wacky with how to make it unique and those are the most fun to me. But versus the wide-open universe of ideas you could come up with. Gary Ware: Yeah, exactly. Sometimes we need limitations and constraints to come up with amazing ideas. And I know for my own improv experiences, sometimes those limitations are the format of the game. You know, this specific game has, has specific rules and specific limitations. But aside from that, you're free to completely explore and do whatever you want. And like what you mentioned earlier, you are not by yourself. You're with someone that is supporting you and we see things through different lenses and by just supporting whatever's out there and building on it, it's magic. It is magic. Yeah. And so I thought maybe we can kick things off by playing a little game. One of the simplest games is, ““yes, and””, and maybe we can just start with, since this is a career focused and, and whatnot, maybe we can do a yes and gain where maybe it's an interview focus game, but we're going to just keep saying “yes and” we're going to build on something and see where we go. Okay, cool. Lisa, would you like to be the interviewer and I will be the interviewee. Lisa Cummings: Yes. I would love to. And I would love to know what job you would like to interview for. Gary Ware: I would like to interview for a trainer at the zoo. Okay. Lisa Cummings: Gary, it's great to have you in here. Tell me about the wackiest animal experience you've had at the zoo so far or in your animal life. Gary Ware: I have to say the most wacky experience that I ever had was when I worked in Africa and I was tracking rhinos through the safari. Lisa Cummings: You know, I've always wanted to do a safari in Africa, and I know it's a little off what you might expect an interview topic to be about, but can you tell me what you learned while you were tracking rhino and what, what the purpose was? What were you out there after? Gary Ware: Yeah. What I learned is that rhinos, they travel in packs and that reminds me of family and the importance of having a good support system and I can bring those, you know, that experience here to this zoo, the San Antonio Zoo, and I can apply that to any aspect of our training facility. Lisa Cummings: That's great. I love the lessons you can apply. I'm wondering, so rhinos, they seem kind of scary. Were there ever moments when you were just… Yeah, they scared the bejesus out of you or were you pretty confident the whole time? How did you handle fears being out like that in some risky environment? Gary Ware: Yes, they did. Right? Those are scary beast and I'm not going to lie. I was quite scared; there was one time when we were trying to identify if this was a specific heard that we have tagged, and I had to go into the pack where a mother was nursing with some of her young and just like any mother, if you're going to approach her children, she's going to get defensive. I personally thought she was going to charge me, but I noticed the warning signs and I stayed very clear. And one thing that you have to know about rhinos is that if you, if you don't show fear and you show dominance, they will immediately back down. Lisa Cummings: Wow. And how did you show dominance to a rhino? Gary Ware: Well, I think the best way to show dominance to a rhino is to appear like you are a male rhino. So that requires you to get into this position and, start stomping your feet. It is quite the site. And I did that very successfully. Lisa Cummings: Have you ever stomped your feet like that in a work environment? Gary Ware: Actually, sometimes you have to show dominance in a work environment, and so yes, that I can relate to multiple times when, if I'm in a situation where I'm being bullied, sometimes you just have to stomp your feet and you know, show that you mean business, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to always do that. Lisa Cummings: Well, tell me about a time when you had to show you meant business. Gary Ware: Well, I'm a little ashamed about this, but there was a time when I worked for the San Diego Zoo and I thought I was up for a raise. I had to say, Hey, I, am and doing a super job and I felt like I am due for a raise. Would you please reevaluate me? And I was very firm yet not overbearing. And that was the last time I had to really show that I meant business. Lisa Cummings: Now, if you had to show you meant business to end this interview and show me that you wanted the job, what would you do right here? Gary Ware: Well, I would make sure that I have, a power stance and a power stance means that my feet are shoulder width apart. I am leaning in which is more of a position of power and I will make direct eye contact and I would have more of a deeper voice and I would say I am the best candidate for this position. You should hire me because no one else is going to bring their experience like myself Lisa Cummings: "And, scene" Lisa Cummings: So now if we go out of character and debriefed that some things that were really cool to me is for the listeners out there, it's kind of cool to show “yes, and” and Improv stuff doesn't have to be about being funny. It's about going with what's going on and having been a recruiter and hiring manager as I watched and listened to your answers and thinking about how you just rolled with it, it didn't matter what I threw out you, they were not typical interview questions. I don't know if there are typical zoo interview questions is a different environment, but it was interesting. You probably think you're going to get it. It told me about your strengths and weaknesses. Tell me about your background. We ended up talking about rhinos and power stances and I think that's a really cool thing. Sometimes when I interview people I see, oh, they're off script. Lisa Cummings: What am I going to do? I used to ask a question of people about what, is the last thing you did that you found really fun? And people were like a fun. It surprised people so much and know people have fun. They just was not a work question. So it really threw people and that's something I looked for in interviews is, will they be able to roll with the punches and sometimes the punches are weird questions and sometimes it's, giving you the insight, especially the “Tell me about a time when”, I mean, that's a very technical, it's called behavioral interviewing and it's beautiful as a candidate because you get to tell stories and stories, bring emotion into the picture and make things memorable until they're so great for you as a candidate. But a lot of people resist them. So I thought that showed all sorts of cool things. How about you Gary Ware: Agreed. And another thing to note, especially being on both sides of the table, being someone that is interviewing and being interviewed yourself, you're right, you do not know what's going to be out there. However, if someone throws you for a loop, all you have to do is just take a deep breath, pause, because you don't have to answer right away, compose yourself and just be yourself. Be Real at the end of the day, they're hiring a human. And if you don't know the answer, you know, feel free to, you know, just be honest and just be real. And, you're right stories are, that is the, in my opinion, the Trojan horse of an interview because if you can talk about story, you sometimes get off tangent and they stopped interviewing you and you're having a conversation and when you're having a conversation, now you're getting real and now you're getting to the heart of why we want to interview. So when we want to find out what they're about. Lisa Cummings: Yeah, and you're getting to the “what makes people pick people”. I mean if you think about, if you talked to people the way you talk to your friends, you're not formal and stiff. You think about what you do when you sit around and relax, you know, cocktails, right? Breakthrough cocktail. So when I sit around on the patio with my friends, what do we do? We sit around and tell each other stories. When you talk to people like you talk to people you like, you tell stories, so do that with your employer. Give them the chance to see the you behind the kind of robotic curtain that people put up in interviews and let them like you and people hire people. They like all things being equal. If your resume looks about the same, that's what got you in the door. The thing that gets you hired over the final couple of candidates, it's the interpersonal stuff and that the stories are such a great way to go with that. So embrace behavioral interviews; they are awesome. Gary Ware: I totally agree. And as a way to prepare within Improv, you can't really prepare. We run through games, but as a way to prepare, I tell all of my people that I mentor have some stories like about yourself, whether it's, you know, what was the last time you felt yourself in a scary situation? You know, how do you have fun, you know, and anytime I come across a really good story that I could use in any situation I sort of just jot down and actually that reminds me of one other game that I would like to play the team, Lisa, if you would like to be so brave and it's called the Monkey Wrench game. I don't know if there's a technical term. So a Lisa, if you would be brave to be the person on this one. I asked them to tell me a story about anything. It's just telling your story, but I'm going to throw out random words and then you have to just take that word and immediately add it to your story. Lisa Cummings: Okay. Love it. Gary Ware: Cool. So to get you started, maybe just tell me a story about a time when someone had fun since we were talking about. Lisa Cummings: Once upon a time there was a man who had no fun in his life and he went on a quest to have fun training.(Gary Ware suggests the word ‘tractor’) So he showed up at his friend's farm and said, you know, I've lived in the city my whole life and I want to learn to drive a tractor. In fact I want to operate the backhoe because I think it will be so much fun. So his friend got him out and he started tooling around with all of those knobs and sticks and he started thinking, wow, this is not as fun as I thought. Gary Ware suggests the word ‘plank’) I want to do something else on the farm I want to... So his friend said, I think you'd have more fun if you walk the plank. And the guy said, oh, what do you mean walk the plank? I thought you walk the plank when you were like getting off to buy haters or something. Lisa Cummings: And so Joe said, no, no, no, no, no. Walking the plank here is great. So we take them out to the pool and stands them out on the diving board, puts a blindfold on him and asks him to jump. So he jumps in the pool and (Gary Ware suggests the word ‘sunset’) so we jumped in the pool and started treading water and Joe said, you know, here's the thing, you've walked the plank, you've done the best cannon ball we've seen in like four years. The next part of fun is whether you can tread water until sunset and do some of that synchronized dancing to the beat of the music on the radio. So we started listening to the songs and moving his body to the sounds of the songs and he felt like a synchronized swimmer in the Olympics. (Gary Ware suggests the word ‘glasses’) So his friend said, you're brilliant. I mean if, if only you had that swimming cap that was pink, you would look great. So let's get out of the pool and finish up the night by having an old fashion and clinking our glasses because today was a breakthrough for fun. Gary Ware: Yay. "And, scene". How it was that? Thank you for being a Guinea pig. Lisa Cummings: That was a cool game. Yeah, I really liked it. I've done the game where you do story building where you do like once upon a time and you started off and then you just cut yourself, you edit yourself and the next person has to build on the story and let it roll. So I really, I really liked it, I'm pivoting because your mind's going in one direction and then you have to jump over to the side and make it something totally different. So I thought it was pretty fun. Gary Ware: Great. Yeah. And I have to say the story became even more creative because with this and I do a lot of people that I mentor with is to get them out of their head and be ready for anything. And now you created a story that you never would've thought you would've went there and I had no idea. And yeah, sometimes again, in interviews and on the workplace, you think you know where things are going and then you get thrown a monkey wrench, you know, pivot and adjust. Lisa Cummings: And sadly for this episode, things have to pivot to the close so we have to do more of this though, is so good. Thanks for the monkey wrench game and the interview game, Gary. I mean this has been quite the strengths jam, so I know a lot of readers can learn from this advice you gave on telling stories during interviews, whether the interviewer or the interview, my favorite action to out of this whole conversation is to practice at least one “yes, and” every day and then you'll notice how much you say but as well and just watch what it does for your influence, for your listening and for your trust on the team. That one tiny word, yes instead of but, can change the whole dynamic on your team. And then for that monkey wrench game, try that with your group at work. Lisa Cummings: It's such a fun team builder and it's really good for getting in that creative mindset when you need to or for exercising your adaptability muscle if you have to deal with a lot of change and it's even a way to practice that. “yes, and” concept because it builds on other people's ideas, even if that's not where you were planning to take the conversation. Now I know all of you listeners want to check out more from Gary. You can find him at breakthroughplay.com.

Sarah’s Child Susan Jane Bigelow Once, I dreamed that I had a son named Sheldon, and my grief tore a hole in the fabric of the world. In my dream I walked through the halls of an elementary school, and I went into the office. Everything was gray and blocky, but somehow not oppressive. I was certain, then, that it was the elementary school in my old hometown, and that I was both myself and also not myself. Full transcript after the cut ----more---- Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip episode 28 for May 24, 2016. This is your host, Keffy, and I'm super excited to be sharing this story with you. Our story this week is "Sarah's Child" by Susan Jane Bigelow, read by Amanda Ching. Susan Jane Bigelow is a fiction writer, political columnist, and librarian. She mainly writes science fiction and fantasy novels, most notably the Extrahuman Union series from Book Smugglers Publishing. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine’s “Queers Destroy Science Fiction” issue, and the Lamba Award-winning “The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard,” among others. She lives with her wife in northern Connecticut, and can be found at the bottom of a pile of cats. Amanda Ching is a freelance editor and writer. Her work has appeared in Storm Moon Press, Candlemark & Gleam's Alice: (re)Visions, and every bathroom stall on I-80 from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis. She tweets @cerebralcutlass and blogs at http://amandaching.wordpress.com. Sarah’s Child Susan Jane Bigelow Once, I dreamed that I had a son named Sheldon, and my grief tore a hole in the fabric of the world. In my dream I walked through the halls of an elementary school, and I went into the office. Everything was gray and blocky, but somehow not oppressive. I was certain, then, that it was the elementary school in my old hometown, and that I was both myself and also not myself. I asked for Sheldon. “Ms. Harp is here,” someone said, and then there he was. He was blond, maybe five or six, with a round face like my sister’s. He smiled toothily up at me. I took his hand. “Come on, honey,” I said. “Let’s go.” And then I woke up. Janet snored softly next to me. I touched the space on my body where my womb would have been, if I’d been born with one, and ached. It was a mistake to tell Janet. “So you had a dream,” she said, crunching her toast. She ate it plain, no butter. “So what?” She was wearing that muscle shirt that made me melt, and her short hair was a mess from sleep. Janet was athletic, butch and pint-sized, and she wore her queerness like a pair of brass knuckles. I was lucky to have her. “I don’t know,” I said. “It just seemed so real.” “I dreamed I was a hockey player,” Janet said, popping the last piece of toast into her mouth. “But I ain’t one.” “I know.” I stabbed at my breakfast, not feeling all that hungry. “Never mind.” She came over and kissed the top of my head. “Sorry, babe. I know it bugs you sometimes.” She put her dishes in the sink. “You aren’t gonna start asking about sperm donors or anything, right? Did you freeze yours?” “No,” I said. “And no. I didn’t.” There’d really been no point. When I had my surgery I’d been in the middle of the divorce with Liz. Kids were out of the question. “Cool. You gonna be okay?” I nodded. “All right. I gotta hit the shower. See you at the game tonight!” She headed off to the shower, humming happily to herself. She usually took half an hour in there, so I’d be long gone by the time she came out. I poked at my scrambled eggs again, then tossed them out. I couldn’t shake the dream, though, so I went through my day in a fog. People at work asked me if I was all right, and I just shook my head mutely. Sure. Fine, just a little haunted. I didn’t go directly home that night. Instead, I drove the half hour north to Elm Hill, and parked outside the elementary school. School was long over, though a few kids played on the ball fields and ran around the swings. I shut the car off and got out. There was a hint of fall in the air, though the leaves hadn’t turned yet. I walked through the playground, passing by my own ghosts on the steps, by the wall, on the baseball field, and up to the fence. There was a little rock there, smaller than I remembered. I sat on it, and thought about Sheldon. This was silly. It was just a dream. I’d had dreams about motherhood before. Pregnancy, babies, those dreams came with the hormones. Everybody had them, or said they did. So why wouldn’t this one let me go? I sighed. Somewhere across the playground, a father with two daughters was watching me. I waved at him, and he turned quickly around again. Dads don’t like me. Impulsively, I rummaged in my purse and found the little reporter’s notebook I kept handy. I’m not a reporter, I work in layout and design for the magazine, but somewhere along the line I’d picked up a few of their habits. I pulled a pen out of my purse and started to write.   Hi Sheldon My hand shook. What was I doing? This was stupid. There was no Sheldon. But my traitor hand kept writing.   I hope you’re doing okay. I hope you had a nice day. I used to play on this rock when I was little, like you. I hope you have a lot of friends, and that you’re happy.   Your friend, Sarah I couldn’t bring myself to sign it ‘Mom.’ My phone chimed, and I pulled it out. There were two texts there. One was from Janet, wondering where I was. Guilty—I’d forgotten her game—I texted her back that I’d be there in about half an hour. The other was from a number I’d never seen before. It was a weird combination of letters and numbers, and there was no name. From: AC67843V-D Hey I can take Sheldon Friday txt me back –D Angry, I texted back—   Not funny, Janet —and put the phone away. I folded the paper up and thought about chucking it away. Then I folded it again and stuck it in a little crack in the rock. Maybe somehow it would find its way to him, wherever he was, and he’d leave me alone. Janet was a little peeved that I’d missed the start of the game. She took softball seriously, and the fall league was special in some way that I’d tried my best not to understand. But I got there in time for the fourth inning, which meant I got to see her steal third base, so it wasn’t a total loss. “Where were you?” she asked as we were downing beer and pizza with the team after. “Just got held up,” I said. “At work. You know how it is.” “They exploit you,” she said, pointing at me with the business end of a slice of pizza. “You shouldn’t let them do that. It’s cause you’re trans—” I winced. Tell the whole pizza joint, why don’t you? “—that they think they can take advantage, cause you’re desperate for work. You shouldn’t take it.” “No,” I said. “It’s fine.” “Damn it, Sarah,” said Janet. “You gotta stick up for yourself! You never do. You just let Liz roll away with your house and car and money, and you let your boss get all kinds of unpaid labor out of you. You need to grow a spine.” And I let you boss me around, too, I thought, eating a slice of pizza. So what? “You didn’t have to send me that text,” I said. “What, I just wanted to know where you were!” she said. “No, the other one. The Sheldon one? That was mean.” She blinked. “I never sent you anything about Sheldon. Who’s Sheldon?” That night I dreamed about driving around the streets of my hometown. The town was different in that way familiar things change in dreams, but I still knew it was Elm Hill. I took a turn and pulled into the parking lot of a condo complex. “Home, home,” sang a little voice in the seat next to me. I looked over and there was Sheldon, smiling up at me. I got out of the car and walked around to his side, my heels clicking on the pavement. I opened the door and helped him out. I glanced in the window, and saw reflected back a face that was and wasn’t mine. I woke up, the feel of Sheldon’s cold little hand in mine burned into my memory. My mother was no help at all. “Your sister’s pregnant,” she announced when I called her over lunch. “Again?” I asked. Patty seemed to get pregnant with alarming regularity. This would be her fourth. “So she says. I hope it’s a summer baby. They could name her June. Such a pretty name. I wanted to name you June, if you’d been a girl.” I’m a girl now, I thought, but didn’t say. “The baby would be born earlier than that, right? It’s only September.” “Well, you never know. And think what an interesting story that would be! ‘This is my daughter June, she was born in May!’ Wouldn’t that be an interesting story?” “Sure. How’s Dad?” I asked, quickly changing the subject. “Same as ever,” she grumped, launching into a long story about how he was out with his golf buddies all the time and never home. Not that she wanted him home, of course. I almost told her about Sheldon. He was still haunting me. But what would I have said? Instead, I listened as she told me about Dad, passed judgment on the sorry state of my career, and questioned whether Janet was right for me. I made the appropriate noises at the appropriate times, and excused myself to go back to work when the time came. That evening I found myself pulled back to the parking lot of the elementary school in Elm Hill, looking out over the playground and thinking wistfully of what might have been. Maybe I should find a therapist, I thought. Maybe I should get help. I got out of the car and strolled across the field, trying not to look guilty. I didn’t see the dad from yesterday. I sat myself back down on the rock, and sighed. The piece of paper was still wedged into that crack. This is ridiculous, I thought. Why was I even here? I was lucky. I knew I was. I had a home, a cute girlfriend, and a job. I didn’t get abuse on the streets. I wasn’t young anymore and I was never pretty, but so what? So what. Why did I want what I could never, ever have so badly? Suddenly furious, I ripped the paper out of the wedge in the rock. I was about to tear it to shreds when I noticed that the paper was a soft blue color. My notebook only had white lined. Curious, I opened it up. There, in a child’s blocky script, was written: HELLO I like beinG on the Rock. I make Believe its a SPACE SHIP. My mommy is nice and a DIKe and is coming to pick me up soon. Do you like Dinosars?   SHELDON My hands began to shake. This had to be some trick. I turned the paper over, looking for signs, but there was only the name of the paper company on the back. “Bloomfield Paper - Made in the R.N.E.” was stamped next to a little pine tree flag. There was no other mark, nothing to indicate where this had come from. I got out my pen and paper again, and wrote another note.   Hi Sheldon   I like space ships, and I like dinosaurs. I’m very glad your mommy is nice. I hope you had a nice day today, too.   Sarah I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Before I lost my nerve I wedged the note back into the rock, and left quickly. I went back to the rock the next day, and sure enough, there was another blue paper stuck in the crack. This time it was a crude picture of a dinosaur, signed by Sheldon. For Sara, it read, spelling my name wrong. I smiled, touched, and tried not to think about what a creep I was being to somebody’s poor kid. I tucked the drawing into my purse. Just then my phone rang, and I almost jumped out of my skin. I checked my phone; it was that same combination of letters and numbers as the text from yesterday had been. AC67843V-D. Hesitantly, I answered it. “H...hello?” “Hey, June,” a man’s bored-sounding voice said. “I can’t take Sheldon on Friday after all. Sorry.” Sheldon. “I’m sorry,” I said, trying and failing to keep the quavering out of my voice. “I’m not June.” “What?” The voice on the other end sounded very confused. “Oh. Huh. Wrong number, I guess. You sure you’re… you sound just like her. Weird.” “I’m Sarah,” I said. “And you’re on your own phone?” “Yes.” “Huh. Well, if you see June tell her David can’t pick up Sheldon Friday.” The line went dead, leaving me shivering in the bright sunny afternoon. That night I couldn’t sleep. I lay in bed, listening to Janet snore, turning it all over in my mind. At last I got up and paced, restless and weary at the same time. I fixed myself a cup of tea and sat in the living room, surrounded by books, stacks of DVDs, my old board games and framed prints of the brassy 40s pin-up girls Janet was obsessed with. The place felt like us, and calmed me down a little. I took the picture and the note Sheldon had sent me out of my purse, unfolded them, and smoothed them out on the coffee table in front of me. “Hey,” Janet said. I jumped, knocking my tea onto the floor. “I’m sorry!” I said, leaping up. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” she said, smiling sleepily. “I’ll get some paper towels.” I sat back down, trembling. Janet returned and mopped up the tea on the floor. “I’m sorry,” was all I could think of to say. “Eh, that floor’s tough. I’ve spilled way worse on it.” Janet sat next to me and noticed the drawing and the note. She picked them up and looked them over. “What’re these?” “Nothing,” I said too quickly. “Just some old things I found.” Janet looked like she wanted to say something, but swallowed it. “Come back to bed,” she said eventually, and padded off back toward the bedroom. I put the picture and the note away, and followed. I finally fell asleep about 3 AM. This time I dreamed I was at a café, talking with my mother. Except she wasn’t exactly my mother: she had longer, grayer hair, and was thinner and better dressed than my mother usually was. “And I found it in his backpack,” I was saying, in a voice that wasn’t quite mine. “I thought he had a girlfriend or something. But doesn’t this look like an adult’s writing?” She pushed a piece of paper across the table at my mother. I was somehow not surprised to see the note I’d written to Sheldon sitting there. My mother picked it up and frowned that distinctive thoughtfully disapproving frown. “There’s no teacher there named Sarah?” “None,” I confirmed. “He says he just finds it in the rock.” “You should ask the principal to look into it,” my mother said. “Or tell your deadbeat ex. Wasn’t he supposed to take Sheldon today?” “He was,” I sighed. “Then he backed out without telling me. He swears now that he did tell me, but I don’t know.” “Does this have to do with that Janet woman?” Janet? “Ma, I told you, I don’t know any Janets.” “She seemed awfully friendly. Little Xs and Os in her text.” My mother narrowed her eyes in that way she had when she knew something was up. “June, you’re hiding something. Is it true, what David said? That you’re a… you know?” My mommy is nice and a DIKe, Sheldon had written. What had this David person been telling him? I drummed my fingers on the counter, stalling, but just then Sheldon came back from wherever he’d been, and we talked about nothing else besides him until I woke up. “Didn’t sleep at all?” said Janet, taking in my bleary expression that morning.   “Some,” I said, cradling my cup of coffee with my trembling hands. Thank goodness it was Saturday. “I had more dreams.” Janet sat, not looking at me. “Sarah? If you were in some kind of trouble, or if something was really wrong, you’d tell me, right?” “I’m not in trouble,” I said quickly. “At least, I don’t think so.” “But you can’t sleep,” she pressed, still not looking at me. “You’ve been home late. You had those notes from a kid last night. And… you look like you got hit by a truck this morning.” She visibly braced herself, then gave me one of her very serious looks. “What’s going on?” I thought about coming up with some half-assed excuse. I thought about saying “nothing” again and pretending it was all fine. I thought about being reassuring and hiding my pain like I always did. But I was so tired and heartsick that I told her everything. When I was done, Janet just sat there for a few minutes. “Wow,” she said at last. “I know.” “What do you think this all means?” she asked. “I don’t know,” I said, feeling utterly helpless. “I’d say it’s just bad dreams, but, what? You think the drawing and the note mean it’s real somehow? Sarah…” “I know, I know,” I said, miserable. I felt more exposed sitting there at the table than I ever did when I took off my clothes. “I’m sure there’s explanations. But the phone calls, the way June had my letters to Sheldon in my dream…” “June?” Suddenly Janet was alert. “Who’s June?” “Sheldon’s mother.” I shook my head, reaching for an explanation that made sense. “I… I think she’s me, or who I could have been. June is what my mother would have named me, if I’d been born a girl.” Janet pulled out her phone and paged through it, brow creased. “I’m sorry,” I said, trying to hold back the tears. “I know this is weird! I just want to have a quiet morning. I shouldn’t have said anything.” She handed me the phone. “I sent you a text the other day,” she said. “I got this back.” From: AC88534J-J I’m not Sarah, who is this? My name is June. I just stared at it for a moment, shocked. Then I pulled out my own phone and showed her the text from “D,” who I now suspected was David. “I’ve never seen phone numbers like that,” said Janet. “But they’re similar to one another.” I started piecing it together in my mind. “Where were you when you got that text, Janet?” “A contract up in Elm Hill,” said Janet slowly. “Why?” “That’s where I was when I got the text, and the call,” I said excitedly. “That’s where the school is!” “But look, it gets even better,” said Janet, taking back the phone and poking the screen. “I got another one a few minutes later.” From: AC88534J-J Please don’t tell, but I think I’m gay. I have to tell someone. “Oh my God,” I said. “I thought it was someone pranking me at that point,” said Janet as I digested the text, agog. “Like Lisa. She does shit like this, and she knows how to do stuff with phones.” She tapped the phone thoughtfully. “But now… Jesus. Sarah, is this real?” “It is,” I said firmly. “It has to be.” “What’s going on?” Janet asked. “Why do you have such a connection with this Sheldon? I mean, he’s not your kid, right?” “No, not exactly. But June… She’s got my mother, the name I would have had.” “She’s you,” said Janet. “Or who you would have been, if…” “Yeah. If.” I said, and an entire world was contained in that world. “So what do we do about it?” Janet asked. It was a good question. Our parallel lives were crashing together, I was driving myself nuts from lack of sleep, and all I wanted was everything she had. This couldn’t go on. “I want to try to talk to them,” I said. I spent the whole weekend a wreck, trying not to think about the plan . I had more disjointed dreams about Sheldon and June, enough to know that June was talking with a therapist but couldn’t bring herself to say what she needed to say, and Sheldon was going through a serious dinosaur phase. I stayed far away from Elm Hill until Monday, though, when I drove up in the early morning to deliver a final note. I got the answer Monday afternoon. They’d be there. That night I dreamed about June, who was sitting up alone, looking at the notes I’d sent Sheldon, drinking. Tuesday afternoon came at last. Janet drove us up to Elm Hill; we didn’t say anything the whole way. When we got to the school, I had to sit for long moment, just staring out at the playground. A light rain had begun to fall, and there were no other children that day. Probably for the best. At last I steeled myself and got out of the car. “You’re sure they’ll show?” Janet asked dubiously. I nodded, clutching Sheldon’s note in my pocket. He’d said they would come. I believed him. “This is a bad idea,” said Janet, staring dubiously out at the damp playground. “You want to go home? We should go home. I can make dinner. You like my dinners.” “No,” I said firmly. “I’m going. You can stay here if you want.” Janet was speechless for a moment. I never stood up to her. But then she got out of the car. “Right behind you,” she said, giving me a little smile. Together, we marched across the damp grass to the rock. “So what happens now?” Janet said, crossing her arms and shifting from side to side. I was about to answer that I didn’t know when sunlight streamed in from somewhere just to my left. I jumped back, and shielded my eyes. The first form I saw was Sheldon’s. He stood there, holding his grandmother’s hand. She looked shocked as she saw us. She was so like my mother that the lack of recognition in her eyes was awful. And there… holding Sheldon’s other hand. She was shorter than me by a good six inches, and she had the narrow shoulders and face of my sisters. But she looked a little like me, too. We had the same eyes, the same mouth, the same hair. “June,” I whispered. “Are you Sarah?” June said. I nodded. I didn’t trust myself to speak. “Sarah!” said Sheldon. He waved. “Hi Sheldon,” I said, voice catching. June hesitantly reached out a hand toward me, then drew it away again. “Are you… me?” I nodded again. “How? I don’t understand. You don’t look like me.” “No. I was born a boy.” “Oh?” Her eyes widened. “Oh!” Her eyes fell on Janet. “And you…?” “Janet,” my girlfriend said. “Hey.” “And you’re with… her?” Janet took my hand. I squeezed it, grateful “Awful,” said June’s mother. “Hush,” said June shakily. “Now what?” Janet asked softly. “Now we resolve things,” I said firmly. I understood it now, the way that June looked at Janet. The text she’d sent: I have to tell someone. We both had something the other one wanted. June had Sheldon, and everything he represented. And I… I had Janet. I looked, really looked, at Sheldon, and I felt an ache so bad that I began to cry. Janet put an arm around me, and pulled me close. I straightened. “June?” June looked at me, fear plain on her face. “She’ll be okay,” I said, nodding at her glowering mother. “You can tell her. I told her about me, a few years ago, and she wasn’t thrilled. But… we dealt with it and moved on. You have to, to be happy.” June shook her head furiously. “You don’t understand.” “I do,” I insisted, amazed at how calm I suddenly felt. “Better than anyone. You and me… everybody pushes us around. But we’re made of iron underneath. There’s a part of us that won’t bend.” June looked at me and I saw how helpless she must have felt. I remembered feeling like that… just before I changed my life forever. “I did it,” I said. Behind June and Sheldon was blue sky and bright sun. “You can, too.” June turned to her mother. “I’m gay, Mom,” she said softly. “I am. I am.” June’s mother huffed miserably. “I figured that out, genius. So what? See if I care. You’re still my daughter.” Chills ran down my spine. So what? my mother had said, all those years ago. See if I care. You’re still my child. June gave her mother a long, hard hug, then turned to me. She seemed to be standing straighter. “Iron,” I said. “Nice job,” said Janet, trying to be charitable. June laughed. She had this perfect voice; she was so beautiful in all the ways I wasn’t. And she had Sheldon. My heart cracked a little more. “I don’t suppose there’s one of you in my world?” she said to Janet. “Can’t hurt to check around,” said Janet. She pulled me close, possessive. “But I’m taken.” The sunlight began to dim, and June, Sheldon and June’s mother started fading. “Sarah,” said June. She looked more ghostly now. “If you want a baby… have one.” “I can’t,” I said. “I don’t even know if that’s what I want.” “It is,” said June, her voice the whisper of wind through the trees. “If you’re anything like me.” And then they vanished completely, leaving us alone in the rain. Janet rubbed my back as we drove home. “You okay?” she asked. I nodded. “I think so.” “Is it over?” “Yes,” I said, and I was certain. “She got what she wanted.” “You didn’t, though,” said Janet nervously. “I… think I did, though,” I said. “Somewhere in there I stopped wanting to be her. She has Sheldon, she’s short and pretty, but she doesn’t have you. And I like having you.” We drove on as the rain started coming down harder. I turned the wipers up to maximum. “We can talk it over, if you want?” Janet said hesitantly. “The, uh, baby thing.” I couldn’t say anything for a moment. “Really?” “Really,” said Janet. “I mean, I don’t hate the idea. I just hated the idea of having to, you know? And being pregnant…” She made a face. “I guess I can do it.” “You don’t have to,” I said quickly. “Yeah, but we can’t exactly adopt,” she said. “We’re a weird couple on a number of fronts.” “I know. But I’d rather have you than a baby.” Janet laughed, eyes bright. “That kind of talk makes me wish you had banked sperm. I’d bear your children right now.” “Maybe I can scrape out an old gym sock,” I said. She laughed again. I loved that sound. I loved how easy we were with one another. Janet snuggled against my arm. I was shocked; she almost never did that, even when I wasn’t driving through a rainstorm. “I’m glad you’re you, too, you know,” said Janet. “I didn’t like June. Too many lingering straight girl hang-ups, you know?” “Thanks, I think,” I said. “What I’m saying is… let’s just take it a little at a time. We’ve got time, right? We can have time.” She groaned in frustration. “I’m saying that wrong.” I slipped an arm around her. “I know what you mean,” I said as we drove south through the rain and back to our lives. “I know just what you mean.” One time I dreamed I had a son named Sheldon. I could never any sons of my own, or daughters. But I did have Janet, and better, I had myself. I wasn’t like June. I was like me. It was enough, and then some. END "Sarah's Child" was originally published in Strange Horizons in May 2014 and was reprinted in Heiresses of Russ 2015. This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license, which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the  Google Audio Library. Thanks for listening, and I’ll be back on June 7th with a GlitterShip original. You can support GlitterShip by checking out our Patreon at patreon.com/keffy,  making a donation at paypal.me/keffy, subscribing to our feed, or by leaving reviews on iTunes. [Music Plays Out] Support GlitterShip!

Finally - the second half of the pilot episode for Sounds Curious! We split the pilot in two halves after hitting some serious technical difficulties - necessitating a complete upgrade of studio hardware and software halfway through an episode... FUN! Anyone who works with the arts and technology understands why we're sometimes reluctant to upgrade.... Anyway, lots of fun in this second half of the pilot. More musical tracks, including "Like Lisa" (check out the track on the banshee media soundcloud page, or over at http://www.reneetcoulombe.com) A big thank you to the folks over at http://www.aporee.org/maps, and radio aporee, for hosting so many incredible field recordings that we are addicted to! Today's is by Jeremy Hegge, and is called "Leaving our microphones by a waterhole at night" and was recorded at Mmabolela Reserve, Limpopo, South Africa. Recording made during the 'Sonic Mmabolela' residency organized by Francisco Lopez and James Webb. My apologies for mis-stating that it was Mozambique in the episode - did too much listening today and got a bit confused, my extreme bad. More information about this and all our episodes can be found at http://www.bansheemedia.com and look for the podcast page. We try and get show notes up within a few days of each episode. A big shout out to Pauline Oliveros, and to Deep Listeners everywhere, for all you do!

This is a 60 Minute Broadcast. Tonight we welcome back VIP Super Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!      Check out the Rated G Radio Superstar's Swag on Amazon here!

This is a 60 Minute Broadcast. Tonight we welcome back VIP Super Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!      Check out the Rated G Radio Superstar's Swag on Amazon here!

THIS IS A 60 Minute Broadcast.  :-) Tonight we're welcoming VIP Superstar Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!

THIS IS A 60 Minute Broadcast.  :-) Tonight we're welcoming VIP Superstar Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!

THIS IS A 60 Minute Broadcast.  :-) Tonight we're welcoming VIP Superstar Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!  

THIS IS A 60 Minute Broadcast.  :-) Tonight we're welcoming VIP Superstar Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!  

Tonight we're welcoming VIP Superstar Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!    

Tonight we're welcoming VIP Superstar Guest Star:  Lisa Pini, Psychic Medium! Lisa has over 30 years of experience in being a psychic.  If you have a question about your past, present or future - call in!  Want to know about a loved one who's passed over?  Call in! Call 323 657-1493 to ask Lisa a question! When contacting Lisa to schedule an appointment - mention you heard her on Rated G Radio and you'll get $25 OFF your session (normally $75)!.  What a deal! Like Lisa's Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!