Podcasts about Lumpkin

In the first half, Illinois State Director for MUFON (The Mutual UFO Network) Sam Maranto joined guest host Rich Berra (email) to discuss the correlation between the 2004 Tinley Park UFO mass sightings and other sightings during that timeframe. The Tinley Park event, which occurred on August 21, 2004 in the Chicago metro area, is one of the most significant cases Maranto has investigated. On that night, numerous witnesses reported seeing three reddish-orange lights in a triangular formation floating silently across the sky. "We had over 100 people seeing the same event simultaneously," Maranto explained.He noted that the phenomenon was not limited to Illinois; similar sightings were reported across several states and even in Australia shortly afterward. Maranto dismissed the idea that the lights could be attributed to military drones or flares. He pointed out the absence of air traffic during the sighting, which heightened the mystery as this was unusual for the busy Chicagoland area. "People were alarmed... they were thinking possible terrorists," he revealed, given that the event happened just under 3 years after the 9-11 attacks.Maranto likened this sighting to the famous Phoenix Lights incident, pointing out the similarities of large triangular shapes and the presence of additional orbs. "There were multiple objects seen... there were orbs that detached and came out of the main object," he remarked. Maranto speculated on the nature of these phenomena, suggesting they could be interdimensional or extraterrestrial in origin. "If you can control gravity, you're going to be able to manipulate time and space," he explained, indicating that the technology behind these sightings could be far beyond our current understanding.Discussing the potential implications of these sightings, Maranto noted, "It's a matter of national security at that point." He also expressed concern that these objects could be advanced military technology.---------------------In the second half, researcher and writer Joseph Lumpkin explored lost and rejected scriptures, including the Book of Enoch. Lumpkin claimed these obscure texts have a lot to offer Christians, despite being cast aside by a majority of denominations. He speculated that the Book of Enoch, written around 300 BC, was deemed "too fanciful" by early church fathers, leading them to categorize it as apocryphal.Lumpkin characterized the Book of Enoch as an elaborate Midrash, a form of interpretation that provides deeper context to biblical narratives. "It's almost like the director's cut of Genesis," he remarked. The conversation ventured into the nature of the Watchers, angels mentioned in Enoch who descended to Earth and interacted with humanity. Lumpkin proposed that these beings may have attempted to create a "race of Messiah", which he described as "Christ-like people." He posited that the Great Flood served as a reset button for this experiment, as Noah's family was the only one untainted by the Watchers' influence.Lumpkin also asserted that stories of miraculous births and resurrections were not unique to Jesus but shared among various cultures. He lamented the exclusion of certain texts like the Book of Enoch from mainstream biblical canon, stating, "Do you really think that God said less as time goes on? No, we keep cutting things out." He noted that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church still includes these texts, broadening their canon to 81 books, a stark contrast to the 66 books found in Protestant Bibles. "When you're in seminary, sometimes you're more indoctrinated than you are educated," Lumpkin noted.

Silver Quintette - "Sinner's Crossroads" [0:00:00] Neopolitan Spiritual Church Choir of Detroit - "Jesus Is My Way" - He's There [0:05:53] Expressions of Faith - "Message to the People" - Forgive Me Lord [0:08:00] Southern Echoes of Atmore, Alabama - "Jesus Saves" - Have You Got Good Religion [0:11:58] Rev. Leroy Nobles and the Singing Sons of NY - "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled" [0:16:09] Rev. W.L. Lumpkin and Choir - "How I Got Over" - Send It On Down [0:17:49] Mighty Wonders of Winston, Salem, - "I'm Going To Live On High" - I'm Going To Live On High [0:22:28] Brown Brothers of Columbia, S.C. - "Whenever You Pray" [0:26:06] Sonny Hood and the Keys of Melody of Dayton, OH - "Wait" [0:28:28] Rising Star Singers of Eastover, SC - "Lonesome Valley" - Lonesome Valley [0:31:48] Fantastic Reel Brothers - "I Just Can't Live Without Jesus" - God Smiled On Me [0:35:03] Silver Bell Singers - "Christian Soldiers" - Keep On Tramping [0:39:45] Mighty Genesis - "I'm So Glad" - The Train Is Coming One Day [0:44:39] Rev. Price E. King - "All of My Help" - Jesus Is A Rock [0:50:35] Sensational Righteous Brothers - "Seeking" - Sinner Man [0:54:06] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/147500

Happy holidays from the History Boiz! On December 23, 1927, a man walked into a bank in Cisco, Texas and robbed it - while dressed as Santa Claus. Join us for this bullet riddled comedy of errors! Listen wherever you get your podcasts.Sources:Greene, A C. The Santa Claus Bank Robbery. Denton, Tex., University Of North Texas Press, 1999.Lumpkin, John. “Sinister Santa: A Look at the 1927 Cisco Bank Robbery.” Texas Highways, 13 Dec. 2017, texashighways.com/culture/history/sinister-santa-a-look-at-the-1927-cisco-bank-robbery/.Snider, Tui. Santa Claus Bank Robbery. 15 Nov. 2019.

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Episode Notes:Guest Introduction: Mark Lumpkin, founder of STR Cribs and avid traveler with a focus on transforming Airbnbs into premier guest destinations.Journey into STRs: Mark shares how his travels and dislike for traditional hotels inspired him to enter the short-term rental industry.Unique Experiences: STR Cribs focuses on high-end, resort-style properties that offer unique stays, setting themselves apart in an increasingly competitive market.Organic Marketing Strategy: Mark's team avoids traditional advertising and uses organic growth methods, including partnerships, educational content, and social media engagement.Ideal Clients: STR Cribs works with clients interested in distinctive properties, focusing on high-ROI projects.Challenges & Goals: Mark discusses their goals for expanding STR Cribs' unique project offerings and maintaining quality through company growth.Hospitality Wisdom: Mark shares advice on client engagement, handling guest needs, and creating a true work-life integration.Key Questions(01:05) All right, so you travel a lot. You don't like hotels. How did you get to where you are today with this whole entrepreneurial journey?(02:13) I'm sure you've been at this for a few years. And Airbnbs are more, would you say they're more popular now than what they were when you first got started, correct?(04:07) Does it work really well, too, for even remote locations in a pretty sweet house?(04:47) Do you teach them the marketing aspect for it, too?(05:31) All right, let's back up a little bit. So who is your ideal client?(06:02) How would you get in front of those people?(08:10) What social media channels are you on?(09:42) Let's say I'm a new Client, I'm coming into your world. I've signed up. Is there some common mistakes, misconceptions that newcomers like me tend to have when we start with you?(12:08) What are some big goals that you guys have or that you have in the next year or two?(13:24) When you say portfolio, is that, let's say, you guys personally, your company personally, or you collectively through those that you teach the process with as well?(13:48) What do you feel is the number one roadblock that stops you from reaching those goals?(14:22) With the people, like with your coaching side, let's say, your teaching side, you have people that teach those classes, right?(15:23) Do you guys have any plans on expanding outside of the US, or is it there Is that just another barrel of worms?(16:03) Are you everywhere in the States, or is it just those certain areas?(16:38) What is the best advice that you have ever received?(17:36) What's the best advice you've ever given?(19:06) You talked about LinkedIn and organic reach, right? Do you reach out to people then and start conversations and stuff like that?(21:24) I just got this property and I'm going to come to you. Is there a certain criteria that I need to meet in order to be a good fit for working with you? Or does my property need to have certain criteria to work with you?(24:48) You travel around a lot for your job, for work, but you also have a family. So how do you make that work? (26:41) Have you been able to find or do you find it hard to have the work-life balance aspect?(30:40) Where can we go to learn more about you and what you do?Mark Lumpkinwww.strcribs.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-lumpkin-84b173142/Virginia PurnellFunnel & Visibility SpecialistDistinct Digital Marketing(833) 762-5336virginia@distinctdigitalmarketing.comwww.distinctdigitalmarketing.comwww.distinctdigitalmarkting.c

Johnson v. Lumpkin

In our final episode of the series on ICE and gender, series co-editor Fernanda Santos interviews ICE Chief of Staff Michael Lumpkin to talk about ICE's mission, what some see as strategic pitfalls, the treatment of trans migrants at detention centers, and the challenges and limitations of an overloaded system. Find an annotated transcript at our website here. Find more information—including transcripts and resource guides—visit 70MillionPod.com (Here). Follow @70MillionPod.

The Dragons' rollercoaster upset victory over GAC keeps postseason hopes alive. Jess recaps last Friday's huge victory and what it means for the playoff picture. Don't miss the detailed preview of this week's regular season finale versus Lumpkin. 

Presented by SmartStop Self Storage, in this week's episode of SheEO Lead-In, we listen to our host, Rebecca Jones, engaging in a thought-provoking discussion with Guzel Lumpkin, Head of EVLUV. Guzel discusses her company's mission to make EV charging more convenient and accessible. EVLUV provides a platform for reserving EV charging stations, aiming to alleviate range anxiety and improve the EV ownership experience. Guzel shares her personal journey, including her move from Russia to the U.S. for the American Dream and her career at Deloitte. She emphasizes the importance of taking risks, building a support network, and balancing career and family responsibilities. EVLUV's app offers rewards for early adopters who nominate locations for EV charging, promoting the adoption of electric vehicles.We want to thank our incredible sponsor, SmartStop Self Storage, a leader in self storage real estate, and a company that upholds its core principles of leading together, embracing change and enhancing everyone's journey. To learn more about SmartStop, please visit SmartStop Self Storage. Thank you for being a part of the SheEO Lead-In community! Please be sure to share our episodes and subscribe to this storage vault of wisdom and knowledge, built by women and for women. 

Send us a textIn this week's show, we sit down with the dynamic Kevin Lumpkin, known for his hands-on approach to business growth. If you are currently a laundromat owner or are considering entering the laundromat business, this episode is packed with valuable lessons and actionable strategies that you won't want to miss!Key Highlights:- Non-Passive Income Approach: Discover Kevin Lumpkin's unique method of actively solving problems and creating challenges to grow his laundromat business, contrasting the traditional passive income mindset in the industry.- Starting with Limited Capital: Gain inspiration and practical advice for those starting with limited funds or aiming to transition from a 9-to-5 job.- Remote Management: Learn Kevin's savvy techniques for managing laundromats remotely using technology and effective employee management.- Expansion Strategies: Hear about the trials and triumphs of opening a second laundromat in Monroe, Louisiana, and the setbacks Kevin faced, including commercial cleaning contract losses.- Logistical Solutions: Understand how Kevin integrates "hotshot trucking" to manage logistics and earn extra income while transporting equipment across states.- Landlord Negotiations: Explore effective strategies for negotiating with landlords, ensuring favorable lease terms, and overcoming challenges in the current real estate market.Both Jordan Berry and Kevin Lumpkin emphasize the importance of community support and ongoing personal development. Learn how to build relationships within local communities to reinforce your business strategies.Tools and Resources:- Book a 1-on-1 consultation at https://laundromatresource.com/coaching for personalized advice on entering the laundromat business.Connect With UsYouTubeInstagramFacebookLinkedInTwitterTikTok

Joe and Mike welcome Allen Lumpkin, Executive Director of Team Logistics for the Philadelphia 76ers. Allen talks about his unique path to get to his current role, and the evolution of his job over time. He also speaks to his passion for basketball, being in Philly and building authentic relationships. The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports and Instagram @cu_sps_sportsmanagement. The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR). The show is produced by Mike Schretter'25 (@mikeschrett1), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with Mike Schretter'25 and Lissa Ruiz managing social media efforts.   Links:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-lumpkin-a46a67100/   Sports Management Conference: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-columbia-university-sports-management-conference-registration-942111369467?discount=EBStudent24  

Episode 281.  James B and Eddie readfour art themed Web of Spider-Man books.  Theme Music by Jeff Kenniston.  This Episode Edited by James B using Audacity and Cleanfeed.  Summaries written by Eddie and The Headmen.  Most Sound effects and music generously provided royalty free by www.fesliyanstudios.com and https://www.zapsplat.com/  Web of Spider-Man 73 74 75 76 Sponsor: The Daily Bugle presents 'Live With Eddie' ft. Willie Lumpkin Check out all the episodes on letsreadspiderman.podbean.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out our live meetup and Discord Channel here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_mW6htjJUHOzlViEvPQqR-k68tClMGAi85Bi_xrlV7w/edit

In this episode of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast, L.J. Lumpkin III, MA LMFT joins to discuss the potential of psychedelic medicine in the context of sports psychology. L.J. is a therapist, adjunct professor at Pepperdine University, a coach, author, speaker, and the CEO of Nomad Healing Practices. In this conversation, L.J. shares his personal experience as an athlete and discusses the difficult transition to a new life once an athlete's career has concluded. He compares the need to reinvent oneself in this context to ego death and explains how psychedelic-assisted therapy may be helpful for navigating this transition. L.J. also discusses the intense pressure athletes are under to perform, mentioning that the drive to win can often overpower the more basic mode of play at the heart of athleticism. This is an area where he finds ketamine to be a particularly powerful medicine, as its dissociate quality can help athletes tune out the high pressure expectations. L.J. also discusses leveraging the critical learning period provided by psychedelic therapies to institute new healthy habits, something which could benefit athletes both on and off the field.    In this episode you'll hear: How ketamine-assisted therapy may be able to help athletes with their unique psychological challenges Integrating mindfulness to prepare for psychedelic therapies Leveraging the somatic component of psychedelic therapies to address pain The importance of integration practices and support systems The differences between working with psilocybin versus ketamine Drowning out critics and sports commentary and getting back to basics with the help of psychedelic therapy   Quotes: “If you've been paid millions of dollars to hit and be aggressive for so long and that's how you've dealt with your emotions—and it wasn't a problem because you were being rewarded for it—what do you do when you're not getting rewarded for that anymore? When you have to actually change how you process emotion—there's not a playbook for that.” [7:46] “Just talking about [mental health] and normalizing it—all of a sudden you're allowed to get help, you're allowed to heal, you're allowed to go to practices that have been practiced throughout human civilization. We're bringing [psychedelics] back and I think that athletes are the ones who are really going to be the ship of normalization.” [22:38] “Especially if you're off season, those other medicines [besides ketamine] I think they're going to be even more helpful because that might encourage the rest, it might encourage being able to connect with family systems. I think for some of the more acute stuff, the ketamine does serve a great purpose in that.” [28:16]   Links: L.J. on Instagram L.J. on LinkedIn Nomad Healing Practices website  Psychedelic Medicine Association Porangui  

Uvukansi v. Lumpkin

Courtney Lumpkin Classen weighed 334 pounds in 2012. She had gastric bypass surgery and began walking, and then began to run...she has finished multiple marathons and her first 50K in March. She has her sights set on a 50-miler. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thestubborntortoise/support

In this episode of the Blue Gems Podcast, hosts interview Mark Lumpkin, the founder of STR Cribs, a licensed design and renovation company that specializes in short-term rentals. Mark discusses the company's unique approach to transforming properties into standout vacation rentals with eye-catching amenities and designs. He shares insights into the importance of original design, elevating guest experiences, and how to stay ahead in a competitive market. Mark also opens up about his career journey, personal experiences with short-term rentals, and the evolution of the hospitality industry. Listeners will learn valuable tips on how to increase ROI through thoughtful renovations and strategic market positioning. Connect with Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-lumpkin-84b173142/ Let's connect! ► Blue Gems Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluegemsgroup/   ► JB's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbinvested/ ► Aidan's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aidangroll/ ► Blue Gems STR Management: https://bluegemsmgmt.co ► STR Meetup: https://bluegemsgroup.com Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Blue Gems Podcast 00:23 What is STR Cribs? 01:07 Garage Conversion Success Story 02:13 Mark's Journey into STR Renovations 03:53 Background Before STRs 05:52 Designing for Short Term Rentals 07:30 Creating Unique Guest Experiences 14:14 High ROI Amenities 17:20 Future Trends in STR Design 19:05 Addressing Market Saturation 20:32 Common Mistakes by Investors 22:45 The Importance of STR Design Strategy 28:15 How to Work with STR Cribs 33:12 Mark's Personal STR Portfolio 35:02 Final Thoughts and Contact Information *None of this is meant to be specific investment advice, it's for entertainment purposes only.

Exclusive offer for Alex & Annie listeners: Get $400 off your onboarding fee when you partner with Hostaway using this link: ⁠http://get.hostaway.com/alexandannie In this insightful episode of Alex & Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals, we are thrilled to welcome Mark Lumpkin, Director of Sales for STR Cribs. Mark shares his journey from a Florida local with a passion for real estate to leading a company that transforms vacant properties into stunning, resort-style short-term rentals across the country. Mark delves into the innovative business model of STR Cribs, highlighting their comprehensive approach to property transformation, from design to construction and everything in between. With a team of skilled designers and project managers, STR Cribs offers a hands-off experience for investors, ensuring every property they touch becomes a high-performing, unique vacation rental. Key topics discussed include:

On today's episode, Jonathan and Sy are talking all about conspiracy theories with Matt Lumpkin, a former minister and software developer. They discuss:-        Asking what it is that conspiracy theories accomplish for the people who believe them-        Why White Evangelicals are so susceptible to conspiracy theories right now-        The importance of churches helping people develop critical thinking, rather than outsourcing belief systems to authority figures-        How we can help people let go of conspiracy theories-        And after the interview, a fascinating conversation about despair in the face of violence like that in Palestine, prioritizing the vulnerable, and Albert CamusMentioned in the Episode-            Our anthology, Keeping the Faith-            Matt's website, Mattlumpkin.com-            Matt's Instagram-            The podcast episode on Palestine and CamusCredits-            Follow KTF Press on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Subscribe to get our bonus episodes and other benefits at KTFPress.com.-        Follow host Jonathan Walton on Facebook Instagram, and Threads.-        Follow host Sy Hoekstra on Mastodon.-        Our theme song is “Citizens” by Jon Guerra – listen to the whole song on Spotify.-        Our podcast art is by Robyn Burgess – follow her and see her other work on Instagram.-        Editing by Multitude Productions-        Transcripts by Joyce Ambale and Sy Hoekstra.-        Production by Sy Hoekstra and our incredible subscribersTranscriptIntroduction[An acoustic guitar softly plays six notes, the first three ascending and the last three descending – F#, B#, E, D#, B – with a keyboard pad playing the note B in the background. Both fade out as Jonathan Walton says “This is a KTF Press podcast.”]Matt Lumpkin: You notice almost all of these conspiracy theories provide a way to stay in the old way of thinking and being. They want to make America great again. They want to go back to a time when things made sense, when White people were powerful, and no one questioned their gender. They want to go back, right? [laughs] And if you look at the prophets, the biblical prophets, yes, they're interested in what happened before, but they're more interested in saying, how do we move forward from this? As I try to sift through and make sense of who are the voices that are worth listening to, one of the litmus tests I use is, does it ask anything from me? If the story only makes me feel good, if it only affirms my existing Identity, then that's a red flag for me.[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/ That it will roll in abundance/ And that you're building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]Sy Hoekstra: Welcome to Shake the Dust, seeking Jesus, confronting injustice. I'm Sy Hoekstra.Jonathan Walton: And I'm Jonathan Walton. Get ready for an incredible interview from our series where we're bringing on authors from the anthology we published in 2020, Keeping the Faith: Reflection on Politics & Christianity in the Era of Trump & Beyond. Today, we're talking all about the world of right-wing conspiracy theories with Matt Lumpkin [laughs]. But don't worry, it's nowhere near as depressing as it sounds [Sy laughs]. Matt is really interested in figuring out how people make meaning out of their lives and circumstances, so we focus on what the benefits of believing in conspiracy theories are for the people who subscribe to them, why Conservative White Christians are so susceptible to conspiracy theories in this historical moment, and what we are learning from comparing conspiracy theories with biblical prophets and a whole lot more.Sy Hoekstra: It's a really good conversation. Matt actually does a pretty good job of taking us through his bio in the conversation, so I won't do that now, except to say he's a Fuller Seminary grad who worked as a hospital chaplain for a while and then actually made his way into the world of software development. So that is what he does now. His essay in our anthology was called “What Job Is a Conspiracy Theory Doing?” And you can find the anthology at www.keepingthefaithbook.com. After the interview with Matt, hear our thoughts on the interview, plus our segment Which Tab Is Still Open, diving a little bit deeper into one of the recommendations from our free weekly newsletter. Today, we're talking about a really interesting podcast episode comparing the French Algerian War to the violence in Palestine right now, all through the lens of the Algerian philosopher Albert Camus. You don't want to miss that one, it'll be a fascinating conversation.Before we dive in, like we've been saying, we need your support, and we need it now. If you like what you hear and read from KTF Press and you want it to continue beyond this election season, please become a paid subscriber at KTFPress.com that's our Substack, and share our work with anyone you think might be interested. If you're already a paying subscriber, consider upgrading to our founding member tier.And if the price to subscribe is too high and you want a discount, just write to us at info@ktfpress.com. We'll give you whatever discount you want, no questions asked. Every little bit helps. Subscribers get all the bonus episodes of this show, monthly Zoom discussions with the two of us and a lot more. So please go sign up at KTFPress.com and become a paid subscriber and join us in seeking Jesus and confronting injustice. Thank you so much.Jonathan Walton: All right, let's get into our interview with Matt Lumpkin.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Sy Hoekstra: Matt Lumpkin, thank you so much for being with us on Shake the Dust today.Matt Lumpkin: I'm so glad to be here. It's great to meet both of you. I've been a fan of y'all's work since I learned about you and started following the publishing, but also some of Jonathan's work on Instagram. I learn things from almost every post, so really appreciate that.Jonathan Walton: I appreciate that. Thanks so much.Sy Hoekstra: It's very nice to talk to you not in emails and document comments on your essays or whatever [laughter].Matt Lumpkin: Yeah. Well, it was a lovely process working with you all on the book chapter, and I love asynchronous first working patterns, so that makes me very happy. But it's great to actually be chatting and get to learn a little bit more about you guys and talk a little bit more about some of the stuff that you want to get into.How Matt Started Thinking about the Ways People Make Meaning in Their LivesMatt Lumpkin: Just a bit about me up front. So raised very Evangelical, very fundamentalist, frankly Baptist, with a [laughs] very Pentecostal grandmother. So right out the gate, you have two frameworks [laughs] who don't agree on what's true, but are both family [laughter]. So that's my religious upbringing. And then I spent early years in my career working as a hospital chaplain. I also spent some time living outside the country, taught English in Indonesia and traveled around Southeast Asia and all of those things. When I actually did end up in grad school at Fuller Theological Seminary, I had a lot of questions [laughs]. I had a lot of big questions around, how does a religion work? How do people make meaning? How do people put their meaning-making frameworks together and this language of what job is this doing? These are questions I've been asking for a long time in the course of my time at Fuller. I was there for about a decade studying part time and then working, doing a lot of online course design, and a lot of building and experimenting with online spaces, building mobile apps to test out different psychological principles, and all the way into building products.There's a product now called Fuller Equip that's still alive and kicking that I designed and built with several colleagues. So in my early career, I brought all those questions to Fuller, which is a very Evangelical space, but also a pretty… Fuller is like a bridge.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: It's a bridge from where you start to, usually somewhere different. And then a lot of people walk across that bridge, and they look back and they're like, “Man, why is this place so like still connected to that place I came from?” And it's like, because it's a bridge [laughter] and it needs to still be there so that other people can walk across. But so much goodness came from my time there, and just in terms of really expanding my understanding. I had a very narrow idea of what calling meant, a very narrow idea of what I meant to be faithful to God. And that in my mind [laughs], by the time I was 14 years old, that meant I need to be a pastor, preacher in a small church like the kind I grew up in.And it was at Fuller where I really… and my work in, all different kinds of work in early life, especially as a chaplain, was about finding a space to be faithful to that calling and that identity, while also being the person that I am who's endlessly curious about people, endlessly curious about how do things work, and what's really going on versus what people say is going on, and just how do people think about things in their own way. So in the course of doing that work, I found my way into designing software. All kinds of software, from websites and mobile apps to now in the last five or six years, I've been working on diabetes software and supporting people who live with type 1 as well as type 2 diabetes.And all those same skills I bring to bear of getting into the mindset of other people, really deeply trying to enter their world and understand what does it look like. What are the problems, what are the pain points, and then what might actually move the needle to change it? But this background in studying religion formally, studying psychology, studying cultural anthropology, these lenses are all things that I use in my work as a designer, but also [laughs] in my attempts to make meaning of this rapidly evolving landscape we live in.Jonathan Walton: Amen.Asking What Job a Conspiracy Theory Does for its BelieversSy Hoekstra: Yeah. Speaking of how things operate in people's minds versus how they say things are operating [laughter], let's jump right into your essay, which is all about conspiracy theories. And your kind of framework for understanding conspiracy theories is right there in the title, it's what job is a conspiracy theory doing? So I just want to start with, when you hear Trump talking about having the election stolen, or you hear someone talking about QAnon or whatever, why is the question, “What job is this theory doing?” the basis for how you understand what's going on with that person?Moving to Empathy and Curiosity Instead of AngerMatt Lumpkin: Yeah. So there's a few reasons. One is to move me to a space of empathy, because I don't know about you all, but I get real mad [laughs] at times about some of the just really hurtful and harmful ideas that get spread around that have no basis in fact very often, and actively harm people. It's one thing to make up a story that makes you feel good if that doesn't hurt anybody else, but a lot of these stories really create a lot of harm. So this is a step for, it's a pragmatic step for me to step out of anger, frustration, let me just push you away to get curious of what is going on here? Because so many of the stories, I think I talk about the lizard people [laughter].Jonathan Walton: Yes.Matt Lumpkin: That one takes me back to V. Did you guys watch V in the 80s? There was this lizard people, body snatchers, terrible, I don't recommend it. These people unzipping like masks and there are lizards underneath.Jonathan Walton: Yes! I do remember that. Yes [laughter].Matt Lumpkin: It terrified me as a kid. I walked in the living room one time and saw it. That's always where my mind goes when I hear those stories and I think, “Wow, how could you believe this?” So the question of, “What job is this doing?” is a way to get me out of my judgmental reactive and into getting curious about this person and what is it doing. It also connects to my work as a designer. There's a framework that we use in design called “jobs to be done” and thinking about digital products. And basically, you ask yourself, “If this piece of software were going to get hired to do this job, what would it need to do? What are the jobs to be done? And what would it get fired over?” Like if you don't do this thing, are you going to lose the job?So kind of a way of moving out of the emotional space and into the curiosity space. But also when I say the way that they say something is different from the way that they think it, we all do this. We all have cognitive biases we're unaware of, and it's not like anybody's a particular failure for having a bias that they don't see. So when I talk to people about the software that I've designed, I'm not just going to ask them, “Do you like it?” People will always tell you, “Yeah, yeah, I like it.” I have lots of strategies that I use to get behind that and understand on a more deeper level like, is this doing the job for you?What Do Conspiracy Theories Accomplish for People Who Believe Them?Matt Lumpkin: So when I came to these conspiracy theories and was just hearing these things I just couldn't fathom why or how someone come to that conclusion, what was the context? It was the pandemic. We were in the midst of the pandemic and a lot of this was happening. All the rules and the maps that people had to make sense of their world were not working anymore. And as a person who's lived outside the US and experienced culture shock directly, when your maps don't work, it is profoundly disorienting.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: You feel like a child again.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: You feel really vulnerable because you don't know how to act in a way that makes sense. I believe that that sense of disorientation, cultural disorientation, social disorientation, religious disorientation, that is the driver. That's what makes people reach out and grab onto these ideas. And frankly, I think it's what makes con men and people who are aware of this dynamic pop up. These periods of time are ripe for cons because people are looking for a way to get their feet under them again, so to speak, in a world that feels confusing and uncertain. So that's a number of different things. It's empathy, it's about moving to curiosity and away from anger, and it's also just pragmatically, what's going on here?Sy Hoekstra: Yeah [laughs].Matt Lumpkin: What's the real value? What's the real driver here? Because it's doing something for you, whether you're conscious of it or not. People don't change their minds easily until the pain of changing your mind is more than the pain of holding on to the original ideas. So I think a lot of these conspiracy theories or strategies are ways of hanging on to old ideas that are unraveling, and they're ways of saying, we can discount this proof for this evidence here because the conspiracy supplies this idea of, “Well, the conspiracy is designed to hide things from here. It's designed not have evidence so it's okay if we don't have evidence.” Has all these logic loopholes that get people out of the normal social contract that we have when we talk in public [laughter] saying things that are true.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: Or saying things that can be checked or are credible. And I think the broader challenge that we're in is… You know, I got into working in technology after studying church history and understanding that the printing press is really a catalyst of the complete social and political upheaval of Europe.Jonathan Walton: Right.Matt Lumpkin: It's that moment that breaks the way people put meaning together, because it suddenly increases literacy and increases the speed in transmission of ideas. And I woke up and realized we are in the middle of a Gutenberg moment here. We are 25, 30 years into the internet, and we're just beginning to see the epistemic crisis, the crisis of how we know what we know really come to fruition.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: So I think that's the broader context of wanting to get curious about this, because that's the broad context. The narrow context is pandemic, the narrow context is like… there's lots of other things that push people to this feeling of disorientation.Jonathan Walton: Right.Just Providing Correct Facts Won't Change MindsMatt Lumpkin: And so I'm looking for, how is the thing that you believe that is obviously wrong or factually disprovable to me, what does it do for you? Because just pounding on people with facts has been scientifically shown to not change people's minds.Jonathan Walton: [laughs] Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense.Matt Lumpkin: It will not work.Jonathan Walton: Yeah. What you just said makes sense, yet we love to do it.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: Right? [laughs] We love to just pelt people with answers.Matt Lumpkin: Some of us do, some of us have minds that are more… and I'm guilty. I have this deep internal need that's probably related to ways in which my brain may not be 100 percent standard equipment[Sy laughs]. This internal need to make things consistent. Like if I encounter a new piece of information that doesn't match my map of the world, I've got to figure out how the information is wrong, or I've got to change my map. And I can't really rest until I've done it. But that's not most people. And there are parts of my life and thinking where I don't do that as rigorously, but there's a lot public space safety questions, questions of [laughs] science and medicine, those are ones in which I do need my model to be accurate, because those models have literally saved the lives of people that I love. Like the practice of science, the scientific methods saved my daughter's life when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.We knew before the doctors did, because we gathered data, we gathered evidence, and then we were able to show that evidence. So it satisfied our way of knowing, like we measured it. It's not just family worries. It's not just parents being nervous. It's grounded in real observation that we can then hand you. But there's a lot of domains where people aren't used to doing that kind of rigor.Why Are White Evangelicals So Susceptible to Conspiracy Theories Right Now?Mat Lumpkin: As we think about the Evangelical context, one of the things I explore in the essay is why are Evangelicals particularly, do they seem to be particularly vulnerable to these kinds of erroneous claims or conspiratorial claims? I feel that that's true, and I started to pay more attention to it when I noticed other non-Christian journalists were noticing.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: Like, “Hmm, the Evangelicals are really buying this QAnon to our surprise. Outside it doesn't seem it would match,” same with a lot of Trumpism.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: A lot of Trump's ideology and way of being in the world seems very antithetical to what popular conceptualization of Jesus followers would be, and yet, it's working. So why? What job is it doing?Jonathan Walton: I'd love for you to dive deeply into that. Why do you think White Evangelicals are particularly susceptible right now?Matt Lumpkin: Thank you for that correction as well. Because I do think that it is a specific challenge to White Evangelicals, and I don't see it spreading and being shared in the same way among Evangelicals that I know that are not White.Discouraging Critical Thinking about What Authority Figures SayMatt Lumpkin: So a couple of things. One, just a general lack of rigor in how you know what you know. And why would Evangelicals have a lack of rigor and how they know it? Why would they? It's a tradition that literally emerged from people, the deep Protestant move to want to read the Bible for yourself and, but what does that do? That centers the self and the individual in the private prayer time, in the quiet time, as the source of authority.If you want to go deeper into that space, and I say this as somebody who has many Pentecostal folks in my family who was raised in no small part by my Pentecostal grandmother, and my mom, her faith is deeply shaped by Pentecostalism. But that tradition really centers the individual experience of the deity and of their experience of God as a source of truth and authority. Well, you hang around with more than one Pentecostal and you're going to find you get differing accounts of what God might be saying in any given time.Jonathan Walton: Yes [laughs].Matt Lumpkin: So that kind of flexibility and fuzziness, and in folks that move in these spaces, they're really clever at saying, “Well, that didn't mean this, it meant this now, now that I know this other thing”Sy Hoekstra: Yeah [laughs].Matt Lumpkin: So it's very changeable in a way that's very coherent with the way that you see a lot of QAnon folks or a lot of other conspiracy theorists say, “Well, we got this piece of evidence, and so now what we said last week doesn't work anymore, but don't worry, I've got a new way to read Revelation that actually accounts for it” [Jonathan laughs]. And so that practice and that move being modeled by leaders and authority figures in these churches creates this receptivity to a kind of very, I want to use the word lazy, but that's maybe a bit harsh, but it's a lack of rigor in questioning, “What did you tell me last week [laughs], and what did you tell me this week, and why is it not the same?”Authoritarian Methods of Learning TruthMatt Lumpkin: And all of that stems from what I would say in many churches is an authoritarian epistemology.Sy Hoekstra: I was going to say it's kind of a lack of accountability, which goes along with authoritarianism.Matt Lumpkin: Yeah. I think I touched on this briefly in the essay that, when your foundation of what you know is because an authority told you, who that authority is claiming that it comes straight from God or it comes straight from the source who's deeply embedded in the deep state, those are both parallel claims. Like, “I've got a direct line, so you can trust me.” But that is a very brittle way of building a model of reality, because you're not doing it yourself. You've outsourced it to the authority, in spite of any claims you might be making to doing your own research. It's a way of saying, “Well, I can't read the text in its original Greek or Hebrew, so I'm just going to outsource that to somebody who can.” “Well, I can't understand necessarily these theological concepts, so I'm just going to trust my pastor to do that.”Well, once you get in the habit of outsourcing all these things that are at the root of your most deeply held beliefs about reality and truth, then that's a move that you're accustomed to making. And it's a dangerous move, because without a practice of critical thinking and of questioning for yourself, critical thinking is the immune system for your mind. If you don't have it, you won't notice that it's getting colonized or infected with bad ideas.Jonathan Walton: A thousand percent [laughter].Matt Lumpkin: And you won't be able to spot those infections as they make you sick and as they make your communities sick. I think what we're seeing right now is a time in which a lot of these ideas and these ways of… it's not just ideas, it's ways of thinking and ways of knowing that are very, very changeable and very flexible and fluid. They lack a certain rigor. That's happening because, why? Because people are reaching out for a way to hang on to the old map. You notice almost all of these conspiracy theories provide a way to stay in the old way of thinking and being. They want to make America great again. They want to go back to a time when things made sense, when White people were powerful and no one questioned their gender.They want to go back [laughs]. And if you look at the prophets, which is in the chapter that we're discussing here, the biblical prophets, yes, they're interested in what happened before, but they're more interested in saying, “How do we move forward from this?” As I try to sift through and make sense of who are the voices that are worth listening to, the people that are interested in trying to understand how we got where we are today, so that we can understand how we can get out of this mess, what actions we can take. Those are the voices that I think are more… One of the litmus tests I use is, does it ask anything from me? If the story only makes me feel good, if it only affirms my existing identity, then that's a red flag for me, because it's only flattering me.Now, on the flip side, if you read the book of Revelation, that book is written to a community that it's trying to encourage that community that's being marginalized, it's suffering. And it does ask some things of that community, but it's also trying to celebrate. So there aren't really easy and clean [laughs] answers on which voices you can trust, you have to do the work of doing your own critical thinking. But I think Evangelicals in general have been discouraged in many churches from doing any critical thinking at all, because it undermines the authority of the lead pastor or the leadership team or whomever…Sy Hoekstra: The denomination or whoever.Jonathan Walton: …that they've outsourced all of this work to.Matt Lumpkin: Yeah. And that might seem… I've been to seminary, I have a Master's of Divinity degree. I get frustrated when people don't listen to my authority [laughter]. You work in any number of church settings and you realize you don't want them to. What you really want is you want to teach people how to build their own faith and their own meaning using these tools, and do it in community, so that we can check each other's work.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: In my early work as a hospital chaplain, I spent a year doing spirituality support groups with the folks that were in the lockdown unit in the psych ward.Sy Hoekstra: Oh wow.Matt Lumpkin: So we're talking about doing spirituality groups with people that have schizophrenia, that have bipolar disorder, that sometimes in their mind hear the voice of God telling them to do things. Now, how do you help a person like that connect with their faith, now that their very way of knowing or having that connection is now called into question? It's a hard problem, but that's really where I started to wake up to this reality of the problematic nature of, “God talks to me, and then I go do a thing.” There are lots of stories in the Bible where that happens, and some of them are terrifying, but it is always an interpretive choice that we make to say that, “I had an experience, and I believe it was God speaking to me,” best done in community with people that you trust.I kind of wish Abraham had talked to some of his community of faith before taking Isaac up on the hill. That's a terrifying story of somebody not raising questions about what they thought they heard from God.Conspiracy Theorists vs. Biblical Prophets; Blaming “Them” vs. Inviting IntrospectionSy Hoekstra: The community point is very well taken, and also you've said it, but I want to just highlight it for the audience, because I think that the point about profits versus conspiracy theorists being the people who require something of you versus the people who require nothing of you is so important. And you are right, it is so within the culture of Evangelicalism, definitely within the culture that I grew up in, to say that everything that is wrong with the world is because of those people out there, and has nothing to do with us, and we do not need to reflect, we do not need to change, they need to become like us. And that is that colonial type of faith that you were just talking about. Everyone else needs to become like me, and then the world would be fine.Matt Lumpkin: That's a litmus test.Sy Hoekstra: It's a litmus test, but I also want to highlight the prophets being the people who against what everybody else, not what everybody else, but what in many cases everybody else in their society wanted them to do, we're suggesting the problem here might actually be us [laughter], and we need to take some time and think about how it might be us, and have some real reflection as a community. And that is actually what God wants us to do. So having a faith that is oriented around that versus a faith that is oriented around blaming the world for everything, those are faiths that go in polar opposite directions. And I want that to be everyone's red flag [laughs] is what I'm saying, and I really appreciated when you made that point your essay.Matt Lumpkin: As a designer, we use “how might we” questions when we don't know the answer [laughs]. How might we encourage faith communities to develop a healthy critical thinking and awareness of religious abuse and manipulation? I mean, religion is powerful. It's how many, many of us, most humans, make sense of their reality and situate themselves in the cosmic story and understand who they are and what their life is about. And yet it is so often used to manipulate people, to sway people, to create specific emotional experiences for people, so that whoever's doing the manipulation can get something that they want. And how might we create communities of faith that are resilient against manipulation, resilient against co-option by, I like y'all's term “colonial power” or “colonized faith?”I think it's a great lens to think about the ways in which the Evangelical tradition, which when I teach my kids about where Evangelicals came from, because I've studied this church history, abolition, that was Evangelicals. So many of the really positive expressions, I think, of Christian faith have also been a part of this tradition. So how did we get co-opted by fear and a desire to go back in time to some imagined past? How did so many churches and church people get co-opted in that way? I talk a little bit about the first time I encountered it. I'm 42, dispensationalism was around, but it wasn't a part of my church community.Sy Hoekstra: Which is just, briefly, for people who don't know.Matt Lumpkin: Yeah. Dispensationalism is the idea that… oh boy. So it's pretty young as a theological movement, I think, around 100 years. And in fact, it's a really great propaganda strategy if you want to have your religious idea emerge from the grassroots, you just print up a Bible, a study Bible. Scofield Study Bible has a lot of these connections drawn for pastors. They gave them away, they printed them up and shipped them out to pastors all across the country. Twenty years later, lots of people came up with dispensationalism, simultaneously invented. It's a really great propaganda strategy, worthy of Dune [laughter]. It laid those foundations early. But it only took 20 years in America for this idea, and this idea being that Jesus is going to come back and take away the faithful, but then real bad stuff's going to happen on earth, trials and tribulations are going to happen.And then in some versions there's a showdown with Jesus and Satan, in other versions there's not. Then it gets pretty divergent, and you can find really cool maps of this in old bookstores where people try to map it out because it's impossible to explain.Jonathan Walton: Yeah [laughs].Matt Lumpkin: And then the churches that I was around in my early theological study were obsessed with arguing over whose version of dispensationalism was right. And then you dig into it and you're like, this is a novel idea [laughs], it doesn't even go back very far in church history. So it's a great example of a way a theological concept takes hold and then gives people a lot of busy work to do, to go home and read Scripture and try to mix and match and come up with a way that makes sense of it. So The Late Great Planet Earth was the antecedent to the Left Behind books, which were big time when I was in college. And all of that is based on this idea of dispensationalism, that there's going to be an antichrist arise and then all these switcheroos and people get taken away [laughs].Like the rapture, it literally comes from the same word that we get raptor, the birds of prey, because some people are snatched away, not a good image. I don't want to be taken like that actually. That doesn't seem a positive [laughter]. So all this to say, those ideas, when did they emerge? They emerged during the Cold War. They emerged when kids were having to duck and cover under the [laughs] idea that's going to save you from an atomic blast. Like real terrifying existential stuff going on that causes people to look around and say, “This is causing me anxiety. I am terrified all the time. How can I not be terrified?” And a lot of these moves, they go back, or they look for a scapegoat to blame.And that's really, I think, one of the most harmful and most important litmus tests to hang on to. I don't like the word litmus test. I would call these heuristics. They're strategies you can use to understand something, questions you can ask yourself, like who's paying for this? Who benefits from this? What does this demand of me? Who's at fault? Who's to blame here? If the persons to blame are somebody you already feel disgust or separation from, that should be a red flag. Because we know that the human mind feels emotions before it knows why it feels them, and then this narrative kicks in to try to make sense of why do I feel these emotions? And I think a lot of how the conspiracy theories work, particularly the really deeply dark ones around pedophilia, around…Sy Hoekstra: Cannibalism.Matt Lumpkin: …cannibalism.Jonathan Walton: Cabal.Matt Lumpkin: Yeah, and a lot of those, they draw on really, really deeply held old, long, deep human history social taboos. We don't eat other people. Children are off limits as sexual partners. These are deeply held boundaries on civilization, on humanity, on even having any kind of community at all. So once you say, my opponent, the enemies, once you make them into something so horrible…Jonathan Walton: Lizard drinking blood people [laughs].Matt Lumpkin: …then it justifies the disgust you already felt towards somebody that you didn't like. So that's another way of thinking about this, of not falling for this trap of somebody coming along and saying, “You know what, your life is messed up. You are disempowered. You don't have the same cultural power and influence you had before. You can't enjoy just talking to your grandkids without worrying about offending them, and it's because of those people and their secret agenda that you can't actually know about, but I'm going to tell you about because I know,” and then what job does that do? It makes you feel justified in the things you already felt and thought. It makes you feel angry, and it makes you feel you were right all along.Feeling like you were right all along almost never [laughs] results in good actions. [laughter] When it turns out, everything I already thought was right, that's not a great place from which to get closer to truth.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, and there's a lot of gold in what you're saying, but something standing out for me is I can feel strongly about something without thinking deeply about it.Matt Lumpkin: Oh, yeah.Jonathan Walton: So Hillary Clinton can be a lizard person who drinks the blood of children to stay alive. That's much easier than saying she's actually just somebody who benefits from systems of powers and structures that have put her in place her the majority of her life, and she's responsible for the deaths of a lot of people. But not drinking the blood of children, but like drone attacks. You know what I mean? But one requires thoughtfulness and doesn't engender those same feelings, because we don't have compassion for folks in the Middle East. I have compassion for folks in South America, but I can feel strongly about this 500 year old cabal that she's a part of and that Obama and Oprah and all them are.Matt Lumpkin: You've been reading more of that than I have. I don't know all that [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Hey man, hey man, you know, some of us got to do it so other people don't [laughter].Matt Lumpkin: Yeah.How Can We Help People Let Go of Conspiracy Theories?Jonathan Walton: But as we're engaging with these things, and I'm sure you're going to get to it, but what are some ways that you've actually seen people let go of this stuff, and how can we move towards those people in love instead of judgment, the way that you've been sharing about being empathetic?Maintaining Relationships with Conspiracy Theorists Is KeyMatt Lumpkin: I have to tell you guys, I don't think I'm particularly good at this. I have learned from some other people that I think are better at it than me. One is the thing we've talked about, about getting curious. This is just a good, this is Matt's unsolicited advice for all humans, whenever you're getting mad, pause and get curious. That's a good move to make. Getting out of the deep emotion space and into the curiosity space of what's going on here? What's really happening? Why am I feeling this?Jonathan Walton: Right.Matt Lumpkin: Why are you feeling this? What's really motivating this? But the second one is, it may feel good to want to dunk on people with facts, because it's so easy [laughs] with so many of these things, but it doesn't actually result, dunking on people rarely results in closer relationships. There are times where I think it's important to push back against direct untruths that if spread can actively harm people. But the way you want to think about it is how can I say this and keep our relationship? Because what has been shown to work to get people to move out of some of these terrible ideas is relationships with people who don't share them. Because once all of your relationships are comprised of people who share this shared reality, that's an intersubjective reality that is mutually reinforcing.All those people are thinking the same things and talking the same things and thinking under the same reality, and it will make that reality more real. So just being in someone's life and existing and being the sort of person that isn't dismissible. For your listeners that are good Bible readers, go read the Gospels again. Watch how Jesus stays uncondemnable by the rules of phariseeism, so that he can transgress the rules of phariseeism in a way that upends them, in a way that challenges them. If he was just like, “Well, this is all terrible. None of this is true,” and just lived a way that, they would say, “Well, we can't take this man seriously. This person's not a person of faith. He's not even following the law.”But no, he carefully stays comprehensible to them as a participant in their community, so that when he does transgress on purpose with intention, a thing that needs to be challenged, he can't be dismissed. So staying in the lives of these people, and this is hard work, because some of the rules and the ways in which they put their world together are nonsensical. They don't match, they don't fit together.Jonathan Walton: Right.Matt Lumpkin: So you can't do it perfectly, but staying a person that has not rejected them, and staying in relationship with them while holding on to your reality and talking about it. It's not enough that the reality just lives in your mind. You have to bring it out into the world and make it real for them, so that you become a problem [laughs] for them that they have to resolve.Sy Hoekstra: Well, I had two quick things to say about that. One is the point about throwing facts at people. If you have asked the question of what job is this conspiracy theory doing, and you have answered that question, then you will realize that throwing facts at people is not going to address that problem.Matt Lumpkin: You've just taken away the thing that was fixing something for them, and now they're not going to let go of it easily because you've not offered anything better.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, and the problem is still there. Their problem wasn't insufficient facts.Matt Lumpkin: [laughs] Right.Sy Hoekstra: So that's one thing. And the other thing is talking about having close relationship with people and being credible and all that, I think that just emphasizes a point that we made before in this show, which is that if you are in a dominant group on a hierarchy, it's easier for you to do that. It is easier for White people to talk to other White people about racism and to remain credible and to maintain your close relationships, and to be able to talk about things that maybe your racist cousin would never talk about with Jonathan. You know what I mean? And that goes for anything. Able-bodied people talking about disabled people or whatever, checking people who use ableist language. So I just wanted to draw those two points for our listeners out of what you were saying.Matt Lumpkin: I think that's really important. And I think that any advice that I'm offering here is offered from the perspective of somebody who enjoys a lot of power and privilege. As a White, cis het man in America, in my middle age, I am at the height of my power and privilege. So the question that I ask myself is, I learned early on in life, I can't give the power that these corrupt cultural institutions have given me away. I can try, but they just give it back [Sy laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yes.Matt Lumpkin: So how might I use that power to amplify the voices of people that don't have it, that don't enjoy it? Those are questions that I come back to and need to come back to more and more. And frankly, the less risk I take, I take less risk for me to challenge those ideas. But I think again, the challenging… and I get it. I get mad and I want to shatter these false realities. When I get in a space of anger, I want to burn it down. I want to reveal the falsity of it. But burning down a shelter someone has made for their psyche is rarely a gateway to a continued relationship [laughter]. So instead, the metaphor that I like to use, and I use this even when I was working in churches and doing adult Bible study, it's a metaphor of renovation.We all have rotten boards in our faith house and in our own psychological house, the shelter that we use to face the challenges of reality. We all have things that could be improved, and it's easier to take somebody walks through and says, “Oh, I think you've got little bit of dry rot over here. I got some time this week, you want me to help you work on that? I think we could fix it.” There's a really, really great passage over in Jeremiah that could really help us shore this up. That's a better way than saying, “You know what, I came over and you're living in a house full of rotten garbage, and I just burned it down for you.” That's less helpful.Jonathan Walton: Right.Asking What Evidence Would Prove the Conspiracy Theory Is False?Matt Lumpkin: Finally, I think the thing that, and I looked for the source on this, I couldn't find it. And if I find it, I'll let you know.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Matt Lumpkin: But I heard a guy being interviewed, and he had done a lot of work scientifically in this area. If you can't tell I care a lot about science. I care a lot about how you know what you know. Scientific method is important to me. But he had said that basically, there aren't a lot of good strategies for getting people to let go of these ideas, but one that has been shown to be successful is to ask more questions. And to ask questions about, “Okay, well, why do you think that? How did you come to this conclusion?” To get curious with the person of how they came to these conclusions. And then when you hear things that are factually untrue, ask like, “Okay, well, what evidence would you accept?”So the move is this, you get curious, you ask questions, you get more data on why they think what they think. You offer some counter evidence that challenges some of the false foundations. When they don't accept it and they won't, then the move is, if you don't accept that evidence, what evidence would you accept that would actually change your mind? And that question can become the seed of doubt in the conspiracy theory thinking. Why? Because conspiracy theories are self-authenticating. There is no evidence that can show them to be false. And so telling somebody that isn't the same as them coming to that conclusion on their own and then feeling a little bit conned.At least for what I understood from this gentleman, the most successful paths are not making the leap for them, but leading them up to the leap to understand that they're locked in.Jonathan Walton: Right.Matt Lumpkin: And a lot of folks that really these theories appeal to, they appeal to them because they feel empowering. “I'm choosing this, I'm believing against the mainstream.” So once they start to realize that they're locked in a system that they can't actually ever get out of, because no evidence would convert them out of it, that's a bad feeling.Where to Find Matt's WorkSy Hoekstra: Interesting. Matt, before we let you go, can you tell people where they can find you on the internet, or what work of yours you would want them to check out?Matt Lumpkin: I do a lot of stuff at www.mattlumpkin.com, that's where most of some of the stuff that I write goes. If you want to see pictures of the paintings that I'm working on or the furniture that I'm designing [laughs], which is unrelated to our conversation, that's on, mostly on Instagram. But I don't have any way for people to subscribe, I don't have a Substack or anything like that. So I do post on Instagram when I have a new piece up, so that's one way you can sort of keep up.Sy Hoekstra: Awesome.Jonathan Walton: Nice.Sy Hoekstra: Matt is a jack of all trades [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Nice.Matt Lumpkin: Life's too short to do one thing.Sy Hoekstra: [laughs] Matt, thank you so much. This has been a wonderful conversation. We really appreciate you coming on and for being a part of the anthology.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, man.Matt Lumpkin: Thank you so much. And I just want to say again, thank you for the work that you're doing in decentering us White guys and centering the voices of people of color, of women. I saw your recent episode you were highlighting the challenges around birth and women of color. I'm so inspired by the way that you guys are bringing together these real deep awareness and understanding of the hard problems that we face, and also keeping that connected to communities of faith and people who are striving to be faithful to the life and teachings of Jesus.Sy Hoekstra: Thank you so much, Matt. We really appreciate that.Jonathan Walton: I appreciate that, man. Thanks so much.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Jonathan Walton: att's handle on Instagram is @mattlumpkin, and we'll have that link plus his website in the show notes.Sy's and Jonathan's Thoughts on the InterviewJonathan Walton: All right Sy, what are you thinking about that interview?Sy Hoekstra: Too much [Jonathan laughs].Conspiracies vs. Prophecies Is a Crucial DistinctionSy Hoekstra: Well, okay, I have two main thoughts that I would like to highlight. One of them, I just once again, I would like everybody in the world to be making the distinction between prophets and conspiracy theorists [laughter] in terms of what people are asking you to do with the stories they're telling you. If they're asking you to do nothing except oppose all of the evil that is out there in the world, versus asking you to examine yourself and see how you can change and make the world a better place. If everybody in the world was on the lookout for that, man, we would be in a better place [laughs] in our society.Addressing How Conservatives Would Process This ConversationBut second, I just wanted to address some tension that I sometimes feel when we're having conversations like this that I'm sure other people feel as well.In conversations like these and a lot, we're talking about conservatives or White Evangelicals or people who believe in conspiracy theories or whatever. It's conversations about these people. These people over here, who we are not a part of. And we're trying to be humane by understanding what it is that, what makes them tick, what it is that puts them into the places where they are. But it's always from our perspective, how did they get into the position where they are so wrong. That's really what we're asking. And we're not just asking that about people who are involved in QAnon, we're asking that about just kind of everyday conservative White Evangelicals or White Christians of any kind, or lots [laughs] of people who just subscribe to whiteness, who may or may not actually be White.But the people who actually hold those positions would not really see this conversation as humane. They would mostly see it as condescending. They would mostly see it as, “You trying to understand how I got to the place where I'm so wrong, is not you being generous or kind, it's you being kind of a jerk.” [laughs]How to  Think about the Narratives We Have about People We Disagree withSy Hoekstra: And the thing that I always have to remember, and I just wanted to kind of flag this for our listeners, is that really that is kind of just the nature of disagreeing. Anybody who disagrees about anything has some story, conscious or not about why the other person is wrong. That's just the nature of the diversity of thought, just having people who disagree about stuff. That's going to be what happens in a society, you're going to be making up stories about the other people and why they disagree with you.But what you get the choice of doing is trying to understand people the best you can, or dehumanizing them and attributing bad faith to them. Or saying, “Oh, the reason you think that is because of, I don't know, you're just those people.” I'm not trying to come up with any coherent psychological framework that makes sense of where you are. I'm just saying, “Ah, you're just a bunch of racists.” Or it could be, “Oh, you're just Black people. You're just inferior.” Anything like that. Anything that's dehumanizing, whatever, you can choose to do that, or you can choose to understand people as best you can, given the reality that you disagree with them and think that they're wildly wrong and that their views are harmful. So I just want everyone to remember that. Everyone's doing this, it's just about how you go about it. I don't know. I hope other people also sometimes feel that tension and I'm not just addressing no one, but that was a thought that I thought it might be worth sharing. What do you think, Jonathan?Jonathan Walton: Well, I mean, it is very possible to disagree with someone without disrespecting or dehumanizing them.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: That is possible, but the amount of work that that takes, most of us are unwilling to do at this point in time. And what's sad about that is, and I think a couple of things that stood out to me, is that the main point of what he said in the essay he wrote for the anthology, and this is like, what am I going to gain if I hang out with this conspiracy theory? What am I going to keep, what am I going to get? What am I going to maintain if I believe this, and then if I not just think it, but believe it, and then act like it's true, and then enforce that reality on other people, what do I gain? And that to me, I think stands out to me because humanity, particularly though anyone upstream of a power dynamic has shown just an incredible capacity to enforce things that are not true to maintain power, authority, privilege and resources.Our Ability to Lie to Ourselves to Maintain OppressionOur capacity to innovate, to maintain lies, is fascinating. So when he talked about the Pentecostal who says Jesus is coming back in 1988 on January 13, and then Jesus doesn't show up, they got another revelation, and they don't lose any followers.Sy Hoekstra: This is in the essay, not in the interview.Jonathan Walton: Oh, so sorry.Sy Hoekstra: No, it's fine.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, but just that constant innovation and the individualization of your relationship with God, to the point that there's this entire reality that's constructed, and to deconstruct that reality would be so disorienting that we would rather just function as though it is true. So that confirmation bias where we then go seek out information then it sounds true, and so we add it to our toolkit to maintain our reality, that to me feels, and I need to think about this more, but feels at the root of a lot of injustices.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, yeah.Jonathan Walton: So it's like, I won't change this, because it would change everything about my life, and I'd rather just not change. So I'm going to keep it this way. So whether it's men and patriarchy, able-bodied folks and disabled folks, Black folks and everybody else, wealthy people and poor people, we'd just rather not change. So I'm just, I'm not going to do that. And then Newt Gingrich said, “Well, it doesn't feel true, so the facts don't matter.”Sy Hoekstra: [laughs] Yeah.Jonathan Walton: And that to me stood out. And then Kellyanne Conway, an iteration of him just coming back and saying, that just saying “alternative facts.” Like what are we talking about? [laughs] In some world that feels plausible, and because it feels plausible, it must be true. And then their entire apparatuses, religious, political, social, familial, built around protecting these realities. And if we could just shake ourselves away from that, that would be wonderful. But it is... [laughs] I mean, when Jesus says, “You shall learn the truth, and the truth shall set you free,” there is just freedom in living in the truth, like what is actually there. So the last thing I'll say is I appreciated his emphasis on the reality that truth and knowing happens in community.It does not happen like me going to the mountain, getting it, then coming down and living unaccountable to anyone. This is not how it works. I say this in every single prayer workshop I do, the Lord's Prayer starts off “Our Father,” not “My daddy” [Sy laughs]. It just doesn't start like that [laughs]. So how can we have a more collective, communal relationship with God and one another?Sy Hoekstra: The thing you just said about the skill of being able to maintain falsehood, it feels particularly important to me in maintaining systems of oppression after they've been built. Because they're usually built on a lie, and then at some point that lie can get exposed and that can threaten the whole system, but the system can survive by evolving. We've talked about this before. You can get rid of slavery, but the essential lie behind slavery stays and justifies every Jim Crow and segregation and the Black Codes and sharecropping and all that. So there's a refining almost of how good you can get at lying to people until you have a not insignificant number of people talking about lizard people [laughs].And it's just I'm almost sometimes impressed by how skilled evil is at understanding humanity. Does that make sense? [laughter]Jonathan Walton: Well, I mean, not to quote myself. In Twelve Lies I talked about how whiteness, White American folk religion, race-based, class-based, gender-based hierarchy is forever innovating. And the current container is in the United States of America, and it's being perfected.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, it's forever innovating, and it's good at it. That's what I'm saying. Which is why we spend so much time emphasizing how much you have to keep learning and being alert and praying. I'm going to say everything except “stay woke” [laughter]. Any other thoughts or should we get to our segment?Jonathan Walton: The only other thing I would say, and I almost started a whole thing about this, was just the importance of critical thinking. Just basic being willing to ask, why? Like, hey, Hillary Clinton is actually part of a race of lizard people that drink children's blood to get this chemical that's going to make them eternal. Why do you believe that [Sy laughs]? Like a person, a real human person went to a pizza place with a gun. That is a real thing that happened. Folks show up and ask questions. Like we cited this resource in a newsletter probably three years ago where the New York Times did this amazing podcast called Rabbit Hole. And this young man who worked an overnight job stocking shelves in one of the Midwestern states listened to podcasts every single night. Podcast and YouTube videos that drove him to become an extremist. And then he changed his podcast diet, he changed his YouTube diet, and then he realized, you know what, maybe I don't have to be afraid of everybody. He just started asking, why.There are people around him that said, “Hey, why do you believe the things that you do? Why are you becoming more afraid? Why do you feel the need to arm yourself? What do you think is going to happen?” Just people asking him questions, and he was willing to engage. So friends, just to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. We can think. And that would be just a wonderful thing to push back against the anti academy thing that exists within modern Evangelicalism and most patterns of dominant religious thought.Sy Hoekstra: We can think, and that would be a wonderful thing. That's the pull quote.Jonathan Walton: [laughs] Right.Sy Hoekstra: That's the t-shirt [laughs].Jonathan Walton: That's true.Which Tab Is Still Open?Sy Hoekstra: All right. Jonathan, let's get into our segment, Which Tab Is Still Open, where we dive a little bit deeper. We're really shifting gears here from conspiracy theories [laughs] to Albert Camus, where we dive a little bit deeper into one of our recommendations from our newsletter. That newsletter is free at KTFPress.com. Get recommendations from us on discipleship and political education each week, along with resources to help you stay grounded and hopeful, news about KTF Press, all kinds of other great stuff at www.ktfpress.com. Jonathan, for you, out of all the stuff we've been writing about in the newsletter, Which Tab is Still Open, can you tell us about it?Jonathan Walton: Okay, friends, we are going from not thinking at all to thinking very deeply. Okay?Sy Hoekstra: Yes [laughter].Jonathan Walton: So this episode of a podcast called The Gray Area, where the host Sean Illing talks with a historian and philosopher, Robert Zaretsky about the politics and the ethics of Algerian philosopher Albert Camus. Again, we're going to think really hard, so go with me. Camus lived through the colonial occupation and the French annexation of Algeria. And he also lived through the violent struggle between Algerian rebel forces and the French army. He opposed France's policies of discrimination and oppression of the Algerian people, but never fully endorsed Algerian independence. So leftists thought of him as a moderate. Keep going with me, okay?He also believed that killing was wrong no matter who was doing it, and that neither the rebels nor the French had a monopoly on truth. But he was not abstract. He thought that violence was inevitable. He just couldn't justify it being used against innocent people, even in the name of freedom. He was not at all abstract or a systemic thinker. Like a lot of European philosophers, he was grounded in reality of day to day suffering that he had lived, and his conviction was that it was simply wrong.Prioritizing Vulnerable People in the Halls of PowerSo as I listened to this episode, the thing that just fascinated me about Camus is that it is possible to hang out in the biggest halls of academic power, to win awards, as he did for his literature and novels and essays, but to stay grounded in the village, to stay grounded in the community, to stay grounded in reality.Because I think something that struck me, my daughter does gymnastics and she got the chance to go to a state competition, and I was walking with her through a college campus, it was her first time on a college university campus. And I thought to myself, the distance between where my daughter is right now and the quote- unquote, grandeur of this university is all false. The reality is, these are just kids. This is the same kid that was in the neighborhood an hour ago that drove to this place to do flips and tricks in this new gym. The walls might be shinier, the mats might be cleaner, it may be a bigger stage, but the reality is we are just people doing the same things together in a different venue.So Camus, even though he was at a university, held the village with him, even though he was at a newspaper, held the village with him. Even though people were pushing back against him, held the village with him. So how can I Jonathan Walton, Ivy League educated person, or you listening with whatever background you have, hold fast to the reality that the things we say and do impact vulnerable people? I can't just say that there's an invasion at the southern border and not think that there are implications to that. I can't just say, grab women by their genitals. I can't just say that and not think that something's going to happen. The reality of the things that I say and the things that I do impacts people downstream of me is something I have to hold fast to.And just what Camus said, violence is inevitable and totally unjustifiable. I think that felt to me as one of the truest things I've heard in a very long time, is that, do I think that all of a sudden, on this side of heaven, violence is going to stop? No. At the same time, could I ever justify in the name of Jesus, violating the image of God in someone else for whatever cause? No, I cannot, because Jesus didn't do it. If violence was justifiable, then Jesus absolutely would have joined Peter and started the revolution, or did it beforehand, which I wrote about. If I was Jesus, I would have slapped Zacchaeus so hard in the moment.Sy Hoekstra: [laughs] Wait, Zacchaeus?Jonathan Walton: Yeah, I wrote a piece called “Jesus Didn't Slap Zacchaeus” [Sy laughs]. Just that reality of even before Pilate, because, you know, there's other things happening with Pilate. But it's like if I was Jesus and Zacchaeus is standing right there. He stole money from my family for years and years and years and years. He betrayed our people. He did all that. And he's short, he's standing there, I'm stronger than him, the crowd is behind me. Pow! I would have done it and felt totally justified. But Jesus doesn't do that, just like he doesn't throw himself off the cross and start the revolution. Just like he doesn't call angels to intercede and do things on his behalf. He stays in line with his vision and mission and calling because he knows the cup that he has to drink. And so Camus messed me up.Sy Hoekstra: The thing that I wanted to highlight from the podcast was a story that I think the guests, I think Zaretsky told about Camus being confronted by a student from Algeria saying, “Why aren't you supporting the rebel forces who are fighting the French? Why haven't you, in an outspoken way, said that what they're doing is good?” And he says, “Look, at this very moment they are placing bombs under tram cars in Algiers, and my mother could be on one of those tram cars. And if what they are doing is justice, then I prefer my mother.”Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: And I think that's kind of what you're talking about. Just this, he just had this wall in his mind where he's like, “You cannot, you can't kill my people and call it justice, and call it goodness. I will not let you do that.” And that's, I'll talk about this in a minute, the place that he leaves you in politically and morally and whatever, is very difficult, but you got to respect the integrity [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yes, absolutely. A thousand percent. The other thing that I really appreciate about this podcast is that Sean Illing, when he opens the podcast, addresses a reader or a listener who sent him a handwritten letter asking him why he had not addressed Israel, Palestine. And I respect him, and I respect his answer. And I suspect that other journalists and politicians are being confronted, whether on Instagram or not like, “Why aren't you doing x, y and z?” So I just appreciated Sean's, I'm talking about him like I know him, Sean Illing's candor and honesty to open the podcast. I think it just set the tone, really, really well.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, I totally agree with that.Jonathan Walton: So Sean, I mean, Sean, what do you think? So Sy, what do you think about the podcast? [laughs]Sy Hoekstra: I, Sean Illing, believe… [Jonathan laughs] Yeah, no, this podcast had me deep in my feelings is what I'm saying.Despair about Violence and Hope without Answers are Both BiblicalSy Hoekstra: First of all, I don't say this a lot, but I think French existentialism might actually be a decent way to respond to Pale

Welcome to another exciting episode of the Step It Up Entrepreneur podcast! Today, we're diving deep into the dynamic world of short-term rentals with our special guest, Mark Lumpkin. I'm your host, Tomas Keenan, broadcasting from the cozy chaos of my home office, where balancing work and family life is a daily adventure. In this episode, Mark Lumpkin, an expert in transforming short-term rental properties into premier vacation experiences, joins us to share his wealth of knowledge. We'll explore how the short-term rental market has evolved from basic accommodations to homes that are integral parts of travelers' vacation experiences. Mark will shed light on the “amenities arms race” and how property owners can stand out by creating unique and luxurious spaces. Mark emphasizes the value of building lasting client relationships over quick wins, advocating for a customer-centric approach that leads to repeat business and long-term profitability. Looking to the future, Mark keeps a flexible outlook, balancing perfecting current operations with the excitement of new opportunities on the horizon. Whether it's scaling up, exploring acquisitions, or simply enjoying the journey, Mark's insights are invaluable for any entrepreneur in the rental space. So, get ready to take notes and be inspired. Tune in as we explore the secrets to mastering the short-term rental market with Mark Lumpkin. Let's step it up and dive in! Find more about Mark https://strcribs.com/  or his socials! LinkedIn and Instagram. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mark-lumpkin https://www.instagram.com/strcribs/        

Holberg v. Lumpkin

2 + Hours of ComedyFirst a look at this day in History.Then Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, originally broadcast May 5, 1953, 71 years ago, with guest Anne Baxter.  Anne and the boys do a sketch about an inventor and a rich schnook sntitled “The Mink Fink”.Followed by the news of the day 71 years ago, then My Friend Irma starring Marie Wilson, originally broadcast May 5, 1953, 71 years ago, Irma Wants an Older Man.  Al jilts Irma on her birthday so Irma takes a date with an older man.Then The Royal Gelatin Show starring Rudy Vallee, originally broadcast May 5, 1938, 86 years ago with guest Boris Karloff.   Rudy interviews Washington Lumpkin, a sandhog working on the new 6th Avenue subway in New York City. Mr. Lumpkin loses his place in the script. Tommy Riggs and "Betty Lou" appear on the show for the 40th time. Irving Caesar sings "A Song Of Safety" called, "Hot and Cold Water." Boris Karloff and Harold Vermilyea appear in a very well-written drama titled, "Danse Macabre." "The Sisters Of The Skillet" appear as, "The Roving Radio Reporters.".Finally Superman, originally broadcast May 5, 1941, 83 years ago, The Nitrate Shipment.  While Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen are being held prisoner, Pug is almost captured...but escapes.Thanks to Richard for supporting our podcast by using the Buy Me a Coffee function at http://classicradio.stream

William A. Lumpkin (Will) is a devoted husband to Layla, a proud father to Ailey, Sage, and Liam, and a purpose-driven leader with a passion for delivering significant impact through high-performing teams. Will serves as Vice President of Sales at Agios Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA, where he leads a team dedicated to providing disease education and access to first and best-in-class solutions for underserved patient populations affected by chronic hemolytic anemia. Prior to Agios, William was Head of New Product Strategy and Business Development at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Chief of Staff to the Chief Commercial and Global Operations Officer, and the Commercial Integration lead for Alexion into Astra Zeneca rare disease. His innovative solutions earned him Guiding Star and Excellence Awards. With a diverse background spanning leadership across functional disciplines, including finance, sales, marketing, and strategy, at Baxter, Baxalta, Shire, and Takeda, Will has demonstrated his ability to build and lead teams that operate with a sense of urgency in service of others. His professional journey began in finance at Procter & Gamble and includes time as a lecturer at UNC Kenan Flagler School of Business. Will holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Indiana University, where he excelled as a four-time letterman, senior captain of the Hoosier football team, and President of the Alpha Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Will and his family reside in Houston, where he remains actively engaged in community leadership roles, including serving on the Hermann Park Conservatory Board and as a Senior Fellow at the American Leadership Forum. What you'll learn on this episode:  The power of purpose-driven leadership The impact of values on team building and work focus How to connect individual impact to organizational goals The significant role of communication and active listening Strategies for continuous leadership development and growth The importance of authenticity, honesty, and integrity in leadership Additional Resources: William's LinkedIn  Agios Pharmaceuticals' Website >> https://agios.com/  Learn more about PK Deficiency >>  https://www.knowpkdeficiency.com/ Learn more about opportunities to work with Agios and search their open positions below: https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe03/ats/careers/v2/searchResults?org=AGIOS&cws=37 

In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Michael D. Lumpkin, the Chief of Staff for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or “ICE”. We discuss the missions of ICE, the various challenges facing ICE including budgetary constraints, and its efforts to address the unprecedented number of arrivals at the US-Mexico border. We also discuss the importance of technology and innovation in ICE's operations and Mr. Lumpkin's views looking forward. 

Join us on the "STR Investing" podcast as we chat with Mark Lumpkin, head of Sales at STR Cribs. Mark is an expert in transforming properties for short-term rentals and has overseen the installation of over 500 rentals in his career. He shares practical tips for property renovations, cautionary tales to avoid, and essential advice for first-time owners. Whether you're a new investor or looking to enhance your portfolio, don't miss Mark's wealth of knowledge. Connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-lumpkin-84b173142/ and explore STR Cribs' services at strcribs.com to elevate your rental game!

In this episode, Jeremy is joined by Mark Lumpkin from STR Cribs, a company that specializes in designing and renovating short-term rental properties. Mark discusses the concept of the 'amenities arms race,' highlighting the necessity for hosts to continuously innovate and invest in their properties to provide unique, high-quality guest experiences. He shares insights on the significance of thoughtful design, the impact of specific amenities like pickleball courts and full-length mirrors, and the importance of preemptive maintenance and renovations. The duo also explores the challenges and strategies around permitting, budgeting for renovations, and identifying properties with unique features that can stand out in the market.

In this podcast, Pastor Gentry Mangun shares his insights into the significance of family legacies in shaping leadership. Sharing insights from the rich heritage of Mangun and Lumpkin leadership, Pastor Gentry explores the transformative impact that his family has had on guiding this future generation. He talks about following in his father's footsteps as a pastor, illustrating the complexities and benefits of succession in leadership. Through his reflections, Pastor Gentry shares the lessons and responsibilities learned in embracing and perpetuating a family legacy.  Purchase The Christian Leader Blueprint book today: Click HERE  Download The Christian Leader Blueprint – Short Guide (Free): https://www.ryanfranklin.org/blueprint   Take the Christian Leader™ Self-Assessment (Free):https://www.ryanfranklin.org/clselfassessment   Learn more about the BRAND-NEW Christian Leader™ Community Coaching:https://www.ryanfranklin.org/communitycoaching   YouTube and Audio Podcast: https://www.ryanfranklin.org/leaderpodcast   Connect with Ryan: Email: info@ryanfranklin.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rnfranklin/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rnfranklin/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rnfranklin/   #leadership, #thoughtleadership, #ministry, #pastor, #pastors, #churches, #leadershiptraining, #churchleader, #churchleaders, #influence, #leadershipdevelopment, #coaching, #executivecoach, #leadershipcoaching, #productivitycoach, #productivity, #growthmindset, #theproductiveleader, #ChristianLeader, #ChristianLeadership, #LeadershipPodcast, #FaithAndBusiness, #PodcastInterview, #ChristianEntrepreneurship, #KingdomImpact, #PodcastInspiration, #LeadershipJourney, #PurposeDriven, #ChristianPodcast, #LeadershipEssentials, #LeadershipFundamentals, #Prayer 

Welcome to this insightful podcast episode where we explore the untapped potential of leveraging customer success for new business growth and opportunities. Join us as we engage in a thought-provoking conversation with Julian Lumpkin, the founder of Success Kit, a marketing agency specializing in case studies and video testimonials.  Julian Lumpkin emphasizes the crucial but often misunderstood role of customer success stories. The discussion highlights the ineffective use of testimonials without a proper strategy and the value they bring when integrated authentically into sales conversations. It emphasizes the significance of customer proof in building trust in the B2B market and the need to share real stories from the customer's perspective.  The episode offers valuable insights into harnessing the power of customer success for business growth.

In our first podcast of 2024, we talk to Coach Heath Webb. Coach Webb is the Head Football Coach at Lumpkin County High (GA) and was recently named AAA State Coach of the Year for guiding Lumpkin to a 12-1 record in 2023 - their best in school history. Coach Webb has also been the Head Coach at Gainesville, Winder-Barrow, and North Paulding in Georgia. We talk to Coach Webb about his season in 2023 and lessons he has learned in his career.

In our first podcast of 2024, we talk to Coach Heath Webb. Coach Webb is the Head Football Coach at Lumpkin County High (GA) and was recently named AAA State Coach of the Year for guiding Lumpkin to a 12-1 record in 2023 - their best in school history. Coach Webb has also been the Head Coach at Gainesville, Winder-Barrow, and North Paulding in Georgia. We talk to Coach Webb about his season in 2023 and lessons he has learned in his career.

Silver Quintette - "Sinner's Crossroads" [0:00:00] Neopolitan Spiritual Church Choir of Detroit - "Jesus Is My Way" - He's There [0:06:09] Expressions of Faith - "Message to the People" - Forgive Me Lord [0:06:28] Southern Echoes of Atmore, Alabama - "Jesus Saves" - Have You Got Good Religion [0:12:17] Rev. Leroy Nobles and the Singing Sons of NY - "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled" [0:14:13] Rev. W.L. Lumpkin and Choir - "How I Got Over" - Send It On Down [Holy Ghost Tabernacle Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri] [0:16:35] Mighty Wonders of Winston, Salem, - "I'm Going To Live On High" - I'm Going To Live On High [0:20:11] Brown Brothers of Columbia, S.C. - "Whenever You Pray" [0:22:35] Sonny Hood and the Keys of Melody of Dayton, OH - "Wait" [0:28:37] Rising Star Singers of Eastover, SC - "Lonesome Valley" - Lonesome Valley [0:32:02] Fantastic Reel Brothers - "I Just Can't Live Without Jesus" - God Smiled On Me [0:34:57] Silver Bell Singers - "Christian Soldiers" - Keep On Tramping [0:39:19] Mighty Genesis - "I'm So Glad" - The Train Is Coming One Day [0:43:33] Rev. Price E. King - "All of My Help" - Jesus Is A Rock [0:50:17] Sensational Righteous Brothers - "Seeking" - Sinner Man [0:54:04] Consolers - "Merry Christmas" [0:58:31] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/135131

Tong v. Lumpkin

Kenny Lumpkin & Lori Worley Kenny Lumpkin & Lori Worley /Jackson EMC Foundation The Jackson EMC Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization set up to represent the members of Jackson EMC and award the funds collected through Operation Round Up for charitable purposes. Local community leaders serve on the Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors. The Jackson […] The post Kenny Lumpkin & Lori Worley with The Jackson EMC Foundation appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Welcome to the Laundromat Resource podcast with your host, Jordan Berry. In this episode, we have an inspiring guest, Kevin Lumpkin, as he shares his incredible journey of transitioning from law enforcement to managing multiple laundromats. Kevin's story is one of resilience, determination, and strategic business acumen. From his time in prison to scaling successful businesses, he offers valuable insights into the laundromat industry and the entrepreneurial mindset. Join us as we delve into Kevin's compelling narrative, his commitment to empowering others through business education, and his ambitious goal of expanding his laundromat empire across the United States. Get ready for an insightful and uplifting conversation that will leave you inspired and motivated.In this episode, Jordan and Kevin discuss: 00:00 Kevin Lumpkin shares wild story about laundromats.07:43 Imprisoned man starts successful online businesses.12:40 Adaptability and control define my attitude toward life.19:23 Scaled TV business; transition to successful cleaning company.23:48 Old laundry equipment, mostly not functional, overpriced.29:16 Unanticipated costs led to startup challenges.33:05 Adapt and invest in a growth mindset.41:24 Laundromat attendant's sister took over after her.48:45 Learning from courses, sees long-term potential.53:45 Acquired 12, waiting for more next week.59:03 Improve business by allowing customer feedback and engagement.01:03:08 Building and equipment involves hard work, preparation.01:06:09 Passion led to founding Black Entrepreneurs of America.Show Notes-https://laundromatresource.com/show136ResourcesEmail: twashlaundromat@gmail.com Website: twashlaundromat.com InstagramFacebookShow SponsorsAtmosphereTV- 50+ channels of positive, fun TV programming, allowing you to cut your cable bill and create a great atmosphere in your laundromat! Get the registration fee waived by using this link!https://atmosphere.tv/partner/laundromat-resourceConnect With UsYouTubeInstagramFacebookLinkedInTwitterTikTok

CTL Script/ Top Stories of November 18th      Publish Date: November 17th    Henssler :15  From the Ingles Studio Welcome to the Award-Winning Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast    Today is Tuesday, November 21st and Happy heavenly Birthday to MLB HOF Stan ‘The Man' Musial. ***STAN MUSIAL – 3000th HIT*** I'm Keith Ippolito and here are the stories Cherokee is talking about, presented by Credit Union of Georgia.  Rosalynn Carter dies at age 96 Warnock looking to extend insulin cost cap to all diabetes patients Cherokee Included in Drought-Impacted Disaster Areas   Plus, Bruce Jenkins sits down with Leah McGrath to discuss essential oils.   We'll have all this and more coming up on the Cherokee Tribune-Ledger Podcast, and if you're looking for Community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!    Commercial: CU of GA   STORY 1: Rosalynn Carter dies at age 96 Rosalynn Carter, former first lady and advocate for mental health reform, passed away at her home in Plains at the age of 96. She played a pioneering role in destigmatizing mental illness, pushing for legislative reform, and co-founding the immunization program Every Child By Two. Alongside her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, they continued their commitment to public service through the Carter Center, focusing on global projects. Rosalynn Carter was recognized as one of the most activist first ladies, contributing significantly to various causes during and after her time in the White House. STORY 2: Warnock looking to extend insulin cost cap to all diabetes patients U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Sen. John Kennedy are collaborating on federal legislation to extend the cap on insulin costs to the general population. Initially, Warnock played a key role in introducing a provision limiting insulin costs to $35 per month for Medicare enrollees in the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year. The senators' study revealed that over a quarter of U.S. counties, including 105 in Georgia, are "Insulin Deserts" with high uninsured rates and diabetes prevalence. The report emphasizes the need for legislation to make insulin affordable for both privately insured and uninsured Americans due to its high costs compared to other countries. STORY 3: Cherokee Included in Drought-Impacted Disaster Areas U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has declared 11 additional Georgia counties in North Georgia as natural disaster areas due to prolonged drought conditions. This follows a previous natural disaster declaration covering four counties in Northwest Georgia. The newly added counties, including Bartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, and Whitfield, have experienced eight or more weeks of severe, extreme, or exceptional drought. The declaration enables the Farm Service Agency to provide essential emergency credit to affected farmers for addressing drought-related challenges, such as replacing equipment or livestock, reorganizing farming operations, or refinancing loans. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info.    Back in a moment  Break: DRAKE - ESOG – HELLER LAW STORY 4: WEATHER Early Thanksgiving travelers, especially in north Georgia, must remain weather-conscious on Tuesday. Severe weather poses a risk, especially in NW Georgia, with potential gusts reaching 45 mph. The threat intensifies Tuesday morning through the afternoon, primarily in the southern regions. Expect drier conditions by late Tuesday into Wednesday. Stay updated and vigilant while traveling for a safe and secure Thanksgiving celebration. STORY 5: Georgia attraction makes Travel and Leisure's international list of places to visit in 2024 In 2024, Macon, Georgia, stands out as one of The 50 Best Places to Travel, particularly for cultural immersion, according to Travel + Leisure. Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, with its ancient earthen mounds created by Native American peoples, tops the list. The site's potential as Georgia's first national park and the first in the U.S. co-managed by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation adds to its appeal. Tracie Revis of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation emphasizes the significance of the park as a homecoming. The best time to visit is in September during the town's Indigenous film festival. Other notable destinations on the list include Kansas City, Missouri, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Coastal Campania, Italy.   Commercial:  DAYCO - ELON – INGLES 6 STORY 6: INGLES - LEAH And, now here is Bruce Jenkins Conversation with Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on essential oils. STORY 7: LEAH INTERVIEW We'll have closing comments after this.    COMMERCIAL: Henssler 60    SIGN OFF –   Thanks again for listening to today's Cherokee Tribune Ledger podcast. . If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast, the Gwinnett Daily Post, the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties, or the Paulding County News Podcast. Get more on these stories and other great content at tribune ledger news.com. Giving you important information about our community and telling great stories are what we do.     Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.    www.henssler.com  www.ingles-markets.com  www.esogrepair.com  www.daycosystems.com  www.powerselectricga.com  www.elonsalon.com  www.jeffhellerlaw.com  www.drakerealty.com www.cherokeechamber.com Cumming Fair  #NewsPodcast #CurrentEvents #TopHeadlines #BreakingNews #PodcastDiscussion #PodcastNews #InDepthAnalysis #NewsAnalysis #PodcastTrending #WorldNews #LocalNews #GlobalNews #PodcastInsights #NewsBrief #PodcastUpdate #NewsRoundup #WeeklyNews #DailyNews #PodcastInterviews #HotTopics #PodcastOpinions #InvestigativeJournalism #BehindTheHeadlines #PodcastMedia #NewsStories #PodcastReports #JournalismMatters #PodcastPerspectives #NewsCommentary #PodcastListeners #NewsPodcastCommunity #NewsSource #PodcastCuration #WorldAffairs #PodcastUpdates #AudioNews #PodcastJournalism #EmergingStories #NewsFlash #PodcastConversations   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Lee + Billy Derrick are joined by D'Juan Epps + Michael Lumpkin to discuss the partnership with VandySports.com, the future of NIL at Vanderbilt, and the ways fans can support. REGISTER: AnchorImpact.com/register

My guest today is Michael Lumpkin. Michael has served many roles in his extremely distinguished career including Navy SEAL Captain, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflicts, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Special Assistant to Sec Def, and a Special Envoy at the Department of State. Michael's military career included numerous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, serving as the Officer in Charge of training the West Coast SEAL Teams, Team Commanding Officer, service as the Deputy Joint Special Operations Task Force Commander for The Arabian Peninsula, and service at the USSOCOM Office of Legislative Affairs.His civilian government career has included the implementation of the 2010 Omnibus Caregivers Act for VA, overseeing the Osama Bin Laden operation, reorganizing the DOD POW/MIA effort, leading the DOD's response to Ebola in West Africa, negotiating and executing the recovery of Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, and direct appointment by the President to stand up the US Department of State Global Engagement Center to counter ISIS marketing efforts.Michael is currently the Chief of Staff at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a Commissioner on the Afghanistan War Commission.I really enjoyed this chat because Michael has a uniquely broad level of knowledge at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of national power including on both the military and civilian sides. This has given him a very unique perspective on leadership, selection, and standards. Books RecommendedMeditations by Marcus Aurelius

This episode focuses on a seldom-talked-about but crucial aspect of health - ensuring your financial well-being after a medical diagnosis. While doctors play a significant role in reducing the physical burdens of cancer, the episode delves into how a cancer diagnosis can have far-reaching implications on financial stability, like maintaining housing and providing for one's family. Julie introduces her expert guests: Lauren, who emphasizes holistic approaches, Cole, an Employee Benefits Consultant, and Ashley, a Senior Sales Rep with One America Employee Benefits.  The episode explores topics including: - Understanding what employee benefits are offered and when to inquire. - The importance of disability insurance and how it acts as "paycheck insurance." - Short-term and long-term disability insurance, and the importance of having both. - Options for securing financial wellness, such as supplemental insurance. - Portability features and using benefits as a leveraging tool when changing jobs. - Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and mental health support. - Advice on evaluating and opting for benefits packages, considering the broader perspective. Connect with Julie Stevens and the Mojo Movement:  Instagram: https://instagram.com/mojohealthorg  TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mojohealthorg  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mojohealth  Facebook: https://facebook.com/mojohealthorg  Website: https://www.mojohealth.org/ Check out Marsh & McLennan Agency: Website: https://www.marshmma.com/ Check out OneAmerica Employee Benefits: Website: www.oneamerica.com DISCLAIMER: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on this podcast are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of MOJO Health Cooperative LLC, a Georgia Limited Liability Company, its respective officers, directors, employees, agents, or representatives. This podcast is presented by MOJO Health Cooperative, and cannot be copied or rebroadcast without consent. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only, and not intended to supplant the expert advice and/or consultation of a medical doctor and/or a licensed physician, and/or an attorney. In short, this podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice, nor legal advice. The "MOJO Health" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service. Again, none of the content of this podcast should be considered legal advice, nor medical advice. As always, consult a lawyer and/or a licensed physician in lieu of relying upon the advice of any of the participants of this podcast. The host(s) of this podcast are not licensed lawyers, physicians, doctors of osteopath, nor medical doctors in any jurisdiction anywhere. The host(s) of this podcast do not practice medicine and do NOT profess to be able to do any of the following: (1) diagnose, heal, treat, prevent, prescribe for, or removing any physical, mental, or emotional ailment or supposed ailment of an individual; (2) engage in the end of human pregnancy; (3) treat human ailments; nor (4) perform acupuncture. MOJO Health Cooperative LLC is not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast.

Today I sat down with WKU Cheer and Team USA Cheer Coach, Alli Lumpkin. Alli is a Kentucky Cheerleading & Team USA Cheerleading Alumni, but in 2020, she found herself at the helm of the Western Kentucky Cheerleading program, a place she never expected. Taking over the WKU Cheer program has not been the only transition since 2020, though. Alli talks about her transition into a single mom role and how it has shaped her into a stronger, confident woman. Sit back and hear how “Absolute Responsibility” has played a key role in Alli's life. Follow MuuvWell on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muuvwell/ Follow Logan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/younglockefitness/ Follow Alli on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allilumpkin/ Follow WKU Cheerleading on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wkucheer/

 Julian Lumpkin joins us on the Surf and Sales podcast and shares some amazing insights. Navigating the side hustle while still a W2  Starting a marketing agency while  never working in marketing The huge difference of having one case study versus none A case study should be easy to understand by someone outside your industry. Big props to Hubspot for making us a part of the Hubspot Podcasting Network! They even offer free tools to help your sales and marketing team. Click Here  Connect with us on LinkedIn Richard Harris Scott Leese Want to go to Costa Rica? Come to the next Surf and Sales event! Register Here!  

Dragon Football returns this week after the final bye of the season. After the 49-14 loss against Lumpkin County, now the Pickens Dragons will take on the Dawson County Tigers. Tune in and don't miss this week's podcast, featuring Greg Norton, a GHSA Official.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine™, the lack of sleep can account for up to 29% of productivity loss. If you are a parent or are caring for an infant, you probably know the feeling all too well! In this episode, Naeemah chats with Nesta Lumpkin and she explains how parents can get the sleep they need. Nesta Lumpkin is the founder of Just Bloom Life, LLC, a company that focuses on empowering moms to end negative cycles and build strong families.  She's the creator of the pediatrician-approved Infant Sleep Training eCourse™. She helps working moms sleep train their babies so they can stop feeling so exhausted all the time. She's a transformational speaker, writer and a Certified Personal and Executive Coach. As a former CNN Associate Producer and Writer, Nesta spent years reporting some of the biggest events worldwide. But, she says her most meaningful headlines are much more personal: becoming a wife and mother to three wonderful daughters.   When you book her as a speaker or as a guest on your program, your audience will be inspired to take action to improve their lives after hearing her inspiring stories of overcoming obstacles and tips to help moms thrive.  To learn more, check out her website https://www.sleeptrainingworks.com/courses/your-first-course For more information about Naeemah, check out her ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://naeemahfordgoldson.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Naeemah on Social Media! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/user/RestoreOrderNow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/RestoreOrderNow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.pinterest.com/restoreordernow/pins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/RestoreOrder⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/restore_order_now --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/naeemah-ford-goldson/message

In this episode, Isaiah and Elijah Tijero are joined by Tamaya Lumpkin to discuss whether or not men and women can honestly be friends.

Air Date 8/6/2023 Today, we take a look at the education curriculum reforms currently being pushed through in Florida through the lens of the long pattern of choosing to see our history in a way that comforts the comfortable and afflicts the afflicted. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Meet the Man Driving the Right's Culture War Panic - Deconstructed - Air Date 7-28-23 The Republican Party's full embrace of the culture war as a political tactic — from drag queen story hour to critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives — has been chiefly guided by activist and polemicist Christopher Rufo Ch. 2: DeSantis culture war drives AP Psychology out of Florida schools - Alex Wagner Tonight - Air Date 8-4-23 Rachel Chapman, who teaches AP Psychology in Florida, talks with Alex Wagner about being an educator in Florida why psychology can't pick and choose which people to consider. Ch. 3: We Actually Have To Explain To DeSantis Why Slaves Didn't Benefit From Slavery - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 7-25-23 Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman had to break down why the new curriculum in Florida that requires teachers to explain how slaves benefitted from slavery is racist Ch. 4: PragerU in Florida Schools - I Doubt It Podcast - Air Date 7-28-23 Jesse and Brittany discuss the heat wave wreaking havoc on the nation as well as their recent adventures engaged in tourist activities in DC, listener communication related to Biden's re-election and the new Florida education guidelines Ch. 5: Why a Leftist is Defending Conservatives Over Desantis' Racist Florida Curriculum - The Benjamin Dixon Show - Air Date 7-30-23 Highlighting some of the gentle pushback from Black Republicans to the new Florida education curriculum Ch. 6: Fox News BUSTED For Rewriting History Of Slavery - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-26-23 Jesse Watters spoke with William Allen, one of the authors of Florida's revised Black History curriculum, about Vice President Harris's representation that one of the standards outlined implies teaching that slavery in some ways benefitted Black Americans Ch. 7: I was teaching before he was born: Professor slams DeSantis for quashing Black history education - The Reidout - Air Date 1-23-23 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is trying to control the type of education that Florida students can receive, most recently rejecting an advanced placement course in African-American studies, claiming it was “contrary to Florida law” MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S) Ch. 8: It's hard to vilify DEI training, without announcing one's racism - Think About It with Michael Leppert - Air Date 8-1-23 If the average American were to learn about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training through its discussion in the political arena alone, suspicion of it should be expected, and hostility toward it would be understandable. Duh. Ch. 9: Andrew Spar, Florida Education Association President and Scott Slawson, UE Local 506 President - America's Work Force Union Podcast - Air Date 7-26-23 Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the fight over African American studies in Florida's curriculum Ch. 10: The Court Room of History - Why Now? A Political Junkie Podcast - Air Date 7-29-23 In this episode, we are talking about her most recent book, Sisters and Rebels: A Struggle for the Soul of America (W.W. Norton, 2019), which tells the story of three sisters, women from the slave-holding Lumpkin family of Georgia. FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 11: Final comments on how education curriculum is helping maintain power imbalances MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions) Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

If CEO, Julian Lumpkin, learned one thing from his sales career it was to follow what the most successful sellers were doing and do that. It paid off.Before starting SuccessKit, he learned to use case studies to sell and realized that his company didn't have a way to produce these. All of the successful salespeople had collected these stories, memorized them and used them over and over. Knowing that all salespeople need case studies throughout the sales cycle, SuccessKit was born. Julian quickly realized that knowing how to sell did not equip him to run a company and successfully scale sales at the same time, so he needed an easy way to get his first customers and he used his network, did an outstanding job and built his sales on referrals. Recently, he realized that the referrals he was getting weren't going to power his growth to meet his goals so he added another way for customers to find him and started a series of highly successful online events where he trains salespeople on how to use case studies. Julian is still working on the barriers to increasing sales, so listen to what he has done, including launching a new product line, one that his customers really needed. Chapters02:54 Importance of customer success04:23 Authentic language from clients10:50 Developing case studies and using inexpensive paid advertising to get leads15:37 Importance of having a formal referral strategy in place16:07 The importance of collecting and organizing case studies19:56 Organizing case studies by significant challenges and important problems20:59 Building and owning a library of case studies23:23 Best practices for using case studies in the sales process24:28 Importance of understanding prospect's unique concerns and priorities33:18 Hiring salespeople without a good process for inbound and outbound leads38:48 Tips for getting started on creating case studiesAbout GuestJulian has been in the sales world for over 14 years. He started his career in tech sales, moved to management, and then founded SuccessKit in 2016. He serves as the point person for new clients, ensuring that each project is initiated, executed smoothly, and delivered on time. With a strong passion for entrepreneurship, Julian has established himself as a key figure in the business world. His leadership and expertise have led to the founding of SuccessKit, where he plays a crucial role in bringing on new clients, ensuring their success, and overseeing project management.Julian's entrepreneurial journey is fueled by his commitment to delivering exceptional results and his ability to foster strong client relationships. Through SuccessKit, he has created a platform that provides clients with the tools and support they need to thrive in their respective industries. Julian's dedication to client success has earned him a reputation for excellence, and he continues to make a significant impact in the business community.About CompanySuccess Kit is a B2B company that creates case studies and customer success stories in written and video formats to help salespeople provide relevant examples of customer success during the sales process. The company encourages its clients to read and categorize their case studies appropriately based on verticals, personas, and the most significant challenges solved. According to SuccessKit, the best case studies start with a problem and build a story arc using Joseph Campbell's story arc to create a good story that people can lean into and recognize themselves.Social Links You can learn more about and connect with Julian Lumpkin in the links below.Connect with Julian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-lumpkin-b845aa15/Check out SuccussKit's website: https://successkit.io/You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Connect with Alice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/Check out Alice's website: https://AliceHeiman.com

When's the last time you read a case study that really grabbed your attention. That after you read it you were like, wow, that was super interesting and insightful?Maybe ... never?Because most case studies ... how to put this nicely? They don't necessarily suck. They're just ... OK. Kinda boring. All the same. Nothing special. Which is kind of a problem, since you definitely want prospects to be blown away by your case studies, right?In this episode, Julian Lumpkin, founder and CEO of SuccessKit, a firm that helps you produce amazing case studies, drops some heavy duty knowledge bombs about how to create kick-ass case studies.We dive deep into what makes most case studies kinda dull and what it takes to create case studies that cut through the noise and really deliver the goods, such as:--Why focusing too little on the problem you solve and too much on your solution is NOT a good approach--Why focusing mostly on the problem you solve, in detail, IS the way to go--Why it's a good idea to have a neutral third party interview your clients and write case studiesThe B2B Content Show is produced by Connversa, a b2b content agency that helps you showcase your special sauce and get your ideal customers to know, like, and trust you.

Levels Head of Growth, Ben Grynol, sat down with Levels member, Natalie Lumpkin, to chat about her journey with Levels and how it has impacted her health journey over the past year.

In this episode, we delve into the exhilarating world of entrepreneurship and explore the concept of betting on oneself to start a successful company. Join us as we discuss the challenges, triumphs, and valuable lessons learned by an individual who took the leap of faith and ventured into the world of self-employment. Our guest, Julian Lumpkin shares the story of his failures, sacrifices and experiences as he went from being a sales employee to ultimately creating his own company, SuccessKit which is now making tremendous waves in the B2B space. The episode starts with Julian talking about how he started as an employee in sales and slowly climbed the ranks to become a sales manager for the last 2 years of his employment. He explains how being an entrepreneur wasn't something he intended but the idea was slowly planted as he realized just what he can achieve on his own. He shares the realization of how the company he used to be in spent so much money and resources on hiring the best sales reps and training when the most important information was right in front of them, which is their own examples of their customers' success. This led Julian to the path of starting SuccessKit. Julian then started the process of becoming an entrepreneur 2 months later at the end of 2016, after resigning from his position, moving back in with his parents and investing a hundred thousand dollars of his own money to create the initial product that led to where he is now. If you want to hear more about Julian's journey to entrepreneurship, tune in for this episode.Connect with Julian:successkit.iolinkedin.com/in/julian-lumpkin-b845aa15 Achieve your next level with Relentless Goal Achievers: https://relentlessgoalachievers.com/opt-inConnect with Eric: Be sure to connect with me in the Lead Sell Grow - The Human Experience Mastermind Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadsellgrow/Learn more about our services: www.TheGoalGuide.com Improve your sales and stay connected – Free Gifts Here https://shor.by/TheGoalGuide Chapters:0:00 - Intro1:02 - Starting out from sales1:36 - What shifted you towards entrepreneurship?5:48 - From an idea to an obsession6:16 - The initial idea7:30 - The startup8:12 - The struggles10:43 - The mental process of entrepreneurship14:39 - What shaped your form of thinking?15:57 - Growing up17:26 - Would you do things differently?18:14 - How did you save up enough money to invest?19:18 - What separated you from other sales people?20:58 - The next step25:38 - What SuccessKit looks like now27:02 - How it works31:52 - What is effective about case studies?35:25 - The ideal client36:32 - Conclusion 

Natalie Lumpkin, the creative force behind Finding You, a gathering dedicated to Anti-Oppression work for Black Women, completed the Hoffman Process in early 2020. Content warning: This episode does contain a discussion of racial violence and the use of the N-word and may not be suitable for all audiences. After experiencing betrayal and doing the work to heal this betrayal, she came to the Process to understand the patterns of her relationships. Indeed, Natalie was serious about change. On day one of the Process, Natalie felt the deep and painful experience of entering an unknown group and seeing, after scanning, that she was the only Black person there. Even though she was part of a group of people doing their deep work together, as the only Black person present, Natalie immediately knew she would be doing her personal work alone in a way she was all too familiar with. Then, on the second day after doing her morning check-in, she received a powerful message. "I am carrying the weight of my ancestors and it's embedded in my bones. This is deeper than just your parents." She drew a visual picture of the message (see below). After sharing this message with her teacher, Natalie followed their guidance to focus on the parental patterns. Upon completion of the Process, she came away with a new sense of who she really is. Natalie then began the journey of healing the patterns of her ancestors. After her Hoffman work and the events of 2020, Natalie's work in the world deepened. She honed her ability to create and hold gatherings for Black women to awaken, heal and see their conditioning. This work is the most important way she can use her voice and the most powerful work she can do. More about Natalie Lumpkin: Raised in the Pacific Northwest, Natalie worked for some of the most iconic brands of our generation. Natalie uses her life and career experience to inform the arc of her program, Finding You.  She creates a space for Black Women to explore the ways we are prepared for racial oppression, and uncover survival tactics learned early in life. They spend time identifying social narratives, orientating their own internalized conditioned biases, and naming invisible generational traumas carried and passed forward in their lives. With a foundation in various wellness modalities and continuous education, Natalie equips attendees with valuable tools for regaining balance and a sense of their truth when they complete this deep work and re-enter the ongoing systems of oppression. Gatherings are held a few times per year. Participants are curated through an interactive registration process.  Groups are kept small so attendees are safely able to create new ways of seeing themselves and seeing each other. The objective of Finding You is to create a safe space for internal reflection, group connection, and deep awakening that allows Black women to take their intended shape, and share their unique gifts in the world. We collectively heal our past while simultaneously establishing a legacy for future generations by identifying and deprogramming the effects of conditioned oppression. Natalie lives in the Seattle area. When she's not working one on one with clients in her coaching practice The Art of Whole Being, or guiding small groups of women through Finding You, she's most likely traveling, spending time with family or friends. She enjoys the natural beauty of her surroundings, writing, and making pottery in one of her local art studios. Discover more: Natalie on Instagram, Btrayed on Instagram, The Art of Whole Being on Instagram, and Finding You on Instagram.   As mentioned in this episode: Natalie's message from her Spirit Guide on Day 2 of the Hoffman Process. Umi - Mother of Mothers, origin: Arabic, Japanese Tara Brach, Meditation Teacher, Psychologist, and Author The Office TV show Jen Atkin, Hairstylist, Influencer, and Entrepreneur Jen on the Hoffman Podcast: My Rise to the Top

The North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble podcast covers democratic politics in North GA, the 9th Congressional District, and across the state of Georgia. The podcast is in Q&A/Interview format with various democratic politicos including county chairs, democratic operatives, politicians, and more. It is our mission to deliver crucial information to our listeners in a timely manner as we fight for community values and principles in the 3rd most Conservative district in the state. Our website is: https://www.fcdpga.com/podcastsOur guests highlight democratic activities and actions to work toward a Blue Georgia. The 9th Congressional District spans 20 counties across the region and covers a good deal of northern GA including Blue Ridge, Morganton, Fannin, Union, Banks, Athens/Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White counties. Our democratic party podcast also disseminates information and interviews powerful Democrats across the state of GA working to overthrow the suppression tactics of the GOP and ensure democracy and our values, grassroots efforts, and goals remain intact. #podcasts #politicalpodcasts #democraticpolitics #democraticparty #stateofga #democraticactivism, #democraticgrassroots #community #gademocraticparty #georgiademocrats #democraticpodcasts #bestdemocraticpodcasts #GAPOL #ClimateChange #freedemocraticpodcasts #deepdemocracypodcasts #gademocrats #democracy #republic #democraticpodcastslisten #fightthegop #votersuppression #voterrights #bluestates #redstates #podcastsdemocraticpolitics #grassrootsactivism #climatechange #environment #9thCongressionalDistrict #9thcongressionaldistrictchairs #ruraldemocrats #racialequity #racism #RacialEquity #POC #politicalactivist  #racialjustice #equity #RaisingtheWage #GAMinimumWage #MinimumWage #education #diversity #inclusion #workingtorestoredemocracy #voterrights #democraticoperative #localpolitics #countypolitics #statepolitics #politicalraces #voterturnout #redistricting #gerrymandering #votersuppression #voterrights #politicalhistory #gapol #ruralrevival #ruraloutreach #DemocraticPartyofGA  #DPG #EconomicJustice #democraticgoals #democraticcharacter #democraticvalues #democraticintegrity  #TurnGABlue #Transparancy #GADems  #gapol #BestDemocratPodcast #Ethics #Integrity #ElectingDemocrats #LocalElections #CountyElections #StatewideElectionsGA #NationalElections #Healthcare #SocialJustice #EconomicJustice #EnvironmentalJustice #UnderservedPopulations #BlackCommunities #HispanicCommunities #LatinoCommunities #BlackandBrownPeople #RacialEquity #RacialJustice #LGBTQ+  #GayRights #CivilRights #Advocacy #PoliticalAdvocacy #Activist #ProChoice #Immigration #MedicaidforAll #ACA #GunReform #ObamaCare  #Education #VoterRights #ProChoice #WomensRights #DemocraticCandidates #AtlantaGA #GALTGovernor #ProgressivePolicies #ElectProgessiveWomen #Healthcare #EconomicSecurity #CriminalJusticeReform #Equity #Equality #Education #VotingRights #GASB202 #ProgressiveWomen #Unions #JohnLewisVotingRightsAdvancementAct #FreedomToVoteAct #VoterSupressionGA #VoterSuppression #VotingRestrictions #CivilRightsViolations #VotingAttacks #VoterSupression #CommunityOrganizer #Diversity #Inclusion #Policy #Action #BlackWomen #BlackandBrownPeople #POC #UnderservedPopulations #PoliticalActivist #ElectProgressiveWomen #ProChoiceWomen #ProChoice #WomenSupportingWomen #ERA #ReproductiveJustice #Education #GunLaws #ProChoiceDemocrats  #ProgressivePublicPolicy #SheaRoberts #NorthFulton #Dekalb #DemMessaging #GAPOLActivist #GAPOLAdvocate #gapol #legislation #LegislativeAdvocacy #GoldDome #Lawmakers #GABluePac #GeneralAssembly #GeorgiaHouse #GAHouseofRepresentatives #ProtectGAChildren #GunReform #AbortionRights #WomensRights #StateoftheStateGA #GeorgiaBluePac #CivilRights  #SeriesFinalSupport the show

Chris was asked to guest on the B2B Founder Stories Podcast, hosted by Julian Lumpkin of Successkit.  Find out what Chris wanted to be when he grew up, how he transitioned into a leadership position and what balance of control over operations he maintains, and how he navigated the financial ins and outs of running a startup. He also talks about a long term vision for Refine Labs, how they differ from other agencies, and digs into the concepts of Revenue R&D and Dark Social. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.