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SCRIPTURE-  Romans 6:6"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."REFLECTION- Fr. KevinMUSIC- "Light My Way" Instrumental- "Memories" InstrumentalNOTES-CONCERT FRIDAY- "Good Morning" by MandisaWave away my yesterdayCause I'm leaving it behind meHello sunshine, come what mayI feel something new inside meI hear the birds singingNow my alarm's ringingGet up, get up, heyIt's a good morningWake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, steppingStepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strengthYou give me just what I needAnd I can feel the hope that's rising in meIt's a good morningSlow down, breathe inDon't move aheadI'm just living in this momentI've got my arms raised, un-phasedJump out of bedGotta get this party going, hmmmI went to bed dreamingYou woke me up singingGet up, get up, hey'Cause it's a good morningWake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, steppingStepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strengthYou give me just what I needAnd I can feel the hope that's rising up in meIt's a good morningGood morningNow I'm smiling, and I'm kissing all my worries goodbyeGot the feelingIf I spread my wings, I might even flyYou are my truth, my wayGive me the strength to sayGet up, get up, get upOoh, 'cause it's a good morning, ooh, oh yeahMr. Mac to the micHey, top of the morning to you, 'DisaYou smoothie, me ice cold pizza Cafe au lait, latte dahYou do the zumba, but I do notGive me like half a marathonI'll give you the gospel of St. JohnHits me like a wake up bomb'Cause we both know that His mercy flows in the morning'Cause it's a good morningWake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, steppingStepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strengthYou give me just what I needAnd I can feel the hope that's rising up in meIt's a good morningWake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, steppingStepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strengthYou give me just what I needAnd I can feel the hope that's rising up in meIt's a good morningTop of the morning to you, 'DisaHey, top of the morning to you, girlTo-to-top of the morning to you, 'DisaMorning little miss sunshineMan, you morning peopleNo, I'm serious

Guardian Goddess in Manhattan.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."Our Princess grew up around a woman whose keen intellect we rely on to protect us from unseen enemies," Saint Marie's voice became deeper and more threatening. "At the age of ten, she," Saint Marie looked my way as my hand shot up mimicking Aya's identical plea for attention."Yes Ishara?" Saint Marie chose to acknowledge me."She's nine.""Fine. At the age of nine, she earned an honorific, Mamētu me eda, which I didn't accomplish until my 19th year." 'Yes Ladies, I'm an epic bad-ass and I've been out-performed by a child'."She was kidnapped along with the Head of House Ishara. They tortured her by clipping off two of her digits, one at a time, then seared the damage with a blowtorch. She gave them nothing. At the end of the encounter, the two of them managed to defeat thirty Seven Pillar's commandos, over fifteen she disabled personally.""After killing nearly half as many enemies as the 35 I have personally dispatched in my entire career, she crossed a mile and a half of barren rock in the midst of a Category 4 Typhoon. Cáel Ishara only helped her half of the way because he was engaged with the last two members of the Seven Pillar's team.""I have utter confidence the madness here today, while assisted by House Epona and Ishara, was the brainchild of Krasimira. I say 'assisted' because Cáel Ishara spared Kwenhamai's life on the battlefield. Katrina Epona removed Kwenhamai from Romanian custody to keep her out of the hands of those who wished us harm. I was aware Kwenhamai was in New York, but not her precise location.""My read on the situation is this:"Aya of Kururiyahhssi was aware of Kwenhamai and Krasimira's plot to adopt her into the bloodline of the first Amazon.""She was not aware of Kwenhamai's plan to exit the Host in the manner she chose. I read the shock and pain in, Aya's face.""Our Princess has not given me a single order and I am the only voice here today that matters, I am the Golden Mare and the Council has consistently failed to agree on a Regency.""Krasimira, why have you done this?" Saint Marie abruptly asked for either a denial, or acquiescence of her perception of events."As directed by the Ancestors, the statute of a goddess of a First House was recast then returned to her perpetual spot. It brought new light to a dark, sacred and painful place. In that moment I realized that for the first time in nearly 3,200 years, the descendants of every Amazon gathered before the walls of Wilusa (Troy) had been reunited.""I was troubled. Was this a portent the augurs couldn't divine? In their council (the augurs) then came up with the words 'speak to our eldest'."Oh shit, the rest of the Council was racking their minds trying to figure who was the oldest surviving Amazon. I knew for a fact they were overlooking the two top candidates."I sought out the eldest Amazon alive. They claimed to not have the answer for my worries. She had far more numerous things weighing on her mind such as her intimate demise. Though I hated sharing the same air with her, I asked her to tell me her greatest regret.""I had given up on the Amazon Race until an Amazon reminded me, through martial effort, valiant spirit and a kind heart, I was wrong to abandon my faith with my people. Now I will die, unable to pass on my renewed hope because the one Amazon I would trust with my legacy is equally childless.""I asked her the name of this Amazon she felt was worthy of her legacy. Then I informed her she was wrong and the Amazon in question did indeed have a daughter. She asked to meet the daughter,""Last night I requested the presence of a female child residing with members of House Epona," the Keeper of Records looked up at the Golden Mare. "I provided neither the resident female (Caitlyn, Aya's Mother), or the House Head with an explanation."Female childSince my revival, Amazons were using 'female' child a lot more often. This meant, the motheer had never told her daughter farewell. The true fate of Aya of Epona would never officially be recorded. She has been born, but never recorded as an Amazon of her true House."The three of us met alone. The two embraced; birth mother and daughter. The eldest of us proclaimed she saw the light of Kururiyahhssi in her daughter's eyes. Words were exchanged. The child agreed to be adopted then departed. Further arrangements were made without the child's knowledge as we have recently observed.""I testify that there is only one Amazon alive today who knows what transpired and I will take those conversations to my grave. Does that suffice?" Krasimira finished. I was already regurgitating my mental quandary with my Isharans. Was Aya really a daughter of Kururiyahhssi?"I will leave it to the others to contemplate your, bizarre actions, Krasimira," Saint Marie frowned. "As for the rest of you, Aya has impressed me. If she has not impressed you, I do not care. I think she is definitely influenced by those two," Saint Marie motioned to Katrina and me. "It is a given since Katrina was of her blood and she has risked much in the presence of a man she calls 'Atta' and he calls 'Duma'.""Katrina is a cold, heartless snake and I am convinced she is one of the best 'First Bearer of the Sun Spear through the Halls of Night and Death' the Host been served by in a long, long time.” Saint Marie paused then looked at me while she said; “ Cáel is a fool who leads with his heart when he should let better women take charge. Fortunately for the rest of us, he is reliably successful despite his multitude of handicaps."Was I upset about being insulted? No. The truth hurts and a Man needs to learn to roll with the punches. Buffy I could deal with. Katrina most likely appreciated being associated with a dangerous reptile. Saint Marie hadn't forgotten Katrina threating Saint Marie's daughter that was for sure."I am considering much of what our Princess would like me/us to do, because it is based in keen insight and well-reasoned thought. She wishes to spare our sons so we will have more warriors in the fight. We have already added men to Havenstone and one to the Council, as was the Will of the Ancestors.""Let me see, she wishes a bodyguard of fourteen (2 First House and 1 from Africa, Asia, Europe and North & South America, the Amazon presence in Australia was minimal and I doubted they would bring someone up from Antarctica, plus the seven matching Runners) without removing permanent members of any House and allowing all Houses to have access to our future Queen. I approve. It is a fine idea and I wish I had thought of it.""Should we add Runners directly into the Royal House? She doesn't think so and I feel this decision shows a remarkably insightful into the long history of our People and protects the Council's sensitivity on such matters. I approve.""Placing our sons into the care of the Royal House? We need to free up as many sisters as possible. Men under the care of the Royal House will be tradesmen and help-mates. Not a single weapon will be in their hands. If none of you have realized herlike will take two decades to implement, it only increases my eagerness to see her become 'casted'."Aya's hand shot up again.Yes?""I would hope the Council, or the Regents, will consider a 'like' which is not mine. It is a man's and it should be of no surprise the idea is Cáel's.""If you feel it holds merit, Aya, tell us," Saint Marie deferred."The 9 Clans have shown some interest in a children exchange programs among our youth as it would provide new techniques we can add to our arsenal an a new avenue to experiment with new ideas. I find the idea to be promising as the Host takes part in affairs beyond our own immediate needs. It would also supply partners between families to be shared for a season or two."Translation: Amazon women could breed with men of allied Secret Societies to reduce our dependence on our own, much smaller, male population. In the short term, it would go a long way to rectifying the Host's child-bearing problems.The Council's quarrelsome behavior was biting them in the ass big time. Saint Marie was right, the only opinion that mattered was hers until the Council elected a Regency. Had we not been at war, the Council would have ruled, but we were, so we took orders from the Golden Mare. Even if the High Priestess had been alive, she would have deferred to our designated War Leader on most things."Cáel Ish, Cáel Wakko Ishara is a very dangerous and devious male, Aya. Be careful of any council he gives," Saint Marie's caution was more playful than menacing."I'll be okay," Aya peeped. "He doesn't have sex with any woman until she is eighteen." That wasn't what the Golden Mare was cautioning her about. We all knew it. Aya was working to defuse a sticky bit of mental juggling, listening to a man's advice."On that we can agree," Saint Marie conceded. "Back to what I would 'like' to say. The New Directive is being implemented. I feel it goes beyond the purview of my mandate. I will leave it for the Regency to deal with. Katrina and Tessa have already invested in the groundwork in this endeavor, so I will endorse it if that is the decision of the Regency.""I have zero desire to add a single Runner to the Security Detail. I will open up slots in the training program if that is what the Regency demands. Each House's policy for dealing with the First Directive is their business, not mine. If any of you wish to consider something the Princess considers to be important, so be it. The idea of 1,000 Isharans does not appeal to me. Look how much trouble their tiny numbers have already caused us and take heed."Buffy began growling, which amused/worried the Houses on either side of us. Unlike me, Buffy didn't 'roll with the blows' and considered all manner of insults to me, House Ishara and her Isharan sisters to be answerable with violence. I loved her so. There was also no way I'd let her go after Saint Marie. The Golden Mare would crush her; I had no doubt."The unwelcome blood feud: are both House Heads ignorant of my forbiddance of such things? Apparently so. Both defied me by tossing insults back and forth. Considering we are at war with two of the most powerful Secret factions, I am angered by both for their idiocy.""The solution the Princess likes is rather novel," Saint Marie was punishing both Messina and me with her low voice and fiery gaze. Krasimira coughed."Yes?" Saint Marie suspended her anger."The suggested resolution is not without precedence," Krasimira spoke with a scholarly detachment. "In our early days, the Host settled such disputes in Spring and Fall gatherings by contests of foot speed, hunting, horsewomanship, archery and wrestling. If we revive the tradition, the competing Houses could nominate one woman for each contest to settle the matter. Only the hand-to-hand match would risk either contestant's health.""I will consider it and render judgement before the Sun sets today," Saint Marie nodded. "The final like pleases me greatly. Dealing with the 52 of you is, Cáel?"I was on the spot. I couldn't let down my fan base of one, Aya. Perhaps it was five, Buffy (who would never admit it), Daphne (who liked me), Katrina (because she liked fucking with my head) and Desiree (who was less likely to admit she found me funny than Buffy).I felt I gave a decent effort."'A ginormous pain in my hemorrhoids?' the basic one.""'More painful than having my cornea scrapped with a spoon?' more gruesome.""'Enough to make me want to give Sakuniyas a surprise French kiss?' most likely to be fatal.""'Worse than waking up to discover I'm related to Cáel Wakko Ishara?' most horrifying, for both of us.""'Inspiring me to toss it all away and take up Professional Bikini Mud Wrestling?' a personal fantasy of mine.""Why do we put up with him again?" one House Head remarked."Because I am worried that one," motioning to Buffy, "will stab me in the elevator after a meeting.""My First, are you acting psychotic around the Council members?" I looked over my shoulder at Buffy."Wakko Ishara, it is not an act. I am psychotic," she responded deadpan."Are you still packing that thermite grenade?""No Wakko Ishara. Daphne stole it from me and hid it," was her quick delivery."I love working with you two," Daphne whispered."What is it with you, your unsubtle sexual innuendo and me in a bikini?" Saint Marie stared at me."I find the combination of brilliance and lethality sexy. Just ask Elsa," I grinned. Then I grimaced as Buffy stomped on my toes. The House Heads and Apprentices on either side of me noticed and clearly expected me to do something, like to show outrage (because she was my underling), or start crying (because I was a guy)."Prestige," Daphne hissed quietly. "Prestige." She was reminding Buffy that beating me up in public made the other Amazons think even less of me than they already did."I will go with (B), the cornea scrapping," Saint Marie gave me a nod."Damn it," I muttered. I also got my foot out of the way before someone did any more damage to my phalanges.'Best Daddy Ever,' Aya mouthed to me. Back to the main action."It is not my place to order the rest of you to elect Shawnee, Rhada and Buffy to be the Regency. I do admit I admire the mixture of candidates," Saint Marie declared. I shot Rhada a quick look. She seemed really, really enamored of the idea of being part of the Regency, thus staying in New York for the next decade, or so."Before the idea is rejected out of hand, I suggest we ask the three people our Princess would like to be part of the Regency if they would accept the nomination," the Golden Mare continued. "Shawnee Arinniti?""I bow to the logic and reason of the proposal," Shawnee replied."Rhada Meenakshi?""I wish to join my sisters in battle, yet I accept the reasoning behind the proposal," Rhada nodded. "If my Head of House agrees, I will stay and do my part for our People." What was she saying to me? 'You are going to whip me, beat me, torture me, humiliate me and push me to beyond the limits of any pain I have experienced until I pass out ~ repeatedly'."I despair of finding any other compromise," Mahdi frowned. "If my Apprentice understands the greater difficulty she will face gaining prestige among her House-mates, I will consent to this proposal." Essentially a 'yes'."Buffy Ishara?""I was really looking forward to ripping the spines out of still living foes, but I would be a fool to go against Aya of Kururiyahhssi's smarts. If Wakko Ishara wants to walk out of this room unassisted, he will see the wisdom of this decision as well," she gave me a shark's smile. Daphne had surpassed her limit and punched Buffy."Hell ya, I agree," I exclaimed. "Now I know there will be certain times of the day when she isn't stalking me.""I'll work more pain into our limited schedule," Buffy grumbled."Are we sure he is the House Head and she is the Apprentice?" Yet another House Head joined the 'shit on me' train.It was telling of our group dynamic how we accepted the Pyramid of Pain. The underlings dispensed advice and violence as they felt necessary without their 'superior' getting pissy about it. Buffy felt totally justified hitting me and accepted being hit by Daphne, who continued to act unimpeded as Buffy's rapid-fire translator."If I was House Head, I'd handcuff him to me," Buffy clarified for her."What she said," I pointed a thumb Buffy's way. I'd have used a finger, but she might have grabbed, twisted and made me scream in pain."Perhaps the Council can vote on this as their second order of business," Saint Marie cloaked her command as a suggestion."Cáel Wakko Ishara, can I ask you a personal question?" Kohar of Marda caught my attention."Shoot, wait, probably not the best terminology in this crowd. Ask away," I replied."Have you faced a House challenge yet?""Yes. Just last night in fact. We free-climbed the north-face of Havenstone. I beat the next closest contender by three floors. I also had Princess Aya on the roof dropping bricks on anyone who attempted to get past me.""That means he isn't going to answer you," Beyoncé  interpreted for my audience."Can't you ever take these meetings seriously?" Febe Mielikki glowered."La, Febe, in the past few minutes I have watched the person I love most in the world get her life shat on," I shook my head."The only thing worse than seeing this happen to Aya is knowing this is her sole opportunity to not lose her soul, so I'm sucking up my heart's pain and putting forward a jester's persona so I don't put any more pressure on her than she's already been subjected to. Like me, she doesn't want the distinction of being a Person of Note.""Like me, she knows she must sacrifice her dreams for the sake of our People, the Amazon Host. Trust me, you would rather have 'me, the jester' than 'me, the Amazon' furious with the destiny that has foisted this pain on her'. Do any of you take responsibility for forcing the events of this morning?" I growled. If they wanted to see the other side of the Janus, so be it."Had you chosen a Regency in the fucking weeks you've been bickering, Kwenhamai could have been dealt with privately. The fate of the Royal House could have been put off a few years. Had you not all been so dead-set on being heroines of the Host, three of you would have sacrificed your bloodlust, your birthright and the future accolades you could recite on your final night (before taking themselves to the cliff), but none of you did.""Instead, you set the stage for dumping all of your indecisiveness on the slender shoulders of a nine year old girl most of you had written off as too fractured and frail to survive her 12th year only three months ago. So Febe how do you like the honest 'me'?" I finished off furiously.It was not lost on anyone in the chamber I was an Amazon raging against the cruelty of fate. Every other bitch in the room knew they had discarded my daughter's life as trivial and I was prepared to unleash violence on the next one to show an ounce of disrespect over Aya's surrendering of her destiny and my grief at failing to find a way to stop this from coming to pass. St Marie had just reminded them that I was 'reliably" successful despite my handicaps. Not an enemy anyone in the room wanted any part of. Saku would have been proud.A Note:I have been remiss in informing my readers of the names of the 53 Houses, even though I created it some time ago. I have made a few alterations to the original version as I've had to rethink certain parts of this tale, but here is the list I now use.List of Goddesses:The First Twenty Houses in no particular order :1) Ishara, Oaths, Medicine and War (to North America) (died out 450 CE; Reborn in 2014)2)   (Deceased) Anat, Goddess of War, Fury and Blood Sacrifice (died out 6th cent. BCE) ~ possibly resurrected by Sakunyias3) Anahit, water, wisdom and war (to North America)4) Arinniti, Sun Goddess (to North America)5) Hanwasuit, Sovereign Goddess6) Illuyankamunus, Dragon God (to North America) (Special Case)7) Inara, the Hunter Goddess8)  au ka, fertility, War, healing9) Kamrusepa, Healing medicine magic (to Africa)10) Lelwani, Goddess of the Underworld (to Africa)11) Hapantali, Pastoral Goddess.12) Hatepuna, Sea Goddess (to India)13) Hannahannah, Mother Goddess14) Moirai, Fate15) Selardi, Lunar Goddess (to Africa)16) Nammu, Primordial Sea, sailing, sailors (to India) (to Indonesia)17) Uttu, Goddess of plants (to Africa)18) Lahar, Cattle Goddess (to Africa)19) Ereshkigal, Queen of the underworld (to India)20) Istustaya and Papaya, Twin Goddesses of Destiny (to North America)Additional Houses, founded in Europe:(Code: Sc = Scythian; T = Thracian, P, Phrygian, C = Celtic, R = Roman, Sl = Slavic)21) (Sc) Marda, the One-Eyed Goddess/Vengeance {fantasy creation}22) (Sc) Farānak, A Scythian Goddess also known as the Lynx Goddess and the Silent Huntress (Dora)23) (Sc) Stolgos, Monstrous Slayer of Greeks (known to the Greeks as the Gorgon Stheno) {semi-historical}24) (T) Cotyttia, Thracian Goddess of Sex, War and Slaughter (to North America)25) (T) Bendis, Thracian Goddess of the Moon and Hunting.26) (T) Semele/Rajah, Thracian Goddess of the Earth and Birth (to India)27) (T) Hylonome, Centaur Goddess28) (P) Cybele, Phrygians Earth Goddess on Lion's throne (to the Amazon)29) (C) Andraste, War Goddess; also Goddess of the Moon and Divination; 'the Rabbit Goddess'30) (C) Epona, Horses (to North America)31) (C) Cyhiraeth, Goddess of springs whose war cry precedes death (to Africa)32) (C) Maeve, War Goddess, the Enslaver of Men33)   (Deceased) (C) Nantosuelta, Earth, Fire and Fertility (died out 1st cent. BCE)34) (C) Artio, the Bear Goddess (to North America)35) (C) Nemain, Goddess of War and Panic36) (R) Minerva, Roman Goddess of War & Strategy37)   (Deceased) (R) Diana, Hunting and Archery (died out in India 16th cent. CE)38) (Sl)  iva, Love and Fertility49) (Sl) Morė, Goddess of harvest, witchcraft, winter and death (to North America)40) (Sl) Zorja, The twin Guardians (Evening/Morning Stars)41)   (Sl) Oźwiena, fame and glory (died out in 1944)42)   (Sl) Koliada, Sky Goddess and deity of sunrises/dawn (died out 17th cent CE)43) (F) Mielikki, Goddess of the Hunt44) (N) Ska i, giantess, Goddess of bow-hunting, skiing, winter, and mountainsAdditional Houses, founded in In dia:45) (I) Mookambika, Demon Slayers46) (I) Bhadra, Goddess of the Hunt (to Indonesia)47) (I) Meenakshi, The Liberator (Rhada and Madi's House)48) (I) Durga (Dark Mother) (to Indonesia)49) (I) Chandala Bhikshuki, Queen of Night, Death, Destruction and Rebirth50) (I) Jaya (Goddess of Victory)51)   (I) Chelamma, the Scorpion Queen (died out 16th cent.)Additional Houses, founded in Africa:52) (A) Oshun, (Yoruba Goddess of Love, Sexuality, Beauty and Diplomacy; Lady of the Orisha ~ life spirits)53) (A) Yemonja, Mother of Rivers (to the Amazon)54) (A) Oba, Goddess of Betrayal and Exile55) (A) Ox ssi, Goddess of Hunting, Forests, Animals and Wealth56) (A) Jengu, Goddess of Jungles and Water SpiritsAdditional Houses: founded in North America(NT = Native Tribal)57) (NT) Uusheenhiton (noo'uusooo' heeninouhuusei hitoniho') (Arapaho), Storm Horse Sister {fantasy creation}58) (NT) Gahe, Apache (supernatural spirits who live in the mountains)Prospective House:59) New, (Hittite) SzelAnya, the Dragon's DaughterCurrent Number of Central Houses:12 in North America (9+Ishara from Europe and 2 native)10 in Africa (6 from Europe and 5 native)3 in Amazonia (1 from Africa and 2 from Europe)8 in India (3 from Europe and 7 native)3 in Indonesia (2 from India and 1 from Europe)17 in Europe6 Deceased{7:35 am Sunday, September 7th ~ Last day}Right where we left offMy rage over Aya wasn't called into question or challenged. Practicality had trumped tradition in the inevitable Amazon fashion. The only one elevated in anyone's eyes was Aya. Krasimira's apparent political adventurism was probably hard for the others to deal with. But in context, only Mahdi, Katrina and Saint Marie had seen her denounce Hayden, so this seemed a new side of Krasimira to most people in the room.Krasimira wasn't the spiritual authority, that was Hayden. She wasn't the Generalissimo, that was Saint Marie. Katrina and I were both appointed officials, we retained our House status. Saint Marie would die a member of House Inara and join her ancestors with pride. Her litany of accomplishments were well known to the Host.But Krasimira? She would die a member of House Cybele unheralded. The Keeper of Records recorded the feats of others, not their own. Nearly two generations ago, a young Krasimira had joined the Keeper's House as a guardian to an un-remembered (save by her) augur. The augur passed and she took up other duties within the house.When the old Keeper faced her final months, she elevated Krasimira to her spot. High Priestess Hayden had approved the choice without really knowing who Krasimira was. (No one outside the House of the Keeper had personal bonds with her anymore.) Seamlessly, she had sat in the old Keeper's seat and the Council kept chugging along.For the past eight years, she had sat quietly at Hayden's side and only speaking when addressed. Mostly, she did nothing overt. The actual note-taking was done by an underling. The Keeper took her own private notes squirreled away in her mind, to be written when she was by herself. Those notes would be handed over to her successor, for the Keepers' eyes and theirs alone.I don't think Krasimira knew me in particular when she dutifully followed Hayden into these chambers the day my death, or life in a cage, was bantered about. It was the day we first crossed paths. She would have known of Shawnee's request for the tooth of an Isharan, though she lacked the authority to ask why. (She wasn't a voting member of the Council.)But when Shawnee made her claim, Krasimira hadn't balked in her support, despite the oddity of Shawnee's declarations, I was indeed Ishara and my sisters could not dispose of me. The outrage of the others meant nothing to her. She pursued her obligations with true Amazon fearlessness both inside and outside of the Council.On the night of the 2nd Betrayal, a Keeper had sat there in silence as her fellow Amazons, the Ash Men, were sentenced to an unjust death. She'd had neither the numbers nor the authority to alter events, what else could she have done?So the Keepers kept track of the names of nineteen 'unaccounted for' Ash Men. For what purpose? An episode of Amazon history no one would ever want to revisit? Yet in my hour of need, coming back 2,600 years was the name 'Vranus of Ishara', sitting only a few keystrokes away. No one, save a few Arinniti diehards, wanted to know the truth of the Amazon Ash Men; and even they didn't want to remember us as individuals. To them, Vranus existed as a notation on the secret Charter of the Arinniti Sons.To Krasimira, Vranus had been a living, breathing warrior of the Host, not even dead, still mythically fighting the enemies of our race because his death had never been officially recorded. With my appearance, I stood in mute testimony to his death, and that of his sons and their sons for a damn long time.Still, I hated playing catch-up.With the Amazon custom of adoption, had no one asked if another possible Isharan heritage still persisted?I would bet they had. And I'd bet they had sought for that knowledge in the Rolls of the Host, always finding that pathway devoid of hope. But if the Keeper had known, why had she kept quiet?Pride, shame, Krasimira's words: we show anger when we should show humility. We are proud of our shame. We are arrogant of our weaknesses. We have heaped insult upon insult on our ancestors, yet are now aghast that they turn away from us, I had confused her soliloquy with that of an accusation, not the long held understanding of her office.Even staring extinction in face, the modern Host hadn't truly accepted the answer, the line of Vranus. Faced with the truth, the Amazons would have 'forgotten' the descendants of Vranus all those centuries ago in the same way they 'forgot' all the other Ash Men on the day I was brought into the Host.But the Keepers did something more than maintain the rolls and records of the Amazons, more than watch over the augurs and make sure their messages made it to the proper ears. They safeguarded the truth. No matter what the Council decided and the High Priestess commanded, the Keepers remained honest stewards of the real history of the Amazons.Why?The Amazons were terribly practical and the truth could run contrary to the needs of political reality. Honesty wasn't a highly stressed Amazon virtue, loyalty was. So was bravery. And thus generation after generation of Keepers had lied to the Council and the High Priestesses. Every time those august personages had committed something to 'the nothingness', the Keepers had defied them and not forgotten.The first heads of the first twenty houses had surrendered their names for the unity of their people, but the Keepers remembered. All twenty of those women had been of the Amazon tribe of the Pala people living on the southern coast of the Black Sea when the Trojan Wars began. Over time, their true blood descendants had founded new houses and been adopted into others.Aya was truly a daughter of Kururiyahhssi; I had no doubt of that anymore. Had she not shared the same blood as the first Amazon, Krasimira wouldn't have brought Aya and Kwen together. Resurrecting an ancient tradition in a complicated fallacious coup attempt wasn't in her; nor was such a maneuver even a necessity. The Host would elect a Regency eventually and Saint Marie was handling the war in a highly competent fashion.So Krasimira hadn't sought out the heirs of Vranus, yet when one appeared, she welcomed 'him'. And when she stepped into the President's office with Hayden while waiting for me to be brought upstairs to face judgement that night, I imagined sending Hayden to the cliffs was the farthest thing from her mind.The rest were playing politics, gender politics, and couldn't see the truth staring Krasimira in the face. The truth was a bitch and didn't play favorites, or worry about the sensibilities of others. Krasimira had seen her sisters refusing to acknowledge the ugly reality they had created for themselves.Krasimira wasn't an advocate for Ishara, that was my job, and my crappy performance was something between Dot and me. She wasn't an advocate for the males and the New Directive. That was what Katrina was for. No, like a hundred Keepers before her, Krasimira was the silent sentinel for the Truth and, the Truth didn't care about anything but the Truth."The assassin is indeed in this room. Its name is Amazon was a rather grand pronouncement from the Chief Librarian, wasn't it? Krasimira didn't chastise Hayden. That wasn't her place. Technically, neither was she disputing Hayden's ability to rule.This wasn't the climax of a dinner-theater 'Who Done It'. The crime before the High Priestess was High Treason and I was the pre-ordained guilty party. My 'ally', Katrina Epona, had not been an advocate for my defense. No. Again in my Hour of Need it was Krasimira.Lacking any true authority, she had defied her sisters and made her definitive statement. What truly transpired was Krasimira staring Hayden straight in the eyes and saying 'you cannot lie your way out of this one, High Priestess. We (as in all the Keepers past and present) will not let you'.Had she used those words, Saint Marie would have gotten around to asking what Krasimira meant. Krasimira would have rather died, because once those bitches discovered their nerdy sisters hadn't erased a damn thing in 3,000 years, they would insist they do so immediately. Krasimira wasn't about to do that. Thanks to the chaos surrounding Hayden's departure, no one had confronted her over her crucial action.To put it more precisely, the Golden Mare had been too busy and Mahdi had been wrapped up in Hayden's Decree and the resulting pressure on the Heads of House to pick the Regency. Katrina was probably a case of I'm not going to ask you so you don't have to lie to me. The only other living person in the room when Hayden's fate was sealed was me, and I'd had my hands full as well.I had to think about what I should and could do. I couldn't beat her up over Aya anymore than I could punish my Isharans for their misplaced arrogance. I decided to extend a 'thank you'; and not only for myself, but for every conceited bitch who had ever sat at this table, or all the other physical mediums the Council had used before this one.We held three votes: The Council couldn't collectively decide on how to implement Aya's other likes (1), so they agreed on her suggestion for a Regency instead (2). The final vote was to set a date for the next Council meeting (3). A date within 9 days of the Winter Solstice with the Regency to decide the precise date and give the House Heads two weeks warning.The last calamity at the meeting was initiated by a question of etiquette."How do we address the Princess at Council meetings?" the Head of House Hanwasuit inquired of Krasimira."There is no precedent for addressing the Iwaruwa alone. By our laws, she is not truly Dumalugal Aya either. She is Nasusara," Krasimira responded. Queen."She is a child," a third House Head declared, "not an Amazon.""No," Mahdi shook her head. "A, Aya is 'un-casted'. She bears an honorific presented to her by the leader of an established stronghold (Summer Camp) and confirmed by the Golden Mare minutes ago.""Congratulations my mamētu me eda," I winked to my past and present Princess, "you've just become a single-digit aged teenager.""Go Aya," Daphne and Buffy whispered behind me. Aya raised her hand, waiting for Saint Marie's recognition.However, Saint Marie moved steadily forward, declaring: "Until the Regency alters my decision, I decline assigning anyone to the Iwaruwa (heiress) whose sole purpose would be to stop her from sneaking off to endure her 12th Year Test. I judge it to be better we know where we placed her as opposed to failing to outsmart her as she needlessly proves to the Host she is, in fact, already an Amazon of the Host." Aya lowered her hand.Thus,'Yes, Aya is an Amazon of the Host' and 'Aya will take her 12th Year Test because she wants to take it, won't let us talk her out of taking it and the rest of us had better accept it'."So, she is our Queen then?"No one appeared to have an answer. Aya raised her hand once more."Yes?" the Golden Mare smiled down at her."Am I in charge?" Aya's other hand squeezed Saint Marie's as she spoke in a barely audible voice."Perhaps.""If I was in charge, I would like it if there was a law that declared the Queen of the Amazons would be officially represented by a Regency until she becomes casted, and antedate the law by one hour so this never, ever comes up again," Aya kept looking up at Saint Marie."Aya," Katrina exhaled.The council chamber was a mixture of awe, resentment and amusement. If Aya was Queen, she could make such a law. The Queen-ship was a Bronze Age autocratic institution designed to provide leadership to a 'state' in near-constant warfare with is neighbors.It was guided by oral traditions and military necessity, not written laws. As long as the queens provided successes on the battlefield and through diplomacy, she was deemed fit to rule. The traditional way of choosing a House Head was the same for the Royal House, the ruling Queen chose an heir.In the long list of Queens, less than half had been the 'eldest' child. No, those ancient War Leaders picked the bravest, smartest and most successful daughters to succeed them. Their wisdom in those selections showed in the fact the Amazons had held off a male-dominated world for over 600 years before fatally marching off to answer an ally's call to fight in the Trojan War."I advise against it," Saint Marie shook her head. "You are young. You are also the only Royal we have. Duty demands and sisters must always answer their sister's call."Translation: Aya was an adult now. It was similar to the first lesson Pamela gave me upon learning I was Ishara. We lived with bitches, it doesn't pay to play nice with bitches."Thank you," Aya nodded. She was 'thanking' Saint Marie for the lesson, no matter how hard it was to accept. Krasimira coughed."Now that the matter is settled," she spoke. The matter wasn't settled. Krasimira was steamrollering the discussion. "What do we call you?", to Aya."I, oh," in a very small voice. Aya's brow furrowed and her tiny nose wiggled. "I wish to be known by the legacy of my Anna (mother) and Atta (me, Cáel). I will be Assiyai hamai.""Love song?" Daphne murmured to Buffy."Assiyai hamai?" Krasimira asked for clarification. 'Love-song' was hardly the name of a 'fierce' Amazon Queen."The only other name I could come up with was Markappidusmene, which seemed less auspicious," she meeped. Markappidusmene meant 'Tiny Smile'."Perhaps Talliyahulla would be more auspicious?" Saint Marie nudged Aya. 'War Cry'."Oh no!" Aya balked. "That's your job.""What do you think your job is?" the Golden Mare questioned, suddenly realizing she'd made the mistake of making assumptions where Aya was concerned."To go to the cliffs with twice as many Amazon daughters, each equal to the likes of Saint Marie, Katrina, Oneida, Buffy, Elsa, Kohar and Tad fi as exist today. We must not 'survive', or simply replenish our numbers."We must become stronger because the World is a terribly messed up place," she raised her wounded hand and splayed her digits for the others to see the two she was missing, "and has become too small for us to seek safety in hidden freeholds any longer. If we cannot hide, we must rule openly. We are Amazons. Having no equals, we must rule alone. The only people we can trust, really trust, are the sisters at our sides."My job is to advance my People's cause with both compassion and cruelty and I will do so alone, because the Amazon Queen has no equals, only daughters."Not a sound. I could count out the individual fan blades recycling the air."Let our enemies tremble," Saint Marie nodded, repeating an earlier declaration."Assiyai hamai," Krasimira intoned, making Aya's royal name official before adding, "Assiyai hamai, you are mistaken about one thing. You are not alone. You have a mamētu me eda.""Oh," she perked up, shedding the gloom which surrounded her. She looked at me, our eyes met and we both grinned, then she giggled...and yet again, up her hand went."Yes?" Saint Marie looked upon Aya respectfully and then at me with much suspicion."Is the mamētu me eda of my mamētu me eda also my mamētu me eda?" Aya asked.Just like old times, only Katrina was ahead of the game. "Oh, by Epona," the Spy-mistress snorted."Cáel Wakko Ishara, who is your mamētu me eda, oh no," Saint Marie bristled."Ah, indeed," Krasimira nodded. "An unlooked for bonus.""Does someone care to enlighten the rest of us?" the head of House Nemain prodded."Oh!" That was Elsa."That's right!" Oneida, she was definitely a fan of me and my spasmodic lifestyle."Wakko Ishara's mamētu me eda, other mamētu me eda, is Temujin, Great Khan of the Reborn Mongol-Turkish Khanate and ally of the Host," Saint Marie let them know. "They are bonded by Cáel risking his own life to save Temujin's. It is actually a privately understood and publically declared fact.""In Temujin's words to the international press when our Cáel and our new Queen were kidnapped : I believe Cáel is still alive. If he wasn't, we would be seeing piles upon piles of dead enemy around him and his 'boon companion', clearly visible from orbit. Until they discover this carnal pit from Hell, I am sure they are both still alive," Oneida added. Rhada flashed ill-distilled hate her way."Shawnee, is your Apprentice's mind addled with the birthing hormones of their child?" Mahdi snipped. That was merely a cultural zing, not an attempt to expose my sinister erotic misdoings. Unfortunately, she was somewhat correct. Okay, she was totally correct."That was uncalled for," Shawnee graciously chided Mahdi, thus demonstrating her ignorance of the facts soon to be in evidence."Yes, I am carrying a child of Arinniti and Ishara," Oneida proclaimed loud and proud. "We share a Warrior's Love."I wasn't really sure how anyone else reacted to the news because House Ishara exploded into violence. That is the politic way of saying Daphne and Juanita were trying to stop Buffy from beating me to death. Here was yet another Ishara-baby and it wasn't gestating inside her. I was too stunned to defend myself.And the old refrain: 'and then it got worse'."Ta  ah kattanda!" (IN HITTITE for 'you pig's ass'), Rhada howled. I missed her drawing her blade, vaulting to the top of the table and lunging at Oneida. Most of the Amazons in the room stood, yet held their ground.They weren't shocked into indecisiveness, only trying to understand the nature of the conflict before intervening. This was not the first 'your Amazon did something my Amazon found infuriating' public threat they had to have dealt with. Rhada was more volatile than the average woman of her breed and station, true, but a violent in-chamber assault?That wasn't the 'worse' though. Oneida drawing her blade in an open challenge to Rhada wasn't the worse either, nor was her shouting."He loves me! He merely saved you!"Saint Marie yelling 'Ishara! Ishara!' over and over again, demanding I put my house back in order wasn't the end of my woes, nope.Me being yanked free of my House fur-ball into the volcanic gaze of Elsa as she seethed, "Rhada?" Oh yeah, Elsa's people and Rhada's people had a bit of a blood feud going on, how could I have forgotten that?But wait!"Not Fabiola!" gasped Messina, bizarrely assuming I slept with, okay, not such a huge assumption."Gael?" voiced by the Head of House Bendis, followed by Gael's "I'm late.""Damn it!" I pulled away from Elsa (slightly)."No. She only lets me ejaculate on 'safe days'," to Messina, Fabiola's Mom."Oh, come on! We had sex one time!" to Gael of Bendis, and finally,"Stop it!" to Rhada and Oneida, (deep breathe). "Really?" with my most believable happy face plastered on. "This is great news!"No. No it wasn't, and I could read the ugly emotional undercurrents on the faces of everyone present, except Aya, who kept the faith."Ishara," Saint Marie rumbled. I held up one finger to forestall her wrath."Oneida, Rhada and I have already decided to name our daughter Parvati. My daughter by Tad fi, ordained by the Goddess to be the first born, will be named Shala while my first son will be called Harki heni (White Hair, I'd call him Raider when we were in the 'outside' world).""My daughter by Miyako Yuri will be named Suwais-urāni, Fushichou in her Mother's tongue, in honor of Sakuniyas. My, other relationships," I would have liked to say 'none of your business', except Amazon mothers, or not, those children would be of Ishara's blood and potentially their kin.

So my CNS has been plugged to a 50amp this week, hburs?Gratefully heard some sounds under the near-full moon that swept a bitta anxiety awayHave an immersive walk and some guided visual breaths with Marcus and meIt's a predawn stroll through waterfalls and frogs, break glass in case of nerves on fireGoin nature zen, Fuckers

Yöllä Paavali näki näyn. Makedonialainen mies seisoi hänen edessään ja pyysi: ”Tule meren yli tänne Makedoniaan ja auta meitä.” Kun Paavali oli nähnyt tämän näyn, me hankkiuduimme heti lähtemään Makedoniaan, sillä ymmärsimme, että Jumala oli kutsunut meidät julistamaan evankeliumia siellä. Niin siis lähdimme Troaksesta. Purjehdimme suoraan Samothrakeen ja sieltä seuraavana päivänä Neapoliiseen. Sieltä jatkoimme matkaa Filippiin, roomalaiseen siirtokuntaan, joka on ensimmäisiä kaupunkeja Makedoniaan tultaessa. Viivyimme siellä muutamia päiviä. Sapattina menimme kaupungin ulkopuolelle joen rantaan; arvelimme, että siellä olisi rukouspaikka. Istuuduimme sinne ja puhuimme naisille, joita siellä oli koolla. Meitä kuuntelemassa oli myös muuan Lyydia, jumalaapelkäävä nainen, joka oli kotoisin Tyatirasta ja kävi kauppaa purppurakankailla. Herra avasi hänen sydämensä ottamaan vastaan sen mitä Paavali puhui, ja hänet ja hänen perhekuntansa kastettiin.Apt. 16: 9-15Seurassasi on Kirsi Jokela

Jesus is our passion is birthed out of a relationship. “He who loves Me” It's in relationship that He begins to manifest Himself to each of us. In a Live Like… “Jesus is our Passion” life, we have to realize that it is a life-long process of surrender that keeps us open to transformation, by getting to know Jesus.

Ist das wirklich der richtige Moment fürs Investieren, wenn die globale wirtschaftliche und politische Lage gerade so unsicher ist? „Wir haben vor kurzem die letzten 30 Jahre unter die Lupe genommen. Solange gibt's den Volatilitäts- bzw. Risikoindikator VIX, auch Angstbarometer genannt. Wir haben uns ein kleines Best Off der Finanzmarktkrisen angeschaut.  Von der Asien-Krise über die Internetblase, die Finanzkrise, die Euroschuldenkrise, Corona und die Ukraine etc. Die Welt war allso immer unsicher und es gibt eigentlich immer genug Gründe, nicht zu investieren", empfiehlt J.P. Morgan Multi Asset-Experte Jakob Tanzmeister die aktuelle Kapitalmarktlage nicht auszublenden, sich als Langfristanlegerin aber auch nicht allzu verunsichern zu lassen, „wir haben uns auch angeschaut, was kommt eigentlich unterm Strich raus, wenn man entweder der unglücklichste oder unfähigste Anleger ist und immer genau einen Monat vor diesen genannten Krisen investiert hätte und drei Jahre später auf seinen Depotauszug gesehen hätte. Wäre man solange in einem ausgewogenen Mischportfolio investiert geblieben mit unserem Global Income Fund als Vergleichsbarometer, wäre man nach Gebühren immer noch besser gefahren als wenn man nicht veranlagt hätte. Soweit zum vermeintlich sicheren Bargeld, das man nutzt, um solche Krisen auszusitzen." Der zitierte unglücklichste oder unfähigste Anleger, der immer genau einen Monat vor so einer Krise investiert hat hätte tatsächlich im Schnitt über alle diese Krisen nach einem Jahr in drei Viertel aller Fälle mehr Gewinn gemacht und zwar im Schnitt um vier Prozent mehr als  jene, die währenddessen Kasse gehalten haben. Dies aufgrund der Diversifikation beziehungsweise Risikosteuerung und der Erholung der Märkte, die auch nach einem Jahr schon merkbar ist. Noch deutlicher zeige sich das Bild nach drei Jahren. Da war man in vier von fünf analysierten Zeiträumen über drei Jahren besser dran, wenn man langfristig und risikodiversifiziert investiert war und zwar im Schnitt um zwölf Prozent. „Das heißt das Risiko hat sich gelohnt auch in diesen unsicheren Phasen solange man eben breit genug gestreut war", betont Jakob Tanzmeister. Was der J. P. Morgan Multi Asset-Stratege daraus für seine aktuelle Anlagestrategie ableitet und wie er seinen Fonds für die nächsten zwölf bis 18 Monate positioniert hört ihr in der aktuellen Folge der GELDMEISTERIN. Viel Hörvergnügen wünscht Julia Kistner, die sich über eure Kommentare, Likes und neue Abonnenten freut, damit noch mehr Kapitalmarktbegeisterte auf den Podcast GELDMEISTERIN aufmerksam werden. Musik- & Soundrechte: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.geldmeisterin.com/index.php/musik-und-soundrechte/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Risikohinweis: Dies sind keine Anlageempfehlungen. Julia Kistner und ihr Podcast-Gast übernehmen keinerlei Haftung. #Investment #Geldanlage #Aktien #Anleihen #Mischportfolio #Timing #vorsorgen #podcast Foto: Annabelle_Duechting    

Lahden kaupunginteatterin Pienellä näyttämöllä esitettävä Onnekkaat kuvaa yhden perheen kautta pikkuporvarillista ajatusmaailmaa, rahan vaikutusta perhesuhteisiin ja kasvamista 1980–1990-lukujen Suomessa.  Ensimmäistä kertaa Lahden kaupunginteatteriin ohjaava Tuomo Rämö sanoo, että teatteria katsotaan aina siinä ajassa ja paikassa, jossa se esitetään.  - Näytelmä toivottavasti antaa lohtua, joka on ehkä dramaattisesti sanottu, mutta toivon, että siitä saisi jotain lohtua elämän arvaamattomuuden edessä. Elämässä asiat tapahtuvat kiusallisen usein ilman yksittäistä syytä, Rämö kuvailee.  Onnekkaat kantaesitys lauantaina 25. tammikuuta. Esityksiä toukokuulle asti.  Kuuntele podcastista, mitä Rämö sanoo näytelmän käsittelemistä teemoista! 

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur Does it matter whether a single action fulfills one mitzvah or several? Or is the core of religious life simply the fact that we stand before God, regardless of how many mitzvot we can name in our actions? Join Shalhevet Schwartz for a fascinating exploration of this question through a debate between Rashi and Tosafot on the sugya of Meit Mitzvah. Gefet Ep 100 for Sanhedrin 35 Gefet with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz is in collaboration with Yeshivat Drisha. Learn more on ⁠⁠hadran.org.il

SCRIPTURE2 Timothy 1:5-6“To Timothy, my dear son, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.  I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your Grandmother, Lois and in your mother, Eunice.  And I know and am persuaded that that faith now lives in you also.”REFLECTIONFather RonMUSIC“Gentle Reflections” (Instrumental)“Go Into the World” by Tom Booth, performed by Sunday 7pm ChoirBONUS CONCERT FRIDAY"Good Morning" by Mandisa, featuring Toby MacOh, oh, oh, ohOh, oh, oh, oh, ohOh, oh, oh, ohOh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ohWave away my yesterday'Cause I'm leaving it behind meHello sunshine, come what mayI feel something new inside meI hear the birds singingNow my alarm's ringingGet up, get up, hey!It's a good morning!Wake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, I'm stepping, stepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strengthYou give me just what I needAnd I can feel the hope that's rising in meIt's a good morningOh, oh, oh, ohOh, oh, oh, ohOh, oh, oh, ohSlow down, breathe inDon't move aheadI'm just living in this momentI've got my arms raised, un-phasedJump out of bedGotta get this party goingI went to bed dreamingYou woke me up singingGet up, get up, hey!It's a good morning!Wake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, I'm stepping, stepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strengthYou give me just what I needAnd I can feel the hope that's rising up in meIt's a good morningOh, oh, oh, ohOh, oh, oh, ohOh, oh, oh, ohNow I'm smiling, and I'm kissing all my worries goodbyeGot the feeling, if I spread my wings I might even flyYou are my truth, my wayGive me the strength to sayGet up, get up, get up'Cause it's a good morning, heyMr Mac to the micHey, top of the morning to you 'disaYou smoothie, me ice cold pizzaCafe au lait, latte dahYou do the zumba, but I do notGive me like half a marathonI'll give you the gospel of St JohnHits me like a wake-up bomb'Cause we both know that His mercy flowsIn the morningWake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, I'm stepping, stepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strengthYou give me just what I needI can feel the hope that's rising up in meIt's a good morningWake up to a brand new dayThis morningI'm stepping, I'm stepping, stepping on my wayGood morningYou give me strength, you give me just what I needI can feel the hope that's rising up in meIt's a good morningTop of the morning to you 'disaHey, top of the morning to you girlTo-to-top of the morning to you 'disaMorning little Miss SunshineMan, you morning peopleHa, ha, ha, no, I'm serious

Minna tarttui heti viikonalkuun Sanaselityspelin tiimellyksessä härkää sarvista ja viikon aikana koettiin niin jäistä selittämistä, härskiä liikehdintää kuin työvoittojakin. Mikä on kankkusen virallinen nimi? Meitä on maapallolla 8 miljardia, mutta mitä me olemme? Miten sinä selittäisit sanan ”levittää”?Ota osaa Radio Novan Aamun Sanaselityspeliin arkisin klo 08!

Reddit rSlash Storytime maliciouscompliance where Watching you eat You wrote the rules! I apologized to my mom. My 13yo Daughter MC'd Me IT - wasn't good enough... OK. Customer wanted the computer back the way it was I'm not allowed to drink on shift? Got it! We don't stop for birds Delivery 'stuck' in warehouse Insurance Rep Insists on Following the Rules—Until She Realizes the Cost Halloween Candy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kalle-Erikin tarina Yhdysvalloissa jatkuu! Jollain lailla Kalle-Erik päätyi laskuvarjojääkäristä Ilmavoimien upseeriksi ROTC-ohjelman kautta. Ja jossain välissä oli Vasektomiakin asialistalla? Kalle-Erik kertoo yliopisto-opinnoista Jenkeissä, polusta lentäjäksi lentokoulutuksessa ja avaa lentämiseen liittyviä juttuja, joita ei yleensä jaeta. Ja ennen tätä käydään hyppäämässä vielä Normandiaan ja saadaan Romanian erikoisjoukkojen hyppysiivet! Tuu messiin!Laita meidän tili tilaukseen ja kommentoi mitä tykkäsit tästäkin jaksosta!Meitä maanpuolustuksen etulinjassa tukee yhteistyökumppanit:Savotta - Huikeita kantojärjestelmiä ja muita varusteita maanpuolustukseen ja ulkonaliikkumiseen - Savotta.fiSavox - Kriittisen kommunikaation kärkiosaaja. Never Alone. - savox.comVarusteleka - Reserviläisen karkkikauppa ja meidän luotettu huoltopiste jo vuosien ajan - Varusteleka.fiOta meihin yhteyttä Instagramin directissä tai laita mailia osoitteeseen mighty.finland1917@gmail.com, jos sulla on aiheideoita, ajatuksia vieraista tai muuten vaan rakentavaa palautetta.Instagram: @mighty_finland_

Tämä on ensimmäinen osa Kalle-Erikin matkasta Jenkkien asevoimiin! Kalle-Erik muutti parikymppisenä Jenkkeihin VPK-hommien kautta, päätyi siellä ensin strippiklubin vartijaksi ja lopulta laskuvarjojääkäriksi Yhdysvaltain armeijaan. Millainen matka sinne oli? Miten rekryprosessi Jenkeissä meni? Millaista on työskennellä strippiklubin vartijana? Millaiset ovat laskuvarjokoulun fyysiset pääsykokeet? Entä millainen oli legendaarinen boot camp? Lähe mukaan matkalle, et varmasti pety!Laita meidän tili tilaukseen ja kommentoi mitä tykkäsit tästäkin jaksosta!Meitä maanpuolustuksen etulinjassa tukee yhteistyökumppanit:Savotta - Huikeita kantojärjestelmiä ja muita varusteita maanpuolustukseen ja ulkonaliikkumiseen - Savotta.fiSavox - Kriittisen kommunikaation kärkiosaaja. Never Alone. - savox.comVarusteleka - Reserviläisen karkkikauppa ja meidän luotettu huoltopiste jo vuosien ajan - Varusteleka.fiOta meihin yhteyttä Instagramin directissä tai laita mailia osoitteeseen mighty.finland1917@gmail.com, jos sulla on aiheideoita, ajatuksia vieraista tai muuten vaan rakentavaa palautetta.Instagram: @mighty_finland_

Jaksossa uppoudumme Sinkkiksen ultimaattisen romantikon Charlotten mielenmaisemaan. Charlottella oli sarjan aikana kaksi suurta rakkautta, Trey ja Harry, joihin pääsemme pureutumaan pitkään poissa olleen smash or pass -osion kautta. TikTokissa trendaa “girlfriend effect”-ilmiö, jossa heterosuhteissa olevat poikkikset alkaa pukeutumaan ja laittamaan hiuksiaan tyttöystävän haluamalla tavalla. Charlotte oli ehkä trendin edelläkävijä, joka koitti muuttaa Harrya, siinä kuitenkaan onnistumatta. Wikipedian mukaan Charlotte uskoi deittailun 35 kultaiseen sääntöön, joten perkaamme näitä ysäriltä kotoisin olevia sääntöjä. Meitä puhuttavat myös Treyn äitisuhde ja Charlotten ja Harryn surullinen päivällinen.

Meitä yritetään viedä jatkuvasti eri suuntiin. Vaikutuskeinoja on valtavasti. Mutta missä kohtaa terve ja normaali vaikuttaminen muuttuu manipulaatioksi? Ja miten asettaa omia, terveitä rajoja? Näitä rajoja tulee myös osata ylläpitää; kyseessä on taito, jota voi harjoitella. Aiheesta keskustelemassa ovat psykologit Nina Lyytinen ja Satu Pihjala.Juttelemme mm. seuraavista aiheista:- Miten manipuloiva käytös voi näkyä arkisissakin tilanteissa- Miten markkinoinnissa pyritään manipuloimaan- Miten eroittaa terve ja normaali vaikuttaminen manipuloinnista- Miten sosiaalisen median alustat manipuloivat meitä- Miten olemme itse monesti myös aktiivisia toimijoita omassa manipuloiduksi tulemisessamme- Kuinka harjoittaa rajojen vetämisen taitoaSatu Pihlaja on psykologi ja tietokirjailija, joka tekee monenlaisia valmennuksia, koulutuksia ja työpajoja erinaisistä aiheista, kuten itsensä johtamisesta, virtuaalisesta vuorovaikutuksesta sekä mm. tietokirjojen kirjoittamisesta! Hän on myös mukana pyörittämässä Pari Koutsia -podcastia.Nina Lyytinen on myös kokenut psykologi. Hän juontaa Psykopodiaa-podcastia, toimii kouluttajana työ- ja organisaatio-  sekä kriisi- ja traumateemoista, kirjoittaa kolumneja, ja on tehnyt pitkän uran myös Suomen Punaisella Ristillä. Psykologien sosiaalisen vastuun (PSV) kautta Nina tekee myös merkittävää vapaaehtoistyötä.PSV:n tilinumero:FI33 8000 1900 7035 30PSV:n MobilePay:26863Lasten mielenterveyspalvelut Etelä-Libanonin pakolaisleireissä: neuvolakummit:Viite: 1656.Kuntoutuskummit erityislasten koulutuksen ja kuntoutuksen mahdollistajina:Viite: 3232.Jos haluat tukea podcastiani, paras tapa on antaa arvosteluksi 5 tähteä ja vinkata tutuille sosiaalisessa mediassa!Se näyttää algoritmeille, että sisällöstäni tykätään.Voit myös seurata PSYKOLOGIA-Podcastia Spotifyssa.Suuret kiitokset.TikTok: @oskarimaggaInstagram: @oskarimaggaVerkkosivut: oskarimagga.comLogon tausta: yksityiskohta Marianne Laitin teoksesta Pimeät Vedet 1.

Meitä on niin valtavan erilaisia ihmisiä, kristittyjä. Erilaisine aatteineen, poliittisine sidonnaisuuksineen, eettisine näkemyksineen. Sateenkaarilipuilla ja ilman! Mutta jos me emme anna anteeksi, me emme ole kristittyjä. Jaksossa viitataan Matteuksen evankeliumin lukuihin 6 ja 18. Musiikkina Vihtori Leskelän esittämä ja säveltämä "Katariina" -valssi. Music performed and composed by Vihtori Leskelä, "Katariina" waltz.

Rinne Stoirm Ashley a bealach trasna na tíre le linn an deireadh seachtaine. Bhí an aimsir thar a bheith garbh agus gaofar agus siotaí suas le 130 cilimeadar in áiteacha. Bhí na mílte fágtha gan aon chumhacht abhléise dá bharr agus b'éigean eitilití a chur ar ceall.

Join me and my guest Anastasia who you will know from many podcast such as horror VS reality, Attack of the Killer Objects and what in the wide world cinema as we have a good chat about talk to meIt's not very often I talk about a movie that has not been out for a long time so when I do the film has to be worth it and it has to be absolutely bloody brilliant and luckily talk to me isWe chat about it all on this episode and make sure you listen right to the end for the segment your first time where I read out someones first horror movie memory that they sent over to me and Anastasia shares her alsoBe sure to check out everything that Anastasia does on her amazing podcast on the linksWww.linktr.ee/attackofthekillerobjects?utm_source=linktree_profile_shareWww.linktr.ee/horrorvsreality?utm_source=linktree_profile_shareAnd if you're someone that prefers or would like to watch the podcast episodes on video format, they are all available including this new one on our YouTube channel as well as lots of other fun horror related content videoshttps://youtube.com/@theletstalkhorrorchannel?si=D95rXPMCvQfwyw-5

An chomhairle atá Met Éireann a chuir ar fheirmeoirí ag an gComórtas Náisiúnta Treabhadóireachta i Ráithín an Uisce i gCondae Laoise.

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Dr. Sharon Meit Abrahams discuss:Teaching and mentoring in professional growthDeveloping people skills in lawLeadership and management training for legal professionalsAddressing underperformance in legal settings Key Takeaways:Teaching involves not only imparting knowledge but also inspiring professionals, particularly in law, to develop essential life skills beyond technical expertise.Lawyers often struggle with business development due to a lack of training in people skills, which are vital for client relationships and practice growth.Effective supervision and leadership in law firms require more than delegation; they need clear communication, constructive feedback, and support to help junior staff succeed.Addressing the root causes of underperformance in associates or partners can lead to major improvements in productivity and professional growth. "Success isn't always about money. It can be just about being happy every day." —  Dr. Sharon Meit Abrahams Read more from Steve at Above the Law: AboveTheLaw.com/tag/Steve-Fretzin/ Thank you to our Sponsors!Ready to go from good to GOAT? Attend PIMCOM the inaugural personal injury mastermind conference Sept 15-17, 2024. Use promo code BeThatLawyer to get $200.00 off at https://www.pimcon.org/Unlock essential skills for your upcoming promotion at the Young Partner Accelerator event in Chicago on Sept 27-28, 2024 and save with code FRETZIN24 at ypaccelerator.comGet Staffed Up: https://getstaffedup.com/bethatlawyer/Lawmatics: https://www.lawmatics.com/bethatlawyer/ Episode References: The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Challenge-Extraordinary-Things-Organizations/dp/1119278961 About Dr. Sharon Meit Abrahams: Dr. Sharon Meit Abrahams is an international legal talent development expert with 30 years of experience helping lawyers and law firms improve productivity and profitability. She has authored three books for the American Bar Association and written over 150 articles on professional and business development. Dr. Abrahams has conducted over 300 seminars at prestigious institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Duke Law Schools and has taught at Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University. Connect with Dr. Sharon Meit Abrahams:  Website: https://www.legaltalentadvisors.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsharonmeitabrahams/ Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinInstagram: @fretzinsteveFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911  Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Gover Meit neemt een videoclip voor zijn punkband op in Tokio.Wil jij een keer een verhaal bij ons vertellen of leren hoe je dat moet doen? Ga dan naar onze website, want we zijn altijd op zoek naar nieuwe vertellers. Onze redactie leest alle inzendingen en neemt contact op. De thema's voor de verhalenmiddagen na de zomervakantie vind je hier.Dit is het Instagram-account van Echt Gebeurd. We zijn ook te volgen op Facebook en Twitter.Voor mensen die het kunnen missen hebben we Vriend van de Show. Wil je donateur worden of een eenmalige donatie doen, dan kan dat hier.Om te adverteren in onze podcast kun je contact opnemen met Dag en Nacht Media.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Steve Cockram is an inspirational communicator, serial entrepreneur, confidant to elite leaders around the world and co-creator of the world's premier “Leadership Toolkit”. He has co-authored The 100X Leader, 5 Voices and The 5 Gears with his business partner, Jeremie Kubicek. Their new book, The Communication Code, released in November of 2023.   Questions ·      So, we always like to give our guests an opportunity to share in their own words, a little bit about their journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today? ·      Your book, The Communication Code, you wrote it with your business partner, Jeremie Kubicek, could you share with us a little bit about that book, maybe three overarching themes or tenets that the book focuses on? And kind of who is the book geared towards? ·      Now, you mentioned the five C's in terms of communication code, if I wanted to know or one of our listeners wanted to know what's my primary communication code? How do I know? Is there like a test that you can do?  ·      What do you think is critical in customer experience? If we were to look at the different code, channels that you spoke to us about the five C's, do you think they're all critical? Or do you think there may be one or two that definitely must occur in that interaction? ·  When you're explaining to me the five C's just now and you said in terms of communicating, you have to be really good at asking questions. How can you improve on the ability or the competence of asking the right types of questions? Because that's critical to the whole communication process, if you're not asking the right questions, then you're not going to get the right responses to get to the solution. ·    Now, Steve, could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely cannot live without in your own business? ·     Now, could you share with our listeners as well, Steve, what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. ·      Where can listeners find you online? ·     Now, before we wrap our episodes up, Steve, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you got derailed or you got off track, the quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those? Highlights Steve's Journey Me: So, we always like to give our guests an opportunity to share in their own words, a little bit about their journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today?   Steve shared what an interesting question that is, nobody ever in their right mind have done all the things he's done in the last 30 years. So, he'll give the highlights. He was a school teacher, an entrepreneur, a nightclub owner, a pastor, a coach, consultant, and been running Giant really with Jeremie for the last 11 years. So, he always say if you were to meet his friends at the age of 30, and ask who would be the least likely guru on relational intelligence? Probably, he would be in everyone's top three.  So, everything they've learned usually has come out of their own personal failure and trying to work out why human beings behave the way they do. And also, how can they help people do relationships better in every area of their life? That's really been the heart and the joy of the last few years.    About Steve's Book – The Communication Code Me: So, your new book that was mentioned in reading your bio, The Communication Code, you wrote it with your business partner, Jeremie Kubicek, could you share with us a little bit about that book, maybe three overarching themes or tenets that the book focuses on? And kind of who is the book geared towards?    Steve shared that they kind of say the book is for anyone who is involved in any form of human interaction relationship, i.e., everyone. They write for leaders really, but he honestly believe all the resources they created, this is probably the one that leaders apply most in their home relationships as much as they do anywhere else.  So, the premise gives you a couple of things. One is that transmission of information is not the same as effective communication. So, just because you've sent information to someone does not mean that they've understood the intent with which you've sent it or your expectations as to how you would wish them to respond. So, they use the analogy of saying, if you think of a communication code for those sort of like the enigma machine or a codebreaker, if I could send to you a communication code in advance of the transmission of information, which shared with you how I would like you to respond, we are more likely to meet each other in the middle and communicate effectively.  So, the basic premise is there are five communication codes, each come with clues. If he said to Yanique, “I'm going to send this to you, I want you to critique it, I want you to tell me why it's not going to work, you won't hurt my feelings. It goes live in two hours. If there's mistakes, I want to know, full critique invited.”   Second one is Collaboration, where basically he says, “Yanique, I've been working on something, I think it's pretty good, but I think you can bring things that will make it better.” So, full collaboration, please help make this better, whatever that is.  Clarify, if he says to you, “Yanique, you know I've got something really important to share, I don't think it's going to come out perfectly first time. Would you ask great questions, don't try and critique or collaborate too soon. Help me get out what I'm really trying to say.”   Because clarification is usually the ability to ask questions before you launch into something else.   Care is the fourth communication code, which says, this is what I got wrong many, many times where just because someone is transmitting information to him, doesn't mean they want him to fix them, solve them or be their consultant. Care means, “Steve, I am struggling right now, what I'm going to say to you probably bears no resemblance to what the real issues are. I just need to know that somebody cares enough about me to be present, to listen, not trying to solve me, not trying to fix me.”  Then the last one was celebrate, which is, he might say, “Yanique, hey, before we go on, this is really important to me, I'd love us to take a moment to celebrate something really special, not move on too quickly and go.”  So, the idea being is you'd be amazed if you add five communication codes that you send in advance of the transmission of your information, you will find that basically, relationships that you struggle with at work, with the people you lead, even the people you have at home, you will be amazed what happens when you actually give them clues as to how you want to respond.  So, there you go, that's the quickest overview he's ever given of the communication code book, so apologies if that was longer than you were hoping, but he hopes it at least wet your appetite.   Me: It did. So, just run back through the five C's for me. You said Critique, Collaboration, and what was the third one?   Steve shared, Clarify, Care and Celebrate.   So, what happens is that all of us have default communication codes that are wired into our personality. So, when he doesn't think about it, he automatically tries and collaborate but it's experiences critique. His wife, for her care is number one, and clarify is number two. So, when people present to him things that they're struggling with, unless he's intentional, he will usually try and solve their problems.   And it's amazing how often that goes wrong because he's not actually able to meet the expectations, unspoken by the way of the person on the other side of him and just for every leader, every day when you're managing people in different contexts will almost always end up with miscommunication, this is just simple. Children can learn it and understand it, they use it at home the whole time. And it's been transformative, so that's why they share it.    Understanding Your Primary Communication Code Me: Now, you mentioned the five C's in terms of communication code, if someone wanted to know what was their primary code, right, because you said your primary one is collaboration, but it's received as critique. And your wife's care and clarify. So, if I wanted to know or one of our listeners wanted to know what's my primary communication code? How do I know? Is there like a test that you can do?   Steve shared that there is, if you go to www.giantworldwide.com, there's a free assessment there. Or it might be actually www.giantos.com.  So, there's a free assessment. But it's really interesting when actually you begin to think about the transmissions of the miscommunication. So, a lot of people either think by sending an email they've communicated effectively, and the reality is, the moment you grasp as a leader that transmission is not the same as effective communication, you also begin to think, how could I use this, now he'll even use it with people who haven't learned the communication code. He'll say to them, “Hey, before I respond to you this moment, you've asked me for this. Can I just be clear, what do you hope happens here? Are you asking me just to listen and be a good friend or a good boss? Are you asking me to celebrate with you? Do you want to ask good questions, you asked me to help make it better? Or do you want me to tell you why I think it will or won't work?”  So, if you think about it, you can become intentional immediately and amazingly when people believe that you are more relationally intelligent as a leader, you'll be amazed at how much your influence grows with the teams and the people you lead every day. It's amazing what people do when they feel that they're being listened to, heard and that you're committed to trying to really hear what they're trying to say, rather than what he guesses he used to do, which was just respond with whatever he thought was most appropriate in the moment, or whatever pressure he was dealing with.   The Importance of the Five C's in Customer Experience Me: Now, a big part of communication, Steve, and I'm kind of bringing this back to customer experience, right? Typically, a customer will reach out to an organization for primarily two reasons, to make a request, it could be for an existing service that they have with your company or product, or it could be for a new service that they're seeking to attain. Or they're calling because they have a problem and they would like it resolved. So, primarily those are like the two channels that customers will reach out to you for. What do you think is critical in customer experience? If we were to look at the different code, channels that you spoke to us about the five C's, do you think they're all critical? Or do you think there may be one or two that definitely must occur in that interaction?   Steve shared that it's a really good question. His instinct in EQ is to say that clarify is probably the place to start. Because in a sense, the clarification is what are they really wanting to happen? What are they really hoping happens? And he guess asking the right questions in the beginning, for those of us who are problem solvers, we tend to launch into problem solving quickly.  And he would say that really understanding, well, is somebody just wanting a rant, does somebody just want to have their pound of flesh and get that off there and he just needs to sit there and care and not try and solve it. Or do they have a specific problem that they really hope he can help them with?  He thinks it's unlikely that celebrate is going to be the agenda, but it would be nice if they were ringing up to say how amazing they think your product is. But he would say probably the clarify is where you start and making a judgement of whether what this person really wants is just you to listen, or whether they're actually more likely inviting you beyond the initial clarification into a collaborative process, how do I help bring a resolution to the reason that you are contacting customer service?  Now, he thinks the other one, he doesn't know what it's like in your part of the world, but you'd be amazed how many people will spend an awful long time waiting to get through to a customer service line. So, he thinks sometimes the disarming connection, the saying, “I'm so sorry. I'm aware you've had to wait a long time, I would love to be able to do everything I can to help you resolve whatever the issues are.” He always think that goes a long way with him when someone at least recognizes that he's probably been on the call longer than he was hoping he would be.   Improve on the Competence of Asking the Right Questions Me: Agreed. So, I'm happy you said clarify, because the question I really wanted to ask you, but I kind of wanted to hear what you would have said based on the customer experience approach is. When you're explaining to me the five C's just now and you said in terms of communicating, you have to be really good at asking questions. And it has been my experience as a customer service trainer and even as a podcaster, I must say I've gotten much better at doing it over the years, but I find a lot of people who are in customer service practitioner roles struggle with this, like how can you improve on the ability or the competence of asking the right types of questions? Because that's critical to the whole communication process, if you're not asking the right questions, then you're not going to get the right responses to get to the solution.   Steve shared that he thinks you actually master your content and the products of which you are going to be answering people's questions. There's a competency filter which means, “Do you know how to help somebody in that process?”  And he thinks it's different again, whether you're doing it online, or telephone or whether you're maybe in a physical place, like if he goes to the Apple store, the geeks helped him, there's different things he would say depending on whether it's face to face or whether more likely it's even just over a phone because he thinks you have to remember is that communication, only 10% of communication is the words that are used, 35% is the tone with which the words are offered. And then 55% is the nonverbal communication body language.  So, you're delivering customer service and all you have his tone of voice and words, you're already having to work hard to really understand what is it this person is seeking to communicate.  So, for him, he thinks that communication part is potentially really helpful, because it's almost taking the time to clarify and ask the question to really make sure you understand what the intent and the expectation.  So, there's the two things that he's always trying to understand when someone's speaking to him, what is their intent really? And what is their expectation of this engagement? Even if he knows they probably won't tell him, or they may be unaware of even knowing what it is in the first place is the reason communication is so difficult to train.  But it's also how people have tools, it becomes really significant when people are able to begin to decode what is the intent, what is the expectation, in his world, obviously, you alluded to something called five voices, he spent about the last 20-25 years trying to work out why humans behave the way they do and understanding that different personalities react very predictably to different interactions. Now, that's probably a high level of sales skills and customer service is a degree of sales if you think about it. But actually, there's another piece that if people want to add skills, begin to listen to the words that people use, whether that's in the way that neuro linguistic programme would, programming would start to think about, do they talk about what they see, what they hear? Or are they more kinesthetic and in our language of voices, he's listening for what type of personality is presenting themselves to him in the way that they engage, in the way they communicate.  So, he would argue that in any human interaction, the person communicating, transmitting to you is giving you lots of clues.  The question is, to your point, how much time do we really spend listening and trying to understand, discern who this person is, what their intent, what are the expectations before we launch into probably what they were expecting, which is a more collaborative approach to how do we help resolve their issue, bearing in mind that the presenting issue may not be the real issue. There's so much in there, here's the thing he'll encourage to anyone who's really interested in developing their skills in this area, he's your kind of Beacon of Hope, because he's like 24 years on now into this as one of the least relation intelligent people by nature, sadly, by personality. And actually, now many would say, I think really hard about it because I've really had to learn, the things that don't come naturally to you, you often end up being a better teacher and coach, because you've actually had to wrestle and struggle with your own inability at my time to listen.  They have a tool in their toolbox called the boomerang effect, learn to be interested before trying to be interesting. It's like relational intelligence 101. And he thinks it's amazing how often people want to talk to you about them and whatever you say, it reminds them of them or where they've been, that's another area that he's not sure where the customer experience particularly, but as a communication tip, it's amazing what happens when you meet people are interested in you, more than trying telling you how interesting they are.   Me: Yeah. Well, it's funny, you said that, because one of my very favorite books, and I try to read it at least once per year is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. And he talks about that in his book and I mean that book was published from 1933. So, it's amazing that that fundamentally is still the case today, because we are true and true human beings and as you mentioned before, some traits are just predictable.   Steve agreed that they are, and he think that's the bit which human behaviour is more predictable than any of us would ever give it credit for. And he thinks that's the bit where, he doesn't know whether you've watched the film called The Matrix. The moment you begin to understand why human beings behave the way they do, it's a little bit like the green letters and numbers coming down the screen, and you begin to watch a human interaction in different dynamics, in different ways, and you suddenly began to realize, actually is it's more predictable, and therefore if it's predictable, it can be learned.  And that actually, without it being manipulative, we can actually really work on being far more relationally intelligent and that will help us in every aspect of our leadership, whether we're working with our teams, or whether we're working at home, or whether we're ourselves engaging with clients and customers. But fundamentally, he would argue now that relational intelligence is now become even more important than classic IQ. AI does so much now. I don't know how much you play with it, but in our world is ridiculous how intelligent AI is becoming. But the one thing it doesn't do well, it doesn't do the relational intelligence piece as well as human beings do.  And he's not convinced that it will ever replace it. All he knows is it's becoming, he often says that basically, the ability to establish, maintain and develop long term relationships inside and outside your organization is the primary currency of wealth and influence in the new world.   App, Website or Tool that Steve Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about online resource that he cannot live without in his business, Steve shared that the differences in the geeks who run his business are, he tries to think what for him, he thinks 1Password as a middle aged man is the app that he loves the most he looked in before, and he has 376 logins and very secure pieces of data in one app, which basically means I doesn't have to try and have 357 passwords identical. So, 1Password is the best. He doesn't know what it is USD $3.99 a month. But actually, that makes him feel more secure and safe online, that's him personally.  The business, he thinks if you were to speak to their team at the moment, they're building an app, they use a software called Framer, but it's a way in which you can see what technology in the app will be and do and look like before you actually have to actually engage in building the coding. So, he's a massive fan of Framer, even though he's not the person who actually runs it. There's some far younger, clever UI, UX developers who do all that work. But fundamentally, he's always massively impressive with what Framer does.   What Steve is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that he's excited about, Steve stated that that's a great question. Well, he thinks he probably alluded to it in the sense that they have worked for years to try and codify tools to help leaders do a better job in the visual world we live in. What they're working on at the moment and this is the thing which he smiles as he says it. They've run a B2B business up until this point, they've licensed kind of coaches and consultants to use their stuff.  But they're building a B2C app at the moment, which will take all of the Jedi mind tricks of the last 20 years about why people behave the way they do. They'll take the best of their tools, the best of what AI is able to do, and they will create a five voices out which will come your way later this year, which basically is your personalized coach in relation to, it will know your personality and your wiring. And it will basically customize content and learning for you and allow you to access it in the way that you most love to learn.  So, if you want podcasts, ebooks, audiobooks, but the idea really of actually rather than having to read one book, and we all read the same thing. He's watching the ability to customize content in form and style that is unique to you as an individual. And he's never seen that before.  So, he thinks communication code will be the last book they write in the late industrial format of a published book. He thinks they will customize content for individuals in formats and voices even and length of time, you'll be able to have your daily version of encouragement that will come straight to you when it comes, so that's what the team is working on at the moment. He gets to see all the progress week by week and minimum viable products is going to be ready for mid-May. So, watch this space for personality driven grows customized to you.   Where Can We Find Steve Online LinkedIn – Steve Cockram Email – steve@giantworldwide.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Steve Uses When asked about quote that he tends to revert to, Steve shared that he's got plenty of those. But probably the most common one is the Theodore Roosevelt quote when he talks about, “If he's going to fail, he would rather fail while daring greatly than be counted among those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” So, that's what he goes back to and just go, “If I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail while daring greatly, going after something big enough, that actually could make a dent and for good in the world.”   Me: Fantastic. So, we will have definitely have that quote in the show notes of this episode. So, just want to extend our deepest gratitude to you, Steve, for taking time out of your very busy schedule and coming on our podcast and sharing about your book, The Communication Code, the five C's that you mentioned, how it works, the inner workings of why it's important to listen, asking the right questions, understanding that relational communication is definitely the epitome of where we're moving forward to in this world. And just how as human beings, we can utilize a lot of the cues and clues that are given to us to improve on how it is that we transmit the communication with each other. So, it was really insightful, and I just want to say thank you so much.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links •     The 100X Leader: How to Become Someone Worth Following by Steve Cockram and Jeremie Kubicek •     The 5 Voices: How to Communicate Effectively without Everyone You Lead by Steve Cockram and Jeremie Kubicek •     The 5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time by Steve Cockram and Jeremie Kubicek •     How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie •     The Communication Code by Steve Cockram and Jeremie Kubicek   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience! 

This week's episode is a super empowering and encouraging episode with friend, fitness instructor, and Soto Method teacher Grace Freyre.Grace shares her story from finding herself alone, depressed and completely out of alignment in Texas, to how she found her way back to NYC and took a leap of faith to pursue a career in fitness! Her story is so inspiring, as is the message we both believe deeply and share on our platforms: we are SO supported on this journey, and it's not about speed or perfection, it's about alignment, consistency, and commitment! We also chat about so many topics that we both feel are so important to have conversations surrounding nowadays, especially self-love, taking up space, owning our amazingness as individuals, and letting it shine! We also chat:Prioritizing Your ValuesGrace's Story + Journey Into FitnessFinding Your ShineCocky vs. ConfidentRadical Self LoveHaving Needs and Owning ThemEmbracing and Loving Your Authentic SelfWhat Created So Much Inner Peace for MeIt's Safe to Want More + DifferentBeing Sensitive and Having FeelingsInternal Pain Manifesting PhysicallyIt's ok to Take Up Space and Be a BurdenWhy We Want to Fit InYour Heart, Mind, and Feet Being in AlignmentMy Tips on ShiftingGrace's Tips on DisciplineWhere to find Grace:@gracefreyrefitThings mentioned:Gorgie - the sparkling green tea energy drink we love!My Instagram: @jordanlaurelle - come say hi!For coaching inquiries: jordanlaurellecoaching@gmail.com or book a discovery call HERE.Book a One-Time 75 Minute Call HERE.Sign Up for my Email List HERE.

Thursday's Minnesota Twins home opener will sound a little different this year. Longtime broadcaster Dick Bremer stepped down at the end of last season after 40 years as the TV voice of the Twins. Now in a special assistant role in the organization's front office, Bremer threw out the first pitch Thursday. Before that, he got behind an MPR News microphone to talk baseball with Minnesota Now host Cathy Wurzer. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation. Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   How strange has it been to not be on the air for spring training and for the home opener?Yeah, it's been strange in all the predictable places, I felt a little bit out of sorts, I guess, or unsure what to do with my time in January when I wasn't on the Twins caravan, which is a uniquely Minnesota Twins thing for the first time in four decades. And then like everybody else in the Upper Midwest, I dealt with a snowstorm at the end of March instead of being in Fort Myers. And now here we are an opening day and that's all part of it right? When you retire you it's an adjustment for everybody, regardless of his or her walk of life.What's your current role with twins?I'm doing some special projects. I've actually been doing some writing for the Twins magazine, recording some things for the Twins radio broadcasts, making public appearances emceeing events and all that. It's an interesting role that I have with the Twins, and one that I'm very grateful for because of whenever the time was going to come, I still wanted to be connected to the team as someone who was really connected and intimately connected with the team for 40 years.Describe the dance for folks done between the play by play person and the color analyst. What's that like?Well, for the longest time, it was just one guy for 25 years. It was Bert Blyleven, it was me and Harmon Killebrew for a few years and Jim Kaat. In recent years they have rotated Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, LaTroy Hawkins, Glen Perkins, Roy Smalley, so on and so forth. It's a bit of an adjustment, I suppose. But it really hasn't been that much of an adjustment because I've always taken the attitude that whether it was Bert Blyleven, or Paul Molitor, Jim Kaat, or, you know, whoever, that they really were the stars of the show, and I was just kind of a traffic cop and tried to draw out of them their baseball wisdom, and their baseball personality, if you will. It is no reflection at all on my abilities or lack thereof as a broadcaster, but I am the answer to a trivia question, who is the only major league announcer who's been privileged to work with five Hall of Fame players and that's meIt's been one of the great blessings of my 40 years. I won't ask your listeners to name them all. I'll try to do them all. Paul Molitor did games for a year Jack Morris, Jim Kaat, Herman Killebrew and of course Bert Blyleven, and they're all in Cooperstown.Who was the person to help you really move forward in broadcasting?Well, I don't know that any conversations were held or anything like that, but I, as you know, grew up in this area. So I was privileged to listen to Herb Carneal, Al Shaver, Ray Christensen, people like that. And when we lived in Missouri, listening to Jack Buck and Harry Caray do Cardinal games and the one thing they all had in common was they were very wearable if you will. There wasn't anything controversial about them. They did their job, night after night, year after year and as a result, they had long careers in one city, one region. And at least for me, that was always the goal to be able to say that you know what, I did a job. Hopefully I did it well, but I was able to have a long career with one team. And I guess 40 years later, you could say I guess that I succeeded.Tell us about the players you're gonna be watching for this season.Well, the team is very good. And some of their better players are very young and unfortunately, injury prone. Byron Buxton is pretty healthy and we've already been reminded how impactful he can be in a game and on a team when he's healthy. But the Twins have lost Royce Lewis for a while again, and hope to get him back. I think this Twins lineup, even though in the first five games, they struggled to score runs, they're going to be among the best offensive teams in the game. And we'll find out — that's part of the thrill of starting a new season, and we're five games into 162 games but you never really know what your team is going to look like, how they're going to play and page by page. It's like a book you, you find out exactly what you've got as the season plays along. So there's gonna be the Dick Bremer broadcast booth?I was very surprised when I found out about this weeks ago, and I've already kind of taken on the role of a landlord. I've already got a list of rules and regulations that have to be followed now in this booth. I might not reveal them all, I might just limit it to one or two. But I think that's within my right, don't you? If you're gonna name the booth after me I think I have a right to dictate what's going on in there.I'm hoping the family is there to celebrate with you.Yeah, they are. In fact, my son, Eric is a minor league broadcaster in Florida, he flew in yesterday, and my wife and daughter will be there as well. So that's what makes it really special, the fact that whatever happens here today, and you know whether I throw the ceremonial first pitch on three hops to home plate, at least we'll experience all that together. What is the great love of baseball for you? Oh, man. I was introduced to the game a long, long time ago, even before the Twins showed up here in 1961. Town team baseball is where my roots began with the game of baseball. I've been blessed to be around this Twins team in one capacity or another. I just love the game, I love the challenges. You've got individual matchups, pitcher versus batter. It's very much a team game, particularly when the team is out in the field. I just love everything about it and the game has changed, broadcasting has changed you know over the last few years as well, but there's still the beauty of the game that I enjoy and that will continue on regardless of what my role with the Twins is.

In the 7 AM Hour: Larry O'Connor and Patrice Onwuka discussed: John Kennedy on X: "Democrats want to spend $50 TRILLION to become carbon neutral & held a hearing to tell us why. Dem witness: Carbon dioxide is "a huge part of our atmosphere." Me: "It's actually a very small part of our atmosphere." (0.035%) Dem witness: "Well, okay. But, yeah. I don't know." https://t.co/sSdbtsX7aq" / X (twitter.com) John Kennedy Grills Olympic Skier On Past Posts Pushing To ‘Abolish The Police' At Climate Hearing Dating Deadline Advice Where to find more about WMAL's morning show:  Follow the Show Podcasts on Apple podcasts, Audible and Spotify. Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor,  @Jgunlock,  @patricepinkfile and @heatherhunterdc.  Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Show Website: https://www.wmal.com/oconnor-company/ How to listen live weekdays from 5 to 9 AM: https://www.wmal.com/listenlive/ Episode: Friday, March 22, 2024 / 7 AM Hour  O'Connor and Company is proudly presented by Veritas AcademySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ikää kertyy vuosissa mutta samalla vanhenemme myös biologisesti. Tässä jaksossa pohditaan vieraan kanssa näistä jälkimmäistä. Käymme läpi mm. Mitä eroa on kronologisella ja biologisella iällä? Miten biologista ikää mitataan? Mitkä asiat biologisessa vanhenemisessa ovat sellaisia, joihin ei voi itse vaikuttaa ja mitkä on sellaisia, että voi? Mitä on tutkimuksen kautta löydetty liikunnasta ja liikkumattomuudesta ja kehon vanhenemisesta? Mikä on metabolinen oireyhtymä ja miten se vaikuttaa biologiseen vanhenemiseen? Kaikki varmasti tuntevat biologisen ikääntymisen kehossaan ja mielessään mutta mitä ihan tarkalleen ottaen tapahtuu kun vanhetaan biologisesti, mikä siellä rapistuu? Tiedetäänkö me mikä rooli biologisessa vanhenemisessa on perimällä ja mikä omilla elintavoilla? Mikä kaksostutkimukset kertovat meille biologisesta vanhenemisesta? Voiko biologista vanhenemista pysäyttää tai hidastaa tai kääntää jopa toisen suuntaan? Hyvinvointialalla usein pohditaan, että mikä on tärkeintä: ravinto, liikunta vai palautuminen. Tiedetäänkö mikä näistä on tärkein biologisessa ikääntymisessä? Näitä ja muita teeman kysymyksiä pohditaan yhdessä Jyväskylän yliopiston apulaisprofessori Elina Sillanpään kanssa. Linkit Optimal Performance - Hyvinvointiluennot ja verkkovalmennukset: https://www.optimalperformance.fi/ - Kuntosali ja valmennuskeskus, Helsinki: https://www.opcenter.fi/ Elina Sillanpää - Tutkimusryhmän kotisivu: https://www.jyu.fi/fi/tutkimusryhmat/periman-ja-elintapojen-vuorovaikutus-terveyden-edistamisessa-ja-sairauksien-ehkaisyssa-elina - HS-artikkeli: https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000010028669.html - HS-artikkeli https://www.hs.fi/hyvinvointi/art-2000009943544.html

Pete Kusiak is the franchise guru who knows how to bring the fun into business. With a track record of success owning and coaching franchises for over 20 years, Pete's innovative strategies have transformed businesses, boosting revenue and workplace happiness. His passion lies in creating organisations that are not only exciting, but also irresistible. By using his Fun First Strategy, Pete motivates teams, improves company culture, and drive sales and operations to new heights.  When he's not busy making work lively, you can find Pete enjoying quality time with his amazing wife and four kids in Charlotte, North Carolina. Oh, and did I forget to mention he's a seasoned marathon runner and a connoisseur of Rum Punch and Mai Tais! Pete has certification in Happiness Coaching and Human Resources Consulting, making him your go-to-guy for all things fun and business.   Questions ·    Now, we always like to give our guests an opportunity for them to share in their own words, a little bit about your journey. How did you get to connecting fun with business? How did that all come about? ·   So, can you tell our listeners a little bit about your book, Drop the F-Bomb in Your Business and maybe two to three overarching themes that the book focuses on, just like what can they expect from the book? ·    Are there any recommendations you could give to our listeners, like if they wanted to make fun part of their culture, what are some things like from a recruitment perspective you would need to kind of identify in the interview process to kind of pick those persons or at least be able to identify that those persons may have those qualities? ·     Could you share with our listeners what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely cannot live without in your business? ·      Can you also share with our listeners maybe one or two books that you've read, it could be a book that you read recently, or even one that you read a very long time ago, but it has had a great impact on you. ·      Now, could you also share with our listeners, what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. ·       Where can listeners find you online? ·     Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track, the quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Highlights Pete's Journey Me: Now, we always like to give our guests Pete an opportunity for them to share in their own words, a little bit about your journey. How did you get to connecting fun with business? How did that all come about? Can you tell us?   Pete shared that his journey really started way back when he graduated college. And he linked up with a franchise, children's fitness franchise called The Little Gym and it is all about creating these great fun experiences with kids and teaching them how to enjoy being physically active. So, that really carried with him as he progressed through his years in corporate America, because he had eventually made a name for himself and got linked up with the corporate headquarters of that franchise, did some training and consulting, to eventually owning his own Little Gyms in the Charlotte market.  So, once they built a successful franchise platform in Charlotte, it was time for him to kind of step back from the day to day operations and got more involved in the coaching consulting realm with different brands, mainly in the service industry, but helped build operations, and trainings and coaching and all sorts of good things over the last few years that ultimately led him to sit back and really reflect about why businesses are successful? Why were his businesses successful? What was the commonalities between the businesses that didn't have success versus the ones that did?  And it came down to one thing, it was really easy, the businesses that had the most fun, were the most successful, and he felt that in my businesses, the days or months or years that they were focused on that grind, they were in that mentality of a grind, they weren't as successful as the years they were just enjoying what they were doing and celebrating with their customers, and just creating a culture that was really good. So, the mindset really made a big difference.  So, what he did was he decided, “Hey, if I could put all of these unique theories and these unique methods into a book, it would really make a great business strategy.” So, a couple years ago, he started writing, and came up with what he called the Fun First Strategy, it's really a way to prioritize making fun, the element in which or the catalyst in which you can have business success. So, kind of a long story there. But it's a wide range from his early beginnings of a teacher and working with kids all the way through working with multiple brands and coaching and consulting, but using those strategies to really propel fun as a catalyst.   Pete's Book – Drop the F-Bomb in Your Business Me: So, then you wrote a book called Drop the F-Bomb in Your Business: With The Fun First Strategy. F of course, standing for fun. So, that book was published on January 23 of 2024, correct?   Pete said yes, he was having fun with a wordplay there. Drop the F bomb and what's so neat is that coming from the children's fitness industry, they didn't use foul language, you're working with kids, you don't do that. So, he thought it would kind of be unique to position it as an eye catcher and you get people curious about what he's talking about. So, having a little fun with words. Me: It was, I will have you know that when your profile was presented to me via email, that's what caught my attention in the email. So, I was like drop the F bomb. I said, I wonder what he's talking about. And then I did some more research. And I was like, Oh, this sounds pretty interesting. I'd love to have him on our podcast as a guest. So, can you tell our listeners a little bit about your book, and maybe two to three overarching themes that the book focuses on, just like what can they expect from the book? Is it more like narratives in terms of examples of using fun in different businesses and you give like case studies and examples, or is it more so you talking more from a strategy perspective of using fun as that trigger that will help to navigate that experience   Pete shared that it's really all of the above, because they have to prove that there's a need for fun in business, because a lot of times when you throw that out there, so you need to have more fun in order to be successful in business, people not necessarily agree, everyone for the most part understands that it's important to celebrate the victories, have fun when you win, achieve goals. But his book is really about how you make fun part of the journey, not just the reward, that's a key element. But you really need to know and flip that mindset to, “If we could have fun along the way. If we could build that into our operations, if we could build that into our business environment, our customer service. If we could attract more like minded individuals that want to have fun, and be part of that process, what would that do for your business?”   So, the book really starts with changing the mindset and can convincing through the philosophy that fun does work, it can create opportunities for more, better problem solving, better creative thought, more work engagement, which is ultimately going to lead to higher profits, better customer service, etc. So, they kind of start there. And then as the book progresses, it takes you through what he calls the playbook.  The playbook, or the PLAY book is really important because that's the actual strategy sets, that's one of his theories is called The Principle of PLAY and that stands for Prioritize, Laughter and Youth, so when you can find a commonality amongst your people, your team, your culture, your business culture, you can start to employ these play principles so that you're having more unique experiences and getting to those points where everything else is a lot easier, because you're having fun along the way. And so then, toward the end of the book, they talk about the strategies in experiences. So, he actually have written some real life examples of how the first strategy actually worked in different businesses. So, those will be fun to read as well. Me: All right, that is awesome. So, PLAY you said stands for Prioritize, Laughter and Youth.   Pete stated that's right. So, if you make fun, obviously, the Fun First Strategy, right, prioritize, make it a priority in your business, to make fun part of your culture. And if you can make it number one, great. But laughter, who doesn't want to laugh when you have to work? So, they do that through gameplay in creating opportunities to be a little silly, and youth, youth comes in because he likes to say, consider the things you did as a child, what did you like to do? What games did you play? What activities did you enjoy? Because it's fun to revisit, it's fun to revisit and think about this as you're a child, you're taught through play, you're taught through music, you're taught through song or games and activities. But as we get older, at least here, the education he received was that they had less and less play, they had less and less singing and things like that.  But why? If we're hardwired to do that, if we're doing that from the beginning, what a neat thing that could potentially shape you as an adult as well if you are hardwired to play and be active and want to take that moment of joy, it's going to change your mindset and everything that you do, right. So, it was important for him that they addressed the grind culture, what he calls the grind culture, and the negativity that happens when you get into a grind culture.  So, this book really helps you to one, recognize if you're in that culture, but two, the real, true strategy on how to get out of that. Ultimately, his goal was to create more workplace happiness, the goal in the Fun First Strategy is to create environments that are very engaging and fun and create workplace happiness.   Me: Amazing, when I opened your bio this morning to prepare for the podcast interview, I had to do a TV interview this morning, I was helping out a friend who has a business that focuses on indoor playground experience [YG1]  . So, it's targeted towards children but because we live in a tropical country and a lot of times when you take the kids outside, you're so exhausted from the heat and sun, she decided that she was going to create this indoor playground experience with like, soft play and sensory activities, and ball pits and live characters like the ones you see in TV shows, so you have them right there dressed up in front of the kids. And we did a game with the hosts where they had two baskets and two sets of balls, one red, one green and each person had a balloon.    And the aim was to get as many of your colour balls into the basket without the balloon falling on the ground. But it was so much fun, they had so much fun. Like I was watching the video after I left the TV studio this morning and I was like, they had so much fun, they were like literally back as kids again. And I always say it. I mean, I believe that as adults, we are really big kids, but I find that we get so serious sometimes we take ourselves too seriously, we don't take time to do fun and exciting things that make us laugh, because I do believe that those are things that help to keep you youthful.  Pete agreed, absolutely. And just think about how that made you feel, right. And that's the principle of play at work, when you can put some silliness into your day, going to be a better problem solver, you're going to be more creative and finding your solutions. Because you're just thinking in that manner, thinking in a playful, creative way. Now, not to say that business is all fun, and not work because he believes that you do have to take business seriously and things that you have to do and reaching goals and measuring your business and all the things that make you financially successful, that's important.  But if there was a way to make it more fun, if there was a way to get to those goals that are less stressful, or are less of a grind, you would probably do it. So, that's what this is all about, it's about making sure that you're allowing yourself the opportunities to have some fun at work, because you're going to open the doors to like-minded individuals, people that want to come work for you, customers that want to do business with you because the experience is wonderful. Think about the amount of hours we spent working days, we don't want to be caught up in a lifestyle that just is beaten up. He wants to have more life experience.  Now the key really to this is the common interest, because what's fun for one person may not be fun for the next and in the book he wrote about that, that there are diverse perspectives on fun. And through the strategy and through the book, you can kind of find common interest in there through icebreaker games and different things that you can do at work to find common interest amongst your team, or even with your customers. And then you kind of start to theme things and make things more enjoyable because he likes to run, Yanique had mentioned in his bio that he's a marathon runner, but that's not fun for everybody. But for him, it's a good opportunity for him to express, move his body, express himself and all the good things that come along with running and staying healthy, to him it was fun. He likes to challenge himself but for the next person it may not be so you have to find those common interests and then build upon those interests as you find them.  And then one really big caveat is you have to remember the rule of grandma, so, the rule of grandma means if you wouldn't do it in front of your grandmother, you shouldn't do it at work because he's heard some interesting stories when it comes to fun at work, we don't want to any HR nightmares. So, if you wouldn't do it in front of grandma, don't do it at all.   Me: As you were talking about loving running, and just being able to express yourself, I'm going to tell you a little secret that unfortunately all of my listeners are going to hear now, but I love to dance, right, now, I'm not a good dancer according to some people who dance really well and see me dance, right? But I believe everybody can dance and everybody can sing. I just believe that maybe they're not doing it to the level or at the capacity or competence that Whitney Houston, or Celine Dion can sing, or Shakira can dance, but I believe I can dance. But I feel so good when I dance, even if it's foolishness I'm doing Pete, it feels good.   Pete stated that that is awesome. And he'll tell you that two things come to mind. One is he spent time in Jamaica when they get the chance to vacation and stuff with his family, they absolutely love the culture, because it is full of life and dancing and movement, joy and singing. And he just loves to be around that type of environment, but he doesn't dance. And what's funny is even in his book he wrote about that as a concept, is that t's okay to enjoy things even if you're not participating.  So, don't always judge a book by its cover when you're creating games or activities or experiences that involve fun at work. If somebody's just kind of standing by watching, don't jump to the assumption that they're not having fun because if you were to kind of outside looking in at him watching a group of people dance, you'll say, “Well, how come he is not dancing, he must not be having any fun” but he's having the time of his life just enjoying you expressing your love for dance, that's a great time, it's a lot of fun for him to be in part of that environment but he's just not going to dance.   How to Select the Right Candidates for a Company with a FUN Culture? Me: I get it. So, I have a question for you. The aim is to ensure that you have a fun culture, right? How do you attract people who like to have fun? Are there any recommendations you could give to our listeners, like if they wanted to make fun part of their culture, what are some things like from a recruitment perspective you would need to kind of identify in the interview process to kind of pick those persons or at least be able to identify that those persons may have those qualities?   Pete shared that it's kind of a lot goes into that because one, once you've established that you're a fun culture, it's one thing to write that on a job ad and he thinks that there's a lot of job ads that he's read recently that promote a fun culture. But again, there's diverse perspectives of fun and if it's a core value in your business, or you're promoting a fun culture, you need to live up to the hype, because he'll tell you, when somebody is bought into your job ad, because you wrote about the fun, talked about that as a core value, and then they show up for an interview or they're ready to start their work and they don't see that culture in play, they're not going to stay or they're not going to show up again for another interview.  So, he thinks that you have to kind have to one, establish the fact that you are going to commit to this type of a culture and you're going to live it, you're going to be an embodiment. And what that fun version is for you, as the leader of the organization, the owner of the organization, the managers of the organization, whatever that model of fun is, it's okay for you to own it, because you're going to have people that may be aligned with your version of fun and there may be some people that don't. So, when you write job ads and you promote the job that you're ready to hire, you want to give very specific reasons of what you're doing to provide that fun culture.  So, if you like to do a lot of outings or if you'd like to do a lot of silly themes during your week, there was one company he worked with, they love everything and any cats. So, they talked about, “Hey, we have a silly, fun culture at our business.” And they would talk about this in interviews because we are qyuirky they love everything cat, if you're a cat person, reach out because you'll fit right in. Now again, if he doesn't like cats, okay, but if he thinks that that's an interesting culture for him to want to be a part of, he can maybe align with that. So, he likes to say, one, establish what fun is for you. Give examples of that in your job ads. But embrace the uniqueness, embrace the uniqueness.   One of the biggest mistakes, especially small business owners make is they don't embrace the charm of small business, there's a uniqueness and a charm in small business that you can do things a little bit outside of work. And when people are interviewing, or people are applying for jobs, what they'll do is they'll apply for a lot of different reasons based on the title or the qualifications, things like that. So, as a hiring manager, he's competing with small business, medium business, large business, corporations and he doesn't want his interview, he doesn't want to his job ads, he doesn't want those things to be exactly like everybody else. And too many times he sees small businesses, especially write their job ads, and shake them like a large corporation and that's okay until the individual comes in to see the environment they're working, oh, well, this isn't the 10 story building they interviewed in last week. Instead, embrace what makes you different, embrace that small charm, because he thinks you're going to attract people that are looking for that type of opportunity, or they know what it is going into. Does that make sense?    Me: Yep, it does, perfect sense.    App, Website or Tool that Pete Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about an online resource that he cannot live without in his business, Pete stated that in his business, he loves QuickBooks. So, he can't live without QuickBooks, that's how he does all his bookkeeping, all his invoicing and all his administrative. So, QuickBooks is a great online resource for them.    Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Pete When asked about books that have had a great impact, Pete shared that he's been thinking about this a lot, because he's read a lot of business books. And one of the reasons he was so interested in writing a business strategy book was because he's had so many that were multiple steps, or the 50 laws or 100 steps to whatever and they're long and they're cumbersome. So, his book is a little bit more about keeping it short. There is a book though that he read a few years ago it's called David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, it's by Malcolm Gladwell. And he thought he was picking up a spiritual book at first, spiritual books and different things as a man of faith, but he thought it was picking a spiritual book and it was to a degree, but it was about all these stories and all these examples of how the underdog isn't always necessarily the underdog, but we perceive the smaller, or the weaker, or whatever, as disadvantaged, sort of like David and Goliath.  But why is it that the underdog always excels? It's because sometimes what's perceived as a disadvantage, could actually be an advantage. And it was so compelling to him and the stories were so compelling that it really made him think about how he was raised, and some things because he wasn't raised very wealthy and things like that, and how he had to problem solve his way to get to things, whether it be to sporting events or practices, different things, and if he wanted new shoes, or different whatever, he had to problem solve that as a young child.  And so, as he became a business owner, a business person later on down the road, he started remembered, “Hey, I can figure out pretty much any problem that comes my way because I practice those skills so early on” and growing up, he thought it was a huge disadvantage, he didn't have the things his friends had, they didn't have as much money, but he used those skills every day of his life now. So, that book is a great example of perceived ideas on disadvantages, they actually may be the things that are strengthening. So, it was a really neat perspective.   What Pete is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something he's excited about, Pete shared like he said, the book is out so he's just celebrating his work, he call it his life's work, his big strategy. It's really taking up a lot of his time and he loves it, he loves being able to spread the word about adding fun into work and creating workplace happiness. He thinks it's a movement for sure and he loves being on the kind of the precipice of this new business ideology that if we can add more fun, engaging experiences we can create workplace happiness for everybody. So, he loves being a part of that, so, that's huge for him. So, spreading the word.    Where Can We Find Pete Online Website  - www.funfirststrategy.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Pete Uses  When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Pete shared that being a marathon runner, or being somebody that runs, his mantra ever has always been, “Never, never give up.” So, that echoes in his mind a lot as he start a new venture, start a run, especially a long run that he doesn't know if has the energy, just keep moving, keep moving, “And remember to have fun.”    Me: All right, perfect. So, never, never give up. And always remember to have fun. I had fun in this interview.   Pete shared he did as well, he couldn't pass up the chance to chat with somebody from Jamaica. So, love it.    Me: Warm my heart, warm my heart. Thank you so much, Pete, we really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule. I know you're busy promoting the book and spreading the message. So, taking a good 30 minutes out of your day to sit with us and share all these great insights and nuggets about what you're doing and just how it can help to improve and increase on workplace happiness and just human happiness, to make people just enjoy life more and not take themselves so seriously. But all while getting the job done and achieving the goals that we're all working towards, it was really a fun and productive conversation. Thank you so much.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest Links •     Drop the F-Bomb in Your Business: With The Fun First Strategy by Pete Kusiak •     David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!  

生活如此艰难房子、车子、工作…早上吃啥、中午吃啥、晚上吃啥…大事扰、小事烦忍不住叹一句“我太难了”今天Lydia就和大家说说这句话如何用英语感叹01"我太难了"英文怎么说？hard修饰人的时候意思是“严厉的，苛刻的”比如：I'm sorry I was so hard on you before.对不起，我以前对你太苛刻了。所以 I'm so hard! 的意思是：我太苛刻了。而difficult修饰人的时候意思是“难对付的，挑剔的”比如：You're such a difficult man. 你太挑剔了。所以 I'm so difficult. 的意思是：我太挑剔了。只有当hard和difficult修饰事物的时候才是“困难的，艰难的”要表达“我太难了”可以说：It's so hard/difficult for me!生活太难人就会觉得烦02"我很烦"英文怎么说？①It annoys me.It annoys me when you don't reply my text asap, it's like you're gone.你不秒回我信息的时候，我会觉得很烦，感觉你整个人消失一样。（asap = as soon as possible）②It bugs meIt just bugs me that I have to work so many extra hours for no extra money.我必须加班加点地干这么多小时，却没有额外的工钱，真的让我很烦。③get on my nervesThat music is starting to get on my nerves. 这音乐开始让我心烦了。

Dopamiini saa meidät motivoitumaan ja innostumaan. Saamme dopamiinin avulla euforisia kokemuksia. Toisaalta jäämme helposti kiinni dopamiinin aiheuttamaan tunnekoukkuun. Dopamiini onkin niin päihde- kuin monen muunkin riippuvuuden takana. Dopamiinilla on myös muita vaikutuksia: ilman sitä emme pysty liikkumaan. Miten yksi kemiallinen yhdiste voi vaikuttaa meihin näin voimakkaasti? Haastateltavana farmakologian emeritusprofessori Esa Korpi Helsingin yliopistosta. Toimittajana on Pirjo Koskinen.

Tá treoir ó Mhet Éireann don phobal bheith airdeallach faoin aimsir fhuar as seo go dtí oíche Dé hAoine, ach ba é 2023 an bliain ba theochtaí ó tosaíodh cuntas a choinneáil ar chúrsaí aimsire sa tír seo.

Maggie Peña is the Chief Experience Officer at Interlace Health (the next generation of FormFast), a 30 year old privately held healthcare IT firm that delivers scalable and cost-effective forms automation and eSignature solutions for healthcare organisations. She brings 22 years of experience in IT to her role and leads one third of Interlaces Health's employees.  With a fierce focus on customer satisfaction and retention, Maggie created and built Interlace Health's customer support team and its customer implementation strategy, she built out the company's fully Spanish-speaking team for project implementation, and ongoing customer support, and she has managed the company's managed services program to create efficiencies for customers. She believes in a proactive approach to customer service, and it shows with happy and successful customers. Under Maggie's leadership, Interlace Health currently has a 97.4% customer retention rate.  Maggie serves as a co-leader for the HIMSS Clinician Burden Reduction Task Force and was recently named Becker's 2023 Women in Health IT to Know list.   Questions • Could you share a little bit about your journey, how you got to where you are today. • Can you tell our listeners maybe three key things that you've done consistently that you believe has contributed to the success of achieving a 97.4% customer retention rate? • Can you tell us maybe some of the criteria that you use to select those customers? What type of customer do you look for to ensure that they are the ones that you're joining your counsel? • Now, could you also share with our listeners what is the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? • Now we'd also like for you to share with us maybe one or two books that you've read. It could be a book that you read a very long time ago or even one that you read recently, but it has had a great impact on you. • As a customer, what are maybe three things that are critical for you to actually say, yes, this was a great customer experience. • Can you also share with our listeners, what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. • Are there are some key behaviours or competencies that you look for when you're hiring persons for those roles as customer support? • Where can listeners find you online? • Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track? This quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those? Highlights Maggie's Journey Me: So, just wanted to take some time before we jump into the meat of our conversation for you to share with our listeners a little bit about your journey. I know we would have read your bio, but we always like to ask the guests in their own words, if you could share a little bit about how you got to where you are today.   Maggie shared that it has been an interesting journey. When she started college, she wanted to be an accountant. But after her first accounting course, she quickly realized that was not her calling. So, the path that really paved her way to where she is today started in the financial industry during her junior year working part time for a local bank and the IT department, processing operations for almost 30 banks throughout the state, working with a Unisys mainframe and green screen terminals for the very first time. And she thinks she just might have dated herself, but that's okay.  So, all kidding aside, it was a great learning experience nonetheless. By then, she had switched majors and was now pursuing a degree in Computer Information Systems. And her time at the bank confirmed and validated her interest in technology and how we can use technology to automate processes to increase efficiencies and customer service as we knew it back then, now that customer experiences tends to be a newer word, back in the day, we were thinking at it as customer service.  She was lucky enough to stay at the bank for almost 7 years until the bank was acquired by an international bank with plans to move their IT operations someplace else. At that point, she knew that it was time to move on and look for something else. So, she joined a local health care system, also working in their IT department supporting the business and financial side of the hospital. After about a year, Interlace Health, formerly FormFast as said came into her life when the hospital purchased a forms automation solution. So, fast forward a couple of years, she had the opportunity to join the NRA Health team and have now been there for almost 13 years.   Key Strategies that Contributed to the Success of Achieving a 97.4% Customer Retention Rate Me: So, in your bio, it says that you've managed to achieve a 97.4% customer retention rate. Can you tell our listeners maybe three key things that you've done consistently that you believe has contributed to that success?    Maggie shared that at Interlace Health, they believe in putting people first, so that is their mission. They put people over paperwork, and it has reflected on the solutions that they provide their customers and the solution is that they innovate and so on, so forth. But even in the services, she has a belief that software alone doesn't cut it anymore, it just doesn't. Anyone can have a similar product or a similar solution as you, it really comes down to the level of service that you provide your customers and the experience that they encounter throughout the entire journey.  So, first and foremost, they put people first, always there for their customers, they have also built a dedicated team within the services department at Interlace Health, always to be their specialized in what they do, enabled to deliver personalized and attentive support to their customers, they are there with them, they understand their business, they understand their needs, and they're always available.  Again, to address it, regardless of what the need may be, the COVID pandemic was huge, it was terrible, but it was an opportunity for them to be there for their customers and continue providing the service, and not just the service, but continue providing the same level of service to enable them to continue providing the care that they needed to provide even more so during those difficult times.   And then three, they embrace feedback from their customers, the good, the bad, and the Ugly, like the saying. They're always there, they have established a Customer Success Council and it's composed of their most engaged, knowledgeable customers who advises on their products or solutions, they share the best practices. And quite frankly, they give candid feedback. It's not always what they want to hear, but at the end of the day is what they want to hear, because their feedback and their insights have helped make informed decisions as they improve their products and services. And they are pretty much the ones helping them guide their path forward as it comes to their products and services.   Criteria for Selecting Customers to Join Your Customer Success Council  Me: Now, in addition to those three things that has contributed to your customer retention rate being at 97.4%. And I know you mentioned a customer council that you say you use to guide you. Can you tell us maybe some of the criteria that you use to select those customers? What type of customer do you look for to ensure that they are the ones that you're joining your council?    Maggie shared that they offer various solutions. So, they try to get customers that are using different types of solutions, right? Because obviously, there's different needs that each solution addresses. First, they started with their internal team, and they asked them who are your champions? Who are your stellar contacts that are customers who know their products, they know it well, they're using it consistently and that's the criteria. It's also customers that are using their solutions successfully and consistently.  But they try to get customers who weren't using it as much or adopting it as they would like them to, to get involved, to tell them why, what are your challenges? What are your staff or your patients telling you about your solutions or their solutions in this case, that is keeping you from using it to its fullest potential?  So, it was really customers that were mostly engaged and customers that they have communication with, but not to the extent like the fully engaged ones, if that makes sense so that we could get both sides of the house, those that are using it a lot and those that are struggling for various reasons, they wanted to hear from them as well.   App, Website or Tool that Maggie Absolutely Can't Live Without in Her Business When asked about online resource that she cannot live without in her business, Maggie shared that she would say internally, Microsoft Teams. Prior to pandemic, Interlace Health, they've always been a remote company. So, mostly everyone was remote, she's been remote almost 13 years there. But since pandemic, she thinks Microsoft Teams have kept them very well connected not just internally but with their customers in the hospital setting, that is what they've seen use the most is Microsoft Teams. And then internally to keep track of their customers and their data and their metrics and so on, so forth. Everything that they need to know about their customers, they use Salesforce platform.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Maggie When asked about books that have had a great impact, Maggie shared that The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen Covey. She loves that book and it's been a while, she's probably going to read it again. And the question got her thinking she needs to reread it again. But it's been a few years since she's read it. And she loves how it gives clarity into how trusted leaders do things differently, faster and at a lower cost. She's a true believer that trust drives everything, and how it produces better results. So, that's one.  And then the second one not so much a book, because he's got plenty of books, but John Maxwell, anything, everything John Maxwell, he's amazing. She first heard him 5 years ago at a Global Leadership Summit. The one thing that struck the most from that Summit was when he was talking about looking for ways to add value to people, he called it be an added value liver. Where he was talking about throughout the day, going from knowing to doing, from thinking and looking to making sure it's an action. And at the end of the day, ask yourself, “Did I add value to people today?”  Again, John Maxwell, he is someone who she constantly sees his videos, she's purchased some training, she even purchases trainings there at work for her direct reports as well to see and to encounter and to read and learn from his teachings. So, those are the two that she can think of.    As a Customer, Three Critical Things to Have a Great Customer Experience Me: Now I know as your role as a Chief Experience Officer at Interlace Health, you are focused on providing the service to your clients. But I'd like to flip the script a little and put you in the in the hotbox where you are the customer. So, when you think about your own interactions with organizations that you do business with, what are maybe three things that are critical for you to actually say, yes, this was a great customer experience.   Maggie stated that the sense of trust. She talked about trust, the book. So, she would say trust, transparency, and personalization, if she had to put it into just three words. This would be her top three that comes to mind right away.    Me: So, trust, transparency, and personalization.   Maggie stated that personal life experience, she's huge on that. Just, for example, even when she goes to restaurants, the first thing she looks at when the waiter approaches her is their name badge, because she wants to address them by their name. And she always does, it's just that personal touch and everything that we do, to her, that's very important.    Me: It's always the little things.   What Maggie is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that she's excited about, Maggie shared that just with the new CXO role, she's excited about it because it's going to allow her to work with the entire organization on the customer journey from the initial awareness to implementation support and beyond. So, she's excited to continue creating a more holistic customer centric culture at Interlace Health, while developing and implementing a comprehensive customer experience strategy. And Yanique did the bragging, she (Maggie) was going to brag a little bit about their customer retention rate. So, that's also exciting for them at Interlace Health at the moment, which is that customer retention rate of 97.4%.   Key Behaviours or Competence for Hiring Customer Support  Me: Could you also share with us with, your customer support team that you had built out, how many persons are on that team?   Maggie shared that they have the team, they're thinking about everyone that's doing support, a good 10 people.   Me: So, you got 10 people on that support team. And so, I just wanted to know if there are some key behaviours or competencies that you look for when you're hiring persons for those roles.   Maggie shared that yes, they need competency, they need people that know what they know, that they're intelligent, and they know what's expected of them. But she looks more on attitude, because you can teach the skills that they need to know in order to support the customers. You'll teach them the product and the solutions and all the intricacies right of what they do. But the attitude, that is not something they can teach. So, she hires for attitude. And so, that's a big one for her.  At Interlace Health, they look for people who are motivated and you have to, in this remote world, you have to be self-motivated. We're no longer in front of other people to help us get through the day. So, you need self-motivated individuals, absolutely intelligent, competent people, but people that have the attitude, who are going to be there for their customers, because not every single call is a good call, and that's life. Some calls aren't always the best calls, but they want people who are going to have the attitude and turn a not so good call into a positive call at the end of the day while we're helping their customers resolve their problems.    Where Can We Find Maggie Online Website – https://interlacehealth.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiepeña/   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Maggie Uses When asked about quote that she tends to revert to, Maggie shared that there's one that she has that she's used personally since a very young age. And that is simple, “If anyone else can do it, so can I.” and like she said, that since she can remember going through school, college, you name it, she's always had that in her mind if anyone else can do it, so can I.  Then she has a second one too as it relates to her professional setting at work and with her team as they're looking to do something new, whether it's a new process, a new approach to something, anything new that they're talking about doing, she always tells them, “Let's try it, what's the worst that can happen?” So, those are the two quotes that you'll hear her say quite a bit depending on the situation.   Me: Perfect. I love the second one, “Let's do it, what's the worst that can happen?”   Maggie stated, what's the worst that can happen? If it doesn't work, it wasn't working anyway.   Me: There's one that goes, “You miss all of the shots that you never take.” That quote kind of reminds me of that one.   Maggie, I just wanted to express our deepest gratitude to you for taking time out of your very busy schedule and hopping on this podcast with us today. And sharing about your journey as well as what your organization is doing and just how it is that you've been able to really make customer experience shine in your organization and achieve the high level of retention rate, how it is that you focus on ensuring that your customers are getting what they need, and not necessarily what organization wants to give them but you have something in place where you really use the voice of the customer on a regular basis. And you can see it manifest into your customer satisfaction and retention scores. So, thank you again for joining us today.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links •     The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen Covey   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

Peter C. Yesawich is Chairman of Hospitable Healthcare Partners, LLC - a marketing consultancy serving hospitality and the healthcare industry clients - and Vice Chairman Emeritus of MMGY Global, one of the country's leading marketing communications companies renowned for its strategic thinking, breakthrough creativity, and innovation in marketing practice.  Yesawich has contributed to the development of marketing programs for some of the industry's most popular brands, destinations and organizations including: Fairmont Hotel & Resorts, Hilton International, Disney Parks & Resorts, Universal Studios, Atlantis, The Broadmoor, Sandals Resorts, Wynn Las Vegas, Marriott Vacation Club International, the Mexico Tourism Board, and the U.S. Olympic Committee, to name a few.  He is co-author of Marketing Leadership in Hospitality and Tourism, and the new book, Hospitable Healthcare: Just What the Patient Ordered!   Questions •  Could you share a little bit about your journey? •  Have you seen any common themes as it relates to customer service delivery on the part of the service provider that you think is universal to both areas? •  Now, could you also share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely cannot live without in your business? •  Can you also share with our listeners, maybe one or two books that you have read, it could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you've read recently, but it had a great impact on you. •     What's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. •  Where can listeners find you online? •  Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track, the quote kind of helps to just get you back on track. Do you have one of those?   Highlights Impact on Online Sources But on that point, one of the things that they looked at in writing the book and their survey of 1200 adults is how they use online sources to help them think about healthcare and whether it's evaluating healthcare providers, or self-diagnosis, we all joke about Dr. Google, something happens and we quickly want to do a web search, whether it's Google or WebMD, or any of a number of site specific providers, specific sites, like Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic and so forth, to get that kind of information.  But that would be his answer. By the way, that is extremely helpful, but also generally very difficult for people to interpret. So, it's essential, they should absolutely do their homework, but they should also consult with a medical professional to make sure they've interpreted it correctly. So, it's a combination of those two, but that wouldn't be his answer, really, it's Google would be the certainly the go to source. Me: It's amazing you said that, we take it for granted when you think about how we used to do research prior to Google, Encyclopaedia Britannica, go to the library, it takes you so long to kind of get information. And I always tell my daughter, and even my mom, I tell her, there's nothing that you can type into Google that I'm sure someone else in the world has not asked that same exact question. No matter how stupid you think it is, somebody in the world has asked the question and there is an answer there for you, so it really is knowledge base.  Peter shared that what's interesting about that though is, in hospitality, online people go online to look at reviews. So, you look at reviews of restaurants, or hotels or destinations or what it may be. In their companies that have really built incredible databases like TripAdvisor and Expedia and so forth. And then you think about, “Well, why doesn't that exist in healthcare?”  So, if you wanted to learn a little bit more about, let's say, a particular hospital, where you might be thinking about scheduling some kind of elective procedure, or a specific clinician, a doctor or a practice, one of the things you discover very quickly is it's very difficult to get that kind of information online about healthcare providers, and people ask why and he'll share with the listeners that kind of interesting that came out of their research.  There are two reasons for that. Number one, most of these healthcare rating sites will not publish any ratings on providers unless they have a minimum number of what they consider to be objective ratings, typically, that's 3. So, for example, if you go into health grades, or any of the doctor sites, you'll notice a lot of the physicians don't have any rating or if they do have a rating, it might be one or two ratings.  And obviously, people are generally very, very suspect about that if they don't have a broader base of patient reviews. Now, the question is, why is that? And here's the interesting part of the answer. We discovered that most of us are very reluctant to criticize medical professionals. For example, the example you just gave about the paediatrician. Now, you're quick to maybe share that story with other friends but his suspicion is you probably didn't go online and write a review. Now, maybe you did.  Me: I did not. But I don't think it's because I was reluctant to share it online, I think at the time, that would have been like 2006, I don't think it was that popular at the time.   Peter stated that for most people today, they're reluctant to do that online publicly. And we think that there's a really good psychological reason for that and that is that we are all raised correctly, by the way, to respect the amount of training and the motivation of medical professionals that even if we find that their style to be a little abrupt, and so forth, the fact of the matter is, we absolutely respect their expertise.  And the other aspect of that is, we don't have the same vocabulary. So, it's very difficult for us to interpret many times their comments, or their assessment of our medical problem. So, it's just not possible for us to rate them because we don't know, we don't know if it's good or bad advice. And as a result of that, what happens, these ratings are few and far between, anyway, to your point is we like to say, if you have an anniversary dinner in a restaurant, where the restaurant blew it, well, you may go home that night and the internet will be blazing in terms of your negative response.  But if you had a bad experience at your physician's office, you just kind of shrug your shoulders and kind of move on. But more and more to your point, people are exercising choice and say, “I'm not going back to that office, or I'm not going back to that hospital, the experience was really bad.” And generally, most insurance programs provide some options for you to use other providers.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Peter When asked about books that have an impact, Peter stated that he'll give you just one. And it's a book that he thinks resides in the same space as their book, their most recent book. It's called Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes a Difference by Stephen Trzeciak and was authored by two medical doctors from the University of Pittsburgh. And it's fascinating examination of an idea similar to theirs about hospitality and healthcare. And the book, it really addresses the question, critical question that most people in healthcare ask and they say, well, we believe, we get the idea that compassion is important for patients as part of the customer experience and so forth. But it doesn't make financial sense. So, that's the point of view.  He'll give the best example. Most physicians today are under tremendous time pressure to see as many patients as quickly as possible, and that's a recurring theme of dissatisfaction for people in healthcare, where they say, “Well, I only saw the doctor for 10 minutes, and half the time he or she was looking at a computer screen. They didn't look at me.”  Well, the problem is that many of these practices, literally, they have performance criteria that says, you should not spend more than 15 or 20 minutes with a patient and you need to move on because the volume needs to be at, anyway.  So, the whole idea of being compassionate, and a big part of that is just listening, and that is listening until the patient has expressed everything he or she would like to express and also making sure they understand what the clinician has concluded and is recommending, that takes time.  And it's a big issue of this demonstrating compassion. And he lives through that because as he says, 10 years in cancer care business. And you talk about the importance of compassion in medical facilities, there's nothing more challenging and potentially difficult than fighting cancer, it's the worst disease that anyone can be diagnosed with. And it happens to be the most expensive disease.  And therefore, compassion is essential in terms of getting people through the process. But anyway, that's a long answer to a great question. But he would recommend that to anybody who is interested in the healthcare customer experience because, as it turns out, they make a case, very compelling case, this is compassion, the delivery of compassion, the demonstration of that makes great financial sense for a whole bunch of reasons. And they build the case for that.  Me: I can just imagine, because as I said to you at the beginning, the average person that goes to their doctor or hospital or clinic, they're in pain. So, when I do trainings for those persons in that type of industry, I genuinely say to them that listen, if you don't genuinely care about other human beings, and you're not genuinely there to help them, you're just in the profession for the financial gain, this is just not the area for you to be in because as you mentioned, compassion is one of those key skills that you need and sadly, a lot of patients and their relatives, they don't get that. Even COVID saw ot, I heard so many cases where I guess they got immune to the fact that people were dying from COVID, you are just another dead person to them. And that person was somebody's dad, was somebody's mom, was somebody's sister, was somebody's child.   Is Healthcare a Need or a Want Service? Peter agreed and shared that it's funny, because they talk to medical professionals about their book. Some of them say, well, all this is wonderful. But healthcare is what they call a need service. And hospitality is a want service, and they stopped them and say, wait a minute, think about what you just said.  The point they make is that, yes, many people pursue healthcare out of need, they're ill, they had an accident, whatever it might be. And they come to that experience with all kinds of anxiety, and all of a sudden, they have issues related to difficulty making an appointment, checking in, the time that it takes, understanding the cost of the service, all the things he just talked about.  And the point he makes is that, yes, it is a need service for many patients who seek emergency care. But that amplifies the importance of the hospitality elements in delivering the care, because the hospitality elements help manage down some of that anxiety.  We've all sat in an emergency room way too long and the anxiety is building and something as simple and a lot of hospitals now do this, which published the wait times in the emergency rooms, they say, okay, your wait time is 32 minutes, well, at least you know that you're going to be there for half an hour, if nobody told you it was 32 minutes, you'd be sitting there 20-25 and wondering what's going on anyway, you get the idea. So, even though it is a need service, and we acknowledge that, we think that it actually underscores the importance of hospitable healthcare.   What Peter is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something he's excited about, Peter shared that it is this book, took them 2 years to write this. And he said, they did a major piece of national research. And the reaction they've gotten to this book has been terrific from not just consumers because they know consumers, they say “Well, wouldn't you like a more hospitable experience?” Everybody says, absolutely. But from healthcare practitioners, they say, “Okay, that sounds really good. Tell me how.”  So, in this book, what they've done is in their model, the fact that PAEER model for each chapter, they've identified very specific action items like how to prepare, how to anticipate, how to engage for healthcare providers, it's almost like a checklist. And it's amazing how healthcare providers react. He'll give one example and it happens to be addressing that number one deficit, which is not knowing the cost of the healthcare service before it's provided.  He was sharing this with a CEO of a large healthcare system in New York couple of weeks ago. And he said, “Okay, smart guy, well tell me how we're supposed to address that.” So, we'll try this on for size. So, when he books, he's talking about non-emergency procedures. Now, emergency procedures are unique, but non-emergency and by the way, that represents a very substantial percentage of the procedures that any hospital system would do. So, you have to schedule the surgery, whatever it might be.  So, he said, “When I confirm my appointment for that particular service or procedure, I don't know the cost, but why don't you give me a pro forma estimate of the cost of that when you confirm my appointment?” It's the same that happens in most industry. So, next week, if you take your car to a car repair service or for service, they're going to give you an estimate, you have to approve that before they do the work, you want to book a hotel room or a vacation, you're going to know the cost of that before you take the trip.  So, why wouldn't the healthcare provider send me an estimate of the expected cost of annual physical, any surgical procedure, whatever it might be. And the reason he says that is the hospital, and the healthcare provider knows the cost of the service before they confirm your appointment. Now, most patients don't know that. But they know the cost because all of those services are already contracted with these insurance companies.  So, they have a very specific dollar amount, they're going to get reimbursed for that, even though that dollar amount as you know is substantially less than what you see in the bill. But his point is that they could give you a pro forma estimate that says, “Okay, this is likely to be between $600 and $800.” And they disclaim that by saying, “We may discover when we do your examination that more tests are required, and therefore, it's going to be a little more expensive.” And they disclose that at the time the appointment is confirmed.  But the point is that that gives people, patients then a general sense of what the cost might be, allows them to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to certain to pursue treatment there or someplace else. He's sure you (Yanique) read all the stories about people that say, “Well, I looked at the cost of an MRI at hospital A, and it was $2500. And I look at an MRI at hospital B and it was $3800. How could it be different? It's the same procedure?”  Well, the idea is that their margins are different, their reimbursement rates are different with insurance companies. They know that, you don't know that, but you could actually as a provider, begin to minimize a lot of that anxiety by simply giving a pro forma estimate.  So, the CEO said, “You know what, that's kind of interesting idea.” He said, you have all that information, but you just don't provide it. So, they're going to begin to explore the possibility of doing that.  By the way, just this week, he saw Amazon health. Amazon is now getting into the primary care business and one of the things, they just released a press from two days ago, press release on this, Amazon health will give you the cost of the service at the time you book the appointment. And he thought to himself, “Wow, somebody's paying attention here.”  Me: Yeah, they saw the need, they did their work. They did their research.  Peter agreed and stated there's an example of what he's talking about.   Where Can We Find Peter Online Website: www.hospitablehealthcare.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Peter Uses  When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Peter shared that he's not sure it's a quote, but it's more of a mantra and that is, “Tomorrow will be a better day.” And that is if you get consumed by negativity, by certainly today, all the things going on in the world. It's easy to get very dark, very quickly. But you have to awaken with the belief that things will get better and generally they do. And you as an individual will have to be a major catalyst to that, you have to pursue it and you have to be relentless. But yeah, if you ever lose hope in that then you're probably headed to a very dark place. But that would be tomorrow's always going to be a better day. Me: Perfect. Thank you so much for sharing. Now, Peter, we want to just extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to share about your book, all the research that you did, giving us some real-life, practical examples that our listeners can take back. I think this book that you did is of great value, as you mentioned, not just to patients, but also to persons who are in the healthcare industry, who are service providers, there's clearly a lot of opportunities from a hospitable perspective that healthcare providers could be doing that they're not doing. And I really hope that this book gets to more people, and that they will look on it, not like the person mentioned, it's a need and not a want, but look on it that at the end of the day, in everything we're doing, there's always an opportunity to create that experience that people would want to come back to you, even if it's a need, even if you don't necessarily want to go back and see your GP or your ophthalmologist or your dermatologist, you want to be cured. But at the end of the day, when you walked away from that experience, you will be motivated to want to go back if something should happen to you and not feel demotivated not to go back, because the experience was not good. So, I do think that what you shared with us here today will be of great value, encourage all of the work that you're doing and thank you, thank you so much again.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links •     Hospitable Healthcare: Just What the Patient Ordered! By Peter Yesawich Ph. D and Stowe Shoemaker Ph.D •     Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caaring Makes a Difference by Stephen Trzeciak   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience  Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

Me: It was my understanding that I was going to be married by now God: What gave you that idea? Me: It was my understanding Hello and welcome to the first episode of The Catholic Dating Podcast! Meet your host @thecatholicbachelorette and hear her 30-year dating history in less than 30 minutes. Relate to something in this episode? Have a story you want to share? A question you want to ask? DM us @thecatholicbachelorette or call our hotline at (571) 348-4132 to be featured in the next episode! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thecatholicdatingpodcast/support

Tá 100,000 teach gan cumhacht aibhléise agus Stoirm Debi ag déanamh a bealach trasna na tíre. Beidh gasúir ag dul chun na scoile ag 1000 ar maidin nuair a thagann na foláirimh dearg agus flannbhuí chun deiridh.

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Text Posts from the Kids Group: 2021, published by jefftk on November 10, 2023 on LessWrong. Another round of liberating kid posts from Facebook. For reference, in 2021 Lily turned 7, Anna turned 5, and Nora was born. (Some of these were from me; some were from Julia. Ones saying "me" could mean either of us.) Anna: Hello, I'm Mr. Hamburger. Me: It's time to brush teeth, Mr. Hamburger. Anna: I can't brush my teeth, I'm a hamburger. Me: It's still time to brush teeth. Anna: Hamburgers don't have teeth. "Anna, try bonking your head into the faucet! I tried it, and the new squishy cover works!" Last week Lily said she wanted bangs. I told her there is a three-week waiting period for any major haircut, and set a calendar reminder for us to talk about it again in three weeks. She agreed. Two days later, she asked, "If I have bangs, will all my hair be short?" I asked, "...Do you know what bangs are?" "No." We've been reading "The Boxcar Children", and the kids are excited about playing at roughing it in the woods. Lily came downstairs with a pillowcase full of stuff. "Mom, we're pretending we are some poor people and we found just enough money to buy two couches, two pillows, a cooking pot, some stuffies, and this necklace. And I had just enough money to buy this pirate ship and two dolls." "Dad, why are sponges squishy? Like mice?" Jeff: Goodnight, Anna. Anna: Oy-yoy-yoy-yoy-yoy! That's baby for "You're the best dad in the world." Woke up to Lily reading to Anna Hypothetical from Lily: "Mom, if you lived in a peanut shell and the only food you had was cheez-its this big" [holds up fingers to pea size] "and you slept in a shoe made of stone, and ten hundred children lived there, would you find somewhere else to live?" From Lily at dinner: "There is something that makes me sad. [begins singing] Fairies aren't real Magic isn't real Unicorns aren't real Santa Claus isn't real The aTooth Fairy isn't real." Lily, explaining the difference between even and odd numbers: "If they could all line up for a contra dance and they'd all have a partner, that's even." Lily: "Anna, why did you hit me with the whistle?" Anna, not wearing glasses or anything: "I'm sorry, my sight had gotten fogged up" One of Lily's favorite conversations with Anna is the "gotcha." Lily: I was talking to Dad about if we could get a pony. Do you really really want a pony too? Anna: Yeah. Lily: Well we barely know anything about ponies, and we don't have enough room! ...Anna, do you think it would be cool to be a cowgirl? Anna: Yeah. Lily: Well you would have to accept very little pay, you would have to work long hours, and you would barely even get a hut to sleep in! Lily: "I'm super mad that the Fifth Amendment is still there! Somebody definitely needs to remove that thing" ... Yesterday I explained plea bargaining, and she also thinks that's no good. Anna, immediately after we sat down to dinner: "Here are some facts about teeth. Teeth are hard white blades that grow out of these things [indicates gums]. They can cut and grind." Lily, settling down for the night with her teddy bear: "Mom, do you know what I like about Little Bear? First, he's soft to cuddle with. Second, he's an apex predator, so if monsters are real I feel like he'll protect me." Anna: "Mom, can you sing the song where there's a big fight during the night and when the sun rises he's happy because he sees the flag?" Anna: "why aren't you making my breakfast?" Me: "you haven't told me what you wanted to eat yet?" Anna: "I did tell you!" Me: "I don't remember that?" Anna: "Well, I already told you!" Me: "Could you tell me again? Anna: "I don't repeat myself" Me: "Sorry, what?" Anna: "I DON'T REPEAT MYSELF!" Anna's statements of "fact" get less factual when she's mad. I helped her order a toy this morning with her allowance, and she asked when...

Dans cet épisode, nous accueillons Maé-Bérénice Meité,patineuse artistique de haut niveau.

Josefine Campbell is a founder of Campbell Company, a top leadership consulting firm for multinational companies. Campbell inspires and coaches leaders, teams, and talents in large organisations such as McDonald's, Deloitte, Maersk, Novo Nordisk, and Carlsberg Group. Her approach combines the practical and the pragmatic. A four-time jiu-jitsu champion, she is particularly interested in developing personal leadership in difficult circumstances, such as is often the case in modern work life.   Questions •  Now Josefine, even though we read a short description about our guests, we always like to give our guests an opportunity to share a little bit about their journey. So, could you share with our listeners a little bit about your journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today? •  A big part of what you do focuses on the power barometer, right. So, can you share with our listeners a little bit about that, and how it is that you are able to implement? What is the power barometer? •  Could you share with us maybe two or three approaches, tactics, tools that you can use to manage energy in work and life? •  Could you also share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? •  Can you also share with us maybe one or two books that you've read recently? Or even maybe a book that you read a very long time ago, but it has had a very big impact on you? •  Now, can you also share with us Josefine, what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. •  Where can listeners find you online? •  Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you'll tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you got derailed or demotivated, this quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those?   Highlights  Josefine's Journey  Josefine shared that when she was a teenager, she was quadruple national champions in jiu-jitsu, it's Japanese martial arts. And for the last many years, she's been coaching and developing executives, individually and in groups. And at some point in her practice, she has a background in business practice, she's ran businesses herself, she's been in business for plus 25 years, she's also been teaching business school.  And at some point, quite early on actually, in her endeavour of supporting the executives that she was helping the best possible way, she realized that some of the techniques and practices that she brought with her from the jiu-jitsu practice actually had a huge effect when working with executives in modern work life, because being an executive is quite demanding, especially in modern work life, it takes a lot of energy, it requires for you to stay mentally clear under difficult circumstances, it's quite normal to be under a lot of pressure, just like as when you're in a battle, it's the same thing that happens to people when they feel threatened in a battle, and when they feel threatened at work. The circumstances might look different, but what happens inside people can be quite similar. And have you watched Karate Kid?  Me: I have, yes.  So, you remember the Mr. Miyagi? Wax on, wax off. So, he trains Karate Kid and how to be mentally agile, how to stay ready in a battle, right? So, one thing is he trains the techniques, but he also trains how he is with himself, that's a lot of the movie, remember, that's why he has to do the wax on, the wax off. And it's the same for executives, it takes a lot of personal capacity to do the work they do. So, that's how she came across the methods that she's written about, and that she's helped executives put into practice.   What is a Barometer? Me: In reading a little bit about your story, I noticed a big part of what you do focuses on the power barometer, right. So, can you share with our listeners a little bit about that, and how it is that you are able to implement? What is the power barometer? Let's start there.   Josefine shared that the power barometer is an imaginary tool that anyone can apply personally, alone, individually and in teams at work. So, it's a way of checking in on your personal energy level. And checking in on your personal energy level is important because energy is the fuel of the brain. Your brain uses 20% of your personal energy, it's quite a lot because it's only the size of 3% to 4% and if you're low on energy, your brain doesn't run very well. So, if you aren't aware that, you're not capable of performing in the same way as if you have the self-awareness of where your energy is right now.  And the same thing counts for what happens in teamwork. So, one thing is that each and every one of us should take responsibility for our own personal energy, the personal energy that we bring to the table but in a meeting, everybody should take responsibility for the energy at the meeting. So, tell me, have you ever been in a meeting where someone suddenly took out all the energy of the room?    Me: Yeah, that's happened quite a few times.   And what happens to productivity in such a case? It declines? And engagements? And retention? So, performance? Does people come up with creative, innovative ideas? Do they solve difficult task when the energy is out of the room?  Not so much. So, just being aware of personal energy, start to measure it even if it's a subjective quantification, it brings awareness to energy and everybody's responsibility on the energy level. And that kind of behaviour that would bring out energy of a room suddenly becomes unwanted and for many reasons, that is good.   Tactics and Tools Can Be Used to Manage Energy in Work and Life Me: So, it's about balancing, it's about energy, could you share with us maybe two or three approaches, tactics, tools that you can use to manage energy in work and life? Because we all have our personal life, but we also have our professional life and how do we balance having energy in both so that either area is not getting diminishing returns?   Josefine stated that if she may, because Yanique says personal and professional life, actually a point, a very important takeaway from her book is that business is personal. So, there's a difference between private and professional life, so, that's isn't opposition, there's things that happens in your weekend, within your family that's private, but and what happens at work, what do you have to do at work, it's professional, but all of it is personal because it's you as a person who goes to work. It's you as a person who is leading, collaborating, communicating, it's you and I, as people who are talking right now on this podcast, and we cannot take the personal aspect out of the equation.  So, you cannot just put away anything but personal. And that's a key point also, in you addressing the question like what can you do to keep a high personal energy level? And, first of all, and the most important thing is to be aware, to be aware of your own personal energy level. It starts noticing when your energy is high, when it is low, most people would start to care more about it and putting more attention into raising the energy, you will also have more insights about what drains you and try to do less of that, things that gives you energy and it could be work tasks, specific work task you discover, “Oh, I get energy from this type of tasks or this type of meetings, or working with these people, but they also drain me.”  And of course, at the workplace, you cannot always decide who you are meeting with and who you're not. But those relationships which are draining, can you do something about it? This is something you can bring to the table to improve their collaboration. She knows plenty of good examples on how people have addressed bad working relationships and taking them to another level where they can do great work together. There are also situations where you have to avoid, certain collaborations, or certain tasks.  If you're in a team, understand what type of task drains and gives different team members energy. Work division might going to seem more obvious. And then there are the physical aspects, such as getting enough sleep, having a few breaks once in a while, actually just even micro breaks, a few minutes of rest. And rest is not looking at your phone, or just answering email, rest is maybe closing your eyes or leaning backwards on your chair and letting go for a minute. Just these little micro breaks, they can have a huge impact on your energy level.  We're not designed to be productive all the time. The organism, the biological human organism is designed to perform in circles, in waves, the energy, our natural energy will move upwards and downwards in iterations. So, it would be normal that you have some downtime once in a while, at least, but normal, natural, that's the difference, the normal is that people don't have any downtime.   App, Website or Tool that Josefine Absolutely Can't Live Without in Her Business When asked about an online resource that she cannot live without in her business, Josefine shared that she will be reluctant to say, if you go on her website, www.josefinecampbell.com, there's a section with freebies, and go there and grab whatever you think can make a difference for you. There are a couple of tools there and you can try them out, you can write me if you have any questions. And that's plug and play, go check it out, there's no software there.  Josefine shared that Microsoft Teams because all her clients use, most of her clients uses Microsoft Teams. Very often that's where they meet and engage.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Josefine When asked about books that have had an impact, Josefine stated that that's a wonderful question. So, what to choose from? There're so many wonderful books. She really, really loves books. Well, Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, it's an old classic. And she thinks it was the first book on personal leadership that got really big. And it's from the 90s. So, she was pretty young back then. But she got really fascinated with the book and the content of the book, she also started her first business when she was really young. She was 21 when she started her first business.  So, she needed a lot of help, she needed guidance on how to manage herself, and she felt so much wisdom in that book. And she actually thinks it's still valid, it's old, but it still works. So, she often recommends that book, she still does.   And then she thinks Brené Brown's Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversation. Whole Hearts, that's another great book. It's just a few years old and she thinks she took leadership books in another direction, writing a book that is very personal and that has some really nice contributions to how leadership development is being perceived today. She really thinks she made a huge difference. Thank you, Brené Brown.   What Josefine is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that she's really excited about, Josefine shared that there's so much. So, obviously, there's the book which is just coming out now and she's excited about sharing that with the world. And she has written the next one too and they're still working on the title and she's excited about that one too. She's written another kind of book, she's been quite creative, and she's also excited about finishing that one and putting that one out. So, her books are part of her passion. She gets up 5 o'clock in the morning sometimes to write just because she really feels like writing. She loves it.   Where Can We Find Josefine Online Website – www.josefinecampbell.com LinkedIn – Josefine Campbell    Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Josefine Uses  When asked about a quote or saying that she tends to revert to, Josefine shared that she have not a quote, but an image. The myth of Sisyphus, it's an old Greek myth. It's this man who is being judged by the Gods to push a rock up a hill. And every time he's up the hill, the rock is falling down, he has to push it up again. Have you ever heard that tale? Can you imagine the picture? Me: I can imagine the picture.  So, that's that feeling of this never-ending work and that things just keeps on being tough. Just after the Second World War, there was a French philosopher Camus, who elaborated a little bit on that myth. And he pictured Sisyphus working at the stones on the mountain, as he was pushing the rock up the hill and he would see the sun sparkle in some of the stones, and it will be beautiful. And his attention and his energy, his mind, his being would direct towards the beauty of those sparkles. And that would make the rock and himself feel lighter.   And that's what she tries to do, she tries to find just that little spark, those times where it's really dark, and it's tough, and it feels like it's never going to end, though we know it's going to end, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. But sometimes it just doesn't feel like that. Then she tries to find these little sparks of light that beams in and just give a little more energy to get done whatever needs to get done.   Me: All right, perfect. Thank you so much. I guess another way to look at that is the quote, “This too shall pass.” but you've kind of transformed it into an image, which is way more impactful because then it really focuses on what can you really do to navigate that space and recognize that at the end of the day, you will overcome it, it may seem like it's going to last forever, but there is a solution somewhere down the line.   Josefine shared that, “This too shall pass.” it's a really beautiful quote. She likes that one. Another one comes to her mind, it is the quote saying, “Everything is as it's supposed to be.” Kind of give some kind of peace of mind if you don't try to fix anything, or if you don't try to struggle, if you say okay, things are as they're supposed to be, somehow, it's all going to make sense at the end of the day.   Me: It will, the puzzle will all fit. Thank you so much, Josefine, for taking time out of your very busy schedule and hopping on this podcast and sharing all of these great nuggets and insights with us, a little bit about your journey, your new book that's coming out, the importance of preserving your energy and doing things that will lead to a more productive life, a more balanced life. So, I think our listeners definitely would have gained great information, great value from what you shared with us today. So, we just want to express our appreciation for you joining us on this podcast today.    Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest    Links •     The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey •     Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversation. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience   Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

“Either the Bible is true or it isn't, either it's God's inspired inerrant word or it isn't, you can't have it both ways, you can't pick and choose to fit with whatever the latest fad or zeitgeist happens to be . . .” “So claimed someone in a comment thread on a Patheos Progressive Christian Facebook page post recently. One thing I'll say for Bible literalists: they aren't a big fan of nuance. They like their truth to be . . . literal. Their world view is Manichean to the core. This or that. Black or white. True or false. Good or evil. No gray areas allowed.” “Me: The Bible is a book. A special one, but a book. Written by human beings, not dictated by God. Him: You're free to believe that, to reject the nearly 30% of prophecy that is STILL being played out today, but it does mean that you may not identify as a Christian. Me: It means nothing of the sort. Millions of Christians do not believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. What one believes about a book is not the litmus test for membership in the club. Him: In THIS CLUB, yes it is. Rejecting the inerrancy of scripture is tantamount to rejecting the authority of God in your life, (A.K.A. Christianity) because you wish to be your own God and live for yourself, which is the very heart of so called progressivism (A.K.A SIN). Me: It is sad to imagine a faith so narrow that it claims that God is confined within the covers of a book. That God somehow is incapable of speaking directly to contemporary human beings. That the Word of God is a book rather than a Person. God is brought into the world through human beings, not ancient texts. I could have done better. I could have used the book this fellow worships to make my point as another participant in the conversation did succinctly: John 1:1—In the beginning was the Word. John 1:14—And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us . . . The Bible isn't the Word of God, but it can lead us to the Word of God.” --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/support

Connect with Nicole-Marie on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.Website: https://nicolemariemusic.com/Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/artists/B001A0RUE8/nicole-marie?isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=trueApple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/nicole-marie/16755350SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nstaeheliSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/29GCUWCofGEkh3uwjrhJV0YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE0Oz6pxxUrIy1VV4yMTCuAReverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/nicolemarie79“Ocean Breeze,” the song by Nicole-Marie off her EP Roars, Flames and Embers, issuch a beautiful, calming acoustic track that you would never know it was inspired bydental trauma.Dental trauma, and the sounds of the dental office — the drill, something that soundslike suction — explains the line that says, “There's a voice that's demonic.”“I was under the influence of nitrous oxide,” said Nicole-Marie, “and it was the soundthat's — well, demonic — but I pretended it was an ocean breeze. I thought, ‘Okay,that's just an ocean breeze washing over me.'”I am one with the morningI am one with the worldAnd my soul is exploringThe ocean breeze that has unfurled“I have so much dental trauma that I cope by making up songs while I'm under theinfluence of nitrous oxide. I feel like if I go to the dentist, I'm at least gonna get a goodsong out of it for going through all that pain and misery.”There's a voice that's demonic but I am focusingOn ocean breeze in the distance blowing evil far from meIt's a great story. Hearing her tell it, and listening to the song, it's also believable. Butevil is real for her, both in her personal experience — having lived through 25 years ofnarcissistic abuse — and in her day work as a social worker and mental health therapistspecializing in trauma.“There's still stuff I'm deprogramming from, and I'm still in recovery from that situation,but there are situations in the world that are not ‘just' narcissistic abuse, butpsychopathic and sociopathic abuse as well.”“I'm expanding the metaphor to mean the demonic presence in the world,” she said.“Ocean Breeze” is a way of calming the soul, combatting the mental, spiritual presenceof evil, whether it's fanciful, like hearing Satan in a dental drill, or the much moredestructive kind that is all too common in what she calls “the 3D world.”The song features slow, melodic rhythms of guitar, banjo, and mandolin, timed by drumsbeating at the pace of a heart at rest. Nicole-Marie's lyrics are delivered in her deep,soothing voice. Doug Rusk is a featured vocalist on the track and is also the leadguitarist.She and Rusk are also featured in the video, produced by Smokescreen Media.“I was really impressed with them. I'm going to work with them on another video soon,”she said.Nicole-Marie's voice can climb. It has changed since she lost all hearing in her left earmore than a decade ago. Her right ear loses hearing intermittently and sometimes, shesays, she is legally deaf.“I used to be a first soprano when I did choir in high school. Since my hearing loss, I'vebecome more like an alto. I've learned to sing in that method — I don't know what it'scalled, actually — but you hear by feeling the vibration in your body. On some of thosenotes, I might not even be able to hear what I'm hitting.”Abuse, hearing loss, cancer. She has survived and is recovering still from a great dealof evil herself. Her music and her life are conducted in accordance with her spirituality,which is at heart a non-denominational Christianity influenced by a pan-spiritual outlookand yogic and other influences.Christianity is fractured, a “divided kingdom,” she says, and needs to be much lessjudgmental, which is inherently divisive, “because we don't want to be conquered bybeing divided.”“I want to inspire other people to make the highest vibrational choices for their lives,”which she defines as making life choices and decisions out of “gratitude, love, joy,contentment,” rather than out of fear, anger or guilt.“Ocean Breeze” is the lead single she is promoting from Roars, Flames and Embers,but two other songs from the EP hold special meaning for her.“Pour out the Oil” was inspired by Kim Clement's prophetic writings on the biblicalEsther. The song features a woman, she said, who would “pour out the oil, pour outhealing to the world.”“I wanted to put in influences of biblical women, powerful women,” she said. “So I putEsther in a verse, and then Mary of Bethany, in a verse. Both were powerful biblicalwomen. I wanted to focus on that and what I think will be the return of the divinefeminine.”She added, “And I'm not referring to the Barbie movie.”The other song is “Beyond the Stars.”“That one was written in the voice of God. I wrote it after experiencing some workplacebullying. It's like God speaking to me, saying, ‘I know who you really are, no matter whatother people call you, or say about you. I know who you really are.' It's aboutforgiveness, too, of the bullies and of anybody that has to live in this crazy world. I thinkit's a very healing song.”Nicole-Marie has been putting out music since 2003. Her catalogue includes six albumsand EPs and several singles. She lists her genre as “spiritual folk rock” and those are allpresent, each by itself sometimes, sometimes in combination.She has performed live, but not since the pandemic. She is dealing with a case ofperformance anxiety but wants to perform again. She especially wants to go on a tour.That reality is in a world that lies a little way down the road.In the 3D world of now, there is promoting “Ocean Breeze” and Roars, Flames andEmbers and, also, “I'm working on my next music video. That's where my immediateattention is.”“But beyond that, I hope to do some shows, get over some of my fears and inspireothers to face their fears and get over them.”

Lesley and Brad are back to reflect on Jennifer Szpigiel's rise to icon status in this episode, focusing on the power of sharing the full story, including the unseen struggles behind success. The duo underlines the importance of daring, audacious actions in setting the stage for future triumphs.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co . And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why transparency is key to helping others from self-doubt and business worries.   Why maintaining success can be more challenging than obtaining it.Understand how to foster a company culture that consistently celebrates small victories. Why personal rewards are essential to remember and appreciate small wins.How to demonstrate readiness to life and business through bold and audacious actions.Episode References/Links:Join us at our West Coast Summer Pop Up Tour - Aug. 8-20, 2023Join us at Agency Mini - Sept. 10-16, 2023Join us at our Cambodia Retreat - Oct. 8-13, 2023FREE Ditching Busy WebinarAmy Ledin - Episode 5: "How to take fast action against limiting beliefs"  If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.Get your 15% discount for Toe Sox – use coupon code LESLEY15Be It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipResourcesWatch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable PilatesSocial MediaInstagramFacebookLinkedInEpisode Transcript:Brad Crowell 0:00  None of us are meant for everyone. But we all are meant for someone and some group of people because of who we are, how we communicate, the way we communicate, the vibes we put out, people will connect with you when they won't connect with me or Lesley, right? They will connect with you and you will be able to help them in their lives. And it's so easy for us to forget that. You know? We're not for everybody. But we absolutely are for some. eah we're going to switch that so I'm going to just update that here. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 13:10  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co host in life, Brad, and I we're gonna dig into the audacious convo I had with Jennifer Szpigiel in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, you can feel free to pause this now.Or you can slow, you can put Lesley on half speed for this episode.Holy moly. What is wrong? I'm like, my knees and my teeth and my C's Brad Crowell 14:05  Jennifer Szpigiel. So you had this epic convo with Jennifer Spiegel.Lesley Logan 14:09  She's badass. If you haven't yet listened to it, you should! Is this slow enough, Brad? You should pause this now. Yeah, and go back and listen to that.Brad Crowell 14:20  Yeah, now just put it on 1.25 It'll be good.Lesley Logan 14:23  Yeah, so I live in a 1.5 speed. And occasionally, I have guests that are at the same speed as me and then you're all fucking screwed. You're gonna have to slow it down (...) I can't talk slower when someone else's faster. So you know, anyway.Brad Crowell 14:39  Well, here's the deal, y'all... (Lesley: Today's Brad's birthday.) Today is my birthday...(Brad: You are 41= Holy cow. Are you kiddin me?...(Lesley: hot damn) it says in the script. Hot damn.Lesley Logan 14:42  It's also international chest day. And we are also in Scotland. With my dadBrad Crowell 14:57  Right now. At this exact moment. Yes. So probably driving down to Leeds.Lesley Logan 15:02  Congratulations, though, Brad, just because last week, well, two weeks from when people listen to this, we told someone your age and they didn't believe it...(Brad: That's true.) They thought you were a few years younger.Brad Crowell 15:15  Yeah. They said, they said early 30s, that works for me. Yeah. All right. Yeah. They thought it was early 50s.Lesley Logan 15:27  That is not true. Anyways, we're...Brad Crowell 15:30  41, can't believe it. It's international chest day. I had no idea. My entire life. July 20 is chess day and I am a fanatic about chess that y'all have never heard me talk about...(Brad: really not enough.) Yeah, you've never heard me talk about, but I played on the chess team in middle school and high school.Lesley Logan 15:30  When we watched the Queen's Gambit, you were very integral in helping me understand why this was at all important.Brad Crowell 15:57  Why the drama...(Lesley: there's so much drama like if there hadn't been dramatic) (...) there's so much drama about the move of the chess.I was like, I don't get it. Anyways, happy chess day.I've recently started watching these great YouTube chess clips where this girl is, she's working on becoming a grandmaster and her mom is and they sit down in the park in New York...(Lesley: Oh, you play, he keeps showing me) and her mom like woops these people's asses and they don't even see what's coming. And she looks like, you know, she just doesn't come across as this confident chess person and she's so smart. It's brilliant. Love itIt's just a side note. Can we just, like, if these morons are, it's 2023. And they are assuming a woman cannot slay them at chess. They deserve to be slayed.I think it's this that they come out with this crazy bravado of like and it's part of the like, it's actually like a tactic. It's like people sitting at a poker table where they, you know, they're shit talking the whole time. And that's supposed to get under your skin. So these guys tried to do that. And her mom doesn't talk back at all. She hardly engages with them. She just plays the game. Destroys them. And then they don't even know what happened. And the girl that watched, she's also amazing. She's, you know, she's obviously in a family of chess players.Yeah, I think all of them need to live in a world for a little bit of time where they just assume everyone's better than them. Clearly their parents didn't tell them that. Yeah, like mine did. Yeah, I go around the world going, everyone's better than me.Some of the videos are cringy as fuck because it's like being mansplaining, Oh, God, just Oh, and you're about to lose. Anyways. Well, also moving right along.Lesley Logan 17:45  So while we are currently in the United Kingdom, over to Scotland, we're gonna be in the United Kingdom tomorrow. Is that how it goes? Brad Crowell 17:52  No. It's not the United Kingdom...(Lesley: It's not the United Kingdom. So sorry, you guys.) Scotland, Britain slash England. Lesley Logan 17:57  Sorry, I'm in America. My history classes were shit. So it's not. That's not news. So we are going to be in Leeds tomorrow with our Mullet Tour you've been hearing all about. I'm excited for this. So we are so so excited. I have no idea if when you're listening this that there's any tickets left because it was pretty much sold out at the time that we're recording this. So but you can go to opc.me/uk you can also just hit up our chat bot people. It's not even a bot, hit up our chat. It's real human beings, will get back to you at real human hours and they can tell you what you can purchase. That's what's so amazing about just hiring the whole fucking team. Next month is August and we are going on tour. Yeah, you should say it the way it's written.Brad Crowell 18:38  We are going on Toooooour! I wrote that. Lesley Logan 18:42  Yeah, he did.Brad Crowell 18:44  So it's our West Coast summer tour. And we're, we're leaving Vegas going south towards Los Angeles, then going to coast all the way up to Seattle with a bunch of stops along the way. And then we're gonna scoot back around through Idaho, Utah back to Vegas. So, if you're anywhere in the vicinity of that 4000 mile loop, just go to opc.me/tourLesley Logan 19:07  If you are one of the third of USBrad Crowell 19:10  Come hang out with us because we'd love to meet you in personLesley Logan 19:12  You guys, again, exotic cities that you were talking the coolest cities Redlands, Long Beach, you know, Long Beach is cool because it has all the rap songs.Brad Crowell 19:24  Bakersfield, Hanford, Fairfield let's go Modesto, Modesto Fairfield Bend Oregon, Portland, Seattle, Spokane, Idaho Falls, Salt Lake City, St. George...(Lesley: I'm sorry, all of them?). I'm working on it. Okay, well, so some of those cities are not confirmed, we're working on it, anything after Seattle...By the time you hear this, they better be confirmed.Lesley Logan 19:47  Okay. Well, they have to be confirmed. But the ones before Seattle are for sure confirmed and spots are selling out so fast. Yeah, I just want to say like, I'm so fucking proud of the people who are partnered with us on this tour because they are really bringing their community out and it's not an easy thing to do and I'm just can't wait to squeeze them all in real life. September it is Profitable Pilates Agency Mini Nine so this is our business coaching company and it is our week long coaching event and we only do it twice a year and to be honest we're working very hard to do it once a year and will once a year be next year maybeBrad Crowell 20:21  Maybe. Do not wait on thisLesley Logan 20:23  Go to profitablepilates.com/mini to get on the waitlist, waitlist people get extra time. They actually get to join the group early. Which is kind of crazy. You actually while we're on tour, can start getting coached by us before the actual event start.Brad Crowell 20:38  Yeah, like up to a month ahead of the event starting as one will be letting people in, so, that's why you want to get on the waitlist. Okay, tell everybody. Don't shush. Just just tell everybody profitablepilates.com/miniLesley Logan 20:50  (...) because to challenge an industry to actually make it a place where there's so much abundance and people are all making money. Everybody has to know the secrets and air quotes to grow a thriving growing business. I talked to one of our studio owners yesterday she is 100% on track to surpass half a million dollars on a single studio...(Brad: Holy cow.) Single studio...(Brad: that's so great.) Yes. So fucking great. I love that. Yeah. So we have another studio that last year barely missed a million dollarsBrad Crowell 21:23  Literally 10 grand shy. years in sales. So crazy.Lesley Logan 21:29  Yeah. So amazing. So and if you're like Lesley, I'm not moved, motivated by those numbers. I'm a solo person. Yeah, I got you back to baby. Got Your Back. We do home studios, solopreneurs. We help people go from brick and mortars to home studios. So anything in between, I don't care. If you're in a training program, or you've been teaching for 30 years, we are going to help you, if you are, if your business is not going the way you want it to go, then actually this is a great, this is a great episode. Go listen to Jen Szpigiel's episode and listen to this because that's why (...)Brad Crowell 21:57  Well, so, one thing that I just wanted to say was for people who have been teaching for 20 years, or more whatever, you know, the reality is we get stuck in these ruts of that's just how I've always done it. And we do that stuff, too. And we look back now and we go Wait, why are we doing it this way? So there are foundational things that we go through in Agency Mini that will really benefit your business, even if you've been doing it forever. And, you know, I think that, you know, basically, you could take this and maybe even simplify your life and make your existing business even more fulfilling for you. So yeah, absolutely is available for those who have been around the block as it wereLesley Logan 22:42  All right. (...) October Cambodia. You know the trip, you know the deal. Yeah, you really should be signing up right now. NovemberBrad Crowell 22:49  Wait. So go to lesleylogan.co/retreat.Thank you. November, we got something coming up. I can't announce it right now because I have the details. But they're not ready yet. (...) December winter tour.(...) Well, we'll share more detail about the winter tour after the summer tours are already booked up and out. So stick around for that. Lesley Logan 23:11  But if you are jealous of anybody from Nevada, through Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, then you need to be on the winter tour because that is where we hit. Not everyone else, but we hadn't noticed (...)Brad Crowell 23:25  With all 40 other states. Just kidding!Lesley Logan 23:28  No, that's like 45...(Brad: I'm kidding.) We do not.Brad Crowell 23:32  We do not. That's not an option...(Llesley: So babe) tell meIt is your birthday. It is my birthday. And people need a fun fact about Brad. Oh, well, y'all know I love cactuses. I just told you about my chess habit. I am a Star Wars junkie.Lesley Logan 23:51  I don't even know it's a fun fact, didn't know...(Brad: I mean, I don't know, I've only talked about that a couple times.) You're also a massive gamer.Brad Crowell 23:58  I am a gamer. I am a gamer. I actually love to play games. And I grew up choosing to play video games instead of watching sports. So when my family was playing, was sitting around the TV, I would quietly sneak out the back. And because no one was using the PC and I could play video games Lesley Logan 24:14  I'm pretty sure our new favorite people in this world. I think they were so excited to hear that you were not sports people. And not only we're not sports people, but when your family was watching sports, you left to go play video games. I'm pretty sure they're now like that is what made them obsessed about you.Brad Crowell 24:30  And I feel like there's no, I just, I had to, Okay, first off, I got rid of my television like 15 or 20 years ago at this point, 15 years ago, I think. Secondly, I had to intentionally decide not to install video games on my desktop computer or my laptop because I was a PC gamer. So when I sat down on my computer, it was very distracting for me because like in the back of my mind it was always calling, Woo this game, this game, this game. So, I had to make the professional decision, or I would never work. I would just play video games all day. So now, when I game, I only game on my phone. And it's like between, you know, like if I need to take a break or, you know, at night when I'm winding down or something like that. Lesley Logan 25:19  When I met him he was in like some sort of Guild thing.Brad Crowell 25:24  I was in a guild. Yes, that's true.Lesley Logan 25:26  So he was. So here's the deal. What's really funny is like, now fun fact about me.Brad Crowell 25:31  It was, I'd like to say it was a community. And that's so like, yes, it's a guild and that's nerdy and fucking like dorks. But I was in a community of people playing the same video game, and we would all chat with each other about the game.Lesley Logan 25:44  Yeah, so we, so a couple years ago, we were on a drive to LA and something somebody disappointed me in a way that it's hard to disappoint me, it's actually doesn't like disappointed me as a person. They will they they fail to show up for my community after committing to doing that. And that was a disappointment to me. And it pissed me off so much. And I couldn't do much about it except for reschedule them. And I was so infuriated I downloaded a video game on my phone and Brad saw like this whole other side of me.Brad Crowell 26:21  It was like the very first time in our entire history togetherLesley Logan 26:24  I was like in this game for two hours, I didn't even speak and I was just and and he's like, whoa, and I'm like, this is why I don't have video games on my phone and it was a win recently...(Lesley: I've converted her people) I know, but it was an FYF recently that I actually put my phone on greyscale so yeah, I played my video game less. anyways, that's fun facts about Brad and me. That's why you're all here. Okay, so um...Brad Crowell 26:50  Well stick around. We'll be right back. Okay, now let's talk about Jennifer Szpigiel. Jennifer or Jen or Jenny I think you call it a Jenny is dedicated individual who finds fulfillment as a mother of four while while nurturing her entrepreneurial, she's, endeavors I was gonna say here, but she's very entrepreneurial. She's run multiple businesses. She embodies continuous self improvement, and inspires others to become the fullest versions of themselves through her platform, which is called Becoming Iconic. So she's Jenny from Becoming Iconic, y'all Lesley Logan 27:38  Jenny from the iconic block as well as like you're just saying Jenny from the block. She's Jenny from becoming IconicBrad Crowell 27:44  Go Jenny Szpigiel. Her last name is definitely a mouthful to spell so that's why she goes by Jenny from Becoming Iconic.Lesley Logan 27:51  Yes, yeah. You know, I love people who changed their names...(Brad: You did) Yes. I mean, I think it's great that Michael is on by Michael unbroken. Who's a go by it's full. I think it's great. I like I don't know. I mean, my name is my name. But I'm we're currently trying to change yours. Brad Crowell 28:09  Everybody calls me Brad Logan.Lesley Logan 28:13  You give it to people because it's easier to spell.Brad Crowell 28:16  Yeah, I don't hate it. Yeah, it's definitely easier to spell than Crowell. Yeah, it's true.Lesley Logan 28:22  Especially when a magazine goes by CromwellBrad Crowell 28:24  Motherfuckers. Put an M in there. Lesley Logan 28:26  Sorry, guys. Side note. We're not healed from this yet.Brad Crowell 28:31  Not that I'm bitter about it, or anything Lesley Logan 28:32  Brad's finally been in a magazine. And we were interviewed together as a couple...(Brad: And I edited that shit) He said, please change my name. This is how it's spelled, which usually it's like, please change Lesley's name. This is how it's spelled. And they changed it in the article, but not in the actual like title. Yeah, just like the thing that's big. Brad Crowell 28:55  So yeah, yeah. Anyway, moving along. Yeah.Lesley Logan 28:58  So let's have a lie left. So she said the epitome of success is fulfillment. And one thing we talked about is like, all these people putting out the numbers that they make, this is the income I make every month and like, that's why you should hire me or this the income I make on this. And I will say just sum it up. I actually do love women seeing the possibilities of income that can be made in a month or a year by anybody. I think it's very important. In fact, I was listening, like, it's very empowering it's also like you got to see what's possible sometimes if you don't, if you can't see it, you can't do it right like you've got to be able to, like, there's some people need to know that that's an actual thing that's out there. And I remember listening to another podcast where like, the woman was like, it's so important for women to share salaries are making in a company so that when they go to negotiate for salaries, they know what is possible, sure to ask for. So I wanted to stay. I actually do love when women talk about money in that way. However, what we talked about that I wasn't loving, what she's not loving, is that some of these people are not telling the full story. They're actually not sharing the journey that got there. They're not sharing the actual behind the scenes and, I was telling Brad, I was like, I don't know if we talked about it on the pod but like, there was this one reel that came up on my phone it was like this Airbnb made me this many 1000s of dollars plus 17 cents.Brad Crowell 30:25  Was that the dude in the socks and he was facing to the side, like, I remember that ad exactly. It was beautiful. It was really well done. AndLesley Logan 30:34  It was just his reel and it was like his, it was a post for him to sell you on hiring him on how to make income off of your Airbnb. However, when I saw that, because we're educated enough, because we know how much it costs to like, do these things. I was like, but how much did the Airbnb cost? What are the cleaning fees? Like what are the other things? I have a client who has an Airbnb, and y'all she has had to replace so much fucking shit. So yeah, okay, maybe that income, but like, what was the cost of it. And so her big thing is like, we need to also normalize the full story. And we need people to actually know that they should know that full story, so that they are not thinking, Oh, my God, there's something wrong with me because I'm doing something similar to them. And I'm not making that money.Brad Crowell 31:25  Right. I mean, if you're, if you're like saying, I made $8,946.32 a week off of this thing, you know, it's a bit weird, first off, but also, you know, I'm obviously watching your ad. So, how much did you spend on these ads? Like, you know, like, are you...? You know, that's why you're talking about the full story. And I think that that's, honestly, it's one of the things that we, I'm going to shift this over to something that I'm proud about, we are very transparent with our coaching, like how we run Agency, and we talk about these, you know, the hidden costs, as it were of running a business. And, you know, like, you know, even running, running a modest, like, home studio still has costs, right? You know, so (...)Lesley Logan 32:15  Exactly. And the problem is, is that a lot of people don't even include those costs. And that's why they struggle with their business. Yeah, we are very transparent. Like when we're coaching our group, I was talking about challenge, and I said, Okay, with 300 people sign up for this $90 workshop, we're like, whoa, and I'm like, that doesn't cover my payroll. If you actually grab a calculator, and you type it in, it didn't cover my payroll, is it impressive? Yes. Am I proud of it? Absolutely. Sure. Is that all, I make all that money? No, I made money. And that money went out to disperse across the team, across our bills, across our expenses. So when we tell people, yes, you can make six figures on home business. Yes, you can make six figures at your solo studio, yes you can make a million dollars at a studio. We also share that you have to know your costs. Because otherwise, what's the point of the million dollars? Why have that goal if it actually cost you $900,000 To get there, in fact, we had a girl who was so , she's so want to make a million dollars a year. But when I looked at all of her, like, costs...Brad Crowell 33:17   Yeah, she was hardly profitable.Lesley Logan 33:19  It was a $900,000 cost. I was like, why are we going for this goal? Why not cut more costs and go for $500,000? And you can actually profit $300,000? Right. So like, why are we going for a million? So it's just really, I just really, I, again, I think is absolutely important to normalize how much is possible to make in a given occupation or opportunity. But I do think we also need to normalize like, asking, How did you get there? Show me your work. Anyways, that's what I love. I love that we talked about it. And I also think like, it's again, just go back to her thing is like, it's all about fulfillment. So you can go for big numbers, but if it's not fulfilling to you, what's the point? We're not here to live on this planet just to make a ton of money. You can make a ton of money and be in a job you actually like.Brad Crowell 34:09  Well, you can make a ton of money and be at a job you hate. And that's not that's not fun. Or you can make a ton of money like, Okay, the best case would be you make a ton of money and you love your job. The not great cases make a ton of money and you hate your job. Something that's not great is that you love your job and you make no money. But what if you did you love what you're doing and you're making enough money?Lesley Logan 34:33  Yeah, you're making the money you want to make. And we have an episode coming out with Nicole Mitchell, which I cannot wait for you to hear where she actually talks about like how it is at... Absolutely, you should charge, you should figure it out how to monetize the things you love to do. Because you deserve to do the things you love to do. And get paid for it. Yeah, but that's coming out. So anyways, it's all about fulfillment. What did you love?Brad Crowell 34:55  Okay. So couple things. First off, one thing she's just kind of threw out there, which I thought was awesome. And it did shift straight into the conversation we just had. Getting success is the easy part. Holding on to that success is where you have to put the sweat equity in. And so I find this really interesting, because if you, I have been reading a book, right now that really talks about paying yourself first, right? is the general concept of the book, right? And something tha, like, having come from the startup world, where somebody makes a million dollar investment in the company, and then you just go to around and you spend a bunch of money over every month, and you figure out your burn rate, and all that kind of stuff. And whatever, you know, you have this like road until it all implodes on itself, like x months later. You know, it doesn't, when you, when you flip the, when you flip it, and you're working for yourself, and you're, you know, trying to keep your expenses low and growing it and all the things, your expenses can get really, they can grow a lot, too, right? And so what she was saying was, I was making 30 to $40,000 a month in sales in my business, but my credit, my personal credit cards were maxed. My life was in shambles. I was really stressing out all the time, I was ashamed as fuck. And that wasn't how, like, Okay, cool, I can go brag about this epic business. But again, lifting the hood being transparent. She said it wasn't. It didn't sit well with her. And so she had to shift everything, so that she could pay herself out and hold on to the success that she was creating in her business. And that changed her business slightly. But, you know, it allowed her to, to actually enjoy the process again. So and that said, one of the things that she talked about was gratitude. It's a celebration in motion. Right? So it's a practice, right? And when you, I think that it's so challenging to step aside from the thing that you're working on, and look at it from a third party perspective and be like, holy shit, this is pretty cool, what I'm working on and what I've done, or what I've accomplished, and to look at that and to celebrate yourself, right, she said, she had a client who made $100,000 in a month. And her entire goal for the year was $100,000. But she made it in a month. And then she was like, Okay, this is amazing. Now on to the next thing, right? And she was like, Hey, slow, slow down. Yeah. Because do you realize what you just accomplished? Like, you have to appreciate that you have to take the time to celebrate that. And I know how hard this is, because I'm not very good at it myself, celebrating, right? And that's what I loved.Lesley Logan 37:49  Maybe Brad needs to come in and do an FYF every once in a while.Brad Crowell 37:52  Maybe, that'd be fun. Yeah, I'd be open to that. But she said, celebrating is a practice. Right? And, and that's what kind of grabbed me, I thought, Oh, how can I work that into a consistent routine of mine, to look at what we got, and go back and reflect. So one thing that we did to go this direction was in our group, slack for our team, we actually created a wins channel. Yeah, that I'm in there literally every day. And I see all the things and I see this wins channel and it reminds me, Hey, what is a win that we can celebrate as a team. And that has been really good practice. Finding thingsLesley Logan 38:34  I've said this before on the podcast with one of our contractors who only does one thing with us, she only does our, our Amazon flashcard stuff. So she's in there to communicate with us. But like, it's so rare that you even see her in there. And she reached out to Brad and she's like, You know what I love about your company? You guys celebrate all these wins. So you guys, she does this thing for so many companies. Brad Crowell 38:59  Yeah, we're just one of her clients. But when we when we invited her into our Slack, it was to the whole team and she's like, whoa, okay, I'm part of this team now that I didn't really even know existed. And so she gets to see the inner workings of, you know, some of the communication of what we do...(Lesley: And she loves it. We are her favorite clients, I think. I'm just gonna say it) putting words in her mouth. But yeah, we'll take that. Lesley Logan 39:21  Whatever, I'm sure Mel loves me.Brad Crowell 39:24  So, Jennifer mentioned rewarding yourself, like, here's a couple of ways that you can celebrate with gratitude, rewarding yourself with fresh flowers, writing in your journal how you felt in the moment so that you never forget it. I think that's something that I've been learning about a lot because we listen to a guy who has been sharing stories from his life over the past 40 or 50 years of his life. And every single night on this podcast we listen to, it's a new story from, he's clearly going back through his journals, and I was like, Well, I'm pretty sure I burned my journal after high school, you know, so I don't have any of these memories. Not that I wanted to keep those memories that weren't that awesome. But, you know, he journaled, he's been journaling for decades. And so he actually has this crazy account of his own life, how he felt, what was going on, who was involved, what actually happened. And now, because of podcasting, he's able to share those things, which I find really fascinating. But this made me think of episode three of this podcast with Amy Ledin.Lesley Logan 40:42  She three or five.Brad Crowell 40:46  Can't remember. (...) Anyway, Amy Ledin. Amy has her daily affirmation cards. But she also has a card that I love. That is the her wins card. And when she's feeling down, she pulls out her wins card, and she reads through all the wins. To help her own self, her own state of mind and remind herself the things that have happened through her journey that kick ass and actually will help her in this moment. So yeah, loving that idea. ...(Lesley: I love it too.) All right. So finally, let's talk about those Be It action items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Jennifer Szpigiel? First go forward and serve the people. Lesley Logan 41:56  I love this. I actually, I know it's your Be It action (...)Brad Crowell 41:59  This is a great Be It action item, Brad. Your voice has changed. She's hiding over here. Recognizing that someone somewhere in the world is absolutely 1,000% looking, hoping, praying for the service or product that you have to offer. And I think that that is so, we forget that, that there is a like we are, none of us are meant for everyone. But we all are meant for someone and some group of people because of who we are, how we communicate, the way we communicate, the vibes we put out, people will connect with you. When they won't connect with me or Lesley, right? They will connect with you and you will be able to help them in their lives. And it's so easy for us to forget that. You know? We're not for everybody. But we absolutely are for some.Lesley Logan 43:03  Yeah, I think that's beautiful. Yeah. So, I liked the Be It acion item of making the bold audacious move. Hello, Be It!Brad Crowell 43:12  Be it.Lesley Logan 43:14  So, messy action. So, this is the most important part of it, stop waiting for life to show you show and prove to you that you are ready. You show life and business you are ready. And that is the ultimate Be It Till You See It because we, I see too many people waiting for a fucking sign to show that they are supposed to make a left or a right or go straight. And it's like actually, you go right or left or straight. You do that because you cannot make a wrong decision. And, I, like, it's like when I wanted to have a partner in my life. I showed the universe I was ready by pouring two cups of coffee every morning even though I was one person to drink those two cups of coffee. I show the universe I was ready for a partner in my life by not filling my holiday schedule for Christmas. I showed the universe I was ready by keeping Thursday nights open, like, that was me showing I'm ready for a partner, I have space, look at this space that I have created. And, like, if people are, like, sitting around waiting I know this whole episode is about business and I just hold about a partner but like it's the same thing in your business if you're wanting your business to be a certain dollar amount because you have this goal of giving back x number amount and you want to like pav these things, you want to buy a house, whatever those things are. It's very valid to have whatever dollar amount you want is valid. You just need to know why you want it right. If you're waiting for the universe to go, here's your bag of money. Or go, Oh look here is this connection. No You have to go out and show the universe, I'm ready for that connection.Brad Crowell 45:03  This is what, I talked about this all the time based on your ideal schedule webinar, right? Like, if you know what the schedule is that you want to keep for your business, and you're teaching people at 9, 10 and 11am, and you don't have a client at 9 and 10, then you hold those hours open for the clients that you will have. And you actually use those hours to go find that client.Lesley Logan 45:26  Yes. I want to make sure you all know this. I say this all the time. And you can get that whole webinar for free. It's called Ditching Busy. Yeah, yeah. Ditchingbusy.com. So if you want to be teaching in the mornings, and you are currently not, you don't just sit in your house and like, clean and do laundry. You go and do actual things that would, would get you clients during that time...(Brad: And that's the bold, audacious move) yes, your admin, all the other things you do for your business. They're like, Oh, I'll do it during that time, because I'm a client yet. No, that's not what you do during your admin timeBrad Crowell 46:01  100%. You do not just like, you know, get through your emails while you're waiting for a client to magically appear. If you set aside 9 to 10. That's when you go find that client, you go out, you meet the people, you connect, you chat up the local business next to you, whatever, you got to be out there intentionally seeking the client that you're supposed to have at 9 and at 10. Okay? And that I think, is the bold, audacious move, where, you know, Jennifer is talking about showing life and business that you're ready, I'm ready for this client. You know how ready I am. I'm so ready. I'm out here finding the client. Yep.Lesley Logan 46:37  Yep. I definitely, like made some moves in my business that were scary as fuck. But I could not continue going the same way I was, and expected my business to be different. Doesn't work that way. All right, I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 47:03  And I'm Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 47:06  Are you going to be bold and audacious? How are you to become iconic? What were your takeaways from Jen Szpigiel? We want to know, we want you to tag the Be It pod, tag her and, you know, if you have a question or a takeaway, or a bold move, or maybe you've had like a win because of these podcasts, we want to know, I want to share with this podcast. So you can actually, it's very easy. If you get the emails every Thursday from us, you can just reply back to those with those. Or you can DM us on Instagram or on YouTube. We've had some amazing people who have commented on YouTube. So you can do it there. Anywhere that's easy for you. We can see it where we already are. We will make sure to share that on the show. And until next time, Be It Till You See It! Brad Crowell 47:44  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 47:45  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram.  I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. Brad Crowell 47:45  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Leslie Logan and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 47:45  It is produced, edited by the Epic team at Disenyo. Brad Crowell 47:45  Theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music, and our branding by designer and artist Gianfranco Cioffi. Lesley Logan 47:45  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals and Ximena Velazquez for our transcriptions. Brad Crowell 47:45  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all the content to our website. And finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rich Edwards is the CEO of Mindspan Systems, helping community financial institutions transform themselves with data driven strategies and technologies. Community banks and credit unions have incredibly strong connections with their local customers when they're in the branch, Rich's expertise is crafting customer experiences to strengthen these relationships outside the branches walls.  After serving as a captain in the US Army, Rich went on to IBM spending over 20 years working with financial institutions on Wall Street and across the world. As the Product Management Lead overseeing the launch of the IBM Watson Developer Cloud, he helped financial service firms leverage market leading analytics, AI, and machine learning approaches, which is so relevant in this time that we're operating in.   Questions • In your own words, could you tell us a little bit about their journey, how did you get to where you are today? • And since you're an expert in the finance sector, could you give us maybe two to three, I would say maybe points or influences that organisations would be looking into in terms of ensuring that they are listening to their customers, they are adding value to their customers experiences. • If you could share with our listeners maybe one piece of advice that you'd give them, we're basically halfway through the year. But let's say you were to give them one piece of advice where data is concerned in their businesses, what would that piece of advice be to kind of propel them in the direction of what you believe is the best way to go? • Could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? • What's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. • Where can listeners find you online? Highlights Rich's Journey Me: We always like to give our guests an opportunity to share a little bit about their journey. I know we read your bio, and it kind of gives us a summary of who you are, but in your own words, could you tell us how did you get to where you are today?    Rich shared that it's a rather unlikely past. Like you said, he started off his career in military and this was in the 90s, so it was a completely different experience than it is today. And did a little short stint working in manufacturing, in communications, in the fibre optic cable industry. And then ended up at IBM and he was working in the software business in IBM and spent the 10-11 years on the enterprise side and worked an awful lot with large banks, financial institutions, the population side like Social Security Administration, several national banks, federal banks, exchanges, things like that, that had like hundreds of millions of entities to keep track of. And around the end of 2013, he got approached to join a new business unit in IBM that eventually became IBM Watson, it was the artificial intelligence business unit. And up until that point, it had largely been around some ongoing knowledge management solutions that were tied to healthcare. And this is kind of what you saw a lot of the public facing material with commercials and interviews like that, was around some of the work that was being done in cancer research.  And they were looking to build a new solution where their partners could build on top of the technology. So, instead of buying a ready-made solution from IBM, which was very much in the model of the traditional professional services solution or product, they wanted to give them a platform that they could build on top of.  And this was a somewhat novel idea in 2013, there were some things that Google was doing, particularly along the lines of voice recognition that was kind of tied to their mobile play with the Android ecosystem, but nobody was really doing say natural language processing as a service, certainly not as a commercial offering at that point. And so, that's kind of what they built out, that's what they did and is very much at the cutting edge of what was being done at the time. And it was a really, really interesting time to be involved in that. And once they kind of got through the initial offering part, which was really what his job there was, was to figure out how to make all the cogs work inside an organisation like IBM to bring a new product to market. It became about the customers and the customer facing side of it, and particularly beginning to explore all of the use cases that were out there and how they could apply what was becoming a much more accessible technology to a lot of places that really didn't have access to it before and certainly didn't have access to a lot of the technology that was sitting inside IBM and IBM Research.  And him having had this background in financial services and banking, he kind of became like the banking guy, right, it made all the trips to a lot of the large financial institutions and government entities and in the public facing side. And so, that was that was really, really exciting to kind of be part of that. He ended up doing that for almost four years, built out a couple of different teams, they had a developer evangelism team, which was basically helping their customers build on top of the technology and that was a somewhat novel approach, for at least this part of the business for IBM. And so, it was a lot of like doing brand new things. So, that was really interesting and really exciting.  And in 2018, he really thought there was a lot of potential around this and didn't really see how he was going to be able to exploit that or take it any further within IBM in the direction they wanted me to go. And so, he ended up leaving, and he bought Mindspan Systems. And the reason he bought Mindspan Systems was they had a very long background in hard data skills, data analytics, data manipulation, data warehousing, all of the things around how do you take control of an organization or help an organization take control of their data and get the most out of it. And he really saw that this is where the future was going to be for a lot of organizations to be able to get ahead, meaning the technology around artificial intelligence, the technology around things like natural language processing, and kind of what you see today, with large language models like ChatGPT, etc. That layer of it is quickly becoming commoditized, it's not to say that it's not exciting, that there's not a lot there. But that's not where all the value is going to be, the value isn't going to be in the way in which you're able to configure in the UI of the date of everything, it's going to be in the data itself.  So, the individual companies that are able to control and harness and leverage their data in a way utilizing technologies like parts like with metals and other things that are available out there, that's where the value is going to be. And so, it's having those data skills and the data capabilities in house to leverage your own data, your first party data, that's where he believes, we're beginning to see an awful lot of evidence of this, that's where a lot of the value is going to be for companies in how do they reach out to their customers.   Listening and Adding Value to Customer Experience Me: So, that was really, really good, great insight on your journey and how you got to where you are today. I was really intrigued by you focusing on the fact that the data is what will drive how you have the conversations with your customers. And since you're an expert in the finance sector, could you give us maybe two to three, I would say maybe points or influences that organizations would be looking into in terms of ensuring that they are listening to their customers, they are adding value to their customers experiences, like what are customers in that space looking for now?   Rich shared that he'll give a couple of examples and talking about it from banking and financial services. But these trends are much broader than that, this isn't like an industry specific or only limited to those types of companies.  There is a huge consumer preference for personalization, meaning people want to be treated like individuals, they want to be understood and valued by the companies and the brands that they do business with. When they begin to feel that, it's almost like a herding cattle situation, and that they're unable to get the service level that they believe they deserved or what they thought they were signing up for, that's a good way to ruin customer satisfaction and ruin the value of a brand. There certainly are aspects of where very highly leveraged, highly automated industrialized processes work. You look at like at Amazon for example, famously, there's no phone number for Amazon. You have a problem, you are never going to get somebody on the phone to help you resolve that. And by and large, it seems like, at least in the US, people have agreed that that's the deal that they have of customer service for the convenience and the price advantage of what they get.  Now, in return, they get very good products, they sell this as a service, product recommendation, next best offer like they're very good at that, they are able to leverage the information they have about the individual consumers to continue to be relevant to them, they continue to be someone that they go, their go to. Well, that's one example of that.  Now, he will say in the financial services space, particularly community banking, their business model looks a lot more like a retail organization than it does say, a Wall Street bank. And the reason for that is the long legacy is the local branch, the local experience of going in and working with a Teller or working with a local banker for your financial transaction, whether you're getting a mortgage, or dealing with your day to day checking, or bill pay situation or a car loan, you have this place that you can go to and go in and meet them and the experience of that for community banks, a lot of these institutions are over 100 years old and they have very carefully honed that experience.  When you go into a bank or credit union like that, you're dealing with someone who works for a local organization, they are all the way up through management your neighbours, they understand where you live, what's going on in your community, what it's like to be in that experience to deal with the situations that you ran, or the opportunities that you have. That's why you see things like community financial institutions are way over indexed on business lines in commercial real estate, which is very much a local business, and participation in small business administration loans, because they're tied into that local community.  They know things, they are much closer to their customers than large regional or national banks are. And they leverage that and that's their experience, where that seems to fall down for them is when you leave the branch, when you're not there in front of the Teller or not at the drive thru, and not at one of their ATMs, but you're dealing through the web or through a partner or through their app, that level of personalized services begins to fall off, it begins to be not as sharp and crisp as it is in branch. And that's where he believes there's a major opportunity for companies like this to improve both the customer experience but also their differentiation, their ability to stay relevant compared to much larger, much more well financed institutions. Me: It's interesting you said that it falls off, the service is not the same, do you think it's because it lacks a human component? So, that personal touch that you get when you're in branch talking to a live human being is a completely different interaction if you're dealing with an application, or you're dealing with a website.   Rich agreed, absolutely. And part of this is up until even through the Great Recession, he's trying to remember, he doesn't have it off top his head, but even through about 2014-2015, a good chunk of community business was in person, it was foot traffic in the branch, it was certainly dropping off. But then you saw this big influx of investment dollars that went into financial technology or FinTech industry, and that started around 2018 and that slowly began to kind of erode their relevance, their position in the market. The two big ones there that come to mind are in the peer-to-peer payments segment, so Venmo and then later Cash App had this incredibly explosive growth where they just kind of stepped right in front of what would normally be a cash or transaction that might involve your bank into this completely separate thing that was mobile first, mobile only and began to see more and more relevance for companies like this to stand in place of at least a slice of what the services a traditional bank would provide. And then COVID, and then everything fell over and it just accelerated everything nearby 5 to 7 years. So, they're in that position now, where this incredible experience that they're able to provide in person, they've lost that advantage, or at least from a percentage of time percentage of customers that they're able to get in front of, and the core providers for community banks that do their core banking, how to think like ERP for banking.  For banks this size, there's only a handful of providers. In fact, he thinks the top 3 have about an 80%/85% market penetration. So, it's not quite a monopoly, but it's all with gobbly. And they are notorious for being very slow to offer new offerings to them.  So, this need to say, well, we need to be able to translate this great in person experience that we have into our digital channels, they're hampered by that, they're not provided the tools there. And there's plenty of tools out in the market for, but most of them are geared towards more an online retailer or a brick and mortars retail that has an online channel, it's more geared towards a retail transaction, which is very different from banking.  Different enough that you're either going to find a lot of these institutions, either just going without, and skipping it, or trying to contort themselves into a set of offerings and tools that really wasn't built for them, and is suboptimal, and they spend a lot of time trying to make it work and it really isn't. So, from a customer engagement standpoint, there really is a hole in the market for financial services particularly when it comes to that engagement level of customers, the customer facing their right.   Using Data to Propel Business Me: If you could share with our listeners maybe one piece of advice that you'd give them, we're basically halfway through the year. But let's say you were to give them one piece of advice where data is concerned in their businesses, what would that piece of advice be to kind of propel them in the direction of what you believe is the best way to go?  Rich shared that technology is great, it has benefited society immensely. But there's always a mistake to kind of engage with or buy or try out technology for technology's sake. And as a marketer or as an entrepreneur or somebody who's running a company, you always kind of have to take a first principles approach to it and think about, from a customer standpoint, what problem am I solving here? And how is technology going to help me do that better or do it in a more efficient manner? So, you always want to kind of put it through that lens, you need to be a little bit of a pragmatist when it comes to this. We're sitting here now at the end of the second quarter of 2023, massive proliferation of the use of ChatGPT and things like it in a lot of different use cases. And a lot of them when you kind of dig deep into the layer of it, they kind of look like a hammer looking for a nail, that is really neat, it does some cool things, but it's not really in service of probably a persistent or an important problem, either for the company or for the customer. And so, really being to layer that on there and use that as a lens for how do you evaluate this? How do I evaluate what I'm doing? That's an important consideration.  On the data side, he will say, just in general, and it's especially true for regulated industries, like financial services and like healthcare in particular, but the data that you have about your customers, about your market, about how your industry works, the bigger the data that is not held by anybody else. Understand that that's becoming increasingly a valuable asset. That's going to be something that even if you don't have a clear use case today or clear path for how you can leverage data today, understand that that's only going to get more and more valuable, first party data, the data that you have about your business and your customers only gets more valuable, as things like the commoditization of artificial intelligence, and other aspects of it get broader and broader.  Think of it this way, the market for writing a boring press release effectively the price for that has gone to zero. Doing anything that is generic or bland, or something that you can leverage in open-source database about or even the things that are available like ChatGPT.  If ChatGPT can answer the question or develop it for you, it is now a commodity, everybody has that, it doesn't make you special, it will not help differentiate what you're doing, or how you present it to your customers, you may have to do it because everyone else is and it becomes a cost of doing business but it's not going to be a differentiator. But your data that you have when you can take something like that and layer on what you know, think of a really simple situation like, he can go to ChatGPT and can say, “Look, write me a Facebook headline for a display ad or women's purses that are vegan leather in red with gold accents on it.” It can give you like 10 or 12 versions.   But your ability, say, as an ad agency to say like, yes, these 12 are options, but these 4 at the top are going to double your chance of conversions and reduce your costs of acquisitions by half, that's where all the value is. Your ability of knowing how you're going to leverage this and the impact that it's going to have on your customers, that's where you're going to be able to get that advantage. And so, that whole idea of really understanding what you know and the level of which it's codified in your data that you can look at it and hold on to it, that's really going to be a point of differentiation and competitive advantage going forward.  Me: Awesome, that was an excellent example.   App, Website or Tool that Rich Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about an online resource that he can't live without in his business, Rich shared that really to do tracking and there's a lot of options there. He uses Mac for work, and he uses a programme called Things, which does that. But for a long time, he was on paper and it's not so much like having these long lists of to-do's and it's about personal productivity. It's more the idea and this comes from there's a book called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen, which is very much like the Bible on personal productivity, it goes into a lot of things. But the value isn't so much the forcing yourself to do things, it's when something comes up, you have a bulletproof way in which you capture it, and you don't have to think about it anymore. And it's that ability of not having all these things floating around in your head, distracting you from what's really important and what you need to focus on, that's really the value in it.  So, that ability to not have to worry about particularly as an entrepreneur, the 20, 30, 40, 50 things that you're eventually going to have to deal with. But put all of your focus and your energy on that one really important thing that you're working on right now and know that you're working on the most important thing. He doesn't know that he could run his business without the ability to do that.    What Rich is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something he's really excited about, Rich shared that this tipping point in artificial intelligence, just based on his background, because he's now been involved in it very much on the on the bleeding edge of it for 10 years to kind of really see it begin to tip over into the mainstream is pretty exciting.  And one, it's obviously that to see the thing begin to pay off the way that it's been promising for quite some time, but also the way in which it's a lot more acceptable from a mainstream standpoint. The idea of incorporating machine learning or artificial intelligence into a business process is not as crazy idea as it was even 2 or 3 years ago, and everybody's looking to kind of do it now, even if only from a competitive parody standpoint. And he thinks the biggest thing there and this is kind of his angle and his company, their reason for being is really around giving parody to smaller businesses, particularly more agile businesses that are willing to step out and take a risk on something like this. It is the ability to really enhance small businesses, sometimes start-ups, sometimes established small businesses. And like he said, where they focus with community financial institutions, it's the ability to kind of give them that competitiveness with what they're for a long time, just the goliaths of their industry. And he thinks, particularly now in 2023, as we're looking at a potential economic slowdown, it's really the small business sector, and in particular job creation that comes out of it is the big leading indicator, and certainly, the determiner of how quickly an economy comes out of even a slowdown, let alone a full-blown recession. So, the more that that's there to kind of help that along to speed it to reduce a lot of the friction from a patient at that level at the small business level, the better off we're going to be and the quicker we're going to be able to return to a real growth setting, a growth posture of company.   Where Can We Find Rich Online Website – www.mindspaninc.com LinkedIn - Rich Edwards Twitter – Rich Edwards           Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest Links ·  Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience! The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Webinar – New Date Register Here

On this off the cuff episode, I answer listener-submitted questions about a variety of different things:Topics this week include:How I started my journey in the online business spaceHow to keep your passion alive when people just wanna squash your enthusiasmWhat advice I'd give my 15-year-old self now with hindsightStrategy advice I'd give to newer entrepreneursWhat it's like to work with meIt's a grand old time and honestly you've gotta add the phrase "testicular fortitude" to your repertoire going forward. Support the Show.Connect with Sarah: Get the 13-page free workbook, 3 Ways Your Career is Sabotaging Your Business at https://getcorporaterehab.com/detoxfromcorporate Follow her on Instagram (instagram.com/corporate.rehab) Learn how to work with her HERE (getcorporaterehab.com/services) The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Corporate Rehab® Strategic Consulting. Corporate Rehab® is for working-family women entrepreneurs who busted free of the 9-5 and are done playing by rules that were never written for you in the first place. If you're tired of playing a rigged game, it's time to flip the board and the middle finger, and leave the game behind. Schedule a no stings "Let's Talk Business" call today and find out what small shifts you can make to work less and double your profitability.

Talk about being in two-worlds . . . I was honored to attend the Broken Science Initiative's meeting in conservative Aromas, California last weekend. Greg Glassman, the Founder and former CEO of CrossFit started the Initiative to help rescue the practice of scientific rigor from con artists and politicians. This particular meeting was held on the Castro family Ranch. Known in CrossFit communities simply as “The Ranch”, it where the first CrossFit Games were held in 2008. It was a joy for me to get to see the Ranch, talk with the Castro brothers, meet the many cops and former elite military there and watch Greg and Dr. William Briggs talk about fixing broken science. But, it was what I observed off the Ranch that informs this Episode. While Aromas is conservative and hard-working, I spent most of my time in Santa Cruz, a weekend get-away spot for many San Francisco liberals. Believe it or not. I encountered masked-people still terrified of the unmasked, saw people obviously startled by my beard and general looks, and found myself doing my best job of being polite while confronting a woman who called our troops “moronic, gun-toting rednecks.” It was at the airport, though, where the fracture in our society became so clear and on the plane back where God convicted me. At the Ranch, on the base “the Hill”, anyone who is a fan of the sport knows about the Hill. Greg Glassman begins his address. What does God's Word say? Proverbs 24:30-34 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.Ezekiel 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.Episode 882 Links:The Broken Science InitiativeThe CrossFit Games - Men's Ranch Mini ChipperExquisitely Boredby Pete Townshend The tissue box is emptyNo coffee for my creamDogs howl in the alleyCrazy women screamSome kids shout from their pick up truckThey're stoned on life and beerFifty radios playing in this streetBut I'm still hardly hereExquisitely bored in CaliforniaWe take our trouble to the CrestExquisitely bored in CaliforniaExquisitely bored, Just like all the restWhen the sun shines things'll get movingYou feel close to the starsThere are good times walking in LagunaBut it rains in my heartThe peasants here are starvingThey look out there barrels out in spacePray TV looks like pay TV to meIt's just a curse on the human raceI take a drive up to L.A.In my gas guzzling limousineThere's a whole lot of crazy people up thereLiving out a life in sweet ennuiExquisitely bored in CaliforniaWe take our trouble to the CrestExquisitely bored in CaliforniaExquisitely bored, Just like all the restWhen the sun shines things'll get movingYou feel close to the starsThere are good times walking in LagunaBut it rains in my heartExquisitely bored in CaliforniaWe take our trouble to the CrestExquisitely bored in CaliforniaExquisitely bored, Just like all the rest4Patriots https://4patriots.com Protect your family with Food kits, solar generators and more at 4Patriots. Use code TODD for 10% off your first purchase. Alan's Soaps https://alanssoaps.com/TODD Use coupon code ‘TODD' to save an additional 10% off the bundle price. BiOptimizers https://magbreakthrough.com/todd Use promo code TODD for 10% off your order. Bonefrog https://bonefrog.us Enter promo code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your subscription. Bulwark Capital http://KnowYourRiskRadio.com Find out how Bulwark Capital Actively Manages risk. Call 866-779-RISK or vist KnowYourRiskRadio.com Healthycell http://healthycell.com/todd Protect your heart with Healthycell! Use promo code TODD for 20% off your first order. My Pillow https://mypillow.com Use code TODD for BOGO on the new MyPillow 2.0 Patriot Mobile https://patriotmobile.com/herman Get free activation today with offer code HERMAN. Visit or call 878-PATRIOT. RuffGreens https://ruffgreens.com/todd Get your FREE Jumpstart Trial Bag of Ruff Greens, simply cover shipping. Visit or call 877-MYDOG-64. SOTA Weight Loss https://sotaweightloss.com SOTA Weight Loss is, say it with me now, STATE OF THE ART! GreenHaven Interactive https://greenhaveninteractive.com Digital Marketing including search engine optimization and website design.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5674544/advertisement

Zack Wenthe is the Customer Data Platform Evangelists for Treasure Data. He often speaks about the marketing and customer data industry at industry events, webinars, and virtual conferences. Having spent a majority of his career in marketing and marketing consulting working with large enterprise brands like Walmart, Nationwide Insurance, FedEx, and many more, Zack now gets to tell the CDP story to help marketing teams eliminate the friction caused by silos, inefficiencies, and lack of understanding of their true customers.  Zack lives with his amazing wife and two kids on the bluffs of the Mississippi River and has one more who is away at college. Outside of work, Zack enjoys cooking, spending time with his kids, writing comedy, and maybe someday a screenplay. Questions  • We like to ask our guests in their own words, if they could share about their journey, how it is that they got to where they are today? • So, you work at a company called Treasure Data. And for those of our listeners that are not familiar with your organisation, can you tell us a little bit about what you do. • Based on your experience, and your knowledge in this particular area, what are maybe three of the top pain points that utilising this methodology, helps with customers overall experience with a brand. • How do you think ChatGPT can help organisations with the overall service experience? • As it relates to creating emotional connection and personalization, can you share with us, how you think that will help to deepen brand loyalty and of course, improve overall customer experience? • Could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? • Could you also share with our listeners maybe one or two books that you've read? It could be a book you read recently, or even one you read a very long time ago, but it still has had a great impact on you. • Could you share also with our listeners what's one thing that's going on in your life right now that you are really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. • Where can listeners find you online? • Do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you'll tend to revert to this quote if for any reason at all you get derailed or side-tracked and you kind of just need that quote to get you back on target, back on track. Do you have one of those? Highlights   Zack's Journey Me: So, even though we read a little bit about you, a little bit of professional, a little bit of personal, we still like to ask our guests in their own words, if they could share about their journey, how it is that they got to where they are today? Could you do that for me, please?    Zack shared that he would say it's a long winding road to how he got to kind of his career. He went to college thinking he was going into theatre and yet, somehow, he ended up in marketing. But when you think about it, marketing is a lot of theatre. So, he started college, he realized he wasn't going to make any money if he went into the theatre route and kind of wandered around for a bit and kind of landed into the marketing space, ran teams for a while before he made the jump into the consulting world.  And most of his consulting career was tied to martec, he was enough of a nerd that he was a marketing technologist before that was like a title or a thing. And he could kind of translate, he could tell the marketing story to the tech people and then he could translate the technical requirements and limitations back to the marketing team and they can kind of work through the details. So, he spent a lot of his career as a strategist doing implementations and family, it got to be a lot to be with a client every week.   So, he kind of made the jump over to the product world. And he sits now as Yanique said, as the CDP Evangelist, so he gets to kind of talk about their product, and he talks to marketers that he's worked with for his entire career and kind of understand their pain points. And so, he gets to kind of come and talk to businesses, owners. And so, that's how he ended up here.    About Zack's Company – Treasure Data Me: So, you work at a company called Treasure Data. And for those of our listeners that are not familiar with your organisation, can you tell us a little bit about what you do?    Zack shared that Treasure Data is an enterprise customer data platform. And what that means is they work with typically complex organizations who are trying to bring all of their customer profile, transactional behavioural data together into a single location.  So, you may have email systems and eCommerce systems and physical point of sale systems and all these different things that have fragments of the individual kind of scattered within these different systems.  And so, the goal of a CDP or Customer Data Platform is to bring all of those profiles together. So, we're looking at a single kind of 360 degree view of that customer and therefore, they can create better customer experiences, they can create better connection, emotional connection with their customers, so that they're not having these, well, he calls it into the call centre, and they don't even know that he made a purchase kind of experiences, which unfortunately, happened way too often. So that's the pain they solve.   Me: So, let me give an example. Let's say for example, I go to my doctor and the week before I had gone to a different doctor and I did a blood test, and in the week before that I did a mammogram. And so, is it that your platform allows this doctor to see all of this medical data merged into one space and they can look holistically at the person?   Zack stated that, so with obviously with privacy and consent kind of in place, so assuming that that medical system was sharing the information, and you had consented to that, absolutely, it would bring all of that profile together, and make it available to the electronic medical record in that case or to a scheduling when you call them later now, and you have to schedule an appointment, they'd be able to see that, “Oh, by the way, you were in here a week ago, and you prefer this location.” So now they're not going to send you to one 20 miles away from you.  So, all of those little details, and it works across retail, travel and hospitality, big B2B, medical, absolutely. All of those scenarios.   Utilizing this Methodolgy in Helping with Customers Overall Experience with a Brand   Me: So, share with our listeners for me, Zack, based on your experience, and your knowledge in this particular area, what are some of I would say maybe three of the top pain points that utilizing this methodology, helps with customers' overall experience with a brand.   Zack shared that he would say the top three or the number one that they think about is this idea of the fractured individual. So, at any given time, when he's a consumer, and he's dealing with a company, he's not dealing with a department, he doesn't care whether you're the online team, or you're the marketing team, whether you're the email team, whatever variation of that departmental hierarchy you are, he just deals with the brand as the consumer.  And, unfortunately, corporations don't typically operate that way. We have structure and teams and silos. And so, what ends up happening is you end up with this fractured view of an individual, and it's frustrating from the consumers perspective, because now one day they're talking to, they're physically in a store, and they're shopping, and they're talking to somebody that's under one team, and one data system. But again, later on, they're online, and it's a whole other system.  And they recently just had a new customer joined them, and this is the exact scenario that they were trying to solve, they said, “Look, we're a high-end jewellery retailer, and during the pandemic, 80% of our people were shopping online, they were buying and spending large amounts of money. And it's not acceptable for them to walk into our store and talk to a salesperson, and the salesperson has no idea who they are, no idea about their past purchases, that's not the experience we want to create.”  And so, by democratizing or making all of this data available, they eliminate that friction, or that kind of pain point of dealing with the customer. So, that's the first one.  The second two are kind of offshoots of that is, once you've solved that major problem, then now you can start to have conversations amongst multiple teams, because you're all working on the same set of data. So, no longer are you arguing over when the last customer visited based on which system is in charge, it's all combined. And so, you're able to have a conversation, you don't go to a board meeting and hope your data is correct, because you're working on a unified set of truth. So, your analytics, your insights, all of the reporting is better.  And then the last one is now they also break down the access to data. So, a lot of times with silos, the challenge becomes, if you're in the marketing team, you're going to have to go to somebody in IT, they're going to have to pull report for you, they're going to have to go in, and it's going to take a couple weeks, they make it easier and faster for all these teams to access this information so that they can move faster, and they can move more nimbly. So, the three really is access to the first the total customer to begin with, then you can trust the data and then you can move nimbly and interact with the customer as a result of that.   How ChatGPT Can Help Organizations with the Overall Service Experience? Me: So, data is king, right? And as we've emerge out to the pandemic, and now we have all of these wonderful AI tools. Now we have ChatGPT, I would love to know your views since you're in the data world in terms of how do you think ChatGPT can help organizations? I mean, there's a lot of chatter about ChatGPT replacing people but I personally don't believe that any technology is going to replace a human being. But I would love to hear your views since this is an area that you operate in on a day to day basis across different industries, how do you see this helping or not helping the overall service experience?   Zack shared that this is a great question. He thinks ChatGPT allows us to access more information faster. But really, that's never been the problem. Really, it's never been an issue, there's no shortage of information or data, and it's never going to get less.   The problem now still lies in organizing it, accessing it, and trusting it. And so, he thinks as these models, whether it's open AIs, ChatGPT or any variation of that, or some of the other competitors, as they mature, and you start to see, he thinks the biggest question, the plugins, where you can start to bring in information, so not only can you ask your assistant, your AI assistant, “Tate, help me plan a trip to Mexico. I want to stay in an all-inclusive resort with this weather.”   And they're like, “Oh, yeah, here's some options.” Well, that's historical information. But now when you pull in a plug in, for example, and it can real time access travel, it can access weather patterns, it can access all this other information. Now, that becomes useful and now it becomes a matter of indexing and organizing and making that data accessible.  And so, he thinks that's where he gets excited, especially personally, just being able to speed up a lot of the mundane things we do on a day to day basis as a consumer, but also as a business, they, customer data platforms are going to be a source for a lot of those AI systems.  If he knows everything you've purchased from them, and he knows everything based on that what other customers have purchased, all this other information, he can feed it to an AI system, and you go shopping, and you can say, “Hey, pick out my summer wardrobe.”  And the AI system can make recommendations based on what you like, what you don't like, and it's super personalized to you because it's not just looking at what you bought maybe at the store, but because the AI is tied into other stores, it looks at what you buy in other stores, what shoes you have, how you tend to use those clothing items. Do you travel? Do you speak? All these ideas. But the idea is, by being able to really personalize at a level we've never been able to get to because of just resource scales. He thinks that's where AI gets really interesting.  Will it replace people? No, he doesn't think so. He thinks it's going become a skill much like googling is, you have to know how to Google to get through your day. He thinks interacting with AI is going to be a very similar scenario.   Creating Emotional Connection and Personalization – How Can That Help Deepen Brand Loyalty and Improve Overall Customer Experience? Me: That's interesting, like learn to Google, learn to ChatGPT, that kind of leads to my next question, as it relates to creating emotional connection. And I think it's important to recognise that all customers are human beings, and everybody has their personal preference and personalization has been one of those buzzwords for quite a few years now. But as you mentioned, before, we haven't really been able to get to that level of granular specification with customer to customer, I don't just feel like I'm a transaction, or just another person, but I feel like this was for me, only me, nobody else in the world, but me. So, can you share with us, how you think that will help to deepen brand loyalty and of course, improve overall customer experience?   Zack shared that when it comes to improving the customer experience and brand loyalty, at this point, being loyal to a brand is often not enough. We all think about all the loyalty programmes we're all members of, the average household has 20 plus loyalty cards, if not more, it doesn't make you loyal, it just means you've kind of learned to operate within that mode.  He thinks really what it comes down to is the level, which is the next level, which is brand attachment. Are you attached to that brand? And are you happy when you interact with them? And would you be sad if they weren't around? And that's a level that a lot of brands still don't operate at.  There're obviously degrees of that within different industries and different verticals. But if you think about it in that lighter, in that lens, people came out of the pandemic who were very loyal to brands and then couldn't shop in them anymore, so they found an alternative. They learned to shop online, they're like, “Oh my gosh, this was super easy.”   People who are scared of eCommerce aren't scared of eCommerce anymore, they have groceries delivered to their door. We all went through a massive shift in our buying behaviour as a result of the pandemic. But he thinks it's not just a result of that, we just accelerated what was already happening.  And so, we're in this world now where the consumer is in charge, they get to pick what they want, and brands have to keep up, they're not in the driver's seat, it's no longer, “Here's my experience. And if you want to do business with me, you have to bend to my will.” Consumers are now saying, “Hey, this is how I expect to be treated. This is the brand I want to deal with.” And we're being a lot more forceful as consumers in making those decisions, in breaking up with the ones that we don't like, and so forth.  So, that means now as we get to the personalization side, personalization has to evolve. We can't just geo target advertising to people or target based on, “Well, you bought this in the past, you're going to buy this in the future.” There's a whole other level below that, which when we get into the idea of creating those emotional connections, creating those tying into as individuals, as people, whether that's through personalization, whether that's through AI, whether it's through new ways of creating ads, we can create content at scale, that we've never been able to.  So now, he can serve you, if he knows you're an introvert, and he's a travel company, he can serve you out ads or content that shows people sitting on the beach reading, that's more appealing to you, that seems like that's vacation, versus if you're an extrovert, being able to show a group of people hanging out on the beach, socializing. And for the introvert, that's exhausting, for the extrovert that's exciting. And so, and that's a really simple example.  But if you think about that, before you'd have to create all that content, you'd have to write all that, well, AI can do all that now. You can generate those images, and you can process it and it's only the beginning, it's only going to get better, faster, easier, cheaper to do.   Me: It's amazing the amount of things that AI has allowed and when I look across the different platforms that I use, and I get these emails on a weekly basis about the platforms integrating AI into their existing solution, making it easier for the consumer. And as you mentioned before, things that would have taken 10 hours, a whole month to do ten/five years ago can literally be done in like 5 minutes or less.   Zack stated absolutely and he thinks we're just scratching the surface. He thinks right now, it's still, in a lot of ways a gimmick. Because people are just trying to figure out, what is that killer use case for his business for AI? And so, let's try something. And so, much like we had 20 years ago when people started creating websites, everybody kind of jumped online, and then they figured out what worked. And then same thing, 10 plus years ago with social media, it was like everybody needed a social media platform. And then you're like, “No, I just need a page.” Okay, but this is what this page means and then it became Instagram, AI is going to be the same thing, we're going to have this kind of wave as we figure it out.   Me: Agreed. One of the things I loved about what you said earlier, when we just started talking about the emotional connection was brand attachment. And if you think about a brand that you can't live without, like, if they were no longer in existence, how would you operate? Would you be able to find a substitute? And when you said that, what came to mind was my Apple ecosystem. So, I'm just like, I don't see any other product out there that moves so smoothly and easily. And honestly, if there was no Apple, I don't know if there would be a substitute. I would find a substitute, of course, but I wouldn't be satisfied because if they're not offering what Apple is offering, then it would mean that they're not meeting my expectations, because Apple has set the bar so high.   Zack agreed absolutely. And we all have those. And he's 100% on board with the Apple ecosystem as well, that would be his challenge. And there's probably five or six other brands in your life that if you had to replace them, you would, but you'd be frustrated by it, you'd be sad by it, you'd be upset. And he thinks that's the level that we as companies need to kind of strive for now. Now, it's not just are they loyal? Do they do they buy from us repeatedly, but do they want to buy from us repeatedly?   Me: Very true. Because want and need are two different things, right?   App, Website or Tool that Zack Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about an online resource that he can't live without in his business, Zack stated that that's a good question. He does a tonne of research and writing and notes. And so, he'll give you two. So, he has both Evernote and Notion as his kind of a second brain for collecting and managing information. And so, he loves notebooks, he loves writing and moleskin notebooks, but he loses them, or he forgets what he wrote down in one and then it sits somewhere in a desk drawer. So, getting it into a digital system was a huge change in how he personally operates, how he manages his workload. So, Notion is probably his number one recommendation right now. And it's integrated with AI, so you can be on the cutting edge, because you can use AI write within it to summarise notes and do to do lists and all sorts of cool things.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Zack When asked about books that have had a great impact, Zack stated that he's got a couple here and he has a couple different ones. So, he's always been a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell, so Tipping Point, anything by Malcolm Gladwell is a good one. But when we're thinking and we're talking about personalization and we're talking about psychology, a book that actually came from a recommendation by Malcolm Gladwell, he made it a comment in one of his books. But he went from the source, it's a textbook. But it's called The Person and the Situation: Perspective of Social Psychology by Lee Ross and it's like perspectives on kind of social psychology. And since he's a marketer, social psychology is a huge interest area for him.  And the thesis of this book really comes down to the idea is, how much does the situation that we're in influence the way we behave versus the person and the personality? So, in other words, all things being equal, does the person behave the same regardless of situation? Or does the situation really drive?  And a lot of times when we think of personalization, and when we think persuasion, and we think writing copy, and all these things, we focus on the person, we spend too little time focusing on the situation that they're in. And so, this was definitely a kind of a deep dive into social psychology on how much the environment around you can impact how you behave, how you interact, and how you respond to stimuli.   Me: That's a very good point, because I think the environment definitely affects you. I mean, let's say you're buying something in relation to a plumbing issue that you're having at your home, but there is an emergency, clearly, the urgency of purchase is going to be much greater just based on the environment on what's happening on the situation, versus you just randomly walking into the store and making that purchase.   What Zack is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that going on right now that he's excited about, Zack shared that he's writing a book, he's been working on a book for a while. So, a lot of his job and his career has always been centred around storytelling. And about three years ago, he sat down, and he said, he can talk to you about that but what the heck does he mean by storytelling in business, and so he started just kind of pulling all these notes together. And then he started diving into the research and pulling a lot of things out. And so, that's been what he's been working on furiously for the last six months or so is getting that manuscript done and whatnot.   It's been amazing because he thinks the art of writing, it is one of those things that every marketer, every business owner should dedicate time to writing. So, even if you're not going to write a book, sitting down and taking the thoughts that's in your head and distilling them so that somebody else can learn them is an incredible way to not only teach yourself, but to refine your thinking and realize where you might have a gap or where you might need to explain better.  And so, even if you're not going to write a book, he would say any anybody should pick up a pen, grab a keyboard, and start writing about your passion area or your interest area, because you will unlock a lot of things about yourself when you're staring at a blank screen and you're trying to get words out of your head.   Me: Very true. Awesome. So, I'm excited about your book. I hope that when it's released, we can have you back on our podcast to discuss all the exciting buzz coming out of that book.   Where Can We Find Zack Online Website – www.treasuredata.com LinkedIn – Zack Wenthe Twitter – Zack Wenthe    Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Zack Uses  When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Zack shared that he has a lot of concepts and stories and notes. And he thinks one that drives him as a marketer, and one that drives him personally, he uses it often. There's a jazz performer, his name is Art Blakey, and he had a quote, and it was simply, “If you're not appearing, you're disappearing.” And so, he kind of apply that in a lot of different ways. From marketing perspective, if you're not showing up in front of your audience, they're going to forget you, you're going to fade away.  He (Art Blakey) obviously was talking about it from a performance perspective, as a performer. If you're not up in front of the audience, you're losing that connection. But Zack thinks it applies to our personal lives as well. If you're not showing up and you're not bringing your authentic self, then you lose those connections, out of sight, out of mind is such an easy default for so many people. So, to him, that's one that he always kind of go back to, which is, just show up, be present and be out there.    Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest    Links ·  The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of Social Psychology by Lee Ross The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience   Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience! The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Webinar – New Date Register Here    

Robert Jordan is the CEO of InterimExecs, which matches top executives with companies around the world. Based on research with thousands of leaders and companies, he and co-founder Olivia Wagner wrote Right Leader, Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company, and they've launched the FABS Leadership Assessment, a free assessment at RightLeader.com designed to help leaders and organizations perform better. Jordan also authored How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America and help plug publish Start With No, Jim Camp's bestseller on negotiation.    Questions  • Now, we always like to give our guests an opportunity, especially guests that we've been interviewing for the very first time a little bit for you to share in your own words about your journey and how you got to where you are today. • Could you take some time to share with our listeners a little bit about the book Right Leader Right, Time, just some of the core things that the book talks about? • Now, do you believe that there's any examples globally, of a leader who embodies each of the four leadership styles that we would have just looked at the fixer, the artist, the builder, the strategist? • Could you give me one example for each leadership style that our listener could take away, maybe a practical activity that they could do or something that they could do to strengthen them to be a better fixer, a better artist, builder or strategist? • Could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? • Could you also share with our listeners, maybe one or two books that have had the biggest impact on you? It could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you read recently? • Could you also share with us what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. • Could you share with our listeners where can they find you online? • Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you'll tend to revert to this quote? It kind of helps to get you back on track if for any reason you got derailed?   Highlights   Robert's Journey Robert shared that in some ways, he's your classic entrepreneur. He was in graduate school, but he was not the greatest student and dropped out to start a publishing company and started the first magazine in the world that covered online services and then the internet.  And in the beginning, he made every mistake you could make in business. But eventually, of course, the internet came around, the worldwide web and then he could do no wrong and the business grew very fast to put him on to the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing businesses in the US. So, that was his first company.  And then he kind of fell into a very weird job title. He was an interim CEO for a number of technology companies, mostly early stage and that led to forming an organization called InterimExecs and he gather they're going to get into this because at InterimExecs, they had about 7000 executives show up who wanted to be placed, they're a matchmaker around the world in organizations that need leadership, and fractional or interim executives. And so, from that, they also wrote the book just referred Right Leader, Right Time.   Me: Amazing. So, this book was published in 2022.    Robert stated yes, Right Leader, Right Time just came out.   About the Book – Right Leader, Right Time Me: Could you take some time to share with our listeners a little bit about the book Right Leader, Right Time, just some of the core things that the book talks about? Robert shared that when you've been asked something a long time, you can spot patterns, and with all these 1000s of executive showing up, they spotted a pattern which was not so good and then another pattern that was really good, and the not so good pattern was that the majority of executives were having career experiences, leadership journeys that you would describe as okay, but you wouldn't say they were remarkable. The flip side was that if you just looked at the top 2%, 3%, 4% of executives, they're having exceptional careers and leadership journeys. And in that exceptional group, they saw 4 distinct styles of leadership, leadership style referring to somebody having a system or an approach or a process. And they gave them 4 labels, Fixer, Artist, Builder and Strategist.   Me: So, Fixer, let's start with that one. Tell us a little bit about what are some of the key skills or competencies that you'd have to be considered in the fixer category.   Robert shared that Fixer is the energy, it's the person that has to run into the burning building time after time. So, they're not trying to pigeonhole any one person into one style, they think all leaders, they bring all their capabilities to bear. But fixer energy is this dominant kind of style that needs crisis. And for a fixer-oriented leader, it may take them 6 months, a year, 2 years to solve the client relationship, to fix a broken division.  When that is done, that person needs to move on to a new crisis. Does that give you a picture?   Me: It does. So, this could be applicable to any type of leader in any type of organization?   Robert shared that it could be, what they're saying is that if you have dominant energy around fixer, it is best for you and for the organizations you're with that most of the time - you need crisis, you need a hot mess. And if things are too stable, or going too well, as one of the leaders put it you'll break it just so you can go fix it.   Me: It's almost like you're self-sabotaging because that's how you perform, that's how you're at your best.   Robert stated that you need to be in those roles so if you look in the world today, as he and Yanique was talking, there's a business called FTX, headquarter's in the Bahamas and of the leading Crypto Exchanges, and it went bankrupt a few months ago, and the CEO who was appointed, who is a classic kind of fixer, because there are a million creditors and there's alleged fraud. Well, that executive prior to FTX, he was at Enron, he was correcting Enron, he wasn't the cause of the problems in Enron, but that's his wiring.   Me: So, we have Fixers, those are the ones that are good at solving problems, and they need things to be broken in order to fix it. What about our Artists?   Robert shared that artist is the energy that sees the world as a blank canvas, or a piece of clay to be molded. So, you think about right now a leader like Elon Musk, he is driven by his innovative ability. Historically, you look at someone like Thomas Edison, or Steve Jobs. This is that kind of creative drive coming out. Artist energy though, the way they put it in the book is sometimes it's at that leader's peril. And he's strongly worried with artist energy and he gets that, which is to say you can't stop thinking up ideas, that doesn't mean they're all going to come to fruition, they're all going to be great, they're all going to be operationally terrific, which is why you need a mix of styles around you.   Me: Agreed. It's almost like that book by John Maxwell, How Successful People Think and there is a thinking activity that he does in there that has a different thinking styles. So, you have big picture thinker, focused thinker, creative thinker. And in order for an organization to really function at its best, you need a blended approach in terms of people's thinking style versus just all of your team members thinking in a particular way.   Robert agreed. Absolutely right. And one of the things exceptional leaders do better is they're better at collaboration. All of us talk about it, and he thinks everyone thinks they're good at it, the problem is that if you're not really confident and directed in your own style, it's less likely that you're actually effectively collaborating with everyone else. Because the primary thing they saw in this average of leaders who were having okay career experiences, but not great. The primary flaw was attempting to be all things to all people, it never works but it is the thing that a lot of people do knowingly or unknowingly.   Me: Yeah, that is crazy. So, we looked at the Fixers, the Artists, what about the Builders?   Robert shared that everyone in organization loves to be a builder, they get that. They mean something specific here with builder, which is the energy that can take the small, the nascent product, service, team, client relationships, and take it to market domination. So, you can think of, for example, someone who creates a new technology, and it grows fast, and they have an IPO, that's builder energy. What you tend to see with builder is that when that person has achieved an IPO or has achieved market domination, in many cases, they need to move to a new company, a new division, a new product, new client relationships, because they need the challenge of taking something small and getting to market domination.   Me: All right. And then we have our Strategist. And it's funny, but would you say that most people believe that in order for you to be a great leader, you need to be an excellent strategist because business is all about the strategy and executing that strategy?   Robert shared that it's a good question. And all leaders have to be good at strategy, strategy, he would say with a small s, the leader label strategist, we could have called pilot, conductor, captain, quarterback, it's referring to the kind of energy that excels within large vast or complex organization, the kind of language that strategists leaders use, it's around loyalty, and being mentored and mentoring other people. It's about longevity, typically within one organization, it's being cross trained, it's about gratitude to an organization. And that kind of language, you're just not going to hear that from typical Fixer, Artist or Builder leaders.   Leaders Who Embodies the Four Leadership Styles – Fixer, Artist, Builder and Strategist Me: Now, do you believe that there's any examples globally, of a leader who embodies each of the four leadership styles that we would have just looked at the Fixer, the Artist, the Builder, the Strategist?   Robert stated that that's a good question. So, when we're talking about Fixer, John Ray, who's now the CEO of FTX, has a massive job to clean up FTX, it's a disaster. The founder is now facing all kinds of criminal charges and there's funds missing and that would be fixer energy. And as they said, he had been at Enron before.  An example of Artist, Elon Musk is a good example. If you think about any friend of yours, and they're highly creative on the team, they may be the renegade, they're the rebel. They're not necessarily the most popular, but they're the one that's capable of these discontinuous leaps for companies, and it's absolutely the energy that a stagnant company needs, that's the artist builder.  So, if your listeners are familiar with Sheryl Sandberg, until recently, she was the number two at Facebook now known as Meta. Sheryl Sandberg's, first 7 years at Facebook were phenomenal, she took an organization of a couple 100 employees. Facebook at the time was probably about $100 Million Dollars in revenue. Seven years later, there were 70,000 employees, it was $70 Billion Dollars in revenue, if that's not the standout example of builder leader in the modern world, he doesn't know what is. Sheryl was also a cautionary example of what were one of the points they make in Right Leader Right Time because she ended up staying at Facebook, Meta for 14 years and what happened in the second 7 years, Cambridge analytical scandal, election scandals, the pivot to VR Meta which might not have suited her as well. Taking tonnes of arrows in the back for writing a best-selling book called Lean In. And it's a little cautionary because again, builder energy tends to be focused on market domination and once market domination has been achieved, that leader really kind of needs to move to a new company, new project, new division. So, strategist leader, great example would be Fred Smith. He just retired from Federal Express, FedEx. He was there 51 years and most leaders, we think, it's not like you have to round the basis, you don't have to have tried everything. In the book, they're fond of this phrase, highest and best use. And that is something we all aspire to as leaders to arrive at a point. There's no arriving but kind of a Zen concept of coming to understand your highest and best use.  Fred Smith started FedEx as a paper he wrote while in college, that's pretty innovative, artistic. He's famous, he's been interviewed many times. When he couldn't meet payroll early on, he went to Las Vegas and gambled just to meet payroll and if that's not fixer energy, he doesn't know what is. Builder, of course, to scale an organization like that was amazing. But he really arrived at a place of being one of the best strategist leaders of the modern era.   Me: Okay. So, we have some real-life practical examples that our listeners can definitely envision or even tap into because they're a part of what we know. They've written books, we've seen their history to see what they've done so that they can really identify what the leadership styles are and what are the qualities that they embody.   Examples of Practical Activity To Strengthen Your Leadership Style Me: Now, let's say for example, you want to develop these skills or want to develop in these four areas. Could you give me one example for each leadership style that our listener could take away, maybe a practical activity that they could do or something that they could do to strengthen them to be a better Fixer, a better Artist, Builder or Strategist?   Robert stated that it's a great question and one thing you also touched on earlier, they've launched at rightleader.com, a free 3 minute assessment is called FABS Leadership Assessment for any of your listeners who want to get a little bit of input and they'll get a result after 3 minutes. And they'd also appreciate feedback to asked whether they got it right, how you're labelled. But they'll also get a free summary in terms of descriptions of each of the styles.  So, each one of the 4 is different. And it's not a generic answer. So, for example, fixer energy, it tends to be the someone in organization, they're smart, they're hardworking, and someone around them throws a problem that nobody else could solve. And that's how fixer energy tends to develop. And it is in the best interest of fixers, if they're hooked and they solve that problem that no one else could solve, the best thing they can do is to seek out the next crisis. You have to pick yourself for these things.  Artist energy, they think, and they're going to see how the research goes based on all the FABS Assessments being done, feels to them a little more like a mode that is internal to you that you cannot help. And what that energy needs within an organization is to be surrounded by people who are more operational. As a way of kind of protecting the ability to keep on doing it. Builder is an energy in a way similar to fixer, it's more linear. A fixer tends to only work on one problem, one company, one crisis at a time, or put it this way. If you have a friend and they say they're a great fixer, but they're trying to put out fires at the three companies at a time, that's not a great fixer, that's probably not going to work. The opposite is you have a friend and they're strongly artists energy, very renegade, rebellious, they need multiple canvases to paint on at the same time. It's not an accident that Elon Musk has SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company at the same time. He's also a cautionary example because as he and Yanique are talking, he still has Twitter and Twitter was not his classic playbook, Twitter was a broken or maybe he contributed to making it a broken organization and he's using a playbook there and there's no other fixer on the planet that gets to do what he does. It doesn't tend to work well. But builder energy, what that person needs is to put themselves into situations of maybe not unproven product services, companies technologies, but something that has not yet reached scale, has not reached domination, they need to be in the position of where they're helping the product, the people, the process, the team to grow, their putting system and process in place. And strategist, strategist just needs to be within an organization where cross training and mentorship are going to be those components. So, those are some of the things that people should be aware of, that the overriding thing that they would say is that in observing exceptional leaders, they tend to reject more of what is not for their highest and best use. They reject more of what's not for their highest and best use. And so, it's easy to say, and it's very hard to do, very hard to do. But that's the thing on your career journey is, as you're going along that you become more and more intentional. Your first job, you need the money, you need the direction, your family is looking at you and you can't refuse anything. But what happens over time, as you discover what you like, and what you don't like is you start gravitating in one place or one direction over another, you start making more and more intentional decisions. And decision comes from the Latin word, meaning to kill off. And you have to do that with options that are not right for you, as you got to kill them off. That's very hard because we live in a time of FOMO, the fear of missing out.   Me: Agreed. And, just listening to you speak and explaining that. I've definitely seen my career grow in that way as well, in terms of being more intentional about the jobs that I take, or things that I invest my time into and the ones as you mentioned that don't serve me, I tend to not get involved in, maybe 10-15 years ago, my decision would have been completely different.    Robert agreed. Exactly and hindsight is 2020, it's hard to see at the beginning of your career, it's just easier when you look back. And so, that's the thing to kind of inform where you are now and where you want to go is to look at your journey and not to judge it, just to observe it. No judgement…..just observation.   App, Website or Tool that Robert Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about an online resource that he cannot live without in his business, Robert shared that it's an obscure one but he's on the road a lot and he has to send people PDFs and so he uses a TurboPDF app.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Robert When asked about books that have had the biggest impact, Robert stated that he'll share two books, one is personal bias, because he was involved with it. Yanique mentioned it, Start With No: The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don't Want You to Know by Jim Camp. It's one of the foundational books on how to be a better negotiator. And they think is something that just stands everybody well, because the foundation of that book is understanding your own mission and purpose. And the clearer you get on that you start getting clear on how it is that you're negotiating with other people and to have a sense of mission and purpose in those negotiations. The other book is more recent, it's a book called The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks. And if you consider first mountain, are the things you do in career that are about money and power and status, fame, whatever. More of the earning your living, as opposed to second mountain, which is when you're going for significance. What is it that you are called to? What are you committed to? He thought that that was pretty powerful.   What Robert is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that is going on right now that he's really excited about, Robert shared that that's a great question. He has to go back, this assessment has them really energized because they would just love to see what happens as more and more people take it. We are recording this, and it's very new, it just came out and only about 1000 people have taken it so far. So, they're putting forward a lot of ideas here and they may be wrong or right about them, they're going to see as all of the data comes back in how it plays.   Where Can We Find Robert Online Website – InterimExecs.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Robert Uses When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Robert stated that that's such a good question. “I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm as I spring forth with a mighty faith to do the things that ought to be done by me.”  Robert shared that's a recording he heard many years ago, a Minister named Jack Boland and he was quoting his mentor. I can't remember the name of his mentor. But he said that on a number of recordings, and it just hit him between the eyes.  And so, in his spare time he paints, and he actually painted a Canvas at one point with that expression, because it just energizes me.    Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links ·  Right Leader, Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company by Robert Jordan ·  How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America by Robert Jordan ·  Start with No: The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don't Want You to Know by Jim Camp ·  The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks   Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!   Our Next Webinar – May 16, 2023 at 10:00 am   Register Here  

Why do we call it Good Friday? Because Jesus is the greatest good God could have given to mankind. Luke 23:32-38 "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." know not what they do - these people did not understand that this very event was for them.forgive - comes from the same word as grace. It's basically grace in action.present tense - what if every time someone mocked Jesus, He said these words. What a message of hope. Good Friday makes Resurrection Sunday possible. Friday is still goodFriday is good because I once hid in the garden, and He came lookingIt's so good because I was the crazy one building a boat for a world without rain, then He sent the floodFriday is good because I was fatherless and nationless, and God said look upFriday is so good because I was infertile couldn't have a baby, then I gave birth to a nationFriday gives me hope because I was once cast in a dry well to die, but God had already sent a caravan to pick me upIt is miraculous because I was a prostitute that committed high treason to help God's people, and found out that my past doesn't predetermine my futureIt is good because I was thrown in the pit, but God already decided I wasn't the lions next mealFriday is good because God met me in self-exile, then used me to set His people freeIt is so good because I once murdered a man to have his wife, and God didn't allow my worst day to be the final wordIt is really good because I once sat in a desert abandoned but not alone, I knew my God was with meIt is good because I was a timid girl from an exiled people, and God decided to make me a queenFriday is good because even though I stared in the face of trouble day after day, I could still rejoice in the God of my salvationFriday is good because “He himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains… He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds” (Isaiah 53:4a-5).Friday is good…and is still good, because you can't have resurrection Sunday without Good Friday. Connect with SLU:InstagramRegister for SLULearn more about The LIFT TourLearn more about YPS Connect with our Hosts:Brent's InstagramBrent's TwitterJeff's InstagramJeff's Twitter

Have you ever played the “victim-card”? I'm sure that we all have at one time or another. Why? We've all been duped into believing some of the Lies Victims Tell Themselves. Here's the deal, we all struggle with untrue recorded memos in our heads, whether about ourselves or other people, and those recordings are often set to repeat on endless loops. These untruths, or lies, that we tell ourselves usually manifest in two distinct ways: encouraging us to act as innocent victims or evil villains. Acting out, in either way, can be really unhealthy!On today's episode, we're going to take some time to examine our lives and make sure that we're living authentically by learning to interrupt these distorted thought patterns. So, what's the first step? We've got to recognize the lies holding us back from embracing the good life we're meant to live! I'm sure you're acquainted with at least a few of these:I'm not good enoughI'll never measure upEveryone's against meIt's not (ever) my fault!My life is just a messLife is out of controlDo any of those sound familiar? The “victim-mentality” lens colors everything we see, every event and interaction, as something that's happening “to us” - and not for our good.But, what happens when we wake up from victimhood? What happens when we discover that we are actually in control of our own thoughts, feelings, words and actions?Find out on today's episode!Grace and peace, Chris

Have you ever played the “victim-card”? I'm sure that we all have at one time or another. Why? We've all been duped into believing some of the Lies Victims Tell Themselves. Here's the deal, we all struggle with untrue recorded memos in our heads, whether about ourselves or other people, and those recordings are often set to repeat on endless loops. These untruths, or lies, that we tell ourselves usually manifest in two distinct ways: encouraging us to act as innocent victims or evil villains. Acting out, in either way, can be really unhealthy!On today's episode, we're going to take some time to examine our lives and make sure that we're living authentically by learning to interrupt these distorted thought patterns. So, what's the first step? We've got to recognize the lies holding us back from embracing the good life we're meant to live! I'm sure you're acquainted with at least a few of these:I'm not good enoughI'll never measure upEveryone's against meIt's not (ever) my fault!My life is just a messLife is out of controlDo any of those sound familiar? The “victim-mentality” lens colors everything we see, every event and interaction, as something that's happening “to us” - and not for our good.But, what happens when we wake up from victimhood? What happens when we discover that we are actually in control of our own thoughts, feelings, words and actions?Find out on today's episode!Grace and peace, Chris