Podcasts about nancy you

"Microbiome" is a buzzword these days--but many people don't know what it means. As we re-assess the lasting impact diet may have on our health, researchers are examining the role of gut health as possible causes for the dramatic uptick in colorectal cancer in young people. Katie Couric, founder of Katie Couric Media and Stand Up To Cancer, hosts an expert-led panel including Dr. Nancy You, a surgeon and director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Program at MD Anderson, Dr. Susan Bullman–an Associate Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods, to discuss the impact of diet on the gut microbiome.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

00:00 Show open/ Derek Longmeier, Executive Director of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio, on the resources available during March Madness sports betting. 7:27 Dr. Nancy You, American College of Surgeons on colorectal cancer. 14:59 Abigail Ross Hopper, President & CEO of The Solar Energy Industry Associationn on solar energy in Central Ohio. 23:15 Face the State: President Trump's tariffs and the local impact on one company. 36:43 Face the State: 10TV's Dom Tiberi on Maria's Message, an effort to end distracted driving.

In this episode of 8000 Promises' the focus is on friendship and community. Adi Tilford and her friends Ondi and Nancy, discuss their personal journeys and insights on establishing and maintaining meaningful connections. Ondi, a mother and writer, shares her proactive approach to building friendships, while Nancy, who has faced challenges with social anxiety, speaks candidly about her experiences and progress. The conversation also explores the definitions of friendship and community, the value of consistent engagement, and how these relationships contribute to personal healing. The episode concludes with a discussion on the importance of play and how each plans to incorporate it into their summer. 00:00 Introduction to the Episode 00:43 Meet the Guests: Ondi and Nancy 04:35 Unexpected Friendships 08:55 Defining Friendship and Community 10:40 Engaging in Community 20:17 Personal Challenges in Building Friendships 23:28 Struggles with Social Anxiety 24:48 Ted's Influence and Overcoming Fear 28:01 The Role of Consistency and Community 29:34 Healing Through Relationships 38:15 The Spiritual Discipline of Playing 42:24 Final Thoughts and Encouragement Keywords: friendship, community, engage,investment in friendships, unexpected friendships, healing through friendships, spirituality and friendships Get your copy of Heavenly Hustle HERE To hear more about Heavenly Hustle  or read more things like you just heard visit www.abideandwrite.com, or follow along with me on Instagram: @abideandwrite, or Facebook: Abide & Write.  8KP Episodes with Ondi: Little Yeses Go A Long Way - Season 1 Surprise: God's Promise for Friendship - Season 2 Your Words Defeat the Enemy (Ignite Insight) - Series 4 From Childhood Dreams to Heavenly Hustle: A Father-Daughter Dialogue with Ondi Mejia and Peter Foster - Series 6 You can connect with Nancy on instagram at my.unphotoshopped.life and on Tiktok at my.unphotoshopped.life and on her website https://myunphotoshoppedlife.com/  8KP Episodes with Nancy: You are Not as Bad as You Think Because God is Better than you Know - Season 2 You can find me on Instagram at ⁠AdiTilfordWrites⁠, Facebook at ⁠AdiTilford-Author ⁠and at my website ⁠AdiTilford.com.⁠ Are you loving what you hear and want to help financially support the production of this podcast? You can contribute through this link: ⁠https://anchor.fm/adi-tilford/support⁠ You can now subscribe⁠ to my monthly newsletter for the pod and fun tips for saying Yes to God's promises for your life. ⁠Harvest Reflection Guide: Printable PDF Additional Resources Mentioned:  Invitation to a Journey by Robert Mulholland --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adi-tilford/support

Patrick answers listener questions about Catholic schools, is it okay to tell the truth when someone asks “how are you,” and what does the phrase “heaven suffers violence” mean in Mathew 11:12? Nancy – You should do a show where you only take questions from people who want to debate you Cathy - In the debate about gay marriage with Fr. Mike Schmitz you played the part in favor of it. Was it really hard to do that? Is that something you shouldn't have done? Mary - Disagrees with Patrick about Catholic schools. She says the “one by me stinks.” (this leads her to believe that all catholic schools are not good because they don't pay enough) Neil - Have you read “The Warning' by Christine Watkins. Patrick says “yes” and shares his thoughts about it Sandra - Is it okay to not tell people the truth if the truth is too personal? Is it okay to say “oh my God?” Is it okay to make up a sin in the confessional? John – Sometimes the things the Church recognizes cannot be verified. Teresa - What does the Church teach on Matthew 11:12: “heaven suffers violence”

Episode Description:   In this episode, ART Center artists Brian Corder, Eric Recillas, Nancy Terry, and Aaron Francis present a recording of AAW artists reading the final lines of the Shakespearean play “A Midsummer Night's Dream”. Artists Brian Corder, Tim Holmes, and Max Lecanu-Fayet take on the roles of Oberon, Titania, and Puck respectively in a dramatic reading of the final section of Act 5 Scene 1. Shakespeare is a new challenge for the artists at ART center and they are excited to share their progress with listeners. Keep an eye out for more Shakespeare content as artists at ART Center tackle “Taming of the Shrew”. Thank you for listening!    Transcription: Nancy: Hello, welcome to Art Beat Radio. A-B-R-A-D-I-O, Art Beat Radio. Brian:  This year we have tackled a new challenge here at ART Center, Shakespeare. Last semester, we focused on the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. We got to know the characters, read the play, and created many adaptations. Aaron: Today we want to share a recording of some of us leading the final lines of the play. Nancy: You will hear Brian reading Oberon, Tim reading Titania, and Max reading Puck. Brian: Keep an eye out for more Shakespeare content this semester as we explore a new play! Aaron: We hope you enjoy!  All:  Action! Brian as Oberon: Through the house give glimmering light. By the dead and drowsy fire, Every elf and fairy sprite Hop as light as bird from brier, And this ditty after me Sing, and dance it trippingly.  Tim as Titania: First rehearse your song by rote, To each word a warbling note. Hand in hand with fairy grace Will we sing and bless this place.  Instructor: [The Fairies sing and dance]  Brian as Oberon: Now until the break of day, Through this house each fairy stray. To the best bride-bed will we, Which by us shall blessèd be, And the issue there create Ever shall be fortunate. So shall all the couples three Ever true in loving be, And the blots of nature's hand Shall not in their issue stand. Never mole, harelip, nor scar, Nor mark prodigious such as are Despisèd in nativity Shall upon their children be. [handing out vials of magic potion] With this field-dew consecrate, Every fairy takes his gait, And each several chamber bless Through this palace with sweet peace; And the owner of it blessed Ever shall in safety rest. Trip away, make no stay, Meet me all by break of day.  Instructor: [Exit all but Robin (Puck)]  Max as Robin (Puck): If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended: That you have but slumbered here, While these visions did appear; And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend. If you pardon, we will mend. And as I am an honest puck, If we have unearned luck Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, We will make amends ere long, Else the puck a liar call. So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.  Instructor:  All right! Nice job everybody, we did it! We read the play!  All: Wooo! Yay 

About NancyNancy Wang is a global product and technical leader at Amazon Web Services, where she leads P&L, product, engineering, and design for its data protection and governance businesses. Prior to Amazon, she led SaaS product development at Rubrik, the fastest-growing enterprise software unicorn and built healthdata.gov for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Passionate about advancing more women into technical roles, Nancy is the founder & CEO of Advancing Women in Tech, a global 501(c)(3) nonprofit with 16,000+ members worldwide.Nancy is an angel investor in data security and compliance companies, and an LP with several seed- and growth-stage funds such as Operator Collective and IVP. She earned a degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania.Links: https://coursera.org/awit Advancing Women in Technology: https://www.advancingwomenintech.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wangnancy/ Advancing Women in Technology LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/advancingwomenintech/ TranscriptAnnouncer: Hello, and welcome to Screaming in the Cloud with your host, Chief Cloud Economist at The Duckbill Group, Corey Quinn. This weekly show features conversations with people doing interesting work in the world of cloud, thoughtful commentary on the state of the technical world, and ridiculous titles for which Corey refuses to apologize. This is Screaming in the Cloud.Corey: This episode is sponsored in part by our friends at Sysdig. Sysdig is the solution for securing DevOps. They have a blog post that went up recently about how an insecure AWS Lambda function could be used as a pivot point to get access into your environment. They've also gone deep in-depth with a bunch of other approaches to how DevOps and security are inextricably linked. To learn more, visit sysdig.com and tell them I sent you. That's S-Y-S-D-I-G dot com. My thanks to them for their continued support of this ridiculous nonsense.Corey: This episode is sponsored in part by our friends at Rising Cloud, which I hadn't heard of before, but they're doing something vaguely interesting here. They are using AI, which is usually where my eyes glaze over and I lose attention, but they're using it to help developers be more efficient by reducing repetitive tasks. So, the idea being that you can run stateless things without having to worry about scaling, placement, et cetera, and the rest. They claim significant cost savings, and they're able to wind up taking what you're running as it is, in AWS, with no changes, and run it inside of their data centers that span multiple regions. I'm somewhat skeptical, but their customers seem to really like them, so that's one of those areas where I really have a hard time being too snarky about it because when you solve a customer's problem, and they get out there in public and say, “We're solving a problem,” it's very hard to snark about that. Multus Medical, Construx.ai, and Stax have seen significant results by using them, and it's worth exploring. So, if you're looking for a smarter, faster, cheaper alternative to EC2, Lambda, or batch, consider checking them out. Visit risingcloud.com/benefits. That's risingcloud.com/benefits, and be sure to tell them that I said you because watching people wince when you mention my name is one of the guilty pleasures of listening to this podcast.Corey: Welcome to Screaming in the Cloud. I'm Corey Quinn. I've said repeatedly on this show—and I stand by it—that absolutely nobody cares about backups. Because they don't. They do care tremendously about restores, usually right after they really should have been caring about backups.My guest today has more informed opinions on these things than I do, just because I'm bad at computers. But Nancy Wang is someone else entirely. She is AWS's general manager of the AWS Backup service, and heads the Data Protection Team. Nancy, thank you for tolerating me, I appreciate it.Nancy: Hey, no worries because you know, when I heard you say I don't care about backups, I knew I had to come on the show and correct you. [laugh].Corey: It's the sort of thing where there's no one is fanatical as a convert. And every grumpy old sysadmin that is in my cohort either cares a lot about backups or just doesn't even think about it at all. And the question is—the only thing that separates those two groups is have you lost data yet? And once you've lost data and you feel like a heel, you realize, “Wow, this was eminently preventable. What can I do differently to fix this?”And that's when people start preaching the virtues of backups, and you know, this novel ridiculous idea of testing the backups you've made to make sure that it isn't just—yeah, it says it's completing correctly, but if you haven't restored it, you don't really know.Nancy: Yeah. I mean, that's so true, right? And that's why when we're thinking about our holistic data protection strategy, it's less so about, “Hey, make sure that you take backups”—which is albeit a very important part of the data protection hygiene—but is making sure that you can regularly test the things that you're backing up to make sure that, frankly, when you happen to be in a disaster scenario, or someone fat fingers a restore process, that you have good known bits to restore from.Corey: So, people will be forgiven for not, potentially, understanding what AWS Backup is, where it starts and where it stops. I mean, let's be clear, this is sort of the price you as a company get to pay for having 300-some-odd services; not everyone is conversant with every single one of them. I know, I'm as offended as anyone at that fact, but apparently other people have lives. So, what is AWS Backup?Nancy: So, on that note, Corey, I do have to say that I'm probably at a more of an advantage in terms of my name being very descriptive and what it does versus, maybe, Athena or Redshift where it's very clear, hey, we do backups. But actually, if you parse apart the product—and this is why the team itself is called data protection—there are various axes to think about what we do, right? So, to help illustrate, perhaps if you think about axes one as in, what are the different types of application data that we protect, right? There's obviously database data, there's going to be file system data, there's various storage platform data, right? And those are comprised by AWS services that I'm sure you all are very familiar with, love dearly, like RDS, EBS, with EC2, VMs, et cetera, but also, more recently, we added S3, which we'll get to that in just a bit, but because I'd love to talk about, you know, how folks think about S3 and why you might want to back it up, right? So, that's axis number one.Now, if we turn to axis number two, it's about the different platforms where these application data might reside. So there's, of course, in-cloud, and that's the place where most people are familiar with and why they might choose to seek out a first party native data protection provider like AWS Backup. And by the way, we just extended our support to on-premises as well, starting with VMware, which is a thing that a lot of backup admins were super excited to hear about, and all those vExperts out there.And of course, the final axis is we think about how we make sure that we not just protect your data, but we are also able to give you tools like compliance reporting, which we announced in August at re:Inforce, via our CISO, Stephen Schmidt, about, “Hey, once you take your backups, are you monitoring continuously the resource configurations of the application data that you're protecting?” Are your backup plans architected to meet RPO requirements that your organization needs to meet? Are they being, for example, retained for the right amount of times? Is it seven years or is it a month? Many different organizations have widely varying RPO requirements, so making sure that all of that is captured, monitored, and also reportable so when, hey, those, that auditor decides to knock on your door, you have a report ready to say, “Hey, I'm in compliance. And by the way, I'm proactively thinking about how my organization can meet evolving regulations.”Corey: Please tell me you're familiar with AWS Audit Manager, which is, to my understanding, aimed at solving exactly this problem. If the answer is no, this would admittedly not be the first time there I found, “Oh, wow. We have a complete service duplicate hanging out somewhere at AWS.” “Oh, good. How do we make it run in containers?” Being the next obvious question there.Nancy: Sure. Which is actually a great lead-in to, again, another descriptive name of an AWS service, which is AWS Backup Audit Manager. So, if you recall from the re:Inforce keynote, it was one of the slides that was highlighted. The reason being, I'm a firm believer of a managed solution. Because look, we all know that AWS is great at building, I would say, tools or building blocks, or primitives to design end-to-end solutions.Corey: It's the Lego approach to cloud services. “What can I build with this?” “You're only constrained by your imagination.” “Okay, but what can I build?” “Here to talk about that is someone from Netflix.”Great. I want to build Twitter for Pets, which I guess now has to stream video? Yeah, it becomes a very different story. The higher-level service offerings are generally not a common area that AWS has excelled in, but this seems to be a notable exception.Nancy: That's actually where my background is, right? So, previous to AWS, I worked at a not-so-small startup anymore, called Rubrik, down in Silicon Valley, where we spent a lot of time thinking about what is the end-to-end solution for customers. How can customers simply deploy with one click, make sure that they can create policies that are repeatable, that are automated, and go off when you want them to, and make sure that you have reporting, at the end of the day. So, that's really what we focused on, right?But I digress, Corey. To your question about AWS Audit Manager, the name of the service within AWS Backup that handles compliance reporting, and auditing is called AWS Audit Manager, and we certainly didn't pick that name by fluke. The reason being, we wanted AWS Backup, from that managed solution point of view, to be the single central platform where customers come to create data protection policies, where they come to execute those data protection policies, in backup plans, store their backups in encrypted backup vaults, and have the ability to restore them when they want, and finally, report on them. So, it is that single platform.Now, with that said, if, for example, you wanted that reporting to come from AWS Audit Manager, which is a service that does a lot of reporting across many AWS services, you also have that ability. So, depending on what user persona you might be, whether you're from the central compliance office or you're a member of the data protection team within an organization, you might choose to use that functionality separately. And that's the flexibility that my team strived to provide.Corey: One of the most interesting things about AWS Backup is that I did not affirmatively go out of my way to use your service. I did not—to my recollection—wind up saying, “Oh, time to learn about this new thing, and set it up, and be very diligent about it.” But sure enough, I find it showing up on the AWS inventory—which is of course, the bill. And I look at this in a random account I use for various, you know, shitposting extravaganzas, and sure enough, it's last—so far, this month, it is—I'm recording this near the end of the month—it charged me $3.40 to backup 70 gigs of data.Which is first, like on the one hand, there is an argument of, “Now, wait a minute. I didn't opt into this. What gives?” The other side of it though, is how dare you make sure that my data isn't going to be lost, not through your negligence, but through my own, when I get sloppy with an rm -rf. And because I've been using ZFS a fair bit, and it is integrated extraordinarily tightly with that service. It goes super well.It works out when setting this up, unless you go out of your way to disable it, it will set up a backup plan. And first, that is not generally aligned with how AWS thinks about things, which you across the board, generally the philosophy I've gotten is, “Oh, you want to do this thing? That's a different service team. Do it yourself.” But also, it's one of those areas that is the least controversial. If you have to make a decision one way or another, yeah, it's opt people into backups. Was that as hard to get approved as I would suspect it would be, or was that sort of a no-brainer?Nancy: Hopefully you can let me know what your account number is, Corey, so I can make sure it doesn't get marked for fraud—A—but B, going into, you know, our philosophy on protecting data: So, EFS actually was one of our first AWS services that was supported by the AWS Backup service, which is actually quite a fascinating story in itself because the service [AWS Backup] only launched in 2019. Now, AWS has been around for much, much longer than that—Corey: And it feels even three times longer than that. But yes.Nancy: [laugh]. Exactly, right. So, as a central data protection platform for the AWS overall cloud platform, it's quite interesting that from a managed solution perspective, the service is not yet, you know, four years old. We're barely embarking on our third year together. So, with that said, why we started with EFS and a few other services is we wanted to cover the most commonly used stateful data stores for AWS Cloud, EFS being one of them, as the first cloud-native—as Wayne Duso would say—Elastic File System in the cloud.And so what we did is a deeper level integration, what we call our “data plane integration.” So, what does that mean? Customers protecting EFS file systems have the ability to not just restore their entire file system as a file system volume, but also have the ability to specify individual files, folders, that they want to restore from. And so, file level recovery, super, super important. And it's something that we also want to bring for other file systems down the road as well.And so, to your question, Corey, a common design principle that we think about is, how do we make sure that customers are protected? Obviously, in a world where we cannot yet use AI to transcribe every part of a customer's intent when they're looking to protect their data, the closest that we can get is, “Hey, you create a file system. We assume that you want it protected, unless you tell us you don't want to.” And so for certain resources, like EFS, where we have a deeper level integration to our own data plane, we can then say, “Once you create a file system will opt you automatically into AWS Backup protection until you tell us to stop.” And from there, you have all the goodness that comes with AWS Backup, such as file-level restore, such as for example now, WORM [write-once-read-many] lock, which disables the ability to mutate backups from anyone, even someone with admin access.Corey: So, a big announcement in your area at re:Invent, was AWS Backup support for S3. Allow me to set up an intentionally insulting straw man argument here. S3 has vaunted 11 nines of durability, which I think exceeds the likelihood the gravity is going to continue to function. So, are they lying by having AWS Backups supporting it now, or are you just basically selling us something we don't need? Which is it?Nancy: Well, you know, Corey, judging by the hundreds of customers who have been filling up my inbox—and that's why I actually ended up creating a special email alias for the S3 preview—so what we launched at re:Invent was a public preview of the ability to start baking in S3 backup protection—or bucket protection—into their existing data protection workflows, right? And so judging by the hundreds of customers, many of them in highly regulated industries, and FinServ, in healthcare, as well as in the US government, I would say that I think they find it pretty important, and we're not just peddling things they don't need. So, I'm getting ahead of myself. We're actually—we should probably start the conversation—is a deeper dive into how we think about data protection on AWS.And so there's two really core schools of thought, right? One is, you know, focused on data durability, which in itself is a function of technology. So, to your point of 11 nines, right? That is very much true, and that's why S3 increasingly becomes the platform of choice, now, for all of customer's, you know, analytics information, and other stateful stores that they want to keep an S3 buckets for applications, right? But second of all—and this is a part where AWS Backup wants to focus on—is that concept of data resiliency, which itself is a function of external factors. Because, for example, human errors, such as fat-fingering, or miscellaneous entries, could impact for example, how you can access information that's stored in your S3 bucket, or unfortunately, sometimes what we've heard is accidentally deleting an S3 bucket or certain objects in your S3 bucket.Corey: This speaks to the idea of that RAID is not a backup. Sure, you want to make sure a drive failure doesn't lose your data, but you also want to make sure that you overwriting a file that was super important doesn't happen either and RAID, nor data durability and S3, are going to save you from that.Nancy: Yeah. Because for example, we have built in—and this is actually very core to not just AWS Backup, but really how we think about data protection on AWS—is again, that separation of control. So, I encourage you to try to delete, let's say, an EBS volume that is protected by AWS Backup, from the EBS console. You'll likely find a very glaring error in your face that says, “You do not have sufficient privileges to do so.” And the reason we actually make such a separation of control, or our role-based access control—RBAC—so core to our product design is so that, for example, whoever creates that primary volume should not be the same person that deletes it, unless they do happen to be the same person with two different roles.And that prevents, for example, unintended mutations. That also enables the data protection administrator to have the ability to, let's say, do cross-region copies: Having your S3 bucket or objects stored in another region, in another account, that can be completely locked down to anyone, even those with administrator access, right? So, like I said, before, all the platform goodness, AWS Backup, such as version control, WORM locks, having multiple copies of those backups, as well as different protection domains, that's what customers look for when they come to this service.And to your point, especially even with highly durable platforms like S3, there's still external factors that you simply can't control for all the time, right? And having that peace of mind, having that protection that you know is on 24/7, hey, that keeps businesses up, right? And that keeps consumers like you and me able to enjoy all the goodness that those businesses offer.Corey: This episode is sponsored by our friends at Oracle HeatWave is a new high-performance query accelerator for the Oracle MySQL Database Service, although I insist on calling it “my squirrel.” While MySQL has long been the worlds most popular open source database, shifting from transacting to analytics required way too much overhead and, ya know, work. With HeatWave you can run your OLAP and OLTP—don't ask me to pronounce those acronyms again—workloads directly from your MySQL database and eliminate the time-consuming data movement and integration work, while also performing 1100X faster than Amazon Aurora and 2.5X faster than Amazon Redshift, at a third of the cost. My thanks again to Oracle Cloud for sponsoring this ridiculous nonsense.Corey: I agree wholeheartedly with everything that you're saying. I had a consulting client where it's coming in optimize the AWS bill, and, “Wow, that sure is a lot of petabytes over in that S3 infrequent access bucket. How about you change the Infrequent Access-One Zone?” “Oh, no, no, no. We lose this data, it basically ends a division of the company.” “Cool. Do you have multi-factor delete turned on?” “No.” “Do you have versioning turned on?” “No.” “Okay. This is why I call it cost optimization, not cost cutting. You should be backing that up somewhere because there is far likelier—by several orders of magnitude—that you or someone on your team intentionally—unlikely—or by accident—very likely, as someone who's extremely accident prone with computers, from my own perspective because I am—is going to accidentally cause data loss there. So yeah, spend more money and back that up.”And they started doing that. So, it's always nice when your recommendations get accepted. But yeah, if data is that important, you absolutely need to have a strategy around that. What I love so far about what I've seen from AWS Backup is—and please don't take this in any way as criticism on it—is that it's so brainless. It just works. Because people don't think about backups until it's too late to have thought about backups.Nancy: Yeah, don't worry, I don't take that as offense, Corey, otherwise I wouldn't be on the show. Absolutely, right? My motto is set it and forget it, right? Just as I want to make it super simple for our mission, for customers to understand our mission, as well as, frankly, the engineers who build the service to understand our mission, it is, “We protect our customers' data on AWS. How? With set-it-and-forget-it data protection policies.”And we try to configure these policies to be fairly comprehensive. You can set everything from, like I mentioned, warm lock, where you want your backup copies created to: Which regions? Which accounts, for example? Which user role do you want to use with these data protection policies? Which services do you want to protect?And even recently, we created the selection ability—or as we call it, AWS Backup Select—so you can include, exclude different resources, even when you have the common union of tags specified on your backup plan. So, the reason we went this comprehensive is so that once you configure a data protection policy, you can really rest assured that, hey, I've done everything in my power to make sure that these resources, this application data that is so critical to my business, is being protected. And oh, by the way, I can see these backups—or as we call in our lexicon, Recovery Points—directly in my console, in my account.Corey: And there's tremendous value to doing that. That is the sort of thing that customers like to see. This is—if you have to move up the stack somewhere, this feels like the place to begin doing it, just because it's so critical to the rest of it. We all have side projects as well. Like, for example, I wind up making insulting parody music videos for people's birthdays when they're not expecting it. You have 80 hours of training content on Coursera. What is that about? Because I don't think it's all about backups.Nancy: No. Although at some point, we should probably get AWS Backup as one of the modules in AWS certification. But I digress. The reason why training is so important to me is one of the ways, actually, that folks find me online is through my presence in the nonprofit world. So, I'm the founder and CEO of a 501(c)(3) organization that's called Advancing Women in Technology, or AWIT, or A-W-I-T for short.The mission of AWIT is really to get more women leaders into visible, into senior tech leadership roles, so frankly and from a selfish perspective, I'm not the only woman in a room many of the times when decisions are being made, right? And that's not just, you know, I'm talking about my current role, but in various roles that I've had throughout the tech industry. So, where does that start? And there's a lot of different amazing organizations that focus on the early career, beginning in the pipeline, which is super important because it is important to get women, underrepresented groups in the door so that they can advance and they can accelerate their careers to becoming leaders, but the areas where AWIT focus is actually in that mid-career.Because once folks, and especially women and underrepresented groups are in the door 10 to 15 years, they're maybe in their first managerial role, or they're in their first leadership role, that's the core time when you want to retain that population, where you want to advance that population, so that in the next, I would say, generation—or hopefully it doesn't even take that long; next 5, 10 years—we see a much more representative leadership room, or board table, right? So, that's really where that goal starts. And so, why do we have 80 hours of training content because part of advancing your career and accelerating your career is having the right skills. Of course having a right network is also very important, and that's something else that we preach, but upskilling yourself, constantly learning about new technologies—I mean, the tech world changes by the minute, right, and so being familiar with new technologies, new frameworks, new ways of thinking about product problems, is really what we focus on. So, we were the first to create the Real-World Product Management Specialization, which you can check out on Coursera. You'll see my mug shot in a lot of those videos.But actually, also of those of some of the best and brightest underrepresented leaders in the industry, such as Sandy Carter, Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, Sabrina Farmer, I mean, the list goes on and on. Including, you know, personal friend who created Coffee Meets Bagel. So hey, for all those connections made out there on that platform, you know, she's also a woman CEO, and used to be a product manager at Amazon.Corey: A dear friend met his partner on Coffee Meets Bagel. I hear good things.Nancy: Oh, awesome.Corey: Fortunately, I was married before it launched, so I've never used the service myself. If I were a reference customer now, that would raise questions.Nancy: [laugh]. Well, let's just say I'm not on the platform, either, so I can't verify or deny that you have a profile. Yeah. So, just having those underrepresented groups and individuals, really stellar rock stars, role models that we would all consider to be super inspirational, as speakers, as instructors on the courses have given so many folks the inspiration, the encouragement that they need to upskill themselves. And so yes, now educated over 20,000 learners worldwide using those courses.And I still receive just amazing notes from them on a daily basis, all over LinkedIn about how they've managed to get promotions from taking these courses, or how they've managed to get jobs in FAANG tech companies as a result of taking these courses. And really, that's the impact that I want to make is one to n, being able to impact a global audience, upskilling a global audience. And so again, in the future, and not so distant future, the leadership room gets so much more representative.Corey: And to complete the trifecta of interesting things you do, you are also an early angel investor and a limited partner in a number of startups. Tell me a little bit about that. It's odd to—at least in my experience—to see folks who are heavily involved in the nonprofit space, the corporate space at a giant tech company, and doing investment all at the same time. It seems like that is not a particularly common combination, at least in the circles in which I travel.Nancy: You could also probably blame it on my extreme ADHD. That's probably very true. Don't worry, I try to control it, most of the time.Corey: I've been struggling to control my own my entire life, which probably explains a lot about why I do the things that I do. I hear you.Nancy: It makes sense, right? From one to another. It honestly makes me better at my job. And I'll explain why. So, if you look at some of the new or joint marketing campaigns that AWS Backup or data protection team has done this past year with various startups—namely Open Raven; there'll be others we're working with in the new year—being able to just get some of that inspiration from founders, so thinking about how can we have a better together story?You specialize in, let's say with the case of Open Raven, in data visibility and let's say scanning S3 buckets for vulnerabilities, for different content. And hey, we specialize in data recovery process, or then that data protection policy creation process. How do we come together to form a really awesome solution for our highly regulated customers, or compliance-minded customers? That's the story that I love to tell, and frankly, I just get so inspired from talking to startup founders. The reason why I have also advised a few venture capitalists—namely Felicis Ventures—on, for example, their investment thesis is I just see so much potential in this environment, right?And there's really that adage, where it's big enough sandbox for a lot of players. Just like, for example, how Snowflake and Redshift have managed to coexist together on the AWS platform, there's a lot of just goodness, too, that exists between the data security world, how they customers think about securing their data, to the data protection world because, hey, you can't protect what you can't see, so you need to be make sure that you have that data visibility angle, along with that protection angle, along with that recovery angle. And hey, all of this needs to be within your data perimeter, within a secure zone, right? How do you securitize your data? So, all of that really comes together in this melding world.And of course, there's also adjacent themes such as, well, once you protect your data, how can you also make sure that the quality of your data is high? And that's where pretty interesting startups in the data observability space, such as Monte Carlo, have come up. Which is, “Hey, I need to rely on my business data to make important decisions that affect my customers, so how can I make sure that what's ever coming out of my data lake or data warehouse is correct, it truly reflects the state of the business?” So, all of that is converging, and that's why, you know, it's just super exciting to be a part of this space, to not only create net new, I would say greenfield opportunities on the AWS platform, but also use this as an opportunity to partner with startup CEOs and various startups in the data space, data infrastructure space, to create more use cases, more solutions for customers who otherwise we'd have to rely on either custom scripts, or simply not having any solutions in this space at all.Corey: There's something to be said for doing the—how do I frame this?—the boring work that's always behind the scenes, that is never top of mind. People don't get excited about things like data protection, about compliance, about cost optimization, about making sure that the fire insurance is paid up on the building before you wind up insulting execs at big companies, et cetera, et cetera. And that—but it is incredibly important—in my case, especially that last one—just because if you don't get that done, there's massive risk, and managing that risk is important. It's nice to see that it's not just the shiny features that are getting the attention. It's the stuff of, “Okay, how do we do this safely and securely?” That is the area that I think is not being particularly well served these days, so it's honestly refreshing to see someone focusing on that as an area of active investment.Nancy: I mean, absolutely. Perhaps one data point I should also share, because I do get questions asked of, “What gets you so excited about compliance, about audit?” Well, I used to work for the US government. So, if that tells you anything—and I used to hold an active secret clearance—that hopefully explains some things about why I'm passionate about the areas I am. But, that's really where, you know, back to your comment that you made on the core tenet or the ethos of the AWS Backup service, which is, “Set it, forget it, make it super simple,” is I want to design systems or solutions that enable customers to focus on developing applications, working on building business logic, whereas we will create the comprehensive data protection policies that protect your data.And especially in the world of ever evolving cyber attacks where the attackers are getting more and more sophisticated, they have more backdoor methods that go undetected for many months, as was the case in attacks over the past recent years, or in the case of pesky ransomware attacks, where certain insurance companies have even stopped paying ransoms, right, and you're wondering, “Well, how do I get my data back?” This is the world that we live in. And so, you know, yes, there might be ever-evolving more, I would say, sophisticated ways to detect vulnerabilities, or attacks, or do pattern matching between known attack patterns, but really what remains core and should be core to a lot of companies' recovery strategies, as per the NIST cybersecurity framework, is actually having a good way to restore. And that goes back to something that you mentioned at the beginning of this recording, Corey, which is making sure that you're regularly testing your backups because as you said, no one cares that you're taking backups, but people do care about the ability to restore. So, having known good bits that exist in a secure vault, that exists maybe in some air gap account or region, where you know that it's going to be there for you, that it's restorable is going to be super key.And we're already seeing that trend in a lot of customers that I speak with. And by the way, these aren't just customers in highly regulated industries. They're really customers that now are increasingly relying on data to make business decisions. Just like, for example, there's that adage that says, you know, “Software is eating the world,” well, now most businesses are data-driven businesses, and so data is core to their business mission. And so protecting that, it should also be core to their business mission.Corey: I really wish that were the case a bit more than it is.Nancy: True that. So, I would have to say, “Hear, hear.” And this is actually what makes my job so, just, fun frankly, is that I get to have these conversations with thought leaders at various different companies, who are my clients or customers of AWS. And these are different, I would say, leaders, ranging from IT leaders, to compliance leaders, to CISOs who I have these conversations with. And oftentimes it does start with this very, I would say, innocuous question, which is, “Well, why should I think about protecting my data?” And then we're able to go into, “Well, this is how you think about tiering your data, this is how you think about different SLAs that you might have for your data, and then finally, this is how you would think about architecting a data protection solution into your environment.”Corey: Nancy, I want to thank you for taking some time out of your day to speak with me. If people want to learn more about what you're up to and how you're viewing these things, where can they find you?Nancy: Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, whether you have a service that you desperately want AWS Backup to protect—yes, I get a lot of those tweets or LinkedIn posts—absolutely happy to consider them and to prioritize them on the future roadmap. Or if you want to give me a feedback about your experience, more than happy to take those as well. Also, if you're a startup founder and you have a brilliant new idea, and data infrastructure, always happy to grab coffee or drinks and hear about those ideas.And lastly, if you're looking to upskill yourself either product management or cloud tech skills, find us on Coursera at https://www.coursera.org/awit, or on LinkedIn as Advancing Women in Technology. Either way, whether you fit into one or more or all of these buckets, I'd love to hear from you.Corey: And we will, of course, put links to that in the [show notes 00:32:36]. Thank you so much for speaking with me today. I really appreciate it.Nancy: Well, thank you, Corey. It's always a pleasure, and I'll see you very soon in person in SF.Corey: I look forward to it. Nancy Wang, General Manager of AWS Backup and AWS Data Protection. I'm Cloud Economist Corey Quinn, and this is Screaming in the Cloud. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice, whereas if you've hated this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice along with an insulting comment that I will then delete because it wasn't backed up.Corey: If your AWS bill keeps rising and your blood pressure is doing the same, then you need The Duckbill Group. We help companies fix their AWS bill by making it smaller and less horrifying. The Duckbill Group works for you, not AWS. We tailor recommendations to your business and we get to the point. Visit duckbillgroup.com to get started.Announcer: This has been a HumblePod production. Stay humble.

 Learn how to make your leads flow instead of just trickle Discover one important asset that you should have so the host has all the reasons to have you on the show Find out how you can build relationships and strategic partnerships even after the microphone is put down Resources/Links: Open the door to podcast guesting opportunities on top shows with this Media One Sheet Example. You'll get media savvy, media-ready, and on message in minutes! Click here: https://www.mediaonesheetnow.com/ Summary Are you making self-serving pitches that aren't what the audience cares about? Do you find yourself with an empty calendar, invisibility, not enough reliable lead flow, and frustration over not earning enough and making an impact? Nancy Juetten is a Get Known Get Paid Mentor & Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. Nancy guides successful service providers to book themselves on top podcasts without hiring an expensive booking agency. In this episode, Nancy Juetten shows how you can impact, make your leads flow, and earn the income you are supposed to be making with podcast guesting. She helps you deal with your mindset and beliefs and how to be ready for the show so you showcase your topics clearly and in a compelling way and get your mission accomplished. Check out these episode highlights: 01:25 - Nancy's ideal client: "My ideal clients are successful service providers who want to book themselves on the right shows without hiring an expensive booking agency." 01:42 - The problem Nancy helps solve: "They may not be willing to make the leap to hire an agency and want to learn how to do this themselves. The problem that they have is chances are many of their speaking gigs got tabled during the COVID-19 scenario, and they found themselves with an empty calendar, invisibility, not enough reliable lead flow, and frustration about not being able to make the kind of money they want to raising their voice and making their impact." 02:25 - The symptoms people have before working with Nancy: "You need to be podcast guesting if your lead flow is at a trickle instead of a flow. You have no speaking gigs on the calendar and no big conferences to go to because most of them have shut down. You feel locked out of the cool kids club, and you're ready to do something about it. You are someone who may not love technology but loves to speak, and you want more opportunities to feel that joy more often." 03:33 - Common mistakes people make before working with Nancy: "Number one is they make self-serving pitches that pitch their book or pitch their thing without paying attention to what the host is interested in, or their embedded audience cares about. Another is forgetting to tune into the podcast to make sure it's the right vibe for your tribe and the right match for your message." 05:03 - Nancy's one Valuable Free Action (VFA): "One thing I want you to do is to deal with your mindset and believe and behave as if the most important opportunity is coming to you tomorrow. And that means being ready to go to the show before you go." 05:42 - Nancy's Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out www.mediaonesheetnow.com; it gives you 15 minutes of your time, you'll have this done in 20 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes, and you'll be ready to go to the show before you go. 06:29 - Q: What's the most important part of podcast guesting that has absolutely nothing to do with being on the air? A: Podcast guesting is the start of a beautiful lasting relationship that can stand the test of time. When the microphone goes silent,

Hear CPG chair Daniel Feingold discuss with lead author Nancy You on important updates to the management of Rectal Cancer. Includes TNT (total neoadjuvant), Watch and Wait, TaTME, MIS approaches and more!

Philanthropy Misunderstood by Bob Hopkins The word PHILANTHROPY isn't new, but many think being a philanthropist is about money. In Bob Hopkins' new book, he assures us it IS NOT. He and 100 of his friends define, by way of their good deeds, that philanthropy is about LOVE OF MANKIND. Philanthropy Misunderstood is a 256-page coffee- table book that will surely entertain and inform you. You won't want to put it down. It is colorful and exciting. “Bob Hopkins Introduces us to 100 plus new best friends…people like you and me who give of themselves who actually LOVE others. What a joyful time Bob shares with us. Optimism and hope emerge from every page. Each person's story sparkles. Each one makes us prouder to be fellow ‘homo-sapiens'.” Dr. Claire Gaudiani, philanthropist, author and international lecturer. Bob recalls his first experience with his mother when he was five years old in Garden City, Kansas as they delivered groceries to a poor family during the holidays. He remembers the pat on the back he received from someone for doing good. “Maybe it was God,” he recalled. For more information, go to Philanthropy Misunderstood.   Read the Interview Hugh Ballou: Greetings. Welcome to this episode of The Nonprofit Exchange. Wow. This is going to open your mind to a whole new world. I just met Bob Hopkins recently on a recent trip to Dallas. Some of our previous guests that started Barefoot Winery said, “You have to meet Bob.” When I was in Dallas, I rang him up, and we met. They had shared his book with me called Philanthropy Misunderstood. I thought it was a nice book. When I started digging into the stories and what Bob knew about philanthropy, I said, “We have to share this with other people.” Bob, welcome to The Nonprofit Exchange. Tell people a little bit about you and your passion. Bob Hopkins: Thank you, Hugh. I am so honored to be invited to be here with you as your guest today. I am glad to know that there are some other people in the book in your audience today. I am an older person. I have been around for a long time. Every 20 years, I ask myself, “What am I doing, and where am I going?” I have divided myself into four different segments of my life. I am on the last 18 years. I give myself another 18 years to live. I am trying to figure out what to do, so I am probably going to go to a seminar called PSI in June to find out what I'm going to do next. But, Hugh, I have been involved with this word “philanthropy” for the last 45-50 years. I learn more about what it means all the time. Then I became confused and realized that what I thought philanthropy was is not. Or maybe it is part of, but that's why I had to dig into it and tell stories of 108 people who actually do philanthropic things for other people. That's what this book is about. Hugh: How long have you been engaged in the nonprofit arena with leaders and different kinds of organizations? Bob: I came to Dallas in 1984. I had just been involved as the director of development on the National Council of Alcoholism and learned all about this word called “fundraising” and philanthropy. Found out that the two of them are together as one word and one meaning, and they are also separate things. Some people get them mixed up. They think that fundraising is about money, but so is philanthropy. I have learned that philanthropy can be about money, but largely not. Instead, it's doing good things for others. That's how I got involved with this. I have been in Dallas for 38 years, and I have been working in raising money and now writing a book. I did a magazine called Philanthropy in Texas for a while. Every decade, I learned a little bit more about what that word means. Hugh: Bob, you and I are in our mid-70s, we'll say. We could be sitting back, chilling, and not doing anything. But you and I have a passion for being engaged. Why aren't you sitting around? You're teaching classes, and the stuff that you're asking your students is really profound. You're active with some local charities still. Why is this important to you? Bob: I don't know. I do it because I don't know what else to do. I do play tennis, and I do ride horses. Those are two of my hobbies. I do spend time doing those two things every week, so it's not like I'm constantly thinking about philanthropy, even though I have a horse named Philanthropy. I watch the USTA, and did you know the USTA is a nonprofit organization? They wouldn't survive if they didn't get contributions from people. They do good for others. I guess I'm involved with philanthropy pretty much all the time, even though it's my joy. I love doing it. I like talking about it. I like telling people about it. I like finding people who are doing different new things. I have found so many people over my 40 years that I decided to put them in a book. That's where Philanthropy Misunderstood came from. Hugh: I've had the joy of visiting a couple. The whole family does this water project. I won't get into it, but I want you to tell people. You called them up and said, “You have to meet Hugh.” I went over there, and it was an amazing visit with the whole family. I met the couple. I didn't meet the kids, but I have heard about them and their involvement. How about highlighting some of the stories? Let's talk about this one first; they will be guests on the show in June. It's folding paper. How does that help people? Bob: This is a crazy story, and it's a fabulous story. It's been so fabulous that it's been on Good Morning America. Neiman Marcus actually helped these girls sell these ornaments that are called origami that they make. Their church and schools make them with them. They have volunteers of hundreds of people who do nothing but help make origami, and they sell the origami for $50-$75 a piece. To date, they have raised over $2 million building water wells to actually give water around the world. 170 different water wells in 17 or 18 different countries. These girls are 15, 13, and 10 years old. They started it when they were 4, 5, and 6 because Daddy is part Japanese. He said, “We need to do some origami.” One thing led to the other. I'm not sure what the other is and how detailed you have to get in to find out what the thinking was of the parents, about involving their children in making these origami. That's their life. It is now their life. These girls are so smart because they are in a business. The 15-year-old is the president of the foundation. It's a cool thing. Hugh: I went to visit the whole house and the project. These volunteers come in to do the folding. It's engaged people in a focus. I don't know if the people come in and do that right now, but maybe the family can do more while the kids are out of school. There is another story in here that has a big picture, and it's Bonnie and Michael with Barefoot Winery. They were guests a couple months ago, and they were the ones who connected us. Tell the story about how you got connected and their story in the book. Bob: It's so interesting because Eric is actually the one who introduced me to Bonnie and Michael. He was the marketing director of Barefoot Wine. What Bonnie and Michael did, when they couldn't sell the wine, because nobody wanted to buy it because there was no place to buy it, and liquor stores didn't want to buy it because nobody was asking for it. They started giving it away to charities on the beach in beach towns, mainly starting in Florida. He would give it to them for free, and he said, “If you like it, go to your grocery stores and tell them to buy it.” Long story short, over 15 years, it became the #1 wine in America. Bonnie and Michael did it through giving wine away to charitable causes. I know that they had a marketing plan here. They said, “This is cause-related marketing,” which are words we used to use. They didn't really know it was philanthropy because they really wanted to sell wine. But it also made them feel good, too. I have taken Bonnie and Michael on a philanthropy trip to Mexico. So I got to watch them in action. It didn't have to do with wine; it had to do with building schools and painting houses for people in Mexico. It's a great story. They are in the book, and they should be. Hugh: The book is what you would call a coffee table book. It is hardbound. It's a $45 book. The quality of printing and the quality of the stories and an amazing layout and design. It should be $100. It's one of these treasures. My fourth book, which you have a copy of, Transforming Power, I teach people how to do things. I got to a point where I said, “Hmm, people want to be inspired by stories.” That's one of the premises behind this show is for people to tell their stories. There are people out there in the trenches who are struggling to make ends meet, to pull people together, to rally volunteers, to rally their boards, to rally their funders. Let's talk a bit about this title and what's behind it. What is the biggest misunderstanding on both sides, the funder and people seeking funding? Bob: It started with me. I was always told that philanthropy was about money. I started a magazine in Texas all about people who had money and gave it away. I would come into my staff and say, “I think we need to do Boone Pickens on the cover of the magazine. And the first question was, “How much money does he give away?” That was the common question. That was whether or not we were going to put him in the book on how much money they gave away. Finally, after a while, I realized, You know what? I know a lot of people who do so much more than writing a check. They're never recognized. I have this incredible woman from Houston named Carolyn Farb who spends 26 hours a day helping people learn how to raise money, but also build a hospital, and do all kinds of things. She is not known to be a huge giver, even though she is a giver; therefore, her picture would not be on the front cover of anything because of money. But it would be because of the word “philanthropy.” I realized, because of Carolyn, that I was talking to the wrong people. I needed to be talking to people who were in the book. The people in the book probably give money as well, but that wasn't what I wanted the focus on. I wanted them to tell me why they do what they do. Why do they build origami and build water wells around the world? They don't get any money for it, and they don't give any money. They give things. Well, they do give money because they raise money in their case. Bonnie and Michael, they give money, too. Instead, they gave wine. Chip Richey gives his time and effort and expertise in filmmaking. He's made lots of films about the Indians and Oklahoma. He did things for me for my philanthropy courses. There is Jordie Turk who was a student of mine, who volunteered on his own dime to come to Dallas and video my launch party. His name is not even on the piece. But he did it. He loved it. He is happy about it. I think that's what philanthropy does, moreso than what money does, is gives you joy. That's what everybody says. I get so much more out of what I did than what I gave. Hugh: Philanthropy is both. We have to run the organization. It's like having a car. You have to put gas in it. But there is a bigger piece to this. It's not money alone. Sometimes, people want to give money to save their conscience. They want to be doing something, and they're not really involved with it. So they want to buy a place. but buying a place and stepping up and working. Talk about the synergy of the two of those together. Bob: I'm a giver. But nobody would ever recognize me as a financial giver because I give $100 or $200 or $25 or $50 or whatever. I'm involved with a lot of organizations. I give not necessarily because I love the organization, but I love the person who is asking me. So I write a check in order to continue this relationship I have with this person as a friend or as a person who works with me. But when I actually take on a project and get my feet dirty and hands wet, and I go out and build something, or I paint, I come back tired, but for some reason, I give myself this secret pat on my shoulder and say, “You did good today, Bobby.” That's what happened to me when I was five years old. My mother and I went to give groceries in a trailer park in Garden City, Kansas. We walked away, and I felt this hand on my shoulder. It was patting my shoulder, and it said, “You did good today, Bobby.” I looked around, and there was nobody there. That is the feeling I have gotten because of giving my time and efforts, as opposed to writing a check to get you off my back to say, “Go. I put my name someplace.” They go, “Oh wow, $100. Thank you so much.” Then they come back the next year and do the same thing. There is just a real difference between the people who are in the trenches and the people who aren't. Hugh: I think it's important to give at any level. You say that you won't get recognized for $25 or $50. But if we get a lot of people who support us with their time, talent, and money—you give your time, talent, and money. There is a triage there that are all magnified by each other. If you have the synergy, if you have one person who gives $25, great. If you have 1,000 people who give $25, then you are paying salary and rent and some operating costs. Then you can rev up the engines and focus on your mission. I do find a lot of charities are compromised in many ways, but as you know, the story of SynerVision is we want to empower leaders to step up to the level that they can take the organization. I noticed some of your students are here from the class, and I want to talk about them as well. There is a synergy in those three. We spend time teaching leaders how to raise the bar on their performance so we know how to engage people who are philanthropic-minded. There is a whole lot of stuff there. Jeff, “Bob has given many of us the gift of learning to give, and it is life-changing.” What a quote that is. Talk about your students. I got to sit in on three classes last week. You're doing this Zoom group session education, which is quite remarkable. Your gracious spirit with them, and you see what's inside them, and you see potential that maybe some of them don't see in themselves. You said to me you challenged them to think about writing a eulogy, but you also mentioned doing some research on a nonprofit organization. There was a need for you to have to explain what that meant. What is a nonprofit organization? Talk a little bit about the class. Bob: I taught at a university here. I was teaching business and professional speaking. I decided I wanted to bring in my love and passion to the course. How am I going to bring my love and passion into the course when philanthropy is not in the syllabus? I included philanthropy in the syllabus. When you talk about business, you are going to talk about nonprofit businesses. They had never heard of a nonprofit business, even though they had. They knew what the Salvation Army and the Red Cross was. They knew what the Boys and Girls Club and Boy Scouts are. But they didn't know they were nonprofit organizations. They didn't know there were two million of them in the United States. They didn't know that half of the things that are positive about our country is philanthropy. I said, “Okay, let's have you all look at a nonprofit you are connected with.” They had no idea they were even connected with one. Landon is a new student this semester in my class right now. You asked him a question and asked him to talk when you were in my class. He did. He has a passion. You can feel it when he talks, about the things he does or can do and wants to do to serve people in our community. What I'm doing is there is maybe a small fire underneath them already, and I'm turning up the heat. They get passionate about it, and I empower them to do something about it once they learn about the fact that they can do it. They can do something on their own. Landon is one of those. He has several physical problems, and one of them is with his eyes. He picked a nonprofit organization that had to do with sight. He loves being involved with something he can connect with and understand. We all do. We all can. I am attention-deficit. There is a nonprofit organization and a school that has to do with children teaching children about dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorders. There is something I can do. There is something everybody can do because we all have something that we are connected with, and we just didn't know it. Hugh: I was going to come in and say hello, and I stayed the whole class for two of them. We are recording this in the middle of being sequestered home. It's a time of refreshing, renewal, revising, and thinking about how when we go back to work, how we are going to define the new normal. We are leaders. We will reset the bar. I don't think we're going to go back to what we did before. Most of the people in the book didn't do things in ordinary ways; that's why they are in the book. These stories will inspire others not just to do the same old thing that they always had observed, but to think about what they bring to the table that's really special. What is the new opportunity? Bob, let's dig into some more of these stories. The book is divided into sections. Talk a little bit about why that is and why that's important. Bob: I had some great people working with me. Tom Dolphins from Kansas City designed the book. The book is so attractive that people want to find out what it is. It's not just the words, but it's the design. And Ann Vigola from Lawrence, Kansas started out as my editor. She happened to be a student of mine prior to that. Ann spent a lot of time figuring out how to organize this book because as being an attention-deficit person, I have all this information up here. I didn't know how to organize it. It was organized starting out with topics. We did One Day at a Time because I am a recovering alcoholic, and I wanted to talk a little bit about that topic. One Day at a Time also had to do with the AIDS epidemic. I had a brother who died of AIDS, and I wanted to focus on that. Every person in here has had something to do in my life. People would say, “You didn't do so-and-so. They are such a great person.” I said, “I know, but I didn't work with them.” All of these people, I worked with. All the stories in here, many of them, I had something to do with. Chip got me involved in the Phoenix Project, or maybe I got him involved, which was helping warriors coming home from war, connecting them with their spouses on retreats with horses and massages. Chip actually put together a video about this whole thing. I was involved with that. I went to the sweat lodges with these warriors and watched them connect and relate to each other. They are all stories I have been involved with in one way or another, and that's one story I like a lot. Jordie worked with me with the poorest of the poor kids in Mexico in Guanajuato, Mexico, Leon. We would go to the poorest school, and I would tell the teachers, “I want to take your kids for just an hour once a week and bring in 20 of my students. We will teach them philanthropy.” We watched children change because of a handshake. Jordie was able to volunteer his time, even though he was a student of mine, to put this fabulous piece together that is on YouTube. These are all stories we were able to capture. I wish I'd had these two men together with me for all of the stories because somebody's contacted me and said, “We need to make a movie here with these short stories.” Some of them still have long-lasting things. One of the people in Mexico said, “Just teaching a child to do a handshake and watch her change as a person week after week after week has changed me as a person,” she said. It does. When you do philanthropy, it changes you. Hugh: That's a great sound bite. Serving churches in music ministry for 40 years, I took many mission trips. We went to give them, but we came back having received a lot more than we tried to give away. There is a reciprocity to giving. You're a giver, but you're blessed by your giving. You're enriched by your giving. You give stuff away, but it really impacts you. When I am with you, you're just full of energy. You're this most passionate energized person purposeful person. What more about the book? Was there a story here delving into their story for the book, that really moved you more than any other story?   Bob: Yeah. We took a vote in our little group who put this book together, Ann, Tom, and I. There is one called “Bridging the Gap.” It is written by Morgan Herm. He is a schoolteacher. He talks about a bridge that is in Pennsylvania, where he lives. He would go and meditate there. On this bridge, he noticed that somebody had put in a letter between the planks. He opened the letter, and it was a letter that a person had written about them being able to become at peace with themselves because of meditating on this bridge. He put the letter back. Then there was a collection of letters that people would put in about how this bridge had brought them peace. It helped them through their divorce, or it helped them through their domestic violence. Morgan finally built a mailbox so people could put their letters in the mailbox. They could read each other's letters. That's philanthropy. That bridge serves as a philanthropic metaphor or example of peace and love. That's one of my favorites, and it's written so well because Morgan is an English teacher and writer. Hugh: Each contributor wrote their own story. Bob: They wrote their own stories. There was a couple of them that I wrote. There was a woman named Ruth Altschuter in Dallas who died last year. I wanted her in the book. So I went to her husband and said, “Would you write this for me?” He said, “No, I can't write anymore. I don't write.” I said, “Let me write Ruth's story, and you approve it.” He said okay. But most people wrote their own stories. One lady wrote a story that I told her should be 1,000 words. It was 5,000 words. I read it and realized I couldn't cut anything out. It's the history of Swiss Avenue, which is one of the oldest historic districts in the United States. She called it, “Philanthropy Built Her Neighborhood.” It's about how the mansions and big houses on Swiss Avenue became run-down in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. You could buy a piece of property here for $10 or 25,000, which are now going for $2 million, back in the old days. She wanted to tell the story about how it became a fabulous neighborhood that is looked upon as one of the premier places in the United States. It ended up being 10 pages, and I left the 5,000 words. It is the longest story. It wasn't meant to be that way, but it's really well done, so I didn't cut it out. Hugh: You said here. Is it in Dallas? Bob: Yes. I live in that district. I live in the Swiss Avenue historic district. Hugh: Wow, that's fascinating. Landon has a question. Landon, you're live, so if you have your mic on, do you want to talk to us? Landon Shepherd: My question is, let's say I have an idea for a nonprofit I would like to start. But I don't really know exactly how or where to start it, or who to talk to about getting started with what I want to do. What would be your advice to some of the students who may have these ideas, but don't know how to work out these ideas? Hugh: That question is for your professor? Landon: Either one of you guys. Hugh: We'll tag-team on it. Go ahead, Bob. Bob: He's a student of mine, and I will definitely have a talk about that. But we have in Dallas and in Fort Worth and every major city in the United States a center for nonprofit management. The centers for nonprofit management in each of the major cities are where people can go learn about giving and learn how to start an organization, a 501(c)3, the who, what, when, where, why. They have seminars all the time. You can go to the Community Foundation of Texas. You can go to the Dallas Foundation. These are other avenues of where people are experts in this. Yes, there is a way to do that. Landon, I will tell you who to contact here in Dallas. Hugh: There are centers like that in every city. There is also a universal presence called SynerVision Leadership Foundation. We have a blue button at the top of our page labeled, “Join.” We have this community with all kinds of resources. Sometimes, we find how to do strategy or how to do leadership or how to do fundraising or how to do a brand or marketing. We put it in one contiguous process so you don't have to look around. You can look at our site and see if that suits you. Combine working in person with one of these centers Bob is talking about. That would give you a leg up. Bob, I know half of the nonprofits started each year will close ultimately. My take on it is they haven't done a good job of looking at the market to make sure it's not being duplicated, and they haven't really activated their board and set themselves up for success. What is your idea of why some of those close? Bob: You're right. They usually are started by people who don't have any information. They have a passion, which you have to have for the topic. People who have cancer, they want to start a nonprofit organization that has to do with cancer and raise money in the name of somebody. The Susan G. Komen Foundation was started by Nancy Brinker here in Dallas because her sister Susan G. Komen had breast cancer. She told her before she died, “I am going to find you a cure for this.” What Nancy did was she surrounded herself with experts who knew how to put together a nonprofit. Now, it is the best one in the world. I can tell you five or six right off the top of my head that didn't last for more than a year because they didn't have a board of directors, they didn't know how to do their paperwork, they started raising money without knowing how to be a fundraiser. Let me tell Landon and everybody this. There is an association called the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in the United States. 35,000 professional fundraising people. I was a member of this group for most of my years as the president here in Dallas, and went to all the major conferences. There are conferences every year with AFP. There is a luncheon in most major cities every month that bring together all the people who raise money for the nonprofits in any city. There is a program with a speaker. It is a time to network, the people who have been there and done it before. That's how you do it. Hugh: Building a network around you. There is a peer-to-peer network, which is great, but you want to have a network of people who are even better than you. In my case, it's not hard to do. But hang around people who have been there, done that, and are experts. We have Jeffrey Fulgham watching who has a question. I want to allow you to talk. Jeffrey has been a member of that and is a certified fundraiser. Why is it important for you? You went through the certification process and studied development for so many years. Do you want to comment on the organization and why it's so important for people to understand now? Jeffrey Fulgham: I have always looked at it as a cliché of the good housekeeping seal of approval. I think this gets more important every day. This needs to be a profession, and it needs to be professional, not just in fundraisers but in nonprofits. There has to be some standard. We hope it's a standard of excellence, but there has to be some standard by which people can look and say, “Okay, this is an organization, or an individual, who is committed to certain principles, certain basic values, that transcend whatever it is that that organization is involved in.” Obviously, there are certain organizations whose values are going to be different than another one. But those values are related to the mission, not the operating strategy or the integrity of the entity or the integrity of the individuals working within it. What it allows us to do is create that standard. When someone looks at an organization, they have Guidestar to go to and the other metric organizations. But they also have a way to look and say, “Hey, this is what these organizations support. These are the values they support. This organization belongs to them and subscribes to these values. They subscribe to certain values. They set the standard.” Of course, the CFRE sets the standard as well. I think it's important for people who are giving, but also for people who want to get involved as volunteers, who want to go work somewhere. Do you want to work for an organization who subscribes to certain values and has that level of integrity? That's the main reason why I think it's all important. Hugh: Great. Before I let you go back into your listening mode, do you have a question for our guest today about philanthropy or about his book? Jeffrey: You know, that's the first time I've heard of this book. I'm definitely going to have to get a copy of it. I think it's really interesting that you mentioned that philanthropy is not necessarily about money. I always tell people that fundraising is not about money; it usually ends in money, but it's about relationships and about creating relationships that are long-lasting. Those relationships should transcend the money in that just because in a bad year, and we're having one by the way, where people are not going to make gifts to organizations they care about because they have to take care of their families and their friends. They will give more money to their church. They will make hard decisions about who they are giving to. If that person doesn't make a gift to my organization but they have been supporting me for 20 years, do I abandon them and ignore them because they are not giving money through our fundraising? No. Because I have a relationship with them that transcends their financial giving, or possibly their volunteerism. It becomes a different thing. Philanthropy is definitely a mindset beyond money, and I love that you are bringing that to the surface so people can understand what it's about. Hugh: I'm glad you asked me where to get the book. There is a website called PhilanthropyMisunderstood.org. You can find out how to get the book there. Bob: Thank you, Jeffrey. I want to know more about you as well. I am a member of AFP and of CFRE as well. There are a couple of people in the book who are CFRE, Scott Staub and Alfonse Brown. They have great stories in there not about fundraising. As you say, it was about relationship-building and the volunteerism they participated in as well. Hugh: Not everybody wrote a story in there. There is a story about a horse. Who wrote that? Bob: I wrote that one. It's my best story. I wanted Philanthropy to be on my front cover, and Philanthropy happens to be my horse. This woman by the name of Tracy Carruth, who is a big philanthropist in Dallas, breeds horses. I happen to have an Arabian horse. She breeds Arabian horses. Napatoff, who is her most beautiful world champion horse, was retiring. Before he died, or left the breeding ring, she wanted to make sure that I got an offspring from Napatoff. She gave me the semen from Napatoff to go into Sherry Rochesta, who was my Arabian. Through that, we got a beautiful horse that I named Philanthropy. I wanted to start that as my first story. My editor didn't like it, so we put it into the back. I am there with Tracy Carruth and our horses. That's the story. Hugh: The standards for everything, the quality of the writing and the photographs, the design of the book, all of these sections in the book. You start out with Circle of Influence. Jeffrey headed us that way. It's not about money; it's about relationship. When you and I had lunch recently, we talked about relationship. You now have a relationship with all these people, and they wanted to be in your book. Why is relationship important to our work? Relationship in our teaching at SynerVision, it's the underpinning of leadership and ministry, and it's the support for communications. Funding and philanthropy happens as a result of relationship. Say a little more about relationship and how it's important. Bob: Debbie Mrazek, who is one of the writers, wrote a part in the book called “Your Circle of Influence.” Who are all those people who will take care of you, who will take you to the airport and lend you sugar and tell you where to get the plumber? I had my students write down 100 people they know, wheedle it down to 25, and then 15 who will be in their circle of influence. I teach networking. It's not what you know; it's who you know. That's the first thing and last thing I say in my classes. My students, I say, “How many people do you know?” They didn't know 100 people. One of them knew seven. My family members. No, I don't want to meet anybody. No, I don't need people. I said to the class, “I'm going to take students to Nepal. It will cost $1,500. How many of you can raise the money to make it happen?” I went to this girl who said she knew seven people, and she didn't want to know any more people. She said, “I don't know anybody. I don't want to know anybody. I guess I'm not going to Nepal.” I said, “I guess you're not.” We took people to Nepal because my students most of the time realize that they have a great number of people around them who care about them, but there is a methodology of how to influence people and how to cultivate people and how to get them to be your friends, and more than friends, how to be a good friend, how to help people, and actually go around hunting for things to do for people. That's what I want my students to become. I don't think that we get anywhere in life without others. That's one of the key principles that I teach in my communication classes. Hugh: Your class that I sat in on is really about communications. You're really promoting good thinking skills. Communication to me is based on relationship. We can send a whole bunch of emails that nobody reads. It's not about data. Bob: No. I send emails, and I pick up the phone. We used to send faxes. We used to go knock on their door. We used to drive by. I think that this time right now, we're trying to figure out how to continue life in solitude since we are told to stay home, and stay home alone. I think we're finding this television and this computer even more important than ever since this is how we're able to stay in touch, through this cell phone we love so much and this computer. However, I can go next door and knock on the door and take them a cake and say, “I was thinking of you and realize you may not have any desserts at your house today.” Sometimes, I'll have my lawnmower man come out and next door, they don't mow their lawn very much. “Go mow their lawn. I'll pay you.” The people come home and say, “I can't believe you had somebody mow my lawn.” It was a philanthropic idea I had, was to love mankind and do something for the person next door. Hugh: Bob is an inspiration. My ideas are popping. You have 100 creative ideas every six seconds. You're prolific. In these stories, 100+ stories from people who helped change the world. We are all doing our part. It's not one person. But one person can start a movement. My friend in Lynchburg, he was the person who founded Stop Hunger Now, which is now Rise Against Hunger. Before we had a setback with coronavirus, they were on target to package 750 million meals. Their vision is to end hunger in our lifetime. It's not just about packaging the meals; it's about a lot more than that. One person thought of that and founded it, and it's now a major movement that will exist long past his lifetime, which is what he wanted. It's a legacy. What are the legacy possibilities for any of us who say, “I want to do something for humankind and have it keep going?” Are there possibilities for all of us? Bob: I always say, “What are you doing for the person who just passed away in your life? What will you do for your mother? What will you do for your father?” I got involved with building schools in Nepal with Don Wilkes. Let me tell you about Don Lueke since he is here. Don Lueke is from Kansas City; he and I met probably 30 years ago because he taught children at his school about giving. It's the Junior Leadership. It's similar to my PAVE program (Philanthropy and Volunteers Education). For the last 15-20 years, he and a man by the name of Steve O'Neill, who are businesspeople in Kansas City, take time out of their week every week to teach children at the Catholic school where their children go about giving back. This has become so sophisticated that this last year, I was a part of a seminar they had at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, where all of his students, maybe 30 or 40 of them, came and gave presentations on nonprofit organizations they had helped in the community. He does similar things to me: empower young people to get involved in the community. There is a double page about him and this group he is doing it with. Don Wilkes in Nepal for example. What can you do to honor somebody? He said, “If you can make a contribution of a couple thousand dollars, we will put someone's name on a classroom in a school we are building in Nepal.” I called my brother and sister and said, “For $2,000, we can put our mother's name on a classroom in Nepal.” My brother says, “I want to see a video of what it looks like.” I sent him the video, and he called me back immediately and said, “Let's do it.” My sister said, “Sight unseen, let's do it. We want to honor our mother.” For $2,000, our mother's name is on a school's room in Nepal. I know because I went to Nepal to see it. I had to go see my mother's name. When I got out of the car, and the children were clapping for me because I was amongst them, because I gave a simple $2,000 and put my mother's name on the deal, gave me such joy that we decided to do it again. I put my cousin's name and my aunt's name in another classroom on another school they are building in Nepal. That is a way you can provide not necessarily for yourself, but for somebody else that meant a lot in this society. Everybody we run around with meant a lot in this society. They did something in their lives that changed the world. Hugh: Absolutely. That's an inspiration. Are you willing to entertain questions if I open everybody's mic? Bob: Absolutely. Eric Groover: Bob, this is Eric Groover from the University of North Texas. How are you doing, Bob? Bob: Hi, Eric. It's good to see you again. Eric: Hugh, I just want to say thank you for hosting Bob. Bob and I are new acquaintances through some of our students at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science here at the University of North Texas in Denton. Just north of the DFW metroplex. Bob was actually scheduled to come speak to some students on our campus last week, and unfortunately we had to cancel that. Bob was gracious enough to bring up some of the books that we purchased for our students and faculty and staff. We spent a few minutes violating the university's shelter-in-place order, visiting in my office for 20-30 minutes. I just wanted to say, Bob, that it's been lovely watching you today and hearing your stories again. Just a huge thank-you to Hugh for hosting this event. He does you credit, and I'm glad for that. Thank you very much. Hugh: Thank you, Eric. Blessings. Nancy Hopkins: This is Nancy Carol Hopkins. Yes, I am Bob's sister. I am watching from Tucson, Arizona. Obviously, Bob has been an influence in a lot of people's lives, including mine and our younger brother. I wanted to make a comment on the volunteerism point. First of all, Bob gets asked frequently how come he stays so young and is so active at his age and has so much energy. If you look up and do some research on volunteerism, there is a lot of research that shows that volunteerism actually helps you medically, emotionally, physically, keeps you young literally. It does. There is medical research to prove that. If anybody wants to know how Bob stays so young and energetic, it has nothing to do with vitamins and pills he is taking. It has everything to do with the work that he does. Hugh: Very helpful, Nancy. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing that. Nancy: You're welcome. Hugh: You don't have to take tonic if you hang around Bob Hopkins. Nancy: That's right. You don't. Hugh: That's so rich. By the way, our governor slapped a stay-at-home order on us until June 10. The exception is volunteerism. If you volunteer for a charity, you can get out and do it. That was a good thing, I thought. Penny Rambacker: Hi, this is Penny Rambacker. How are you doing, Bob? Bob: They said Penny. I was hoping it was you. Penny: I'd like to make another comment about the idea of having purpose. I think Bob has a purpose, as many of us philanthropists have. I have been reading a book recently that said two of the things you can do to be the happiest in life are 1) to have a purpose and to feel needed, and that keeps you young and alive, and 2) is to be grateful. Those of us that practice gratitude and appreciate what we have are oftentimes people who are giving because they have seen other people with greater needs than their own. They become grateful for all of the things they have in their life. I had a huge gratitude lesson back when I first got into this. That was when I visited the garbage dump in Guatemala City. I saw children living there. It really touched my heart, and I had to do something about it. I found my purpose, and I felt grateful for the life I have. Two good things to think about when you are doing philanthropy. Yep, that's me and my kids. Hugh: What page is that on, Bob? Bob: Pages 48-49. Hugh: Love it. Great stories. Penny, where are you? Penny: I am in Naples, Florida. We work in Guatemala. My charity has built 57 schools in the mountains of Guatemala. We also sell handicrafts. We just sent an e-newsletter telling people to visit our store online. It's virus-free. You can go shopping for a greater good. If you want to go shopping, we have great things at Store.MiraclesInAction.org. Hugh: Good for you. I have been to Guatemala, and people are very poor. They have lots of wonderful natural resources. They do wonderful clothes with all these designs that are brilliant. What are you showing, Bob? Bob: This is Don Lueke's page. He is on pages 82-83. Hugh: Don, do you want to comment? Don Lueke: This is a great opportunity to showcase your work, Bob, and the work of everybody in that book. I appreciate the efforts on your part. Just want to add. We talk about having a purpose. I think that is what makes us get up every day, or at least get up quicker. I don't know if I have a lot more to add. I'm humbled by everybody's story in the book, so I think I am just one of many. Hugh: Thank you for sharing. I am humbled being part of Bob's network. *Sponsor message from Wordsprint* Bob, what is a parting thought you'd like to leave people with today? Bob: I am going to do another book called Philanthropy Understood. It's going to be new people. Some of the old people we want to expand upon, too. I'd like to do something with TAMS. I think TAMS is a great program that Eric Groover has been a part of before. There are so many people that I have been thinking about. That's what I'm doing right now, and that's why so many people are here who are in the book because I sent them a memo telling them all that we are needing to stay together on a monthly basis. We did have a man pass away yesterday in the book, Charles Lowe. He has spent 45 years working with the disease called neurofibromatosis, and I worked for them for eight years. I was able to tell all of the people in the book about his passing. So many people responded who didn't even know Charles, but did know his article in the book. I think the more we create this circle of influence around ourselves, the richer our lives are going to be. Also, the kinds of people we depend upon, I always try to find people who are smarter than you who have more things going on for them because they will lift me up instead of running around with people who will pull me down. My challenge to everyone is to continue these kinds of groups, and continue doing good together. That is the real fun about philanthropy and being volunteers. It's a togetherness thing. I did go with Penny to Guatemala, and I loved the experience. She is in the book. I went with her 20 years ago. I included her in the book because that experience changed my life 20 years ago. It's one of those many things that make up a person. It's so much fun going back in my history, in my family. My sister is the greatest philanthropist of our family. She is doing more than me even. I think that's the joy. I don't even say it's happy anymore; it's a joy to walk out on my front porch and say, “God, take me. What is my next step? What do I have to do next?” You know what. Somebody picks me up and takes me. I think that's the lesson I have learned more than anything: you have to be willing and tell people. Hugh: Bob Hopkins, you are a gift to humankind. Thank you so much for being our guest today. Bob: Thank you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nancy Gorski is the founder and CEO of Strategic Mobility Group, an innovative technology provider that designs and integrates mobile solutions for enterprises. Contact Nancy: Web: https://smg3rx.com/ Twitter: @NancySMG3 Twitter: @SMG3Rx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-mobility-group/ Contact Avrohom: Web: https://asktheceo.biz Facebook: AvrohomGottheil Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [00:36] Enterprise Mobility is a growing market, and a critical component of every business’s IT strategy. In fact, according to a report by Market Research Future (https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/byod-enterprise-mobility-market-6699), the global market for Bring Your Own Device And Enterprise Mobility is expected to grow from $39 billion in 2017 to $94 billion by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.86%. Healthcare has typically been slower than most industries to adopt new technology, due to a myriad of reasons, ranging from compliance to risk aversion. What are the challenges healthcare organizations face with regard to embracing enterprise mobility? [01:28] Healthcare organizations are slow to adapt to change due to human nature. [02:27] The third leading cause of death in the United States is medical errors, and 46% of them are preventable. [02:27] Mobile Technology in healthcare can drastically reduce the number of preventable medical errors. [04:00] Implementing a Mobile Technology solution in healthcare can be overwhelming. With the right technology partner, implementation & adoption can be done super efficiently and very successfully. [04:23] How can healthcare organizations overcome their challenges with adopting enterprise mobility technology? [06:12] The right systems integrator will bring the expertise required to guide you in creating your Mobile Technology implementation plan. [07:07] Strategic Mobility Group is a leader in Enterprise Mobility and has created innovative solutions geared towards solving the mobility challenges in healthcare. Tell us about how you help solve these challenges. [10:03] When designing a mobile solution, the user interface (UX) is a critical factor to consider. [12:16] Due to Covid19 many healthcare organizations are being forced to expand their horizons to look at new technological solutions. [15:24] How do people connect with you? Nancy: You can connect with us on our website: https://smg3rx.com/. You can also connect with us on Twitter: @SMG3Rx and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-mobility-group/. [16:00] Do you have any parting words of wisdom that you’d like to share with the audience? #AskTheCEO With Nancy Gorski

A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 1) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 2) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 3) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 4) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 5) - Nancy Leigh DeMossFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Living God's Design for Your Life Day 2 of 5 Guest:                        Nancy Leigh DeMoss From the series:       A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood  Bob: What does womanhood look like biblically at home?  Here is Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy: Scripture talks about a woman as reverencing her husband, honoring him, lifting him up; a woman who loves her husband, loves her children.  Proverbs speaks of the importance of a woman having the quality of discretion.  I think so many of these come back to the fact that God made us, as women, to be responders and to allow the men to be the initiators that God created them to be. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Tuesday, June 17th.  Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.  What are the core character qualities that define biblical womanhood?  We'll talk about that today, stay tuned. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Tuesday edition.  I remember when I was growing up, back then the "CBS Evening News" was hosted by Walter Cronkite – remember – Walter Cronkite, and over on NBC it was Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and I don't remember who was on ABC and neither does anybody else because nobody was even watching ABC.  And so the executives over at ABC, I think it was Fred Silverman at the time, decided he was going to have two anchors, kind of like Huntley-Brinkley.  One of them was going to be Harry Reasoner, and the other Barbara Walters.  And for the first time, America was going to be asked to get their evening news from a woman.  There was a lot of discussion – was America ready to have a woman as a nightly news anchor?   And, you know, we look at that now from the perspective of more than 30 years, and it's almost laughable.  I heard somebody the other day saying that most of the cable news anchors are women today, and we don't think anything of it.  And yet back then we were asking a lot of questions about what is the essence of manhood, what is the essence of womanhood?  And, frankly, even though we'd look back at having a female news anchor being revolutionary, and we'd laugh about that today, I still think there is a lot of confusion in our culture today about what's at the essence of manhood, and what's at the essence of womanhood? Dennis: And because of the cultural shift, there has been a shift in the Christian community.  Unfortunately, we have lost our biblical moorings, our anchor point in the Scripture, and I fear that we're raising a generation of daughters and, for that matter, sons, who do not know what it means to be a woman or to be a man.   And that's why we're committing these broadcasts just to helping women truly have a good grasp of what it means, biblically speaking, to be a woman.  And with us in the studio to help us here on a second day is Nancy Leigh DeMoss – Nancy, welcome back. Nancy: Thank you. Dennis: Nancy has spoken to women's groups for more than 20 years, and I think it's fair to say, Nancy, that this is a life message for you – defining what it means and painting a portrait of femininity, is that right? Nancy: Well, God certainly has given me a heart to glorify Him, as a woman, and that means that there are issues that have to be wrestled with. Bob: Yes, and you spend time wrestling with this issues on your daily radio program, "Revive Our Hearts," which many of our listeners are familiar with because it's heard on some of the stations that also carry FamilyLife Today.  You have also written a number of books including a bestselling book called "Lies Women Believe."  There is a new book out called "Lies Young Women Believe."  You've written a study guide called "Seeking Him," and our listeners may not know that you're going to be hosting a national conference in Chicago coming up in October.   It's called True Woman '08, and you're going to be speaking there along with Joni Eareckson Tada and Janet Parshall and, Dennis, your wife, Barbara is going to be there, Karen Loritts is going to be speaking as well – Pastor John Piper is going to be speaking to the ladies, and there is already a lot of excitement about this conference.  In fact, it's starting to fill up.  So if our listeners are interested in attending the True Woman '08 conference, they should go to our website, FamilyLife.com, and click where it says "Today's Broadcast" on the right side of the screen, and they'll find a link to the True Woman website, and they can get registered online and plan to attend the conference. Let me ask you about this issue of masculinity and femininity.  Does the Bible give us insight into why God created us differently?  Why He created us male and female? Nancy: Well, actually, God answers that question for us in His Word, thankfully.  And we find, if we go back to the Genesis record, that God made the man first, God created the man in His image, unlike all that had preceded man, unlike the animals or the plants or the seas, the waters.  God looked at the man and said, "It's not good."  It's not good that the man should be alone.   And then it is interesting to me that God sent Adam on a little hunt to find, if he could, a completer for himself.  Adam failed in that attempt.  There was no completer for him, and then I think Adam realized that God was the one who had to provide his completion.  God was the one who had to provide that which would complement him.  And then, as we know, God put the man to sleep … Bob: And I don't know this, but I bet he snored like crazy during that nap. Nancy: Probably, probably. Bob: Just guessing on that. Dennis: You think? Bob: I just am guessing he was in a deep sleep and was sawing some mean logs. Nancy: Isn't snoring the result of the Fall? Bob: Well, that's a good question. Dennis: That's a great question.  I'm more certain of this – that when God came walking up with the answer to the question, "Why am I incomplete?"  He woke up at that point, didn't he? Nancy: He did, and the thing that's helpful for us, as women, to understand is that God made us for the man.  So much of the teaching in our generation has been that the woman was is to be independent of the man; that her identity is not to be tied into that of the man.  But as we go back to the manual of life that we have here in God's Word, the manual that tells us how life can best function, we find that God made woman for the man.  He made her from the man.  They are not independent.  They are together created to reflect the image of God.  God gave her to the man as his helper.  God is saying, "The man needs one to help him in this task of exercising dominion over the earth, and the woman is the one that I have made to be able perfectly to help him fulfill that task. Bob: And in Genesis God immediately gives that a context of marriage, but you're saying that even a single woman has been created to be a helper to man? Nancy: Well, as we go into the New Testament, which helps us to understand more of the Old Testament record we get into 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, for example, that tells us that the woman was made for the man.  So obviously that relates to the context of marriage.  But I believe that God made us as women – me as a single woman – to have a role of being a helper, to be a cheerleader, an encourager, one who helps God's men fulfill their role in life. Bob: You know, you can almost hear a woman kind of flinching as you offer that definition, because she is saying, "That's it?  I'm a cheerleader?  I stand on the sidelines while men play the game, and I cheer them on, and I run the water in during the water break, and I pat them on the back, and then I got back to the sidelines and let them play?  That doesn't sound like God to me." Dennis: Yes, and there would be those add their voices, Nancy, who would say isn't being a helper a demeaning term?  Aren't you unnecessarily subjugating me to this sinful, selfish man and, after all, that was before man sinned. Nancy: The New Testament tells us that men and women, husband and wife, are heirs together of the grace of life, and that a man's greatest fulfillment and a woman's greatest fulfillment in life will come through complementing each other, not competing with each other, but being willing to complete each other.  This is not a secondary role – the woman, as much as the man, was created in the image of God.  The woman, as much as the man, is a recipient of the grace of God and, by the way, that means for both sinners in need of the grace of God.   I look at the New Testament record in Matthew, chapter 1, of the genealogy of our Lord Jesus and included in that record are five women, which would have been unusual for a Jewish audience to include women in the genealogical listing – five women each of whom, from the Jewish standpoint, had a strike or a mark against her either because of an immoral background or a foreign background or even, in the case of Mary, the mother of Jesus, having a child without having a husband.   In that passage, I believe God even shows us this pattern that women, like men, are heirs of the grace of life – participants, full participants together in the Gospel and the redemptive plan of God here on this earth. Dennis: Nancy, you're single, and thus you're not a mom, but if you were a mom, and you had three daughters like mine, all of them teenagers.  How would you be purposeful and intentional about developing and rearing a daughter to develop her femininity in relationship to men?  There's a good chance she may be single.   Nancy: You see, whether single or married, I believe God created all of us, as women, to be bearers of life.  Not only physiologically are we designed – men cannot have babies – women are physiologically designed to be able to have babies, but I think that is a picture of a deeper, inner truth that God made us, as women, to be bearers and nurturers of life.  As a single woman, one of my roles and responsibilities in ministry is to give spiritual life, to nurture spiritual life, in the lives of other young women. And you have, Dennis, speaking of your daughters, in your wife, a woman who is a model to those daughters of what it means to be a supporter, an encourager, a cheerleader, and she's modeling for your daughters the blessing of establishing that as a priority – the building of a home. Bob: Boy, that is so key, Dennis, because what Nancy is saying is that before a mom can ever teacher her daughter what it means to be a woman, a mom has to understand and embrace it for herself, model it for her daughters, or the instruction is not going to make any sense.  And we've seen just the opposite occur.  We've seen women in the culture embracing the cultural definition of femininity and wanting to raise daughters who fulfill a more masculine design for life. Dennis: Yes, and as a result of taking on the water of the culture, their own boats are sinking, because they are confused, as women, as to what is a woman, and she can't pass it on to her daughters or to her sons.  And, by the way, I think it's very important that our sons not only know what biblical masculinity is from mothers and fathers, but that they also know what it means to be a woman, as well, so that when they see a woman, they know what a true woman is.  They don't define a woman around the exterior, which, over in 1 Peter, chapter 3, Peter warns a woman about merely placing an emphasis on the exterior.  Our sons need to be discerning about what a true woman is and what a true woman is to become. Nancy: Of course, the whole purpose of Proverbs 31 is that it was written to a king to tell him what qualities he ought to look for in a woman; what were the womanly qualities, the qualities of a woman who fears the Lord – what would she look like and how should he choose a wife? Dennis: I think a key question for every mom and, for that matter, every woman, whether you're single or married or whether you even have children – but put yourself in this position – if your daughter came to you and asked you, "Mommy, what does it mean to be a woman and not a man?"  And, Nancy, I'm going to put that question to you right now – what if you had a daughter, and she asked you that question?  How would you answer her? Nancy: You know, Dennis, since I was a teenage girl, I have searched the Scriptures, the Word of God, and also as I've talked with literally thousands of women around the world, come to see if there are certain qualities, which, when you put them together, form a portrait of God's kind of woman.  We've talked about some of those already – a woman as a helper, as an encourager, as a cheerleader, a woman distinctively in a role as a servant, a servant of God and of God's men.  We've talked about a woman as a nurturer, a mother, a bearer of life.  Scripture talks about a woman as a teacher, a teacher of her children, a teacher of younger women. And then we read in the New Testament that there are specific qualities that God considers precious and beautiful in a woman.  You talked about how it's not just the outward beauty that a woman is to focus on, but 1 Peter 3 speaks of her having the internal beauty and radiance of a spirit that is gentle, it is meek, it is quiet, a spirit that trusts in God.  Scripture talks about a woman as having a submissive spirit, being willing to come under the covering and the protection of God-ordained authority. Scripture talks about a woman who fears the Lord in Proverbs 31, is a woman who will be praised.  So there's the dimension of her personal walk with God.  There are a number of passages in Scripture that speak of women in the role of concerned praying women, and how a culture that has been taken over with secularism needs women who are weeping, burdened, praying women – how we need that in our day.  Scripture talks about a woman as reverencing her husband, honoring him, lifting him up; a woman who loves her husband, loves her children.  In addition, there are numerous passages in Scripture that speak of a woman being modest, chaste, pure in her speech, in her behavior, in her clothing.  Proverbs speaks of the importance of a woman having the quality of discretion.   I think so many of these come back to the fact that God made us, as women, to be responders and to allow the men to be the initiators that God created them to be. Bob: I want to ask you about that, but there are some women who just heard that portrait, that description, and they said to themselves, "Yuck, I don't like that.  That's not who I feel like, I'm not sure that's who I want to be." Dennis: And they are also saying, "I question whether that's the way God made me.  He didn't make me to be a responder." Nancy: Not too long ago, I had the privilege of talking with two different women on the same day who are both dear friends.  The one woman is a young mother who came and expressed to me that she was experiencing some depression, some frustration in her life, there were some issues that were unresolved between herself and her husband.  She was wrestling with the feeling that she did not feel motivated or successful in her role as a mother, so she was wanting to take on a career outside of her family, and she and her husband were wrestling through some of these issues. And she said to me – "What if my husband" – now, she has a godly husband – she said, "What if my husband wants me to be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen for the rest of my life?"  It wasn't long after that conversation that I had another conversation with another woman who is a dear friend.  She's the wife of a pastor, and I saw, in this woman and older woman who has devoted her life to being a helper, a completer, a responder to her husband.  Her children are now grown, she has taught her children to love their husbands, to love their own children, and I saw in this older woman, a woman who is deeply at peace, who is radiant, who is fulfilled, a woman whose husband is nuts about her, because Proverbs 31 says that a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.  What woman could ask for more than that Proverbs 31 woman has, and that is children who call her blessed, a husband who praises her publicly – this is deep in our hearts, as women, what we desire and what we were made for. Dennis: And, you know, Nancy, as you were going through your list and talking about all this, I thought "How refreshing.  What a clear, refreshing voice in a culture that, again, is trying to define what it means to be a woman without reference to what the Scriptures say."  Every one of these in your list are all biblically based, and what a great portrait to hang in our living rooms for our daughters to attain to and to seek to become. I thought of, as you were talking about being modest, chaste, and pure, how boys are never challenged to be modest, chaste – now they are called to be moral.  They are called to be in control of their own sexual passions, but this is a different set of words than you would use for a boy who is being called to become a man. And a young lady who is growing up, having had this portrait lived out in front of her by her mom and then having had that portrait painted from the Scriptures by both of her parents – think of the contentment, the possibilities of her life and what she can mean to a young man, to a family, to another generation of children.  This is where Christianity becomes uniquely powerful. Bob: And, ultimately, to the woman who sees this portrait and goes, "I don't know that I like it; I'm not sure God made me this way."  The issue is not what she feels like.  The issue is whether she will come under the authority of the Word of God and be the kind of woman that God's Word says He has made women to be. Nancy: I think, equally, a man could look at the portrait of biblical manhood in the Scripture and think, "I don't think God made me for leadership.  I don't think God made me for initiative."  But joy and fulfillment in life come from saying, "Yes, Lord." Dennis: And, you know, there are women listening to this broadcast right now who are not married to godly men, they're not married to a pastor, and yet you can take this portrait that you've painted here, this is still true regardless of whether they are married to a man who is a godly man.  This is still biblical femininity.  This is what God says is the picture of what it means to be a woman, regardless of your circumstances.  There is hope there, isn't there? Nancy: There is, and I don't think that the average woman has ever begun to fathom the extent of the influence that her life, when she surrenders to the Lordship of Christ and His design, the influence that her life will have on her husband and on other men around her.  We, as women, have profound influence on the attitudes, the values, the lifestyles of the men around us whether or not we choose to embrace God's pattern for our lives. Dennis: And, Nancy, hanging in the gallery of my own heart is the picture of my mom who, although she didn't have – well, the resources that we've had today and the great teachers like you are, to be able to instruct her about what it meant to be a woman, she did get in the Scriptures, and she was a helper, a cheerleader, a nurturer, a bearer of life.  She was modest and chaste and was a woman who feared the Lord and had a meek and quiet spirit, teachable, and was profoundly influential – just exactly what you are talking about. Bob: But, you know, if we had called your mom back before she went home to be with the Lord, and we had said to her, "Do you think you're an influential woman?"  She would have laughed at that idea, and I think there are a lot of women who hear us talk about these ideas, and they look at their own lives, and they say, "I'm not influencing – okay, maybe I'm having some influence on my children, but I don't feel like a woman of influence.  I don't feel like I'm making a big difference in anybody's life."  And that's an issue, Nancy, that you've addressed in the book that you wrote called "Lies Women Believe," which has gone on to be a bestselling book.   And you've also addressed it in the new book that you and Dana Gresh have written together called "Lies Young Women Believe," because, as you've noted many times, Dennis, there are a lot of young women who are growing up, not with an eye toward home, but with an eye toward the marketplace as the center of influence for our culture.  We've got copies of the books that Nancy has written in our FamilyLife Resource Center, including the booklet called  "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood" that addresses many of the themes we're talking about this week.  You can go to our website, which is FamilyLife.com and if you click the right side of the screen where it says "Today's Broadcast," you can get more information about the resources that Nancy has written and if you have not read "Lies Women Believe," let me encourage you to get a copy of that book and read through it.  Again, the website is FamilyLife.com, and you need to click on the right side of the screen on the home page where it says "Today's Broadcast."   And there is also information available there about the upcoming conference in Chicago, the True Woman '08 conference.  It's October 8th through the 11th, and it's a national conference.  Women from all over the country are going to be coming in to hear a great variety of speakers including Joni Eareckson Tada, Pastor John Piper, Nancy is going to be speaking, your wife, Barbara, is going to be speaking, Dennis, and Keith and Kristyn Getty are going to be there to help lead the worship.  It's going to be a wonderful two-and-a-half-day event, and if our listeners are interested, they can find out more on our website at FamilyLife.com, and they can register by clicking through to the True Woman website. Or if it's easier for you to get more information or request these resources by calling us, the toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY, that's 1-800-358-6329, 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY.  While women are wrestling with this subject of what it means to be a woman according to the Scriptures, men have been wrestling for some time with the same thing from our perspective – what does it mean to be a man, to be God's man?  And our friend, Pastor Stu Weber, who is a former Army Ranger and a Green Beret has a wonderful message on this subject that we are making available to listeners this month. When you support the ministry of FamilyLife Today with a donation of any amount, it's a message called "Applied Masculinity," and you can request a copy when you make a donation either online or by calling 1-800-FLTODAY.  Because FamilyLife Today is listener-supported, those donations are essential for us to continue on this station and on other stations across the country.   If you are making your donation online, you will come to a keycode box on the donation form, and you will need to type the word "Stu" in there, s-t-u, so that we can send you a copy of this CD, or you can call 1-800-FLTODAY, make a donation over the phone and just mention that you'd like a copy of the Stu Weber CD.  We're happy to send it out to you as our way of saying thank you for your financial support of the ministry of FamilyLife Today. Well, tomorrow Nancy Leigh DeMoss is going to be back with us.  We're going to continue to look at what it means to be a woman according to the Scriptures.  I hope you can be with us as well. I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.  On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.  We'll see you next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas – help for today; hope for tomorrow.  ____________________________________________________________We are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?Copyright © FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com 

A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 1) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 2) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 3) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 4) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 5) - Nancy Leigh DeMossFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. A Woman After God's Own Heart Day 4 of 5 Guest:                        Nancy Leigh DeMoss From the series:       A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood                                   Bob: If someone told you, as a woman, that your life should be about servanthood, about serving others, would it cause your back to stiffen a little bit?  Here's Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy: For us, as women, to be willing to give our lives – that's the whole message of the cross – it's a pouring out of my life, it's a laying down of my life, it's being willing to spend and be spent on behalf of others.  There is no higher role in the kingdom of God than to be a servant, and we need to lift it back up to its exalted state. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, June 19th.  Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.  When it comes to assuming our responsibilities as men and women, it often means we have to live in a way that doesn't come naturally. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition.  We're looking this week at what the Bible has to say about femininity and how we can understand biblical womanhood by looking at what the Scriptures say about what it means to be truly feminine. Dennis: And, at this point, I feel like a pastor friend of mine who gave a message on this one time, who held up a sign at the beginning of the sermon that said, "I love women."  He walked out and held it up and said, "I am about to teach what the Bible says here, but understand this – I love women."  He said, "I'm married to one, and I have daughters, and I have friends."  And he just wanted the ladies in the audience to know that this wasn't from a heart of wanting to put down anyone but, indeed, exalt.  And to help us do that here in the studio for a fourth day is Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  Nancy, welcome back. Nancy: Thank you, Dennis. Dennis: And, Nancy, we've been talking about the picture of what a true woman is and what she does, and we've talked about being a responder, a helper, a cheerleader, and one of the things you talk about in this portrait you've painted is that a woman is a servant.  How so?  How is she uniquely a servant? Nancy: You know, Dennis, it's interesting to me that in the New Testament when the Scripture speaks of service being rendered to Jesus while He was here on this earth, that every time that service is rendered by either an angel or by a woman, and there is no question that Scripture teaches that all of us, as believers, are to have servants' hearts, and that we are never more like Jesus than when we're serving. But I believe there is a distinctive role for those of us as women, as helpers to the men, to be in a serving role.  It's interesting that in 1 Timothy, chapter 5, where Paul is talking about what qualifies a widow to be cared for by the church, to have her needs met by the church, she has to have lived a certain kind of life before she was a widow.  And in verse 10 of that passage, 1 Timothy, chapter 5, Paul lists the things that must have been true of her while she was a married woman if she is going to qualify as a widow to be cared for by the church.  She has to have brought up children, she is to have lodged strangers, provided hospitality, she is to have washed the feet of the saints, served the people of God in practical ways, she is to have relieved the afflicted.   I think we see in this passage a pattern for all of us, as women, whether married or single, that there are roles and ways that we can practically serve those in the body of Christ and those outside the body of Christ, in ways that, by many women, have been considered demeaning or insignificant but when rendered in the name of Christ, they become extremely significant. Dennis: I like what you're saying here.  You're saying that we need to be looking at this list that Paul speaks about here and be training our daughters to have hearts that are enlarged for God to be creating good works on behalf of others. Nancy: You know, one of my favorite women in the Scripture is a little-known woman known Dorcas who, as you remember, lived in the town of Joppa, and she died, and when she died, all the widows of the town began to weep, because she had spent her life not leading some massive organization, not being a crusader or a campaigner, but she had lived her life making clothes and providing for the physical material needs of the widows in the town.  And it's interesting that Peter the Apostle took time out of his busy schedule to come to Joppa to perform a miracle and raise her from the dead and, really, all we're told about her is that her contribution was to minister to the needs of these widows.  That was why she was loved, that's why she was appreciated, that was the influence, the impact, the power of her life, was in that serving way. Dennis: And you're saying that she was uniquely being a woman at that point? Nancy: She was and, again, not to say – and there is so much emphasis today on men being servants to their wives and to their children – again, this is the heart of Jesus who stooped to wash the feet of his disciples.  But, you know, it's politically correct in the evangelical world today for us to talk about men serving their wives and children.  But when we begin the talk about wives who are distinctly made by God to be helpers to their husbands, wives coming into the role of servant – well, that kind of rubs the cat the wrong way, and it shouldn't. Dennis: You mentioned that in one audience you got a standing ovation when speaking to a Christian group, and in another part of the country when you mentioned the same truth, there was a deafening silence. Nancy: I've had women say to me, and we've heard it, and all of us have thought it, all of those of us who are women have thought, "I'm not going to be the slave around here.  I am not going to be a doormat."  Well, I'll tell you, a doormat has a function and a purpose; it has a design, it is useful.  And for us, as women, to be willing to give our lives – that's the whole message of the cross – it's a pouring out of my life, it's a laying down of my life, it's being willing to spend and be spent on behalf of others.  There is no higher role in the kingdom of God than to be a servant and we need to lift it back up to its exalted state. Bob: As you said that a doormat has a function, I thought to myself, what is that function?  As you come into a house, it's to clean feet.  And then I thought, what's the human equivalent of a doormat?  It's someone who would wash the dirty feet of people coming into the house.  And who did that?  Jesus Christ.  So in a very real sense, a foot-washer is a doormat.  It's fulfilling the same function, and Jesus said, "I voluntarily become the doormat for you." Dennis: And yet today, if we went on this broadcast and said, "Wives, we want to encourage you to be a doormat," what would happen? Nancy: You'd get a few letters. Dennis: You'd get a few letters. Bob: We might not be here for tomorrow's broadcast. Dennis: If we said we want them to be like Jesus Christ, "Yay, we can agree with that."  But at the point when you start putting this down to a practical level where Jesus lived, and, Bob, you make a great point.  I think the world is crowding us in, and it's creating caricatures of Christianity where we need to be careful and say, "Wait a second.  Do we want to be Christlike or do we want to have self-fulfillment?"  I'm not sure you can have both.  I think there's a lot of encouragement of women today to seek their own rights, to seek their own fulfillment, to maximize their gifts and, certainly, I want Barbara's gifts to be maximized.  I want to help her to do that.  But she is most powerful when she is being God's woman, and I want my daughters to do the same. Bob: You've talked about this servanthood and how it's uniquely fulfilled in the life of a woman in the qualities listed in 1 Timothy 5, verse 10.  Men are called to be servants, too, and yet the context for female servanthood, according to that list, seems to be a relational nurturing kind of context.  That's really a part of what's at the heart of being a woman, isn't it? Nancy: It is, and I think a wonderful picture of that in the Scripture is that passage that we're so familiar with in Proverbs, chapter 31.  There we have a picture of a woman who does a lot of household tasks, a lot of specific serving responsibilities, but it's in the context of her role as a wife and as a mother; as a nurturer of life in that home, as the maker of a home.  You find in that passage there is only reference to her doing anything for herself and that's that she is dressing in a way that will be pleasing to her husband.  In that context, she is fulfilling these responsibilities not just to keep a clean house and to keep well-clothed kids, but to minister love and service and grace, to be a means of the grace of God flowing into the life of that home. There is a distinctive call of the woman to be a nurturer.  It is the woman who is able to bear life, it is the woman who is able to nurse that infant child and as this is physically true, so there is a distinctive privilege that the woman has to pour that grace into her family. Dennis: Nancy, you're not married.  You have not given life by virtue of bearing a baby and giving birth, but you are a nurturer and a bearer of life.  How so? Nancy: I just believe God has made all of us, as women, to be bearers and nurturers of life, to encourage life to grow, to help create a climate where others around us can grow, and I have devoted my life, as a single woman, to investing in the lives of others – other younger women, children, and even the men that I serve within our ministry, investing in their marriages and their families and helping to create a climate where they are encouraged to be all God wants them to be. Dennis: Practically speaking, how have you done that? Nancy: I think if you were to talk with the families that I serve alongside of, they would tell you that they know that I pray for their marriages, that I pray for their children.  They would know that I am a friend to their sons and daughters.  I'll be leaving here today, Lord willing, flying back to Michigan to be at the volleyball game of the daughter of one of our staff to be an encourager, a cheerleader, there for her interest that she's developing.  And by having that kind of role in the life of that daughter, there is also the opportunity to have an inroad into her heart. Bob: Every parent prays for those outside influences in the lives of their sons and daughters, whether it's another mother, a single person – you pray that there will be those folks who come along strategically, and we've seen it happen with our kids as they've grown up, and they'll say, "Boy, I sure like Mrs. So-and-So, she's nice.  I like hanging around with her."  And we go how grateful we are, because we know Mrs. So-and-So, and we know she'll be a godly influence in the life of a daughter or of a son.   What a powerful, nurturing role a mom can have not only in the life of her children but in the lives of her children's friends.  What a powerful role a single woman can have by looking around at the children in her neighborhood, in her church, in her community and saying, "I'm going to assume some responsibility to be a nurturer to those kids even though I'm not the one tucking them in at night or the one who is driving them to school in the morning." Dennis: And practically speaking, I'll brag on Nancy at this point.  Our family enjoyed dinner with her a couple of nights ago, and those girls were so excited about the arrival of Nancy at our home, and Nancy is modeling for them how she is investing in their lives by being interested in their pictures and what clutters their room, and the stories of their lives and a cheerleader and an encourager.   When those girls become adults, I've got to believe at that point, Bob, they are going to reflect back on an older, single woman who stepped down and into their lives who believed in them and who loved them and encouraged them and didn't just do it at one point but stayed in touch through letters, e-mail, phone calls, little touches along the way, that says, "I love you and I believe in you, and I'm going to be a nurturer of life in your life." Bob: We think of the nurturing function as primarily a mother/daughter or a mother/son kind of a nurturing, and yet Titus 2, as it talks about older women coming alongside and equipping younger women – that's as much a part of nurturing as bearing children, isn't it, Nancy? Nancy: It is, and let me say that every woman is an older woman to some other woman.  The 18-year-old young woman is an older woman to the 15-year-old woman.  And now as approach my 40s, I find that there are some more women that are younger women, and that I have a responsibility to leave a legacy for the next generation; to invest in the lives of the next generation. Dennis: And I'll tell you, I can't tell you how strongly I feel about this one – this is one of the areas where I believe the church is missing a phenomenal opportunity.  We have scores of women today in the church who I think need to have this portrait put before them and painted so that they can have a vision for the next two decades or three decades of their lives, even beyond the empty nest.   I am getting letters from friends who are at the same stage of life as us, and they are saying, "What's our vision for us, as a couple, and my wife with the empty nest?"  And I'm going, "It's in the Bible."  And this is so valuable and you know what – it's not only so valuable, it's a necessity and one of the most powerful ways a mom can impress her daughters to do this is by modeling this.   Bob: And, you know, we've talked about how a woman can be a mentor to younger women and fulfill a nurturing role or how she can be a friend to her children's friends and fulfill her nurturing function in that, and yet as I've talked with Mary Ann about all of those opportunities that are available to her, I have said none of those can ever crowd out or get in the way of your primary nurturing function at this stage of your life, which is Amy, Katy, Jimmy, John, and David.  You have five kids at home, and they're my kids,too.  We both have a responsibility but, as a mom, you have a primary nurturing responsibility.  Your top investment has got to be in the lives of those children. Nancy: And, Bob, as a single woman, I want to applaud and affirm and celebrate those women who are out there today doing what God has called them to do – being mothers.  And applaud their willingness to have children in a world that has told us you have the right to control your own body.  And yet I thank the Lord that my mother was willing to have seven children.  At that time considered a very, very large family but for her willingness to lay down her life in giving birth and nurturing and rearing up a family; now children grown and following the Lord and reproducing her and my dad's heart in this world. We don't think of Jochebed, perhaps, as a significant woman in her own right, but when we think of how God used her offspring, how God used her son Moses, to give to the world the law of God, then we have a woman who had an incredible impact in our world. Dennis: Let me illustrate this from my own wife's life and brag on Barbara a bit here – we have a retreat that is away from the offices here in Little Rock, and it's a prestigious retreat that Barbara and I have been asked to go to, and Barbara was going to be on the program with me and do some question and answer and also be available to minister and encourage people, and she enjoys that. But, I promise you, she enjoys being a mom even more.  And so Rebecca had not only been nominated for Homecoming Court, but she had made Homecoming Court, and guess which weekend it fell on – the same weekend as this particular conference.  Now, this conference and our commitment had been for more than a year, and it's unfortunate that it fell on a time when my daughter has made Homecoming.  But we're delaying her arrival by three days to this particular retreat so that Barbara can stay home, help celebrate and anticipate the moment. I think that's the kind of commitment today that our daughters are going to remember when they become adults.  They're going to remember those special times with their mother. Bob: Well, and I have to suppose, as well, Dennis, that if you could look around right now at the women you know who are 60, 70 years old, you can probably tell, just by their spirit, by their countenance, who invested their lives as nurturers and who didn't.  You would probably see, in the face of a nurturing 70-year-old woman a radiance that is not on the face of one who invested her life in something other than nurturing her own children, younger women, the children in the neighborhood, whomever.  Mary Ann, last night, was at an Owanna [sp] meeting with the second-grade girls, hearing their Bible verses.  Now, is that how she wanted to spend her Wednesday evening?  She could have probably picked a couple-dozen other things, that if she was picking for her own fulfillment, she would have chosen to do. But she is building an inheritance that is an eternal inheritance and one that will provide her with peace and fulfillment in her later years. Dennis: And it strikes me, Nancy, whether you're a single person, like you, investing in other people's marriages or their kids or in single women's lives – all those are statements of this feminine portrait that we're talking about here of being a nurturer and a bearer of life; one who helps to give life to others.  And if you start doing that when you're young, then as you grow older, you're going to do this naturally up until the time you die.  This is what it means to be a woman regardless of your age or regardless of your physical ability to bear children. Nancy: And ultimately the joys, the rewards of a life invested that way cannot be compared with the rewards of a woman having had her own life, her own career, her own job.  The women who are reaping the blessing of God in their lives are those who have laid down their lives for their families and for the families of others. Dennis: I feel like we've given women who listened to today's broadcast a beautiful portrait of being a servant, a nurturer, a bearer of life, so that their lives will be rich and full.  And I would just challenge you, if you're a woman, to find a way today to be an encourager of life in somebody's life – just step out and be God's woman, whether it be in your children's life and bringing life to them, or whether it be to a younger woman in your church or at work – come alongside them and perhaps take them out for lunch or spend some time over a cup of coffee, or give them a phone call tonight and just encourage another person – but to cultivate that feminine side that God created you to use as a woman. Bob: And I think one of the ways a woman prepares herself to do that more regularly is by reading and thinking about and praying through the kinds of things we've talked about on today's program and by getting copies of some of the books that Nancy has written.  She has written a booklet called "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood."  Of course, she's written the bestseller "Lies Women Believe."  All of the resources, all of the books that Nancy has written are designed to help women press these kinds of biblical qualities that exemplify godly womanhood into her heart, and we've got a number of these resources in our FamilyLife Resource Center, and a lot of these would be good resources for mothers and daughters to read through together. I'm thinking of a book like the book Nancy wrote on surrender.  It's a great book for a mother and daughter to just read through a chapter at a time and say, "What did you think?  What did you see in that chapter that caused you to examine your own heart and say, 'This is an area where I need to grow.'" Or get a copy of "Lies Young Women Believe," the new book that Nancy and Danna Gresh have written together, and go through that as a mother and a daughter.  Summertime is a great time to do that, and we've got these resources in our FamilyLife Resource Center.  You can go online at FamilyLife.com.  If you click on the right side of the home page where you see "Today's Broadcast," that will take you through to an area of the site where there is more information about a number of resources Nancy has written. Again, the website is FamilyLife.com, and you want to click on the right side of the home page where it says "Today's Broadcast."  You can order any of these resources online from us if you'd like, or if it's easier to call 1-800-FLTODAY to request these resources, you can do that as well – 1-800-358-6329, that's 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY.  On our website, you'll also find information about the upcoming True Woman '08 event that's taking place in Chicago – a national conference for women happening October 8th through the 11th, and it looks like it could be a soldout event.  So if listeners are interested in coming, getting a group of women together and being at this national conference that features Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Pastor John Piper, Joni Eareckson Tada, Barbara Rainey, Janet Parshall, other speakers – Keith and Kristyn Getty leading the worship – all of the information is available by going to our website at FamilyLife.com, and you can click through to the True Woman website and get details or register online for the upcoming True Woman '08 conference. Let me encourage you, when you do get in touch with us, to keep in mind that FamilyLife Today is a listener-supported ministry.  Your financial support of this ministry with occasional donations is what keeps us on the air in this city and in other cities all across the country.  And this month we are saying thank you to you when you support this ministry with a gift of any amount by sending, upon request, a CD of a message from Stu Weber on the subject of biblical masculinity.  We've been talking about biblical femininity today.  This message, from a retired Army Ranger and Green Beret, Stu Weber, is a message that helps us understand the biblical balance between being a leader and being aggressive as a man, and yet being tender and being compassionate as a man. And the CD is, again, our gift to you when you help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.  If you are donating online at FamilyLife.com, you'll come to a keycode box on the donation form.  Just type the word "Stu" in there, s-t-u, and we'll know to send you a copy of this CD.  Or call 1-800-FLTODAY, make a donation over the phone and ask for the CD about manhood or the CD from Stu Weber.  Again, we're happy to send it out to you, and we appreciate your financial support. Tomorrow we want to talk about how a woman in the 21st century ought to view subjects like modesty and chastity and purity.  We'll have that conversation tomorrow with our guest, Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  I hope you can be here for it. I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.  On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.  We'll see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas – help for today; hope for tomorrow.  _______________________________________________________________We are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?Copyright © FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com 

A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 1) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 2) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 3) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 4) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 5) - Nancy Leigh DeMossFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Becoming a Woman of Character Day 5 of 5 Guest:                        Nancy Leigh DeMoss From the series:       A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood                                   Bob: One of the ways for a woman to tell if she's been influenced by the ideology of feminism is to examine her own thinking and see if there is a root of selfishness present there.  Here is Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy: If I say my body is my own, I will run my own life, it doesn't matter what men see or what they think, I am living for myself.  But if I am willing to embrace God's plan for my life, then I say, "When I dress or behave or talk or act in any way, if it is a way that tears down and harms men rather than helping them and building them up, then I have failed in my divine purpose." Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Friday, June 20th.  Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.  What should a 21st century woman think about subjects like chastity and purity and modesty?  We'll talk about it today.  Stay tuned. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Friday edition.  This week we've been looking at womanhood from a biblical perspective, and it's interesting, the Bible says that all of us are to be people of godly character and yet there are some things, there are some character qualities or characteristics that the Bible would point to as being distinctively feminine, and that's what we want our focus to be about in this time together today. Dennis: It's interesting, you hear all kinds of messages to men about being men of character, but I can't recall a message to women on being women of character. Nancy: And yet it's interesting that the Scripture has so very much to say about the character of women. Dennis: Yes.   Bob: Which is why we wanted to get into the subject today and let me, if I can, Dennis, introduce for the listeners who don't recognize our guest's voice, Nancy Leigh DeMoss is joining us this week.  Nancy is the host of a daily radio program called "Revive Our Hearts," that is heard on many of the same stations that carry our program, FamilyLife Today.  She is an author and is going to be hosting a national conference for women in Chicago coming up in October.  It's called True Woman '08. A number of speaks who are going to be there, including Janet Parshall and Joni Eareckson Tada, your wife, Barbara, is going to be there, our friend, Karen Loritts is going to join Nancy, and John Piper is also going to be speaking at this conference.  And I know Mary Ann is looking forward to being at the conference. If our listeners are interested in more information about how they can attend the national True Woman '08 conference in Chicago, they can go to our website, FamilyLife.com, click where it says "Today's Broadcast," and there is a link there that will take them to the registration area for True Woman '08, and they can plan to be a part of that conference. And I know one of the things you're going to talk about at the conference is how women can better understand what we've been talking about this week – biblical femininity.  And there are a lot of components to that portrait.  Help us out – if a woman wants to be all God wants her to be, as a woman, what is the starting place for her? Nancy: Again, we have to go back to the Scripture and not let the world press us into its mold but go back and draw our understanding and our authority from the Scripture.  I think of a passage such as 1 Peter, chapter 3, known to many of us, as women, but if we go back and examine that passage, it has so much to say about our character, as women.  It's talking about, in this specific context, a woman who has an unsaved husband.  How does she influence his life?  How does she help to draw him toward Christ?   And I say to women often, as they come to one of my seminars, "Now, you may be going back into a home where your husband doesn't necessarily see all these truths," and I say to them, "Don't start putting tracts in his cereal bowl or putting your seminar notes under his pillow."  The Scripture talks about a much more powerful means of influence; it talks about our subjection, and we talked about that earlier this week, about the coming under authority, but then it talks about our pure, chaste behavior.  And the other passages that shed light on this in the New Testament talk about a woman of modesty in the way that she conducts herself, in the way that she dresses, a woman whose heart is pure, a woman who is morally pure. You know, we used to have to address the subject of moral purity just with men, but now we find today that in our sensual culture that many, many women struggle with these issues of fantasizing of the books and novels that they are reading, the magazines that they are reading, the TV programs that they're watching that are fueling immoral thoughts and behavior in their lives, and the Scripture says the woman of God, a true woman, is the woman who has pure behavior.  She is chaste in her behavior. Dennis: Yes, and it's interesting that purity of heart is expressed in the way she not only behaves but in the way that she dresses. Nancy: The Scripture tells us that a wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman is going to tear it down, and in the Book of Proverbs, one of the ways that a foolish woman tears down the men around her is with the way that she dresses and the way that she carries herself.  Proverbs 7 talks about a woman who sets out to entice or to ensnare a man who is simple, who is naïve, who is lacking wisdom.  And one of the ways she does that is by provocative dress. Bob: Do you think there is any difference between God's call to a woman being chaste and pure and His call to a man to be morally pure? Nancy: Well, certainly, both created in the image of God and both redeemed by the grace of God, we are to be pure in heart toward God, but the Scripture talks about specific characteristics that will be true of a woman if she is not pure or if she is pure.   For example, Proverbs talks about a woman who is loud and stubborn and her feet abide not in her house.  She is brash, she is bold, she is brazen, and Proverbs tells us that as a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a beautiful woman, a woman who is outwardly beautiful, but she lacks discretion.   And I think about – a pig is a pig is a pig.  You can put designer clothes on that pig, and you can put makeup on it and give it a designer handbag and expensive jewels, but it's still a pig, and I think that so many of us, as women today, are outwardly adorning and dressing up and fixing up something that in its heart is a pig. And the Scripture says if a woman, though she may be outwardly beautiful, does not have discretion, if she is not discreet in the way that she carries herself and handles her relationships with men and with those in her family, that all that outward adorning is of little value and really is ludicrous if it's put on someone who doesn't have a godly heart. Dennis: You know, one of the things I pray frequently for my daughters is that they will have discretion, and occasionally one of them will stop me in that prayer and say, "Dad, what do you mean, discretion?  What are you talking about there?"  And they'll get a chance to talk about being a woman who is wise about how she behaves and how she carries herself in the presence of men.  And 1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 9, I think, really outlines how a woman is to carry herself.  It says, "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly.  Not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments but rather by means of good works as befits women making a claim to godliness." Now, that reminds us of the goal.  The goal is not physical beauty.  The goal is a woman whose life is a portrait of feminine beauty that glorifies God; that is Christ-like.  I want my daughters to understand at points that a hemline that's too high, a neckline that's too low, a dress that fits too tight, are all moving them away from godliness toward provoking the opposite sex to be interested in them for the wrong reasons.  It takes a dad stepping into their lives sometimes and a mom doing so at the same time to reinforce this.  I'm going to tell a practical illustration of this from this summer, and this was really interesting, because last summer another family and ours joined together to have one of these old-fashioned pictures made – you know, a western picture where you get the guns that are 100 years old, and you get the chaps and all this stuff.  And our daughters, all of our daughters, had put on outfits that were appropriate for a bar scene.  Now, how shall I say it, okay?  And it's amazing how quickly these things can happen.  I mean, in an instant, boom, that other dad and I were faced with a choice.   To me, there was no choice.  We were about to take a picture, and it looks harmless and fun, and I don't think our daughters had anything malicious in their minds when they did this, but what happened was they got together with some other teenagers at that point, and they put these dresses on, and they were inappropriate.  And so we said, "Hold it.  You've got to redo this." But it's interesting, Nancy, at that point, all of that occurred with two mothers kind of involved in the process, kind of unaware of what had happened.  It really just kind of snuck up on them. Bob: Well, and I think one of the reasons that dads noticed it right off is because the nature of the dress is provocative to men.  And it might take a few minutes longer for that to sink in with women who aren't immediately aware.  I think there are some cases of innocent indiscretion on the part of Christian women who just don't give full thought to what they are wearing or to how that clothing might provoke a response from a man. Dennis: Right, and I think it's at those points, as dads and as men, we've got to be loving, very relational, by the way, and not just pound the table and say, "Take it off."  But instead recognize the culture we are in but nonetheless hold forth the standard of biblical femininity, which we just read – adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, and use those times as an opportunity to teach. Nancy: And that's where, Dennis, you are fulfilling the role God has entrusted to you as a man, which is to be the protector and the priest and the king in the most loving sense possible of your home, and that's where your daughters are given the opportunity to learn how to fulfill their God-created role, which is to be a helper to the men.  You see, if I say "My body is my own, I will run my own life, it doesn't matter what men see or what they think, I am living for myself."  But if I am willing to embrace God's plan for my life, then I say, "When I dress or behave or talk or act in any way, if it is a way that tears down and harms men rather then helping them and building them up, then I have failed in my divine purpose." Dennis: And, Nancy, as Barbara and I have been in the process of raising four daughters, they are not all the same.  They don't all have the same sensitivity to these issues.  They need help. Nancy: You know, there is an interesting passage in the last chapter of the Song of Solomon that talks about two different kinds of women, and it uses the imagery of a door and of a wall.  The bride describes a little sister that she has who is developing and what kind of woman she will become, and she talks about the kind of woman who is a door, a picture of one who yields easily, who is perhaps flirtatious or bold or indiscreet in her relationships with men.  Then she uses the opposite kinds of pictures as a woman who is like a wall that is firm, her life built on convictions, and she says, "What shall we do for our sister, depending on which of these kind of women she is?"  I've found that women, daughters, younger women and older women, naturally fall into one of these two categories.  And her bridegroom says to her, "If she is a wall, then we will build upon her a palace of silver.  Her life is a foundation fit to build a home for a king."  But he said, "If she is a door, if she gives in easily to the advances of men, if she is naïve in some of these areas, then we will enclosed her with boards of cedar."  We will put parameters around her and tighter restraints for her protection and so that she can develop to the place where she will become a wall. Dennis: And finally grow up and have her own discretion.   Bob: Nancy, there is a passage in Scripture that talks about a woman having a gentle and quiet spirit, and I know a lot of women who think of themselves as naturally in opposition to that passage.  They just think, "This is what God wants.  Why did He make me the way I am, because I am not a gentle and quiet-spirited woman?"  What is that passage talking about and how does a woman develop a gentle and quiet spirit? Nancy: Well, I think, Bob, it's important, first of all, we recognize that the Scripture is not here talking about something that's just a matter of personality.  God made us with different personalities.  Some people are naturally more outgoing than others, and I am a more outgoing type of person.  I can remember, as a younger woman, thinking when I would hear this phrase, I would think of some women I knew who were just very shy and quiet and mousy, and I'd think, "If that's what it means to be a godly woman, I'm not sure that's what I want to be and I'm sure I can't be."  And to deal with the "want to" issue, again, I have to come back to am I willing to let the Word regulate and control my life?  But it's helpful to know that the Scripture is talking here not about my personality as much as the spirit of the woman.  When it speaks of a woman being gentle – another translation renders that as "meek" – this speaks of a woman who is not demanding, who does not insist on having her way and, again, we live in a rights-crazed generation.  We emphasize rights, and we're going to produce rebellion and, in fact, we have.  Rather, we need to be emphasizing responsibility – responsibility to yield my rights.   Even traffic laws recognize that you don't say to someone, "You have the right of way," we say, "You yield the right-of-way."  And, as women, there is a beauty – 1 Peter 3 says, "This is what is beautiful to a woman.  This is what causes God to look at a woman and say, 'She is beautiful.'"  This is what gives a woman her true beauty, because any beauty that is external is fleeting, it is fading, it's not going to last.  But a woman who has beauty of the spirit is going to increase and part of that beauty is a meekness; it's a yielding of her rights; there's a quietness there.  That word means a tranquility that arises from within, causing no disturbance to others.  And the picture here is a woman who trusts in God so she does not have to manipulate her circumstances, she doesn't have to be a controller, she doesn't have to manipulate her husband.  She is a woman who has, because she trusts in God, she has a grateful spirit, and I think that grateful spirit flows out of a meek and a quiet spirit. Dennis: Practically speaking, address the mom who is raising a daughter who may be a little Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  She may have a personality that's very outgoing, she may even be loud.  Very loud, in fact, and, of course … Nancy: Are you saying I'm loud? [laughter] Dennis: I didn't, Nancy.  I was actually thinking of some of my children.  But I was thinking of some hope for Barbara in this process, actually.  What would you say to that mom as she raises a child who may not have a personality that is naturally quiet? Nancy: Again, this is a matter of the heart and of developing a spirit that trusts in God, that does not intimidate or run over other people, and these are issues I've had to continue to have to walk through in my own life.  I can walk into a staff meeting in our ministry where there are mostly men in the room and, without saying a word, at times, or by saying just a few words, can subtly manipulate and control the environment of that room, and that's not the place God has for me.  There are times, as a woman, when I need to not say everything that I'm thinking but to be quiet, to wait on the Lord, to listen to Him, and then when I speak to know that it's God who has given the direction and that when I speak it's with a spirit that is surrendered and yielded and trusting in God that I don't have to be in charge of the world. That's what Satan said to Eve, "You can be like God.  You can be your own god," and the drive of our natural flesh is to run the world.  You know, I just think, you let me have the reins of this ministry or this family or this world, and I'll take it. Bob: If a woman has a gentle and quiet spirit, the output of her life, and I'm thinking particularly of her speech, that's going to be reflected in her communication, isn't it? Nancy: Oh, there's no question, because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  Again, if I could hearken back to the Song of Solomon, one of the things this bridegroom appreciates about his bride, he says, "Honey and milk are under your tongue."  He talks about her speech being comely and being beautiful and this being attractive to him.  Think about honey and milk – what do they do?  Honey strengthens that which is weak and milk builds up young, immature bones.  It helps to grow, and I have to ask myself as I read that passage and other passages such as Proverbs 31:26 talks about a woman who opens her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.   And I have to say, "O Lord, set a watch over my mouth and, by Your Holy Spirit control my heart in such a way that the words that I speak will benefit, they will bring grace.  We women can be so cutting, so hurting, so wounding with our tongues, and this is where a woman who uses her tongue to threaten divorce, to cut up and belittle and criticize her man does not perhaps realize how much damage she is doing not only to him but ultimately to their relationship and to their capacity to reflect the glory of God to our world. Bob: And to her own sense of femininity.  She is, essentially, robbing herself at that moment of the womanhood that God wants to display in her. Dennis: Yes, because she's stepping outside of what God created her to be and her character and, Nancy, I'm grateful today that you have – well, you've taken us back to the Bible to take a look at a woman's character but, at the same time, talk about it while painting this portrait of what it means to be a feminine woman. Bob: I know our listeners are grateful, as well, and I know they're grateful for your ministry on "Revive Our Hearts," your daily radio program, you're ministry in writing.  We have a number of your books in our FamilyLife Resource Center including the bestselling book,  "Lies Women Believe."  The booklet called "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood," your  Bible study guide, "Seeking Him," and many more of the resources that you've created to help women understand God's plan for them.   And if our listeners are interested in any of these resources – and let me just say here, if you haven't read "Lies Women Believe," that's a great place to start.  And you'll find more information about it on our website at FamilyLife.com.  When you get to the home page, look to the right side of the screen.  You'll see a box that says "Today's Broadcast."  Click where it says "Learn More," and that will take you into the area where there is information about the resources that are available from us written by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.   There is also information about the upcoming True Woman '08 conference that's happening in October in Chicago.  This is a national conference for women that features Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Barbara Rainey, John Piper, Janet Parshall, Joni Eareckson Tada, Keith and Kristyn Getty will be there leading worship, and it looks like it's going to be a sold out event.  So if listeners are interested in attending, they ought to register as soon as possible.  Go to our website, FamilyLife.com and, again, click where it says "Today's Broadcast" on the right side of the home page.  That will take you to an area where there is a link to the True Woman '08 conference site, and you can get more information about the upcoming conference or register online, if you'd like. You can also contact us if you're interested in ordering any of Nancy's resources by telephone.  Our number is 1-800-358-6329.  That's 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY.   Someone on our team will make arrangements to have the resources you need sent out to you.   When you do get in touch with us, if you can make a donation to help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today, we would appreciate it.  We are listener-supported.  Your donations make a huge difference.  They make it possible for us to be here on this station each day and on other stations all across the country as well.  We appreciate your financial support. This month, when you make a donation of any amount, we would love to send you a CD that features a message from Pastor Stu Weber about what biblical manhood looks like.  It's a message called "Applied Masculinity," and the CD is our gift to you as a way of saying thanks for your financial support of FamilyLife Today. If you are donating online, you will come to a box that says "keycode" out in front of it on the donation form.  Type in the word "Stu" there, s-t-u, and we'll know to send you a copy of the CD on manhood.  Or call 1-800-FLTODAY, make a donation over the phone and just ask for the CD about manhood or the CD from Stu Weber and, again, we're happy to send it to you.  It's our way of saying thanks for your financial support of the ministry of FamilyLife Today.  Dennis? Dennis: Well, this has been a great day, Bob, talking about the character of a feminine woman today and all this week, in fact, and, Nancy, I want to thank you for helping to paint a portrait of what it means to be a biblical woman, a feminine woman and equipping so many women to be that and also helping so many mothers to raise the next generation of young women, and I want to thank you for being on the broadcast. Nancy: It's been a privilege, Dennis, and I've been challenged myself to let God continue to make me into His kind of woman. Dennis: I want to conclude today's broadcast by asking you to pray for all of our women listeners in their assignments because they are varied, and yet we need God to grant them favor where He has them. Nancy: Father, I just want to thank you for Your wisdom and Your divine choice.  And, as women, we just want to come to You and cry out and say that we need You, we need Your mercy, we need You to change us and to make us what You want us to be.  We know that of ourselves we cannot be godly women, that we need the filling of Your Holy Spirit.  So we ask for that, and I ask, Lord, that you would give to us that heart, that spirit, that lifestyle that You find beautiful, that we would reflect what it means to be the bride of Christ with a heart of humility and surrender and brokenness and giving back love as You have loved us. And, Lord, thank you for the men that you are raising up in this generation to provide protection and covering for our lives.  I pray that You would bless them in fulfilling their God-given role and help us, as women, to make it easy for them, and I pray that we will love them and serve them and help them in such a way that one day they can give account with joy; that we make it easy for them to lead; that we encourage them and create a climate where they can be all that You made them to be.   And, Lord, our prayer is that, as women complementing and helping those men that together we will be able to reflect to our world what You are like and that the world will be drawn to know You because of what we have shown them of Your heart and Your ways.  We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. Bob: FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas – help for today; hope for tomorrow.  _____________________________________________________________We are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?Copyright © FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com 

A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 1) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 2) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 3) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 4) - Nancy Leigh DeMossA Biblical Portrait of Womanhood (Part 5) - Nancy Leigh DeMossFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. God's Woman in Today's Culture Day 1 of 5 Guest:                        Nancy Leigh DeMoss From the series:       A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood Bob: How should we understand womanhood biblically?  And why are we so confused about it, anyway?  Here is Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy: Let me say that I think it is the nature, ever since the fall of man and woman, to chafe against God.  But, for me, the essence of femininity is to embrace the concept of surrender as a woman to become a receiver, a responder, and surrendered to the heart and the will of God. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, June 16th.  Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.  How well does your understanding of womanhood line up with what the Bible teaches?  We'll talk about that today.  Stay tuned. And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Monday edition.  You know, for the last many years, there has been a movement in our country where a lot of men are looking around and asking the question, "What does it mean to be a man?  What does the Scripture teach us about authentic biblical manhood?"  And I think that while that's been going on, Dennis, there have also been a lot of women who are beginning to say, "I'm not so sure I know what it means to be an authentic woman biblically.  I'm not sure I know what the Scriptures teach about biblical womanhood," and that's what we're going to take some time to focus on this week. Dennis: Yes, in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 27, it's clear – "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God, He created him – male and female, He created them."  And God's image is at stake in both men and women, and there has been a great deal of attention that has been given to defining manhood.  But at points it feels like there has been a little bit of a silence concerning a voice of trying to cast a portrait of what it means to be a woman.  And with us here on the broadcast is another man to help us define and paint a portrait of what it means to be a woman. Bob: Hang on, that would be a serious error on your part, technically. Dennis: Do you think that I would be flawed in my judgment, Bob, to bring another male species in here to do that? Bob: I think three men could sit around and attempt to define femininity … Dennis: And we would lose our entire female listening audience. Bob: There would be a lot of women who would say, "I'm not sure you know of what you speak." Dennis: Well, with us in the studio is Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  Nancy is a great friend.  She's been on FamilyLife Today before.  Nancy, welcome back to FamilyLife Today. Nancy: Thank you, Dennis. Dennis: She puts up with us a lot.  She just kind of looks at us and nods and says … Bob: … rolls her eyes … Dennis: … yeah, that's exactly right.  Nancy is a graduate of the University of Southern California.  She has a degree in piano performance.  Nancy, are you really that good?  I've heard you are. Nancy: Well, that's kind of a past-tense part of my life. Dennis: Oh, is it? Bob: I know you haven't had a whole lot of time to do much piano performing in the last several years.  As many of our listeners know, Dennis, Nancy hosts a daily radio program that's heard on many of these same stations.  It's called "Revive our Hearts."  You've been busy writing a number of books including the bestseller, Lies Women Believe," and the companion now, "Lies Young Women Believe."  There has also been a trilogy of books on surrender and brokenness and holiness, and this fall you're going to be involved in a national conference for women in Chicago called "True Woman '08."  Joni Eareckson Tada is going to be speaking there; so is Janet Parshall, John Piper is going to be there, you're going to be there, Dennis; your wife, Barbara, is speaking as part of that conference, and if our listeners are interested in finding out more about True Woman '08 they can go online at FamilyLife.com and click on "Today's Broadcast," and there is a link there that will get them information on how they can attend this national conference taking place in Chicago.  And with all of that going on, there's not a whole lot of time left for piano playing. Dennis: Nancy, we have laughed here early, but there is a great deal of tension when it comes to talking about what it means to being a man or a woman today, and a great deal of confusion.  What do you think has caused this confusion?  What's the greatest contributor to the confusion of what it means to be a woman today? Nancy: Well, let me just give a word of personal testimony here and say that being a woman is not something that I have always embraced with joy myself.  I did have the privilege of growing up in a godly home and under the strong ministry of the Word, but I can remember, as a teenager and young woman, feeling a measure of resentment … Dennis: Really? Nancy: … even, at the fact that God had made me a woman.  And the reason, in my case, was that I so wanted to serve the Lord, had a passion for Christ and for ministry, and in my young thinking, it was men who were best able to do that.  And I had this quiet sense in my heart that if God had made me a man, then I would be better able to serve Him.  I would be able to serve Him more effectively. Dennis: In other words, you viewed your womanhood as a limitation to being used by God in the way that you dreamed of being used. Nancy: I did.  But I want to say that God has been so gracious as I've gone back to the Word of God and sought to draw my understanding from God's Word to see my life as a woman from His point of view, I have come to see that being a woman is a great gift.  I've come to embrace with joy what it means for me to be a woman, and I think part of the difficulty for many of us, as women, as younger women, particularly, is that we've been raised in a culture that is very confused and that has been deeply influenced by the world's way of thinking about what it means to be male or female. Dennis: Well, that's what I was going to ask you.  Did you feel like the culture really contributed to you thinking less of being created as a woman? Nancy: I think there certainly has been a great deal of confusion in the world, and there has been a concerted, intentional effort on the part of many in our world to redefine womanhood; to steal from us, as women, God's purpose for our lives, and I feel, as a result, that women have been robbed of the wonder and the privilege of what it means to be made a woman. Bob: You're obviously not alone.  There are a lot of young women who looked at the landscape and saw it defined along male/female boundaries, and said there are things that the culture will not allow me to do because I am a woman.  And in the church, in the Scriptures, there seem to be indications that there are things that God has reserved for men to do and things that He has excluded women from doing.   So, at 15, or whenever it was that you were saying, "I'm not going to get to do some of the things that it seems my soul longs to do."  That has led a number of folks to say there must be something wrong here.  God would not give me the strong desire to do these things and then exclude me through the pages of Scripture from doing those very things. Nancy: I think the thing we have to remember is that things function poorly or not at all when they function contrary to their design.  We're sitting here in a studio, and there's a microphone in front of us, and this microphone works well when we use it for the purpose for which it was designed, but this microphone would not work well or at all if I tried to use it as, say, a book or a piano … Dennis: … or a ball bat. Nancy: It wasn't designed for any other purpose.  And Satan caused Eve to doubt not only the veracity of God's Word but also the goodness of God.  Has God put limitations on your happiness?  Has God put restraints on you?  Would you be freer and happier and more blessed if you operated outside of God's parameters?  And that is an essential deception, and so many of us daughters of Eve have listened since that day to the deception of the enemy and have begun to function contrary to the design for which God made us and, as a result, we have broken lives, broken hearts, broken marriages, broken homes, and miserable women in so many cases. Dennis: And, you know, I think God gives us illustrations every day of how we are involved in this same kind of protection of others by placing limitations in their lives.  When we used to live in town, we lived on a pretty busy street.  It wasn't a main thoroughfare, but there was a good deal of traffic that flowed back and forth, and we would take our toddlers out to the edge of the road, and we would point to the curb, and we would say, "Do not step off the curb.  Do not go near the curb, do not get in the street, this is a no-no."  And invariably, our children would look at the curb, they would look at the street, and they would look at the yard, and they would look up at us, and they'd put their foot down on the street.  And, at that point, they were testing us to see if, indeed, the boundary was, a, real and, secondly, did I really mean what I said?  And at that point, they found out rather swiftly that there was some discipline behind that. And I think, in the Garden, Eve found out very quickly what she lost when she stepped out from under God's design and disobeyed God.  At that point, she lost that created wonder, the beauty of femininity in its untainted form, unstained by sin and by selfishness.  And, you know, Nancy, I think what people are struggling to get back to today is what Eve lost in both men and women. Nancy: It really is paradise lost.  I think of the verse in Genesis 5, verse 2, reflecting back on the Creation, it says, "Male and female, He created them, and He blessed them."  He blessed them, and as you go through the early pages of the book of Genesis, you see that God's intent was to bless His Creation, and we forfeit that blessing when we step out from the distinctions, the roles, the design for which He made us as men and as women. Dennis: And I think one of the most practical things we can take away here at the beginning of this broadcast is, just as parents, that we must bless our children in their sexual identity.  It is within our power either to bless that or curse it or withhold blessing.  And what we're talking about here is a deeply profound theological principle, but it's intensely practical – very practical, as we raise the next generation. Nancy: We live in a generation that has tried to blur and eradicate, even, the distinctions between male and female and, to me, as you said, Dennis, we have, as women, been stripped of some of our most precious treasures as a result of moving into a unisex generation where men and women think alike, dress alike, have the same kinds of jobs, the same kinds of roles, the same kinds of responsibilities.  We have not gained from these measures as women.  I believe we have been robbed. Dennis: You know, this loss that you're talking about here, Nancy, hit me profoundly some time ago when we were watching the morning news with our kids, and it happened right before the big gathering they had in Washington, D.C. for Promise Keepers, and they had a pro-Promise Keepers speaker on, and then they had a nationally known feminist who was the president of NOW at the time, and we listened to those two go back and forth, and I had a deep sense of a profound sadness, as I listened to that representative from NOW who so wanted women to achieve and to be successful and yet she was doing it without a reference to God. And when all the debate was over, we turned the TV off, and it was right before school, and we have prayer before we go to school, and I gathered my three daughters who were there, and I put my arms around them, and I began to pray for them.  I don't know when the last time I began to weep when I prayed was, but I began to sob.  I just had a profound sense of sadness that my daughters and other daughters are growing up in a culture that is attempting to find happiness and hope and success and femininity and womanhood without reference to God. Bob: Nancy, I know, as you grew up, you talked about feeling limited by your femininity.  As you've come to understand what the Scriptures teach about womanhood, I'm sure there has been some of that that's been fairly easy to embrace and some of that that you've chafed against a little bit.  What has been difficult?  What has been hard to accept about God's portrait of womanhood? Nancy: For me, the essence of femininity is to embrace the concept of surrender as a woman to become a receiver, a responder, and surrendered to the heart and the will of God.  I love the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  And, to me, she is a portrait of what it means to be a woman of God.  When the angel came to Mary and explained to her that she was going to be a mother of the Son of God, Mary's response was, "I am the Lord's servant.  May it be unto me according as you have said."   And, for me, the difficulty – I think it's true for every human being – is to embrace what God has said.  Say "Let it be to me as you have said," and that means for all of us, male and female, that there are restrictions, that there are certain roles that we are not asked to play, that we are not designed to fulfill.  And, sure, my flesh has chafed against embracing those roles and those restrictions at times, but it's the enemy that causes us to see those as restrictions.  It's God's way to see those limitations as loving imitations, as wise limitations, and as a means of protection, even as you protect your children from the oncoming traffic by teaching them not to step off of that curb in front of the house. Dennis: And, Nancy, I think you've hit it.  Our assignment as parents or the assignment of today's broadcast for a single woman or a married woman is to embrace God's design, receive it as Mary received that call upon her life to become the mother of the Savior and not listen to the voices that would muddy the clear call of God and pull back to the big picture and say, "Wait a second, where does life come from?"  Is the feminist movement really going to offer life?  Is it found where they say it's going to be found by seeking your own rights?  By trying to find self-fulfillment?  Their definition of success is around self.  A Christian's definition of success in the roles of men and women is around God and in surrendering to that which God has called him to be and to do. And I wonder sometimes, Bob, even within the Christian community, how foolish we've become in buying into this trap as we raise our daughters, seemingly, to prop their ladders against the careerism wall just like we trained our sons.  It wasn't any more correct to do that for them but to turn around and take our daughters and to say that the goal of their education, the goal of their lives ought to be a career?  Wait a second – where is that in the Bible?  Where is the home here?  Where is relationships here?  Where is the next generation here? Nancy: And let me say that because of the influence of the world's way of thinking in our generation, I believe we are faced today with an incredible opportunity to help women discover the means of true freedom, true liberation.  I've been, for some 20 years, involved in ministry to women, and women in the church primarily, and I've found that women today, by and large, are frustrated, in many cases, angry, hurt, wounded, and hardened, in some cases.  It's not difficult to convince women today that the world's way has not worked.  The world has promised freedom and success and joy, but it hasn't delivered.  And so what a time for us to hold up the standard of God's Word and say, "Here is what God offers.  This is the means to true freedom." Dennis: And I know that most of our listeners are women, on the broadcast today, but there are some men who are listening, too, and I just want to speak to you guys for just a second.  It is our responsibility to protect and preserve our wives, to protect and preserve biblical femininity and womanhood.   It ought not to be that our churches are filled with frustrated, angry women at a culture that's confused the issue.  Who ought to be stepping forward and helping define these issues?  It's men.  We ought to help.  Now, I'm not saying we're the ones doing all the defining and telling wives what they ought to be.  I can almost see those letters coming right now, but calling together some godly women who get in the Scriptures, and they look at it from Genesis to Revelation and begin to say, "What is God's design in the Scriptures for a woman?  Is it limiting?  Has God called there to be a distinction between male and female?"  And I believe it's clear.  It doesn't take a Hebrew or a Greek scholar to see there is a difference between men and women. Nancy: Only by restoring the sense of those distinctions and showing how they must be protected and preserved and celebrated will we be able to rear a new generation who understand the joy and the blessing of fulfilling God's role for them. Bob: You know, we're going to be talking this week about the portrait of femininity, what it means for a woman to be a woman according to the Scriptures, and just on the basis of what we've said today, I can imagine there are some listeners who say, "I hear it coming, and I already don't like it, because it's going to tie me up in such a restrictive knot that I can't function outside the home, I can't have any fulfillment in using my spiritual gifts except at a ladies' Bible study.  I've heard it before, I didn't like it the first time I heard it, and I'm not sure I want to listen this week, because I don't think I'm going to like it this week." Nancy: You know, Bob, I can imagine a fish in the water feeling that it's limited by having to live in the water, and that fish, if it could speak, perhaps could say, "I'm going to get out of the water."  And the fish can get out of the water, but the fish can't live or survive out of the water.  And so many times they have men and women trying to escape from the realm, the sphere in which God created us to be blessed and successful.  We can get out of that realm, but we can't survive out of that realm. Dennis: Nancy, I couldn't agree more, and as Bob was articulating what some are feeling right now, I couldn't help but think that the serpent had a good bass voice like that, too, and was saying, "Hey, shed the restraints.  You don't have to put up with these God standards any longer.  Get out from under it, find a new way, find a better way, you can be all you were intended to be without reference or without depending upon God," and, you know, life is full.  I mean, look in your neighborhoods, look around your community at what happens to people who ignore the Ten Commandments.  Their lives are destroyed. And I just want to tell you, around this issue, this is a major issue for our nation, for our churches, and for every Christian family that is raising the next generation of boys and girls who will be the next civilization in America. Bob: Yeah, there is massive confusion on this subject, especially among this emerging generation.  The whole question of gender has been muddled, and it leaves a lot of young men and a lot of young women questioning what it means to be a boy, what it means to be a girl. Nancy, you wrote a little booklet a number of years ago called "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood," and it's a booklet that we've got in our FamilyLife Resource Center along with a number of the books you've written.  In fact, I would just encourage our listeners, if you have resonated with what you've heard Nancy talking about today, get a copy of the booklet, "A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood," and then get Nancy's book, "Lies Women Believe," as well, if you haven't read that yet.  They are both in our FamilyLife Resource Center, and you can go online at FamilyLife.com and order copies, if you'd like.  Again, our website is FamilyLife.com, and when you get to the home page, on the right side of the screen, there's a box that says "Today's Broadcast," and if you click where it says "Learn More," it will take you to an area of the site where there is information about these books and other resources from Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  There are transcripts of the program that you've heard today, and there is a place where you can leave comments about what you've heard or about what you read in the transcripts.  Again, our website is FamilyLife.com, and you'll need to click on the right side of the screen where it says "Today's Broadcast" to get to the area where there is information about the resources from Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and there is a link there to the True Woman '08 conference that we've talked about today that's happening in Chicago October 8th through the 11th.  A great lineup of speakers, and our friends, Keith and Kristyn Getty are going to be there helping to lead worship as well. If you'd like to attend the national True Woman '08 conference in Chicago in October, go to our website, FamilyLife.com, and you can get more information.  Or you can click through and register online at the True Woman '08 website.   You know, while woman are wrestling with this subject, there are a lot of guys who are wrestling with what it means to be a man biblically, and this month we have been making available to our listeners a CD of a great message from Stu Weber called "Applied Masculinity."  It's a message that looks at what's at the core of being a man, and how to keep masculinity in its appropriate biblical balance, and we'd love to send you a copy of that CD this month when you make a donation of any amount for the ministry of FamilyLife Today. We are listener-supported, your donations are what keep this program on the air here in this city and in other cities across the country, and you can make your donation online at FamilyLife.com, or you can call 1-800-FLTODAY to make a donation.  If you're online, and you'd like to receive the CD from Stu Weber on manhood, just type the word "Stu" s-t-u, in the keycode box on the donation form, or you can call 1-800-FLTODAY and make a donation over the phone and just say, "I'd like the CD on manhood."  We're happy to make it available to you as our way of saying thank you for your generous support of the ministry of FamilyLife Today.  We appreciate you. Now, tomorrow we're going to continue to unpack what is at the essence of femininity from a biblical perspective, and I hope you can be with us for that.   I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.  On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.  We'll see you tomorrow for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas – help for today; hope for tomorrow.  _______________________________________________________________We are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?Copyright © FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com 

Did Alan really commit a serious deal-breaker on his date with Nancy? You be the judge!

Nancy Hensley is the Chief Digital Officer for IBM Analytics, a multi-billion dollar IBM software business focused on helping customers transform their companies with data science and analytics. Nancy has over 20 years of experience working in the data business in many facets from development, product management, sales, and marketing. Today’s episode is probably going to appeal to those of you in product management or working on SAAS/cloud analytics tools. It is a bit different than our previous episodes in that we focused a lot on what “big blue” is doing to simplify its analytics suite as well as facilitating access to those tools. IBM has many different analytics-related products and they rely on good design to make sure that there is a consistent feel and experience across the suite, whether it’s Watson, statistics, or modeling tools. She also talked about how central user experience is to making IBM’s tools more cloud-like (try/buy online) vs. forcing customers to go through a traditional enterprise salesperson. If you’ve got a “dated” analytics product or service that is hard to use or feels very “enterprisey” (in that not-so-good way), then I think you’ll enjoy the “modernization” theme of this episode. We covered: How Nancy is taking a 50-year old product such as SPSS and making it relevant and accessible for an audience that is 60% under 25 years of age The two components Nancy’s team looks at when designing an analytics product What “Metrics Monday” is all about at IBM Analytics How IBM follows-up with customers, communicates with legacy users, and how the digital market has changed consumption models Nancy’s thoughts on growth hacking and the role of simplification Why you should always consider product-market fit first and Nancy’s ideas on MVPs The role design plays in successful onboarding customers into IBM Analytics’ tools and what Brian refers to as the “honeymoon” experience Resources and Links: Nancy Hensley on Twitter Nancy Hensley on LinkedIn Quotes: “It’s really never about whether it’s a great product. It’s about whether the client thinks it’s great when they start using it.” –Nancy “Every time we add to the tool, we’re effectively reducing the simplicity of everything else around it.”–Brian “The design part of it for us is so eye-opening, because again, we’ve built a lot of best in class enterprise products for years and as we shift into this digital go-to-market, it is all about the experience…”–Nancy “Filling in that “why” piece is really important if you’re going to start changing design because you may not really understand the reasons someone’s abandoning.”–Brian “Because a lot of our products weren’t born in the cloud originally, they weren’t born to be digitally originally, doesn’t mean they can’t be digitally consumed. We just have to really focus on the experience and one of those things is onboarding.” –Nancy “If they [users] can’t figure out how to jump in and use the product, we’re not nailing it. It doesn’t matter how great the product is, if they can’t figure out how to effectively interact with it. –Nancy Episode Transcript Brian: Today on Experiencing Data, I [talked] to Nancy Hensley, the Chief Digital Officer of IBM Analytics. Nancy brings a lot of experience and has a lot to say about how user experience and design have become very integral to IBM’s success especially as they move their applications into the cloud space. They really try to bring the price point down and make their services and applications much more low touch in order to access a new base of subscribers and users. I really enjoyed this talk with her about what the designers and people focused on the product experience have been doing at IBM to keep their company relevant and keep them pushing forward in terms of delivering really good experiences to their customers. I hope you enjoy this episode with Nancy Hensley. Hello everybody. I’m super stoked to have Nancy Hensley, the Chief Digital Officer of IBM Analytics. How’s it going, Nancy? Nancy: Good. I’m happy to be here. Happy Friday. Brian: Yeah. It’s getting cold here in Cambridge, Mass ; [ you’re] in Chicago area, if I remember correctly. Nancy: Yeah, it’s a little bit chilly here as well. Brian: Nice. So it begins. You’ve done quite a bit of stuff at IBM when we had our little pre-planning call. You talked a lot about growth that’s been happening over at IBM. I wanted to talk to you specifically about the role that design and experience has played, how you guys have changed some of your products, and how you’re talking to new customers and that type of thing. Can you tell people, first of all, just a little bit about your background, what you’re currently doing, and then we could maybe […] some of those things. Nancy: Sure, happy to. Thank you for having me again. I think I’m one of those people that doesn’t fit nicely into a box of, “Are you product? Are you marketing?” I am a little bit of both. Most of my IBM career, I have moved in between product marketing and product management. That’s why I love digital so much because it really is a nice mixture. And in particular, growth hacking because it combines all the things I love, including data as a part of what we do. What I’m doing right now as a Chief Digital Officer in the Analytics Division and Hypercloud is how do we transform our products to make them more consumable, more accessible? We have best in class products in data science, in unified governments and integration, in hyper data management products, but our products and our business is built on a traditional face-to-face model. There is even a perception that we’re not as accessible to them and that’s what we’re looking to change. Creating those lower entry points, making it easier for people who didn’t have access to us before, to start small and grow through a digital channel, through a lower entry point product, and then scale up from there. That’s really what we’re trying to do and as part of a bigger mission to really democratize data science—I kind of cringe when I say that word—I think it’s really important for more clients to be able to be more data-driven, have tools that are easy to use, and leverage data science to optimize their business. Part of the way we’re doing that is to develop a digital route to market. We’re pretty excited about it. Brian: I think a lot of our listeners probably come from internal roles of companies. They might be someone that’s purchasing vendor software as opposed to a SaaS company where they may have a closer role to marketing and all that. Can you tell me what you guys are doing there? Part of the thing with my experience is that some of the legacy companies, the older companies that are out there tend to get associated with big giant enterprise installations, really crappy user experience. It’s just so powerful, you have to put up with all these stuff. People’s tendency these days to accept that poor experience as just status quo is changing. What have you guys done? Not that you’re to blame but I’m sure that opinion exist. How do you guys adapt to that and wonder if upstart analytics companies coming out with other things, what do you guys to to address the experience? Nancy: There’s certainly a perception that IBM is that big, complicated, enterprise-focused product out there. We see the data. There’s a lot of articles, there’s a lot of feedback, there’s endless report that all validate that clients are trading off complexity or features and functions for consumability, because they got to get things done, they have less people to do it. We fully recognize that. Where we started to look for that was how we first started to make things much more accessible, not just our cloud products because that’s pretty easy if you have stuff in the cloud—it’s pretty accessible—but our on-prime products as well. So, for clients that are running analysis behind the private cloud, whether it’s a statistical product, or a predictive analytics product, or data science project, or even what they’re doing on their data catalog, all of that was not something people would go to the cog to look for it. There are some things they need especially financial and health care, and there’s large and small companies on both sides. One of the things we set out to do is how do we create that cloud-like experience for clients that are running things behind their firewall. We started a project about a year ago to look at some of our on-prime products and create that experience where literally you could, within a couple of clicks, download, try, and be using a product within 15 minutes. That was our goal. As opposed to before where you would have to contact and IBM salesperson, get them to come out and meet with you, and then set-up a trial. That’s what we started to change was that at least make it accessible. As we progressed that capability, we started changing our pricing and packaging to be appropriate, to create that entry-level point, to create a shift to subscription. You want to buy everything on subscription these days, I think. The last part of that shift for us has been to really focus on the experience because a lot of these products were not born digital. We really need to make sure that when clients were coming through that channel, that it was a great experience. That’s really where design experience came into play for us. Brian: How did you know of what’s wrong beyond broad surveys or just that general feeling that like, “Oh, it’s the big giant bloated software…” the stereotype, right? How do you guys get into the meat and potatoes of like you said, sounds like there’s a benchmark there, 15 minutes on that first onboarding experience, but can you tell us a little bit of maybe if you have a specific example about how you figured it out? What do we need to change about this software application to make it easier to get value out of the analytics of the data that’s there? Nancy: I’ve got lots of examples. We’ll opt with one that clients actually are very familiar with, which is SPSS Statistics that a lot of us used back in college. That was a product that actually turns 50 years old this year. It’s been out a while, a lot of people still using it a lot, and most of our base of users for statistics, I think if you look at the demographics of it, over 60% are under the age of 25. So, their buying preferences were very different than they were when they started out in 1968. We look at the verbatims from our NPS feedback and it was clear that clients really wanted a much more simplified and flexible experience than buying SPSS Statistics and having access to it. A lot of times, students have to get it really quickly for a project because they’ve might have waited until the last minute and they wanted a much more flexible subscription-based program. They might only use it for a few months and then come back to it. That was one of the first things that we implemented was to change the buying experience for the consumption model. We didn’t actually change the product at that point. We just changed the consumption model to see if in fact that actually will help us have some growth on that product, and it absolutely did. Since then, we’ve actually gone back and change the product as well. It’s got a whole new UI for its 50th anniversary. Joke around that it’s got a face lift for it’s 50th anniversary. Brian: Does it have a green screen mode? Nancy: It is a completely different experience, not just from a buying perspective, but also from a UI perspective as well. We have other products, too, that have been around maybe not 50 years but have been very popular products like our DB2 Warehouse on Cloud and our DB2 database that clients have been buying for years to run their enterprises. We wanted to make that again, as we created a SaaS alternative of these products that it was extremely consumable. So, we’ve been looking specifically, is it easy to figure out which version to buy? How much to buy? What it’s going to do for you? Like I said, which version? How do I calculate things? We’ve been really looking at the experience of that is, if there was no salesperson at all, how do we help clients through that buying experience? Brian: I’m curious. When you decided to helping them through the buying experience, does any of that thinking or that strategy around hand-holding someone through that experience happen in the product itself? I’m guessing you’re downloading a package at some point, you’re running an installer, and at that point, did you continue that hand-holding process to get them out of the weeds of the installation and onboarding again to the actual, “Is this tool right for what I needed to do?” Everything else being friction up until that point where you’re actually working with your data, did you guys carry that through? Can you talk about that? Nancy: You’re hitting one of my favorite topics which is onboarding. Because a lot of our products weren’t born in the cloud originally, they weren’t born to be digital originally, doesn’t mean they can’t be digitally consumed. We just have to really focus on the experience and one of those things in onboarding. Let’s say, DB2 in particular, which won the process of creating onboarding experience for DB Warehouse on Cloud. For anybody who’s used DB2, we do have an updated UI for that. They can jump in and start using it. But that’s not everyone, the people that haven’t used it before. So, we just started working with a couple of different onboarding tools to create these experiences. Our goal was to be able—at least I’m offering management side alongside our partners but design—to create these experiences in a very agile way and make them measurable—my second favorite topic, which is instrumentation—but not have a burden on development, because the fact is, in almost any organization, development wants to build features and functions. Whenever we talk about this, they were prioritized lower because they want to build new capabilities. They’re less enthusiastic about building in things like onboarding experiences. With some of the tools like [.DB2..] give us, is a way to make it codeless to us. We can create these experiences, then pass the code snippet, and then measure whether those are effective or not because we actually see those flowing through segment into our amplitude as a part of the shuttle. We’ve got some great feedback as to whether they’re working or where they’re falling down. We can create checklists of things that we want the clients to do that we know makes the product sticky, and see if they actually complete that checklist. It’s giving us so much better view because before, what we would see with a client is register for trial, they downloaded the trial, they’ve created their instance, and then boom they fall off the cliff. What happened? Now we’re getting a much better view to what’s actually going on for the products that have been instrumented as well as the view we’re getting in from the onboarding experiences. Brian: For every one of these applications that you’re trying to move into a cloud model or simplify whether it’s cloud, to me the deployment model doesn’t matter. It’s really about removing the friction points whether it’s on-premise software or not. I think we all tend to use the word ‘cloud’ to kind of feel like, “Oh, is this browser-based thing? There’s no hard clients? There’s no running scripts at the terminal and all that kind of stuff?” Do you guys have a set of benchmarks or something that you establish for every one of these products that are going to go through a redesign? Nancy: We do. We’ve got a set of criteria, it’s really broken down into two pieces. Whether it’s going to be a cloud product or an on-premise product—I actually have a mix of both—there is what we call the MVP side, which might be something that’s not born in the cloud, it’s not a new product, and we’re looking to create a lower entry point, a really good trial experience, a very optimized journey. We’re even doing things like taking some of the capabilities that we used to have from a technical perspective and making those more digitally available. Online proof of concepts, hands-on labs that you do online instead of waiting for a technical salesperson to come out to see you. Tap us that can answer your questions faster even before you talk to a sales rep. All of that is included in the what we call the MVP portion of the criteria that we look at. Pricing and packaging’s got to be right for the product, for the marketplace. Got to have that right product market fit that you’ve got a good valuable product but a low-enough entry point where somebody can start small and scale up. The second part of the criteria is where the growth magic happens, where we’re dumbing down a lot more on the experimentation, where we’re making sure that we’ve got onboarding, instrumentation we want done, and the MVP phase, we don’t always get it, but our development partners really understand the value of that now, which is great. Though more often, we’re getting into the second phase of where we’re more doing the transformation. Through that, then we’re getting a lot more feedback, where we can create the onboarding experience. We can do even more on the optimized journey. We’re doing a lot of growth hacking that’s based on terms of optimizing. Things like how clear is information on the pricing page? Is it easy for the customer to figure out what they need to buy? What the pricing is for that? Can they get their questions answered quickly? Can we create a deeper technical experience for them, even outside of the trial itself? Like I mentioned, things we’re doing with our digital technical engagement, thinking that what used to be our tech sales modeling and making it more digital. Brian: That’s cool. When you guys go through this process of testing, are you primarily looking at quantitative metrics then that are coming back from the software that you guys are building, or you’re doing any type of qualitative research to go validate like, “Hey, is the onboarding working well?” Obviously, the quantitative can tell you what. It doesn’t tell you why someone might have abandoned at this point. You guys do any research there? Nancy: We do. It happens in a couple of places. We run squads that are cross-functional across marketing, product, development, and design, each product. Then every Monday we have this thing called Metrics Monday where we get the cross-functional routines together, we share the insights around the metrics. If we had a big spike or we had a big decrease, or if we had a change in engagement, or if we did some experimentation that came out with a very interesting result, we actually share that across teams. We really focus on why did things happen. We have a dashboard. Everybody is religious in using on a daily basis that tracks all of our key metrics, whether it’s visits, engage visits, trials, trial-to-win conversions, number of orders, things like that, but we also want to dive deeper into the ebbs and flows of the business itself, why things are happening, and if the experimentation we’re doing is helping or not helping. We’ve got a lot of focus on that on a daily and a weekly basis. Brian: Do you have any way to access the trial users and do one-on-one usability study or a follow-up with them that’s not so much quantitative? Nancy: Our research team and design will do that and they’ll take a very thorough approach to both recording users using the product, getting their feedback. It’s pretty thorough and also gives us some feedback. We usually don’t do that until the product’s been in the market for a little bit longer. We’ve got some hypothesis of how we think it’s doing, and then the research team will spend a couple of weeks diving a lot deeper into it. We get some great feedback from that. Honestly, as a product person, as much as I’d to think I’m focused on a beautiful experience, my lens versus our designers’ lens is completely different and they just see things we don’t. Brian: Yeah, the friction points and filling in the why’s, it takes time to go and do that, but it can tell you things, it helps you qualify the data, and makes sense especially when you’re collecting. I’m sure at the level that you guys are collecting that, you have a lot of inbound analytics coming back on what’s happening. But it’s really filling in that “why” piece that is really important if you’re going to start changing design because you may not really understand the reasons someone’s abandoning. Maybe it’s like, “I couldn’t find the installer. I don’t know where the URL is. I ended up locking the server on my thing and I don’t know how to localhost, but I forgot the port number,” and the whole product is not getting accessed because they don’t know the port number for the server they installed or whatever the heck it is, and it’s like, “Oh, they dropped off. They couldn’t figure it out how to turn it on, like load the browser…” Nancy: Right, and even behavioral things that we don’t always think of, like putting a really cool graphic in the lead space that actually takes the attention away from the callback-ends. We’re all proud of, “Hey look at this cool graphic we built.” One of our designers uses a tool that tracks eye movements and [wait a second] “We’re losing the focus here.” But again, you don’t always see from that lens. The design part of it, for us has been so eye-opening because again, we’ve built a lot of best in class enterprise products for years. As we shift into this digital go-to market, it is all about the experience. It’s all about how good the experience is, how easy the experience is, how frictionless it is, and it’s also about how consumable and accessible the product is in the marketplace. Brian: You mentioned earlier, it sounded like engineering doesn’t want to go back and necessarily add onboarding on all of this. This gets into the company culture of who’s running the ship, so to speak. Is it engineering-driven in your area? How do you guys get aligned around those objectives? I’ve seen this before with larger enterprise clients where engineering is the most dominant force and sprints are often set up around developing a feature and all the plumbing and functionality required to get that feature done, but there’s not necessarily a collective understanding of, “Hey, if someone can’t get from step A to step G, horizontally across time, then all that stuff’s a failure. Step F which you guys went in deep on is great, but no one can get from E to F, so definitely they can’t get to G.” So, that’s you’re qualifier of success. How do you guys balance that? Who’s running the ship? Does your product management oversee the engineering? Can you talk a little bit about that structure? Nancy: We call operating management aside from product management for a reason, because we really do want the operating managers to feel like they’re the CEO of their business and run the ship. Of course, development has a big say at the table, but they have a natural tendency to want to build capabilities. It’s never going to go away. It’s been that way for ages. We just don’t want to fight that tendency. We want them to focus on building, not take six months to build an onboarding experience when they could build in really valuable functionality in that six months instead. So, we really run it as a squad, just like many other companies. Operating management does leave a lot of the strategy with our products and development, but I would say that design is also a really, really chief at the table, for sure, absolutely. Brian: Tell us a little bit about your squads and is this primarily a designer or a UX professional up in your offering manager? Are they a team and then you pull in the engineering representatives as you strategize? Nancy: My team is a digital offering management. We’re a subset of offering management better known as product management. We will run the squads and the squads will be a cross-function of our product marketing team, our performance marketing team, which is demand to and type marketing. They run the campaigns, design, developments, the core product managers because we’re the digital product managers and such, and then there’s the core product managers. They have all routes to market. We’re just focused on the digital ones. With that is the cross-functional squad that gets together on a weekly basis and they run as a team. From a digital perspective, it’s led by the Digital OM for our route to market there. Brian: That’s interesting. How do you ensure that there are some kind of IBMness to all these offerings? Your UX practice and offering managers sound like they are part of one organization, but I imagine some of these tools, you might be crossing boundaries as you go from tool X to tool Y. Maybe you need to send data over like, “Oh, I have this package of stuff and I need to deploy this model,” then we have a different tool for putting the model into production and there’s some cross user experience there. Can you talk about that? Nancy: That’s really why design’s been key because their job is to keep us onus making sure that the experience is somewhat consistent across the tools so they seem familiar to us, especially within a segment data science. Some of these are using our Watson Studio tool and then moves to our statistics for our modeler tool. There should be a very familiar experience across those. That’s why design is really the lead in the experience part of it. From pricing and packaging, we try to maintain a consistency as much as possible across all the products again. Whatever level of familiarity you have and how we price and package things should be consistent across the entire segment. So we strive for that as well. On the digital side, in terms of the experience on the actual web, we partner with a team called the Digital Business Group. They are basically the host of our digital platform and they maintain a level of consistency worldwide across all the products in terms of the digital journey itself with us. Brian: That’s cool that you guys are keeping these checkpoints, so to speak, as stuff goes out the door. You’ve got the front lenses on it looking at it from different quality perspectives, I guess you could say. Earlier, you mentioned democratizing data science and we hear this a lot. Are we talking about democratizing the results of the data science, so at some point there’s maybe decision support tool or there’s some kind of outcome coming from the data science? Is that what you’re talking about democratizing? Or are you saying for a data scientist of all levels of ability, it’s more for the toolers as opposed to the [consumers..]? Nancy: It’s about the capability. The ability to put more of these products or these products in people’s hands that bought, that they might have been out of their reach, or that they were too enterprisey, or that they are for big companies. That’s one of the key things that we want to do. When you look at some of our products, they start really, really low. Cognizant Analytics is another great example where people might have had a perception that it’s really expensive but we just introduced a new version of it, and it’s less than $100 a month. You can get these powerful tools for analysis for a lot less than you think. Statistics in $99 a month, one of our pay products are significantly less, and it allows these companies that might not have considered doing business with us, to smart small and build up. That’s one of the key things we noticed as we shifted to a subscription model. With that, we started to see double digit increases in the number of clients that were new on products. Just because opened up this new route to market, doesn’t mean that we still didn’t maintain our enterprise face-to-face relationships because, of course, we did, but this allowed us to open up relationships with clients might have not gotten to before. Brian: How are the changes affecting the legacy users that you have? I imagine you probably do have some people that are used to, “Don’t change my toolset,” like, “I’ve been using DB2 for 25 years.” How are they reacting to some of the changes? I imagine at some point maybe you have some fat clients that turn to browser-based interfaces. They undergo some redesign at that point. Do you have a friction between the legacy experience and maybe do you employ the slow change mentality? Or do you say, “Nope, we’re going to cut it here. We’re jumping to the new one and we’re not going to let the legacy drag us back”? You talk about how you guys make those changes? Nancy: We’re shifting towards the subscription model. Our clients are, too. We have clients that are demanding that this is the only way that they actually want to buy software is through a subscription model. So it’s changing for them as well. I think in many ways, it’s a welcome change across the board. I can’t think of any negativity that we’ve had in both the change for the consumption models on a subscription side, as well as the new UI changes and things that we’re doing to the product that really update them and give them a modern feel. I know a lot of the onboarding is a welcome change, even for clients that are familiar with us. It helps them because they have to do less training internally to help people use the tool because now we’re building it into the product. Brian: How do you measure that they’re accepting that? Do you wait for that inbound feedback? Do you see if there’s attrition and then go talk to them? I imagine there’s some attrition that happens when you make a large tooling change. Is there a way to validate that or why that happened? Was it a result of changing too quickly? Any comment on that? Nancy: I think it’s a couple of things. We’re constantly monitoring the flow of MRR and the contraction of revenue where the attrition that we get through some of our subscription, to see if there is any anomalies there. But also we’re always were very in-tune with NPS. A lot of our product managers live and die in the verbatims and with the integration of FLAX, they get a lot of it. They’re coming right at them constantly, that they respond to. We are very, very in-tune with NPS and the feedback we’re getting there. We’re also getting a lot of reviews now on our software using tools like G2 Crowd where we keep an eye on that. I think the feedback doesn’t just come from one place. We’ll look at things like the flow through Amplitude. Our clients, when they’re coming in and during the trial, are they getting stuck someplace? Are they falling off someplace? Are they falling off either at a specific page like the pricing page? Or are they falling off as soon as they get the trial because they don’t know what to do with it? We look at things like that. We look at NPS in particular after we’ve introduced new capabilities. Did our NPS go up? What’s the feedback? Are our clients truly embracing this? I think it’s a combination of things. There is a lot of information, a lot of data that we just need to stay in-tune with. We’ve got a couple of dashboards that I know my team wakes up with everyday and takes a look at, and the product team. The core product manager stayed very focused on NPS. Brian: Do you have a way of collecting end-user feedback directly? I would imagine maybe in your newer tools, it’s easier to tool some of that in, but is there any way to provide customer feedback or something to chat or any type of interactivity that’s directly in the tools that you’re creating these days? Nancy: Sure. We are rolling out more end-product nurture capability than we ever had before. That gives them the ability to chat directly within the product, as well as schedule a time with an expert. We’re working in making that even easier through a chat bot. So if you do get stuck and you’re chatting with that bot, you can schedule the appointment with an expert right there. I think there’s lots of ways to do that. I think sometimes I worry that there’s too much data coming at us but we [didn’t have enough..] before, so I’m not going to do that. Brian: Right. It’s not about data, right? It’s, do we have information? Nancy: Do we have information? Exactly. I would say my team spends a lot of time going through that, looking at Amplitude, analyzing the flows, looking in the patterns, in the orders, in the data, and the revenue. With the NPS feedback, it’s a combination of all of that stuff that really gives us a good view. As well as looking at the chat data, and analyzing some of the keywords that’s coming across on the chat, the Watson robots are constantly learning, which is great. We’re using machine learning to get smarter about what do people ask about, and that’s giving us also some good insight into the questions they ask, the patterns of information they’re searching for by product. Brian: In terms of the net promoter score that you talked about, tell me about the fact that how do you interpret that information when not everybody is going to provide a net promoter score? You have nulls, right? Nancy: Right. Brian: How do you factor that in? That’s the argument against NPS as the leading indicator. Sometimes, it’s not having any information. So you may not be collecting positive or potentially negative stuff because people don’t even want to take the time to respond. Do you have comments on how you guys interpret that? Nancy: I think you also have to look at the NPS is going to go up and down. If you have a client who has particularly a bad experience, it’s the week of thanksgiving, there was only X amount of surveys, and one of them had a bad experience that could make your NPS score looks like it drops like a rock. [right] you’ve got to look at it like the stock market. It’s more of the patterns over the long haul, what’s coming across within those patterns of information and feedback the clients are giving you. We react but you have to look at the data set, you have to look at the environmental things that are happening, and take that all into consideration from an NPS perspective. We’re very driven by that and that comes down from our CEO. She’s very cognizant, making sure that the product teams and the development teams are getting that feedback directly from the clients. As an organization—we’re a few years old—the way we used to do that is we would have these client advisory boards. It was a small number of clients that would give us feedback on our products, roadmap, and usability of that. The reality is just that then you end up building the product for 10% of your clients. Now it’s been eye-opening for us as we really open that up. Obviously, we’re still getting feedback from a larger community and client advisory board still, but NPS comments and feedback has really widen the aperture of the feedback we’ve gotten from a broader scope of clients. Brian: You brought up a good point. I had a client who luckily was cognizant of this and they did the same things where they fly their clients, they do two-day workshops, and they gather feedback from them. I was doing some consulting there and he said, “Brian, I’d like you to just go walk around, drop in some of the conversations and just listen, but take it with a grain of salt because I hate these freaking things. All we do is invite people that are willing to come for 2–3 days and tell us how much they love our stuff, it’s a free trip, we’re not getting to the people that don’t like our stuff…” Nancy: Or don’t use it. Brian: Or don’t use it at all. I love the concept of design partners, which is new, where you might have a stable of customers who are highly engaged, but that the good ones are the ones that are engaged who will pummel you when you’re stuff is not happening. They will come down on you and they will let you know. So it’s really about finding highly communicative and people who are willing to tell it like it is. It’s not, we’ll go out and find people that rah-rah, cheerleading crowd for you. Did that inspire the changes? Nancy: Even in the client advisory councils that we had—I ran a couple of them for products like Netezza for a while—we started to change the way we even ran those. I remember the biggest aha moment was, we had a client advisory board for Netezza one year and not too long ago. We decided to run a design thinking camp as part of the agenda, so that they would actually drive what they wanted from our requirements prospectus, going through the design thinking process through that. What came out of it was truly eye-opening. You know how a design thinking process progresses. I think even they were surprised at what they ended up prioritizing across the group of requirement. I think we’re really starting using differently about that feedback from clients. I do remember that day when we were looking at those things and that was not where we thought we would end up. Brian: Do you have a specific memory about something that was surprising to the group that really stuck? Something you guys learned in particular that stuck with you? Nancy: I think we focused a lot more at that point. At the time there was a lot of issues around security and what was one of our leading things going into the next version. What clients actually were not necessarily as verbal about was that, as they were using these appliances and they were becoming more mission-critical, they were doing more mixed workloads. Yes, security was still incredibly important, but what was emerging beyond that for them was workload management because they had this mixed workload that was emerging. So many different groups were jumping in with different types of workload. They have not anticipated on their [day route?] appliance, so it was something that I think came out of the next in the design thinking process that was important to them that they actually hadn’t been able to verbalize to us. Outside of that process, which was really, really interesting to us, we were on track with the requirements that we have but beyond that, the requirements that we just hadn’t thought of and quite honestly they hadn’t verbalized. Brian: You make a good point there. Part of the job of design is to get really good clarity on what the problems are and they’re not always going to be voiced to you in words or in direct statements. It’s your job to uncover the latent problems that are already there, crystalize them, so ideally whoever your project manager in the organization and your leadership, can understand and make them concrete because then you can go and solve them. When they’re not concrete and vague, like, “We need better security.” But what does that mean specifically? If you start there and really the problem had to do with the mixed workloads and managing all that, it’s like you can go down a completely different path. You can still write a lot of code, you can build a lot of stuff, and you can do a lot of releases, but if you don’t really know what that problem is that you’re solving, then you’re just going through activity and you’re actually building debt. You’re building more technical debt, you’re wasting money and time for everybody, and you’re not really driving the experience better for the customer. I think you made a good point about the design thinking helps uncover the reality of what’s there, when it’s not being explicitly stated, support requests are not going to get that type of information. They tend to be much more tactical. You’re not going to get a, “Hey, strategically I think the project needs to go this direction.” Nancy: Right and if you would have asked of us an open-ended question, you would have gotten and answer that could have been interpreted slightly differently. I think this was when I became the biggest fan of design is that, there was this magical person who was running this design camp for me that got information that I didn’t think I could get to. I mean, I knew nothing about the product. It was pretty amazing. Brian: That can happen when you also get that fresh lens on things even when they may not be a domain expert. You get used to seeing the friction points that people have and you can ask questions in a way to extract information that’s not biased. You’re not biased by the legacy that might be coming along with that product or even that domain space. It’s sometimes having jthat almost like first grade, “Tell it to me like I’m your grandfather,” or, “Explain that to me this way,” and then you can start to see where some of those friction points are and make them real. I always enjoyed that process of when you’re really fresh. Maybe this happens for other people but especially as a designer and consultant, coming into a product and a new domain, and just having that first-grader lens on it like, “Hey, could you unpack that for me?” “What is the workload in there like?” looking at you like, “What?” and you make them unpack that but you give that full honesty there to really get them to extract out of their head into words that you [and.] everyone can understand. That’s where some of those magical things happen like, “Oh my gosh. We had no idea that this was a problem,” because he or she thought it was so obvious like, “Of course, they know this,” and it’s like, “No. No one’s ever said that.” Nancy: Right. We’re experiencing that now. We have an embedded designer into our team that’s focused on our growth products. Again, she’s coming in with a complete fresh set of eyes and her perspective that she brings on the experience is just so completely different, not completely different but there are things that she flushes out we would have never see. It’s really helping because a lot of times, too, when you’re focused on the experience as opposed to the features and functions analysis, and you come down to looking at it from that perspective. I don’t want to go to development and tell them this because it’s like calling their baby ugly. But at the end of the day, the client needs to have a great experience. They need to see the value. When they’re even just trying the product out, they don’t get to that aha experience like, “I know how this will help me within 15 minutes.” We’re just not nailing it. If they can’t figure out how to jump in and use the product, we’re not nailing it. It doesn’t matter how great the product is, if they can’t figure out how to effectively interact with it. Brian: Effectively, none of the stuff really exist in their world. It just doesn’t exist because they can’t get to it. So, effectively it’s totally worthless. Whatever that island you have on the island, if there’s no bridge to get there, it doesn’t matter because its just totally inaccessible. Nancy: Right and it’s harder sometimes for even the product managers to see it. When I was sitting down in a demo of a product that we are going to be releasing, dude was cruising through the demo, my eyes were like glazed over, I just look and I was like, “Boy, we’re going to need some onboarding with that.” Great product, amazing capabilities, very complex and dense in its capability. It’s never really about whether it’s a great product. It’s about whether the client understands that’s great, when they start using it. Brian: Yeah and I think especially for analytics tools, highly technical tools used by engineers and other people that have better working in this kind of domain. Sometimes we gloss over stuff that seems like it would be totally easy or just not important. I have this specific example I was working on a storage application. It was a tool I think for migrating storage between an old appliance and a new appliance. At some point during that workload migration, something as simple as like, “Oh, I need a list of these host names and these IP addresses,” some other information that’s just basically setup-related stuff, and all the tool needed to do was have a CSV download of a bunch of numbers to be piped into another thing so that they could talk to each other. It’s not sexy. It’s literally a CSV. It was the only technical lift required, but it was not seen as engineering. It’s not part of the product. That has to do with some other product but you have to go type it into. It’s like yes, but that bridge is never going to happen. It takes them 10 years to go figure out where all these IP addresses are listed, domain names, and all these kind of stuff. It’s not sexy but if you look at the big picture, the full end-to-end arc, and if we’re all lying around, what is that A to G workflow, there’s six steps that have to happen there. This is not sexy, it’s not a new feature but this is the blocker from getting from B to E. They’re never get to A, which is where the product begins. Nancy: We definitely had those discussions in the early days about making it more consumable instead of giving it more features and functions, and can’t we really hack growth that way? That is a mind shift that if you are a design-led organization, you get it, and we believed in every part of our being that we are. Sometimes we still have that natural resistance that we really need to add more features and functions to make this product grow, but I think we’ve really turned the corner on that. Digital really has been the task for us to do that because we build the experience in the products as if there was no IBM sales team that’s going to surround you to help make you a success. That’s a very different way that we’ve done things for so many years, and the only way you can do that is by focusing on experience. Brian: You bring up a good point and I think that it’s worth reiterating to listeners. You can add these features but they do come at a cost. The cognitive load goes up. Every time we add to the tool, we’re effectively reducing the simplicity of everything else around it. Typically as a general rule, removing choice simplifies because you’re just removing the number of things that someone has to think about. So those features don’t really come for free. It’s almost like you have a debt as soon as you add the feature and then you hope you recoup it by, “Oh there’s high engagement. People are really using that,” so that was a win. If there’s low engagement with it, you just add it. It’s like Microsoft Word 10 years ago. You just added another menu bar and another thing that no one’s gonna use, and now it’s even worse. The pile continues to grow and it’s so hard to take stuff out of software once it’s in there, because you’re going to find, “You know what? But IBM’s our client, and they’re using it. IBM makes $3 million a year. We’re not taking that button out of the tool. End of story,” and now you have that short-term like, “We can’t take that out because Nancy’s group uses this.” Nancy: That’s right and we can’t point out exactly. I think my favorite story when it comes to that is the Instagram story that people talk about, where it was launched as a tool, a product called Bourbon. It had all of these great capabilities and it was going nowhere. So they dug into the usability side of things and said, “Well, what are people actually using?” which is what we do as well from an instrumentation perspective, and found that they were really only using a couple of things. They wanted to post a picture, they wanted to comment on the picture, they want to add some sort of emojis or in like system the picture and they are like, “Let’s [do.]. Let’s just do three or four things, do them really great, and relaunch the product,” and then of course the rest is history. I think that that’s a great illustration of more features and functions. If they’re not important, relevant, and consumable, all three of those things, are not going to give you growth. It comes down to, is it easy to use? Can I get value out of it? Do I immediately see that I can get value out of it? That’s all product market fit. That’s where we shifted our focus and digital’s helped us, too. That’s why my job is so cool. Brian: Cool. This has been super fun. Can you leave us with maybe an anecdote? Do you have a big lesson learned or something you might recommend to people that are either building internal tools, internal enterprise software or even SaaS products, something like, “Hey, if I was starting fresh today, I might do this instead of doing that.” Anything from your experience you could share? Nancy: For me, the biggest thing is just really focusing on product market fit because we build something sometimes to be competitively great, but not necessarily competitively great and competitively different, or that. So to understand that you not only have something that solves somebody’s problem but does it in a way that’s unique, and that’s so valuable that they’ll pay the price that’s appropriate for whatever they’ll pay for it. You’ve got to start thinking about that upfront because oftentimes, we’ll build something we’ll see a market opportunity for, but we may not truly understand product market fit whereas we know who the target is, we know what they’ll pay for this, we know what the value is, we know how to get to them, and I think you’ve got to start with that upfront, like you really got to understand product market fit or you’re never be able to grow the product. I’ve got a lot of religion around that and we really try very, very hard to create pricing and packaging around making sure we hit that, but the product has to have that value. It can’t be too overwhelming, it can’t be too underwhelming, it’s got to hit that great value spot. Brian: Fully agree on getting that fit upfront. You save a lot of time, you could solve a lot of technical debt instead of jumping in with the projects that you going to have to change immediately because you find out after the fact and now you’re starting it like… Nancy: See you in Instagram not a Bourbon, right? Brian: Exactly. Tell us where can people find you on the interwebs out there? Nancy: I probably spend a lot of time on Twitter. Maybe not so much lately. It’s been a little bit crazy but you can find me on Twitter @nancykoppdw […] or you can find me on LinkedIn. I am going to try and do better. I am on Medium. I haven’t done as good about blogging but that’s one of my goals for trying to get back on blogging. I’m usually out there on Medium or Twitter talking about growth hacking and digital transformation. I do podcast as well. Brian: Cool. I will put those links up on the show notes for anyone. Thanks for coming to talk with us, Nancy. It’s been fun. This has been Nancy Hensley from IBM Analytics, the Chief Digital Officer. Thanks again for coming on the show and hope we get the chance to catch up again. Nancy: Thank you.

At ALPS we talk a lot about what makes us different. We can say with confidence that it is because we recognize our people as our greatest asset. If you've ever called ALPS over the  past 18 years then it's very likely that you've spoken with Nancy Hinckley. She is the front line, the first impression and the voice of ALPS. Her irreverent style and remarkable ability to connect personally with every person she speaks with is something that we treasure here in the office. On any given day she is speaking with lawyers looking for more information or firms dealing with claims and is able to masterfully help them and put their minds at ease. So in this podcast episode Mark sits down with Nancy to talk about how she found her voice by harnessing her sense of humor to connect and help the people that call ALPS every day. ALPS In Brief, The ALPS Risk Management Podcast, is hosted by ALPS Risk Manager, Mark Bassingthwaighte. Transcript: MARK: Hello, this is Mark Bassingthwaighte. I'm the risk manager with ALPS. And welcome to the latest episode of our podcast, ALPS In Brief, the podcast that comes to you from the historic Florence Building in beautiful downtown Missoula, Montana. And I'm really excited about our guest today. For a number of years I've known Nancy Hinckley, and she is the receptionist here at ALPS, been here for quite some time. And I will tell you why we're going to have a conversation in just a few minutes. But, Nancy, before we jump into everything, can you just tell our listeners a little bit about yourself? NANCY: Well, thank you, Mark, first of all for having me here. Thank you for inviting me. Well, I've actually been here 18 years. And I know some people they go into the business of receptionist with their foot in the door going to another position. Yeah. But, you know, I love the job. I love the people. It's fun. It's a fun job. And I feel that I turn it into something more. So that's why I'm still there. MARK: And I couldn't agree with you more. That's really why I wanted to visit with you today. To those of you that are listening in, some of you may be ALPS insureds, some of you not. But for those folks that are ALPS insureds, if you've ever called into the office for the last 18 years, I'm sure you have spoken with Nancy. And, really, Nancy is a very significant personality here at ALPS. In my mind, very much if you will, the voice of the company in so many ways. And I thought it would just be great fun to have people that have spoken with you over the year, and many more that will in future, just to get a chance to hear a little bit about you. I just find you're such a joy in terms of the company. Initially, Nancy, I like ... You've been here 18 years, and I actually agree in terms of acknowledging that receptionists positions at times people have one foot in the door and one foot out the door. But you've taken this to a different level. You really are somebody that all of us here at ALPS just view as a key personality that helps set the, I don't know, just the tone of the company. What is it that keeps you just energetic? NANCY: Keeps me energetic? MARK: Yeah. NANCY: God blesses us with talents. And mine ain't cooking. I say I was hired for my looks, evidently. So I figured that mine must have been laughter. I think of funny things to say. Things pop in my head. Things happen to me at home and all of a sudden I'm like wording it in a paragraph because I do those morning emails. Someone told me one time I should be a comedy writer. I thought that was a very lovely thing to say. I don't know, it just comes to me naturally. So I enjoy that. MARK: It makes such a difference here. I even share, I don't know if you notice ... for those listening I am very blessed to be able to telecommute now for all kinds of reasons. So I am still included in all these office emails that we all get. But my wife has come to enjoy your humor and I'll share those things with her in the morning. She just gets such a kick out of the crazy things that you come up with. NANCY: Well, like Johnny Carson, you kind of get like a lull, and then you have to come back. MARK: One of the other aspects, we've been talking a little bit about the public voice, but there is this internal voice as well. I guess, maybe can you share a little bit about why is humor important to you? NANCY: Well, I can give you a good example is that my mother is now living with us. Yay. Well, yay, it's a good thing. And people back in my home state of Georgia didn't even think she was going to make the plane trip. And she did. And I was like, "Why me God? What can I offer?" And, you know, I've been making her laugh. She's been doing a lot better. She looks really good. And I even confessed to her that I actually looked into clown school one time, like when I graduated high school. MARK: Seriously? NANCY: Yes, and I was a clown for a day. But my husband made me quit. He said he didn't want to introduce me, "Hey, this is my wife, the clown. Hey, clown, get over here." But humor does help with a lot of things. It helps, actually it helps with the phone calls. You know, I'm from Georgia. My husband's from Rhode Island. We met in the service. I have a niece that's an attorney, so I have actually talked to a lot of people. When they call in if someone's not available or if I can't help them at that moment, I kind of break the ice with that. "Hey, I'm from ...." A lot of callers from South Carolina, "Hey, I'm from Georgia." And all of a sudden we're best friends. And I had one person that knew my niece in Rhode Island. I had people that knew some friends back in Idaho. "Oh, I can give you their address." So you just start talking and that's how I break the ice with people. MARK: Do you get some calls at times where people are curmudgeon-y, for lack of a better word. What I'm hearing is this is a way to manage and calm people down perhaps. Do you use the tool in that way? NANCY: You know, I think in 18 years I probably had maybe three callers that weren't the nicest. The first one, she was very upset and I did try to give a little laugh in there. Not meaning to laugh, but just trying to like "Okay, you know, let me just ..." And she said, "I know you think it's funny but ..." We did get through that and I did get her to someone to help her, but it kind of didn't work at first. MARK: What I like about this in terms of my own role here at ALPS, I obviously do a lot of consulting and work on the preventative side. And what I love about you and the skill set that you bring, and I think so many of us can learn from, is the value of humor as a way to manage relationships. I think particularly in terms of law at times. When people are working with lawyers a lot of the time this isn't the happiest time in their life. You know, if it's litigation for bankruptcy, these kinds of things. I love how you use it as a way to really bridge a communication gap. I feel like, even when I come over I get a big warm hug, and these kinds of things. You create personal relationships. And I think the humor is one way to let people know, "I value getting to know you. I value ..." And you do it in a way that very casually shares information. So if you expose a little bit about yourself it says, "I'm investing in you." Again, the fact that this happens at both the professional level in terms of what you do with our insureds, but also in the personal level internally. And to me I think the word that I've been hunting for throughout this whole conversation is that you are a person that defines, or helps define, our corporate culture. So I encourage all of you out there listening to just ... In my mind Nancy is very much a role model in terms of how to just manage and create personal relationships. And how that can really make a significant difference. I assure you folks that Nancy has done some incredible things here for us internally. Nancy, are there any other things you'd like to share, some thoughts? NANCY: As you were speaking, and thank you very much for your compliments, you know you can't use humor all the time. MARK: Oh, right! NANCY: Especially when attorneys call in. They're upset or whatever. But if no one is available, there's been times, if they're with a meeting or with someone, whatever. I think it's also the tone that you use in your voice. I offer to take your name and number. Repeat everything. And I'll make sure that they get the message, reassure them. They appreciate that. You can tell that. It calms them down a little bit. They to me responded, "Well, I got this message to a person that I know will relay the message." So I feel confident about that. And it also helps with my personal relationships. I am a grandmother now. Yay. Two grandkids, 13 and 8. And I'm trying to teach them because I help with them quite a bit. I'm trying to teach them to not take life so seriously and just calm down and look at it other ways if a problem arises. So that they can just not be rushed into an answer. Not be angered by something, but "Let's think about this. This could have happened, but it didn't, this happened." Blah. Blah. Blah. MARK: Again, in terms of how you've impacted me over the years. One of my, for lack of a better word, takeaways is life is just too short to get all hot and bothered about certain things. It's just ... I take that even further and say at times, "You know I need to remember that my day, my week, or even how I view myself as a person, it's not defined by the circumstances that I am currently dealing with. They're defined by how I respond to them and who I am." It's about character. You know, you just ... You do that well. NANCY: Well, thank you. MARK: You do that well. NANCY: Thank you very much. MARK: Nancy, it's been a pleasure. And I really do appreciate your taking a little time to sit down and visit with myself and our listeners. To those of you out there listening to this podcast, I hope you enjoyed a little time to get to know Nancy. And if you ever call in, you might ask, "Who am I talking to?" Because we do have some part-time receptionists. It's not always Nancy. But if you have the honor and the privilege to speak with her, give her a warm hello and I guarantee you won't regret it. So that's it for our podcast today. If any of you have any ideas of topics you'd like to hear us discuss in the future, or have any speakers or companies you'd like us to try to visit with, please reach out and let me know. My email address is mbass@alpsnet.com. That's it. Thanks again, Nancy. NANCY: Thank you, Mark. MARK: You bet. Bye-bye.

Cailey Nickerson joins for Chuck Your Privilege, the show about checking and then chucking our various privileges. Hosted by Chuck Privledge.  Cailey Nickerson will be in Nancy You starting 11/30 at Jet City Improv, and in the Bechdel Test also at Jet City starting 1/11.  You can also catch her on the IMPRV News 9 at 8 podcast, available wherever fine podcasts are found. 

  LA Mystery writer Nancy Cole Silverman has enjoyed a successful Hollywood radio career working in both sides of the microphone -in reporting and management- before she decided to do what she'd always wanted to do most – write fiction – and created the Carol Childs mystery series. Carol is a 40 year old LA cub reporter who has to prove herself to a wonder boy boss half her age, while also being primary custodial parent to a 16 year old son. Yes - there are challenges a plenty there for this would be Wonder Woman. . . many of them ones Nancy has met herself in real life . . . Show Notes Summary In this interview you'll discover: Why she says God has a sense of humor  The similarities between her and her hero Carol Childs Why Carol has to prove herself more than a man would The mystery in her own life that became  a plot line for one of her first books. Why she's given up riding, although she still crazy about horses. The Benjamin Franklin quote that became her mantra Nancy can be found at www.nancycolesilverman.com On Facebook at www.facebook.com/NancyColeSilverman/ And on Twitter @Nancycolesilverman For more details, a full transcript follows:  Note - this is a "close as" rendering of our full conversation with links to key points. But before we hear from Nancy, just a reminder that the show notes for this BingeReading episode are available at the website www.thejoysofbingereading.com That's where you'll find links to Nancy's websites and books, as well as a free E book, and information on how to subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss future episodes. And now here's Nancy. Jenny: Hello there Nancy, and Welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. Nancy: Thank you so much for having me, its wonderful to be here. Jenny: You've had a very successful radio career and you could be forgiven for thinking you really had nothing more to prove. . .  so I'm just wondering - Was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you realised you wanted to write fiction more than anything else? Nancy:  You know that's a really good question – there were several - and one time, probably the beginning of it, was when I was working at a news station in Los Angeles and I realised that the stories I was doing, if you could put the headlines together you'd have a really good novel. Of course the news director didn't want to hear that, he banished me from the news room and said “Don't say that again.” And then later, when I had retired from radio, I thought you know, I've had such an interesting career…. I've met so many interesting colourful people..   and I was too old to go back into newsrooms working for people half my age, so I thought “I'll just make it up.”  So that's what led to the Carol Childs mysteries. Jenny: I love this 40-year -old cub reporter with a wonder boy boss who is half her age  - and I'm sure a lot of women could identify with that situation. Nancy:  I think so, as women we are always are doing such a balancing act. You know I was doing a balancing act in particular, so I could pull it from my own life because I was a single mother with two kids and it was always a matter of deciding which jobs I could take, considering where my family was, that responsibility had to come first. So for Carol it was natural thing for her when the station said there's an opening in the news department for a cub reporter and she'd been doing well on the business side but she jumped at it and said “Oh I want to do that.” The news director did not want a 40-year-old mother working for him and so she has to prove herself.  And that is a natural position many women find themselves in. When an opening does occur and they lean forward for it, the first thing they will find is someone doesn't want them there and they have to prove themselves. Jenny:  Totally I couldn't agree more, that's my experience in journalism - you're right.

Breast cancer, ovarian cancer and colon cancer are the most common cancer types that are tested for an inherited mutation. Banu Arun, M.D., professor of Breast Medical Oncology; Karen Lu, M.D., professor and chair of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine; and Nancy You, M.D., assistant professor of Surgical Oncology and Affiliate Faculty; all part of MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program, discuss the role of genetics in cancer.