Podcasts about national spelling bee

This week, Ryan is on vacation, so Ben Zimmer saves the day and joins Brian with renewed excitement over the National Spelling Bee, the National Puzzlers' League, and the National League East-leading Mets. Also: follow-up news on the 2025 Tonys Anti-Match Quiz, as well as several upcoming puzzle get-togethers (Westwords, SPAMcon, Boswords, and Lollapuzzoola)! If you get bored (how could you?!), write something for the Fill Me In wiki. And if you're feeling philanthropic, donate to our Patreon. Do you enjoy our show? Actually, it doesn't matter! Please consider leaving us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. This will help new listeners find our show, and you'll be inducted into the Quintuple Decker Turkey Club. Drop us a note or a Tweet or a postcard or a phone call — we'd love to hear from you. Helpful links: Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fill-me-in/id1364379980 Google Play link: https://player.fm/series/fill-me-in-2151002 Amazon/Audible link: https://www.amazon.com/item_name/dp/B08JJRM927 RSS feed: http://bemoresmarter.libsyn.com/rss Contact us: Email (fmi@bemoresmarter.com) / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram We're putting these words here to help with search engine optimization. We don't think it will work, but you probably haven't read this far, so it doesn't matter: baseball, crossword, crosswords, etymology, game, hunt, kealoa, movies, musicals, mystery, oscar, pizza, puzzle, puzzles, sandwiches, soup, trivia, words

World news in 7 minutes. Thursday 5th June 2025.Today: Bulgaria euro. Germany evacuation. EU tariffs. S Korea government. Pakistan India talks. Mongolia PM resigns. El Salvador officers sentenced. Mexico metal measures. US ship abandoned. Nigeria border fences. UN Libya investigation. National Spelling Bee. With Juliet MartinSEND7 is supported by our amazing listeners like you.Our supporters get access to the transcripts written by us every day.Our supporters get access to an English worksheet made by us once per week. Our supporters get access to our weekly news quiz made by us once per week. We give 10% of our profit to Effective Altruism charities. You can become a supporter at send7.org/supportContact us at podcast@send7.org or send an audio message at speakpipe.com/send7Please leave a rating on Apple podcasts or Spotify.We don't use AI! Every word is written and recorded by us!Since 2020, SEND7 (Simple English News Daily in 7 minutes) has been telling the most important world news stories in intermediate English. Every day, listen to the most important stories from every part of the world in slow, clear English. Whether you are an intermediate learner trying to improve your advanced, technical and business English, or if you are a native speaker who just wants to hear a summary of world news as fast as possible, join Stephen Devincenzi, Ben Mallett and Juliet Martin every morning. Transcripts, worksheets and our weekly world news quiz are available for our amazing supporters at send7.org. Simple English News Daily is the perfect way to start your day, by practising your listening skills and understanding complicated stories in a simple way. It is also highly valuable for IELTS and TOEFL students. Students, teachers, TEFL teachers, and people with English as a second language, tell us that they use SEND7 because they can learn English through hard topics, but simple grammar. We believe that the best way to improve your spoken English is to immerse yourself in real-life content, such as what our podcast provides. SEND7 covers all news including politics, business, natural events and human rights. Whether it is happening in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas or Oceania, you will hear it on SEND7, and you will understand it.For more information visit send7.org/contact or send an email to podcast@send7.org

Greg Cote Show podcast: What the National Spelling Bee says about parenting in America, doubling-down on Connor ‘McOverrated,' Greg recalls the hitchhiking era, horse boards an airplane & lots more on the new GCS Episode 273, out now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Cote Show podcast: What the National Spelling Bee says about parenting in America, doubling-down on Connor ‘McOverrated,' Greg recalls the hitchhiking era, horse boards an airplane & lots more on the new GCS Episode 273, out now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5pm: What’s a hydrogen water bottle? // 250 million bees! // Special license plates in WA // The precious moment a 13-year-old won the National Spelling Bee // Letters

The news to know for Friday, May 30, 2025! We're talking about the latest court rulings over tariffs, international students, and environmental reviews, and how they could all impact President Trump's agenda. Also, the White House is having to fix some errors in the “Make America Healthy Again” report. Plus, where Americans are dealing with their first big heat snap of the year, what perks travelers will get from a new airline partnership, and how one 14-year-old pulled off a dramatic comeback at the National Spelling Bee. Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!    Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!  See sources: https://www.theNewsWorthy.com/shownotes Become an INSIDER to get AD-FREE episodes here: https://www.theNewsWorthy.com/insider Sign-up for our Friday EMAIL here: https://www.theNewsWorthy.com/email Get The NewsWorthy MERCH here: https://thenewsworthy.dashery.com/ Sponsors: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code NEWSWORTHY at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Receive 50% off your first order of Hiya's best-selling children's vitamins at hiyahealth.com/NEWSWORTHY To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to ad-sales@libsyn.com  

He was off last week, but Civic Media Political Editor Dan Shafer is here to recombobulate this week's biggest headlines from Wisconsin including Wisconsin's Senior Senator Ron Johnson appearing in Wisconsin, a lot. Dan also gives an update on the big fight over 794. For our Friday installment of Audio Sorbet, we stories about The National Spelling Bee, racing sausages and a lost puppers who was found, so we want to know; where are you finding your joy? And we welcome the weekend, and we're closing the show with This Shouldn't Be A Thing - Get Off My Lawn Edition As always, thank you for listening, texting and calling, we couldn't do this without you! Don't forget to download the free Civic Media app and take us wherever you are in the world! Matenaer On Air is a part of the Civic Media radio network and airs Monday through Friday from 9 -11 am across the state. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! You can also rate us on your podcast distribution center of choice, they go a long way! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows to see the entire broadcast line up. Follow the show on Facebook, X and YouTube to keep up with Jane and the show! Guest: Dan Shafer

On this edition of "Did you hear this?", Patricia reveals who won the National Spelling Bee and if Mike won his in 3rd grade. 

A grieving family demands action after a matriarch is found dead in a homeless encampment. Mayor Karen Bass could take the stand to defend LA's homelessness spending. The Angelino who is looking to win the National Spelling Bee. Plus more.Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.comVisit www.preppi.com/LAist to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency! Support the show: https://laist.com

We kick things off with a glimpse into Laura's birthday weekend, where things took an unexpected turn as she reveals why she decided to skip out on two parties. Next, we celebrate the excitement of the National Spelling Bee by putting Erik head-to-head against Producer Bryan in a fun spelling showdown. Finally, Erik spills the tea with a hefty dose of celebrity gossip in our segment, The Double D. Tune in for laughs, surprises, and all the juicy details! Love your podcast!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/laura-cain-after-dark--4162487/support.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit meetthemess.substack.comMove over, Meet the Press—it's time to MEET THE MESS!This week on the podcast, Trump called Putin crazy — and now Russian bots are trolling him. Meanwhile, RFK Jr. is keeping quiet about an E. coli outbreak, and John Fetterman says he feels "shamed" into returning to work. Um sir, that's literally your job.In other news, Kris Jenner reportedly got a deep plane facelift — and honestly, she looks amazing. Plus, it's an AI triple threat: one bot resorted to blackmail to avoid being shut down, a major newspaper recommended fake AI-generated books, and a new tool is rating people's hotness — including Jen, Karyn, and Mary Lou Retton.Also this week, Karyn and Jen taste-test potato chips from China in flavors like squid, crayfish, and garlic oyster; Jen celebrates the 100th anniversary of the National Spelling Bee by butchering some truly difficult words; and meet Jen's SECOND foster fail, Moose! Oh, and hear the story of Jen's time piercing ears at the mall's Piercing Pagoda (which wasn't exactly up to health code).On Meet the Mess, bestselling authors Jen Lancaster & Karyn Bosnak dive into the messiest news stories and hottest topics of the week to give a fresh and entertaining take on current events and life in general. An extended video version with the “Hot Mess of the Week” is available to paid Substack subscribers. Visit meetthemess.substack.com for more.Meet the Merch:• https://www.etsy.com/shop/MeetTheMessConnect with us on Instagram:• https://www.instagram.com/meetthemesspod• https://www.instagram.com/jennsylvania• https://www.instagram.com/karynbosnakConnect with us on TikTok:• https://www.tiktok.com/@meetthemess• https://www.tiktok.com/@karynbosnak

National Spelling Bee approves feminist term, 'womyn,' in kids' spelling competition Please Subscribe + Rate & Review KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson wherever you listen! --- KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson is available on the KMJNOW app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever else you listen. --- Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson – KMJ’s Afternoon Drive Weekdays 2-6 PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 & 105.9 KMJ DriveKMJ.com | Podcast | Facebook | X | Instagram --- Everything KMJ: kmjnow.com | Streaming | Podcasts | Facebook | X | Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National Spelling Bee approves feminist term, 'womyn,' in kids' spelling competition Please Subscribe + Rate & Review KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson wherever you listen! --- KMJ’s Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson is available on the KMJNOW app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever else you listen. --- Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson – KMJ’s Afternoon Drive Weekdays 2-6 PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 & 105.9 KMJ DriveKMJ.com | Podcast | Facebook | X | Instagram --- Everything KMJ: kmjnow.com | Streaming | Podcasts | Facebook | X | Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

IN the 6 AM Hour: Julie Gunlock and Hans Von Spakovsky discussed: George Stephanopoulos and ABC apologize to Trump, are forced to pay $15 million to settle defamation suit National Spelling Bee approves feminist term, 'womyn,' in kids' spelling competition DC food workers vow Trump officials won't feel welcomed when dining out in nation's capital Social media erupts as kids correct Jill Biden's 'Happy Holidays' with 'Happy Christmas:' 'Epic response' Where to find more about WMAL's morning show: Follow the Show Podcasts on Apple podcasts, Audible and Spotify. Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @Jgunlock, @patricepinkfile, and @heatherhunterdc. Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Show Website: https://www.wmal.com/oconnor-company/ How to listen live weekdays from 5 to 9 AM: https://www.wmal.com/listenlive/ Episode: Monday, December 16, 2024 / 6 AM HourSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we are back after a small hiatus.  All kinds of things in the news but we are gonna look at as much as we can.  We have drones that apparently no one knows what they are, what they are doing, or whose they are.  Find it amusing I can talk about things around my phone and in turn start getting ads, but yet our government “doesn't know”!!  We have the assassin of the UHC CEO exec being linked to all kinds of things.  Riley Gaines calls out the National Spelling Bee for making words up.  Throwing a bunch of stuff together on this Sunday.  Tune in give us your takes!!!Follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, SpotifyREMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE….DOWNLOAD ON ALL YOUR AUDIO PLATFORMS….AND LEAVE A 5 STAR RATING AND REVIEW ON APPLE & SPOTIFY!!!MERCH: https://onemoreandimouttaherepodcast.square.site

Dr. Jacques Bailly, a professor of Classics at the University of Vermont, joins Lexie to discuss the complexities of teaching ancient philosophy and literature and how to make abstract ideas accessible to students, Diodorus Cronus' Master Argument about determinism and free will, and how how he came to be the official pronouncer for the National Spelling Bee. So tuck in your togas and hop aboard Trireme Transit for this week's exciting odyssey!  Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram or visit our website www.theozymandiasproject.com! Learn more about Dr. Bailly: https://www.uvm.edu/cas/classics/profiles/jacques-baillyFind his publications on Academia: https://vermont.academia.edu/jacquesbaillyCheck out the Scripps National Spelling Bee: https://spellingbee.com/Check out the 2006 film “Akeelah and the Bee”: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437800/Read a NYT piece on pronouncing for the Bee: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/us/dr-jacques-bailly-spelling-bee.htmlRead a Scripps News piece on Dr. Bailly's work: https://www.scrippsnews.com/entertainment/scripps-spelling-bee/meet-the-scripps-national-spelling-bee-champion-turned-pronouncerSupport us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheOzymandiasProject Custom music by Brent Arehart of Arehart Sounds and edited by Dan Maday.  Get exclusive bonus content (ad free episodes, early releases, and experimental content) on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marie C. Bolden (1894-1981) was the winner of the first-ever national spelling bee in 1908. As a Black student competing against segregated schools, her victory was an important but largely forgotten moment in history. For Further Reading: NPR: When she won the first national spelling bee, Marie C. Bolden dealt a blow to racism Cleveland: Cleveland girl's spelling victory created racial controversy, national headlines in 1908 Longform: The Word Is ‘Nemesis': The Fight to Integrate the National Spelling Bee  This month we're talking about women who found themselves at the center of controversy -- whether deserved or not. History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should. Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, and Vanessa Handy. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran. Follow Wonder Media Network: Website Instagram Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After this year's thrilling spell-off in the National Spelling Bee, we try to tease out the definitions of some of the words that won the contest.

In this episode, in honor of the National Spelling Bee, the gang is tested on spelling various words from around the Walt Disney World Resort! There's no auto-correct action happening here. Is your spelling game better than ours? Let us know! Enjoy the show! 

For a special Grace's Birthday Edition of Last Call, Emma Foley runs through the list of celebrity birthdays that also fall on May 31. Then, the duo discusses last night's National Spelling Bee, the retirement of competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi, and more food races across the pond. Then, Grace covers Biden family corruption that spans generations. Visit the Howie Carr Radio Network website to access columns, podcasts, and other exclusive content.

What may contain the most bacteria in your kitchen? Dr. Jennifer Wider has the answers! Chef Plum has this hidden talent where he can take three random ingredients and make something delicious out of them. What three ingredients do you think he should use? Anna isn't happy about the announcement that Costco has partnered with Uber Eats so anyone can buy from Costco with or without a membership. It's prom weekend for our three high school interns. What happened at your prom? Couples Court: Lenny and Emily are at odds about whether Lenny should follow his dreams and open his own neighborhood restaurant. His grandfather had a place, his brother has a place, and he's ready to give up his job in manufacturing to do it too. Emily is not happy about it, it's volatile, they have two young children, and the risk is too great. What do you think? The National Spelling Bee has ended last night, and the Spell-off was intense. But can Chef Plum spell difficult words related to food? Chef Plum attended a school award ceremony the previous night, and it was three hours long! What should never be three hours long? Do you want a beautiful new blender? Play “Head's Up” with Anna and Chef Plum for your chance to win! It's time for Mommy's Margarita Friday!  Moms (and Dads) share all the crazy things that their kids have put them through this week that have definitely earned them a margarita!

AP correspondent Norman Hall reports on the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

ICYMI: Hour Two of ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – A look at the remaining Southern California student's standing in the National Spelling Bee quarterfinals…PLUS – Thoughts on Dollar Tree securing the winning bid to purchase at least 93 “99 Cent Store” locations AND your Mid-Week Horoscope and ways to ignite your confidence - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

With the National Spelling Bee upon us, Slater has a challenge for the family and then we have a panic button about open relationships

How long do your leftovers need to sit in the fridge before they're fair game for everyone else? Danielle and Kyle were in Crew's Court because she's going on vacation with her ex! The National Spelling Bee is tonight! Can you spell these words? & more

Lightning killed a rancher in northern Colorado, and 34 head of cattle. With summer storm season fast-approaching, we discuss lightning safety, outside and at home. Then, Colorado will regulate funeral homes after a series of disturbing cases. Later, a very special rose reveals its true colors. Plus, he won the National Spelling Bee for Colorado as an 8th grader, now he's the Bee's pronouncer, a veritable "spellebrity."

Lightning killed a rancher in northern Colorado, and 34 head of cattle. With summer storm season fast-approaching, we discuss lightning safety, outside and at home. Then, Colorado will regulate funeral homes after a series of disturbing cases. Later, a very special rose reveals its true colors. Plus, he won the National Spelling Bee for Colorado as an 8th grader, now he's the Bee's pronouncer, a veritable "spellebrity."

In the "Today in San Diego" podcast, the city of Chula Vista notified restaurant owners that Labor Day is the deadline for outdoor patios, convicted killer and San Diego native Scott Peterson is set to be back in court today as he continues his efforts to get a new trial, and a Twin Peaks Middle Schooler is now in the third round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on the Woody and Wilcox Show: North Carolina woman wins the cheese-rolling competition; International Burger Day/start of the National Spelling Bee; Rodent handsome; 81-year-old arrested for terrorizing neighborhood with a slingshot; Woody had to Google where to put the stamp on an envelope; Buffalo Wild Wings mocks Red Lobster; Woman finds hair in her pizza; Bark Air-airline for dogs; Rumor about Raiders owner Mark Davis; Longest serving flight attendant has passed away; Mailbox Improvement Week; And so much more!

AP correspondent Ed Donahue reports on a gathering of really good spellers.

In this episode of the "Karma School of Business Podcast," host Sean Mooney engages in a captivating discussion with Bob Belke, Managing Partner at Lovell Minnick Partners. From a small town in Northern Wisconsin to the forefront of the private equity industry, Bob shares his unique journey and the lessons learned along the way. This conversation delves deep into the evolution of private equity, the significance of specialized focus, and the art of value creation in today's competitive landscape. Episode Highlights: 1:06 - Bob's Path into Private Equity: Tracing Bob's steps from his beginnings in a small town to his pivotal role in shaping Lovell Minnick Partners, this segment explores the motivations and challenges that defined his entry into the private equity world. 4:33 - Tenacity and Vision: Bob reflects on the importance of persistence and having a clear goal, emphasizing how determination has been key to his success in the private equity industry. 6:00 - An Unexpected Achievement: Bob shares a surprising personal milestone - winning the state of Wisconsin spelling bee and participating in the National Spelling Bee, underscoring the value of hard work and preparation. 9:46 - Identifying Potential in Companies: Bob discusses what Lovell Minnick Partners looks for in potential investments, highlighting the importance of a focused strategy, operational potential, and the transformative impact of private equity partnership. 15:03 - Empowering CEOs and Building Teams: Insights into how Lovell Minnick Partners collaborates with CEOs and management teams to unlock growth and drive success, emphasizing the transformative changes that often occur within portfolio companies. 19:46 - Technology and Finance Function: Bob elaborates on the critical roles of technology and finance in value creation, sharing how Lovell Minnick Partners leverages expertise in these areas to enhance portfolio companies' growth and operational efficiency. 22:20 - The State of the Private Equity Industry: Bob offers his perspective on the current state and future challenges of the private equity industry, including the importance of value creation and the potential impact of shifting capital flows. 33:35 - Life Lessons and Book Recommendations: Bob shares impactful book recommendations, including "Die With Zero" and "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari," offering insights into living a fulfilling life and the power of positive thinking. For more information on Lovell Minnick, go to www.lmpartners.com. For more information on Bob Belke, go to www.linkedin.com/in/robert-belke-a480a74a. For more information on BluWave and this podcast, go to www.bluwave.net/podcasts. This episode provides a comprehensive look into Bob Belke's journey and the strategic insights that have guided Lovell Minnick Partners through the evolving landscape of private equity. Whether you're an investor, an entrepreneur, or someone interested in the dynamics of successful business growth and personal development, Bob's story and the wisdom shared in this conversation offer valuable lessons and inspiration.

Welcome to the first time we continue an interview with a second episode. You met Brian in August of 2023. He had so much to say and so many of you expressed an interest in hearing more that I invited him back for a second go around. Brian offered us so many life lessons in our first episode together that it was hard to end so abruptly. This time we will delve more into how his talk went viral as well as some of the physical and mental challenges he has faced during his life's journey. We get to learn more about Brian the person and why he is the way he is. This time he discusses in depth his speech that went“viral”in 2018. He tells us much more about his journey including more about why he left the supply chain world to go out on his own. Once again Brian offers us many lessons about being unstoppable and how to live life. I love listening to him possibly because he, like me, tells stories to illustrate points. I hope you love this second episode with Brian as much as everyone seemed to like his first time on Unstoppable Mindset. About the Guest: Brian Drury is a trilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese) international speaker and presentation coach who helps his clients to master the skills of public speaking and effective communication to improve their:speeches, interviewing, networking, presentations, sales pitches, and more! Working with executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations around the world, Brian provides proven frameworks and strategies that help his clients know they can confidently present in any scenario, even on short notice. One of Brian's speeches went viral with over 20 million views on Facebook alone. Additionally, he is a best-selling author, podcaster, content creator, and former Fortune 300 internal consultant. He offers 1-on-1 coaching, group coaching, workshops and keynote speeches for entrepreneurs, executives, and working professionals alike. Ways to connect with Brian: Craft Your Keynote event, https://thebriandrury.com/craft-your-keynote/ Website: https://thebriandrury.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briancdrury/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebriandrury/ Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/powerfulpublicspeaker Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/First-Step-Brian-C-Drury/dp/151921538X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1689899768&sr=8-1 About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hi there and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to do something in the unexpected part of where inclusion diversity and the unexpected me. Least I didn't expect it until it suddenly happened. And that is that we get to interview Brian Drury and this is our second interview with Brian. We met him a few months ago. He did a podcast it has gone live. And he and I have talked and we agreed he ought to come back again and chat with us some more. And so here we are, to talk about what's happened since what's been going on that we didn't get to talk about in the first podcast, and anything else that seems relevant to do So Brian, welcome to unstoppable mindset again.   Brian Drury ** 02:05 Thanks for having me back. Michael. stoked to be here, man. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:08 we're really glad you're here and looking forward to having a lot of fun. And if you remember Brian's bio from before, he is a trilingual, English, Spanish and Portuguese speaker. He does a lot of things dealing with public speaking, effective communications, and other stuff. I'm sure he is perfectly willing to talk about much more relevant than I. So Brian, what's happened since we chatted last time? I know you had a big event coming up. How did that go? Tell us about it.   Brian Drury ** 02:42 Well, the event went great. And and for anybody, I'll plug it right here at the front. So for anyone who wants to connect last time, so it's the Brian Drewery on social media. So at the Brian Drewery th e b r i a n d ru ry. And then if you want to email me directly, questions, comments, concerns, whatever, it's br i n. So Brian at Guide to speaking.com. So that is G yd, the number two. And then SP EA que i ng.com. So Brian, a guide to speaking feel like I'm doing a spelling bee. So, Michael, you had asked about the events. So yes, so I had a big event coming up. And as I have found almost every time with self hosted events is when you expect things to go to plan you are planning to fail. So essentially, every time I have self hosted an event, there have been unpredictable unexpected events and things that transpire that you throw off the promotion, throw off the preparation for and so you rarely have as much time as you expect. So what I would say for people who want to be speakers or trainers or want to get into this world, and they want to do events where they're talking to larger groups of people be ready to not have that week to 10 days before the event go as planned. So many people will say like, oh, yeah, that's what I'm going to do my most prep or that's what I'm really going to rehearse. But the thing that you and I know, Michael, that the real pros are prepped and ready well before that, so that when the event actually comes up, if they can't rehearse as much in the week leading up, it's not a big deal. So all of that to say I was coming up on this event. And this kind of ties into one of the other topics I had sent over to talk about was my first year, full full year as a full time entrepreneur. So I worked in a corporate supply chain career for a little over a decade. And during that time, I was building my own coaching and speaking and consulting business outside of it. So for seven and a half years, I was building this company while working full time. So then in April of last year, and we can dive into this if you want but it's how I came to the decision is a whole nother story but Ultimately, I hit the point where I said, my day job had gotten so terrible that I finally hit a breaking point and just said, it's time. And it did not go as I planned, it did not go as I anticipated. In fact, I had been in a corporate job, I'd always gotten good or great performance reviews, I always considered myself a top performer and work to deliver more than I was asked of me. And I had work to do that every step of my career, and then working in supply chain in the 2020. And beyond was a whole different other kind of nightmare. And I found that more and more of my time was going towards what I didn't want. And I was spending more time on the thing that paid the bills, not the thing that I really wanted to do. And I had all the typical excuses, you know, it's not time, it's not sustainable, yet, I want to build it up more, I want more consistent revenue in the business, I had all those things. And I said, One day, when I'm making x, you know, $1,000 a month consistently, then I'll just gently take this nice little cute leap and move on to full time entrepreneurship. But ultimately, with, again, we can dive into this if you'd like. But the details, it's, it's like, it's a very common entrepreneurial thing, things got so bad at the job that ultimately, I get called into my weekly meeting with my manager, and supposed to be just touch base, talk about how things are going. And my director, and HR are there as well. And I'm like, this is probably not a surprise promotion. And they say you've got 30 days to improve in these areas. And they were the things that were brought up were things that were either false, very small, or just kind of things where they hadn't talked or communicated to me for over a year. And now we're bringing these things up as issues. And it was basically them saying we kind of want you out, you know, there were for a variety of reasons. And a part of me fought this and was like, oh, no, like, I've always worked to give more this compromising my identity. But then I really thought about it. And I was like, Well, what your director is telling you is you're not right for this job. And you've known that in your heart for four years doing this. So instead of just continuing to sit in that I said, alright, you know what, it's time to take a shot. It had to get that bad. I mean, it was there's much, much more to that story of how bad things were, in order to get that bad for me to finally have the courage to take the leap. So were some of them go full time with entrepreneur? Oh, yes, go ahead.   Michael Hingson ** 07:27 Were some of the things they've got bad things that you did. I mean, what what do you mean, when you say things got bad? Or was it just your head wasn't in it anymore? What?   Brian Drury ** 07:40 It was a combination of things. So the kind of shorter version was in 2020. You know, working in supply chain was one of the most tumultuous times ever, they said it literally, our director told us it was the greatest supply chain disruption since World War Two. It's unprecedented ground, and everything came to a standstill for a period of time, and then everything tried to pick up twice as fast. So essentially, at first, everyone's all Kumbaya, and we're gonna hold hands, these are unprecedented times, it's all the cute corporate speak. And because of that, they tell us, Oh, you know what, it's all okay, we're gonna make mistakes, these times are crazy. And up to that point, they had been, all my feedback had been good, I'd been grading great performance reviews, I was building things I, you know, they were talking about getting me on a management track and all these other things. And then towards the tail end of 2020, I made one big mistake. Now, it was a big mistake. And I didn't buy several, like 12,000 units, which in the major, I won't specify the brand, just for the sake of it. But I worked in a major retail footwear, apparel brand that everyone knows, I wear to the corporate headquarters, and I missed a big buy. So there's a lot of reasons for that were crazy things that I won't go into just in terms of how the supply chain disruptions were managed. But ultimately, I found I'd made a mistake. And it was irreversible. Like, I would have had to order this stuff three months ago for it to get there on time. So these big important units weren't going to get there. I tell my boss, I find the air I let them know as soon as I find it, he has to go to the director and the director actually had to tell the president of the company because these were like big marketed styles. And so it was a huge mistake. And I felt terrible. I never like one of my biggest fears is letting people down. And the director came and had this like, Come to Jesus call with me and essentially essentially told me that this had discredited everything I had ever done that, you know, the week before when he said he wanted me on a management track. My years of going above and beyond were discredited and devalued. Now I had a target on my back I was his the direct quote was, Brian, there's a dart I said, have you lost faith in me? And he said, Brian, there's a dog Aren't cloud over your head, and it's going to follow you for a while. But if you can be consistent for a year, you can earn my trust back, essentially. And he also in that same conversation said, don't try to improve things just execute on the job. And one of the biggest challenges in that job was all of the terrible processes. So for the next year, I tried to do that, to my best of my ability, we had a team of five people that lost three people in the space of six weeks, we were going through a system implementation, we had a 20 year sourcing office close to all of these crazy challenges all during the pandemic, me and one other person kept that entire portion of the business going for a year, they're telling me everything's fine. And then in the beginning of 2022, I come into the meeting, and they had been collecting all the mistakes I had made perceived or otherwise for the course of a year, while telling me everything was fine. They just took hearsay as truth. So even things that were later disproven, or claims that were made or, you know, I sent this already, like just this kind of like He Said, She Said stuff. They just took the other person's side every time. And essentially, it was like you're making headaches for me. So we don't want you. And so basically, I come into this meeting, and they tell me things like, here's the the systemic issues that we've seen in your performance over the past year, sometimes sends an email in place of a phone call, sometimes sends overly long emails, sometimes this and this and this, and most of them were 60%, I'd never heard most several were untrue, like factually incorrect. And when I said, is the point of this meeting for me to share my side of this or and then my director cuts me off and goes, I think it is best best to focus on the path forward. So essentially, it was we don't care what you have to say, we don't trust you. We don't want you. And I honestly, Michael, I believe that even if I'd done everything they said they would have still fired me after the 30 days, because it was they were just like he doesn't fit because I would ask questions. When I would try to keep our customers, I'd have them adhere to deadlines that say, unfortunately, you missed the deadline. So you have to submit on the next by well, then they just go escalated up. And now I'm creating a headache by trying to get them to adhere to the agreed upon deadlines. So there's a lot of different things that went into it. But I'll pause there for a sec, because it was so bad. It just got to the point where I was like this is never going to change. And I'm not going to change this. So I'd rather get into a situation where even if it's scarier, I'm in control a path forward, right.   Michael Hingson ** 12:39 And so what did you do?   Brian Drury ** 12:43 So the next steps, because the big thing was I realized this, and I think you'll find many of your listeners have a similar experience is I realized they were never going to value me for me. They actually, in fact, you know, I'm running a communication and speaking and effective communication business. And in that call, they said, Hey, Brian, we've got some great interpersonal communication trainings we could recommend and like, they're all these things that I was just like, they don't see my value. They don't appreciate me, they don't celebrate me. And I can either stay here and just accept that or try and figure this game out on my own. So April 1 was my last week at that job. April 8, I left and I went out on my own.   Michael Hingson ** 13:27 Now that's 2022   Brian Drury ** 13:30 is 2022. Right? So last year. And so I go out on my own, and I have found this, you know, I fought so hard for years, I invested 10s of 1000s of dollars in like, into my education and personal development events I had been working in modifying and tweaking my business, so I knew what I wanted to do. And when I left, I had three months worth of expenses covered like in terms of cash. So it was not like I had this big runway or I have a year to figure things out. I'm like I got three months and we'll see what happens. And simultaneously in that time, I started to develop what I thought was sciatica or like, you know, nerve pain kind of in the glute and shooting pain down the leg. And so as I was working to figure out my business, I started to have increasingly bad symptoms I tried every modality of treatment I could think of to try and make it better, none of which worked. And then got to a point where I went to the emergency room September of last year. They said it's a disc issue in the back. So I spent the next probably six months trying to treat it in every way. I got an epidural spinal injection, I tried to do PT, I was doing one to two hours of PT type work every day and still couldn't beat this thing. So in my whole first 14 months as a full time entrepreneur, I was battling chronic pain, chronic sleep deprivation, and so many other challenges as a result of that, that I never could have predicted as As my, the challenges I would face as a full time entrepreneur, and that ultimately led to spinal surgery, so I had to get a major spinal surgery, about three and a half months ago, got a diskectomy and a laminectomy got the problem fixed. And now three and a half months later, I'm in recovery. And I'm working through things so that managing that issues with medication issues with treatment, pain, all this, my whole first year and a half of entrepreneurship has been either chronic pain surgery recovery, and I'm just kind of getting to the first times of being pain free since then. So it's one of those things where everyone says you're gonna face challenges, as you know, when you go full time, and now it's all on you. And the first year was exceptionally hard. And I just tried to focus on the goals and step forward, I remember seeing my bank account, go to $16. And wondering how I was going to pay rent the next month. And then December, I started to get some momentum, I put together some programs, January was a little better, February's little better March was my best month yet. And then I had my best quarter ever in my best businesses history. And at that point, I was averaging, I would say one to two hours a day of work because of the pain. And since then, since getting the surgery, now this month in August, I'm having my best month ever, and it's better than that entire quarter. So I'm very optimistic about the path forward because with a healthy body and not chronic pain of being able to sleep again, it's a whole different world. So that's kind of the summary of my some of the highlights or lowlights of my first year as a full time entrepreneur. And I'll pause there because I know there's tons of places we can go. But yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 16:43 well. So what exactly did you go off? And do you left the job in April of 2022? And being an entrepreneur, what did you go off and entrepreneur and do?   Brian Drury ** 16:57 Well, that's a great question as well. So for several years, I started my business back in 2015. So at first I just said coaching, because I didn't really know what type of coaching I was doing. I just said, I'm a coach, and I can help you get great results and achieve goals and dreams. So the whole thing for me was in order to, if I'm going to try and motivate and inspire people to do those things, live their dreams, I've got to do that myself. So I started just working to achieve all of these goals and dreams, launched a business published a book that became an Amazon Best Seller launched a podcast, you know, moved to a new dream place got a dream job where I got paid to travel. So I started doing all this through personal development, and then teaching those skills. And I remember for anybody that's scared about getting started, or how do you charge for your first client, my first client was just a friend of mine who said, Hey, Brian, I love the results you're getting. And I want those two, I want you to coach me. I said, Okay, well, I'm trying to start a business. So the cool if I charge you, he said, Sure. They said how much I was like 300 a month, we'll do one call a week. So like 75 an hour. He's like, sounds great. Sounds great. And that was the beginning. So after that, I did that for a couple years. But I said I need to be more clear. I need a better niche any more clarity. So I realized, Okay, well, achieving any goal is the product of habits and how you live day to day. So now I'm going to become a habit coach. So I help people effectively set goals, and establish the habits to achieve those goals. So lots of study in human psychology and human behavior, and trying to help people optimize their habits, get rid of the bad ones, implement the good ones, get the mental blocks out of the way, and get to work and create results quickly. Because both in my corporate job and in my entrepreneurial pursuits. My thing is about results and momentum and change. I I don't think it's enough, just as a speaker, just to motivate, I think we should be giving insights and changes and help prompt people to take action. So I did that for about three and a half years. And then that was when my speech went viral. So 2014 was the first time I met Shawn, I believe I shared the story on the first one. So I speaker and mentor Sean Stephenson, one of the most prolific speakers on the planet before he passed from 2014 to 2018. He went from this untouchable hero to one of my best friends and he was introducing me to speak on stage. At that event, that speech that recording went on to go viral and we see has been seen over 20 million times up to this point. So when that went live, a lot of people assume that like how much money did you make off that because people think views or big social presence equals money. And that's really not the case. So I wasn't set up for it. So my facebook page for that old business grew. But I didn't have any offerings. I didn't have ways to engage people. I wasn't as consistent with content. So I didn't know the things I know now. So what it did do is give me incredible credibility though in the ability to deliver great talks, so I could share that I could use that motion. And I started getting more and more questions about speaking and presentation skills and being confident on stage and messaging and craft Hang in storytelling. So what I realized over time was I kept fighting for this habit change coaching, and I wasn't feeling it as much, and I wasn't getting the response. But then when I finally stopped and paid attention, I was like, everyone is asking me about speaking. And storytelling is one of my favorite things to talk about. And I can help people, I can solve some people's biggest problems in 30 minutes, and then we can go even deeper. So why not just, you know, meet the supply and demand together? Where match those two? Because it's often the entrepreneurial ideas, the intersection of, you know, what can we do? Well, what do people want? What can we get paid for. And now, after years of all these different iterations, and trying things, and making information products, and all these different tests, I finally found that intersection of the thing I loved that I'd worked with some of the best in the world at what they do, and I could give exceptional value, I could get paid for it. And I absolutely loved it. So I shifted gears there. And I didn't change my original business was called overcoming graduation, because it was about teaching young adults, everything I wished I'd known about life to help them live the life of their dreams. And I didn't change the brand, I didn't change the business, I just started focusing on speaking. So I started to grow and was doing that while I was working full time. So ultimately, when I got to the point of it's time to leave, I said, You know what, I'm going doubling down on speaking, I'm going full tilt into this. So I gotta create a new brand. So the first, honestly, Michael, like first two months, I really was like, I needed to decompress, I kind of had some, like, by the end of my career, I had originally said, my supply chain career, had originally said, Art, I'm gonna get paid to move out to California, buy this company, I'll spend like two years getting settled getting established. And then after two years, I'm gonna go full time into my entrepreneurial stuff, I'll build it up. That two year mark was 2020. So you know, as we like, we tend to make plans, and life has great curveballs to throw our way. So 2020 hits, I'm like, wow, it's not be rash here, right. And it's that convenient excuse not to take the big leap. So then, two more years, two years, and two months later, is when I ultimately got the, you know, the 30 day notice. And so now that by the end of it, I was so drained, you know, I was working 1012 hour days, I was working on weekends, and I was pouring so much time fighting for a job that I hated and not spending time on the thing that I love that I really wanted to fight for. And when things got that bad, my dad said to me, he's like, you know, Brian, it's probably time to stop fighting for what you don't want and fight for what you do. And the way that I left the company, too, I wanted to make sure that I didn't compromise my values. So I said, Hey, listen, I'll give you guys a month. So I can properly train people, even though you know, I don't think I was treated well, I don't think this was handled well. I'm not gonna let that dictate my behaviors. Because I had let my standards slip. While I was there, I had started to just make excuses and get lazier and justify these things and play the victim. And so I said, I'm gonna raise my standard backup to my standard, I spent a month training everybody, they didn't offer any severance, they didn't offer anything. And I was like, You know what, good, this is gonna make the story better to tell. And during the leaving corporate, so the first time not having a full time job, since college, and all of these things that was one of my big messages. That was one of the things I carried was Shawn, my mentor told us if things go wrong in your life, but don't go as planned as a speaker, you should be thrilled because it makes great content for the stage. So the whole time when things were crazy and chaotic. I would just say this is going to make the story better to tell. This is a great one I love to share with people. So I said, You know what, two months I'm just kind of decompressing. I'm taking breaks. I went to San Diego and took a trip with a girl I was dating at the time and was like, oh my god, okay, I'm finally doing it. So now let's figure this game out. I said, You know what I need to rebrand. Spend some time figuring out a new brand. So you know what guide to speaking, I really like that that fits. So I make a new website, I announced the new brand, I go through all this work, finally launch it and then all of my mentors go, Hey, man, everyone is moving towards personal branding. Now, it's far better and it's more flexible. So you know, your business changes in six months, you still have to say, you know, Brian drew.com or the Brian drew.com, which I have now. So then I go through an entire nother revamp while I'm promoting and trying to get clients. And I started to just, I when I was going to personal development events, I would offer a free hour of coaching people you know, it's a hey, we're all at this event, we all came. So I'm just gonna give a free hour. And that was great to build my chops and get my skills up even tighter but I wasn't getting any clients. So then I'm like, I talked to some of my speaking mentors. Some of the coaches I've worked with in the past they said you need a package or an offering. And so I started to dive deeper into that I created a 12 week group coaching program and one on one coaching program. And that was where I started to get some momentum and some results is towards the end of the year. did a big launch event, I got five people into it both with giveaways and with paid joining like so people paying to join. And that kind of was the spark for everything else. And so that was all up until like December of last year was kind of figuring out one big thing that I've, I've said to people that was contrary to what I expected. And I'd be curious to hear if this happened. And your speaking career as well was, I thought for speaking, and for coaching, people would want a custom experience. Everyone wants, you know, a custom perfect for you experience that's just tailored to you in every specific way. But then I realized, here's the challenge, when you have conference coordinators and booking agents and people that are busy trying to find someone to pick, instead of a custom menu, they want like the McDonald's menu, they want to number one or number two, and number three, they want to be able to point to it and then say, no pickles are extra sauce. And so in that way, they get their customer experience, but they have a proven thing. They know what a Big Mac tastes like everywhere. And so that was what I started to do both in product and in speaking was I created standard off offering signature talk signature coaching programs, and started to build on those. So that was kind of the first that like 2022. And then as I gotten to 2023, I made some more adjustments and things. But those are the initial steps into it and how I started to get my feet under me and get some momentum. So   Michael Hingson ** 26:27 I would, I would say pretty similar experiences. I have a number of standard talks. But I also tell everyone that talks to me about becoming well coming to their event, I customize every talk that I give. So what is it that you need specifically in your presentation from the what kind of messaging? Or now that you know about what I do? What would you like me to include or add or whatever. And I find that oftentimes, especially if I go to an event and get to hear some people who speak before I do, I may be customizing a little bit off of the basic talk right up to and including beginning to talk myself, because what I'm looking for is what is going to have the greatest impact for the audience. What does the audience want to react to? What do they want to hear. And I think people who are organizing events who are good at it, do understand that and do understand what it is that audiences want to hear. But even then the audience can tell you more, right up to the time that you begin to talk because every event is different, even a little bit different than what the planners talked about. So I've learned to judge that when I'm speaking to an audience or with an audience. And I love to say I don't speak to but I like to speak with because I want them engaged. And I want them to be part of the speech. So I do make sure that I'm interacting in a way that gets reactions from the audience. So I know that they're with me as we go sort of presentation. So I do like to customize, but from the basic talk, which is basically what you're saying.   Brian Drury ** 28:14 Right, exactly. And it's, that's why and doesn't surprise me at all, because I like I know how experienced you are. And that the best speakers I know put the audience first. And it's obvious like anybody who watches your speeches See that you do that because you make it entertaining, you make it fun, they laugh, they cry, like you take them on an emotional journey. And the way I like my phrasing for it is I don't want to lecture in an audience, I want to co create an adventure, right? So especially when I'm coaching people and speaking, one of the big things is a lot of people think and I'm really getting some powerful lessons on the balance of like content versus activity and engagement. Because my mentor always always harped on the criticality of activities, how that's a keep people engaged for the long term, they get more a better experience, they have more fun, they make connections. But what I'm realizing more and more is oftentimes in an effort to over deliver value, we take out some of the room for magic. So when I'm coaching speakers, I'm like, if you're doing an hour keynote, it's great to prep for 45. And then you also have a section you can pull out if you know, inevitably the time changes, someone went too long, etcetera. So you're prepared for that stuff. So you don't throw the event off. But you also gotta leave room for your magic, because each of us has something that we do specially or engagement. And if you bring somebody on stage or have somebody stand up in the audience, and one of the things I'll do is like live keynote crafting, I'll say okay, give me your premise, give me this and then I can give them an idea of how I would craft this is the less I leave room for that. There's less room for that magic and like you and I we can give the same speech over and over and over and that can get boring because when you know a lot of people go oh, I want this like homerun speech but at some point if you give it 50 times in a row When you know when people laugh, and this, you can lose the connection if you don't focus on the audience, right, and you can lose like the energy in the spark. So that's why I love to leave in the room for audience engagement and live activities, because that creates the variability. But also, like you said, come to the event, talk to people. And then we then those things and use callbacks to other speakers. And that's where you add the novelty so that this place gets a customer experience and that killer signature talk that you always deliver.   Michael Hingson ** 30:29 Well, exactly right. And so even though it may be the very same talk, the the lack of boredom, or the excitement for you, as the speaker comes from all the interactions that you do, and the fact that you recognize every audience is different. And so you treat it that way. Even though, essentially the same speech may come out of your mouth, it's still going to be different. Yeah, exactly. So how did your original speech go viral?   Brian Drury ** 30:58 That is, it's one of my favorite stories that and I don't know if you experienced this, Michael, but I'm very quick to kind of downplay or minimize the things I've done, you know, like mentally, like, I'm very self critical. And I'm quick to go like, Oh, yeah, you did that, like things that were lifelong dreams that I achieved. Once I did, though, my brain was gay, but it's just, you know, it's my imposter syndrome. My negative voice is trying to minimize these things. And when people ask me about the stories, and I think back, you know, right now, it's like, Hey, I'm focused on growth, I'm focusing on the new direction, the new product, the new thing. And I appreciate this question, because getting to reflect is so important to see both the hard work, but the magic that it took for this to come together. So essentially, the way that it all went down was in 20. So for 2014 was my first ever Sean Stephenson training event. And at that event, I was it was three months after I lost my mom to pancreatic cancer. So I was 24 years old, I was feeling broken and lost, I was more existing than living like I was just kind of, I kind of shut off. Essentially, I said, and this is all looking back in the moment, I was just trying to survive. I found myself shutting off my emotions, because my brain and again, didn't realize this at the time, but my brain went, you love your mom more than anybody else in the world, like your mom, your dad, your brother, the closest people in your life, losing her hurt worse than anything you've ever felt. You're experiencing more pain, sadness, fear than you've ever experienced. So, love equals pain, emotions, equal pain, just shut off your emotions. And I'm a highly emotional dude, I'm a very, I feel things very intensely. So essentially, for a time, I just closed off this entire piece of meat because I couldn't I, I didn't know I didn't have the tools that I do now to be able to process and work through that in a healthier way. Now, I'd gotten into personal development, thank God because things didn't go too far astray. So you know, I said, if I'm, you know, if I want to cake for dinner, I'll have cake for dinner, if I want to have two beers for dinner, or I'll have two beers, but I'm not going to become an alcoholic, I'm not going to, you know, just binge eat all day. So I had some controls on it. So I didn't get too far lost, or I didn't like go start taking drugs to just try and numb the pain. But I gave myself some grace, which typically, I wouldn't do that. And I go to Shawn's event. And it was unlike anything I've ever experienced was my first personal development event. And at the end of the event, there's a testimonial, like I shared on one of the mics at one of the sessions that you know, I was crying and I was like, I just lost my mom, I don't know where to begin. And then there's a testimonial video at the end of that event where I said, this is the first time I've been happy since my mom passed. And this is what I want to do. Like, this is what I want to my life to be about. Because you don't even ask me he's like, What do you want to do is I want to be speaker and a coach. And it's moments like this where I tell the story. And I'm like, I'm doing that now. And I have to remind myself, like, someone said to me, even when things were really hard in that, you know, 2022 and I like almost no money in the bank. They're like, Brian, you are living your dream, though. Like you are a full time coach and speaker you're doing it doesn't mean it's always gonna be easy, but you're doing it and those reminders were powerful. So after that event in 2014, I said, you know, that at that point, I think I paid $1,000 for the ticket. And then I had to fly to Arizona to be there from North Carolina. That was insane for me, you know, I graduated with $80,000 in student loan debt, and I had a good salary, but I wasn't making like tons and tons of money extra. And I was paying bills paying loans. And so paying 1000 bucks for ticket was crazy because I had this huge debt and why should I pay that down? But that's when I started to invest in development in the way many people invest in stocks or a home etc. Because to me, I was like those skills that I developed can have not just a multiplying effect, but they can have an exponential effect on my ability to create impact and wealth. Because I was like I don't just want to do something for money. I've done that in the corporate job. I want This to be about my mission, purpose, passion, those words that are really big and scary, but I was like the things that I know my heart I'm meant to do. So for the next three years, I went to every shot event I could go to, I just found a way, sometimes I was taking a little extra debt, and I had to get a client to pay it off. And sometimes I grow my business, sometimes I took out a loan, but I found a way. And then every year, at the end of his events, he had his big year long coaching program. And it was a huge investment. Every year it got bigger, but you would get all this time with Shawn. And it was like a dream. And every year I'd see the people standing on stage that ultimately bought in and I'd say one day that's going to be would be me one day, it's going to be me. So in 2017, I'm at Sean's annual events called 10k speeches. And I have that feeling in my heart. I know I've been to all of his events, I know when the offers come in, I know what it's going to be like, but this year, he goes big, and he offers more than he's ever offered. And that group is going to take a trip to Hawaii together and you're going to get a one on one day with Shawn at his house, and you're gonna get events at these different areas and venues in person with Shawn you're gonna get all this time and monthly calls. And so I just found myself going, Oh, my God, this is the best offer yet. And he gets to the offer and says it's $20,000 to pay up front. Or it's $2,000 a month for 12 months. So 24 grand total. And my logical brain goes that there's no way I do that's just way too much. You know, like you have four grand and your business bank account right now and maybe like six in your personal so you don't even have the money to cover it. Now, and your business isn't consistent, like so just logically, I'm going through all this. But then lying in bed at night, I'm thinking about it. And the next day I come back. And it's the last day of the event. And I'm just sitting there going, Oh, my heart is calling me to do this. And so Shawn used to say your intuition can't give you all the answers because it operates off faith. And you know, for all your listeners, whether it's God or a higher power, or the universe or whatever you believe. And there was something in me calling saying it's like that call to greatness, that moment where something and you see something beyond what you're currently living, but it can't give you all the answers. Because you need to take a step you need to take action and operate on faith. So I'm sitting there and I'm freaking out. And then we come to a break. And now Shawn is one of my best friends. And he's up on stage and you're not supposed to go up in Iraq, but I go to his wife and like Mindy, I got to talk to Sean. I'm like, I just I just need a minute. I need to talk to him. Because it's coming up on the end of the event. I'm like, I think it's time but I'm so scared. And so she goes by you're not supposed to. And I was just like two minutes. And she goes, Okay, just real quick. And so I run out to Shawn on stage. He looks at me and he had this way of just seeing into you, you know, not just looking at you. And I'm crying like I'm losing it right? Because Shawn it changed my life. I want this so bad. This is amazing. I want to and so much, Shawn. And I don't know if cursing is allowed on your show or not. So I'll refrain but I said, Shawn, I'm f and terrified. I was like, I want this but I'm so scared. And I have tears running down my face. And he looks at me and goes, Brian, have I ever let you down? I was like, No. And he goes, so I got you. I said okay, he's like, so what are you gonna do? I was like, I'm gonna go sign up, you know, he's like sobbing and snot coming out. And he's like, okay, man, I'm excited for you. And so I went and did it that year, he gave everyone a cape. So he got this silk cape. Because the program is called Master heart. You are the master for our heroes. His whole thing was if I want to teach you to be a world class speaker, I've got to teach you first to be a world class human being. So the next year so I sign up and figured it out. Right. And it was messy and you know, building up credit card debt and my brother's like you have way too much debt. So I had to take out a loan to make it more manageable. And then my business grows a little and it was this all this stuff of just figuring it out. And we went to Hawaii together my first trip to Hawaii, we had group calls together on a one on one with Shawn and so the big thing at the end of the program was a speaker contest. And if you won the speaker contest, and Sean said you were ready, you will get the opportunity to speak on stage he does next event. So every year I'd seen his students that were always amazing. I was the youngest guy in the program. Three months before the event, he announces the challenge. We start preparing, we start rehearsing and I was doing the thing so many people do. I was going on. I've got it in my head. I'm rehearsing in my head, but I wasn't practicing. I'd written it out. I've never really practiced it. I got to my dress rehearsal three weeks before the event. And the whole thing was it was a 10 minute talk. You come in you give the speech and Shan Shan says okay, we're gonna get started and set the time when you hear the timer. I'm gonna give you three minutes of feedback. And that's it. So it's been an hour. It's real quick. I come in. I'm all confident I thought I had things under control and bombed I gave one are the worst speeches I've ever given. And it timer goes off. I didn't even finish I was it was just terrible. And Shawn would lovingly give you harsh feedback. So he would tell you the truth. And he goes, Okay, Brian, that was terrible. And I was like, I know, I know. And he goes, but I want you to know, everyone's dress rehearsal sucks. And it's okay. You know, it's like, it felt a little better. But I still I was like, I just blew and he goes, I'm gonna give you a challenge three weeks before the contest. Because I'm gonna give you a challenge. I want you to scrap this entirely what you've been working on for three months, start fresh and do something different.   Brian Drury ** 40:38 And I was like, I got it. I was like, Shawn, how could you ask me to do that the events coming up. This is my best story, my best speech and I was telling a story about my mom's battle with cancer. And he goes, Brian, you're becoming without even realizing it. Your identity is becoming the guy who lost his mom, when you talk about all the time. It's your main story. It's your main thing. And you lead with that, because it's a way to get to a deeper conversation quickly. But there's so much more to you than this. He goes, your mom saw it, I know it. And I want you to show yourself that you are so much more than this one story in this one experience. And I think there's an even more powerful story you could tell that will help you realize that you're more than this identity. And so the next week, I had my one on one day with him at his house. So now it's two weeks till the event. He takes me through an activity I remembered a story that I hadn't thought of in years. So I just decided Alright, it's time because he used to say this thing. Don't pad the fall. So so often, you know, when we have something coming up, we pad the fall, we give ourselves an outright like, Oh, I didn't sleep well. I didn't practice enough. If I had really rehearsed I would have done better, he said so don't give yourself the out of the excuse playful out fail spectacularly but go forward, fill out and surprise yourself. So for the next two weeks, I worked as hard as I possibly could add ever worked on any speech ever. I practiced every single day I wrote the speech. I rehearsed it, I did it for friends. I revamped it. I was doing it every night as much as I could because I'm still working full time. Then I fly to Arizona for the event. The night before the event. My Uber driver asked me why I'm there I say speaker contest, he goes want to give me the speech. So I did it for my Uber driver. I did it for every person I could that was willing to listen. And then we have the speaker contest at Sean's house the next day. I was the youngest guy in the program. And I ended up winning the contest. And they said we'll text you tonight and let you know when you're going on. So typically, in the years prior, it's I'd been every event they would have the speaker like in the middle or the last day around when they were going to make the offer the pitch. I got a text around 10pm That night, the event is the next day. And they said we're gonna have you go on first after Sean. So he's gonna start the event. And then you're the first speaker they see. And he brings on all these world class speakers and people in marketing and sales. And I'm like, oh my god, I'm the leadoff and he's saying he has that much confidence in me that he's willing to put me right after him. You know, this is his showcase students. So pressure goes out. But at that point, I'd done the prep, I'd done the work, I knew I was ready. And I even set my goal not to win the contest. My goal was to give the best speech I've ever given because that was something I could control couldn't control if I won or not. But I could control given the best speech. So when I knew I was going on the next day, I just said that's my goal again. Now I'll give the best speech again I've ever given. So I got on stage, I do it. It's my first standing ovation. It was one of the most validating experiences in my life. And Tony Robbins says proximity is power. You know, we often hear you become like the five people you spend the most time with your circle matters, all these different phrases. Two days later, the founders of a company called goal cast were speaking at Sean's event as well. Now gold cast is like an internet motivation company. And they make motivational videos and they do clips and find like speakers and bring them up to like, they have all these incredible speeches. And I've been watching their stuff for years. I love their stuff. So after they talked and they came down off the stage, I wanted to talk to them and thank them because I was Listen, your work has impacted me so much. It's helped me through so many tough days. So I'm thanking Salim is one of the co founders. And he goes, Brian, I really appreciate it. So tell me why are you here? I said, I spoke at the event. I was one of the speakers in here. So I'd love to see your speech. And I, I lost I was like, oh, like and he goes, No, no, he is I'm not saying we're gonna use it. I'm just saying I'd love to see it. And I said, Hey, just the fact that you want to see it. After the event, I sent him the speech. And you know, even the editor for Shawn's programs had to like work, pull some strings to get it done faster. It sounds like there's this huge opportunity. Didn't hear first from Celine for like two months. And then all of a sudden, I get an email it says your video goes live on Monday. And I still didn't even believe it. At that point. I was like, I don't want to assume you know not until it's out there live. And then a week later it goes live and it gets out to the world. It his million views in the first day. Then it hits 10 million in the first week. I'm having people from all All over the world reaching out to me, I'm having friends I haven't talked to in years go, Oh my God, I know this guy. And it was just surreal. It was my first experience with virtuality. And it was incredible and overwhelming in many ways. But it was also just proof of what Shawn had talked about. When you play full out, you don't pad the fall, you give it your all, you have no idea where your story can go, and how much reach it can have. And there was so much magic that took place in so many little things about being in the room and knowing who goal cast was, and just going up to thank them not asking anything, and that turning all into this incredible thing that really changed the course of my career and my life, was that speech going viral? Because that's a large part of why I'm doing what I am today.   Michael Hingson ** 45:42 So what exactly do you do as a coach? What do you coach about?   Brian Drury ** 45:47 So my coaching is primarily, I think, to give the broadest stroke is effective communication. Because I help people with this in a variety of ways, and what I've seen in my career, but also this is true of every coach I know that continues to iterate and find what works and change their niche to better fit was, it's an amalgamation of everything that I've done. So I spent years studying psychology and human behavior and habit change, and storytelling, and all of these different elements. So I have an ability to help people craft their stories in the most effective way to take people on a journey. So what that's led to is, Keynote crafting is one of the areas where I help people craft keynote speeches, or TED Talk type speeches, and help them actually go through and step by step craft a world class speech. But then I also have presentation skills. So when I'm doing corporate trainings, recently, I've done an event called elevate your elevator pitch, excuse me, where, and helping them create a redefined, reimagined elevator pitch, because I don't like the original one or the way people typically do it. I do events on non cringy networking is another one that I do. Sales, like effective sales, pitch and presentation skills, public speaking skills. So as you said, I go to the clients with kind of my list, I have a PDF of my programming guide, which is standard offerings, here's, you know, three of my development trainings, here's three of my business development trainings. And then here's five keynotes they can choose from, and then that prompts, the conversation gets them started, I understand very clearly what they need and go from there. So with coaching, I have done group coaching, I've done one on one. And then also, I have the corporate training side. So what's been great about My business is building it in a way and again, it's taken, it took years and years of testing and iteration to figure out what I wanted to do and where I could bring the most value. But for the right audience and market, if they're an author, and they're about to go on a book tour, having a signature talk that they know really hits and is going to help them sell books and get more exposure and press is huge. I've done media training, I've helped C suite executives prep for big sales pitches and offerings. I've helped people with I've worked with these soldiers medal winner. So it's the third highest commendation, someone can win in the US military. I'm helping right now a former Navy Special Ops rescue swimmer, I've helped people in training development. So I'm getting to touch in all these different worlds and help people with all these different elements. Because essentially, at the core of everything I do is I'm going to help you have confidence and clarity in your messaging. So whether that's helping you craft a more effective one liner, and you know, digital presentation, or having a speech or a short form talk, what I help people do is understand how to more effectively present what they do to not just like look confident, which is one thing, but it's to feel confident, and to do so in their authentic voice. Because a lot of what I help people do is shed the nonsense that we think we have to put on to be taken seriously or to be credible, I help them get rid of that. So they can focus on creating something that is authentic to them, and helps them grow their business, increase their impact, etc. So those are really the primary areas is my group in one on one coaching. And then I do have like individual consulting I do on a more ad hoc basis. And then the corporate trainings where I'm doing, you know, two to four hour trainings on a specific topic related to that audience.   Michael Hingson ** 49:18 Yeah, certainly exciting. And you certainly have come a long way since April of 2022, haven't you? Well, you, you prepared for it. So it's not like you've come a long way since April 2022. You'd been preparing a long time before April 2022. But you finally made the leap and decided to put it together and actually do it. Right.   Brian Drury ** 49:38 And that's the big thing. You know, you hear all the time we were like, Oh, it took 10 years to become an overnight success and blah, blah, blah. And, and that was one thing I learned very early on early on is there's no shortcuts. And so the thing for me is there are no shortcuts but there's better strategies and so through mentorship, you can find the strategies that work and then it just takes you putting in the work to get the results and And what I found here, and oh, now it's August of 2023. It's crazy, because it's August 31, I can't believe it's already September. But what I have found for me has been the best thing for building business is person to person connection and referral based business. Because so many people go, I need to build a big social, I don't have any impressive social following, I don't have a big email list. I mean, my email list is, I think, less than 200 people right now. But what I have found is by really focusing on over delivering for each client you meet, really understanding their needs, and then building good relationships. It's one of the best ways to do this, because people often forget, especially in entrepreneurship, you're the brand, you're the business, you know, when you're the face of it as a speaker or a coach. But the big thing is, people aren't just booking you for your expertise, your credentials, or what you've done. They're booking you for you. So I remind clients of this all the time, like, if you just connect and really genuinely care about the people you're working with, you're going to build stronger relationships and make real connections. So you have friends and clients, it's not just all business all the time. And if you're some diva speaker, who, you know, has a writer that says only read skills in the bowl, when I get there and you're hard to work with, and you're difficult to communicate with, even if you're exceptional, people are less inclined to book you. So what I love is meeting new people and building relationships. And that's what I do. And it's not this, you know, of course, as business grows, I'm working to hone the processes and create client acquisition funnels, there's all these things that I am working on. But for anybody that's afraid to get started it start with your network, look for areas to bring value, and then look for opportunities to get in front of people. And that's why I tell people it's if you have a high value clear, like high value and clear value proposition offer that you can come in and train somebody's company on where you can get in front of 20 or 30 or 40 people to talk about something give value first and then make an offer to connect after so that's a big thing for me is whatever it is, is get started and get rolling because he learned so much more by getting in and implementing and trying and all of this versus you know, the theorizing or drowning in the you know, I'm just going to post on social media and hopefully people will come get come to me it's like for me it's far better to create direct real meaningful relationships and build from there and at you know, as a result of that, like you said, there have been a lot of things in motion for a long time and for me you know my dad is a great sales person he spent 30 years in sales and you know good authentic real sales not like used cars Carmen used car salesman type of straight like authentic genuine relationship based sales and so he's taught me things throughout my life my mentors have taught me and so for me it's not pushing it's not forcing it's not trying to you know, not everyone's a prospect if they're not not everyone is so treat people like people get to know people and then where mutual value exchanges become possible then explore those and so I've been able to build my business and I've had again my best month ever in August better than my best quarter prior and there are a couple of things that if any, like I'm there's lots of things out there like lines in the water so I'm playing the long game in multiple areas but I'd say the biggest thing for anyone considering this route don't count on any of them because I have had things that seem like a sure shot that fell through I've had yes is that at this point of payment fell through so don't expect it Don't count on it. But play the long game, build relationships, ask for referrals make it clear what you do, and it's incredible what can come   Michael Hingson ** 53:33 and that is what it's all about. Well, I want to thank you for being here with us again, this has been every bit as fun and inspiring as I thought it would be. I hope it was for you. Last question. Have you paid off your student loan yet?   Brian Drury ** 53:50 No, but I have paid I think I'm down to like 20,024 22,000 80,000 from 80,000 so you know that's the thing is I have I looked at it was like yeah, I really love to pay those off. But as I've been playing the game you know it's like figuring out how to so I have never missed a payment I'll say that so even in my dark times and I'm still paying the loans because I'm like I want to find a way to do this while paying them off. And ideally if I hit some of my bigger goals this year I could almost completely or completely wipe those out so working towards that for sure but it was something where find a way to create manageable debt and then continually pay it off but not quite there yet but my brother's a financial advisors reminded me several times and said like Brian to have paid off in almost three quarters of that by 33 years old which I am now is huge. So instead of going I still got 20 grand I gotta go hey I've come a huge way with all the ups and downs so yeah, so I hope by the end of this year to be like a Michael I did it all gone. You know push that and click that final Pay button and just wipe it out.   Michael Hingson ** 54:58 Let us know when that has happens. Well, I want to thank you. Cool. Well, I want to thank you again for being here. This has been a lot of fun. We'll have to figure out what to do for a third one, but this has really been enjoyable. Absolutely. Tell us again, if people want to reach out and maybe take some opportunities to get coached by you or look for you as a speaker or whatever. How do they do that?   Brian Drury ** 55:20 So best way, the Brian Drury on all social media. So t h e b r i a n and then d r u r y. So D as in David r u r y. So at the Brian Drury on our social media, I'm most active on LinkedIn right now. So you can just search me you'll find me very easily on LinkedIn. And then if you want to email me directly, oh, sorry. Also my website thebriandrury.com. So everything social is the Brian Drury, or the Brian Drury.com. And then my email again, I'll do my spelling bee here. So Brian at Guide 2 speaking.com. And that's the number two. So B r i a n  at G u i d e, the number two, S p e a k i n g.com. So I feel I really feel like I'm at the National Spelling Bee. So this is the best way to reach out if you want to book me for an event or coaching, or connect or just share some feedback, Michael, and I love feedback. And we do Piper show. So he has like an insight you want to share? You can send it to me, I'll let Michael know. So we'd love to hear from everyone listening.   Michael Hingson ** 56:22 And that goes the other way as well. If you want to share with me, I will let Brian know we would love to hear from you. You can reach me in a couple of different ways. We're on LinkedIn especially and Facebook, at M Hingson and LinkedIn is Michael Hingson and but you can reach me at Michael m i  c h a e l h i  at accessibe A c c e s s i b e.com. Or go to our podcast page www dot Michael Hingson H i n g s o n.com/podcast. Love to hear from you. We'd love to hear any referrals that you might have that might want to be guests on podcast, unstoppable mindset. And in general, any thoughts that you have, we all want to know them. So please reach out and let us know what you're thinking, please give us a five star rating. Wherever you're listening to us. We appreciate that as well. And I just want to thank you all for the time that you have put to listening to us today and for being here. And Brian, once again, thank you for making this possible and being here and for giving us so many insights again today.   Brian Drury ** 57:23 Thanks for having me, Michael. I look forward to it again. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better and better and hopefully meeting up so

Best way to tackle a creative fear? With a friend! We talk with comedians Chris Duffy and Zach Sherwin about how they offered inspiration and accountability for each other in a 101-day TikTok content creation challenge. We touch on creative habits, perfectionism, practical tips for negotiating TikTok, collaborative projects, the vicissitudes of algorithms, and metrics of success. It's a heart-warming, laughter-full episode full of friendship, fear, birds, and success. Chris Duffy is a comedian, television writer, and radio/podcast host. Chris currently hosts TED's hit podcast How to Be a Better Human. He has appeared on Good Morning America, ABC News, NPR, and National Geographic Explorer. Chris wrote for both seasons of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas on HBO, executive produced by John Oliver. He's the creator/host of the streaming game show Wrong Answers Only, where three comedians try to guess what a leading scientist does all day, in partnership with LabX at the National Academy of Sciences. He has performed live in venues as big as a sold out Lincoln Center and as small as a walk-in closet (also sold out). Chris is both a former fifth grade teacher and a former fifth grade student. Zach Sherwin is a Los Angeles-based comedian and the creator and host of The Crossword Show, in which a panel of comedians solves a crossword puzzle live onstage in front of an audience. In 2022, he published his debut crossword puzzle in the New York Times. His writing for the web series “Epic Rap Battles of History” has received multiple Streamy Awards and Emmy nominations, and the Epic Rap Battles in which he's appeared have amassed well over half a billion YouTube views and an RIAA-certified Gold record. His own YouTube videos have been viewed many millions of times, and his other writing credits range from “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (The CW) to MAD Magazine. As a performer, Zach has appeared on “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell” (FX) and “The Pete Holmes Show” (TBS), both long cancelled, as well as “America's Got Talent” (NBC), which seems to be doing just fine! Zach has also worked extensively as a TV audience warm-up comic, including at the 2023 National Spelling Bee finals. For more information on Zach and The Crossword Show, please visit www.crosswordshow.com.Zach's first video of the 101 day experiment: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

We talk to this year's national spelling bee champion and a linguist about the complexities of English spelling. Then, this week's edition of Food Friday helps us put together trays and boards for our social gatherings.

U.S Representative Mark Pocan and Senator Ron Johnson join us to share their thoughts on the conflict in Gaza and the U.S. involvement with Israel. Then, we talk to this year's national spelling bee champion and a linguist about the complexities of English spelling.

About Mississippi, the National Spelling Bee, and leaving the field of journalism to become a Latin teacher. Sierra Mannie teaches Latin at Hunter College High School in New York City. Before she began teaching, however, she worked as a writer and journalist, with articles and editorials appearing in such publications as Time Magazine, the Jackson Free Press, and The Hechinger Report. More recently, she has also been a writer for the ABC television game show The Chase. Sierra received a bachelor's degree in Classics and English from the University of Mississippi and a master's degree in education from Hunter College. In 2017, she delivered a TEDx Millsaps College presentation entitled Tempora, Mores, and Other Complaints. Recorded in November of 2023. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Quintilian⁠⁠⁠⁠ is supported by a Bridge Initiative Grant from the Committee for the Promotion of Latin and Greek, a division of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Association of the Middle West and South⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music: "Echo Canyon Instrumental" by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Clive Romney⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Comments or questions about this podcast may be directed to ryangsellers@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying ⁠⁠⁠⁠Quintilian⁠⁠⁠⁠, please leave us a rating and/or a review on your favorite podcast distribution platform.

General Motors is planning higher-octane cash returns for investors in an attempt to restore confidence in its main gig — making vehicles that are not electric. We’ll get into what this could signal for the broader EV industry. And, many of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory powers are on the line in a current Supreme Court case. We’ll examine what the case has to do with conservative justices’ disdain for the administrative state. Plus, a National Spelling Bee champion’s secret to success. Here’s everything we talked about today: “GM Plans $10 Billion Stock Buyback in Bid to Assuage Investors” from The Wall Street Journal “Supreme Court's conservatives voice concerns about SEC's in-house enforcement” from The Hill “Supreme Court to consider multi-pronged constitutional attack on SEC” from SCOTUSblog “Major OxyContin case headlines December session” from SCOTUSblog Opinion | “I won the National Spelling Bee. This is what it takes to master spelling.” from The Washington Post If you've got a question, comment or submission for a state drink, send them our way. We're at 508-UB-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.

General Motors is planning higher-octane cash returns for investors in an attempt to restore confidence in its main gig — making vehicles that are not electric. We’ll get into what this could signal for the broader EV industry. And, many of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory powers are on the line in a current Supreme Court case. We’ll examine what the case has to do with conservative justices’ disdain for the administrative state. Plus, a National Spelling Bee champion’s secret to success. Here’s everything we talked about today: “GM Plans $10 Billion Stock Buyback in Bid to Assuage Investors” from The Wall Street Journal “Supreme Court's conservatives voice concerns about SEC's in-house enforcement” from The Hill “Supreme Court to consider multi-pronged constitutional attack on SEC” from SCOTUSblog “Major OxyContin case headlines December session” from SCOTUSblog Opinion | “I won the National Spelling Bee. This is what it takes to master spelling.” from The Washington Post If you've got a question, comment or submission for a state drink, send them our way. We're at 508-UB-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.

Growth and resilience are only two of the words I think of when I talk about our guest, Curtis Pipes. Curtis always has been a dreamer. He even says that as a child his dreams went much further than his “stateliness”. Nevertheless, he kept on dreaming.   Curtis began life in Columbia Missouri. He tells us about his life including many bumps along the way as he progressed through college. It was growth that finally caused him to focus and get college degrees in two majors.   Work eventually took Curtis to New Zealand where he again had to grow a lot not only to survive but to find his way. He will tell us about his time living as a homeless person in New Zealand and why no one even knew of his challenges.   Today, Curtis lives in Australia where he owns his digital marketing and coaching business. His company is called Peanut Butter Digital Marketing. Why “Peanut Butter”? I'll let Curtis tell the story.   Curtis is clearly an unstoppable person. Stubborn yes, but also he is confident and he understands where that confidence fits into his life purpose. I hope you enjoy hearing Curtis' story as much as did I.     About the Guest:   My name is Curtis Pipes.  I am from Columbia, Missouri.  My entire childhood I believed my dreams were bigger than my stateliness. When I used to talk about this as a kid I would sometimes get laughed at and have adults tell me to go the traditional route-graduate high school, graduate college and then get a job.  This route never sat with me and the uneasiness is what caused me to move out the country in 2010 to pursue a dream I had.     My dream took me to New Zealand and I had some the best and challenging years of my life. I became homeless in New Zealand as I was pursuing my dreams-sleeping on the street and stealing food to eat.  I could have easily gone home but I convinced myself as I was walking the streets of Auckland City late at night that this was part of my journey.  This is a test showing me how bad I want to achieve my dreams.  In the end, I achieved my dreams and created an amazing life for myself.   New Zealand allowed me to begin to find myself.  It didn't come without more challenges but I brought me to the road of personal development and it is one I walk to this day.  If it wasn't for personal development, I wouldn't have been able to heal childhood traumas and reframe self sabotaging stories.  I wouldn't have been able to realize I wasn't suffering alone. I was suffering from no self-love.  Discovering my message within my mess, liberated me to help others.  Self-love is the one thing I know can help individuals rid themselves of so many of their problems.     Supporting people to find their love for themselves is a journey I will partake until I'm gone.     Ways to connect with Curtis:   Social Media Links: Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/curtishavenpipes/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075558769021 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtishavenpipes/ www.peanutbutterdigitalmarketing.com Website: www.peanutbutterdigitalmarketing.com LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtishavenpipes     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi there. I'm Mike Hingson, your host and you're listening to or possibly watching if you're on YouTube, unstoppable mindset. And we're really glad that you are with us today. I really appreciate you having the time to come and listen. And we are really looking forward to having a great discussion we have as our guest, Curtis Pipes who started out life in Columbia, Missouri, and I know people who live in Columbia, Missouri. I'm fact I'm going to see them next week. We're all meeting at the National Federation of the Blind convention in Houston. Oh, talk about heat. Anyway, but Curtis left there and went to other places. And he's going to tell us all about that among other things. So let's get to a Curtis. I'd like to thank you for being here. And welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Curtis Pipes ** 02:09 Thank you for having me, Mike. I really appreciate it.   Michael Hingson ** 02:12 Well, we're glad you're here. And I know you've got a lot of interesting stories to tell and a life to talk about. So why don't we love to hear maybe about the the earlier Curtis growing up and all that.   Curtis Pipes ** 02:24 Well, as you mentioned early on from Columbia, Missouri, I just good old country western Midwestern boy grew up with the oldest sister, single mother in Columbia, Missouri, where, yeah, had a great childhood, had a great childhood, my mom always made sure that we didn't want for anything, at the best of our ability was always in sports, and play football, played basketball, wrestled and ran track. And so I've always been an athletic person, I've always been in sports. And I really found that I excelled in in sports and fitness. And so as I got into my older years and got into high school, I still play football and, and I still ran track. And I noticed that being shorter than the others in sports, also had a focus on my mind, and focus on my education. And that was really drilled into us at a young age that you know, get your education really get your education, because it will definitely take you far. Needless to say that that value did not stick I did get in college, I ran track and field. And at the same time also got kicked out of college twice for grades for my academics, because I didn't have the discipline and the focus that I have now. Definitely took the opportunity for granted. And the third time as they say that wholesaling is third time's the charm, right. So the third time I was in college, I was older than a lot of the other students and so I recognize the game you know, the whole thing I used to do when I was younger in college was oh, there's let's go down to the local bar which one of the famous bars for college it Mizzou is what I went was called the Hofburg. And so like oh, we'll go down to the Heidelberg we'll have a drink and I'm like no, I know how that goes we'll have like one drink or so and maybe won't study anymore. So I was just stay in my room. And so it paid off those that the recognition of the patterns and the more focus on my academics paid off in I graduated with two majors and then still continue to also got the letter and track and field which was amazing. But after I graduated, I was still had the fitness books still had the one to workout book, which I still do now. I'm over here in Australia and so it's about four or five o'clock in the morning and I'm 330 person, I wake up at 330. And I work out by least by four. If you want to get more specific, because I'm very detail oriented by 406, I'm working out. And so after college, I started, I went to personal training, and at a local gym, and really found that I really wanted to help people in their fitness and there was a great career. And there was a specific point in my career about four or five years down the line, where I wanted more. And by that time I was applied as instructor, I was a group fitness instructor. And there was only as far as promotion is concerned, there was only lateral. And I don't do lateral, I want to go up. One big thing that our mother instilled in us was you can you can be anything and everything that you want to be. And so I could be anything and everything. I wanted to be moving laterally. And so I started to look for other opportunities. And that's what ultimately moved me out of my hometown.   Michael Hingson ** 06:14 Well, before we go on, and I definitely want to get to the rest of that, first of all, so when did you finally graduate yet? What year was that? Us?   Curtis Pipes ** 06:23 2003 is   Michael Hingson ** 06:24 when I graduated, okay? And what were your majors,   Curtis Pipes ** 06:27 English and sociology and wildlife conservation,   Michael Hingson ** 06:31 which is a little bit of a distance from a fitness and in gymnastics or gym or sports of any kind.   Curtis Pipes ** 06:40 Yeah, I I've always been a writer. I love to write. I love to read. I just have a creative book. I'm a poet. I'm a songwriter, and so desperate that really captivated me in into writing and wanting to learn the ins and outs of how to write.   Michael Hingson ** 06:57 So you did obviously, yes, I did. Now you have siblings. Can you keep saying we?   Curtis Pipes ** 07:04 Yeah. My sister she her name is Helen. She lives over Wisconsin. So you're talking about the heat in Texas. That's the total opposite. Yeah, as far as cold as cold freezing up there, but she loves to read. She loves to write as well. She? She's an avid reader. She was I used to make fun of her growing up because she used to read the dictionary. Ooh, yes. She   Michael Hingson ** 07:27 should have gone on to the National Spelling Bee. Huh? So did. So. Did she visit you over in Australia?   Curtis Pipes ** 07:37 No, she hasn't come over yet. She plans to come over and well, Christmas time here in Australia Summer. Summer. She wants to go over here this this summer for a sandy Christmas in that a white when a white Christmas?   Michael Hingson ** 07:51 Yeah. And hopefully six white boomers will be delivering toys to her stocking. Was the I know the song. But anyway. So you you graduated? How old were you when you graduated?   Curtis Pipes ** 08:08 Oh, gosh. 2323.   Michael Hingson ** 08:11 So you weren't too much older than the other students. But obviously, you learned a lot.   Curtis Pipes ** 08:17 Oh, yeah, I was well experienced. I was well experienced by that point.   Michael Hingson ** 08:21 Yeah. I've never been a real great bar person either. And so a lot of times when I was in college, people would say, well, let's go somewhere. And most of the time, I didn't want to go, partly for me. As I also continued to be reminded a lot later, was you go to a lot of those places. And they're very noisy, even in later life for me, when I was in a couple of sales positions where the sales force of a company got together and they all decided to go somewhere. It was so loud, you couldn't even carry on a conversation, which meant I didn't really get anything out of being there. So I know exactly. Probably for a little bit different reasons. But exactly how you you felt once you gain some experience, and I just didn't have a need to do that.   Curtis Pipes ** 09:12 Yeah, it got to the point where these when I was older than it had the experience that I knew that it wasn't going to going to be conducive to feeling better the next day. And I already had in my mind at that point, like I said, the third time's a charm that I was going to graduate. And that's all that was. That's all that I was focused on. I was very fanatical about my studying to the point where when I was in class, we were lucky to my teachers allowed us to have our laptops in class. And I took notes on my laptop and I would always go to my professors after class and ask them if they had time to read over my notes to make sure I didn't miss anything. Because as I was taking my notes, I was also making myself a study guide. So it was one of those things where there was nothing else on my plate except for my diplomas.   Michael Hingson ** 10:13 Yeah, that was the only thing you were interested in doing. So, girls weren't an issue either, huh?   Curtis Pipes ** 10:19 No, I didn't pay any at that point. That came later. Yeah. And before that, do another reason why I got in trouble.   Michael Hingson ** 10:28 There you go. So you, you really made a very conscious decision about what you were going to do and good for you stuck to it. And that's, and the reason I say good for you whether it was the right decision or the wrong decision, only time would be able to bear out. But you made a choice. And obviously not enough happened to tell you that it wasn't the right choice. Right. Right. So you stuck with it, which is, which is great. And so you graduated, and you had a job for a while. And then the whole issue, I know what you're saying about lateral movement, and in a job or in the workforce, sometimes there's value in doing it just depending on circumstances. But I also agree that moving up is important. And yeah, money's involved. But there are a lot of other things that go into that as well, don't you think?   Curtis Pipes ** 11:22 Definitely, definitely. There's, yeah, I mean, there's there's moving laterally definitely has, I mean, there's silver lining to everything. And I think for me, at that age, I was not conscious of that, though, it was for me, still remaining in the same place. And I still to this day, I'm a very stubborn and very ambitious person. And so I'm always out looking for more and always wanting to grow. So I felt that, okay, lateral is not going to, to help me grow and go to the next level, whatever it may be in my fitness career. So I need to find something else. And so I just started looking and but that also at that point I was getting I was I wasn't as motivated as that as I was when I first started. And so I was also funny enough, on my way out of the health and fitness industry, excuse me. And luckily, I did find group fitness group fitness is what kept me in the fitness industry, and then also got me out of Columbia. So not accepting a lateral move helped me discover what my next move was.   Michael Hingson ** 12:40 So do you think that for you, stubbornness is a positive trait? positive thing to have? Do you think it created some challenges for you? Are you happy with being stubborn?   Curtis Pipes ** 12:54 I'm definitely happy with being stuck. Okay. It's a double edged sword I make as I can be stuck in my ways. And when I get focused on something, sometimes what happens is I don't see something in my peripheral that could benefit me because I'm like a dog with a bone. This is the avenue I want to take. And I'm going to take it until I can't, until I exhausted. And so that's, that's the way the stubbornness can can be a disadvantage to me. But overall, it's helped me not accept what other people's perspective of me is, or was. It also has helped me not to listen to what people think of me. And it also has helped me not accept my situations that certain situations that I had in my life realizing that you know what, this is not for me, so let's change it. And it was up to me to change it.   Michael Hingson ** 13:50 I know that we're moving a little off track of just tracking your life a little bit. But still, this is kind of fascinating. How do you or what do you do to recognize that maybe stubbornness is locking you into something and you need to have a little bit broader view? How do you how do you recognize that? Or how do you deal with that?   Curtis Pipes ** 14:11 I recognize it when my emotions change when my energy changes. When I start to get what I'm more frustrated than ambitious, because it's not working out, then I realized there needs to be another course of action. And so even recognizing it is different than actually putting action behind the recognitions. Even though I recognize them a little bit frustrated, my energy is low. I can still make this work because I've told myself, I can still do it, I can still do it. And so it does take a little bit more knocks on the head, but that's how I really recognize that another course of action needs to be executed. Do you   Michael Hingson ** 14:49 spend time every day sort of thinking about what's going on? Do you do introspection of any sort that one of the ways that you discover this stuff?   Curtis Pipes ** 14:57 Yes, I do. I the reason I wake up in the wanting to work out at four AMS, that training is my anchor. And training is the one time in the day, that's just me, I can focus on myself. Even when I'm at the gym, I have my headphones on, and I have them loud. So people know not to talk to me. Because there's still people at the gym at that at that time. And they're, they're having conversations, which is fine, that's them, they can do what they do. But I'm in there to focus I'm in there to improve my mental capacity, my physical capacity. And so it allows me to focus on what I want to achieve for the day, and my goals. And then even after that, it's like the other side of the coin, I'm in there, I'm sweating, I'm aggressive, I'm lifting weights, and, and everything, and everything of that nature. And the other side of the coin for me, is when I am done with training, I go to the beach, I'm lucky enough and blessed enough to be 10 minutes away from the beach. And so I go there for my introspection, I go there to relax, I go there to listen to the ocean and meditate and still focus on my day, but just from another environment.   Michael Hingson ** 16:10 You do more of that at night before going to bed so that you now go back and look at the day and what was good, what wasn't and all the other stuff? Or is the morning your only time?   Curtis Pipes ** 16:21 No, I definitely do that. Now before I go to bed. If it's something that's something I picked up. Recently, when I say recently, two, three years ago that I do we do an inventory of my day, and see where I lost focus or see where I could have been better in this in this sprint would have gone, whatever the task is.   Michael Hingson ** 16:49 I have always been an especially more in the last few years, but always been a fan of thinking about the day introspection and I spend very quiet time at night, doing some of that and thinking about my life, and asking myself the hard questions and sometimes waiting for the answers. And they may take a while to come. But I think that all of us to do more of that. Because we do have time no matter what we may think, Oh, I've got so much work to do. I don't have time. Of course you do. We should have time to take stock of ourselves and analyze and use that to then help us grow.   Curtis Pipes ** 17:35 Yeah, we definitely. Yeah, we all have the same amount of time in a day. I think that now. We live in a world where it's stillness is not practice. Stillness is not an emphasis, we have things at our fingertips that can distract us every single day. So the the practice of stillness is something that if we really took time as a planet as human beings to realize that it's not just this quote, unquote, hippie thing, it's not just this quote unquote, spiritual thing. It's something that all human beings can really benefit from, and understand the benefits from it that I think more people would be in tune to it. But I do think that it's, it's come a long way from when people like when it's stillness, but I have an eight year old daughter, so I look at her and realize that that type of mindset, that type of teaching, it needs to be taught at a young age, we weren't conditioned, at least my generation was not conditioned to be still, we were always on the run, whether it be TV, whether it would be school, or go outside and play after school, sports and always on the move. So the only time when we were growing up that were quote, unquote, still was when we were praying before we went to sleep. And then when we were asleep. So now realizing the importance of stillness for myself as an adult, and I realized how important that was. When I moved away from home, it was in New Zealand. That's when I really started understanding stillness. I didn't do the whole inventory at night thing until, like I mentioned two or three, stillness really became a part of my life when I left home.   Michael Hingson ** 19:29 Well, and you mentioned praying, and certainly praying in maybe the most general and relevant form is as much listening as anything else. I mean, we, we spend a lot of time telling God what we want and what we think God should do. And the reality is God already knows that.   Curtis Pipes ** 19:49 Yeah. What did you say last time we have plans so when we tell them our plans,   Michael Hingson ** 19:53 yeah. Yeah. And Where's, where's the sense in that   Curtis Pipes ** 20:00 Yeah, definitely. It's just it's more of a surrendering that I had to learn. It's like, okay, you can have all these plans, man, but there's a divine design already. And so you just had to put your best foot forward and, and ride with it. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 20:19 I was reading your bio, and I really appreciate you sending that along. And one of the things you said is as a child, you always felt your dreams were bigger than your stateliness. What do you mean by that?   Curtis Pipes ** 20:31 I, I always had   Michael Hingson ** 20:33 an interesting way to put it.   Curtis Pipes ** 20:35 Yeah, I always had a massive imagination as a kid. And I thought as a young kid, that my dreams were bigger than my state lines. And it was something I would say, out loud. And granted, it was met with resistance, and you know, jokes and laughter. But I just always felt that I mean, I was the one who would dream of being an astronaut and leaving the planet and going to Mars, I was the one who would dream of, you know, be an international lawyer, it was always something that what I thought of when I was little, that would take me out of my state. And it was an eye and I said it with conviction. You even when I was made fun of it and hurt. I mean, it hurts to be bullied. But I just always, always believe that. And so I smile on that now as we talk about it, because my dreams did take me out of my state.   Michael Hingson ** 21:34 Yeah, yeah, well, and, and, you know, we are nothing if we don't have dreams, and we may modify our dreams as we grow. And we may find we want to do things a little differently. But nevertheless, there's nothing wrong with having dreams. And, and working to bring them to fruition, especially if they're very positive things that can help you and or help others. And I've, I've been very fortunate that I've had the opportunity to be very significantly involved in some of those kinds of things in my life, getting major legislation change that helped persons have a variety of disabilities, or helping to bring products to market and doing other things that really have made a big difference in the world. That's good, great. And, and I also know that, that, although I wasn't the instigator of any of those, being a part of it taught me a lot, and I use the opportunity to learn as much as I could, which is just as important as anything else.   Curtis Pipes ** 22:38 Always be a student. That's what that's one thing I learned is always be a student, I mean, granted, know, and accept that you are exceptional in something, but also be humble enough to know that being a student is one of the best things you can do   Michael Hingson ** 22:54 for yourself. Yeah, if you stop learning or decide to stop learning, then you're going to be in a world of hurt. Because the the reality is that there's always stuff to learn.   Curtis Pipes ** 23:09 Oh, definitely, definitely.   Michael Hingson ** 23:11 And we learn more when we seek out knowledge. Sometimes knowledge just comes along and hits us on the head. And that's okay. But probably we started at anyway. So learning is an important thing. I've always felt life's an adventure. And it's, it's intended to be lived to the fullest and you can't live unless you're learning.   Curtis Pipes ** 23:32 Exactly. Yeah, it's a great way to put it.   Michael Hingson ** 23:35 So for you, you mentioned that at some point, you ended up leaving the country and going elsewhere. So why did that happen? And where did you go and tell us about some of that, if you would?   Curtis Pipes ** 23:48 Yeah, well, it happened because as I mentioned earlier, that I found group fitness and I started working for a company by the name of Les Mills. And so Les Mills was it originated in New Zealand. And so I was looking at my career in Colombia. And I like I said it other moving laterally, wasn't a move for me is basically saying the same place. And then I was looking at the rest of my life. So like, I don't have a family. So that does hold me here. So I just put out inquiries in terms of wanting to work for Les Mills in New Zealand. So I can learn in my head at the time, I wanted to learn from the best group fitness instructors in the world, so I can help more people. And so I put out feelers and told everyone if I get any opportunity to go over there. I'm leaving. It's that simple. And so I finally got a call or email back in December, December of 2009. And by February 2010, I was setting foot down in New Zealand. I sold all my stuff and bought a ticket and moved over there. Two bags. And it was one of the best moves I could ever make. Because, as you brought up earlier that said that my dreams are bigger than my state lines. What I discovered was when I was telling people that I was moving to New Zealand, I got to see how conditioned we were at least for small town, to, you know, graduate, get a job. And then that get married and have kids and that sick because some of the people that some people that I knew, like, how could you go over there, you won't know anyone. It's so far away from home, you know, just all those things. And I was like, that's the point. I can always come back home, if it doesn't work out home is home. But I had again, like we've talked about my college career, I had a focus on graduate at that point, and focus on making this work. And so I moved there, and immediately hit the ground running, learning new skills, upgrading my teaching, being in all of the people that I saw on DVDs at the time, showing my age when I say DVDs. But I hit the ground running, and I had a place to stay. Before I moved over there I really prepared very well, because it was a country that I know I didn't know of the only thing I knew at that point about New Zealand, besides Les Mills, was that the Lord of the Rings was filmed there. And that AGRICO so I made sure that I had a place to stay. And so when I got off the plane in New Zealand, I checked my email and found out that the place I was going to stay the guy rented out my room so I didn't have place to stay. I was like, Okay, first hurdle. And it was easy hurdles to overcome. There is a free bus that took you from the airport to the main city, which was Auckland on the North Island. And the gentleman told me about a hostel. So they dropped me off the one of the stops was in front of a hostel. So he dropped me off there. And I got a room, put all my stuff away, check out the city checked up the bus line, and started teaching right away. And it was an amazing, it was such an amazing experience. And being new on the ground there, I definitely had to earn my bones, which is fine. I got I'm not I am not scared of hard work. Hard work pays off. And that's what I told myself like this is part of my journey. But since I was a permanent, I was not a permanent instructor at the time. My classes were foreign in between. So eventually, my money ran out. I didn't I didn't have my first permanent class until I was eight months into living in New Zealand. So once my money ran out, what happened to me is I became homeless. And so I was I had all my stuff still in the hospital at this point, they knew me and recognize me at the hospital. So I didn't have luck. Luckily, I didn't have to move all of my stuff out of the hospital. But I couldn't sleep in the hospital. I didn't know the the securities schedule when they would come around to them because we had movie rooms in the hostel. So you can go watch movies, but you couldn't sleep in the movie rooms. But I knew when they would come around. So if I was if I didn't want to sleep on the street, I would go in the hostel. And again, they recognize you so they didn't think anything, they would just think oh, he's out late because that's what you would do at that age is backpackers you would you would stay out late and so I would go into the movie room set an alarm on my phone to wake up before security came around. But if I couldn't do that I was sleeping on the streets I was sleeping around the corner from the hostel on a staircase next to a club that was loud at all hours of the night. I had to steal food. Cash I had to I had to steal food and and the thing for me to put it in perspective is I would go to the supermarket for breakfast lunch and dinner and the only thing that I would be able to do as far as my quote unquote food is is they would have this section in the supermarket where you and I think they have now where you know like there's little compartments of snacks and you will get a little shovel out the bag. Well, I will go around acting like I am tasting things to see if I want to buy it how would just eat from several of the containers and they'll be my breakfast having my lunch they might be my dinner. Now there were times where I did have a class and so I would use that money from my class to get food. But it got to where I had to decide on would I spend my money on food or what I save my money for bus fare to go teach another class. And so if I chose the ladder, it would be going to steal food again. And I lived off a peanut butter, which is very interesting to me. Because one I love peanut butters, that was fine. But it was I had to, I was still these little, like these little bitty containers where basically, there was only maybe a couple of spreads that you could put on a slice of bread. They were that small, but I was still like handfuls. And I would eat these up. Just because I know they're high. They're high in fat, so they're slow burning, so I'm getting more energy. But while I was still stealing food, I was still working out. So I lost a lot of weight. And for me, I mean, I'm only five foot five. And so I'm a small frame person. So when I lose weight, you can really tell it's pretty serious. Yeah. And these people are like, Oh, you're working out so much. You're so lean. And I just went along with the story. But in the back of my mind, it's like no, actually, I barely eating right now. But yet I'm still working out from it learning from these people that I came here to learn from.   Michael Hingson ** 31:15 I'm a little puzzled. I'm a little puzzled, though. You? Did they actually give you a job. When you went over there? Were you offered a job? Or how did that work? Because it sounds like you really didn't have much of a job.   Curtis Pipes ** 31:26 No, I was offered an opportunity. Oh, that's what I let it was funny about that is I didn't realize that until a couple years down the line. I was offered a job about seven months in and then eight months in, I was offered my first class. So I went there on an opportunity. And but again, I didn't realize that was really rolling the dice. But like I said, when even when I was homeless, I you know, I was frustrated, I was hungry. And I didn't have in my peripherial the option of going home, I did not give myself that option. I was here for a reason. This is part of my journey. And so we're just going to work it out. So no, I didn't have a job. When I moved there. I had an opportunity. And that turned it into a job. And it was one of that, that homelessness for a while was one of the growing pains that I had was the first growing pain I had living in New Zealand. I had a couple more when I was there. But now I see New Zealand as my spiritual home. It is the place. And I tell people this all the time to this day that I grew more in four years in New Zealand than I've grew in 30 years in Columbia, Missouri. And I believe that is because one I was not home. So I didn't have the comfort of my family and my friends. I had to make it work. And it's this sort of that sort of an example of the phrase, you know, be comfortable with being uncomfortable. And I was really uncomfortable. It was I had to add sometimes. I like to put this in perspective, too when people ask me about food. And when they hear the story is since I was able to take advantage of the fact that I was known in the hostel, they had this affiliation with Domino's Pizza down the street. And so every Thursday, they would get free pizzas from Domino's and the people who own the hostel who also own this bar, the pizzas were delivered to a bar people will go down for free pizza if they got there early enough. Needless to say, since I was easy, and I made eating, I was made sure I was one of the first people there. And my friends, they were like, Oh, here's a pizza. Now I had to ration out that pizza for an entire week, in hopes that I would get a pizza the next week. And so I had to ration out eight pieces of pizza for a week. And so literally, I would take one slice of pizza and maybe eat half of it. Or no sorry, I eat a third of it for breakfast and the next third for lunch the last third for dinner. And yeah, like it was the first growing pain that I had. And by far it was the most profound because I don't know who said it I'm paraphrasing here but it said that you find out your character and your values basically when you're at your lowest and I was definitely at a low but there was no way excuse my language there was No way in hell that I was going to go home. Because I looked at that as failure. Because I've, I believe that there's a way, you can find a way at a quote unquote, a No way, regardless of what it is, and I found it, and I made a massive and amazing career in New Zealand, again, with a couple of bumps in the road, of course, I mean, life is not just Cruzi. But I made a massive career out of my time in New Zealand, and not just that I met amazing human beings I met, make connections that I still have to this day. And so overall, the time in New Zealand was one of the biggest growth spurts in my life as a human being.   Michael Hingson ** 35:45 Did Did the people at Les Mills ever figure out or understand what was really happening with you?   Curtis Pipes ** 35:51 Not when I was there. It came out later. So I started talking about my story as I got into personal development more and you know, this being really disciplined, like one of my top values is discipline, one of my top values is putting and putting in that work. So when I started to talk to people about that, that story came out, and my friends would email me or message me on Facebook, there's like, you're homeless, while you were here. And I was like, yes. And they're like, when I was like, remember when I when I was very thin. And you all thought that I was just working out a lot. They're like, yes. I said, I was homeless at that point. And then, of course, they hit me with Why did you tell me? We went out to help you out? And I said, Well, I didn't tell you one, because I didn't know you all. And I felt that I had to do it myself. I was that whole lone wolf thing. Yeah, just that just came from experience that I had growing up where I realized that if I thought at the time, that if I wanted to accomplish something, I had to do it myself, because when I would voice what I'm going to do, I will be teased for it. And so I didn't say and believe that people would want it to help me. So I just had to do it myself. And so I took that into my early adulthood, because I was in my late 20s, or early 30s, in New Zealand. And I just believed that I had to myself, What did they say to that? They were upset. They were upset, because I even knew at the time that they want to help me out. If I want to ask them I even knew   Michael Hingson ** 37:27 you just didn't want to do that.   Curtis Pipes ** 37:31 Now I just I just firmly believe that that time that I had to do it myself. Now, I do believe that when you start out on something that you do have, it is a lonely road. I do believe that because experience has taught me that that when I put myself put my mind to something is going to it is met resistance resistance it is met with that? Well, what results do you have? I mean, we live in a results driven world, I mean, granted that I firmly believe that the journey is more important than the destination because that's where the value in the character is built. But we do live also in a world where results matter. So when there was no results, there was no belief from other people. And I had to basically build up an armor to not allow that to impact me because I was a very sensitive kid. I'm still sensitive now. But I was a very sensitive kid. And so granted, I was a very determined person and believe that my dreams were bigger than my state lines, people making fun of me, and bullying me really impacted me. And so I'd say all that conditioning all those learnings into my adult life to where, you know, okay, great. I had this, I had this dream and this ambition, I must protect it. So I'm not gonna tell people about it.   Michael Hingson ** 38:47 Well, so if you knew when you move to New Zealand, what you know, now, would you have done things any differently? Not at   Curtis Pipes ** 38:58 all? No. I wouldn't have. And the reason I wouldn't is because the lessons that I learned and the lessons that I learned and the being able to see what I was able to accomplish led me to the point that I have now because I have as I mentioned the little capsule, little capsules of peanut peanut butter I have have one of those in my gym bag. As reminder. I just said I took it from New Zealand and brought it to Australia. And they didn't they didn't take it out of my bag, which is cool, because I use it as a reminder of you know what, one time you were homeless and you got through it, and you got through it. So there's no way that I would change anything that I went through in New Zealand and like I mentioned that I went through, like two or three different Things in New Zealand that really, that really changed my life.   Michael Hingson ** 40:04 I kind of thought that would be your answer. And I understand. Again, when we've talked about it before, it's always all about choice. And the, the best thing you can say is I've learned from my choices. I also know that I made the right choices. And I wouldn't choose to go a different route because it would make me different than what I am. And I enjoy what I am.   Curtis Pipes ** 40:30 Exactly, exactly. Self Love is something that I had to learn. That is one of the other things that I learned in New Zealand was self love, and accepting myself for who I am and realizing that my opinion of me is the biggest.   Michael Hingson ** 40:46 Yeah, and that isn't something you're saying to be conceded it is that you, you need to understand you and you need to respect you, and accept you. And then you deal with the things around you that helped contribute to you.   Curtis Pipes ** 41:04 Definitely, yeah, yeah. Cuz I used to be a massive people pleaser. I'll raise my hand and admit it, I used to be a mass of people pleaser. And if people weren't happy around me, then I wasn't happy. And so I would always put my happiness on the back burner. And so learning self love in New Zealand came from the fact that I was trying to please everyone around me. But I was not happy. And so I looked at, I started to look at like you mentioned introspect earlier, I started to look at other parts of my life, where I did that. And I came up with a bunch of examples of that before I left home. I mean, there was a time in my life where I wanted to make everyone around me happy, which led to some very difficult and challenging situations when it came to relationships. And they were all happy. But I wasn't, I couldn't even look myself in the mirror. So I was looking at myself in New Zealand and realizing that I was wanting, wanting to live up to others expectations, what they believed of me. And I will do that by any means necessary. Now, behind closed doors, I was miserable. I was, I was, you know, smiling, basically, like, like an actor or an actress smiling in front of the cameras. But behind closed doors was a different story. And so me, I was smiling in front of all the, you know, the group fitness instructors, the National trainers, and the program directors and the members of my classes. But when I was going home, I was not happy because I was trying to please them, which led me to, and I mentioned, I went through a few things in New Zealand, which led me to choosing because like you said, everything's a choice. And I firmly believe that, that I ended up having an eating disorder because of that.   Michael Hingson ** 43:09 That didn't help.   Curtis Pipes ** 43:10 No, it didn't, it was because I was seen as a very fit, athletic person. And I was because I, I worked on it. And that came from being one of the smallest in football, I mean, even the smallest wrestling where I had to put in the extra work in order to compete. So I had to put in extra work to compete with the people that were there. One of the best phrases that I ever learned when I first got there was by one of my mentors. Her name is is Mitt Thomas, she's like you are now and I don't know how you were in your hometown. If you're one of the, you know, standouts, as far as the stretches are concerned, but you've been in New Zealand now, you are now a big fish in a small pond. And so I took that on and really wanted to work to become one of the big fish in a small pond that everyone looked at. And I ended up again, having a great career, but it came at a and I hate the word sacrifice. I just think it glory. Like I believe that people use the word sacrifice to glorify their decisions, when at the end of the day, if you take all the layers away, it's still a choice. So I chose certain things to do in order to appear how they wanted me to appear. And so eating disorder is something that I did to satisfy myself behind closed doors.   Michael Hingson ** 44:41 So you became a big fish though, because of choices you made. And, again, the fact that you stuck to your choices.   Curtis Pipes ** 44:52 Definitely yeah, I mean, what am I choices as I said earlier, one of my big values is putting in that work. So I worked my tail elbow off. And it led to me being on DVDs, it led me to being known for inserting programs within Les Mills. And so again, I wouldn't change any of it. It was the work that I put in, helped me grow my work ethic to help me achieve things down the line. Obviously, I didn't know what was going to happen to me down the line. But since I had that work ethic since I had that value in that experience, I was able to utilize that into inside future endeavors.   Michael Hingson ** 45:38 Well, and you mentioned that you're now in Australia, what got you there?   Curtis Pipes ** 45:42 Oh, man. Well, what got me here was my partner, she's Australian. But we first met. Funny enough in New Zealand, she used to work for Les Mills as well. But we didn't get together then she was married, I was in relationship. And at that point, I made, I made it a point to be a better man than I was when I left when I left Columbia. So I was like, You know what I'm gonna relationship. I'm not gonna do anything. So then we met, after we met again, after I left New Zealand. And I went to live in Indonesia, I went to go live in Jakarta, and was the national instructor or national director for group fitness for Gold's Gym. And so when I, when I was working there, I mean, within the first three days of touching down there, they mentioned to me that they had a consultant that worked for their group fitness department, you know, putting in strategies, putting in processes, processes, and upskilling, the the instructors, and they mentioned to me, you may know her, her name is her name is Judy king. And I just laughed, because I was like, Yes, I know, Judy King is because I met her three years ago, in New Zealand. And she was on one of the DVD, she came over for filming. And when I first met her, when I first saw her, I was like, she is hot. It's it's so simple fact that I got to see her again, was amazing. And so we hit her, she came over to Indonesia, from Bangkok. And we met up while learning processes, learning strategies, learning the team who's great, who to, you know, to lean on since I was new there. And after that meeting, we've been together ever since. And that was in 2000 2013. December 14. Wow. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 47:33 That's cool. And you remember the day, which is also important and pretty cool.   Curtis Pipes ** 47:38 Yeah, yeah. It's, I again, I'm detail oriented when it comes to certain things. And so that's definitely something to remember what   Michael Hingson ** 47:44 what is group fitness?   Curtis Pipes ** 47:47 Oh, group fitness is an instructor who say this way, there's an instructor on stage who teaches to a group of people, okay. Or there is an instructor inside of a room that teaches to a group of people.   Michael Hingson ** 47:59 Okay, so it's kind of what I thought, but it's always fair to ask. So you guys met on December 14 2013. And then how long were you in Jakarta or what happened and all that?   Curtis Pipes ** 48:17 I was, that was we were I was there for about a year and a half. And again, learning pains. Like I am a person who, like there's a double edged sword to everything. So being raised, that I could be anything and everything, I tend to take on opportunities without thoroughly thinking them through. So when I had to leave New Zealand, because they weren't going to renew my visa, work visa, which is fine, was bitter at the time, because I loved living there. Again, I made it home. But I didn't want to go home and I want to go back to eat. Like I've gotten I've lived in the United States forever. And I realize is there's so much world to experience. There's so many things to experience in cultures that didn't want to go home. So I was like, Yeah, I'll take Japanese Indonesia. Now. I was when I left New Zealand, I was still a group fitness instructors. So to go from an group instructor, to a national manager, there are there's a massive gap. Okay, there's a massive gap. And I learned that that gap was bigger than what I thought it was. And so I had a great time in Indonesia met again, met some wonderful people. But since there was a gap that I didn't understand as far as leadership as far as managing as far as you know, delegation and budget and all this stuff. You have to say I was fired. And so I was fired. But before that, Judy came over to live with me as well. She started work for Gold's Gym. We fell pregnant in September 2000 Then 14, and so and then sometimes that's 14. Yeah. So it's 20. That's 14. And so we are both fired. And then we moved to Bangkok. And so that ultimately had our baby over there in May 2015. And but yeah, it was, I wouldn't have changed that either. Because granted, I've fallen and taking my lumps, when it comes to just jumping in, I think it was Richard Branson, I'm getting I'm paraphrasing here, who said, say yes, and learn how to do it later. So basically jump off the cliff and learn how to fly as you're falling. And I did that. Leaving home, I did that learning. You know, like I said, I left on an opportunity. I did that saying yes, to this position and easier. And so if I wouldn't have jumped, if I want to just leaped, I would never have, I would never have left home, I would never have met. Judy, I would never have we've never had our beautiful daughter, Brooklyn, who was eight now going on 21.   Michael Hingson ** 51:10 That's the way of it. Yeah, it's   Curtis Pipes ** 51:12 what I do. And even to this day, I take on opportunities. And I've succeeded in many and I've, quote unquote, failed at many and the ones that I've failed that I've learned from. And so I will always be the person who leaps. Because I believe in myself. And I've been saying this lately, the last few weeks, because I had the opportunity to work with company in digital marketing. And needless to say, it didn't work out. Because I've been off more than I could chew. And I can easily say that I'm very humbled in my in my failings, I can easily get things. Now. Me I'm not so stubborn. Now. I'm more humble now. But I've been saying for the last few weeks to be a no, no, this is a word, but be delusionally confident in yourself. Be delusionally confident yourself. And also, at the same time, be realistic and humble. But I say be so confident yourself. There's so much delusional is that you want like you, you have to believe in yourself. It's you can't rely on your self conviction and your belief coming from other people. That's why it's called self belief. And so granted, jumped off the cliff. And sometimes I smashed into the ground as other times that I flew it, it brought me to having one of the greatest gifts and experiences ever, which is fatherhood. And so yeah, I wouldn't change it for anything. Well, so you   Michael Hingson ** 53:06 had Brooklyn, in Bangkok, and someone on the line, you ended up in Australia?   Curtis Pipes ** 53:13 Yeah, we lived in Bangkok for about three years. And we just wanted to change it started to become difficult stay in there for expats. And then we just had this conversation that we might want to move to the States or do we want to move to Australia. And for me, I wanted to move to Australia because I was used to New Zealand and be by the beach and just great weather. And so we moved here. And similar to when I move to New Zealand, we packed up all of our stuff. We sold a bunch of stuff when we came here in 2018. And we got here still trying to figure out where we wanted to stay. And at that point, we both decided that we didn't want to live in a major city. So Sydney was out of the question, which is fine by me. Beautiful city, we just didn't want to live amongst the hustle and bustle as much anymore. I mean, I had enough of that in Auckland and Indonesia and and in Bangkok. And so we went to more of a place where we can Funny enough, practice more stillness and more flow. And so merchant Zilla, or sorry, moved to Australia and then finally found our place here in sunny coast. And it took some time we had to do some housecleaning at some time at some points while we're here trying to figure out where to stay. And then of course COVID hit and that shut everything down. Oh, that was an interesting ride in itself. But yeah, we found it we found our place in the sunny coast and has been amazing ever since. So what do you do now? Still help with mindset. i It's one of those things that my in my DNA I believe I used to have a coach at the time. And his one of his great greatest quotes is you find your mess, you find your message within your mess. And so I took that on. And my biggest message that to convey to people through example, and also just through speaking is self love. Because I realized, looking back at the things that I have gone through, the things that I go through that self love was, the lack of self love was, there is a common denominator and a lot of the failings and heartbreak and disappointments in my life. And so being able to convey that message to others through my own experiences, because I don't mind talking about my experiences, being able to teach that through my experiences, and then help them break down. What is in their way, is the way for me to live my life. And so still, still, you know, preaching personal development, mental health and self love. I'm also a digital marketer, because I love strategy. I am a person who thrives off of processes and strategies that allows me to use and to utilize my, my fanatical demeanor of details. And so that's what I do now.   Michael Hingson ** 56:31 So do you work for a company? Do you work for yourself? Or what do you do,   Curtis Pipes ** 56:35 I work I work for myself, I work for myself, and I named my little business, peanut butter, digital marketing. Again, with the whole peanut butter. I use that little symbol and a little capsule, a little capsule of peanut butter in my bag, as a reminder. And so the ethos behind the capsule a peanut butter, the ethos behind my my company's ethos behind everything I do is that you can find a way to make it work. Granted, it's not going to be probably the path that you want, again, going back to God last when you make plans. But you can find a way if you put the work in, if you stay focused, and you don't stick to a plan that you had. That is where you mentioned the stubbornness I had to learn to let go of that happened in New Zealand. So yeah, it's the peanut peanut butter is still It signifies so much more to me than just something that is delicious.   Michael Hingson ** 57:43 Well, that's no problem. And it's fair. So you, you have the digital marketing firm. And you also then help people a little bit with mindset and so on.   Curtis Pipes ** 57:55 Yes, yes, that is, that is something that I take into my clients inside of digital marketing, because they want these things, for some reason has been a failure. So I besides thinking they're figuring out a digital marketing strategy for them. I also have to work on their mindset a little bit, they don't understand the correlation between the two at first. But I do believe that your business and your results are a reflection of how you feel about yourself and your capabilities. And so there is little mindset work when it comes to my clients and digimarc. And when they realize that they they execute from an entirely different level, because they're able to accept themselves for who they are, but also realize what their barriers were and are and how to work through them and how they can utilize that to create a better business for themselves. And more stability.   Michael Hingson ** 58:51 So where are your clients all over? Yesterday?   Curtis Pipes ** 58:54 Mainly International. I've had a couple clients here, but they're still mainly around the world   Michael Hingson ** 59:00 around the world. That's cool. And do you say you do coaching also, then? Yes, I still coach.   Curtis Pipes ** 59:07 Yeah. It's not as much as it used to be. But again, it's being able to impact people's lives is something that I don't take for granted. It is something that I will do until the day that I die, because and against me just teaching through my experiences and being obviously upskilled in personal development, to give people the greatest light that they possibly can have because my message is self love. And so I take on the belief that as long when I leave here, and I joke about this all the time, but I'm serious at the same time. I'm not dying until I'm 120 like I'll be stubborn and live it's all 120 And that's just how it is Again, Guy lastly make plans hopefully he's without he'll hopefully he's on board with that one. But I believe that as long as I make or help and support one person on this planet to love themselves more, I've done my job because the way that they conduct themselves, it's like a ripple effect, whoever they're whoever they are able to come in contact with in their life. Those people will see how they operate. And it can impact their lives. And maybe they'll seek out, you know, someone to help them with their, with their stuff with their message with their mess. And they will love themselves more. So one thing that I think that is that it can never be defeated, and what always can solve any problem on this planet is leading with love. So as long as you lead yourself with love, lead your life with love, then there's always a possibility of stillness, as you mentioned, is always a possibility of fulfillment. And there's always the possibility of achieving   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:00 more, you know, I absolutely agree with you and feel the same way if, if this podcast helps one person, if this podcast inspires one person, whenever I speak, if I'm able to help one person through the talks that I give, it's worth it. Yes. And you never know what seed you plant will flourish. And I can't worry about that, except to know that I'm doing the best that I can. And I always look to make sure I'm doing the best that I can and how I can learn to do better. And that's the way it really ought to be. And I'm glad that you feel that way. And that the way you're reaching out to people is the same sort of thing. So if you've written a book yet,   Curtis Pipes ** 1:01:43 I have written a book I wrote a book, gosh, few years ago. And when I when I wrote it, it's so funny even bring this up, because I was just thinking about all the obstacles that I had, right in the book. But I wrote a book called Live unapologetically it was it's an ebook. And iski get it. It's my life. It's the learnings that I that I had, the experiences that I had, and the learnings that I have from that I speak about being homeless, I speak about the eating disorder, I speak about self love, and I speak about being with us. And we didn't get into this what I speak about when I was younger, being molested by my babysitter. And so, yeah, I wrote a book about all of that in the learnings and the teachings, and you know, how to grow through those things. So you still live or can live, and unapologetic life.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:37 So is that book? Is the book available?   Curtis Pipes ** 1:02:41 It is available, I can send a link,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:43 I would really appreciate it if you'd send a link. And if you've got a picture of the book cover. We'll add that to what we put up in the cover notes for this, but by all means. Yeah, we should we should put your book up   Curtis Pipes ** 1:02:53 there. Yeah, definitely do that. Thank you. I forgot all about that feel. So weird. I didn't think about that.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:59 Yeah, yeah. I just went looked in. It wasn't there. I was going Curtis.   Curtis Pipes ** 1:03:05 Yeah, it's that was a, it was just a very interesting experience I loved I had to go through some serious, serious obstacles in writing that book, because chapter two of the book is where I speak about my being molested by my babysitter. And I almost didn't write the book because I had relive that experience. And I realize that if I'm wanting to stop the book, because I have to relive the experience, there's still some learnings there that I got. And so I pushed myself to continue to write the book to be to begin to begin to get the learnings that I've not gotten yet. And then that was the major that was a major obstacle. Another one was that when I was writing my book, My daughter, unfortunately dropped my laptop. And so the screen cracked. And so I wasn't able to use my laptop to write so I had to use my phone, and sad to write everything in the notes. And then that became just monotonous after a while. And so I found an app to where I could speak it, and it would transcribe my words. So I literally wrote chapter three, until I can't remember chapters in the book now, but from Chapter Three on was transcribed in my phone, and then they had to get a new laptop, and that's a call the transcriptions over to my laptop and correct words are misspelled. So it was a process. We want to add, it is absolutely loved, love the process. And now I'm in the midst of writing two new books as well. Because again, it's just another avenue besides me coaching that I can get out there my message of resilience and self love and self worth and being knowing that you're worthy enough of everything that you want to achieve.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:54 Well if people want to reach out to you and get in contact with you and maybe use your SIR versus coaching and or digital marketing? How do they do that?   Curtis Pipes ** 1:05:03 They can they can go to my website that is www dot  dot peanut butter Digital marketing.com. Or they can reach me at my LinkedIn link, which I don't believe you have you actually you may have it because you reached out to me there. But I can send that to you as well they can reach   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:18 out to and what is that? What is the link? I   Curtis Pipes ** 1:05:26 don't want to say is www.linkedin.com backslash Curtis Pipes. Okay, well, great. P i P e s. Yes, sir.   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:35 Well, I want to thank you for being here. I am been fascinated by this. I think I've learned some things certainly learned a lot about resilience. And then the value of stubbornness and the value of recognizing stubbornness and how to deal with it. And I hope that everyone who has listened to this has found some nuggets that will help them. And certainly I hope that people will reach out to you, that's the best that we can ever want. And so I really hope that you're able to help a lot of other people because of what we did here today. And I want you to please stay in touch and keep us posted on things have happened with you. And I want to thank you all for listening out there. We really appreciate it. I'd love to hear from you. Your thoughts, your comments, please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening to this podcast. Please feel free to reach out to me at Michaelhi at accessibe .com. That's A C C E S S I B E.com. Or go visit us at www dot Michael hingson.com/podcast and Michael Hingson is m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. So Michael hingson.com/podcast. We'd love to hear from you love your thoughts. Please reach out to Curtis as well. And we appreciate the rating again and five star ratings are always most welcome. Love to have them. And love to hear from you and Curtis for you and anyone listening if you know of anyone else we ought to have as a guest. Please let me know. I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear from any people that you'd like us to reach out to and chat with. But for you, Curtis, thanks one last time for being here. We really appreciate your taking your time with us today.   Curtis Pipes ** 1:07:17 Thanks for having me. It's been an honor.   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:22 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, plea

Today's episode of The Morning Cruise was definitely good for a laugh. Carmen got us started with some hilarious toxic traits.  Dave told us what cricket fever did to the hospital population in India ahead of their match against rival, Pakistan.  Bill shared a big word that had one contestant laughing when he got it in the National Spelling Bee back in 2007.  Laughing is a hard thing to convey over text sometimes and can be misconstrued if just using text rather than talking...

Today's episode of The Morning Cruise was definitely good for a laugh. Carmen got us started with some hilarious toxic traits.  Dave told us what cricket fever did to the hospital population in India ahead of their match against rival, Pakistan.  Bill shared a big word that had one contestant laughing when he got it in the National Spelling Bee back in 2007.  Laughing is a hard thing to convey over text sometimes and can be misconstrued if just using text rather than talking...

Today's episode of The Morning Cruise was definitely good for a laugh. Carmen got us started with some hilarious toxic traits.  Dave told us what cricket fever did to the hospital population in India ahead of their match against rival, Pakistan.  Bill shared a big word that had one contestant laughing when he got it in the National Spelling Bee back in 2007.  Laughing is a hard thing to convey over text sometimes and can be misconstrued if just using text rather than talking...

Your word is “trivia” on a brand new episode of Go F-A-C-T Yourself!In this episode…Sarah Rodenbaugh is a writer, actor and producer, whose new film, Hangman, is playing in festivals around the country. She steps in as guest co-host for this episode.Guests:Lisa Lampanelli is a retired comedian. Her 30-year career involved selling out Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall, numerous specials and so much more. She tells us about some of her biggest TV experiences, including “The Celebrity Apprentice” and the US version of “Taskmaster.” And she explains how adjusting from such a busy career to retirement required a lot of trial and error. Will Leitch is a writer. He balances a career in sportswriting with publishing popular novels. His most recent work, The Time Has Come, is set in his home town of Athens, Georgia – a town that he's gotten a lot of comments about since the 2020 election. He'll tell us about how his book got an unexpected boost from the greatest horror writer of all time.Areas of Expertise:Lisa: Punctuation, spelling, and 1980s new-wave musicWill: Roger Ebert's movie reviews, the fighters in the game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, and songs from Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell Album. What's the Difference: Jury BoxWhat's the difference between a summons and a subpoena?What's the difference between a box and a carton?Experts:Dev Shah: Winner of the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee.Ellen Foley: Actor and singer, known for being the featured female vocalist on Meat Loaf's “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”Hosts:J. Keith van StraatenSarah RodenbaughCredits:Theme Song by Jonathan Green.Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher.Associate Producer and Editor is Julian Burrell.Seeing our next live-audience show in Los Angeles by YOU!

Biden takes major spill at Air Force Academy. He's physically and mentally unable to do the job. Joy Reid to GOP: Biden fell while beating you. Does she have a point? Trump on Ukraine and classified documents during town hall with Hannity. Can C&B spell the word that won the National Spelling Bee? Caller closes out the hour.Follow Clay & Buck on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuckSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hawk has the news, Sauce gives Hawk a new nickname, Mark Rosen joins the show and talks NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Final and the National Spelling Bee

Since the National Spelling Bee is tonight… we're testing our skills.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4305715/advertisement

Todd and Maria discuss the Scripp's National Spelling Bee then jump into a quick round of one of their favorite party games.Produced by The Host With The Most, LLC.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3593800/advertisement

Travis is joined by Andy Kamenetzky, as Sli flees since he tossed water on Ireland yesterday. Today is the National Spelling Bee, Travis and Andy will have words throughout the show to spell correctly. The NBA Finals tips off tonight, Andy and Travis start to break it down. Andy thinks the result of the Finals could have some impact on what the Lakers could do during this offseason. Is Kyrie a real option for the Lakers? Another addition of ‘Hey Did You See', how would you feel if an eight-year-old kid was umpiring a little league or high school game? What is the age that you should stop bringing a glove to a stadium?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Omaha will be represented in the National Spelling Bee.

The Queen of England set the alltime Jubilee record going platinum yesterday. She’s been the Queen forever (00:30:20). A mountain lion wandered into a high school in California (00:41:26). The greatest prank of all time from the third century (00:52:55). (00:00:00) - Timestamps Cup of Coffee in the Big Time (00:07:20) - Fun Fact: 60% of the average human brain is fat (00:11:17) - Michael Avenatti gets more jail time for stealing 300k from his client Stormy Daniels (00:13:40) - The National Spelling Bee is adding vocabulary questions (00:23:20) - A man choked out a pitbull that was attacking a lady in the street (00:30:20) - The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee took place Coastal Triple Dipple (00:39:16) - Reno Nevada is managing its records on the blockchain (00:41:26) - In Northern California a mountain lion wandered into a high school english class (00:44:48) - Turns out the Great White Shark eliminated the megalodon TikTok International Moment (00:52:55) - Archaeologists made a discovery in Scotland from the third century of a penis carved into a rock and a taunt (01:02:00) - Chinese jet fighters are taunting Canadian airmen and women in international airspace Hive Jive (01:06:06) - Updates on what’s going on in the Hardo Hive, listener submitted voicemails and Facebook comments These stories, and much more, brought to you by our incredible sponsors: Sunday - Is offering our listeners 20% off! Full-season plans start at just $129, and you can get 20% off at checkout when you visit https://getsunday.com/factor Bird Dogs - Get the most comfortable shorts and pants in the world and a free Dad hat when you enter promo code ‘HardNews’ at https://birddogs.com Go to store.hardfactor.com and patreon.com/hardfactor to support the pod with incredible merch and bonus podcasts Leave us a Voicemail at 512-270-1480, send us a voice memo to hardfactorvoicemail@gmail.com, and/or leave a 5-Star review on Apple Podcasts to hear it on Friday's show Other Places to Listen: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Lots More... Watch Full Episodes on YouTube Follow @HardFactorNews on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/hard-factor/support