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True grit? Not the movie or book, but a real live individual. I met Laura Bratton about a month ago and realized that she was a very unique individual. Laura was referred to me by a gentleman who is helping both Laura and me find speaking venue leads through his company. Laura is just ramping up her public speaking career and our mutual colleague, Sam Richter, thought I could be of help. Little did I know at the outset that not only would I gain an excellent podcast guest, but that I would find someone whose life parallelled mine in many ways. Laura Bratton began losing her eyesight at the age of nine years. Like me, she was one of the lucky ones who had parents who made the choice to encourage their daughter and help her live her life to the fullest. And live it she does. Laura attended public school in South Carolina and then went to Arizona State University to secure her bachelor's degree in Psychology. Why ASU? Wait until you hear Laura tell that story. After securing her degree in Psychology she moved to the Princeton School of Divinity where she secured a Master's degree in Divinity. She followed up her Master's work by serving in a chaplaincy program in Ohio for a year. Then, if all that wasn't enough, she became a pastor in the United Methodist Church and took a position in South Carolina. She still works part time as a pastor, but she also has taken some other exciting and positive life turns. As I mentioned earlier, she is now working to build a public speaking career. She also does one-on-one coaching. In 2016 she wrote her first book. Laura shares many poignant and relevant life lessons she has learned over the years. We talk about courage, gratitude and grit. I asked her to define grit which she does. A very interesting and good definition indeed. I often get the opportunity to have guests on this podcast who share life and other lessons with all of us. To me, Laura's insights are as relevant as any I have encountered. I hope you will feel the same after listening to our conversation. Please let me know what you think. You can email me at michaelhi@accessibe.com. About the Guest: At the age of nine, Laura was diagnosed with an eye disease and faced the difficult reality that she would become blind. Over the next ten years she experienced the traumatic transition of adjusting to life without sight. Laura adjusted to her new normal and was able to move forward in life as she graduated from Arizona State University with a BA in psychology. She then was the first blind student to receive her Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. She is the author of the book, Harnessing Courage. Laura founded Ubi Global, which is an organization that provides speaking and coaching to empower all people to overcome challenges and obstacles with grit and gratitude. Ways to connect with Dr. Laura: Link for LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/laura-bratton-speaking Website https://www.laurabratton.com/ Link for coaching page on website https://www.laurabratton.com/coaching Link for book on website https://www.laurabratton.com/book Link for speaking page on website https://www.laurabratton.com/speaking 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 subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . 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. Well and a gracious hello to you, wherever you happen to be on our planet today, I am your host, Michael Hinkson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet, and we sort of get to tie several of those together today, because my guest, Laura Bratton happens to be blind, so that brings inclusion into it, and we could talk about diversity all day. The experts really tend to make that a challenge, but we can talk about it ourselves, but Laura is blind, and she's going to tell us about that, and I don't know what else, because that's the unexpected part of this, but we're going to have ourselves a lot of fun for the next hour. She knows that the only rule of the podcast is you got to have fun, and you can't do better than that. So Laura, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here. Laura Bratton ** 02:12 Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity. I'm excited. Michael Hingson ** 02:15 Well, this will be some fun, I'm sure, which is, of course, what it's all about. Well, why don't we start by you telling us kind of about the early Laura, growing up and all that, and anything about that that you think we ought to know that'll help us as we go forward. Laura Bratton ** 02:31 So the early Laura was, Michael Hingson ** 02:34 you know, that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But yeah, Laura Bratton ** 02:38 was was fearless. Was involved in so many different activities, and I didn't have any health concerns or vision problems. And then around the age of nine, after the summer, after my second grade school year, my parents started noticing she's just holding books a little bit closer. She's just sitting a little bit closer to the TV than normal, than usually. So my they decided we'll just make a regular pediatric ophthalmology appointment, take her to the doctor, get the doctor to check her out. You know, if you need glasses, that's fine, and we'll just move on with our our summer and prepare for a new school year. So that June, when I had that doctor's appointment, my eyes were dilated. I'd read the the letters on the chart in the room. The doctors had looked in my eyes, and then the doctor just rolled back in his chair and looked at my mom and said, there's a major problem going on, and we need to address this, and I'm going to send you to a retina specialist. There's something major going on with her retinas. So from that appointment that started the rest of the summer and into the fall of just having doctors, different doctors appointments, meeting with specialists, trying to figure out why this 910, year old was all of a sudden having vision problems. Michael Hingson ** 04:20 So yeah, go ahead that, Laura Bratton ** 04:22 yeah. So that started the whole vision loss journey, Michael Hingson ** 04:27 and what was the diagnosis that they finally came up with? Laura Bratton ** 04:31 So they finally came up with a diagnosis of rare retinal onset disease. So it's not genetic. It wasn't like another accident, physical accident that calls the blindness. It's most similar to macular. So what I was losing first was my central vision. I still had all my peripheral vision, so it's very similar to macular, but not. Not quite macular or star guards. What's happens in children? So that's the diagnosis, just rare retinal disease. Michael Hingson ** 05:11 Interesting, and they they didn't have any idea that what caused it. Do they have any better idea today? Or is it just so rare that they don't tend to pay a whole lot of attention. Great Laura Bratton ** 05:23 question, yes and yes. So I've done a lot of genetic testing over the years, and the gene has not been discovered. That is obviously what they are predicting, is that there had to be some kind of gene mutation. But that gene hasn't been discovered. So far, the genes that are identified with vision problems, those have not been the problem for me so far. So the gene, Gene hasn't been discovered. So testing continues, but not exactly sure yet. Michael Hingson ** 05:59 Yeah. So do you have any eyesight left, or is it all gone? Laura Bratton ** 06:04 I don't, so to continue kind of that process of of the the early childhood. So I was diagnosed around nine, but I didn't lose any major vision until I was in middle school. So the end of middle school is when I started to lose a significant part of sight. So I went from very quickly from roller print, large print, to braille, and that was a very quick transition. So basically it was normal print to learning Braille and using Braille and textbooks and Braille and audio books and all that. Then through high school, I will throw more a significant amount of vision. So what I have currently is just very limited light perception, no, what I consider no usable vision, just light perception, Michael Hingson ** 06:55 so you learn braille. So you learn braille in middle school. Then, yes, okay, absolutely. What did you think about that? Because that was certainly a life change for you. How did you deal with all of that? Laura Bratton ** 07:10 How did I do with the process of learning braille or the emotional process? 07:14 Both, Laura Bratton ** 07:16 they're kind of related, so both, they're very much related. So learning Braille was incredibly difficult because I was trying to learn it at the same time. Use it with textbooks in middle school level material rather than normal development. Of you learn braille and start out, you know, with with simple books, and slowly move up. I try, you know, I had to make that adjustment from learning Braille and then algebra in Braille or Spanish and Braille. So using the Braille was very difficult, but I was because I was forced to to learn it, because I had to, just to stay in school. You didn't really have a choice. As far as the emotional perspective. My first thoughts was just the denial, oh, it's not that bad, oh, it won't be forever. Oh, it's not going to get much worse than this. Just that denial of the reality. And then I can say more, if it just kind of that whole how that whole process unfolded, that's kind of the whole emotional process. It Michael Hingson ** 08:34 certainly was a major change for you, yes, but it sounds like by the time all was said and done, and you did have to immerse yourself, like in learning Braille and so on. So it was an immersive kind of thing. You, You did come through it, and you, you seem to be functioning pretty well today, I would gather Laura Bratton ** 08:55 Yes, because of focusing on the emotional mindset piece. So once that I've sort of began to move out of denial. It was that, okay, well, I can't this is just too hard. And then what I eventually realized and accepted was, yes, it's hard and I can move forward. So just a practical example, is what you were saying about having to be fully immersed in the Braille. Yes, is really hard to jump from learning braille to knowing Braille and algebra. But also choose to move forward. As you said, I choose to immerse myself in this so that I can continue life, yeah, Michael Hingson ** 09:42 and you you have done it. Well, how? How do you view blindness today? Laura Bratton ** 09:49 That is a great question. So today is the balance of acknowledging. Yes, they're difficult moments. Yes, their stressful moments. Moments, and I have the resources to process that. So now, rather than just being a denial or being stuck in that I can't do this, I can say, okay, yes, this is hard. Yes, I am frustrated. Yes, I am overwhelmed in this moment, but also I can move forward with the gifts and purposes that I have in this world and using that as a strength. So for me, it's that acknowledging the rap the reality, but also moving forward with that belief in myself, trust in myself. Michael Hingson ** 10:39 So how long did you at the beginning really grieve and view all this in a negative way? Because it sounds like you've evolved from that today. Laura Bratton ** 10:53 Absolutely. So in my experience, the so I'm going to break the grief and the negative apart, because for me, it was two different experiences. So for me in those middle school, high school days, it was more than negative, and the grief just came along with that. Now even, you know, through college and even now, yes, there are moments that I grieve, but that negativity has turned into the mindset of strength, the mindset of trust, the mindset of okay, I can continue forward Again, living out those purposes, my purpose with those gifts as a source of strength, the source of courage. It's a source of just belief in myself. So my experience now is the mindset of holding both intention, holding space for both when I have those moments that I need to grieve, absolutely, giving myself those space and then at the same time, choosing to move forward with that courage, rather than being stuck in what I was in middle school of that negativity. Does that difference? Does that make us make sense of what I'm trying to separate the two? Michael Hingson ** 12:19 Well, yeah, they overlap, but I understand what you're saying, Where, where and how were your parents in all of this? Laura Bratton ** 12:28 So that was the incredible gift, that that was a deep source of strength, that as that middle school child who was in that negative place of denial and I can't, I can't. That was the source of strength. So immediately, when I was diagnosed, even though I didn't have major vision loss, I was diagnosed in elementary school, they wanted to send me to school for the deaf and blind, and so my parents had to fight to keep me in regular school. Again, I wasn't experiencing major vision loss, but just having minor vision loss, the school said, Okay, you're at a public school and going to a different school. So my parents were a source of strength, because they knowledge what was happening, what was going to happen, but also held me to the same standards. Michael Hingson ** 13:25 And there are some schools, I don't know how much today, but in the past, there were some schools for the blind, and I'm not sure about schools for the deaf and blind, but we'll put them in the same category. But there were some schools that really did have very high standards, and and did do a great job. The Perkins School was one. Tom Sullivan, the actor, went through Perkins and and I know other people who did, but in general, the standards weren't the same, and I had the same issue. I remember my parents. We were in the office of the school principal of Yucca school where I went kindergarten through third grade here in California, okay, and I remember a shouting match between my father and my mother on one side, and Mr. Thompson, the principal on the other. And by the time all was said and done, he decided that it was he was going to acquiesce, because they were not going to let me go to the school for the blind, which would have been like, 400 miles away. Laura Bratton ** 14:38 Okay, okay, so, so you can relate to that experience. Michael Hingson ** 14:42 I can absolutely relate to that experience, and I think that it's for kids one of the most important things to hope comes along that parents deal with blindness in a in a positive way. Yes, and don't view it as something that's going to hold you back. I. 100% Yeah, because if they do, then that creates a much more difficult situation. Yes. So it's it's great that you had some parents who really stood up for you and helped as you went Laura Bratton ** 15:15 Yes, and I was also deeply grateful that they all they held those standards at school, and they also held those standards at home. So they didn't just say, oh, you know, our expectations are lower for you at home, you don't have any more chores. You just kind of do whatever you want, get away with whatever you want. They kept those things standards. I still had chores we just made, you know, the accommodations are adapted if we needed to adapt anything. Yeah, a story that I always, always remember, just like you talking about you vividly remember being in that principal's office. I remember one day my the specific tour was unloading the dishwasher, and I remember thinking, well, oh, I'm not really, I don't really want to unload the dishwasher today. So I just kind of thought, Oh, the blindness will get me out of the situation. So I was like, Mom, I can't unload the dishwasher. I can't see exactly where to put all the silverware in the silverware of her door. And I still, I can still see this in my mind's eye. She was standing in the doorway the kitchen and the hallway, and she just turned around and just said, Laura, unload the dishwasher, put the silverware in the drawer, and just walked away. And that told me she was still holding me to the exact standards. She wasn't saying, Oh, honey, that's okay because of your blindness. Yeah, you don't have to do it. That was such a huge teaching moment for me, because it pulled me I can't use my blindness as an excuse. That was incredible experience and I always think back on and remember, Michael Hingson ** 17:04 yeah, and I remember growing up, there were chores I did, there were chores My brother did, and there were things that we had to do, but we had, and my brother was cited two years older than I, but okay, but we had very supportive parents for both of us. And one of the things that the doctors told my parents when they discovered that I was blind, was that I was going to take all the love that the family had, even for my older sibling. Oh, my parent and my parents said that is just not so, and they worked really hard to make sure that my brother got all the things that that he needed and all the support that he needed as well. Wow. When he was still in high school, I remember they got him a car, and I don't remember when he got it. Maybe, I don't know whether he was already a senior in high school, but he got a car. And, you know, I didn't want a car. I right. I didn't want that, but, you know, that was okay. I would have driven it around if I got one, but, you know, that's okay, but, but parents are such an important part of the process, yes, and they have to be ready to take the leap, yes, that blindness isn't the problem. It's attitudes. That's really, that tend to really be the problem, right? 100% Laura Bratton ** 18:24 and thankfully, thankfully, I had that. I had that experience another, another example that I always think of all the time, still such a vivid memory, is as as a family. We were a big sports family, and loved to go to different sporting events, and so we would always go to high school and college football games. And as I was in those middle school, high school years, those first, early days of experiencing difficult vision loss, where obviously I'm sitting in the sands and can't see the field clearly, rather than my parents saying, Oh, you're just going to stay home. Oh, you're not going with us. To be part of this, my dad are really, literally. Remember my dad saying, Here's a radio. I just put new batteries in. Let's go. So I would just sit there and, you know, with with my family, listening to the game on the radio. And that was such a gift, because, again, they didn't say, is what you're saying about the leap. They didn't say, okay, you can do this anymore. They just figured out a way to adapt so that I was still part. Michael Hingson ** 19:34 Yeah, I've been to a number of baseball games, and the same thing, I've never been I've been to a high school football game, but I've never been to a pro football game, and I've never been to a basketball game, and while I think it would have been fun, I'm a little bit spoiled, and I think that the announcers today aren't as good as the announcers that we used to have, like Dick Enberg doing sports out here, who did. Football chick, Hearn, who did basketball, who could talk as fast as, I mean, he was, he was he taught me how to listen fast. That's great. He he talked as fast as many times books I read talk. He was just incredible. But that's okay. But still, I've been to games, and it is a lot of fun to be able to go and listen. It's even if you're listening on the radio, the point of being at the game is just the sounds and the experience of being at the game and hearing and interacting with all the sounds, because you're not hearing that as much through the radio as you are listening to the fans as they yell, or as the Yes, as the foul balls coming at you. You know, yes 100% Laura Bratton ** 20:50 and just to feel the energy, you know, and your team's doing well, your team's not doing well, just to feel that energy, and there's to also to be there and have that, that fun experience with your family or friends, or you know, whoever you're with, that is such a fun experience. So yes, Michael Hingson ** 21:08 so when you went into high school, did, what did you study? Or what did you do there? Laura Bratton ** 21:15 What were your interests? So in college, when I Michael Hingson ** 21:18 was thinking high school, but you can do college. So Laura Bratton ** 21:21 High School, honestly, I didn't have specific professional interests, because it was just so much focused on the blind surviving and all the surviving, just the New Black, because the blindness was literally happening during high school, right? So my only focus was just survival passing because it was all of my energy was focused on the the learning Braille and just completing the assignments. Fast forward to college. My focus was definitely. My major was psychology. My focus was on psychology. A lot because of my personal experience, because of that experience in high school, and just that that not only that desire from my personal experience, but just using that experience to then help and support others from the mindset of of again, moving through that, that negativity to that, that foundation of grit. So it was definitely focused on psychology to be able to support others from a mindset perspective. Michael Hingson ** 22:36 So how did you bring that into play in college? Laura Bratton ** 22:40 So that was my focus. My My major was psychology, and then I I spent that, those years in college, figuring out specifically what area of psychology I wanted to focus on, which what, what facet of psychology I wanted my focus to be so that was, that was the purpose of the like psychology and taking different classes within psychology to try to figure out where my strengths within that Major Michael Hingson ** 23:16 and what did you discover? Laura Bratton ** 23:20 So what I discovered was I wanted the psychology to the mindset, to support people with to be that holistic perspective of, yes, the psychology, but also the spiritual connection and just our physical well being all connected together, so supporting our healthy mindsets and emotional health was not just psychology. It was the psychology, physical taking care of ourselves and the spiritual taking care of ourselves, all connected, combined together. So that's that's what led me to doing a master of divinity to be able to focus on and learn the spiritual part Michael Hingson ** 24:15 of the mindset. So what part of psychology Did you eventually settle on Laura Bratton ** 24:22 the holistic approach. So rather than just focus on specifically the mindset, focusing on us as a whole, being, supporting us through that mental, physical, spiritual connection that the healing, the empowerment came through, through all of that. So in that masters, what I focus on specifically was chaplaincy, so supporting people specifically I was a hospital chaplain, so focusing on helping people within the hospital setting, when they're there for different physical reasons and. Being able to be that spiritual presence focusing on both the spiritual and the emotional. Michael Hingson ** 25:07 And where did you do your undergraduate study? Laura Bratton ** 25:11 So I did my undergrad at Arizona State, and I was going to say a large reason, but not just a large reason, pretty much the whole reason I chose ASU was for their disability resources. So a major focus that that they emphasize is their disability resources is not a separate part of the university, but it's completely integrated into the university. So what I mean by that example of that is being a psychology major. I still had all the same classes. I was still in all the same classes as all the other psychology students on campus. I just had the accommodations that I needed. So that would be double time all testing or note takers, if I needed note takers in a class. So they did an incredible job, like they had a whole Braille lab that would print Braille books and provide books in PDF format. So the accommodations that I needed as a person who was blind were integrated in to the whole college experience. So that was incredibly powerful for me as a person who had just become blind and didn't know what resources were available. Michael Hingson ** 26:37 Did you have any major challenges and major issues in terms of dealing with blindness and so on, while you're at ASU, Laura Bratton ** 26:44 not at all. I am so grateful for that, because I wasn't the only person on campus who was blind. I wasn't the first blind person. I certainly wasn't the last so because they had so much experience, it was, it was an incredible, again, empowerment for me, because on the emotional perspective, it taught me, and literally practically showed me, yes, I give me a person with a disability and be integrated into the world, because They they showed me the resources that were available. So I was deeply, deeply grateful for what they taught me. Now, where did you grow up? So I grew up in South Carolina, Michael Hingson ** 27:31 so that is and that's why I wanted to ask that, because we hadn't mentioned that you were from South Carolina before, but that was a major undertaking. Then to go all the way across country to go to ASU, yes. On the other hand, they do have a pretty good football team. Laura Bratton ** 27:49 Just say Right, right, right Michael Hingson ** 27:52 now, my I went to University California, Irvine. I don't even know. I'm sure they must have some sort of a football team today, but they do have a pretty good basketball team, and I haven't heard whether they won the Big West, but I haven't Yeah, but I haven't heard that they did. So I'm afraid that that they may not have until going to march madness. Yeah, but whatever, Laura Bratton ** 28:21 team for March Madness spell your bracket in a different way. Michael Hingson ** 28:25 Well, they've been in the big dance before they got to the Sweet 16 once, which was pretty cool. Wow, that's impressive. Yeah, that was pretty cool. That's so cool. What did your parents think of you going across country Laura Bratton ** 28:42 again? Just like you talked about your parents being that taking that leap, they were incredibly supportive, because they knew ASU would provide the resources that I needed. Because again, in those years as I'm losing a major part of my sight, we didn't know other people who are blind. We didn't know what resources were available. Obviously, my parents reach out to people around us, you know, to connect with people who are blind, to learn about that, but we didn't have a lot of experience with that. So what we knew, and what my parents were excited about was ASU would be a place that I can not only have that college experience, but be taught the resources. And one of the major resources was my disability coordinator, so my disability coordinator, who was in charge of of creating all my accommodations, she was also blind, and that was such a healing experience for me, because she became a mentor. She was blind since birth. She. And so obviously we had different experiences, where I was just newly blind. She had been blind, but still, she was an incredibly powerful resource and mentor of just telling me, teaching me, not just telling me through her words, but living through her actions, you still have a full life like you're you're still a few a full human like you. This life still goes on. So she just modeled that in the way that she lived. So she she was, I'm so grateful for her mentorship, because she was very real. She had minimized blindness. But also she told me and taught me and showed me there's still a full, great life ahead, Michael Hingson ** 30:53 which is really what all of us are trying to get the world to understand. Blindness isn't the end of the world. It's not the problem Laura Bratton ** 31:02 exactly, exactly, she literally modeled that, Michael Hingson ** 31:06 yeah, which was pretty cool. Well, then where did you go to get your Masters of divinity? Laura Bratton ** 31:11 So then I went to get my masters at Princeton Theological Seminary, and that was a completely different experience, because, where as you, was completely set up for people with disabilities in the master's program, they had not had someone come through their program who was blind. So in that experience, I had to advocate and be very, very clear on what my needs were, meaning what the accommodations were that I needed, and then advocate that to the administration, which that wasn't a gift, because ASU had given me the foundation of knowing what I needed, what the accommodations Were then available. And then Princeton gave me the opportunity to become my own advocate, to force me to speak up and say, These are my needs, and these are accommodations I have. With these accommodations, I can be an equal student, so I'm not asking, Hey, give me good grades because I'm blind, but make the accommodation so that I have my books and PDF so I have double time on the test. So that was just as healing and just as powerful, because it gave me the opportunity to advocate and become clear on my needs so that I could communicate those needs. So Michael Hingson ** 32:38 this is part of Princeton in New Jersey. Yes, so you were were in Jersey for a while, huh? Yes, Laura Bratton ** 32:45 I went from sunny weather to Michael Hingson ** 32:50 snowy weather. Well, you had some of that in South Carolina too, though, Laura Bratton ** 32:53 yes, true, but from undergrad, it was quite the change. Michael Hingson ** 32:58 Ah. But the real question is, when you were in New Jersey. Did you get to meet any members of the family? You know what I'm saying, the mob, Oh yes, absolutely being bada. Boom. Come on now, Laura Bratton ** 33:11 definitely, definitely, definitely, absolutely, absolutely, yeah, lot of local restaurants and Oh yes, Michael Hingson ** 33:21 oh yes. When we were building our home in New Jersey, my wife was in a wheelchair her whole life, and we decided that when we went to New Jersey, because I was going to be working in the city New York, we wanted to build a house, because it's cheaper to build an accessible home for somebody in a wheelchair. My wife then it is to buy a house and modify it so we wanted to build. And it turns out that the person who financed the building, we got a mortgage and all that without any difficulty, but we had to get somebody to build the house. And the realtors had people they worked with, the financier. Part of that was from a guy, well, let's just say his main business was, he was in the garbage business, and his last name was, was Pinto. So, you know, let's just say we know where he got his money. You know, Laura Bratton ** 34:18 yes, yes. I had several those experiences too. Yeah, the garbage business seems to be big in Jersey. It Michael Hingson ** 34:25 is big in Jersey, but, but, you know, but they were all, they were all very nice to us good. And so it really worked out well. It did. It all worked out. We had a wonderful home. The only difference between our house and the others around us is we had to include an elevator in the house, okay? Because we couldn't have a ranch style home. There wasn't room, and so we had to have and all the other homes in the development were two story homes, okay, but we had to have an elevator. So that was essentially about a $15,000 An uplift over what the House would have cost otherwise. But right again, you build it in so it's not that huge of a deal, Laura Bratton ** 35:06 right? That's perfect. So all your neighbors are jealous. Michael Hingson ** 35:10 Well, they didn't have the elevator. They didn't come and ride it much. So they didn't ask for their their their bigger challenges were, who's giving the biggest party at Christmas or Halloween? So we didn't participate in that, so we weren't we weren't a problem. 35:28 That's great, Michael Hingson ** 35:30 yeah, so you've talked about grit a couple times, so tell me about grit, because clearly that's important to you, Laura Bratton ** 35:39 yeah? So it's so important to me, because that was a main source of empowerment. So just as I talked about that negativity in the middle school high school, what grit helped me to do is take the overwhelming future that I was so fearful, I was extremely anxious as I looked at the whole picture everything ahead of me. So the grit came in and taught me. Grit is taking it day by day, moment by moment, step by step. So rather than looking at the whole picture and getting overwhelmed, the power of grit taught me all I need to do is trust myself for this next hour. All I need to do is trust in the support that my parents are giving me this next day. So breaking it down into manageable goals was the strength of the grit. So to break it down, rather than the whole future, Michael Hingson ** 36:49 I didn't ask, do you did you have any siblings? Do you have any siblings? Laura Bratton ** 36:53 Yeah, so I have one older brother. Okay, so Michael Hingson ** 36:57 how was he with you being that you were blind. Was he a good older protective brother who never let anybody near his sister? Laura Bratton ** 37:06 He was a good older protective brother in that he did exactly what my parents did in not having different expectations. Yeah, he so he's five years older. So when I'm 14, losing a significant amount of vision, or 15, losing a certain amount of division. He, you know, was 1920 doing great in college. So a perfect example of this connects with the grit he, he taught me, and again, not in word, not so much in words, but again, in those actions of we will figure this out. We don't know the resources that are available. We don't know exactly what the future looks like, but we as a family will figure this out. Me, as your older brother, our parents being our parents, we will figure it out day by day, step by step. And I remember a lot of people would ask my parents, what's her future, and then even ask my brother, what's her future? What's she gonna do? And they would honestly answer, we don't know, but as a family, we'll figure it out, and we'll provide the strength that she needs, and that's what I mean by the grit. So it wasn't, this is her future, and they just, you know, named it for being home with us, right? But it was, I don't know, but day by day, we'll have the grit to figure it out. So I'm glad you asked about my siblings, because that's a perfect example of how that grit came into play and was such a powerful source of strength. Michael Hingson ** 38:54 So what did you do after you got your master's degree? Laura Bratton ** 38:58 So after I got my master's degree, I then did a residency, just like I was talking about the chaplaincy. I did a residency specifically in chaplaincy to to complete that process of being a chaplain. So in that that was a year long process, and in that process, that was an incredible experience, because, again, it taught me, you are a complete human with gifts and talents. You just happen to be blind and need specific accommodations because of the blindness. So what I mean by that is, just as ASU gave me the resources regarding blindness, and just as Princeton gave me the gift to advocate for those resources, the experience in the chaplaincy taught me when I walked into a high. Hospital room and introduced myself as the chaplain on the unit. The patient didn't know, or didn't care how long I had been blind, or how did I make it on the unit? Or how did I know they wanted chaplain? They didn't care. They were just thankful and glad that I was there to serve them and be in that Chaplain role. So it was that's why it was empowering of healing to me, because it taught me not to focus so much on the blindness, but to view myself as that whole person, especially in that professional experience, so I can give endless examples of specifically how that, how, just the patient reaction taught me so much. Michael Hingson ** 40:49 Where did you do your chaplaincy? Laura Bratton ** 40:52 I did it at the Clinton clinic in Ohio. Oh, Michael Hingson ** 40:56 my goodness, you did move around. Now. What got you there? Speaking of snow in the winter, yeah, Laura Bratton ** 41:02 literally, I Yes, I can talk about that. And a lot of experiences there with snow, like effect snow is real. So they were very strong in their chaplaincy program and developing Kaplan's and also their Kaplan Z training was a focus that I wanted that holistic mind, body, spirit. It wasn't just spiritual or wasn't just psychological, it was the holistic experience of a whole person. So how wanting that to be my focus moving forward, that's where I chose to go to be able to focus on that. So again, it was such an incredible source of of healing through just through those patient interactions. Michael Hingson ** 41:58 Well, one of the things that is clear about you is you're not bitter about any of the things that have happened, and that, in reality, you are a person who appreciates and understands the concept of gratitude. Laura Bratton ** 42:11 Yes, yes. And specifically, let me go back to those high school days, and then I'll come back to the chaplain days, the way of the gratitude my focus started was not because I wanted gratitude, not because I chose to woke up, wake up one day and say, Oh, I'm so grateful for this blindness. But it all came through a mentor who said to me in those high school days, Laura, I want you to start writing down three things that you are grateful for each day and every day, I want you to write down three things that you're grateful for. So in my mind, my immediate reaction as a teenager, high schooler, was that's not good advice. I'm not sure you're a good mentor. I'm experiencing a major change in life, permanent life event. I don't know that there's a lot to be grateful for. So in my stubbornness, I said, Okay, I'm going to prove her wrong. So I started to think of the three things each day I was grateful for. And over the weeks that I did this, I then realized what she was teaching me, she was showing me. She wasn't asking me to be grateful for the blindness. She was asking me to recognize the gifts that the support that I had within the blindness. So, for example, the supportive parents, the older brother, who didn't make accommodations, or I mean, did make accommodations. Didn't lower expectations because of the blindness. So fast forward to the chaplaincy. I was incredibly grateful for all those patient experiences, because, again, it taught me to view myself as the whole person, not so hyper focused on the blindness. So one specific example that sticks out and was so clear to me is one day I had a patient request that one to see a chaplain, and I went in to this specific unit, and the so I walked in, my walked into the room, the patient took a look at my guide dog and me, and said, You're blind, like completely with this question or voice. And my thought was, well, I think so. I mean, that was this morning when I woke up, and so I said, Yes. And she said, Okay, then I'll, I'll share honestly with you how I'm doing and what I had learned, what I learned after my visit with her is she would not open up to the doctors, the nurses, the social workers, anyone who walked in the room. When I walked in the room and she didn't feel like she was being judged on her physical appearance, she was willing to open up and honestly share how she was feeling emotionally with her physical diagnosis. So that led that one conversation led to multiple visits where she could move forward in her healing emotionally because she was willing to open up and share and be honest with me as the chaplain. So that was an incredible situation of gratitude, because it taught me, yes, this is hard, yes, this is stressful. Yes, there are moments of being overwhelmed, and also their deep, deep moments that I am incredibly grateful for, that other people who are side sighted don't have that opportunity. Michael Hingson ** 46:36 One of the things that I talk about and think about as life goes on, is we've talked about all the accommodations and the things that you needed to get in order to be able to function. What we and most everyone, takes for granted is it's the same for sighted people. You know, we invented the electric light bulb for sighted people. We invented windows so they can look out. Yes, we invent so many things, and we provide them so that sighted people can function right. And that's why I say, in large part, blindness isn't the problem, because the reality is, we can make accommodations. We can create and do create alternatives to what people who can see right choose, and that's important for, I think, everyone to learn. So what did you do after your year of chaplaincy? Laura Bratton ** 47:39 So after my year of chaplaincy, after that incredible experience of just offering the patient care, I completed the part of the well after assorted in the master's program. But then after that, also completed my ordination in the Methodist Church. So I was appointed. I went to the process the ordination process, and then I was appointed to a local church back here in South Carolina. And again, with my focus on chaplaincy, my focus on patient care, I was appointed to that church for because what they needed most in the pastor the leader, was that emphasis on the pastoral care the mind, body, spirit connection. So as I became pastor, I was able to continue that role of what I was doing in the Kaplan see, of using both my professional experience as well as my personal experience of providing spiritual care to the members. So that was an incredible way. And again, that gratitude, it just I was so grateful that I could use those gifts of pastoral care, of chaplaincy to benefit others, to be a strength to others. Again, is that that whole person that that we Michael Hingson ** 49:13 are now? Are you still doing that today? Or what are you doing Laura Bratton ** 49:16 now? So I'm still I'm still there part time, okay, Michael Hingson ** 49:21 and when you're not there, what are you doing? Laura Bratton ** 49:23 I'm doing professional speaking, and it's all centered around my passion for that again, came when I was at Princeton, when I was doing the focus on chaplaincy, I became so passionate about the speaking to share my personal experience of the change I experienced, and also to empower others as they experience change, so not to be stuck in that. Negativity like we talked about in those middle school, high school days, but rather that everybody, regardless of the situation, could experience change, acknowledge it, and move forward with that balance of grit and gratitude. So that's my deep passion for and the reason for the speaking is to share that grit gratitude, as we all experience change. Michael Hingson ** 50:26 So what made you decide to begin to do public speaking that what? What was the sort of the moment or the the inspiration that brought that about, Laura Bratton ** 50:40 just that deep desire to share the resource that I'd experienced. So as I received so much support from family and community, is I had received that support of learning how to use the grit in the change, and then as I received the sport support of how to use the gratitude in the change, the reason for this, speaking and what made me so passionate, was to be able to empower others to also use this resource. So I didn't just want to say, okay, it worked for me, and so I'll just keep this to myself, but rather to use that as a source and empowerment and say, Hey, this has been really, really difficult, and here's how I can use the difficulty to empower others to support others. Michael Hingson ** 51:31 So how's that working for you? Laura Bratton ** 51:34 Great. I love, love, love supporting others as they go through that change. Because again, it comes back to the blindness. Is not not all we focus on, it's not all we think about, it's not all we talk about, it's not all we do, but being able to use that as a shrink to empower others. So just speaking to different organizations as they're going through change, and working with them speaking on that. How can they specifically apply the grit, the gratitude? How does that? What does that look like, practically, in their organization, in their situation? So I love it, because it takes the most difficult thing that I've been through, and turns it around to empower others. Michael Hingson ** 52:24 What do you think about the concept that so many people talk about regarding public speaking, that, Oh, I couldn't be a public speaker. I don't want to be up in front of people. I'm afraid of it, and it's one of the top fears that we constantly hear people in society have that is being a public speaker. What do you think about that? Laura Bratton ** 52:47 So two, two perspectives have helped me to process that fault, because you're right. People literally say that to me every day. How do you do that? I could never do that. I hear that every single day, all day, and what I've learned is when I focus on, yes, maybe it is the large audience, but focusing on I'm speaking to each person individually, and I'm speaking. I'm not just speaking to them, but I was speaking to serve them, to help again, that empowerment, to provide empowerment. So what I think about that is I don't focus on, oh my gosh. What are they going to think of me? I'm scared up here. Rather to have that mindset of, I'm here to share my life experiences so that they can be served and empowered to continue forward. So just shifting the mindset from fear to support fear to strength, that's that's how I view that concept of I could never do that, or that's my worst fear. Michael Hingson ** 54:01 So a lot of people would say it takes a lot of courage to do what you do, what? How do you define courageous or being courageous? Laura Bratton ** 54:08 Great question. That's a working, work in progress. So far, what I've learned over the years and again, this is a process. Not there wasn't just one moment where I said, Okay, now I'm courageous, and I'm courageous forever, or this is the moment that made me courageous, but how I understand it and how I process it now is for me and my experience courage is accepting and acknowledging the reality and then choosing to move forward with the grit, choosing to move forward with the gratitude. So holding both intention, both can be true, both I can acknowledge. Okay, this is difficult. Cult, and also I can also believe and know. I can have the grit moment by moment by moment. I can have the gratitude moment by moment by moment. So for me, courage is holding both intention the reality and what I mean by both is the reality of the blindness and reality of the frustration of people's faults, judgments. You know all that you can't do this. How can you do that without sight holding all of that at the same time as I have the support I need to move forward? So for me, Courage looks like acknowledging why I'm overwhelmed and then choosing at that same time to move forward with the support that I have. Mm, hmm. So again, that's what I mean by it's not just like one moment that, oh yeah, I'm gonna be courageous now forever, there's certainly a moment so I don't feel courageous, and that's okay. That's part of garbage. Just acknowledging that frustration and also choosing to move forward. So it's doing both it at the same time. Michael Hingson ** 56:10 We live in a world today where there is a lot of change going on, yes, and some for the good, some not for the good, and and all sorts of things. Actually, I was reading an article this morning about Michael Connolly, the mystery writer who, for four decades, has written mystery books. He's lived in Los Angeles. He had a wonderful house, and everything changed when the fires hit and he lost his home and all that. But he continues to to move forward. But what advice would you give? What kinds of things do you say to people who are undergoing change or experiencing change? Laura Bratton ** 56:52 I'm so glad you asked that, because I I didn't mention this in the grit so much of the grit that I experienced. So the advice I would give, or practically, what I do with someone that just what I did right before our we connected, was being being that grit for someone going through change. So in that, for example, in that speaking when I'm speaking to a group about the change they're experiencing, acknowledging, for them to acknowledge, let me be your grit. You might be overwhelmed. You might be incredibly fearful and overwhelmed by the future, by the task in front of you. So let me be the example of grit to to show you that there is support, there is courage, there is that foundation to be able to move forward. So that's my first advice, is just allowing others to be your grit when you don't feel like you had it, because, again, in those high school days and and even now days when I don't feel like I have any grit, any courage, and yet, I'll lean on the courage, the strength, the grit, of those around me so once they acknowledge and allow me to be their grit, and they their support through that change, then allowing them to slowly have that grit for themselves, and again reminding them, it's not an instant process. It's not an instant do these three steps and you'll have grit forever. But it's a continual process of grit and gratitude that leads us through the change, through the difficulty. Michael Hingson ** 58:46 Have you used the technique that that person that you talked about earlier in high school used when she asked you to write down every day three things that you were grateful for? Laura Bratton ** 58:56 Yes, absolutely, and the the funny part of that, what that makes me laugh is a lot of people have the exact same reaction I had when I present it to them. They immediately say, I'm not going to do that. That's no Why would I do that? They immediately think that is a horrible piece of advice. And how can I recommend? And I just, I don't say, Oh, well, just try it anyway. I just say, Well, okay, just try it and see. Just, just prove me wrong. And just like my experience, they try it and then a week or two days like, oh, that actually worked. I didn't think that would so, yeah, I'm so glad you said that, because that happens a lot. People said that is that doesn't make sense. Why are you telling me to be grateful in the midst of this overwhelming situation? So yes, great, great perspective that happens all the time. Michael Hingson ** 59:55 Well, we've been doing this now for about an hour, but before we wrap up, do you. Have any other advice that you want to pass on for people who are dealing with change or fearing change in their lives right now, Laura Bratton ** 1:00:08 the advice would be, take it step by step, moment by moment, rather than trying to navigate through the whole change at one time that's overwhelming, and that that's not the process that is most healing. So to trust in yourself, to trust that grit around you, and then just like, like you were saying, and ask me, and it doesn't seem like it'll work, but try the gratitude, try that three things every day you're grateful for, and just see what happens as you navigate through the change. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:52 And it really does work, which is the point? Laura Bratton ** 1:00:54 Which is the point? Right? Right? We don't think it's going to but it, it totally does Michael Hingson ** 1:00:59 well. Laura, I want to thank you for being with us. This has been absolutely wonderful and fun, and I hope that people who listen got and who watch it got a lot out of it. And you, you provided a lot of good expectation setting for people. And you, you've certainly lived a full life. We didn't mention we got us before you we we sign off. You're also an author, Laura Bratton ** 1:01:24 yes. So I wrote harnessing courage again, just like the reason I speak, I was so passionate about taking the grit and the gratitude that I use that was such a source of Empower for me, I wanted to tell my story and tell it through the perspective of grit and gratitude so that other people could also use it as a resource. So the book tells my story of becoming blind and adapting and moving forward, but through the complete expected perspective of the gratitude, how I didn't believe the gratitude would work, how I struggled with thinking, Oh, the gratitude is ridiculous. That's never going to be source of empowerment. Yet it was so. The purpose of the book, my hope, my goal for the book, is that people can read it and take away those resources as they face their own change their own challenges. Michael Hingson ** 1:02:30 And when did you write it? So I wrote Laura Bratton ** 1:02:33 it in it was published in 2016 Okay, so it that that definitely was, was my goal and passion, and that just writing the book was incredibly healing. Was like a great source of strength. Cool, Michael Hingson ** 1:02:50 well, I hope people will get it. Do you do any coaching today or Laura Bratton ** 1:02:54 Yes, so I do coaching as well as the speaking so the the one on one coaching, as people are experiencing difficult, difficult or just navigating through change, I do the one on one coaching as well as the speaking, Michael Hingson ** 1:03:11 which is certainly a good thing that chaplaincy taught you. Yes, 100% Well, thank you again for being here, and I want to thank all of you for being with us today, wherever you are. We would appreciate it. I would definitely appreciate it. If when you can, you go to wherever you're listening to or watching the podcast and give us a five star review. We absolutely value your reviews. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this, and I'm sure Laura would. So you're welcome to email me at Michael, M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I, at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, love to hear your thoughts. And also, of course, as I said, we'd love your your five star reviews, wherever you're listening. Also, if any of you, Laura, including you, have any thoughts of others who we ought to have on this podcast, we're always looking for more guests, and we really would appreciate it if you'd let anyone know who might be a good guest in your mind, that they can reach out or email me, and I'll reach out, but we really would appreciate that. But again, Laura, I just want to thank you one more time for being here and for taking all this time with us today. Laura Bratton ** 1:04:27 Thank you for the opportunity, and thank you for hosting this podcast. Incredibly powerful and we all need to be reminded **Michael Hingson ** 1:04:37 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, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.
Happy Pride! Isaac and Tyler discuss why Pride feels different this year, what they want to get out of Pride this year, and check in with a special guest at World Pride.Join us on all major socials @nogaysinmontana for exclusive content!
06-10-25 - Followup Email Update From Beezy From WWBD - New Black Listener BLav Asks Us A Question On What We'd Decide Between 3 Choices Involving Family And MoneySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Newly appointed Black Caps head coach Rob Walter is confident he can encourage non-contracted players to appear in key matches for New Zealand. Top talent such as Kane Williamson and Trent Boult have rejected national contracts in favour of lucrative T-20 franchise opportunities around the globe. Walter wants to give the elite echelon the freedom to do both – but with the Black Cap always coming first. He joined Jason Pine to discuss his plans for the role, and what he hopes to achieve. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week's panel features Paul Allison and Alex Powell. On the agenda this weekend: The new Black Caps coach has been named Rising complaints over the Super Rugby playoffs format Red Bull is giving Yuki Tsunoda time and support - something they didn't give Liam Lawson LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Black Caps have a new head at the helm. With Gary Stead stepping aside, Rob Walter has been appointed Black Caps coach through to the 2028 World Cup. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.
The man said to be New Zealand's most successful cricket coach in history has been appointed coach of the Black Caps. Rob Walter replaces Gary Stead in all formats. He is he former South Africa, Otago and Central Districts boss and will take charge until the end of the T20 World Cup in November 2028. Rob Walter talks to Heather du Plessis-Allan about his new role. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Special Guest Leigh Hart joins Finn Caddie and ACC Head G Lane to discuss his return to radio with his new show/podcast on Radio Hauraki every Friday (00:00)! Then they chat about the 'Enhanced Games' and how much juicing the human body can take (13:10)... Plus, Gary Stead has handed in his notice, so who will be the new coach of the Black Caps? Is it Leigh Hart (18:40)?Finally, they get to your feedback in 'Yours Please' (36:30)...Brought to you by Export Ultra!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Join G Mark Hardy at THOTCON in Chicago for an insightful podcast episode on building a successful cybersecurity career. Featuring guest Ryan Gooler, they discuss the non-linear paths to success, the value of mentorship, financial planning, and the importance of continuous learning and adapting. Learn how to navigate career transitions, embrace risks, and find joy in teaching and learning from others in the cybersecurity community. Transcripts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nsd61mkIWbmIL1qube0-cdqINsDujAVH Chapters 00:00 Welcome to THOTCON: Meeting Amazing People 00:26 Introducing Ryan Gooler: A Journey into Cybersecurity 04:09 The Value of Mentorship in Cybersecurity 06:22 Career Management and Setting Goals 09:33 Financial Planning for Cybersecurity Professionals 16:40 Automating Finances and Smart Spending 21:25 Financial Sophistication and Mutual Funds 22:07 Automating Life Tasks 22:41 The Concept of a Finishing Stamp 24:17 Leadership and Delegation in the Navy 26:06 Building and Maintaining Culture 27:21 Surviving Toxic Environments 29:55 Taking Risks and Finding Joy 34:34 Advice for Cybersecurity Careers 39:01 The Importance of Teaching and Learning 40:29 Conclusion and Farewell
Our two heroes celebrate the emancipation of the world's most oppressed people, while acknowledging the many new members of another community, while hiding from closest thing we've seen to soccer hooliganism in the US of A.
Ozempic puts Weight Watchers out of business. Kanye renounces antisemitism one week after the release of “Heil Hitler” track. Gingers are embraced by the Black community. 0:00 - Get Rekt, Big Pharma7:40 - Caliber8:56 - Weather9:25 - This F*ckin' Guy12:03 - Qualia12:50 - Dumpster Diving17:21 - Phetasy News17:59 - The Internet Is GloriousEnd Music - Sweetfire performed by Lightmaker Walk-Ins Welcome YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@morebridgetphetasy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign up to be an audience member for Real America - Bridget's new show on 2WAY - Wednesday 5/28 at 7pm ET/6pm CT https://bit.ly/DF-RealAmericaLink Buy tickets for Bridget's Ask Me Anything Comedy Show - June 8th at 7pm https://bit.ly/DF-AMAShow ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to our sponsors Caliber & Qualia - Transform your fitness with science based training. Sign up for Caliber and get $100 off your first 3 months - https://caliberstrong.com/dumpster - Resist aging at the cellular level, try Qualia Senolytic. Go to https://Qualialife.com/DUMPSTER for up to 50% off and use code DUMPSTER at checkout for an additional 15% off. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We just want to make you laugh while the world burns. We produce media content, essays, and merchandise such as t-shirts and greeting cards that make burgers out of your sacred cows and tell you not to take yourself so damn seriously. Buy PHETASY MERCH here: https://www.bridgetphetasy.com/ For more content, including the unedited version of Dumpster Fire, BTS content, writing, photos, livestreams and a kick-ass community, subscribe at https://phetasy.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/BridgetPhetasy Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bridgetphetasy/ Podcast - Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/walk-ins-welcome/id1437447846 https://open.spotify.com/show/7jbRU0qOjbxZJf9d49AHEh https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/I3gqggwe23u6mnsdgqynu447wva
Subscribe To My Youtube Channel - https://youtube.com/c/dkdynamite1Check Out MORE Coverage Over At DETONATED -https://detonated.comFajarty -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4ygnS4l3rAIJlCvufhsSAPurchase My NEW Merch & DK Plushies Here - https://dkdynamite.store/Use Code DYNAMITE to Save 10% At Steel Series - https://steelseries.com/Use Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At AimControllers - https://us.aimcontrollers.com/ref/205/?campaign=DKDYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At Gamer Advantage -https://gameradvantage.com/?ref=DYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE to Save 15% At Kontrol Freek -https://www.kontrolfreek.com/Join My Discord Server! -https://discord.gg/QzEcBbgEnjoy Episode 152 Of Bombshell A Weekly Call Of Duty Podcast With NO Filter
Subscribe To My Youtube Channel - https://youtube.com/c/dkdynamite1Check Out MORE Coverage Over At DETONATED -https://detonated.comFajarty -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4ygnS4l3rAIJlCvufhsSAPurchase My NEW Merch & DK Plushies Here - https://dkdynamite.store/Use Code DYNAMITE to Save 10% At Steel Series - https://steelseries.com/Use Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At AimControllers - https://us.aimcontrollers.com/ref/205/?campaign=DKDYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At Gamer Advantage -https://gameradvantage.com/?ref=DYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE to Save 15% At Kontrol Freek -https://www.kontrolfreek.com/Join My Discord Server! -https://discord.gg/QzEcBbgEnjoy Episode 154 Of Bombshell A Weekly Call Of Duty Podcast With NO Filter
Helping your favourite Aunties AK, Farrah and Nana get through their Enemies of Progress with VP from 90s Babies Podcast.This week's guilty include - Gingers trying to claim allyship with the struggle of Black folks, Women showing up to their beauty appointments unwashed, Sarafee sharing his unsolicited opinion regarding Cassie at the Diddy trial, David Lammy for being a government puppet and VP & Temi from The 90s Babies podcast for calling some women out of their names!
Send us a text◆ Capital markets' Bloomberg scare ◆ SSAs tipped to go sub-US Treasuries ◆ Jumbos devour credit demand A blip in Bloomberg's terminal services this week delayed bookbuilding on a number of syndications and bond auctions. It passed with seemingly little harm done. But it did reveal how dependent bond issuance and fixed income has become on the company's platform. We asked what would be at stake if there was a longer outage and what can be done to prevent major disruption.Meanwhile, rising US Treasury yields mean SSA bonds are trading at ever smaller spreads over them. It wasn't that long ago that issuers questioned the wisdom of trying to price bonds at a single-digit spread to the US benchmark. This week a German issuer built its biggest every orderbook in the currency with a bond that came at 7bp over — it then tightened to 3.5bp over.Now the SSA market is wondering if or when an issuer will price through what is supposed to be the world's rick-free benchmark security. We lay out the cases for and against.Finally, we ask whether the European corporate bond market is running out of steam after one jumbo deal too many, and we also take a look at the bustling market for the riskiest part of a bank's capital stack: additional tier one paper.
The streets are CHAOTIC and so are we.From Diddy raids to Tory jail time, it feels like another male celeb is doing the absolute most every week. Are these just bad men… or is a bigger conspiracy at play? We investigate...Elsewhere, are ginger people Black? We unpack a bizarre new internet trend that has us scratching our heads... and our ancestry results.And to close it out? We draft the Top 3 Gingers of All Time. From Ed Sheeran to Chuckie from Rugrats, no redhead is safe.✅ The wildest viral takes in “It's All Mad”✅ Are male celebs incapable of behaving themselves?✅ Diddy, Tory Lanez, DDG, Chris Brown - coincidence or a cursed group chat?✅ Should we start protecting Black celebs… or holding them accountable?✅ “Ginger people are Black now” - TikTok's weirdest trend yet✅ Draft: Top 3 Gingers of All Time
The streets are CHAOTIC and so are we.From Diddy raids to Tory jail time, it feels like another male celeb is doing the absolute most every week. Are these just bad men… or is a bigger conspiracy at play? We investigate...Elsewhere, are ginger people Black? We unpack a bizarre new internet trend that has us scratching our heads... and our ancestry results.And to close it out? We draft the Top 3 Gingers of All Time. From Ed Sheeran to Chuckie from Rugrats, no redhead is safe.✅ The wildest viral takes in “It's All Mad”✅ Are male celebs incapable of behaving themselves?✅ Diddy, Tory Lanez, DDG, Chris Brown - coincidence or a cursed group chat?✅ Should we start protecting Black celebs… or holding them accountable?✅ “Ginger people are Black now” - TikTok's weirdest trend yet✅ Draft: Top 3 Gingers of All Time
This week Ben gets nostalgic announcing the “Awake” 20th anniversary tour. We have our minds blown by Romance Was Born at Australian Fashion Week. Shamir releases a new album. Bar Fredas is what Sydney needs. We wonder if Redheads are actually Black, as TikTok has been telling us. Take a deeper dive into our world on the Weirder Together mailing list at https://weirdertogether.substack.com/
Transformational mystic, podcaster, speaker, creative director, and coach Rebecca Campbell is the bestselling author of numerous books and oracle decks, including Your Soul Had A Dream, Your Life Is It,The Rose Oracle,Rise Sister Rise,Light Is the New Black, Letters To A Starseed,Work Your Light Oracle, The Ancient Stones Oracle,The Healing Waters Oracle and Starseed Oracle. Today she visits the podcast to discuss how we can weave the sacred into everyday life-- because as moms, we all know there's not a lot of time to devote to anything else! Rebecca shares how motherhood is really a magic of constantly "becoming," and how it unearths powers deep within us we maybe didn't know before. So this episode is, as Rebecca says, "for the mystics, the weird ones, on the brink of change." We think you'll love this talk!The Inner Temple Oracle is on preorder now.Find out more about Rebecca here: https://www.rebeccacampbell.me/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccacampbell_author/Podcast: Returning with Rebecca CampbellYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/RebeccaCampbell We love talking woo with you!Follow along with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mdmthepod/Join our Facebook group, Multidimensional Moms.For ad inquiries or guest/topic ideas, email us at mdmthepod@gmail.comSee you next time!
NEWS! New Black Pope Trump China Tariffs Monday, May 12th, 2025's LIVE SHOW where David Eon covers today's news. Catch COFFEE TALK every Monday-Friday for ONE HOUR on video LIVE here on the YouTube feed at the YouTube channel COFFEE TALK (with David)
(Satire) The conclave picks a new pope. Haitian Leo XIV is crowned.
Sustainability claims are everywhere in the fashion industry — but how can consumers tell what's real and what's greenwashing? Baker McKenzie attorneys David Baay and Katia Boneva-Desmicht join Jeny Maier and Puja Patel to discuss civil litigation in this space, as well as government enforcement efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, from the FTC's Green Guides review to the European Commission's Green Claims Directive. Listen to this episode to learn how fashion brands are navigating increasing legal scrutiny around environmental marketing. With special guests: David Baay, Partner, Baker McKenzie and Katia Boneva-Desmicht, Partner, Baker McKenzie Hosted by: Jeny Maier, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP and Puja Patel, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Was there some funny business happening with the draft? On this week's episode of Black News, Kennelia discusses the recent controversy around Shannon Sharpe and men who interact with younger women; the NFL Draft and what happened to Shedeur Sanders; and if we are entering a new Black Renaissance era. Be sure to continue supporting Black News by liking & subscribing on all apps where podcasts can be heard.
Episode 163 April 28, 2025 On the Needles 1:08 ALL KNITTING LINKS GO TO RAVELRY UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. Please visit our Instagram page @craftcookreadrepeat for non-Rav photos and info NoCKRs retreat! Succulents 2025 Blanket CAL by Mallory Krall, Hue Loco DK in Air Plant Llama llama duck by Adrienne Fong, C W D: Handcrafted Products for the Mind, Body & Soul BFL Alpaca Nylon Sock in Sutro Baths March Colorwork Cuff Club socks by Summer Lee, mominoki yarn sock fine 4 ply in aqua flash and teal blast, pink mini from Lemonade Shop Dunks– DONE!! Would You Rather KAL, Gauge Dyeworks roundtrip sock, Vanilla is the New Black by Anneh Fletcher, Rye Socks panel from Tin Can Knits– DONE!! Paul Klee sweater by Midori Hirose, Kelbourne Woolens Camper in strawberry heather, light pink heather, graphite heather, plum heather, gray heather Professor Fungi gnome mkal by Sarah Schira, Canon Handdyes John merino sock in Lamplighter, Plucky Knitter Trusty Fingering in Heartbreaker, Yarn Love Juliet Sock in pizzazz– DONE!! On the Easel 3:15 Daffodil Week! White Flower Farm, Laurel Ridge Daffodils, Alexander Calder, Denver Botanic Garden On the Table 22:55 Miso Brown Sugar Pineapple Upside Down Cake by Yossy Arefi (Have a Little Something) Gnocchi mac and cheese from Washington Post Eat Voraciously Ep 5: Grilled Cheese of The Recipe with Kenji and Deb Miso Butter Glazed Turnips and Black Rice from Tenderheart Tropical Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream cheese frosting Spring Risotto with Ramps, asparagus, garlic, and parmesan Spring Pea Fritters On the Nightstand 33:10 We are now a Bookshop.org affiliate! You can visit our shop to find books we've talked about or click on the links below. The books are supplied by local independent bookstores and a percentage goes to us at no cost to you! Quicksilver by Callie Hart Kissed a Sad Goodbye by Deborah Crombie (audio, duncan #6) The Traitor by Ava Glass (audio) emma makepeace #2 Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna Maya & Natasha by Elyse Durham My Mother's Boyfriends by Sarah Schoech Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley Mid-read on: Paris in Ruins by Sebastian Smee The Jackal's Mistress by Chris Bohjalian A Guide to Bearded Irises by Kelly D. Norris Daffodils by Naomi Slade
(00:00) Intro (01:33) Il grade blackout iberico (33:59) Risiko bancario e governo affamato (57:09) Un business plan per il Conclave Questo podcast e gli altri nostri contenuti sono gratuiti anche grazie a chi ci sostiene con Will Makers. Sostienici e accedi a contenuti esclusivi su willmedia.it/abbonati Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Join Nate, Kyle, Jeff, and Ryan Halvaks from Blindwolf as they rank and review all 9 Every Time I Die albums! They also discuss Blindwolf's debut LP "Noble Death", the band's unique marketing opportunity, and more!Blindwolf SpotifyJoin our Patreon for bonus content and more: PatreonJoin the discourse!TikTok: DiscogDiscourseTwitter: Discog_PodInstagram: discog.discourseTime Codes:Intro - 0:00Chatting with Ryan - 0:45Shoutouts - 17:089th Place - 19:328th Place - 25:477th Place - 35:126th Place - 48:155th Place - 1:01:404th Place - 1:15:043rd Place - 1:27:512nd Place - 1:43:521st Place - 1:55:22Patreon Ranking - 2:08:58Songs used in this episode:Decayin' With The Boys, Floater, For The Record, Kill The Music, Map Change, Planet Shit, The Coin Has A Say, The Logic Of Crocodiles, The New Black, Underwater Bimbos From Outerspace, We'rewolfEvery Time I Die's albums are:Last Night In Town, Hot Damn!, Gutter Phenomenon, The Big Dirty, New Junk Aesthetic, Ex Lives, From Parts Unknown, Low Teens, Radical
Hello Quizheads, welcome to Takeaway Trivia your pub quiz in a podcast.Four rounds of bar trivia in the comfort of your own home. No queuing for a your beer, no sticky tables and no one heckling the answers. Play the quiz however you like. Get your gang together and play like a true quiz night or entertain yourself while you're on an epic road trip!This week's rounds:>03:45: General Knowledge>06:50: Entertainment>11:18: 54321>18:55: Final FlingCONTACT TAT> Facebook> Bluesky> Ko-fi We make every effort to check that the trivia presented in each episode is correct and up to date at the time of publishing however, the contents of this podcast are presented for entertainment purposes only. Takeaway Trivia cannot be held responsible for any errors. Please get in touch if you think we've got it wrong to win the ultimate pedant's prize - a shout out in the Correction Section!Takeaway Trivia is available wherever you download podcasts including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible. It's also available on YoutubeNew episode every Monday!#pubquiz #podcast #trivia #quiz #generalknowledge #questions #bartrivia #answers #TheLastofUsMusic:"There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0License:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Easy Lemon" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Life of Riley" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 "Big Mojo" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Episode 162 April 10, 2025 On the Needles 1:27 ALL KNITTING LINKS GO TO RAVELRY UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. Please visit our Instagram page @craftcookreadrepeat for non-Rav photos and info Succulents 2025 Blanket CAL by Mallory Krall, Hue Loco DK in Silver Jade–DONE!! Llama llama duck by Adrienne Fong, C W D: Handcrafted Products for the Mind, Body & Soul BFL Alpaca Nylon Sock in Sutro Baths March Colorwork Cuff Club socks by Summer Lee, mominoki yarn sock fine 4 ply in aqua flash and teal blast, pink mini from Lemonade Shop Dunks Would You Rather KAL, Gauge Dyeworks roundtrip sock, Vanilla is the New Black by Anneh Fletcher, Rye Socks panel from Tin Can Knits Metropolitan Pullover by Tori Yu, Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in Rosemary, Shibui Knits Silk Cloud in Ink – DONE!! Paul Klee sweater by Midori Hirose, Kelbourne Woolens Camper in strawberry heather, light pink heather, graphite heather, plum heather, gray heather Cortney's Pocket Story! On the Easel 18:37 100-Day wrap up Upcoming: Daffodil Week! Watch IG for snippets. On the Table 24:44 Mango paneer curry dals/meera sodha Maple roasted carrots & double chickpeas hetty liu mckinnon Sheet pan gnocchi with spinach, sausage/beans and creamy pesto julia turshen Cooking from Keepers by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion Fusilli with Broccolini (used sourdough fusilli and ground turkey). Morning Chicken (with creamer potatoes and asparagus in one tray). MUG cake! With my fave strawberry protein powder. On the Nightstand 36:43 We are now a Bookshop.org affiliate! You can visit our shop to find books we've talked about or click on the links below. The books are supplied by local independent bookstores and a percentage goes to us at no cost to you! Glow of the Everflame (kindred's curse saga #2) by Penn Cole The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia #1) by Carissa Broadbent rose/house by Arkady Martine Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, trans by Lin King Ok, now the tragedies: Penance by Kristin Koval Still Life with Remorse by Maira Kalman We Loved it All by Lydia Millet Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Mr. Christopher and Michael Bland sit down with bass gawd MonoNeon to discuss his upbringing, his wardrobe, the sock, Prince, the album he worked on with Prince (Black is the New Black), inspirations, and much more. Tune in and vibe out.
This week, the boys sit down with Jordan, a friend of the show, to discuss his updated Miata, talk drift style, Final Bout, and more! Support REVIVAL MOTORING https://revivalmotoring.com/
In this episode of Flow, hosts Jessica Richmond and sex therapist Sarah Watson are joined by guests Jade and Leslie (Bloodstream Media / Believe Limited teammates) to play a game called 'MiTV, Menstruation in Television'! They review and rate the accuracy of menstruation portrayals in various TV shows and films, including 'Euphoria', 'Orange is the New Black', 'Game of Thrones', 'Grease', 'Big Mouth', and 'The Handmaid's Tale'. The discussion highlights the importance of normalizing menstruation - complete with humorous and heartfelt commentary. Key takeaways? Pop culture is getting better at representing the monthly cycle as it continues to show women supporting each other during menstruation. Program Notes: Episode Links: Euphoria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRcvQN1lYzw Big Mouth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEbQ7CQPfNI Orange is New Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quh92wZ7gUw Game of Thrones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1hF0CbzGDY Grease: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHmHesDYPzw How's Your Flow? We wanna know (Calendly link): https://calendly.com/flowtalk/flow-talk-period-pain-stories HOST: Jessica RIchmond Website: jrich.online IG, @jessicalaurenrichmond Twitter @geniuspills Tik Tok @jrichsocal HOST: Sarah Watson Website: sarahwatsonlpc.com Podcast: Behind The Bedroom Door Facebook: @sarahwatsonlpcsextherapy IG @swsxtherapy Twitter @swsextherapy Presenting Sponsor: #Takeda, visit bleedingdisorders.com to learn more. Connect with BloodStream Media: Find all of our bleeding disorders podcasts on BloodStreamMedia.com BloodStream on Facebook BloodStream on Twitter Check out Believe Limited's Other Work: BloodFeed: bloodfeed.com Bombardier Blood: bombardierblood.com Hemophilia: The Musical: breakingthroughhemophilia.com My Beautiful Stutter: mybeautifulstutter.com/ Stop The Bleeding!: stbhemo.com Teen Impact Awards: teenimpactawards.com The Science Fair: thesciencefair.org
Entertainment News - New Black Mirror and New Diddy AllegationSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Send us a textThe Bruthas singing the greatest love songs ever!!
Rouleur editor Edward Pickering sits down with Dr Marlon Lee Moncrieffe, to have a chat about his latest book, New Black Cyclones: Racism, Representation and Revolutions of Power in Cycling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Subscribe To My Youtube Channel - https://youtube.com/c/dkdynamite1Check Out MORE Coverage Over At DETONATED -https://detonated.comFajarty -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4ygnS4l3rAIJlCvufhsSAStanley557 - https://www.youtube.com/@Stanley557Purchase My NEW Merch & DK Plushies Here - https://dkdynamite.store/Use Code DYNAMITE to Save 10% At Steel Series - https://steelseries.com/Use Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At AimControllers - https://us.aimcontrollers.com/ref/205/?campaign=DKDYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At Gamer Advantage -https://gameradvantage.com/?ref=DYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE to Save 15% At Kontrol Freek -https://www.kontrolfreek.com/Join My Discord Server! -https://discord.gg/QzEcBbgEnjoy Episode 149 Of Bombshell A Weekly Call Of Duty Podcast With NO Filter
Subscribe To My Youtube Channel - https://youtube.com/c/dkdynamite1Check Out MORE Coverage Over At DETONATED -https://detonated.comFajarty -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4ygnS4l3rAIJlCvufhsSADougnuts - https://www.youtube.com/@DoughnutsPurchase My NEW Merch & DK Plushies Here - https://dkdynamite.store/Use Code DYNAMITE to Save 10% At Steel Series - https://steelseries.com/Use Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At AimControllers - https://us.aimcontrollers.com/ref/205/?campaign=DKDYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE To Save 10% At Gamer Advantage -https://gameradvantage.com/?ref=DYNAMITEUse Code DYNAMITE to Save 15% At Kontrol Freek -https://www.kontrolfreek.com/Join My Discord Server! -https://discord.gg/QzEcBbgEnjoy Episode 146 Of Bombshell A Weekly Call Of Duty Podcast With NO Filter
A Texas sheriff belives the color pink may be the missing secret sauce for his jail. In this Friday edition of our "Anything But Politics" segment, Jenna maps out the arguments for and against the fashion choice for prisoners. Plus, a related tangent: we tell you a bit about the woman behind this quote and why she mattered: “If Mabel had worn trousers, she could have been president.” Show Notes: Sheriff's FB Post Houston Chronicle Mabel Walker Willebrandt Federal Bureau of Prisons SUPPORT OUR MISSION Shop our gear! If you'd like to help support SmartHER News' mission of a free, independent, nonpartisan press – here's how you can become a SCOOP insider: https://www.scoop.smarthernews.com/get-the-inside-scoop/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarthernews/ Website: https://smarthernews.com/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/smarthernews
The latest Remarkable Retail podcast delivers a compelling mix of current market news and expert analysis from returning guest Jason "Retail Geek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis.Hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis kick off with the week's headlines, spotlighting the chaos caused by shifting tariff policies. They note that consumer confidence has plummeted amid economic uncertainty, creating leadership challenges across the retail landscape. Steve reflects that while the COVID crisis taught resilience, today's volatility requires leaders to embrace agility as "the New Black" while avoiding recklessness.The retail news segment highlights several struggling players, most notably Kohl's with its disastrous twelfth consecutive quarter of sales decline. The hosts detail how new CEO Ashley Buchanan is pivoting back to private labels after previous leadership had emphasized national brands, while also apparently abandoning the once-touted Amazon returns program. Steve recounts visiting Kohl's stores filled with heavily discounted merchandise, describing them as "a train wreck" requiring both strategic and executional overhauls.The hosts continue with Ulta Beauty posting modest growth, signaling a slowdown in a category that had performed exceptionally well post-pandemic. Dick's Sporting Goods delivered strong quarterly results but projected significantly slower future growth, reflecting a broader trend of caution across retail.In what the hosts call the "wobbly unicorn corner," they examine former high-flyers facing existential challenges. Allbirds has lost nearly all its market value since IPO, with declining revenue despite shifting from direct-to-consumer to wholesale. Meanwhile, Stitch Fix shows modest signs of recovery under CEO Matt Baer's strategy of focusing on core customers rather than casting too wide a net.When Jason Goldberg joins the conversation, he identifies three dominant client concerns: retail media networks (which he views skeptically), artificial intelligence (both transformative and overhyped), and economic uncertainty creating both challenges and opportunities.Goldberg then provides illuminating analysis of retail market data, revealing that a small handful of giants—primarily Walmart, Amazon, Costco, and Chinese newcomers like Temu and Shein—capture the vast majority of all growth. While e-commerce growth has slowed from pandemic highs, it still significantly outpaces brick-and-mortar retail.Most significantly, Goldberg explains retail's "bifurcation" between digital winners and losers, and between two successful business models: massive "everything stores" and highly curated specialty retailers. The traditional wholesale model caught in between—particularly department stores—is struggling regardless of execution quality or market position.The episode ends with a teaser for part two, promising Goldberg's insights on the future of wholesale, Amazon's grocery ambitions, social commerce, and TikTok Shops—compelling reasons for listeners to return for the continuation of this insightful conversation.Links:https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevendennis/2017/12/04/retail-reality-its-death-in-the-middle/ About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
Is it time to unbecome the person you don't want to be? Our guest today is executive leadership, life, and business coach Kim Fitzpatrick. Kim is also the CEO and founder of Legacy By Kim and the co-host of the Fitzlife Unfiltered podcast. She specializes in mindset mastery and business growth as a private strategist and mentor, blending experience with intuition to help high achievers elevate their businesses, lives, and legacies. Kim has been through a lot in business and life, and she spent a lot of years healing—and even more finding fun again. Being an entrepreneur isn't just about hard work, it's also about heart work. It's about being brave enough to become who you were always meant to be. In this episode, you will learn about: How Kim feels about being in midlife and what it means to her. Why becoming a mom changed the trajectory of her life forever. The quest of figuring out who you are when no one is watching. Why being an overworked entrepreneur isn't a badge of honor. Why it's okay to be your silly self—even in the boardroom. What happens when you outgrow your old self and how to move forward gracefully. Why you shouldn't wait for the validation you need (and what to do instead). How to embrace the discomfort that comes with the big shifts in life. What Kim's coaching conversations look like and how she instills clarity. What it means to be a wild woman: Just figuring it out through your intuition and deep knowing. Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedVA. Transform your business growth with expert virtual team members who handle your essential tasks. Visit LinkedVA.com to discover how their virtual assistants can give you back valuable time in your day. Check out The Pink Skirt Project, happening June 12, 2025 in Kelowna, BC, Canada. Got a minute? I would love a review! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap, and give me five stars. Then select "Write a Review." Make sure to highlight your favorite bits. Subscribe here. Connect with Kim: www.jamieandkimfitzpatrick.com www.instagram.com/kim_m_fitzpatrick www.linkedin.com/in/kimfitzpatrickconsulting Connect with Renée: @renee_warren www.reneewarren.com
Rebecca Campbell is a transformational author, mystic, artist, speaker, teacher and podcaster supporting people to connect with their soul.Founder of The Inner Temple Mystery School and Oracle Card Reader Certification, Rebecca's mission is to weave the sacred back into everyday life. Her books, oracles, songs, mystery school, trainings, events, retreats and 'Three Steps to Living a Soul-Led Life' have transformed hundreds of thousands of people's lives all around the world.Rebecca is the bestselling author of numerous books and oracle decks, including Your Soul Had A Dream, Your Life Is It, The Rose Oracle, Rise Sister Rise, Light Is the New Black, Letters To A Starseed, Work Your Light Oracle, The Ancient Stones Oracle, The Healing Waters Oracle and Starseed Oracle. Rebecca is the founder of The Inner Temple Mystery School, The Certified Oracle Card Reader Training and The Sanctuary Membership. Her books and oracle decks have been translated into 20 different languages and can be found in all corners of the globe.___________________PODCAST CHAPTERS00:00 - Rebecca Campbell Intro02:15 - Rebecca's Mystical Awakening in 201702:54 - The Great Mother and Cellular Change05:09 - The Dark Nights of the Soul06:55 - The Transformation of the Oracle Figure13:11 - The Thorn, the Bud, and the Rose17:16 - Mystical Experiences and Integration19:31 - The Spiritual Perspective on Miscarriage24:39 - Synchronicities of Birth and Loss27:35 - The Council of Light and Collective Mission28:28 - Understanding the Double Mission31:11 - The Quickening and Media's Role32:09 - Changing Structures and Systems36:06 - Allowing Things to Properly End38:59 - Grief vs. Depression: The Movement of Life41:14 - The Intelligent Pulse of Life and Death41:59 - Birth, Death, and Sacred Motherhood47:09 - The Gates of Life: Birth and Death Mysteries50:33 - The Beauty of Childbirth54:49 - Nature as the Ultimate Mystery School56:37 - Raising Children of the New Earth01:01:55 - Parenting as a Spiritual Practice01:03:17 - Using Oracle Tools for Humanity's Future01:06:07 - The Call of the Great Mother01:07:57 - The Great Mother's Call in Men01:09:02 - The Final Trio01:10:10 - Flowers and Divine Timing01:11:11 - The Time Capsule Question: Message for Future Generations01:12:21 - Sacred Waters: A Gift for the Future___________________Guest: Rebecca Campbell, Oracle, Author, MysticWebsite | https://rebeccacampbell.me/Membership | https://rebeccacampbell.me/membership/Returning Podcast | https://rebeccacampbell.me/podcast/Shop All Oracle Cards | https://mc.rebeccacampbell.me/section/oracle-cards/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/rebeccacampbell_author/Host: Emilio OrtizInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/iamemilioortiz/Subscribe to YouTube Channel | https://www.youtube.com/EmilioOrtiz Watch Emilio's latest series on 4biddenknowledge TV l https://bit.ly/AwakenThe6thSense__________________Special Offerings to Support the Show:✦ Make a One-Time or Recurring Donation on PayPal
Jeff's still not blasting Post Malone on repeat, but he's totally here for the epic live concert glow-up and the warm buzzies it's bringing to the community. Jeremy, meanwhile, is lounging in his ‘jammies'. They're chewing over the tastiest trend of the moment: Yum is the New Black, folks! And hold onto your nuggets, because some dude's gone viral after discovering his chicken nuggets were a chicken-free zone. Internet gold or generic brand fail? Jeff and Jeremy break it down—jammies optional.
Michelle Smith, founder of Recovery Is the New Black, joins me for a unfiltered conversation about sobriety, shame, and breaking free from the grip of alcohol. We spill the tea about the truth behind mommy wine culture, the trap of moderation, and why drinking is so deeply ingrained in women's lives.Michelle shares her journey from working in corrections and addiction recovery to struggling with her alcohol use disorder, exposing the stigma that keeps so many stuck.We talk about how to build real connections without alcohol, the hardest parts of getting sober, and why quitting drinking is the ultimate act of self-love.If you've ever questioned your relationship with alcohol or wondered, "Do I have a problem?", this conversation will bring you the answer you need. And can provide you with hope to end the guilt and shame cycle, once and for all!Connect with Michelle:Instagram: @RecoveryIsTheNewBlackWebsite & Coaching: Recovery Is The New BlackStep into Your Sober Era! Are you ready to embrace a life of clarity and empowerment? Let's embark on this transformative journey together! [Subscribe Now ➔] Sam's Sober Stack | Samantha Parker | Substack Want to Work with The Samantha Parker for Content Management CLICK HERE Grab my Sober Travel Tips Guide HERE Check out My Sober Storefront HERE Follow me on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaparkershow YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@thesamanthaparker Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thesamanthaparker/ Grab $10 off Curious Elixirs https://oken.do/ho7cxduy Shop Ryze Coffee - Grab 15% Off HERE
In this episode, Kate, Jeff, and Nidhi dive into the latest developments shaping economics, media, technology, and entertainment in 2025. From tariffs impacting trade to the evolution of streaming platforms and AI innovation, we explore how industries are navigating uncertainty and embracing change. Highlights include insights from the US Federal Reserve Beige Book, Oscars viewership trends, YouTube's app redesign, and updates from the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference.Segments(00:00) Introduction(00:28) Global Economics Overview(01:32) Beige Book Insights(02:45) US Consumer Spending Trends(03:30) Tariffs and Price Increases(05:02) F1 Viewership Insights(07:13) European Media Owners Report(08:55) Linear TV Trends in Europe(09:56) Germany's Cable TV Shift(11:00) Streaming vs. Linear TV(14:52) Out-of-Home Advertising Growth(15:32) Programmatic Advertising in OOH(16:18) YouTube's Redesign & Aggregation(17:04) The Battle for the Living Room(19:41) Morgan Stanley TMT Conference Highlights(20:10) Fox's DTC Strategy(22:31) Netflix's Ad Business Growth(24:00) Disney's Focus on Advertising(24:34) Warner Bros. Content Strategy(25:55) Weekend Plans & Closing RemarksSome links:GroupM's This Year Next Year 2024 End of Year Report: https://www.groupm.com/this-year-next-year-2024-global-end-of-year-forecast/US Federal Reserve Beige Book: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/BeigeBook_20250305.pdf Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to hit the follow button, and rate us on your favorite podcast platform. And we'd love to hear from you—drop a comment or share your thoughts with us on LinkedIn.
We are absolutely delighted to share this brand new interview with Erika Hardison, cultural journalist and founder of Fabulize magazine. We discuss Erika's comics “A Taste of Venus” which appeared in WE BELONG: The All-Black, All-LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Comics Anthology, nominated for best anthology at the Ignatz Awards for 2024, her comic "Entanglement" in Noir is the New Black, and her compelling adaptation of “Telephone” by Erykah Badu in Afrofutures. We also get into her upcoming book SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW…STATIC (SHOCK) and Static Shock's indelible mark on comic.! Plus, we swoon over Queen Latifah, debate Charmed vs. Buffy (there was no winner), and so much more! Follow Erika Hardison on BlueSky @rosasparks.bsky.social and learn more about and sign up for the newsletter at Fabulize Magazine. Pick up your copy of Ignatz nominated We Belong: The All-Black, All-LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Comics Anthology from Stacked Deck Press. Erika's story “A Taste of Venus” is not to be missed! Get your copy of Noir is the New Black and check out Erika's “Entanglement.” And don't miss Afrofutures featuring Erika's adaptation of “Telephone” by Erykah Badu. You can sign up for the monthly-ish? Bitches on Comics newsletter on our website. Follow Bitches on Comics on Bluesky and you can learn more about host Monika Estrella Negra at: http://audresrevenge.weebly.com You can learn more about host S.E. Fleenor at sefleenor.com and follow them on BlueSky. Follow our Sound Editor Kate on Twitter. Show us some love by giving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PodChaser, or wherever you get your podcasts. Support us by joining our Patreon Community at http://patreon.com/queerspec. Keep in touch with us, check out our curated listening lists, and see what we're up to by visiting our website: BitchesOnComics.com Please consider contributing to In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, “a national-state partnership that amplifies and lifts the voices of Black women leaders to secure sexual and reproductive justice for Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people.” We support and appreciate their imperative work and hope you will join us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Breaking Down Kendrick Lamar's cultural genius and impact. Y'all niggas still NOT LIKE US.
Kevin and Monique recorded a spontaneous conversation discussing the recent viral video from rapper, Dank Demoss, who is suing Lyft for not accommodating her weight. This leads to a larger conversation about intersectionality, critical theory, Herbert Marcuse and fat studies. Be sure to stay connected by downloading the CFBU app! With the CFBU app, you'll have all our resources (Theology Mom, All the Things Show, and CFBU) at your fingertips. Search for "center for biblical unity" in your app store. Sponsored by Center for Biblical Unity Get Off Code merch: https://center-for-biblical-unity.myshopify.com/collections/off-code-podcast Support this podcast: https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/donate Email: offcode@centerforbiblicalunity.com
DryCleanerCast a podcast about Espionage, Terrorism & GeoPolitics
Russia's latest covert warfare escalations take center stage in this week's Espresso Martini. Chris and Matt unpack the emergence of the GRU's Department of Special Tasks, a new clandestine unit coordinating assassinations, sabotage, and hybrid warfare operations against the West. They also break down an alarming report on a Russia-linked Telegram network inciting terrorism and hate crimes in the UK—just another front in Moscow's war of destabilization. Plus, listener questions on the dilemmas of counterterrorism, the future of Five Eyes under Trump, and top spy books, both fiction and non-fiction. Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, geopolitics, and current affairs. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/O_uErvzy13o Articles discussed in today's episode "A New Spy Unit Is Leading Russia's Shadow War Against the West" by Bojan Pancevski | The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/russia-spy-covert-attacks-8199e376 "A Russia-linked Telegram network is inciting terrorism and is behind hate crimes in the UK" by Gregory Davis | Hope Not Hate: https://hopenothate.org.uk/2025/02/10/exclusive-a-russia-linked-telegram-network-is-inciting-terrorism-and-is-behind-hate-crimes-in-the-uk/ Recommended Spy Reads In this episode, we share some of our favorite spy books—both fiction and non-fiction. Whether you're looking for deep dives into real-world espionage or classic spy thrillers, these picks have you covered. Chris's Picks: A mix of gripping true stories and classic spy fiction, covering Cold War betrayals, intelligence tradecraft, and covert operations. Fiction: Agents of Innocence (David Ignatius), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (John le Carré), Ashenden (W. Somerset Maugham), The Deceiver (Frederick Forsyth), Damascus Station (David McCloskey) Non-Fiction: Next Stop Execution (Oleg Gordievsky), The Art of Intelligence (Henry Crumpton), The Black Banners (Ali Soufan), The Good Spy (Kai Bird), Spy Master (Helen Fry) Matt's Picks: Essential reads on espionage, covert ops, and spycraft—plus some of the genre's best novels. Fiction: The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Tom Clancy), The Sum of All Fears (Tom Clancy), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (John le Carré), The Honourable Schoolboy (John le Carré), Smiley's People (John le Carré), The Quiet American (Graham Greene) Non-Fiction: Spycraft (H. Keith Melton), Rise and Kill First (Ronen Bergman), Relentless Strike (Sean Naylor), Killer Elite (Michael Smith), The Targeter (Nada Bakos), Dead Drop (Jeremy Duns), The US Intelligence Community (Jeffrey Richelson) Support Secrets and Spies Become a “Friend of the Podcast” on Patreon for £3/$4: www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies Buy merchandise from our Redbubble shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 Subscribe to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com Connect with us on social media Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/secretsandspies.bsky.social Instagram: https://instagram.com/secretsandspies Facebook: https://facebook.com/secretsandspies Spoutible: https://spoutible.com/SecretsAndSpies Follow Chris and Matt on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/fultonmatt.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/chriscarrfilm.bsky.social Secrets and Spies is produced by Films & Podcasts LTD. Music by Andrew R. Bird Secrets and Spies takes you deep inside the world of espionage, terrorism, and international intrigue. Each episode unpacks global events through the lens of intelligence and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and analysts.
Today's show sponsored by: Goldco — 10% Instant Match in BONUS SILVER, for qualified JLP Show listeners Learn more at https://JesseLovesGold.com or 855-644-GOLD JLP Wed 1-8-25 Stop thinking and be free. HOUR 1 Los Angeles fires. Be myself? Forgive. Single mother. // HOUR 2 Know God, drop anger… Teacher throws student! Terminal illness. // HOUR 3 Manhood Hour: Move away. Stop thinking. Gray beard… // Biblical Question: Are you living from your mind or from your spirit? ⏰ TIMESTAMPS (0:00:00) HOUR 1 (0:04:46) Fires in L.A., CA (0:13:23) Karen Bass, fire hydrants, Rick Caruso, L.A. (0:21:16) ALIYANA, IN, 1st, 10: Be myself? Why you talk on the phone? (0:25:55) CARLOS, Canada, 1st: Mother avoiding me; violent upbringing (0:30:19) Goldco… TFS: Stephanie Chung (0:35:11) CARLOS: Stay with it (0:37:19) JOSH, GA: BQ, spirit (0:38:50) NICOLE (sp), MI, 1st, single mother: Raise kids better? … Sinner? (0:55:00) NEWS (1:01:56) HOUR 2 (1:03:36) NYC felony assault reoffenders (1:05:54) NICOLE: Anger separates you from God. Never had a problem. (1:11:58) REMY, UK: Past: I am my memories. Can't get rid of them. (1:21:25) Supers: Fires, BQ, Self-driving cars… "Going in circles" (1:31:25) Teacher threw student (1:37:24) VINCE, TX, 1st: Forgave, but parents didn't accept it (1:40:23) CARLOS, TX, 1st: Terminal illness, want family to get along (1:55:00) NEWS … HOUR 3 (2:02:43) Manhood Hour, "diversity" vs Joel; Return to the father; thoughts (2:11:38) CARLOS: Can't help fam. Work on you. Don't say "my illness." (2:21:17) ELI, Canada: Don't look for a church. BQ: Stop thinking. (2:27:41) Supers… (2:32:18) Christian man's response to OF woman at 5 Guys (2:36:51) Son picked on by black kids at school (2:39:55) Violent young lady loses mind, fired at airport shop (2:41:42) Supers: Gray Jesse… (2:46:08) ANTHONY, NV: You can stop thinking! (2:50:05) STEVEN, IL, 1st, 27: parents (2:54:33) ARDENE, CO: schools, teacher burnout (2:55:56) Closing: Drop the anger, forgive mama