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This is an Annette on the Road post at Non-Boring History, in which your host, historian Annette Laing, plays tourist around the US and UK.Voiceover podcasts of NBH posts are normally only available to paid subscribers, but this time, it's a free sample. Join us today to get every one Annette records!Note from AnnetteJames Garfield belongs to that select group of American presidents whom people remember—if at all— for being assassinated. Look, I'm not an exception to “people”. I'm a historian, sure. Dr. Laing, that's me! But historians don't know everything about history. Not even in our own subjects. Not even close. Or close to close.Hoosen and I did not mean to stop at President James Garfield's home. But while Hoosen was peering at our tires in this land-that-time-forgot-yet-cool gas station parking lot in Mentor, Ohio, I peered at Google Maps. I noticed we were a half mile from the James A. Garfield House, and that it's owned by the National Parks Service.Sorry, libertarians, but even non-historian Hoosen has noticed that a federal government museum is a guarantee of high quality, and as is sometimes the case, as here, it means free admission. Think of the taxpayer value as I spread the word and you read it! Trust me, there's no commercial value in a Garfield museum, but there is value.This museum isn't about Garfield's extremely short presidency (100 days) much less his political career. It's about James Garfield's home, and what happened to that home after his untimely death. Home, Sweet Home!Middle class Victorians—American and British— put the family home on a pedestal. Until now, the home for most Americans had been a workplace, a farm or a shop or a workshop, where the whole family worked together, ate, and slept. But big changes in the economy in the 19th century meant that many men of the new middle class now left the home to work, kind of the reverse of going remote. Such men now thought of home sentimentally, as a cosy refuge from a cruel and complicated world. Their wives (typically more educated than their predecessors) continued to stay home, but now had servants to do much of the drudgery. Middle-class women were encouraged to consider the home their domain. The Garfields were no exception. This estate, Lawnfield, is their home, and it appears largely as it did when Mrs. Garfield died. The lawn of its name would become more important than the field. When the Garfields bought Lawnfield, however, it was a working farm. Garfield bought this place because he wanted his kids to grow up on a farm, just like he had, only with more money. James Garfield thought that farms were an essential part of a great, healthy childhood. Which is striking, because James Garfield was an unlikely champion of the “good old days”: He helped usher in the modern age.Garfield fought in the Civil War, tried to improve civil rights and education for newly freed slaves, and even participated in the great money grab as the American “gilded age” began. He also added eleven rooms to his farmhouse to accommodate the family in comfort, so his commitment to the simple farm life had its limits. Yet James Garfield wasn't entirely comfortable with modern life. Garfield had grown up in what historians call a “face to face” society, in which people mostly dealt with people they knew, or at least recognized. Even the “front porch” political campaign technique James Garfield invented harked back to an earlier time: On Lawnfield's front porch, he met voters. But he also met there with newspaper reporters who communicated his words around the nation and the world- very modern. Lawnfield, as a farm, was mostly cosplay for the Garfields. Most of the farmwork at Lawnfield was done by hired men. But James and the children also dabbled at farm chores, pitching hay to build character. James Garfield was a self-made and possibly a teensy bit corrupt politician (see Credit Mobilier scandal).I've written at Non-Boring History about an over-the-top monument to two of the most scandalous men involved in Credit Mobilier :So James Garfield was very much a man of the mid-19th century. He was torn between the modern world of cities and business, and the agricultural world of his youth that was fast disappearing.What I most enjoyed about visiting Lawnfield was that about 80% of the house furnishings really had belonged to the Garfields, which is very unusual for a house museum. Let me rush to add that I'm not one of those people who's super-interested in old furniture. No, what I liked about the Garfield house is that I felt (rightly or wrongly) that I could sense the family personality. No, no ghosts, please. I'm a historian, for heavens' sake. I have some standards. No, okay, I don't, I love ghost stories, but not today.Home Shadowy Home: American Victorians I love a gloomy, gaslit Victorian house. Yes, ok, the Garfield home is all-electric now for health and safety, but work with me here. The house is dark, cluttered, and makes me think of arsenic poisoning, and other morbid mid-Victorian subjects. Look, the problem isn't me, at least I don't think it is. Victorians were weird, and especially the people I think of as mid-Victorians, a period I am going to date from 1851 to 1875, based on British historian Geoffrey Best's definition of mid-Victorian Britain. In this case, those dates marking off the era work fairly well for America too. Oh, what the hey. If Geoffrey Best could decide when a historical period ends, so can Annette Laing! I say 1881 for the end of the mid-Victorian era. Oh, that's the year James Garfield died? You don't say. Perfect! 1881 it is! ANNOUNCEMENT from the NBH QUALITY CONTROL GNOME : Dr. Laing is correct that historians can argue for changes in commonly-accepted dates for the beginning and end of historical periods. Most historians, however, would consider changing the ending date of the British mid-Victorian era simply because a United States president, in Annette's words, “snuffed it” that year is, however, unconvincing. Thank you.Mid- Victorians like James Garfield lived in an increasingly modern age, and yet death stalked the land like, as the old BBC historical sitcom Blackadder would put it, a giant stalking thing. Americans and Brits, especially those living in cities, were defenseless against disease. Antibiotics were almost a century in the future. Anesthetics and antiseptics were in their infancy. Germs were a new concept. Sewer systems and clean water were a novelty. Victorians were only just learning that illness wasn't a product of “bad air” (note those high ceilings and lots of windows in Victorian institutions). Result? Children, especially, died in horrifying numbers. James and Lucretia Garfield lost two kids in infancy, and James himself was named for a brother, James, who had died young. Get a little shudder at the idea of naming a child after a deceased sibling? Welcome to history!How gloomy is this hallway in the Garfield House? In fact, my wonderful phone camera automatically brightened up the room: It was actually darker than you see. Here's Claire, our NPS tour guide (but without the intimidating Smokey the Bear uniform) who was full of energy, knowledge, and good cheer, which while appreciated, seemed at first to be all wrong for this setting. I was thinking we should have been led by some guy dressed as Lurch the Butler from the Addams family.This hall wasn't a welcoming space to strangers when the Garfields lived here. Most callers had to run through a selection process. When a servant greeted you at the door, she looked you up and down to see if you were suitable for admission. If you passed her first test, she invited you into this hall, and you deposited your visiting card on a waiting plate. A visiting card was basically like a business card, except that only your name was on it. If you graduated high school in the US, you may recall the company that expensively printed your graduation invitation also hit you up for visiting cards. A rip off, wasn't it?Right. Anyway. So the servant now shows you into the reception area (entryway is in the photo above, next to the dude on the left who's staring at the ceiling). Here you wait awkwardly, standing or sitting on a bench or upright chair, while the maid takes the card upstairs to the mistress of the house. She will decide whether to come down and receive you in the parlor, or whether she will instruct the maid to tell you she's unavailable (at least to you) and show you the door. Until then, you are not admitted into the family home. Indeed, there were sliding wooden “pocket” doors in this reception room which were closed so you can't see into the family room or the dining room that leads off it. The pocket doors are now gone, but they were once there, as I pointed out to a surprised Claire the guide, who examined the doorways and confirmed my hunch, while everyone else wondered how that funny little British woman knew such a thing, or thought me some ghastly showing-off Karen.This reception area, created for the purposes of the odd little ritual I just described, wasn't here when the Garfields moved in, or even when James died. It was originally the kitchen. The reception area was devised by Mrs. Garfield after her husband's death. That's because, in her very public widowhood, Mrs. Garfield had further converted the home from workplace to middle-class family sanctuary.On Garfield (man, not cartoon cat)James Abram Garfield may have been the poorest man ever to have ended up as President, and he was definitely the last United States President to be born in a log cabin, a type of tiny dwelling that definitely wasn't a lifestyle choice in 1831.Not only was James Garfield's family poor, but they got poorer: His dad, Abram, died when he was a baby, and he and his four siblings were raised in poverty by his single mother, Eliza. Like many Americans, and especially in new Midwestern states like Ohio, the Garfields were repeat migrants. Eliza's family started out in Wales, something of which she was very proud, while Abram's came from Warwickshire, Shakespeare's county, two centuries before James' birth. The first American Garfields came over as part of the Great Migration of Puritans in 1630 who started Massachusetts. But, like many poor New Englanders, some Garfields eventually moved on to New York State, where land was cheaper.Garfield's dad, Abram, traveled to Ohio all the way from rural New York to propose to the girl of his dreams. He arrived to discover she had already married someone else, and so, not wanting to waste the journey, he married her sister instead. When James was a baby, Abram and his wife Eliza were caught up in the Second Great Awakening of the early 1830s, a massive evangelical Christian movement that swept America. As an early Americanist, I'm more familiar with the first Great Awakening (about a century earlier) but the second was just as profound. The Garfields got religion, but Abram died not long after. James, as the youngest, became very close to his mum, Eliza.So, in short, young James Garfield was poor, fatherless, and after his mother remarried and then divorced, a member of a scandalous family. He was ostracized by his peers. But he had the kind of rags-to-riches success story that Victorian Americans loved, and that were broadcast in the books of Horatio Alger. Indeed, Alger wrote a biography of Garfield called From Canal Boy to President. Alger's implied message was that if you're not rich, you're just not trying hard enough, a message that has caused Americans great anxiety from that day to this, and kind of ignores the roles of inherited wealth, connections, corruption, and plain old luck in gaining worldly success.James Garfield didn't have boyhood friends. So, instead, he read books, and learned. He left home at 16, and tried working on the new canals of the 1840s. But illness forced him home. His mother encouraged him to try school, which he did, and the education bug bit him. After two years of schooling, he was determined to go to college. Working as a part-time teacher, carpenter, and janitor, James Garfield paid his own way through Williams College in Massachusetts. And before anyone says “He couldn't afford to do that now,” he would certainly have qualified for full financial aid today.When I read Garfield described as a “radical Republican” and an abolitionist, I figured I had a handle on his politics. But I quickly realized that no, I don't, and I don't have time to learn enough to write confidently on his career. I really don't get 19th century politics —good luck getting that kind of honesty from pretendy “historians” of the blowhard fake variety! Sure, Garfield was radical: He supported abolition, and education for former slaves. But he opposed the eight hour day, labor unions, and federal government relief during economic downturns. So I'm not going to write about his politics until I read a book or two.Back to Garfield's house and family!Garfield's Doting MumI started to get a feeling of looming tragedy when the tour got to this room. This was where Garfield's mum Eliza lived when she moved in with the family. Check out the impractical but gorgeous Victorian stained glass firescreen emblazoned with Garfield's face in the top right corner. A firescreen is supposed to prevent burning embers entering the room from a fireplace. In summer, when the fireplace wasn't used, the fire screen served as a decorative thingy. This firescreen, featuring Garfield's head in stained glass, is just one of several images of Garfield in his mother's bedroom, as you can see above. Eliza outlived her favorite child, the boy who, unbelievably, had become president, by several years. It was, it seemed to me, a tragic room, a fragile room. I was already thinking of the gloomy Garfield home as a very sad place.Yet this was also a home filled with people, judging from the number of bedrooms. This one caught my eye because of the delicately patterned carpet.Let's take a closer look, shall we?WHAT HELL IS THIS? Was President Garfield a Nazi before Nazis were a thing?? No worries. The swastika was a symbol of good luck before the Nazis ruined it. Please try to look at this carpet from the perspective of people who had never heard of Hitler, and would be horrified if they had. Real, Flesh and Blood Americans: A President and His FamilyRoom by room, the Victorian Garfield family came to life. The dining room, where they gathered, was a typically formal middle-class Victorian room, sure. But the dining room was warmed by a fireplace surrounded by individually painted tiles that every child had a hand in creating. Suddenly, I was intrigued. Painting personalized tiles was a project that suggested a happy home. There were at least two pianos, so this wasn't the quiet house that greets us today: I imagine a kid or two was always bashing away on the ivories. No, wait, they were Victorians . . . Playing the piano properly, with straight backs. Or was I stereotyping?Garfield's children remained a muddled lot in my head, but I did enjoy the teenage girl room, with its “Turkish corner”, bright fabric wall hangings over a daybed, kind of like having a batik hanging over a beanbag for a later generation, and its cluttered dressing table (think loads of make-up today).Garfield's library was a very masculine space, just what you would imagine a Victorian father would have. A sort of ship feel to the design. Pictures of Civil War Union General William T. Sherman, French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, and founder of Germany Otto Von Bismarck, an odd collection of powerful men, lined up on the walls. And, of course, a huge, eclectic book collection, including the delightfully titled Brain Hygiene, a Victorian manual of psychology from the people who brought you measuring heads to check for mental illness (Oh, and Americans, gotta love your often slightly odd applications of the word “hygiene” over the years, just saying. Love you. Mwah.)The highlight of the house in my view, though, was this chair in Garfield's study. His kids had it made for him in light of Dad's habit of sitting in a desk chair sideways while reading, draping his legs over the side. Can't you just see him lounging in this? Much less formal and stuffy than his portraits and the library suggest!A Real Victorian Woman: Mrs. Garfield Takes ChargeFor me, Lucretia Garfield did not come at all into the picture until Garfield's assassination, and then, boy, did she. A Victorian GoFundMe raised the equivalent of millions for the family, and Lucretia sprang into action with the money. She had all the farm buildings (except the house) moved back on the lot, away from the road, and the house expanded to be more befitting of a martyred president. She completed Lawnfield's emphasis as a respectable middle-class family home that received frequent visitors, more than a working farm. And Lawnfield was an increasingly modern home. A widowed Lucretia did not shrink away from technical stuff. She learned that there was a source of natural gas on the property, and had the power source converted to gas from coal. The gas house is still on the grounds, next to the visitor center. Garfield 's library now became the focus of Lawnfield's third role as a semi-public shrine to a martyred President. Lucretia expanded the library in the years after her husband's death, adding a walk-in safe for official documents that even included a desk for researchers who hopefully didn't have claustrophobia. Lucretia basically created the first US Presidential Library, although the official holder of that title is the purpose-built Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York.There's even a touch of Lucretia in the remodeled library: A photo of Queen Victoria, who had written Lucretia a letter after James's death. Queen Victoria, who became a professional widow after Prince Albert's early death at age 41, twenty years before Garfield's assassination, wrote Mrs. Garfield a very sweet letter of consolation, which you can also see on site. I was pleasantly surprised by her words. I thought Victoria would, as usual, turn the letter's subject immediately to Albert (Never mind your husband, what about mine?) but she only did that a little bit in her note to Lucretia Garfield. When Death and Life Came to LawnfieldA deranged assassin named Charles Guiteau shot James Garfield at a train station in Washington DC in September 1881, just three months after he was inaugurated. Garfield took two months to die, and might even have survived if his doctors had paid more attention to British surgeon Joseph Lister's work, and not messed around in Garfield's wound with unwashed hands and instruments.Garfield was popular, and especially so after his death, only 100 days into his presidency, because it came as such a shock to the nation. In the museum in the visitor center, you will find all the creepy Victorian cult of death stuff on display: The preserved mattress used as an improvised stretcher to get him from the train station to a bed. The black-bordered stationery. The death mask. The souvenirs. The works. But our tour guide, Claire, insisted that the Garfield children later remembered Lawnfield as a happy, lively place. Wikipedia uses the word “cheerful” to describe the family who came to the White House in 1881. James Garfield, the fatherless boy from poverty (but whose family roots in New England suggested he had inherited educational wealth), and Lucretia Garfield, the intelligent and educated woman of her time whom Garfield met in college in Massachusetts, had done well by their five surviving children. Alone, Lucretia took charge, caring for kids, mother-in-law, home, and new role as Presidential widow. These people aren't remote and fascinating relics. They're real. Lucretia Garfield long outlived her husband, and spent at least part of the year at this house until her own death in 1918.Before leaving, I had a chat with Mary the National Parks Service ranger at the reception desk. Yes, Mary was one of those unlikely-looking museum staff in a quasi-military uniform with broad hat, Brits, don't worry, I don't get it either. But Mary was very pleasant. She asked me where Hoosen and I were headed next, and I told her. She said, “Oh, but you'll know about Guiteau, of course?”No. I didn't know about Guiteau and his connection to my next destination. But I was about to find out. Nothing is newThis post first appeared in earlier form (not much different) at Non-Boring History in 2022. Our next stop, long planned (unlike our stop in Mentor, Ohio), was in New York State, about 350 miles away. By astonishing coincidence, it really did have a direct connection with James Garfield, and also a very different interpretation of domestic bliss from the Garfield home in Mentor.Did you know? Become a paid subscriber and you get access to all my work. That includes EVERY weekly Tuesday post and my Sometimes Saturday posts for supporting subscribers only. It's a deal, I tell you! Going paid also gives you access to more than five hundred other still-fresh posts, including these, about our fascinating visit to a unique place in New York State that followed our stop in Mentor:Part 2 includes my chat with Dr. Tom Guiler, the resident historian at this truly astonishing site in New York:I'm Annette Laing, a Brit in America, and I am beyond grateful to every “Nonnie”, aka paying subscriber, in the US, UK, Canada, and around the world, who supports Non-Boring History. No exaggeration: I cannot do this without you and more people like you. In going paid, you can take pride in knowing that you're making it possible for me to continue to write for you as the world churns around us. Not yet a Nonnie? Please join us. Details: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit annettelaing.substack.com/subscribe

What does it take to lead at every level and shape the leaders of tomorrow? SUMMARY Long Blue Line podcast host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 sat with Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman '95, the U.S. Air Force Academy's vice superintendent, for a deep dive into leadership, humanity and building a world-class service academy. This episode is packed with wisdom for aspiring, emerging, and seasoned leaders alike.   SHARE LINKEDIN  |  FACEBOOK   GEN. SHERMAN'S TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS  - Leadership is a human experience - focus on connecting with and caring about people.  - Love what you do and love the people you lead; passion inspires others to follow you.  - Embrace failures and challenges as opportunities for personal growth and development.  - Set the right culture and values within your team to build trust and mutual support.  - Be present and engaged with your team, understanding their motivations and experiences.  - Leadership is about more than rank or position - it's about earning genuine trust and respect.  - Invest time in understanding different generations, cultural nuances, and individual perspectives.  - Balance professional excellence with personal growth and life experiences.  - Support your team's development by providing encouragement and holding them accountable.  - Your legacy is built through individual interactions and the positive impact you have on people's lives.   CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Major General Thomas P. Sherman 01:29 Choosing Leadership Over Flying 07:23 The Impact of Mentorship and Values 12:46 Heritage and Evolution of Security Forces 17:43 Personal Growth in Aviano, Italy 24:17 The Importance of Work-Life Balance 29:50 Culminating Command Experience at Bagram 42:25 The Role of Family in Leadership 51:29 Continuous Self-Improvement as a Leader 56:27 Embracing Failure as a Growth Opportunity 01:00:06 Legacy and the Impact of Leadership   ABOUT GEN. SHERMAN BIO Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman is the Vice Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. He is serving as the chief operations officer to the Superintendent and overseeing the Academy's blend of military training, academics, athletics, and character development for cadets. Gen. Sherman commissioned in 1995 from the Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. He built a distinguished career as a security forces officer. He's held command at nearly every level. His key assignments include leadership of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB and critical staff positions at the Pentagon. In May 2024, Gen. Sherman was tapped to serve as the Academy's Vice Superintendent   CONNECT WITH GEN. SHERMAN LINKEDIN     ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS       TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman '95  |  Host, Lt. Col. (ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz  00:00 Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99 today. I'm joined by a leader whose career has taken him from the flight line to the halls of Congress and now back to the very institution that launched it all. Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Sherman currently serves as vice superintendent of the Air Force Academy, where he plays a critical role in guiding the development of our future officers and ensuring the Academy remains a world class institution for leadership, character and Day 1 readiness to win the future fight. A 1995 Academy graduate, Gen. Sherman has spent nearly three decades serving in key operational, strategic and command roles. He's led at every level, from squadron to wing command, and his assignments have included everything from nuclear security enterprise to homeland defense, policy development at the Pentagon, and legislative affairs at the highest levels of the Department of the Air Force. Prior to his role as vice superintendent, Gen. Sherman served in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, where he was a principal military assistant leading policy integration across joint staff, interagency services and combatant commands. He's perhaps best known in command circles for leading the 88th Air Base wing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, one of the largest and most complex wings in the Air Force, with a focus on people first, leadership and mission excellence. Gen. Sherman, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad you're here too.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  01:32 It is great to be here. Thank you.   Naviere Walkewicz  01:33 We're excited and we're going to dive right in, because I think what is so special for our listeners is really hearing these moments that have changed your life. I'd like to start at the Academy. You turned down a pilot slot. You were rated, but said no.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  01:48 Well, actually it was a little bit before that. You know, it's kind of interesting, because that was the draw that brought me here, is I just had this incredible passion to want to fly, and I love flying, and I truly enjoyed it, especially through all the different airmanship programs and things like and things like that we had here. The experiences were fantastic. But, you know, as I was starting to learn more about myself going through the Academy, I was starting to feel my heart getting pulled in a direction of wanting to really lead people and really spend a lot of time working with the enlisted. And I think that came from a couple different areas. I think it was some really unique exposure that I got during my ops Air Force time, which I went to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, during ops, and just had our action officer that worked this, I think just did a phenomenal job. And I really started getting pulled to what was then called security police. That is actually when Laurie and I got together and started dating, because Laurie is here in Colorado Springs, but she grew up as an Air Force brat. My father-in-law is a retired Chief Master Sgt., and so there was a lot of mentorship that was taking place around dining room table when I was a young cadet. And I think one of the things that her parents really taught me was just the value of the enlisted force, and so I was feeling my heart really getting pulled. And so obviously, there's a conundrum. There's a conundrum on what were the root desires that brought me here — what were the things that I was learning as a cadet, my joy of flying, and also, particularly the culture at that time, was that that was really the job that you needed to aspire to be, that was the expectation of cadets. And so then to really kind of run counter to that strong current was really kind of a unique, you know, almost unnavigated area, right? And so to really kind of take the story out to its next level is that I'd really gotten to a point where talking with people there — we hadn't had the AMT program, but there were these NCOs that were kind of tangentially attached to cadet squadrons. And so I got a chance to talk to one of the master sergeants that was there who was a maintainer by background. And I was kind of pouring my heart out to him on, you know, what had I been talking to him with my now in-laws, about where was my heart pulling me? And so he said, ‘Give me just a second.' And he picked up the phone, and he called my AOC and he goes, ‘Hey, you're gonna be there for a little while.' And this was a Friday afternoon. He said, ‘I got a cadet that needs to come talk to you.' And he hangs up the phone and he goes, ‘Now you go tell your AOC what you just told me.' And so I ended up going to my AOCs office that day, and we had about a two-hour conversation about this. I sat down and really, kind of took the time to explain to him what was I feeling, And obviously, I really try to see the best in people. And so I think from a noble place, he was doing his best to convince me that I was making a grave mistake. And went on to talk to me about what his concerns were, the career field that I was looking at, things along those lines. And we can save that conversation for another time, but I think really where the foundation came in is where we started to talk about leadership. And you know, what I was asking him to do was to pull my rated recommendation form, so we had just submitted them, and I was asking him to pull my rated recommendation form. I didn't want to compete for it anymore. And so we started to talk about leadership. And he says, ‘Hey, Cadet Sherman, you need to understand that leadership in this Air Force is being the lead F-16 pilot on a bombing run, you know, putting iron on target.' And that's true. It's a very important part of leadership. It is a very important part of tactical operational leadership in this Air Force. So he's not wrong in that space. But I was looking at it from a different lens, and I was looking at it, I think, on a larger level. And what I don't think he realized is that 30 seconds before I walked into his office, he set me up for success. I just happened to be waiting outside the office, and all of a sudden, I looked on his cork board, and somebody, and I don't know who it was, had pinned a note that was written to Airman Magazineby an airman first class. And this airman first class titled this, “I need a leader.” And this A1C felt so strongly about what they were feeling — and I have no idea who this person was — felt so strongly about it that they put pen to paper, and this would have been the fall of 1994, and sent this into Airman Magazine, and it says, “I need a leader.” Commissioning sources. ‘Send us lieutenants that we can look up to that will hold us accountable when we do wrong, that will encourage us when we do well, that will be an example that we can look up to, that will care about us as human beings, because you are not sending them to us now. Air Force, I need a leader.' Like that 30 seconds just before I walked into his office — that changed my life, and it changed my life, because for me, at that moment, what I was getting ready to go ask my AOC to do, what I was looking at inside myself, that became my charge. And so as we spoke, you know, 20-year-old Cadet First Class Sherman — I might have been a 21-year-old at the time — Cadet First Class Sherman pushed back on my AOC, and I said, ‘Sir, I disagree.' I said, ‘I want to be that guy. I want to be that guy that that A1c is asking for on your cork board outside, because that's leadership in this Air Force.' And so, to his credit, he said, ‘Hey, I want you to go think about this over the weekend. You know, think about what you're doing. Come back to me on Monday. No questions asked. I'll pull it if you want me to.' And I left there, and I remember feeling like, not like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder, but I almost felt like this sense of like, ‘Now I've got my purpose,' because that little article has shaped me my entire career, and I mean to this day, and at a scale. You know, as a lieutenant, my scale is this big on what I'm affecting to help do and be what that A1C needs to a wing commander. I always keep it in the back of my head, and after all of these years, I am still thinking about, Am I doing right by that A1C that 31 years ago, felt so strongly about something that they wrote a note to Airman Magazine, and that became my charge.   Naviere Walkewicz  08:09 That is incredibly powerful. I'm a little bit without words, because I'm thinking about, first off, being brave enough to disagree with an AOC. I mean, I think that takes courage in showing your leadership there. Were you always like that? Have you always been someone that is steadfast in a decision and being able to kind of speak out?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  08:30 So I get that from my parents. And, you know, I grew up in Corona, California. My mom and dad are amazing people. And we didn't grow up with a lot of money, and we grew up from a pretty meager background, and my mom and dad had made a decision early on in their marriage, when they had my sister and I, that my mom was going to focus to make sure that Nancy and I got an education, and my dad was going to work as many jobs as he had to to put food on the table. And sometimes my dad was holding down three jobs to make sure that we had nutritious food to eat, and my mom was working miracles to make sure that we were fed well, but that also that she was dedicated and had the time to volunteer for things like PTA, being involved as a class volunteer, making sure that we were involved in things and had exposure to things that what they did was they also instilled in me this really strong blue collar work ethic. And it was this aspect of, if I just roll up my sleeves and put in the work, anything is possible. And so on that line, this young kid growing up with a West Coast father and an East Coast mother, and just this, really neat family background that things for me, that I believed in I would go after with all of my heart and soul. And so I found out about the Academy when I was 12 years old. And so, you know, when I at 12 years — we were going to a community event there in Corona, and there was an officer recruiter — Capt. Craig. was her name — and we started talking. She says, ‘Hey, did anybody talk to you about the Air Force Academy?' And I said, ‘No, this sounds great.' So from there, I just made this decision as a 12-year-old, and I worked all the way through junior high and high school to get here, because to go to your point like, ‘I made a decision, I'm gonna see this thing through.'   Naviere Walkewicz  10:30 Whoa. OK, so you knew you were going to the Academy before you graduated high school.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  10:35 Yes, in my mind, there was no other option.   Naviere Walkewicz  10:39 And so anyone in your family serve, or were you the first one in your family to serve?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  10:43 So I am the first officer and career member of the family. My dad was drafted and went to Vietnam in 1967 and stayed through Tet of 1968. I had an uncle, Harry Lee Schmidt, who was a C-47 loadmaster in World War II and Korea, and my grandfather was actually a part of the initial kind of what was the foundation of the OSS and the Navy doing beach recon on beaches in the South Pacific, prior to island hopping campaign and island landings. And so there was this real heritage of service, right? Just not career service. But even then, as a kid, I always had in my mind, ‘OK, one way or another, I'm going to serve, and if I do an enlistment and then go to college afterwards —' but I had this idea that, ‘OK, I'm going to serve,' and then all of a sudden, this became this amazing conduit that got me here, right?   Naviere Walkewicz  11:38 And they also had ties to aviation. How did they feel about your decision, your family?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  11:43 It was interesting, because they knew how passionate I was about aviation growing up. I mean, we did not miss an air show at March Air Force Base, the Chino air show, which was planes of fame, which was all historic aircraft. I volunteered as a high school student to work there, and we helped restore airplanes with me and my friends. You know, it was interesting, because my parents were very supportive in ‘OK, where's your heart leading you? And, what makes you feel so strongly about this?' Because when I first talked to him on the phone, I called him from Ramstein Air Base and said, ‘Hey, I think I know what I want to do in the Air Force. I want to go to security police. And my mom was like, ‘What's that? And, so, as time went by and I explained it, I think my parents probably all along knew that that was probably going to be a very good fit. And then after commissioning and at my first assignment, I think that they were certain of it, right? Yeah, they were absolutely certain.   Naviere Walkewicz  12:37 That is amazing. Well, I want to dive into this profession a bit, because it's interesting. You know, you've mentioned, when you came in, it was security police, and, security forces and you hear people saying defenders and peacekeepers. So there's this lineage and this heritage. Can you maybe talk a little bit about that and then maybe lead us into that next transformational moment that you might have had in this role?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  12:58 OK, I'm very proud of the fact that, you know, I am part of an ever decreasing group of folks that came in when we were still security police, and that was really still the peacekeeper days, because this was all kind of the follow on on the Cold War. The peacekeepers were our cold warriors and that was a huge part. Our defenders came in and really, that name started to really grow in 1997 when the name changed from security police to security forces, and we were actually going back to some of our heritage that was in Operation Safeside, which was the combat security police squadrons in Vietnam. So when you think about the courage that was displayed during the Tet Offensive at places like Tan Son Nhat that those were safe side warriors that were a part of these combat security police squadrons. And so the very — part of the lineage of the very beret, and flash that we have is actually a tip of the hat to the lighter blue berets, and that flash with the Falcon and the crossed runways that goes back, actually, to our Safeside heritage days. The beret goes back even farther than that. It goes back to Strategic Air Command, Elite Guard back in the 1950s. So it's this great lineage. And so, you know, for me, part of it was like when I got my first beret, wow, that meant something to me. And then, you know, as we then kind of transformed along the way, and this amazing career field grew, and the aspects of this air based ground defense, which was really, I would say, was kind of the draw that got me into wanting to go into security police, was I really liked this idea of, ‘How do we do base defense?' The law enforcement side was intriguing to me, but it was based defense that just had me just had me captivated.   Naviere Walkewicz  14:44 And was that something that you found out early in your career? After you graduate the Academy, you're now in security police. Is that when you kind of realized, ‘This is where I want to go in, air, base, ground defense.'?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  14:54 It even happened at ops. So as we were spending time with the security police squadron, I ended up spending time with a captain who was heading up the Elite Guard, and there was an interaction we had as I was doing a ride along. He's like, ‘Hey, you need to come see me.' And so I went and met up with him, and he took me around and introduced me to all of his airmen that were part of the guard. He knew something all about them. And then we went to his office and talked, and he had gone to Ranger School and Airborne and things like that, and said, ‘Hey, like, the future of the career field is actually us looking to the past.' And really kind of got me fired up on what we call back then, air base ground defense. So when I got to McChord — McChord Air Force Base was my first duty station. And the great thing about going to AMC first is it AMC is a mobility — I mean, it is all about mobility and the operations associated with it. And so the first thing that that my task was as the second lieutenant in that squadron was, I was the air base ground defense flight commander. So that was, I mean — we would go out to Fort Lewis, and we would bivouac for days. And I had, you know, a 44 person team that was a base defense sector. I had specialized K-9 units heavy weapons. And back in those days, we had 81mm mortar teams and fire direction centers that we would set up. So I just got completely on board with the air base defense piece. And so that was that was very passionate for me, which then made the next step to Korea an absolutely logical next location, going to the wolf pack at Kunsan, not only getting a chance to then stand up Gwangju as a part of the first Air Expeditionary Unit to go back to Korea since the Korean War, but then doing the mobile reserve aspect of it. And it was just a great assignment.   Naviere Walkewicz  16:40 Wow. So you were right in from the very beginning. You got kind of just into it all.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  16:45 So when we go back, when you were talking to me about, ‘Hey, when you make your mind up...' So I had this five-year plan built out. And, you know, my five-year plan was ‘OK, I'm gonna do my first assignment at the first opportunity to PCS. I need to go remote. I need to go to Korea. And then, OK, how can I get another overseas assignment after that? And then what do I need?' So the thought was, “Let me get to as many match comms as I can, as fast as I can in my career, and use that as a place — OK, because I want to build my experience base out. Because even as a lieutenant and young captain, I didn't want to come across as a one-trick pony. So my thought was, “Let me just get as much as I could under my belt early on.' And so after I left Kunsan, I ended up going to Aviano Air Base in Italy, which, for me, when you look at like those moments in life that are transformational, this was transformational on a different level. You know, some assignments you go to are very much professional growth assignments. This assignment, for me, was very much a personal growth assignment.   Naviere Walkewicz  17:52 OK, so tell me more.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  17:55 I mean, when you think about it, four years at USAFA, very uniquely focused on a plate that is overflowing with things that you need to get done. So you are, you're focused on, you know, everything from grades to military training to all of those things. And then I get to my first base, and I am just working, and I'm volunteering for everything, and we have got a heavy ops tempo of exercises and things like that. And my leadership was fantastic, because they were throwing me into every opportunity I could. And then, boom, I go to Korea, and that is a unique warfighting focused — and at Kunsan especially was heavily warfighting focused. So now all of a sudden I am spending really, when you think about it, the last almost seven years being uniquely focused on mission, right? And so I get to Aviano Air Base, Italy, and the first thing that happens is Operation Allied Force kicks off. So I get there in January, boom. Allied Force kicks off. I think it was in end of February, beginning of March. And wow, what? Again, what an amazing, mission focused experience. And then after we finished up Allied Force and the base returned back to more of its steady-state standpoint, it was the Italians that took me under their wings, that because I made a specific choice, because I grew up — my mom's side of the family are all Italian immigrants — and I was always at my Nonnie and Papa's house, and there was just a lot of that growing up, which is that whole, like, you know, West Coast dad, East Coast mom thing, but I didn't know, you know, my mom and her brothers never spoke Italian. And there was a lot of that, that thought back in those days that, you know, ‘Hey, we're here to be American, so we're going to learn English, and we're not going to speak, you know, the language that we came from,' right? And so my mom and her brothers really never learned to speak Italian. And so my thought was, ‘Gosh, I grew up with this as such a strong part of my childhood that I need to put myself in a position where I can learn the language and start to kind of get an appreciation on the culture. Together.' And so I specifically — and really lucked out on a location, but I was about 20 kilometers away from Aviano. I was in an amazing town. I was the only American living in the complex that I was in. So I was like, ‘If I'm going to learn, I need to just dive in the way that you do, in the way that I do, and just start learning.' And so I ended up kind of building this support group of Italian families that all kind of took me under their wings.   Naviere Walkewicz  20:27 Wait, I have to ask you a question, because back when you're at the Academy, you said you spoke to your now in-laws. So was Laurie not a part of this?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  20:35 So Laurie and I, right. So that's an important part of the story. Laurie and I dated for two years while I was a cadet, and when I was in tech school, her and I made the very difficult decision — and as painful it was — to part ways, so her and I actually parted ways for a few years. I was single at the time. Laurie was still here in Colorado Springs, and I was getting a lot of assignments under my belt, which, to be honest with you, you know, in retrospect, it was very fortunate, because I may not have made the same assignment choices had I been married at the time. And because I wasn't married, there were no other variables that I needed to factor in, other than personal experience goals, right, that I wanted to play into, and so I could just put down whatever assignment I wanted, and that allowed me the opportunity to just focus on job. And while Laurie and I stayed in touch, and I stayed in touch with her parents over the years, I was in Aviano, and her and I were not together at that point,   Naviere Walkewicz  21:39 That makes sense. I was like, why were you alone in Italy?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  21:43 It's a fair question. But I also think that being single in that environment allowed me — and that's where I think it helped me develop as a person. And so there are a lot of, I think, really wonderful things that happened during that time, and that was because I was so uniquely mission focused. It was these, this amazing group of Italian friends together, that really kind of taught me about there, there's a time to relax, you know, there's a time to work, there's a time to relax, and there's also a real human need to enjoy life and enjoy time together, which is quintessentially Italian. And so, as my pool of this, these amazing people — that  by the way, for the last 25 years, we've been going to visit. It's the same families that took me under their wings when I was a lieutenant, are the same families that were all tuning in as we were doing a live stream of me pinning on my second star. And so I've never been stationed anywhere else in my career where I felt more at home. And so I think this sense of like, ‘Wow. This like independently as my own person, this feels like home.' And as time went by and I started to get an appreciation for actually things that were a part of my childhood. Because, you know, we would have these long, huge meals, we would spend four or five hours at the table as a family. And for me, this was all normal. Well, that was also a part of kind of normal Italian life and normal Italian culture. You're not going out to dinner with your friends unless you're investing at least three hours at the restaurant. But for me, this was all — this felt normal to me. And so it was about, you know, you don't need to eat your food in five minutes.   Naviere Walkewicz  So contrary to USAFA, by the way.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN You know, you don't need to chew no more than seven times and swallow. So it was about experiencing that, and learning even just some things that became personal passions. Like, you know, how wine is made and why wine pairing matters, and how is this process? And so all of a sudden, this personal experience — and I think growing as a human being was taking place there, and I was maturing as a human being because I had gotten all of this phenomenal job experience under my belt, but this was where I was growing as a human being. And you know what's interesting, as time has gone by, I have noticed just how impactful that time was, because there are things that I've noticed, even as a senior officer, that I feel very strongly about, that I don't think I felt as strongly about as a junior officer, and it was because of that experience, and it was the aspect of when people are on leave, let's let them take leave. There is a part of the human experience that you need to enjoy time with people that you care about, because what it does is you're not slacking off from work. You're not leaving everybody hanging. What's happening is that, because you're taking some time to just enjoy life with people you care about, when you come back, the restorative effects that have taken place because you simply breathe and you enjoyed what it was that you were doing and whatever your passion was, you know, unencumbered, you could enjoy that. And we all realize that there are times, especially as you get into positions of authority, that, hey, they're going to need to call you periodically. But what was interesting is that, especially, I mean, I'll give an example as a wing commander. As a wing commander, despite realizing how important that mission is and how big Wright-Patt was, we, Laurie and I took leave, and we took two weeks of leave, and we went back to Italia and visited our friends and enjoyed life, because the culture helps us to slow down. But what it also did is I gave my staff some parameters. ‘Hey, here are the things that I think are important, like on a scale of one to 10. Here are the things that I think are an eight. So an eight or higher, call me. Don't text me.' I said, ‘Physically call me, because I will answer the phone knowing it's for — and then you have my undivided attention.' But what it also does is it means that my vice wing commander who is there, that I am empowering my vice wing commander and showing to everybody else I trust this leader to lead this wing in my absence. And if it's something that really needs my involvement, they'll get a hold of me. But I think our junior leaders need to see that at the senior most levels, that I can physically trust and emotionally trust my vice, my deputy, to hold things down while I'm gone, and that I'm not irreplaceable, and that if I did my job as a leader, I set the conditions that allowed the wing to thrive in my absence, and didn't mean that the wing had to hang on every decision I made or every word that I said, that I set the conditions that allowed them to be successful and fostered the leadership that allowed them to lead in my absence. And I felt great while I was gone, because I knew the people that we had there, and I knew the investment that we made in them. So that was kind of a long, you know, trip around this…   Naviere Walkewicz  27:26 I mean, I think it was so powerful that you kind of learned that about yourself in Italy. And then would you say that there was anyone that you saw emulating that? Or was it just something over time, you developed this realization that you need to enjoy life and you need to allow people the space to do so.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  27:43 So I would say the people that I was emulating in that aspect were a lot of the families that were there. I have been fortunate that I have worked for some commanders who, at different times in their life felt the same way. Conversely, I also worked for commanders that did not feel the same way. And, you know, an interesting case in point on something that on an experience I had in a command bill and after I had left Aviano — this is when Laurie and I were back together; we were married at this point. I had a group commander that was frustrated about me taking leave and called me every day at 1500; every day at 1500 I got a telephone call. And you know what that does is now all of a sudden, you're eating lunch, and the clock is getting closer to 1500 and you start to get that knot in your stomach and you're like, ‘OK, what are we going to talk about today?' And so, unfortunately you don't see some of the same appreciation for that across the board. So how do we deal with it? The best thing that we deal with it is that that's where the buck stops. We don't pass it down to our people. So after I got the call from him, I didn't call back to the squadron. I got the call from him. We went through the call, we answered the questions, and I didn't then immediately turn around and call back to my ops officer who was running the Squadron at the time, and say, XYZ. And we just left it there, because at that point in time, the bucks got to stop it at that point. So I think that that's kind of the, you know, the alpha and the omega of learning and then also having your own personal resilience and courage to say, ‘I accept that the buck stops here, and I'm not going to let this roll downhill to my people.'   Naviere Walkewicz  29:41 That's an excellent leadership lesson, because I was going to ask you, ‘What does that look like, and how would you how would you handle that?' And so you went right into that. Thank you so much for that. So what has it been like leading security forces — defenders? What's it been like? Has there been a moment in time where — a particular assignment or something's really stuck into your mind or into your heart, because it's just really affected you?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  30:05 Absolutely. I will tell you, as we go back, as we were kind of talking about decisions that you make in your youth, and that critical decision that I made in the fall of '94 I mean, I have worked with some of the most amazing people I've worked in my life. I have gotten a chance to go to places I never thought that I would see. And so, when you kind of roll up, I would say it was my final squadron command, and I would say that that was a real culminating squadron command. So I commanded four squadrons, and we command early, and we command often, and there's a lot of responsibility that that's placed on us as young officers to command as a young officer. And so having the opportunity to command two times as a captain, or one time, you know, as a major-select, then as a major, then as a lieutenant colonel. So that culminating command would have been Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in May of 2012 to May of 2013 and you know, it was interesting because all of my previous squadron commands had all been vested in either the contingency response or the kind of combat contingency environments. And it was almost like all of those were leading me to this moment. So let me just kind of set the conditions on what Bagram was like at that point in time. We had grown the squadron to about a 1,200-person squadron, huge squadron. And what we were also responsible for is we had taken over battle space ownership from the Army. So the Air Force was controlling 220 square miles of battle space throughout Parwan province, which is a huge. I mean, it's twice the size of Washington, D.C., if you want to try to give a comparison, more or less is fair to look at that level as just a huge amount of terrain in which our airmen were responsible from everything from humanitarian operations and goodwill outreach to engagements to literal kinetic action and combat in the battle space. And so a part of this culmination was, was an environment where as the defense force commander — as that squadron commander to them as a lieutenant colonel at that point — I mean how we are weaving ourselves into their lives, and how we are working with their section commanders, and how we're working and managing the value of our perimeter defenses with our teams that were going outside of the wire doing legitimate patrolling and engagement and things along those lines, was huge. And I think that that is an example. And when you look in the rearview mirror to say, ‘Gosh, now this, a lot of this makes sense, like all of these assignments, whether by design or whether by fate, somehow gave me an experience that at this moment, I needed it most.' And I think, as I talk, we've really enjoyed being here with the cadets and talking to them about, how does a leader really develop trust, and how does trust really manifest itself? And so, through the time that we were there, and the engagement as their leader — not just the leader who's just simply circulating, because that's important, but they also need to see your decision making and your strategic thought. And how do you react under pressure? How are you reacting as we've got incoming in, and what do you do being the person in the joint defense operations center, helping to manage that, and how are you both taking care of people, and how are you managing mission? And they see that. And so I would say that the development of that level of trust, especially in an environment where you are literally dealing with high costs, is huge. And so I think there was one, situation that really rests on my heart that and I don't talk about this to give validation, but I think I talk about it on it's about how people connect, and why do I feel so strongly that leadership is a human experience, like this is a what we are doing as a human experience. And so I was retiring my chief. So I was asked by my chief at Bagram — this was some years later. He's out of the 105th Base Defense Squadron out of the New York Air National Guard, and him and I were a phenomenal team there. Dave Pritchard and I just made a great team. And so he was retiring, and asked me to come back and do his retirement. So we had done the retirement ceremony. We were at the VFW afterwards, having his after-party and so forth. And so I had gone into the bathroom for a comfort break and washed my hands and things like that. And I noticed, as I was kind of moving towards the bathroom, there was kind of a young man who was kind of floating. You know, floating around. And so I came out of the restroom as I was finished, and he was waiting there at the exit of the restroom for me, and kind of, you know, got in front of me, and he stood there, and he looked at me, and he goes, ‘Hey, sir, I just, I needed to let you know this, that I was one of the airmen in one of your patrols that got hit by an IED, and he said, your investment in us, and the words that you used and when you came to talk to us, and the faith that you had in us gave me the courage to go back outside of the wire when you asked us to go back outside.' And so why that rests so heavy is when you think about what, what is the what is the con? The consequence there is that somebody believed in you so much that when you spoke to them and said the word, they were going to go back out and do it again, in spite of what had just happened to you. And I don't think there is any stronger level of trust that you can ask from somebody than to have one of those moments. And so that moment just resides very, very heavy on my soul, because I think it puts into real, tangible context, what is the responsibility of leadership? What is your responsibility of leadership?   Naviere Walkewicz  36:42 I'm letting that sit a little bit, because I can't even imagine the amount of feeling that you had first for him, the courage to share that with you. Because I'm sure that he really wanted to share that. I'm curious if you can remember perhaps, what he might have been referring to, like what you were sharing with the men and women there.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  37:02 So, you know, it was also a part of things that, in times after Bagram have really been used for me as a senior leader on why I reinforced the importance of values. And, this was one particular incident there that really comes to mind is, and I use this when I when I talk to people, because I again, it's the consequence, and it's why our responsibility as leaders to set the right conditions and culture and all of that is so incredibly valuable. And so I talked to people about a story about we had had a situation where we had some real destabilization in the battle space. There was a particular village that we were having some unique challenges with, and we were doing a lot of kind of battlefield shaping, and we were doing some particular village engagement, and the engagement just wasn't happening. And so we were now kind of starting to escalate our interaction with the village a little bit more and as we were doing that, we were now going to start doing more shaping operations. So it just so happens that one of these nights —this was in the late fall, early winter of 2012 — and we were sending one of our patrols outside to do some shaping and engagement operation there. But this was in the evening. This was a different aspect that we were working for this particular mission. And so mounted up that the airmen are ready to go. They're pushing outside, they're right on time, and everything is going according to plan, and they are getting close to what we call the objective rally point. So that was where they were going to rally up before they actually moved into the village after that. And so everything was going according to plan. And the only thing they needed to do before they got to the objective rally point was really kind of go down a small gully over a rise, and then they meet at their objective rally point at that point. And so teams are moving out. First truck over the rise, getting to the point. Second truck over, everything's going fine. Third truck over, fourth truck after that, BOOM, off goes the IED. And what had happened is, they were waiting for this opportunity, and they knew exactly what to do. And that is, if you hit the last truck in the movement, you've got three trucks that are gone ahead of time, and now we've got folks in a very precarious situation. And so what I talk to people about, when we talk about conditions and the real impact that a leader has, is I'll talk to them about who was in that truck, who was in that MRAP that we were sending down at that point in time. And inside that MRAP was the face of America. And the explosion was significant, and it did some considerable damage. It threw the engine out of it, penetrated the hole, ripped one of the doors off the side in the front. And so, you know, the truck commander was National Guard from, actually from Tennessee, and he had gotten injured, broken an arm because that door had peeled back. And as the door peeled back, his arm got caught and broke his arm. The driver, Asian American coming out of the state of California, active duty. He had injuries to his legs because of the penetration of the hole. We had a gunner up in the turret, African American female from the New York Air National Guard. She had a broken pelvis at the time, and she just stayed on the gun the entire time despite her injuries. We had our radio operator. European American female coming from the Midwest. She was actually Air Force Reserve. She had a case of TBI from the explosion, and she was still making calls on the radio. We had two of our riflemen in the back, both came from Hispanic heritage, one of them from Puerto Rican heritage, one of them from Mexican heritage. They were very fortunate that while they got tossed around the back and had some minor TBI issues, they were more or less bumps and bruises, and they were all by themselves. Yeah, because they were all alone, they were in the middle of Afghanistan, they had just gotten hit. And so for me, what's so important about that story is that if we did not set the right culture and the right values and the right expectations and be in a leader by example, and they were harassing each other on Bagram, and they were assaulting each other on Bagram, and they weren't respecting each other on Bagram, and they didn't care about each other on Bagram, they would have died out there that night. But they treated each other like a family, and they cared about each other like a family, and they took care of each other like a family that night, and they lived and they all came home. So for me, if we're going to talk about what is the true consequence of leadership — and I use consequence deliberately, because oftentimes that's used in a pejorative manner — but this is the true result of your actions, that if you don't set those conditions, then you are legitimately putting your people at risk. And so that whole experience at Bagram, and in so many ways that we all carry our scars and our bruises and things like that. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world, but that was tough. And I often describe it as a tale of two cities. You know, it was the best of times. It was the worst of times.   Naviere Walkewicz  42:34 I think a lot of times, when leaders go through experiences like that, they have some more fortunate than others, but a support network. And I would guess it would be your family. How has your family played a role in these moments in your life, in helping you as a leader?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  42:54 So I will say it's primarily my wife. I have got this wonderful support of parents and my in-laws and so forth. And what's been truly fortunate is how close I am with my in-laws. Because when Laurie and I were dating while I was a cadet, anytime I had an overnight or weekend pass, I was over at her mom and dad's house and so I think that being married to somebody that has truly known you from the beginning, you know, where, whether we got a training weekend going on, or something like that, or I'm working first BCT or whatnot, that Laurie was a unique part of all of these things. And I would say that it has been incredibly heartwarming to watch her interact with the cadets here, because it's fun, because her and I do everything together. And so as we're going to events, I'll have a group of cadets that I'm talking to, and then I'll look over and Laurie's surrounded by a group of cadets who are asking her just very insightful questions about our experiences together, and ‘Was it tough sending them away on deployments?' Or how, you know, in those tough times, ‘How do you how do you keep your marriage together?' Just really insightful questions to ask, but she has just been so central to everything that I do. And so going back a little bit and talking about, like the strength of our relationship and how much that helps, we actually needed to have that breakup period as horribly painful as that was, and wow, was I carrying a torch for her all of those years. I mean, I remember, you know, as time was going by, I would talk to my mom, and I'd be like, ‘Mom, I just wish that Laurie could see the man that I become.' But we needed that time because oftentimes, and what we found in ourselves, we didn't know it at the time, because you're living in your environment and you can't see it, right? Is that in youth, things are often absolutes. And you often will get to a place where you're starting your marriage, your relationship is growing. And if you start to talk about marriage, there are things that we have found were absolutes for us. You know, certain things that we did, how we practiced our faith. Did we open up presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but the expectation was somebody was going to have to give up their particular tradition to conform to the tradition of one of the spouses. And in your youth, that seems reasonable, and I think we needed that time to be apart, having had that time together at such an important time in each of our lives here. But we needed that time apart, because I think we needed that frame of reference as we grew as people into adults. Grew as young adults. And now all of a sudden here I'm getting multiple assignments, and now being thrust into leadership positions with accountability and authority, and then coming back to that, all of a sudden, you're realizing, ‘Gosh, the world just isn't always in absolutes. And maybe a marriage doesn't have to be zero sum, but maybe a marriage can be positive sum.' And do we really have to make somebody give up something that is important to them, that is a part of their identity? Because somehow you feel like you have to conform your marriage into one side or the other. And so, I think for us that was that was so incredibly important. So to kind of get to that story is that, you know, I left Aviano and I went to Al Dhafra. I was in Al Dhafra actually for September 11. It was my first squadron command, but it was a squadron command I wasn't expecting, because I came there as a chief of security forces for about a 70-person security forces flight as a part of the 763rd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Al Dhafra. And then all of a sudden, 9/11 happens, and we went from about 400 people on Al Dhafra to about 4,000. And you know, U-2s came in, ISR platforms came in. Everything changed. And all of a sudden, this 70-person security forces flight that I had grew into about a 350-person security forces squadron. And AFSET said, ‘Hey, Sherman, you built it, you keep it, and we'll replace you with a major when you leave.' And I was a six-year captain, and so then finishing up that assignment, and I got picked up for — there was a point to that story — but it was about coming back, is that, hey, I got these new, unique experiences that grew me under my belt. And then I came back to do an AFIT program at Cal State San Bernardino. And that was the moment that brought Laurie and I back together.   Naviere Walkewicz  In what way?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN And so, I had a health scare. Nobody knows what it was. We never figured it out. Doctors never figured it out. But it was one of those things, like, all of a sudden, I shotgun something out to everybody I knew. I said, ‘Hey, doctors are a little bit concerned, you know, keep me in your thoughts.' And so Laurie, Laurie is like, ‘Holy cow, you can't just send a one liner and leave it at that.' So she called my mom and dad and said, ‘What's his phone number?' And so it started to turn into ‘Hey, give me all of your test results after you get it back.' Then pretty soon we're talking a couple times a week, and then pretty soon we're talking every other day, and then we are talking every day. And the beauty of this was that we already knew each other, so we already knew what everybody's favorite color was — by the way, Laurie's is purple. We knew what music each other liked. We knew things about each other. And some of the things that actually drew us together when we were dating here was, you know, we had things like some common family traditions, like, you know, Italian fish on Christmas Eve and sitting around the table for hours and stuff like that were all things that we had in common. So we already knew that about each other. Now, her and I on the phone, we're getting into some real, like substantive discussions, children, faith. How do you how you raise children? How do you know, what are we going to do for different traditions? What happens if I have to take a remote; what does that mean? And so we were getting into these really, deep conversations. And, you know, I would come back from either class or then when I PCs to the security forces center out at Lackland, you know, I would come home from work, and this was in the old flip phone days where you had a battery that came off the back. So I would have one battery in the charger, and then I would have an earbud in, and I'd have the phone in my pocket. Yeah, and I'd come home and to call her, and we would just go throughout the evening. So I'm ironing BDUs at the time, shining my boots and stuff like that, and so, and we were just talking. And then we were just kind of like living life together. And, after that point, it became very clear that those two young people who sincerely cared about each other, now, each of us grew up and had experiences in a place that allowed us to really appreciate each other and really love each other. And you know, we were married just a little over a year after that. And it has been phenomenal, her support. And I think one of the great testaments to that was, 10 days after we got married, I went to Baghdad, but she's like, ‘I grew up in the Air Force. I know how this works. We're gonna move the house. I'll get the house put together.' And she's also a professional in her own right, which is great. So she was working in a legal office here as a paralegal and legal assistant here in Colorado Springs, and has been a GS employee for the last 18-plus years. So what's great is she, too has her own aspect of service. What I love about it is that in the jobs that she's in and then the jobs that I'm in, we can talk shop, and then we cannot talk shop, right? And so she's the first person I go to if I have to ask a question, she's the first person that I'll go to say, ‘Hey, did I do that right? Or do I need to backtrack on that a little bit?' Because she knows me, and she knows me completely, and that level of trust and love and faith that we have for each other has truly enabled me to be able to serve our airmen on a level that I don't think would have been possible without her.   Naviere Walkewicz  51:59 Would you say that she's had a role in your development as a leader, in the way that you lead.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  52:05 Oh, absolutely, absolutely, because, and I love it, because her experience as a brat and her dad as a chief gives her a very unique lens to look through. And so the advice that she gives me she can give me from her teenage self in some way, you know, from that experience, watching how her dad interacted with something or knowing her aspect about this. And then as she's developed professionally, working on the E-Ring at the Pentagon a couple different times, working for very senior leaders, knows how to navigate that space. So then I'll go to her for advice, like, ‘Hey, how did your boss handle something like this?' ‘Well, let me tell you what, how we work through this...' And so I would absolutely say that that Laurie has uniquely influenced and helped me to become the best version of myself that I can be.   Naviere Walkewicz  53:03 Wow. Well, I want to ask you a little bit about developing yourself as well, because one of the questions we like to ask is, what are you doing every day to make yourself a better leader? Can you share what that might be?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  53:17 I've said it a couple times during this: I truly believe that leadership is a human experience, so for me, it's about the interaction. And so oftentimes, advice that I've given to people — like there are amazing resources abound that can help people, give people leadership perspectives, and we can either learn it from history, or we can learn it through study. We can learn it through analysis. We can learn it through books. And I've always talked to people about use the external tools that help to grow you, but make sure that you're using it to influence the personality that you already have. Because oftentimes what happens is, is that people will have this really strong desire to say, “OK, I want to make sure that I do this right. And so in doing this right, let me make sure I've got my checklist, and so I'm going to greet them, I'm going to ask them how their family is, I'm going to ask them if the kid did all right in the baseball game. And I'm going to go through my checklist, and if I do that, I fulfill my leadership obligation.' Now not everybody does, and I'm making generalities on but, but I think that there can oftentimes be the allure that when you are focusing on what may be the theory or the principle of the day, and not using it to supplement and grow and mature your personality, that there is a strong allure to want to wholesale replicate what it was that you learned, and you're doing it in a noble place. It's not nefarious. It's being done in a noble, genuine place. But there's that allure to say, ‘OK, good, I really like what I've learned. I'm going to do these things and step through.' And so why I talk so much about the experience, and why I talk so much about the interaction, is that the more that you know the people that you may be influencing by just simply being there and understanding what that means. It means you're eternalizing the value of your presence. You're listening to their stories, and you're understanding for them, what are the things that are motivating them? What are the things that they value? Because each generation, each environment, each condition is going to require something a little bit different from you, and if you don't take the time to understand your environment or generation or cultural nuances or things like that on where you're at, then you are missing that opportunity to develop trust, where they start to believe in you as a person, and not just the rank and position that you hold, because they'll do the right thing for the rank and position that you hold. That's the caliber of people that we have in this Air Force of ours. They'll do the right thing. But if you transcend that in the fact that they believe in you wholeheartedly and trust you, oftentimes with their own lives, it means that you've invested something into them, where they truly know that you care. And that goes back to that A1C on the cork board that said, ‘I need somebody who cares about me as a person.'   Naviere Walkewicz  56:41 You know, as I think about what you've experienced through your career and the lessons you've learned, both professionally and personally, what would you say to yourself back then that you should be doing back then to get to where you're at now? Because we have listeners that are like, ‘What can I start planting today, that will bloom down the road?'   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  57:03 Absolutely. And so I think if I was to go back and put my arm around Cadet First Class Sherman, I think what I would do is — because it is, it is oftentimes easy to look in the crystal clear mirror of hindsight, right? But I think instead, what I would do is I would put my arm around him and say, ‘Keep following your heart and let the failures happen, because the failures are going to grow and let the stumbles happen and enjoy the triumphs with people and be appreciative for what got you there.' And I think it would be more of the encouragement of like, ‘You have laid out a path for you take the path wherever it goes, the joy, the pain, the triumph, the failure, all of those things, because all of that helps to develop the leader.' And oftentimes you want to go back and say, gosh, if I was going to talk to my previous self, then I would say, ‘Ah, don't do that one thing,' right? But I'm looking at it saying that if I didn't do that one thing, then I'm not sure that I would be where I'm at at a time to make sure I didn't do that thing at a moment that was incredibly catastrophic. And so while we have this desire to want to prevent ourselves from the failure, I think that what we have to do is say you're going to fail and you need to fail, and it's going to sound — relish in the failure, because it is often emotionally troubling, especially those of us that come here because we are Type A perfectionist, and that's part of the draw of coming to this amazing place. Is there a certain personality traits that help us to be successful here, but not all of those personality traits make us uniquely successful in all situations outside, and so you've got to have that failure at some point in time. And the failure that you can get up and say, ‘OK, I did this. This happened. My soul is bruised. My ego is bruised. I may have to take a little bit of accountability for this. OK, now I need to have the courage to take the next step forward again.' Because I could easily retreat back to a safe place, and I could become risk averse, and all that does is hurt the people around you. OK. I have to have the courage to breathe and take the step again and get back in there. So I would tell my — I don't think I would want to prevent myself from doing anything. I think even the growth that took place while Laurie and I were apart — and, like I said, that torch that I carried for her — I think if I had whispered in my ear and said, ‘Hey, just relax, you're gonna marry her.' I think I needed that torch, because that in my own mind and my own emotion was me needing to become a better man, and so I think I needed to go through — like, sometimes you need the struggle, and sometimes the things that are most valuable are the things that you had to go through the struggle for, right? And I think that's where my blue collar ethics background comes in. It's like, I'm just going to roll up my sleeves and I'm going to work through the struggle.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:00:36 Wow. Well, we took a look back. I just want to ask you a question forward. So do you think about legacy? And what do you want your legacy to be? Is that something that plays in your mind as you wake up each morning or go to lead people?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:00:50 I think the way that I look at it is, I look at it in a in a different aspect, and the way that I look at it is in a very confined point to point. It's not about what is going to be Tom Sherman's legacy when he retires someday, but was that interaction that I had with somebody to give them some encouraging words when they fell down, did that matter to them at that moment? Because there are people for me in my failures that were commanders, that were leaders, that were mentors, that were senior enlisted, that, you know, grabbed that lieutenant by the arm and helped to lift me up. And their memories are etched in my fabric. And so I think that it's about that individual event that your legacy will live in the people in which you made a difference to them.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:01:49 Well, I'll share with you, I was telling my son — he's a cadet, a third-class cadet, actually, now he's about to be a C2C — that I was doing this podcast with you, and he said, ‘What an incredible leader, Mom, he motivates me. He's so inspiring.' So your legacy is already through my son—   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:02:05 Thank you! That means — thank you so much for sharing.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:02:10 —that you really made an impact. So we're going to get to your final thoughts here in a little bit. But before we do, I want to make sure that you know our podcasts publish on every second Tuesday of the month, and you can certainly listen to Gen. Sherman in any of our other podcasts on longblueleadership.org. So Gen. Sherman, what would you like to leave our listeners with today? This has been incredible, by the way. Thank you.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:02:32 I have truly enjoyed this, and it's just been — it was just wonderful having the conversation with you, and it's in real honor to be a part of this. I truly believe in what you're doing here.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:02:43 Thank you. It's my pleasure to help share your story and help inspire others. And is there anything we might leave with our listeners that that they can part with tonight?   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:02:51 I think, for me, you need to love what you do and love I think, is one of the most powerful words in language. And I don't just say the English language. I say in language because of the strength behind the meaning and how wide the meaning can be impactful. If you love what you do, people will feel that your very presence will make a difference. They'll feel that if you love what you do, then you're being, you know, internally, inspired by the love that you have for what you're being a part of, right? If you love and care about your people, they will follow you to the ends of the Earth, because they know the passion that you have and the belief that you have in them. So I think that as we go back to these things, we oftentimes look at the terms of courage and love may seem diametrically opposed, and I would attest that you can be most courageous and that your courage will be most effective only when it's buttressed by the love that you have in what you do and who you do it with.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:04:08 Thank you, sir, for that. Thank you for being on Long Blue Leadership.   MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN  1:04:11 Absolutely. Thank you. This was a wonderful time. It was a real honor.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:04:14 Thank you. Well, until next time, I'm Naviere Walkewicz. We'll see you on Long Blue Leadership.     KEYWORDS Leadership, Air Force Academy, Major General Thomas P. Sherman, mentorship, personal growth, security forces, work-life balance, family support, continuous improvement, legacy       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation        

This time Dan and Erik talk to Billy and Rae from Nonnie Parry. 

Get along little doggies, this time Dan and Erik talk about some short little local records from Blaster, God's Hand and Nonnie Parry. We also talk about Rock being dead (again) and Erik goes the heck off on cry-baby Youtube Gen-X music influencers. 

In this podcast, shareholders Nonnie Shivers (Phoenix) and Scott Kelly (Birmingham) discuss the complexities of participating in and/or sponsoring cultural events that celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in light of the current administration's scrutiny of such programs. Using Pride Month as a focal point, Scott and Nonnie—who co-chairs the firm's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Compliance Practice Group—review the legalities and risks associated with these events. They also offer strategies for employers to balance celebration, education, and compliance while fostering an inclusive workplace.

In this installment of our Workplace Strategies Watercooler 2025 podcast series, three key members of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Compliance Practice Group—Simone Francis (St. Thomas/New York), Scott Kelly (Birmingham), and Nonnie Shivers (Phoenix)—address the status of DEI initiatives as they face unprecedented scrutiny. The speakers start by level setting about the status of equal employment opportunity laws, Title VII, Section 1981, and protected characteristics, while outlining strategies for adapting to increased DEI oversight and initiatives from the new administration. Nonnie (who co-chairs the firm's DEI Compliance Practice Group) drills down on the guardrails organizations can put in place regarding resource and affinity groups in the workplace, in addition to the legal status of quotas and preferences. Simone shares perspectives on the importance of identifying the goals of resource groups when assessing their legality and utility for an organization, and whether organizations have used objective data in designing these programs. Scott probes the usefulness of data regarding the policies, design, and implementation of resource groups especially when ensuring the practices of these groups do not go far afield from the policies used to implement them. Finally, Scott stresses the importance of internal and external communications about these programs while assessing these resource programs.

Life can get heavy, can't it? Yet I think we all need to remember, especially for the people that feel “strong,” that every strong person can feel weak too, but every "weak" person has access to strength. Nonnie starts off the episode about building strength, we need to remember that we have weak moments (2:02). She continues to explain more that asking for help is okay, and building off your weaknesses is your strength (8:55). Then, Brandon proposes a thought of why people stay in their weakness because they can't accept them (12:00). Furthermore, Nonnie explains the more we can make a regular practice of never giving up, we can build strength and determination to keep moving forward (16:55). Brandon then expresses that things take time and we need growing pains to gain wisdom and strength (23:55). In closing, Brandon and Nonnie discuss the importance of acknowledging and addressing where you need help (31:10).   Stay connected with us on Instagram @nolossessilentwins Artwork by @plstip_

In this podcast, shareholders Nonnie Shivers and Scott Kelly delve into the enforcement activities after a preliminary injunction blocked key provisions (including the certification requirement) of two executive orders (EOs) issued to eliminate “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives. Scott (who co-chairs the firm's Government Contracting and Reporting Practice Group) and Nonnie (who co-chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Compliance Practice Group) discuss the implications of the national injunction recently issued by a federal judge, the ongoing enforcement activities not halted by the injunction, and the broader impact on federal contractors and DEI programs across all employers. Nonnie and Scott also highlight the importance of staying informed and assessing risk tolerance in light of the evolving legal landscapes, which employers can do with Ogletree's New Administration Resource Hub.

Being a strong person is never easy, but it is something to celebrate. Today's episode is a gentle reminder to remind you all that if you are going through something, someday you will celebrate it. Brandon starts off with his guest, Nonnie about her story and her upbringing (3:58). Later on, she expresses about her non-cancerous brain tumor (11:14) and the importance of advocating for yourself to get the help you need. Nonnie continues to explain how her faith and listening to Gospel music helped her through her trials (20:08). As well, she gives a shout out to her support system for being there when she needed them (31:55). In closing, Nonnie and Brandon both discuss the importance of getting the help when you need it and not beating yourself up when you go through any trials and tribulations (42:20). Stay connected with us on Instagram @nolossessilentwins Artwork by @plstip_

November 19, 2006. Littleton, Colorado. First Lieutenant Nonnie Dotson, a 33-year old nurse with the United States Air Force, has travelled from San Antonio, Texas to Colorado with her infant daughter and is saying with her brother, Tony Dotson. Nonnie leaves Tony's residence in order to presumably travel to a nearby shopping center, but she never returns. Even though police track Nonnie's cell phone signal and her scent to a nearby field, no trace of her can be found. Investigators explore a number of different angles, including the possibility that Nonnie was harmed by a stalker, the estranged father of her child, and even her own brother, but she remains a missing person. On this week's episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a baffling unsolved disappearance in which the victim seemingly vanished into thin air. Additional Reading: https://charleyproject.org/case/nonnie-ann-dotson https://www.crimelibrary.org/criminal_mind/forensics/nonnie_dotson/1_index.html https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ng/date/2011-03-23/segment/01 https://www.denverpost.com/2006/12/06/ex-beau-of-missing-nurse-quizzed/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/case-of-missing-air-force-nurse-grows-cold/ https://www.denverpost.com/2007/11/27/missing-moms-trail-goes-cold/ https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/something-happened-to-her-family-wants-answers-10-years-after-single-moms-disappearance/73-437111811 https://kdvr.com/news/colorado-cold-cases/cold-case-have-you-seen-this-woman-missing-since-2006/ https://www.denverpost.com/2014/01/17/man-gets-96-to-life-in-break-in-sexual-assault/ https://www.westword.com/news/rapist-tony-dotson-guilty-in-murder-for-hire-bid-against-victimand-sister-is-still-missing-6283026 “The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the AdvocacyCon, taking place at the Indianapolis Marriott East in Indianapolis on March 28-30, 2025. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/. “The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at Crimecon UK” in London on June 7-8, 2024. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL10”, by visiting Crimecon.co.uk. “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Nonda Houston is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God and serves as the National AG Women's Director. She has been married to her husband Gordon for 41 years. They served as lead pastors in San Jacinto, CA for 22 years, and at the SoCal Network Office as Women's Director for nearly 14 years. She loves family time with her four married children and being “Nonnie” to her 8 grandchildren. Nonda is passionate about encouraging, empowering and equipping women to know Jesus and make Him known. Become a 360 man today! https://360manpodcast.com/

Join Andrew, Keith, and Aaron as we tackle Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 by Sledgehammer Games. Join the Call of duty squad as they globetrot around the world answering various calls from various duties. Play the campaign as you hunt bad man Markov who wants gas and or missiles. Tackle missions your way in the newly horrible missions called Open Combat, which are just segments ripped from Warzone. If the campaign is not your jam then head online and battle little kids who shoot you with laser guns that meow and turn you into a puddle. Don't worry about being harassed from kids who claim to have relations with your mother because online toxicity is cured! Don't care for PVP? Well check out the new non round based zombies that is definitely not just warzone with zombies.   Thank you to our sponsor for this episode Nonnie's Kitcken. go to https://www.facebook.com/NonnieBread?mibextid=ZbWKwL and order your freeze dried candy today! They are delicious. U.S. ONLY

A jam-packed show today! The Billy & Lisa crew cover a whole bunch of topics during today's show, from the concerts this weekend to people meeting Nonnie! We got our winner for P!nk! Steve Cooper gave us a call from outside the courthouse! Katherine joined us again in studio, we are all hoping for a verdict soon. Then, Katherine stuck around for Topic Time. Listen to Billy & Lisa Weekdays From 6-10AM on Kiss 108 on the iHeartRadio app! 

In this podcast recorded at Ogletree Deakins' national Workplace Strategies seminar, Nonnie Shivers (shareholder, Phoenix) and Tiffany Cox Stacy (office managing shareholder, San Antonio) discuss the EEOC's final guidance on harassment in the workplace. Tiffany and Nonnie cover the ways in which the new guidance, which the agency issued on April 29, 2024, updates, consolidates, and replaces the agency's previous guidance. They also explain the guidance's 70+ examples illustrating unlawful workplace harassment situations, covering both circumstances emerging in the office and in the ever-growing virtual workplace. Finally, Nonnie and Tiffany discuss what the EEOC's new guidance means for employers as they seek to keep their harassment policies and processes effective and compliant.

In this podcast recorded at Ogletree Deakins' national Workplace Strategies seminar, Nonnie Shivers (shareholder, Phoenix) and Scott Kelly (shareholder, Birmingham) discuss what the Supreme Court's ruling that race-based college admissions are unconstitutional means for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the workplace. Scott and Nonnie discuss the legal framework for employers to consider when evaluating their voluntary DEI programming, including how to conduct a risk assessment of DEI programs, conflicting state laws, and questions specific to federal contractors. The speakers offer practical tips for designing and sustaining legally defensible DEI initiatives, including creative strategies to meet company goals without running afoul of the law.

On November 19th, 2006, Air Force nurse Nonnie Dotson and her 16-month-old daughter were visiting her brother in Littleton, Colorado, when she disappeared. The last person to see her was her brother at his home. There has been no sign of Nonnie since 2006, making it likely that she was a victim of foul play. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keytothecasepodcast/Sources:https://apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=1721https://web.archive.org/web/20100326031550/http://www.nonnie-dotson.com/2.htmlhttps://kdvr.com/news/colorado-cold-cases/cold-case-have-you-seen-this-woman-missing-since-2006/https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gn6X09G7CmmgNcWWxaSadhttps://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ng/date/2011-02-08/segment/02https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RDOr9CUmx4​​https://www.denverpost.com/2006/12/06/ex-beau-of-missing-nurse-quizzed/https://www.denverpost.com/2008/11/26/missing-mother-still-a-mystery/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/case-of-missing-air-force-nurse-grows-cold/https://web.archive.org/web/20150210000543/http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/nonnie_dotson/1_index.htmlhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/226505755https://www.newspapers.com/image/467349068/?terms=Nonnie%20dotson&match=1https://www.newspapers.com/image/539497718/?terms=Nonnie%20dotson&match=2https://www.denverpost.com/2007/11/27/missing-moms-trail-goes-cold/https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/something-happened-to-her-family-wants-answers-10-years-after-single-moms-disappearance/73-437111811https://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/03/grace.coldcase.dotson/index.htmlhttps://www.westword.com/news/rapist-tony-dotson-guilty-in-murder-for-hire-bid-against-victimand-sister-is-still-missing-6283026https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/man-who-allegedly-tried-to-have-rape-victim-killed-sentenced-to-96-years/

There is limited study on any type of walker in clinical trials. Do your own research and make sure you or your loved ones can use it safely.  —Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN, FNP, FGSA, FAAN   Are you thinking about getting a walker and not sure what you need to know before buying one?  In looking into walkers in general, I discovered that a limited amount of research has been done on any type of walker in clinical trials. This is where you need to listen because the experts still say we need more high-quality research to come to any conclusions about their effectiveness.  If you or your loved one utilizes any assistive device, it is crucial to ensure its safety.  In today's episode, my oldest son, my grandmother, and I are checking out an upright walker in collaboration with OasisSpace. Tune in for a detailed, comprehensive review and learn how to SAVE 7% off using a Promo Code offered to you – our valued listeners! ▶️ Review of the OasisSpace Upright Walker: 5 Things to Know Key points covered in this episode: My grandmother, Nonnie, was very excited to try a stand-up walker. We tested it out based on the following Review Criteria:  ✔️OVERALL QUALITY The Oasis Walker seemed to be of very high quality – it was sturdy, secure, and stable once put together, and it had the right weight limit to be safe for my grandmother. Please read the size chart carefully to know the weight limit (many only go up to 300 pounds), or they may only be available in one size. ✔️STABILITY and CONTROLLABILITY  When you use a stand up walker, the person's center of gravity will be higher than it is with a traditional walker. The OasisSpace Walker did have a lot of stability. The amount of space she had to walk was also adequate, reducing risk of the walker being a trip hazard.  ✔️ UNEVEN SURFACE HANDLING and EASE OF USE Be sure to select a model that most closely matches the intended location of use - indoors or outdoors.  Nonnie had no problems using this walker outside, but it was a little different once we got inside her home (the front wheels got stuck on throw rugs). She did, however, have enough balance and strength to lift the walker over those surface differences.  ✔️ TRIP HAZARD/ UNINTENDED MOVEMENT At first, we couldn't figure out how to get the brakes to set so that the walker wouldn't move while she turned around to sit on the seat. Nonnie figured it out shortly after we left the walker with her.  The brake wires stick out a bit, but I think that could be solved with the use of zip ties to keep the wires a little closer to the walker so they don't get stuck on anything and trip my grandmother up.  ✔️ FOLDING AND TRANSPORTING  When this walker was extended to its full height, it was hard to get it into the back of my mid-sized SUV. However, it easily collapsed to its smallest size, and once we got the wheels to stay in place, it fit easily into the back of my car when it was adjusted to fit Nonnie's height.  Overall, we both really liked the Oasis Walker! We initially thought she would use it indoors several times a day to regain strength in her back, but after having the walker for a few days, she let me know that she was more likely to use it outdoors. If you'd like to try out an OasisSpace Walker, just click on the LINK: https://www.oasisspace.com/collections/ecw-products-collection  Use the code Melissa7 to get 7% OFF! I think you'll be happy with your purchase – so much so that you may want to get 3 or 4 like my grandmother!   #OasisSpaceReview #UprightWalker #UprightWalkers #OasisSpaceUprightWalker #OasisSpaceUprightWalker #OasisSpaceUprightWalker #OasisSpace #OasisSpaceUprightWalkers   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About MelissaBPhD   Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN, FNP, FGSA, FAAN. I am a nurse, nurse practitioner, nurse educator and nurse researcher with over 25 years of experience in the aging and long-term care healthcare space. You can visit my website at MelissaBPhD.com to learn more about me, how you can work with me directly, and/or support future episodes of the podcast. Within the first 18 months of launching this podcast, we reached a ranking of top 10% globally. I have all of you who've been with me on this journey so far to thank for that!    The best way you can help the podcast continue to grow is to LIKE the podcast with a thumbs up, SHARE the podcasts you like with others, SUBSCRIBE, and LEAVE A REVIEW. These things only take a minute of your time, but they really do help increase my rating and ranking; but more importantly, these actions help other people find the podcast.   For the most up-to-date news and information about the podcast and other products and services I am offering, please visit my website, sign up for my newsletter, and follow me on social media.  

Demetrice/ Mi'Nonnie, Dayonna and Tonz of Bunz talks about how they would handle the situation. Tune in to find out who will 1. Tell the friend/family 2. Mind their business In this episode we did something different we got on instagram live and we allowed for people to call in and voice their opinion Lets us know what you would do and why? Thank you to everyone that supports Hot Toddies With Mi'Nonnie --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/support

Demetrice/ Mi'Nonnie, Dayonna and Tonz of Bunz talks about how they would handle the situation. Tune in to find out who will 1. Tell the friend/family 2. Mind their business In this episode we did something different we got on instagram live and we allowed for people to call in and voice their opinion Lets us know what you would do and why? Thank you to everyone that supports Hot Toddies With Mi'Nonnie --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/support

Women Around the World: Partnering Together to Strengthen the Global Church We share the same struggles. We serve the same Christ. We live in radically different contexts, but the truth is, we are ALL called to live missionally! In this series we will hear from women around the world about how we can partner together to strengthen the Global Church.   Connect to Mission to the World (MTW): https://www.mtw.org/ Connect to International Women's Ministry (CDM): https://women.pcacdm.org/international/ Connie Miller celebrated 44 years of marriage to her college sweetheart, Mike, who is the Global Missions Pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina. Serving alongside her husband with his various roles has been a real joy as she has worn several ministry hats as a church planter's wife, hospitality coordinator, worship leader, Children's Sunday School and women's Bible study teacher. They have 3 adult children, two daughters, Mary Sha; Cate, newly married to Jeff; and one son, Mike who is married to Megan. She and Mike love being “Nonnie and Pops” to their adorable grandchildren, Bo, Grisham, and Mary Caitlin. Connie serves as a National Trainer for the PCA Women's Ministry and Advisor for Women's Ministry International. She has a passion for discipling women and equipping them to think biblically and live covenantally. She and Mike enjoy traveling, hiking, biking and kayaking.    

“Motor scooters really can't make a major difference in the life of an older adult who might not otherwise be able to leave their home without one. This impacts their independence and as I found out, it actually impacts their care partners as well.” —Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN, FNP, FGSA, FAAN Imagine not being able to leave your home and go out with your family and friends due to debilitating back pain. Walking just 15 feet becomes a challenge, and you rely on a cane or rolling walker for shorter distances. How do you cope with basic activities like shopping or going out for lunch? Get ready for a super informative episode of This Is Getting Old: Moving Towards An Age-Friendly World! I've got six essential things to share with you about buying a motor scooter for yourself or a loved one. Trust me, it took four generations of my family just to take my grandmother, Nonnie, out for a day of lunch and shopping! Tune in and get the inside scoop on age-friendly mobility options! Key points covered in this episode:   ✔️ Whizzing Along - A Look at Motor Scooters Discover the world of motor scooters – the ultimate assistive technology. These sleek, battery-operated vehicles are perfect for individuals who are capable of walking but may need a little extra help getting around. With their convenient seat and handlebar steering, motor scooters offer both comfort and control. Whether you're cruising on the pavement or hitting the road, these versatile scooters can take you anywhere you need to go. Equipped with essential features like speed control, a horn, and even storage options, motor scooters are designed with your convenience in mind. Safety is a priority too, as users must be able to turn their head to look behind them when backing up. However, it's important to note that, unlike wheelchairs, motor scooters are not guaranteed access to all buildings under the American Disabilities Act.   ✔️ Before You Buy: 6 Factors To Consider Before Purchasing a Motor Scooter #1. Where Do You Want To Go? My mom brought Nonnie to town for a doctor's appointment on this particular morning. When it came to choosing a restaurant for lunch, our top priority was finding one that was fully accessible. We decided on the Oceanic, located by the beach, because they had a spacious ramp leading to the entrance. Although the ramp had a tight turn, Nonnie managed to navigate it and transfer to her chair. Thankfully, the restaurant wasn't crowded, so there was enough room for her scooter to be parked right by our table. #2. How Agile Is The Scooter In Tight Spaces? Nonnie effortlessly navigates a ramp and makes a sharp turn to enter a restaurant. Before we left, we made sure to stop by the bathroom to ensure the scooter could easily fit inside. Nonnie smoothly transferred onto the scooter, entered the stall, and then drove out. As we were leaving, Davis was incredibly helpful by opening the door for her. Nonnie skillfully maneuvered back down the ramp without any difficulties. Her scooter handled the transition from the boardwalk to the pavement flawlessly. #3. How Much Does The Scooter And The Battery Weigh? Discovering the weight range of scooters was quite surprising - they can weigh anywhere from 46 to 400 pounds, excluding the battery. My grandmother's scooter, ith its 25-pound battery, weighed well over 50 to 60 pounds. It was quite a challenge to lift it from my mom's car to the pavement and back. Thankfully, Davis was there to help us with this heavy task. However, my mom and aunt wouldn't be able to handle the weight on their own, making it impossible for them to take my grandmother anywhere with the scooter. We definitely need lighter scooters. #4. How Will You Get It To Another Location – Does It Fit Into The Back Of Your Vehicle? Transporting a scooter can be quite a challenge! Especially when it comes to fitting it in the back of your vehicle. Trust me, I've been there, done that. And let me tell you, it's not a pretty sight. However, picking up and disassembling the scooter can make the process a bit of a fiasco. My mom's car was no exception - it required some strategic planning and a bit of a game of Tetris to get the scooter securely in the back. But with a little patience and some creative thinking, we were able to make it work. So if you find yourself in a similar situation, don't stress - it may take a little extra effort, but it's definitely doable. #5. How Easy It Is To Disassemble And Reassemble? While Davis handled the heavy lifting, I was in charge of assembly. I must admit, our second stop at the shopping center was a bit challenging. We asked three people for assistance, but they were as clueless about the scooter as we were. However, after some trial and error, we were able to reassemble it successfully. It's worth noting that even the chair itself was bulky and difficult to align and fit onto the pedestal. Removing the seat to transport it from the restaurant to the shopping center added another complication. #6. How Far Will It Go On One Battery Charge? Scooters can travel varying distances on a single charge, ranging from 10 to 35 miles. Nonnie's scooter had a full battery so we went shopping for lunch using her scooter, successfully navigating sidewalks, curbs, and most aisles in the department store. Nonnie was able to complete her shopping independently, demonstrating impressive focus and determination to accomplish her goals.   ✔️ Don't Keep Those Scooter Stories To Yourself!Don't be shy, share your scooter stories with us! We want to hear all about your wild rides and smooth cruises. Drop a comment and make us laugh or gasp in amazement.   ✔️ Do You Have A Brilliant Idea For Making Scooters Easier To Transport? Got any secret tips or tricks up your sleeve when it comes to navigating those pesky scooter paths? We want to know! Help us avoid those nasty potholes and tricky corners by leaving a comment below. ✔️ Attention Scooter Companies If you're a scooter manufacturer looking to improve your products, Nonnie and I are ready to put them to the test! Drop us a line and let's collaborate on creating the ultimate lightweight, easy-to-assemble scooter. ✔️ Calling All Mobility Scooter Gurus! If you're in the industry and striving to make life easier for scooter enthusiasts all over the world, we want to hear from you. Reach out on our website and let's start a conversation about scooter design and innovation. Drop a comment or message me directly with your thoughts and ideas. Who knows - you could be the one to revolutionize the scooter industry! If you have questions or comments or need help, please feel free to drop a one-minute audio or video clip and email it to me at melissabphd@gmail.com, and I will get back to you by recording an answer to your question. About Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN, FNP, FGSA, FAAN:   I earned my Bachelor of Science in Nursing ('96) and Master of Science in Nursing ('00) as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) School of Nursing (SON). I genuinely enjoy working with the complex medical needs of older adults. I worked full-time for five years as FNP in geriatric primary care across many long-term care settings (skilled nursing homes, assisted living, home, and office visits), then transitioned into academic nursing in 2005, joining the faculty at UNCW SON as a lecturer. I obtained my PhD in Nursing and a post-master's Certificate in Nursing Education from the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing ('11). I then joined the faculty at Duke University School of Nursing as an Assistant Professor. My family moved to northern Virginia in 2015 which led to me joining the George Washington University (GW) School of Nursing faculty in 2018 as a (tenured) Associate Professor. I am also the Director of the GW Center for Aging, Health, and Humanities. Please find out more about her work at https://melissabphd.com/.

Demetrice/ Mi'Nonnie and Dayonna (daughter )talks about drama, experience with drama while mixing cocktails. In this episode Dayonna finds out that Demetrice canceled her sweet 16 party in a form of a punishment when Dayonna did something wrong in the past. We talk about things that can help prevent drama and the damage that drama can cause. Message: When involved in drama try to find to take the positive way out. Drama is bad energy that usually turns into violence. Thank you to everyone that supports this podcast (the products in this video is not paid partnership --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/support

Demetrice/ Mi'Nonnie and Dayonna (daughter )talks about drama, experience with drama while mixing cocktails. In this episode Dayonna finds out that Demetrice canceled her sweet 16 party in a form of a punishment when Dayonna did something wrong in the past. We talk about things that can help prevent drama and the damage that drama can cause. Message: When involved in drama try to find to take the positive way out. Drama is bad energy that usually turns into violence. Thank you to everyone that supports this podcast (the products in this video is not paid partnership --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/support

Hello everyone I am Demetrice/Mi'Nonnie today I talked with Dayonna, Myeshia, Keyana, Yolanda (my best friend ) and Dj Drea we talked about knowing your worth. How do you learn to know you're worth? Who teaches you to know you're worth?  Today do you know you're worth? In this episode we started out trying to do audio/ visual but that didn't work out, sorry guys please forgive us however I am still releasing the audio. I hope you enjoy the show  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/support

Hello everyone I am Demetrice/Mi'Nonnie today I talked with Dayonna, Myeshia, Keyana, Yolanda (my best friend ) and Dj Drea we talked about knowing your worth. How do you learn to know you're worth? Who teaches you to know you're worth?  Today do you know you're worth? In this episode we started out trying to do audio/ visual but that didn't work out, sorry guys please forgive us however I am still releasing the audio. I hope you enjoy the show  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demetrice-armstrong/support

TRANSCRIPT HERE  Steph is the luckiest daughter to be able to interview her retired engineer father, Frank (or Franco) Fornasier, on the podcast today, as they reflect on the film and play Looking for Alibrandi (2000 and 2022 respectively). Frank tells Steph what it was like growing up in Brisbane as an Italian boy with an extremely religious mother, and tyrannical unaffectionate father. Topics include religion, early immigration days, and wine that tastes like pus. This episode is dedicated to Luigia Fornasier, aka Nonnie (14/11/17 - 13/4/2010). We still miss your food and sloppy cheek kisses. CONTENT WARNING: Suicide, domestic abuse and violence including child and gendered abuse, racial and cultural slurs and racist events, discussion of religion and catholocism. (Hotline numbers: Lifeline 131114, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636, 1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732) References: LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI - Belvoir St Theatre Looking for Alibrandi (film) - Wikipedia The rise and fall of troubled Aussie star Matthew Newton Franco Fornasier's memory  Follow Psychocinematic on Instagram and Twitter! or join our Facebook Group! Email us at psychocinematicpodcast@gmail.com and JOIN OUR PATREON for SO MUCH exclusive content and for your September fees to go to MINUS18!   NOTE: This podcast is not designed to be therapeutic, prescriptive or constitute a formal diagnosis for any listener, nor the characters discussed. The host is not representative of all psychologists and opinions stated are her own personal opinion, based on her own learnings and training (and minimal lived experience). Host and co-hosts do not have the final say and can only comment based on their own perspectives, so please let us know if you dispute any of these opinions – we are keen for feedback! Host: Stephanie Fornasier Cohost, music and artwork: Michael Watson Editor: Nicholas Fornasier  

This week we meet the characters of Insatiable! Patty wants revenge, Bob loses. his job, and Nonnie has a crush. Amy and Gina discuss fat suits in media, the Suite Life, and anti-heroes. CW: discussion of sexual assault, pedophilia, and suicide Follow us! Instagram: @notanotherteendrama Twitter: @teendramapod Amy: @foreveramyf Gina: @gina.pasquinelli

Shelly Brisbin stops by the show to talk about accessibility features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Door Detection Apple Watch Mirroring VoiceOver - Languages and Voices (Eloquence) Custom Sound Recognition Buddy Controller macOS Text Checker The State of Apple Accessibility  Good: iOS vs. Android  Good: Hearing Aid Support  Good: Audio Descriptions on Apple TV+  Needs Improvement: Buggy Braile Support  Needs Improvement: Lack of innovation on macOS News  Florida airline worker arrested after AirTag reveals he stole thousands of dollars worth of luggage Update Zoom for Mac now to avoid root-access vulnerability  Apple Finds Its Next Big Business: Showing Ads on Your iPhone  iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser Shortcuts Corner  Shortcuts Corner will return next week. Feedback & Questions MJ asks for help deciding where to store his passwords. Michael wants to disable sports notifications from Apple TV. Nonnie needs help connecting to and controlling an iPad remotely. App Caps  Shelly's App Cap: Voice Dream Reader Mikah's App Cap: stoic. Host: Mikah Sargent Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsor: Blueland.com/IOS

Shelly Brisbin stops by the show to talk about accessibility features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Door Detection Apple Watch Mirroring VoiceOver - Languages and Voices (Eloquence) Custom Sound Recognition Buddy Controller macOS Text Checker The State of Apple Accessibility  Good: iOS vs. Android  Good: Hearing Aid Support  Good: Audio Descriptions on Apple TV+  Needs Improvement: Buggy Braile Support  Needs Improvement: Lack of innovation on macOS News  Florida airline worker arrested after AirTag reveals he stole thousands of dollars worth of luggage Update Zoom for Mac now to avoid root-access vulnerability  Apple Finds Its Next Big Business: Showing Ads on Your iPhone  iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser Shortcuts Corner  Shortcuts Corner will return next week. Feedback & Questions MJ asks for help deciding where to store his passwords. Michael wants to disable sports notifications from Apple TV. Nonnie needs help connecting to and controlling an iPad remotely. App Caps  Shelly's App Cap: Voice Dream Reader Mikah's App Cap: stoic. Host: Mikah Sargent Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsor: Blueland.com/IOS

Shelly Brisbin stops by the show to talk about accessibility features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Door Detection Apple Watch Mirroring VoiceOver - Languages and Voices (Eloquence) Custom Sound Recognition Buddy Controller macOS Text Checker The State of Apple Accessibility  Good: iOS vs. Android  Good: Hearing Aid Support  Good: Audio Descriptions on Apple TV+  Needs Improvement: Buggy Braile Support  Needs Improvement: Lack of innovation on macOS News  Florida airline worker arrested after AirTag reveals he stole thousands of dollars worth of luggage Update Zoom for Mac now to avoid root-access vulnerability  Apple Finds Its Next Big Business: Showing Ads on Your iPhone  iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser Shortcuts Corner  Shortcuts Corner will return next week. Feedback & Questions MJ asks for help deciding where to store his passwords. Michael wants to disable sports notifications from Apple TV. Nonnie needs help connecting to and controlling an iPad remotely. App Caps  Shelly's App Cap: Voice Dream Reader Mikah's App Cap: stoic. Host: Mikah Sargent Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsor: Blueland.com/IOS

Shelly Brisbin stops by the show to talk about accessibility features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Door Detection Apple Watch Mirroring VoiceOver - Languages and Voices (Eloquence) Custom Sound Recognition Buddy Controller macOS Text Checker The State of Apple Accessibility  Good: iOS vs. Android  Good: Hearing Aid Support  Good: Audio Descriptions on Apple TV+  Needs Improvement: Buggy Braile Support  Needs Improvement: Lack of innovation on macOS News  Florida airline worker arrested after AirTag reveals he stole thousands of dollars worth of luggage Update Zoom for Mac now to avoid root-access vulnerability  Apple Finds Its Next Big Business: Showing Ads on Your iPhone  iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser Shortcuts Corner  Shortcuts Corner will return next week. Feedback & Questions MJ asks for help deciding where to store his passwords. Michael wants to disable sports notifications from Apple TV. Nonnie needs help connecting to and controlling an iPad remotely. App Caps  Shelly's App Cap: Voice Dream Reader Mikah's App Cap: stoic. Host: Mikah Sargent Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsor: Blueland.com/IOS

Shelly Brisbin stops by the show to talk about accessibility features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Door Detection Apple Watch Mirroring VoiceOver - Languages and Voices (Eloquence) Custom Sound Recognition Buddy Controller macOS Text Checker The State of Apple Accessibility  Good: iOS vs. Android  Good: Hearing Aid Support  Good: Audio Descriptions on Apple TV+  Needs Improvement: Buggy Braile Support  Needs Improvement: Lack of innovation on macOS News  Florida airline worker arrested after AirTag reveals he stole thousands of dollars worth of luggage Update Zoom for Mac now to avoid root-access vulnerability  Apple Finds Its Next Big Business: Showing Ads on Your iPhone  iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser Shortcuts Corner  Shortcuts Corner will return next week. Feedback & Questions MJ asks for help deciding where to store his passwords. Michael wants to disable sports notifications from Apple TV. Nonnie needs help connecting to and controlling an iPad remotely. App Caps  Shelly's App Cap: Voice Dream Reader Mikah's App Cap: stoic. Host: Mikah Sargent Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsor: Blueland.com/IOS

Shelly Brisbin stops by the show to talk about accessibility features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Door Detection Apple Watch Mirroring VoiceOver - Languages and Voices (Eloquence) Custom Sound Recognition Buddy Controller macOS Text Checker The State of Apple Accessibility  Good: iOS vs. Android  Good: Hearing Aid Support  Good: Audio Descriptions on Apple TV+  Needs Improvement: Buggy Braile Support  Needs Improvement: Lack of innovation on macOS News  Florida airline worker arrested after AirTag reveals he stole thousands of dollars worth of luggage Update Zoom for Mac now to avoid root-access vulnerability  Apple Finds Its Next Big Business: Showing Ads on Your iPhone  iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser Shortcuts Corner  Shortcuts Corner will return next week. Feedback & Questions MJ asks for help deciding where to store his passwords. Michael wants to disable sports notifications from Apple TV. Nonnie needs help connecting to and controlling an iPad remotely. App Caps  Shelly's App Cap: Voice Dream Reader Mikah's App Cap: stoic. Host: Mikah Sargent Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsor: Blueland.com/IOS

Shelly Brisbin stops by the show to talk about accessibility features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Door Detection Apple Watch Mirroring VoiceOver - Languages and Voices (Eloquence) Custom Sound Recognition Buddy Controller macOS Text Checker The State of Apple Accessibility  Good: iOS vs. Android  Good: Hearing Aid Support  Good: Audio Descriptions on Apple TV+  Needs Improvement: Buggy Braile Support  Needs Improvement: Lack of innovation on macOS News  Florida airline worker arrested after AirTag reveals he stole thousands of dollars worth of luggage Update Zoom for Mac now to avoid root-access vulnerability  Apple Finds Its Next Big Business: Showing Ads on Your iPhone  iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser Shortcuts Corner  Shortcuts Corner will return next week. Feedback & Questions MJ asks for help deciding where to store his passwords. Michael wants to disable sports notifications from Apple TV. Nonnie needs help connecting to and controlling an iPad remotely. App Caps  Shelly's App Cap: Voice Dream Reader Mikah's App Cap: stoic. Host: Mikah Sargent Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can contribute to iOS Today by leaving us a voicemail at 757-504-iPad (757-504-4723) or sending an email to iOSToday@TWiT.tv. Sponsor: Blueland.com/IOS

PODCAST: 51 MinutesThe rich colonial Americans who crossed the Atlantic in the 18th century considered themselves more British than the British. The Brits were not quick to agree . . . This is the podcast version of this Non-Boring History post:Non-Boring History is the ONLY newsletter of its kind, in which an academic historian and Brit in the US (me, Dr. Annette Laing, cheers!) leads you on a rollercoaster ride through British and US history that might seem random, (and kind of is), but brings you close up to academic history and the joys of museums, and gets you thinking like a historian, only without tests and other painful experiences. Upgrade to a paid annual or monthly subscription today, and become a Nonnie, for full access to NBH offerings, past and future! Healthier, a lot cheaper, and more enjoyable than a lot of coffees that are mostly ice and sugar anyway.Told a friend about Non-Boring History? Get full access to Non-Boring History at annettelaing.substack.com/subscribe

PODCAST: 24 minutesThis is the podcast version of this Non-Boring History post about my recent visit to the fascinating and lively Victorian home of President James and Lucretia Garfield:Non-Boring History is the ONLY newsletter of its kind, in which an academic historian (me, Dr. Annette Laing. cheers) leads you on a rollercoaster ride through British and US history that might seem random, and kind of is, but brings you close up to academic history and the joys of museums, and gets you thinking like a historian, only without tests and other painful experiences. Upgrade to a paid annual or monthly subscription today, and become a Nonnie, for full access to NBH offerings, past and future!Told a friend about Non-Boring History? Get full access to Non-Boring History at annettelaing.substack.com/subscribe

From the Disney Vault (it's not even on Disney+)!!Join us for our review of the little known 1993 Disney film A Far Off Place starring young Reese Witherspoon in her 4th movie. Surprisingly, this adventure drama is not Reese's only movie featuring elephants, nor is it her only movie set in Africa! Follow along as we discuss young Nonnie's journey across the desert to try to find safety and assess the plot, Reese's character, her acting, and more! Watch the movie FREE on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiS63GVn8cwEpisode Sponsored By XO Art & Design:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xoartanddesignWebsite: https://xoartanddesign.com/Let them know Girl Crush sent you to get 10% off!More about Girl Crush:Website: www.girlcrushpodcast.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlcrush_pod/Merch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/girlcrushpodcast/

This episode begins with a discussion on the importance of Sleep, and other sleep issues, including the 15 Rule. We also have a feature interview with Nonnie Owens. Mom Nonnie as she's known, has been a national keynote speaker and author touching on the topic of Healthy Dating. Our discussion is almost a therapy session […]

Anéle du Plessis gesels met Jan Blohm oor die vrystelling, Nonnie, vanaf sy nuutste album Jenny.

Nonnie Dotson, 33, a USAF nurse, visits family and friends in Littleton, Colorado. One afternoon she tells family she's going for a smoothie with friends. Dotson is never seen again.Joining Nancy Grace today:James Shelnutt - 27 years Atlanta Metro Area Major Case Detective, Swat officer, Attorney, ShelnuttLawFirm.comDr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA AngelaArnoldMD.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum WomenDan Corsentino - Former Police Chief (Fountain, Colorado), Former Sheriff, Served on US Homeland Security Senior Advisory Board, Private Investigator, Dan Corsentino Private & Investigative Security Consultants, DanCorsentino.comMichael Whelan - Podcaster and Researcher: "Unresolved", unresolved.me, Instagram/Twitter: @unresolvedpodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

speaking in 1983

It's minisode time and we are all over the place!    This week the ladies of RFT fall further from sobriety when they discover Deep Eddy Lime Vodka, the Doctor talks about her hero Michelle Pfeifer and the career path that could have been, we take cues from our listeners and let them guide our chat, we have an idea for a new Olympics segment, trademark "Knitting with Nonnie" and go on an 80's cartoon rant. All this and so much more on this week's Reel Fun Times. 

Episode 48: Encore of Episode 2: stress free eating with kids Nonnie and Mom are still on a creative break. Please keep listening as we plan for season 2 coming soon! In this episode of Nonnie and Mom, we discuss the importance of fostering healthy eating habits with children. We review the benefits of baby led weaning, the challenges of healthy eating in the modern world, and some tips to help parents implement stress free eating in your home. Have any questions? Email us at NonnieandMomPodcast@gmail.com Find Mom aka Nicki on Instagram @hashtag.nicki Find Nonnie aka Karen on Instagram @hashtag.DrFox See you soon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nonnieandmom/message

Ep 1: Parenting without fighting In this episode of Nonnie and Mom, we discuss the value of parenting without fighting, real life examples of trials and failures by Mom, and tips for how to implement in your own home. 4 types of parenting by Diana Baumrind - INSERT LINK HERE Find Mom aka Nicki on Instagram @hashtag.nicki Find Nonnie aka Karen on Instagram @hashtag.DrFox See you soon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nonnieandmom/message

Episode 46: Encore of Episode 1: Parenting without Fighting Nonnie & Mom are on a creative break for a few weeks so enjoy this encore of Episode 1 In this episode of Nonnie and Mom, we discuss the value of parenting without fighting, real life examples of trials and failures by Mom, and tips for how to implement in your own home. 4 types of parenting by Diana Baumrind Find Mom aka Nicki on Instagram @hashtag.nicki Find Nonnie aka Karen on Instagram @hashtag.DrFox Email us at NonnieandMompodcast@gmail.com See you soon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nonnieandmom/message

Nonnie Dotson disappeared from Denver, CO in 2006. Carla Anderson vanished from Wadena, MN in 1987. These cases remain open and unsolved. www.goone-podcast.com

Episode 43: Sibling Rivalry Today, Nonnie and Mom finally discuss the topic of sibling rivalry. Mom is one of 4 and now has two of her own, just 19 months apart, so sibling interactions are front and center right now. Nonnie is an only child, so her perspective is unique. We hope this episode gives you some food for thought on how to foster a healthy relationship between siblings. We reference the book Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish if you're interested in checking it out. We would love your feedback, or topic ideas! Leave us a voice message below, or send us an email! Email us at NonnieandMomPodcast@gmail.com Find Mom aka Nicki on Instagram @beauty.in.the.beet. To join her waitlist for nutritional therapy services, visit thebeautyinthebeet.com Find Nonnie aka Karen on Instagram @hashtag.DrFox See you soon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nonnieandmom/message

Episode 42: Barriers to Therapy Today, Nonnie and Mom discuss many of the potential barriers to therapy that a person might feel or encounter. As advocates for mental health services, we both think it's important to not only normalize therapy by discussing these issues, but also providing resources that may align with your current needs. Here are some that we discuss in today's episode: Mental Health Match - Therapists and Counselors Near You MHMR Get Started (betterhelp.com) To schedule a 15 minute welcome call, or your first appointment, with Dr. Fox (Nonnie), email drkarenlfox@gmail.com. We would love your feedback, or topic ideas! Leave us a voice message below, or send us an email! Email us at NonnieandMomPodcast@gmail.com Find Mom aka Nicki on Instagram @beauty.in.the.beet Find Nonnie aka Karen on Instagram @hashtag.DrFox See you soon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nonnieandmom/message

Welcome to this week's episode of the StephUp Podcast! Thank you for your support and for coming back each week to listen. This episode features special guest, children's book author Rene Schultz, who has written the book “A Million More Kisses”.Rene's book is about loss and grief, as well as learning to say goodbye, and is written in a way that makes sense to children. This book also teaches how to properly grieve and be strong. The cover of “A Million More Kisses” features a dog name Geronimo, which is based off Rene's own chihuahua. The main character Nonnie is based off Rene's mother-in-law. Rene feels that writing these kinds of books is important because children experience loss and grief too, and it's important that they identify and manage with their feelings.Stephanie and Rene begin their discussion by talking about Rene's childhood, which holds painful memories of child abuse and trauma. She discusses how she was affected throughout her childhood and into her adulthood, including her experiences within her church, and the different ways in which she coped and was able to finally heal. Rene states that she was dealing with grief and loss while writing and had to learn to move forward. With hope and faith, Rene got through her grief and was able to finish this book.Stephanie and Rene also talk about a course that Rene has written based on faith. The concept is that faith and hope can help you to create boundaries within relationship, develop coping skills, and help with forgiveness. This course is for people who are stuck and wanting to move forward. There is more to life than what we are sitting and stewing in. It's important to heal your inner child.When it comes to advice for other writers who are trying to get published, Rene's says to never give up on your dream. Keep pushing and you will get there.“Bit by bit, row by row, that's how we make our dreams grow”Listen in to hear the rest of their conversation and please remember to rate, subscribe, and share with your friends!  Purchase Rene's book, A Million More Kisses here and here.Visit Rene's website Woody Knoll PublishingFollow StephUp Podcast on Instagram and Facebook! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I knew nothing about children's books, or children's characters, or the entertainment industry, or anything. But I knew this was meant to be. -Sheila Duncan It all started one day in 2006 when Sheila was spending time with her twelve year old niece, Kendra who had experienced a series of losses. First, her father passed away, then her grandmother “Nonnie” died of cancer, and finally, the family dog, Irish died as well. Through her tears, Kendra looked up at the TV and saw a telethon about children with cancer. She drew a picture of a small grey puppy and said: “His name's “Trouble” and he's gonna help kids having trouble in their lives”. Sheila remembers believing very deeply that something “divinely inspired” happened that day. The story line and the concept for the popular “Trouble The Dog” children's book series was hatched and Sheila became the force that carried her niece's compassion forward to the world. And it hasn't been easy! In this interview, Sheila talks about what it takes to breathe life into an idea. With experience in the restaurant and the travel industries, she tapped into her inner-entrepreneur, figuring out how to break into the children's book market with the first two books in the Trouble The Dog series, and then, how to manufacture a huggable plush toy by the same name, made in the USA. www.troublethedog.net. Throughout this interview, Sheila talks about the value of persistence, even when no one believes in your idea: “I listened to my intuition and to what the kids were saying to me. It was like there was a big foot in my back, propelling me forward. I just kept on going.” Trouble The Dog has given comfort to children in foster care who receive him as part of their therapy. He has traveled to Haiti after the earthquake, and to Newtown, Connecticut where he comforted children directly affected by the shootings at Sandy Hook. And it's not just children who feel his love. Trouble has even helped wounded soldiers at Walter Reed cope with their injuries. With the upcoming release of a third book in the Trouble The Dog series, Sheila and Kendra's mission to bring Trouble's message to the world keeps on going. Says Sheila: “There's something enchanting about this pup called Trouble. He comforts kids. Our next step is to bring Trouble to life on your TV screen as a meaningful cartoon series!” #hope #troublethedog