Brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor
POPULARITY
Categories
Brands are personal. AI is not. So how do you use a tool that has no feelings, no experiences, and no voice of its own to help you build a brand that feels deeply personal and unmistakably you? It starts long before you ever open ChatGPT. Define Your Brand Before AI Touches It Before you hand anything over to AI, take time to define your brand yourself. Ask: Who are my customers? What do they think about me now? What do I want them to say about me? That clarity becomes your North Star. Otherwise, you're just asking AI to aimlessly generate words without direction. Audit What the Internet Thinks Once you know who you think you are, find out what the internet thinks you are. Instead of Googling your name or company like we used to, go to ChatGPT and ask: “What is the brand perception of [Your Name or Company]?” “What is [Brand] known for?” “What do people say about this brand online?” Then compare what comes back with your original vision. That's where the human part of branding kicks in. You have to decide: Do I adjust my message to match this audience, or do I refine my audience to match my message? That's not a whim—it's a business decision. Know Who's Actually Buying Forget what you want to be true. Who's actually opening their wallets? Sometimes your real buyers don't match your target persona or AI's assumptions. Analyze the overlap and decide: Who do I really want more of? Who do I actually have now? You can't market to everyone. Pick your lane. Define Your Voice Next, upload three pieces of your own writing—blog posts, service pages, whatever—to ChatGPT and ask: “If you were another AI tool writing for this brand, how would you describe this tone and voice?” That gives you a practical, data-driven description of your style—something you can reuse for consistency across content. Once you've defined both your customer persona and brand voice, everything you produce should be filtered through those two lenses. Clarify Your Unique Value Now get specific about what makes you different. Ask: What problem do I solve? What pain does my customer feel? Why do they come to me instead of someone else? You can even ask ChatGPT to analyze common pain points for your audience—but always check it against what your actual customers tell you. That becomes the foundation for your positioning statement—your internal compass for marketing, not a fluffy public mission statement. Analyze Competitors Then, ask AI for a competitive analysis within your market or niche—set clear parameters like geography or audience size. Use that list to identify where you stand, what gaps you can fill, and how to differentiate. Test, Measure, Adjust Finally, make changes slowly. Update your copy, tweak your visuals, and every few months, check: Am I attracting the right audience? Is engagement improving? Are leads getting better quality? That's how you use AI without losing yourself in the process. REMEMBER: You can't outsource identity—AI refines it, not defines it. Use AI as a mirror, not a mask. Always verify what AI says about your brand with real human data. Voice + audience clarity = consistent brand growth. Branding is evolution, not automation.
The fundamental promise of this news publication is viewpoint diversity.I built Tangle because I wanted a place where conservatives, liberals, and everyone in between could gather under one roof and trust the news they were reading. In an era when media trust is at an all-time low, polarization is increasingly extreme and so few people seem capable of talking to each other across the partisan divide, this North Star has always served us well.In order to serve this mission, to earn the trust of the biggest Trump supporters and the most progressive leftists and all the people who land somewhere between them, we offer some simple promises: chief among them is viewpoint diversity in our content. Most days, this is “What the left is saying” and “What the right is saying,” though sometimes we'll offer pieces that counter each other (for instance, a Tangle staff member is working on a piece responding to what I'm writing here today). We also lean into transparency in how we work by featuring corrections prominently and sharing (and explaining) our editorial policies. Finally, we try to show that we're fallible humans who can make mistakes, learn and change their minds, rather than pretend we comprise a flawless high-minded institution (we regularly feature reader criticisms, and I encourage anyone who disagrees with today's piece to write in or comment so we can consider your thoughts). Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Jon Lall.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Thank you to our lovely sponsors : *BUMBLE: https://bumble.onelink.me/3396940749/0d1m11oa @bumble #bumblepartner Start your love story on Bumble. *SHOPIFY: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://www.shopify.com/habitsofagoddess *THE REAL REAL: The RealReal is the world's largest and most trusted resource for authenticated luxury resale. And this month, you can get an extra one hundred dollar site credit when you sell for the first time. Go to https://www.therealreal.com/habits *DRIPDROP: DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to https://www.dripdrop.com and use promo code HABITS. *HEADSPACE: Headspace FREE for 60 days. Go to https://www.Headspace.com/GODDESS *BETTERHELP: Get matched today with a licensed therapist when you visit https://www.betterhelp.com/habitsofagoddess . * Follow and connect with me here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/habitsofagoddess and Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@habitsofagoddess/videos *Here's how to support the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/habitofagoddess *Book a Goddess Chat session with me: https://habitofagoddess.com/products/goddess-chat-calls Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The AIM Framework: The Compass for Every Communication” Welcome to Conversations on Careers and Professional Life, on this series, I'm going to turn lessons from my MBA course, Professional Communication into practical insights you can use every day. I'm Gregory Heller, and today we're diving into one of the simplest—but most powerful—tools in communication, professional or otherwise: the AIM Framework, outlined by Lynn Russell and Mary Munter. AIM stands for Audience, Intent, and Message. It's a framework I teach in the very first session of my Professional Communication course, and it's one that I come back to again and again—because it works in every context: from team meetings to emails, from case competitions to C-suite presentations. Let's start with the “A”—Audience. Before you draft a slide, write an email, or step into a meeting, ask yourself: Who am I communicating with? What do they already know? What do they care about? What do they need to hear—not what do I need to say? As communicators, it's tempting to start with our own perspective: what we want to share, the details we think are important. But effective communication begins with empathy. When I teach this to my MBA students, I often remind them: if you're presenting to your project sponsor, that's one audience. But at your final presentation, you might have ten new people in the room—the sponsor's boss, colleagues, maybe other stakeholders. You need to know who those people are and what matters to them. At work, the same principle applies. A CFO and a Head of Marketing might look at the same data and see completely different stories. If you haven't thought about your audience, you're leaving understanding—and influence—up to chance. So before you even open PowerPoint or start writing, take five minutes to analyze your audience. Who are they? What's their level of expertise? What are they motivated by? And how do they prefer to receive information—visually, verbally, through numbers, through stories? That's the first step: know your audience. Next is “I”—Intent. Intent is your purpose. It's your North Star. What do you want your audience to do, say, or think after you communicate? It sounds simple, but this is where so many messages go off course. If you don't know your intent, you can't design your message. Do you want approval? Understanding? Action? Alignment? Think of intent as the destination for your message. You can't land the plane if you don't know where the runway is. When I talk with students about this, I often use an example: Imagine your boss calls you at 5:30 in the morning about a project problem. You're half-awake and you start talking before you've thought through what you want to say. That's when our thinking outruns our speaking—and that's when we say things we wish we hadn't. Intent brings focus. Before responding, pause. Take a breath. Ask yourself: What outcome am I trying to achieve here? The most confident communicators don't speak first—they think first. So that's step two: be intentional about your purpose. Finally, the “M”—Message. Only after you understand your audience and your intent can you craft the right message. Too often, we do this backwards. We start by writing the email, designing the slide deck, or outlining the talk—and then try to retrofit it to the audience. But when you've done the first two steps, your message becomes sharper and simpler. You know what to include—and, just as importantly, what to leave out. This is where clarity, concision, and structure come in. Every message should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. As I tell my students, “If you can't say what you're trying to say in one iPhone screen of text, it's probably too long.” And remember the ABCs of communication: Active, Brief, and Clear. Active—use direct, strong language. Brief—say only what's necessary. Clear—make sure there's no ambiguity about your point. The message isn't just what you say, it's also how you say it: the tone, the channel, the timing, even the visuals you use to reinforce your point. Sometimes the best message is a phone call instead of a Slack message. Sometimes it's a short memo instead of a slide deck. The medium is part of the message. So that's the AIM framework: Audience, Intent, Message. It's deceptively simple—but that's its power. When you apply AIM before every important communication, you'll find that your writing becomes tighter, your presentations more persuasive, and your meetings more productive. You'll waste less time explaining and more time connecting. So next time you sit down to prepare a talk, an email, or a meeting agenda—stop and ask yourself three questions: Who am I talking to? Why am I talking to them? And what's the clearest way to get them to act? That's AIM in action—and it's the foundation of every great communicator.
Learn how to move beyond trivial, distracting goals and tap into your hidden (and most fulfilling) motivations and latent "genius gifts," with clinical psychologist Diana Hill's research-backed "Wise Effort Method." Have you ever felt on a gut level that you've been distracting yourself with "surface-level" goals—rather than being passionately pulled toward what truly fulfills you? In this episode of Insights At The Edge, Tami Simon joins Diana Hill, PhD, a leading psychologist and the author of Wise Effort. With them, you'll learn and practice some of Diana's most effective, research-backed exercises for discovering your heart's deepest hidden motivations—and your overlooked "genius gifts" for empowering those desires. Don't miss this exceptionally practice-rich episode to explore: The difference between surface goals and deep motivation. "Deep Motivation" – Why willpower and discipline never win long-term, and how to let your true North Star values pull you passionately into your days. 3 questions for getting unstuck from unhealthy relationships, work situations, and addictive behaviors. How to identify your "genius qualities" (yes, you have plenty of them!) An incredibly effective one-minute exercise: "To reveal your deepest values, just follow your pain." "Choice Points" – Tuning in to the daily crucial moments where our values and actions accrue a life of either joy or regret. How to gain "psychological flexibility," the one science-backed strength crucial to positive emotional wellness, and more. Intrigued? Tune in now! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Listeners of Insights At The Edge get 10% off their first month at www.betterhelp.com/soundstrue. Note: This interview originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
Episode SummaryIn this deeply human and heartfelt conversation, Chris Schembra sits down with his longtime friend Kirti Naik, a powerhouse brand leader turned soulful storyteller, for an episode that moves beyond titles and accolades into the raw, unfiltered truth of a life well-lived. On this crisp New York City fall day, amid Yom Kippur reflections and the festive spirit of Diwali, Chris and Kirti explore the intertwined forces of fate, love, resilience, and identity.Kirti opens up about her unexpected journey into motherhood and how her daughter, Kiran, became her North Star, pushing her to finish business school while pregnant, guiding her to build a better life, and teaching her lessons in forgiveness and courage. Together, Chris and Kirti unpack the subtle art of pausing in a world obsessed with speed: pausing before responding to an email, pausing to think, pausing to realign with who we are and who we want to become.They delve into the heavy weight and quiet liberation of reputation, how cultural expectations and personal setbacks (like divorce) shape us, and how we can reclaim our own narrative even after painful turning points. Kirti shares how love and partnership with Greg have reshaped her family and her understanding of commitment — beyond paperwork and traditions — into something deeply chosen and resilient.The conversation moves fluidly from practical life strategies (like managing anxiety, editing before you send, embracing imperfection) to profound reflections on destiny (or “amor fati”), legacy, and the humility that comes with decades of personal and professional growth. We hear about parenting in New York City, the courage to let go of perfectionism, and how success is measured not just by business milestones but by the depth of relationships we nurture along the way.This is not a business episode, it's a blueprint for living with greater presence, courage, and gratitude. Whether you're navigating big career decisions, untangling old expectations, or learning to pause before reacting, Kirti's story is an invitation to slow down, reflect, and embrace the beautiful messiness of life.10 Great Quotes“Kids, don't worry about people knowing you. Make yourself worth knowing.” — Chris (quoting Fiorello LaGuardia) “She was my North Star — the reason I wanted to be a better person, to work harder, and to finish what I started.” — Kirti “Progress comes from movement, not perfection.” — Chris “I've shifted from people pleasing to teaching and communicating what I authentically think.” — Kirti “Precision requires pause. Sometimes waiting 15 minutes changes everything.” — Chris “Reputation is hard to rewrite — but it's not impossible when you lead with honesty and vulnerability.” — Kirti “Material things don't really matter. We don't actually need anything but each other and some Netflix.” — Kirti “We have to rise above business success and find success in our personal lives — the world needs that.” — Chris “Love doesn't have to be defined by societal milestones. Commitment can be something deeply chosen.” — Kirti “It's humbling to realize we're still learning — not about tools or tactics, but about ourselves.” — Kirti 10 Key TakeawaysPause Before You React — Writing a draft and waiting before sending helps you edit, clarify, and prevent future missteps. Redefine Reputation — Your past doesn't have to define you; vulnerability and new actions can reshape how others see you. Parenthood as Catalyst — Unexpected life events, like surprise motherhood, can bring purpose and resilience you didn't know you had. Move from People Pleasing to Authenticity — Stop avoiding conflict; respectfully communicate your needs and boundaries. Love Beyond Paperwork — Lasting commitment isn't about traditional milestones but about shared choice and partnership. Cultural Expectations Can Be Rewritten — Even deeply ingrained norms can shift when you choose your own happiness and truth. Imperfection Is Human — Let go of needing to be flawless; aim for 80–90% and move forward. True Success Is Relational — The depth of mentorship, family bonds, and love defines life more than job titles. Anxiety Can Be Managed with Pause — Small intentional habits — like stepping back before acting — can reduce fear and increase control. Fate vs. Coincidence — Sometimes the unexpected (from your child's name to life detours) is guiding you toward who you're meant to become.
In a departure from his usual role as host, Steve Pockross—accomplished CEO and fractional Chief Growth Officer—takes the guest seat in this episode, with the insightful Suneet Bhatt stepping in as interviewer. This special conversation highlights Steve's frameworks and philosophy for instigating growth in the hyper-complex startup environment. Drawing from a wealth of executive experience, Steve elucidates the subtle art of diagnosing organizational stagnation, orchestrating strategic pivots, and cultivating a culture of continuous learning. As Steve reflects, “The real work of building a company comes from the 1000 micro interactions every single week.” With 1000s of customer and interactions, how do you iterate your way toward the North Star of growth - and still make it feel like this ongoing hard work has the drama of pivots? This episode is essential listening for founders, operators, and investors seeking not just growth, but enduring transformation.About SteveSteve Pockross is a seasoned CEO and fractional Chief Growth Officer renowned for guiding founders and leadership teams through the ambiguous, high-stakes moments that follow early startup success. His unique expertise lies in diagnosing the root causes of stalled growth—whether in sales, marketing, leadership, or product-market fit—and crafting practical, actionable strategies that drive real results. Steve's approach is both analytical and empathetic: he excels at building cultures of trust, aligning teams around a clear North Star, and breaks down complex challenges into manageable footholds. He is especially effective with founders who are “stuck” after initial traction, ambitious to scale, and open to transformative change. Steve's ideal clients are growth-stage startups or founder-led companies seeking a trusted advisor to help them prioritize, pivot, and unlock their next phase of sustainable growth. www.practicalpivots.co
“The North Star is the truth. Tell it. And if you can't, explain why.” — Col. David Lapan (Ret.) We had the distinct honor of sitting down with Colonel David Lapan, retired Marine and former spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Secretaries of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a wide-ranging, timely conversation, Colonel Lapan unpacks the critical balance between national security and democratic accountability, the dangers of politicizing the military, and how press freedom strengthens—not weakens—our institutions. We delve into his 30+ years of military service, his pivotal role in launching the media embed program during the Iraq War, and why he left DHS during the Trump administration. Lapan also shares pointed thoughts on recent efforts to restrict Pentagon press access and the implications of political theater in national defense.
What does it take to build a culture so strong that it powers 68 ships, 100,000 employees, and 12 million ecstatic guests each year? In this episode, Richard Fain, former CEO and current Chairman of Royal Caribbean Group, shares how he led the company's evolution from a small cruise line into a $16 billion global powerhouse by anchoring performance in purpose and people. Drawing from his new book, Delivering the WoW: Culture as a Catalyst for Lasting Success, Richard unpacks the mindset behind Royal Caribbean's growth—from defining culture as a shared North Star to prioritizing fit over fitness in hiring and leadership. He explains how the company grew leaders through cross-functional rotations, built transparency through metrics like guest satisfaction and employee Net Promoter Scores, and created alignment through a shared “culture dashboard.” Along the way, he highlights lessons from bold innovations like the VR Innovation Lab—and even a runaway blimp experiment—that shaped a culture of continuous improvement and accountability. Every CHRO who believes culture is the new competitive advantage will find in this episode the proof and the playbook for making it real. ________________ Start your day with the world's top leaders by joining thousands of others at Great Leadership on Substack. Just enter your email: https://greatleadership.substack.com/
What if the real game-changer in travel baseball isn't your player's swing-but your decisions as a parent? In this solo episode, Matt breaks down what he refers to as The Precision Process, a behavioral-psychology-based framework designed to help travel baseball families make better, calmer, and more confident choices in a chaotic environment. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the nonstop pressure of tournaments, recruiting, and exposure events, this episode will show you how to filter the noise, think clearly, and align every decision with your family's long-term goals. You'll learn how to stop reacting emotionally to “urgent” choices and instead make strategic, values-driven the same kind elite CEOs and investors use, but adapted for the world of youth sports. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: The Precision Process: a 6-step system to make high-quality decisions under pressure How to identify if you're in a stable, complicated, or chaotic environment—and why that matters The truth about emotional vs. logical decision-making in travel baseball How to create your family's North Star statement to filter opportunities The 3 biggest cognitive biases that sabotage baseball parents—and how to overcome them Why clarity, not control, is the key to thriving in travel baseball How to build a decision database that helps you avoid repeating costly mistakes Matt breaks down real-world examples from families navigating tournaments, showcases, and college recruiting. You'll discover how to use tools like the 3x3 Clarity Grid to bring calm, structure, and precision to every choice-and how to measure progress through regular debrief loops that keep your family aligned and less stressed. If you've ever caught yourself making reactive, fear-based decisions (FOMO, comparison, sunk cost), this episode will hit home. By the end, you'll walk away with a repeatable decision-making framework to replace chaos with confidence. CALL TO ACTION: If this episode brought you clarity, share it with another baseball parent feeling overwhelmed by the chaos. Subscribe for weekly episodes on mindset, leadership, and decision-making in travel baseball. Comment your biggest decision-making challenge below. LINKS & RESOURCES: https://www.youtube.com/@mostvaluableagent — Follow the MVA Podcast #TravelBaseball #BaseballParents #YouthSportsMindset #DecisionMaking #BaseballDevelopment #ParentLeadership #BaseballPodcast #MVA
Send us a textWhat if your money felt calm, clear, and connected to a future you actually want? Grant sits down with Earl Johnson of Lexis Wealth Management to unpack the mindset, systems, and coaching that turn financial stress into durable wealth—and transform inheritance into a springboard, not a stumble.We start with the human side: the quiet shame many people carry about past choices and the simple shift that changes everything—separating lifestyle money from future money. Earl explains how trust and confidentiality built his brand in a competitive industry, why he rejects commission incentives, and how he guides clients with straight talk and empathy. From there, we zoom out to the “great wealth transfer,” an estimated $80 trillion moving from Boomers to the next generation, and why estate planning, trusts, and true succession are now non-negotiable for families and businesses that refuse to start over.You'll hear practical frameworks that stick: treat money like a game you plan to win, where passing GO isn't the goal—owning assets is. Earl connects long-term investing to everyday life by owning pieces of companies you already support, keeping emotions steady when markets swing, and using a coach to translate noise into action. We dig into budgeting without deprivation, the discipline behind the “millionaire next door,” and how a clear North Star turns habits into progress. We also explore the changing fintech landscape, the danger of tool-first thinking, and why applied knowledge beats hype every time.If you're a professional, student, entrepreneur, or parent who wants to protect what you've built and pass a heavy baton to the next runner, this conversation is your playbook. Subscribe, share this with someone building their plan, and leave a review with the one goal driving your money this year—what's your North Star?Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates, visit 5starbdm.com. And don't miss Grant McGaugh's new book, First Light — a powerful guide to igniting your purpose and building a BRAVE brand that stands out in a changing world. - https://5starbdm.com/brave-masterclass/ See you next time on Follow The Brand!
Drop your North Star in one sentence below. If you can't say it in a line, you can't live it in a year! Are you doing everything and going nowhere? This episode is your wake-up call. We break down why scattered hustle kills credibility, how a single North Star changed our entire operation, and the exact mindset shift to align actions with the goals you keep talking about. The guys get surgical: give up the stage for the mission, put businesses on autopilot (one at a time), value mastery over opinions, and stop letting anxiety grow in the gap between your words and your work. If you want receipts, we've got them—KPIs, standards, and the uncomfortable conversations required to level up.
What if the biggest barrier between you and your dreams isn't talent, connections, or luck— but simply the belief that you need permission to act? Jay Yang joins Infinite Loops to challenge one of the most limiting assumptions of our time: that opportunities must be handed to us rather than created by us. At just 16, Jay cold-emailed the CEO of Beehiiv with a concrete plan that led to an internship. At 17, he sent Noah Kagan a 19-page audit of his email funnel with ready-to-ship assets, ultimately becoming head of content and helping put "Million Dollar Weekend" on the New York Times bestseller list. His secret? Understanding that preparation beats bravado, that most doors don't even have locks, and that the fastest way to get what you want is to do the work upfront and make saying "yes" a no-brainer for others. This conversation dives deep into Jay's philosophy of permissionless action, exploring why most people accept the "standard pace" when there's actually no speed limit, how to reprogram limiting beliefs through small wins, and why high agency people focus on outputs while low agency people get trapped tracking inputs. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that's interesting!”, check out our Substack. Important Links: Jay Yang's website Jay Yang's X Jay Yang's Instagram Jay Yang's Book, You Can Just Do Things Jay Yang's LinkedIn Show Notes: The Philosophy of Permissionless Action Breaking Free from Era-Defining Ideas Overcoming Limiting Beliefs Starting Small: Building Confidence Through Micro-Actions Inner vs. Outer Orientation Inputs vs. Outputs: The Agency Divide Failure as Feedback The Power of Persistence Curiosity and Cognitive Diversity AI and the Future of Work The Busy-ness Trap Signal vs. Noise in the AI Era People You Learn From Don't Have Huge Following The TAG Method Explained The New Way of Hiring Learning from the Greats Motivation vs. Clarity Jay's North Star and Anti-Goals Viktor Frankl and Finding Your Why Working in Public The Second Book Preview The Emperor Question Closing & Contact Information Books Mentioned: You Can Just Do Things: The Power of Permissionless Actions (Jay Yang) Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan The Tao of Kobe (forthcoming 2026, Jimmy Soni) Greatness Cannot Be Planned (Ken Stanley) Man's Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)
What would your day, your week, your next year, or even your life look like if you spent it following your joy? What if joy became your North Star? Your guiding light? Your compass? What is in the way of you experiencing more joy in your life? What if you could find joy in how you dress, what you eat, how you exercise, where you live, what you do for work, who you spend time with, and how you navigate your day to day life? These, and more, are the questions we'll cover in this intuitive and inspired conversation around following your joy. True to form, you will be joining Reno on location at Sunset Beach, in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, where he followed his joy down to the beach where he fell in love with Vancouver, so that he could not just talk about following your joy, but embody it. Note: You may occasionally hear some fun background noise, which actually becomes part of the conversation, so you'll want to keep listening. Today's Host: Reno Johnston Instagram Facebook Schedule a Zoom Call Support the Show - viewer and listener support helps us to continue making episodes - CONNECT WITH US - Watch podcast episodes on YouTube Join the Gay Men's Brotherhood Facebook community Get on our email list to get access to our monthly Zoom calls Follow us on Instagram | TikTok Learn more about our community at GayMenGoingDeeper.com - LEARN WITH US - Building Better Relationships online course: Learn how to nurture more meaningful and authentic connections with yourself and others. Healing Your Shame online course: Begin the journey toward greater confidence and self-worth by learning how to recognize and deal with toxic shame. Gay Men Going Deeper Coaching Collection: Lifetime access to BOTH courses + 45 coaching videos and 2 workshop series. Take the Attachment Style Quiz to determine your attachment style and get a free report.
HEADLINES:♦ I2025 Expand North Star Concludes and GITEX Global Continues Strong in Dubai♦ MGX and BlackRock Strike Record $40 Billion Texas Data Center Deal♦ ALEC Holdings Makes Historic Debut on DFM with UAE's Largest Construction IPO Newsletter: https://aug.us/4jqModrWhatsApp: https://aug.us/40FdYLUInstagram: https://aug.us/4ihltzQTiktok: https://aug.us/4lnV0D8Smashi Business Show (Mon-Friday): https://aug.us/3BTU2MY
Michael Ventura is an entrepreneur, author of “Applied Empathy: The New Language of Leadership”, and advisor to leaders at organizations including the ACLU, Google, Nike, and the UN. He has taught emotionally intelligent leadership at Princeton, West Point, and Esalen. In this episode, Michael explores why our natural childhood empathy fades as adults due to life complexity, cultural conditioning, and survival mechanisms that suppress this innate behavior. He explains how organizational design can create systems where empathy thrives through measurement, rewards, and leadership modeling rather than trying to change people individually. Michael outlines seven empathetic archetypes that leaders can shift between like gears: the Sage (practices presence), Inquirer (asks great questions), Convener (creates connection environments), Confidant (builds trust), Cultivator (provides vision), Seeker (values self-work), and Alchemist (experiments and learns). He emphasizes knowing when to shift archetypes based on circumstances and people. He addresses why leaders struggle to guide rather than control, explaining how successful leaders must transition from having answers to asking questions and empowering others. Michael explains empathy's benefits through a GE medical imaging case study where understanding patient experience led to environmental changes that cut pain complaints in half and increased cancer detection by over 10%. Listen to this episode to discover how empathy drives retention, innovation, and competitive advantage while serving as both leadership skill and business strategy. You can find episode 481 on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts! Watch this Episode on YouTube | Key Takeaways [02:19] Michael explains that empathy fades as we age because life beats it out of us in some ways. [05:10] Michael outlines three types of empathy: affective (golden rule), somatic (physical experience), and cognitive (platinum rule). [07:27] Michael emphasizes that empathy must be embraced and modeled as a behavior from the top all the way down. Michael warns that empathy requires a code of ethics because "sociopaths are good cognitive empaths." [10:11] Michael clarifies that his keynote's first slide always says empathy is not about being nice. [13:06] Michael describes seven empathic archetypes as "gears in a manual transmission" that leaders should shift between. [19:05] Michael advises leaders to ask "How do you learn? How are you motivated?" to diagnose which archetype to use. [22:18] Michael states "Leaders should only do what an individual or team cannot do for itself" because leaders must transition from having all the answers to asking the right questions. [23:47] Michael shares that West Point teaches empathy because officers must lead people from "every socioeconomic stripe imaginable." [29:07] Michael cites retention as a hard benefit, noting it costs "1 1/2 times the salary" to replace someone. [35:54] Michael shares what he wandered; he's writing a book about moving from "North Star thinking to constellation thinking" for purpose. [38:33] Michael observes society lost its "emotional commons" where everyone shared the same cultural experiences. [42:17] Michael advises leaders to start empathy work "where the need is the greatest" rather than organization-wide. [43:42] And remember...“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” - Maya Angelou Quotable Quotes "Life beats it out of us in some ways." "We start to see ourselves as the main character a little too much sometimes and forget that there are other characters in the play all around us." "Do unto others as they would have you do unto them. And the only way you're going to know that answer is if you do two things that most humans don't want to do. Admit they don't have an answer and then go ask the uncomfortable question." "Sometimes the most empathic thing that you do is say the hard thing or do the hard thing for someone else." "Stop trying to be the most interesting person in the room and start trying to be the most interested person in the room." "Leaders should only do what an individual or team cannot do for itself." "Don't tell people what to do. Tell them what outcome you want and let them surprise you with how they get it done." "When something is powerful and something is effective, just recognize it can be used for bad as well." These are the books mentioned in this episode Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | Sponsored by | Rafti Advisors. LLC | Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | Michael Ventura Website | Michael Ventura X | Michael Ventura Facebook | Michael Ventura LinkedIn | Michael Ventura Instagram |
You can navigate storms in your parenting, if your eye is on the North Star. For Christians, the Great Commission is the North Star of our parenting.To read the original blog post, visit https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/parents-follow-this-north-star/
In this episode of the Matters.com podcast, Olivia interviews Melissa Fors Shackleford — a healthcare marketing strategist, author of Harnessing Purpose, and advisor helping leaders align their mission with their message.Melissa shares her perspective on finding personal fulfillment in marketing, emphasizing that authentic connection — not manipulation — is what drives meaningful brand relationships. She discusses why purpose-driven brands outperform their competitors, the importance of authentic leadership, and how values-based communication shapes trust in today's transparent, social-first world.The conversation dives into the challenges and opportunities in healthcare marketing, the transformative potential of AI, and how leaders can model purpose through action. The Matters or Not Matters speed round covers topics from branding and vacations to reality TV, cryptocurrency, and more.Whether you're a marketer, leader, or simply someone seeking deeper alignment between your work and your values, this episode will inspire you to find your North Star — and help others find theirs too.
In this episode of the Believe in Banking podcast, Gina Bleedorn and Juliet D'Ambrosio explore how customer experience in branch banking continues to drive trust and loyalty. Drawing from Adrenaline's latest report – Closing Customer Experience Gaps in Branch Banking – they reveal what's working, what's missing, and how human connection remains essential in financial services, especially in an era when so many of people's other everyday interactions are digital. Armed with new research and insights from 50 real-world mystery shops at banks and credit unions of all sizes and geographies, they discuss strategic yet practical ways that financial institutions can leverage intentional design and a clear North Star vision to transform experiences for the future of branch banking. From trust and retention to design and digital integration, Gina and Juliet show how human connection fuels profitability, and what banks and credit unions can do now to turn experience gaps into growth opportunities. This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm
Live from Day 4 of Expand North Star 2025 in DubaiNewsletter: https://aug.us/4jqModrWhatsApp: https://aug.us/40FdYLUInstagram: https://aug.us/4ihltzQTiktok: https://aug.us/4lnV0D8Smashi Business Show (Mon-Friday): https://aug.us/3BTU2MY
Joining me this week is Kate Rope. We're talking about how parents can raise daughters who feel strong, capable, and deeply connected to themselves, while also supporting our own mental health as parents. Together we explore: - How to parent from hope (rather than fears) and why this can help your child feel safer, more capable, and resilient. - How identifying your family's "North Star values" can guide you through tough parenting decisions. - The deceptively simple, yet powerful shift of pausing and listening before reacting. - Practical ways to nurture assertiveness, support healthy friendships, and help girls trust their inner voice. - Why our own self-care and modeling are essential to raising strong, emotionally secure kids. - How to create everyday opportunities for girls to practice autonomy, confidence, and consent. Whether you're raising a daughter or simply want to strengthen the emotional wellbeing of the kids in your care, this conversation is filled with insight, validation, and real-life strategies you can start using right away. LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:
Guest Lyle Kirtman has been a leadership development consultant for more than 30 years. As CEO, of Future Management Systems Inc., he has worked on developing leaders to increase results for students in 500 school districts in 15 states. Kirtman's focus on innovation in education is a key element of his presentations, keynotes, and publications. His field-based research has already made major contributions to the educational leadership arena through his “7 Competencies for High Performing Leaders,” the use of leadership assessments for self-reflection and hiring, and the importance of getting a “C” in compliance to increase focus on results for student achievement. He is the author and co-author of numerous books, including Leadership and Teams: The Missing Piece of the Educational Reform Puzzle and Shaping the Future: Four Leadership Pivots for Lasting Educational Impact, which we discuss in this episode. Lyle earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the State University of New York (SUNY) and a master's degree in counseling with a concentration in career development from SUNY and Fairfield University, Connecticut. Why This Episode Matters Lyle Kirtman's new book, Shaping the Future for Leadership Pivots for Lasting Educational Impact, aims to help educational leaders cultivate a positive results culture through four essential pivots. Identify a clear North Star that defines student success. Develop a new approach for hiring, developing, and retaining all staff (shifting from instructional leader to talent leader). Implement a system where employees self-assess their progress toward enabling student success. Establish and commit to high expectations for all students and staff. Kirtman argues that educational leaders lack a 21st-century "North Star" for student success, which is often narrowly defined by high-stakes test scores. He redefines "results" as the essential skills and competencies students need to be successful in life, beyond just academics. These include skills like critical thinking, resilience, and adaptability. Social Media www.futuremsi.com Twitter (X): @FutureManageme3
If your North Star is your own happiness, you'll most likely be very unhappy! If we point ourselves in the direction of God's approval, we'll get blessing and contentment and reward. (Earthly happiness not guaranteed!) Over the last half-century we've seen what the philosophy of "My Happiness Above All" has wrought: Destruction. And there's no need to tell you that this applies most acutely to our sexual lives. Here's Jim with Part 2 of, Sacred Sex. Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS10142025_0.mp3Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 7
Are you facing a wave of decisions after a breast cancer diagnosis? In this heartfelt episode of The Grit Show, host Shawna Rodrigues peels back the layers of what really matters when breast cancer turns life upside down. Shawna shares her personal journey through a double mastectomy, tips for navigating overwhelming choices, and why knowing your “North Star” is more vital than any research or treatment plan. Listeners will catch insights on single vs. double mastectomy, Oregon's groundbreaking out-of-state reconstruction access, insurance curveballs, and the real questions every patient should ask before surgery. Packed with candid storytelling and practical frameworks, this episode offers hope, clarity, and confidence to anyone touched by breast cancer. If you're looking for support through Breast Cancer Awareness Month, decision-making tools, or just crave real talk about cancer, quality of life, and self-advocacy, you'll find inspiration here!As mentioned in this episode, continue the conversation and find more inspiration by listening to:
Are you a SaaS founder wondering How to Build a Growth Operating System That Helps Teams Deliver Real Value? Growing a B2B SaaS company can often feel messy. Teams try lots of different tactics, hoping that something will finally work. But this kind of scattered approach rarely leads to long-term, repeatable success. In this episode of the Grow Your B2B SaaS Podcast Joran Hofman sits down with growth expert and coach Andrew Capland. Andrew explains how to move beyond one-off growth hacks and start building what he calls a Growth Operating System. This system helps teams focus on delivering real value, work together more effectively, and create results that can scale over time.Key Timecodes(00:00) - Cold Open: North Star Metric, Activation vs Retention, and Copying Playbooks Pitfalls(01:02) - Host Introduction: B2B SaaS Growth Operating System with Andrew Capland(01:46) - Why Tactics Alone Fail: The Case for a Growth Operating System in B2B SaaS(02:01) - Andrew's Journey: From Growth Content to Executing a Growth Operating System(03:40) - When to Implement a Growth OS: From Random Acts of Growth to Repeatable Systems(04:20) - Growth OS Building Blocks: Strategy, KPIs, Rituals, Templates, Frameworks(05:37) - Plug-and-Play Templates: Customizing the Growth Operating System for Your Stage(06:25) - Growth Strategy 101: North Star, Vision, Levers, Bets, and Milestones(07:25) - Choosing a North Star Metric: Activation and Retention as Leading Indicators(08:31) - Activation Example: The Facebook “7 Friends in 5 Days” North Star Metric(09:43) - Defining Activation: Customer Interviews, Milestones, and Value Realization(10:47) - Cross-Functional Growth: Sales, Product, CS Inputs and Growth Leadership(12:26) - Earning Ownership: Become the Expert on the Problem (Activation/Retention)(15:14) - Sponsor Break: SaaStock Dublin – B2B SaaS Founder Networking and Investors(16:45) - Founder vs Growth Leader: Ownership Shifts from Early Stage to Scale(17:35) - Common Growth Mistakes: Copy-Pasting Big Tech Playbooks vs ICP Fit(19:06) - Case Study: Airbnb Referral Program Copycat That Flopped (and Why)(20:13) - Managing Growth Setbacks: Trophy File Mindset and Learning-First Experiments(23:08) - Using AI in Growth: Train on Your A/B Tests, Learnings, and Audience Data(25:16) - Documentation is a Growth Lever: Standardize Learnings and Onboarding(26:20) - Hiring Your First Head of Growth: Skill-Problem Fit and Translating Jargon(28:40) - Alignment First: What Growth Owns, Accountability, and Collaboration Rules(29:20) - Problem Selection: Scoping High-Leverage Bets and Measuring Outcomes(30:34) - Low-Volume SaaS: Qualitative Research, Session Recordings, and User Testing(32:12) - Essential Tool Stack: CRM/Marketing Automation, Product Analytics, In-App Messaging(33:45) - The Next 2–3 Years: Train AI on Proprietary Growth Data to Predict Outcomes(35:23) - Stage Advice: From 0–10K MRR—Find One Acquisition Channel and One Retention Channel
Send us a textMiguel Armaza sits down with Santiago Suárez, Co-Founder & CEO of Addi, one of Colombia's fastest-growing fintech and commerce platforms. With a background that spans global finance and a track record of driving innovation in Latin America, Santiago shares a candid, in-depth look at lessons from scaling Addi to over $1.3 billion in annualized GMV, serving 2.5 million customers, and achieving industry-leading gross margins above 55%.In this episode, Santiago and Miguel dive deep into Addi's unique approach to board management—treating every board meeting as a “dirty laundry” session to maximize transparency, trust, and tangible input from world-class investors like Andreessen Horowitz, GIC, and Union Square Ventures. Santiago also unpacks the company's relentless focus on operational excellence, from shifting to a North Star-driven management style to building a contentious yet high-performing executive team with global talent from Amazon, Capital One, and PayTM.Timestamped Overview00:00 Intro03:57 Monthly updates streamline meetings09:00 Building Success Amid Challenges13:02 Seamless commerce and finance ecosystem14:20 Persistent Networking Pays Off18:49 Marketplace built on consumer demand21:43 Scaling globally through self-funding24:00 Show Your Work The Why27:30 Empowered Customer Service Equity31:30 AI Agents Powering Transactions34:10 AI Data and Deployment Nuances38:30 Building success through early funding41:30 CEO weekly field day
If you've ever wondered why some dental practices thrive while others tread water, this episode is for you. Jesse shares the three critical gaps that often prevent practice owners from growing and scaling effectively - and how to close them. These aren't just theoretical ideas - they're practical, real-world insights drawn from years of working with high-performing practices.Whether you're looking to free up time, increase revenue, or gain momentum in your business, understanding and closing these gaps can be the turning point. Jesse shares personal stories, proven frameworks, and a powerful reminder that consistent action beats wishful thinking every time.In this episode:[00:58] Introduction to the 3 performance gaps that separate successful practice owners from those who stall[01:17] Why identifying and closing the knowledge gap is the first step to real growth[04:30] The skills gap - why knowing isn't enough without execution and repetition[05:49] How to acquire business skills just like you did in dental school[06:30] The third and most decisive gap: implementation - and why most fall short[10:54] Finding your North Star: aligning resources and priorities to your personal goals[11:27] Using the “impact-ease matrix” to focus on high-impact, easy-to-complete actions[12:24] The habit of finishing.Resources and Links:Join the free Savvy Dentist Facebook GroupFollow Dr Jesse Green on LinkedInVisit Savvy Dentist websiteMentioned in this episode:Transformational Training for Dental Practice TeamsIf you want to grow your practice, you need a high-performing team - but training takes time, effort, and resources you often don't have. That's why we created the Savvy Dentist Team Training Bundle - a 12-month program packed with five powerful courses, including our Practice Manager Masterclass, Front Desk All Stars, Hygiene & Therapy Heroes, Treatment Coordinator Training, and the Million Dollar Dentist course. Each course is delivered live via Zoom, and you'll also get access to past recordings, so you can onboard new team members anytime without starting from scratch. Want to scale your practice and build a winning team? Click on the link and join the waitlist. Team Training Bundle Sept 25
Live from Day 3 of Expand North Star in Dubai
In a category flooded with fast-followers and flashy branding, Straightaway Cocktails is taking a radically different path: embracing the hard way. In this episode, founder and CEO Cy Cain reveals how the Portland-based brand is carving out a distinct space in the booming ready-to-drink category by prioritizing bar-quality cocktails crafted from in-house ingredients and held to uncompromising standards. Cy outlines a strategy rooted in deliberate, thoughtful growth rather than chasing viral trends. He dives into the brand's innovative approach to creative R&D, leveraging limited releases and direct-to-consumer exclusives to experiment boldly and gather insights that shape future core offerings. He also highlights how investments in in-house production, B Corp certification and sustainability efforts, alongside strategic partnerships with Costco, Alaska Airlines and Shake Shack, demonstrate that a patient, craft-centric mindset and a strong brand identity can make a powerful impact in even the most crowded markets. Show notes: 0:25: Interview: Cy Cain, Founder & CEO, Straightaway Cocktails – Just hours before Taste Radio's San Francisco meetup, Cy joins Ray Latif to share highlights from Straightaway's latest cocktail lineup, including the French 77, Pickle Tini, and Golden Negroni. He underscores the brand's North Star: unwavering product quality, rooted in a deep love of cocktail culture. Cy reflects on the evolution of the RTD category and credits Straightaway's success to its focus on excellence and deliberate, sustainable growth. Strategic partnerships with Alaska Airlines and Breeze Airways have boosted exposure, while support from regional retailers and Costco has added traction and credibility. Comparing innovation to Formula 1, Cy describes it as a proving ground for bold ideas. Straightaway's mission, he says, isn't shaped by exits or investors, but by craft, storytelling, and elevating cocktail experiences. From farm-to-glass sourcing to using local ingredients – like fir needles from near Cy's childhood home – the brand stays true to its values of authenticity, sustainability, and craftsmanship. Inspired by lifestyle brands like Patagonia and Shinola, Cy emphasizes values-driven partnerships, such as a test collaboration with Shake Shack. He also shares excitement over the brand's growing recognition in top spirits competitions, including a potential Triple Crown win. Brands in this episode: Straightaway Cocktails, Stumptown Coffee, Smith Tea, Jacobsen Salt Co.
“Your values and philosophy about why you do things are your North Star; without them your decisions will be wishy-washy.” This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous CEO guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Neil Craig, Former AFL Coach and England Rugby High Performance Manager. His full episode is titled High performance environments, your North Star and decision-making under pressure. You can find the full audio and show notes here:
In today's episode, leading experts across oncology specialties previewed the key studies and data they are most anticipating ahead of the 2025 ESMO Congress. Dana M. Chase, MD, a professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at UCLA, discussed her excitement to see findings from a phase 1 trial (NCT05403554) investigating NI-1801 in patients with heavily pretreated, mesothelin-expressing platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer. Premal H. Thaker, MD, MS, the David G. and Lynn Mutch Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of Gynecologic Oncology Clinical Research at Siteman Cancer Center in Saint Louis, Missouri, discussed the anticipation for findings from a multi-omic analysis of the phase 3 AtTEnd/ENGOT-EN7 trial (NCT03603184) of atezolizumab in patients with endometrial cancer and data demonstrating that the WES-derived Aneuploidy Score may identify patients with mismatch repair–deficient endometrial cancer who derive reduced benefit from immunotherapy. Zev Wainberg, MD, the Estelle, Abe, and Marjorie Sanders Chair in Cancer Research at UCLA, shared his anticipation for new data in gastrointestinal oncology, particularly the overall survival results from the phase 3 MATTERHORN trial (NCT04592913) of durvalumab plus fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel in patients with resectable gastric and gastroesophageal cancer, which are expected to provide pivotal updates following previously reported event-free survival outcomes. Sagus Sampath, MD, an associate clinical professor and medical director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at City of Hope in Duarte, California, highlighted the phase 2 NorthStar trial (NCT03410043) evaluating osimertinib (Tagrisso) with or without local consolidative therapy in patients with metastatic EGFR-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In this episode, Mark sits down with Corey Scott, CEO of Midwest Dairy, for an insightful look at what it means to lead intentionally in one of agriculture's most people-focused industries. Corey shares what it takes to manage a team spread across 10 states, steward millions in checkoff dollars, and stay grounded in purpose while navigating the complexities of consumer trends, farmer expectations, and the future of dairy.They dive deep into leadership, stewardship, and the power of clarity—plus a few laughs about protein, heavy cream, and “fancy cheese.”Key TakeawaysIntentional Leadership Starts with Showing UpCorey defines being intentional as showing up every day, even when it's not easy or convenient. How you show up impacts the people watching you—whether family, employees, or your broader community.Purpose is the North StarIn a complex industry like dairy, where every producer has unique values and opinions, Corey keeps her team focused on one question: Are we reaching the consumer effectively? That clarity cuts through the noise and keeps her organization aligned.Stewardship Over SalesUnlike private business models, checkoff organizations are funded through automatic assessments. Corey's focus isn't profit—it's impact: being a wise steward of every dollar to build trust, grow demand, and elevate the farmer's voice.Building Culture in a Virtual WorldWith two-thirds of Midwest Dairy's 55-person team working remotely, Corey emphasizes the importance of connection and common language. Through CliftonStrengths, her team speaks a shared language that helps them align around their unique gifts.Empowering Potential—Even When It's HardOne of Corey's biggest challenges? Seeing untapped potential in people who don't see it in themselves. But the greatest joy comes when she helps someone discover that potential and grow beyond what they thought possible—even beyond her organization.Modern Consumers Still Love Dairy—Just DifferentlyFrom high-protein cereals to heavy-cream coffee, dairy is thriving in new forms. The “Got Milk?” era has evolved into a demand for health, wellness, and clean protein—something Corey sees as a major opportunity for the industry.Notable Quotes“How you show up matters. People are always watching—so make a choice in how you show up every day.” – Corey R. Scott“Our purpose is clear: to reach the consumer effectively and move more product for our farmers.” – Corey R. Scott“It's not about cost of goods sold—it's about stewardship. How can we be the best steward of every dollar we're entrusted with?” – Corey R. Scott“When you have a clear North Star, you know what you're about—and maybe more importantly, what you're not.” – Mark Jewell“More is caught than taught. Culture spreads through example, not policy.” – Mark JewellAction StepsReflect on your own North Star—what guides your leadership decisions when values or opinions conflict?Ask your team: “How can we set you up to be your best self?” Then actually do it.Revisit your internal language and frameworks—do your people share a common language around strengths, growth, and purpose?Explore Survival of the Savvy (Corey's top leadership book recommendation) and consider adding it to your leadership reading list.Listen If You Are:A leader managing teams across distance and...
Live From Expand North Star 2025Newsletter: https://aug.us/4jqModrWhatsApp: https://aug.us/40FdYLUInstagram: https://aug.us/4ihltzQTiktok: https://aug.us/4lnV0D8Smashi Business Show (Mon-Friday): https://aug.us/3BTU2MY
WhoAlan Henceroth, President and Chief Operating Officer of Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – Al runs the best ski area-specific executive blog in America – check it out:Recorded onMay 19, 2025About Arapahoe BasinClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Alterra Mountain Company, which also owns:Pass access* Ikon Pass: unlimited* Ikon Base Pass: unlimited access from opening day to Friday, Dec. 19, then five total days with no blackouts from Dec. 20 until closing day 2026Base elevation* 10,520 feet at bottom of Steep Gullies* 10,780 feet at main baseSummit elevation* 13,204 feet at top of Lenawee Mountain on East Wall* 12,478 feet at top of Lazy J Tow (connector between Lenawee Express six-pack and Zuma quad)Vertical drop* 1,695 feet lift-served – top of Lazy J Tow to main base* 1,955 feet lift-served, with hike back up to lifts – top of Lazy J Tow to bottom of Steep Gullies* 2,424 feet hike-to – top of Lenawee Mountain to Main BaseSkiable Acres: 1,428Average annual snowfall:* Claimed: 350 inches* Bestsnow.net: 308 inchesTrail count: 147 – approximate terrain breakdown: 24% double-black, 49% black, 20% intermediate, 7% beginnerLift count: 9 (1 six-pack, 1 high-speed quad, 3 fixed-grip quads, 1 double, 2 carpets, 1 ropetow)Why I interviewed himWe can generally splice U.S. ski centers into two categories: ski resort and ski area. I'll often use these terms interchangeably to avoid repetition, but they describe two very different things. The main distinction: ski areas rise directly from parking lots edged by a handful of bunched utilitarian structures, while ski resorts push parking lots into the next zipcode to accommodate slopeside lodging and commerce.There are a lot more ski areas than ski resorts, and a handful of the latter present like the former, with accommodations slightly off-hill (Sun Valley) or anchored in a near-enough town (Bachelor). But mostly the distinction is clear, with the defining question being this: is this a mountain that people will travel around the world to ski, or one they won't travel more than an hour to ski?Arapahoe Basin occupies a strange middle. Nothing in the mountain's statistical profile suggests that it should be anything other than a Summit County locals hang. It is the 16th-largest ski area in Colorado by skiable acres, the 18th-tallest by lift-served vertical drop, and the eighth-snowiest by average annual snowfall. The mountain runs just six chairlifts and only two detachables. Beginner terrain is limited. A-Basin has no base area lodging, and in fact not much of a base area at all. Altitude, already an issue for the Colorado ski tourist, is amplified here, where the lifts spin from nearly 11,000 feet. A-Basin should, like Bridger Bowl in Montana (upstream from Big Sky) or Red River in New Mexico (across the mountain from Taos) or Sunlight in Colorado (parked between Aspen and I-70), be mostly unknown beside its heralded big-name neighbors (Keystone, Breck, Copper).And it sort of is, but also sort of isn't. Like tiny (826-acre) Aspen Mountain, A-Basin transcends its statistical profile. Skiers know it, seek it, travel for it, cross it off their lists like a snowy Eiffel Tower. Unlike Aspen, A-Basin has no posse of support mountains, no grided downtown spilling off the lifts, no Kleenex-level brand that stands in for skiing among non-skiers. And yet Vail tried buying the bump in 1997, and Alterra finally did in 2024. Meanwhile, nearby Loveland, bigger, taller, snowier, higher, easier to access with its trip-off-the-interstate parking lots, is still ignored by tourists and conglomerates alike.Weird. What explains A-Basin's pull? Onetime and future Storm guest Jackson Hogen offers, in his Snowbird Secrets book, an anthropomorphic explanation for that Utah powder dump's aura: As it turns out, everyone has a story for how they came to discover Snowbird, but no one knows the reason. Some have the vanity to think they picked the place, but the wisest know the place picked them.That is the secret that Snowbird has slipped into our subconscious; deep down, we know we were summoned here. We just have to be reminded of it to remember, an echo of the Platonic notion that all knowledge is remembrance. In the modern world we are so divorced from our natural selves that you would think we'd have lost the power to hear a mountain call us. And indeed we have, but such is the enormous reach of this place that it can still stir the last seed within us that connects us to the energy that surrounds us every day yet we do not see. The resonance of that tiny, vibrating seed is what brings us here, to this extraordinary place, to stand in the heart of the energy flow.Yeah I don't know, Man. We're drifting into horoscope territory here. But I also can't explain why we all like to do This Dumb Thing so much that we'll wrap our whole lives around it. So if there is some universe force, what Hogen calls “vibrations” from Hidden Peak's quartz, drawing skiers to Snowbird, could there also be some proton-kryptonite-laserbeam s**t sucking us all toward A-Basin? If there's a better explanation, I haven't found it.What we talked aboutThe Beach; keeping A-Basin's whole ski footprint open into May; Alterra buys the bump – “we really liked the way Alterra was doing things… and letting the resorts retain their identity”; the legacy of former owner Dream; how hardcore, no-frills ski area A-Basin fits into an Alterra portfolio that includes high-end resorts such as Deer Valley and Steamboat; “you'd be surprised how many people from out of state ski here too”; Ikon as Colorado sampler pack (or not); local reaction to Alterra's purchase – “I think it's fair that there was anxiety”; balancing the wild ski cycle of over-the-top peak days and soft periods; parking reservations; going unlimited on the full Ikon Pass and how parking reservations play in – “we spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about it”; the huge price difference between Epic and Ikon and how that factors into the access calculus; why A-Basin still sells a single-mountain season pass; whether reciprocal partnerships with Monarch and Silverton will remain in place; “I've been amazed at how few things I've been told to do” by Alterra; A-Basin's dirt-cheap early-season pass; why early season is “a more competitive time” than it used to be; why A-Basin left Mountain Collective; Justice Department anti-trust concerns around Alterra's A-Basin purchase – “it never was clear to me what the concerns were”; breaking down A-Basin's latest U.S. Forest Service masterplan – “everything in there, we hope to do”; a parking lot pulse gondola and why that makes sense over shuttles; why A-Basin plans a two-lift system of beginner machines; why should A-Basin care about beginner terrain?; is beginner development is related to Ikon Pass membership?; what it means that the MDP designs for 700 more skiers per day; assessing the Lenawee Express sixer three seasons in; why A-Basin sold the old Lenawee lift to independent Sunlight, Colorado; A-Basin's patrol unionizing; and 100 percent renewable energy.What I got wrong* I said that A-Basin was the only mountain that had been caught up in antitrust issues, but that's inaccurate: when S-K-I and LBO Enterprises merged into American Skiing Company in 1996, the U.S. Justice Department compelled the combined company to sell Cranmore and Waterville Valley, both in New Hampshire. Waterville Valley remains independent. Cranmore stayed independent for a while, and has since 2010 been owned by Fairbank Group, which also owns Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts and operates Bromley, Vermont.* I said that A-Basin's $259 early-season pass, good for unlimited access from opening day through Dec. 25, “was like one day at Vail,” which is sort of true and sort of not. Vail Mountain's day-of lift ticket will hit $230 from Nov. 14 to Dec. 11, then increase to $307 or $335 every day through Christmas. All Resorts Epic Day passes, which would get skiers on the hill for any of those dates, currently sell for between $106 and $128 per day. Unlimited access to Vail Mountain for that full early-season period would require a full Epic Pass, currently priced at $1,121.* This doesn't contradict anything we discussed, but it's worth noting some parking reservations changes that A-Basin implemented following our conversation. Reservations will now be required on weekends only, and from Jan. 3 to May 3, a reduction from 48 dates last winter to 36 for this season. The mountain will also allow skiers to hold four reservations at once, doubling last year's limit of two.Why now was a good time for this interviewOne of the most striking attributes of modern lift-served skiing is how radically different each ski area is. Panic over corporate hegemony power-stamping each child mountain into snowy McDonald's clones rarely survives past the parking lot. Underscoring the point is neighboring ski areas, all over America, that despite the mutually intelligible languages of trail ratings and patrol uniforms and lift and snowgun furniture, and despite sharing weather patterns and geologic origins and local skier pools, feel whole-cut from different eras, cultures, and imaginations. The gates between Alta and Snowbird present like connector doors between adjoining hotel rooms but actualize as cross-dimensional Mario warpzones. The 2.4-mile gondola strung between the Alpine Meadows and Olympic sides of Palisades Tahoe may as well connect a baseball stadium with an opera house. Crossing the half mile or so between the summits of Sterling at Smugglers' Notch and Spruce Peak at Stowe is a journey of 15 minutes and five decades. And Arapahoe Basin, elder brother of next-door Keystone, resembles its larger neighbor like a bat resembles a giraffe: both mammals, but of entirely different sorts. Same with Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, Vermont; Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, and Boreal, California; Park City and Deer Valley, Utah; Killington and Pico, Vermont; Highlands and Nub's Nob, Michigan; Canaan Valley and Timberline and Nordic-hybrid White Grass, West Virginia; Aspen's four Colorado ski areas; the three ski areas sprawling across Mt. Hood's south flank; and Alpental and its clump of Snoqualmie sisters across the Washington interstate. Proximity does not equal sameness.One of The Storm's preoccupations is with why this is so. For all their call-to-nature appeal, ski areas are profoundly human creations, more city park than wildlife preserve. They are sculpted, managed, manicured. Even the wildest-feeling among them – Mount Bohemia, Silverton, Mad River Glen – are obsessively tended to, ragged by design.A-Basin pulls an even neater trick: a brand curated for rugged appeal, scaffolded by brand-new high-speed lifts and a self-described “luxurious European-style bistro.” That the Alterra Mountain Company-owned, megapass pioneer floating in the busiest ski county in the busiest ski state in America managed to retain its rowdy rap even as the onetime fleet of bar-free double chairs toppled into the recycling bin is a triumph of branding.But also a triumph of heart. A-Basin as Colorado's Alta or Taos or Palisades is a title easily ceded to Telluride or Aspen Highlands, similarly tilted high-alpiners. But here it is, right beside buffed-out Keystone, a misunderstood mountain with its own wild side but a fair-enough rap as an approachable landing zone for first-time Rocky Mountain explorers westbound out of New York or Ohio. Why are A-Basin and Keystone so different? The blunt drama of A-Basin's hike-in terrain helps, but it's more enforcer than explainer. The real difference, I believe, is grounded in the conductor orchestrating this mad dance.Since Henceroth sat down in the COO chair 20 years ago, Keystone has had nine president-general manager equivalents. A-Basin was already 61 years old in 2005, giving it a nice branding headstart on younger Keystone, born in 1970. But both had spent nearly two decades, from 1978 to 1997, co-owned by a dogfood conglomerate that often marketed them as one resort, and the pair stayed glued together on a multimountain pass for a couple of decades afterward.Henceroth, with support and guidance from the real-estate giant that owned A-Basin in the Ralston-Purina-to-Alterra interim, had a series of choices to make. A-Basin had only recently installed snowmaking. There was no lift access to Zuma Bowl, no Beavers. The lift system consisted of three double chairs and two triples. Did this aesthetic minimalism and pseudo-independence define A-Basin? Or did the mountain, shaped by the generations of leaders before Henceroth, hold some intangible energy and pull, that thing we recognize as atmosphere, culture, vibe? Would The Legend lose its duct-taped edge if it:* Expanded 400 mostly low-angle acres into Zuma Bowl (2007)* Joined Vail Resorts' Epic Pass (2009)* Installed the mountain's first high-speed lift (Black Mountain Express in 2010)* Expand 339 additional acres into the Beavers (2018), and service that terrain with an atypical-for-Colorado 1,501-vertical-foot fixed-grip lift* Exit the Epic Pass following the 2018-19 ski season* Immediately join Mountain Collective and Ikon as a multimountain replacement (2019)* Ditch a 21-year-old triple chair for the mountain's first high-speed six-pack (2022)* Sell to Alterra Mountain Company (2024)* Require paid parking reservations on high-volume days (2024)* Go unlimited on the Ikon Pass and exit Mountain Collective (2025)* Release an updated USFS masterplan that focuses largely on the novice ski experience (2025)That's a lot of change. A skier booted through time from Y2K to October 2025 would examine that list and conclude that Rad Basin had been tamed. But ski a dozen laps and they'd say well not really. Those multimillion upgrades were leashed by something priceless, something human, something that kept them from defining what the mountain is. There's some indecipherable alchemy here, a thing maybe not quite as durable as the mountain itself, but rooted deeper than the lift towers strung along it. It takes a skilled chemist to cook this recipe, and while they'll never reveal every secret, you can visit the restaurant as many times as you'd like.Why you should ski Arapahoe BasinWe could do a million but here are nine:1) $: Two months of early-season skiing costs roughly the same as A-Basin's neighbors charge for a single day. A-Basin's $259 fall pass is unlimited from opening day through Dec. 25, cheaper than a Dec. 20 day-of lift ticket at Breck ($281), Vail ($335), Beaver Creek ($335), or Copper ($274), and not much more than Keystone ($243). 2) Pali: When A-Basin tore down the 1,329-vertical-foot, 3,520-foot-long Pallavicini double chair, a 1978 Yan, in 2020, they replaced it with a 1,325-vertical-foot, 3,512-foot-long Leitner-Poma double chair. It's one of just a handful of new doubles installed in America over the past decade, underscoring a rare-in-modern-skiing commitment to atmosphere, experience, and snow preservation over uphill capacity. 3) The newest lift fleet in the West: The oldest of A-Basin's six chairlifts, Zuma, arrived brand-new in 2007.4) Wall-to-wall: when I flew into Colorado for a May 2025 wind-down, five ski areas remained open. Despite solid snowpack, Copper, Breck, and Winter Park all spun a handful of lifts on a constrained footprint. But A-Basin and Loveland still ran every lift, even over the Monday-to-Thursday timeframe of my visit.5) The East Wall: It's like this whole extra ski area. Not my deal as even skiing downhill at 12,500 feet hurts, but some of you like this s**t:6) May pow: I mean yeah I did kinda just get lucky but damn these were some of the best turns I found all year (skiing with A-Basin Communications Manager Shayna Silverman):7) The Beach: the best ski area tailgate in North America (sorry, no pet dragons allowed - don't shoot the messenger):8) The Beavers: Just glades and glades and glades (a little crunchy on this run, but better higher up and the following day):9) It's a ski area first: In a county of ski resorts, A-Basin is a parking-lots-at-the-bottom-and-not-much-else ski area. It's spare, sparse, high, steep, and largely exposed. Skiers are better at self-selecting than we suppose, meaning the ability level of the average A-Basin skier is more Cottonwoods than Connecticut. That impacts your day in everything from how the liftlines flow to how the bumps form to how many zigzaggers you have to dodge on the down.Podcast NotesOn the dates of my visit We reference my last A-Basin visit quite a bit – for context, I skied there May 6 and 7, 2025. Both nice late-season pow days.On A-Basin's long seasonsIt's surprisingly difficult to find accurate open and close date information for most ski areas, especially before 2010 or so, but here's what I could cobble together for A-Basin - please let me know if you have a more extensive list, or if any of this is wrong:On A-Basin's ownership timelineArapahoe Basin probably gets too much credit for being some rugged indie. Ralston-Purina, then-owners of Keystone, purchased A-Basin in 1978, then added Breckenridge to the group in 1993 before selling the whole picnic basket to Vail in 1997. The U.S. Justice Department wouldn't let the Eagle County operator have all three, so Vail flipped Arapahoe to a Canadian real estate empire, then called Dundee, some months later. That company, which at some point re-named itself Dream, pumped a zillion dollars into the mountain before handing it off to Alterra last year.On A-Basin leaving Epic PassA-Basin self-ejected from Epic Pass in 2019, just after Vail maxed out Colorado by purchasing Crested Butte and before they fully invaded the East with the Peak Resorts purchase. Arapahoe Basin promptly joined Mountain Collective and Ikon, swapping unlimited-access on four varieties of Epic Pass for limited-days products. Henceroth and I talked this one out during our 2022 pod, and it's a fascinating case study in building a better business by decreasing volume.On the price difference between Ikon and Epic with A-Basin accessConcerns about A-Basin hurdling back toward the overcrowded Epic days by switching to Ikon's unlimited tier tend to overlook this crucial distinction: Vail sold a 2018-19 version of the Epic Pass that included unlimited access to Keystone and A-Basin for an early-bird rate of $349. The full 2025-26 Ikon Pass debuted at nearly four times that, retailing for $1,329, and just ramped up to $1,519.On Alterra mountains with their own season passesWhile all Alterra-owned ski areas (with the exception of Deer Valley), are unlimited on the full Ikon Pass and nine are unlimited with no blackouts on Ikon Base, seven of those sell their own unlimited season pass that costs less than Base. The sole unlimited season pass for Crystal, Mammoth, Palisades Tahoe, Steamboat, Stratton, and Sugarbush is a full Ikon Pass, and the least-expensive unlimited season pass for Solitude is the Ikon Base. Deer Valley leads the nation with its $4,100 unlimited season pass. See the Alterra chart at the top of this article for current season pass prices to all of the company's mountains.On A-Basin and Schweitzer pass partnershipsAlterra has been pretty good about permitting its owned ski areas to retain historic reciprocal partners on their single-mountain season passes. For A-Basin, this means three no-blackout days at Monarch and two unguided days at Silverton. Up at Schweitzer, passholders get three midweek days each at Whitewater, Mt. Hood Meadows, Castle Mountain, Loveland, and Whitefish. None of these ski areas are on Ikon Pass, and the benefit is only stapled to A-Basin- or Schweitzer-specific season passes.On the Mountain Collective eventI talk about Mountain Collective as skiing's most exclusive country club. Nothing better demonstrates that characterization than this podcast I recorded at the event last fall, when in around 90 minutes I had conversations with the top leaders of Boyne Resorts, Snowbird, Aspen, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Snowbasin, Grand Targhee, and many more.On Mountain Collective and Ikon overlapThe Mountain Collective-Ikon overlap is kinda nutso:On Pennsylvania skiingIn regards to the U.S. Justice Department grilling Alterra on its A-Basin acquisition, it's still pretty stupid that the agency allowed Vail Resorts to purchase eight of the 19 public chairlift-served ski areas in Pennsylvania without a whisper of protest. These eight ski areas almost certainly account for more than half of all skier visits in a state that typically ranks sixth nationally for attendance. Last winter, the state's 2.6 million skier visits accounted for more days than vaunted ski states New Hampshire (2.4 million), Washington (2.3), Montana (2.2), Idaho (2.1). or Oregon (2.0). Only New York (3.4), Vermont (4.2), Utah (6.5), California (6.6), and Colorado (13.9) racked up more.On A-Basin's USFS masterplanNothing on the scale of Zuma or Beavers inbound, but the proposed changes would tap novice terrain that has always existed but never offered a good access point for beginners:On pulse gondolasA-Basin's proposed pulse gondola, should it be built, would be just the sixth such lift in America, joining machines at Taos, Northstar, Steamboat, Park City, and Snowmass. Loon plans to build a pulse gondola in 2026.On mid-mountain beginner centersBig bad ski resorts have attempted to amp up family appeal in recent years with gondola-serviced mid-mountain beginner centers, which open gentle, previously hard-to-access terrain to beginners. This was the purpose of mid-stations off Jackson Hole's Sweetwater Gondola and Big Sky's new-for-this-year Explorer Gondola. A-Basin's gondy (not the parking lot pulse gondola, but the one terminating at Sawmill Flats in the masterplan image above), would provide up and down lift access allowing greenies to lap the new detach quad above it.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe
Send us a textThe Four Tendencies in Birth: How Knowing Yourself Shapes Your ExperienceIn this episode of The Ultimate Birth Partner Podcast, I explore how Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies framework can help women, partners, and birth professionals better understand how we respond to expectations — and why that matters so much in pregnancy and birth.I share real-life examples of how each Tendency (Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, Rebel) might prepare for birth, how they may respond in the moment, and the unique challenges or strengths they bring into the birth room.You'll hear:✨ Why self-awareness is one of the most powerful tools you can take into labour✨ How partners can better support by recognising their own style and their loved one's needs✨ Why birth professionals and doulas benefit from tailoring their approach depending on the woman or family they're working with✨ What to do if you don't know your care provider's Tendency — and how to get your point across clearly in the moment✨ How to express your own Tendency in your Birth Manifesto® so your values, priorities, and boundaries are unmistakably clearThis episode is full of stories, practical strategies, and even scripts you can use to explain yourself to others, helping you strengthen your inner compass and stay aligned with what matters most.Resources & Links:Learn more about creating your Birth Manifesto® in my Discover Your North Star course - https://payhip.com/b/8PSYiGretchen Rubins The Four Tendencies Quiz - https://gretchenrubin.com/quiz/the-four-tendencies-quiz/If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or leave a review — it makes such a differenceIf you love the podcast and would like to support it, then please use the link to 'buy me a coffee' - https://bmc.link/sallyannberesfordIf you would like to buy a copy of either of the books that accompany this podcast please go to your online bookseller or visit Amazon:-Labour of Love - The Ultimate Guide to Being a Birth Partner - click here:-https://bit.ly/LabourofloveThe Art of Giving Birth - Five Key Physiological Principles - https://amzn.to/3EGh9dfPregnancy Journal for 'The Art of Giving Birth' - Black and White version https://amzn.to/3CvJXmOPregnancy Journal for 'The Art of Giving Birth'- Colour version https://amzn.to/3GknbPFYou can find all my classes and courses on my website - www.sallyannberesford.co.uk Follow me on Instagram @theultimatebirthpartner Book a 1-2-1 session with Sallyann - https://linktr.ee/SallyannBeresford Please remember that the information shared with you in this episode is solely based on my own personal experiences as a doula and the private opinions of my guests, based on their own experiences. Any recommendations made may not be suitable for ...
Ever feel like you're doing all the things, hustling hard, juggling responsibilities, trying to “make it,” but something inside still feels off? Like you're climbing the ladder of success, only to realize it might be leaning on the wrong wall? In this episode of The Happy Hustle Podcast, I'm flipping the mic and sharing my guest appearance on The Win the Day Podcast with my brotha James Whittaker, author, speaker, and creator of the Win the Day movement. James is a powerhouse when it comes to helping people achieve peak performance through mindset mastery, intentional living, and taking consistent action. And in this episode, we dive deep into what it really takes to build a life that feels as good as it looks.We talk about everything from defining what success actually means to you, to breaking free from burnout, to creating harmony between ambition and well-being. I even share the origins of The Happy Hustle, the story behind the “3 freedoms” (financial, creative, and time), and how the S.O.U.L.M.A.P.P.I.N. framework became my North Star for balance and fulfillment.Here are a few takeaways you'll get from the episode:Focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking is the enemy of mastery. Presence equals performance.Redefine balance. True happiness comes when you harmonize ambition with well-being — not sacrifice one for the other.Know your MVTs. Identify your Most Valuable Tasks each day so you can work smarter, not harder.Get outdoors. Nature resets your nervous system and reignites your creativity — I swear by this one.Define success for YOU. Don't chase someone else's version of “making it.” The goal is fulfillment, not just achievement.We also talked about on the importance of mindful leadership, unplugging digitally, and how becoming a parent shifted my perspective on priorities and purpose. This conversation was real, raw, and packed with wisdom for anyone who wants to win — not just in business, but in life.If you're ready to design your dream reality, ditch the burnout, and start Happy Hustlin' your way to more purpose and peace, tune in now. Because remember — it's not just about working harder.It's about winning the day... the Happy Hustler way. Connect with Cary!https://www.instagram.com/caryjack/https://www.facebook.com/SirCaryJackhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/cary-jack-kendzior/https://twitter.com/thehappyhustlehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDNsD59tLxv2JfEuSsNMOQ/featured Get a free copy of his new book, The Happy Hustle, 10 Alignments to Avoid Burnout & Achieve Blissful Balance https://www.thehappyhustle.com/bookSign up for The Journey: 10 Days To Become a Happy Hustler Online Coursehttps://thehappyhustle.com/thejourney/Apply to the Montana Mastermind Epic Camping Adventurehttps://thehappyhustle.com/mastermind/“It's time to Happy Hustle, a blissfully balanced life you love, full of passion, purpose, and positive impact!”Episode Sponsors:If you're feeling stressed, not sleeping great, or your energy's been kinda meh lately—let me put you on to something that's been a total game-changer for me: Magnesium Breakthrough by BiOptimizers. This ain't your average magnesium—it's got all 7 essential forms that your body actually needs to chill out, sleep deeper, and feel more balanced. I take it every night and legit notice the difference the next day. No more waking up groggy or tossing and turning all nightIf you're ready to sleep like a baby, calm your nervous system, and optimize your recovery, go grab yours now at bioptimizers.com/happy and use code HAPPY10 for 10% OFF.99 Designs- Need a killer logo, stunning website, or next-level brand design?Stop DIY-ing and start delegating like a boss with 99designs by Vista! Neurable- If you're looking to level up your focus, productivity, and mental well-being all at once, do yourself a favor and check out Neurable. You get a special hookup—just use the code HAPPY at checkout and get $100 off.
Most people don't lose because they're not talented—they lose because they're scattered. In this episode, the guys break down why doing nine things halfway will never beat doing one thing with ruthless focus. ET unpacks how people-pleasing drains your energy, CJ shows how a single North Star changed their whole brand, and Maul & Karl dive into legacy, parenting, and building skills that outlive you. You'll learn: Why your focus decides your future How “too many options” quietly kills results The cure for people-pleasing and scattered energy Generational strategy: turning gifts into a family enterprise How to choose one priority and actually finish
Quake discusses Pooh Shiesty getting released from prison, Diddy getting hit with 2 new sexual assault lawsuits, Lil Durk accused of ordering hits on O'Block allies, Nas responding to winning New York's casino war against Jay-Z, also says Kendrick Lamar is the “North Star” of Hip-Hop, VERZUZ returning with Cash Money going against No Limit Records, Benny The Butcher arguing that Twitter nerds control the culture, Kendrick Lamar songs leaking, fake Eminem quote going viral addressing Cardi vs Nicki beef and much more.(00:00) - Intro(08:58) - Pooh Shiesty Is Released From Prison(11:43) - Diddy Gets Hit With 2 New Sexual Assault Lawsuits Making A Total Of 70 Lawsuits(26:15) - Lil Durk Accused Of Ordering Hits On O'Block Allies For Not Avenging King Von(39:09) - Nas Responds To Winning New York's Casino War Against Jay-Z(40:24) - Nas Says Kendrick Lamar Is The “North Star” Of Hip-Hop(42:23) - VERZUZ Will Return With Cash Money Going Against No Limit Records(43:21) - Benny The Butcher Argues That Twitter Nerds Control The Culture(50:59) - Kendrick Lamar Songs Leak With Reference Tracks For Baby Keem(54:29) - Fake Eminem Quote Goes Viral Addressing Cardi vs Nicki Beef, A.I. Is Getting Out Of Control(01:13:56) - Billboard Hot 100
During Hour 2 Jon talks about some of the comments made at the North Star Summit by Tim Walz and J.B. Pritzker. Then Jon discusses the possibility of Trump sending the National Guard to Minneapolis.
In this week's show Lian is joined once again by Mike Bais. Mike is Lian's own Kabbalah teacher, a physiotherapist, counsellor, university lecturer and author, also having had his own practice for many years. He is a trained priest in the esoteric christian tradition, which lead him to follow the mystical side of this lineage called the A.S.A. (Apostolic Succession of Arimathea). He believes that the Teachings of Christ are universal and should not be limited to a religious structure. His esoteric training comes from the western mystery tradition and the Toledano Kabbalah. Living in the Netherlands (Utrecht) he extensively worked with teachers and groups in the UK. After some decades of study and practice in the western esoteric tradition, the inner work came together in these three streams or disciplines that make up the Circle of Avalon. Mike sees it as his life's work to teach these traditions to whomever wishes to receive them. He is a mystic and teacher by nature and through his groups, individual sessions, workshops and writing, transmits them in the most pure and true way he knows. Mike is the author of 3 books: Paths on the Tree of Wisdom – A course in 21st Century Kabbalah, A Kabbalistic view on science: Book 1 and A Kabbalistic view on science: Book 2. In this episode, Lian and Mike look at manifestation through its deeper metaphysical roots. They touch on how morality shapes what we bring into being, the psyche as the passage between the unseen and the physical, and the limits of trying to manifest from the surface of the mind alone. Together they reflect on how unconscious manifestation plays out all the time and why consciousness changes everything. They look at what actually helps: focus that holds steady in a distracted world, alignment across mind, body, and soul, and devotion to a principle that keeps us centred when life pulls us apart. Listen if you've ever questioned why vision boards only go so far, wondered what really makes manifestation work, or felt the tension between your desires and what serves something greater. We'd love to know what YOU think about this week's show. Let's carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you'll learn from this episode: How the psyche acts as a filter for manifestation, shaping not just what we want but why we want it Why alignment across body, psyche, and soul is the difference between scattered wishing and true creation What happens when focus and devotion become your North Star in a culture set up to scatter attention Resources and stuff spoken about: Mike's websites: http://www.circleofavalon.nl http://www.kabbalahmysticalschool.com Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul's calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul's calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).
Defining Your North Star: Understanding Core Values in Relationships (Episode 87) Summary In Episode 87 of the Human Intimacy Podcast, Dr. Kevin Skinner and MaryAnn Michaelis explore the foundational role of core values in shaping identity, intimacy, and relational harmony. The conversation begins with reflection on gratitude and personal grounding, then transitions into how understanding one's guiding principles—or “North Star”—influences emotional awareness, sexual decision-making, and conflict resolution. They discuss how early family, cultural, and religious influences shape our beliefs about what's “good” or “bad,” often leaving individuals unaware of their authentic values. MaryAnn introduces examining our internalized “shoulds” to uncover inherited rules that may no longer serve us. Dr. Skinner emphasizes that defining values is a process of personal ownership, not external expectation, and that clarity enables healthy boundaries and more honest relating. The episode also covers what happens when partners' values diverge—inviting curiosity, vulnerability, and respectrather than control or shutdown. Through clinical examples (anger, sexuality, secrecy), they show how self-awareness and emotional safety foster compassionate dialogue, and when persistent value gaps may signal deeper incompatibility. Takeaway: intimacy thrives when both partners pursue honest dialogue, self-reflection, and compassion, recognizing that values can evolve with growth and healing. Resources Show Notes & Assignments: HumanIntimacy.com/Podcast (values discovery prompts) Books & Frameworks: The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work — John Gottman Hold Me Tight — Sue Johnson The Gifts of Imperfection — Brené Brown Atlas of the Heart — Brené Brown The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk Quick Reflection Exercise List three “should” statements guiding your choices. Ask: Where did this belief come from? Does it fit who I want to be now? Note how keeping vs. releasing it would affect your relationship.
In this episode of the Coffey and Code podcast, host Ashley Coffey sits down with Joseph Kirk, a seasoned real estate agent and strategist from Lake Sotheby's International Realty. Joseph shares his insights on the importance of aligning technology with business vision, the role of process in achieving efficiency, and how client experience serves as his North Star. Tune in to discover how Joseph leverages technology to enhance client relationships and streamline operations, and learn why he believes in the power of a strong network and the simplicity of going from zero to one. Whether you're in real estate or any other industry, Joseph's approach to innovation and client service offers valuable lessons for all.Connect with Joseph Kirk on Linkedin EPISODE CREDITS:Produced and edited by Ashley Coffey. Cover art designed by Ashley Coffey.Headshot by Brandlink MediaIntroduction music composed and produced by Ashley Coffey LINKSFollow Coffey & Code on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and YouTube for the latest emerging tech updates! Subscribe to the Coffey & Code Podcast wherever you get your podcasts to be notified when new episodes go live. © 2025 Coffey & Code Podcast. All rights reserved. The content of this podcast, including but not limited to text, graphics, audio, and images, is the property of Ashley Coffey and may not be reproduced, redistributed, or used in any manner without the express written consent of the owner. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This episode's Community Champion Sponsor is Ossur. To learn more about their ‘Responsible for Tomorrow' Sustainability Campaign, and how you can get involved: CLICK HEREEpisode Overview: Addiction doesn't announce itself- it emerges silently, often after a routine medical procedure. Our next guest, James Piacentino, is changing this reality as CEO and Co-Founder of Thrive Genetics. With over 20 years in healthcare technology and two successful startup exits under his belt, James brings both personal experience and professional expertise to this mission. After losing his father to opioid addiction following a routine surgery, James dedicated his career to ensuring others wouldn't face the same tragedy. By combining cutting-edge genomics with behavioral psychology, Thrive Genetics helps physicians understand a patient's addiction risk before prescribing pain medication. Join us to discover how James and his team are pioneering personalized addiction risk management, transforming how healthcare systems approach prevention, and working to spare millions of families from generational trauma. Let's go!Episode Highlights:Curiosity as the foundation for innovation: James emphasizes that deep curiosity about solving meaningful problems is the key driver that gets him out of bed every morning and the most important quality he looks for in team members.Personal tragedy sparking a mission: After losing his father to opioid addiction following a 1982 car accident and back surgery, James dedicated his career to preventing others from experiencing the same generational trauma.Staggering gap in care: Up to 25% of patients undergoing high-pain procedures become addicted to prescribed opioids, yet no proactive addiction risk assessment exists before prescribing pain medication.Science-backed solution: Thrive Genetics combines 10 years of research and over $50M in NIH grants to create addiction risk scores based on both genetic predisposition (50%) and behavioral factors (50%).Thinking beyond the individual: James' North Star is reaching billions of people by preventing not just individual addiction cases, but stopping generational family trauma before it starts.About our Guest: Thrive Genetics is led by Co-Founder and CEO, James J. Piacentino, MBA, a healthcare technology entrepreneur with over 20 years in tech and life sciences. A graduate of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, James has built and sold two prior startups, published in the Harvard Business Review, and held senior leadership roles at SAP. He is mentored by Harry Kraemer, former CEO of Baxter International and Kellogg Professor of Management.Links Supporting This Episode: Thrive Genetics Website: CLICK HEREJame Piacentino LinkedIn page: CLICK HEREThrive Genetics LinkedIn: CLICK HEREMike Biselli LinkedIn page: CLICK HEREMike Biselli Twitter page: CLICK HEREVisit our website: CLICK HERESubscribe to newsletter:
Can you really delegate out when you are your business? Don't people hire you to work with…well, you? That's the question Justin Moore and I wrestle with. We talk about the challenge of running personality-driven businesses, why it's so hard to step away, and how to build a company that serves your life instead of consuming it.Justin shares how he's built a coaching business with a team he trusts, why impact is his North Star, and the mindset shift that helped him let go of control. We also get real about balancing work with family time, the guilt that comes with stepping away, and why building a lifestyle business is just as valid as chasing a big exit.Things get real – it's something all business owners need to think about. Wondering how you can step away from your business? Take the Business Overwhelm Diagnostic.Top TakeawaysUse a North Star mission (like impact) to guide decisions about hiring, delegating, and growth.Letting go of control is a mindset shift—delegating doesn't dilute your business, it expands your reach.A lifestyle business is not a failure; you don't have to build for an exit if you love the work.Balancing work and family isn't about hacks—it's about daily choices to be present in the moment.Show NotesSponsor Magnet Podcast (hosted by Justin and me)Sponsor Magnet (Book)Creator WizardKey Person of Influence (Book by Daniel Priestley)Write Useful Books (by Rob Fitzpatrick)One to Many: The Secret to Webinar Success (by Jason Fladlien)CEX (Creator Economy Expo)Lulu (Publishing)What do you think? Send your feedback to streamlinedfeedback.com ★ Support this podcast ★
Ever feel like you're chasing success so hard that you forget why you even started in the first place? Or maybe you're hustling day in and day out but still hitting walls of burnout, doubt, or just plain overwhelm? I've been podcasting for six years now—600 episodes, countless conversations with world-class entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and just all-around inspiring humans. And throughout this journey, I've picked up some powerful truths that have not only changed my life but can change yours too. In this special milestone episode, I share six life-changing lessons that will help you put the Happy in your Hustle and create a legacy that matters.Here's a taste of the wisdom packed inside:-Balance beats burnout. The grind without harmony isn't sustainable. That's why I created the S.O.U.L.M.A.P.P.I.N system, 10 alignments that help you crush it both personally and professionally without losing yourself.-Relationships are the real ROI. Success isn't a solo sport. The right people in your corner accelerate growth, joy, and opportunity more than any single strategy ever could.-Clarity creates confidence. Without a clear target, you'll miss every time. Knowing your North Star for the next 90 days and aligning it with your long-term vision will give you the confidence to say yes or no with certainty.-Presence is the power move. Whether it's in nature, with your family, or during a podcast interview, being fully present is where true power lies. Presence first, performance second.-Purpose fuels profits. When your mission is bigger than money, the money comes anyway. Aligning impact with income is how you truly thrive.-Consistency compounds into legacy. Six years and 600 episodes prove this: showing up again and again builds not just results, but a lasting impact for generations to come.These aren't just theories; they're truths I've lived, lessons I've witnessed from epic guests, and practices I use every day to stay aligned while chasing big dreams.So, if you're ready to avoid burnout, deepen your relationships, get crystal clear on your vision, live more present, connect purpose to profit, and build something that lasts… tune in to the full episode now.Connect with Cary!https://www.instagram.com/caryjack/https://www.facebook.com/SirCaryJackhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/cary-jack-kendzior/https://twitter.com/thehappyhustlehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDNsD59tLxv2JfEuSsNMOQ/featured Get a free copy of his new book, The Happy Hustle, 10 Alignments to Avoid Burnout & Achieve Blissful Balance https://www.thehappyhustle.com/bookSign up for The Journey: 10 Days To Become a Happy Hustler Online Coursehttps://thehappyhustle.com/thejourney/Apply to the Montana Mastermind Epic Camping Adventurehttps://thehappyhustle.com/mastermind/“It's time to Happy Hustle, a blissfully balanced life you love, full of passion, purpose, and positive impact!”Episode Sponsors:If you're feeling stressed, not sleeping great, or your energy's been kinda meh lately—let me put you on to something that's been a total game-changer for me: Magnesium Breakthrough by BiOptimizers. This ain't your average magnesium—it's got all 7 essential forms that your body actually needs to chill out, sleep deeper, and feel more balanced. I take it every night and legit notice the difference the next day. No more waking up groggy or tossing and turning all nightIf you're ready to sleep like a baby, calm your nervous system, and optimize your recovery, go grab yours now at bioptimizers.com/happy and use code HAPPY10 for 10% OFF.99 Designs- Need a killer logo, stunning website, or next-level brand design?Stop DIY-ing and start delegating like a boss with 99designs by Vista! Neurable- If you're looking to level up your focus, productivity, and mental well-being all at once, do yourself a favor and check out Neurable. You get a special hookup—just use the code HAPPY at checkout and get $100 off.
Welcome to another episode of Abundance Mindset Podcast, where Vinney Chopra and Gualter Amarelo dive into the principle of Hyperfocus—and why every investor needs a clear North Star. Vinney shares how his guiding compass has always been family, faith, and abundance, while Gualter brings strategies for turning vision into action in real estate and beyond. Together, they talked about:
Discover how to build an “aligned empire,” a business and life that work together instead of against each other. Today's guest has mastered the art of balance—not just work-life balance, but proper alignment between career ambitions, family priorities, energy management, and personal fulfillment. Whether you are just starting or feeling overwhelmed by trying to do everything yourself, this conversation will provide a reliable roadmap for building something sustainable that honors your values and ambitions. Join us to learn more!Kasey D'Amato is a keynote speaker, executive coach, and strategic business advisor who helps business founders and corporate leaders navigate high-stakes decisions and transitions with clarity, confidence, and resilience, without burning out in the process. With over 20 years of experience across healthcare, entrepreneurship, and business consulting, Kasey brings a unique blend of business acumen, human behavior expertise, and emotional intelligence to her work. She has walked multiple career paths, including pharmaceutical sales, founding a global skincare brand, healthcare consulting, and executive leadership advisory. Kasey's mission is to impact one million entrepreneurs and high achievers, and her core message will challenge how you think about success. She believes a dream life is within reach for those who are willing to lead with intention. You'll discover Kasey's “3 Whos” framework that ensures you will never have to navigate your journey alone, and why she swears by 90-day experiments instead of massive overhauls. Kasey is known for her dynamic, actionable, and emotionally intelligent approach to leadership as she guides ambitious entrepreneurs and executives to think bigger, lead better, and align their next move with both performance and personal fulfillment. Show Highlights:Components of an aligned empireFind your Polaris Point™: This is your clear “North Star” that aligns business ventures with personal life goals. Every 90 days, take a step back, assess, and recalibrate your approach. 3 areas of alignment beyond the tactical tools of your industry:Self-leadership: mindset, resilience, clarity of purpose/mission, confronting limiting beliefs, and understanding that failure is part of the process (This is 80% of your success!)Team leadership: communication, expectations, measures of success, setting examples, and celebrating winsIndustry leadership: visibility, accountability, a focus on your superpower, and consistency in how you want to be knownDream BIG! “Dreams are free in the land of imagination!”Implementing 90-day experiments to make progress in specific areasCommon objections to having alignment partners:“I can do it all myself.”“I don't have enough time.”I don't have the money.”Hiring with specific growth goals in mindKasey's framework, your “3 Whos”:Who are your mentors and coaches?Who are your peers?Who are the members of your team?Kasey's biggest takeaways about your journey, guidance, and leaning on your 3 WhosResources:Connect with Kasey D'Amato: Website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Kasey's Decision Threshold™ Checklist.Connect with MegGet Meg's FREE download, Finding Your Perfect Match:
Episode #225 In this powerful Member Transformation episode, Coach Terri sits down with Kirsten Hopkinson to explore how fasting has become more than just a weight-loss tool—it's reshaped her identity, health, and outlook on life. Kirsten shares how she's lost 50 pounds since joining The Fasting Method, lowered her A1C from pre-diabetic to healthy range, and discovered the deeper “why” driving her journey. From morning walks and mindset shifts to overcoming old habits and finding strength in community support, Kirsten's story is about creating sustainable change and living with purpose. If you're ready to move beyond diets and into a lifestyle of self-care, resilience, and transformation, this conversation will inspire you to take the next step. ✨ Ready to start your own transformation? Join The Fasting Method Community today and get the tools, coaching, and support you need to create lasting change. https://www.thefastingmethod.com/community/ Transcripts of all episodes are available on the Podcast page at www.thefastingmethod.com Book a complimentary 15-minute coaching intake assessment with one of the TFM coaches https://www.thefastingmethod.com/coaching/ Connect With Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastingmethod/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheFastingMethod Join our FREE Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/TFMNetwork Summary Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 01:22 Starting the Journey 02:45 What's Different This Time 04:25 Finding a North Star 07:11 Power of Community 11:09 Struggles & Support 15:47 Beyond Fasting 17:35 Letting Go of Numbing Tools 19:13 Feeling Big Emotions 21:46 Transformation Beyond the Scale 23:19 Advice for Beginners 27:31 Picturing the Future 28:34 Redefining Self-Care 29:16 Closing Thoughts Disclaimer This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before doing any fasting, changing your diet, taking or adjusting any medication or supplements, or adopting any treatment for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Today's guest is the one and only Bobbi Brown—the legendary makeup artist, entrepreneur, and author. Bobbi just released her very first memoir, “Still Bobbi: A Master Class in Leading an Authentic Life,” and it's a revealing look at her triumphs, challenges, family, and the values that drive her. Bobbi joins host Kerry Diamond to reflect on building brands, the lessons she's learned from both success and failure, and why her family has always remained her North Star. They also talk about Jones Road Beauty, her latest business venture that's changing the clean beauty conversation, and her passion for health and food. (She's a certified health coach!) Thank you to Square and Ketel One for their support. Learn more at square.com/bigSubscribe to our SubstackCheck out Cherry Bombe on ShopMyMore on Bobbi: Instagram, Jones Road Beauty, “Still Bobbi” memoirMore on Kerry: InstagramShop Kerry's favorite Jones Road products: MascaraLip & Cheek stickMiracle Balm