Podcasts about office max

John recounts a hilarious yet cautionary tale of a run-in with a "boss babe" fitness influencer at OfficeMax. What starts as a comical exchange turns into a deeper reflection on pride, humility, and the pitfalls of modern feminism. John and Ben explore the encounter's lessons for young men and women, warning against marrying prideful partners and emphasizing character over beauty.

Send us a textIn an era where retail continues to evolve at breakneck speed, Office Depot and OfficeMax are setting a new standard for how customer loyalty is earned, nurtured, and scaled. With hybrid work as the new norm and customer expectations growing more complex, Office Depot is meeting the moment with a bold blend of personalized service, smart data use, and culture-driven execution. At the heart of this transformation is Kevin Moffitt, President of Office Depot's integrated business unit. Moffitt joined Office Depot over 13 years ago, initially focusing on e-commerce and digital strategy. His career spanned financial services, nonprofit, and consulting sectors before settling into retail, where he's spent the last two decades. Today, he oversees both Office Depot's digital platform and its physical retail operations. Moffitt recently joined Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, on the Leaders in Customer Loyalty podcast to discuss how the brand is redefining customer engagement, what it means to create emotional loyalty in modern retail, and the strategic priorities driving the future of Office Depot's loyalty programs. 

Welcome to our Saint Patrick's Day Lit for Christmas party of Season Five!In this episode, Marty and Beth get bombed on Bailey's Mint Mudslides and discuss "Christmas Morning" by Irish writer Frank O'Connor.   BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time Beth makes a seuxal innuendo. CAUTION: You WILL get very drunk.SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENTBailey's Mint Mudslide:Ingredients:Two shots original Bailey's Irish CreamOne shot Creme de Menthe SyrupOne shot Vanilla CreamerHershey's Chocolate Syrup1 cup of ice1 Hershey's kissDirections:In a blender, put ice, Bailey's Irish Cream, Creme de Menthe, and Vanilla Creamer. Blend well.Drizzle sides of glass with Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.Pour blended mixture into drizzled glass.Add Hershey's kiss, if desired.Non-Alcoholic Directions:Substitute two scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream for the Bailey's Irish Cream and Creme de Menthe. Eliminate the ice. Double the Vanilla Creamer (2 shots) to thin the mixture. Lit for Christmas Party Hosts:Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published two poetry collections, The Mysteries ofthe Rosary from Mayapple Press and A Bigfoot Bestiary and Other Wonders from Modern History Press .  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com).  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting.Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She hasworked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband.Music for this episode:"Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay."A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay.Other music in the episode:The Dubliners. "Whiskey in the Jar." More of the Hard Stuff. Major Minor, 1968.A Christmas Carol sound clips from:The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore.This month's Christmas lit:O'Connor, Frank.  "Christmas Morning." Collected Short Stories. New York, Knopf, 1981.

Welcome to our Black History Month Lit for Christmas party!In this episode, Marty and Beth sip Blue Eyes and discuss Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye.   BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time you hear Beth make a bad pun. CAUTION: You WILL get very drunk.SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT:The Blue Eye Ingredients:·     2 shots Vodka·     1 shot Blue Curacao ·     3 shots Baja Blast Mountain Dew·     1 shot white cranberry juice·     3 or 4 whole blueberriesDirections:1.     Gently mix vodka, Blue Curacao, Baja Blast Mountain Dew, white cranberry juice to a shaker over ice.2.     Strain into martini glass.3.     Add three or four whole blueberries for garnish.Directions for Non-Alcoholic The Blue Eye Recipe Follow same directions as above, eliminating vodka and Blue Curacao. Increase amount of Baja Blast Mountain Dew to 4 shots and white cranberry juice to 2 shots.Lit for Christmas Party Hosts:Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. He has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms as U.P. Poet Laureate, and has published the poetry collections The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press and A Bigfoot Bestiary and Other Wonders from Modern History Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com). Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She hasworked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature withher loving husband.Music for this episode:"Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay."A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay.Other music in the episode:UB40. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain." Getting Over the Storm. Virgin/Universal, 2 September, 2013.A Christmas Carol sound clips from:The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore.This month's Christmas lit:Morrison, Toni.  The Bluest Eye. New York, Penguin Group, 1970.

Yes, we are back, Lit for Christmas party goers! Bigger and better. Apologies for our long hiatus. Life became quite complicated last year, and we had to put quite a few things on hold. However, we are here and ready to Christmas party again! In this episode, Marty and Beth imbibe in Peppermint Patties and discuss Dave Barry's The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Miracle Christmas Dog. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Peppermint Patty (courtesy of https://novelnightcaps.com/recipe/hot-peppermint-patty-cocktail/) Ingredients Mug of you favorite hot chocolate 3 shots of Peppermint Schnapps Marshmallows or whipped cream (if you prefer) Directions Make your mug of hot chocolate (we used Swiss Miss) Three shots of Peppermint Schnapps (use mint or peppermint extract for non-alcoholic version) Lit for Christmas Party Hosts Marty has a Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He served two terms as U.P. Poet Laureate, and has published two poetry collections, The Mysteries of the Rosasy from Mayapple Press and A Bigfoot Bestiary and Other Wonders from Modern History Press. For more of Marty's thoughts and writing, visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com). Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education. She was worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier. Currently, she words in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H., used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: Osmond, Donny. "Puppy Love." Portrait of Donny. MGM, 27 May, 1972. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Barry, Dave. The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Miracle Christmas Dog. New York. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2006.

Office Max made a Punk'd-style reality show with The All-American Rejects. Yes. That's a real sentence. On this episode of DISASTERPIECES, Steve and Justin examine SCHOOLED, the Office Max commercial that pretends it's an hour-long TV special. Why does this thing exist? Did it actually help a failing school-supply retailer sell more printers? And is it ethical to absolutely torture real school children all in the name of creative marketing? Find out these and more in this perfect time capsule of the capitalistic nightmare of mid-2000s television.Watch OfficeMax Schooled here: https://vimeo.com/193925396Follow us on Instagram to keep updated about our monthly live shows!Check out more from Anne Hogan here: https://www.instagram.com/anne_hogan_/Check out more from Justin here: justindodd.rocks Check out more from Steve here: stevejhward.comdrinkgenies.com

WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE/VOTE FOR?Home Depot co-founder, GOP donor Bernie Marcus dead at 95. Berne endorsed Trump in November… 2023 and said two years ago that “Nobody works, nobody gives a damn. Just give it to me. Send me money. I don't want to work — I'm too lazy, I'm too fat, I'm too stupid. We used to have free speech here. We don't have it. The woke people have taken over the world. You know, I imagine today they can't attack me. I'm 93. Who gives a crap about Bernie Marcus?” WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?Lead “Independent” Director Gregor BrennemanCEO Ed Decker already on boardDoesn't have to sit on any committees (all other independent directors sit on at least two)$380,000 in pay last year to meet 11 times; one of two directors who didn't even give to charity as part of the board's matching charitable contribution programHas an actual voice that matters (14%); CEO has 25%Director Gerard Arpey$315,000 despite low pressure (only 3% influence)No leadership rules: sits on Nominating Committee with four other directors and FInance Committee with 5 other directorsDoesn't even have a “Real” job: says he has been a partner in Emerald Creek Group, a private equity firm since 2012. Prior to his retirement in 2011, he served as CEO of AMR CorporationEmerald Creeks's website is a picture of an orange grove. In the “news” section of the website the last listed event was from November 29, 2011: Arpey Joins Emerald Creek GroupMeta Permits Its A.I. Models to Be Used for U.S. Military Purposes.Meta will allow U.S. government agencies and contractors working on national security to use its artificial intelligence models for military purposes.Meta said that it would make its A.I. models, called Llama, available to federal agencies and that it was working with defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen as well as defense-focused tech companies including Palantir and Anduril.Meta's move is an exception to its “acceptable use policy,” which forbade the use of the company's A.I. software for “military, warfare, nuclear industries,” among other purposes.WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?Meta Platforms Emperor Mark Zuckerberg72% influence; 61% voting powerWorld's 4th richest person: ~$200BBlah blah blahMeta director John Arnold1% influenceMember on only one committee (Audit & Risk) with 4 other membersNo other directorships; only have a BAreceived an $8M bonus from Enron just before the company filed for bankruptcy; the largest cash bonus ever distributed by the company. Known as "king of natural gas”You work at a place named after you (Arnold Ventures) and you're still just the co-founder and co-chairYour board appointment was announced on Valentine's DayPay will be roughly $500,000 annually. He also received two initial equity grants worth $1.4M In 2007, Arnold became the youngest billionaire in the U.SBoeing Union Approves New Contract, Ending Costly StrikeLeaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers district in Seattle said 59% of members who cast ballots agreed to approve the company's fourth formal offer and the third put to a vote.The new contract will raise wages more than 43 percent cumulatively over the next four years, an improvement over the two previous offers. The first proposal would have raised wages just over 27 percent.The deal also includes a $12,000 ratification bonus, which is four times as much as the bonus in the initial offer, and productivity bonuses.However, Boeing refused to meet strikers' demand to restore a company pension plan that was frozen nearly a decade ago.Bank of America analysts estimated last month that Boeing was losing about $50 million a day during the now-ended strikeWHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?Current CEO Kelly Ortberg, who inherited a messOr former CEO David Calhoun, who got to step down when he felt like it and got $98M in total summary compensation since 2020Kroger Finalizes $1.37 Billion Opioid Crisis SettlementUnder the agreement, which wasn't an admission of wrong doing or liability by Kroger, the company agreed to pay about $1.2 billion over 11 years and around $177 million over a six-year period, each in equal installments. WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?CEO and Chair Rodney McMullen since 2014$94M pay since 2019; ; holds $350M in Kroger stockPay ration 502:1; median associate for 2023 was $31,302; received $600k in dividend payments in 202492% shareholder supportNora A. Aufreiter, chair of the Public Responsibilities Committee that met a whopping 3 times last year; served on our Public Responsibilities Committee for nine years, the last four as chairDirector Emeritus of McKinsey & Company; retired in 2014 after more than 27 years with McKinsey$321,000 last year; holds $3M in Kroger stock98% support from shareholders; 99% last year2% board influence despite having served for a decadeElon Musk and X are epicenter of US election misinformationFalse or misleading claims by billionaire Elon Musk about the U.S. election have amassed 2 billion views on social media platform X this year, according to a report by non-profit group Center for Countering Digital Hate.The platform is also playing a central role in enabling the spread of false information about the critical battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential raceWHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?Someone who drives a TeslaOr someone who drives literally anything else, including the vehicle from this headline: Guy makes “dodgy e-bike” from 130 used vapes to make point about e-wasteSouthwest Airlines names Rakesh Gangwal as board chair following Gary Kelly's retirementThe airline brought in the co-founder of India's largest carrier Indigo to its board in July despite criticism from Elliott Investment Management at the time.Gangwal bought Southwest shares worth more than $100 million last month before the airline settled its boardroom feud with Elliott in a deal that allowed CEO Bob Jordan to retain his job by making bigger board-level concessions.Co-founder IndiGo Airlines, former CEO and Chair at US Airways Group; served on the boards of CarMax, Office Depot, OfficeMax and PetSmartWHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?Rakesh Gangwal Former Southwest CEO and Chair Gary Kelly who remains on the board at Chairman EmeritusNow longest-tenured independent director Douglas BrooksNo leadership roles; owns over $2M in stock; made $305K for board service last year(iii) while serving on the Board, free travel on Southwest Airlines for the Director, the Director's spouse, and the Director's children, as well as 50 one-way flight passes annually that may be used for free travel on Southwest Airlines on an unrestricted basis, and an additional 50 one-way flight passes annually for use by qualified charitable and 501(c)(3) organizations;(iv) subsequent to Board servicea lifetime privilege of 50 one-way flight passes annually that may be used for free travel on Southwest Airlines on an unrestricted basis;lifetime free travel on Southwest Airlines for the Director and the Director's spouseif the Director is deceased, free travel on Southwest Airlines for the Director's spouse for the lifetime of the spouse$75,000 cash when he retiresBarry Diller calls timing of The Washington Post's non-endorsement a ‘blunder'To Barry Diller, a friend of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the decision for The Washington Post not to endorse a candidate in tomorrow's presidential election was “absolutely principled” — and poorly timed, he said MondayWhich Barry Diller directorship would you vote for?Expedia Group (27%)Chair and Senior Executive $7MMore influence than CEO Peter KernNearly $2B in equity; about 49% in voting powerThe Coca-Cola Company (8%)$12M in shares; $300k annual pay; 3 board committeesMGM Resorts (9%)One committee no leadership; no board pay; IAC owns 20% of MGM equity ($2.3B)IAC (65%)Chair and Senior Executive $3M43% voting power; $650M equityLet's end in Omaha, where the small Nebraska district may decide our next president: Warren Buffett skipped endorsing a presidential candidate this election as many CEOs retreat from politics. WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?America's cuddly rich man Warren Buffett, 93 years old and currently 7th richest in world at ~$140B, who doesn't even have to take a stand.Or nepo babies Howard Buffett and Susan Buffett, who sit on the Berkshire board and will be inevitably looked at as failures when the company loses its luster after daddy dies.Or non-Berkshire director and nepo baby Peter Buffett who, after dropping out of Stanford University, used the proceeds of his inheritance from his grandfather to pursue a career in music

Join Shari and Joe as they discuss this weeks episode of the HOF podcast and share their visions for first-time hosts.Transcript: Track 2:[0:19] Hi, welcome to the Saturday Night Live Hall of Fame Water Cooler Podcast. You know, kind of a short, simple title. Or to put it another way, the SNL HOFH2L Podcast. Just to, you know, hashtag it. I'm Joe.Track 3:[0:43] And I'm Shari.Track 2:[0:44] And we're sitting here next to the water cooler, ready for this week's discussion.Track 3:[0:51] Yep. Are you filling up your cup, Joe? I'm filling mine up.Track 2:[0:55] And I'm good. All right. Let's do this.Track 3:[0:59] Okay. We're going to start it off by talking about this week's episode of the SNL Hall of Fame with the fabulous Thomas Senna and his special guest, Jamie Burwood. Wood jamie is a og snl hall of fame guest she's been on a couple of times and i believe all of her nominees have gotten in christopher walken and will ferrell will ferrell thank you joe because i blanked out and our latest nominee she finally got in in season five molly shannon so yes he's on a roll let's see if she can keep it up with sherry o terry did you want to continue on and uh so yeah.Track 2:[1:48] Uh yeah those two they had a great discussion uh they covered a lot uh so uh but i there's plenty left to discuss uh you know they brought up uh, that Sherry's often paired up with Will Ferrell, who, you know, they performed in the Groundlings together. They started at Saturday Night Live at the same time. Will Ferrell, Sherry Oteri, Chris Kattan. Basically, Saturday Night Live cleaned house around season 20. They got rid of those bums, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, and Kevin Nealon. No, they were great. It was just, they did their term. It was time for a change. It was time for a change. And then they brought in, yeah, Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, David Kegner, Daryl Hammond, and our focus for today, Sherry O'Terry.Track 3:[2:43] Thank you, Joe. That was a really good lead-in, recap. Thank you. You're coming up with all the good words, and I'm somehow blanking.Track 2:[2:52] It's cool.Track 3:[2:53] I think we're ready with that great recap. I think we're ready to talk about...Track 2:[3:00] Point counterpoint. Uh, so, uh, okay, let's go into pros and cons. All right. Now this week, uh, I'm going to take the pros with Sherry and you'll take the cons.Track 3:[3:12] Yep. We're switching places.Track 2:[3:14] All right. Uh, so, uh, as far as the pros go, the first thing, and I, they mentioned this on the other episode, she is very energetic. Energetic and the word i want to add on to that is she's energetic to the point where all of her characters are twitching i mean like she's just literally like shocking just you know um yeah like with our characters uh laura or whom i think who's the first one um yeah adele and uh.Track 2:[3:53] Where's the other one? The one that, oh, Colette Rairdon. I wanted to bring her up because she probably has a reason to twitch a little bit because she has a big box of prescriptions that she's on. But yeah, Sherry's very energetic to the point where she's twitching, gives 110%, and also she's just Just a hair below chewing the scenery. She's, you know, not hamming it up. She's not. Everything that she's doing with her energy seems appropriate and called for. And it makes sense within the character. So I just want to point out that she never, ever sleepwalks through a part. So, yeah, that's the first pro I got in your con.Track 3:[4:45] Okay, Joe, that is excellent. And she is very high energy. And Jamie Burwood said that same thing. In fact, her exact, well, maybe not her exact words, but her words were she brings a zaniness and a wackiness that is... Unparalleled. That was Jamie's words, and you pretty much reiterated them, Joe. Unfortunately, I'm here to bring the con, and that wackiness and that zaniness and that shout, she likes to shout. She shouts a lot. So her characters, Rita Del Vecchio, and you mentioned Colette Reardon and of course Simma Down Lady very over the top very shouty all of them and sometimes this repetitive habit with the shouting with the so over the top you and Jamie say that's you know that's a positive a lot of viewers and I've heard it from a lot of viewers over the years because I was watching her back in the day, felt like that was too much, like she was trying too hard. So, yes, she's not sleepwalking. She's almost the opposite of sleepwalking, and that gives viewers a lot of fatigue, and I think people got a little tired of that shtick. So that's my con. Back to you, Joe.Track 2:[6:11] I got it. No, and I get to the point where, yeah, because that happens with Saturday Night Live, where even the best characters get old, hence why she got there in the first place. Like Chris Farley was doing Van Down by the River, which to me is one of my favorite sketches ever. That first one with Christina Applegate, I mean, that to me is one of the top five sketches. However, it got old, and that's why they had to get rid of Farley, bring in new people, and that's how Sherry got there. So yes, that happens at Saturday Night Live. I agree. And with her in particular, yes, the shouting and the energy and the –.Track 2:[6:54] Does wear thin so i agree with that so okay my next pro is something i personally picked up on uh when i was doing all this research is her she does characters of all ages and it's almost to the point where it's like the same character just at different spots in her and the character's life like she did alfina which is this hyper character that visits the pilot um ariana the spartan cheerleader we have to mention her but we'll get back to that and then laura zimmerman the character she did with uh chris katan the hyper sexual hyper sexed couple uh and then rita the porch uh dweller and then finally colette reardon the uh prescription taker and it's like this it's almost like the same person at different stages of the character's life and it's it's cool to see the same actor being able to do that um i just thought that was kind of unique, and i enjoyed seeing that okay.Track 3:[8:00] Joe that is an excellent point she she really she really does put her whole self into her characters and she does do a variety of ages and the observation you made about it being almost like the same character at different points in their life was very interesting, but I'm going to go con now, and this is a biggie, and Jamie and Thomas discussed this quite extensively, and that's the fact that, A, she didn't do a lot after Saturday Night Live, a little bit here and there, some voice work, a couple of TV episodes, nothing major, I guess she was on Broadway, nothing.Track 3:[8:42] I don't even remember hearing about that, but apparently she was on Broadway, but it was very short lived. I think she's had some personal stuff. She keeps it pretty quiet. But the other part of this that's bigger to me is she's never really come back to the show. And I'll be curious to see if she even comes back for the 50th anniversary because I do not believe she was at the 40th. So she really, she didn't really make a connection. Like so many of them stay in touch. Like, look at Dana and David have their podcast fly in the wall. Sherry seems like she kind of disconnected from SNL altogether. And I'm sure she had her reasons. But that is a big reason that voters are going to be like, well, she doesn't care enough to come back to the show. Why would I waste a vote on her and get her into the very hallowed halls of SNL Hall of Fame? So I think that's going to be a biggie. I think that might even hinder her from getting that 10% that she needs to just stay on the ballot. So I guess only time will tell, right?Track 2:[9:49] That is a great point. Because here's something else. Because that whole trio of Farrell, Oteri, Kattan, they all started at the same time. It's kind of like all three of them went in separate directions. And when Will Ferrell hosted Saturday Night Live like three times or the first three times, he always seemed to bring back an old sketch, you know, like he did Jeopardy. He also did that one couple, the middle school singers with Anna Gassmeyer.Track 3:[10:24] Right, right, right, right.Track 2:[10:25] And you would think at least once that they would, you know, when Will Ferrell's hosting, that they would do the cheerleaders. You know like that to me is iconic as, You know, Farley and Spade, Wayne and Garth. Right. You know, like, Will Ferrell, because like we mentioned over and over again, Ferrell and Oteri, they physically look good together. Like, almost in this, not exactly like this, but almost in a Laurel and Hardy type way, where Will Ferrell's tall, Sherry's short, you know, and then she brings the energy to make up for it. So she's, you know, in a scene with Will Ferrell, you know, and she's able to catch your eye with her energy, which is both a pro and a con, you know. So, yeah, I agree.Track 3:[11:21] I guess only time will tell. I guess what we really need to do here is encourage people to vote.Track 2:[11:26] Yes. Vote.Track 3:[11:27] If you think Sherry is deserving, vote. Because if you don't, she's not going to stick around so you can vote for her next time. So if you're going to vote, vote because people left last season. Justin Timberlake is gone. Several others are gone because they didn't.Track 2:[11:53] Yeah, they didn't.Track 3:[11:54] The five seasons came and went. And there are some who didn't get the 10% and didn't get to come back this season. So think about that. That's why Joe and I do this pro and con thing. And now I think we're ready to, are we ready to move on now, Joe? Are you good?Track 2:[12:11] Yeah.Track 3:[12:12] All right. We are going to move on to hopes for season 50. And it's only like four weeks away. Yay! I can't believe it either. I can't believe it.Track 2:[12:26] I need a distraction from this election, and what better way to digest the election better than with Saturday Night Live? I need Saturday Night Live to take all of this craziness of the world, not just the election, but just everything that's going on, and I need to see it through the prism of Saturday Night Live.Track 3:[12:44] I couldn't agree more, and I'm so excited. Our hopes for Season 50, themed today, is first-time hosts. Hosts. We're going to talk about first-time hosts. And Joe inspired this idea. Joe, do you want to talk just a little bit about how this all came about? Because I know it has throwback roots for you, nostalgic roots for you. So why don't you let the listeners know all about it?Track 2:[13:15] Oh, I couldn't. And by the way, that's a joke to everyone who knows me because I talk about this to people that don't even want to hear it. So the fact that I'm on a podcast right now and it's the perfect opportunity to talk about it, I just wanted to make that one joke of going.Track 3:[13:32] Nah.Track 2:[13:34] Nah, I'm good. Let's move on. No. So, OK, here's how this list came about. It was about 2006 and Peter Sarsgaard was a they announced or whatever, like on the bumper that Peter Sarsgaard was going to be that the next week's host. And he's a fine actor to everything. Nothing against him. But just at the time, I had no idea who he was. And I'm like, man, it's really random who they get to host Saturday Night Live for the first time, aside from John Goodman, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and such. But as far as who gets to host for the first time, it's random because they're usually rising up in fame. Their TV show is becoming popular. They're about to be in a bunch of movies. They just signed a three-movie contract or something. Like they're about to be popular and another person of note is the fact that Bradley Cooper hosted like the February before the hangover came out so it is like you have to really pay attention to who's popular right now and like who's been on the rise and then match that to did they host yet and then if they didn't then they're most likely gonna you know and that's where I try and came up with this list and I just want to give out one more shout out.Track 2:[15:02] To my mom because I used to play this game with my mom until she just lost interest and it became hard but anyway one year I was like hey I made my list and I went on internet movie database tried to see who was you know on the rise and when their movie was coming out and like oh this person has three movies coming out this year and you know it's around in the fall so they probably will be on Saturday Night Live to promote it and stuff like that and I'm trying to carefully analyze and dates and stuff like this and then i kept telling my mom hey mom they're gonna you know the show's gonna come back you better you know because it's kind of cheating if you see who's hosting the first episode and then and then you pick so i kept hounding her hounding her and then i go mom come on let's just do this and she goes all right fine and she takes an issue of entertainment weekly and just sends through it and goes her him him her her and then made her list just off the cuff and then sure enough beat me that year you know like i think she picked out two more than me and i'm like how how you know and and then so and that's another point i want to make is it's it's kind of random and then uh the last thing i'll make to segue back to the podcast uh so originally the what the way i used to play it is uh i made out 25 a list of 25 names.Track 2:[16:25] Because you figure maybe half the people hosting Saturday Night Live would be first time hosts. There'll probably be 12 new hosts, so you figure 25 would give us odds.Track 2:[16:38] But for the podcast, just to keep it simple, do a whole 25, yeah, I guess we'll go back and forth talking about who we think is going to host for the first time in the 50th year.Track 3:[16:52] And also, I think we should also just mention very briefly, if we think they're on the road to possibly returning, if they do get asked, and possibly becoming a Hall of Famer. And then as they show up throughout the season, Joe, we'll come back and look at that and talk about their performance and whether it lived up to expectations and whether we see them being asked back and get continuing on the road to see if we're on target. Game so that'll be fun to watch and also one more thing you listeners out there if you have guesses that you want to send our emails at the end because i don't know by heart yet because this is only our second episode so listen to jd he'll tell you our email and let us know who you think the first time timers are going to be i know that the saturday night network already has this up on their Instagram page, and I tried not to look at it too much. I already had my guesses, so I didn't get spoiled or anything. But we'd like to know from our listeners what you think as well, because maybe it's different from what was in the S&N statistics. We could be wrong. They could be wrong.Track 2:[18:08] We could be wrong.Track 3:[18:10] Absolutely. All right. Did you want to start us off, Joe, with your first? First possible post?Track 2:[18:19] Because... This is a perfect example of, you know, who I think should host. I'm going to go in no particular order except for this first person. She has been on my list for years, and it makes me mad every single week that I see she's not hosting. So the fact that, like, who's the first person I want to put on this pod is Zendaya from Spider-Man and Euphoria, and she's just a great actress. Actress she you know is out there she's it she's the new young actress and you know she's been in the spider-man movies for years and i'm like oh well she's on in the spider-man movies the hbo show yeah she's a the new young talent so and then week after week and year after year um just been eluding me and i know she's gonna and i'm not gonna take her off my list until she hosts so that's my first pick.Track 3:[19:24] Oh joe you we're we're simpatico we're simpatico she's so obvious she had two huge hits last year doom 2 and challengers which they which they talked about out on an episode on the Dakota Johnson episode but they didn't have Zendaya last year so Zendaya I always butcher her name I don't know I'm sorry if you're listening to this but I'm sure she is and and and everybody butchers my name so I I hate doing that I I think it might be Zendaya I, she wasn't my number one I do have mine in the order that I think they're they're likely to be asked because i did go more with people that i think they're really going to ask and i think she's okay that they they have to do but i want to yeah i want to do my number one, I think she's obvious. She's been all over the internet.Track 2:[20:26] Okay, yeah.Track 3:[20:27] She is the it girl of summer. You know they always have to do an Olympian in an Olympic year. So you know who I'm talking about.Track 2:[20:36] Okay.Track 3:[20:36] The fabulous gymnastic rubber band that is Simone Biles. Will she come back? Unlikely. We know what the Michael Phelps debacle was like. But he was on everybody's mind. He was all over the internet. She is everywhere. There are memes featuring Simone everywhere. She has a documentary on Netflix and she's got a bunch of medals. So yeah, this is definitely, I think she's a definite, I think she's going to be a September or October host. But I guess only time will tell. You're next.Track 2:[21:15] So, okay. My next pick is the one who is also, Again, kind of similar to Zendaya. He just seems obvious. He's another guy on the rise. I'm not even going to build him up that much. Glenn Powell, he was in the movie Twisters. He was in Top Gun, Maverick. He just looks like a movie star, like a generic. He just looks like with the perfect teeth and everything. Again, this is another example of when you're making out the list and you're seeing who's on the rise, this guy. And so it just, it's almost inevitable that he will. So when I was making up my list, I was like, him. It was like, easy. Like, moving on. Move along.Track 3:[21:58] Yeah. Well, you know, Joe, another point in your favor for Glenn Powell is he cameoed on the Sidney Sweeney episode last season.Track 2:[22:07] That's right.Track 3:[22:09] Now, do we think he's going to be a returning? I feel like echoes of Jacob Lordy. Like, there's going to be a lot of, he's so handsome sketches. Do you think he's?Track 2:[22:19] You know what? I mean, he could be like Chris Hemsworth, where he's like.Track 3:[22:24] Oh, that's true.Track 2:[22:25] A talented actor. And then he could turn around and do the comedian thing. You know? That's true. So, I mean.Track 3:[22:32] Only time will tell.Track 2:[22:33] Here's the, yeah, this is, you know, the weird thing about going off the first timers list is, it's, because how about this? He did Twisters, Top Gun, and a Netflix show, and they all seemed serious. Maybe after he hosts Saturday Night Live, he'll start doing comedies. And then it'll cycle through. Because he's funny in the movies, he's going to be the guy that comes back to host Saturday Night Live. And then lightning in a bottle will strike. And he'll be in that one skit that everyone's talking about that's viral on YouTube. And then it just dominoes from there. All right.Track 3:[23:08] Well, speaking of serious actors who are on the rise, I think he should have been asked a couple of years ago, this actor that I'm going to mention now. But I don't know how they can't ask him because he is playing Warren freaking Michael in Saturday Night, the Jason Reitman movie that if you're listening to this podcast, you know all about. You've watched the trailer the trailers nerdily like joe and i and jd and thomas and jamie i'm sure looks amazing he is terrific he was terrific as a steven spielberg in the fableman's not steven spielberg but we all know wink wink and he just nailed it and i'm.Track 3:[23:57] Super excited because my friend, I have a friend and her husband is a big autograph hunter in Los Angeles. And he actually took pictures with Gabriel and said he's the nicest, nicest, one of the nicest he's ever met. So that makes me even more excited that Gabriel LaBelle is going to be a big star and hopefully be an SNL host. I think he's a gimme. I mean, wouldn't it be great to see him and Lorne in a sketch with a young Lorne and an old Lorne? How hilarious would that be? So I and I think it's I think it's a gimme. I I can't imagine they won't do it, but maybe it'll be another actor from that movie. But it will be somebody in that cast.Track 2:[24:40] He's on my top 25 list. And everything that you said about it being a gimme, because, yeah, it would be great to do a Lorne off where, you know, where it's funny. But it didn't get the right laugh you know yeah very good paul liked it but then again did it really deserve to be in the top in the first half hour you know like just you know because and on top of it they need to promote that movie you know and they need to have an actor from that movie on the show it'd be weird not to you know like you know so yeah and like you said it has to be someone from the movie. Especially someone playing someone else from the movie. It can't just be... I also want to mention that I think it's kind of weird that William Dafoe... He hosted last year, which is around the time when they were filming that movie. So it's like, was he doing research or like, it just seemed anyway, but it would just be weird if they had J.K. Simmons or William Dafoe or someone else, you know, that's in the cast of that movie that doesn't, that's not playing, or I guess they're all playing someone, but I'm just saying it isn't playing.Track 3:[25:56] Not one of the main.Track 2:[25:57] Yeah, but it needs to be someone that's playing a cast member or if not, Lorne. And then, yes, they need to do a Lorne-off or something, and I agree with everything. So – and then I'll move on to my pick, which is – okay. So this one is someone who I think could be in the Hall of Fame, yes, as a host, obviously. And that person is Nick Kroll. I hope I'm saying his name right. You are.Track 3:[26:28] That one I know.Track 2:[26:29] And, yeah, he had his own sketch show. He's friends with John Mulaney. He auditioned for Saturday Night Live. He's talented at doing characters. He's really genuinely funny. And I believe that, yeah, he would be a great host. And then it would just be like, I'm sure he'll be such a great host that he'll be asked to return.Track 3:[26:53] So i agree and he's friends with a lot of the cast already and a lot of them have been on his uh his animated show big mouth yes he's had a lot of snl i think current and past on that show so he he's a he'd be a great yeah i feel like why why hasn't he been asked that's excellent excellent he's.Track 2:[27:17] Very snl adjacent you know yeah.Track 3:[27:20] Right that's an excellent excellent Excellent guess.Track 2:[27:23] You know? So, and then you're next.Track 3:[27:26] All right. Yes, I am. And speaking of funny. Mm-hmm. Uh, this gentleman is a huge fan favorite and it's funny cause I think a lot of us took him very for granted and didn't realize how funny he was until he left. And he kind of, he's been doing things. He had a show. It didn't make it. I think it only made it one season, but now he's coming back and he's coming back to a CSI franchise, CSI origins. And I know it's on CBS and not NBC, but CSI is a big deal. And I think not only that, but he just did some voice work in Inside Out 2, the Pixar movie. That was terrific, if you haven't seen it. And, of course, I'm talking about the absolutely gut-bustingly funny, drunk uncle, Mr. Bobby Moynihan.Track 2:[28:23] Come on!Track 3:[28:24] He's done cameos. he's done cameos he's done cameos let the guy host he'd be so great i think he'd work fantastically with heidi with mikey of obviously with keenan oh yeah give us bobby moynihan in season 50 come on he deserves to host an hour yes.Track 2:[28:44] And then he could be a returner you know hall of famer and all that.Track 3:[28:48] Oh 100 he is.Track 2:[28:50] Universal he's more than drunk uncle uh yeah he does.Track 3:[28:56] All right, Joe, let's do our wishes now. This means people that we think probably not, not likely, but we would love to see it happen. And I'm going to go first if that's okay.Track 2:[29:13] Please, because just on a side note, before the show started, she let it slip, who it might be. And I've been drooling at the mouth waiting for this moment. So let me take another sip of water from the water cooler.Track 3:[29:25] As well i'm going to take a sip too okay.Track 2:[29:30] Go for it.Track 3:[29:31] Because this is a juicy one yes so i i don't know that this is going to happen political political uh nominees, don't get a whole episode they usually just get cameos it happens rarely and when it does it's It's usually a disaster. I will not name any names. But I'm hoping, I'm really hoping, that Kamala and Tim will joint host an episode in maybe late October, just before the election. How great would that be? And how much would we love? We know Maya's coming back. How much would we love to see maya and kamala and tim and whoever is going to play him face off i don't think steve's gonna do it but whoever does it how funny would that be how great would that be how much would the internet break if that happened so that's my wish what do you think joe because.Track 2:[30:42] The other guy hosted you know on his own equal time that's all i'm saying, Okay, so my honorable mention, dream host, who I think, like, you wouldn't think that this guy, like, you wouldn't think this guy would be a Saturday Night Live host, but if he did, I think he would be insanely incredible, and that is Gary Oldman.Track 3:[31:13] Oh, yes!Track 2:[31:15] Ass he plays every different type of character like there's internet memes that show all the different characters he's played in movies over the years like dracula and he was uh commissioner gordon and batman he was in the fifth element and i'm just like imagine putting him on saturday night live with all these wigs and costumes and in in a sketch show where he has free reign to do Not necessarily Free Reign, but where he is able to do different characters in 90 minutes. Let's see him break free. Instead of playing one character per movie, let's see him do multiple characters in 90 minutes.Track 3:[31:59] I agree, Joe. And he's an actor that's known for being so serious. So how much fun would it be to get to see him play with the cast? So a great one to end on.Track 2:[32:11] Yes.Track 3:[32:11] A great one to end on. All right. Well, it looks like it's almost time to put away our water bottles. But before we do, we have to tell you, we got a great one coming up. The SNL Hall of Fame episode number three is a terrific cast member. You want to take it from there, Joe?Track 2:[32:37] Yes, I do. He is someone who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I'll just go right into it. I'm not going to preamble it. It's Garrett Morris. He was very underappreciated when he was a part of the first five years. But then when you saw him, it's like, duh. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame because of the first five years. I feel like all of them do. and they all need to be, go through the process, you know, of.Track 3:[33:11] Yes, I agree. And we're, we're going to talk a lot more about this in our episode next week. So please tune in to the SNL Hall of Fame with the fabulous J.D. And Matt and Thomas Senna, who are going to be joined by the awesome Darren Patterson from SNL Nerds. If you haven't listened to SNL Nerds, it's hilarious. Him and John Trumbull are terrific. They break down episodes. They talk about SNL movies. And Darren is a wealth of knowledge, and he's going to share his knowledge of Garrett Morris. He hasn't been on since season three, but the two that he's talked about, Tom Hanks and the other one is Dana Carvey. Oh, how could I forget him? One of my favorites. So I know Darren's going to be a great guest. I know we're going to have a lot to talk about next week because Garrett's an amazing cast member. So until then.Track 2:[34:12] Go ahead.Track 3:[34:14] Until then, we're leaving the water cooler, right, Joe?Track 2:[34:16] Yes, putting my paper cup into the little bin that we have here, that little two-foot-high garbage can that you always see at Office Max.Track 3:[34:26] Yep, and my cup is joining you. All right. So until next week, this is Shari and… Joe.Track 2:[34:32] We'll see you next time.Track 3:[34:34] Next time.Track 2:[34:35] All right.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/snlhof/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sticky notes might be the key to successful leadership. Christina Garcia, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Echo Global Logistics, keeps a few posted nearby with essential reminders to guide her in difficult moments. When leading teams of engineers attempting to disrupt the logistics space grows challenging, having a reminder of foundational leadership tools can be the key to accurately identifying an issue and swift resolution. In this episode, Christina discusses determining what to build and creating team-wide investment in its success. She considers the role of research and development from pie-in-the-sky projects to simpler, value-adding solutions. Christina offers her perspective on building narrative and encouraging engineers and developers to witness the value firsthand. (For example, “If your grandmother was in the store shopping, what is the experience you'd like her to have with the software?”) Considering culture, Christina dives into a culture of accountability and being a champion of quality. She shares her thoughts on shifting left, the results she's seen in earlier testing processes, and searching for the root cause of an issue. Alongside accountability, Christina identifies key areas of success like avoiding silos of communication and leaning on creativity in strategic planning. She offers her perspective on leading a team of passionate engineers and her approach to leading the group through transition (ex. one-on-one time with everyone). One key to her team's success at Echo: carrying the load together. Speaking on leadership, Christina shares how to work across different strengths and mindsets, build trust, set clear expectations, embrace vulnerability, and ask for help. (01:30) – Echo(02:52) – Finding software(05:15) – Building the right things(08:52) – Narrative(10:36) – Witnessing the value(13:00) – Shifting left(15:13) – Recognizing the hurdles(16:15) – Little leadership reminders(17:38) – Leading engineers(19:57) – Building passionate teams(22:57) – Setting clear expectations(27:17) – Creative solutions and planning(32:30) – Asking for helpChristina Garcia is a Senior Vice President of Engineering at Echo Global Logistics. Her technology and business expertise have led to career achievements in engineering, strategic technology implementation, and leadership, including positions at Capital One, SEQR, Sears Holdings Corporation, and OfficeMax. Christina earned a bachelor's degree in computer software engineering and a master's degree in e-commerce at DePaul University.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Four years ago, Burke Nihill ran across a job listing on LinkedIn: General Counsel for the Tennessee Titans. He applied, but he didn't think he would be drafted. His sports “experience” included dreaming of “wanting to be the third baseman for the Chicago Cubs” and declining an offer to play basketball at a Division 3 College. Nonetheless, Nihill won owners over. 4 promotions and 8 seasons later, the former OfficeMax attorney turned Titan's CEO is quarterbacking the organization through its most watched season — the construction of a new Nissan stadium. Slated to open in 2027, the 60,000 seat, enclosed arena is estimated to cost nearly $2.1 billion.  In this episode of Climbing the Charts, the CEO delves into the design of the stadium and how its experiences will bring more than a Super Bowl to this city.

Chris Hennessy is an independent filmmaker, author, and speaker. He serves on the board of directors at California Writers Club, Sacramento.   From 1990 through 2018, Hennessy produced hundreds of professional films for clients such as Apple, Google, SF 49ers, Folsom State Prison, eBay, Stanford University, Office Max, Deloitte, The American Cancer Society, etc., featuring his unorthodox style and distinctive comedy schtick. "Working on those 1500+ professional film gigs made me the confident producer/director/storyteller I am today--I retired from corporate and social filmmaking in 2018 to pursue my dreams of crafting my own creative projects."   Hennessy keeps busy with speaking engagements, writing his upcoming memoir, 'Touched by Hannah,' and working on various film projects he writes, produces, acts, hosts, and directs.   Make sure to connect with Chris Hennessy at https://www.henchris.com/ You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or visit my website www.drkatherinehayes.com

Todo mundo habla hoy de la omnicanalidad, pero pocos tienen la experiencia y conocimiento teórico y práctico para implementarla con éxito, como Rolando López Vázquez, director de E commerce y Omnicanal de Office Max. En este episodio de E commerce Rockstars, Rolando nos comparte algunas claves para poder implementar la omnicanalidad en la industria retail con éxito. No te quites los audífonos, y aprende mucho más de e commerce. Conducido por Genaro Mejía.

A CMO Confidential interview with Mike Kitz, Notre Dame Professor, former CMO of Office Max and P&G Brand Manager. Mike discusses the best ways to optimize your in school experience, why the abundance of marketing data may be crowding out long-term thinking, and the importance of learning "integration skills." Key topics include: the value of leadership and influencing skills; why presentation skills matter; and why "curiosity" is one of the best predictors of success. Tune in to hear how he made the switch from the C-Suite to academia.00:00 Welcome to CMO Confidential: Inside the World of Chief Marketing Officers00:43 The Real-World Readiness of Business School Marketers01:40 The Evolution of Marketing: From Creativity to Data-Driven Decisions04:22 Business School Curriculum: Is It Keeping Up with the Marketing World?06:31 The Importance of Soft Skills and Leadership in Marketing Education18:48 From Classroom to Career: Transitioning from Marketing Professional to Academic23:52 Final Thoughts and Advice for Aspiring MarketersSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to our Valentine's Day Lit for Christmas party of Season Four! In this episode, Marty and Beth guzzle down Love Martinis and discuss Seven Stories of Christmas Love by Dr. Love himself, Leo Buscaglia.  BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time you hear our 15-year-old son in the background.  CAUTION: You WILL get very drunk. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Love Martini (courtesy of https://picturetherecipe.com/recipes/valentines-special-love-martini-cocktail/) Ingredients: · 1/2 shot Malibu Rum (Substitute Coconut Cream for non-alcoholic version) · 1/2 shot Peach Schnapps (Substitute Peach Nectar for non-alcoholic version) · 1/2 shot Vodka (Substitute (Substitute Strykk Not Vodka for non-alcoholic version) · 3 shots Cranberry Juice · 2 strawberries, for garnish (optional) · A wedge of lime (optional) · Sugar to rim the glass (optional) Directions: 1. To make strawberry hearts for garnish, cut a small "v" to remove the stem of the strawberry. Then cut it into slices. 2. Rim martini glass with sugar (optional).  Use a lime/lemon wedge along the rim of the glass to get it wet and dip the glass in a plate with sugar. 3. Gently mix the Malibu Rum, Peach Schnapps, Vodka, and Cranberry Juice together in a shaker over ice and pour it into the prepared glass. 4. Garnish your love martini with a couple strawberry hearts and a strawberry on the rim. Directions for Non-Alcoholic Love Martini Recipe Follow same directions as above, eliminating, substituting Coconut Cream, Peach Nectar, and Strykk Not Vodka for Malibu Rum, Peach Schnapps, and Vodka. Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: Bieber, Justin. "Christmas Love." Under the Mistletoe. RBMG/Island Def Jam Music Group, 1 November, 2011. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Buscaglia, Leo.  Seven Stories of Christmas Love. New York, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1987.

Welcome to our first Lit for Christmas party of Season Four! In this episode, Marty and Beth partake in a little drink called the Frodo and talk about the creator of Middle Earth, J. R. R. Tolkien, and his book Letters from Father Christmas, in celebration of what would have been Tolkien's 132nd birthday on January 3, 2024.  BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time you hear the words "Polar Bear." CAUTION: You WILL get very drunk. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Frodo (courtesy of Tara Reyes and https://popgoestheculture.com/pop-culture-kitchen-middle-earth-cocktails/) Ingredients: 1 shot vodka (eliminate for nonalcoholic version) 1 shot peach schnapps (substitute peach nectar for nonalcoholic version) 2 shots cranberry juice 2 shots lemonade Directions: Add the cranberry juice to a cocktail glass with ice. Add vodka, peach schnapps, and lemonade to a mixing glass and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry, if desired. Directions for Non-Alcoholic Frodo Recipe Follow same directions as above, eliminating vodka and substituting two shots of peach nectar for peach schnapps.  Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Spotify.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: Dalton, Brendan and the 1740 Boys Choir. "Christmas in the Shire." Christmas in Middle-Earth. bandcamp.com, 27 November, 2020. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Tolkien, J. R. R.  Letters from Father Christmas. Harper Collins Publishing, 1999.

In today's episode of The Speed of Culture, Matt Britton speaks with Kevin Moffitt, President of Office Depot and OfficeMax. Kevin digs into how Office Depot stays on top of evolving consumer trends and maintains a balance between attracting new customers and maintaining existing relationships. He also explores the impact of AI on the retail industry, and advises young professionals on how to prepare themselves for the future opportunities that these technological evolutions could bring.Follow Suzy on Twitter: @AskSuzyBizFollow Kevin Moffitt on LinkedInSubscribe to The Speed of Culture on your favorite podcast platform.And if you have a question or suggestions for the show, send us an email at suzy@suzy.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Luxury brand Hermes is being blasted for a $125 dollar envelope, among other expensive items.  

Ever wondered about the twists and turns that make a successful marketing career? In this episode, I sit down with Kim Feil, Aspire Brands' Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, unravelling her unconventional path in the marketing realm. How did Kim navigate her unique journey and collaborate with major consumer brands? What insights does she share on ambition, self-improvement, and aligning personal values with professional pursuits? Join our conversation as we explore the nuances of handling challenging work environments, the weight of reputation, and the art of articulating one's worth. Come along for an insightful and personal exploration of the dynamic world of marketing and the keys to a truly gratifying career.Learn more about Kim:Kim Feil is Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer of ASPIRE® Healthy Energy Drinks, an international brand reinventing energy for adults with all natural caffeine and vitamins for every day use. Following a 32-year public company career as CMO of OfficeMax, Walgreens, Sara Lee, Kimberly-Clark; CEO/President of divisions of Information Resources, Inc., and executive roles with Dr Pepper/7UP, Kim now draws on her transformation experiences as a manufacturer, retailer and insights provider to grow PE-backed companies and brands.Kim serves on the boards of ASPIRE, Naturally Chicago and The CMO Club. She has been an advisor to retail tech companies Rubikloud, RetailNext and 12Digit Marketing. She is a past board member of Roundy's, a public grocery retailer, PowerReviews and On the Border Cantina Restaurants.Kim's Links:Kim's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-feil/Aspire Brands Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aspiredrinks/Aspire Brands LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aspiredrinks/Connect with Veronica on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vromney/If you're serious about advancing your career in marketing and you're looking for some personal insights into how then I invite you to schedule a free Pathway to Promotion call with me: https://pathwaycall.com/If you found value in today's episode, I would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review.

Welcome to our Halloween Lit for Christmas party! In this episode, Marty and Beth partake in a little drink called the Bobby Burns and talk about the King of Horror's novella "The Breathing Method" from the novella collection Different Seasons. BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time your hear the word "breathing." CAUTION: You WILL get very drunk. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Bobby Burns (courtesy of Liquor.com) Ingredients: 1 shot of blended scotch whiskey (ideally a 12-year-old) 1 shot of sweet vermouth 1/2 shot of Benedictine garnish with lemon peel (optional) Directions: 1. Add the scotch, vermouth and Benedictine to a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. 2. Strain into a cocktail glass. 3. Twist a lemon peel over the glass to release its oils and then drop it into the drink. Directions for Non-Alcoholic Bobby Burns Recipe  Follow same directions as above, substituting apple juice for scotch, lemon-lime soda for vermouth, and cranberry juice for Benedictine.  Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: Manson, Marilyn. "This Is Halloween." Nightmare Revisited. Walt Disney, 2008. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: King, Stephen. “The Breathing Method.”   Different Seasons. Viking Press, 1982.

Welcome to this late (by a few days) Lit for Christmas August party! In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, partake in a few Mars Explosions while talking about Ray Bradbury's short-short story “The Gift” in honor of Bradbury's 103rd birthday.  Also, learn the history of grenadine. BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time you hear a bad Close Encounters of the Third Kind allusion. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Mars Explosion (courtesy of https://cocktailsandshots.com/recipe/mars-explosion/#google_vignette) Ingredients: One shot vodka (omit for non-alcoholic version) Two shots orange juice (four shots for non-alcoholic version) 1/4 shot rum (omit for non-alcoholic version) 1/2 shot grenadine Ice Garnish: maraschino cherry or orange slice (optional) Directions: Add vodka, orange juice, and rum to shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a glass with ice. Pour grenadine into glass. Do not mix. Garnish with maraschino cherry or orange slice (optional).  Directions for Non-Alcoholic Mars Explosion Recipe  Follow same directions as above, omitting vodka and rum, substituting 4 shots of orange juice instead.  Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: Zimmerman, Roy. "Christmas on Mars." Real American. Metaphor Records, 2010. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Bradbury, Ray. “The Gift.”   Esquire, 1 Dec. 1952.

This week Gabe is back and the fellas dive into the FTC x Microsoft drama, The Last of Us getting the love at the Emmy's, the end (?) of Belong Gaming Arenas in the US and much much more! Articles: Judge rules for Microsoft in FTC fight over Activision https://www.polygon.com/23789793/microsoft-activision-blizzard-injuction-decision-ftc Neil Druckmann Takes Over Naughty Dog After Co-President Of 19 Years Retires https://kotaku.com/naughty-dog-neil-druckmann-evan-wells-tlou-president-1850633642 Belong Gaming Arenas Ceases US Operations https://esportsadvocate.net/2023/07/exclusive-belong-layoffs/ ‘The Last of Us' Emmy Noms Make It the First Live-Action Video Game Adaptation to Earn Major Awards Consideration https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/last-of-us-emmy-nomination-pedro-pascal-bella-ramsey-1235667538/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Gabe is back and the fellas dive into the FTC x Microsoft drama, The Last of Us getting the love at the Emmy's, the end (?) of Belong Gaming Arenas in the US and much much more! Articles: Judge rules for Microsoft in FTC fight over Activision Neil Druckmann Takes Over Naughty Dog After Co-President Of 19 Years Retires Belong Gaming Arenas Ceases US Operations 'The Last of Us' Emmy Noms Make It the First Live-Action Video Game Adaptation to Earn Major Awards Consideration

Yohan Jacob is the Founder and President of RetailBound, an agency that helps emerging hardware brands get into major retail stores and sales channels.  RetailBound has been around for 14 years and has worked with over 4,000 product companies.  Yohan himself has spent 30 years in the industry, including being a major buyer for Sears and Office Max.  The last episode we talked about scaling up when in retail stores. Today Yohan is going to explain to inventors, startups, and small manufacturers why retail is a huge sales opportunity in 2023, how to overcome objections to going the retail store route, and how to smartly begin your relationship with a retail store chain. Today you will hear us talk about: Retail stores are not dead Retail stores have got better at being omni-channel, where they also sell online and in collaboration with their physical stores There are many elements of value of selling an invention through retail stores. Leverage the presence of your product in retail stores to use that media to increase the value of your product online and with various stakeholders of your product and product business. Think about selling to distributors who then sell to retailers A basic marketing plan Start small when going into the retailers, then grow. Profitability Leveraging online sales to sell more product Dont overcomplicate things, and don't have fear. Yohan Jacob Links: LinkedIn | RetailBound The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC's best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NOTE: Still working on sound issues. My apologies. Welcome to the Lit for Christmas Pride Month party! In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, enjoy a few Tom Collinses while talking about David Sedaris's collection of essays/short stories Holidays on Ice. Also, witness a podcast first: Marty spills his drink all over his laptop. BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time you hear the word "ice." SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Tom Collins (courtesy of liquor.com and sipyours.com) Ingredients: 2 shots of gin (substitute Wilderton Earthen Non-Alcoholic Spirit for Virgin Tom Collins) 1 shot of lemon juice 1/2 of simple syrup Club soda or Sprite (to top) Lemon wheel for garnish (optional) Maraschino cherry for garnish (optional) Directions: Add gin (or Wilderton Earthen Non-Alcoholic Spirit), lemon juice, and simple syrup to a Collins glass. Fill with ice and top with club soda or Sprite. Stir. Garnish with lemon wheel and/or maraschino cherry (optional). Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: Vanilla Ice. "Ice Ice Baby." To the Extreme. SBK, 1990. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Sedaris, David.  Holidays on Ice.  Little, Brown and Company:  New York, NY, 2008.

By now, I'm sure you've seen the pictures of all the file boxes former President Trump had taken to Mar-a-Lago. Like many, I was shocked when I saw the images of his papers stored in the bathroom and on a ballroom stage. But I'm taken aback for a different reason. Those boxes looked like someone purchased them at Staples or Office Max. You'd think all Presidents would have special containers for their files. Perhaps, with the Presidential Seal... Click Here To Subscribe Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicGoogle PodcastsTuneIniHeartRadioPandoraDeezerBlubrryBullhornCastBoxCastrofyyd.deGaanaiVooxListen NotesmyTuner RadioOvercastOwlTailPlayer.fmPocketCastsPodbayPodbeanPodcast AddictPodcast IndexPodcast RepublicPodchaserPodfanPodtailRadio PublicRadio.comReason.fmRSSRadioVurblWe.foYandex jQuery(document).ready(function($) { 'use strict'; $('#podcast-subscribe-button-13292 .podcast-subscribe-button.modal-64f25dac4af87').on("click", function() { $("#secondline-psb-subs-modal.modal-64f25dac4af87.modal.secondline-modal-64f25dac4af87").modal({ fadeDuration: 250, closeText: '', }); return false; }); });

Welcome to this week's new special episode of BM! For today, we have a special guest directly in the hot seat named #fakefanann AKA Hashtag Fake News Ann. Now, Ann has led us down a path of deceit in trying to convince us that our number one sponsor and friend of the show [Boot Barn] has closed it's doors to the general public. Thankfully, Luke did some investigative research and on-the-spot photography confirming that [Boot Barn] is still operating and has every size Wrangler jean, cowboy boot and spur you could ever want. Ann's incorrectness leads Luke to inform the gang that he was very wrong about some facts he presented regarding Roman Polanski in a previous episode, confirming that Jenn is not a complete "moran". We also discuss the new crappy clothing store [Ross] which will open in about 10 years at the old Office Max location, because our town needs more crappy clothing stores. Next, we talk about Who is the Ann in Your Neighborhood. Ann informs us that she is a behavioral paraplegic professional at some school, Jenn recalls her times at Discovery New Beginnings High School with her paraplegic who used to beat her when she ran away from good grades, Katie and Jenn are some kind of neurodivergents and we talk about an alternate universe guy named Bill who loves orange kool-aid. Next, Edward talks about being a paragon of health at his recent doctor's appointment that required him to be referred to a more real doctor because he needed a laser beam shot right into his iris to make a new fart anus that eye-boogers can shoot out of so he doesn't go blind. Lenny the dog is quite grateful. Next week he's getting a spine laser so he can once again twist the night away. Ann has a senior citizen living with her who can't do yard work so she apparently needs to do it all and Norman still is digging up tulip bulbs! Ann's favorite BM episode was Number 53, Edward's Name That Stand-Up game [Paula Poundstone]. We do a revisitation so Ann can completely annihilate the competition and she learns that Fairuza Balk will not be on next weeks episode. Katie knows who Zig Ziglar is for some reason and Bob Saget is the same as Jon Stewart. Would you believe that a Donkey and a Zebra are the same animal? Uhh, Bill Engvall, Cedric the Entertainer... Red Something? Thanks for listening to our dumb show and follow us on Instagram @bubbmush - if you wanna email us our hashtag is bubbmush@gmail.com Go ahead and tell someone you know about our program. It's free and maybe they'll like it!

Total Wine & More has grown into the country‘s largest independent retailer of fine wine. CEO Troy Rice shares the core trait he seeks to instill in every employee and that he's also seen emulated by his personal mentors, legendary Home Depot Founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank.Once you hear Troy's story, you'll double down to make sure to foster this key trait in yourself and your team. He shares how it improves productivity, process, and the customer experience!

NOTE: Apologies for the sound quality of this recording. Welcome to the Lit for Christmas National Poetry Month party! In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, imbibe in the official state cocktail for Michigan, visit the Motor City (and Greece and France) with colby Cedar Smith's novel in verse Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit. BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time you hear the word "call." SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: The Hummer courtesy of Punch (https://punchdrink.com/articles/how-the-hummer-cocktail-recipe-became-detroit-michigan/) Ingredients: 1 1/2 shots white rum 1 1/2 shots Kahlua 2 scoops vanilla ice cream Directions: Add all ingredients to a blender, add two ice cubes and blend until smooth. Pour into a rocks glass. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT NONALCOHOLIC ALTERNATIVE (courtesy of boozybisou.com): Ingredients: Substitute 1 1/2 shots of rum extract for white rum Substitute 1 tsp. of cocoa powder for Kahlua 2 scoops vanilla ice cream Use above ingredients and follow same directions to prepare. Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: Kiss. "Detroit Rock City." Destroyer. Casablanca, 1976. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Cedar Smith, Colby.  Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit.  Andrews McMeel Publishing:  Kansas City, Missouri, 2021.

Debbie meets Ousamma's gene pool. Jen and the girls enjoy outdoor furnishings from Office Max. Kris recovers into a handyperson.  90 Day Fiance The Other Way S4 Ep11 Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/TrashTalkPodcasts Tiktok: @trashtalkpodcasts Instagram and Twitter @90daypodcast Traceycarnazzo.com Tracey Carnazzo @trixietuzzini Noelle Winters Herzog @noeygirl_ Bonus content at Patreon.com/TrashTalkPodcast

Last weekend the N. American IM season kicked off with Oceanside 70.3 and this weekend Super League Pros race in the London Arena Games. Bill, how's Carbondale, Colorado?   Show Sponsor: UCAN Generation UCAN has a full line of nutrition products powered by LIVESTEADY to fuel your sport.   LIVSTEADY was purposefully designed to work with your body, delivering long-lasting energy you can feel. LIVSTEADY's unique time-release profile allows your body to access energy consistently throughout the day, unlocking your natural ability to stay focused and calm while providing the fuel you need to meet your daily challenges.   Use UCAN in your training and racing to fuel the healthy way, finish stronger and recover more quickly!  Use the code 303UCAN for 20% off at ucan.co/discount/303UCAN/ or ucan.co   In Today's Show Discussion - Life Hacks for the Time Crunched Athlete Endurance News - 70.3 Oceanside Pro Results, Arena Games London Saturday, What's new in the 303 - Pro Tips for Boulder 70.3 and What Up in Carbondale? Video of the Week - 70.3 Oceanside Highlights and Lowlights   Discussion: Life Hacks for the Time Crunched Athlete: I was recently invited to be a guest coach on the TriDot podcast. Every week they have a Warmup, Main Set and Cooldown with a TriDot coach. I was asked to describe my coaching specialty, which I feel is helping beginner to experienced triathletes overcome plateauing factors, overcome confidence issues and work/life/train balance, especially for long course athletes.   Life Hack 1 - During one of my IM training long rides, I took off at 9am and told my wife I'd be back at 4. When I got home, my wife said 'I thought you would be back in 4 hours'. I reminded her that I said 'back at 4pm' and we decided to agree to disagree. I went to the Office Max and bought one of those "Will Be Back At" window clock with the plastic hour and minute hand that the pharmacist or barber puts on the door at lunch hour. We put that on the garage door to make sure I was setting expectations. Life Hack 2 - When I was in the peak of IM training I had tight windows of time to squeeze in my workouts like a 1 hour swim in the morning. If I didn't get to the pool right at 5, I wouldn't have time to complete the swim before 6am in time to get home, showered and ready to take the girls to school on my way to work. When you get to the pool at 5am and realize that I left my swimsuit at home I would be devastated. My house is only 10 minutes away, but it would be 30 minutes before I could be back at the pool. I learned to keep a spare swimsuit in my glovebox and that saved my workouts that I otherwise would have lost.   Endurance News:   Oceanside Corrections Taylor Knibb was in the broadcast booth instead of toeing the line It was an in water start in the bay and not a beach start into surf as it was in 2022   9 Takeaways From the Pro Race at 70.3 Oceanside TIM HEMING    Ironman 70.3 Oceanside marked the start of the North American Ironman season. Located just up the coast from the birthplace of triathlon, and with a packed field of professionals, expectations for Oceanside were high – and the race delivered.   It might have been a cold morning, but the action soon became heated. After two enthralling races, we were left with some red-hot run splits and two deserving new champions. Leo Bergere carried out his plans for a smash-and-grab win in California, breaking the tape in 3:45:25 on his long-course stopover en route to Paris 2024, while Tamara Jewett laid down a blazing-fast run to push her way to the top podium step in 4:08:09.   Here are nine things we're taking away from the race as we blast off into the 2023 season.   Missed the action in Oceanside? Outside Watch has made the replay of the race broadcast free for all. See the race from start to finish by hitting the button below:   1. No one made the same (freezing) mistake twice. The weather in most of the United States has been miserable of late, and despite it being Southern California, the early start of the day – with the pro men going off at 6:40 a.m. – made for chilly conditions. The water temperature was just 57 degrees F, and the ambient conditions not much more. But whereas a host of athletes were caught out (and near-hypothermic) in similar conditions at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Utah last year, lessons had clearly been learned.   Notably, Holly Lawrence ditched her normal high-cut racing suit for additional layers, and swapped blue lips for blowing past a chunk of the men's field. Perhaps the decisions of 70.3 world champion Taylor Knibb had been noted from St. George, where the the number-one priority for the now reigning 70.3 world champion was to be cozy for the start of the bike leg. (Although there were no such considerations for Knibb here, as she wasn't racing – instead, was wrapped up in the Ironman commentary booth.)   https://twitter.com/IRONMANtri/status/1642188291368787969   2. The payout isn't as big as you think. This was a high-profile curtain-raiser to the North American Ironman season, with almost 100 names on the pro start list, 3,500 amateurs and a live broadcast to boot. Yet the prize money at just $50,000 was derisory, especially compared to other pro prize purses offered by other race organizers. Some quick math on the $1,200 Ironman pro license shows that if they race on average four times a year, then around $30,000 poured into Ironman's coffers for this race from their license fees alone. Essentially, the pros are funding much of their own prize pot. The age-old problem is that although there is huge value in the pros for below-the-line marketing of the Ironman brand – i.e., the pictures that sell these races – Ironman prize purses may not necessarily align with that value.   3. 5-star performances are the norm, not the exception. https://twitter.com/IRONMANtri/status/1642188291368787969 (Photo: Donald Miralle/Ironman) From early on, it was clear that there were only ever five women in this contest, and all of them had a chance at the win. Paula Findlay led early and faded late, while Tamara Jewett held on early and hammered through at the end. There were no surprises in Chelsea Sodaro, Kat Matthews and Holly Lawrence, either – they were in the mix, and moves from all three made for more exciting racing. The pro women's field has some bona-fide superstars right now. The rest of the season, whether it's PTO racing or Ironman, comes laced with anticipation. The rest of the pack must work out how to catch on and catch up.   4. Bergere was brilliant – but won't be back. As was befitting a reigning World Triathlon Championship Series champion, Bergere was a class act from first to last in Oceanside, leading the swim, staying upfront on the bike leg and then leading through the half-marathon. We shouldn't be surprised. We found out before the race that he's done the work dialing in his position on the time trial bike, he's won over this distance before, and he's an Olympic medal favorite for Paris – so speed isn't a problem. That's even true with Jason West marauding through the field. The 26-year-old Frenchman just stayed cool, checked his watch, looked over his shoulder, and eased to the tape.   But if you're looking for more non-drafting action from Bergere, you'll have to wait. It's now full focus on Olympic qualification and a return to the World Series. The French short course men have the strongest depth of talent in the world currently, and he needs to make sure he's on the team for next summer on the banks of the Seine. If people weren't sure of his name in Oceanside, it's likely to be a household one after Paris.   5. The runners are getting into position. There has never been any doubting the running pedigree of USA's Jason West and Canada's Tamara Jewett. For many observers, they are the two quickest runners in middle-distance triathlon right now. If they're in the mix come T2, they're strong favorites for the win. Even a 30-second blocking penalty on the bike for Jewett was shrugged off as a minor inconvenience as she plowed her way out of T2 and into first place. With superbly executed swims and bikes, the case as contenders has been well and truly proven for both. If the dime hadn't already dropped, the idea of them being allowed to (legally) sit in on a paceline without being attacked in future has dissolved just as fast.   6. About those run splits… In the 13.1 mile run leg, West clocked a 1:07:41, and Jewett 1:13:00. West and (particularly) Jewett's half-marathon splits blew up on social media with no filter to the hyperbole that was flowing. They were fast and deserved the praise, no doubt, but take a look at the historic performances of both athletes and you can see it's in the same ballpark as they've regularly been clocking for 70.3 runs over the past three years. All it proves is that this isn't a one-off, and in many ways, that makes it even more exciting for what's to come.   7. Three minutes is not enough between pro fields. Having the professional women start three minutes after the pro men, when the men's field is saturated and the threshold for being a pro man isn't high enough, is a recipe for a mashed-up mess, with pro women forced to swim and bike through the back end of the men's race. Getting separation between the two races may not always be easy, but there has to be a better option than than a measly three minutes.   8. Emotion is rocket fuel. Oceanside was awash with emotion even before the cannon went. Particularly, Matthews – returning from a bike crash that almost took her life before Kona – and Sodaro, who admitted to debilitating mental health struggles in the wake of her Ironman title triumph in October. Emotion has long been the intangible dimension that adds jeopardy to the result. How both Matthews and Sodaro, and even Sam Long – who saw this as a redemption race after a controversial penalty in St. George – responded showed they have the maturity not just to process emotions, but harness them into a performance to be proud of.   9. Chelsea has the final word. After 4 hours of intense racing, Sodaro used the post-race interview to reaffirm her pre-race commitment to give her prize money ($5,000) to Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement trying to address the nation's culture of gun violence. Her simple message: “I just want to be able to drop my child off at school with the knowledge that I'll be able to pick them up again.”     American Couple McQueen and Sereno Both Hoping to World Championship Titles in London April 5, 2023   /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – American golden couple Chase McQueen and Gina Sereno are hoping to complete a unique World Championship double as they race in the final of Arena Games Triathlon powered by Zwift in London on Saturday (April 8).   McQueen, one of the USA's greatest short course hopes, and Sereno, who also holds down a full-time job at the jet propulsion laboratory at NASA, had the dream day when the Colorado based couple both won at Arena Games Triathlon Montreal.   That means they sit joint top of the World Championship standings alongside Arena Games triathlon Switzerland winners Henri Schoeman and Zsanett Bragmayer heading into the final at the London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (17:30 local time).   If they can master the short, sharp and intense unique hybrid race format of real life and virtual racing one more time each then they could boast a pair of World Championship titles to take back home.   Chase McQueen said: “To see Gina win and execute the perfect race I was just so proud of her. I don't know if it was excitement or happiness and pride, but it took a lot of pressure off of me and I would go out there and do what I could and I would still be really happy because of the race that she had. To both come home with gold medals in a race like that…it's rare to have a good day like that in the sport, and to have a good day on the same day as her in the same spot is really special and for sure a memory I will remember for the rest of my life.   “I am heading to London with the expectation to try and win a world title, but to manage that together helps a lot. There are a lot of really good people there and people that aren't competing for the overall Series but we are both going there to win and hoping to come home with world titles.”   Gina Sereno said: “I was so excited to win (in Montreal). I didn't know if that would be possible but as the rounds went on I felt relaxed and felt comfortable in the heats. Chase did so well in his heats and I felt he could win as well. Watching him bike so hard and his face and thinking about all the times we ride on our trainers together I knew he was going hard.   “It will be really fun to be in the finals in London and see what I can do at this next level. I didn't get to leave it all out there in Montreal so being in an environment where there are better people and more challenges I am really excited to see what I can get out of myself and my goal is to win.”   Schoeman's story is also a remarkable one as the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion from South Africa battles back from nearly three years out of the sport with health and injury issues which almost forced him into retirement.   Hungary's Bragmayer, meanwhile, is looking to go one better than her runner-up spot in 2022 and will again race alongside her teammat,e 15-year-old Fanni Szalai, who produced a sporting fairytale to make the podium in Switzerland at her first ever elite level event.   Also competing in London but not in contention for the title are the likes of British star Beth Potter, Cassandre Beaugrand of France who won this event in 2022, and Gustav Iden, the current Ironman World Champion.   What's New in the 303: Learn From the Pros: Set a PB in Boulder Brittany Vermeer IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder is a classic race set at foot of the Flatiron Mountains. Here's how to race your best. An oldie but goodie, IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder will celebrate its 21st anniversary this year. On June 10th, triathletes from around the world will gather at the triathlon mecca of the US to compete on a challenging course set at the foothills of the iconic Flatirons.   Nobody knows this area better than the triathletes who live there, so we have two local pros and a coach to give us the inside scoop on everything you need to set a PB at IRONMAN Boulder 70.3.    Endurance coach Lauren Vallee has competed at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder once and IRONMAN Boulder three times.   “You can't beat the views at this race,” she says. “Even though I've lived here for seven years now, I'm still awestruck when racing this course. The other thing that's unique is the community support. It's likely you'll see legendary athletes like Dave Scott, Joanna Zeiger, or Simon Lessing cheering on athletes.”   Professional triathlete and IRONMAN Now commentator Dede Griesbauer also calls Boulder home. “The whole experience of being in Boulder for a race is a memorable one, from swimming in ‘the Res' to biking and running on its iconic roads,” she says. “Once your day is done, athletes will often take a dip in the Res to cool off, tell stories of the day, and cheer other athletes across the line for hours on end.”   Another Boulder local, professional triathlete Justin Metzler has raced IRONMAN Boulder 70.3 three times and IRONMAN Boulder once. “In 2021, I was fifth at the IRONMAN 70.3. Last year, I was second. Now, I have to come back in 2023 for the win. If I don't win this year, I'll keep coming back until I do, because this race is a big one on my bucket list.”   Athletes begin their journey with a one-lap swim in the Boulder Reservoir, aka “the Res,” before exiting by the boat ramp and heading into transition. Metzler anticipates the June swim will be chilly—between 60 and 65 degrees F.    “Boulder Reservoir is a calm, safe body of water, but the one thing I've made critical errors with in the past is going out too hard,” he says. “Even though I live here at altitude, it's easy to go above threshold early, and you end up paying the price five times over.”   Gaining an extra 30 seconds in the swim isn't worth putting yourself in the hole at the start of a four to six-hour race. To resist the temptation, Metzler suggests taking the first two buoys as a warm-up and building in effort.   Concerning swim gear, Vallee recommends using tinted goggles because athletes will be swimming directly into the bright Colorado sunshine.    The new and improved bike course will take athletes on a two-loop, fast, rolling bike course. From Diagonal Hwy towards Foothills Hwy, athletes will have some short rollers until they make a right onto rural Hygiene Rd. towards 75th St. At that point, it's downhill and fast.   Once you find your way back onto Diagonal Highway, continue past the Reservoir gates for the second lap, with one more loop of the above rollers and fast descents. After athletes complete their two loops, they will merge back into the Boulder Reservoir through the gates along Diagonal Hwy and into transition.   The route features 2,700 feet of elevation gain, complete with stunning views of The Flatirons. Despite the climbing, our experts described this as a fast course.     “Be prepared to time trial, climb, and descend,” Vallee says.   Because Boulder is at altitude, expect your heart rate to be higher than normal and your power numbers to be lower. Metzler says rate of perceived exertion is the best method for pacing this course.   “One advantage we have at altitude is there's less wind resistance, so the bike times are notoriously quite fast,” he says. “Despite the challenging conditions, it's a good place to try for a PB, as long as you have all your ducks in a row with preparation and pacing strategy.”   This two-loop course is unique because the majority takes place on hard-packed dirt and gravel roads. Because of the varied terrain, Vallee cautions runners not to get frustrated if their pace fluctuates.    “The road conditions can mute the ‘pop' runners normally feel on concrete or blacktop,” she says. “Though the run looks fairly flat, it's deceiving. While running the out-and-back on Monarch, you can easily have a 20-second per minute mile swing in pace. Don't let that get in your head. Trust your plan and stay confidence in your pacing.”   Also, be thoughtful in your footwear selection. “Super high stack shoes without any stability will be more challenging because the road is mostly on crushed gravel and dirt,” Metzler says.    Although there's not much gain (318 feet), it can be hot on Dam Rd., so having a well-planned hydration strategy is a must. “This run is one of the more challenging on the circuit with the uneven terrain and the heat,” Metzler says. “I've raced here in June and August, and we've had very warm days.”   However, the spectator-friendly nature of the two-loop course will provide a motivational boost for athletes. “The run is a course that athletes love to hate and hate to love!” Griesbauer says. “For the bits around the Res itself, you're fully exposed with little shade, so if it's a hot and or windy day, prepare to put up a fight. But the amazing Boulder crowds will carry you through.”   In June, the average air temperature in Boulder is 86 degrees F and the water temperature is 66 degrees F, so athletes should expect a chilly start and a hot finish. On top of that, Boulder sits at 5,318 feet above sea level, so altitude is another factor to take into consideration.   “Don't panic if you're coming to altitude from sea level,” Vallee says. “Simply keep in mind that it will take longer to recover from surges, so be smart with pacing.”   Metzler has a tip for those who train at lower elevations and will be traveling to the race. “Everyone responds differently to altitude, but my recommendation would be to come up as late as possible, if you're coming from sea level, to try to retain some of that sea level oxygen you have in your day-to-day training,” he says.    Finally, when racing in Boulder, Metzler has one cardinal rule: respect the heat. “It's something I've always had to manage here. The sun is really oppressive, so you have to stay on top of core body temperature, fueling, hydration, and sodium.”   Lauren Vallee: “Be prepared for hot, dry, and exposed conditions. Don't panic if your run pace is slower than other IRONMAN 70.3's you've done.”   Dede Griesbauer: “There are few roads leading into the Boulder Res, so pack your patience and leave a lot of time on race morning.”   Justin Metzler: “Use rate of perceived exertion, rather than the numbers you see.”     Video of the Week: Ironman 70.3 Oceanside 2023 Highlights and Low light!   The Crawl - Sian Welch & Wendy Ingraham (1997)   Closing: Thanks again for listening in this week.  Please be sure to follow us @303endurance and of course go to iTunes and give us a rating and a comment.  We'd really appreciate it! Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!

WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God's principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God's manual for life. An invitation for you: To subscribe to this blog, click here.  To subscribe to this podcast, click here. If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post. ______________________________________   https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/The_Dangers_of_Digital_Currency.mp3  _________________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, April 3, 2023, and this is Episode #14 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "The Dangers of Digital Currency". If you have not yet heard about the imminent adoption of a digital currency system here in the United States and throughout the world, you will soon. Sometime this year, the United States will very likely make the huge transition from cash and credit cards to digital currency. What exactly is digital currency, and why should we be concerned about it?  According to journalist Leo Hohmann, digital currency is a "cashless electronic payment system that feeds on your personal biometric data." So what does that mean? It means that we will no longer be able to pay for purchases with cash or credit cards. Instead, we will pay with a scan of the hand or the face, a practice called facial recognition.  Why the concern? It seems as though digital currency will make our lives easier, no? We won't have to carry around credit cards. We can pay with a simple scan of our hand. No more worries about not having enough cash on us or forgetting our credit card. So, what's the problem? The problem is that the digital currency system is a cover-up for the implementation of the Mark of the Beast as prophesied in the Book of Revelation, chapter 13: 16: "He [the AntiChrist] required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name."  That number, as we learn in the following verse, is 666, the number associated with the AntiChrist. Amazon has already rolled out its "pay by palm" platform to pay for purchases in its brick-and-mortar stores. Based on the Amazon model, the Panera Bread chain has announced that it is planning to roll out a digital system for purchases in its restaurants. J.P. Morgan Bank has also announced such a roll-out and plans to make it available to the banks and businesses within its purview.  Other credit card companies have already introduced payment systems based on hand or face scans. For example, VISA calls its biometric system "contactless payment".  If you visit Visa's website, you can find a list of retailers already participating in its contactless payment system. These include McDonalds, CVS Pharmacy, 7-Eleven, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, OfficeMax, Whole Foods, Aldi, and Costco, among others. Mastercard has introduced a similar biometric payment system that it calls "Smile to Pay". Well, we won't be smiling any time soon when we learn what is really going on.  The truth of the matter is that the world is being set up and programmed to accept the Mark of the Beast, the mark that will be required during the Tribulation in order to buy or sell anything. You might ask, "What's wrong with that?" If it makes my life easier by making shopping more convenient, what's the harm? The harm is this. The mark of the beast is not simply a financial transaction tool. The mark of the beast is an indication that one has chosen to worship Satan instead of the one true God....

Maybe April will bring showers, and maybe May will bring flowers. But one way another, to us, April means it's solidly Spring. We're excited about all that April has to offer—the weather, the random holidays, and the way the season prompts us to engage with God and one another.  Plus, we even took the liberty of compiling a list of free stuff you can get this month, because who doesn't love that?!  Random holiday deals: Pretzel Day April 26 -  Auntie Anne's – Free Original or Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel available (2022, hopefully 2023 as well!) National Burrito Day April 6th - Chipotle—free queso, Moe's—5.99 burritos, Taco Bell—free burrito with $15 purchase. National Cheese Fondue Day April 11th - Melting pot has some sort of free cheese fondue on the 11th. Can't go wrong with that.  April 12 - Sonic did grilled cheese for $1 last year. Let's hope they do this year, too!  April 15 TAX DAY! KONA ICE: Take some of the stress out of doing taxes. Or celebrate having turned them in! Kona Ice is calling it, "Chill Out Day." Grab a free Kona Ice from a participating truck.  OFFICE MAX: You could get a free 5-pound shredder from Office Max for taking care of any of those old tax documents. Grab the coupon at their website.  PLANET FITNESS: And if you're still needing to "file away the tension", Planet Fitness has you covered. They're offering a free HydroMassage on select days throughout April. They also have a free 1,040-second long workout to honor the good ole 1040 tax form.  

Marc's new book is "The Soul of the Deal-creative frameworks for buying, selling, and investing in any business". He's the Mentor-at-Large for UC Berkeley's $100MM seed fund and $50MM Opportunity Fund and their portfolio companies, and taught Berkeley's "Street Smart Startups" course.He Co-Founded software company Within3 which was sold to global PE powerhouse Insight Partners. As Founder and Managing Partner of Blue Mesa Partners, he was the first outside investor in OfficeMax, CadenceCounsel, Capstone Partners, LoungeBuddy, and Divergent3D.Marc has done 100's of M&A and venture capital deals as a seller, buyer, investor, C-Suite, Managing Partner, deal lawyer, Director, or investment banker.Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/ioevvpVYPOY--------------------------------------------------Contact Marc onLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-morgenstern-he-him-90433b5/Website: http://www.bluemesapartners.com/Email: morgenstern@bluemesapartners.com--------------------------------------------------How2Exit Joins ITX's Channel Partner Network!-Why ITX?Since 1998, ITX has created $5 billion in value by selling more than 225 IT businesses in 20 countries. ITX works exclusively with IT-enabled businesses generating between $5M and $30M who are ready to be sold, and M&A decision-makers who are ready to buy. For over 25 years ITX has developed industry knowledge that helps them determine whether a seller is a good fit for their buyers before making a match."Out of all of the brokers I've met, this team has the most experience and I believe the best ability to get IT service businesses sold at the best price" - Ron SkeltonThe ITX M&A Marketplace we partnered with has a proprietary database of 50,000+ global buyers seeking IT Services firms, MSPs, MSSPs, Software-as-a-Service platforms, and channel partners in the Microsoft, Oracle, ServiceNow, and Salesforce space.If you are interested in learning more about the process and current market valuations, complete the contact form and we'll respond within one business day. Everything is kept confidential.Are you interested in what your business may be worth? Unlock the value of your IT Services firm, visit https://www.itexchangenet.com/marketplace-how2exit and complete the contact form.Our partnership with ITX focuses on deals above $5M in value. If you are looking to buy or sell a tech business below the $5M mark, we recommend Flippa.Flippa - Real Buyers, Real Sellers - Where the Real Deals Are MadeVisit Flippa - https://www.dpbolvw.net/click-100721038-15233003--------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the Lit for Christmas Eve party! In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, take a little trip to the Caribbean with a lot of rum and John Grisham's Skipping Christmas. BONUS POINTS: Take a shot for every bad John Grisham allusion and pun. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Bahama Mama courtesy of cocktails.lovetoknow.com Ingredients: 1 shot coconut rum 1 shot of dark rum 1 1/2 shots of pineapple juice 1 shot of orange juice 1/2 shot of grenadine 1/2 shot of lime juice Ice Orange slice and cherry to garnish Directions: In a cocktail shaker, add rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, grenadine, lime juice, and ice. Shake to chill. Strain into highball glass over fresh ice. Garnish with orange slice and cherry. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT NONALCOHOLIC ALTERNATIVE (courtesy of boozybisou.com): Ingredients: 1/2 shot coconut cream 2 shots of pineapple juice 1 shot of orange juice 1/2 shot of grenadine 3/4 shot of lemon juice 2 shots of sparkling water Ice Orange slice and cherry to garnish Use above ingredients and follow same directions to prepare. Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press. For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm. Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education. She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier. Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: "Skipping Christmas." Rivera, Brent. Brent Rivera Productions Inc. 2017. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Grisham, John. Skipping Christmas. Doubleday: New York, NY, 2001.

As CEO of Nautilus, Inc. (NYSE: NLS), Jim is leading a turn-around and growth transformation of the #3 provider (#1 in unit sales) of home fitness equipment and experiences under the Bowflex, Schwinn, Nautilus and JRNY brands. He and his team have implemented a new “North Star” digital transformation strategy targeting new consumer segments, pivoting around connected fitness experiences, re-invigorated omni-channel distribution, instilling more disciplined focus and supply chain enhancements and building talent and capabilities. Strategy expected to result in strong, predictable growth, double digit operating margins and 20% of revenue from recurring subscriptions by 2026. Jim has built a world-class diverse executive team, including a new CFO, CMO, CHRO, Chief Digital Officer, Chief Supply Chain Officer and General Counsel. After multiple years of decline, the NLS team more than doubled sales from $309M to $691M over the first two years. NLS market cap grew 20x at peak. Jim and team are currently continuing to lead NLS' long-term transformation while balancing short-term post-pandemic realities of deteriorating macro, retailer over-inventorying and sales-pull forward. Jim is a transformational leader with multiple successes in rapid growth of large-scale businesses (revenues up to $7B+) and teams across diverse industries, brands and customer-bases, including retail, B2B, industrial and consumer products. He specializes in reinvigorating growth in companies and brands that are addressing changing value propositions, customer behaviors and technologic disruptions. He has done this through customer insights, technological innovation, building winning customer experiences and world class teams and injecting digital into products, services, marketing and culture. Prior to Nautilus, he held president roles at Ritchie Bros., a global leader in the sales of used industrial equipment, OfficeMax and Sears. Jim's foundational digital experiences came as an executive for over a decade in Microsoft's online businesses. He currently serves as a corporate board director at Nautilus, Inc. and on the Miami University's Farmer School of Business BAC.   Links: https://www.nautilusinc.com/  https://modemethod.com/ ENTER CODE: ERIC15 for 15% discount Spren: https://www.spren.com/spren-vision Connected Health and Fitness I LOVE LMNT. If there is one person I trust with my nutrition and supplementation, it's Robb Wolf. LMNT is a tasty electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means a science-backed electrolyte ratio – with none of the junk. No sugar. No coloring. No artificial ingredients. No gluten. No fillers. No BS. The benefits are numerous, but here's a few to wet your whistle... ​  Prevent and eliminate headaches, muscle cramps, fatigue, sleeplessness, and other common symptoms of electrolyte deficiency  Boost performance and recovery. Electrolytes facilitate hundreds of functions in the body, including the conduction of nerve impulses, hormonal regulation, nutrient absorption, and fluid balance  Support a low-carb lifestyle by preventing, mitigating, and eliminating the “low carb/keto flu”  Support healthy fasting. LMNT replaces electrolytes without breaking a fast ​ Personally, I'm a big fan of intermittent fasting and drinking LMNT daily during my fasting hours provides noticeable improvements in energy, focus, and gut function. Most of all, it helps me drink more water throughout the day and that's never a bad thing (it also mixes well in a cocktail, but you didn't hear that from me).   The Ultimate Plan tests up to 43 blood biomarkers—including glucose, cholesterol, cortisol, and hemoglobin—for a complete and holistic analysis of your health. Whether you want to improve athletic performance, extend longevity, or improve your overall wellness, this is your all-encompassing solution. ​ Your data tells the story of your health. Insidetracker goes beyond identifying generic, “clinically normal” ranges to unveil your body's unique, optimal biomarker zones. you'll discover where you're optimized and where there's room for improvement. ​ Insidetracker puts a nutritionist and personal trainer in your pocket with daily, data-driven recommendations. precise adjustments to your diet, exercise, and supplement intake can help you reach healthy biomarker zones and achieve your wellness goals. ​ What you'll get:  Blood test and analysis of 43 biomarkers  Personalized optimal biomarker zones  Action plan with nutrition, exercise, supplement, and lifestyle recommendations  Connect your Fitbit or Garmin fitness trackers via our iOS or Android app  Ability to upload third party blood test results

Meet Matthew:He's a serial entrepreneur and product development professional. He use to manage the design team for Office Max and all their private labels. Now, he has owned his own product development firm called Prototype since 2013. He's headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. He runs a one-of-a-kind development firm that supports inventors, entrepreneurs, and large brands with designing prototyping engineering, and manufacturing. His mission is to make ideas into reality.Kris: Where did the mission to make ideas into reality come from?Matthew: So it really started when I was a child, and I wasn't sure which direction I would go into, but I was an entrepreneur as a kid selling bubble gum out of my walker and always coming up with ideas, and I always wanted to bring ideas to life. So I always was wondering, where can I do that? And a lot of my professors go into business school, and then I found a career in product design and industrial design, and it really comes back to I think everybody had this where they're like, oh, they see a product on TV or they're in Walmart and they look at something, they said, oh, I thought of that. I thought of that product idea. And so what's amazing about what we do here at Prototype House and other industrial designers is we help entrepreneurs and people take that AHA moment and bring it to life. So that is our mission to create really great experiences for people while they're using those products. So it could be a medical device, it could be a new toy for kids, but it's really bringing that AHA moment to life.Erin: What is your company tinkering with right now?Matthew: So currently we're tinkering with some new dermatology tools and aesthetic tools, which is pretty exciting for me. I love the medical space just because it's always evolving, and I listen to a lot of Ted Talks and things in the medical space. But I have some products here. You can't see them, but some are larger brands, and some are from just entrepreneurs. So here's a cool product. It's called Zippy Cap. It's made here in the US. And what's cool about it is it's a keychain straw. So you always have a straw with you, and it works with any water bottle. So you just pop it open, uncap your water bottle, and drop the straw in and you're ready to go. And you twist it. And then you have a straw and you can go ahead and drink. And it's a local entrepreneur. He is based in New York. And what's amazing is he found us online and was able to develop his invention from just a napkin sketch all the way to production while we were here in Florida. And we never met in person, but he's now on the market and he really wanted to manufacture here in the US. And we're able to make that happen for him. So it's amazing.Lori: Where are your clients usually getting these things manufactured?Matthew: So this is a really tough question because most of our clients, would love to manufacture here in the US. And I was in DC recently talking to our lawmakers and different people in Congress to try to figure out if can we bring more manufacturing on a smaller scale for our entrepreneurs and startups. And right now it's really not possible, to be honest with you. For most of our products, it's very difficult. So most of our manufacturing happens overseas or a mixture of both. So we've been doing some hybrid models where we get our tooling done in China. And then we can get our injection molding done here and then packaging gets imported somewhere else and we do some packaging and assembly, but for the most part, it's still overseas based on cost and labor. And also the big interesting thing is there is a lot of injection molding shops all over our country. They're amazing, but they turn down small production runs because a lot of our entrepreneurs when they first get...

Welcome to the Lit for Christmas Eve party! In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, take on the grandfather of Christmas literature--Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. BONUS POINTS: Take a shot every time Beth yells "Shout out to my peeps!" (WARNING: You will become very drunk.) SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Smoking Bishop courtesy of punchdrink.com (https://punchdrink.com/recipes/smoking-bishop/) Ingredients: · 750 ml ruby port · 750 ml red wine · 1 cup water · 1/2 cup brown sugar · 1/4 teaspoon grated ginger · 1/4 teaspoon allspice · 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg · 4 oranges · 20 cloves, whole Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Wash and dry oranges. Pierce and stud each orange with five cloves. 3. Place oranges in a baking dish and roast until lightly browned all over, 60-90 minutes. 4. Add port, wine, water, sugar and spices to a saucepan, and simmer over low heat. 5. Slice oranges in half and squeeze juice into the wine and port mixture. 6. Serve in a punch bowl, and ladle into individual glasses. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT NONALCOHOLIC ALTERNATIVE: Use ingredients and follow above directions, substituting 750 ml of sparkling grape juice for ruby port and 750 ml of sparkling cranberry juice for red wine. Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press. For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm. Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education. She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier. Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: "A Christmas Carol." Bricusse, Leslie. Scrooge (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Columbia Records, 1970. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Suzeteo Enterprises: Greenwood, WI, 2019.

Lisa continues her conversation today with veteran dealmaker and entrepreneur Marc H. Morgenstern. They talk about the Grateful Dead and sharp business deals, but what do those two have in common? They seem like two completely different ideas, but Marc talks about the similarities of attending a Dead show and making a shrewd business deal. He explains that the psychology of a successful dealmaker requires spontaneity, comfort with change and unpredictability, and enjoying the process as it presents itself. As a fan who has seen hundreds of Grateful Dead shows, he talks about how the band uses these traits to perform thousands of concerts for their fans – ultimately giving them a different and unique experience during each performance. He also talks about how different, and predictable, a Rolling Stones concert may be, compared to the Dead, who may play a 3-minute version of a song one night, and then perform an 18-minute version of the same song the very next night. Marc H. Morgenstern has taught Street Smart Startups at UC Berkeley. He's a veteran dealmaker and entrepreneur with billions of dollars of buying, selling, and financing innovative and disruptive businesses from Day One of OfficeMax to Co-Founding digital healthcare software company Within3. Marc is the Managing Partner and Founder of early-stage investor Blue Mesa Partners, as well as Mentor-at-Large for The House Fund at UC Berkeley and its portfolio companies. He's a longtime board member of The Rex Foundation, the non-profit founded by the Grateful Dead. His latest book is “The Soul of the Deal.” Info: BlueMesaPartners.com

Welcome to Reimagining Company Culture, a series discussing emerging trends and priorities shaping the future of workplace culture and employee wellbeing. We highlight thought leaders who are constantly evolving their strategy and can provide insight to folks about how to address new business challenges.  AllVoices is on a mission to create safe, happy, and healthy workplaces for all, and we're excited to learn from experts who share our mission. In this episode of Reimagining Company Culture, we're chatting with  Chris Broderick & Chris Mason, Senior Director Talent, Analytics & Agility & VP, HR Technology, Talent & Total Rewards at KeHe. Chris Mason has over 15 years of experience leading teams in a variety of for-profit organizations including OfficeMax, Sears Holdings and finally Patagonia before joining KeHE in 2019.  Chris Broderick also spent 15 years at IBM where she launched the inaugural engagement measurement framework and established IBM's market leadership in employee listening practices.Tune in to learn Chris M. and Chris B.'s thoughts on showing up for employees and communities, the role of the employee voice, encouraging leaders to be more open to feedback, and more!About AllVoices In today's workforce, people often don't feel empowered to speak up and voice their opinions about workplace issues, including harassment, bias, and other culture issues. This prevents company leadership from making necessary changes, and prevents people from feeling fulfilled, recognized, and included at work. At AllVoices, we want to change that by providing a completely safe, anonymous way for people to report issues directly to company leaders. This allows company leadership real transparency into what's happening in their companies—and the motivation to address issues quickly. Our goal is to help create safer, more inclusive companies.Thanks for listening! Follow us on LinkedIn @AllVoices, to join our community of listeners.

 What do the Grateful Dead and sharp business deals have in common? They seem like two completely different ideas, but our guest today, Marc Morgenstern, talks about the similarities of attending a Dead show, and making a shrewd business deal. He explains that the psychology of a successful dealmaker requires spontaneity, comfort with change and unpredictability, and enjoying the process as it presents itself. As a fan who has seen hundreds of Grateful Dead shows, he talks about how the band uses these traits to perform thousands of concerts for their fans – ultimately giving them a different and unique experience during each performance. Marc H. Morgenstern has taught Street Smart Startups at UC Berkeley. He's a veteran dealmaker and entrepreneur with billions of dollars of buying, selling, and financing innovative and disruptive businesses from Day One of OfficeMax to Co-Founding digital healthcare software company Within3. Marc is the Managing Partner and Founder of early-stage investor Blue Mesa Partners, as well as Mentor-at-Large for The House Fund at UC Berkeley and its portfolio companies. He's a longtime board member of The Rex Foundation, the non-profit founded by the Grateful Dead. His latest book is “The Soul of the Deal.” This is Part 1 of the interview. Info: BlueMesaPartners.com

Photo Shoots That Could Not End Fast Enough  Hosted by: James Patrick   When I was in college, I got a job at Office Max one summer selling printers and various organizational tools. They also required me to work the register from time to time. On one Saturday morning, a customer came in and started yelling at me in front of not only my coworkers, but a line of patrons who started staring at the ground very uncomfortably. This customer made me call over my manager and demanded that my manager fire me.    He did not fire me, but he did apologize profusely to the customer. I was being berated by the customer for saying, “have a nice day.”    Today, we're going to talk about some other shitty jobs I've had. “They gave no direction on what they wanted the photos to look like.” IN THIS EPISODE Some of the worst jobs James has had. Photo shoots that made James question his career choice. How James handled awkward and uncomfortable situations. Beyond creepy situations. Overcoming unique user experiences. Remembering who you're there to serve. Connect with James  Website: jamespatrick.com Instagram: @jpatrickphoto Text me marketing questions @: 480-605-3254  Share this podcast with a friend and remember to leave a 5-star review!  For more, visit jamespatrick.com

Full Court Press: Brittney Griner Update, Brooklyn Gets A New Coach And The T-Wolves Play 4-On-5  3-on-3: The Three Best and Worst NBA City Edition Jerseys That Actually Happened: The Time Prince Rented Carlos Boozer's House  And Also: The The Angels Angels, Office Max, Dangling Participles, Covid Glowups, Magicians, Ed Hardy, Three Wolf Moon, Wonder Woman 1984, Starsky & Hutch, Mini Keyboards, Motorcade Areas, Wicky Wicky    Sponsor:   Tab for a Cause: Raise money for charity every time you open a new browser tab. Visit www.tabforacause.org/horse to start raising money today!    Find Us Online - website: horsehoops.com - patreon: patreon.com/horsehoops - twitter: twitter.com/horse_hoops - instagram: instagram.com/horsehoops - facebook: facebook.com/horsehoops - multitude: multitude.productions   HORSE is hosted by Mike Schubert and Adam Mamawala. Created by Eric Silver and Mike Schubert. Edited by Mike Schubert. Theme song by Bettina Campomanes. Art by Allyson Wakeman. Website by Kelly Schubert.   About Us On HORSE, we don't analyze wins and losses. We talk beefs, dig into Internet drama, and have fun. The NBA is now a 365-day league and it's never been more present in pop culture. From Kevin Durant's burner accounts to LeBron taking his talents anywhere to trusting the Process, the NBA is becoming a pop culture requirement. At the same time, sports can have gatekeepers that make it insular and frustrating for people who aren't die hard fans. We're here to prove that basketball is entertaining to follow for all fans, whether you're actively watching the games or not. Recently featured in The New York Times!  

Welcome back to this Lit for Christmas vacation party! In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, scare up some frozen Brandy Alexanders to talk about Richard Matheson's novel Hell House and October snowstorms. BONUS POINTS: Count how many times Beth mentions that she's a middle child! (Hint: It's a LOT.) SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Brandy Alexander Ingredients: 1 - 1 1/2 oz. brandy or cognac 1 oz. dark creme de cacao 2 oz. of heavy cream (or 2 cups of vanilla ice cream for frozen Brandy Alexander) Nutmeg Directions: 1. Add brandy, cream de cacao, and cream into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. OR 1. Add brandy, creme de cacao, and ice cream into a blender and blend well. 2. Strain into a cocktail glass. OR 2. Pour blended drink into cocktail glass. 3. Garnish top with ground nutmeg. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT NONALCOHOLIC ALTERNATIVE: 1 tsp. of brandy extract flavoring for brandy 1 tsp. of chocolate syrup 2 oz. of heavy cream (or 2 cups of vanilla ice cream for frozen Brandy Alexander) 1. Add brandy extract, chocolate syrup, and cream into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. OR 1. Add brandy extract, chocolate syrup, and ice cream into a blender and blend well. 2. Strain into a cocktail glass. OR 2. Pour blended drink into cocktail glass. 3. Garnish top with ground nutmeg. Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press. For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm. Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education. She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier. Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: "Ghostbusters." Parker, Ray Jr. Ghostbusters (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Arista Records LLC, 6 August 1984. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Matheson, Richard. Hell House. Tom Doherty Associates, LLC: New York, NY. 1971.

Welcome back to this Lit for Christmas vacation party! In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, return to the land of scotch, talking about O. Henry's classic Christmas short story "The Gift of the Magi" and a chest freezer full of dead cats. BONUS POINTS: Help Beth title the poem she wrote for this episode! This episode is dedicated to LFC's number one fan--Helen Haskell-Remien (January 15, 1956 - August 21, 2022). "I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing, / as though I had wings." -- Mary Oliver SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT: Oh Henry! Ingredients: 1 1/2 oz. Scotch whiskey 3/4 oz. Benedictine 4 oz. Ginger Ale Directions: Mix ingredients. Pour over ice. Add twist of lemon is you like. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT NONALCOHOLIC ALTERNATIVE: 1 1/2 oz. nonalcoholic Bourbon 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup 4 oz. Ginger Ale Mix ingredients. Pour over ice. Add twist of lemon is you like. Lit for Christmas Party Hosts: Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press. For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm. Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting. Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education. She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier. Currently, she is the front desk clerk at a hotel and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband. Music for this episode: "Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay. "A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay. Other music in the episode: "Gift of the Magi." Mitchell, Joni. Joni Mitchell Archives--Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967). Rhino Records, 30 October 2020. A Christmas Carol sound clips from: The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore. This month's Christmas lit: Henry, O. "The Gift of the Magi." New York Sunday World, 1905.

Summary: While gyms were closed, and most of the population was stuck at home during the pandemic, the home exercise equipment category saw a huge boom in sales. With this came increased consumer appetite for connectivity and consolidation of their fitness experience across all the products in their home gyms.Today's guest is Jim Barr, CEO of the iconic fitness brand Nautilus Inc. Also falling under the Nautilus umbrella are well-known brands like Bowflex and Schwinn. Before joining Nautilus, Jim was Group President of Richie Brothers, a global leader in sales of used industrial equipment, and Chief Digital Officer at Office Max, where he led the transformation of its online and omni-channel experiences. In this episode, Jeff and I talk about how Nautilus managed the huge surge in demand for their products during the pandemic, how they've used digital technology to transform the customer experience, and how getting your team right is a key driver of success.Highlights: Jim discusses the current landscape of the home fitness industry (4:12) Jim gives a breakdown of his strategic business plan North Star (7:15) Jim talks about Nautilus' huge growth in digital members and how this was achieved (10:24) Jim explains how a diverse portfolio of products has helped Nautilus grow (12:40) How did the pandemic affect Nautilus' supply chain demand and how has this changed? (14:24) Jim takes us through his personnel changes, and how this has benefitted Nautilus (16:11) Jim talks through the pivot that Nautilus made to AI, machine learning, and vision and motion capture technologies (18:04) Jim discusses industry competition and the power of the Nautilus brand (20:30) How can diversity in retail channels manage risk? (23:21) Jim talks about having a long-term view can help investors understand your story (25:31) Links:ICR TwitterICR LinkedInICR WebsiteJim Barr LinkedInNautilus LinkedInNautilus WebsiteFeedback:If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, elizabeth@lowerstreet.co.

Who said the Lakers couldn't get themselves a Max player this Offseason? Well, the Front Office sure showed all of us! Here's our breakdown of the Lakers' surprisingly eventful 2022 NBA Draft Night! ... Outline: Surprised the Lakers Got the #35th Pick? Max Christie Prospect Breakdown Is Christie A Win-Now, Ready-to-Contribute Type Player? Cole Swider Prospect Breakdown Stray Thoughts On Scotty Pippen Jr. & Fabian White & Much More! ... Intro/Outro Music Provided By: Hello Harry - "Forever" (Search His Page Up on SoundCloud for More #Litty Beats) ... Please also Rate & Review us 5-stars on the Apple Podcast App. Patreon: Patreon.com/TheLakersLegacyPodcast YouTube - Lakers Legacy Twitter - @LakersLegacyPod Instagram: @lakerslegacypod Listen & Subscribe to us on: Apple, Spotify, Anchor, Google Play, etc. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  MORGANA RAE is an international bestselling author, an award-winning entrepreneur, and a pioneer in personal development for 27 years, putting LOVE first to build wealth and impact. A favorite guest on television, radio and print, Morgana has guided thousands of entrepreneurs, innovators, healers and humanitarians to heal the rift between heart, spirit, and money… to save the world as only they can. (You can find longer bios at www.morganaraemedia.com)   www.MorganaRae.com Unknown Speaker 0:00 Your journey has been an interesting one up to hear you've questioned so much more than those around you. You've even questioned yourself as to how you could have grown into these thoughts. Am I crazy? When did I begin to think differently? Why do people intend Brandon Handley 0:12 to one? Hey, their Spiritual Dope What's up I got a special guest on for you today it is Morgana Rae she is a 20 time international number one best selling author and mentor coach, as he's regarded to be the world's number one authority on relationship with money. Her groundbreaking approach to love centered wealth building has featured her on the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, all the major television networks coast to coast radio and hundreds more. We're gonna fans call her the money goddess, because of the many documented stories of clients manifesting unexpected income of hundreds 1000s 10s of 1000s, hundreds of 1000s even over a million dollars, within hours of changing their relationship with money, a pioneer in personal development for over 27 years, we're gonna write speakers and coaches from a desire to empower idealistic entrepreneurs, artists, healers, and humanitarians to have a big impact in the world and the heal the rift between heart, spirit and money. You know, so thank you so much for being on today. It's funny, because, you know, Wall Street Journal is great, right? Yahoo Finance all the major telecom and the one that of course, gets me I'm like coast to coast. What? So, so awesome to have you on here today. Morgana Rae 1:36 Thank you so much. Yeah, coast to coast was fun. And you get a lot of time, and it's in the middle of the night. So my husband's what was listening from home, because I have to do it on the landline and we don't have any landlines at home. And he says you are breathing really heavily during that interview, because I was just pacing the whole time to keep my energy up. But it was it was a great experience. It's I mean, Toshinori it's amazing. Brandon Handley 2:07 So right, how is this, you know, legends in the field, and that you've been with quite a few other legends as well. But that's the one that that's the one that jumped out at me and was super excited about that. So I usually like to start this off, we're going on with the whole idea that you and I, we are conduits for Source Energy, right? And there's somebody listening on the other end of this podcast today that needs a message that can only be delivered through you through source energy to them. What does that message today Morgana Rae 2:40 the people that I speak to that I'm speaking to right now, like, I'm not interested in the sociopaths, so we're going to leave them out of the conversation. But spiritual people, the do gooders of the world, the artists, the innovators, the healers, the humanitarians, these are the people who have the most painful relationship with money. By the way, you know, very rich people have pain too. And I've coached on the total extreme ends. But I'm speaking really here to the spiritual do gooders who really just want to help. And that is such a different mindset and relationship with money than say, the entrepreneur who is happy as a clam, to make lots of money harming people. I was in a mastermind years ago real mix of people, but I felt very out of place. Because one of the speakers was going on and on about how owning shell companies allowed him to sell potentially defective helmets and potentially defective guns. But if he got sued, he was protected because he owned a shell company. And that's not what I want to bring into the world. That's not what I support. I felt really, really alienated by that. So that's that, oh, do this make money? Yeah, that's an equation, but that hurts. That hurts. For those of us who care and honestly, that mindset is threatening the very existence of human life, and a lot more on planet Earth, the whole like Exxon, hiding all its data about climate change. That by the way, is also not a healthy relationship with money if you are so scared of not making a certain number milestone that you're willing to risk life on earth that is not a place of abundance. So what I want and you You know, I tend to just channel as I speak, and I never ever, like script or plan what I'm going to say, but I do know what I want to teach. And I want to today teach how to get love, and your highest values and your most divine self, and money playing on the same team as partners, not adversaries. So that's, that's what I want to focus on. Brandon Handley 5:34 Now, I love that. And you're right. It's so it's funny. We've gotten to a point now, I think, and you know, the money exchange being currency exchange being an energy exchange, where people can't even say the word money, right? Like I, I'm literally, what I'm doing today is working for money, bless you. And bless you. I think the third time is like you get a wish. Granted, it's the the CIO, is interesting for a minute, because people came to say, you know, I want to work for money says like, oh, well, you know, we're gonna, there's going to be an energy exchange, meaning there's going to be money exchanged, but like, not being comfortable enough to just say, I charge $5. Now, right? And so being able to get that to the point where you say, money is spiritual, and it's not necessarily just a material thing. So I sounds like that's kind of what we get to, or at least get them all on the same plane if it what's your approach there? Morgana Rae 6:39 Well, money, I think really highlights or magnifies what's already there. And where I started kind of my origin story on this path of working with money as a pain door to spiritual growth and personal development, and also clients making a lot of money is that I had such shame and guilt about charging to help people, I really felt like I was taking their money and that was harming them. And that was a bad thing when I really was here to help. And lo and behold, I became really, really good at not making money like, like Olympic medal caliber ability to repel money from people who wanted to hire me. And at my lowest point, I was living in Los Angeles, one of the most expensive cities in the world, a million dollars will buy you a teardown. And I was making $100 a month with half a dozen coaching certifications, a bunch of celebrity clients, mountains of testimonials really, really dialed in marketing and the website and the brochure and the business cards and the tagline and l o ads, and the vision boards and the affirmations, and the local la healers who kind of wave their hands and change your money, DNA and all of it. None of it worked for me. None of it worked for me. I had to get to the secret reason that I was repelling money what was inside of me that was pushing it away intentionally, completely unconsciously. Consciously, I was going to those awful networking meetings and and getting more and more certifications and just taking more and more classes on sales and this and that. And I took a class on overcoming sales objections and I'm like a super good students. So seven people let me get my fingers right seven people in a row. I overcame their objections, which means that they said I can't afford it, or I don't have time. But I really want to there are these like words that you say and I overcame their objections, and I kid you not. Those same seven people did not show up and did not pay. And I sitting here now, I actually don't believe in overcoming people's objections. So I believe in letting people make a decision for themselves. They know what is right for them better than I you know, it's not my decision to make what they can afford and what they can't afford. And I don't like manipulating people I actually tried to talk people out of hiring me and see if they jump over that and convince me then we have a client but that's, that's today. So back there. I hit a really just deep moment of despair. I you know, when I got that seven to no show, that was when I completely ran out of hope. Like I was doing all the metaphysical stuff. I was doing all the practical stuff, and I've been doing it for a long time. And I want to make a point here that if you ever find yourself doing everything you're supposed to be doing, taking everybody's classes real Applying it doing everything you're told to do, and do this. And you do this nears, you keep doing everything you're supposed to be doing and you aren't getting the results that you desire and deserve. It is my opinion based on my own experience and coaching 1000s of clients that you are probably unconsciously protecting us yourself from what you're pursuing. And you're not crazy, you're not a failure, when we dig deep, you will find that you have really, really good reasons, good solid reasons to protect yourself. And we need to make what you want safe. It has to be safe. And it has to align with your values or you will always be like running into a brick wall. And just driving yourself crazy. But it's amazing how quickly and dramatically things change. When what you want become safe. By the way, I just, you know, listening to like, share my bio is always you know, kind of a meta experience to hear somebody, you know, describe you and I had a client a week ago, Friday call me up who went on my very intense spiritual tiny, one week money goddess retreat that I keep to like three to six, sometimes eight women, so that I can coach everybody individually really deeply. And I coached her in September. And she called me a week and a half ago to tell me that she made $1.2 million between September and Brandon Handley 11:44 that's women only, like that's how the guys can jump in. Yeah, Morgana Rae 11:47 everything else I do has guys, that's just the one thing. But so that was like between the end of September and mid February. So I'm not even going to count how many months I think it's like it's not many, a couple million dollars, not a lot. And by and she is a spiritual teacher. So it can be Hi, Mike, I have like a raw food coach multi seven figures, like I get really weird, brilliant people. Even even the like, even the sciency ones, the big the big data lady is also into magic. And there's a data analyst in Australia who talks to dead people. So that's that that's my crowd. Okay, so I'm in this really dark, horrible place, just I don't even want to live anymore because it feel and I'm rushing through this really quickly because I want to get to content and teaching. But when you know what you're here to do, finally, right, and you have this gift, especially if you're a healer or an artist, and you have this gift that has to come out. And you can't make a living at it. It feels like you're being rejected by the universe itself. And it feels cruel, because you're doing everything you were told to do, and you aren't getting it and it feels sadistic and mean, and it's like I don't even want to play. And that's where I was. And I'm speaking to any of you who know what that's like, now, Pastor center? Brandon Handley 13:21 I'll tell you no, it's like, right. I mean, it's, you know, think my first round of coaching was like that. I'm like, wow, you know, I've got all the right things I'm doing. I'm doing all the right things, saying all the right things, Jones the right places and all this stuff, like, you know, and then you know, I guess it gets to a point where definitely a gift has to come out. And like you're saying like, well, universe is rejecting I know, I know, at that point, like I'm doing something wrong, if it doesn't feel like it's an alignment. And you know, the values aren't aligned, and you keep throwing up against the same thing. So what hasn't changed? Morgana Rae 13:57 Yeah, there really wasn't anything left to change in my doing. And so I'm in this place where I can't afford anything. But I still have a coach can't afford rent, but I still have a coach, thank goodness. Because that's what changed my life. Very shortly after hitting this really horrible place, I think it was this the next day, because we're talking now a couple decades ago and every decade it gets a little fuzzier. I had a session with my coach, great guy who had been making suggestions really, really wonderful coach and I would do everything and nothing was shifting and we were like, didn't know why. And that day when I was in such a helpless, sad, angry, despairing place that inspired something in him to come out that just told total game changer. And he asked me this really weird question. He asked me if your money was a person who would your money be. And instantly, I saw exactly who my money was being. And it was this big, scary, dirty, violent biker dude who terrified me. Like, by the way, I always feel like I have to apologize to bikers at this moment. It's not you. It's this this one. Like, stole that the long sideburns and you know, the wife beater shirt and the tattoos, but there was something about him that was just really mean and dangerous that I couldn't be with. And I instantly saw myself at like a live event. So I could have my eye on him every moment hyper vigilant to create maximum distance between the two of us. And that was my lightbulb moment. Oh, my God, that's what I was doing. I was creating distance between money and myself as if money was going to kill me. Completely unconsciously. Because daily, I was taking all the actions I was supposed to take. A friend of mine says it's not your fault. It's your responsibility. Which is awesome. So there's no blame here. But because this relationship is your responsibility, you have the ability to respond and change it. Yay. So it was so clear to me in this moment that this biker, there was no way that I could have money in my life. If it was this guy, it just wasn't going to work. So I had to get rid of the biker, I had to get rid of what I now call the Money Monster. Which, by the way, has nothing to do with money. Like we can start with financial crimes and the experiences scarcity are people who exploit and do terrible things in the name of money or when you you know we can we can start with your own financial traumas are of your family or ancestors, we can start there. But that's not that's, that's just the door. That's just the beginning. What the reason money is such a painful subject, it's so taboo, like we can talk about sex, but we can't really talk about money and numbers. And there's so much shame and fear around it is because money represents really the deepest, deepest pains and challenges and vulnerabilities of being human. It represents love, are we loved? Does the universe love me? Am I wanted value am I valued? What is valued? What are my values? Its value? And bottom line safety? Like? Do I even get to exist? Am I treated like a human being can I eat? Can I get medical care? Do I have a right to exist? Is the world a safe loving place that values may or not, that is exactly what money represents. And so that's where you want to dig up the root cause of this Money Monster. So I have I didn't know that at the time, I had to kind of figure it out and reverse engineer it. So I could do this for other people later. I just happened to be in that horrible moment of experience, which made it very easy. So Brandon Handley 18:34 yeah, I mean, you are in the ultimate survival mode, right? You're in the ultimate survival mode or your quote unquote, like rock bottom. And, you know, I always talk about the difference between, you know, the people that are at the rock bottom, they have nothing left to lose, or the guy won't go try this other thing, right? It's like the Janis Joplin song, nothing left to lose, right? And then you've got two healthy normals, right? Which are the people that that are that are there, okay, where they're at, but they're not okay, right. They don't want they don't want to change it. But like, it's sometimes it's easier to lose everything so that you can go for exactly what you want. Morgana Rae 19:10 Well, I believe and I call my process alchemy, like, you know, so, law of attraction, fans take a deep and cleansing breath. You'll get to have your positive thinking in a little while, but right now, it's not going to help you. It'll keep you stuck. So what we want to create as maximum polarity alchemy is the transmutation of lead, lead in human experience into gold. And the first thing we have to do is separate them completely and focus only on the lead and it's like a slingshot and it creates a tension that catapults us where we want to go but first we have to go really, really deep into the lead into that experience that we don't want to have, because that's what motivates change. And when you're in neutral Reality I call it money mode. It's kind of you're stuck. Can we change? Yeah, but first we have to dig, we have to dig a lot deeper into your reason to need to change. So that is the, like, glorious, sacred opportunity of these these hard moments. And that's where I am, kind of take a different tack than the way Law of Attraction is taught. I'm not saying hi vibes only I'm saying, Let us you know, low vibes are part of life, they are sacred, they're useful, they actually have a tremendous power in them, if we use them, you've been through the experience, let's not waste it, don't come back another life and have to do it again. Let's get it now. And just milk it for everything, every every drop of wisdom and enlightenment, and empowerment and evolution that we can get from it. So you know, go deep, and then make it into this really human real monster that has no good, because this is what we're going to change. And it makes it more real when it's a person. We can talk about ideas for years and years and years, we can make lists of negative beliefs about money, so what but when we talk about relationship relationship is between people, even if that other person is your cat or your dog, you know, it's it's personal. There's there is back and forth, it has to feel that way for it to be real and relatable so that we can change it to have a real reference. So that's step two is making making the root cause the wounds anything that made you feel unsafe and loved unworthy things, maybe you're ashamed of maybe violence or accidents, especially things that illnesses especially things that don't look obviously like they have to do with money. I find that's really the best place to look. And then you then you imagine it's that that there is this person who is responsible for all of it. It just can't be your parents and it can't be you because in step number three, and this is what I developed since I went through my own shift first time decades ago, I found it more effective with clients that if instead number three, you obliterate you obliterate the beast, by any means necessary. So hello, Love and Light crowd. I know you're all vegans. With yoga mats, I know it. And I invite you to be as violent and overdramatic, and and thorough and complete in destroying the monster because at the end of the day, this monster will destroy you. There can only be one my mother loved Highlander. So there can only be one, there can only be one. Let's make that you. Yeah. So rid of it. Brandon Handley 23:15 Yeah, real quick, just just just second, just pause as we go along for a second, as you're talking about, you know, creating this maximum polarity and going into the alchemy. I mean, there's a lot of energy stored and pent up energy in these areas. And you're talking about going to, right? And then you know, are you talking about transmuting that like you know, energy into into this right into the things Morgana Rae 23:38 like the fire, it's like the fire in the alchemy lab. So our victim experience which I think you know, it's like I don't want to be there. But it's part of the human experience and if you've been there and I have been there then the you want to use it. And I in my experience, the victim experience tends to feel very heavy it's kind of got a heaviness a coldness of dampness if we're gonna get all like touchy feely about it. But what helps you rise up from that victim experience and set boundaries and say no, like Monty Python Thou shalt not pass? Is is that like that slain that flaming torch and we have all these beautiful spiritual archetypes we've got Durga in India, you've got St. Michael in the West, you know, just slaying ignorance. And we're only we're not killing anything that has a corporeal form. So you just want to embody that that like Kali, flare of ignorance. I also loved Shiva, I got my degree in religion, I was really into Indian religion so and just destroy this embodiment of everything that He does not get to move forward in your life, like everything that you do not want to allow in your life experience. You put that in the monster and you reject it in this very dramatic, like Lord of the Rings playing the orcs fashion. And that's the first half of the process. Brandon Handley 25:24 I mean, sounds good, right? And definitely a bunch of terminology I certainly understand. Right. You know, so we're making we're making this monster and we're we're personifying it. Right? I think anytime we in stories, right, we personify, there's a need to personify so that we can are able to relate to a lot easier. And that's what you're doing when you create this Money Monster and personify it. So that, right, Morgana Rae 25:51 and it makes it a lot more specific, and unique and personal to you. This is your monster. This is not some generic everybody's monster, this is yours. And this one is focused on you. So it's very personal. And the way to take your power back is is that third step of destroying the Money Monster. And then when the monster is gone, yay, there's a new situation. When I first got rid of my monster, yay, I really and and I had this experience of oh my god, there's this feeling of emptiness. Like, I've had this omnipresent monster Dude, my whole life around me that I never felt it, it's like you know, air, but when it's gone, you really notice, and nature abhors a vacuum. So I didn't know to destroy the monster then. And I was afraid it was going to come back. Or some like random Money Monster strolling down Sunset Boulevard was just going to get sucked into my vortex. So I needed to fill that spot. Immediately. Instantly, as soon as the monster is gone. Now we have a new problem slash opportunity, which is we need a new relationship. And it needs to be completely the polar opposite of what we had. Now the lucky thing is when you've slayed the monster, and you have slayed and obliterated and rejected everything that you do not want in your life experience, only one thing remains and that's love. Like that's it, that's all that is, is love and expressions and manifestations of love. So when I thought to myself, well, who could I have in my life that I would want so much that I'd be willing to have this relationship even if it's money because money has been very hurtful and scary in my life and I don't want to get into that kind of thing again. So I instantly luckily visualized in that moment just kind of showed up ready made. Who showed up with this tall dark handsome romantic young man carrying a bouquet of red flowers dressed in a tuxedo as if he wanted to take me out and he was very romantic and very loving and very in love with me and wanted to woo me which was is actually the character of this relationship is that it feels like love relationship love comes first before the cash and I have found over the course of coaching so many people that a lover dynamic usually is best best for a number of reasons on a spiritual level you're both equals your your honey this new relationship the money honey, you can you can break his or her or their heart you know, it's not rescue me money, you know, its partners, which is really healing and it kind of heals all those broken unloved bits inside of us. And because I also know that many of us have had really, you know, terrible sexual trauma, maybe a sexy money honey isn't the place to start. So the first rule is that this new relationship is really really safe. And that this person loves you. Loves you exactly as you are loves you more than anybody in the world. And this is somebody that you want to be with and have in your life as a partner because this person is worthy of your deepest love and admiration. shouldn't trust and it's just cool to be with someone nice, safe, you feel loved and you love back. That is step four, that is meeting your money, honey. So when I met mine, and I was aware of wow, this is so weird. This is like Money loves me, which is completely different than my lifetime experience and nothing that I expected. But he felt so vulnerable. And I could feel how much I had been breaking his heart for years by pushing him away. Like, I, I was the one hurting him. It's like, wow, I don't want to do that. So as you're not ill, it was actually me, I and this is really important. Unbeknownst to me, I've always been the gatekeeper. It's like, it's like Judy Garland and Wizard of Oz with the red shoes, like, you always have the power. But you had to go through this experience this Initiation this portal to find it because it's part of your evolution. So when it became safe, then I had the power. So but I knew he wanted to stay with me. But here's the kicker is I had no experience and how to allow this money to stay with me the way he wanted to. So I asked, that is the greatest thing about having this hot, sweet, adorable loving fun money, honey, of the money per episode, an American imaginary person as I can ask and get an answer back. So I asked him what he needed. And that first time out, he said he needed me to love him and stop treating him like a monster. And I thought, well, that's fair. What does that look like? Sure. And so we talked about it, and we I made a commitment to him. So step five, is you have the conversation with your new relationship with money. And Step six is you take concrete, measurable action. And this is what I committed to him was that next time you brought me a gift, I would say thank you. And that would look like if somebody wanted to hire me, because that's generally how he was trying to give me gifts. I would say thank you by saying this is my fee without any shame. With that feeling of appreciation, as love, and I got to try it out really quickly, because four people called me the next day and hired me for double what I'd ever charged before. Yeah, Brandon Handley 32:35 that's amazing. Would and it is right. It's kind of like that paradox, right? Where you're talking about having all that energy there, that Money Monster was kind of made me almost like a money bodyguard. Right? You know, you can look at it kind of any other way. But like now, she says she doesn't want any, you know, right. And then and then as soon as you know, you took a different different approach. And he said, you know, let them all in, you know, and, you know, but real quick, another one, you mentioned a couple concrete measurable actions, what, you know, and to me that, I think about, like, you know, numbers and timeframes and anything like that, but you said, You made him a promise, right? Something different. So what would be like another one or two concrete measurable actions? And we'll do that. Yeah. Morgana Rae 33:22 So for me, it was all accidental. And so I'm a lot better with the people I coach, I was just sort of like, oh, this is, you know, Oh, it worked. And then, and then I had all these clients, and I wasn't marketing the money stuff at all, but they were human beings, which meant that money came up. Because money is honestly the number one excuse that we human beings give for everything we can't have, do or be. So that's why and that's the only reason that I focus on money in air quotes as my pain door because the work really isn't about money. But it is fun when people like Anna call and you know, tell me that they that she made the $1.2 million or Perry made they made over $12 million. The big numbers are you know, kind of stand out so concrete measurable action, this is fun. Because when you're asking your money, honey what he or she or they need from you or want from you or you know, just whatever that conversation is. The answer that comes back is typically very wise and impossible to execute. So it'll be love yourself. Or trust yourself. Or the worst. Relax. Never ever, ever tell a woman to relax That's, that's bonus. That's Brandon Handley 35:02 yeah. It's funny how many times you hear it, but you still can't figure it out. Morgana Rae 35:12 So very cool, good, aspirational ideas. And nobody can love themselves perfectly 24/7 For the rest of their lives, we want to have a win. Also, I believe that if you want physical, concrete, tangible, measurable change in your life, then you want to take some kind of concrete, physical, tangible, measurable action, because it's kind of pulling it out of the ether into the physical realm, energetically, and you are teaching yourself and the universe that something has changed, but you want to give some kind of physical representation as sort of the little nice bow on top for any active magic. So what I suggest is you just start brainstorming with your money, honey, you don't have to know what the answer is, because you've got your partner here. And if you're really tuned in, and this person really feels real and present and yummy, and you're excited, then it's going to be easier to get communication back. And for some people, you can just do it in your mind. Some people it's I have a client right now a guy you know, some people think I only coach women, but I also coach guys. He's very kinesthetic. He's very in his body. So writing works better for him. So you just like Neale Donald Walsch, you know, Brandon says that don't turn up money, honey, that you just write it out. However it is. But so what you're looking for as you just sort of spit out ideas is how your honey response in my experience, like it's, it can come out really quick and easy and fast and quiet. And sometimes it's so quick and quiet that I can pretend that I didn't hear the response. But you learn how to how to dialogue with your money, honey, and you learn how to recognize his or her response. So what you're looking for is the thing that really lights your money honey up and what is very, very common with clients is clients love to be like good students. So very often, the first thing that will come out is I'm going to make 30 sales calls a day and I can just I just want to like collapse and like dig a grave right in that moment. It just feels so heavy. Yeah, I mean, what's happening there they they're in there, they're using their conscious mind and they're doing what they think they should do. But if they run it by their money honey that's not turning their money honey on the money honey doesn't think that 30 phone calls a day is going to be fun unless the money honey does but so far, I haven't seen that yet. Brandon Handley 38:20 It's funny though, too. Right? And sorry to interrupt, right because this is exactly the question and like I said when you said you know this measurable action that's exactly what I'm thinking Well, I gotta go 30 calls a day I gotta do this thing. I got to trudge and grind my way through it and my money on he's over there like keep going your mule Morgana Rae 38:40 Yeah, but see that usually is more of a Money Monster Energy. So this is this is what is so fun about coaching and every human being being different. So I've might question that we might find out oh, that there's still some Money Monster left or maybe the money honey just doesn't like that. And we just we keep going. And so things it can be something obvious like do your taxes get that out of the way and my client will tell me oh my God doing my taxes felt like foreplay I'm like great but also sometimes it's something completely unrelated to money my client Katie curtain and this is public. It's you know, I've got I've got the she let me like record and sell the audio was actually on a public teleclass and then she became a private client afterwards. But so the first time we slayed her Money Monster, she had her money honey, her money honey, really lit up at the thought of her going skating in December, in Canada where it's really really cold, but that's what her money honey wanted. So she says She was going to do it. And then she didn't do it the first day, because she was so stressed about money. And there's so much to do. So she didn't do it. Day two, didn't go skating because she was so stressed about money and debt and all that all that she had to do, nothing happened. Day three, she went skating, she took her 10 year old little boy with her, they had this amazing time, this amazing heart connection, she came home, she got a phone call, and somebody gave her $10,000 without her even asking. And that was the beginning of the journey. Janet brockmeyer also very, very similar story, her money, honey wanted to go walking, but she's too busy trying to get clients for a week. Finally, she went walking, and she picked up two clients at more than she'd ever charged before. I have a client whose money honey wanted her to stay home and do laundry, and she got a phone call and a $20,000 client. So it can be about money, or it can be about something else. It can be self care, you know, is is very attractive to money, healthy boundaries, very attractive to money. Sometimes my money honey says, You know that thing you've been putting off? It's time to do it. Okay. Right. Brandon Handley 41:12 Now, you know, you said Law of Attraction earlier. Right? And, you know, it feels similar in that some of these actions are in alignment with like, kind of what we really want to be doing, but we're letting money be the monster that it is and saying, Well, you can't do that right kind of thing. But in law of attraction, in some circles, right? It's like, do the thing that makes you feel good, just go do that and feel good? Or like, Morgana Rae 41:42 yeah, go ahead. Sometimes. Back in 2007, I thought it'd be a really cool idea to go on a book tour. And by the way, at that time, my book might at that time, my publisher was OfficeMax. Like, now I've got a real book. And you know, Walmart carries it. But back in the day, my publisher of record was OfficeMax, sometimes Kinkos, the dependent on where I was. And I had booked a cross country book tour, where I was speaking at like, all these mystical bookstores up and down the west coast on the East Coast, a little bit in the middle and doing radio shows. And it was really, really cool. Until it was approaching. And then I didn't want to do it. All I could see was I was spending so much money on airfare and housing and rental cars with no guarantee of making a penny back. And I just didn't want to do it. And my money, honey said, you're going to do it because you said you're going to do it. And I did it. And honestly, I completely sold out my inventory. At my first speaking gig. It was, I think, some kind of like, conscious living speaking conference in San Francisco. And then the next day, out of the blue, I suddenly had a TV interview in Sacramento and I and I honestly made more money in that in those few weeks than I'd ever made before. But I had no I didn't know that I would. And it really came down to you don't know what's going to happen because that's life. Like, I never predict what's going to happen. Sometimes I can see something but most of the time, especially with sales, I don't predict that. But yeah, my money How do you said do it even though I didn't want to do it? That's integrity. Brandon Handley 43:46 Yeah, I'm in with that. Right. Like, you know, the Four Agreements type of thing right sounds and you had to do what's your own integrity with but also sounds like sounds like Your Money Monster was showing up because you were starting to worry about like, you're starting to worry about you know, spending too much I'm doing all this and I know money honey, I said we'd go out again, but not right now. Now. I suppose you're taking for a nice steak dinner. But you know, what a mind in the pennies or whatever. And so it sounds like kind of like that's what showed up and but you went ahead and you listened. You got that guidance. And you know, it kind of opened up and it shows you that. Go with it. Like yeah, we don't know what's gonna happen. And that's what I love about sales too, right? Because they'll sales always like, we want linearity. Show us. The lines going up. You're like, well, how we'll do it. Morgana Rae 44:38 Yeah, well, I love the way you put that because yes, sometimes you just have to decide. You have to decide who do I choose to be in relationship with. I did this teleconference back in 2007. And it was the first big one that I'd ever really done. And I had the speaking gig in Norway. I was single at the time, and I had As fantasy this is totally not related, but I have this fantasy that I go to Norway and get to say something like, Why yes, Hans, I'd love to see your long boat. So that yeah, that's how I was making business decisions anyway. So I have this big figs speaking virtual gig on a huge platform, and I was the best I've ever spoken up until that moment, right. I was like, really on and I was making, I was making an offer like a ridiculously underpriced offer. But it was stretchy for me at that time. And then no sales came in. And my shopping cart crashed. In retrospect, I think that probably so much was coming in at that time that it completely crashed, and I wasn't getting any orders. And I felt so betrayed. So betrayed by money, because I just spent the last 90 minutes talking about what a great person your money honey is, and how you have to be a great business. Or sorry, a great a great relationship partner. And, and then he did this to me, and I was cursing him out, like, so angry, so hurt. And what was even worse was it didn't upset him. He just thought it was funny. He was laughing. And, and, and he said, we'll turn it into an opportunity. And I'm like, oh, and he says you'll figure it out. And I had this instant moment of self awareness that cursing out my money, honey may not be the embodiment of being a good relationship partner right now. So you're Brandon Handley 46:45 hanging out with Hans Morgana Rae 46:46 Fu Fu so I like pulled up my big girl personal development panties and, and said, okay, okay, I'll look for the opportunity. But I want you to know, I'm really, really mad at you. And the next day, I got a phone call from the host of the class that I taught for this huge personal development company, who said, Oh, my God, that was amazing. I had never thought of money as a relationship, which is hysterical, because that is their signature product, its relationship with money, that whole company. And I'm, and she's saying, and I'm sharing the recording with everybody in our office. So I'm glad. That's wonderful. And like, my little antenna starts to perk up. I wonder if there's an opportunity here. So I tell her that, like, my shopping cart went down, and I'm pretending to have a sense of humor about it. And she goes, Oh, that's terrible. And I go, but can we do about it? What can we do about it? And she said, and she said, Well, I will just send out the replay to our audience of 500,000 people, would that be okay? And I thought, yeah. So it went out to 500,000 people. And my sales were far more than they would have been had all this drama and broken shopping cart nonsense, far more than it would have happened. Like, you know, just long term clients. Yeah, totally covered the trip and all that kind of stuff. And it was a really good learning moment for me. Sort of so you can actually have a fight and still be loved. You have to choose Are you going to have a relationship with your money honey, your Your Money Monster, you don't know what you're gonna get with your money, honey, but you do know what you're gonna get With Your Money Monster and you know, you don't want it. And things can turn out far, far better on the other side of what looks like a mess, right? So you just have to, you know, you just have to stay in relationship, like a real relationship, stay in communication, and keep putting love first. Brandon Handley 49:07 What's it look like? I guess, to have that ongoing relationship, like I guess, you know, are you writing notes on the daily be like, hey, you know, money honk money, honey, you know, to hear what's going on, you know, do we send notes to each other? What's the ongoing communication process like? Morgana Rae 49:29 It's gonna be different for everybody. I have a client named Athena who goes on God walks and she just has conversations with her money, honey out in nature, and it's been really supportive for her in first financial stuff. She went from being in mountains of debt and in a bad marriage with two small children just kind of making $100 here and there with psychic reading gigs to making 10s of 1000s of dollars a month in about five months. And then her Honey, honey said I don't want you to do that anymore. I want you to focus on music. So she's been on that other journey and her money honey has been there in terms of like getting married and her money honey has been there when one of her children tragically was killed. And she had to ID the body. And she said she couldn't have done it without our money, honey. So it's a it is a spiritual journey. She doesn't walk in what I do, what is my easiest way to like get the most value out of the relationship and stay connected daily is I have a practice of every day answering a bunch of questions that I created for myself. And some of that is in my book. What is not in the current iteration of the book, but I think I want to add it is I like to share what what are my challenges actually, there it is, in the book, I'm on a on a weekly a weekly thing, but I do a daily now, which is what is challenging need, what do I have? Do I have any negative thoughts is like the best way that by the way, my negative thoughts, it's almost like a turns my money honey on because it gives him you know, something to do. Right? He wants something to do. So if I, like come out with that, you know, saw I'm not good enough, I'm gonna fail at this. Nobody loves me. He'll respond usually first by laughing and tell it and then giving me whatever message like I need. And that's my favorite practice for staying in daily relationship is kind of flipping my own negative defaults. And then hearing my money, honey, it's sort of a trick or a hack for accessing your highest wisdom without all of your neurotic baggage attached. Now, it's also like if I making it this other person, then this beloved, right? And it's kind of flirty, right? You know, he's just he thinks that my insecurities are adorable, by the way. So this my husband's like, they are so similar. Brandon Handley 52:22 I'm glad, I'm glad it's continued to work out. And definitely, it's definitely quite a bit in here that you've shared. There's plenty more on your website, you've got your books, podcast, plenty of other podcasts and audios. And what we'll share out some links at the end here. But is there anything else right in this moment that you'd like to share? If not, I've got just a little little bit that we do. And then and then we have to towards the end? Morgana Rae 52:44 Oh, yeah, I have a really fun, non scary, easy quiz on my website, my money love quiz, that I encourage you to start there if you don't know where to begin. Because all it there's, you probably have figured out I'm I'm really not into the judgey Shamy thing. I believe we are all on the same journey, which is to a life that is focused completely on love, lifestyle and legacy. And the only purpose of for money to exist is to serve love, lifestyle, and legacy. And when it serves anything else, that's when problems happen. So we're all on the same path. And so this quiz just kind of it helps. It helps you identify where you're just really super strong rockin it, where you need support. And based on your responses, it lets me know what to send you. Like, instead of just giving everybody in the world the same gift. It's like, Oh, why don't you listen to this? Maybe this is where you need to go next. And so that's that's the quiz on the homepage. Brandon Handley 53:59 Very cool. Now, thanks for sharing that. That will be beneficial. I love that you send out something that is actually not just like, hey, thanks for thanks for filling this out. Everybody gets one of these right? Says personalized little bit. These tend to degree that they're answered. So we'll definitely send people there. And if you've got just a couple moments here, then what I always liken this to this podcast, who's kind of like spiritual speed dating, right? Like somebody's tuning into the podcast, and they're like, I'm just looking for my next vehicle speed day, who am I gonna spend like, because, you know, I think you know, in the world of marketing to like the average time that somebody spends about 90 days like kind of listen to like certain podcasts before they move on or this day, right? So it's a speed date. And you're my spiritual bachelorette of the day. So spiritual Bachelorette number one. I think this one, this is a good question for you. Why is there poverty and suffering in the world? I think Morgana Rae 55:02 people are fundamentally just as sentient beings. We're frightened. And because we're frightened, there is a tendency for some people to hoard. I don't think, you know, oligarchies with all these resources beyond whatever they need. They are very, very frightened people. It's it. And I think this is why we have poverty and suffering, because we have the resources, we have the technology. But there's a there's a very tribal, a very ancient wiring, in our belief system, that we have to be separate from others. And we have to have more than others. And it shows up in lots of different ways. You know, religious wars, racism, sexism, fear of otherness, fear that there won't be enough for us. And I think that's where it all comes from. And the solution is, it's so individual, it's systemic, yes, but all systems begin with individuals, is we have to work on ourselves first. And it always, always, always boils down to I am enough, when I am enough, it is possible for me to have enough. When I not enough, everything in the world is never going to be enough. And that's that's the real world work that needs to be done. Brandon Handley 56:44 Nothing that's powerful. A couple of things now, right sounds like, you know, part of it's just like this, this heritage, right? It's it's been kind of handed and people just aren't breaking the chain, right? Be like, well, this works, especially if they're rich, right? Like, well, this worked before. And we all say rich, I'm gonna keep doing it. Right? Let's keep this Let's not break this chain. And then the other part, right? I am enough, are idea of things folks who earlier, right? The money equals our value, I don't see a bunch of money. So I must not be worth a whole lot type of thing. And really just kind of changing that other game, you're like, Well, you know what, actually, I don't need the money to show me my value. And as I begin to see my own value, understand that I'm enough, I began to see more money, right? It's kind of it works a little bit in the reverse. And then I think that we've been taught, that's been my experience anyways, right? And, you know, you talked about the vacuum, sometimes it's just like, as a bag up and somebody acts it up, and then that's great. Right? So that'll happen. And so it's pretty interesting to see that happen, especially when we when we talk about our worthiness and our value. And we we tend to relate that worthiness and value to how much am I doing? And how hard am I working? Right versus your enough, like, you don't have to like, you know, I don't know, sacrifice your all of who you are, to get what you want. So, Morgana Rae 58:07 like the wealthiest state of being, is when you don't need to prove anything right. Brandon Handley 58:13 Now, I love that. I love that one more here for you. Because I think that it relates to what you're saying. In you mentioned about people being frightened, right. So when they're frightened, you know, that to me would indicate that that's preventing them from living to their full potential, what else would be keeping people from living to their fullest potential? Morgana Rae 58:34 Well, I actually I had this image when you were talking about being frightened, because like, one of my favorite topics is the connection of love and money. And one of the unintended consequences that I found of my work early on, which is my favorites, is that when people heal their relationship with money, their love lives get better. So women, when we're frightened, we become really like hard and protective and masculine and we have our armor up and we're like, we want this that that and we're not going to settle for anything less and we're like, and gods are like, Oh my God. And men when they slay their monster what is so beautiful is like, you can see it in their shoulders. They're like this and and, and they they become the heroes they've always wanted to be. And so while women when they when they need their money, honey, they may be like, Oh, I can finally finally relax. Now it's safe. I can just wrap myself in my money honey arms and, and be supported now in this moment. And for the man it's like their money, honey. It's like you slay the monster for me. You're my hero. And he's like, Yeah, I am. And so he becomes really attractive not just to money, but to romance. And the same for women. And that that is, I think, my happiest favorite effect of the work because it really ultimately, is. It all boils down to our relationship with life. Are we safe? Are we wanted are we loved? Brandon Handley 1:00:17 Awesome, we're gonna thank you so much for coming on today. Now I know we can send them to take the quiz, folks, where should we send them to connect with you? Morgana Rae 1:00:27 Morgana ray.com Just my name with a.com at the end that is the mother ship that has my video series that has the quiz that has my book that has hundreds of articles and videos and you know my programs and if you want to, like run off to Bali or Mexico with me for a week and become a money goddess, that's where you'll find it too. Brandon Handley 1:00:50 Awesome. Thanks so much for being on. Morgana Rae 1:00:53 My pleasure. Thank you for having me. I Unknown Speaker 1:00:56 really hope you enjoyed this episode of the spiritual dove podcast. Stay connected with us directly through spiritual dove.co. You can also join the discussion on Facebook, spiritual and Instagram and spiritual underscore Joe. If you would like to speak with us, send us an email Brandon at spiritual dove.co And as always, thank you for cultivating your mindset and creating a better reality. This includes the most thought provoking part of your day. Don't forget to like and subscribe to stay fully up to date. Until next time, be kind to yourself and trust your intuition Transcribed by https://otter.ai

In this HCI Podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Michael MacDonald about learning to listen in a world of talkers. See the video here: https://youtu.be/AX5Gd4PveVg. Michael MacDonald retired from Medifast in 2020 and has served as non-Executive Chairman of the Board since January 2018. Mr. MacDonald previously served as Executive Chairman of the Board from November 2011 until December 2017. He was promoted to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in February 2012. Prior to this role with the company Mr. MacDonald was Executive Vice President of OfficeMax, from August to October 2011, overseeing the Contract Division, a $3.6 billion division of the OfficeMax Company. Mr. MacDonald spent 33 years in sales, marketing, and general management at Xerox Corporation prior to joining OfficeMax. Among his most significant roles was leading the turnaround in North America from the years 2000-2004 as President of the North American Solutions Group, a $6.5 billion division of Xerox. In addition, Mr. MacDonald was President of Global Accounts and Marketing from 2004 to 2007, where he led the re-branding of the Xerox Corporation. Mr. MacDonald also has international experience in marketing, sales, and operations with both Xerox and OfficeMax. He resides in New Jersey and Florida with his wife of 44 years, Jean MacDonald. Together they have three children and five grandkids. Please leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts! Please consider supporting the HCI Podcast on Patreon. Check out the HCI Academy: Courses, Micro-Credentials, and Certificates to Upskill and Reskill for the Future of Work! Check out the LinkedIn Alchemizing Human Capital Newsletter. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Future Leader. Check out Dr. Westover's book, 'Bluer than Indigo' Leadership. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership. Check out the latest issue of the Human Capital Leadership magazine. Ranked #5 Workplace Podcast Ranked #6 Performance Management Podcast Ranked #7 HR Podcast Ranked #12 Talent Management Podcast Ranked in the Top 20 Personal Development and Self-Improvement Podcasts  Ranked in the Top 30 Leadership Podcasts Each HCI Podcast episode (Program, ID No. 592296) has been approved for 0.50 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).

A Fortune 500 CEO and a former Fortune 500 CEO, Ravi Saligram is the CEO of Newell Brands, the parent company of some of America's best-known brands, including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, and Crockpot. Ravi was previously the CEO of Office Max. Ravi joins Adam to share his journey and best advice on a wide range of topics. Adam and Ravi discuss career development, leadership, branding, personal branding, turnarounds, trust, diversity and inclusion, hiring, and much more.

Ep. 89: Dick Vitale and Jim Valvano shaped this business icon. Michael spent 33 years climbing the ladder at Xerox before OfficeMax hired him as Executive Vice President where he led a $3.6 billion dollar division.  In 2012, he was named Chairman and CEO of the nutrition and weight loss company, Medifast. Under his leadership, Medifast's stock rose from $4 to $218 per share. I knew Michael would be the perfect guest after reading his book From the Bench to the Boardroom. In the promotions for the book, Duke's Coach Mike Krzyzewski described him as persistent and determined even in his current role as a board member of the V Foundation. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-89/ for a free gift and today's show notes! Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Xinyi Yang for making this episode possible.