Podcasts about Pacific Northwest

Birds and trees are a natural combination, and in author Marina Richie's latest, Feathered Forest: Aloft With Birds in Ancient Trees, she meditates on the big forests of her home in the Pacific Northwest and the birds that inhabit them. From Pacific Wrens on the forest floor, to Vaux's Swifts high above the canopy, each bird offers insights into the grandeur of these places.  Also, thought we were done with NACC taxonomy? But wait, there's more! Nate updates listeners on the last proposal packet and the potential for a new crossbill.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!  

  This is an incredible MASHUP podcast as we combine forces with SHeCommerce podcast and have the two superstar hosts, Cristina and Jacqui on the show. Wow, this one is so incredible as we break down what is going on with women in the retail and ecommerce space! From C-Suites to Boardrooms, where are we and how do we continue to bring women to the deserved table with more power!  The Always Off Brand is always a Laugh & Learn!    FEEDSPOT TOP 10 Retail Podcast! https://podcast.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/?feedid=5770554&_src=f2_featured_email   GUEST Jacqui Dynowski  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquidynowski-shecommercepodcast/ SHeCommerce Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com   GUES  Cristina Marinucci LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristinamarinucci/ SHeCommerce Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/ QUICKFIRE Info:   Website: https://www.quickfirenow.com/ Email the Show: info@quickfirenow.com  Talk to us on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quickfireproductions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quickfire__/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quickfiremarketing LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/quickfire-productions-llc/about/ Sports podcast Scott has been doing since 2017, Scott & Tim Sports Show part of Somethin About Nothin:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/somethin-about-nothin/id1306950451 HOSTS: Summer Jubelirer has been in digital commerce and marketing for over 17 years. After spending many years working for digital and ecommerce agencies working with multi-million dollar brands and running teams of Account Managers, she is now the Amazon Manager at OLLY PBC.   LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerjubelirer/   Scott Ohsman has been working with brands for over 30 years in retail, online and has launched over 200 brands on Amazon. Mr. Ohsman has been managing brands on Amazon for 19yrs. Owning his own sales and marketing agency in the Pacific NW, is now VP of Digital Commerce for Quickfire LLC. Producer and Co-Host for the top 5 retail podcast, Always Off Brand. He also produces the Brain Driven Brands Podcast featuring leading Consumer Behaviorist Sarah Levinger. Scott has been a featured speaker at national trade shows and has developed distribution strategies for many top brands. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-ohsman-861196a6/   Hayley Brucker has been working in retail and with Amazon for years. Hayley has extensive experience in digital advertising, both seller and vendor central on Amazon. Hayley lives in North Carolina.  LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-brucker-1945bb229/   Huge thanks to Cytrus our show theme music "Office Party" available wherever you get your music. Check them out here: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cytrusmusic Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cytrusmusic/ Twitter https://twitter.com/cytrusmusic SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6VrNLN6Thj1iUMsiL4Yt5q?si=MeRsjqYfQiafl0f021kHwg APPLE MUSIC https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cytrus/1462321449   "Always Off Brand" is part of the Quickfire Podcast Network and produced by Quickfire LLC.  

With Mike away, cruising around the Pacific Northwest, the podcast is on the briefest of hiatuses. But all of baseball was on hiatus until this week, 45 years ago, when the owners and the players finally agreed to resume the 1981 season after missing almost 40 percent of the regular season. Mike and Bill look at the reasons behind the strike, who was at fault, how it got resolved, what effect it had on a deeply weird season, and the uncanny parallels to 2020, when they originally recorded this episode. Plus, happy birthday to Tommie Agee and Bill Monbouquette!  

A nighttime Bigfoot expedition in Oakridge, Oregon takes an unexpected turn when multiple participants report mysterious lights moving through the forest. Area 58 Museum founder Priscilla Roseman-Davidson shares new information from Sasquatch Summerfest 2026, recounts her own unforgettable midnight encounter involving multiple sets of glowing eyes, and reveals why the Oakridge area continues to generate some of the most compelling Bigfoot reports in the Pacific Northwest.From Packard Creek Campground and Hills Creek Reservoir to the deep forests surrounding Oakridge, this episode explores firsthand experiences, historical reports, and the remarkable legacy of legendary Bigfoot researcher Peter Byrne. If you're fascinated by authentic witness testimony and one of America's most active Sasquatch hotspots, this is an episode you won't want to miss.Resources:Area 58 Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572788733343Area 58 Youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@Area58MuseumFestival information here:https://www.sasquatchsummerfest.com

Tanya Rybarczyk preaches for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, offering a reflection on how the Canaanite woman's fierce compassion is what Jesus praises as 'great faith':"To keep our eyes fixed on the least of these IS to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. In them is where he is found."Tanya Rybarczyk is a preacher, writer, minister, and retreat leader specializing in adult faith formation, Catholic contemplative prayer practices, and spiritual caregiving. She has ministered as a Pastoral Associate at Saint Cecilia Parish in Boston and as Director of Spiritual Care at Elizabeth Seton Residence in Wellesley, MA, and is part of the inaugural cohort of PROCLAIM, a preaching formation program for women. She holds Masters degrees in Pastoral Ministry and English, and lives in the Pacific Northwest outside Portland, Oregon.Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/08162026 to learn more about Tanya, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

In this episode of The Construction Corner podcast, Dillon shares a broad business update and discusses his decision to remove himself from social media in February. He explains how tuning out cultural noise has improved his focus and operational mindset by keeping his attention on factors he can control.Turning to VDS, he announces a new website, infrastructure upgrades, and team growth. He notes the importance of managing client pivots and project scope changes without taking them personally.Business development is accelerating, evidenced by signing more NDAs in two weeks than in the last six years. This growth is driven by large, confidential data center projects, where electrical engineering now commands 30–35% of total project value, reordering traditional construction dynamics.Finally, Dillon highlights VDS's geographic expansion across the Pacific Northwest and multiple states—including Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, and California—alongside upcoming fall recruiting events at three to four universities.

This episode covers thunderstorms, a frontal system, and fog across the forecast area. Areas discussed include New York, Boston, Chicago, Texas, the Rockies, California, the Pacific Northwest, and Arizona. Temperatures referenced in this forecast: upper 80s and near 90. The Airport Hub Outlook covers JFK and Charlotte for travelers watching for delays. Forecast by Steve Pellettiere, Certified Consulting Meteorologist and Certified Broadcast Meteorologist, with 50 years of experience forecasting the Northeast and beyond. Topics: New York weather, Boston weather, Chicago weather, Texas weather, Rockies weather, thunderstorms forecast, a frontal system forecast, fog forecast. The Weatherman Podcast with Steve Pellettiere, Certified Consulting and Broadcast Meteorologist. I talk about weather!

Languages have evolved over time, but it is rare when one is just created. Nearly 140 years ago, a Polish linguist did just that. Esperanto was made with the intent to be a universal second language for international communication. It is difficult to measure just how many people speak the language, but it does have speakers across the globe.   In the Pacific Northwest, speakers will gather next month for the 45th anniversary of the Northwest Regional Esperanto Conference in Seattle. We're joined by three members of the Esperanto Society of Portland: Izaak Zawyrucha-Moore, Alaine Warfield and Bruce Sherwood. They share why they've chosen to learn this language and what it has meant for them.  

Oregon became the thirty-third state on February 14, 1859, but its history reaches far beyond statehood. Indigenous peoples had lived throughout the region long before Europeans arrived, with communities and traditions tied to the coast, forests, mountains, and rivers. One of the earliest documented European explorations of what is now Oregon came in 1543, when Bartolomé Ferrelo continued north along the Pacific Coast on an expedition begun by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. Over the centuries that followed, Spain, Britain, and the United States all claimed interests in the Pacific Northwest. The United States and Great Britain agreed to jointly occupy the Oregon Country in 1818, and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 established the boundary between American and British territory. Oregon Territory was organized in 1848, followed by statehood eleven years later. With forests that seem to go on forever, a rugged coastline, isolated lakes, old hotels, and communities with stories passed down for generations, Oregon has produced some wonderfully strange folklore. There are mysterious creatures, sea serpents, ghosts, and at least one monster who apparently decided that simply being a monster wasn't interesting enough. He needed a name... Podcast Notes: https://ancestralfindings.com/american-folklore-oregon/ Ancestral Findings Podcast: https://ancestralfindings.com/podcast This Week's Free Genealogy Lookups: https://ancestralfindings.com/lookups Genealogy Giveaway: https://ancestralfindings.com/giveaway Genealogy eBooks: https://ancestralfindings.com/ebooks Follow Along: https://www.facebook.com/AncestralFindings https://www.youtube.com/ancestralfindings Support Ancestral Findings: https://ancestralfindings.com/support #Genealogy #AncestralFindings #GenealogyClips

Seattle's full city council is heading to a vote on a $300,000 allocation from the Jumpstart Payroll Tax — the so-called Amazon tax — earmarked for LGBTQIA+ organizations. The pitch: a surge of "trans refugees" fleeing conservative states like Texas has overwhelmed local nonprofits, and the NGOs say they're out of money. Mayor Katie Wilson has gone a step further, floating a state-of-emergency declaration to accompany the ask.Sean breaks down what a "trans emergency" actually looks like in practice — and why the numbers behind it don't hold up. Seattle is already carrying a significant budget deficit, the state is in its own fiscal hole, and not a single verifiable figure has been offered to justify the spend. The "vulnerable population" framing is doing enormous heavy lifting with nothing behind it.The Fox 13 clip gets a full Sean Reynolds reaction: if you can't afford to get yourself to Seattle, a $300K municipal bailout funded by Amazon employees' paychecks probably isn't the answer. This is a money grab dressed up as a humanitarian crisis, and the Seattle City Council is about to vote on it.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily conservative commentary on Seattle city hall, Pacific Northwest politics, and the stories the local press won't touch.#NFRP #Seattle #KatieWilsonGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Portland's relationship with the Trailblazers has hit a breaking point. New owner Tom Dundon asked the city for nearly $600 million to renovate Moda Center and got a cold shoulder from a city council that would rather fund protest causes than keep an NBA franchise. Sean breaks down why this isn't just a sports story — it's the clearest preview yet of Portland's terminal business climate.Mayor Keith Wilson and the Portland City Council face an August 12 vote on the arena lease, but the real issue is structural. Oregon's highest-in-nation tax burden, a decade of riots, open-air drug markets, and a reflexively anti-business culture have already driven companies out by the hundreds. When an NBA team can't get a serious infrastructure conversation, you know the city has lost the plot entirely.Sean puts the odds at 75-25 that the Blazers land in Austin — a city that actually wants them. The franchise that gave Portland Bill Walton and Clyde Drexler deserves a home that can compete for talent and investment. Portland chose the ideology; now it may lose the last major pro sports team to prove what that choice costs.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily commentary on Pacific Northwest politics and the national stories that actually matter.#NFRP #Portland #KeithWilsonGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Oregon came dangerously close to outlawing hunting, fishing, trapping, rodeo, and livestock operations statewide. Initiative Petition 28 failed to gather enough signatures — but the fact it got as far as it did exposed how far left the state's political class has drifted from the rural communities that built it.Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazen is done playing defense. She's proposing a constitutional amendment to permanently enshrine the right to hunt, fish, trap, and raise livestock in Oregon law. Governor Tina Kotek's response? "Political theater" — no acknowledgment of the near-miss that made the fight necessary in the first place.Sean also covers Daimler/Freightliner moving its truck plant out of Portland, Seattle's LGBTQ funding debate, and why Amazon's Jumpstart payroll tax is quietly making the city uncompetitive for the businesses it needs most.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily commentary on Pacific Northwest politics, urban policy, and the stories the mainstream press buries.#NFRP #Oregon #TinaKotekGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Seattle's full city council is heading to a vote on a $300,000 allocation from the Jumpstart Payroll Tax — the so-called Amazon tax — earmarked for LGBTQIA+ organizations. The pitch: a surge of "trans refugees" fleeing conservative states like Texas has overwhelmed local nonprofits, and the NGOs say they're out of money. Mayor Katie Wilson has gone a step further, floating a state-of-emergency declaration to accompany the ask.Sean breaks down what a "trans emergency" actually looks like in practice — and why the numbers behind it don't hold up. Seattle is already carrying a significant budget deficit, the state is in its own fiscal hole, and not a single verifiable figure has been offered to justify the spend. The "vulnerable population" framing is doing enormous heavy lifting with nothing behind it.The Fox 13 clip gets a full Sean Reynolds reaction: if you can't afford to get yourself to Seattle, a $300K municipal bailout funded by Amazon employees' paychecks probably isn't the answer. This is a money grab dressed up as a humanitarian crisis, and the Seattle City Council is about to vote on it.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily conservative commentary on Seattle city hall, Pacific Northwest politics, and the stories the local press won't touch.#NFRP #Seattle #KatieWilsonGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Seattle's full city council is heading to a vote on a $300,000 allocation from the Jumpstart Payroll Tax — the so-called Amazon tax — earmarked for LGBTQIA+ organizations. The pitch: a surge of "trans refugees" fleeing conservative states like Texas has overwhelmed local nonprofits, and the NGOs say they're out of money. Mayor Katie Wilson has gone a step further, floating a state-of-emergency declaration to accompany the ask.Sean breaks down what a "trans emergency" actually looks like in practice — and why the numbers behind it don't hold up. Seattle is already carrying a significant budget deficit, the state is in its own fiscal hole, and not a single verifiable figure has been offered to justify the spend. The "vulnerable population" framing is doing enormous heavy lifting with nothing behind it.The Fox 13 clip gets a full Sean Reynolds reaction: if you can't afford to get yourself to Seattle, a $300K municipal bailout funded by Amazon employees' paychecks probably isn't the answer. This is a money grab dressed up as a humanitarian crisis, and the Seattle City Council is about to vote on it.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily conservative commentary on Seattle city hall, Pacific Northwest politics, and the stories the local press won't touch.#NFRP #Seattle #KatieWilsonGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

94 Major Wildfires Are Burning Across the West—Is This the New Normal? The Western United States is facing a dangerous wildfire crisis. Crews are fighting to protect Big Sur, three fires are burning near Reno with single-digit containment, and 94 large wildfires remain uncontained across the West as of August 11, 2026. From the Northwest and Northern Rockies to California, Nevada and the Southwest, extreme heat, dry conditions and expanding fire activity threaten communities, public health and the environment. Wildfire smoke can travel hundreds of miles, while the economic and human costs continue to mount. What can America do to prevent these disasters? Can better land management, climate action and community preparation make a meaningful difference—or must we adapt to wildfires as the West's new normal? Then, after 24 years on the air, a Bay Area radio host has been laid off. His scathing Facebook post captures the troubling state of today's broadcasting industry. Who killed local radio—and why are experienced local voices disappearing? Support The Karel Cast at patreon.com/reallykarel. Please watch, like and subscribe at youtube.com/reallykarel. The Karel Cast streams Monday through Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Pacific and is available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Spreaker, TikTok and Instagram. Karel is a history-making broadcaster and entertainer based in Las Vegas with his service dog, Ember. #WesternWildfires, #Wildfires, #CaliforniaWildfires, #BigSurFire, #RenoFires, #NevadaWildfires, #WildfireSeason, #WildfireSmoke, #ClimateChange, #ExtremeHeat, #BreakingNews, #USNews, #CaliforniaNews, #NevadaNews, #PacificNorthwest, #NorthernCalifornia, #SouthernCalifornia, #AirQuality, #ClimateCrisis, #NaturalDisasters, #EmergencyPreparedness, #Firefighters, #NewNormal, #LocalRadio, #BayAreaRadio, #RadioIndustry, #MediaNews, #TheKarelCast, #ReallyKarel, #KarelCast https://youtube.com/live/WhcAzTPgXf0

We've known for quite some time that the Orlando Pride have not been playing well. Ever since the restart after the World Cup break, the Pride have been nearly unwatchable, and with Barbra Banda first injured and then off with Zambia for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, there haven't even been many goals to celebrate, let alone wins. Despite knowing that going in, your hosts attended Friday's Pride match against Racing Louisville — the very first time the two of us have been at a game as a fan at the same time. With one of us living in Tallahassee and the other one of us working the equivalent of about three jobs, including being at Orlando City games to cover those for The Mane Land, it just hadn't happened yet. That changed Friday, and although we did not enjoy the game much at all, we did enjoy being at the stadium, hanging out, and commiserating about how badly the team was playing (misery loves company). The food and beer were good. The soccer was not.We look back at the Pride's latest difficult outing, check our oh-so-close score predictions, and I think we picked a Player of the Match, but honestly we should not have.We also discussed the additions of Zoe Matthews and Gabi Nunes to the roster.This week's mailbagbox was incredibly robust, and it takes up a large chunk of the middle of the show. Our listeners wanted to know about goal of the week, long intros/outros in songs, the Pride's most urgent need, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We'd also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we'll find them easily and read them on the show.Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday night's Pride match in Portland. (Please note that we had not known the full extent of Olivia Moultrie's injury at the time of recording.) We're not holding out a lot of hope for a result for Orlando on the road, although the Thorns are in poor form. That's usually immaterial, as the Pride's recent trip to North Carolina showed us. We checked on the history of the series, looked at the teams' relative position in the table, provided our key matchups, and tried to predict the final score.If you'd like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we'd love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.Here's how Episode 133 went down:0:15 – The Pride were bad on Friday, but the company, food, and beverages were great.17:42 - The mailbagbox is bursting at the seams, and it was more fun than watching the game this week.48:08 - Orlando heads to the Pacific Northwest. We think we know what will happen, but we hope we're wrong for all the right reasons.

The freight market is loosening as summer winds down, but the question is how long that relief will last. This week on the Transfix Take Podcast, Jenni Ruiz and NFI Industries market expert Justin Maze break down falling tender rejections, easing linehaul rates, and the regional shifts shaping the market ahead of Labor Day. While much of the country is seeing softer conditions, pockets of tightening in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest show why location and lane direction still matter. In this episode: * Tender rejections fall to just above 12% after reaching 18% in mid-July * National linehaul rates drop roughly 2% week over week to $2.24 per mile * Why rates could fall another 3–3.5% before Labor Day * Continued softening across the Southeast and South as produce season fades * Why the Northeast remains tighter, particularly on freight heading south * Wildfires and late-summer produce putting pressure on Pacific Northwest capacity * What declining spot freight volumes could mean for routing guides and upcoming RFP season * Why carrier capacity reductions and tighter safety standards could have a much bigger impact on rates heading into 2027 * An update on federal rulemaking around English-language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers The market may be quieter than it was a few weeks ago, but beneath the surface, capacity is still shifting. And what happens between now and the holiday season could tell us a lot about where freight rates are headed next year. -- Disclaimer: All views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Transfix, Inc. or any parent companies or affiliates or the companies with which the participants are affiliated, and may have been previously disseminated by them. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are based upon information considered reliable, but neither Transfix, Inc. nor its affiliates, nor the companies with which such participants are affiliated, warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. All such views and opinions are subject to change.

Trooper Chris Gadd, who served as an EMT before joining the Washington State Patrol, gave his life on March 2, 2024. Now in its third year, a memorial blood drive in his honor comes to Vancouver on September 4, with Bloodworks Northwest needing roughly 1,000 donors every day to serve Pacific Northwest hospitals. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/people/honoring-a-hero-trooper-chris-gadd/ #TrooperChrisGadd #BloodworksNorthwest #WashingtonStatePatrol #BloodDrive #Vancouver #ClarkCounty #PacificNorthwest #CommunityNews

  Episode: 140 Taking Charge After Stroke: Self-Determination and Recovery with Vivian Fu   In this episode you will discover: ● The Conversation Is the Intervention — A structured, facilitated conversation that centers a person's identity, hopes, and vision for their best day produces measurable improvements in quality of life and independence a year after stroke. Connection isn't soft — it's evidence-based. ● Reframe the Expert in the Room — Take Charge asks clinicians to resist offering advice, validation, or direction — and to trust that the person with stroke already holds the wisdom they need. The hardest part of the facilitator role is staying out of the way. ● Self-Determination Is Not a Luxury — When people with stroke are supported to set their own direction, outcomes improve, costs decrease, and the effects last for years. Building systems that protect that autonomy isn't idealistic — it's what the data demands.   Welcome to the Aphasia Access Aphasia Conversations Podcast. I'm Katie Strong from Central Michigan University and a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group, a community dedicated to supporting better aphasia care.   Today I'm speaking with Dr. Vivian Fu, a stroke neurologist living and working in Kelowna, British Columbia, the unceded territories of the Syilx / Okanagan people. Vivian trained in Aotearoa New Zealand, where she completed her PhD running the Taking Charge After Stroke trial. Take Charge showed that people with stroke who were supported to follow their own self-determination had much better quality of life and independence a year after their stroke. The second Take Charge RCT showed that two sessions about six weeks apart produce better outcomes than one session. Vivian strives to embed the Take Charge philosophy in her daily practice, and is focused on improving access to high quality stroke care for rural, regional, and underrepresented populations.   I have been looking forward to this conversation. What drew me to Take Charge was how it reframes the question entirely — from what does the clinician do for this person to what does this person want for their own life. That shift is deceptively simple, and as you'll hear, the evidence behind it is anything but.   Let's get into it.   Katie Strong:  Welcome, Vivian. Vivian Fu: Thank you so much for having me, Katie. I'd like to start off with my Pepeha. This is an introduction in Te Reo Māori, which is the indigenous language of the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, and I'll just translate each line. Nō Hong Kong ōku tīpuna. My ancestors come from Hong Kong. I tipu ake au ki Aotearoa. I grew up in Aotearoa, New Zealand. E noho ana au ki Ki-Low-Na. I live in Kelowna, British Columbia. Ko tēnei taku mihi ki ngā tāngata whenua o te rohe nei. I like to pay my deepest respects to the first peoples of this land. I live on the unceded territories of the Syilx and Okanagan peoples. Ko tēnei taku mihi ki ngā maunga, ki ngā awa, ki ngā roto, ki ngā Papatuānuku, o te rohe nei. I'd like to pay my deepest respects to the mountains, rivers, and the lakes, and to Mother Earth. All these important landmarks that have been here for millennia. Nō reira, tēna koutou, tēna koutou, tēna koutou katoa. Therefore, hello, hello, hello, Ko Vivian Fu tōku ingoa. Lovely to be here. Katie Strong:  Well, I'm so glad you're here. And I wanted to start off today asking about the Take Charge program that you've been working with, and talk to me about how that began. What was the origin of that? Vivian Fu:  Sure, so really this work began in probably the late 90s early 2000s when clinicians in Aotearoa New Zealand realized that there were different outcomes for people who were Māori compared with non-Māori, and I guess an important point to illustrate is that in Aotearoa society we view things in a very bicultural lens, and by that I mean Tangata Whenua, who are the people of the land, so indigenous people of the Māori and Tangata Tiriti, so everyone else are people of the treaty. It doesn't really matter where you come from, but you are a person of the treaty if you live in Aotearoa, and so it's a bicultural lens, and so we always look at things in that way, and that's how our kind of entire society is grounded upon that. And so when we look at health outcomes, what we could see back then, and unfortunately what we, in a way, still see now is that Māori were experiencing a stroke at about 20 years younger than non-Māori, and they were more likely to die from their stroke, and also more likely to be severely disabled. And so there was a difference in life expectancy, a difference in overall rehabilitation access, difference in overall outcomes, and so it started off with Professor Matire Harwood's work. She is Tangata Whenua, and in her PhD, she was looking at why there were these differences in outcomes and wanting to address them. And so that started off with the Māori and Pacific Stroke Study, which was essentially conducted in just Māori and Pacific people in Aotearoa, New Zealand, out of many different centers around the country. It was a four arm study.. It was a randomized control trial, and it looked at a conversation, which was labeled as the "Take Charge" session, but it was, it was really a connection and a conversation versus a professionally made DVD from the New Zealand Stroke Foundation about people's experiences and stories after stroke. And then the fourth arm of the trial was getting both of those interventions, and there was a control group. So there were three active groups in one control group. And what the researchers basically found was that anybody who had received this session of discussion and connection did much better a year after stroke in terms of quality of life, independence, and caregiver strain. And so that was the first sort of indication that there was something in that conversation that was really important. Unfortunately, it didn't really take off in terms of being able to be implemented, and so then Dr. Harry McNaughton, who was Dr. Harwood's supervisor wrote multiple grants and tried to get this session into much more of a bigger trial with some some type of implementation, and that's where I came along and we essentially did two things. We operationalized the intervention into something that had a bit of a framework, so with a bit of a booklet and a bit of a structure to follow. Really looking into what was it about that conversation that was so powerful and made such a difference to people, and tried to put those things into practice. Then, secondly, to conduct a second trial in New Zealand out of seven centers for people with stroke who were non-Māori and non-Pacific, because the struggle that we came across was that it was only shown to be effective in a small group of people, but not in everybody, and so we had to do things backwards. And so that was really where it all began, from these principles of self-determination, so Tino Rangatiratanga, which is a really important principle in Te Ao Māori, and in the world of Māori, but also knowing that Māori and a lot of indigenous peoples, we think of health as this concept called Te Whare Tapa Whā, for example, which is the house with four walls. So a person is never just their body and their physical health, there are other walls that keep the house upright. So mental health, spiritual health, and family health, whānau is so important, and feeling as though you have strong foundations in where you belong is also really important. So it's that really holistic look at health of an individual and how we can address all of those things in an intervention is really where it all came from. Katie Strong:  Thank you for sharing. I appreciate the backstory, and also just the idea of what you're thinking about from a holistic health standpoint. I know our listeners are probably curious, some of them might not have heard about Take Charge before, so this is the first time of them hearing about this, and so I was hoping, Vivian, you could give us an overview of what the intervention is, and then maybe walk us through what a session actually looks like in practice. Vivian Fu: Yeah, absolutely. So I'll talk you through the session in the way that it was done in the larger Take Charge trial. So this was done in 400 non-Māori, non-Pacific people with stroke, and our trial there had three arms. So there was a control group, there was a group that received just one session, and then there was a group that received two sessions six weeks apart roughly. The sessions were provided by a trained facilitator, and they were timed roughly somewhere between three to 18 weeks after stroke. So quite a large window, really, depending on when the person with stroke was ready to receive it. So the short version of what it looks like is it's based off the booklet and it's done face to face. It's a conversation and the facilitator is trained at the beginning to really try and establish a relationship…to build a relationship. There's a concept in Te Ao Māori called Whakawhanaungatanga, which is really sort of seeking another person's identity, recognizing who they are as a person, and trying to build connections. And so I guess in English, we think of that as building rapport, building trust. And so it in our trial was done face to face. We have also looked at ways of doing this via telehealth as well, which is, you can imagine, is a little bit different. But that step is really important, and we knew that it was important also in the initial Māori and Pacific trial, because the facilitators who were trained were actually ethnicity matched. So that's something where I think it came quite naturally in that trial, but in the second trial we really wanted to ensure that a relationship was built, and then there are three pages, initial pages in the booklet that look at different things. So the first page is looking at how the person has been affected by the stroke, and then asking them to think about actually who they really are as a person. It's a very simple concept, and a very sort of simple question, but for many people that's the first time they've really been asked that and have had to think about that. So anything that comes to mind that they can relate to, you know, who they are. An individual, and what it is that they love, so for example, for me, I would say, "I'm a mum, and I'm, I'm a stroke neurologist, I am a painter, I'm a poet, I'm someone who loves going for walks in hikes," and, you know, so those kinds of things, and it, and it kind of really builds on on that person's identity and who they are in the world. And so that's that sort of page one. It's really about establishing identity and sense of self. And then the second page is talking then about my hopes and fears. And that might be a tricky one, really, for a lot of people to start talking about and thinking about. They may not want to express that, they may not have been asked that. Sometimes it brings out a lot of emotion, and that's why that initial beginning part of establishing trust and in a kind of a psychological safety space is really important. And then the third page is imagining or envisioning what my best day looks like. And you can be as wild and fantastical about that as you like. When we train our facilitators, we asked them to do these exercises as well themselves, so they can get a really good sense of what that's like, and I had a lovely training session with community health workers from Tanaha First Nation in Cranbrook, BC, and one of one of the attendees in the group said she'd love to have breakfast with a Sasquatch, and so that was absolutely, you know, it was so culturally relevant, so important. Katie Strong:  That makes my Pacific Northwest roots just smile there! Vivian Fu: Exactly! Just so unique to that individual and to where they are in the world. And it's not something you can, you can pluck out of a textbook or pluck out of anything, right. It's where they are. I love that activity. It's quite magical what comes out. And then after those three pages are done, then there are some pages that are specifically related to goal setting, which may or may not be relevant to the person in front of you, things like a physical page, emotional, social, financial, health management type pages. And that really is a way to think about or encourage the person to think about, or we know what are the things that do matter to you, and and what are the things you would like to achieve in the long run, and what are some ways you might be able to break that down into achievable steps that you would personally want to do. But the session in practice can look like anything out of that. It can look from a person at session one being completely clammed up about not wanting to dig deep or not not being ready to engage in that. Or just kind of being, you know, keeping it all to themselves, and thinking about it, and ruminating about it, and then session two, looking very different after they've had that six weeks to think about it themselves. It can look like blank pages, or it could look like a person coming up with all sorts of brilliant ideas. Hopefully, you know, we always encourage if they can write the person with stroke as the one who is writing in the notebook. They keep it. They stick it on their fridge. They do whatever they like with it. They write in it in their own time, but it's completely fine to have blank pages. It's completely fine to have nothing come out of that conversation, nothing verbal, but it's just a space to an invitation to dig deep, and if there's something to say to feel heard. And I guess there was another question. I think that's quite important with regards to what the facilitator is doing, what are they not doing, and the facilitator is trained specifically to listen and ask questions and reflect the ideas that are being expressed by the person with stroke, but what they're not doing is they're not offering any advice or suggestions or pathways forward or how abouts or what abouts. They are not, and this is probably the hardest part. They're not passing any judgment, and that includes good judgment. So, by saying something like, "oh, that sounds like a really good idea", which seems like a really normal response from most people, it kind of implies that there are other ideas that are less good. Or the person with stroke might feel as though they are needing to have that kind of external validation, that external approval, and, and what we don't want is to for them to feel like they're doing this or saying this or thinking these things for the facilitator. We want them to think about it for themselves. And so all we encourage people to respond, is "oh, so you'd like to ride your bike, that's really interesting. How, how do you think you'll, you'll go about doing that?" You know, it's, it's much more neutral, but reflective way of speaking and listening, I guess. Katie Strong:  I am curious, how long is the training, or you know, what kinds of.. what we didn't talk about this, but I know people are going to want to know. So, what does it take to be trained? Vivian Fu: This is quite funny. This is a thing that sort of been on my mind ever since we've started implementation around the world, and I have this ultimate goal of operate like actually making the training have some type of qualification and fidelity, and some structure. There is structure, but it's essentially myself or Harry doing a Zoom with people, and it takes maybe say four hours. But ideally, what we'd love to do is to have sort of recorded videos, and then we'd have live sessions, and then we'd have assessments, and then you get a certificate at the end. I have neither the budget or the… Katie Strong: There's always the next step, for sure. Vivian Fu: I'd love to be for people to be able to say, "Oh, I'm Take Charge trained" and for them to be able to like "Look, I've got this qualification, I'm Take Charge trained, I know how to do this," and especially for if we were thinking about doing it in more clinical trial settings, I think that's really important, but also, you know, for people, you know, to have on their CV, if they're moving between jobs and things, I think it's so useful. But yeah, basically people get in touch with myself or Harry and say, "Hi, we'd like to be trained, can you fit us in?" And we just do it for free. Katie Strong:  Lovely, I love it. And the other question I had as you were talking was how long is a typical session or or is there is there length? Vivian Fu: So in the trial what our facilitators did was they because it was face to face and they had to drive between people's houses, they booked in the session, usually at 10:30 in the morning, and then another session, I think, if I remember correctly, either maybe it was 1:30 in the afternoon. And so you can probably surmise that for people with stroke, usually the 10:30 slot is the most popular. And you know, some people would would prefer to wake up earlier and be ready earlier, so they might ask for something like 9 o'clock and then they might usually go for about an hour and a half to two hours if it's a good going session, and they're really digging deep, and there's a lot to say. And often you know that first half an hour is, "Here's a cup of tea and a biscuit. Let's get to know each other. Tell me all about what happened with your stroke." That kind of stuff, so that listening and connecting stuff actually takes takes a while to establish, and I think people just allowed for that time. Then they'd do a second session in the afternoon again. There are lots of things, you know, cognitive problems, fatigue is a big one. So, if people felt like they couldn't keep going, the facilitator would say , "That's totally fine, we'll book in for, you know, do the rest of this another time, is that okay?" It was fine to really just, you can truncate it and break it up as much as the person really wants. Katie Strong:  Thank you. I appreciate the extra information. You had a recent publication in 2025 with some colleagues that looked at this work from a qualitative lens.  You came up with some themes about doing things my way, coming to my own wisdom, and they're just so deeply related to identity, and what struck me was the contrast participants drew between Take Charge care and standard care, where they described being put in a box receiving scripted advice that had really nothing to do with who they were as a person. And when someone gets to tell the story of who they are to a genuinely good listener, something shifts. I was just curious, if you could think about what you think is happening there, or what you found in your study. Vivian Fu: Well, I think for the most part, as a, you know, as a clinician, if we think about from the moment the person has a stroke, they disempowered from that very moment.  Something happens where they just aren't themselves, and they are brought into a merge. A bunch of things happen to them that they can't really even speak up about. You know, they're popped in a scanner. They might get thrombolised, you know, all these things are happening. And the person doesn't really know what's going on. There are a lot of important qualitative studies that have been done, looking at that element of feeling disempowered, and what somebody in New Zealand study described as feeling gut-wrenchingly emotional. You know, experiences that that aren't heard and aren't ever expressed to to anyone in the healthcare side and aren't dealt with, and so, if you think about that, just that trauma of having a stroke and then going through all of that stuff, and you know, ending up in a bed somewhere on a ward with strangers on the other side of a curtain, and it's really pretty traumatic. And so I think what was powerful with Take Charge was it's an it's an opportunity for someone to finally tell their story and feel heard and for all that stuff to just come out. And a lot of the time you know people might say, "Oh, well, you could talk to your family, you can talk to your kids, or, you know, whatever. Once you get home" but actually, a lot of people don't feel like talking to those who are closest to them about how much it affected them, and there is still an element of stigma. There's still an element of, "Oh, you know, you look great physically, you to someone we know having had a big health scare, and then kind of coming back into that. But there's there's a real dissonance between what is going on inside a person and and how other people are reacting to them coming back into "normal spaces". And so I think the ability to tell your story from the very get go. You know, all of the messiness of it. All the things that went wrong, and then to have somebody listen to that really gives meaning to it and makes it real, but it also helps that person really reestablish their sense of power to regain some power from that that they had lost. And there's a lot of power in story, and I think the kind of, you know, lovely thing about it is that sort of all indigenous cultures sort of be like, you know, First Nations, Māori, Gaelic, a lot of cultures really put a lot of value in the power of storytelling. And that is how historically things were really passed down, and so I think it's through that ability to be able to feel heard and to tell your story that then the person who is speaking can actually hear themselves say things out loud for the first time. And then understand the power and the value and the worth in their words and their experience, and that is that process of coming to my own wisdom, is "Oh, actually, you know, I do know about my body. I am, I am the expert, not these people in their white coats, or you know, with their expertise, I am the expert. I know what I need. I can plan my rehabilitation. I can go back to the things that I want to do, and this is how I'm going to do it." And it's that, that kind of reestablishment of confidence and strength and hope that is so powerful. I think. Katie Strong: I agree. I agree, Vivian. As you know, our listeners are primarily speech language pathologists working with people with aphasia. We also have people with aphasia that are listening, and researchers as well. But you know, the capacity for language being disrupted by aphasia. I was just curious, with Take Charge, as you've studied it, is you know, really a talking therapy with writing, and, and those sorts of things, and so I was just curious, you know, what would it take to extend this kind of intervention to people with aphasia, and what principles would you want to most preserve in the adaptation. Vivian Fu: Yeah, thank you. That's such an important question. We certainly, in the Take Charge trial, included people with aphasia in the trial, and the way that we sort of just included them was if they could understand or the consent form and could mark an "x" on the form, we'd be happy to to have them included, and so we had people with mild to moderate and moderate to severe aphasia in the trial. And we hadn't made any specific changes or tweaks to the intervention, the facilitator just did what they could with what we had. But I think what has come out of reviews of the implementation of Take Charge now in New Zealand is that it is really important for us to look at how we can adapt the intervention for people with aphasia. I think for the facilitators in the trial, what they did was they allowed a lot more time, so the usual two and a half hours became three and a half hours, and that was fine if the person could continue. But also I think from the report we need to look at alternative ways of how we can complete some of these activities, whether it's providing images where people can point, whether it's a lot more inclusion of their family, their whānau important people to them who can help with, you know, subtle guidance, and, and, and having sort of lived with the person now, can read their non-verbal expressions a lot better than a stranger, a facilitator can and can help with the guidance of participating. And really, while Take Charge has been translated, I think, now into seven or eight different languages, we really need to adapt Take Charge to other communication needs and other languages, but what I.. so my role.. sorry, I didn't.. I'd actually say this, but my role in the in the large trial was as the blinded outcomes assessor, so I went around at one year after stroke. I traveled around to the 400 or so different other people, participants' homes around the country, and I sat in their living rooms, and I listened to their stories again. And then I did all of their outcome instruments and got all of their outcomes done, but I did not know which group they were allocated to. And then I locked all the data, and then I'd say, "Hey, so which group did you get Take Charge or not?" And it was really, it was good. I think out of the 400 there were only two people who, when I turned up, actually had the booklet on the table, and so you know, I just ignored it, and then, but yeah, it was, it was really good in terms of sort of blinding and masking, and then sort of having a guess as I was going through and checking where things were at. It was such a privilege for me to, as a stroke doctor, I think you know people don't usually get to do this as a physician, but to, to meet so many different people with so many different stories, and a number of people who still had moderate to severe aphasia, and and were telling me about the impacts of that on their life. But we were still able to communicate a year after stroke, and so I think it is so important that we don't exclude people with cognitive and communication difficulties. We have to adapt the things that we have to make it work for them. What I'd love is to be able to have some kind of focus group with people with aphasia, and, and show them Take Charge, and realize, oh, what can we do? How would this work better for you? Katie Strong:  I love that, and well. Well, and we haven't talked about the materials yet, but I do have to say they're so accessible, or they're very accessible from a visual standpoint as well. Vivian Fu: Thank you. Yes, we are actually modifying them and making the font bigger and having better graphics. We started off with stick figures that Harry drew, and then I think we're actually making them a lot nicer in terms of the graphics, but what we do have at the moment is actually available online for free, and you can just download them as a package. It's if you Google it, it's the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, or www.mrinz.ac.nz  and then under programs, and we spell that as p r o g r a m m e s, and then under programs slash forward slash stroke, I think is where it lives, and at the bottom of the page you should be able to download, a training package and the booklet itself. Katie Strong: Yes, lovely, and we'll have the links on our show notes as well, so you can check those out, listeners, if you're interested. So, thank you. You have two randomized controlled trials that you've talked a little bit about, and a cost effectiveness analysis and qualitative work, all pointing in the same direction that the cost data suggests that Take Charge actually might save money, and that is remarkable, and lots of evidence showing that, but still, it's a challenge in implementing into standard practice, and I was curious if you could talk with us about what you think stands between what the evidence shows and what actually gets implemented. Vivian Fu: Sure, gosh, I love this question. It's it applies for so many interventions, I think, specifically for Take Charge, it's a number of things. So definitely the stuff that affects other interventions being implemented, but for Take Charge itself, it started off with a huge amount of disbelief bias, so people, you know, even after I presented the main results of the second trial at the European Stroke Conference in gosh, when was that? 2019 pre-COVID in Milan. So this is a huge international stroke conference, and this was a plenary session. People stood up and took photos of the results and went, you know, there was this collective gasp throughout the audience of 6000 odd people, but there's just this disbelief that something as simple as a conversation can make a difference to people's objective quality quantitative outcomes, like the, you know, Bartel or the FIM, what they, you know, what their physical outcomes are like at a year. And what their quality of life is like. I think for people who are stroke researchers, a lot of the focus is on that initial 24 to 48 hours after stroke. And you know, that that's kind of where that's kind of where all the funding goes, isn't it? So it's the pre-hospital stuff, and then the interventional things you can stick catheters into and thrombolysis, and you know that's, and that's all great. You know, I, as a stroke physician, I love that part of stroke as well, but to think that you could possibly do something at three to 18 weeks after stroke that could change a person's outcome by a year, and actually we've got a long-term follow-up study now that says that those those same magnitude of changes are still present at five years between the groups is, you know, kind of gobsmacking. And people just go, surely you've fudged this, or surely this can't be true. And so there's this huge disbelief bias that stopped us from being able to publish initially, and it was only after I presented the results in Milan that that we got accepted into a journal. And we'd been trying for about a year beforehand, and, and so there's, there's that disbelief. But also in the way that it has to be provided, you know, it's probably considered quite labor intensive. You know, one on one home visits, and that's why people of other researchers who do believe in Take Charge are now looking at providing take charge in different ways. Like I did a telehealth trial in Canada, in southern Alberta, when I was there as a fellow in Calgary, and there's potential other work that's being. Done in Australia with Take Charge, looking at providing it by computer avatars, by even maybe even AI, and maybe in a larger sort of telehealth format. And so you know other ways of doing it, but I think ultimately it's kind of cultural inertia, because you know, "We've never done this, this is not part of who we are. Why would we need to start something new?" There's probably kind of an established way of thinking about clinician and, and patient, rather than person with stroke, in still in how we practice, and this idea that the therapist and doctor are experts. And so I think it really challenges that dogma and challenges clinician's role, and therefore there's a resistance to accept that this is something that is useful and helpful, and actually doesn't, you know, you don't need to take it personally. You're still doing great work. Take Charge is just a tool that helps supplement everything else that's going on, and so there's a lack of time, and I think we also get quite, as practicing clinicians, we get quite tunnel visioned into this, you know, hamster wheel of go to work, treat all these people, go home. We just keep doing it. Hoping that things will get better for them, but, you know, we, it's only when we start looking at alternative interventions and alternative things that work and start trialing them and being open to that, that I think things will really start to change. We've certainly had interest from random little parts around the world. I think it's been translated into Latvian. I've got people from Sweden who are interested. A little hospital in Germany, and then parts of it's been trialed in pilot studies in the UK. And Harry and I last year trained a whole bunch of occupational therapists in Hong Kong, so you know it is, it is kind of picking up, slowly but surely. Katie Strong: Well to me, you know, most stroke survivors, or people with stroke, as you're referring to them, have chronic challenges, and so all of the early intervention, while important, doesn't necessarily help somebody navigate that longer term change. And so I love that this is just such an empowering way of putting that power back into the person's life, which it seems like it is showing up n in the results that you're sharing. Vivian Fu: Oh, absolutely. I mean, if we think about it, if we just think about thrombectomy and thrombolysis, somewhere between five to 15% of all people with stroke are eligible, and then receive the treatment. That leaves what?, 85 to 95% of people who don't get to receive that. And even after they receive the treatment, there are consequences of stroke that are beyond the physical that don't you know don't have any other thing to address them apart from our routine care, so I completely agree with you. Katie Strong: Well, thinking about what clinicians might be able to do tomorrow or you know, in the near future, for our speech-language pathologists or other practitioners who are listening today and are feeling the pull of this work, and you know, really encouraged by it, but are you know working in an embedded productivity driven impairment focused system, what's one thing that they could do differently in the very next clinical encounter that they have? Vivian Fu:  We have a paper, I think it's written. Oh gosh, where did it.. where did it get published? I think it was published in Practical Neurology. It's titled something, something intrinsic motivation. I should know better. Katie Strong: I'm going find out, and I don't think I read that one, so I'm gonna find it, and I'll put the link in the show notes for everybody. Vivian Fu: Sorry,Harry about the promo, but yeah, I'll send it to you, but essentially it's written to give some guidance on how you can embed Take Charge into your daily clinical practice. And it's written for neurologists, but honestly it applies to everybody.  One of the key things is when you have that next encounter, obviously you know therapists do this a lot better than doctors do, but they ask a lot about, you know, what's outside of the person's life and what's important to them, but maybe move away just, you know, from the very practical questions like "How many steps do you have going in and out of your house?, and How do you hang up your washing?", or whatever, but it's, you know, really much less functional, but more, "Who are you? Tell me a bit more about yourself. What do you love doing? What gets you out of bed?" You know, if I might, the one that I like to use a lot on my ward rounds is, "If you weren't in this hospital bed right now, where would you rather be? What would you rather be doing?", and I do that on my rounds, and it's incredible, because you know, I'll hear all sorts of things, "I'll, you know, be on my boat fishing out on the lake", or I think this lady was like 84 or something. "I'll be with my girlfriends, we'll be having coffee at Tim Hortons", you know, and it's just, I don't know, it's something so unique to that person that I could never, you know, they're in their hospital pajamas with a whole bunch of stuff stuck to them, and I can't envisage them doing that, and yet I'm like, I want you to imagine yourself there. Where would you rather be? Okay, so everybody, that's our goal. It's not to get her home or to get her walking again. Our goal is to get her back in Tim Hortons with her eight friends, having coffee, like that is what this person loves to do. And I think that you know that inquiry, that it shows you care, it shows you see them as an individual, and I think it completely shifts your rehab focus, and then you can ask more questions about that, and they, you know, then you have this whole conversation about about what their life is like. And I think that part of being seen, even if it's only within 60 seconds, makes such a difference to that person. So that's one thing. The second thing I'd be, you know, doing is I'm trying to involve family as much as possible, as much as the person wants, and basically, just seeing them as an individual makes a huge difference already to the way you practice, that would be what I'd focus on. Katie Strong: Agreed, agreed. Well, Vivian, is there something you wish people asked you about this work that they rarely do, something about Take Charge or stroke recovery more broadly that you think the field hasn't quite caught up to yet. Vivian Fu:  Oh gosh, this is a tricky one. I think one thing we ought to recognize is that everybody is doing the best that they can with what they have. And you know, we're not as clinicians on the ground on the front line, we're not involved with funding decisions, and what projects get funded and which ones don't. And there will be the ambitious amongst your listeners, who I really hope will be like, "Oh my gosh, I can apply for this little grant, and I'm going to pilot this, and I think we should give this a go with our people." and I think that is absolutely a great idea to have. And, and I would, myself and Harry will do everything that we possibly can to help support such projects from where we are. I think the important thing to think about is that every little bit that you do makes a difference, and to not feel as though, because you know your funding runs out, or you don't get it, or the world is such a bleak place that you know it's not worth continuing to try. Because people with stroke who see you do this work, they will be grateful for it. And also the patient partners I've met that I've spoken with, and all of the people whom I've interviewed with the qualitative work, they're also happy to be part of something like this. And so even if it's a pilot project. Even if it's, you know, something that may not last, you'd be so surprised at how much momentum you can build with a movement of people who see the value in this and then take it further and further, And that's what I've been really impressed by, and kind of stunned by in all these different locations around the world who have contacted me. I've just been like, "Wow, can't believe [this]." There's this wonderful group in Hunter Medical Research Institute down in Australia, who basically took Take Charge back to their own unique Aboriginal community, the Gamilaroi peoples of that particular area of Australia. They have, like Canada and like the States, they have 1000s of tribes and lots of different groups that all speak completely different languages, but they took it to their local group, and they broke down, take charge into little bits, and then rebuilt it into an intervention that just works for them, and it's called "Yarning Up after Stroke", because what they do is they have a yarn. They yarn, and that's the way they tell their stories. It's yarning, and so you know, I just think it's incredible. Like, they got funding for it, they did it, and now it's an ongoing project that just keeps on in the community being provided to their people, and it's fantastic. So, I think it'll evolve. I love to see how it evolves, and I certainly don't think of, you know, this isn't the kind of intervention that we go around patenting and making a ton of money out of. It's the kind of intervention that everybody makes their own, and hopefully with a lot of input by people with stroke, Katie Strong: I love it. Thank you. Thank you so much for being our guest today, and sharing about Take Charge, and your generosity in sharing about the intervention, and if people are interested in reaching out to contact you, so thank you so much, Vivian. Vivian Fu:  Thank you so much for having me. I hope I haven't spoken too long. Katie Strong: Oh no, it's perfect. Vivian Fu: I'm always happy to be contacted, and yeah, very happy to support anyone who'd like to explore this further. Katie Strong: Thanks so much. On behalf of Aphasia Access, thank you for listening. For references and resources mentioned in today's show, please see our show notes, available on our website at www.aphasiaaccess.org. There you can also become a member of our organization, browse our growing library of materials, and find out about the Aphasia Access Academy. If you have an idea for a future podcast episode, email us at info@aphasiaaccess.org. For Aphasia Access Conversations, here at Central Michigan University in the Strong Story Lab, I'm Katie Strong. Dr. Fu's Email  dr.vivianfu@gmail.com  Resources and Readings Fu, V. (2019). Taking Charge After Stroke: A novel, community-based intervention to improve the lives of people with stroke. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Taking-Charge-After-Stroke:-A-novel,-intervention-Fu/3bc1dbb271f425c72e146510088856e3aad8683e  Fu, V., Fernando, K. M., Bright, F., Riley, J., McPherson, K., & McNaughton, H. (2025). Coming to my own wisdom: A qualitative study exploring the role of the Take Charge intervention in stroke recovery. Clinical Rehabilitation, 39(3), 377–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155241310770 Fu, V., Weatherall, M., McPherson, K., Taylor, W., McRae, A., Thomson, T., Gommans, J., Green, G., Harwood, M., Ranta, A., Hanger, C., Riley, J., & McNaughton, H. (2020). Taking Charge after stroke: A randomized controlled trial of a person-centered, self-directed rehabilitation intervention. International Journal of Stroke, 15(9), 954–964. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747493020915144 Fu, V., Thompson, S., Kayes, N., & Bright, F. (2025). Supporting long-term meaningful outcomes in stroke rehabilitation. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, 25, 17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-025-01403-z Harwood, M., Weatherall, M., Talemaitoga, A., Barber, P. A., Gommans, J., Taylor, W., McPherson, K., & McNaughton, H. (2011). Taking charge after stroke: Promoting self-directed rehabilitation to improve quality of life - a randomized controlled trial. Clinical Rehabilitation, 26(6), 493-501. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269215511426017  Te Ao, B., Harwood, M., Fu, V., Weatherall, M., McPherson, K., Taylor, W. J., McRae, A., Thomson, T., Gommans, J., Green, G., Ranta, A., Hanger, C., Riley, J., & McNaughton, H. (2022). Economic analysis of the 'Take Charge' intervention for people following stroke: Results from a randomised trial. Clinical Rehabilitation, 36(2), 240–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155211040727 McNaughton, H., & Fu, V. (2023). Intrinsic motivation. Practical Neurology, 23(6), 489-492.  https://pn.bmj.com/content/23/6/489  McNaughton, H., Gommans, J., McPherson, K., Harwood, M., & Fu, V. (2023). A cohesive, person-centric evidence-based model for successful rehabilitation after stroke and other disabling conditions. Clinical Rehabilitation, 37(7), 975-985. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155221145433   Medical Research Institute of New Zealand. (n.d.). Take Charge rehabilitation resources. https://www.mrinz.ac.nz/take-charge-rehabilitation-resources World Stroke Organization. (n.d.). Taking Charge after stroke: A person-centred approach to life after stroke [Webinar]. https://www.world-stroke.org/what-we-do/education-and-research/education/webinars/taking-charge-after-stroke-a-person-centred-approach-to-life-after-stroke  

This episode was a great one with Chuck Sams, an enrolled member of the  Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse tribes, as well as the 19th director of the United States National Park Service from 2021 to 2025. He now serves as one of two of Oregon's members of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, the director of Indigenous programs at the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, and senior fellow at the University of Oregon Law School.Chuck has extensive experience in environmental stewardship and has spent nearly over 30 years doing salmon and watershed restoration work all across the Pacific Northwest and across the country on larger scale watershed restoration. We talk with him about tribal planning, lessons we can learn from indigenous nations, relationship building between tribes and government entities, and the current hot topic: data centers. Articles and resources mentioned in the episode:Oregon, Umatilla tribes aim to co-manage proposed wildlife area in Union CountyA small Central Oregon town shoots down data center developmentOffshore wind looked like a sure thing for Oregon — until it wasn't. What went wrong?Want to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email or voice message!  The team behind the upcoming Better Planners podcast wants to hear from you about the real life issues you handle as a planner. What are the honest, gritty, wicked problems you find yourself managing?To share your experiences, email betterplannerspodcast@gmail.com or leave a voice message by clicking: https://www.speakpipe.com/BetterPlannersPodcast Your message might end up in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. You can be as anonymous or as identifiable as you want. Where to find us:Website: https://oregon.planning.org/community/betterplannerspodcast/Instagram: @betterplanners 

In Episode 79 of The Landing, Jason sits down with Brock Cota of Timber Harvesting, Inc. for an honest conversation about growing up in a logging family, running a modern timber harvesting operation, and the challenges facing tower logging in the Pacific Northwest.Brock shares how he was raised around the industry, from spending his childhood on landings to eventually taking on greater responsibility within the family business. He and Jason discuss planning difficult tower units, balancing production with safety, retaining experienced employees, and carrying decades of hard-earned logging knowledge into the next generation.They also explore the rising cost of operating a logging company, the importance of strong relationships between contractors and landowners, and why the lowest bid does not always provide the best value. Brock offers his perspective on changing technology, the loss of experienced woodsmen, public timber policy, fluctuating log markets, and what the future may hold for contractors working increasingly difficult ground.This episode is sponsored by Drew's Boots, offering rebuildable logger, fire, and work boots made for long days and demanding conditions. Visit Drew's Boots and use the code JASON DAVENPORT at checkout to receive 10% off your order.

In this episode, we kick things off by examining a major leadership change at an integrated asset-backed 4PL that's betting big on carrier verification technology. Mariner Logistics recently ⁠named Justin Turner as chief executive officer⁠, handing the Coppell, Texas operation to an executive who spent the past decade scaling brokerages and freight tech companies, including a critical role helping Flock Freight grow revenue from roughly ten million dollars to more than five hundred million dollars. The company's proprietary Sentinel Protocol continuously scores carriers and lanes rather than checking them once at signup, applying multi-source verification to every shipment. Meanwhile, consolidation is accelerating in the managed logistics sector as ⁠Tampa-based BlueGrace Logistics acquired Idaho 3PL Truk TMS⁠, a broker focused on less-than-truckload transportation with a heavy concentration in the Pacific Northwest. Truk TMS had been operating as a BlueGrace partner and will now have full access to the company's technology platform and carrier network of over two hundred fifty thousand carriers, marking BlueGrace's third acquisition in recent years. Finally, we cover a freight fraud scheme that highlights the vulnerabilities in distributor delivery verification as ⁠Pennsylvania authorities filed fifteen criminal charges involving fraudulent Little Debbie delivery invoices⁠. The City of Washington Police Department alleges that distributor James Powell created fake invoices showing Little Debbie products reaching Pennsylvania retail stores when the deliveries never occurred, using forged employee signatures to falsely verify receipt of merchandise. Powell now faces multiple felony counts including forgery, theft by deception, and fraudulent business practices, with authorities seeking over seventeen thousand dollars in restitution. ⁠Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast⁠ ⁠Other FreightWaves Shows⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We react and take calls following the Seattle Sounders' Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One matchup vs. Querétaro FC at Lumen Field.Subscribe to the NEW Lobbing Scorchers Blog: www.lobbingscorchers.comFollow Lobbing Scorchers: YouTube Instagram Bluesky TikTok Facebook Ari Liljenwall Noah RiffeSPONSORSQED Coffee - a Seattle based roaster, coffee shop and coffee subscription service. Visit them in person at one of the three Seattle locations or online and use code ‘LS74' for 25% off across the site.Haxan Ferments - Specializing in unique, small-batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars, Haxan Ferments is handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest. Use Code LS for a FREE Hot Sauce w/ purchase!Podium Edmonds - Located at 114 4th Ave N, just off Main Street in the heart of Downtown Edmonds, come shop and explore the best menswear in the Pacific Northwest. Tell them Lobbing Scorchers sent you!Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com#ST

The Seattle Sounders' seven-match losing streak is mercifully over after their 3-0 win over Querétaro, so it's time for another round of Cope or Hope where we'll assess what this result means for Seattle's 2026 chances. We unpack whether Alex Roldán can be a true double-pivot solution, whether Albert Rusnák's goal signals a return to form, and if Danny Musovski's breakthrough proves he can rediscover last season's production. We also assess Sebastián Gómez's first senior strike and whether it earns him more minutes, and whether Paul Rothrock can shoulder an even bigger creative load with Pedro De La Vega unfortunately sidelined once again.Plus: reactions to Leagues Cup Phase One and what the competition's early results mean for team momentum heading into the season.Subscribe to the NEW Lobbing Scorchers Blog: www.lobbingscorchers.comFollow Lobbing Scorchers: YouTube Instagram Bluesky TikTok Facebook Ari Liljenwall Noah RiffeSPONSORSQED Coffee - a Seattle based roaster, coffee shop and coffee subscription service. Visit them in person at one of the three Seattle locations or online and use code ‘LS74' for 25% off across the site.Haxan Ferments - Specializing in unique, small-batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars, Haxan Ferments is handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest. Use Code LS for a FREE Hot Sauce w/ purchase!Podium Edmonds - Located at 114 4th Ave N, just off Main Street in the heart of Downtown Edmonds, come shop and explore the best menswear in the Pacific Northwest. Tell them Lobbing Scorchers sent you!Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com#KO

Recorded live on August 6th, 2026   Two people making music on the fly… Bugs In The Basement creates improvised musical journeys from an array of vintage and handmade instruments to modern technologies. Recorded live from our basement studio in the Pacific Northwest, each week we experiment in the process of making exploratory music and soundscapes. Unmixed, unedited and unapologetic.   www.bugsinthebasement.com

Guest Host Joe DeMare talks about the Wood County Fair and brings up issues of animal cruelty, and how our society hasn't caught up with the information that  animals have the same feelings and emotions humans do. Next he interviews Ralph Bloemers, creator of the movie "Elemental!" about the fires in the Pacific Northwest and why they've been so destructive of homes and businesses. Rebecca Wood talks about the Indian Ocean and dugongs. Ecological News includes the Trump administration allowing toxic sewage sludge which includes PFAS to be spread on prime farmland; more evidence we're in a global positive feedback heating loop, and solar installations hit their third Terawatt.

In this episode, we kick things off by examining a major leadership change at an integrated asset-backed 4PL that's betting big on carrier verification technology. Mariner Logistics recently named Justin Turner as chief executive officer, handing the Coppell, Texas operation to an executive who spent the past decade scaling brokerages and freight tech companies, including a critical role helping Flock Freight grow revenue from roughly ten million dollars to more than five hundred million dollars. The company's proprietary Sentinel Protocol continuously scores carriers and lanes rather than checking them once at signup, applying multi-source verification to every shipment. Meanwhile, consolidation is accelerating in the managed logistics sector as Tampa-based BlueGrace Logistics acquired Idaho 3PL Truk TMS, a broker focused on less-than-truckload transportation with a heavy concentration in the Pacific Northwest. Truk TMS had been operating as a BlueGrace partner and will now have full access to the company's technology platform and carrier network of over two hundred fifty thousand carriers, marking BlueGrace's third acquisition in recent years. Finally, we cover a freight fraud scheme that highlights the vulnerabilities in distributor delivery verification as Pennsylvania authorities filed fifteen criminal charges involving fraudulent Little Debbie delivery invoices. The City of Washington Police Department alleges that distributor James Powell created fake invoices showing Little Debbie products reaching Pennsylvania retail stores when the deliveries never occurred, using forged employee signatures to falsely verify receipt of merchandise. Powell now faces multiple felony counts including forgery, theft by deception, and fraudulent business practices, with authorities seeking over seventeen thousand dollars in restitution. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you know when “just one more” becomes too much? Tune in for an inspiring discussion Colleen Clifford on her new book Life Beyond the Binge: A Commercial Fisherwoman's Journey Home. Moments with Marianne Radio Show airs in the Southern California area on KMET1490AM & 98.1 FM, an ABC Talk News Radio Affiliate!  https://www.kmet1490am.comColleen Clifford has spent more than three decades working in the commercial fishing industry, living and working at sea for months at a time aboard one of the largest vessels in the Bering Sea. Her experiences—both on the ocean and in her personal life have shaped a powerful story of resilience, loss, recovery, and rediscovery.  After surviving multiple near‑death incidents and the alcohol‑related suicide of her husband, she embarked on a profound journey back to herself which she share in her book, Life Beyond the Binge, A Commercial Fisherwoman's Journey Home. Today, she writes, speaks, and coaches from the heart, helping others reconnect with their own inner compass—their North Star. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, grateful for every clear and sober sunrise. https://lifebeyondthebinge.com/book Order on Amazon: https://a.co/d/00SbIiB1 Discover inspiring conversations with today's leading authors, celebrities, thought leaders, and change makers. To learn more about the Moments with Marianne Radio Show, explore guest interview opportunities, connect with Marianne, and follow her on social media, visit https://www.mariannepestana.comExplore the Moments with Marianne Book Club and find your next great read: https://www.mariannepestana.com/book-club/Listen to the Moments with Marianne Radio Show on KMET 1490AM & 98.1FM, an ABC News Radio Affiliate, weekdays at 8:06 AM PT / 11:06 AM ET and Sundays at 10:06 AM PT / 1:06 PM ET. Learn more at: https://www.kmet1490am.com/moments-with-marianne

Doc & Jacques talk with Ray Simon, who highlights the Cascadia Strong Radio program and its focus on Pacific Northwest disaster preparedness. Then they welcome to the show filmmaker Michael Gorse and Wild Rivers Film Festival Executive Director Dan Springen, where they discuss filmmaking, Michael's documentary short film Wowzer, and the upcoming 2026 Film Festival. Hosts: GiGi “Doc” Reed MD, Jacques Kepner; Producers: GiGi “Doc” Reed MD, Jacques Kepner Beginning and end music from freepd.com, in the public domain. The opinions expressed here are those of the individual participants. Curry Coast Community Radio takes no position on issues discussed in this program. If you enjoy this program and want to hear more like it, consider supporting Curry Coast Community Radio. Here’s How.

4pm - VIDEO GUEST - DONALD KIMBALL - WASHINGTON POLICY CENTER - HOW DATA CENTERS ACTUALLY REDUCE ENERGY COSTS // Washington Policy Center Communication Manager, Tech Writer and Free Market Evangelist // Donald Kimball: To make electricity affordable, don’t ban data centers. Reform energy regulations. // Point: Data Center Moratorium Would Be a Gift to China // Survey reveals what it takes to be a Pacific Northwest ‘local’ // Kalshi and Polymarket bets on clinical trials criticized as 'ghastly' // Kalshi Defends Plan to Bet on Lives of Cancer Patients

Lobbing Scorchers, Ari Liljenwall and Noah Riffe try to make sense of a Seattle Sounders team riding a seven game losing streak and looking overmatched in almost every phase. The rumors of signing a young striker have Ari and Noah asking the question: does any of it actually matter until the No. 6 situation is fixed?The crew round out the show by assessing if the Seattle Sounders have enough urgency when it comes to making roster fixes. As we watch Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps reportedly targeting Dániel Gazdag and the Portland Timbers signing David Da Costa, are the Seattle Sounders being left in the dust?Subscribe to the NEW Lobbing Scorchers Blog: www.lobbingscorchers.comFollow Lobbing Scorchers: YouTube Instagram Bluesky TikTok Facebook Ari Liljenwall Noah Riffe Niko MorenoSPONSORSQED Coffee - a Seattle based roaster, coffee shop and coffee subscription service. Visit them in person at one of the three Seattle locations or online and use code ‘LS74' for 25% off across the site.Haxan Ferments - Specializing in unique, small-batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars, Haxan Ferments is handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest. Use Code LS for a FREE Hot Sauce w/ purchase!Podium Edmonds - Located at 114 4th Ave N, just off Main Street in the heart of Downtown Edmonds, come shop and explore the best menswear in the Pacific Northwest. Tell them Lobbing Scorchers sent you!Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com

Welcome to Caching in the NorthWest! This is THE podcast from the birthplace of geocaching, right here in the great Pacific NorthWest.  It's Thursday at 7PM Pacific and we are going to talk about geocaches and geocachers from here and around the globe. So while you're looking for Jimothy the raccoon, we'll be Caching in the NorthWest.

What’s Trending: After Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic senate primary in Michigan, we take a deep dive into one of his supporters, popular leftist commentator Hasan Piker and his anti-American ideals. // Big Local: Pokémon is under fire after a class action lawsuit was filed alleging there were hidden cameras in their women’s bathroom. A man had to be rescued from the Green River after an attempt to float in a tube in the night. A Renton man is being charged with second degree murder after he drove his car into a coworker's motorcycle after he witnessed the coworker hug his alleged ex-girlfriend. // You Pick the News: We learn what makes someone a true citizen of the Pacific Northwest.

Dive into the weird world of Pacific Northwest cryptids as we separate fact from fiction. This week, we're climbing into the forests of Washington to investigate the legendary Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, one of the internet's most famous hoaxes that became a surprisingly convincing lesson in online misinformation. Then we head beneath the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to uncover the legend of the terrifying King Octopus, a cryptid inspired by real giant Pacific octopuses. Is there really a monster lurking under the Tacoma Narrows, or is the truth just as fascinating? Tune in for paranormal legends, cryptid lore, strange history, and plenty of Pacific Northwest weirdness. This episode explores how myths are born and why some creatures refuse to sink beneath the waves.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources

Steve shares some details on his recent trip with the family out to Washington state.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Chris Angeles revisits his favorite fish and chips spots along the Oregon coast, sharing updates and new favorites after a decade. Discover the best places to enjoy fresh seafood, explore coastal towns, and plan your next coastal trip.   Listen to the whole episode for a rundown of a over a decade of Chris' faves.   ORIGINAL POST   Host Chris Angelus loves his fish and chips, and has a few faves ranging 330 miles up and down the Pacific Northwest coast from Port Orford, OR to South Bend, WA.  He shares a half dozen,  but recommends three places he deems worthy of a day trip from Portland, for those who travel to eat well. One's a nice restaurant, another a dive, and last but not least, a food truck. Locations mentioned in this podcast include: Linda's  - South Bend, WA Bowpicker - Astoria, OR Ecola Seafoods -  Cannon Beach, OR Old Oregon Smokehouse  - Rockaway, OR J's - Lincoln City, OR Gracie's Sea Hag - Depoe Bay, OR Local Ocean Seafoods - Newport, OR Geno's Ocean Bleu - Newport, OR South Beach Fish Market - Newport, OR LunaSea - Yachats, OR Crazy Norwegian - Port Orford, OR   Right at the Fork is supported by:  Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com  RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com  Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

A brave Raven brings light to the world. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thinking about buying real estate in Mexico? If Mazatlán is on your shortlist, this episode is packed with practical advice to help you make informed decisions before you move, invest, or retire. In this episode of Retirement in Mexico - Live by Design, host Taniel Chemsian sits down with Kristen Decker, a real estate expert who traded the rainy Pacific Northwest for the vibrant coastal lifestyle of Mazatlán, Mexico nearly two decades ago. Since then, she's helped countless international buyers navigate the local real estate market while building a successful property management business. Kristen shares her personal relocation journey, the lessons she learned while investing in Mexican real estate, and what Americans and Canadians should know before buying property in Mazatlán. Together, they discuss the best neighborhoods for expats, how property management works, common mistakes foreign buyers make, and why working with trusted local professionals is essential for a successful purchase. In this episode, you'll learn: What to know before buying real estate in Mexico Why Mazatlán is attracting retirees, investors, and expats The best neighborhoods in Mazatlán for foreign buyers Property management tips for homeowners and investors Common mistakes to avoid when purchasing property in Mexico How to build a trusted team of local professionals Insights into relocating, residency, and everyday life in Mazatlán Practical advice for designing your next chapter in Mexico Key Moments:  04:50 Starting property management in Mazatlán 08:43 Property maintenance in Mazatlán 11:34 Living in El Cid community 16:38 Construction challenges and differences 18:00 Real estate regulations in Mexico 22:36 Clients' cautionary tale in real estate Whether you're planning to buy property in Mexico, retire by the Pacific coast, or simply explore life in one of Mexico's fastest-growing beach destinations, this episode offers expert guidance and real-world experience to help you move forward with confidence. How to contact Kristen Decker:  WEBSITE: https://mazatlan4sale.com/ EMAIL: office@mazatlan4sale.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Mazatlan4Sale/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mazatlan4sale/ Feeling overwhelmed about buying in Mexico? Chat TCP, our AI-powered assistant, guides you to stress-free homeownership. Click here to start using Chat TCP: https://tanielchemsian.com/chat-tcp/?utm_source=youtube_lbd_mex   Want to own a home in Mexico? Start your journey with confidence - download your FREE “Buyer's Guide” now for expert tips and clear steps to make it happen! Click here - https://tanielchemsian.com/buyers-gui...   Discover why everyone is falling in love with Puerto Vallarta real estate: https://tanielchemsian.com/puerto-vallarta-real-estate/   Join the ‘Taniel Chemsian Properties' YouTube channel to learn what you need to know about Puerto Vallarta real estate. https://www.youtube.com/@TanielChemsian   Join our ‘Live By Design: Mexico Edition' podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VfClD5... Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/032... YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@livebydesignmexicoedition   Contact Information: Email: info@tanielchemsian.com Website: https://tanielchemsian.com/ Mex Office: +52.322.688.7435

So great to finally get Jamie Clapper back on the show! This time, she is the Community and Content Manager for the Digital Shelf Institute and now the host of the new podcast, "Unpacking The Digital Shelf B2b". Jamie knows B2B as she has spent most of her career in industries like lighting, plumbing and more. We touch on all things that the DSI does and many more B2B Juicy Nuggets!  The Always Off Brand is always a Laugh & Learn!    FEEDSPOT TOP 10 Retail Podcast! https://podcast.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/?feedid=5770554&_src=f2_featured_email   GUEST Jamie Clapper LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-clapper/ https://www.digitalshelfinstitute.org/ecommerce-podcast/ QUICKFIRE Info:   Website: https://www.quickfirenow.com/ Email the Show: info@quickfirenow.com  Talk to us on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quickfireproductions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quickfire__/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quickfiremarketing LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/quickfire-productions-llc/about/ Sports podcast Scott has been doing since 2017, Scott & Tim Sports Show part of Somethin About Nothin:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/somethin-about-nothin/id1306950451 HOSTS: Summer Jubelirer has been in digital commerce and marketing for over 17 years. After spending many years working for digital and ecommerce agencies working with multi-million dollar brands and running teams of Account Managers, she is now the Amazon Manager at OLLY PBC.   LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerjubelirer/   Scott Ohsman has been working with brands for over 30 years in retail, online and has launched over 200 brands on Amazon. Mr. Ohsman has been managing brands on Amazon for 19yrs. Owning his own sales and marketing agency in the Pacific NW, is now VP of Digital Commerce for Quickfire LLC. Producer and Co-Host for the top 5 retail podcast, Always Off Brand. He also produces the Brain Driven Brands Podcast featuring leading Consumer Behaviorist Sarah Levinger. Scott has been a featured speaker at national trade shows and has developed distribution strategies for many top brands. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-ohsman-861196a6/   Hayley Brucker has been working in retail and with Amazon for years. Hayley has extensive experience in digital advertising, both seller and vendor central on Amazon. Hayley lives in North Carolina.  LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-brucker-1945bb229/   Huge thanks to Cytrus our show theme music "Office Party" available wherever you get your music. Check them out here: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cytrusmusic Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cytrusmusic/ Twitter https://twitter.com/cytrusmusic SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6VrNLN6Thj1iUMsiL4Yt5q?si=MeRsjqYfQiafl0f021kHwg APPLE MUSIC https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cytrus/1462321449   "Always Off Brand" is part of the Quickfire Podcast Network and produced by Quickfire LLC.  

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by Spence Shelton, Lead Pastor of Mercy Church, a rapidly growing multisite church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since launching in 2015, Mercy has expanded to multiple campuses while maintaining a relentless focus on reaching people, developing leaders, and sending them into ministry. In this conversation, Spence shares how churches can intentionally build a culture of multiplication by developing leaders from within, creating healthy sending pathways, and stewarding opportunities for church revitalization. Stop “plucking” leaders. Start growing them. // One of Spence’s biggest challenges to church leaders is resisting the temptation to solve leadership shortages by hiring talent from elsewhere. Just as churches prioritize reaching lost people rather than simply attracting Christians from other churches, they should approach leadership development the same way. Instead of constantly recruiting experienced leaders, churches should intentionally identify, disciple, and develop people already sitting in their congregations. This approach takes longer, but it creates leaders deeply shaped by the church’s culture and mission. The power of the shoulder tap. // Many future ministry leaders never consider vocational ministry simply because no one asks them. Spence encourages pastors to intentionally “tap people on the shoulder” when they observe leadership potential. Some of Mercy’s key leaders—including executive pastors and campus pastors—came directly from marketplace careers like banking, manufacturing, and physical therapy. Rather than waiting for seminary graduates to apply, Mercy helps people connect their existing gifts and experiences to ministry opportunities. Create a clear leadership profile. // To make leadership development intentional, Mercy created a “Lead Pastor Profile” built around three categories: character, competency, and calling. While designed for future church planters, the framework serves as a roadmap for developing leaders throughout the church. By clearly defining what healthy leadership looks like, staff members know exactly what qualities to identify, cultivate, and reproduce in others. Character matters before charisma. // Within the character category, Spence believes self-awareness is one of the most overlooked leadership traits. Effective leaders understand both their strengths and limitations and are secure enough in their identity in Christ to build teams around areas where they are weaker. Without self-awareness, talented leaders can make excellent first impressions while creating long-term organizational damage. Character requires observation over time and not just impressive interviews. Multipliers build movements. // When evaluating leadership competency, the ability to multiply is critical. Can this person develop other leaders? Have they demonstrated the ability to move beyond accomplishing ministry personally and instead equip others to lead? Churches often unintentionally hire capable “doers” rather than leader-builders, limiting long-term growth. Multipliers create healthy ministries because they reproduce leadership instead of accumulating responsibility. Alignment creates unity. // Calling isn’t simply about theological agreement, but also includes ministry philosophy. Spence stresses the importance of ensuring leaders share the church’s convictions about how ministry is carried out. When someone consistently wants to reshape the church into something fundamentally different, the healthiest response may be helping them pursue the ministry God is calling them toward elsewhere. Clear alignment creates healthier teams and stronger long-term partnerships. Let people discover their gifts by leading. // Churches shouldn’t expect to know someone’s leadership potential before giving them opportunities to serve. Mercy intentionally creates pathways where people can lead community groups, coach leaders, and gradually assume greater responsibility. Some will flourish as long-term small group leaders. Others will demonstrate broader leadership gifting and eventually plant churches. The key is creating a culture where trying, learning, and growing are celebrated rather than feared. Revitalization begins with humility. // Spence also shares lessons from Mercy’s experience helping revitalize struggling churches. Successful partnerships require patient relationships, deep humility, and genuine respect for the legacy of existing congregations. Rather than viewing church buildings as opportunities to expand Mercy’s influence, the team approaches every conversation as the stewardship of Kingdom resources. By honoring the faithfulness of previous generations, Mercy has seen older congregations joyfully become part of new seasons of ministry fruitfulness. Faithfulness compounds over time. // Spence closes with an encouragement for church leaders: don’t underestimate what God can do through long-term faithfulness. Leaders often overestimate what can happen in five years while dramatically underestimating what God can accomplish over twenty. Healthy multiplication isn’t built through shortcuts. It grows steadily through consistent obedience, patient leadership development, and a commitment to stay the course. To learn more about Mercy Church, visit mercycharlotte.com or follow Spence Shelton or the church on social media for additional leadership resources and updates. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Do you feel like your church’s or school's facility could be preventing growth? Are you frustrated or possibly overwhelmed at the thought of a complicated or costly building project? Are the limitations of your building becoming obstacles in the path of expanding your ministry? Have you ever felt that you could reach more people if only the facility was better suited to the community’s needs? Well, the team over at Risepointe can help! As former ministry staff and church leaders, they understand how to prioritize and help lead you to a place where the building is a ministry multiplier. Your mission should not be held back by your building. Their team of architects, interior designers and project managers have the professional experience to incorporate creative design solutions to help move YOUR mission forward. Check them out at risepointe.com and while you’re there, schedule a FREE call to explore possibilities for your needs, vision and future…Risepointe believes that God still uses spaces…and they're here to help. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad that you have decided to tune in. You know, this week is a great conversation and was recommended by one of my favorite church leaders in the country. And so you’re going to love this conversation. It’s going to be super helpful. And I do think it’s going to challenge you and provide you some steps forward. Rich Birch — Excited to have Spence Shelton with us. He is from Mercy Church, a multi-site church with three locations, if I’m counting correctly, in Charlotte, plus Church Online. God is leading Mercy Church into a season of a bunch of expansion and investment in ministry facilities and outreach over a two-year discipleship initiative called All to Him. They have a goal to launch the Mercy Family of Churches in in late 2025, which I think is maybe launched, or we’ll see where that goes, and is aiming to form their own collective within the next five years. Super excited to have you on the show today, Spence.Spence Shelton — Man, such an honor to be with you, Rich. Man, this is, I’m a big, going to say it, I’m a big fan of yours, man… Rich Birch — That’s kind of you to say. Spence Shelton — …because you have produced so much helpful content for me as a leader to lean into and grow little by little. And I can only hope that I can contribute a little bit more to the great work you’ve been doing, man.Rich Birch — Come on, that’s amazing. Honored to have you with us and to learn from you today, Spence. And mutual friend in Andrew Hopper…Spence Shelton — That’s right.Rich Birch — …who I love, fantastic leader. And so shout out to Hopper. Thankful for what God’s doing in his church as well. So Mercy Church started in 2015. Give us a picture of kind of where things are at today. If we were to come to the church, what would we experience? Kind of talk us through the last season, kind of the last couple of years. What’s that look like?Spence Shelton — Yeah, man. So if you came to Mercy today, what you’d find is a church, you might be surprised to learn how big it actually is because the church is, you know, a couple thousand people, but it’s across seven services and three campuses. And there’s some of some of that’s intentional. Some of that is, hey, we’re just kind of following the Lord where he’s led in this. And we didn’t really plan for it, you know, so. Spence Shelton — Our average service size is not that big, but we’ve the Lord’s been really gracious. If you came what you’d find is especially at our broadcast campus you’d find an old church building that you’d be thinking: wait are all these people how are they you know filling in here, you know. Rich Birch — Right. Spence Shelton — And you’d see cars parked uh all through a neighborhood and everything else and you’d see a retrofitted old church building, and that’s just the story of God’s grace on us – a building that was given to us and a church family that decided, hey we want to join you guys and they gave us their building. Really cool moment that like a legacy moment of faith in our church. And a couple other spots where we’re seeing similar sorts of things and it’s just it’s awesome, man. Spence Shelton — So we feel blessed. We feel like we are um doing what God has called us to do because we’re seeing that kind of momentum in the ministry that we’re doing. But none of our facilities are going to wow you, I promise. I actually love training church planters because, you know, so many times they come in and they’re like, Oh, ah we can do this. Rich Birch — Right. Spence Shelton — I’m like, yeah, you can do it. You know? Rich Birch — That’s normal like us.Spence Shelton — So we are praying and asking the Lord for better wins. Yeah. But you can do it, man. If you can do it here, you can do it anywhere kind of thing. So Lord’s been really gracious to us. And it’s a, it’s been a real joy these past 10 years.Rich Birch — It’s so cool. It seems like you guys are in a bit of a pivotal season or an inflection point season where you’ve got a bunch of things on the horizon, launching Mercy Family of Churches… Spence Shelton — That’s right. Rich Birch — …the 50 Missionary Goal by 2030, a collective. Talk me through those. What is the future look like? What’s driving the urgency? Help us understand kind of what the future looks like.Spence Shelton — Yeah, man, I think this happens for any church, both leader and in just the life of a church. You come to those milestone moments. We hit it last year with 10 years, and it was not only a milestone in terms of age. There was some just real growth that had been happening to the church that was forcing some good conversations around long-term you know expansion so that we can continue to facilitate what we believe God, actually, I should say we could steward what God is doing in our church.Spence Shelton — And so we launched an initiative that we called All to Him. I was teaching through the book of Romans all year last year. And so it comes out of Romans 12:1 and 2, because Christ gave his all for us, we give our all to him. That is our living sacrifice that we do. Spence Shelton — And so we said, we got some goals as a church, man. We want to see our church, we got some reaching goals. We got some training up goals. We got some sending out goals. Because when I planted Mercy Church, one of the things that was on my heart: if we’re going to come to Charlotte, North Carolina, we were going to be a sending church. Which means we’re going to build a sending hub here where this thing’s going be like an aircraft carrier that just sends out missionaries all over the place into the battles that the Lord has for us across the world.Spence Shelton — That was just on my heart. Instead of going to, you know, a place that might be, might have a, I don’t know, like a north Pacific Northwest or Northeast, something like that. If we’re coming to the Southeast to the Bible Belt, we’re doing so intentionally. Very intentional.Spence Shelton — So that’s been on our heart um ever since day one and this All to Him initiative. You know, we were hoping that by 2030, we double the size of our church. That’s because Charlotte is growing by 150 people a day.Spence Shelton — So like, we’ve got to, you know, this isn’t like it’s just because it’s something we want to do. It’s a calling, a good stewardship of the moment that we’re in. And we want to we’re launching a seminary certificate program for our members of our church because we want to train them up. Right.Spence Shelton — And we got a goal to see 50 missionaries go on the mission field by 2030. We just planted a couple of weeks before the recording of this, we planted our next church here in Charlotte, and we’ve got plans for several more.Spence Shelton — We are a large family of churches about to become a collaborative. We’re, we’re ah you know, 2028, 2029, somewhere around there, we’ll officially form that collaborative if the Lord continues to do what he’s doing. All because, man, we are convinced that God has brought us here to reach people, train them up, send them out, which I hope does not sound novel to any church leader listening to this.Spence Shelton — I hope it just sounds like, yeah, man, that makes sense.Rich Birch — Right.Spence Shelton — It’s like, well, then what’s the the magic or what’s the the secret sauce? It’s just putting your hand to the plow. And now here we are 10, 11 years in, and we’ve been steadily doing that same work. And I think the Lord is, um you know, our buddy Andrew would use the flywheel. That’s his favorite version of that illustration. But you keep putting your hand to the same thing and eventually the Lord starts to bear fruit. And that’s what we’re seeing now.Rich Birch — Yeah, so good. And yeah, you know that and you’re a kind leader, you know that for some leaders, the reason why we’re talking to you today is unfortunately, that is more novel than it should be. And so we want to dig into that a little bit.Spence Shelton — Sure..Rich Birch — Particularly, let’s maybe start with that middle section, this training goals, you’re working on trying to train people up. When you’re thinking about the kind of leadership vision you have as a church, you’re thinking about, hey, we’re going to raise up leaders both you know here to and then also sending.Rich Birch — I think we we can fall into this dichotomy around, okay, so do we find these leaders from other places and attract them to come here? Or, do we grow them up internally?Rich Birch — Do we find a way to develop them internally? So it’s this idea of plucking talent rather than developing it. Talk to me through why is training so hard in so many churches? Why do we struggle with that? And we seem to default towards, let’s just find somebody from over there and have them come and help us here.Spence Shelton — Yeah, man, I think that mentality starts all the way down to the idea of reaching people that don’t know Christ versus just sheep swapping from one church to the other church. Right.Spence Shelton — So you can grow your church by transfer growth. Um, which I actually am one who, Hey man, if somebody on the sideline in one church and then they plug into your church, I I’m all for it And if the same thing happens with Mercy, all for it. Spence Shelton — But our aim, what we all know as pastors and ministry leaders is our aim is man, let’s reach lost people and then disciple them. Right. Rich Birch — Yes.Spence Shelton — The same thing I think should be true with leadership development. For some reason, when it comes into developing leaders, we tend to go a different direction and think, well, let’s just go find where some leaders are and get them to to plug in.Spence Shelton — It’s like, we don’t do that even with discipleship. Why are we switching our mindset? And so I want to just kind of, I have to, I was convicted and wanted to call our church and I would call others to the same mindset that you have with discipleship. Let that carry over into your leadership and your leadership development as well.Spence Shelton — And I think that’s how we’re going to grow, just as how we’re going to grow the kingdom by reaching lost people, how we’re going to grow the leaders in the kingdom, the number of leaders we have, it’s going to be developing them in our church. And I just… I don’t know that we’re even thinking that way and asking the question, is the guy who’s a 27-year-old physical therapist in my church, has anybody ever bothered to tap him on the shoulder and ask, hey, man, could God be calling you into ministry?Rich Birch — That’s good.Spence Shelton — Because I watch you and no we’re not doing the shoulder tap, man. And so um right now, I just I love it. Just a little bit of the story of our church… Rich Birch — Yeah. Spence Shelton — …our executive both of our executive pastors and two of our three campus pastors were all in the marketplace. One of our executive pastors was in banking. Another was a plant manager. We have two campus pastors who were both, I use physical therapists because they’re both former physical therapists. And you know, we’re sitting there having these conversations.Spence Shelton — You know what makes a great pastor is someone who has sat with person after person told them, hey, you should do this to feel better. And then they come back to you later and say, hey, I don’t feel better. And you say, did you do the thing I told you to do? And they say, no. And you say, well, you should have done that.Rich Birch — Right.Spence Shelton — And a patient, long suffering physical therapist turns out to be a great pastor, but somebody’s got to tap him on the shoulder and say, hey, man, I think God might be calling you into this. And so my my encouragement to anybody who’s a in ministry right now, kind of in that leadership development role, and you’re like, I don’t know, we’re gonna have to go outside to find some talent.Spence Shelton — I promise it’s going to take longer the way I’m talking about. But if you will seek the Lord, ask the Lord, and then start shoulder tapping and giving some opportunities for guys to lead, for men and women to lead there in your ministry and whatever the leadership roles might be, I think there might be more people in there than you realize. Because I believe that God provides for the church that he’s growing, that he’s called you to lead. Rich Birch — Yeah, I love that. Spence Shelton — And so I think the same thing is true with leaders as well.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good. I love that. And I you know I love the even the vision for, hey, maybe there are some people within your church. We see this statistically, like even if you’re thinking about campus pastors, 9 out of 10 campus pastors are coming from within, which means we’ve got which means we’ve got to get good at this. Spence Shelton — Yeah.Rich Birch — And yeah, if your church has any kind of unique slant on the world, you’ve got to find people who have come up through that culture to ah to ultimately push that culture forward.Spence Shelton — Yes.Rich Birch — I love this this marketplace to ministry transition. How do we help people do that? That’s a real key transition. I would imagine on your end, you’ve got to help connect the dots for somebody. I love that there, how you even with the physical therapist, we’re able to connect the dots between, hey, here’s what you’re doing. Let me talk to you about the kind of role that we’re thinking about. How do you make that transition? Have you developed anything to try to help make that, you know could you know, connect those dots for people as you’re having those conversations?Spence Shelton — Yeah, I would say we don’t I don’t have a conversational map that I’m doing.Rich Birch — Sure.Spence Shelton — I don’t have that yet, though I think that’s just like many things, trial and error, and I’m still in the still cooking to formulate that map.Spence Shelton — But what I do have that we’ve worked through with our staff is something we call, it’s interesting, we actually call it the lead pastor profile.Rich Birch — Okay.Spence Shelton — The reason we call the lead pastor profile is because everything we’re doing, we’re building towards, developing towards planting more churches. And you’ve got to have a lead pastor to go and plant those churches. Rich Birch — Yeah. Spence Shelton — Now, the thing is actually when you when you look at it, it’s actually just a ministry leader profile, you know? Rich Birch — Right. Spence Shelton — Everything on there, but there may be a couple of things that are nuanced specifically to lead pastors, but it’s kind of like when you go into Timothy and you see what are the characteristics of an elder? Well, every single one of them is just a good Christian, except then you got this thing able to teach. You know what mean? Rich Birch — Right, right.Spence Shelton — So it’s a similar thing is like most of our profile, nine points on it and divided into three buckets, it’s mostly just what makes a good ministry leader. Well, then what I’m doing is what we are doing is we’re taking that and we’re training our whole staff through it and saying, Hey, here’s what we are looking for. Here’s what we’re trying to develop. And then here’s everything. So I do a training monthly with our staff on these points. Rich Birch — Right.Spence Shelton — And then I do it and I say, yeah, I have to verbally say it, never underestimate or never overestimate, I guess just that it’s going to happen without you saying it, always say what you want them to do, you know, just good old preaching point there. But man, Hey, I want you guys to take what I’m teaching you and go teach your volunteers. Rich Birch — That’s good. Spence Shelton — And go teach those that. And I want you to teach your leaders. And then I want your leaders to be able to teach them. And if it doesn’t work, I want you to come back and tell me so that we can get better at making this a multiplying thing. Right. Spence Shelton — So we just got to have a lot of checks and balances along the way. So we’re hopefully training. And it took a while to pull this together in a way that it makes sense to all of us. And now that we’re kind of running it, we can see the value in it of, hey, this is what we’re looking for. And now you can go shoulder tap and say, I know what I’m looking…So the the kids director can go, I know what I’m looking for.Spence Shelton — Now I can go and start shoulder tapping because I know what, you know what i mean? Now that know what I’m looking for, it’s…Rich Birch — Totally.Spence Shelton — Those are probably the the beginnings of a conversational map to to walk somebody through, but at least you know what you’re looking for. You can start to have those conversations. And if you have the relational equity, those conversations can really go somewhere.Rich Birch — Love it. I’d love to double click on that. I love this lead pastor profile idea. I think working to get the clarity I think is in is a great, you know, a great task for all of us to wrestle through.Rich Birch — We think, well, we want to develop our leaders, but then we don’t have any definition of what do we mean by a leader, like at its more most basic level.Spence Shelton — Yes.Rich Birch — So we don’t need to get into all nine, but are there a couple of them that are either counterintuitive or maybe we miss, or you find yourself coming back to time and again, that are like real dividing points or like ones that kind of stick out to you in the in the framework?Spence Shelton — Yeah. All right. So obviously all nine matter to me or I wouldn’t have had them all. So I’ll do my best.Rich Birch — Yes, exactly.Spence Shelton — I’ll do my best.Spence Shelton — So we divide him into three buckets, character, competency, and calling. So each one of those has three points under it. And I’ll click on one of them, maybe in each, and you can tell me if you want to go further.Rich Birch — Sure. That’s great. Yeah.Spence Shelton — But in character, the one that I find to be the most overlooked is self-awareness.Rich Birch — So true.Spence Shelton — I find that to be the most overlooked characteristic of a good leader is one who is aware of their strengths and aware of their weaknesses and is settled in their identity in Christ so that their weaknesses don’t crush them.Rich Birch — That’s good.Spence Shelton — You know, they can instead build a team around them, you know. Because the classic thing with a lead pastor is to say, well, I’m good at vision and bad at details. It’s like, OK, man, maybe we need to do something a little more thoughtful than that, because that resonates with me for sure… Rich Birch — Right. Right. Spence Shelton — …that you ask the guys around me for sure. But what what? what about are you better at vision casting or vision creating? And what are the evidences of that in your ministry? You know, so for me, I’m better at vision casting than I am vision creating. That’s probably my my 9 to 10 is actually sharing it.Spence Shelton — But I got to have some help and and love having help in the other side of that. And so there are plenty of other things like that. But when we have someone who’s not aware of their strengths and weaknesses, usually that’s that’s like a stop point for us.Spence Shelton — And so if we’ve got someone we think, oh, man, they they come across because here’s the thing. Unless you have these points, somebody will can make a great first impression and a lot of long term damage in your ministry. Rich Birch — That’s good. Spence Shelton — Not because they have bad intent, but because they’re not aware of what they’re… And you give them a lot of responsibility and maybe they’re not actually, they don’t have the eyes of Jethro in Exodus 18 to know how to build out a ministry.Rich Birch — Right. Right. Spence Shelton — You just thought they did because they gave off a good first impression.Rich Birch — Right. Spence Shelton — So that’s my biggest biggest one in that character, or not biggest one, but that’s a key one, I think, in the character is…Rich Birch — Right. A key one that sticks out.Spence Shelton — …man, are you self-aware? And so whatever we use, we love different, whether it’s the personality assessments, leadership assessments, but we also, and we just, we wanna develop from within because that gives us the ability to see.Rich Birch — Right.Spence Shelton — We can see what their strengths and weaknesses are. Rich Birch — Yes. Spence Shelton — Because we’ve had people eyes on them for months and years and you can’t really trade that out.Rich Birch — Yeah, and character takes a long time of up-close observation to really get a sense of where where people are at.Spence Shelton — Yes.Rich Birch — Because, and you know we know this is, this is you know we don’t have to think long. There are lots of examples of leaders who—and all look great—but there’s like a 2% you know, problem in their character that ended up showing itself in the most kind of ugly of ways.Spence Shelton — That’s right.Rich Birch — So I know all nine are super important. I get that. appreciate that. But we can’t be here for three hours. So competency, what was what’s one in there that that that tends to say we’re just trying to whet people’s appetite to kind of help them think through it a little bit.Spence Shelton — Yeah, man. For competency, the one that I would, the the one that, yeah, that spend a lot of time on when it comes to competency, what I would say is the multiplier. Rich Birch — That’s good.Spence Shelton — I want someone who is a proven multiplier before I move them into an increased um level of leadership and responsibility. I want to see it, man. And if we, otherwise, again, what I’m trying to weed out is someone that talks a good game or someone that just has a, there may be someone I think a lot of leaders that might actually be really strong in the gift of hospitality have found themselves in the arena of administration simply because they are, like generous, kind, easy to talk to people. And they’re great. You want to be around them. They’re probably encouragers, that kind of thing. Spence Shelton — And it’s like, wait a minute, have they multiplied? Do they actually understand what it takes…Rich Birch — That’s good.Spence Shelton — …to take someone from leading self, to use the old Ramsharan leadership pipeline, from leading self to leading others, have they actually, do they understand what it takes? Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Spence Shelton — And do they understand what it takes to go from leading others to leading leaders? And have they, let’s let’s just look behind them. If you wanna go the the Bible route, you just take 2 Timothy 2:2…are they able to train up faithful teachers who can then teach others also? That to me is, especially when we get into who’s going to go out and plant a church…Rich Birch — Right.Spence Shelton — …and I’m not sending somebody out that’s not a builder. Another way to say multiplier would be builder, but I say multiplier because I’m specifically thinking around leadership and leading those who will lead others. Rich Birch — Yeah. Spence Shelton — If we want to build a movement of churches for the sake of the glory of God, and we want these churches to go and continue to build, there’s got to be multipliers leading this. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes.Spence Shelton — You know, gotta be. So when it comes to competency, that’s like a a deal breaker for me for who we’re going to send out the plant. And so I want to develop it starting in our student ministry, you know, and working our way through or starting in our college ministry, working our way through.Spence Shelton — I don’t want to wait until we just try to, otherwise we’ve got to go pluck out from the, you know, ether, somebody that we hope is a multiplier. And I don’t want to do that. I’d rather raise them up.Rich Birch — Well, and we see this temptation in churches when they get to, say, 1,000, and then they’re they’re growing you know they’re they’re eyeing 2,000 beyond. There’s a there’s a dangerous temptation that can come in, particularly for our staff teams. I know we’re talking broader than just staff teams, but particularly for our staff teams, we can ah we can forget the Ephesians 4 call to equip others to to ministry.Spence Shelton — That’s right.Rich Birch — And we just become doers. We hire doers rather than multipliers… Spence Shelton —Yes. Rich Birch — …because they get stuff done. And we’re like, oh man, they’re solving problems for us. But that is can then erode a church long-term very quickly. I’ve seen that so many times where they end up with, you know they slow down.Spence Shelton — That’s right.Rich Birch — They’re like, why are we slowing down? It’s well, because you’ve stopped multiplying. You’ve stopped doing what we’re called to do. I love that. Rich Birch — So then the third category calling anything in there that would, that steps that kind of is similar. Again, I know all nine are are really important, but, but any of those that that kind of jumped to the, to the front.Spence Shelton — Maybe I’ll give you one that has we’ve learned through some some painful trial and error, Rich Birch — Okay. Sure. Spence Shelton — And that is, we call it alignment. And what we mean by that is: as you develop a leader, when it comes to their long-term place in your church and leading maybe even beyond your, so in our case, beyond our church to going in and leading ah a church that’s going be a part of the family of our churches, it’s really important that not only are they theologically aligned, but they are philosophically aligned in terms of how we do church.Spence Shelton — So no shade on any other way of doing church. What I’m saying is so that we can continue to be united in one voice internally, so at Mercy Church with how we do discipleship, and then so that we can be united in how we can help and train one another as a family of churches, we got to be aligned not just around our theological convictions, but on our ministry convictions, how we do it.Spence Shelton — I would say to those of you out there who have a promising young leader, but it seems like they just don’t want to do, they want to change your church into their, a different kind of church.Rich Birch — Right.Spence Shelton — The best thing you can do is set them free. Rich Birch — Yes. Spence Shelton — And I don’t mean like, that’s not like code for firing, by the way, that genuinely that genuinely is like, help them find a way, an off ramp to whatever it is they sense God calling them to. If they’re not, you know, they might be just, they need more season of development. That might be all it is. But when it comes to appointing people towards and, and, setting people into key leadership. So take an elder role at Mercy Church, community group coaching, shepherding, that kind of thing where you’re in now, you are shaping, not just participating. You’re really shaping the DNA of our church. Spence Shelton — We’ve got to be aligned with what we’re doing. It also makes for a much more enjoyable experience. I’m not saying we’re not thinking. We’re always thinking over here about how to do it better and trying to be faithful and everything else.Rich Birch — Yes.Spence Shelton — Of course. But I’m saying, man, you want to feel like you’re locked arm and arm going together. And when conviction comes that goes a separate way, it’s like best to separate. So we’ve we’ve learned that the kind of the hard way. I think a lot of lessons are hard.Rich Birch — Sure.Spence Shelton — And so I offer this as our missions pastor likes to say, we have paid some dumb tax. Rich Birch — True. Spence Shelton — And so wherever we can save another person from paying it, we’d love to do that for you.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. I love that. and And yeah, I think alignment’s a massive deal and and calling it out. And I would think being in a church that is um so focused on sending, you’re you’re hoping that that’s a big part of what’s kind of the outcome of the church. Spence Shelton — That’s right.Rich Birch — That, you know, having an an outlet for that sending in a way that makes the most sense. Hey, here’s a leader who seems to have the skills and, you know, and and and then you can celebrate, hey, they seem to have some unique ideas that they want to go and see happen somewhere else.Spence Shelton — Yes. Yes.Rich Birch — That’s fantastic. Rather than having to like fight that. I think that’s cool. That’s really good. Rich Birch — So, you know, help me ah pick this apart a little bit. So one of the interesting things I find in this whole kind of leadership pathway, leadership pipeline conversation is there are, so I think we all can be influential. I think in one way we are all called to be leaders, but not necessarily everyone that we’re discipling is necessarily going to be a lead pastor. They’re not all necessarily going to. Rich Birch — Now I understand we’re kind of discipling towards that, but help me understand what are you doing internally with folks that you’re like, I just, they’re just not going to make that jump eventually. How do you have that conversation? I know that’s a hard conversation. What does that look like?Spence Shelton — Right.Rich Birch — Or am I just looking at this wrong? Which could be the case too. Happy to be wrong. Help help me think through that.Spence Shelton — Well, we’ve got to have some freedom that comes from distinctive categories. This will help us a great deal. Helps me in pastoring a great deal. First, we got to have the category of spiritual gift. The Lord has given everyone a spiritual gift… Rich Birch — Yep. Spence Shelton — …and we got to celebrate that. Rich Birch — Right. Spence Shelton — And we got to be careful not to turn the leadership pipeline into, or that concept of leader development, turn that into a a grading of gifts. Like you’ve got a, you know, you’re, you need to graduate from one gift. Maybe that’s a better way to say it. Graduate from one gift to the other, to the other. It’s like, no, no, no. Rich Birch — That’s good. Spence Shelton — What we’re not talking about is graduating out of your gift set. God has given you that. And the best thing for you and for his church is to get really good at how he’s given you or how he’s gifted you. Rich Birch — That’s good. Spence Shelton — And when we when we conflate those, when we only talk about just you know getting better, it’s like, man, we got to watch out. Instead, let’s say, how can we get better at the giftings God has given us so that we can steward it really well?Spence Shelton — And then we find ourselves able to say, and when it comes to leadership, and here we are as church leaders, we’re now inside of a category. We’re inside of a category of leadership. And how can we develop leaders who are gifted by God as leaders? Well, the good news is maybe take some pressure off everybody, you’re not really going to know if someone’s gifted in leadership until you let them try to lead. Rich Birch — True, yes. Spence Shelton — So you got to let them try to lead, man. And then as they lead and you give them a couple of swings, two, three, four, whatever, and you coach them along the way, hey, here’s what we’re looking for in a leader. Here’s how you can grow from leading self leading others. Take the pressure off. Spence Shelton — This might be how God has gifted you, we don’t know. But the best way to see, based on what we’ve seen so far, is to let you try. So here’s a community group, and here are the things you’re gonna need to be a good community group leader, and we’re gonna coach you and support you.Spence Shelton — Let’s go. And let’s see what the next six months brings, right? Rich Birch — Yep, that’s great.Spence Shelton — Hey, this went really well. We wanna take you out of this community group leader seat and put you in as a coach. Now there’s a different set of skills you’re gonna need to be a coach, but man, it seems like your people responded to your leadership. What do we think about you as a coach? Spence Shelton — Each set of the way, man, do I have the, the way I always say it to our staff—they’re sick of me saying this, so it’s great to talk to you because…Rich Birch — I’m not sick of it. Yeah.Spence Shelton — …[inaudible] fresh person to say this too—is that clarity in expectations creates confidence in execution. The clearer you are with what you are asking someone to do, the more confident they will be in doing it. Another way to say it.Rich Birch — That’s good.Spence Shelton — So that’s just my my big thing there on on this. Let’s get over now that we’re, and what we’re going to find is some people are going to lead a community group faithfully for 20, 30 years at our church. Rich Birch — Right, right.Spence Shelton — Praise the Lord. What we can’t see is that we can’t see that a failure. Rich Birch — No. Spence Shelton — Others are going to lead for six months to two years. And we’re going to man, this, this person’s a leader and, and we’re seeing it. They already, they’re planting. Spence Shelton — I had someone come up to me the other day at church and tell me, Hey man, I just wanted to tell you, we’re so excited. You challenged me about five years ago to lead a community group. And we just planted our fifth group. And I went, like I went, I was, my mind went so far. I didn’t even have time to be, to be celebrating. Rich Birch — Right. Spence Shelton — Cause I was like, does anybody know that there’s a guy out here… Rich Birch — Right. Yes. Who’s just cranking out groups. Spence Shelton — …with the with an apostolic gift just planting groups every year what’s going so so. Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. Spence Shelton — I was like hey, but so that that was a a great moment the Lord gave me just of, hey this is this is going really well and there will be some that will lead a group and things won’t go well and they won’t go well and you’ll keep trying different efforts. So to my community group leader friends, hey once someone tries and tries and tries, would you maybe tap their shoulder and say hey can we try something else. You know. Rich Birch — Good. Spence Shelton — Like you are not a failure. We just got to find the gift that God has given you. Rich Birch — Right. Spence Shelton — And the more that’s in the conversation of your church, that’s in the atmosphere of your church—We’re just looking for the way God’s gifted you. And we’re going to try and make you the best you can be at how he’s gifted you.—The easier the conversation is going to be of, I don’t think it’s community group leadership. I don’t think it’s this. I don’t think it’s that. Because we have a culture of, Hey, trial and error, you know?Rich Birch — Right. That’s good. That’s so good. I love that. And I love this has been a great kind of look under the hood of this whole multiplication issue. I think a lot of church leaders out there have the desire. They have the like, oh, we, man, I would love to be a church that has that kind of vision. But then what are the mechanics underneath of that? How do we actually do that?Spence Shelton — Yeah. Yeah.Rich Birch — Super helpful. Pivoting in this totally, well, it’s a related but different direction. Your church has been involved in a number of revitalizations. You talked about on the you know top end, you had a you know facility given to you. And I this is like a super inappropriate, with just a few minutes left, curveball to throw in there. What’s your shorthand thing for us to learn about that? Rich Birch — You know that we’ve seen, particularly from a multisite point of view, this area has grown hugely in the last 10 years. It was 10 years ago, 5% of new campuses came about because multiple revitalization. The most recent study showed showed it was 40%. Spence Shelton — Wow.Rich Birch — I suspect Warren’s out talking right now. I suspect the number is even going to be higher. What are the few things that you’ve learned about, you know, those kinds of conversations and relationships that have allowed it to work for you? And it’s been helpful. It’s been a joy giving part of the story at Mercy. Talk us through that.Spence Shelton — I’m going to do so using another point in my lead pastor profile just to have some fun here.Rich Birch — Love it.Spence Shelton — So one of the things we look for in a leader is confident humility. Rich Birch — That’s good. Spence Shelton — Confident in terms of, man, they believe God has called them to something. You know there’s a there’s a settled confidence there. But the humility to be patient and wait on the Lord and see what he has and to consider others, Philippians, to consider others more important than yourself. Right? This matters a great deal when it comes to this area of revitalization.Spence Shelton — What a leader needs to know that there’s this temptation, and I had it, of why would you not give us your church building? Rich Birch — Right.Spence Shelton — Things are going well for us and struggling for you. Why would you not do that?Rich Birch — Yes.Spence Shelton — Well, it’s that there’s an unintentional, I’m call it a holy ambition that may be a little bit creating some blinders. Okay, let’s use the positive side of that. The the negative side would be there’s some arrogance there. Rich Birch — Right. Yeah.Spence Shelton — But the positive would be holy ambition. But what you gotta know is, man, often these facilities that are housing these churches, the ones that are remaining, a lot of the times that there are people that have been there for decades and for a generation or two, and they put blood, sweat, tears and money into where they are. Spence Shelton — And we had to take the the approach of slow by my standards, still fast by theirs… Rich Birch — Yes. Spence Shelton — …slow by my standards. Conversation after conversation that began with , in both of these cases, began with the church that needed revitalizing coming to us. We didn’t go to them. Spence Shelton — They came to us and said, hey, we’re trying to figure out what’s next. We hear you might be able to help. How can you help?Spence Shelton — And we had to present them. We had to consider that a stewardship process. of a kingdom resource, not a how do we advance the name of Mercy Church.Spence Shelton — And so it’s happened two different ways for us right now. One is a campus of our church. You know, we it took months and months, but they wound up voting to hand us the keys, join our congregation, and we held their hand the whole way through. And it was a really beautiful thing. And it’s where our broadcast campus meets today. Spence Shelton — There’s another one that happened where we decided the best thing was for that to be a, because of the neighborhood it’s in in East Charlotte, to be a church planting incubator where we could plant a church every 18 months to two years. Rich Birch — Love it. Yeah.Spence Shelton — And so that’s what we’re doing right now. And there’s a church plant in there. And that was the best stewardship of that building. And after the conversation with their people, but we kind of, we basically put that with them and say, I had a lot of lunches and dinners that I just I’m going to tell you, if you want to get into this game and you want to do it in a way that’s going to honor the Lord, you got to be ready for the patient handholding that I would say is honoring a legacy of faith these folks are are taking.Spence Shelton — In many ways, the greatest step of faith taken in our church has been a couple of other churches handing us keys…Rich Birch — Yeah, 100%.Spence Shelton — …to something that the Lord was an outpost for the gospel at one point. And now in both of those cases for us and in the others that we’re starting to see that are still too soon for me to talk about, it’s just, man, now there’s an outpouring happening in both of those places. And you got like, man, there’s a couple of folks that are from the original congregation of what is now our, where our broadcast campus now is. And they, they, they’re greeters. They have tears more mornings than they don’t on Sunday mornings.Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah, for sure.Spence Shelton — It’s beautiful, man. Rich Birch — Yeah, it is.Spence Shelton — I mean, they’re all in. They are way bigger fans of Mercy Church than I am. And I’m the lead pastor of the church. Rich Birch — Yes, right. Spence Shelton — You know what I mean? And they just, they are like, they love, because what they actually are is they, they took a step of faith, a huge step of faith, trusting the Lord. And the Lord has blessed them and renewed a a vigor in their ministry. Spence Shelton — I saw a couple of them, mid 80s, and it was about 11 a.m. weekday and they were leaving the church building. I was pulling up. I just put windows down. Hey, what are you doing? It’s like, well, we just finished prayer walk in the neighborhood a couple of times…Rich Birch — Wow.Spence Shelton — …and it’s getting too hot now. We’re going inside. And I’m like, these are the people I want, man. Rich Birch — Yes.Spence Shelton — Like just they’re retired and they have chosen they’re going their day prayer walking. It’s like, well, you told us to pray. And I’m like, yeah. Yeah. Rich Birch — That’s amazing. Yeah, that’s incredible.Spence Shelton — Thank you for leading the way you have the time and this is what you do with it. So, man, there are if if all we see is just, Oh a facility to advance my cause. And we miss what has actually been the sweetest thing for our church has been our very young church got some grandparents.Rich Birch — Yes. Spence Shelton — It’s beautiful, man. Beautiful. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah. That’s so good. Spence Shelton — So that’s just a little bit I learned from that ah from those couple of runs we’ve had. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s amazing. And yeah, that underlines, so it’s definitely the majority—I think it’s three quarters, if I remember the most recent statistics on these sort of revitalizations—are coming about because the joining church is coming to the lead church, not the other way around.Spence Shelton — That’s right. That’s right.Rich Birch — And so you have to position yourself in a way that that confident humility is a great kind of benchmark to be thinking about, friends. How do we you know hold ourselves in a way that we’re here to serve other people, we’re here to care for them in a way. And I say to church leaders when we talk about these things, I’m like, you have to handle these relationships well enough so that then they’ll tell other people, hey, wow, we loved working with Mercy Hill.Rich Birch — Man, there we love working with Mercy Church. Well, we love working with mercy Mercy Hill too. Spence Shelton — Sure. That’s right.Rich Birch — We love working with Mercy Hill, Mercy Church, too many Mercies. Wow, what a great you know interaction that was been. And wow, that’s a life-giving thing.Spence Shelton — That’s right.Rich Birch — And I loved that. That is what ultimately we’ll see more of these happen long-term. Not because you did some, you know, so too many people have these like, You know, like they use merger and takeover and like this kind of aggressive language, which just doesn’t help in the conversation at all.Spence Shelton — No, it doesn’t help at all. Yeah, that’s exactly right. You got to have that humility. And if somebody’s sitting there wondering, okay, man, well, how do I how do I wait on that without, I want to go get it. I want to get started. I’d say two or three things to do if you’re looking and you believe your church might be a good church candidate for helping another church revitalize, whether that’s being a campus of yours or or something to that effect. Spence Shelton — I’d say first start praying and asking the Lord. And that if you’re not fasting, then you’re not praying yet. Rich Birch — Yeah. Love it.Spence Shelton — So I don’t want to hear that you’re praying if you’re not fasting on this. Secondly, man, this is why networks matter. So I would say whatever your denomination or stream is, whatever, however you’re kind of tied to other churches in your community. If you have no relationships with other churches in your community, and then you want to go and be the revitalizer, that’s going to come, that’s probably going to come across a certain way.Spence Shelton — So There are a number of—years and years and years—of meetings that I’ve gone to, conversations I’ve sat in, in order to genuinely try to say, how can we help? How can we help?Rich Birch — Yeah.Spence Shelton — Whether that’s sending a worship leader to go serve at a church one Sunday morning or helping one church with a a building fundy kind of like thing they got to upfit or something, you know.Spence Shelton — Basically, I’m trying to be a team player in the Kingdom here in our little corner of the world in Charlotte. And then that’s going to earn the respect and the trust for when those conversations can happen in the relational network, those conversations can happen. Spence Shelton — So I am one who just in my nature, I do not like meetings. I don’t like them. Rich Birch — Sure.Spence Shelton — They feel like necessary evils. Rich Birch — Love it.Spence Shelton — And I’m trying to get better about that. But they are actually what I do love and value is trust and relationships. And again, confident humility. I have to be more about the Kingdom than I do about my own church. And a rising tide lifts all boats, you know.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good. Well, this been a great conversation today, Spence. I really appreciate that. And thanks for going with me there with that little you know detour at the end.Spence Shelton — Of course, the joy.Rich Birch — That was fantastic. But anything you’d love to share just as we wrap up today’s conversation?Spence Shelton — I would say too—I don’t know what’s spurring this, but something that has helped me so much in my ministry to the leader out there, especially the young leader, but maybe to all of them—you will always overestimate what you can do in five years and you will drastically underestimate what you can do in 20. Rich Birch — That’s so true.Spence Shelton — And there maybe a way to say it is you will overestimate what God will do and underestimate what God will do. So this is a little plug of me saying, stay the course, stay the course where you’re at. The Lord is going to do a work in honor of your faithfulness to the work. Stay in it, man. Stay in it.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. Just to add to that, I’m doing some research on working on a book on churches that break the 2000 barrier. And one of the interesting telltale signs are senior leaders and senior leadership teams that have been in the same church or the same community for 20 plus years. Spence Shelton — There you go. Rich Birch — So going into their third decade, it just takes time. Spence Shelton — There it is. Rich Birch — You know, it’s not it’s it’s not you know’s not overnight. Rich Birch — Well, I really appreciate this. This has been a great a great conversation. Spence, if people want to track with you or with the church, where do we want to send them online? Spence Shelton — Yeah, man, you can go to probably social media is the the day and age that we live in. So @SpenceShelton is my social media handle. It’s Instagram and and those kind of things. Our church is just @MercyCharlotte. And you can go on our website, mercycharlotte.com. Find everything you need there. Spence Shelton — We’re launching a podcast. Praise God, let’s go. You can find all of it, though, just through our Instagram handles, which is usually a good first landing point for folks. And however we can help, man, feel free to reach out. Nothing super shiny about what we got going on over here, but we love being in the game for the Kingdom. However we can help.Rich Birch — All the best as you serve in Charlotte. Thanks so much, man.Spence Shelton — Thank you, brother.

We react and take calls following the Seattle Sounders' Leagues Cup Phase One matchup at LIGA MX side Toluca FC.Subscribe to the NEW Lobbing Scorchers Blog: www.lobbingscorchers.comFollow Lobbing Scorchers: YouTube Instagram Bluesky TikTok Facebook Ari Liljenwall Noah Riffe Niko MorenoSPONSORSQED Coffee - a Seattle based roaster, coffee shop and coffee subscription service. Visit them in person at one of the three Seattle locations or online and use code ‘LS74' for 25% off across the site.Haxan Ferments - Specializing in unique, small-batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars, Haxan Ferments is handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest. Use Code LS for a FREE Hot Sauce w/ purchase!Podium Edmonds - Located at 114 4th Ave N, just off Main Street in the heart of Downtown Edmonds, come shop and explore the best menswear in the Pacific Northwest. Tell them Lobbing Scorchers sent you!Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com

Six straight losses have forced us to reevaluate a lot of our preseason and early-season takes. It's only fair to look back and ask where our assumptions missed the mark. This isn't about apologizing for old takes, it's about learning what this stretch has taught us about the roster and what we might've missed.Subscribe to the NEW Lobbing Scorchers Blog: www.lobbingscorchers.com☕️ Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff is presented by QED Coffee, a Seattle based roaster, coffee shop and coffee subscription service. Visit them in person at one of the three Seattle locations or online and use code ‘LS74' for 25% off across the site: https://www.lobbingscorchers.com/coffeeFollow Lobbing Scorchers: YouTube Instagram Bluesky TikTok Facebook Ari Liljenwall Noah Riffe Niko MorenoSPONSORSQED Coffee - a Seattle based roaster, coffee shop and coffee subscription service. Visit them in person at one of the three Seattle locations or online and use code ‘LS74' for 25% off across the site.Haxan Ferments - Specializing in unique, small-batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars, Haxan Ferments is handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest. Use Code LS for a FREE Hot Sauce w/ purchase!Podium Edmonds - Located at 114 4th Ave N, just off Main Street in the heart of Downtown Edmonds, come shop and explore the best menswear in the Pacific Northwest. Tell them Lobbing Scorchers sent you!Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com#KO

Got a story idea for Bloodworks 101? Send us a text message Are you curious about your health but just haven't taken the time to get your blood tested? Is the cost of getting your blood tested holding you back? Well, there's a new company called Goodlabs, partnering with Bloodworks Northwest that provides free blood testing to Bloodworks Northwest donors. Goodlabs is a nationwide company that's just getting a foothold here in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, Bloodworks 101 Producer John Yeager got a chance to sit down with Goodlabs CEO Grant Brewster. If you're interested, go to goodlabs.com. Support the show

In this episode, Josh interviews Lauren Lee, ClickBank's e-commerce and affiliate marketing expert. Lauren shares practical strategies for finding and recruiting affiliates, managing relationships, and setting commission rates. She highlights the benefits of affiliate networks like ClickBank and Shopify's Dovetail, and offers tips for pitching offers, optimizing landing pages, and starting with best-selling products. Lauren distinguishes between influencer and performance affiliates, explains how to set sustainable payouts, and provides actionable steps for launching or improving affiliate programs. Listeners learn how to connect with Lauren and access additional affiliate marketing resources.Chapters:Introduction to Lauren Lee and Her Background (00:00:00)Lauren's experience with top brands and her approach to scaling e-commerce through affiliate marketing.How to Find and Connect with Affiliates (00:01:11)Strategies for finding affiliates, benefits of affiliate networks, and leveraging marketplaces like ClickBank.Networking and Recruiting Affiliates Outside Networks (00:03:20)Tips for recruiting affiliates via Facebook groups, LinkedIn, and sharing campaign data to attract partners.Using Data to Attract Affiliates (00:03:42)Importance of sharing conversion rates and average order value to entice affiliates.Affiliate Offer Visibility on ClickBank (00:04:58)How ClickBank displays offer metrics and ranks offers for affiliates.Alternative Networks and Cold Outreach (00:05:24)Advice on finding affiliates for Amazon brands, using cold DMs, and other affiliate networks.Shopify's Dovetail Platform for Influencer Affiliates (00:05:53)Overview of Dovetail for finding and messaging influencers at scale on Shopify.Other Affiliate Networks and Amazon Integration (00:07:35)Recommendations for entry-level networks like ShareASale and Amazon traffic facilitation.Determining Affiliate Payout Ratios (00:08:28)Guidelines for setting commission rates for different affiliate types and the importance of knowing your margins.Commission Structures for Different Affiliate Types (00:10:18)Typical commission ranges for influencers, publishers, and performance affiliates, and strategic considerations.Three Actionable Takeaways for Affiliate Programs (00:12:09)Summary of key steps: define affiliate type, start with best-selling products, and optimize landing pages for customer problems.How to Connect with Lauren Lee and ClickBank Resources (00:15:03)Ways to contact Lauren via LinkedIn and access ClickBank's e-commerce resource hub.Links and Mentions:Affiliate Networks and Marketplaces  "ClickBank": "00:01:33"  "ShareASale": "00:08:20"  Influencer and Affiliate Search Tools  "Dovetail": "00:06:15"  Educational and Support Resources  "E-commerce Resource Hub at ClickBank": "00:15:14"Transcript:Josh 00:00:00  Today. I am super excited to introduce you all to Lauren Lee. Lauren is Clickbank s ecom expert who works with eCommerce brands to unlock new sales channels with affiliates. She believes that there is always a solution to scale brands, and you can always find a way to exceed your goals. Lauren has partnered with top fortune 100 companies like Walmart, Amazon and Apple, leading their affiliate marketing strategies and offer campaigns, and is helping brands like yours craft scaled affiliate channels. You can find her hanging with her husband and daughter when she isn't supporting clients traveling the PNW, aka the Pacific Northwest, and assisting in Buddhist meditation teacher training. So with that, welcome to the show, Lauren.Lauren 00:00:50  Thank you so much, Josh. It's nice to be here.Josh 00:00:52  Lauren. I kind of want to point our attention to how do I find these affiliates? It all sounds great, but how do I find these affiliates, how do I manage the relationship with them? How do I make sure that the offer I'm going to give them is enough percentage of the deal or of the revenue share? Right.Josh 00:01:11  So there's a lot that I think we need to dive into there. So let's start first with like so how in the world do I go find the right affiliates? If I've decided that with organic I, I've, I'm targeting more, let's say people that are trying to lose weight. Right. how do I go find the right affiliates that are focused on talking to an audience that's wanting to lose weight?Lauren 00:01:33  Yes. Great question. And basically, we're taking somebody through the whole journey, right? Of what? Of starting of starting from the ideation stages and just of interest. And now you're you're ready to connect with affiliates. And so you by joining in the network, you get access to the affiliates. And that's one of the benefits of joining a network. And outside of a network you can absolutely connect with people on like Facebook groups and maybe on LinkedIn. and it's kind of ad hoc, right? And it does take some manual effort. So that does exist that just natural facilitation of relationships. But once you're inside a network in a company like Clickbank or another network, what they allow you to do is to join a marketplace.Lauren 00:02:15  And the marketplace is not consumer facing. It's for affiliates. And affiliates are coming every single day to be able to see what offers are there and what they can begin to promote. And so you want to be in that marketplace. You want to be just like you're on Amazon, right? And you are in that marketplace. It's kind of very similar in the sense of what products can I promote as an affiliate. And so that's how you're really going to start to connect with affiliates. So pick up your offer. And so there's some strategies around there. You know you can get your offer and require that affiliates, you know, provide information so that you can start to create these this network of affiliates that you're connecting with by email by contact. And you also can learn what is their traffic source. Maybe one affiliate is really good at YouTube and one's really good at Facebook. And you can start to be strategic around that. that is the main facilitation, the main way that you are going to connect with affiliates.Lauren 00:03:07  There are other things like events and networking and like I mentioned, kind of this ad hoc relationship that does happen, but you want to ensure your, your, you're connected on the marketplace.Josh 00:03:20  Okay. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. So the first thing would, you know, a network that you join in the marketplace would kind of do a lot. Help expedite things. Do you have any tips or strategies? If somebody is just, you know, they're networking with people or they're in Facebook groups, have you seen any good strategies that way to maybe recruit some affiliates that you're meeting personally?Lauren 00:03:42  Yes, absolutely. Okay, so I think one thing that often gets overlooked when you create your funnel and create your campaign, you're super excited, but you want to be able to have some data around your campaign, your offer. Is it converting? What is the conversion rate? You know, what is the average order value that you see people transacting with on your on your funnel, on your campaign? Those are going to be really attractive metrics to share with affiliates.Lauren 00:04:09  And so if you did go on a Facebook group or you go to a networking or a conference, right, you'r...

The smoke hanging over the Pacific Northwest is impossible to ignore, but what if the real story isn't just about the fires? Today I'm talking about stewardship, leadership, and why the decisions we make at the ballot box have real-world consequences. As Washington voters head to the polls and communities battle devastating wildfires, it's a timely reminder that elections matter and faithful stewardship begins long before a crisis. I'll also share an exciting update about my new book, Holding Fast in These Last Days.Shop MyFreedomCart for trusted, American-made products that support your values.http://myfreedomcart.com/heidiShow mentions: http://heidistjohn.com/mentionsWebsite | http://heidistjohn.comSupport the show! | http://donorbox.org/donation-827Rumble | rumble.com/user/HeidiStJohnYoutube |    / @‌heidistjohnpodcast  Instagram | @‌heidistjohnFacebook | Heidi St. JohnX | @‌heidistjohnFaith That Speaks Online CommunitySubmit your questions for Fan Mail Friday | http://heidistjohn.com/fanmailfriday

What has become a tradition, it is the Scotty O earnings recap. There is no other recap quite like it. We break down the most interesting highlights, give the seller and vendor perspective with some attempts at not taking things too seriously. The Always Off Brand is always a Laugh & Learn!    FEEDSPOT TOP 10 Retail Podcast! https://podcast.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/?feedid=5770554&_src=f2_featured_email QUICKFIRE Info:   Website: https://www.quickfirenow.com/ Email the Show: info@quickfirenow.com  Talk to us on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quickfireproductions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quickfire__/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quickfiremarketing LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/quickfire-productions-llc/about/ Sports podcast Scott has been doing since 2017, Scott & Tim Sports Show part of Somethin About Nothin:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/somethin-about-nothin/id1306950451 HOSTS: Summer Jubelirer has been in digital commerce and marketing for over 17 years. After spending many years working for digital and ecommerce agencies working with multi-million dollar brands and running teams of Account Managers, she is now the Amazon Manager at OLLY PBC.   LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerjubelirer/   Scott Ohsman has been working with brands for over 30 years in retail, online and has launched over 200 brands on Amazon. Mr. Ohsman has been managing brands on Amazon for 19yrs. Owning his own sales and marketing agency in the Pacific NW, is now VP of Digital Commerce for Quickfire LLC. Producer and Co-Host for the top 5 retail podcast, Always Off Brand. He also produces the Brain Driven Brands Podcast featuring leading Consumer Behaviorist Sarah Levinger. Scott has been a featured speaker at national trade shows and has developed distribution strategies for many top brands. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-ohsman-861196a6/   Hayley Brucker has been working in retail and with Amazon for years. Hayley has extensive experience in digital advertising, both seller and vendor central on Amazon. Hayley lives in North Carolina.  LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-brucker-1945bb229/   Huge thanks to Cytrus our show theme music "Office Party" available wherever you get your music. Check them out here: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cytrusmusic Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cytrusmusic/ Twitter https://twitter.com/cytrusmusic SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6VrNLN6Thj1iUMsiL4Yt5q?si=MeRsjqYfQiafl0f021kHwg APPLE MUSIC https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cytrus/1462321449   "Always Off Brand" is part of the Quickfire Podcast Network and produced by Quickfire LLC.  

In this week's First $1,000 segment, we hear from a side hustler in Olympia, Washington. He designs tiny homes—how did he get started with that?Side Hustle School features a new episode EVERY DAY, featuring detailed case studies of people who earn extra money without quitting their job. This year, the show includes free guided lessons and listener Q&A several days each week.Show notes: SideHustleSchool.comEmail: team@sidehustleschool.comBe on the show: SideHustleSchool.com/questionsConnect on Instagram: @193countriesVisit Chris's main site: ChrisGuillebeau.comRead A Year of Mental Health: yearofmentalhealth.comIf you're enjoying the show, please pass it along! It's free and has been published every single day since January 1, 2017. We're also very grateful for your five-star ratings—it shows that people are listening and looking forward to new episodes.

A.M. Edition for Aug 3. President Trump's latest walkback came just hours after saying he was prepared to launch the biggest attack since World War II, and as Gulf countries grow frustrated over a lack of a clear U.S. strategy to end the war. Plus, the Japanese Yen rises after Washington and Tokyo launch their first joint intervention in a generation after the currency fell to a 40-year low against the dollar. WSJ Tokyo bureau chief Jason Douglas breaks down the worries that drove Washington to get involved. And California's Democratic Party endorses the state's proposed billionaire tax. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Devil's LedgerWeek of August 3, 2026 Summer has a way of making the world feel a little smaller. The days are long, the evenings are warm, vacations are winding down, and before we know it backpacks will replace beach towels and football will once again dominate our weekends. But this summer has also reminded us how fragile that world can be. This week, The Devil's Ledger opens with a heartfelt reflection on the devastating wildfires sweeping across Europe and the Pacific Northwest, exploring what these increasingly destructive fire seasons mean for future generations—and why protecting the environment may be one of the greatest gifts we can leave those who come after us. We begin, as always, with The Creepiest Thing I Heard This Week, examining a remarkable Bigfoot encounter in Connecticut that received one of the highest credibility ratings issued by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. Is it evidence of Sasquatch, or simply another chapter in America's longest-running monster story? More importantly, what does the public's reaction tell us about how modern folklore continues to evolve? On The Devil Within, Branden Morgan continues The New Monsters with the astonishing story of The Montauk Monster. What began as a mysterious carcass washing ashore on a Long Island beach quickly exploded into one of the internet's defining conspiracy theories, inspiring speculation about secret government experiments, Plum Island, and eventually influencing one of the biggest television phenomena of the century: Stranger Things. It's less a story about a dead creature than about how distrust gives birth to mythology. Over on Criminal Mischief, Carolyn Ossorio breaks down the latest developments in the Bryan Kohberger case following his attempt to withdraw his guilty plea. Why make such a dramatic legal move now? What does it mean for prosecutors, the victims' families, and the future of the case? Carolyn separates legal reality from media speculation in one of the year's most closely watched criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, The Slippery investigates the astonishing rise and spectacular downfall of Bikram Choudhury, the self-proclaimed yoga guru who built a worldwide empire on charisma, deception, and control before allegations of fraud, abuse, and sexual assault sent him fleeing the United States. It's the story of narcissism, manipulation, and the people courageous enough to expose one of wellness culture's biggest frauds. Finally, in This Week in Horror, we recommend Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. At first glance it may seem an unlikely horror recommendation, but its unforgettable visit to Circe's island—and its parade of monsters, gods, curses, and impossible journeys—proves that some of the greatest horror stories ever told were written thousands of years ago. Thank you for spending another week with us across the Evio Universe. Stay safe, enjoy these last precious weeks of summer, and we'll see you again next week with more stories that explore history, mystery, crime, horror, and the strange corners of the world we all share.