Podcasts about Permission

#335: In this months solo episode I'm kicking off our series for the month of March, The Business of You, by having a very real conversation about what it actually means to be the CEO of your life.I'm getting candid on where I actually am in my business right now — the uncomfortable questions I'm sitting with, the pressure of building something meaningful in a world that only seems to reward numbers, and what it feels like when your vision refuses to fit into a neat little content box. This episode is about identifying your real assets, cutting your liabilities, reclaiming your agency, and making CEO-level decisions for your life. Even when you're still in the messy middle and don't have it all figured out.Let's build the business of you intentionally and strategically.This episode is for you if…You've been building something quietly and you're wondering if it's enough.You feel the tension between staying authentic and doing what “works.”You know you're capable of more, but you've been waiting to be chosen instead of deciding to choose yourself.You're tired of being valuable to everyone else but unclear on how to value yourself.You've been focused on what you don't have instead of learning how to leverage the cards you do have.You want to stop moving like an employee in your own life and start thinking strategically about your assets, your liabilities, and your equity.You're ready to make at least one CEO-level decision this month. One that protects your peace, raises your standards, and moves you closer to your long-term vision.Keep in Touch with Les:Use code LES50 for $50 off of Botox at PeachyReady to apply what you hear? Subscribe to the She's So Lucky Newsletter to get weekly episode guides and journal prompts: https://shessolucky.kit.com/newsletterFollow Les on IG @lesalfredFollow She's So Lucky on IG @shessoluckypodFollow Les on TikTokFollow She's So Lucky on TikTokVisit our website at shessoluckypodcast.comSponsors:Osea: Give your skin a rest with clean, clinically tested skincare from OSEA. Get 10% off your first order site wide with code BBG at OSEAMalibu.com.ButcherBox: As an exclusive offer, new listeners can get their choice between organic ground beef, chicken breast or ground turkey in every box for a year, PLUS $20 off when you go to butcherbox.com/lucky.Rula: This year, make one change you can actually stick with. Visit Rula.com/lucky to get started with mental health care that's actually built to last. #rulapodRW Knudsen: With R.W. Knudsen, krush 100% of your day. Morning, afternoon, evening and all the moments in between — with 100% juice and no added sugar. Pick up a bottle at your local grocery store today.Nuuly: Upgrade your wardrobe by subscribing to Nuuly. Nuuly is an incredible value at $98 for any 6 styles, and right now you can get $28 off your first month when you sign up at nuuly.com and enter code LUCKY at checkout.This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, I'm handing over the host chair and letting you in on a different conversation, where I'm the one answering the questions! In this episode, which I'm re-airing after we recorded it for her show, Molly Asplin interviews me about the story behind Brilliant Balance, my leap from corporate life to entrepreneurship, and why our personal definitions of success matter more than any universal standard. We talk about the seasons of our lives, the messy reality behind the highlight reels, and how giving ourselves permission to embrace the "now" can change everything. If you've ever wrestled with burnout, perfectionism, or the belief that you just can't press pause, I promise you'll feel seen here. Grab your coffee, settle in, and join us for a fresh perspective on designing a brilliant, balanced life, your way.  Show Highlights: How I left P&G with financial runways to launch a business. [03:43] Align your pace with life's growth and recovery seasons. [10:56] Are you living by outdated standards of success? [18:16] How to name your season and reset your rhythm. [20:23] The power of intentional calendar curation. [24:12] Energy management essentials for health and resilience. [27:44] What's procrastination perfectionism? [32:05] Separating social narratives from yourself as a woman. [34:56] The pendulum shift to recovery from career overdrive. [41:08] Permission for tired women to sleep and get support. [42:41] Check out my Momentum Playbook and other helpful tools. [45:51] To find Molly Asplin's podcast The Modern High Performer, visit https://mollyasplin.com/modern-high-performer-podcast/. Subscribe to the Brilliant Balance Weekly: www.brilliant-balance.com/weekly Follow Cherylanne on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cskolnicki  

How do you build a creative life that spans music, writing, film, and spiritual practice? Alicia Jo Rabins talks about weaving multiple creative strands into a sustainable career and why the best advice for any creator might simply be: just make the thing. In the intro, backlist promotion strategy [Written Word Media]; Successful author business [Novel Marketing Podcast]; Alliance of Independent Authors Indie Author Bookstore; Bones of the Deep – J.F. Penn This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Alicia Jo Rabins is an award-winning writer, musician, performer, as well as a Torah teacher and ritualist. She's the creator of Girls In Trouble, a feminist indie-folk song cycle about biblical women, and the award-winning film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff. Her latest book is a memoir, When We Are Born We Forget Everything. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Building a sustainable multi-disciplinary creative career through teaching, performance, grants, and donations Trusting instinct in the early generative stages of creativity and separating generation from editing Adapting and reimagining religious and cultural source material through music, writing, and performance The challenges of transitioning from poetry to long-form prose memoir, including choosing a lens for your story Making an independent film on a shoestring budget without waiting for Hollywood's permission Finding your creative voice and building confidence by leaning into vulnerability and returning to the practice of making You can find Alicia at AliciaJo.com. Transcript of the interview with Alicia Jo Rabins Joanna: Alicia Jo Rabins is an award-winning writer, musician, performer, as well as a Torah teacher and ritualist. She's the creator of Girls In Trouble, a feminist indie-folk song cycle about biblical women, and the award-winning film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff. Her latest book is a memoir, When We Are Born We Forget Everything. So welcome to the show, Alicia. Alicia: Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here. Joanna: There is so much we could talk about. But first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you've woven so many strands of creativity into your life and career. Alicia: Yes, well, I am a maximalist. What happened in terms of my early life is that I started writing on my own, just extremely young. I'm one of those people who always loved writing, always processed the world and managed my emotions and came to understand myself through writing. So from a very young age, I felt really committed to writing. Then I had the good fortune that my mother saw a talk show about the Suzuki method of learning violin—when you start really young and learn by ear, which is modelled after language learning. It's so much less intellectual and much more instinctual, learning by copying. She was like, that looks like a cool thing. I was three years old at the time and she found out that there was a little local branch of our music conservatory that had a Suzuki violin programme. So when I was three and a half, getting close to four, she took me down and I started playing an extremely tiny violin. Joanna: Oh, cute! Alicia: Yes, and because it was part of this conservatory that was downtown, and we were just starting at the suburban branch where we lived, there was this path that I was able to follow. As I got more and more interested in violin, I could continue basically up through the conservatory level during high school. So I had a really fantastic music education without any pressure, without any expectations or professional goals. I just kept taking these classes and one thing led to another. I grew up being very immersed in both creative writing and music, and I think just having the gift of those two parts of my brain trained and stimulated and delighted so young really changed my brain in some ways. I'll always see the world through this creative lens, which I think I'm also just set up to do personally. Then the last step of my multi-practice career is that in college I got very interested in Jewish spirituality. I'm Jewish, but I didn't grow up very religious. I didn't grow up in a Jewish community really. So I knew some basics, but not a ton. In college I started to study it and also informally learned from other people I met. I ended up going on a pretty intense spiritual quest, going to Jerusalem and immersing myself after college for two years in traditional Jewish study and practice. So that became the third strand of the braid that had already been started with music and writing. Torah study, spiritual study, and teaching became the third, and they all interweave. The last thing I'll say is that because I work in both words and music, and naturally performance because of music, it began to branch a little bit into plays, theatre, and film, just because that's where the intersection of words, performance, and music is. So that's really what brought me into that, as opposed to any specific desire to work in film. It all happened very organically. Joanna: I love this. This is so cool. We are going to circle back to a lot of this, but I have to ask you— What about work for money at any point? How did this turn into more than just hobbies and lifestyle? Alicia: Yes, absolutely. Well, I'm very fortunate that I did not graduate college with loans because my parents were able to pay for college. That was a big privilege that I just want to name, because in the States that's often not the case. So that allowed me to need to support myself, but not also pay loans, which was a real gift. What happened was I went straight from college to that school in Jerusalem, and there I was on loans and scholarship, so I didn't have to worry yet about supporting myself. Then when I came back to the States, I actually found on Craigslist a job teaching remedial Hebrew. It was essentially teaching kids at a Jewish elementary school who either had learning differences or had just entered the school late and needed to be in a different Hebrew class than the other kids in their grade. That was my first experience of really teaching, and I just absolutely fell in love with it. Although in the end, my passion is much more for teaching the text and rituals and the wrestling with the concepts, as opposed to teaching language. So all these years, while doing performance and writing and all these things, I have been teaching Jewish studies. That has essentially supported me, I would say, between 50 and 70 per cent. Then the rest has been paid gigs as a musician, whether as a front person leading a project or as what we call a sideman, playing in someone else's band. Sometimes doing theatre performances, sometimes teaching workshops. That's how I've cobbled it together. I have not had a full-time job all these years and I have supported myself through both earned income and also grants and donations. I've really tried to cultivate a little bit of a donor base, and I took some workshops early on about how to welcome donations. So I definitely try to always welcome that as well. Joanna: That is so interesting that you took a workshop on how to welcome donations. Way back in, I think 2013, I said on this show, I just don't know if I can accept people giving to support the show. Then someone on the podcast challenged me and said, but people want to support creatives. That's when I started Patreon in 2014. It was when The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer came out and— It was this realisation that people do want to support people. So I love that you said that. Alicia: It's not easy. It's still not easy for me, and I have to grit my teeth every time I even put in my end-of-year newsletter. I just say, just a reminder that part of what makes this possible is your generous donations, and I'm so grateful to you. It's not easy. I think some people enjoy fundraising. I certainly don't instinctively enjoy it, but I have learned to think of it exactly the way that you're saying. I mean, I love donating to support other people's projects. Sometimes it's the highlight of my day. If I'm having a bad day and someone asks for help, either to feed a family or to complete a creative project, I just feel like, okay, at least I can give $36 or $25 and feel like I did something positive in the last hour, even if my project is going terribly and I'm in a fight with my kid or something. So I have to keep in mind that it is actually a privilege to give as well as a privilege to receive. Joanna: Absolutely. So let's get back into your various creative projects. The first thing I wanted to ask you, because you do have so many different formats and forms of your creativity—how do you know when an idea that comes to you should be a song, or something you want to do as a performance, or written, or a film? Tell us a bit about your creative process. Because a lot of your projects are also longer-term. Alicia: Yes. It's funny, I love planning and in some ways I'm an extreme planner. I really drive people in my family bonkers with planning, like family vacations a year in advance. In terms of my creativity, I'm very planful towards goals, but in that early generative state, I am actually pure instinct. I don't think I ever sit down and say, “I have this idea, which genre would it match with?” It's more like I sit on my bed and pick up my guitar, which is where I love to do songwriting, just sitting on my bed cross-legged, and I pick up my guitar and something starts coming out. Then I just work with that kernel. So it's very nebulous at first, very innate, and I just follow that creative spirit. Often I don't even know what a project is, sometimes if it's a larger project, until a year or two in. Once things emerge and take shape, then my planning brain and my strategy brain can jump on it and say, “Okay, we need three more songs to fill out the album, and we need to plan the fundraising and the scheduling.” Then I might take more of an outside-in approach. At the beginning it's just all instinct. Joanna: So if you pick up your guitar, does that mean it always starts in music and then goes into writing? Or is that you only pick up a guitar if it's going to be musical? Alicia: I think I'm responding to what's inside me. It's almost like a need, as opposed to, “I'm going to sit down and work.” I mean, obviously I sit down and work a lot, but I think in that early stage of anything, it's more like my fingers are itching to play something, and so I sit down and pick up my guitar. Sometimes nothing comes out and sometimes the kernel of a song comes out. Or I'm at a café, and I often like to write when I'm feeling a little bit discombobulated, just to go into the complexity of things or use challenging emotions as fuel. I really do use it as a—I don't know if therapeutic is the word, but I think it maybe is. I write often, as I always have, as I said before, to understand what I'm thinking. Like Joan Didion said—to process difficult emotions, to let go of stuck places. So I think I create almost more out of a sense of just what I need in the moment. Sometimes it's just for fun. Sometimes picking up a guitar, I just have a moment so I sit down and mess around. Sometimes it's to help me struggle with something. It doesn't always start in music. That was a random example. I might sit down to write because I have an hour and I think, I haven't written in a while. Or I do have an informal daily writing thing where I'll try to generate one loose draft of something a day, even if it's only ten pages. I mean, sorry, ten words. Joanna: I was going to say! Alicia: No, no. Ten words. I'm sorry. It's often poetry, so it feels like a lot when it's ten words. I'll just sit down with no pressure, no goal, no intention to make anything specific. Just open the floodgates and see what comes out. That's where every single project of mine has started. Joanna: Yes, I do love that. Obviously, I'm a discovery writer and intuitive, same as you. I think very much this idea of, especially when you said you feel discombobulated, that's when you write. I almost feel like I need that. I'm not someone who writes every day. I don't do ten lines or whatever. It's that I'll feel that sense of pressure building up into “this is going to be something.” I will really only write or journal when that spills over into— “I now need to write and figure out what this is.” Alicia: Yes. It's almost a form of hunger. It feels to me similar to when you eat a great meal and then you're good for a while. You're not really thinking of it, and then it builds up, like you said, and then there's a need—at least the first half of creativity. I really separate my generation and my editing. So my generative practice is all openness, no critique, just this maybe therapeutic, maybe curious, wandering and seeing what happens. Then once I have a draft, my incisive editing mind is welcome back in, which has been shut out from that early process. So that's a really different experience. Those early stages of creativity are almost out of need more than obligation. Joanna: Well, just staying with that generative practice. Obviously you've mentioned your study of and practice of Jewish tradition and Jewish spirituality. Steven Pressfield in his books has talked about his prayer to the muse, and I've got on my wall here—I don't talk about this very often, actually — I have a muse picture, a painting of what I think of as a muse spirit in some form. So do you have any spiritual practices around your generative practice and that phase of coming up with ideas? Alicia: I love that question, and I wish I had a beautiful, intentional answer. My answer is no. I think I experience creativity as its own spiritual practice itself. I do love individual prayer and meditation and things like that, but for me those are more to address my specifically spiritual health and happiness and connectedness. I'm just a dive-in kind of person. As a musician, I have friends who have elaborate backstage rituals. I have to do certain things to take care of my voice, but even that, it's mostly vocal rest as opposed to actively doing things. There's a bit of an on/off switch for me. Joanna: That's interesting. Well, I do want to ask you about one of your projects, this collaboration with a high school on a musical performance, I Was a Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs, and also your Girls in Trouble songs about women in the Torah. On your website, I had a look at the school, the high school, and the musical performance. It was extraordinary. I was watching you in the school there and it's just such extraordinary work. It very much inspired me—not to do it myself, but it was just so wonderful. I do urge people to go to your website and just watch a few minutes of it. I'm inspired by elements of religion, Christian and Jewish, but I wondered if you've come up against any issues with adaptation—respecting your heritage but also reinventing it. How has this gone for you. Any advice for people who want to incorporate aspects of religion they love but are worried about responses? Alicia: Well, I have to say, coming from the Jewish tradition, that is a core practice of Judaism—reinterpreting our texts and traditions, wrestling with them, arguing with them, reimagining them. I don't know if you're familiar with Midrash, but just in case some of your listeners aren't sure I'll explain it. There's essentially an ancient form of fanfic called Midrash, which was the ancient rabbis, and we still do it today, taking a biblical story that seems to have some kind of gap or inconsistency or question in it and writing a story to fill that gap or recast the story in an interestingly different light. So we have this whole body of literature over thousands of years that are these alternate or added-on adventures, side quests of the biblical characters. What I'm doing from a Jewish perspective is very much in line with a traditional way of interacting with text. I've certainly never gotten any pushback, especially as I work in progressive Jewish communities. I think if I were in an extremely fundamentalist community, there would be a lot of different issues around gender and things like that. The interpretive process, even in those communities, is part of how we show respect for the text. When I was working with the high school—and I just want to call out the choir director, Ethan Chen, who has an incredible project where he brings in a different artist every two years to work with the choir, and they tend to have a different cultural focus each time. He invited me specifically to integrate my songwriting about biblical women with his amazing high school choir. I was really worried at first because most of them are not Jewish—very few of them, if any. I wanted to respect their spiritual paths and their religious heritages and not impose mine on them. So I spent a lot of time at the beginning saying, this project has religious source material, but essentially it is a creative reinterpretive project. I am not coming to you to bring the religious material to you. I'm coming to take the shared Hebrew Bible myths and then reinterpret those myths through a lens of how they might reflect our own personal struggles, because that's always my approach to these ancient stories. I wanted to really make that clear to the students. It was such a joy to work with them. Joanna: It's such an interesting project. Also, I find with musicians in general this idea of performance. You've written this thing—or this thing specifically with the school—and it doesn't exist again, right? You're not selling CDs of that, I presume. Whereas compared to a book, when we write a book, we can sell it forever. It doesn't exist as a performance generally for an author of a memoir or a novel. It carries on existing. So how does that feel, the performance idea versus the longer-lasting thing? I mean, I guess the video's there, but the performance itself happened. Alicia: I do know what you mean. Absolutely. We did, for that reason, record it professionally. We had the sound person record it and mix it, so it is available to stream. I'm not selling CDs, but it's out there on all the streaming services, if people want to listen. I do also have the scores, so if a choir wanted to sing it. The main point that you're making is so true. I think there's actually something very sacred about live performance—that we're all in the moment together and then the moment is over. I love the artefacts of the writing life. I love writing books. I love buying and reading books and having them around, and there's piles of them everywhere in this room I'm standing in. I feel like being on stage, or even teaching, is a very spiritual practice for me, because it's in some ways the most in-the-moment I ever am. The only thing that matters is what's happening right then in that room. It's fleeting as it goes. I'm working with the energy in the room while we're there. It's different every time because I'm different, the atmosphere is different, the people are different. There's no way to plan it. The kind of micro precision that we all try to bring to our editing—you can't do that. You can practice all you want and you should, but in the moment, who knows? A string breaks or there's loud sound coming from the other room. It is just one of those things. I love being reminded over and over again of the truth that we really don't control what happens. The best that we can do is ride it, surf it, be in it, appreciate it, and then let it go. Joanna: I think maybe I get a glimpse of that when I speak professionally, but I'm far more in control in that situation than I guess you were with—I don't know how many—was it a hundred kids in that choir? It looked pretty big. Alicia: It was amazing. It was 130 kids. Yes. Joanna: 130 kids! I mean, it was magic listening to it. And yes, of course, showing my age there with buying a CD, aren't I? Alicia: Well, I do still sell some CDs of Girls in Trouble on tour, because I have a bunch of them and people still buy them. I'm always so grateful because it was an easier life for touring musicians when we could just bring CDs. Now we have to be very creative about our merch. Joanna: Yes, that's a good point because people are like, “Oh yes, I'll scan your QR code and stream it,” but you might not get the money for that for ages, and it might just be five cents or whatever. Alicia: Streaming is terrible for live musicians. I mean, I don't know if you know the site Bandcamp, but it's essentially self-publishing for musicians. Bandcamp is a great way around that, and a lot of independent musicians use it because that's a place you can upload your music and people can pay $8 for an album. They can stream it on there if they want, or they can download it and have it. But, yes, it's hard out there for touring musicians. Joanna: Yes, for sure. Well, let's come to the book then. Your memoir, When We Are Born We Forget Everything. Tell us about some of the challenges of a book as opposed to these other types of performances. Alicia: Well, I come out of poetry, so that was my first love. That's what I majored in in college. That's what my MFA is in. Poetry is famously short, and I'm not one of those long-form poets. I have been trained for many years to think in terms of a one-page arc, if at all. Arc isn't even really a word that we use in poetry. So to write a full-length prose book was really an incredible education. Writing it basically took ten years from writing to publication, so probably seven years of writing and editing. I felt like there was an MFA-equivalent process in the number of classes I took, books I read, and work that went into it. So that was one of my main joys and challenges, really learning on the job to write long-form prose coming out of poetry. How to keep the engine going, how to think about ending one chapter in a way that leaves you with some torque or momentum so that you want to go into the next chapter. How many characters is too many? Who gets names and who doesn't? Some of these things that are probably pretty basic for fiction writers were all very new to me. That was a big part of my process. Then, of course, poets don't usually have agents. So once it was done, I began to query agents. It was the normal sort of 39 rejections and then one agent who really understood what I was trying to do. She's incredible, and she was able to sell the book. The longevity of just working on something for that long—I have a lot of joy in that longevity—but it does sometimes feel like, is this ever going to happen, or am I on a fool's errand? Joanna: I guess, again, the difference with performance is you have a date for the performance and it's done then. I suppose once you get a contract, then for sure it has to be done. But memoir in particular, you do have to set boundaries, because of course your life continues, doesn't it? So what were the challenges in curating what went into the book? Because many people listening know memoir is very challenging in terms of how personal it can be. Alicia: Yes, and one thing I think is so fascinating about memoir is choosing which lens to put on your story, on your own story. I heard early on that the difference between autobiography and memoir is that autobiography tries to give a really comprehensive view of a life, and memoir is choosing one lens and telling the story of a life through that lens, which is such a beautiful creative concept. I knew early on that I wanted this to be primarily a spiritual memoir, and also somewhat of an artistic memoir, because my creativity and my spirituality are so intertwined. It started off being spiritual, and also about my musical life, and also about my writing life. In the end, I edited out the part about my writing life, because writing about writing was just too navel-gazing. So there's nothing in there about me coming of age as a writer, which used to be in there, but that whole thing got taken out. Now it's spiritual and musical. For me, it really helped to start with those focuses, because I knew there may be things that were hugely important in my life, absolutely foundational, that were not really going to be either mentioned or gone deeply into in the book. For example, my husband teases me a lot about how few pages and words he gets. He's very important in my life, but I actually met him when I was 29, and this book really mainly takes place in the years leading up to that. There's a little bit of winding down in the first few years of my thirties, but this is not a book about my life with him. He is mentioned in it. That story is in there. Having those kinds of limitations around the canvas—there's a quote, I forget if it was Miranda July, but somebody said something like, basically when you put a limitation on your project, that's when it starts to be a work of art. Whatever it is, if you say, “I'm taking this canvas and I'm using these colours,” that's when it really begins, that initial limitation. That was very helpful. Joanna: It's also the beauty of memoir, because of course you can write different memoirs at different times. You can write something about your writing life. You can write something else about your marriage and your family later on. That doesn't all have to be in one book. I think that's actually something I found interesting. And I would also say in my memoir, Pilgrimage, my husband is barely mentioned either. Alicia: Does he tease you too? Joanna: No, I think he's grateful. He is grateful for the privacy. Alicia: That's why I keep saying, you should be grateful! Joanna: Yes. You really should. Like, maybe stop talking now. Alicia: Yes, exactly. I know. Marriage, memoir—those words should strike fear into his heart. Joanna: They definitely should. But let's just come back. When I look at your career— You just seem such an independent creative, and so I wondered why you decided to work with a traditional publisher instead of being an independent. How are you finding it as someone who's not in charge of everything? Alicia: It's a great question. The origin story for this memoir is that I was actually reading poetry at a writing conference called Bread Loaf in the States. This was 16 years ago or something. I was giving a poetry reading and afterwards an agent, not my agent, came up to me and said, you know, you have a voice. You should try writing nonfiction because you could probably sell it. Back to your question about how I support myself, I am always really hustling to make a living. It's not like I have some separate well-paying job and the writing has no pressure on it. So my ears kind of perked up. I thought, wait, getting paid for writing? Because poetry is literally not in the world. It's just not a concept for poets. That's not why we write and it's not a possibility. So a little light turned on in my brain. I thought, wow, that could be a really interesting element to add to my income stream, and it would be flexible and it would be meaningful. For a few years I thought, what nonfiction could I write? And I came up with the idea of writing a book about biblical women from a more scholarly perspective, because I teach that material and I've studied it. I went to speak to another agent and she said, well, you could do that, but if you actually want to sell a book, it's going to have to be more of a trade book. So if you don't want an academic press, which wouldn't pay very much, you would have to have some kind of memoir-like stories in there to just sweeten it so it doesn't feel academic. So then I began writing a little bit of spiritual memoir. I thought, okay, well, I'll write about a few moments. Then once I started writing, I couldn't stop. The floodgates really opened. That's how it ended up being a spiritual memoir with interwoven stories of biblical women. It became a hybrid in that sense. I knew from the beginning that this project—for all my saying earlier that I never plan anything and only work on instinct, I was thinking as I said that, that cannot be true. This time, I actually thought, what if, instead of coming from this pure, heart-focused place of poetry, I began writing with the intention of potentially selling a book? The way my fiction writer friends talked about selling their books. So that was always in my mind. I knew I would continue writing poetry, continue publishing with small presses, continue putting my own music out there independently, but this was a bit of an experiment. What if I try to interface with the publishing world, in part for financial sustainability? And because I had a full draft before I queried, I never felt like anyone was telling me what to write. I can't imagine personally selling a book on proposal, because I do need that full capacity to just swerve, change directions, be responsive to what the project is teaching me. I can't imagine promising that I'll write something, because I never know what I'll write. But writing at least a very solid draft first, I'm always delighted to get notes and make polish and rewrite and make things better. I took care of that freedom in the first seven years of writing and then I interfaced with the agent and publisher. Joanna: I was going to say, given that it's taken you seven to ten years to do this and I can't imagine that you're suddenly a multimillionaire from this book. It probably hasn't fulfilled the hourly rate that perhaps you were thinking of in terms of being paid for your work. I think some people think that everyone's going to end up with the massive book deal that pays for the rest of their life. I guess this book does just fit into the rest of your portfolio career. Alicia: Yes. One of the benefits of these long arcs that I like to work on is, one of them—and probably the primary one—is that the project gets to unfold on its own time. I don't think I could have rushed it if I wanted. The other is that it never really stopped me from doing any of my other work. Joanna: Mm-hmm. Alicia: So it's not like, oh, I gave up months of my life and all I got was this advance or something. It's like, I was living my life and then when I had a little bit of writing time—and I will say, it impacted my poetry. I haven't written as much poetry because I was working on this. So it wasn't like I just added it on top of everything I was already doing, but it was a pleasure to just switch to prose for a while. It was just woven into my life. I appreciated having this side project where no one was waiting for it. There were no deadlines, there was no stress around it, because I always have performances to promote and due dates for all kinds of work. It was just this really lovely arena of slow growth and play. When I wanted a reader, I could do a swap with a writer friend, but no one was ever waiting for it on deadline. So there's actually a lot of pleasure in that. Then I will say, I think I've made more from selling this than my poetry. Probably close to ten times more than I've ever made from any of my poetry. So on a poetry scale, it's certainly not going to pay for my life, but it actually does make a true financial difference in a way that much of my other work is a little more bit by bit by bit. It's actually a different scale. Joanna: Well, that's really good. I'm glad to hear that. I also want to ask you, because you've done so many things, and— I'm fascinated by your independent film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff. I have only watched the trailer. You are in it, you wrote it, directed it, and it's also obviously got other people in, and it's fascinating. It's about this particular point in history. I've written quite a lot of screenplay adaptations of my novels, and I've had some various amounts of interest, but the whole film industry to me is just a complete nightmare, far bigger nightmare than the book industry. So I wonder if you could maybe talk about this, because it just seems like you made a film, which is so cool. Alicia: Oh yes, thank you. Joanna: And it won awards, yes, we should say. Alicia: Did we win awards? Yes. It really, for an extremely low-budget indie film, went far further than my team and I could ever have imagined. I will say I never intended to make a film. Like most of the best things in my life, it really happened by accident. When I was living in New York— I lived there for many years—the 2008 financial collapse happened and I happened to have an arts grant that gave a bunch of artists workspace, studio space, in essentially an abandoned building in the financial district. It was an empty floor of a building. The floor had been left by the previous tenant, and there's a nonprofit that takes unused real estate in the financial district and lets artists work in it for a while. So I was on Wall Street, which was very rare for me, but for this year I was working on Wall Street. Even though I was working on poems, the financial collapse happened around me, and I did get inspired by that to create a one-woman show, which was more of a theatre show. That was already a huge leap for me because I had no real theatre experience, but it was experimental and growing out of my poetry practice and my music. It was a musical one-woman show about the financial collapse from a spiritual perspective, apparently. So I performed that. I documented it, and then a friend who lives in Portland, Oregon, where I now live, said, “I'm a theatre producer, I'd like to produce it here.” So then I rewrote it and did a run here in Portland of that show. Essentially, I started to tour it a little bit, but I got tired of it. It was too much work and it never really paid very much, and I thought, this is impacting my life negatively. I just want to do a really good documentation of the show. So I wanted to hire a theatre documentarian to just document the show so that it didn't disappear, like you were saying before about live performance. But one of the people I talked to actually ended up being an artistic filmmaker, as opposed to a documentarian. She watched the archival footage, just a single camera of the show, and said, “I don't think you should do this again and film it with three cameras. I think you should make it into a feature film. And in fact, I think maybe I should direct it, because there's all this music in it and I also direct music videos.” We had this kind of mind meld. Joanna: Mm. Alicia: I never intended to make a film, but she is a visionary director and I had this piece of IP essentially, and all the music and the writing. We adapted it together. We did it here in Portland. We did all the fundraising ourselves. We did not interface with Hollywood really. I think that would be, I just can't imagine. I love Hollywood, but I'm not really connected, and I can't imagine waiting for someone to give us permission or a green light to make this. It was experimental and indie, so we just really did it on the cheap. We had an amazing producer who helped us figure out how to do it with the budget that we had. We worked really hard fundraising, crowdfunding, asking for donations, having parties to raise money, and then we just did it and put it out there. I think my main advice—and I hear this a lot on screenwriting podcasts—is just make the thing. Make something, as opposed to trying to get permission to make something. Because unless you're already in that system, it's going to be really hard to get permission to make it. Once you make something, that leads to something else, which leads to something else. So even if it's a very short thing, or even if it's filmed on your phone, just actually make the thing. That turned out to be the right thing for us. Joanna: Yes, I mean, I feel like that is what underpins us as independent creatives in general. As an independent author, I feel the same way. I'm never asking permission to put a book in the world. No, thank you. Alicia: Exactly. We have a vision and we do it. It's harder in some ways, but that liberation of being able to really fully create our vision without having to compromise it or wait for permission, I think it's such a beautiful thing. Joanna: Well, we're almost out of time, but I do want to ask you about creative confidence. Alicia: Hmm. Joanna: I feel I'm getting a lot of sense about this at the moment, with all the AI stuff that's happening. When you've been creating a long time, like you and I have, we know our voice and we can lean into our voice. We are creatively confident. We'll fail a lot, but we'll just push on and try things and see what happens. Newer creators are struggling with this kind of confidence. How do I know what is my voice? How do I know what I like? How do I lean into this? So give us some thoughts about how to find your voice and how to find that creative confidence if you don't feel you have it. Alicia: I love that. One thing I will say is that I always think whatever is arising is powerful material to create from. So if a lack of confidence is arising, that's a really powerful feeling to directly explore and not just try to ignore. Although sometimes one has to just ignore those feelings. But to actually explore that feeling, because AI can't have that, right? AI can't really feel a crisis of confidence, and humans can. So that's a gift that we have, those kinds of sensitivities. I think to go really deep into whatever is arising, including the sense that we don't have the right to be creating, or we're not good enough, or whatever it is. Then I always do come back to a quote. I think it might have been John Berryman, but I'm forgetting which poet said it. A younger poet said, “How will I ever know if I'm any good?” And this famous poet said something like—I'm paraphrasing—”You'll never know if you're any good. If you have to know, don't write.” That has been really liberating to me, actually. It sounds a little harsh, but it's been really liberating to just let go of a sense of “good enough.” There is no good enough. The great writers never know if they're good enough. Coming back to this idea of just making without permission—the practice of doing the thing is being a writer. Caring and trying to improve our craft, that's the best that we can have. There's never going to be a moment where we're like, yes, I've nailed this. I am truly a hundred per cent a writer and I have found my voice. Everything's always changing anyway. I would say, either go into those feelings or let those feelings be there. Give them a little tea. Tell them, okay, you're welcome to be here, but you don't get to drive the boat. And then return to the practice of making. Joanna: Absolutely. Great. So where can people find you and your books and everything you do online? Alicia: Everything is on my website, which is AliciaJo.com, and also on Instagram at @ohaliciajo. I'd love to say hello to anyone who's interested in similar topics. Joanna: Brilliant. Well, thanks so much for your time, Alicia. That was great. Alicia: Thank you. I love your podcast. I'm so grateful for all that you've given the writing world, Jo.The post Creative Confidence, Portfolio Careers, And Making Without Permission with Alicia Jo Rabins first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Have you talked yourself out of starting something new or doing something differently? Why did you do that? Were you scared of failing or not having all the answers? Our guest today is Mitch Matthews, and he shares with us how he helps people give themselves permission to start.TODAY'S WIN-WIN:Give yourself permission to start, to take a first step. LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:Schedule your free franchise consultation with Big Sky Franchise Team: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/. You can visit our guest's website at: https://Mitchmatthews.com/MultiplyYourSuccessAttend our Franchise Sales Training Workshop:  https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/franchisesalestraining/Connect with our guests on social:INSTAGRAM: @mitch.matthewsFACEBOOK: @mitch.matthews.104LINKEDIN:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchmatthewsABOUT OUR GUEST:Mitch Matthews is a success coach, speaker, and creator of the top 1% podcast DREAM THINK DO - where he helps high-achieving leaders and entrepreneurs dream bigger, think better, and do more of what they were put on the planet to do. He's worked with organizations like Nike, NASA, and Disney, and he's the creator of The Authority Bridge™ - a proven process that helps professionals turn their experience into a coaching and speaking business they love.This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team. Big Sky Franchise Team is consistently recognized as one of the best franchise consulting firms in the United States, helping business owners franchise their businesses through a proven 3-Step franchise process rooted in ethical principles, hands-on guidance, and customized deliverables. If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/. The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified professional before making any business decisions. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host, Big Sky Franchise Team, or our affiliates. Additionally, this podcast may feature sponsors or advertisers, but any mention of products or services does not constitute an endorsement. Please do your own research before making any purchasing or business decisions.

(0:00) Steelers’ communication change proposal during negotiation period (15:00) NFLPA report card survey leaked (30:00) Colts give Anthony Richardson permission to seek a trade (46:30) Connor Rogers joins the show to talk impressive combine workoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Friday Coaching Clinic Episodes. These are LIVE coaching session snippets where you have the opportunity to learn as both client and coach. I encourage you to think about how you might coach through this topic as a coach or how this situation may support you as a client. A reminder about these episodes: This snippet is just one way of coaching through this topic. Each coach has their own unique voice, personality and confidence to best support their clients and I invite you to find yours. This week: What I Do When a Client Needs Permission to Invest in Themselves

This hypnosis session was created for a client who was in a new role with high expectations. They were putting pressure on themselves to thrive that was impeding their ability to lay the foundations for future success. Adam helps them move from pressure to permission to build the bridge to a place where they can actually thrive. To access a subscriber-only version with no intro, outro, explanation, or ad breaks and 24 hours earlier than everyone else, tap 'Subscribe' nearby or click the following link. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/adam-cox858/subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What if healing — and becoming who you're meant to be — doesn't happen through pushing harder… but through softening?In this episode, Anna is joined by Chelsea Emery, a chronic pain and symptom recovery coach who recovered from 45 years of migraines, along with a cascade of other debilitating symptoms, using mind-body and nervous-system-informed approaches.Chelsea is also a recent private coaching client of Anna's and a member of the Seen & Safe community, and this conversation offers a rare inside look at the identity shift that often unfolds alongside healing: letting go of an old career, releasing pressure-based patterns, and stepping into a new way of working and living — without repeating the same burnout cycle.Together, Anna and Chelsea explore the deep parallels between chronic pain recovery and stepping into visibility, leadership, and a new professional identity. Chelsea shares how journaling, emotional expression, nervous-system safety, and allowing support helped her heal — and how those same principles now shape the way she supports others.This is a conversation about healing, yes — but also about permission. Permission to soften. Permission to receive support. Permission to stop earning your worth through pressure.In this episode, we explore:What it's like when chronic symptoms pile up and your world starts to shrinkHow Chelsea recovered from decades of migraines and other unexplained symptomsWhy autonomy and choice are essential for nervous-system healingThe role of journaling and emotional expression in recoveryThe grief and identity shift that can come with leaving a meaningful careerHow fear shows up during visibility and career transitions (and how to work with it gently)Why baby steps often create faster, more sustainable change than pushingThe overlap between mind-body healing and entrepreneurshipWhat “softening” actually looks like in real life — and why it isn't weaknessChelsea's core message:Soft doesn't mean weak. Softening is a strength. Connect with Chelsea Emery

SEASON 6 of Emetophobia Help TRIGGER WARNING: Words such as "vomit,” “throw up” and "sick" may be used. Host: Anna Christie, Psychotherapist and Emetophobia SpecialistGuest: Anna Christie11 Emetophobia CLASSES with Anna: www.emetophobiahelp.org/classesAnna's Book: Conquer Your Emetophobia on Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com/Conquer-Your-Emetophobia-Therapist-Overcame/dp/1805017764/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2D36DGAWBEPJK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Acbit8CAfkzOBj7DL2Nv78oGS9fkzCRJb6nA4jX1gRqcVDXuvBExOO90VyrVNBi3a1Ce-L5UlF0JqC076lWTnG5_SQQBUxYy04DI5eQHzssFPIZzniNfwRgipeT2V03g1q61jEZJ_-psTQEQesEST_LgQKjS6nkysXtI0PZrdF88ADoEakdiDk3PNVX0seLHpdQq04t9FXr1LWZNt9uL4ZXzJfVFykI0dJyqA4fWeeA.o285WUSMKi7F_7CB-OF_wrCZUXTzDGjMBatV1lTfadc&dib_tag=se&keywords=conquer+your+emetophobia&qid=1772144433&sprefix=Conquer+your+emet%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-1Facebook Group: Emetophobia NO PANICANNA & DAVID'S BOOK: Emetophobia: Understanding and Treating Fear of Vomiting in Children and Adults: Russ, David, Dr., Christie, Anna S., FOR KIDS: "Turnaround Anxiety Program" with Emetophobia supplement (McCarthy/Russ) and  Emetophobia! The Ultimate Kids' Guide eBook : Russ. PhD, DavidBuy Me a Coffeehttps://buymeacoffee.com/emethelpIntro Music: YouTube Audio Library, "Far Away (Sting)" by MK2, Used with Permission.Support the showAnna's Website: www.emetophobiahelp.orgResource site for Clinicians: www.emetophobia.netMERCH for stress, anxiety, panic: www.katralex.com

Jeetu Patel is the president and chief product officer at Cisco, where he leads a team of 30,000 people and is playing a central role in the massive AI infrastructure buildout happening right now. Previously, he spent five years as CPO at Box and 17 years running his own startup. Recently Jeetu organized an AI summit featuring industry leaders like Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Marc Andreessen, and Fei-Fei Li.We discuss:1. How Cisco went AI-first across 90,000 employees2. His six-part framework for building great companies: timing, market, team, product, brand, distribution3. Why he says he couldn't have done this job without AI4. His “right to win” strategic framework5. His communication framework for preventing “packet loss” across an organization6. Why he flips “praise in public, criticize in private” and does the exact opposite7. The important communication lesson his mother taught him—Brought to you by:Sentry—Code breaks, fix it faster: https://sentry.io/lennyFramer—Build better websites faster: https://framer.com/lennySamsara—Saving lives with AI built for physical operations: https://samsara.com/lenny—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-is-critical-for-humanitys-survival—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Jeetu Patel:• X: https://x.com/jpatel41• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeetupatel• Website: https://blogs.cisco.com/author/jeetupatel—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction and welcome(04:15) Insights from Cisco's Al summit(08:45) Transforming Cisco into an Al-first company(15:33) What Cisco actually does in the Al infrastructure stack(19:09) The future of Al(24:36) Raising kids in the AI era(29:46) “Permission to play” framework(36:50) Lessons from great CEOs(42:02) Leading at scale(50:54) Why Jeetu inverts the ‘praise in public, criticize in private' rule(57:45) Surrounding yourself with good human beings(58:35) Lessons from loss(01:03:21) Career advice: platforms, hunger, and preparation(01:10:21) The six-part framework for building great companies(01:19:05) Lightning round and final thoughts—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-is-critical-for-humanitys-survival—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

In the first hour of the show, Laurence Holmes & Matt Spiegel dive into the news that the Bears are granting Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade.

(00:00-27:56) – Query & Company opens on a Hump Day Wednesday with Jake Query highlighting some things that stood out from Chris Ballard’s conversation on the Fan Morning Show. Plus, he expresses his frustrations with IU basketball after a brutal loss to Northwestern last night. (27:56-33:35) – ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder makes a brief appearance on Query & Company to discuss the news that he recently that the Indianapolis Colts have given Anthony Richardson permission to seek a trade. Does this mean that the Colts feel like they are going to strike a deal with Daniel Jones? Why would the Colts let Richardson and his agent seek a trade versus doing that on their own? (33:35-44:32) – The first hour of the show concludes with Jake and Eddie providing an update on the NBA standings after another Pacers loss last night and Jake giving a shoutout to Miami Ohio for maintaining their undefeated season last night. (44:32-1:09:19) – Team Penske’s newest driver, David Malukas, joins the program to preview the start of the NTT IndyCar Series this weekend down in St. Pete. Jake asks David if he prefers to race in on an oval, street, or road course and he shares how he thought his racing career was over following the bicycle accident that resulted in his contract being voided with Arrow McLaren. Finally, he answers some rapid-fire questions so that you can get to know him better. (1:09:19-1:23:23) – Last night the Indiana Hoosiers lost to the Northwestern Wildcats for the sixth consecutive game. Lamar Wilkerson was very frustrated postgame and Jake thinks his frustration is something to discuss. (1:23:23-1:33:05) – Hour number two of Query & Company concludes Jake running the Lamar Wilkerson comments through the company elixir. Plus, he mentions the ongoing saga between the Pacers and NBA. (1:33:05-1:57:33) – Tony East from Locked On Pacers, Circle City Spin, and Forbes Sports joins Query & Company to discuss how likely it is that Obi Toppin plays tonight for the Indiana Pacers, explains the different roles that we have seen from Jarace Walker this season, and plays some Query Family Feud. (1:57:33-2:10:52) – Earlier in the show, Stephen Holder broke the news that the Colts have given permission to Anthony Richardson and his representatives that they can seek out a trade. Should Richardson want to look for immediate playing time or somewhere that can develop him more? (2:10:52-2:19:11) – Today’s show closes out with JMV joining Jake Query to preview his show!Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/query-and-company/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

That flat, resigned Bohemian Rhapsody line — nothing really matters to me — caught in my throat at 14 and still does. What if it's actually permission? Permission to stop carrying what was never really yours and make space for what genuinely matters. That's the Care Budget. Yes, I made it up. This episode is about treating your energy like your finances — assessing where your cares are going and deciding if they deserve the investment. I share the moment I hit empty in Kansas City, why The Giving Tree is a cautionary tale for women who are really good at giving, and four questions to figure out what you actually care about — not what guilt tells you, not what you've always done on autopilot. We also build the practical framework: audit, categorize, protect your non-negotiables first, practice the pause before saying yes, and revisit seasonally. Blue zone research found that a clear sense of purpose is worth up to seven extra years of life. Your Care Budget isn't just feel-good. It might be self-preservation. You are not learning to care less. You are learning to care on purpose. https://www.instagram.com/nicole_bachle/  

00:00 – 26:05 – JMV opens the show by talking about the Colts giving Anthony Richardson permission to seek a trade. John doesn’t have any ill-will towards AR5, much like how he doesn’t have any towards Bennedict Mathurin. 26:06 – 42:38 – Chad Reuter from the NFL Network joins the show! Chad and JMV go over the top players in the NFL Draft, including the numerous Indiana Hoosiers that could hear their names called! 42:39 – 46:04 – JMV wraps up the 1st hour of the show! 46:05 – 1:12:51 - Jeremiah Johnson from Pacers Television joins the show! JJ and JMV recap the season so far, the injuries, the trade for Zubac, what next year might look like, and tonight’s showdown with the Hornets. 1:12:52- 1:24:49 – JMV reacts to one of the most famous bowling moments in history. He also takes a call from a listener of the show! 1:24:50 – 1:31:16 – The 2nd hour of the show wraps up! 1:13:17 – 1:57:33 - Mike Chappell from CBS4 and FOX59 joins the show. What does Mike think of the report that Anthony Richardson has been given permission to seek a trade? Will the Colts make a trade in the draft? What other changes does Mike see coming? 1:57:34 - 2:11:46 – JMV takes some calls from listeners! 2:11:47 – 2:16:33 – JMV wraps up the 3rd hour with more questions and comments fr om listeners! 2:16:34 – 2:23:53 – JMV wraps up the show! Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/the-ride-with-jmv/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by Lou Pizzichillo, Lead Pastor of Community Church on Long Island. Community Church launched in January 2020—just ten weeks before the world shut down—then relaunched after 52 weeks online. Now averaging around 1,200 people across Thursday and Sunday services, Community is known as “a church for people who don't go to church.” In a region where skepticism toward organized religion runs deep, Lou and his team are building trust by creating space for honest questions, lived-out faith, and tangible community impact. Is your church serving in a skeptical environment? Are you trying to reach people who already think they know—and don't like—what church is about? Lou shares practical wisdom on posture, transparency, and earning trust one decision at a time. Starting where people really are. // On Long Island, while some residents may identify culturally with faith traditions, most see church as judgmental, hypocritical, or irrelevant to everyday life. Lou quickly realized that the biggest obstacle wasn't apathy—it was reputation. Rather than fighting skepticism, Community Church chose to acknowledge it. The church repeatedly communicates three cultural values: You can belong before you believe. You have permission to be in progress. And there's no pretending. These aren't slogans—they shape how the church operates. Permission to be in progress. // One of the most resonant phrases at Community is “permission to be in progress.” Many people assume that following Jesus requires instant agreement with every doctrine and behavior expectation. Instead, Community encourages people to wrestle honestly with the claims of Christ first. Secondary issues and sanctification come later. This posture doesn't mean watering down truth—it means sequencing it wisely. By focusing on who Jesus says he is, rather than debating every peripheral topic, the church keeps the main thing central. No pretending—and real transparency. // Transparency builds credibility in skeptical contexts. Stories of real life—parenting mistakes, marriage tensions, leadership missteps—often resonate more than polished success stories. At the same time, Lou draws a boundary between “scars and wounds.” He shares what he has processed, not what he is still unraveling. This authenticity signals that faith isn't about perfection but transformation. For many in the congregation, seeing a pastor admit imperfection dismantles years of distrust toward church leaders. Becoming an asset to the community. // Community Church doesn't just talk about loving Babylon—it demonstrates it. Early on, Lou realized trust would not come through marketing but through partnership. Before launch, the church created “12 Days of Christmas,” giving away gifts purchased from local businesses. In year one, stores hesitated to participate; by year seven, businesses were reaching out to collaborate. What began as skepticism has shifted to partnership because trust was earned gradually. Serving instead of competing. // A defining moment came during the annual Argyle Fair, a 30,000-person event held across the street from the church—on a Sunday. Rather than fight the inconvenience, Community canceled services and mobilized volunteers to serve the fair, providing parking and manpower. When the event was rescheduled due to rain, the church canceled services a second week to honor its commitment. Lou describes this as a defining cultural moment: demonstrating that service isn't convenient—it's convictional. Earning trust through inconvenience. // Lou recounts being called to the mayor's office days after launch to address parking concerns. Instead of pushing back, the church chose to rent additional parking space—even when legally unnecessary—to honor neighbors' concerns. In another instance, Community canceled a planned Christmas light show after Village neighbors expressed concern about traffic. Though disappointing internally, the decision earned significant community goodwill. Lou believes canceling the event built more trust than hosting it would have. Posture over persecution. // Lou cautions leaders against defaulting to a persecution narrative when facing resistance. Most pushback, he says, comes from practical concerns—not hostility toward Jesus. By listening humbly and responding thoughtfully, churches can win trust among the large percentage of community members who are neither strongly for nor against them. To learn more about Community Church, visit communitychurch.net or follow @communitychurch.li on social media. 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! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: TouchPoint As your church reaches more people, one of the biggest challenges is making sure no one slips through the cracks along the way.TouchPoint Church Management Software is an all-in-one ecosystem built for churches that want to elevate discipleship by providing clear data, strong engagement tools, and dependable workflows that scale as you grow. TouchPoint is trusted by some of the fastest-growing and largest churches in the country because it helps teams stay aligned, understand who they're reaching, and make confident ministry decisions week after week. If you've been wondering whether your current system can carry your next season of growth, it may be time to explore what TouchPoint can do for you. You can evaluate TouchPoint during a free, no-pressure one-hour demo at TouchPointSoftware.com/demo. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, thanks so much for listening in, tuning in into today’s episode. I’m really looking forward to today’s conversation. We’re talking with a leader leading a prevailing church in frankly a part of the country that is not known for tons of prevailing churches. And so it’s an opportunity for all of us to lean in and to learn.Rich Birch — Super excited to have Lou Pizzichillo with us from Community Church. They’re in Babylon, New York on Long Island. They’re known as a church for people who don’t go to church. They’re big on being real, bringing real questions, struggles, hangups, doubts, disappointments, and failures. Lou, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here today.Lou Pizzichillo — Thanks so much. Yeah, it’s a privilege to be here.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s an honor that you would take some time to be with us today. Why don’t you kind of tell us a bit of the Community story, kind of give us a flavor of the church, help us kind of imagine if we were to arrive this weekend, what what would we experience?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. So we have an interesting history. We launched in January of 2020. And so we were open for 10 weeks.Rich Birch — Great time.Lou Pizzichillo — I know it was perfect. And then we closed down for 52 weeks, and we relaunched. But because of that, what’s been really cool is, you know, when you’re launching a church, the launch team is a big deal. And to launch twice, we’ve had really like two two launch teams. And so team culture has always been a real big part of our church.Lou Pizzichillo — But yeah, we like to say that we’re a church for people who don’t go to church. and So we try to keep things pretty casual. We try not to assume that there’s any interest or experience with the people who are showing up on a Sunday. And yeah.Rich Birch — Nice. Give us a sense of, so like size and like your, you know, the ministry style, that sort of thing. Like what would you help us kind of place what the, what the church is like if I was to arrive, arrive on a weekend?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah, we’re a pretty contemporary attractional church. We’ve got services on Thursday night and on Sunday morning. So we say the weekend starts on Thursday. Rich Birch — Love it. Lou Pizzichillo — We call Thursday night thurch, which is… Rich Birch — Oh, that’s funny. Thurch. Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah, it was a joke at first, but then it kind of like, I don’t know, just kind of gained a life of its own.Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — So yeah, so the church over the course of the weekend, right now we’re at about 1,200. And it’s exciting. There are a lot of new people. And things are constantly change changing. Change is that really the only constant for us.Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, that’s so good. Well, you’re on Long Island, and I can say as somebody who I ministered for years in New Jersey, I’m from Canada, I I get that people don’t wake up on Long Island on Sunday morning and think, hey, I should go to church today. Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah, yeah.Rich Birch — You’re serving a community that is is more unchurched than other parts of the country, which is a challenge for planting. So help us understand, you know, help us just kind of get into the mindset or the um perspective of people who are outside of the church. What do they view on, you know, Christianity? Tell us, give us a sense of of kind of what you’ve learned, you know, planting in that kind of context.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. So one thing that was really helpful right off the bat was somebody mentioned to me, they were like, you know, I’m not a gym person. And so when a new gym opens up in town, I don’t even really notice it.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And they’re like, I think it’s the same thing for church people.Rich Birch — Right. Lou Pizzichillo — It’s like, if you’re not a church person, then you don’t really notice when churches are doing things. And so that’s like, really, it’s a big reason why we’re so vocal about saying it we’re a church for people who don’t go to church, you know?Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — Um, and yeah, from there, honestly, we found that the biggest obstacle with people here is the existing reputation of church, of what church is like and what church people are like.Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — This church is seen as very judgmental, hypocritical, fake, exclusive, impractical, you know, it’s something you just do to kind of check the boxes and then you go on with your life. I’ve spoken to even a lot of, um, like devout Catholics here who have, have said like, they don’t, they do their church thing because, because it’s what they think that they’re supposed to do, but they’re, what they are doing in church does not translate to everyday life.Lou Pizzichillo — And so church is seen as kind of an impractical thing. And, that’s kind of the starting point for a lot of people who we’re trying to connect with.Rich Birch — Yeah, I’ve heard it said in other contexts, it’s like, not that people don’t know the church. It’s like, it’s what they know that they don’t like.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah, yeah.Rich Birch — It’s like, they have a sense of, you know, that that reputation. Are there any, maybe even stories or engagement you know conversations or engagements you’ve had with folks that have kind of brought that reputation to the fore. That obviously has led you to say, hey, we’re going position ourselves as a church where people don’t go into churches. Was there something that kind of influenced that as you were having, you know, even in these early years as you’ve been kind of get the ball rolling?Lou Pizzichillo — A big part of it honestly is a lot of my extended family. Like they’re, most of them are not church people. You know, they have a lot of respect for God. Like most people on Long Island, uh, especially, you know, most kind of nominal Catholics, like they would say they’re Italian or Irish. They say, oh, of course, Jesus is my savior. You know, like they, they know the right things to say, but in terms of what it actually means on a regular basis, it’s like kind of a totally different thing. So, so yeah, I mean, that’s kind of, kind of where we’re starting.Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, people have criticisms about the church and they have criticisms of of their experience with the church. How do you discern between criticisms that maybe you either need to be challenged, like, hey, that’s actually just not true, or like, oh, that’s a critique that is actually fair, and we’re going to try to steer in a different direction, ah you know, than that. Help us think about those, you know, when we think about skepticism towards the church.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah, I think, honestly, the best thing for us has just been to have a posture of listening.Rich Birch — That’s good.Lou Pizzichillo — Because even even if their claims aren’t valid, a lot of their experiences are. And so, you know, they’re like, there’s somebody who’s been going to the church for a while now, and somebody that was very close to them has like a pretty intense story of church hurt, like real damage. And so to know that he’s walking in with all of this baggage and that there are a lot of other people walking in with that baggage that don’t let you know that they have that baggage… Rich Birch — Right. Lou Pizzichillo — …just kind of giving them the space to, to be hurt and for it to be real. That’s been huge for us just having that kind of posture of humility. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. So that obviously has led to the way you’ve developed either the way you talk about ministry or the values that are underlining, you know, the ministry.Rich Birch — What has been important for helping communicate or articulate to people like, hey, this is a place that you can show up, you know, before you, you know, you’ve kind of bought it all. It’s like, Hey, you there’s a place to explore that sort of thing. Help us think through how do you communicate and then how do those, whether they’re phrases or yeah that sort of thing, how does that translate then into the values of how you actually operate?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. So big thing is for us, it’s training the team, like getting those values into the team and helping them to understand what that looks like in a concrete way. So we say, like a lot of churches say, you can belong before you believe. And the the illustration I give almost every single time, I’m like, if somebody walks in with a church, with a shirt that says, I hate God, we are glad that person is here, right? Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — Like we’re not assuming that they are walking in with interest or experience. And they might have a story that’s a lot more complicated than we know. So um so yes, we try to celebrate that.Lou Pizzichillo — When somebody walks in and they’re very open about their beliefs and their views not lining up with us, that’s something that we celebrate, right? Like because these are the people that we want here.Lou Pizzichillo — The other value that’s been really helpful for us is to say that people have permission to be in progress. And that has to do with their actions, the choices that they make, but also the things that they believe. And so you can be on board with some of our beliefs and not be on board with all of our beliefs. And we’re okay with that, right?Lou Pizzichillo — Like rather than just saying, okay, I accept all of it at one time. And now I completely agree that everything in the Bible is true. And, you know, I endorse it. Like we just kind of give people space to say, okay, like let’s maybe let’s start with the claims of Jesus, like right to this guy really rise from the dead. And now let’s look at what he says about things like the Old Testament, you know?Lou Pizzichillo — And so that’s that’s been a huge thing. We go back to that over and over and over again. It started as kind of like a main point in a sermon where I was like, you’ve got permission to be in progress. And so many people repeated it back to me that I was like, okay, this needs to be woven into our culture because it needs to be articulated…Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — …or people just assume, okay, if I’m going to say I believe, I got to say I believe it all. And there’s no room for disagreement.Lou Pizzichillo — And then from there, we say like, you got you can belong before you believe, you got permission to be in progress. And if both of those things are actually true for us as a church, then we can also say like our third value is no pretending.Lou Pizzichillo — Like you don’t have to pretend to be on board with certain things if you’re not there yet. And I think if we create an environment where people can be real and dialogue and be open about the things that they’re, you know, that they disagree with, I think that’s where there’s real hope for ultimately ending in a place of alignment.Rich Birch — Yeah, permission to be in progress to me feels very like a very Jesus value It feels like, oh, that to me, that’s like when I read the New Testament, that feels like the way he oriented himself to the people around him, right? There were clearly people that were like the rich young ruler came to him and was like, you know, asked a pointed question. Jesus gave a clear answer, and he didn’t, you know, Jesus didn’t, even though he said harsh words to or clear words, I would say, all was it always done in an environment of trying to say, hey, we I want you to be a part of this conversation. I’m really trying to be on the same side of the table. How do I bring you along?Rich Birch — Can you, like, let’s double click on permission to be in progress. Talk us through what that looks like. Because I think, I think so many churches draw very strong lines on like, you got to believe these 15 things to be a part here. Even if we wouldn’t explicitly set that say that, it’s like implicit in our cultures.Rich Birch — How does your culture look different when you say, hey, you’ve got permission to be in progress? What would be some of the things that might stand out to us as like, that’s a little bit different than how maybe some other churches handle this?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. So we have like we have values, but then we also just have sayings, right? Like it it is too hard for me to define what the most important values are. Like I get too obsessed with the wording and how we’re going to phrase things. And so in our our conference room, we have a big whiteboard and we write down little sayings. We actually write them in permanent marker on the whiteboard, which is wasteful, but at least we have something to reference.Lou Pizzichillo — So when somebody says something and we’re like, hey, that’s a culture thing, it gets written on the board. One of the things that came up that’s really helped us with this idea of permission to be in progress is that the goal is to get people to Jesus and everything else is secondary. Everything else comes after that.Rich Birch — That's good. Yep, that’s good.Lou Pizzichillo — And so I’m not going to like get into it with someone over a secondary issue or really something that’s an issue of sanctification, when we believe sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit, right? Maybe your view on that will change after you understand who Jesus is and begin to follow him.Lou Pizzichillo — And so in a lot of ways, I feel like when we when we get too into the issues, we’re putting the cart before the horse, right? Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — And so we’re trying to bring people to Jesus and show him show them what he’s like. And ah that that has been clarifying when it comes to permission to be in progress.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. And I think in heavily church context, when we kind of assume, oh, basically everyone here has some level of faith, those secondary issues can become like a really big deal. It’s like we spend a lot of time talking about those things.Rich Birch — But when the majority of people we’re interacting with you know, they haven’t, they haven’t really, really wrestled with what they think about Jesus and the difference he can make in this life. And we got to keep that, that really clear. Rich Birch — So no pretending is an interesting value as a communicator. How do you live that out in the way you show transparency? There’s this interesting thing years ago, I had one of the ah preacher that I love or communicator. I just think the world of, you know, he talked about how there’s this tension when we’re, communicating that, you know, we’re we’re trying to be transparent, but up into a point and how, where is that point? And how do we do that in a way that’s not, that brings people along? So ah what what does that look like for you even as a as ah as a leader to say, hey, it’s not my job to pretend. I’m going to just be honest and transparent, authentic to where we are? Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. Well, I mean, I can definitely say that every time I tell a story that has me screwing up, it is it is the thing that people come to tell me about. Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — Like, oh, thank you so much for telling me about you know the way you spoke to your kids… Rich Birch — Yes. Lou Pizzichillo — …or the thing that you said to your wife. Or it is just by far the thing that people love to hear. And that’s been encouraging. Now, I have had people like throw it back at me and that that comes with the territory. But I think that the stories of how that’s been helpful for people um like dramatically outweigh the people that are going to you know weaponize that stuff against you.Lou Pizzichillo — Something else I heard, um I think Brene Brown said this in one of her books. She said she doesn’t share things she hasn’t processed through yet.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And that for me is a really helpful thing. Like If I’m in the middle of something and just in the thick of it, it’s not the time for me to like bring that to the congregation. I think that could be really unhealthy for a lot of reasons.Lou Pizzichillo — So that’s, that’s kind of something that, and it doesn’t mean I can’t share something that just happened. You know sometimes I’ll explain an issue that just happened with my kids. That’s different than something I’m still processing and haven’t resolved yet.Rich Birch — Right. I think she said it’s the difference between scars and wounds, right? You can talk about your scars. That’s like, that’s an area that has, has had some level of healing to it versus an open wound, right? Like this is a part that’s, that’s still gaping.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah.Rich Birch — And, uh, you know, we don’t necessarily want to to share that. And that, you know, uh, that is a change. So I’m, you know, I’m of a certain age, been in this game a long time. And I remember when we first started, when I first started, that generation that came before me, people wanted like the superhuman religious leader. They wanted the like pastor to be, to have their stuff a hundred percent sewed up. Like, don’t tell me that you’re a real human. They didn’t want that.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah.Rich Birch — You know, and that has completely reversed.Rich Birch — People are like, no no, like you said, we, we need to be transparent, open, authentic. People know that we’re not perfect. Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. Rich Birch — They know that we don’t have it all together. Lou Pizzichillo — Right.Rich Birch — And when we try to hide that, when we try to, in your language, pretend that actually is repulsive, it pushes them away. Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah.Rich Birch — One of the things that stood out to me just by reputation, kind of seeing your church is it appears that you guys have a conviction around getting out and serving the community, actually making a difference in the community. You know, it strikes me as very ah a very James-approach, faith in action – it’s it should make a difference in our community. What how do talk to me about what that looks like for Community. How does that, even your name, Community, you know, Church, reflects that. Talk talk to talk to me about what that looks like.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah, so we’re pretty clear. Like we we tell people we want to be an asset to the community. We want people to be glad we’re here, whether they attend our church or not. And so that started really early. Actually, before we launched, we did this thing called the 12 Days of Christmas where, so our church is in a village, right? So there are a lot of local businesses around us. What we did is during the 12 days leading up to Christmas, we went to shops and we gave away gifts from those shops. There was a different shop every day for the 12 days leading up to Christmas. So we planned this out ahead of time. But we would post on social media and be like, Hey, today the, you know, the shop is Bunger surf shop. The first 25 people there are going to get beanies from Bunger surf shop.Lou Pizzichillo — And we paid for them. We sent the, Bunger agreed to hand them out. And people went to go get them. And what was, so it was a win, win, win, really. Like the people who participated got free beanies, the surf shop are like all the different shops in the village. They got people to go, they got traffic to their business, right?Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah.Lou Pizzichillo — Because people went in then bought other stuff. And it helped us communicate that we we say we want something for you, not from you, right? We want to be an asset to the community. And so it helped us communicate that message. And the response to that has been great.Lou Pizzichillo — Now, what’s interesting, if this doesn’t tell you something about the church’s reputation, on year one, before we launched, it was very hard to get 12 shops to agree to do this with us. Like they were like, you’re a church? I’m sorry. No, we’re not doing it.Rich Birch — Forget it. Yeah.Lou Pizzichillo — Now it’s year seven. Right now we’re in the middle of our our seventh year and there are shops lining up to do it. There are shops reaching out to us, asking us to collaborate.Rich Birch — Wow.Lou Pizzichillo — They’re helping to pay for the stuff. So it’s actually in some ways getting a little bit cheaper.Rich Birch — Huh.Lou Pizzichillo — And it’s just cool. It’s shown like this posture of partnership with what’s going on… Rich Birch — Yes. Lou Pizzichillo — …rather than, okay, there are the shops and then there’s the church. Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — And yeah, we actually have a someone on staff now who first heard about the church on year one during the 12 days of Christmas. She started coming to the church. she eventually got baptized and now she’s on staff. And it’s just like, it has been so, so cool.Rich Birch — Yeah, I love that. That’s what a cool, you know, even just a cool tactic, kind of an expression of that. Is there other ways, other kind of activities like that, that you’re engaged with throughout the year that would could illustrate this idea of being for the community, being an asset to the community? What would be another example of that that that’s happened?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. So there is this fair that happens right across the street from the church. It’s called the Argyle Fair. It’s it’s around a lake. There are about 30,000 people that come to this fair. And the fair is on a Sunday during church.Lou Pizzichillo — The first year that we were here and had services during that Sunday, it was a mess. There were people you know like parking all over the place. It was hard to have services. Traffic was crazy. And we left church and my wife and I walked to the fair and just felt like something didn’t feel right. Like there’s some, here’s something everybody’s doing and we’re fighting against it.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — So we went to the people who ran the fair and we were like, is there any way we can help? Like, is there, what do you guys need? And right away she was like, we need volunteers and we need parking. And as a church, we are uniquely equipped with volunteers and parking. Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo —And so really it was there, like that almost right away, we were like, okay, next year, ah we’re going to be on board with what you’re doing.Rich Birch — Wow. Wow.Lou Pizzichillo — And so we decided to cancel services. And in the weeks leading up to that, we teach about the importance of serving the community. It’s kind of like the grand finale to whatever, you know…Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — …outreach series or message is being given.Rich Birch — Yeah.Lou Pizzichillo — And um yeah, so we teach on that. And then we’re like, hey, you know, two weeks from now, we’re not going to have services. Instead, we’re going to go out instead of staying in here talking about serving, we’re going to go out there and serve. And, you know, we’ve said like… Rich Birch — Love that. Lou Pizzichillo — …yeah, what’s what’s happening out there is not more spiritual than what’s happening in here. It’s a different way to express and grow in our faith. So we did that. And the response has just been unbelievable. Like the community has loved it. The the fair has had the help that they need. The people in our church have loved it. But this year we actually it got rained out on the first week. And so they postponed it to the next week.Rich Birch — Oh, wow.Lou Pizzichillo — And that made it tough for us because now we were like, okay, are we going to cancel church two weeks in a row? Rich Birch — Right. Lou Pizzichillo — And we had a meeting about it and like looked at our values, looked at what we were talking about. We were like, you know what, this is actually an opportunity for us to really double down and say, we’re not doing this out of convenience. We’re doing this because it’s a value. And so I called up the guy who was running the fair and he was like, I get it. If you can’t do it, I get it. And it felt, it was, it was amazing to be able to say on the phone, like, Hey, we’re with you, uh, no matter what. So, uh, so we did and it was, it was awesome.Rich Birch — That’s incredible. Like ah that, again, that what a vivid example, because I think there’s a lot of church leaders, if we’re honest, we’ve been engaged in the conversation that’s literally on the opposite side of that, where we’re like, man, how do we, these people, they’re, you know, they’re cramping our style or whatever. It’s like we naturally default towards that rather than to serve. Rich Birch — Take us back early in the discussions because I think a lot of us have not done a good job in building trust bridges in our communities. And you know trust isn’t built with just you know, one conversation. It takes time, right? It takes, like you said, those those first 12 days of Christmas, you couldn’t get anybody. And now here’s seven years later. We want we want to get to the seven years later part really quickly.Rich Birch — But ah those early conversations, how are you handling yourself, interacting with the like other people, you know, approaching them, having those conversations. What did you learn in the early dialogue that could help us if we’re trying to build, you know, deeper community trust in a place that just is so skeptical of that we’re coming with, just looking to take from our people.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. I mean, you have to be willing to be inconvenienced. I think that’s been a big part of it.Lou Pizzichillo — On week one, so we we launched literally on the first day and launch day was bigger than we thought it was going to be. And on that Monday, I was called to the mayor’s office, the mayor of the village.Lou Pizzichillo — And I was like, okay, thought I was going to go have a conversation. And when I got there, it was the it was him, it was the head of code enforcement and the fire chief all in a room waiting for me Rich Birch — Oh, gosh. Lou Pizzichillo — And they had pictures of cars parked all over the street. And I I realized there, like, there was a real concern about what this church was going to be in the community.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And so from there, we’ve just been looking for opportunities to earn trust. The neighbors have made it very clear that they don’t like cars parking on the street. And so we, we began paying for a lot so that we could take the cars off of the street. We don’t have to, they can legally park in the street, but we rent the lot. We told the owner of the property why we’re doing it. And he got on board with what we’re doing. We’re now in a place, kind of a long story, but we now don’t have to pay for that lot.Rich Birch — Wow.Lou Pizzichillo — We also, like the trust has been earned one decision at a time. We were going to do this big thing in the parking lot. We did a parking lot renovation that took the whole summer. After the summer, we were like, hey, in our new parking lot, let’s put on a Christmas show. We’ll run it throughout two weeks in December.Lou Pizzichillo — We had an animator who goes to the church. He like had this great idea for a show. He’s like, we’ll project it on the building. People will drive in. We’ll run it multiple times a night, do it for a few weeks throughout December. We were calling it Christmas in Lights.Lou Pizzichillo — So we put this whole plan together. He’s making the thing. We start advertising it and the village comes to us and they’re like, you’re in violation of the code. You can’t do this. And and they’re giving us all these reasons that I felt like didn’t really hold that much weight, you know.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — But in thinking about it, I do understand the inconvenience it would have been. We just had a major parking lot renovation. There were huge trucks making tons of noise for months. Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And now that’s finally over. And we’re going to ask the village to deal with the traffic of a show happening every single night, you know, for a few weeks in December.Rich Birch — Right Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And so I went to the mayor and I was like, hey, ah it’s a new mayor at this point. But I just sat down with her and I was like, hey, listen, if you have concerns about this, I want you to feel the freedom to just come to me and say, this is a lot for the neighbors. Like, what do you think about pulling this in?Lou Pizzichillo —And it was cool. It was an opportunity for the two of us to kind of bond, like there was some trust earned there and we canceled the show. We decided not to do it. And I released a video explaining why we weren’t doing it.Rich Birch — Wow.Lou Pizzichillo — And the amazing thing is that I think canceling the show accomplished more than we would have accomplished if we actually did the show.Rich Birch — Interesting.Lou Pizzichillo — Like it earned, it was so well received when people found out that we weren’t going to do it. They were like, and even the people that attend the church, they were like, I want to be part of a church that supports their community like this.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And so it went really well, and it was a lot less work, and so it was it was kind of a win all around. Rich Birch — What did the animators say? I feel but feel bad for that person who started doing that work. Did they understand. Obviously, they’re bummed or concerned.Lou Pizzichillo — He was bummed out, but he’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and so he he totally got it. And he’s on board with what we’re trying to do, and when he knew the reason why, he was totally, totally supportive of it.Rich Birch — Interesting. So where have you seen churches kind of get this wrong as we’ve tried to engage with the community? Maybe a common a pothole that we fall into or a way that we stub our toes, you know, a thing maybe you’ve you’ve you’ve seen that we just, we you know, kind of consistently make the same mistake.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. You know, one of my mentors told me a while ago, he was like, when you’re thinking about the church in the community, he’s like, there’s a small percentage of people that are for you. He said, there’s, there’s also a small percentage of people that are anti-church and they always will be, and you’re not going to change their minds.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And he’s like, but then there’s this large percentage that’s just kind of going to go one way or the other. And he’s like, that’s the percentage that you really have to be intentional about connecting with.Rich Birch — Right. Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And so I think, you know, it is very easy to tell the story like, hey, they don’t want us to do our Christmas show. This is persecution… Rich Birch — Yes. Lou Pizzichillo — …you know, and we got to fight and suffer for the name of Jesus. And ah we’ve just found that that’s not always the case. Rich Birch — Right. Lou Pizzichillo — You know, it’s people that don’t want to be inconvenienced and they may love church, but there’s there’s all this stuff going in the community. Maybe they maybe they have you know other reasons why. So i think I think it’s just the posture.Lou Pizzichillo — Like a lot of, most people, most people aren’t unreasonable. And I think if we give them the chance to really articulate what’s going on, I’ve been surprised at how understandable a lot of the feelings have been, a lot of the resistance to church comes from real stories, real experiences.Rich Birch — Right, right.Lou Pizzichillo — And so, yeah, I think it’s the you know the whole like persecution thing or suffering or that is real and people do really experience that. But a lot of times I think we’re a little too quick to say, oh, this is what that is when really it may not be.Rich Birch — Well, and it it’s, ah in some ways, it’s like a low form of, well, it’s a leadership shortcut for sure to like demonize, to like, oh, there, those people are come out to get us. You know, any leader that’s led before realizes, oh, that’s like a that’s a tool that actually works. People respond to that, but, but we don’t want to do that. Like that isn’t, these are the people we’re trying to love and care. These are people we’re trying to see point towards Jesus. They’re not our enemies.Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. Yeah.Rich Birch — They’re not, you know, they’re, they’re not, they might just not like parking, like you at the end of the day.Lou Pizzichillo — Right. Right.Rich Birch — And so let’s not, let’s not get over-revved, ah you know, on that. And unfortunately there are, I know, you know, way too many churches that have got themselves on the wrong side of this. And it’s very hard to backwards engineer out of that. Once you go down that road of like, we’re going to try to go negative with our community. That just isn’t, it’s just, it’s, it’s very difficult to to step back from that.Rich Birch — If you think about a church leader that’s listening in today and they’re, they’re saying, Hey, They’re thinking we want to do a better job being trusted more locally, trusted by local leaders, trusted by other you know businesses in town, that sort of thing. What would be a couple first steps you think they could take? A couple things where they could start to try to build that kind of trust with the community around them?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. You know, I think I’m a big believer in praying for those opportunities. And also just giving things a second look, you know. When you’re in a situation that may seem like a challenge or something that may seem like it’s getting in the way, to just stop and think, okay, is, is there an opportunity here to build trust with the community?Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Lou Pizzichillo — Because we, and when we say the community, we’re not just talking about this nebulous, you know, idea of Babylon village. There are people there.Rich Birch — Right. Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And if those people see this church as trustworthy, they may come here, you know, when their relationships are falling apart or when they’re looking for answers.Rich Birch — Yep.Lou Pizzichillo — Um, and so it’s really just been… We have great people here who have bought into what we’re doing, who have really helped us to see like, this is an opportunity to win with the community. And yeah, you gotta, you have to look outside the box and, and also be willing to, there, there are moments like with Church Has Left the Building—with the fair—and with the Christmas and light show, there are moments where they’ll see, okay, do you really care? Do you really care?Rich Birch — Yes. Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — Like are how how much will you inconvenience yourself? And I mean, the payoff from that has just been huge, even though it’s been an inconvenience and our giving goes down that week and it throws off the series and we got to restructure the calendar.Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — It has gone, there’s there’s never been a time where we’ve regretted it.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s good. And, you know, there’s no doubt one of the things I think we can in our our little world of kind of church leadership, I think we can forget often that people in the communities that we’re serving, they really don’t have any frame of reference for a church of 1,200 people. Like they that that isn’t people’s normal perception of what a church is. Like a church is 25 people or 50 people in a room somewhere super small.Rich Birch — And, and their perception can be, they just don’t, they just don’t have any idea. What is that? What’s that look like? And some of that can skew negative because it’s busy and blah, blah, blah, all those things. And so we’ve, we, we have to take it on ourselves when our church gets to the size that you’re at or larger to try to help them understand and see though this is like really positive for the community and actually point towards that.Lou Pizzichillo — Yes.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s good.Lou Pizzichillo — Yes. And, and like along those lines, ah it’s also perceived as a source of power, right? Like if, if there, if you have 1500 people that all believe the same thing and you’re trying to run a village or a community, there is this, this sense of like, okay, well, are they going to be for us or against us? Like, are all these people going to be anti-village?Rich Birch — Right.Lou Pizzichillo — And so there is like that, that instinct to kind of protect from this group of people that make, make things really hard for us. But over time, as they begin to see like all these people are, are behind us, they’re here to support us and they want to make this place better.Rich Birch — Yes.Lou Pizzichillo — It’s, it really is a beautiful thing. And we’re not there yet as a church, but we’re getting there. And, uh, we’ve just seen a lot of, lot of positive signs and, uh, Yeah, think it’s paid off.Rich Birch — So good, Lou. That’s, that’s great. Just as we wrap up today’s conversation, any kind of final words you’d have to, ah you know, to leaders that are listening in thinking about these issues today?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah. I mean, I think I would just say it’s worth it. It's it’s messy. It does make things difficult. It can be inconvenient. And when you have people who don’t go to church coming to church and you give them permission to be in progress, you get a lot of hairy situations. And we have a lot of conversations where we’re trying to figure out which way to go.Rich Birch — Yeah, 100%.Lou Pizzichillo — But it’s in those conversations that we cant kind of stop and remind ourselves like, Hey, we’re, we’re glad that these people are here and we’re glad that these are the problems that we’re having. And, the end of the day, this is what we feel like it’s all about. So.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good. I just want to encourage you as you’re leading, you’re doing a great job and and it’s been fun to get a chance to get a little window into what’s going on at Community. Want to encourage you and your your team, just you’re doing the right thing. If people want to track with the church or with you online, where do we want to send them to connect with you guys?Lou Pizzichillo — Yeah, so communitychurch.net is our website. On Instagram, we’re communitychurchli, we’re @communitychurchli, and we try to keep that handle throughout all the platforms. So YouTube, same thing. But yeah, that’s it.Rich Birch — Great. Thanks for for being here today, Lou.Lou Pizzichillo — Thanks for having me, Rich. It’s an honor to be here, and I love what you guys are doing for the church.

Feeling stuck in survival mode as a Christian mom? In this episode, discover how God invites you to reimagine your life with hope, healing, and purpose—even when you cannot see the full picture yet. If you've been exhausted, discouraged, or unsure what's next, this conversation will help you begin imagining what renewal might look like in your real, everyday life. ✨ Have you ever looked around at your life and thought, “I'm doing all the right things… so why does this still feel so hard?” You love your family. You're committed to your faith. You're showing up for work, ministry, and responsibilities every single day… …but deep down, something feels off. You're tired. You're stretched thin. And if you're honest, you may have quietly stopped hoping that life could feel any different than it does right now. In this final episode of the Rhythms of Renewal series on the Mom2Mom Mentoring Podcast, we're talking about something many high-achieving Christian moms struggle to name: You may not be lacking discipline. You may not be doing anything “wrong.” You may have simply stopped imagining that things could change.

In this conversation with Dr. Marc Brackett, founder and director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Karena explores the science of emotional regulation, the RULER framework (Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating emotions), and why traditional approaches to handling feelings often fail. Dr. Brackett shares his personal story of childhood trauma, discusses the unique challenges men face with emotional expression, and provides practical strategies for dealing with grief, anxiety, and everyday emotional overwhelm.How do you actually deal with your feelings instead of suppressing them—and why is emotional intelligence the key to better mental health, relationships, and longevity?Understanding how to regulate your emotions isn't about fixing or judging them—it's about building the vocabulary and tools to recognize, understand, and work with what you're feeling.(01:23) The RULER Framework & Navigating Grief Without JudgmentHow to be present for others during loss while protecting your own well-beingBecoming an "emotion scientist vs. emotion judge" during difficult timesEmotionally intelligent time travel: recognizing temporary circumstances and taking space when needed(07:18) Why Men Are Drowning in Suppressed Emotions & The Uncle Marvin StoryGender differences in emotional expression are socialized, not biologicalHow "toughen up" culture teaches boys to deny and suppress feelingsDr. Brackett's childhood sexual abuse, bullying, and why suppression creates emotional debt(15:42) From Trauma to Yale: Building Emotional Vocabulary & Understanding AnxietyHow childhood pain sparked Dr. Brackett's career researching emotional intelligenceWhy precise emotional vocabulary mattersBuilding emotional granularity to better understand your internal state(27:35) Realistic Optimism, Toxic Positivity & Six Strategies for Dealing With FeelingsWhy "everything will be fine" is dangerousLearn to deactivate your nervous system through meditation and breathworkThe biology of regulation: sleep, nutrition, and movement directly impact your ability to manage emotions(38:46) The Dealing With Feeling Wheel: Monthly Check-Ins for Emotional HealthMonitoring self-talk, breathing practices, reflection, and social connectionAssessing sleep quality, nutrition habits, and movement patternsWhy all these elements work together for mental health and longevityYou Are Note Alone, Try These Resources to Find Support:Text HELLO to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor. Free and confidential support, 24/7, for everyone who needs it988 Lifeline: free and confidential help is always available. If you or someone you know is in immediate crisis, please reach out right away. In the United States, you can dial or text 988 to connect with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.The Big Silence Resource GuideGuest ResourcesVisit his websiteExplore the RULER ApproachFollow Dr. Marc Brackett on InstagramDownload the How We Feel appListen to his podcast: Dealing with FeelingRead his books: Permission to Feel and Dealing with FeelingIf this episode moved you, please consider supporting The Big Silence Foundation and exploring our resources:Connect with The Big Silence CommunityOrder: The Big Silence Memoir audiobookShop The Big Silence Self Love CollectionSubscribe on YouTubeDonate to The Big Silence FoundationFind exclusive offers from our supporters: https://thebigsilence.com/pages/our-podcast-partnersShow Resources:VISIT THE CHALLENGE PAGETHE BIG SILENCE PODCASTTONE IT DOWN PODCASTTone It Up AppTone It Up YouTubeTone It Up InstagramHave a message for Karena? She'd love to hear from you and share your comment or question on air!Leave Karena a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/KarenaDawn

In this episode of Wisdom's Table, I invite you to join me for a heartfelt conversation that aims to encourage and uplift, especially for the women listening. I share my personal journey, including the challenges I've faced, such as my experience with lung damage from pulmonary embolisms, which serves as a reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of self-awareness. I delve into the subtle yet powerful thoughts that often plague women—feelings of inadequacy and the fear of voicing our struggles. Many of us harbor unspoken doubts and insecurities, believing that if we acknowledge them, we might have to confront uncomfortable truths. I emphasize the importance of bringing these feelings to the surface, as true healing begins with awareness.   Join my FREE 3 day masterclass on biblical money mindsets. This masterclass comes straight to your email. No need to show up on zoom or add something to your calendar. Just 3 days of fire-filled money mindset content to inspire you. JOIN HERE    TIMESTAMPS 00:00:01 - Welcome to Wisdom's Table Introduction to the podcast and its purpose. 00:00:36 - A Heartfelt Conversation Inviting listeners to join a personal and encouraging discussion. 00:01:28 - Facing Inadequacy Addressing the subtle thoughts of inadequacy that women often suppress. 00:02:41 - The Journey of Writing Rachel shares her experience writing her first book and the challenges faced. 00:03:54 - Permission to Thrive Exploring the concept of self-permission to thrive in life. 00:05:50 - The Power of Awareness The importance of recognizing and admitting struggles for personal growth. 00:08:26 - Creating Change Encouragement to pursue changes that lead to a fulfilling life. 00:10:22 - Navigating Marriage Challenges Rachel discusses her personal experiences in her marriage and the need for honest communication. 00:12:08 - Owning Your Feelings The significance of acknowledging feelings of hopelessness and frustration. 00:14:03 - The Role of Self-Preservation Examining how self-preservation can hinder spiritual growth and connection with God. 00:15:40 - Raw Honesty with God The importance of being honest with God about struggles and feelings. 00:17:17 - The Answer is Christ Emphasizing that true answers and freedom come through Christ. 00:19:32 - Connecting with Your True Self Encouragement to connect with one's authentic self amidst life's demands. 00:21:07 - Final Encouragement A closing message of support and encouragement for listeners.

In this episode, I'm unpacking the difference between permission-seeking and authority-reclaiming - and why choosing one over the other fundamentally changes how we practice, teach, and live.Because here's what I know to be true : No system can grant you authority. You already have it. The only question is whether you're willing to claim it.I've spent a decade & more watching healers, teachers, andpractitioners fragment themselves waiting for external permission to practice their medicine.Permission from a lineage. Permission from credentials.Permission from a system that demands you shrink to fit its rules.5 THINGS YOU'LL DISCOVER BY THE END OF THIS EPISODE:~What I personally walked away from - as an act ofreclamation, not loss (spoiler: it's my most vulnerable sharing yet)Systems conditions us to believe our power lives in whatit gives us. Here's why that's a trap, and what actually happens when you stopwaiting for permission and start trusting your own knowing.~The difference between being a "credentialedpractitioner" and being an authentic practitioner standing in our own authorityCredentials are the system's way of controlling who gets topractice. And sure, a Reiki certificate is needed to practise – it's the world we live in. Authentic authority is your direct relationship with your medicine. Learn which one actually empowered you and your clients - and why thisdistinction matters more than you think.~What sovereignty actually requires IMO (and it's not whatspiritual bypassing teaches us)Staying open while protecting your authority. Continuing tolearn while trusting yourself. This isn't a contradiction - it's mature spiritual capacity. Here's how to embody both, in my experience. ~The 3 radical shifts that happen when you stop seekingpermission and start reclaiming authorityHint: it's where your medicine becomes undeniable. Your practice stops fragmented and becomes anchored in cohesion. Learn what these shifts look like inreal time from my personal experience, and why they're non-negotiable for anyone searching to reclaim their sovereignty. Spirit-led Reiki Pathway (open now for enrolment): https://reikiredefined.com/spirit-led-reiki-pathway/Free Listing the Veil on Reiki workshop: https://www.reikiredefined.com/lifting-the-veil-on-reiki/Get my updates straight to your inbox: https://reiki-redefined.kit.com/6629991732Free community: www.reikiredefined.com/free-community/You'll find me most @reikiredefined on Tiktok – same handleon Instagram

Laurence & Spiegs discuss the news that the Bears have granted linebacker Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade.

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris reacted to the breaking news that the Bears have granted linebacker Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade, according to Tribune reported Brad Biggs.

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk to discuss Bears head coach Ben Johnson's dislike of the Packers and the latest storylines coming out of the NFL Combine. After that, WBBM political editor Geoff Buchholz joined the show to discuss the latest developments in the Bears' stadium saga. Later, Rahimi and Harris reacted to the breaking news that the Bears have granted linebacker Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade.

Most people assume eight hours of uninterrupted sleep is the biological default. It isn't. For the vast majority of human history, people slept in two distinct phases — waking naturally in the middle of the night for prayer, reflection, and quiet work before returning to sleep until dawn. In this episode, we explore what ancestral sleep patterns actually looked like, what the science says about biphasic and split sleep, and why your 3 AM wake-up might not be insomnia. We also break down ultradian rhythms, the overlooked biology behind your afternoon energy crash, and two practical sleep templates you can apply to a modern schedule. Your sleep doesn't need to be fixed. It might just need to be understood. Learn More: 85: Sleep Before Midnight: Does It Really Matter?: https://www.primalshiftpodcast.com/85-sleep-before-midnight-does-it-really-matter/ 82: Why You Can't Sleep: The Surprising Truth with Nicholas Stewart: https://www.primalshiftpodcast.com/82-why-you-cant-sleep-the-surprising-truth-with-nicholas-stewart/  Thank you to this episode's sponsor, Peluva! Peluva makes minimalist shoes to support optimal foot, back and joint health. I started wearing Peluvas several months ago, and I haven't worn regular shoes since. I encourage you to consider trading your sneakers or training shoes for a pair of Peluvas, and then watch the health of your feet and lower back improve while reducing your risk of injury.  To learn more about why I love Peluva barefoot shoes, check out my in-depth review: https://michaelkummer.com/health/peluva-review/  And use code MICHAEL to get 10% off your first pair: https://michaelkummer.com/go/peluva  In this episode: 00:00 Sleep is a modern invention 00:57 First and second sleep 02:06 Stop fearing night waking 02:30 Permission not prescription 06:35 Split sleep template 08:10 Nap plus main sleep 10:46 Light as the master lever 13:05 One week sleep experiments 14:42 Final thoughts Find me on social media for more health and wellness content: Website: https://michaelkummer.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelKummer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primalshiftpodcast/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/michaelkummer/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/mkummer82 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realmichaelkummer/ [Medical Disclaimer] The information shared on this video is for educational purposes only, is not a substitute for the advice of medical doctors or registered dietitians (which I am not) and should not be used to prevent, diagnose, or treat any condition. Consult with a physician before starting a fitness regimen, adding supplements to your diet, or making other changes that may affect your medications, treatment plan, or overall health. [Affiliate Disclaimer] I earn affiliate commissions from some of the brands and products I review on this channel. While that doesn't change my editorial integrity, it helps make this channel happen. If you'd like to support me, please use my affiliate links or discount code.  

On Season 9, Episode 2 of The Surviving Siblings Podcast®, host Maya Roffler is joined by Earla Dawn, who shares the story of losing her sister, Leigh-Ann, to pancreatic cancer. Earla takes us back to their childhood on the prairies, four siblings, endless fun, and the kind of relationship that started with "fighting like cats and dogs"… and grew into a deep, lifelong bond. Leigh-Ann was the polished one, the "always put together" sister, a devoted mom, a dog lover, and a woman who reinvented her life, starting over after divorce, and eventually moving across the world to Spain in 2006. Even with an ocean between them, their connection never faded. They learned Skype, relied on phone calls and letters, and stayed emotionally close until a fall visit home revealed something no one was prepared for: a growth on Leigh-Ann's pancreas. What followed was a short, devastating season filled with advocacy, tenderness, quiet courage, and moments of unexpected beauty. This episode is a powerful reminder that grief isn't just about the diagnosis or the timeline it's about the small moments you carry forever: the way you follow your sibling's lead, the calm you create for them, the love in the room, and the way connection can exist even without words. In This Episode: (0:00:00) – Meet Earla and Remembering Leigh-Ann Earla shares their family dynamic, childhood memories, and how their relationship evolved over time. (0:01:30) – From the Prairies to Spain: A Sisterhood That Stayed Close Leigh-Ann's big life moves, her reinvention, and how distance didn't break their bond. (0:04:00) – Subtle Symptoms and the Turning Point Leigh-Ann's ongoing stomach issues, declining stamina, and the moment she learned about the pancreatic growth. (0:06:30) – "I Looked It Up Once… and Never Again" Earla reflects on the shock of Dr. Google, the fear that followed, and what she learned about living day-by-day. (0:08:00) – The Worst Day: "It's All Over" An oncologist appointment confirms the terminal diagnosis and Earla shares why not having an exact end date changed everything. (0:09:30) – Following Leigh-Ann's Lead Earla explains how she honored Leigh-Ann's choices, advocated for information, and created a calm, sacred space at home. (0:11:30) – Palliative Support and the Permission of Time The practical support that helped their family breathe and why planning ahead reduced panic later. (0:14:00) – The List for Life (Not a Bucket List) Leigh-Ann's wishes: connection, warmth, marriage, travel and the decision to take a "honeymoon" to Hawaii. (0:17:30) – Love, Humor, and the Moments That Stay Earla shares an unforgettable experience of wordless connection laughing together in the quiet. (0:20:00) – Her Final Days and a Peaceful Death What it looked like, what helped, and why Earla believes we need to talk more honestly about end-of-life moments. (0:22:30) – A Room Full of Love: Ritual, Meditation, and Goodbye Earla guides a meditation after Leigh-Ann's passing and describes the gentle, meaningful way they honored her. (0:26:00) – Grace in Grief: Caring for Yourself While Losing Your Person Earla shares what "giving yourself grace" looked like in real life including rest, boundaries, and self-trust. (0:31:00) – Zines, Creativity, and Finding a Way Forward How small, simple storytelling (zines) became an accessible form of grief processing and a bridge back to hope.   This episode is sponsored by The Surviving Siblings® Connect with Earla:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sibling.grief.buds/ Earla's Book: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0973216239?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520   Connect with Maya: Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/survivingsiblingspodcast/ Maya's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayaroffler/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@survivingsiblingspodcast Twitter: https://x.com/survivingsibpod Website: thesurvivingsiblings.com Facebook Group: The Surviving Siblings Podcast YouTube: The Surviving Siblings Podcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheSurvivingSiblingsPodcast  

When you've done everything "right," the title, the success, the status, but still feel off course, what comes next? In this raw and revealing kickoff to the Not Sorry series on Conscious Conversations, Amy welcomes her new thought partner, Dr. Ashley Butler, for a soul-deep conversation about identity, permission, and shedding the expectations that no longer serve us. Ashley shares her courageous journey from the operating room to entrepreneurship, to a necessary pause and radical reinvention. She opens up about walking away from a high-powered medical career, shutting down a mission-driven business, and facing the uncomfortable silence of not knowing what's next. What emerges is a powerful message about reclaiming agency over your life, not out of apology, but from radical honesty. With her signature mix of vulnerability and clarity, Ashley unpacks the three pillars that now guide her path: Permission, Power, and Purpose. This episode isn't about quitting, it's about choosing again, and doing it for the right reasons. If you've ever asked yourself, "Whose life am I really living?" this one's for you. And it's only the beginning.   Additional Resources: Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn Subscribe to Ashley's Substack Newsletter! Subscribe to Conscious Habit on YouTube! Join the "Conscious Conversations" Community! Connect with Amy on LinkedIn Learn more about Conscious Habit Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Learn more about PeopleForward Network   Key Takeaways: True healing starts by pausing, not pushing forward. Titles don't define worth or future direction. Living for others leads to quiet self-abandonment. Purpose evolves, let it grow with you. Permission is the first step to realignment.  

What if the blessing you're praying for is already yours—if you'd just go get it? Stop sitting with an empty plate waiting for a sign and start taking the practical steps to grab the wisdom, opportunities, and healing that God has already placed on the table for you.#FULLTANKwithBroBo​ #FULLTANKwithBroBo2026​ #BoSanchez​ #TakeAction​ #FaithInAction​ #Luke11​ #GodsAbundance​ #SpiritualMaturity​ #TrulyRichMindset​ #NoMoreWaiting​ #Grace​ #Breakthrough​--- PS. Do you want to grow your finances but don't know how? For the past 18 years, I've received a lot of “thank yous” from so many TrulyRichClub members because once upon a time, they were stuck in their finances but through the club, they learned how to invest and they're on their way to financial freedom. If you want to grow your finances and reach your financial dream, go to www.trulyrichclub.com now or go to trc.ph/events to join our upcoming seminars!Support this podcast. Help me reach others by supporting this podcast.To support my mission work, click this link now! http://BuyMeACoffee.com/brotherbosanchez

In this episode, Jodi and Erin Ollila discuss how business owners should use website copy strategically to sell and promote a book, whether that's a dedicated book website or a book sales page on your existing business site. Erin shares with listeners where to feature the book throughout your website for trust-building and SEO, and how blog posts and podcast show notes can drive long-term book visibility. Jodi and Erin also discuss email marketing as it relates to books, including direct sales strategies, customer data, and email list permissions best practices.   Time Stamps: 00:01 — Intro + welcome Erin back 02:40 — Book page on existing site vs. separate book website 05:23 — Why keeping the book on your site supports SEO + authority 07:36 — The must-have: a dedicated book page (and where to place it) 09:31 — Where to reference the book (About page, homepage, resources) 11:46 — Use blog posts + podcast show notes to promote the book naturally 13:00 — SEO strategy: long-tail keywords + "more windows on your house" 16:44 — Why direct sales matter: upsells, funnels, customer data 23:23 — Email compliance: permission-based opt-ins + receipt email strategy 28:20 — Build a book-specific nurture sequence (before general newsletter) 29:45 — What a book page needs (keep it simple) 32:52 — Media page vs. media section on book page 35:45 — Permission to take a "B-minus approach" and improve later 39:44 — Book recommendations + where to find Erin   Keywords: book sales page, book website vs sales page, author website copy, website copywriting for authors, book landing page, book page on website, how to sell a book on your website, direct book sales, selling books direct, book marketing for business owners, book funnel, book nurture sequence, email opt-in compliance, CAN-SPAM laws, customer data for authors, SEO for authors, book SEO keywords, blog posts for book marketing, podcast show notes SEO, branded keywords, author platform, about page book placement, website navigation book page, media page for authors, speaking page for authors, book page conversion rate, copywriting tips for book pages, business owners writing books, book writing for business owners   Resources Mentioned: Coffee + Commas signup: https://bit.ly/coffeeandcommassignup Erin's podcast: Talk Copy to Me: https://erinollila.com/podcast/   About Our Guest: onversion copywriter. Copy Coach. Lover of ice cream, especially in non-dairy forms. Erin Ollila is a conversion copywriter who believes in the power of words and how a message can inform—and even transform—its intended audience. When she's not working with big brands and small businesses to marry strategy, storytelling, and SEO, you can find her exploring southeastern MA with her family and friends. Erin graduated from Fairfield University with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing.    Website: http://erinollila.com Talk Copy to me (podcast): https://erinollila.com/podcast/ Links to social media accounts: Instagram  LinkedIn  Facebook  Twitter   LINK TO FULL EPISODE (RAW) TRANSCRIPT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12NfaADDVbezVb5EPLxs3sdmq6g8M9N-eDN3BnJT67v0/edit?usp=sharing  

Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds' time with the Bears looks to be almost over. The team has given Edmunds permission to seek a trade. Dan Wiederer and Mark Grote react to the news, which isn't unexpected. Also in this episode, general manager Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson continue to guard against complacency with this Bears team. Plus, how will they approach filling the left tackle spot? And Johnson continues to embrace the rivalry with the Packers. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever notice how you keep waiting for permission… permission to change, to want more, to outgrow the version of you that everyone else feels comfortable with?The guilt. The roles. The quiet voice that says, “It's too late” or “You should be grateful.”In this episode, I sit down with Pearl Mashour, Master Women's Empowerment Coach and founder of Female Fluence, for a powerful conversation about reinvention, confidence, and reclaiming your voice at any age. What unfolds is an honest look at how inherited expectations, emotional age, and old narratives keep women small, and what happens when you finally decide that your growth matters more than approval. This is not about blowing up your life overnight. It is about giving yourself permission, one brave decision at a time, to become the woman you were always meant to be.In this episode, we explore:✨ Why reinvention is a choice, not a timeline✨ How guilt keeps women trapped in roles they have outgrown✨ The truth about midlife as an awakening, not a crisis✨ Why confidence is a practice, not a personality trait✨ How emotional healing unlocks your next level of powerIf you have ever felt behind, too old, too late, or unsure if you are allowed to want more, this conversation will remind you that your power does not expire and your next chapter is still yours to write.Get Started Here✨ Book a Relationship Clarity Call to understand the patterns that keep you shrinking instead of rising.Connect with Me

Stopping the shame spiral—what if the fastest way out isn't more willpower, but more compassion? In this episode of Alcohol Freedom Coaching, Coach Hayley supports Carol, a newly retired grandmother who felt “so far behind” after a vacation slip, and Coach Cole guides Nancy, a devoted mom caring for a daughter with complex special needs, who's learning to relax without wine and let go of “I should be doing more” guilt. Together, they model how to shift from self-blame to curiosity, build emotion-based goals (happiness, energy, motivation), and reconnect with support inside The Path. In Carol's session: Naming the belief: “I'm so far behind” vs. “I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.” Turning slips into data points—not identity—and choosing curiosity over criticism. Building emotion-based goals: happiness, energy, motivation as a north star. Breaking overwhelm: 15-minute re-entry (one video, one call, one journal prompt). Navigating travel and social events without defaulting to comparison or shame. Finding connection again: taking up space on calls even when you feel “not bad enough.” Practical reframe for 3 a.m. thoughts and night-after guilt. Tools for stopping the shame spiral after a vacation or wedding slip .…and more. In Nancy's session: Spotting guilt in the body (chest/shoulders tightness) and softening with micro-moments. Permission slips: letting older siblings help, one small experiment at a time. Replacing the 4 p.m. wine ritual with soothing, sensory evening routines. Distinguishing healthy guilt (course-correct) from toxic shame (self-attack). Creating a “treat” that isn't alcohol: porch time, breathwork, a few pages of a novel. Scripts to ask for help without apologizing for your needs.How curiosity interrupts ruminating about “not doing enough.” Practical ideas for stopping the shame spiral when responsibilities feel nonstop .…and more. Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach with training from the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Drawing from personal experiences, Hayley understands how tough change can be and provides a safe, compassionate, and judgment-free space where her clients can feel supported. She believes that with the right mindset, anyone can change their life at any time. Learn more about Coach Hayley: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/ Cole Harvey is a certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. For years, he felt lost and used alcohol as a way to cope, until he decided to go alcohol-free and focus on finding his purpose. Through curiosity, self-compassion, and adventure, he transformed his life. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps young men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning. Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/ Episode links: nakedmindpath.com Related Episodes: How can I not feel guilty for all the time I spent trying to fix myself? - Reader Question - E240 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-240-reader-question-how-can-i-not-feel-guilty-for-all-the-time-i-spent-trying-to-fix-myself/  How to Explore Drinking Without Judgment - Alcohol Freedom Coaching - E813 - https://thisnakedmind.com/how-to-explore-drinking-without-judgment-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e813/ Ready to take the next step on your journey?  Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious! Quince: Go to⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Quince.com/naked⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns  Hungryroot: Get 40% off your first box + a free item for life at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hungryroot.com/mind⁠⁠⁠⁠ with code mind BetterHelp: BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% off at ⁠⁠BetterHelp.com/nakedmind⁠⁠ Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Shopify.com/mind⁠⁠

In this episode, Geoffrey Smith and Cory Jenks discuss the importance of human connection in healthcare, the need for innovation, and the challenges faced by healthcare professionals. Cory shares his unique background as a pharmacist and improv comedian, emphasizing the significance of creating meaningful experiences for patients and caregivers alike. They explore the barriers to change within the healthcare system and the potential for individual engagement to drive transformation. The conversation highlights the importance of authentic presence, breaking down self-imposed limits, and the lessons learned from both positive and negative experiences in healthcare.   Additional Resources: Follow Cory on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-jenks-3ba17314/ Take a look Cory's book, Permission to Care: Building a Healthcare Culture that Thrives in Chaos: https://rb.gy/4a8yoo www.mo-mentsofexperience.com Subscribe to Mo-Ments of Experience on YouTube! https://youtube.com/@mo-mentsofexperience?si=IZAB036xX1mmrn2C Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peopleforward-network Learn more about PeopleForward Network: https://peopleforwardnetwork.com   Key Takeaways: Cory emphasizes the importance of getting patients off medication. Healthcare professionals can create joy in their work environments. Authentic presence is crucial in patient care. Building trust with patients is essential for effective healthcare. Self-imposed limits can hinder innovation in healthcare.  

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In this episode of Call Her Creator, we're talking about a shift so many ambitious women are feeling right now: leaving traditional corporate paths and building careers that actually feel good to live. My guest is Brianna Doe, CEO of Verbatim and a creator economy strategist who has seen both sides up close, from corporate marketing rooms to creators building real businesses online. We unpack what modern professionalism really looks like today, why so many women are rewriting success, and how to build a career that aligns with your life instead of draining it. Brianna shares the mindset shifts behind a corporate exit, how to avoid burnout while staying ambitious, and what it takes to build sustainable success as a creator or entrepreneur. We also dive into creator economy strategy, what makes a creator attractive to brands, the biggest mistakes creators make when pitching partnerships, and how to start building multiple income streams before you make the leap. Follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/callhercreator Thank you to my sponsors: Work with me: Speaking, Social Media Management and my famous, Social Media School: https://enfluencestudio.com/ Go Daddy: https://www.godaddy.com/airo Shopify: www.shopify.com/chc Stan: Try StanleyIG today and let him scrape your socials for your next VIRAL idea. TRY IT TODAY!

In a world where women are leading at every level yet still questioning their worth, international speaker and founder of the International Women Speakers Summit, Erica Gifford Mills, joins Dr. Pat to talk about visibility, leadership, and the courage to stop asking for permission. Why do so many capable, accomplished women hesitate to use their voice? What changes when they finally decide to step forward? And how can speaking become a pathway not just to influence, but to healing, legacy, and impact? In this powerful conversation, Erica shares the personal journey that led her to create the International Women Speakers Summit, how adversity reshaped her leadership, and why women's voices are needed now more than ever. If you've ever felt called to more but unsure how to step into it, this episode will inspire you to rise. Because when women speak, rooms change. And when rooms change, the world shifts.

In a world where women are leading at every level yet still questioning their worth, international speaker and founder of the International Women Speakers Summit, Erica Gifford Mills, joins Dr. Pat to talk about visibility, leadership, and the courage to stop asking for permission. Why do so many capable, accomplished women hesitate to use their voice? What changes when they finally decide to step forward? And how can speaking become a pathway not just to influence, but to healing, legacy, and impact? In this powerful conversation, Erica shares the personal journey that led her to create the International Women Speakers Summit, how adversity reshaped her leadership, and why women's voices are needed now more than ever. If you've ever felt called to more but unsure how to step into it, this episode will inspire you to rise. Because when women speak, rooms change. And when rooms change, the world shifts.

Rebecca is excited to chat with Dr. Kasia Van Schaik about her latest book, Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius,  published on February 17, 2026 by Dundurn Books.  https://www.dundurn.com/books_/t22117/a9781459752627-women-among-monuments : A lyrical meditation on the enduring obstacles women artists and writers face in a world still unaccustomed to recognizing female genius. What does it take for a woman to don the mantle of genius — a title long reserved for male artists? From her studies in Montreal to a dead-end job in Berlin, a midnight tour of Paris, a bankrupt art residency on the Toronto Islands, and a mysterious sculpture garden in the Karoo desert, South African—Canadian author and professor Kasia Van Schaik considers what it means for a young woman to call herself an artist and claim a creative life. Drawing on a diverse web of literary and cultural sources and artistic icons — from Georgia O'Keeffe to Ana Mendieta, Gertrude Stein to Jamaica Kincaid, Leslie Marmon Silko to Bernadette Mayer — Women Among Monuments asks, What, beyond a room of one's own, are the necessary conditions for female genius? Where does the inner flint of artistic permission come from? What is the oxygen that keeps it burning? In her memoir interwoven with incisive biographies of female solitude, constraint, and perseverance, Van Schaik blazes a trail for more inclusive artmaking practices, communities, and monuments.   Books and Authors mentioned: The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Along by Olivia Lainy Ginny Ross series (Amelia Earhart) by Heather Stemp  Voyage in the Dark; Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson https://www.unb.ca/faculty-staff/directory/arts-fr-english/van-schaik-kasia.html https://gillerprize.ca/scotiabank-giller-prize-spotlight-kasia-van-schaik/ https://www.instagram.com/kasia_writes https://electricliterature.com/why-i-left-men-for-books/    

Join my “Who am I supposed to be now?” Masterclass with Archangel Gabrielle Friday, Feb 27 (donation-based). Zoom, or in-person in Wheaton with lunch, and get clear on who God needs you to be now and in this next chapter. REGISTER TODAY: https://www.angelwellnesscenter.com/who-am-i-supposed-to-be-now TODAY'S EPISODE Beautiful soul, this is Week 4 of Rewrite Your Story and Self-Limiting Belief #21: “My family and friends told me I can't. What if they're right?” Julie explains why other people's doubt is often a reflection of their own fear, not your calling. You will learn how to stop outsourcing your decisions, go inward first, and trust God and your intuition as your compass. Then we move into a powerful live conversation with members on consistency, money fear, perfectionism, grief, and what it really means to “just be” while you keep rewriting the story. Short Episode Chapters (00:00) Self-Limiting Belief #21 and why it keeps you stuck (01:34) When loved ones project their fear onto your dreams (03:12) “I'm sick of playing it safe” and why it feels so hard to start (04:01) The habit of asking everyone before asking yourself (06:14) Rewrite the pattern: go inward first, then ask for input (07:08) Julie's story: leaving the safe path and trusting the calling (12:42) The rule: I only need God's opinion and my own (16:43) Tiffany: consistency, follow-through, and money fear after loss (27:19) Liz: perfectionism, anxiety, and learning instead of proving (33:34) The daily reset: “Just be” and break the perfection story (40:49) Prabha: money mindset, grief, validation, and spiritual connection (50:04) Oneness vs connection with loved ones on the other side (56:28) Grief waves and the practices that help you through them (1:00:29) Angel stories, signs, and trust through consistency Work with Julie and Your Angels Book a session: theangelmedium.com Angel Membership: theangelmedium.com/angelmembership Angel Reiki School Certification: theangelmedium.com/get-certified   Rewrite Your Story, Self Limiting Beliefs, Family Pressure, Fear of Judgment, Self Trust, Intuition, Inner Guidance, God's Guidance, Oneness, Energy Healing, Empath, Boundaries, Confidence, Consistency, Money Fear, Perfectionism, Anxiety, Grief, Angel Signs, Spirit Connection, Healing Journey, Authentic Purpose

Living a life you've outgrown — or one that was never truly yours — has a cost. Burnout. Disconnection. Resentment. And the longer you wait for clarity to magically appear, the more expensive it becomes. If you're navigating self-doubt, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or quiet exhaustion, you don't need more information. You need a clear path. You need structure. You need support that helps you move from self-abandonment to reinvention in a way that actually lasts. In this episode, I introduce The Permission Project — my nine-week live coaching experience designed to guide you step-by-step through the Eight Dimensions of Reinvention. We begin with vision so you can get clear on what you actually want. We recalibrate what no longer fits. We uncover the beliefs running your life. We strengthen self-worth, build boundaries that hold, and develop the self-trust required to make aligned choices. This is identity-level work. And when you follow a proven framework instead of relying on motivation alone, change sticks. You stop spiraling. You stop outsourcing your authority. You begin waking up to a life that feels aligned, intentional, and yours. What we explore: The true cost of staying stuck Why burnout is often rooted in self-abandonment The difference between motivation and structured transformation The Eight Dimensions of Reinvention and how they build lasting clarity What makes The Permission Project a guided, supported experience If you're ready to stop paying the cost of staying stuck and start your reinvention, you can learn more and join us inside The Permission Project at https://nancylevin.com/join Connect with me: Newsletternancylevin.comInstagramFacebook

What if the most consequential “Marxist” of a generation refused to call himself one—and was more consistent for it? We dive into Immanuel Wallerstein's intellectual journey, from C. Wright Mills's classrooms to African political movements and a close reading of Fanon, to the long durée horizons inspired by Fernand Braudel. Along the way, we unpack how world‑systems analysis took shape against modernization theory, challenged neat stages of growth, and rejected methodological nationalism without abandoning struggles for national liberation.We trace Wallerstein's friendships and frictions with the thinkers often grouped as the world‑systems “gang of four”—Samir Amin, Giovanni Arrighi, and Andre Gunder Frank—and the Maoist currents that pulled many left intellectuals in the 1960s and 70s. Then we explore where they parted: Frank's ancient world system, Arrighi's China‑as‑hegemon thesis, and Wallerstein's claim that capitalism entered structural crisis in the 1970s, foreclosing any stable successor hegemon. We also revisit Monthly Review's influence (underdevelopment, unequal exchange) and what Wallerstein rejected (monopoly capital as a “stage,” stagist history, and nation‑bound strategies).If you've heard core, periphery, and semi‑periphery tossed around like a simple map, this conversation resets the frame: these are world‑systemic relations that cut within and across states. We highlight why Wallerstein's absolute immiseration thesis matters now, how his optimism lived in the transition—50 percent chance for a better system, 50 percent for worse—and why internationalism is the missing key when national victories stall out. From techno‑feudalism chatter to BRICS and the Belt and Road, we ask whether we're seeing a new phase or an old system failing, and what agency looks like on the far side of decay.Listen for a clear, historically grounded tour through Wallerstein's ideas, the debates they shaped, and the stakes they raise for today's left. If the road ahead isn't automatic progress, it's strategy and solidarity. Subscribe, share with a friend, and tell us: is socialism or barbarism more likely where you live?About Sam ChianSam Chian is an educator based in Oslo, Norway, where he teaches Economics and Social Studies at the upper secondary level. He holds a Master's degree in Sociology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). As a researcher, he has contributed to the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE), specifically investigating the career and intellectual development of Immanuel Wallerstein.Relevant Links & Resources:doi.org/10.62191/ROAPE-2025-0001 doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2025.1304 doi.org/10.1007/s12108-025-09671-5Send a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic,Julian

In this episode of the Game Deflators podcast, hosts John and Ryan discuss their recent game pickups, including horror titles and RPGs, and share insights on the gaming industry, including Sony's monetization strategies and the closure of Bluepoint Games. They also review Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, highlighting its gameplay and nostalgic value, while addressing broader industry trends and controversies in fast news segments. 00:00 Introduction to the Game Deflators Podcast 01:27 Recent Game Pickups and Discussions 06:00 Current Gameplay Experiences 10:12 Fast News and Industry Insights 24:53 The Necessity of Mini Games in Storytelling 27:50 Monetization Strategies for PS5 33:00 The Closure of Bluepoint Games 38:42 Michael Jackson's Moonwalker: A Retro Review   Find us on TheGameDeflators.com Twitter - www.twitter.com/GameDeflators Facebook - www.facebook.com/TheGameDeflators Instagram - www.instagram.com/thegamedeflators   The views and opinions expressed on this channel are solely those of the author. The content within these recordings are property of their respective Designers, Writers, Creators, Owners, Organizations, Companies and Producers. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted. Permission for intro and outro music provided by Matthew Huffaker http://www.youtube.com/user/teknoaxe 2_25_18

You do not need permission to become who you already are — you only need the courage to stand in your power and take the next aligned step.In this episode, Nimesh Radia and Stacey Brown explore what it really means to live from power instead of waiting for permission. This conversation is for anyone who has been second-guessing themselves, over-explaining their choices, or feeling the push and pull between staying safe and stepping forward.Together, they unpack the difference between true inner empowerment and external validation, especially during seasons of change when the path ahead feels uncertain. They also speak to authenticity as a lived practice, not a concept, and how merging the parts of you that you have kept separate can become the activation point for your next chapter.If you have been feeling the nudge to stand in your truth, trust your intuition, and move forward without needing approval, this episode will meet you right where you are.Key Themes Living from power, not permission Standing in your truth without justification Navigating uncertainty as part of growth Authenticity through merging your worlds Trusting intuition over external validation Community support during transition Takeaways You do not need validation to make aligned decisions Discomfort can be a sign you are expanding, not failing Authenticity becomes easier when you stop compartmentalising your life Community can hold you, but your power must stay with you Your spiritual journey deepens when you lead yourself firstSound Bites Its a scary thing to exert your power Trust the universe to catch you You are a powerful beingAlso available to watch on YouTube. If this episode resonates, please like, comment, and follow the podcast.Spiritual Journey Membership A grounded community space to stay connected, supported, and guided through your spiritual journey. Join here: https://nimesh-radia.com/spiritual-membership/Upcoming Events Full Moon Webinar Monday 2 March 2026 8.30pm UK, 3.30pm EST Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/bnlKM8MQQA2NuGKvUX7aHgConnect with Nimesh

Throughout the meditation, Lauren repeats reassuring affirmations: *You have done enough for today. You are enough exactly as you are. Your body knows how to sleep. You can trust the process.* Listen as you lie down, allow the words to wash over you, and let your body remember how to rest and sleep. Here's a shorter, cleaner set of YouTube chapters for this meditation: 0:00 – **Welcome & Intention: You've Done Enough Today** 2:01 – **Getting Comfortable: Sitting or Lying Down** 3:40 – **Permission to Rest & Let Go of the Day** 4:50 – **Thoughts as Clouds in the Sky of the Mind** 7:00 – **Gentle Breath & Quiet Sigh Exhale** 14:24 – **Full Body Scan: Feeling Supported** 21:22 – **Belly & Chest: Releasing Worry and Emotion** 27:40 – **Shoulders, Arms & Hands: Putting Down the Backpack of Life** 29:45 – **Neck, Throat, Face & Head: Unspoken Feelings Soften** 32:24 – **Head-to-Toe Relaxation: You Are Allowed to Rest** 33:34 – **Safe Place Imagery: Beach, Forest, or Cozy Room** 37:45 – **Rowboat on the Lake: Gently Drifting** 40:17 – **Affirmations: You Have Done Enough, You Are Enough** 45:22 – **Deep Rest: It Will Be Okay** --- Come sit with me—let's slow down, sleep better, and feel more like ourselves. My courses (gentle, practical, cozy)

Stop waiting for permission to prioritize yourself. Learn to claim authority over your health decisions and boundaries during midlife transformation.  Who are you waiting for permission from? This video empowers midlife women to claim authority over health decisions, boundaries, and life choices—especially crucial during perimenopause and menopause when medical dismissal is common. Learn why women over 40 often seek external permission for rest, self-investment, pursuing goals, or prioritizing wellbeing, and discover how to become your own authority. Perfect for people-pleasers, chronic permission-seekers, or women who've internalized messages that their needs are less important. Includes permission statements, boundary-setting practices, and strategies for trusting yourself despite others' opinions. If you want to take this work deeper, grab my book The Consistency Code: A Midlife Woman's Guide to Deep Health and Happiness. ✨ It's the roadmap midlife women are using to lead themselves powerfully in the health arena and beyond. Available now at https://theconsistencycode.com 

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 1971: Dr. Jenny Brockis reveals how happiness at work is far from a fluffy concept, it's a critical pillar of mental wellbeing, resilience, and productivity. By nurturing relationships, prioritizing self-care, and giving back, we can unlock greater fulfillment and buffer ourselves against burnout and mental health decline. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.drjennybrockis.com/2019/9/13/boost-mental-wellbeing-with-happiness/ Quotes to ponder: "Happiness at work means different things to different people, it's a feeling that all is well, you feel in control and you're enjoying being with, interacting with and working alongside others." "Permission for your self-care is hereby granted, for life because this isn't something you can do on a part-time basis." "Helping out, simply because we can and want to will elevate your mood and make the recipient feel darn good as well." Episode references: Rammy Men (Ramsbottom Men's Group): https://www.rammymen.org  

Welcome to the First Presbyterian Church, New Bern Podcast! Join us weekly for our Sermon and Benediction. The full service can be found on our Youtube channel (link below). See more on our website!First Presbyterian Church, New Bern, North Carolina, established in 1817. A Congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Building community, transforming lives, engaging the world.See more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.firstpresnb.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on social media at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/firstpresnb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch our streaming service each week at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/channel/UCKw0GnheJfOUlVv_g5bBrEw⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Permission to podcast/stream live music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License A-701790 and CCLI 3202763. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast/stream recorded music from artist.io.

Chris Rock performs 50 times in a room of 50 people before he ever steps on a Netflix stage. What if you applied that same system to your art business? Most artists post their work and hope someone buys it. That's like walking on stage at the Apollo with untested material. In this episode, I break down exactly how the best stand-up comedians in the world test, iterate, and refine their material — and how that same system tells you what will sell before you even create it. Plus a 10-week challenge to put it all into practice. In this episode: How Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and Kevin Hart develop material (and what artists can steal from their process) Why social media is your open mic night — not your gallery wall The 6 types of posts every artist should rotate (the "set list") How to read the room: what saves, shares, and silence actually mean Permission to bomb — why your worst post is more valuable than no post 6 tactical marketing moves disguised as comedy club techniques The 10-week challenge: from open mic to your Netflix special This episode builds on everything from 2026 so far: your story (Ep 1), your one metric (Ep 2), your AI context files (Ep 3), your story prompts (Ep 4), and the Coffee Shop Test (Ep 5). If you've been following along, this is where it all comes together. Resources mentioned: Comedian (2002 documentary) — Seinfeld starting from scratch Kevin Hart 60 Minutes Interview — how he develops material Harvard Business Review — Innovate Like Chris Rock Related episodes: 4 Prompts That Pull Your Story Out (Even If You Think You Don't Have One) Context is Still King. If You Use It. The Artwork Didn't Change. The Story Did.

Book tour and ticket info here.Greenland has said it is not for sale. Denmark has said it can't even legally sell Greenland. And at a security conference in Munich over the weekend, U.S. lawmakers spent a lot of time trying to walk back some of President Trump's recent threats to try to buy, or even take over, the territory. But whether Trump can or will or should try to control or purchase a territory that doesn't want to be sold is not the interesting question. What is interesting is how we got to this moment. And, how we might gracefully get out of it. Greenland is valuable for its minerals and because of its physical location in the world. (It's easy to keep an eye on other countries from Greenland).Our latest: How the U.S. dropped the ball on the rare earths race. And one way the U.S. gets strategic locations without threatening to buy or take over an entire territory.Further listening: - Is Greenland really an untapped land of riches?- Add to cart: GreenlandPre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune. Fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.Music: Universal Music Production - "The Attraction,” “Carnivore,” and “Walls Come Out.” Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this week's Honey Archive episode we're answering one of YOUR questions with a mix of expert insight, personal experience, and a very real conversation about what to do when the sex in your relationship just isn't clicking. If you've ever loved someone but felt disconnected in the bedroom, this one's for you. The Question:“I've been with my boyfriend for a while now, and the sex… it's just not great. It's not that we don't like each other, but it just feels off. I want to be honest, I just don't know how to approach it, so please HELP!” We cover: Questions to ask yourself first. How to figure out whether the issue is chemistry, communication, expectations, or simply not knowing what you actually want yet. Expert tips for talking about sex with a partner. Ways to start the conversation without triggering shame, defensiveness, or pressure so it feels collaborative instead of critical. How to give honest feedback without being harsh. Why tone, timing, and framing matter and how to express your needs in a way that builds connection instead of distance. What giving feedback in the moment can look like. Small language shifts that help guide your partner without turning sex into a performance review. Why being “bad at sex” is more normal than you think. How most people never receive real sex education and why awkwardness is part of learning, not a sign of incompatibility. The difference between skill issues and deeper mismatches. How to tell when something can grow with communication versus when values, desire, or attraction might not align. Permission to outgrow sexual dynamics that don't feel good. Why it is okay to want more pleasure, more effort, or a different kind of connection. When it might be time to leave. A grounded conversation about recognizing when the sexual disconnect reflects a bigger relationship issue and giving yourself permission to choose what feels right for you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Looking to apply these tips to your REAL life? Schedule a FREE 1:1 strategy session with Cass & Em to see if coaching can support you.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get Honeydew Me Merch HERE!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices