Podcasts about podapalooza

The Balanced, Beautiful and Abundant Show- Rebecca Whitman

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2025 66:16

Regular listeners to Unstoppable Mindset have heard me talk about a program called Podapalooza. This event takes place four times a year and is attended by podcasters, people who want to be podcasters and people who want to be interviewed by podcasters. Featured podcasters such as I get to talk with a number of people who sign up to be interviewed by us specifically. This past Podapalooza saw me get to meet our guest this time, Susan Janzen. Susan wasn't even on of my original matches at Podapalooza, but she and I met and she told me she wanted both to be on Unstoppable Mindset and for me to come on her podcast, “Living & Loving Each Day”. Well, part one has happened. Susan has come on Unstoppable Mindset, and what a remarkable and unstoppable person she is. Throughout her life she has been a professional singer and recording artist, a special education teacher, a realtor, now a life coach and she, along with her husband Henry, Susan has authored two books. Make no mistake, Susan has performed all these life experiences well. She has been a singer for more than 30 years and still rehearses with a big band. She was a substitute special education teacher for six years and then decided to switch from teaching to selling real estate to help bring accessible housing to Alberta Canada. Susan, as you will discover, is quite an inspiration by any standard. I look forward to receiving your comments and observations after you hear this episode. I am sure you will agree that Susan is quite Unstoppable and she will help you see that you too are more unstoppable than you think. About the Guest: Susan is an inspiring professional whose achievements span multiple fields. As a professional singer and recording artist, she enchanted audiences across North America. Her legacy as Edmonton's first Klondike Kate includes captivating performances from Las Vegas to the Alberta Pavilion during Expo 1987. Her versatility shines through her educational pursuits, earning a Bachelor of Education and influencing lives as a Special Education teacher. Alongside her husband, Dr. Henry Janzen, Susan co-authored two Amazon Best Sellers, further cementing her creative impact. Empowering Lives Through Coaching and Music Today, Susan combines her passions: Performs with the Trocadero Orchestra, a 17-piece Big Band. Empowers others as a Certified Happy for No Reason Trainer and Jay Shetty Life Coach. Hosts her podcast, Living & Loving Each Day Bridging Barriers sharing powerful stories of overcoming challenges. Ways to connect Susan: https://www.facebook.com/home.php https://www.youtube.com/@SusanJanzen www.linkedin.com/in/susan-janzen-b-ed-5940988 https://www.instagram.com/livingnlovingbridgingbarriers/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! 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Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi everyone. I am your host, Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset podcast, unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet, and that's always so much fun. So we do some, we do sometimes talk about inclusion, and we do talk about diversity, and we talk about inclusion first, because diversity usually leaves out disabilities, but in this case, we we like inclusion because we won't let anyone leave out disabilities if they're going to talk about being inclusive. So there you go. But anyway, even more important than that is the unexpected, which is anything that doesn't have anything to do with diversity or inclusion, our guest today kind of has a little bit to do with all of that stuff. Susan Janzen is our guest. I'm assuming I'm pronouncing that right, perfectly, right? Yes, perfect. And Susan is up in Edmonton, Canada, and I met Susan a couple of weeks ago because both of us participated in the patapalooza program. Patapalooza, for those of you who may be listening to this on a regular basis, patapalooza is a program that happens four times a year where people come on who want to be podcasters, who are podcasters, or who want to be interviewed by podcasters. And we all kind of get together and we talk, and we listen to some lectures, and a bunch of us go off into breakout rooms and we get to chat with people. And when I was being scheduled, Susan was not one of the people who, in fact, got scheduled with me, but she came into the room and she said, I want to talk to you. And so there we are. And so Susan, welcome to unstoppable mindset where we can talk. Susan Janzen ** 03:12 Well, so glad and so glad to be in a room with you here on my screen. This is great. Oh, it's fun. Michael Hingson ** 03:18 My door is closed so my cat won't come in and bug me, because every so often she comes in and and what she wants is me to go pet her while she eats, but I'm not going to let her do that while the podcast is going on. So there you go. But anyway, it's good to be here, and I'm glad that you're here with us, and I understand that it's kind of nice and crisp and chilly where you are right now. No surprise, we are much more weak, Susan Janzen ** 03:45 yeah, much warmer. There we had in Alberta. We're always in Edmonton, Alberta. We're called the sunny province because it's doesn't matter how cold it gets. We always have blue cumulus clouds and beautiful blue sky Michael Hingson ** 04:00 and so. And today you have and today it's my cold. Susan Janzen ** 04:04 It's, well, it's minus 10 with a skiff of snow. But you know what? Minus 10 here is? Actually, that's kind of my prerequisite for skiing, like, if it's minus 10 or warmer, I'm good, because I'm not a very good added skier. That's why Michael Hingson ** 04:20 my brother in law used to ski on a regular basis. He in fact, used to take trips and take tours and and allow people to hire him as their tour guide to go over to France to do off peace school in the else. And he is also a cabinet maker and general contractor, and Gary's philosophy always is everything stops in the winter when there is an opportunity to ski. So Susan Janzen ** 04:50 that would be a beautiful wouldn't that be there? Like the perfect job to probably be a golf pro in the summer in a ski tour? Third guide in the winter. Well, Michael Hingson ** 05:01 he he was a, he was a contractor in the summer. Now he's doing more contracting all year round. He still skis, but he's not a certified mountain ski guide in France anymore. I think, I assume that kind of runs out after a while, but he hasn't really taken people on trips there for a while. But anyway, we're really glad you're here. I would love to start by maybe you telling us a little bit about the early Susan, growing up and all that well, 05:27 with the early Susan, that sounds great. Sure, Susan Janzen ** 05:28 let's do 05:30 it that was a long, Michael Hingson ** 05:32 long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But let's do it anyway, exactly, Susan Janzen ** 05:36 exactly. So way back in the day I was, I was actually my history is, is from I had a mother who was a singer, and she and I, I'm also professional singer, but she, she was my influence when I was younger, but when I was born, it was out those terminology at that time was called out of wedlock. Oh my gosh, you know, so bad. And so she was a single mom, and raised me as a very determined and and stubborn girl, and we had our traumas, like we went through a lot of things together, but we survived, and we're and we're, you know, all the things that I went through, I was on in foster care for a little while, and I kind of did a whole bunch of different things as a kid, and went on my own When I was 15. So I left home when I was 15, so I figured I'd be on my own. I figured I was mature enough to just go on my own, right like that made was made total sense and perfect sense to me at the time, and now I realize how young 15 is, but but finished high school and went to on the road and was a singer for like, over 25 years. That's better that. And, yeah. And so that's what I that was kind of like the childhood part of me. And that's, I think, what's putting me into all these play. I was in a convent for a while with Michael Hingson ** 06:54 honey, and so you, you went off and you sang, you said, for 25 years, yes, Susan Janzen ** 07:01 and I'm still singing. I'm still singing. That was Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 07:06 And I was reading that you sing with a seven piece, 17 piece, Big Band orchestra. I do. Susan Janzen ** 07:12 It's called a Trocadero orchestra. It's so it's the whole horn section, the the rhythm section. It's so much fun, I can't tell you, so I we do that. We don't gig a lot because a lot of people don't want to put out the money for an ATP spend. But we do rehearse a lot, and we do the big, big events in the city. It's really fun. What kind of music? So big bands, so 40s, yes, and so all the Oh, exactly. We can do the Latin stuff I sing that's in mucho the same mucho is one of my songs. And I do, you know, there's so many, like, so many really good songs, but they're older songs that kind of the Frank Sinatra kind of era songs, all the big band stuff. I've Michael Hingson ** 07:56 always thought that Bing Crosby was a better singer than Frank Sinatra. That's gonna probably cause some controversy. But why that? Susan Janzen ** 08:04 I wonder. But you know what big, big Crosby was a little bit before, and then Frank Sinatra was called the crooner, and I think it was because of his blue eyes and how he looked. I think he took on a different persona. I think that's why I think it was more the singer than more the singer than the music. Maybe you think, I don't know. I Michael Hingson ** 08:25 haven't figured that out, because Bing Crosby was, was definitely in the 40s. Especially, was a more well known, and I think loved singer than Frank. But by the same token, Frank Sinatra outlive Bing Crosby. So, you know, who knows, but I like being Crosby, and I like his music, and I like some Frank Sinatra music as well. I mean, I'm not against Frank Sinatra, yeah. I think, personally, the best male singer of all time. Yes, still, Nat King Cole Susan Janzen ** 09:00 Oh, and I do? I do the dot I do orange colored sky neck and Cole's daughter, yeah, this one on my brain. Her name Natalie Cole, exactly. Yeah. But Nat King Cole was a really good singer, so I do agree with you in that. And we do some that can cool stuff. I do a lot of Ella Fitzgerald too, as well. Michael Hingson ** 09:24 Yeah. Well, I, I've always liked and just felt Nat King Cole was the best of now, female singers, probably, again, a lot of people would disagree, but I really think that Barbara Streisand is, oh, there is. Susan Janzen ** 09:37 I love her. Yeah, yeah, I did. I actually, I did an album. In the 719, 78 I recorded an album, and the main song on there was evergreen by Barbra Streisand. I Michael Hingson ** 09:48 love that tune. Yeah, I was. I just have always liked Barbara Streisand. One of my favorite albums is Barbara Streisand at the forum. She James Taylor. And I forget who the third person was. Did a fundraiser for George McGovern in 1972 and I just always thought that that was Barbara's Best Album. Susan Janzen ** 10:10 Ah, so such a voice. I mean, she could see anything. Yeah. Beautiful voice, yeah, I agree. I agree. Well, we're on the same page, yeah. Michael Hingson ** 10:19 Well, that's pretty cool. But so you, you grew up, you sang and and then what happened to you, or what did you do? What, what else occurred in your life that we should know about? Susan Janzen ** 10:31 Oh, there's so many things. So then I, yeah, I know it's crazy. So I grew up, I think I still, I'm not quite there yet. I'm still growing. And then I when at 18, I got married, and I went on the road with a guitar player, and for 10 years, and then we had two kids. And then after five more years on the road, I actually got a divorce. And so I was six years as a single mom with two babies. The kids were, like, 11 months apart. They were really close. And so then that's when I did all my bigger gigs here in Edmonton, though, those are the like. I was hired as the first ever local Klondike Kate in Edmonton, Alberta. We have Klondike. We used to have Klondike games as our major summer fair, and it was a really big deal. It's kind of like the Calgary Stampede we had the Edmonton on Lake Bay, and so I was the representative of the city of Edmonton for two years. And I actually did it my first year. They made me audition for my second year. So I won it the second year. So I was the first ever two years in a row. And I represented the city all over North America. Actually, I sang, I met Muhammad Ali, I met some really great people, and I sang with Baba patola, did some commercials with him, went down to Vegas and played one of his stages. So I did a lot of really fun things in those two years, and convert a lot of commercials and a lot of telethons. So that was really fun. And then, and then, when that was over, that's when I got remarried to a wonderful man, and he was at University of Alberta, and he was a professor in psychology, education, psychology and so and I'm happy to say that we're just celebrated last week our 36th wedding anniversary. That's how old I am. Michael, congratulations. Michael Hingson ** 12:18 Well, my wife, my wife and I were married for 40 years, and she passed in November of 2022, so, oh, so I I know what it's like to be married for a long time. I loved it. Love it. Still wonderful memories. It's unfortunate that all too many people don't ever get to have the joy of being married for such a long time. Yes, Susan Janzen ** 12:43 and happily married, right? Like happily married? Yeah, that's the cavid. Michael Hingson ** 12:50 Yeah. It's important to to acknowledge the happiness part of it. And I've got 40 years of memories that will never go away, which is great. Susan Janzen ** 12:58 Nobody can take that away from you, that is for sure. They can't take that away from me. Don't take that away from me. That's Michael Hingson ** 13:06 right, exactly. So that's that's pretty cool. So you do a lot of rehearsing and a lot of singing. What else do you do in the world today? So also Susan Janzen ** 13:15 in the world today, I am, and I have been since 2003 I'm a residential real estate expert, so I'm a realtor, and I deal specifically with accessible and barrier free homes. So that's kind of my I was a special ed teacher. Actually, I should squeeze that in there for six years I was, I got my degree in education and with a special ed teacher in secondary ed. So all my kids were junior and senior high. And then when I came out of that, I took up the after I was teaching. I took real estate license, and I got it and I I just felt like I understood anybody with mobility challenges and with any other challenges. And so I took that extra time that is needed and necessary to to help them find homes and to sell. Susan Janzen ** 14:02 What got you started down that road Susan Janzen ** 14:05 at the time, I was teaching for six years, and when in Edmonton, I don't know why it was just here. So I was 2003 when I quit. So I had been teaching from the late 1990s and it was like I was subbing, but I was not getting a full time position in that and my Evanston public school board said your your file is glowing. We just don't have any spots for you. So I think it was a government funding issue. And so I ended up just thinking, I don't want to sub forever. I want to get my own classroom, and I want to have my own and I would, I would teach for six months at a time in a school. So it wasn't like I was jumping around crazy but, but I want, really wanted my own classroom. And so when that wasn't happening after six years, I thought I'm going to write the real estate license exam, and if I pass it the first time, that was my Gage, because no, they say the word was that you don't pass it the first time. Everyone has to write it to a. Three times before they pass my rule. For my own ruler for me was to say, if I take the exam, pass it the first time, I will make that move. And that's what happened so and then I just took up with accessible, barrier free homes and that specialty. So Michael Hingson ** 15:17 was there any specific motivation that caused you to really deal with accessibility and accessible homes and so on. Susan Janzen ** 15:25 Yes, and at the time, and just actually, my mom had been in a walker and on oxygen. I had quite a few friends who had mobility issues. And then just shortly after that, when I was a realtor already, and my daughter had a baby, and her baby at eight weeks old had a near SIDS incident. So she was eight weeks old, and Candace went to do the dishes one night at nine o'clock at night, and came back and calea is her daughter's name, and she was like blue in the crib. She was she had to be revived. So that was terrifying for all of us, and so it was wonderful news that she did survive, but she had occipital and parietal damage, so she has cortical vision impairment and also cerebral palsy, but she's she's thriving and loving it, and so that actually kind of Got me even doing more accessible homes, because now I'm a grand ambassador, and what's that called when you get out on the street and yell at people for parking in handicap stalls? What is that smart person? A smart person, and I was just passionate about that. I wanted to fix things and to try to make things easier for people as they should be, without having to ask in the first place. So yeah, so that's kind of the other reason I stuck to the that that area in real estate, and I just had the patience for it. I had the knowledge and the understanding and I and I really it was just easy for me because I did. I think it was because the passion I had for that area, and I just love doing it and helping other people Michael Hingson ** 17:05 well. So how old is your granddaughter now? Now she is 12. Okay, she's 12. Now, does she walk, or does she use a wheelchair? Susan Janzen ** 17:13 She uses, um, well, because she is as tall as me now, oh, she's using more a wheelchair more often, okay? She She walks with a walker. She can't walk on her own at all, and I think it's because of the vision, right? She if she could, you know, yeah, if she could see, she sees light. It's amazing how that how the brain works. She sees lights, and she sees color. And I can put up any color to her, and she'll identify it right every time, every time, but she doesn't see me. She doesn't see my face. Well, tell Michael Hingson ** 17:45 me a little bit more about cortical vision. You. You and I talked about that a little bit. So Lacher, yeah, explain that to people. It's Susan Janzen ** 17:52 really interesting because it's something that it's not readily out there, like you don't hear about it a lot. And even as a special ed teacher, I can tell you that I was trained in all of the different areas of special needs, but that did not come up for me, so this was new when I found out about it, and it just means that her eyes are fine. There's nothing wrong with her eyes, but her she's not processing so the information is coming through her eyes, but she's not processing that information. But she, like I said, if I turn out the light, she'll go, oh, the lights are off. Or if I put the lights on, she'll look up and be surprised at it. She you can tell that she knows. And then I used to put her on my counter in the kitchen, and I had these LED lights underneath my counter, my kitchen counter, and it had all these, these 12 different colors of light, and so I would put the blue on, I'd say, calea, what color is that? And she'd go blue, and I'd say, What color is that, and she'd go red. So it would be variable colors that I'd offer up to her, and she wouldn't get them right every single time. So that's the cortical vision impairment, and where they if she needs to pick up something off of a dresser, off the floor, for instance, it has to be on like a black background, and then she can see it, no problem. But if you have a whole bunch of things on the ground or on the table and ask her to pick up something, that's too much information for her, so she can't just zero in on that one area, right? So it's harder for her. So you just have to make things more accessible, so that she can see things you know, in her way. Michael Hingson ** 19:25 But this is a different thing than, say, dyslexia, which is also you can see with your eyes, but your brain is in processing the characters and allowing you to necessarily truly read it exactly. And Susan Janzen ** 19:38 that's that different part of the brain, where it's analyzing the the at least you can you can see it, but you process it differently. That's exactly right where she can't see. So then that's why I was thinking, if she could see better, I think she would be walking, maybe with a cane or with a walker, better. But right now, in that. Stage, we can point her in the right direction and tell her to go, and she'll go, but she's not sure where she is. Michael Hingson ** 20:08 But that clearly wasn't the start of you doing real estate sales, dealing with accessible homes, but it must have certainly been a powerful motivator to continue with exactly Susan Janzen ** 20:20 that, exactly that, because my mom was on oxygen, and she had, she had a lot of issues, mobility challenges. And I had a lot of friends who who were also like in that older age group that had mobility challenges. And those are the people that that were, may say, moving from a two story to a bungalow because they couldn't make manage the stairs anymore. Michael Hingson ** 20:41 So how do we get people like the Property Brothers? Do you ever watch them and you know who they are? Oh yes, oh yes. We get them to do more to deal with building accessibility into the homes that they built. Because the the issue is that we have an aging population in our world. And it just seems like it would be so smart if they built accessibility and rights from the outset in everything that they do, because the odds are somebody's going to need it Susan Janzen ** 21:11 exactly. And that's the for the forward thinking, right? You know? And it's interesting that some people, some builders, have told me that just to make a door frame three inches wider does not cost you any more money. But the point, the point is just that it's getting all the contractors on board to to come out of the way that they've been doing it for so long. You know, sadly, Michael Hingson ** 21:38 yeah, my wife was in a chair her whole life, she was a teacher, paraplegic. Oh, so you know, I know about all this really well. And in fact, when we built this house, we we built it because we knew that to buy a home and then modify it would cost a bunch of money, one to $200,000 and in reality, when we built this house, there was no additional cost to make it accessible, because, as you point out, making doors wider, lowering counters, having ramps instead of stairs, all are things that don't cost more If you design it in right from the outset, exactly, Susan Janzen ** 22:24 exactly, and that's that's the problem. Yeah, that's the problem. I mean, that's exactly the problem. Michael Hingson ** 22:29 Yeah. Now we built our home in New Jersey when we moved back there, and we did have a little bit of an incremental extra cost, because all the homes in the development where we found property were two story homes, so we did have to put in an elevator, so it's about another $15,000 but beyond that, there were no additional costs, and I was amazed that appraisers wouldn't consider the elevator to be an advantage and an extra thing that made The home more valuable. But when we did sell our home in New Jersey, in fact, the elevator was a big deal because the people who bought it were short. I mean, like 5253, husband and wife, and I think it was her mother lived with them, and we put the laundry room up on the second floor where the bedrooms were, and so the elevator and all that were just really wonderful things for everyone, which worked out really well. Susan Janzen ** 23:30 Oh, that's perfect. And that's, that's kind of what I do here in evident that I try to match the people who are selling homes that have been retrofitted and made more, you know, accessible. I try to put out the word that this is available, and I try to get the people in who need that. I feel like a matchmaker, a house matchmaker, when it comes to that, because you don't want to waste that like some people, actually, they'll some people who don't understand the situation have chairless For instance, they they're selling their house, and they rip out the chair. Then it's like, well, call me first, because I want to find you somebody who needs that, and that's exactly what they're looking for. Okay, so that's kind of where, how I I operate on my my job Michael Hingson ** 24:15 well, and I will tell you from personal experience, after September 11 for the first week, having walked down 1400 63 stairs and was stiff as a board for a week, I used the elevator more than Karen did. Oh, Susan Janzen ** 24:28 at that, but you survived that. And that was, that's amazing, but it Michael Hingson ** 24:35 was, yeah, you know, you have to do what you gotta do. I think that there's been a lot more awareness, and I I've been back to the World Trade Center since, but I didn't really ask, and I should have, I know that they have done other things to make it possible to evacuate people in chairs, because there were a couple of people, like, there was a quadriplegic. Um. Who I believe is a distant cousin, although I never knew him, but he wasn't able to get out, and somebody stayed with him, and they both perished. But I think that they have done more in buildings like the World Trade Center to address the issue of getting people out. Susan Janzen ** 25:17 It's just too bad that we have to wait for that, things, terrible things like that to happen to crazy awareness. That's the only bad thing. What? It's not like, it's not like we're not yelling on the streets. It's not like we're not saying things. It's just that people aren't listening. And I think it depends on if you're to a point where you are actually in a wheelchair yourself, or you have a child who's in a wheelchair now, now they understand, well, Michael Hingson ** 25:43 yes, it is getting better. There's still a lot of issues. Organizations like Uber still really won't force enforce as they should. All the rules and regulations that mandate that service dogs ought to be able to go with Uber passengers who have a need to have a service dog, and so there, there's still a lot of educational issues that that have to occur, and over time will but I think that part of the issue was that when 2001 occurred, it was the right time that then people started to think about, oh, we've gotta really deal with this issue. It is an educational issue more than anything else. That's true. That's Susan Janzen ** 26:26 true. There's a fellow here in Edmonton that, and I'm sure it's elsewhere too, but one particular fellow that I know, and he builds, they're called Garden suites. Like in Edmonton, we're kind of getting so much the population here is standing so quickly that the city is allowing zoning for they're called Garden suites, so they're just but he goes in and puts in like a two story behind the home, and it's 100% accessible, barrier free, and no basement. And so we're encouraging people to buy those homes, and they don't cost as much because they're quite a bit smaller. They're only two bedroom but they have everything that anybody would need if they had mobility challenges. And so it's it's perfect for either people who have a son or a daughter who is getting close to being an adult and they want their more a little more freedom and independence. They could use that suite at the back. Or I know some adults in particular who are have mobility challenges, and they just physically move to that new place in the backyard and rent out their home right to make home revenue. Michael Hingson ** 27:31 Since it's two stories, what do they do to make it accessible? They Susan Janzen ** 27:34 have, they have an elevator. It's a zero entry, and it's 100% everything in it is specifically so you move in, walk, go right in, and it's, it's accessible. That's how he does it, right from scratch. Cool, super cool. And so we're trying to, I'm trying to promote that here, out here, because I, I know the fellow who builds them, and it makes sense. I mean, even if you want to have a revenue property, right? And you want to build that in your backyard and then rent it out to somebody who needs that, then that'd be perfect. Michael Hingson ** 28:06 It makes, makes a lot of sense to do that. It does. Mm, hmm. Well, do you think that all of the knowledge that you gained in special education and so on has helped you a great deal in this new, more, newer career of doing real estate sales. Susan Janzen ** 28:25 Oh, 100% because it's just an understanding. It's just having the compassion and understanding what not, because I haven't experienced it myself, but I do understand what they may be going through. It's just an enlightening for me, and I I just appreciate what they're going through, and I am, you know, I want to make it easier for them, you know, to make any decisions that they have to make. And I try. I don't like, I don't waste their time like, I make sure I go preview the homes first, make sure that it's something and I FaceTime them first to say, is this something you want to even come out to? So I don't want them to be wasting their time or their energy just trying to get to a place that's not accessible, Michael Hingson ** 29:05 right? Mm, hmm. We moved from New Jersey to Novato California, which is in the North Bay, which is now being just bombarded by rain, but Northern California in 2002 and when we started looking for homes, we tried to find a place where we could build, but there was just no place up there where there was land to build a home. So we knew we had to buy a home and modify it. And one day, we went with a realtor, and he took us to a house, and it was clearly a house that wasn't going to work. The this there were, there was no room to put in a ramp, there were lots of steps, and we pointed out all the reasons that it wouldn't work. And then he took us to another home that was really like the first one. We went to four different homes and. We kept saying, this won't work, and here's why, and it was like a broken record, because it was all the same. I'm so sorry. Yeah, you know, I realized that not everyone has the opportunity to really understand and learn about wheelchair access and so on. But people should focus more on on doing it. It wasn't like I needed a lot for the house to be usable by me as a blind person, but, but Karen certainly did. And what we eventually found another realtor took us to a place, and what was really interesting is we described what we wanted before we started looking at homes with Mary Kay, and she said, I have the perfect home. You'll have to modify it, but I have the perfect home. And of course, after our experiences with the other realtors, we were a little bit pessimistic about it, but she took us to a home, and there was a step up into it, but that's easy to modify. Then you go through an entryway, and then you can go left into the kitchen or right, and if you went right, you ended up in a little Nexus where there were three bedrooms, oh, and it wasn't even a hallway. There were just three bedrooms. And so it was, it was perfect. We still had to make significant modifications, but it really was a home that was modifiable by any standard, and we, we bought it. It was perfect Susan Janzen ** 31:44 for what we needed. I'm so glad I love that's a good start. That's a good story here. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 31:50 she, she got it and and it's so important. And I think Realtors need to be aware of the fact that we deal with a very diverse population, and it's important to really understand all of the various kinds of people that you might have to deal with, but we just don't always see that. Needless to say, Susan Janzen ** 32:08 that's true. Unfortunately, that's so true. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 32:14 So do you how? How much time do you spend doing real estate? Is that a full time job for you. Susan Janzen ** 32:20 Well, it always has been. I've been full time, full service, so I'm on call, really is kind of what it boils down to. But I've also pursued, in the last since COVID, I've pursued coaching courses because that's something I'd like to get into. And so now I'm a certified Jay Shetty resilience and confidence coach, and so I'm kind of leading, I think, as I age and as I, you know, getting tired of I've been a realtor 21 years now, so I would like to eventually slow down in that area and focus more on coaching people. That's kind of where I'm leaning now a little bit, but I'm still full time up there. And singer Michael Hingson ** 33:02 and singer and your coach, yeah. So do you ever see your coaching customers? Just check, no no Susan Janzen ** 33:10 checking. I send them the recording. I'll send them my CD. You can go and get you could get two of my CDs on iTunes, so I'll send them there, or else tell them one of my geeks. Michael Hingson ** 33:20 Oh, cool. Well, I'll have to go look you up on iTunes. I have, yes, oh, it Susan Janzen ** 33:25 is a Christmas there's a Christmas one there. I think you'd like that. Michael, is it really cool? Michael Hingson ** 33:29 And I have Amazon unlimited music. I wonder if. I'll bet there too. You Susan Janzen ** 33:33 just take in. Susan Jansen, and I come up. I have the greatest love of all is my one, and the other one's called the gift for you, and that's my Christmas split. Oh, Michael Hingson ** 33:41 cool, yeah. Well, we will. We will check them out, by all means. Well, so when do you rehearse? When do you when do you do singing? Susan Janzen ** 33:52 Well, the big band rehearses every Saturday. So we, we all get together and we do. So it's, I just, you know, I love the rehearsals, like it's so much fun for me. So that's what we do with my other singing. I still get I still get hired, especially during the summer festival time, I get hired to come back and we call it throwback Klondike dates. And I have one costume of all my costumes that were made for me this you can imagine my costumes is called that Kate were like, a lot of sequins, full dresses with the big furry bottoms and then the feathery hats. So I used to wear those. So I still have one costume that still fits me, and so I use that every summer, and I go out, and I'm asked to do different functions during the summer, and then during all throughout the year, I do parties, you know, like, what if somebody hires me to do a birthday or some special celebration? I still do that. Okay, so Michael Hingson ** 34:47 how often does the big band actually go out and perform and earn some money? Or does that happen much at all? Not that much because of Susan Janzen ** 34:54 the size of us, right? Yeah. So, you know, we've done, you know, like the 100th anniversary of Arthur. Is a dance floor. And so we did their 100th anniversary celebration. And can you imagine, like the dance floor was just, it was like I was watching my own show from from the stage, because they we did all the Latin tunes, and they came out and danced the Sava and the rambas and the tangos and everything. It was beautiful. So I got to so that was a really fun gig for us, and then, and so we do other big and larger functions, like in ballroom. So you can imagine a conference, perhaps that's having a big celebration will be the ballroom entertainment. Well, Michael Hingson ** 35:32 you know, you're in Canada. Can't you get Michael Buble to hire you guys? Ooh, Susan Janzen ** 35:35 wouldn't that be nice? He's got his own man. He's Michael Hingson ** 35:39 got, yeah, he does. I know these old charts and yeah, but he occasionally brings to the choir. I know that we, we went to see him well. Karen passed in November of 2022 we actually went to see him in Las Vegas in May of 2022 that was the last concert that we got to do together. And we ended up being relocated from up in the balcony in what Henry, what Harry Belafonte, would call the scholarship section. We We got moved down to the orchestra pit, and we were like in row 18, even two rows in front of Michael's family, but we ended up being there for the concert. It was wonderful. Oh, and he walked out and shook hands with everyone while he was singing, and all that was a lot of fun. But, yeah, he does have his own band, but music's great, Susan Janzen ** 36:36 so good, and he does that so well. Like my favorite show is the voice. And so he's a judge on there too, and I really appreciate input. And he comes off very Canadian. I think he's this is very friendly and very silly and fun and and just really caring too. So I think he represents us well on the voice. Michael Hingson ** 36:56 He does not take himself too seriously, which is so important, I think for so many people, so true. He does so well with that. So true. Well, so we mentioned pada Palooza, and you have a podcast. Well also, and you, you've written a book, right? Susan Janzen ** 37:14 Yes. So I've co authored a few books, and then, plus my husband and I Well, my husband actually is a psychologist. He wrote the book, I typed it, and then he gave me credit, because I kept putting in my own stories and and he would, he was kind enough to put my name on the cover. So and we wrote a book called living and loving each day. And that's how, why I made my podcast that same name, and, and, but when we wrote it, the full title is living and loving each day success in a blended family. Because at that time when we got married, I had the two children, and they were just under you know, they were nine and 10 years old, eight and nine years old, and his boys, he had three boys that were older, like teenagers, and so and his wife passed away from cancer. So we all got together. And I mean blended families, that's a whole nother world, you know, if you're not used to that, that's something else. And, and then it turned out that his oldest son was diagnosed schizophrenic, so that was something that we dealt with together as a family. And, and, and then yeah we so we just felt like this was our life, and we wanted to share that. But that's like combining two separate families together, and how that works, and the dynamics of that. So he wrote some great, great stuff about how to deal with in laws, X laws and outlaws. He called them Yeah, and how to deal with every family celebration, Christmas and Easter, everything you know, like, there's so many things that come up even think about until you're in that situation, like, how do you do it? Right? Michael Hingson ** 38:52 But it's so great that you two made the choice to do it and to blend the families and not give up on each other, or any of the people in the family, exactly, Susan Janzen ** 39:04 and that's in that's huge for me. And I can share a little story with you. Feel like the view is okay. So this is kind of cool. So this so when I was singing, and I was just at the end of my second year as Klondike Kate, and I was doing a lot of gigs, like a lot of singing and and I was just kind of cut, you know how they like you're, you see on the calendar that they're you're tuning down here. The end of the year is coming. The end of the gigs are coming, and you're not in that role anymore because they chose a new Klondike. And so those six years that I was a single mom, my husband now had his own radio show, and it was called that's living and there was a show out of Edmonton, and it actually won Canadian awards for this was a talk show during the day for one and a half hours, and it had two psychologists, and the psychiatrists were the hosts. And so on the Tuesdays and Thursdays with Dr Jan, that was my husband and I used. To listen every day because I had, I was a single mom. I really didn't have a lot of support, and I worked every night singing so and I had my kids all day. So it was just like my favorite show to listen to. And when I remember listening to and I heard this Dr Johnson's voice, I always thought he had, like, long white hair, long white beard, so he was just so calm and so compassionate and so smart that he was just such a I never knew what he looked like, but that's what I pictured him looking like. And then it turned out that right at the end of my my singing, I remember listening one day, and he was on the air, and he I was going to my agents I was driving down Main Street in Edmonton, and I remember going to my agent's office to see what was next for me, like, what's next? What next gig do I have? And I remember he came on the air that day, and he said, You know what, folks, I have to let you know that his he said, My wife passed away. And he said, My boys and I've been grieving since the day we found out six months ago. But I need to be here to be of service to you, and I need to be on the air to help you today. And hope you don't mind. I hope you understand, you know he was, you know, and it was, it was so emotional, and like I was sitting in my van, like crying, thinking, because I'd been listening to him all those years, and I just felt so sad for him. And then I kind of, I'm a God fearing woman, and I said, Lord, why can't I meet a man like that that needs me as much as I need him. That was my outside prayer. And you know what? It wasn't even a week and a half later, I get a call from that station, CTC, saying, hey, Sue, can you do a Christmas Bureau fundraiser for us? He said, There's no pay involved, but you can be MC and and, you know, help us. You know, raise money for the Christmas funeral. And so I was happy to do that. And so that's how, how I met my husband was when at that particular function. So that was kind of my, you know, and like, just an answer to prayer and something that I really, you know, it was interesting how, how that all happens when you are very specific and, and so that's how we met. And, yeah, so we've been together ever since 36 years now. Well, Michael Hingson ** 42:06 as I tell people, you know, Karen passed away two years ago, and I don't move on from Karen, but I move forward exactly because I think if I I've always interpreted Moving on is you go on and you forget, and I don't, and I don't want to forget, so I move forward Exactly. And besides that, I know that if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it, so I gotta be a good kid, or she's going to get me one way or another. Yeah, that's right. And so, you know, as I, as I said to somebody yesterday, I don't even chase girls, so you know, it works out very well, but you know, the the the issue is that those 40 years of memories are always going to be there, and there's so much to learn from that. And again, it's all about choice. This is so important well, so tell us more about the podcast on how long have you been doing it? How did that start? And and so on, Susan Janzen ** 43:03 right? So I was actually my daughter has this a nonprofit where she was she works with other parents who have children with adaptive needs, and so she asked if I would interview her parents just to find out about parents stories and you. I'm sure you understand where you want to just tell your story, what happened without having to explain. And, you know, I don't know, just give all the, you know, the background to everything. They just wanted to share this story and to be heard on with no judgment and with compassion. So I said, No, I can do that. I can interview them, and I want to hear their stories. And they need, I think they need to share them those stories too, for whatever happened, you know, with whatever incident happened with their children. So, so I said to my daughter, I sure I'll do a podcast for them, you know, and just interview them. And then I only did it through zoom and not knowing anything about how to do that, I've been MC for fundraisers, but I don't know how to do a podcast. So I did that the best I could, using Zoom. And then I when I was done it, I liked it so much, I thought, well, I better figure out how to do this, like the right way, right? So I actually did take a course. And there was a lady out of Toronto that was giving a course called cash in on camera. And so she talked about how to set up restream, how to set up air table, how to do your mic, your lighting, and all of the things that you need to consider. And so I took that course. And so then I interviewed a few more people and a few experts for her, for her. So that's kind of how I got started, with just focusing specifically on on my daughter's audience. So those parents. Susan Janzen ** 44:40 And how long ago was that? Susan Janzen ** 44:41 That was, what, two years ago now total, because I've been doing my podcast now for just over a year. Susan Janzen ** 44:48 And do you how many episodes a week? Do you do one? Susan Janzen ** 44:51 I do one, but I, you know what? I've got 140 that I've done. And I'm thinking, I've got quite. If you in the books, you know how that works. Where you report I'm you, Michael, give me advice on this. So I have three recorded that are waiting for me, but plus I have 14 others that are on my book to interview like I'm getting a lot of interest and people who want to be on my podcast, which is wonderful, but then I got, now gotta figure out how to do that, or how to actually, you know, organize it. How often should I be putting out podcasts? Like every three days now, like otherwise, we're going to be going into middle of 2025 I don't know. Michael Hingson ** 45:33 I started for accessibe, doing unstoppable mindset in August of 2021 when I started using LinkedIn seriously to look for podcast guests in 2022 and I use sales navigators, so we profile authors or coaches or whatever, and we'll send out emails saying, I saw your profile. It looks like you'd be an interesting guest. Would you love to explore coming on unstoppable mindset, what we do is then we, when they're willing, we schedule a meeting and we we talk about it, and if they want to come on, which usually they do, then we actually schedule the time, and I ask them to send me some information, as you know, like a series of questions that they want to talk about, a bio, other things like that, but we got a pretty significant backlog. And I've learned that a lot of people with very successful podcasts do have backlogs. Oh, good. There's nothing wrong with that. Okay, good. It's better to have them. You can always add an extra podcast if you want to play more, but we do two a week now, and just today, we published episode 286, wow. Since August of 2021, and so it's a lot of fun. I enjoy it, and I get to meet so many people. And as I tell people, if I'm not learning at least as much as anyone who listens to the podcast, I'm not doing my job well. I agree, quite invested in it. I think it's so important to be able to do that. So the bottom line is that we do get a lot of interesting people. I talked to someone just the other day who is very much involved in energy and healing and so on. Well, she also was a singer in Australia, had a very serious auto accident, and kind of went away from seeing for a while, and then she realized she started doing a lot of creating, of affirmations, but then she put the affirmations to music, and she points out that, you know, the lyrics are in the left side of the brain, but the music's in the right side, and they actually work together, and so by having them in a musical form, you you're more likely to really be able to internalize them. So she even sang one for us on the earth, a lot of fun, but, but the bottom line is that, you know, it's she also does her own podcast, which is kind of fun, but there is so much to learn from so many different people. I've had so much fun doing it, and I enjoy very much the opportunities to learn. Yeah, Susan Janzen ** 48:29 no, I'm right there with you, and I think that's why I just keep going, because it's fascinating. And then, and it seems like the right different people come into my, my, you know, my area, just to ask if they can be on it. And it's, it always works out really well, like it's always something that else that I've just kind of broadens it a little bit, but I, I'm trying to be more focused this night, last two months now, in that, you know, in conjunction with my daughter and just doing the parents with accessible, you know, needs, or kids with adaptive needs. And also, some adults are coming to me now too, saying they've in their 30s and 40s, they were in psycho with ADHD, and so they're that diverse, neuro, diverse group. So, I mean, who knows where that will take me, right? I'm open to it Michael Hingson ** 49:18 well, and that's what makes it so much fun. You never know where the journey is going to take you, or if you do, and you're all embracing it, so much the better. But if you don't know what's an adventure, and that's good too, that's 49:28 great. No, I agree with you, yeah. So I love how Michael Hingson ** 49:31 many, how many pot of Palooza events have you been to? That Susan Janzen ** 49:34 was my first one. I know I did not have a clue what to expect. I put you down as my potential guest, though, but I don't know how it didn't come up forward. So I'm glad we're doing this now, but I I really enjoyed it. I love the people, and you could tell we were all in the same room with the same visions and the same, you know, compassionate areas that we're working in. So. I was really grateful for a lot of the people I met, great people. Well Michael Hingson ** 50:03 now you and I also have an event time scheduled next Tuesday. Do we good? Yeah, are you? Well, you scheduled it in my Zoom. But if you, if you, when you go look at your calendar, you'll see, I think what you did was you scheduled it, forgetting this was supposed to be a 60 minute interview conversation. But if you send me a link, this is live radio sports fans. If you send me a link, then I will come to yours next time, next Tuesday, at the time that we're supposed to meet, rather than you coming into the Zoom Room, where we are, or I can make you a co host, and you can record it your choice. Susan Janzen ** 50:45 Oh, what? Hey, yes, let's do it. Okay, Michael Hingson ** 50:49 I'll just, we'll, we'll get together, and I'll make you a host or a co host, that'd be perfect. Susan Janzen ** 50:54 And then you can record it that'd be great. Or, I have three streams, so I can send you the link for that you Michael Hingson ** 51:01 choose, but long as it's accessible to screen readers, I'm happy. And, Susan Janzen ** 51:09 yeah, thank you for that, Michael, I did. We'll do that. You got it good. We're booked. Yeah, we are Michael Hingson ** 51:16 already booked. So it's next Tuesday, so that'll be good. That'll be great, but it's a lot of fun. Susan Janzen ** 51:23 Yeah, really it's it's nice to get to know people. It's really nice to know other people's journeys. And especially, what I find most fascinating is all over the world, like we're meeting people that we would have never met. Yeah, you know before. So I'm glad. I really Michael Hingson ** 51:36 appreciate that I've met a number of people from Australia. We interviewed? Well, we had a conversation with somebody from Uganda, number of people in England and people throughout the United States. So it's a lot of fun. Susan Janzen ** 51:49 It really is, yeah, so we're blessed that that's great. It's a Michael Hingson ** 51:53 wonderful blessing. I mean, doing this is so enjoyable. I used to do radio in college, and so this the neat thing about doing a podcast, at least the way I do it, is you're not absolutely governed by time, so you don't have to end at four o'clock and and it's so much more fun than radio, because you are the one that's really in control of what you do. So it's it's a lot of fun, but I very much enjoy doing the podcast, right? Susan Janzen ** 52:23 You're right is that if they start having to go to worship break and not have to take the time and stopping and starting, that is really, Michael Hingson ** 52:30 oh, that people seem to like it. They they keep emailing me and saying they like it. And I, I'm hoping that they continue to do that. As long as people are happy with me doing it, I'm going to do it. And you know, as I tell everyone, if you know anyone who ought to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, want to hear from you and provide us with an introduction, because it is part of what we do. And so, so much fun, Susan Janzen ** 52:53 so much fun. So tell me why you Why did you choose that name unstoppable mindset? Michael Hingson ** 52:59 You know, I was looking for a name. And I've heard some people kind of talking about unstoppable in their lives in some way, but I also thought that we really needed to define what unstoppable meant. And so I just thought about it for a while, and it just really kind of clicked. And I said, Okay, God, that must be what you want me to do. So we're going to have unstoppable mindset. We're inclusion, diversity in the unexpected beat. Love it and it's and it is stuck. And every title for people starts with unstoppable. So you'll be unstoppable something or other. I gotta think about the title, unless you've got some bright idea. Susan Janzen ** 53:48 Oh yeah, you have to let me know. Michael Hingson ** 53:51 Well, I'm trying to use something like unstoppable. Woman of many talents. But you know, Susan Janzen ** 53:56 yeah, I don't have just 111, little lane. I love learning about everything, and I love open and grateful for every opportunity. So that's probably my problem. Yeah, that's our problem. That's not really a problem, but I know it's not, Michael Hingson ** 54:11 and it's so much fun. So what are your goals for the podcast? How do you hope it will make a difference in the world? Susan Janzen ** 54:21 I think my, my biggest thing is to say, you know, I've been through, I think it's showing people that they're not alone, that there are people out there who do understand, and there are people there that really do care about them, and that we want to provide information and services, and we want to hear their story. We want them to just know. I think a lot of people feel when they're in situations that are not whatever normal is, whatever that is even mean that they're just they're in isolation, and they're there's nobody that cares and that they don't matter. And I think my biggest thing in my coaching and in my podcast. Have to just say, You know what, we're here, and we really want to understand, if we don't understand, explain it to us. So we do, and that you're not alone in this, and we we're here to help, you know, to collaborate and to help each other. Michael Hingson ** 55:11 Yeah, well, tell us a little bit more about the whole coaching program, what's what's happening now, what your goals are for that, and and how you're finding people and so on, Susan Janzen ** 55:22 right? So the coaching my specific areas are confidence and resilience is my is my title, like confidence and resilience coach and I, and I'm going based on my past and the resilience that I've overcome so many different things. So I've got kind of a long list of things every time. So you talk to say, yeah, no, I that's happened to me, but, and just to, just to encourage people to come into either one on one coaching, or I'm going to have group coaching. And on my website, I also want to have drivers where we we create more value, so that if they're a member, then they can get more podcasts that are more about the how tos, like exactly, specifically areas that they might be interested in. And I also want to create a group where we can have, like a one day a week, coffee time, coffee chat, so we can get people together who are in the same boat, especially those parents with children with a breath of me, and just a place where they can just, kind of no agenda, just to chat and and I also would love to have, like a retreat by the end of the year. Let's all gather, and let's just have a day, you know, together, where we can enjoy each other's company. So that's kind of what I'd like to build with my, with my, with my coaching packages, and then also one on one, of course, as well. And that's, yeah, I would like to have a community, like, build a community. So Michael Hingson ** 56:51 do you do any of your coaching virtually, or is it all in person? Well, Susan Janzen ** 56:55 right now it's virtual, like, the one coaching I've done so far and but I'm open to either, like, I'm happy to meet people I don't have an office. Um, is that interesting? How, if you would have asked me that question before COVID, bc I would have just had an office somewhere, and where now it's, like, virtual just is so convenient. Yeah? Meeting full and just all the driving I've eliminated, it's been amazing. So, yeah, I would be open to eat it. You know, Susan Janzen ** 57:27 how far away have you had clients from? Susan Janzen ** 57:31 Basically, the ones I've had are the ones that I've had up till now. Really, interestingly enough, are local. They're more local people so we could have met for coffee. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 57:43 and still might, and we still, I'm Susan Janzen ** 57:47 sure we will. I'm sure we will, because I keep in touch with them, and they're doing great, but interesting, isn't that interesting? It's a really good question, though, because I'm curious to see you know how far you know, the word will get out to come and join me, you know, in the coaching program, yeah, that'd be human. Michael Hingson ** 58:08 Well, it sounds like a lot of fun. It sounds like fun, yeah, so why do you still continue to sing? Oh, I Susan Janzen ** 58:15 can't stop I can't shut up. I just think it's like, even it, yeah, it's too hard for me to stop. It's my joy. That's where I find my you know, even as a kid, going through all the tough times I went through, that was my my joy. It was my vice happy place. So I just Michael Hingson ** 58:32 so do you think that that singing helps others with confidence and resilience? Susan Janzen ** 58:36 I um, I think, I think the the techniques that are used in singing, a lot of them are used in podcasting or speaking. A lot of them, we are speakers, for instance. And then they have, they worry about confidence on camera specifically, and when that where light comes on, or when the light comes on, and they just don't know how they're looking or how people are seeing them, those kind of areas, those are the things that I kind of tackle when I talk, talk to them and just explain it as a like, I sang the national anthem for a Stanley Cup playoff game. That's scary, like, that's that's really scary. So I mean, I know I've been there, and I know what that feels like, and I know how your body feels, and I know the importance of breathing, and I think one of the biggest things is just getting people to, just to take deep breaths. You know, when Michael Hingson ** 59:28 you're when you relax and you lean into it, which I'm sure you do because you're used to it. That gives you a confidence that you can then project onto other people 100% Yeah, exactly. You talked about the red light on the camera coming on. It reminds me of one of my favorite stories. Yeah, right after September 11, I was interviewed on Larry King Live on scene. Oh, wow, wow. We actually had five different interviews, and when the second one occurred, mm. Uh, the the the producer, the director, came into the studio where I was and Larry was still out in California, and I was doing it from CNN in New York. And you know, when they, when they do their shows, everything is like, from sort of the chest up. It's mainly dealing with your face and so on. So for Roselle, excuse me, for Roselle to be able to be my guide dog, to be part of the show, they build a platform that we put her up on. Now she was just laying there. And the director came in and he said, you know, your dog isn't really doing anything. Is there anything we can do to make her more animated? And I said, are the Clea lights on? Because I couldn't really tell and he said, No. I said, then don't worry about it. When those lights come on, she will be a totally different dog, because she figured out cameras. She loved to go in front of the camera. The klieg lights came on, she lifts up her head, she's yawning, she's blinking, she's wagging her tail. It was perfect. Yeah, it's one of my favorite stories. But that is so great. I guess it's also the time to tell you that the name of my third guide dog was, here it comes, Klondike. Oh, really, my third guide dog, anything was a golden retriever. His name was Klondike. Susan Janzen ** 1:01:18 Oh, that's and I know I'm public dates, and then you got two of us here. This is great. Yeah, that is so cool. Well, Michael Hingson ** 1:01:26 if people want to reach out and get get in contact with you, they want to learn about your coaching programs and so on. How do they do that? Susan Janzen ** 1:01:35 So I think the best way is, my website is this, www, dot Sue. Janssen, I'm just going by my short Susan. So S, U, E, J, a, n, z, e n, dot, C, A diamet, and that'll kind of give you everything there. There'll be a little video of my granddaughter on there. There'll be ways to get in touch with me and to book a call. So that would be great. And then we'll chat about it, Michael Hingson ** 1:01:59 and we have an image of your book cover in in the show notes and so on. And so I hope people will pick that up. Um, I always ask this, although a lot of times it doesn't happen. But does it happen to also be availabl

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How to Smash Your Keynote Speech with Kimberly Crowe

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2025 47:57

Kimberly Crowe is a dynamic international speaker, entrepreneur, and co-creator of Speakers Playhouse and founder of Entrepreneurs Rocket Fuel. Having spoken on over 5,000 stages, including a TEDx talk in Las Vegas. She has been recognized by Enterprise World Magazine as The “Most Inspiring Business Leaders to Watch.” Kimberly helps coaches, entrepreneurs, and speakers to elevate their visibility and amplify their message by getting on stages and grabbing the mic. Through events like Podapalooza, Keynoting Kamp, Voices of Women and The Influencers Cruise, she creates powerful spaces for individuals to connect, collaborate, and grow. Known for her motto, "If it's not fun, it's not worth doing," Kimberly brings a vibrant, engaging approach to helping others expand their reach, impact, and influence in the world.10 Expert Secretshttps://checkingout.thrivecart.com/ten-expert-secrets/ Speakers Playhousehttps://www.SpeakersPlayhouse.com Podapalooza (affiliate link)https://rebeccawhitman--checkingout.thrivecart.com/podapalooza-aff/ #PublicSpeaking#GetOnStage#SpeakingOpportunities#AmplifyYourMessage#WomenEntrepreneurs Body Transformation System!https://modere.io/NbOyU2 https://calendly.com/rebeccaelizabethwhitman/breakthrough To learn more about Rebecca…https://www.rebeccaelizabethwhitman.com/#home

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Episode 312 – Unstoppable Leader Expert and Founder of FamiLEAD Management Consulting with Jessper Maquindang

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Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2025 67:15

Often I tell you about guests I first met at the podcast event known as Podapalooza. This time we have another such guest. He is Jessper Maquindang. He tells us that, although he doesn't remember the event, his mother tells him that at the age of five he told her that when he grew up he wanted to be a leader. He tells us that he always had a fascination for leaders and the study of leadership. When he attended USC he attained an Executive Master's degree in leadership. Jessper was born and raised in California and lives in the state today. Since graduating he has experienced observing and working in large and small companies. A number of years ago he formed his own consulting company, FamiLEAD Management Consulting. During our episode Jessper and I talk a great deal about leadership. He describes what makes a good leader in today's corporate and thriving world. His observations and lessons are quite poignant and I would say relevant to all of us. Jessper discusses how leadership has evolved and how today good leaders consciously work to build solid teams and spend much less time bossing people around and flaunting their power. Another fact about Jessper is that he grew up with Asthma. Even so, he worked through the condition and today has run a number of full marathons. He also loves to travel and has visited all fifty states in the U.S. Clearly Jessper is quite unstoppable and as you listen to our conversation he will tell you how you can become more unstoppable too. About the Guest: Jessper Maquindang, a seasoned leader with a rich experience spanning over 12 years, is the owner of FamiLEAD Management Consulting, helping leaders and managers build effective teams. His leadership journey is marked by his commitment to fostering workplace cultures that champion collaboration and innovation. Driven by a passion for creative brainstorming and continuous improvement, Jessper is always on the lookout for fresh ideas and novel approaches. As an alumnus of the University of Southern California, Jessper holds an Executive Master's Degree in Leadership. His leadership impact has been recognized with the “40 Under Forty” award in Santa Clarita Valley, a testament to his significant contributions to the community. Jessper's influence extends beyond his immediate professional sphere. Jessper has served on the executive board of JCI USA (Junior Chamber International, USA), a national organization dedicated to providing leadership development opportunities for young people. He continues to guide future leaders as a mentor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California. Jessper has also served on the boards of an advanced Toastmasters club and the Southern California chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA SoCal). When he's not leading teams or coaching leaders, Jessper immerses himself in training for marathons, delving into business books, and traveling around the country. In spite of growing up with asthma, Jessper has become a 15-time marathon runner. His story is one of passion, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. Ways to connect with Jessper: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmaquindang Website: https://www.famileadconsulting.com Jessper's personal story: https://signalscv.com/2024/07/once-an-asthma-victim-now-a-marathon-runner/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, a pleasant hello to you, wherever you happen to be today. Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected, which is more fun. Meet I am your host. Mike Hingson, we're really glad that you're here with us today and today, well, we're going to what, what has to be a California podcast, because our guest jes Jessper Maquindang is from California. He's a USC graduate. So was my wife. He lives in Santa Clarita, so he's over the mountains from where we live. He has degrees in leadership. He's a marathon runner, and that, after a story that he'll tell you in just a little bit growing up, had some challenges regarding that, but nevertheless, he is here, and we're here, and we're glad that all of you are here with us. So Jessper, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. Michael, Jessper Maquindang ** 02:22 thank you for having me. I'm excited to join you today. Well, Michael Hingson ** 02:26 glad you're really here. Well, why don't we start by you telling us a little bit about kind of the early Jessper growing up and all that sort of thing. Absolutely, Jessper Maquindang ** 02:34 it starts with a memory, and a memory from my mother, and she shared it a few years ago, and I myself don't remember that memory myself, but she told me when I was about five or six, I went up to her and said, When I grow up, I want to be a leader. When I grow up, I want to be a leader. Now, when you think about it, it sounds really neat for a five or six year old to want to be a leader when they grow up, but when you reflect deeply, what does a five or six year old know about leadership? It's such an advanced topic for someone that age, I might as well said mom, when I grow up, I want to study microeconomics, but that was my journey. I don't remember that memory, but she had shared it with me a few years ago, but I realized over the years, various leadership opportunities just fell into my lap. I remember at a young age, serving the community, volunteering that was ingrained within me so supporting nonprofits as I grew older. When I went to college, I was involved in extracurricular activities such as student government and new student orientation. And after I graduated, I landed in a travel company where I was promoted to a supervisory role, where I did get first hand experience in leading a team. And then over the years, I was just so inspired by what I did, I went back to school, went to USC for my Executive Master's degree in leadership, learn more about those best practices in the field. And after I graduated, I landed in a fortune 500 management development program where I had the opportunity to get a peek of what the operations look like for a larger company, and I can take those insights and pretty much share them anywhere. But overall, just looking at my background and the experiences that I've gained over the years, I've come to learn that leadership is really that opportunity to learn and grow from your experiences and share that experience with others. So I would say that's the early journey of the younger Jasper McCune, Michael Hingson ** 04:50 well, certainly relevant by any standard. I I love talking about leadership. I've been very deeply involved. With it most of my life, starting in sales and then sales management and owning my own company and being a senior manager for other companies as well. And one of the things that I love to say is and I've read about leaders, and I've read books about leadership and studied them and so on, but I love to say that I have learned more about leadership and teamwork and trust and motivation from working with eight guide dogs than I've ever learned from Ken Blanchard and Tony Robbins and all those folks, because it becomes very personal and the additional challenge that someone like I have is that I work with and build a team with someone who doesn't speak the same language I do. And we have to learn to communicate, and we have to learn to build trust. The value is and the the wonderful part of it is working with dogs, they're more open to trust than we tend to be, and so I can see how to develop a trusting relationship and then make it happen. Dogs love unconditionally, I do believe that, but they don't trust unconditionally. And I was even asked yesterday, how long does it take to really develop a good, strong relationship with your guide dogs? And I'd say it takes a good year to truly develop the seamless, teaming relationship that one wants, and it takes a lot of work. So I stand by I learn more from dogs than I have from other sources. Michael, that Jessper Maquindang ** 06:40 is such an interesting insight. I didn't even think about the leadership connection between dog and humans, and when you brought that up, that gave me another perspective to think about. Michael Hingson ** 06:52 And well, the the issue is that the purpose of a guide dog is to make sure that we walk safely. It's my job to know where to go and how to get there. So we each have a job to do, and our jobs, although they interrelate, are different, and so someone has to be the leader of the team. And dogs really want us to be the leaders. They look to us. They recognize that value when we carry it out. Well, it works in a wonderful way. So for me, working with a guide dog and developing that relationship means that I need to be confident and tell the dog what I want the dog to do, like turn left, right, go forward, or whatever, and also recognize that the dog has some authority to do things such as, let's say we're at a street corner and I suddenly tell the dog to go forward, and the dog doesn't go. I need to respect the fact that there's probably a reason that the dog didn't go. That is to say, very rarely do guide dogs really get distracted. And when they do get distracted, I mean, if a bird flies right in front of their nose, they're going to see it, but I can tell that, and I know what's happening. But primarily, when a dog doesn't do what I expect it to do, it's because of a service called Intelligent Disobedience. That is to say, the dog has the authority not to do what I want if it feels it's going to put us in danger. So I'm at the street corner and I tell the dog to go forward, and the dog won't go probably today, that is because there's a quiet car or hybrid vehicle coming down the road, and I don't hear it, but the dog sees it, and the dog going, on, I'm not going to get out there and get either of us hit, and they have the authority to do that. So as I said, we each have a job to do in the process, and we have to carry out those those processes well. And the dog looks to Me for guidance, to know when it's doing its job well. And likewise, I have to observe the dog communicate with the dog when the dog's not feeling well, or feeling unhappy, or whatever. I'm the one that has to interpret that and act as the team leader, the confess II, the spiritual guide, if you will, for the for the team, and so many other things. And there is also so much to learn from working with dogs like dogs don't do, what if, when a dog works or does whatever it does, is doing it in the moment. So dogs don't do a lot of what if, hence, they don't tend to have the same kind of fears that we do, because we What if everything, and we never seem to learn how to be introspective and recognize that we should really only worry about the things that we can control and stop worrying about everything else, because it's not going to do us any good. And so we worry about everything. And we develop so many fears that really are a problem. I talk about that in the new book that's that I've written, called Live like a guide dog. It's all about learning to control fear, but it's about the lessons I learned in that regard from eight dogs. And it is fascinating. Yeah, there's a lot to learn from dogs, if we would, but try Jessper Maquindang ** 10:21 very great insight and leadership well, so you wanted Michael Hingson ** 10:25 to be a leader from five or six years old, and you obviously did things to kind of make that happen or get attracted to it. So tell me about when you went to USC or your college days, and how did leadership interact or become a part of what you did there? That's Jessper Maquindang ** 10:46 right. So when I went to USC, I wanted to learn more about the field, because when I was a supervisor at my first job, I had the opportunity to really learn what works and what doesn't work, and I wanted to expand on that. And when I was at USC, we were reading books from such great authors like Marshall Goldsmith, other sources that give us another perspective of what leadership really means. And in today's world, we've moved on from traditional leadership, where you see a manager being very demanding and showing high levels of authority. We want to moved on to that today, leadership is more about empathy and really supporting the growth and development of the people that work for you, the people that report to you. It's all about making sure as a team, we're all working together to achieve our goals, instead of having one person send their demands and expect everyone to follow those days are not effective today and as we move forward into the future, what I've learned about leadership, and especially at USC, leadership, is being more adaptable and supportive with the people that we work with. Michael Hingson ** 12:12 How many leaders or what kind of percentage of people do you think really understand that, as opposed to being a boss and continuing to just try to exert their authority. Based Jessper Maquindang ** 12:25 on my experience, I would say more and more people are embracing this new form of leadership where we are supportive, there are still leaders and managers that are attracted to their power. They're not effective as they could be. But on the other hand, the leaders who are embracing this constructive form of leadership where other people are getting the opportunity to share their voices, they're getting better results compared to managers who are showing off their authority and being bossy and stepping on the foot of other people and not really giving them a voice. So I would say there are more people who are embracing more adaptable and supportive form of leadership. Michael Hingson ** 13:13 What are some of the basic characteristics that you would define that exist in leaders today, what makes you a leader? Jessper Maquindang ** 13:23 So with leadership, there are four Super skills that make a leader effective, and the four Super skills are public speaking, public listening, private speaking and private listening. So for public speaking, it's what we do know about people going up on stage, not literally, but they can be in front of the boardroom at a meeting and really sharing the direction of where everyone needs to go. I know there are some people who are nervous about the idea of public speaking. You don't have to necessarily like it. You don't have to Love Public Speaking. You can even despise it. But as a leader, it does get to a point where other people look up to you to display and promote the vision and direction of where the team is going, and that's where people will depend on you as a leader to really express that direction, and the next one is public listening, and that is where a leader has the courage to step aside and give other people the stage, and again, not the literal stage, but they could be At the office in front of everyone else or along the same table, but the idea behind public listening is to give your team members the opportunity to share their voice, share their perspectives, share their thoughts. Because when it comes to leadership, the leader does not. Really have to be the only one throwing all those ideas out there and perspectives demands. It's important to give other people that opportunity to really share what's on their mind. And then next is private speaking. And for that, I know, when people hear private speaking, does that mean a leader hides in the corner and start talking? Starts talking to themselves? No, not necessarily. What private speaking means to me is it's a phrase I use for coaching and mentoring, those one on one conversations with your employers, with your team members, with your staff. I call it private speaking because those conversations should be held in private. Whatever you and your team member shares with you, for example, it's it wouldn't be fair to say, oh, everyone did you? Did you know what Michael told me today? He said, this, this and this, again, when it comes to coaching and mentoring, you want to respect the privacy of those conversations, because your employees will share information that you would not get publicly. And lastly, it is private listening, and for this, a leader is really spending the time to discover their capabilities from within. So for some people, that comes in the form of meditation, where they're really being in the moment, present and just listening to the voice within themselves, also an effective way for private listening to occur and learn more about yourself is to take leadership development assistance, where you are seeing firsthand the strengths and the areas that you can work on, giving you the opportunity to really reflect and see how you can be a more effective leader. So the four Super skills of an effective leader is public speaking, public listening, private speaking and private listening. Michael Hingson ** 16:56 I like the way you put all of that, and I like especially when you're talking about private listening, meditating, and really stepping back and becoming more self, analytical and introspective. That's something that we talk about a lot in live like a guide dog, because you will develop your mind. I guess the best way to put is heal developing your mind if you use it, and one of the best ways to use it is to look at what you do. Look at yourself. I encourage people at the end of the day to take a step back and look at what happened today, and look at what worked what didn't work. Don't ever regard something as a failure. It's a learning experience. But I think we gotta get away from negativity. For years, I used to use the term, I'm my own worst critic, and I realized literally, just over the last year, wrong thing to say, I'm my own best teacher, because I'm the only one who can really teach me. Other people can give me information, but I'm the one that has to internalize it. And so the fact is that I would rather look at it from a positive standpoint. That is, I'm my own best teacher than anything else, and I should look at everything that happens during the day to see what I can learn from and even the things that went well, could I have done it even better? And look at how all of that comes together? And I think that it's it's so important that we deal with ourselves in that way, because that helps us develop a much better mindset of how to move forward in the future, and it also helps cut back on fears, because invariably, you're going to think about things like, Why was I afraid of that today? Oh, maybe I really shouldn't have been because I didn't really have any influence over that. It's just something that occurred, and people can start to learn that they don't need to fear everything that they fear. Jessper Maquindang ** 19:06 That's right. When it comes to private listening, it's all about that self awareness and overall, over all awareness and turning problems into opportunities. So you did bring up a excellent perspective. Michael, yeah, Michael Hingson ** 19:22 we should. We should really always look at what goes on and again. We should always look for ways to hone our skills and improve ourselves, because we're the best ones at making that happen, if we're open to really listening to our inner voice that is ready to guide us anytime that we will allow it to do. So it's not a noisy voice, it's a quiet voice, but it's there if we would learn to listen to it Jessper Maquindang ** 19:53 absolutely and when it comes to taking that moment to really reflect, you can come up with. So many ideas that you would not have discovered if you were in a rush and just moving in a fast paced world and getting lost in into it. But when you take a moment to step back, take a deep breath and really slow down, it gives you an opportunity to come up with new insights that you wouldn't have discovered otherwise, Michael Hingson ** 20:24 yeah, and it's so important to do that, and the insights were always there, but you weren't paying attention to them. You were just running around crazy. So you do need to take the time to stop and listen and learn. And it's amazing what will happen. One of the things that that I've always felt as as a leader, my job was, and I would always tell people I hired about this, my job is to not boss you around. I hired you because I assumed that you could do the job. You can miss me, that you could do the job that I want you to do. My job is to add value to you, to help you. And what that really means is that you and I need to work to see how we blend our skills so that I can better enhance what you do, because I want you to be successful. Jessper Maquindang ** 21:17 That's right, that reminds me of a quote that I was as I was scrolling through LinkedIn, there was a quote that I saw that you hired smart people, let them do their job, trust them to do their job. And it was something along those lines, but Right, yes, Michael Hingson ** 21:31 but even so, you do trust them to do their job. But the other part about it is, can you help them do their job better, and that's a that's a skill that I think a lot of people still really need to learn. On both sides, I have had people who I've said that to who never really figured it out, and they weren't really great listeners at sales, and they didn't do some of the things that they needed to do to be more successful at selling, but they also weren't willing to explore how to to better themselves and send and hence, they didn't necessarily stay at the company as long as they might have. But the people who really got it and who discovered that I, for example, am very technical, I listen. I'm unique being blind in the kind of world where we were selling high tech products to Wall Street, I was was enough of a unique individual that it was worth taking me along and letting me do demonstrations and product discussions. Again, my master's degree is in physics, so I'm pretty technical anyway. But one of the fun things that happened after one of those presentations was my sales guy, who was my best sales guy, said, How come, you know, all this stuff, and I don't, and I said, Did you read the product bulletin that came out last week? Well, no, I didn't have time. I said, there you go. If you had, you might have known more than what you would have known more than you do, which doesn't necessarily, in of itself, mean that you're would be better at presenting it. I didn't say that part, but, but the reality is that it is what I knew how to do. And we fed off each other very well, and we were both able to make him more successful than he otherwise would have been, which is really what it's all about, Jessper Maquindang ** 23:27 that's right. It reminds me of the writings from Brian Tracy, where he would remind us that the people who really take an effective approach in their learning and personal growth, those are the ones who are more likely to succeed in this world, Michael Hingson ** 23:44 yeah, which is very true. You've got to take responsibility for and take charge of your own growth and recognize that there's always stuff to learn there. There's always stuff that somebody else knows that would be helpful for you to get to know as well. And you should never resent people just because they know something you didn't know. It's cool when you get to learn it, and then you get to use it, and probably will impress them, because then they see you using and they go, I you caught on that, huh? So it is what we have to do that we don't do nearly as much as we should. Jessper Maquindang ** 24:26 That's right, that reminds me of the world of coaching and mentoring too. There are so many more experienced professionals in the world that when we learn from them, that gives us the opportunity to really take in their insights, and when we use their insights that'll accelerate our process in becoming more successful in our journey of Professor professional development. Michael Hingson ** 24:49 Yeah, our leaders, or should leaders be pretty resilient people? Jessper Maquindang ** 24:55 I believe so. Because when you think about it, in today's world of leadership, there's. Just so much going on, especially in our fast paced society. When you look at working with teams, people have different perspectives. When you look at projects, there are so many items that just go into a project, and so many moving parts. And when you look at change itself, it's disruption, interruption, you name it. It's moving in all directions. And as a leader, sometimes something somewhere can knock you off course or knock you down. But you have a choice. You can stay down and worry, but that's not very productive, or you can get back up again. And when you do get back up, you get another chance to really find ways to whatever you were working on. You can make that better. It's a much more productive process when you're when you continue to get back up and really challenge yourself to find new ways to move forward. So it is important to be resilient, because there's when you look, look at change itself and how it's just shifting so many things around. If you're not as resilient, you're not going to be able to adapt to that change. But if you continue to get back up, roll your sleeves up, you'll be in a much better position as you really find new ways to build on yourself and move forward. Michael Hingson ** 26:26 But a resilient leader isn't someone who is so stubborn that they think that they've got the only solution. It's really getting back up and looking at what happened and then moving forward in whatever way is the most appropriate to really make progress for you as the leader and your team. Jessper Maquindang ** 26:48 That's an excellent insight, especially when a leader is so stuck in one way, it's really going to present challenges. It reminds me of the quote we've always done it that way, if a leader sticks to that message, they're going to get lost in the past, and they're not really going to be able to adapt to the future, or at the same time, their team members might not really relate well to that leader who just sticks with one idea. Because in today's world, if you want to be more successful in the projects and the processes that you're trying to build. It really helps to get the perspectives and insights of everyone on your team, instead of that one person who's just promoting one idea. It's not going to get very far. I think Michael Hingson ** 27:37 one of the characteristics of a good leader is also knowing when to relinquish leadership because someone else has a skill that maybe they are able to do something better than you, and you've got to allow them to help guide the team, because they've got the particular skill that's necessary to do That. Jessper Maquindang ** 28:01 That reminds me of two things. The first thing is that leaders should not be intimidated by other people who have a skill that they're lacking. They should actually embrace that opportunity, because our skills are complimentary when we work with our teams, someone has a certain ability or skill set that when we're all working together, it's like a puzzle piece, and when all the puzzle all puzzle pieces fit together, you'll be able to solve whatever you were working on. And the second part that this reminds me of is the idea of servant leadership for a leader, gone are the days where a leader should be demanding and be the best in terms of thinking they know everything and have everything. In today's world, a leader should be in a more servant leadership role, where they're supporting the growth and development of their team members and accepting that other people have skills that they might not have, because, as I mentioned earlier, working in a team is like having different puzzle pieces, and when it all fits together, you're solving that puzzle piece faster. Michael Hingson ** 29:17 And you know, we talked about introspection and looking at the end of the day and analyzing what goes on. The more of that that you do, and the more time, as every day as you can and should do, every time you do that, your mind muscle develops more. And the more of it you do, the faster you'll be able to do it, and the faster you'll be able to then analyze and make decisions. So that the whole idea, though, is that you've got to train yourself to do that, and that's not something that anyone can do for you, but you can certainly learn to recognize a lot of the different kinds of things that we're both talking about, and you. Can work faster and smarter if you take the time to teach yourself how to deal with all that. That's Jessper Maquindang ** 30:07 right. And then I know one way for leaders who have implemented that idea is journaling, just that open flow of getting your thoughts on a page that really helps, because you're getting the opportunity to really look at the ideas that you're writing down, positive or negative, and once those ideas are on the page, you can reflect deeper on each item that you've written down, giving you a much better understanding of how you can really improve that process or project or task that you were working on. So journaling really does help in really building your perspective someone Michael Hingson ** 30:50 who really does that well and who journals, or however you do it. I tend not to journal a lot, but I've got other ways of recording information. So, so I do that. But the point is, then five years later, you go back and look at some of those early journal things, and you go, Oh my gosh, look what I've learned. Or, oh my gosh, I forgot all about that. What a neat thing I got to pick that up and do that again, journaling and having a way to record and be able to look back at what your thoughts are is extremely important, and it again, adds another dimension and a lot of value to you as an effective leader, Jessper Maquindang ** 31:36 absolutely, because when you're journaling, you're writing down a lot of the ideas that have been on your mind. And for me, I use a more free flowing type of journaling where I'm really just dumping whatever I have on my mind and just throwing it out there. Because although there are no connections at that moment over time, I realized that there are certain themes that I can connect, and start to really see where all the dots are connecting, and find certain ideas and similar similarities and maybe even contrast, but working with those ideas and seeing what I can do and how I can actually use those ideas in Some of the future projects that I'm working on. So it really helps to get your thoughts out there. When Michael Hingson ** 32:25 I was at UC Irvine, I actually went and took a course in transcendental meditation, and one of the things that they said is, when you're meditating, you need to let your mind just flow. You don't want to write things down, because it might very well be nonsense and and so on. But at the end, you can learn and remember and then write down ideas that came to you during the time that you meditate. And the reality is that the free flowing kind of technique that you're talking about makes a lot of sense, because what you want to do is get the thoughts down. There's no such thing as a good idea or a bad idea, they're all ideas. You may find that it won't work or some idea won't work today, but that doesn't make it a bad idea, because in five years, it might just be the way to go. But if you don't write it down and you forget it, then you've lost it. Jessper Maquindang ** 33:17 That's right, that also works with a team in the form of brainstorming, I've seen situations where someone leading the team, where another team member will share an idea, and that leader of that team will say, well, that's not really realistic. When it comes to brainstorming, it is important to let all ideas flow. You don't want to turn anyone down, because, as you said, maybe a unique idea today will be useful and valuable in the future. Michael Hingson ** 33:45 My typical reaction when I even think that something might not be overly realistic, it means to me, somebody's thought about something and I don't really understand it. So my immediate response would be, tell me more about that. And a lot of times that request leads to insights that I never had that make for a better situation all the way around. And it turns out, the idea wasn't really such a horrible and unrealistic idea at all, but you're right being negative. That's not realistic. That's not a good way to support a team, and I think it's very important that we recognize that it's all about supporting the team. So tell me a little bit about your thoughts about unstoppable perseverance and why that helps to make a good leader. Oh, that's right, I guess that goes into a little bit resilience. But, yeah, go ahead. Similar Jessper Maquindang ** 34:47 with resilience. It's the opportunity when you get knocked down. It's that opportunity to get back up. And for perseverance, very similar for unstoppable perseverance, for a leader to not give up in. Keep pushing through, because with the situations that I shared earlier, the teams that you work with, the projects even change itself. In today's fast paced world, it's going to push you aside and maybe push you down. But if you're going to be worried about all these changes, it's not productive. It's not going to get you anywhere. But if you continue to push through and really show your perseverance and take charge and just really push forward, you'll get much better results when you continue to have that energy to just never get knocked down. Michael Hingson ** 35:41 Of course, taking charge also means taking charge in a in a positive way, and not in a bossy way. That's right, yeah, and that's that's really crucial, Jessper Maquindang ** 35:51 yes. So when it comes to taking charge, it's really being proactive about growing and your well being, and really understanding what you can do better. And again, it's not about that manager having too much power when it comes to taking charge. It's about being proactive about your personal growth. Michael Hingson ** 36:14 So kind of summing up some of this in a bit. What is the most effective style of leadership. You think the Jessper Maquindang ** 36:21 effective style of leadership that I've learned based on my experience is servant leadership, and I've learned of two different major definitions. I like one better than the other, and I'll explain why, but the first definition that I've heard about servant leadership is putting the needs of others above yourself. And the second definition of servant leadership is serving in the sense of supporting the growth and well being of others. And what I like is that growth and well being, because when it comes to supporting other people, you don't necessarily have to lower your own priority of yourself. When it comes to servant leadership, you're part of a team. You're on the same level as everyone else. You want to share your voice, and at the same time, you don't want to be the one taking all the all the power you want to share it. And when it comes to servant leadership, you're really giving other people the opportunity to share what's on their mind and what they'd like to do to become more effective in themselves. So servant leadership is supporting that journey of helping other people succeed? Michael Hingson ** 37:44 Yeah, well, when we talk about leadership, and we've talked about teamwork and so on, in a sense, they're, they're equate, they're not equivalent, but they're, they're related, but they're also different. So the whole issue of building an effective team is a real challenge, and I've been involved in a lot of team building exercises and so on over the years. But how do you go about really growing a good, effective human team? And I put it that way, because I can sit here and talk about what I do with with dogs and and how we develop a very close bonding relationship. And what is really scary is it is very easy to destroy that or, or at least injure the relationship with the dog. If you don't respect the dog, and you look down on the dog, and you don't really realize recognizing the dog is doing its job, and they sense that, and they won't always necessarily communicate it back to you directly. But you know, in the case of humans, how do we develop good human teams? Jessper Maquindang ** 38:58 That's right, the first part, I would say, is really getting a pulse on the morale. You want to make sure everyone is being heard and not being ignored or shut out as a leader. You want to ensure that the team member is really part of the team. And the second part is active listening, where the leader needs to intentionally and deliberately provide that space for other people to share their voice. Because if a leader is just taking everything up and doing all the talking and just doing all of the things himself or herself. It's really going to cut off the opportunities where an employee could have shared a great idea, but then you're just leaving it to one person to implement their idea of what needs to happen. So for an effective team to develop, one is. All about that morale and giving other people the space to feel like they are part of a team. And the second part is listening to the other team members and giving them that space to share what's on their mind and maybe even provide great ideas. Michael Hingson ** 40:17 And you know, the issue is that, once again, in developing the relationships, you're going to have some ideas that are stronger and more productive than others. I'm not going to use the word bad, but still, everyone does have to have the opportunity to say what they think and to contribute, and when they have the opportunity to do that, they're going to be much more productive, and they're going to be much more willing to be part of the team. Jessper Maquindang ** 40:50 That's right when you're giving another person the floor, metaphorically, but when you're giving them that space to share what's on their mind, you're really giving them those opportunities to share what the team can do to really grow together again, when there's no such thing as a bad idea, you want to give that space for everyone to share, because, As we've learned earlier, maybe an idea that's unique today will be useful and valuable maybe a few months down the line, or maybe a year down the line. But when you dig deeper into an idea, again, no bad ideas. When you dig deeper, you'll get more insights into what that team member was sharing. Michael Hingson ** 41:38 One of the best books. One of my favorite books that I've read through the years is a book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Have you read that I have? Yeah, I really like the ways that he discusses teams and teamwork and one of the most important things that he talks about in sometimes subtle but still very, very strong ways, is developing trust and allowing the team to be a group of people that learn to work together. But it is, it's about accountability, which really is all about developing trust. And I mentioned that earlier, that dogs are open to trust, we have learned so much about not trusting on how not to trust because we think everyone has a hidden agenda. And how can we trust this person? How do we break out of that pattern? Jessper Maquindang ** 42:33 Yes, so especially when it comes to the Five Dysfunctions of a Team in that book, Patrick Lencioni does start with trust, and to really build in that trust, you want to have open conversations with your team to really express themselves and give them that voice, because if you're cutting other people off, they're not going to feel safe, they're not going to feel secure in their role. On the other hand, when you open up that space, you're giving other people to you're giving other people that opportunity to really understand each other. So that's where it really starts from, that sense of understanding and building that time for that understanding in there, because if you cut off that understanding again, you're going to make other people feel unsafe. And when people feel unsafe, that's where trust starts to break down. But on the other hand, when you're building a psychologically safe environment, people are more likely likely to speak up and really trust each other in how they want to work with each other. Michael Hingson ** 43:40 So tell me, what do you do when you have a person who doesn't earn trust, because trust is something that has to be earned, or some person who just really, I don't want to use the term rubs people the wrong way, but maybe that's a good term to use in some senses. But what do you do when you have a person that doesn't seem to have any interest in really developing a two way trusting relationship? That's Jessper Maquindang ** 44:11 right? In this case, maybe the leader or not, I wouldn't say the leader, but this member. Perhaps, maybe it's ego. Perhaps it's selfishness you want to really figure out what's going on. Perhaps there are maybe problems at home or just outside the workplace, or maybe inside the workplace, what I would do is take this member and have a one on one conversation to really discover, is there anything that's going on that's really hindering their ability to connect with others are they just disengaged in general? That's something you want to figure out, because when you really dig deep and discover what's really happening, you can start to find ways to alleviate that situation and. Help the member find ways to cope and really work better together. So if a team member is disengaged, why are they disengaged? Is it the work that they're doing? Are they not excited about it? Have that conversation. See, Employee Mr. Mrs. Employee, you're not really engaged by the work you do. Can you tell me more about what energizes you? And then, from those types of conversations, you can discover ways to really find tasks that have more meaning and significance for that person. And then another way, another reason that an employee might not be open is maybe there's some problems at home again to have those conversations say Mr. Mrs. Employee, just curious. You haven't been very open to other team members. Want to know what's going on is, is it something personal? Just want to make sure you're okay. And then when you open these conversations again, you can discover what this person is going through, and then over time, find ways to alleviate that search situation, and then you might have an opportunity to really get that team member back on track and have them interact better with other team members in a more healthier and productive way. So it's really about discovering what's going on so you can look into that and find ways to help that team member. You Michael Hingson ** 46:27 ever find that there are people that just don't respond to any of that, though, and just won't work to develop trust? It's Jessper Maquindang ** 46:33 possible, absolutely it's possible. There are team members who are just completely not open, and again, it's still very valuable to have a one on one conversation, sure, just to see what's going on, and then if the team member is just completely shut out, that might be an opportunity to have a conversation with that employee and say, Jasper, I know times have been Tough in working with this team. Is, it perhaps, maybe, is there another role you'd like to consider? You know, it's really about the giving the the member an opportunity to discover what's going to work well for them. Because if they're just not going to open up at all, it might be that. It might be a situation where that member wants to find something else, and again, have that conversation to see what's on that mind of that employee. But Michael Hingson ** 47:27 I think that no matter what you do, it's important not to judge or be judgmental, because whatever is going on with that person is going on, and you as the leader, have to worry about the team, and if that person can't be part of it, then you help that person. Again, it goes back to you're adding value by helping that person find something else that makes sense to do, even if it's somewhere else. And I believe that that level of being supportive is extremely important. Jessper Maquindang ** 47:58 That's right, it's very important to be supportive. If that team member is just not open again, you don't want to call out that team member for being unsupportive. You really want to be that open leader who really lends in a hand to see what you can do to help that team member move forward and find a productive way out, or maybe integrate, reintegrate back with that team. But again, it's all about giving that employee space to discover what's really going on, how they can move forward in a more productive and healthy way, right? Michael Hingson ** 48:37 It's it, but you have to take ego out of it. That's right. So switching gears a little bit, you haven't talked about yet, the fact that you grew up having asthma and then you ended up starting to run marathons. Tell me more about that. That's Jessper Maquindang ** 48:54 right. I believe it was at the age of eight. I was in second grade, and I was diagnosed with asthma, and I just remember that my parents, I know they were trying to be supportive, but they were really protective, and I just remember that for my safety, they would want me away from pets so I don't have a reaction to fur. They would keep me indoors just so I don't get a reaction to pollen or dust or any other pollutants outside, and I would just get stuck indoors for a while. And over time, I fell into that trap of placing those limits on myself as well. And I realized over time, I don't want my life to be defined by those limits, and I wanted to do something significant where I can overcome that type of obstacle. And the first thing that came up to my mind was something physical. And I just remember, for marathon runners having that big, major goal, I decided to add that to my bucket list. But I. Knew something like that would not be an overnight magic formula. I knew I had to take it one step at a time. So what I what I did is I started with a 5k of course, there were challenges along the way. Moved up to a 10k and then when I felt more comfortable a half marathon, and then when I finally reached the finish line of my first full marathon, that sense of joy and relief and really knowing that I could achieve something like that despite growing up with what I had as a young just throughout my life, it was a really meaningful goal that I had accomplished. So really, when it comes to having that marathon goal, for me, it was really a sense of not letting past limits define my life and really moving forward to accomplishing something more meaningful and significant for myself. Michael Hingson ** 50:54 So clearly, there are symptoms that you experience that that indicated asthma. Did a lot of that dissipate or go away as you began to run more and more marathons and became more physical, Jessper Maquindang ** 51:07 so as I became more physical, I learned to manage it, and when I came to training, I didn't want to overextend myself. And again, I knew I wasn't going to run 26.2 miles in one night. I worked my way up to make sure my body understood what I was doing again. No rushing, no intense, no over and, no over extending myself, not going too intense, but reaching a more comfortable space, comfortable space pace that I can take throughout my training. That way, I didn't put too much pressure on my body, but my body understood over time and managed itself to really reach that level once I got to that marathon and just completed it. Michael Hingson ** 51:58 What's the fastest you've ever run a marathon. Jessper Maquindang ** 52:01 So I believe it was either Las Vegas rock and roll or Santa Clarita, and it was about four hours and five minutes. Okay, so today not it's not the same. I was a lot younger and more speedy back then, but it's still a hobby I still enjoy well, Michael Hingson ** 52:24 but still, that's still over six miles an hour. That's, it's not too bad, but it's, it's, it's fun to do, but you've done marathons in all states, I believe, have you not? Oh, no, uh, just 15. Oh, just 15. Okay, but I have traveled to all 50 states. You've traveled to all 50 states. So what caused you to do that just happened? Or what? Jessper Maquindang ** 52:54 So for me, when I was younger, I had actually not imagined traveling to all 50 states, but when I landed my first job, it happened to be at a travel company, and the department I was working for, we created custom guidebooks for our clients who were traveling across the United States. And just throughout my time there, as I would flip through those guidebooks, I was just inspired by the landmarks and attractions that were featured on those pages, and I decided, one day, you know what, I will do some traveling and see where it goes. I had booked a trip with another company that provided bus tours, and I took one that took me through the southern states and the eastern states, and that was from Louisiana all the way to Florida, and from Florida all the way up to New York. And after that trip, well, actually, when I reached New York, the timing, unusually, I find my I found myself in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, so I did not get to do a lot of that full exploration and get that full New York experience. But when the storm was over, I still had the opportunity to walk around and take a look at what was available and what was safely opened. So again, I didn't get that full experience at the time because of the hurricane, but I would return a year later with my siblings to get the full tourist experience. So just after that group, after that bus tour, I was really inspired to finally put 50 states on my bucket list. Michael Hingson ** 54:36 I have fond memories of living in New Jersey, and my wife and I going into New York and touring a lot of people around Midtown Manhattan. We'd walk over to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and walk up Fifth Avenue and just have a lot of fun touring around and and visiting some of the restaurants, which was was really enjoyable. What are some of the the. Memories and life lessons you think you've learned from traveling to all 50 states. Jessper Maquindang ** 55:03 So the memories, I would say, starting with the memories is that first trip that I did with that bus tour, saw, well, I believe at least 12 states. So I really did get a great understanding of what's outside of my home state of California, because prior to 2012 I had only been to two states, which was my home state of California and Nevada. Because my family used to enjoy going to Las Vegas, but after that, I really got to see more of what our country had to offer. Another memory, I would say, is the state of Rhode Island. It's a small state, but I realized once I stepped foot there, there was a lot to explore. I remember seeing the Gilded Age mansions. Remember taking a walk on the Cliff Walk and just getting the view of the Atlantic Ocean from Eastern beach. So you can get a full day of Rhode Island when you plan accordingly. And then I would say another memory that I had with traveling was just really historic landmarks and attractions, the Alamo in Texas, freedom walk in Boston, well, the Freedom Trail in Boston, Freedom Trail, right? And the government buildings in Washington, DC. I'm not necessarily a history buff myself, but surrounding yourself with just artifacts that have been around for over 100 or 200 years. It's just a really neat feeling. So I would say it's just the history has been a great memory for me, and the lessons I've learned from traveling is, the first lesson is it's important to be adaptable. Plans change, especially when it comes to traveling. And for me, I've been in a handful of either delayed flights or canceled flights. In that situation, you want to really give yourself that space to discover what you can do with your time to be more productive. So if there's a delay, you have a choice. You can sit back and worry, or you can you can figure out ways to find another flight that works for your schedule, or you can find other productive ways to fill your schedule, maybe catch up on work. Maybe you can discover the airport, or if you have a lot of time, you can leave the airport and discover the city that you're in. So in any case, very important to be adaptable. The second part about the lessons I've learned is to be curious. There's a lot the world has to offer. If you're at a restaurant and you're ordering the same kinds of foods that you would normally eat at home, that's not really giving you the opportunity to explore what's out there. No, when you're in a new restaurant, maybe try ordering something that you've never tried before, and then that really gives you that opportunity to see what's out there. So be curious, and especially when you're going to new cities, instead of going to the typical tourist spots, maybe take some time to figure out, maybe in the moment, that there's an area that's less discovered, and you might want to see and check those out to see what's available there. So really be curious and explore the world out there. And then the last one, I would say, as a lesson that I've learned in traveling to all 50 states, is be present, be in the moment. I've seen many people where they're on vacation in a new city, and they're looking head down, staring at their phone, and they're really missing out in the opportunity of really being in another destination, because when you're in a different state and different city, you're not really going to get that opportunity as frequently as you would. So when you're at home, you know it's it's so easy to just stare at our phone and get distracted, but when you're in a different destination, you really want to take the opportunity to really understand that you're in a new situation. Be present. Be mindful. Be aware of the new things to discover around you, because when you are present, you're really giving yourself that space to enjoy where you are in the world, Michael Hingson ** 59:36 right? Tell me about your company, yes. Jessper Maquindang ** 59:40 So with the family management consulting, we help leaders and managers build stronger teams through team building activities, leadership development assessments and executive coaching. So for leadership development assessments, I find those really important, because it gives people that first. Experience of really understanding where they're coming from, what their strengths are, how they can improve. Because when you're getting that opportunity to learn more about yourself, you can find ways to be more effective. And when it comes to my approach, I believe in the power of teams, because when you're focused on your team, you're getting more work done than what an individual person can do by themselves. So I see value in promoting teamwork than having one person do all the work. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:36 It's interesting the so your company, the name of the company is family, F, A, M, I, L, E, A, D, interesting name. Jessper Maquindang ** 1:00:44 Yes, absolutely. So it is a playoff of the word family, because when it comes to a team, not necessarily believing that a team is the family, but when it comes to building a team, it's about that sense of community, that sense of belonging, that sense of togetherness, which is the values of being part of a family. And then the lead part, it's emphasized because leadership is an important aspect of bringing that sense of belonging, bringing that sense of togetherness, bringing that sense of community, Michael Hingson ** 1:01:28 so people engage with you to come and help them develop better leadership styles or improve how they interact With the people in their own companies, or what correct Jessper Maquindang ** 1:01:43 so it is having the leaders find more ways to be more effective, because when you have buy in from the leaders, and they're working on becoming more productive, again, when it when you look at Leadership, it all starts at the top, and when you're getting that productiveness from the leaders, that spills over to having a more effective team. And then once you have your team together, really finding ways to build them into just a stronger unit, and the ability to really open up that space to be more productive and working together and finding that strength as a team. Well, if people Michael Hingson ** 1:02:24 want to reach out and and talk with you more, learn what you do, maybe engage you in your services. How do they do that? Absolutely. Jessper Maquindang ** 1:02:32 So there are two ways. The first way is to visit my website, familead consulting.com, and if you'd like to contact me there. There is a contact form, F, Michael Hingson ** 1:02:42 F A, M, I, L, E, A, D, consulting, Jessper Maquindang ** 1:02:45 correct.com. Okay. And then the other way to reach me is through LinkedIn, search for Jesper mukundang, I absolutely enjoy conversations about leadership, personal growth, professional development. If you just want to have a conversation about those topics, I'm absolutely happy to have them. So feel free to reach out search on LinkedIn for Jessper Maquindang. Spell that, if you would your first last name, please. First Name Jasper, J, E, S, S, P, E, R, last name mccunding, M, A, Q, U, I N, D, A N, G, Jassper Maquindang, dang well, Michael Hingson ** 1:03:20 great. Well, Jessper, this has been fun. We need to do it again. I mean, it's kind of hard to really cover everything that we want to cover or can cover in an hour. So we should, we should have more discussions about this. I'd love to do that, but I really appreciate you taking the time to spend with us, and I hope all of you out there listening, enjoyed listening to Jessper and his many insights and his observations on leadership. I think there's a lot to be said for all the things that Jessper had to bring to us. I'd love to hear from you about your thoughts concerning our podcast. Please feel free to email me. Michael. H, i, m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I, B, e.com, or go to our podcast page. There's a contact form there as well. It's w, w, w, dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, Michael hingson is m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, o, n.com/podcast, wherever you're listening, we sure would appreciate it if you'd give us a five star rating. We value very much your ratings and your thoughts. Love to really get any insights that you have, and Jessper for you and for all of you listening, if you know of anyone that you think ought to be a good guest on unstoppable mindset, please introduce us. We'd love to meet more people to bring on to the podcast, because we want to help everyone see we all can be and are more unstoppable than we think we are. So again, I hope that you'll do that. I really hope that you'll reach out to Jessper and that he can help you with any leadership. Training and challenges that you need. So once again. Jessper, I want to thank you for being here. This has been absolutely wonderful. Michael Jessper Maquindang ** 1:05:07 leadership, is just a beautiful topic. I enjoyed today's conversation. Thank you again for having me. Michael Hingson ** 1:05:17 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Episode 303 – Unstoppable Holistic Brain Health Practitioner with Tina Huang

The Podcasting Morning Chat

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 21, 2025 65:40

If you want to hear the story of a truly unstoppable person then listen to this episode and our guest, Tina Huang. To begin, Tina grew up with a hidden disability which still does not really have a name. Tina will tell us how she battled through school up through under graduate and graduate studies knowing she was different, but not getting any real support to find out why she had so many difficulties with the learning process. Even so, not only did Tina have challenges, but she found on her own ways to get by and even excel. In addition to her learning disability she lately has also had to battle what she calls “being environmentally sensitive”. She has had to face mold in three different homes which caused her to face serious illness. As she will tell us, however, she has come out the other side and is again open for business helping others who face similar difficulties as she has faced. Tina has not only learned pre-covid how to be a good healer, but due to all the challenges she has faced she has found improved healing methods that have helped her. She is using her newly learned skills to do even more to help her clients. Tina clearly is committed to living and being unstoppable. She has lots to offer as you will see. About the Guest: For the 1st half of my life, I struggled with learning disabilities, severe stomach pains, depression, anxiety, and horrific self-loathing. My father was always angry, and we were constantly walking on eggshells around him. I never could please him. We lived in Hong Kong for 4 years where my parents put me in a Chinese speaking school, and I hated it. I never was able to learn the language well enough to make friends. Life was better after returning to the US, but in high school I was starting to notice that I had to work a lot harder than my peers. In college I got my degree in computer science and then became a software engineer, but I had no love for computers. Meanwhile my ailments and concerns were either dismissed by doctors, or inadequately addressed, or I was told I had to just accept my limitations. This was fueling my depression and despair, so I decided for my own mental health, that I had to refuse to accept their limitations. I decided that if they didn't have answers, I had to find them. It was my only hope! I applied to get my Ph.D. in neuroscience and went to the University of Rochester. But in graduate school, we had lectures that would last for 4 hours and I couldn't keep up. There weren't any textbooks, and I kept missing key points. I constantly had to ask a classmate to help me fill in the gaps. I was having frequent panic attacks about whether I'd be able to stay in grad school. My peers seemed to be able to have relatively balanced lives, but I constantly had to turn down social activities to study. Several professors suggested that I consider doing something else, but they argued that if I couldn't handle the classes, the research was going to be infinitely harder. I disagreed. I'd always been good at projects. It was the memorization that I struggled with. I was finally diagnosed with a learning disability in my last academic class in grad school. My senior lab advisor dropped my funding when I told him I had been diagnosed with a learning disability. My only chance of staying in grad school was to write my own NIH grant. I did. The head of the Neurobiology & Anatomy program offered to read my grant the night before it was due. He told me it was the best NRSA grant he'd ever read, and that he had no suggestions for improvement! It got funded on my first submission! This was a first in all 3 neuroscience programs in my grad school (University of Rochester)! In my 5th year in grad school, I realized I wasn't great in the lab, and didn't love doing research on animals, so I took off for a badly needed vacation for a month in India. My travel partner mentioned wanting to get his Masters of Public Health, and I couldn't wait to learn more about it. When I got back, I discovered the field of epidemiology and realized that this was a MUCH better fit for me. So after getting my Ph.D. I went to Johns Hopkins for a postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology. I did a postdoc in nutritional epidemiology at Tufts University, some research with Transparent Corporation, and then ended up in a couple of postdocs that went south for various reasons, and I had to leave the field. I was devastated. I knew that if I had the support I needed, I would have been able to make a much bigger difference in Alzheimer's research, but apparently that wasn't my destiny. Out of my despair, I sought ways to heal from my trauma. I had already seen a psychiatrist at the best medical school, and counselors for decades, but I still hated almost everything about me. Things had to change! So I kept searching for anything that would help. And that is when I discovered energy medicine. I noticed that I was for the first time getting relief from my trauma for the first time in my life! When I felt like my research career had ended, I started my business as a holistic brain health practitioner when I realized that I could help clients address their root causes quickly and efficiently with my intuitive skills. Because I didn't have any business skills or support, it took a long time for me to have a full practice, but in 2021 I had a full practice with a waiting list. Then in early 2022 disaster struck. I had to evacuate from 3 homes over 5 months due to mold and toxins. The first 2 killed my beloved soulmate kitty. Then I bought a condo and had to evacuate 2 weeks later due to toxic mold and parasites. The toxic mold came from the attic and chimney, and the stress of having to compel the HOA to remediate, while I was having relentlessly terrifying symptoms and unable to live at home was too much. I was out of money and had to live with strangers while I was extremely sick and immunocompromised in the middle of COVID. I also got extremely environmentally sensitive and couldn't interact with paper, my clothes, bags, my computer or phone safely for about a year. While I was an excellent healer before this trauma, I've been forced to relentlessly search for better and better ways to heal safely. Luckily, it's been paying off, and I'm no longer environmentally sensitive and finally able to work again. I need to rebuild my business as quickly as possible to pay off my debts so I don't lose my home. I'm on a mission to help others with similar issues, so less people will have to endure the hell that I've been through. But I'm unstoppable. Ways to connect with Tina: https://tryholisticbrainhealth.com/ https://www.facebook.com/tryHolisticBrainHealth/ https://www.facebook.com/tina.huang.353 https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinalhuangphd/ www.youtube.com/@TinaHuangPhD About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Greetings once again, everyone. I am your host, Mike Hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset today, we get to do one of those things that I always love, and that is, we get a guest who I met at a recent podapalooza event. And if you don't know what podaPalooza is? Because you haven't kept up with this here. PodaPalooza is an event that happens four times a year, and it is an event for people who are doing podcasts, who want to interview people, people who want to become podcasters, and are wanting to learn how and it's also for people who want to be interviewed by podcasters. I think that covers everything. So it really is all things podcasting. And we had one earlier in June. And out of that, I happened to meet this very interesting lady, Tina Huang, who said that she wanted to come on unstoppable mindset. And I thought that would be a good thing. So here we are, Tina, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really Tina Huang ** 02:24 glad you're here. Thank you for having me, Michael and Michael Hingson ** 02:28 I didn't tell her that we would be nice, but we will. Tina Huang ** 02:34 I'm always nice. Michael Hingson ** 02:35 Well, there you go. See that's what works. As I did tell Tina, I think I told you, if I didn't, then I'll tell you now that there's one hard and fast rule on this podcast, and that is, everyone has to have fun. So there sounds great. So that works. Tina Huang ** 02:51 I'm always up for fun. There you Michael Hingson ** 02:53 are. It's always a good idea to have fun. Well, let's start maybe by kind of learning a little about the earlier Tina, growing up and all that. Why don't you tell us a little bit about that, and then we can, and I know from reading your bio, we can then go into all sorts of things from there. Tina Huang ** 03:09 Yeah, well, thank you for asking. Michael. I actually had a pretty difficult childhood growing up. It's not a fun topic, but I'll kind of go into some some brief aspects about it. So I was born in the United States, but I moved to Hong Kong when we were when I was about six, seven years old, after first grade, and my parents put me in a Chinese speaking school, and I didn't speak Chinese at that time, and they my dad was like, you know, you got to learn Chinese by immersion. And I have to say that I really, really, really struggled. It was so hard for me. We had to memorize our Chinese lessons, and it would be only a paragraph, but the way I would memorize would be that, I mean, it was just I realized that just the standard, like repeating sentences over and over again wasn't working for me. So I finally went down to the method of memorizing one character and then adding another character and memorizing two characters and then memorizing three characters. I mean, it was so slow and so methodical. And at first grade, I was like, up till like, after midnight, studying for these stupid exams, these Chinese lesson exams. And my sister, my younger sister, was not having these kinds of problems at all, and so nobody picked up on something, that something was wrong, but that was kind of a beginning indicator that was something, that something wasn't going well for me. I hated Hong Kong, to be honest. It was just such a struggle. And I really miss speaking English, you know, I didn't. It was very hard to make friends when I was struggling so much with the language, and I get caught, get get, got put in different classrooms every year, because the way, my parents decided that to to keep us in school, they had a class that would go from morning to afternoon to morning to afternoon, but they want to keep me in the mornings. And so I had different, different classmates every. A year. So it was a real struggle. And I was very happy to get back to the United States, where I was like, oh my goodness, we're speaking English again. And and suddenly I went from being and I, and before I had left for Hong Kong, I was actually, like, grades ahead of everybody else. I was like, in third they, you know, even though I was in first grade, I kept getting put in, like, with the third graders. So this, you know, going from being the super smart kid to the super dumb kid was a real challenge. So when I came back to the United States again, I was a smart kid, but things my school schools got a lot harder as I got into high school, but especially undergraduate and then graduate school, where I was just really struggling in in classes in terms of absorbing information. And Michael Hingson ** 05:47 what year was this roughly Tina Huang ** 05:49 that I went to Hong Kong? Michael Hingson ** 05:51 No say, when you went to undergrad, when you started college. I started Tina Huang ** 05:55 college in 1986 Okay, Michael Hingson ** 05:58 okay. The reason I asked is that we've learned so much about learning disabilities and so on since that time, yes, so it's not too surprising. But anyway, go ahead, yeah, and Tina Huang ** 06:10 back in those days, for listeners who are younger, we knew hardly anything about learning disabilities, and we might have known about dyslexia when I was young. I don't know, we might have known about add but, you know, it was not something that was discussed. It was very rarely known about, right? So, yeah, and in fact, I went to graduate school in neuroscience, you know, I'm gonna skip move forward to that. And even in my neuroscience programs, we were not talking about learning disabilities back then, I was kind of appalled. I was like, we're not talking about learning disabilities and so, and that will apparently, was in the developmental biology section, but it wasn't in, or it wasn't actually in developmental biology. It was more like developmental psychology, yeah, where it was discussed, but it wasn't, it had not been brought into the neuroscience arena at all. Tina Huang ** 07:02 Well, when Michael Hingson ** 07:03 or let me rephrase it differently, what did you finally discover was your actual learning disability? Was it dyslexia? Or what was it? No, it wouldn't be dyslexia, because that wouldn't answer the issues of learning from an auditory standpoint, Chinese, although that's a language with a lot of nuances anyway, Tina Huang ** 07:24 yeah, that well, so the the learning disability that doesn't actually have a name, it was just called an accumulative learning disability. You know, some people have auditory deficits. Some people have visual deficits. I had everything deficit in terms of, well, everything they tested deficit. And I should say that I didn't actually get diagnosed with learning disability until my last year of classes in graduate school, and it was because of the times, really, because there was just so little known about it. But I had extensive testing with a clinical psychologist, and what they discovered was that that I was exceptionally brilliant in some ways and exceptionally handicapped in others. And what I was struggling with, and what I still struggle with, it's just accumulation of information, a lot of information. And in graduate school in neuroscience, we actually had classes that lasted for four hours. And imagine four hours of intense, yes, not conducive to learning at all. Michael Hingson ** 08:23 Disability notwithstanding, oh, Tina Huang ** 08:25 my goodness, yeah. And, and, you know, it's a little frustrating to me. You know, in a neuroscience program that they'd actually allow that, like, how do they not understand that, that a four hour lecture is not a good idea for anybody. But you know, of course, especially with people learning disabilities. But you know, they weren't here there to accommodate people learning disabilities, even though two of us had one, one of my friends, we only we. You know, graduate school programs aren't necessarily large. Mine was only seven. No right between seven and 13 people in each class, depending on the the the class. And so I think in our program officially, there were nine or 11 or something like that, because it varied a bit depending on the year. But one, one of the women had dyslexia, and then there was me, and I really the it's a cumulative learning disability. So basically it means that, you know, if there's a lot of if there's too much information being presented at once, I'm not going to be able to retain it all. And it really shows up a lot in languages. Like, because there's just languages are almost they come out from nowhere. I have a really hard time remembering names unless they're common. Like, I don't have a problem with Michael, but if you give me a Chinese name that I've never maybe a language like Arabic or something like that, that I don't know Well, I mean, that's going to be or I don't know at all, that could be a real challenge unless I've heard that name before, or if it's simple to pronounce. But the more complex a name is, and the more foreign it is, the harder it is for me to remember, right? So it's, it's an. It's a learning disability that sort of requires that really baseline learning and and you know, that idea that, like people, can just jump into a foreign country and absorb that is exactly what I can't do, right? There's no immersion aspect of of what I do just FYI, I'm not making these funny. All these strange symbols are coming up on zoom that I'm not making. So I'm going to see if I can stop that. But I'm not making those purposely. Michael Hingson ** 10:31 That's okay. And I'm not hearing and I'm not hearing them, so it's okay, okay. But the it's, it's interesting. So you went through most of of school, not really understanding why you were and you obviously observed that you were different, but you had no real understanding of why you were different or how you were different other than you just couldn't get material absorbed the same way most people did Tina Huang ** 11:00 Right, right. And yet it was very confusing, because I was often told, Oh, you're really smart. You're so smart, you know. And I know that, like in some ways I am, you know. And actually, right now, they're only talking about it, but there's this term called twice exceptional. And twice exceptional is when you are exceptionally brilliant and yet exceptionally handicapped at the same time, and that's, you know, when you and somebody asked me really recently, you know, so isn't everybody neurodivergent, right? Doesn't everybody have these differences in their learning? And my answer to them was, yes, we all have different brains, and some of us are stronger in some ways and weaker and other ways. But when you have a disability that's so severe that you cannot have a normal life, you can't you can't have any balance in your life, or you need accommodations, and you can't function. You can't survive with the way society is expecting you to survive based on your disabilities. That's when you have a quote, unquote disability, is when societies, the society is not geared to help you thrive. Michael Hingson ** 12:07 Course, the the issue with disabilities in general, and it's something that we talk about from time to time, on unstoppable mindset, when the opportunity arises, I submit that everyone on the planet has a disability, and the problem for most people is they're light dependent. Why is that a disability? Just watch the power suddenly go out where you are, especially at night, but even during the day, I've seen that happen during the day, power goes out, lights go out suddenly. Everybody's scrambling to try to find a smartphone or a flashlight to be able to see, because they're not used to functioning without light, and the reality is that their disability of light dependence is covered up because we have focused so heavily on making light on demand available. But it doesn't change the fact that the disability is still there, it's just covered up a lot, right? Tina Huang ** 13:04 But you don't need it to survive either, unless, unless we have a power outage, right? So you, you know, you are much more prepared if we all have a power outage than most of us. But, yeah, situation often, then, then you would be in better shape. But if we don't have power outages, if we live in a country where that's not a common problem, then you know, other people are an advantage because they can see, right? Michael Hingson ** 13:33 Oh, no, I understand that, but. But the point is, though, that if you want to level the playing field, the reality is, everyone has a disability of some sort. It's just that for most people, the disability is really covered up because we have light on demand. We don't have light on demand necessarily in Uganda and other places like that, where there isn't power or a lot of power. I actually talked with someone yesterday who's going to come on unstoppable mindset, and they offer to children solar powered lamps so that they can study because they don't have power to be able to have lights to study at night, but if they have solar powered lamps that charge up during the day, then in fact, they can continue to study at night, unless They take a different tact and learn braille or something like that, but sighted people aren't going to do that, and that's okay, but the bottom line is, it still proves that everyone has some sort of disability. What we don't tend to do nearly as much as we ought to is recognize that while everyone has different gifts. We shouldn't knock somebody just because their gifts are different than our gifts, right? Tina Huang ** 14:47 And actually, I want to expand on that quite a bit, because there is, if we think about this a little bit more broadly. Well, first of all, there's, I don't know if you're familiar with Oliver Sacks, books he wrote. A Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He's a famous neurologist, and he talks about people who are differentially abled. He himself, I think, would be considered twice exceptional. He is the kind of person that he has a facial AG, nausea, where he cannot recognize people when he sees them. And in fact, it's so bad. It is so bad that if he looks in the mirror, he doesn't even recognize himself. And that's just insane. That's that is extreme. So he, he is also absolutely a brilliant writer and a brilliant neurologist, and he writes a lot about people who are differentially abled. So he has, you know, he's written about amazing stories of like, for example, there's a drummer with Tourette's syndrome, and as soon as he takes his medication, so he's a absolutely brilliant drummer. And as soon as he takes his medication, he loses that, that profound ability to drum in the way that he normally does. It's just, it's fascinating about what you know, how things can be influenced by our disabilities or the drugs that we take and so forth. There are other stories like, I don't remember whether it was Oliver Sacks or somebody else who wrote about a man who could smell as well as a dog, right? And imagine having the sensory receptors of of pets, right? And if we think about disabilities, it's like, well, you know, if you compare, if we compare ourselves to our dogs and their olfactory senses, well, we, you know, in some ways, we could say we all have disabilities, right? Because there are dogs that can sniff out COVID Or, you know, help us figure out where mold is and so forth. And you know, most humans, the vast majority of humans, aren't built for that. You know, we have there are animals across the animal kingdom that can see a lot of things that we can't see or detect energies that we can't see. And so when we think about this, I mean, and within the human spectrum, there are people that are very right brained and have intuitive abilities that most of us don't have, right so you know that, and so we are all differentially abled. That is true, and sometimes our handicaps actually lead to our brilliances. There's a fascinating story, I think it was on a hidden brain where somebody had a head injury, and after the head injury, they developed these amazing, incredible musical skills that were just beyond imagination. You know, like, suddenly, this person, without training, became a professional musician. It's like, so the brain is absolutely fascinating, and it's one reason why I'm a neuroscienter. I have training in neuroscience is because these differential abilities that people have are mind blowing and mind you know, and it's just fascinating to realize that we are we're all limited in our ability to perceive truth. We are all limited. And I think if we recognize that and know that, like it's dependent on our experiences and our own sensory systems, which are they're limited because we're human and we're not necessarily, we don't have all the sensory system systems that exist. It's just good to know. It's very humbling, and it's also helps us realize that there's all this new stuff to learn in these perspectives, to to learn from. Tina Huang ** 18:24 And Michael Hingson ** 18:26 I have always been a proponent of the concept that in reality, we should always be learning. And if we ever decide we know all we need to know and stop learning, that's such a horrible thing to do, because there's always new stuff to learn, always, always, which is what makes life so fun. I was at the University of California at Irvine a week ago tomorrow, actually, so last Thursday, and so I was down there because I was inducted actually into phi beta, kappa as an alumni member, which is kind of cool, because I wasn't able to to join when I was in in college, because they were just forming the chapter when I was leaving. But I was visiting one of my thank you. I was visiting with one of my old physics professors, actually a couple of them. And I brought up, you know, we were talking about how, how physics has learned so much, but there's still so much to learn. And I said, Well, someday we'll finally figure out the unified field theory that combines everything. And one of the professors said something that's very interesting, and I think is very true. He said it may not even be unified field theory. It may go off in completely different directions, which is new from the way it used to be. But the fact is, we're learning so much that we are. We're learning and discovering that things we thought aren't necessarily the way they are, and we have to continue to grow. And I think it's so much fun to see that sort of thing happening. Yeah, Tina Huang ** 19:57 and I have to say, I mean, that's part of being an unstoppable. Having an unstoppable mindset, right? One thing that I talk about as a holistic brain health practitioner is that, you know, the reason why I'm a Holistic brain health practitioner, I should say, is because of my differential brain, my brain that doesn't, doesn't, isn't very, very conducive to an environment like medical school. So I basically did the PhD route and did postdoctoral training in epidemiology in order to to develop my expertise in root causes, which is what I'm an expert in. But as I talk to clients or the public in general, a lot of people struggle with symptoms that they don't understand or characteristics they don't understand. And Western medicine, you know, as brilliant as it is, and I'm not going to, you know, I'm not bad talking western medicine, but I think in the United States, we put a little bit too much faith in western medicine, and believe that it should be able to address everything. And right now it doesn't, and it may not ever get that way, until they start to open their mind up to look at what other cultures are doing. Chinese medicine, for example, has so much brilliance. Energy. Medicine has so much brilliance. The Amazon has so much brilliance. And if we stick to the idea that we need to think about it only in terms of the way that Western medicine is able to do it, and they are thinking about it in from a, you know, if you look at physics, they're looking at it from a It's not quantum mechanics, it's the other kind of mechanics. What is it? Classical Mechanics, right? It's a classical way of looking at things, but quantum mechanics is really like, that's where the magic happens, right? And if they're not incorporating that way of thinking, then they're going to think that everybody who's doing using methods, using quantum mechanics is crazy. But physics can prove that quantum that particles can be in two places at once. So in physics, can prove all these things that sound absolutely crazy, but work in energy medicine, and so the idea that like that, you know, I think I want to see, like Western medicine, just the whole field, be a little bit more humble in some ways. You know, when you go to a doctor, if somebody shows up with symptoms that that they don't understand, instead of calling them crazy, I want them to say, Oh, that's interesting. Let me, let me learn more about what's going on for you and see if I can figure out what those causes are or what to do about it. Yeah, you know, Michael Hingson ** 22:38 yeah. So it's so true, I mean, there's more to life than drugs, and yeah, and Western medicine focuses so much just on the drug part of it, and there's been so much evidence that any number of people, and we've had a number of people on unstoppable mindset, who had medical Problems that Western medicine didn't solve but reg a and energy medicines and Eastern medicines and other kinds of forms of medicine, if you will, helped, and they were able to get beyond what was deal, what they were, what they were feeling and what was hurting them, and they became better for it. Tina Huang ** 23:19 Yeah, exactly. And I think that the you know, it's not that you shouldn't look at Western medicine, it's that everything needs to be considered. And I think the more you merge it, and the more you consider the varieties of practices that involve, are involved, or that are possible, the better outcomes you can't get. Same time, it is very overwhelming. There's a lot of possibilities, of places you can go. So it's a matter of knowing, you know where the brilliance is, and and so forth. So that is a challenging and that's my life mission. Is figuring out, you know, what are those methods that are really effective and and helping people heal? Michael Hingson ** 23:56 One of the things when we started dealing with China back in the Nixon administration and beyond, acupuncture started being talked about. But even today, Western medicine doesn't embrace it fully and make it a traditional part of what it does, even though clearly it helps any number of people. Tina Huang ** 24:19 Yeah. And the thing about acupuncture is that, you know, they they used to say, and they're not saying it anymore, but they used to say, Oh, it's a placebo effect. And I would look at it and look at them like, this whole placebo argument is really kind of ridiculous when it comes to acupuncture, because it looks like torture. So it's like, Why would anything look like torture have a placebo effect? You know? Yeah, make any sense to me? Yeah. So, you know, I think, I think at least nowadays, Western medicine is a little bit more cautious about saying anything bad about acupuncture. And, in fact, more are willing to say, hey, you know, it's worth trying. It's worth trying. Exactly, good, yeah. Michael Hingson ** 24:55 Well, so for you, so you went through most of college. Knowledge and everything with a learning disability. What really finally caused you to I don't want, well, maybe the terminology isn't correct to say, feel comfortable with it, but what was it that finally got you to realize that you had a learning disability or were different, and you had to really do things in a different way, and how did that then start to affect what you did? Tina Huang ** 25:26 Yeah, I am, I actually was asked several times in graduate school, like professors took me aside. So I should say, in graduate school, I was having regular panic attacks. I was I had no life. I was studying like crazy. I remember, like sometimes feeling so much panic. I would just get on my bike and just bike as fast as I can, you know, just trying to get that panic out of me. I was pulled aside several times by professors who said to me, you know, I you, you know, you really seem to be struggling way too much. And you know, the classwork is the easy part. If you can't do the class work. How are you ever going to be able to, you know, do the research? And I would, I would look at them and say, look, the classwork is going to be the hardest part for me. This is definitely going to be the hardest part for me. But once I get to the projects, once I get to the research, I'm good with projects. I think I should be okay. And they would look at me like I had two heads, and then let me know. And finally, my my advisor, My Media Advisor, in the lab I was working with, said, you know, Tina, you asked too many questions. And I was like, well, so does this other person like? Why? How? Why is asking questions a bad idea? And he said, Well, yours are different. And so I knew that he really cared about me, and he wanted me to thrive. And so the way he phrased it made me start to think, Okay, I need to go see get a clinical, you know, clinical evaluation. Now, again, back then, this was not something like we only knew about, I think dyslexia, and add at a time, weren't names for other learning disabilities and and so, and very few people even like, he didn't suggest I go see one like. He didn't even really know much about that concept. He just said, something is different about you. And so I did some research and looked and found out that there was a Learning Disability Center. And so I went to them, talked to them, and I had looked into the, I think, briefly before, but nothing. The disabilities that were described weren't exactly what I had. So, you know, it was, I didn't know if they could help me, but they sent me off to clinical psychologist who gave me this evaluation I was talking about, that that, you know, actually found that I was like he was actually the clinical psychologist I saw was in his 70s, and he had been working in the field for, I don't know, 50 years or something like that, but some insanely long period of time. And he said, you know, your ability to accumulate information is like less than the 20th percentile. We're talking about general population. We're not talking about in comparison to graduate school peers. And then when it but when it comes to, like, this one math test, which is just sort of arithmetic, he's like you, not only did you score a perfect score, but you did it faster than anybody else I've seen in the history of my entire career. And also I knew that, like, you know, we took these graduate school record examinations. And we had a verbal section, we had a math section, we had a logic section, and I know that, like in the logic section, I actually scored in the 98th percentile for people who are taking this examination. In the math I was like, in the upper nine, like, not upper 90s, but I think like 90 or 92nd or something like that percentile and the verbal, I studied the verbal like crazy, and I was, like, in less the 40th percentile. But I studied, I could never get that up high, you know, at all. So that's, you know, again, another example of extreme. So anyways, differences in my my abilities. So in that last class in graduate school I did, I was able to ask for more time on my tests, but my senior advisor also told me that I had to tell I'm sorry. My junior advisor also told me I had to tell my senior advisor that I had a disability, and I really dreaded that, but he had, he was holding the key to my funding. I was on his grant, and so I told him, and he dropped me. He dropped my funding. 29:21 And did he say why? He Tina Huang ** 29:25 did not say why. Because, if he had said why, it would have been illegal. But, you know, he basically said he didn't think I could do the job right. Do, do the research. Luckily, my junior advisor believed in me, and my junior advisor was starting to get really worried about my senior advisor and not say he did not say that explicitly, but I could see in his actions there, the senior advisor was really well known, but there were some things about him that were of grave concern that were really getting revealed, partly from interactions with me. And so he dropped. To me, but Carrie o Banyan, who is my, was my advisor at the time, said, You know, you're, he didn't have the money at that time, and he's like, the only option we have is if you we write a grant, you know, and I had to write that. That was, that was an NIH grant called NRSA. And I wrote that grant, and with his support. And I remember the night before submission, the head of the neurobiology, anatomy Department said, Hey, Tina, would you like me to read your grant and give you just any last minute advice? And I was like, Sure. And so he calls me up the night before it's due. And he's like, okay, Tina, I want you to write. Sit down, grab a piece of paper and a pen, and I want you to write this down. And he's like, are you ready, you know, are you prepared for this? And I'm like, Yeah, give it to me, you know. And he goes, I want you to write I did an excellent job on my NRSA. And I was like, oh, okay, well, thank you. Do you have anything else? And he's like, No, I'm like, what? He goes, this is the best NRSA I've ever read. Tina Huang ** 31:05 I was like, oh, okay, thank you. He goes, Michael Hingson ** 31:08 What does NRSA stand for? And Tina Huang ** 31:10 NRSA is, oh, it's just, I can't remember. It's important, Michael Hingson ** 31:15 no, just curious. Anyway, go Tina Huang ** 31:17 ahead, yeah, but it is the it was at least that time. It was the premier NIH grant that you could get as a graduate student. It was the most prestigious and best NRSA ever read, yeah, yeah. And so it was the best NRSA you'd ever read. And he said, yeah, just submit it as is. It's as good as it gets. You don't need any improvement. And then so I submitted it, and I got funded on the first submission. And again, that was the first. That's very unusual too. Yeah, it was extremely unusual. It was the first in all three neuroscience departments at University of Rochester. Tina Huang ** 31:54 So I'm Tina Huang ** 31:56 the comeback kid. I mean, I got, you know, I love that. You know, here I am. People have asked me to leave graduate school three times, and I show them that I can do research, right, you know, and that I'm an excellent grant writer, which is exactly the biggest reason, the biggest fear, and what I had been told is that it's so hard to get grants, and here I am. I just nailed it on my first try. Michael Hingson ** 32:25 What did your senior academic advisor say about that? Oh, Tina Huang ** 32:29 he didn't. He was out of the picture. We just didn't. We stopped talking to him honestly. Okay, Michael Hingson ** 32:32 okay, Tina Huang ** 32:34 yeah. Better that way, yeah. I mean, Tina Huang ** 32:41 I am sure he heard about it, and I'm sure he was stumped. I know, I know that a lot of my professors that had asked me to leave were very confused by that, but I hope, I hope that seeing that enabled them to see that we need to start talking about learning distriments, differences in disabilities, and I, and I have seen that shift like I know that. I know that neuro learning disabilities, actually, what's really interesting is that I'm as I get these graduate school alumni magazines there are, there are actually conferences now in learning disabilities at University of Rochester, in the neuroscience you know that are heavily that neuro or the neuroscience department, is heavily involved. And I would like to think that what they saw with me helped them start to think about the importance of thinking about differential learning abilities. Tina Huang ** 33:36 And probably that is true. Tina Huang ** 33:41 I would, yeah, I just thought of that, but I think, I think that that probably got some heads turning. Michael Hingson ** 33:46 So you got your PhD, and then what did you do? Tina Huang ** 33:52 Well, I realized actually that I was not in love with lab work. I really am interested in mechanism of action, but I did not like the idea of working with animals in the way that we did in the labs, and I didn't like chemicals. And so I went on a trip to India during grad school years to kind of get away and and reframe and just think of it. And I was traveling with a friend who told me he wanted to get his master's in public health. And back then, I didn't know what that was, but I suddenly my ears perked up because that sounded really intriguing to me. And then I got back and and I was in the in a graduate student council, and somebody passed around the the pamphlet for public health, and I looked at it. And I saw this, this little description of a course in epidemiology, and I was like, Wow, this sounds really interesting. And it was about getting at root causes. And so I started digging into looking more the web was just a pretty new thing back then. And so I was like, searching, you know, the web, and trying to figure out. Um, more about this epidemiology, because it sound fascinating. And then I heard the John Snow story, which is about understanding like this. John Snow epidemiologist was what they call a shoestring epidemiologist, where there was a water pump that was the source of cholera, and how he found that made that discovery of how cholera started. And I was just like, This is what I want to do. I want to get at root causes. And so I actually decided, you know, I was advised to finish my PhD. I was in my fifth year at that time. I come pretty far at that point. So I was advised to just finish off my research and then apply for postdocs in epidemiology. So I actually applied. I, for some reason, I went to Johns Hopkins. I applied to Johns Hopkins, and I got accepted there as a postdoc. And so I did my postdoc at psychiatric in psychiatric Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins, and I loved it, because they actually and they let me take all the classes. I audited them, because otherwise I'd have to pay for them. I didn't have the money, so I audited classes in epidemiology and and bio stats and all the other things that I needed to Tina Huang ** 36:16 to work in that field. Michael Hingson ** 36:19 So you learned what you needed to, and that's kind of where you started focusing. Tina Huang ** 36:24 Yeah, yeah. So I wrote, I wrote some the work that I'm most proud of was in that field. I did some pretty made some pretty cool discoveries for in the field of Alzheimer's disease, discovered that early life actually impacts your risk of dementia. And I looked at a measure, an anthropometric measure, called knee knee height. So the height of our knees is actually indicative of our first two years of life. And specifically we were thinking it was nutrition, but now I think it might be more than nutrition. I think nutrition is a very important part of it, but I think also our adverse childhood experiences are contribute, contribute as well, but also our microbiome. So I was the first, not the first, paper to show that knee height was an indicator, indicative of or in knee height, or that those first two years of life was important and relevant for a risk, our future risk of dementia. I was the first person to show that in or first paper to show that in a western population. Michael Hingson ** 37:43 So how did you discover that? Or what exactly did you discover that makes somebody who's less likely to get dementia, as opposed to somebody who's more likely? Tina Huang ** 37:58 Yeah, so what I discovered is that people with shorter knee heights have a higher risk of dementia. Got it and the knee height is indicative. It's a reflection of what happened in the first two years of our life. Okay, Tina Huang ** 38:14 yeah, so Michael Hingson ** 38:15 partly nutrition, but partly other other things that come along that affect it, Tina Huang ** 38:23 right? And I And, and that's, you know, I didn't prove that in the paper. That's just knowledge that I've accumulated from watching the research. But we now know the importance of the microbiome, for example, that was not, we were not touching on that subject at all back then, right? And now there's a lot of research on adverse childhood experiences. You know how our early life experience, you know whether we got enough emotional support, whether we have a parent that's in jail or violent, all of that impacts our stress and our you know, for if we're undergoing if we are in the midst of extreme stress or neglect or anything like that, not getting the new the love and support we need that can impact our ability to impacts our microbiome and our ability to absorb nutrients, digest and absorb nutrients, and To get interest that brain health connection that's vital to success and thriving. Michael Hingson ** 39:24 I know that when, and I've told the story before here, but when I was born, and it was discovered about four months after I was born, that I was blind, I was born two months premature and put in an incubator and given too much oxygen, and that causes the retina not to develop properly, but the doctors told my parents to go off and send me to a home because a blind child could never grow up to be anything good in society. Essentially, couldn't be a contributor, would bring down the family and so on. And my parents said, Absolutely not. He can grow up to learn to do what. Whatever he wants. And that's why opportunity, which is, which is the point. Tina Huang ** 40:06 And I think you're unstoppable, you know, because you had that parental, you know, those parental cheerleaders that you so badly needed, and that's just, that's amazing, well, and the power that's, I mean, that that alone, really speaks to the about the power of parents and what they can do for their kids. I see great example of that. Michael Hingson ** 40:27 I've seen so many kids who are blind or were blind, who grew up and who weren't overly self confident, who didn't do as well as they could have, but it was because they were sheltered. Their parents didn't feel that they could do as much, and the result was they didn't do as much, yeah, and they didn't really learn to do the things that they could do, and they weren't challenged to be able to do the things that they ought to be able to do, like other people, and it's so unfortunate, but I've seen some, some children who grew up who were very good, very competent, very competent, but so many, oh, they're blind, they can't do anything, and that was how they were braced. And that's always a challenge, of course, and a problem, Tina Huang ** 41:17 yeah. And I agree, and the same thing with me. I mean, as a person with learning disabilities, I was often dismissed. I mean, I had, I worked in, you know, I was at Johns Hopkins for my first postdoc, but I had some other postdocs that I'm not going to name, where I was neglected pretty severely, and it's because they did not recognize my genius, or maybe they did and didn't want to to foster that because of my other challenges and didn't, didn't believe that I was worth their time. You know, it's, it's very frustrating to to be brilliant and to know that you can contribute in huge ways, but that you're not given that chance to do so. You know, because of people's perceptions, they're inaccurate perceptions about what you're able or, you know, capable of. It Michael Hingson ** 42:06 gets back to prejudice. It gets back so much to societal prejudice. Yeah, Tina Huang ** 42:10 and it's, it's, it may not be intentional, and I don't think it's intentional prejudice, but it is stereotypes. And it's, we have these stereotypes. You know, our brains are constructed in a way that we have to categorize people quickly and efficiently. And I have to say that I am grateful because our society is changing. I mean, I am seeing that there is more and more awareness about learning disabilities and neuro divergence and celebrating that. Sure so that is that's wonderful. I I actually have been watching a bit of America got America's Got Talent. And what's great, what I really appreciate about that program is they're starting to accept more and more people of more and more different flavors. I mean, at times, there were we didn't, you know, we shunned people who are who are trans or, you know, have different sexual preferences, or gay or whatever. And, and we're becoming more and more open to those people as well, you know. And maybe not everybody is, but African Americans were, you know, we had an African American president. We're seeing we, we got to see an example of of African Americans and what they can do, you know, and Trevor Noah's brilliance. And, you know, there's just so many, you know, I think it was Amanda Gorman who was the amazing poet, yes. And so, it's, it's, it's wonderful that stereotypes are being broken and, and it's about time, you know, I think it is, it's huge change in just the last few years, and with that, and I'm so grateful to finally see that happen, because I've gone through so much of life where that hasn't happened, but I don't, I wish they'd talk more about, you know, other disabilities as well, but, but it changes are happening. So you're you're a part of that. So thank you. Michael Hingson ** 44:03 The reality is that, in general, when we talk about diversity, we never talk about disabilities. It's not part of the conversation, and it should be, especially when the CDC says that up to 25% of all people in this country have some sort of a well, I'll call it traditional disability, as opposed to the other 75% who have light dependence, and it's still a disability, but 25% have a disability, and it's something that we don't talk about. There's a lot of fear involved in that, that, Oh, I could become like them. I don't want that. They're they're not as good as I am, they're less than I am, you know, and you talked about LGBTQ and so on. And I find it so interesting, how many people say in the Bible, it says that that's not a good thing, and you're you're going against the Bible if you're LGBTQ. But you know, Jesus also was the person who said, Judge not, lest you be judged and let. It, he or she, if you will, who is without sin cast the first stone. You know, the reality is that it's not my place to judge anyone, no matter who or what, even politicians, although they deserve it. But you know, we don't we. We don't judge people, because that's not our job. That's between them and God and it Well, Tina Huang ** 45:24 here's the thing is that is that, why would God make us so different and allow that to happen like we're choice, all part of, I mean, this universe produced us, you know, and, and sometimes, you know, if we have brains that don't feel like, you know, if I, if I were, you know, and I'm not this kind of person. But I was also very interested. I actually wrote a paper on the biological basis of homosexuality in graduate school because I thought it was absolutely fascinating of understanding, you know, why? Why do we have brains? Why? Why do we sometimes have brains that don't resonate with how, how we show up externally? You know, like, how come a female can feel like they, they, they should be a male, and a male can feel like, how they should, you know, they should be a female. And it's, it's absolutely fascinating. It's, it's, I'm, I'm very curious about it, but I don't see the defect. It's just a difference, and it's absolutely fascinating, but it's a part of who we are, and it's a part of spectrum of society and and, you know, just because people are different doesn't make them less than it just makes them different, you know, interesting. And even Michael Hingson ** 46:39 if it were true, even if it were true, which I don't think that it is, but even if it were true that, say being homosexual is is a horrible thing, it's still if, for especially religious people, if you think that goes against what God wants, that's still not your choice To make. Yeah, I agree, and people need to get over it. The reality is, it, is it? Mary, very well, may be choice. I don't know that. It's always choice. You're right. Brains are different, but it's still between the individual involved in God, and people need to leave that stuff alone and allow people to grow as they can, and it's okay to be different, but we, we don't generally tend to accept that collectively in our society, it's not okay to be different. You're supposed to really be like me, or you're less than me, right? And Tina Huang ** 47:39 I have to say, in terms of a choice, it's not like, Oh, I'm going to choose this flavor of ice cream. It's more like, you know, I mean, people who are trans are choosing, they're choosing who they really believe that they are. And it's a correct fundamental, like, it's, so it's, it's, it's, it's much more. It may be a choice, but it's kind of a choice to just reveal that their truth, that's the real issue. They think, who they feel, their reality of who they are. So it's it. It's kind of like asking them if to, if they're asked to deny that they're asking to deny who they feel they are. And that's, that's a that's a huge thing to ask of people. Huge thing that's not okay to ask people, you know, and I think that's, that's a huge has been a huge struggle of mine, you know, like, I actually grew up in an environment where very Christian, and I have to say that I'm I rebelled a lot because I kept getting told that I had to believe this and I had to believe that. And it wasn't, it wasn't jiving with me, you know, like the idea that God loves you, wasn't jiving with me because I had so much horrible experiences as a child, you know, I did not feel loved by God, and so I did not resonate with that, right? Um, well, that's not something I'm resonating with right now. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's, yeah, I've had a lot of challenges in my Michael Hingson ** 49:08 life. I, I am one of these people who do believe that God loves everyone, but that is, again, an issue between you and God, and so if you decide that that that's okay, that's okay. If it's if you decide it's not okay, God's not going to smite you down for it. God isn't going to execute you. Everyone. That's the beautiful part about the universe. Everyone has free will, Tina Huang ** 49:40 right, right. I do think it has a lot to do with our experiences, though. So well Michael Hingson ** 49:45 it does it, it does. And you know, something may come along to make you feel differently in the future, but that's it doesn't matter. That's still really the choice that you get to make as you are going through life and experiencing the adventure. Life, and life is an adventure by any standard, right, right? And it far be. It from me to tell you that you have to say that God loves you, Tina Huang ** 50:10 right? I appreciate that. Now, Michael Hingson ** 50:13 my dog, on the other hand, would sit in your lap if he could, but that's another story. He's, he's, he's a Tina Huang ** 50:21 I trust, I trust animals love me. I can have faith in that at least, at least the healthy ones. Well, yeah, but I am a, I'm a bit of an A kitty magnet, although I love them a lot too. So Michael Hingson ** 50:34 Well, we have a cat, or I have a cat, and she's probably waiting for this to end, so that I will go pet her while she eats. She loves to get petted while she eats, and she gets very irritated if she doesn't get attention when she wants it. Yeah, that's okay. That's part of love. How did you grow to be a holistic brain practitioner? Tina Huang ** 51:03 I so I think, you know, I've told you my backstory, learning disabilities and not doing traditional things. I I had severe depression, anxiety, stomach problems, and, of course, these learning disabilities that we've been talking about throughout my early life and kept going to doctors and getting dismissed by doctors. Or, yeah, getting getting dismissed. Or, you know, told I need to go see a psychologist or whatever, and and not really getting to the root of the problems. And I was fascinated by neuroscience, so, you know, I went, you know, did the neuroscience epidemiology route. I told you about that, but I had some bad postdocs, and these postdocs were career ruining for me. I discovered some fraud, and that ended up hurting me more than the person that committed the fraud, which was very upsetting, and I lost my job because I discovered their fraud. And so I had to find new methods to heal. And I had, when I discovered that there were ways that I could, through energy, medicine, intuitively detect root causes directly in people, I decided that that I really need to learn more about this. And when I discovered that the methods worked, I was like, Okay, I need to develop a career in this. You know, it's it was so much more efficient than doing the research. And I also was struggling. I know that, you know, I really was coming down to the or understanding the limitations of research, and some of the big limitations of research, especially when you're looking at data large scale data sets, is that you need to account for all the variables that are involved. And my research was an Alzheimer's disease. And if you look at all the different things are involved that cause Alzheimer's disease, you cannot fit it into a specific equation. You can only fit like, three or four, maybe five variables into a specific into an equation depending on the on your population size, and so it's not going to be able to count for all the very the individual differences. And there was just no way to do that in in epidemiology. And so there's real, I mean, that's just that points to a huge, huge limitation of research is that is really good for people who are the norm. But the problem is, is so many of us are not the norm. So many women. I mean, there's, there's not a lot of research in women, for example. So so much of the research is better for men, you know. And and if you have unusual symptoms, research is not going to cover you at this point, right? So, and I was, I was always in that category of having symptoms that doctors didn't understand. And so I was like, I've got to figure out root causes much more directly. And so when I figured out I could do that, I started to work on develop my own business, and that's how I became a holistic brain health practitioner. I absolutely Michael Hingson ** 54:06 love it. You made comments about the concept of first impressions. Tell me about that. Tina Huang ** 54:14 Yeah, I I don't like I think it's really important dangerous. It could be very dangerous to allow your first impressions to navigate your understanding or shape, not, not it will shape, it will always shape your understanding of a person. But if you let it be the sole contributor to your impressions of a person, it can be very dangerous, so let me just elaborate that on a bit. There are people who are very charming and likable when you first meet them, and oftentimes leaders. Lot of leaders are very likable and very charming and can be very popular and well loved. Tina Huang ** 54:57 But I. Tina Huang ** 55:01 They can also be very toxic to people who are close to them. And I'm specifically talking about people who are in the sociopathic, the sociopathic personality type, and narcissists are a great example of that. They can be very, very charming, and we can hold on, especially if we are an empath, and are the kind of person that wants to take care of others, we can hold on to those beliefs about this person, that they are wonderful, and that everybody loves them, and so forth, you know. Why? Why are they so? Why does everybody love them so much, you know? And then, and then this person, if you get to it into a relationship with them, if you get too close to them, they can end up being very toxic to especially empaths or people who are vulnerable. I'm not saying that everybody who is charming and likable is this way. I'm just saying that if you are, if you happen to encounter a narcissist, that that's what can happen these personality types, they can go from being just absolutely amazing and wonderful in certain stages and absolutely terrifyingly horrifically dangerous for you on the other side. And so making these assumptions is can be very dangerous, but it's also dangerous for the individuals who have disabilities that are hidden. So it is dangerous for people like me who have a hidden disability. People are not necessarily going to see that I have a disability. It is dangerous for people like me because, for example, I developed a severe environmental sensitivity due to Toxic Mold and doctors could never see even first depression can be like going to a doctor's office and they don't see anything wrong and they can't run anything in tests, so they've decided that you're fine. And so for me, I got, didn't get the diagnosis I needed, and I didn't get the support I need. So I'm actually in deep debt because of I wasn't able to work for two years because nobody was able to give me a diagnosis, and I couldn't get on disability. And so that's another example of first impressions that are dangerous. And they may not be dangerous for the person, if it's the doctor giving it to the patient, but it's very dangerous for those of us who struggle with toxic mold issues. Because I am not alone. There are tons of us who struggle with symptoms that nobody understands and are not getting disabilities or disability help because doctors refuse to understand or to look at the impacts of mold on our systems. Mo, you know, there's three types of mold. There is pathogenic mold, sorry, there's allogenic molds, pathogenic mold and toxigenic mold. And most doctors, if you ask them if they know about those three types, or if they know about different types of mold, they will not know. They only know about allergenic and that's a huge problem, because pathogenic mold, for one, can make you sick for months and make it impossible for you to work for months. Toxigenic mold can completely destroy your immune system and your detoxification systems and make you completely immunocompromised. And it can do it for your entire life, yeah. And it can make you that, that in parasites can make you extremely immunocompromised, and they don't know about that. You know, it's Michael Hingson ** 58:22 scary that not enough is being done to address the issue. It's like anything else. It takes some incredible, rude awakening somewhere before anyone starts to really focus on some of these issues. Tina Huang ** 58:36 Yeah, it's, it's a big reason why I was absolutely determined to get well is because I knew that I was going to have to get on stages and start to speak about this. I'm I'm not just trying to champion my own, my own experience, but my experience struggling with these toxic mold issues was absolutely horrific. It was hellish, beyond imagination, and there's not social support to help people like us, and it's just, it's horrific, and it needs to, it needs that needs to change.

covid-19 united states america god jesus christ university amazon time california children english china bible energy new york times phd chinese masters lgbtq western medicine judge african americans hospitals hong kong blind mine alzheimer's disease ambassadors thunder stitcher anatomy cdc public health ebooks uganda holistic unstoppable rochester brains ratings arabic practitioners got talent irvine rutgers university nih brain health johns hopkins tufts university epidemiology hoa trevor noah american red cross tourette neurobiology national federation oliver sacks john snow banyan health practitioner exxon mobile chief vision officer federal express toxic mold scripps college michael hingson podapalooza accessibe i yeah american humane association thunder dog tina huang hero dog awards

Podcast News: Apple's Holiday Delay Warning & Rode's Smallest Mic Release

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2024 61:28

Will Apple's holiday publishing delays impact your launch? Today, we share updates that could affect your holiday launch plans. Join us and hear the latest about a new pocket-sized mic from Rode and Amazon Music's AI-powered 'Topics' designed to transform podcast discovery. We also talk about the latest podcasting charts and events on the horizon!Episode Highlights: [3:48] Business B.O.I.R. Report and Podcast Rankings[9:20] Children's and TV/Film Podcasts[14:57] Upcoming Events and Local Meetups[19:21] Industry News and AI Integration[30:35] Podcast Name Search Tool and Hall of Fame Announcements[39:47] Amazon Music's AI Podcast Discovery Feature[45:11] Podcast Success and Failure Statistics[46:48] Podcast Numbers and Media KitsLinks & Resources: The Podcasting Morning Chat: www.podpage.com/pmcJoin The Empowered Podcasting Facebook Group:www.facebook.com/groups/empoweredpodcasting⁠PodNews: www.PodNews.netRøde Wireless Micro: https://rode.com/en/microphones/wireless/wireless-micro?variant_sku=WIMICROCPocket Casts changes from Subscribe to Follow: https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-android/pull/3120Search for Existing Podcast Names: https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-android/pull/3120PodMatch Report: https://podmatch.com/reportPodcasting For Business Conference: https://bit.ly/3AAV687PodFest Tour:https://podfestexpo.com/podtour/Podapalooza: https://podapalooza.com/Remember to rate, follow, share, and review our podcast. Your support helps us grow and continue to bring valuable content to our community.Join us LIVE every weekday morning at 7am ET (US) on ⁠Clubhouse⁠: ⁠ https://www.clubhouse.com/house/empowered-podcasting-e6nlrk0wBrought to you by ⁠iRonickMedia.com⁠ and ⁠NextGenPodcaster.com⁠Please note that some links may be affiliate links, which support the hosts of the PMC. Thank you!--- Send in your mailbag question at: https://www.podpage.com/pmc/contact/ or marc@ironickmedia.comWant to be a guest on The Podcasting Morning Chat? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1729879899384520035bad21b

Reframing Your Inner Narrative: Elevating Your Story to Inspire Self-Discovery

Emotional Intelligence: Your Greatest Asset and Key to Success

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2024 35:39 Transcription Available

I'd love to hear from you!Join me for an enlightening conversation with Kimberly Crow, a dynamic public speaker and entrepreneur, who reveals how to reshape the internal narratives that shape our lives. You'll learn how these subconscious stories can limit self-worth and fuel imposter syndrome, and discover the transformative power of reframing them. Kimberly shares her personal journey of shifting from a victim mentality to embracing her unique contributions, offering practical insights for personal growth and self-acceptance.Explore the art of narrative reframing as we discuss how altering our perceptions can lead to profound personal growth. Whether it's viewing the eldest child's responsibilities as a leadership opportunity or recognizing the strengths gained from childhood roles, we emphasize the empowering potential of positive self-perception. By acknowledging our experiences and contributions, we aim to help you cultivate a mindset that supports both self-acceptance and continual improvement.Finally, this episode highlights the immense value of public speaking platforms in sharing one's unique message. Kimberly discusses the impact of initiatives like Podapalooza, Entrepreneurs Rocket Fuel Web Summit, and Speaker's Playhouse, which provide supportive environments for voices to be heard. We remind you that your story matters, and through sharing it, you can inspire and impact others. Engage with this episode to find the encouragement and tools to break free from limiting beliefs and embrace your full potential.Show NotesKimberly Crowe is a best-selling author, international and inspirational speaker, business coach, founder of Entrepreneurs Rocket Fuel, and co-founder of Speakers Playhouse. Her passion is to get entrepreneurs seen and heard in a bigger way by getting them connected with the stages, the people, and the opportunities they need to grow their revenue and reach, from virtual to in-person stages, live stages, podcasts, web summits, webinars, Facebook Live, and YouTube shows. Entrepreneurs Rocket Fuel is an active community of entrepreneurs looking to connect, contribute, and grow with other entrepreneurs. Speakers Playhouse is a gathering of speakers and stage hosts having fun and sharing their passion. Entrepreneur's Rocket Fuel: https://entrepreneursrocketfuel.comWant to be learn about Positive Shifts? Go here: https://jamicarlacio--checkingout.thrivecart.com/speaker-registration-positive-shifts/Want to learn more about Voices of Women? Go here: https://jamicarlacio--checkingout.thrivecart.com/vow-speaker-registration-2025/Support the showWant to learn how to build your EQ? Let's meet to see if working together is good fit. * Calendar: https://calendly.com/jami-carlacio/virtual-coffee * Email: jami@jamicarlacio.com (mailto:%20jami@jamicarlacio.com * Find out more about my coaching services: https://jamicarlacio.com* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jami-carlacio/* FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/jamicarlacioPQ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamicarlacio1/* YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/jamicarlacio1* TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jcarlacio* Substack: https://substack.com/@eqmaven* I'd appreciate your support the show by buying me a cup of coffee: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2167520/supporters/new

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E#191 Shift Happens: Living a Super-sized Life in Unexpected Mini Moments

Back to Me - Exploring Wellness Your Way with Heather

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2024 28:57

Ready to talk about how to make shift happen in a good way? This is another Podapalooza epsiode and we're talking about the bucket list you never knew you had. Let's create that life you want! Have a listen and share with someone who needs this! J. Lumen knows when life sucks! To feel trapped in the wrong relationship/job due to circumstances, guilt, doubt that it seems impossible to find a way out, while knowing this wasn't the life she deserved. After surviving an unexpected attempt on her life, she began living without regret, created The Unknown Bucket List Approach and as a certified Life Transformation and Empowerment Coach, is on a mission to teach others how to stop tolerating their life and start living, because life is short. Connect with J.Lumen here... https://theunknownbucketlist.com Do you know you want something different for your life but you're feeling a bit lost and not sure where to begin? I have your roadmap! Use this download to begin your process of not only figuring out where you want to go but where you are now so you know which way to go! https://heatherstewart.coach/tlm-map-download Connect with me on FaceBook and Instagram https://www.facebook.com/heatherstewartcoaches https://www.instagram.com/heatherstewartcoaching/ Do you wonder ever wonder if coaching can help? Book a Curiousity Call with me and let's have a conversation https://practice.do/heather-stewart/book/coaching-discovery-call #transformationcoach #transformationfacilitation #coachingcurious #bucketlist #b2m #backtome #back2me #wellnessyourway #prosperityflowcoaching #lifecoach #balancedlife #lifeinbalance #worklifebalance #getoutofyourownway #youdoyou #balancedlifeguide #mindset #mindsetmatters #creatingexpansion #expansioncoach

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E#189 Becoming Soulful

Back to Me - Exploring Wellness Your Way with Heather

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2024 29:29

Are you dimming your light to fit in? Are you afraid to shine too brightly (this is impossible by the way!!) Check out my Podapalooza podcast episode with Michal Spiegelman! Michal is the author of Becoming Soulful: Six Keys for Profound Transformation in Your Therapy, Coaching, or Healing Practice, which is out now! Check out the links below to grab a copy of this great book. She is a certified professional life coach, Reiki master, spiritual mentor, medical intuitive, and social worker, passionate about elevating consciousness in the world, one soul at a time. Michal empowers women and healing professionals alike to become soulful and shine in their personal and professional lives. Connect with Michal here... https://amzn.to/3WPai9H https://www.beaconsofchange.com Do you know you want something different for your life but you're feeling a bit lost and not sure where to begin? I have your roadmap! Use this download to begin your process of not only figuring out where you want to go but where you are now so you know which way to go! https://heatherstewart.coach/tlm-map-download Connect with me on FaceBook and Instagram https://www.facebook.com/heatherstewartcoaches https://www.instagram.com/heatherstewartcoaching/ Do you wonder ever wonder if coaching can help? Book a Curiousity Call with me and let's have a conversation https://practice.do/heather-stewart/book/coaching-discovery-call #soulfulliving #dontdimyourlight #shinebabyshine #coachingforwomen #youareenough #youareabundant #youarebright #shineyourlight #spiritualmentor #lifecoaching #transformationfacilitator #becomesoulful

coaching reiki soulful podapalooza

#40 - Podapalooza 4

The Imposter Podcast AU

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2024 59:16

We made it! This is the fourth instalment of The Imposter Podcast Podapalooza.We're celebrating our incredible journey and epic milestones. Join us as we recap the past few weeks, packed with exclusive new guests, an insightful conversations on overcoming imposter syndrome. Tune in for behind-the-scenes stories, personal reflections, and a deep dive into how far we've come, pushing boundaries and discussing what it means to be part of The Imposter Podcast family. This episode is a testament to our growth, passion, and the extraordinary experiences that make our podcast truly unique. Don't miss it! Imposter Community, thank you so much for listening too and sharing our podcast! Without you, our podcast would not be as successful as it is today. If you would like to further support the podcast, any donations will help cover production costs, travel expenses and upgrading our gear.TO SUPORT THE PODCAST Support the Show.- Please 5 star rate and follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube Music - Like/Follow/Comment/Share ❤️ our socials. We are on Instagram, X & TikTok. -

spotify tiktok podapalooza

E#187 Thriving No Matter What

Back to Me - Exploring Wellness Your Way with Heather

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2024 27:48

This week was the first of a series of conversations I had on Podapalooza. I 'speed dated' a number of wellness individuals who brought some amazing things to enrich our conversations! This week is with Dr. Jill Rosenthal and we're talking about how to establish boundaries in your personal and professional life so you can get your work done and get your life back; and how to get unstuck and do the stuff you need to do. Sounds like something we all need at one time or another! Jill Rosenthal is an award-winning Harvard and Stanford educated physician who retired after a 35+ year career and became certified as a wellness and mindset coach. Her extensive experience and training, coupled with her own transformation from a stressed, overworked, unhealthy physician, wife, and mother into a happy, healthy, thriving coach make her uniquely equipped to help others release unconscious thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that hold them back, so they can create their dream life. Connect with Dr. Jill here... https://www.drjillrosenthal.com/home Do you know you want something different for your life but you're feeling a bit lost and not sure where to begin? I have your roadmap! Use this download to begin your process of not only figuring out where you want to go but where you are now so you know which way to go! https://heatherstewart.coach/tlm-map-download Connect with me on FaceBook and Instagram https://www.facebook.com/heatherstewartcoaches https://www.instagram.com/heatherstewartcoaching/ Do you wonder ever wonder if coaching can help? Book a Curiousity Call with me and let's have a conversation https://practice.do/heather-stewart/book/coaching-discovery-call #lifebalance #joyinthejourney #lifecoachtowomen #findyourbalance #achievegoals #positivemind #lifemoments #lifecoachingtips #mindsetiskey #createyourlife #lifecoachingforwomen #dowhatyoulove #lifeisbeautiful #happylife #lifecoach

harvard thriving stanford no matter podapalooza

Questions About Manipulation, Conferences And More – PTC 501

secret speaker adventures ticket messy human design aligned effective marketing raise your vibe podapalooza visibility expert

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2024 32:02

Do you have questions about your podcast? YOUR QUESTIONS I get questions quite often from coaches and podcasters ranging from building your audience, becoming an influencer and growing your business. On this episode, we answer a variety of questions. Where do I find listeners in my target audience? If we try to control what people think about us, isn't that manipulation? Is it detrimental to skip a week? What is the right mix of relatable and creative for a show? When I promote the show, where should I send people? Are there unwritten protocols for podcast conferences? If you have questions regarding your podcast strategy, email me at Coach at podcasttalentcoach.com. I might just answer your question right here on the show. REFINE YOUR PERSONALITY In a recent email, I wrote... To become a known influencer in your niche, be intentional about your personality. Decide how you want to be known. Are you funny, logical, aggressive, loving, zany, generous, or something else? Be intentional. Then, share stories that show that side of you. Let your listeners get you know you in an authentic way. Nancy replied with this... I'm all of the list you shared and more. That is true for any human being. That is a calling in itself - to live in a way that reminds people to be their full, authentic selves. If we choose one slim aspect, then we are typecasted - and what we share suffers. We really have zero control over what people think of us. If we try to control it, is that not manipulation? I just can't be one thing when I am (and everyone is) the universe in physical form. Have a good day, - Nancy MANIPULATION QUESTIONS Manipulation is a tough word. And it's foolish to think we have zero control over what people think. If that were true, marketing wouldn't work. To be clear, I'm not saying be something that you're not. And I'm not saying don't be something that you are. Yes, you may be all of those things I listed. You may be funny, logical, aggressive, loving, zany, generous, or something else. However, your listeners only have one file to keep you in. We mentally compartmentalize everything, so our brains can handle all of the information. When you think of the Beatles, what do you think of? If you're like most, you think of 4 lads from Liverpool performing their music on stage causing many girls to scream. Why didn't you think movie actors? They did a few movies. You think musicians, because that's their brand. That's the mental folder you have them in. How about Matt Damon? What comes to mind? Oceans Eleven? Jason Bourne? Good Will Hunting? Great actor? Why didn't you think of co-founder of Water.org? https://water.org Because you store him where his brand fits. So you may be funny, logical, aggressive, loving, zany, and generous. But your brand needs to be one. And your role development on your show needs to highlight one of those characteristics. Be intentional about your brand. Otherwise, your listeners will create their own files and put you where they think you belong. FIND YOUR LISTENERS Where to find listeners in my target audience? - Greg The first step in finding your listeners is to get clear who those listeners are. You can't hit a target you can't see. Clearly define as much as you can, both demographically and psychographically. Determine their gender, age, and family composition. But also define their wants, needs, pains and goals. Go as deep as possible. My coach calls it the one inch mile. Go an inch wide and a mile deep. The more you know about your ideal client, the easier it will be to find them. And be specific. I was working with a client the other day. We were defining his ideal client. He said the his ideal client earns between $50k and $80k. I told him those are two very different people. A person making $50k lives a much different lifestyle and has more discretionary income than a person making $80k. $80k is 60% more than $50k. Those two people have much different needs and wants. And they can afford different fees when it comes to paying you. Once you define your ideal client, determine already has their attention. Who is already speaking into their lives? Now, partner with those influencers to speak to their audiences. Invite them to your show. Kimberly Crowe of Podapalooza says never turn down a mic. If you're offered the opportunity to get on stage or on a mic, take it. You'll be attracting listeners before you know it. QUESTIONS ABOUT CONSISTENCY How detrimental is it for you to skip a week in between episode releases OR delay a few days due to time constraints? Leading from that due to time constraints, is it ok to push out for a season, i.e. you are needing to focus on another area of the business so you take a break for a couple of months from your show and then kick back up later in the year? - Tony Brown Lessons From the Pit Consistency is key. People are creatures of habit. Once you get people in the habit of listening to your show, keep them listening by publishing consistently. I would suggest you record a few episodes at one time. This would give you time to take a week off and still publish. Work ahead by a week or two. When you are working on this week's episode this week, any disruption in your schedule can throw off publishing. If you work a week or two ahead, the episode to be published this week is already done. You're working on the episode for next week. If there is any disruption in your schedule, you have a buffer. You can also record an "emergency" episode. This would be an evergreen episode that you could publish when you run into time constraints. I'm not a fan of seasons unless your content lends to seasons. If you do a podcast around a sport, school year, or TV show, seasons might make sense. Most people create content around a topic. When that's the case, seasons make little sense. When you view your podcast as a marketing tool, it becomes easier to find time in your calendar to create your content. If you stop marketing, you stop attracting clients. Block out time, batch your tasks, and schedule production. Create a process, and it will become easier to publish consistently. CREATIVE OR RELATABLE? What is the right mix of relatable and creative for a show? The FreeMatt Podcast freemattpodcast.wordpress.com - Matt FreeMatt Why does it need to be either/or? Why can't it be both? That's like asking what's the ideal balance of short or funny. Why can't it be both? In fact, it should be both. When you create your content, it should be relatable to your ideal listener. Use the ideal listener definition you created as a filter for all of your content. Then, determine who you can be creative with it. What can you do with the content to make it unique? Infuse the content with your story and personality. Brainstorm ways to be creative with it. Could you do an interview or play a game? Maybe you tell a story or play some example audio. You could incorporate listeners or a roundtable of experts. None of this prevents you from being relatable. It should all be relatable. SENDING LISTENERS Right now, I don't have a website for my podcast. When I share an episode (or my podcast in general) on social media, should I link to the podcast host (buzzsprout, libysn, etc.) or to Spotify, Apple podcast, etc.) Or should I send people to a site like pod.link that provides links to everything? Thanks! - Ken "The Bad Boss Podcast" https://pod.link/1689109552 My first preference would be your home base. That would be your website. If you don't have a website, work to get one. You could build a simple site on Wordpress. It takes a bit of technical knowledge, but not much. One great option is PodPage. Find it at https://www.podpage.com. They build websites specifically for podcasters. You should never direct people directly to a podcast platform like Apple or Spotify. The numbers vary. Some reports list Spotify as having 34.4% and Apple 32.5% of podcast listeners. That's according to Buzzsprout as of June 2024. https://www.buzzsprout.com/stats So directing listeners to a particular platform will exclude most of your audience. I do like the idea of directing them to Pod.Link. Unfortunately, it's not easy to send people to pod.link/1689109552 without seeing it in writing. If you are sharing it on social, that link works. If you are mentioning it during an interview, it poses a problem. At the end of the day, you own your website. Don't build your house on rented land. Invest in a website and send your audience there. QUESTIONS ABOUT PODCAST CONFERENCES When should I start going to podcast conferences and when I go, are there any unwritten protocols that should be followed? My #1 goal in attending would be to connect with other podcasters and exchange interviews to grow my email list. -Edwin It's never too early to start attending podcast conferences and networking. Understand that not all conferences are created equal. Podcast Movement is quite large. Over 3,000 people attend each year. https://podcastmovement.com There are many tracks, lots of people, and quite a few networking opportunities. More and more big companies are also attending each year. Podfest is another great conference. Over 3,000 people attend this one each year as well. https://podfestexpo.com Then there are small meet-ups and other podcast events throughout the year. Attending to connect with other podcasters and exchange interviews is a great goal. Connect with the right people. Find shows that are speaking to your ideal target listener. Know exactly who you help. You want hosts to say, "I have those people in my audience. You'd be a great fit." If I tell you my show is for entrepreneurs, what does that mean? Steve Jobs was an entrepreneur. So is my nephew Jimmy running his roofing business off his dining room table. Who are we talking about? On the other hand, I could tell you I help coaches attract their ideal clients by using their podcast to become the known, go-to authority in their niche. Now, that is a lot clearer than simply entrepreneurs. Before you attend a conference, know exactly who you are trying to attract and who would make the ideal partner. PROTOCOL In terms of protocol, don't look for clients. Look for partners. Seek to help first, and you'll do just fine. Get involved in the events. Have conversations in the hallways. Ask questions at every session, so people become familiar with you. When my buddy Rem attended Podcast Movement, he was the first at the mic in every session I attended. By the end of that conference, everyone knew who Rem was and what his podcast was about. It is one tactic most people miss. When they see you on the mic, you'll have more conversations than you can imagine. DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS? If you have questions regarding your podcast strategy, email me at Coach at podcasttalentcoach.com. I might just answer your question right here on the show. You can also apply to have a call with me by filling out the application form at http://www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply.

Raise Your Vibe with Aligned Adventures with Michelle Abraham

The Encore Entrepreneur

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2024 36:31

In today's episode, Lori catches up with visibility expert Michelle Abraham. They reminisce about past encounters and discuss Michelle's career shift from leading a successful podcasting agency to focusing on helping others increase their visibility through aligned adventures and masterminds. Michelle, who embraces a unique off-the-grid lifestyle, shares insights on the importance of creating space for creativity and the courage to pivot in business. The episode also touches on human design, the value of business meditation, and Michelle's event, Pod Palooza. The conversation concludes with mutual appreciation and anticipation for future collaborations and events. Michelle's Free Gift: A free Ticket to come to Podapalooza.com Connect with Michelle:Facebook: Michelle Abraham 2.0 Instagram: Highvibemichelle LinkedIn: Michellee Abraham Resources: Are you frustrated that your business isn't growing? "Messy to Magnetic: Unlocking the Secret to Effective Marketing" is a free course that goes over the top 10 mistakes small business owners make with attracting their ideal client and converting those clients to leads. Click here for your free gift! Join Lori's private Facebook group - Make Your Marketing Simple. Lori interviews her guests in the group (giving you advance listening!) and has a community of small business owners just like yourself to connect and grow their businesses. Join now! Schedule a Website Biz Accelerator call. Answer just a few questions and Lori will audit your website for the ONE biggest change you can make to your site to get more clients. Schedule here! Connect with Lori

BaseballHQ Radio 2024-May-3: Friday Full Edition w Todd Zola and Bill Francis

Baseball HQ Radio

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2024 185:12

Show No. 15 is a Friday Full Edition featuring an expert interview (2:35) with Todd Zola, from Mastersball, ESPN, Rotowire and SiriusXM... Todd and PD talk about the relationship between flyball distance and HRs, about using the latest stats and probabilities, and about what's up with Kevin Gausman ... plus a new approach to Boons and Banes! ... Later, Podapalooza contest winner and 'Regular Joe' Bill Francis (2:18:20) tells PD about his 2024 league, his fantasy research sources, pre- and in-season, and some picks to click for the rest of this season ... In the Market Watch player news report, PD and Ray Murphy discuss hitter and pitcher news from the AL (20:50) and the NL (49:45) ... In the Minor League Minute (2:48:35), BHQ minor leagues analyst/scouting team member Rob Gordon looks at six top prospects including TAM IF Junior Caminero and NYM RHP Christian Scott ... And in the Frequent Flyer (2:52:25), BaseballHQ analyst Alex Beckey looks at PIT RHP Paul Skenes ... Runs 3:05:10

3 Ways to Monetize Podcast Interviews – PTC 470

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2023 28:40

PROMOTE YOU VS PROMOTE YOUR GUEST When interviewing others on your podcast, it can become difficult to tell your story and promote your business. On this episode, we discuss 3 ways to monetize your podcast interviews. CHALLENGE WITH INTERVIEWS Using interviews is a great way to create content on your podcast, because when you create an interview, you don't have to do a lot of the heavy lifting. When you create an interview, you simply need to ask some great questions of your guest and then be a great listener. Allow your guests to tell great stories. It's a super convenient and easy way to create great podcast episodes. The challenge with podcast interviews is finding a way to highlight your expertise and demonstrate your authority on the podcast episode while making your guests look great. Dave Jackson over at the School of Podcasting says, "If you want to grow your influence and authority, do a solo episode. If you want to grow your network, do an interview episode." I prefer to combine the two and do both formats. Occasionally, I'll do solo episodes. Occasionally, I'll do interview episodes. INTERVIEWS CAN BE EFFECTIVE But I don't think those interview episodes need to just be a write-off where you can't demonstrate your expertise and authority in your space while also making your guests look great. It is a benefit to you when you make the guest the star. You benefit by association with the guest. When you make your guest look great, you look great in return. You look great by association. When you interview amazing people on your show, you benefit just by being associated with those great people. But you can't only rely on making the guest look great to drive your business. When Oscar came to me for coaching, he had a great podcast. He is an expert in listening. Oscar Trimboli hosts the podcast Deep Listening - Impact Beyond Words. That's also the name of his book, which is fantastic. During our initial call Oscar said, "I have a podcast. I love doing it. But it's not doing anything to grow my business." Can you relate to that? So many coaches tell me they struggle to attract clients with their podcast. I listened to an episode of Oscar's podcast. He did a great job interviewing his guests because Oscar is a great listener. Of course, he does a great job interviewing. The problem was there was nowhere in the episode where Oscar told me what he did or how I could work with him, And that's the challenge. 3-STEP PROCESS How do you create space for yourself to demonstrate your expertise and authority while making your guests the star and making your guests look great? Create space for yourself by teaching a little bit before you get into the interview. I use a 3-step process. First, record the interview first. Sit down with your guest. Have a fantastic conversation. Make your guest look great during that conversation. Then when the interview is over, record an introduction to the interview. It might last 5 or 10 minutes where you demonstrate your expertise and authority on the subject matter. This introduction could be a broader topic. AN INTERVIEW EXAMPLE On last week's episode, I interviewed Kimberly Crowe. She is an expert when it comes to speaking to sell. Kimberly runs Podapalooza and Speaker's Playhouse. She's fantastic. If you didn't check out the last episode, go back and listen to Episode 469 with Kimberly Crowe "Speaking to Sell". It's amazing. Kimberly does a great interview on speaking to sell. Then I do a little teaching on speaking in general and the different kind of stages you could land for speaking gigs. My teaching a little broader than what Kimberly talks about. I use her as a small micro example of the bigger topic I teach on the episode. You might teach on something and use your interview as a case study for what you just taught. Take 5 to 10 minutes before the interview begins to demonstrate your expertise and your authority before you get into the interview. Once you get your teaching done, you can allow your guests to shine. You've already done your work and heavy lifting. The teaching allows you to make yourself the authority and the expert in your space. The teaching directs people to your call to action, getting them to your lead magnet, getting them to on your email list. Do that all up front before you get into the interview. Now the interview can still allow you to grow your network. It can still allow you to create great relationships with your guests. But it also allows you to demonstrate your expertise and authority in each and every episode. So what are the 3 big ways you can use interviews to monetize and grow your business? AUDIENCE TO CLIENTS The first way to monetize interviews is to monetize your audience. Turn your audience into clients. Sell your own stuff. When you get great guests on your show, demonstrate what it is that you have to offer, and lead your listeners to doing business with you. I discovered 6 reasons your podcasts don't make money, and the very first reason is you don't have anything to sell. If you don't have anything to sell, it's difficult for you to make money. NO SPONSORS A lot of podcasters come to me and they say, "Erik, I wanna generate some revenue with my podcast." I say, "Fantastic. How do you wanna do that?" And they say, "I want to sell ads and sponsorships." That is the worst way you could monetize your podcast. You do not want to clutter up your show with ads and sponsors. There are four reasons ads and sponsorships are bad for your podcast. LARGE AUDIENCE First, ads require a very large audience. Over 5,000 downloads per episode is usually what it takes to land a sponsor for your show or sell advertising. This threshold is especially true if you're working with the larger ad agencies. They want podcasts that are over that 5,000 downloads per episode in order to be in that stratosphere to sell ads and sponsors for your show. According to podcast audio host Libsyn, only 7% of all podcasts on Libsyn achieve that number. That means 93% of all podcasts on Libsyn don't hit the 5,000 download per episode number. It's very hard to sell ads and sponsors when you're not over that number. So, the 93% of us that aren't over that number need to find Some other way to monetize. That would be selling your own stuff. TOO MUCH TIME The second reason that podcasts, suffer when it comes to ads and sponsors is that selling ads requires a lot of time and energy to get out and sell an ad or a sponsor. Let's look at radio. A radio station has a staff of 15 or 20, each working 40 hours a week to sell advertising on the radio station. You don't have that kind of time. And then once you sell the ad or the sponsor, you then have to go do it again and again and again. Even if you sell them for a quarter or for a year, you still have to go out and do it again. If you create your own stuff and you sell listeners into a recurring revenue model like a membership, then you sell them once and you're making money over and over again. When you create a course, you do the work once and it generates revenue over and over again without you having to do the work again. And it's much easier to sell a course than it is to sell advertising and sponsorships. TOO MUCH CLUTTER The third reason that ads and sponsors are bad for your podcast is because it clutters up your show. Studies of traditional media, television and radio show people are fleeing traditional media. They want to get away from all of the commercials on radio. People are running toward podcasting because there isn't the quantity of ads and sponsors that you find on traditional media. I was listening to Brendon Burchard's podcast the other day. I love Brendon's content, but my finger started to get sore from fast forwarding through all the commercials. His podcast had probably four minutes at the beginning, another four minutes in the middle, and another four minutes at the end. I had to fast forward through all of them, because it clutters up the content. I just want to listen to the show. That's why I enjoy podcasting. I can get away from the deluge of ads and sponsors. Now if Brendon were just selling his programs, I wouldn't have a problem. His programs are great. I've invested in many of his programs. But, I don't need to hear ads about Kajabi and all the other stuff that he has in there. 12 minutes of commercials doesn't make for an enjoyable experience. THE CEILING Finally, ads put a limit on the amount of revenue you can generate. That makes it bad for your podcast. All of that work you put into creating great content and all of the work you put into selling a sponsor, only to limit the amount of revenue you can generate. Even look at Brendon. It is one of the biggest podcasts in the business spectrum, and he has twelve commercials on his podcast. Twelve is overload, and he's only got 12. How much money can you possibly make on an annual basis if it's limiting your inventory? You have a ceiling on the amount of revenue you can generate. SELL YOUR STUFF So instead of ads and sponsors, market your own stuff. Use your podcast as a marketing tool for your products and services. If you're going to advertise anything, advertise your stuff. Or at least an affiliate product so you're getting paid every time a product sells. CURRENT CLIENTS To use interviews to turn your audience into clients and generate revenue, interview current clients. Interview clients who have already gone through the transformation that you offer. Have a conversation with current clients about where they were, the transformation they experienced, and where they are today. You talk about the transformation you offer, and then invite your listeners to come experience that same transformation by becoming your client. Shane and Jocelyn Sams host the Flip Lifestyle podcast. It is mostly Shane now. Jocelyn in there occasionally. The 2 of them are a husband and wife team. They run the Flip Lifestyle membership. I believe the Flip Lifestyle podcast is now transitioning into the Make Money Online podcast. He changes it every now and then. On the podcast, Shane typically interviews current members of the Flip Lifestyle community. They talk about where the guest was when they started building their membership. Shane asks the guest about their experience and transformation going through the Flip Lifestyle community. They talk about what did they discovered, what they learned, the things they implemented, their transformation, and finally where they are today. He talks about all of these great individuals who create these fantastic memberships and make a ton of money online. Then he invites his listeners to come and join the community. It's a pretty simple process. Turn listeners into clients by interviewing current clients and demonstrating the transformation those current clients have experienced. It's a great way to turn your interviews into revenue. Interview current clients and show your audience the transformation you offer. Invite the audience to come and work with you. That is the first way to monetize podcast interviews. Monetize your audience. INTERVIEW POTENTIAL CLIENTS The second way to monetize podcast interviews is to turn your guests into clients. Interview potential guests. If you do strategy calls or discovery calls for your coaching business, this is a fantastic way to turn those calls into interviews and convert clients. Instead of just doing a generic interview on your podcast, invite prospects to be on your podcast. Give them a free coaching session. That coaching session is your strategy session or your discovery call, and it allows you to start building the relationship with your guests to turn them into a clients. How often do you struggle with getting people on your strategy call or on your discovery call? When you invite people to be a guest on your podcast, the perception of the sales call fades away. OPEN DOORS Zoë Routh is an expert on people stuff. She helps businesses break down the silos, so different departments work better together. When Zoë came to me, we talked about her podcast and how she could make it more effective. I asked Zoë how many downloads she was getting. She said, "I have no idea." I said, "Really? You don't know what your downloads are? I thought we were all obsessed about our downloads." Zoë said, "Yeah. I'm not really worried about it. That's not how I use my podcast." She expanded on that a bit. Zoë continued, "I use my podcast just to open doors to potential clients who wouldn't normally take my call." In her consulting business, Zoë works with high level CEOs to help them restructure their business. They break down the walls of the silos, and help departments work better together. Zoë told me, "A lot of times, those CEOs are busy and don't have time to take my call or meet for coffee for a sales pitch. So instead, I call and I invite them to be a guest on my podcast." She said, "It makes it a lot easier to get past the gatekeeper. It makes it a lot easier to have a conversation with that CEO, and it makes it a lot easier to start building a relationship with that individual. So I use the interviews as a way to open doors to potential clients." I thought that was absolutely brilliant. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS Now, Zoë has the opportunity to have a conversation with the CEO when she invites that CEO on the podcast as the guest. Next, she has a conversation with the CEO on a pre-call. Then she has the interview with the CEO, so she's on for a third time having that conversation. Finally when the episode is ready to publish, Zoë has a fourth conversation with the CEO. On this call, she explains to them how the episode is published, how they might share it, and how they might benefit from it. At this point, she's had four conversations with that CEO before they ever even start talking about doing business together. She's building the relationship. By the time she's done with that fourth call, they are ready to talk about working together. Now they know each other. They have a bit of a rapport going on. That CEO is much more likely to have that conversation and take that meeting with Zoë than they were if it were just a cold call. She uses her in her interviews to turn guests into clients. And here's the benefit. When you do it this way, it also accomplishes that first way to monetize by turning listeners into clients. When you interview a potential client, and you give them that coaching call or that discovery call or that clarity call, it also shows your listeners what is possible by working with you. It shows listeners what it's like to sit down and have a discovery call with you. When you invite listeners to a discovery call, they understand how it works and what it looks like. Show listeners what's possible by interviewing potential clients. INTERVIEW PARTNERS Finally, the third way to monetize your podcast interviews is to interview joint venture partners. Interview partners who can put you in front of your ideal target listener, and interview partners who have great opportunities for your audience. Interviewing partners will help you generate affiliate income by marketing what your JV partner has to offer. But, it also gives you a platform and a stage to swap with that joint venture partner so they can put you on their stage and give you an opportunity to make your offer to their audience. You win twice. YOUR JV PACKAGE Marc Mawhinney is the host of Natural Born Coaches podcast. It's a great podcast. He was my coach for awhile, and he's fantastic. Marc also runs the Coaching Jungle. It's a Facebook group of about 25,000 members. To generate revenue with his interviews. Marc does a really unique joint venture program. It's called the flat fee JV. He charges joint venture partners a flat fee. When you typically work with a joint venture partner, you get a commission from everything that sells through your affiliate link. You interview JV partners on your show. They make an offer through your affiliate link. Whenever somebody buys through that affiliate link, you get a commission. It's pretty cut and dry. Nobody loses in that situation. When people buy, you get paid. If people don't buy, you don't get paid. When people buy, your JV partner wins because people enroll. If people don't buy, your JV partner doesn't lose because they are not out any money. That's how a typical joint venture partnership works. FLAT FEE JV With Marc's flat fee JV, people pay him one flat fee. In that flat fee, you get an entire package. The flat fee JV package includes an interview on his podcast. He hosts a webinar for his entire community featuring you. You are allowed to post in his Coaching Jungle Facebook group. Plus, Marc does a few Facebook live videos with you in the Facebook group, and you're included in his daily email. It's all in a complete package. You get it for all for one flat fee. So you pay him, you get all of that marketing, and he only gets paid the flat fee. You keep all revenue generated. The downside to Marc is that there's no increase in affiliate commissions. He doesn't make more the more people buy. He just delivers on his promise, and he gets one flat fee. So, his revenue is capped, but there's also a floor. He doesn't make any more. He doesn't make any less. It's pretty steady income. On the JV partner side, there's a risk that people don't buy anything and you're out your flat fee. But, there's also an upside that if people buy more than what the flat fee cost you, you keep all of it. It is a great upside, but it's also a great way to leverage interviews to help joint venture partners and to help make money. Now, you can do the flat fee JV like Marc does. Or, you can do a traditional joint venture partnership where you interview partners. Whenever somebody buys, you make a a commission. TRADITIONAL JV PARTNERSHIP Sadie and Sausha over at Meathead Test Kitchen do this. I help them launch their podcast. They talk about all the stuff they love in health and fitness On the podcast, they direct people to their website to buy all of the stuff they talk about. On their website are all the affiliate links to buy all of the great stuff they talk about. This is a great way to leverage partnerships to generate revenue through interviews as well. Sadie and Sausha interview health experts and people who've invented things in the health and fitness industry. They interview those experts about their products and services. Finally, Sadie and Sausha offer those products and services on their website through their affiliate link, and they make great money there. YOUR STAGE It's just one way to leverage partnerships. It also gives you that stage. When you're talking to somebody about putting you in front of their audience so you can attract your ideal clients, you now have a stage you can put them on. You can put partners on your stage in front of your audience, your stage being your podcast. Get them exposure to your audience. You both win. This is a great way to leverage podcast interviews to grow partnerships and monetize your podcast interviews. THE THREE WAYS Those are your 3 ways to monetize podcast interviews. The first is you can turn your audience into clients. The second way is turn your guests into clients. And the third way is to interview partners and generate, revenue through commissions and affiliate fees. So, get in there and refine your interviews. Refine the way you conduct interviews. Set up that little, space at the beginning. Leave space for yourself to demonstrate your expertise and your authority in your space so you get people to understand how you are the expert before you get into the interview. Demonstrating your authority at the beginning will allow you to shine the spotlight on your guest, and make them look great without having to figure out how to weasel your way in and make yourself look great. Just get in there and show them what you do. EXPERIMENT Select your favorite way to leverage your interviews for revenue and get started with it this week. You may need to Experiment with 1 or 2 of these to see what works, to see which ones you like. Monetizing your audience might take a little longer than monetizing your guests. But when you monetize your audience, you have more than one person in your audience that could become a client. When you're monetizing your guest, it's just the one person sitting across from you that could become a client. However, that one person sitting across from you might become a client much faster than the audience will become a client. The audience is a little further away in terms of relationship. It's going to take longer to nurture them and move them along to be your client. So one comes with speed, figure out which one you want. It's quality or quantity. Experiment, and see what works. The the biggest thing I can recommend is that you get started today. This week when you're creating your next interview episode, decide how you want to monetize that interview. Start doing one of these 3 strategies. You'll start generating revenue In the right way, in a in a powerful way. Just get started and take some action. NEXT WEEK... MINDSET Next week on the show, we will talk to Merri-jo Hillaker about mindset. Where are you in your mindset? I know that little voice inside your head creeps in and starts talking about all of the things that could go wrong. The voice tells you why you're not the right person to do it. We all struggle with that little voice in our head. We're gonna help you beat that back next week. Merri-jo Hillaker has some great tips for us when it comes to mindset and achieving all that we want to achieve. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

Why You Don't Have Bigger Downloads – PTC 468

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2023 30:29

ARE BIGGER DOWNLOADS THE RIGHT QUESTION? There was a post in a podcasting Facebook group the other day wondering why they don't have bigger downloads. The download challenge hits all of us. So, let's overcome that struggle. The post said, "We have recently launched our 6th episode and have been running for 6 weeks now. My downloads have not even hit 500 yet. I feel like there is something else I should be doing." As you can imagine, the Facebook crowd was quick to offer their opinion along with their exaggerated download numbers. First, let's look at the issues with the question. Then, we can talk about the solutions. THE 7 ISSUES There are seven big issues when asking about your downloads. Not all downloads are equal. Be careful when you are comparing your internal numbers with the public numbers of others. You typically are not comparing apples to apples. The niche and target are different. Your content and personality are different. The longevity and experience are different. So, let's look at why you shouldn't be ask this question in the first place. BUILD IT FOR BIGGER DOWNLOADS My best friend and I recently drove to Detroit to see my son play in a hockey showcase. He rocked it. As we were passing Cedar Rapids, Iowa, we saw the exit to Dyersville, Iowa. It is the place there they filmed the movie Field of Dreams. In the movie, the owner of a farm is told, "If you build it, they will come." He builds a baseball diamond in his cornfield. Soon, ghosts of baseball legends come to play. They attract a huge audience and reunite the farmer with his dad. Unfortunately, if you build it they will come only happens in the movies. You need to promote your podcast to build your audience. Just because you've published your show, don't believe your audience will automatically grow. Take action each week to methodically get in front of new listeners who aren't aware of you. SOCIAL MEDIA One commenter on the Facebook post suggested social media. That's only part of the answer. To grow your audience, you need to attract new listeners while keeping your currently listeners coming back episode after episode. Feed both sides of the equations. There is a problem trying to grow with social media. Those people already know you. Unless you are spending money on ads, organic social media won't do much to help you reach new listeners and get bigger downloads. APPLES TO APPLES We talked a little about comparing yourself to others. Your bigger downloads aren't equal to bigger downloads of others. You can't compare yourself to everyone else. Your show and niche are different. You don't know where they are starting. If someone launches a show after building a Facebook group of 25,000, they are much further ahead after six episodes than you will be. It's not the same. QUALITY BIGGER DOWNLOADS When you are seeking bigger downloads, look for quality over quantity. It is much more important to have 100 people who love everything you do and buy everything you offer than it is having 1,000 people who are just curious. There are three levels of prospects. You have those that are intrigued, those that are interested, and those that are invested. Prospects that are intrigued are kicking the tires to see what's available. They aren't anywhere close to being fully committed to solving their problem. Those that are interested have taken that first step. They are aware of their problem and are seeking a solution. Interested people may have given you their email address or registered for a webinar. They may have even subscribed to your podcast. Then, you have the invested people. These are prospects actively spending money on their solution. If you have an audience full of invested people, it can be much smaller and much more profitable than an audience of intrigued people. PERSPECTIVE Next, keep your bigger downloads in perspective. According to audio hosting company Libsyn, the median number of downloads of all podcast episodes that were released between 30 and 60 days ago is typically around 150. (If you'd like to host on Libsyn, visit https://libsyn.com/ and use the coupon code PTC to get your first month free.) The median is the middle. If you stack all downloads smallest to largest, the median is the number right in the middle. There are 50% more and 50% fewer. Let's assume the 6th episode of this particular podcast was recently released. The number of downloads wouldn't be included, because it is just beginning to get downloaded. So, this podcast is getting nearly 100 downloads an episode and it's brand new. 100 downloads is pretty good considering the median is 150. Keep it in perspective. BIGGER DOWNLOADS TAKE TIME With that being said, the next challenge is time. It has only been 6 weeks. This show is brand new and you are already at 500 downloads. Give it time to grow. Have you ever planted tomatoes? In the spring, we put in six tomato plants. They grew and grew with no tomatoes. Finally, late July arrives. It has been about 10 weeks since putting the plants in the ground. Temperatures get up to around 100 Fahrenheit. Next thing you know, we can't keep up with all the tomatoes on the plants. In early August, we were picking tomatoes everyday. There were so many. Looking for bigger downloads six weeks after you launch is like walking out to your garden six weeks after planting and wondering why you don't have anything ready to pick. Give it time. PATIENCE Finally, podcasting takes patience. Enjoy the journey. One commenter said podcasting has taught them patience. This is probably the wisest comment I've seen on Facebook. He who enjoys walking will walk much farther than he who enjoys the destination. Regardless of where you are, there will always be bigger downloads. Enjoy the journey. 7 WAYS TO GET BIGGER DOWNLOADS Now, let's talk about getting bigger downloads. Just because you shouldn't be comparing yourself to others doesn't mean you shouldn't be working to get bigger downloads. There are a variety things you can do to grow your audience. Remember to seek quality over quantity as you consistently do the work to grow. NEW LISTENERS First, remember the two sides of the equation. You must get new listeners in addition to keeping your current listeners coming back. Find ways to get in front of people who don't know you. Invite them to your email list, so you can nurture the relationship. You can then email those people each time you release a new episode. RETURNERS Next, keep your current listeners coming back week after week. You need to effectively tease your next episode. Email your list and remind people to listen. Post on social media to let your following know about the new episode. If you don't keep current listeners coming back, it's like putting water into a bucket with holes in the bottom. No matter how much water you add, you bucket won't remain full. PARTNER FOR BIGGER DOWNLOADS The third thing you need to do to create bigger downloads is collaborate. Find partners who are already talking to your ideal listeners. Collaborate with those partners to get in front of their audience. Too many people approach business with a scarcity mentality. They think if they introduce another expert to their audience, their clients will leave and go to the other expert. Business doesn't usually work that way. Many clients use multiple experts. If you have someone helping with your podcast, you might have somebody else helping with your website and a third coaching you around your sales. Find partners who serve the same audience in a different way. INTERVIEWS Next, get bigger downloads by getting interviewed. Get on other podcasts. Podcast listeners listen to podcasts. Fish where the fish are. I know it sounds basic. Podcast listeners listen to podcasts. But, are you leveraging that opportunity? The average podcast listener consumes about 7 different shows each week. Roughly 30% of podcast listeners consume over 11 different shows on a weekly basis. Just because they are listening to another show doesn't prevent them from listening to you. Get interviewed. GET PEOPLE TALKING If you want to get bigger downloads, create word of mouth. Get people talking about you. To create word of mouth, create great content that people will talk about. Spend time creating great episodes. Determine the biggest challenges of your audience, and then help your audience solve those problems. CONSISTENCY LEADS TO BIGGER DOWNLOADS Next, be consistent. People are creatures of habit. Show up in their life every week and become a habit. You do this by consistently publishing at the same time every week. You also need to consistently promote your show. Appear in the lives of your listeners on a consistent basis. Select your three primary promotional vehicles, and work on them regularly. OPPORTUNITIES FOR BIGGER DOWNLOADS Finally, never pass up a mic. If someone offers you an opportunity to get in front of their audience, take it. When it comes to bigger downloads, I'm more concerned with the quality of the audience than the size of the audience. I've landed a $20,000 client by speaking to a group of six. You never know when you'll find that perfect client. Never pass up a mic. GET YOUR BIGGER DOWNLOADS When it comes to bigger downloads, have a strategy. First, don't compare yourself to others. Simply work to grow. Next, have a system that you can execute consistently. Then, get new listeners to come while keeping your current listeners coming back. Finally, be consistent. NEXT WEEK Next week I'm going to help you get in front of new listeners. We will talk with Kimberly Crowe. She is the founder of Speakers Playhouse and Podapalooza, which is a great way to get yourself interviewed. You can learn more about Podapalooza at www.podcasttalentcoach.com/podapalooza. Kimberly will talk with us about landing speaking opportunities and speaking to sell. That's all next week. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

9 Things Your Podcast Makes Possible – PTC 464

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2023 19:42

Your podcast and content provide amazing opportunities for you and your business. Just think of the things you've been able to do, because you have a podcast. Today, I want to share 9 amazing things your podcast makes possible. SUMMIT I have a powerful way to deep dive each of these ideas. As an entrepreneur, you know better than anyone what it takes to run your business, much less produce a successful podcast every week. With more podcasts to choose from now more than ever, imagine if you could get all your questions answered in one place. How great would it be getting the step-by-step help you need to position your podcast to stand out and rise above the rest? Imagine what that could mean for the future of your podcast and your business. I'm bringing together 24 amazing experts to help you make that a reality. We will have conversations around all the questions you've been asking. Register for the Podcast Profits Summit for free to get these questions and more answered. Get registered at http://www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/summit. It's happening online November 2-4, 2023. I have gathered outstanding experts from every aspect of podcasting and online business. Join us to discover how to transform your podcast into a huge success. You'll receive practical and tangible podcasting strategies including how to build, market, monetize, and grow your show as I interview these 24 experts one by one. It doesn't matter how many podcasts are out there. Your podcast has the ability to outshine the rest. Plus when you upgrade to VIP, you'll receive VIP gifts from the top experts who are joining me, a recording of the entire summit, and two resources from me. To register for Podcast Profits Summit, visit http://www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/summit. I can't wait to see you there. Let's dive into the 9 things your podcast makes possible. These are 9 of the 24 summit session you'll enjoy at the Podcast Profits Summit. SHARE YOUR MESSAGE First, you podcast allows you to share your message and leave your impact on the world. Your listeners get to hear your voice, experience your passion, and get impacted by your expertise. You have a message to share. People need what you know. Your podcast makes that possible. Janelle Anderson will join us on the Podcast Profits Summit with "How to Ensure Your Message Isn't Just Heard, But Felt". This is how you make your impact on the world by sharing your message. Known as the Speaking Confidence Coach for coaches, Janelle is a Certified Professional Coach, author, and renowned speaker. Janelle is on a mission to empower coaches to launch on a strong foundation of clear messaging aimed at the audience most aligned with their passions and strengths, then grow their business through masterful speaking and storytelling. YOUR PASSION Next, your podcast allows you to build a business around something you love. As the old saying goes, "Do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life." Your podcast gives you the opportunity to build your business around that one thing you love. Jeanette Shorey taught music in schools for over 2 decades. She now hosts Stories That Sing. Her community is called the Happy Music Teacher. It is full of resources and community for elementary music teachers all promoted by her podcast. During the Podcast Profits Summit, Jeanette will talk about building a business around your passion. DISCOVERY Third, your podcast helps you get discovered. So many coaches come to me struggling to build their audience. How do I get more listeners, more downloads, more clients? When you build it right, your podcast can be a powerful tool to get you discovered. Search engine optimization is often mysterious to many people. It doesn't need to be that way. With a few of the right tools and strategies, you can show up in searches and get discovered using your podcast. On the Podcast Profit Summit, Daniel J. Lewis will join us with "Make Your Podcast Discoverable with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)". Daniel is the host of "The Audacity to Podcast". You'll definitely want to catch this session. Remember, going VIP on the summit will get you the recordings of every session of the summit along with other amazing resources. THE TOP OF YOUR FUNNEL Next, your podcast can sit at the top of your funnel. To grow your business, your client needs a path to follow. We call it the funnel. You offer free content to give people a taste of what you do. Get people to take action by allowing them to download a free resource in exchange for their name and email address. We call this the lead magnet. After nurturing the relationship through your email list, you make an offer to your audience and turn them into clients. Your podcast is the top of that funnel. This is where you give listeners that free content. Your podcast makes your funnel possible. Trent True will join us on the Podcast Profits Summit to discuss how to demystify your podcast funnel. ATTRACT IDEAL CLIENTS The fifth thing your podcast makes possible is attracting ideal clients. We talk about this a ton on Podcast Talent Coach. Your podcast makes powerful conversations possible every week. There are few things more powerful than being in the ear of a person having a one-on-one conversation sharing your stories. This is how people get to know, like and trust you. If you want to get more clients for your business, your podcast will make that possible. I am giving you that during the Podcast Profits Summit. It is called "5 Ways to Attract Your Ideal Clients with Your Podcast". BUILD RAPPORT TO MAKE SALES Next, your podcast makes more sales possible. There are many ways to make sales. Being authentic, building rapport, and getting others to help are three important pieces to that process. Collaboration is an amazing way to get in front of more potential clients and make sales. Jim Padilla is my coach and will bring "Leveraging the Power of Collaboration to Make Sales" to the Podcast Profits Summit. Jim is the founder and CEO of Gain the Edge and host of the "Opportunity Makers" podcast. This is definitely a conversation you'll want to revisit again and again. You can do that when you go VIP for the Podcast Profits Summit. All VIPs get recordings of all the sessions. You also get VIP gifts from the speakers, my guide to attracting clients, and my course "How To Crush Your Next Podcast Interview Like A Radio Pro". Get registered and go VIP at http://www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/summit. STAGES Things your podcast makes possible number 7 is speaking opportunities. Your podcast is like a demo reel. Not only can you attract stage owners, you can also show them what you do and how you do it. Being on stage is a great way to get in front of potential clients. There are a variety of stages. Get on stages and turn those audiences into clients. Kimberly Crowe is the host of Speakers Playhouse and Podapalooza. She brings us "How Coaches and Entrepreneurs Can Instantly Profit By Speaking on Four Types of Stages" during the Podcast Profits Summit. JV OPPORTUNITIES Next, your podcast makes joint venture opportunities possible. You now have a stage to share with other experts. The can interview you on their stages in return. You can also promote joint venture partners and make affiliate commissions. Marc Mawhinney runs the Coaching Jungle. It is a group of over 25,000 on Facebook. Marc also does joint venture in a unique way. He also hosts the podcast "Natural Born Coaches". He will share his process with us during "Creating Unique and Powerful Joint Ventures" on the Podcast Profits Summit. MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME Finally, your podcast makes possible multiple streams of income. Your podcast sits at the center of your business. The podcast can feed multiple other revenue streams. It could be speaking, writing, coaching, courses, and a variety of other streams. You simply need to build it properly. Dan Miller is author of 48 Days to the Work You Love. He hosts the podcast of the same name and runs the 48 Days Eagles Community. Dan's podcast sits at the center of his revenue universe. He will show us how he does it during "Creating Multiple Streams of Income With Your Podcast". It's all part of the Podcast Profits Summit. SO MUCH IS POSSIBLE These are just 9 of the 24 amazing sessions you'll experience during the Podcast Profits Summit. You can register for free at http://www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/summit. Imagine getting all your questions answered in one place over three days. How great would it be getting the step-by-step help you need to position your podcast to stand out and rise above the rest? Imagine what that could mean for the future of your podcast and your business. This event is going to be a ton of fun. I'm bringing together 24 amazing experts to help you make that a reality. This isn't your typical talking head type of summit. I'll be having powerful conversations with each of these experts asking the same questions you would ask if you were sitting in front of them yourself. Register for the Podcast Profits Summit for free to get these questions and more answered. Get registered at http://www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/summit. I can't wait to see you there. If you don't have a mentor who can take your hand and walk you every step of the way, go to www.PodcastTalentCoach.com/apply, click the button and apply to have a chat with me. We will develop your plan and see how I can help and support you to achieve your podcast goals.

Episode 154 – Unstoppable Profitability and Growth Advisor with Candy Messer

The Find Your Leadership Confidence Podcast with Vicki Noethling

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2023 65:36

So what the heck is a “profitability and growth advisor”? Candy will tell us. Actually, she has run her own bookkeeping business for nearly 19 years. What makes her story interesting today is that her business is all virtual. She has a staff of nine spread over four states. As she will tell us, she even began this process before the pandemic. Until just a few years ago Candy Messer lived totally in California. As the pandemic grew she and her husband decided to move to Tennessee where their children and grandchildren lived. Can't have a better reason than that. During our conversation, Candy will generously give us some sound business advice. She is a person who is willing to share. She also has a podcast where she interviews business experts on a wide variety of topics. Candy is an unstoppable entrepreneur by any standard. I hope you love this episode as much as I. About the Guest: Candy Messer is a profitability and growth advisor working with entrepreneurs in service-based industries to help them have successful businesses. With experience in the bookkeeping industry since 1998, Candy understands the stresses business owners face and offers customized services to meet their varying needs. Her company energizes business owners by removing the burden of compliance tasks as well as working with them to identify issues preventing higher profitability and/or growth. As a result of using her services, clients have peace of mind and the freedom to do what they love. Candy was named Woman of the Year for 2009-2010 by the Peninsula Chapter of the American Business Women's Association, and 2011 Entrepreneur Mom of the Year by Today's Innovative Woman magazine. In 2012, the El Camino College Foundation honored her as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year. Affordable Bookkeeping and Payroll was named 2016 Small Business of the Year by the Torrance Chamber and Intuit's (creator of QuickBooks software) 2016 Firm of the Future. Candy is co-author of Business Success With Ease, Navigating Entrepreneurship, and Yes, God, and is the host of the “Biz Help For You” podcast which can be found on YouTube, as well as multiple podcast channels. Candy has been married since 1992 to her husband Garth and they have a son, daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons with another due in June. When not running her company, Candy enjoys reading, crocheting, logic puzzles and spending time with friends and family. You can find out more information about Affordable Bookkeeping and Payroll Services at www.abandp.com. Ways to connect with Candy: www.abandp.com https://www.youtube.com/c/CandyMesser https://www.facebook.com/AffordableBookkeepingAndPayroll/ https://twitter.com/AffordableBP https://www.linkedin.com/in/candymesser/ Free guide to financial lingo. https://affordablebookkeepingandpayroll.com/free-report/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Welcome to another edition of unstoppable mindset today, we get to chat with Candy Messer now candy and I kind of met at one of the PodaPalooza events. We've talked about that here on unstoppable mindset in the past and PodaPalooza is one of those things that people go to who have podcasts and are looking for people to interview people who want to be interviewed on podcasts, or people who are just learning about podcasts. And it's an adventure. So all of that happens. Isn't it fun? I've gone to all of them, including this last one candy spin to most of them. And I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about with podcasts and all that. But Candy Welcome to unstoppable mindset. Candy Messer ** 02:07 Thank you. I'm glad to be here. Michael Hingson ** 02:09 Well, thank you for for joining us and looking forward to having some fun. So why don't we start, if you will, by you telling us a little bit about kind of the early candy, what got you started school or any of those kinds of things, you know, sort of like always start at the beginning and go from there. Candy Messer ** 02:27 Sure. Well, I was like born and raised in Southern California live there pretty much my whole life until 2021, where I was able to relocate because I have my daughter and her family live now in Tennessee, and I had two grandchildren, I'm about to have a third. So I wanted to be close to them. And the pandemic actually allowed that to happen. I've been working in my business remotely for many, many years, probably at least a decade, I had the ability to work from anywhere as needed. But it was finally when that happened that clients were aware, right that we didn't have to be in the same location. And so many years ago, I never intended to be a business owner. I was a full charge bookkeeper for a publishing company, and somebody who knew what I did said, please help me with my husband's business because I have to pay the bills and invoice and reconcile and all of that. And I don't mind doing the basic stuff. But I hate especially reconciling. And so that's kind of how I got started because she kept bugging me and I finally agreed to help her. And then I had to get some more clients because I had things that I had to pay for my own business that you know, I had to cover my expenses that one client, you know, wasn't going to do. And then after helping her for a couple years, my husband basically said, quit your job, do your own thing. People enjoy what you do. And that was basically in 2004 When I left the full time job and gave up that guaranteed paycheck, which was a little bit scary. So but I enjoy on a personal level, like reading, crocheting, logic, puzzles, things like that, but I don't have as much time to do that since I am an entrepreneur and work more than I probably should. But I have a staff as well that I want to make sure that we keep the business going so I can continue to support them to Michael Hingson ** 04:31 we're in Southern California, where are you from? Candy Messer ** 04:34 So I was born and raised basically in the South Bay LA County. And so I lived basically most of my life right in those same cities like Torrance, San Pedro, you know, I lived in Harbor City and Gardena for a bit too, but I would say like Torrance in San Pedro where I spent the majority of my time. Michael Hingson ** 04:54 Well, then you know where I live. We live in Victorville. Candy Messer ** 04:56 Yes, I've been through there my son actually well, both my kids is played club soccer. And you of course you travel in all different places. And so we'd been out in that direction a few times, even for tournaments or, you know, League Cup or state cup, things like that. Michael Hingson ** 05:12 Hit believe how Victorville has grown over the years I grew up in Palmdale. And as I love to tell people, it was hardly even a blip on the radar scope compared to Palmdale when I was growing up. And we came back down here in 2014. And my gosh, there were at that time, 115,000 people in Victorville alone, much less the whole Victor Valley area, it's kind of crazy. Candy Messer ** 05:37 It became more affordable to for people who really wanted to get into California, but couldn't afford the bigger cities, you know, and so they'd go into those outlying areas. And that's kind of what brought those other cities to be more populated as well. Michael Hingson ** 05:52 Yeah. And I think it's continuing to grow it is it's an interesting place. It's a politically wise, a very conservative area, compared to a lot of California. But it's contributed to the economy. So what what else can nobody asked for? It? Exactly. So what caused you to or Well, why did you actually move to Tennessee specifically, that because that's where kids were or what? Candy Messer ** 06:23 Right, so when the pandemic hit my daughter and son in law, were actually living in Ecuador, they had been there since 2018. And when COVID came, you know, basically, their country shut down within seven hours, it was they were told, get out now, or you'll be here for an indefinite period of time. And they hadn't originally thought of leaving, but things just shut down so severely, and they had no transportation, transportation wasn't even running there. It was hard to do anything. And the US government was putting together periodically relief flights out where they were getting some of their citizens back to the United States. And so at one point, they had a flight they were able to get on, and it was basically bring, you know, two suitcases of stuff with you. And then you had no choice where you're going. It was literally a flight from Quito to Fort Lauderdale. And so basically, when they were coming back, there was not really a lot of places that they could be at the time, my husband and I were in an apartment in Torrance and didn't have a ton of space, but they were with us for about two months. But my son in law, his grandparents said, we have a room in our home, you know, you could come stay with us. And then they ended up in the long run, finding a home that they're able to purchase on their own as well. And so they were able to be around family. And it just worked out because now in this little area, my son in law has his grandparents and parents, and who also relocated here. And then we are now here. And so there's both sides of the family in one place. And for me, I value family so much I really wanted to be around my grandchildren wanted to see them grow up and not just see faces on a screen. And so I get to be around and see their development and help my daughter when you know she needs some Michael Hingson ** 08:20 help. We're in Tennessee. Candy Messer ** 08:24 We're in the north eastern area close to the Smoky Mountains. So I said basically, Virginia is about an hour north of us and North Carolina's 20 to 30 minutes to the east. So right up in that little corner. So it's beautiful here, I love it. I mean, I've left you know, California to it was amazing, like weather and the view. I mean, from where I lived, we could still see mountains, we could go to the beach, we can go the desert if we wanted to. But it definitely is gorgeous here as well. And I really have adapted well, you know, to the move. Michael Hingson ** 08:57 What do you find different about living in Tennessee as opposed to California from cultural and other kinds of standpoints? Candy Messer ** 09:06 Gosh, there there are quite a few things that I had to get used to. I mean, I live in a smaller area. I mean, the county here is only like 66,000 people too. And so I lived in LA County, right which is a huge number of people. And so like even just yesterday we experienced where I was talking to my husband and he was saying like we could go to a location I'm like well I'm not sure if they're going to be open right like in California everything is open seven days a week on all holidays on all major you know events were in towns things on the weekend. Sometimes they're closed on holidays, things are closed. And sure enough, a lot of the small restaurants independently owned like everything was closed. And so you have to go to like a big chain like to be open and where we live. There's not like there's not even like really a hotel in the city that I live in. I mean, there's I think one technically like a little motel or something, but there's not like a lot of that a few Airbnb s are starting to get established. But it's way different. I don't think Uber even works here, right or left, right. So there's kind of things that you're just used to having all the time that you don't have here. But people here are super nice. And I enjoyed the neighbors that I had, I had built some relationships. But I know in California, a lot of times, we didn't really talk as much with each other in California, we're here, like, when we moved in, someone, like showed up, welcomed us to the neighborhood and bite us to the church brought us some baked goodies, you know, and, and then we're helping each other out as like if we need things. And so I think it just kind of depends on the people that you're around, right? Because you can have that pretty much anywhere, if you've got those kinds of people who are willing to be like that, too. But a lot of people are individualistic now and don't necessarily interact as much in community. Michael Hingson ** 11:06 What about the food? I mean, you know, what California has like lots of fast food and everything else. What is it like back there? From a, from an overall food standpoint, in terms of what are people in the habit of eating and all? Chicken? Like in West Virginia, there are lots of fried things, a lot of dough, and all that. Candy Messer ** 11:25 Well, here, there's something I still haven't tried it either, but I hear like pimento cheese is like the thing here, you know, or whatever. And they'll have sandwiches with this on it or other things, which I'm like, Okay, that's interesting. But there are things here too, that I enjoyed in California that I don't really see, like, I loved Chinese chicken salad, right? You know, or things like that. And you don't see that as much, much of that you don't see as much ethnic food. I mean, there are some, but it's not like, you know, like, I mean, again, in California and LA County, you could go to some areas, and there'd be Ethiopian food, or there would be, you know, just like all different kinds of cultures. So here, you can still get Chinese, Italian, Mexican, you know, whatever. But some of the other ones that are maybe a little more obscure in general, you're not going to see as much. Michael Hingson ** 12:16 And how far away is your nearest Costco. Candy Messer ** 12:20 I actually don't think there is a Costco anywhere close, there is a Sam's Club, which is probably about 20 minutes away. There is a Walmart in my local city here, you know, I just noticed there's a Ross it's being built right now. So that's kind of cool. But there's like a lot of the things here that I noticed, like none of the big branches of banks, even that I'm used to, they're not even here, you know. And so that was one of the things I had to adapt to is I guess you could do things on your phone, make deposits and everything. But with running my business, I really wanted to have a relationship with the bank where I could go in if needed. And so I had to kind of develop those relationships again, and kind of and I told the bank that I had in California, I loved working with them, I will still recommend them to clients of clients need something. But I felt I needed to have that. So that was to me strange. Like, I've there's all these like credit unions or small regional banks I've never heard of, and the big ones I'm used to. None of them are around here. So that was another just getting used to some of the things that are just a little bit different. Michael Hingson ** 13:31 The bank wasn't willing to construct a branch there for you. Candy Messer ** 13:38 Not yet. Oh, well, there's Michael Hingson ** 13:39 there's something to shoot for. What does your husband do? Candy Messer ** 13:44 Well, he originally had been a truck driver over the road, you know, in basically 48 states in Canada. And then he basically decided in the fall of 2019, to leave for the winter, because he just decided it really wasn't safe. Because the trucks sometimes were just like, automatically break. And if you're on ice, that's not a good thing. And so there were a couple of times where thankfully he's very good at what he does. But he had a couple times where he was almost in an accident because like the way the road was he would explain like say you have an off ramp and there's some cars like stopped on the off ramp, but it's not in your road, right sign your lane and the road curves. And so it would be perfectly fine. But all of a sudden it slams on the brakes because it thinks you're going to hit somebody and then you know you have a potential to Jackknife your vehicle. So he said, I don't want to drive in the winter. They can't guarantee that I'm only going to stay in states, you know, without snow. And so he was going to leave and then when he thought of going back, which was early, you know, 2020 Now we have the pandemic and a lot The trucking had, you know basically stopped. I mean, if you had grocery deliveries or things like that you could but he had switched from kind of what they call like the hook 'em ups where you've got a trailer and you just attach the trailer and deliver. And he used to deliver groceries and things to doing more heavy haul he used to take like pipes, or he actually delivered parts of the stage for the Super Bowl or you know, just like this heavy equipment that a lot of that demand had disappeared. And it actually was about the perfect timing, because at that point is when my daughter was about to have another baby, they were looking to buy a home that they ended up getting because it was a foreclosure. And so there's a lot of work that needed to be done. So he was able to help them with their home. And then when I would come I'd be back and forth until we finally bought our own home in November of 2020 2021. So I would help my daughter sometimes and I would go back and I was helping my parents also in Indiana and spending some time with them. And so I was back and forth a little bit, but he was here and able to help them when they needed. It Michael Hingson ** 16:09 was cool, but it it's it's different. But by the same token, you obviously adapt and, and accommodate well and you're having a lot of fun. So you went to college in California, Candy Messer ** 16:21 I did. And I decided I did not want student debt. And so I went to community college for the first two years graduated with my, you know, a BS degree in business. And then I went to my local four year university in Carson, California. I went to Dominguez Hills and graduated there. So I basically worked and went to school so I could pay, you know, my tuition as it happened. And so thankful I did graduate, and I went year round pretty much to so I can graduate in those four years, and leave without all of the debt that a lot of people have. And I'm thankful I did that, because it definitely made a bigger difference in my financial future than having that debt. But I know a lot of times it depends on your industry you want to be into. For me, I felt I didn't have to go to like a really expensive college, I was gonna get the education that I can apply it. You know, it's not always just what you learn in school, but how you apply it. Right. And so that's kind of that was my path. Michael Hingson ** 17:27 So what did you do out of college. Candy Messer ** 17:31 So originally, it's so funny, I started my first quote unquote real job other than like the babysitting and stuff I used to do working retail. And I thought that would just be you know, a job when I you know, as a teenager, I'll just do that until I decided to do something else. But I ended up continuing to have promotions while I was there. So I started when I was 17. By the time I was graduating college, I had been promoted three times. And they offered me a promotion. Basically, as I was graduating to manage kind of all the behind the scenes, inventory, stocking the floors, I had anything that you could basically put on your body I was managing, so they have the hard lines, which is you know, like your appliances and hardware and the soft lines. And so I was the behind the scenes manager of all of that. And so over the years, I just stayed in that job because I actually had enjoyed what I was doing. And again, didn't think that I was going to work retail. But as I got married, and I'd had my first child, I was pregnant with my second child, I just thought retail isn't for me any longer. I want to be able to have more time at home with family and with what I did. Sometimes we were at work early in the morning, most of the time I was at work by six in the morning. But during Christmas season, sometimes they would have us go in like 10 o'clock at night and work all night long. Because you don't have people in the store any longer. So it's easier to just get this stuff on the floor. And that's not really conducive to having time with your children. So I ended up leaving and I decided to be an at home mom for a few years and then kind of got back into the workforce, part time volunteered and my kids school and you know different things that they did and then over time, you know, became an entrepreneur. Michael Hingson ** 19:28 So from retail, you went to do what exactly? Candy Messer ** 19:33 So from retail, again, stayed home for three years. And then basically someone reached out to me who needed help. At a preschool. The director was on a medical leave. She'd been on a medical leave and then the person who had come in and replaced her had just left to go back to a different job when the director came back and then she had the same medical issue and was going to be gone probably another six months. And so they asked me if I would come in, kind of just make sure you know, all the records were being handled appropriately, all the monies collected from the parents and expenses paid. And you know, all of the things that needed to be done to run that. And at the time, my kids were still preschool age, my daughter was four, and my son was two. So I was able to take them with me to the job, they would go into their classrooms, I would do the work, but I told them, I only want to work as long as I need to get the work done, and then be able to go home so that I'm not just sitting there all those hours every day. And they agreed, and they had someone else who could work in the office. So if I wasn't there, and a parent came in with a question, you know, they basically could get their questions answered, but I didn't have to work full time. And that was basically my stepping back into work outside of the home. While I was at home mom, though, I was a Tupperware consultant. So I did have a little bit of time out where I was earning a little bit of money, but I was talking to adults, because if anyone has been home with babies, and that's all you do, you realize you need to have a little bit of adult conversation. So I had done that, too. And then basically, when that director came back, I was debating like, what did I want to do? Did I want to stay in like early childhood education, and then go back and get the units because if you're going to work, you have to have the units and early transmission. And or did I want to do something else. And then I found out about a position where they really needed help. On the finance side, again, in the company, I came in as like an accounts receivable person, and then within a few months, ended up being the full charge bookkeeper. Because the person handling the other side of things, accounts payable, was going to be leaving the company. So that's kind of how I got back into working and kind of the financial arena and the bookkeeping, and all of that. Michael Hingson ** 21:59 Well, you and as you said, you worked with someone who, or you were involved with someone who really wasn't excited about reconciliation and all that stuff. And I can imagine that can be stressful and a challenge at times. And of course, especially during the tax season, life gets to be fun. So you, you do need to deal with that a lot. If you're going to N Have patience to deal with it too. Candy Messer ** 22:28 Right? Well, so many people just don't like numbers, reports all of that anyway. And it's even if they know what they need to be doing, it's not something they enjoy. So they put it off, right, and then the longer you put it off, the more is to get caught up. And so then it becomes overwhelming and stressful. And so then it causes them to put it off even longer until the CPA says hey, I need your information, right. And so we come and just say, just do what you love, let us help you, even if you're good at it, you just don't want to do it, there's no need for you to have to do something that you're not passionate about. So let us help keep everything clean, organized, you know, done properly. And sometimes that's an issue too, because the software now has become so easy to use, that you can make mistakes, because you don't know the right way to do it. But the software lets you do something. And so that can be a problem too. And so a lot of times, the numbers aren't actually correct, which can cause some problems, right? And so, again, having someone come in and do it, and then you do what you love and your business, you know, I think is ideal. Michael Hingson ** 23:42 my late wife never liked to work with numbers, of course, actually, she went to the extreme she said math lies as she could, she could perform a calculation on a calculator three times and get three different answers. And we never could figure out exactly how that happened. So she just said math lies Simple as that. Candy Messer ** 24:03 Well, I think if you've ever seen those equations to that will say like, what's the answer to this right and it will have you know, like five plus three to the second power in parentheses a number and so you have to know the order of operations so you'll get people who will say different numbers because they don't know and so so yeah, you could come up with different hands Michael Hingson ** 24:23 first well, she did the math wasn't rowsley complicated but things happen and at the same time she she handled all the basic stuff for our business to keep the invoices and all that but wasn't wasn't a great fan of it. And we have some wonderful people who though who we we work with who now since she's passed also really helped me with the books and all that because that's something that they're going to be able to do a lot better than I so I keep track of the day to day things but work with them and it works out well. But it was always funny to hear her. Absolutely swear that man applies. But she, but she still, she did it. And the other side of it is that there were times in our 40 years of marriage where we had some economic problems and lived off of some credit cards and all that. And she laid out the strategies to come back from that. And, for example, would not make minimum payments on credit cards and other things like that, to the point where we don't have credit card debt. And I've even gone to a little bit more of an extreme than she, fortunately, the, the credit cards that I do have, are structured where and with organizations where I can tell them each month, pay off the balance, so I don't even have to worry about it. And I did set that up with Wells Fargo earlier this year, and somebody didn't make it because they messed up. And it didn't pay off the entire balance, I pay it off the next month. But I also made them take back the finance charge, because they found in the record where I'd asked her to be set up to pay off the full balance. So, but I really am glad that she did all the things that she did. And so we don't carry any balances, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Candy Messer ** 26:19 And that's one of the things that I talked to people about too, and say, you know, if you are going to have a credit card, you know, unless there is an emergency or something to and you really just don't have another choice, you know, it's okay to use them during the month, but make sure you pay that in full, right. And if something does happen, and you are not able to pay it in full, I also recommend don't waiting until that payment due date to make a payment because the way that interest works is its interest on average balance. So if you can make a payment every week, just make a smaller payment every week even and reduce that throughout the month, you're gonna pay less interest overall. So even if you pay the same amount, you think, you know, say I owe $120 Instead of paying $120 when it's due, you know, pay $30 a week. Yeah, and then that will help, you know, reduce the amount of interest. But one of the things that I think I do say if you can manage it and not have the balance carryover, a lot of times you can get cashback on your purchases too. And so I always recommend get the cashback you know accruing on your card, and then apply it to your balance to pay down that balance even and so even if it's one or 2%, it's one or 2% that you don't have to pay out of your own pocket. And it's things that you have to pay anyway, you know, like utilities or something, put those on your credit cards if you can, and then again, automatically pay that credit card every month paid in full, ideally, but then those types of things are going to accrue those values for that credit, and then apply it back to your statement. So saves you a little bit of money in the long run. So that's a wise use of credit, in my opinion. Michael Hingson ** 28:04 And the reality is every little bit helps when it comes to making payments. So even if it's one or 2% it still helps over the long run. Exactly. So I'm really glad that at this point, we don't have that I don't have that hanging over my head, which I'm really pleased about and grateful to her for sticking to it, which she did, even though math lies, but she's still, but she's still stuck with it. And and, and made it all work, which was really pretty cool. So you have been doing bookkeeping now for how long? Candy Messer ** 28:42 Well, I say I officially started again with my own business in 2022. But I started in 1998. Back working with that preschool and then becoming the full charge bookkeeper for the publishing company. So you know, here we are, like 25 years basically doing the bookkeeping and things like that, too. So Michael Hingson ** 29:05 and your company today is called what Candy Messer ** 29:08 affordable bookkeeping and payroll services Michael Hingson ** 29:12 and that you started in 2022. Yes, so Candy Messer ** 29:15 technically, though, so when the first person asked me to help her, and it was just me, I started it actually with a different business name, I just call it bookkeeper for you. And then in 2005, I opened an office, I was actually sharing space, you know, with someone and she said, My business has the name affordable in it. If you just name your company affordable something. We could just share the same phone lines, we can you know, we'll just answer the phone affordable. And if it's for me, I'll take it if it's for you. You'll take it as like well. I do bookkeeping and payroll. So how about affordable bookkeeping and payroll? So that's how the name actually came about. And so I kind of track that. Yes, overall, I've had many Is this since 2002. But 2000 is five is when I changed the name and basically started, you know, actually with an office, and then I hired my first staff member in 2006. And so it's kind of like two different starts. Yeah, if that makes sense. Michael Hingson ** 30:20 Yeah, it does. And so as an entrepreneur, you are doing bookkeeping. I think you said early on, for a lot of people remotely. Candy Messer ** 30:33 Well, early on when it was just me, and again, I started with the first person who needed help. And then I had a couple more clients I had to get, I would go to their locations and do the work in their office. And that's kind of where I make that switch of in 2005, I open an office. And so for a period of time, I still went to some client locations. But I was starting to develop where work was coming to me instead of me having to go to them. But initially, it was where I was finding people that needed help on site, they didn't need their own bookkeeper on staff, maybe they only needed someone once or twice a month to come in, you know, pay some bills or reconciling the accounts. And then again, over time, it started to shift more where it was the work coming into my office, and I was hiring more staff, and we were all in one place, and California until the pandemic, thankfully, I was already thinking of moving to a more remote team. And we already had a lot of that in place. We'd already been testing, as of actually my first person was in 2018, who had hired her, the day that I hired her, her mom ended up passing away actually in another state. And she was like, Oh, I'm not sure I can even keep the job. And I said, Well, we could be flexible, you know, work on your schedule, if you need time off, you know, periodically, you know, we'll work it out. And then that was in May of that year. And in November, she said, it's just been hard. I feel like I'm not giving everything I need to because I'm not able to work as much. And I said, Well, why not? Let's test this out, let's have you be able to work remotely. And we can set up systems and processes and test software and communication and you know, everything that we needed to do. So she started doing that November 2018. By the fall of 2019, we're getting all of the staff prepped and each person worked a different day from home. So most of us were still in the main office, but one person was at home, and we were testing everything out again that way. And then we're going to start moving into two days a week. And then we're going to do three days, you know, until we finally just got everyone in place. Unless you over horse a little, of course, I actually had to pay for some additional software or whatever to that allowed for all of this to happen. And we went from you know, hardwired phone system to an online, you know, VoIP system. But when the governor said, work from home, you know, it was easy, I could tell all my staff to stay from home. And technically, I was an essential business. So I could have required everyone to still come to the office. But I thought it's not necessary, right? There's really only one person I need to have in the office. So if anyone drops off anything or needs to pick up, you know, we still had some people who had printed payroll checks, they would need to come and pick it up, I needed one person in the office, everyone else really could work from home because everything that we do is basically online technology or things like that. So it just made it easy to allow other people to be able to be from home have one person and now I've literally got people in multiple states, because having a Remote Setup allowed me to hire outside of my local area work since we didn't have to be in the same office, right. And so I've been able to hire moms who have kids, I have one that had, you know, a child with a health issue that she can't really leave her home very much. And so she had a hard time finding work that would allow her to be home with her daughter. I have two people who in the last nine months have each had a baby. And so I've been able to allow them to have a flexible schedule. So when they need to get off the clock and help the baby they can they can come back home. You know, so there's like a lot of things that I've been able to offer that I couldn't when we were like a nine to five in the office business. Right. Michael Hingson ** 34:36 So how many people do you have working for you now? Candy Messer ** 34:41 Right now I have nine staff in four states about to be five because one is moving to another state. So but yeah, so and again, it's now a mix of I used to have mostly full time and now I have more part time than full time because again, the flexibility that I'm able To offer. Michael Hingson ** 35:01 So it was no real great difficulty I gather for you to move to Tennessee, since you were as a company, so used to doing things remotely what an innovator, because for a lot of companies it was was hard to do. And I think still is hard to do. And what I don't hear you saying is that anyone has any kind of fatigue about working remotely, whether you communicate through zoom or on the phone, or whatever, but everyone is used to doing it, and you're doing it just fine. Thank you very much. Yeah, Candy Messer ** 35:36 I think it's interesting, because, you know, yes, we are all in different places. And I think a lot of people enjoy still having the ability to work from home, but we still want that connection with each other. So we do have, you know, our, like, chat, you can individually send a message to one person, if you need to reach them, or if there's a group, you know, sometimes we'll send a picture of something just into the group chat. You know, like, when the ladies have had their babies, or they want to just do an update and send a picture, we could do that. Or, you know, sometimes we just send those quick little messages. But I also have a weekly team meeting that we're all coming into, we get to see each other on Zoom, see each other face to face, and most of the time, their business, but sometimes I'll have like a special little event, you know, like I've done for the babies that are gonna be born, we'll have work, we're gonna have a special little baby shower today, right? You know, or if someone's getting married, or someone just graduated, you know, so then we can honor like, the special events in their lives as well, which helps us feel connected to each other. So it's not like, Well, I'm just in my house, and you're in yours, and we don't get to see each other. Michael Hingson ** 36:46 But look at what you're doing, you're, you're really providing a very supportive environment. And you are really adopting and adapting to whatever situation you need to do in order to make it a productive situation for everyone who's involved, which is your entire team. Candy Messer ** 37:07 I'm just thankful that we had been putting into place, the ability to work from home, because if we hadn't had that already in place, and that shutdown had been order, it would have been more difficult for me to allow staff to immediately work from home because our phone system wouldn't been set up properly, or the way that we could get the data that we needed, or things like that. So I'm just thankful. Because at first I was like, how do you know, when you have someone at home, you know, that they're going to work as effectively as if they're in an office, you know, and so I'd actually had an employee in the past that actually stole time from me, you know, if I wasn't in the office, she would extend her lunch break and have people cover for her or different things. And when I found out about that, like, I was just pierced, like, in my heart, it was just like, I trust people. I'm loyal to people, like I kind of expected, I guess in return, like if that's how I am, that's what I'm gonna get. And so there was a huge trust issue at first about like, Can I trust people if I'm not actually going to see them? Because if this could happen in an office, when I went out to meet a client or do a networking event, what is going to happen? If you know, we are not in the same room? And I can't say that every single person hasn't, you know, done something maybe that wasn't 100%? Honest, right? I don't know for sure. But based on the team that I have, and how everybody does, what I see needs to be done. Like, I don't think that there's anything going on. And if somebody is not quite as productive. Is it as important now to just make sure that they're on the clock for the eight hours? Or is it more important to have the work that gets done? Right. And so that's what I have to look at is yeah, they're accomplishing the work. Right. Michael Hingson ** 39:02 Right. Well, and it's always a value judgment, but it's great when you pretty much have mostly or most all the time people who are doing doing things the right way doing the right thing. And you don't have a lot of dishonesty and there is no need to to be dishonest to emulate. I think mostly people want to be honest and tend to be which is great. Right? Well, so do you. How do you get new clients? How does that happen? Since everything is remote Candy Messer ** 39:40 Interesting enough, we still get I originally when I was first starting my business, a lot of the referrals I had were from professionals like a CPA, a financial planner, maybe a business banker, but over time, we've had a lot more people finding me through like a Google search or sometimes Yelp or things With that, too, but I think because I share so much content, I was, you know, back from, oh, gosh, at least 10 years ago, I think I started a blog, a written blog. And now I do video blogs. Now I of course have my podcast as well. And so I think, because I'm putting out so much content now that people are searching and finding us, and reaching out, and then I've done a few videos, especially, I've had a lot of people reaching out to me, because I did how to videos on the employee retention tax credit, which a lot of people have probably heard about, there's a lot of aggressive companies out there to telling everyone you qualify for $26,000 per employee, you know, which is a lot of times not true. But what I did was, I showed people how to claim that without even having to pay a professional to do it, right. So I walked him step by step, here's like the worksheet, here's how you put it on this form, and, you know, send it in. But people would still reach out and say, Well, I have questions. I'm not sure if I'm doing this, right. So we've been able to help them to as customers. So it has brought in customers, even though my intention was just to put out free information out there. So small business owners could get this because what really annoys me are these big companies that are or the aggressive companies. I don't know how big they really are. But they're taking 1520 30% of the credit by helping these small businesses claim this and I was like, you know, the whole point is, they kept their employees on staff during a pandemic, a lot of times they were barely able to survive, because they didn't have the cash flow. So why not help them get the cash in their pocket and not take 30%? You know, so let me show them how to do it. And that's kind of how I've had a lot of people come to me too, because they're finding those videos on YouTube. And I'm answering questions, if they have questions. Now, there have to be general questions. If it's very specific to them, then we have to say we need to have a consultation. And that's a paid consultation, because there's too many individual questions. But if someone is just asking a basic question, I'll answer that question for them. Michael Hingson ** 42:09 During the pandemic, it was just my wife and me in in the business. So I suspect we probably wouldn't really qualify for getting a whole lot because income was a little bit rare. Not not, like, none at all, but it was a lot less because speaking and stuff wasn't happening. But you know, but I see those commercials all the time. And I've always just been amazed by them. Candy Messer ** 42:36 And it just seems right now there seems to be a lot more like it comes in cycles, like I still even get texts, phone calls, emails, you know, have you applied for this, you can get up to $26,000 per employee just reach out to us. And so I know one of my employees actually told me recently, somebody had emailed us. And they were mad, because what we had said that their credit was was less than the $26,000 per employee. And it's like, well, you didn't do this correctly. So then she said, Well, let me explain like what the difference is. So number one, that's assuming that you qualify for all six quarters. Number two, it's assuming that everyone on payroll qualifies. If you have a majority owner and any family, like they don't qualify, it assumes that every person earned the maximum wage, and it assumes you didn't have a PPP loan, you know, or, or things like that, too. And so when she was able to show like, well, this didn't qualify, or this person didn't make the 10,000, or you had a PPP loan, and so you had to have this much of your money go here, then it makes sense. But again, there's a lot of misleading information out there. And that's why I get really annoyed. Right, because it's like, just be honest with people and provide the service at a reasonable rate, you know, and, you know, let them have the cash that they need in their business. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 44:01 because that's what it's really about. Well, you mentioned that you have a podcast, I'd love to hear more about that. Candy Messer ** 44:09 Sure. Well, just like I never intended to be a business owner. I'm not sure if I actually said that in this interview, but I never intended to be a business owner. It just kind of happened. I never intended to be a podcaster what happened was teach ya. Right. Someone saw what I was sharing on LinkedIn. So I would, you know, post an article or things weekly, and of course, just general posts through other social media things that I was sharing, and she said, I think your content would make a great show. And I was like, huh, like, that's a scary thing. I'm actually an introvert. I'm shy and so like, at the time, too, that was a live show for an hour. I was like, am I going to know what to say? Am I going to know what to do? Who am I going to interview? I don't really know if I I'm going to be good at that. But then I just thought, you know what, why not try it, like, what's the worst that could happen? Right? And so I was with them for about 15 months. So I signed up. Before the pandemic, I signed up in 2019. So I went about 15 months. But then at that point, too, it was like, I want to be wise as well, with my business finances, we still don't know what's going on. And I can kind of cut back on that expense, do it myself, and my husband had been telling me, I should do it myself anyway, because then I could also be on YouTube, he's like, people search YouTube, you could post your videos there. And so in 2020, we did convert to doing it on our own and, you know, doing it through YouTube, as well as putting it to the podcast platforms. And I actually, a couple weeks ago, maybe or just recently just aired my 200 and 50th episode, I've recorded more, because we record a little bit in advance. But we've now put out 250 episodes, which I'm excited about that. And the goal was for me, educate business owners to help them be successful, because I see too many people who don't know what they're supposed to do until after they get a notice even like you are supposed to have a business license, you are supposed to have paid estimated tax payments, you are supposed to have collected and paid sales tax, and then they get these notices with penalties. And a lot of businesses started even in the pandemic because someone lost a job or they had free time. And now they could start a business. And they had a hobby, they had an interest, but then they didn't understand like all of the things about having capital, you know, understanding profit versus cashflow. Like there's things that they just didn't know. And so many businesses have failed. And I don't want to see that happen. So I interview experts, we don't talk just finance, you know, by the interview experts in the vast array of topics, to educate entrepreneurs. So if they need help with, you know, sales, understanding what they can do, to put together a presentation, you know, for a potential client, or maybe they need human resources assistance, or maybe they need to understand what they should have in a contract. You know, what are the types of things that business owners should know? Because most of the time, we're solopreneurs doing it all ourselves? And we don't know what we don't know. So that's kind of why I still do my podcasting is really just talking with people to educate those entrepreneurs so that they get the information that they need to apply it to their business. Michael Hingson ** 47:46 What are some of the most common things that you discover people don't know about doing a business that you advise people about on the podcast or whatever? Candy Messer ** 47:56 Sure. So again, like just on the podcast, we'll just talk about, again, any kind of thing that will affect the business. So whether it's on a legal topic, a marketing topic, finance, so what I started doing, because at first, I was always interviewing other people, and I never really even talked about what I did in my industry. And finally, I was like, well, I should be also sharing tips. So I'll now just talk sometimes about a topic. But like, recently, I talked about household employees, you are supposed to have them on payroll, if you have someone like a nanny, or if you have, like in home care for a family member, you're not really supposed to do them as independent contractors. And depending on the state that you're in, there could be some really harsh penalties as well. I mean, the IRS does have guidelines too. But some of the states are even more strict in California is one of them. Like if, in your business, you are paying someone to do the work that drives your business revenue, they are an employee. Right. According to California, there have been a few cases. And there's been a few exceptions. But in general, you know, if you're a website developer and you pay someone to create websites, you are not supposed to issue a 10 a nine to them, you're supposed to put them on payroll. That's one of the big things that people still don't know is they just think, Oh, it's just easier to pay someone I'll just write them a $500 check every you know, however, often I'm supposed to pay them and they can handle the taxes. And if something happens, and you know, it's great when everything's fine and dandy, and you're on a great relationship, but what if something happens, and now there's some type of Fallout, that person no longer works for you and then they go file for unemployment. Now you're going to be audited, you potentially are going to pay for all of the staff that you have. So we had someone that came to us. I think it was about two or three years ago, that they had been paying everyone as independent contractors. One person left the company filed an unemployment claim. And then the state agency came in and said, Oh, you had all of these people, you were supposed to have paid as an independent contractor you that you paid as independent contractors, you should have paid us employees, and now we're going to penalize you this much. And it was a pretty stiff penalty. And the lady was like, Well, I didn't know. But the government doesn't care that you didn't know, they say you should have known. So that's one of the big things that I see is people really just don't know, you should be putting someone on a W two and not paying them as an independent contractor. I had someone come to me once to that, when I was talking with her and wanting to go through kind of the compliance checklist. And I asked her, do you have a business license? And she said, Oh, I don't need a business license, I have a DBA. Those are two distinctly different things. And so I think a lot of times, there's just a lot of confusion around what do you need for your city? What do you need for your county? What do you need for your state? What do you need federally. And so that's where a lot of mistakes happen. And penalties arise, because someone just didn't know what they didn't know. And if you would have done something on time, you wouldn't have had the penalty, but now, it's too late. And now you have to pay this extra fine. Michael Hingson ** 51:28 Well, we have my know, personally, worked very hard to have a good accounting group that helps us with taxes and helps us with everything relating to the business and I never have any qualms about calling and asking, are we doing this the right way? And I agree with you that, you know, I I know what I don't know, which is a whole lot. Okay, that's fine, as long as I can deal with someone and reach out to someone who does know. And I think that's really the important, the important part about the process, we we shouldn't make assumptions, because there are just too many ways that we mess up and don't necessarily understand it. And so I hear what you're saying? Candy Messer ** 52:13 Well, I think that's where it's important to understand the value of working with professionals, right, having an actual CPA that could help you with tax prep, instead of just going to h&r block, or you know, some of those others, where you're not going to even have a relationship with that tax preparer. A lot of times they turn over so fast. Every year, there's someone new, but the person who helped you in the past isn't even there doesn't know your specific business, you know, or a financial planner, working with them to figure out what should you be doing, planning for things now for your future, whether it's just your business, your personal, everything kind of commingles a lot of that too, but really seeing the value of what you're getting from working with someone. So it's the same thing with us, if someone just sees us as like transactional, we're just going to post some things and they're going to be able to go to the CPA, that's not as great of a relationship that we want to have, as much as we want to be an advisor, we want to be able to help you understand your finances, what can you do to make improvements to improve your cash flow, like have better profitability? You know, but a lot of times people see, like the dollar sign, and they're like, oh, but you know, the computer shouldn't be doing everything, why would I pay you this much, right? And the computer doesn't do everything. That's, you know, not a fact. But, but some people just see it as a commodity, because they have to pay their taxes, somebody has to do the income tax returns, so they have to have a CPA, and then they need someone like us to do the bookkeeping, so the CPA knows what to put on the tax return. But if you don't see that as an investment in your company, you're going to want to pay the least amount, you're gonna want to have the least interaction with them as possible, right, and you get what you pay for a year. Right, exactly. And so I think that's one of the things we are trying to explain to people as well as ces as a resource, and let's work together in a partnership, not just a once a year, drop off your box, and you know, we'll post the things for you, or even if it's once a month, like look at the information that we send, but financial reports give you great information, and you can use it to make wise business decisions. If you don't even look at that. How do you know if you're doing well, just because you have money in the bank doesn't mean you're profitable. What if you, you know, got a loan or you got a grant or different things, right? That money's on income, right? And so your expenses could be more and if you're not making some adjustments, you could be in for a big surprise, you know, and so there's it's like that working together. How can we make things more efficient? What can we do to really have you be successful Michael Hingson ** 54:59 and Those are all certainly important things. And I think that's really the key is that your job is in part to help make your clients successful. Candy Messer ** 55:11 Right? It has to be part of it. Exactly. And like I said earlier, like too many businesses fail, often they don't have the capital they need, they don't realize, you know, you need to have more money to run the business than you think, especially when you're launching a business. A lot of times, people don't realize everything that it takes, you know, to be able to run a company. Now, if you have a service based business, especially if you're working from home, you're not going to have as much overhead, right? If you're going to try to sell a product, if you have an actual location that you know, you have your overhead rent and utilities, and you know, all of that, then it's going to cost you more. But I usually tell people, if you're going to be running your business, and you're coming up with your budget and your estimates, first go ahead and create, what do I think I'm going to make? What do I think my expenses are going to be? And then reduce your income and increase your expenses? Right? And then that may be a more realistic picture. And it actually is the income is more than you thought, fabulous. If the expenses are less than you put on your budget. Wonderful, right? You have more available to you that you can then invest into your business again, or you know, put away for those unexpected things that happen because we all have unexpected things that happen that you want to have that rainy day funds set aside. Michael Hingson ** 56:36 Yep, absolutely do. And it's important to do that, because you just never know what's going to happen. Right? So what do you do when you're not doing business stuff and being an entrepreneur? Candy Messer ** 56:49 Well, like I said, now that I am close to family here to in Tennessee, I love to spend time with my grandchildren. Like I said, I'm about to have a third within the next couple of weeks. And so again, I'll be helping as much as I can. Because it's never easy to have a newborn, let alone when you have toddlers and children. My daughter will now have three children four and under. So she's gonna have her hands full. When I'm here, I've actually been learning some gardening I didn't get to do too much ever really in California. I mean, when I lived in St. Pete, Georgia, we had a little bit of space, but not much. But other than that I never really had a place to really plant and so I'm trying some things last year, I actually did really well with some squash, spaghetti squash, I mean, spaghetti squash, I didn't even tend actually had started like a compost and then threw some seeds in there and the seeds like just took off and I ended up with nine spaghetti squash without even intending to. But we had grown some jalapenos, although my husband said they weren't hot enough. He said they're too mild throw those seeds out. For next year, let's get hotter ones. But so you know Cilantro is doing well or oregano is doing well. So I've had some success. And then this year, I'm also working on a few new vegetables. So so that part has been fun. And you know, we see what works, what doesn't and learn from it. And then when I'm indoors, I do love to read or I crochet I make gifts. A lot of times for people if I know they're having a baby or something to me like a baby blanket, or like a beanie and booties and a pacifier clip, or you know just different things. So when I have the chance, I will put that together and give that as a gift. But those are kind of the things I enjoy. I wish we Michael Hingson ** 58:41 could do more growing up trees up here. Like I'd love to grow a peach tree and some of those things, but we live up on the high desert and so it just doesn't work for the biggest reason is it gets too cold in the winter. We don't get the snow, but we get the cold. Candy Messer ** 58:59 We have cold here too. But we were told that certain things will do well, so we actually planted last year and we were told it will take two to three years to really see fruit. But last year we planted apple trees and this is the thing it's like you have to have some that pollinate each other. Right. So this one pollinates this one but doesn't pollinate this one. So we had to get like a Macintosh that will pollinate these other two, you know that we got and then we did get a peach a plum persimmon and cherry as well. So we'll see. And now we have a lemon two, which, again, we're told citrus doesn't do well when it gets really cold. But then we've been told here that it still will work. And so last year, we bought a lemon tree but we brought it inside. We left it in the bucket. We brought it inside during the winter, but it's continuing to grow. So about three weeks ago we planted it outside. We'll see. We'll see what we have to do to protect it but we're going to try Michael Hingson ** 59:54 one of the things that we did we had a lemon tree and I guess a lime tree When we lived in Mission Viejo, and it got cold enough, that some times during the winter, we put put a plastic bag over, we kept them in a bucket, we would just put a plastic bag over it. And that was enough insulation. So the tree survived. Interesting. We just did it at night and then took it off. But well, this has been absolutely fun to do. And I really appreciate you coming on. Do you have any other kind of final words of wisdom that we should pass on to folks? Candy Messer ** 1:00:30 I would just say whether you are you know, a business owner or not really just look at your financial picture and plan for your future and see, you know, what can you reduce in your expenses that are not necessary, so many people will like, buy those subscriptions and forget about them or not use them, you know, so really just maybe audit your expenses, see where you could cut some things out that you're really not using and then Park put that money away into something that's going to grow over time? And then you know, you'll benefit from that. Michael Hingson ** 1:01:05 Well, that is wonderful. And I really appreciate you saying that if people want to reach out to you how do they do that and and learn more about you and, and maybe engage your services? Candy Messer ** 1:01:17 Sure, well, I would, I'll go ahead and say for my podcast again, you can find that it's called biz help for you. Michael Hingson ** 1:01:23 Bi is B I Z Candy Messer ** 1:01:27 for you help. And then four is spelled out f o r you are but F O R. So this help for you on YouTube. You can also find it on many podcast platforms. And then my website is AB and P.com. Or if you want to type out the full thing affordable bookkeeping and payroll.com. But you can find out a little bit more about us there. And of course, I'm on social media, you can find me on LinkedIn. I do have a business Facebook page as well. But like I do a lot on LinkedIn too. So you can connect with me there Candy Messer, and I would love to just connect more with people who have some questions are willing to be here as a resource, Michael Hingson ** 1:02:09 ABandP.com as the and the and sign or a n d Candy Messer ** 1:02:13 it's a n d so it's

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Iris Goldfeder on Recipes in Marketing and Business Success

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2023 24:25

Iris Goldfeder and Vicki discuss on this Podapalooza version of the Find Your Leadership Confidence Podcast how she started her Gas Stove Creative Podcast and how she incorporated the recipes in marketing concept.

marketing recipes business success podapalooza

Episode 115 – Unstoppable Growing Nurse with Samantha Rawlinson

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2023 57:33

Regular listeners of Unstoppable Mindset have heard me a number of times talk with guests I met at the Podapalooza event. Podapalooza is a quarterly event to help new and regular podcasters, people who want to be interviewed on podcasts as well as podcasters who want to find guests to interview. I have met a number of guests through Podapalooza including our guest today, Samantha Rawlinson. I describe Samantha as a “growing nurse” because “growing” mentally and workwise is exactly what Samantha is doing. She has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years. As you will hear, now she also is the CEO of Samantha Rawlinson Coaching. She formed this company to help women deal with chronic illness. This choice was not something she chose on a whim. She will tell you all about it. You will hear about the kind of work she does as well as how she does it. I find her efforts inspiring. I hope you do as well. By the way, if you have an interest in attending the next Podapalooza event, please visit https://mikehingson--checkingout.thrivecart.com/podapalooza-aff/. The next Podapalooza event takes place on April 26, 2023. I hope to see you there. About the Guest: Samantha Rawlinson is a Registered Nurse, Health & Wellness Coach, Speaker, and CEO of Samantha Rawlinson Coaching. She helps women to resolve or control their chronic illness. She also helps women prevent chronic illnesses such as obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, Fatty liver disease, and arthritis to name a few. With more than 30 years as a Registered Nurse, she has seen how these diseases take over a person's life. Samantha developed a program that involves nutrition, mindset, and lifestyle to help women take control of their health by nourishing their mind, body, and spirit so they can live their best life yet! How to Connect with Samantha: Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1015212306038416 Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076500090740 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/samantharawlinsoncoaching/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-rawlinson-380841a/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:20 Well, hi, once again, thanks for being here with us. I really appreciate you joining us and we have a wonderful guest today on unstoppable mindset. Samantha Rawlinson, who has been a nurse for 30 years has done a lot dealing with especially women's issues, and she's going to talk to us about chronic illness and chronic kinds of issues and nursing things and she's going to tell her life story as well. My gosh, that'll take us a while right. Anyways, Samantha Welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. And I should tell everyone, I met Samantha through the potter Palooza program. We've talked about that a number of times before. And we've gotten some really wonderful interviews out of that. And I know we're going to have another one today. So welcome to unstoppable mindset. Samantha Rawlinson 02:05 Thank you for having me. Michael Hingson 02:07 Well, let's start as usual, can you just tell us a little about you, maybe your life story growing up or anything like that, that you think we should know? And? And anything we shouldn't know? You can add that in if you want. Samantha Rawlinson 02:18 Okay, well, I think people will be surprised to know that I have wanted to be a nurse since I was nine years old. And school was not always easy for me. So it was a it was a journey. But I did it. And I was very proud of myself that I was able to do that. As for how I got to where I'm at right now is I actually had a back injury back in 2001. And I'm working as a nurse, which is very common working as a nurse. I can't tell you how many back injuries there are. Michael Hingson 02:55 Exactly, you have to lean over a lot, and so on Exactly. And Samantha Rawlinson 02:59 that's exactly what mine was, it was leaning over, it wasn't even picking something up in after it happened and went to physical therapy. And about a month later, I was in a car accident, and it felt better the next day. And so fast forward to 2005 and we had just moved in. So my back hurt in a specific area. It wasn't like it was lower back pain. I knew it was this specific injury because it was in the scapular area. So it's not an area you really enjoy very often. And since then, from 2005 on, I have tried everything out there and I basically got sick of the traditional health care system and took things into my own hands. And during all of that, I've tried everything from traditional medicine to over the counter medicine and even some of the woowoo stuff is what some of the people are calling it nowadays, the energy healing and that type of thing. And I really truly believe a lot of that does work. But what really got me here was, I'd say three years ago 2020 i The literally January 1, I watched the game changer show on Netflix, and learn how bad heart disease was and how animal eating animals how bad it is for our hearts and for diabetes, and I literally stopped eating meat the next day. So during COVID I learned how to eat vegan my daughter already was and we that's where my my real journey began with trying to fix my back pain and trying to prevent heart disease was how I was eating. I learned how to meditate. I learned how to do what I like called Emotional Freedom Technique is also called tapping and journaling. And I had an epiphany that I wanted to teach women how to take control of their life and how to take control of their chronic illness. Because it can be done. Michael Hingson 05:17 Obviously, being a woman, you're going to focus on women, I appreciate that. But do you? Do you help men as well? Or why do you focus specifically on women? Samantha Rawlinson 05:26 Why I chose a woman was because women do not realize it. Heart disease is the number one killer in women in the United States. And it's often overlooked in women. Whereas men we we see it in with women, it occurs like a lot later than it does in men. So it's overlooked and kind of pushed aside. And I really thought it was important to teach women to take control of their health and to look for the signs and symptoms. Michael Hingson 05:58 But I just want to follow through on it, because I'm just Just curious more than anything else. Don't men basically behave the same way? Samantha Rawlinson 06:08 Yes, and no, their symptoms are different. They tend to have things checked out. They don't overlook certain health problems, like women do that like chest pain to them, they're gonna go check. Women are like, Oh, I'm, I'm anxious. I'm, you know, they kind of brushed it under the rug. And so to your other question, yes, I will help men. My focus is women, but I'm not going to turn anybody around if they want to fix themselves, I will definitely help. Michael Hingson 06:40 The reason I kind of asked about men is that I hear the whole concept of men are macho, and they kind of ignore things a lot of times too. And that's why I asked the question, but what you're saying is typically speaking, and maybe it's because of all the publicity and all of the, the visibility it's gotten, men have been a little bit more programmed to to check it out. But it just seems to me there are a lot of people, a lot of men that also tend to ignore things because they're supposed to be tough. Samantha Rawlinson 07:12 Yeah, I think with men, it is very obvious when they're having a cardiac event, it's really pronounced, whereas women, they don't get it as pronounced as a man would. It's subtle, it's quiet, and they don't always catch it. Michael Hingson 07:30 So what happens when you let's say, you're having a heart attack or cardiac event with women, as opposed to what we typically see with men and so on. Samantha Rawlinson 07:39 So with, people don't realize this, but a lot of times the pain in your left shoulder can be a sign of a heart attack, and we disregard it is oh, I hurt myself or, you know, also indigestion is another one, and that goes for men to men. And on that one, they'll they'll push it aside and take all these times and all these antacids, and here they've been having many heart attacks for who knows how long Michael Hingson 08:13 the acids have been helped. And they just think, Oh, they're not really helping all that much. But as you said there, something else is really going on. Samantha Rawlinson 08:21 Right, and they don't check it out. Michael Hingson 08:24 Well, in general, so you're talking about heart disease and so on, but what, what overall is the whole concept of chronic illness? Samantha Rawlinson 08:34 So that's a very good question. So chronic illness is typically a long term condition that doesn't have not it doesn't always have a cure. It's something that lasts more than three months. So chronic pain can be a chronic illness because if it doesn't go away, it's something that's with you. So it's chronic. A lot of times chronic illnesses can be I think are controlled but not cured. But in sometimes it can be reversed depending on what the chronic illnesses a lot of times chronic illnesses, inflammation in the body. And once we treat that inflammation, sometimes we can actually either reverse or at least control that chronic illness. Michael Hingson 09:21 How is Western medicine overall dealing with chronic illness? I've interviewed a number of people on unstoppable mindset and a number through PATA Palooza who talk a lot about how they've also embraced some of the precepts and concepts of Eastern medicine that made a whole lot more of a difference than Western medicine and dealing with theirs and other people's issues. Samantha Rawlinson 09:45 Well, I think we tend to give too much medication and then you have side effects from that medication so you give more medication and that seems to be the fix whereas we're not that And in all fairness to doctors, they don't have the time because of the way our system is set up. But nutrition and meditation mindset can make a huge difference in controlling a lot of illnesses. Nutrition alone can it can reverse things and control a lot of what you have. Michael Hingson 10:29 So talking about meditation, and so on brings up the whole concept of stress and just dealing with our mental well being, and so on. And I would presume that if we could work to cut back stress and put it in perspective, as opposed to letting everything stress us out, that ought to help a lot as well. Samantha Rawlinson 10:48 Oh, my gosh, yes, it would. So it's interesting that you bring up stress, because I just read a I guess, not a survey, but a article, Carnegie Mellon University discovered, there's a link between chronic psychological stress and the body's ability to regulate inflammatory responses. So that being said, the body responds to stress and not all stress is bad. I know it sounds crazy, and there is a YouTube video, and I wish I would have looked it up for you, on this lady who used to talk about how terrible stress was for you. And then she has totally reversed her take on it. Because some stress can be good. It's when you let all those stressors add up. And they build and build and building note take care of them. That's when they become bad. Michael Hingson 11:50 A lot of what I see when I discuss stress and talk about stress, and also experience it, although I tried to work on this, what I see is that stress is mostly, at least in the beginning, self imposed, we, we worry about so many things, we don't stop going back to meditation, we don't meditate. We don't take time at the end of the day to look at the day and analyze what happened and say to ourselves, gee, this happened that wasn't great. Rather than beating ourselves up over it. How do we improve it in the future? We don't we don't deal with mindfulness. I guess that's maybe the best way to put it. And so as a result, we promote the stress. Samantha Rawlinson 12:38 Yeah, yes, I agree with that. Totally. I think we don't take time to stop and take care of ourselves. And self care is so important. And like you said, at the end of the day can be something as simple as watching the sunset or journaling, reading a book doing something for you in this society right now. I think we are always on the go. And we go all day till we collapse. Michael Hingson 13:07 Yeah, it's interesting. I, I have been using guide dogs since I was 14. And one of the things that I've learned about having a dog's both lab and Golden Retrievers is that they can be very stoic, they can put up with an awful lot. And you never know anything is wrong. Until they drop, they will work till they drop. They're there. They're committed. And clearly, the stress that we experience doesn't tend to be with dogs. And maybe there's something to be learned from that. The other side of it is that they don't necessarily easily tell us when they're feeling not well. And so we get surprised when suddenly they can't work anymore. And I think that's true of, of a lot of dogs. I had one dog that in 1996, we moved to New Jersey, and she was bitten by a tick and hyperbole early. Well. It had to be in spring of 1997. And two years later, we had flown to Southern California for a meeting and came back and came in on Saturday. And she was she seemed fine. But Saturday night she couldn't even get up and come down to eat dinner. And we learned that what happened is that she had contracted Lyme disease that morphed into glomerular nephritis. And so literally, she was starving to death because the kidneys were passing out all the good stuff along with the bad stuff. She had to retire, but gave no real clue. And there had to be some symptoms or some things that she was feeling. But she was so focused on pleasing and working that she never really gave us an indication of it. And so they don't deal with stress the same way we do by any means. And there are pluses and minuses to that. That is so true. And so the thing that we have or ought to develop is the ability to analyze and become more aware of us and our surroundings and what goes on inside of us, which is, I think what you're really saying, Samantha Rawlinson 15:23 yes, and even during the day, if we learn the tools to help us even throughout the day, for one, recognizing, Hey, I am stressed right now, pull yourself out of that situation and just do a simple breathing technique, breathe in for four out for four. And it just taking that time, can like decrease your stress enough to be like, Okay, I've recognized this, I feel better, I can continue, we just let it build and build to the point that we get sick. Michael Hingson 15:59 As much as anything dealing with stress is a conscious kind of a process. And we can deal with most stress. It's like fear. And I'm in the process of writing a book about fear because having survived being in the World Trade Center on September 11. I've talked about fear a lot. But what I've never really done is taught people some of the techniques that I have learned throughout the years, and that I learned on unexpectedly about dealing with September 11. And so when the the terrorist attack, I was able to focus, because I had developed a mindset that told me that I knew what to do in an emergency, if there was the ability to do it, as opposed to if the building wasn't crashing down around us, which wouldn't have mattered anyway, then. But the fact is that you can control fear and fear can be a good thing. It's all about how you choose to deal with it. And I think that's so true, whether it's fear or stress, which are related, it is all about what you choose to do about it and how you choose to prepare to live from day to day. Samantha Rawlinson 17:09 It is that is so true. Because your mindset can really just can make your day good or bad. Michael Hingson 17:18 But that is a choice that you can make no matter what's going on. Samantha Rawlinson 17:21 Oh, exactly. But people have lived in that stressful state for so long. They don't know how to reverse it, and how how to get back to a normalized state. And I know for me that I, I learned that during COVID, whereas a lot of people were panicked. I, I actually embraced it and and learned a lot about myself and how I want it to be Michael Hingson 17:57 well, and COVID is a perfect example of that a time when so many people went into a fear response, because they had to experience an unexpected life change, and didn't have any control over it. And our problem also is we think we have to control everything. And so as a result, we don't deal with things very well. Samantha Rawlinson 18:21 Isn't that the truth? Yeah, I is funny, because I'm somebody who's always wanting to control things in AF over the last few years. I've just kind of I mean, there's still aspects of my life, I want want some control over but I've learned to just relax. And if things happen, I can't control everything. I'm not going to make myself sick over it. Michael Hingson 18:47 Right? It's it's important to learn what you can control and what you can't control. And don't worry about what you can control because it's only going to cause you Here we go again, stress and fear. Samantha Rawlinson 18:58 Exactly. And the other big thing that I love to tell people I learned this, probably way too late for one by I learned this when my kids were a little bit older is to learn to say no. Because I would do anything that came my way, Mike Yes, I'll do that. I'll do that. And I was always involved in their school stuff. And at one point I said, I can't do this anymore. I'm making myself tired. And you have to know when to say no. Michael Hingson 19:32 And you've got to take time for you to write, do you go to church or do anything in the religious world? Samantha Rawlinson 19:40 I don't go to church i i journal I am more spiritual. And I like to I love my morning nature time. I like to sit outside morning and just connect with nature. Michael Hingson 19:59 The reason I asked that Question is that you probably then wouldn't be familiar with a with a program that the Methodist Church began called the walk to Emmaus, which is an outgrowth of a Catholic program called crucio. It's a short course in Christianity intended to develop people who are Christian, into Christian leaders. It's, it's a program not to indoctrinate, if you will, or to bring somebody into a church, but to help develop leadership. The program is a four day program where you go to a place and a number of other people go who have never been on this, as the Methodists call it walk to Emmaus before. And it's called a walk to amass, because if you've read the Bible, there was a time after Jesus arose from the grave, where he walked on the road to Emmaus and met some people. They didn't know who he was. And he went with them to Emmaus, and they sat down to eat. And it was at that point that suddenly he revealed himself and they realized who he was, and he disappeared. So this is a journey to if you will amass, and what they do when you get there is they take your watch, and they tell you right at the outset, you don't have to worry about anything here, you don't have control, you don't need control, everything is taken care of. If you have any questions or concerns, you can ask, but we're telling you now that everything will be done that needs to be done. Even your families have people checking in on them, you don't have to worry about having control over anything. So I went on the walk. And then later I was a director of one of the walks. And it's interesting to observe the people who couldn't let go. And it's even more interesting to observe the people who really could let go and embraced it, and how they progressed, Christianity or not how they progressed in their own lives, because they learned that they really could let go of so many things. Wow. That's pretty cool. Yeah, it's a very powerful program. It is a really cool program. And the whole idea is that you trust you learn to trust, and we, we have so many challenges with trust. Well, I went to that program in. I think it was 1991. And it was a challenge at first to give up my watch, because I'm used to looking at my watch and the time, I don't need to do that. But I like to just keep tabs on things. It's like, if I had to shut down and not use a computer for a day, I could do it. And I know there are a lot of people who can't. And like I realized fairly quickly Yeah, I don't need my watch. Not gonna worry about it. They said, don't worry about it. I'm going to try it. And it was really a great experience all the way around. Samantha Rawlinson 23:00 Yeah, I know a lot of people who would not be able to get through that. Michael Hingson 23:04 Well, you remember the the the device, the Blackberry? Yeah. And Research In Motion one day, lost their servers and lost communications with blackberries. And I think it was like about 12 hours, blackberries didn't work. And I understand that this was fortunately more at night. But I understand that even some people committed suicide because they didn't have access to their BlackBerry's Samantha Rawlinson 23:26 what that is crazy. Michael Hingson 23:29 We get so locked into doing things a certain way that we don't work on figuring out alternatives. I have been a member of the National Federation of the Blind for many years, it's the largest consumer organization of blind people. And a gentleman named Dr. Jonathan Lazar, who worked at the time at Towson University, came and spoke to the Federation and said, one of the interesting things that he has found about blind people who interact with the internet, is that blind people tend to be a little bit more patient, and a little bit more persistent about dealing with a net, especially when things aren't working quite right, because we're so used to not having full access, that we in fact, will work harder at trying to get access. And if we can't, you know, we can't. But we, we do that, and I think it's changing as the internet becomes more accessible. But it is it is interesting, how many of us recognize that we don't have the same access to computer information that other people do. And while it's frustrating, we can control our mindset about that and we go on and we look for other ways to get the data. Right but you know, when I when I hear about kids in the backseat of their parents cars texting each other right Other than talking, I know sometimes they don't want their parents to hear what they're saying, but gee, you know, aren't they taking things to a limit? Or beyond a limit? So that's for sure. It's an interesting evolving world. So how does chronic illness affect people's lives? What? And how? And what kind of advice would you give to somebody who's got something that, that maybe they discover? Or how do they discover that if they have a chronic illness? Samantha Rawlinson 25:29 So people with chronic illnesses? Look at for I'm trying to figure out what part of that to answer first. So I'm going to start with just listing a few chronic illnesses that way you listeners know kind of what I'm talking about when it that's affects their life, and things that are listed under chronic illness. And this is just a few there's a lot. obesity, heart disease, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, that can be very debilitating for some people, fatty liver disease and chronic pain. And those are just a few. There's a lot more than that. These people that have these chronic illnesses, they are on a roller coaster, they can feel guilty because they haven't been taking care of themselves. They're distressed, they're hopeless, they're frustrated, anxious, angry and depressed, so that they can go through all these emotions in one day when they're not feeling well. They are individuals who have chronic illness also have to face the worry of money, because they have all these doctor's appointments and medications and time off from work. So they're dealing with a lot, a lot of emotional, physical, and social issues having a chronic illness. So that they have days where they just can't get out of bed, they they have days, when they're, they're feeling good, they feel great. And then they wake up the next day. And they're like, Well, what did I do yesterday to feel so bad. And it depends on the chronic illness, an example of diabetes, these people have to watch their glucose levels on a constant basis, they have to be very consistent with their diet and exercise. When they don't, and they slack off, their chronic illness gets out of control. So it can affect your life in so many ways. And somebody who has a chronic illness knows what I'm talking about, what is the Michael Hingson 27:42 best thing that people can do in general to if they are if they do have a chronic illness? What what's the best thing for them just normally to do about it? Samantha Rawlinson 27:52 For one, get your nutrition under control, which is a hard one for especially here in the US, we are very bad about picking something up and eating it. Um, nutrition exercise, your mindset can make a huge difference. Your lifestyle, sleeping, we already talked about stress, all these things all work together, and we are really bad about not regulating them all. Michael Hingson 28:28 One of the things that we tend to do when we feel it seems to me anyway, when we feel that something is bothering us is that we kind of go on to our shells, we don't move, we don't do anything. That doesn't seem like it's a very healthy thing to do either. Samantha Rawlinson 28:46 No, it is a terrible thing to do. And I'll be quite honest. You know, just because I'm a health coach doesn't mean I'm perfect on days that I'm having pain, I have to physically remind myself and I'll have my husband Tommy, okay, you need to walk you need to go stretch. I may not feel like it. But I know I have to do it because if I don't, I'm just going to be in more pain. And when you're in the midst of that chronic illness, you you need that support system or you need a way of learning how to cope in the Emotional Freedom Technique. It's also called tapping that is one thing that has really helped me but movement is very important, whether it's exercising if you're able to because we exercise is good for us. It decreases our chances of having heart disease, strength training, especially for women. And when I mean strength training, I don't mean you have to go and lift a huge amount of weights. lightweights on a daily basis are really important especially for women because women over 50 during menopause, get osteoporosis. So strength training is really important. And then flip, everybody needs to do flexibility. And that's just stretching. And yoga helps with that significantly, because you can find on YouTube, just light yoga things for anybody. Michael Hingson 30:21 Tell me more about tapping, if you would, please. Yeah. Samantha Rawlinson 30:24 So now I'm not somebody, I'm not a practitioner. But it's something I discovered, right around the COVID. Time. And what you do is you tap on meridians and your meridians go through your body. And the places you tap are like your head, your eyebrow, the side of your eye, under your eye, under your nose, under your chin, and your collarbone. And your meridians run all along these lines. And with tapping, you start with the negative and you you go through these tapping points and talk, you talk through the points of all the negativity that you're dealing with right now. And then you go back through the points, and you talk about the positive in and bring the positive around in. I can't tell you how much it has helped me with pain because it can bring my pain level from an eight down to a four in one session. Michael Hingson 31:28 That's pretty dramatic. It really is. Why does that happen? Samantha Rawlinson 31:34 Our bodies have energy, we're, we have energy all around us. And this is something that I think we need to look more and more into the eastern medicine really looks into the you know, does this type of stuff more than we do here. And energy healing is a real thing. It helps. And when you put that positive energy into it, it just, it turns things around for you. And you can use tapping for anything, you can use it for anxiety, depression, I'm having a bad day. I'm just trying to think of some of the you can use it for anything, you name it, you can use it. Michael Hingson 32:19 It's it's all about it seems to me once again, redirecting what is going on in your mind. And it's getting you to refocus, and deal with against stress or whatever is happening or the the illness and taking away from the negative aspects of it. So it's all about a mental adjustment, it seems to me, Samantha Rawlinson 32:44 it is it's hard to change your mental mentality all on your own. I know because I've really worked on it. And I work on it every single day. Michael Hingson 32:55 Yeah. And it's, again, all about what we're taught, how do we how do we start to get our overall environment to change the way we deal with stress and all of these things to make all some of this go away? And that is I guess what I'm getting at is, collectively we're teaching ourselves to be so stressed and to be so frustrated and to have so many challenges. How do we deal with that? Samantha Rawlinson 33:23 I think we need to as human beings, we need to come to that point of Okay, enough is enough. I've had it. I need to either learn how to do this on my own or find somebody who can teach me because we always we all get to a breaking point that we just can't do it anymore. Michael Hingson 33:44 So growing up so you've got children, how do you help your children maybe start out, not going down that same path of negativity and stress, Samantha Rawlinson 33:57 teaching them from the very beginning, which is very hard. If you're somebody who's already in that space and are able to learn this at an early age, teaching them at an early age is also very important. I've always been in the self discovery since I was in my 20s. And so both my children have always kind of been in the same thing. One of my children has anxiety very badly. And she she does a lot of these things to help control her anxiety. And it's not a it's a hormonal anxiety. It's something she inherited. So you can learn these things, but you have you have to want to learn them and so as a parent, I would teach my children then because you're giving them an advantage. Michael Hingson 34:53 I was happy working for you with your children. Samantha Rawlinson 34:55 It my Yeah, my oldest child. She's 25 And let me tell you She is far better at this because she's learned it from an early age. Michael Hingson 35:08 are better at it than you, huh? Samantha Rawlinson 35:10 Oh, yeah. Yeah. But that's because, you know, I was able to figure it out and go, Okay, I don't I don't want to do this. I don't I didn't want to teach my kids in. Do they have bad days? Yes, we all have bad days. But I know she's able to control herbs. My, my younger child who's 20? She's still she's still working on it. Michael Hingson 35:36 Yeah, it still comes down to how we allow our surroundings, our environments to affect us. And it sounds like your, your older daughter is has accepted the fact that we can deal with this a little bit more in your younger one, it sounds like is still sort of not totally the point of saying, I can separate myself from a lot of this materialistic stuff. Samantha Rawlinson 36:02 Right? She's still maturing, and she's in college, which makes it hard to separate do that separation? Michael Hingson 36:09 Yeah, it is one of those things that that again, is all about choice, we choose to do it or we choose not to. And that is up entirely to us. Samantha Rawlinson 36:22 It really is. Michael Hingson 36:25 So you mentioned movement before and you mentioned exercise, is there a difference between just movement and dealing with chronic illness and exercise? Samantha Rawlinson 36:35 So yes, there is. So we are bad, especially right now, because a lot of us are on Zoom calls, a lot of us work from home or work. Even people who work in the office, were bad about sitting at a desk for eight hours, that's a long time for your body to sit. Movement, you need to get up and move. And I don't mean you have to go run for 30 minutes, I mean, every hour, you need to get up and move your body, I don't care if it's walking down to the bathroom or walking outside for five minutes, we really should be moving on an hourly basis to keep the body moving. Because it prevents you. It helps your body from getting stiff, it keeps you flexible. And it just keeps you healthy. Michael Hingson 37:28 I will say my Apple Watch yells at me because even when I get up to 4000 or 4500 steps, it says you don't take enough steps, which is probably true. But I do believe in moving around. And I do mainly work at home and from home. And right now especially my wife has been dealing with some medical issues with a serious wound from probably a pressure sore in her wheelchair. And it got so serious that it actually went to the bone and chose he was in the hospital for a month. So I keep a close eye on her. And we have caregivers that are that are now helping. But still moving around is important because as I've heard a number of times over the years people and talking about caregivers, and family members who are caregivers, you've got to take time for you too. Because if you don't you're not going to be a good caregiver and you're gonna eventually have your own serious issues. Samantha Rawlinson 38:30 That is so true. Caregivers are the worst about taking care of themselves as our nurses. Because we're caregivers. Michael Hingson 38:40 Yes. Yeah, by any standard you are. Yeah. And COVID. Again, and we talked about it earlier, has offered challenges, but it has offered opportunities. And I think there's a lot to be learned from doing more work ins, doing zoom calls, doing zoom meetings, we're finding out that you don't have to necessarily be in the office for eight hours a day, five days a week, you can and there's a lot of potential and being more productive by having time to work at home. But, but you also have to be disciplined enough to take advantage of the opportunities that that brings you. That is so true. So it is a major issue that a lot of us have to learn to give ourselves permission to make choices. And maybe that's the real issue is that we don't choose because we don't give ourselves permission to make choices. Samantha Rawlinson 39:40 Right? That is so true. And we don't make we don't give ourself permission to make the right choices. Yeah. For some, for a lot of people. The easier route is the supposedly the better but I don't know where we got into that because it's not always better. Tell me more if you With, well, for instance, food, that, you know, we think, Oh, it's so easy just to run to the store and get this and this and that I don't have to make dinner. And I had that mentality. And I realized, oh my gosh, I can make a meal and 30 minutes, a healthy meal in 30 minutes. Whereas running to the store, getting the food coming home, that was 30 minutes, right there. Yeah. And, and when I cook at home, I, I spend like a fraction of what I would going out, especially right now with an economy. I think that's a big thing. Michael Hingson 40:38 We used to go not go out a lot, but we would, we would use GrubHub or, or especially during the pandemic, and we will get stuff maybe twice a week. But now we don't, especially with Karen, my wife being the way she you know, she is she doesn't get up much or she doesn't certainly go out. And we're eating just fine. Thank you very much without going out without even ordering in from GrubHub or other services. And there are a lot of things available. But the fact of the matter is that we can produce things at home, and we can be a lot more creative. And it also gives us the time in being creative and being industrious enough to do things at home. It gives us the time to do something that allows us to get away from stress to Samantha Rawlinson 41:30 Oh, yeah, definitely. And, I mean, there's days I don't feel like cooking, but then I have leftovers and I'm like, hey, I can just throw this together. And I just try to keep the you know, the certain foods in my fridge all the time. And and, you know, once you stop eating things like fried food, you don't want to eat it because it doesn't taste good. Michael Hingson 41:58 Yeah, it's been not very hard for us to not eat a lot of fried food. And we got an airfryer earlier this year. So that makes the concept of fry food better. Samantha Rawlinson 42:09 I know. I love my air fryer. So little side note here. My husband has a travel nurse and we we are sometimes in a hotel for weeks on end. We've lived in a hotel for three months at one point in their little kitchenette stuff is to be desired. Let me just say, I have learned how to cook everything out of the air fryer. I've even learned how to make cookies out of an air fryer. Michael Hingson 42:39 So do you take your air fryer with you to the hotel? Oh, yes. Do you? Samantha Rawlinson 42:47 Yes, I do. So I've learned how to make a lot of different things. In the airfryer it's kind of comical. 42:54 Well, we have one of these, the airfryer that has a lot of different functions. I have not made cookies. I've been given gifts of cookies that are frozen that you're supposed to. They're partially baked and you put them in and they've come out really well. But I I use it for a lot of stuff. And there's a an accessibe customer accessibe is the company that I work for us. It's a company that makes products that make websites more accessible. And through accessibe I discovered a company called Wild grain. And we did a podcast with the owner of wild grain. They make breads, specifically sourdough breads and very healthy kinds of breads. They started at the beginning or near the beginning of the Pong pandemic, it's wild grain.com. And so they ship nationwide. And the way they actually do it is they create the breads, they par bake them, they send them to you frozen, and then you put them in the oven on and finish the baking. And they're wonderful because the breads come out fresh. And and again, it's also completely healthy, no preservatives compared to other kinds of things. And I have found using the airfryer to create them and to bake them has been a wonderful tool. I'm gonna save some energy to Oh yeah, Samantha Rawlinson 44:18 I'm excited. I wrote that down. I'm excited. I'm gonna check that out. Michael Hingson 44:24 It's, uh, oh, it's great. It's a wonderful place. And it's absolutely worth exploring and getting their stuff from In fact, we've got to do an order a little bit later in the month. Yeah. Samantha Rawlinson 44:36 And actually sourdough bread is actually really good for you sourdough bread, whole grain or whole wheat are the three to look for. Michael Hingson 44:46 We haven't bought straight white bread for a long time. We we get whole grain bread or now we're really spoiled by the sourdough. And so he We get that in there. Dinner Rolls are wonderful. I haven't tried. In the first box, we got the Sena some sticky buns and I haven't tried them yet. I've got to do that. But I haven't found anything there that we really didn't like at all. It's absolutely scrumptious stuff. Samantha Rawlinson 45:16 I'm gonna check it out because I love having avocado toast and sourdough. That's like one of my favorite practices. Michael Hingson 45:23 Now, where are you located? Samantha Rawlinson 45:25 Right now I'm in Tennessee. I'm originally my husband and I are from Texas. But he says, But yeah, we're in Nashville right now. Michael Hingson 45:33 Oh, well, the neat thing about wildbrain is what they have done is partnered with bakeries all over the country. So they've given bakeries, their recipes, and they're under contract so that the food is prepared, much closer to you than Boston, where wild grain is located. And it shipped from the closest bakery to wherever you are. So that also helps. Okay, awesome. At the end, if you go, if you go back and look at all of our podcasts, you can find it and you can find the interview with with him and learn his whole story. It's a fascinating story. Samantha Rawlinson 46:06 Wow, I'm gonna do that. Thank you. Michael Hingson 46:09 One of the things that I wonder about is you we've talked a lot about food, what are good foods, and not necessarily so good foods for dealing with chronic illness. Samantha Rawlinson 46:20 So the foods you want to avoid are foods that cause inflammation, so we might as well start with the bad, right. So red meat is red meat and processed meats are not they're very inflammatory. And they really can cause somebody with chronic illnesses, a lot of problems. So I would totally avoid those refined refined grains, white bread, white rice, pie pasta, white pasta, you can get whole wheat pasta now so that that would be a better choice. sodas, it doesn't matter if it's sweetened or unsweetened. I just actually read something with diabetics that unsweetened sodas can actually caused their blood sugars to spike hours later, which I had no idea. And then fried, of course fried foods. So those are the things you really want to avoid, avoid. There's a lot you can eat, that are anti inflammatory. Of course, most of your fruits and vegetables are very good for you. Fatty fishes like a salmon, trout tuna. And talk about anti inflammatory meal, you can take your you know fish like salmon, or trout or tuna and put it on a whole wheat tortilla and add your veggies on it and you have a whole anti inflammatory dinner or lunch right there. So it's super easy to eat that way. There's a lot of herbs and spices that you can use avoid salt at all cost. I think here in the US were really bad about not using spices and herbs and they can make such a difference in your meal. And then I really recommend staying away from the vegetable oils do things like olive oil, avocado oil, those are so much better for you. And then nuts and seeds are really that that's an amazing source of not only protein, but they're anti inflammatory and a great snack. Michael Hingson 48:38 Yeah, I I know that I have not used a lot. I've never used a lot of salt. Sometimes I over salt by accident. I noticed. And I noticed that a lot. You you can't go completely in your life without salt. But you can certainly you can certainly determine how much you need. My brother was a big salt eater. And I know that wasn't necessarily a good thing to do at all, but it still happened. Yeah, my Samantha Rawlinson 49:07 husband's terrible with the salt and Mike Pina at least tasted before you salt it. Michael Hingson 49:12 Yeah. Well, that's it. I mean, yeah. So you need enough salt for cooking. But right now on the other hand, the exception to that rule is popcorn at a movie theater. But that's another story. Samantha Rawlinson 49:24 Yeah, well, as long as you're not eating it every day, and popcorn is actually one of my most favorite snacks. I just don't put butter on it. And I I do put salt but not a lot. Michael Hingson 49:37 Yeah, we don't we don't eat that much popcorn. Not as much as we should. But the point is that we don't as a result have a lot of butter on it. But that's pretty cool. Samantha Rawlinson 49:45 And actually, you know what you can do at home you can put your nutritional yeast you can sprinkle that on it and it tastes like it's it tastes like cheese on it. Yeah, it's very good for you. Cool. Yeah. Michael Hingson 50:01 So, I would assume that sleep is also something that can help with chronic illness and, and in general, I mean, the things that we're talking about are not just things that work for dealing with chronic illness, but things that give you a better life and help you anyway, Samantha Rawlinson 50:17 exactly in these things prevent you from getting a chronic illness. So it's important that you start doing these things before you get to that point that you have something that now you have to control. So, yes, sleep is so important for so many reasons, your body really needs that rest, it needs six to eight hours of sleep. And these people who say all I need is four hours of sleep, I'm sorry that you can tell yourself that, but your body needs it. Michael Hingson 50:46 Yeah. And it has like eight hours asleep. Samantha Rawlinson 50:50 Oh, same here, I know, when I don't get sleep, I'm not a nice person. So sleep is very important to me. And I know people have a hard time either falling asleep or staying asleep. And with that, I suggest make sure you have a good nighttime routine. You know, turn off the lights, I like to read before bed. So just don't use a bright light or on my Kindle, I turn it to that dark level. So the I reduction, isn't it that I whatever they call that doesn't disturb me. And just have something that relaxes you that you could do before bed if your head if you're if you have a lot going through your head, keep a pad of paper or journal right there at your bed and write things down. That way it you can get it off your mind and be able to relax in in to sleep. Michael Hingson 51:52 Have you written any books or done any writing to make all of this more widely available to people? Samantha Rawlinson 51:58 I have not. I'm starting to work on this. Yeah, I'm pretty new at this. But yes, something to work on. Michael Hingson 52:08 Something definitely to do. Well, I would gather so. So today, are you still nursing? Or what do you do with your world? Samantha Rawlinson 52:18 So I am now a full time health and wellness coach in helping women but I helping anybody. At that point. If I can help them change their mindset and change their negative behavior behaviors into positive behaviors. I find that it's a success. So no, I'm not working in a hospital or anything like that. But I'm using nursing in a different way right now. Michael Hingson 52:50 Well, if people want to learn about you, and maybe take advantage of your skills and your services, how do they do that? Samantha Rawlinson 53:00 I actually have a website. It's SamanthaRawlinson.com. I made a spell please. Yes, it's S A M A N T H A R A W L I N S O N.com. Okay, and all my information is on there. My Facebook group is on there. I did think that Instagram is on there, not that I really get on Instagram anymore. That's become more of a hassle. Yeah, and my emails on there also, and I on my website, there's a place where you can make a direct link to make an appointment for a third free 30 minute call just to see if I can help you. Michael Hingson 53:49 You have people all over that you work with clients all over? Yes. Great. Well, I really appreciate all of the knowledge and the insights that you've given us and I hope that you who are listening out there, appreciate them as well. I'm sticking with wild grain and good sourdough bread. But that's another story. And I would suggest though, that anyone wants to reach out to Samantha please do so. I don't think we really talked a lot about the fact that I owned I don't know whether I even mentioned it at first that we met Samantha through Podapalooza, again, pata. Podapalooza is a fun program. And it is you have to start a podcast, Samantha. Samantha Rawlinson 54:34 I guess I do. 54:37 Well, thanks again, Samantha for joining us and thank you for listening. We really appreciate all of you being here. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments please reach out to me via email at Michaelhi M I C H A E L H I at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or visit our podcast page www dot Michael hingson.com/podcast and Michael Hingson is M I C H A E L H I N G S O N. We love to hear your comments and your thoughts and we certainly ask that you please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening to the podcast. But let us know your thoughts. And if you know of anyone else, including yourself who might want to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, please reach out to me via email. I'd love to hear from you once more. Thanks for listening and we hope to see you again next time. Michael Hingson 55:35 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Episode 111 – Unstoppable Suffragist with Paula F. Casey

Don't Wait For Your Wake Up Call!

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2023 68:27

Meet Paula F. Casey who for more than thirty years has worked to educate the public about the role that the state of Tennessee played in securing the passage of the nineteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In the title of this episode, I referred to Paula as an “unstoppable suffragist”, not an “unstoppable suffragette”. Paula will explain the difference and the importance of these two words. I find this episode extremely fascinating and well worth the listen for everyone as what Paula says puts many things and ideas into historical perspective. I hope you find Paula Casey's comments as stimulating and informative as I. About the Guest: Paula F. Casey of Memphis has dedicated more than 30 years to educating the public about Tennessee's pivotal role in the 19th Amendment's ratification with a video, book, e-book, audiobook, and public art. She is also an engaging speaker on the 19th Amendment and voting rights. She was just named Chair of the National Votes for Women Trail (https://ncwhs.org/votes-for-women-trail/), which is dedicated to diversity and inclusion of all the women who participated in the 72-year struggle for American women to win the right to vote. She is also the state coordinator for Tennessee. Paula produced "Generations: American Women Win the Vote," in 1989 and the book, The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage, in 1998. She helped place these monuments - bas relief plaque inside the State Capitol (1998); Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument (Nashville's Centennial Park 2016); Sue Shelton White statue (Jackson City Hall 2017). The Memphis Suffrage Monument "Equality Trailblazers" was installed at the University of Memphis law school after 5 years of work. The dedication ceremony was held on March 27, 2022, and is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YTNND5F1aBw She co-founded the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Heritage Trail (www.tnwomansuffrageheritagetrail.com) that highlights the monuments, markers, gravesites and suffrage-related sites. How to Connect with Paula: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-casey-736110b/ Twitter: @pfcasey1953 Websites: paulacasey.com, theperfect36.com, tnwomansuffrageheritagetrail.com, memphissuffragemonument.com About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:20 Well and a gracious hello to you wherever you happen to be today. This is your host Mike Hingson on unstoppable mindset. And today we get to interview a lady I met just a few weeks ago at one of the Podapalooza events. And if you remember me talking at all about Podapalooza, it is an event for podcasters would be podcasters. And people who want to be interviewed by podcasters, and anybody else who wants to come along. And we've had four of them now altogether, and I've had the opportunity and the joy of being involved with all of them. And Paula Casey is one of the people who I met at the last podapalooza endeavor. Paula is in Memphis, Tennessee, and among other things, has spent the last 30 years of her life being very much involved in dealing with studying and promoting the history of women's suffrage in the United States, especially where Tennessee has been involved. And we're going to get to that we're going to talk about it. We're going to try not to get too political, but you know, we'll do what we got to do and will survive. So Paula, no matter what, welcome to unstoppable mindset, how are you? Paula Casey 02:29 I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. It's always a joy to talk with you. Michael Hingson 02:34 Well, I feel the same way. And we're glad to do it. So let's start, as I like to do at the beginning as it were. So tell us a little bit about you growing up and all that and you you obviously did stuff. You didn't get born dealing with women's suffrage. So let's go back and learn about the early Paula. Paula Casey 02:53 Okay, I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, which is the capital of the great State of Tennessee. But you know, I was 21 years old before I knew that it was Tennessee, the last state that could possibly ratify the 19th amendment. And it's just mind boggling to me when I look back and think, Well, how did we learn about this? I said, basically, it was because the textbooks only had one or two sentences. And they usually said, a napkin women were given the right to vote in 1920 as though it were bestowed by some benevolent entity. And it wasn't until after college, and I met my dear friend, the light gray, Carol, when Yellen that I learned how significant the women's suffrage movement was, and how it is even more surprising that my state Tennessee became the last state that could read it back. Michael Hingson 03:50 Well, so when you were growing up in high school and all that, what were you kind of mostly interested in? Because you didn't just suddenly develop an interest in history. Paula Casey 04:00 I have good history teachers. And I'm very fortunate that I didn't have football coaches. I have real history teachers. And I was involved in Student Council. I was an active girl scout. My parents were very good about making sure that my sister and I had lots of extracurricular activities. And I was a good kid. I didn't do anything wrong. I was a teacher pleaser. I wanted to do well. I wanted to go to college because our parents brought us up girls are going to college. And we've my sister and I both knew that we were going to the University of Tennessee and mark small go big orange and go lady balls and just for the people who care about football, Tennessee right now is number one and the college football rankings. So we're happy about that. But I have always been a staunch supporter of University of Tennessee because that was where I really learned about how important history was. And I was journalism, major journalism and speech. So that helped me on my path to public speaking, and learning more about this nonviolent revolution really became my passion and helping to get women elected to office. Michael Hingson 05:11 Well, let's deal with what you just said. I think it's an extremely important thing. I'll come at it in a little bit of a roundabout way, the Declaration of Independence talks about us having life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And it talks about all men are created equal. And all that spine, although I think if you ask most people, when we talk about being created equal, they interpreted as meaning everybody is supposed to be equal. But you pointed out that usually what people say is that women were granted the right to vote. Tell me more about that. Paula Casey 05:51 Rights are crafted by the Constitution. And in the case of voting rights, the constitution provides for initially man with property white men of property. Then in 1870, the 15th Amendment provided for black man, the newly freed black male slaves. The 14th amendment is the first time the word male m a l. E appears in the Constitution. And the suffragists back then and let me just clarify this in the United States. It was suffragist, the British for the suffragettes and they were considered so radical that the Americans wanted to distinguish themselves. So people in the United States who advocated for women to have the right to vote or suffragist. So the constitution grants the right to vote and our Constitution has been expanded to provide for more groups to participate in the franchise, however, and I want to emphasize this set up by people understand us, what the 19th Amendment did was remove the barrier of gender, it does not guarantee a right to vote. Our United States Constitution does not guarantee the right to vote, it will grant the rights for removing particular barriers in our lighter Native Americans and Asians and all that. Well, at the end, I was around in the early 70s, when I was at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, when the 26th Amendment was ratified, which extended the right to vote to 18 year olds, and I got to vote in my first election when I was 19. And I have never missed an election. I just think it's so important that we vote because that's part of what democracy is all about. And the suffragists did not believe that democracy is a spectator sport. They believed in self government, and they wanted to participate in their government. That's why they fought for 72 years to win that right, and to be able to participate by voting and running for office. Michael Hingson 08:13 So going back to when the Constitution was formed. So what you're saying is essentially, that the original Constitution truly was only dealing with men and not women being created equal, white man with property. Yeah. And what do you think about people today, who say that our constitution shouldn't be any evolving and evolutionary kind of thing, that we should go strictly by what the Constitution says, Paula Casey 08:52 I have two words for you. Michael Hingson 08:55 Why nice to be nice, be nice, Paula Casey 08:58 white supremacy. That's what that means. When you talk about this originally, originalist stuff. It's silly. It represents white supremacy. Yeah. Michael Hingson 09:09 And that's, that's really the issue. I don't know of any governing document that is so strict, that it shouldn't be an evolutionary kind of a thing. We grow our attitudes change, we learn things. And we realize that we've disenfranchise from time to time, which is kind of some of the what you've been talking about in history trope. Paula Casey 09:42 And people who say that, yeah, I don't know if they really believe it. Yeah, you see these surveys or polls where they say, Oh, the average American didn't understand the Bill of Rights and the Bill of Rights wouldn't pass today. Well, thank goodness it did pass. And I want to say MIT to you that I don't think the 19th amendment would have been ratified in this country, had it not been for the First Amendment. And as a former newspaper journalist, I'm a big believer and the First Amendment, I've been a member of the National Federation of press women since 1977. And the First Amendment is absolutely our guiding star. And it is so important for people to understand the significance of the First Amendment, the Bill of Rights and all of the additional amendments, the founding fathers, and if there were some women in there, too, even though they don't get recognized, like Abigail Adams, who believed that the Constitution should evolve a non violent revolution is what it was about the passage of the Constitution. And when I speak every year, generally on Constitution Day, which is September 17, I always point out that Benjamin Franklin said, when he was asked in 1787, Dr. Franklin, what have you created? And he said, a republic, if you can keep it, and we need to heat those words. Tell us more. Why. I think that those individuals who were involved in the creation of the Constitution, and it was not an easy task. And there were very, very strong disagreements, but they did agree on democracy. And you know, Mike, that's what this is all about. Whenever we talk about the suffrage movement, whenever I'm involved in markers, or monuments, highlighting the suffrage movement, I always point out this is about democracy and the rule of law. The suffragists believed in democracy, and that is why they fought a non violent revolution, 72 years from 1848 to 1920. But I believe that they proved the Constitution works. That's what it's about. And Michael Hingson 12:11 you say that because of the fact that that women's suffrage passed, or what, what makes you really say the Constitution works Paula Casey 12:20 because they persevered. They utilized every tool available to them and a non violent way, particularly the First Amendment. And when you think about what is in the First Amendment, freedom of press, freedom to peaceably assemble the freedom to petition your government for redress of grievances, their ability to communicate, and to persevere for a cause in which they deeply believed. I mean, these women were not fly by night. They play the long game. And I think that's what we can learn from down the first generation of women. And this goes back to Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott and Megan bloomer. All the people who were at Seneca Falls in 1848. It was July 19, of 20 of the bait Team 48. They believed in democracy, they believed in self government and rule of law. They persevered within the parameters of what was available to them to peaceably assemble to petition their government. And I've got to tell you, I got to go to the National Archives, back in the early 90s. And I saw the handwritten letter from Susan B. Anthony, addressing her concerns her grievances with the United States government. And all of these women who were out there fighting, I mean, literally doing everything they could to make sure this issue was not diminished. As many people tried to do, that it wasn't swept aside, they overcame enormous obstacles, but they believed in something greater than themselves. And that was democracy and the rule of law. Michael Hingson 14:08 What is the lesson that we should learn today about the importance of women's suffrage? I mean, you've been dealing with this now for over 30 years. Well, a long time, actually. And so what is the real significance of it? Paula Casey 14:23 Why is so significant about studying the suffrage movement is that these women were prepared for the long game. They knew that it was not going to happen overnight, or possibly within their lifetimes. They fought the long fought for the long game. And when you look at persistence, perseverance, everything that they embodied there were poignant. out they were absolutely brilliant and we need to understand what they did and how they worked. To secure a right that we all take for granted today. And that's why when I hear these silly things about, oh, the worst thing that ever happened, this crash was women getting the right vote, you know, and all that garbage. I just feel like we need to study what they did. And what was so significant, because it was peaceful, nonviolent, they adhere to the rule of law. They certainly enacted every part of First Amendment. And then those went and made it possible for us to have the rights we enjoy today. And you have to remember that everything that we enjoy today, these rights came because other people were willing to fight or dock for them. And that's the whole thing about the right to vote. I mean, I'm the widow of a Vietnam veteran, and my husband served in Vietnam. I know, we still have a lot of questions about that war. But my daddy, who just died this year, he was a world war two veteran as well as a Korean War veteran. My father in law was an Army veteran who was throughout World War Two. So I take this right to vote seriously. And when I think about what our having grown up in Nashville, and Tennessee, and I've been in Memphis, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968, fighting for equal rights. And I've been in Memphis since January 1981. So I'm very passionate about women's rights, civil rights, the right to vote, we need to know our history. And we need to understand that a lot of people fought died for us to have these rights, particularly the right to vote. Michael Hingson 16:42 Well, without getting overly political about the process, we certainly seem to be having some challenges today, because there is a what appears to be a growing number of people who would retract a lot of the things that have been brought about and some of the rights that have been expanded and made available. And it's it's scary, I know that we who, for example, have happened to be persons with disabilities are worried about some of the voting issues. Because if they, if the wrong, people decide to take complaint and get complete control, they could pull back the Help America Vote Act, and the whole issue about having voting machines that are accessible and taking away accessible ballots and so on. And there's so many other things going on? How do we get people to truly understand what happened with women's suffrage and similar sorts of things? And how do we get people to recognize the dangers that we face today? Paula Casey 17:47 That is such a great question. And I've got to tell you, Mike, I think about this just about every day. Here's what you got to remember, ever since the beginning of this country, we have had people who consider themselves superior, and who do not want everyone to vote, it took me a long time to understand that. Because, you know, growing up in Nashville, and I mean, I had a great upper middle class life. And, you know, I'm educated, I've traveled I mean, I think I'm a fairly nice person. And I want everybody to vote. And I just couldn't understand that there were people who would not want every American citizen to exercise the franchise, and that has become more and more apparent. And I have to tell you, I think that the election of Barack Obama had a lot to do with that with the backlash. And the idea that there are folks in this country who do not believe that everyone should have the right to vote. And so therefore, they consider themselves justified in putting up barriers to the voting process, which makes it incumbent upon people like us who want everyone to have access to the ballot, to try to figure out how to overcome the obstacles that they place in our path. At Bat, again, takes us back to the women's suffrage movement. Those women endured all kinds of ridicule. I mean, it just it's amazing when you look back and see the newspapers, and things that were written and said letters and things that are in archives, people who were dismissive both men and women, dismissive of the right to vote, because that was something that many people from the beginning of this country onward, felt like it should be limited, any access. So those of us who have been fighting for expanded access, are going to have to keep on fighting. We can't give up and that's what the suffrage just taught us cannot give up Have Michael Hingson 20:01 you talked about the concept? And the fact that this was a nonviolent movement? Did those early suffragists experienced much violence from people? Paula Casey 20:14 Yeah. Oh, yeah. Especially when they marched the 1913 suffrage parade in Washington, DC, and in New York City and night content, the I mean, Thurber police and looked the other way, a geonet. Something that's happening today, too. But the idea that not everyone celebrated having universal suffrage. And that's what I believe in universal suffrage, no matter what you believe. And you still should have access to the ballot, and we need to make it as accessible as we can. But we've just got to keep fighting because we've got to overcome the people that don't want everyone to have access to the ballot. Michael Hingson 21:01 You studied this a lot. What do you think the Founding Fathers view would be today? When founding mothers for that matter? Paula Casey 21:09 Better? Such a great question, because everybody likes to think that they know what they would think. And I have to tell you, I have been on a run of reading David McCullough's books. I am just really into BS, I'm researching 76 right now. And I've had John Adams forever. I've never finished it. So I'm going to finish that. Then I've got to do Teddy Roosevelt. And then I'm going to do Harry Truman. But the thing about John Adams, when Abigail wrote him to remember the ladies, he was dismissive. And he thought it was silly. And these man, okay, yes, they were products of their time. But there were very few real feminist among them. That's what made Frederick Douglass stand out because he was so willing to stand up for women's suffrage. But she looked back at those men. And I mean, honestly, my they didn't know any differently. You think about what they were through. And the idea that women should be equal participants in a democracy was certainly a foreign thought to them. But there were so many people. And there were also areas that didn't allow women to vote. But you know, New Jersey actually extended the franchise and then took it away. And then when people started moving westward, to develop the West, there were the men were adamant that because women were helping homestead and settled all of that land out there that they should be voting, if there were states that were not going to come into the Union if their women couldn't vote. So this is not that unusual of an idea. But it took particularly enlightened man and women who pushed for it to happen. And I've got to point this out. I do not bash man because it took the man and those 36 state legislatures to ratify a Ninth Amendment, they voted to willingly expand power, and that needs to be acknowledged. Weird, we're Michael Hingson 23:20 we're dealing with this, this whole issue of suffrage and rights and so on. Were any of the early founders of the United States, right from the outset? Supportive or more supportive? Do you think? Or do you know, Paula Casey 23:35 trying to think, abolition and suffrage became closely linked? Yeah. So for those who advocated the abolition of slavery, they were probably more amenable. But again, what this really is about is the whole idea of who is a citizen? And I think that's where and the founding of this country, clearly black people and Native Americans were not considered citizens. The question about women. I can't think right offhand of any, quote, founding father who advocated for women to bow, they may have come up, you know, some of them may have come around, but you look back and think, who are the guys that we think about as founding fathers? I don't think any of them was particularly feminist, or encouraging of women being thought of as citizens with full voting rights. And then you got into the issue of taxation without representation. You know, nothing's new. That's what you learned studying the women's suffrage movement is it's all been said or done for who is a citizen who should have the right to vote? Michael Hingson 24:58 Well, I'm I'm think I mentioned to you When we chatted before, and you just brought up abolitionists, and I always remember the story of William Lloyd Garrison, who was trying to gain more people into the abolitionist movement. And he directed some of his people to contact the Grimm case sisters who were very staunch suffragists, right? And see, I got the word, right. And they said, No, we can't do that. That's not what their priority is. Their priority is all about women's separatists that's going to detract from what we're all about. And in Henry Mayer's book all on fire in telling the story, he says that Garrison said, it's all the same thing. And that's absolutely right. Whether it's the right to vote, whether it's the right to attend public school, whether it's the right of persons with so called disabilities to have equal access, which doesn't necessarily mean we do things the same way, but equal access to things in the United States. It's all the same thing. Right. And I think that's the most important message that we all want to take away. Or at least that's part of the important message that we should take away. I don't know how we change people's minds today, though, we're getting such a polarized world? And how do we get people to understand why being more open to everyone having equal opportunities, whether it be the right to vote or whatever? How do we get people to deal with that? Paula Casey 26:45 I think we have to learn from what the separatists stat, we have to persevere. We have to be creative, and innovative. We just can't give up. This is the long game we are in for the fight of our labs. And it won't get better if people give up. That's why we've got the hang in there. And truly, it is about democracy, you either believe in democracy or don't. And that, to me is the bottom line. And when he talks about polarization, I think we also have to factor in disinformation, foreign governments being involved in our political processes. And frankly, as a former newspaper journalist, and someone with a journalism degree, I have to tell you, I think the media have failed us. They are not reporting on things that are happening. And I've got to tell you this mike, in the 1970s, my husband and I were in the newspaper business back then he was a great journalist, great editor. And we started watching the corporatization of news in the mid to late 70s. And now it's like what, six or seven corporations, on all the major media, this is not good for our country. We work for a family owned newspaper business in Tennessee, that was bought out. And then now you have these giant firms and hedge funds, evil, I think they're evil, and they're buying up all of the media, this is not good for our country. And this means it is difficult to get the message out to people. And I really thought that social media would help and if anything, is probably been more of a hindrance. Sadly, Michael Hingson 28:35 when you don't have any kind of governing governors on what you do, like what we saw for several years recently, then, yeah, it certainly doesn't help does it? Not. So well fight disinformation, as well as apathy. Yeah, and apathy is certainly a part of it. And you talked about the importance of voting, and we I've talked to a number of people who have never voted, oh, I'm not going to do that it won't make a difference and so on. And they, and they continue to feel that way. And they just don't vote and they're not young people. But I've also found young people who do that, but I know some people who are in their 40s and 50s. And they've never voted in an election. And they're fine with Paula Casey 29:28 that. Yeah, that's that's what's so sad because you've got to have parents or teachers, someone who inculcate in a young person, that it's important to better and I will tell you, my sister and I grew up in a home where my parents were two newspapers voted in every election. My sister and I knew that it was important, we registered to vote. I mean, I I got to vote first time and I was 19. But I registered as soon as I could, after the 26th Amendment was ratified. And I've just think People have got to understand that democracy doesn't work. If you don't participate, democracy is not a spectator sport. And here again, this is something else that this brings up. When did they stop teaching civics in the schools? I love civics. I love teaching civics talking about civics. That's part of the problem right there. Michael Hingson 30:24 There are a lot of challenges. I think I know the answer to this one, since Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. But why is it called the perfect 36? Paula Casey 30:36 The editorial cartoonists of the day, the Tennessee the perfect 36 Because they did not know where that last state was going to come from. So think about here, let me set stage 3435 states have ratified. Three states absolutely refused to consider it because their governors were opposed. Connecticut, Vermont, Florida, nine states had outright rejected it. And berries were primarily in the south lawn with Maryland, a couple of years. Non states were checked it. It fell to Tennessee. And because Tennessee had a well organized group of suffragists across the state in all 95 of our counties, and we have wonderful man who supported this effort, including our United States senator Kenneth McKellar, who was from Memphis. So the stage was set. When Carrie Chapman Catt came to Nashville to stay at the Hermitage Hotel, which is fabulous. And I want your listeners to go to the heart teach hotel if they're ever in Nashville, because it's so significant in the suffrage battle. Both the Pro and anti suffrage forces stayed at the Hermitage and Carrie Chapman Catt stayed there. Along with Representative Joseph pan over from Memphis, who was the floor later, Carrie Chapman cat asked him to be the suffrage fight. So because of the editorial cartoonist and because we were the last state that could ratify, that's where the name of the perfect 36 came from. Michael Hingson 32:20 Well, for you personally, what really got you interested in becoming so deeply involved in studying the suffrage movement because it's clearly become very personal for you. Paula Casey 32:34 My husband, dad and July 1988. And Carolyn Yellin, spent a lot of time with me. We had actually been at the National Women's Conference in November of 1977. That was an exciting time I was one of the youngest delegates there. And Carol Lam talked to me about the research that she had done and and I want people to know about this because this is really important. After back McCain was killed in Memphis in 1968. Carolyn Yellin her husband, David Yellin, who was a broadcaster and several other folks put together a group called the search for meaning committee. And they compiled everything they could about what was happening in Memphis. And every book that has been written since then about Dr. King, and what happened in Memphis, has utilized their research. Well, while Carolyn was doing this research, she came across this Tennessee story and she was working with from Oklahoma. She didn't even come here from New York City. He ran the broadcasting department, a inaugurated at what was then known as Memphis State University. And Carolyn said, you know, this is kind of important. Yeah, that may, Tennessee was last, I think the ratify. So she started doing research. And she found descendants. And she also talked with two of the man who were still living. Harry Byrne died in 1977. Joseph Hanover did not got until 1984 and I met him in 1983. He was the for later, who Mrs. Cat had asked, Can the pro surfers votes together, had it not been for Joe Hannover. I'm telling you tonight, the amendment would not have been ratified in Tennessee. He Carolyn always said to me, he was the real hero. So we started working on a book because she had said she wanted to do this book. So I'm thinking I have a lot of graduated from UT Knoxville and the University of Tennessee press will want to do this book, because we have all this original research. So we're calling you to press. And the woman said to me, and we've already dealt with on women's suffrage, and was very dismissive. And I was just really stunned and I said Okay, thank you. So I started thinking about it later and I wished I'd had the presence of mind to say she nobody ever says that about the Civil War. You know, all they do is write books about the damn civil war. I mean, I grew up in Nashville, believe me, I had been, I was indoctrinated with Lost Cause mythology. So I start looking. And finally we get somebody who's willing to publish it. And you gotta remember this. We published it originally in 1998. I've done a re plan, and I've done the e book and the audio book, and Dr. Dre and Sherman came to Memphis in 1994. We started working on the book in 1996. We got the first edition published in May of 1998. And I was able to put it in Carolyn's hands, her breast cancer had returned, and she got in March of 99. So I was just so grateful that her research resulted in that book. And then Dr. Sherman, who had her PhD from Wright first wrote about the long journey from the Revolutionary War up to what happened in Nashville in 1920. So we're really proud of the book, and I continue to sell it to libraries and individuals because you know, that history is it's very well recorded in our book. And so I'm really proud of it and I've got a hold of a copy. The perfect body six, Tennessee delivers women's suffrage and the cover is Downtown Memphis Main Street, 1916. It was called The Great monster suffrage point. Michael Hingson 36:29 Do you know if the book has been put into audio format today? Paula Casey 36:33 Yes, Dr. Sherman read the audio books. I have an audio book and the ebook and awkward formats. Michael Hingson 36:39 So is it on Paula Casey 36:39 Audible? Yes. Oh, it's on lots of ebook platforms and an audio book platforms. Michael Hingson 36:47 Well, great. Then I'm gonna go hunted down. I think that will be fun to read. Paula Casey 36:54 Music terrible. I forgot period music. We had a great producer David Wolf out Albuquerque did the audio. But Michael Hingson 37:02 here's a question totally off the wall. totally subjective. But do you think Abraham Lincoln would have supported this women's suffragists movement? Paula Casey 37:15 I do. And let me tell you why. It's so interesting. You should ask that. Have you heard about Jon Meacham? snoo book? Michael Hingson 37:22 No, I have not. Okay. Paula Casey 37:23 Jon Meacham is a Tennessee boy. We were at the Chattanooga you know, he lives in Nashville May. I was in New York City for years and years. And he and his wife are in Nashville because he is a professor at Vanderbilt University. And he was on Lawrence O'Donnell, I think last night on Well, whenever it was on MSNBC, talking about his new book about Abraham Lincoln. And then there was like, Abraham Lincoln. I mean, it he has fast to think of keep up with Cain. He believed in abolishing slavery, but he traded people with dignity. And I think that he could have been persuaded that, you know, the union wasn't gonna provide as a women's voting union was gonna define over whether it was okay to enslave other human beings. And when you think about the idea that it was okay to own other human beings that's just repulsive just today, but back then, Lincoln had his work cut out for him. But I do think because he believed and he he studied them. She's such a thoughtful man. And I'm looking forward to reading John's book, because I think all of his books are terrific. But I really want to read this one, because I think Abraham Lincoln was enlightened in his own way, and he probably would have come around to support it. Yeah, Michael Hingson 38:53 he just had other issues that were as important, if not more important, like keeping the country together if he could. Right. So it was, it was certainly a big challenge. And, Paula Casey 39:07 you know, 1848, by Seneca Falls happened, but then the surfer just recognized that the Civil War was going to take priority over everything. And so they were essentially derailed, but it was after the Civil War. And the 14th and 15th amendments came up or 13th amendment, you know, to abolish slavery, but the 15th Amendment, extended the franchise to the newly freed black male slaves, and I want to point something out here. There's a lot of misinformation about who could vote and the aftermath of the Civil War and then later and they you heard this and I heard this a lot in 2020, during the centennial celebration, and let me point out that separatist endured a pandemic just like we have, and they persevered and they want to spike the pandemic. And there is a school We'll start, which I happen to agree with that the 1965 Voting Rights Act would not have applied to black women. Had the 19th Amendment not been ratified the 15th Amendment and the 19th Amendment event, the Voting Rights Act was about the enforcement of those two amendments. And when people say, Oh, we're black women are unable to vote. No, that is not true. The 19th Amendment did not say white women. It says equality of suffrage shall not be denied. I can't have sex. That's all it says I can't have sex. And so it removes the gender barrier to voting and had nothing to do with race. What did have to do with race was the states. The constitution grants the right to states set the policies and procedures for voting. And it was in the States where you have Jim Crow laws, and Paul taxes and literacy tests and all that garbage that was designed to keep people from voting. The states did it, not the Ninth Amendment. And we have documentation of black women voting in Nashville, Clarksville, Tennessee, about Tachyon and Memphis, Michael Hingson 41:15 you have been involved in placing various suffragist related art around Tennessee. Can you tell us or would you tell us about that? Paula Casey 41:25 Yes, I am very excited about this. When you go to a city, wherever you go in this country, you notice if you're working about the public art, and who is depicted in statuary, and for too long, we have not acknowledged the contributions of women and public art. So back in 1997, Van state senator Steve Cullen from Memphis, who is now my ninth district, Congressman Steve is great. Steve is the one who said we have got to have something inside state capitol. So put me on this committee. And he said you're going to serve on this committee. And there's going to be a blind competition that the Tennessee Arts Commission will sponsor and we're going to select somebody to design something to go inside state capitol because think about this, Tennessee ratified August 18 1920. And up until February of 1998. There was nothing inside the Tennessee State Capitol building that depicted Tennessee's pivotal role. Oh, American women's vote today, thanks to Tennessee. So Steve puts me on this committee. We have a blind competition. Owl on the far west Wednesday. And on the back of our perfect 36 book, I have a picture of the bar leaf that is hanging between the House and Senate chambers, and the Tennessee State Capitol building. Okay, fast forward to 2009. Former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin came to Nashville to give a speech at the Economic Summit for women and she was picked up by Tierra backroads and she said to the women who picked her up, take me to see your monument to the suffragist. I know that Kelsey was the state that made it Wow. And they said, Oh, Governor, we're so sorry, the state capitol building is closed. And this is where that bodily is hanging inside State Capitol. And she said to them, you Tennessee women should be ashamed. You should have something that is readily accessible. So that started our efforts to put together the Tennessee women's suffrage monument. And we commissioned our look bar and 2011 We got really serious in 2012. I was asked to be the president in May of 2013, which mount where you raise the money and I raise 600,000 for this $900,000 monument that is now in Centennial Park. Nashville. Centennial Park is gorgeous. It's historic. Susan B. Anthony was actually in that park in 1897. And she inspired and Dallas Dudley of Nashville to get involved Suffrage Movement. And Anne was beautiful and wealthy. And she became a great suffrage leader on the state level and the national level. So we got together at our McQuire studio in Nashville. He's at West Nashville. And they asked me who should we put on this minute but and because Carolyn Yellin had been my mentor and my friend, I said, we need to have an Dallas deadly from Nashville. Frankie Parris from Nashville who was a major black separatist, who registered over 2500 Black women to vote in Nashville in 1998. We had Sue Shaun White and Jackson who was the only Tennessee woman put in jail fighting for suffrage. And Abby Crawford Milton from Chattanooga, there wasn't really anybody that I was going to push for from Memphis at that moment because I knew that we were eventually going to do a Memphis separate monument. But I said, Karen Chapman Catt, who was originally from Iowa, and you know, okay, so yeah, New York, Carolyn Yellen said that Carrie Chapman Catt should have been the first woman to become a United States Senator from New York. But she was so spent after the savage battle and she had a serious heart condition. So I said when he put Carrie Chapman Catt on there because she wanted to pick it in statuary. She was brilliant. And so we had the spot women heroic scale. They're nine feet tall. They're in the Nashville Centennial Park. So that's the Tennessee one separate monument. Allen was commissioned to do to get our Knoxville I worked on the advising the Tennessee triumph and Clarksville, Tennessee. And it's fabulous. It's got a woman putting her ballot in the ballot box. And beyond Ben Jackson, I helped raise the money and that was only 32,000 to do a burst of soup shot right in front of Jackson City Hall and bed, Memphis, my hometown. We have the Memphis suffrage monument equality trailblazers, that monument cost $790,190 average every penny of it because I have wonderful friends, and a city council on a county commission that gave major money so that we could preserve the legacies of these important people. And so in the Memphis monument, which is at the law school, for the University of Memphis, facing the Mississippi River, I live right down by the river. You can see that monument in the daytime or at night. And what's so great about this, Mike is that people see it and they just rave about it. And school children go there and they read about these remarkable people. And I point this out to everyone when I'm doing chores, or when I gave speeches. The reason we do these markers and monuments is because these people deserve to be remembered. And when we're all gone, that was mine knits and markers will be there telling the story and I'm just grateful that I had been able to have this experience to preserve the wiper sees of these remarkable Oregon people. Michael Hingson 47:35 Now as I recall the monument at the University of Memphis the ceremony dedicating it is on YouTube, yes. Do you know how people can easily find it? Do you know a link or Paula Casey 47:50 I think if you go on YouTube, you can type in Downtown Memphis Commission because the Downtown Memphis Commission produced it. It's on their YouTube channel and I actually have it on my YouTube channel, Paula FKC. And I believe it's easy to find it was March 27 2022, the dedication ceremony for the Memphis suffrage monument, but you can actually see it and I've got to tell you this, I'm so excited. My friend, Michelle duster, who is the great granddaughter about to be Wales and I'm going to hold up her book out to be the queen Michelle gave me her family's blessing. And she and her brothers wanted to write the bio that's lasered on the class for ATAPI wills. And Alan had sculpted a bust of atopy Wales along with five others. And she was so excited about it. And we had so much fun when she came to Memphis. And it was just such a great experience for us to celebrate the wives of atopy wills and Mary Church, Terrell, and all of the people from Memphis, Shelby County, who fought to get that night keep that amendment ratified. And then those women whose careers were made possible in politics, because of the suffragists victory, said, Michelle has been a great ally and champion of our monument. Michael Hingson 49:14 So I think we've talked around a lot of this, but ultimately, what can we learn from the Chuffer suffragists movement? What lessons can we take forward? And I guess even before that, do you think that those who led and were the basis of the separatist movement would be surprised at what we're experiencing today? Now? Paula Casey 49:40 I think they would just take it in stride, and they would expect it because they've dealt with backlash, and obstacles, ridicule, sarcasm, obstructionism, they saw it all. That's why I keep telling people when you study history, you learned that nothing is new. And it is so important for us to recognize the people who help move history forward, they help make sure that our society goes forward and that we are on the right side of history, when it comes to the expansion of rights, and inclusion, diversity, inclusion, all of this should just be something that we do, because it's the right thing to do. And because we understand how important it is for everyone, to participate in our government, in our society, why don't we want to be close, I don't want to live on Wi Fi. But I want to celebrate people who have done great things. I want to be able to tell young people that they can be aspirational, that they can vote to the example set by these people who accomplish something right over enormous opposition. Michael Hingson 50:58 Clearly, these women, and anyone who is committed to this process, to use my term would be unstoppable, which is, which is a great thing. And clearly you are helping to promote that. And I think that is extremely important. And it does go beyond suffrage, women's suffrage, it goes to anyone who has been disenfranchised by whatever the system might be. And we do have to fight the fights, we can't step back, we have to stand for what we believe in. And I think that it is important that we do it in a non violent way. I suspect that if he had lived back in the time of women's suffrage, Gandhi would be a very great supporter, don't you think? Paula Casey 51:51 Yeah, he would have come around. Yeah, he was kind of sexist. Michael Hingson 51:55 Well, you know, it's the environment. But non violence was certainly his Paula Casey 51:59 right. As Susan B. Anthony was entered non violence long before Gandhi and dark cane and she never gets recognized for it. Yeah. Michael Hingson 52:09 Yeah, it did not start in the 1900s. But it is something that we all ought to take to heart. Now. Let's let's be clear, non violence, as opposed to civil disobedience. Paula Casey 52:25 Right, right. Yeah. I mean, Susan Bay was all for civil disobedience. And you know, like when she tried to vote, and Elizabeth every Merriweather from Memphis was so inspired by Susan B. Anthony's example, that she went to go vote in Memphis in 1873. And she said they gave her a ballot, probably because she was considered an aristocracy. But she said she wasn't sure if her vote was counted. Yeah. And so that's the whole thing about, you know, who can vote who's citizen who has access to the ballot. And another thing that we have to think about is who's going to count the votes? We're never used to have to worry about that so much. Michael Hingson 53:07 And it's unfortunate that we have to worry about it today. I think for the longest time, we assumed that the system worked. And mostly I think it did. And it does. But now, there is so much fear and so much distrust because of what some are doing that we have to be concerned about. Who's counting the votes? I watched a news report last night about how ballots are handled in San Bernardino County. And the process is absolutely amazing. When the ballots come in, the first thing that's checked is is the signature and the comparison is made as to whether it's a legal signature that's done by a group of people. And then the ballot is opened. And the ballot is just checked for anything damaged or anything that looks irregular. And then it goes to a different group of people now a third group that counts the ballots, and one of the points that they made, and I actually hadn't thought of it, although I should have. But until they mentioned it is and none of the machines and none of the technologies and none of the process involved in counting the ballots in San Bernardino County and I suspect in a lot most places, nothing is connected to the internet. Right? Oh, nothing can go off and destroy or warp the ballot, the process. That's good to know. Yep, I think it should be that way. I've seen some companies who are concerned enough about the internet and what people can do that their accounting systems are never attached to the internet and it makes perfect sense given everything that's going on today. So other computers can be compromised. But the accounting and monetary parts of the companies are not connected to the internet at all. They're not on the network, right? Even the local network. Paula Casey 55:14 So what can I mention the three man who were so essential in Tennessee? Sure. This is such a great story. And I have to tell you, my friend, Bill Haltom, of Netflix is a great author and retired attorney. He did this book, because I asked him to on representative Joseph Hanover rock, Kent mother vote. Joseph Hanover, was an immigrant from Poland. His family was Orthodox Jewish, and they fled, because the Tsar took their property. And so many Jewish immigrants were coming into this country, because they had to flee oppression. And he came to this country along with his mother and two brothers, his father came first and ended up in Memphis, and saved the money for them to flee Poland. Now, let me tell you, my key talk about unstoppable mindset. Those people who were searching for freedom, and they had crossed a frozen lake and come across in the bowels of a steamship. And Joe was five years old, and he went upstairs and start bands and people were throwing money at it. When they got to this country, they came through Ellis Island, and band came through via St. Louis down to Memphis, some in Memphis. And he was so taken with this country and the country's founding documents, because his parents kept telling their boys they had three and then they had two more. And they told them, you're living in the greatest country. You have rights in this country that we did not have public. You've got study the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. And of course, the Declaration of Sentiments in 1848, at Seneca Falls was patterned after the declaration of independence. So Mr. Joe decides that he's going to run for the legislature, and he went to law school and studied by all Lampe in his family's home in being Hampton, which is a part of Memphis back then it was north of Memphis. I am so excited because the national votes for women trail, I've been the Tennessee coordinator, and I really pushed to get one of the poverty foundation markers for Mr. Joe. We got it last week, it has been put up on the side of the Hanover family home. And I encourage people who are listening or watching this podcast to look up the national votes for women trail and see all of the people across the 48 states because remember, Alaska and Hawaii weren't states back. We have got Mr. Joe hit with his marker. Then we've also got the sculpture that Allah required date of Harry burn. Now Mr. Joe knew the morning of August 18th 1920, that he was two boats short of ratification in the House, the Senate in Tennessee had passed it 25 Four, but the house was very close to being deadlocked. And because of the opposition and the money, here's what you've got to remember. People who are opposed to right are always going to have more money. That's just a given. So you have to be smarter, and work harder and be more innovative. Mr. Joe did everything he could to keep those pro surfers votes together and it came down to two votes. And he didn't know where they're going to come from. That this is anecdote that Bill Haltom and I've done some research. We think this is true. There was a state representative from West Tennessee north of Jackson and Gibson county named banks Turner. He was a farmer, a Vanderbilt educated lawyer and he had been antiseptic. Now banks Turner ended up sitting and Governor Roberts office on the morning of August the 18th. That vote was gonna take place in the house. And Governor Roberts, who had actually he came around but he supported it. So he's talking to governor of Ohio governor Cox Governor Cox was besieging Governor Roberts of Tennessee to please get Tennessee to pass because remember, both political parties thought that women would vote for them in the 1920 presidential election. The best flip the push was to make it possible for American women to vote in the presidential election. Now Tennessee had as did other states, something called limited suffrage or municipal suffrage where women can only vote in school board or presidential electors, but not universal suffrage, which meant they could vote now elections. So Tennessee women worked and I think would have had a chance to vote. But the political parties wanted Tennessee to ratify so that women and all the 48 states would have the opportunity to vote in the 1920 presidential election. So banks Charter, the Vanderbilt educated lawyer and farmer from Gibson County, Tennessee who had been an Attock is sitting there listening to Governor Roberts and the conversation. And Governor Roberts pointed at banks Turner and said something to the effect of I'm sitting here looking at the man who can make this happen. So banks charter didn't tell anybody that he had met with Senator Roberts and he goes to the floor of the house. And there were attempts made to table the notion which meant to kill it, because they didn't want to have to go on record, and a special session of 1920 if they could delay it until the regular session in January of 1921, and then effectively kill it for all time. Well, Johanna never knew that he was to vote short. Though Joe Hanover and banks Turner voted to table the voted against tabling the motion Harry Berg voted twice to table the motion. However, banks Turner kept it alive because it deadlocked 4848, which meant the amendment was alive and proceeded to the farm vote for ratification. The Speaker of the House was Seth Walker from Lebanon, Tennessee and he was a very wildlife lawyer had initially been four separate Jiminy ends up being an atta. And he thought that because it had deadlocked on the motion to table 4848 that the same thing was gonna happen with the actual vote of ratification, which would have killed it, that he did not know that Harry Barr, who was a state representative from now to candidacy outside of Chattanooga, and was received a letter from his mother and widow who own property, and she wanted to be able to vote in our elections. So she says in this letter, dear son, her rod vote for suffrage. I had been reading the paper with you see where you stood and haven't been able to say anything. Please help Mrs. Cat put the rat and ratification from his mother. So Harry, what the roll call was taken, voted for it voted ah. And it caught the anti separatists by surprise. But the processor just realized that it was going to pass 49 to 47. And so SEC Walker, being a parliamentary maneuver specialist, changed his vote from May to ah, so that he would be able to prevail anxiety to bring it up for reconsideration. But what that did was it gave it a constitutional majority 50 to 46. So that it would pass constitutional muster, and they had attempts to be railing and all kinds of shenanigans. But Tennessee, became the last state to ratify the perfect 36 on August 18 1920. And we celebrate that accomplishment and everything with those men did. And I have been very pleased that we got a Tennessee Historical Commission marker in Gibson County for thanks, Turner. We've got the Harry burn statue, and there's a marker in his home place and Nauta and then I have got the Palmer foundation mark of Joe Hanover. And Adam afar, Scott did his best on the Memphis suffrage monument. So what these men did, because they believed in democracy and rule of law, it will be there for future generations to know Michael Hingson 1:04:25 what a great story and there's no better way to end our episode today then with that and what it really means if people want to learn more about all of this and maybe contact you and learn about your book and so on. How can they do that? 1:04:45 thperfect36.com theperfect36.com or Paulacasey.com And I would love to hear from folks you know the books are available the audio book, the ebook and the DVD generations American women when the This is all about celebrating democracy and the rule of law and the right to vote. And thank you so much. 1:05:08 Well, Paula, thank you and I really appreciate you coming on. I love history I have not read enough David McCullough books and have to work on that some but and we will, but I have Red Team of Rivals. So that's not David McCollum. But still, history is an important thing for us. And we learned so much that whatever we think is new really isn't same concepts coming up in a different way. Right. But thank you all for listening. I'd love to hear from you. Please. Wherever you are, just shoot me an email. Let me know what you thought of today's podcast. Please give us a five star review. This is an informative episode and one that I think people really need to hear. So I hope you will pass on about this. Give us a five star rating. Email me at Michaelhi M I C H A E L H I at accessibe.com or visit our podcast page. www dot Michael hingson H i n g s o n.com/podcast. And definitely let us know your thoughts. And once more Paula Casey, we really appreciate you coming on and educating us and telling us all about this subject which is I think so important and teaches us so many lessons we need to take to heart. Paula Casey 1:06:25 Thank you. 1:06:29 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

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Use Writing to Regulate Emotions And Choose To Be Happy! | Ep 109

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2023 37:19

This is a special Podapalooza episode, featuring 2 guests!Firstly Ash shares her health story of having a parasite that went undiagnosed for a long time, while she suffered symptoms that were atypical of a parasite. Eventually, it was diagnosed, and in her healing journey, she decided that she wanted a life of more ease, and to use her passion for writing. She started the Story For Breath School, an online school that uses writing and language to calm the nervous system and bring more inner exploration into your life. Then Angie shares how she was so unhappy she chose to end her life, except it didn't end in the moment she thought it would and that told her she was here for a reason. Even though she was extremely unhappy, others told her she made them happy and so she stepped into bringing happiness to others, developed her own system for taking people out of their unhappiness and into creating a life of happiness, through a 3 step process of Triage > Tools > Transform. If you are feeling stuck in sadness, carrying around baggage from your childhood or past generations or past lives, reach out to Angie to learn more about her program. You can choose to be happy! Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/thesoulfilledsisterhood Your Guided Health Journey Membershiphttps://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/membership-programs/Health Kickstart Program:https://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/health-kick-start-detox/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/yourguidedhealthjourneyAbout the Guest:Ash Wylder:Ash Wylder is the founder of The Storybreath School, a space for highly sensitive people to learn to write. Her goal is to help you pass the pen to your mythopoetic identity and entice your muse back from the neighbor's hot tub to your writing desk. This is soul-deep support for creative living. She helps people through 1:1 coaching and poetry courses that explore the anatomy of the soul. She integrates the cross sections of a deep passion for neuroscience, skill development, and mind-body connection into all of her coursework. No matter where your blocks come up, she can teach you, step-by-step, how to unlock them in trauma-sensitive and neuroscience-backed ways. Contact: The Storybreath School Angie Langley:Known as THE HAPPINESS EXPERT, Angie specializes in intuitive healing, energy healing, and trauma healing.Angie's helps women who find themselves facing trauma and loss to have an amazing breakthrough into their happiness so that they can magnetize the life they always dreamed of and be the person they want to be.Among her many contributions to the world, Angie founded The Soul-filled Sisterhood group, where she hosts SISTERHOOD TV every week.In her spare time, she loves to cook, read, and walking her furry accountability partner Scooby-Doo to the Walton Lighthouse Fb: https://www.facebook.com/angieplangley About the Host:Melissa is an Integrative Health Practitioner and Master Practitioner in NLP and Timeline Therapy and a Board Designated Hypnotherapy Teacher Trainer, helping people get to the root

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Episode 110 – Unstoppable Joyous Person with Kathryn Johnson

Don't Wait For Your Wake Up Call!

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2023 67:25

Kathryn Johnson says that she is “an expert at turning obstacles into joy”. I believe it especially after interviewing her for this episode of Unstoppable Mindset. Born with the disability cerebral palsy, Kathryn constantly faced challenges growing up as a person with a disability. Like most of us, her biggest challenges were the people who thought they knew much more about what she needed than she did herself. She will tell you stories about this and how she worked to make her life an example of how to turn “no you can't” to “yes I can”. Kathryn represented Canada in what we now know as the Para Olympics where she won in Germany two bronze metals. She has three college degrees. She worked as an accountant for more than 15 years before deciding to write her first book and begin her own coaching business. Kathryn is by any definition unstoppable as you will see. She points out that being unstoppable is really a matter of choice; a choice we all can make. About the Guest: As an expert in turning obstacles into joy, Kathryn can help you find the gift in any situation. Born with the disability cerebral palsy, Kathryn overcomes a lifetime of “no you can't” to “yes, I can”. With 3 degrees, 2 world championship bronze metals, a best-selling book, multiple awards, and certifications; her life's journey has prepared her to help YOU navigate and succeed on your life's road. Kathryn's integrated open-door coaching programs utilize both analytical left-brain thinking (she spent over 20 years as a certified accountant) and intuitive right-brain thinking (she is a certified life coach and spiritual intuitive) to gather deep insight into your life. This whole brain combination of left and right brain thinking comes together in one-of-a-kind open-door coaching programs that range from 8 weeks to one year. Book a FREE online discovery session to talk with her about how she can help YOU turn your everyday obstacles into greatest joys! How to Connect with Kathryn : Website: www.inspiredbykathryn.com Email: kathryn@inspiredbykathryn.com Inspired by Kathryn (@inspiredbykathrynjohnson) • Instagram photos and videos Facebook (20+) Inspired By Kathryn | Vancouver BC | Facebook LinkedIn: (99+) Kathryn Johnson | LinkedIn Link to Free Gift for your audience Link to my special gift for your audience: Joy of Obstacles Workbook Contains questions to help you overcome your obstacles as well as additional quotes not in the book. https://inspiredbykathryn.com/shop/#33-principles-living-joyfully Coupon Code: JOY About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:21 Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to talk to Kathryn Johnson. And she will tell you that one of the things that she gets to do is turning obstacles into joy. And you know, you can't get any better than that. So I'm not going to give her any more of an introduction than that. Except I expect this to be a good fun interview. And that's what we want to do here at unstoppable mindset is have fun anyway. So with that in mind, Kathryn, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Kathryn Johnson 01:54 Oh, thank you so much for having me, Michael, I'm so happy to be with you today. Looking forward to chatting with your listeners. Michael Hingson 02:02 Well, I appreciate that. And yeah, they're, they're as much a part of this as anything. So I appreciate all the background that you gave me to help me prepare, and at the same time, you taking the time to do this. So let's start this way. I love to start this way. Tell me a little about you growing up and sort of your, your earlier years before we get into everything that's going on today. Kathryn Johnson 02:27 Well, my earlier years actually set the stage for where I am today, I had the interesting experience of being born with something called cerebral palsy. And that is a neuromuscular disorder disability that causes difficulty in my case with walking and coordination. And so I actually view that as my greatest gift. Because it's shaped by perspective of everything I do shape my perspective of the world. I realized it simply being alive is a privilege because sometimes people you know, they don't make it as much as to live as many years as I have. And being able to move freedom to move is also a privilege. And there's a lot of people that aren't as able as I am. So I see very much as a privilege rather than what I've lost. Michael Hingson 03:25 So, you you grew up with cerebral palsy, do you walk at all? Or do you watch here or what? Kathryn Johnson 03:33 No, I walk with two walking canes. And when I am at home, I don't use my canes at all I just I basically use my canes for being outside of my home. Michael Hingson 03:45 That stability, better balance. Kathryn Johnson 03:49 Yes. You know, there aren't there things like walls and stuff like that they don't hang on to side so. So I need some support. But otherwise, I'm self sufficient on home and I just find it easier because I have full of use of my hands that way so Michael Hingson 04:07 well, you know, that's as good as it gets. So do you have any children? No, I know. If you did, so you got your hands you can beat him up and all that sort of stuff. And you know, whatever it takes I don't and I mean that facetiously of course but still. That is great. So you grew up with cerebral palsy? Kathryn Johnson 04:26 Yes, I did. And so how Michael Hingson 04:31 did that affect you in school? What was it like going to school and being it definitely in a minority from that standpoint? Oh, Kathryn Johnson 04:41 for sure I'm gonna date myself a little bit. I started school right at the end of the end of I think what they called segregation or the beginning of mainstreaming, which means they used to, they used to send people like me A quote unquote, too special school with people with disabilities. What your what year was that? What year was that? I started kindergarten not 1978. Okay. So yeah, by the time I was in first grade, that was 1980. And it was just they were just starting to realize that maybe we can put these kids with, with the normal kids. Michael Hingson 05:26 Yeah, the whole concept of normal. So. So you were, you were mainstreamed as it were? Yes. And how did that all work out for you? Kathryn Johnson 05:36 Oh, you know, I feel as an adult now, looking back, I feel bad for my teachers. They had no idea what to do. And, you know, the truth is, they didn't need to do anything. They just needed to treat me like anybody else. Because fortunately, cognitively. I'm just as smart as my peers, if not towards the top end of my class. But they just thought, what are we going to do? Like, it was always a question of what are we going to do with Katherine because she's different. And I, I've spent my whole life I think, with this message of whoever I talked to that, you know, you really don't need to do much differently. If I, if I would like help, I will ask you directly. Because I know my limitations. So if you, if I don't ask, don't worry about it. I've got this handled. I've dealt with this my whole life. I've find that people see me, I walk into your room, and the first thing they think is, how can we help. And it comes from a place of having good heart, but also a lack of awareness, that somehow, maybe like, things are hard. And I don't I don't think that things are hard. And things are just different. Because like I said, I'm used to this dealing with this every day all day 24/7 I don't get a day off. So I got it handled. The best thing to do for me personally, is if you want help me ask me how I need help. Because often, people tend to just kind of take over and think they know what I need. And then and then we end up kind of literally tripping over each other. And it becomes this awkward mess of how to help Katharine and I just, I just want to be with people, you know, just be with me just get to know me and be with me and learn all the interesting things there is to get get to know me, because there's really a lot of things that I've accomplished Michael Hingson 08:01 as school progress did. Did life in a sense, get any easier? Did did teachers improve it all the more they got to see you and see that? Gee, maybe it isn't really as bad as we thought. Kathryn Johnson 08:17 Absolutely. And I think I think there's two reasons for that. I think one society changed over time, thank goodness. And I think also, you know, I matured, so I was able to communicate better, and people got to know me over time. So they just learned they learned my observation that you know, all this worrying we've been doing about Katherine really is not an issue. I remember in the 10th grade in high school that that this isn't the 90s, early 90s The teachers had this great idea that I needed a escort from from, you know, grade 12 to help me get from the front door to where the bus Mia at the end of the parking lot. Because what if I fail? What if I fell on the ice in the wintertime? And I thought for goodness sake. I'm 15 years old. Are you serious? But you know it just my request to be left to my own independence fell on deaf ears. Until one day, my buddy my bus Buddy was walking along with me on the ice. And she slept and I didn't. And that was the end of that. And they left me to my own devices after that. Michael Hingson 09:50 So where were you going to school by the way geographically. Kathryn Johnson 09:53 I went to school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is north of North Dakota. So I see pictures are are a definite thing. We've got snow from November to February at least Yeah. Michael Hingson 10:06 Yeah. Do you live there now or where do you live now? Kathryn Johnson 10:09 No. Now I'm very fortunate to live in beautiful British Columbia on the on the West Coast. Less snow. Almost no snow. However, we do have snow today. It's snowing today. Michael Hingson 10:23 Yeah, we might live south of you in Victorville California. I don't think we'll get snow. We live in a valley. So the snow usually goes over us but places around us get snow. We won't. But we'll be getting rain later this week. So that's fine. Kathryn Johnson 10:37 Oh, good for you. California. Rain. Michael Hingson 10:40 We live up in the mountains. And it is true. You can go from the beach to skiing in a couple of hours. And we're closer to the skiing than the beach. But still. It's nice. And we enjoy Well, that's great that you're living in British Columbia? Yes. Much better than a little bit more climate friendly place to be? Kathryn Johnson 10:59 Yes, it is. I moved for a lot of reasons I like that the city is that things are closer together than in the West, the western provinces of Canada, and it's just easier to get where I need to go. So that's why I moved. Michael Hingson 11:16 So you went to high school? And eventually they they left you alone a little bit more and left you to your own devices? Yeah. Did you ever slip in the snow or on the ice? Kathryn Johnson 11:27 Oh, sir. But I got up. I mean, you know, people keep that. So people say what if you fall? What if you fall? And I say well get up? To me, it's such an obvious answer. Because what am I gonna do sit, like, sit there and cry about it? You know? No, I'm gonna get out because I know how to fall so that I don't I don't hurt myself. You know, I don't do it dangerously. And I just I know, I also know how to get up because they don't let you therapists don't let you leave. Don't live. Don't let you go home with a pair of crutches unless you know how to get up from them. When he got home, so So you are you are well prepared when you leave with your walking aids to use them in all aspects? Michael Hingson 12:29 Well, you just said something very interesting to you know how to fall. Yeah, of course, a lot of people don't really learn how to do. And so they are more apt to hurt themselves than somebody who truly knows how to fall when something happens. Kathryn Johnson 12:46 That's true. My experience is, you know, if I, when I start to fight gravity, that's when I hurt myself, when I just go with it. I'm not really falling, my knees are touching the ground, but I'm not really falling. Right. And it's, you know, I've heard I've gotten hurt more often because people try to catch me then then if I just let gravity do its thing. It's, it's so it's very interesting. Michael Hingson 13:18 And that's an interesting way to put it that you get hurt more when people try to help. Because they don't know how to help. And we're not doing enough to educate people, we just assume that disability means lack of ability. And that's not what disability means at all. It's a characteristic and we need to somehow educate the public that the reality is you should learn what to do. And the best way to learn is to ask us, Kathryn Johnson 13:46 yes. And everybody's different. So you know, I know what works for me and I, I always talk about my experience. And then I say, you know, in general, ask the person because I don't know what it's like for everybody on crutches. I just know what it's like for me on crutches. Michael Hingson 14:08 Yep. Well, so you left high school after graduating and all that and then what did you do? Kathryn Johnson 14:14 Well, then I decided to enroll in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Manitoba. i The plan was to get a Bachelor of Social Work. But you needed a year of a year of university. So I decided to study psychology. And then I didn't get into the Faculty of Social Work. So I decided to study another year of psychology. I even applied out of province. And you know, year three, I I tried two years to get in to the Faculty of Social Work, and that that didn't happen. So in year three, I finished my mice my arts degree with a major You're in psychology and a minor in sociology. And that was, that was interesting, but it was like, Okay, now what? Because an arts degree doesn't qualify you to do a lot of things in the world of work. So I took a year off. And it was kind of like Now watch, and I was training competitively for track and field at that time. At that point in my life I was, was racing competitively, in wheelchair racing. I raced anything from 100 meters to 800 meters. And I've also done some some half marathons and thing, some road races. So I took a year off, and I went actually to Vancouver to train with the national team for a few months in night, and then that summer, I went to Germany to represent Team Canada. Michael Hingson 16:00 Now was that in Paralympics or regular non para Olympics, Kathryn Johnson 16:04 that was what you would consider para Olympics. Okay, adaptive sports. Michael Hingson 16:10 But still, the bottom line is you did it and you ran? Kathryn Johnson 16:15 That's right. Well, in a wheelchair, yes. In a racing wheelchair. Okay. Yes. All right. Michael Hingson 16:22 So you say you went and competed and, Kathryn Johnson 16:26 and I ended up with two bronze medals in the 102 100 meters. For Team Canada, yay, lay. And then I realized something very interesting. Why am I doing this? Because at that time, I had I started racing when I was 12, or 13. At this time, I was now 20. And I, I, you know, it's it literally you're going in circles, racing around the track going in circles. And it was a lot of work. And I just thought, you know, I just, I've got all these metals. And I'm never going to be satisfied because I'm always going to be able to get faster. So I left the sport after I competed in Germany, because I felt like life was calling me to different things. And and after that, what did I do? Well, I went into, I went into business school, community college, one of the best things I ever did. I took business, majored in accounting. And my teacher said, Gosh, Katherine, you're so good at accounting, you should really finish finish your accounting, get a professional accounting designation. And I thought, My goodness, more school like this is down five years of post secondary education, more school. And so yes, I did finish and I ended up with a professional accounting designation. And then, Michael Hingson 18:15 so what degrees did you have by this time, Kathryn Johnson 18:17 by this time, I had a Bachelor of Arts major in psychology, a Business Administration diploma, and a CPA, which is a Chartered Professional Accountant in with a Canadian designation. Michael Hingson 18:34 Now your first degree, the Bachelors of Arts degree, you said you got in three years, is that normal? Kathryn Johnson 18:40 That is normal. That was the last year they offered a three year program. It's now four, Michael Hingson 18:44 it's now four. Okay? Alright, so you now have three degrees, you have become a person very knowledgeable in accounting. And what did you do with that? Kathryn Johnson 18:56 Well, I finally started working Michael Hingson 19:01 to start at some point, anyway, Kathryn Johnson 19:03 yeah, well, I had summer jobs and different things along the way. But you know, I finally started in though in the world of work, full time work and accounting, accounting, being an accounting clerk and working my way up and, you know, along the way, I work for a lot of small businesses and I tend to be very efficient at what I do. Because you know, having a disability your eye, have private I pride myself on being efficient because there are certain things I do they take longer. So I need to be more efficient at what I do right to be equal to others. And so what this did is gave me a very unique skill in that I was a lot I would it allowed me to see ways I could make companies more efficient, which was wonderful. I tended to save them. 10s of 1000s if not hundreds of 1000s of dollars a year, streamlining their processes, and making everything more efficient and making the company more profitable, and the employees happier. And in the process, I got to experience six layoffs in 20 years. Oh, boy, just because, wow, you took the job from a job and a half when you you know, you're you're doing your job, and you're working overtime over much so much because you're buried in inefficiency and pile of paper to, oh, we only need you halftime and I was like, Well, I don't want to work half time, I want to work full time. So like, I laughed, and I moved on, and I found something else. And then happened six times in a row. Michael Hingson 20:55 So there's a there's a message there somewhere, there is a message Kathryn Johnson 20:58 there somewhere. The sticks, layoff and the final layoff was in 2017. I chose I chose a layoff package in 2017. For several reasons, the company was going through a restructure. And I was feeling like my work at my company. As good as it was, I wasn't making the impact in the world I wanted to make. And I just thought you know, I I need to do something else. So I took a layoff package. And I went to California for six months. Right? It sounds cliche, but I honestly that's what I did. I went to California for six months to unwind, took the train from from Vancouver, all the way down to the Bay Area had a lot of fun with some friends I have there and took a bunch of personal growth retreats, I'd been studying personal growth since 2009. And my very last retreat that I was at in October of 2017 was a small meditation group of 10 people. And they all said one thing, they said, Catherine, you're brilliant, you gotta write a book. And I thought, me write a book. I'm an accountant. I don't know how to write a book. And, you know, but everybody said it. And they really meant it. I could tell and, and so I went home, and I thought about it for a while. And because I thought what am I going to do with my life, you know? And I thought, okay, if I write this book, it will change my life. I just know that I know that in my heart. And I thought, well, do I really want it? And the answer was absolutely yes. Because at the end of my life, I absolutely did not want. Somebody has shown me. Look what you could have had, if you chose to be uncomfortable for a little while. Look at the impact. But you said no, no, no, I'll stay in my comfort zone. That's okay, I'll stay in my numbers and my comfort zone and my steady paycheck. i The thought of that just made me sick. So I thought, Okay, I'm gonna write this book. And in January 8 2018, I started to write a book called The Joy of obstacles. What am I going to write about? And I thought, well write what you know, which is my life. And so my book is, is a self help memoir that takes readers from birth to present day, and different milestones in my life, different experiences, each chapter has questions where the reader can look at their own life and take the principles from the book and apply them to their own life to help them move through obstacles. Essentially, my message is this. We all have obstacles, as a vehicle for learning and growth. And there's always good in the obstacle, even though, just keep looking for that good because there's something there's something there, that's good, you're growing, you're learning, you're connecting with other people, most importantly, you're connecting with other people, if we had all the answers, we wouldn't need other people as much. We wouldn't need creativity, we wouldn't need all these things. And the world would stagnate. So really, obstacles exist to help us learn, learn and grow and connect and be a better version of ourselves through being a better version of ourselves. Everybody wins. So it's our job to him. embrace those obstacles that were given and connect and look for the good and help each other grow when we reach out to, to overcome our obstacles. We grow because we've overcome what we're struggling with, but also the person helping us grows. Now, I want to just tie that back to something I said earlier about people trying to help me and it made it a little different, a little difficult. So in that case, I would say the lesson is, for me to be communicate in a way that I don't necessarily communicate in a way so that my needs are heard. And the lesson for the other person is to understand me on a different level, and broaden their perspective about who I am. And what I'm able to do and look at me in a different way. Michael Hingson 26:02 The other side of talking about the fact that we all face obstacles, is that we also all have gifts. And we need to recognize how to use our gifts, and we need to learn to use our gifts. And those of course, gifts that we have, can help us deal with the obstacles that are put in our path, because the obstacles that are put in our path are there because of whatever and whoever we are, right? That's right. And so it's all about learning to use the gifts that you're given. What do you think your greatest gift is gift is? Kathryn Johnson 26:40 Well, I think, I think honestly, being born with cerebral palsy was my greatest gift. And it is my greatest gift because it it shapes that shapes by perspective of everything because I don't get a day off. As I said, I don't get a day off from this. I don't have good days and bad days. It just is. i It's impossible for me to live life without it. And I realized, like, I've learned all these skills, I've learned to be resilient. I've learned to be an excellent listener. Because when you maybe don't move like other people, you need to rely on your other senses. And for me, it's listening and speaking, as opposed to maybe running away from a difficult situation, right? Also, I've learned to be a very good problem solver, in terms of how am I going to get from A to B? How am I going to navigate this situation life? I understand. You know, I'm very resourceful. I'm very efficient. I know how to I'm organized. My time is very well organized. I'd look at people who can drive and have two legs that work like most people. And I think about how they they run their day. And I think my goodness, how do you get anything done? You're going you're going back and forth and up and up and back and inside out and like I would have that done in half the time 28:23 you drive at all? Kathryn Johnson 28:24 Actually I do not I rely on public transit and I'm I'm okay with that. That's one of the reasons I moved to Vancouver because their transit system is Michael Hingson 28:33 yeah, the transit system up there is really good. Didn't know whether you by any chance drove and used hand controls? Kathryn Johnson 28:41 No, I do not. I choose not to I find it easier just to take the bus. I'm fine with that. Michael Hingson 28:48 Well, in my opinion, it will be high time when autonomous vehicles really are perfected and we can take driving out of the hands of drivers because they certainly don't do it very well. Kathryn Johnson 28:58 Well, that's what I've heard you know, it'll be interesting. It'll be interesting when we have those autonomous driving cars I wonder what that will be like you never know. Michael Hingson 29:09 I I've been in many cars and I listened to the people who are driving grumble about this person cut me off or this person wasn't watching. This person is doing whatever. So I figure that there's there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to drive and I think that the Department of Motor Vehicles is very prejudiced not allowing a blind person to drive because I think we can probably drive just as well as anybody else. The way I keep hearing people drives. I don't see a problem. Kathryn Johnson 29:38 We'll see what happens with that one. Michael? Hi. No, Michael Hingson 29:40 no, the the time will come when we really get to. And I'm serious. Take the hands take the driving out of the hands of drivers because too many people take it way too much for granted. They're not really looking at it seriously. And as you said they they're often very disorganized and frazzled, and in what they do, Kathryn Johnson 30:03 hmm, yeah, I, I'm fine with taking transit or taking a taxi. It's either way it works saves me a Michael Hingson 30:12 lot of money. It does, it does in the long run, it'll save you a lot of money. We don't have really good public transit here. But I've been on the transit systems up in Vancouver, so I know how good they are and how well you can get around up there. We're using them. I lived in Boston for a while. And then Massachusetts. Boston has good public transit too, which really worked out well, for me. Kathryn Johnson 30:40 That's good. You know, what I've noticed lately, Michael, in Vancouver is they're, they're starting to put Braille on the bus, the sign for the bus, and they put it at sort of arm height so that you can know what bus is gonna stop at the stop. Michael Hingson 30:58 So does it change as buses are coming? Kathryn Johnson 31:01 But it's Braille. So? Michael Hingson 31:05 Well, what I'm getting at is that oftentimes, the signs that are available, show you what bus is coming, what the next one is, or whatever, they don't do that in Braille. They could, but that's a pretty expensive process. Kathryn Johnson 31:18 Yeah, they don't they don't. We also have digital signs. That's what I'm getting at some, some stops have digital signs, the sky train has digital signs. The newer line has voice, as well. So it tells you what stopped it. You're at and which train is coming and all of that. Yeah. Right. Michael Hingson 31:47 Well, so for you, having been born with cerebral palsy, and, and I can appreciate you saying that that's really your greatest gift. And we could talk about disabilities and how they are our greatest gifts. And there's a lot of merit to that, for the reasons that you said, What is your disability taught you specifically, Kathryn Johnson 32:09 never give up. Or at least, never give up. If you want to do something. Like if you really want to do something, never give up because there's a way you know, and there comes a time in life. And I talk about this in my book, there comes a time in life when maybe it's time to move on. And that's a separate issue with a separate decision making process. But if you have some, if if somebody has the passion and the desire to do something, do not give up because you have the passion, it's yours to have. And there's a way, there's a way you'll figure it out, you'll be connected with the people to help you. You'll find the resources, you know, often people in life, they say, Well, I'd love to have this in my life. But here I am at point A and I can only see these certain things in this box. And why when I coach people to do is what would you absolutely love. Start there. And then take a step. Because as you take a step from 100%, of what you want this vision of 100% of what you want, your perspective will change just like you're walking down the street, when as you walk, you see different houses or you are aware of different things in your environment. But if you don't move, you don't see different options. So start with 100% of what you would love in your life. And take one step at a time. And eventually, you will find your way. There's a Michael Hingson 33:55 big difference between being stubborn and being passionate, just being separate. I'm going to do this regardless, which may or may not be something that you will be able to do. And it doesn't necessarily reflect the passion of being able to do it, you're just going to do it because but if you're truly passionate, there's a whole lot more of yourself that goes into it. And as you said, you start by really envisioning what you want, and you will figure out how to get there because it's what you really want to do as opposed to just being stupid about doing. Kathryn Johnson 34:29 That's right. And I've been both we all have. I've definitely had my stubborn moments in life which have served me you know, they've served me at the time, I think in a way they've served me how so? Um, it just yeah, it's just this idea of like, I'm not gonna let what someone else thinks, stop me, just because someone else is older, bigger, stronger. are indifferent and tells me they know. Because they don't know. If there's something in my beingness that is guiding me to do something, I'm going to do it. And nobody can tell me otherwise, even if it seems crazy to them, that I can get something done. I know I can. And that's all that matters. So what it's taught me is don't worry so much about what other people think. Michael Hingson 35:33 When he asked you this, you said something earlier about having experienced six layoffs. Do you think that your last layoff for example, you said the company was restructuring and so on? Did any of that come about because of the things that you did to make them more efficient, and they had to change the way they were doing things? Kathryn Johnson 35:53 That sounds like such a, like, another lifetime ago? I? Um, yeah. I mean, I think so. Michael Hingson 36:04 It didn't hurt. Kathryn Johnson 36:05 Yeah, it certainly didn't hurt. That's good way of putting it. I know that the majority of the other layoffs were because of efficiency because of efficiencies that I created. Michael Hingson 36:17 Well, so you, you've been through a number of changes. Yeah. Then you didn't start decided to start writing a book? Did you publish it yourself? Or do you find a publisher to help you? Or how did that all work out? Kathryn Johnson 36:30 It's it's self published on Amazon. Okay, it's available in ebook print and audible. It was very important to me to have an audio book because I know not everybody can use their hands. And in this case, not even be able to, you know, read text. So I wanted to have I wanted to have an audio book for people who learn differently by verbal information. Did you make Did you read it? No, no, I hired. I hired a voice, a voice when you call them? Michael Hingson 37:11 I heard a reader Kathryn Johnson 37:13 a voice. She's a voice actress. Beautiful job. Very, very happy with what she did. Yeah. Because again, it's not my strength. A lot of people told said all it's a self help book, you should record it would be better if it's your voice, you know. And I thought, you know, it's not that it's not as easy as people think, to record a book. Like, really, I respect that there is finesse involved. And that is not something that I have, at least not in in terms of writing of reading an entire book. And I'm so glad that I that I hired it out. Because I know people who started publishing their print book at the same time I did their print book is long published, their audio book is yet to be yet to be published. So it's still you know, in the studio. And that's too bad. Yeah, yeah. Michael Hingson 38:25 And everyone has gifts, as I said before, and yours may very well not be in the reading of the book. I think that it is, it is very possible for most all of us to learn to tell stories and to communicate with people. But reading a book is a whole different art form. And so that that may very well not be what you should do. And that's something that only you can decide, and nobody should second guess that so I'm with you. Yeah, yeah. i When my first book thunder dog was published, people said, Are you going to record it? And I said, No, because I think there are people who could do a much better job than I and the publisher of Senator Doug Thomas Nelson publishing contracted with Oasis audio when Christopher Prince an actor out here in Los Angeles, actually read the book and did a wonderful job with it. Kathryn Johnson 39:22 Yeah, it was, it was certainly a great investment, I think. Michael Hingson 39:27 Yeah, but it's good that it was at least put in to into an audio format. It's on Audible and all that. So I hear exactly what you're saying. However, Kathryn Johnson 39:38 she loved my book. You know what she said? She said, your book came to me just at the perfect time, Catherine. So it helped her. Michael Hingson 39:47 Isn't that the way of it? A lot of times that happens? Yeah. Are you a religious person? Kathryn Johnson 39:54 No, I'm not a religious person. I am a spiritual person though. So I don't necessarily believe in any strict dogma. But I do believe in things like divine timing. And I would say a divine intelligence. Okay. Michael Hingson 40:15 And that is, that is as good as it gets them. And I agree with you, we all get guidance. And there is that inner voice that talks to all of us if we would but learn to listen to it. Kathryn Johnson 40:27 That's right. Michael Hingson 40:30 Well, you talked a lot about obstacles and dealing with obstacles. What do you think the most important important thing is? In facing obstacles, what's kind of the, the most important key to facing an obstacle that you can tell us about? Kathryn Johnson 40:49 We always have a choice of how we respond. So remember, things don't happen to you. That's I think that's a that's a key for people to remember is, is life doesn't happen to you. Things happen. Events are neutral, we may not like them, believe me, I've had my share of doozies. But things are neutral. And they're there for our good for our growth, how we how we choose to view them is up to us. You know, they've done studies with twins that grow up in in not so pleasant environments. One of them ends up being incredibly successful. And they said, Well, why? And they said, well, because of the tough environment I grew up in, I want it to be the exact opposite. And they went off that they got to be incredibly successful, whatever that meant for them, the other twin, and basically repeating the cycle, whatever that cycle was. And so it's all a matter of perception, and like, what am I going to do with what I'm faced with? It's not the thing, it's how we respond to that thing. And that's 100% within our control. If you need help, you know, there's coaches out there, I coach people on how to overcome their obstacles. So I'm here for you, if you're looking for some support. Michael Hingson 42:25 Well, let's talk about that a little bit. So you wrote a book. And when you were writing the book, is that all you did, or you got laid off? And you had to, I would assume figure out a way to get some sort of income. What did you do? Kathryn Johnson 42:39 What did I do? Well, I've been, I have been building my business ever since and relying on on my resources that I've accumulated up to that point. Michael Hingson 42:54 So tell us about that. So you decided to start your own business and exactly what is the business Kathryn Johnson 43:00 the business is, I'm a, I'm a coach, speaker, author. So I have my book, joy of obstacles, I have a workbook that goes with it. I also have a second book called 21 simple solutions to take you from surviving to thriving, which is just as it says 21, quick one page tips, then it's a journal that you can apply those tips to your life and steps to implement them on a weekly basis. I do speaking all over virtual speaking mostly at this time. I'm based in Vancouver, and I'm also a coach. So I coach a system that was taught to me by Mary Morrissey. And like I said, I help people build a vision and then give them support for for creating a life that is in their heart, and then they would absolutely love. I'm also intuitive, so I do things like intuitive card readings or tarot readings. I do mediumship readings. And I do a process called ancestral clearing, which is great to help people overcome obstacles because what that does is it's all about what you feel in your body. I don't need to know your history. A lot of people say I don't want to talk about is too difficult. I don't need to know. All I need to know is my shoulder hurts. Or My knee hurts or oh, I have a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach or whatever. I can work with that. So you know if you've got some pattern that you'd like to resolve, you can book an appointment with me all my appointments are virtual. So it doesn't matter where you are in the World I can help you. Michael Hingson 45:02 You can do readings virtually. Kathryn Johnson 45:04 Yes, I can. Yeah, I can. Michael Hingson 45:07 How did you get to be a coach? Kathryn Johnson 45:10 I decided, yeah, I've got I've got 15 years, I've been studying personal growth since since 2009. So, so what happened is I, I finished accounting school in 2002. And then, you know, almost immediately I started to study esoteric, spiritual things consciousness, why are we here, all of those big questions. And then when I moved to Vancouver, you know, personal growth is big out here as it is in California as well. And I just got really involved with, with this whole movement of being the best person you can be. And I thought, that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about. It's not about it's not about for me, it's not about you know, going to school getting a job saving your money, so you can retire and golf. I mean, that's just, that's, that's great, if that's what you want. But for me, that wasn't the point, there was a bigger picture. And, and I saw, I just kept studying, and the more I studied, the more I loved it. So now after 15 years, I decided to coach, Michael Hingson 46:32 you have to get a license or certification to be a coach, Kathryn Johnson 46:36 I am certified, I did take a correspondence course. However, coaching at this point is a profession that you do not need a certification. That's not it's not a nationally standard, standardized profession. Michael Hingson 46:54 But there is still a process behind it. Kathryn Johnson 46:56 There is a process behind it. Yeah, they vary depending on which which school you you take your training through, I took mine through correspondence. So Michael Hingson 47:09 you know, it's, it's interesting, what comes to mind, as you're talking about all the various aspects of things here is that we spend so much time focusing on a lot of stuff. And the real focusing of ourselves on a lot of stuff is all about, we think we have to control it, or we want to control it, then we never really learn to recognize what we really have control over and what we don't have control over, which gets back to your whole issue about choice, right? And that, in reality, we should learn to focus on what we can control and leave the rest alone. And we also seem to have a hard time doing that, don't we? Kathryn Johnson 47:54 Yeah, we do. Um, myself included. And I think that that comes from fear, which is false evidence appearing real. It's the stories we make up in our head, you know, they get the best of us, sometimes myself included. And so you know, get information, obviously, the more information you have, the more likely those little fear Gremlins will calm down. But also, you know, trust your heart, trust your heart, I believe your heart is like your compass. That's your guiding light of what's what is right for you, or what's your path? Or, you know, what's your next move? And often it doesn't, it doesn't always make sense, you know, why would somebody with a successful accounting career after 20 years, you give it a lot? Why would somebody do that? And basically, because it felt like the right thing to do. And there's something calling me that says, I want to make a bigger impact in the world. And I think that this is a better way for me to do it. versus sitting and dealing with, you know, accounting numbers all day. I want to be talking to people and helping people directly. Michael Hingson 49:25 Tell me your acronym again, for fear, Kathryn Johnson 49:28 false evidence appearing real. Michael Hingson 49:31 There you go. And it is something that we all deal with a lot. And we, again, it gets back to want to control and you're right, a lot of it is based on fear. We're actually writing a new book that is a little way away from being publishing published. We have a publisher for it. And our working title is a guide dogs Guide to Being brave because I've worked with a guide dogs over the years. But we were writing it to talk about fear, and to try to help people overcome what I call being blinded by fear. Because things happen to us, we don't expect them to happen. We've been conditioned to be afraid of those things that happen to us that are unexpected. And I suppose you could say there's some natural reaction that causes some of that. But at the same time, we can learn to let real fear be a positive influence and force in our lives rather than letting it overwhelm us. And so we're writing a book about that. And it'll be a lot of fun when we're done with it, we've got our first draft done, and hopefully it will be going to the publisher soon. And that will be fun. But fear is oftentimes false evidence appearing real. I think it was Mark Twain who said, I've had lots of fears, and most of them don't ever come true. Kathryn Johnson 50:59 That's right, we worry. Again, myself included worry about things. And 95% of them are never going to happen. Focus on what you want, not what you're afraid to just take one step at a time. One step, just a small step makes a huge difference. Michael Hingson 51:21 Well, for you, having come to the place where you are in the world, what do you feel your purpose or your mission is in life today. Kathryn Johnson 51:30 My mission is to move the world together, through embracing obstacles and helping people find their joy, we're stronger together than we are separately. And as I've said, throughout this interview, obstacles are here for us to learn and grow not just the person with the obstacle, but the person helping the person with the obstacle. And all of us, you know, are meant to live our best life that I think is our sort of our personal mission. As humans on this collective Earth, Deepak Chopra describes it as we all have, we're all pieces in a puzzle. And if we're not living our best life, we're in the wrong place in the puzzle, and the other pieces don't fit together. So we all have the possible, we all have the responsibility to live our best life and be be the best version of ourselves be in the right place in our puzzle. Other people around us will then move into their right place, and the world will be so much better for everybody. And it's all about, you know, trusting our hearts, people are so caught up. And I think this is collectively we're caught up in doing what is our normal, you know, we sort of were born into circumstances, and we just go from one thing to another because we do and more comfortable and we don't know what else to do. So I'll just keep doing what I always do. But is it really? Is it? Does it really feel right? Are we really happy? Or are we just comfortable? And I think, you know, especially now with all the changes in the world, people are really starting to wake up and say, you know, there's something, there's something out there for me that is just more impactful than what I'm doing. This is great. I've learned a lot from this aspect of my life. But it doesn't, it doesn't feed me. It doesn't feed me. It I you know, there's something different that's calling me, I don't know what it is. But boy, just there's something else where my time is better spent. And people are starting to search. And so those that's those are the people that I want to draw into my community, and we can help each other overcome our obstacles and be the better version, the best version of ourselves. Michael Hingson 54:09 Yeah, we, we oftentimes do find that we just want to stay in our comfort zone. And that is great. That's okay. It's nice to be comfortable. But if we don't learn to grow, we never will grow. And it is something that all too often people just don't want to do. I'm always fascinated when I hear that one of the top five fears that people have is public speaking. It's been considered the number one fear a lot of the time. Yeah. And I kind of think why? Because people are afraid or they're going to be criticized or they're going to be laughed at or they put all sorts of obstacles in their way. But that's the key, right? They're putting the obstacles in their way. They're not even real ops. Stickles. But the reality is that we talk to people all the time we all communicate, we don't have a problem doing that. And so why should it be any different if you're actually going to go out and be a public speaker, because what you're going to be doing is saying, essentially, hopefully the same things to now a much bigger audience. And probably if people come to hear you speak, they want to hear what you have to say. And that's really pretty good. Kathryn Johnson 55:29 That's really powerful. Would you believe it? That I was probably the kid in the class who was the worst at public speaking? Michael Hingson 55:38 It's hard to imagine. Kathryn Johnson 55:40 Now I'm sitting here on the radio with you, Michael, we're having great time. Michael Hingson 55:44 We are. And it's, it's not all that hard to do if we allow ourselves to grow and stretch and there are things that we can use to learn to speak well, did you do anything like go to Toastmasters? Or any of those sorts of things? Or how did you learn to become a good speaker? Kathryn Johnson 56:01 Um, I got some mentoring. I did honestly go to Toastmasters. I didn't stay very long. Because I feel like the type of speaking I do is not really what Toastmasters teaches. Toastmasters is more of a business speaking organization. What I didn't realize though, is is what I'm good at was speaking. So it gave me some sort of awareness that way. Michael Hingson 56:35 I think it's shifted some from that. I haven't heard many people today really say it's all about business speaking, because it's really about speaking, and whether it's business or something else. It's still about learning to communicate. And there's a lot of opportunity to get more information. I didn't do a lot with Toastmasters, although I've done some. But I think that for me, probably, I love to tell this that, for me, the biggest way that I learned to be a public speaker, was when I was growing up, and I had to take spelling tests in school, the teacher would hand out will everybody had their pencils and papers, and the teacher would say the words and everyone had to write the words on papers, and then you exchange them. And then the teacher would write the words on the board, so that you could grade the spelling, except when it was my class, because I wasn't going to be grading papers. And I wasn't going to be writing the words because I didn't know how to write well enough to do that. So the result was, I had to spell the words in front of the class. I remember missing one once. But the bottom line is I worked at not missing so that I could spell the words correctly, and that people could rely on me to spell them appropriately. So I usually got an A in spelling, my wife would would say today, you do a lot better with spell checker. But still, it's all about learning. And I think that helped me a lot not to be afraid to be in front of an audience. So I've kind of always rejected the concept that we have to be afraid of public speaking, we don't need to be. Kathryn Johnson 58:22 That's true. That's absolutely true. And again, it goes back to you know, like your obstacle was not being able to write so you had to speak. So there you go, how an obstacle actually gave you a strength that is probably better than average. Right? Michael Hingson 58:40 So and in a lot of ways because it also when I was learning to teach, I took courses and teaching from the Irvine School UC Irvine School of Education. And one of the things that I did was not write on the board for my classes, I would get a volunteer every day to write on the board. And it got to the point where everyone wanted to be the board writer that day. So they had helped me engage with the classes and establish a relationship with them, which was also a good thing. And it also meant that I was facing the class talking with the class and not staring at the board writing something down and I've been in classes where all the professor's ever did was just write on the board all day and never understood why students didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to what they did. Kathryn Johnson 59:31 Well, isn't that interesting? Thanks for sharing, Michael. That's interesting. Yeah, that's great. Michael Hingson 59:38 So what makes your coaching program unique and something that people should want to partake of? Kathryn Johnson 59:45 Well, my my coaching program is unique in that it focuses on both the practical side or the right brain and the intuitive or left for Brain side. So as we've been talking, today, we've talked about how I'm very organized, and I'm gonna getting from A to B and problem solving and all that. So my coaching program helps people navigate life in that way. But it's also, it helps people connect with their intuition. And I help them connect with their hearts with their, with their passions, and their higher selves so that they can use their their inner guidance to guide them on their path. And I do readings, as well as for part of my coaching. Michael Hingson 1:00:43 Well, if people would like to reach out to you, and I'll go ahead, Kathryn Johnson 1:00:47 yeah, so I suppose both sides, both that intuitive side and your practical side, that's what you get with Michael Hingson 1:00:53 me? Well, if people want to reach out to you and learn about your program, learn about the coaching and perhaps get a reading, perhaps, learn a lot of the skills and tools that you have to offer people how do they do that? Kathryn Johnson 1:01:06 They can reach out to me on my website inspiredbykathryn .com Kathryn is K AT H R Y N.com. And you can send me a message, there's, you know, there's courses, everything's on the shop page. So inspired by katherine.com/shop that will take you directly to all the wonderful things I have. I'd love to hear from anybody. I have a wide variety of services to help you no matter where you're at. So if you're looking for support, please reach out. I know, I know I have at least something that could help you. So I'd love to say hello, and help you on your way and connect and say hi. Michael Hingson 1:01:57 I can't resist saying that you and I met through Podapalooza and we've talked about podapalooza on this podcast often. What brought you to Podapalooza? Kathryn Johnson 1:02:07 My, my marketing consultant is connected with with the group somehow. And she said, Hey, Catherine, you might want to try this event. What do you think? And so I signed up. Michael Hingson 1:02:24 So did you go to be interviewed? Or did you go because you might start your own podcast? Or have you started your own podcast? That kind of thing? Kathryn Johnson 1:02:31 No, I don't have my own podcast as yet. I've been to pod palooza. I've done two events. And I'm registered for the January one as well. Michael Hingson 1:02:41 Yeah, as As am I. So I think that will be a lot of fun to do. Well, Kathryn, thanks again for being here. And for my with us. And I hope everyone really appreciates all that you've offered. You've offered some great insights and great lessons. And as I said, I think that the most important thing that you and I and we've shown it a lot here today, the most important thing we can say is disability does not mean lack of ability, and that people need to grow and recognize that we have talents too. We are just capable as you we may not do exactly things in the same way that you do. But it doesn't mean that we can't do them. So I hope people will reach out. I hope people will come and talk with you and learn and become better than they are. Kathryn Johnson 1:03:35 I hope so too. I just love to help people. And it it hurts my heart to see people struggling unnecessarily. So if I've said anything at all, if you have any questions for me, I I'd love to just you know, have a chit chat and answer some questions. I offer a free 30 minute discovery call. For anyone who is just looking for information, no obligation. You can book it straight from my website. Inspiredbykryn.com Perfect. Well, Michael Hingson 1:04:09 all of you please reach out to Kathryn hope that she'll do that. I would really appreciate it. If after listening to this you would write me personally I'd love to know what you thought of the podcast. Please give us a five star rating. If you'd like to write me, please email Michaelhi at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com Or go to our podcast page www dot Michael hingson H i n g s o n.com/podcast. But please give us a five star rating We appreciate it. I really would love to hear your comments and your thoughts and if you know of anyone who might be a good guest for unstoppable mindset and and hopefully some of you have listened to a lot of these and so you've got a pretty good idea of what we do love to hear from you with any suggestions of people who we ought to have on the podcast. Kathryn, that goes for you as well. If you can think of anyone love to have your thoughts and suggestions about others to have on the podcast, Kathryn Johnson 1:05:08 I sure Well, I should Well, I'm meeting a lot of people. So I'll keep you in mind Michael, this was a great time. Thank you so much. Michael Hingson 1:05:16 Well, thank you and I really appreciate you coming on and once more thank you for being here with us. Here welcome. Michael Hingson 1:05:27 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

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Bringing Healthy Touch & Movement Back Into Your Life | Ep 108

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2023 36:14

This is a special Podapalooza episode, featuring 2 guests!Firstly, Dawn and I discuss the importance of touch, how it positively impacts our health when we get the touch we need, and also that our need for touch can vary from day to day and person to person. Dawn shares tips on removing the awkwardness of situations where the other person's touch needs may not match yours, and instead using fun ways to give them a choice in how they want to be touched. Dawn wrote the book “The Touch Crisis: Navigating the Tricky Terrain of Bringing Healthy Touch Back to Our Culture, which is available on Amazon, and comes with a workbook, so you can learn more about this important subject.Bobby and I then had a great conversation around strengthening and lengthening in order to prevent aches & pains. When we only strengthen, our muscles get shorter as they get stronger, and that then reduces the range of movement and can cause pain. Bobby has developed great tools that you can use at home, in the office, and even in your business attire several times a day to ensure you are lengthening your body and ultimately reducing pain! What you do to your body today, matters to your mobility later!Free gift: Get FREE shipping in the continental US when purchasing products on the Bam-metrics website:https://bam-metrics.comCoupon Code: BAMFREESHIPYour Guided Health Journey Membershiphttps://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/membership-programs/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/yourguidedhealthjourneyAbout the Guest:Dawn Bennett:Dawn Bennett, LMT, NCTMB, CST, NLP, Certified Hypnotherapist, NLP Results Coach, Accredited Certified EFT Practitioner, Relationship & Intimacy Coach, and Bodyworker has been helping people connect with themselves, others, and their communities in body and mind since starting her practice in 1997.She's the author of two Amazon Best-Selling books, The Touch Crisis: Navigating the Tricky Terrain of Bringing Healthy Touch Back to Our Culture, and What Happened to My Friendships? Five Steps to Navigate the Social Distancing Crisis. In addition, Dawn worked for over ten years as an instructor teaching massage + alternative and complementary medicine courses at Minnesota State College, Southeast Technical in Red Wing, MN. Dawn completed her bachelor's degree in Business and Complementary Medicine in 2009 from Metro State University in Minneapolis in. Furthermore, she graduated from the Northwestern Academy of Classical Homeopathy in 2009. Today, she has hundreds of clients who, she is proud to say, have done their own deep work and restored their inner power, released physical and emotional symptoms and struggles, and found their own potential and voice in their work, relationships, and volunteer communities.Dawn founded, owned, and sold a business that won “Service Business of the Year” two years in a row. She has been called a “zen hummingbird” because of her propensity to be chill, introspective, and in-tune, and then suddenly embrace her inner child, explode with energy and movement, and get an obnoxious amount of stuff done in a very short amount of time. She loves to travel and enjoy the healing powers of nature. She also loves people dearly and is working on saying so more often.The Touch Crisis Book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UPSZSWWhat Happened to My Friendships on Amazon:

Ottoneu Podcaster's League (OPL Series) #2 w/ Chris (@baseballpods)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2023 63:58

Tim Kanak (@fanatsyaceball) and co-host Raymond Atherton (@RaymondAtherton) discuss the Ottoneu Podcaster's League (OPL) with one of the most knowledgable fantasy baseball players out there, Chris from baseball-pods (@baseballpods). The episode gives some insight on Ottoneu pre-draft strategy, draft tips, roster construction tips, Ottoneu 5x5 strategy and valuation info. It's suggested to first listen to all podcasts this fantasy season including the "What the f*** are the fScores" podcast with Justin Mason, the Top 100 prospects for 2023 and the positional fScore rankings. If you missed it, check out the Podapalooza episode on the FWFB podcast titled "Projection Systems and How To Use Them" with Tim Kanak, Derek Carty and Jon Anderson. Please subscribe to the podcast for more fantasy baseball information and visit FWFB (Friends With Fantasy Benefits) to read more of Tim's other content related to rankings, fScores and fantasy advice. Please rate and review the podcast and follow Tim on Twitter for a free fScore draft cheat sheet!

league podcasters series 2 jon anderson justin mason podapalooza derek carty ottoneu

2023 RP Sleepers and Busts (w/ fScores) & More TGFBI

sleepers busts rp josh hader edwin diaz jon anderson garrett crochet justin mason jhon duran tgfbi podapalooza adbert alzolay pete fairbanks derek carty andres munoz

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2023 84:52

Tim Kanak (@fanatsyaceball), co-host Raymond Atherton (@RaymondAtherton) and Gabe Jenner discuss some early spring injuries / notes, TGFBI and an overview of RP sleepers, breakouts and busts for 2023. The episodes highlights some sleepers, breakouts and busts at the RP position with deep dives on Emmanuel Clase v Edwin Diaz, Daniel Bard, Pete Fairbanks, Jeremiah Estrada, Daniel Hudson, Andres Munoz, Ryan Helsley & Gio Gallegos, Jhon Duran, Josh Hader, Adbert Alzolay, Alex Lange and Garrett Crochet. It's suggested to first listen to all podcasts this fantasy season including the "What the f*** are the fScores" podcast with Justin Mason, the Top 100 prospects for 2023 and other positional fScore rankings. If you missed it, check out the Podapalooza episode on the FWFB podcast titled "Projection Systems and How To Use Them" with Tim Kanak, Derek Carty and Jon Anderson. Please subscribe to the podcast for more fantasy baseball information and visit FWFB (Friends With Fantasy Benefits) to read more of Tim's other content related to rankings, fScores and fantasy advice. Please rate and review the podcast and follow Tim on Twitter for a free fScore draft cheat sheet!

Ottoneu Podcaster's League (OPL Series) #1 w/ Chad Young

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2023 56:13

Tim Kanak (@fanatsyaceball) and co-host Raymond Atherton (@RaymondAtherton) discuss the Ottoneu Podcaster's League (OPL) with Commish and Ottoneu founding member, Chad Young from Fangraphs and Pitcher List's Keep or Kut podcast (@chadyoung). The episode gives some insight on the formation of Ottoneu, some draft tips and roster construction tips from one of the original Ottoneu League members along with strategy in regards to this particular draft filled with podcasters and fantasy baseball experts. It's suggested to first listen to all podcasts this fantasy season including the "What the f*** are the fScores" podcast with Justin Mason, the Top 100 prospects for 2023 and other positional fScore rankings. If you missed it, check out the Podapalooza episode on the FWFB podcast titled "Projection Systems and How To Use Them" with Tim Kanak, Derek Carty and Jon Anderson. Please subscribe to the podcast for more fantasy baseball information and visit FWFB (Friends With Fantasy Benefits) to read more of Tim's other content related to rankings, fScores and fantasy advice. Please rate and review the podcast and follow Tim on Twitter for a free fScore draft cheat sheet!

league podcasters series 1 commish fangraphs jon anderson kut pitcher list justin mason podapalooza derek carty chad young ottoneu

2023 TGFBI & Undervalued Hitters (w/ fScores)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2023 90:06

Tim Kanak (@fanatsyaceball) and co-host Raymond Atherton (@RaymondAtherton) discuss some early spring injuries / notes, TGFBI and an overview of undervalued hitters. The episodes highlights some sleepers, breakouts and busts at the OF position with deep dives on Bryan Reynolds, Corey Seager, Andres Gimenez, Kyle Schwarber, Max Muncy, Steven Kwan, Gunnar Henderson, Alejandro Kirk / Sean Murphy, Carlos Correa, Randy Arozarena, Tyler O'Neil, Eugenio Suarez / Matt Chapman, Rowdy Tellez, Jose Abreu, Lars Nootbaar, Hunter Renfroe, Brandon Lowe, Ezequiel Tovar, Anthony Rizzo, Jake Cronenworth, Trent Grisham, Joey Votto / Matt Carpenter, Esteury Ruiz / Jon Berti, Brendan Donovan, Oswaldo Peraza, Chris Taylor and every Reds hitter. It's suggested to first listen to all podcasts this fantasy season including the "What the f*** are the fScores" podcast with Justin Mason, the Top 100 prospects for 2023 and other positional fScore rankings. If you missed it, check out the Podapalooza episode on the FWFB podcast titled "Projection Systems and How To Use Them" with Tim Kanak, Derek Carty and Jon Anderson. Please subscribe to the podcast for more fantasy baseball information and visit FWFB (Friends With Fantasy Benefits) to read more of Tim's other content related to rankings, fScores and fantasy advice. Please rate and review the podcast and follow Tim on Twitter for a free fScore draft cheat sheet!

2023 OF Sleepers and Busts (w/ fScores) Part 2

sleepers busts nick castellanos andrew mccutchen jd martinez michael conforto jarred kelenic adam duvall christopher morel justin mason oscar gonzalez james outman podapalooza

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2023 70:20

Tim Kanak (@fanatsyaceball), co-host Raymond Atherton (@RaymondAtherton) and Gabe Jenner discuss some early spring injuries / notes and OF Part 2 sleepers, busts and breakouts - episode 84. The episodes highlights some sleepers, breakouts and busts at the OF position with deep dives on JD Martinez, Andrew McCutchen, Adam Duvall, Nick Castellanos, Alex Kirilloff, Jarred Kelenic, Sal Felick, Alek Thomas, Christopher Morel, Michael Conforto, Oscar Gonzalez and James Outman. It's suggested to first listen to all podcasts this fantasy season including the "What the f*** are the fScores" podcast with Justin Mason, the Top 100 prospects for 2023 and other positional fScore rankings. Tim will be hosting a Podapalooza panel on Sunday at noon titled "Projection Systems and How To Use Them." Please subscribe to the podcast for more fantasy baseball information and visit FWFB (Friends With Fantasy Benefits) to read more of Tim's other content related to rankings, fScores and fantasy advice. Please rate and review the podcast and follow Tim on Twitter for a free fScore draft cheat sheet!

Ep.38 Don't Wait For Your Wake-Up Call

BECOME

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2023 28:04

After 24 years of service, Melissa was given 1 hour to clear her desk with no word of thanks! However, this allowed her to rethink her life. She was open to being guided as to what was next. She shares her story of how a seemingly devastating circumstance led her to step into her true passion & purpose! Show notes: Melissa embarks on an unexpected path of self-discovery and empowerment after being suddenly let go from her corporate position, eventually leading her to become a health coach and create a foundation to help girls in undeveloped nations access school and break the poverty cycle. Melissa Deally is a health coach, podcast host, and founder of Your Guided Health Journey. She is passionate about helping people optimize their health and guiding them through their health journey. In this episode, you will learn the following: 1. How to optimize health to avoid getting sick and not needing to wait for a "wake-up call". 2. The power of investing in one's own health journey to achieve better results. 3. How a series of unforeseen circumstances led to her becoming a successful health coach. Connect with Melissa Deally: Your Guided Health Journey Melissa Deally on Linkedin Connect with Sabine Skvenberg: https://www.sabinekvenberg.com/resources Sabine Skvenberg on Facebook Sabine Skvenberg on Linkedin Sabine Skvenberg on YouTube BECOME Podpage ➤Are you looking for the finest online platform to build and sell courses swiftly? Why not try Kajabi? All the tools of Kajabi make it easier for you to create online courses, podcasts, coaching, memberships, and more! Try the 30-day free trial and make the most out of it. And if you're just getting started and want to put your offer up for sale in three days or less, follow this link and apply to "MAKING IT HAPPEN." TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Melissa: So I had a really good mindset around understanding that I just have to get started. I may not feel ready, and that's okay. If I wait to feel ready, I will never start. 00:00:15 Sabine: That's right. And to quote the great Zig Ziglar, "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." 00:00:24 Sabine: Welcome to my podcast, BECOME. The content will inspire you to take steps towards reaching your aspirations and becoming the best version of yourself. I feature interviews with successful individuals from various industries, delving into their personal and professional journeys and their strategies to achieve their goals. We have to become the person we are meant to be so we can live the life we are destined to live. That means we must overcome challenges and work through difficult times to learn, grow, and become the more incredible version of ourselves. I am so glad that you're here. Let's get on this journey together. 00:01:10 Sabine: My guest today is health coach Melissa Deally. She is the host of the podcast “Don't Wait for Your Wake Up Call!” and founder of Your Guided Health Journey. 00:01:23 Sabine: Welcome, Melissa. How are you today? 00:01:26 Melissa: I'm doing wonderfully, thank you. How are you, Sabine? 00:01:29 Sabine: Oh, I'm fantastic. So where are you calling in from? 00:01:34 Melissa: I'm actually coming in from Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. So the ski hill is right out my window. 00:01:40 Sabine: Boohoo! Another international guest. I love it. Yeah, we recently met during Podapalooza, which is an event where we both were featured as podcasters, and we didn't have the chance to meet then, so we thought we'll catch up here. 00:01:59 Melissa: Exactly. 00:02:00 Sabine: Yeah. Your podcast is called ‘Don't Wait for Your Wake Up Call!.' Can you tell us more about your podcast? 00:02:07 Melissa: Sure, I would love to. Thank you. I named it back because what I am doing with that podcast is bringing health information to people so that they can be able to make better choices in their health journey. And our health is always a journey from the moment we come onto this planet to the moment we leave. However, we often don't get taught how we can truly optimize our health through our education system or even through our medical system. Our medical system is often helping you once you get sick, but why do we have to wait till we get sick? And so that's what I'm trying to give people, is that education on how to optimize our health so we don't have to wait to get sick, and hence, don't wait for your wake up call. 00:02:56 Sabine: So, Melissa, we had a prior conversation, and before you started your health journey or health education journey, you were in a totally different field, and you were actually in the corporate world, and you worked there for 24 years. And then you got this devastating quote, unquote in that moment, I'm sure it was devastating news that you were laid off. So tell us first, what did you do for 24 years? 00:03:38 Melissa: I worked in a hotel company in Canada, and it was a brand that had over 40 hotels across the country. And it was my responsibility to bring all of the Asian guests to the hotels across Canada because I had the good fortune to be raised in Asia. I speak Japanese, I understand the Asian cultures. So it was a really good fit. And I absolutely loved this job. It allowed me to travel back to Asia on business. I could also then see my friends. So I absolutely loved this work. 00:04:10 Sabine: Can you still speak Japanese? Can you give us a sentence of Japanese? 00:04:17 Melissa: Sure. I do still speak Japanese. And yes, "Ohayou gozaimasu. Genki desu ka? Ikaga desu ka?" is, you know, "Good morning. How are you?" As simple as that. 00:04:29 Sabine: I love it. I love it . So you are in Canada and then you lost the job, but then a big fish bought the little fish, and then you were basically given 1 hour to clear out your desk without even a thank you. 00:04:51 Melissa: Yes. 00:04:52 Sabine: How was that experience? What did you feel and were you angry? What was that experience for you? 00:04:59 Melissa: I was a, first of all, shocked because we had been told as salespeople that we were not going to be the first ones let go because we would need to have time to transition our client base to other people, et cetera, et cetera. And so that's a, first of all, what we had been told when we heard the sale was happening, and then to find out that I was really one of the first to be let go and the hour to clear out my desk, that was shocking. But it just hurt that there was no words of thank you through that entire process. And it was probably about five days later when HR contacted me. And I wasn't the only one being let go. Hundreds of us were being let go. So HR was very busy and it took them probably about five days until we were able to connect. 00:05:53 Melissa: And I said to them, they were checking in, how are you doing? And I said, "You know what, I get it. This is business. This is what happens. But I just want to say that I'm just the most hurt. It's simply that there wasn't even any kind of thank you for my years of service." And then the HR person said, "Well, that was actually going to be the next thing I said, which sounds really inauthentic now that you've told me that. I'm sorry that you didn't get that in that moment when you got the phone call that you were being let go." 00:06:24 Sabine: Wow. So what did you do after finding yourself without a job? 00:06:29 Melissa: Well, I was grateful for the fact that because I had been there 24 years, I did receive a payout. And so I didn't feel like I had to rush into another job tomorrow in order to make the mortgage payments, et cetera. So I did give myself that gift of space to figure out what it truly was that I wanted to do next. I didn't want to stay in the same industry, I did look at this as one door closes, another door opens. This is an opportunity for me to do something completely different with the second half of my career, and that's what I consider it. So I needed time to figure out what that was, and I was open to being guided. 00:07:16 Melissa: And over the course of the next four or five months, I was actually introduced to a supplement company. And I thought, "I don't want to do supplements. Everybody does supplements." Until I found out that it was supplements specifically for the brain. And I found that interesting because I knew there was near epidemic levels of Alzheimer's and dementia. And if I could share this with the world and start to reduce the rates of Alzheimer's and dementia by educating people about looking after their brain, well, that would be one of those touchstones that I said I wanted to help humanity more, and that would help. So I looked at it and I went, "This is interesting." 00:07:59 Melissa: And it got me thinking, because my grandmother was 99 at the time, and she lived at home all by herself, cared for herself, and fully cognitively functioning. And so I knew that I had good genes, but I wondered is that enough? If I want to be on her path versus the Alzheimer's and dementia path, are my good genes enough or do I have to do more? And then I started comparing her life to my life. And she was born in little old Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1916, you know, bottom corner of the Earth, before all the toxins we have in the world today. Growing all their own food on the property. And then I was raised in Tokyo, Japan. Amazing life. However, it was in the 1970s with manufacturing plants, spewing out toxins, and I realized I'm way more toxic than my grandmother was. I need to do more. 00:08:54 Sabine: Absolutely. 00:08:56 Melissa: So I started learning about the brain because I was intrigued. You use your brain 24/7, right? So I was like, "If I can do more for my brain, I probably should." So I started learning about the brain, learning about toxicity and how it impacts the brain and the body . And about four months later, my oldest daughter got a concussion in her first grade. 12 soccer games of the season. 00:09:19 Sabine: Yes, we are living in a different world, and I totally understand where you're coming from. The matter of the fact is, my mother-in-law just passed away last year from Alzheimer's, and I know how difficult it is for many, many people. So talking about being guided, you took the time and just let the universe direct something to you. And now, your daughter had a concussion. So how did this all work together ? 00:10:08 Melissa: So she had that concussion and she had literally just started using this supplementation for the brain, and I realized as I looked at what the supplementation for the brain was doing, that it would be very beneficial in her recovery. So I continued having her use it, while also ensuring that she was getting treatment with local physiotherapists that specialize in concussion therapy. And my piece was kind of bringing the nutritional piece to it. She also didn't have the cognitive ability to go to the appointment and come home and tell me what they said she needed to do before her next appointment because of the concussion. So I wasn't working full time, right? Everything happens for a reason. Now, I'm able to go to the appointments with her, so I can capture that information and then also remind her to do those things each day because the healing isn't at the appointment. The healing happens between the appointments, right ? So that's what we were doing. And it's a very difficult injury because she didn't ask for the concussion. 00:11:16 Melissa: And now she's in grade 12, she can't go to school, she can't do any of the fun things that all the other grade twelve kids are doing. She's very isolated, has low energy, can't be around lots of noises, and so it's very hard and a lot of people will go into a depression. So I was trying to manage that along with the good nutrition. Two months into her recovery, I got a phone call when I was driving to Vancouver from the high school to please go and pick up my younger daughter who had a suspected concussion from grade 8 gym class. And in that moment, I looked out my windshield, across the water, up at the heavens and said, really? This is how you show me my path? Please stop taking out my children. So now I have two daughters with two very different concussions, both using very good brain supplementation, both going to therapy, et cetera, and guiding their journeys. And I realized people need more support in their health journey. 00:12:23 Melissa: The body only heals in a relaxed state. And when you're trying to figure out your health journey on your own, you're still in a stress state and the body can't heal because you're wondering am I doing it right? Is this the right information? You can go on Google and get ten different things that you should do, or diagnose yourself as imminently passing away tomorrow, which is very stressful. So people need more support and a little bit more hand holding. 00:12:51 Melissa: And soon after I was invited to work at a holistic clinic, and I wasn't able to get insurance to work there because I didn't have a certification. I only had my own research that I had done in order to guide my daughter's healing. So that led me to go back to school, and I contacted a friend who was a life coach, because life coach had kind of been ruminating in the back of my head. Is that something I want to do? But it hadn't landed. And I called this friend and said, "Look, I need to go back to school. I need to get a certification under my belt. Where did you do your life coaching training?" And he said you don't need to be a life coach. You need to be a health coach. And I went, "What? What's that?" I've never even heard the term. That landed. And I considered that another gift from the universe through my friend. 00:13:40 Melissa: And I researched health coaching schools, found one that I absolutely aligned with because of its focus on the brain as well, and jumped right in. And within 10 days, I was in this new cohort of students. And from that moment, I have never looked back. I couldn't get enough of this information. And I was like, "I'm in my 40s, why am I only learning this about my body now?" And then I realized, well, if I don't know this because I've been busy with my corporate career and being a mom and being a wife and having a life, I bet there's all these other people out there that don't know this either. And what if I learn this and then I teach it to them in ways that they can easily work it? 00:14:24 Sabine: Let me hop in here really quick to share something with you. Have you ever tried to build your own website, start a newsletter or build a course and charge for it? Have you ever wanted to make money online, but are totally confused by all the different systems you need to have? That's why I use Kajabi. Kajabi is the most popular system for online marketers, coaches, thought leaders and influencers. Kajabi helps online entrepreneurs take off. Over hundred thousands of us use Kajabi and have made over $4 billion. Why not be part of it? The best thing is you don't have to figure out tons of systems or crazy technology to start your online business. Kajabi helps you do all of that and it's all on one platform. That's why I use it. It makes my life so much easier and I can even earn money while I'm sleeping. You can build your web pages, blogs and membership sites. You can create offers, check out pages and collect money. You can host your videos. You can start your newsletter list, capture emails, start your marketing funnels all in one place. It makes it fun and easy with awesome tutorials and support. Since I've joined Kajabi from the beginning, I have a special affiliate link that I would like to share with you. A 30-day free trial. So nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Just go to my link that's in the show notes, sabineskvenberg.com/resources and we will redirect you to the free trial page. And if you are just starting out and want to get your offer out for sale in just three days, let me help you do that, visit my web page, by the way, that I build on Kajabi and apply to “MAKING IT HAPPEN.” So now let's get back to the show. 00:16:34 Sabine: I love it because this and just seeing you when we have this interview, it's also on video. So just seeing you, when you explained how you kind of found your calling, you were lit up. That means you really pursued your passion, what you are passionate about, and you found something within, but you also took the action, the right action to get the right education to start something on your own. And when I work with my clients, this is the first thing that I go through to guide them, to really find, to let go of the old things that don't serve them any longer and then really being open to receiving the news. Because you see, if you are preoccupied, like with your job or whatever else in your life, you're not open to receiving something new. 00:17:40 Melissa: True. 00:17:40 Sabine: And sometimes something devastating has to happen to become our next greater self. And I totally can see this with you. So you did the health education and then what? How did you then start your own business? 00:17:59 Melissa: So what I did is I completed one level of my health education and learned so much there. And one of the things that I learned is that your learning never ends either. The program was excellent, though. And this was another aspect that I enjoyed, is that they have included in my training, business coaching to help you get started in your business. And that was phenomenal because I'd been in the corporate world, there was people that did the marketing, people that did the accounting, people that did all the aspects. And now as a solopreneur, you're wearing all those hats and you need to learn how to do all of these things. 00:18:43 Melissa: So my program included that training at a very basic level, but it was enough for me to get started. What I also loved about the training was the focus on our mindset and how our beliefs impact our behaviors, which impact our results. And I had also read the book, ‘The Growth Mindset' by Carol Dweck. So I had a really good mindset around understanding that I just have to get started. I may not feel ready and that's okay. If I wait to feel ready, I will never start. 00:19:22 Sabine: That's right. And to quote the great Zig Ziggler, "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." So you just got started. And when was that? When did you start your business? 00:19:36 Melissa: That was in 2017. And another step that really helped me get started was part of our training required that we do some case studies with clients and that we actually take clients through the entire program. And that was required for completion of the program. And it was up to us as to whether we charged the clients or whether we did it for free. And we also had to do six enrollment calls as practice. So that's the phone call where you're talking to the person, and then you're enrolling them into your program, and they give you scripts and everything. So it's all very helpful. So I did six of those calls, and five people wanted to work with me. That was wonderful. And what I did is I charged them a fee. I didn't do it for free. I didn't charge them full price. I wasn't ready to charge full price, but I offered them to work with me at a discounted price because I was just getting started. And they loved that idea. 00:20:44 Melissa: And what I loved about it and why I decided to do that is because I knew myself if I didn't invest anything in it and it was free, I wouldn't take it seriously. And if I had five people go through the program not taking it seriously, at the end of that, I might feel like I'm not a good coach. But if I had five people that had invested something in it, then I knew that they would put more effort in and they would see the results, and then I would feel confident to move out into the world and charge people full price because now I'm certified. 00:21:19 Sabine: I love it. I really applaud you for that because we all are just human beings, right? And on top of that, if somebody gets something for free, they don't value the program or you, in that case, as, "Oh, yeah," I mean, "She's just doing it for free." I totally are on the same page. So basically that whole what we think, bad situation really being let go of a job that you had for 24 years. And in that moment, it might seem horrible, but actually it was a blessing in disguise. 00:22:07 Melissa: Oh, I agree. You've just given me full body truth bumps because... yes, I agree. And it didn't take me long to be able to look back upon it and see that. And in that process, I learned that everything happened for us, et cetera, et cetera. So this whole entire process happened for me so that I could really land in my purpose and my passion and everything that came beforehand just better prepared me to be the coach that I am today. 00:22:39 Sabine: I saw on your website that you support a nonprofit organization called Girls Matter. Tell us more about that. 00:22:48 Melissa: I do. That's my passion project. So I saw a documentary with my Girl Guides, or in the US, they're called Girl Scouts. Probably in around 2013, 2014, called Girls Rising. And it was a wonderful documentary about the plight of girls in 3rd World nations not being allowed to go to school. And I watched that documentary with tears coming down my face as these girls were begging to go to school and simply being denied because they were female. And I'm in a room of females knowing that each and every one of them at different times has begged not to go to school. And I did that myself as a child. We take school for granted in our first world countries. And I just thought, at some point in my life, I need to change this and do something about it. And I didn't know how to get started. 00:23:41 Melissa: However, one day, again, in 2017, I was at a conference where somebody said we are all put on this Earth to never stop learning, to find our passion and be of service, and you don't have to know the how. You just have to know the why, and the how will happen. And all of that really resonated with me. And I realized I just have to get started with Girls Matter as well. And I contacted some friends who had a nonprofit and said, "How did you start this nonprofit?" And they said, "What are you doing?" And I told them, and they said, "We'll do it with you." So the whole premise of this is to keep girls in school and give girls access to school. And by doing that, we are stopping teenage marriages, and we are breaking the poverty cycle one girl, one family, one village at a time. There is a statistic that I saw in that first documentary that if India educated just 1% more girls, they would grow their GDP by $5 billion. 00:23:48 Sabine: Wow. 00:23:48 Melissa: So there's the answer. 00:24:50 Sabine: Yeah. 00:24:50 Melissa: Where is the answer? So simple. It's not necessarily easy because there's cultural things as well. But if we just educate the girls, we can bring entire countries out of poverty. 00:25:03 Sabine: That shows me again, that we don't have to wait for something big to happen or some big money stay behind a cause. No. We can start if we have that passion in our heart. And as you mentioned, people will come to you and say, "Hey, what can we do? We want to help." And what I love about your organization is that 100% of the proceeds go to this nonprofit. So everybody is donating their time and resources even to that cause. 00:25:48 Melissa: I had just literally last week launched a Go Fund Me campaign for Girls Matter, for a very specific project, and that is to raise enough funds to provide the girls with menstrual pads so they can go to school every day because right now they don't have menstrual supplies. So they have to stay home for one week of every month and not attend school. 00:26:10 Sabine: Wow. 00:26:11 Melissa: And again, the universe gives back. So I was at a rotary meeting just a few weeks ago, talking about the girls, how we were supporting them, and this project for menstrual pads that I wanted to start. And lo and behold, the rotary organization in my local town is connected to one in Uganda, in the same country where the girls are that we're supporting, and they've just built a manufacturing plant to make these menstrual supplies. So now we just have to fundraise the funds in order to be able to support the girls. And for just $20, you can provide a girl with these reusable washable pads, enough of them for her four years of high school. 00:26:53 Sabine: Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. I will be giving those $20 to support one girl for four years, so sign me up. Melissa, thank you so much for being on this podcast. If people want to get in touch with you, how can they do that? 00:27:14 Melissa: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. And the easiest way is simply Melissa at yourguidedhealthjourney.com. 00:27:23 Sabine: And I will make sure to put it in the show notes. Once again, thank you so much, and I look forward to another conversation sometime in the future. 00:27:32 Melissa: Thank you very much for having me and for helping me share the work that I do in the world. I appreciate it. 00:27:40 Sabine: That was my interview, and if you enjoyed it, give us a five star review, leave a comment and share it with your friends. Thanks for listening. Until I see you again. Always remember, serve from the heart, follow your path, and live the life you imagine.

Deana Mitchell - The Shower Genius

Podapalooza Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2023 13:04 Transcription Available

Our guest, Deana Mitchelle is the President of Genius & Sanity. She's an entrepreneur, mental health advocate, speaker, coach and best-selling author. Let's get to know more about her and her book, The Shower Genius. Deana also talks about her mission of reducing suicide rate by founding Realize Foundation. Don't Miss the Next Podapalooza!!Our next event is October 19, 2022, and tickets are currently on sale! Grab your ticket now to learn from our featured podcasters on the main stage. Or if you want to get your message on a variety of podcasts, get the VIP ticket and you will be matched with hosts to be interviewed on their show.To learn more or get your tickets now, visit https://podapalooza.comDo you want to be a Featured Podcaster at the next event? This is a great way to connect with more people and even batch record episodes for your show. You can apply now at https://forms.monday.com/forms/e3de430966259116bf6e1bdbbcbe5586?r=use1 Podapalooza! It sounds hard to spell, but it's easy to say and it's so much fun!!

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#93 A #HAPPYUPYOURLIFE Look Back at Episodes #31-#45

music walk apple podcast neighbor hood neighbors memory lane podchaser goodies chrisley podapalooza

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2023 52:08

THE GOOD ALL AROUND US has a ton of LOOK BACK fun in store for you this week! Previously only released to the Neighbors in our Good 'Hood* as a bonus episode in February 2022, join Chris and Deanna as they take you on a journey to revisit episodes #31-45. Walk down Memory Lane as they share with you Behind The Episode GOODies for each one and an inside look at what writing and telling these 15 stories meant to them. It'll for sure #HappyUpYourLife* You, too, can become a Neighbor in the Good 'Hood. Simply visit https://www.thegoodallaroundus.com/supportTHE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#92 It's What We Do

music new year utah apple podcast neighbor hood salt lake city wiley podchaser goodies chrisley podapalooza

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 26, 2022 47:29

It's the holiday season, and Chris and Deanna chat all about it and what they'd like their New Year to include. Chris then takes us to the beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah where we learn about the area and what makes it so amazing. It's there that we meet Travis Haussener and hear how his day backcountry skiing became a life-and-death situation in an instant. Prepare to be on the edge of your seat as Chris shares this TRPATRT story. You'll feel like you are right there as Tom Elbrecht and his dog Wiley hear Travis's cries for help and you'll be wowed as what happens next unfolds. As this episode comes to an end, you'll see that the never-give-up human spirit is evident and the heroism is undeniable and that both are inspiring beyond measure.THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#91 A Face For Good

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2022 48:54

Chris opens up the episode by talking about how he's spent his last couple days spinning tracks at two fun events, and how he's now a gold lamé boot salesman. They chat about their fun chili cook-off and ugly sweater party and who won The Golden Ladle. Then, Deanna tells us how GIFs came to be (and how to pronounce that word), as well as how GIFs are different than memes before she shares the top 10 memes of all time. From there, she takes us to San Fransisco where we meet Drew Scanlon, a video editor and podcaster who's caught-off-guard expression makes him super recognizable on the interwebs still to this day and how "The Man Behind The Meme" is now A FACE FOR GOOD. THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

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Behind The Mic: MC Anime with Maison Collawn

AmplifYou

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2022 18:34 Transcription Available

Joining Braden in today's episode is the man Behind The Mic of MC Anime Podcast, Maison Collawn. They're recording from Casa de Influencia in Puerto Vallarta for a Content Creation Retreat. Maison talks all about MC Anime Podcast and how he started it from blogging. It is also very interesting how he got this fun idea of having an episode with live contestants, like a game show variety on podcast. Don't miss:Maison's Podapalooza interview experience. How Maison extracted insights and information from his guests that were not in Anime space. How anybody can be an ideal guest.Why Maison doesn't like having a script in podcast interviews.Would you rather have 1000 downloads or would you rather have 100 fans?About Maison Collawn"My name is Maison Collawn. I am the host and founder of MC Anime Podcast. The idea of MC Anime started from blogging and slowly it began to be podcasting. A little bit about myself are that fandoms and pop culture are my pastimes. My favorite pastimes are Pokémon Nintendo gaming, Yugioh TCG dueling, and watching TV shows. It is exciting creating content and having conversations relating to anime, geek culture, and Japanese aesthetics or Asian Studies.Overall this project combines my passion towards anime and Mass Communications into MC Anime Podcast as we know it. I thoroughly love doing MC Anime and I want to continue and even having you as potential fans. Feel free to contact myself at blogmcanime@gmail.com for general questions and business inquiries."Website: https://mcanimepodcast.com/Maison Links: https://linktr.ee/MCAnimeAbout About the Host:Michelle Abraham - Podcast Producer, Host and International Speaker.Michelle was speaking on stages about podcasting before most people knew what they were, she started a Vancouver based Podcasting Group in 2012 and has learned the ins and outs of the industry. Michelle helped create and launched over 30 Podcasts in 2018 and has gone on to launch over 200 shows in the last few years, She wants to launch YOURS in 2022!14 years as an Entrepreneur and 8 years as a Mom has led her to a lifestyle shift, spending more time with family while running location independent online digital marketing business for the last 9 years. Michelle and her family have been living completely off the grid lakeside boat access for the last 4 years!Check Us Out on:Join our facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MyPodcastCoachFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMPLIFYOU.ca/Twitter: https://twitter.com/YouAmplifInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/amplifyou.ca/To Join our FREE Podcasters Tool Kit: https://bit.ly/PodcastToolKitFor More Podcast Training -...

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#90 Giving A Chance

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2022 43:35

Happy anniversary! Happy anniversary! Happy anniversary! HAAAAAAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Deanna and Chris chat all about how it's their 27th wedding anniversary (best two years of Chris's life! LOL!). They share how they've recently started taking dance lessons and the fun that goes along with that. Then Chris takes us to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where we learn all about the history of the city, as well as the proper way to order their famous cheesesteaks. From there, he introduces us to Tyrique Glasgow, a man who is working tirelessly to change his entire community by providing positive and supportive opportunities for young and old alike in the most inspiring of ways. From where he started to where he is now, you will surely be encouraged and uplifted by all the ways he's helping those in his neighborhood by GIVING A CHANCE.To find out more information and to give directly to Young Chances Foundation, visit http://www.youngchancesfoundation.org/ THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#89 More Than A Name

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2022 48:56

"Again! Again!" Chris shares that he and Aria have a new thing - listening to The Santa Wrap by Rayvon. It's catchy, Neighbors... Google it. You can thank him later. After refusing to accept that 2023 is right around the corner, Deanna chooses instead to chat with us about the rise of TikTok and how #CookTok took off during the pandemic. She shares with us some outrageously fun food facts (did you know that one spaghetti noodle is called a spaghetto? It's true!). She then takes us to Maryland to meet librarian-turned-TikTok star Rosie Grant who is cooking up some amazing food. ...But she's not getting the recipes she's trying from any cookbooks you can buy in the store - nope! Wait until you hear where she gets them from, and how the nostalgic connection is helping her followers around the world remember that their loved ones are MORE THAN A NAME. THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

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#88 Art For Others

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2022 31:31

Chris and Deanna are back in The Happy Place, bringing you a new episode that's sure to tug at your heart strings. Hear what they've been up to and how they've spent the last three weeks. Then come along as Chris takes on a road trip up to Dubuque, Iowa where we meet Arsh Pal, a twelve-year-old who has been giving back in the most amazing of ways. Listen to his WOW of a story as we learn that a passion he picked up four years ago has brought joy to so many, while at the same time raising money for kids who are sick. You'll be forever changed after hearing about the ripple effect he's creating with his ART FOR OTHERS. THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#87 A #HAPPYUPYOURLIFE Look Back at Episodes #16-#30

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2022 93:43

THE GOOD ALL AROUND US has more LOOK BACK fun in store for you this week! Previously only released to the Neighbors in our Good 'Hood* as a bonus episode in October 2021, join Chris and Deanna as they take you on a journey to revisit episodes #16-30. Walk down Memory Lane as they share with you Behind The Episode GOODies for each one and an inside look at what writing and telling these 15 stories meant to them. It'll for sure #HappyUpYourLife* You, too, can become a Neighbor in the Good 'Hood. Simply visit https://www.thegoodallaroundus.com/supportTHE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#86 A #HAPPYUPYOURLIFE Look Back at Episodes #1-#15

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2022 78:46

Buckle up for some fun! We are taking a trip in the Way Back Machine! Previously only released to the Neighbors in our Good 'Hood* in June 2021, this BONUS episode will take you on a Look-Back Journey through how THE GOOD ALL AROUND US came to be - from how Chris got the initial idea and how it got its name to how the format came to be and how each episode is developed. From there, Chris and Deanna revisit episodes #1-15, giving you Behind The Episode GOODies for each one. It'll for sure #HappyUpYourLifeListen to Chris and Deanna's interview on Matthew Bennett's SECOND MIX podcast as reference in this episode at https://www.secondmix.net/deanna-and-chris-ley-tap-into-the-good-all-around-us/.* You, too, can become a Neighbor in the Good 'Hood. Simply visit https://www.thegoodallaroundus.com/supportTHE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#85 When You Choose Love

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2022 40:34

Deanna has decided that hiking is her third job, and Chris shares how he's out of words for the day. She and Chris chat about how Halloween has taken ova' and is the only holiday that has become a month-long celebration. From there, Deanna takes us to Haiti where we meet 22-year-old Jimmy Amisial. Another amazing example of TRPATRT - the right place at the right time - you will be on the edge of your seat when you hear how the events of this episode unfold. Prepare to be WOWed as we learn how dedicated and determined Jimmy is because he knows how life change change for the better when you take a leap of faith and WHEN YOU CHOOSE LOVE.THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#84 Momma's Boy

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2022 35:25

Banter abounds on this amazing episode! Chris and Deanna have a great time chatting about open windows, unwritten rules, great speaking voices, lawyer jokes, transitions to new positions, funny looking faces, and thousand-yard stares. From there, Chris takes us to the land of the Kiwis. Buckle up, Neighbors! We're going to New Zealand! It's there that we meet 20-year-old musician Ryan Stokes. He got a fantastic idea during the pandemic that caused him and his parents to go viral on social media and has helped bring them closer together as a family, as well. You'll think this is the sweetest story ever as you hear how the Stokes and their natural talents are happying up people's lives around the world and how Ryan is for sure a MOMMA's BOY! THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

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#83 I'll Run With You

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2022 52:37

Chris tells us all about his CHRIS DAY yesterday. From having a "blast" to the trunk or treat where he heard super funny jokes, it was a great day for him indeed. Deanna then takes us to Cincinnati, Ohio where we meet Mike Fremont, a world record holder (a few times over) who took up running as a way to cope with a devastating loss. His story will leave you mouth-wide-open as you hear how his health choices not only saved his own life, but has inspired others in his community, as well. Deanna shares some valuable advice on how others can "Be Like Mike", and how if you are looking to take up running, he'll be the first to say "I'LL RUN WITH YOU". THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

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#82 Shoulder To Shoulder

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2022 56:00

Deanna has Chris choose which "Story Time" he thinks our Neighbors would want to hear - Deanna Walks Through a Marsh or Deanna Runs for a Plane Twice. He chose the former and she proceeds to go into detail on how "Chasing Sunsets" got her into a tricky predicament. Snakes, bacteria, and leeches, OH MY! Chris shares shocking mental health statistics about senior citizens, especially older men. From there, we travel to Barnsley, England where we meet Phillip Jackson, a man who didn't want to spend his golden years by himself. He wanted to form connections and camaraderie with other men and knew just the way to do it. Learn all about how The Barnsley Men's Shed is changing lives for the better and giving men - and women - purpose and helping to forge lasting bonds with each other, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER. For more info on the Sheds program in the US, check out https://usmenssheds.org/.Also, if you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or is in a mental health crisis, please call or text the 24-hour 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255) or 800-799-4TTY (800-799-4889).THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love Support the show

#81 The Perfect Time

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2022 45:39

Deanna and Chris chat about how they have a fantastic day of celebrating ahead of them, and she shares a surprise she's planned for him which will for sure happy up his birthday weekend. She then takes us to Sydney, Australia to meet the the Blooms, a family whose lives were upended by a horrific accident that forever changed everything in 2013, especially the life of mum Sam. Come along on this journey as we learn more about how the most unlikely of heroes helped Sam, Cameron, and the Bloom boys find hope in the most touching of ways. You'll be in awe of how this story unfolds and see that healing can come in all shapes and sizes when you are least expecting it, which for this family, ends up being at THE PERFECT TIME. THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

Pallazzo Baseball Episode 206: The Final Analysis | September 30th, 2022

Hey It's Enrico Pallazzo Fantasy Baseball

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2022 71:39

Deary is off this week, but Govier has a special guest host to talk about the end of the 2022 MLB season! Please welcome in Podapalooza donor Brady to the show! Brady and Govier talk about the season that was along with a review of predictions by various fantasy baseball hot shots from the Opening Day BozoFest show in April! BIG NEWS: The Pallazzo Patreon and Discord is at your service! Sign up now! We're an independent podcast so we welcome your support! Email us at pallazzopodcast@protonmail.com if you want Govier to write you a song.Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/pallazzopodcast?fan_landing=trueDiscord:https://discord.gg/M7Aec62HAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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#80 Meant To Be

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2022 42:12

Fall is in the air, which only means one thing in The Happy Place... Return of The Robe. Deanna learns what Chris did when he was left to his own devices while Deanna was sleeping. He started a radio station - The Oasis - on the new AMP app. Tune in on Tuesdays at 8pm CST and take a listen to some fabulous music he's procured for his show. From there, Chris quizzes Deanna on his Top Tens pairs that are "meant to be" before they take a roadtrip to Bentley, Michigan, first stopping at some of their favorite MI towns along the way. It's in Bentley that we meet 14-year-old Walker Cousineau. Be uplifted as you listen to how his life has forever been changed for the better because he happened to see a Facebook post that introduced him to Dave. This duo is indeed MEANT TO BE. THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#79 From Field To Field

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2022 62:33

After an amazing week of being out and about around town attending fantastic local events - like the SLSO Concert and the Great Forest Park Balloon Glow - Deanna and Chris encourage listeners get out and support local events in their own neck of the woods. Deanna also talks about how blessed she was to volunteer at a paintball event for a friend's non-profit whose mission is to encourage today's youth to take a "Leap of Faith". It's from there that she introduces us to a couple that was at the height of (what society views as) success all while their relationship was on the verge of destruction. She explains how they put an end to their lucrative careers to take a huge leap of faith to do something that everyone thought was crazy. You'll be inspired by this story of how an unwavering faith, a commitment to family, and a dedication to the serving others took Jason and Tay Brown FROM FIELD TO FIELD.THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#78 Be Kind

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2022 49:10

Chris and Deanna talk all about how useless knowledge comes in handy at trivia nights, not playing hooky to see a Cardinals baseball game, Albert Pujols's quest to hit 700, slips, trips and falls in search of a latte, and the fact that black ants do bite. Then they hop in the car and take a road trip to Cumming, Georgia, but not before stopping at some super fun places along the way. It's there that we are introduced to amazing Moore family - Ben, Jackie, Jordyn, and Hudson. Journey along with them as Chris gives us all an inside look at how this family is using TikTok to educate others on Autism and how they are spreading kindness and hope in the most fantastic of ways. THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast is a celebration of uplifting stories and events from around the world.Each week, hosts Deanna and Chris Ley will alternate telling stories of good things that have happened to real people all across the globe.It's time to celebrate THE GOOD ALL AROUND US!It's time to HAPPY UP YOUR LIFE!Please make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all new podcast releases....and if you like us, please give a 5-star rating in Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It will only take a sec! We'd appreciate it!...and if you really, really like us, head on over to Patreon and become our Neighbor! By joining our Patreon Community at the link below, you can get some fun GOODies, including access to our private Facebook group, monthly bonus episodes, and other awesome stuff. Best of all, you will be our Neighbor! You can move right in to the GOOD 'HOOD by clicking here.Be sure to follow us on social media!It's where we share about all the goings-on here at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US podcast.Facebook at THE GOOD ALL AROUND USInstagram at @TheGoodAllAroundUsPodcastTwitter at @HappyUpYourLifeYouTube at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastLinkedIn at THE GOOD ALL AROUND US PodcastGet your GOOD GOOD Merch!Grab some fun (and funny) gear at the Get GOOD Merch Store.Access everything above and so much more in one easy place - our website!www.TheGoodAllAroundUs.comJoin our Facebook group PODAPALOOZA where podcast creators and podcast listeners unite!Email us at any time at Hello@TheGoodAllAroundUs.com! We'd love to hear from you! Music courtesy of the amazingly talented Timur Khakimov. Check him out at OCHTAHEDRONMUSIC.Support the show

#77 Strangers Can Become Family