Podcasts about q there

Ajay Tyagi who is an Executive Vice President & Fund Manager – Equity at UTI AMC Ltd manages about $4 bn in AUM is of the view that midcaps as a category are now trading at a slight premium to large caps, whereas their relationship with large caps over the last 15, 20 years is that of a slight discount. Tyagi has spent more than two decades with UTI, and prior to being designated as a Fund Manager, he has worked as an Assistant Fund Manager in the Offshore Funds division.  Commenting on reforms, Tyagi highlighted that what Dr. Manmohan Singh did almost 30 years back was really seminal, really courageous, it unleashed the potential of entrepreneurship here in India, he said in a D-Street Talk podcast with Moneycontrol. Edited Excerpts – Q) What is your call on markets? We are trading near record highs but seem to be facing stiff resistance around 15900-16000 levels. A) One thing should be very clear – markets have a mind of their own. Since we are in this business of forecasting, I would say a couple of things that are very clearly visible right now. One is that the broader markets have continued to march ahead, while you can say that the top 30 or the top 50, or the top 100 names are facing some kind of resistance, as you very rightly mentioned. Secondly, I think, if you look at the valuations, the markets do appear to be trading at least at about 20%-25% premium to their average valuations seen over the last 10 or 15 years. The market is looking ahead right now after about 3-4 years of a lull in the economic activity, and we know that this lull has happened for a variety of reasons -- demonetization, GST implementation, a bit of contribution from the IL&FS prices, and of course, a whole lot on account of basically the pandemic. If the economy goes back to a 6% to 7% kind of GDP growth, and therefore earnings also coming in the mid-teens, the market may continue on its journey ahead. I guess most of us do remember the most fascinating bull market that we've ever had, which was between 2003 to 2008. Most bull markets do see what is known as bull market corrections along the way, so I don't rule that out. Q) Manmohan Singh's July 24, 1991, budget speech is considered as the harbinger of economic reforms in India. What is your take on that? Do you think the best of the reform years are already behind us and what this means for investors? A) Perfect, I think that is a great question. Let me dial back a bit. Let me just introduce some bit of economics into the discussion. GDP growth is the factor of three things -- growth in labor, growth in capital, and growth in productivity. Now, we all understand growth in labor and growth in capital. Therefore, let's just talk about growth in productivity. We've seen countries in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. continuing to march ahead because of growth and productivity. Now, this growth in productivity, in turn, is linked to what we call as reforms here in India. We need a huge amount of fillip for this productivity to continue increasing and reforms are nothing but essentially providing that framework of productivity improvement. To that extent, I would say that Dr. Manmohan Singh did almost 30 years back was really seminal, really courageous, it unleashed the potential of entrepreneurship here in India. While I don't remember the fine print, but I do remember the amount of excitement that was there all around. That excitement was basically a very wet, warm excitement because we've seen a huge amount of productivity improvement, a huge amount of entrepreneurial spirit, which has come in into the country, and which has led to great businesses having been created. Some of them are really of international repute. To my mind, we still have not traveled a long distance, but we are still far, far away from the amount of productivity at the level at which the Western world operates. Q) What is your call on June quarter earnings? A) I think the June quarter, of course, as we are all aware, would be tended, in the context of what we saw in the December quarter of last year, and the March quarter of the last financial year. The June quarter would obviously look anemic compared to these two quarters for the simple reason that, I would say, for pretty much half of the duration of the June quarter, the economy was in a lockdown. It will lead to a softer quarter. I actually want to look beyond the earnings sprint or just the quantitative number. And look at the qualitative commentary provided by management. Q) Small & midcap stocks have been resilient but most experts advise caution after a stellar rally in the last 12-18 months. What is your take?  A) Yeah, it's been a fantastic journey for these small and mid-caps from the absolute bottom that they saw in April, May of the last year. I would say that a big part of this rally that we are seeing has happened because they were beaten down significantly. In fact, if you remember, let me just say that the correction in mid and small caps started way back in January of 2018. That was pretty much the high point of their previous cycle. And from Jan 2018, we saw mid and small caps correcting. Even if the pandemic wouldn't have happened, I can just tell you that mid and small caps were down 15% 20% from their previous high. And the pandemic basically just added fuel to fire and the correction basically became even more pronounced for mid and small caps. And from there, of course, coming back to average valuation itself led to a big rally. But of course, the party has extended beyond that. Mid-caps as a category are now trading at a slight premium to large caps, whereas their relationship with large caps over the last 15, 20 years is that of a slight discount. To some extent, you can say that the party has slightly got overextended. Nothing to be overly worried about right now, for all I can say is that the easy money in mid and small caps is clearly behind us. Q) Your majority of the portfolio is allocated towards banks, financials, and IT stocks. Do you see the financial sector taking lead as the economy turns?  A) The key holdings in our portfolio are from the financial services space, IT, but equally are from the consumer and healthcare space as well. So, these are the four, I would say broad sectors where we are really bullish. I strongly believe that if India comes back to a more normative 6% to 7% real GDP growth, it would certainly lead to better outcomes for the banking sector in India. The credit growth in the economy is a multiplier of overall GDP growth. If GDP growth sustained at 6%-7%, we would need mid-teen kind of credit growth in the economy – that's good news for banks. Q) There's an interesting theme that has come up, especially in the COVID-19. One is definitely the influx of retail investor that we have seen towards the equity markets. And the other thing, which really is picked up was the international business or international diversification. So, what are your views on that? Is it here to stay or it is just a passing phase? A) There's a new phrase this time, people are calling them as Robinhood investors, taking cues from what is happening in the U.S. Whenever markets do well, it does attract a lot of retail participation. This is not something new that we're seeing right now, of course, we've seen it at a different magnitude and scale this time While the markets have been going up, this is something like a self-fulfilling prophecy because you invest, you get returns, you get emboldened, you get a little more confidence, then you invest some more. And then till now, it's been a virtuous cycle. But, we all know our experience that this virtuous cycle definitely gets punctured someday. That's the time when a lot of these retail investors would be left holding businesses, which possibly weren't as good as they were anticipating. The fact remains that bull markets do attract every time in every cycle, a lot of retail participation. Usually, when the music stops, retail investors to actually get burned. Will this trend last till the time as I said, the music is playing on? This trend will continue. In terms of international diversification as well, I see that trend continuing. I think a lot of mutual funds have really, very successfully introduced schemes, which basically allow the Indian investors to participate in opportunities outside of India. I would say that this is true diversification like we've been taught in our textbooks. Investors do diversification outside of their local market. This is just the perfect kind of diversification that most investors can have in their portfolios. And there's another element to it. There is always an innovation-led investment opportunity, which perhaps India doesn't offer, at least not to the level of what the U.S. companies or corporate America have to offer. A lot of innovation, as we all know, in terms of the Amazons or Microsoft or for that matter, Facebook or for that matter, a lot of innovation happening in the pharmaceutical or biotech side has been happening in the U.S. By investing in such kinds of funds, we are providing ourselves with an opportunity to participate into such kind of names, which can scale up into really big business opportunities or trillion-dollar opportunities over time. I think this is a trend, which will only continue and only deepen. And I would encourage retail investors who actually bought some amount of their savings into such funds. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Full Worship Gathering Password for Recording: seL9su3.Scripture: John 12:12-19, 18:33-19:22Discussion Questions:Q: How do you feel about Jesus being “KING” of your life? What would that even mean & look like?Q: Why would it be hard to accept & surrender to that kind of relationship with Jesus?Q: There can only be one true “King.” If Jesus is the King over all, how does that change my relationship and interactions with everyone else?Q: How do I try to be “king” in the lives of people around me?Q: How are you praying for, desiring, & joining in with what King Jesus is doing in his Kingdom? Q: What happens when we resist, work against, or ignore what He’s doing?

Our guest this week is Dave Burgess. Dave is the New York Times Best Selling Author of "Teach Like a Pirate". Dave specializes in teaching hard-to-reach, hard-to-motivate students with techniques that incorporate showmanship and creativity. You can watch the vidcast of this show, here: https://youtu.be/UWHDb1kksRw QUESTIONS: Q: How are you coping with the pandemic and everything that is going on right now in education? Q: You talk about helping teachers find their passion and empowering students. How do we help our teachers find their passion? Q: There is a lot of pressure on teachers, parents and students right now. How do we make a connection to social emotional learning and health and wellbeing during this time? Q: How do we make sure students are prepared for the next grade level while also keeping them engaged and passionate as well? Q: Tell us about what you’ve seen work as we dig into all of these new things with Ed Tech? Q: We’ve heard from our Teachers and Leaders that it’s challenging right now to have professional discourse and come together around learning and collaborating. What advice do you have and what have you seen that is working? Q: What is one piece of advice you would like to share with our teachers? Hosted by Erica Mason Director / Curriculum Instruction & Professional Growth Douglas County School District

The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener Radio Show from March – Oct weekly Heard on Joy 1340 AM & 98.7 FM Milwaukee, WI Saturday mornings 7-8 AM CST https://tunein.com/radio/Joy-1340-s30042/ Heard on WCRN 830 AM Westborough/Boston, MA Saturdays 8-9 AM EST https://tunein.com/radio/WCRN-AM-830-Full-Service-Radio-s1112/ Heard on KYAH 540 AM Delta/Salt Lake City, UT Saturdays 1-2 PM MST Reply Sundays 9-10 PM MST https://www.yahradio540.com/listen-live/ Heard on KDIZ 1570 AM Minneapolis, MN Saturdays 4-5 PM and replay Sundays 2-3 PM CST http://player.listenlive.co/57071 Heard on WAAM 1600 AM & 92.7 FM Ann Arbor, MI Sundays 7-8 AM EST https://tinyurl.com/p68cvft Heard on WOGO 680 AM & 103.1 FM Chippewa Falls, WI Sundays 9-10 AM CST https://www.christiannetcast.com/listen/player.asp?station=wogo-am Heard on KFEQ 680 AM & 107.9 FM St. Joseph/Kansas City, MO Sundays 10-11 AM CST http://www.680kfeq.com/live-stream/ Heard on WNAX 570 AM Yankton SD Sundays 10-11 AM CST https://tunein.com/radio/Radio-570-s36447/ Heard on WRMN 1410 AM & 96.7 FM Elgin/Chicago, IL Sundays Noon-1 PM CST https://www.wrmn1410.com/ Heard on KMET 1490 AM & 98.1 FM Banning, CA Tuesdays 9 - 10 AM PST https://www.kmet1490am.com/ Check out https://thewisconsinvegetablegardener.com/ Email your questions to Gardentalkradio@gmail.com Or call 24/7 leave your question at 1-800 927-SHOW Segment four Joey and Holly answer garden questions 1 Q: There are small black dots on my cabbage plants. Possibly eggs of some kind? How should I get rid of that as well? A: Yes those can be the eggs of the cabbage worm Handpicking eggs from plants, spraying with Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (BT) or natural oil sprays also taking tape and wrap it around sticky side up around your hand that works also 2. I was wondering why my Early Girl tomatoes, which looked great up until now are starting to have split and wrinkles in their skin along the tops? Was it because of the cooler and wet weather this past week? If I cut this area off will I still be able to use them for canning? Thanks, Ben. 3. Hello guys This is my first year trying to plant Brussels sprouts. And I am wondering what is going on. I didn’t stake them. I should have I watched your video and cut the tops off mid August. Now the tops look like cabbage and the little ones nearer to the bottom are rotting. Any insight and advice would be appreciated. Check out the companies that make the show possible Power Planter of www.powerplanter.com Proplugger of www.proplugger.com World's coolest rain gauge www.worldscoolestraingauge.com Rootmaker of www.rootmaker.com Us coupon code TWVG at checkout and save 10% of your order Tomato snaps of www.tomatosnaps.com Chapin Manufacturing Inc. of www.chapinmfg.com Pomona pectin of www.pomonapectin.com Iv organics of www.ivorganics.com Dr. JimZ of www.drjimz.com Seed Savers Exchange of www.seedsavers.org Waterhoop of www.waterhoop.com Green Gobbler of www.greengobbler.com Nessalla koombucha of www.nessalla.com MI Green House LLC of www.migreenhouse.com Phyllom BioProducts of www.phyllombioproducts.com Happy leaf led of www.happyleafled.com Neptunes harvest of www.neptunesharvest.com Dripworks of www.dripworks.com We Grow Indoors of www.wegrowindoors.com Harvestmore of www.harvest-more.com Deer defeat www.deerdefeat.com Blue ribbon organics www.blueribbonorganics.com Bluemel's garden & landscape center www.bluemels.com Milwaukee,WI official garden center of the show Wisconsin Greenhouse company of https://wisconsingreenhousecompany.com/ Chip Drop of https://getchipdrop.com/?ref=wisconsinvegetable Tree-Ripe Fruit Co of https://www.tree-ripe.com/ Big elk Garlic farm https://www.bigelkgarlicfarm.com/#/ Pearls premium Ultra Low Maintenance https://www.pearlspremium.com/ Use coupon code Joey20 to save 20% off your order

The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener Radio Show from March – Oct weekly Heard on Joy 1340 AM & 98.7 FM Milwaukee, WI Saturday mornings 7-8 AM CST https://tunein.com/radio/Joy-1340-s30042/ Heard on WCRN 830 AM Westborough/Boston, MA Saturdays 8-9 AM EST https://tunein.com/radio/WCRN-AM-830-Full-Service-Radio-s1112/ Heard on KYAH 540 AM Delta/Salt Lake City, UT Saturdays 1-2 PM MST Reply Sundays 9-10 PM MST https://www.yahradio540.com/listen-live/ Heard on KDIZ 1570 AM Minneapolis, MN Saturdays 4-5 PM and replay Sundays 2-3 PM CST http://player.listenlive.co/57071 Heard on WAAM 1600 AM & 92.7 FM Ann Arbor, MI Sundays 7-8 AM EST https://tinyurl.com/p68cvft Heard on WOGO 680 AM & 103.1 FM Chippewa Falls, WI Sundays 9-10 AM CST https://www.christiannetcast.com/listen/player.asp?station=wogo-am Heard on KFEQ 680 AM & 107.9 FM St. Joseph/Kansas City, MO Sundays 10-11 AM CST http://www.680kfeq.com/live-stream/ Heard on WNAX 570 AM Yankton SD Sundays 10-11 AM CST https://tunein.com/radio/Radio-570-s36447/ Heard on WRMN 1410 AM & 96.7 FM Elgin/Chicago, IL Sundays Noon-1 PM CST https://www.wrmn1410.com/ Heard on KMET 1490 AM & 98.1 FM Banning, CA Tuesdays 9 - 10 AM PST https://www.kmet1490am.com/ Check out https://thewisconsinvegetablegardener.com/ Email your questions to Gardentalkradio@gmail.com Or call 24/7 leave your question at 1-800 927-SHOW In segment 1 Joey and Holly talk about so suggestion of things that need to get done for a healthy yard over winter For your lawn Rake all leaves and gumballs Seed lawn Cut back perennials Wrap tree trunks to avoid frost cracking. Protect rosebushes. While some of the newer shrub roses don’t require winter protection, older hybrid teas and floribundas may. Where winters are cold, use rose cones or make a cylinder of your own and fill with chopped leaves for the winter. Remove in early spring. Add mulch. Mulching helps prepare your yard for winter by guarding plants against colder temperatures and harsher weather. Mulch keeps the soil at a more even temperature and helps prevent soil heaving from forcing plants out of the ground. Wait until after a hard freeze, then spread it around the base of trees and shrubs in your yard. Don't pile mulch up around the trunk. To prevent stems and bark from rotting, pull mulch 1 to 2 inches away from woody stems and tree trunks. Water well. Don’t stress plants needlessly. If you have a dry fall, you may need to water plants even after they start to go dormant. Make sure they're braced for winter in cold climates by watering until the ground freezes. In warm climates, water throughout the winter if rain is lacking. Add color. Plant cool-season flowers such as pansies and mums, and foliage plants like ornamental kale. They’ll flourish in the cooler temperatures and even stand up to frost. Plus, they’ll add a much-needed burst of color to your garden or outdoor space. Think bulbs. Fall is the time to plant spring-blooming flower bulbs such as crocus, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, daffodils and tulips. A little work now will pay rich rewards next spring when your garden comes alive with flowers. Think bulbs again. Garlic and shallots can be planted now for harvest next summer. The big difference is that, this time, the deferred gratification is found at the dinner table. Plant away. Fall’s cooler temperatures and more abundant moisture are perfect for helping recently planted (or transplanted) trees and shrubs adjust before resuming growth next year. While the tops of the plants may not show growth, roots are often hard at work until the plant goes dormant. Restore plant vigor. Fall is a good time to divide spring- and summer-blooming perennials. Look for those that have a lot of fresh, vibrant growth around a less-vigorous center section. Break them into clumps with a sharp spade or root saw, then replant in separate holes. Sow a new crop. Sow spinach and lettuce seeds for a late fall crop. Extend the season even more by covering with straw late in the season when temperatures go below freezing. You can also cover root crops such as carrots and rutabagas with straw to facilitate winter harvests. Clean up the yard. Pond maintenance Collect seeds. In segment two Joey and Holly talk about the best seeds to save and how to save them and ones you should buy new. Saving seeds Saving seeds saves money Acclimated to your ecosystem Is it a hybrid? How to save tomato seeds Other seeds Label, label, label Segment three Joey and Holly welcome their guest Katie Kuznacic, a.k.a The Booch Witch, started making kombucha in her kitchen in the spring of 2017. She’s enjoyed the ritual ever since and saved thousands of dollars in the process. She enjoys bringing new DIY self-care techniques to those who seek that balance. She launched The Booch Witch in 2020 for the love of kombucha and the benefits the drink has provided her. Her unique home-brewing procedure affords a creative and natural flair. https://boochwitch.com/ 1. First of all, what is kombucha? 2. Why did you start brewing kombucha, and what inspired you to teach others? 3. Is this something you need to do all year round, or can you take breaks? 4. We've only made the plain kombucha, but see the flavored kinds at the store, can you do that at home? 5. How do you determine when to split your scoby? 6. How can people find all of your information? Segment four Joey and Holly answer garden questions 1 Q: There are small black dots on my cabbage plants. Possibly eggs of some kind? How should I get rid of that as well? A: Yes those can be the eggs of the cabbage worm Handpicking eggs from plants, spraying with Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (BT) or natural oil sprays also taking tape and wrap it around sticky side up around your hand that works also 2. I was wondering why my Early Girl tomatoes, which looked great up until now are starting to have split and wrinkles in their skin along the tops? Was it because of the cooler and wet weather this past week? If I cut this area off will I still be able to use them for canning? Thanks, Ben. 3. Hello guys This is my first year trying to plant Brussels sprouts. And I am wondering what is going on. I didn’t stake them. I should have I watched your video and cut the tops off mid August. Now the tops look like cabbage and the little ones nearer to the bottom are rotting. Any insight and advice would be appreciated. Check out the companies that make the show possible Power Planter of www.powerplanter.com Proplugger of www.proplugger.com World's coolest rain gauge www.worldscoolestraingauge.com Rootmaker of www.rootmaker.com Us coupon code TWVG at checkout and save 10% of your order Tomato snaps of www.tomatosnaps.com Chapin Manufacturing Inc. of www.chapinmfg.com Pomona pectin of www.pomonapectin.com Iv organics of www.ivorganics.com Dr. JimZ of www.drjimz.com Seed Savers Exchange of www.seedsavers.org Waterhoop of www.waterhoop.com Green Gobbler of www.greengobbler.com Nessalla koombucha of www.nessalla.com MI Green House LLC of www.migreenhouse.com Phyllom BioProducts of www.phyllombioproducts.com Happy leaf led of www.happyleafled.com Neptunes harvest of www.neptunesharvest.com Dripworks of www.dripworks.com We Grow Indoors of www.wegrowindoors.com Harvestmore of www.harvest-more.com Deer defeat www.deerdefeat.com Blue ribbon organics www.blueribbonorganics.com Bluemel's garden & landscape center www.bluemels.com Milwaukee,WI official garden center of the show Wisconsin Greenhouse company of https://wisconsingreenhousecompany.com/ Chip Drop of https://getchipdrop.com/?ref=wisconsinvegetable Tree-Ripe Fruit Co of https://www.tree-ripe.com/ Big elk Garlic farm https://www.bigelkgarlicfarm.com/#/ Pearls premium Ultra Low Maintenance https://www.pearlspremium.com/ Use coupon code Joey20 to save 20% off your order

Emty Seats is a weekly podcast where we review science fiction, fantasy, horror, and super hero shows and movies. Sometimes we’ll discuss video games and comic booksThis Game of Thrones-style series is based on the fantasy book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, it is a story of fantasy, fate, and family. Geralt of Rivia (Cavill) is a solitary monster hunter who struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.Created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for NetflixThe Witcher timeline:https://thewitcher.tv/the-witcher-deconstructed-timelineStarring:Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, The WitcherFreya Allan as CiriAnya Chalotra as YenneferEamon Farren as CahirMyAnna Buring as TissalaWilson Radjou-Pujalte as DaraAdam Levy as MousesackGaia Mandadori PavettaBart Edwards DunySummary of episode 2:https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/features/1116560-the-witcher-season-1-episode-2-recap1210 Yennefer is sold to Tessaia1210-1249 Gerald becomes “The Butcher of Blaviken”1249 Gerald evokes “The Law of Surprise”1263 Gerald and Ciri meetWitcher timelinehttps://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/netflix-releases-official-witcher-timeline-104825444.htmlhttps://www.sideshow.com/blog/10-creatures-from-the-bestiary-of-the-witcher/Creatures of The WitcherThe Witcher Ep. 4, “Of Banquets, Bastards, and Burials”-Cripples, bastards, and broken thingsGeralt is asked by Jaskier to attend a DInner party in the Court of the Kingdom of Cintra. It is a courting party for the hand of Princess Pavetta, Calanthe’s daughter. Geralt’s job is to protect Jaskier from the lords and nobles who wish revenge on him. Instead Queen Calanthe takes an interest in the Witcher and attempts to hire his services. This is because Calanthe knows of a beast who will crash the party and take away her beautiful daughter Pavetta. Sure enough the party is crashed by a helmeted knight who has “claim” over Pavetta according to the Law of Surprise. It turns out the knight is cursed and so he has the head of a hedgehog and so this is why Calanthe enlisted the Witcher’s help and demands the Knight be slain. Geralt refuses and instead defends the knight. This starts a brawl and ultimately it is found that the knight, named Urcheon or Duny and Pavetta are already in love with each other. So despite her reluctance, Calanthe accepts Duny and allows him to marry her daughter. This lifts the curse on Duny who turns back into a human. To repay Geralt for saving his life Duny offers him whatever reward he wishes. Geralt claims the Law of Surprise as payment and it turns out Pavetta is pregnant. The child will become Princess Cirilla and thus bind her and Geralt with Destiny.17:47Q- What do you think of the show choosing this scene to show that all 3 storylines are in different time periods and showing that this dinner party was at least 15 years before the Fall of Cintra.Q- Did you like the story of the cursed knight falling in love with the princess and being able to lift the curse, reverse Shrek style.Q- Did this scene make sense? I found myself having a hard time following a lot of the dialogue and events.Q- The Law of Surprise is introduced here and it, plus destiny, becomes one of the defining themes of the Witcher story. Did they do a good job explaining it and do you buy it as a lynchpin of the show moving forward.25:30 Elsewhere this episodeYennefer has been in the court of Aedirn for 30 years now. She is accompanying Queen Kalis when their carriage is ambushed by an assassin who wants to kill the Queen. Yenneger tries to defend the Queen for some time before leaving her for dead and taking the child, who also dies.Q- just one question. Why tho?29:03 Ciri is taken in by the Dryads of the Brookilyn forest. They discuss with her about the magic in the forest and in the water especially. The waters are supposed to rid someone of their memories and thus their fears and identity. Ciri is unaffected by it. Q- again, Why tho?Witcher Ep. 5, “Bottled Apetites” 35:45This episode sees Geralt’s path cross with Yennefer as Geralt seeks help to heal Jaskier. Geralt is found fishing for a Djinn or genie, in a river. After 3 years Jaskier just casually strolls up on him and finds that Geralt is looking for one because he cannot sleep. Geralt does indeed find a bottles Djinn and him and Jaskier unleash it. It nearly kills Jaskier who instead has his throat wounded and so Geralt takes him to the nearby town to find help. There an elf healer, Chireaden, tells him of the dangerous mage in town who could help them. Geralt goes to the mage who turns out to be Yennefer. The two of them trade verbal barbs and Yennefer takes an interest in the Djinn they unleashed. She heals Jaskier and puts a spell on Geralt to black out and assault the town council who had been threatening Yennefer since she arrived. Yennefer had healed and kept Jaskier alive because she thinks he has one more wish to be granted before she can capture the Djinn. Turns out it was Geralt with the wishes and so he goes to save Yennefer as he knows that she will not be strong enough to defeat the Djinn. With his “Last Wish” he is able to save Yennfer, and the two of them then have sex in the destroyed house of the nobleman.Q- There isn’t too much to unpack here. So what did you think of this tale broadly speaking? Did you like how this is how they had them meet? If anything its more about the time period I think.Q- Do you like, what is essentially, their love origin story?Q- at the time, what did you think was his Last Wish?Yennefer wants everything start of second recordingElsewhere on the continentCiri is found by her friend Mousesack, who is actually the Doppler, finds Ciri and convinces her to come back to see Geralt, but is instead taking her to see Cahir, who is the winged-helmet rider of Nilfgaard.43:55 Episode 6, “Rare Species”Geralt is out hunting a monster when Jaskier is saved by Borch, real name Villentretenmerth. Who asks Geralt to join his team to kill a dragon rampaging the kingdom of Caingorn in Kovir. Geralt refuses until he sees Yennefer has joined another team to hunt the dragon. Geralt immediately agrees and so they go on a quest to track down and kill the dragon. Along the way you meet a group of dwarves led by Yarpin Zigrin, a foul mouthed angry Dwarf and they team up with Geralt to beat the “reavers” to the prize. Geralt and Yennefer have the chance to reconnect after their fight with the Djinn. They seem to make up and fall in love again as they then make it to the Dragon’s lair. There they find the common green dragon dead while defending a dragon egg. They also find Borch defending the egg as its revealed he is a mythical Gold Dragon. Seeing that the dragon is already dead, Geralt, Yennefer, and Borch defend the egg from the Reavers. Later on, they are all talking and Borch reveals Geralt’s last wish was to bind him to Yennefer. Fearing their Love isn’t real Yennefer leaves Geralt and in his anger, Geralt leaves Jaskier.Q- How about this for a fantasy quest. This show is now going full fantasy where GOT really shied away from it and stayed in reality. Do you like this difference.Q- What did you think of the story? Did you ever suspect that Borch was the dragon? What about his ability to shapeshift into a human?Q- what do you think were Borch’s motivations for recruiting Geralt?Q- What about Geralt’s last wish to tie him with Yennefer forever.Q- Do you like the episodic nature of Geralt’s travels or do you want more of a narrative that can be followed throughout the season.53:00 Ciri is being taken by Mousesack, but her and her elven friend Dara become increasingly suspicious of who he is. Eventually it is found that he is a doppler and they fight before Ciri is captured and tied up. Later, it is seen that Ciri is confronted by Cahir, before it is realized that it is the doppler who took her form. They fight and, injured, the Doppler flees not to be seen again this season.1:07:00 ending remarks

It’s another potluck! In this episode, Scott and Wes answer your questions about deploying applications, the value of Typescript, live coding via Twitch and more! Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry and using the coupon code “tastytreat”. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Show Notes 1:35 - Q: I prefer using grid-row and grid-column instead of grid-area. But is grid-area more performant? For example, in Flexbox, it’s a best practice to use the shorthand flex property instead of writing out flex-grow, flex-shrink and flex-basis. 4:04 - Q: Do you have any advice how to deploy an application? What do you think about AWS, Zeit, Heroku, Firebase? Do you use automation tools like Circle CI or Buddy.works? I also wonder if we should keep whole application on one server, or split it up. 9:36 - Q: A career advice question: I’m best at being a front-end/javascript developer - but in a quest to my make job(s) easier, I’ve also been getting into fullstack architecture - namely CI/CD (TravisCI, GitlabCI) and Kubernetes. I’m feeling like I’m spreading myself a little thin, and I guess I’m just finding it a bit frustrating (configuring Kubernetes is a lot of bashing your head against the wall). I know that my skills as a front-end developer are already valuable, whereas I can’t say the same for my Kubernetes/CICD skillset. I’m wondering whether I should narrow my scope a bit. Maybe this is just the frustrating hump I’m climbing over, and in six months I’ll be happy with where I’m at, but interested to hear your thoughts. One thing I’ve been thinking about is, maybe I should step back from the network architecture type stuff (ie. Kubernetes) and focus more on DevOps that is closer to the front-end stack (ie. writing tests, VSCode tooling, commit hooks, CI tools, etc.). 13:07 - Q: Do you think Typescript adds value to React, or more complexity than value? When should you choose Typescript for a project? 18:09 - Q: I am in a well known Bootcamp, and as of right now (from what they have taught us) this is what I am working with: HTML/CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Node, Express, SQL, Auth, MVC, APIs, React, Redux. As we finish off the program, they are going over Java. I do want to learn Java, however I feel like my time would be better spent fine-tuning my knowledge on my stack. And I can learn Java at some other time. Do you recommend that I fully engage with Java and try to absorb some of the basics and fundamentals now, or do you recommend that I take this last month we have here and strengthen my current skills so I do better during my technical interviews? And by the way thanks for everything you do, it helps :) 22:02 - Q: Have you seen the live coding going on at Twitch? Thoughts? Maybe a Syntax stream in the future? There’s a good list at livecoders.dev. Thanks for all you do. Keep killin’ it! 26:11 - Q: How do you handle people (i.e. C# bastards) who think JavaScript is a joke and is going to be overthrown by Blazor or some other C# library framework? Can’t we all just get along and live in the same industry? I’m having a hard time being the adult in these kinds of responses around the web, and in random discussions with people I know very well. 29:55 - Q: There are plenty of places saying that it is important to secure API keys by not embedding them in front-end code. Cool. I’m on board! But there is not many that tell you specifically how to do this. How do you safely use an API key in a CRUD project? 34:15 - Q: Do you plan to launch a Syntax.fm app? 45:49 - Q: I was hired as a junior developer at a company in the last year. It’s my first development job and I was so excited. The interview and application were all about React and fullstack development. However now that I’ve been here a while, I have found out the company does primarily dev ops work. None of this was mentioned in the interview or application, but it looks like soon it will be the majority of my workload. I am feeling very discouraged and was wondering what you guys would do in this situation? Links Develop Denver AWS Zeit Heroku CircleCI Buddy.works Travis CI Gitlab CI Kubernetes VSCode Typescript Blazor Linkedin ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: VIVO Premium Heavy Duty Arm Wes: AmazonBasics Pro-Style Spring Sprayer Kitchen Faucet, Oil-Rubbed Bronze Shameless Plugs Scott: LevelUpTutorials Pro - Gatsby Ecommerce Wes: All Courses - Beginner JS Course Tweet us your tasty treats! Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

When you go to the Inner Circle works, everybody takes a turn to teach something awesome to the group, and then they say, “Hey, I have some things I need help with.” Then the whole group kind of analyze this person's business and give feedback… You get advice from a lot of heavy hitters, and everyone is focused on you until the timer goes off - it's intense…   It’s mentally exhausting, but it's a lot of fun, and totally priceless! Before the Inner Circle, I could not sleep. I woke up at five dreaming that I was on stage...I was like, “I can't sleep anymore,” so I spent three hours pacing and working this out… MY OFFER CREATION PROCESS One of the things I want to teach you today is three simple ways to create an offer. We all think that creating an offer means that we go and add a whole bunch of products together… And that’s definitely an awesome way to create an offer…   ...but it’s NOT the ONLY way. Anyways, I want to teach you three of those methods today. THE DREADED QUESTION On top of that, another thing I think you’ll really find interesting is seeing me answer the question of what I actually do.. *that* is NOT an easy question for a lot of entrepreneurs to answer…   “What do you do?”...is kinda the dreaded question! When somebody asks, “What do you do,” and you have to answer - sometimes that sucks. But now, I can answer that question; I know exactly what I do…   There are some things that, (like I said in the past), you have to design, and there are other things that you have to discover… Sometimes explaining what you do is something you have to discover, and that's been the case for me; it's not the case for everybody, but for me, it's been that way... ...and I’m gonna share that with you in a single sentence! https://youtu.be/mwj8UkCVSds So you’re gonna find out: Three ways to create an offer What it is I that actually do for the marketplace Why we have so many people reaching out to ask to be in our programs. If you want to watch the actual presentation, you can do that here. I have chopped out a certain piece that I don't want you to know about yet… ;-) We have a product that we've been doing for a while now, and we have a lot of people in it now - which is great, it's done quite well… It’s made a lot of money for us, and made A LOT of money for the students, I chopped that piece out, and I’m gonna keep that hush-hush for just a little bit longer while I finish a few things of…   YES, THIS WILL WORK FOR YOU! One of the most challenging things I have to deal with is when people ask, “Stephen, that's really cool, but how does it work for me?” They say things like: I'm in high ticket B2B sales that are multistage sales that are multistage sales/ contracts… I'm in retail… Stephen, I'm in… So, I think one of the things that’ll be helpful is for you to see three ways to create an offer… that you can tweak to apply to whatever business you’re in…   You can use them all together, (which is very powerful), but you also can use just one or two to add immediate value to whatever you sell. So let's talk about value creation and how that actually happens… JUST DO IT This is my third inner circle meeting as a member, and I think those of you guys who saw me that first time will agree that I’m really very different… One of the things that I've been focusing on is showing up as my authentic self and being unapologetic about that, and it's been very fun to start doing that…   … and I've noticed when I can do that for customers and help them arrive, they do all kinds of stuff on their own. That’s literally what the One Funnel Away Challenge was meant to do… If I can get them to say, “ I am an entrepreneur, I am a funnel builder,” they'll suddenly go do stuff without me yelling, “Just take the next step...”   The amount of forcing I have to do drops like crazy. BUILDING MY WAFFLE I have been building my waffle, and it is awesome: I have to content teams I have a funnel team … I don't have quite the executive team yet, but it's been awesome. I mean, stuff's getting done without me all the time.   A lot of people asked me, “Stephen, how are you doing all that you are?” I'm NOT, my company is. I'm building an actual asset… ... and that's been a major big piece for me in the last six months. Other cool things that we've done: We did a cool 7-day launch (following what Russell did) - it was so good, it was awesome. It launched my event, and opened the tickets - it was a 6-figure launch. I did my first quarter-million-month last month - that was awesome, that was a cool one. 10, six-figure months in a row - yeah, stuff’s going good. We have 3,000 downloads a day on the podcast, which is so fun. I'm speaking of Carnegie Hall - how cool is that! That's gonna be with Martha Stewart, Dan Kennedy, Michael Gerber in September. My main product OfferLab - there's not even a funnel behind it - started at a quarter million, (softly just word of mouth), there's not even a funnel yet, it's been really validating.   The Carnegie Hall people asked me, “Do you want to sell?” I was like, “Yeah, I wanna sell!” They said, “No one else has said they want to sell…”   I was like, “Why would you say ‘no’ to that, of course, I want to sell.” WHAT IS AN ENTREPRENEUR? Anyways, I'm in this weird phase… I was talking to Alex Charfen a few days ago, and I was like, “Dude, I feel like I am always moving and changing.” Alex said, “...that's what an entrepreneur is. You just redevelop over and over and over again.” So it's been weird... I feel like I've been shifting and changing so fast and asking, “Well, what is my foundation as a human being... as me,” and that question is what I think has allowed my true self to start coming out.   In fact, two or three weeks ago, I told my wife Alyssa, “I can feel another change coming on, and I'm kind of freaked out about it..., but it's coming...” … and those changes are ALWAYS uncomfortable. One of the things I’ve realized who I serve... I didn't know the answer to that before... I serve existing and new entrepreneurs inside ClickFunnels There are a few things about ClickFunnels, in the last six months, that have shown me that it is A MARKET ... …and I'm very excited about because it's growing and maturing. And now, when someone asks, “What do you do?” I can tell them... I've never been able to answer that before. So here it is:   I help people design and launch wildly lucrative offers ... that's exactly what I do! So I'm excited; that's just the most ultimate ridiculous clarity. I think I would've been my own worst nightmare client like a year ago, because I couldn't answer those questions…   What do you want? Where are you moving to? ...and so it's fun to be able to say that what I do in one simple sentence. Anyways, a little give here... I’M A CAPITALIST PIG   I call myself the Capitalist Pig, so I’d better know about capitalism - so I've been learning about the origins of Capitalism. I've been diving into a lot of history lessons… I’ve been learning about Adam Smith is known as the father of modern Capitalism… In his time, Smith was known, for disrupting a lot of things... NOT just Capitalism itself… In the 1700s - 1800s Europe, there was this really weird belief of how value is created... People believed that the amount of time spent creating a product equaled the amount of value that it had. But Adam Smith was like, “No that's dumb,” and he was the first one to really start switching that idea. Smith came in and flipped that idea, and said, “No no no…” Value is in the eyes of the beholder. Value is in the eyes of the person who's gonna consume it. And so, as the Offer Guy, what I'm really doing is helping people understand how value is created. And to do that, you have to understand the difference between COST/ PRICE/ VALUE… WHAT’S IT WORTH?   COST = is what you pay to fulfill. PRICE = is what your customer pays to get your product. VALUE = is determined in your customer's eyes. I used to have this major, major hang-up; it was a huge false belief of mine… I used to think, “Oh my gosh, would I buy my own product?”   ...and that would be how I decide the price. *MAJOR PROBLEM* I wouldn't pay myself 35 grand to hang out with me for a day - I'm not that cool ;-)   BUT… I'm NOT the one buying the product... and lots of people do buy. The customer decides, the customer chooses the value, and I make things that are valuable in their eyes. WHAT IS AN OFFER? So... I've been on this mission to define an offer... and I can't say how many times, (even just with Russell), I've heard it said, “Can someone just define a funnel better... like how can we get a better definition? How can we explain it?”   So I'm trying to solve the same problem for offers, and I think I have… Recently, I was able to meet Dan Kennedy's ghostwriter. He was the guy who was in charge of all the writers at Dan Kennedy's place and ended up writing Magnetic Marketing. He and I would email back and forth, and he has his own book. His name's Jack Turk (by the way don't steal him, I'm still convincing him to write my book)... ...and in that book he says: Offer = Core Product + Value Add   I was like, “That's such a good way to define what an offer actually is!” PRODUCT VERSUS OFFER People ask me all the time, “What's the difference between a product and an offer, Stephen?” I'm like, “Well, an offer is a collection of products,” that's a method when you get down to it... A core product + value add = that's what an offer is! ClickFunnels = core product + value add (a whole bunch of other stuff that helps you use it better). For Example: ClickFunnels + Funnel Hacks = OFFER   So I've been geeking out hard on ways to create offers under that formula. How can I take a product and move it into an offer? So staying with the example of #ClickFunnels as the core product... The method we're all used to creating offers with is by adding MORE products in our stack slide - and it's a great method! We add product, product, product, product, product and that adds a lot of natural value to what we're selling… ...and now, our dream customer is like, “Boom! Well, of course, I'll pay a grand or two for Funnel Hacks!”   Does that make sense? These are super-powerful points to understand. There are other ways to create an offer, though… MY FAVORITE BOOK How many of you guys have seen the fake book story?   I've made so many people mad with that story. The funny thing is that Michael Porter is like a huge deal. He's a scholar and Ph.D. But think about this… What's interesting is, I take his product, (I’ve never read that book, still haven't), and I sell it…   Every time I tell that story, ( it’s about eight times now in front of live audiences)... EVERY TIME I tell that story, (before I even get to the stack), people have the book in their shopping cart, and a lot have already bought before I’ve finished.   Q: What added the value and made people want to buy the book? A: It was the story and the sales message. This has been helpful for a lot of people in retail/ b2b/ multistage sales events, people who are on the fringes of ClickFunnels'... … it helps them create a product or an offer without having to create a HUGE stack! Some of them already have the product, and they're like, “I'm not gonna go create all these things for my stack.” Now how many of you have ever thought that? “What?!!! I gotta go create all that stuff inside of my offer to make an offer?”   If that’s you. Then you can use this method, you’ve just gotta have a really amazing story. THE CLAUDE HOPKINS WAY... The other way to add value comes from Claude Hopkins…   Claude has this really interesting quote… I actually learned this first from Tim Ferriss in The 4-Hour Work Week. Tim uses the example of t-shirts, and he says, “If these aren't the most comfortable t-shirts you'd ever worn in your life, I'll give you the shirt back plus twice your money.” It's like, “Woah,” that just increased the value! Q: There are no additional products or sales message - so what increased the value? A: *The Guarantee* Now, back to Claude Hopkins, who said: Two men came to me each offering me a horse. Both made equal claims. They were good horses, kind and gentle. A child could drive them. One man said, ‘Try the horse for a week. If my claims are not true, come back for your money.’ The other man also said, "Try the horse for a week." But then he added, "Come and pay me then." I naturally took the second horse. Isn’t that interesting…   Hopkins flips the guarantee on it’s back and creates an offer out of the very same product - that's all he does! Horse #1 Horse #2 ... what's the difference? Nothing but the guarantee! Why was there a natural value add, (‘I naturally took the second man's horse”)? ...because of the guarantee, this whole thing was switched.   There are more ways to create value, andI've been deep diving into the concept of what creates offers and some of the easiest ways to add value to everyone's business... I've been focusing pretty hard on this especially for the last year, and I had a big question arise in me… MOWER MAN GETS EVEN... I was mowing the lawn, and I don't know why, so I was listening to audiobooks, and I had this realization, like: “Oh my gosh, I am where I am because of talent not positioning.”   Have you ever realized that about yourself? It's freaky. I realized that people are making a lot of money because of positioning only and NOT talent. I was like, “Oh my gosh,” I said it out loud as I was mowing the lawn. I was like, “I am where I am because of talent, NOT positioning.” Some people are waaay worse, super bad and they’re making waaaay more money than me… And after I got over being pissed, I finally thought, “...but what's the lesson from this? Oh my gosh, look at how they position themselves in relation to the market!”   So now, what I do is I teach people in existing companies, (they're the ones that love this the most)...   And I've been traveling a lot doing this… I help companies understand what their market is. Most people can't even define what that means much less choose one. ...so I help businesses to understand what their market is and the relationship to all the other markets out there. IS YOUR RED OCEAN EVEN RIPE? Not all markets are red Not all red markets are ready for a blue   There are signals - there are patterns all over the place - I feel like it's ‘a beautiful mind...’ “Oh my gosh, are you all here?” And I've realized that “Oh my gosh, the path on this is so clear.” I just help people understand: What market they actually sell into Who their dream customer is in there, so they're not trying to sell everybody The core problem they’re trying to solve…   ... and I dedicate my whole business to the Core Offer, it's pretty simple.   DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS? Pre my ClickFunnels days, I was building funnels for a company in Florida using ClickFunnels... This company had an amazing product - their product was beautiful - they were known at the top of their industry. But as I started working with them, it was the most garbage jacked-up company I've ever seen in my life.   They had… No Processes No Systems No support No salesmen ... it was jacked up! That company was surviving strictly because it had a good product, there was NO business That’s when I realized that there was… A huge difference between a business and products A huge difference between a business and funnels ….and it just kept going and going from there, until I realized that what I do is help people: Create the middle of their value ladder Create the launch campaign that puts it into orbit... and the Evergreen campaign that keeps it there. Then whatever goes on top and the bottom of the value ladder. So I've been realizing, “Holy crap, there are lots of ways to create an offer.” I just showed you very briefly, three ways to create a valuable offer: You can do through the guarantee You can do it through having lots of products and a stack You can do it through a story ... but there are ways all over the place to do that: I can do it by identifying a core problem that there's already existing - I don't need to create the problem. I can do it through identifying a clear who in the market that I serve. I can do it inside the way I launch. How many of you guys know someone who's waaay worse than you are, but they're making more money than you do? Pisses me off…   ….what about you? I'm like that is not right, and it’s one of the reasons why I'm diving so heavily into what a campaign is… A campaign is NOT ads, but ads can be part of it. MAKING NOISE There are two different styles of campaigns, and I've been making HUGE lists of the major launch campaigns and evergreen campaigns that I've seen…   ...because that's how crappy people are making more money than you, that's how they're making more money than me…. They just make more noise. I'm a marketer - I'm a professional noisemaker. ...and the people making MORE money... well, they just know how to make MORE noise.   BOOM! Oh yeah, wasn't that awesome? Hey, just real quick: A few months ago Russell asked me to write a chapter for a secret project he was doing. I had to write a chapter for a book, this was the letter I got from him. He said: "Hey Stephen, let me ask you a quick question... You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and your reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left. You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone. You have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, an internet connection, and a ClickFunnels account for only one month. You no longer have your big guru name, your following, your JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie... What would you do from day #1 to day #30 to save yourself? Russell Brunson Hey, if you want to see my answer and a bunch of other marketers who also answered that in this amazing book and summit, just go to 30days.com/stephen.   You can see the entire summit, you can see the book, you can see what we wrote in there and each of our detailed plans. Just go to 30days.com/stephen.  

去年一档全男生阵容的美声、音乐剧垂直领域综艺节目让许多音乐剧男演员名声大噪，但其实，活跃在国内音乐剧舞台上的，还有很多非常有才华的女演员，本期《剩余价值》我们就请来了一位的资深音乐剧女演员、七幕人生签约演员党韫葳，聊了聊她的新戏《放牛班的春天》以及她对目前中国音乐剧市场的观察。除此之外，作为一位母亲和一位积极为性别议题发声的女性，党姐姐还分享了她在育儿过程中遇到的性别刻板印象，以及她对文艺作品及其创作者如何面对政治正确质疑的看法。 【主持】 张之琪（媒体人，新浪微博@Zzzzzhiqi） 【嘉宾】 党韫葳（音乐剧演员、七幕人生签约演员，曾主演音乐剧《音乐之声》《我，堂吉诃德》《放牛班的春天》等，新浪微博@党韫葳） 林子人（界面文化资深记者，新浪微博@林奶粒） [05: 49] 小演员沉浸在表演中心无旁骛，成年演员则会有很多包袱 [07: 19] 很多表面上照顾女性的话，其实反映出社会默认的性别刻板印象 [10: 03] 德国键盘品牌Cherry微博抽奖引发性别歧视争议 [11: 07] 父母对男孩愤怒的情绪更宽容，对女孩则更强调顺从 [14: 07] 男性通常认为性别议题与自己无关 [17: 57] 艺术创作的自由同时也意味着批评的自由和接受的自由 [18: 45] 每个创作者都是局限的，要保持一种开放、自省的心态 [21: 10] 政治正确在中文互联网上被严重污名化，真正的政治正确就是当下大多数人的共识 [25: 18] 文艺作品中的“representation”问题非常重要 [26: 45] 《摘金奇缘》让美国华裔非常兴奋，华裔角色不再是书呆子或者男女主角的好朋友 [27: 53] 孩子的所谓“天性”可能就是整个社会性别建构的结果 [31: 09] 音乐剧市场一直倾向于男演员 [36: 06] 13、14年国内音乐剧市场开始有起色 [38: 50] 中国音乐剧的突破要靠整个工业体系的成熟 [43: 53] 党姐姐清唱音乐剧《Q大道》选段《There’s a Fine, Fine Line》 【本期节目中提到的音乐剧】 《放牛班的春天》（中文版） 《灰姑娘》（中文版） 《音乐之声》（中文版） 《西贡小姐》 《阿拉丁》 《名扬四海》 《歌舞线上》 《上海滩》 《Q大道》（中文版） 《番茄不简单》 《寻找初恋》 【本期节目中使用的音乐》 片头：“I Enjoy Being a Girl”, Sutton Foster,Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel(Season 1) OST 片尾：Pépinot, Bruno Coulais, Les Choristes OST 党韫葳清唱：“There’s a Fine, Fine Line”, 选自音乐剧《Avenue Q》

I'm joined by Jake Eisenberg, president of Reach Digital Group. Jake shares his approach to local marketing and explains how he uses social media to boost lead generation and acquire solid leads. His company specializes in helping local businesses, but his approach works for national brands as well.   Q: Jake, you're president of the Reach Digital Group. How did you get into this business and why did you choose to start your own agency?  Originally, I got started with a mixed martial arts blog that I had in 2009, before MMA really took off. This website was gaining a lot of traffic, and I was generating money through ad revenue, and I saw how to bring new traffic in. I started getting familiar with search engine optimization and started thinking to myself, "What are other ways that I can bring this up?"  As I was going through school, and working, and all these other things, I started working on other projects and I stumbled across doing some e-commerce websites, and I got familiar with doing Google AdWords. That lead to search engine optimization, Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, and running social media calendars.  I was having great success with these strategies that I was working on and building through time. Some friends or family members started to approach me and say, "Can you give me a website for my business? We liked what you were doing; let's kind of see what you can do for us."  These strategies were working at a local level and at the national level. Actually, it’s easier at a local level, because there's not as much competition.  So, I started having success with that and it quickly turned into family members who had businesses, became my testimonials, or my case studies. I was able to then get new business through referral. That's how I got started with it: I tapped my own network, did the work well, and was able to use that to leverage new business.  Q: What are some of the biggest changes that you've seen since you started that MMA blog in 2009? Technology changes at warp-speed, so in the online marketing space, what have you experienced in terms of changes?  A lot of the changes I've seen are from the platforms growing. Search engine optimization used to be something where you could just do what they call "keyword stuffing." If you wanted to rank for a certain keyword, you could just put a bunch of that same keyword on a page and you would rank. That's changed, because now there are so many more websites out there. So everyone's doing that, and now you've got to find new techniques, and new ways to do it.  The same thing with Google AdWords. The pay-per-clicks have gone up a lot, because more people are using those channels. Facebook advertising is still relatively new and it's just gotten even more acknowledgment in the media world, because of everything that's just happened. So, we can still kind of consider the Internet to be new.  There are a lot of unknown territories and directions that we can go. We're all learning and it's constantly changing and evolving. There's just so much more competition that you've got to come up with new strategies, and the platforms have become a lot more advanced.  Q: I'd like to explore that a little bit more. For your peers, what should they be focusing on, in terms of skills they need to be honing or new platforms that they need to be becoming more adept at using?  With how the marketing world is changing, it's a content-first world. You've got to build this customer loyalty. If you're selling a service or a product, you want to provide the information to the potential customer, what it is that you have that leads to it. You can put content out there in the form of video or blog posting, and be able to share that.  The two top converting platforms right now are still Facebook and Instagram. If you're able to meet your customers at least on those two channels, as well as having a blog to explain what your business is, because that will help bring in keywords and maybe some backlinking to boost it; start with those.  You don't need to be on every single channel. You just want to be able to meet them on at least the two biggest channels. I recommend tapping those three sources and provide information about yourself and your service.  Q: There are many platforms, and it seems like new ones popping up every day. Obviously, it's better to go where your audience is and Facebook and Instagram are where they are. It seems like a lot of people feel compelled to be on as many platforms as they possibly can, almost like the shiny object syndrome, "There's this new thing; I have to do it." What is your advice for people who feel like they're getting spread too thin?  Realistically, it's because they are getting spread too thin when you're trying to keep up with all the new trends. Coming from a business perspective, you look at the analytics and ask, "Where's my engagement coming from? Where am I getting the most clicks, the likes, the shares?" I would focus on those and chop off the ones that you think you're getting spread too thin on. Because you're wasting valuable time or effort that you could be putting towards something else to just try to keep up with these other channels to maybe meet a small percent of your client base.  Q: So you focus your efforts where there's the likelihood that you're going to get the biggest return on that investment?  Exactly; just make sure to keep checking on that and making sure that your engagement is there, because it can change.  Going back to the idea of how this world is evolving and new technology, one platform could be big now, and in two years it could be a different one. Keep an eye on it and make sure you know where you're actually getting the best benefit.  Q: You mentioned analytics and following this data-driven approach. What are some of the key performance metrics that you use, and what platforms or tools do you use to gather data and analyze those metrics?  That really depends on the approach. If it's paid outreach, look at your cost per conversion and your cost per click, because if your cost for conversion is too high, there's already going to be something wrong there. Always look at it from the monetary standpoint.  For social media, do the posting and look at engagement; see what posts are working, what posts aren't working.  I take a different approach than most: I actually track through my own spreadsheet. I'll give a score to posts that I think were better or worse, and how they did. And I'll go back at the end of the month and review those scores. It's just a method that I found to work.  Q: The only wrong way is one that doesn't work for you.  Right, and I just feel that the analytic software is -- it's data driven, but they don't understand how people are responding to a certain question. So, if you're asking a more human-type question than one that's systematic, those programs aren't going to be able to tell you that. That's something that it's easier to keep track of by going through and judging those type of posts … and constantly seeing if you're going up, what pages were doing better, and focusing on where those numbers are going.  Q: With Reach Digital, you focus on, primarily, helping local businesses?  Local and small businesses. We started locally and have now grown into doing some business at the national level, but we've got a lot of local businesses.  Q: To what extent do you find that small business who tend to do business locally, have more limited resources? How does that affect how you start to help them? That's one of the reasons they'll approach us. A small business might not have the resources to hire someone in-house for marketing. So we're able to offset those costs. Often they're saying, "We want to be on social media; we want to be on blogs; our expertise is focusing on the business; we want someone else to handle the online efforts."  Working with us is a way to offset the cost of getting someone with knowledge. They don't have to train, they don't have to get benefits, and so that's kind of where we found that connection point with local businesses.  Q: Can you describe for me who your ideal client would be?  Our ideal client is someone who has a little bit of knowledge of online marketing, already started to attempt it, and is looking for repairs and someone to monitor it. So we're kind of looking for that now, companies with semi-established to established online presence.  Q: When you have a conversation with a potential client who has some knowledge, and has attempted it on their own, do you find that they come to you with a better sense of where their limitations are, where their needs are, and where their particular pain points are?  Oh, yeah, 100%. When they've actually rolled up their sleeves and attempted it and have got it going, they know where their weakness is and where they need help. They also have a better idea of the message that's going to connect better socially with their customer base from actually trying it. So, it's not as much of a learning period. For us, as a business, we're able to go in there, talk with them, get their knowledge that they've already learned from their client base, and then apply that to help correct those challenges.  Q: What are the typical questions that they ask you when you have that first conversation?  They actually all range. Some of them say, "We know what we're doing, but can you just help us schedule?" Or, "Can you show us how this will bring us ROI (return on investment)?”  That's one of the biggest things. With online marketing, a lot of companies have a hard time seeing how social media can bring a return on investment. That's when we tell them that, “Let's look at the analytics, let us show you where your traffic is coming from, and let's set up some type of conversion campaign to show you that people are calling or signing up.” That's really what they're looking for.  Q: When you're looking at metrics like cost-per-conversion, that gets right at their bottom-line. Right. So they're able to see exactly what's going on, if it's making them money. Because, if it's not making them money, they don't want to pay us. We have to show them that what we're doing is working.  Q: You have a Chief Barketing Officer; tell me about him.  That's my good boy. Actually, it's his birthday today.  Congratulations! Happy birthday.  I'll be sure to pass it along. So, yeah, my dog Bear is a black Lab mixed with a Newfoundland, so he's a big boy, and he keeps the spirits up. He makes sure that everyone is happy (when he's not sleeping), he's always got a toy in his mouth, and he gives us some good suggestions [laughter].  Q: Having a Lab around the office is always a good idea, I think.  Oh, yeah. It keeps morale high!  Q: As you're paying attention to what's happening in the marketing space, you see organizations that do some things that you think, "Wow; that was really brilliant." And then you also see others do things where you just feel like smacking your forehead and going, "What were they thinking?" Tell me about something that fits the latter category, where you wonder where their brains were on that day.  People are starting to take Twitter a lot more seriously than they did a couple of years ago. You'll see now a lot of gaffs on there. They say something that may offend a group of people, and the next thing you know it's a public relations nightmare. I'm seeing people and businesses making that problem. Then having another problem cleaning up that problem, either by over-addressing it (and upsetting other people because they over-addressed it), or not addressing it at all.  Everything is about finding that middle ground. In social media, now, with the way everything is going, is like stepping on glass. A lot of companies are starting to realize that they shouldn't have said something. And especially recently, that's really the biggest thing. I'm like, "What are you guys doing? Filter.”  Q: The feedback that you get when you misstep, as an individual or as an organization, can be swift and severe.  Right. Public opinion can crush you.  Q: Yeah, it seems like there are examples of that in the headlines just about every day. Let's flip that around; for an organization that's done something in the online marketing space that was really quite clever, have you seen any where you said, "Oh, I need to make a note of that; that was brilliant?" Yeah. A lot of it is becoming these grassroots campaigns, especially with e-commerce, how people are tying in with social media influencers. I've seen a lot of really funny campaigns that they've mixed in their products with an influencer and it’s gone viral. I always kind of take note of what the campaign was, how they did it, and just something to keep in my back pocket if I feel that I have a similar product. You've just got to be funny and it's got to connect with the audience. It's amazing how quickly something can go viral.  Q: Are there any that are particularly memorable for you?  There are so many. There's a phone case company that every time they put out a video, it was just using real-world situations that people could really relate to: Dropping your phone or leaving your phone on top of the car, or needing to take a selfie. It was a self-adhesive phone case that could stick to surfaces and it was just using those situations like walking by a mirror wall and they just stuck it on there and took a picture. It was really creative how they tied in actual people’s situations to connect consumers with their product  Key advice Q: What advice do you give to CEOs or business owners when you're advising them on how to increase their return on investment for their online marketing programs? When it comes to social media marketing, it's: Stay consistent with what you're doing Stick to the brand message Never stop marketing, because once you stop marketing, you're going to stop getting sales and you're going to stop getting leads. The importance of testing And another thing I tell them is to constantly A/B test, which is split testing. Try different headlines. Try different subject lines. Make sure you're mixing it up, because you never know what message will stick. It could be one word that could change the complete engagement of an entire campaign. So always test to find that right messaging. Online Marketing Tools  Q: Are there particular tools that you use to do that split testing, or any other testing, to continue to improve the ROI?  For email marketing, MailChimp has an option for you to do that (split test). If it's building landing pages, there are a couple of companies (Leadpages and UnBounce) that already have those options built in. Whatever program you're using, just check to see if they have an option for you to be able to test different headlines, different subject lines, different blocks of text, images, all of that.  Q: How big is the Reach Digital team now?  We have four people who are full time and we have a couple that freelance for us on some bigger projects. Five if you want to include my Chief Barketing Officer.  Well, you got to include him. You have to feed him, so he needs to work, too.  Right, there you go.  Q: Are you guys all co-located or are you geographically disbursed?  We are a mix; it just depends on the service. We are a mix, because with it being a digital world now, everyone doesn’t need to be working in one location. We've found that we have some better employees that we've worked with who are located in different parts of the country and it's just easier to keep them working from their location.  Q: That's another one of those big things that's changed in the last decade that you don't have to all be in the same building and the same room to do work really well.  Right. We've found that using Google Hangouts, you can video chat with everyone at one time, so if you need to have a meeting, click of a button.  Management Tools  Q: What are some other tools that you use to effectively manage the team?  We use a project management tool called Asana. It's just really easy to keep our clients in there. We'll give our clients the connection to it and they can see the projects they're working on. Everyone can effectively communicate and it's a really good way to stay focused.  Another tool that we use for our back end and CRM is Zoho One.  Those are the two main ones that keep us on our path.  The Future: Voice, Video, Bots, and AI  Q: We talked about changes since you started in the online marketing space almost 10 years ago. Look 10 years into the future, where do you see that space going and what should we be doing to prepare ourselves to be effective as we move into the future?  A lot of the future is going to go to voice and video. Most of the Google searches right now are being done on voice. So, it's preparing those new search keywords to work that way.  Another part will be messenger bots. Having messenger bots using artificial intelligence technology is allowing small businesses to compete with big business. They're able to build these messenger bots through Facebook and other tools that are allowing them to, almost, build out a full support staff, to where they can really have all the customers’ questions answered.  They don't need to have these big rooms of customer service reps, and it keeps the customer happy because they're able to handle business without leaving the app.  Voice, video, and artificial intelligence are where I see us going. In 10 years, who knows; look how much technology's advanced in the last 10. So, I can only imagine the next 10.  Q: It could be both scary and very exciting, with a lot of opportunities.  Right. It's going to be a roller coaster!  Q: Are you strapped in and ready for the ride?  Oh, yeah. I love it.  Going back into your history a little bit, you got a bachelor's degree in media and information from Michigan State. Any chance you'll go to the University of Michigan for a master's program [laughter]?  Our family is divided. My entire family went to the University of Michigan, and my sister and I are the only two to go to Michigan State. We've had that in-house rivalry for a while, and it's been great, because Michigan State, athletically, has been on top the last six or seven years now. It's been good that I've been winning the argument.  Q: That's wonderful; congratulations. I was at an event recently with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and he's from Lansing (Michigan) and is a big fan. So he was singing the school’s and the team's praises. So I think he's there as much as he can to cheer on the Spartans.  Some of the best experiences of my life. Online Marketing for Local Businesses  Q: There you go, that's perfect. Reach Digital focuses primarily on five areas of work, in which you're able to help small business owners: Local marketing Website maintenance Facebook advertising Search engine optimization (SEO) Business listing management Tell me about business listing management. What is that?  Business listing management is where, if you have a business, it will be in any of the business directories: Yelp, Citymapper, Google, My Business, Bing Places, Yahoo, there's so many different directories.  A big, big thing about that with your search engine optimization on a local level, especially, is having yourself listed correctly in all these directories.  There's something call the NAP, which stands for “Name, Address, Place.” Search engines want to make sure that the name, address, and place are correct for all the businesses listed, that is, all the business directories that you're in.  If it's incorrect, they see inconsistencies and it's harder for them to score it. It's harder for them to give you that trust score or ranking, because they see that there's some inconsistency. So it's good to be consistent across the board.  Another thing we're able to do is monitor reviews that come across those listings. If you get a bad review, we're able to let you know so you can respond to it. If you get a good review, we're also able to let you know, so you can thank them and be engaged with your client base.  Q: I would think that would a critically important service, and a strategic investment that small business owners could make to continue to build those key relationships and manage their online reputation.  Yes, online reputation is very important. A lot of people will look at reviews before they even decide to call you, and it's just that extra trust factor. So, you want to make sure that you're on top of it.  Q: In terms of your overall business, how would you rank order those areas of work in terms of where the team spends the majority of the effort and time?  Regeneration Campaigns  For the majority of our effort and time, we do a lot of regeneration campaigning. Which is, if someone's got a service to offer or a product to sell, we're trying to get them leads, so they can call. A lot of our time and effort is spent building those landing pages, and then running page campaigns, mainly through Facebook advertising to send traffic to generate those leads. The main effort is testing and building those pages, and building out those campaigns.  Q: When you do that, do you manage the CRM on your end, or do you use the CRM and relationship management tools that your customers already use?  We will integrate within their CRM. We'll have it set up to where those leads are going to go right into the clients’ systems. Their ads are all run into their own ad managers.  We're not like a normal agency where we'll say, "Okay, you’re going to spend $1,000 a month, and we're going to hit you with 10% on top of it," or something like that. We say, " It's in your ad manager. Those campaigns are yours. Once we're done creating it, it's yours, and we run it.” We'll optimize it, but everything is through their programs.  Q: To what extent are you agnostic about whatever platforms they're using? Really good question. There are a lot of these programs and platforms. Most of our clients are using the bigger CRM platforms, and point of service systems that we've had experience with. A lot are using Salesforce, Zoho, and Lightspeed, which is a point of service, point of sale system. Q: Your team is capable of helping them regardless of how they've implemented on their end? We'll tie into either their email marketing platform, or we'll tie into a web form that was created within their CRM. That web form will link to their system. We will format that form to have the same name to match, so if something is typed in on that form, and they hit submit, it will automatically be properly implemented into that lead form. It's really matching the field names that they already have set up. Q: Jake, what have I not asked you that I should have? Let’s touch on the local business aspect. If someone has a new business, one that's struggling, I can help them get that domain name, web hosting, or a contact management system that they should probably be looking at to use. Q: Sounds like they need to give you a call. They should. Q: If you've got a small business and you need help getting online, or you've already gone online to increase your marketing, and you've realized that you need some expertise and some more horsepower, Reach Digital sounds like a really great place to go. How do they get in touch with you?

POWEL on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/powel.music - SoundCloud: @powel HOW I MET THE BASS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/howimetthebass - Twitter: www.twitter.com/howimetthebass - Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/HowIMetTheBass 3 QUESTIONS to POWEL: Q: Let´s talk about your mix. Reading the tracklist offers a long journey yet. So how did these tracks find the way to your heart? A: This mix can obviously only be an overview of the different styles of Electronic Music I liked between, roughly, 1997 and 2007. So between the time Electronic Music first appeared on my radar, until the time I got into producing again. It is probably the weirdest and most eclectic mix I've ever recorded. It represents most of the phases I went through, not chronologically though, that would have made the mixing impossible. It includes my IDM phase represented by “Boards Of Canada”, "Dntel" and “Mouse On Mars”, which hasn't lost any of it's impact on me, even after all those years. I think I've gotten into that, when I discovered “Arte Space Night”, a TV show which was showing random images of space combined with ambient music, a perfect thing to get stoned to. I included also a little bit of Drum'N'Bass, which was actually the music I played during my very first club gig. I think I was about 16 years old at then. There's also some House, including this track “I'm lonely” by “Hollis P. Monroe”, which I only had on a mixtape at the time and never really found out what that track was. Until it popped up somehow a couple of years ago when I was browsing through youtube, and I was like: "Hey that's the track you used to love as a kid." That was quite a moment for me. That track “Resurrection” by “The Amalgamation Of Soundz”, is one of the first records I bought, right after I bought my first decks in 1999, so this will always have special place in my heart, it's a very versatile record, which somehow manages to cover so many different styles within just 4 tracks. I also included some minimal or minimal-ish sounding tracks in the podcast, which was quite revolutionary at the time I discovered this, at least for me. Creating so much with so little, I was really impressed by that. [see full answer on www.facebook.com/howimetthebass due to limited SoundCloud space here] Q: You´re playing your music all over the planet. Do you have a favorite spot and would you prefer playing more local instead of endless travels every weekend? A: For me, one of the most amazing part of traveling as a DJ is to get around, meet new people and developing friendships all over the world. I would say that this is sometimes even better then the actual DJing part. Sure, on the other hand you have to spend a lot of time at airports and they are the combined horror of overcrowded train stations, shopping malls and border crossings, but you get rewarded by playing music you like at some of the most interesting places in the world, so who wouldn't like that. I also like playing at home, but I'm trying to keep it low, just to make it more special for me. Q: There´s a new Powel release out on Do Not Sit On The Furniture Recordings. Which other exciting projects are on the way? A: I just finished my second EP for “All Day I Dream” on which I was working on for quite a while now. I think I’ve been pushing the release date for almost a year and half now, because it never felt a 100% ready to me, but it does now finally. So there's that. I'm also about to finish my first full length album, which I want to release sometime next year. So that's what’s kept and is still keeping me quite busy in the studio.

We are thrilled to welcome Toni Ressaire, a technical communicator, trainer and consultant, to join the #InVinoFab podcast for episode no. 6. Besides working with companies in the software development industry on five continents (we secretly think she's Carmen Sandiego), Toni shares with us her rather non-traditional uses for traditional technology communication (tech comm) tools. She's currently working with a team developing innovative tools and methodologies to answer the need for information applied to existing and new technologies, such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI), and chatbots.Fun Wine Facts: Vigneron = Winemaker; What's a Vigneron? Aperitif = a light drink to have before dinner; something refreshing to enjoy prior to the meal No such thing as a “wino” ... but maybe this wino term needs to be redefined. Meals in Italy are lengthy -- so sit back, sip and enjoy the company & many courses! The Information Energy Conference 2018: https://www.informationenergy.org/Q: There is a lot of interesting things about your work: you mentioned research and work that is being done to reach an "intelligent" conversation that is more human-like. While it's not your job to create algorithms and natural language processors, you use them in designing bots and I like understanding the technology behind it. Can you tell us about what is going on in research and how educators could better collaborate with researchers in industry?A:  AI is still so far away from true machine intelligence. Chatbots will change the way we work because they can help with things like customer service, allowing humans to have time to do more meaningful work. They can do the rote repetitive work, manage phone calls, answer student emails. Chatbots say what you tell them to say, they are not intelligent or learning deeply. They learn patterns based upon the information they gather. We need to teach chatbots intentions, so we give them the questions and answers. They can learn through Twitter and Facebook conversations.  Chatbots don't have intuition, so they can't determine when a response is appropriate or not they gather that information to follow dialogue flow accurately. Here are a few chatbot stories http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0325-microsoft-chatbot-20160326-story.htmlQ: Are there logic models connected to the chatbots you work with?A: Toni designs chatbot conversations and dialog flow. She doesn't work with the logic models (more with scripting chatbots), but is keen to learn and she shared about one of the speakers at the conference: Carlos Perez. READ his Medium article: Alpha Zero: How Intuition Demolished Logic: https://medium.com/intuitionmachine/alphazero-how-intuition-demolished-logic-66a4841e6810  Why it failed early, based on logic and newer is based on intuition, alpha zero, gamebot, able to beat logic as it is built on logic Our thinking is based on intuition Logic is the layer on top of intuition. Intuition has traditionally been frowned upon. This is interesting as the tendency is to say we make decisions based upon intuition and that this is not as good as logic. We make decision on patterns based upon patterns The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. — Albert EinsteinQ: are there any new ideas or projects percolating for you right now that you care to share? You mentioned an article you recently read about intelligence and intuition, and how it got you thinking about human intelligence?A: According to the article machines that use intuitive cognition perform better than those that use logic. Traditional thinking tells us that logic is more reliable. This is interesting as some same men think in a more logical way, while women tend to be more intuitive and some people align this with capability to do certain jobs such as nurse vs. coder. Twinery http://twinery.org/ Small pieces of information, molecular, machine reads and puts together depending on the path you choose Molecular content that can be read by machines “What I'm afraid of, there's a huge need for engineers and knowledge of natural language processing language.” ~ Toni Ressaire Traditional basic knowledge Technical and scientific communication A taste of certain things-look at curriculum, 10 years behind, need basic, but the approach used, give reading materials easily learned by reading and class time for doing and talking about things like new technologies and how we could use them. Need to allow time for play, exploration and asking questions Computational linguistics-links to programs https://thebestschools.org/rankings/best-computational-linguistics-graduate-programs/ Information specialists can no longer deal with only words, must also deal with technology. Must also understand tech so we can understand how to write Chatbot example of how we will need to change our thinking about writing Understand we can't think in a linear fashion or write, need to be multidimensional like a chatbot Fun Fact: UNT has a Computational Linguistics, MS degree: https://interdisciplinarystudies.unt.edu/concentrations/computational-linguistics-ms  Q: What recommendations do you have for people thinking about working with chatbots (or, in general, in this field)?A: These professionals need to be multidisciplinary and be able to collaborate with different parts of chatbot production. It's recommended to not live in a silo -- be sure to partner with other departments, disciplines, or industry partners. READ and REVIEW: The AI #DLNchat summary: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-03-29-dlnchat-how-could-artificial-intelligence-shape-the-future-of-higher-educationQ: Do women in other countries pursue STEM in greater numbers than US?A: Toni-thinks that because it is a new opportunity for a lot of women in other countries they are jumping on it. Culture differences? The More Gender Equality, the Fewer Women in STEM https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/the-more-gender-equality-the-fewer-women-in-stem/553592/ Mind the Gap EU Project  http://mindthegapproject.eu/ How gender equality in STEM education leads to economic growth http://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/policy-areas/economic-and-financial-affairs/economic-benefits-gender-equality/ste Connect and learn more interesting things Toni is involved in:--LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toniressaire/--Website: http://info4design.com/ --Twitter: @ToniRessaire--Self-Publishing Links: @route11ebooks & http://pub.ink/--Book Recommendation: Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/books/eat-pray-love/ --Favorite red wine: Côtes du Rhône - NegroamaroDo you have a story to share with us on  a future #InVinoFab podcast? Is there someone we should bring on as a future guest? Let us know! Feel free to send us an email: invinofabulum@gmail.com or stay connected to the #InVinoFab Podcast: Hosts: Patrice (@profpatrice) & Laura (@laurapasquini); pronouns: she/her Twitter: https://twitter.com/invinofab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invinofab/ 

ACUMEN on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/acumenmusic - SoundCloud: @acumen HOW I MET THE BASS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/howimetthebass - Twitter: www.twitter.com/howimetthebass - Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/HowIMetTheBass 3 QUESTIONS to ACUMEN: Q: Talking about your classics selection: How did these tracks change your early life? A: I have always listened to music since my youngest age. But I did not listen to electronic things right away. It has come little by little over time, by not having Trip Hop things like Kruder & Dorfmeister, Kid Loco, Thievery Corporation, or Saint Germain. The first Tube House that triggered something in me was Eddie Amador's "House Music". This repetitive way of building songs and the unrelenting groove rocked me into the clan House while I was punk. The tracks I´ve chosen show some evolution. More Down Tempo stuff like “The Grand Love Theme” of Kid Loco that is beautiful. In a general way the German music has marked me. ADA especially for me is one of the greatest musicians I know, I could put his masterpiece "Lucky Charm" in my selection. And little by little we go to the House (Losoul, Steve Bug), Melodic Techno as it looks today with Fairmont and Superpitcher, to return with big Electro House songs that reflect my origins as a rocker with Tiga and Alter Ego but I could have done a mix of 6 hours so there are songs that touched me. Q: You´re full time pharmacist, married and have 3 kids. How do you manage to produce so many tracks in the meantime? A: I have always had this way of living at full speed. I like my days to be full and full. I do not like doing anything and contemplating life. So I do things thoroughly in all areas. Q: There´s an album coming soon. Tell us more about and also let us know which other exciting ACUMEN projects are coming soon! A: I really like to immerse myself in the production of an album. This will be my third and they all come at key moments in my life. This one is written for the birth of my third child "Brune" and I think it will be the most accomplished. There will also be some collaborations with Marc DePulse, Carl Golden, Mattia Pompeo, Phonique and Forrest. And also some exciting EPs for the labels I am already working with such as Selador and Atlant.

HIDDEN EMPIRE on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/hiddenempire.music - SoundCloud: @hiddenempire HOW I MET THE BASS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/howimetthebass - Twitter: www.twitter.com/howimetthebass - Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/HowIMetTheBass 3 QUESTIONS to HIDDEN EMPIRE: Q: How did you two guys meet once and how did you both come to electronic music? A: We met each other at a festival in Bonn. We liked each other personally and musically so we decided to do a studiosession. After a while we finished a lot of tracks and officially started the project "Hidden Empire". Q: Your music and live-set sounds so powerful. Which hardware may not be missed in your studio and on the stage? A: In our early ages we love to go to raves like Mayday and Nature One. Impressed by the energy and the power of electronic music, we both started as bedroomproducer/djs. on two turntables and one mixer. Q: There is an album coming on Stil Vor Talent. Which further projects are on the way? A: All components are important. But at the moment we are really in love with the new Pioneer Toraiz Sampler for our liveshows. In the studio and live we use a lot of Native Instruments Hard- and Software, which is essential for our productions.

BOSS AXIS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/bossaxis - SoundCloud: @bossaxis HOW I MET THE BASS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/howimetthebass - Twitter: www.twitter.com/howimetthebass - Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/HowIMetTheBass 3 QUESTIONS to BOSS AXIS: Q: You celebrate 10 years Boss Axis in 2018. So this mix also is a flashback to your early days. Which impact did these tracks have on your later career? A: It is defenitly a flashback to the time, when we were listening intensively to electronic music which we heard mostly in the HR3 Clubnight and DJs like Ulli Brenner, DJ Dag, Marc Spoon, Talla 2xlc and so on. One can say, the sound of that time influenced us a lot in our later productions. As you know the melody ist he key thing in our sound, we focus on that to transport emotions feelings and to capture experiences. Nearly every track from then takes us back in time. But there were so much more tracks that influenced us in our productions. Q: I´ve heard there is a new live-set coming? Sounds exciting! Please tell us more about. A: We have planned a so called hybrid-set (Live and DJ), combining some of our classics out of the last 10 years, partly in reworked versions, including parts played live with hardware for a better live impression. Q: There are some new releases scheduled. What can we expect? A: Besides remixes for „Riesen ft. Haptic“ on Dear Deer Records and „Th;En & Starkato“ on „Euphonic“, a new EP on Moonbootique is planned and we are working on a single regarding our anniversary. It should represent us and our musical legislating of the last ten years. For that some remixers will be on board. Release is to be released on our homebase, Parquet Recordings.

In Episode 24, we unpack the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report. Why is it important? What does it tell us about the future? Were the fathers of confederation reeeaaally that racist? (yes) We're also super pleased to welcome third-time guest Hunter Cardinal alongside his brilliant sister Jacqui! We're also still recording over skype and working out some audio kinks so here's a brief FAQ for this episode: Q: Why do the voices go all robot-y sometimes? A: Hunter and Jacqui didn't record with headphones so when they're talking and we interject something you hear it out of their speakers! It's just a few "um"s and "yeah"s. Q: There are people talking sometimes in the background. Was Richard recording in the side room of a party? Was he in a sort-of quiet room talking about the Truth and Reconciliation commission report when there was a literal party happening? A: Yes.

Welcome to this of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! Do you see a connection between emotional IQ and playing poker professionally? There is a link and our guest has found it. Kristy Arnett is an emotional intelligence (EQ) coach and a professional poker player.   Today she joins us to talk about that link, how she utilizes her ability to read others and their ability to read her and how she coaches people on taking calculated risks in their lives to achieve the dreams they desire most. Listen in for that and more on episode 105 of Sex, Money and Food.   More About This Show Kristy Arnett got into poker back in 2003, about the same time so many others did either playing at home or playing online. She’s always been competitive so when the guys on her college soccer team started playing she joined them, which is also how she met her husband.   In her senior year of college they moved to Vegas and she began reporting on soccer and then playing professionally. Today she plays professionally while also being an EQ coach, a writer and a podcaster.     On this episode she discloses her ninja trick: she knows while she's reading other poker players they are reading her! Her talent is a combination of reading people, being aware of how people perceive her along playing for more than a decade and working hard at the game. She also remains a student and is always learning and staying ahead of the curve.   One of the biggest lessons she learned wasn’t at the poker table however, it was in her marriage. When they met he was 22, and she was 19. They’ve now been together for 12 years, and have grown up together. They’ve also changed a lot in that time.   But there came a moment when it wasn’t working, for either of them. She says we all have moments in our lives when we get feedback and she got feedback that her husband wasn't happy in their marriage. She admits she was blind to a lot of things and ignored a lot of things. When she found out he had had an affair she knew it was a chance for her to look around at what she had created, and assess what she really wanted out of her life and her marriage. She had to figure out how to be the person she wanted and needed to be to crawl out of that devastating situation.   The first thing that moved her healing along was when she asked herself how can I take responsibility here? While that may seem counterintuitive and perhaps even controversial, it was the question that opened up an opportunity for both of them to heal.   She knew she could blame him for all of it and take all the victimhood and the attention that goes along with it, but she knew the way to freedom in any situation is to ask how can I take responsibility for what has happened, even if it’s just a little bit of responsibility?   When she did that it started her road to healing and freedom; she could see clearly how she had contributed.   For a long time he suffered from depression and she was so removed from vulnerability or softness that she didn't know how to be there for him. She grew up with a “tiger mom” who didn't give hugs and didn't talk about feelings.   So when her husband repeatedly told her he felt like she never listened to him she would be defensive and push him away and make him feel wrong.   As soon as she understood her part and took responsibility, they were able to have an open dialogue and talk about their future together. Doing so allowed them both to forgive themselves and each other, to start the healing process.   Today she's grateful for taking responsibility in that experience because it's helped them to change the course of their marriage and their lives together. It brought everything up in a way so that they had nothing to lose. They were able to get everything out in the open. Their relationship is in an even better place now and she's a better person for having been through that. On this episode she explains why there is so much possibility and opportunity in any devastating moment, why we must always remember our partner is choosing us and we are choosing them, even in a marriage.   We lighten up the discussion by also talking about playing professional poker and how it's like the stock market; Kristy explains how she knows what she's earning and the work she does to prepare for playing. And she describes the audio guide meant to be a tool to use when you're stuck, and how you can get it for free. Watch, listen and learn on today’s Sex, Money and Food episode with Kristy Arnett!   Tweetable: “In any devastating moment there is possibility.” - Kristy Arnett Kristy Answers The Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: Sex, Money, Food? A: I knew you’d ask that and I knew it’d be an in-the-moment answer. It’s sex, food then money. The reason sex is on the table right now is my husband and I are trying to make a baby, and it’s that time if you know what I mean!   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: Love! Everything that is worth having, everything that is worth working for is an extension of ourselves looking to be loved and looking to love people.   Q: What does  “reading people” smell like to you? A: Oh! That’s a really great question because there’s something so succulent about being able to read someone and to know what they are saying without them saying it. I guess if you’re asking for an actual smell one of the most succulent smells is a sizzling steak. Episode Resources Kristy Arnett’s website Kristy Arnett on Twitter My episode on WTF Am I Doing With My Life? WTF Am I Doing With My Life? podcast Kristy’s audio guide gift for you DoTerra’s Emotional Aromatherapy Kit Connect with me on Instagram Sign up for my Five Day Self-love Challenge Follow me on Twitter Subscribe to the Sex Money and Food Podcast on iTunes

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   Welcome to this of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! When it comes to money sometimes we bury our heads in the sand; it just seems like too much to deal with so we avoid it.   On this edition of the Sex, Money, and Food Podcast, we’re getting out of that sand and into a fun, lively and engaging discussion about money with Justin Krane. Justin is money savvy, and he believes in living a life you enjoy - not skipping that latte so you can be a gazillionaire at 80!   Tune in to hear how you can actually enjoy talking about and dealing with your money, no matter where you are financially.   More About This Show   Justin Krane is a certified financial planner who has been featured on CBS, MSNBC and Fox Business News. He’s also written a book called Money. You Got This; if you combined Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and money you’d have a taste of what Justin’s book is like!   In his work, Justin primarily focuses on helping entrepreneurial women and female business owners be strategic about their finances. He believes in saving for the future but still living a great life today - having your latte, buying those great shoes, etc.   On today’s Sex, Money and Food we talk about goosebump goals (what they are and why you want them), how and why to start tracking numbers even if you think you can’t or haven’t done it before, and the exact steps you can take to start handling your money right now no matter what your financial situation looks like.   Justin’s avatar is the female entrepreneur or small business owner. Her name is Rachel and she’s flying by the seat of her pants. In fact, she’s building that plane that is flying her as she goes along!   She doesn't have a plan of what to do with the money when it comes in and she's guessing on her numbers. She is aware and feels bad about not doing more in this area, but she keeps her head in the sand until suddenly her friend gets breast cancer. In that instant, everything changes for her. She realizes she has got to take care of her money because if she don't deal with it then her money is going to deal with her. That’s where Justin comes in. He helps her avoid shutting down about her finances, like she has in the past. He makes the process much simpler and more approachable for her. He also makes sure she doesn’t feel terrible for where she is, he shows her things are always possible no matter what.   Tweetable: “You have to put your oxygen mask on first.” - Justin Krane Here is how he recommends getting started: First, have a glass of wine! Chill out and take the edge off of the experience. Don’t let yourself get wigged out, have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee/tea/green juice.   Second, get your head out of the sand! It’s okay you put it there in the first place but now is the time to get out and get on with things. You can’t move ahead if you don’t know where you are right now; when you get your head out of the sand you can see where you are right now and create a path to moving forward.   Third, pay yourself first.Are you doing this? When money comes in take a certain percentage and put it into a different account. This should be between 10-30%. 10% would be for an emergency fund so we don't have to do things because we need the money. The other 20% is for you have to pay taxes. Most accountants will say to set aside 15-20% of your sales for taxes because this helps you avoid getting a big financial surprise! It also keeps you out of the poverty/lack mindset where we are afraid to take the right risks and grow. On this episode, he explains what the right risks are and how you know whether to take them or not. We also talk about goosebump goals and why they are better than SMART goals! Goosebump goals are the things that get you excited, it could be buying a home or taking that trip you’ve always wanted to take, etc. If you have a spouse be sure you talk about your goosebump goals and your money with him or her.   To wrap up the show, Justin shares why he hates it when personal finance gurus tell people not to buy their daily coffee and I candidly share how I have learned to ask for help in my business and in my life. Get your notebooks out because you’ll hear all of that and more on this edition of Sex, Money and Food with Justin Krane! Justin Answers The Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: Sex, Money, Food? A: I’m going to go with sex and love as my own co-mingled #1, then food and money is third.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: I think a great day that’s like exercise, a great meal, meditating or a nap and then a cool movie.   Q: What does  “money” smell like to you? A: Initially it’s that dollar bill smell, it’s not a great smell. It’s a little like moldy! I think it’s not a great smell, but we hardly use cash anymore. Episode Resources Justin Krane’s website Justin’s gift to you Money. You Got This., by Justin Krane Justin Krane on Twitter DoTerra’s Emotional Aromatherapy Kit Connect with me on Instagram Sign up for my Five Day Self-love Challenge Follow me on Twitter Subscribe to the Sex Money and Food Podcast on iTunes    

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)     The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast 101: Embracing ALL of Our Emotions, with Michele PW Talking about Fear, Love and Positive Emotions with Michele PW Welcome to this episode of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! If you want to truly experience joy then you must be willing to experience sadness. Do you think this is true?   On this edition of the Sex, Money, and Food Podcast, our guest is Michele PW joins us to talk about feeling ALL of the feelings and why doing so is what ultimately allows us to experience the highest forms of love and joy and peace. You’ll hear Michele share why we don’t need to suppress our fear, anger, sadness or grief and how to actually feel those feelings without acting on them. Listen in for that and more on episode 101 of The Sex, Money and Food podcast!   More About This Show   Michele PW is someone who knows about emotions. She is the best-selling author of the Love-based copywriting books and she produces the podcast, Love-based Money. Her books and her podcast focus on using positive emotions in copywriting and in personal finance, but at the core of her teachings she shows people how to embrace all of their emotions.   Today we began by talking about why people are afraid of feeling fear-based emotions like anger, grief, shame, guilt, anxiety, and worry. In fact Michele says people are so afraid of those emotions that they tamp down ALL their emotions. It’s a cultural thing: we’ve been conditioned to hide our vulnerability and our fears.   Along the way we have forgotten that all of our emotions have an important purpose. They are warning signs for us to pay attention to, like anger which means our boundaries are being pushed. When we feel sadness and grief it means something we loved is over.   Even fear, shame and guilt all have their own purpose; fear shows us that sometimes there is really something to be afraid of in that dark corner we can’t see, shame and guilt are there to help us live in a community and among our tribe. At our core we are tribal beings and want to be with our people.   Our society has become so focused on our intellectual side that we’ve lost touch with the importance of our emotions. And that's why people are so uncomfortable when someone is expressing a fear-based emotion like sadness or grief. If someone is crying people will grab a tissue and tell them it's going to be okay, even if they don't know it's going to be okay.   People do so because the crying is making them uncomfortable. What most of us don’t realize is that the person’s discomfort with grief or sadness then puts pressure on the person experssing their grief or sadness to stop expressing those emotions, to stop feeling and stop crying. So even if someone want to show their sadness, they cannot because other people aren’t okay with it.   Which led me to ask her how we can sit with our own emotions, feel them and be okay with them. Michele had several pieces of advice, the first being to stop and breathe. Rather than posting a rant on social media when you feel triggered, instead just stop and breathe while allowing the emotions to swirl inside of you. Eventually you’ll find they will pass and you will come out the other side.   Michele also recommends following a book called The Presence Process by Michael Brown. It's a ten week program with specific breathing techniques and tools he guides you to use through each of the ten weeks. On today’s show Michele explains the breathing technique in the book, why it helps us become present and the emotions-related reason why we actively avoid being present in our lives.   We also discuss looking at your shadow, and how to have a relationship with your shadow. She gives specific examples including what our relationship with money says about our shadow and what to do if you are really worried about your finances. You can hear that and so much more on this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast with Michele PW! Michele Answers The Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: Sex, Money, Food? A: I knew you were going to ask me this so I thought about it! I think I’m going to rank food first because if you don’t eat then the other two things can only sustain you for so long!   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: being able to feel everything, even the good and the bad.       Tweetable: “All fear-based emotions have a purpose.” - Michele PW   Episode Resources Michele PW’s Gift Michele PW’s website Love-based Money podcast Love-based Money book Michele PW on Twitter Fear-based emotions list The Presence Process, by Michael Brown Connect with me on Instagram Sign up for my Five Day Self-love Challenge Follow me on Twitter Subscribe to the Sex Money and Food Podcast on iTunes    

BETOKO on: - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betokoofficial - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/betoko HOW I MET THE BASS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/howimetthebass - Twitter: twitter.com/howimetthebass - Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/HowIMetTheBass 3 QUESTIONS to BETOKO: Q: Talking about your mix: what do these tracks mean to you? In which way did they influence your later career? A: Every track on this mix had some kind of influence in my sound, whether the drums or basslines, I can´t really specify what it is but each of them touched me in a different way. Q: You have already played in so many parts of the planet. Where is your favorite spot to DJ? A: I really love playing in argentina, the crowd has got a very special energy and really connect with my sets, it feels natural and super vibrant! Q: There is a release on SOSO out in march. Which other Betoko projects can we expect this year? A: Yes, March 24th with an amazing remix by label boss Oliver Schories! There will also be an EP on Einmusika in August, a collab EP with Mason, and a follow up EP on Smiley Fingers.

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-) The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast   Sexuality, Music, and Entrepreneurship   Welcome to this of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! Have you considered what would shift if your life if you could tap into your sexual energy in every moment of your day? If you haven’t you will be after this episode! Today we’re talking with Calvin Correli about living from our sexual energy in every area of our lives.   Calvin is an artist, entrepreneur, and the CEO of Simplero. He is passionate about helping online business owners do exactly what brings them most alive. He is also a healer and is currently working on bringing all of his talents -- including music, spirituality and personal growth - into an exciting new service for entrepreneurs.   On this edition of the Sex, Money, and Food Podcast, we talk about how Calvin fought against his innate nature for so long, how every act of loving, and supportive sexual intimacy between men and women heals the global collective, and why living from our sexual energy is a natural state for everyone.   More About This Show   Calvin grew up in Denmark and recalls a painful childhood of not being understood nor seen by his dad, and being an emotional caretaker for his mom. His parents also did not have a sexul or intimate relationship, and as a result he grew up with a self-described “messed up” relationship with women.   On this episode of the show we talk about how he worked to heal his intimate relationships, and how he now sees the beauty in a woman with only appreciation for her beauty and not the resentment he had felt in the past or the need to act on his desire for her beauty.   We dig into those topics a little later on but the first thing I asked him to share was how (and why) we can use our sexual energy throughout our day and in every area of our lives.   Calvin has found it is fun and playful to bring sexual energy into every relationship - not in a way that is violating to someone's boundaries but in a way that reflects the reality of our ever-present sexual energy. He explains that by suppressing our natural sexual energy we make it worse; suppression and avoidance doesn't make it better.   In fact, he says violations only happen because we have trauma around our sexuality. If every guy was cool with just feeling sexual desire and energy knowing that it doesn't mean it has to be acted on and that he can just feel the desire then he wouldn’t violate any woman.   He goes on to describe how men and women are different, whether in the workplace or elsewhere. Aside from the obvious physical differences, the masculine energy is more about doing, fixing, and the like, while the feminine energy is about creation, collaboration, sharing, etc.   And he also describes how the purpose of a woman’s orgasm is different from the purpose of a man’s. Women can orgasm in different ways and can access different areas than men can. In fact, sometimes when a woman has a particularly deep and/or intense orgasm she cries. Those tears are allowing her to open up deeper and deeper layers of her own femininity and the collective feminine.   Calvin says the relationship between the global masculine and feminine has been horrible for so many years, but every time a man and woman get together in an open, loving space it is a tremendous opportunity for collective healing between the masculine and the feminine.   And if we lived from our sexual energy rape, sexual assault and other violations would diminish (if not disappear). He explains why that’s true and how he shifted his own perception of women from caretaking and resentment to one of appreciation.   You’ll also hear why sexual energy is spiritual energy, why we don’t need to abstain from pleasurable experiences like sex and food in order to be spiritual and why he’d outlaw guilt if he could! We dig into those scintillating topics and more on this episode of Sex, Money and Food with Calvin Correli.   Tweetable: “Sex is deeply spiritual, and spirituality is deeply sexual.” -  Calvin Correli Calvin Answers The Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: Sex, Money, Food? A: That’s a tough one! Life without food is only so long. You can get along without money. Sex, food, money.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: The first word that pops into my head was love. It feels a little cliche but I guess it’s true!   Q: Your ultimate pleasure in life is? A:  Sex is definitely up there! But there’s also a deeper feeling like feeling whole and complete and in union with everything, which sex can be a part of that.   Q: What does self worth of minus 1 billion/true anarchy smell like to you? A:  Rank! Like in a dark, humid, moist basement room that has old stuff in it and hasn’t been aired out for a long time.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance did you go through regarding sex, money and food that is has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: I feel like I’m still doing all of this. Money was really tough for a long until I realized I was using lack of money to avoid looking inside at what wasn’t working with my work life and what I really wanted to do. I was actually scared of looking at what I really wanted to do because I was afraid I might not like it and it might not be what I wanted it to be. I really wanted to be a different person than it turns out I am - but now I kind of like it!   Episode Resources Calvin Correli’s website Calvin Correli on Twitter Vagina: A New Biography, by Naomi Wolf There’s Nothing Wrong With You, by Cheri Huber The Red Paper Clip story Connect with me on Instagram Sign up for my Five Day Self-love Challenge Subscribe to the Sex Money and Food Podcast on iTunes

The Sex, Money, and Food PodcastEpisode 098: A Whiff to Your Success, with Danielle Daniel   Smelling, Brain Science and Empowering Women with Danielle Daniel Welcome to this of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! Today we’re talking about a fascinating topic: how we can use essential oils to smell our way to success and well-being.   On this episode of the Sex, Money, and Food Podcast, we’re joined by Danielle Daniel who is a licensed psychotherapist, a Clinical Psychology PhD student specializing in the field of Psychopharmacology (the study of aromatic compounds impact on the brain). In her business, she combines her knowledge with her passion for empowering women to achieve success through emotional wellness.   More About This Show   If you’ve ever been stressed out and then taken a walk in nature to relieve your tension you know how impactful nature’s scent can be on your mood. Quality essential oils come from nature and mimic what their source does naturally.   Take peppermint for example: the cold pressed oil of peppermint (or any other essential oil) is very powerful. In fact essential oils are 50-75x more powerful than the herb itself. In the case of peppermint one drop of it is equal to 28 cups of peppermint tea!   One of Danielle’s favorite things to do is to have people put one drop of peppermint on their hand, rub their hands together and then rub the oil on to the backs of their necks so it gets into their bloodstream quickly. Also she has them inhale it so it can get into their neural factory pathways and respiratory system to invigorate them and help them breathe deeply.   When I asked her to explain more about the emotional part of aromatherapy she talked about the different effects different oils have on the brain. For example, frankincense is an oil that is good for nearly everything from relieving anxiety to increasing memory to alleviating stress. If you find yourself triggered by the same experience or emotion you can change that by using certain essential oils. Danielle says she used an essential oil the day we recorded this episode: she was frustrated by something but caught herself in that frustrated mode. Instead of going into a downward spiral about it, she grabbed an essential oil blend and it changed her emotional state within just a few minutes!   I was curious about that and asked her to dig deeper into the emotional aspects of aromatherapy. According to Danielle’s extensive psychopharmacology research, nature can tell you what something is going to do by what it looks like and smells like.   Take citrus as an example: citrus fruits, like lemons, limes, tangerines, are bright and vibrant. That is exactly what citruses and citrus oils do: they bring out feelings of brightness, happiness and vibrancy in the brain. Next we talked about being in a forest and the trees in a forest: what feelings do trees evoke? I said trees bring out feelings of being grounded, wisdom and deep roots. Essential oils from trees do just that: they help the brain get present in the moment, get connected and be here and now.   Essential oils that come from trees are oils like cedarwood, frankincense, sandalwood, spruce, white fir. They are grounding and rooted, so they are especially helpful for people whose emotions fluctuate a lot or anyone with special needs.   On today’s episode, we also talk about the emotions that flower essential oils and spice essential oils bring out in us, and what happens when you put essential oils on the various pulse points in our bodies. Danielle goes into detail about the internal intuition our bodies possess about what works for them, and what we need. You’ll even hear a fascinating story about two horses and their different responses to peppermint and oregano! Listen in for that and more on this episode of Sex, Money and Food with Danielle Daniel. Danielle Answers The Questions   Q: Rank the following in order, Sex, Money, Food: A: Right now my sole focus is empowering women and I’m building my million dollar business so I’d say money. Wealth is really something I’m focused on.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: connecting with others - that is the first thing that came to mind.   Q: Your ultimate pleasure in life is? A: I’m a beach girl! I just love being at the beach - wakeboarding in Mission Bay or surfing out in the ocean.   Q: What do essential oils smell like to you? A: Nature. I like nature. I read a blog post the other day about how when we’re in nature and how it helps with calming, anxious emotions. She’s a psychotherapist as well and she has a blog about helping people with their anxiety. There are aromas that are in nature and those aromas are essential oils.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance did you go through regarding sex, money and food that is has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: I would say it was a big turning point for me in my career: I went to San Diego State for my Master’s and got my degree in social work. What happened was I was in my dream job of working with teens with suicidal ideation but I went to school and got my degree in social work because my heart was in helping people.   But I had a big turning point when I was in my mid-30s when I wasn’t married and had been in that dream job for about 8 years, but was living paycheck to paycheck and could barely save to buy the current home I’m in. I loved my job but didn’t know if I could do it til I was 65, I also wanted to travel and do humanitarian work.   I knew I needed to make a change and I knew it was up to me and not waiting on a husband coming into my life; I wanted to show the world that I could be single and successful.   Tweetable: “Different essential oils do different things for the brain!” - Danielle Daniel   Episode Resources Danielle Daniel’s website Danielle’s giveaway Danielle Daniel on Instagram Danielle Daniel on Facebook Zoom’s website Connect with me on Instagram Sign up for my Five Day Self-love Challenge Follow me on Twitter Subscribe to the Sex Money and Food Podcast on iTunes

Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-) The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast   The Stages to Creating  Success with Kamila Gorina Welcome to this of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! Today we have a very special guest, business maven Kamila Gornia. Kamila is strategist who helps entrepreneurs become leaders online with her marketing methods - and have fun in the process!   On this episode of the Sex, Money, and Food Podcast, Kamila shares her background of emigrating from Poland as a teenager, what she learned from a toxic relationship and her five steps to making you and your business known in the world. Even if you aren’t an entrepreneur you can still learn how to apply those five steps in other areas of your life.   More About This Show   When Kamila first moved to America, she was 13. She had been raised in a small town in Poland when her family moved to Chicago. It was culture shock in more ways than one! She didn’t know the language, she had no friends and she was in a much, much more urban setting than her hometown.   So she learned English, she made friends and she adapted. She learned to take charge and go after what she wanted, she knew that was the only way she would get it. And all of those lessons and experiences served her well when she became an entrepreneur.   However her career didn’t begin with entrepreneurship. After getting out of a toxic relationship, she put her full focus on work and career. Her day job was working at a marketing agency and she ran her own wellness blog on the side. With no relationship to distract her, she began looking for what else would truly fulfill her. She decided to go off on her own and have her own business working with her own clients.   She says it was a rollercoaster ride for the first few years, it felt like being in labor! It had tremendous ups and downs, and lots of growing pains. Today however she has found a better balance now between all the areas of her life.   In the process of working with her clients, she has discovered a five step process they all go through to get from the initial stages of a business to being successful leaders in their marketplace. Those five steps are below, and as you read them remember they can apply to other areas of your life too.   Think up. In this first stage think of who you serve, what you are going to provide them with and what need you will fulfill in the marketplace. Set up. This is where you get your foundation set up. This stage usually involves coming up with your marketing and marketing plans, growing your list and expanding your audience, and landing your first clients.   Blow up. Stage three is getting on the scene and becoming known. Here is where you are becoming booked out with clients and momentum has started. Just how big this becomes is relative to each client but blowing up is stage three.   Scale up. In this stage you begin to leverage your time to bring in more income. Here you create more leveraged offers, more products, more programs, new and different courses, as well as more sales funnels and paid marketing ads.   Free up. The final stage is to free you up from your business. This is when you are looking at ways to become more profitable, manage a team and full-time people who work for you. You are also looking at other ways you can grow and move into the big name status.   You’ll notice the big themes for these five stages are momentum, energy and flow. Each stage builds upon the previous one but once you have momentum it becomes easier and easier.   On this episode of the podcast, Kamila explains this is the model she teaches to all of her clients, depending on where they are at when they come to her. She also shares how these stages apply to other areas of life as well as some of her recent wins! Listen in for all of that and more on this edition of the Sex, Money and Food podcast. Kamila Answers The Questions   Q: Rank the following in order, Sex, Money, Food: A: I would say sex first then money then food...which is funny because I never thought I would say sex first! It’s a way for us to connect with ourselves and that affects money, that affects food and that affects everything else which is why I am saying it is first.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: experiences I would say - just any kind of experiences. Whenever we don’t challenge ourselves or get out of our box we become stagnant and when we are stuck we deteriorate. Trying new things allows us to grow.   Q: Your ultimate pleasure in life is? A: My ultimate pleasure would have to be my business. I have created my business in a way to have fun with it and be excited about it. It’s closely tied to my passion: helping people step into leadership and spreading their message.   Q: What does a “sales funnel” smell like to you? A: It smells like dedication, like sweat - like sweet sweat, the sexy kind.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance did you go through regarding sex, money and food that is has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: The one that stands out to me right now is there is a guy I used to date, it was a very toxic relationship. We were together for about a year, and it definitely scarred me in a lot of ways. I put up walls, which I’m still working through and shattering today. But the good thing is that it allowed to stand in what I believe I really deserve and standing up for myself. Because I had these experiences it allowed me to mature and trust myself and be smarter in the future.   Q: The book beside your bed is? A: I’m reading a lot of books! There is one that I am kind of reading (it’s not a very traditional read) and it is Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss.   Tweetable: “A sales funnel is basically like sex!” - Kamila Gornia   Episode Resources Kamila Gornia’s website Kamila Gornia on Facebook Kamila Gornia on Twitter Kamila Gornia on Instagram Kamila Gornia on YouTube Tools of Titans, by Tim Ferriss Connect with me on Instagram Sign up for my Five Day Self-love Challenge Subscribe to the Sex Money and Food Podcast on iTunes

Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast Seeing Our Challenges As Our Greatest Gifts, With Dallas Cyr   Challenges, Intuition and Spite…   Have you ever heard someone say they’ve succeeded in spite of numerous obstacles? Or perhaps you’ve witnessed someone’s determination to overcome great difficulties and to show the world they are the best, no matter what has happened to them.   While that focus and attitude is admirable, there is a much easier way to live a fulfilled, abundant and supremely successful life. Dallas Cyr, the founder of Ignite Purpose and the creator of Speak | Express | Impact, tells us how to do just that on this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! More About This Show   Today Dallas Cyr is a powerful inspirational speaker,  a conscious business coach and a transformational life guide. But he will be the first to tell you he was once a mess! You’ll hear him share his story of going from bankruptcy (financially, spiritually and emotionally) to his present day life of passion, purpose and fun.   And one of the keys to his transformation has been his ability to trust his intuition. He has always trusted his inner guidance and that has been his saving grace. Naturally, one of the things he helps people do now is to get in touch with their own intuition and listen to it! You can start to practice this by muscle testing your body. You can stand with your hand on your chest and then speak aloud a statement you think is true. Notice how your body responds: are you tense or are you relaxed and smiling? Do you feel a surge of power or do you feel uncertain? That is your intuition telling you if this statement is true or not.   On this episode Dallas also explains why challenges are our greatest gifts. He says you have success because of your challenges, not in spite of them. If there's nothing for you to overcome then there is no success! For example, if you are running a marathon and you complete it, then you didn't succeed despite those 26.2 miles - you succeeded because of those 26.2 miles! Those miles were the race, and without the race there would have been no marathon for you to complete. You would not have had success without the miles. It’s a much more powerful perspective to take on challenges. Consider that your challenges make your journey more meaningful and they help you shift who you are in the world.   You can either use the challenges to shift, or you can let them harden you if you don't see them as opportunities to grow and learn. Another exercise to practice is thanking your challenges. Say thank you to each one and appreciate that it showed up to facilitate your highest good and your biggest transformation. If you do see your challenge this way and thank it, then what is possible? What opportunities open up in the world to better serve and support you? By doing so you become open, and you are more observant and are more expansive. You also begin to shift your emotional state, your vibration. You become more attractive to the thing that is going to help you turn this situation around, whether that be love, money, etc.   Also on this edition of the show, Dallas explores what first stage living, second stage living, and third stage living are and what those terms mean. He tells us which of the stages allows us to be miracle makers who surrender, and stand in our power while watching the beauty and magic of life unfold.   You’ll hear that plus how to move from just thinking something to believing it then to ultimately knowing it, and why there’s so much more power in knowing! Tune in for those gems and more on today’s episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast.   Tweetable: “You succeed because of challenges, not in spite of them.” ~Dallas Cyr Dallas Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A:  I’m going to say sex, food, money.   Q: There is nothing better in life than…A: music. Because I can’t remember a day when music hasn’t been involved in some way!   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life?A: it’s transformation. I love being in the amazing, loving relationship that I’m in right now. One of our core tenants is growth; we want to play, have fun, we want to grow together. We want the other person to be a stand for our greatness. We want to transform and grow together so we don’t grow apart. I believe foundationally if you are not growing you're dying, there is no staying the same. Q: What does “knowing” smell like to you? A: I’ve got a hundred answers coming up! A different knowing might have a different scent. Knowing that I’m going in the right direction with my body might smell like green smoothie or sweat. The other knowing that comes up for me is smelling the ocean: there’s a crispness to it and a fresh smell, you can smell the salt in the air and the moisture.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance you went through regarding sex, money and food that has allowed you to grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: I have a foundational philosophy I teach. It’s new because it comes through me and yet the ultimate premise of this philosophy is not new, it goes back to literally teachings that were in the yoga sutras which were written 5,000 years pre-dating the Bible. The teachings are Hindu-based and Buddhist-based, and teach that Nothing is as it seems, everything just is. It’s not until we put our perception, our meaning or our story onto something that it becomes what we experience it to be.” I believe that of all things. Resources From This Episode   Dallas Cyr’s website Dallas Cyr’s website for aspiring speakers Dallas Cyr on Facebook Dallas Cyr on Instagram Dallas Cyr on LinkedIn Dallas Cyr on YouTube Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible

TILL VON SEIN on: - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tillyjam/ - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tillvonsein HOW I MET THE BASS on: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/howimetthebass - Twitter: twitter.com/howimetthebass - Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/HowIMetTheBass 3 QUESTIONS to TILL VON SEIN: Q: You´ve seen most parts of the world yet by playing and touring. Where is your favorite spot? A: This is the toughest question somebody can ask me as I've been traveling the world ever since I was three weeks old. There is no particular spot that I would call my absolute favorite, there are just tooo many I could think of. If there was a list South Africa would be really high on it, same as Los Angeles. This year I fell in love with Mallorca, where - funny enough - I as a German have been for the first time. Q: Talking about your mix: what do these tracks mean to you? A: All these tracks were game changers in my musical evolution. I still play most of them from time to time. Maybe not original Nuttah or that Prodigy joint but the other ones for sure. It took me quite a while to fully adapt house music to be my main focus as a DJ, that is why I chose some tracks from the early 90s and some from 1999. When I first started listening to electronic music, everything happening in the UK between 1993-1996 had a huge impact on me, labels like Ninja Tunes and Mo Wax for example but also Jungle and all sorts of break beats. The second major influence was French House music. Super Discount and Motorbass' Pansouls album were and still are everything for me. After that came digging into American house music and its originators in the early 2000´s following a short stop soaking up everything happening in West London. I'm trying to showcase all those influences in this mix. Some tracks might be the obvious choice, but when you grow up in a little town in Germany without pirate radio stations, local record stores and DJ heroes, that's how you first start to find your way into it. Q: There´s a new TILL VON SEIN-EP upcoming on Suol in January I heard? What else is planned for the next year? A) I’ve been working on this EP since summer and to me it has a solid throwback vibe, back to when there were records with four dope tracks. I always loved buying a diverse 12 inch with more than just that typical A side banger, so this was my goal behind this EP. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. I just sent off three remixes, one for a new label run by Steve Mill which looks really promising, one for friends of mine from Panama for whom I played three times in the past and I'm super stoked to see them starting a label and getting more and more recognition, and the third one is for an old buddy of mine called Malente and his label No Brainer. For 2017 I'm working on a new EP for Pets recordings, Catz n Dogz Label and two split EPs, one with Kid Enigma and one with Meggy.

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast     Have you ever just known a relationship or a path just wasn’t right, but you ignored your own? Our guest for this episode did and he learned a lot as a result! In fact, he learned so much that now he helps other men speak their truths to create the lives they truly desire.   On this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast, Tim Matthews of The Powerful Man joins us to talk about how he transitioned from being pushed to prove something, from ignoring his own truth and his own voice to being a powerful man who expresses himself and helps other men do the same.     More About This Show   Tim’s foray with The Powerful Man isn’t his first entry into entrepreneurship. About 7 years ago he started a business called Fitness4Mum, and he grew it from a few outdoor bootcamps to being the UK's fastest growing pre and postnatal fitness franchise!   Like many other entrepreneurs, at the beginning of his journey he was burning the candle at both ends. He sacrificed all the other areas of his life for his work; he prided himself on how many hours he was working and saw it as a badge of honor. In his own words Tim says he was “...living for some day rather than today”.   But when he met a fellow entrepreneur in August of 2014, Tim realized his new friend embodied everything he wanted his own life to be. This man was running a successful online business, making great money and had powerful connections in the business world.   Tim knew he could have the same things too, he just had to stop denying himself. At the time he was engaged to a woman who he knew wasn’t his best match, his parents were putting a sizeable deposit down for their wedding and he was putting out fires on a daily basis in his Fitness4Mum business. He had bad business deals with partners who were robbing him of money, and he was generally surrounded by chaos.   From August 2014 through December of that same year he ended the engagement, the relationship, the bad business deals and partnerships, and let go of his franchises.  For the first time in a very long time, he opened up and let himself be led by his feelings. And everything felt easy, peaceful and flowing!   While that may sound like it was a scary process, for Tim it was far scarier to continue down that path then to make the major changes and overhauls he made.   And those changes and that new path have made all the difference. Today he helps men avoid doing what he did and change their course by finding and expressing their voices, and their true selves. He helps create their purpose-driven businesses and build legacies.   He explains that doing so is about coming from a different place and having a different approach. He says it is much easier to create and be successful when you are being pulled versus pushing. Being pulled to do something is a whole different ball game, and he helps men find that thing that pulls them.   On this episode, Tim reveals some of the ways he helps men be seen and get the connection they need. With that connection they can be honest and speak their truths, and live their truths.   He asks them questions that help them detach from judgments, questions like what would your life look like if you had no judgment of yourself or others? What actions would you take? What would your relationships look like?   He also shares how he helps men celebrate their victories, and do so without through food or alcohol or other numbing devices, and he shares the wins he’s had this week! You’ll hear all of that and so much more on this edition of the Sex, Money and Food podcast with Tim Matthews.       Tim Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A:  Food at the bottom, if I went with my gut I’d put sex at #2 and money at #1.   Q: There is nothing better in life than…A: freedom - freedom of self, being able to speak everything I think and feel.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life?A: 3 things: freedom, legacy and contribution. I feel most alive when I’m delivering and serving, and also when I’m travelling. Q: What does true freedom smell like to you? A: fresh air! That’s the first thing that came to me.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance you went through in your 20s regarding sex, money and food that has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: The two that stand out to me, not food, would be sex and money. When I was building FitnessMum I didn’t really realize I was out to prove myself. The pattern I went through was one of not feeling good enough, I put that on to making money to prove that I could and spending money to prove I could and to feel good.   Q: What book are you reading?A: I’ll be honest over the past 12 months I’ve had the most success I’ve ever had and I’ve read the least I’ve ever read! The type of books I’ve read have been different. I’m very big on letting the books find me.   Tweetable: “Expression can save people’s lives. ” ~Tim Matthews     Resources From This Episode   Powerful Man on Facebook Conversations with God by Neal Donald Walsch The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer The Dark Side of The Light Chasers by Debbie Ford The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer Heal Your Body by Louise Hay Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible    

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-) The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast   Have you ever not listened to your instincts, and regretted it later? Almost all of us have and our guest for this show, Rebecca Massoud, is no exception. Rebecca is the founder of Shine, as well as a wife, mother and an award-winning business success coach and marketing mentor.   On this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast, Rebecca joins us to talk about the ways we can tap into our inner wisdom, how her own intuitive wisdom has sustained her through many challenges and a few secrets to thriving in the business world all women can use!     More About This Show   When Rebecca was in her 20s she went through an awakening of sorts, which she describes in full on this episode. She shares how she followed her intuition from living in Dallas to a completely new life in northern California. Although the first year and a half was difficult that experience helped her grow and thrive in new ways.   It also helped her learn more about herself, her gifts and what she wanted to do in the world. Today she helps entrepreneurs with getting their mindsets right in order to thrive. She’s even found a new word to describe it: pleasureify! She says it's all about pleasure-ifying our businesses, doing things that light us up and setting our days up so we enjoy what we're doing.   Too often we get caught up in what we think we "should" do. The word should is a great trigger word she says. We tell ourselves: “I should do this, I should do that, I should be here.”, etc.   Rather than listening to the “shoulds” we can instead clearly and consciously choose to do something by substituting the words “I choose to” for the phrase  “I should”. So we can tell ourselves I'm choosing not to be on Instagram, because I'm focusing my social media efforts elsewhere.”   One thing she sees often is entrepreneurs are too scattered and try to do too many different things at once, rather than consciously choosing to focus on a few things at a time. It can be hard to do this, especially when other people are tripling their businesses by doing the things we are choosing not to do.   Even though she’s all about pleasureifying business and life, she also explains sometimes we will be guided to do something uncomfortable. And we’ll be guided to do it because it will be the catalyst for our greatest growth, and it's where we need to go for a specific reason.   On today’s show she also shares a few of her secrets for women in business. The first is that we must show up and stand out. We have to show up in places that may be uncomfortable and get out of us out of our comfort zones.   Then we must stand out when we do show up. Standing out happens through our stories, everyone has their own unique story. There are plenty of people in every industry from coaching to marketing to business, so finding what makes you stand out and then sharing that message through podcasting, webinars, live talks, and your web site.   Also on today’s show she shares a practical approach to three important areas of life: money, marketing and mindset. She explains a simple daily practice to adopt for each of these areas, and why it’ll make a difference in your life.   Be sure to listen in for all of that and so much more on this episode of Sex, Money and Food with Rebecca Massoud!   Tweetable: “My intuition is my CEO, and that’s what guides me.” ~Rebecca Massoud     Rebecca Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: I’ll start with food, then sex then money. I went practical: we need food to survive and eating healthy, yummy food is important to me and my family.   Q: There is nothing better in life than…A: Love. For me it all boils down to love.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life?A: Being fully alive and living from that place of what lights you up - really knowing and discovering what lights you up, and living that every day. Q: What does abundance smell like to you? A: Roses. There’s the old cliche of stopping to smell the roses, and yes it’s a cliche but there’s such wisdom in it. And I think it’s one of the keys to abundance - take the time to enjoy the moment, enjoy nature and be present. I think it’s so important to have the daily practice to keep us connected.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance you went through in your 20s regarding sex, money and food that is has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: In my early 20s I woke up to this world of transformation. In my 20s I was on a search, I knew there was something more to life and there was something missing.   So I started reaching out to get help and a friend showed up with Jack Canfield tapes and another friend showed up with a box of Tony Robbins! I started seeing a spiritual counselor, doing yoga at my gym and learned about meditation. Back then, especially in Texas, it was so foreign. This whole new world opened for me.   And about a year later I knew it was time to leave Texas so I got out a map and felt drawn to three different places. I quit my job, let go of my apartment, loaded up my car and took off for northern California with about $1,000! It was a huge leap and a little naive, but I had faith. Q: What book are you reading?A: Pussy by Regina Thomashauer! I’ve read a couple of her books, she founded the School of Womanly Arts and I loved her and those books. And I have a mastermind group that has met every Monday morning for the last four years, by phone. We started with a business focus, money and business-building. And this one popped into our lap about a month ago and it was like Yes this is the book for us! It’s a beautiful book.     Resources From This Episode   Rebecca Massoud’s website Rebecca Massoud on Twitter Rebecca Massoud on Facebook Rebecca’s gift to you! Pussy, by Regina Thomashauer Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible    

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast   If you want to get that next promotion or start your own business today’s guest has words of wisdom for you! Cynthia Trevino helps employees and entrepreneurs - especially women - get what they want out of their jobs, businesses and finances.   On this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast, Cynthia and I talk about what she specifically recommends when starting over, why she became a vegetarian and how she met her soulmate in her 40s.     More About This Show   Cynthia is a speaker, an author and a small business marketing expert and trainer. In 2001, after working in the corporate sector, she co-founded Resonnect. She is also a contributor to the  book, The Rock Star Success Stories. She’s also a firm believer that we as women can indeed have it all, from our soul mates (she met hers in her 40s) to our careers to our health and happiness.   We cover a gamut of topics today but one I wanted to highlight and share with you is her advice on what to do when you are starting over, whether you are in a career or running your own business.   First you must have clarity about who you are serving; it’s important for you to know your perfect customer. Whether you are the boss/entrepreneur or an employee, you must know the details of your clients.   You need to be able to answer questions like: Who are they as a complete person? What are they ready for? What are they tired of? It’s about being super focused, and going beyond marketing demographics like saying you are customers are women aged 25 to 40.   You also need to know who you serve best and who gets the best results from your programs, trainings, etc. Once you have that nailed down, then replay your best successes and think about the elements of it. Capture the words the clients use, and then use their language in all of your content and conversations.   And the next step is to key in on top 5 core problems your client is facing. In your marketing and your conversations, talk about the problems your client wants to solve. Consistently address those pain points and then talk about the outcomes they can expect by working with you. You’ll need to know what their dreams are for this step.   On this episode of Sex, Money and Food, we also get into one of her biggest passions: gender balance, financial equality for women, and why it’s ridiculous that women are constantly asked how they do it all, when men never are! We also talk about food, one of her weight loss secrets, and how she met her soulmate in her 40s...and we have a lot of fun in the process! Join us to hear that and more on this edition of Sex, Money And Food with Cynthia Trevino.     Cynthia Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: #1 is food/wine because I’m a total wine lover so food, sex then money.   Q: There is nothing better in life than…A: a quiet weekend with my husband when I don’t have to travel, I don’t have a deliverable and I don’t have to write anything and there’s nothing going on!   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life?A: traveling with someone I love to visit people I love. Q: What does starting over smell like to you? A: Starting over smells like sage. Sage is an herb, it’s not sweet. It blends with a lot of things, it says to me adventure! In the beginning it’s exciting but you don’t know if it’s going to be bitter or sweet. It’s green, fresh and it’s unknown - you’re not sure how it’s going to end up!   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance you went through in your 20’s regarding sex, money and food that is has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: For me it was finding my soul mate. I was in corporate, and I had left San Diego for the East Coast which is so different! Downtown San Diego was so simple compared to New Jersey and New York City. There was a lot of commuting, travel to support branch offices over the country.   I realized I hadn’t had a date in a couple of years. I had friends but I said there’s something wrong here - I need a life! I felt like I wanted a personal life, I wanted someone to come home to. This was before Match.com and internet dating, so I got out the New York Times and started going to singles events, joined a bicycling club.   I changed my life so I wasn’t traveling so much. I didn’t have mentors to guide me so I went to Barnes & Noble and tried to find books on getting married over 35. I found two, read them cover to cover and followed them blindly. It took about two years and I went through a lot of frogs!   But I noticed someone I work with, and realized he was more interesting than anyone else I was meeting on my dates. So I started talking to him more and it took a few months - he was clueless and just thought we were coworkers! - to reel in his thinking! Q: What book are you reading?A: The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. She is a New York Times best-seller and she decided to just make herself happier. It’s her yearlong process. I really love it.Another book I love is by Mika Brzezinski, she wrote the best-seller Know Your Value and I am reading her second and newest book, Grow Your Value. She tells true and honest stories about being a reporter, being in local television and how she would accept whatever her male bosses would tell her. She interviews all the way up to the female CEO of Pepsi-Cola. It’s about being compensated and be respected for the value you bring to an organization.   Tweetable: “We need gender balance .” ~Cynthia Trevino     Resources From This Episode   Cynthia Trevino’s web site Cynthia Trevino on Twitter Cynthia Trevino on Facebook 7 Critical Mistakes Women Entrepreneurs Make That Keep Them From Earning The Money They Deserve The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin Grow Your Value, by Mica Brzezinski Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible    

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast     If you’ve ever felt yourself putting up walls or blocking yourself from going after something you really wanted, today’s guest will inspire and inform you to change that experience!   On this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast, Lynn Rose joins us to talk about transforming an experience no matter how you are feeling about it, why our greatest challenges often become our greatest messages, as well as a personal example of how she opened up and dropped her own walls.     More About This Show   Lynn Rose has been called “The Voice of Transformation”. She has an entertainment background and has been a TV host, a singer, and a Broadway performer. Today she is recognized as an international speaker, a motivation and media strategist who has shared the stage with everyone from Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow and Jay Leno to Wayne Dyer and Tony Robbins.   Using what she calls The WOW Factor, she’s helped billionaire CEOs, celebrities and professionals alike to transform their fears into assets, and to live powerfully without walls or internal borders.   On this episode she shares an experience that helped her become the transformational messenger she is today. Earlier in her career she was in a Broadway performance when it ended abruptly. That event, along with several other challenges in her life at the time, caused her to shut down: she couldn’t sing or perform. She left the entertainment world for two years. Later she came back to entertainment and then began branching out into the speaking world. Her third speaking gig was an event for 8,000 chiropractors as well as people in the personal development world. In fact, it was such a big event that many of her heroes were in the audience:  Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, John Gray, John DiMartini, and the like.   She took a red eye to get there and didn’t sleep at all. When she showed them the speech she was going to give, they threw it out and gave her a new speech to do that same night. To top it off, there was no way to use notes and there was no teleprompter, and no podium. She was so nervous backstage that she was nearly throwing up. She even prayed for the fire alarm to go off so she wouldn't have to go on! But when she felt herself shutting down, she knew she had to shift her energy, attention and her focus. From her previous experiences and challenges, she knew that what mattered most was to treat the speech like a conversation with her best friend. Connection was (and is) key. She stayed focused on the connection and letting the audience know they were #1. So she let everything else dance to the side, and focused on the connection throughout the speech. She had to keep coming back to the connection, but eventually it carried the day!   Also on this episode, she shares how her WOW mastermind got started as well as a simple three step practice to use throughout your day to keep you connected, present and on track. You’ll have to tune in to hear the details but it involves gratitude, acknowledgment and non-judgment! She also gives her real world win and a favorite quote by George Elliot. You won’t want to miss a thing on today’s show so sit back and enjoy!     Tweetable: “Judgments are what create our walls.” ~Lynn Rose     Lynn Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: Sex, money and food! There’s something about the bonded connection: how free, how ultimate it is and I think it’s such a vital part of life. Then money because of all the good you can do, and the way it can support you in living your vision, your passion, and support others in the world. And food is great but I would put that third in the order!   Q: There is nothing better in life than…A: feeling fully alive.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life?A: Living my passion and doing what I love to do. I love being on stage or on camera, connecting with people and heightening and raising the energy. Q: What does shedding the walls smell like to you? A: What a fascinating question! Without walls smells like an explosive fragrance: it means aliveness, unabashed, unstoppable, connected aliveness. The scent that gave me that feeling was a Hawaiian flower: plumeria.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance you went through regarding sex, money and food that is has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: I feel like our challenges, especially when we were younger, end up being drivers and informing us of our purpose. That famous saying “Your mess is your message”. Instead of being successful or doing what you are meant to do, despite what happened to you - it’s actually because of what happened to you. So be thankful even when it’s something that is challenging or tough.   For me there were a lot of challenges that happened to me that resulted in being shut down. I was trying to look at the wall I was controlling, but not letting anyone come near it. I was doing a Broadway show and it was wonderful. But when it ended suddenly along with other things that were happening, I shut down. I could no longer sing, I had no confidence and I had to leave the entertainment industry for two years.       Resources From This Episode   Lynn Rose’s website Lynn’s WOW mastermind Lynn Rose on Twitter Lynn Rose on Facebook http://wowyourlife.com/ Lynn Rose on LinkedIn Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible    

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)     Do you ever feel like money owns you, rather than you owning it? Or maybe you’re just overwhelmed by the thought of saving and haven’t a clue where to get started. If that’s the case you’ll love today’s guest and our conversation!   On this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast, I’m joined by Chella Diaz. Chella is a money management guru with a practical approach you’ll love and embrace. She’s on a mission to empower others and their relationship with money. She wants you to be the boss of your money - tune in today to find out how!     More About This Show From an early age Chella Diaz has been fascinated by money, and spent over 20 years in the banking and financial industries. She saw firsthand how little information most people have around money management, and she also saw the different habits the wealthy have from those who live paycheck to paycheck. Today we dive into all of those areas, and more!   Because her mission is to empower others, she always meets her clients wherever they are in their financial journey. Unlike many financial experts, she doesn’t have a cookie cutter approach that she applies to everyone.   When I asked her what differences she sees in the habits of the rich versus the poor, she said the wealthy pay themselves first. They take that money and put it into an account that serves a purpose like investing in retirement, real estate, etc. They create a wealthy account and set that money aside for long-term gains, it is not to be used for anything but long-term investments. She also recommends credit unions over banks, for good reason. Credit unions are typically non-profits and you as an account holder actually own a percentage of it. They also have lower interest rates, and lower fees than big banks so you can keep more of your own money!   And speaking of keeping more of your money, she has a very simple strategy to develop the wealthy habit of paying yourself first: take $5 from every paycheck and set it aside in your long-term investment account. Then after that, pay your bills. Once your bills are paid, whatever is leftover is for going out, movies, new clothes, etc. Once you’ve gotten into the habit of doing this for a few months, start putting away $10 from every pay period. And if you get a raise or a bonus, put half of that away too. Do both of these things regularly and consistently: keep increasing the amount you save, but don't make it painful! Small amounts are easy to get used to, which is why she suggest starting with those and incrementally getting yourself to 5% of your paycheck. Also on today’s episode, Chella shares a simple 3 bucket system you can use to teach your kids about money (it’s a system you can use too!), the books she recommends for truly understanding what it means to be a millionaire, as well as why you should never pay ATM fees again. Chella has all of those tips and more to help you become the boss of your money, tune in to hear them all!   Tweetable: “The wealthy pay themselves first.” ~Chella Diaz   Chella Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: Food, sex then money. Money is last because I’ve got that under control!   Q: There is nothing better in life than…A: having people around you that appreciate you and see you for who you are.   Q: Your ultimate pleasure in life is?A: Actually that’s so much! I enjoy cooking and baking, I enjoy it when people enjoy meals. There’s a bonding that happens, we go back to old-fashioned breaking bread together. I enjoy it when friends and family come together to enjoy a meal. Q: What does being a boss of your own money smell like to you? A: It’s refreshing! It’s that smell you get after a rain, the light rain that washes away the dirt from the streets. It’s that rain - it’s light, crisp and refreshing. It allows you to take a moment and pause and appreciate the fact that you are there.   Q: What is a mistake or a circumstance you went through in your 20’s regarding sex, money and food that is has allowed you grow and learn from. Or is there something that you would say...I will never do that again! A: As you asked a few things popped up but the one that came to the surface is going through my divorce. I lost part of my identity, I was no longer the wife and I became a single parent. That was the toughest thing. But the growth that I have done since then - it didn’t happen overnight but it did happen! Q: What book are you reading? A: What Is Your EQ? by David Gruder. I always have Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill by my bed and I read it a couple of times a year. And As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen is also by my bedside. These I have so I read them over and over again.       Resources From This Episode   Chella Diaz’s web site Chella Diaz on Twitter Chella Diaz on Facebook Fall In Love With Food, Sex and Money Summit Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen Money: Master the Game, by Tony Robbins The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley Millionaire Women Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible    

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast 079: The Impostor Syndrome, With Nicole Holland   Getting out of her own way to hosting the Business Building Rockstar Show...   If someone interviewed over 150 of the most successful entrepreneurs and business owners what wisdom would they learn? You’re about to find out on today’s fun and informative episode.   Our guest, Nicole Holland is the host of her own podcast and has interviewed more than 150 of the most successful people in the business world in that role.   On today’s show, she shares what she’s learned from them and from her own experiences. Nicole and I chat about a recent lesson she learned about her own choices that led down a rabbit hole, what The Impostor Syndrome is and how to overcome it. You’ll hear that and more on this edition of The Sex, Money and Food podcast! More About This Show   As host of the podcast, The Business Building Rockstars Show, Nicole is on a mission to help experts grow their audience, their impact, and their influence quickly and easily by leveraging podcast interviews.   Over the past year and a half, she’s interviewed more than 150 extremely successful entrepreneurs. In all of her interviews, she talks to entrepreneurs in various industries to discuss what it took for them to reach rock star status! And she’s darn good at it, her podcast made the esteemed list of iTunes New & Noteworthy.   But it wasn’t long ago that she was working in jobs she hated. Today she shares a recent lesson she learned that helped her get back to her passion of entrepreneurship after a stint in the 9 to 5 world.   About two years ago she left her job as a corrections officer, a role she had not imagined for herself in her earlier days. Originally she was an entrepreneur with a coaching business, she helped at-risk youth and families in crisis. But this was pre-Internet days and business was tough!   Eventually she was offered a job that she thought would be doing something she’d love. It turned out to be better on paper than in practice, and she left for another job. The pattern repeated itself and then repeated itself again.   She acknowledges she went down a rabbit hole seeking security, and forgot she can be and is the creator of her own story. With that regained awareness, she quit her job and became an entrepreneur again.   As an entrepreneur she faced and continues to face many challenges, all of which apply to other areas of life. One of the biggest challenges she continues to battle is one we all can relate to: The Impostor Syndrome. The Impostor Syndrome is that voice in your head that says you aren’t good enough for something you want.   Entrepreneurs tend to experience this a lot, but the rest of us do as well. It’s the doubts and insecurities you have about going out with a certain person, about asking for a raise, etc.   It’s a mindset that keeps you stuck and stagnant in any area of your life, and it is a common experience for everyone. Nicole says she has interviewed the super successful and the famous people of the world, all of whom have dealt with and continue to deal with The Imposter Syndrome.   Nicole overcomes this by acknowledging those thoughts and those gremlins, and then she reminds herself of great things she’s done. She recommends you do the same!   Also on this episode, Nicole shares how to tap into your why and how to deal with rejection, whether or not you are a business owner or entreperneur. She also explains why she created her summit and what it offers.   Her straight-shooting, honest and heartfelt stories and insights make this an episode you don’t want to miss. Tune in for all of that and more on The Sex, Money and Food podcast! Nicole Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: Money is first, I have to be honest. Then food because you can’t live without it, and you can live without sex (not that you want to but you can!).   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: love.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life? A: it really is just peace and quiet. My ultimate pleasure is sitting by the water when no one is at the beach and just listening to the waves, the air, the seagulls and just being.   Q: What does entrepreneurship smell like to you? A: Jasmine! Because it’s a peaceful, joy-filled and natural scent. To me that’s what entrepreneurship is: we are all striving for peace, freedom, that higher something and jasmine signifies freedom to me.   Q: What is a circumstance you went through that has allowed you to grow and learn and made you who you are today? A: SO many! I think life in general is an evolution. I’m 40 now and with each chapter I think I’ve learned great lessons, I’m good. Then you get more lessons to learn and you think again I’m good - but you’re going to keep getting lessons and learning lessons! They keep getting more sophisticated but at the end of the day lessons never stop.   Q: What book are you reading? A: I don’t have a book, I’m not a big reader! I like audio, but my favorite book is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Tweetable: “Everything we do is a choice. ” ~Nicole Holland Resources From This Episode   The Business Building Rock Stars web site Nicole’s summit Nicole Holland on Twitter Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill The Aladdin Factor, by Jack Canfield Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible Join the FREE  and LIVE Fall In Love With Food Sex and Money Summit on October 24th. Click HERE to Save your Spot and Learn More!!!

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast 078: Courage, Conviction and Emotional Intelligence, With Mel Burt-Gracik   For a long time, we’ve known about IQ or intelligence quotient, and it’s always been associated with how smart a person is. But recently emotional intelligence (EQ) is gaining importance in the workforce and in our everyday lives.   On this episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, Mel Burt-Gracik joins us to explain what EQ is, why it’s something that can be increased as well as the role it plays in helping us let go of the “heavy deficit” so many of us are carrying around. More About This Show   When Mel Burt-Gracik was in her mid-30s, she was living a beautiful life by all accounts, but internally she felt like she was running on empty. She felt burnt out and realized she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life when she grew up - not a feeling she expected to have at that point in her life.   With courage and conviction, Mel dove in to find what truly spoke to her soul and to find the type of work that called to her. Through talking and connecting with others, something she loves to do naturally, she met and hired a life coach who changed everything for her.   As a result of that work, today she is the founder of Flourish. Flourish is a company devoted to helping every human do their best, be a part of meaningful work, and have a rich, full life. She is a is four-time Gallup-trained and certified coach who has worked with over 275 individuals on their strengths. She also holds certifications in Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Emotional Intelligence (EQ-i), and is a board-certified coach. On this episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, Mel and I talk about what she means when she says people are carrying around a “heavy deficit” and what we can do to change that for ourselves.   The first way to unload that deficit is to reframe how we work. She says we often feel depleted because of our work culture. We still have the 40-hour work week from the industrial Revolution, but it doesn't fit well with the brain capacity of what we are asking of our knowledge-based economy workers to do today!   But our mindset around work culture today is causing this heavy deficit. Deep down people want to do meaningful work, but many are not. People must be given autonomy and freedom, and constraints must be removed (like the constraints around not taking breaks or naps), then people can share their own brilliant gifts. With freedom, autonomy and no constraints people are able to tap into their own creativity and contribution.   The second thing we can do to let go of that heavy deficit is to do things we are good at every day. Mel states people who are able to do what they do best every day tend to have higher levels of excellence in life.   Doing their best every day means they get to use their natural abilities, their talents, and learned skills that are unique to them. If people are given the freedom to mold their roles to fit their natural talents, they will be happier, they will do better work and feel more fulfilled.   And the third way to relieve the heavy deficit is our own internal positivity ratio. Mel talks about the work of Dr. Rick Hanson, a neuroscientist/psychologist, who shares how and why we need to absorb our positive moments. When we have positive experiences, we need to hold on to them and expand and savor them for 12 seconds. After that, we need to absorb them and feel the feelings in our bodies and soak it up.   This is important because it helps offset our negativity bias. The negativity bias is our animal brains’ programming to pay attention to danger, negative experiences because those things might come up again and kill us.   Even though the world we live in is much safer now than in prehistoric times, the primal parts of our brains still hold on to the negativity bias. So we have to give attention to the positive, our brains don't naturally absorb it.   Also on today’s show, Mel and I talk about how you can grow your emotional intelligence as well as why having a high EQ is correlated with high performers, why it’s responsible for an extra $29k a year for some as well as 58% of people’s job performances.   You’ll want to hear all of that and more on this intriguing and fascinating conversation about emotional intelligence! Mel Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: Food, sex, money.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: helping someone have a better life.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life? A: connecting with friends, with people I love dearly on a real and authentic level.   Q: What does flourish smell like to you? A: A rose that has almost like a lemon scent to it.   Q: What is a circumstance you went through that has allowed you to grow and learn and made you who you are today? A: I have two Master’s degrees and all of my career has been spent in leadership development, most of that in higher ed. I was about five years in to my last full-time job when I realized I was burnt out. I didn’t know what I wanted to be “when I grew up”, I didn’t expect to feel that way in my mid-30s. I had two kids, a husband - a really full, beautiful life but I was running on empty.   Somewhere I heard about coaching and someone I was interviewing with introduced me to their life coach. I hired her for two reasons: I needed support in navigating what was next for me and when I had heard about coaching, I thought it might be something I wanted to do someday so I thought it’d be good for me to have my experience of it. She really changed my life! Q: What book are you reading? A: The Steal Like An Artist Journal by Austin Kleon, and The 52 List Project by Moorea Seal. Tweetable: “ You can grow your emotional intelligence. ” ~Mel Burt-Gracik Resources From This Episode   Mel Burt-Gracik’s website Email Mel Mel Burt-Gracik on Twitter Mel Burt-Gracik on Facebook The 52 List Project, by Moorea Seal The Steal Like an Artist Journal, by Austin Kleon Life Reimagined Gallup Well-being Positivity Resonance Asset Talent search Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-) The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast Awaken Your Sensuality With Your Yoni Power, With Elise Carr For many of us, sex is an experience we go into with the end goal in mind: orgasm. In our haste to achieve that goal, women often don’t reach full arousal and both men and women miss out on the other accompanying sensations available during an intimate union.   On this episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, Elise Carr is here to bring awareness to the potential that is there when we are present during every moment of our lovemaking. She also shares how women can tap into their yoni power better and why it’s critical to love yourself first, then the Divine before moving into a partnership with another person. More About This Show   Elise Carr has learned about the power of the yoni and sacred union through personal experience. Today she is the trailblazer behind StellaMuse. And as a sacred spirituality and sexuality director, mentor, coach, writer, speaker, and Tantra practitioner, she is called the “Pioneer of Yoni Power”.   She grew into those roles through immense challenges and personal experiences. She has discovered the need to love yourself first, and then how to work on your relationship with the divine feminine. From those sources of love, everything else flows. If you spend time every day investing in yourself, you can keep your cup full so you can give to your beloved and others in your life.   One of the experiences that taught her that valuable lesson came in her 20s. She had finished her first college degree and was modeling full-time internationally. Doing so, she exhausted her body as well as her spirit.   While she wasn't interested in staying late at after parties or any of the other glitz and glamour that came along with the job, she was still working out very hard and not nourishing her body properly. She thought she was eating healthy but in fact, she was not and it took a significant toll on her body.   She eventually came home when her partner gave her an ultimatum, and her body broke down. She had an ovarian cyst that ruptured and her heart flatlined four times while in hospital.     Through this she discovered she was shutting her heart off from her yoni energy, there was a major energetic disconnect between the two. She wasn’t honoring herself, her creativity, her true power and her authentic self; her body literally had had enough and forced her to pay attention.   In that experience and with that realization, everything about her was stripped away. She could hardly walk let alone stroll down the catwalk, she had to walk away from modeling. She couldn’t drive a car or wash her own hair. And her relationship ended.   Looking back on that time, Elise says it was hell to go through but it was also a tremendous gift. And she brought that gift into the world through a book she wrote called Runway. Writing the book, at her aunt’s suggestion, became her savior. It helped her heal and move in a positive direction from the crossroads she was at.   On this episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, Elise also shares how she helps others through their own crossroads, why it’s actually romantic to schedule lovemaking and why orgasms are like sneezes! Listen in to hear this awakening and delicious edition of the show. Elise Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: Food! Food leads into sacred sex, then money.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: Truth and intimacy.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life? A: Being a clear channel of love and life, so I can be of greater service to those I connect with.   Q: What does the divine feminine smell like to you? A: That’s such an awesome question! It’s definitely connected to Mother Earth and the elements - like the ocean breeze and a little bit of rose, orchid, and honey. Definitely the flowers mixed with the ocean spray.   Q: What is a circumstance you went through that has allowed you to grow and learn and made you who you are today? A: My life from the age of 4 had a lot of disruption and horrific changes. From then til about my late 20s/early 30s, there was a lot of disruption and I felt it all shook me to the core. I feel I was shaken, shattered and broken numerous times. And when I look back I have had a really dynamic journey for a young person, and I realized I had to go through those mini traumas and big traumas to have an emotional intelligence, a compassion and a loving kindness for myself, my journey and for the role I stepped into. Tweetable: “Make sure you are nourishing yourself!” ~Elise Carr Resources From This Episode   Elise Carr’s website Email Elise Elise’s blog post on The Pill Runway, by Elise Carr Elise Carr on Twitter Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Get your free audiobook at Audible

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast Power, Healing and the Art of Belly Dancing, With Nadirah Bray   Belly Dancing and the exploration of self love through a mystical dance...   Many of us are so disconnected from our bodies in today’s culture - but dance is a sure way to get back in touch with our own physicality. Our guest for this episode knows exactly how powerful dance is, especially belly dancing! Nadirah Bray is the founder of the Goddess In Motion Institute and San Diego Belly Dancers.   On this episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, Nadirah joins us to talk about how dance helped her heal and why she shares that message with other cancer survivors, and women of all backgrounds, ages and experiences. More About This Show   Nadirah first discovered belly dancing when she was six years old. She saw beautiful women of all ages and sizes performing at the Del Mar County Fair in San Diego. Fast forward a few years to her wedding; her husband’s cousin asked if she could perform a belly dance routine for them as a wedding gift. Nadirah said yes and everyone loved it, including Nadirah.   A few more years went by before belly dancing became a daily part of her life though. When her two sons were three and ten months old, Nadirah was busy doing the usual mom stuff. But something inside of her yearned for a social life of her own, and then belly dancing came to mind.   She called her friend from high school, they found someone in the Yellow Pages, called the woman and went over to her house to start classes. Within five months Nadirah was performing at Zorba’s in Chula Vista, and her belly dancing journey began!   For her, the dancing was a way to feel beautiful and feminine. Today she has learned it's great for recovering from different surgeries and illnesses as well. But for all women, it’s a wonderful tool to stay in touch with our ever-changing bodies and to love our bodies as they are.   As women we are constantly being told we aren't good enough, we aren’t this-enough or that-enough so there’s no room for us to simply be at peace with our bodies. Belly dancing is an opportunity to love the bodies we are in, whether we are 5, 25 or 75!   One of the ways we can incorporate this movement into our daily lives is by doing the figure 8 with our hips. Nadirah explains it: you start by placing your feet hip width apart, keeping your knees flexible while slightly tilting your pelvis in. Breath in, put shoulders back, then roll them down.   Next bend your knees a bit, stand with your weight on your left side, while turning your right hip forward to the right diagonal. Now come from across the body from the left through the body to the right foot and then push the right hip back til it doesn't go back anymore (in a way that feels comfortable and safe).   Finally you're going to come through the body from the right to the left front diagonal, and then push the left hip back to the left diagonal. In essence you are creating the infinity sign on the floor, it looks like an 8 on its side.   Doing this helps create balance between your masculine and feminine energy. It also activates your womb center. If you put on soft music, it becomes a beautiful dance meditation. Do this for 5 minutes, breath in on one side and breath out when you go to the other. You’ll feel more calm, centered and relaxed after you do!   Also on this edition of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, we talk about why it’s important not to dim your own light and the importance of women supporting other women. Listen in to hear all of that and more on today’s show! Nadirah Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: Food, sex and money. I love food so for life I have to have food. I have to nourish my body to have sex and to make money. With food I eat slow, and I make noises when I eat - I really savor it!   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: having fun in everything you do!   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life? A: being of service to people and seeing them transform into their best selves.   Q: What does belly dancing smell like to you? A: It smells sweet and juicy...because belly dance is a feminine movement. It’s all about loving it and moving it, that’s juicy to me. The sweetness comes because women are like beautiful flowers, just sweet.   Q: What is a circumstance you went through that has allowed you to grow and learn and made you who you are today? A: I have been a professional belly dancer for 12 years, that was one goal. Then in 2009 I had stage 4 breast cancer, and thought I’m never going to achieve my goals. I went through many treatments of chemotherapy and long hospital stays, but as soon as I was out I went back to dance.   Every opportunity after that I would dance or visualize it, it made me feel like alive and normal. What I learned is dance is really healing, it was healing my mind and my emotions. Just to move and be one with myself and to know myself at different stages of my life, that’s what I love. .   Q: What book are you reading? A: Everybody Is a Body. I love it because it just talks about everybody being a moving self. Dance is movement plus emotion. Tweetable: “Don’t ask a question of others, make a statement. ” ~Nadirah Bray Resources From This Episode   Nadirah Bray’s web site Nadirah Bray’s belly dancing web site To call Nadirah - 619-895-4241 Email Nadirah Nadirah’s Red Tent event on October 15 Nadirah Bray on Facebook Nadirah Bray on Twitter Everybody Is a Body, by Karen A. Studd, and Laura L. Cox Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Easy Smile with Dr. BraunsteinGet your free audiobook at Audible

www.alexandraharbushka.com Leave a review: http://bit.ly/ReviewSexMoneyandFood PSST.  I will be reading your reviews in an upcoming episode so if you have any questions ask away :-)   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast   Have you ever considered your doodles and stick figures say more about you and your life than you might think? Our guest today, Rebecca Wilkinson, is an art therapist and artist who helps people see themselves and each other more clearly through the art they make.   On this episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, Rebecca joins us to talk about the therapeutic benefits of art and how we can use art therapy to tap into previously unseen and unacknowledged parts of ourselves. We cover that and much more on today’s edition of the show! More About This Show   Rebecca Wilkinson has been an artist for 40 years, and a licensed and certified art therapist for 25 of those years. Through her therapy work, she teaches people how to experience the most happiness possible. She is also the managing partner of Creative Wellbeing Workshops, and currently working on a book with her business partner.   Though there are many benefits to art therapy, the greatest are to help us get back into balance when we fall out, to help us get “unstuck” when we feel stuck and to help us choose one path over another when we are faced with a difficult decision or choice.   And we don’t have to be an artist to experience these results - anyone can benefit from art therapy regardless of their artistic talent level or abilities.   In addition to individual work, Rebecca also works with couples, families and team members. Her work allows others to see themselves and to see each other in a new light, and to appreciate the similarities and differences innate in everyone.   She does this work in a rather unconventional way. She lives in both Washington, D.C. and Tucson, Arizona. For two weeks out of every month, she is in D.C., with her husband and her twin sister, and the other two weeks she is at Miraval Resort and Spa in Tucson. At Miraval she helps run workshops for the resort’s guests.   On this edition of the podcast, Rebecca gives an example of a woman she recently helped with her art therapy work. The woman came to Rebecca because she was out of balance and wanted Rebecca to help her get back in. Rebecca had this woman make a mandala (she explains on the show what that is exactly). As they looked at it together, Rebecca asked the woman if she wanted to change anything on her mandala. It was an equally balanced, beautiful piece; the woman said no, she liked it fine as it was.   Using the mandala as a metaphor for this woman’s life, Rebecca suggested she may not actually be out of balance since she liked the mandala as it was. Rebecca went on to say this woman might just think she’s out of balance because of what others were telling her.   That’s just one example of insights Rebecca has helped others see in themselves through their art!   Also on this edition of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, we talk about the different kinds of structure people need for creating art, how coloring is therapeutic even when done without a therapist to guide you, and how to overcome the negativity bias so many of us let run amok in our minds!   Whether you think you are an artist or not, you’ll learn so much from Rebecca’s stories and sharing on today’s show. Listen in for all of that and more! Rebecca Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: I thought about this over and over again. It’s probably food! Food makes me feel healthy and that makes me appreciate everything else.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: Time with loved ones where you can feel love, and give love.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life? A: My greatest pleasure is doing mandalas - circle drawings. It was a form of journaling and I started bringing them out at dinner parties. That’s what I love to do - do art with other people.   Q: What does art smell like to you? A: Love that question! No one has asked me that before. I’d say it smells like wood that has been hit by hot sun in the desert, than the monsoon comes and it hits the creosote and gives this freshness to it.   Q: What is a circumstance you went through that has allowed you to grow and learn and made you who you are today? A: When my brother died, it was so devastating that we didn’t know how to cope with it. I moved down to Costa Rica with my husband; our relationship had just started. I am codependent and my husband is very independent, and I would fuss over him. My energy was very low. My husband stuck it out with me, but I had to learn to let go and let someone be who they are. Q: What book are you reading? A: All I can think of is my favorite children’s book, The Giant In The Snow , by John Gordon. I like to read things that make me believe there really is magic and that book is about magic. Tweetable: “We are all unique. ” ~Rebecca Wilkinson Resources From This Episode   Rebecca Wilkinson’s bio Rebecca Wilkinson on LinkedIn The Giant In The Snow, by John Gordon Miraval Resort and Spa Rebecca’s “fuse exploding” image Subscribe to the Sex, Money and Food Podcast on iTunes Easy Smile with Dr. Braunstein Get your free audiobook at Audible

Leave a Review or Rate this Podcast www.alexandraharbushka.com   The Sex, Money, and Food Podcast 072: The Alchemy of Turning Lead Into Gold, With Steve Rodgers   Turning a seemingly negative situation into a positive one is a definite skill, and an alchemy of sorts. Our guest for today’s show is a master at finding the good in every experience, he has learned how to turn lead into gold! And he’s built a business helping others do the same.   On this episode of the Sex, Money and Food podcast, Steve Rodgers of Alchemy Advisors, joins us to talk about what ignited his business, how and why he transformed his body and how he continues to transform his mind and his clients’ on a consistent basis. More About This Show   Steve Rodgers is a business and lifestyle consultant as well as the best-selling author of Lead Into Gold, which became a top seller on its first day in the marketplace! In 2015 he start his latest business, Alchemy Advisors. The business is so named as a tribute to Paul Coehlo’s The Alchemist, a book about finding what makes your soul sing, something he loves doing with his clients.   The catalyst for Alchemy Advisors came from what others would see as a tragic event: he was fired from the realty company he had been with for 15 years. In 2008 the real estate market crashed, and he was the CEO at the time. About a week before Christmas, they fired him. But he took it as a great gift and told himself:  “...they didn’t just fire a CEO, they birthed an entrepreneur.” That experience put him on a path to self-exploration, higher purpose and entrepreneurship - which ultimately led to Alchemy Advisors.   Steve believes every single thing happens for a reason and that we are empowered to have choices and change the direction of our lives, if we choose to. In that moment and every moment since, he has chosen to.   And that includes his switch to being vegan! During his CEO days his weight ballooned to  350 pounds at his highest. His motto was work hard, play hard. He's always been an overachiever, and he overachieved in drinking as well. He made the decision to quit drinking 13 years ago, and in his first year with no alcohol he dropped 50-60 pounds. Then hired a trainer and became even more fit.   With the start of Alchemy Advisors, he was laser-focused on becoming as fit as possible in every level and took his health even further. He saw a health and nutrition coach he has long admired, and that doctor recommended he go vegan based on Steve’s body’s particular needs.   At first, Steve resisted but eventually said yes and agreed to do it for 90 days. He promised himself he was going to be his number one client. He was going to show his other clients how to be in best possible health in every area: spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, financial. Though it was tough, he stuck with it and had tremendous results. Today Steve is half the man he once was at 175 pounds!   He’s also embraced the mental aspect of his life and become an example for his clients by doing things that scare him. He got into martial arts, despite being one of the oldest in many of his classes, and he also went skydiving with his daughter!   Today he explores his fears on a regular basis. He says wherever any of us have the biggest fears in our lives, that is where we need to go the most. On this show, he encourages everyone to embrace and make friends with their biggest fears. And when you feel resistance or fear just know that is your soul’s GPS signal for where you really want to go!   Also on this episode, Steve explains what his 4 B’s scoring system is that helps him stay on point in every area of his and the simple way you can do the same. This is a fun, insightful and encouraging edition of the Sex, Money and Food podcast! Steve Answers the Questions   Q: Rank the following in order: sex, money, food. A: Depending on the month, week or year, I’d have different responses! At this moment I’d rank them food, money and sex. And next week it’ll probably go back to sex, food and money! That’s where I am and those are my rankings.   Q: There is nothing better in life than… A: right now then seeing my wife with my daughter who just had a baby six weeks ago. It’s really special to see that! I love being a grandfather, it’s such a cool experience.   Q: What is your ultimate pleasure in life? A: Traveling with my wife and experiencing different parts of the world, and also being in some mission of purpose besides just traveling.   Q: What does alchemy smell like to you? A: Great question! It smells like a great incense of frankincense with another vanilla candle burning in the background.   Q: What is a circumstance you went through that has allowed you to grow and learn and made you who you are today? A: One of the big things was I got fired from Prudential California realty after being there 15 years. In 2008 the real estate market crashed down, I was the CEO of that company at the time. Part of my job was to close and consolidate. I closed 40-50 real estate offices in 18 months. A week before Christmas and they fired me. I took it as a great gift and said they didn’t just fire a CEO, they birthed an entrepreneur. I decided to build my own real estate company.   Q: What book are you reading? A: Ego Alchemy, Matilda Faltyn. She explores the power of how the ego is our lead, and how you are getting to the gold of your soul. The other book I’m reading is by the man who runs Mind Valley, it’s called The Code of The Extraordinary Mind. His name is Vishen Lakhiana. Tweetable: “Resistance is the price you pay for the dream you say you want.” ~Steve Rodgers Resources From This Episode Steve Rodgers’ web site Lead to Gold, by Steve Rodgers Steve Rodgers on Twitter To reach Steve by phone: 858. 829. 2969 The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield Subscribe to the Real World Woman Podcast on iTunes Easy Smile with Dr. Braunstein Get your free audiobook at Audible  

Q There has been a lot of talk about music therapy lately and it's role in helping people with different types of dementia including Alzheimer's. What Exactly is Music therapy and how can it help someone with dementia? A- Ask a Professional asked Pam Haynie, owner of Medicine Music Production and a Music therapist for over 20 years, to answer this question. Pam regularly goes into nursing homes and memory care communities with her healing work. The results are often phenomenal!

In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest Anla Cheng, partner at Sino-Century China Private Equity Partners, talks with our host Nina Xiang, about the importance of protecting intellectual property for companies in China's financial information sector, why she thinks China's IPO market might open sooner than expected, and her hopes for the realization of substantive reforms in China. Read an excerpt below, but be sure to listen to the full interview in audio or watch an abbreviated video version. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in the iTunes store. Q: Can you give us a brief introduction of Sino-Century China Private Equity Partners? A: Sino-Century was founded in 2005 by three partners. Our founder, Dr. Hong Chang, used to work at the municipality in Pudong, Shanghai. He was one of the 25 financial architects who built the Pudong district. Therefore, he's very close to the build-up of China's financial center. We launched our first RMB fund in 2007 focused on small and medium enterprises (SME). We focus on three sectors: financial information and services, which is the mainstay of our fund. About 50% of our assets are invested in this area. The other two are high-end manufacturing and sustainable environment. Q: Do you currently only manage one fund? A: We are onto our second fund. Our first fund initially planned to raise US$150 million. Then the financial crisis hit and we closed at US$73 million. It is mainly in RMB, but also has about 15% of assets in U.S. dollars. We had several exits already and were hoping for another exit last year. Then the IPO market got closed. But we are on the "queue," of which there are about 800 companies waiting to go public in China. There are about 40 to 80 companies that already received approval to list, one of which is a company we invested in the financial information sector. We are in the final stage of marketing our second fund, which we are targeting US$250 million. It's going to be predominately in U.S. dollars because our founder has always a vision to become an international fund. Q: There are media reports saying that Sino-Century invested RMB84 million in Wind Info for a stake of 7% to 9% in 2007. Are they accurate? A: Yes. Initially, we invested about US$12.7 million for a stake above 7%. Two years after we made the investment, CITIC PE bought a share at about three times of our valuation, and our share got diluted a bit. Q: Intellectual property is critical in this sector. Wind Info has sued competitors for IP infringement last year, and others have sued Wind Info for the same cause. Do you think lawsuits are effective in protecting IPs in China? A: Probably not as effective as in other places, but at least it's a beginning. Wind Info's pending lawsuit (against Zhejiang Hithink Flush Information Network Co.) is dragging on a bit but I believe Wind Info has a strong case. Q: What are some other tactics for companies in China to protect their IPs? A: One thing they could do is to always stay on top of the changing curve, and constantly come up with new products and ideas. Also, if you look at Bloomberg, it probably faced similar issues. But it got very big very quickly through acquisitions. I wouldn't be surprised if Wind Info does the same thing. Q: Among the biggest five companies in China's financial information sector, Wind Info is the only one that remains private. How do you see it evolve in the future? A: Right now, the competitors are more focused on retail, not institutional. Wind Info still has a strong hold among financial institutions. Earlier on, when we initially started working with Wind Info, it wanted to expand to Europe and the U.S. quickly. We advised that it would probably be more prudent to have a foothold in areas within Southeast Asia that read and speak Chinese. So Wind Info expanded into Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan first, and then into other regions within Asia.

In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest André Loesekrug‐Pietri, founder of A Capital, explains why his fund's China-Europe cross-border strategy will thrive even in the current world economic malaise, how did he become attracted to the Chinese markets, and why his new fund was able to secure two star institutional investors. Listen to the full interview in the audio podcast, watch an abbreviated video version, or read an excerpt. Q: First, a brief introduction of A Capital? A: We are a European growth capital fund focused on investing in European companies that have strong growth potentials in China. Once we make the decision to invest in (a European company), we bring a Chinese strategic co-investor that has the resources and expertise to make this European company succeed in China. Q: You have both a Euro fund and a RMB fund. The Euro fund has a target size of €250 million. How much have you raised so far? A: We have raised a significant amount of that. Our fund is relatively new, just a bit over a year old and we've done two deals so far. Several months ago, we had our first closing with two major investors, one from China and the other one from Europe. Q: These are the Belgian Federal Holdings and China Investment Corporations? A: Yes, both of them invested in our Luxemburg fund. Our fund is actually a regulated fund, even thought only funds with over €500 million are required to be regulated in Europe. We decided to be regulated by the Luxemburg Financial Authority because of the quality of our investors. We have a second, RMB fund that we have set up in cooperation with the Beijing Municipal government, specifically, Beijing's Office of Financial Works. The fund is unique in that it is allowed to raise money in RMB in China and invest overseas. The two funds invest in complete parallel terms. The RMB fund is a tool for us to allow Chinese LPs to invest overseas through our vehicle. Q: There are several funds with similar strategy to yours. Mandarin Capital has a China-Italy/China-Europe focus, whose founder was featured on our program previously; Cathy Capital has a China-France focus. What are some similarities and differences between you and them? A: First, this is a new strategy. It's always good to have someone else with whom you can benchmark yourself. I'm both German and French. There are around 120 private equity funds in Germany, and maybe around 140 funds in France. If there are two or three funds doing cross-border deals, it's only healthy. Secondly, our focus is the whole European continent. Our strategy is focused on one theme: urbanization, which is a trend that will continue to be very strong in the next twenty to thirty years in China. We invest in three sub-areas: 1, Retail and consumer brands. Our two done deals in Club Méditerranée and Bang & Olufsen are in this category. 2, Transportation and logistics. 3, Quality of life including food safety, environmental technology and healthcare. Europe has the expertise and resources in all these areas to offer. Germany has automotive expertise. The Nordic countries and France have water treatment technologies. In France and Italy, there are solid consumer brands. Lastly, once we have taken the decision to invest, we bring along a Chinese co-investor who has the industrial skills needed to create true value. We then work hard to make sure these synergies are realized during the lifetime of the investment. Q: With Europe saddled with the Euro crisis and China's economy slowing, how will your ability to successfully implement your strategy be affected? A: Our strategy is to invest in European companies that have strong potential to grow in China. It was a niche strategy in Europe until two or three years ago, because until then companies were able to grow well within Europe. Now, with poor growth prospective in Europe, to be successful in China is no longer a nice-to-have, but an absolute obligation.

In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest Thomas Hugger, CFO of Leopard Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in Asian frontier markets, discusses the successes and failures of his firm's investments in Cambodia, the impact on frontier markets from a slowing Chinese economy, and why frontier markets offer better risk-return profiles than emerging markets. Listen to the full interview in the audio podcast, watch the shortened video version or read an excerpt. Q: First give us a brief introduction of Leopard Capital? A: Leopard Capital was founded in 2008. Our general goal is to make private equity investments in frontier markets. We've raised two funds so far. In March 2008, we raised our first private equity fund to invest in Cambodia. Another fund was raised to invest in Haiti. We are hoping to launch two additional funds to invest in Bangladesh and Bhutan this year. We've met hundreds of potential institutional investors or high-net-worth individuals. They are extremely interested in Asian frontier markets, but they are concerned to invest their money for ten years in a private equity fund in a single country like Cambodia. They want more diversification and more liquidity. So earlier this year, we launched a fund to invest in listed equities in Asian frontier markets, including Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Myanmar. This is our Leopard Asia Frontier Fund, which I manage at the moment. Q: How much capital do you have in these funds? A: The Cambodia fund has US$34 million. The Haiti fund has US$20 million. For Leopard Asia Frontier Fund, we start with money from family and friends, and we are going on road shows to raise more money. At the moment, we are at US$2 million. Q: There is certainly lots of interest in frontier markets now. When you talk to potential investors, what's the biggest concern that they have? A: Their biggest concern is liquidity and execution of investments. Their question is: Are these countries ready for private equity investments? We try to tell them that it's possible to make private equity investments in these markets. For our Cambodia fund, we are in our fourth year. We are fully invested and had two exits. So we are convinced that it's possible. Q: Can you give us more background on the two exits you achieved in Cambodia? A: One is a pre-IPO deal in Laos (Cambodia funds normally invest in the Mekong region). We invested a couple of months before an electricity stock was listed. The other is a structured deal in a telecommunications company in Cambodia, which is supposed to run for two years, but we exited at one year and three months. We source these deals through our own relationships. We have about 20 shareholders in Leopard Capital. Our chairman is Marc Faber. So we get a lot of referrals. Q: For the Cambodia investment, how did you exit, exactly? A: In this particular case, the deal was financed by a Chinese bank. There are a lot of interests from the Chinese on Cambodia's telecommunications sector. In general, when we invest, we don't assume we can exit through an IPO. We will normally do a trade sale. Q: What kind of deal volume is there every year in these markets? How does valuation compare with other markets like China and India? A: Don't forget our fund is only US$34 million. We want to have a diversified portfolio, not only by industries, but also by investment styles. The average deal size is anywhere from US$1 million to US$5 million. And it's 100% our own equity. It's difficult to compare valuations because some of our investments in Cambodia are bordering venture capital. Some are green field projects (meaning you start a business on a green field where nothing is there). We did one mineral water project and one beer brewery called Kingdom Beer in Cambodia. We also invested in a very small microfinance company when everyone was chasing Indian microfi...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZksjDV6txE In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest Bob Partridge, managing partner of transaction advisory services at Ernest & Young, explains why it is a good time for overseas institutional investors to invest in China's private equity right now, and what is in store for the industry next year. Listen to the full-interview in the audio podcast, watch the shortened video version, or read a transcript summary. Q: China's private equity industry is in a challenging position right now with a large capital overhang and difficult exit channels. Some are calling for an industry consolidation. What's your view? A: There are a lot of concerns going on in the public markets right now, and that's driving activities on both sides of the deal picture. On exits, there are certainly lower opportunities for private equity to exit. But on investing side, it creates better valuation opportunities. As a result, we are seeing a mixture of expected lower valuations, and the old problem that we always have in this market, that sellers always want to hold out as long as they can before they recognize changes in valuations. But overall, deal volume and fundraising are up, so it's not a bad time to invest in PE in China. Q: How has fundraising and deal volume been? A: In the first quarter, we had a good quarter. The second quarter, fundraising came down on concerns of what RMB funds really mean for the industry. In fact, last year, all the funds raised are unrealistic. The most recent quarter, deal volumes are up 9%. Because we see things before they become public, I can say deal pipelines are very strong. We predict that the third quarter will be up slightly because of the summer months. The fourth quarter, deal volume will continue to go up. Overall, total dollars deal volume will be up in 2012 year-on-year. Q: The somewhat strange phenomenon in the Chinese markets now is that valuations in the public markets are lower than private markets. What does that mean for investors? A: There is lots of insanity out here. It's easy to zero in on some high valuation deals. But a lot of things here aren't as transparent as New York or London. Entrepreneurs expect high valuations, when they hear a public deal getting done at 20-times multiple, for example, they think their company should be worth at least 21 times. So you have mixtures of exaggerated reporting and embellishment of what the real valuations are. But in general, we are seeing valuations are coming down on a historical perspective. Q: Exiting has been the most challenging part for private equity this year. Will M&A and secondaries really emerge as viable alternatives? A: If you look at seasoned international private equity investors, they all position their companies for a variety of exits. That's happening now in greater China. Private equity investors are not desperate to sell unless their fund life requires them to do so, which is not really the majority of the funds. Private equity here are buttoning down and trying to create value at their portfolio companies. They are looking at next year (for exits). So for the time being, they are thinking what can we do to close out 2012 as strongly as possible, clean up corporate governance, expand channels and improve profitability. Of course, that's also positioning the company for trade sales. Secondaries are developing. Clearly, it will increase this year and next year. Some of the secondaries that were done are long-time held investments where the GPs really have to close down and return to LPs. Q: There are lots of uncertainties now in China's macroeconomic outlook, and companies are more prudent on M&A. Will we really see more M&A deal? A: M&A will probably be soft compared to last year, as companies are staying more prudent. Next year, with Europe's situations improving, the U.S. elections over, and China's inflation coming down,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK-1l35pPUk&feature=plcp In this episode of China Money Network, guest Monte Brem, CEO of private equity firm StepStone Group, shares his firm's investments in China and how offshore investors can protect themselves when investing with local Chinese managers. Listen to the full-interview in the audio podcast, watch the shortened video version or read an excerpt. Q: You have been relocated to China for more than two years, and StepStone’s office in Beijing opened about two years ago. How have your businesses in China grown during this time? A: We’ve increased the amount of capital we invest into China by a huge amount. We used to invest around US$25 to US$30 million into Chinese managers and deals. Now we are investing around US$300 to US$500 million a year. So on the investment side, there has been huge growth. Q: So where do you see attractive opportunities right now? A: Almost all the money we invest into China is somehow connected to the consumer market. (Because) a lot of markets like mining and resources are very difficult. Most of them are not accessible to foreign investors anyway. The consumer markets tend to be more open and less politically oriented. We’ve invested in a firm called QiMing Venture Partners, which is a private equity firm that does both consumer and health care investments. The other one is CDH Private Equity that has a focus on consumers. We’ve also done some nontraditional investments as well, such as Citic Capital, which does SOE (State-Owned-Enterprise) buyouts. Q: What kind of return are you targeting? A: Most investments are targeting return of 30 percent IRR as China is such a growth oriented market. Globally, the target is in the range of 20 percent on a growth basis. Q: Do you mostly invest in overseas funds or Chinese locally run USD funds? A: As a firm, we tend to favor local managers, particularly in China, so those managers with local approach and have a local team. When we invest in local managers, one of the challenges we face is that we can’t invest in RMB funds because we are not a local Chinese entity. So today we are investing in offshore USD funds of Chinese managers. Most of these managers manage both a USD fund and a RMB fund. Q: There may be potential conflict of interests when a manager invests both a USD and a RMB fund. What’s your observation on how managers handle this? A: Overall, it has been a major headache. It’s one of the things that makes the Chinese market more complicated and less appealing. But those managers who are committed to their offshore businesses have gotten very good in balancing the conflicts and put together structures that protect the offshore investors. I think the most important thing is that you have to find the managers who really value the offshore part of their strategy. That’s the main protection you have as many managers understand that foreign capital tends to be more institutional and long-term. About Monte Brem: Monte Brem is the CEO and founding partner at StepStone Group, a San Diego-headquartered private equity firm overseeing more than US$53 billion of private equity allocations. Previously, Brem was the president of Pacific Corporate Group and a lawyer with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He holds a JD and MBA degree from the University of San Diego.  

Mike opens the show by thanking everyone for their continued communication. Al asks a favor - help us out by posting a review of our show in the iTunes music store. Here's a link that will take you to our page where you can write a review: Click here to go and write a show review for PSN Joe SatrianiJoe Satriani Update: Joe just keeps getting cooler and cooler lately. On his web site you can now listen to his new album Super Colossal in its entirety...f.r.e.e! You can also watch the new video of the title track as well as a 27-minute video feature of band rehearsals for the upcoming Super Colossal tour. Great behind the scenes stuff! As an added bonus you get to see Joe Riverdance! Here's the link to the page on satriani.com where you can access all of this cool content: Click here for Joe Satriani's Super Colossal media page Viewer Mail: Grae Smart writes: "I know that to send two tracks to a reverb, you put the reverb on an aux track and then send the tracks to it. You can control the amount with the send fader. However, when I want to compress two tracks, say two vocal tracks while recording, I don't think it works the same way. I think you need to send each track through its own compressor. Otherwise transients from one would affect compression on the other. What's your opinion?" Celebrity Interview: Al explains that a while back he found another podcast about home recording that he really enjoyed called Home Studio And Audio Review. Unfortunately, it's no longer being produced, but all of the shows are still available for download. Mike and Al caught up with one of the hosts of the show, Mr. Matt Long. In the interview Matt passes the torch to PSN for a new style of Trivia Question he used to feature on his podcast. Click here to visit Home Studio And Audio Review "The Womanizer"Gear Review: Mike reviews two new interesting guitar pre-amps/recording interfaces from Damage Control. They are both based on a dual 12AX7 tube design. They both feature: Analog Tube Circuit Designs 2 channels (Engage and Nuclear) Premium Analog Opto-Compressor Comprehensive EQ Direct Recording Out With Cabinet Simulation Several demo clips are presented for your listening pleasure. Click here to visit the Damage Control web site Answer To Last Week's Trivia Question: Due to our tenth anniversay show last week, there was no trivia question. This Week's Trivia Question: As you heard in the interview with Matt Long, this week is the first of a special How'd They Do That? edition of the trivia question. Q: There was a special guitar sound, often referred to as "the talking guitar" used by artists like Peter Frampton in the song Show Me The Way, Joe Walsh in his song Rocky Mountain Way and Richie Samborra on the latest Bon Jovi hit It's My Life. How'd They Do That? Send us your answers! Don't forget you can also send us your audio comments in MP3 format. James BluntBlog Extra: Mike recommends checking out a relatively new star on the scene, James Blunt and his album Back To Bedlam. "Interesting sound. He really rocked the house on Oprah last week!" He currently has the #6 Single and #3 Album in the iTunes Music Store. See you next week! Tags: music recording studio mixing james blunt peter frampton joe walsh richie samborra oprah guitar home studio joe satriani itunes 12ax7 bon jovi