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Michelle Oates: A promise tomorrow is worth a lot less than trying today. I am Michelle Oates and I'm a Tri-Cities influencer. Paul Casey: But really this is the core philosophy of what I teach in time management, and that is manage your time around your values and vision. This is your foundation for everything else in time management. Speaker 3: Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington in Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. Welcome to the TCI podcast where local leadership and self-leadership expert, Paul Casey interviews local CEOs, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit executives to hear how they lead themselves and their teams, so we can all benefit from their wisdom and experience. Here's your host, Paul Casey of Growing Forward Services, coaching and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success. Paul Casey: Thanks for joining me for today's episode with Cari McGee. Cari is a realtor with Keller Williams and I asked for a fun fact about her. She has very vivid dreams that she still remembers, but Cari, you're going to have to tell the story. Cari McGee: Okay. Well, a lot of grownups forget their dreams or they think of childhood is when you really have your dreams. But here I am as an adult having pretty vivid dreams. The other day I had a dream that I was married to my accountant, and that's kind of funny, but what's really funny is that I wasn't married to my accountant. Instead of being married to my husband, I was married to my accountant in addition to being married to my husband, and he just liked being married to me. He traveled a lot, I understood in the dream. And he said that when he was home, he just liked to be married to me. Cari McGee: In the dream, I'm thinking, I'm like, "Okay, this is pretty serious. And if I get caught, how am I going to explain this?" Like, sometimes if somebody gets caught in a crime syndicate or whatever, they can say, "Oh, I was brainwashed or this..." Nothing like that happened. Like, why was I married to two people at once? I have no idea. So thankfully I woke up. Paul Casey: Thankfully I woke up. Cari McGee: And that was not my reality. Paul Casey: That's a good T-shirt message as well. Thankfully, I woke up. Cari McGee: Yes, totally love that. Paul Casey: Especially in these trying times that we're in, maybe we're all going to get to put that on our shirts. Cari McGee: Oh, right, right. That's a good message. Paul Casey: Well, we're going to dive in after checking in with our Tri-City Influencer sponsor. Preston House : Hi, my name is Preston House and I'm the local owner of Papa John's Pizza right here in Tri-Cities. Jesus Melendez: I'm Jesus Melendez, vice president and commercial lender with Community First Bank and HFG Trust. Preston House : When I moved here in 2009 with my family from Boise, Idaho, I knew I wanted to move from a franchise to a local business owner. I've been working with Papa John's since I was 16 years old. So when it came time to open my own location here in my own community, I knew I needed some financial guidance from an organization who understood my needs as a small business owner. Jesus Melendez: Small business owners often have a lot on their plate, employment and retirement plans, payroll, bills. Our mission is to become your financial partner for life and is motivated by providing people in our community like Preston, with all the information and support they need all under one roof. Preston House : It's really simple. No matter what I need, all it takes is one phone call, no automated prompts, no call waiting. It's just a local business, serving another local business. Jesus Melendez: For more information, how Community First Bank and HFG Trust can help you get back on track. Visit wwwcommunity1st.com. That's www community one st.com. Paul Casey: Thank you for your support of leadership development in the Tri-Cities. So, Cari, I think we met years ago, our children are the same age, both kids, same age, both a male and a female child, same grade, Wiley Elementary, Enterprise Middle School. Cari McGee: Yes. Hanford High. Paul Casey: Hanford High, right? Cari McGee: Yes. And our daughters are these amazing graduating kids. Paul Casey: Yes. Yes. 2020 kids, which is sad that they don't get the fanfare or some of those rituals that all the other seniors get. Cari McGee: I know. Paul Casey: Man, but we're making the best of it. Cari McGee: Absolutely. Same here. Paul Casey: So help our Tri-City influencer listeners get to know you. Tell us through a couple of your career highlights that led you to where you are today. Cari McGee: Okay. I began in real estate in 2004. And funny story, I decided to get into real estate. I had been in retail for years, but then I decided to get into real estate because there was somebody else that we knew that was in real estate. He was very successful, but I didn't understand why he was very successful. So I thought if this person is successful, I can probably be more successful. Cari McGee: So I borrowed a computer because in those days everything was not online yet, but you had to run a computer program to do your coursework. So I borrowed a PC because we only had Macs and it took me hours and I got it finished. And then I've been selling real estate full-time since 2004. Paul Casey: Wow. Why do you love what you do? Cari McGee: Oh, my gosh. It is a different job every day, number one. Number two, it's such a privilege to be a part of that particular aspect of a person's life because where you live obviously is hugely impactful to whether you move into a particular house as a kid or as a grownup, you're living there. Right? And I know if I had not been a Christian before this, I would be a Christian now because I've seen the way God works and orchestrates things like the money will come in at the last minute. Right? Or a house will be delayed closing because somebody else is supposed to move to town because they're the real owners. It's weird, and it's such a privilege to be a part of plans for people and what's going on for them. It's really, really cool. Paul Casey: That is really rewarding. So throughout that journey, you've hit obstacles to success. I'm sure. Cari McGee: Yes. Paul Casey: What is one of the biggest hurdles you've overcome in your career? Cari McGee: I would say that sometimes there have been people that either they see what I'm capable of and are scared by it or threatened by it and try to kind of rein me in or they don't see it and I haven't seen it either. And so I have not progressed or done as much as I could have/should have because of those other things happening. Does that make sense? Paul Casey: Yeah. What kind of people try to rein you in? Cari McGee: Well, there's a book called The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller, famous book, awesome book. And in 2004 or five, I think, my husband gave it to me as a Christmas present and I read it and I was so excited. I went into my broker at the time and I said, "Oh my gosh, I just read this book, and it's amazing. And I'll implement these programs and plans and I'll make a million dollars and it'll be great." My broker at the time said, "Cari, you're a wife and a mom. You really should just focus on that." Paul Casey: Ooh, wow, ouch. Cari McGee: Yeah, I was like, "Ooh." Well, I'm kind of mad at myself though, too, for... I mean, I didn't say you're right, but I didn't say you're wrong, either. Paul Casey: But it's something well up inside of you like, "I'm going to show everybody." Cari McGee: A little bit. There's all this... Yeah. Paul Casey: You have that competitive juice in you. Cari McGee: Oh, I totally do. I'm super competitive. Super competitive. Paul Casey: Well, leadership is difficult. Being an entrepreneur is difficult. What's one of your biggest ongoing challenges of being a realtor, and what really stretches you to the limit sometimes? Cari McGee: Change used to be my big thing, but now I've learned to embrace it. So, yay change! Paul Casey: Yay. Cari McGee: But I think that understanding that not everyone always looks at things the way you do, right? Everyone comes from a different perspective and a different background. So if I am like, "This is the way it gets done," and sometimes I'll be so far down the path and I'm like, "Where are you? Why are you not here with me?" And they're like, "Well, I still need to understand step four when you're at step eight." I'm like, "Oh, okay." That's hard for me is to not understand that everybody is where I am in the thought process. Paul Casey: They're at a different place in the thought process. Cari McGee: Exactly. Paul Casey: Well, you said you're better with change now. Was there a time where... Tell us about that. Cari McGee: Well, for years, any sort of change, I would just be like, "Oh, this is awful. This is ick." I want everything to stay the same as it was, and let's embrace the status quo and let's not change things. But three years ago, I needed to make a pretty significant change. And I kind of looked around when the dust settled and I was like, "Oh, this is better. This is better than where I was." So change can be good if you stop fighting against it, and instead say, "Let's see where this takes you." Paul Casey: So, that was your mental shift that you had to make, and it sounds like it stayed with you, too. Cari McGee: Oh, 100%. Paul Casey: That it can be way better even though it's going to be painful for a season. Cari McGee: Yeah. 100%. Paul Casey: Awesome. Awesome. Well, if you had a philosophy that you would put front and center on a bulletin board in your office or on the back sticker of your car for everyone to see, what would some of those messages say? Cari McGee: One of my favorite quotes ever is from Paradise Lost by John Milton. "The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." I always think about that because if somebody is... I'm a big believer in mindset. You know, you govern everything that happens to you by how you interpret it and what happens in your brain. If I encounter someone who's like, "Oh, this is bad." And they're gloomy Gus or whatever, it's really hard to not almost shake them and say, "Listen, you're creating this in your brain because literally you can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. It's just all how you perceive it." Paul Casey: So your thoughts are everything. Cari McGee: Yeah. 100%. Paul Casey: Yeah, yeah. There's a life coach, famous one out there named Brooke Castillo. She puts out this formula of CTFAR, which is circumstance happens to you, and then you have a thought. Usually that thought is somewhat automatic. If we can be careful about that thought, which is what you're saying, because it immediately is going to turn into a feeling. And the feeling could bring you down this downward spiral, which is ugly, or it could be a very empowering feeling that like you said would change. Like, what's going to be better if I just go on this journey? Paul Casey: Well, as soon as you do attach the feeling to it, now an action starts to manifest. That could be your body puts out signals that make people go, "Are you okay, Cari?" Or "It seemed like you're offended. Are you angry?" Or whatever that is. You may not like the signals that your body is putting out, or they could really inspire someone. And then the R is the result. And that's what the effect has on everyone around you. So circumstance, thought, feeling, action, and then result. Cari McGee: Makes sense. Paul Casey: So it sounds like that you definitely have that. The John Milton quote really talks about mindset. Anything else that you'd put on the sticker of your car? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. I'm really blessed because I've always been an optimist. Paul Casey: I know this about you. Cari McGee: You know? Paul Casey: Yeah. Cari McGee: I'm always positive. And so I guess that it would be that just like, "Look on the bright side." There's always a bright side. Find it. Paul Casey: Some of that is natural for you and your personality style, but you have to choose it every day. So if you're talking to these Tri-City influencers, why would you say choose optimism? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. If you're not choosing optimism, you're choosing pessimism or you're choosing a negative side of realism, and I mean, that just drags you down. It doesn't move you forward. You don't grow where it's dark. You grow where there's light and you move forward where there's light. Think of sunflowers, right? They follow the sun because that's what makes them... You know, that's doing their job. They're optimized, I guess, would be the best word for that. Paul Casey: Things grow where there's light. There's the bumper sticker. We found it. Cari McGee: There you go. Okay. Paul Casey: I love it. I love it. Well, most influencers I know have a bit of a visionary inside of them or that like, "We've got to take the next deal. I got these ideas." So for you, where do you take time to dream about the future or new ideas? Where do you play with that kind of stuff? What does that look like? Cari McGee: Oh, a couple of places. I'm in my car a lot as a real estate agent and so a lot of stuff... I'll be listening to podcasts and something will be said and it'll make me think, and I'll pause the podcast and I'll start to think and dream. One other thing, and this is funny, my husband used to be in broadcasting. So this is where this question comes from, but my whole life, I've interviewed myself. Like, "Well, Cari, tell us about this time." Right? To help me kind of walk through or figure out a problem. I was telling my husband that once, and he said, "Do you ever ask yourself a question you can't answer?" I said, "What?" He said, "Well, that's the mark of a good interview." Okay. The point is not though to be- Paul Casey: To stop. Cari McGee: Right. I'm talking to me. Right? I'm not going to ask myself something that I don't know. But anyway, I'll use that time in the car to do that, and then oftentimes too just out sitting on the patio in the evening, watching the sunset and thinking of the future. Paul Casey: Little patio time. Cari McGee: Yes. Paul Casey: Yeah. Well, that's really interesting. Interview yourself. So Matt McGee, was he sports? What was he? Cari McGee: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep. Paul Casey: Yeah, he was sports. What years were that? Cari McGee: Oh gosh, '94 through '97 I think he was at KEPR. Paul Casey: Okay. Okay. But asking yourself questions. And I do, I find that, too, like... Because you're on social media a lot. Right? Which platforms do you enjoy the most by the way? Cari McGee: Facebook is my milieu. I love it. Paul Casey: Okay. Okay. So, of course, you have to be self-promoting, which is hard. Cari McGee: Correct yes. Paul Casey: Which is hard, and sometimes when you just try to come up with a message on your own, it's difficult. But if you think about the interview, like if I just have somebody ask me a question, for some reason, it makes it easier. Have you found that? Cari McGee: Oh, 100%. Yes. Yes. Paul Casey: I don't know if it just brings out our authenticity or you don't feel quite as plastic to put it out to the world, but if you can get someone else to ask you a question, I think that's just easier. Cari McGee: Well, I mean, I did something at the beginning of when the stay at home order was released. I did a thing for 30 days on Facebook. Every day I asked a new question and it really helped people because the purpose of it was to remind them that we were in this situation, and to think about times in the past when we were not, and times in the future when we won't be. Paul Casey: Oh, I like it. Cari McGee: So that was the purpose of it and it was a different question every day. It was things like, What's your favorite color? Or do you have a middle name? Do you wish it was a different middle name? What would your last name be if you could change it? I mean, so things like that. You're right. It's when you ask questions, people just are... They jump on it. They get so excited. Paul Casey: So a good strategy on social media for engagement, because you've got a lot of engagement from that, too. Right? Cari McGee: I did. I did. Paul Casey: Yeah. So asking a good question. Really the power of a good question is really essential to leadership and of course, to entrepreneurship. That curiosity really brings out the best in people it seems. Well, before we head into our next question on how Cari starts her day, let's shout out to our sponsor. Preston House : Hi, my name is Preston House and I'm the local owner of Papa John's Pizza right here in Tri-Cities. Jesus Melendez: I'm Jesus Melendez, vice president and commercial lender with Community First Bank and HFG Trust. Preston House : When I moved here in 2009 with my family from Boise, Idaho, I knew I wanted to move from a franchise to a local business owner. I'd been working with Papa John's since I was 16 years old. So when it came time to open my own location here in my own community, I knew I needed some financial guidance from an organization who understood my needs as a small business owner. Jesus Melendez: Small business owners often have a lot on their plate employment, retirement plans, payroll, bills. Our mission is to become your financial partner for life and is motivated by providing people in our community like Preston with all the information and support they need all under one roof. Preston House : It's really simple. No matter what I need, all it takes is one phone call, no automated prompts, no call waiting. It's just a local business, serving another local business. Jesus Melendez: For more information, how Community First Bank and HFG Trust can help you get back on track, visit wwwcommunity1st.com. That's www community one st.com. Paul Casey: So Cari, what's your typical morning routine look like before work and once you hit the ground running at work, and if you have any rituals that help you start your day strong? Cari McGee: I actually do. I don't know if you've ever read The Miracle Morning. Paul Casey: I've heard of it. Cari McGee: Okay. It's really, really good, and it talks about having, it can be as few as 10 minutes, or it can be as much as an hour of SAVERS, S-A-V-E-R-S. Paul Casey: Oh, yes. Is it Hal Elrod? Cari McGee: Yes, yes. Paul Casey: Yes. Okay. Cari McGee: S is silence, moment of silence, meditation, prayer, whatever. And then A is affirmations. V is visualization. E is exercise. R is reading and S is scribing or journaling. I started that. It was so funny. I started it three years ago, I think. What I love about it is that it centers me because I wake up and I don't look at my phone first thing. I don't look at my emails. Cari McGee: The problem with that is you immediately, you're in reactive mode when you do that and that's so bad for you, and the hormones of your body when you're waking up and everything. So if you start the day really centering and being grateful and then also dreaming, you're affirming the visualization. Probably it ties into the dream thing. I mean, I have a really active imagination. Visualizing is not a problem for me at all. And so I love that part of it. And then I've always loved to read and then journaling, too. I love to write. And so all of that is what I generally do probably about five days a week. Paul Casey: That's great. So take us through SAVERS again, so our listeners don't have to rewind. Cari McGee: Sure. S is silence. So silence, meaning a moment of silence in prayer or meditation. A is affirmations. V is visualization. E is exercise. R is reading and S is scribing, which is the old-fashioned way of saying journaling. Paul Casey: Yeah. Yeah. I heard Brendon Burchard, he's another podcast guy I listen to. Cari McGee: Oh, I like him. Paul Casey: He said, "We need to take our MEDS every day and MEDS is meditation, exercise- Cari McGee: Yeah. Meditation, exercise, diet, and- Paul Casey: Sleep. Cari McGee: Sleep. Yeah. Paul Casey: Yeah. So SAVERS incorporates that, but even takes it to that next level with the journaling. What does journaling do for you? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. Well, I mean, Paul, I've always been a writer. I write stories. I write everything. So for me, it's helpful because I will read back over old entries and remember where I was at any given time. And if it was a bad time, then I'm like, "Oh, look at me. I got past this bad time because this is not my reality anymore." Now I'm over here, that happened. It helps me remember and realize that I've gotten through bad times before. Paul Casey: You grew. Cari McGee: Right. I've gotten through bad times and here I am on the other side of it. Maybe sometimes in there, I'll talk about how I did it, but mostly it's just recording how I feel at any given time. Then I'm like, "Oh, I remember that place. I didn't like that place. I'm glad I'm here now." Paul Casey: Yeah, I've heard journal is a place to protest. Cari McGee: Oh, sure. Paul Casey: You know, it's like when you write an email to someone you're mad at and then you don't send it, but it's just getting it done and then you're going to delete it. Cari McGee: Right, exactly. Paul Casey: A journal can also be that place where you're just talking about your feelings to the world, but to no one. And then you don't have to show it to anyone else. It's your own private place is doing this journaling. Cari McGee: I like that. Paul Casey: That's why that's a good one, too. And sleep, well, it's so important, especially during this COVID crisis. A lot of Zoom meetings where you're talking with people on the phone or, and they just... The research says you need eight hours of sleep. I don't know if you're an eight-hour person. Cari McGee: Oh, no. I totally am. I'm a huge sleep believer. It bothers me when people are all like, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." Okay, well, you're going to die sooner. Paul Casey: It's going to catch up to you. Yeah. Cari McGee: So why don't you sleep now? Right? That's my thing. Paul Casey: It's going to catch up to you. So if you're getting by in five, six or seven normally, you need the eight now because boy, you just... Sleep puts your life in perspective, I think, if you have enough adequate rest. And when you're on burnout, you lose your perspective and that's a scary place. You ever been in a place of burnout before where it's just- Cari McGee: Oh, gosh yeah. Yes. Paul Casey: Now what does that feel like for you? Cari McGee: Oh, I get snappy. I get really, really snappy with everyone I love. I'll do a lot of screaming in the car. You know, "Move your 'beep.'" Do you not? My mom always used to do this thing where she would drive and we'd be at the intersection and she'd say, "Beep, beep." And then they would move. And she'd say, "See, Cari, they heard me." I was like, "What?" But I will be like, "Move." You know, and it doesn't work for me. Anyway, I snap. I get pissy. Oh, I get snotty. I have attitude. It's awful. Paul Casey: Any other tips you'd give to listeners about avoiding burnout? Because it's a grind. Running your own business is a grind, but even for those that are in a regular work job, a day job, a burnout is always a threat. Cari McGee: Yep. 100%. Sleep is important. Like we just talked about, you've got to get enough sleep. Otherwise, your last nerve gets reached really fast. But also, one thing that I'm not really good at doing, but would help if I did is take time to notice the things you have done well and where you are now, like you did land that big client or you were able to accomplish this task that you didn't think you could. And then you're like, "Okay, you know what? I really am further along than I thought I'd be." Paul Casey: Yeah. Take time to celebrate, I think is what you're saying. Cari McGee: Yeah. Paul Casey: On my whiteboard, it's my scorecard or whatever I call it, and at the end of every week... I'll do it. I'll do it tomorrow. It's my weekly review, and it's all the things I did get done this week. Of course, I'm just a party of one as a solopreneur. And I just went, "Yes, I got that done, that done, that done." Nobody else sees it, but me, but it makes me feel good like this was another good week. Cari McGee: See, and that's really good. I need to do that. I don't do them enough. Paul Casey: Yeah. When I ask my coaching clients, the very first question I usually ask of them, the icebreaker question is what wins can we celebrate? What did you get crossed off your list? What did you make progress on? Because most people at least can feel like, "Well, I moved the ball forward in these areas." It's not done-done, but it's better than it was last week. So I really love that as a burnout avoidance technique or else you just feel like, again, not anything done. This is a- Cari McGee: Same crap, different day unless you take a minute to say, "Wait, this was a very different day because I accomplished X." Paul Casey: Yes, yes. We're trying to avoid Groundhog Day. Cari McGee: Right. Paul Casey: That is a great way to do it. I love it. Now, family is a big deal to most people. How do you prioritize your family time whether it's with your husband, with your kids and yet still be a high performer at work, right? It's this constant tension. Cari McGee: It is, it is. Well, this is a slightly different thing for women, I think, as opposed to men, especially in my job anyway. I heard a long time ago and I have always lived by this. Say, for example, if I'm going to take my daughter to a dance class or I'm going to do something, right? If I tell a client that that's what I'm doing, then I'm a mom primarily who also happens to work in real estate. Paul Casey: Oh, okay. Cari McGee: Right? But if a dad says, "Hey, I can't show you this house, because I'm going to take my daughter." "Oh my gosh, you're the best dad in the world. Oh, my gosh, you're really taking time for your family. Oh, my gosh, absolutely." Right? So I have always said, even if I am doing something with my kids, nobody knows that. I'm like, "Okay, you know what? I have a lunch appointment." Paul Casey: I'm just unavailable right now. Yep. Cari McGee: Right. Exactly. "I have a lunch appointment. Blah, blah, blah." So I draw those really clear boundaries around stuff. They don't necessarily know what those boundaries are around, but I mean, that's why when I need to do something with kid one or kid two, I'm there when I said I'd be there because that's super important especially when they're littler. My daughter, it's funny. She hasn't been in daycare for... I don't know. She's 18 now. So like, I don't know, 10 years or more, probably 15 years. And she remembers the one time we were late. Cari McGee: Every time we passed her daycare, "Remember when we were late, when you were late to get me?" It's like, "Stop kid." Right? I mean, it's a testament to the fact that her dad and I worked so hard to get them on time that she remembers the one time we were late. Do you know what I mean? As opposed to it being a constant thing. Paul Casey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, it's our brains who remember those traumatic times- Cari McGee: Oh, my gosh right. Paul Casey: ... more than all the times you're on time and all the gifts you gave them. Cari McGee: Exactly. Paul Casey: Do you have date times with your husband? How do you carve? Do you carve that out or as a realtor, do you have to move blocks of time all over the place? Cari McGee: No. Sometimes... I mean, he'll say, "This Marvel movie is coming out on Saturday and I got tickets for us already" or whatever. And then I'm like, "Okay, that's perfect." Because if I know in advance, then I'll schedule around it, so that's fine. Paul Casey: Okay. So that's blocked out in advance probably through good communication, because there's probably times where you just got to show house and that has to be moved around. Cari McGee: Right. Paul Casey: And of course, Matt is the biggest U2 fan on the planet. Right? Right? Cari McGee: Well, usually. Actually, he's no longer a U2 fan. Paul Casey: No longer? Cari McGee: No. Paul Casey: Oh wow. Okay. Cari McGee: There's a new band called Gang of Youths that he loves. They're from Australia, and they're amazing. Paul Casey: Okay. All right. I was going to say, did that impact your marriage? Cari McGee: Actually, this is funny. I was really worried because I thought... Because they predate me and I thought, "Oh, if he could lose interest in them, my days are numbered." My daughter was like, "Mom, please." I was like, "Oh." Paul Casey: Funny, funny. Okay. So as an influencer, we know you're not a know-it-all. You're a learner, right? Cari McGee: Right. Paul Casey: So where do you go for the wisest advice? These can be live people. Well, they probably all have been live people. Cari McGee: And once live. Paul Casey: I mean, people around us in the Tri-Cities or they're authors, motivators. You've mentioned one already. You've talked a little bit about podcasts. There's probably some industry professionals because what I know about Keller Williams is it's like the best training company, because I get the magazine. I get Trainer Magazine. I know I'm sort of a nerd, but Keller Williams always wins the awards in there. So tell me about your influencers you go to. Cari McGee: Well, one of the number one real estate coaching companies in the world is Tom Ferry coaching. I've had a Tom Ferry coach for four years. Paul Casey: Nice. Cari McGee: I was a Tom Ferry coach for a period of time. I have a new coach now outside that Tom Ferry organization. She's amazing. So ever since I realized how important coaching is, that's really... I mean, holy cow, my business doubled. It was amazing. Paul Casey: Really? Wow. Bam. Cari McGee: Yes. It was really remarkable. So coaches for sure. And then part of that reading of the SAVERS is reading books like Principles by Ray Dalio. Paul Casey: I'm reading that one right now. Yes. Cari McGee: Okay. It's so good. Right? So there's so much to learn, Paul, from everybody. Oh, my gosh, I'm just always reading, and like I said, always podcasting, listening to podcasts with great interviews with people, so that I have to learn more. Paul Casey: Do you have a few favorite books or podcasts that you could recommend so that generally entrepreneurs or leaders would enjoy? Cari McGee: Sure. One is not actually about anything entrepreneurial, but it's called 99% Invisible and it is just stinking great, fascinating trivial information, really good stories. It's been going on for 10 years and I discovered it a year ago, and over successive hikes at Badger, I've made my way through 10 years of that catalog and stuff. It's so good. Paul Casey: Yes. 99% Invisible? Cari McGee: Yes. So good. And then Matt does a walk through or does a podcast called The Walkthrough and it's about real estate stuff, and so that's fantastic. And then also, gosh, I would say Tom Ferry's podcast is really good, too. Paul Casey: Okay. These are good ones. Cari McGee: Oh, sorry. And Gary Keller does one and I can't remember what it's called, but it's really, really good. Paul Casey: I have listened to Gary Keller's before. Yes, it is good. So finally, Cari, what advice would you give to new leaders or anyone who wants to keep growing or gaining more influence? Cari McGee: Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I mean, it's really scary, but you are a better person on the other side of whatever it is and your whole life will be better on the other side of whatever you're scared about. Paul Casey: Yeah. I think I've actually heard that as a quote. Cari McGee: Yeah. That's better on the side other of fear. Paul Casey: Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Yeah, yeah. That's great meme. And has that been true for your life? Cari McGee: Oh, gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Because again, as I said earlier, I used to hate change. It was really in the last three years that I've changed a lot of stuff and became less resistant to change, and that's really when the growth started to happen. I'm in a place now where I didn't know I could be where things are fantastic and only getting better. Paul Casey: So if someone would say, "But Cari, I'm just scared. I see this obstacle in front of me," what would be a baby step that would get them? Either what's their self-talk need to be or what would you say to hit the go button for them? Cari McGee: One thing I heard a long time ago, which was really, really good was that as babies, we all learn to walk and what if the first time we learned to walk and we fell down, we just said to ourselves, "All right, well, I guess I'm not a walker." Right? Paul Casey: Yeah. Cari McGee: No, none of us does that because when we're babies, we don't understand that there are points where you get scared. Babies don't have fear like that. They're just like, "Okay, this is where I have to go." And you have to tap into that primal part of you that's just like, "All right, here we go. Let's go. Let's do it. I'm a baby and I'm moving forward." Paul Casey: Love it, love it. So how can our listeners best connect with you? Cari McGee: Call me, text me, email me. Phone is (509) 430-5342. Email is cari@carimcgee.com. So first, then first and last. Paul Casey: Fantastic. Well, thanks again for all you do to make the Tri-Cities a great optimistic place and keep leading well. Cari McGee: Awesome. Thanks, Paul, so much. Paul Casey: Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. It's from The Wiseman Group. What's interesting is there's a term called an Accidental Diminisher so you can actually take a little test to see if you inadvertently are becoming an accidental diminisher of the people that you lead. Even though your heart's in the right place and you have good intentions, there are some things that we can do to actually diminish the people around us. Of course, the author is trying to get you to be a multiplier instead of a diminisher. So you can check that out at The Wiseman Group. Paul Casey: Again, this is Paul Casey, and I want to thank my guest, Cari McGee from Keller Williams for being here today on the Tri-City Influencer Podcast. We also want to thank our TCI sponsors and invite you to support them. We appreciate you making this possible, so we can collaborate to help inspire leaders in our community. Finally, one more leadership tidbit for the road to help you make a difference in your circle of influence. It's Anthony D'Angelo. And he says, "Become addicted to constant and never ending self-improvement." So until next time, KGF, keep growing forward. Speaker 3: Thank you to our listeners for tuning in to today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him at growingforward@paulcasey.org for a consultation that can help you move past your current challenges and create a strategy for growing your life or your team forward. Speaker 3: Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done everyday by offering you his free control my calendar checklist. Go to www.takebackmycalendar.com for that productivity tool or open a text message to 72000 and type the word "growing." Paul Casey: The Tri-Cities Influencer podcast was recorded at Fuse SPC by Bill Wagner of Safe Strategies.

Welcome!   For being locked down do to this Pandemic there is certainly a lot of technology in the news this week.  So let's get into it.  We are finding that managers are surveilling their employees, probably a little more than necessary and an uptick in VPN usage. Big Tech is strangling us and WordPress has a vulnerability plus much more   So sit back and listen in.  For more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com --- Automated Machine Generated Transcript: Craig Peterson: Hey everybody. Craig Peterson here on WGAN. Spring is in the air. I am so excited about this, you know, I love pretty much every season. I was just thinking the other day how I missed not having, you know, like crunchy snow that you can walk on. I know you might think I'm crazy, right? I know other family members of mine who absolutely think I'm crazy, but it's, maybe it's just a thing from my childhood, you know, being 40 degrees below zero and being outside and just walking in the snow and just having a crunch, crunch, crunch. [00:00:40] But you know, so wintertime makes me enjoy spring makes me enjoy summer to a bit of a lesser degree, but I love going motorcycling so that works right? In the summertime. And then I really like fall probably my favorite season and then winter is pretty good. I'm not a winter sports kind of guy. I should probably do a little bit more of that. [00:01:01] Well, if you saw me on the TV news this week, you know that I was talking a lot about this new surveillance society that we have. Yeah. I'm not just talking about general regular surveillance that we've talked about before. I'm talking about surveillance in the workplace. And now there are two sides of this. [00:01:23] Of course, there are like two sides to everything and there's the side of the employee and then there's the side of the employer. And so we're going to spend a little time right now going through some of the things on both sides. If you're an employer, why you might want to be doing surveillance. In fact, in some ways, why you should be doing surveillance, if you're an employee, what are your rights? [00:01:46] What can you do about it? We'll be talking about that. And then some of the software the businesses are using and what you can expect. So let's sort of been talking about a lot this week over on various radio stations and on television as well this week. So getting right into this, and you'll see some articles about this up on my website as well, at Craig peterson.com [00:02:10] Oh and man did I get a kick in the pants this week, you know I've been doing a little bit of work on the website because we're putting some new stuff together for people. For y'all and I, I went to CraigPeterson.com/subscribe and just tried to check it out. So guess what. It doesn't work. Slash Subscribe to me. I just hate it when that happens. [00:02:35] So if you have tried to subscribe on my website before to get my weekly newsletter or get some of my special reports because you get, I think it's four of them when you subscribe, I send those off to you and you went to CraigPeterson.com/subscribe to subscribe. It may not have worked. So I'm going to be working some more on that this week. [00:02:58] I got that problem and then I've got a problem as well with the text number, the (855) 385-5553 number. And I guess it's kind of like the cobbler's kids that have no shoes, right? Where man. There are so many things that I need to do and I've been doing for customers and lately, I've been doing even more for non-customers, is trying to help everybody out because there are so many people that are in such dire straits right now. [00:03:26] You know, all businesses have changed. Talking about the pivot and pivoting to work at home has been a very big deal. In fact, I'm going to. Probably have a little course on that coming up here in a couple of weeks. What to do if you a business and you're kind of pivoting to homeworkers maybe permanently, but certainly for the next little while. [00:03:45] What should you be doing from the security standpoint? I think it's really important for everyone to understand and to do. Many managers are turning to surveillance software and. I got this idea about a norm reminder really from the Washington Post this week now, Washington post, you know, I don't trust him at all for any of their political coverage because they haven't been honest with any of us for quite a while, but some of their technology coverage isn't bad. [00:04:14] It's kind of like the New York Times. It's such a shame because the New York times has such great. In-depth articles on so many things, and then they completely misrepresent politics all the time, like a hundred percent consistent, and it's, so, I'm just always torn. Do I pay any attention to these guys or not? [00:04:35] You know, I certainly look at their coverage too when it comes to the political stuff, cause I have to make a judgment call myself. But man, I don't mind supporting the regular things, but their editorial things are in their decisions as to which stories to run. Sometimes they're just so antithetical to everything, I believe. [00:04:55] But anyway, enough of that. So the Washington post article. Kind of got me thinking about it. So I did a bunch of research and I have one, two, three pages of a bullet point that I want to go through with you. Because I did research. I looked at a lot of things online. I looked at some of the websites of these companies making this, I don't know if you want to call it spyware, but that's kind of what it boils down to and figured out what's going on there. I had looked at some of the legal issues from the federal government side and from the state government, and here's the bottom line. When in doubt, assume you're being watched now. [00:05:36] I think that's a reasonable assumption in this day and age, right? We've all got our smart devices. We're online. We know that companies like Google and Facebook are compiling information to sell it about us, and I'm not sure that that's an absolutely horrific thing. I get more concerned when we're talking about employers surveilling us because if you have a bad boss or not so great boss, what's going to happen when that boss comes down on you for taking a break. [00:06:09] Right? Even a short break, you know? Yeah. You took a 15-minute break or whatever it was that was not, you know, necessary for them to come down on you. That's where I started getting concerned. People losing their jobs over this. Now, in some cases, if you're a transcriptionist and you're paid by the word, well, you know, why would they bother? [00:06:29] Monitoring me. I'm paid by the word, right? Who cares? You know? Obviously I have to deliver in a certain timeframe, but if it takes me all day and I have a 24-hour guarantee and I'm only typing one word a minute,  it's no skin off my employer's nose. And on the other end of the scale, if you are kind of intellectual work and you're working. [00:06:52] At a higher level, if you will, right? You're not just selling your, your keystroke, your fingers. You're actually thinking about problems. You're trying to logically analyze what's going on, what should be done, what shouldn't be done. If you're that type of person while then it's a completely different thing, right? [00:07:12] Again, how do you measure that? Because you might be reading a book, you might, you might have read a book last night and now you're in the office and you're looking at that book from last night cause you want to make some notes on it because you're one implemented into the office and now your employer's looking at you saying, well why hasn't your screen changed. [00:07:31] So that's the other side. So I get really concerned with the employers somehow thinking that this type of monitoring is a panacea for them. It's not going to motivate their employees to work. It just totally reminds me of when I was a professor on faculty out at Pepperdine University, and I taught, back then it was called MIS management information systems 422 out at Pepperdine. [00:07:57] And one of the things we had to look at was something called the Hawthorne principle. And they had done a study in Hawthorne, California of workers on a manufacturing line. And the big question was do they perform better when they're being monitored or when they're not being monitored? There were some interesting studies to this looking at music in the background. [00:08:21] Do you perform better when you have music playing in the background just at a low volume or better when it's quiet? Well, in all of these cases, it depends on what you're doing. Workers tend to perform better. With music in the background when they're doing kind of a rote task when they're working on an assembly line, and it's the same thing over and over and over again, that tends to help those people. [00:08:50] But when we're talking about an intellectual worker who is planning, who's thinking things through, who's writing marketing materials, who's doing software development, in most cases. They perform worse with music in the background and they're better off just having some basic white noise going on, which could be as simple as a fan. [00:09:13] It could be office chatter, et cetera, and I actually use some things in order to put that into the background myself, and I find them to be very, very helpful. You can find all kinds of them online. If you wanted to know exactly which ones I use, send me an email and I'll let you know, just me@craigpeterson.com but I have a plugin that goes into my browser. [00:09:37] That has a coffee shop, the ring of fire, burning, you know, outside a bird chirping, wind blowing, water lapping just, it has a few of those things. And, and I can select what I want and if I need to kind of focus on something, I find that to be very, very helpful. so when it comes to monitoring in the Hawthorne effect. [00:10:04] What they found is that yes, in some cases monitoring people. Worked out better, they produce better than not monitoring people. And that kind of reminds me of a good war movie that I absolutely loved. I don't think it was a great escape. Oh, no. I remember what it was. it was Schindler's list and there were supposed to be making hinges. [00:10:28] These are, of course, prisoners, that are being used as slave labor. And. They are supposed to be making these hinges. And so the guard comes over, lets me see, we make a hinge and he makes one in a matter of just seconds or minute or whatever it is. And then under the Hawthorne. That'd be principal here. [00:10:48] If he makes one hinge in one minute, he should be able to make 60 hinges in an hour. And yet they were only making, I don't remember what any of these numbers were. It's been a long time since I saw that movie. But, he didn't make his many, so obviously he got in trouble, as did other people who were on the assembly line. You know, if there's a gun to your head, maybe you will work better, maybe you will work faster. But in most cases, that's not true. And that was certainly true of these people who were confined to slave labor. They're in the Schindler's list movie. So we're going to talk a lot more about this when we get back because nearly half of the US labor force is now. working from home. [00:11:30] That's according to a study by MIT researchers in April, so just a couple of weeks ago, stick around. We're going to talk a lot more about this when we get back. You are listening to Craig Peterson right here on WGAN, and you'll hear me every Wednesday morning, give or take at 7:30 on with Matt. [00:11:52] Stick around. We'll be right back. Craig Peterson: Hey, welcome back everybody. Craig Peterson here, on WGAN. I hope you're enjoying your Saturday, or if you're listening to me online, whatever day it is, you're listening, and of course, you can get that online experience through any podcast app. I'm on tune in. I'm on pretty much everywhere. You'll just be able to find me by looking for Craig Peterson. [00:00:28] The easiest way is just go to CraigPeterson.com/your favorite app when it comes to podcasts, whatever it is, and it'll just do a redirect for you, send you right to the right spot, whether it's iTunes or Spotify or whatever it is. So we were talking before the break about what's happening here with surveillance scene, surveilling our employees out there. [00:00:55] And we're seeing some major changes. Now, some of these started actually a few years ago because businesses are rightly concerned about their intellectual property being stolen, and they need to know if an employee is. About to leave and leave with their customer list. And I have certainly seen that happen before. [00:01:17] Unfortunately, we often get these phone calls after the fact, after the data's already been stolen, the employee's gone, or whatever it is. But you know, that's kind of the way it is, right? Most businesses and people aren't willing to do anything about it until it goes over the cliff and this case. So what do we do as employers if we want to protect our information? [00:01:41] Because it's proprietary, right? That's called intellectual property for a reason, and the reason that it's proprietary is you just don't want it stolen and it gives you the advantage that you need to have. MIT researchers, as I mentioned before, are saying the nearly half of the US workforce is now working from home, which is absolutely massive. [00:02:06] We're seeing. VPN usage way up, and you know, I have a whole course on VPNs, the free one that I've been doing, and VPNs are not a panacea at all. In fact, they can make things much worse for you if you're trying to be secure. We've got these tattle wearables. Programs out there now that are doing everything from watching what you're typing and alerting the manager if you're typing in certain words that they think might mean that you are leaving their employee. [00:02:40] Right? So going to a website and employment website could cause, could cause a phone call from your manager. But we do have to check this. We do have to be careful. If you are going to be monitoring your employees, you need to make sure it's in the employee handbook. You want to be upfront with your employees and from the employee's side, remember that some of the software will do everything, like keep track of your keystrokes, watch the websites you're visiting, which is always the case. [00:03:13] A reasonable business is going to be tracking website visits. So keep that in mind. But, They're also going to potentially be screen capturing and maybe even capturing a picture from your camera. Some of them also will listen on the microphone and I get it. You know, it can be very demoralizing. [00:03:36] You've been working for a company for years, maybe decades, and now all of a sudden you've been, you're being spied on. Right? You think you've been a good worker, so talk with them. There are no federal laws against employee monitoring. In the private sector. There are a number of state laws, but many of these employers are crossing these ethical lines by continuing to track the employees after they've clocked out for the day. [00:04:05] So if you're an employee. Your best bet may be to just turn off the computer, turn off the laptop. If you have a smartphone that's been issued by the company, turned that off as well. If you have an app that is from the company, you might want to kill it. So it's no longer tracking and make sure your settings on your iPhone are set to only allow tracking while the app is active. [00:04:32] So those are a few things. You can talk to your HR department if you think something's happening that shouldn't be. And if you filed an internal complaint and nothing is really happening, you can file the same complaint with the securities and exchange commission, the equal opportunity employment commission, or the state organizations. [00:04:53] All right? By the way, you don't have to be informed that you are being spied upon. So keep that in mind. [00:05:01] So next step here, I want to talk about something from American thinker.com there's a great article there about big tech and how it is frankly strangling us right now. We have that 1984 ad. [00:05:17] Do you remember that? where. All of these people were sitting in a kind of Orwellian room, a socialist room. Everybody's dressed the same because you only have one type of clothes you can buy. Yeah. [00:05:29] By the way, Hey, thanks, guys. For this, what has it been two months exhibition of what socialism's really like? There's nothing on the shelves right now. [00:05:38] What do you remember that they're all sitting there and they're fighting this technocratic elite. When that woman runs down and throws the hammer at the screen. And obviously it was a pretty gloomy spot that ran, and I think it didn't have first run during the super bowl if I remember. Bottom line, but the tech giants now, like Apple and Google, all of these guys have really morphed into what is now, I think, near totalitarian giants. [00:06:13] No, they are controlling our speech. You got Candace Owens, brilliant woman. She's suspended from Twitter for challenging the Michigan governor. Facebook has flagged the declaration of independence as hate speech. It's incredible what's going on. We see Aaron Renn reporting that conservative and left-wing groups are being pulled down at Twitter, and that was back in 2016 2019 YouTube has been blocking some British history teachers from. [00:06:49] YouTube entirely for uploading archival material related to Adolf Hitler. Yeah. Heaven forbid that we remember what happened with him and YouTube said that these British history teachers were breaching. Guidelines banning the promotion of hate speech, even though they weren't promoting it, they were trying to let people know, Hey, this has happened before. [00:07:15] It can happen again. It's absolutely incredible. And, and where is that line drawn with the national socialists in Germany? Right? You remember? That's what they were. That's what Nazi stood for. National socialists. So the socialists there in Germany, they put out all kinds of a propaganda film about how great they were. [00:07:35] We were only telling half-truths. Sound familiar, right? and they're these British history teachers. Apparently we're putting some of these apps so people understood what it looked like to have manipulation coming from the government. So they deleted the videos, abrupt loaded to help educate future generations about the risks of socialism. [00:08:00] It's absolutely incredible. Now, Michael Cutler wrote just a couple of years ago that Twitter has, I love this language now morphed into a means of thought control. Through the control of language. Now we have, through the government, through the legislature and the federal level, we have given these companies immunity from prosecution in most cases because we say, Hey, it's like a public bulletin board. [00:08:30] People are up there saying stuff and YouTube and Twitter, et cetera. You're not liable if someone posts, posts, hate speech, et cetera, on your site. And now they're acting as though they might be liable. And so now because they're acting this way, should we remove their, their special treatment of being basically common carrier? [00:08:57] They're, they're saying, Hey, listen, we're, we're more like the telephone company than anything else than a newspaper. We don't have editorial control over the content and we don't control the content. Well, guess what? Those days are long past us. We need to make some changes here, okay? These big internet companies know more about you than you know about yourself, frankly. [00:09:20] And there's a study that came out, this was a years ago, where average consumers are checking their smartphones 150 times a day, and that number. Has grown, so we've got to make some changes. All right, everybody, stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to talk about some attacks that are going on. If you like to go online, visit websites, or particularly if you have your own business or personal website. [00:09:46] I got some news for you about attacks that are underway right now. Stick around. You're listening to Craig Peterson on WGAN. Craig Peterson: Hey, welcome back everybody. Craig Peterson here on WGAN yeah. Big tech is strangling us. We talked about that and how laws really need to change. I know that Chairman Pai over the FCC has been trying to tighten the things up a little bit, but there's been a lot of pushback from the left end from some people in their bureaucracy. [00:00:26]We also all already talked about the managers turning to surveillance software. And I understand why many of them are doing it to protect their intellectual property more than to make sure you're working at least. That's been the case historically. Now they're doing a little bit differently. They're actually trying to make sure you're working. [00:00:46] So if you are someone that has a website and it could be just a basic website, like something that you have for your local boy scout troop, or many, many of the other ones out there, your very likely to be using some open-source software called Wordpress. [00:01:07] WordPress is a great piece of software and I've been using it for many, many years. I used to hand-roll websites, which means I was sitting there writing the HTML code and putting everything in and it just wasn't very pretty. And then I moved over to an Adobe product. To do it. And then, then I went to something called WebGui, which was another piece of software to help run websites and build them. [00:01:35] And then I ended up on WordPress and I've been there for many, many years. Basically, since WordPress started. It has been quite a great little. Tool. So if you're thinking as well, by the way of putting up a website, let's say you want to start a business. Let's say you are a brick and mortar business, and frankly, you're looking to transition from brick and mortar to online first, which is what I think every business needs to be doing. [00:02:03] I want you to have a serious look at this. You can find it online. There are two WordPress sites. There's wordpress.com that you can go to online. And WordPress dot com just takes care of everything for you. They, they're a hosting company. They have themes. You can use a, they make it really quite simple. [00:02:25] It is not the most flexible but let me just give you a little bit of warning, but. All right? In this day and age, it's like 35% of the web is built on WordPress, so I'm looking at the numbers here on their website or their pricing plan. And for personal use, it is $4 a month. That is if you are paying for a year at a time so that that's hard to beat, isn't it? [00:02:59] And for premium, which I say is best for freelancers, it is $8 a month. Again, if you pay a yearly small business, they've got $25 per month and e-commerce. $45 a month. Now, the main difference between all of these different price points for WordPress. It has to do with domain name registration. Like if you're free, you probably don't have your own domain. [00:03:28] If you're a business, you're going to need your own domain name. Some of them have live support, 24/7 some of these, the basic packages only have email support. Premium themes are only available in the higher packages. You know, the business ones, which are premium business and commerce, they've gotten marketing and monetization tools that you can use at the business level. [00:03:54] Some search engine optimization, some advertising analytics, they have just a whole bunch of things that you can do. And then, then the highest end in e-commerce, they're adding on accepting payments and 60. Plus countries. Integrations with top shipping carriers, unlimited products or services, eCommerce marketing tools, premium customizable starter themes for 45 bucks a month. [00:04:22]So then this is kind of a duh, if you are looking to start a little business and have it online, if you have a business and you're looking to move it online, we're talking about WordPress right now. So wordpress.com is where you go for all of that. Now I get more complicated, than any of these provide for. [00:04:45] So I can't just use wordpress.com and I actually use WP engine as well as I self hosts some sites. In other words, I have my own servers because of my company Mainstream, we have our own data center. So why not? Right. But in some cases, like my bigger websites, I have up at WP engine and they maintain everything for me. [00:05:10] It's actually running on a Google platform, but they will automatically size it, resize it, and I can do absolutely anything I want. So if you want to be able to do anything you want, you're not going to use a wordpress.com. You're going to go to wordpress.org. Now, wordpress.org is the software that is behind wordpress.com and it's the software that I, again, 35% or so of the web uses. [00:05:43] I actually think it's probably higher than that, and most places use WordPress nowadays, and it's just so flexible. It's no longer just a blogging platform. And they have some built-in beautiful themes. I use something called Divi, which is a page builder. There's a few of them out there, Beaver, Ellementor. [00:06:03] Those are the three big ones. And if you're interested in, in thinking, Hey Craig, maybe you should do a class on this for us. Well, let me know. I'd be glad to put something together, but you got to tell me. Right? I just don't know. Otherwise, me, Me@craigpeterson.com if you'd like a class on this, and I know some people like Nancy Fields out there who she'll help people with their sites and put them together, but wordpress.org is where you go to get the software you need to put on too. [00:06:36] Some of these hosting services that you can use, and there's a million of them out there. Really. There's a lot, and then the kind of the ultimate, if you will, as the WP engine guys, but I brought this up to let you know the basics, right? This is what you want to look at. If you're thinking about going online. [00:06:54] But on the other side, I want to warn people right now because security teams and businesses have their hands full dealing with these COVID-19 related threats that are out there, and there are a lot of them, and right now the biggest problem isn't the hackers. The biggest problem is people clicking on emails and then getting ransomware. [00:07:16] We have a client that just. Yes. No, it was earlier in the week, I think it was Tuesday, one of their employees downloaded some software and he needed some software for windows to do some screen grabs cause he wanted to just grab a few things for off of the screen and save them the, save that graphic and use it in some documents. [00:07:38] So he went online, he did some searching and he found some screen. grabbing software, and lo and behold, there's this wonderful screen grab software for free that he downloads, and guess what? It's ransomware. So because we were doing all of the stuff for them and we had the really, the top anti-malware software that's out there very advanced stuff. [00:08:03] It detected it, it stopped it, it stopped it from spreading almost. Instantly, and that was just a phenomenal thing to have happened. It stopped it and it stopped the spread right away. So right now in WordPress, we're seeing a 30 fold increase in attacks on WordPress websites out there. , this is just dramatic. [00:08:27] So if you are running a word press word site or website, you're going to want to really, really have a look at it, make sure it's completely patched up because just like windows and Mac, iOS and iOS and Android, you have to apply patches. Man. It's like a grand central station here today. People in an out. [00:08:48] Anyhow, let's see. A million websites were reported, attacked, in the week from April 28th for one week. On May 3rd alone, they counted in excess of 20 million attacks against some half a million WordPress sites. It's just absolutely crazy. And by the way, they're coming in from more than 24,000. [00:09:10] Distinct IP addresses. What that means people are your machine to have been compromised and the bad guys are using them to launch attacks against websites and other people, which is not news, but it is news to most of those 24,000 people whose computers. Are being used to launch attacks. [00:09:32] You are Listening to Craig Peterson. Stick around because we're going to be right back. Talk a little bit about Zoom and how they are going to fix their chats. Stick around. We'll be right back and of course, visit me online at CraigPeterson.com. Craig Peterson: Hello everybody. Craig Peterson here on WGAN. You can hear me here every Saturday from one till 3:00 PM and on with  Matt  Gagnon Wednesday mornings at 734 this week because the mayor was on, let's see, it was Friday at like eight Oh eight or something like that. So. Was very, a little bit, off. But I'm here from one til three. [00:00:31] Anyways. And for those listening online, of course, I am on pretty much every podcasting app out there. And in some ways, I'm one of the pioneers of this thing. I've been doing this podcasting stuff for over 20 years, so for a very, very long time. I don't know, it kind of makes you feel old. So, so far today we just talked about WordPress and how you can use that. [00:00:53] For your business where you can go online and order to find the right hosting environment for your WordPress site. We talked a little bit about how WordPress also has security vulnerabilities like anything else and what is going on right now. I also spoke about half an hour ago here about how big. [00:01:16] Technology is a drag, just strangling, just totally strangulating all of us with their censorship free speech just doesn't exist when you're talking about the big guys. And then, of course, we started out the show talking about surveillance software in what managers have been doing with the surveillance software over the years. [00:01:42] It's really bad, frankly. What's been going on. And right now we're going to talk a little bit about something. Pretty much I think everybody in the country's been on, and that is zoom. Now, if you have not been on zoom, let me just explain it really briefly, and that is zoom is a video conferencing. App, it's been around for a while now, was written by a couple of kids and they did a terrible job with the security side of things. [00:02:14] It works well, it's easy to use, and so they did a very good job on that. And frankly, if they hadn't, they wouldn't be kind of the premier video conferencing app right now. We just used it for mother's day. I set up a zoom conference for my mother and of course my stepfather, and we did another one for my, my father, and my stepmother, and we had the kids on there like 16 people called into it, and I chose zoom. [00:02:48] Knowing that it was easy to use, that a lot of people use zoom and really like it, but also knowing about the major security problems. Right? We're talking about mother's day, so I'm not worried about losing intellectual property. I'm not really worried about having people's zoom bombed me, and that is where zoom bombing has been going on like crazy. [00:03:12] But zoom bombing is where somebody. Gets onto your zoom conference and does something nasty. anything from sexual stuff through, I, I've heard of, swastikas coming up, you know, the good old socialist national socialist party of Germany and world war two I've heard about all just all kinds of terrible things that have been coming up. [00:03:37] So I wasn't worried about Zoom by me, so because I wasn't worried about privacy. Intellectual properties, zoom bombing. Okay. It's fine because I have a small business account on zoom. Now when I am doing something for my business, this business-related or I'm concerned about intellectual property or security, then I use WebEx because it is a, not just a regular WebEx, but a secured WebEx because it is a. [00:04:05] Very well known commodity out there, something that many people, have been looking at and the federal government uses, military uses, et cetera, et cetera. So that's kind of what I do. So zoom has had a very, very bad rap as of late and for, I think, frankly, it's for many, many good reasons. And I'm, I'm on Google right now, and you know, I recommend you use duck, duck, go. [00:04:32] But I'm going to use Google because of the fact that that's what most people are using. And I wanted to have the same results you'd see. So I just went into Google news and I said, zoom security. And it's got a, the latest updates, the highs, the lows. Here's what you need to know. Avoid the app and do this instead. [00:04:53] Here's why. It's from Forbes. Zoom five offers new security and privacy features. That's the new version of zoom, the new major version that they've released. In case you didn't get that notification, make sure you upgrade zoom. zoom settles with New York attorney general over privacy and security concerns. [00:05:13] This is just two days ago. Zooms tips for safety as recommended by video conference, express zoom issues, play security issues, plays a spotlight on other video platforms, privacy troubles. but here's the one that I think is kinda interesting. This one's from. Forbes and that is Zoom buys key base in bold, new security move. [00:05:37] How this could change everything. If you've been listening for a while, you know, I've been talking about how there are still security jobs open. You know, right now, security is kind of at the bottom of the list for most of the businesses out there because businesses are saying, Hey, we just don't know what's going to happen with our business going forward. [00:05:59] So, let's just drop security who need security, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's a bit of a problem if you ask me. And so because of that. I, you know, there, there's probably been a drop, I think, in the number of security jobs that are currently open, but we were talking about two and a half million, you know, up to 3 million open cybersecurity jobs before this whole pandemic. [00:06:26] It is, frankly, we need security now more than ever as business people and at home because we're under attack more than ever. But this is Zoom's first acquisition. Now I would actually call it more of an acquire than an acquisition. And if you're not familiar with that term, it's big probably because it's a pretty new term. [00:06:52] And an Aqua hire is where you find a company that has talent in it that you need or you want. And so how do you hire those people away? You probably can't, and it is a team of people working there, so you got to figure, they probably work together. They know how to work together. They know what some of the things are they need to do to work together. [00:07:19] So you just go ahead and you buy the whole company. So they're calling it an acquisition. In reality, this seems more like an acquire and Zoom got this 90-day plan to improve their security in this whole video conferencing system. We'll see what ends up happening. The terms of this deal weren't disclosed. [00:07:41] I'm sure a part of it is usually, Hey, all of the employees have to stay, or these key people have to stay. And then as part of the acquisition, they'll pay everybody some sort of an amount. So it isn't just the stakeholders. They're stockholders that make money off of this. Everybody stays around, but this is their first acquisition zooms nine years old in case you didn't know that if you thought they just came out of nowhere. [00:08:09] It's one of these overnight successes that took nine years to get there, but they're saying that as of a couple of weeks ago, there were 300 million people. On zoom, that's dramatic. In December, it was estimated that there were 10 million people. Now for the FBI InfraGard webinars that we were running, the FBI wanted us to use Zoom. [00:08:34] I don't know why, but that's what InfraGard wanted us to use. That's what I used. So we were part of that 10 million. To up to 300 million. Can you imagine that kind of growth so you can see how they had to do something, do something fast? They could not just staff up for it, but they're planning on creating a secure private and a scalable video communication system. [00:08:58] Part of the problem they've had recently when it comes to scalability is they have been routing people's teleconferences through China and other parts of the world. And of course, those really upset people when they found out about it because of course China sits there and spies on everything that's going on now. [00:09:19] The company that they acquired is called Keybase. They spent the last six years building a secure messaging and file sharing service. And with this, users can chat and share with team members and communities knowing that the messages are end to end encrypted. So the other thing with this acquire that zoom may be getting is the ability now to have chat and file sharing, which is something that. [00:09:49]Microsoft teams have that WebEx teams have, right? That's what the team's apps have. And even Slack has built-in now some communications ability. You can have small meetings and make calls to other users. And zoom is planning on putting this encrypted end to end meeting mode in for the paid accounts. [00:10:12] So if you have a free account, you're probably not going to get it, at least not initially. And then they're going to use public-key encryption, which is something that is, say, Pattonville a little bit of a go. But it's absolutely the way to do it. So I'm glad to hear that there are some adults in the room now over at zoom and they realized, not invented here syndrome is not going to help them grow. [00:10:37] It's not going to solve their security problems. And so they, I acquired a company that has been doing this type of security for quite a while. So, okay, here we go. This is a, an article from, this is dark reading, I think. Yeah. and they're saying as part of the deal, key basis, team members will become zoom employees. [00:11:00] So there you go. Okay. they, so they are planning on publishing a draft for their cryptographic design, next Friday. So it's coming up pretty soon. So we'll keep you up to date on this. I promised I would in the past let you know what zoom is doing and how they're doing and where they're going, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. [00:11:21] So I'm really glad to hear that zoom is pulling up their socks. So we are going to go away for a quick break. And when we come back, we're going to talk about one of these companies that has smart hubs and what they have done. And this is kind of a story about what happens at end of life. And it's something that every business needs to think about. [00:11:48] If you're using salesforce.com Microsoft, you name it. Those companies are eventually going to go out of business. What happens when they go out of business? What's going to happen to your data? Whose data is it anyway? And in many cases, these companies are saying. It's my data. We own it, and if we lose it, we don't know you. [00:12:17] Anything. Real problem. If you asked me, so stick around. We'll be back here right after the break with news, et cetera, and we'll be talking more about all of this. You're listening to Craig Peter's son, right here on WGAN, and make sure you visit me online. Go to Craig peterson.com make sure you sign up for my newsletter so you can find out about the various cool stuff we've been working on and then we'll have out for you very, very soon. [00:12:45] Take care of everybody and stick around cause we'll be right back. Craig Peterson: Hey everybody. Welcome back. Craig Peterson here on WGAN and of course online as well at craigPeterson.com. We have been talking about a bunch of stuff today and you know, if you missed any of it, you can go to my website, Craig peterson.com this includes why businesses are using surveillance software. [00:00:25] To where what you can do as an employee if you think they are spying on you and what are your rights when it comes to some of this stuff, I talked also about what is happening with big tech and censorship and it really is a big problem, WordPress and how you can use that as a business. You know, if you are brick and mortar, you probably want to try and transition to more of an online model. [00:00:53] But even if you have a little bit of both, maybe WordPress is the way to go. So we talked a little bit about that when you can get WordPress as a service and also what you can do about it yourself. And by the way, attacks on WordPress are have gone up 30 fold in just the past few days. And then just before the top of the hour, we talked about zoom. [00:01:17] And how they have acquired a company in order to have end-to-end encryption on zoom. And I bet you also because of this acquisition, who they purchased the zooms going to be seen a new feature here where they're going to be doing a little bit of conferencing and. Collaboration. So I think that's going to be a good thing. [00:01:40] It's going to give a little competition to WebEx teams and also to our friends at Microsoft teams. Now, how many of you guys out there have been using some of these services. For your internet of things devices now, internet of things, devices that I'm talking about here. My kind of definition is anything that would normally be considered just a piece of hardware, you know, something that you turn on and use. [00:02:10] A good example would be some of these thermostats many of us have right. We've got these, now it's Google nest thermostats or some of the lights that we have. Well, many of these devices require what are called bridges because they using different technologies. So for instance, in my home, I've got some. [00:02:35] Now Apple home equipment, and of course we use Apple equipment almost exclusively in my business, and we have iPhones with iOS and Apple's home. The Apple home is the most secure way of controlling near your internet of things devices. The problem is that not many people make devices for Apple home, and that is because they are a little bit more expensive to make. [00:03:05] You have to have better encryption software. You have to pay the Apple tax because Apple developed it and Apple is going to charge you as a manufacturer to use their technology. So many of these companies have kind of gone off and done their own thing. We have some hue lights as well. H U E from Phillips. [00:03:25] Great lights, by the way. And those are all, again, controlled remotely, and we've got it tied in so that our iOS devices, our I-phones can turn on and off. The hue lights can turn on and off like our family room lights, et cetera, and can change the colors of lights. But because my internet of things devices are not directly compatible with Apple home, we had to get some special hubs. [00:03:58] So we have a small hub, and that hub speaks both the hue protocol. It speaks to a protocol that is used by the light dimmers in our main rooms, and it speaks Apple's protocol. Now. Were totally geeked out. So guess what? We have Linux running on a box. It does all of that stuff for us, right? So we can maintain it, we can update it, we can upgrade it. [00:04:23] We know what's going on. Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're really not after me. Right. Well, there is a company out there called Wink that many people have been using for quite a while. Wink, I should say, looks pretty darn good. It was launched first about six years ago, and the idea was to be able to connect and control all of their devices through just one master wink interface. So wink exists to really kind of simplify life for somebody, right? [00:05:00] That's really into the internet of things. You've got your lights, you got your locks, your thermostat, your cameras, your appliances. And they're all coming from different brands and they need different apps to operate. [00:05:13] Nowadays. You even see refrigerators and ovens. Man, I think I saw the first internet-connected one about six years ago as well. Our washing machines, dryers, all of these things, and they're different brands, and even though they might be using the same protocol, it doesn't mean as implemented the same way. [00:05:35] So these devices just can't speak to each other. Enter wink. Now there are a number of different devices out there that can be used as a smart hub, but speak to different, you know, different protocols, different vendors, everything else. But a lot of people went to wink because you bought it once. And that's it. [00:06:00] It was free for the rest of your life. Now, wink cost more yes than some of these others, but you did not have a monthly subscription fee that you had to pay. Well, as of this week, Wink is starting to charge on a monthly basis for their devices. The quote from Wink and obviously then they're looking for cash. [00:06:24] Now, who isn't? Wink has taken many steps in an effort to keep your hubs blue light on. That's the light on the Wink Hub. However, long-term costs and recent economic events have caused additional strain on our business. Unlike companies that sell our data to offset costs associated with offering free services, we do not. [00:06:48] Little jab there at Google. Data privacy is one of Winks core values. And we believe that user data should never be sold for marketing or any purpose. So basically what they were doing is, no grandfathering. The mandate here is to pay up or we're gonna shut you off. Here's what they said. Should you choose not to sign up for a subscription, you will no longer be able to access your wink devices from the app with voice control or through the API, and your automation will be disabled on May 13th your device connection settings and automation can be reactivated if you decide to pay up,  excuse me, to subscribe at a later date. [00:07:35] So there's no warning. It's now $5 a month per device. Think about how many devices are out there and how many devices people might have. Right? I'm a little unclear as to whether it's only $5 per house because you might only have the one Wink Hub or if it's $5 per month per device. That's kind of how I read it, so it could be really, really expensive and people are very upset about it. [00:08:05] You know, on Reddit there are thousands of responses to this company's tweet that was posted there. Most people are just absolutely angry. You know, they paid a lot more to get something that had lifetime support, and here it is, no life-time support. Right? So this feels like a variation on a familiar theme because it's happened many times. [00:08:29] You know, these internet-connected light bulbs. Many of them no longer work as a company went out of business and the servers got shut down. Smart scales. Some cases they just got dumb and they show you your weight to no longer show you your history or weight loss or anything, and in some cases, they just don't work at all because the companies pulled the plug on the apps. [00:08:51] These pet feeders. We've talked about a couple of cool ones here. They've gone. Out of business, they completely stopped feeding pets. How about these vacuums that we have in our homes that are all automated? They're running around cleaning the houses. So this is nothing new. We have seen companies go out of business before, right? [00:09:12] You've seen companies go out of business, right? Tell me. You have told me I'm not crazy. And when the companies go out of business and they're providing a monthly service for you. Then what happens? This gets to be a very, very big deal, and I also want to caution businesses because it reveals a major hole in this whole cloud business. [00:09:40] You know, we look at the cloud and say, it's going to make my life simpler. It's going to keep my costs down. I don't have to worry about the side of it anymore. I'll just use this cloud service like Salesforce for instance, or, or Dropbox or whatever it might be in reality. [00:09:59] Now, remember that your core business information, your intellectual property regarding your customers, regarding your orders, regarding your sales, your inventories, all of the stuff that is now in the hands of a third party. So what's going to happen when that third party. Goes out of business, it could be really, really bad for you. And for me. [00:10:27] So one of the things that we always advise our customers is to make sure you have a third party in a place that's securing these cloud-based apps and is doing backups for you. [00:10:43] So for instance, most of them, Microsoft. Office through the, what do they call it now? Windows three 65 plans or whatever it is. Those email accounts don't have backups and there's no guarantee from Microsoft that they will not lose your data. So are you backing that up as well? That I think there's a lot of lessons for all of us in this, and be careful when you're buying something. [00:11:11] We just got a new dryer. I made sure you were not internet-connected. I don't want a dryer from a company sitting in my house on my network, even though I've got it separated out into the internet of things network. I don't want that device sitting there potentially providing a breach for the rest of my network. [00:11:34] So think about that, be careful with that. You're listening to Craig Peterson right here on WGAN. Stick around because we're going to talk about how Microsoft is getting rid of passwords. We'll be right back. Craig Peterson: Hey, welcome back everybody. Craig Peterson here on WGAN. Thanks for joining me today. I always appreciate it and I love getting your emails. I've got a couple of great ones this week. Again, Gary was out there letting me know what he was having some problems with. In fact, I even ended up getting on the phone with him to help him out a little bit with this whole tracking thing. [00:00:26] He was thinking that his GPS was being used to track him, and some people were really trying to mess with him while he's trying to make some money driving around. So I explained how the app he's using as a paid driver works, how tracks him, and how he can stop it from tracking him when he's not working. [00:00:47] So if you're driving for Uber eats or grub hub. Et cetera. That's, that's the sort of thing he's doing. And he was really kind of wondering about, because some people were changing the delivery point on deliveries and he'd show up at the new address and there's nobody there, and there's nobody at the old address. [00:01:07] And so he was really having some issues. Yeah. Obviously that can be a problem. So if you have any questions, whether it's about grub hub or anything else, by all means, just email me, ME@Craig peterson.com. Let me know how I can help. I'm always glad to give a little bit of help for absolutely nothing. [00:01:28] And obviously this is what I do for a living as well. So you know, if, if it's a lot of work, then I'm going to have to charge you. But anyhow, Microsoft. Now. passwords have been kind of the bane of my existence forever. I remember the very first time I had a password, I don't remember what it was. It would have been pretty simple back then but that was the early 1970s, and it was a non-online timeshare. [00:02:00] The Computer, an HP, I think it was like a 2000 access or 2000 after that got upgraded to an a and it was so totally cool. It was my first real computer access and we had a teletype, a TTY33 yay. Seven level. Yeah. So it was an a, it was really, really cool. [00:02:24] And that was my first major introduction to computers way back then and we had passwords now, the head of the, of the math department, and that's where was at the time I was in school then it was inside the math department. He always used some variation of his name for his password. And I still remember to this day, his name was Robert Allen Lang. [00:02:53]So, hi, Mr. Lang. If you're, if you're still around, actually, if you're listening, but He would always use a password that like R A lane or R Allen lane or, you know, you could always guess what his password was, so we would guess his password. And we'd use that to get more access. So for instance, our accounts could only have so much storage and the accounts could only have so much time per week to be used. [00:03:26] We just loved using as much time as we could. Oh, man. One of these days, I'll tell you some stories. And so we would hack into his account. And once we're in doing his account, we then gave ourselves upgraded privileges and online time and kind of everything else. So yeah, you know, that's what you do when you're a kid, but anyhow, you know, teenagers right? [00:03:54] Fast forward to today and passwords are still a problem. I've been using pretty darn good passwords for a very, very long time now, and as you probably are aware, if you sign up for my email list, I'll send you a special report on passwords, but you might be well aware that I really like one password. [00:04:16] It's by far the winner. There was some other half-decent password managers out there last pass being one of them, but 1password, absolutely the winner. And we also use DUO, which is a two-factor authentication system. So between the two of them, we're pretty secure and I have it generate passwords for me, which is really nice, and it'll generate passwords. [00:04:39] It's funny, many times I'll have a like a 20 plus character password and the website I'm on just doesn't support that. Sometimes it'll ask all, you didn't put enough special characters in, which, as you know, just doesn't count anymore. So make sure you get my password special report so you can see what the current advice is. [00:05:01] And it's really changed recently, current advice for passwords and what you should do. So we've got world password day and every year we talk about passwords and what you should do. And this is the first year I think we're seeing more people starting to really use new forms of authentication. We're working from home even at work, and people are starting to understand just how insecure and ultimately how costly passwords really are. [00:05:38] Our cybercriminals don't need advanced techniques when they can just bet on human behavior. Ponemon Institute did a survey in 2019 and this is all on security behaviors. Okay. And they found that 51% of 1700 information technology and information technology security professionals reused an average of five total passwords again and again and again across both their business and their personal accounts. [00:06:17] Now that is a very bad thing to do. There's something called password stuffing where they steal your password. And remember a couple of weeks ago I mentioned a, "have I been pawned" or powned website? And there's a feature that I put out as well. I don't think they're airing on WGAN, but they are on some other stations all about powned passwords. [00:06:41] Well, Once a password has been stolen and they know what it is and they know what your username is, they just start automatically going and checking banks, trying to log in with that email address and that password. So having the same password that you're using on more than one system is a very, very dangerous habit because if they get ahold of just one password, they know they can use it on other sites and they're probably going to be able to get in. [00:07:16] So this single compromised password can create just this chain reaction of theft and liability, frankly, on your part. And on average, one in every 250 corporate accounts is compromised each month. Think of that one in one in 22 really accounts is compromised every year. Wow. That is huge. I don't think I've ever seen that stat before. [00:07:48] So this expense of using passwords is really continuing to grow because we're using more business applications online, aren't we? I just talked about the cloud and some things she needed to be careful of with the cloud. Well, the cloud requires passwords and we're using those same passwords. Man. That is bad. [00:08:12]By the way, password reset is one of the highest support costs, especially in larger businesses. And that means that companies are dedicating 30 to 60% of the support desk calls to just resetting passwords. So. We all have to understand it better. We all need a multifactor authentication. The very least two-factor authentication and Microsoft now has this passwordless login. [00:08:43] You might've used it, you might've seen it where it's using the camera on your computer, and sometimes it's using other biometrics, like your fingerprints, et cetera. And there are new technologies out there that are being deployed, including in web browsers that we'll be talking about in the future as they get a little bit more well adopted. [00:09:03] But some of these keys, these USB authentication keys have a built-in, it's called Fido - FIDO so if you're interested, you can always dig that up and we'll be covering that. To a, you know, a future show, as I said, and I do do some training on that with my mentorship site. All right, everybody, stick around. [00:09:25] You're listening to Craig Peterson on WGAN and I'm going to talk a little bit about remote work and now. The security fight that's happening in the cloud. Make sure you join me as well. Wednesday mornings at 7:34 with Mr. Matt Gagnon morning drive time as we talk about the latest in technology. [00:09:50] Stick around. I'll be right back. Craig Peterson: Hey, good morning everybody. Craig Peterson here. We started out this whole show talking about surveillance here that managers are doing as they're surveilling their employees. I want to talk now a little bit about surveillance where we should be keeping an eye on our cloud devices. And our endpoint. [00:00:28] So let's start out with the cloud. You know, I call them devices. In some places, you might be using a server that's living up in maybe Microsoft Azure or Google's cloud, Amazon cloud, Amazon web services, et cetera. Those systems can all be compromised. And yeah, they're sitting in the data center. Yeah. You don't have to pay for the hardware or the electricity or the cooling, which is really nice. [00:00:58] Yeah. You don't have to hear all of the noise they make in the background, but many businesses have found that, wow, the cloud really isn't the panacea. I thought it was. And they're actually moving it back out of the cloud. And that's particularly true of businesses that have security concerns due to regulations because moving to the cloud does not absolve you, from these regulations. [00:01:27] Now we've got this additional problem of people working from home, so they're using either their own computers or maybe a company computer at home. They might be connecting to the office, but it's just as likely, maybe even more likely that they're connecting to a cloud service somewhere. Not, not just for collaboration or for meetings, but to do their basic work. [00:01:51] As more and more businesses are saying, Hey, why should I be paying for the software or hardware, et cetera. Let's just move it all to the cloud. And we're seeing now States and cities that are starting to lift some of these stay-at-home orders, but frankly, this increased level of employees working from home. [00:02:12] Is not going to disappear. Sure. It'll get a little smaller. Many businesses are going to be calling people back and they are going to be working from that office, but many people are in businesses that are going to continue that move over to the cloud. So what are the security challenges that come from a hybrid infrastructure? [00:02:35] Almost three-quarters of companies expect at least 5% or more of the former onsite employees to work from home on a permanent basis. That's not a lot, but 5% when you add it up over all of the small businesses, that is a lot because half of all employees in the country work for small businesses. And a quarter of businesses are planning on keeping at least 20% of their workers out of the office post-pandemic. [00:03:06] And this is according to a survey of chief financial officers by the, it's maybe you guys know Gartner right? Gartner group. They're research firm, so their numbers are usually considered gospel in the business world. With this remote work comes even more cloud usage, and that could be a problem for a lot of companies that have issues with the visibility into the security of the cloud. [00:03:33] Now. You might be as a business relying on maybe some permitter defenses or maybe some on-premise security software and appliances to help keep your systems and data safe. Now, most of the time, small businesses aren't using the right stuff. They're just using some equipment that they got from, you know, a random break-fix shop or heaven forbid at staples or where they ordered it from Amazon. [00:03:59] You can't, you just can't get the good stuff from any of those places. But that's not going to work anymore at all. When we're talking about remote workers cause people are in their homes and they're using cloud services that you just don't know the security level of, you might not know what the patch level is of windows of the software that's running on windows. [00:04:26] You might not know any of that stuff. Right. But we are going to see a major shift so. Let's talk about it a little bit here. We're just seeing, you know, massive, massive growth. I'm looking at these numbers in telecommuting. It was growing slowly before, but now many technology firms, particularly marketing companies, are relying almost exclusively on people working from home. [00:04:53] IBM had moved people to work from home and then found that experiment to be a failure and moved everybody back into the office. Now, that was back in 2017 they pulled them back in and made them work from an office in one of six cities. While IBM now has moved almost entirely to remote work and they've got 95% of its current workforce working outside of the company offices. [00:05:21] IBM, by the way, is a major player in the cloud in case you weren't aware, they were way more prepared for this problem than many companies. It com and infrastructure information security groups. Absolutely true. So coming out of this, we need to embrace the fact that we have to continually be ready for full. [00:05:43] Remote workforce. What is going to happen? And, and I'm, I'm on governors, the governor's task force here on education, on re-opening education. What are we going to do? And of course, I'm the security guy, the technology guy, actually one of the technology people on that task force. And we had a meeting this week and we were talking about it. [00:06:07] Okay, fine. So we've got the COVID-19 thing and it's eventually going to be a thing of the past. But thinking about the teachers that are 60, 65, 70 years old, what happens when there's another virus? What happens when the annual flu or curves. Are we going to be shutting down our offices again? Are we going to be shutting down our schools again? [00:06:32] Are we going to maybe try and do quarantines as we've always done in the past where we say, Hey, if you are sick. Or if you are vulnerable, you just stay home because this is happening more and more. We, we had SARS very, you know, that wasn't long ago. Right? That was another covert virus that we had. We had to MERS. [00:06:56] That was another COVID virus that we had. We've had a number of these things. I'm thinking about Ebola, which I don't think was a COVID virus. They're happening more and more. And as we have more and more people in the world, the likelihood of them occurring is going to be even greater. So if you are a business person, and then the case of where I'm on the governor's task force, looking at education, if, if we are a school, what are we going to do in the future? [00:07:30] And I really think we have to realize that we have to be able to have our businesses basically work remotely. So I want to encourage everybody to really keep that in mind as we're looking at this going forward. What can you do in order to make your business covert proof? Now, it isn't just the COVID-19 what happens if there's a fire in your building burns down. [00:08:00] What happens if there is a major lightning strike and it burns up all of your computers just zaps them. What's that all going to mean and what's going to happen with the next 12 months? Are we going to have another massive spike in the COVID virus or are you ready for that? We got to think about it. [00:08:21] The other side is the endpoint devices and we're seeing right now. Six and 10 remote workers using personal devices to do work, and almost all of these workers believe that the devices are secure. CrowdStrike had a look at this and said that people are naive. Six in 10 remote workers are using personal devices to do work and all. [00:08:48] Almost none of them. Are properly secured, and we've got attackers now focused on targeting the remote workers. They're going after VPN technology technologies, which is part of the reason I say don't use VPNs, right? It's where the people are and it's where we're getting it back. So be ca

Welcome!   For being locked down do to this Pandemic there is certainly a lot of technology in the news this week.  So lets get into it.  I will give you my take on a recent federal court ruling about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and website terms of use policies. We will discuss the many risks that medical device manufacturers are introducing into hospitals, clinics, and patients. We have a couple of stories about Apple, first off they are ditching INTEL and designing their processors and why the fake news media is so eager to announce problems with their architecture even when it does not exist and much more. So sit back and listen in.  For more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com --- Automated Machine Generated Transcript: Craig Peterson: Hi everybody. Craig Peterson here another week with the Corona virus, I guess. Well, the latest coronavirus, right? This one is it called?  Corona, SARS two. Cause it's another version of the SARS virus. Hey Craig Peterson,  here on WGAN heard every Saturday right now from one till 3:00 PM and we talked about the latest in technology. [00:00:30] The things you need to know, things you can do. We kind of have a little bit of fun too. Sometimes we'll get into the real stuff that's serious and sometimes we just talk about some of the cool things and. Well, some things that I like to with the family and all of that sort of thing. And today, of course, is not an exception. [00:00:50] We've got, of course, these SBA loans, and you might've heard me bellyache about these because, of course, they're just not working. Uh, you know, I have a very small company and at the very least, I was supposed to get this little loan that every business that applied was supposed to get, and he supposed to get it within 72 hours.  Blah, blah, blah. From the SBA and to date I've gotten absolutely nothing and it's been weeks. And to top it off, I got an email from them a couple of weeks ago that was really ambiguous and saying that maybe I needed to provide some more information. We called them up to try and find out what's up. [00:01:32] Things just don't work there either. It just gets totally, totally messed up. So  for me  and some businesses obviously, you know, like big ones have gotten millions of dollars, including schools, universities, et cetera. And the little guys that really need the money, we just aren't getting anything. [00:01:55] Welcome to the club if you're one of them. If you're not, I'd love to hear from you. How did you make it work as a small business? Yeah, you can just email me@craigpeterson.com I would absolutely love to know. And then to top it all off, what happens this week? Of course, the SBAs loan system crashes as businesses are trying to apply for this stuff. [00:02:19] Maybe about another, what was it, 310 billion in emergency funds? It was was supposedly released on Monday or made available on Monday, and the portal course crashed and kept crashing all day long. The bankers who are trying to get onto the system to apply and behalf of the desperate clients couldn't get anywhere. [00:02:40] Very frustrating to them. Of course, no integration between the banking systems and the SBA. No integration, easy way for small businesses or even these big businesses that are pretending they're small businesses. No way for them to be able to get the information out there. And many of them are venting online on social media against the SBA, the small business administration that's running the program. [00:03:06] Now I've got to give them a bit of a break because I heard a statistic this week too, that the SBA has processed the more of these loan applications in the last, what is it, a month than they have in the last 15 years, which is absolutely incredible. [00:03:26] American bankers association is on Twitter saying they're deeply frustrated at their ability to access the SBA system. America's banks can help struggling businesses, you know? When did I say at the beginning of all of this. Based on the amount of money they were talking about and assuming that there were a hundred million businesses. I mean, families, excuse me, a hundred million families in the United States. Somebody just do a little quick math here. 100, one, two, three, one, two, three that's a hundred million. Then times 60, one, two, three $60,000 dollars per family, lets see three, three, one, two, three, $6 trillion, which was the estimated cost of the actual first bailout. [00:04:14] You know, you heard 2 trillion and 3 trillion. The actual bottom line was actually 6 trillion. So what we're really, what we're really talking about here is the ability. For the federal government to have given every family in the country $60,000 can you imagine that? What would that do to the economy? [00:04:37] Giving every family in the country $60,000 dollars. Now remember too, that you are on the hook as a family for $60,000 that were given to all kinds of businesses that probably didn't need the money in the first place. And businesses that were, you know, a friend of this Congress critter, that Congress critter. You saw what Nancy Pelosi snuck into the bills. [00:05:03] The Republicans kept saying, they're trying to keep this clean. Let's just get this to small businesses. And of course, the way they set it up, the way they did it just didn't work either.  Man is this is just me. Absolutely. Is it just me? Um. Yeah, the program first went in April 3rd it, and it's supposed to help the neediest businesses, these really small businesses, hair salons, coffee shops, dry cleaners, and businesses like mine. [00:05:31] And of course, it just didn't happen. Its Beyond frustration here for me and for pretty much everybody else. So these truly tiny businesses like mine are gone. They really, most of them are gone. I've seen estimates this week saying that it was probably in the order of 25% of them will never be back. And I was talking with one of my daughters this week and a restaurant in our neighborhood that has been here for almost ever. [00:06:06] A very old business. Uh, that restaurant, the building is haunted. It has been around for a hundred plus years, maybe 200 years. I'm not sure. Very, very old buildings. It's been a Tavern, et cetera, over the years. And he said, there's no way he's reopening. He just can't reopen. You know, he's been struggling for years. [00:06:28] It's a tough business to be in any ways, in the restaurant business, and I've seen stats on restaurants saying that we could see a 50% decrease in the number of restaurants. Number of restaurants, just an entirely here, 50% I don't know what the numbers are going to be. Um, Dallas. Here I, there's an article from, uh, the Dallas eater saying that Dallas restaurants opened in our May 1st is a bad idea. [00:07:00] Market watch has a thing about this as well. My state is reopening businesses, including restaurants and movie theaters. Am I selfish if I go?Many U S restaurants say PPP loans don't meet their needs. Yeah, no kidding. Right? Even if you get the money. You're supposed to spend three quarters of it on payroll and you've already laid off your people, how are you going to get them back? [00:07:23] Because they're making more money. As laid off people on unemployment insurance, and they would be, if you hired them back. So they're not going to reopen, and then you got to consider, well, okay, payroll was this much, but they were also getting tips which subsidized it because restaurant workers, many of them of course, making just to two or three bucks an hour. [00:07:46] This is a disaster. It is an absolute disaster. I don't know how many people are going to end up dead because of the consequences of what we did to try and slow down the Corona virus. And I'm glad we're able to slow it down. I don't know. Ultimately if flattening the curve is going to help, because you remember the whole idea behind flattening the curve was we did not want to overwhelm our medical system. [00:08:17] We didn't want the hospitals to be overwhelmed. Because we wanted the hospitals to be able to treat people that had this Corona virus. And they certainly were able to, we're seeing hospitals now, especially small rural hospitals closing down. Some of them may never open their doors again and they're not closing down because they were too busy. [00:08:37] They're closing down because it didn't have enough income because they weren't doing elective surgery. A their beds weren't even close to being full with Covid patients. Some of them only had a couple of Covid patients in them. So what, what , you know, um, and we've already had people who have committed suicide. [00:08:56] I'm aware of one, personally because of losing their job and now they had to pay the mortgage. They had to pay all of their other bills. They didn't have the money. The government was dragging their feet on it. And then the money that the government's been spending that did not end up in our hands, that money now  is not only money we have to pay back, but it's going to drive up inflation. And what's that going to mean? [00:09:21] Well, It could mean, well, the antidote for inflation from a typical economic standpoint is well you raise interest rates. Do you remember raised interest rates in the eighties early eighties? I had friends who lost homes because the only loan they could get on their home was a a variable interest rate loan. And so they had one of these variable interest rate loans and the interest rate got up into the twenties. I think I remember it being like 22-23% there it there in the early eighties. And so their monthly payments. Just went up. Doubled, tripled, quadrupled some people, and they couldn't afford to keep their home, so they lost their down payments on the houses. [00:10:05] And people are complaining right now that they cannot get a loan on their home because they don't have enough of a down payment. So the banks are getting free money. From us., Ultimately, right? Or from the treasury. So the banks are getting free money and some of these banks now we're looking for 20% down, again, which is what I had to do years ago when I bought my home. [00:10:27] I never only ever bought one home. So man, things are going to be a mess. They are going to be a very, very big mess. Um. We'll see.  In the Financial times, many U S restaurant's highly likely to return the small business aid. I was kind of interested in article denied by insurance companies. LA restaurants are waging a high stakes battle in court now because they had coverage. [00:10:56] It was supposed to cover this stuff and did it? No. Okay. Um. The many privately owned restaurants are saying the Paycheck protection program fails to meet their needs. Oh my goodness gracious. Um. This is, it's very ill suited for their industry from my industry, for most industries. [00:11:19] Basically, if you're a big enough business that you have a full time HR department, an accounting department, you probably could get the paycheck protection program. If you're a small business like me. And things are probably not so good for you, so, huh, man. Anyway, stick around. We'll get into the tech. I promise you're listening to Craig Peterson here on WGAN stick around because we'll be right back. [00:11:55] It kind of sounds like the national restaurant association show here with Craig Peterson, on WGAN. And I was thinking about my, uh, my favorite local restaurant. I love Mexican food. I have ever since I lived in Californ-i-a all of those years ago, out on the left coast. My wife, in fact, the native born Californian, and it, uh, it, I'm, I'm looking at them saying, how are they surviving. [00:12:24] Cause we would go over there once a week at least, you know, taco Tuesday type thing and enjoy ourselves. Have a nice little family outing. I haven't spent a dime there in six, eight weeks. I don't know how long it's been. It's been a very, very long time, so I just don't know. Anyways, let's get in. Let's get into the, um. [00:12:45] The stories for today, and we're going to talk about something that I think is really, really important. Uh, and of course, what else should we talk about? Right? But, uh, we've got, yeah, that was a drum roll. We've got an interesting problem right now. There is a law on the books right now that are inplace and has been in place for about 30 years, and it has to do with the definition of hacking. What is hacking, and it made sense about 30 years ago. [00:13:22] Nowadays, it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Because we've got these terms on websites. So for instance. We'd talked about two months ago about a company that was scraping all of the information they could find about us, including our, our pictures, our video, our voices. But primarily they were after our pictures and from every site they could get their hands on from any site whether or not they were violating the site's terms of service. And some of these sites have sued them, et cetera. They've been hacked, and I guess that's what happens when you become a big target. But where should it be going? What should we be doing? We've got a problem right now, and there's a lawsuit that's been initiated by a group of academics and journalists, and of course the ACLU is behind it. [00:14:18] And you know, most of the time I look at what the ACLU is doing and wonder what it is they're up to. In this case, I think they might actually be doing something right. Isn't that nice for a change. They're arguing. That having these investigations against racial discrimination in online job markets by creating fake accounts for fake employers and job seekers. [00:14:49] Is that something that should be done? Right? Leading job sites out there in terms of service that prohibits that, right? So users of these sites are prohibited from supplying fake information, and the researchers are worried that the research could expose them to criminal liability. Because they're posting these things on the site and then they're trying to analyze all things being equal. [00:15:14] Was this a case of racial discrimination? So in 2016, they sued the federal government, and they're asking for whether a decision based on what they're saying is the First Amendment that you could in fact do almost anything online and get away with it. Now, I, for instance, you know, I have been using fake information on websites for a very long time, so when I go to authenticate myself, you know, they'll ask, what street were you born on? What's your mother's maiden name? I always make stuff up for that and I record it. So that later on I can always dig it up because you know someone can go online, they can become your bestest to Facebook friend. They can look at LinkedIn, find out about you and your history. And the younger kids these days have all of the information online and will for their entire lives. [00:16:17] So I have always used different email addresses, different versions of my email address, completely different names made up everything. Now obviously. When it comes to an official thing, like a bank account or government stuff, I'm not lying about anything except for my authenticity to be able to log into the site. [00:16:42] So I'll give my correct social security number, et cetera, et cetera, when it is required, because obviously would be a violation of a law, but they're saying. That under this federal law that's out there, the computer fraud and abuse act, it's been around for 30 years. Would it be illegal to create these accounts where we're just trying to figure out, are these people discriminating. So there is a federal judge by the name of John Bates who ruled on Friday a week ago, that the plaintiff's proposed research would not violate the CFAA, the computer fraud and abuse act provisions at all. And he said that somebody violates it when they bypass an access restriction, like a password, but someone who logs into a website with a valid password does not become a hacker simply by doing something prohibited by a web site, terms of service. [00:17:45] So that I actually, I think was a good ruling here. Now from the ruling itself, criminal is criminalizing terms of service violations, risks, turning each website into its own criminal jurisdiction and each webmaster into its own legislature. Yay. At last. Right now, unfortunately, courts are disagreeing about how to interpret this. [00:18:12] If this law is around forever. In Oh nine the California federal judge, right? What else? Ninth circus rejected a CFAA prosecution against a woman who contributed to a, myspace hoax that led to the suicide of a 13 year old by the name of Megan Meyer. And in that, the prosecutors argued that they had violated my spaces, terms of service. [00:18:40] In 2014 the night circus, uh, rejected another prosecution based on terms of service violation. So obviously I'm in favor of this. They're kind of moving in the right direction. We've got the seventh circus, uh, ruled that an employee had violated the anti hacking law when after quitting his job, he wiped an employer owned laptop that contained information that was valuable to his employer. [00:19:08] As well as the data could have been revealed misconduct by this person. So I think most of the way we're talking about the courts coming down the right direction here, but, uh, I, I'm very glad to see this because you know, that I. Protect site against hackers and hacking, not just websites, but businesses, right. [00:19:30] Including a real enterprise is real big businesses and I've done that for years. Usually the smaller divisions, because even the public companies have their own it staff and you know, they hold it all very close to the chest. It's in tasks. I don't trust anyone else. Don't, don't go with that person. Don't do what they say. [00:19:50] Yeah. Right. Which is, or I kind of get it cause I'd probably be saying the same thing, right. Cause I know what I'm doing, but in many cases they're just trying to protect their jobs. So when I am. Doing this. One of the things we do is have a honeypot set up. So what happens is the bad guys get onto a network and they started attacking. [00:20:13] They're immediately going to get into the little honeypot and the honeypot looks like an unpatched system. Might be a Linux system. Usually it is, or it might be a windows system, and so they start hacking away at it. And that immediately just sets off a trip wire, right? Cause I know, wait a minute, wait a minute. [00:20:33] Somebody's breaking into this system. So we monitor pretty closely. We know what's happening on it. I basically, all of the time, and there were interpretations of that law that would say that what I was doing was illegal. It was part of security research, even going on to the dark web and downloading some of these databases of hacked accounts. [00:20:55] Passwords, usernames, emails, et cetera. Even going online, looking for my client's information on the dark web could be considered to be illegal, so we've got to update these laws. There's a whole lot more, obviously, that we have to update, but I'm glad to see some of the stuff coming down on the right side. [00:21:15] Hey, we've heard about companies moving back to the U S now because of the Ruan virus and other things China's been doing. To our U S corporations for years. Uh, did you know Apple is doing something completely differently to this year that will potentially get them out of China, at least for the most part, stick around. [00:21:38] We'll be right back. This is Craig Peterson here on w G a N and online@craigpeterson.com. [00:21:54] Hey, welcome back. Craig. Peter sawn here. Listen to me on w. G. A. N I'm heard every Saturday from one till 3:00 PM and on Wednesdays I'm on with Matt during the morning drive time. You can pick me up at about seven 34 or every Wednesday morning as we talk about the latest in the news of technology. Hey, you might've heard of Fox con they are a big company based in China. [00:22:26] They have offices while manufacturing plants, frankly, all over the world. They've got factories in Thailand, Malaysia, Czech Republic, South Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines. They also were talking about opening up some plants in Wisconsin. Apparently those never actually opened, but they are. Busy worldwide. [00:22:49] And Fox con is Apple's longest running partner in building I-phones and some of the other devices that China makes. I mean, that Apple makes or sells, right, because remember who makes this stuff anymore? Well, Apple hasn't been making its newest IMAX or not IMAX. I shouldn't say a Mac pros. Yeah. In the United States. [00:23:14] Again, not that itself, it's a contracted manufacturing company, but the Mac pro, the one that came on 2013 as well as the new Mac pro are entirely made in the United States. Now, when we're looking at things like the iPhone and some of these other devices, yeah, they are certainly manufactured by Foxconn in China. [00:23:38] In mostly in at Shenzhen China location, but in fact, key iPhone components, according to Tim cook, are manufactured in the United States and then shipped abroad. And then the devices are assembled by Fox con, and then there's another company called Pegatron in China. Bottom line. What they are doing and what Apple is doing is protecting its intellectual property. [00:24:08] And we've heard of this before, haven't we? Where companies are in China, China requires them to give all of their intellectual property to their Chinese quote unquote. Partner, right? And Chinese national has to have at least a 50% ownership in it. It's real problem all the way around, and when we're looking at what's happening with the iPhone in the manufacturing in China, things are going to be changing. [00:24:37] In fact, they're going to be changing for a bunch of Apple's devices, including some of their new Mac books. If you've ever gotten into some of the hardware details inside of. It's a Mac books and, and in fact, they're Mac computers. Over the years, Apple has gone through a few different CPS. They were using the power CPU while before that they were using the murderer, Motorola, the 68,000 based CPS and a very, just an amazing CPU. [00:25:07] I remember at the time doing some operant system ports to it. It was just amazing. And then they went to Intel and, um. After. I'm not Intel, I mean, power PC, which was an IBM design. Frankly, power chips are the most amazing chips there are. Uh, from a cost perspective and performance. It's just, they are absolutely amazing, but they run hot and they use a lot of electricity, which is why you don't want them in a lab. [00:25:39] Top and Apple was not, or excuse me, IBM was not able to deliver to Apple chips that would meet their power requirements and performance requirements. So Apple said, okay, well we're going to switch to Intel because Intel promised that they would be able to provide the faster chips and they run cooler, so they'd be better for laptops and things, and they started using Intel. [00:26:04] And Intel worked out okay. Right now, by the way, uh, Intel is losing the performance war to AMD advanced micro devices. So that's kind of cool to hear those, you know, those things kind of shift back and forth every once in a while. But Intel has been unable to meet Apple's delivery requirements, and Apple's have been pretty tough over the years. [00:26:25] Look at what Johnny Ives has done with some of the designs, but Apple says, Hey, listen, we need a. Perf performance increase in the processor and we want to choose less juice and give off less heat. Well, those things are all difficult to do for a microprocessor manufacturer. So what Apple decided they would do is they went to an open source CPU design and started with that base and went on from there to have some just absolutely amazing chip designs. [00:26:58] Now I, I love some of these designs and they're showing up. But in all of our I-phones, if you have an iPhone or an iPad, you're using one of Apple's chips. Uh, the age 12, I think is the latest one. I'm trying to remember, uh, the version numbers, but, but they're made by Apple quote, unquote. In the U S for the most part, certainly not in China, and they are very efficient from a performance standpoint. [00:27:27] They're very fast. So they've been doing a very good job with these. Now, I, I talked to a couple of weeks ago about how much an iPhone would cost if it was made in America, and I saw another study that came out last week, so I had to bring this one up because the other one. Wasn't that clear. They figured it would only be a hundred $200 more. [00:27:48] So Wes, what RAs? Why Lara? This is from fi.org. You'll find this article online, uh, which is the foundation for economic education. And this is an article by Mark Perry. He's saying that an iPhone that today costs about a thousand dollars if it were made entirely in the United States, if it even could be, because believe it or not, the United States has fallen behind. [00:28:21] In manufacturing technologies because we have blood, China get ahead of us. We gave them all this technology to start with. I've complained about that before too, and now they are ahead of us, so we don't even have the ability to manufacture these things here in the U S right now, we not only have to ramp pump, but we'd have to develop some new technologies and. [00:28:45] That thousand dollar iPhone that is assembled in China that has some component parts made in the United States would push the price of an iPhone components from about 190 $190 that's what it costs right now. Estimated, right? Apple doesn't release these numbers, but estimated to cost $190 right now, it would be about $600 if it were. [00:29:12] Made in the us. So if the materials alone are costing better than triple what it would cost in China, we could probably see a $2,000 iPhone. Now, do you remember that the U S is only bringing in 6% of the profits from iPhone sales? Two out of three iPhone purchasers are not based in the United States. [00:29:38] Now, that's a huge change from years ago when most of Apple's customers are in the U S but right now with the whole. A wound virus has been spreading in China. The app, the iPhone sales are way down, and that's probably also true of other countries as well. So this is going to be an interesting little battle as we go ahead. [00:30:00] But here's the really big news as far as I'm concerned, and that is. That Apple is going to start making the Mac book using their chip sets. So like these eight, 12, and other processors I've been talking about, they've got the, uh, a fourteens are the new ones that are coming out. I think I got that model number right. [00:30:27] But these are 12 core chips and they are actually. Two chip sets. There's uh, that, that are in one package. It's just amazing what they're doing, but some lower powered ones for doing things that don't need a lot of CPU power and some higher powered ones. And they're going to be coming out in the new iPhones and the new iPad, but they are also going to be coming out in the new Mac books now that. [00:31:01] Is amazing. 12 core CPU is aided by a graphics processor that is probably going to have its own collection of cores. This is amazing. If you look at the current iPad pro tablets that are using the eight 12 X and Z chips, we're talking about an Apple iPad pro outperforming. 90% of recent PC laptops, so this could be amazing. [00:31:31] Apple's moving this, some of this back to the U S and they're getting Intel out of the way, and I think that's a good thing, frankly, for Apple. But listening to Craig, Peter sauna, WGAN stick around. We'll be right back. [00:31:50] Hello everybody. Welcome back. Craig. Peter Assan here on w G a N having a good time today. Hopefully you guys are as well, whether you are kind of locked up in the home maybe or any central person like you, me and your, you're out and about and maybe taking a little time on Saturday too. Work in the yard. [00:32:12] I appreciate you all being with us today. I have just absolutely amazed here what Apple is doing and congratulations to them now once get into our hospitals cause they've been in the news a lot lately. You know, we've got people. Who will have the Woodlawn virus, right? Who have the symptoms of this coven 19, which is very bad. [00:32:39] And, uh, it's particularly bad for older people. We have seen now covert 19, the average of the average. Age of someone who died, what state was, it was like 82 I can't remember if that was a single state or if that was a Countrywide, but that is frankly, absolutely amazing. That means it is killing older people, but we're also seeing other symptoms. [00:33:07] Now we have, people are getting blood clots. You heard about that athlete that had to have a leg amputated. Again, it's absolutely amazing here. Uh,  hospitals right now, according to the New York times, this is from Wednesday this week saying that airborne coronaviruses detected and woo Han hospitals right now. [00:33:29] That is not good. Um. It's man. I'm just going through these articles. It just, it just, I shake my head, but we're starting to see some electric surgeries coming back to hospitals. Uh, most of these field hospitals that were set up or shut down. Down, they were largely unused and right here, according to the Bangor daily news on Wednesday, we've got two bankrupt main hospitals warn they could close in June if they don't receive stimulus funds and president and Trump has announced that, yes, indeed, our hospitals are going to get stimulus funds. [00:34:08] But if you heard me at the top of the hour, you heard. You heard me talk about how, uh, you know, we were promised funds too, and we just haven't gotten any. So it's, this is going to be a very, very big problem for us all. Uh, and when we're talking about hospitals, there's one other angle or that people just aren't paying attention to right now. [00:34:30] You know, w we talked about the ventilators. And there w there just weren't gonna be enough. Right. And here in Maine and all over the country, there were more ventilators than were needed. And that's true. New York as well. And come to find out, of course they sold 500 ventilators rather than maintain them. [00:34:52] And instead of ordering more ventilators, what did the government do there in New York? While they just commissioned a plan as to how they were going to ration them, who got. To die, right? That's socialized medicine for you. If I ever heard the definition of it, a total death panel, but the good news is we didn't need all of those, but we've got the internet of things and we've talked about it and I've talked about it in my tree trainings and we go into it in some depth. [00:35:21] In my courses, but the so called internet of things also extends to our hospitals. It's the internet of medical things, and these devices are going online. Hospitals and medical facilities are really starting to stare this in the phase. And I mentioned when I was on with Matt Gagnan on Wednesday morning this week, that there is a problem been around for a long time. [00:35:50] I have my first, in fact, a hospital chain as a client was 25 years ago. Maybe. And we were trying to clean things up for them, fix them, network stuff, put some security stuff in place. And what did we find? Well, those those machines, those hospitals, plus all of the clinics that were affiliated with the hospital had old hardware that they just weren't taking care of. [00:36:18] These devices that are controlling the systems in the hospitals. Everything from the air ventilation systems through. All of the medical equipment. Think about all of this stuff right from the, the drip machines, the Ivy machines, the ventilators, our the MRE machines, the x-ray machines. Some of these devices are running very outdated operating system. [00:36:46] Some of them are still running windows 95. Windows XP, windows seven none of which are currently getting patches or updates, and many of them were never intended to go on line at all. Think about that. When, when they were designed the windows 95 and XP. They weren't thinking about these things being hooked up to the internet or even other networks really. [00:37:13] They were just kind of standalone systems that sat in a corner and then the programmer said, Hey, listen, we can add, there's really cool feature. We'll tie them together. And so doctors can look at x-rays remotely. And so a system that was never designed with network security in mind all of a sudden had a network connection all of a sudden was being used online on a network. [00:37:35] In a hospital that had never set it up properly in the first place. I really wish more of these medical centers in the hospitals would call me because they need so much help, and many of them don't even realize it. They, these things have no cybersecurity protection whatsoever, and then the hospital networks are often not even segmented. [00:38:01] That's something I teach home users to do. So that's allowing attackers to enter anywhere in the hospital and move around so they can get to the billing. They can get to all of these machines there. Even being researchers that are saying they have seen hackers inside cardiac pacemaker machines. Think about that one for a little bit. [00:38:28] How about if it gets onto one of these machines that's running on an older version of windows or even a brand new one that hasn't been patched up and they get onto it to a hacker, it may just look like, Hey, this is just another windows 10 machine. I'm going to use it for Bitcoin mining. I'm going to use it for spreading ransomware around. [00:38:48] You think that might be a problem? So it is now Bitcoin mining instead of watching your cardiac rhythm. Right? And so when I was going to overheat, it's gonna use up all of the systems, resources. It's going to spread ransomware throughout the hospital. We've seen that again and again and again and again, and we've seen that again and again in , even in our state, New Hampshire has had this as well. [00:39:17] I talked to and helped a school district that had been nailed by ransomware and they decided they were just pay the ransom, which by the way. Tells the ransom Merz, Hey listen, let's hack them again and put another ransom on. Cause we know they pay the ransom right. So there's third problem the hospitals are having is with all of this vulnerable equipment. [00:39:40] They're not replacing them. They're not upgrading, and they're not patching them. And not enough of this equipment has been recalled by the manufacturers because the manufacturers have gone on to a newer model, Hey, listen, uh, no need to update that machine or buy a new one for only $50,000. So where are the manufacturers spending their time? [00:40:03] Where are they focusing their efforts? Well, obviously they're focusing their efforts on getting them to buy a new machine to design these new machines. It is a very, very big, big deal. Now, another one of the big attacks, most common, I mentioned ransomware when it comes to the intranet of medical devices, but. [00:40:26] The other big one is a distributed denial of service attack. Cause you remember these devices in the hospital are performing critical. Things, right? Very critical functions that, as I said, there might be running a cardiac machine on MRI. They might just be keeping track of doctor's notes, all of which are critical. [00:40:49] So if a nation state specifically targets an IV pump and changes the dose of medication, what do you think will happen? It certainly could happen, but the more basic thread is. These devices getting a denial of service attack. So the whole network at the hospital becomes overloaded and now nothing works at the hospital. [00:41:18] So there's, there are just the basic threats that aren't being taken care of. Ransomware, phishing emails, and these attacks are targeting the weakest and the oldest operating systems that are typically running on these devices and hospitals are top targets. Now, one of the big hacking groups out there that has ransomware all over the world said, Hey, listen, in this time of covert 19. [00:41:44] We are not going to be attacking the hospitals because it just isn't fair. And in fact, they have been attacking hospitals. They are the top targets still for ransomware because they're very vulnerable and they pay. And that's why, what was it, five years ago? Seven years ago? I designed a system just to, it's a small computer. [00:42:09] Based on a little in Intel Adam chip that sits in front of these devices for manufacturers, for controlling valves for more critical equipment. It just sits there. And it is a specialized firewall for that piece of equipment. So this is a problem. It's a very, very big problem in hospitals, frankly, are afraid to do anything because they're afraid they're going to get sued. [00:42:37] Their insurance companies are sitting there saying, Oh yeah, yeah, well, if you're going to do an upgrade, the equipment might not work. Properly and you might get sued. So we're going to increase the fees for our, for our services, for our premiums. Premiums are going to go up. Okay. So they just don't want to do anything. [00:42:58] And then you got the FDA right? Man, does this story ever end? And, uh, FDA is saying, Hey, listen guys, we're okay with you doing patches, the hospitals afraid of recertifying. And I love this quote here. Uh, it says it's a willful lie on the part of some stakeholders in the system that you can't update medical devices. [00:43:25] Why do you think that. W why do they think that? Well, bottom line is that. These device manufacturers are telling them, you can't update because your insurance premiums are going to get too high. The FDA says it'll have to be read, type accepted for use, et cetera, et cetera. But I want to let you know if you work for the medical community here at any level, the FDA. [00:43:54] Has post-market guidance that they issued in 2016 and in that, the FDA explained that while federal regulations require manufacturers to report certain actions, the majority of the actions taken by manufacturers to address cyber security vulnerabilities and exploits are generally not considered to be a type of device enhancement for which the FDA. [00:44:21] It does not require advanced notification or reporting. So some good news there, we'll let the hospitals know. If you're involved with this industry, guys, pull up your socks. Hire security specialist. Some of them have been doing it for awhile. That can really help you out because there's so much to know. [00:44:40] Hey, you've been listening to Craig Peterson and WGAN and online@craigpeterson.com stick around. [00:44:51] Hello everybody. Greg Peters song here. We of course are on every Saturday from a one until three and I'm on with Matt Gagnan as well on Wednesday mornings during drive time at about seven 34. I've been in the tech business now for many decades, and then the security business helping businesses secure their internet connections. [00:45:16] Really since 91 and I have quite a backstory, and one of these days we'll have to have to share it with you, but I'm a business guy and this whole security thing, you know, back in the day. I did not really understand security, probably like a lot of you guys and uh, but I was very, very technical. I had helped to implement a number of the protocols that are used on the internet and that was a big win for me because I was able to take what I knew, dig into it. [00:45:47] It took me a few days to figure out what had happened and then lock things down and I was kind of years behind at that time. Point because the, what I got, which was called the Morris worm, had actually been known for a few years before it hit me. And that was kind of a shame. So, you know, back then, of course you didn't have Google. [00:46:09] AltaVista wasn't around yet. None of this stuff was out there. We were using a gopher search engines, right. Or Veronica, Archie, Jughead back in the day, and trying to figure it out was really a bit of a chore. Once I figured it out, it was easy enough to fix, but I almost lost my business over that and that was a very scary occasion for me. [00:46:29] So I have really kind of dug into it, and I've been helping out a lot of businesses here over the years to help be secure, and I'm doing the same thing as well. For individuals. And that's what this show's all about, right? We're trying to help you guys out with that. Talk about some latest cool technology. [00:46:48] And, uh, I was so successful in being able to help outfit, I was even drafted by the FBI's InfraGuard program and trained, I've trained thousands of businesses literally here across the nation on what. To do in order to keep safe, and I continue to do that with free webinars, courses, memberships, all that sort of stuff. [00:47:10] Anyhow, if you miss the first hour today, I talked about a change here in the way criminal hacking is being looked at by our courts, and that's. Very good things about time. They changed that Apple is going to be selling max with its own processor starting in 2021. Say goodbye to Intel, and I would add to that. [00:47:34] Good. Riddens uh, also the internet of medical things. You've heard me, if you've been listening to me. Uh, you've heard me talk a little bit about the internet of things. Well, there's something called the internet of medical things as well, and that is frankly very, very scary. So that's how we ended up last hour. [00:47:56] And I want to invite everybody to go online. Go to Craig peterson.com you will see all of the articles I talk about today with all of the background. You can listen to my podcasts, you can watch my videos every once in a while. I even have some trainings. Up there, but if you sign up, you can get my weekly newsletter, which does contain all of that stuff. [00:48:19] Craig, Peter, sawn.com/subscribe so you can just get out your phone. It'll work on your phone. It'll work on your desktop, on your laptop. Craig Peterson. Now I saved Craig Peterson because it's an O. N it's not an E. N, it's N. O. N. Alright, so it's Craig, CRA, I G just like you'd expect Peter sohn.com/subscribe and I do not. [00:48:46] I do not pass to you. In fact, when I have something that I am launching, you know, a new, a new course, a new product, whatever it is, I will give you the option to opt out of that. If you're not interested in it, and I, I, you know, just click right there and you'll still get my weekly newsletter. But you won't hear anything more about that particular promotion that's going on at the time. [00:49:09] So I'm not like some of these marketers that just slam you every day. I don't even consider myself a marketer. Right? I'm a tech guy that happens to have something to sell, not quite the same thing. Anyhow. Um. Yeah, w and the plenty of free stuff. A lot of people just use the free stuff and that's all they need. [00:49:30] We have a report that's been in the media that I want to talk about right now, and this is a report about this so-called zero day exploit against iOS. Now, what is zero day exploit? Basically. Uh, what we're talking about when we say zero day means, uh, it's kind of like patient zero, who was the first person to get the Corona virus as an idea, right? [00:49:57] That's patient zero zero day here. When we're talking about some of these hacks means no one has seen this particular hack before, at least no one was aware of it. Now, sometimes the government agencies. Of our government and other foreign governments, we'll find something out. Of course they won't. Uh, they won't tell us about it. [00:50:20] Right. They'll just kind of use it. That has actually changed under the Trump administration. President Trump has been adamant that they share this information. I'm sure that keeping a couple of things back, but the NSA even has been sharing information about exploits that are going on. So we're funded about more and more of them, but in this case, there is supposedly an exploit that's out there in the wild. [00:50:46] And then the wild means it is being used. It has been seen out there. And this particular exploit is supposed to be used just by sending out a specially crafted, uh, email. Okay. And I'm supposedly, I saw another article that was saying, Oh, it's especially triggered SMS, a text message or message message or something. [00:51:11] So there's a San Francisco based security firm named Zach ops, and they said on Wednesday that attackers a dues the zero day exploit against at least six targets over a span of at least two years. Well. Now that's being disputed because Apple is certainly acknowledging that there is a flaw in the mail app, but it is a bug that causes the app to crash. [00:51:39] It does not give the bad guys access to anything. Basically. So the bad guys, certainly, yeah. They could crash your mail app and it's just going to restart automatically, or are you going to click it and it'll re restart right on your iOS device. But in this case, what we're talking about is something that's really a whole lot different, a whole lot worse, or is it frankly, right? [00:52:04] If it's not giving them access to your data. Is it really worse because it can't take full control of your iPhone, unlike what some of the media outlets were talking about. So Apple had declined to comment on the report, but they came out and they said that the bug posed a threat to iPhone and iPad users and there had not been any ax exploit at. [00:52:29] All in the statement they said, Apple takes all reports and security threats seriously, thoroughly investigated. Researchers report based on the information provided have concluded these issues do not pose an immediate risk to our users, and they go on to say that they found these issues in mail that. [00:52:47] Cannot bypass the iPhone and iPad security protections and no evidence that they've been used against customers. Now Apple's really good too about trying to track what is happening on phones. You might have noticed if you go in complaining about a problem with your phone and you go into the. Oh store. [00:53:04] They can look at logs on your phone to see if the app has been crashing, et cetera. So yes, indeed, they can check this out and take care of it. There have been a number of independent researchers that have also questioned the conclusion that zinc ops came to, and I think this is good. You know, you've got to be out there. [00:53:26] You've got to be talking about these things. Apple did respond. I like the fact that it was all public here. And that people were able to look at it and kind of figure out what was going on. Cause there have been exploits. We know that the WhatsApp app has been nailed a few times and I think part of the reason for that is WhatsApp is supposed to be secure. [00:53:47] Well, how secure is it. Really, and so they, the bad guys are constantly kind of going after it, trying to prove that it's just not secure at all. But really they identified a crash report. They found a way to reproduce the crashes and some circumstantial evidence. Told them that may be this was being used for malicious purpose purchase purposes. [00:54:11] Okay. Um, so, uh, anyways, that's where that stands. So what to do, obviously keep your software up to date. Apple is very good, unlike again, in this month. Microsoft's updates ended up causing serious problems. For some people. Apple's updates rarely cause those types of problems, and when we're talking about iOS, they just don't get any easier. [00:54:39] You can apply them very, very simply. In fact, they will usually, if you have automatic updates turned on on your iPhone or iPad at night, while it's sitting there on the charger, it's going to go ahead and update itself, upgrade itself, and then the next morning, Qatar, you've got the whole new operating system you had to do. [00:54:57] Absolutely nothing, which is, man, that is my idea of an easy time, and you've heard me before, I'm sure say don't use Android and people just, I ignored, I don't understand why. Right? Some of these people, like Danny, for instance, I'm thinking of, he follows. Everything I say to the T and it has saved him again and again. [00:55:22] In his small business, he has a franchise restaurant and you know, Oh, we'll see how the restaurant business does, but he's doing okay right now, but he still uses an Android phone and I don't get it. You know, I, I'm not really fond of. Any of these big companies, politics, you name the company, the politics are probably bad nowadays. [00:55:44] You know, it used to be assumed that, Oh, big corporations, they were big, they were evil, they were nasty. And if you notice the Democrats, now they're not talking about the evil millionaires. They're talking about the evil billionaires, because of course they're millionaires, right? To all of them, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, the senators out there in California, Feinstein and others. [00:56:06] But, um. You know, the these big companies, so many of them are so left-leaning. It drives me crazy, so I get it. If you don't want to use Apple stuff because you don't agree politically with Apple, I think that's an okay reason. But reality sets in. And you just can't continue to use Android. You really can't. [00:56:27] And if you can get off of windows, you should do that as soon as you possibly can. Anyhow, that's just my opinion. So stick around. When we come back, we've got more to talk about. Of course, we're going to get into a very kind of an interesting problem over at Amazon. You're listening to Craig Peters on a w G a N stick around. [00:56:50] We'll be right back. [00:56:55] Hey, welcome back everybody. Craig Peterson here on WGAN. You can hear me, of course. Every Saturday from one til three. You also can listen to me on Wednesday morning. Yes, I'm on with Matt Gagnon. Did you know there was a morning show. Yeah. Drive time. So I'm on with Matt every Wednesday at about seven 34 for a few minutes to talk about the latest in technology news. [00:57:23] And of course we get to spend a couple hours talking about this in more detail on Saturday. Well, we just talked about this iOS zero day bug, and what does that mean to you? Doesn't look like it's totally legit. Big, big problem with our medical devices and hospitals and otherwise they are still running windows 95 X P if you can believe that 2007, none of which are supported anymore. [00:57:55] And, uh, you also went into what. Uh, what really has been put in place out there to allow them to do upgrades and updates, but there's so much obfuscation. It's crazy. And then courts violating a site's terms of service is not criminal hacking. So if you missed any of that, you can find it online. You can just go to Craig peterson.com/iheart I also post this whole show as one podcast that you can find on your favorite podcast platform, whatever that might be. [00:58:31] By just searching for Craig Peterson. Or the easy way is go to Craig peterson.com/itunes or if you're like, hi heart, you can go Craig peterson.com/iheart or Craig peterson.com/soundcloud et cetera, et cetera, okay? But it's all out there and you can get the whole show, all kinds of. Put together for you, which I think makes some sense. [00:58:57] Amazon is the 8,000 pound gorilla out there. They have been just really taking over the online retail space in a very, very big way. In fact, the Amazon counts for about one third of all. US-based internet retail sales isn't that huge? Can you imagine having that kind of market share? One third of all of it, but it didn't get there entirely on its own in case you're not aware of it. [00:59:31] Amazon has about half of their items being sold by small businesses, by third parties, and you might've noticed that on label sometimes where the third party, uh, will. Ship has something to you directly, and yeah, it looks like an Amazon box and me having an Amazon tape on it. But in reality, what we're seeing is a return address that might not be Amazons. [00:59:57] Well, these typically are smaller vendors, so think of that for a minute. We've got about a third of all retail sales going through Amazon and about half of those coming from small vendors. That's a very, very big deal. And with the businesses the way they are today, you might want to consider. Should you be selling online? [01:00:24] A lot of companies abandoned eBay because of their pricing strategies and they moved over to Amazon and it's been okay for them over there. But I want to tell you about the problem that's happening right now at Amazon. And this is something I've seen over the years that has bothered me a lot. And I had over the years, a number of friends that had started software companies and some companies that I didn't even know that were. [01:00:57] Well, you know, I knew all of them, but I didn't know the owners. Then they had database software, they had scheduling software. They had a lot of different things, and what Microsoft would do is they'd, they'd keep an eye on the market and they'd say, Oh wait, wow. Wow. That database is doing really well and it's winning. [01:01:18] A lot of DTA deals that our database software's not winning. And the allegations were that what Microsoft was doing was kind of being a predator here cause they would go to the company that had the database software and uh, chat with them and see if the company would sell out at a reasonable price. [01:01:42] And then this is so anti competitive. It's crazy. But then. If that company didn't want to play ball, like sell themselves for super cheap to Microsoft, well, Microsoft was accused of doing and what Microsoft hadn't been convicted of doing in courts now is they would announce a product that competed directly with the small guy. [01:02:11] And wait to see who asked about it. So Microsoft would say, yeah, we have a database product for small businesses. Very easy to use. Drag and drop interface. Everything's going to be great. You are going to love it. And then Microsoft would sit there and see of companies would start calling them and say, when's your product going to be available? [01:02:34] What am I going to be able to do this? Well, in some cases they waited a year or more. And they never ever came out with a product. But what do you think happened to Mr. Small guy out there, the small business that had investors where the owners, they were founders had invested thousands of hours into it, maybe their entire life savings. [01:02:58] Well, people, companies, and I experienced this personally, companies who would sit there and say, well, you know, Microsoft is going to come out with something here. I want to see what Microsoft does. And so that small company. W is now out of business because what are they supposed to do? People aren't buying, you know, their models were based on so many sales and that was based on the people liking their product and talking about it and the marketing dollars they were spending. [01:03:29] But that money was going down the drain because Microsoft was there saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll, uh, we'll, we're going to do this. Yeah. Yeah, us, us, us. And so they got sued again and again, and they lost in court, but it was still cheaper for them and then made more money. Think of the billions in cash some of these companies are sitting on and, uh, that is a bad thing to do. [01:03:52] It really does hurt commerce. It certainly is not free trade. Uh, of course, we live now, I think in a largely a crony capitalist system. And they played that game. They played it very, very well. Well, back to our friends here, Amazon. But yet, you know, those allegations are still floating by the way, about Microsoft and many other companies that appear to be doing that thing in. [01:04:18] Here's what happened to them. Amazon. What happened was Amazon started looking at the merchants that were selling third party stuff on their websites, and the wall street journal has a great report on it right now because Amazon has its own in house brands. So it's making itself a direct competitor to many of these merchants who rely on the Amazon platform to reach. [01:04:50] Consumers. So now you've got your little product. Amazon is selling something that's similar to yours, or at least competitive with yours, and that's bad enough. But the wall street journal reviewed some internal company documents that showed that Amazon executives were asking for and getting data about specific marketplace vendors despite corporate policies against doing so. [01:05:23] Despite the fact that Amazon had testified in Congress that they never did this. And according to the wall street journal, more than 20 former employees told them that this practice of flouting those rules was commonplace. We knew we shouldn't, but at the same time, we're making Amazon branded products and we want to sell them. [01:05:48] So here's what they were doing. Amazon was looking. At what was being sold out there. And this one example that was given was something that I've bought. It's a car trunk organizer, and apparently Amazon employees access documents relating to that vendor's total sales. What the vendor paid Amazon for marketing and shipping and the amount Amazon made on each sale of the organizer before the company. [01:06:20] Then unveiled. It's own similar product. They're getting around the rules here. W we'll get into this when we get back. I'll tell you about some of these Amazon brands that you might not even be aware are Amazon brands. You're listening to Craig, Peter sawn here on w G a N every Saturday from one til 3:00 PM cause stick around. [01:06:43] We'll be right back. And of course there's a whole lot more to come today. [01:06:52] Hey, welcome back everybody. Craig, Peter sawn here. We were just talking about our friends at Amazon. I remember getting really, really upset with them. I sent them a a note, uh, years ago, decade or more, certainly more a go because Amazon decided it would patent something that it called one click ordering. [01:07:17] As though one click ordering was like some major leap forward and, and, and I couldn't believe the us patent and trademark office actually gave them a patent because I knew other sites that were doing it as well. It. This whole thing is totally upside down, not just with Amazon, but now you can get patents on almost anything and not, not just, I'm not just complaining about business processes here, business process patents, which, uh, I don't like. [01:07:48] Uh, but all the whole patent world, the whole thing has been changed, turned on its head with the new patent laws. It has gotten even worse, not better. Yeah, it makes it easier for the government, but in reality, it I think is hurting a lot of businesses. So let's see what we're talking about with Amazon here, where Amazon was combing through the data of these third party vendors that make up for about 50% of the products sold on amazon.com. [01:08:20] And these employees were accessing the data about what the vendor's total sales were, and they were getting around the rules by bending the concept of what's called aggregation according to the wall street journal and well, Amazon says that it did not access individual seller data. It did create reports of aggregate. [01:08:45] Seller data. And if a pool is large enough, that wouldn't be a problem. So if you've got 200 vendors selling iPhone cases, okay, but the example that the wall street journal is using here is have a trunk organizer. So in reality, how many trunk organizers were there at the time? So this pool of vendors, very, very small. [01:09:11] And when you're talking about a group of two entities, uh, okay, it's aggregated, but what's that telling them. So what Amazon had done then is they said, Oh, wait a minute. This is a very profitable niche that people who are using our services to sell it are in. So your small business, you come up with this idea of a trunk organizer, and it's better than any trunk organizer that's ever been made, and you're going to add two extra compartments to it. [01:09:43] I don't know what you're going to do right. You're going to make it very firm, very strong, and it can fold up, fit into a corner. And so you have to make some prototypes. You have to figure out, how do I do this? You might make a trip or two to maybe heaven forbid China or Indonesia or some other country, right? [01:10:02] Other than China, please. And you go out there for a few times, you. You end up paying, you know, easily 10 $20,000 just to have a stamp made that can stamp out your little product there for the insides. And then you got to get another vendor that had ships to that, that takes the material, sows it all together, and then can ship it out. [01:10:25] And then you have to have a minimum order sitting there in Amazon's warehouses ready to go. So you're into this one a hundred grand, maybe more. Plus all of the time that you spent doing it, which now is lost opportunity costs because you weren't doing something else while you were trying to design this chunk organizer. [01:10:50] So you have spent life savings on this. You've put it together. If you ever watched shark tank, and you look at some of these people, right? Most of those businesses fail. Even the ones that make it to shark tank. So you've done all of this. You had hoped that your business would succeed. Well, you're selling it. [01:11:13] It is succeeding. It's doing well. Maybe you've made back $50,000 of that a hundred thousand you put into it and maybe you get up to a hundred thousand Amazon notices. Whoa, this guy's making a lot of money. Maybe we should get into that trunk organizer business. In fact, we know exactly which models, which colors, which fabrics of his trunk organizer are selling. [01:11:43] Hm. So Amazon then takes the idea and runs with it. Amazon now has more than 145 private label brands. This is a huge, huge number. There is a website out there called this Justin. TGI research and they have a list of these brands that Amazon has. I'm scrolling through it right now. I had no idea. Most of these were Amazon. [01:12:18] You know, you've heard, I'm sure of Amazon essentials. That sounds like an Amazon brand, right? It is. Amazon basics. Okay. Those are obvious. But there's others like kids' clothing line scout and RO women's clothing, brand, Hayden Rose or furniture line stone and beam. Those are Amazon brands and you can't tell by the name, and I'm looking at this list over on this, Justin, and they all have their own logos. [01:12:54] You just, you would have no idea. Brass tacks leathercraft makes leather belts from, guess what those are? Those are Amazon chains. Ditch charming. Dove. Um, Ken sounds like charming Charlie, doesn't it? Hm. Uh, charm. Z silver. That sounds like chirpy. Oh my gosh. Amazon exclusive. Uh, and then charming Charlie's is out of business. [01:13:20] Right. Did you ever go there? My, some of my daughters used to love it cause you can get all of these little hoopy things and necklaces and stuff, but it goes on and on. This is, this is ridiculous. There's gotta be way more than what, what Tai and what wall street journal is reporting anyways, so they're saying those private labels account for 1% of Amazon's total sales. [01:13:45] That was according to a report last September, and some former employees apparently told the wall street journal that they are operating under the directive that Amazon's private label sales should be. 10% of the company's retail sales by 2022 so there you go. You know, we talked about the contentious relationships with eBay in the sellers. [01:14:11] Contentious relationships with Amazon in the sh in the sellers, the European union's competition Bureau opened up an investigation against Amazon. This is a very, very bad thing here. Uh, antitrust subcommittee chairman, David Sicilian from Rhode Island in house judiciary committee chair. Gerald Nadler. [01:14:36] We're pretty upset about this quote. This is yet another example of sworn testimony of Amazon's witnesses being directly contradicted by investigative reporting. So yay. At least somebody is doing investigative reporting out there. So I don't know. What are you going to do? I was upset with Amazon. I told them I'd never do business with them again, and then probably about 10 years later, I started doing some business with them again because it was the only place I could buy some of the things I wanted to buy, but they've been using this merchant data not good. [01:15:10] Not good at all. Well, we have a couple more cool things. We only have a minute or so left here in this segment, but let's get into this very, very quickly. At least get started. This is from dark routine.com they have a lot of great articles, but consumers and small to medium businesses are likely to fall. [01:15:31] For Corona virus scams. It said, now, I have seen a lot of emails coming in to me from companies saying that they can get me some of these loans. Uh, I don't think so. Uh, and I have, I saved some of them. I should put those out in my membership site or in the newsletter. You can see some of them do some training

Longtime podcaster, full-cast audio pioneer and independent filmmaker, and author of 30 books, J. Daniel Sawyer hosts the daily writers podcast The Every Day Novelist dedicated to creativity, process, writerly discipline, and cultivating a fertile mental life.TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLESHOW LINKS:Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: youtube.com/c/KevinTumlinsonWordslinger Podcast on YouTube: youtube.com/c/wordslingerpodcastAuthor.Email: author.emailIndie Author Blueprint: indieauthorblueprint.comGUEST LINKS:Website:: http://www.jdsawyer.netAmazon Author Page:: https://www.amazon.com/J-Daniel-Sawyer/e/B003L9JM92Twitter:: @dsawyerFacebook:: https://www.facebook.com/jdaniel.sawyerHow can people join your mailing list?: http://jdsawyer.net/about/mailing-list-signup/SPONSORS:DRAFT2DIGITAL: Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerACORNS: Start an Acorns account today and get FREE MONEY! kevintumlinson.com/acornsAUDIBLE.COM: Get a FREE 30-day trial of Audible and listen to any audiobook in their vast library, when you go to http://audibletrial.com/wordslingerTRANSCRIPT:SUMMARY KEYWORDSbook, people, podcast, nanowrimo, pandemic, years, worldview, everyday, talking, novelist, life, interesting, grew, read, thought, recorded, held, listen, writing, questionsSPEAKERSKevin Tumlinson, J Daniel SawyerKevin Tumlinson 00:01Hey everybody, thank you for tuning in for sticking through the intro. I'm not even sure what I said in the intro, but I promise I will, I can guarantee at least I was interested in it. So thanks for tuning in and playing along. So today we're talking to Jay Daniel Sawyer. Now I'm going to read his bio here because it's it's got some great details for you but longtime podcaster full cast, audio pioneer, and independent filmmaker and author of 30 books. Jay saw your hosts the daily writers podcast, the everyday novelist, dedicated credit to creativity, process, and writerly discipline, and cultivating a fertile mental life. That's the part I wanted to get to in your bio. I like the idea of a fertile mental life. How's that? How's that shake out? And welcome to the show.J Daniel Sawyer 00:52Hi, Doug diggin Kevin. Yeah, you were on everyday novelist. What about it? But two years ago, I thinkKevin Tumlinson 00:58Yeah, a little bit. Doesn't seem like that long.J Daniel Sawyer 01:01I guys been crazy packed two years and like, every sense. Yeah,Kevin Tumlinson 01:06yeah. I feel like I've done a billion podcasts and webinars and live stream since then. And that's just this week. Oh, no. Yes. And I, you know, and I told you this before we started and I'm, I'm going to apologize to the rest of the world. Because if I sounded all frazzled, or off my game, it's because we've had so there's that on top of a pandemic, and I don't know when you're listening to this, it's probably a little bit in the future for sure. Maybe things turned out all right. And if so, thank you world for playing along. But uh, you know, things have been a little crazy. In terms of stuff we're doing with DDD, we got these spotlights, we're doing like every day, and then my buddy here pops in and I for some reason, I thought it was one of my author consults. So So I'm off base. I'm off kilter man. We're gonna get back on trackJ Daniel Sawyer 02:04so I think we'll do fine.Kevin Tumlinson 02:06How is everything in the James J Daniel Sawyer world man Tell me a little bit about what you're doing right now.J Daniel Sawyer 02:12Oh well right now I'm stuck up in the backwoods I moved up to the backwoods of New England for a week in order to help my parents relocate a year ago It turned out that their their retirement house needed some renovations. So Oh, got stuck here. And just as we were getting ready to leave the quarantine comes down. So I might be stuck here another year. So there's a lot of interesting refactoring going on.Kevin Tumlinson 02:36But that seems to be the way that works out. I mean, we we were we moved out of our apartment and moved into our in laws place for a few days, quote, unquote, and then 14 hit and we're like, well, they're gonna hunker down anyway. Go ahead.J Daniel Sawyer 02:54Yeah. But yeah, it's it's good. It's, you know, we're on we've got 50 acres to play with. So there's a Lots of good time for outside notice and using the opportunity to resurrect my fiction podcast and get some work ahead done on the homestead we're building on the other side of the country. Right? So it's, it's gonna work outKevin Tumlinson 03:15what kind of work ahead can you do if it's on the other side of the country?J Daniel Sawyer 03:18There's a lot of design stuff. Yeah design, designing and costing sourcing stuff for the first buildings figuring out order of operations for at what stage we do the well when we do the catchment, what's the priority of how much electrical build out because where we are, it's a quarter mile beyond the last electrical pole. So it's 20 odd thousand just to bring power in. It's actually a lot cheaper. Even though we're in an iffy climate zone. It's actually a lot cheaper to go solar. So, right. Yes, that's a whole new set of things I've been learning about andKevin Tumlinson 03:53Oh, man. Yeah, you're talking to the right guy. Cool. This is I have to so you know, You know that we're getting into an RV full time again? Yeah. So the the two biggest problems, the three big problems. One, the two are bigger than the third. But internet is the biggest challenge. You know, power isn't such a big challenge unless it's going to be hot. And then we have Eric. Right. So, yeah, so solar power and generators and alternative energy are all in my mind. I'm thinking about installing something on the wheels of the camper that as we rolling in generates power.J Daniel Sawyer 04:36I've been studying doing that kind of stuff. It should be pretty, pretty simple.Kevin Tumlinson 04:40Yeah, man. Yeah. by simple, you know, that's a relative term.J Daniel Sawyer 04:44Well, it's a relative term. But the question is, would it be more efficient than just putting a bigger alternator in the truck? Yeah. And then, and then routing it to the chargeback.Kevin Tumlinson 04:55That's something else I I've considered. Well, yeah, whatever. This has been alternate energy talk everyone.J Daniel Sawyer 05:03So, well, you know, we were talking about a fertile mental life. Yeah, exactly. I mean, one of the one of the things about creativity is it's nonlinear, you can't reason your way into what you have to do is you have to create a broad, a broad base of knowledge and experience and interests to pull from. And so, you know, one of the ways that I keep myself Spry is by picking interesting stuff that's not related to anything else I'm doing and finding a way to get interested in it because I always get story ideas out of it.Kevin Tumlinson 05:35Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's interesting. And that and so that's what you mean by by fertile mental life?J Daniel Sawyer 05:42Well, partly, I've just finished a book called The autodidact Bible, which should be coming out. I think we've set the publication date for early July. Yeah. Which is a basically a comprehensive toolkit for teaching yourself how to self educate, eat, whether you're self educated. With philosophy or with carpentry, and everything in between,Kevin Tumlinson 06:04man, I gotta tell you, though, hmm, you should call it a fertile mental life. The other didactics Bible. Thank you.J Daniel Sawyer 06:11I've been looking for a good title for it because the working title is a bit wonky. Yeah, so I'll write that down.Kevin Tumlinson 06:20I think that's gonna work. I would buy that book. All right, I wouldn't buy the first one.J Daniel Sawyer 06:25right because it sounds really technical. ItKevin Tumlinson 06:27sounds like it's gonna Yeah, like, I'm gonna have to read this with like one of those clear rulers. Oh,06:35I lost I lost your lightingKevin Tumlinson 06:36just went away. Yeah, well, good thing nobody everyone listening is doesn't know that.J Daniel Sawyer 06:41Yeah, speaking of off grid power,Kevin Tumlinson 06:44no joke. Now, I'm not really sure why that happened. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna let that charge up while I'm on with you. Okay,J Daniel Sawyer 06:52both backlit, so it's sort of fair. Exactly.Kevin Tumlinson 06:57Things things like this are always happening to me lately. I don't What's going on? Um, so yeah, we'll get off that see this one talking about some I get off track justJ Daniel Sawyer 07:09because I'll just chase whatever and that's okay. you stumble ontoKevin Tumlinson 07:12you know, I studied improv and you know, you roll with whatever is gonna come at you. Yeah,J Daniel Sawyer 07:17yes, yeah, yes and or no but but never Yeah.Kevin Tumlinson 07:20So, uh, I, let's talk a little bit about your well wouldn't talk about your book. Do you want to talk a little about your book? I was gonna get off on your podcastsJ Daniel Sawyer 07:32there. Let's get off on the podcast. They're related. They'reKevin Tumlinson 07:35related, okay, who partly out of the other. So tell me. How did the show get started? Like what made you decide to do itJ Daniel Sawyer 07:41back in? I think it was 2006 Yeah, 2005 or 2006. I went to a write in for NaNoWriMo at Central Park in Berkeley. And Chris, whatever his name is the guy that started NaNoWriMo was there and so I got to talk to you too. Like, why'd you know why did he do this? I'd never done it before. It always seemed kind of silly to me. And he said, Well, I wanted to be a writer and I couldn't motivate myself. So I decided to pick the most difficult month in the year and intentionally write a book there to prove to myself I could do it. Yeah, I thought that was kind of a cool idea. So I wanted to trying to do NaNoWriMo that year and I completely failed. But the the lit the minor features of the conversation like going in the direction of greatest difficulty in order to build up your writing chops, really sunk in made a big difference to me as a writer to my productivity and to my general approach to all things writerly. So, I had in mind always want especially once I started podcasting, I always thought it would be fun to do sort of a walkthrough of NaNoWriMo for the newbie who'd never written a book before. Okay, and about 2016 I had the free time. So I sat and did it. And I got to the end of this 30 day walkthrough, which has since evolved into my book becoming an everyday novelist. And I started getting emails from people saying, Please don't end it here. We've become dependent on it. And so I, I went on pod and I read a couple of these. And I said, Okay, so look, here's the problem. It took me, God, you know, God knows how many untold hours to work out the program for this 30 day walkthrough to put things in the right place to write the copy that whole bit. So if you want me to keep this going, you've got to make it easy for me send me questions or something. Yeah. And I thought that was gonna be the end of it. But they sent questions. And they kept sending questions, and they kept sending questions, and it's now four plus years on and we're just creeping up on 1000 episodes now, and they're still sending questions. Occasionally, a question will spin off and I'll do a special series or or I'll have a guest on every once in a while. Then about about two and a half years ago, I wrote a I cracked the formula for hemlines juvenile books. And so I wrote a Heinlein juvenile and did a walkthrough of how to write a headline juvenile interesting and you know, some other stuff like that. But as the years have gone on, the questions have gotten more and more interesting. We get into history in psychology and philosophy in general auto didacticism and mental health management and physical health management. And the reading list that I refer people to keeps growing and growing and growing.Kevin Tumlinson 10:41Yeah, was what puts you though, on that specific course like you are? Well, I guess more the more important question is like how are you answering those questions like where are the answers come from?J Daniel Sawyer 10:55Well, I read the questions when they come in and then about one second Good enough to do a block I record 15 to 30 episodes in a day. Yeah. And do it all off the top of my head. Okay, I'm, I'm Constance I grew up in I literally grew up in academia, both grandfathers are cattle ranchers and then my father is a theology professor. So I grew up idolizing my blue collar grandparents and hanging out in the college where my father taught. So I was like, auditing classes when I was six, seven years old. Just Yeah, I thought it was cool. Not realizing I was picking up useful stuff. Right. And I've just always loved learning and hated school. So I've become the I quit. I dropped out of school at 15. I started working full time and going to college on the sly. And just read, read, read, experiment, learn, do a bunch of different stuff. I've, I've run a courier company. I've run a couple of publishing companies. I've been in the tech world. I've run a music company. or not, that was music services company like MC live sound mixing and doing videos, that sort of thing. And over the years, I've built up this toolkit for how to navigate any situation and come out of it. Come out of it, learning a lot about it. That's crazy and how to cross apply those things to other areas so that you can bootstrap on multiple fronts at once. Yeah. So when someone comes in and asks a question, and I'm really I'm always really careful to separate my opinion from the state of the art in a given field and what the state of my knowledge is, and then, if it's something that's, you know, socially controversial, or that's fraught in the field, I refer to sources that contra counterbalance each other and when it's when it's something more historical, I just didn't refer to a couple of good books that are they give more depth on this. subject that I'm able to give. We've done deep dives on the history and background of the writing of certain influential books, you know, that kind of stuff.Kevin Tumlinson 13:09Yeah. And you're cataloging all this somewhere so that people can can access Yeah,J Daniel Sawyer 13:14yeah, there's a there's a on the website at everyday novelist calm there's a reading list of basically every book we've ever recommended on the cast. Do you album,Kevin Tumlinson 13:25are you monetizing that somehow? Are you you know, people got paid?J Daniel Sawyer 13:30Yes. No, no, well, it's, it's free. Listen, I've got Patreon subscribe star and the gumroad subscription feed all currently doesn't bring in very much but yes, for me, it's kind of a pay it forward thing I need to figure out how to monetize it a little better, because that's taken ungodly amount of time.Kevin Tumlinson 13:46That's always a challenge too. Because, you know, you like me. I mean, I I've lost track of how much I've put out there. that's meant to help the community but you know, at some point you do have to make a living. Luckily, my books make money. Living. So that's great. But he put in all this time and energy, you feel like there should be some sort of monetary reward.J Daniel Sawyer 14:09Well, people who listen to this, if you come over and listen to the cast kick $1 in here and there or buy the books through the Yeah, the site that really helps out a lot. One of the lovely things and you'll know, that's one of the lovely things about being sort of off the beaten track, whether you're in an RV or going or we were in an RV for a couple years or going off to the middle of the woods, is you have the freedom to live on quite a lot less than everybody else does. Right? So it doesn't take a whole lot to meet your monthly bills. So you know, we don't make a lot it really does help with the budget, but genuinely, every dollar helps us both nice and a little bit of a downer.Kevin Tumlinson 14:49Yeah, well, but I guess if you really think about it, that's just gonna be true no matter what I mean, you. Yeah, I mean for most people, for like, we'll say 90% of people. That's probably going to be the truth.J Daniel Sawyer 15:01It's got interesting. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting watching what kind of long term effects this whole. This whole endemic pandemic adventure has on people's determination to work from home and other things over the long term that could seriously change the shape of the way things work.Kevin Tumlinson 15:18I predict that I honestly think we're, we've just we just witnessed, like a leap forward in the evolution of a civilization. As you know, everything we understood has come to an end. And we're now going to reinvent ourselves.J Daniel Sawyer 15:35That's a lot more true than you might realize. Because it's not just the social changes that this is forcing. But there is another set of social changes that was waiting in the wings for coming to three years from now when the boomers hit mass retirement that this has accelerated. Yeah. And that is that because of the global demography, the demand driven economic expansion that started With the Black Death just ended, right just ended. Right? That's 500 years of political, social, and economic and ethical systems all premised on the notion that things would continue to grow at a moderate rate forever. They don't work anymore. Right? I'm planning on editing an anthology later this year dealing with potential new ways to do things where growth is not an embedded obligation of the system. Figure science fiction needs to get back to hardcore speculation. SoKevin Tumlinson 16:32I think we also just witnessed the opening of a whole new door when it comes to intellectual property and the way culture reacts with it.J Daniel Sawyer 16:42Yeah. Very interesting.Kevin Tumlinson 16:44Yeah. I'm real curious to see what happens. Because you know, you think about everything we've seen of late like all the little sessions where people do like, you know, oh, sorry about that. No problem. You got to clean anything up. You Good.J Daniel Sawyer 17:00No, no, I just wasn't my reflector wasn't backed by a strong enough, strong enough Wait,Kevin Tumlinson 17:05all right. You know those all those videos and everything that have popped up like nurses and doctors singing or high school kids singing something and performing something, you know, all that stuff is out there, it's getting a lot of attention. And some of it is easily even sort of inadvertently monetized. And but nobody is having to secure the rights to that stuff right now. SoJ Daniel Sawyer 17:30I'm curious to see what happened has to be some there's gonna have to be a new new compulsory licensing scheme, like happened in the 20th is when radio came in?Kevin Tumlinson 17:39Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, you know that there's a whole thing going on with this has been in discussion for years really, because this is why the Creative Commons first kind of came on the scene, but, you know, can you really truly own an idea and is it beneficial to society for you to own the idea Yeah, and we need to make a living as content creators. But do we, you know, how far does that extend in terms of ownership? So, you know, I'm, I kind of am on in that boat of, you know, ideas want to be free, like the guy who created Yep. Was it Oracle? No, it was a Linux, creator of Linux. Yes. But at the same time I make my living from my ideas. So.J Daniel Sawyer 18:30Oh, no, it was, it was it was it was a bill, what's his name from Sun Microsystems said that.Kevin Tumlinson 18:34Okay. Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah. No, no, probably. Yeah. No, IJ Daniel Sawyer 18:39yeah. No, I'm the same way. I've quite a lot of my stuff is creative commons license. And I you know, I've interviewed Cory Doctorow years ago and yeah, and, and the greatest The greatest enemy of any new artist is obscurity and not piracy, all that sort of stuff. Yep. totally on board with that. And on the other hand, the yeah The rationale for copyright law is that the for the civilization to benefit from the culture, people have to be incentivized to make it. And when everything was expensive to publish, that was very easy to that was a very easy line to draw, but it's not anymore and we've delayed rethinking that seriously. years and nobody has put Yeah, I think you're right, that dam just broke.Kevin Tumlinson 19:27Yeah, I absolutely think it has. And, you know, of course, one of the things that's that's been happening since since the pandemic started almost hesitate to talk about the pandemic at all honestly, because by the time this episode airs we should hopefully be out ofJ Daniel Sawyer 19:45don't bet on it. I'm expecting that I'm expecting that there'll be a sawtooth quarantine forKevin Tumlinson 19:50we'll see we'll see if you're right if this good when this goes live, we'll see if that things change. I don't know what but whateverJ Daniel Sawyer 19:57I'll on record. So if my prediction everyone laughKevin Tumlinson 20:00at me gonna be a transcript and everything, man. Absolutely. So I think, you know, right now I know from, from my experience with drafter digital and in my own personal experience that ebooks, ebook sales have been just going through the roof. You know? And I mean, we've we've seen, like a 45% increase across retailers, but like 175% increase with libraries. So people are out there. IJ Daniel Sawyer 20:27got my book library sales have also gone way up. Yeah. Yeah. It's, so I seem to have the greatest penetration in libraries with my audiobooks. SoKevin Tumlinson 20:37that's interesting, though. That's interesting. Because most of the time when I think about audio books, I'm thinking like people are getting them to listen to while they drive into work or something. I would think so too, butJ Daniel Sawyer 20:49that maybe, you know, while there would be out everybody taking walks or Yeah, or cleaning the house, and if you're living in the house, you have to clean a lot more often.Kevin Tumlinson 20:59So how are you Balancing the podcasting and everything else you're doing with the writing, like how you keep on track.J Daniel Sawyer 21:08I tend to batch a lot, current. So like right now, it is called the everyday novelist because I usually write everyday but the last few months, because things have been so weird, it's been a little bit different. So I've currently got four books that I'm redlining. And the podcast is actually as much time as it takes sexual easy because I can batch it. So I'll just say okay, at the end of the recorded buffer is coming up, like when we're recording this, I've got another recording session tonight, because my buffer just ran out. I say at the end of the recorded buffers coming up, take one night to record them all. Then take a day to edit them all and post them and then that's that and but I do a lot of stuff with batch work. So I let you know enough of a pile pile up that I can do it as a project because With the exception of getting in a groove and writing every day, almost everything else I either get bored of or get. It starts to grind on me if it's a chronic thing, but if I have projects I can get through, then that Jazz's me up. SoKevin Tumlinson 22:16yeah, so that's it, you know, are you how much production goes into each of your podcast episodes?J Daniel Sawyer 22:25For the everyday novelist it's about a it's about a two and a half to one timewise. As you can tell, as we're talking here, I have a bit of a scatter shot. I tend to circle a topic before before angling in on it and sometimes there's a lot of stumbling associated with that right right. I like what I'm doing the everyday novelist because it's all improv I like to to narrow the stumbling down as much as possible. So right, it takes about twice as long to cut every episode as the final Listening length winds up being. Okay. So overall, I met including the recording time at about two or three to one production ratio.Kevin Tumlinson 23:10Alright, well alright, that's that makes sense. That's about what it what it takes for me so that I feel a little more comfortable. I am actually because I've been doing some other stuff recently live I'm actually considering shifting the model of this show to being a live format, essentially producing it on the fly. Yeah, it can be fun. It's a little tougher to get certain guests on. But you get the benefit of you know, the production is is done that day.J Daniel Sawyer 23:42Yeah, absolutely dead set out. And I really, I dig doing interview shows that way. When I'm, when I'm doing monologues. I like to massage the timing a lot because that that really helps with the delivery. Yeah, when you've got a conversation going on. The timing emerges from the interaction so you can avoid the editing if you want to.Kevin Tumlinson 24:03Yeah, that's exactly yeah, I like that part where everything is done for me automatically.J Daniel Sawyer 24:10Oh yeah.Kevin Tumlinson 24:12I started my I started this thing called the Kevin show. I don't know if you've seen any of those and they're ridiculous I haven't seen that yet. They're not right.J Daniel Sawyer 24:20They were your YouTube channel. Yeah, yeah. So I started I've got a tab open, but I haven't watched any of them yet.Kevin Tumlinson 24:26Yeah, well, I'm just gonna warn you in advance don't go there hoping for writing wisdom.J Daniel Sawyer 24:34But I figured it's us so it's probably gonna be like RV weird DIY stuff. And strange. There's gonna be all kinds of stuff.Kevin Tumlinson 24:41Yeah. So it started literally that show. So yeah, okay, I'm gonna bring us back around to what we're discussing here. But that show started as me and Nick factor. I said to Nick, you know, when I was so stressed out from the moving from the pandemic from, you know, just being inundated with things So you know, what I would love to do is just do something stupid fun, no agenda, no plan and call it I could call it the Kevin show, because that's ridiculous. And just put it out there live and have fun for 30 minutes, distract people. And he, he said I'd go on that. And so within an hour, I had designed that entire show, from the graphics to music to a video intro to booking my first guest. And the next day it went live. And I've done one every week since so that's dad said, to bring it back to the important thing of this interview, which is you that shows I think that process of the fertile mind, you know, the the fertile mental life that you are, that you are focused on, or would you would you disagree with that? kind of put you on the spot?J Daniel Sawyer 25:56No, no, I think that's a great example to the brain. branching out. It's Oh, I'm trying to think of something pithy to come back to that. But yeah, I think you've got it exactly.Kevin Tumlinson 26:07That's something.J Daniel Sawyer 26:09Life is chaotic, interesting and complicated. And it doesn't easily fit into any of the categories that anybody likes to impose on it. Yeah. And I can't remember who I ran into from it might have been, it might have been something out of one of two labs books. But I came across this idea of it's better to have strong opinions loosely held. Yeah, then then weak, then weak opinions strongly held. Most people have weak opinions strongly held. They have ideas that they like, they can't really support them in in the face of a monumental challenge, but they'll hold on to them for dear life because they're identified with them.Kevin Tumlinson 26:50Exactly. Sort of. Yeah,J Daniel Sawyer 26:52I like that core way. I prefer to be able to articulate what I'm thinking in a very useful strong way, right and be comfortable enough with my own level of ignorance that I can change my opinion when something challenges it and it doesn't, in my opinion doesn't stand up in the teeth of whatever I'm engaging with. As a result of course, I've had multiple interesting worldview shifts over my life. I've been all over the political spectrum. I've had three different religions. And but, but it's but the reason is that, that I'm more interested in figuring out what's actually going on and engaging with life in a in a deep way. And if that's my priority, then what's expendable has to be my determination to cling on to the things that might otherwise make me feel secure.Kevin Tumlinson 27:54Yeah, okay. That is I Exactly. I love the way you have Put that if that is an actual quote, I need to go find it about strong or strong opinions. Loosely held. Yeah, yeah, that's I feel like that's me. And I think I think the danger is people hear strong opinions and then decide. That's where you stand. And so the idea that you might change your mind from a strong opinion, and pivot to a new worldview is is completely foreign to some folks. But I think that's that's the right way to be personally, I like that.J Daniel Sawyer 28:30Yeah. And I do and I mean, one of the things you're, you're like me, you're, you're a little bit north of 30, at least. And one of the things by the time you hit your mid 30s, you realize that whether you want it to or not your worldviews gonna change. Yeah. Because the cumulative experience you build up, gradually goes out of sync with your ideology, whatever ideology that is, because ideologies are models that we build to deal with the world. They're not the world itself and any model is going to have holes in it. Yeah, and the. So when you're in your 20s, it's really easy to righteously hold on to everything because you are fighting for the good. But the older you get, the more that instead of that makes you look, instead of making you impassioned, and a person of great conviction, makes you look kind of stupid. Yeah, because you're not you look vapid and hollow? Well, yeah, because what's happening is while your practical worldview is changing, and you can always tell by the evidence of someone's behavior, rather than what they say, what you believe is reflected in what you do not in what you say. And as you get older, if you're holding on to those, to those early convictions that tightly, the gap between your behavior and your speech will grow. And if you look in the mirror, and all of us eventually do or at least most of us eventually do. You notice that disconnect and that's when you have the existential crisis, who,Kevin Tumlinson 30:02yeah, if you've ever read Carol Dwight's book about my called mindset, it talks about exactly you should tell you, that will probably end up on your list of recommended books, because it talks about that very idea. And it's the closed mindset versus the open mindset, you know, and we tend to look for things that become part of our identity when, especially when we're young, especially when we're vulnerable. Like we're, you know, the bullied high school kid, you know, can say, Well, people pick on me, but at least I'm really good at math. And so if you identify with that, and then you fail a math test,30:40you're crushed, suddenly, yep.Kevin Tumlinson 30:42Your whole identity was just taken for you were murdered, you know, in your, in your own mind. And so you start to think if I don't have that, what am I? Who am I? So anyway, um, so, unfortunately, we are we're closing in on our timeJ Daniel Sawyer 30:58on the end,Kevin Tumlinson 30:59which was is really unfortunate man I always I dig talking to you we know when am I coming back on your show man? I knowJ Daniel Sawyer 31:13whenever it's good for you let me know I would love to have you back on especially now you're working with Jeff to digital. I'd like to Yeah,Kevin Tumlinson 31:19cuz i don't think i was last time wasJ Daniel Sawyer 31:21last time you were last time you wereKevin Tumlinson 31:25completely independent.J Daniel Sawyer 31:26You You were just leaving your first stint at draft to digital I think it wasKevin Tumlinson 31:31no it would have been because I was still Oh yeah, so I was working for DDD, but IJ Daniel Sawyer 31:36stayed with a different position. Oh yeah, I was.Kevin Tumlinson 31:39I was getting on the road though. That's the only guy that would have been. So okay, yeah, so I still fresh it D to D Really? Because that happened like right after. Okay, there we go. That's the you haveJ Daniel Sawyer 31:50this. this. Yeah, the stuff you guys are doing over there, especially now that marks on the team and whatnot has gotten a lot more interesting. I keep signing up for the meetings and then not making them because Everything else in the world that's there recorded I really want.Kevin Tumlinson 32:04I'm gonna have to look back through from my recorded pop into your YouTube channel. Okay, which is officially youtube.com slash c slash draft to digital everyone. And while you're there, look for Kevin Tumlinson and you can tune into the Kevin show xo into plugs but tell everybody the more important URL is where can people find you online?J Daniel Sawyer 32:30You can find me at everyday novelist calm that's for the daily podcast. You can find a whole bunch of my other stuff audio books, full cast audio fiction podcasts, my rather scattered and sometimes very dark musings on the universe on my blog, and a complete list of the books that are available for purchase at the moment as well as my autodidacts reading list at WWW dot JDC. All your.net and I just want a very, very dark take on some of the stuff we were talking about earlier about the changeover and ages. Check out my blog post. The Abyss stares back.Kevin Tumlinson 33:12Yes. Excellent. All right. Well, you heard him everybody. Make sure you check that stuff out, buy his books, go see his stuff. Listen to his podcast. There's a lot you can do to keep him going throw a buck or two his way on Patreon. Let's let's make sure we're taking care of our own here, man. So Jay Daniel Sawyer, sir, thank you so much for being a part of the word slinger podcast.J Daniel Sawyer 33:34Thanks for having me on. It is a delight.Kevin Tumlinson 33:37Everybody else right now. Right now you're probably hearing the groovy bridge music. You may dance in place it will and if you stick around, I am sure to say something profound on the other side, and if I don't make fun of me, see you next time.

You Are the Light of ChristAt the Feet of JesusMatthew 5:14-16Pastor/Teacher: Ken DelageMercy Hill Community Church2020.04.19 Well, good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us this morning. Open your Bible, if you've got it, to Matthew 5. And if you don't normally attend Mercy Hill, let me just say thank you for being with us this morning. We really see it as one of the silver linings of this time that some folks who aren't, for whatever reason, able to join us in person, have been able to join us online and we're really glad you're here. Perhaps, Lord willing, a few of you would be able to join with us when we do get back together, Lord willing, as soon as He enables that time to come. Total Darkness So, we're in a series going through Jesus’ greatest sermon, His Sermon on the Mount. We're in Matthew 5. We’ll be looking at verse 14, but before I get into it, I just want to welcome another special group of guests who are with us this morning, and that's the kids. Kids, thanks for doing church with us again. You guys are, like, setting records for how many sermons you've listened to in a row. Right? I'm really glad you can be sitting there and listening with Mom and Dad and considering these things together. Hey, I want to start by asking you a question: have you ever been in a cave? Have you ever been, like, in a real cave, like, a deep cave; you go in and go underground? Now, I got to go in a cave a while back with my family; it’s called Grand Caverns. It's in Virginia, but it’s not real close to here. And, you know, you go in and they take you on a tour of this cave, and it is deep. And you walk and walk and walk, and the walls are all rocky and, kind of slimy, kind of wet. Right? And it kind of smells, I don't know, like the underground; whatever that smells like. You know what they did to us? After, like, 20 minutes of walking way deep into this cave, they turned the lights out. Let me tell you what, it was dark. I mean dark. Like, you think it's dark in your room at night, but listen, there was no night light. There was no light down the hall. There was no little glow from the alarm clock or a little moonlight, starlight through the window. We're talking no light. Total darkness. Inky, pitch blackness. You know, that can be kind of scary. All of a sudden you feel, sort of, turned around, isolated, alone. You don't know where to go, what to do. You know, the passage before us, Jesus is talking about darkness, but it's a scarier darkness. it's a deeper darkness. It's a darker darkness, because He's talking about spiritual darkness. But the good news is He's also talking about spiritual light; a better light, a more important light, a more brilliant light than the light that our eyes can see. So, this is good stuff that we get to look at this morning. So, let's begin by just looking at His words together, giving attention to what He said, and then we'll seek to explain it and understand it. So, Matthew 5. We’ll be in verse 14 down through verse 16. Follow along as I read this. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” So, I want us to consider what Jesus said. I'm going to give us an outline that we can, kind of, follow along to help us as we go. The Absence of LightSo, point number one, the absence of light. Jesus uses a couple of word pictures in here to describe what this light is like, and one of them is a word picture of somebody lighting a lamp in a house. Now, you know, we don't light lamps in the house very often anymore, but it's roughly equivalent to turning the light switch on, Right? I mean, you know, they would have a little oil lamp with a little wick. They’d have to actually, physically light it, and having done that, they would not cover it up because that wasn't the point. Right? In the same way, we don't turn a light on and cover it up. In fact, we put lights in the ceiling or up on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. So, why did people a long time ago do this? Because it was dark in the house! Right? I mean some things have changed but some things haven’t. Right? And so, what this is pointing to is the reality that it is dark in the world. If we are called to be lights in the world, the implication of this and the word pictures that Jesus used, is that without the light of Christ in the world, it is dark in the world. Friends, that is a long, solid, and terrible reality. Jesus said He is the light of the world over in John 8: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” He is the only light of the world. And if there's a corner of the world, so to speak, where the light is not on, there's not an alternative light. There's no “spiritual match” that can be lit to see dimly. There's no flashlight or, you know, cell phone; where you can turn that little bright light on, on your cell phone. There's no alarm clock by the bed. There's no other source of light in the world, and apart from the light of Christ, it is inky black. It's cave darkness. And this matters. This matters because spiritual darkness obscures the most significant and important realities in life. It obscures things like: why do I exist? What's the meaning of life? What's the purpose of existence? Who am I? Who is God? What is truth? What is eternity? What should I be about in preparing for the end of my days? All of that is lost in darkness when there is no light. All of that is obscured. The Light Inside You So friends, before we get into the main part of the passage, which is the call of Christians to be light, I want to first ask: do you have that light inside of you? Do you have the light of Christ shining in you? Most people, who I'm talking to, can talk well about light. Maybe you've grown up in a Christian home, maybe you’ve been around Christians and you know how to talk the talk, you know how to talk all about light, you’ve heard all about light. Friends, there is a difference between hearing about light and seeing. You know, I watch these YouTube videos—I think they call it a “V-blog”, a video blog—this kind gentleman does, he just kind of tells us about his life, right? And I watch him because he's blind and he's helping sighted people understand what it's like to be blind. And I just find it fascinating to hear about the world as he experiences it. One of the things he talks about is the idea of color and, you know, people told him all about color, so he can tell other people all about color. He can say things like, “The sky is blue,” and, “The Sea can be blue,” and “Ice can be blue,” and, “Eyes can be blue,” you know. He knows all of those true things, but blue he doesn't know. Blue is just a word, just a concept floating out there. He's never seen. He doesn't know. Friends, is the light of Christ a word to you, or is it illuminating you? There is all the difference in the world. Seeing is different than hearing about sight. Looking at the sun is different than having it described to you. Friends, you cannot hope to be a light to others until Christ is the light within you. So friend, if you don't have that light within you, let me encourage you to cry out to God today and ask him to give you the light that you need, that you could see God clearly. Maybe you've experienced it where other people seem so sure, but inside you’re like, “I just don't know. I can't get there.” Call out to Him. We are not the light of the world. We can't make light in our hearts. Jesus is the light of world and He came so that you could see, so that you could have light. So, call out to Him. Ask Him for this. This is a request pleasing to God. He loves to answer these kinds of prayers, so keep asking until he does. And you'll know when He does because you'll see. The Essence of Light Alright. So. good. So, we talked about—the reality of this passage is that it's really calling Christians to be light in the world. Jesus knew that his days on earth were numbered, that He had less than—at least less than—three years at this point of living and ministering, and that He was equipping His disciples to carry His light in them to the world. So what does that even mean? What is light? What is Jesus talking about? Well, that brings us to our second point. So number one, the absence of light. Number two, the essence of light. The essence of light. What is the essence of light? What does Jesus mean? Well, you can see the answer in verse 16 if we read it together. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” There's a parallel in the passage. It says, “let your light shine so that they may see your good works.” Light is good works. What is the light of the believer? It's the life of the believer. It's the life, which is living out good works in the presence of others; good work seen by others. That's light, but okay, but then what are good works? What does Jesus mean there. Well, good works, this is a broad category. This is everything a believer says and does because they're following Jesus. So, everything we would say because we follow Jesus, you know, words of praise and adoration unto God; words of worship unto Him; words of encouragement to those around us; words of love and compassion; words of correction; words in defense of truth; words in defense of the weak; all of these things fall under the broad category of good works, but good works certainly tends towards the action side, doesn't it? It’s works, after all. So, these are works of worship unto God, right? Of time spent in His presence, of sacrificing unto Him. These are actions and works towards our fellow men, of loving those around us; giving generously to those who are in need; defending those who are weak; giving meaningful care to those around us; all of these things are good works that the believer is called to walk. And so, it's, kind of, just living out righteousness, publicly. If you've been with us, you know, we went through the Beatitudes, all of these Beatitudes—being hungry and thirsty for righteousness, being merciful, being pure in heart—all these things lived out in front of others. That's good works. And what the Passion says, is that those works are transformed into light. So, you do something that is a work—you're caring for somebody in need—and that care has a luminescent quality to it. That work tends to turn the light on and people can see differently. Friend, you are called to live a life that is illuminating in a dark world, that's casting light and casting out shadows around you. So, this is what the essence of light is: it is living out good works in a way that's not hiding them, but rather, that’s public, so that others may, in fact, see and give glory to God. The Presence of LightSo that brings us to point number three, the presence of light. So, we've had the absence of light, the essence of light, and now the presence of light. What is the presence of light bring? What is the impact of it? “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Let your light shine so they may see. What’s the effect of light? In a word, sight; that's the effect of light so that they may see. Now, what are they going to see? They're going to see your good works, but that's not all they're going to see. Because they see something in your good works—which I find profound and wonderful—they're going to see your good works and give glory to you. No! That's not what they're doing. They're seeing your good works and they're giving glory to your Father in heaven. This is remarkable, because most of those around us have decided that there is no Father in heaven; that God isn't real; that God doesn't exist; that if He does exist, He hasn't made Himself known; you know, all those arguments that are out there in a world which pushes away the knowledge of God. And someone who has spent their life pushing away the knowledge of God and convinced themselves that God isn't real, they see your good works and it is as though a light has turned on, and all of a sudden, “zapped”, is what God is like right there. That's what He's like. He's like that. Oh Glory. Oh, give glory to Him! This is a wonderful reality. See, here's why this functions: because your good works are only partly yours. They're yours in that you do them, but they're His because He empowers them. He empowers all the good works that we do; God's power lies beneath every good work. His goodness flows through every good work. His righteousness is being expressed in your righteousness. When you love, His love is seen. When you care, His care is seen. When you show concern for justice, for the poor, for the weak, then the concern of God is seen for justice and for the poor and for the weak. See, your good works are ultimately His good works. I'll tell you what's true about me. If you see good works in me, you can be sure they didn't start here. You can be sure that those are coming from Him, that all the good that we have comes from Christ. Friends, this goes back to the idea, right? He is the light of the world. So any light worth shining is that light which, ultimately, we’re reflecting from Him. He's the source of light. Friends, Christian, what grace is ours? I mean. come on. Just consider what God has done for us. I mean, it's not like we were the likely candidates for this. It's not like we had a bunch of good works lying around when God came. No! We had a bunch of wicked works. A bunch of sin and shame. Evil. God saved us despite our wicked works and He saved us out of our sin. He saved us by Grace. He rescued us. He redeemed us by his blood. He made us righteous as a gift, for we’re justified. And now, He's kneading that righteousness into the dough of our lives. He's working it out into our lives, such that it's even seen by others. Of course, it's not perfect yet. Of course, we're not always perfect in our good works, in our righteousness, and yet, the Scripture is clear. They exist now and others may see by them (Mt. 5:16). This is a tremendous work of grace! Consider what God has done in you, dear saint, and consider this, that He's not done. Right? As much as He has brought us up out of darkness and into light, oh, so much more awaits. The best is yet to come; for you, for me, for every believer, because we're going to see Him as He is, and we’re going to be like Him, and the light that was just begun in us will be filling us. Holiness will reign in resurrected bodies, in eternity. Glory to God. How good is God to us? What cause of praise and gratitude is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He didn't leave us in darkness. He brought us to light, and He's taking His from one degree of light to another until we are with Him in glory with unveiled faces. Praise be to God. Responding to the CallSo, how would God have us respond to this passage? So, what's the call of this passage? I think the call is relatively easy for us to discern. You pick it up on your first reading, right? We're to be that city on a hill that's not hidden. We're to be that lamp that has been lit and placed, strategically, to give light to all in the house. And then it says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” So, we're called to let the light of Christ—which He's given to us—shine through us. And I think that's probably the best way to, kind of, summarize it; allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you. Allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you. So, if you're going to allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you, what can we be about? How are you going to do that? Stay Near to ChristTwo thoughts as we close. The first thought: If you're going to allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you, stay near to Christ. Stay near to Him. He is the light of the world. If you want to be giving light to others, you got to be receiving light from Him. Stay near to Him. Draw near to Him each day. We are but dead branches apart from the vine that is Christ. Oh, be connected to that vine on a daily basis, be drawing your life from the vine that is Christ, be drawing the light from the vine that is Christ, that His light would dwell within you. Friends, this is Christianity. This is being dependent on the Holy Spirit every day. We’re not just filled with the Spirit on day one and then we move on; no, we need the Holy Spirit of God every day. If you want to be a light in this world, then the first thing you're going to confront is the darkness that still hides in the corners. Oh, call out to the Spirit of God. Ask Him to be at work within you, illuminating Christ afresh to you day after day after day.Let Your Light ShineAll right, so allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you by, first, saying you’re in Christ and then, second, by not hiding your light. There's the picture in here of putting the light under the basket. I am convinced that this is very tempting for most, or probably all, of us at different times to, in our concern for our own reputations, not want to draw, kind of, uncomfortable attention. And friend, make no mistake; this is not about exalting ourselves and showing off. That's not what this is. There is a “living out loud” that were called to, a working out our salvation in public and in private, wherever we are, simply, consistently, humbly, in a way that does not bring glory to us, but brings glory to your Father who is in heaven. Oh, saints, that is the heartbeat of the believer; to give glory to God who is in heaven. So, don't hide your light. Allow your works of praise to God and love for others to be seen, in season and out of season, wherever you are. You know, we talked a minute ago about all that God has done for us through the gospel. Listen, if you want to be one whose light shines, this comes from the place of gratitude. This comes from the place of amazement at what God has done. All right, so allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you by, first, saying you’re in Christ and then, second, by not hiding your light. Friends, He has done great things for us. Allow that to fuel your heart, your desire to be a light to those around us. That will fuel your desire because you will see others in darkness and you will remember what that's like, and you'll want life for their sake. But friend, it's also going to fuel when you recognize, “Oh, here's an opportunity to give glory to my Father who is in heaven. I could bring glory to Him right now by doing this.” O’ Lord, would you use us? O’ Lord, would you use us to bring glory to your name? Friends, Christian, allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you, because there is this tremendous effect at the end of it. It gives glory to your Father who is in heaven. That's worth it. That's wonderful. That's amazing that sinners like us could be used in that way. Oh, allow the light of Christ within you to shine through, that others may see, that others may have light, that God may receive glory, because our Father who is in heaven, He is worthy of all praise. He is worthy of all honor. He is worthy of all glory. May God be pleased to use us to glorify His great name. Closing PrayerLet's pray. Father, that is our prayer this morning; that you would use us to bring Glory To your great name. Lord, if there's anyone here that doesn't know you, I pray that they would come to see you for the first time. Would you do that? Have them call out to you, humble themselves, call out to you and meet them with the light of the world. And Lord, use us, your people, to bring glory to your name. We are a Spirit-dependent people; we can't do this on our own. We rely upon the light of the world to be life in this world. So, we invite you, Holy Spirit, fill us afresh today Lord, I pray for Mercy Hill. Fill us afresh today and each day, that we would live as lights in the darkness unto your name and your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Amen.Friend, great to be with you this morning. Looking forward to the day when we can be in the same place together, but God is good to give us this opportunity; give Him praise for it. May he meet you this week with the light of Christ. Amen.

Hey everyone, Dan Thompson with wise money tools. Glad you could join me this week, we're gonna continue our conversation where we left off with this Facebook post. Because this has been really interesting to see all the comments that came after this one little post. Okay, so the next comment was kind of interesting. This guy said, I do use a financial advisor. And I can tell you why and the risk. PM me, you know, private message me. The reason it was interesting is maybe he can tell you why he's using a financial advisor. But how do you quantify the risk this financial advisors willing to take. I mean, does this he mean this advisor is taking too much risk, not enough risk. I wasn't sure what the comment meant. I really like to hear this conversation. If he does PM him, I always ask people who call me wondering about their advisor? And if he's really any good or not. So I asked them, Well, have you ever asked your advisor? How much of my money are you willing to lose? Most people haven't asked that question. And of course, they have no idea how much their advisors willing to lose. So unless this advisor tells them exactly how much he's willing to lose, this is unquantifiable. And if the advisor is willing to tell you how much money they're willing to lose of your money, maybe that's not the right adviser at all. I mean, I want to tell someone that I'm not willing to lose any of their money. And sadly it's just a dream if you're gonna put your money at risk that at some point, you're not gonna see some losses. All right, then the next comment said talk to so and so. Now they name somebody but I took out their name don't want to get anybody into trouble. Anyway he says talk to so and so. He's got a combo that's working really well. And we just used etrade. I think, by combo, he meant he does some stuff on his own. And he uses a financial advisor as well, once again, I point out, he's doing really well compared to what a bank savings account. Is he doing? Well, compared to Warren Buffett, what is well, so to speak. And here's the here's the other thing. And the way I understood this is people look at their statements right now. And I just want you to understand that money is not your money yet. Unless you're thinking of pulling that out, taking it in locking in those profits. That's not your money. Those values are a snapshot in time. You may think that your money but unless again, you're willing to pull it out chances are pretty high. You're gonna write it down as well. That's just what most people do. So you really don't get to count your money until it's out of the market in a safe place, then you can say, all right, this is my pile of money. And I wonder if this advisor combo is ever gonna tell him when to get out. Most advisors don't. It's really interesting in my 35 years, I don't ever hear about advisors telling their clients to get out of the market. Now one of the reasons why it's counterproductive to the advisors goals. Now, what are the advisors goals, to keep as much money under management charging fees as possible? So there's always a reason to stay in from the advisors perspective. If a markets dropping, they're always saying, Hey, you got to stay in. You don't want to lock in these losses. This is gonna come back. If a markets going up. It's Hey, you got to stay in. You don't want to miss out on these returns and we're in this great economy. Here is never a good time to sell on Wall Street. You know, I remember the.com boom very, very well, late 1990s. Everyone was a stock genius. People were buying up internet stocks at a 1000 or more times earnings. That means for a company that would earn $1 people were willing to pay $1,000 for that dollar. And sadly, there were so many of these internet companies who didn't even have earnings and they were being bid up just ridiculous. I remember Yahoo at the time, probably worth about $3 billion. But people were buying it up at $34 billion valuations. That'd be like, you go in to buy a house that's worth $100,000. But you're paying 1.1 million for it, hoping one day it's gonna be worth more. That's just how insane things were at the time. We called it the greater fool theory. If you bought it today. You were just hoping that a greater fool would buy it from you tomorrow. There really were no valuations that made sense. There was no concern for earnings, no understanding of economics. I mean, it was the wild wild Wall street West. And then it happened again a few years later in a way. And that downturn, we saw a lot of people lose 50% or more in just a really short period of time. Now, I don't think we're there quite yet. But there are a lot of advisors thinking that they're kind of King of the hill because the markets been so good to them. And they look like geniuses. But what is geniuses like Warren Buffett doing right now? Well, as of December 2019, he's sitting on $128 billion in cash. Is he a big buyer in this market? No. Do we think he's stupid sitting there in cash? No. I mean, everyone else is at least buying the index, shouldn't he? Well, he's a very, very patient and disciplined investor. He's gonna wait till this market turns, then he's gonna just buy like crazy when things are on sell. And he's gonna do what he says he's gonna buy $10 bills for $5. So, he says to be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy right now, I don't sense much fear in the marketplace. Will the general population and these Facebook commenters wait it out? Probably not. They're gonna get aggressive. They're gonna start buying, they're gonna take each other's advice and then one day, you know, kaboom, it's gonna blow up. And they're probably gonna panic and then, you know, sit there and miss out on 1 or 2 compounding periods, which is so important in life. Well, here's the next comment. He says, I use a financial specialist and he partners with my company and gives great non-biased advice. Also, not fee based. And then he goes on he says our company does not manufacture their own funds. So I'm guessing this is some sort of a financial company, and he can utilize most major fund companies. So let me know if you'd like to get a second opinion on what you have in place. It never hurts. Well, first off, I have no idea what a financial specialist is. It's either, you know, some made up term, or this guy is really got his clients fooled into thinking he's something special. Anyway, he says he also partners with many companies and gives great non-biased advice. So one of the first things I think of is what in the world is non-biased advice? And what is great advice compared to what. Right. Now we're all biased. It's kind of human nature to be biased towards something. The fact that this guy is giving mutual fund advice and selling mutual funds tells me he's probably biased in favor of funds over individual stocks or gold or real estate. Right. Now, I don't care if you're biased. Just tell me why. And give me some good reasons why I should listen to you. And maybe I'll be biased with you as well. I remember a few years ago, one of the comments on of my videos can't remember what the video is about, but I do remember the guy says, Hey, don't listen to this guy. He's biased. And I immediately answered, well, of course, I'm biased. Why do you think I did this video? Right? I'm biased toward whatever this video was. But for the most part, I'm biased towards safe money and compounding. I have a biased against advisor fees that have no real value. So yeah, it's okay to be biased. Biased is not the issue. Ignorance is the issue. I like to hear ideas and I'm open to most things. However, after 35 years of doing this, I've kind of heard about Lot of the garbage that doesn't work that's still being sold today. So yeah, I do get a little bit biased. And then he went on to say also not fee based. Well, if his advice isn't worth the fees, then yeah, you definitely want to, you know, avoid that kind of a thing. Now, I'm not a big fan of fees, but if someone can get me Buffett like returns. And they're worth paying a fee to, that's a little bit different story, but your traditional advisor who's just buying mutual funds, and doesn't even understand the buffet way, probably not worth paying the fees. I'd be interested in his level of knowledge of how to invest again, if he's investing buffet style, it might be worth, you know, paying a fee. Sadly, again, most advisors aren't worth really the fee that you're paying them and they don't know much more about investing, then a lot of you do. Studies have shown that fees can rob you from as much as 30% of your total return. You know, if you assume a 2% total management fee and 8% returns. So about 30% of your total returns. Very, very expensive. Well, it sounds like this guy in this comment simply picks mutual funds for you. And if that's the case, we really don't want to be paying fees. He does say that this guy gets to pick from all the major fund companies. Well, that's got to be a winner right? At wrong. You can find so many reasons why the major fund companies lag even an index. Well, this is kind of what I end up calling barber shop advice, not trying to, you know, pick on barbers but that's kind of where you know hear about the advice coming from the barber shop, it can be pretty much worthless. Then he says at the end, that he can be there for a second opinion. Well, look, as I said this before, and I'll say it again, you need to become the expert. If you're in interested in investing, and stocks and all these kinds of real estate, whatever it is, you need to understand it. You need to understand money and investing and valuations and everything that's gonna to help you become a great investor. If you're not willing to do that, if you're not willing to put in the time, which by the way, it's not like it's that hard. But it does take some time and effort and energy, and you really need to have a desire. It's just not something that you can just learn overnight. But if you're not gonna do that, then you're going to be susceptible to this barber shop advice. Which is worth about as much as the hair on the floor. Right. So then the comments started to go into different brokerage firms that they use and up and comer brokerage companies like Robin Hood and then one. And you know, those are good firms, but they're good firms in actually executing the trades, but they're not unnecessarily good. Helping you learn how to make good investment decisions and becoming a great investor. They're not gonna find you a strategy that works. They're just gonna help you execute trades.And this is why I go back to Einstein's wealth equation because it works and we can implement it and it's easy to implement. And it's something that we can help our clients implement easily and you know, the equation y=(1+r)x, pay yourself first, start today. Don't lose money, let it compound and leverage for exponential growth. It's a pretty simple equation. And since we're on the topic of stocks, don't lose money should be the focus. That is probably the biggest wealth killer is when you lose money, you lose compounding, you lose time. You don't have to be a market or a stock genius. You don't have to tie markets. You don't have to take any advice from the barbershop crew. Because it's not gonna get you there in the long run anyway, you've got to be smart be deliberate be compounding be safe with your money and wealth on naturally follow. Okay, so that's it for this video. If you have any questions, shoot them to questions at wise money tools.com, we'll answer them just as quick as I can. Also make a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe. And if you want to talk about this stuff more in detail in your specific situation, just click on the time trade link below and we can have a quick conversation. That's it for this week. Until next time, take care.

Hey this is Angie Monroe of the warrior divas show broadcasting live each Tuesday 11 am Central from globe life park in Arlington, Texas login to hear real talk with real women that will empower and equip you to make a more powerful impact in the world each Tuesday 11 am Central on fishbowl Radio Network Hello, and welcome to warrior divas real talk for real women. I am your host Angie Leigh Monroe, our show is specifically that was right I said specifically, incorrectly because I too can mess up from time to time. It is specifically designed for our divas;  divas is an acronym for Destin inspired victorious accountable sisters. And we will be bringing guests on our show who will help in our mission to equip and empower a global community of women change agents as we make a positive impact in the world we live in. When we started divas impact four years ago, we quip that we wanted to change the way women think and speak about themselves and others. As we've progressed, so has our thinking and out of our intentions, we want to talk about things that are impacting women. So this means we talk about faith, family, fitness, finance, food and a lot of other words that don't begin with f. So today we welcome Laurie Vaughn speaks of lbs consulting loriann speaks is an expert in the area of speaker and author support. She amplifies the visibility of authors, speakers and messengers. While they do what they love. Speak. laurieann has helped spearhead multiple best selling book campaigns, editing proofing, through to launch and social media marketing to help authors create buzz and momentum throughout social media platforms and increase their Message worldwide loriann and her team have made it their mission to empower speakers to deliver their message by handling the rest of the details. Prior to starting their own company loriann had over 15 years of professional experience supporting a top 100 thought leader as she built her businesses. Welcome to the show. loriann Thanks so much, Angie. It's a pleasure to be here. Well, I personally know what a busy busy lady you are. And you've had some major projects you're working on for some of my friends, and you've done some work for me as well. But before we get into all that, what I want to visit with you about who you are and how you got here today, is that all right. Yeah, totally cool. Yeah. I love that. So if you can just kind of give us a backstory. You. You said you work for a thought leader for 15 years. I'm sure there's things you did before that. I know you're a mom. So you're one What are some of the things that kind of led you to where you are today? Well, great, yeah. Yes, I am no spring chicken. I've probably had four different careers in my lifetime. I started off in my teens and 20s being so politically involved and got my degrees in political science and economics and wanted to be in politics. Thank goodness and thank God up above that he had other plans for me, and I am not there now. So I did that. And then I became a recruiter. And when the when 911 happened, my recruiting business went to hell in a handbasket. So, I started working for this thought leader, and I was hurt for all intents purposes, girl Friday. office manager, you know, gatekeeper. And I spent 15 years learning the business of speakers and authors. And so, but really, once I had children my focus, you know, I, like I said, I started off wanting to be, like President of the United States, you know, the first woman president of the United States. Then I had children. And I realized, Oh, this is, this is what I'm good at. This is what I love. And so, when you talk about where was I, and how have I gotten here, once I had children, the business kind of went as a means to an end instead of being you know, the end all and beall and being a mom was the number one thing in my life. And, and so, you know, I did I I worked at A regular job so I could be mom and Girl Scout leader and room mom and, and be able to do all the things that I wanted to do as a mom. I love that. Sorry. I said I love that. Yeah, you know, and I and I wouldn't have traded it for the world. You know. I'm kind of glad that I never really got into the whole corporate america thing. But what got me now to owning my own company, though, is that back in December of 2017, I was laid off, my boss decided to sell our company, and I knew it was coming. But But I decided I was just going to stay until the end because she needed me. And and, and so and I knew there wasn't going to be much difference between hitting the the, you know, employment market at 59 or at 60. I was pretty bad. You know, they're not going to be doing well and I and I just sat there and went, Okay, let's just see this through to the end. And once I was laid off, it became very clear to me that once again, corporate america wasn't going to be my, you know, my journey. I must have sent out 100 different resumes and never got a call, never got a call. And so I knew if I was going to continue to work, I better start my own company. And I did and I'm so glad I did. So glad I did. Well, I love the part that you said, you know, you saw the writing on the wall you saw she was retiring, stepping away and and but you stayed until the end. I think there's so much that's lost in that finishing well, moment. You know, you you worked with this woman side by side, you served her. You served her well over the 15 years, but you also finished Well, we With her and and that's got to be a sense of accomplishment that many people miss out on today. A lot of people see the writing on the wall and they're like I'm getting out while the getting out good button right. But it's finishing well that that right there is a good wealth of information for people to grab ahold of because we've been in a couple of situations when we've been with a church that was closing its doors or a company that's closing its doors, in that finishing Well, it feels like kind of like you put your kid to bed at night, you know, you kind of you kind of made sure that from the time they rose till the time they went to bed, everything was taken care of and they were they were handled in the best way possible. And it's the closing of a chapter in in celebration of that chapter as well. Exactly in and you know, it's a karma thing as well. And it was important to support her through this process because it wasn't necessarily something she was all that jazz to do, but knew that she needed to just get out from under the actual company aspect. And just go back to being Bev and you know, and enjoying her life with her husband of 44 years. So. So I was supportive. And that's kind of the way I am with my clients now. And it is a common thing because Beth has probably introduced me and referred me to at least 1520 of our friends. Wow, over the last two and a half years, so it's it. I think you get what you get. Right? I think that's really the way life boils down. Is yet you get what you give. So I agree wholeheartedly. Good. Yeah. Well, one of the things that We've talked about whenever you and I have been on the phone before, was that you kind of not use that nurturing that you use with your children with with your thought leader that you support it with all the with all the companies you've been with, you've used that nurturing aspect of yourself. It's not a part of your DNA, it is your whole DNA. That's, that's the part that I love about you is you, you see the potential and the possibilities in in people. And you want to call that out and you want to help support that and, and push push them and challenge them. But you do it in a way that is very impactful. And I want to commend you for that while I have you on the air because you don't get to tell people that very often where they actually slow down and listen to it, say it. Well, thank you. Thank you. I have really You know, when I started the company, I wouldn't say that I was passionate about what I was doing, until I really realized how much mentoring was involved because I was now working with a lot of what I call newbies. Right? And I love mentoring. That's, that's what I'm all about. And once I embraced that, and realized, this is what I can be doing for so many people, that's when I got passionate about what I was doing. Well, I think one of the other remarks that comes to mind is something that Michael Hyatt has said before, you know, people go out and I'm gonna have you share a little more specifically about the business you started here in a minute, but Michael Hyatt commented one time and I've kind of hung my hat on it is don't go out and look for people to help you get where you're going that haven't been there you go and you look for people. To help you get where you're going that have already been there, whether it's an assistant, a coach, a mentor, whatever it is, a lot of times people go okay well I can't afford a virtual assistant a high paying virtual assistant so I'm just going to get some little girl off the street help her have her help her out, help me out, you know it's a helping each other out type of Jerry Maguire moment helped me show you the money type thing. But they're not equipped. They they haven't been where you're wanting to go and Michael Hyatt says if you want to be a fortune 500 company you need a coach that has been a leader in the fortune 500 into industry if you want to, or you need an administrative assistant that has served as a role in a fortune 500 company, you need a a support system that has been where you want to go and and i think that's beautiful because you said you work with speakers and authors and and messengers and, and those are the people that you've already served and served in a high capacity. And so you can serve your clients so much better because you've already been there done that saying that you know what to expect even before they expect it, you know how to talk them off the roof. All of that. So, so yeah, tell us tell us a little bit more about the company you started what you do, and, and what type of company it is. Well, we are a virtual assistance company, but we literally specialize in speakers, authors and podcasters. So those are our clients. Although many of the the things that I talk about and have like a, a white paper on how to increase your speaking business, if you've got a small business that you need to raise your visibility. A lot of the things that are on that list can be used for small businesses as well. But what we do is we help the speakers and authors raise their presence in social media, help them write that book and get it to bestseller status. help them find more stages. And, and, and for those that are very much established, and they've gotten to the point where they're on the stages, but they just don't have the time to deal with all the, you know, logistics and administrative stuff. Right? I was gonna say a dirty word. You know, to deal with all that we take that off their plate, and we'll handle the the business side of it, and make sure that all the T's are crossed and the i's are dotted, so that they can go out on the road, do their speeches and know everything's being taken care of. Well, I think it's, you know, one of those things that when people say Alright, I've spoken at all these places, I want to have my own event. I don't think they understand fully what all that entails. But you've put those on for people before. So, you know, having somebody like you quote unquote, in their back pocket is is a huge benefit, I'm sure. Well, yeah, there is a lot involved. And, and just knowing how to negotiate with the the venue is important, because and finding the right venue for you and your budget. So, yeah, I've been involved in in all that. But yes, there's a lot of little pieces. And I find that the creatives, which is the community that I serve, have some amazing, great ideas, but they don't know how to bring that to fruition. And that's why I come in, I'm sort of their Yin to their Yang. You know, I will reverse engineer their idea to figure out how to get there. I used an analogy explaining what to do the other day to somebody I said, when you have that picture, perfect image of what you want. She's the puzzle maker out of it. She comes in, she takes the pieces apart, and puts it in a way that you can pick your pieces together as you need, whether you're an inside to the outside or an outside to the inside person, she helps put that picture together for you. So she takes your full picture, she breaks it down into bite sized pieces, so you can put it together the way you need to put it together. And they're like, oh, okay, you know, they're like, because I can't see how to get where I'm going from looking at the big picture. I'm like, that's why you need someone with a strategy mindset, which is what you have you and it comes so natural to you. You don't get ruffled whenever one thing's not going right because you're already expecting it to not go Hopefully I've planned it out properly and nothing does go wrong. But you know, life happens and and things do go wrong. And as I tell my client, no one in the audience knows that something's wrong. Exactly like when you get married, and you know, something will go wrong, but nobody will really even notice it. You know, just go with the flow. Have a great day, do your message. And we'll make sure that everything runs smoothly. So, you know, that's and I'm pretty even keeled. I don't I don't have extreme highs or lows. So, so I can keep it together and, and make sure everything works. You know, well, even in a in a kind of, you know, emergency situation. What is that old commercial? Never let them see you sweat. Yeah, those are the people you want in your corner is the ones that never let you see like Let them see you sweat. So I know, yesterday I got a notification, I have a large organization that I'm a part of. And we have two annual or two meetings a year that we do training for new new people that have joined our organization. And we have people come from all around the world. And they ended up after some major thought in listening to research and listening to the guests and everything. They decided to postpone this one and just resume in August. And, you know, there's there's definitely some some challenges when you have a big event. I mean, we're expecting 3000 people coming. And we're now postponing this event that's supposed to happen in two weeks. And now And so, one of the things that I realized and A lot of people don't is how many how this affects a trickle effect across so many parts, like I heard today, you know, on the news they were talking about, well the event will be fine because the event has insurance and that's true the event has an entrance has an insurance policy most events have insurance policies and if you're doing an event without an insurance policy, shame on you. But um, most events have insurance policy, but the the hotel that it was being held at the servers that were there, the transportation to him from the airport, the airport, so you know, we're dealing right now, in this time and age with this thing called the corona virus. And I've got a friend that's in Italy that owns a bed and breakfast who's totally impacted by this because she's in the we're all the study abroad students are at. So although all of them have been sent home, and so the parents aren't coming to visit the kids, the kids aren't there. There's a lot that's going on. And if I were an event organizer, even though I knew I had insurance, I think I'd be freaking out right now. Do you have anybody that you're hearing that about? Well, I mean, Justin there in Texas, I know that South by Southwest was canceled, yo. And I mean, and that's millions and millions of dollars to the local, you know, economy, right. lost. So yes, this is this is definitely causing some major troubles. The, you know, the things that the conferences that I know of right now that are in our industry are still happening, because they tend to be us centric, right. So those are still going on. But yeah, I'm also a member of the meeting planners International, so I know it Hitting big time to a lot of people. And Damn, I wish I had zoom. Zoom is doing magnificently over these last couple of weeks, right? Because companies are just making them now virtual meetings. And so you know, things can we can, we can flip things around. And and as I said, you know if something goes wrong, we'll fix it. You know, if something like this happens, and we can't have a live event, so let's have a virtual event, we can do it. Well, and that's part of what we've been talking about here lately is bringing in some people in doing virtual summit with people because we can get their messages out, we can band together stronger. You know, part of what we do is dig services help promote and empower other women and doing a virtual summit and in people like well, I want to be in a room with a bunch of girlfriends. I'm like right now, you know, Or, or invite your closest friends over to your house to watch the summit together. You know, there's a lot of different ways that we can think through this and do this a little bit better. But I know I sprung that question on you and it wasn't one that we had talked about discussing, but I figured it was right there in the middle of what we're doing right now. And you know, it needed to be addressed. I heard somebody the other day telling me that they were doing an event and they had like 1000 tickets sold. It was an outdoor event in April here in Texas. And I was like, okay, so you know, what's your what what insurance agent did you use for your event planning because I know a few that are in that industry. He goes, I don't have event insurance. I'm like you What? You're talking tornado season. You're talking rainy season. You're talking you just you chose the month in Texas that you just don't do that without an insurance policy. He was like, What? I had no idea so had him on the phone with an insurance agent ASAP you know? Oh, Lord better be glad you were there. Yeah, I'm coming. I'm coming in for dummies event in April as well. Yeah, I'll be I'll be there in Texas. Yeah. In in April, in that semi neighboring town, so I will be there as well. So excited about that. So now, you said that you worked with it was Bev right. The thought leader you worked with Yeah, Beverly, Kay, she, she Beverly Kay. She's amazing in the area of career development, employee engagement and retention, and her books, which Okay, so I don't know if you know this statistics, but most business books, the average sales are like 6000 over the period of their lifespan. Bev's love lose them has sold over a million copies? Well, yeah. And what we do did is that from her books, there were workshops created that were then sold to fortune 1000 companies. So we only worked with companies of 10,000 or more employees. Wow. But yeah, yeah. So it was a, it was a nice, nice, you know, but as you know, anytime you have a company and people that you are now responsible for, it's a headache. And at 75, she said, Okay, I'm kind of done with that whole aspect. She still speaks, but there was just no need for a full time in person and so, so and I totally understood that and I kept telling her because she was, she was feeling very upset that, you know, she was gonna let me go and I said, Beth, you do not owe me a job. You know, it's okay. It's over. Kay, right. And I'm so glad that it was so positive because, as I said, she has referred me to a number of different people that I work with now. And, and I'm having much more fun because instead of one author that I knew inside and out and all her, you know, her, her her speak, so to speak, and write, you know, so it did get kind of boring. You know, work can get can be boring if you're not totally engaged. Well, now I get to work with so many different authors that I've learned from each one. And it's something different each day. So I am enjoying this fourth chapter in my life. So, you know, I mean, how many women at 62 can say, Hey, I am enjoying the heck out of working? Well, I think it's great, you know, how you speak above and how she she you know, Caring for you. It's evident that she inspired you, as well. Who were some of the other women that have been in your life that have inspired you? Well, you know, in my actual life, I mean, my mom was amazing and just really stoic. So I think I get my even keel from her. Every client I have. And I'd say probably 90% of my clients are women. Every client I have really does, you know, inspire me because I love each of their messages, and they're important. And so they inspire me to want to get them, you know, more and more visibility, because what they're talking about is important. If we're talking about you know, like, someone that's famous, my my role model, and don't laugh at me, okay? My role model is actually Dolly Parton. Oh, wow, that woman. Not only is she self deprecating, I mean, she's not full of herself, right? She's self deprecating. She is one of the most brilliant businesswoman. She has. She has a music book have over three 4000 songs that other people have sung. So, I mean, she's rolling in it, but she is also giving back. Like, like no other. Do you realize that Dolly Parton is like the number one book distributor in the world? Because she makes sure that every child that that writes to her will get a book every month from date of birth to the age of five when they enter school. Wow. I had just recently heard about her love for books and what she was doing, but I did not know that little tidbit. I believe, I believe the statistics are that she has given away over a billion books. Wow. Yeah. I mean, I hear those stories. And you know, I am small potatoes. But I hear those stories and I just think, oh, wow, Lord, can I just win the lottery and just have fun giving it away? Because that would just to me, that would make me happy. Right would make me happy. Right. So I just I just totally love Dolly Parton. I'm in love with Dolly Parton. Well, you and my husband so my husband has said that his one concert he wants to go to he wants to see he is super in love with Dolly Parton. You know, and we're, you know, we're still in our 40s and he's like, I don't know what it is. She's just she's so so engaging and so real. And doesn't take herself too seriously. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And so giving and I have never heard word one that's negative about Dolly Parton from anybody. And damn if I could look like that and still wear those heels that 80 I think she's close to 80 you know, and if it's gonna go Holy moly, really look great. Right. And you know, we've been watching we watched that heartstrings that she had on Netflix not too long ago and have watched a couple of specials that she's had on. And, and I guess the part that I appreciate is in a world where we're faced with so many fake people are people faking it till they make it? She is just real and genuine and authentic and makes you feel even through the TV like you're her best friend right there in the room whether, yeah, exactly. And she'll tell you a lot of her his fate. Yeah, she'll say a lot of you a lot of mistake, but my heart isn't. Yeah. Yeah. So, I know, I know I'm one of the people that you've inspired. So tell me about some of the people that you hope to inspire and you know what what would you like your legacy to be? You know, years from now whenever people think of you, you know, a year 510 however many years from now when they think of you what is what are some things you want them to, to say are you hope that they have felt from you? Well, on a personal basis, you know, that I was a great mom and Grammy and, and a good and a great friend, you know. I hope that people see me as you know, being giving and, and and there to help whenever is necessary. But on a business level, I would love people to realize it's never too late to go out and start your own company. You know, when they when they started saying, you know, retire at 60 or 65, we were only living till 67 or 68. Right? Well, my mom is 91 years old. Wow, I had no intention of sitting on my tush for the next 30 years. You know, I mean, the thought is just repulsive. I need to be out and about doing stuff. So I'd really love to inspire people to say, you know what, I have this amazing idea and I'm going to start a company because you don't have to go into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. I went into no debt, no debt. I literally started my company in my home office with a laptop and my telephone. That's it, right? I didn't even have a printer when I started. Do now but you know, it's like you can start with with being something really small with this gig economy the way that it is, you can you can do a project by project type basis, do a good job, get a referral, right? And just build it that way. Right now, I would say 95% of my business comes from referrals. So, you know, I don't have to go into hundreds of thousands of dollars of marketing and all that fun stuff. Seeing as though it's really not my thing to be in front of the camera, but I i will say I do love doing the podcasts and radio shows. I always have a face for radio, but but, you know, I like to just let people know, don't just because you're over 60 does not mean we need to, you know, crawl into a ball and say we're done. We still have another good chapter or two in our, in our book. Well, and we, it's whether you start a business, whether you start a nonprofit, whether you just start a group of friends that are hanging out together, get out and do stuff with people, engage with people, pay it forward, go to the schools and read the little kids. You know, there's so much that we could be doing. My husband's been working in the plumbing industry for 30 years, his body's starting to give out so he's starting to think about what are some ways he can reinvent himself? Cool. So let's, um, let's ask you this, out of the people that you're working with now, how have they inspired you to grow your business or shift your business? We talked a little bit about the niche market of what bad ad, you know, right? I know being a verb, you can say I'm a virtual assistant and everybody wants to go Okay, here's billing. Here's this. Here's that and yeah, but you said very specifically who you work with did Beth, help you do that or the clients that you started drawing in because of your personality and and what you were good at? Well, I knew that my niece was the speaking, you know, author industry because that's where my superpowers lie. And that's what I know. So I knew that that was my niche. I didn't know really that much about podcasting, but realized that that is the media of the future, and is growing leaps and bounds. And so I embraced that whole, you know, community and what an amazing community in the podcasting world is. But my, my offerings have changed. When I first started, I thought it was going to be the administrative, you know, all administrative kind of work. And I found that that's not necessary. What especially new authors were looking for. Now, I'm not a booking agent, I don't go and find, you know, paid speaking gigs as, as the only thing that I do, and if that's all that they want, I am now referring people to a couple of booking agents that I like, right? But, but my offerings have kind of changed. And what I've realized is that there are a great number of people who have been in corporate America for 20 or 25 years, who have a story and or a method of doing something that they want to now go into consulting and be a speaker and write their own book. And so I found that my mentoring in that area is really where I'm moving towards I have other women. And that's actually another aspect of what's important to me is I hire other women who have been marginalized, such as myself, who at 60 have amazing skill sets still to offer my clients. And yet, I also have a number of young moms who don't necessarily want to work a 40 hour week, because they want to be stay at home moms, but especially here in Los Angeles, you need that extra income to make ends meet. So that I have a number of young moms that helped me with the research and data entry and things along that line that honestly, I don't want to do anymore, right. But it gives them an income to help their family out. So that's like my back end mission within the company or who I hire and why I like I really try to take on those people that quote unquote, aren't hireable because they're not willing to put in the hours of corporate, you know, work that's necessary, that kind of thing. So, so that kind of what I'm about. Well, and I think it goes hand in hand with a lot of what I'm seeing in the women's marketplace for working nowadays. There's the our riveter, that makes the purses, it's the military spouses that make the purses and they know that military spouses get transported all the time. They get MCs to move, and it's hard to find a job and then because your spouse may be deployed, you've got to have a job that will be flexible with you being mom and dad to your kids while while your spouse is deployed. So they have a business model that they have components of their purses are put together and made by these male spouses and then they come back to the warehouse to be put together. And so and there's an virtual, another virtual assistant company out there that that engages male spouses to, to work for them as well. And then you've got more and more Abby, even, even our government here, then partly because of the corona virus has been testing out more and more people working from home doing it remotely. And, and so we got to stop thinking about, you know, butts and seats in the office and start thinking about how we can still be productive and make an impact for what we need to do. There are jobs out there. There are a lot of scam jobs out there big market of right now. But there are jobs, there's ways to serve people and there's a way to serve your own bottom line. If you're just willing to look forward, I know when we started my company several years ago, I started doing social media for companies and I worked with nonprofits and businesses and everything. But then whenever I got tired of doing the social media stuff, I'd say, you kind of evolved, you start working on what you what you really love, and you, you kind of evolve and you start realizing that that part while you It was fun, and it brought in money. It's not where you want to hang your hat now, because you've grown, you've evolved. And so I brought in another mom that had just had a baby. She kind of wanted to stay home with him for a while, got her trained up, and then she kept getting more and more training, and she rolled out into her own business, and great and even from there, she's now her child's in school, and she's gone on to work for a corporate company and this is what she's doing. It wasn't something that she went to school for. She took four years of college for did all this she had real hands on OJT to learn this skill test it be able to show what all she was able to accomplish on her own. And she never worked in an office she was home for her kids she worked everything around her kids schedule you know there were a few times she'd be on a conference call video call whatever and in the background her son's you know, coloring the wall with a marker or pouring cereal places that happens. Yes, she was there. I think you need to be realistic about whether you're capable of being a virtual person, right? Um, some aren't that great at and staying on task. If if you're the kind of you know, squirrel kind of person, that might not be the way to go. Believe it or not, I was actual a Virtual Employee back in 1991. Wow. Before there was such a thing, because I had been a recruiter and got married, had my kids and decided I wanted to stay at home. And, and my boss tracked me down after, like 10 years, and tracked me down and said, I just started this new company, I really want you to come on board. And I said, Well, okay, as long as I can do it from home, and he knew what I was capable of and said, okay, right. And I owe him so much because I was able to help support my family, and yet still could be the room mom, the Girl Scout leader and everything else like that. So it, you know, through the years, I understand and I know that I have the capability to stay totally focused and on task and, you know, not go down and turn on the TV or anything along that lines. It's like I am at work. And then I'm not right. Although I'm not as good as the and not Oh, I I literally last night, I got up and I did some, some tweets and stuff for a client at like 930 at night so that I could get it all loaded up. And, you know, make her happy. So, you know, it's like, I'm not that great at not staying at work, but but I'm working on that. Yeah, I totally get it my husband, you know, owning a plumbing business. It's a 24 seven on call for commercial emergencies. He works a lot. So when works, I try and work. And in that way when he's not working, we can actually go to dinner or we can go and do some of these other things. So I have set working hours during the day that take phone calls and do appointments. But if he's working outside of those normal working hours, I'll work so that maybe I don't have to have those. You know, if I've got free time with him, I can go to breakfast or I can go to lunch or dinner or we can go shopping for the kids. So my schedule looks a little hinky yet because it's not the norm of what everybody else sees. But, you know, it's it's also something that works for us. And it's, it's this is when we're, we're connected with people. This is when we're working with people. I had somebody messaged me last week. Hey, can we get on a call today? I'm like, Nope. Not today. You know, as I say, not today, Satan. But you know, yes, we can get on it. Call it just won't be today, it may be next week into next week before I can get on a call with you. And that's because I'm trying to be diligent of my time and not just block out the time for appointments and calls with people, but also block up the time to work on the projects can work on the tasks. And I think that's part of the discipline you're talking about of having the right mindset to do the job, you know, exactly. I know, I'm being pushed and challenged on writing, and I've blocked out my writing time for my books and, and I'm working on that and it's set up as an appointment. It's an appointment with myself in my laptop, and that's where I will be there. Yes. So no, no temptations. So we're about to take a break here in a couple of minutes. And when we do, it'll just be a quick short break. But when we come back, we're going to talk about some of the victories you've had. We've had, we may have touched on some of them, but we now There's women that are challenged with what life's facing them or what they're facing in life right now, or maybe they faced it years ago and they just haven't been able to get past something that keeps holding them back. And we like to hear those stories of victory from women that have kind of weathered the storms and come out on the other side. Just as a way to shine a spotlight into those dark splay spaces and let them know that we see them there. And you know, I may not be able to reach out to somebody and help them out of the dark space they're in but maybe you have the key that can unlock that dark space. So we're going to talk about that when we come back from this break. All right, we are back with Laurie and speak says we are talking more about her starting a business at the age of 60. We'll throw that out there. I hate telling women's age on the air but I love the story behind it. So That's That in itself, you know, people start talking about wanting to wind their business down at the age of 40 or 50 or 60 in your revenue up so, to me that sounds like a huge victory, but what are some other victories you've had in your life personally, professionally? You know, what are some of the I don't I don't want to assume that you just arrived and everything was perfect. Oh, gosh, no. Well, you know, it's interesting because Andrew, you know, I'm a big girl. And and so you know, life life in Los Angeles where everyone is a thinks they need to be a Barbie. I never really quite fit in. But and so hold on a second. I'm losing you. Are you Is everything okay? Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. It filter dummy. I so apologize, but Maybe it was God saying quit talking about being fat Laureen but you know, I mean, that was a hard road and I have some some major situations of being picked on. And I'll be honest with you, it took me until I was 50 to embrace the fact that this is the size that I am, this is the size that I am going to be. And I'm not going to change for anyone else. And I if I could teach the girls out there to love themselves. You know, so that they don't go through all the trials and tribulations of not thinking you're good enough. Because you're big is so, so important to me to get that message out. Love yourself the way that you are and and you'll find out that people will gravitate towards you because you become much more sure of yourself. unconfident and unfortunately, like I said, it took me to my 50s before I said, I'm done with this, you know, this is me Get over it. So, you know, that was that was part of my growing up and and maturing and you know, I guess another victory over the stuff when when bad things happen you know I went through a divorce and and and I still have yet to to remarry i mean you know there have been a couple of really nice men in my life but I I realized and here's something that I could do it myself that I didn't need a man to give me my worth, or to take care of me financially. I was capable doing it myself. Now, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to have a partner in life. But I realized I didn't need it. So I wasn't going to settle. Right? For someone that wasn't right for me. And I think too many of us women, you know, think that we have to have that man in our life. And and I say no at bros, embrace your powers yourself. Especially if it's a it's not a healthy relationship. So I guess those are really, I kind of have had a great life with you. I mean, I've been very lucky. So, you know, so and I'm the type of person that I have always looked at the glass half full, and I focus on the positives. And so that's what's really important when I went through the divorce My reaction was, okay. I don't want someone that doesn't want to be with me. Go Go. It's okay. But I have friends that to this day still can't stand my assessment. I let it go ages ago right ages ago. Let it go. If I can fix something, I fix it. I kind of tease sometimes I say I'm a guy with boobs. Because I am that type of person that if I, I want to fix it for you. I'm not one that just wants to listen and go all. Okay, I hear ya. Now I want to fix it. Right? I'm so much more like a guy in that way. But if I can't fix it, I let it go. And I won't. I won't sit there and and, you know, let it fester in my life. If there's nothing I can do about it. I don't have control. I let it go and I put it in God's hands. That's all good. Well, I think I think you touched on something there you know your your divorce, there may be people that are more devastated for you than you were actually devastated in the divorce. And a few years ago, I was doing a training down in San Antonio and we were having people do a life map. And on this life map, we had them put everything that was positive in their life above a line, write it on this big poster board, everything that they had encountered negatively in their life, they wrote below the line. And there were two women at the same table. And they both had divorce on there's one handed above the line, one headed below the line. The one that headed above the line said she had been set free from a very toxic relationship. The one the below the line was just totally devastated that her marriage had ended and basically her life had stalled out from that point in her life. And she just wasn't living and so It was beautiful watching that one that the divorce was freeing for her to be able to speak life and freedom into this other woman. And you know it their their experiences in the moment were very different. But the the ability to help that one that was stuck in the darkness come out of it was so beautiful to watch. And they spent weeks and months talking with each other and encouraging each other and empowering each other. Through that it was more one sided for a while. But then after that, while they they became really good friends and started doing some workshops for women that were going through divorce, and it said it in their work. Their theme was it doesn't matter how you're viewing your divorce, this workshop is for women to help you move on to the next chapter, you know, and it was it was a great thing that they did and and i don't know that they do those workshops. anymore but it was it was two polar opposite views of how one in one thing can impact a person. And exactly, you know, I know I've had this conversation with another friend of mine when I had my sexual assault, she had a sexual assault as well. Well, our reactions were two totally different reactions to it, you know, and, and, but it doesn't mean that we can't help somebody I can help somebody that had the opposite reaction I had she can help somebody that had the opposite reaction she had as we talk about it and open it up and peel back the layers of of what it all is but it goes back to more of what you you shared about loving yourself. You know, you have to do that first. Well, you know, there's this great gal Allison Donaghy, who is a podcaster. Her with Dominic No thinking, and she is all about taking yourself out of a victim state and into a freedom state. And part of that is just, you know, letting it go and understanding what your part in the situation was. You know, I mean, when I went through the divorce, and he cheated to get out, you know, but, you know, it was his fault, right? But no, there there, you know, there were things that after 15 years of marriage, you know, life got you know, we were all wrapped up and I was wrapped up in the kids with kids, kids. And and so, you know, I didn't probably give him the attention that he wanted. I will own that part. Right. Not that it was not this is doing right. But I will own that part, that maybe I was being the best wife either. And so, so I loved her framing of being able to get out of the victim state and into the freedom state because of the fact you can see where you own it, and then let it go. Right, right. And that's what we need to do is you need to just let it go. Let it go and move on. And I know that it's easier said than done. But, you know, and depending, especially depending on the situation, you know, an assault is is completely different than a divorce. Although it is and it isn't, if you think about it, right, because you can still be a victim either way, right? But, but it's like, move, you gotta let it go and move on. Because otherwise they're still having that control over you. Well, you know, I we when I left working at the church I was at before I started my business. We had this I worked in the business office, we had this thing that used to happen where there was stuff that was bought for our offices and they were bought specifically for our style or our look or or whatever the decor person that came in that decorated our offices decorated it towards our style. So when we left we had we normally had the option to ask to purchase or you know, because they would be redecorating it for the next person. So I went nice specifically asked for the chair that I had. It's kind of like the chair I'm sitting in today kind of an area on type chair. And it was very ergonomically correct. And I'd had the chair for five years it was kind of it had some issues with it, but it was molded to my but you know, to be honest, I liked that. I liked that chair. And my boss. I went to him and st if I could have the chair and he goes well as long as so and so approves that I have no problem with it. So it's getting close to the day that I'm leaving the company and everything and he comes back to me. He goes, if you're gonna get that chair I need, you know, we're getting your final paycheck and all that stuff lined out. I need to know what price you were told on it from, you know, whatever the facilities department was, and that asset I was told no. And the look on my boss's face because it was his boss that told me no, the look of my boss's face was just pure shock. Because in the five years I'd been there, nobody had told me no before. And he just looked at me and started and he goes, No, seriously, I'm like, I'm, I'm serious. Todd told me no, he's like, No, he didn't tell it's never told, you know. And, and for me, it was kind of like, Alright, now I have a right to be offended because I Even even Josh thinks it's wrong that I'm offended that that Todd told me now that he said no. And, you know, it wasn't a big offense. I'm using this kind of tongue in cheek because it's a funny story. I mean, Todd even came to me one day, I'm training my replacement, and I've got her staying there. And Todd comes running down the hall with this phone and he's got the old Groucho Marx song. It doesn't matter what you say how you phrase it, anyway, I'm against it. And he's playing that and I'm like, Pastor Todd, please meet my replacement. You know, I'm introducing Rosie's trash talking me it was a great moment. But this this business of mystery was kind of taking up an offense for me. I'm like, I don't know what the deal is. I'm not offended. It just shocked me and, and then that moment I went from dealing with my own shock to now I'm dealing with his feelings about this and you A lot of times when we tell somebody we're getting a divorce, or we've been fired, or, you know, we've been assaulted or whatever the tragic moment that comes up, we don't even get a chance to deal with our own emotions first and foremost, because we're constantly dealing with other people's emotions about what happened to us. So what I what I like is you keep saying, Let it go move on, you've got friends that were offended, but you're not letting them impact how you feel, or how your own you're feeling about yourself. Because you're like, it's done. It's over with I've moved on we say girl with long hair, because that's what we were called when we were in the military. I mean guy with long hair. That's what we were when we were in the military. We're just dudes with long hair. So you know, the not letting other people's thoughts come in and keep you stuck. Is it Something that I picked up in what you said you know those people can be offended and be mad at your ex and never want to speak to him again or, and that's fine. That's their feelings and their emotions. But you know, it doesn't disqualify you who you are what you were called to be how great you are and, and you know, it doesn't define anything else about you. It doesn't allow you to I tell people it's okay to park your boat there for a little bit but don't build a mansion around it. Oh, I like that. I like that. So I love that analogy. Yeah, if you need to go go to the gym, punch a couple of punching bags, do some kickboxing whatever, get it out of your system, and then move on. And in. Too often we're hearing that these people are parking their boats and building a mansion and and they've now got land attached to this. This thing that is become a problem in their life and You know, they'll never break the boundaries of that land because they're just, they're too hung up and what has happened to them that they can't see the rest of the world out there that's there for them at the moment and look at you, you're touching so many lives through the people that you serve. You know, every time one of those speakers you work with goes out and speaks or does a podcast or does whatever it is that they're doing. That's one of your touch points. Every time they're writing a book and putting a book out. That's one of your touch points. It may not be your voice, it may not be your thing, but you've touched it, and it's a an extension of what you've done and and all because you didn't sit back and go, Oh, well. He said I wasn't worth it. Or, you know, yeah, you're you're doing it or, you know, you say the face for radio jokingly and all that self deprecating thing, but you've got a voice that needs to be heard and needs to be shared and It doesn't matter what means it gets out there. It doesn't matter what you look like it needs to be heard. And you're not letting any of it stop you. So right, good job. Right. Thanks. Yeah, no, I think we need to embrace our own superpowers and embrace your worst. And, and unfortunately, it does take some of us longer than others. And I would love to see, you know, women, younger women having that confidence from the get go. And I think that's actually one of the things I'm probably most proud of is my daughter, who, up until about a year and a half ago was bigger than I still had the most self assured, amazing personality. You know, that just nothing stopped her. Right and Yet, you know, she was bigger than I. And I swear people are just getting mean more mean and more mean or meaner and meaner. I don't know, which is the correct way. But over the last year and a half though, she has lost 140 pounds. Wow. So wait, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, because she is so determined and so sure of herself, that when she finally made the decision, because she had had a couple kids and want to be there for them. Right, right. She made that decision and stuck to it. But, but it wasn't based on just the her luck. It was based on her health. So you know, just just having your own power is important. And you need to embrace that. Sounds like she's got some tenacity for my mama. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think so. I think We are we are very, we are very similar people. You know, we don't take a lot of stuff from people, right. I edited there too. But yeah, you know, we are, I have raised some real self assured women. And I have an amazing son, who also has a very self assured wife, who he supports and they support each other. I think, you know, as you say, what are some of the victories the victories are that all three of my kids are amazing adults who are happily married, and their spouses are amazing. And what more can I ask? They're happy, you know, and they, and they're giving me grandbabies. in Erie, we're done. I'm so upset. I'm not gonna have any more babies. Yeah, well, my, my two grandkids just turned six this week. So this weekend, so yeah, and I'm not called Grameen diva is my grandma name. So Oh, I love it. I love it. I love it. I love though. They, they definitely call me Davis. So I love that. But, um, so, in the middle of that, you know, what I love? What I kind of heard between the lines is, you know, your daughter with that transition and her outer appearance. You know, a lot of times people look at, you know, people that are overweight like myself, and they think that they're not strong that they're not self assured. Now we can walk in the room and prove them wrong, but first glance there, they're not gonna think that right off the bat. And so, one of the things that I've realized even through my my transformation of Losing weight, and still not near my goal weight yet, but in my transformation of losing weight is people do start looking at you differently. They do start thinking about you differently. And the thing is, is it's hard to explain that I never thought differently about myself. You just did. Right. Right. Exactly. Exactly. And yet, it's, it's also important to as long as you're healthy, right, right. To to accept yourself. Right. And so, so that's, that, to me is very important. You know, one of the things that always irritated me is that fat slob seemed to go together, right? Well, you will never, ever see me out in public. not totally put together. Every You know, there is no And, you know, dressed appropriately. And, you know, it's just so I have that in and of myself is just like, you may call me fat. But you will never call me a slob. Right? Right? Because that's, that's fine. I'm a big girl, too bad. Get over it. This is me. At this point. If I lost weight, it'd just be hanging skin. So I don't really care. It's like, no way. It's like, I'm healthy. You know, I'm not on any meds. I'm all good. So. So it's like, move on. Let's get on to the business. And I think I come across with a level of confidence that most people don't really, you know, stop and think, well, I don't want to work with her. She's sad. Right? Right. Well, it has. What's important is our brain. Exactly in it and it's one of those. One of those comments somebody made the comment what was it about it? A year ago, there was an event A friend of mine was on and they had only seen her headshots and if you look at her headshots, you think she's fairly skinny. You know very always put together. All of that right? Well then they invited her because they listened to her on a podcast how great she was an invited or to speak at an event and then they were it was a health and wellness event that she was speaking at. And she's got these amazing clients all over the West Coast and she's ran several multi million dollar businesses and and all in the skincare business and Health and Wellness Business, but she's not the model size. She's not skinny. She's not what everybody puts in when she showed up at the event. They were offended because of her size. Nice started being ugly to her. And oh my gosh. And she was like, wait a minute you listen to my podcasts, you heard the wealth of information I have. And they're like, Yeah, but the way you're you talked about on your podcast and what you're dealing with, don't seem to match up and she goes, show me where and they couldn't show her where what she was saying didn't match up with what she had promoted. It just they had a instant flip in their head as to what they had envisioned and what they had hoped to see. And of course, every other person up there look like canon Barbie, you know? And yeah, I'm like, but this is real life. This is gonna get the people that you want to help to get to Ken and Barbie status or whatever you want to call it. Yeah, but well, and and I mean, she's being real. Oh, yeah, exactly. at that. Yeah. That's just ridiculous. really ridiculous. And, and, and hopefully she stuck to her, you know, her principal, and she told him she wouldn't. She told him she would not worry about speaking from their stage. So that day, she really didn't need to speak from their stage, she would just take her check and go home. Oh, good for her. And they're like, well, if you're not speaking, we don't want to, we're not gonna pay you and she goes, No, we have a contract. You can just pay me and I will leave that way. You don't have to be disgusted by my appearance, and they're like, we never used the word disgusted and she's like, but she did in a not so kind way, you know, she, she was very firm. She's a businesswoman. So she is very good and strong and confident because they weren't seeing her the way she saw herself. Mm hmm. And I think I think that's, that's something that we have to be mindful of. We may think That we're, you know, strong and powerful and mighty. But we also realize that maybe not everybody sees us the way we see ourselves. And sometimes we just have to remove ourselves from their presence because it'll never be realized. And sadly, but the other side can also be true. You could see a beautiful girl who you think has it all together? And she does not think at all highly of herself. Exactly. So, you know, it's like, so love thyself, right, right. Know thyself. Well, I think we're all in whether you're gorgeous or not gorgeous or fat or skinny, or purple or brown or whatever. You're all beautiful, because God made you that way. So well, the way I look at it, and I do Do you know, it's one of those things that you you look at it and you go, Okay, I have been at the place where I believe the things people said negatively about me more moreso than then I should have, but then I evolved and then I started realizing that as long as I keep harping on those negative things, I will never see the positive things. So then I started shifting my thought process and and there will still be days. I'll go in Angie Lee Monroe, what were you thinking in? And I give myself that talk or, you know, come on, girl, get it together. Yeah. My husband I were talking I've had a couple of low memory things here lately that I'm just like, Okay, what in the world is going on with me? And, you know, it may it starts to make you think, Okay, well, I'm just not got it together. I'm just not this. I'm just not that. But really what it is, is you're not taking time to put margin and to allow room to breathe. It's what it is. And so in doing that, I had To be hold myself a little more accountable to how much I was putting on my plate, how much I was expecting of others how much I was expecting of myself. And I'm just gonna lead into our next little segment because what I know about you is when it comes to helping people reach their professional goals, your great accountability partner, I mean, you are the way you phrase things as you phrase things to set people up for success. So you were working on a project for me last summer and you're like, Okay, I'm going to get this to you by such and such time. How much time do you need to review it so we could set up a call? It was so there wasn't just a deadline on you. There was a deadline on me as well. And, and many people seem to blur the line between politeness and accountability. So, you know, I've told the story before my friend that never really wanted to hold me accountable for working out The gym because she didn't want to be held accountable for working out in the gym. But when we were in the office space together, she was phenomenal at it. I've had people I've given permission to, to speak into my life and say, you know, hold me accountable for doing things on certain dates and times and be consistent. But then they don't because they know that I'm a strong individual person. And I know that I know I should be doing it. But just because I know I should go to the gym and eat healthy every day doesn't mean that I necessarily do. And I've given permission to somebody to speak into my life to hold me accountable in those areas. And they don't, because they're afraid it's not polite to speak into that. Then we have a problem. So yeah, well with Yeah, with my clients. It really is. That's what they've asked me to do. And I'm not only holding them accountable, but I'm making the business accountable. As I told you earlier, you know, mentoring has really been my passion. And I think my clients all know that if I call them on something, or if I tell them, you know, you really should think about this, you know, going forward, they know it comes from a place of love, and a place of trying to make them better. So, you know, I don't think I've ever really gotten, you know, negative negative with anyone. But, you know, I will, I will say, Wait, stop you, we need to look at this. Right. And I think they know that, that when I push back or when I hold them accountable, it's only for their own good. Yeah. And and, and that's one of the things that people don't realize is if you're asking somebody to hold you accountable, or you're holding somebody accountable, you've been given a treasure in that moment. You've been given insight you've been given authority you've been given You know, I get tickled at people going, Well, I just want to be an authority figure, I just want to have a voice into this area. And so, you know, I'll test out with people. I'm like, Okay, well, I'm gonna give you permission to challenge me in this area. And then they don't brilliant. And then they don't. And, I mean, the ones that do are awesome at it at all times, you know, and then I'll go, I'll kind of push back with them on in a joking way of, well, this was a test it was only a test. Like, no, not by, you know, I'll have some they'll go Nope, not buying it. If you you wouldn't have come up with that thought if you really didn't want to do it or, you know, so they'll, they'll push back and then there's the ones that, you know, you tell them to challenge you in an area and they just never hear from them again. Yeah, well, yeah. So you just say you sit there and you go, Okay, got it. Move on. right on to another accountability partner. I think we've all kind of been in now. masterminds and and, and what not nice still, to this day have a number of masterminds that I'm involved in, in an effort to learn more, and have myself grow as well as helping my other mastermind attendees. So, yeah, going forward. It's not only just the accountability function, but that have you thought about type function rail to give you another aspect that you may never have even looked at? And so I'm a big believer in the whole mastermind system. Well, whenever you're looking at your accountability partners, whether you're being the accountability partner, you're you're looking for somebody to be an accountability partner. And, you know, what are some of the boundaries that you look for? With accountability partners, do you set up phone calls? Do you set up appointments with them? What does having an accountability partner in your life look like? Yeah, well I have mentors which are those that are ahead of me in the business game that I tend to think that you know that we're such a virtual world. My meetings with them are usually zoom meetings. So that I get that one on one I can see what's landing and what's not. And or, you know, we can have a real you know, face to face. This is what's happening. What do I do now kind of thing? Because I will I'll be the first to admit, I don't know everything about everything. Amen. No, I am, I am. I am not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. So I believe in listening to everyone and although there are times when I can be a bit of an intellectual snob and I really am trying to work on that I have learned in my life that I can learn from anybody. And we need to take people's feedback and live in it for a sec. And either Okay, I see where she's coming from, you know, and and go with it or not. Yeah. And just as I tell my clients, well, here's what I think you should do, but it is still your voice, your message, your social media, whatever, it's still up to you. So here's what I think. But, you know, it is still you that is out there. And it's your presence so well, I think Yeah, I'm in a number of masterminds. I think I have the I think I know the answer you're gonna give to this but I'm gonna ask it anyway because I think the question needs to be asked and answered in a more in your face way, but when you have people that come to you. And we'll just use me as an example, say I come to you. And I'm wanting you to hold me accountable in these areas. And I'm just not pulling my weight in that relationship. And but you can see so much more potential for me that I'm really giving towards the effort that I'm asking you to hold me accountable for. So my question to you is this. Do you keep pushing them and challenging them? Or do you find a way to basically tell them or tell yourself to let it go until they're ready to come to that realization? Oh, yeah, I'll have all sort of have a come to Jesus with them. But if they still aren't getting it, I'll say, you know what, I'm here whenever you're ready to level up or to scale your business or whatever it may be. I'm here when you're when you're ready, but I cannot Be the one that cares the most about getting you to the next level, right? it you have to have that burning desire, you know, to actually make it come to fruition, if you are not passionate and have that burning desire, it's not gonna work anyway. Right? Even if I have the burning desire, right, right, you have to have it. So, I usually, you know, I do let it go in a way that I let them know why. Because you don't seem to be ready. Now I just had something pop in my head, you know, and it's, it's a wondering question. So I'm just gonna put it out there for those that are listening and those that are listening either live or to the, to the recording. You know, I want to ask myself this question and then also, as the audience are those that let me figure out how we're going phrase that those that are asking for you to hold them accountable and are not giving back the full weight of what she is so so you so let's just say I expect more from Susie q out here than she's actually

Hello and welcome to warrior divas real talk for real women. Our show is specifically designed for divas. divas is an acronym for Destin inspired victorious accountable sisters. And we will be bringing guests on our show who will help in our mission to equip and empower a global community of women change agents as we make a positive impact on the world we live in. When we started doing this impact about four years ago, we quipped that we wanted to change the way women think and speak about themselves and others. And as we progress that was our thinking and our intentions and we want to talk about things that are impacting women. So that means we will talk about faith, family, fitness, finance, dude, and a lot of other words that don't even begin with that. So today I'm excited to bring on the show Lucy Mitchell are fierce in beautiful wellness, and I met Lucy through her husband I've been watching her for a little while and have fallen in love with her beautiful outlook on life. Lucy is a mindset and wellness coach site. Colin fitness fanatic food lover look, we got some of those f words in there. And all around personal development junkie she helps women break free from their inner mindset demons and create healthy relationships with food and fitness and define their self worth and find the confidence to live a life of purpose on their own terms. Welcome to the show, Lucy. Thank you, thank you. Well, I am so thankful to have you on the show and you know, it's a little bit of one of those things that I'm listening to what you're talking about and and what your mission is and, and it lines up so much with what we wanted to do and what we are hoping to accomplish with empowering and equipping women. I think it's it's just beautiful. So first off, I want to tell I want you to give us a little bit about what Why this is important to you? Oh, gosh, I mean, I think that I would probably have to go to a little bit of a backstory in myself. I mean, I'm first of all, I'm one of four daughters that my father had. So that in itself, there's lots of events going on in that house with my mother. And in fact, they always had a habit of choosing even female animal that was all about a daddy, there was a glutton for punishment, or he was a sweetheart, through and through. But he did raise him and my mother always did raise us to be very strong willed, very independent woman. And I said something that I've always carried through my entire life and probably proved very difficult and a lot of my relationships that I was not so much of what you call quote, unquote, a submissive woman. I just always do what I want. To do what I wanted out of life, and I wanted all my relationships, no matter what they were friendships, personal relationships, my children to live vicariously through that just, you know speak your truth. Speak your mind and and live your life to the fullest. And I really, it really hit to my core when my dad passed away suddenly, actually yesterday he realized it was five years that cancer took him from us. And in fact I woke up this morning going oh my gosh, I didn't even reflect or or anything about that which is a good thing because that means that we're you know, we're at peace with you know, his passing but I had decided about a couple of years ago. A that that cancer is is one of those that doesn't put the word I'm looking for it's it's it knows no boundaries. It's not just hereditary. It can affect anything. One right and, and that it's really important that we look for the signs and that we pay attention to ourselves. And as women, we spend so much time taking care of others that we don't stop and listen to ourselves and and listen to our own bodies and take care of our own needs. And that's where I decided, you know, that's not okay, we should be able to speak out and take care of ourselves. And so I just started like looking inward and decided I wanted to become a transformational nutritional coach. And I wanted to start working with women and in the pyramid upon women a problem phase of their lives, because that's the phase where we just given up, we have no purpose. We were just, it's all about our kids. It's all about our husbands. It's all about everybody else, and we no longer have a voice and by the time we have a voice, we feel it's too late. And I'm like, I'm techno sister. You have a voice and it's time to use it. And that's what my purpose has been. Is, is taking this drive that I have to live healthier to speak your truth to link arms with other sisters and just, you know, whatever it is, whether it's licensing, whether it's spiritual, whether it's sexual, whether its food, whether it's fitness, no matter what it is, it's like your children will be fine. Take the time to take care of yourself. Exactly where I'm at. Well, I think you bring up a beautiful point because a lot of the times those of us that are in those older years of life in we're not old, we're not dead. We we have a lot to give up, live up to and, and one of the things that I hear all too often is it's not only that they've given up, it's because a lot of times they've been so invested in helping their children. Or their spouse build up their dreams that they forgot how to dream. They didn't they don't know how to dream anymore. And they just don't have the energy to move forward with anything anymore. And a lot of that has a lot to do with Fitness, Health, the food you're putting in your body, your hormones, and like you said, they give up. I can relate to this because about a year or two ago, I was pretty much in the same place. I was. Okay, something has got to change. This is not right. Some I feel like something's hijacking my body and and what I found is there's a lot of women out there that feel that they just have to suffer silently. And I love that you're saying that's not true. I agree. And I think the other F word that we're all set is fear. Mm hmm. Exactly. Here I have the women that I have talked to is fear not a change but of making a change because they have gotten so stagnant are so used to a certain routine, a monotonous routine of doing things. It's, I want to say and I mean I'm 45 years old I've had three children I have four of my stepdaughter, but I've had four children and mentally and physically I do not feel 45 but I've also made that my passion drive like not because I remember watching my mom grow up and personalities eyes is probably today 65 right and and even then some 65 there are 45 I mean, all just depends on on your your drive to be something different, but I remember there was a cartoon and I'm gonna really date myself but way before I was born, Black and White, probably from Disney, but it was just as monotonous black or white. Whether they were just a repetitive cartoon like they had briefcases and they were just walking slowly along the line to work. And it just, it was just repetitive. They're just doing the same thing. over and over and over again, in no power, there was no life, there was no activity. And I feel like I see so many women feel that that's what they're supposed to do. Get up, feed the children take care of the husband clean the house, go to bed, right. And when I reach out to when I reach out even to some of my close friends about like, hey, there's this amazing women's conference downtown and we're going to put samples of face creams on our feasts and, and and you know, sample whatever is in here from concept. Well, I'm not no I don't and, and, you know, what will people think? Right now Like First of all, let's see if we can find something new and something done and and like let's get away from the kids away from the husbands and you know we're old I've discovered this amazing you know, like I lost 35 pounds in August give a listen to my body and I and I, you know I it's like to share all the different things that have worked for me for stepping outside of what the norm is. And I want to link Everybody with me I want to take all my sisters with me. And there's so much more there's so much fear. Well, yeah, and I agree with you on that. I think I think we have a lot of women that I listen to and and I'm surrounded by a bunch of strong women so a lot of my friends are kind of in the same boat I am their husband goes to work their husband goes on business trips, they just keep on keepin on they don't let their life be dictated by their their spouses schedule or their kids schedule. They still make time for friends. They still make time for their business, they still make time for living their life. But I realized that there's a out circle of women that I'm connected to, that that's all their life revolves around. It may be for the season, it may be that that's all they know how to do. And one of the things that it like it goes back to that fear word, word, you know, they don't want to rock the boat, so to speak. But I think it also goes back to how we're raised and what we're seeing and what's emulated for us. You talked about your dad being outnumbered by daughters Do you know? Well, he probably didn't, he didn't probably run the house, the house probably ran, you know, by the daughters more than then he would have liked to admit it admitted. But there's that that sense of confidence and ability that he instilled in you to where if your kids or your husband move on, yes, you're going to be you know, to business or to A career path or off to school, you're not going to be wrecked by that because you've got things of your own to do. It doesn't mean you're sitting waiting for Eric to come home. It doesn't mean you're waiting for your kids to come home for your life to be complete. And that's the part that we're wanting to women to realize is you are a complete human being with or without them. They are just, they are your life. You love them. It doesn't disqualify their role in your life, but they are not your your wholeness, and we want to talk about your wholeness. Yeah, yeah, exactly. My mom and dad were married for 44 years. And my dad did work. He worked. He owned his own landscaping business and then he was also a longshoreman. Very tough job. Yeah. So my mom did raise us Basically solely, I mean, our celebrations were around food. Because God was home, right? Um, you know, and it's funny when we were just together. My sister my younger my baby sister just had a baby. And he's where we sold. I just went home to go and meet him for the first time. And we were reminiscing and we were talking about how I remember when it was like Danny was home we celebrated with hungry man. You could put it in your body. Yeah, the look of joy on my dad's face wanting to meet that sounds very state hungry man dinner with the apple cobbler and the water down mashed potatoes. But it was all of us watching him eat and sitting with him because that was a rare key. Right? And what I look back on and see is that there wasn't a lot of light and color in my mom's face because what What he did in those hours to work for his daughters and his wife versus the hour during the day of what she did to keep the children alive in the house of flow. I saw that color changes we got older because she had more time and she was able to start doing things for herself. She ended up becoming a professional chef for a very small company. When I think it was close to me more moving out and still to my younger two sisters. Wow. And it was one of the things I took with me even later on was that, okay, it is okay to find your own interest outside like you're talking about outside of your role of wife and mom. And what I loved was that my dad always encouraged that. And my sisters and I have been very, very fortunate to marry husband to have always encouraged and supported any of our ventures and I believe me for I've had many years, for 21 years, I went to college for 10 years to either become an accountant, a business something and blatantly Was it a master's degree in education, I was going to be a teacher. Oh, wow. And now I'm going to become a I'm a transformational nutritional coach. Um, and God bless my husband for supporting every single one of those ventures. It but it's it was for me it was going back and like, knowing that my mom had that supportive my dad because she supported him. So just keep the house afloat, like keep food on the table. and whatnot. Exactly. And, and, you know, I think, I think we think, how do I phrase this? I think a lot of the times we as modern women think our role has changed so drastically from the quote unquote, olden days, but when you look back and You know, I'm going to use the Bible as a reference here. If you look back in the days of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and all of them, the men went off, they went off to tin the sheep, they went off to hunt, they went off to gather, you know, they did all of that. And the women were left to take care of the home to take care of the children to take care of, you know, things that are holding the fort down, so to speak. And even even as recent as yesterday, it was Texas Independence Day here, somebody was talking about that as well. Excuse me, but in talking about that, women are afraid nowadays to be left behind by their their spouse or their children, and we're hearing more about the empty nest in their lives being just totally distraught over their children going off to college. And I'm not gonna say that I don't miss my kids. I'm not gonna say that at all. But what I'm going to say Is it opens up the doors for us to spread our wings and we need to be focused on spreading our wings not hiding away and into a shell of ourselves. It's funny that you say that because I have this is my philosophy and I have my mother philosophy of your viewers or your listeners think this is harsh. It's my philosophy. Once you're 18 you graduate you go, right need to go you need to spread your wings. Now, I understand if there might be a maybe a there's an emotional or a non mental but there's some type of a disconnect you haven't connected yet. I'll give you a little bit of time back just gonna kick you out and send you have you fend for yourself against wolves, but I came home one day and they were boxing by the German moms and she got a time we got to go. Right I was almost 19 she had found me a place. I had a job. I think that you know, but that was how I was raised. I do not understand. And I think I've done a post about this somewhere. I do not understand mom's neighbor say, No, no baby, you don't need to you need to you want to live here till you 30 you use you stay there done. Right. Right. Your job. It's your time now. Yeah, I agree. And I was raised in a very strict Christian home, and I read the Bible five times, through through, I did not see anywhere. Then it said in any fine print. You know, they can stay as long as they want. They need to go and you know, create their own household and, and live their lives. You raised them. And now it's your turn. I mean, I have the nice Do we have it like a countdown on them. Turn I've been raising children since I was 12 years old. I am right. It's my time. I want time with my husband. I want it to be just we'll check on you guys. We might even give your address Well, I think I think there's a term called leaving cleave, you know, leaving cleave to something else, not us. Do not give me grandchildren. Raising children, younger sister, so do the world a favor and get a dog grandchildren. And so I'm technically a grandmother. And they look at me and I and my girlfriends are like, really? I'm not saying I don't like babies. I love babies. Right? Like people. In today if you need to travel you need to see the world. You need to contribute any to You need to contribute to charitable causes you need to help other you know, other countries. Now we need to we need to go to Nashville we need to help Nashville right now like right. so horrible what happened in the middle of it. There's so many more important things that need to be focused on then Okay, you're 18 go get married and have children. Exactly. They go and do that they can't fend for themselves and then they come back well in and and i agree we've had we've had a we've got a son that's in the military. We've had had daughters that went off to college, they came back for a period of time and we're we were at the same place of Okay, the clock has started. What What is your action plan what you know, will be a safe place for you to land come back and land if you need to, but yeah, what's the action plan? What's the end result? I kept resetting the timer on the microwave. When my son came home from college. I was like, go take it. And and I, but they appreciate that they think it's hard, you don't understand they're like, No I do sweetheart, things have got changed just because it's, you know, it's 2020, the millennial state of mind is not a mind, I understand, because you do not understand the hardship that those of us who are our older actually went through. Well, and I think I think we also understand how important it is for them to have their independence and to, you know, it's not even just about me for for for my kids, I want them to be strong and solid and independent on their own right, and making good decisions and making a good income and making, you know, good life choices. I don't want them feeling like they're under my wing the whole time because I haven't trained them all these years to stay under my wing. I've trained them to push them out of the nest. Yeah, well And it's like I even told my elder to I have given my mind my body my soul My spirit my everything to raising you and keeping you alive right now trying to invest all of those efforts and energies back into myself. Right? Because I still have the second half of my life and that is equally as important as the rest of your life. So if we're going to roll the dice and mover important at this point, you know it's and and that is I that's what I like to also talk to my clients about it like this is now your time and dive into I really big about faith about whether when no matter what it is, God fear if universe angels whatever it is that you believe in. That is a huge when you lose that you lose yourself, yourself, your sense of self worth, right. And when you tap back in to that through meditation, through prayer through journaling, you're able to kind of like have your eyes reopen to who you really are as an individual, especially as a real woman as a woman. And a lot of times, it's a very uncomfortable process, but it's, it's step one, before we can do any other type of change, it's like, you've got to step back in, tap back into that spiritual sense of who you are, who you were created to be. Right. And, and we're gonna be going to break here in just a few minutes. But when we come back from that break, I want to I want us to talk about the difference between femininity and feminist. I think the feminist word gets, you know, thrown out there and everybody already thinks, you know, angry, bitter woman. But more so than that. I want us to talk about embracing our femininity because that's where our true strength is. I believe and and I love that you talk about this on such a transparent parent level. But I want us to dive into that when we get back from the commercial break so that we can really break that apart just a little bit. And then then we'll go into the fitness side of things after that, but we're gonna take just a couple of minutes to pay for the show with our sponsors, and we will be back in just a second. All right, we are back. And I know we talked before we left for the break in said we were going to come back and talk about embracing our femininity. So So Lucy, let's talk about that for a minute. I know years ago, I went to a women's conference because yes, I go to women's conference, biggest tomboy out there and I still go to women's conference conferences. And one of the ladies was talking about how The color scheme where you had pink for women and blue for men nowadays used to be actually the opposite. Back in the late 1800s to 19 hundred's blue was for women and pink, pink and red were for men. And so we keep mixing things up a little bit. And so when we talk about our femininity I've I left high school I joined the Navy, I worked as an aircraft mechanic then worked in the aviation industry. So in the military, I was called a dude with long hair, basically. But when we go into embracing our femininity, it took me a while to even figure out what that looked like because I had struggled so hard to try and fit in with my male counterparts that I didn't know how to be feminine. And I really didn't understand what feeling comfortable in my own body was and I really did And understand how that led to having close relationships with girls, you know as girlfriends, and what that was all about, because all my guy, all my friends were guys, and then I'm married. And you know my husband and I have this little competition going back and forth because I was trying to compete with him basically for his role in the family. And it ended us in a hot mess. But I want I want to hear a little bit of a taste because I've watched some of your Facebook posts and I've watched some of your talk about femininity and embracing it and really just discovering yourself and I want to hear how you feel to best translate to women the importance of embracing their femininity. I, first of all, I can honestly say I'm right there with you. I had more guys But I do call friends I just don't understand. I don't understand women. And again, I don't know if it was because of being raised by my gentle father I'm not sure what it is, but I know for for me I I can see I'm both sides of that sword in a sense that I can handle my own. But I am a I am I'm a I am a woman I am sweet, I am kind I am sexual I am I incense sensual, I am in tune with my my body and my senses and I'm comfortable in my own skin. I I don't feel and this again is my own opinion based on who I have seen and dealt with who is considered a feminist femininities the harshness that I'm not kidding. competition with my husband in the fact that who has the bigger package or however you want to work that right? Um, there is a role that he has and he is supposed to have. I want him to have that role. That's why I married him. He is our protector. He is our fighter. He, he's the man of the house. But if he needs a warrior right beside him, I am that woman. Right? Doesn't need another man. I am that woman. I am his Joan of Arc. As I like to so eloquently put that and I think in my messages when I am doing my posts or doing my stories is I like to I think I had done one A while ago where I was describing a road. So what from fairway you look at a rose and the roses Beautiful, beautiful, soft, pedal, scented beauty Mostly comes in a variety of colors, whether it's a tight flower or beautifully blooms, but if you get too close, you are going to get pricked by a thorn. Now, is that for the feminist part? Or is that the Thor's disorder protecting her femininity, right? It's all in how you want to look at the flower. But for me, I feel like all women are beautiful roses like we are. We have our authority to protect ourselves, but we are they're beautiful, we are feminine and there's no reason to hide that. to, to be ashamed of that. Is that's what that's how we were created. And not in a sense I mean, that's that's my, that's where I stand on that part of it. I mean, I feel I raising a daughter, raising two daughters when one's out of the house. I look at my daughter and I'm like, I want you to be as strong and I bought her this bracelet. And I said, always remember to adjust your crown. And don't have mine with the train thing. But always remember to adjust your crown. And remember the queen who gave it to you. Hmm, something along those lines, and she was amazing. I just want you to understand that no one is no one is to not knock you down. Because you need to remember where you came from, right who your queen is. Because people knocked me down. had a lot of horrible things happen. I've experienced a lot of things. I've experienced a lot of judgment. Even in the course of that I'm in now I get a lot of messages about some of my posts of like, I don't understand why you talk the way you talk or how you feel the way you feel. And there and it's a lot of times it's from women. And I just looked at my daughter and I said But it doesn't stop me. I'm just gonna get back up and I'm going to keep spreading my message because somebody needs to hear it. Somebody somebody else Can you benefit from what I have to say? Just like someone out there will benefit from what you have to give. And and I wholeheartedly agree with that. You know, one of the things that has happened over the years we started divas impact, like I said about four years ago. And right off the bat, we started getting a bunch of hate mail, mainly from feminist organizations, a few from guys, because they mistakenly thought that we were going to do this as another male bashing organization. And quite honestly, I've told everybody this is absolutely not a male bashing organization. We realize the need for men in our lives, just as we hope men realize the need for us in their lives. We we don't I'm not as concerned about what the guys of the world are saying about us women. I'm more concerned with what we are saying about ourselves and each other. You know, we you know, when You've got examples out there, like Real Housewives of bad behavior or bad girls clubs or whatever that's going on out there. They have the, the opportunity to, to send a such a empowering message. But they don't, you know, because drama sells. And when I was, you know, kind of whispered in my heart to start this organization and and get things going I was like but God I don't like women. I really don't like women their main they're nasty, you know and he's like, Yeah, you've had your episodes too and I'm like, okay, you know to Shay. And I remember a few years ago, whenever, whenever the Donald Trump and Billy Bush news broke, I got a lot of hate mail. You know, why aren't you denouncing Trump and why aren't you denouncing billy bush and why aren't you denounce? In and even with the Harvey Weinstein and, and all of those, and I said, because I'm not focused on them, I'm not letting them dictate my worth, I'm not letting them dictate the worth of all women out there. I'm working on me, I'm focusing on me. And, and and the women that I speak to, and I encourage and I empower and let them know that, yes, bad things can happen to you. But you don't have to live in a victim role anymore, you can live victoriously, and that's, you know, what we're focusing on is walking women out of those dark places. And so for the feminine femininity side of things, what I've also realized is, the more I've embraced my femininity, the more intimate my relationships have become with my girlfriends, the more intimate relationships have come with my family and with my spouse, it because I'm loving myself first before I learned how to love Anybody else and, and to me, that is the difference I see between, you know, saying I'm, I'm into feminism, or I'm into my femininity and and opening myself up to really love myself now loving yourself has a whole other series of side effects, I guess is what you'd call it kind of like a rolling blackout. There's just you start loving yourself and then you go, Oh, I love myself. So I'm gonna go to the doctor and get checked out and make sure I'm healthy. Oh, I love myself. The doctor says I could I could work on fixing these things. So I'm going to work on fixing these things to make sure my body is optimal. And I'm going I'm going to change the way I eat. We've got Kim Slater who does our magazine and and does a lot of the things behind the scenes for us. You know she's in that season right now. We'll have her on the show here in a few weeks. To talk about her health journey that she was flung into, as at the beginning of the year with a massive heart attack and, and in the lessons that she's having to learn for herself, but that whole femininity thing feeds so much of your life. It's what builds up your confidence that gets your husband looking at you with a little bit of, Hey, what do you do? And he's doing it in a way because he's more intrigued because he sees the woman that he was attracted to in the first place. It's interesting that you say that I'll quickly say that, you know, when I started my mild personal transformation last year, before that, you know, I was trying to help other other women men, it didn't matter. I just wanted everybody to be aware about cancer, you know, after losing my father and other health issues that attributed that I just didn't. My goal was I don't want anyone else to lose up Father a husband a daughter of themselves, like listen to the signs so I'm so like, driven like everybody needs to work out get up cheapest way to eat this much water. It was like what I woke up every day but that was my passion and I was ignoring my own health. I was ignoring my own grieving process I was ignoring my own fleet, my own health but mental health spiritual health all the things and as I I got a I did a post about this is something I can recall but I remember looking at a picture of myself. I think it was this past summer and I was like, I thought I was in optimal health working, working out six days a week, eating 1400 to 1600 calories a real food healthy greens all blah, blah, blah. meditating journaling, praying all the things that when I looked at myself I was pale bloated 45 pounds overweight. I just had to like look in my eyes and I was like, I stopped. And I was like, on this task to help other people, when did I stop and take care of myself first? Right. And as soon as I did, I mean as soon as we got home from that trip, I don't remember we went to sun river something. I immediately called a nutritional coach. But I knew right away my doctor just oh my gosh, yeah, go take a nap, you'll be fine. You know, I was like, okay, it's got to be deeper. And I started working with the nutritional coach and I and I stopped helping all the other people. I put everything on hold because I was like, I really wait. I'm suffering from vertigo. My hands are numb, my feet are numb. These are all things I was experiencing but ignore right because I was so passionate about helping other people live their best life and be healthy so you don't die like my daddy. That I I didn't you know, pay them for myself. But as soon as I did that the glow came back the weight when I found out I was insulin resistant. So Kyle was a huge thing. I was borderline type one diabetic. Yeah, the bad one. Yeah, um, I changed my eating habits. I, you know, we changed how I work out, changed how I slept, all of the symptoms went away, the weight falling off. And my husband even looked at me He's like, Oh, my God, baby are glowing. Right? People like, we're looking at my pictures, like, what filter are you using? Now using a filter, you're glowing, but your hair is shiny. And it was like, and I looked at myself, and I was like, I feel beautiful. I don't think and I'm not ashamed of this. This is what I want. Everyone's like, so I reevaluate everything but it was like I'm taking care of myself and like And I had no problem looking at. And hopefully it's okay to say that I had no problem looking in the mirror naked. Right? Because that's a woman as a woman, especially after you've had children. Right with the lights on girl, right? Ugly bathroom lights on, right? Like, that's hard to do, but I didn't know I was like, I am feeling myself right now. Now I'm not gonna go into a changing room lighting and I'm loving and feeling beautiful. I feel sexy. I still sleep. I feel gentle. I feel happy. Because I took care myself first. Right, feel feminine. And that wasn't a feeling I felt all before that is so harsh, hard, poor like, ready to take on the world and compete with everybody else and that wasn't feminine. I don't know if that was coming. Right. Well and I think one of the one of the things we we hear a lot of the times is or you know, I worked in the faith base area before I started out on my own after leaving the corporate arena and I went from dressing like a dude because I was always in jeans and T shirt and then I went to work in the church offices. And I knew I needed to look female but I was just how do I I was putting the outer surfaces on it was like treating the symptoms without treating the actual cause. And I would put on an outfit that everybody go oh that looks so cute on you and I would feel the most uncomfortable ever. And it had nothing to do with the outfit. It had everything to do with the skin I was walking around in I did not feel comfortable in myself. And you know you're talking about people sending you the hate messages and and then asking you what filters you use. You use and things like that, which, you know, they're thinking You look amazing. But on the other side, they're also kind of giving a second backhanded compliment, you know, oh, you can't look that good person. And I remember when we started getting those hate messages, first thing I did, I stood up, I dropped my laptop down, and I stood up and I did a little happy dance. Because it's getting people off their balance a little bit. It's getting them to look at things through a different perspective. Making them question something for themselves will have so and so can do it then maybe I can too. Or what the heck is Angie, the biggest tomboy, we know doing starting a women's organization. What gives her the right i mean, i i've had women go, Oh, that's cute. I'm like, okay, you know, and now they're going well, how do we get in your magazine? How do we get on your show? How do we do this? I'm like, well, there's a process but we're friends. Okay, but there's still a process. And I'm not doing that to be mean or ugly. But, you know, I am looking for the people that want in and want in at the at the ground level, because that means that they understand the vision and the mission, we're going after they're not coming in with ulterior motives to go, Hey, you know, this is great, but let's do this. And, and let's steer this your vision, your goal, your passion, let's steer it to the right a little bit or to the left a little bit, so it fits more of what we want. No, this is what we're going for. This is our niche. This is what we're working on, is equipping and empowering women period, in a variety of different ways. And they're like, oh, bitch, it'd be so much better if you'd sign on with, you know, this organization or that organization and I opened up the organization's page and it's just male bashing and, and hating on each other and Like, yeah, not what we're about. It doesn't resonate. Yeah. And so, when we start talking to women, I've watched women open up after going through all that they've gone through, I see what you're talking about, you see that physical transformation, the light bulb moment that comes on, and their whole life changes. And in, you know, I've shared before that, you know, being a veteran, I'm tied to a lot of veteran communities and and I'm telling you, my veteran sisters are the worst of it. I love them to death. But oh my gosh, they wear me out, because they are so stuck in being a victim, but touting that they're a warrior, but they're living in a victim role, because they don't want to fix anything. And I guess that's our biggest uphill battle is how do we get them to hear it enough to where finally they get fed up and start doing something about it. Yeah, I know I that's it. That's an interesting question. I'm not sure. I mean, I again grazers to me I have all my outside family was actually own Navy. Okay. My first husband was Navy. I'm attracted to the servicemen and I think I got some army leaves in there somewhere. I'm not sure but my dad did not serve the police officer and then my mom got pregnant but and she was like, heck no, you need to come home every day. But I don't know if it's the year you spend. You know, somebody you're being told what to do, when to do how to do it that when you're out, right of that environment. You're like, what I mean, because I know that was part of the premises of like us starting the Lightfoot media. My husband starting that I mean when way back even when he was doing Your podcasts and things that when we first started this whole thing, it was like helping veterans get started because they spent so many years being told. When when to eat, when to make your bed, where to put your shoes on, when to shoot when to do all the things. And then when you're out, it's like nobody's telling you what to do. Right and when to do it. You don't do anything, but you got to do something. And, and I know that that that was that was helpful for a lot of veteran entrepreneurs with being able to go to Eric and him saying, Okay, this is how you start, but I'm you I can only get you so far. You've got to take it from there. Exactly. That might be it for the women desert you know, maybe that's that mindset of like, okay, switch it just a little bit and and remember what that authoritative voice of you being told what to do, and now tell yourself like, speak to yourself in that. Yeah, I mean, I and I like I said, I I'm just speaking from, from experience, veterans wife. Well, and you've had a front row seat to watch all of that. And do we want to go ahead and give you a shout out there? Because in addition to your hats that you wear for fierce and beautiful wellness as a coach there and leading people there, you've just been named CEO of life flip media, haven't you? Yeah. So yeah, yeah, that that is an amazing thing in itself as well. I asked if they came with a pay raise. He says, Wait, we get paid. Yeah, so tell us a little bit about that for just a few minutes. I'm not sure exactly what to say. I think he just woke up one day with a brilliant idea. No, actually, I think it's it's a great power move for him. Because he was actually wearing way too many hats and I, I think it's a great obviously it's a great move for it to be a women ran and owned business. It's a different type of demographic with a power move. So I know that there was a lot of driving behind that. But he takes a lot of guidance and advice of mine. And I really wanted him to be able to focus on what she's really good at, which is working with our customers. And you know, the me I don't understand that part of the business you know, the media bookings and the article places I that part of it I'm like I have too much going on and this three little head of mind when it comes to business when it comes to making sure that we are on the right path. And that our business plan, our business model needs tweaking or just seen or we're not that's my forte. Right? So we just decided to to do a title change. And and I think that puts us a little bit ahead of the game, especially being a woman. Yeah, having that see I mean, I my LinkedIn is blowing up ever since I changed that. Yeah, we're having a business meeting, in fact today because since he made that announcement, just that I know, but I mean, what we're getting into because I'm like, at the end of the day, this is his baby. This is his dream and his but we talked about it for the last year or so. And I just said when you're ready, then I will not lead you astray. Well, that what that is fabulous. You need to change your LinkedIn. I made it official. Yeah. Did you find out From one of his Facebook Lives, or did he actually tell you in person? He told me in person. But you never know. You know, Facebook or my Instagram Stories like what we're doing what I just saw that she didn't tell me. Oh, I literally in the next room. Yeah, you could just tell reviews. Exactly. All right. Yeah, it's an exciting experience for our business. We've had a massive amount of growth. And I want that growth to continue. So I needed him to be in the right, roll on to focus on that, right. Yeah. It's gonna be good. Yeah. And I think we are going to have him on our leading moment show in a few weeks. I've got to get him to get all the stuff together for us to do that. But having him on our leading moment show, to really talk about how to get started and how to do what he does. And encourage and inspire some small business owners on that page for us. So maybe you can join him when we do that call, but of course, yeah, it'll be a black. Yeah. So we're gonna take another break real quick and we will be back after these messages. All right, we are back with Lucy Mitchell. We are talking about her fierce and beautiful wellness and mindset coaching and all that she does that makes her glamorously beautiful, inside and out. So as we go into this next next segment of our show, what I want to talk with you about is more. I'm going to tell you, this is all purely selfish. I'm going to preface that right off the bat. So a few weeks ago, right before Christmas, peloton came out with that commercial about the bike and everybody lost their flippin mind over it. You know, that was sexist. That was this that was that and I'm sitting here going well, what we didn't See, he was maybe she asked for the bike. Maybe she didn't because you know, quite honestly, I would like a peloton. But my husband kind of refuses to buy me one right now because I made such a big deal at a date. He took me out on one night he took me to dinner as he goes, you want to go to Jason's deli, so not particularly. He goes, come on, we can go get a salad bar. Fine, you know, so we go to Jason's deli, and we get the salad bar and we eat our dinner. And then we go to Walmart, which we had to get dog food or whatever. And he goes back to the bike bicycle section back there. And he's like, Hey, I was looking at these the other day. Did you see this bike? Do you want this bike? This bike would be a fun bike to have. Don't you want? Don't you don't want a bike? I do not want a bike. He's like, Oh, come on. You'd have fun with this one. You'd like this one. Are you sure you don't want this bike? Come on. We ended up walking out of Walmart with a bike that night. So I told him I said the theme of that whole date was Hey, you're complaining about not feeling good. So why don't you lose some weight and ride a bike, you know, eat a salad ride a bike. So we give him grief over that all the time. But my biggest thing is not about riding that bike. It's about I've had some balance issues, I've had some things that I just don't trust, the agility of my body right now. So balancing myself on two wheels is kind of a freaky idea to me, but I like the peloton idea because I feel like I could slowly progress until I got that confidence back. But, you know, you said that you the reason I'm bringing all that up is because, you know, you said that you like to cycle and you're a fitness fanatic and in So talk to me about I know some people that say jump all in, go all in and go as hard and as fast as you can until your body stops you and then there's people that are going, alright, if you're going to fail at that, then you need to ease yourself into So, I know you kind of help people break down their mental hurdles over things like this. So help me break down mine for a little bit. Okay? Nothing like putting you on the spot. the peloton is amazing. Um, and that ad was ridiculous because we don't know the backstory, right? So why people got all on the Tuesday just because she happened to be skinny doesn't mean anything because there could have been a whole mental thing. She could have been skinny because she had an eating disorder. And you know, and so moving her body was going to help this so she could eat real food, there could have been a myriad of things, or it could have been that she had social anxiety to go outside. So she got the bike so that she could like, start to connect with people. There's so many different things that I deal with on a daily basis. I You know, I use a virtual workout platform, through Beachbody on demand. Mm hmm. Because I do work from home so a lot of my workouts are done through that platform. I do have the peloton and then I do love my local cycle bar cycle bar and Tiger get your shout out. But he has always been when I talk to everyone is you start at step one, do you look at a baby and prop them up and tell them to run a marathon? Right? No. Step a step by step. I've been working with my mother who has bad knees and it's always been an excuse. What has not worked out a day in her life. She's 68 years old. She talks every day about losing the weight. And I say okay, Mama. Well, it's, you know, 80% nutrition, it's 20% movement. So you've made your choice. If you want to eat the way you want to eat that by the left Work on the 20% of movement. Maybe it's just you sitting in a chair with one pound weight, and you're doing bicep. Right? And you're just working on understanding the movement and we go up to two pounds until you feel confident and comfortable. You know, or I'll work with other people that say, Okay, if you have a problem with consistency, do not find an eight week 10 week program, because you're going to be done after two days. All right. Start with something that is and there's so many apps out there, I'll backtrack there so you don't have to do just what I do, which is Beachbody. I always say there are so many peloton has a free app and that you can use on any bike on a treadmill. They have weighted programs, they have yoga, they have wonderful meditation programs that I love to use. And there are other apps as well that you could download that has on if you Have a beginner where you start at and that and you start at basically what you're comfortable with. And if it's just one day you conquered that one day you're winning. And you could go on to day two. And there's been many times that I've started over. I mean, I had three babies, I had to be one. Sometimes Mondays every Monday is my day one, especially if you're a football team. Day one, right after the Super Bowl is day one. But I think you know, I you always want to talk to your doctor to start and talk to your doctor about any current medical conditions that you have. And then be you have to have an internal conversation with yourself and be like, how important is this to you, not to others to yourself. Right? What changes are you wanting to see logically, ideally, we want to wake up tomorrow and be 50 pounds lighter, all because we took two steps down the street. I ran a marathon there. Go I should eat 50 pounds lighter, right? It doesn't work that way. I ate a salad. And I bought a bike at Walmart. I lost 50 pounds. Right now, that doesn't work that way. It's a great start. But I but I always say you have to write out a plan and you have to write out a plan that will work for you. And if you can't do that alone, and that's when you reach out to people like me, who says, Okay, we're going to start with just the day one we're gonna do a four week plan. And after you talk to your doctor, you've gotten clear that there's nothing you have stability issues. I'm not going to say I want you to start balancing on one foot if you have stability issues, that's not you're going to get discouraged and defeated. But if you can handle you know, you can go for a 30 minute walk. Walking is one of the most beneficial 30 minutes a day walking is one of the most beneficial kick starters to a weight loss journey out there. Not cycling, not weightlifting. Plain old, angry dog. Well, I think just being outside helps mentally and emotionally and then and then the movement, you start waking up parts of your body that you don't realize were asleep. Well, not only that, but then you're also you're getting if you're, you're getting a break from the kid. Maybe it's a stronger and go for a walk. But if it's, if you're cooped up in the house all day or you've been in an office all day long, you get outside you get the fresh air, you get the oxygen from all of the plants that are around you. You get cute you're around nature, you could put the personal development into your ears and start a good book. Listen to an amazing podcast. I don't know maybe warrior diva out there. Um, you know, and and you're not only working your body, but you're working your mind. Those two working together will kick start an amazing weight loss sustainable journey. Well, I think that's where I start. I think a few years ago I I lost roughly 100 pounds and I did that strictly by walking there was there I changed you know, I'd done some intermittent fasting I had done some other things you know as far as weight loss goes, it was all around nutrition and walking. That was it. And I walked five miles a day. I didn't start off walking five miles a day I started off being winded walking down the street and back but it you know, by the time I was to a good steady pace, I was at five miles in under an hour. But I kept you know, going okay, well I've kind of nailed this I'm, I'm one of those people that are not consistent. So I'm adaptable is my number one strength I'm the Strength Finders thing, which means I can roll with the punches but I always strategic backs it up. So I always have something else. I'm planning in background to if this goes awry, I already know where we're going next. So the whole walking thing was fabulous for me because it helped with the weight loss. It was, whenever I tried to stretch beyond that, I started pushing my limits. And about that time is when the doctor says, you know, you really don't need to be doing any hit right now. Any high intensity, you need to keep it low. Well, that kind of took the wind out of myself and I kind of sunk back into. Oh, but see, I like the CrossFit stuff. I like some of those things. And he's like, yeah, just not right. Now. He goes, let's get some of this other stuff under control. And then we can go in there. And then it just made me feel old and grumpy. And there was a mental game that I was having to battle for a while over that. Because, you know, that was there was almost like I was accepting a sentence that he wasn't even giving me he was just saying, Let's get you to a certain point before we start doing that. And I was like, Well, if I'm not there, I don't want to I don't want to work any harder to get there. It's not coming off fast enough. It's not doing what I want it to do fast enough. And like you said, We live in an instant gratification society, you order in a box, and you drive to a window, and it's there. So we want the weight loss to come off just as fast as that burger is delivered through that window. Yeah, and I think I was talking to a potential client, in fact, just this past weekend, who was like, I have been doing keto for six weeks, and I've gained six pounds and I'm doing CrossFit. six days a week and I don't understand why nothing is moving in. And I said, Okay, well, that's what I'm hearing is what you're doing for the last six weeks isn't working. So we're going to start over and she looked at me and I said, don't get defeated. What I've seen because I have not been working with her and I've been what I would recommend. Okay, continue to CrossFit. That's it. Yes, that's it, you live naked. But women over the age of 40 do need weightlifting. cardio is not as important once you get past the age of 40. Because our our muscles and the way our bodies work, our muscles will hold on to fat. Because there's a fight or flight like, Oh, you don't want to have babies anymore. So we're going to hold on to this fact just in case you change your mind. So that way we have a way to support a baby. And I'm like, when did my muscles get to decide if I'm a child Barry like right yours anymore, like you could release that fat anymore. Done and done. It's the science behind it. So weightlifting expands your muscles to release the fat. It's the right type of weightlifting. If you're doing strenuous weightlifting like crossfitters do and I didn't cross it for two years and my father looked at me and said, I'm finally getting the son. I never had Alright, we're going to stop doing that. Yep. Um, so I was like, okay, it's CrossFit works for for certain individuals, and it is great, but just tone it down, don't need to be deadlifting 75 100 pounds or whatnot, stick with just the barbell, and maybe do just four days a week, if you really love that community in that workout, right? And give your body two days of full rest. And that one day can be a day of restoration of yoga, and meditation of maybe walking or whatnot. And I said, and then we'll look, then we look at the diet. And let's maybe do low carb instead of keto, because keto is not long term. No, it's not. If you're gaining weight on keto, which is meant to put your body in a state of ketosis, you should be losing weight. So something else is going on. And I gave her a list of recommendations that I would you know, I'm not a doctor. I just say I would take this list and talk to your doctor about the certain tests, maybe check if your insulin resistant. What's your glucose level? How's your body reacting to certain sugars, things of that nature? And, and it gave her a little bit of hope but but, you know, you've got to do your research and there's sometimes there's a little bit of adjustment and whatnot that I mean, and that's the recommendation. And actually, she just emailed me a little while ago. And then she'd like to work with me. Because her doctor didn't give her the answers that she wanted. And I wish she got more information from me, which is like, amazing, but it's just like, the information is out there. You just have to know how to educate yourself, as well as know the right people to talk to you. And a lot of times doctors just want to get you in and out. And it's just knowing how our bodies change. But once I found out that our bodies want our money, they want to hold on to that because they want us to still have babies. I was like, no, that's not okay. So, yeah, it's that's what I that's what I tell women. That's how I work with with some of my clients. is just sometimes you just got to read That's the wheel just a little bit and it'll kick start your journey and do it the healthy way. Well, I think, I think you also touched on something else as she was paying attention to her body and listening to it going, Okay, what I'm doing is not working. So therefore, something's off. I need to have another person come in and give me an outside view. Because a lot of times we don't even talk to other people about this. We just kind of suffer in silence. Oh, well, I tried this diet or I tried this exercise or I tried this lifestyle change. It didn't work for me. And a lot of the times, it may be just one turn of the wrench to get you running optimally. You know what in NASCAR, they talk about a quarter turn on the the car could totally make the car loose or tight. You know, and a lot of the times it's fine tuning what our lifestyle is and and it's not a throw it all out mindset it's a let's keep making the adjustments until we find what's working and and I think that's where a lot of people give up is they just go oh well I tried that it didn't work well let it's not cookie cutter it's definitely not cookie cutter. And that's why I share so much of my journey on my social media because that's how she found me on and watch how I went from being so cookie cutter to not sharing too much to them all the sudden sharing this new way, you know, when I discovered what was working for me and then really just sharing that it's it's individualistic, right to listen to how your body is responding to, to certain foods to certain movements. And when the ultimate goal I know for me was that I'm not going To be a diabetic, I that's just not what I want my children to see, that's not the life that I want to live. And this is my time right now to change this. And it goes back to making those sacrifices, you know, as a mom and as a woman, like I have to I have to be selfish right now. Right? Because I can't be a mom to my kids, if I'm constantly having to give myself shot. And I'm drained from all these doctor visits everything and what kind of mom Am I going to be for my children? What kind of wife Am I going to be for my husband? What kind of business owner Am I going to be for my clients and for a company? If I'm confused by this, you know, that I'm now I didn't take action. Right. Well, and I think I had I had a friend a couple of years ago that that passed away and she passed away from a recurrence of her breast cancer after her first recurrence of breast cancer she got healthy, she ate the right foods. She did everything right. And the cancer came back and, and she did have a genetic disposition to it as well as you know, other things that that brought it back. But I heard several people say, Well, if she ate everything and did everything right, and she got the cancer again, then what's gonna keep me from getting it and just trying to shift people's mindset to go that you can't go down that road, we are all created differently. We all have a unique DNA to us, that keeps us keeps our bodies moving. There are things in my family history, you know, I've got diabetes on both sides of the family. So I have to be mindful of that and I have to start putting things in place to to not go down that path. But on the other side of it is I also got a couple of cases of cancer on one side of my family. I could park my boat Go, well, you know, diabetes and cancer, they're in the cards for me. So I don't really need to work out, I really don't need to do this stuff because that's what's gonna get me in the end or I saw them try these things, it didn't work for them, so I'm not going to try them. Even though they're my relatives, I'm still uniquely created. And I it does not mean that it's an end result that I will catch that or that I won't be able to beat it. What what I think I've heard you say most all today in several different ways is taking care of yourself sets you up for so much more. And even if it is an illness that comes your way, you're better prepared mentally, emotionally, physically, for taking that that illness on head on, head on because if you're already out of shape, you're already feeling frumpy, you're already down in the dumps. You're definitely not in the mental and emotional state to take on a major illness, that if you're taking care of yourself in so many other ways, than if something comes out of left field, you're much more better positioned to go in in a warrior stance against that. Exactly. Yep, that is correct. And so, so you also do I mean, we talked a little bit before the break about how you do. You're the CEO of life flip media, you you do this as well as, you know, the fitness coaching and mindset coaching. So you're talking about, you know, feeling comfortable in your skin, not letting fear of missing out, you know, derail you. As we get ready to go into the last part of our show, I want you to kind of talk to us about what is the overall message edge that you really feel like you are here and put here on earth to accomplish share anything you want to share about your story and and how you can encourage and empower other women. You shared so much already it's gonna be a rich rich show but we just want to hear from from you as to what what you feel is your mark in the world and how you can help the women that are listening today. Well, I think I stop by called by many a unicorn. And that's that, you know, one of a kind, type individual. And I really do embrace that label. Because I've actually worked really, really hard to to be what other women cannot be And then turn around show them how they can be. So when it comes to self love, you know, we I know personally I have experienced so many things in my life that have shaped me to who I am today and why I want to help other women, my innate need to help others I was a hairdresser for 21 years I was an accountant, I helping my husband, I've PTA volunteer, room volunteer pretty much you need help moving I'm that person. My Drive was always to make other people happy. And and I realized that the end of the day was to fill the void of the lack of happiness in my own life due to abuses and whatnot that I experienced in my childhood. And in working with a life coach over the last year when I was able to finally understand what self love really meant, and how to forgive Others for what was done to me, I really, there's so many women I've even come across in my life that are experiencing that lack of self love. And they're masking it with food, with alcohol with shame, with abusive relationship with a lack of connection to their face. Blaming the world blaming society blaming others for their experiences. And my whole purpose in life is to use the platform that I've been given and my voice to a let them know it's going to be okay. That it's, it's not your fault. Everything is fixable, everything is figured out a ball. And if you need help figuring out that first step, no matter what it is, whether it's your relationship with food, whether it's emotional weight, whether it's physical weight, whether their spiritual weight whether it's figuring out how to take that first step on a treadmill, whether it's that first step on how to learn how to write a letter to your younger self, to forgive your younger self to connect with your younger self. I'm here because that's that's my that's my purpose now. And and it brings me joy I wake up every single day now hoping I'm going to connect to just one, even if it's just one person, and sometimes that one person is myself. It's like I reconnect with myself in some way I discover something more amazing about myself that I had buried or hidden deep down below. Because when when we carry all those burdens, when we feel like our only soul what job in this world is to be a mom. Or are we have no value as a woman in today's society. Or we've only known what it's like to be in the military. We don't know what it's like to be a veteran or are we were a mom and now we're an empty nester and we have no purpose and we were away for now we're divorced and we have no we have no wives or whatever it may be. You can lose yourself and you can lose that definition of what a What a beautiful woman really is. And that's where I come in. And then unconventional. Just sit down have a real talk over a glass of Chardonnay in our closets and that's what we need to do. kind of way I am not I I'm serious. I mean, I have been there I am sat in the closet with a bottle of Chardonnay. My husband's like what do you do and go away? Right I'm in a moment Hmm. And and it's okay. And and I don't I don't have it all figured out. I am not the leading expert in this you do not see me sitting on Oprah couch. I am one of many in this field. I just feel like we need as many voices as possible right now. Exactly. It's it's a layered approach to one I think, I think a lot of what I've seen you say and I've heard you say, we're watching you on social media and listening to you today is, you know, there's a lot of women out there looking for somebody to be an accountability partner for them to lead them to give them to you know, just actually listen to them and hear them and and you're willing to be that person you're willing to take that task on for them if that's what they need, until I told people for the long This time, one of my best friends I worked with her at the church before and, and we would go to the gym and her name was Kim Yates and we would go to the gym and we'd get on the treadmill and she'd go, I go, Okay, how how long do you want to go? And she goes, I want to go for 30 minutes at a two mile pace, he you know, and I'm like, okay, so I punch that all in, and we get going. And about three minutes in, she's like, I'm really not feeling it. And I'm like, sorry, you said you wanted to go for 30 minutes. We're going 30 minutes left, right, left, right, come on, let's go. Let's go, let's go. Let's go, you know, and and we finished the 30 minutes. She'd come to me, I'm like, we're gonna do a five mile an hour pace. You know, this is the incline we're gonna do. We'd get on and about five minutes and I'd say I don't feel like doing it. And she'd go great. Let's go get some chips and salsa. She was great for certain areas of my life fitness was not one of them. And so one of the things I want to encourage women that are listening today is if you've got those friends that are great and holding you accountable in your marriage and your spiritual life and all these other areas, I guarantee you most of the time, it's not the same person that can handle all of those areas for you. So I encourage you to reach out to someone like Lucy, who is great in what she does and in the fitness realm and, and in the mental mental improvement mindset improvement sorry, in the mindset realm as well I went mindset blank on that. You too can be a professional radio show host. But anyway, when you when you are coaching them through the min

Welcome!   This has been a busy week in the world of technology.  We are going to hit several topics today. From Employer device privacy, dangers of huge facial recognition databases, Marriott enters the home rental market, overblown results on dangers of screen technology, big tech stomping on small tech, smart home alarms, and cable companies, Apple stands ground on iPhone encryption, and Microsoft ends support of Windows 7. It is going to be a busy show -- so stay tuned. For more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com I've got some free online privacy training coming up. I have been teaching courses on security for the FBI InfraGard's program. And now I'll share some of the step-by-step tips and tricks that we all can use to keep ourselves and our information safe online. And it won't cost you a dime. --- Related Articles: What Does Your Employer Know About Your Daily Activities Privacy Gone: Tech Start-up Has Huge Facial Recognition Database If You Can’t Beat ‘Em - Join ‘Em says Marriott Screen Time Causing Mental Health Issues Are Overblown Big Tech Stomps All Over Small Businesses Home Security and Alarm Systems Useless After Charter Cable  Pulls Plug Security First, Apple Stands Ground on iPhone Encryption No Security for Windows 7 After Today --- Automated Machine Generated Transcript: Hey, it's my intro music. Hello, everybody, Craig Peterson here. Welcome, welcome. Hopefully, you've been able to join me before. We talk a lot about technology and of course a lot about privacy and security. Technology today is all about privacy and security. Isn't it? It just seems like every time we turn around, and there's some other business out there just trying to get our information or even worse, some hacker who's trying to get it from us. So I try and help everybody understand what is going on what is privacy? What's it all about? I give a lot of tips and tricks on things and recommendations. I do a whole lot of different pieces of training, free training, pop up stuff, Facebook, and YouTube lives. I'm trying to get the word out. So I appreciate everybody that shares this. We've had an increase every week, with people subscribing to the podcast, which is excellent! You're listening to me here on the radio, and who are spreading the word. You know, there again, there's so much information out there, it's hard to know what you should believe. There are all kinds of motivations behind it. So hey, what's my motivation? Well, I'm trying to get the word out, I know that probably 90% of you wouldn't ever be a client of mine. And that's just fine. Because hopefully, the 5% that would be a client of mine will become a client, and we can help them out. But I want to get this information out. Sorry, I don't hold anything back. You've probably noticed it if you're one of those people who learned about the show or the podcast so that you now know about it, and you heard it from a friend, and the friend said, Yeah, you have to listen to Craig. You probably had an earful from somebody telling you about how I am just giving away the store. And that's my Go, hey, if I'm not giving you the store, let me know if you have any questions, let me know. It is just "me" at Craig Peterson dot com. Now, many of you may have noticed if you're on my mailing list, that we changed the format of the newsletter starting this last week. Right? It was one of those January 1 promises that we had hoped to get it up by the first of the year, and it took us a couple of extra weeks is not always the case. But then here's the new format for the weekly newsletter, if there is any real critical security stuff, updates patches that you need to apply in your business or your home. Those are now going right at the top of the newsletter. This last week, I think we had about ten a dozen or so of these very high priority security patches that required immediate patching. And we went so far as to give you links right there in my newsletter, so you can click on the links to those CVEs we're giving you a link so that you know what the critical vulnerabilities are. It tells you even what to do what software it is everything right, step by step. That's the name of my game. You can use all of that now to stay one step ahead of the bad guys one step ahead of the crackers. That's the whole idea, right? The bad guys out there trying to crack into your computers. Now, we also had two other sections. I'm not going to be able to this week, I, you know, I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. But one of the sections was my weekly podcasts broadcast in the video. So I gave you links in the newsletter last week to the YouTube videos. So you can see articles that I'm talking about it has captions so you can read along if you wanted to watch it there. And I also posted them up on Facebook. The last one for last week's show would have gone out on Friday. So Yesterday, you should have gotten that one if you're a Facebook follower. So please do follow please do subscribe. I'm, I'm I don't know that I'll be able to get much help this week because we've got something huge happening. I am trying to help people here with some of the privacy stuff. So I am going to be we're putting together right now. And I'm going to be giving away a step by step guide for you to be able to protect your privacy online through tracking. Now you know about ads online, right. And ad revenue, I think, is essential for businesses. You need to be able to show ads to get attention, right? There are so many competitors out there and so many different spaces. So how can you get your message out if you can't advertise? So there was a trend for a while to have ad blockers. Ad-blockers are more than a bit of a problem now, because how does the publisher generate any revenue when they can't sell ads. And I saw a fascinating statistic that got me going this week. Have you seen where ads directed at users of iOS, which is Apple's mobile operating system that users of Apple's iOS are using Safari, advertising to them is worth less than it is to Android? Now think about that for a minute. Why is it cost more now to send to Android users than Apple users? Well, Apple integrated some new anti-tracking technology into Safari. That is a very, very big deal, because now with that anti-tracking, technology, and Safari, the advertisers Cannot track you and other sites that you're online. So the fact that can't track you means they don't know as much about you, which means you're not worth as much from an advertiser standpoint. Now, you could argue either way, right? In my business, we do some advertising. However, mostly it is word of mouth, and that's what we've done for decades now. And word of mouth works, right? Because people know me that I helped out their business and kind of, I'm, we need some help. We need some security stuff. We need a cyber assessment, you know, how good is this? Am I covering everything? Right? So that's how I usually do it. But most businesses are having to do it via advertising. I'm thinking about doing some advertising in the future for some of the products I've put together. Apple is stopping them from tracking you when you go to multiple sites. What would it be like, if I told you how to go about blocking advertisers from tracking you going to multiple sites on your computer as well. So that's what I'm putting together. Right now we're putting together a step by step guide that we're going to be giving away. It's part of a training webinar we're going to be doing as well, that is going to teach you a lot about some of the privacy stuff that you can do. And that's coming up here in a couple of weeks. So make sure you're on my email list at, Of course, Craig Peterson, calm slash subscribe, because you'll be able to get all of that and it's free. Again, I don't hold anything back to people. I'm not some guy who doesn't know what he's talking about and just has to market sell, sell, sell. I am trying to help out here. Okay, so make sure you are on that email list. Just go ahead and go to Craig Peterson, calm slash subscribe, and all it asks for is your name and email address. And then you're going to get this new newsletter I'm doing. So the second portion of the newsletter is the top four videos that I did that week. So these are the ones that people watch the most. And I know a lot of you don't watch the video. All of the articles I discuss are in the newsletter in the third section. So that's what we're doing now. And that's based on feedback that we've had from all you guys, and I appreciate it. We got some super fans out there that email me and pretty much every week. Some people send me Facebook stuff and LinkedIn stuff, which is cool as well to see some of that. I have to warn you I will answer or someone, not me, will answer as a member of my team. And it might take a little while okay because I get thousands of emails a day, and I have some very heavy mail filtration in place. Now the excellent news is that mail filter tends to work extremely well and tends not to block legitimate emails. But the operative word there is, usually. At any rate, I still get hundreds to have to go through every day of legitimate ones, and I try and respond so if you do send an email to me that's just me at Craig Peterson calm, make sure the chat a little bit of patience and we'll we will get back to you. If it's urgent, you can always try and text me as well because, you know, I had this contact from a law firm, and they had to get some briefs filed with the court by 4 pm. And it was like 1:30 in the afternoon, and they reached out to me, a Windows machine decided to die, and we can't get him to come back. So you know, I do get those types of emergency things, but email is probably not the best way to do that. The best way to do that is probably via texting Me? Well, that's the new newsletter. We also use the newsletter to announce special pieces of training. Karen, my wife, and I have been working on a special webinar for about a week or two. And we've got another week or so hours worth of work in it. So you know how this goes, right? I said I would have just said to myself, I didn't promise you, but I would have a new newsletter out the first of the year, and it took until the middle of a month. So I guess that's not too bad, right, two weeks-ish to get that out. So you know, we'll see what happens with this webinar. But it should be on time. But if you're on the mailing list, you'll know about it. Just Craig peterson.com slash subscribe. Something else important. I don't want people to use my mailing lists to spam other people. So what I do is I do something so that when you subscribe, it's going to send you an email, and I noticed there had been 100 people who subscribed, and I sent them an email. They have to click on the link. That's to confirm that this is their email that it's not somebody else who's messing around. That's trying to send them spam from the right. So I'm going to have to reach out to those hundred people individually. But if you subscribe, make sure you check your email box, he's I'll send it from my email address for me at Craig peterson.com. Look for that link, click on that link. Then you'll be able to get that that the weekly emails from me and notices about what's coming up. I typically remind you in advance about one of these pieces of training, and I'll remind you like a couple of days before, I just don't want you to miss them, but I don't get kind of asked him like some other people do no question. And we don't do these very often. My big courses and training are only really once a year. Hey, you're listening to Craig Peters on WGAN stick around because we're going to get right into it when we get back Hi, everybody, Craig Peterson here. Welcome back, WGAN and online, of course, over at Craig Peterson dot com. Hey, did you know that your employer monitors you? Well, you may have known that. We're going to get into a little about what some employers are doing and also why some businesses are tracking. And when it comes to employers, of course, and some of the trackings, we're talking about still legal stuff. And when it comes to some of the big box retailers, it's still legal as well. So I guess the big question is, should it be, and what are they looking into? What are they gleaning from it, and why would they be doing it? Let's get down to that, and I'll give you a couple of tips to help you protect yourself. The Wall Street Journal this week, had a great article That was talking about, well, it was illustrating that was a kind of a cool way they did this thing. But it was talking about this guy who they named Chet. And, you know, Chet, kind of an old name, which is kind of funny, because we're always talking about it this week on the radio. When was the last time you met somebody named Chet? And for me, it's probably been 30 years, maybe, maybe a little bit longer. And perhaps that's why they use the name chat, right? Just not that common a name. But this is a paywall Wall Street Journal article, and you get like one or two or three a month or whatever it is for free. And then other than that, they want you to pay for it. So you may or may not be able to see it, but what they're doing, I think, is fascinating, because this article is walking through the day. In the life of this fictional workers, names chat. And it starts by noting that the employer logs his time and his location when he first wakes up to check his email in the morning. So there's stage one. Most of us, according to statistics, check our email first thing in the day and the last thing at night. Now I am not like that. But most of us are. So if you are, hey, I get it. But you check your email, so your employer knows that and then from there, this guy chat, he goes on to the Guest Wi-Fi. Now, here's where it's a little bit interesting. And it's something that a lot of people might not be thinking of. But when you connect to a guest Wi-Fi somewhere that provides a method for someone else, to be able to monitor you and where you are and who you are. So, for instance, if you go to your local Walmart store, Target store, you name it, store, they have Wi-Fi provided for you and that Wi-Fi can then be used to identify you and track you through the store. Some of this technology set up in such a way that it's just so accurate. It knows that you're standing in front of a specific item within the store for a minute or 30 seconds, whatever it might be. And then they can use that data now to figure out more stuff, right, big data is what it's all about. So far, poor old chap, he logged Into the guest Wi-Fi connection at the coffee shop in the morning. And then he went over to the gym. And of course, at the gym, there's a guest Wi-Fi, and you're attracted the gym, your locations tracked, and if you're like most people, you've got your Email Setup, so that it is checking every one every five minutes, 15 minutes or automatically your emails push to you. Right? Isn't that how that works? So now your employer knows where you were, and probably knows you're at the gym and even which Coffee Shop you're at. It depends on whether or not the employer has tracking software on your phone. They may know the exact location of all of those things. Now, if you're connecting to the office, and let's say you get through the email system at the office and using a VPN, that is when a lot of stuff changes and they know even more. So now, Chet arrives at his building where he works. And I don't know if you've seen these and we talked about some significant security problems with this. I'll bring it up again here right now. But when you walk in and you have your phone, and you use your phone as your badge, you know, kind of like used to swipe a badge, or maybe you tapped a badge. Now it'll use Bluetooth on your phone to identify you. Some of the newer systems are even using your face, and some are using facial recognition. Now I have a massive problem with the facial recognition stuff because Now they've got a picture of you. That's on the computer. Right? They have to take that to have the initial validation to say, yeah, this is chat. He's allowed to come in after 6 am and leave after 6 pm or whatever it is, and how secure is their database? I think that's the big question. Do you know if they're keeping your biometric safe? See, it's one thing to have your card lost or stolen, that you might swipe, are easily replaced, it can be disabled. It's one thing to forget your password or have your password stolen? Because you can always change your password. But how about your face? Your face isn't something you can easily change unless you're what was it John Travolta and Nick Nolte's Face Off, the name of that movie. I can hear you all yelling at the radio right now. Anyways, that is not going to change now. The same thing is true of your fingerprint. The same things true of Iris scans are so many types of biometrics now that people are just giving up for free. I heard something great on Stuart Varney's show on TV here this week. And Stewart was talking about yet another breach. And in this particular case, it was the Saudi Prince who had broken into Jeff Bezos iPhone using some software from a company over in Israel. And what's changed? Well, it isn't that there was a hack or that it waJeff Bezos was hacked. You know, we've had so many celebrities hacked before, what he noted, and what I want to bring up here now is we don't seem to care anymore. There was a time when that would be a big deal. What do you mean, the Crown Prince hacked the Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world smartphone and stole all of his pictures. We just don't seem to care anymore. So when we're going into the office in the morning, and it's doing a facial scan, we don't think twice about giving our face information to them. Now the government forces us to if you want a passport, or if you want a driver's license, or if you're going to get on an airplane, you know, it's one thing to have it at the point of a gun. It's quite another just to give it up voluntarily if you ask me. So now, when chats walking around the office, that Bluetooth in his phone is trackable for Near Fields communications. Some of us use our phones to unlock our computers when we're in front of them, just using that Bluetooth. And then on the other side, we have the issue of well, you know, we got Wi-Fi, and we're using the company Wi-Fi, and they want us to use the company Wi-Fi. Tracking as you move around is supposedly utilizing a lot of this data is to see which teams are frequently collaborating make sure employees aren't accessing areas they're not authorized to be in, etc. So once chat set said, this desk is browsers tracked along with his email, there's new software now that are looking at the email, it's looking at things like slack or teams, whatever you might be using to collaborate. It's figuring out whether or not the workers that you're interacting with are responding quickly. See which employees are most productive. Some of the software in the company computers, even snap screenshots every 30 seconds to evaluate the productivity in the hour's work. Now, of course, that's not typically done for people who are who knowledge workers are. That's usually more for people who are, you know, taking dictation or doing some form of a repetitive task but, you know, Hawthorne effect, right? We've been doing this forever. I remember teaching that at Pepperdine as a professor there, ai artificial intelligence keyword scanning also been used and all of this, even chats, phone conversations on his work desk, phone and work cell phone can be recorded, transcribed and monitored. And they're using this to measure productivity, etc. So bottom line, your life is not yours. You are just not secure in almost anything. But I don't want you to give up. I want you to keep trying. I want you to make sure that you're using your iPhone, use Safari because it blocks some of this tracking. And I'm going to have some excellent information for your next couple of weeks. We're working on it now to help you stop the tracking. But check it out. It's on the Wall Street Journal site. You're listening to Craig Peterson right here on WGAN and online at Craig Peterson dot com. Hey everybody, Welcome back. Craig Peterson here on WGAN online and of course at Craig Peterson dot com. That's Peterson with an "O." Hey, are you panicking about your kids or your grandkids and the use of the smartphones? Do you remember what they were saying about TV years ago? And how it rots the brains and you know, we use it as a babysitter. Kind of still do, don't we? And what effect does this have on their brains? We're starting to see the results of these devices on the younger generations because we've had the iPhone for over ten years. We've had the internet now for Well, just been about almost 20 years since it's been legal to do business online now actually is longer than that because it was 91. Wow, okay, thirty, it's been around for quite a while, and we're starting to see some of the results. We're seeing kids that have a little less patient, and they won't sit and read, like we used to read right, though, won't even sit and watch most movies, their ideal clip on these online sites where they're watching video is 15 to 30 seconds. They now have an attention span less than a goldfish, which is eight seconds a goldfish is attention span. Now, that's a bad thing. Okay. And now that they're into the workplace, some of these kids, here's what's happening now. They'll sit in a meeting, and we're as millennial usually, whereas baby boomers would sit there until give us plan our strategy, what are we going to do? So one of our options, we want to No. Okay, so we're going to do some research. So you look up this, you look up that you talk to these people, and then let's get together in a couple of days. And let's review what we've learned. And then let's make a decision, and you'll try and make a decision in unison. Now, when we're talking about the younger generation, the millennial generation, and of course, we've got Generation Z in the workplace too. Still, when we're talking about millennials, they will tend to try and get the answer right away. They'll sit on their phone, they'll b, and Google will reach out to their friends on social media and ask for their opinion. The friends might not know anything about what it is that you need to have researched. They may not know hardly anything about the whole topic that you're trying to get research, but they will reach out to these friends and get their opinions. And they are opinions are not necessarily worth anything, right? Then they will typically decide. Hey, listen, we're going to decide before we leave today. Whereas it might take the baby boomers a couple of weeks to make a decision, the younger generations millennials and Z's, will both try and make a decision right away. Now, what's the reason for this? And, you know, I, pretty much every psychologist and psychiatrist that I've spoken to, in fact, I think every one of them has said, Listen, this is 100% because of social media. It's 100%. Because of their ability to go online, these kids live online, and they always have. So how about younger kids, let's say you have grandkids or kids that are in their teens are approaching their teens. Now. Even maybe Five years old. I know some people that are getting smartphones and smart devices for their young kids, your five-year-olds. What's going on? Well, there was the research that came out a week ago by two psychology professors. They looked at the data that produced in 40 different studies. And this article in The New York Times goes on to say that they looked at the links between social media use, and they see if there are any ties with depression and anxiety, and they were looking at teenagers. And we've got the lead person here, lead investigator of this study, principal authors Candice Rodgers, a professor, University of California, Irvine, published in the Journal of child psychology and psychiatry. And the quotes here from the New York Times, there doesn't seem to be an evidence base that would explain the level of panic and consternation around these issues. And these are significant issues right with this has been a big debate for a long time as parents as grandparents, we don't want to harm our children. And we know that staring in the phones has affected us, you know, look, look at the relationship between couples and families. Did you see that Robin William's movie from years ago called RV, where the whole family was sitting around in the same room, and they were texting each other? You know, that's kind of the real world. You see people up for meals, and they're on their phones, reading articles, texting, whatever it is they're doing. There is a significant risk to our mental health from these machines in particular, and Congress has looked at some of the legislation they might pass. There have been other things to write but Is it the phone, that's the real problem when it comes to these mental issues, and that's what they were looking at the social media aspects of it. The World Health Organization said last year that infants under a year old should not have exposure to electronic screens. And the children between the ages of two and four should not have more than an hour of sedentary screen time each day. Some of the big execs over in Silicon Valley don't allow their kids to use some of the hardware-software they create. This is a problem from several directions still, right, even though there's no direct correlation between, well, let's call it depression here, and the use of social media by kids. However, I certainly have seen studies that would indicate otherwise, but there Saying that in most cases, the phone is just a mirror that reveals the problems a child would have, even without the phone. So they're saying that focusing on keeping children away from screens and making it hard to have more productive conversations about topics like how to make phones more useful for low-income people, blah, blah, blah, right? So I guess really, what they're saying is that if you compare the effects of your phone, to the impact of maybe eating correctly, or getting enough sleep, or playing games, outdoors smoking, the phone is just a very, very minor. So there was a little bit of a correlation but not a huge one. Mr. Hancock, who is one of the authors here, he's the founder of the Stanford Social Media Lab. He reads similar conclusions. He says he looked at about 226 steps. On the well being of phone users conducted, that he said that when you look at all these different kinds of well being, the net effect size is virtually zero. So there you go. Now, you know, in 2011, doctors were worried about something called Facebook depression. But by 2016 is more research came out, and they looked at that statement, they deleted any mention of Facebook depression, and emphasize that conflicting evidence and the potential positive benefits of using social media because of course, there is another side to all of that. So there you go. There's your answer if you have grandkids or kids, and you've been anxious about your kids, using these devices getting depressed because of social media, you know, okay, it's not a big problem. But here's one thing that I didn't hear dressed in any of these reports. And that is these negative self-images that tend to develop from being on social media. You look at these Instagram posts, and you look at the Kylie Jenners' of the world. I think that many girls and many boys are getting the wrong idea about what a woman's body should or could look like, and also getting a false value about it right. How much does that matter? Does that is that your relationship? I think they're getting a warped view of things, which is why I mentioned at the beginning this program that I think we see now in business, and I've talked with many people about it is very, very real. No question about it. All right. Well, when we come back, we're going to talk a little more about privacy. And this new secret of company that might end privacy as we know, in fact, they kind of already have me listening to Craig Peterson on WGAN and online, Craig Peterson dot com. Hello, everybody, Welcome back, Craig Peterson here, WGAN online and of course, Craig Peterson.com. Hey, we're talking a lot about privacy this week and next week, and that's mainly because well, it's in the news. And my wife and I have been working hard on some materials that we're going to be providing you guys. The only way you're going to get them is if you're on my mailing list because otherwise, you're never going to find out about them. But step by step guides know the sort of things I usually do this kind of going a step beyond the special reports, and then we're going to have a little webinar on it as well. We're just we're doing a whole bunch because privacy is something that I think we're starting to take for granted. Privacy is what we're beginning to expect. And I think that's a real problem. So when I saw this article this week in the New York Times by Kashmir Hill, I knew I had to share this with you. This is a brand new article. And it is very, very concerning to me for a number of reasons. It's about this guy. His name is Juan tomcat. He is from Australia, and moved up to Silicon Valley, and had been trying to do some sort of social type of an application, something that would, you know, compete out there in the world, make him a few bucks and have some fun doing it. And so he released a couple of different social apps. He had one that put Donald Trump's yellow hair on your own photo. He had a couple of others that were kind of a photo-sharing thing and nothing was all that successful. So we decided to need to be there to do a little bit more research and So he did. And he figured, you know, maybe what we need here is something a little more. That's going to help people recognize other people. So you meet someone, you have their picture, can I find that person just as an example. And in fact, he struggled for quite a while trying to figure out that this software that he had written, figuring out how the heck they were going to market it and, you know, they went to a bunch of different people and tried to figure it out and, and get it all to work. So what he ended up doing was kind of like what Mark Zuckerberg does start Facebook. He illegally crawled Facebook, YouTube Venmo millions of other websites and grabbed photographs from them and recorded the URLs for those photographs. So it's too late for you. If you have any photos anywhere online, basically That he might have found, because we're talking about 3 billion images that are in his database. That is incredible. So we had one programmer, right, this scraper that went in and stole all of these pictures. By the way, it is clearly against the terms of usage for Facebook, as well as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram Venmo. To use these to scrape the sites and to use these pictures for facial recognition. Twitter explicitly banned it, but you know, who cares, right? Like Zuckerberg, when he started Facebook, those allegations of how he stole the Harvard year yearbook and grabbed all of these pictures and then had people rating each other make mostly guys writing girls kind of a dating app sort of thing is kind of how it started. So in Now, he has found some investments. And that includes some serious money guys behind this whole thing. And it is. One of those people is Peter teal, who is one of the people who sit on the board of directors of Facebook. So Facebook says, well, we're looking into him grabbing the photos off of Facebook. I kind of wonder if anything's going to happen with Peter Thiel being on the board of directors as well. Here's how the software works. I don't know if you've seen facial recognition software before, but it basically looks at the difference. The distance between your eyes, your nose, your cheeks, you know, different points on your face that are defined, typically by bones, right. The nose is mostly the cartilage that's given its shape and its position. But it takes all of that and draws a line. I'm sure you've seen this sort of thing before. So what he's done now is he's taken those more than 3 billion images. And he's categorized them all by coming up with the vectors and mathematical formulas describing every last one of those 3 billion faces. So he's trying to figure out what I can now do with this database that I have? And he got some guys to help with some of the marketing. And he got some people to go after a few different categories industries. And he found that law enforcement was very interested in this. So let's talk about law enforcement for a minute and facial recognition technology because law enforcement has legally been using facial recognition technology for 20 years. You watch one of these TV shows like the CSI is on TV, which I don't like those shows because there are too many technical errors, and it drives me crazy. You can't do that doesn't exist, that technology doesn't exist. But so that's why I don't watch a lot of people do. The government has their National Crime information computer centers. They've got databases of faces of arrested people, people who are in prison, etc. The police can run your face through this database of people that they've had contact with before. Now it's expanded. This has been for good 20 years, but it's expanded more recently to include the databases of our DMV is our motor vehicle. In other words, our driver's licenses on the state level, and they pulled all of those in as well. Now those photos have to be shot pretty much straight on, and when they are shot straight on, then the recognition software that the law enforcement personnel are using can kind of recognize that person and do matches and everything else. So it's been an excellent tool for a lot of years. And one of the things law enforcement cannot do is collect data on everybody. So these databases that law enforcement has been using are somewhat limited. Now, I talked about this whole problem, man, it's probably been ten years ago when I first talked about it here on the radio. But the big problem I saw back then was that law enforcement was starting to use these public data aggregators. And I've had a few on the phone here before. I've done interviews with some of their CEOs and their technical people. But what these data aggregators do is take what's called open-source information, as well as paid information. Open-source information might be something they scrape a website, that is, all of the property owners in a town, or they scrape a site that has either information, right, almost everything. They might get feeds from companies like Equifax that are telling them about your credit rating, and you did this, and you bought that. They'll scrape UCC one filing to Secretary of State's office that will say, Yeah, he owns a brand new Ford Explorer, this model number, even license plate numbers they can get. So they'll pull all of this data together, they can get their hands on, and then they sell it. And you've seen ads, and I'm sure online, you know, check yourself online, see what we know about you. These are data aggregators that are selling this data, and it gets used by skip tracers, bounty hunters, law enforcement, all kinds of businesses to determine creditworthiness. They're even used to see 30 news to see if maybe you should or should not get a job. So it's kind of scary data. When you look at it, and I've looked at mine before, when I did these interviews, and I found that about a third to two-thirds of it was correct. Most of it was incorrect. We just had something similar happen when I was out at a wedding out west, and we were at this house. There was a card when we got back from an insurance company and stuck in the door handle. It had the name of a deceased relative on it. Well, you know, she's dead, so they're probably trying to sell insurance. I'm not going to do anything with this card. The next day is when we had the knock at the door, and it was the insurance investigator. She said that this relative had been in a fatal accident with car x. And they were trying to track her down. Well, guess what? She had been deceased for at least six months before the fatal accident occurred. Some third-party had used her identity, and she had to try to figure it out, Someone was hiding who they were. Now this insurance investigator was trying to figure out what's going on. The insurance investigator had her suspicions as to what might be going on. She showed us all of the information she had gathered from these public information sources, these data brokers, and they put it all together. She showed it to my wife, saying you're honest with me, and obviously, you got the death certificate, etc. Sure enough, what did they find? Well, yeah, she'd been dead for a while when the accident happened. But when, when we looked at the details of the information that they had about the deceased relative It was dramatically incorrect. It did show some associations. But it showed people on there we'd never heard of before as relatives. They had relationships wrong. But you know, it was the right place for that insurance investigator to start with and worked well. The police started using these types of databases and the federal investigators as well, because they are not regulated, like the law enforcement agencies are. Now we're starting to see law enforcement agencies, and according to this article in The New York Times, some 600 law enforcement agencies are now using this technology from a company called Clearview. They have been able to solve some bizarre, unbelievable crimes, things that happened. They found a good Samaritan. They found shoplifters they found burglars, thieves, all kinds of things that they couldn't see before because these people had never been involved with law enforcement previously. So I don't know, what do you think there are no limits on the type of data collection. I think maybe we're all going to be in trouble here. Because what happens when someone runs a picture or when they upload pictures into it. It becomes problematic here because these pictures are uploaded, and the company keeps them. Now you've got a blacklist of people that have had contact with law enforcement. What's going to happen when your employer sees that, because this database is not showing perfect matches by their admission at best 70% of the time, they come up with possible matches. Stick around, and we'll be right back. Hey everybody, Welcome back. Craig Peterson here on WGAN and, of course, online at Craig peterson.com. Hopefully, we were able to catch the first hour of today's show. We covered something in this last segment that I want to go more in-depth into, which is this secret company that has kind of come out of left-wing that is going to end privacy as we know it. And, of course, they're breaking the rules and laws all ready to put the silly thing together. And it bothers me, frankly, but above that, right, we're really from above looking at all of this. What's bothering me is honestly, I don't know we call it an apathy where we just don't seem to care that much anymore. We care when we hear about a data breach, and we care when we find out that they stole our personal information. Part of what I'm going to be teaching you in a couple of weeks in this course is how you can tell what information was stolen. So I'm going to give you some dark web tools, the dark internet so that you know where to find out if your information has been stolen. And I think that's important. So we're going to include that in the upcoming webinar, we might put that in as a bonus for attending the webinar coming up in a couple of weeks. But it is disturbing that we can hear about something like what I just talked about the last segment, which you'll find online at my website. That, to me, is very bothersome, but it's also disturbing that we're no longer getting our up and trying to get Congress or somebody to do something about it. Not that I think Congress is the answer well to anything pretty much, right? Anything they touch, they're going to mess up. We're becoming apathetic as business owners, as well as business people. As the person who all of a sudden now is responsible for it within the organization, right, the office managers, those of us who liked computers, and we kind of got stuck with the role, and that's kind of what ended up happening to me to those years ago. Right. I think I'm a lot like you in that respect that, you know, it's challenging to be an expert in everything. I've got to kind of run the office, and I got to make sure. How am I going to learn about all of this security stuff? And then on top of it, the boss is breathing down our necks, trying to get this security stuff done, right. And if you're a business owner, you're worried about it too. But what are you doing about it? And to grease the wheel, I am probably like most people out there, and you really haven't done. You've probably got antivirus software, which, as of now, is utterly useless against the newest attacks. I mean, 100% useless. Why do you think they're giving Norton away now when you buy a subscription to LifeLock? You know, it doesn't do any good anymore, that's excellent technology 20 years ago, but today, it just doesn't work. Collectively as office managers, as business owners, even as C-levels on boards in fair-sized little companies. It's like burying our head in the sand. And we're, we're hoping nothing's going to happen. Right? I'm going into companies frequently, that is, you know, re governed by various rules and regulations, and very aren't doing what the laws and regulations require and they just sitting there saying well We'll just wait for an audit. When an audit happens, if an audit happens, we'll deal with them, then, right? But what happens when your data gets stolen? There are some very crazy things going on right now. We have a client that we picked up last year. It's just incredible. They have a completely new network system, we've fixed up a lot of things for them. I think things are going to be much better for them. We got an alert from our systems that they were getting 4000 hack attempts and our coming from Iran, coming from India, Iran. It is the first time I've got to say, the very first time in all of the years now, but I've been responsible for cybersecurity for all these businesses. It is the first time that I have ever actually seen an Iranian IP address in an attack. They're trying to log into this guy's email account. So one of the employees, and I'm not going to go into more detail than that. But this is real. You hear about breaches every week, and there are more breaches every weekend. It's small businesses, large businesses, home users, just because there are breaches every week, I want everybody to be aware that that doesn't mean that it's acceptable. It may be a kind of standard. Hopefully, it's the old normal, and probably, you're going to be able to find somebody that's going to be able to help you out, right? You go to a company like mine, and you say, Hey, listen, just take care of this for me, or you attend some of my courses so that you can learn some of this stuff that you need to do at least the bare minimum. Hopefully, you're doing that and not just getting passive after hearing about it so much. What's the what's that saying "the first year, you're shocked and horrified by something, and then you become accustomed to it, and then you embrace it." Not that I'm saying you guys are going to embrace hacking and become hackers. I don't think that'll ever happen. But you just get used to that idea until you do get hacked. And then it's all done and over with. Enough of that right now, make sure you're on my email list. So you get my weekly alerts, you get my monthly summaries of the absolute must-do patches for that month. You will also find out about my pop-up training. I haven't been sending out direct notices about the Facebook Lives and things I probably should. Still, you can get all of that just by going to Craig Peterson dot com slash subscribe because we've got some great stuff coming up here in a couple of weeks going to do some of the training and webinars to go along with it. I want to move on now to another article that was over on the CNN website. And it's talking about a significant change in a major US Corporation. I was on the phone with them earlier today. We've got VRBO, and you might have heard of them. That's Vacation Rentals by owner. They've been around since 95. You may not have heard of them, but they've been around a long time. Airbnb, you probably heard about them. And you've probably heard about Marriott. They've been busy buying up hotel chains, including one chain, in particular, was hacked previously, and Marriott just really inherited all of their problems by buying that company, keep in mind if you're looking to grow and make any acquisitions. What's interesting is how do you deal with a company like Marriott, which is bricks and mortar? How do you deal with the online startups like the VRBO and Airbnb is, it is completely changing the way the hospitality business works. I kind of put "hospitality" in air quotes here. You probably didn't see me. But is it hospitality when all you have is a home that you're going into an apartment you're going into versus a fully functional hotel? Right? That's the big question. So this is cool, I think, because Marriott has decided not to try and beat Airbnb at its own game. It's going to join them. April last year, Marriott came out with its homes and villas program. And it has 5000 rentable premium and luxury homes in almost 200 locations around the world. It is amazing. It's a significant departure for Marriott. They've been offering hotel rooms for nearly 100 years. But in this case, Marriott is going to do what Airbnb and VRBO have been doing and offering homes and villas up for rent. And this is a part of the whole sharing economy, bike scooters, and homes. That's a code from Stephanie Lennart. She's Marriott's global chief Commercial Officer, when she told CNN, home rentals and being B's have been around for decades, so the core idea itself isn't that new. The new part is technology platforms, bringing it to consumers at scale so that it's democratized and affordable. So Marriott's already had success, obviously through hotel business, and as I said, I was on the phone with him this morning. I'm going to be staying in one of their hotels again. But the company is being led here by Stephanie outside of the brand comfort zone, that you know brick and mortar. It's great. They've been around for almost 100 years. But everything is changing out there. And are you changing in your business? Are you making it easy for your customers to do business with you? And that's what they were asking themselves. They've been kind of tracking and watching the home rental market. She had a pilot program going over in Europe and 2018. That became ultimately the homes and villas program that they had. They found that their most loyal customers at Marriott 30% of them had used a home rental in the prior year. I've used Airbnb. I've used VR Bo, and you know, frankly, I've had mixed results from the two of those different things. And they found out nine times out of 10 this person was renting a home for a whole different purpose and they were getting that from someone else and Marriott thinks that this is a complimentary business and adds to their core business. So isn't that kind of interesting? people stay more than triple the average one and a half night stays at the hotels in these different types of bookings. And they think that they are going to be able to do a whole lot more. They're focusing on some of these millennial trends. And frankly, you know, I'm an old G. But I have to tell you, boomers, age 23% of travelers are age 55 to 64, booked a homestay from 21% in 2017. So it's happening. We're all doing it out there, and congratulations to married for sticking their neck out. And frankly, you might need to two so keep an eye out for what other people are doing in competing industries and maybe borrow their ideas. Listen to Craig Peterson and WGAN. We'll be right back. We're going to talk a little bit about lawmakers and what small businesses are telling them right now. Welcome back. Welcome, welcome. Craig Peterson here online and on WGAN and many other radio stations during the week. Thanks for joining me. Lawmakers have long been accused of being corrupt. I'm not going to defend them, that's for sure. Here is a different type of corruption and one that a lot of people haven't thought a lot about. You know, there's been a lot in the news about Joe Biden's son. Hunter, getting money from Ukraine. Joe Biden's brother getting what is it $1.5 billion from Iraq is the latest story that I saw out there. Nancy Pelosi's son-in-law, getting money from Ukraine, John Kerry's relative getting money from Ukraine, right. You do hear a lot about alleged corruption, and you have to wonder, frankly, how do these Congress critters go down to Washington, DC, nary a penny in their pocket and end up multimillionaires. It's nuts, isn't it? And of course, they exempt themselves from certain laws that we have to live by, for instance, insider training trading rules. If you're a congressman hearing bills, it is regulations will likely be added here or there, or you're going to mandate some action by businesses. It is perfectly legal for you to go out and invest in companies that are going to take care of this problem and charge businesses a lot of money, right. All of a sudden, you're a likely multi-millionaire. If you or I were to have done that, we would be nailed for insider trading. It's long been a double standard. But here's another side of that double standard that's bothered me for a very long time. This isn't business. It includes unions. And this is where a business or union wants to get rid of the competition. And what they'll do is they'll get a congress critter to sponsor a bill that let's say it requires a licensing for something like most states have licensing for barbers. Are you kidding me? What does a barber need to know? Well, you don't know how to haircut. But you know what? A state-sponsored haircut. What does that look like something under the Soviet Union? Well, they have to know how to clean the instruments and clean them properly. They don't use autoclaves. But they do use alcohol and various other things to clean them. So what does that take a five-minute quiz on it? If you want to keep barbers out, you can put together a nice little Barbers association that goes to the state capitol. They say I think for the health and safety of our citizens in the state, we've got to have rules and regulations surrounding barbers. It gets passed. And now all of a sudden, you get to control how many barbers are. And in some states, they have several people who are allowed to have licenses look at taxi medallions in the big cities like New York City as an example. And in New York City, there's only so many of them. And they were valued at like a million and a half bucks apiece, just crazy money, and people suck their life savings into them. And then, of course, the bottom fell out of the whole medallion taxi market when Uber show showed up, and, of course, some of these other wild ride-hailing services. So we've known for a long time that both unions and businesses use the federal government to squeeze out the competition and I don't think there's any The real debate about that it happened. It happens all of the time. The left does it the right does it. They all do it to us. Well, there this last Friday, there was a hearing, and there were executives from four different businesses that pleaded with federal lawmakers to rein in Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon. It is a New York Times article. And this was a congressional hearing that was in Boulder, Colorado. They had some smaller companies. Now, these companies are pretty big in their market segments, but much, much smaller than Google, Facebook, Apple, or Amazon. We're talking about such a nose, pop sockets, Basecamp, and tile. Now I have used equipment. I've had people from all of those companies on my radio show before, and those top executives testified that the biggest technology company Companies blocked their businesses. They stopped them from growing. And according to the New York Times, their stories vary. But they shared a theme that tech giants have used their powerful positions in search eCommerce, online ads, and smartphones to squeeze them out, as well as other rivals. Now, when we get down to this, I think it also boils down to the antitrust laws that we have. Right through, the whole idea was, well, we're not going to let companies get too big. We're not going to let them get two horizontal we're going to help make sure they stay in the industry, make sure there's competition. But we say that on the one hand, the federal government does right, but then, on the other hand, they don't do it at all. So let's take a great example of General Motors and what happened to GM. When a company gets to a certain size, the government This side that it is too big to fail. So our lawmakers look at it and say, Oh my gosh, how many voters work at that company. So instead of letting the market take care of the problem, and these, By the way, most of these people probably ultimately would have had jobs, probably better jobs, probably higher-paying jobs. But instead of letting the market take care of it, and split up GM, keep the profitable divisions alive, maybe let GM continue to operate them and sell off the unprofitable divisions or let them die off. Which is the way the markets work, right? It's the fittest survival of the fittest if you will, and that does well for everybody because now you have a stronger company that's doing better. While we're in the car industry. Look at what happened with Chrysler twice now twice. They've been bailed out by the tax. payers. So why didn't the antitrust laws work in those cases? Right? They didn't work. We've got examples here in New England, look at Seabrook and what's happened there and with the Old Man, and the costs that have been incurred by the ratepayers. Then we have this whole about hubbub about tobacco, so what's happening now is these big guys like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, are capitalizing on the strength that they have because of their size. The government regulations, and using it as a weapon against the smaller startups. And this happens every time, as I said, this is a left issue. It's the right issue. It's unions, and it's big business. These are the guys we're talking about right now. It sort of happened just this week in a federal hearing. So you now have these big companies that we don't let the market deal with anymore. Do you think that the government would allow Google to go under? Now none of these companies, to the best of my knowledge, are having cashflow issues right now Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon. They're probably not likely to go under. But these smaller guys, you know, Pop Sockets and Basecamp have had issues. They've had products that they've had to let go because they weren't profitable enough, right. That sounds like what GM should have done. Tile? Who knows these guys, right? There is not the competition there needs to be out there. How do you compete with Google? Now there are some out there. I use DuckDuckGo instead of Google because DuckDuckGo does not track me. It does not sell my information. It is a pretty darn, safe place to go. Apple I use because they do not make money off of selling my data. They make money off of selling Hardware and Software and Services right. So Apple, according to Tile, is put up hurdles for their smartphone app that didn't apply to Apple's competing product. The high-end audio company said Google copied its patent speaker technology and use its dominance and search to enter new markets. Pop sockets were to make smartphone grip said that Amazon bullied it into sales agreements and ignored complaints about counterfeits on the Amazon retail platform. It goes on and on, you know, intimidating with a smile. And frankly, as I think I pointed out pretty clearly, I think Congress is part of this problem, not necessarily part of this solution. So what are you going to do about it? Let me know what you think me at Craig Peterson calm. Just drop me an email me at Craig Peterson dot com, and you're listening to me on WGAN. Hello, everybody, Craig Peterson here back on WGAN. It's our last half hour together today but fear not. We have more coming up this week. Make sure you subscribe to your favorite podcast platform, whether that's tune in Apple podcasts. I'm all over the place on any major podcasting platform. You can just search for me, and you'll find me Well, you know, if you search for me, you're not going to find me but search for Craig Peterson, and hopefully, you'll find me. I hope you saw this morning's email because we have covered several features there. We also have links to this week's podcast so that you can watch those, so hopefully, you've got that. And then we're keeping you up to date on the latest security news that you need. The patches you have to apply at your home and your company. The Big ones. And we define big and vital based on how easy it is for a bad guy to use it and whether or not we know bad guys are using it out there. We contacted the FBI this week, because of something we've been seeing going on. The FBI puts all this together and shares it. I want to put a plug out there for Infragard. There are chapters in all 50 states now. I think you will enjoy it if you are the person who's responsible for the security of your organization. Now, this includes health care and financial but even lawyers and doctors and everybody that might be considered part of the critical infrastructure is invited. I find it useful because I do get some excellent insight information, sometimes directly from the FBI through the FBI Infragard program. Now you can have to apply, and they have to do this basic background check on you. And then you can become a member and, and they share some stuff with you. They don't share with everybody else. Sometimes I think that it's, you know, they share with us maybe a little less than they should. I believe they should share with us a little bit more, but it's well worth it if you are someone involved in security. So I, you know, you've got my feeling here already right on IoT, the Internet of Things and smart homes. I have some smart home equipment in our home. There's an apple speaker, what do they call that Apple home, something like that I can't even remember now. And I've got some of the Amazon Echo stuff. I've got a little echo hockey pocket. So there's two or three them in the house, and we've got one of the apps Amazon Fire tablets. And we also have an Amazon Echo two, which is one with the screen. Then we use that for talking to grandkids and stuff, but also asking questions playing music and things. It is so handy. And then we've used Apple home also to hook up some lights and other devices. Now the apple home, by far, has the best security design of all of the rest, it tends to be a little bit more expensive. And there are not as many vendors using it because it's a bit more expensive. And Apple frankly was a little bit late to that game, but we are using it to control lights in the home, which is kind of cool. So if you invest in a lot of this IoT stuff, maybe you've made the mistake of getting Google Home. Perhaps you're using the Amazon Echo stuff, and maybe you are using the Apple stuff there. You know those are the two better ones that are out there right now. Neither Apple nor Amazon are known to sell your information or have big hacks against their devices. I chuckled when I mentioned the Google Home known to share and sell your data, and be hackable. And they found some apps people were using that were recording everything they were saying and uploading it to the internet. So stay away from that. But there are a lot more companies and just those that are in the IoT space. For instance, Verizon now has Home Security stuff where they have cameras will install, and they have alarm systems, spectrum charter also has that type of thing. So you invest a lot of money in that, and you've heard ads on the station here for some of these different you know, home security devices, wired yourself. You don't have to. Why is it just everything in between, right? Well, what happens when one of those companies decides that they don't want to be in that business anymore? That is what's happening right now with Charter Cable is killing its Home Security Service. It's been telling customers that the security devices that they've purchased, they weren't on a month to month. It wasn't a lease, and it wasn't a rental. But they're saying that their devices, the devices they purchased, will stop working on February 5. Amazing, right? So this is Charter Cable, you might know it as Spectrum that's another brand name that they've been using. And over the years, some customers to spend a lot of money on these products that will no longer work. Now I mentioned in the last segment so knows and when I was talking about the big con companies and unions left and right both working with the government to keep competition away. Well, Sonos has done something kind of similar to this charter thing. If you have an older Sonos speaker, they will give you a discount on a new Sonos speaker, because they're not going to support the old ones anymore. And they will then brick your former Sonos speaker. So the speaker that you bought and paid money for a bricking means it will no longer work. There is no way to recover it. There's no way to make it work ever again. That is a very, very big deal until a lot of people upset with Sonos. But you know, as we go forward, this is going to happen more and more and more. You're going to have internet cameras, and you're going to have sensors, they're going to be useless in a couple of weeks. Now, that's bad when you consider some people. It is according to the DSL report. Some people spend 1200 bucks on their systems. So here's a massive problem for you if you are a Charter customer Spectrum customer, and you have their security devices, and this is something that you have to watch out for, right? It's, it's the old question going with a smaller guy a bigger guy, what do you want to do? Companies come to come to me to help them with security because they know I care. They know it's a family business, that we have the whole family involved in, you know, obviously, as well as other people that work for us, versus going to an Ernst and Young, that's going to charge them an arm and a leg. They're not going to get any kind of attention from, but when we're talking about this type of equipment, this is where I think you get a real win. By going with Amazon, they are going to be a runaround. They can afford to upgrade your equipment with you, and I'm not worried about getting abandoned. Buy them a charter partner now with Amazon's ring and boat to give customers a free equipment bundle if they buy a year's worth of monitoring. Well, isn't that wonderful? So if you're an existing customer, you can throw away all of your stuff and get getting new hardware for free if you sign up for a year, and if you don't own any of their existing equipment, you can still get a hardware bundle and a year of service. So the big question is why there's no way for charter customers to keep using devices. They're using the ZigBee specification, which I've had the ZigBee people on my show before. It allows multi-vendor interoperability for smart home products. Why can't they just switch on over to another ZigBee based system? Well turns out that years ago, spectrum devices were firmware coded to prevent them from being seen and unusable within their Normal University. ZigBee devices. So this is a problem we're going to have going forward. It goes back to also data portability that we wanted for so long. Remember Hippo is supposed to give us medical record portability, we go to any doctor, they'd all have our medical records the hospital to be able to read them. And that was more than 25 years ago, and it still hasn't happened. So I'm not going to hold my breath. These alarm systems are going to be able to keep our, you know, keep it useful for the next five or ten years, more than going to be going away. All right, when we get back, we're going to talk about a significant event that occurred last week with Microsoft. And another big event. We're going to talk about what the FBI has been saying about Apple lately. So stick around, and we'll be right back. You're listening to Craig Peterson. On WGAN and online. Craig Peterson.com. Hey everybody, welcome back. Craig Peterson here, WGAN and online at Craig pet

All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 2020. Yes, it is a brand new year, which means a lot of new stuff going on for all of us. And you know, of course you're jam packed with what are you going to do in the new year and new year's resolutions and blah, blah, blah and whatever the end of the day. I think for most of us in this world, we kind of just look at it as another day. I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know if it's like new beginnings, but I will say that even for myself, while I just kind of, I don't get all wrapped into, Hey, new year's resolutions and I should be doing this or I should be doing that, uh, cause nine times out of 10, well it just never works. Anyway, I like to look at what my intention is for the year.And so this first episode of 2020 and Thursday's episode is just going to be me and you. And we're going to spend a little bit of time working on a few things and talking about some stuff. And I want to give you some tools and really the same tools that I look at and I use kind of each at the beginning of each year. I started this a little while ago, which really helps to set me up and then helps me find kind of my core intention for the year. And you know, what I want, what I want to achieve, what I want out of it, uh, rather than just kind of average goals. And so I want to spend some time with you today, uh, kind of walking you through an exercise I like to do. I'm going to get a little bit more into this. Uh, I'm going to do a live in mindset radio and a group on mindset radio, Facebook group.Uh, so if you've got a chance pop over, check it out. I'll also probably edit it and post it on YouTube, put it into the show notes so it's available for you this week if you want to come back and visit. Cause you know, I'm not really sure where you listen in the source of the podcast. If you're busy during the day or maybe it's on your drive, maybe you don't have the chance to take notes. This is something you can come back to. You can check out the show notes, you can go over to mindset radio.com it'll be up there. If you're in the Facebook group on set radio, it'll be up there as well. And I'm going to put up some downloadable PDF files that if you don't want to kind of draw it out or whatever else, if you need a little bit of support with it, just download them, pick them up, do the work, uh, take a look at it.But really what I'd like to do is set us up for a really spectacular year. Now, many of you know and I talked about it towards the end of last year, we are launching our a hundred day challenge. Uh, the official launch date is actually going to be January 16th. Why? Because studies show and it is actually scientifically proven that January 16th is the day almost everyone's new year's resolution fails. It's like the day just, you know, I don't know. Shit goes to shit and you're done and you check out and you don't hold onto it. I mean 16 days into a resolution, it's pretty crazy. Uh, so you know, I don't know if it's right or not, but regardless, that's when we're going to kick this thing off. You're welcome to join any time after that. Uh, cause it'll just flow in the process and it'll be available. And I've had some questions for you guys that listen overseas that you're deployed or you're on about.Yeah, it'll be fully online, fully accessible. You don't need to be in person anywhere. It'll be up and available. So if you want to do that, make sure you check out mindset radio.com backslash op your line for, if you just go to mindset radio.com on the homepage, you'll see the banner ads for the a hundred day challenge. Click on that. Go through and come on in and join me. I'm looking forward to a good time with it. Now let's talk today. Let's talk about discovery. You know when you think about it, there's this place where we really want to get down to what's important to us, what matters to us, why we do what we do, what the purpose and intention is behind, and that's why I like this exercise. I think because if you really take it on and you look at it, it will begin to unpack for you the roadmap that you need to have in order to produce the results you want to produce or operating.Why you want to operate or have the life that you want to have. The thing I like about this exercise is you can do it for life, right? You can kind of do it in the big picture if you want to or you can shrink it down and kind of condense it down into your role or your job or your task, or you can separate out your job. You can just look at it from a home life aspect. It doesn't really matter. You can do multiples. You can do it all. Like you can really approach us saying as you want. Now the particular format for this cause, I love giving credit where credit is due, came from a guy by the name of talky Moore. Now you're not going to know talking more than likely unless you happen to be in the services and happen to be a coach somewhere.But this guy, you know, they call him the million dollar coach. He is a coach of coaches. I had an opportunity to do some work with him a few years ago, be involved in some of his programs. I really appreciate who he is as a human being, what he offers his people that he want to talk about getting like great content, great information and just really learning the guys got it down and you know this particular exercise he uses in a different format and I was able to take a look at the single and wait a minute, this is, there's some real value here outside of kind of the structured business side to it and it's a really neat opportunity for us to look at what we want. So if you're listening and you're driving or whatever else, don't worry about it. Just do it in a thought exercise with me, right?Just think it out. And then maybe go back and take some notes later if you have the opportunity to break out a sheet of paper and you want to kind of work work at as we talk through it. Brad, if you know you're listening later and you want to go back and do the show notes or watch the video, do that. But I think what I want you to do really is just kind of listened through what we're going to discuss and I'm going to share some of my stuff with you. Uh, and you know, hopefully you get something out of it. And my hope is that this will help guide in setting you up for success this year, right? Wherever you are. So let's get down to it. Here's the exercise. When you look at it, we're going to look at our Watson frustrations and then we're going to look at our aspirations and our fears, right?And fears and aspirations. We're going to look at kind of the current present moment, what's there for us, and then we're going to look a little into the future and I want to get too far. We may stretch a little bit, but it's always good to take a look forward and to see what's out there because that can begin to align and start to build a path of where it is we want to go. You know, sometimes we can just get lost where we're just feel like we're trudging through day after day after day. I know I do, you know, when I lose kind of sight of my Norstar whose side of my objective or I lose sight of really what I want out of life, you know, and I get bogged down in the day in and day out, grind in the crap going on and really kind of start to, I dunno, I hate to use this word, but almost like fall victim to the circumstances around me to whatever it is.It really starts to impede my progress, if you will. And so as we begin to look, right, I want to explore and kind of take some background, look at this stuff. And really at the end of the day it becomes about our intention. And, and you'll see later this year and then throughout this season, and we're going to talk heavy about it starting in about March or if you're in the program, you'll get it earlier. We're going to talk about how intention plays out in our operational capability and being intentional, being purposeful, uh, and, and that plays into our awareness and all kinds of stuff. And so we'll get into all that stuff later. But, but really for a minute, I want to help try to set you up for the year. And so if you've got a sheet of paper or you don't, or you're just kind of visualizing it and doing this as a thought work, uh, you know, just go ahead and draw me out kind of a quad, right?Four squares or you know, draw a big X on the paper. Just give me four sections out there and just think about that for a minute. And in the top left section. Let's look at what we want. Now, we don't often do this with ourselves. We don't really sit down to say, what is it I really want? Like what is it right now, right here, right now, look around. What do I want? You know, if I'm relating it just to my job, do I want to be promoted? Do I want to make SWAT or do I want a promotion or do I want to make detective, do I want to go to this location or you know, do I want to be a part of this unit? Like what is it you want? And don't be afraid to say it cause nobody else is around you, right?This is your time to reflect, to actually sit down and look at what it is you truly want. You know, if we look at the big scale of life, what do I want? I want to be fit. I want to be physically strong and capable. You know, for mine, my notes, I want to be physically fit. I want to be strong and capable. I want to be able to do 10 pull ups without question, like walking down the park and be like, Oh, there's a pull up bar. Let me hit it and knock out 10 you know, those are things I want. What do I want? I want to, you know, a stable income, right? Income for me, he's been up and down over the last couple of years. It hasn't been great. It's been stressful. So really what I'd like is this year's to stabilize that right then not to be much, just bring it into stability, bring it into where it works and provides me just the basic necessities of life for what I enjoy doing and how I enjoy living my life.Right? So, so I look at myself, one, uh, physicality, right? I want to be a more physically capable. I want to be stronger. I want to be faster. That's what I want. I want to generate a stable, stable source of income from a single point where I can trust and rely on that and I can kind of pick that stress block off of me. What else do I want? I want, you know, I want good, healthy friendships. I want friendships that add to me, not take away from me. I want people in my life and around me that really get me, that I can have great conversations with at depth, um, that I can share in their life. They can share in mind that we can go be adventurous and do stuff right. I mean, those are, those are some of my top wants for 20, 20, um, you know, of course I want my children to be healthy and happy.I want a better relationship with them, own, expand that relationship with them and want to meet them where they are. Uh, you know, I want to grow the relationship with my family and you know, for me, I want to, I want to feel more stable in my own life. You know what I mean? This has been a, is most of, you know, and you've listened through the podcast. This has been a journey. It has been a journey to kind of discover life newly in some ways. Uh, some of the challenges that have been, uh, shown to me over the last several years and doing this work and taking things on and taking a look at it and then sharing it out with you. You know, the other thing I want, I want more listeners, right? I want to expand the audience. I want to grow our community in a way that I know we're making a great impact.I mean, I know we already, the emails that you've sent in and the notes that you sent in, unbelievable. It's just unreal and it means so much to me, you know, but I want to expand that. I want to, I want this conversation to go forward. I want the, the operation mindset foundation to really become a major player on the stage for you all this year. I want it to be a resource that you can trust and rely on. I want to bring a different conversation forward. I want you to be engaged and I want to be engaged with you. Like those were my wants this year. And if I don't speak them or I don't share them or I don't really get in touch with what it is, I won't know where to go. And so that's really just the value of exploring that. And I think, I think we have an issue in our world that we just don't speak our own desires, right.Our own personal wants very often, you know, we worry about everyone else around us. We put everyone else around us in front of us and we don't just sit down to go, you know what about me for a minute? So this is your moment to be, it's okay to be selfish right now. It's okay to actually just think about you and what you want and whatever's there, just write it down right. And just be okay with it. It's just what it is. Now, once you've gone through your wants, you know, and it may be more money, it may be a business, maybe you know, better relationship may be a better relationship with your wife or your girlfriend or your husband or your boyfriend or maybe finding love. I don't know. You know, it could be anything truly and it's okay for whatever it is, but once you get through those wants, here's kind of the flip side to it, right?Then we're going to look at our frustrations. Like what are we frustrated by? You know, if I'm, I'm looking at my life, what am I frustrated by? Frustrated by, you know, a small budget for the foundation right this minute. I'm frustrated that, you know, we don't have the reach that we want or I don't have the, the extra budget to, you know, run Facebook ads and do the marketing campaign and push us out there as a major well known source for you all. Um, you know, I'm frustrated that I'm stuck doing the podcast backend work constantly. That's just takes a lot to do and a lot to produce and I would love to get that off my plate. But I'm frustrated by that. I'm frustrated by my time and schedule and I don't feel like I've done a very good job so far of, especially over the last six, eight months of giving myself to space and time to work out, to be healthy, to take it on, to meet that challenge, to eat the way I need to eat, right, to do those things.I'm frustrated by it. I feel constrained and kind of confined by the circumstances of life, if you will. Right? I'm frustrated by that. And so, you know, I want you to actually use you think through it. I want you to feel that for a minute. I want you to feel the frustrations and what that brings about for me, it brings about anxiety, right? Frustration leads to anger. Uh, I'm frustrated most days I'm upset at things. Uh, you know, and that kind of triggers into this not nice GF place. And so really when I look at it, the things that I want, I can almost draw a correlation to the frustration that's, that's really standing in the way of having what I want. I'm going to say that again. If I really look at when I'm frustrated, I'm frustrated by the things that are impeding me from having the things that I want.And really it's kind of all just circumstantial. I mean, I can do whatever I need to do, right? And that's where I've realigned myself this year to say, okay, well if I want to be in shape and I want to be working out, then I need to set the conditions for that. I need to put myself in a place for that. I need to designate my time for that. And then I need to protect that time. Like it's the most important thing in the world. If I want healthier friendships and healthier relationships, then I have to be willing to say no that the relationships that don't feed me right, that don't advance me, that don't give me what it is that I really want out of life and I've got to be able to segment that stuff. You know? If I want to be promoted at work, well then what is it?What's frustrating me that I'm not being promoted? What's the road? So when we look at it from a standpoint of wants and frustrations, we can actually begin to build a road map, right when we actually call out the frustration for what it is, and then we can take a step back from it and we can look at it to say, okay, what actions do I need to take to eliminate that frustration? Because if I eliminate that frustration, it will lead me down the path of what it is that I actually want. Right? So it allows me to see what gets in my way. And you know, unfortunately the reality is the kind of kick in the ass is nine times out of 10 it's me. That's in my own way of having what it is I want. So, you know, if I want to raise more money for the foundation, then I've got to work the phones right?Then I've got to be out on the streets more than I've gotta be out engaging more. That's the way it goes. That's just what I have to do. And so there's the roadmap, right? To alleviate the frustration and achieve what it is I want. Now, that's all kind of current present stuff. And I want you to go as far as deep as you can. I mean, you may have two or three pages of wants and frustrations. Really, if you never done this exercise, if you've never looked at anything this way, you may throw up for a couple of days around what did you want and what it is that's frustrating you. And I really encourage you to do that because getting it out will actually give you the power to create the new path and the new road map around it. Now here's the thing. So if we look in our, if we're looking at our Claude top left our wants, right?You just them out in their bottom left is our frustrations like what's there? So here's the interesting thing. When we flip over to the other side of the sheet and we begin to look at those other areas, we want to start actually looking at the future a little bit. Now you've heard me say on other podcasts on this one, you know, fear is nothing more than a projection in the future of something that may or may not happen. You know, fear doesn't exist right here in this moment. It is very much a projection into the future. And so when we start looking at aspirations and fears, right? Those are the next two blocks. What we aspire to and then what we fear. And you know, when you look at what you aspire to, it's like how do you see yourself in the future? Who do you see yourself to be?What is it you really want to be in the future? Who do you want to be in the future? How do you want to be viewed in the future? What do you want people to say about you when you're gone? What do you want written on your tombstone? What will the conversation be about Jeff Bandman when he's Jeff Bandman no longer exists. Will it be while the guy was an asshole and you know, always frustrated and always upset. It's stop. Or will it be, Hey, this guy gave everything he could do, the community he loved and cared about. I mean, that's really an aspiration of mine. You know, my, my aspiration is, you know, that every day I wake up worried about you that I care about you, that there's somebody out there that actually gives a shit. And you know, if you're not doing the work, I'm doing the work for you and then trying to bring it to you and give you some thoughts and insights and possibilities around some stuff.Right? That's my, that's my mission. That's my entire objective in life now. And so, you know, if that's who I aspire to be, I aspire to be a great dad. Right? A great man. I just, you know, I want to, I think we all in some way, shape or form want to be admired. I mean, I think that's a very human trait is just admired for what we do and why we do it. And when we're not that, you know, it beats us up quite a bit. And so, you know, just the willingness to speak that and say that it's like, yeah, I want to, I want to be admired. I want to be admired for my life and my effort and the things that I've done. I don't want to be discounted or shut down or told I'm not good enough. I mean, that just doesn't work right?And so I aspire to be someone you can rely on someone that is credible, someone that you know will speak the truth, someone will, that will say what others aren't willing to say or don't notice say so. You know, that's the big aspiration for me. Now what do I fear? Well, I fear being left out. I fear being unknown. I fear not fulfilling on what I believe is destiny. I fear not fulfilling on the skills and attributes and lessons I've learned and things that I feel like I was put on this earth to do. I fear a piano loser, right? I fear not being able to provide stability for my family or to raise my children into amazing human beings. I fear I fear being alone, right? If you're just kind of being isolated and you know, sometimes I fear myself, I fear being locked into a place of frustration and resentment and regret for the rest of my life.I mean that's, that's honestly where I kind of said, you know, I mean it's like what if, what if life didn't happen? What if you know, the podcast doesn't go any further. What if you know, things don't take off? Well what if, what if, what if, and I can play that all the way down to the end and there's actually kind of a healthy view at that at some point in time. And that's what I want to give you permission because so many people say, well, don't dwell on it. Don't look at it. Don't, yeah, take a look at it because that's the picture and what we don't want. That's the picture of where we don't want to be. Or B, that's the admission that those are the things that really keep me up at night. Those are the things that linger in the back of my brain and when I can identify them and when I can be honest about them and when I can speak into them, they will diminish.Because what I'm able to do is reality check life. I'm able to look back and go, you know what? If I wake up every day committed, if I'm consistent on the podcast, if I'm just consistent with you in the community, if I'm giving you everything I've got, I mean, I already feel like I've diminished that fear significantly just by the responses that I've gotten. You know? And we're not out, you know, we're not have 6.9 million subscribers. We're not spread out everywhere yet. But I know that at least in the shows that we've done and the actions that we've taken, I made an impact. I've made an impact on you and I appreciate you allowing me to make that impact on you. And so really the fear, is it really a fear now? It's not because it's, I've already conquered tat. I've already surpassed that.If I want to, you know, if I sit in the mode and say, what all of 100,000 emails back in, what does it matter? Right? So I've already resolved that in a lot of ways, but the fact is when it creeps back in, I can see it, call it out and identify it and then actually validate it, right? I can, I can begin to, to understand how to maneuver through that fear with a strength and a comfort and a confidence that I need to keep going each and every day to not let that fear be overwhelming, but I've identified it. I've put it down, I've written it down on a sheet of paper. That's a fear. Okay, cool. How do I resolve that? What actions can I take that would eliminate that? What can I do that I know and trust I can deliver that will eliminate that fear?I can have better conversations with my children. I can be more present with them. I can set work aside and actually be available to them when I want to. When I'm, when I'm with them, I don't have to be occupied by a lot of other things. Those are the actions that will foster and lead to an amazing relationship with them. When I can set myself up to be successful in those moments, right? What enables me to touch this community when I actually dedicate myself to the work that needs to go into place to deliver something to you. And so this is really, to me, one of the most valuable things you can do to set your year up, right? And we'll give you the roadmap for where you want to go. How do I want to be? How can I be more, you know, emotionally stable?How can I be more, uh, mentally strong or, you know, mental toughness or whatever verbiage I wanna use around that, right? How can I improve my mindset? How can I bring something new to the table? How can I shift my day, moment by moment by moment? How do I know when to transition and recover? And all of these things that we've talked about, how can I be more physically prepared? How can I take care of my body? What do I need to do to take care of my body? All of these things go into play and you know, so it's, it's kind of a constant move of identifying it, reality, checking it, and then laying out the actions that I want to take. So for instance, if I say I want, you know, one of my objectives, 5,000 subscribers to the podcast by the end of the first quarter.So I've got three months to do that, right? And we're doing really well. But what do I want? I want that. So what actions do I need to take to have it? What processes do I need to put in place to produce that result? If I'm frustrated by my lack of time, which then impacts maybe what I want, right? A healthier body, right? A stronger capability, whatever it may be, then what hacks can do I need to take to resolve that? How do I set myself up? Do I get up earlier? Do I stay up later? Do I just communicate with the people around me? It says for this hour I shut my phone down, I'm off, I'm offline, don't bother me, don't touch me cause I'm in the gym cause I'm doing something for myself, I'm taking care of myself. Right? And so those are the, those are the aspects that really, this is where things come into play.It's not just dwelling on what's there, it's not just having the conversation of like, Oh well this is what I want and this is what I'm frustrated by and you know, this is what I aspire to. But then this is what I fear. Cool, great. Let's get those out, let's get him identified. But then once we have an identified, what actions do I take to resolve those or achieve those? Right? What is the roadmap that I'll follow that will actually lead me to where it is I want to be in life because I think that's the biggest thing for all of us, right? We all want to be somewhere. We want to do great at our jobs. We want to be the best police officer, best firefighter or best service member. We want to get promoted. We want to go to certain units, we want to achieve certain things.Those are the ass absolute things. So when we go from once we can check that, do I have the ability to achieve that? And if I do or if I do or don't, right, why or why not? Right? So I take, once I take that list at once, I can convert that into reality checking against my abilities. You know, I want 5,000 subscribers. Rad. Do I have the ability to do that? Yes, actually I do. Okay. What's the roadmap? You know, I want to be in better shape. Do I have the ability to do that? Yes I do. You know, I want $1 million by next month. Do I have the ability to do that? Probably not. If I reality check it, you know, unless I won the lottery, right? That's, that's a little bit of a far stretch. And so we want to keep that, that place to it.And then again, when I look at my frustrations, what actions can I take to resolve that frustration? How can I set myself up? This is where personal responsibility really comes into play. When I look at my fears, reality checking, are they real or are they perceived right? How do I move a fear to a state of peace or peacefulness? What does it look like? What does the road look like that would bring that fear to fruition? You know, that's always an interesting exercise. If you look at, if you take one of your fears and you actually map it out, it's like what would you have to do for that fear to become reality? Who'd you have to be for that fear to become reality? And in doing that, man you, you'll sit back and be like, okay, that's not me. I'm not going to do any of that.So literally that fears bullshit. And so a good opportunity to do that. And then, you know, how do I bring in my aspirations into reality? What would I need to do or be to really achieve this aspiration to really be in that place? So that's the model that I want you to look at. Uh, here off. Today's episode, you know, is to really get in touch with all of that. Because I think what that does when you line out, like we talk about mentally, physically, and emotionally, so what you're able to do out of this exercise is extract all that goodness, extract all that information and be able to look at and say, okay, where do I want to be mentally? What's my intention for 2020 mentally? Well, that's my intention for 2020 physically, what's my intention for 2020 emotionally? Who do I want to be on December 31st of 2020 and then what's the road to get there?What work do I need to do to achieve that? And then I don't future cast that I don't look three months ahead. I go back to today. So did I go to the gym today? Yes or no. Period. Did I meditate today? Yes or no. Period. Did I study more or learn something new today, yes or no period. And those were the questions you ask yourself, right? And my intention guides me and guides me on the actions that I want to take. And the result, if you just stick in that mode, that result will produce itself basically, right? You'll be able to look at the end of this year and go, Holy shit. Right? You'll be able to flip back after you write this thing down, date it, sign it, do whatever, stick it somewhere, seal in an envelope, mail it to yourself, do something so that at the end of the year you can open that puppy up and you can see whether or not you even came close to it.And if you didn't achieve it, well then you know, you go through and you look at it and you look at why, but we'll be doing it in a whole different context. And so that's what I really, what I want you to encourage you to do out of today's podcast, you know, instead of bringing a guest on right now, instead of doing all this other stuff right this second, I wanted to share with you what I do, right? I wanted to give you kind of the core aspects of what I spend my time doing, how I try to set myself up and how I take a look at it. And so I hope you get something out of it. And again, you know, you'll be able to hit the Facebook group or the show notes or whatever else and I'll line it out for you.If you want to use the PDFs, great. Download them. No problem. They're there for you to take and use 100% and if you've got any questions, send something to me or if you're struggling with something, right? If you're struggling to figure out what it is, reach out, right? I'm available on messenger and Instagram and everywhere, email and everywhere else. Just take a minute, shoot me. You know, it'd be like, Hey Jeff, I'm really hung up on, you know, my fear, so I'm really hung up on my aspirations. I'm happy to feed something to you. I'm happy to give some to you or we'll just hop on a call and talk about it. I mean, that's just the way it goes, right? That's a part of life. That's what we're, what I'm here for. Right? That's why that's my whole world now. So don't be afraid to use that resource if you're getting stuck around it and go back and don't feel like it has to be done all in one sitting or all in one day.You know, take a week, take a month, don't take six months, don't take 12 months because then it will be next year, you know, aspect to it. But take some time with it. And if something new pops up, go back and add it. I mean that's, that's the way life goes. So listen, I want to say thanks for all the support last year and the love that came in and the messages that came in. I greatly appreciate it. I think we're set up for a pretty amazing year this year. We're structuring out the content. I'm going to try to bring better guests, more guests, not really better guests because we had phenomenal guests last year. Uh, but continue the same process with some really exceptional guests that contribute out to you that have something to offer. Um, I'm working on the backend stuff, so show notes are a little bit tighter so the transcripts are available.So some of the other stuff that you know, kind of supports you in, uh, doing research or looking through stuff. I'm doing my best to step that up and deliver more of that for you this year. Uh, now on Thursday's episode it's going to be me and you again and we're going to look at kind of how to put our lives in action a little bit deeper. I'm going to have a little bit more for you around that and we'll talk a little bit about that more in the Facebook group as well. So really my objective for this week is to give you some tools to help set you up for the new year, to really set you up to be successful this year and whatever it is you want to achieve and produce, right? So that'll be Thursday show now the rest of the month, what we're focused on is mental acuity.We've got some phenomenal cast coming up this month to really look at kind of the cognitive structure, how we think in process, how we improve our awareness, uh, how we connect and read the environment and then kind of maneuver through some things. So we're going to get right into action next week, but we're going to dive right into some mental acuity aspects for the remainder of the month. And then in February, uh, I'm really looking forward to February. I got an opportunity to really start talking with and getting to know a lot of the other companies that support our community, uh, that I think are really exceptional. And so February we're going to highlight a bunch of those. We've got some great conversations mapped out now, some really cool people coming to the table. And so in February we're going to do it but highlight and some deep dives so you can actually hear from some of the people that are out supporting you why right.And get their story. And, and I think some of it you may really be surprised and blown away by. I, I know I've already been that way. And then through March and probably into April, uh, we're going to dive into C3. We're going to dive deep into comfort, confidence, and creativity. And we're going to blow that out. We're going to extract that. We're going to look at the math behind mindset and we're really going to get in and bring in both great guests from the community, outside the community, some really forward thinkers around some stuff. And my objective is that through this podcast this year, we're going to elevate your game significantly personally and professionally. Write it because I believe in our world, they go hand in hand. And so that's what our focus is on for the remainder of this year. I'm going to do my best to give you everything that I got.Uh, don't forget if you're a new listener, uh, starting January 16th, again, we're starting to a 100 day challenge. It's going to be unique opportunity to really kind of uncover some stuff and learn some great valuable lessons along the way. You know, I've had questions around, uh, the physicality of that couple of people, you know, recovering from injuries or doing whatever. There's no standard for that. It's not a fitness challenge by any means, but we will look across all three primary areas, mental, physical and emotional. And in that a hundred day challenge in the first week, I'm going to guide you through a process of how to kind of unpack one core thing that you want to focus on for the a hundred days and kind of the shear behind that is right. The piece behind that, you know, there's a lot of stuff out there on what, how many days it takes to create a habit and whatever, whatever, I'm sorry, I can't buy into that.What I really want you to get out of that a hundred days and why the a hundred days exists, is we're going to rewire some of the biological systems. We're going to retrain the elephant to understand what it means to win and really embody that sense of achievement and winning over those hundred days. It will be tough. It will be simple and tough, I promise you. So that's available upon the site. It's run through the operational mindset foundation. So all the proceeds go to benefit the operation mindset foundation to help us get out. So that's a by choice donation, uh, to the program. Check it out mindsetradio.com/opyourlife/ or just go to the main page at mindsetradio.com. Click on the link and follow through to the a hundred day challenge. I really would love to have all you in there and you know, if you can't hop in on the 16th do you want to hop in a little bit later?Not a problem that the program will run kind of as it is for the remainder of the time. And we'll support it with the group and it won't matter where you are, cause you'll fold right in. You'll see what everybody's working on. A really neat chance to be a part of a cool community and I'll work and contribute together on some stuff. So that's going to wrap up today's episode. It is January 7th, 2020 wow. 2020 it's pretty crazy when you think about it, so I hope everybody had a great holiday season. Hope everybody had a safe and great new year, and I hope you're looking forward to this year. So you know, tune back in on Thursday, we're going to talk about what life in action looks like. We're in a dissect a few things. Give you four more tools. Again, thanks for sticking around. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you on Thursday. 

Welcome!   Today there is a ton of stuff going on in the world of Technology and we are going to hit a number of topics from Facial Recognition, Hacks, Cyber Insurance, Privacy, and CyberSecurity Legislation, Incident Response, Warnings about Smart TV's and monitoring your pets.  It is a busy show -- so stay tuned. For more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com --- Related Articles: The Convenience of Facial Recognition is not All Its Cracked up to be   Call 611 Now -- Hackers Breach 1M Cellular Customers January’s Coming - Do You Have An Incident Response Plan? Protecting Company Assets and Cybersecurity Insurance Peeping on Toms Last Generation Legislators Trying to Solve Next-Generation Security Issues Block 90 percent of Malware with this Smart TVs, Security, and the FBI Apple:1 Android:120 --- Automated Machine-Generated Transcript: Craig Peterson 0:05 Hello everybody, Craig Peterson here on WGIR and WGAN and other stations. I am and FM still shout-out to everybody. Thanks for joining me today and deciding to spend a little bit of your Saturday with me. Hey, if you are new to the show a real quick introduction I've been in the technology field for many decades. I have been doing internet work in fact, since the early 80s helped to develop a lot of the systems some of which are still in use today. And I have been a victim of security problems with my business. I built a big business it was doing pretty well technically a small business, but it was doing pretty well had 50 employees and then we got nail now this was way back in the 90s. But when we got into Nailed, I had quite the wake-up call about what I really should be doing. And, and, man, it was scary. It was really, really scary at the time I owned our own building, we had our own data center. We were building some of the biggest commercial properties on a line on the Internet at the time. And it was a really scary thing. Craig Peterson 1:26 It was like, you know, the bully in the yard right at school, and they would suck you right in the solar plexus right in the gut, right. And that feeling that you had you just you couldn't breathe, the not really pain, but it was just shocking. And that's how I felt. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to do it. We had anti-virus software. Why didn't it protect us and it really bothered me and took a couple of days now. I was very, very technical. Well, of course, I still tend to be if I have a real failure it is that it's kind of hard to remember what it was like not to know any of this stuff. So you know, bear with me asking me questions. Okay, I get it right. I can be very confusing sometimes. But I was very technical. And it took about two days for me now this is back of course before Google or AltaVista, or any of these really great search engines. So I was using the stuff at the time, like our chain Veronica gopher stuff, and trying to find out what was going on. It was actually digging into the machine itself, that revealed what the problem was, and I'd become a victim of what's known as the Morris worm, crawling through my machines and some other machines on the internet. It was a really scary time, and I decided right then and there that I had to make cybersecurity priority, and I had to be able to help people with their cybersecurity and businesses as well. Now businesses you hope can afford to pay and keep my lights on, right. And they've been very good to me my clients over the years, you know, I've had some great clients. And I've decided at this point in my life that I only want to work with great clients only clients that really, really want to work with me. But the same can't be said for consumers because you retirees and other people just don't have the money to pay what it costs to secure a business. You know, it kind of at a minimum, you're talking about $50,000 investment, plus monthly and 2500 bucks a month is pretty standard. And you could certainly go out and hire somebody to have somebody who's a quote it person unquote, but they are not really going to be able to help you out very much and they not going to keep up with it. And that's the biggest problem we have right now. My people who are involved in this every day, spend about a third of their time in classes. And in coaching and conferences trying to keep up with what are the attacks? What is the best software out there, what you're doing, you're using, what are the techniques that we need to use nowadays. And so you as a home user, there's no way you can afford it. And as a business user, if you're running a Soho like a small office, Home Office, you cannot afford to do all of the right things. And that's what I'm trying to help out with. And that's why we talk a lot about security here on the show, and that's why I do pop up training and Facebook Lives where we kind of delve into one aspect or more. And then I have paid courses as well, that tells you what the tools are, how to use the tools where you can get the tools what are the best ones my newsletter we talked about that a bit. Craig Peterson 5:02 In fact, if you got this money as a newsletter, we add a new section. And actually we have a new section that we're probably going to do this monthly, but it is the number one through five things patches you need to apply. Here are the five things you absolutely have to take care of when it comes to patching this month because there are extreme vulnerabilities and they are being used by the bad guys right now. I can't think of anything more valuable if you guys can let me know. For everybody, whether you are big business, a small business, a home user, right it, make sure these have been applied or you could be in a whole lot of trouble. And now we're looking at the costs of recovering from one of these breaches and a very large percentage of businesses today. They're breached, they file bankruptcy the next day. Because that's how bad it's gotten and ransomware attacks are up, and they're up across the board no longer they necessarily aiming primarily at these real big companies because they realize the smaller guys are the ones that are going to be easier to compromise. And then when you add into that equation, the fact that it takes about eight months for a company to notice that it has been hacked. Wow, think of the damage one of these guys could do. And it's everything from stealing the intellectual property that you've developed and designed. We have another client that we picked up, and she has a business that was a cutthroat. I had no idea how crazy cutthroat it is. She's in the design business for clothing. And purses, women's wear shoes, various other things. And in this whole design thing that she's doing, there is quite a bit of money and she had been selling into these huge retailers and things are going really well. And, you know, maybe one of these days we'll get deeper into that story. But this is just a couple of weeks ago, I met with her and she lost everything. And now at what, how old is she now? 55 I think, or 50. She's starting over again, from scratch and I don't want that to happen. Craig Peterson 7:40 So the easiest, simplest, most straightforward and free thing you can do, frankly, is to subscribe to my newsletter. Now you're going to go to Craig Peterson comm slash subscribe, and I'm asking for your name and your email. That's all I'm asking, for now. I don't hound you, I'm not like one of these internet marketers that sending you emails every day multiple sometimes, unless I've got something that's big going on, like there's a training or something, I might send you emails during the week. reminders, hey, I'm starting this afternoon or whatever, right? That's the only time you're going to get a bunch of emails from me. And that's for the free training as well as some of the paid ones. But I am I don't sell your name. I am not trying to target you or anything else, right. So if you subscribe, you will get my weekly newsletter. And in that newsletter, I have usually between eight and 10 articles, we tend to write a short article that few paragraphs long kind of describing what the problem is, what you need to do give you some tips on what to do about it. And then we will link also to a third-party article, you know, unlike Forbes magazine, or so Newspaper out there, etc. Dark Reading is another one that we get, we linked to quite a bit. But you get all of that there is no charge for any of this. I don't want you to feel like I did. And I got hit once that first time and I got hit once again a few years later completely different way. And that's when I decided, hey, listen to this, this low-end antivirus firewall thing that you buy at Staples or from one of these brake fix shops, it doesn't really know much about it. It just isn't going to cut it so I upped my game after that. But you are going to understand what you should do how you should do it. My recommendations I throw those in there once in a while if somebody comes out with a new product, as we did with Wi-Fi here recently, and with some of the new Wi-Fi technology, what you should be looking for there and segmenting Your network at your home or your small business, so that your kids playing games who might be hacked, are not going to affect your main network, they're not gonna be able to get onto your computer, they're not gonna be able to get on your business computer, none of that stuff. But the only way you're going to find out about this is if you subscribe. Now, I have hundreds and hundreds, probably 1000 recommendations from people who just really appreciate all of this stuff that I'm doing. And, you know, there's free stuff, hey, if you can afford it, I'd appreciate it if you get the paid stuff because, you know, there's more, it's better because you can afford to pay for it right? But I really don't hold anything back. Right? I'm not trying to play secrets. It's the type of software you use as a business. That for instance has some sort of a military subcontract, you have defiers ITR regulations or a doctor's office where you got HIPAA regulations. Or a business that has to deal with FINRA or PCI regulations, financial transactions and companies. Those guys hopefully have enough money to do it mostly right. And as I said it, it gets expensive. We were just in a company we did a proposal, just a What about a month ago, I guess now, and to secure her stuff properly, would cost her about 80,000 a year. Now she had a number of employees but she decided she wouldn't, didn't want to pay it wouldn't couldn't whatever. And you know, I understand that too. But your best free advice you're going to get by going to Craig peterson.com slash subscribe, and I will be sending you my newsletter and I have three special things that you're going to get as well. That will come in the email after you confirm your subscription So you subscribe, look for my email, click the link, and you're all set. So I want to talk right now about what to do after the fact. If you've been hacked, what are the right things to do? Craig Peterson 12:17 Well, there are some things that you can do right away. I remember back in the day if you noticed that your machine and this is true today, it has run somewhere and is doing something odd, the best thing to do is shut it off. And then have somebody take that disk and put it on another machine that can analyze it, not just a regular machine. You don't want to spread that ransomware but an analysis machine uses Knoppix or one of these other tools in order to have a look at it. But if you're a company, what do you do if you're an individual, what do you do? A lot of people turn to insurance in order to cover it. You may not be aware of it, but your homeowners and Sharon's may have a writer that covers cyber intrusions, on your computers. And if you're a business person, you probably have already purchased some sort of a cyber insurance policy. That makes a whole lot of sense, frankly. But it can be a requirement for your company as well to have cyber insurance. So I've got five things to know right now, about cyber insurance because the attacks are increasing. It's becoming more and more important for companies to protect themselves. And cyber insurance may not cover you. And I have seen quite a number of times where companies This is in the news, I think, goodness, I don't have personal experience with this. But in the news, I've read articles where companies filed for their cyber against their cyber insurance policy and the policy didn't payout. Right now in the news, there's a big story about a large company that going to sue their insurance company because they wouldn't pay out all of the money that the company thought should be paid out. Now, in this case, we're talking about cyber insurance. That said, Hey, you have to take reasonable steps. Now with the cyber insurance that we have. So for instance, depending on the level of service you have from us, we have a policy underwritten by Lloyds of London, whereby if you are compromised, well, we're taking care of your systems. There is I think it's a million dollars worth of insurance, so it'll cover the smaller businesses typically. And then hopefully you have your own cyber insurance, right? That's how this whole thing works. And then, of course, our company we have our general insurance is our liability and All of this stuff you would expect to have the right key man type stuff, etc. But since the cyber attacks are now a top business concern, we're seeing numbers from Microsoft that found that cyber attacks beat out economic uncertainty, brand damage and government regulation as the top concerns for business owners and C level executives. So if you're sitting on the board of a company or you're sitting on the board of a nonprofit that you're trying to help out with, this is something that should be big on your mind. I did a presentation for university, about insurance, cyber insurance, how it all works, what the problems are, today, and let me tell you, they were very, very interesting. I think that's good 47% of the organizations that were surveyed said they have cyber insurance now. So that's good. That's pretty much half of all organizations say that they have it, which is up a lot. It's up 15% in the last couple of years. They're figuring that by next year, the gross written premiums for cyber insurance is expected to be around $8 billion. So a lot of companies signing up for it. 57% of companies with revenues of more than $1 billion had a cyber insurance policy. Now compare that to 36% of companies with revenues less than 100 million. And if you get down to the small guys, less than a million dollars in revenue, we're talking a number in the teens, percentage-wise of businesses that have cyber insurance. So if you don't have cyber insurance, you're not alone. Hey, that's for certain. But the big problem I think you're going to face is, if you do get hacked, how are you going to survive? I mentioned earlier that it's about I think this just takes about 20%. It's a pretty large number of businesses that get hacked, filed for bankruptcy the next day. But the majority of businesses that get hacked, are bankrupt within six months. So keep that in mind. Can you afford to lose the business? Is your business your retirement? Do you hope to sell it or maybe milk it is a cash cow for years to come? Big Questions, good questions. And if you do what's going to happen if you lose that income, because the business has gone under because you lost your client lists your production schedule, your bank account information, your intellectual property, very, very big deal and it's a very, very special Everything to okay. The top risk covered by cyber insurance seems to be a business email compromises. And that's actually kind of a good thing. Because according to the FBI, we're talking over $20 billion. And I've seen numbers, as high as $30 billion has been lost to these email scams. So business email compromise is where the fraudsters and maybe we can go into this in more detail some time, but it's where the fraudsters get involved and a trick you or somebody in your organization to sending the money. And you might say, Oh, it's not gonna happen to me. It'll ever happen to me. We're not that stupid when people pay attention to the email. No, it happens because the fraudsters aren't just sending out an email saying I'm a Nigerian prince. I need to use a bank account. They have done some research on you. They've done some research on your business. They know enough to be able to fool your financial people into sending money. And one of the stories I tell pretty frequently when I am last few months here while I'm doing presentations for businesses and other organizations have to do with that exactly. It has to do with the $45 million that was stolen out of an operating account. I have another one that's a much smaller business that came to us and we're securing them right now. And they lost $80,000 out of their operating account and to them. That's a lot of money. How are you going to meet payroll if you don't have that money sitting there? so busy mail compromise, good insurance to have. But here's a big concern. We have two big companies out there we've got drugmaker, Merck, you probably know about those guys. And a food giant called Mandela's They're both suing their insurance providers over non-payment for damages from not pet shop back in 2017. Craig Peterson 20:12 So think about that, Not Peyya was considered by many insurance companies as an act of war. And we think better, we're able to protect all of our customers from that. But these big companies weren't protected. I think they've retired us they would have been but you know, they know better, right? But think of you as a small business, or as a just a homeowner, how are you going to be able to fight these big insurance companies? Merck and Mondelez are both suing their insurance companies because the policies weren't paid. So keep an eye on that one as well. Hey, one of the things I had planned on doing and I may still do is Little free of pop up training on DNS filtering now you know, what is that? What's that all about? Basically, this is how you can defeat the bad guy's use of a key and critical internet resource. Now they're using DNS in order to mess with us. They use DNS when they have ransomware. The wants to call home. They use DNS when they have a botnet that needs to call home. So your computer might be unbeknownst to you may be used by nation-states like our friends in Russia, or China or Iran or North Korea. It may be used unbeknownst to you your computer to attack the Kremlin or the White House or the Department of Defense can be used to attack businesses, other innocent people in their homes. And the only way it can really do this is with a lot of coordination. And that's what a button that is all about. That's what the coordination is all about. And if you have ransomware, and if they want to make any money at all, they need to be able to tell you how to decrypt your files that were taken ransom. Now the ransomware guys don't always give you a good key. In fact, FBI numbers show that even if you pay the ransom, there's only a 50% chance that you'll get all of your files back. which is you know, it's too bad. Too bad. So sad. But that is the way it is. Because they are calling home they may not have called home properly. They might not have the right keys. You can contact the tech support people actually the ransomware guys, their tech support departments to tend to be better than many of the tech support departments that we have here when you call first software you bought right? But anyhow be that is it may I put together a special on how you can for free and basically in less than 90 seconds, how you can improve your security on your computer. Whether you are a small business or a home user, how you can secure your computer improve your security by 90% that is a very, very big number and I know you know Craig God really 90% Yes, really 90% because this technique, although it only takes you 90 seconds is probably gonna take you 10 minutes to sort of put together but this technique now allows you to basically stop ransomware in its tracks and stop some of the busiest compromised stuff in its tracks, which is huge right now, especially if you're a business and also stops your computer from being used as part of a botnet. It's huge, right? We're talking about some very big stuff here. And you can do it for free. Now we have software that we sell, a monthly basis per-seat basis. Actually, it's a per user basis. You know, it varies but gives-or-take 20 bucks a month that does basically the same thing. It has more features, it gets updated more often there are a number of different differences for it, but you can get it for free. And so I go into some depth on and it's, it's about a 10-minute episode that you'll find up on my website at Craig peterson.com. If you have a hard time finding it, you can always email me just me at Craig Peterson calm and I Walk through the whole thing with you. Okay, we obviously don't have time today. I have three minutes left today. Craig Peterson 25:06 So we're not going to get into that. But it's really a very big deal. You'll also find if you go to my website, I've got some additional podcasts here. Congress is finally tackling privacy next week, the Senate's going to take it up. And so I talked a little bit about that, how it's gonna affect your cybersecurity, a very cool little robot. You know, I'm always dripping on robots, but a cool little robot for your cat. If you're a business person, this is critical, but I also talked about it from a homeowner standpoint, what do you need to do when it comes to cybersecurity insurance and I go through some scenarios of what has actually been happening out there in the world today, how to protect yourself after t mobile's big data breach that nailed me as well. I go into some detail about why I opt-out of facial recognition. And I think that you should too, it's becoming more common and it does make some things a little easier. And there are times when using facial recognition is actually a plus. And so I discuss those as well. Craig Peterson 26:18 And Samsung, man, Craig Peterson 26:20 I'm, I'm sorry, but I really ripped on Samsung. And Android, frankly, went into a lot of the reasons why I say you should never ever, ever use Android. And there are some excellent reasons not the least of which is Apple releases a security update and it releases a security update for iPhones within usually a week or two of the security problem being found. And then it's available for everyone who owns an iPhone, the very next day. That's how fast it is. Samsung, not so much you can take the better part of a year to get the security updates for your Samsung android phone and can take even longer. If you don't have a Samsung, you have another manufacturer. Now some manufacturers are better Samsung's actually one of the worst when it comes to security updates. But right now, Android devices, if you bought a brand new one, and you updated it, there are over 100 pre-installed security risks right there in Android. So I go into a lot of detail on this. It's the holiday shopping season. I go into how to buy or how to even get an iPhone for free, and how to buy them inexpensively and which models you should look at which is another big deal because Apple fully supports these phones for at least five years. Samsung, who's the biggest Android manufacturer only supports it for two. Yeah. Anyways, all of that and more. Make sure you visit me online Craig Peterson dot com slash subscribe, and you'll get all of this for free. Take care, everyone. Craig Peterson 0:03 Hey, welcome back. Craig Peterson here, WGAN, Hey, I'm already getting, getting some feedback here about my last statement. So let's straighten this out. I understand why a lot of people do buy Samsung, you know, I get it, right. It's something that I've thought about over the years I've had issues with over the years as well in it, it kind of goes back to what to buy when it comes to technology period, right. And I have always been the type that says, get the best that you can afford to buy. Don't cheap out because you will save a lot of money in the long run. If you can afford that. You know that purchase price. You're going to save money because the equipment can last longer. So for instance, just this week, we have a client that decided that they were going to go and because they had had a problem with a Dell computer that they had purchased at just retail, regular old consumer Dell. So they had had a problem with that they didn't want to buy anymore now they're going to go by HP, but they went ahead and bought another HP consumer-grade computer. Now that according to the statistics that are out there, the average consumer-grade laptop and that's what they bought last about seven months. So you pay 700 bucks for a no half-decent, pretty crappy consumer-grade laptop. Versus let's say that they got what re recommended which was a commercial DELL LAPTOP or maybe even an HP, HP enterprise laptop and you may not be aware of it. But Hewlett Packard split into and they have the consumer division that just costs reduces things. You know, they'll save a half a cent on a component by putting in something that's cheaper and crappier. Right, they don't care. And then they have their HP enterprise, which makes equipment for businesses completely different companies now, okay, they were split off, because there's no money to be made in that consumer space because it frankly, it's a race for the bottom. So they decided, hey, listen, we don't like Dell because the low-end Dell that we bought broke, well, yeah, on average, not just Dell, but across the industry. 7% they won't last seven months, okay, seven months is average. And it was I think $100 more for the computer that we recommended. That came with a three-year warranty that had better components in it and everything else right, that a hundred bucks, really makes a huge difference. But they decided they wanted to quote save money and quote right and What does it cost? So for instance, we, we ended up lending them a DELL LAPTOP. And that DELL LAPTOP that we lent them was at least five years old, maybe six years old. And it's still working. Because it's a commercial-grade laptop, it's not a consumer. It's not what you buy at Walmart. It's not what you can buy at Best Buy or staples. It is a commercial-grade laptop. And as a general rule, if you're a really small business and you want a commercial-grade, you'd either have to go to a company like us, or you could buy Apple if Apple's gonna work for you. So let's look at the apple stuff. So the apple laptop might cost you two or $3,000. You can get them for now right now about $800 for a little air, which is about the same price as you'd pay for one of these consumer-grade Dells or HP's. But you go ahead and you buy one of those apples. I have Apple computers that are 10 years old. We're still using. Okay, laptops included. So let's add up the numbers here. Let's say they only last five years for that Apple Computer. When is the breakeven point? Well, at about 18 months, and then for the next three and a half years, you have a free computer. That also works really well because Apple is not making major cuts in the quality of the components that you have. So, where I come in to understand this is I know personally in my business, I spend as much as I can on technology. But I do cut some corners sometimes, right? You look at it, and you say, Well, let me see. I can buy this laptop. It's a third of the price. So I can buy three of these laptops. Instead of buying one of those more expensive laptops. Right. I know you I know. You thought the same thing, right? Because I think of that too. That's what I do. So you look at it and you say, Well, I could buy three of these, yeah, but you're not going to have a machine that's still it's going to last it and you won't be able to buy three of those other computers, they just aren't going to last. And you're going to have to move all of your data when that computer fails, if you can move it if what fails isn't the SSD, because, for instance, now SS DS are not created equally. And these are the drive solid-state drives that replace the spinning drives that are in our computers. And they have a limited number of write cycles. In other words, they have a predetermined life factor. We could tell you a story about that, that we won't right now. There are some that just completely die after a certain number of hours, they just shut themselves off. So beware. So you can't even compare an SSD of a certain size. As a regular consumer, you have to look at what's the technology inside behind it. How long is it going to last? How many right cycles Is it good to be able to handle How about the GPU? If you're doing engineering work, you need a much better GPU that Yeah, okay, there's a GPU built into that Intel CPU, but it's nowhere near as good as having the next-gen CPU or GPU made by company x company y company z. Craig Peterson 6:16 So, even though I'm tempted to cheap out, I don't and I am much happier because it lasts longer and it performs better the whole time. So I'm not sitting there waiting constantly for something to happen because it's so slow. And that's why I moved to Apple, frankly. Now back to the phones. Why I said I don't understand why people buy Samsung's Yeah, you know, in reality, I do understand. And it's, it's primarily because you have been fooled. Right? They the guys out there that are selling you that Samsung phone is pretending Well, maybe they just don't know better, but frankly, there are people in the organization that knew but do know better. pretending that this Galaxy phone is just as every bit as good as an iPhone 11 or an iPhone 10 and they are lying to you. And then when your phone fails and I was on that Android bandwagon for a while myself and my Android phones would fail, and they would not get updates at all for even for security patches. I realized that my suspicions were right, that these manufacturers are just trying to crank out the phones as cheaply as they can, as many as they can, and then move on to the next model to get us to buy the next model. Because the whole smartphone industry right now is suffering because of this whole big problem of people are just happy enough with the phones they have. So there's something called planned obsolescence as a part of this as well. Now I'm not saying that Samsung isn't giving you security patches because of Planned obsolescence. Although they might be I'm saying that Our friends at Samsung are really playing some games with you. And they are deceiving you. And they are really causing nothing but headaches. But there are ways around it. If you are buying an Android phone because you can't afford an iPhone, again, you've been fooled. Because buying an older model, the iPhone is always a better investment. And it's a better investment because it will still have some resale value in a few years, unlike that Android phone and it will be supported by Apple. Think about what's on your smartphone. Do you do have your contacts there? That might be a problem. Do you have any documents from your business, any text, any emails? That might be a problem because if your phone is hacked, which Android phones are, I just told you there's over there right now they're shipping with over 100 vulnerabilities pre-installed okay. Think about what else might be either to use your phone to check your bank balances. Does your phone have an app from your bank from your credit card company? Think about that for a minute. Apple gets their fixes out within a day. Samsung as we just found out can take up to even almost a year to get them out if they even provide them for your phone. Because they're only providing them for the Samsung the 10 and the S 10. And the S nine right now and that that will change so five years versus a couple of years okay. Plus the fixes they just come out from Apple. So do everybody a favor. Buy some of these iPhones by right now I would say go out and buy an iPhone 10 Xr good value. Easy to get and it's going to last a while stick around. We'll be right back with more you listening to Tech Talk with Craig Peterson right here on WGAN Craig Peterson 0:03 Hello everybody. Welcome back, Craig Peterson here on WGAN and online at Craig Peterson dot com. You can get all of this week's articles right there from me on my website and also the newsletter I try and keep you up to date on all the latest tech news you need to have. What are the important things and how should you be handling them so all of that up and Craig Peterson dot com and you can get my podcasts all over the place just in your favorite podcast app I'm really am almost everywhere now. You will find me please subscribe, and that helps our numbers and it helps get the message out and I really appreciate it if you do this isn't a labor of love. And I hope you can share this love with other people as well as we try and help them out. We are seeing right now. A major revolution in the world. And part of that has to do with our facial recognition. So I want to talk about facial recognition what department Homeland Security is doing right now, what China's doing this whole thing with some of the Arab countries and, and really why you should opt-out facial recognition. Department of Homeland Security has been using facial recognition now at the gates of some airports at some gates. And they've been trying to match your national ID photo with the picture that's taken at the gate. And they have arrested. I think it's almost 10,000 people who were here illegally, who overstayed visas, etc. I went to the airport to hop on a plane just have a domestic flight, not even International. And as they hopped on that plane, We're about to they were arrested. I mentioned illegal immigrants, which is certainly one qualification of people. But it also arrested criminals that were wanted for various crimes were, you know, independent of their legal status in the United States? Well, we have seen now over in China, some very, very scary uses of some of this facial recognition technology. And I being basically here, mostly libertarian, certainly on when it comes to our own privacy and security very libertarian. We've seen in China, some serious problems and right now, like this week in Iran, and I want to talk about what's coming here in the US within the next six months in China. They have been using facial recognition as part of their social credit system. So now in China, if you buy a phone, smartphone or otherwise, the carrier is required to take a picture of you Craig Peterson 3:09 and send that photo on off to the central government. So now the central government in Beijing has photos of everyone who's in the country legally. And I guess the illegally as well. And then they're using that to track you if you jaywalk, for instance, you lose social credit. There's a great dark, I think it's dark mirror right episode about this sort of thing. But if you jaywalk, you lose social credit. If you lose enough social credit, you can't vote. You can't even get on a train to go to work anymore. So they're using that in those ways. They're also using it to suppress religious minorities. Just this week on I think it was Wednesday. De An article came out showing a secret document that was in China that was part of their, you know, the Socialist Party over there. And the socialists had decided that they wanted to be able to have more reeducation camps. And the people that have gotten out of these camps say these are internment camps. They are torturing people. It's just insane what they're doing. And they're doing this to ethnic minorities there in China. A lot of them are part of a Muslim minority as well. So China has this facial recognition technology that they are starting to export. And China is a major driver in the United Nations now to have a facial recognition standard that they can use, okay, and that they want to be spread around the world and it's just absolutely amazing when you get right down to it. So we have also heard just this week about what's happening in Iran? Well, a couple of weeks, I guess. But there have been protests in Iran, you know, our sanctions against Iran have really been hurting them. They have a very hardline socialist government over there. But again, it decides what rights people should have and what they shouldn't have. They're not obeying any sort of constitutional protections as we have in the United States because they just don't exist, right. When it comes to a socialist country doesn't matter. It's whatever the head of the Socialist Party says whether it's a fascist government or communist government, it just doesn't matter because everyone's equals under their feet is kind of the bottom line. Right. Can you tell my political leaning on this one? Yeah, it's I think it's a bad thing. So in Iran, what they've started to do is they have been positioning snipers on top of buildings and shooting and killing at least hundreds. We don't get good reports on Iran, obviously. And they pretty much shut down the internet over there of people who have been protesting the government. Now it doesn't look like it's gotten to that level yet in Hong Kong, where they're also protest protesting the socialist government. But what China has started to do now is they are selling fully autonomous killer drones in the Middle East. And these drones are, are designed to decide by themselves, who they should kill. So you could literally if you're wrong, you could literally let these things loose in the streets. And let's say the curfew is 6 pm just as an example from 6 pm to 6 am. And anyone that the drone sees in the streets that it does not recognize either through the facial recognition or perhaps a uniform or some other method. ology, if it doesn't recognize you just shoots and kills you. Craig Peterson 7:05 extensively, these are going to be used in warfare, which means if we are battling over there in the Middle East, our troops could be up against these drones. And it could be very, very bad for us and for everybody else. Now let's talk about what's happening here in the US. I was shocked when I went down to New York City. It's been at least a decade, maybe 15 years ago. And I entered a building because I wanted to visit someone who had invited me to their business down there. So in I go, and I could not go into the building without presenting some form of ID, which they scanned and kept, and that really upset me, really upset me because it wasn't what businesses of theirs and they said, Well, you know, no, no. We need to be able to count the bodies that might be in here in case there's, you know, another bombing and we want to keep track of terrorists and every Now it's okay, well, wonderful. So there's a great article that I have up on Craig peterson.far.com, Karen peterson.com that came from Fortune magazine. And this is for actually from their newsletter. And fortune moved into a new office building in Manhattan a few months ago. And they had a new entry system. So a lot of these buildings, you have to have a card, you put the card up to the reader, and it might be something that you just touch it and it reads it with RFID might have to slide it in. But they put in a system that allows you just walk through because they've scanned your face. Just smile at the camera and in you go No more waiting, no more forgotten card keys or anything else. This I think is a very big problem. And the problem that I see and there are many of these, frankly surrounding this, but the biggest problem is If you lose your badge, you can get a new one. What happens if they lose the information about your face? What happens if that stolen?  You only have one face. And how can you be sure whether it's this building in Manhattan or the Department of Homeland Security that wants to scan your face at the airport? How can you be sure that it's going to be kept safe? Because unlike a John Travolta in the movie face-off, you just don't get to change your face over time. Big, big problem. So don't let them scan your face. And there are programs underway at the airports to try and get you to do that. Because you can just walk through everything's wonderful. All right, I disagree. So your next steps. Don't let your face get scanned. iPhones a little bit of a different deal when we talk about that when we get back. You're listening to Craig Peterson WGAN. Craig Peterson 0:04 Hi, everybody. Welcome back, Craig Peterson here on WGAN and online at Craig Peterson dot com. Hey, let's finish up that last little discussion here. I just told you to opt-out of facial recognition systems whenever you can, you know, in some cases like what the Homeland Security Department is doing right now at airports, you can't really opt out of that. It's kind of like this. What do they call this ID program that they have, where your ID is something that the federal government recognizes and needed to fly. And the states are sending all of this stuff off to the federal government, which I think is a major violation of privacy, something that we've got to protect against but you know, again, you can't really opt out of that depends on the state. But I think as of next year, every state all 50 of them are going to have this new secure ID is part of your driver's license stuff I, I am really, really not happy with that. But maybe, maybe that's just me. I don't know, maybe it's just me I'm kind of paranoid in that regard. But let's talk about your iPhone or heaven forbid your Samsung Galaxy phone. here's, here's what's going on in the iPhone. The iPhone has had for quite a while now ever since it started having the thumbprint reader or the fingerprint reader. The iPhone has something called a secure enclave. Now, this has caused some people some problems over the years because if you replace the broken screen on your iPhone, and you didn't do it correctly, that broken screen at the bottom had that little fingerprint reader and if it's disturbed at all, you you now lost access to the phone period because that secure enclave was destroyed which is why so many people ended up going to Apple to have their screens fixed and moaned and groaned about it for very good reason If you ask me, so yeah, problems on that front. Craig Peterson 2:12 However now moving on to the next step, Craig Peterson 2:15 What is the 10, I guess the iPhone 10 came out and it had facial recognition built into it. And now the facial recognition not perfect. And it's interesting with my I have identical twin daughters. So my two daughters identical. One of them weighs a little more than the other one does. And they both have iPhone tabs with facial recognition turned on. And they can one of them can always unlock the other one's phone and the other one can sometimes unlock the other one's phone. But the facial recognition in the iPhone was having problems with identifying Eastern faces like you know oriental or whatever the culture holidays. But you know, Chinese and even Indonesians and Pacific Islanders and all of those people had some problems with. And China now with their facial recognition is trying to get African faces because it's having problems with African faces. So there are some problems with it. But one problem that does not exist with the facial recognition on the iPhone only is how is that data stored? Where's that data stored? Is it going to be stolen? Could it be stolen, etc, etc? The way Apple did it is the right way. And it stores your fingerprint information locally in the phone in the secure enclave, which is virtually 100%. No one has ever shown it to be anything less than a hundred percent hack-proof. It's amazing what a job they've done. So it stores the information about your face in this secure enclave. So if the phone wants to know is this really you? It asks a secure enclave. Hey, is this really him? This girl enclave says yes. And that's it Apple never get your face and never get your fingerprints. It's never sent up to the cloud. All of that is handled in the phone in a special chip that has a special sealant around it so it can even be physically broken into without destroying it, called the secure enclave. Very, very, very big deal. So when we're talking about facial recognition, and Apple I do trust it. I do not, however, trust the way Samsung's doing it or any of the other Android devices that I'm aware of right now. Now they're getting better but still don't trust them. Definitely do not use Samsung's fingerprint recognized recognition system. It is very, very, very hackable. They may fix that in the future. I'm not sure their facial recognition is actually better than the fingerprint system, but I wouldn't use either. But then again, you already know I wouldn't use an Android device, including any of the Samsung's that are out there. So, there you go, opt-out when you can have facial recognition. For the most part, it's a very bad idea. And if you're using an Apple device, facial recognition is okay. I still personally prefer the fingerprint as opposed to facial recognition but maybe that's just me, but I have an iPhone eight as well. And that's all it has on it on maybe I'd like facial a little better if I had it on my phone. But I'm not planning on changing from an iPhone eight, probably until next year, next September when the iPhone 12 comes out. Although my age can be supported for a while Apple just stopped supporting the iPhone six. So after the iPhone six, there's the six s there's the seven I think there was a seven as There's an eight, I don't think there was an eight as there was some 10. Craig Peterson 6:06 And now 11. So there you go, that six models that they're still supporting iPhones vs. Samsung, which support which is probably the best out there for support only supports two models versus six models. And it takes some half a year to get security patches out versus one day for Apple. Okay. All right. So let's talk about security. You might know that I've used Verizon for a long time for my cell phone plan. And then I switched over to T-Mobile because they had a much better deal. And most of the time where I'm trying to use the phone, I have coverage. It's rare that I don't Verizon definitely had better coverage than T Mobile does. But I'm saving a lot of money over on T Mobile. Well, T Mobile had a data breach, they confirmed so I want to tell you what Do how to protect yourself after this data breach. This isn't just for people who might be T Mobile customers. This is true for almost anybody out there. Okay, that just in general, when you have a cell phone, it's estimated that there were more than a million accounts that were breached according to Tech Crunch. So it is a big breach, but you need don't freak out now. Okay, don't ignore but don't get too nervous at the same time. Now, t-mobile has said that it has notified people who had been hacked, basically who's dated been hacked. And here's what they wrote. Our cybersecurity team discovered in shut down malicious unauthorized access to some information related to your team mobile prepaid wireless account. We promptly reported this to the authorities. None of your financial data including credit card information or social security numbers was involved, and no passwords were compromised. The data accessed was information associated with your prepaid service account, including name and billing address if you provided one when you establish your account, phone number, account number rate plan and features such as whether you added an international calling feature. Okay? So since the right planet features bit requires T Mobile to notify anyone who's affected. If you haven't heard anything yet, the odds are good that you're not in trouble here. But let's be a little paranoid. Let's tell you what to do right now. Okay. You're going to want to double-check your account settings. You can call t mobile's customer service number if you have at mobile phone, you can just tell 611 to confirm whether or not your account is affected now 611 does not just work for T Mobile. If your T Mobile customer that's what you dial in catch a T Mobile if you're a Verizon customer new dial 611 it'll get you to Verizon, etc, etc. Most of the carriers use six-one-one to get customer service. So if you are worried that your data was stolen here, you're lucky because really real critical information like your payment details, passwords, so security number was not stolen years, anyone can tell. So at best, they might be able to impersonate to either at t mobile or in another service. But here's what you should do. Set up a password or a pin with T Mobile. So when you call them at 611, make sure you have your latest build with you so that you have all of your account numbers all the information that they will ask you for. And then you can set up this password or a personal-identifiable number with TMobile. That way whenever you contact customer support, they're gonna ask for that specific information in order to proceed. Now don't forget the pinner pass. Word Are you going to have to go to T Mobile store in person and you have to verify you are, who you say you are, etc, etc. But that's the bottom line here, just quickly set up a pin. If you haven't done this with your carrier already a highly recommend you do that. And we've done it with all of our accounts for a lot of years. In some cases, there are also multi-factor authentication or two-factor authentication that's available. So they'll send you a message in their app that is much safer than sending an SMS message. Craig Peterson 10:37 So I want to talk to those of you. And I know many of you have done this, but those of you who specifically have accounts that hold Bitcoin, or any of these other cryptocurrencies, one of the ways that 10s of millions of dollars have been stolen from you guys. Is that your SMS has been hacked. So what the guys and gals are doing they're trying to hack you is they use SMS portability. And they pretend that they are you. They call up your carrier, they say hey, I've got a new phone, they give them the numbers for the phone, just an unlocked phone. And now all of your text messages and your phone calls are going to be transferred to them instead of you. So when you are trying to verify now, your payment, whether it's a bank account, or more particularly right now we're talking about a cryptocurrency account. When they try and confirm they're gits you going to send a pin via text message via SMS to your phone but it's not really going to go to your phone is going to go to the bad guy's phone. So this is why you really want to have a pin or a password so that when the bad guy calls up tries to steal your phone calls and your pin. They can't. Because they don't have that important information, the stuff they really need. So what I want you to do right now is go ahead and call your carrier, set up a pin, set up a password, so that you are safe here in the future. So we've talked this hour about facial recognition about why you should never ever buy an Android and some of the deals that are going on for iPhones, even older ones, and how to protect yourself with T. T mobile's big data breach. So coming up, we're going to talk about the five things you need to know about cyber insurance. The robot This is cute here for surveilling and playing with your cat Congress what they're doing this week on privacy, and a whole lot more you listening to Craig Peterson on WGAN online at Craig Peterson dot com Craig Peterson 0:04 Hey, everybody, Welcome back Craig Peterson here on WGAN of course online at Craig peterson.com. Hey, if you are new to the show a real quick introduction, I've been in the technology field for many decades. I have been doing internetwork, in fact, since the early 80s helped to develop a lot of the systems, some of which are still in use today. And I have been a victim of security problems with my business. I built a big business it was doing pretty well Well, technically a small business, but it was doing pretty well had 50 employees and then we got nailed now this was way back in the 90s. But when we got nailed, I had quite the wake-up call about what I really should be doing and, and, man, it was scary. It was really Really, really scary at the time I owned our own building, we had our own data center. It, we were building some of the biggest commercial properties online on the Internet at the time. And it was a really scary thing. It was like, you know, the bully in the yard right at school, and they would suck you right in the solar plexus right in the gut, right? And that feeling that you had you just you couldn't breathe, the not really pain, but it's just shocking. And that's how I felt. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to do it. We had anti-virus software. Why didn't it protect us? And it really bothered me and took a couple of days now. I was very, very technical. Of course, I still tend to me. If I have a real failure it is that it's kind of hard to remember what it was like not to know when any of this stuff. So you know, bear with me asking me questions. Okay, I get it right. I can be very confusing sometimes. Craig Peterson 2:09 But I was very technical. And it took about two days for me now this is back of course before Google or AltaVista, or any of these really great search engines. So I was using the stuff at the time, like our chain Veronica gopher stuff, and trying to find out what was going on. And it was actually digging into the machine itself, that revealed what the problem was. And I'd become a victim of what's known as the Morris worm. crawling through my machines and some other machines on the internet. It was, it was a really scary time. And I decided right then and there that I had to make cybersecurity priority. And I had to be able to help people with their cybersecurity and businesses as well. Now businesses you hope can afford to pay and keep my life On the right. And they've been very good to me my clients over the years, you know, I've had some great clients. And I've decided at this point in my life that I only want to work with great clients only clients that really, really want to work with me. But the same can't be said for consumers because you retirees and other people just don't have the money to pay what it costs to secure a business. You know, it kind of at a minimum, you're talking about $50,000 investment, plus monthly and 2500 bucks a month is pretty standard. And you could certainly go out and hire somebody to have somebody who's a quote it person unquote, but they are not really going to be able to help you out very much and they not going to keep up with it. And that's the biggest problem we have right now. My people who are involved in this every day spend about a third of their time in classes. And in coaching and conferences trying to keep up with what are the attacks? What is the best software out there? What should we be using? What are the techniques that we need to use nowadays? And so you as a home user, there's no way you can afford it. And as a business user, if you're running a Soho like a small office, Home Office, you cannot afford to do all of the right things. And that's what I'm trying to help out with. And that's why we talk a lot about security here on the show, and that's why I do pop up training and Facebook Lives, where we kind of delve into one aspect or more, and then I have paid courses as well, that tells you what the tools are, how to use the tools where you can get the Tools What, what are the best ones. And my newsletter, we talked about that a bit. In fact, if you got this morning's newsletter, we add a new section and actually, we have a new section that we're probably going to do this monthly, but it is the number one through five things patches you need to apply. Here are the five things you absolutely have to take care of when it comes to patching this month because there are extreme vulnerabilities and they are being used by the bad guys right now. I can't think of anything more valuable if you guys can let me know. For everybody, whether you are big business, a small business, a home user, right, it's making sure these have been applied or you could be in a whole lot of trouble. And now we're looking at the costs of recovering from one of these breaches and a very large percentage of businesses today. If they're breached, they file bankruptcy The next day, because that's how bad it's gotten and ransomware attacks are up and They're up across the board no longer they necessarily aiming primarily at these real big companies because they realize the smaller guys are the ones that are going to be easier to compromise. And then when you add into that equation, the fact that it takes about eight months for a company to notice that it has been hacked. Wow, think of the damage one of these guys could do. And it's everything from stealing the intellectual property that you've developed, whether it's designed, it can be a man, we have another client that we picked up, and she has a business that was a cutthroat, I had no idea how crazy cutthroat Craig Peterson 6:47 it is. She's in the design business for clothing, and purses, women's wear shoes, various other things. And in this whole design thing that she's doing the is quite a bit of money, and she had been selling into these huge retailers and things are going really well. And, you know, maybe one of these days we'll get deeper into that story. But this is just a couple of weeks ago, I met with her, and she lost everything. And now at what, how old is she now? 55, I think, or 50. She's starting over again, from scratch and I don't want that to happen. So the easiest, simplest, most straightforward and free thing you can do, frankly, is to subscribe to my newsletter. Now you're going to go to Craig Peterson comm slash subscribe, and I'm asking for your name and your email. That's all I'm asking for. Now, I don't hound you. I'm not like one of these internet marketers that sending you emails every day multiple sometimes unless I've got something that's big going on. There's training or something, I might send you emails during the week. reminders, hey, I'm starting this afternoon or whatever, right? That's the only time you're going to get a bunch of emails from me. And that's for the free training as well as some of the paid ones. But I am I don't sell your name, I am not trying to target you or anything else, right? So, if you subscribe, you will get my weekly newsletter. And in that newsletter, I have usually between eight and 10 articles, we tend to write a short article that few paragraphs long kind of describing what the problem is what you need to do give you some tips of what to do about it. And then we will link also to a third-party article, you know, unlike Forbes magazine, or some newspaper out there, etc. Dark reading there's another one that we get, we linked to quite a bit but you get all of that there. is no charge for any of this, I don't want you to feel like I did. And I got hit once that first time and I got hit once again a few years later completely different way. And that's when I decided, hey, listen to this, this low-end antivirus firewall thing that you buy at Staples or from one of these brake fixed shops, it doesn't really know much about it, it just isn't going to cut it. So I upped my game after that. But you are going to understand what you should do how you should do it. My recommendations, I throw those in there once in a while if somebody comes out with a new product, as we did with Wi-Fi here recently, and with some of the new Wi-Fi technology, what you should be looking for there and segmenting your network at your home or your small business so that your kids playing games who might be hacked are not going to affect your main network there, I can be able to get onto your computer, they're not gonna be able to get on your business computer, none of that stuff. But the only way you're going to find out about this is if you subscribe. Now I have hundreds and hundreds, probably 1000 recommendations from people who just really appreciate all of the stuff that I'm doing. And, you know, there's free stuff, hey, if you can afford it, I'd appreciate it if you get the paid stuff because, you know, there's more, it's better because you can afford to pay for it right? But I really don't hold anything back. Right? I'm not trying to play secrets. It's the type of software you use as a business. That for instance has some sort of a military subcontract, you have defiers it or regulations or a doctor's office where you got HIPAA regulations, or a business that has to deal with FINRA or PCI regulations, financial transactions and Companies, those guys hopefully have enough money to do it mostly right. And as I said, it gets expensive. We were just in a company, we did a proposal just I want about a month ago, I guess now, and to secure her stuff properly, it would cost her about 80,000 a year. Now she had a number of employees, but she decided she wouldn't, didn't want to pay it wouldn't couldn't, whatever. And you know, I understand that too. But your best free advice you're going to get by going to Craig Peterson dot com slash subscribe, Craig Peterson 11:38 and I will be sending you my newsletter and I have three special things that you're going to get as well. That will come in the email after you confirm your subscription. So you subscribe, look for my email, click the link and you're all set. You're listening to Craig Peterson on WGAN and I'll be right back. Stick around Craig Peterson 0:06 Hey, Craig Peterson here on WGAN. Thanks for spending part of your day with me here. We're covering some of the topics that are really of interest, I think to everybody, and are certainly of importance to everybody. And that includes and I think in many ways is most particularly cybersecurity. So I want to talk right now about what to do after the fact. If you've been hacked, what are the right things to do? Well, there are some things that you can do right away. I remember back in the day if you noticed that your machine and this is true today. It has run somewhere and is doing something odd. The best thing to do is shut it off. And then have somebody take that disk and put it on another machine that can analyze it. Not just a regular machine, you don't want to spread that ransomware, but an analysis machine uses Knoppix or one of these other tools in order to have a look at it. But if you're a company, what do you do? If you're an individual, what do you do? A lot of people turn to insurance. In order to cover it, you may not be aware of it, but your homeowners' insurance may have a rider that covers cyber intrusions, on your computers. And if you're a business person, you probably have already purchased some sort of a cyber insurance policy. That makes a whole lot of sense, frankly, but it can be a requirement for your company as well to have cyber insurance. So I've got five things to know right now, about cyber insurance because the attacks are increasing. It's becoming more and more important for companies to protect themselves and Cyber insurance may not cover you. And I have seen quite a number of times where companies This is in the news, thank goodness, I don't have personal experience with this. But in the news, I've read articles where companies filed for their sideburn against their cyber insurance policy. And their policy didn't payout. Right now in the news, there's a big story about large companies that are suing their insurance company because they wouldn't pay out all of the money that the company thought should be paid out. Now, in this case, we're talking about cyber insurance. That said, Hey, you have to take reasonable steps. Now with the cyber insurance that we have. So for instance, depending on the level of service you have from us, we have a policy underwritten by Lloyds of London whereby if you are compromised? Well, we're taking care of your systems. There is I think it's a million dollars worth of insurance. So it'll cover the smaller businesses typically. And then hopefully you have your own cyber insurance, right? That's how this whole thing works. And then, of course, our company, we have our general insurances, our liability and all of the stuff you would expect to have the right key man type stuff, etc. But since the cyber attacks are now a top business concern, we're seeing numbers from Microsoft that found that cyber attacks beat out economic uncertainty, brand damage and government regulation as the top concerns for business owners and C level executives. So if you're sitting on the board of a company or you're sitting on the board of a nonprofit that you're trying to help out with This is something that should be big on your mind. I did a presentation for university, about insurance, cyber insurance, how it all works, what the problems

Bottled-in-Bond. It’s one of the revolutionary moments of American history, but has also become near and dear to many bourbon drinkers with good reason. We covered the in and outs of bottled-in-bond with Bernie Lubbers back on Episode 089 and it's part of our Bourbon 101 podcasts. Since we know why bottled-in-bond is important, it’s time to find out who Bourbon Pursuit is going to claim as the best bottled in bond bourbon in 2019! We blind sample our way through 12 heavy weight contenders and put them in the Bottled-in-Bond Showdown. Who is going to be crowned champion? Listen and find out. Show Partners: * Hotel Distil on historic Whiskey Row is set to open October 29th in Downtown Louisville. Book now to experience it for yourself at HotelDistil.com. * The University of Louisville now has an online Distilled Spirits Business Certificate that focuses on the business side of the spirits industry. Learn more at uofl.me/pursuespirits. * At Barrell Craft Spirits, they spend weeks choosing barrels to create a new batch. Joe and Tripp meticulously sample every barrel to make sure the blend is absolutely perfect. Find out more at BarrellBourbon.com. * Receive $25 off your first order at RackHouse Whiskey Club with code "Pursuit". Visit RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. * Distillery 291 is an award winning, small batch whiskey distillery located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Learn more at Distillery291.com. Show Notes: Elijah Craig Launching Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3wt1feHdlZ/ Amazon Gin: https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2019/10/21/Amazon-launches-its-own-spirits-brand-Tovess This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about premium pricing. What is Bottled-in-Bond? Blind tasting of the following (in no particular order): Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond 7yr Henry McKenna Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond Old Bardstown Bottled-in-Bond Old Grand Dad Bottled-in-Bond 1792 Bottled-in-Bond Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond Jim Beam Bottled-in-Bond JW Dant Bottled-in-Bond Early Times Bottled-in-Bond New Riff Bottled-in-Bond Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 0:00 I love bourbon, but I'm not ready to restart my career in be a distiller. I have a bachelor's degree and I want to continue to use those skills in the whiskey industry. So check this out. The University of Louisville now has an online distilled spirits business certificate that focuses on the business side of the spirits industry like finance, marketing and operations. This is perfect for anyone looking for more professional development. And if you ever want to get your MBA their certificate credits transfer into Ul's new online MBA program. Learn more about this online program at U of l.me. Slash pursue spirits. How fast can you go through like 15 Bourbons? I'd be done. Now if you aren't asking me so many questions. 0:55 Welcome back. It's Episode 224 of bourbon pursuit. I'm wanting to host And here's your weekly bourbon news roundup. Last Thursday, heaven Hill announced Elijah Craig is launching their Kentucky straight rye whiskey. This is made from heaven hills only right Nashville which is 51% rye, 35% corn and 14% malted barley, the same Nashville that you're going to see for Rittenhouse as well as Pikeville with an SRP of only 2999 Elijah Craig Kentucky straight rye whiskey will first launch unlimited markets of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Oregon in January of 2020. Now, when you hear about a release like this, we typically hear about most people, especially in Kentucky, being kind of upset about its lack of market penetration. So we actually reached out to our contacts at heaven Hill to see what the response was. And this was a decision by the brands to focus on markets based on a variety of needs. This could be from building a brand on premise competitiveness and a particular market or too slow roll a product based on age inventory. For this release, there was no one single reason but you can read more about this post on Instagram with the link in our show notes. Jim Murray's whiskey Bible has announced that last week his top whiskey of 2020 was 1792 full per second was the 2018 William drew Weller and third was the 2018 Thomas HND, meaning that Sazerac swept all top three whiskeys of the world for Jim Murray's whiskey Bible. Now continue on the trend of Buffalo Trace, they are also releasing their next installment in the old charter oak series called Canadian oak. In late 2018, Buffalo Trace announced its old charter oak series, it's a collection exploring the different taste profiles of barrels obtained from trees grown in different countries, climates and soils. For this newest release, Buffalo Trace obtained a small number of barrels from Canada and filled them with mash number one. This is the same Nashville us for Buffalo Trace and Eagle rare Canadian oak trees differ from a American oak trees that they are harder and have tighter grain structure, which affects the bourbon as it ages. The old charter oaks Canadian oak was aged for 10 years and will be available in retail in late October. The suggested retail price will be 6999. While we're talking about new releases, let's not forget about angel's envy and their annual cask strength release. angel's envy cast drink begins West standard angel's envy bourbon, it's made with a Nashville of 72% corn, 18%, rye and 10% malted barley, aged first in new charred oak barrels, but finished in barrels at once held port wine. As these barrels are tasted throughout the year. A few are set aside to age longer MB bottled at cash drink for its special annual release. This year's release will clock in at 122.4 proof with seven different ages as port finished bourbon of 689 10 1314 and 15 years old, that are missing To create this final blend, the bottle will come in a packaged in a wooden Art Deco style box for a suggested retail price of around $200. And the last release we're going to talk about isn't actually bourbon. It's not actually even whiskey. It's a gin and it's called tow service. And it's only available in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. This is a big deal because the owner of this brand is none other than Amazon. Yes, Amazon is getting into the spirits business. And this is now available to order online@amazon.co.uk this is another one of those things that we may see as a small ripple but could potentially end up being a tidal wave years down the road. You can read more about this with the link to beverage daily com in our show notes. Bottled in bond. It's one of the revolutionary moments of American history but has also become near and dear to the hearts of many bourbon lovers and with good reason. We covered the ins and outs of bottle and bond with Bernie lovers back on episode 89, and it is also part of our bourbon one on one podcast on our website. But now, since we know why bottle and bond is important, let's move on to what bourbon pursuit is going to claim as the best bottled in bond bourbon in 2019. We take a total of 12 heavyweight contenders and put them in a blind and what we're calling the bottled in bond showdown who's going to pull ahead and become the champion this year? Well, just wait and find out. All right, let's get down to it. Here's Joe from barrel bourbon. And then you've got Fred Minnick with above the char. 5:36 Hi, Joe from barrell bourbon here, myself and our master distiller triple Stimson spend weeks choosing barrels to create a new batch. We meticulously sample every barrel make sure the blend is absolutely perfect. lift your spirits with barrell bourbon. 5:50 I'm Redman Aiken. This is above the char this week's idea comes from Patreon subscriber Brian Shabbat. He asks should bourbon enthusiasts stop complaining and embrace premium pricing for premium bourbon. MacAllan. 25 year old for $2,000 is acceptable. But 1500 for Pappy 20 is considered price gouging. Brian also wants to know what's the possible economic implications for premium pricing. Now this story really goes it's really goes back to the 1960s when bourbon is kind of changing its business model up until the 1960s. You saw bottled in bond bourbon and even straight bourbon is really kind of competing with scotch as a premium on the shelf even cognac so cognac would have been you know another brand he's would have been considered the creme de la creme and scotch and bourbon were kind of, you know, neck and neck scotch was also dubbed more blends they were so this was when scotch was predominantly a blended category. Now the 1960s scotch starts going toward a more premium ization and they focused on single malts, while bourbon decided to do things like lower their proof points from like 100 or 107, to 86 and 80. And they started becoming the everyday man's whiskey. And so they were basically setting the market up to take on the blue collar workers, the people who were fixing sinks and doing construction and in the military, everything that they were doing was really geared around people who had a budget. Well, scotch was focusing on the people on Wall Street and bankers and people who own businesses. They put a lot of effort into, you know, building this esteem. At the same time, they were also putting away whiskey. They were putting away a lot of whiskey, though at age up to you know, 50 years and today we see him coming on the market for a million or more at auction. Now today, bourbon is so popular that distilling have had to increase your prices to kind of deal with demand and it's often gets pushed back. And there's one brand that always comes out as unpopular in this conversation. And that's Pappy Van Winkle. Now, when we when Brian asked about 1500 dollars for Pappy 20 it always has to be pointed out that the distillers are not the one setting that price that is not the MSRP for Pappy Van Winkle. And so the argument can be made that the MSRP is for these premium Bourbons don't necessarily reflect what people are willing to pay. So the question is, should people increase their suggested retailers price? Yeah, I don't know. I think it's still pretty cool to have a glimmer of hope that maybe you can get a bottle of four roses limited edition for the MSRP of 100 or 150, or whatever it is versus 500 to 1500 that you'll find it in some retail stores, but it also gives bourbon a little bit of a black guy. As It's never good to increase prices 200 400 600% year after year after year, and that's essentially what's happening right now. So there is a way to increase prices, and I just don't know what the best way is. scotch on the other hand, doesn't seem to be short of those million dollar bottles anytime soon. And that's this week's above the char. Hey, if you have an idea for above the char become a Patreon subscriber and share with me your ideas you can check us out at bourbon pursuit on Patreon. Until next week, cheers 9:41 Welcome back to another episode of bourbon pursuit the official podcast of bourbon and today Yeah, yeah boy. We are the trio we're back here again with an awesome as can be a fun episode. But first, you know, I gotta say that shout out to hotel distil. This is where we're recording today. We're actually in the barrel room here and this is located on historical Whiskey row is going to be opening on November 1 here in downtown Louisville. It's going to be a place that has, you know, first we talked about it on the last podcast, it is used to be the home of JTS Brown. It's got an exciting history and it's now transformed into this beautiful beautiful space. So it's going to be designed to really ignite your passion for discovery and will be the anchor for levels revitalization and refinement of bourbon culture. You can book a your true authentic experience and stay at Hotel distil.com 10:31 So is it that is it is it is very nice. 10:34 Yeah, very sweet. Excited now I'm excited to kind of see what's going to happen if you're watching this on video they talked about so they haven't these barrels behind us and they've got taps on them they're gonna be having barrel aged tap cocktails like right here with inside of this room. So I'm kind of I'm kind of stuck. Yeah, they 10:48 will actually be aging in the barrel. They're going to be in like a sleeve or a bladder, because that's the only way you can technically do that legally. 10:58 Like Like a bottle of wine. So They'll 11:00 be they will be pre like Franzia. Yes, it's like the bag. 11:04 Yep, front front. 11:06 The back before 11:09 I've done it on a boat once or twice. Yeah. So if you've never played that game before, ask somebody that has a boat on the lake in front. Franzia. 11:17 Alright, so that's the bag. Let's go 11:19 All right, let's go. So what we're gonna do today is we're going to slap the bottle and bond This is going to be the bottled in bond showdown. So we are selecting what we can find as one of our favorites have 12 different bottle of bond every day and I think we got one that's outside of Kentucky we got one George decal, but the other ones these are all Kentucky. And you know, this was a combination of grabbing stuff in our basements heading to go into the liquor store and, and, and finding these and, you know, I think it's gonna be kind of fun to kind of go through this because, you know, Ryan, I'm the I'm going to test your knowledge real quick because you know, we've We've talked about bottle on the bottom on the show before we've had Bernie lovers on give folks an understanding of what the bottle and Bond Act and what it was really there for. Gosh, I 12:09 feel like that's a Fred question. I don't know. 12:12 I'm gonna put you on the spot here. Let's let's do flex some 12:14 civil so we'll get it we'll get him back. Okay. Well you know it has to be at least four years old right? 12:19 Huh? 12:20 It has to state the distilling season. Is that right? I don't know if it's 12:27 distilled in a singer to be distilled in a seagulls 12:29 Yeah. Okay. See I've already got it wrong keep going 100 proof obviously as being bonded warehouse now obviously. The what else am I missing? 12:41 So it has to be distilled at one distillery in one distilling? $1 one. Okay. And has to be 100 proof at least four years old. Gotcha. 12:50 Yep. So I hit them all. You 12:52 hit all the major points and then they need to disclose the the distillery and all that stuff where it's bottled. Yeah. And this is it. This is a Guys, I, I know we see this on the bottle and we look at it for like quality purposes. But I want people to realize how important the bottle and Bond Act of 1897 was it First of all, Grover Cleveland signed this into law. This was his last thing he signed in his in his first term. And he was the, you know, the bottle and Bond Act was really our very first consumer protection legislation as a country. So now we have all these protection measures to help us as consumers and it really begins with bottled in bond with the government trying to protect us from bad whiskey. And then, but medicinal circles and it's important to note that they've had a lot of backlash like the blenders and the rectifier. Canadian whiskey makers were very much against the bottle of Bond Act. So this was one of the first times that the Kentucky distillery community banded together for a single cause and that was to get this passed. Now they just Sue each other. 13:55 They still help each other here and there but they still reasonable This is a 14:00 true part of part of the game. Now the way I feel like I'm looking at the longest shot ski ever, like I feel like I'm about to do like my 21st birthday it is we've got we've got 12 different Bourbons that are lined up and these were, these were ones, you know, we've got one that is kind of the newest addition to this, which is the new seven year old bottle and bond. And you know, there was, it was funny because I was actually going trolling to the liquor store last night and I was I was actually flabbergasted. I was like, man, I forgot how many bottle of bond Bourbons there were out there. And then Natalie that is a great values to well, and that's what they usually are typically good values. But you know, some of the ones I selected, you know, I was going through and I was looking, you know, there were also you know, there's there's bottle of bonds that are coming from Oregon and other places. But I said let's focus on some of the stuff that's pretty regional that or should I say not regional, but pretty national can be found on a national level. at the same exact time. You know, there's also a lot of Bourbons out there that are hundred proof, but it doesn't actually say bottled in bond or bond. The word bond is not on the package. So I just overlooked it and said we'll go on that Yeah. And then you know probably there's there's probably two more that should be in here that just couldn't bring it to get our hands on it because this is Louisville and people go crazy because it's bourbon is the EH Taylor brands so the small batch and the single barrel are not a part of this big idea. I saw that bottle and I was going to bring it in but I was like, I'm not gonna share that those fuckers 15:25 I'm kidding go the value for giving me the other side of this is we didn't choose any of the highly allocated releases. You know, the old Fitzgerald spring and fall releases the Parkers 24 year bottom bond also we also didn't bring any media samples. So these are all things that we actually physically purchased and that's very important to note because most competitions are they get their whiskey from the supplier, so the distilleries will send it into the competition. So these are guaranteed all have came from a retailer. 15:58 Well, Justin full full disclosure this seven Hill bottle and bond did come from heaven Hill really this was the media sample they sent everything else though has been purchased by us in some way in some way shape shape or fashion it's a it all goes in the bourbon pursuit credit card 16:15 right that's right so so that's why we're not getting checked on this person. 16:21 Alright, so let's go ahead Well, we got we got 12 to go through so we'll dive in kind of start with the first kid I 16:27 remember we I said wanted to talk a little bit about the the 16:32 smell my glasses, so I'm just trying to make sure that there's the same because they're not number. First of all this tasting is is is flawed because we don't have the same glass for every one of them. So we will now have to like take into account some of them are neat pores are neat glasses. I would say we've got 95% majority Fiverr and the Glen Campbell and Karen but this is that this is close enough. 16:57 fault brought the nega Lazarus That's the only thing I can tribute it was the wrong glass. 17:02 But it's okay but so that's the it's the only thing and this is this is actually a pretty small flight for like a for like a blind tasting this is all blind we don't know what we know that these brands report but we don't know in what order and as we're tasting you know we're gonna find out what we gotta gotta eliminate all you gotta eliminate and everything but I think we should we should also give our notes to the audience as we're as we're thinking. 17:27 Absolutely. So we'll go with number one I you know, for me, I'm going to be excited to kind of see how this is going to go down because what, two years in a row, Fred's over there talking about Henry McKenna being the best there is in the world and yet now we're let's see, now we're going to now we're going to 17:43 that was in that was in a competition by the way, I was just one Judge of like, 40. Now I'm one of three. 17:51 We're narrowing it down. We're making the competition better though. 17:54 The first one, I'm definitely picking up some grainy notes. 18:00 These are gonna be Yeah, they're all gonna be young. 18:02 So when they're gonna, you know, there's there's definitely going to be some 18:06 that are. Most of 18:08 them I'd say are probably for younger, right, you know, we brought in. They can't be younger than for for older. Yeah, yeah. So the one thing that I think is we're going to find unique as we go through here is there's gonna be one that's going to be sort of an outlier. And that's going to be the 1792. Because the bottle and bond that the 1792 pick is actually a store selection, right? So it is a single barrel, it's a one off, it's not going to be some of the the normal 1792 UCO. Let's just 18:36 take that I know what do we want to do are we want to rank them one through three, or we want 18:40 to say best, I'd say you pick your top three. 18:43 Let's pick our top three. Okay, so by tasting number one, I'm eliminating it from my round, it's just too grainy. It's very alcohol forward. 18:52 If you were to if you were to try to pinpoint number one 18:54 and number two, number two, if it's not the decal one 18:59 I'll be sure Then you shouldn't be at San Francisco anymore. Yeah, 19:04 that's number two's nose. Yeah, 19:06 that's, that's deco all right? Yeah. But you know, and the thing is like, this was a the decal is a recent entrant to the market. And I think it's it's gone over fairly well with the community of people that are, you know, getting into it trying Tennessee bourbon and stuff like that. And so there is an opportunity to actually have George tickled, so be a part in here. 19:27 So what's our teen year in it? 19:28 So this is so this George decal doesn't have an age statement on it. They do have it they have a 13 year release. Okay. And this is the non age dated version though. Yeah. 19:40 actually enjoy it. 19:41 Yeah, I mean, one one thing I would say about decal Is it is it is often flawed and competition because it that particular note, that kind of like morality, the Flintstones a note really can stand out in a bad way for a taste Yeah, so if you're in if you're tasting a sea of things that are very Carmel forward and vanilla, and you get that note it can be very off putting or it can be very good and can help it stand out and yeah, so it's like it's one of those it's either love it or hate it in competition. 20:16 Yeah, that one I didn't get the vitamin D on the front end but it's really there on the finish 20:21 on I would recommend I would recommend Also make sure you rent when you get like some of that lingering, 20:26 lingering taste in your mouth and kind of rinse it out. Yeah, I could see that. I mean so frightening number one was read. 20:32 Just Yes. 20:33 I would say if I'm if I'm and this is the hardest part of a blind tasting is picking out what it is right. But I would say it's definitely one of the younger ones. I probably put it in a league of like JW dance or, you know, maybe, maybe the Evan Williams but I don't know. 20:52 Okay, kind of the month ago, it had like a cinnamon spice finish that I usually get an old old markdowns, maybe that could be way off. 21:00 I'll tell you to it it is like, if you're focusing on what it is instead of right what is best in the flight, then you're not then you're not focusing on the tasting. So I will will start I would recommend like trying to like figure out what they are later because that can actually be fun and I'm already 21:18 moving on to number three is notebooks like a notebook so you can pick one of them just said negative negative that's how I that's how I did it. 21:26 Now I just moved on to number three now I love the nose on number three I thought of this that's great care Marburg can move forward. Yeah, nice to the taste ended up being a little I don't want to say bitter but kind of thinned out and a little astringent towards the end. So I like you give the thumbs up in the nose. The taste is like in the middle and the finishes kind of 21:47 blow I actually think the the the palates got it like this kind of a cool lady. That's got like a KoolAid aftertaste. 21:55 Yeah, like fake sugar. Yeah, like, kinda it's process flight. Kinda we hack Kool Aid packs like when you take a Crystal Light pack and just 22:05 you just spoon Did you forgot to 22:07 put water in it? 22:08 Three put three is a maybe 22:12 it's a maybe 22:14 it's a maybe it's a maybe when we go down here and 22:17 there's a chance 22:18 there's it there is a chance that it could it could go somewhere. Yeah. So Fred kind of talk about, you know, when we got all these bottles of bonds up here. I know you've got a you've got a hard on from McKenna a little bit, but kind of 22:33 blind tasting candy. There was 22:36 help. That's what he told 22:37 me. It'd be like a $10,000 scotch. Wow, it's just one vote in that I'm bad at them. 22:43 You know, I guess Fred, you know, one one new entrant that we actually have up here that I think is might hopefully blow some socks off. And it's kind of a riff, new riff, right, 22:54 focus on what it is focus on the whiskey. No, 22:56 no, no, but I kinda want to talk about you know, new riff and You know how they got late You guys are just like we're trying to work here. He's like 23:08 now I'm gonna think it's a new roof now. 23:10 Well, I mean, I just kind of want to talk about you know, their bottom and bond, you know, coming into the market and actually having that be their first entrant. Right and I think wilderness trail did the same 23:18 exact number four was new rip and while he's talking about it just happened to be it now. 23:25 Now that I actually do like number four, I gotta days like new roof. 23:31 I like butterscotch kinda like no 23:33 it's like he planted 23:35 like a cinnamon note on the back of 23:37 their cinnamon but it's like a lot of 23:40 it it's got that fried pie crust that I love fried pie crust man you got you got some awesome tasty between you and Ryan I I gotta I gotta up my game on it that's for sure. You've got to eat a lot. That's why do eat 23:52 a lot. The thing is, is none of its fake. I know people want to say like it's it's hate but this is like I mean I've really trained and stuff And really tried to connect to everything I've ever tasted. And it all goes back to when I'm trying to get better from Iraq and I was using mindfulness techniques and tasting and I would use to one of my therapy things was I would break down what barbecue potato chips tasted like and felt like on my tongue and that would help keep me grounded and I just applied that to bourbon and so that's kind of been my my technique. 24:25 So start off with going down your local local grocery aisle finding different kinds of chips and pulling the real thing Yeah, and you mean you got to gain 10 pounds automatic 24:36 the risky take 24:37 grab like 10 varieties of fried apple pies, you know those? 24:40 Well, I'll grab 10 different varieties of like hot pockets and we'll start 24:43 right then you're born You 24:46 know, I'm not a hot soccer guy now back in college Pop Tarts and like crucibles Yeah. 24:50 You know, I used to be I did love toasters turtles because you get to design your own art on there. Yeah. 24:56 Oh man. But the thing is, is like with the Pop Tarts like I only go two flavors. It's brown sugar, cinnamon and then the wild berry like those are the only two that I would actually go for beyond that, like I'm not a strawberry jam person like, clones 25:09 never really did like number four by the way. Yeah, four is really good. Okay, there's a check for me. Where's the checkbox? Yeah, 25:15 going to five Alright, moving on to five here like that. 25:18 It's hard to analyze color in here because it's so dark. Yeah. But 25:24 yeah, I mean you got we got it. We got a variety variety really grainy. 25:29 You mean on the nose? It's getting a little too grainy for him. 25:32 It also but it does have like, it does have like that. 25:37 You go to the fairgrounds and they're serving the cotton candy you go to the cotton candy booth is 25:42 that cotton candy so I got some raw notes or something. I mean, when I just had a taste and I think you kind of get some of that that cotton candy and a little bit on the back of it. You get some grape Kool Aid. 25:53 Yeah, it does kind of kind of funky. A lot of raw notes on that. For me anyways. 25:58 So all that's pretty Though I'll ask you all When was the last time you all had some some of these other bottle of bonds that are just you know, regular kind of shelf stuff so like old Bardstown old grains. 26:11 Like this is old Bardstown. Yeah, you think? Yeah, I think this is old Bardstown. Number five. 26:16 Yeah, I now think it is. 26:18 Because it has that like a particular oak note in there that I get from their, from their stuff. 26:23 I mean, I've always early times for me like an always 26:27 early, early times. I mean it's, 26:30 I haven't spent a lot of time with early times. 26:34 But of what we have up here that I've been drinking the shit out of his new riff and I've been I've been drinking so much of their cash drink stuff, you know? That was so good. It is I it's 26:48 It is incredible. What they've been able to accomplish. Okay, so we go to the 26:53 glass, it's not 26:54 a Glencairn. Well, I think we we definitely made a mistake of not labeling these glasses either because now me and you are literally like three four little accounting like what's we're on number six already and we're trying to like go through these yeah 27:08 so I do like the nose on I do like this a lot 27:12 this is probably my favorite knows this far everything you want in America knows oh my god 27:17 that's good that's kind of full package right there yeah that's a full package that's a that's a check check plus from what what else 27:23 so let's when we say full package What are you what are you putting that in reference to what is your What is your baseline that in bourbon I'm talking about in life in life? What's your baseline for a full package? Can you 27:33 want me to just hit solid Are you referring to package 27:37 Gosh, last time I'm drinking with you all and again 27:40 often by now maybe I'm so glad we picked this over like lawsuits or something. They were like texting last night and I like put my phone down for like an hour and I come by or 30 texts and I'm like, we're not doing these. We're gonna do the bomb bomb. 27:53 It'll be much more files wave. 27:55 So anyway, my full package will be like what I kind of think of it is like it just hits the checkboxes Got the nose, it's got the flavors. And when I think of flavor, like it's nothing that's it's nothing that's crazy. It's nothing that is off the wall. It's a one off like it is it is hitting, you know, most of the high notes that you get on a bourbon flavor will you've got caramel, you've got oak, you've got pepper, you've got some of those things, and it still lingers just a little bit now all these being 100 proof. We're not going to see something that's going to sit there and just like the finishes, keep going and going and going, right? I mean, I think we will, maybe we will, but I would think with 100 proof and I'm not going to act like I've got a refined palette by any means. But I think that I typically only see that happening with barrel proof whiskey is something that like I could still sit back like 30 seconds later and it's still like those flavors are still coating my mouth my tongue 28:49 sometimes I get on that. If you have like, I've had a lot of good for roses, like the hundred proof. What is it? 28:58 Single barrel single barrel, sorry. VOB SV 29:01 Yeah, that like, you can tell the spices from the grains and not from alcohol and the finish just kind of lingers on there. And so that I really liked that one. The finish was a little flat for me, but it hit all the checkboxes on 29:15 Friday night solid six had some layers to it. I would say revisit that one. We like when we're done here, because that's definitely a contender. 29:23 Yeah. Hopefully we're not doing like confirmation bias on each other. And we're just like, Oh, yeah. Oh, no, 29:28 I disagree with you. I will totally tell you. Yeah, but that and I know that Ryan will be quick to say, Yeah, fuck you, you know. So but in his own way, 29:39 own heartwarming way that thumbs down. 29:41 You know, he'll be like, well, I don't really. I don't really agree with you on that. But I know where you're coming from, though. Yeah, Fred. I agree to disagree with you. And then Kenny will be like, well, I just don't get that. Yeah. 29:55 It doesn't have 29:56 to be that or I'll say it. Let's change this. Let's change the subject real quick. 29:59 What does that mean? The next one, what 30:00 does that look like? But seriously on to the next one? 30:03 I got my first Neagle, SB to number seven, I think we all got new glasses changing everything. You know if I'm 30:09 gonna if I'm going to go on a limb if we're gonna if anybody's gonna guess on one thing I'm going to say number seven is gonna be the old granddad bottle and bond. I just I think it's, it's okay. It's basic. It's either me that or it's Evan Williams. It's one of the other, but I feel like it's just, it's cool. It's like there but I don't think 30:26 like I don't think it's all green. I don't either know, this. I think this is 1792 that's what I was gonna say from the nose. It's got that you talking about Nana's guys that you're bananas. 30:36 You know, as there's one thing that Ryan brought up a second ago when you talk about four roses, you know there's a there's a few distilleries out there that that don't come out with a bottle and bond product for roses and wild turkey or or two of them that kind of come up to mind. 30:51 You want to know why? 30:52 Yeah, I'd love to know why the books 30:54 on the distilling season, actually and not bringing them in is very difficult. So like knob Creek, which is 100 proof that could have six different distilling seasons in the the actual audit of a bottle of bond it's actually very costly. Heaven Hill has it down because they've been doing it for so long. And they, you know, they don't really change a lot of those older methods. 31:16 Do they still audit for vault and bon 31:19 Oh, if they if the federal government wants to audit, they will audit and occasionally they will come in and out and they what they do they just look at paperwork, that's all they do. You know, it's not like they're going in there and 31:28 taking dramaturgy. Yeah, they're not doing anything like that. 31:31 But it's, it's it's pretty fascinating 31:34 to see. Really getting finished, kind of lingering. 31:38 So do you think do you think that creating a bottle and bond product is it just more paperwork nowadays at the end of the day, and maybe that's why wild turkey for roses and people like that, just don't worry about it. 31:50 It always comes down to position in the marketplace. And when you look at where bottle of wine Bond was 15 years ago, heaven Hill owned it. Nobody was getting near it. No one cared. Then Bernie lumber starts kind of striking striking the bar to me he changes he changes. That man changed the perception of the bartender community for bottle of bond. And then so other people started tacking on the new distiller started coming on. They're like we want to be bottled bond, we want to be old school. And then people like brown Forman said we need to get back into bottle the bond cc early times. You know, you see all kinds of efforts from a lot of places and people like four roses and wild turkey have always been about four roses and wild turkey. You know, so they don't want to necessarily get and kind of like a categorical lump with those particular brands. And maybe they will maybe they will and I don't know, but Wild Turkey has kind of been very anti 100 proof, you know, so the 100 it for them. It's comes out their one on one absolutely like their entire branding is around one on one. Yeah. And that's very specific. Absolutely. 33:05 Yeah, I think ball and bonds are like perfect for cocktails by the way to like 100. Like, you know, it's just it's a lot of them are young enough and like and there's enough proof there that they stand up to a lot of sweet ingredients 33:20 and like the nose on a it is. It's really nice. 33:23 And the other thing about the cocktail side is that yes, it's got enough proof that keeps it there but you know the bottle and bond this market of what we're looking at, we're looking at anything from a $15 bottle up to a $50 bottle I think 50 is the high when I was going through this so wilderness trail bottle and bond is the highest near it was 50 I believe it was between the Evan Williams bottle of bond and the Jim Beam bond and maybe the JW dan, as hitting some of the the lower lower price point therapy. Medic. Medic. Medic Ryan just Ryan just choked out over here. 33:57 Yeah, I'm trying to spit but it went too far down. No point of return. 34:03 date was very green forward to me. And it had like kind of like an undercurrent of like develop grain like an cornbread, which is a note I often get in some of the beam product. I've got a real nice like cornbread like a like a touch of like honey butter on it. 34:19 See, the thing is I actually kind of still enjoy this one. There is there's something about it where I didn't like it finished. The finish is still there for me. I don't know. I'm just gonna go the check on that one, Brian, 34:30 and I don't like it. So it didn't matter. 34:32 Well, no, I don't know. Just, there's only it's only a 33% vote over here. So you know, that's how it is. That's right. 34:40 All right. So number nine. Number nine. We were rolling through these awful quickly, aren't we? 34:45 When you got 12 to get there? 34:46 Yeah, we can have two and so on. And so I got another question I'll throw at you all because I remember this from I think was in Houston bourbon society or one of the other was you know, 34:57 when it comes to my tastings, and I'm trying to be analytic I hate when people fucking talk to me. So this is like, throw me on. Focus hit me. Can you shut up? Can we but it may be terrible, but it's true. Let's let him have a 35:10 hard I'll try the zone. Okay, all right, right on 35:13 I'm not gonna taste what you asked a question. Go ahead, 35:15 we gotta gotta keep the conversation going, right? We got to keep the listeners engaged here, right? 35:19 But you can ask Jessica I like close the door and I'm like, I'm writing. I'm doing this let me allow, you know, 35:25 we gotta we gotta make you break out of the mold here. So you're hanging out with us. You don't wear mascots anymore. Right? So we're making the breakout you 35:32 fucking hot out there too. I don't have to be on stage. So. 35:36 So. So there was I think it was a question that brought up by Wade. You know, we love Wade friend of the show. He's got a lot of bourbon knowledge out there. And and he said, you know, is it true or false that is every warehouse, a bonded warehouse. It comes down to the law. 35:53 They not everything's stored in a warehouse, but in terms of like, you know, they've been Pay they have to have it It cannot be in a non bonded the government has to know where it is. And it is it is very much on the watch list now is it a marked bonded warehouse? No, no I mean there there's there was a artists in Kentucky arts and distillery was aging in containers shipping containers for a long time and then they were aging outside for a long time and they would later be Jefferson's the growth growth product but the government knew what those were and they had to be that paperwork had to be submitted. 36:44 Okay, well see there's an LG 36:46 even have to have like a bonded Kenny and I've rented this like when when you buy do a transfer and bond from 36:52 one to another. You have 36:54 bonded transfer like so much now. This 36:56 isn't bond. This isn't anything that you have like Can I just go got, I got an f1 37:01 fit no one comes in and inspects it per se, but, but the paperwork has to be there. And if it's not, then you know, they get and when that audit comes, which the audits don't come, you know, they don't always come so like you could get away with, you know, doing that and, and I know people who, who distill, you know, illegally and then had a distillery and they added their old stuff into it. That was illegal. 37:25 But it happens. It does happen. So I'm going to go on a limb here, and I'm going to say number nine, it might be my least favorite of everything we've tried so far. 37:36 I really like the nose. But Gosh, the the finish on this, it just tastes like grass and, like, dirt. I don't know 37:46 it. Yeah, I'm just, I'm just not a fan of it. I'm ready to move on to 10 Yeah, I mean, it was just like, okay, can this one be over because I can't deal with it anymore. I don't know. We might burn a bridge there. But you know, it's just not there for me. 37:58 You got to stop worrying about the bridge. Yeah yeah they're engineers 38:04 I don't hate it as much as you guys but it's not it's not a contender for me there it's grainy Scott alcohol undertones to it got some sweetness but it's not it's not it's not an end of the world bourbon like it's not making me mad like you 38:23 I mean he's fuming yeah right here 38:24 I am off my rocker right now just going crazy. All right, number 10 yeah my guess moving on to number 10 we're we're rolling through these, I guess the thread for you Do you do these tastings a lot? Like how often or how fast can you go through like 15 Bourbons. From forest to still Bull Run distillery whiskeys are using some of the best water in the US. 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Like I don't. It depends on what I'm doing. Like if I'm doing it. I'm doing it in competition. It depends on the competition. I have to adhere to the rules. I'm doing it for myself. My own little fucking thing I do whatever it is whatever it is I do or I'm just trying to taste you know the big part is is like do I have someone there helping me because I don't always have someone helping me and it's hard to pour for yourself and I mean we do 200 products difficult yeah but I can you know I usually try to spend two minutes with the glass thing is I my whole thing is I want to give I want to give every glass its chance you know it's not you know someone put a lot of time and attention and effort to make it if I'm going to taste it in analytically I need to give that same kind of time and attention at least 41:38 if you do something different you you tastings multiple times if you give it a rating, right, 41:42 that's right. I will I will taste three times because right now I'm just coming off a cold memory. I texted you guys yesterday that I lost my palate. I was like I don't know if I can do this. I lost my palate. I woke up I went out that's good. Anyway, bars and found 41:55 it. I feel like we're on a level playing field and now 41:58 we're down Last night, I wouldn't read it is late. I went out with drinking with my friend and I woke up this morning. I'm back, baby. It's like all that whiskey, like, cleared it. It was like so I'm just coming off the three festivals and I've been pretty worn down and now I'm back. And I mean today I could tell it was back but, but, you know, if you have an onion, if you whatever you have for breakfast, influences your palate, our surroundings influences. Right now we're on we're in a construction area that that little bit of, you know, dust smell that's out there can influence what you're picking up. The lights can have something the fact that someone's saying, you know, talking out there can influence I mean, there's so many influences so that when I'm actually tasting by myself, I like to be in a kind of like as much of a soundproof room as possible. No music, nobody bugging me. And it's just me and the glass. You can do a whiskey quickie can take three days to 42:57 give it a thumbs down 43:00 The way you all do, that's great. 43:01 And I guess I'll kind of give you I'll throw one back at you here, Fred, because, you know, we, we catch some heat every once in a while because people think that, oh, 60 seconds that's not long enough for whiskey review in and I kind of go on the other side of that and I'm like, well, soon as you taste something you kind of realize if you like it or not, 43:19 yeah, how many times does it take? Like, do you ever come back and you're like, 43:23 yeah, there's no way there's there's not actually as many how many times I would think that you went from something that you're just like, this is like a 65 to 95. Right? Not that big not understand we're not scoring it on a on a on a, on a point scale here. We're just saying like, thumbs up middle ago. Thumbs down, 43:40 right. So there have been 43:44 there been a few that went from like 80 to 85 or 88. Something like that. 43:53 Just a few points, then yeah, 43:54 I mean, it's not it's never really, you know, too much but It is there. And you know the big thing I think, you know, we have to what you have to what you have to determine as now that you all are kind of getting in the critic role is like what is your base? What is your base? And for me, my base has always been Evan Williams Black Label. That's an 86 point whiskey. You know and the thing is is like when someone rates that when someone says that is 60 points or 45 points or something, you're essentially saying it's undrinkable. Evan Williams Black Label is very drinkable. And you know, it can be enjoyed sip, it can be a cocktail, it's it's very, you know, versatile and like that is my base. So if I if I find myself in a situation where I am being very low, I like I was I was writing some stuff really, really low for a long period I went back to taste Evan Williams Black Label to make sure I was not crazy crazy. And I was like, I was like No, I'm right. Because these are not better than Evan Williams Black Label and it was like it was the one that did it for me it was like three years ago it was Eagle rare 17 year old and and then that also the Parkers heritage came out that was really, really bad. And I was like, God, I mean, I'm about to write these two things under an ad. And it was like, that's like really, really low for for those two products. And so I went back and taste that my base and it was like, Okay, yeah, I feel firm in that. So you have to like come to your base of like, what is your throne? What what barely makes your thumb up? And then what barely makes your thumbs down that that will always help you as as a reviewer, because you have to have something to lean on. Because if you know, you know you, you want to be consistent. That's the main thing. Absolutely. Thanks to you our basis and McKenna 46:02 realize like if it's better than here McKenna we like, yeah, 46:06 it's not, then it's true. That's true. I mean, that's that's kind of what started us down our path of launching pursuit series was like a well, if this is better than here, McKenna will do this. Yeah. And so we had a first barrel sample and that's for you. Well, that's, I mean, good for you. That's another story here or there. But I kind of want to talk about maybe 46:21 I should flip the podcasts on YouTube about why you started. 46:26 Well, we can we can we can definitely do a podcast about that one. 46:29 I did that last night. But then I was like, I don't want to 46:33 sell but it's all about a hotel to stall 46:34 and they won't be self promotion. When I'm asked questions. It's good. God, 46:38 by the way, before we go to this number 10. Yes. And I was I was I was I put check check. plus, plus, I was away. I was really, I enjoyed number 1010 46:49 was very woody for me. And see, that's me. I like 46:54 my pain. And I'm just I'm writing that and one of these ones that Fred doesn't like his hitter McKenna. Like 47:01 getting old so no so here so this is this is I'm not getting that So the one thing here about here McKenna is that it's a single barrel right? It's nothing that is it's batch it's not it's not celaire age it's not whatever it is. It is it is a single barrel offering it's nothing else like it you know we have the opportunity to catch up with Josh Hey for one time and talk about after it one San Francisco and say like, Listen, we all pick and cherry barrels like we all just sending two bottles that you knew that are three bottles that you knew that were just like Primo pristine, like going to knock the socks off. And he said he said Kenny This is exactly what happened. I make one phone call down to the warehouse. You know right now we've all been in the warehouse at heaven Hill. There's just pallets stacked up just boxes and things are moving everywhere. made a phone call. said hey, I need you to take three bottles out of a box. Here's the address the ship them to. That's it. There was there was no cherry picking. There is nothing like that. 47:59 Henry McKenna won Best bourbon the year before 48:02 Yes, I wouldn't believe that but like everyone you talked to it heaven Hill had the same exact story like it same exact like it's like they fed it to them like this. Well we need to do 48:12 I went back in the judges and you know what, when we unveiled the bottles, all the bottles for the same barrel number and, and you know so that makes it that makes that a little bit more believable is because they were they said it came from one case and you know as far as I know they case up their their barrels all the same, they don't intermingle. Yeah. And so that is that is the only thing I can think of, and also the year before they won with with Henry McKenna. And the second thing is what nobody ever wants to give any credit to is that there are more than 40 judges there from around the world, the greatest palettes in the world and I'm not just saying that because Guys, you're on it. But like I'm talking about people who run the hotels in Macau, people who run Wynn Las Vegas these are the these people are ultra respected for their palates. And they are human guess what they think is a honey barrel at heaven Hill. Could be a shit turd 49:25 over there. 49:26 Yeah. I mean, I gave two years in a row on my panel. I did not metal Pappy two years in a row. And you know, YP is you know Pappy is good. I mean, I didn't metal it. So what does that say? What does that say? I mean, you don't know how the You don't know how the judges are going to react. And you don't know what panel they're going to get on. If they're on my panel, man. Like with my panel, 49:56 we submitted pursuit series and Fred was like, I didn't even get that on my panel. Yeah. 50:01 So you never you never have any idea. 50:03 So like, you know, so that I you know, there's there'll be two 300 Bourbons that come in. There's other judges I can't you know, and they split them out. And yes, they do make me drink vodka. 50:14 Oh god. Oh, you poor thing. The fourth thing, by the way, thanks for you making the sacrifice for doing that as well. You 50:21 bet 11th amazing. 50:24 11 so 11 I did a check minus that was good, but it wasn't all the way there for 50:28 me. Yeah, I thought was average for me. 50:30 I love 11 a lot. I'm already on 12 50:34 Yeah, I got some like floral Really? Because I'm the exact opposite. I am I'm unique. I'm putting it 12 is as one of the bottom of the buckets for me. 50:44 I don't know what it I'll try to 50:46 try to it smells like floor sweeping. 50:49 Yeah, I'm not I'm just not a throw up packets. 50:51 Like Can you talk about 50:52 I usually talk about that when I talk about rye whiskey that I always get this note with some rye whiskeys of of if you recall. Back in grade school and somebody would like he had a classmate that puked on the floor and you had a janitor that wouldn't put the shavings on top of it that's always a note for somehow that I always get off stuff. 51:10 Yeah that's that's a real note that green hand whiskey had that note for me 51:17 I don't like I don't like it enough to put them on top three so 51:21 so i think i think it Now it's time we go ahead but you we need to replace like your top five retail taste your tops for sure anything you got a checkbox or a yes or whatever it is that you go through I use arrows 51:35 I use arrows and like I'll do like one arrow if I'm excited about two arrows if I love it three arrows if I'm like, about to go in the room with it, you know, 51:45 there you go. I tell you what, you know I went to I went back to number three and like three is just like coming back from from 12 the kitchen just got like super caramel knows. I put a maybe check box next to it doesn't mean anything. me here yet as we keep going, 52:02 I left threes nose. 52:06 Three is got too much. It's over early for me. threes over early would mean he was over early. So like, think of herbs like deal. Oregano. Sometimes those are candy, some medicinal herbal. It's a no for me threes out now. 52:26 Yeah, that's pretty good. I get that I'm still kind of there. I don't know for me I'm still kind of there on it. But I'm going to exit for me. Well, I think that 52:34 if we need to report who's reporting for us we do not need a report. 52:37 There is there is way too much out here that we do not need a report. So I'm moving I'm going to go between like 3468 and 10, maybe 11. And I'll choose my top three out of that. 52:53 fours and for me from the nose. 52:55 I want to say it's one dimensional, but maybe we've gone through this 15 times. There's there's something that a taste that just doesn't have it there for me. And for me I'm looking for I'm looking for caramel I'm looking for oak, I'm looking for some of those things and for just doesn't have it there for me. So I'm gonna I'm gonna go ahead and just kind of knock that one off my lips pulling for out of your list. I'm pulling for my 53:18 lot. It's in his top five Remember that? No, well, that's still good. Like, I mean, something 53:24 they might have even though they knew what it was. Anyway, I have to I had to know. 53:28 I think I think you know, you're right. I think it was too easy to take it out. I'll go back to it. Be only because I think it definitely deserves to be up there. It was too easy to pick it out. 53:44 And it is bourbon. It is bourbon. 53:47 And I guess you know, I'll look it to you guys and kind of kind of pose this question to you as a stock start depleting as you know, higher aged whiskies available in the market or not very anymore really the one thing that we see that's very common is we see 10 to 14 and 15 year old Tennessee product that is now available Do you think that's going to help change some consumers mind about their about actually having you know very aged product that's in the market versus something that's only like four to six years old? I mean, 54:21 what help Fred and then they've given barrels kind of proven that there's some really good stuff how many Yeah, I think I think barrel bourbon is an anomaly. They are such good blenders. Yeah. And they blend out a lot of that really unsavory note that I find in some medical 54:38 product but honestly, I just put a check plus next to deco like it was just it's too good. I don't know maybe. I know most of these pretty much all these except that one coming from Kentucky but there is there is something about it. That I think most people if you've never had that kind of product before, you gotta give it a try. Because if you haven't and you you just immediately Oh, Tennessee screw that I'm not going to drink it and you haven't tried it, then you're not really giving it a fair chance and a fair opportunity because there's there's a lot of good products that 55:09 that you can't get a question for both of you 55:11 know, here we go. 55:12 How do you put when you're tasting? Like I try to surround my mouth? I'm looking at my spit cup in comparison to Ryan's and it's like 55:22 oh, Kenny's been drinking the whole time empty. Yeah. Well, I mean, my mind is full. 55:30 I mean, I put a lot of my mouth to kind of surround How much do you put in your mouth to? 55:34 To find out before we talk no leaders around? 55:37 I'm doing I'm doing baby pores over here. Right? I'm just doing baby pores. It's just enough to like, maybe coat the tongue. I think I think what you're looking for is like an overall like, are you chewing it kind 55:49 of thing. So this is very important to me as a taster. Like I have to make sure that because if you just put a baby poor on there, you're getting a small snippet of what that was. He is Now you all been doing this long enough I don't have to worry about you you know discrediting at some because of a mouthful perspective but mouth field to me is it's so important that's why I like to make sure I can at least fill it down my jaw line 56:14 but there's also I think something that is you also miss by by also not consuming it and being able to say like okay if we spit it out are you missing something? Well 56:24 you know keep in mind I have to when I'm doing this I don't like 1500 so I I'd be dead which I know some people would like that but it's not going to happen 56:34 I got talking to him over here 56:37 I got my top three 56:38 you got your top three already I went out on a tangent here 56:42 and yeah, I'm still okay I'm going back to number six because I had a check check plus i probably doesn't mean actually going to go back to it but 56:48 yeah, I'm with you on six it's checks all around. 56:52 Good stuff. Missy when I when I do take a little baby poor though I still I still try to get it in my jaw line. I still chew a little bit Try to have a cover my tongue Yeah, but I also am not the way that it's just like it's not like a full like quarter round so my mouth either right it's I've got to have just enough that I can savor the flavor be able to get it to the to the point where I'm like actually chewing on my back molars 57:18 but other than that four and six are are wanting to for me or in that they're right there. I have a run off between seven and 11 and I need to be removed from from this I need you to like you need to be kicked off the panel. No, I need I need I need to be I need these to be given to me where I don't know what they are. is what I'm saying. 57:38 Well, you don't know what they are. 57:40 No, I know what they are. I know this is 11 57:42 right? I know this seven. Alright, well turn around or put your hands above your eyes and just give them to 57:48 get over here. sevens on the other glass. I'm already going to know Yeah, 57:52 it doesn't need God this is it. This is how I do things like if like if I get like really tied to a particular one. So now now what I have Do I have to like assess this from? Like, what I like more about it and so 58:05 I'm mouse like tingling right now. Yeah, he got again shot. 58:09 I need to find out which I like more seven or 11 and we may have like a tie. Well, 58:14 I don't like either, so I'll solve that for you. 58:17 There we go. No, I'm kidding. It's a it's a consensus, pursuit consensus. You know, sometimes you go back to something and you taste it. You're like, maybe I didn't realize I like that as much as the first time. 58:28 We're all drinking. 58:30 Yeah, maybe. 58:31 So I'm going to I'm going to go with 11 over seven. Due to a berry, berry accentuated note that I happen to love. Bananas. Not bananas. 58:45 What is it? 58:47 No. marzipan is not marzipan. 58:51 It's it's cornbread. 58:51 Like a like but a particular like the Gypsy cornbread not like the like the sweeter cornbread. So I'm going with 11 59:00 So my, my, my pics are four, 59:05 six and 11 59:09 four, six and 11. Okay, so we got Fred. 59:12 I didn't put that in order. You want me to order that? 59:13 Nope, that's fine. So Fred at four, six and 11. Ryan, you got your top three. 59:17 I have four, 59:19 six and 10. 59:21 Oh, gosh, you guys are on point over. So I'm going to go a little bit different. I've got six, of course. So I think so six is by far that's that's, that's in our top 11 was closed over me. I also had 10 Okay, and 11 so at 610 and 11. Okay, so six and 59:38 11 are definitely in the top two. 59:40 Yeah, absolutely. So with that, Are y'all ready? For the reveal? 59:44 What what what what's the what's the on the third? Do we want it because we want to do the third. So we all had like a 59:51 bullet. I had four. 59:52 And you know what he and you had four, 59:54 four. I had 1010 We're all waiting. Like it's kind of like a three weeks. Split right there. Yeah. So, so we basically had four 610 and 11. Were our favorites. Okay. Okay, that's three. So we'll just take those as the four. Are you ready for the reveal? Yeah, let's do it. Alright. So number one. All right, number one, everybody remembers this. 1:00:17 We all kind of put an X on it. This is the wilderness trail. Ah, bottom, the bond. 1:00:22 I said, and I said, I thought it might be JW dan. So remember that. 1:00:26 There we go. There we go. Number two, we were all right. GEORGE deco. But you know, the thing is, is that like, I really enjoyed it. I, I would, I would honestly put that out there as my top but you know, when we look at stuff that's across the market, people that are going for, I think we look at the Kentucky Bourbons of what people really want. The George decal note like you love it or you hate it. It's one or the other. It's okay. And so, you just got you just got to find it now. Here it is. Number three, Henry McKenna. Number three is Henry McHenry. I had XR 1:00:59 Look what I put I put a line through it. Like it and see. Let me replace it. It happens it happens. 1:01:06 I know I've had some McKenna's oh they're just 1:01:08 this is not this is not smell good. So but then again remember we talked about this so now I like it. No I don't like it single barrel offering now it's hits different cannonballs McKenna phone calls this one time. Number four. New Heaven Hill the new bottle and bond heaven Hill shit. Right. So 1:01:32 so it lands on the top four. Yeah, it 1:01:36 lands on the topic. I think that was number one because we were so I really liked it. 1:01:41 You did you both you both. We both put that as your number one. Yeah. CI There you go. 1:01:48 This was my second guess about it was was an old Bardstown number five. 1:01:53 You are on point. Bardstown old parts town is number five. Right? Yep. 1:02:00 I can't remember. 1:02:01 But listen, here we go this is the one that I'm most proud about because I thought I guess it and I love this brand. I love the proctor making number six is the early times 1:02:10 body. Yeah, that six was really good. 1:02:13 Yeah, it was great. 1:02:14 Yeah, yeah, right. Exactly. So I I still stand by it. I say that is the best one liter of bourbon that you find on the market for 27 1792 1:02:26 think you think that you like somebody just like mind reading over here. I'm just like sending you like notes of Allison happening. The texts of the I really, 1:02:34 I really for him, I really do drink for a living. 1:02:37 So 1792 the bottle and bond. This was a pic that was done by the wine rack here and local and global. So that was that one. Number eight. Might have a guests. 1:02:48 I didn't have a guest on not just a negative. Alright. 1:02:50 Well, this is probably the most common bourbon you're finding the market is the Evan Williams. bottle and bond. Right. So there you go. Number nine is the Jim Beam Yeah, so to access to Exodus, I mean, I, I literally literally wrote down I hate doing this because I love the book no family I it's just like I literally wrote down. I said the worst of all of it and I'm just not a fan of it. That's just that's just how it is. Sorry. Number 10. S

Transcript of Episode: Hello. So I'm going to record, and this is my last episode in this batch and series. So who knows what will come out of my mouth, but I would like to welcome you to another week. After this I am going to the gym and work out to get some energy. And that ties in perfectly to what I'm going to be talking about today. So today's episode is about how do I get focus or energy. So I received...I Asked folks to give me their questions on Instagram. That's how I figured out what would be the best thing to talk about. And I got a lot of responses about, you know, feeling like don't have energy or I can't focus. Feeling like I should quit my job and then maybe that'll help me finish my dissertation quicker. What else do I have? Health issues. In what ways have you found it helpful to set up yourself for a good night's sleep? Which I also will lump into this category. So yeah, and people just come to me. I mean, I had an episode what, two weeks ago about How to, Now, I just went blank. Y'all. Oh, how I balance it all. I'm in a lot, some of that I'm going to talk about this week. But I really want to talk about this feeling of like burnt out. Yeah. Burnt out just over it, exhausted. People will tell you that this is a common thing throughout the phd process or in life. I don't believe that has to be true. I don't believe that at all, especially being on this side of things. Cause it's different when you are working towards a goal and you are like, your body is tired because you've been doing a lot, right? You've been performing but you don't feel burnt out or stressed versus you feel burned out, stressed exhausted and your body feels that way as a result and you don't feel it. You don't find any joy in the process whatsoever. So, you know, like my favorite thing is to look at it particularly like athletes or just even performers, you know, Beyonce, the GOATs. And just thinking about like, you know, like watching your interviews and whatnot and Them pushing their bodies to the limit to achieve a goal right? To 'em that the way I'm drinking my water. So achieve a goal or to be a better performer or in the field or arena or whatever. That's a different type of stress on the body and energy output. Right? But their mental state is that they're focused on their goal to be the best to win the game, to have more ticket sales. Right? That's a different type of energy and mindset it's not depleting energy. It's building up cause you're working, building momentum towards something. Whereas where most typically I find that people are asking me about is that they feel depleted. They feel like, you know, this dissertation process does not fill them and in, in any way, in any capacity that they're not, they can't find any joy. They're falling out of love with their dissertation and they don't, they are actually thinking of leaving their program and quitting. And I want to talk about how to get from that energy to more of the, this process. I'm learning a lot. It's filling me up. I feel joy from it. Okay. So I hope that like makes sense. So a lot of what I talk about is like the process and the focus on one thing at a time, right? You can't go from step one to step 10, right? We got to go from step one and step two and how do we do that? And even when we get to like step six and step seven and we can see step ten in the distance, how do we stay at the step six or seven instead of trying to hop over to step 10? Cause again, it doesn't matter how far along you are in the process, you need to continue to do the steps cause that's how you get to step 10 quicker. Than you trying to jump over all the steps. Okay. so to you know, I had to talk about Beyonce. It's been weeks. I haven't even talked about her. Y'all. Okay. So now I'm big Beyonce fan. And be honest. I had just reached a new high of fame and her career after her third solo album, I feel like a Beyonce historian or something. But after her third solo album, I am Sasha Fierce, right. More people started to know who she was. You have singles like like Single Ladies Diva and the biggest Halo, right? That it's international success. And that tour was bananas, right? She was on a tour for a very long time. And she started to record her fourth album and her but I actually started thinking about that because those things overlap. And her Mama said to her, hey girl, hey, you're doing the absolute most right. You don't even, she was, she, Beyonce even said like, it got to the point where she didn't know what city she was in country. She was in. Everything started to look the same. She couldn't hear like, she couldn't see like all the fans, it just all became a blur. And she was working all these hours. And if you follow Beyonce you know, like for her to say she was working a lot meant that she was probably working 20 hours a day and not sleeping very much. And so her mom said, hey girl hey, you need to take a break. I don't know what you're doing but you need to take a whole break. So she decided to take a whole year off to experience life. Now you know, that may have been some other reasons why I have my theories, but we don't go with it at face value. So she took a whole year off where she just traveled the world, she got to reconnect with loved ones. She got to take her nephew to school and be with him and spend some time with him in Paris. I felt like a stalker that I have this information anyway. Uhang out with her husband, get married. Ujust have all these experiences that she said gave her time to reflect and really think about who she was and who she wanted to be and where she saw her career going. Because for all intents and purposes, she had made it to the point that I'm sure she dreamed about right when she was nine years old and wanted that first record deal. Like she had reached a height of success that most people wish they could. Like most recording artists wish they would get to like diva was,uI am Sasha Fierce, excuse me, was like the album of this is it. Right. And the next level above that, it's a whole new level that most people don't even get to. So this year that she took off I think gave her a lot of time because then when she comes back to introduce album four she also makes the announcement that her father would no longer manage her. She will manage herself, that she will own her own management company and manage herself and have her own team. She will have her own production team. She will be in control, complete control of her whole career. She got married, she got pregnant. And it was also like a new sound because a lot of people don't like four the album. It sounds different than I am Sasha Fierce. It felt more mature it felt, I don't know, it just felt to me, I don't know other language is failing me right now in terms of, it just felt different. But it gave her space to be able to say like, if I'm going to go to the next level of my career, right, if I'm gonna go to Michael Jackson status, I'm gonna have to get some people who can help me get there because what got me here is not going to get me to that level. The people who I'm grateful for who got me to this height in my career can't get me to their next level of where I'm trying to go. So she cleaned house for the most part, got some new teams, still had core people around her who've been with her from day one. But people rose had to change and they had to adjust and she had to get a new team around her. She had to become more confident or knowing herself because to manage yourself, it's a whole other thing. Find people who could get her in markets and avenues that she hadn't been in before. You also see differences in Jay z career, but this not about him, and we don't talk about him really that much, but you know, you see them two, that there was a different type of alignment between them two because it's title and all those things started to come out. I'm digressing, we're not talking about Jay Z. But yet you see all these changes and then after four, right, self title comes out, that's a whole new level of success. Lemonade comes out, it's exploding, right? That high is like it is it, but it has, she not taken that year off, got a chance to refocus, change her team around. Right. And then do something different. We wouldn't see the first black woman to headline Coachella though we are today. Now. What does Beyonce have to do with the dissertation process? I use that as an analogy to say this is your year of, Four like the year before your quote unquote "Four" dissertation comes out. This is your like defining moment up to this point. You've been in school for 20 plus years, right? Like some of us did Pre-k, you got k through 12 you got Undergrad, some of us have master's degrees and then you have your whatever your program is like two to three years of coursework. Right up to this point, we've been in school for a very long time. Meaning we've been showing up to places where someone hands us a syllabus or some sort of information that says this is when you need to meet, here's your schedule. Classes are these days. Here's the topic of the class, here's what we're gonna hear, the sub topics that we're going to cover and use. This topic that you will learn over the next 16 weeks. Here are the readings that you need to do. Here are the assignments and very great detail to make sure that you understand those sub topics and to make sure you understand the larger topic and here's your exam dates, right? You've been showing up to our room where other people are there in some form of fashion when most of it has probably been in person. Maybe as you have grown in your educational journey and made me more of those classes have been online, but in some capacity you have shown up with other folks to learn about these, this one thing in each of this, in these classes and doing assignments and activities to make sure you have mastered that topic. Someone has been checking in with you weekly if not more. Someone has been responsible for giving you feedback on your mini assignments, someone who's been responsible for planning class discussions, right, and it has helped you to get to this far like get this far in this far being now you're at the dissertation stage in the final thing for you to become Dr for everyone else to know that when they see those three letters behind your name or they see doctor in front of your name, they now know that you are an expert in your field. Right? Because that, that's what that denotes, that you are an expert about this building. You should in theory be able to talk about this and this one area in very great detail in day, you should be a producer of knowledge within this area of focus. Right? So I equate you getting to this point in your dissertation to Beyonce getting to, I am Sasha Fierce, because before that she had what? That would've been four albums, five albums, cause there was a Christmas album, five or six albums with Destiny's child and she would have had three albums of her own, if not more. I'm probably missing some things plus some random singles or whatnot. Right. She had put in a consistent amount of work to get to I am Sasha fierce. Right. She had made it and people had been telling her to do things and is very cookie cutter type way a course like Yeah, she brought her own thing to it. Right. That's what made her successful. But up to that point, people have been telling her like what's been working over the years and for her to have achieved what has been working and get to a level of success that most people don't get to. She did that, but now it's like, what's next? This is your, what's next? It is up to you to figure it out. So how are you going to now be like Beyonce and manage yourself? Be Your own manager because your chair is there, yes, to guide you and to help you. But really you're leading this ship, especially if you listen to last week's episode, you're leading this. So what are you gonna do? And I would say that one of the biggest reasons why you probably feel like you can't focus and you don't have energy and you're burnt out and you're over it. It's because you haven't either realized that, that you're the one leading this ship or you have realized it and it freaks you out and you're like, I don't know what to do. I'm not ready. So I always say that everything comes back to mindset that you have to come to terms with. I'm the one that's leading this process and I have to show up for myself and that I'm willing to put into the work, put the work in and take ownership of this dissertation process and that I'm ready to do it. That is really what it is. You believing that you are ready to be the one that's leading your dissertation ship. All these analogies. That is the first thing. Even if you can't fully believe that you're ready, at least me in saying at least saying that I'm ready to take the next step. Right? I'm on step four. I'm at least ready to go step five. I may not be ready to be at step 10 but I'm the least ready to be at step five. I'm at least ready to figure out what I need to do to be at step five. So that is the first thing of the first way to like shift energy of like getting out of victim mode. Nothing is happening to you. It's happening for you. So you can get out of that mode of like, oh, woe is me. And being like, okay, great. I have control over my actions and my thoughts. I am willing to do whatever it takes to get to the next level. Okay, what do I have to do? That's step one. Step two then is getting some first. So in this, in this this vein of like mindset, I'm taking control. How do you keep this momentum going in your mindset? What is going to be your routine for managing your mind? I believe that you should have some sort of spiritual component, whether that is God, whether that is meditating, whether that is some eastern practices, whether that's like yoga, having something, being able to believe in something bigger than you to lean on in terms of that you can have faith in. Will help keep you grounded. The third piece is having some sort of daily routine to remind you that yes, you have control over you. And you have something that's bigger than you to help keep you anchored in having some way to reconnect with that thing that's bigger than you and reconnect with yourself. So having some, a daily practice that helps you with that. The next thing is picking one thing to focus on in the moment. So we're not trying to do the whole dissertation right now on step four. We're just trying to know that our topic and get really clear about what our topic is. And then step five, we're just trying to get done with chapter two. That is it. We're not trying to do chapter three and then jump to chapter two and then think about IRB and then come back to chapter one. Then go to chapter two again. That is how you gotta slow yourself down. Find that one thing that if in the moment it feels like this is too easy or I'm never gonna finish this way, if I just focus on one thing, when you start to think like that, that's how you know you're in the right spot. Finding that one thing that you feel like in your mind. And so easy that you will finish it in no time. Focus on that. Do that first, and then move to the next thing. How am I going on a rant? I'm avoiding going on rants, but finding one thing to focus on finishing that one thing and then movingq to the next thing. No more doing all the things, because that is why your energy has been divided. That's why you're feeling all over the place. And that's what leads to feeling burnt out. Focusing on one thing, finishing that one thing. And remember when we're finishing that one thing, we're giving it a B minus c plus effort when it gets to that level, right? We're just passing. When we get to that, that's how we know we're finished. We finished it, and we're gonna move on to the next step because we're not getting stuck and making things perfect. Or a is there a plus? No. A a. We're not doing that. We're, we're about making progress over perfection. Okay? And then the final thing going back to Beyonce Who's going to be your people, who's going to be your team? And your team's going to have to change cause we're, we're at a different point now. We're no longer just going to class and being real cute with our assignments and what not. We are writing a dissertation and many of you are writing a dissertation that a lot of people like there's not a lot of other people who have done it before. A lot of you are writing dissertations that is speaking truth to power. This talking about equity and justice. And that's gonna require a different set of team around you because not everybody is woke, quote unquote, You'll chair might not getting your committee may not get it. They might not have the level or depth of analysis about systemic oppression as you do. And that's a whole separate mistake that you may be making an assumption you may be making that you think everybody knows what you know, that is obvious to them like it is to you, but it's not. And so you're gonna need a team of folks around you who understand what it is that you talk, that you're talking about, that believe in what you're talking about and sees the importance in what you're talking about. Because even if that's not your committee or chair, who else is going to be around you to help you prepare for presenting your, your research and your data to your committee to get that passed. So you can be doctor who's going to be those folks and it doesn't got to be a lot of folks, but having someone who can do that, having people around you who will help you make sure that you're showing up for yourself and for your dissertation consistently having folks who you can bounce ideas off of. Who can push you and make sure like they're giving you things that you probably haven't thought about who can read over your stuff and give you feedback. Yeah. Who can love on you when you just having a moment. And you just over it. Cause we all have our moments. Getting you a team in place. Okay. When you have those things. So when you have your,uwhen you take ownership for your life, when you have, you believe in something bigger than you, when you have a daily routine, when you get focused on that one thing that you need to do, and when you have good people around you, I promise you, they, you will see a major shift in your energy and focus. You will even probably believe that you don't even need to quit your job to finish your dissertation because you believe that you know how to do it. Now, there are some other things about schedules and whatnot and like time management that you need to do, but that is like nothing compared to these five things. These five things are what really will keep you going. And I talk about the other time management productivity, productivity tips on like two weeks ago, that podcast about how I like balance it all. But this will give you a renewed energy because then when we look at Beyonce and we look at after Four the momentum that has happened, the shift in her career to shift how she even showed up, the risks she was, she was able to take the more confident that she even appeared to be. You know, going towards the area of like talking about feminism and women in business and like being free to explore. We started to hear from her more like in terms of her philosophies and career and whatnot and not necessarily her like during the interviews, but that's a whole other thing. My point is you, you see a shift and so this is now your time to shift. This was the make or break. This is your year that you like reorganize things and get it together because your dissertation is just the beginning. The goal of this is just to be the beginning is not meant to be the best thing that you've ever written is meant to be your starting point. It is your year before you produce. Album four is your year to figure out what it is that you want and where you're going, what you're going to do, and how you can do it. Because after you have those three letters and you are called doctor, there's a what's next? What are you going to do next? Cause a dissertation and a phd is just starting point and I want to see amazing things from you and I want to see you do great things, but it starts here. So I would love to know what you thought about this week's episodes. Any ah-has, any takeaways. Come on over to Instagram at @Marvettelacy and let me know. Or you can come over to Facebook at Qual Scholars Facebook group and we will be happy to talk with you about the podcast. That is all for this week. I'm going to the gym. I'm going to eat lunch and enjoy the rest of my day. So until next time, do something to show yourself some love. Bye for now.

When looking to change things in your world, how do you let pleasure be the force that guides you? How do you fulfill desire while you fight for change? How do you take care of yourself while you transform? And how do you allow organic, sustainable change to emerge in your life - without feeling like you have to force things? Today we’re speaking with author, activist, and healer adrienne maree brown. Her most recent book, the New York Times bestseller “Pleasure Activism”, leans into black feminist traditions to challenge you to rethink the groundrules of how to facilitate change in your own life, and in the world around you. In this episode, you’ll hear more about how adrienne came to this work, and her thoughts on how to be imperfect, yet honest, in relationship. You’ll learn how to bring true integrity into your relationships - and ways to ensure that your health and wellbeing aren’t compromised while you grow and transform.  As always, I’m looking forward to your thoughts on this episode and what revelations and questions it creates for you. Please join us in the Relationship Alive Community on Facebook to chat about it! Sponsors: Beautiful jewelry, exquisite craftsmanship, sustainable sources, and affordable prices. Get $75 OFF your purchase at hellonoemie.com when you use the coupon code "ALIVE". With free overnight shipping and free returns, you can see something online today, and try it on tomorrow risk free. Find a quality therapist, online, to support you and work on the places where you’re stuck. For 10% off your first month, visit Betterhelp.com/ALIVE to fill out the quick questionnaire and get paired with a therapist who’s right for you. Resources: Visit adrienne maree brown’s website to learn more about her books and her other projects. Pick up a copy of Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown on Amazon. Listen to Episode 12 on the Healing Justice podcast for a Somatic Centering practice. FREE Relationship Communication Secrets Guide - perfect help for handling conflict and shifting the codependent patterns in your relationship Guide to Understanding Your Needs (and Your Partner's Needs) in Your Relationship (ALSO FREE) Visit www.neilsattin.com/amb to download the transcript, or text “PASSION” to 33444 and follow the instructions to download the transcript to this episode with adrienne maree brown. Amazing intro/outro music graciously provided courtesy of: The Railsplitters - Check them Out Transcript: Neil Sattin: Hello and welcome to another episode of Relationship Alive. This is your host Neil Sattin. I want to start by saying that I believe in the power of synchronicity. I believe that when synchronicities happen it means something. And so to me it meant a lot when I was walking into a bookstore with a new friend of mine in New York City and she grabbed this book off the shelf and she said, "Given what we've just been talking about how you want to make this huge impact with your work and with the Relationship Alive podcast you need to read this book." And she handed me a book called "Emergent Strategy" by adrienne maree brown.  adrienne maree brown: Oh wow.  Neil Sattin: Yeah. And after reading that book and being so moved by what I read there both in terms of the promise that it holds for how our lives can unfold in a way that's really organic and natural and suited to who we are as people and also how that can impact the communities that we form whether it be our micro communities our family, our friends, or our larger communities, the movements that we become a part of and how we create change in this world. It was just super inspiring to me and I was delighted to see that adrienne was coming out with a new book called "Pleasure Activism," which just hit the New York Times Bestseller List and I thought you know what, like, I have to talk to this person and hopefully they'll talk to me. So. So I reached out and fortunately here we are today to talk to adrienne maree brown, who is a social justice facilitator, focused on black liberation, a doula, healer and a pleasure activist and a coach. And the list goes on and on. And honestly I can relate and I love that about...  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: About her work. And so we're gonna be here to talk about emergence and pleasure and how this all unfolds in the world of relationship. The relationship you have to yourself, the relationship you have to your beloved or beloveds, and the relationship you have with the world. As usual we will have a detailed transcript of today's episode which you can get if you visit Neil Sattin-dot-com-slash-A-M-B as in adrienne maree brown or you can always text the word "passion" to the number 3 3 4 4 4 and follow the instructions. And that will get you the transcript and the show notes and all that good stuff.  adrienne maree brown: Oh cool.  Neil Sattin: I think that's it. So adrienne, thank you so much for being here with us today on Relationship Alive.  adrienne maree brown: Thanks for having me now. I'm excited that a podcast it's about relationships in this way, exists. So I'm like yay! Let's talk about it.  Neil Sattin: Awesome. Yeah I've been thinking about a good way to dive in without asking you like a ridiculously broad question, but I might have to start with a ridiculously broad question.:.  adrienne maree brown: You're like, I tried! I can't. It's ok. What's the  ridiculously broad question.  Neil Sattin: Well. Yeah. So let's start with this idea about pleasure and activism and what does it mean to have pleasure be the center of how one operates in the world? adrienne maree brown: For me, you know, I got this terminology, was taught to me and I learned the words from an organizer named Keith Cyler, who was the founder of something called "Housing Works," that's based in New York that raises resources and all kinds of resources like financial resources, but also does trainings and other things like that for people who are dealing with house-lessness, dealing with HIV, AIDS. And I was really moved by his genius and his work. But, one time we were just sitting around having a good time and he talked to me about this terminology "pleasure activism," and it stuck with me over the years so I kept being like "Oh. Like what could that mean? What could that mean? What could that mean?" And especially as I I grew, you know, I've always been very aware that there's a lot in the world that is broken that is hurting that is traumatized, and inside of that reaching for how are we meant to connect with each other? And somewhere in there this idea of pleasure activism kept returning to me as I was doing voter organizing, returning to me as I was learning about harm reduction, returning to me as I was supporting people to do direct action, nonviolent civil disobedience. It just kept coming back. And when I was working on my last book emergent strategy, I had to include it as a concept and I wasn't sure at that point like am I going to flesh this all the way out? Like there's a lot here. But then at some point I was like, "Let me just.... Like what would it look like." You know, what would it look like to actually flesh this out? And I had been reading Audrey Lorde's text "the uses of the erotic:: as power," which I got permission to reprint in this book. And I really loved her use of the erotic. And yet I just kept coming back to this idea of pleasure. Like that pleasure includes the erotic, but also includes a lot of things that may or may not be erotic, and so I was like, what is pleasure. And I looked up and its just like happy, joy and satisfaction. And I was like, "Gosh it seems so simple and yet there's so much resistance to it. There's so much fear of it there's so much control of it. And. And for those of us who are like actively trying to change the world in some way there's a denial of it, right? Like it's like, "We are not allowed to have that. We need to be fighting for this you know future that's off in the future somewhere.".  Neil Sattin: Right.  adrienne maree brown: And I just remember landing and like. Wouldn't it be so radical to listen to Audrey Lourde had taught us about engaging the erotic now, engaging our full aliveness, in this moment. And for black women who, you know, that's who is at the front of my mind when I wrote this text, you know, I was like there's a lot that has intentionally cut us off from our relationship with joy and happiness and pleasure and contentment and satisfaction. It's been trained into us that we're not allowed to have those things so I got very... Then I got very light lit up with this idea, that I was like, "Oh what if we could have these things? Like what if it's a measure of our freedom to reclaim pleasure?" And so that kind of sent me off down this path that has been really exciting. And you know it's interesting because activism in general is not where I land right? Like I, I've often been like I'm an organizer! And for me the distinction you know, I think activists or folks who are really like advocating for something like using their public sphere to advocate for something, going and talking to friends. Organizers to me or folks who are like, "I'm actually trying to move a strategy amongst the people." Right? Like I'm going to go find those who are not going to just easily be reached and I'm going to knock on their doors and I'm going to find out what they need and and build an analysis and a vision together. And so you know it's like, "OK is activism OK for this? And it felt like actually for this, it is it is important that as many people in the world as possible begin to come out and advocate for all of our rights to have pleasure to have pleasure be an organizing principle of how we structure our relationships in our society. And then it starts with reclaiming our own, and moves out from that place. So I'm excited that it exists. I'm excited that it came together and then I've been really blown away by the responses. So I'm like, OK this... I really for a while was like, "This is not the time to be putting out right now. We need something about justice or we need something about like you know I kept having this strategic idea around if this current administration is starting fires all over the place. I kept thinking like, how do we conjure up water? How do we vaporize ourselves in some way to come up and over and rain down on them? And I was like, I got to go write that strategy book or whatever. And then I realized I was like, "Oh this is actually it," in a way?  Neil Sattin: This is that book.  adrienne maree brown: This is actually that book and that's been clicking to me that I'm like: This is it. This is the way that we become more powerful through pleasure, through what we can release rather than what we can contain. So. Yeah.  Neil Sattin: I love it. It's to me... What was I mean there are so many threads that came together for me as I was reading the book, and even just in hearing you speak right now. Primarily, that way that people are so.... Many people, I should say are so exhausted right now, with with just the state of affairs and....  adrienne maree brown: That's right.  Neil Sattin: ...that's political, it's environmental it's economic. There is a lot that's taxing us and that's something that regenerates us when we can find the sources of pleasure within us and in how we connect with the world that I think allows us to bring more of ourselves to the world and and also highlights the places where we are denying ourselves or denying others that inalienable right for...  adrienne maree brown: That's right.  Neil Sattin: ...the experience of joy.  adrienne maree brown: That's right.:I mean it blows my mind to really think about, like, what people what people have survived, like often when I stand in a room of people and I'm giving a speech or a talk or a training or something. There's a lot of me that's present with that moment but then there's also a part of me that's kind of thinking about all the lineages of all these human beings and how some of them in this moment have landed in a place of power, or privilege, and some of them haven't ended up in a place that's not that. But that those lineages all include some survival, some fighting to exist some taking a risk, some you know, moving out into the world with an unknown response you know, like we don't know what's going to happen here. We don't know if we're heading the right way. We don't know if we're going to survive and that there have been so many things that have have you know, like so much of our human history has just been about surviving, right? Just like can we make it? And so there's something interesting to me now to be like, I think I think we have shown that like oh we could make it like we could figure this out. We could be on this planet technically. But what is the life worth making it for? Like, what is worth surviving for?: Neil Sattin: Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: And now I think we're actively in that question. That is like, all of us deserve this relationship to pleasure. And when you look at like who thinks they deserve it or who is encouraged to have it, it's actually a very narrow small grouping of human beings. And I think that's because of capitalism. You know, I really think that as an economic system, capitalism thrives when we believe that we are not good enough and that we need to buy something outside of ourselves in order to experience pleasure. And I love the trick of it which is like, if you actually just drop down into your own body, which is the only thing in your entire life that you ever truly have, from the beginning to the end, if you just drop down into it, it's wired for pleasure. And those wires may have been crossed, you know, there may be some like dysfunctional parts of it because of trauma, because of pain, because of... which I now, also when I meet everyone, I'm like, 'I know you have some trauma," right? Like, I know you have some.  Neil Sattin: Yeah no one escapes that.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah. I don't know what it is. I don't know how severe or central it is to your life, or your life story it is to your life, or your life story. I don't know if you had the resources to recover or not, but I know it's there. And so I think like, "oh." What we're dealing with is like, what is the relationship between that trauma that's everywhere. And this system that's telling us that we can't heal ourselves we shouldn't even feel ourselves. We should just kind of outsource that to something we can purchase. And, and, then how in that do we find a way to be in RIGHT relationship with each other on this planet. Right? So that's the stuff I keep, I keep floating around with us like I want to, I want to leave a world behind me that people like I like I feel very compelled. I want to be here. It feels good, right? And that doesn't mean that I think we will solve the climate crisis in my lifetime because I do think... You know...  I really believe in Gopal Dayaneni, 1who works over at Movement Generation and talks about, like, there's things that we have already set in motion that we are gonna have to face the consequences of as a species. And I don't deny that that's what's coming to us but inside of that I think we also have to be actively fomenting pleasure and actively fomenting like reconnecting ourselves to land and to each other because as the changes happen we're still going to need to be able to feel, feel pleasure, feel satisfaction feel like being here. Otherwise we'll just depress and numb and you know kind of slip away. And I think that would be an unworthy end to our species.  Neil Sattin: Totally agree with you and a word that popped into my mind that I would like to add to that, is resilience.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: The more that we're embracing our capacity for resilience in terms of how we heal our lineage of trauma. Or present moment traumas in terms of how we make things right when they've gone wrong, and do that in the context where what we're shooting for what we're envisioning is something joyful blissful like that actually has ease and pleasure connected to it.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah. Yes.  Neil Sattin: Then that that makes it worth it and gives us kind of a... I hate to use the word technology, but like a technology of continually adjusting to get there.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: You talk in "Emerging Strategy," about adapability... Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: Exactly. Yeah exactly. Yeah. Well, I was just going to say, I was like, yeah. You know, like, to me emergent strategy and pleasure activism really go together like they're holding hands, dancing across the field of ideas and I really think that this this idea of resilience. You know I have a teacher Alta Starr who's always pushing me to be like you know, resilience is beyond even harm, right? It's sort of like this natural capacity we have to learn to adapt, to like grow, to learn from whatever changes come. And it's hard for me because I'm still like "Well. But also when someone hurts us, you know we had to be resilient." And you know it's hard in a city like Detroit because you know resilience can be weaponized. Like if people like you bounce back from anything, like, we'll just keep doing anything to you. Like you know we'll add an incinerator to your neighborhood or whatever you'll be fine. And so I think there's something about, Oh to me, like how do we have a transformative resilience right. How do we have resilience that is not just like we can recover back to conditions that we weren't very happy with in the first place. And being like oh you know when I look at like what am I recovering? I'm recovering something that's beyond my own origin, you know like I need to recover something that goes back past the many hours that my grandmother overworked, and I need to recover something that goes back past my enslaved ancestors, and recover something that goes back past my kidnapped answers, and you know, ancestors, like I feel this long, long, long arc of the work that I'm in right now where I'm like. Almost everyone that came before me was trying to work towards some joy some freedom some sense of safety for their children themselves. And now I am awakened so like I am aware of all of that and I have an option in front of me to be resilient across time and space right. And that feels very exciting. You know, I think as hard as it is to live in this age of hyper connectedness because I think it is really hard. My friend angel Kyoto Williams talks about this, that like, we we are given access to so much more information than we've ever had access to before but we're not given the tools to handle it all, right? Like we're not taught here's how to meditate. Here's how to pass what's overwhelming back to the earth or back to God or back to whomever you trust with it. We're not given those those technologies, right? So we kind of flailing a lot of the time of like, I'm receiving all this, I'm trying to care about all of it and we find ourselves stretched so far but I also think the really beautiful thing about that is like we can see how many people believe what we believe, how many people are trying to practice what we're trying to practice so we can find each other. You know you and I would have never found each other if it wasn't for this modern state of connection. And to be able to say like, "Oh you're out here in Maine fomenting these ideas and I'm out here in Detroit fomenting these ideas and we have very different lineages. And yet we both have arrived in this place where it's like this is a path. This is a way to move forward it's important. Paying attention to relationship is important." And so that you know, that gives me hope inside of the the struggle of this overwhelming moment where there is so much that is hard. It's also there's so much that is overwhelmingly beautiful and overwhelmingly good and there's so many ways that you know also we live on such a resilient planet. So, I often think about this that I'm like, you know, and I feel like I'm trying to remember whoever first said this idea, because I was a Oh snap! That's a game changer! It's like, the Earth is gonna be OK.  Neil Sattin: Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: Right? Like the earth is gonna be OK. Like, it might be, she might go through an Ice Age or something, but like if we're not here she'll still be OK. And like if we're not here she'll recover from whatever we've done. Like how we've remixed her nature into other kinds of things. And, I don't know if you saw this story came out last week about the white-throated rail, did you see that?  Neil Sattin: I hadn't but I saw you wrote about it on your on your blog. Yeah. adrienne maree brown: I was so moved by this. So this like little bird...:The debate is basically this bird re-evolved, right. Like it went extinct at 136,000 years ago, roughly. Because like,  these things are hard to track but like... Now this bird has has re-evolved has come back into existence. The same little -- it's a flightless bird. There's something about that that just I, I read it and I really was like moved in a way I was like, I didn't know I needed to know that that was possible. But, I was like, I need to know that that level of resilience is possible, like somewhere down in the programming of this planet. There's there's some code that's just like white throated rail.: And just because we can no longer see the creature, it doesn't mean that it's, it's disappeared like there's some aspect of it that DNA that's in there. And yeah, it made me feel like OK. Like there's mysteries on mysteries on mysteries when it comes to this planet. And there's so much that we can't understand. And so inside of that I'm like, you know, I love thinking really big grandiose thoughts. But then I try to bring them back down into very small tangible practices. Small ways of being with each other because I'm like, I can't imagine how we'll get through the climate catastrophe that we're in right now. But I can imagine being in right relationship with the planet around me and making better choices about this local place that I'm in and being place based and loving. Even though I travel a lot but I'm like rooting myself into the soil in Detroit in all the ways that I can. Like this is where I bury my compost. This is where I play with children. This is where I go find like where's the Detroit grown foods every summer and I am really cautious now. I've made a major shift in my life around how I produce waste. Like what kind of waste I will put out so that I tried to really shrink down my garbage waste to the, like the very very you know, it's like if I can rinse it and I can clean it off and it can be recycled. It's gonna be recycled if it's food if it can go into compost it goes into compost like I used to have a massive garbage bin that I was putting out. And I'm like I live alone. You know all of that with stuff that like other things can be done with. And now it's like you know a huge portion of what comes out of my home is gonna be recycled and reused again. And, I'm aiming at zero waste. I'm constantly trying to figure out where is and where other places where I can... I just bought this new set of like ziplocks reusable kind of Ziploc thingies, that so you know because I'm a, I'm a fan of Ziploc bags like I'm like you've put anything in a Ziploc bag. You can go anywhere you have it I carry like in my suitcase there's always like five Ziploc bags just like folded just in case because you just never know what you're gonna need a Ziploc bag for. And so I'm like, oh that's a next frontier that I need to like, you know, figure out a way to advance through and I'm like, oh I can do this, right. So anyway all of that to say to me I'm trying in my personal life to get in right relationship with nature and my body is a huge part of that. Like if I'm not in right relationship and respecting the miraculous, like, Stardust nature of my body then how can I even begin to be in my relationship with the rest of the living world.  Neil Sattin: Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: So, OK. So first, I'm so moved when I hear you talk about not really being able to read the code but seeing the expressions of the code like..  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: ...the bird coming back into existence from extinction and even when you were describing how you and I could be doing different work in different places and yet here we find ourselves together having this conversation.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: To me that is an expression of the power of something that's ineffiable, that like we can't understand but if we're willing to to follow that path and and follow the ways that it's growing and things are emerging then, then at least that inspires hope in me that there's like an antidote to disconnection, to destruction.  adrienne maree brown: Yes.  Neil Sattin: To...  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: ...all the forces that were that were working against and in terms of relationship the ways that people are, you know, experience this desire for closeness and connection. You know part of our, our wiring as you were mentioning earlier is to be connected to each other.  adrienne maree brown: That's right.  Neil Sattin: And yet, it becomes such a source of pain partly because we either intentionally or unintentionally traumatize each other and then also because of the social structures and their impact on us. When you talk about pleasure and relearning pleasure, getting in touch with your body and and I like that stand that you take for for the personal being political that fractal nature of...  adrienne maree brown: Yes. Yeah.  Neil Sattin: ...transformation. I think about how many of us are just kind of following the script of romance and love and sex and pleasure and needing...  adrienne maree brown: When did you become aware that there was a script?  Neil Sattin: Oohh. Well that's it's been an unfolding for me, for sure. And I think probably I became most aware of it when I inadvertently hurt someone. And like had no idea that that was happening for them and found out later and then you know, thankfully we've had our moments of amends and talking and all of that. But, in restoring ourselves. That was probably the inception of it. And then all through college.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: And then in my current relationship, I'm so blessed to be with someone who's taken a strong stand for her own boundaries around her own healing, her own trauma. And it forced me to even go even deeper into like, "Well, what am I looking for in relationships?".  adrienne maree brown: Right.  Neil Sattin: What am I looking for in sex? Would it like what is this rejection, quote-unquote, that I'm experiencing in this moment and what is that really about? And and so that has forced me to ask deeper questions, and to get progressively more and more honest with myself and with her, to a point where fairly recently I feel like I've hit ground zero. But it's it's a process it's definitely been an unfolding and watching those layers fall away. And then once they do being like, All right well how do I replace this? If I'm going to do sex the way that I thought I should? Or you know I think it was an essay that you wrote where you mentioned a babysitter who was watching Porky's when you were...  adrienne maree brown: Yes.  Neil Sattin: Yeah. And the way those things inform our sense of, of what's what's erotic, what turns us on, all of that. Once I peel those things away and come back to, this moment and what's real. Well...  adrienne maree brown: That's right.  Neil Sattin: Yeah. That's what my journey has been like and I've, I've certainly tried to surface that a bunch here on the podcast and and I'm really excited to hear your thoughts about that unfolding for yourself and, and you mentioned meditation earlier. Yeah. What are the the pathways into, kind, of breaking down the, the unhealthy learnings? And coming back into right relationship with with ourselves as relational, sexual, erotic, pleasure oriented being?  adrienne maree brown: Beings, right? I feel like... a couple of things. I mean I think one is, there was a period of time where I was, I was really convinced that sex didn't have anything to do with me or what I was feeling. Like, I was really like what is the other person feeling and like that's that's what's important right now. And like my job is to make sure that that experience is a whole good one. Right? And, and I feel like, I remember like, there's just moments in most of its relational right. Like most of it is like just other people reflecting something back. And it's like "Girl, it doesn't had to be like that." You know? People talking to me, reading stuff. I remember reading the work of Andrea Dworkin. Have you read her? Like she she talks pretty scathingly about marriage and pornography and like, a lot of things that I was just I took for granted, were like those are good things that you try to get to in life. And, I don't agree with everything, you know, I feel like there's a lot of brilliant thinking in what she said and I feel like there's also not a lot offered of like here are other true pleasures, you know, like here's the ways to get them.  Neil Sattin: Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: But there was something that blew open for me where I was just like, I want to be able to consider this. I want to be able to consider that everything I was told about where pleasure in my life would come from and, or,  was, was and wasn't allowed. That maybe all that is wrong. Right? And then Audrey Lorde's writing, Octavia Butler's writing. There were just all these different people who were giving me. It was never just about sex. It was never just about the body. It was alway, have a revolution about how you think about how things work in the world. Start to ask questions and get curious about who benefits from these systems. Right? So, I remember, I remember having a quest-, you know, a conversation with a friend about marriage and just being like, who benefits? Who benefits in marriage, right? And, uh, and being pretty like oh my gosh. No one should ever get married. I was like, "No woman should ever get married!" Like I felt very strongly like, Nope it's not, it's just not a good idea. Like you will work forever in a labor that will never ever get acknowledged. You will not be able to pursue passion, work, things that you actually care about. You'll not be respected in the process. And then you know, and then he'll cheat on you. Like this is the arc of  it, right? Because you know he'll need something younger and prettier and he's worked you out, right? And I remember having that conversation as like, NO! You know? Like, and then be like well no that's just one way that's a model that is... The system that benefits from that is patriarchy. And if I can understand that then I can be like let me target patriarchy. Let me... And like I, I'm very lucky that I came across the work of Grace Lee Boggs where she really is like: Transform yourself to transform the world. And this is something I say probably every day of my life. There's some place or some way in which I say this to someone else or to myself. So I was like oh Where is patriarchy in my own practice? Where is patriarchy is showing up in how I'm approaching a relationship? And some of the interesting places were how quickly I would be dishonest for the sake of connection. And I say connection in quotation marks there, right? That I was like Well I don't want to be alone and, like, being alone is a sign of someone who's not a good person or whatever. Right? You have to be like with someone to be like a part of the human experiment or whatever. First you know, that that is...  I no longer believe that, but like you know. But at the time I just like, ok, I don't want to be alone. So I would go out on a date or someone, you know, I feel like I was I feel like I came up like right at the end of dating, also. So it's like right at the end of like when you would actually say, "Let's go on a date to a place and get to know each other." For maybe three or four times we would do that before we are actually alone in either of our places. And you know something else would happen right. I'm like I come from what feels like almost a chaste time before the apps kind of popped off into, just your place or mine. Like what's good? You know? And I talk about apps as if I know what I'm talking about I've never really used that apps to, that's just not how I meet people. But, but, I know that the majority of people in my life that's now how people connect. But so you go out and you're having these initial conversations and my practice was to just kind of listen for what I thought the other person really wanted to hear and then delivered that somehow. And you know, I grew up as a military brat. I moved like roughly every two years, so you get really good at figuring out like what is the, what are the rules here, and how do I adapt to be safe within them? And it can be hard when you get good at that to also be like. And then what is what is fundamental to me like what is the me that I'm also carrying to each place that needs to adapt? And the same thing in dating like what is the me that's showing up? And like might adapt in some relationship but like why am I rushing to not just adapt, but like completely contort into something? Why am I so desperate for being in relationship that I won't even be there? Like I wanted it to be me that shows that. Yeah. So I feel like I had rounds and rounds of that and it never worked. I kept having this heartbreak, that was really almost never about the other person. But it was about facing how much I had contorted to get in the door, and then how little I actually wanted to be inside that house, right?  Neil Sattin: Yeah, yeah.  adrienne maree brown: Whatever house it was. And so, I feel like I took...  Neil Sattin: Which by the way is a super common problem that people have.  adrienne maree brown: It's every, it's everywhere. You know when, I do a bunch of you know like you said coaching and mediation and stuff like that, and I find like that is the number one thing. That's the number one thing is that people are like you're just not who you've said were.  Neil Sattin: Right.  adrienne maree brown: And how could you not be who you said you were? And how could you not uphold the promises that you made? And it's just like I was lying. I was, I wasn't even there. Like I don't even know I'm sorry. You know.  Neil Sattin: Right. And then there's that additional layer of oh wait a minute. Now we also have to deal with your shame around who you... around your truth. yeah.  adrienne maree brown: Exactly. And it's the shame and the still absence of yourself. Right? So, so often. Now I've been doing a lot of support for people who are in their mid 30s to 50s and a lot of the folks I'm supporting are going through major breakups of fundamental relationships. And it's interesting because they're like who am I? Like, who am I? You know like so much was defined in relationship to this other person? And that's how so many people get trained to become themselves. It's like now, now I'm ugly, I'm half of something, and now that's who I am. And so much of the work is being like; "You're a whole something. You're a whole something." And I think the thing I'm always watching out for is not to send people all the way to the other side of the pendulum, right.:To me the personal is political only as it relates to being part of a collective effort to be political about what is personal, right? So I feel like this is you know someone was asking me I did an interview yesterday, and they're like what about the GOOP, like what about the like white women taking bathes, or whatever. And I was just like "Yeah. Like you know that so much of self care is about that. It's like white people with privilege go off to the spa and that's when you know, often, I mention to people they're like, I'm not about all that, you know? And I'm just like, "Yeah I I don't think that that's political, necessarily, either right?" I think it becomes political in relationship to your identity. I think it becomes political in relationship to the community you're a part of and how you're making sure that everyone has access to the beautiful good parts of life, right? And so you know I'm part of a community. I'm part of many communities. And there's a particular community I call the goddesses. And it's a bunch of women, we all went to school together. Right now everyone's like slaying dragons in all these different fields of life, and we have started to really, like, have each other's backs and hold each other down in a way that like we didn't know how to necessarily do back then. Right. But we've rediscovered each other and been like we need to like all you know like how about half of us, half of the people are moms. And so it's like we need to go places where like everyone here gets to relax and be taken care of. That we get to be part of something that's close knit and intimate, but that we get to have massages or we get to be in a hot tub or we get to you know just cook for each other or take each other out to the best places we can find to eat. And like, there's so many small pleasures that feel really important, like it wouldn't be great for me if I was just like I'm over here living my best life and all my sisters were out here struggling. Like, I don't think that that's a way towards freedom, right? For me it's very important that as I have access, I increase access for everyone else and I particularly increase access for those who have less access than me. Like that to me as part of the political commitment I'm in for my lifetime.: Neil Sattin: Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: Yeah. There's... I'm just thinking here about the, uh, the commodification of self care and I think that's part of what you're talking about, right? Is that like...  adrienne maree brown: Yes. Capitalism! Neil Sattin: You actually have to... Yeah. There it is again. There it is again. adrienne maree brown: it's always there. Yeah.  Neil Sattin: One thing that popped up for me when you were talking about structures and like, I would never get married! And you know and then and then that sense of like well OK. It's just the system and who does it benefit and maybe there's a time and a place. What popped up for me was this question around the dance between safety and I think it was because you mentioned, you know, when going out on a date, like part of what's happening there is deciding, Am I safe with this person?  adrienne maree brown: Exactly. Yeah.  Neil Sattin: And. And then that because safety is right up there with connection in terms of something that we, that we require in order to function as humans. That's right. So and that's interesting as you start pulling apart the structures because one thing that marriage can be really good at...  adrienne maree brown: Is safety.  Neil Sattin: ...is supporting safety. Exactly. And so how do you start to loosen those tethers in a way that still supports people being held. Because if you're not feeling safe, you're not growing in a way that's probably generative for you you're just like scrambling back to safety for the most part.  adrienne maree brown: That's right. You know I think I love this question, Neil. I think this is like, this is an essential one. To me it's like, OK how do we balance these things. And a couple of thoughts leap to mind. One is that I think people feel like they have to choose between safety and like, being their whole selves or being their, being in their dignity, like all of it. And that first part, that feels like it's not true. Right, I'm like that's part of the lie that we've been told is that you have to choose. So you can either be safe in a marriage where you don't get to be fully realized as yourself or you can be fully realized as yourself. But like, you know, without that stability and I've seen it, I've seen the case more often than not be that you find that deep safety within yourself. It's a feeling not a story that you're telling about your life, right. Or a projection you're giving for someone else but it's actually like some, a felt sense, like I feel it in my life. Most of my life now, I feel safe right? And I can feel when that changes. Like sometimes I'll be in a space where there's just too many people, too much energy, something's off, you know? And I can feel it and it heightens my senses, it heightens my awareness, it makes me pay attention to what's happening around me. But then I think something like marriage, it's that kind of commitment, what I see so often happening is that people get into it and then they're like, "This isn't the safety that I thought it was going to be," right? Maybe it is for the first month or the first year or even until the first child or whatever, you know. But then there's some moment where that falls away because what you, what you thought you had, was like, I know you and you know me. And what's really happening is you're changing and I'm also changing and so I've officiated a few weddings and one of things that's been exciting is that the people asked me to officiate are like we want to commit to changing together, right. That to me is the kind of commitment that I can get behind where people are like I know this person again and I'm not going to change but I'm so curious about who they are and who they will become and I want to be there for that ride. And so it's not about marriage as entrapment and like catching you into one single identity, or any relationship, because now I'm like, you know I had to get married to be trying to trap someone in your web and I really like the model which I'm sure you've heard of of relationship anarchy. I don't think anything is perfect perfect thing that I really like it because so much of it is like, you know safety. You know, I think you were talking about with safety to me so much of that is rooted in trust.  Neil Sattin: Mm hmm.  adrienne maree brown: Right. It's like, Oh I trust that you're gonna do what you say you do. You say you're gonna do. And I trust that I can tell you my truth or whatever it is. And in relationship anarchy, which I think is like someone in Sweden, Andie Nordgren or something like that.  Neil Sattin: Yeah I forget.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah I have to go look at her name but there's you can look a bit like a "relationship anarchy manifesto." Right. And I love it because it's like trust is something that we build together over time, and like we start out with a default of trust like rather than starting out with the default of like, you've got it, you know like your trust is at zero and you have to like somehow bring it up to a hundred and never let your stuff like, never fuck up like never ever break my trust in anyway, or I'm gonna hold that against you for the rest of time. And I'm like instead you start from a place of like I have an abundant sense of trust for like my place in the world, for what I'm up to in the world, for like the work that I'm here to do, my purpose and then I meet you. And I'm just gonna offer you trust as a human being and what I am counting on is that if you break my trust, then we'll figure out how to recover together. Right? And sometimes that breaking of trust might be, we're not supposed to recover together. You know, like we're sometimes, the breaking of trust will expose something like, you're more committed to... uh... Like I see this happen sometimes where people are like in an open relationship, but still do cheating type behaviors. And I'm like, Oh, OK like great. That's good information, right? Like you're still very committed to a certain kind of secrecy. Maybe that's what turns you on is the forbidden. Something along those lines. And that's not compatible, right, with the kind of relationship that I'm trying to build or whatever kind of relationship this person is trying to build. And so I get really excited about stuff like that, because I like then you in a, you know, then it's like we just got clear about it and like we can trust each other to take the step back and transition into some other form of relationship. Versus, I think what happens now which is like, I offered you a false trust that you could never live up to that I was waiting for you to somehow live up to, you broke it and now I don't, I never want to see your face again. Right? Like you let me down so thoroughly, that I just I don't even want you to exist and I'm like I don't think we have enough people for that way of being with each other. Right? That we can just keep being like if you're not perfect, perfectly trustworthy then I kick you out of my community forever. And I say that you know the same thing you said is that you learn some of this from causing harm. And I'm like I learned from breaking people's trust. Right?  Neil Sattin: Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: There are people who I love and care about and I, I broke their trust and I have, I've had to do like a lot of work, a lot of work around like, Am I a trustworthy person? If the answer is No. How would I become a trustworthy person? Right. And again so much of that initial line of inquiry was just like about other people. Like how can I let them know how can I show how can I prove that I'm trustworthy? And of course the answer is I have to be trustworthy. Like I have to be able to feel in myself. And I'll tell you I'll tell you a little example of this.  Neil Sattin: Sure.  adrienne maree brown: I was in the airport like last week and I was running through and a lot had been happening and I went and sat down on a bench and there was this coat next to me and I asked around like, "Hey anybody is this your coat." And everybody was like no, you know whoever this coat is they just left this coat here. There's no bag there's nothing else around it. So I let it sit there for a little while and then I'm like Oh the nice coat. It's a nice coat. And so I picked it up to look at it and it's like a designer coat and it happens to be my size, right? So I'm like, This is a very nice gorgeous designer coat that someone just left here on this bench and like who knows if they're ever going to make it back, right?  Neil Sattin: For you!  adrienne maree brown: But, that, yeah part of my brain was like a gift from the universe! And I was like. And I picked it up and I looked at it and was like that would not be a trustworthy behavior to just take this coat and move on with life. Right. Like there's a chance that that person is still in this airport and that they're like running back here to get their very expensive, nice coat. Right? Or and, right. They'll call Delta. Like do you know where my coat is? Or whatever it is. So I took it over to the, um, you know where they check you in for the plane. I took it over to one of the guys there and I was like this was left over there. They're like, oh my goodness. You know like that's so sweet, you know. And it was just like, I felt the burden lift off my system that I'm like oh I was about to really just take someone's coat. But I didn't. And it is a small thing, like it's a really small thing that like no one would have known if I had done the wrong thing...  Neil Sattin: Except you.  adrienne maree brown: But I would have known. And like trying to get to that place in my life where like I don't make the mistake because it would hurt my integrity and my wholeness and my dignity outside of anyone else's. And even if I know it, that creates a shadow. Like how do I turned to my lover and tell this story? How do I walk into a room where I'm offering people, like let's be trustworthy people, and I'm standing there in a coat that I stole from some poor stranger, right? So to me it's that. It's like is my relationship with myself intact? And then from that place can I be in contact with another person and say, now this is intact? And if it gets harmed I commit to helping us get to intactness and sometimes that looks like a boundary. I keep repeating these words my friend, Prentis Hemphill, made this, made this, had this thought last week and then spread it all over the world basically, but its boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me, simultaneously.  Neil Sattin: Mm hmm. I love that.  adrienne maree brown: And I keep thinking about that that I'm like sometimes... Right? Isn't it beautiful. And sometimes it's like that. It's like sometimes in tactness is at a great distance. It's like we're good as long as you're two thousand miles away from me. We're fine. It's good. Like don't cross that boundary and it's all good.  Neil Sattin: Right.  adrienne maree brown: And so I think about that I'm like, you know that's one of the things I talk about in "Pleasure Activism" is like our "No,"  makes a way for our "Yes." Like the good boundaries are actually so crucial for the good relationships.  Neil Sattin: Yeah. What seems contained too, and what you're offering, is the necessity for healing, like, to recognize like, OK if we're not in right relationship we're all each on a healing journey to getting there.  adrienne maree brown: Yes.  Neil Sattin: It's probably rare, the person who's learned, who's reached their 30s or 40s or more, you know, and hasn't experience some sort of disruption of their integrity.  adrienne maree brown: That's right.  Neil Sattin: So there's the healing component. There's also the compassion component. Like if I, if I expect you to be perfect and you fail me, and then that becomes this huge breach, then that's a much different problem than I'm trusting you. And I'm also wanting you. Like I'm, I'm willing to be okay with where you and I aren't perfect as long as we can be in full disclosure about that together.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah. That's right.  Neil Sattin: That's the honesty piece.  adrienne maree brown: I like that. I like that. I feel like that', you know, because I also think about this. Like for people who are like, "Oh no you know I'm sure they're someone's not me I'm good. You know like I know what you're talking about. I don't lie to myself or whatever." Or like, so often the people who seem to be, who have it all together, who have it altogether. Are are in some ways damaging themselves the most like I feel like now I have stopped doing to myself the harm of trying to pretend I am perfect, right?  Neil Sattin: Yeah.  adrienne maree brown: And I see it. I mean I feel like that you know when people watch Beyonce's Homecoming, right? Like what was intriguing to me is that she was like I was pushing for perfection and it meant having to like learn all the stuff that I would never do this again. It wasn't perfect it was actually too much that I harmed myself. And but, I pulled this off, but I harmed myself and didn't... Like, there's even stuff like that. Right? I'm like, "Yeah, what are you denying of yourself. That's where you're creating a prison, right, for yourself. You're containing that part of you that wants to be alive and free and moving around. And I'll say I'm part of the generative somatics teaching body. And for me, Somatics has been the healing pathway that has opened so much. And there's a really beautiful episode of The Healing Justice podcast, that has a woman named Sumitra on it, as it was that, they basically the Healing Justice podcast, they do an offer and then they do a practice to follow up on that. And so it's a 30 minute practice something less than that but it's basically this, the core practice of Somatics which is just centering learning how to actually drop into your body and feel and center in real time. And the idea is that you don't center to feel calm or better you center to feel more. that if you can feel more...  Neil Sattin: Yeah. To feel what is.  : That if you can feel more, feel what is and feel more of it then you start to have actual agency in real time over the choices you make, over the connections you move towards, over the connections you can start to set real boundaries around, like I can feel when someone is not a good energy to have around me, right. That doesn't mean they don't deserve to have people around them. But it's not going to happen here, right.  Neil Sattin: Right.  adrienne maree brown: I'm gonna move towards those people who are like the right energy for me for, for me growing them. And for them growing me. Yeah. Yeah. So I want to offer that because when it comes to healing, I think it helps to be fairly tangible. Like, there's, there's some you know, I feel like that for me. Like I went to talk therapy for a decade or whateve, right? And I've been able to move so much more through being able to feel, because I feel like talk therapy I was still able to stay in my head and tell my stories and tell my lies. And like you know you know, you can do it if your therapist has to be on to you just move on to the next one like, here's my, here's my story, right, or whatever it is. And I just think there's something so beautiful about dropping in and being like I'm feeling, I'm in a community of people who hold me accountable to being able to feel myself. And even now like I've been touring this book I land in a new city, and I run into someone who's also a Somatic practitioner and they hold me and they're like Are you good? Are you centering? Are you good? How are you feeling? You know and I know that they really care and they want to know. And in that moment I can feel the connection and my aliveness just expand.  Neil Sattin: So important.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: adrienne maree brown thank you so much for your words today for joining us. I know we could talk for easy another hour. You don't have the time, at least not today. Hopefully we can chat again at some point. That would be special.  adrienne maree brown: Yay. Thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate being a guest on the show and I hope it's of use to people.  Neil Sattin: It is my pleasure and I just want to encourage everyone who's listening to check out all your work but especially your latest book: Pleasure Activism, Emergent Strategy. They're both written with such care and and I really felt them speaking to me and my unfolding and I know it would be a gift to any reader who's here with us. And it feels like a fun footnote that the friend that I met who introduced me to you and your work.  adrienne maree brown: Yeah.  Neil Sattin: We were actually both attending a somatic experiencing workshop with Peter Levine.  adrienne maree brown: Yay. That's awesome! Neil Sattin: So I love how it came back into Somatics here at the end.  adrienne maree brown: Full circle.  Neil Sattin: So far so important to find that truth of who you are and your experience in your body in this moment, and so much aliveness comes from there.  Neil Sattin: Thank you Neil.  adrienne maree brown: adrienne, if people want to find out more about your work, what can they do?  adrienne maree brown: They can go to the website: allied-media-dot-org-slash-ESII. That's where you can get trainings, workshop, stuff like that. And then I'm on Instagram  @adriennemareebrown, and I, that's where I mostly post things into the world.  Neil Sattin: Great. Well we will make sure there are links in all our stuff. And thank you so much for being with us today. And with me.  adrienne maree brown: Thank you. Have a good one.  Neil Sattin: Take care, adrienne.  adrienne maree brown: All right. Peace.  Neil Sattin: Same to you.  Neil Sattin: And just as a reminder if you want a detailed transcript of today's episode, you can get that by visiting Neil-Sattin-dot-com-slash-AMB, adrienne maree brown, or you can text the word passion to the number of 3 3 4 4 4 and follow the instructions. And we will have links to everything that we mentioned here in today's episode as well as to The Healing Justice I think is what adrienne said the The Healing Justice podcast episode that she mentioned, as a gift for you.  Neil Sattin: All right, take care.   

  Let's Talk about Goal Setting and Fear of Failure... On this week's episode of the Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry we have Dr. Brad Bellard, a phenomenal peak performance coach, who is driven to help professionals maximize their potential, so they achieve more success and fulfillment. Today Dr. Brad is going to drive home the mantra NO MORE EXCUSES. Dr. Brad is a best-selling author and sought-after keynote speaker, delivering impactful messages on topics including performance, purpose, and his personal story of going from ordinary to extraordinary. We are very fortunate enough to get Dr. Brad on this week's episode of the Lunch and Learn community because he is ready to help us all get out of the cycle of unfinished goals, help us battle the fear of failure on our health journey and gives us tips and tricks to make sure our goals become reality. If you haven't already check out episode 117(drberrypierre.com/llp117) to learn how Dr. Michelle get us out of these stressful situations in our lives. Remember to subscribe to the podcast and share the episode with a friend or family member. Listen on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio, Spotify Sponsors: Lunch and Learn Community Online Store (code Empower10) Pierre Medical Consulting (If you are looking to expand your social reach and make your process automated then Pierre Medical Consulting is for you) Dr. Pierre's Resources - These are some of the tools I use to become successful using social media My Amazon Store - Check out all of the book recommendations you heard in the episode Links/Resources: Instagram - www.instagram.com/dr_bradmd Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/drbradmd/ Facebook - Facebook.com/drbradmd Twitter - twitter.com/DrBradMD Website - www.drbradmd.com Video training with Dr. Brad - www.resultswithdrbradmd.com Start from Why by Simon Sinek Social Links: Join the lunch and learn community – https://www.drberrypierre.com/joinlunchlearnpod Follow the podcast on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/lunchlearnpod Follow the podcast on twitter – http://www.twitter.com/lunchlearnpod – use the hashtag #LunchLearnPod if you have any questions, comments or requests for the podcast For More Episodes of the Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry Podcasts https://www.drberrypierre.com/lunchlearnpodcast/ If you are looking to help the show out Leave a Five Star Review on Apple Podcast because your ratings and reviews are what is going to make this show so much better Share a screenshot of the podcast episode on all of your favorite social media outlets & tag me or add the hashtag.#lunchlearnpod Download Episode 118 Transcript Episode 118 Transcript... Introduction   Dr. Berry: And welcome to another episode of the Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry. I'm your host, Dr. Berry Pierre, your favorite Board Certified Internist. Founder of Pierre Medical Consulting, helping you empower yourself for better health with the number one podcast for patient advocacy here with the Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry.  Bringing you another episode. This is Episode 118. We have Dr. Brad Bellard who is an amazing, phenomenal performance coach who is going to get us right this episode. A lot of times when we talk about just the aspect of goals and achieving goals and what that means, I think a lot of times we kind of set people up for failure, right? And especially in the health space where we set patients up to say like, hey, you gotta stop smoking in three months, or hey, you got to lose all this weight. Or you watch your cholesterol. You gotta do all of these things that we set expectations on our patients. But a lot of times we don't actually train our patients to achieve those expectations. And Dr. Brad, who is an amazing speaker, he has a YouTube page where we're pushing him to hurry up and get a podcast because he needs to be on a podcast. Great blog as well too, who is going to really educate us and get us right on the correct mindset to make sure that not only do we have goals that we want to achieve, but we know how to succeed in getting those goals and we know have to deal with the missteps that are likely gonna be in the way on your route to those goals. So just a quick little bio. Dr. Brad is a double board certified sports medicine physician. He's a peak performance coach, as well as a non operative sports medicine specialist. Dr. Brad helps injured active individuals, avoid surgery, decrease pain and improve function. He's also served as a team physician for multiple professional teams including the NBA Dallas Mavericks and as a regular guest on Dallas, ESPN radio show inside sports medicine. As a peak performance coach, which again, I'm telling you like even though I know he's a sports medicine physician, like this is really where I think he excels and this is where I've been at narrowed by his growth. As a peak performance coach, Dr. Brad helps driven professionals maximize their potential so they achieve more success and fulfillment. Dr. Brad is a bestselling author, sought after keynote speaker delivering impactful messages on topics including performance purpose and his personal story on going from ordinary to extraordinary. Again, if you're listening to this in the month of July, you know, we are all about self-reflection. We're all about our mental clarity, mental health. I knew I'd be doing you guys a disservice if I did not tell you the aspect of achieving goals and setting goals and how to actually be successful at them. Dr. Brad actually drops a statistics bomb that actually kind of, you know, floors me throughout the episode when we talk about New Year's resolutions because you know, obviously if you're listening to this in July and you made this new year's resolution in January, if you look to the left, look to the right, one of your partners isn't talking about the new year's resolution, right? And he told me the amount of people who actually drop off by like February, March, which is absolutely crazy. So be on the lookout for that little tidbit. I mean, again, you're going to hear about his book, you're going to hear about a coaching program that he's got coming up and we're definitely excited for. And again, following this episode, I want you guys to follow him and I want you to pester him and to make sure he gets this podcast out because it's needed. We need a voice like his in the podcast space and I'm definitely excited for that to come whenever that does come around. But we're going to push it to be sooner rather than later. Again, like always, if you're not done, so go ahead and subscribe to the podcast. Leave me a five star review. Go ahead, follow Dr. Brad and know how much you learned and gained from this week's episode because again, I was sitting here like writing mental notes myself, and this is definitely an episode. I'm going to be going back and forth and drawing inspiration and drawing knowledge to make sure I'm achieving all the goals that I set forth to achieve from this year and here all forth. So again, another episode here on Lunch and Learn with Dr. Berry. Subscribe on all your favorite social media outlets, whether that be Instagram, Instagram stories, Facebook, Twitter. I'm on all of them. So wherever you are sharing it, I'm likely there. If you mention me, I'll definitely make sure I acknowledge on the support. You guys have a great and blessed day.   Episode   Dr. Berry: Alright, Lunch and Learn community. You just got a chance to listen to another amazing bio. I think I say this every week, I'm blessed to be able to know a lot of people who are doing some amazing things out in the health world and community and those who are willing to kind of reach back and educate Lunch and Learn community on all the amazing stuff they're doing. So again Dr. Brad, thank you for joining today's podcast. Dr. Brad Bellard: Dude my absolute pleasure. We talked about this before we got on offline, but you know, it's an honor and a privilege to be on here because I've been watching you. We got a lot of mutual friends together and we speak similar language in terms of being able to promote and improve other people's lives in very different ways, whether it's mental health or whether it's personal growth or whether it's their physical health. And so is my time we got together, man. So I appreciate the fact that you reached out and I'm excited man. Dr. Berry: And you know what I love about that is that, because I think a lot of times when people talk about growth in those different areas, they talk about it as if it's separate, like separate entities just kind of like run in parallel but not realizing to be really whole, right? Like you've got to have all of these things kinda in line. Right? Dr. Brad Bellard: Well, and you said it dude. We really separate our physical health from what's going on in our mind? And to me, you can't reach a certain level of physical health until the mind understands where it's trying to go and believe that it's possible to get there. So yes, it goes hand and hand. For somebody to maybe look like they're in great shape, but mentally they're not there, they're stressed. You may not see the toll that the stress has taken on internally, but you know, that's conflicting. So really ultimately like you said to be oh, and you've got to have the mind antibody right together. So now you, you hit the nail on the head. Dr. Berry: I have a lot in my Lunch and Learn community members who like to skip past the intro. So they've been, maybe they didn't catch your bio, right? For those who did it, tell a little something about yourself that maybe isn’t in the bio but like, you know, really says like who Dr. Brad really is? Dr. Brad Bellard: Man, at the end of the day dude, I'm just a guy who was at the, you know, just really came from ordinary beginnings in the Houston area. Had no aspirations of becoming a doctor, had people who believed in me much more than I ever believed in myself. And I was crazy enough to believe it. And over time, you know, became a physician but always had this ‘its’ Dr. Berry, that there was something else that was a voice that was waiting to be heard about really the story of my life and how being able to maximize your potential and the way people tapped into my potential so that I can eventually become more than I ever thought I could. And even, you know, try to excel to become more, really try to convey that message to other people, man. And I've been blessed to have some success in a lot of different areas. You know, I served as the assistant team physician for the Dallas Mavericks for multiple years. Radio is something that's been a passion of mine as I've been on ESPN radio as a cohost for them on a show that we do here in the Dallas area. And you know, I'll do some speaking, bestselling author and all that stuff. Don't really talk like talking a whole lot about that. But I do bring it up only to let people know what's possible. That's really the only reason I do it. Dr. Berry: I mean, sometimes Dr. Brad you gotta let people know you're not playing out here too. You know, I mean, because sometimes people don't respect the amount of work you put in, right? Until you start you know, listing out the CV out, right? Sometimes we got to list to CV and I'm a 100% champion for listing the CV out when need be. Dr. Brad Bellard: Oh listen, some time, you've got to check folks. Just so they know who they talking to and you know when I get that feeling, yeah. Every now and then I gotta put a couple of pointers out there and some reminders. But for the most part, man, me, dude, I'm just a chill dude trying to make people more successful in the field than they are now. Dr. Berry: So what do I want to talk about? Because I'm very interested in all that amazing stuff you do. When we talk about peak performance coaching, when was that time in your life when you knew that you know what I needed to make this direction shift. I'm not sure if it was a turn im not sure it was a change, but I just needed to go in this direction. And then how did you end up becoming the peak performance coach? Because I think Lunch and Learn community, I really want them to kind of get ahold of, right? Especially because we’re in July. Right? And I know we’re in July, but depending on when you listen to this, a lot of y'all talked about New Year's resolutions in January.  So I know a lot of time this is when those New Year's resolutions, you know, people stop talking about it. People stop bringing it up. Right? So I kind of want to know what was your transition, when you say, when you realize, oh I needed to do something more. Because I think you kind of alluded to it, like I was doing okay but I wasn't 100% fulfilled. And then when you say, you know what, I'm going to take this mantle and drive people to not only drive myself, but then now I'm going to turn around and drive others. Dr. Brad Bellard: Yup. Yeah. So first of all, you talk about those New Year's resolutions, man. There was a study that came out recently that showed that about 80% of people before February hits already dropped the resolution. So you gave a lot of people a little more of a time. And I know they might be dropping off now, let me tell you something. If they stuck with it until now, they're probably gonna stick with it. But before, a lot of people that happen about five, six months ago. But no, man you know, so I believe everyone's present and future in some way connected to their past. So really it just comes down to my story. You know, when I was younger, my brother was a large motivating force in my life. He was at the time an entrepreneur and he was trying to get a business started. And so he had people in his life that were pouring into him about how to see yourself, how to have a better self-image, how to succeed in these success based principles. And my brother was 12 years older than me, so he directly kind of fed that into me. And I was just kinda, you know, all ears. And at the time I was a young athlete trying to play basketball and I would apply these principles. And so I started seeing that these things work because unfortunately I just didn't get this from my home, nothing against my parents. They were just, they didn't speak life into us like that.  Dr. Berry: Do you sometimes find it is that they don't know how or the foundation isn’t there to be able to build and teach those methods just aren't there for them? Dr. Brad Bellard: I firmly believe, at least my parents. I think most parents, they want to try to do the best they can for their children, but they're ignorant to how it works. And when I say ignorant, not in a bad way, but they just literally lack the knowledge of what it takes. No one poured into them into that way. So how would they just wake up one day and be able to share with me principles of success or being able to believe in myself or be able to believe that things are possible. So, you know, they did their best and I'm grateful for that. But you know, my story from early on was a story of one in which people believed in me much more than I ever believed in myself. And you know, I'm a hard headed, I guess it never really started sticking until later in life that I would look back and look and be like, you know, I actually did pretty good in that area. Maybe I can apply this to other areas of life. And so the same thing happened in college. I mean, I could've swore I was gonna fail College. I mean, I just knew I was gonna fail. My first semester in college I was so fearful. It really forced me to study because I was so fearful. I was gonna fail and I did well. And it was one of those things like wow, those realizations. Like, man, if I apply myself, I'll do well. And again, I just had people, dude, I mean, I'm so blessed because there was a professor I had who just saw more than me. And then she invited me to try to be a part of extracurricular activities. And I was like, why does she keep talking to me? Why does she keep trying to include me in all of this stuff? And I'm so grateful now because she saw something in me. And so that led to speaking for the first time in college. And I remember I dressed about four to 500 people in it. And something happened right there, man. And I said, you know, I've got to do something with this. But I went along my career in medicine and successfully graduated from medical school. And then, you know, became a doctor. What happened was, despite the fact that I've successfully achieved, you know, what I wanted to do in my professional career, I found myself and what most people would consider successful in life, you know what I mean? I mean, I'm a doctor, I had started a little small home business. I wasn't fulfilled dude. And I couldn't figure it out. I was like, why? Why am I still, why do I feel like is this it? It's like, I actually got to where I wanted to go and I'm like, this is it. Dr. Berry: You know that's very interesting because when you talk about from an outward appearance, the degrees were there, the business was there, the business is doing well, but on the inside it was like, something's not 100% right. Like I'm not 100% but happy. And that's a very interesting perspective because I think a lot of people don't do enough reflection on themselves to realize like, that's probably it. You're missing something and that's why you're not happy like you want to be or in that regards. Dr. Brad Bellard: Well dude, think about it. It's hard taking a look in the mirror and being honest, dude. You know? So when people feel a certain way like that, they feel unfulfilled and I know exactly the feeling because I ignored it for so long that for most people who ignore one or two things is going to happen. They become numb and then they'll just make excuses and then eventually they'll just kind of get stuck where they are and then we won't be able to see a way out. (And more excuses become regret). Yep, that's right. And then the regrets become other excuses to justify why you haven't gone after something else. I try to address why you're dealing with that. So it's hard looking in the mirror. Dude I get it. Like I was there. And you know, I mean at the time I'm thinking like, dude, I put all this work time, money in and you know, listen, med school, ain’t cheap Dr. Berry, you know it. Starting business ain't cheap. So you know, I'm sitting here like, why do I feel like this? And so, you know, I get that, not wanting to reflect because reflection hurts, but growth requires reflection. It has to, because if you can't recognize and be aware of where you are now, there's no way you can kind of say, well, where do I want to go? I don't want to fix this. (I love it). But to answer your question, so it got to a point to where I was struggling with two things. One, I was unfulfilled. Two, I knew I was actually under achieving, people say under achieving?  Dr. Berry: Interesting, okay. Alright. Hey, Lunch and Learn community, you gonna see my eyebrow, hold on, alright. Dr. Brad Bellard: But here's the deal. We all have this personal gauge of how whether we know we're actually living up to our potential. When you look in the mirror, whether you're doing what you can or whether you're falling short. And so because I kinda got stuck in a rut, I really wasn't trying to advance my practice. I really wasn't advancing my business. It all looked good again on outside looking in. But I became so frustrated. It all came to a point where I was like, I've got to change. I've got to do something. And to be a hundred percent honest with you, man, I wasn't doing what I needed to do spiritually. I wasn't doing what I needed to do as a husband, as a father, as a doctor. I was trying to figure out what my purpose. I didn't know. I mean, I was like, because obviously what I did here in my career was not scratching it, so to speak, to try to figure out, man, is this it? What else am I going to do? I got fed up man. And that frustration and pain led me to really, really invest in myself and figure out what I needed to do to take things to another level. For me, one, I had to discover my purpose and two, I really had to start applying a lot of those success principles, those faith based success principles in my life. And when I started doing that with the help of other people in my life, people, coaches, mentors, I started to see things changed in a drastic way because of that. You know, like I said, I've been blessed to have some success. I said I have to pay this forward. It is not a question I'm obligated for people who were where I was, you know, man, is this it? What am I doing? I'm a successful professional, but like I'm stuck. Now I gotta wear the mask in front of everybody else because I just got to do it, right? But internally they're like, dude, how did I get to where I am now? And I'm still stuck. I don't know what's next. I know there's more to life. I know I want more. I just don't really know how to get it. And you know, I've been able to develop some systems and tools to be able to help people do that. So that's really how the whole peak performance started was I was like, dude, let me go back and look at what I did, really define it and turn it into a way that I can voice clearly to people with my help. How to start living a life of purpose and peak performance. Dr. Berry: I love it. This is what they need to hear. Like I said, the 80% of people fell off in February. (That’s right). Maybe if they heard something like this in February, you know, they'd still be around in July. Right? (That’s right). I think, and it sounds like that's a very big motivator for you, right? Like getting, you know, people to really turn their goals into reality, right? And really pushing it because if it worked for you and I think it was interesting because you talked about a mass and I think a lot of times when we talk about people wearing masks, sometimes they don't realize that successful people do it too. And I say successful in quotes because success is usually, you know, an outwardly appearance, the degrees, the money, that's all they usually can draw from because they don't really know what’s going on the inside. Dr. Brad Bellard: Well look, I'll say this, if you know you're wearing the mask and you know, internally something's hurting, that's actually a good thing. Here's what's scary is when you're wearing a mask and you don't even know it, and you'll know what I mean by this. We're both physicians. Somebody has got hypertension, they don't feel hypertension. You can't feel hypertension. I guess what? You can't be like, Oh man, my blood pressure's just hurting me right now. You'll do that. But guess what? It's killing you on the inside. And so if you're aware enough to know that something's not right, like dude, you know, I'm just not where I want to be being 100%. That's a good thing. It's just time to address it really. And I'm here to let you know, number one, it's possible to achieve what you want. And number two does a way to do it and three, there's someone here to help you do that. You know what motivates me, man? (Talk to me, let’s go). Here's the deal. So many times we want better for ourselves and I get it. Dude, that's big. That might be like an initial self-motivated. That was probably my initial motivator. Like, dude, I'm going to do something. I'll start. I'm going to do something. What motivates me now and what will create lasting motivation and service? Dude, there are people out there who are currently right now where I was years ago where I'm like literally gripping my head, trying to figure out I am not where I need to be. So it's more trying to find those people and it's my personal obligation to serve. And find those people because if I can get in front of those people and help them, well then I've done my part, but see it's not about me anymore. And when you get to that point in anything that you're doing, which I encourage people to find whatever that is for you. Find something that's big enough in your life that if you don't do it because somebody else will suffer or someone else will suffer because you don't do what you're supposed to do. That is a motivator. We'll let ourselves down almost a hundred percent of the time. We know somebody is, oh dude, but we know somebody else is relying on us and you're not doing what you're supposed to do. That hurts. So yeah, that gives me up, man.  Dr. Berry: Definitely a good point here. What do you think stops people? What do you think, in your history of your career, the people you work with, what do you think stops most people from really achieving what they really want? Because we talk a lot, right? In January we're hype. (Yup). But what happens in February? What happens in March? Now people fall off so much. Right. What's been your thing that you've run into like often over and over and over again? Dr. Brad Bellard: One word, man. Belief. I'll keep it real simple. And you could just, you and all the listeners, man, I can just let this marinate. If you believe you could do it, you'd be doing it or you would have done it already. (I love it). Let me think about it. If you really, really, really thought you could start that business, you would have already pulled the trigger. That would not have been an excuse. We were talking before this about me podcast and for some reason as a belief issue of why I haven't taken action to actually start my own podcast. I do all the other stuff and it really, I mean there's no excuse for me because I've got so much content and stuff out there. Dr. Berry: And Lunch and Learn community, I'm telling you, he got so much. Like don't have to do a new thing for nothing. He can just, I'm just going to take this idea from here. I'm going to take this out from here and he probably has a couple months’ worth of stuff right now. Dr. Brad Bellard: Oh dude, almost a year's worth of stuff. And so you know, here's what you'll find is pure honesty from me. I'm not perfect. So when I'm telling you about something that you know, so you asked me like what stops people? Saying stuff that stops other people, the same stuff that stops me. The thing is I become so aware of what it is now that I can talk about it and I've been able to say, okay, well it belief is the issue really with intention. Use that to my advantage and believe something to turn the goals and the wants and the desires into reality. But what stops people man, is that there's a belief issue. Most people don't want to believe that, but it's the reality man. I mean, you know, if you believed a hundred percent you can do, you'd already be doing it all.  Dr. Berry: I love it. And you've talked before especially about achieving goals, right? And you've given tips like this. Again, like I said, I followed Dr. Brad on IG, on Facebook, on YouTube, and on the blog. And he's talked about three tips for achieving goals, which I love. And I really want him to kind of, you know, it really hit home, especially for you guys who are in the middle or in the beginning or are starting or towards the end of your health journey, whatever that is, right? And he talks about these three tips as far as achievement and goals, right? Number one is eliminating excuses. And I love that. I love the elimination of excuses because I find that a lot of us, you know, we, they come out of nowhere. And when sometimes we make up our own excuses. We don't even give people time to like, well, that's the reason why you ain't doing it because of this. Like we have our own excuses kind of get away. The elimination of excuses like it sounds easy, right? (Oh dude, sounds too simple). How have you helped people eliminate excuses? Honestly, what are some of the funniest excuses of you've heard in the past that like, come on man?  Dr. Brad Bellard: I could have you rolling on my own excuses, man. You know what I’m saying? I mean we thought about this podcast, let's start there. I've got all the tools and everything in the world. Just start a podcast and I have it. Ultimately, people want change. But there are three things that, or pretty much mandatory that I've seen to really kind of take big picture to achieve change, to have transformation, achieve your goal, however you want to label that. One is mindset. In that mindset, and that's a big word. But like, you know, positive mindset. (Especially because a lot of us have negative ones). We have negative mindset. So mindset, under that mindset is belief. So really your internal thoughts. So let's just say mindset – one. Second is clarity. I think people, most people don't know what they want. They know they want something different, but I don't know if they know what they want and you can't really start moving. You can start moving away from something, but to really be purpose driven and get to what you want, you have to then start moving towards something but people don't know what that is. So clarity or vision. And then the third thing is you got to have people, man. I thought for the longest time I could do things on my own and that was one of my roadblocks. I'm just going to wake up and be able to just do this stuff. But you need people and there's various types of people you need. You need someone who's, you need people around you. You need your tribe of people who are going to encourage you. You need a mentor or coach or somebody who's been there already to now guide you along the way. Dude, there’s a Harvard study that showed that 95% of where you'll be in there, your results in life is as a result of the people who around. 95%, this is a Harvard study. So you telling me you don't need people, you want to continue to be like, I wasn't a pastor, I don't need people. I don't need a coach. I don't need a mentor. You know what ads put my prior to the side dude, because I wanted more out of life. And so that's really what it is, requires mindset, clarity and people. And that in a big picture will really help people to get what they want. That'll help them eliminate excuses and to do anything else. If you'd look big picture, that's what it is. Now I'm here to let people know I'm a person that can help you to do the other two things, which is the mindset and the clarity. So yeah. Dr. Berry: Your second tip was having a strong why? Why is that so important? Why is it so important for a person who wants to achieve their goals to like really have a strong why? Dr. Brad Bellard: You’ll quit. You'll quit, dude. You know, you gotta eliminate excuses. You've got to have a strong one. I mean, and I know what you're talking about, you know, to achieve any goal, do you got to be able to eliminate excuses. You got to have a strong one. Look man, if being excited about something is only going to last so long, dude. Because at some point you're going to get punched in the mouth. You're going to  get punched in the gut. And the question is, is what I'm going after worth getting up and feeling that again. Because you may. (Okay). That why has to be, dude, it's gotta be deep enough to get up again man. You modify, bless your listeners right now. (Please do). Dude, there's a book that is called Start with Why by a guy named Simon Sinek. It was one of the books that changed my life. I've got about 10 books or so that have just been, you know, those game changers in life, right? It's called Start with Why. And he talks in that book about companies that have not just like extra ordinary companies, companies like where do you like this company or not? You can't deny they've done well and created a following and community, but it was Apple. They talk about big time companies and how they did that and how you can relate that start starting with why to your life to be able to achieve more, be more, do more. And when I saw how powerful the power of why is man, I said I need to know the reason why I'm doing almost everything in my life. If I can't give a reason of why I'm doing something with intention, maybe I don't need to be doing it or maybe I need to figure out why, why I'm doing it instead of just living haphazard, man. Dr. Berry: I love it. Okay. Alright. And I see, listen I told you. I told you we learn it today and obviously for those who may be driving, you know, listen to wherever you're listening to, I will make sure all of the links that Dr. Brad talks about will be in the show notes as well too. So you don't have to like scary down there. Right? Because I’ll make sure we have a link to that as well. The last time we talked about a solution based mentality. What’s that?  Dr. Brad Bellard: It's the difference between when, so solution. In order to have a solution there's got to be a problem. I think we can all agree like in order to have a solution that means that you're solving a problem. So by means problems are inevitable in our lives, but there's a difference between when a problem comes and immediately saying there's no answer to it or having the solution based mentality where you say, okay how can we fix this? It's the question of how, how can, when you start to ask yourself questions like that, the mind opens up to a possibility of how it can happen. I mean just as recent as the other day I was talking to my wife and she's out of town and she has some car trouble and so she went, got it checked out and it was a certain amount of money and she was like, you know, what are we going to do? I said, well hold on, hold on. How can we figure this out? As soon as you start to think that you start to think of possibilities. But if something happens and you immediately like, dude we're done. We can't do anything. Possibility has been ended. When you're on your way toward any goal, if you're trying to achieve anything in life, there's going to be problems. I can assure there's going to be obstacles and when it happens you have to say, how can I move around this? How can I, because it will empower you to think about things that you didn't ordinarily think about before. Once you are presented with it. But don't just write off any other possibilities because at that point you'll stop. Dr. Berry: That makes so much sense. Once you've come with that initial thought like, oh my God, this can't be done. Your brain is not going to even think about other ways that it possibly could be done because you've already quit before the race even started.  Dr. Brad Bellard: Dude questions just in general or is this big? I mean you start asking yourself questions. That's, you know, you talked about self-reflection, like being able to reflect. A lot of that is just asking yourself questions. I mean one of the biggest questions I ask people is, what do you want? Like, I mean that's a big question Dr. Berry. But most of us, I don't think we think that we can get it. So you talk about beliefs, that's why we don't even address what we want because it's like, well I kinda gotta go to work. I kinda got to do this. Like okay, I get that. But what do you want when you really site people what they want, that's when you can start moving towards something because you can define what you want. That's that clarity piece I was talking about earlier.  Dr. Berry: I don't think it will be complete. Right? Especially in the space of, you know, helping people achieve their goals and talking about the goals, you know, that they have. Right? Without talking about the aspect of failure and you do talk a lot about failure and really the fear of it. But most importantly you're talking about like how do you get over that, right? If you guys, like you said, I think that failure is kind of rooted in their belief, right? Some people believe the failure before they believe their goal.  Dr. Brad Bellard: Dude, failure is so powerful. Think about it. If you have a goal that's something that you want to do, oftentimes the fear of failure will stop you from taking an action toward it. I mean, think about it. Our Egos are so fragile, to get hurt. No, this is real. Our egos, (Talk to them). No, no, no. I'm talking to me too, man. Our egos are so fragile and we don't want to feel the pain of not achieving something that we don't even have yet. That we don't even, we don't even like, it's not like we're losing something, but we're trying to go after something. You ain't even have it. I'm not even going to go after what is this, that and the other half. But you ain't have it yet. Like we're so concerned of how we will feel when we fail that we won't even move. Dr. Berry: As you can see my face because I'm like, yo, yo, he hit me right there. Yeah. It's a lot of us who are walking around. Like you say, we won't even start the race because we're already thinking about, oh, happens if I fail going towards the end of the track.   Dr. Brad Bellard: You know, what are people gonna think? What's going to happen? People will think, let me tell you, they'll probably think things that you even have in mind of what they're gonna think, you know? So that's where we go back to that why question is whatever you're going after. Is it worth it? Is it really worth it? Sometimes fear, like I was talking about before, you know, I was so fearful that I was going to fail. It really pushed me to go. Sometimes it can be a push, but if you're so fearful that you're not taking action, that's when it becomes a problem. We're all gonna face fear. The question is this, what are you going to do when it happens? Are you gonna have a healthy response to fear? Fear is part of life. But oftentimes we are factored in as opinion. So there's fact, okay, there is a fact that maybe you failed a test or a fact that maybe you didn't make money in this first business. That's fact. Your opinion of the fact that you'll never be able to do it again is not real. So then it becomes that fear is now a choice. You choose fear. Danger is real. Danger is real. Dude, look, if a lion comes up in this room right now, like I'm feel like I'm in danger, like yes, I will. It's time to run. I'm fearful because I'm in danger. But starting that business ain't nothing going on. I mean, what's gonna happen to you? It's not like you're going to have a heart attack, you know? It's not like you're gonna, so now it's a choice. So you've gotta be able to, to address it and know that it's there and then deal with it in a healthy fashion. Dr. Berry: Amazing. And again, like I said, touched on, and I love the fact that a lot of us that you talked on are, a lot of us are choosing, right? Where we're choosing fear, we're choosing this fear of failure and we're not even starting, right? Because again, that that fear is going to be there. We expected to be there and for yourself, it actually helped push you forward and motivate you towards your goal. But for some, unfortunately, maybe again, you say 80%, wow that 80%,  I've been thinking about that number this whole time like wow 80% really drops off by February. Wow. A lot of us like have chosen I, this is the route I'm going. You know what? I know I was hype in January, but I'm good on that now. I'll see y'all next January. Dr. Brad Bellard: Let me talk about resolutions for a minute. Again, I just want to bless the people who are here because I get it man. Like people, I think most of us have goals now. I think most of us have things that we want to do. We may not say the word goals because it might scare some people because they know if they failed, then they know they fail. They're going out and go. But we have things that we want to do. Let's just put it that way. If you don't, people will go to the gym. Let's just take weight loss for a second. Say, man, you know I'm going to lose. I want to lose 20 pounds. And so they'll start putting in action. Like I'm going to go to the gym, I'm gonna put all these actions. But the one thing they miss is mentally being there before they ever get there. So you have to have a self-image of having lost 20 pounds already to be able to continue moving. You know, we are where we are right now because we had an image of ourselves at some point in our life to be here now or else we wouldn't be the people that we are. I mean that's just how it works. So if you want to lose that weight, believe you've already lost it before you even start. But you know that takes work. That takes the, it takes exercise, it takes mental exercise just like it does physical exercise to get there. But it's the mental exercise that people don't implement, which is why after two weeks is too hard and is just, you know what, I'm not going to go to the gym anymore. Dr. Berry: Oh I love it. Dr. Brad you have really put a charge, not only Lunch and Learn community, but also myself. Like I was, I said, you know what? Maybe I can go and do this thing too. Like maybe, because now I'm like, wow, this is something I was holding myself back. Even though, I know especially Lunch and Learn community they talk all the time like “ Dr. Berry what else can you do?” I don't want to limit myself. I love this process of going through the steps, right? Going through the steps of recognizing I want to do something different. Recognize it. Alright. These are some of the steps that may hinder me, but because I know my why, I'm going to keep moving forward. And yes, that monster of failure in the shadow, but I'm not gonna let that monster stop me from getting to work. Right? So first of all, thank you for such an amazing educational lesson. Like I said, we are definitely hype. and you were definitely person Like, yeah, I gotta make sure I get him on a show because I don't know if people realize how amazing this guy is. So I said, let's get him on one way or the other. Dr. Brad Bellard: Well, I'll tell you Dr. Berry. One of the things that I love that you say is empower yourself for better health. I think so oftentimes some of our patient base, they look to us for all the answers. And we can have answers, but we can't result for you. You know what I'm saying? I can't result for you. I can't get your blood pressure down. I'm an educator and I and I will educate you and guide you, but I can't do the work. Now what I like about most of our patients that come in to see us. When I say us, doctors like you and myself, is that, yes they're taking an active role by seeing a doctor. But if you're saying, hey listen, you know, we've got to get your blood pressure down, that's a goal. And so they need to be empowered. And I love the fact that you are creating content to empower people to ultimately hit their health goals. Your health is important. And so thank you for this podcast, dude. Thank you for having me. I hope that what I'm talking about here will help the community of listeners who listen to you and be empowered and take the information and knowledge that you're giving them, including what I'm giving them. To be better patients so that they can be better people so they can have better health. You know what I mean? But you're doing exactly that, man. You're empowering people. But I challenge everybody who's listening to this to take the information. (Let’s go). Yeah. So take the information that Dr. Berry's talking about and let's use it. See, he doesn't provide this content just because he likes hearing himself talk. Okay. I mean we want to create change. So we challenge you to take this information so that you can hit your health goals. So then you can take back control of your health, which is another thing that he says is take back control. We can only do so much, but in our passion and in our purpose, we deliver this information. But there's going to be up to you to take action so that you can have a better life. And listen, at the end of the day, it's worth it. I mean, what is it going to feel like to be able to, to not have to be on the medication anymore? What's it gonna feel like to lose the weight? The knees feel better? What is going to feel like to be able to wake up knowing that heck, you just achieved your goal of losing 10 pounds? What's it going to feel like to be able to know that you're serving as a phenomenal example for your family and others around you of what to do? We talked about 95% of who we become is a matter of who's around us. Seeing what we don't oftentimes understand is the decisions we make for our own health is having a profound, maybe more drastic effect on those people around us. Your family, your friends. (Oh, yes). Whether you're a grandparent, parent or just a friend of someone you serve in some kind of way. Whenever you make decisions on your health on a daily basis because there are around you. So realize it's not about you. It's not always about you but the decisions you make more have effect on other people around you. So I challenge you guys to listen to what Dr. Berry says. Apply it. And I mean, dude, you're a blessing dude. So I appreciate you. Dr. Berry: Must appreciate them. Amazing words and we'll definitely make sure we get that written down somewhere so we can post that on IG. So cool. Before you go, and because I have such amazing guests and it's amazing. I'm in a circle that, especially a circle of physicians who are not only killing it in health, but we're just killing it in general, right? Like I always, I always leave this time say, alright, Dr. Brad, please tell the people what are you doing? Please tell them, you know, books, courses, whatever you have so they can be connected to who Dr. Brad is and they can see why Dr. Berry feels like Dr. Brad's so amazing. What's going on right now? Talk about the book, talk about the… let's go. Dr. Brad Bellard: Yeah, man. Listen. I'm extremely excited. Like I said, my passion is all driven towards service man and trying to get people to a place to where they really can maximize their professional and a personal potential via faith-based principles so that they can achieve more success and fulfillment. That fulfillment word is really big. So everything I do is really centered upon that in terms of things that I do as a peak performance coach outside of my practice. So I've got a book, I've got a bestselling book called Elite: A Modern Success Guide to Purpose and Peak Performance. And it literally serves as a guide for people who are looking to achieve more, be more and live more. So we've got the book. We talked about three things earlier that everybody needs to some sort of transformation, mindset, vision and people, that's MVP. So I've got something I'm extremely excited about. You know, a lot of people are kind of pulling from me here, there to work with them or coach to help them hit their goals. What's really cool is I'm creating a membership so that people can literally have access to me month to month to learn and implement a habit that will help them become the person that they always want it to be and sustain it over time. So I'm literally going to be your accountability partner. I'll be the person who coach you. I'll be the person who encourages you on a month to month basis as being a member of the MVP nation. So that's going to be rolling out really, really soon. And then, you know, I do some speaking man, people can always check us out. You can follow me at Dr. Brad MD. That's D, R, B, R, A, D, M, D. Even in my sports medicine practice we're doing some big things on the radio or in there. So I had that earlier this morning. So today's kind of been a media day. Dr. Berry: I love it. Media day. I’m proud of media. Dr. Brad Bellard: There was media day, man. So check out what we got on there. Should I talk to him about the free video? (Talk to them. Let’s go). Yeah. So listen man, I got a heart to give. So for anybody who's looking to turn their goal, talk about goals here, people who might have some health goals, any goal that you have. If you're trying to create that goal into reality, I've created a free video. It is literally free. Like it's not like this dude is like talking crazy like no, it's free, it's free. And so it's a video training. It's about a little less than 10 minutes long and it's called the Results Formula. And so I talk about that results formula and how you can apply it to your life. And that's at www.resultswithdrbradmd.com. I'm sure you'll put it on the notes (Definitely. Go ahead). And if you go there… Dr. Berry: In fact, Lunch and Learn community, If you text Dr. Brad MD at 44222 I will make sure that links directly to you. Dr. Brad Bellard: Man. Dude, Dr. Barry, man. Look man, it's been a pleasure man. We have to chop it up some more just offline. Dr. Berry: Yes, yes. I'll tell them about the bread aisle before we started. I was like, hey man, I've been waiting to talk to you. There's certain people that you just see their energy and you're like, okay, yeah, this one. Yeah, he's gonna be a problem, right? A good problem, of course. This one right here. Let me keep an eye on this one right here. Tell you Lunch and Learn community, I follow him on YouTube. We're going to get him to do his podcast. We already got on him.  Dr. Brad Bellard: Yeah. The accountability has come. I feel it now. I gotta I gotta get up out there man. And you're going to be on that podcast. We'll just go here and get ready. Dr. Berry: Love it. And again, I follow on YouTube and make sure when you follow him on YouTube, make sure you hit the little notification bell. So you know, every time a new video pops up, you knew it. When is your, Tuesdays and I'm an eastern standard time so I don't want to say the wrong time. Dr. Brad Bellard: Yeah. On my Facebook fan page and even on my personal page, I do something called Tuesday topics with Dr. Brad is where I deliver a lot of content to help people maximize their potential. And so that's at 7:00 AM central standard time. So that is 8:00 AM your time. Dr. Berry: Okay, perfect. So if you think about the amazing stuff that he gives you for free, just imagine you know what's in that membership site. I just want you to like, like again, he didn't even cut me a check. Right? I'm just telling you the amazing stuff that he gives away for free. When you talk about achievement, when you talk about goals and fears and just personal growth. And if he's given it for free, I can only imagine what's in his membership site.   Dr. Brad Bellard: Dude, I'm so excited about this. Like I said, because it's hard for me to do what I do on a one on one. It's only so much time in the day. But being able to really bless the masses but still serve as that as that coach from. Oh man, I do, I literally cannot wait until I launch this. My guess, it's probably going to be toward the end of this month, beginning of next month. Dr. Berry: Can’t wait. And honestly one of the reasons why I even did the podcast, because I was like, yeah, I could talk to a person one on one in the clinic, but I want to talk to people, right? I know more people need to hear what I'm saying. So that's why I'm definitely a fan of the membership site because unfortunately, you know, we're not making more time. Right? We only got 24 hours on a day. We're getting pulled in so many different directions that you sometimes will, I don't want to say do a disservice, right? Well, if you're only focusing on one person. You're not able to help the 20 people who maybe in New York and in Florida, in Montana, and all these other different places because you're just situated in one spot. So definitely excited. Please let us know when this membership site goes up so we can let the Lunch and Learn community get on that ASAP. Dr. Brad Bellard: Will do, man, I will do. Dr. Berry, man. I'm telling you, it was a blessing. It's an honor. Anytime somebody to say, look to do that, I'd love to talk to you more and more importantly, dude, I mean to be invited to address your audience of listeners. That's literally an honor, man. So I love what you're doing. You blessing folks, dude. Your impact is probably more than you realize. I told you that already before we got on. Your impact even on me just seeing what you're doing has been significant, man. So I hope the people who are listening to this know just how significant you are and your information as far so keep doing it, man.  Dr. Berry: Appreciate that. You have a great one. Dr. Brad Bellard: Alright, brother.     Download the MP3 Audio file, listen to the episode however you like.

Member Andrew Peacock Shares House Academy Success Stories (HA 012) Steven Butala:                   Steve and Jill here. Jill DeWit:                            Hi. Steven Butala:                   Welcome to The Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit:                            And I'm Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny Southern California. Steven Butala:                   Today, Jill and I speak with member Andrew Peacock to find out how he's using Land Academy to his success. I'll tell you, we just spoke with him early, a little pre-show discussion, and sounds like this show might be a little bit more appropriate for House Academy. Jill DeWit:                            I know. This is very cool. Steven Butala:                   We'll see. This might be a House Academy Show. Jill DeWit:                            I love it. Steven Butala:                   Tell us please, again, Andrew, when you started with us and how it's been going for you. Andrew Peacock:             Sure, yeah. I started with you guys November of 2016 and I kind of fumbled around a little bit and started sending out mailers. I actually received the first I think ... Jill, you were doing a promotion. Get a free lot. I got a lot in Cochise County and it was awesome. I actually put it right up there on eBay. I did a little eBay auction and I sold it for I think it was 950 bucks and it was for me proof of concept. It was that thing where it's literally you hear this, we're going to sell land. We're going to flip land. I've never heard of it before. For me, that was the thing that grabbed me. I've always been an entrepreneur from the start. I never really knew what it was. Actually I play professional football. A lot of those guys in the locker room, they were real estate investors. A guy by the name of [Ryan Brolls 00:01:39] handed me that little purple book, I Risk That, Pore That. It literally opened my eyes. Andrew Peacock:             It put a name to what I felt like I was. I started searching for little things I can do on the side. I came by another land podcast. We won't speak of his name. I know that's a joke that's been going on for forever. It wasn't complete for me. It didn't have all the things I needed. I just felt like it wasn't it for me. I kept searching, found you guys. Literally just from the time I started listening to the podcast, it was it. I knew I was home. This is funny because I think Jill a couple podcasts back you were talking about the transition of your microphones and your technology and all this stuff you guys are using. I've heard all of it from the start, from the finish. I definitely related with that. Jill DeWit:                            You could hear the firetrucks in the background. Andrew Peacock:             Oh yeah. I remember that. It was funny. After the football transitioned to pharmaceutical sales. If you know that job, you're literally in the car for 400 miles a day. I was introduced to podcasts. I literally self taught myself everything I needed to know. With that early technology, I would have to adjust the volume a little bit. Steven Butala:                   You know what? I'm sorry. Andrew Peacock:             Oh no, you're fine. Steven Butala:                   I take personal responsibility for that. Right around show, I don't know, 998, we figured out the technology. Andrew Peacock:             It's all right. That's all right. I listen to every single show. It was that self taught education through you guys, your podcast. I did it part time. The entire pharmaceutical, this was 2017. I did part time land and then I woke up around the 4:30 range. I worked on the land for about four hours, get in the car, drive, come back home, 4:00 PM, work until 8:00 PM on land. That's just what you have to do. That slowly took over the pharmaceutical salary. I made the leap into the houses. Literally it's the same concept. We're flipping properties. It doesn't matter the asset or vehicle. For me, I remember ... sorry. I was about to call you Jack. Steve now ... Steven Butala:                   It's okay. Jill DeWit:                            He's evolved. Andrew Peacock:             You used to talk a lot about you can do this with boats, you can do it with planes, you can do it with pretty much any asset class. As long as they're recorded at the county. That's all the data we need. We're data geeks over here. I jumped in and tried it at houses, the first mailers sucked but I slowly learned over time, slowly learned how to price. It's awesome now. Been in it full time, been in it full time since February of last year. Steven Butala:                   How many deals have you done just with whatever you're comfortable sharing? As much detail. Andrew Peacock:             Yeah, I'm transparent in numbers. I actually did this entire breakdown yesterday before the podcast. This year so far I've done 16 deals. I'm at an average profit margin of 14 thousand per deal. That's we're right at 228 thousand revenue. Jill DeWit:                            That's awesome. Andrew Peacock:             As far as- Steven Butala:                   That's fantastic. Andrew Peacock:             Oh yeah. It's awesome. I'm slowly transitioning new things as far as marketing avenues. I'm trying out cold calling. I'm trying out all these other things. This is all just from letters. The beautiful number that I love to see, the cost per deal. This includes literally money penny is my call center service. Just like [inaudible 00:05:34]. Real quest data and the actual mailers. This includes all that. 1200 bucks per deal to make 14 grand. That's, in my eyes, pretty awesome. As far as letters sent, I've sent out about 14 thousand letters so far. It takes 900 ... well, 899 letters to get a deal. Steven Butala:                   899? Jill DeWit:                            That's awesome. Andrew Peacock:             899 so far this year. Steven Butala:                   We're at like 1800. Andrew Peacock:             Oh really? Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Houses, this is houses too? Andrew Peacock:             Oh yeah, yeah. You guys are in multiple markets, right? Jill DeWit:                            Yeah. Steven Butala:                   Yeah. Andrew Peacock:             I'm just focused here. I'm in North Carolina so I'm focused in the Mecklenburg, Charlotte area and surrounding area. I'm digging these streets pretty hard as far as recognizing the price per square foot on each one of these streets. All that stuff. I don't know. I'm assuming it's just from doing it over time. It's just getting better and better. Jill DeWit:                            That is so good. Steven Butala:                   You obviously got this figured and are a very bright guy. There's no way you could've played on the line in football. What position did you play? Andrew Peacock:             I played receiver. I actually played for the Detroit Lions. I know you're from Detroit over there. I played, it was a short stint. It was a year and a half. I was in a practice spot and all that stuff. It was a pleasant experience. I'm so glad to be making this type of money, not banging my head every day. Jill DeWit:                            Literally. Steven Butala:                   Did you have to live in Detroit while you were playing there? Andrew Peacock:             Yeah. We stayed in Dearborn. That's where the practice facility was. Literally we would only go in Detroit when it was game day. We stayed in Dearborn. Steven Butala:                   I'm from Detroit. I had to spin that sign there. Andrew Peacock:             Dearborn wasn't bad at all. I know there's a lot of change going on in Detroit too, by the way. All that stuff. I heard it's a lot of money going in there. It was a pleasant experience. Steven Butala:                   You're killing it with the houses. You did 14 deals so far this year. You're at, you said 14 right? Andrew Peacock:             16, 16. Steven Butala:                   Okay. Oh 16 with 14 thousand profit. What's next? I mean are you going to just increase the amount of deals that you're doing? Are you comfortable with that number? What's going to happen next? Andrew Peacock:             No. I'm definitely ... Steven Butala:                   Complete control over this. Andrew Peacock:             Sure. For me, as I mentioned before, I'm entering a different kind of marketing avenue. Just trying it out. I have three, four time cold callers now. They're literally taught on a script basis. This way I can remove myself from that arena as far as the market. I can also still send letters. I'm literally just trying my hardest to increase the number of leads. As you guys talk in houses, it's all about your buyers list. It's all about numbers as far as price per square foot, all that stuff. I know pretty much within 30 seconds if it's a deal or not. Now it's just about how do we increase the number of these leads? Buyers are fine, I don't need to increase that point. I'm also entering ... and just to back up a little bit. Andrew Peacock:             Most of these have been assignments. For listeners, I don't know if you guys know or not. An assignment is simply assigning your place on that contract to your end buyer for a fee. For an example, if I get a property on a contract for a hundred grand, I sell it to my buyer for 110. He pays me ten thousand dollar assignment fee. Those have been the meat and potatoes for me so far. Recently I've actually been closing on some of these deals and throwing them right up there on the MLS. It takes a specific house for that though. There's a perfect avatar. It has to only need cosmetic work. You have to be able to attract to the end buyer, that type of thing. Those, I'm averaging right around 32 thousand for those. Steven Butala:                   That's an experience too. We double. Our return is double when we close on it. Andrew Peacock:             Oh yeah. Yeah. My end goal I would say. I love what Justin is doing with plumb. I just think all the time, if we can generate this amount of leads and houses, and come together as a group or whatever it may be. It doesn't even have to be a group. Come together and just literally have a lot of money sitting on the side to close on these things and listen on MLS. From the ones that I've done so far, I throw them on MLS. We get over our ask in three days. They're gone. I'm not doing anything to these. These are not ... I think you guys have done a couple where you put five, ten grand into it and still got ... whatever it may sit a little bit. These are literally ones that you're talking ten dollars a square foot work or rehab. That's I would say the next thing for me. Jill DeWit:                            That's awesome. Steven Butala:                   How do you use your cold callers? Do they follow up on the mailers or do they just open the phone book and go? How do you use them? Andrew Peacock:             The same list I download from real quest, I take that list. We hit these people twice. We hit them with the letters. Then we also hit them ... we get that list skip traced. I have a skip tracing service. By the way, I'm a part of another group as well, cold calling group. I truly believe in joining groups when I spark up a different idea. I joined that group and they provided a script, kind of what you guys do just with cold calling. My cold callers, they have to dial 400 numbers a day. We're right around a 10% contact rate, which is right where you want to be. If they hit their goals, which is one deal a week, then they get an extra bonus at the end. Literally once I download the list for letters, I skip trace that list and send it to my cold callers. Jill DeWit:                            Cool. Have you really seen the benefit? Is it a script like hey I sent you a letter a week ago, just following up, are you interested in selling? Do you think it's made a difference? Andrew Peacock:             It's definitely made a difference. The approach from there end is different. We don't mention the letter. We literally are going from a different angle. We're contacting them as if we're investors in the area, whatever it may be. We don't mention anything about the letter. We want to hit these individuals from just a different point. The letter may not have attracted to them. Maybe they're more comfortable talking on the phone. Whatever it may be. Jill DeWit:                            That's cool. Andrew Peacock:             It's just that opportunity to squeeze out every possible deal in this area. Steven Butala:                   I'm heavily researching skip tracing now because I think it's a huge added benefit for House Academy members. We haven't tested it yet, but we're about to like in a week. This is very timely. In fact, by the time this airs, we will have tried it all ready. Andrew Peacock:             For sure. Steven Butala:                   Have you considered texting? Andrew Peacock:             Yeah. I haven't tried it. I'm not sure if you guys have heard a company called [inaudible 00:12:55]. Very, very efficient, very interesting concept. The cold calling group that I joined there actually teaching on [inaudible 00:13:06] as well. You can literally hire somebody to do that entire thing. That's just another different approach. We have the cold calling, we have the letters, we have banded signs, we have Facebook ads. All this stuff. Steven Butala:                   That's it. Andrew Peacock:             The text blast is literally something that I've never even ... I don't think anybody has ever heard of or touched, or whatever. From what I hear, it's very, very effective. It's a lot more effective than cold calling. It's that maybe before it's time or maybe right when it needs to be done. Who knows? Jill DeWit:                            Kind of like it for a couple reasons. One: it's like a little less invasive. Andrew Peacock:             Sure. Jill DeWit:                            Number two: you're actually, this is one of the main focus of our live event this fall. It's technology. Steve's already working on the next phase of what we all could be doing. This is just part, a little piece of what we're going to be sharing as we spend some more time testing, and figuring some of it out ourselves. Andrew Peacock:             For sure. For sure. Jill DeWit:                            That's really cool. I had a couple notes too. I love that. To say you obviously like ... one of the things that when people find us, they think they're all worried about the sales part. You're all like, selling is easy. Isn't that funny? You have to get in, right? Andrew Peacock:             Oh yeah. Jill DeWit:                            You have to get in and do this and learn it. When you're selling something for a lot less than what it's worth, sales really are easy. People don't believe that. Andrew Peacock:             It's crazy easy. I know you guys used to talk about that all the time. Literally it's the once I can get the deal, that's the ... I know it's going to sell. Literally I know it's going to sell right when I get it because, you know. We've seen enough parcels, we've seen enough houses. I've walked enough houses. Literally know right then if I can get it for that price point, it's going to sell. I talked to a lot of individuals. That's the fear among. One of the questions I get the most is, how'd you get your buyer's list? How long did it take for you to build that? Literally Charlotte has one of the best Facebook groups that I've seen as far as real estate. I think there's five thousand members or whatever it may be. If you're a newbie and you find a great deal. You throw it up on Facebook. That Facebook group is gone in a second. Andrew Peacock:             I don't think anyone should be worried about selling. As long as you know your numbers and it's a deal that's going to go especially in this market. Steven Butala:                   What do your buyers do with these houses Andrew? Do they HGTV rehab them? Andrew Peacock:             Most of my ... I mean, you know on every buyer's list there's a mixture of your buy and hold guys and then your rehab guys. It's a hard job to know who does what. Even my buyers list, 10% of those guys are actually active. They're buying most of my deals. Most of my guys are actually rehabbers. We're right ... the price point in Charlotte is much different than where you guys are. When you're talking about an average rehab, we're talking 25 bucks a square foot is your average rehab. Cosmetic is 15. If you're going a full blown renovation, you're talking about 55 bucks a square foot. That's your sweet guidance area, whatever it may be. Most of our guys, they're rehabbers. Pretty much any price point up to 250. When I'm downloading data, the first thing I do, total assess value is below 250. Because our sweet point is right in that 100 to 150 range. Flip it and sell it for 250. Jill DeWit:                            Love it. Steven Butala:                   That's what I was going to ask you. That's my next question. How do you specifically price these SFR mailers? Everybody's got a different concept. You listen to our podcast. You probably know by now how I price the mailers. How do you do it? Andrew Peacock:             It's all on APN. It's all the APN number. Like you, you describe every sub division, every neighborhood has an APN scheme. Literally I'm going through every scheme. I'm finding the price per square foot in that area. Then I have a built in rehab cost that I developed over time. Subtract that from the ARV or whatever. Then I price every single one of them. It's literally ... depending on how compact that area is, you can price 100 houses at once. Or if you're dealing with a more rural area, [inaudible 00:17:54] county which is Concord, North Carolina. 30 minutes away from here, very hot in market. But you're talking half acre lots. Everything is spread out. Now I'm pricing five at a time because schemes are totally different. It takes me a lot longer to do that. When you're in Charlotte, you're in Mecklenburg, every house you can throw a rock and hit the neighbors. I can price so many at once where it's extremely accurate at this point. That's an overview. Steven Butala:                   Do you price with an equation in the urban area? You don't go into each asset and price them, do you? You run an equation like price per square foot or whatever, right? Andrew Peacock:             Yeah, yeah. Just the actual equation of the price per square foot. Then I subtract their rehab, which is my standard kind of rehab price per square foot. Then I subtract my assignment fee. Two thousand is what I shoot for on every single kind of deal. Going in, I'm right at a 5% margin of being right where I need to be, even after seeing the house. That's how ... I started off maybe 15% margin of where I need to be. Meaning the price on the letter is actual price that I know I can get it at and be very comfortable, and don't have to renegotiate any of that stuff. When I was starting off, I was right around 15%. I wasn't comfortable in numbers and all that stuff. I'm right down to about 5% margin of error now. Some of these houses you walk in and it's literally a hoarder house. You don't know that when you're pricing letters. On my Instagram, some of my hoarder houses, they get the most hits because people are like, oh my goodness. How do people live like that? You know? From the outside it's a beautiful brick, three two ranch neighborhood. New construction selling for half a million. Andrew Peacock:             Then you have this one sore thumb that's literally trashed on the inside. You can't account for that until you see the house. Back to your question, it's literally all equation. Steven Butala:                   When a wrecked house comes up, do you renegotiate the price? Andrew Peacock:             Have to, yeah. I tweak my letter a little bit. I switch to a letter of intent. I know you guys said not to do that a while back with Landon stuff. I don't know. It gave me a little more comfortable feeling that I can go in and we don't have an official offer price given on that letter. Everybody likes to do it different. I just want in with a letter of intent to approach. Then if I need to renegotiate, then we go and renegotiate, agree on price, and go to contact. Jill DeWit:                            Good. Steven Butala:                   That's amazing. I'll tell you, here's my takeaway so far. The most successful people in our group have taken the concept of Land Academy and they've made it their own. You've actually taken probably modularized out this concept probably four or five pieces of it, redone it yourself, kept the mailer concept the same. Came up with a new pricing situation that we don't actually necessarily teach, but it works for you and cold calling. Changing the letter to a letter of intent versus an offer, an actual offer. Every person I've spoken with that has had a huge amount of success like you have with our group, has done some version of this. They've taken the general concepts and made it their own. That's awesome man. Andrew Peacock:             I think I may have just ... it takes a type of person. I feel like our group is the best out there. I've seen a lot of these groups. We have a ton of innovators. We have a ton of entrepreneurial minded people where we're going to figure it out. It's literally you got something, you got a system that works. I know awhile back buying these lots in the desert for 500 bucks. That was great. We all tried it. My first mailer was, I think it was Caine, Utah. That's pretty much the only one I did west of the Mississippi. That one and a couple more. Then I literally came over here to North Carolina. I did Asheville, I did Charleston South Carolina. I've done some different things with those mailers. It's that thing in your mind where it's like, if this concept works, I feel like I can make it work with anything. It's a bunch of innovators here, I love it. Jill DeWit:                            You're right. There's so many really smart people. I can't remember Andrew, are you on our advanced group. Andrew Peacock:             I am. I'm terrible at that stuff. Like Jack said, just sometimes you get the people that start off on every call, then you don't hear from them. Steven Butala:                   Because you got successful. Andrew Peacock:             Right? I'm literally locked in my ... what's that? Jill DeWit:                            ... talking about. You got to come on that Friday because that Friday in October, the advance group is getting together. I'm serious. I'm locking the doors and it's a private event. Steven Butala:                   You have a lot to add man. Jill DeWit:                            There's no cameras. We're all going to talk about what we can really do together. Andrew Peacock:             I'm there. Please. I'm definitely there. I hear Jack all the time say how you lock yourself in a ... we're data people. It's literally we're getting away. I don't want to be bothered. I can price stuff forever and let me go. That's how I've been. I'm definitely going to get back in the groove with you guys for sure. Jill DeWit:                            Good. Steven Butala:                   How many mailers are you sending out a month right now? Andrew Peacock:             A month I'm right at I would say just about two thousand. It's not a ton. For me and I'm trying to hit, I'm literally trying to increase that profit margin on each mailer. If I'm sending out 899 and I know I'm going to get a deal, I know exactly how many I need to send out, right? It's still I would love to put somebody in that place as far as pricing. I just feel like it's such an art to this pricing stuff. Yeah, it can be a little bit of a science. Even when I'm pricing price per square foot on each sub division, you could have one unique property that's right at 150. Then you have a sweet spot at $111 dollars per square foot. Somebody has to know where that sweet spot is. It's very tough to teach that. I don't know. I'll probably price forever, but I would love to have a full group of maybe cold callers, maybe people who text, maybe people who do this. Just bring in a floodgate of leads. Andrew Peacock:             I have buyers knocking down the doors. We need some more leads. We're buying the stuff up. That's my next focus. Jill DeWit:                            That's so great. Steven Butala:                   I have given up control on everything. [inaudible 00:25:10] with the exception of doing a mailer and pricing. No matter what I think is going to happen, at that last moment when you're done with that spreadsheet, there's stuff that I tweak. You can teach the basic stuff but it's because you know the neighborhoods and the whole thing. That's what it is. Andrew Peacock:             Exactly. Steven Butala:                   25 years of experience in these sub divisions that I've been to all of them. I just know how it's going to go. Andrew Peacock:             Exactly. I don't ever think I'll outsource that. I'll find some other things. I know I will. Steven Butala:                   When you close the deals through escrow on these houses, do you close them yourself or do you have a transaction coordinator? Andrew Peacock:             We send it to attorneys here in North Carolina. The only deal I closed myself was the first one in Caine, Utah back in 2016. It was great. I've used an attorney pretty much for everything. Once I get the contracts in, I don't want to talk to anybody else. I want to just get there. Jill DeWit:                            Moving on. Andrew Peacock:             We have an attorney here who pretty much does all the investors. Literally from start to finish I don't have to hear from them again. I'll pay them a little bit to do that. You know? Steven Butala:                   These cold callers, again, you don't have to answer any of this stuff if you don't want to. Andrew Peacock:             I'll answer it. Steven Butala:                   Are they in this country? Andrew Peacock:             No. No. That's also a big controversial discussion. Should you get US based? Should you get Filipino? Should you get whatever it may be? Mine are all in the Philippines. What I did, literally was once you place these ads in the Philippines, you're going to get a ton of applications. Before I'll even look at anything, you have to send me a voice recording and a video. Before I even look at a resume, because there's no way I have the time to look through 150 resumes that probably who knows if they wrote them or not. You know, that type of thing. I'm going to listen to all the ones who submit an actual voice recording. Then I'll decide who I interview. It's worked very well. If you talk to my cold callers, their accent maybe it's very slight if there even is any. With the system I use, which is Mojo Dialer, it allows me to go in and listen to the call recordings. I can go in, I can analyze. I can do whatever it may be if there needs to be any tweaks there. Andrew Peacock:             They're in the Philippines. I'm paying them six bucks an hour, which is pretty good money on their end. 200 bucks per lead that goes to contract. If they hit their goal, which is four contracts a month, they get a thousand bucks on the back end. Steven Butala:                   When you sell it? Andrew Peacock:             No, no. Just if it goes to contract, they did their job. If they get four in that month, they get a thousand bucks. It doesn't matter if I move it or not. Whatever it may be. They are extremely happy and extremely excited about that. I know some guys that are paying $1.50 an hour and that's it. You're going to get what you pay for, especially over there. They are extremely happy. They have their own group chat message. Anything that pops up, they communicate. I'm not as involved because I don't really want to be. One is designated as the manager. Everything has to go through him first. If he can't handle it, then I will. That's an overview of the cold callers. Jill DeWit:                            That's good. Steven Butala:                   So a lead comes in, do you personally look at the house and look at the numbers and say yep, I want to do this deal? Who calls the seller? You? Andrew Peacock:             Sure. From the cold caller leads, so lead comes in from the cold caller. The cold caller makes an initial offer on the phone. We have a system here. I'm not sure if it's universal. It's a CRS data. I'm not sure if you guys have heard of it. Steven Butala:                   No, I haven't. Andrew Peacock:             It spits out a very, very accurate price per square foot ARV of that house. Zillow is not accurate over here. I know a lot of people use Zillow. Red Fin is the most accurate public platform that I've seen. CRS data is ... and you have to pay for the subscription. It's the most accurate I've seen. They have their script. As this motivated lead comes in, they're offering 60% of that CRS, ARV. That's been very accurate so far. If they agree to that 60%, we set an appointment right away. That's when I go in. I don't talk to this lead until I ring the doorbell. 60% that leads out these individuals to say, hey yeah. I want to sell. You're going to give me three million. That type of thing because we run across so many, yeah I want to sell. How much are you going to give me? Or whatever it may be. We're weaning through all those individuals. The only way I want to go to their house is if we're anywhere in that ballpark. Steven Butala:                   This is fascinating. I can't remember when I've learned so much on a ... I'm supposed to be interviewing you, you know? I'm sitting here taking notes. I'm listening. It's amazing. Andrew Peacock:             Thank you. Thank you. It comes from you guys. You guys started all this stuff. I can't wait to collaborate for sure. Jill DeWit:                            This is good stuff. Steven Butala:                   Do you feel like you're running out of real estate? You're in one MSA. Are you going to expand? Andrew Peacock:             That's what I wanted to ask you guys. For land, we hit accounting, we move on. When I'm here in Mecklenburg, you send someone a letter that's stating a certain price, right? You come back and try to hit them with another price no matter whether it's two of the three months later, six months later. They're always going to refer to that first letter. I'm going through the second mailer of Mecklenburg now. I've heard that a couple of times from the leads that are coming in. I'm wondering if that's an issue or not. I'm not sure in my opinion. So many things change over time. So many people go through divorce. So many people inherit property. So many people ... all these issues that come up happens. I'm not sure if it will be an issue or not, but I would love to do the virtual thing. Have boots on the ground like you guys talk about. Literally place somebody. You can pay a realtor if you want. Just somebody that goes to the houses. I can do this price point anywhere in North Carolina. Andrew Peacock:             If you figure out the scheme for any state, you can do it there. It's literally numbers. It's all data. All you need is a trusted boots on the ground somewhere. If you can get that, somebody who is not going to undercut you and all that stuff, I think you can do it. You can make a very, very large machine if you do that. Steven Butala:                   Exactly. That's what House Academy is all about. That's what we teach. You got to get that trusted boots on the ground. What I say in the House Academy program is, and I'm not selling anything here. You're doing it exactly how I said to do it in the program. You have to, in my opinion, conquer all this stuff yourself. Learn how to do it so you can train your boots on the ground. Andrew Peacock:             Exactly. Steven Butala:                   You're ready. You're right there and ready for it. Andrew Peacock:             Oh yeah. It's something I definitely want to do. I haven't tried it yet, but I know exactly what market I want to go to. Wake county here in North Carolina, which is the Raleigh, Durham area. Extremely similar, but a lot more spread out than Mecklenburg. It's a ton of potential. I've actually bought a lot of lots there in Wake county, which this is before you guys started talking about info lots. I jumped to info lots probably six months into the game. I did. I was like, it sounds so simple, so I'm just going to give it a shot. That's how I made all of my money in 2017, was info lots. It was right here in North Carolina. That's what allowed me to quit my pharmaceutical job and do this thing full time. It's a journey, but I love trying new stuff. Steven Butala:                   Fascinating. I'm stunned. Really, I mean it. Jill DeWit:                            You're another person. When we sent out our survey, I think it was in January. The number of people that said, I left my job awhile ago, I'm like, what the heck? I had no idea how many people. Steven Butala:                   I didn't either. Jill DeWit:                            We're in. We're gone. Andrew Peacock:             Oh yeah. It was the most beautiful phone call of my life to be able to call my boss and say, hey. I found something else. I'm out of here. Jill DeWit:                            I'm good. Thanks. Andrew Peacock:             I'm good. No worries here. Steven Butala:                   What's a regular day look like for you? You got to be putting in 12, 14 hours, right? Andrew Peacock:             Oh man. No. Literally for the houses. I wake up at 5AM and I do my workout and all that. I have my morning ritual, whatever you may call it. I start work around 8AM now. I go to from 8:00 to about noon as far as stuff I need to be doing in front of the computers. I'll leave the entire afternoon open for appointments. I grind from 8AM to noon. That's when I'm pricing mailers. That's when I'm going over calls with my cold callers. That's when I'm looking at new markets. That's when I'm talking to buyers. All that stuff. Afternoon it's literally appointments. That's my normal schedule. Jill DeWit:                            Love it. Steven Butala:                   That's awesome. Jill DeWit:                            That's perfect. Wow. Steven Butala:                   These are very logical House Academy gratuitous. Jill DeWit:                            What's next? What are your goals for this year and what's next? Andrew Peacock:             The goal for this year, 750, 750 revenue. I'm not quite on track there. I got to turn some things up second quarter, I mean second half of this year. Then I want to go into apartment complex. I'm naturally a cash flow guy. I wanted to skip over single family rentals. It's just not enough on the bone there for me. My natural next move would be that mom and pop apartment complex. You're talking 30 units to 90 units. Something big enough for the small investor, but too small for the big guys. It's that sweet spot where mom and pop are still running those things, where I can go in and do some value add. Really start that portion of the cash flow. Which I listened to a podcast, it was an individual who they had a ton of land that they had no terms. It's just a headache. I would love to have everything under one roof. I can jump into that apartments. Then I have a bajillion other things going on in my head that I want to try. That's the next thing for me. Jill DeWit:                            I'm curious because it sounds like you've always been a cash guy up to this point. You haven't really done any term. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Andrew Peacock:             Yeah. I know that it's going to take capital to get to that cash flow. For me, this entire focus for the past two, three years has been building capital until I can make that leap and actually get some apartment complex. I'm also very interested in the trucking industry for cash flow standpoint. It's a lot of things that's going on in my head that I want to try. Mobile home parts would love to do self storage. All that stuff. All those are potential next moves where it can be big enough to focus on. Jill DeWit:                            Now knowing what you know, just knowing how to buy whatever it is right, the sky is the limit. All you have to do is [crosstalk 00:37:37] Andrew Peacock:             You are so right. Jill DeWit:                            What would I like to be involved in? I'm surprised he hasn't bought us a marina and a bar. Andrew Peacock:             It's coming. It's coming. Steven Butala:                   Yeah, it is. I'll tell you it's hard to beat mobile home parks that are separate APNs and storage facilities from a hands off. It's hard to beat those two types of assets for our personality types. Andrew Peacock:             If you have a mobile home park and you have city water, city sewer in that thing, and you own the actual land ... it's a lot of deals out here where people are selling mobile homes where they don't own the land. You have no control over that lease or the land. That's not what we're talking about. We want to own that 40 acres and then sub divide it into 140 little lots. It's city water, city storage, it's easy. Not easy, but you're only responsible for the land. That's very, very attractive. A lot of people know that too. A lot of big money is going into mobile home parks now. Cap rates are squeezing just like apartment complexes were what? Five, ten years ago. Mobile home parks will be there in five, ten years. Steven Butala:                   That's right. Jill DeWit:                            Right. Steven Butala:                   It's called Land Academy for a reason. Andrew Peacock:             Exactly. We don't own the land. It's awesome. I would love to enter that. Steven Butala:                   That's great man. Jill DeWit:                            This has been awesome. Steven Butala:                   I would love to have you on our live House Academy webinar as a guest, if you're up for it. Andrew Peacock:             Sure. For sure. Anything, I would love to be involved in anything. You just let me know, I'll be there. Jill DeWit:                            I'll make sure you get the invite. Andrew Peacock:             Awesome. Steven Butala:                   We have one today. I don't know what you're doing at ... well you're east coast time, right? Andrew Peacock:             Yeah. I'm east coast. I have two appointments after this. Jill DeWit:                            We'll get you for next week. I'll have them send you the invite. Steven Butala:                   Perfect. Andrew Peacock:             Awesome. That'll be perfect. Steven Butala:                   That'll be great because I think this is going to air next week. Jill DeWit:                            This'll be fun. Steven Butala:                   That'll be great. Andrew Peacock:             Great. What's the end goal for you guys? If you had to say where you wanted to be in 20 or 30 years as far as real estate, as far as accomplishments, as far as any of that? What's the end goal there? Steven Butala:                   I'll be dead in 30 years. Jill won't be. Our whole goal from day one when we started Land Academy was to bring on people just like you, have you guys figure it all out for yourselves and then become your business partner. Andrew Peacock:             Gotcha. Steven Butala:                   Whether it's deal funding, or whether it's what we're calling reverse deal funding. Where we find a deal. Your perfect candidate, if we found either houses or a residential info lots in North Carolina, we would send you the deal, fund it 100%, and if you're up for it, you close it. Whether it's through your attorney or whatever and then we split the whole proceeds. Andrew Peacock:             Easy. Steven Butala:                   That's the whole end game is to get a network of people all over the country doing that. We are. It's working. Andrew Peacock:             Sure. Sure. Nice. I would love ... that Landon side to me is absolutely ... if I could that with houses literally all over the country where you literally send something, we approve it, it goes through the process and we close it. Whatever it may be, I think that's awesome. I agree. Steven Butala:                   You're familiar with Land Tank, right? Andrew Peacock:             Yep. Yep. Steven Butala:                   We're going to release House Tank here in a couple of months. Andrew Peacock:             Really? Steven Butala:                   I was just talking about it. You can go on there as a lender and say, yeah I approve this deal. Andrew Peacock:             Nice. Okay. I'll definitely check it out. Nice. Jill DeWit:                            The funny thing I love, it's going fantastic. Andrew Peacock:             Nice. Steven Butala:                   We'll have our people contact you. I'm confident that you're just a perfect candidate to have an honorary House Academy subscription. He's added so much to the content. Jill DeWit:                            We'll figure it out. I'll see what we can work out. Steven Butala:                   They'll contact you. Andrew Peacock:             Perfect. I appreciate it. Steven Butala:                   Andrew Peacock, amazing. Do you have a website where people can contact you? People are going to contact you after they see this, if you want them to. Andrew Peacock:             You can go to my Instagram for sure. That's probably where I do most of my stuff. I actually post some things. People love the before and after thing. I'll post pictures of what the house looked like when I got it. Then when a buyer finish the rehab and literally do comparisons, it's awesome. People love that stuff. My Instagram is peacock_ac. Carington is my middle name, so AC. That's where I do most of my stuff on Instagram. My website, my company's name is ACP Home Investments. The website is www.acphomeinvestments. That's pretty much it. You can definitely, if you want to reach out and contact me. You can andrew@acphomeinvestments. You'll get to me. I'll definitely respond. Jill DeWit:                            Awesome. Steven Butala:                   Amazing interview Andrew. Thank you. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you so much. Andrew Peacock:             Thank you guys so much. Steven Butala:                   [inaudible 00:42:46] it's been another 20, probably 30 minutes listening to the Land Academy show. Join us next time for another interesting episode. Jill DeWit:                            And we answer your questions. Post them on our online community at landinvestors.com. It is free. Steven Butala:                   You are not alone in your real estate ambition. Amazing talk pal. Andrew Peacock:             Oh man. Thank you guys so much. That was awesome. I always dreamt about the time where I would get to talk to you guys and all that stuff. I never knew how it would go. This was definitely awesome. Steven Butala:                   Dude, we got more out of it than you did, I'm sure of it. Andrew Peacock:             No, no. I love this stuff. It's so much that we can do like with this stuff. You guys literally teach the foundation of how to buy right. If you can buy right with anything, it doesn't matter the asset class. We can take this thing all the way up to hotels if we wanted to. If we know how to buy right, it's literally, it's a no brainer. Steven Butala:                   That's it. Andrew Peacock:             I feel like you'll never starve if you know how to buy. Steven Butala:                   That's it. Jill DeWit:                            That's it. Steven Butala:                   If you don't buy cheap real estate, everything is going to be fine regardless of where you are. Andrew Peacock:             Exactly. Exactly. I'm pretty young. I didn't go through the 2008 crash. This next one is coming in my opinion. I just feel like I'll be okay. It's that comforting feeling like I'll be okay. I'm going to get through that. I don't want to say easily, but I know how to buy property. It's still going to be buyers out there. Some of my top buyers have bought for 20 years plus. They know every cycle. They're not worried about it either. If I can provide a profit, they're going to buy it. Jill DeWit:                            Exactly. Steven Butala:                   It's great to talk to you Andrew. I'm so happy for your success. Andrew Peacock:             Oh man. Thank you guys so much for sure. Thank you. Thank you. I can't say it enough. Jill DeWit:                            Thank you. Steven Butala:                   Talk to you soon bud. Andrew Peacock:             All right. Have a good one. See yeah. Jill DeWit:                            Bye.  

Ever wondered why you say you’re going to do something, “I really should do this” and still don’t do it? Why some things are a real struggle and you have to force yourself to get it done? Have you also noticed there are certain things nobody has to remind you or motivate you to do? This episode will give you the answer...   Here are some of the awesome things you will hear in this episode: Find out what your REAL values that drive you everyday and own them. Find out how to remove the roadblocks that stops you from focusing on the right things, Learn how to take things that so easily can leave us feeling guilty because we’re not doing what everyone else wants or demand from us and turn it around. So listen here to find out how Satori coaches the best and how you can have an opportunity to apply and talk directly to Satori about creating badass results in your life and business. Boom! Hey what’s up my friends, welcome to a new BONUS episode of Halfass to Badass. In today’s episode you’ll hear me teach a very important section from a 4-hour training I did for a live audience on New Year’s Day 2019. It’s part two of this training so if you didn’t hear part one go back to episode 14 so you can get the big picture. Part two here is about removing the roadblocks that stops people from focusing on the right things, the things that so easily can leave us feeling guilty because we’re not doing what everyone else wants or demand from us. In this training I help you identify your core values. I use a series of questions I learned from my friend and mentor Dr.John Demartini. It’s a great set of questions to give you clarity. I have removed the live Q&A and coaching, I did a lot of hot seats with the participants but I want to protect their privacy so what you will hear is the training component. My suggestion is that you listen and  go through the training and actively do the work. You may want to stop and take notes after I ask the question. There are some natural pauses in this training. But this is a workshop so let’s get to it…. Before we do… here’s the intro Values are the things you've learned to make important. Values are also the voids in your life. In other words, the areas where you feel things are missing, something it's missing and you feel compelled, you feel driven to fill that void. If I go back to my personal story to you give you a little background, I was not supposed to be here, technically. You may have heard the story, my mom was going to do an abortion, when my grandma walks in and tells her to go home and not do it. Literally, she's on the abortion table. A decision from my grandma and, a decision for my mom changed the trajectory of everything. Right? I'm here, but throughout my life, my mom told me many times  that her life would've been so different, her life would’ve been so much better if she wouldn't have had me. Better education, better job, whatever. Right? I grew up thinking that I shouldn't be here, thinking and feeling guilt, shame, all kinds of things, which led me to minimize and hide and literally undervalue myself and walking on eggshells. I don't know if you know what I mean by that, but you know, walking on eggshells is like you're walking and you're being careful, right? You're trying to not piss people off. You're trying to not disappoint people try and not do things that's going to rock the boat. So I grew up that way in many ways. Even though I also have the other side, which was very unlike this, that inner part of me that was, that was growing stronger, which is like the part of me who wanted to be rebellious, right? A part of me just wanted to do the opposite. I didn't want to tippy-toe. I just wanted to be loud, right? I just wanted to do things to challenge people. I had this great epiphany where I literally saw this stuff. The void was the feeling of not being good enough. The void was this feeling of not feeling that I was worth enough. And that became part of my mission; to help other people own their worth, right? Which also has to do with owning my worth. So it's a void. It's something missing. We work really hard to fill that void, right? Freedom is extremely important to me. Something that I value highly. Freedom to be able to do what I want, when I want with whomever I want, and not having anybody telling me what I can and cannot do. And that's really strong in me because that's a void. There's a perception of something not being fulfilled. So we chase that void to fulfill our values. That's one way of looking at it. So for that point, I want you to think about your values, right? Because values is what you've learned to make important. Like I said, usually based on your voids, and things you believe to be important and that may be missing. So you work to fulfill on those voids. Sometimes that may come from someone telling you, “This is right, this is wrong”. And you learned that if I do what they want me to do, they'll be happy with me. Right? If I please them, they'll be happy with me. They will smile at me. They will tell me, “I love you. I love you son. I love your daughter.” You'll learn to value something because someone else values something. Someone that you respect, someone you admire. Okay? If you admire and, respect someone, you may adopt their values because you believe it will buy you love and attention, respect, safety, all kinds of stuff, right? Therefore, I want you to identify, what are your values? And sometimes, it's not so easy to identify them because we lived for so long with our own values, being dominated by other people's values. Once you remove the guilt and shame, you start realizing, “Oh, I like this. Oh, I want that”. And you start seeing things and experiencing things that you may have denied yourself a long time because you believe, “I can’t”. I can't behave this way because then people won't like me. Or at least they will, they won’t respect me or they may not want to spend time with me”. Right? Anything that's going to try to pull you away from your tribe. But if you believe, and if you think that your tribe, really cares about you, I will like rethink that a little bit because, and I'm not in a bad way. I'm saying they care and think about themselves just like you think and care about yourself. We all have our values, that people live according to their values. Don't ever think for a moment that people try intentionally to live into your values. People live into their own values. And some of them will meet somewhere, right? They’ll be able to coexist, which is great because that way you can contribute to each other. But people try to fulfill their own values, not yours. And that's sometimes, it’s like taking a cold shower, right? It really wakes you up when you start seeing that, and it's not a bad thing, right? It's not a good or a bad thing. It's just a way for you to realize that you're going to want to fulfill on your values, on your voids, on your desired targets. While others are going to try to fulfill on their desire, their voids, desire and targets, right? So just get connected to what that is for you. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to ask you a few questions and I want you to go grab a pen and paper, quickly. Or write on your phone, or computer. Capture this. I'm going to ask you a few questions and I just want to do, to be as present and as as honest as you possibly can. Before we, get started with the questions, I want you to just stand up for a moment. Stand up wherever you are right now, stand up and shake your body. Shake your body out. And what I want to do for a moment, really quickly, and if you don't know how to do this, just trust yourself. Listen to your body and just go with it. So we’re here right now. We're going to stand up and you can stand right now like you feel complete certainty in your body. Complete certainty. Stand like when you're complete conviction in your body and you don’t question anything. Stand the way you stand, when you feel complete conviction, when you own your body breathing, the way you breathe, when you have complete conviction, when you feel unshakeable, when you're standing strong, breeding tall, and put the look on your face like when you have certainty, when you have conviction, when you feel guided. Stand they way you stand  when you know you are unshakable, where nothing can stop you. I want you to breathe the way you breathe, when you can feel it. I want you to stand that way right now. Breathe it and feel it. Put the look on your face when you have that and if you need to just put a smile on your face. Put a smile on your face like when you own it, when you know, when you have conviction, when you have certainty, when you have zero question in your body. Just own yourself right now. Own yourself at this very moment. And what I want you to do, and we just going to take a few seconds on each one. About 30 seconds in each one. Just so you get to yourself to think and just write them down, right? And this is not meant to be the only time you do this. I want you to go deeper with this stuff but for the sake of our training and you being able to do this. I just want you to go for it. Okay? So grab a pen and paper or your computer or your phone. And what I want you to do right now is to stand up or sit down with energy, and I want you to answer the question... How do you fill your space? And what I mean by that is the things that really matter to you, you don't hide, right? The things that matter to you, you keep around you, right? Like I have medals from when I became a world champion in karate from all of my years of competing, right? I have all these medals. I don't have them, in sight. I don't have them on my desk. They’re somewhere in some box, somewhere. Because they're not relevant. They don't really matter to me right now. The things that really matter to you, you have around you. Because if I look around my space, what matters to me are my books, my computer, my phone. I have things on my wall, that I've written down so I can serve you. Things that help me create frameworks and stuff like that with sticky notes. Books. Not any kind of books. There are a certain kind of books. Certain things you have around you….it may be pictures, maybe memorabilia. And maybe moments of travel, maybe something that you have. And I want you to write down the three items you fill your space with most. Think about that. What are the three items you fill your space with most? And if you've done this before, go deeper. Get more clarity around this. Okay, don’t, just don't sit there and think, “Oh, you know, I've done this”. Just get more clearly. What do you have around you? What dominates your space? Get more clarity on it. What are the three items you fill your space with most. Okay? Second question. How do you spend your time? The question really is, what three actions do you spend your time on most? People say all the time, “I don't have time to do what I really want to”. The truth is, they're too busy doing what is really most important to them, right? And what they think they ought to be doing isn’t really what's most important. This is a key thing to really look at. I want you to shift your mind around this, right? You find time for things that are really, really important to you. Somehow you figure it out. That's the thing sometimes we may not see it, right? We may not see it because we are hypnotized to think, well, “I really want to do that”. No, you don't. If you really want to do that, you will be doing that. You are not doing that. Therefore, it's not that important to you. Don't lie to yourself thinking that that thing is important to you when it isn't. Now you may show it in different ways and let me give you an example of that, right? So I spent a lot of time doing work, right? I love doing work. It’s not for the sake of doing work. I was asking myself this question the other day. “What was the market insight or incident as to why I started doing what I do?” And these words came to mind; because I saw a solution to human suffering. I saw a solution to human suffering. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing today. I'm trying to fill that void. I'm trying to fill the thing that's missing. I'm not saying that people don't have problems and challenges. That's not what I'm talking about here, right? Cause I don't believe we live in a world that doesn't have challenges. But there's a big difference between suffering, right? And having to overcome obstacles and challenges in life. But that's what I saw. I saw a solution to human suffering. So I spend a lot of time, energy and focus on that. And so somebody who walks in into my home would say, “You don’t spend a lot of time with your kids”. I do spend time with them. And the time that I spend is focused on connecting with them and giving them the love that I want to give them. But if you compare me to my wife, you'll be seeing completely different patterns, right? What truly are her values? What she demonstrates is the kids are most important, right? And we show that in different ways. So the vehicle that you use to, to demonstrate your values is not a sign of what you don't value, or what you do value. Right? But what I'm saying is this, if you say you want to, lose 10 pounds, 20 pounds, 30 pounds, I don't care what it is, right? You say you will lose weight. Right? But you're not taking walks. You're not caring about what you put in your mouth. You're not moving in any way. You don't have any activities. What you're saying is that I have a fantasy about losing weight, but I'm not really that interested in it. I actually do value comfort more than moving values, eating whatever eating means, comfort, security, whatever that is, right? I may enjoy connecting with my wife on the couch more than I like going, let's say rock climbing. Look at it and see, where do you spend your time? What are the three actions you spend your time on most? So here's a time to be brutally honest with yourself. It's not about judgment. So let me give you this little idea here... Don't look at this as a judgment. Be Curious, curious about this. Come from complete curiosity. Go like, “Huh? Interesting. Yeah. I just spent a lot of time over here. I say I want to spend time over there, but I'm spending time over here”. What are you actually spending time on? Okay, not what you think you should be spending time on, but what you actually spend time on. Question number three. How do you spend your energy, and what gives you energy? So which three actions do you spend energy on, right? And that also gives you energy. And the reason I'm saying that is because a lot of times we, we know that when we doing something that we love doing is fuels us with energy, right? When we're doing some that we hate, we can be completely drained and exhausted. That's a sign, a very clear sign. Because the things that you value bring you energy. The things you don't value, drain your energy. That's something you really want to take into account. Really be clear on that. In fact, when you do something you value highly, you have more energy afterwards then when you started, because you're doing something you love and you're inspired by it. So which are the three actions you spend your energy on and where do you get your energy? Write down the top three. Next. How do you spend your money? Same thing here. You find money for things that are valuable to you, but you don't want to spend money on things that really are not important to you. So your choice about spending money, tells you a great deal about what you value most. So think about that because there are no victims here, right? There are no victims here. And we always pay things in the order of priority on how we actually value things. We may not think about that, but we do. For me, for the last, 20 plus years, I've always had money for books. I've always had money for education, for trainings, courses. I always find money for that. If I’m going to travel, I find money for that, right? People that smoke always find money for cigarettes. If you think about it, people that say they're broke, always find money for cigarettes, right? People that drink always find money for alcohol. We always find money for what really matters. When I say what really matters, what you believe or you perceive matters, right? So what are three items you spend most of your money on and always find money for? Don’t write what you wish or hope the answer to be, I want you to think of what you actually spend your money on. Not what you think it should be or according to someone external authority or social idealism. The keys identify where or how you truly spend your money. Be honest about it. This is just about being curious, Huh? Hm. That's what I do. Huh? Interesting and curious. Be Interested. No judgment, no criticism here. Just be completely curious because this will start to show you a pattern of where your values really are as opposed to what you think they should be. Okay. Next question. Where are you most organized? Okay, where are you most organized? Think about that. So we bring order in organizations and things that are important to us and we have chaos and disorder with things that are low on our values. So think about where do you have the greatest order? What do you have the greatest organization right in your life, in your business? Because that will give you a true sense of what matters to you. Whether that's how you eat, with you're clothing, right? Your wardrobe, your business, your finances, your spiritual rituals, your cooking area, your home. Where do you have most order? What are the three areas? All right. What are the three areas or three items, where you're most organized? Key, very important. Look at that. Okay, next one. Where are you most reliable, disciplined and focused. Okay, so here, this is one is critical. This is really important, one. Again, these are all these questions I'm giving you all just triggers to be on for you to see where the value is, right? This is not about social idealism and we're not talking about, integrity, honesty, being nice. We're not talking about that stuff. We're talking about the real stuff here. The real stuff that is asking you that your life is already demonstrating, not what you've been trained like a good dog wagging your tail and being a good puppy. No, no. We're talking about where you actually are honest and truthful about what you value, right? So where you are the most reliable, most disciplined, and most focused,  are the things where nobody has to remind you or, push you or cajole you or in any way be, “Hey, go do this”. You don't need that. You have an internal discipline, your internal reliability, you're doing it right because you love those activities. Which three activities are you most reliable or disciplined at doing? What are you, where do you put your focus? Nobody has to remind me to have this conversation with you as this very moment, right? Other people, probably millions of people right now are lying somewhere with a hangover right now. You are not because you are here. You may be hungover, I don't know, but you're still here. So it demonstrates what you value. You're getting this? That make sense? You're here because of your values and I wish, believe me, I wish we could have millions of people in this conversation, right this very moment? Because millions of people would really get a lot of value from this conversation. You agree? All right. Unfortunately, most chose something else, but not everybody wants to be the best and everybody wants to, I mean, they may want, again, values, they may want to be a pro, they may want to be elite. They may want to be amazing, but they're settling for many different reasons, right? So you're here for reason, right? You're showing up here for something. For me, teaching, training, reading, and again, not reading about anything, reading about these kinds of things, neuroscience, personal productivity, behavior, right? All this kinda stuff that makes performance go to the next level. I love that. Therefore, I'm here on this conversation right now with you and, not laying in the bed with a hangover. Okay? So what are the things that nobody has to remind you of? Nobody has to push you. Things you do naturally. Write those three things down. Okay, next one. What dominates your thoughts? Think about that. What three things do you think about most? And when I'm saying this, I'm not talking about negative self talk. I'm not talking about, you know, judgment and criticism, beating yourself up. I'm not talking about fantasies either. I’m not talking about the things that you should do or ought to do, I'm talking about what dominates your thoughts. What three things do you think about most? This what we're talking about today, this dominates my thoughts. I think about this in some way, shape, or form all the time. All time. When I see an interaction with people, I look at what they're doing, how they're interacting. I'm making evaluations based upon performance, based upon values, based upon, you know, things that are going to make things better. Okay. So what's dominating your thoughts? Which three things are you thinking about most? And a good way to think about this is also what are some of the thinks you think about most? That dominates your thoughts that also, somehow, doesn't have to be fast, but slowly being brought into reality, right? It's not a fantasy. If I wanted to become, a tennis pro, but I don't take lessons and I don't, take any action towards becoming a tennis pro, it's probably more of a fantasy, right? My thoughts are not dominated by it to the degree that I actually take action on it. I read about business growth, business strategies. I read about personal development. I don't read as much personal development anymore, because most of the stuff that is out there is unfortunately crap. But I do spend a lot of time researching and finding studies, things that have been proving the things that I've been teaching for years. But I'm looking for the edge. And when I see, I look for messaging, marketing messages because I believe that if I can influence the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of people in a way that's going to serve them, that's gonna make my work so much more powerful. So I always find ways of, how can I say this in a more powerful way? How can I say this in a more efficient way. That's how I think. Okay, next question. What do you visualize most? Again, I'm not talking about fantasies. I'm talking about what you visualize for your life, right? For your life, your Business, for your family, for your body that is slowly but surely coming and true. Okay? In my case, I visualize myself teaching this kind of stuff and what am I doing? I'm teaching this kind of stuff, cool, huh? So think about it. What do you visualize most? What do you actually visualizing that you're moving towards? I'm not talking about you laying down in your bed visualizing Unicorns and money raining from the sky and it's materializing, right? You're swimming in cash in your bed. That's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about what what kind of things am I doing consistently that is actually demonstrating that it’s  happening. So I'm not just visualizing. What are you visualizing and, surely making real. What are the three outcomes? Three outcomes, three dreams, three goals, three targets that you’re most visualizing and realizing. It can be anything. It can be eating healthy. You see yourself being full of energy, right? It can be running your business smoothly. I don't know what you visualize, what do you visualize most? The next one, what do you most often talk to yourself about? What do you most often talk to yourself about? What are the internal conversations you have with yourself? And this may require a little bit more focus. What are you most often talking to yourself about? And I'm not talking about negative, self talk, I'm not talking about, fantasizing, making yourself, something you’re not. What do you talk to yourself about most? What are the three outcomes about your life, about you? How you love your life to be, What do you talk to yourself about most? Write it down. Okay. Here's another question. This question is a great trigger because in demonstrates a lot, think about it. What do you talk to others about most? I picture this in a couple of different ways. One, I noticed when I'm in a group of people and I'm just zoning out when I'm not there, that's a good sign that whatever they're talking about really is not in my value. It's not an interest to me. I'm not curious to know more about it. And then there's other people conversations that I lean in and you physically lean in and you want to engage, you want to participate in the conversation, and notice what that is about. Another way of looking at it as that. What are conversations that are so boring that if you can cut in, if you could jump in and cut in with something else, what would that something else be about? What's the one thing that you would want to talk about instead? Which three topics do you keep wanting to talk to others about most? Write that down. Like, what are you talking about in social settings? What do you like? Notice when you get bored and notice we can get engaged and know what those topics are that you want to talk to people about. Write it down. Okay. Next question. What inspires you? Think about what inspired you in the past, who inspires you? Think about maybe a person who inspires you? What is common to the people that inspire you? What does it reveal about what you value most? Which three people or maybe three actions or outcomes that inspire you most? What is common to them? We're looking for your values. We're looking to see what is important to you? So what inspires you? What are the top three things that inspire you? Again, not what you have learned or think should inspire you. What actually inspires you? What is your life demonstrating inspires you? I'm not looking for idealism here. I'm looking for real. I'm looking for authentic. I'm looking for raw. I'm looking for the truth. When you listen to you and not to your environment, what inspires you? Next question. What are the most consistent long term goals, that you also realize? Think about a long term goal, a long term dream, a long term vision, a long term thing that you want, that you're also consistently moving towards. To do what I do today. I've been doing this for over 20 years. I mean I've been doing this since 1994 and in different forms, right? Whether as a martial arts teacher or doing what I'm doing today, it's all about training, moving towards things that's gonna help me become physically, mentally, emotionally, stronger, faster, sharper. It doesn't mean that that's has to be you. I'm saying what is it for you? What's a goal? What’s the most consistent long term goals that you’re also realizing. Write down the top three. Okay, next one. Last one. What do you love to learn about most? What topics do you study? What things inspire you the most when you read about them? Learn about them. Like I know exactly. If I would go into a bookstore, Barnes and Noble, any bookstore around the world, I know where I want to go first. I go to history books. Just kidding. I won't, right? I go to the areas that are psychology, personal growth business. Something about it and just I guess I'm just drawn there and I just look at the covers and I like to smell the books. That's how weird I am. I just think books smell good. The paper smells good. Opening a new book. Think about what is it that you love to learn most about? What is it about? What section in the bookstore? If you go online and you're searching for something, what don't you search for? Is there a certain kind of TV show or documentary you subscribe to? What’s something the top three answers to these questions will help you reveal your highest values? You look into my library books, you'll see business, personal development, health, relationships. You won't see romantic novel. You won’t see, cookbooks, well there some, but they are not mine. You won't see books about knitting or you won't see books about how to fix a car. You won't see books about politics, but in someone else's library you would, and we don't care about other people right now. We care about you. What do you love to learn about most? The top three things write it down. How’d you like that? Did you answer the questions. If you didn’t go back and do it. Remember change is not going to happen by listening to me passively. Actively get engaged and you will change how you think, feel, act and massively impact the success and fulfillment you’ll have in your life. Next week… We’re going to get into part 3 where we get super clear on why you may have set a financial goal, business, health or relationship goal, and not achieved it and how do you change that? How do you set goals in alignment with your values so you move in one direction, and don’t get stuck in taking one step forward and two steps back? How do we stop feeling like a failure? How do you accelerate and create goals or targets you can depend on? I’m also going to reveal the big G? What’s that? You got tune in to next weeks episode of Halfass to Badass! Talk to you soon!

REBECCA RAYNE actor, photographer and director of comedy group "The Cut" joins the girls this week to give us a pep talk on how everything you need to make your own work is right in front of you!  "Right I'm 95 years old looking back.. why did I make such a f**king fuss about that?" Inbetween Stages with Kassius Nelson and Jennifer Brooke is a podcast derived from the unpredictable life of a creative trying to ‘make it’. Each week a creative guest joins the duo to discuss challenges they have faced, celebrate achievements they have overcome and pull the curtain back on whats its REALLY like surviving those inbetween stages. Follow the podcast on INSTA: @inbetweenstages  TWITTER: @inbetweenstage Facebook: Inbetween Stages Podcast

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Speaker 1: All right, everybody. Welcome to Rad Dad Secrets, episode 13 the unstoppable totally Rad Dad. Speaker 3: So the big question is this. How do regular dads like us who weren't given a playbook on parenting, who only have 24 hours in a day to make it all happen How do we provide for our families in a way that will allow us to raise happy, successful children and have a thriving marriage while still being a man and doing the things we love That is the question and this podcast will give you the answers. This is Rad dad secrets. All right, everybody. Glad to have you back. And we got some exciting information to go over today. So we want to talk about being unstoppable. Speaker 1: Totally Rad Dad. And there's a lot to it, right There's a ton that goes into this, but one of the first things is that as a Rad Dad, you can, you can't just kick your feet up if you feel like you're doing a great job, the worst thing you can do is kick your feet up and be content, right You just rest on your laurels. Say I'm doing a good job. I don't need to progress. I don't need to get any better is one of the worst errors you can make. You do need to be happy, but never satisfied out of the totally Rad Dad. Even after you achieve goals, you're never truly content, and it's interesting to never be satisfied that that can be taken in two different ways, right To accomplish a goal and you're like, oh, I'm just not satisfied. You know You can look at it like that, but in all reality, you want to be content. Speaker 1: You want to be happy with your accomplishments, but to not be satisfied, it means that you're not going to stop. You're not going to stop progressing. You recognize your potential and you really recognize the potential of your kids and your family as far as how much more they can progress, how much further that you can reach. You know, they always say reaching for the stars because it's basically something that that's almost unreachable. I mean, there's galaxies beyond galaxies, beyond galaxies, but reaching for the stars in the same way it can be reaching inside yourself. It's like reaching for the stars. There is no end to our potential and the, the limits. We truly are limitless. We need to not be satisfied and continue to push on and achieve that next goal and work toward that next goal. Be Happy with what we've got and grateful for what we've got, but continue to push on. Yeah. Also kind of along those same lines, if you've got to be true to ourselves, Speaker 2: you know, you've got to be true to yourselves. Um, I like this quote. This is by Amber Riley. As long as you are, are being true to yourself, you will always find happiness when it comes to things that are done around the house. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses, right I know what I'm good at and what I'm not good at. I am not, I am not a handyman. We are, we are eventually going to get our floors done. We have all the, uh, all the woods sitting in our house acclimating to this climate, but that's a youtube format. No, youtube is not going to fix a, my clumsiness. I, I know what I'm good at and I know what I'm not good at. So we are going to have somebody come in and put our floors in and that's just not something that I'm good at. Speaker 2: I know some of you, some of you dads out there are going to be rolling your eyes at me and saying, you know, just like you were saying, look it up on Youtube. You could do it now. There's too many corners, too many angles, stairs that I want it done right. So I know, I know what I'm good at and I'm going to be true to myself and say, you know what, I'm going to leave this to the professionals. Kind of the same thing in my office too. I know what I'm good at. I'm not good at doing the insurance billing, so I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna do that. Right I'm going to let somebody, I'm going to let the professionals do that. Also, if something isn't right in

Have you ever felt stuck, within yourself or within your relationship? Have you felt the effects of depression or anxiety as a result? You may know that intimacy is important - but today we’re going to show you how intimacy can help you heal your traumas and attachment injuries - so that you can get unstuck. This week, our guest is Diana Fosha, PhD, the developer of AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), a healing-based, transformation-oriented model of psychotherapeutic treatment. Diana Fosha is the Founder and Director of the AEDP Institute, and the author of The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model for Accelerated Change. Diana shares how she creates intimacy in a therapeutic setting and how that intimacy and safety helps clients make huge transformations in terms of their experience of their own lives. As always, I’m looking forward to your thoughts on this episode and what revelations and questions it creates for you. Please join us in the Relationship Alive Community on Facebook to chat about it! Sponsors: Our sponsor today is Audible. Audible has the largest selection of audiobooks on the planet and now, with Audible Originals, the selection has gotten even better with custom content made for members. As a special offer, Audible wants to give you a free 30-day trial and 1 free audiobook. Go to Audible.com/relationship or text RELATIONSHIP to 500500 to get started. Resources: Visit Diana Fosha’s website to learn more about her work. Pick up your copy of Diana Fosha’s book, The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model for Accelerated Change FREE Relationship Communication Secrets Guide - perfect help for handling conflict and shifting the codependent patterns in your relationship Guide to Understanding Your Needs (and Your Partner's Needs) in Your Relationship (ALSO FREE) Visit www.neilsattin.com/fosha to download the transcript, or text “PASSION” to 33444 and follow the instructions to download the transcript to this episode with Diana Fosha. Amazing intro/outro music graciously provided courtesy of: The Railsplitters - Check them Out Transcript: Neil Sattin: Hello and welcome to another episode of Relationship Alive. This is your host, Neil Sattin. You know, intimacy is a powerful thing, super powerful. It brings us together with our partners and enables us to achieve more than we would be able to on our own. And yet sometimes we get stuck and things don't flow quite so well. And that could be a stuck-ness that happens in our relatedness, in our relationship with our partner, or it could be more like an inner stuck-ness, where you feel like you're not being quite as effective as you'd want to be in your life, or you feel the effects of depression or anxiety; the kinds of things that hold you back where you know that you might not be shining your brightest. Neil Sattin: And yet intimacy has this amazing transformative power in how it gives us access to these deeper parts of ourselves. And I'm bringing this up because today's guest is a master of creating intimacy in a therapeutic setting, in a way that helps clients make huge changes in terms of their experience of their own lives. The name of her therapeutic modality is AEDP, or Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy. Now that sounds like a mouthful. It is a mouthful, but what you are going to discover in today's episode is just how simple it can be to effect profound transformation, all through harnessing who we innately are as humans, as feeling creatures. Neil Sattin: And I know we're called homo sapiens, we are people who know, but I believe that it's also important to acknowledge how we feel and that our feelings, as many illustrious people before me have noted, are part of what has allowed us to adapt to our world in ways that are beneficial to our survival and also to our enjoyment of life and living. So today's guest is none other than Dr. Diana Fosha who, along with being the creator of AEDP is also the author of The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model for Accelerated Change. And her modality uses attachment science, interpersonal neurobiology, to help therapists, again, create amazing changes, or facilitate amazing changes in their clients. And I think there's also a lot that's useful just for us to learn here about how we operate as people, that we can take into our lives and into our relationships in order to enhance our experience. And we're even going to talk about that process of enhancing our experience in today's conversation. So I think that's it from me, along with just mentioning that if you want a detailed transcript of today's conversation you can visit neilsattin.com/fosha, F-O-S-H-A, which is Diana's last name. Or as always you can text the word "Passion" to the number 33444 and follow the instructions. I think that's it, so Diana Fosha, thank you so much for being here with us today on Relationship Alive. Diana Fosha: Such a pleasure to be in conversation with you Neil. Thank you so much for the invitation. Neil Sattin: You are most welcome. And I hope I encapsulated everything in a way that... That makes sense, but we are of course going to dive in a little more deeply and help everyone understand what AEDP is all about. Diana Fosha: You are absolutely did a stellar job, and it's actually a wonderful thing to sort of hear my work sort of mirrored and condensed in that way, so I think we're off to a good start. Neil Sattin: Excellent, excellent. Well, to condense it and mirror it even further, because I've had people ask me, "What is that?", and "What's that big book you're reading?", because I've been carrying around The Transforming Power of Affect with me for probably the better part of the past month, and "Who is this person?" And the way that I've explained it to them is that by creating safety in the therapeutic setting, so a therapist creating enough safety so that you can experience the core emotions that contain within them the power to transform your experience. Diana Fosha: That's great, what shall we do for the rest of the hour? [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Well, let's talk about how we get there. And maybe you could start by talking about your stand, because it's clearly super important to you that a therapist be able to participate actively with their clients, as opposed to what I think we tend to think of with our therapist, which is that they're more passive or receptive, or maybe they validate, but they're not necessarily down there in the trenches with us. Diana Fosha: Right. And I'd be happy to talk about that. And I want to sort of just take one step back to sort of... To the... Another what I think of as really essential aspect of the model, and then we'll go to the stance and then get more deeply into it. And what I want to say is that, in addition to the safety that you talked about, in terms of the safety to really have people feel safe to come forth with their experience and who they are and then process those emotions, I would say that the most sort of core, core, core, fundamental assumption is that healing resides within us, that it's there from the get-go, side by side with the suffering, the stuck-ness that you talked about in your introduction, what have you, trauma, depression, difficulties in relationships, whatever it is that brings people to therapy and accounts for their not being fulfilled or shining as brightly, again, as you sort of said it in your introduction, that side by side with that, always, there's a capacity for healing that's just absolutely wired into us. Diana Fosha: And I think that's just something that's the guide, and an assumption that actually allows me to sort of sit with whoever I'm working with, just in a confident or comfortable way, that what they need is already... So much of it is so deeply within them, if we can just bring it forth. So with that, as I was going to say it in the background, but it's not in the background, with that as a foundation, I think that my stance as a therapist, is about creating a relationship, that the safety really comes from the fact that we actually are two people in the room and acting in that way. And that I consider myself part of this healing diet that my patient and I formed together, and that my experience and my responses, not just my thoughts and not just my words, are really part and parcel of what we're co-creating, that allows the person, hopefully, to start to feel safe from very, very early on, at the beginning. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah, you speak very eloquently in your book about the importance even of, right from the beginning, of the first session, to be creating that context of safety and being in it... Co-creating the process. Diana Fosha: Yes. I really spend a lot of time... I do a lot of training of therapists, and one of the things that I like to talk to them about is that the first session is sacred and it's sacred in one very, very particular way, it's the only encounter that we will ever have that has no history, that we're creating history in that first meeting, we've come to it with no history of each other, even by the second session, we already have an established way of being, not that it can't change, not that it can't be altered, I don't mean that, it's not fixed, but it's history. Whereas in the first session, you have this unique opportunity to define the relationship in particular terms, so that I think it's incredibly important. So that in AEDP, the first session is not really so much devoted to, "Tell me where you were born," and, "How many people are in your family?" and, "How many therapies, did you have?" that kind of history taking, which, of course, is important, because it captures information. But that information is there for the acquiring in the second session or in the seventh session, or in writing, or by a million different ways. But this unique interaction between us, where we're sort of creating something together for the first time, it's a unique opportunity; so therapy really starts from the very, very first moment of that very first encounter. Neil Sattin: It reminds me of a first date. And sometimes that can be a degree of pressure that people don't really like. But it's really true that before that moment, you don't have any idea about that person, or do they of you. And what I really like is that you're honoring the fact that you're creating a relationship by going to see a therapist. Diana Fosha: Exactly. Exactly. And in a way... And I like the first date analogy, it's a little bit easier in some ways, in that there's one person who's sort of in charge [chuckle] So it's not both people, sort of in one way it is and it one way it isn't there, that's why we have roles, and that's why you're going to see a therapist. But it has some of that unknown and potential and excitement, as well as terrifying aspect; being vulnerable with a total stranger who, by the second meeting, will not be a stranger anymore. Neil Sattin: Right. And one thing that really... Of the many. There are so many things that actually stood out for me about your work, but it was this idea of how so much of our suffering and pain comes from having experiences that occur in isolation, where we feel like we can't share them with another person, or there's something wrong with us and we have no way of really checking that out because, again, it's all happening inside us. And so the power of bringing an acknowledgement to every experience with an AEDP therapist of, "You're not alone. What you just went through right here with me, do you see how we were in this together?" Diana Fosha: I think that it's so crucial, and of course, it's implicit in any relationship, or in any therapeutic relationship. Yet the strange thing is that merely by being with another person, whether in conversation or in relationship, does not necessarily automatically translate into not feeling alone. And actually, I think, one of the most painful ways of feeling alone is feeling alone in the presence of other people. So that... One of the things that I'm very, very, very conscious of is to actually explore together with the person that I'm working with, who I'm working with, what their experience is of are being together; if it feels like we're being together, and if they feel accompanied. Diana Fosha: If they are aware, that as they're sharing something, or saying something, or feeling something, or not thinking something, and saying it out loud, it's actually being registered by another human who's there with them. And that's... To actually be able to have that experience of not feeling alone as you're going through something, is just very powerful and potentially very therapeutic, in and of, of itself. Because I think, as you've said, so much of what becomes our suffering or various forms of it, really has something to do with our aloneness, and either the fact that there's nobody that we can share it with, or the fact that we're experiencing something that absolutely overwhelms our resources, that were we there with somebody else. Diana Fosha: The trauma was... Would be as horrible, that our capacity to bear it or deal with it would be quite different. There's very, very interesting research that shows that for people who are in combat, if they have a buddy that they're going through the combat experience with, their chances of getting PTSD are significantly reduced, and that kind of finding is present in many, many other settings. Another... Just to mention one other, and sorry, because you were about to say something, there's also a similar kind of research that during World War II there were all these kids who were orphaned as their parents were taken to concentration camps and they were actually in a therapeutic home school run by Anna Freud and this other woman named Dorothy Burlingham, and they studied these orphans. And what they found out is that, again, with those kids who had somebody they were close to, a sibling, or a friend, or somebody really whom they felt bonded, were much less traumatized by these most devastating of experiences that they were going through, and this actually influenced the therapy. Neil Sattin: What I was going to say is... What was striking me in that moment was how we're here to talk about relationships, and it's always such a big irony when things start to get a little uncomfortable in relationship, how, theoretically, you're there with another person, but you can feel so alone. And I think that that's part of what we're trying to overcome when there are issues in a couple, is to remember that they are also there for each other, they're on the same team, they are each other's buddy, which hopefully helps them survive without too much trauma that they're inflicting upon each other from that stuck place. Diana Fosha: Exactly. Exactly. And of course, that so many couples who come to therapy are in a couple, but the difficulties have been such that they have been feeling very alone. So that's really the paradox, that if we're just able to sort of recognize that presence and share enough of ourselves that the other person also feels us, we've already done something very significant. Neil Sattin: Can we talk for a moment about what is it about this model that... Where does the healing take place? And in particular, I'm thinking about the difference between our core affective emotions and other things that come out as more like our defenses, our defensive strategies. Diana Fosha: Yeah, the healing... God. There are many opportunities for it and there are many aspects of AEDP that are experienced as healing, we're actually in the process of doing some empirical research into the model, and to do so we needed to create some scales to measure that the therapy is actually happening in some fashion related to how we say it should be happening. And we created a scale to measure change processes, and there are nine, and there could have been more. But I'll try to be... [chuckle] Diana Fosha: But I'll try to actually reduce it and condense it, even from the nine. I think that sometimes what we have been talking about, which is the experience of having one's alone-ness undone and feeling seen or feeling cared about, or just validated or understood, that in and of itself can be so profoundly transformative, not in and of itself and not forever, but those kinds of moments have tremendous power, so I think that's one piece. I think the other that you were beginning to talk about, which is that when we can't process, we can't fully process or express them, feel them, express them and do something about our emotions, either because they're overwhelming or because we're in environments where our core emotions are met with criticism or with ridicule or what have you, we do develop these kinds of protective strategies and... Which work beautifully in the short term; you don't get hurt, and you don't get shamed, and you don't get overwhelmed. Diana Fosha: But over time, by relying on them, they sort of... They form almost like a crust, a... Or a shell over our hearts and ourselves. And they become sort of like the I who we present to the world, and that person is not authentic or is not our true authentic self, so that just in being able to break through or let go of those protective mechanisms that protect us but also limit us, and have the courage to be vulnerable and touch our emotions, and start to experience them and express them and process them with another person, is another huge transformative opportunity, particularly because those emotions are wired into us to help us. I mean that's why they survived over so many eons and eons of evolution, they're really good for us, even though they're difficult. So that's the second piece. Diana Fosha: And then, I think I've said... So that's sort of three. [chuckle] And I'll mention one other, which I'm sure we'll end up talking about a little more, which is that in AEDP, in the kind of work that goes by that name, we do something very, very specific that, to my knowledge, is not done by any other therapeutic model, or it's not done systematically in any case, which is this. That any time there's a moment of change for the better, be it big or small, in a given session, we start to focus on the experience of that change, the experience of that moment of transformation. And we've discovered something really cool, which is that when you do that, the experience and the process of change or of transformation grows, and that in and of itself, is a huge source of transformative potential. Neil Sattin: Right. The power of focusing on what's going right versus always being focused on what's going wrong. And as soon as you fix something, "Well, let's move on to the next wrong thing," as opposed to... Diana Fosha: Exactly, like, "Okay, now we did that, it feels better. Excellent. Let's tackle the next thing." [chuckle] Which is reasonable enough, except that there's this other thing that can happen, that when we stay with a positive, when we stay with this thing that has just changed, and just gotten better or that feels right, these amazing, cool things happen when we do that. Neil Sattin: Like what? [chuckle] Diana Fosha: Like that feeling of something right growing, and it grows in a way that we can feel it in our bodies, literally, that we start to feel our chests expanding, or we start to feel this kind of streaming of alive-ness; so that's one aspect of it. And another aspect of it is that one feeling of something feeling right or good leads to another; pride can lead to calm, which can, in turn, can lead to joy. It varies from moment to moment and from person to person, but all of a sudden it's like you start with a little nugget and it just... Or you start with a seed, there are so many metaphors. And if you sort of nurture this particular seed, it just blossoms, right? We have this term, "flourishing," and I think that's, for me, one of the coolest things about the therapy, which is that people come in because they're suffering and they want their suffering relieved, and that's certainly a fundamental aim of the work, but it doesn't stop at relieving suffering, it continues, sort of organically, seamlessly, moves into also creating flourishing, this kind of from little seeds of growth or little seeds of change, and letting them flower. Neil Sattin: Right. And it makes an intuitive sense to me. And I'm reminded of, I can't remember who said it, but someone said something about how you get rid of darkness by shining the light brighter and... But not by taking away the darkness, and... So it makes me think of that, that the more you amplify the flourishing and allow that to grow organically, and that brings up a question for me, but the more that you do that, the less room there is for the shadow, the dysfunction, to be there and to be a problem. Diana Fosha: I think that's true. I think that's true. Yeah. Neil Sattin: So the question, the question was, and I do want to go back to core affective emotions, but before we do, what are some ways... because I don't know about you, but I've been in situations where someone has shone a spotlight on how good a time we're all having and it's actually doesn't amplified, in fact, it feels almost inauthentic, or like that person is somehow kind of removed from the moment instead of actually they're participating in it with all of us, so what are the qualities of shining a light on positive change, or on a moment of goodness that actually help create resonance? Diana Fosha: Right. No, I think that's excellent. So first of all, it has to come from within the individual who's doing the experience. In other words, it's not the therapist who says, "Gee whizz, look at that, isn't that great?" Which can evoke very much, or elicit very much exactly what you're saying while, actually, it actually isn't. You think it may be, but I'm actually sitting here feeling embarrassed, or it's evoking a lot of discomfort in me, or whatever it is. And so that we're always attuning to the experience, the internal experience, so that it's not that it looks like it feels right, it's the person, him or herself, who's really... So that, for instance, if I said, "What's that like for you?" Then the person will say, "Wow, I am really, really aware in this moment that this discomfort that I walk around with usually, is just not here. It's crazy, but it's really not here." I had this woman, and I'm thinking of her as I'm saying this, and I can hear her words sort of echoing for me, that she kept saying, "This is so weird. It's good, but it's so weird." [chuckle] Diana Fosha: Right? Because the actual experience of not having the depression, or not having the uptight-ness, it's nice, but if that's what you're used to, and like if you're wearing a tight shirt and you've just worn that tight shirt all the time, it's so nice to take it off, but it's also so strange, if that's what you're use to. So we're just... That's what we're processing, we're processing the person's very sort of granular and very specific experience. And as to your point, it's not just a linear process that one good thing leads to another, it can very often lead to another defense or another block or all of a sudden self-consciousness or embarrassment or anxiety. I mean it can go one thing... I'm sort of theoretically talking about what can happen and often does. But sometimes we're as uncomfortable and as embarrassed when we're feeling positive things, they feel exposing. Alright, so then there's another round of work, be it with protective mechanisms or shame or other traumatic issues that can be brought forth by the positive emotions. So it's not like the A leads to B leads to C leads to D. It's very... The process is very individual and the safety isn't staying very connected to what each person's experience really is. And welcoming it, welcoming it whether it's good or whether it's difficult. Neil Sattin: Yeah. And one thing that, in what you just said, that really stood out for me, even just in my initial question was, that it wasn't so much a declaration about, "Isn't this amazing what just happened?" It was more like a recognition that something is happening right now, and the question like, "What's your experience of this that's happening right now?" Diana Fosha: Right, what's this like for you? Neil Sattin: Yeah, yeah, which I mean I'm just even thinking in terms of our day-to-day lives, the number of times that we make assumptions about what's going on in our partner's worlds, versus just asking, "What's going on for you right now, what's your... What's this like for you, that we're experiencing right now?" Diana Fosha: And may I add? And also listening. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Yeah. Diana Fosha: Right. It's asking the question, knowing to ask the question and not assume and then really listening to what the other person has to say, because our experiences are so specific to us, and those assumptions so often turn out to be surprisingly not true for the other person. Neil Sattin: Yeah, yeah. And that's so much I think about what excited me in reading more and more about AEDP. And, you know, actually I was like looking are there any AEDP therapists in Maine. There aren't many actually, which is where I am. But I definitely want to experience it. Because again for me, I'm experiencing this more on a gut level that the power of being held that way in a therapeutic setting of being accepted, of having someone see me of being... Having someone there with me, and allowing me to get at whatever I haven't been able to quite get at before, and where my defensive structures and protective structures might be getting in the way of me just doing something simple like getting my to-do list done in an organized way. Diana Fosha: Yes, and I [chuckle] think I need to try to see if we can... Neil Sattin: Right, hook me up, Diana. Diana Fosha: Absolutely, absolutely. I'm doing the match-making. And we do have a therapist directory. But I appreciate what you're saying, it's a powerful thing. Neil Sattin: Yeah, and so let's talk a little bit more about...because we've been generalizing about particular kinds of emotional experiences that contain within it a lot of resource. It's resource for how we show up in the world, how we show up with our partners, how we fuel creative endeavors, but they're not... It's not all... It's not all joy, right? There are other emotions there that are important in terms of their power for us. Diana Fosha: Yes. Yes. Absolutely, all of the emotions, and there are really two that come to mind that I might want to just mention, because we tend to... Or people often avoid them, and one has to do with grief, and the other is anger. And I think there's just a... There's something about grief which is intrinsically painful, grief and sadness about losses and disappointments, and... Neil Sattin: Right, you even talk about how that can... And this... I read this and I was like, "Yes, of course," how that can come up in a therapeutic setting where something great has just happened, and then, rather than that feeling amazing, you can feel this overwhelming sense of grief for all the missed opportunities or times you didn't feel that when you were younger, and how important it is to be nurtured through an experience of grief or mourning around those losses. Diana Fosha: Exactly. Exactly. And to just recognize that actually, particularly if we're not alone and we're supported and that grief can be witnessed as we're feeling it; actually something very, very important happens, that in going through it and going through the process of mourning or feeling our sadness or grief, there's actually... When we come out the other side, there's a tremendous feeling of relief, and... I can feel it sort of as I'm saying it, that I almost feel my chest expanding and I feel... I feel my heart and all of this kind of energy is not going into containing something but actually feeling it. It's almost like you see a movie or a play that's deeply emotional, and you're crying, and then you come out, and there's an openness that comes in the wake of the grief, whether it's perspective or acceptance, but there's just something about... Our organism needs to mourn when we have those losses, and that's part of what psychic health really is. And when we just reflexively tighten up not so as not to feel it, we're putting all our energy into containing something that's natural; it's difficult but very profound and important. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Something that feels important here is how all of these deep emotions, when you experience them, you get to metabolize them, and I think that's not always clear to us that...because grief... The prospect of mourning something important, the loss of a relationship or a loved one, or a friend, or an opportunity, it can feel like, "Well, how will that... How will going through that pain help me?" so I'm going to, instead, I'm going to just pretend I'm okay, or like I got over it. Diana Fosha: Right. Right. Right. And it's sort of... That's what I mean, that these are very sort of powerful wired-in emotions, we have them; people all over the world, regardless of culture, experience grief and anger and sadness, and fear and joy; these are just sort of wired into us, and they're also wired into mammals. They're very, very powerful experiences, and if we don't fight them and we experience them, and metabolize them, then we're able to really come to terms with whatever these experiences are that evoked them and realize things. So I'll tell you something... A story comes to mind of work that I did many, many, many years ago, pretty early in my career, when I was working with a man whose father had died when he was a young boy, and he was left very alone with that experience. There was the belief in his family that he was too young, and therefore, nobody talked to him about it, I think under the good intentions of saving him pain; again, misguided intentions. Diana Fosha: He wasn't allowed to go to the funeral, so he was really... And by the time I met him several decades later, that wasn't the only thing, of course, but that was a major aspect. So he was a very numb person, he was very numb and dissociative and so on and so forth, and quite, quite distant and disconnected from his feelings, and he couldn't have... It manifested in his not really being able to have intimacy in his relationships. So after some time, we were finally able to make our way back to the little boy, he was seven or nine or so, I think, when his dad died, and he really was able to feel the grief and the fear of those early experiences, I think, for... Really for the first time, or one of the first times, certainly first time with somebody, and it was really, really deep sobs and deep pain. And I just have it as clear as if it had happened a week ago, or yesterday, of his weeping and the wave of tears ending, and his sort of breathing deeply and looking at me and starting to sort of calm, and his saying, "I have to go sit at the grave of my father," which he had never done. Neil Sattin: Wow. Diana Fosha: And that there was something about the power of that moment, of that knowing of what he needed to do, that only came after he went through this deep grieving. Neil Sattin: I'm feeling really moved by that, just imagining that person's experience and the power of that, and it makes me wonder how do we know if we're safe enough to go there? Is it a knowing or is it more like a deeper knowing where... I'm not even sure I'm articulating this question well, but I'm thinking about how often we end up in relationship because the dopamine and oxytocin and that potent cocktail, that... Of bio-chemicals that we get to experience when we're together, it gives us that illusion of safety, and often there's even the sense of like, "I can tell this person anything," or, "They see me more deeply than anyone ever does." And then part of the reckoning that comes later is trying to establish true safety, and I'm just wondering, yeah, how do we... If our goal is to really foster that safety where we are allowed to go to those deep levels of experience and come out the other side metabolizing them, what... Yeah, how do we know that we have that? Diana Fosha: You don't mean just in a therapeutic relationship, you mean really in the relationships that we have? Neil Sattin: Yeah. Yeah. Diana Fosha: Right? Neil Sattin: Right, because so many of us are trying to heal attachment wounds, right? And especially with our partners. Diana Fosha: Right. Right. I think a couple of things sort of come to mind in response to that, I think we... That's how we gain experience, is that sense of when we go to those deep places, how the person that we're with is able to respond and they can listen and empathize and be there with each time one of these things happen in small ways or large ways, I think that increases our sense of safety and vice versa, that sort of heavy cocktail that you're talking about of early days and... You know and then being willing to be really, really vulnerable to only discover that that person then sort of shuts down or disappears or gets critical or... Right? Diana Fosha: So, but then, which are... They're both very not unusual experiences, and I think the learning and the intimacy is forged through caring about getting better at it and repairing and owning our mistakes and trying again and being willing to risk again, because I think what's... And that takes me back to what I said at the beginning about the healing within, the great big assistant all of that is that while we want to feel safe and need to feel safe and we spend so much effort protecting ourselves, there's another way in which we want to be known, we want to... We also, much as that gentleman I was talking about had spent 40 years in numbness and dissociation, when he finally felt safe, there was also something in him that needed to grieve and wanted to grieve. So it's both; we need to feel safe, but we also want to feel known and that pushes us to take chances and be vulnerable and also, the importance, and this is what I want to emphasize, whether it's therapy or... And/or life, to learn to repair, because we sure as hell don't get it perfect we're just right so much of the time. Neil Sattin: Yeah, that must be an amazing part of your training for AEDP therapists, is that art of repairing with their clients when they haven't made quite the right step, in terms of an intervention or a noticing. Diana Fosha: Exactly. Exactly. And all of a sudden the person before you gets defended or spaces out or starts to talk pretty superficially. So there's maybe something got activated for them, but maybe it's something that I, as the therapist, "Wait a second, have I done something? Did I miss that? Did I... " Or any number of things. And I think the willingness to just want to know and the willingness to own those mistakes or those... Yeah, is so huge. "I am so sorry, please tell me," and let me look in myself, "What happened there? What made me space out? What made me be insensitive, or say something that felt un-empathic or... Right, let's be with that together, and let me own my stuff." Neil Sattin: Yeah, that willingness to be vulnerable that way, as a therapist or as a partner, to say, "Wow, I'm really sorry. I clearly messed up just then," and to recognize, in that way, that you're holding the well-being of the other person within you, and recognizing that you have some responsibility in that moment, for that. Diana Fosha: Yeah. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Diana Fosha: And I want to say another thing about that, that's sort of specific to how we teach and train in AEDP, which is that we make use of videotape, we videotape our sessions. So first of all, that requires our patient's trust in allowing us to do that, but patients really want to be seen and very often appreciate the fact that not only do they have their session, but that the therapist is going to look at the session again or... But it's the willingness of therapists to be vulnerable in showing their tapes to their supervisors. By the way, tapes is a dated term. Neil Sattin: I was going to say. [chuckle] Diana Fosha: We still call them video tapes, I haven't had video tapes in 20 years, but the language hasn't quite caught up with the technology, but it's that patients allowing the therapists to do that, the therapists being vulnerable and sharing that with their supervisors. And myself and my colleagues who teach AEDP are being vulnerable and actually showing our video tapes. You don't have to just... When you're training in AEDP, you don't have to just listen to me tell you, "Oh, do this and do that," I have to be vulnerable and put this thing up on the screen that shows me doing this work, for better and for worse, right? And I... So... Neil Sattin: I love that even in your... In the book, The Transforming Power of Affect there are lots of clinical vignettes, where you describe work, and it's annotated, so we know, as the reader, what's going on. But I loved how you even annotated like, "Well, this was a place where I totally messed up," or... It's really helpful to see that. And then, to also see, after, subsequently, how... What you do about that, how you don't just kinda go off the rails and stay off the rails. Diana Fosha: Right, or have to get it perfect all the time, because then we would [chuckle] be in very big trouble. Neil Sattin: Right. Right. Diana, I'm wondering if we can... There are obviously so many other things to talk about. And your work is so rich, I appreciate you taking the time to chat with us today. Hopefully, we can talk again at some point. One topic that's come up several times in this conversation has been the topic of our defenses, or protective strategies, and I'm wondering if you could give us some thoughts before we go on how to recognize a defensive strategy in ourselves and maybe in someone else, and then that next question of like, "When you recognize it, what do you do?" Diana Fosha: So I think maybe one of the ways to recognize it in ourselves is that we feel maybe comfortable enough, but nothing happens. [chuckle] Meaning things don't deepen, things don't open, they... It's almost like a conversation that stays somewhat superficial. Nobody's making a faux pas, but nobody's learning anything either, it's a little boring maybe. Conversationally, that's the equivalent of sort of keeping safe, but too safe, so safe that there's no exchange, right? So it would be some version of that, the sense of, "Okay, I stayed safe, but nothing happened, I didn't connect, I didn't learn, I didn't take chances." And I think the opposite of that feels a little whatever one's version is, a little breathless and a little risky, a little scary, a little exciting, a little bit like you don't exactly know what you're going to say next, right? I'm describing, I'm trying to describe sort of qualities of... Neil Sattin: My best podcast interviews. [chuckle] Diana Fosha: Right. Right. Right. When you ask the question to which you really don't know the answer yet. Neil Sattin: Yeah. Diana Fosha: As opposed to the... Right? Either way, in both ways. And similarly, you recognize it in somebody this, if you walk out of an encounter, a get-together, and you're not moved, or you haven't learned anything, or you're leaving much as you came, that's a pretty good indication that everybody's nice and protected, and nobody got hurt and nobody got shamed, but nobody connected. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Yeah, and so if I recognize that's going on, two questions come up for me, one is the... “What do I do about that?” The second is like, “are there hints of how I could discover what's the core experience that my defenses are actually protecting me against, to know myself more deeply?” Diana Fosha: There's actually a book that was written by a colleague of mine, which does a wonderful, wonderful job of talking about that, outside of the therapeutic situation. She actually uses examples from therapy, but she uses examples from therapy to help people identify their own defenses and their own emotions. It's called, It's Not Always Depression and the author is Hilary Jacobs Hendel, H-E-N-D-E-L. So that might be a very, very good recommendation about how to sort of apply this stuff to oneself. And I think the other is that we know... We know when we're avoiding grief... Not always, but a fair amount of the time we know that we're trying not to be angry, we know that we're trying to pretend that we're not anxious or afraid. I think there's a fair amount of knowing what we're trying not to feel when we're trying to not feel it. Right? I'm talking about sort of ordinary interactions rather than sort of deep-seated drama. That sort of necessarily takes us to therapy. But in our daily interactions, I think we have a pretty good idea in some part of our mind are these core experiences, core emotions. So, we're trying to not go near because we're scared of them, or they make us feel just vulnerable. Neil Sattin: Yeah, I could see even asking yourself the question in that moment of just asking yourself, "What am I avoiding by doing this thing that I always do, this engaging in this habit and being open to the answer that arises there?" Diana Fosha: Right, right. If I weren't talking so much now or if I weren't just asking the other person questions about him or herself, what might I be feeling? You know, whatever one's particular strategy is. Neil Sattin: Whoo. Yeah. Diana Fosha: Yeah. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: My sigh in that moment is just a recognition of... As much as I myself am an optimist, I try to dwell in the gratitude and all of that, but I recognize yeah, there's... There are a lot of places where there's pain or there's anger or there's disappointment or... And I'm feeling for all of you listening, the blessing hopefully in allowing yourself to feel more of that, so that you get the richness that's on the other side of metabolizing those things in your life. Diana, are you still there? Diana Fosha: I am. Neil Sattin: Okay. [chuckle] You were so silent, I wasn't sure if you had just been like, "And cut." I really appreciate your taking the time to be here with us today. And what's the best way for people who want to learn a little bit more about AEDP or therapists who might want to get some training in that modality. What's the best way for people to find out more about you and your work? Diana Fosha: Yes, thank you for asking that. I think that we have a very rich website. The URL is www.aedpinstitute.org. A-E-D-P institute, one word, lower case. And there is a lot about AEDP. There are a lot of papers that people can download for free, by myself and by my colleagues who teach in the AEDP Institute. And there's a lot of stuff on our trainings. I myself teach an immersion course, which is a five-day intensive, which I teach several times a year. The next one is coming up at the end of January in Florida. And there are other courses. We have skills courses and so on, and so forth. And we have a therapist directory [chuckle] where we might look for somebody that you or other people who are interested in this might see. And so I would highly, highly recommend that people who want to know more about it, either for therapeutic training, or just to learn a bit more about the approach really go to our website and has references to all of my books, and video tapes, and just a whole bunch of different kinds of resources. Neil Sattin: Great, and we will have all those links on the show notes, which you can get, again if you visit neilsattin.com/fosha. F-O-S-H-A. And so we'll have a link to aedpinstitute.org. And you can also download a transcript of this conversation to study it again and again. Unfortunately, we won't have a videotape for you to watch. [chuckle] Diana Fosha: Videotape. You're picking up my antiquated language. [chuckle] Neil Sattin: Diana Fosha, thank you so much for being here with us today. Such a treat to be able to talk with you. Diana Fosha: Neil, thank you so much. This was one of those conversations, much like we were talking about that doesn't feel flat. And it goes to unexpected places, which makes it feel lively. And I'm really, really appreciating this chance to share this work. And you're really having gotten to know it. So, thank you so much. Neil Sattin: You're welcome. And the pleasure is totally mine I think. Well, maybe not totally, but quite a bit mine. Diana Fosha: I don't think so. Very mutual.  

Steve Larsen: Hey, what's going on everyone? This is Steve Larsen. I have a very special episode for you guys today. I have a guest that I'm bringing on the show. His name is John Ferguson. John Ferguson is an expert in face to face selling of MLMs. He's been hired and worked for the Rich Dad company. He has been ... He's one of the guys that MLMs hire and bring in to help improve their entire sales process. He creates scripts to help sell products, he helps scripts ... He create scripts that lets you sell your MLM product in a way to people you've never met before that is not pushy. So I'm very excited for him to be a here. It is a treat to have him and please take notes on this. This is not your normal kind of a thing, and I had to beg him to get on the episode here. So I'm excited. Let's go ahead and jump into the episode today. So here's the real mystery. How do real MLMers like us [inaudible 00:00:48] and only bug family members and friends, who wanna grow a profitable home business, how do we recruit A players into our down lines and create extra incomes, yet still have plenty of time for the rest of our lives? That's the blaring question and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Steve Larsen and welcome to Secret MLM Hacks Radio. You guys actually have a really special treat. I'm excited. I have a guess on the show with me today and his name is John Ferguson and literally every time I speak with him, I feel like I learn and I grow, and there's different things that I learn about the MLM industry. I learn about what he's doing and frankly, it's amazing, the resume that John has and I wanna bring him on the show here and give you guys a chance to be elevated for ... with what he's being doing. So without further ado, John how's it going? John Ferguson: Doing fantastic Steve and I'm super stoked to be here. I'm glad you invited me on. I am ready to deliver and I appreciate that introduction dude. I feel like a hero already. Steve Larsen: You are. I feel like ... I don't know. Every time I speak with you, you're like, "Oh, yeah. I helped ..." I don't know if I can say this, "Yeah, I helped Robert Kiyosaki. I helped this huge person over here. I set this MLM up over there." Like what? Like you've been doing a ton of stuff. John Ferguson: Yeah. I've kind of tried ... I've played the backend role for a number of years, where like you mentioned the Rich Dad organization, I really played that backend role. If you think about like Batman, he's got not Robin, which was the sidekick, but Alfred. Right? Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: The guy that's making sure all the gadgets work, make sure that Batman's not getting himself into trouble and it's really a role that in the past, has really helped a lot of people like people you just mentioned. So I ... It's a lot of fun for me to see others succeed with the systems and tools and the coaching and mentoring that you offer them. So yeah, it's been an awesome career so far. Steve Larsen: Now I wanna be able to go through kinda how you got into this and did it and all, but could you just ... For everyone else on here, if they don't know the amazing John Ferguson, could you just give us a run down of what it is that you actually do when you say Rich Dad organization and the other ones you've worked with? John Ferguson: Yeah, certainly. So what I do is I help closers sell more. Okay. I help individuals who've never sold in their lives sell their first sale. When it comes down to network marketing and multi-level marketing, I find there's a lot more nurturers than really the A type personalities, and for me what we do, is we take individuals by the hand, we guide and we direct them through selling without selling. And I know that sounds kinda weird, 'cause you're like, "What's selling without selling? Like you've gotta sell." Right? Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: What it is, is I remove the ... we remove the animosity by helping people learn an evaluation process like stepping people, rather than just going in like a hardcore close. Steve Larsen: Sure. John Ferguson: [inaudible 00:03:52]. So that's really what we do. We ... In the past like with the Rich Dad organization, I came in and contracted as a trainer and I worked a number of years, where we took their telemarketing, their speakers, their trainers, their coaches and really developed them in some better methods of asking better questions to help get to the root of the desire and the needs of people and then we can deliver that, through the products and services that we offer. And the cool thing about MLM is that there are so many people that need so many things and I buy so much stuff from network marketing companies. I think I'm like ... on like an auto ship for like seven different ones. It's not that I sell their stuff. It's that there are so many wonderful products out there, I wanna help other people get them to the marketplace and get them in the hands of consumers and eliminate that fear of enrolling people and making a sale. Steve Larsen: That's incredible. I mean so you've done it ... I mean you have quite the rap sheet and thanks for explaining that. I knew you'd do a better job than I would doing that, after talking with you extensively this past little while ... past few months, but are you ... I guess ... there's two different directions I want to go with this. My brain is just all over the place. I'm excited to have you on here. Is ... Do you use a lot of like spin selling methods, like the book Spin Selling? Is it that kind of thing a little bit? John Ferguson: You know, it's more direct and- Steve Larsen: Okay. John Ferguson: I'm not the proponent network marketing that is gonna always jump after mom, dad, sisters, cousin, next door neighbor's dog and try to invite them into my network marketing business. I've never done that in sales either. What I like to do is, I like to put out the proper marketing, which I know that your people are learning some phenomenal tools Steve and you're teaching them how to attract the right people ... actually people who really want what you have and then enroll them and get them buying from you. And so my ... And is coming on the backend of that is, is how do I determine ... Like how do I determine the wants, the desires, the needs from somebody? And so I take them through a series of questions, like broad based questions, pointed questions and direct questions and I always get the question, "Hey, John isn't a pointed question a direct question?", and not really. A pointed question just kind of gets more to the point and a direct question is literally right on the money. It's right when you're going for like the heart of the matter. And so if we can learn to ask a little bit better questions, what I can do is I can find out exactly what their needs are, where their pain is, and I'm not usually paying to like make that person really feel it 'cause who wants someone to like squeeze their wound, right? Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: "Hey, you've got a cut there. Let me get some salt water and just start spraying it on there." No. Okay. But we need to know where the pain is so that we can move them away from it or motivate them towards pleasure and that pleasure point is what I'm after mainly, because we live in a day and age right now that everyone can see through the BS. Like their belief systems, not the other BS. Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: Okay. But where there's so much on the internet, there's so much on YouTube, there's so much all over the place that we just want the information we need now, but we also wanna know that the individual that is working with us is gonna help us for us right, and really cares. And so, our method allows our closers to step into a role ... You know I wouldn't wanna say expert advisor because I don't think coaching closes. It's not something that I believe. I've had a lot of people go from the coaching industry into selling and when they coach, they can't close because they get so much information. Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: The person is like, "Oh, this is great. I'm gonna go out there and do it." So- Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: When it comes to our method, it's really just getting to the root ... It's human communication, man. It's just understanding what your goals and focus and expectations and you as the closer, knowing your product well enough, knowing your services well enough, that you're able to match what is needed and what is and what is desired with that individual in a way that they beg to buy from you. I mean it's backwards. Like if you wanna call it something, I wouldn't call it spin selling. Let's say backwards closing or something like that. Steve Larsen: Right. That's interesting. Do you mind giving a few examples of like the kind of questions you would ask? I guess you and I meet on the street and I show a little bit of interest in what you're doing. What would you ask me? John Ferguson: So here's the thing, I would first off ... If we're gonna meet on the street, like we're at Barnes and Noble or we're in some book store or some function, and I believe you have some type of an interest in my business. Right? So for instance, one of the easier ones out there right now is like health and fitness or real estate, it's a pretty hot topic. So what I wanna do is, I wanna just kinda ask you a broad question. Right? Steve Larsen: Okay. John Ferguson: So for what I would do is this, I really just kinda get in it, "So what do you currently do for a living?" Right? And someone's gonna say, "Well I'm a tractor driver." And I go, "Wow. How long have you been doing that for?" And they're gonna say, "Well, I've been doing that for 16 years." And I go, "Oh, man. You must love it." Steve Larsen: Okay. John Ferguson: And that answer right there is an answer and a question all at the same. Once, I'm slapping them upside the head- Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: Going, "Wow, I love it." Steve Larsen: Interesting. John Ferguson: And then they're gonna say, "Not really." or they go, "You know what? It's not bad going through other people's junk. I just don't see retirement in it." Right? So you're gonna find out an answer ... What I'm doing there, is I'm trying to poke them a little bit without being rude and I don't wanna create a situation where I'm hurting anybody. But I wanna find out, "Okay. Where are you at? Like are you ready to move out of this thing or you're in dysfunction for what?" And if they say, "Look yeah, I hate it. I wanna get out. I've been stuck in it for a number of years." And then I'd say, "Well, fantastic." Right? "So what would you be doing?" or "What ... If you had a better opportunity, what would your life look like?" So what I'm trying to do is I'm giving some broad questions to find out where this individual may fit and I'm building rapport, but I'm gonna stay on an agenda. My agenda is to get them to a more pointed question on how I can get this person into my business now. So I'm ask, "So would you keep your ..." The classic, "Do you keep your options open for making more money?" I don't like that question. Steve Larsen: Yeah, I don't either. John Ferguson: I don't usually use that question because it's too weird. Like for me, it just makes me feel weird. Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: So ... You know shower time. No. So what I gotta do now is I just say, "Hey look ..." I tell him what I'm doing. I say, "Look, I've been a real estate investor for 17 years. I'm looking for some individuals that might qualify to work with me in that arena. Have you ever thought about real estate investing as an option to make more money?" So I'm gonna get a little more direct, a little more pointed on my questioning and I'm gonna ask him right, and if they're in a real estate function or if they're in a network marketing function or I'm going ... So I'm never just going blind a lot of the times into ... just question people off the street. I believe that if you ... there's enough people out there that we can target the proper marketing to attract people on the front end, that by process allows me to help them through all the way to the backend in becoming a buyer. Steve Larsen: Interesting. John Ferguson: So pointed questions. If I was giving all pointed questions, I'd just ask him for instance, if that person said, "Yeah. I'm looking for something better." I say like, "How would you like to better your experience in life?" Right? And they're gonna [inaudible 00:11:16] what they wanna accomplish. Now I'm not gonna get into becoming their buddy. Okay. Those questions aren't gonna be for me to go okay, they say, "Well better life ..." They say, "Well, I'd love to travel more." And if I get into a discourse of, "Oh, I've been here. I've been there. Oh, my life because of what I've been doing in my business has allowed me to do this." I get into my like 30 minute pitch on how great my life is because of my business, I've just lost those guys. Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: They don't care. Like they really don't care. What they care about is, is that you care that they care about what they want. I know that sounds a little weird, but that's what it is and if I'm able to say, "Oh, that's fantastic. I love travel too. I've had the blessing of being able to travel with what I do." And then follow it up ... That statement always opens up another question, "Where would you travel if you had the time and money? Like if money wasn't an option, time wasn't an option. If you weren't dumping trash, where would you go?" Right? And be genuine, like literally we've gotta be more interested. It's about questioning rather than dictating and I think that's where a lot of MLM upline don't understand. They came in the same way and they're like, "Hey, give me your story, give me your two minute blast." Just chase until the buyer dies, literally you're gonna kill them. Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: Right? Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: And so I think ... Today's day and age, if you're able to ask proper questions, you're able to minimize that shortfall and you're gonna be able to lead this person down and you're gonna be able to help that person. And in the meantime, you will build rapport faster if you stay on target with these types of questions, rather than trying to dictate, "Hey, your life is so much better." Find out about them, ask them the questions. It's gonna build so much intrigue in this person that you're asking these questions, you're giving these little mini statements, what I call little micro commitments or a mini statement of where your life is, or what you're loving about your current company and your current situation is you're growing than it will ever do ... You're just dumping a whole bunch of information on [inaudible 00:13:15]. I know a lot of people talk about that, but [crosstalk 00:13:17]- Steve Larsen: You're saying [crosstalk 00:13:18]. So you're saying that it actually works to pay off and actually like care about people? John Ferguson: Right, right. Steve Larsen: Just real quick. I wanna just run through this real fast. So you're saying ... First of all, I love that you defined the difference kind of between a pointed question versus a leading question. You're not asking leading questions, your asking pointing questions. Right? Where it- John Ferguson: Correct. Steve Larsen: Where you're going out and you're saying ... you're saying, "Hey ..." I'm writing notes like crazy, just so you know. You start by saying, "Hey, what do you do?" And big broad question, trying to figure out where they fit like, "Whoa. You must love it." And like that is huge. Before you go on that, you're talking about yourself. You're like, "You must love it." And you say ... From there, there's gonna be a split, "Yes, I do." or, "No, I don't." And then from there, you kinda know where to take the conversation. Right? They're the ones basically ... You're just kind of guiding it. John Ferguson: Correct. Steve Larsen: The whole way. That's amazing. Okay. John Ferguson: [crosstalk 00:14:12]. Yep. You're guiding the process and what you're doing is, you're leading them down this path to essentially want to buy from you. They want to enroll with you. Well they wanna continue to engage. Steve Larsen: So where do you- John Ferguson: The whole [crosstalk 00:14:24] psychology, right? Steve Larsen: Sure. John Ferguson: I mean everyone wants to be heard. Right? And so if someone's gonna listen, they're gonna keep telling you, but you have to guide that not down a road, "Hey, let's become best friends. We're gonna talk about what we ate last night and oh, I love pasta too." "No, I like fried ferret." Whatever it is, don't go there. Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: Like try to keep a pointed ... And so, it's less about us now and it's more about what their needs and desires are and if they feel that they're getting their needs met and their desires met by talking to you, that's gonna draw them in to wanting to move forward, even if it's a simple invitation. "Hey, you know what? Sounds like you'd do really well with what we're doing. I'm pretty sure that you'll love it. Let me give you my business card. Let me get your information and I'll send you an email on XYZ. I want you to watch this five minute video. I want you to watch this 10 minute video and real quick it's gonna ask you a few more questions, it's to introduce you to my business and some of my partners. I think you're really gonna love it just based on our conversation." It kind of opens that door for you to do that initial interview, that initial quick introduction to your business, even if you're out live at an event. You're able to hand your card off, you're able to show them your website and it's less abrasive and they're gonna have more intrigue to go, "Wow. That was a really cool conversation. I don't usually have those conversations, so I'm gonna watch this website 'cause what those guys have might be something I've actually been looking for for a long time." Steve Larsen: So from there- John Ferguson: Whether they're looking or not, they're gonna wanna go look. Steve Larsen: Okay. No, awesome. So from there, they're going ... I'm just ... I'm trying to outline it. So you go in broad, then you go in pointed questions and then you kinda go through ... you called it kinda the needs, desire sections. Right? Where ... And how long do you usually stay in that? I'm sure it's per conversation, but I mean how do you know when you're able to go out and finally drop the line of, "Hey. Let me get you my business card. Let me email you. Let me send you this five minute video." When do you know you've gotten to that spot that you can actually say that kinda stuff? John Ferguson: So typically what happens is, is once I've asked enough of these questions, even before I get very direct, I might ask a direct question of an individual. I might say something like, "At the end of the day, you've influenced your family and you've won more freedom by working with us. Why did you do it?" And then they're gonna tell me and/or ... What's gonna happen even is, is we've been asking them questions so long that they're gonna get like I said, intrigued about us. They're gonna ask us what. They're gonna say, "So I mean it sounds like you've got something awesome going on. What is it you do?" Steve Larsen: Yeah. What are you doing? John Ferguson: Like who are you? Right? Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: That's gonna open the door for you now to share that invitation. Right? You've understood their needs. Now this would ... We're talking face to face right now. Now if I was gonna be over the phone right, some of my advertising was through ... Like don't tell anybody, but I've done some of this ninja stuff on Craigslist. I've just posted a little ad that says, "Hey look, are you interested in XYZ? If you are, call me or if you are, respond." And this stuff works there too and obviously building funnels and posting those paid advertising through like Facebook and Instagram. All that works really, really well, but when it comes down to it, let's say you've got people in Nebraska and you live in California. What are you gonna do? Like how are you gonna meet that person face to face? They've just introduced themselves to you. They're gonna go through your phone, they're gonna [inaudible 00:17:40] your thing, but I like high ticket sales, and so I wanna help this person get the maximum of what's gonna help them. And so the lowest product price point that we typically sell is about $2,000.00 and we do a little bit over the phone, and so if I'm ... I can run this line of questioning over the phone, I'll have a notepad right next to me writing the answers down as I go. So I can go okay, wow that's a need. Okay, wow that's a desire. Right? And so now as I'm asking questions, I can define out what my next questions are. When you get ... We're really good at these types of questionings. These types of questions, it will just come natural to you and it's just following a progressive line, broad based, pointed, direct, broad based, pointed, direct. And sometimes you'll ask a direct question and they won't wanna answer it. They may feel a little standoffish if you haven't done a good job of building that initial rapport, bringing them down the ladder. Right? No one wants to go from the 15th step on the ladder and jump down to step number one, like it hurts. Okay. It's kinda like dropping 150 feet with your buddy, filming it on Facebook and screaming until you fall, like I saw that video of you. That's nuts, right? Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: But no one wants to feel that way without the bungee cord. Okay. Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: So we have to take them down that ladder and sometimes you may have to come back up and ask a little more pointed questions to get to where you want, and then come back down to the direct question to the root of the issue of what their true desire is. So now, they're literally asking you Steven, this may sound a little bit more complicated than it really is. It's literally one or two broad based questions, one or two pointed questions and one very direct question. You'll have five questions and you have literally opened the door and they're literally asking, "So what is it you do? How long have you been doing it? Is there any information that I can have that I can talk to you about?" And if I'm doing this over the telephone, it's about an eight minute conversation. Right? I like to keep it about five to twelve minutes. Anyone out there who I typically find ... especially individuals putting this in their practice, as when we're teaching telemarketing teams or when I'm teaching a network marketing business ... Like I was just in New Jersey teaching 200 network marketers in the room in like a six hour session how to do this and the challenge was is asking less, but doing it in the right way- Steve Larsen: Interesting. John Ferguson: Because I think we have this desire to talk and what I found was a lot of people spent more time talking and trying to talk someone into liking your thing because you like it. No one cares why you like it, they just don't. What they care is why they might like it or why ... what will help them. Spend less time dictating and more time recording right, taking down the right information and ultimately they're gonna ask. They're literally [inaudible 00:20:36], "What's my next step? How do I move forward with you?" I've never had ... I've had people say that they've never had conversations like this ever in the network marketing world. Right? I'm sure a lot of your listeners right now are going yeah, I mean that ... People would just beat me up and just ask me, "Hey, come to my thing. Come to my thing. Oh, you're gonna love it. You're gonna get this. You're gonna get that out of it.", and it was just noise. Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: Well just turn off the noise, ask them more questions and let them speak for a minute and guide them down this path to where they're literally begging to buy from you. Steve Larsen: What's the golden that someone can ask you? Obviously besides, "Hey, where do I put my credit card?" But like what's the question that when you know that you have them, you know what I mean? When you know that this person's progressing and maybe that's probably the wrong way to say that, but when you know that they're following the process to the T and they're eating out of your hand, you know what I mean? When do you know? John Ferguson: It's a number of things. It's a number of questions. Steve Larsen: Sure. John Ferguson: Typically, in our industry because it's sales, some of your listeners may have heard the title buyer's questions. Steve Larsen: Sure. John Ferguson: Really it's ... I like to call them intrigue questions, but really what it is, is they're asking you, "Okay. What's the next step?" That's it, like because it doesn't feel abrasive like a sales pitch or a sales opportunity, it's more of like an invitation. They're typically asking, "So how do I move forward with you? Like what's my next step with you? Do you have a meeting that I can attend? Do you have something that I can acquire now?" Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: And so they're literally asking you at that point for the sale. Does that make sense? Steve Larsen: Yeah, yeah. They're asking buyer questions, yes. That's how I think ... Absolutely. Okay. Intrigue questions. John Ferguson: Yeah. Steve Larsen: And so what would be your follow up at that point? Obviously you said, "Hey, go to the five minute video." or "I'm gonna email you." What's the preferred thing that you do with them after that? John Ferguson: So depending on what I'm doing or depending on the organization that I'm working with, some of them have like an initial introductory video or an initial introductory meeting where they're gonna have to come sit down with you and meet with some of the other team members that you have, or they're gonna come out or they're just gonna stay at home. They're gonna watch a webinar and they're gonna go through this introduction to the company. So typically, I'm delivering them to some type of information that continues to build intrigue, but also delivers some information and it's what we call kind of a either a business orientation, a business briefing and that is literally our first few steps in this entire process. Okay, because at this point now, it's a presentation. Now we're gonna be delivering some of the information to continue that intrigue, but to deliver on what we promised, and then at that point, we're gonna take them to our closing process and it's literally a three step process. It's introduction, invite, presentation and then close. I mean that's as simple as it gets. Steve Larsen: Wow. Wow. Now this is something that sounds like you're doing this like face to face and over the phone but not just for- John Ferguson: Right. Steve Larsen: Not just for ... It's fascinating because most ... especially phone scripts, right? Most phone scripts that I've ever used especially in the internet marketing space, kind of the other market that I'm in, right. I ... Typically, these kinds of phone conversations is something that we would do for more warm audiences and people who knew who we were and knew what were doing, and we were just there to kinda close them and guide them in the sale. But you're able to do this kinda thing to ... I don't wanna say cold, but people who you've honestly may have never met before. John Ferguson: Yep. That's exactly what I do. Steve Larsen: That's amazing. John Ferguson: I don't like the whole ... I got my mom and dad and my cousins and sisters in my first couple of network marketing business. Steve Larsen: Sure. Who didn't? John Ferguson: And it [inaudible 00:24:21]. So I think all of the listeners have done that. Steve Larsen: Yeah, yeah. Sure. John Ferguson: They've tried that. So there's only so many family members you got right, that can buy from you and join your thing. So you have to go out there and build new relationships and the only way to do that is to either go out there and literally cold market, which can be a little more [inaudible 00:24:42], warm them up first. Right? Why not send them to an initial video? Why not get them to opt in to an advertising piece? Why not have them call you first? Get them knocking your door down first and then take them through these little bit of questions, take them through an introductory video or a webinar and then invite them to participate with you. Steve Larsen: That's fascinating. This ... I mean is an incredible expertise. I appreciate you just kind of outlining that. I'm sure top level ... For those of you guys who don't know, I've been talking to you guys a lot about the program, Secret MLM Hacks that I've created and my team's in and we're selling also to any of those ... of you guys who want, we ... John is so good at this, that I pretty much begged him to come and teach a huge segment of this insider course as well. So those of you guys who are like, "Oh, man this stuff's so cool. How do I get more of that?" Well you a lot more of John Ferguson inside of Secret MLM Hacks as well and this expertise is incredible, John. How did you develop this? I mean this is not like a normal ... You know what I mean? I don't know many people who are doing what you're doing like this. In fact, you're probably one of the first ever in this kind of way. How did you get there? John Ferguson: It was out of bare necessity. So let me give you some back story. My ... Just real quick some of my back story. Steve Larsen: Sure. Yeah, please. John Ferguson: I grew up in a home in Southern California. My father was laid off seven times before I was 17. Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: For most of my life growing up, I lived with my grandparents and my mom, my dad, my two brothers and I, my grandma, my grandpa and my great-grandmother lived in like a 1,500 square foot home in Whittier, California. It had three bedrooms, one and a half bath, and there's a need for four bedrooms there and so I learned a lot. One, I learned family, the importance of family and how hard it takes to work to keep a family together, especially when you're struggling financially, and I also saw that working a job wasn't for me, like I saw the struggle. My father worked three jobs at one time. They would go around cleaning churches when I grow up, and I was a little squirt running around at five, six, seven years old, taking the chalk erasers, smacking the board with them as my dad was finishing up wiping them down in the church and he'd have to go clean them up again. Let me ... Later down the line, I realized why he was a little upset with me but couldn't really freak out 'cause we're in a church. But I saw that level and so I decided to go to college and like most people, they're like okay, go to school, get good grades, go to college, get a good career. So I took that path and I played basketball in college and I went up and dunked on somebody in a preseason game and I ruptured two discs in my back- Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: Blew out my knee and my ankle- Steve Larsen: Oh, my gosh. John Ferguson: And there was no way I was gonna be able to get in NBA and I'm sure some of your listeners were going, "NBA, yeah." I mean I was not gonna be able to play in the National Basketball Association because I had blown out my body. To this day I can't feel my left leg, like part of my left leg is like numb. My foot is a little bit numb because of that injury. Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: And so going to college, I mean why go to ... I thought at the time and no disrespect to anyone that has a diploma. That's awesome. You guys did it, you won it. Fantastic. There are careers that definitely need the execution, but for me at the time, I was like well if I'm not gonna get in the NBA. Right? That's the whole reason you're going to college, is to get in NBA ... Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: I quit. I was like I'm out and so I got into the career world. I started working at a company called Hollywood Video. You know that dinosaur video place you used to go rent videos from? Steve Larsen: Yeah, yeah. John Ferguson: I wore the red cummerbund, I had the red bow tie. I was waving at people and within a short period time, it was about four and half, five years, I had risen from the ranks from just customer service representative up to a district manager, and I had 14 stores. I was running multimillion dollars for this company and I remember coming home from one vacation, we got five weeks paid vacation. I came home from one vacation and my beeper, like for those of you guys who don't know what that is, it's kinda like a little box that buzzes and beeps on your hip. Okay? So half the size of cell phones today and like three times its width, but I was coming down the mountain, I was up fishing and camping with my family and it goes off, like beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And I'm looking down at it and I'm going what is going on with this thing? It was like 911*. 91111*. 91111 and I'm going what is ... Like something ... Someone had to have died in one of my stores. I'm freaking out. I call my manager, the VP over there area and he's like, "Where are you? You need to come in right now." And I'm like, "I just got off of vacation." And if you don't know the type of organization I was working with, it was like to go on vacation, you had to like ... I filled out the form and then the form had to be filled out by my boss and then the boss had to send up to his boss and then corporate had to sign it. They had to send it back to you and you got like five pages of documentation showing you're gone. Right? Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: So I get back ... Literally I got written up for being gone because one of my store managers got sick, the assistant manager couldn't come in to cover their shift in one of my stores. It's like an hour away from even where I live and my manager had to go in and cover the store for like 20 minutes. What I found was- Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: It's that I was climbing the wrong ladder on the wrong building and ... I mean at the time, I was the number one in revenue, I was the number one district manager in the company for holiday contests and sales. My teams were like at the top of my level and I had a lot of loyalty and at that one moment, I lost my 2.5% raise. Now think about that. Steve Larsen: Two and a half percent. John Ferguson: [crosstalk 00:30:28] I was freaking out about not earning another 1,600 bucks, 1,700 bucks a year. Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: Because I was only making about 80 grand a year and 2.5%, 2% of that is 16, 1,700 bucks. Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: And like to someone like that ... Like I look back on that like how did I survive? Right? Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: But that's how it is. Like that was a good salary then and for me, I had to find another way. And so getting into this situation, I got into my very first real estate property, started becoming ... I became a real estate investor and I ... For two years, I spent a ton of money, like over 200 grand in trends and boot camps and seminars and coaches and I'd finally be able to ... I was able to quit my job and I got involved in a network marketing organization and I've never been involved with one before in my life and they said, "Okay. Go get everybody." So I go ... I get everybody I can get like ... I got like 30 people in this one meeting. I had 25, 30 people. The guy in the front of the room is rocking. Like he's up there, he's like telling a story and I'm watching all my guests and I'm in the very back ... The room is filled with like maybe 200 people and I'm like, "Oh, my gosh. I'm gonna make like a hundred grand tonight." Like it's- Steve Larsen: Look at all this. Yeah, yeah. John Ferguson: [inaudible 00:31:48]. Right? Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: And I'm like, "[inaudible 00:31:50]. This is so great" and I'm looking around at everybody around me. I go up to my mentor, I tap him on the shoulder. I'm like, "Dude, check it out. I'm gonna get certified in one meeting. I'm gonna me a hundred grand, you're gonna make like 50 grand. This is sweet!" Like I'm so excited and I'm telling everybody and all the people that I looked up to in my [inaudible 00:32:10] network marketing business and have been involved with me a couple months and I'm like, "I've been working my guts out trying to get people in this room and this is gonna be so awesome. Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: And at the very end of the night, most network marketing companies do this is, is, "Okay. Are you a one? Are you a two or a three? Are you an A, a B or a C?" Right? And all my people are like two or a like one, meaning that they're in! They wanna join and they got some questions, but they wanna join! I'm like oh, my gosh. How am I gonna handle all this business all at once? And so I grab like two laptops and I go run into the front of the room, I grab all my guests, "So you guys follow me." Right? Like the pied piper, you guys are all just getting. "Let's go!" And so I get to the back of the room and my brain is exploding, my heart's pumping out of my chest. I'm sweating profusely because I'm like, "Oh, my gosh. This is gonna be so cool." How do I not ... Like how do I hide my excitement? Right? [crosstalk 00:33:02]- Steve Larsen: Yeah, to keep it cool. John Ferguson: [inaudible 00:33:03]. It's like this rush, right? It's like drinking five Red Bulls at once. Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: And so [inaudible 00:33:09], I'm going, "Okay everybody. For those of you who are the number ones, raise your hands again. Okay. Fantastic. I've got two laptops over here. I've got them open and ready to go. Just get your credit cards out. I [inaudible 00:33:20] to sign up [inaudible 00:33:21] here. [inaudible 00:33:23] got questions [inaudible 00:33:24]. Let's go!" Yeah. That's about how it was man. Silence. Nobody moved, like not one bit. Steve Larsen: Wow. John Ferguson: And you know I had the, "Oh, man. That's great stuff, John. I'm just not ready to move forward." "Oh, I didn't bring my checkbook." I got all the excuses and like when you go from such a high, like you're gonna win, right? Then you literally drop and then you melt and you're like about to be in tears, your face turns red and you're like, "Oh, my gosh. How did misjudge all this?" Steve Larsen: Right. Right. John Ferguson: That was the moment I knew that I screwed up and I needed to do it better and I had learned right then and there, that I didn't know enough about the people that I had invited to this meeting. That I was told what I considered a lie, was that just invite people, throw a diaper against the wall, some of them will stick, others are gonna slide down, and I realized it doesn't matter what you're throwing against the wall. It's just gonna leave a mess and so I knew right then and there, I needed a better system. I needed a better way to engage the right people and not just people. I knew that I never wanted to chase other people. I never wanted to feel that way again, where I had this pit in my stomach, not because of the success that I was gonna have, but because what did I just do and how did I look, and I just told everybody this was gonna be fantastic and I was exhausted- Steve Larsen: Yeah. John Ferguson: Because I worked so hard, not one person purchased man, not one and that was the day. And I went in I started ... we're finding the systems and we're finding how I ask people questions and I read every sales book I possibly could and I wasn't finding the information in there. And it was difficult and I started with Rich Dad organization, I started working with some of these telemarketing teams and learning what they did on the phone and how they sold coaching and mentoring and packages and I literally just went into the trenches for a couple of years. And I took what I learned from speaking and training and teaching in the network marketing industry in front of these big rooms and what was going on behind the scenes with a lot of these organizations selling trainings and services and products on how they were enrolling people at these higher levels. And it just ... It just ... They had a baby dude. They had a baby. I'm gonna take this and I'm gonna take that, it was like a mad scientist, Frankenstein, let's just put it all together and over the years, it came out fantastic and to like ride it off of the wings. And I don't really like to like talk about myself a lot, but in this instance I need to and I don't like the phrase ... I hate this phrase and maybe you do too, I don't say this to impress you, but to impress upon you. I hate that phrase, like just tell us the truth, you're trying to impress us. Right? And so I hate that phrase- Steve Larsen: Brag about yourself John. Let us know, let us hear it. John Ferguson: Yeah, man. So it's time to impress you. So I'm telling this so you are impressed by some dude who grew up in Southern California in a box with his entire family, looking like Charlie from the Chocolate Factory, who was able to make it out of that world just by sheer bull dogged determination. I wasn't smart, I just gathered all the stuff, mixed it up in the blender and poof. I joined a network marketing company a few years back and I said, "Look, I have test this method and I'm only gonna be using my method. I'm not gonna be using anything else. I'm gonna con ... I'm gonna throw out some bait. I'm gonna throw out some advertising and get people calling me, and I'm gonna see if these people that I do not know, I can put in some information with ... through a webinar, through testimonials, through Craigslist ads, and let's see if I can build a rapport well enough just with this system, but it works." I started that in the network marketing company, I think it was about November, when I actually started selling and advertising, and by the end of the year, I had taken their sales contest. I was number one that year. I was inducted into their ... Like a lot of you guys know like the Diamond Club or the President's Advisory Council of [crosstalk 00:37:33]- Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: Literally inducted into that crew and people were upset. Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: Because there were people who worked all year long in the network marketing business and they hadn't closed enough sales to make it. Like I remember I had beaten one of the ladies who did a phenomenal job. She's a wonderful person, very good dear friend of mine now, who I've had the opportunity to train and teach her teams this as well. They had done great but I only won by like six grand. Like my revenue was ... It was that close. But with only having a couple of months to finish off this ... the contest by the end of the year to go to their national convention and at that point, I knew I had something different that you could use on the phone, you use in person. That an influencer can use to sell coaching, that you can sell products, you could sell water, you could help people [inaudible 00:38:23] literally a [inaudible 00:38:25] individuals [inaudible 00:38:26], 'cause we know that people don't like what they need. Right? We know that. Like if you just give them the needs like, "[inaudible 00:38:32], like I know I need to take vitamins but I'm not choking the horse pill down." Right? So how do I give them the desire? How do I fulfill the desire and the need at the same time and then wrap it all up into a bow to where they're begging me to buy? And that's what this is man and that's what we've developed and it has shrunk the time it takes for me to work with people. I work about 20 hours a week now in what I do and the rest of the time I spend with my family man and I like to invest in real estate still. I like to buy properties, I really like helping people, I like traveling and speaking and running masterminds, and that's it dude. I mean that's kind of the evolution of this process. That's how I came up with it and I can't a 100% credit because I learned a lot in these different organizations from different people, that had little pieces. Right? I think that's we do as entrepreneurs- Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: As influencers. We've been influenced ourselves to actually go out and influence and so for me to take credit, I'm not a self made millionaire. Okay. It's a team thing, whether it's a book that you've read from someone who has passed away, passed along that knowledge in that book or that audio course, or the mentors that you've continued to have and the friendships and the relationships. Like I've learned a ton from you Steven, like a lot of what you've taught has helped even this process succeed in greater- Steve Larsen: Oh, cool. John Ferguson: And the other businesses that we own. And so like I think that the more people understand how connected that we are, the whole lot easier that everything becomes and it's less about closing and it's more about connecting and getting people to desire what they need, than shoving it down their throat. So hopefully the answer's there. I went on a discourse man. Steve Larsen: I love the discourse, but it's so true like that whole phrase, we all rise together. To me, for some reason that always seemed a little bit cheesy but the longer I've been doing this, the more I've realized the exact same. It's like look, I did not get anywhere on my own, like it's all ... We all do it together, we have to. If you try to do it on your own, you actually will drown. Anyway, I ... I'm so thankful for what you taught here and it just ... I think the listeners are gonna love it. Guys if you have, please reach out to John and say thank you. You can learn more from him as well. Where can people find you, John? John Ferguson: The easiest thing right now to do is I like to connect with people. I like to see who you are, what you're doing in the industry and one of the greatest tools right now out there Facebook. I'm on Facebook, you gotta go by my real name John Albert Ferguson. I know, it's not just John Ferguson. I got the big Al from my dad. So John Albert Ferguson on Facebook and it's real simple. I've got my personal profile and I got my page, and my page ... You can hit me up in the messenger and if you need some help, I'd love to spend about like a 15 minute consultation with you for free. No charge, just to kinda see where you're at, what you're doing, maybe we can unlock a few things and help to implement it and if it's something we wanna work together, you'll be on that, fantastic, and we'll find a way and we do coaching. I do mastermind, such like that, but really I wanna provide value first, and what they're gonna see too Steven, is I love real estate investing. And so you'll see a lot about my real estate and things I do and as well as my coaching and training and speaking within the sales and network marketing arena. So I think that's probably the easiest thing to do man, is just so they can get a picture of who I am, like my family and what I do. I think that one's the biggest thing, is in this industry I think a lot of people don't sell, they don't close. They can't because they feel they have accomplish some level of success before they can introduce their thing. Right? Well let's say I've got this bottle of water here that's gonna change people's lives. Right? Well maybe it's you're first week and your life hasn't changed yet. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You can poster the water, you can your upline, you poster just the experience you've currently had in the last 24 hours of being involved in an amazing community of people and enough is enough. Don't have to be right now and I like the whole act as if thing, but why not just be you? Like be yourself. Steve Larsen: Right. John Ferguson: Like are you going to allow somebody into your house with dirty, muddy shoes? Probably not. You're gonna ask them to take it off. Are you gonna let just anybody join your thing? Probably not and you shouldn't. Like if you're like, "No. Yeah. I will. I haven't made a sale so I gotta close somebody. Like if anyone wants to come in and give me money, they're in." No. That could be way more headache. Steve Larsen: Yeah. No way. John Ferguson: That would be ... It's not worth the headache. You wanna retain the right people so they can build the right community with you and you'll have a whole lot more fun. Like the money doesn't matter. You'll make more money being happy and enrolling the right people than you will trying to get other people just to buy- Steve Larsen: Amen. Amen. We need that on t-shirt and a mug. That was good. Yeah, anyway. I appreciate that. Sorry to cut you off there. John Ferguson: [crosstalk 00:43:32]. Steve Larsen: You were on a roll man. I'm loving the dialogue. This is awesome. John Ferguson: Yeah. No, we're good. Steve Larsen: Hey ... Thank you so much. Hey guys, go check out John though. Go to ... Go to his Facebook page. He's doing ... What ... You said working 20 hours a week, which is awesome. Obviously walking the walk, talking the talk. You know what you're doing and for me it's been fun to look around and go find out like, "Oh man, who were the ones in MLM who are really killing it? Who are ..." and not ... Meaning they've actually figured out a system and you clearly just over and over and over pop up as like one of the most expert individuals in this space and this area and I'm just so thankful to have you on the show. Please go check out John though at Facebook, connect with him. You can do a 15 minute consultation with him. For those of you guys who are jumping in Secret MLM Hacks, you also got an awesome training module from him as well. John, thanks so much for being on the show today. John Ferguson: Yeah. Fantastic. It was a pleasure. I really appreciate it and love what you're doing, Steven. You got some amazing things happening for your listeners and Secret MLM Hacks rocks. I mean if your listeners haven't joined that yet, you need to because that is what we're talking about today, is really engaging the proper people with the proper solutions that are geared towards their desires and their needs and you're laying it out there in plain speech that anybody can implement. So yeah, I'm just glad to have been a part ... a smart part of this and helping your audience succeed, man. Steve Larsen: Oh, man. Thanks so much. Appreciate it and thanks everyone for listening. Hey, thanks for listening. Please remember to rate and subscribe, whether you just want more leads or automated MLM funnels, or if you just wanna learn to get paid more for your product, head over to secretmlmhacks.com to join the next free training today.

What's up, guys? Hey, first off, I'm so sorry that I have not podcasted here in a little while. It has been so busy, which honestly is my life in general. I should say instead that everything's normal. Everything's great because that's how it always is. I'm sure yours is the same. What I've been doing is we have a ton of people who've been coming in and joining Secret MLM Hacks. It's been a lot of fun actually. Last month we had 80 people come on in, which is great. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Glad to have you guys. Very, very fun. I've been going through and just deep diving on the training. It's been a whole lot of fun. I've really, really enjoyed it. It takes a lot of work to do the kind of training that I do with it though. I mean tons. A ton of work. I really, really enjoy it though. I mean it's fun. I wake up smiling. I'm excited to do the kinds of things that I get to do, and I feel very fortunate for that. Hey, there's a principle though that I wanted to just walk through and share with you guys though. It's a principle that I believe if you master it, which honestly isn't hard, there's really, really easy ways to do it, then there's more advanced ways to do it, but if you just master this one ... I don't know, this one talent, one skill, a lot of things get a lot easier for you both in the MLM space, in the business space, even in the personal space, relationship wise. It can be used in certain aspects. It can be applied in a lot of different areas. I really, really love it. Honestly for a while I was kind of, I don't know, I was wishing, was hoping that this was not actually like as real as it actually is. For a while I was hoping like no, no, no, there's no way. There's no way. It goes down to this. There's kind of a principle that sets up this principle. It kind of goes like this. Most people in life are not ambitious. They're not. If you're listening to this podcast right now, I can guarantee you that you're one of the ambitious people in life, right? When I was in classes, when I was in college and I was going around, I was in my business classes, what I would do is I'd wake up at 7:00. I run the classes. Be there at 7:45. By 10:00, my first round of class is over. I would go get as much homework done as I possibly could in those morning few hours, and then literally the entire afternoon I would just be building my own businesses. I did that all of college pretty much. Pretty much all of college. All of college. What shocked me, what blew me away was that even when I was in my entrepreneurial classes, and we go through it in my marketing classes, my business classes, that's what my major was, I was still one of the only students who was actually doing business, who was actually selling stuff, who's actually doing the things that we were learning and could actually have deep conversations with the professors because I was actually doing it. It shocked me to death. I did not understand why that was. Why is that? Why is that that I could not actually find other people who are willing to do the stuff they were learning about? I was like, "How do you guys expect to be making it? You're really going to put all of your learning into the hands of somebody else?" That's a little bit freaky. You can jumpstart. You can find great mentors. You can find good courses and classes. You can find great books out there. Learn the best from the best from the best, right? Learn those things, which is great, but oh my gosh. I would get in somewhat fights with a lot of different students. Not fights, but I would kind of tell them off a little bit and be like, "Get real. Holy crap. Are you serious?" It was something that frustrated me for a long time until I was reading this book. In this book it was describing how most people on the planet are not ambitious. They're not. Most people in life are not ambitious. To you and me, entrepreneurs of the world, we think everyone's like us. I thought that for a long time, and that's not true. If you're an entrepreneur and you're out there doing stuff, there's only like 2% of the population, I don't know what the percentage is, but it's really small the ambitious side of humanity. Right? I'm not calling them as lazy. I'm not making fun of them, but it's just the reality that a lot of other people in life all they're looking for ... They want to come home. They want to do their 9:00 to 5:00 and they are totally find doing the exact same thing everyday. I am not that way. I bet and I guess you are not that way listening to this right now. I had to come to grips with that for a while, which is the reason why you can't just go recruit friends and family because most the time they are not like you. They are not like me. I've got some sickening work ethic. You know what I mean? I'm a workaholic. I get it. I love it. It's super fun. I really, really enjoy it. I understand that I'm a bit extreme about it. For me to hold other people to the same level of fanaticism is not a good thing to do at all. They're fanatics in other areas that I'm not. We're all different, which is great. In this area of business, in this area of progression, in this area of entrepreneurship, not that many people are actually aggressive individuals. Not that many people are progressive. Not that many people are ambitious. Right? Like I was saying, it's the whole reason why I built what I do. It's the reason that I do what I do. I attract to me individuals who are go-getters so that we can have a fun team full of go-getters, rather than recruiting as many people as I possibly can to just find the one or two people who are actually going to be the real producers and real builders. To me that sucks. It's stupid. Are you kidding? I don't want to do that. I'm just going to collect a fee on these other people who aren't going to do anything anyway. I don't totally feel right about that. If I know someone's not going to do anything, I say no to them. Right? I'm not going to recruit them. I don't want them in. Anyway, that's kind of the first premise, the first principle. Most people in life are not ambitious. When you as an entrepreneur are failing, a lot of times it's because when you are selling, you are selling like an entrepreneur who wants to be sold, instead of selling like someone who just wants a little bit better than they currently have wants to be sold. Does that make sense? Someone who's not as aggressive or ambitious, someone who's not an entrepreneur. You remember when you weren't an entrepreneur? You remember how boring that was? Remember that? Everything's black and white. Probably you don't even remember. Everything's in color now that you're an entrepreneur, but it's true though. One of the issues why sales is so rough sometimes on an MLMer is because they're going around and they're taking a message that is meant for someone who's a little bit more ambitious in life, and they're telling it to people who are not actually that ambitious. They're totally fine. They're like, "You know, I really don't want this." What you have to do is you have to convince them and you have to go through tons of people. I hate that game. I hate that game. See, most entrepreneurs what they are is they're pleasure seekers, right? We all seek pleasure, meaning I super ... I would love to go own a second house on a beach somewhere someday. That motivates me, but for a lot of people the only thing that motivates them is just getting away from their job. They're running from pain. You're either selling towards pleasure or you're running away from pain. Most entrepreneurs, the ambitious people of life, are ambitious towards pleasure, towards things that they want, towards their goals. Right? However, most MLMers who've been brought in and were not ambitious, they are just trying to seek relief from pain. You got to make sure that whatever message is that you're sending, that you're going out there and you're saying, "Hey, here's my thing," whatever it is that you're selling whether it's the downline or your product, you got to make sure you're matching it to the audience. What I've been doing in this web class that I've been running, and I just said we got those 80 people that came in, what I've been doing is I've been going back through and making sure that I'm speaking to both audiences because I know that there's some people who are ambitious already, and then there's some people who are not as ambitious, but they're trying to learn to become so. That's great. I want to make sure that I speak to those individuals. I'll say phrases like, "Hey. Imagine being able to pay your house off in three years instead of 30 years." Right? That's a real thing. I'm on track to do that right now, which is awesome. Three years instead of 30 years. That's incredible. That's the for pleasure people. That's the ambitious people. Those are the people who are true entrepreneurs, the people who have learned it, who have practiced it, who get it. I also need to speak for the people who are trying to get away from pain. Sorry. My computer just ... A little notification there. People away from pain. I'm going to say, "Imagine what it would be like to just get away from your boss. Imagine just to have your life expenses covered right now or be able to get an extra couple hundred dollars every month to pay some bills." That's pretty low. I always say a couple grand because ... Anyway, it's got to be at least a couple grand for me to really bat an eye at it. Anyway, that's what I'm trying to say is that with these messages and the things that you're out there doing, make sure that what you're doing is that you're selling in a way that matches the listener. Is this an individual who is motivated by pleasure or motivated by the escape of pain? When you start looking at it that way, the game can be a lot easier. What I do is as an actual filter, I use that as an actual filter. Meaning if an individual is motivated by pleasure, I want them in my downline. If they are not, I'm a little bit more slow to let them in my downline. They still go through the same application process. By the way, thank you for all those you guys who are applying. That's very nice of you. I'm not pitching you ever in this podcast. I'm not pitching. I'm not ever asking you to go and join. That's the reason why. I'm just keeping it ... I don't know. I just wanted to share some of the things that I do and why it works. I know this is why it works. Anyway, figure out is this person a person who gets motivated by pleasure or pain, and then match the message to that individual. By doing that, you actually will ... That filer ... I mean it depends what you want. If you're trying to find the individual who is more trying to escape pain, you're going to match your message to that. I will ask you, I will motivate you to not recruit that kind of individual. Typically, and I'm going to be careful as I say this, I'm a respecter of all individuals. I'm a respecter of all people. However, that kind of person who is motivated by the escape of pain typically turns into a project. I have enough projects in my business. I don't need a person as my project. Understand as I say that, I'm trying to be sensitive. I'm not trying to be mean or anything at that, but I mean let's be real here, right? Not all people are the same. For that reason, not all people have the same goals. Not all people want to make the same amount of money. Not all people want the same lifestyle. Right? Why should I act like everyone should be a good fit in my downline? They're not going to be. My systems are amazing because they pull to me the people who would be good. Then I just have prepackaged things for them that I hand them when I join. I'm like, "Here you go. Done. Go press that button, turn it on, and you'll get some leads coming to you. Here's how to run it," which is awesome. I make sure that my message is a match for the market that I want. Message to market match. What that's doing is I'm trying to find the people who are motivated by pleasure, who are go-getters, who are ambitious individuals. Anyway, I actually was not planning to go on deeply as I did on this one. Anyway, just wanted to drop that to you guys. First of all, to let you know that I'm alive. Second of all, know and see what I'm starting to see, what I'm trying to work on, which is I'm trying to make sure that I'm speaking to both, but I'm recruiting really only from one. Anyway, that's been it. Hey, guys, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Hopefully things have been going well for you. I got some cool surprises coming up for you in this audience sometime in the future. We got a cool secret project going on here and I'm very excited for it. Stay tuned and you guys will find out about it very soon. I think you guys will actually really enjoy it. It's pretty insane value. All right, guys. Talk to you later. Bye. Hey, thanks for listening. Please remember to subscribe and leave feedback. Would you like to me to teach your own downline five simple MLM recruiting tips for free? If so, go download your free MLM Master's Pack by subscribing to this podcast at SecretMLMHacksRadio.com.

Welcome to episode 372 of Hit the Mic with the Stacey Harris. I'm really excited for today's episode because I know it's one that only the truest of action takers is going to listen to. Thank you for listening to this because I know it means that you are somebody who is going to get it done. We're talking about LinkedIn today and LinkedIn is by far the least amusing social media network. However, it's also hugely valuable for pretty much everybody so we're going to talk about that a little bit today and I'm going to give you some tips on how to use it to score some business. Especially for those of you who are B2B but if you are not B2B, maybe you are business to consumer, there's still relevance because I'm guessing some part of your business could work B2B. A great example of this is health coaches who work with, let's say, new moms. You're fairly business to consumer. You don't have to be a business owner to be a new mom or to need a health coach. Getting not necessarily physically back but your diet and feeling really good. Anyways, that's business to consumer. However, a B2B component could be you handle a wellness trainings in corporate businesses or you want media exposure. You want to get on things like the Today Show. Guess where you can build those relationships? That's right, people. LinkedIn. So I'm pretty excited because, again, this is going to be something that's universally helpful for the people who take action. Now before we jump in I do want to remind you, Hit the Mic Backstage is the sponsor of this here Hit the Mic podcast because it is the place to be, the best place to be, to stay up to date with all things social media, email, content marketing. That's why I need you to join me backstage this month because there is a brand new training inside of Hit the Mic Backstage that expands on exactly what we're talking about today. It digs in on some of the LinkedIn strategies. In fact, one of the things we do in that training is I actually jump in on my computer and we go through your profile so you can do a self-guided profile review. Even better, you want to take it a step further? Go through that, make the changes, then submit it in the private community for me to take a look at, give you feedback where we can make adjustments and where you're just doing a super awesome job. All right? All right. Join us. HittheMicBackstage.com. Again, the place to be. I love, love, love, love, love inviting you and people like you to join me backstage because it's the next step for this show. All right? All right. Let's jump in. Number one, this is the place where they're thinking about business when they're there. Communicate with them with that in mind. We run into clients all the time who are pretty strictly B to B and they're talking about Facebook. I go, "Not necessarily." You know, Facebook might not be the best option for you if you're B to B. Now if you're a B2B and you're working with online entrepreneurs then, yeah, Facebook still does have some pretty good pull. However, there's still some quality to be had on LinkedIn and quite frankly with a lot smaller time investment. Pay attention to that but also pay attention to the language differences. When I'm looking at writing content for LinkedIn I'm thinking about a slightly more professional tone. Now if you've spent any time listening to this podcast before you know my professional tone is unique. Right? I'm me. I have my voice and that's my primary objective. Professionalism in the traditional sense has never been my primary objective. Connection has been. With that said, there is going to be a direct connection to that B2B pain point when I'm writing LinkedIn content. Pay attention to that voice because that's what they're thinking about when they're consuming that content. That's the mindset they're in. The additional benefits of them being in that mindset is you're not going to have to write copy that's competing with cat videos. You are not going to have to write copy that's competing with baby photos. That's valuable. That's something very, very cool to consider and probably why it takes a smaller time investment. Number two, the thing I want you to do is I want you to establish your expertise early and often. That's going to mean doing sort of this profile touch-up stuff that we covered in the video training inside of Backstage. It's also going to mean providing content in this space that's relevant to this audience. A great way to do that is to publish your platform. Now if you don't know what that is yet, don't walk, run, to join us Backstage. Essentially what it is is a blogging platform right on LinkedIn so we can actually write content. The best news is it doesn't have to be brand new, unique, never before seen content. It just needs to be valuable. A lot of what we do is we actually repurpose the podcast transcript into guest posts that drive traffic back to my site and the podcast episode in its entirety. That's a really great way to look at this content. If you do have written blog content you're writing right now, though, take one tip, take one section of that blog post, expand on it a little bit on LinkedIn and, again, point traffic back for more information on your website. We're using this as a tool to establish expertise on the site because we are giving value on LinkedIn Publisher. We're giving value right there. You could get something from that and never leave LinkedIn. That's an important difference between LinkedIn Publisher posts and a status update. You're going to get the value right there. However, if you want more, you want to dive deeper, you can do that by going to the site. That's going to give us really qualified traffic back to our site. That's going to be people who are ready to take the next step. That's, again, super valuable. The third thing I want to touch on because this is a LinkedIn episode and I want to keep it brief for you because I know none of the people who listen to this show have ever told me LinkedIn is their favorite network. I'm assuming the same is true for you. Number three, give it some of your time. Don't post and run. Give it the same investment of your energy as you would the other networks. You would never post and run on Facebook. You'd go back, you'd check the comments. You'd engage with other people's content. You would spend some time networking in your groups. Now I will be the first to admit a lot of LinkedIn groups, total crap. Total crap. Find the good ones. Sift through. Just like Facebook, you have to sift through some crap to find the good stuff. It's just part of it, all right? But do that networking work. This, just like any other tool, is a social network. Now the socialization is a little bit different. It's a little more networking party versus dinner with friends. That doesn't mean it can't be a happy hour networking party, right? It doesn't mean it can't be fun. It doesn't mean it can't be relaxed. It doesn't mean that you skip out on the engaging. This is not throwing your business card to people and running away. This is staying in the room, giving it a little bit of your time investment. With that said, you also need to give it time in the sense that doesn't say, "All right. Stacey totally sold me on LinkedIn. I'm going to do this. I'm going to stay in the room. I'm going to do the work. I'm going to show up" and then do this for a week and go, "Well, I didn't get any new business so clearly LinkedIn doesn't work for me." Seriously? Like, that's not enough time. You need to really test this over the long haul and you need to be looking at your site numbers. You need to be looking at the quality of relationship building you're doing. The connections you currently have, are they your target? Are they who you want to be talking to? If they're not, well, then I would expect it to be working. You need to build a network that is relevant. All right? Give it some time. On both sides. A time investment day to day or week to week. Also, some real quality testing time with real quality connections. Okay? Again, to take this a step further, and this is one I really do encourage you to take a step further, join us Backstage. Hit the Mic Backstage dot com. The brand new training that went up this month was exactly this using LinkedIn to build your business B to B or to get B to B business. Take the time to join us and watch that training and implement it. Remember, Hit the Mic Backstage is no long-term commitment. You can cancel absolutely any time. If this sounds relevant to you and you want to jump in and you want to take that training and then you're out? That's not a problem. I encourage you to take the time to join us, actually watch the training, and actually implement what you learn because that's where you're going to see results. Okay? With that said, I will see you next week. Resources Join us inside Hit the Mic Backstage Get Your Facebook Ads Strategy to Re-Engage Your Audience Facebook Ads Policies Connect with Me Connect with me on Facebook Tweet with me and include #HittheMic Be sure to leave your review on iTunes or Stitcher for a shoutout on a future show

Time - My hours are my own. Right? I'm the boss. I can make my own work schedule as a cleaning service provider. Today on Ask a House Cleaner we look at time management, cleaning schedules, and time as a limited resource. Having a work schedule or regular business hours may be constricting. But if you get fired for not being a reliable housekeeper then you'll have all the time in the world. Here's what you need to know to be a Savvy Cleaner and keep the accounts you have. This show was sponsored by Savvy Cleaner - House Cleaner Training and Certification. Complete show notes for this episode found at https://askahousecleaner.com/show You can watch this episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/maxtjyUVcmw  Got a Question for the show? There is a microphone at http://askahousecleaner.com/show  click on the blue button and record. House Cleaning Tips Vault (VIP Premium Tips – Free) https://savvycleaner.com/tips Follow Savvy Cleaner for tips and training on social media: https://Facebook.com/SavvyCleaner  https://Twitter.com/SavvyCleaner  https://Instagram.com/SavvyCleaner  https://Pinterest.com/SavvyCleaner  https://Linkedin.com/in/SavvyCleaner  Ask a House Cleaner is a daily show where you get to ask your house cleaning questions and we provide answers. Learn how to clean and what chemicals to use on various surfaces. Learn the fastest way to start a cleaning business as well as marketing and advertising tips to grow your cleaning service. Ever wonder how to find top quality house cleaners, housekeepers, and maids? We’ve got you covered from recruiting to employee motivation and retention tactics. Discover strategies to boost your cleaning clientele and how to provide outstanding customer service. And we’ve got time-saving hacks for DIY home cleaners and more. Hosted by Angela Brown, 25-year house cleaning expert and founder of Savvy Cleaner Training for House Cleaners and Maids. DISCLAIMER: During the shows we recommend services, sites, and products to help you improve your cleaning and grow your cleaning business. We have partnerships or sponsorships with these companies to provide you with discounts, and savings. By clicking on and buying from these links we may receive a commission which helps pay for the production costs of the show. Support the show so we can continue to bring you free tips and strategies to improve your cleaning and help you grow your cleaning business. THANK YOU! SPONSORSHIPS & BRANDS: We do work with sponsors and brands. If you are interested in working with us and you have a product or service that is cohesive to the cleaning industry reach out to our promotional department info[at]AskaHouseCleaner.com

There are a lot of people who want to change their career later in life. They want to do more challenging work, earn more money, and have a better lifestyle. Given the growing need of technical talent in the US, it would see like a technical career would be a great choice, right? Unfortunately despite the dearth of technical talent, many people are wary because of the misconception that transitioning into a technical career later in life is just too hard. Another is, as you start to fall behind on your technical skills, it’s hard to play catch up! Hence, a lot of people struggle to stay relevant. Piling on career pauses like parenthood make it even harder! However, the growing number of retraining programs, bootcamps, and online education options are looking to cater to busy people who are eager to transition into a technical position. In today’s episode we’ll talk to Tina Lee, who is actively is working to change these misconceptions with her nonprofit MotherCoders, which helps moms on-ramp to technical careers in the new economy. You’ll learn from Tina: Why people get put on the mommy track and how it does a disservice to women who want to continue to pursue their careers Why technical skills are crucial for employment and why Tina is focused on helping mothers acquire them Why companies shouldn’t withhold investing in a retraining program and how it can benefit employees and employers attract and retain top technical talent Show Notes Check out MotherCoders at http://www.mothercoders.org/  FemgineerTV is produced as a partnership between Femgineer ((http://femgineer.com/) and Pivotal Tracker (http://www.pivotaltracker.com/). San Francisco video production by StartMotionMEDIA (http://www.startmotionmedia.com/design/).   Full Transcript Poornima:         Welcome to another episode of *Femgineer TV*, brought to you by Pivotal Tracker. I'm your host, Poornima Vijayashanker, the founder of Femgineer. In this show, I host innovators in tech and together we debunk myths and misconceptions related to building tech products and companies. One common misconception I come across a lot is how challenging it can be to pursue a technical career midway through your career.             Another is that it's really hard once you've lost track of your technical skills, or they've gotten rusty, to get back on track. One woman, Tina Lee, is working to change this misconception. She is the founder of MotherCoders, a nonprofit, that helps moms on ramp to technical careers in the new economy. Thanks for joining us, Tina. Tina Lee:            Thanks for having me. Poornima:         Yeah. So, I know you and I met about a year ago at a conference, but I'm not too familiar with your background. Why don't you just tell us a little bit about how you got started. Tina Lee:            So, I started this journey towards having a technical career when I became a management consultant coming out of college. I helped implement large, enterprise-level IT systems and from there I kind of had this epiphany that tech was going to play a major role in business, and it was just a matter of time before the rest of the world was going to be transformed by it as well, and then after that I did technical recruiting. I spent some time in grad school studying education technology, and then ended up working on behalf of nonprofits and government and helping them use technology better to meet their goals. Poornima:         So that's great that you've had all this exposure to technology in your career. What ultimately inspired you to start MotherCoders? Tina Lee:            Well, like a lot of people who are inspired to make change, it came from a deep place of pain. Poornima:         Yeah, what was your pain? Tina Lee:            So, I had been trained to do simple things, build simple things: HTML, CSS, a little bit of JavaScript. I even tried learning Ruby for a while. And it was fine until I had my second child, right? The programs that are available to beginners usually happen on the evenings or on the weekend or online. And I felt like because I had just had a baby, my second one, I felt very isolated. So, doing it online felt very lonely and I couldn't make these in-person classes anymore, so out of that I had this vision of like, you know what? I cannot be the only mother, a new mother, who’s experiencing this. I should just organize kind of an informal meet up because my grandmother had met me.                             I had envisioned maybe some grandmas here on the corner and then we'd be doing our thing here. And ultimately what happened was I had so many women that filled out this informal Google Poll that I had about their interest level that I said, "OK. There's enough there to do something more organized." So I ran a pilot out of a co-working space that was empty on Saturdays and just happened to be next to an onsite child care facility center. Poornima:         Wow. Tina Lee:            Yeah. So that we were able to run the classes in the conference rooms and then have the kids be cared for by professional caregivers in a setting that was set up for them. Poornima:         That's awesome. So you really saw the opportunity. One as like a personal pain point that you experienced but then after you do this experiment there were a number of women who were interested. And then from that point, how did you transition into making it the nonprofit that it is today? Tina Lee:            So, I'm all about failing fast and rocket prototyping. So that was kind of my way of experimenting with this model. And because so many women had reached out, ones who could not participate in the pilot for one reason or another, I knew that there were moms out there that were hungry. And once you dig deeper into the numbers it collaborates that, right? I know you had Lisen Stromberg on the show recently and you look at the numbers about how many millennia women are about to become mothers, right? A million a year for the next 10 years or so. And then you look at how millennia women are going to be the largest and the most educated demographic ever, right? And then you look at who’s already a mom now.                                There's just tremendous opportunity to help moms who are either stuck on the sidelines and they want to get into tech but can't. Or they're in a job where they're not touching it and they want to move up. This is a great way to activate them and give them a skill set that will help them stay competitive. And we even have entrepreneurs who feel like they need a bigger tool set. They want like a wider understanding of how the ecosystem’s working so they can really launch their ventures. They come to us for that understanding and then also the community, too. That's a big part of what we do is the community because like I said being a mom is very isolating. Poornima:         Yeah that's fantastic. I'm sure some of our viewers out there who are entrepreneurs will be interested to learn a little bit more. So it’s great that there are going to be all these millennial women who are becoming mothers but I know there's still a problem when it comes to leadership, and as you and I have noticed, within tech itself only 26% of women hold computing jobs. So, how do you think MotherCoders is helping with that? Tina Lee:            Well, couple of things. One, we've kind of discussed this a lot which is a pipeline issue. Yes. We could be graduating more women with degrees in computer science or engineering but we also do a terrible job as a society of helping women thrive once they become mothers, right? No one ever says the term “working dad.” We just assume that— Poornima:         That's true. Tina Lee:            —you're going to be working. Poornima:         Yeah. Tina Lee:            But for mothers, I think as a society, culturally, we're still very ambivalent about how we feel about women working outside the home once they become mothers, but if you think about it, mothers are the people that you work with, right? They're the people sitting around you and they're your cohort next to you that's going to be taking over this role. It’s just the workplace is not set up to help women succeed, right? The IT worker is all in, all the time. Poornima:         Right. Tina Lee:            And if you have caregiving responsibilities, that's impossible, right? And women are kind of pressured to make a choice because there are not...there just aren't the social support systems, right? School lets out at 3. Poornima:         Yeah. Tina Lee:            There's no paid parental leave, right? And a lot of companies are just starting to experiment with flexible work hours, right? So all these things make it very difficult for women who feel like they want to prioritize their families and of course at the same time they're made to choose. Poornima:         Yep. I do remember in Lisen Stromberg's interview we talked about this caregiving bias. So it’s great that you touched upon it. I think you also mentioned in a talk earlier the mommy tax versus the fatherhood bonus. Walk us through why this disparity exists.   Tina Lee:            Oh man, we're going to get sad. OK. So, because of this ideal worker model, right? You're expected to go in all the time. Once you become a mother, everyone knows what that means and what that looks like, right? Based on our certain circumstances. Our current set of circumstances. So, automatically men and women will think, "OK. So this person is either going to be downshifting their careers or they're going to drop out altogether." Right? "And if they do stay they're probably not going to go all in. So let’s put them on the mommy track." So, women aren't left with that many choices right? So the way I frame the mommy tax is that automatically you're considered less valuable.                                 Right? And that will represent...that will manifest itself in salary negotiations, in having projects that will help you reach the next level, in helping you maybe make connections or professional development that will bring you to the next level. So there's a tax not only in real terms in salary but also a tax in terms of the opportunity cost.   Poornima:         Right.   Tina Lee:            Of what you could have done if you didn't become a mother in the eyes of the employer. Now it’s such a powerful bias that women who aren't even mothers get hit by it right? I mean how many stories have we heard of women walking in to pitch their companies or trying to get a job and they say, “Are you going to be pregnant?” Or, “You're married, do you plan to have kids anytime soon?” Not only is that illegal.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            That automatically kind of primes everyone in the room to think like, "Oh, right. You're a woman. There's a high chance that you'll become a mother and you're just going to peace out at some point and why should we invest in you." Right? So that's the motherhood penalty. On the flip side, the opposite is happening to men. "Oh! You're going to become a dad? This means you're going to be...you're going to be going in even harder because now you're responsible for caring for a family, right? You should be given the best projects because you really need to get to the next level. And you really should get a salary bump because now you're responsible for all these people."   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            So it’s just a very unfair situation where women are getting hit by this mommy tax and dads are not. And women are already a lot of times behind because of the gender pay gap that they came into before all this even happened.   Poornima:         Right.   Tina Lee:            Oh and for every child that you have, additional child, you get hit a little bit more.   Poornima:         What can we do to sort of alleviate this? Or what...what can people do to sort of empower themselves?   Tina Lee:            Well, I think we need to talk about it in several levels, right? One is the individual level. One may be at the company level. And then one at a society level. So I'm going to start personal. Personally, I think one of the strategies that I've employed is you really have to take stock of your own capacity.   Poornima:         Mm-hmm.   Tina Lee:            What are my goals? What are my passions? What do I want to do? What capacity do I have in terms of caregiving? Do I have family to help me out? Do I have friends? Do I live in a community where there's support systems? So all of these things have to be taken into consideration. And I specifically stayed in a neighborhood in San Francisco that has a high density of in-home child care providers, and preschools, and great elementary schools to kind of situate myself where I would have these resources available to me. Other people move in, their parents.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Other people move closer to their parents. Everyone has a different situation, right? And I'm lucky in that I have a great partner. So all of these things help me succeed. But on a company level, what would make it even better, as I mentioned earlier, some flexible schedules. If I have a role where I pretty much can do work without being physically in the office, I should be allowed to do that, right?   Poornima:         Yep.   Tina Lee:            And if I happen to work with other people who are caregiving, not just kids but for their parents, or they happen to do other things in the community, they should be given that right, too. So having this flexibility actually benefits everyone in the company.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Paid parental leave is huge, right? And also really thinking about how to combat that implicit bias against women and mothers, right? And that kind of speaks to the larger problem of the societal expectation that women are expected to provide caregiving and men are not, that women should stay home after they have kids, right?   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            And the reality is that our society's changing, women are more educated, they're working. Forty-five percent of families with kids under 18 now have two working parents working full time to stay afloat, right? And so the reality is that we need to change some policies around how we support parents in general, caregivers in general. And I'm really glad that people like Sheryl Sandberg through *Lean In*, Emily Slaughter through her books, and then Lisa, too, are really tackling this societal piece because we can't change. We're not going to see change until we have culture change and I think that's a long-term thing that needs to happen.   Poornima:         So let’s bring it back to the struggle to stay relevant, right? You take a pause for parenthood, or you downshift, or maybe you don't even downshift, but there's this perception that you are downshifting. So I think it’s great that there are retraining programs like yours. How do you see these programs evolving overtime?   Tina Lee:            I don't know.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            That's the honest answer.   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            I don't know, because—   Poornima:         But you see people embracing them?   Tina Lee:            Yes, people are embracing them, but I think we're at the beginning stages of just having this consciousness that tech is moving really fast.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            We live in this world where you have to continuously learn in order to stay relevant whether you're a caregiver or not, right?   Poornima:         Right.   Tina Lee:            That's why companies invest in professional development budgets and provide access to online training courses or learning plans. So I think we as a society know that people need to stay fresh on top of the skills and understand how fast things are changing in the industries, right? And that's why they invest in the professional development piece, but they also will have to come up with new ways of providing those to people who may not have the capacity to go to the one-week conference.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Or the “take three months off to learn how to become a full-stack web developer” type of programs, right? Those all-in programs are going to be very challenging for people with caregiving responsibilities and that's why you don't see an influx of caregivers in those types of boot camps or in online learning, right?   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Because as I spent time in ED School, I know that learning is very social and I'm a big believer that context is important. It’s great if you learn how to speak French by yourself, at home, in front of a computer but if—   Poornima:         No, I tried that. I have a terrible accent.   Tina Lee:            But yeah it would be better if you had actually visited France.   Poornima:         Right.   Tina Lee:            If you understood French culture and maybe even had some French friends and had a French meal. So it brings it all together and that's kind of the experience that we aim for because it’s not just the skills. It has to happen in context.   Poornima:         Yeah. So why teach these technical skills? Why not just get people to get better at management skills or some of the other softer skills? Why do you want to focus on tech skills?   Tina Lee:            I think tech is transforming our economy. It’s just going to be one of those things that we take for granted, right? And having that literacy is going to empower you to think about your own industry differently. And it’s going to impact the way you approach a problem differently. And I think once moms gain that level of tech literacy, it just gives them a level of confidence to approach this new phase in their life differently because a world of opportunity will open up, right? I think before in the beginning, when things were still very technical to the point where you had to have a bachelor’s or a master’s degree to understand it, then it was less accessible.                                 But now we're at the point where we've automated a lot of these things and made it a little bit more friendly. And I think if you're really going to innovate, it's just as important to understand the problems in the industry and then figure out the technical piece that goes along with that. And I think there's enough room for everyone to participate in that exercise.   Poornima:         So why don't we talk a little bit about the type of people you see coming to your program, other coders—are these people that are outside of tech? Or are they people within tech who maybe were on the business side and then wanted to transition into the technical side?   Tina Lee:            So, after running five cohorts now, some patterns are emerging, right? We mainly see women who are working moms and they want to get technical but can't find a solution that works with them because of scheduling or child care issues. They know that their path to career advancement requires them to gain this new skill set, right? So they want access to it and we provide that for them. Another group of moms who come to us, like you mentioned earlier, they may have stepped out for a little bit. A year, six months, some even 10 years, right? And they're just looking for a refresh. To figure out a way to connect their passions to a path forward.   And then the last group, these are entrepreneurs who have an idea for an app or they are already on their way to building a company and they just realize, like, "Hey, I'm kind of stuck now and I can't proceed without a grander understanding of what it is I'm trying to do and how to go about it." And so they come to us. So those are kind of the three groups that we see. In terms of industry background, they just run across the gamut. We have moms who worked in a startup only on the operations side. So they wanted to get closer to moms who were scientists, who are working in a lab. And they're like you know what? I actually want to do something else because it enables me to be more creative. So just really all over the map in terms of industry background.   Poornima:         And how do you go about doing the teaching?   Tina Lee:            So, we have a three-pronged approach. As I mentioned before, it’s not just the technical skills.   Poornima:         Sure.   Tina Lee:            So, we teach a little bit of code. All the moms are taught HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build a basic website and how to launch it, but the goal of that really is to give them a taste of it, to see how it feels to build something and put it out into the world, and to really check themselves. “Do I like this enough to keep going?”   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Right? Or, “Is this enough? Or do I pivot?” The second piece that goes along with that is the community piece. So we bring in women from the field, like yourself, and we create this community not only of people who could mentor them, but people who provide access to job opportunities. And then of course they have each other.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Right? They can go to conferences together. They can just go to a café and help each other. And having that nerd mom comradery is really essential to success because, sometimes in the middle of the night and there's no one else there, you can feel like you can ping someone.   Poornima:         Right.   Tina Lee:            And then the last piece that we do, right, technical, community, and the last piece is the childcare piece, right? And that childcare piece really helps moms figure out in a safe space if this is something they want to go further. Right? And I would also argue that another piece of it is context. Although it’s hard to explain to people what I mean by that. What I mean by that is all of this is happening within context of what we see in everyday life and that piece of context is provided by the community, right? You come in and explain we use agile and that's what it means in our shop.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Or we believe in rapid prototyping and design thinking and that's how it works in our shop. Right? So all of these things are relevant. Not just the building part or not just the hanging-out-with-your-people part.   Poornima:         So that's great. So how do you pick a cohort?   Tina Lee:            We pick a cohort the way I would build a team.   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            So because...before I used to be a technical rep, I spent some time being a recruiter, and having that safe space for learning is really important. And I realize how hard it is to do this when you are a mother as well. So I work with my board and we have several steps to our application process, the last one of which is an in-person interview.   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            Where we really talk to the moms. “Are we right for you? Are you ready for this?” Because a lot of learning will have to happen outside of the classroom too, right? So they have to have capacity and they have to be really clear about why they're doing it because otherwise you're not going to stick to it and it's not going to feel like you achieved something at the end, right? So we walk them through that. And it’s worked out pretty well. All the moms come together and I think because being a mother is such a democratizing experience they all show up as people who are there to support each other, and want to learn together, and move forward together.   Poornima:         So walk us through what a day in the life of MotherCoders looks like.   Tina Lee:            Sure.   Poornima:         For your students.   Tina Lee:            So, Saturday only classes right? You would go...you would drop off your baby. So we have a half an hour transition time. It takes a while to explain have they eaten, have they slept, all that stuff.   Poornima:         Right.   Tina Lee:            So you hand off to the caregiver and you're in your seat by 10:00 right?   And then you learn until noon. And then we have lunch together. We always have lunch catered because it's such a special time and they have to bond. And a lot of times we'll have speakers there too, right, who will stay and hang out with them. So it’s a great time to just kind of network and talk. And then after lunch they learn some more. And then around 3, we leave half an hour for reflection. So I'm big on you learn, but at the end of the day, you have to pause and really connect what happened to how you're feeling about it and how it connects to your own understanding of the work, OK? And then after that they pick up their kid and then they go.   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            In terms of content, it will vary by day. We have specific build days where people just get together and they build and we help you work through your wireframes and your issues. There are days when we have lectures. We don't really have a lot of lectures. We have “discussions,” I should call them. And then there are other days when we have guest speakers who come in and they talk about a topic that they want to talk about, or they do a workshop, or something I've been doing is I've been pairing a cyber security info sec expert with data scientists.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            So on one side you have data scientists who want like all the data, and then the other side you have people who are in charge of the data or making sure they're following the rules about data and saying, "Whoa." So that's been a very illuminating conversation, too. So we've been doing stuff like that.   Poornima:         That sounds great. So how many people have you graduated? You mentioned you have five cohorts coming who have gone through the program?   Tina Lee:            Thirty-four so far.   Poornima:         Great. OK.   Tina Lee:            Yeah we're really delighted because 34 moms represents families, right?   Tina Lee:            And there is over 50 kids. And another way to think about this is we've placed 34 stem role models.   Poornima:         Oh, great.   Tina Lee:            Right? Into homes. They are inspiring our next generation of kids. Right? So not only are these women changing the trajectory of their own family like right now, their kids are going to be impacted, too. So we're really looking at this from a multi-generational perspective.   Poornima:         Yeah. That's fantastic. So what are some immediate outcomes that you see from them graduating in the program?   Tina Lee:            Jobs!   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            They're getting jobs.   Poornima:         Good. OK.   Tina Lee:            They're getting jobs in tech, right?   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            So we have moms who have become front end engineers. We have moms who have become mobile app developers. We have moms who have become user experience designers. Some have been promoted, of course, because now they have this new tool kit. And then we have other moms who are proceeding with their startup dreams. So potentially, right, we have entrepreneurs out there. So, this has been really exciting to see them grow.   Poornima:         That's great. So it’s a lot of variety of outcomes but all pretty positive.   Tina Lee:            Mm-hmm.   Poornima:         So how do you measure success for MotherCoders?   Tina Lee:            Right now the way we're measuring success is completion.   We're also looking at how diverse we are in terms of the people that we have in our classes. Right? I'm an intersectional feminist.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            Eighty-one percent of women become moms and if companies are really worried about diversity? I'm like, “Come to me, because we have queer moms, we have moms that emigrated from other countries, like just everybody.” We just think about it racially, religiously, geographically, right? So the way we measure success—there's a piece of the diversity piece, and then there's a completion piece, and then we're starting to track not only who got jobs or who got promoted, but how much did they increase their income?   Poornima:         Oh, great.   Tina Lee:            Or earning potential? Right?   And that's been tricky because we've been running cohorts and it takes time. And different moms have different capacities, as I mentioned. And some of them have kids, again.   Poornima:         Sure.   Tina Lee:            Because moms do. So, we're trying to figure out a way to tell that story better but just anecdotally because there are only 34 moms, I keep pretty close tabs on them.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            I know that they are making more money because some are buying new homes.   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            Some are buying new other things.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            And they're updating their LinkedIn profiles and LinkedIn tells me that, right?   Poornima:         Sure.   Tina Lee:            So we know that they're getting skills, getting new jobs, buying homes, and on top of that, starting businesses.   Poornima:         So I love that you care about this diversity piece, and I do, too. So I'm going to ask you this question: What about Father Coders? You know there's a lot of stay-at-home dads that's becoming less and less of a stigma, but would you ever be open to allowing men to come in and participate in your program?   Tina Lee:            Not in the foreseeable future.   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            And here’s why, right? The reason why we don't do Father Coders is exactly the same reasons why we do MotherCoders, right?   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            Think about it from a kind of a cultural perspective.   I have actually gone to meetups and programs. They're very friendly. Not that they're not friendly to women, but in terms of belonging, I think women have a harder time feeling a sense of belonging in those spaces, right? And you walk into a room and you don't see anyone who looks like you...it's very intimidating and there's a lot of trepidation around going back again.   So we create this safe space where we know that women will find inviting, right? And I think mothers specifically have a very unique set of challenges, right? That go beyond just being a woman, right? The scheduling, the feeling of pressure to be the perfect mom, and the perfect spouse, and the perfect worker, all the perfect things, right? And then on top of that picking up skills and working in an industry that's predominantly men is very intimidating, right?   Poornima:         OK.   Tina Lee:            So all of that comes together in MotherCoders. And I understand that fathers have the same challenges with scheduling, but I bet you they would feel less trepidation walking into a space that was designed more for someone without the challenges that moms have.   And we actually have had conversations with women who come up to me and say, "I'm not a mother but I care for a family member. Can I come?"   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            So I can see at some point that we rethink our structure.   Poornima:         Oh I see. Right.   Tina Lee:            But we exist for the same reason that Hackbright exists and Women's Colleges exist.   I graduated out of a Women's College. So all of those things still stand and until we kind of break apart some of those barriers to women I think I need to keep doing what I'm doing now.   Poornima:         Thank you so much for coming on the show. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our audience before we end?   Tina Lee:            Yes, I would love to share with you kind of my pie-in-the-sky kind of vision that I'm working towards, right? Women from all all over the U.S. and the world reach out to me and ask when we're coming to their communities.   Poornima:         OK. Yeah.   Tina Lee:            So I know there's a desire for this type of training program all over and we're trying to figure out a way to get there. And we envision ourselves being in any community that wants to have a MotherCoders but, because, you'd know, technology varies by geography, and industry, and all these different things. We want to design a program that's thoughtful enough and flexible enough where they can design it to fit their local conditions, right? To fit the needs of their local employers so that moms will have a place to move to. So we are moving towards that. We are actively fundraising towards that.   And the reason that we're a nonprofit is because we're committed to helping women who cannot afford to pay $10,000 for Bootcamp or they're not sure if they want to invest in that even before having tried out something more preliminary. So we are working towards a vision where we're all across America, if not the world, so that we could help women everywhere as they transition into being moms and thrive in the workplace.   Poornima:         Great. So how can we help you with that?   Tina Lee:            Well, help us get our word out. This is great, right?   Help us send moms who are interested in taking our program to us. I would also love it if employers who are worried about retaining moms that they have to provide professional development for them through us. And then also figure out a way to maybe work with us to develop programs or return ships where women who may have stepped off want to get a refresh and then go back.   Poornima:         Yeah.   Tina Lee:            So those are great ways. And then of course, we're always looking for donations, always looking for sponsorships. So many ways to partner with us and everything can be found on our website.   Poornima:         Wonderful. Well we'll be sure to include the link to it.   Tina Lee:            Thank you.   Poornima:         Thank you again for joining us, Tina. Thank you for tuning in today and special thanks to our sponsor, Pivotal Tracker, for their help in producing this episode of *Femgineer TV*. If you've enjoyed this episode, then please be sure to share it with your friends, your team, your employer, and of course, all the mothers that you know to get the word out. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive the next episode of *Femgineer TV*. Ciao for now.    

Welcome to Financial Investing Radio. Where you'll learn the secrets for consistence, high probability returns in the financial markets. For additional income to change your life. Grant creates consistent, high probability trading systems for the financial markets and has applied them over the past five years. He's only recently started sharing these tried and true market secrets. As a gift to listeners, Grant is offering his high probability indicator for free. Go to financialinvestingradio.com and download yours today. Now, here's your host and trading veteran, Grant Larsen. Hey everybody. Welcome to the first episode of Financial Investing Radio. Well thank you for joining. I've started this podcast with the intent to share my lessons learned with the investing and trading. For me it's more about building community and collaboration. These podcasts are gonna be combination of interviews as well as personal experiences. Now if you have a lesson learned or a useful tip to share from your investing journey then reach out to me at Grant@FinancialInvestingSecrets.com, that's Grant@FinancialInvestingSecrets.com. Now investing and trading for me, has been a bit like some of our experiences we had raising our family in Colorado. We would ski with our children a lot and in one particular case our son, one of our younger sons ... I was skiing with three of our sons at the time. At that time the youngest son, as we'd ski down he took off really fast down the mountain so I sped up to him and asked him to stop. I said, "Hey. Now Jared, skiing is a lot more fun if you stay in control." He goes, "Mm-hmm (affirmative), thanks Dad." So we start skiing again and he takes off again, like a bullet. I speed up, catch up to him, "Hey. Hey Jared. Just a minute. Skiing is a lot more fun if we stay in control." "Yeah. Okay Dad. Yep. Mm-hmm (affirmative)." The third time, off he goes and before I could catch up with him, I looked down ahead and I just, you know, I see this ball of snow. Right? Skis everywhere, poles flying and so I ski up to him and I say, "Hey Jared." He goes, "I know Dad. It's a lot more fun if you stay in control." Investing has certainly got those characteristics to it, it's a lot more fun if we stay in control. That mantra has influenced my investing and trading strategies, which is to look for consistent returns, which of course we all want, but also to look for the high probability opportunities. So what got me started here? I wanted to spend this first podcast giving a little back story as to how I got involved in this. Now my background is in software and I've done that for a lot of years. I was working at home one day and one of my sons, not the skiing one, but another one, came in and invited me to attend a trading seminar. There was a three day seminar taking place. I'd always thought that the folks in that business were, you know, selling snake oil. Right? It was something to be watching out for and there is some truth to that, no doubt, but I was definitely not gonna go. So he takes off. He spends the first day at it and he comes back, you know, that evening and was like, "Dad you really gotta check into this or just give me your second and third day on this with me Dad and just take a look." So, you know, eventually I went for the second and third day, under a bit of duress I admit. I was thinking, "Oh okay. I'm being a good father. Right? I'm supporting my son." So we get there and I listened skeptically to the presenter. Right? By the end of the second day I realized that if I could create trades with probabilities in my favor, then the math would work out. So this appealed to the logic part of my nature. So I ended up buying some training on trading and at that time I was focused on learning options. Now, later I discovered that the options training encouraged the buying of, you know, calls and puts at strikes, which ultimately decreased my probabilities. You know if you've done work with options you understand that if you're gonna trade them directionally you need to make sure you get them just right because even if you get the right direction sometimes decay will still take away your profit. So I took some initial losses in options with some of the training that I got. So in time I learned about option decay, I didn't know about it at the time, and about the value of selling options. So I pursued some additional training focused on option time decay and using that approach, my probabilities improved a lot and it began to give me some cash flow but it was not enough to make a big income. So I was happy with the income, but I wasn't yet satisfied. I had heard about futures and decided I would take a course on that and look into and after that course I was hooked. Now it turned into a love hate relationship. I loved the leverage when it was in my favor and I hated it when it was not in my favor. What made matters worse was some of the training that I had received gave me some bad guidance on when to trade the futures market. So that, you know, the training talked about taking advantage of volatility at key announcement times. I mean wow, don't do that. Well I did it and, you know, took a couple significant losses and you know that just added to my pain. I wondered if I was ever gonna see a positive return on my investments and trading. From there I began to study order flow and I worked with some professional traders using that style, but I was still not seeing the results. I would see intermittent, you know, it would work intermittently, but I didn't get the consistent. So I felt determined, but I was a little discouraged at that point so I took more courses. In that particular case it was on the E-mini futures. I learned about the general cycle of the market and some of the key patterns there. So I started training with another professional who excelled at applying these market cycles and patterns but the challenge was that my smaller account size couldn't handle the big stop losses when the general market pattern didn't play out on any given day. So create these really big stop losses to get lots of windows. You're hoping and counting on the fact that a pattern is gonna work out. If it does then, you know, then you do well, but if not, you know, it's taking some decent losses on it. Then occasionally I'd get a win. I kept wondering, "All right. What can I do?" I needed to see smaller increments of success. I wanted to take profits when I could, while not relying on some pattern, but still be aware of what the market cycles were, but still trade the actual price actions. Right? That was the key. I wanted to build on a succession of small wins with high probability that was based on price action but still, again like I said, to be aware of the general market cycles and the patterns for context. So it hit me. One of the first secrets I discovered as a self driven investor, that if I could combine the high probability option thinking with futures. In other words, you know when you look at the option chain, right, and you've got probabilities of being in the money and out of the money and so forth, if you could look at that and say, "Wait a minute. If I could apply that style of thinking with futures, I could have a trading investment strategy that would bring cash flow and reasonable gains." In other words, like you use a combination of what options do best, in terms of, you know as far as I'm concerned, do great with the time decay, and selling premiums, and, you know, getting the value from that while using some of those techniques, but as it relates to futures; looking for what it means to be high probability on futures and to get the gauge from that. So I found a way to combine some small and simple things to bring about high probability gains in the futures market as well. I couldn't believe it. After all the searching and trying to find a solution, what it turns out is that the solution was, of course, overly simply not overly complex. So that's the good news. Basically, what I've learned in the last, you know, five years on this journey is that price action matters, there's no surprise there, and that that's what you trade, but you do it with a set of principles and with a set of overarching patterns and not just the patterns themselves but ... What I wanted to share with you is the experiences that I've had after all of my trading and attending courses and trading rooms and you know indicators, and systems, and lectures, and professional guidance, and so on. So it comes down to a few simple ideas that need to be pulled together, you know, in the right way. So when I started the journey on this I was expecting greater results sooner and perhaps you felt that way as well. Early on I was looking for the home run hits, right, with huge returns and I hate to admit it, but that was probably the greedy part of my nature. Over time, I refined my objective to look for a balance of high probability cash flow and high probability gains, mixing those together and taking base hits and consistent hits and letting those build on top and compound on top of each other. So I want to share with you my secrets to high probability returns. I'll talk a lot about the E-mini futures, but we'll broaden that conversation to be stocks and other instruments as well. So this can apply to other markets also. So I hope that you join me in the next episode, where we'll continue the journey. I'll be bringing in interviews as I said. We'll be talking with other people and hopefully you as well. So again, reach out to me. Look forward to getting to know you and thank you for joining me in this very first episode of Financial Investing Radio. My name is Grant Larsen and trade safe! Thank you for joining Grant on Financial Investing Radio. Remember to subscribe and leave feedback. Don't forget to download your free high probability indicators before your next trade. Visit https://FinancialInvestingRadio.com now!