Podcasts about scotch plains

What happens when your body no longer looks, feels, or moves the way it used to—and you didn't get a say in the matter?This week on The Diet Diaries, I'm talking with Veronica Kautz—a breast cancer survivor, wife, sister, mom of two and worker of 2 full time jobs (she's the founder of Scotch Plains City Lifestyle Magazine)—about her experience living in a body that's been through a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction.We talk about:* The grief of losing her breasts* How to advocate for your health*  How her diagnosis impacted her tween daughter * The unexpected feelings after having breast reconstructionThis conversation is raw, honest, and so needed. If you've ever struggled with body image—especially after illness, surgery, or any major physical change—hope you'll listen in. This one's for you.

Amanda Lukof joins host Ron Aaron and co-host Carol Zernial to talk about how caregivers juggle the overwhelming amount of information required to care for their patients on this edition of Caregiver SOS. About Amanda Amanda Lukof is a special needs advocate and the sister of a brother with autism. A lawyer by training, she spent several years practicing special education law before serving as outside counsel for UBS Financial Services Inc. In 2009 she founded Autism Speaks to Young Professionals, an event series aiming to raise awareness for the next generation of parents. She also served as the Chairperson of Special Events for Newmark Education, helping to raise $12 million for its Destination of Promise campaign, the culmination of which was a state-of-the-art building serving students K-12 in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. After leaving corporate law in 2020, Amanda has worked tirelessly as an advocate for the special needs community, with a focus on impact investing and early stage innovation. She serves as a Strategic Advisor for the Autism Impact Fund and is on the Board of Directors for the Cooke School, a special needs school in New York City. She also serves as a Board member for Multiple, a nonprofit accelerator for early stage autism innovation. Most recently, she co-founded Eleplan, an AI-driven digital care planning tool to support family caregivers and the professionals who serve them. Hosts Ron Aaron and Carol Zernial, and their guests talk about Caregiving and how to best cope with the stresses associated with it. Learn about "Caregiver SOS" and the "Teleconnection Hotline" programs. Listen every week for deep, inspiring, and helpful caregiving content on Caregiver SOS!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet Chef Antonino “Nino” LoCascio, a professionally trained executive chef and the creative force behind Grano Pizzeria and Tavern in Scotch Plains, NJ. In this episode of I'm an Artist, Not a Salesman, host Luis Guzman dives into Chef Nino's incredible journey—from his beginnings in a family-run bakery to crafting innovative culinary experiences in some of New Jersey's top establishments. Discover how a spur-of-the-moment leap into culinary school turned into a 25-year career filled with lessons in leadership, perseverance, and passion. Chef Nino shares his story of transforming Grano into a hub for community, creativity, and unforgettable meals. Along the way, he dishes on the realities of running a restaurant, the power of adaptability, and the art of building connections through food. Don't miss this inspiring conversation—subscribe now and be sure to visit Grano Pizzeria to experience the magic for yourself.

Subscriber-only episodeThe Dinicola family of Scotch Plains, New Jersey is used to having lots of dogs around. They provide a foster home for dogs awaiting adoption, a specialized commitment that requires patience and a love of animals. One particular dog was a hard sell because of his skittish personality. So, they got special permission to adopt Jordan and he's now a family member. Their story is immortalized in the children's book Jordan and the Fosters, written and published by dad Joe Dinicola and illustrated with the help of AI. Joe, a software tester who works from home, juggled his full-time job, his three kids and four dogs and somehow found time to write the story and create the illustrations with the help of the Midjourney platform. The result is a sweet story with beautiful illustrations. Our conversation digs into the process of fostering pets, writing and using AI as a tool of story telling.Find the book:https://hfg.jordanandthefosters.fun (a portion of the sales price supports Home For Good Dog Rescue, Berkeley Heights, New Jersey)AmazonBarnes and NobleJoe's book websiteWhadya think of this episode>Subscribe to the Type. Tune. Tint. podcast today. Cheap. Right here.

In episode 42 of That Westfield Podcast, we shine a spotlight on the Eye Care Center of North Jersey, featuring insights from Dr. Savitz. We dive into the importance of regular eye checkups and the potential risks of neglecting eye health, such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Savitz also discusses the technological advancements in eye care, including myopia control contact lenses and the role of sunglasses in preventing UV damage. Additionally, we explore how eye exams can reveal critical health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes. With a rich history in Scotch Plains, the Eye Care Center remains a community pillar, dedicated to improving eye health for all ages. Tune in to learn more about protecting your vision and the latest innovations in optometry. To learn more: https://www.eyecarecenternj.com Follow on IG: eyecarecenternj Want to promote your business on That Westfield Podcast? Email ThatWestfieldPodcast@gmail.com

We're joined by BlueClaws LHP Danny Wilkinson on our latest episode. The left-hander grew up in Scotch Plains, just 50 miles from ShoreTown Ballpark before heading to Villanova and later signing with the Phillies. We talk about his experience with the organization, growing up in Jersey and playing close to home, and much more.

The first in a 3 part series of webinars by Dr. Steven Serafin discussing his work in continuing marriage ministry. In his studies and work, he has learned of the importance of ministry and supporting couples post marriage preparation as a way to continue lifelong and holy marriages. Please join him in this presentation to discuss the reasons for this and some considerations for couples in ministry.Dr. Steven Serafin is currently the Pastoral Associate of St. Bartholomew's in Scotch Plains, NJ, where he leads an initiative called the Emmaus Coalition of Life Long Formation. He is the creator of Endure: Marriage Enrichment Initiative through Faith and Family Life Catholic Ministries. He graduated from Catholic University with a Doctor in Ministry in 2022, he has received a M.A in Theology with a focus in Evangelization and Catechesis from The University of Notre Dame's Echo program and a B.A from Catholic University with a minor in Finance and Management. He has served in a number of ministerial positions: Associate Director for Catechesis for the Archdiocese of Newark, Director of Faith Formation, Campus Minister, and Teacher. His treatise focused on Accompanying the Next Generation of Newlyweds: A Parish Model for Perfecting the Love of Marriage Through a Peer Collaborative Dialogue. Follow us:The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Meet Protest Singer Michael Naphys Michael Naphys is a singer/songwriter from South Jersey. Music has always been a big part of his life, and he has some musical releases including his first original album, Coming Out of my Shell, that we'll learn about in this conversation. Michael performs live acoustic sets in Southern New Jersey including at Whims Brewing in Atco where co-host Robin Renée was lucky enough to catch his set not long ago. He finds using music to express his views on political issues to be very rewarding and empowering, and joins us on The Leftscape to talk about his experiences with writing and performing protest music and the journey of growing into his political focus. In The Artscape, Robin talks with co-host Wendy Sheridan about her recent work and upcoming art shows. In This Fortnight I Learned, Wendy discovers the songs by Shel Silverstein and Robin discovers the joy of Asking for What You Want. News covered includes trouble for the Great Barrier Reef, a new union for Volkswagen workers, a search engine for conservatives, a new nondiscrimination law in Oakland, CA for polyamorous and other alternative family structures, states where abortion will be on the ballot, President Biden announces environmental grants and jobs on the 55th Earth Day, recreational cannabis use linked with lower risk of dementia-related diseases, and remembering David Newman aka Durga Das. Wendy nominates Earth Day creator Gaylord Nelson as the Lefty of the Week. Things to do: Keep up with Michael Naphys on Instagram, Facebook, and X/Twitter. Listen to Michael Naphys on Soundcloud or Spotify. Say hi to Wendy Sheridan and buy her art at the Spring Craft & Vendor Show, Saturday, April 27th, 10am - 4pm, Allaire State Park 4263 Atlantic Avenue Farmingdale, NJ 07727. Booth #40. Raindate Sunday, April 28th. See Wendy's work in the Union County Senior Art Exhibit, Union College of Union County, 1776 Raritan Road, Scotch Plains, NJ, Monday – Friday, 9 am – 5 pm. Tuesdays until 8 pm, Closes May 30th at noon. Check out wendycardz on Etsy and Wendycards on Facebook for more art by Wendy Sheridan. Listen to healing sounds by David Newman.

In the latest episode of That Westfield Podcast, we were joined by Victor and Micah Kamesar, the founders of Jersey Garbage Can Cleaners. Victor and Micah shared their journey of starting a residential and commercial garbage can cleaning company, emphasizing the importance of keeping trash can areas clean for health and safety. With a specialty-built truck designed for cleaning garbage cans, Jersey Garbage Can Cleaners offer eco-friendly cleaning services using high-pressure 180-degree water to eliminate bacteria without the need for chemicals. They operate in Cranford, Westfield, Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Summit, Chatham, and more surrounding towns, focusing on providing a convenient and affordable service for their customers. They highlighted the health benefits of regularly cleaning garbage and recycling bins, addressing common issues like E. coli and salmonella buildup. Their growth plans include expanding their services while maintaining a strong presence in New Jersey. Customers can easily sign up for their services through their website and follow them on social media to stay updated on events and truck sightings in the community. Jersey Garbage Can Cleaners are not just providing a cleaning service but also promoting cleanliness, health, and environmental sustainability. Join the movement and keep your trash can area clean with the team at Jersey Garbage Can Cleaners! Website: https://www.jerseygarbagecancleaners.com/

New York State is settling a class-action lawsuit brought by low-income homeowners who claimed they were denied access to free legal assistance while battling foreclosure. Meanwhile, police say they've arrested a 17-year-old boy for the shooting and killing of another 17-old last week in the Bronx. Plus, it's been four years since Covid officially became a global pandemic and so much has changed in all of our lives in terms of how we work, live, communicate and how we grieve. In response, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill into law this past January that mandates high schools teach students about grief and loss. But schools like Union Catholic in Scotch Plains, have already been teaching their students about grief for years. WNYC's Michael Hill speaks with Dr. Jennifer Dixon, who directs Union Catholic High School's counseling program, and 17 year old student Ava Pickering to learn about the process.

Hugo Alves is best known for his work at Signature Realty and Prawdzik Properties, where he builds and sells unique, high-quality homes in Scotch Plains, Westfield and the surrounding area.Hugo shares his journey into the real estate business, starting with a career in customer service and ultimately being inspired by his wife to pursue real estate. He joined a small boutique brokerage and later teamed up with Signature Realty and Prawdzik Properties.Hugo also reveals that for every square foot they build, they donate a dollar to the local community. Their goal is to support schools, education foundations, and programs that benefit children and teachers in the area.The episode concludes with Hugo sharing important lessons he has learned, especially during the pandemic. He emphasizes the importance of minding your business, monitoring cash flows, and being adaptable to unforeseen challenges. He also encourages individuals to invest in themselves by seeking education and acquiring new skills.Want to reach Hugo and his team? Visit www.prawdzikproperties.com and check out their work on IG @hugosellsnj, or email his HugoSellsNJ@gmail.com

On this week's episode we are joined by Tim and Erin Carroll of 908 Athletics and Endure Training Co.! 908 Athletics is a Cross-Fit training gym with the capacity to guide people of any experience level on their fitness journey. They're here to dispel the rumor that Cross-Fit is only for very advanced athletes, highlighting the wide range of training regiments and friendly community that they offer. They get into the obstacles behind opening a gym, as well as life as a couple working together. They talk about their newest venture, Endure Training Co., opening in Scotch Plains this November! Check them out on Instagram: www.instagram.com/908athletics www.instagram.com/enduretrainingco

I rarely have met someone who, throughout his life, has been presented with so many challenges but always moves forward with strength, poise, and vision. Robert Schott and I first met 27 years ago when Karen and I moved to New Jersey for a job. Robert immediately took a liking to both of us as we were asked to help our church, also the church Robert and his wife Erica attended, design wheelchair access both for Karen and others. As I got to know Robert I recognized that he was quite a determined individual who worked hard to bring success to whatever endeavors he undertook.   Robert's story both in the work he has done for others as well as his own inventing mindset is well worth hearing. In fact, as you will hear, he has designed a new toy currently looking for a manufacturing home, but that already has been described as the first invention creating a new way of play for children.   If all of us ever encounter through these podcast episodes someone unstoppable it is Robert Schott. I hope his thoughts, life lessons and his enthusiastic mindset rubs off on all of us. His faith and his attitude really do show all of us that we can be more unstoppable than we think we can.     About the Guest:     Robert Schott has more than 40 years of business and employee communications design experience currently concentrated in employee benefits and retirement plans. With Charles Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Mr. Schott specializes in customizing people engagement strategies on financial literacy and to prepare his clients' employees for their future retirement income needs. Pensions & Investments magazine recognized two of his recent projects with First Place Eddy Awards for superior achievement in Retirement Readiness and Financial Wellness communications design. Mr. Schott help similar roles at Merrill Lynch Retirement Plan Services, J.P. Morgan/American Century Retirement Plan Services, J.P. Morgan Investment Management, and Coopers & Lybrand Human Resources Group. Additionally, Mr. Schott founded and owns Bopt Inc., a consumer product development and sales company featuring two notable inventions, WOWindow Posters® and SprawlyWalls™. WOWindow Posters are translucent posters designed for illuminating Halloween and Christmas images in windows simply by turning on the room lights. SprawlyWalls is a build, decorate, and play system for children ages 5 to 11 to create play spaces for their dolls and action figures. The Strong National Museum of Play/Toy Hall of Fame recently included SprawlyWalls in its in-museum Play Lab. Mr. Schott is a member of the Leadership Forum Community (LFC) which convenes to explore leadership challenges, develop conscious leaders, and create solutions that result in meaningful and equitable change in organizations, education, and society. He collaborated on the concept of ‘Conscious Dialogue' presented at the LFC Summit in July 2023. Notably, in 2019 and 2021, Mr. Schott participated in America in One Room, an experiment in Deliberative Democracy designed by social scientists at Stanford University to foster civil discourse on political themes by convening over 500 USA citizens for moderated discussions. In 2021, Mr. Schott's community, Cranford New Jersey, recognized him with the annual Kindness Award for bringing joy to others through his massive annual front yard snow sculptures. In June 2023, he joined an expedition in Newfoundland Canada to search for a missing French biplane that would have beat Charles Lindbergh in 1927 for the $50k prize money had it landed in front of the Statue of Liberty coming from Paris. Mr. Schott holds a bachelor of arts with honors in communication design from Rochester Institute of Technology. He completed a Mini-MBA certification program at Rutgers, Center for Management Development. He had previously held Series 7 and 66 licenses for his financial industry work.     Ways to connect with Tony:   https://www.facebook.com/robert.schott.33/ https://www.facebook.com/SprawlyWalls/ https://www.facebook.com/WOWindows/ https://www.instagram.com/sprawlywalls/ https://www.instagram.com/shotinthedarkguy/ Twitter: @wowindows     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, Hi, and welcome once again to unstoppable mindset. I am your host, Mike Hingson. And today, I get to really have a wonderful pleasure and honor to even introduce you to someone who I've known for a long time, Robert Schott lived fairly close to us when we lived in New Jersey, we lived in Westfield, New Jersey, but we both went to the same church, which is where we met, we met the shots and others became good friends. And Robert was a very good supporter of ours, especially helping Karen because if and when we started at the church, it was not very wheelchair accessible. And there were a lot of issues to try to make it more accessible. And Robert and others were really helpful in advocating and recognizing the value of that. So he's become a great friend. He's had associations with Rochester Institute of Technology and actually helped get me to do a speech there one. So Robert and I have known each other for a long time. Gosh, if we were to really go back and count, Robert, it's since what 1996. So that is what 27 years long. I know. Welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Robert Schott ** 02:34 Well, thank you, Michael. And I appreciate the warm regard as friends that's top of mind and you create helped create a fascinating part of my life. And Erica's life, which we're grateful for. And we were sorry to see you move west. But I know that was all for good things   Michael Hingson ** 02:53 are good things. But we still get to stay in touch. And yeah, and one of these days, I hope to be able to get back to New Jersey and spend some time with all of you, which would be good. So we'll have to figure that out at some point. But for now, let's let's talk about you a little bit. Why don't you tell us a little bit about as I love to do with the deepening of these things, the the early Robert growing up and all that sort of stuff and kind of what got you to where you are at least a little bit and then we can always go back and talk more about that. But yeah, love to hear some of the early Robert stories.   Robert Schott ** 03:30 Yeah, and cut me off when we need to pivot but okay, I'm cutting you off now.   Michael Hingson ** 03:33 Thanks.   Robert Schott ** 03:36 You're funny, man. Yeah, go ahead. Well, in fact, I grew up in a town past Westfield, which was Fanwood nestled by Scotch Plains. I went to Scotch Plains Fanwood high school I was one of five children to two middle class English parents. My mom was the high school nurse where I was went to high school I had a hard time cutting class or calling out sick because she knew   Michael Hingson ** 04:02 my dad told us no anyway.   Robert Schott ** 04:05 Yeah, you know, my dad actually have pretty fascinating place to work. He was a lab technician on the brainiac floor at Bell Laboratories and Murray Hill that could go on and on about that but one little thing was the tech across the hall from him he had made the first transistor which set a whole lot of things in motion. But we we you know mom and dad were around dad would go down in the basement and do oil painting and I mentioned that for a reason I'll tell you what, we were very involved in our school and activities band, I was a big into Boy Scouts. And all along the way I would became very interested in art. And that was I mentioned that was a fine art oil painter became professional grade but he taught me how to oil paint when I was seven years old and always made sure I was supplied with tools and gear. You know from what caravita oil painting in watercolor. So that became a nice side thing for me to focus on, which kind of fizzled out as a creative arts. But by the time I went to college, where I shifted to Applied Arts and what that what I mean is graphic design was my major at Rochester Institute of Technology. It's interesting, I think about that decision. And when I was in junior high school, I made a proclamation to my family, I said, I don't like TV advertising, I'm going to go into advertising and change it, I'm going to change the world of advertising. And so when I was studying schools, Syracuse University was, you know, one of the two that I narrowed down or it was the other. And I got to Syracuse, I would have been in New House School of Communication, which was more advertising and media focused, whereas it was more graphics and artistic focus. But the decision which was relevant for 18 year old was the ice rink at RMIT was on the way from classes. And if I went to Syracuse, it would have been a two mile train. So we make our decisions. It all turns out,   Michael Hingson ** 06:13 you my brother in law, is in Idaho, and for years was a master cabinet maker, he's now more of a general contractor, but his winters were all controlled and covered by skiing. And in fact, in the winter, for many years, he as an Certified International Ski guide, would take people to France and do off piste, skiing and so on. But I understand exactly what you're saying about the ice rink because he was all about skiing, and still likes to ski but he's a lot older and doesn't do the events. And he's also got work in the winter. So responsibilities change, but I know what you're saying.   Robert Schott ** 06:57 Yeah, I was. I learned how to ice skate on my backyard after an ice storm in 11th grade and I began playing ice hockey pickup with some friends and I had two years to get ready before college and I I actually made I got cut from the junior varsity team. But I said to the coach, hey, listen, I really want to learn this game. Can I can I come to all the practices? Can I come to the games and carry everybody sticks in the water? He said sure. And so I didn't miss a practice and mid season. I guess enough guys got hurt or quit. Or I showed progress. He put me on in a game. He gave me the last minute of a game. And the only thing I was able to do was when I jumped over the boards the puck was coming by. And so as the opponent, I just put my hip out and I gave the guy a hip check. He went flying and the game was over. So he said, Yeah, you're qualified. We need you for the next game. Like I had, I had two goals and three assists and eight games. So I actually was a producer.   Michael Hingson ** 07:55 Well, it's always better to be a producer than not needless to say. So what was your actual major then?   Robert Schott ** 08:03 Well, it was called Communication Design. And it was focused on communicating through graphic arts, and largely the two dimensional realm of graphic arts. And I was a high achiever in my classes, mostly A's and what I did some standout work. It led to a summer job at a welding products company in the art department. And I remember getting rejected by Texas wiener hotdogs that summer. And then I went to this agency and as I was walking out the door, they because they said they had nothing for me, oh, here's something Oh, you have to know how to type. So I said, Holy cow. I know how to type. My mom made me take typing in eighth grade. So I ended up in the art department, you know, go figure and I was using an IBM Selectric components, not yet knocking out, you know, graphic text writing with that, that early typesetting machine. And so it was a great and that summer job. One of our one of our vendors would come in and pick up work and he ended up at the end of the summer saying come work for me when you graduated. I help you with your homework for the rest of the year.   Michael Hingson ** 09:16 God does provide doesn't teach Oh, it's pretty funny. Yeah, there you go. So you graduated when did you graduate?   Robert Schott ** 09:25 That was 1981. Okay, then I was really busy student you know, between a little bit of ice hockey and academic word, the artwork was very time consuming. And I also was a pretty high level student leader in on the campus and that led to some pretty fun things too. So I was pretty harried, you know, really had to burn the candle on both ends a lot of the time. But in 1981, I had that job offer, which I took and it was he they put me on the artboard to Do graphic arts and there was a small boutique, there was a dozen people doing business to business communications, which included business slides, industrial videos, other graphics and advertising materials. And it turned out I was, I was actually not very good as an artist on the board on demand, you know, I was a good student, but it didn't translate. And so getting into the thick of it, they went into computer graphics, there was a machine called jet graphics that allowed us to make business presentation slides, instead of using the old graphic art, code Iliff and other kind of build your slide business that way. And they put me in charge of them. And within three years, we had seven of these machines in two locations running around the clock, seven days a week. And it was a grind, if I may think I really, I discovered the limits of the physical limits of sleep deprivation, which is not a healthy thing, but I did it. And that's what was probably the first thing I ever became an expert at in the country may be further making these slides and supervising and training, you know, a team 24/7.   Michael Hingson ** 11:21 So how long did you stay there? So this was after college? Right?   Robert Schott ** 11:24 Yeah, so I was there for seven years. Wow. Okay. And I mentioned one thing about a large part of my career was in reflection, I'm trying to coach my own young adult children don't fall into the same trap. Maybe I didn't really have the aspirational goal in my mind, like when I did when I was in junior high school. But what I did do was accept the next job that somebody offered me. One because I was ready to leave and two was a good job offer. But it didn't. After doing that three or four times it didn't ever really align with where maybe the root of my skills or passions lay. So a lot of years went by just, you know, three, seven year stints to say, Yeah, I'll take that job and, you know, going to have children, I need a professional job, and I needed benefits. And, you know, I took my I took my eye off the market, what I was really maybe meant to be   Michael Hingson ** 12:28 right. So you say you went off and you took other jobs. And so where did you end up?   Robert Schott ** 12:36 So the sequence was I left? We were doing business slides for the Coopers and Lybrand can see accounting and consulting firm and I was making the earliest of its kind slide presentations for 401k plans in the middle early 80s. And from that, I got to work with Coopers and Lybrand. You know, my first job was working with Coopers and Lybrand. And they said, why don't you come over here, because they liked what I was doing producing the record on case stuff. So I learned how to be an A Communication Consultant, the full gamut it was writing and directing and strategy at Coopers for their human resource advisory group clients. And sure enough, in the 401k plan at Cooper's they had JP Morgan investment funds. And that when they brought those funds in, I got to know the funds. And we communicated to 20,000 people about those funds. And eventually, JP Morgan said, why don't you come work over here? There you go. So I went over there. And you know, each time I was still have a relationship, or I left, which was, you know, kind of unique.   Michael Hingson ** 13:44 But good. She kept a positive relationship,   Robert Schott ** 13:47 no burn bridges. It was natural for me to move on. And the Morgan thing was in your marketing grew up helping to communicate the value of these types of 401k plan funds that other companies would put into their 401 K plans. So it was kind of there that I moved into another role where they formed a partnership with a company called American century. And we formed a partnership in retirement plan servicing and I moved over to that side of the business. But things didn't really go very well, after a while and I was getting frustrated with the work environment and the work I was doing. That's what led to the spark of doing something different.   Michael Hingson ** 14:36 So you, you decided you really needed to do something different than working in those kinds of environments. And did you have an idea of what you wanted to do and where you were going to go?   Robert Schott ** 14:46 Well, it it's interesting, because, you know, there was no there was no real physical track to making Something happened that would put me in a new place. But there was a seed to have an invention idea I had to pursue. And that was really the mission. Can I take this idea? Get it further, far enough along? And then then from there, it was the idea, could I license it to a big manufacturing company? And so the inspiration was in a day of wallowing in my corporate anxiety, I went upstairs. And you remember my daughter, Carly, she was seven years old and 2000 2001, I think it was. And she was playing a certain way with her Barbie dolls. She was making rooms to play with her dolls across the floor with cardboard bricks. And I just went up to watch her play. That was my relief release. And I said, Hey, Carly, I wonder if a toy exists, where you can build walls. And you don't have to, you know, I can get something official that it was a Sunday afternoon. And I said, What, hey, let's go downstairs and draw what this toy could do. So seven year old, Carla and I went downstairs and we started drawing this idea of connecting walls to make dollhouse rooms. And I said to her right there, okay. This is all I need to know that this is something I have to pursue. And I'm going to work really hard to make this get this product made for you. And that's what kicked off the inventions probably was back then.   Michael Hingson ** 16:30 So basically, though, were you working for someone else at the time? Or Did Jesus decide to do this full time? Or how did all that work?   Robert Schott ** 16:37 Yeah. So initially, I was still working at JP Morgan investment. And at one point, I got laid off. Another fell out that they were rejiggering things. And of course that happens. But they gave me a generous severance package. And I said, Oh, holy cow, here's my moment. I'm going to go full blast on this toy idea. So I've been working on it for a year. Now I had this open time, with some, you know, compensation to cover my expenses, and then went hard at it. Now in the meantime, I was anxious. So I ended up pursuing five other part time things. I got a benefits consulting job, and I was dabbling with these other things that were really distracting and, frankly, the ability debilitating because I couldn't get anything to stick to make additional money. And and to have the free time to work on a toy.   Michael Hingson ** 17:34 That totally Sarika doing.   Robert Schott ** 17:37 She can. She's been working ever since you've known her in occupational therapy,   Michael Hingson ** 17:42 since she continued to work. Yeah. So   Robert Schott ** 17:46 yeah, I mean, I had the severance. So that was key. But I also didn't know if I was going to have another job at the end of it. So I had to continue thinking about how to make money if the toy thing doesn't, you know, come to Canada really fast. But in that period, I really refined the concept I filed for design and utility patents on the mechanical element of the walls, the way they would connect together. I created a logo and branding and I created a packaging design. I made prototypes, dope models for the kids to play with Ram focus groups with groups, a little kids, and all the proofs of this really cool thing we're coming through. And through. You know, a friend of mines likes to say it's, it's not serendipity or accident or luck, it's intentionality. And when you have really crisp intentions, some things kind of can just happen and out of the most unexpected places. And that that happened, I ended up getting a meeting with Hasbro, a college friend of mine, and it was like the Tom Hanks at Hasbro. He had a lab where he'd make stuff for the inventors. So I said he introduced me the creative guy. And they said, Yeah, if we really liked your idea, but it's not really for us, at least not at this time. And we back up a second when I was in the outplacement Center at Morgan, a former client then friend said hey, talk to this guy, John, John Harvey, and he'll coach you on your transition because he started a free coaching Transition Network out of Maplewood, New Jersey. So I called John and he said, what do you what do you really want to do? And I said, Oh, I really want to make this toy. He said to me, Hey, listen to this. Three months ago. I was at a think tank session. I might get the details fuzzy here, but it was the heads of innovation from Nike, somewhere else and Mattel and when you're ready, I'll introduce you to the head of innovation at Mattel. And so after my Hasbro meeting I called on Joe It said yeah. And he made the introduction and through another couple things. I got to make a meeting with the Creative Director for Barbie at Mattel, the biggest toy brand on Earth, and I got an hour. That's what I left the building that the young lady said, I know you got it in here because people like you don't. To Joe told you stuff about Barbie probably shouldn't have because, you know, it's proprietary, but he really liked what she came up with. And I'll share that walking out of that building was the singular highest moment, work moment of my life. And nothing is taught that yet. Even though the deals didn't turn out, just the sense that I made an impression to this big company, as a novice said, Man, I really ready to I'm really able to do something different.   Michael Hingson ** 20:57 So you have When did you have the meeting with Mattel?   Robert Schott ** 21:01 That was the late spring of 2003.   Michael Hingson ** 21:05 Okay, so that was always ago that was 20 years ago? Yeah. 20 years. And but did you have a basic conceptual design? Or did you actually have a model at that point?   Robert Schott ** 21:17 Oh, yeah, I had the prototypes, I had play models, you know, everything was, you know, in a condition that was acceptable from a toy inventor for a big company to take it on. And I didn't make any errors about what I anything beyond what I knew what I did. I didn't say I knew how to price it or manufacture it, or anything like that, which other toy inventors would have known more about. But, you know, no deals came through and I solicited all companies, you know, Lego and connects, and I went to FAO, Schwarz and Toys R Us and all in fact, the last meeting I had was with the head of brands at Toys R Us that was through an acquaintance, a friend of mine who I worked with in my first job out of out of school, he introduced me the head of brands, and I met there and Susan said, Oh, Robert, I really really liked your idea. I can't work with you. Because it's not real yet. You know, I need to be able to product to put on the shelves. But go back to Mattel tell them they're not they got their heads in the wrong place. Because this is what we need on the shelves. And I'll spare you the EXPLAIN of that. What was that? So, you know, here's another validation from the biggest toy distributor on earth without my concept. And crazily I just kind of got burnt out and I need to get a new job and I let it go. I just had to let it go for a while.   Michael Hingson ** 22:41 So what did you do?   Robert Schott ** 22:45 Well, two things happened. One, the realization that I knew I could do something different, I thought about what else I had made around my home. And in fact, it was in the year 2000. For Halloween I had made out of hardboard and red cellophane giant cutouts of cat eyes that I hung in the Windows upstairs. And with a room lights on they lit up like a giant cat was looking at. I thought, holy cow. There's an idea. Maybe i i figured i can get that done myself. I don't need to sell the idea. I'll just get after it. And so I worked on it for three quarters of a year. And then I talked to a friend. I remember you remember Brian Jenkins and Cindy Jenkins from the church. Brian was a printer by trade and I said Hey, Brian, what do you think of this idea. And in the same call, he said, Hey, I was just drawing a pumpkin that would light up to put in the window. And we agreed to go into business together. And it took us two more years to figure out how to make them. We ended up with a outfit in Green Bay, Wisconsin that agreed to work with us. And a little thing that I learned along that way was never, never, never admit your deficiencies on something always present yourself as confident and professional. And they this big company that served enterprises like Procter and Gamble allowed us to come into their space and dabble with manufacturing this printed window posts around big wide plastic sheets on 150 foot long printing press. And we pulled it off, you know we made a poster that that worked. So now I said there was two things. That's one track and I'll tell you more. But at the same time I needed to get back to day job with income and the fellow that I got laid off with from Morgan said, Hey Robert, I saw a posting for that's made for you and it was with Merrill Lynch and I put my resume into the black hole. And the next day I had a call that never happens. And three days later, I had an interview. And remember the second part of that interview that the hiring manager took me back to the first interviewee, or, as she said to the first, the second one, Hey, give this guy an offer yet. So it was a slam dunk, I got back to work, right at the end of my 15 month severance. So that all kind of worked out nice.   Michael Hingson ** 25:29 But you did keep on dreaming, which is part of the whole story at first, which is great, but you did go back to work. And that works for a little while, at least while Merrill was around.   Robert Schott ** 25:40 Yeah, well, kind of they never really went away. They took up, you know, partnered up. But I worked there for, I think, six years. And this is how you can do things sometimes in life that are, it's creative thinking. And I said to the boss, hey, look, I had a bunch of bad things happen with the poster business after we had a tremendous start, you know, we, we ended up in three years with a million and a half dollars of sales. And we were getting attention by the biggest enterprises in consumer, brick and mortar stores. But then, sadly, Brian passed away in 2009. And I had to take on the whole thing myself. And I approached my, my boss, I said, Look, I gotta leave, you know, I gotta work on this. And she said, Well, why don't go so fast. We need you here. How about if we give you a reduced hours, but still keep you on benefits? I said, that works. So I went from 70 hours a week to 40 kept my bike benefits. And then I worked another 40 a week on the   Michael Hingson ** 26:44 poster business, back to sleep deprivation.   Robert Schott ** 26:47 Yeah, well, that was easy street from earlier years. So I did that for another year. And finally, I said, No, this isn't going to work. And I cut out and I worked on the poster business full time for five years, which was had diminishing returns, the world was changing. And there's a lot of obstacles that I had overcome. Amazon was starting to come into play in the big box store, the big Oh, my wholesale accounts were drifting away, and it was just a mess. So I ended up going back again, through fellow I worked with at Merrill said, Hey, come work for us. And I won't get into that, because it's my current work. But that's, that's where I've been for seven, eight years. Now. It's the next corporate gig.   Michael Hingson ** 27:41 Things that I react to. And the most significant to me is no matter what with all of the job changes. I don't know that I would say all of it's not like there were such a huge amount, compared to some people who can't hold a job, you moved from place to place. But one of the things that I find most striking is that you kept really wonderful relationships, wherever you went. And whenever you left, you continue to have relationships. And that's been very supportive for you, which I think is really cool. A lot of people don't do that and burn too many bridges, which is unfortunate.   Robert Schott ** 28:21 Yeah, thanks for recognizing that I, I hold friendships or business acquaintances from all the roles I had. And I'm, you know, happy about reconnecting with people and reminiscing. But they've also come into play. Over time, what at different points, I'd reach out and say, hey, you know, I know you're doing this now. But that was, you know, there's a 40 year relationship from that first a few of them that I've been able to go back to currently and say, Hey, let's talk about this thing I'm working on.   Michael Hingson ** 28:55 And there must be ways that you're obviously benefiting and helping them as well.   Robert Schott ** 28:59 Oh, sure. Yeah, absolutely.   Michael Hingson ** 29:03 Well, you know, clearly, by definition of what this podcast is all about, you are absolutely unstoppable. in mind, and so on. Give me a couple of examples in your own mind, or from your own perspective of how you've been on top of that, maybe a small one and a big one.   Robert Schott ** 29:20 Yes, that's a good question. It was a couple of small ones that are more recent. I'll just stick to the more recent because it's shows I still have the ability to persevere, and it has a lot to do with a lesson my mom taught me was you always have to finish what you start. And I learned that you know, when I was five, six years old, you know, she wouldn't let us quit something at school because we were unhappy or didn't like it. We had to finish it. And so I got into for fun making big snow sculptures out in my front yard. And I've been doing in our town of Cranford for over 30 years and I did a MIT college and back in high school. Well, in 2020, it was 2021 There was a big blizzard. And I'd been waiting to do this particular snow sculpture of Abraham Lincoln, half scale. So half scale is for 15 feet tall. And I had gotten skilled enough to know how to prepare my drawings. And I built a wooden form to fill as the base. And we we had a convergence of things and I need one was a big snowstorm to it has to get warm afterwards because I mold and build. And I had to have the time. So this thing started on a Sunday afternoon. And as I got to do this, this, this is it. This is the moment of truth. And so from Sunday afternoon, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then some nights after my work job. And then all day Saturday, I worked on Abraham Lincoln. And I realized that it was probably over six tons of snow that we moved. I spent 435 hours sculpting carving, and I had a bunch of helpers. And it was magnificent. And it attracted national media attention. And the beautiful part was it landed right on Lincoln's birthday when I finished it. You have pictures? Yeah, I do. I have some good pictures of it.   Michael Hingson ** 31:23 Once we have a picture or an article, loved it featured in the podcast notes.   Robert Schott ** 31:27 Yeah, I absolutely send that. But here's the kicker. And I didn't tell a lot of people that week, that Sunday when I started, I had body aches and a fever. And I said, I have to do this. This is the moment of truth. Well, I didn't find out till Thursday that I had COVID. I was climbing ladders and lifting snow six hours a day changing clothes three times because I was sweating so much. And I just it was so hard to get up in the morning and get at this thing, but I did it. So there's, there's I guess that's a good example of a small thing. Getting it done.   Michael Hingson ** 32:04 Not sure it's so small, but I hear you. And then once you said 14 feet tall,   Robert Schott ** 32:08 14 feet tall. Yeah. of Abraham Lincoln, nestled in his chair looking out from the Lincoln Memorial. Right. So that's, that's an unstoppable, I'd say, you know, pursuing the window posters is an exciting things that I feel really proud of achievement, that I can look back on fondly and say I really got something good done there. And I think that, you know, the window posters I've been doing for, yeah, I've been working on it for 20 years 17 In business. And it's, it's been, it was wildly successful when we got going. And it's had a lot of setbacks, and been losing money for 10 years. So it's something that's kind of weird, because I can't even get out of it. You know, I couldn't sell the business, I couldn't sell the inventory. But I'm straddled with some debt from it. And from, you know, having things I just don't want to throw away. Every year, it's all online, and I sell them online, and I make make some money, just about is covering expenses now. So, back to unstoppable during the pandemic, I'll say I had the good fortune of being able to cut out three or four hours a day of commuting to New York City. And I said, Alright, I gotta get this toy made. And I picked up this volleyballs again, and I I got serious about pursuing it to the finish. And to the act of that, you know, fast forward. Last November, I got product in hand. You know, I took it from further engineering, prototyping, manufacture, testing, then you fracturing, packaging, patent filings marketing. I've been working on its sale since last November. So 20 years later, you know, or more. It's coming to fruition. Now, once   Michael Hingson ** 34:06 Yeah,   Robert Schott ** 34:08 let me add a point here. Because when I said I was gonna make the window posters, I said, Alright, I'm not giving up on the toy, but I'm going to make so much money from the window for posters, I can afford to make the toy pins some day. I just told you I was I've been losing money on the toy on the posters. But what I didn't, what finally occurred to me a year ago was holy cow. I got a I got the value and benefit of experience from learning how to make a product bring to market to make the toy. So the the, the outcome was, I didn't make a lot of money to make it but I earned a lifetime of experience to know how to make it. I think that's pretty cool.   Michael Hingson ** 34:51 That's worth a lot.   Robert Schott ** 34:53 Yeah. Yeah, let's How do you make a barcode? I don't know. Well, you have to figure it out. So every part of bringing your part like to mark it from scratch, has these learning hurdles,   Michael Hingson ** 35:03 you know, you go to the bar and you make it home.   Robert Schott ** 35:07 You go to the bar you drink, you talk to the guy next, know how to make barcodes. Or   Michael Hingson ** 35:15 it seems easy to me. Well,   Robert Schott ** 35:18 Michael, I was experimenting with making glow in the dark window posters. So I went to Green Bay to do a glow in the dark test. And just in my travels, I met three more people on the airplane in the airport and at lunch that day, who were in the glow in the dark business. So intentionality, you know, I talked about what I was doing. Oh, I do go to dark paint that will happen in one day.   Michael Hingson ** 35:47 As you said a lifetime of experience, which is something that is priceless.   Robert Schott ** 35:53 Yeah. I'll put a cap on that one. I'll say that, you know, maybe not financially. I haven't blown it out financially. But I'm really rich for the experience.   Michael Hingson ** 36:03 Yeah, exactly what I'm saying. Yeah. Well, so what exactly is happening with sprawling walls then today?   Robert Schott ** 36:11 Well, I had envisioned, pursuing direct consumer through E commerce only and using virtual communities to help create viral interest in the modern way of exposing a product. And that's not going like I envisioned this past nine months. It was disheartening to see one, even in a few years, how that realm has changed, and how much harder it is to get out, reach out and trade attention. And on a shoestring budget, you know, haven't been able to engage at a higher level where people, you know, for 50 grand, they could help make that happen. But in the meantime, I was working with a person who was critical of me spending time on the idea of networking. And I said I'm because he was helped me think through some of the marketing stuff. And so I've gone up to ra T, I was invited to go to the hockey game, I'll be in the President's booth at the arena at the campus. I'm going I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm gonna make the trip us up my time. And he said, Why are you gonna waste your time showing something that's not really ready for I'm going anyway, fella. So I went, and guess who was in the President's booth. But I mentioned I was a student leader and are at, and the Director of Student Affairs who I became very close to in a lifetime friend, and eventually become number two, at RMIT, as the Secretary to the institute. And he was in that booth with his wife. And it's like, holy cow. Well, of course, I brought my prototype. So I'm showing everybody in the President's booth, my toy idea. And then Fred pulls me aside and says, hey, hey, Robert, and if you know this, but I'm on the board of directors at the strong National Museum of Play, and Toy Hall of Fame. If you want, I can get your meeting there. Like it was the perfect storm for networking, and meeting. So here, I had an hour with the chief curator of the National Museum of Play, and he's been in this business for 35 years, who looked at what I was doing and said, Man, this is such a great story. And I think the trouble with you getting exposure with your product is because people don't know what to make of it yet. In fact, Robert, you've invented a new category of play. As well, that isn't that because he couldn't think of a comparable to what I've created. And furthermore, they said, we'd like to bring this product into our life play lab, we're in the side, the museum kids can come in and play with, you know, free play type of building toy systems and learn a lot from that. Yeah, so I think they're putting it in there in a few weeks, in reality, and they're also bringing my toy out in public outreach to children who have troubled circumstances, and may not have a environment where they live to be able to play. So they bring these children to places where they expose them to just pure play, just for the sake of playing in the creative collaboration that goes with that. So I'm grateful to be turning my product into something bigger than just me making a toy to sell but actually influencing young children.   Michael Hingson ** 39:49 But hopefully it will turn into a real product that sells which is always a good thing. But you know, one of the things that I react to keep thinking back on is house Bro, then had no interest in it with things like GI Joe and so on, I would have thought they would have been very interested in sprawie forte, but I guess   Robert Schott ** 40:08 it's you, you're spot on, you know, when I went to Hasbro, I didn't come with just the Girl doll system. Right.   Michael Hingson ** 40:16 I understand.   Robert Schott ** 40:17 I came with the Army system. So I brought my GI Joes and I had camouflage wall panels that connected together to make, you know, Fort scenes. But yeah, they didn't see it that what they said was Well, that's all good. And well, but, you know, boys like to build and destroy. So   Michael Hingson ** 40:40 that was a funny line. Yeah, especially well, yeah. All the way around. Well, you know, clearly though, everything that you're doing, you continue to move forward. And you get sidelined along the way, sometimes from circumstances over which you have no control. But, but you still do, which I think is great. What puts you in keeps you in a mind frame of being unstoppable and just continuing to move forward? Because no matter what's happened, you've had a lot of things that have been setbacks, and a lot of people would just be held back by that. But you've continued to move forward. And you've done it very intentionally and in very positive way. How does that work?   Robert Schott ** 41:27 Yeah, thanks, Michael. I'm gonna go back to the root of a painting I did when I was seven years old side by side with my dad. And it was an apple with a sugar jar on burlap. And he painted his version of paint in mind. And I remember getting it done and maybe didn't reflect on it back then. But I reflect on it now that I created a piece of art that I can look at and enjoy. And we got that done together. And through the pursuit of art, the creative arts, oil painting, sculpture, watercolor painting, and other things. I find the greatest joy for myself looking at, if I can look at something that I did, or that someone else did, and see joy in it, and continuous enjoyment and keep coming back to it like a good movie, like the Wizard of Oz, I can watch that every time. To me that describes what art is that it has this appeal that you can continue to enjoy. And you don't get there by not working at it. Right. So I think when I see something I want to do and get done, a need to see it finished, because I want to sit back and look at what I did it, you know, despite many obstacles, like with the window posters, you know, there was a storm that there was a hurricane that wiped out Halloween when winter and snow blizzard the next Halloween and then my warehouse got hit by lightning and all my product deliveries were late, my partner passed away and you know, all these things that just just bang on? Yeah, but you just got to keep going. So I think presently, like with what I'm pursuing, the side gig, if you will, I have this vision of what it would be. And there's something bigger than I realized last year. But it's so big that it overrides any doubt that I have or fear or even the skepticism of others. And even the regard for risking money on it, I come to realize that, you know, money saved isn't helping me create and invest in in my own pursuit. So I've let loose let go and I don't let it get me down. Like I would have, you know, 30 years ago.   Michael Hingson ** 43:47 So how do you view money today? Or how is your attitude about the whole issue of money changed? Both from the standpoint of you personally, but you've obviously been in companies that specialize in that stuff. So you must have a lot of ways to to answer that.   Robert Schott ** 44:02 Yeah. So it's kind of a little funny contradiction. I teach a lot about saving for retirement yet I'm spending a lot of my retirement savings. I'm investing in my future is what I'm doing. You know, I discovered I had a to really make it happen. I had to use what I have with the belief that it will work out and I'll be better off for it financially one day. Certainly, the cut three high end college educations at a time when I thought money was going to really be flowing from the window posters and my work. That was a drain as it is on anybody today, the way college expenses go. And then just trying to keep my head above water with the poster business. It's been technically losing money. You know, just I'm resolved that this is my way to pursue something bigger in my life. And I'll figure it out. I'll just keep Working I have, I'm so resourceful and I have so many ways that I could earn money for the next 20 years, if I have to that, I just, I don't like it that I'm in a spot. But I love that I feel hopeful and confident in my abilities.   Michael Hingson ** 45:15 But you've made the commitment to do it. And if it means that you'd have to put some things on hold for a while and do more mundane or more things that are not directly in line with what you want to do. Right, you're going to get to do what you want to do. And you'll, you'll let some of the other stuff be a part of what you do to make that happen.   Robert Schott ** 45:36 That's right. And I'll just finish off on the Toy Story, if you will, I have two big events coming up. In the next month. I was accepted to a when he call it up a media showcase. I'll be on Pier 60 in New York City on September 12. So by the time people see this, I might have been well past but the showcases of is for the best toys of 2023. And while I didn't make the cut as a best toy, they accepted me to be present, which is I think a nice credit to that I'm recognizing what I have to be in the presence of major media as well as social influencers. And then I was also accepted on the last day of this year's Toy Fair at the Javits Center in early October for Toy inventors day. So that didn't come easy, either. I had to qualify. And I'll be in front of major manufacturers to potentially come back to the idea of licensing the product. So I've got four tracks, I can sell direct to consumer, I can make the product and sell wholesale. I can pursue other avenues like homeschool and teaching networks and Montessori schools where play free play is the thing, or I could make a licensing deal. So all these are on the table right now and making some of those big opportunities happen.   Michael Hingson ** 47:06 Have you thought of doing anything like trying to go on to Shark Tank and showing this to the world through that?   Robert Schott ** 47:14 Oh, I've thought about it a lot. But I've also tried out for shark tank with the poster idea. And there's a lot of reasons I don't want to do that. A lot of reasons why I won't do that is I won't get into that. But I think I can pursue avenues through my own. Maybe I could put it this way. I've discovered how I can make tracks doing things. And I think maybe other people don't think that's their only avenue. Yeah. Success. And I don't believe that for me. So that's a there's a good answer. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 47:51 and clearly in partisan businesses zine and you want to make it the way you want to make it. So it's just a question out of curiosity, but it makes sense. You know, to, to at least ask the question, and you thought about it. Not that answers it, which is great. Yeah. The you continue to be resilient, about pressing through and finishing whatever you start. I think you've hit on it some but why is it that you are so firm at being able to press through and continue to work? What, what, what keeps you going? And always moving forward like you do?   Robert Schott ** 48:33 Well, you know, I think when you first introduced the idea of me being a guest, I had this theme in my head, which was real, that some bit of my career, I didn't feel very interesting anymore.   Michael Hingson ** 48:49 What and I said you were interesting. Yeah,   Robert Schott ** 48:52 I know. But I'd go on vacation with four other families and these other guys were all entrepreneur, for Nouriel, I had nothing to talk about in my work life that would be of any interest at the dinner table. So it's going to be interesting again, but anyway, I think it's there was lessons growing up about endurance and achieving things, you know, I was a boy scout, and we we camped every month of the year, whatever the weather was, wherever we went so, you know, five below zero in a tent with no floor and a summer sleeping bag. You have to somehow get through that night and learn where your limits are in pain points. I made Eagle Scout at college I was in academics and sports and and student leadership and you know, I actually the one and only time I sought professional help was at school, the counselor to say I'm falling apart, you know helped me put my pieces back together again and the coaching I got there it was really valuable. You know, encourage anybody who's feeling a bad spot to take it Then under the resources out there, and then that first job I had was 12 people. And it was all for one one for all, we were all the hats, you know, when when we move to a new building, they said, We're gonna come in Saturday and work on the wiring together and this new building. So the boss was running out around teaching us how to do wiring, it wasn't really legal, but that's what we did. So you learn how to solve little and big problems. And nothing is an obstacle when you have that frame of mind. And so when I get stuck on a business problem with my side gigs, I hunt down the answer. And I find people who know the answer, and I get coaching and make alliances. And so there's an answer to at all, it's just matter how you pursue that. And the other part of that is, you can set up a business plan and say, These are the steps we're gonna get done. But you can take yourself off of that anxiety by saying, I'm working on this thing to get done. And then the next thing or maybe three things at once, but I'm not going to worry about where it is two years from now, because I can't do that I have to work on what I can figure out today. And I've gotten really good at that. And, you know, setting the expectation, like I thought I would be blowing up my product by June. And yet, most of it's still sitting on the shelf. Alright, dial down my expectation, slow down, what I'm trying to get done, work on some bigger game things. And here's the bigger bigger game, Michael, I want to make sure I get in a year ago, I realized that invented this toy. But then I discovered this world called free play. And I've been studying the meaning of what free play is it's the definition is children given us a place to play and things to play with, that are non electronic. And without parental supervision. And sing alone or with a group or a friend's day will discover how to keep keep an afternoon going through trying and failing and trying and failing and trying and succeeding and solving each other's problems. And what I further learned is that there's incredible power in the development of a child through this kind of activity. And there's some important studies that Mattel and has done with Cardiff University and Melissa and Doug with Gallup, that are proving how children will mature with greater empathy and social skills, when time is devoted to free play versus playing by themselves or electronic play. And I realized I have a new direction that the bigger game is getting my toy out there. But helping children in their free play development   Michael Hingson ** 52:37 is part of what the museum really referred to when they said you develop the whole new way to play.   Robert Schott ** 52:44 Yeah, yeah, fits right in there with all of that. And so I'm becoming a student of that realm. I'm a novice. But I can see a third act for myself in pressing forward in becoming the leader or spokesperson in that model of play.   Michael Hingson ** 53:02 Some Yeah. So writing about it and getting some other things to help enhance your credibility would mean sense writing about it, speaking about it, as you said, and then going to places and talking about it would make sense. And that takes away a little bit from the toy, but maybe not. Maybe certainly something to explore.   Robert Schott ** 53:20 Yeah, I think it actually feeds the toy.   Michael Hingson ** 53:23 It does feed the toy, I think. Yeah. Which makes sense to do. Well, so for you. You, you continue to, you know, to move forward for you. What do you think about your journey now, as opposed to 20? Or even 30 years ago? Do you think your journey has really changed as your mindset changed? Have you changed?   Robert Schott ** 53:51 Well, you know, I've certainly learned a vast amount in pursuing nice things. And like you said, I've given up a lot of things to, you know, it's hard to stay inside on a gorgeous sunny weekend, you know, doing bookkeeping, and accounting and inventory management for for things. But I think my motivation has never been hired to see something come to fruition. And my understanding of how important it is to our society is feeding that and to also know that I'm getting the attention of important players. And what I'm pursuing is gives me great hope. So I'm going to continue with my corporate life. In fact, I'm actually trying to shift that a little bit more to around the realm of Community Oriented financial literacy. And I may have opportunities where I work now, to make that my work. To take all I've learned over 40 years in financial education, and actually be out in the communities leading programming that's a picture on anything for myself that could come around in a couple years where I am, but pursue the toy, pursue the Childhood Development theme. But personally, I'd like to free myself of the amount of work I'm doing, if I can make it financially viable. And get back to my basic artwork, I haven't finished an oil painting last year, that got recognized with a second place in the Union County art show here in New Jersey. And I started that 140 years ago, I finished it last year, I want to create new things now. So I need to find the time to get back to my arts, work on some of my athletic ambitions and other crazy adventures, I have room in my system for off the wall things. So that's, that's where I'm at mentally and emotionally, so   Michael Hingson ** 55:52 well, and you continue to, to move forward, as I said before, which is, which is great, and you continue to clearly be as unstoppable as one can imagine. So what's ahead for you?   Robert Schott ** 56:05 Well, immediately, it's just keep doing great work and my day job, is that what you mean? And then just keep chipping away at the toy, you know, manage my expectation on the toy, keep finding avenues, because I can't work on it full time. Just find out what I can get done. And but aim bigger, you know, I need to think for think for a while on what's the best bigger hits that I can get to make it come really to life. And in fact, this morning, I prove the banner I'm going to bring to the media and the toy vendor showcase that illustrates the future of the toy. And what I mean by as I've got five phases of development, that take it from a single size eight by 12 inch panel that connects with others, to 16 different sizes, and four different palettes of colors. And eventually, mechanical elements like pulleys and levers and drawing and graphic applications to the panels and maybe even LED lighting. So I'm paying you to picture the future so others can see it with me, you know, I, what I've got today isn't really describing what it could become. And I want to make sure people understand that.   Michael Hingson ** 57:19 Yeah, and I think as I said a minute ago, doing some writing about it really composing some things and putting it out in places might very well be helpful and actually lend a lot to credibility, I think people need to be drawn into your vision and why you can only do so much of that with an actual model of the toy, writing, talking about it, speaking about it, having slides that show it in action, whatever, I think those are things that will help pull people in to realize what visionary ideas you have. And it'll be interesting to see what happens when it goes into the, to the free play area and the museum and how all that works. Yeah, and I because that's gonna lend a lot of support to what you're doing.   Robert Schott ** 58:10 I completely agree on the visibility through my own initiatives, whether you know, certainly joining you, but other situations like this I'm going to pursue, we're going into a little higher gear on our social media, visibility of the product with examples and videos, and I've got social media influencers creating content. So I'm in a big content build phase, but I like the idea of the writing side. It's right now it could be you know, reflections of what I've learned about childhood development and, and free play. And even though I'm a novice, I have something to say and point people to where they can learn more. In fact, when I, when I go to the Showcase, I'm putting up something into the showcase gift bag for all the media is going to include a rolled up window poster, and then two sheets that describe both products. And there'll be QR codes that lead those who see my sheet, to the studies by Mattel, Melissa and Doug and a survey I've started on for parents to take to tell me about what their children's play patterns are today. It's an open survey and I'm encouraging all parents with children, four to 11 to complete it that helps inform me about what current children are doing and what they need next.   Michael Hingson ** 59:34 When can you get some photos of kids actually playing with the toys?   Robert Schott ** 59:38 I've got? I've got a bunch of photos new one came in today, but I probably have you know 50 or 60 photos and videos saying some videos putting some of that I would think past to be helped them Yeah, most importantly I want those that content from strangers. You know, I don't want you know Exactly right. And there's some beautiful things coming in Michael I, I did some street fairs in the spring. And I'm going to do one more in Cranford in October. And I set up a play space for the kids, I invite them to play. And the spirit of what I created shows up, you know, one kid joins in, and then three more come by, and then they're all playing together, and they're creating things. But there's surprises like, I think they can build walls. But all of a sudden, this kid takes all the sticks that hold the walls together and makes a sword out of it. And another kid takes the walls and built a ramp down off the table with a structure that he engineered to run his cars down it. There's all this innovation is what this is about. And the kids are showcasing it at the street fair. So I've got all those photos too.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:45 That's great well, and put them out. I mean, that's those are all cool things. I want to thank you for being here. And I'm excited for you. And I'm excited by what's going to happen. And I look forward to hearing more about it. So definitely keep us in your and on your email list. But one of these days, we'll get back there to visit. But I really hope that it all goes well for you and that this will catch on soon, and people will start to get really excited about what you're doing. And I agree, I think it's really interesting that although you intended it as walls on the house, kids are doing a lot more with it and so much the better that they do. Yeah, future engineers.   Robert Schott ** 1:01:25 And you know, the, the key selling point about it, and a couple of them is that it integrates and connects to Lego. It connects with connects, you can put Avery removable papers that you run through your printer to make wallpapers and you can draw on it with Expo markers. And the best part is you can collapse it back down into the box in like no time flat. Parents love that you can put it away into a little box.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:52 That's not messy when you do that. No, just   Robert Schott ** 1:01:55 don't think that the pick pick up the little clips because they hurt your feet just like little Lego. That's fair. Yeah, Michael, thanks.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:05 This has really been fun. Well, you're absolutely welcome. And this has been great. I really appreciate that we finally got a chance to do this. And you need to come back in a little while and let us know how it's going and tell us about the adventure because it clearly is an adventure. And I hope that you listening have enjoyed this. If people want to reach out to learn more about you what you're doing and so on. Robert, how do they do that?   Robert Schott ** 1:02:28 Well, I just set up a new email address yesterday morning to Robert dot Schott S C H O T T  at bopt Inc. It's B O P T inc.com. And little funny there Mike, I'll close with this. I named my company bopt because I was told it's how I spelled my name when I was four years old. There you go. From Robert to Bob to Bobt But two weeks ago, I was going through a folder my mom left for me my drawings from when I was five. Just two weeks ago I saw these for the first time and I discovered I actually spelled my name B O P P T and my sister said, well don't worry about it. Robert, you can just say Bobt is the nickname for the longer version B O P P T   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:19 so it's Robert dot Schott or just Robert Schott. Robert dot Schott at S C H O T T  at B O P T.com. Yeah, well, great. Well, please reach out to Robert. We've got some social media links and other things that are in the cover notes. Please send me a picture of Abraham Lincoln that will be fun to add in anything else that you want us to put in there. We definitely want to do and be supportive of you. And thank you for listening. I'd love to hear what you all think. Please feel free to email me Michaelhi at accessibe A C C E S S I B E. I can spell.com or go to our podcast page www dot Michael Hingson h i n g s o n.com/podcast. We'd love to hear from you. And Robert, for you and for you listening if you know anyone else who want to be a guest on unstoppable mindset. You've heard a lot of the stories that people tell you heard Robert today. We'd love to hear from you about people, you know, who ought to come on unstoppable mindset as well. So please let us know. Please give us introductions. We appreciate it. And so once more. Robert, I want to thank you for being here. And we really appreciate your time late in the evening in New Jersey. You get in the spring   **Michael Hingson ** 1:04:43 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.

Zach Even-Esh is the NJ State Director for the NHSSCA, He is the owner of the Underground Strength Gym, Creator of the Underground Strength Coach Certificate. He was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the University of Rutgers Wrestling Department. Zach was also the Head strength and Conditioning Coach for Lehigh University Wrestling. He is SSPC certified and has a CSCS He has published numerous articles and books. Zach just released his latest book Iron Journeys that is an amazing read and flying off the Amazon shelves.https://undergroundstrengthclub.com/Locations in NJ: Manasquan and Scotch Plains https://zacheven-esh.com/https://www.undergroundstrengthcoach.com/https://youtube.com/@ZEvenEshhttps://twitter.com/ZEvenEsh?s=20https://instagram.com/zevenesh?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA==https://youtube.com/@platesandpancakes4593https://instagram.com/voodoo4power?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=https://voodoo4ranch.com/To possibly be a guest or support the show email Voodoo4ranch@gmail.comhttps://www.paypal.com/paypalme/voodoo4ranch

Come on you rapscallions, grab that candy with your sticky hands and let's cause trouble! This week, Dee gets animated about cartoon origin stories, Al reveals some childhood lore, and we head to the safest amusement park in Scotch Plains, NJ. Main Ad: https://youtu.be/wTrXmrOEPfg Local Ad: https://youtu.be/FJyuNTkA2qA Sources: https://www.adcreeps.gay/sources-1/325-butterfinger

This episode is, I believe, one of the most engaging discussions about Inclusion and Diversity that I have had the pleasure to conduct on Unstoppable Mindset. Terra Davis is a graduate of Howard University with a degree in Journalism. However, she was lead not to take up a journalistic career but rather she began to work in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion workplace. Today, she works for a law firm as its chief diversity officer. She will tell us that story, but for Unstoppable Mindset that is only the beginning. Terra and I discuss a wide variety of ideas and issues surrounding both the diverse workspace and how disabilities have systematically been left out. However, we also discuss how she is helping to work to change that. On top of everything else, Terra and her family love to seek out the ice cream stores that claim they are the “best”. You get to hear about her favorite. I look forward to hearing your thoughts after hearing Terra. As always, thanks for listening. About the Guest: Terra Davis is a diversity, equity and inclusion advocate and practitioner in the legal industry. She supports diverse legal talent and clients in deepening client relationships and business strategy around common goals and DEI initiatives. Terra is a member of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals and served as the co-chair of the Legal Marketing Association DEI Shared Interest Group, where she was responsible for developing DEI educational programming for its members. She is passionate about serving marginalized communities and pushing the needle forward for change. When she is not working with these organizations, she is spending quality time with her husband and two-year-old daughter, Zoey. As a New Jersey native who was born in Bermuda, Terra loves to travel, meet new people and visit any ice cream store or stand that boasts it's the best. She is a graduate of Howard University and has her D&I certification from Cornell University. Social media link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrasjohnsondavis About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, hi once again and welcome to unstoppable mindset. As usual. We hope to have a lot of fun today. We have a great guest, Terra Davis, she's got a lot to talk about. I am sure she's involved in diversity, equity and inclusion. She's a graduate of Howard University and the most important thing about Terra the absolutely most important thing is that she likes to visit ice cream score stores who claim they're the best. And so we definitely need to delve into that. Well welcome to unstoppable mindset and thank you for being here.   Terra Davis  01:58 Thank you, Michael.   Michael Hingson  01:59 So let's get into this ice cream store business who do you think is the best so far?   Terra Davis  02:04 So I grew up in a very small town in New Jersey and South Jersey to be exact and so I grew up around a bunch of mom and pop ice cream stores if you will my for most of my life. And I have to give a shout out to cravings ice cream. They are locally all around and they have incredible ice cream. But if I'm looking at the guest the big retailer ice creams spots that you could find all over the country. Jenny's ice cream is definitely one that I would recommend as the the up and coming   Michael Hingson  02:50 so when I lived in Westfield we would go over to I think it was in Cranford or Scotch Plains scoops, which I n people who work for me love to go to so we had a lot of fun go into scoops and thought it was pretty good. I wouldn't say it's the best but it was definitely something that made life worthwhile for us. And so we always enjoyed scoops.   Terra Davis  03:14 I have to check that out.   Michael Hingson  03:17 Yeah, I don't know. If they're there, where do you live now?   Terra Davis  03:22 So now I'm in Dallas, Texas,   Michael Hingson  03:24 here in Dallas. So yeah, that's a little far from scoops. But,   Terra Davis  03:27 but when I travel, I try to make it a mission of mine to go out and find an ice cream.   Michael Hingson  03:35 The best place I ever experience was in Berkeley, a place called bots. And I learned about it from Hazel timbre who was the wife now the late wife of the founder of the National Federation of the Blind Dr. Jacobus, Tim Brooke. And the family had their biggest meal of the day at breakfast because that was when everybody was together. And also if you ate a big meal at breakfast, you didn't need to eat as much the rest of the day and you had more energy and one of the things that they did was they would go down the hill from where they lived on Shattuck road and go to boxes, ice cream, store company and buy a quart of ice cream that had to weigh if it was a quart, two and a half pounds. It was about the richest and the most wonderful ice cream I think that I have ever experience it isn't there anymore. There was another one I think in San Francisco called Bud's which was pretty good. And I think it's still around somewhere but bots was always great. Loved it.   Terra Davis  04:42 Well Bravo here in Dallas is phenomenal,   Michael Hingson  04:45 too. Well, you know, we're just going to have to get to Dallas and go with you and do an ice cream tour. Well do. So now that we've dealt with the substantive part of the podcast. Tell me a little bit about you growing up and and all of that kind of stuff.   Terra Davis  05:00 Yeah, so I mentioned I grew up in a really small town in south Jersey, and I was about 1520 minutes outside of Philadelphia. And when most people think of New Jersey, they oftentimes think about New York. And they never think about the southern part of this itty bitty state. But that is where I grew up. And I grew up in a house of educators, my mom and my dad, are both teachers. And they have been in the industry for a very long time. And they really instilled upon me the importance of one education, of course, but also just treating people well. And my dad, actually, his, his father, was the NAACP, president of his local chapter in New Jersey. And my grandmother was very involved in the NAACP and also on the civil rights movement as well and met between the two of them a lot of civil rights pioneers, who they would invite over to their home, they would invite to come and speak. And so my dad, really growing up around that, could never leave that, and would oftentimes tell stories to my sister and I, about some of those experiences. And I think that now, you know, di is a part of what I get paid to do. But it's always been a part of who I am, as a result of just who I have in my life and their own experience.   Michael Hingson  06:50 So you, you've been enculturated, if you will, into the Civil Rights world, especially right from the very beginning,   Terra Davis  07:00 from the very beginning. So go ahead, go ahead. No, go ahead.   Michael Hingson  07:04 What was it like going to school?   Terra Davis  07:07 It was so undergrad was amazing. I was actually just speaking to someone about this the other day, because at the time, I didn't realize I, I didn't realize that I wanted to go to Howard University. I knew a little bit about its legacy. And it really wasn't until I stepped foot on campus, that I knew that that was the place that I was meant to be at. I really valued not only the professor's but the conversations that we were having about racial injustice. And what that looks like from a systemic approach. Even though my major was in journalism, I wasn't necessarily and I didn't have this, in my mind is something that I would be doing later on. It was it was just embedded in everything that we did in every class that we took. And on top of all of that, I really learned just how I think how broad the diaspora is, if you will of, of black people, not only in the United States, but outside of the United States. I think when I growing up in a really small town, I grew up in a bubble, where I only saw the people who I saw who looked like me, we shared very similar cultural values because of the area in which we grew up. But going Howard University, it really expanded my my view of others who might be black and living in Sacramento black and live in New York, black and living in Cincinnati, Ohio. And one of the things that I think is so important in that is understanding that people and cultures aren't necessarily a monolith. And it really depends on your environment and your lived experiences. And so I think that that was the it was one of the greatest teachers was just being there at at the university to be able to learn that.   Michael Hingson  09:27 What was it like when you were younger, going to elementary and secondary school and so on in terms of how you were treated or what your environment was like and how things were.   Terra Davis  09:38 It was lonely, but not I mean, the area that I grew up in was not very diverse at all. And so for me, I would usually be the one of only person of color, black person In my classroom or in my classes, and that can be an isolating feeling when you realize, because there's a moment that you realize that you don't necessarily know it going in. But when you realize that your are one of one of one or one of the few, it can become increasingly very lonely and very isolating. And usually, I would find myself getting picked to answer the questions around black culture, especially during Black History Month, which will be next month. And there's tremendous weight and being responsible for an entire group of people that, like I said, I learned, you know, just depending on your environment, and your lived experiences we all are coming from, we all have different views and vantage points. And so to have to speak for an entire culture, it just was it was, there was a tremendous amount of pressure. I think that also growing up at the same time, in that environment, and going to Elementary Middle School in these areas that weren't very diverse. It really prevented me from having the opportunity to get to know people from other cultures that weren't white or Caucasian. And so it really wasn't until probably later in middle school, and certainly not until high school, that I was able to interact with other other demographics, and get a better understanding of who a person was in what they believed and how their culture influenced their behavior and their personality. And it felt like it was done it it was it was such a meaningful experience for me, especially when I would watch Friends or peers who hadn't had that opportunity, and hadn't had those experiences, and had the stereotypical viewpoints in their minds of who people who are, are, are   Michael Hingson  12:27 did. Did you grow in any way to accept the concept that being one of a few are the only one maybe also gave you the opportunity to be a teacher? Or was there just too much pressure that that just didn't really strike you or seemed like it was a relevant thing to do. And I'll tell you why I asked that, because we who happen to have physical disabilities as our characteristics, and I'll talk about specifically blindness, most of the time, we're the only one. And today as an adult, especially, again, the only one that most people interact with. And people are always asking questions. And so you can resent that you can accept it, you can decide, well, this is a chance to educate. How did you react to all of that? Or how has your view changed over time? Possibly is a better question to ask,   Terra Davis  13:32 Oh, I welcomed it. I think I'm a unicorn in that sense, because I took it on as an opportunity for someone not to walk away from our conversation the same way that they entered. And so that way, when they met someone else, who looked like me, they had a better understanding of who that person might be. Because of it. Hey, so knew that there were some things about me that were not necessarily what those persons saw on television, or read in the newspaper when the newspapers were around, or it just just what they thought of. And so I really welcomed it because I thought that it broke barriers when we had those conversations. And also I don't want anyone to walk to be walking on this earth, ignorant when they don't have to be and ignorant in the truest sense of its definition or just not knowing. And so, if I'm around, I feel comfortable with I feel comfortable with someone asking me those Questions and wanting to understand it, I got questions about my hair, I got questions about the music that I liked the food that I eat, my family, just and then and then some of the more the more uncomfortable things about what people might see on television and the different portrayal of, of black people and fiction and also in documentary form that I was able, I hope to shed more light on.   Michael Hingson  15:32 It's interesting, the way you describe it, and I understand it fully, for lots of reasons. Do you find it at all interesting or amazing that so often, people are uncomfortable, just because someone looks different than them,   Terra Davis  15:53 I find it just a part of the human condition. Especially when you have this upbringing where, and this was the case, especially where I grew up, where if you don't, if you don't want to, you will never have to see anyone else who who doesn't look like you. Or who doesn't have or who doesn't have an experience or similar, you never have to, you never have to experience that person, or see that, at least in the very early stages of your life. And, you know, one of the things that I've observed is observed that most people will, depending on where they are living, will spend more time with people that look like them outside of the workplace. And when they're at work, if their workplace is just slightly diverse, they will find themselves interacting with co workers but only during the nine to five time and then once five o'clock, it's it's like I'm back to my my world with with my my one group that I feel very comfortable with. And I really challenge that I think there's there's a space in place for you to be around like minded individuals, and those individuals who look like you and have very similar experiences to you, I think that that's healthy. But I also believe that you should challenge yourself a bit. And because for me, I didn't have the choice to just be in an in a one in one environment. Um, I didn't have that I didn't have that as a as an option. And from from the nine to five, even past the five, that's not necessarily an option for me, especially depending on where I'm living at the time. And for some people, especially those who are in the I wouldn't say I'm saying majority, but I'm saying it very loosely, who are in the majority. You don't necessarily have to you don't that's you have to be more intentional about it. And so I challenge it, but I think it's all just a part of the human condition. Well, it's   Michael Hingson  18:22 part of the the human environment. But we also don't need to allow ourselves to be conditioned that way from me, for example, I don't focus on what people look like. Color is, is pretty much for me, for example, a meaningless concept. I understand it, I understand, and could talk to you about it from a physics standpoint all day long. But it amazes me that any one of one color could look down on someone else from another color because for me, it's irrelevant. And maybe I'm very fortunate I do know blind people who are and have learned to be prejudice. But I don't know that especially if they're totally blind from birth, whether they truly understand the whole color concept, but it's it's still very fascinating that we can look at someone and who just because they look different than us another color or any number of other characteristics can decide that we're less than they are especially when the day is the typical white majority. And there are more white people than in this country especially then there are other people although that is slowly evolving. But still, I think that that each race or each color tends to have some of that attitude where we tend to not be comfortable around the people that look different than us. And for me, that's kind of really just an amazing concept.   Terra Davis  20:07 It is for me too. And I noticed growing up the people who are very uncomfortable, I mean, I'm a woman. And so the uncomfortability that I experienced is so much different from, from my spouse, who's a man who's a black man. And his level of what he experiences in terms of people who are uncomfortable around him is much more high end, people are usually afraid of him when he's walking down the street. And we can definitely see that. And for me, I could pretty much go up to anyone. And I can sense that they might be uncomfortable from the start. But it's much easier and faster to break down that barrier than it is for him. Especially with like the preconceived notions and ideas that they might have about me.   Michael Hingson  21:03 I remember once going with my wife to a restaurant for breakfast, my wife was in a wheelchair her whole life. So she told a different, and she passed away this this past November. But I have 40 years of memories. So that works. But we went into this restaurant for breakfast and went up to the counter. And the woman behind the counter, I, as I learned later just kind of stood there looking between us. Because me Being blind doesn't necessarily make direct always eye contact. And Karen being shorter, and in a wheelchair. This woman didn't know who to talk to just to say, Would you like a table or a booth or anything like that? And so she stood there mute. And finally, Karen said to me, I don't think the hostess knows who to talk to or what to ask. And so I said, Well, you know, she could ask us if we want breakfast, and where we want to sit and all that. And we could kind of go from there. And that did break the ice. I'm sure she was a little bit embarrassed. But then she, she did ask all the right questions. And we went, and we sat down and we ate. And people were comfortable with us. But it is just amazing that we can live in a world where we're taught. And I believe that's really the issue is that we're taught to think that people because they look different, or have some characteristics that we don't, are different, and not necessarily as good as we are. And we are taught that all too often. And it's it's a problem that we have to address at some point. When we talk about diversity. The problem that some of us have with diversity is it is completely thrown out disabilities, when you ask people to describe what diversity means they'll talk about race, sexual orientation, gender, and so on. Social justice and other things. You never hear disabilities mentioned, or, or so rarely, that it doesn't even count to do it, which is unfortunate. But then they talk about Dei, and they talk describe it as the same. And my position is you can't do that if you're going to talk about inclusion. Either you are inclusive, or you're not. And that really means you got to change your mindset. And recognize that people who have so called disabilities are really part of the world. And as I describe it, disability needs to be learned as something that does not mean a lack of ability, but just a characteristic. And we we it's amazing how we are so stuck in our attitudes about how to deal with all of that.   Terra Davis  23:41 Oh, absolutely. I have watched people retreat as soon as they encounter someone with a disability, especially a physical disability. And I guess a one where and also a disability disability that is visible because there are some mental disabilities that are are visible. But the ones that are invisible takes an out you take time to actually have a discussion and talk to someone and sometimes that person then has to disclose it in order for you to know and then all of a sudden it turns into this Alright, now how should I act around you? What should I do and and I find that fascinating as well. And also that the DEI conversations that we're having, it seems like the country as a whole is starting to get comfortable being uncomfortable discussing race, discussing ethnicity, discussing gender, discussing, even sexual expression and orientation. And when it comes to disabilities, and neurodiversity, all of a sudden it's like retreat retreat retreat   Michael Hingson  24:59 because cuz we're afraid that we could become like you. Mm hmm. And one of the things that we have to somehow get the world to understand is, so what? So you become like me, does that mean that you're less of an individual and I know so many people who have had to go through the rehabilitation process, people who have become paralyzed, or blind or whatever, and they go through a process. And most of the time, I'm, again, dealing with blindness, but most of the time, the agencies will teach you to use some technologies and so on. But they don't really get to the root issue of attitude and philosophy. It's a fairly small number of agencies that truly will work to get their clients to understand that blindness is okay. It may be taking a different Lane down the road of life, but you're still on the road of life. And it is something that we just tend not to deal with. And a lot of the professionals in the field of work for the blind, although they would deny it truly don't have a great positive attitude about blindness themselves. And so the result of that is that they tend to operate in a way where they're not really helping people who come to them to live up to or learn to live up to their full potential. It is still such a fear that we haven't dealt with,   Terra Davis  26:40 for sure, and not knowing how to respond. I remember watching that with my grandfather, who I mentioned to did all these incredible things and was president of his local NAACP chapter and he was World War Two that, but he was blind as well. And he wasn't blind to his entire life. But I but my entire life, that's, that's what I knew I knew of him. And I remember watching people who would meet him for the first time, he was well over six foot, and had a very deep voice that commanded your attention, and have that type of personality as well. But I would watch people want to treat him with kid gloves, and treat him as if he, he was a child in a sense, because of the fact that he was blind. And he didn't, he didn't need that treatment, he would very quickly let you know, in his own way, that, you know, he was this, this powerhouse of a person. But it's, it just always intrigued me to watch people who were meet him for the very first time, we just see that.   Michael Hingson  28:09 I'm amazed when somebody meets me, maybe I've talked with them on the phone or whatever. And they say, You didn't sound blind. And I'm sitting there going, what the heck does that mean? Oh, well, you know? No, right. It's amazing. Well, you know, you went to Howard University, then what did you do?   Terra Davis  28:32 So after I graduated from Howard, I ended up sort of falling into. I really didn't know what I wanted to do next. I knew that it wasn't going to be journalism in the traditional sense. And I knew that my passion and my gift was in communications. I just didn't know where to put that. And I sort of fell into this place where I found myself doing more of like corporate communications and somehow someway ended up in the legal world. Did you major in journalism? I did, okay. Just want to hang out there. Oh, yeah.   Michael Hingson  29:20 And one of those reporters A.   Terra Davis  29:24 And they're just so happened to being these, these law firms that were looking for people with journalism and communications backgrounds, because they needed people to be able to write and write well, and write in a way that as a journalist who who's writing for someone who may only have a fifth grade education or you're writing for the year as someone who is very simple So I understand like I can, I don't need to do a whole lot to get the point of what you're trying to say. And so I fell into this little industry. And one of the things that I quickly realized was that I was in an environment very similar to the environment that I grew up in the environment that I went to elementary school and middle school and where it was, there was maybe one or two of me. And there might be more people who were serving as enrolls that weren't necessarily business professional roles like and like executive positions. And I, and then also, there weren't, there wasn't a whole lot of diversity with the lawyers. And I wanted to understand why that was. And so I started asking questions, and I started attending different events and noticing the same thing in the legal industry over and over and over again, and I really wanted to change that I really wanted to be that person who not only increase the diversity, so it looks like the world in which we live in. But one where someone who looks like me, can come in and feel comfortable being themselves there, and not feel like they have to wear a mask, when they're working. And when they're with their peers. And then when they go home, they can take that mask off, and there's a sense of relief. Yeah,   Michael Hingson  31:39 it's, it's amazing that we hide so much sometimes, isn't it?   Terra Davis  31:46 It is, it is. And I noticed that I mean, maybe auspices in this is probably in other industries is is probably also in the medical field. And it's probably also in the corporate world, when you look at it, that there are so many people who just feel like they cannot be authentically them. They feel like they have to speak a certain way. And they have to have a certain educational background and a certain familial background. And they also need to potentially come from money, and they need to dress a certain way in order just to be accepted. And we spend so much of our time at work more time at work than we do at home with our family and with our friends. And that can become exhausting. And not only can it become exhausting, it can hurt you mentally, it can hurt you physically, it can hurt you, emotionally, and I I knew coming from Howard University, I didn't want to I didn't I didn't want that for my life. I didn't want to go to a workplace where I couldn't be myself.   Michael Hingson  33:07 Why do you think that circumstances like that tend to be the case? Why is it that in the legal profession where we are supposed to not pay attention to those kinds of things, and that we're supposed to really work for justice for all? Why do you think that still, the prevailing attitudes are as you describe them?   Terra Davis  33:34 I think it's the systems and I better set up. And I think that it is, for a long time in the legal industry, and in particular, the corporate legal industry. What I believe has been happening is those who are diverse, don't always have didn't always let me say Not right now. But let me say you didn't always have the means or way to get into law school, to go to law school and to succeed in law school. And so you end up with this oneness when when of graduates who complete the program, who go to the top schools who have the best grades, and then they go into this corporate law firm setting, and they create their own culture that mirrors the culture that they're used to.   Michael Hingson  34:41 It gets back to society, dictating this whole concept of you need to be stereotyped in a certain way. And there's no allowance for difference.   Terra Davis  34:54 Absolutely, absolutely. There's none. It's, it says if It's as if difference is something that is similar to having a cold or something that's not necessarily supposed to be in your body that your body rejects as a result, and I feel like difference is, is viewed the exact same way. It's like, oh, no, this is something that isn't, is it right to have and we need to reject it.   Michael Hingson  35:25 Do you think that with more people, say, who are black or of other cultures? And I would hope over time, and I think there's some of this that is happening, people with disabilities going into a law, environmental legal environment, do you think that this will change any of the attitudes of not really tolerating difference and so on, that we see? Or are they just going to conform to the system?   Terra Davis  36:03 Oh, I definitely think the attitudes will change. I'm seeing it right now. Where there is an intolerance for not not accepting the change and not welcoming it. And being resistant to that. And I'm watching it with the policies that are created, I'm watching it with the positions that are being created to make sure that the culture reflects an environment that is much more welcoming and inclusive. I, I have hope, I also believe that there's this younger generation that's coming in. And the world in which they live looks much differently than the world that I grew up in, in the world that others who come before me have lived in. And I think that they just don't have the patience for that type of environment. And I definitely am seeing a shift. If I didn't see the shifts before, when I first came into this industry, which I hadn't seen those things happening. I definitely saw it in 2020. And I am hoping to see that continue to evolve and expand beyond some of the groups that we spoke about. And I'm hoping to see that expand into disabilities more than it has already. I think that we we are due for a shift.   Michael Hingson  37:49 And that will be a good thing. If that can continually happen. That will be a really exciting thing to see. And I hope that it does. Where do you work?   Terra Davis  38:00 So I actually work at a firm called Norton rose Fulbright.   Michael Hingson  38:05 So you actually are at a law firm, I am at a law firm. And do you? Well, so what what exactly do you do there?   Terra Davis  38:15 So I am a dei manager. And my primary responsibility is to ensure that the clients that we have, that are really looking to us to make the change as well. And see equitable opportunities for diverse attorneys and inclusive practices adopted, that it's happening. And so what I'm doing is I'm communicating that with our clients, and I'm collaborating with our clients on those efforts, and coming up with, with what I hope are good ideas, to make sure that that we aren't moving backward and that we're moving forward and that we are actually practicing what we preach and walking the walk and not just talking the talk   Michael Hingson  39:11 as a person who clearly has some deep thoughts and in good ideas and knowledge about this whole concept of inclusion and so on. Do you get ever to be involved in any writing of legal arguments and so on to or other things to ensure that things are presented in the most inclusive way? Or do you get to be involved in that into the legal aspect of it just because of your journalism background? And clearly you're a great communicator.   Terra Davis  39:43 Thank you. Now I don't I'm not involved in the legal aspects of everything. I save that for everyone who, who went through their years of law school and pass the bar. What I am I'm really inspired by our, the written policies that firms like mine are putting down to paper, to institutionalize inclusive practices, so that those things can only get built upon and not erased for the next person entering that is, is looking for an environment that is one that they can thrive in. And so what I'm really looking at is, what do we talk about? Having persons with disabilities and making life a lot easier for them in the workplace, but what accommodations do we have in place? We talk about the fact that we would like to see more LGBTQ plus attorneys in the workspace, but how are we allowing them to be their true and authentic selves and not feel like that's a part of them that they have to hide when they come into the office every day. So really, what I'm looking at are more of the policies and best practices and things that make someone not only want to work for a firm like mine, but what to say.   Michael Hingson  41:19 And that, of course, is really the issue. It isn't just getting there, but it's wanting to stay. And a good work environment, a positive work environment is, of course, second to none anywhere.   Terra Davis  41:35 Absolutely, I mean, I don't know how many cultural statements I read on various websites of companies and firms that said, we value our people, just just the standard language. And then, you know, when you get into those places, you find that none of what they've communicated on their website, or in their handbook is necessarily how it is how it is. And so I believe in training, I believe in uncomfortable conversations for the betterment of, of the place that you are at, I believe, in, like I said, pot adopting policies that are put to paper, but just, I think dei work at its core, and I know, others in the space will argue with me on this is is valuing and accepting people, but also caring for them for just who they are, and not expecting them to, to assimilate or form themselves into into something that they're not. At the same time, someone could argue and say, Well, does that mean that I believe in this? And I believe in I, I don't believe in, in gay marriage. And I come into the workplace, does that then mean that I shouldn't have to work with someone who is gay? And I absolutely challenge that because I think that everything that we do, as DEI practitioners should be rooted in a place of love and acceptance. And the end of the day, when we're building on we're building up in our on what we're doing. That should be the foundation that we look to and what we're doing, like, is this bill in a place of love and acceptance?   Michael Hingson  43:55 Yeah, it's it's the usual thing that we tend not to tolerate difference very well, what my, my view about whether gay people should marry or not is really irrelevant. As far as they're concerned. That's their choice. And, you know, I'm amazed when people talk about God, and religion, and this isn't right in the Bible. But Jesus also said, you know, render under Caesar, would a Caesar render unto God, what is God's and the reality is, ultimately, if there is a problem, no matter what it is, that goes against God, that's up to that individual and God to deal with. And there'll be a time that they have to do that, but it's not my place to judge that.   Terra Davis  44:49 Absolutely. And I think a lot of things are also just built in, built with fear. And I think we have to check that I think because that we find ourselves when when when we find ourselves saying no, because we have to really take a look at why we're saying no. And if there's some fear attached to that, no, then it's probably not a good reason to say no. And I think when it comes to dei work, there's resistance. More often than not, because of fear of the unknown. And we've got to, we've got to do I think, a better job of, of leaning into that fear and, and understanding Well, where is this coming from? And why are we doing that? And why does that need to be maintained?   Michael Hingson  45:43 Also, the fear of the unknown is easily addressed, because what is unknown, especially in this kind of environment, with what we're talking about, can certainly become known. People can learn more, if they will.   Terra Davis  45:57 Or they can, I mean, I'm like, especially when I was in college, and even before then, the tools and access that I had were very limited. And so it took a much more conscious approach and effort to get to the information that I needed to get to. And now, I mean, we all have, we all have cell phones and our cell phones or little mini computers, and we can get that information right there. I mean, it's discerning what information is the right information at. But I think that I think just using that, and using it as an excuse, as I just didn't know, when I didn't understand is not one that we can lean on anymore.   Michael Hingson  46:48 I know for me, just picking up a cell phone and doing that kind of research willy nilly at the drop of a hat is a little bit more of a challenge and slower to do. But I'm amazed when I go to family gatherings and so on, somebody makes a comment. What I discover is everybody's on their computers, or actually their cell phones, or their iPads, looking up the information and and talking about what they they read, which I think is is exactly what you're saying the information is there if we would take advantage of looking for it and using it and learning from it.   Terra Davis  47:27 Absolutely.   Michael Hingson  47:30 And it's it is it is so much of an information oriented world and the information is there, the internet is such a treasure trove. It is that is amazing that more people don't do it and use it. And I realized that we have a lot of our population that is growing older, and they tend to not gravitate to it as fast. But I think even if they would, they would be amazed and would discover an incredible world that they could learn a whole lot more about which would benefit them and everyone else.   Terra Davis  48:06 If we were doing a privilege walk as a country, one of the things that we would all be able to step forward for is is technology, I think AXA and some some capacity. So I agree with you on that. Just how far do you want to step out of your comfort zone to access the information? That's   Michael Hingson  48:28 exactly and of course, it's always all about moving out of your comfort zone, we tend once we get used to something, we just don't want to change what we do. And there's nothing wrong with taking a little bit of risk, it doesn't mean that you have to jump out of an airplane with or without a parachute. But you can certainly learn a lot more about skydiving. And maybe you'd find out well maybe this will be fun to do or not. Personally, I am not interested in jumping out of an airplane even with a parachute. But I also know that if I were in a situation where I needed to do it, I could adopt a mindset that says okay, that's what I got to do. I know that much about me whether I want to do it or not. I can still do it. And probably that comes from being a risk taker most of my life and going to strange places doing things that I never thought I would do things that other people take for granted. But for me, it's a new experience or something that, as I said involves from my perspective taking risks, but that's okay to nothing wrong with a little risk to make life far more fun and exciting and adventurous. Not at all. It's it's always a good thing to do. So, what would be one thing that you think people should learn or know that they don't know about? This whole idea of inclusion that we're talking about?   Terra Davis  50:00 There are so many things that I think people should know. But if I had to drill down on just one thing, it's, it's really going back to what we were speaking about, which is it only takes you, it only takes you to step outside of your comfort zone, to want to understand, to want to learn to want to grow in this space. And I think what ends up happening is we lean on, people like myself who are, are dedicating our profession to this area, and not realizing how much we can influence it. On our own.   Michael Hingson  50:48 You live in a world where you're constantly being challenged, you're facing differences and so on. And it has to get from time to time frustrating speaking from experience, what, what motivates you, what's keeping you motivated,   Terra Davis  51:03 what's been keeping me motivated lately, is remembering why I started to do this in the first place. When I got into this, I would say what I did when I decided to dedicate my time to this and move away from what I had initially been doing, which was that communication side of everything. I was sitting in a hospital bed, I had just given birth to my daughter, and George Floyd's funeral was on. And I remember one of the hospital workers who was responsible for taking vitals and, and cleaning out the rooms. She came in my room and she stood by me and we, we didn't really know each other all that well at all, because you're only in the hospital, but for so many days after you give birth. And we were in the room in silence, watching the funeral. And immediately, we're connected from that. And I think when I go back after a challenging day, and I remember the way that I felt watching it, and the way that I was able to connect with the stranger watching it, it reminds me that there is greater good and doing the work that I'm doing that far outweighs the challenges that I have in a day.   Michael Hingson  52:59 Even so, what keeps you up at night, obviously, there are a lot of things that go on and weigh on your mind because of all this so what keeps you up at night,   Terra Davis  53:07 hoping that people get it open the people get what I do, and why it's so important. And, and understand that I know, as of late, there's been a huge focus, and a huge driver. I when it comes to the I work around the dollar, and that there's monetary gain in focusing on diversity. And while I know that that is true,   Terra Davis  53:45 I, I What keeps me up at night is hoping that we can   Terra Davis  53:52 we can see a deeper reason beyond the monetary game. And that's and that when we look at and I hate to say this because it sounds so it sounds so Speechy right. But and so motivational like but when we look at our kids and when I when I look at my my daughter's two now when I look at her, and I look at her friends, and I think about the type of world that that they're going to be in and I think about the type of workplace that they'll be working in and and the hurdles that I faced when I first got in to into into the workplace are the hurdles I face just at school because I was different. I would like to believe that people aren't looking at making it better for them just for the sake of mine. I would like to believe that people are looking to make it a bit better for them because that's just The right thing to do and because there's such good in it,   Michael Hingson  55:06 what is one thing, you've done a lot of things, and you've had some pretty amazing experiences. But what's one thing that you haven't done that you'd like to do? In addition to finding more ice cream stores?   Terra Davis  55:23 I think that I would definitely hold on to, we talked about risk earlier. And I'd like to be able to take many more risks that I have so far. I, I'd like to challenge myself in specific areas, inside and outside of this, this work. And risk for me is just as trying something new, not necessarily skydiving, but trying something new and in a slightly different environment. And I am hoping that I am able to, to find what that looks like, in the next couple of years for me, and take that leap.   Michael Hingson  56:12 What's What's one thing that you can think of? Or can you think of something right now as an example of taking that risk that you haven't taken,   Terra Davis  56:20 I would have to say that, right now a risk that I hadn't necessarily taken or pursued in a way that would be beneficial for me, is understanding more about these leadership roles. And these executive positions in the space, understanding a bit more about social impact Parilla dei lens, I'd like to, to see myself not only learning more about that, but stepping into that a bit more   Michael Hingson  57:00 makes a lot of sense. And I think makes for an interesting adventure. And when you do that, we want to have you come back so we can hear more about how it all went to. I would love to now, what would you like your legacy to be? How would you like people to remember you just kind of curious   Terra Davis  57:19 as someone who genuinely cared, as someone who not only genuinely cared, but when I, when I get up in the morning, my challenge to myself is to make sure that I am influential in a way where it's giving someone else it's getting someone else closer to where they want to be, and what they're hoping to achieve. And doing it in a way where because of what they look like, because of who they are. isn't, isn't the reason why they can't get to those things. And so I'd like my legacy to be the person that helped them do that. And even if it's not 1000s of people, and it's just a few, I feel good about that. And even if they don't know my name, and they don't know, that was the thing that I did in a piece of what helped them was something that I did, I'm okay with that. But that's what I'd like my legacy to be   Michael Hingson  58:51 at the end of the day, or each day. Do you ever just take time to sit back and think internally and think about what happened in the course of the day and do self assessment of what was good? What wasn't? How to maybe improve the things that weren't? Or what could you have done better that even worked out great, right from the outset? Sort of self analysis, introspection,   Terra Davis  59:18 all the time, it's and so when people ask you the question of what's, what's a weakness of yours, that introspective thinking is definitely one of mine. And at the same time, it's a strength because I think that it's important to do that, because then you can learn from from the day or the events that happened in that day. At the same time, it hurts me when I fall into this negative thought pattern around those things. I was just talking to someone about this, not that long ago, about how I Couldn't get so caught up in my head, thinking about things that I should have said should have done, that I miss, I can miss the good things that happened. And I can miss the things that went right. Because I'm, I'm holding myself to the fire to do everything the right way and say all the things that I needed to say. And that's just not how that's just not how our lives work. If they did work that way, I don't think we'd ever grow.   Michael Hingson  1:00:34 And putting things in, as you say, the right way, the fact is the right way. Might need to evolve or will evolve over time, because what seems right, maybe needs to change sometimes.   Terra Davis  1:00:50 Oh, absolutely. I was just listening to someone. So I've Sirius XM. And I was driving home from picking my daughter from school. And I was listening to someone who was asking the question of the day, which was, what things did you use to believe? Or stand by that no longer serve you? Or you've, you've now realized that that's not really that's not a part of who you are your core value or what you believe anymore? And it was interesting to hear some of the things that that people thought about and what and what they were their responses were to that question. And you're exactly right. The right thing might be right, right now in this moment in the second, but it's not necessarily going to be the right thing. In the next month or the next year or the next few years. Think about all the things that this country thought were right at the time, and they just simply and they could have been for that person or those individuals. And then later on, we come to find out they weren't the right thing.   Michael Hingson  1:02:07 It's It's fascinating to think about it. And I think we all need to look at evolving our thought processes. And I'm a firm believer and introspection and firm believer and evaluating us each other, our ourselves every day. We're our best teachers, we're going to be the ones who can teach us the best. And we really should take advantage of that. It's a wonderful gift.   Terra Davis  1:02:37 It absolutely is. I'm thankful for that. Again, like I said, I'm I'm thankful for when I when I'm able to do it in a way that isn't bringing me down. And is it is it? Is it serving me in a way that's helping me get to the point of growth that I need to be. And it's it's how I how I live, it's how I started planning for my next few days, it's how I how I can plan my life really is just having those quiet moments to myself. And some of that comes in journaling as well.   Michael Hingson  1:03:21 Yeah, I have never been a great journaler. But I understand it. And I tend to just try to think about things and keep things in my mind. But I do from time to time, find ways to make sure that I will remember things. I find reminders and other things that my little echo device and other things can do to remind me are very important things to do. So I appreciate the whole concept of journalism, journaling and vision mapping and so on and treasure mapping because they are extremely important tools, if we would use them to remind us and keep us centered. Absolutely. Well, Tara, this has been absolutely fun. I hope you've enjoyed it. And I certainly have. And I think that we have talked about a lot of things and given each other and hopefully you who are listening out there, lots to think about and I really am serious. We need to do it again, especially when you take a few of those risks and want to come back and talk about it. I am ready to do it wherever you are.   Terra Davis  1:04:33 Thank you Michael. I enjoyed my time. This has been a great discussion. And he really had me thinking with a with several of these questions. I'm gonna go back and look at my journal tonight and then start to map out. I've so appreciated it and I would love to join you again.   Michael Hingson  1:04:55 Well, we will have to absolutely do and I told you this would be a conversation and we'd go in All sorts of directions that probably never thought of doing at the beginning. But I appreciate all of your help and preparing for it. And I appreciate you and your time. And I'm very much looking forward to the chance to do it again. I hope that you listening will give us a five star rating go to Apple or wherever and please rate the podcast. It's valuable and it helps us a lot. And also, I would appreciate it if you want to make comments, feel free to do so you can email me you can do comments with your ratings, but I always ready to receive emails, you can send me an email at Mike at Michael hingson.com. Better yet do Michaelhi at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com How Terra can people reach out to you?   Terra Davis  1:05:52 You can certainly reach out to me on LinkedIn, you can find my name T E R R A Davis D A V I S. And that's really the best way to reach out to me honestly, I found myself getting off of social media slowly but surely, over time. Consuming, it's too time consuming, but I'm certainly on LinkedIn.   Michael Hingson  1:06:21 Well, I hope that you all will respond and let us know what you thought. And you'll be back with us again next time when we do unstoppable mindset. You are also if you need to learn more about some of our other podcasts Welcome to go to www dot Michael hingson M I C H A E L H I N G S O N.com/podcast. And check us out and listen to some of our past episodes. Also, I will just tell you, I do keynote speaking and if there's ever an opportunity where you feel that I might be able to add value and come and talk to your organization or some organization that you know, please reach out to me I'd love to hear from you. But again, Terra, this has been fun. And thank you again for being a part of this and giving us all of your time today.   Terra Davis  1:07:10 Likewise, thank you for having me.   Michael Hingson  1:07:16 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

On this Wednesday's edition of Sid's Take, time is taken into perspective when Russ from Scotch Plains, NJ has to try and beat Sid in figuring out which event came first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the In Infinite Ways podcast, host, Jonathan Sitko, is joined by guest, Steven Serafin, to discuss Steven's journey in ministry and now his position as a Pastoral Associate at St. Bartholomew Parish in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.To learn more, visit the Catholic Apostolate Center website.

Kairos Chronic Pain Coaching, LLC (908-370-5713) is Scotch Plains, New Jersey's most trusted name in mental health coaching and compassionate care for young children with a mental illness or disorder. Go to https://www.kairoschronicpain.com to find out more. Kairos Chronic Pain Coaching, LLC 567 Park Avenue, Scotch Plains, New Jersey 07076, United States Website https://www.kairoschronicpain.com/ Phone +1-908-370-5713 Email christina@kairosbehavioralhealth.com

Kairos Chronic Pain Coaching, LLC (+1-908-370-5713) offers tailored mental health coaching and therapy for teens. Regardless of your needs, you can get a personal roadmap to achieve your goals! Learn more at: https://www.kairoschronicpain.com

WBCQ airdate - 10/22/22 (7:00 pm) Welcome to Fluxedo Junction! Each episode we bring you the best music of all genres from throughout the world, and this week we'll be speaking with Jim Babjak, songwriter and lead guitarist from The Smithereens.   Founded in New Jersey in 1980, The Smithereens have been creating electrifying, original rock'n'roll for 42 years. Guitarist Jim Babjak, drummer Dennis Diken, and bassist Mike Mesaros grew up together in Carteret and lead singer, the late Pat DiNizio, hailed from Scotch Plains. The band paid its dues in clubs all over the NYC tri-state area from Kenny's Castaways in Greenwich Village to the Court Tavern and Stone Pony in NJ. As The Smithereens' fame escalated, they were in heavy rotation on MTV and appeared on The Tonight Show, Conan O'Brien, and Saturday Night Live. They've since performed on stages coast to coast from the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles to the Meadowlands Arena in NJ to Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, and internationally from Europe to Australia. Tour mates have included Tom Petty, Squeeze, The Pretenders, Lou Reed, and Ramones, among others.   The Smithereens' take no prisoners sound, reflecting their Garden State roots, has resonated with fans worldwide over the course of 17 albums and 2500+ live shows. Their most recent release, COVERS, features 22 of the bands favorite songs first recorded by other artists. They've also inspired generations of musicians, including Kurt Cobain, who counted The Smithereens as a major influence on Nirvana.    And with the 2017 passing of Pat DiNizio, the surviving members have decided to persevere and carry on their shared musical legacy. Using guest vocalists including Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms and Marshall Crenshaw, they continue to entertain and rock fans all over the U.S. and the world!    The Lost Album is now available on all digital platforms and the physical CD order link via:Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ffna8wnu Collector's Choice Music: https://www.ccmusic.com/lost-album/708535702429?mibextid=5souq8 Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Smithereens-Lost-Album-CD/1538666208 Tower Records: https://towerrecords.com/products/the-smithereens-lost-album And later this Fall on The Smithereens' website: https://www.officialsmithereens.com

DIS/Honorable Mentions JH:hm: suicide prevention hot line becoming 988Ta:hm: Nichelle Nichols, Space iconBlack History is Happening Every Day!Shady Rest Golf and Country Club in Scotch Plains joins National Register of Historic PlacesOur Sponsors This WeekLumi Labs Microdose GummiesOur show this week is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. Microdose Gummies deliver perfect, entry-level doses of THC that help you feel just the right amount of good. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code: FANTI  to get free shipping & 30% off your first order. Go ahead and @ usEmail: FANTI@maximumfun.orgIG@FANTIpodcast@Jarrett Hill@rayzon (Tre'vell)Twitter@FANTIpodcast@TreVellAnderson@JarrettHill@Swish (Senior Producer Laura Swisher)FANTI is produced and distributed by MaximumFun.orgLaura Swisher is senior producer Music: Cor.eceGraphics: Ashley Nguyen

Did you know that more than one third of high school students suffer from mental health issues? If you're a teenager in Summit, Scotch Plains, or a surrounding part of NJ, Kairos Chronic Pain Coaching can help. Go to https://www.kairoschronicpain.com (https://www.kairoschronicpain.com) for more information.

Kairos Chronic Pain Coaching, LLC (833-936-1324) based in Scotch Plains is passionate about helping teens in Holmdel, NJ with their mental health. From eating disorders to anxiety, we are here to listen and help you find your way. Learn more at https://www.kairoschronicpain.com (https://www.kairoschronicpain.com)

Frank Lazzaro is a trial attorney with the law firm of Lutz, Shafranski, Gorman & Mahoney in New Brunswick specializing in personal injury law.  He did his undergraduate studies at Rutgers University and went to New York Law School.  He did a legal clerkship with The Honorable Nicholas J. Stroumtsos in the Middlesex County Superior Court. Frank has been at his present firm for 12+ years during which time he has obtained multiple 6 and 7-figure settlements and verdicts for his clients.  He is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney.  He is also a member of the New Jersey Bar Association, Middlesex County Bar Association, and Middlesex County Trial Lawyers Association. Frank has lectured and given seminars for the Middlesex County Trial Lawyers Association, New Jersey Defense Association, and Middlesex County Bar Association.  He has also been featured as a "Superlawyer" by New Jersey Super Lawyers Magazine for multiple years.  Frank has received the highest AV-Preeminent Rating by Martindale Hubbell.  Many of his verdicts and settlements have appeared perennially in lists of New Jersey's best settlements and verdicts. As far as his personal life, Frank is married with two children and resides in Scotch Plains, NJ. How to connect with Frank:Website: https://www.lsgmpa.com/Social Media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-lazzaro-2720604/More on Frank: https://www.lsgmpa.com/ourteam/frank-lazzaro/General Info:If you want to get a hold of us, or you would like to be a guest on our show simply click here: https://www.lbmsllc.com/contact-us/Is there a topic you would like us to cover? Send an email to info@lbmsllc.com or simply call 888-416-7752Want a free evaluation of your digital marketing presence? Simply click here: https://www.lbmsllc.com/online-presence-report/and we'll send you a free snapshot report to get started.For a copy of my book, 7 Steps to Recession-Proofing Your Business, click this link: https://www.lbmsllc.com/bookConnect With Us On Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lbmsllcInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbmsllc/Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbmsllcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/local-business-marketing-solutionsAlignable: https://www.alignable.com/fanwood-nj/local-business-marketing-solutionsConnect With Frank Directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdemming/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC97CxzX4YnOazsF39DOe34A

New #TeesMe podcast episode alert with Karen High of High End Cigars What You'll Hear What You'll Hear - High End Cigars, how an idea becomes reality - connecting golf & cigars - No golf = missed deals - Entrepreneurship before High End - Free yourself, delegate - Pairings 101, start your Cigar journey - ever meet a Certified Cigar Sommelier? - location, company, environment, & music matter - defining the high end cigar - you need market research, data, and analytics - Cigars are a common denominator - Beetles, a freezer and the $700 cigar - High End Golf Outing & Irvington, NJ HS Golf Club - Entrepreneur's Advice ************************* Things you should know: IG: @highendcigars www.highendcigarsnj.com Mentions: Casa Cuba by Arturo Fuente, @arturofuentecigars #35 by Padron, @padronCigars @shadyrestgolfclub @sheenah.pegeron Before she was the visionary behind NJ's newest premium cigar shop, Karen High was a mom, wife, grandmother, and entrepreneur. Karen is a proud business owner and sits on the board of the Middlesex County Small business Development Center. At the age of 18 , she began her corporate career in the insurance industry until 2011 before transitioning into private security business, Special Ops Security. Her inexperience and lack of exposure to golf, especially while in corporate America, has often kept her off the course. To gain access, Karen has since joined the Shady Rest Golf Club, the first African American owned Country Club in New Jersey. She is actively practicing her craft and encouraging others to break through the gender and socioeconomic barriers that exist in golf. In January of 2019, Karen opened High End Cigars in Scotch Plains, NJ with husband Anthony High to award the high end luxury cigar experience that NJ locals were missing. Karen advanced her expertise in the cigar industry by gaining her certification as a Certified Cigar Sommelier, and Whisky Ambassador. In an effort to merge the sub-cultures of sports golfing and cigars, High End Cigars hosted it's first Inaugural Golf Event in August 2021. Karen's primary motivation for hosting this annual event is to encourage cigar enthusiasts to support local NJ youth participating in golf sports events where they are typically under represented. Like his mother, her 12 year old son has made his presence on the golf course and continues to improve his skill. Karen uses her role as owner of High End Cigars to welcome women and other under represented demographics to explore golfing as an outlet to fitness, health and business opportunities. ************************* Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google https://anchor.fm/TeesMe #TeesMe #podcast #storiesNeedToBeTold #untoldStories #golf #cigars #blackGolfers #blackGolfMatters #2021 #IN18 #IN18Ways #entrepreneur #strategy #capacityBuilding #teambuilding #shadyRest #NJ #highEndCigars #highEnd #womensHistoryMonth #whm #womensherstorymonth --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The following is a computer-generated transcription, some grammar and spelling errors may be inherent Hey guys, it's Anthony Bandiero here with blue to gold law enforcement training. And I'm in Scotch Plains, New Jersey delivering a fantastic advanced search and seizure class to some great officers. And I want to give you take this opportunity, give you some advice. Okay? The advice is this. When it comes to pat downs, it's armed or dangerous, not armed and dangerous. And here's what I mean. In the seminal case of Terry versus Ohio, the US Supreme Court talked about, you know, Officer Martin McFadden with the Cleveland Police Department, you know, patrolling Euclid Avenue for something like 38 years on the job and most of them as a plainclothes officer. And he sees Terry and his friends going back and forth in front of stores and things that they're up to something about to commit an armed robbery. And he Pat's him down and finds two, revolvers Ontarian in a cohort. And the Supreme Court said that if the officer can articulate that the person is armed and dangerous, they can do the pat down will certainly McFadden had reasonable suspicion that Terry and his friends were on dangerous because there but the hold up the store. But I wish they didn't use that phrase. That phrase comes from Old Hollywood, you know, be on the lookout for a suspect who is considered armed and dangerous. But what they should have said, and it would have given a lot more guidance to hard working police officers out there that want to go home at night, is it's not armed and dangerous. It's armed or dangerous. We got to get out of our mind is armed and dangerous. Because here's what happens. Officers are sometimes not patting down people, because they consider them dangerous. But they have no articulation that they're also armed. That is not what courts look for. They routinely look for armed, are they armed? Do they have the bolts consistent with the weapon? Are they favoring one side, you know, on their waist area? You know, are they walking in with a certain gate? That seems like they have a concealed carry and so forth? Are they visibly armed, you can certainly disarm people during a lawful detention or probable cause traffic stop for your safety, even if they're lawfully carrying, if you believe that this would help your safety that is, that is easy for the courts. I mean, a person with a gun can instantly become dangerous.

Today on BEAT SID: Ed, a business owner from Scotch Plains, NJ is the next person to go one on one with Sid.  Will Sid change his luck around and come out with a win, or will Ed completely own Sid and the game? Find out now. BANG!

Hi and welcome to Small Business Toast. We celebrate small business Saturdays by featuring a local business on this podcast every week. Today we are taking a look at Soul Bowls in Scotch Plains, New Jersey Soul Bowls offers both a storefront and food truck serving hand crafted acai, pitaya, banana, and coconut bowls. All of their bowls are topped with raw granola, aka soulnola. Soul Bowls is one of the first Vegan and Raw restaurants in the area. Try out the Key Lime Pie Bowl that features a coconut base, kiwi, blueberries, coconut shreds, lime zest, and their homemade key lime pie bites. Stop by and support them if you are local. They are located at 2397 Mountain Ave. Otherwise, support them online via Facebook and Instagram. I will add a link to their website and social media profiles in the show notes for this episode. Thank you again for supporting local small businesses in your neighborhood. The company featured today did not pay for this promotion. The podcast was sponsored by toastlocal.com. Visit Toast Local if you would like free suggestions to improve your Google Business Listing. Thank you again for listening and cheers to supporting local businesses. soul bowls 2397 Mountain Ave, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076 (908) 264-8364 Website: https://www.soulbowlsnj.com/ Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/soulbowlsnj/ https://www.facebook.com/soulbowlsNJ/ https://twitter.com/soulbowlsnj Sponsor: Toast Local toastlocal.com

If you have been feeling overwhelmed mentally, contact Christina H Chororos at the Kairos Chronic Pain Coaching LLC (+1-908-370-5713) based in Scotch Plains NJ. She is a mental health coach who uses a combination of methods to provide solutions. Go to https://www.kairoschronicpain.com (https://www.kairoschronicpain.com) to learn more.

If you have been feeling overwhelmed mentally, contact Christina H Chororos at the Kairos Chronic Pain Coaching LLC (+1-908-370-5713) based in Scotch Plains NJ. She is a mental health coach who uses a combination of methods to provide solutions. Go to https://www.kairoschronicpain.com (https://www.kairoschronicpain.com) to learn more.

In Episode 6 of Laugh at the Odds Podcast with Heidi and Dave, we start our mini-series on grief and race, and how the latter impacts various ethnic and racial groups differently. This week, we focus on how Asians and Asian Americans grieve, seek help, and heal from their losses. We also talk about the model minority myth, and how this notion and the expectations thrust upon us Asians are detrimental to not just our healing and recovery from grief as widows, but also in our everyday lives, particularly in how we seek help and report crimes in light of the increased violence that's now finally being reported at a national and even international scaleSearch for Laugh at the Odds Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or your favorite podcast player. ABOUT OUR GUESTS:Allie Espanto-Mock, 51, was widowed in 2007 when her husband Stan was killed in a motorcycle accident. Rooted in Oakland, California and is the solo parent of her 2 daughters 18 and 21. Having worked in the Social Services field for over 25 years, she is ready to be an empty nester, travel and enjoy life with no regrets.Lynn Nguyen was widowed from her late husband Can in 2015. She currently works as a project manager in IT Finance and recently relocated from Texas to beautiful Clearwater, Florida, where she raises her two boys now aged 5 and 10 and catches sunsets whenever they can.Heidi Gutierrez joined this club that nobody wants to join, back in 2014, when her husband Arnel passed from a pulmonary embolism while cycling near their home in Scotch Plains, NJ. Today, she is surrounded by many friends in and outside the widowed community, including her new family consisting of Dave, Benji, and her two fur babies, Ziggy and Xena.ABOUT LAUGH AT THE ODDS: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LaughAtTheOddsPodcastWithHeidiDaveINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/laughattheoddspodcastLINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/LaughAtTheOddsPodcastBUY AS A COFFEE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/laughattheodds

It's an all new installment of the Jimmy Palumbo Show featuring special guest, comedian Mike Marino!  Jimmy gives his take on the Rutgers men and women's basketball team's performance in the NCAA tournament.  He dives into his bag of past bookings and talks about his experience with Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones on the set of “The Family”. Did Jimmy and Domenick Lombardozzi almost score an entire script in their time there?  Jimmy and Mike Marino catch up on life and wait until you hear what happens live on the air. Has to be a podcasting first.  All this and more on the newest episode of the “Jimmy Palumbo Show” ! Please subscribe and leave a review!  This episode was made possible through the support of our sponsors: Health and Fitness Professionals - Woodbridge, Scotch Plains and Freehold NJ Curtis Sells Houses - Remax LVC Transport - Central Jersey Body Bronze Tanning - Colonia, NJ Battle Rattle Woodworks Sunflower Meadow Seasoning Jason Devlin CRG Homes

In the 2nd installment of The Jimmy Palumbo Show we welcome longtime friend and Rutgers basketball legend Brian Ellerbe to the podcast. Brian was a 4 year starter for the Scarlet Knights and before this season's amazing run, he was the last PG to win an NCAA tournament game. The basketball stories are endless..from being heavily recruited with the likes of Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing to the crazy situation that led to his hiring as the head basketball coach at Michigan. All this after Jimmy tells his hilarious story about of of his favorite bookings...FRIENDS!!! We got a little something for everybody so be sure to tune in.. New episodes every Monday This episode was made possible through the support of our sponsors: Health and Fitness Professionals - Woodbridge, Scotch Plains and Freehold NJ Curtis Sells Houses - Remax LVC Transport - Central Jersey Body Bronze Tanning - Colonia, NJ Battle Rattle Woodworks Sunflower Meadow Seasoning Jason Devlin CRG Homes

New #TeesMe podcast episode alert with our Women’s Her-Story month golf She-Ro, Sheenah Pegeron What you’ll hear: - Chicken pox couldn’t stop this show - About preserve Shady Rest - On the front line, “be your own role model” - Making golf relatable to kids, striving to be the first - The power of social media & the black golf community - Hey producers, we have a story to tell, for the culture - Calling NJ’s own JR Smith, Shady Rest needs you - Getting her kids into the game - Fighting the stigma of being a black business - Hair Chronicles, the story of the tournament ponytail - First love, Weequhaic Golf Course, Newark - She’s “Goat-ish” by We Novas - working with disabled adults - MJ can we get a female foursome invite, Michelle O. are you in??? - Support Shady Rest, donate and add it to your to-golf list What you need to know ************************** IG: @mrs.pegeron, @shadyrestgolfclub Preserve Shady Rest - http://preserveshadyrest.org/history-shady-rest.html Join the club - https://www.shadyrestgolfclub.com Weequahic GC- https://www.essexcountyparks.org/golf/weequahic-golf-course ************************* Sheenah Pegeron, Mother, Wife, and Golf advocate has been in love with the sport of golf ever since she picked up a club at the young age of 7. After competing throughout her youth and young adult years, Sheenah now expresses her passion for golf on and off the course. She is the President and Co-Founder of the Shady Rest Golf Club which is preparing to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Shady Rest Country Clubhouse—the first African American owned Country Club in the United States & home to PGA Golf Pro John Shippen in Scotch Plains, NJ. As President of the club, Sheenah works with the local community to spread awareness of the history of the Shady Rest and to promote the game of golf to African American youth. She is also a board member of the Preserve Shady Rest Committee, a 501c3 organization that is in the process of obtaining status as a National Historic Landmark while preserving the important history.  Aside from her daily 18-holes, Sheenah is a mother of 3 and the CEO of the disability support nonprofit - Peaks Developmental Services. Her passion for golf continues as she is in the process of pursuing her PGA Professional Golfer status and intends to use her platform to teach and inspire young children, especially young girls who look like her, to pick up the game of golf. She is also a brand ambassador for the golf apparel and tech brand We Novas, LLC. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google https://anchor.fm/TeesMe  #TeesMe #podcast #storiesNeedToBeTold #untoldStories #womenGolf #womengolfer #makeAmovie #Creator #competitvegolfer #golfPro #historic #preserveShadyRest #scotchPlains #blackGolfers #blackGolfMatters #ShadyRest #movieMaker #Equity #Golf  #DiversityMatters #fightAppropriation #2021 #IN18 #IN18Ways --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In Episode 2 of Laugh at the Odds Podcast with Heidi and Dave, we sit down with a small, tightknit group of widows and one widower who found each other and formed deep bonds and likely lifelong friendships. We explore how they crossed paths and gained a sense of community and helped each other heal. ABOUT OUR GUESTS:1) Lynn Nguyen was widowed from her late husband Can in 2015. She currently works as a project manager in IT Finance and recently relocated from Texas to beautiful Clearwater, Florida, where she raises her two boys now aged 5 and 10 and catches sunsets whenever they can.2) Ariana Hilario is 40 years old, from New York City. She lost her fiancé, Felix, in 2011 after a 3-year battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Today, Ariana is a loving meow-my to Cleo the Calico, and has been in a loving relationship for a year and a half.3) Daniel is a 37-year-old widower closing in on the 4-year mark, who still struggles with the loss of his wife, Lauren. However, he is leaps and bounds better than he was when he started out. He is a fur dad to a maltipoo named Buffy the puppy slayer and also the world's best hugger. 4) Jaclyn Martinez is a 33-year-old solo mother to an 11-year-old son. Her journey began in 2016, when she lost the love of her life, David, to gun violence in Long Island. She enjoys moon gazing, carrying crystals in her bra, and all things spiritual. 5) Mayra Parra is 36 years old from New Jersey. Her journey began in 2017, when she suddenly lost her beloved boyfriend Joe. In hopes of a fresh start, she moved to Chicago in 2019, where she continued her HR career, but is in the process of relocating to New York. Recently engaged to her fiancé Armando she is looking forward to being back closer to her wid tribe, her friends, and family.6) Mimi Rodeiro, originally from New Jersey, transplanted to Florida in 1982 with family. The love of her life, Felix, happened to have moved there just prior. Long story short, they broke up, and 30 years passed. They reconnected in 2011, but tragically in 2013, Felix suddenly and unexpectedly passed from Pulmonary Thrombosis. After years of trying to heal, but meeting broken men in the process, Mimi finally met her next chapter in December of 2018. She is now happily in love again, with a successful career, and a new life. She took a chance at starting her next chapter, and in November 2019, moved from Tampa to Near Miami to start her life with her new partner in crime, Henry.7) Heidi Gutierrez joined this club that nobody wants to join, back in 2014, when her husband Arnel passed from a pulmonary embolism while cycling near their home in Scotch Plains, NJ. Today, she is surrounded by many friends in and outside the widowed community, including her family consisting of me, Dave, our boy Benji, and our two fur babies, Ziggy and Xena.ABOUT LAUGH AT THE ODDS: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LaughAtTheOddsPodcastWithHeidiDaveINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/laughattheoddspodcastLINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/LaughAtTheOddsPodcastBUY AS A COFFEE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/laughattheodds

On Episode 67 of the Fitness For The Fairways podcast, Joe sat down with Ben Shear, a PGA Tour Trainer and Golf Digest's Fitness Advisor. He is also the owner of Ben Shear Golf in Scotch Plains, NJ.We sat down and discussed:How we can use biomechanics and ground reaction force data to improve our athlete's performanceAs amateurs, should you be trying to create a Tour player type swing?Off-Season Training For Golf PerformanceReasons players are hitting the ball further and furtherPower vs Speed Training, what do you need to improve your distance off the teesConnect with BenWebsiteInstagramFacebookTwitterJoin the Fitness For The Fairways Facebook group and become a part of the community!

Ann talks about the U.S. Open Golf Championship taking place at Winged Foot, learns what it took to get the club ready for the Major Championship during the pandemic from Lily Braswell, Dir. of Operations, Winged Foot; meets John Pak of Scotch Plains, N.J., a senior at FSU, who is the only amateur of 13 to have made the cut; and Ann visits with Greg Logan, long-time sports writer for NEWSDAY about golf, basketball and about some of his more memorable assignments.

Ann talks with John Pak, who turned out to be the only golfer of 13 amateurs, to make the cut at the US Open at Winged Foot. The FSU senior from Scotch Plains, NJ, introduced himself to Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau and other top players earlier in the week, and shares the advice they gave him. He said he had two goals this week. And he accomplished both of them! I think you’ll be surprised to hear what they are.

Welcome to Golf Talk Live! Tune in LIVE Thursday at 6:00 PM Central Joining me this week on the Coaches Corner Panel: John Hughes & Jon Decker. Later in the show is special guest: Bill Schmedes III, PGA teaching professional, Inventor and Owner of Impact Press. More on Bill: Bill Schmedes III, is a PGA teaching professional and one of the top golf coaches in the U.S. He was voted by Golf Digest as one of the Best Young Teachers in America (2016-2019) and is also recognized as one of the Best Teachers in New Jersey. Golf Tips Magazine named Bill to their Top 30 Instructor list, US Kids has named him a Top 50 Kids Coach honorable mention in the USA, and Future Champions Golf awarded him a Top 25 Elite Junior Coach in the USA as well as a Master Coach. Bill has been featured in GOLF Magazine, Golf Digest, Golf Tips Magazine, MET Golfer and The Golf Channel. He has assisted 16+ players on the PGA, LPGA, European, Korn Ferry and Symetra Futures Tours. Bill is a full time instructor and operates his teaching academy at both Forsgate Country Club, Monroe Township, New Jersey, and Shackamaxon Country Club, Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Join me LIVE Thursdays from 6:00 - 8:00PM Central http://www.blogtalkradio.com/golftalklive Or listen on these social media platforms:  iTunes , Stitcher, Tunein, Castbox, TalkStreamLive & Spotify.

Fanscotian Sports Editor Matt Levine is joined by co-host Noah Levy and superintendent of Scotch Plains Fanwood Public Schools, Dr. Joan Mast, to discuss the district's decision to go all-virtual, HVAC system and much more. Please rate, review and subscribe. Thanks for listening! 

It's normal to be left with a variety of thoughts and feelings after an allergic reaction, which sometimes then leads to changes in behaviors and confidence. On this episode, we will explore and share tips to help move through this normal post-reaction phase. My guest on this episode is psychologist Fawn McNeil-Haber of Brave Minds Psychological Services in Scotch Plains, NJ.Fawn and I explore the following: Common emotions experienced after a reactionStrategies to help you work WITH feelings rather than fight against themPost-reaction thoughts and what to do about themMoving through physical stress sensations that may mimic reactionsStrategies to begin the healing process[Tips discussed in this episode can be adapted to work for kids/teens as well]Take advantage of two allergy-informed behavioral health clinicians discussing strategies to navigate this common post-anaphylaxis phase! And please feel free to let us know if this episode resonated with you by leaving a rating or review, or by sharing.ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:Connect with Fawn or Brave Minds Psychological Services via Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or visit www.BraveMindsPsychologicalServices.comT.R.A.C.E. Post-Anaphylaxis Tips PDF - created by Tamara Hubbard, LCPCLearn more about the Exploring Food Allergy Families podcast by visiting: www.FoodAllergyFamilies.comVisit the Food Allergy Counselor Directory & website for food allergy-related mental health resources and an allergy-informed therapist directory: www.FoodAllergyCounselor.comCONNECT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA! Connect with the Food Allergy Counselor Directory & website / Exploring Food Allergy Families podcast on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/FoodAllergyCounselorConnect with host & licensed therapist, Tamara Hubbard, LCPC:Twitter: @TamaraTweets, Instagram: @Counselor_Tamara

Deriving from a church-driven family, Ronnie Eriic grew up singing in the choir and learning to play the drums. Originally born in Plainfield, New Jersey but grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Ronnie Eriic’s love for music sparked a passion in him to further his career while attending Florida A&M University (FAMU). This is where he and three other students formed the popular Tallahassee rap group LOTD (Leaders Of The Dreamers). From there, Ronnie began working on perfecting his craft. Performing at various open mic nights became his thing, which eventually allowed him to perform for larger audiences like his alma mater Florida State University (FSU). After gaining a few more supporters, Ronnie was invited to open for artists like Currency and Pac Div. In 2014, he decided to move to Atlanta to further pursue his musical career. While juggling multiple jobs like Uber, Ronnie continues to chase his dreams. Ronnie started performing at different events and at local spots like The Music Room and East Atlanta Village. Touching these different stages would allow him to get his name out on the Atlanta music circuit. In 2018, Ronnie Eriic started to really hone in on his craft, he invested in himself by purchasing his first set of studio equipment where he started to learn how to record his own music. Ronnie enjoyed freestyling in his car, showcasing his rap flow, this allowed him to start to build a solid fan base. He also released his first album R.E.A.L (Recognize Everything Ain’t Limited) which he recorded in his home studio. In 2019, after his first studio debut album Ronnie released three singles “She Knows”, “Summer Vibes”, and his latest hit single “100 Grand” which is currently featured on NBA game highlights and a AT&T advertisement. Moving forward to 2020, Ronnie’s highly anticipated new album “REBIRTH” which he feels has raised the bar with infused R&B and Hip-Hop tracks everyone can relate to, learn something from and truly love every lyric and melody put on the project. The timeless nature of his music gives listeners something to feel. Ronnie Eriic’s vivid lyricism helps illuminate both his heart and soul to his growing fan base. Connect with Ronnie on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/ronnieeriic Like the show? Don't forget ton rate and review on Itunes! Check out our Facebook Community here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blazeyourowntrailmastermind/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blazeyourowntrail/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/blazeyourowntrail/support

In today's episode, Claire, Gabi, and Katie talk to Animal Flow Master Instructor Chris "Flo" Flores. Animal Flow is an innovative fitness program that combines quadrupedal and ground-based movement with elements from various bodyweight-training disciplines to create a fun, challenging workout emphasizing multi-planar, fluid movement. Chris is one of the original Animal Flow Master Instructors (2014) and the owner of Flo Fitness in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Chris breaks down what Animal Flow is, its benefits, and why it's a great practice for everybody. Connect with Chris or Animal Flow Instagram @flo_fitness Instagram @animalflowofficial Find out more about Animal Flow or the On Demand Library. Connect with Gabi, Claire, and Katie The Heavily Scaled Podcast on Instagram @theheavilyscaledpodcast Gabi on Instagram @gilbogabbins Katie on Instagram @kmills.11 Claire on Instagram @claireestrohl You can suggest a topic, guest, or ask a question for an upcoming show by writing to us on Instagram or leaving us a message on Anchor. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you listen and share! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/heavilyscaledpodcast/message

Marnie Nathanson is the President and Founder of The Social Status Co. based in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. She swings by StrixMedia Studios to discuss her millennial-minded 360 digital agency. Marnie has worked with prominent brands such as MTV, NBC, and Disney. She talks about how she garnered her passion for creativity and storytelling to start her own digital media agency and leave her life as a television executive. Marnie is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to anything in the digital media space. She and The StrixMedia team bounce ideas off of each other and get to the bottom of how anyone can find success by telling their story through content on social media. The Social Status Co. provides content creation, social media management, public relations, influencer marketing, and event planning for forward-thinking businesses. Be sure to check out this episode of The Creative Collective Show on all major platforms. Hit that subscribe button!Support the show (http://www.strixmedia.com)

Welcome to the Movers and Shakers podcast. Our guest this week is Francesco Guarino. He is currently a Managing Director of Operations for an NYC based alternative investment manager with over 15 years experience in the alternative asset management and FinTech industries.  Francesco got started in multifamily investing back in 2010 with the purchase of a “mom and pop” owned fourplex in Northern NJ.  Over the next 7 years Francesco earned his MBA from Rutgers Business School while self-managing his first property. Francesco “refi and rolled” into a second fourplex on the same block, purchasing it directly from the property owners in 2017.  He recently acquired a third fourplex in the same neighborhood in an off-market deal from two retiring partners, bringing his portfolio to 12 doors. Francesco has been happily married for the past 11 years to his wife Mary Ann, a cosmetics manufacturing executive, and the pair are parents to their two daughters, Liviana and Sienna.  Francesco credits his father in-law Franco for urging him to acquire his first property and mentoring him throughout his multifamily investing career. Francesco is a first generation Italian American, and currently resides in Scotch Plains, NJ.

Live From Darby Rd Pub in Scotch Plains, NJ.  The Benchwarmers host El Clasico!!!  We sit down with fans from the local soccer bar to talk about the biggest fixture of the calendar season.  We get to hear from plenty of fans before during and after the match.  Thank you for all that came out and thank you to Darby Rd for hosting this awesome event.  LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST ON:Spotify - @BenchwarmersFC https://open.spotify.com/show/2wJLjFuLnDRQefOMFpNxYi?si=PpyTafaBSLaxmXr-NS6eAg Apple Podcast - @BenchwarmersFC https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/benchwarmersfcs-podcast/id1432328887?mt=2 Stitcher - @BenchwarmersFC - https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=220964 Google Play - @BenchwarmersFC   FOLLOW USTwitter - https://twitter.com/BenchWarmersFC1 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/BenchWarmersFC1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BenchWarmersFC1   SUBSCRIBEYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFn-JDHSEfwl9h4gpihadLw EMAIL USEmail - benched@benchwarmersfc.com  

This week, we’re putting more truth on the wheel. First, Mark talks to Mark Galli, who until recently was the editor in chief of evangelical magazine Christianity Today. Just before retiring he published a highly controversial editorial arguing that President Trump should be removed from office. He describes the fallout from the article, and shares his thoughts about where evangelical Christians stand politically and culturally today. Then we welcome back film critic Jordan Hoffman, who tells us about the Jewish films, actors, and directors to look out for at this Sunday’s Academy Awards, and gives us his Oscars predictions. Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! Feb. 6 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie Feb. 9 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark Feb. 11– New York City: Stephanie moderating Q&A following ‘Latter Day Jew’ screening Feb. 20 –New York City: Stephanie in conversation with authors Goldie Goldbloom and Abby Chava Stein Feb. 26 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 6 – Amherst, Massachusetts: Stephanie @ Yiddish Book Center March 12 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel March 17 – Long Island, New York: Book talk with Stephanie March 19 – Virginia Beach, Virginia: Unorthodox live show Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here. Sponsors: Send your kids to a Jewish camp this summer! More than 180,000 campers and college-age counselors use the Foundation for Jewish Camp website to find their camp every summer. Go to one happycamper.org/unorthodox and find the right camp for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg are leaning into their Jewishness (see here and here), and we’re here to analyze their efforts. Our Jewish guest is Andrew Rehfeld, the new president of Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement’s rabbinic and educational training ground. He tells us how the institution is adapting to face the challenges of the 21st century, targeting three areas: strengthening Jewish education, Jewish engagement, and Jewish identity; as he puts it, “the knowing, the doing, and the being of Jewish.” He also explains the history and theology of Reform Judaism, and shares where he sees the movement today and going forward. Our Gentile of the Week is Ed Gaskin, a devout Christian who started attending Shabbat services following the Tree of Life shooting in October 2018, to show solidarity with the Jewish community. He’s attended all but four weekly Shabbat services since. He tells us what he’s learned from a year at Temple Beth Elohim in Boston, as well as some of the questions he’s received about his undertaking, both from Jewish congregants and his Christian friends. Let us know what you think of the show: Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! Feb. 6 – Scotch Plains, NJ: Book talk with Stephanie Feb. 9 – Wyomissing, PA: Book talk with Mark Feb. 11– New York, NY: Stephanie moderating Q&A following ‘Latter Day Jew’ screening Feb. 20 –New York, NY: Stephanie in conversation with authors Goldie Goldbloom and Abby Chava Stein Feb. 26 – Naples, FL: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 6 – Amherst, MA: Stephanie @ Yiddish Book Center March 12 – Boca Raton, FL: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel March 17 – Long Island, NY: Book talk with Stephanie March 19 – Virginia Beach, VA: Unorthodox live show Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here. Sponsors: “Those Who Were There” is a podcast presented by the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. The Fortunoff Archive holds more than 4,400 testimonies recorded in over a dozen countries, and the first season of the podcast features 10 episodes drawn from the archive. In every episode, a survivor or witness shares their own story. For more visit fortunoff.library.yale.edu/podcast The Yiddish Book Center’s Great Jewish Books Summer Program brings rising high school juniors and seniors together to read and discuss modern Jewish literature, study with outstanding professors, and meet published authors. Every participant receives a scholarship for the full cost of tuition, room, board, books, and special events. Learn more and apply at www.yiddishbookcenter.org/greatjewishbooks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we learn how to complain better. Our first guest is Amy Fish, the ombudsman for Concordia University in Montreal and the author of I Wanted Fries with That: How to Ask for What You Want and Get What You Need. She tells us what she learned working as “chief complaints officer” for a university (and before that a Jewish nursing home!), and shares a few simple tricks to help us all better ask for what we want—and get it. Then, Mark sits down with Carolyn Karcher, professor emerita at Temple University and the editor of Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism, a collection featuring 40 rabbis, activists, and writers. She explains how she came to oppose Zionism, and how she sees anti-Zionism functioning within the Jewish community today. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! Jan 26 – New York: Stephanie in conversation with David G. Marwell, author of Mengele: Unmasking the Angel of Death Feb. 6 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie Feb. 9 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark Feb. 26 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 12 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel Copies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here This episode is sponsored by a new podcast called Those Who Were There, presented by the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. The Fortunoff Archive holds more than 4,400 testimonies recorded in over a dozen countries, and the first season of the podcast features 10 episodes drawn from the archive. In every episode, a survivor or witness shares their own story. For more visit http://fortunoff.library.yale.edu/podcast This episode is also sponsored by Harry's. New customers get $5 off any shave set with a 5-blade razor, weighted handle, foaming shave gel with aloe, and a travel cover when they go to Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Unorthodox: Three Jews, infinite opinions. First, Mark sits down with Yiscah Smith, a Jewish educator, spiritual activist, and author. Yiscah discussed her journey as a trans woman and teacher of Torah; her documentary, I Was Not Born a Mistake will be shown at the New York Jewish Film Festival on Tuesday, January 21. More info here. Our next guest is Danny Dayan, Israel’s Consul General in New York. Liel spoke with him about the communities he’s prioritized outreach to, the challenge he faces in getting Israeli and American Jews to understand each other, and his solutions to that challenge. And finally, Mark speaks with Dr. Carol Gilligan, feminist activist and NYU professor, about anti-Semitism and the Women’s March, which takes place this weekend across the country. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! Jan. 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and Liel Jan. 10, 2020 — Fountain Valley, CA: Book talk with Stephanie Feb. 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & Liel Feb. 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and Liel Feb. 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel Copies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here Do you know a high school student who wants to deepen their engagement with Judaism? Nominate them today for the Maimonides Scholars Program, where they’ll debate and discuss Jewish thought, Zionism, philosophy, and politics at Yale University over two weeks in the summer of 2020. The application closes on January 27, so nominate a student today at maimonidesscholars.org/Unorthodox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re starting 2020 with our favorite combo: Talmud and food. First, Adam Kirsch reflects on completing the seven-year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of reading one page of Talmud each day, which he chronicled in a column for Tablet. He tells us what he learned as a reader and literary critic from this intense textual undertaking, plus how his life has changed in the seven years since he started. He also makes the case that more Jews should take on Daf Yomi, if only to better understand what our ancestors were up to, and offers some tips for beginners. Then we sit down with the Seattle-based food writer and podcaster Rachel Belle, host of “Your Last Meal.” She tells us about asking people like Isaac Mizrahi, Rainn Wilson, and William Shatner what their last meal on earth would be, and dishes about how food ties into her Jewish identity. Then she asks the hosts what their last meals would be, in a beshert-cross-podcast segment airing on her show as well. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! Jan. 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and Liel Jan. 10, 2020 — Fountain Valley, CA: Book talk with Stephanie Feb. 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & Liel Feb. 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and Liel Feb. 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel Copies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here. Sponsors: Do you know a high school student who wants to deepen theirengagement with Judaism? Nominate them for the Maimonides Scholars Program, where they’ll debate and discuss Jewish thought, Zionism, philosophy, and politics at Yale University over two weeks in the summer of 2020. The application closes on January 27, so nominate a student today at maimonidesscholars.org/Unorthodox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re coming to you live from Denver’s JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center as part of the 12th annual Neustadt Jewish Arts, Authors, Movies, and Music Festival. Our Jewish guest is Sue Salinger, director of the Denver region of Hazon, the environmental organization working to strengthen Jewish life and contribute to a more environmentally sustainable world. She tells us what Jewish tradition teaches us about farming and sustainability, what makes Denver’s Jewish community unique, and why Judaism calls us to act against climate change. Our Gentile of the week is Michael Johnston, a teacher and politician who served as the Colorado State Senator from the 33rd district from 2009 to 2017, and is currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2020. He tells us about the culture shock of leaving Vail, CO to attend Yale University, explains how his work as a teacher got him interested in politics, and weighs in on the 2020 Democratic primary. And finally, a musical tribute on the eve of Leonard Cohen’s third yahrzeit from Eve Ilsen, a storyteller, singer, and psychotherapist. She was ordained as a rabbinic pastor of the Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal, by her late husband, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! Dec. 19 – St. Louis: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel Jan. 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and Liel Jan. 10, 2020 — Fountain Valley, CA: Book talk with Stephanie Feb. 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & Liel Feb. 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and Liel Feb. 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel Copies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here. Sponsors: Sony Pictures Classics presents The Song of Names, a new film from Francois Girard starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen, and featuring a score by two-time Academy Award winner Howard Shore. When a Jewish music prodigy disappears, a childhood friend starts an obsessive search that spans over two continents and a half century. The Song of Names opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 25th and comes to a theatre near you this January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York-area listeners: Enter to win a spot at our first-ever Unorthodox Shabbat dinner, January 3rd at the Freehand New York. This week on Unorthodox, we’re getting into the Hanukkah spirit.  But first, a discussion of the terrifying anti-Semitic shooting at a Jersey City kosher market that killed four people. Then, Rabbi Ari Lamm explains the real story of Hanukkah, which is less about oil and miracles and more about Jews battling each other over assimilation. And since the holiday season is synonymous with movies, we talk to Clive Owen and Howard Shore, the star and composer of The Song of Names, which opens in theaters on Christmas. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Norman Lebrecht, features Owen as a Hasidic violin prodigy. We also chat with Rabbi Daniel Cohen of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, NJ, about how he incorporates the latest technology into his work. Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! December 19 – St. Louis: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel January 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and Liel February 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & Liel February 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and Liel February 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel Copies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here. Sponsors: Hebrew College’s vibrant and pluralistic community trains aspiring rabbis, cantors, and educational leaders. Learn more at hebrewcollege.edu/explore. Applications for Fall 2020 are due January 15, 2020. Adeena Sussman’s cookbook Sababa shares the vibrant flavors of Israeli home cooking, and makes a great Hanukkah gift for the foodie in your life. Get a copy of Sababa online or at your favorite bookstore Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Unorthodox, we’re very literally all over the place. First, we bring you News of the Jews from our live show earlier this week at the Valley of the Sun JCC in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. Then we call Wall Street Journal reporter Louise Radnofsky to figure out why so many figure skaters perform to the Schindler’s List theme song. Stephanie sits down with Sarah Hurwitz, a former speechwriter for Michelle Obama and the author of the new book Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life—in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There). She tells us about rediscovering and embracing Judaism while working in the White House, how she’s using the skills she honed as a speechwriter to make Judaism more accessible, and the advice she has for people who want to make Jewish practice a bigger part of their life but aren’t sure how to do so. Our Gentile of the Week is Jackson Crawford, a professor of Old Norse mythology, who chatted with Mark while we were in Denver last month. He tells us about translating Norse poetry, bringing an ancient world to life through his YouTube channel, and the strange conspiracy theories circulating about him on the internet. Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Come see us on tour! December 15 – New Haven, Connecticut: Brunch and book talk with all three hosts December 19 – St. Louis: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel January 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and Liel February 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, NJ: Book talk with Stephanie & Liel February 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, PA: Book talk with Mark and Liel February 26, 2020 – Naples, FL: Book talk with Stephanie and Mark March 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, FL: Book talk with Stephanie and Liel Copies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here. Sponsors: Soom Foods makes delicious tahini products that are dairy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, and certified kosher. Try the pantry sampler, which includes their tahini, chocolate sweet tahini halva spread, and silan date syrup. Head to soomfoods.com and use code UNORTHODOX to get 15 percent off your order.Adeena Sussman’s cookbook Sababa shares the vibrant flavors of Israeli home cooking, and makes a great Hanukkah gift for the foodie in your life. Get a copy of Sababa online or at your favorite bookstoreHarry’s limited-edition holiday sets are the perfect gift this season. Get $5 off any shave set when you go to Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX. (Free shipping through Dec. 16.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a 16 year real estate investor, Luis has seen and been through a lot in his journey. Since 2016, Luis as CEO of Culture Estate, has helped grow the company 3500% in just two years! Joe will ask a lot of mindset questions in this interview so we can hear what it takes to grow to high levels. Tactics and strategies are a big part of it, but the biggest part is our mindset, Luis shares some personal stories with us that give us a peek into the mental toughness required to scale a large business. If you enjoyed today’s episode remember to subscribe in iTunes and leave us a review! Best Ever Tweet: “How Can I align myself to be where investors are?” - Luis Leiva Luis Leiva Real Estate Background: CEO of Culture Estate Grown company 3,500% since Oct 2016, has been involved in over 2,000 transactions and closed over half a billion in sales Based in Scotch Plains, New Jersey  Say hi to him at Best Ever Book: Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins The Best Ever Conference is approaching quickly and you could earn your ticket for free. Simply visit and sign up to be an affiliate to start earning 15% of every ticket you sell.  Our fourth annual conference will be taking place February 20-22 in Keystone, CO. We’ll be covering the higher level topics that our audience has requested to hear.

Today’s episode focuses on someone I’ve known for a long time. Don Hessemer and I were part of a Saturday morning running group when I lived in Central New Jersey. He had a 38-year career as an environmental consultant in New York and New Jersey. But in 2018, Don decided it was time for a change. So at the age of 61, a time when many people are counting the days to retirement, Don decided to switch careers and become a hospice chaplain. Everyday he works with patients and their families as they approach the end of life.  When I read Don's announcement about this new position on Facebook, I remember thinking to myself, “What an awful and difficult job.” But Don doesn’t think of it awful or difficult. And in some ways, he doesn’t even think of it as a job. It took him nearly 40 years but he feels that he has found his true calling. Don's path to his work as a hospice chaplain began shortly after his ordination as a deacon in the Catholic Church. "One of the priests in our parish would frequent the Center for Hope Hospice in Scotch Plains right here in town. And he would say mass maybe once a month. And he kind of introduced me to the whole hospice world. I mean, I really knew nothing about hospice. Hospice was a place where people went to die." Today, Don works 40 hours a week helping patients and families negotiate difficult, "end of life" challenges. Don's role as a deacon allowed him to officiate at his daughter Brittany's wedding. He walked her down the aisle in a three-piece suit, made a "superman change" into his vestments in the sacristy and then conducted the ceremony. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Download

Ben Shear’s unique combination of physical, technical and technological knowledge is the basis of his highly sought-after performance training programs and makes him the go-to of a wide variety of professional and competitive amateur sportsmen and sportswomen. Having worked with athletes from the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLS and the Olympics, he provides insightfully-designed sport-specific strength & conditioning programs, biomechanics and performance nutrition expertise. He is the industry’s leading Golf Performance Coach, having worked with numerous PGA Touring Professionals, including former World #1, Luke Donald, and US Open Champion, Webb Simpson. Shear hosts “The Golfer’s Edge,” a national weekly show on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio, and he is a fitness advisor to Golf Digest 1) 2:45 technology: monitoring and measuring data, specifically power. 2) 4:00 Olympic lifts are a sport not an exercise to randomly include in your workout 3) 5:50 Power, starting strength, rate of force defined and exercise choices based on which type of strength or power you are trying to achieve 4) 7:40 Breaking down the skill sets involved in hockey and determining how to create training programs specific to these skill sets. 5) 8:00 Incorporating the k-box and other technologies to train, build, measure and monitor the nervous system in real time 6) 12:30 Using technology to allow for training prescriptions to be individualized for the athlete on that day in real time 7) 13:45 Modifying the training program to allow the athlete to maximize their sport performance. When is strength, power, mobility output enough for the individual athlete for their specific sport? 8) 15:30 The Golfer’s Edge on Sirius Radio: Ben’s show has been on for 5 years: What has changed in the world of golf fitness in the past 5 years? 9) 19:00 Male vs females generalizations in their training habits and requirements 10) Reach en Shear at Athletic Edge in Scotch Plains in New Jersey info@AthleticEdge.net 908-322-2003 1718 East Second Street Scotch Plains, NJ 07076 11) 22:15 Building a better person to build a better athletwe

Audrey shares why she chose to create a walking club for special needs teens and adults and providing respite for their caregivers. More about Audrey Audrey Davis is a senior at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. She has been a Girl Scout for 12 years and is a recent recipient of the Gold Award for her service project, the A.W.A.R.E. Club, a walking club for special needs teens and young adults . She is involved in many activities outside of Girl Scouts, including as the President of the Autism Awareness Club at her school, Captain of the Speech and Debate team, a member of her school's Performing Arts Company and the anchor for her school news program. She is the recent recipient of the National Catholic Education Association's Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Award for her service to the Special Needs Community. She is currently undecided for her college plans, but in the future she hopes to Major in Political Science and minor in Inclusive Education so she can realize her goals of becoming a Special Education advocate and lobbyist and eventually, the United States Secretary of Education. Website: aware.club.nj.weebly.com Email: aware.club.nj@gmail.com Join our Facebook Community at Hearts of Gold Podcast https://www.facebook.com/groups/HeartsOfGoldPodcast/ We are also on Instagram @sherylmrobinson Please subscribe to Hearts of Gold on YouTube at http://bit.ly/2EBt5P1 or on your favorite podcast app. Support future Hearts of Gold episodes at https://www.patreon.com/heartsofgold Video editing by https://www.offthewalter.com/  Walter’s YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt0wFZRVaOpUd_nXc_8-4yQ  

From the Highlander Restaurant in Scotch Plains featuring New Jersey’s Funniest Lawyer Jon Bramnick. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

ABOUT RICH Rich is one of the early multisite church pioneers. He served on the leadership team of Connexus Community Church in Ontario, a North Point Community Church Strategic Partner. Currently he serves as Operations Pastor at Liquid Church in the suburbs of New Jersey. Rich is married to Christine and lives in Scotch Plains, NJ with their two kids and one dog. LISTEN NOW iTunes - Episode #68: Rich Birch - Unreasonable Churches Google Play - Episode #68: Rich Birch - Unreasonable Churches GUEST LINKS Rich's Twitter Rich's Facebook Rich's Instagram multisitesolutions.com MENTIONED LINKS creativesheep.org UNREASONABLE CHURCHES Ninety-four percent of churches are losing ground against the growth of the communities they are in. 1. Unreasonable Fundraising It is important for leaders to be very clear why the cause is important and why this is important right NOW. When a compelling vision (WHY) connects with an urgent NOW, that will motivate people. Peop

This week’s podcast discusses John 15:1-12, and what it means to remain in Him. Oasis is a contemporary , family friendly church that meets in both Union and Middlesex Counties of New Jersey and services Scotch Plains, Fanwood, South Plainfield, Old Bridge, East Brunswick, Mountainside, Union, Summit, Watchung, Berkekey Heights, Warren Greenbrook, North Plainfield, Plainfield,… The post RE Series-Remain appeared first on Oasis Church-NJ Non-Denominational, Contemporary Christian Church.

reports from Hagley's Invention Convention.

Brought to You by    Highlights of Episode 67 "Hit the Gym with a Strength Coach"     Ben ShearAthletic Edge, Scotch Plains, New Jersey Jeff BanaszakBack9Fitness I spoke to Ben and Jeff about: **Their World Golf Fitness Summit Presentation on Isometrics**Mobility vs. Stability**Making Mobility Gains Stick**How their system works with golfers and other athletes**So much more    "The Coach's Corner with Coach Boyle"     Interview with Coach Boyle about **What's New at StrengthCoach.com  ** Mobility in Single Legs Squats** Getting Elasticity** Training the Overweight Client**Much More...   Check out Coach Boyle's Latest Project:       "The Business of Fitness with Alwyn Cosgrove" Alwyn Cosgrove, author of "55 Fitness Business Strategies for Success" Cosgrove Classic, in the very first tip he gave, Alwyn talks about "Lifestyle Design" "Ask the Equipment Experts"    Chris Poirier from Perform Better joins us to talk about Perform Better Seminar Pass. Check out the Perform Better Sale here  Get your facility in the Perform Better Facility Calendar!!!! (Yuhas Performance Center, Old Lyme, CT) Send a picture of your facility toChris.Poirier at PerformBetter.com Listening Click on the button above or  "Subscribe at iTunes" and Get Automatic Updates If you want to save this podcast to your computer so you can import it into your Ipod or MP3 player, Right Mouse Click to Download Now (for Mac users, press Control and click) 

Hello my friends and welcome to The WDW Radio Show - Your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host Lou Mongello, and this is show #113 for the week of April 5, 2009. Thank you for tuning in again this week. This week’s show will be the last one I am broadcasting from the WDW Radio headquarters in Scotch Plains, NJ – I’m taking the show on the road to sunny skies and warmer climates in Florida, but this week, I have something that I think you’ll enjoy. This weeks we’re going to don our explorer’s hat and magnifying glass and do another DSI: Disney Scene Investigation of one of EPCOT Center’s original and most important pavilions - The Land. We’ll explore Its beginnings, history and changes through the years, as well as its signature attractions. I’ll play some of your voicemails at the end of the show, so sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's episode of the WDW Radio Show. You can email the show at lou@wdwradio.com or call the voicemail TOLL FREE at 888-703-2171. Visit the ALL NEW web site at wdwradio.com and talk about the show by visiting and posting in the WDW Radio Show message forums Thanks for listening! Be sure to tune in next week!