Podcasts about succeeding

Hey Now, Cabalists! We're kicking things off with a look at culling games from our collections before getting into what's been hitting the table lately, including Animal Rescue Team, Entropy, Super Auto Pets Card Battle, Carnegie, and Eschaton. Then we take a closer look at our featured game, Revenant, designed by Allan Kirkeby. Tony T brings us the latest in Tabletop Gaming News, and we close out the show with a discussion about how to set yourself up for success on your very first play of a game. Animal Rescue Team: 00:09:00, Entropy: 00:20:33, Super Auto Pets Card Battle: 00:28:34, Carnegie: 00:36:51, Eschaton: 00:51:08, Revenant Review: 01:07:37, News with Tony T: 01:43:21, Succeeding at Your First Play: 02:47:22. Check out our sponsors Restoration Games at https://restorationgames.com/, Game Toppers at https://www.gametoppersllc.com/ and Prester's Painting at https://www.presterspainting.com/

The guys analyze the Rangers' trade for Logan O'Hoppe and Chase Silseth while reacting to Lincoln Riley's explanation for his infamous dry brisket. They also review the Ippei Mizuhara betrayal audio and discuss Christian Parker's role as the Cowboys' defensive passing game coordinator.

Podcast Episode Description "A successful exit isn't about leaving your business. It's about leaving the world a better place after you leave it." Host Laurie Barkman welcomes back Scott Snider, President of the Exit Planning Institute — the organization behind the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation and the Value Acceleration Methodology — for a return conversation four years in the making.  Since their last episode in 2022, EPI has grown from 3,000 to 11,000 CEPAs, Scott has navigated his own leadership succession from his father Chris, and the exit planning profession has undergone one of its most significant evolutions yet.  Scott and Laurie unpack what has changed — and what hasn't — about how business owners think about exit planning, why personal planning remains the weakest leg of the stool, and why exit strategy and business strategy are not two separate conversations. Key Insights: The leadership transformation nobody talks about is the internal one. Scott went from a militant, gritty leadership style — forged running a landscape construction company — to leading a 56-person team of highly educated, motivated professionals who needed to be led completely differently. His biggest surprise? Discovering he was capable of leading with empathy, grace, and love. The style that built his first business would have destroyed this one. Decades of success does not equal transferable value. Business owners can have profitable products, great people, loyal customers, and a lifestyle they love — and still have nothing a buyer actually wants. Scott draws a sharp line between income and value, between success and significance. The gap between the two is exactly why exit planning exists — and exactly why owners keep kicking the can. Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials are asking completely different exit questions. Baby Boomers — who own 51% of privately held companies at an average age of 67 — are navigating a 50-year identity crisis. Gen Xers want out early so they can actually live, with 38% between 45 and 59 planning to exit earlier than their predecessors. And Millennials have grown up inside value acceleration thinking — they're already building to sell. Personal planning is still the weakest leg of the stool — and that needs to change. Despite all the evolution in exit planning since 2005, personal planning remains the area most business owners defer, dismiss, or avoid entirely. Scott's challenge to the profession: stop treating it as the soft stuff. Who am I with and without my business is the most important question a founder can answer — and most never do. Exit strategy and business strategy are the same conversation. Every decision a business owner makes today is already affecting their future exit value. Scott reframes the entire conversation: instead of positioning exit planning as something you do when you're ready to leave, position it as what makes your business stronger, more financeable, and more valuable right now. The foot in the door is helping owners grow a better company — the exit conversation follows naturally. The profession is growing — but awareness is still the biggest gap. With 11,000 CEPAs and a path to 20,000, EPI's CEPA credential could become the second largest professional credential in the country. But even at 20,000, it would still be a fraction of the 250,000 CFPs. The next five years are about activation — helping advisors start the conversation with owners earlier, and meeting owners where they are before a triggering event forces their hand. Chapters: 00:04 Introduction and Four Years Later — What's Changed 01:56 Welcome Back: Scott Snider Returns to Succession Stories 02:57 What Scott Did When He Got the Baton at EPI 04:10 First Year Priorities: Structure, People, and Culture 05:58 The Challenge of Succeeding a Founder — Even a Non-Traditional One 09:28 The Biggest Personal Surprise of Scott's Leadership Journey 10:55 Head, Heart, and Wallet: The Balance of Leadership 12:16 How the Exit Planning Conversation Has Evolved Since 2022 14:34 Are Business Owners Asking Different Questions Today? 17:00 Gen X, Baby Boomers, and Millennials: Three Different Exit Mindsets 19:18 The Biggest Misconception About Exit Planning That Still Frustrates Scott 22:19 Personal Planning and the Card Sorting Exercise 25:13 Decades of Success But Zero Significance — Why Owners Kick the Can 26:15 What Needs to Happen to Make Exit Planning Mainstream 29:50 How Advisors Should Start the Conversation With Business Owners 30:32 Exit Strategy IS Business Strategy 32:42 Lightning Round: Books, Advice, and Finishing the Sentence 34:13 What Scott Hopes His Dad Would Say About the Last Four Years

Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood cover the latest wave of AI releases by comparing OpenAI's 5.6 model, Anthropic's Fable, and the new Chinese Kimi model, arguing that the most interesting shift is not just raw capability but how differently these systems now behave in planning, initiative, and collaboration. They also spend a lot of time on what AI is already good for in real life: voice conversations with persistent context, automated email and file management, cheap local transcription, website building, cloud-task execution, and custom tools built with Codex that eliminate repetitive work. The Apple lawsuit against OpenAI becomes a bigger discussion about talent flight, hardware ambitions, and Apple's struggle to keep pace in AI, while the Kimi conversation turns into a broader look at distillation, Chinese innovation, and the murky realities of model copying. Throughout, the hosts keep returning to a practical distinction between creative authorship and productivity support, making the case that many people who resist AI-generated art may still benefit from using AI to remove tedious logistical overhead. The biggest takeaway is simple: start with the annoying parts of your life or work, let AI handle the bureaucracy, and keep the human effort for the parts that are hard because they matter, not hard because they are boring. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Use the ChatGPT app, let it edit things on your desktop, talk to it instead of typing, and tell it your

In this episode, I sat down with Adrian Edery, Founder & Principal of Two50 Capital Group. By just 27 years old, Adrian has facilitated over $1.45 billion in commercial real estate financing across the United States, building his career through nearly a decade of relentless focus, consistency, and execution.We dive into what it really takes to succeed in commercial real estate, capital markets, and lending—from building meaningful relationships and earning credibility one deal at a time to staying calm under pressure when high-stakes transactions get complicated. Adrian also shares why discipline consistently beats raw talent and how long-term success is built through intentional decisions made every single day.Whether you're in real estate, entrepreneurship, finance, or simply want to learn how top performers think and operate, this conversation is packed with practical insights you can apply to your own journey.----⏱️ TIMESTAMPS / CHAPTERS

fWotD Episode 3359: Holden Commodore (VE) Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 16 July 2026, is Holden Commodore (VE).The Holden Commodore (VE) is a full-size car that was produced from 2006 to 2013 by Holden, the former Australian subsidiary of General Motors. Dubbed Holden's "billion dollar baby", the car was available as the Holden Berlina—the mid-range model—and the Holden Calais, the luxury variant; utility body styles were marketed as the Holden Ute.Succeeding the VZ series, the VE was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Holden Commodore, a series of automobiles built between 1978 and 2020. Unlike its predecessors, which used Opel-sourced platforms adapted to mechanics and sizes that would suit the local market, the VE was the first Commodore entirely designed and developed by Holden in Australia. To minimise export redevelopment costs, features such as a symmetrical centre console housing a flush-fitting hand brake lever facilitated the conversion to left-hand drive. The VE was internationally badge-engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Omega, Bitter Vero Sport and Pontiac G8.Holden introduced the VE body styles in stages, beginning with the sedan in July 2006. Before this, the company stated they would manufacture two parallel generations of Commodores until the launch of the station wagon and utility. Variants by Holden's performance vehicle partner, Holden Special Vehicles, were released soon after the sedan's debut alongside the long-wheelbase WM Statesman/Caprice models. The VE Ute entered production in 2007, coinciding with the unveiling of the Sportwagon concept car. The production version of the VE Sportwagon—which shared its 2,915 mm (114.8 in) wheelbase with the sedan instead of the extended wheelbase from the Caprice, like previous models—was introduced in July 2008.Named the 2006 Car of the Year by Wheels, the VE frequently ranked as the annual best-selling automobile in Australia over its production run. Holden introduced updates to the VE as model year (MY) changes. Typically subtle, these recurring changes have involved alterations to colours and trim, increased standard equipment and reduced fuel consumption. More noteworthy adjustments have come in the form of a smaller 3.0-litre V6 engine for entry-level versions and "Series II" styling revisions in September 2010.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:02 UTC on Thursday, 16 July 2026.For the full current version of the article, see Holden Commodore (VE) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Matthew.

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) — Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: ⁠https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join⁠ Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes and learn more at:⁠ OLDPodcast.com⁠. Episode 2110: Steve Pavlina explains that creating meaningful success starts with contributing value, even if you don't consider yourself an expert. By focusing on improving other people's lives instead of chasing money or quick results, you can uncover opportunities, build lasting impact, and align your skills with genuine demand. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/02/succeeding-by-helping-others-succeed/ Quotes to ponder: "You don't have to be the best at everything. You can still put yourself out there. You can still make a contribution." "The most important result to track isn't how many visitors your website is getting or how much money you're making. Instead figure out whether you're actually making a difference in people's lives." "If you're providing solid value that meets human needs, a recession can create even bigger opportunities for you." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) — Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: ⁠https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join⁠ Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes and learn more at:⁠ OLDPodcast.com⁠. Episode 2109: Steve Pavlina reflects on the unexpected shift from running a successful computer games company to teaching personal development, discovering that creating value for others could have a far greater impact than focusing solely on his own business. His story illustrates how paying attention to where you can serve people best can open the door to more meaningful work, influence, and long-term success. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/02/succeeding-by-helping-others-succeed/ Quotes to ponder: "Generally those who try to fake success don't get very far but those who are honest about sharing their Journey along the way can definitely provide a lot of value." "I believe it's wonderful to run a business centered around helping people, if it truly benefits people then this is a perfectly acceptable business model." "It's funny that even though I was running a computer games business my passion for personal growth couldn't help but come through." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyra Condie built an Olympic climbing career while living with scoliosis. With every reason to quit and accept her limitations she refused them and beat the odds every time. In this conversation, we explore confidence, adaptation, and the quiet power of refusing a script that was never written for you. The episode asks a simple but uncomfortable question: what if the thing you think is holding you back is actually forcing you to discover your real edge? It changes how we define success, how we treat our limits, and how we decide what kind of life is still possible. Notice the difference between a weakness and a story about a weakness. Build a path around your strengths instead of only repairing your gaps. Treat constraint as a creative prompt, not a verdict. Press play and consider what becomes possible when you stop obeying the old script. SPONSORS

Researcher Vanessa Van Edwards explains what causes people to like one another and how to make great impressions.— YOU'LL LEARN — 1) Proven ways for making a fantastic first impression2) What builds and what kills likability the fastest3) Good and bad questions to ask during first meetings Subscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep480 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT VANESSA — Vanessa Van Edwards is a behavioral investigator at her human behavior research lab, the Science of People. She is a professional people watcher—speaking, researching and cracking the code of interesting behavior hacks for audiences around the world. She is a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine and the Huffington Post. Her popular courses on Creative Live and Udemy have over 120,000 enrolled students. She's been featured on NPR, CNN, Forbes and USA Today, but more importantly, she's addicted to sour patch kids, airplane coffee and puppies.• Book: “Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People”• Facial Expression Guide: ScienceOfPeople.com/face• TED Talk: You are contagious | TEDxLondon• Website: Science of People• YouTube: Vanessa Van Edwards— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Book: “Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps” by Barbara and Allan Pease• Researcher: Dr. Ekman• Term: Expectancy effect• Test: The Big Five Personality Test• Show: “Lie To Me”— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Shopify. Sign up for your free trial at Shopify.com/awesomepodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matot: Succeeding Through Hard Work by Rabbi Avi Harari

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by Eric Holmstrom, Lead Pastor of Purpose Church in Pomona, California. Founded more than 150 years ago, Purpose Church has a rich legacy of ministry and is currently experiencing significant growth following a healthy leadership transition. In this conversation, Eric shares lessons from succeeding a beloved long-tenured pastor, building on an existing culture, and leading a historic church into a new season of impact. Are you preparing for a succession transition—or wondering how to lead after a highly respected predecessor? Eric offers practical wisdom on navigating change with humility, honoring the past, and creating momentum for the future. Following a beloved predecessor. // Succeeding a pastor who led for 31 years can feel intimidating, and Eric is refreshingly honest about the insecurities he faced. During the transition process, he wrestled with feelings of inadequacy and wondered whether he was the right person for the role. Yet he found confidence not in his abilities, but in God's calling. A defining moment came on the morning of the congregational vote when he reflected on Isaiah 41:13: “I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.” That promise became an anchor throughout the transition. The gift of a healthy handoff. // Eric credits much of the success of the transition to the generosity and wisdom of former lead pastor Glenn Gunderson. During the public handoff, Glenn introduced Eric to the congregation as “your new lead pastor” and then added, “and my new lead pastor.” That simple statement communicated trust, unity, and support. Glenn also intentionally stepped back for several months to allow Eric to build relationships with the congregation before gradually returning to participate in ministry. The result was a transition marked by health rather than division. Focus on what only you can do. // One of Eric's biggest adjustments was determining how to spend his time as lead pastor. He quickly realized he could be involved in almost anything, but shouldn't be. Instead, he narrowed his focus to vision, spiritual direction, staff development, and culture. While pastoral care remains important, he sees his primary role through the lens of Ephesians 4: equipping leaders who then shepherd and disciple others throughout the church. You are not the exception—you are the example. // One of the most significant initiatives Eric introduced was an employee spiritual commitment for church staff. He noticed a tendency among ministry leaders to unintentionally exempt themselves from practices they encourage others to embrace. Reading Scripture, serving, giving, participating in groups, and pursuing spiritual growth are not just expectations for church members—they are expectations for staff as well. After months of discussion, clarification, and prayer, the entire staff committed to a shared set of spiritual standards designed to strengthen culture and integrity across the organization. Building an intentional invite culture. // Purpose Church has also seen momentum through strategic “Sunday Funday” invite events. Rather than creating dramatically different experiences, these Sundays closely resemble a normal weekend service while adding elements that make inviting easier. Eric intentionally tells the congregation exactly what will be taught and who the message is designed for, helping members identify specific people to invite. This approach has contributed to increased attendance, more baptisms, and a growing number of people taking first steps toward faith. Shepherd people where they are. // Looking back, one of Eric's biggest lessons is the importance of meeting people where they are emotionally during a transition. Some church members were grieving the departure of a beloved pastor, while others were brand new and excited about the future. Rather than forcing everyone into the same experience, Eric sought to pastor each person according to their unique journey. This posture of empathy helped create trust during a potentially difficult season. To learn more about Purpose Church, visit purposechurch.com or follow their ministry online for resources, messages, and updates. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Do you feel like your church’s or school's facility could be preventing growth? Are you frustrated or possibly overwhelmed at the thought of a complicated or costly building project? Are the limitations of your building becoming obstacles in the path of expanding your ministry? Have you ever felt that you could reach more people if only the facility was better suited to the community’s needs? Well, the team over at Risepointe can help! As former ministry staff and church leaders, they understand how to prioritize and help lead you to a place where the building is a ministry multiplier. Your mission should not be held back by your building. Their team of architects, interior designers and project managers have the professional experience to incorporate creative design solutions to help move YOUR mission forward. Check them out at risepointe.com and while you’re there, schedule a FREE call to explore possibilities for your needs, vision and future…Risepointe believes that God still uses spaces…and they're here to help. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad you’ve decided to tune in and you’re going to be rewarded for that today. We’re having a conversation that I know there’s a whole bunch of leaders that are on the front end of this decision. And today you’re going to get a chance to kind of peek up over the horizon and see potentially where your church is going to be in a few years. You’re going to want to stick around for this entire conversation. We’ve got Eric Holmstrom with us. He is the lead pastor of Purpose Church, which is in Pomona, California. Rich Birch — It originally started as Spadra, if I’m pronouncing correct, Baptist Church 150 years ago. It’s one of the fastest growing churches in the country. It’s diverse, multi-generational of every age and stage. And Eric has been the lead pastor since 2024. Welcome to the podcast. So glad you’re here.Eric Holmstrom — Well, thank you so much, Rich, for having me. I am a huge fan of you and what you’re doing. I love how you’re supporting and helping church leaders and ministry leaders. So thanks for letting me join you today.Rich Birch — Oh, come on. That’s super kind. Glad you’re here and really looking forward to learning from you today. Why don’t you kind of give us a bit of your story and tell us a little bit about Purpose and kind of set the context for us.Eric Holmstrom — Yeah, well, Rich, that’s really cool too that you knew the name of our original church. It was Spadra Baptist, I think, was back in the day.Rich Birch — Spadra.Eric Holmstrom — And it’s actually, our church is 156 years old. So our church was started three years before the city of Pomona even became a city. And so a group of people came into this area and felt God calling them to plant a church here. And for 156 years, we’ve been in different parts of the city, but always here in Pomona, feeling called by God here. And so I am lead pastor number 19. Rich Birch — Wow.Eric Holmstrom — And so I’m just a blip on the radar here. And unless Jesus returns, Lord willing, there will be lead pastor 21, 20, or 20, 21, 22, 23. And they won’t even remember me. They won’t even know anything about me and God will continue to do a great work through this church. Eric Holmstrom — So I came here, my wife Sarah and I came here. We had one kid at the time, Charlie, and we came here 13 years ago. And you know felt like, this is a great, healthy church. The lead pastor, our our former lead pastor, Glenn Gunderson, just an amazing man of God. Him and his wife, Kimberly, and their family, they led here for 31 years as our lead pastor and just such a legacy leader.Eric Holmstrom — So when we got here, I started as the high school pastor and, I you know, wasn’t sure how long we’d be here. Loved the ministry, loved that ah there is a multi-generational, very diverse congregation here in terms of even diverse socioeconomically.Eric Holmstrom — So I love the opportunity to get to do youth ministry. That’s what I was passionate about and excited about and just wanted to faithfully follow God. I mean, that’s where my story of faith really began was going into my freshman year of high school. That’s when I got saved. That’s when I gave my life to Christ. I was at a camp, summer camp, went there looking for a girl and I found God. And my life was forever changed because of that, because of this camp and the local church that discipled me.Eric Holmstrom — And so got into youth ministry, came here, ah was a high school pastor for 10 years here, did a total of 18 years in youth ministry, and then began to sense that God was calling me and my family to step into this new season. And our lead pastor was encouraging of that. He really saw that in me. Eric Holmstrom — But then in our church polity, in our structure here, there had to be a church vote. And so I interviewed, got grilled by, search committee…Rich Birch — Yes.Eric Holmstrom — …had an amazing, you know experience, a challenging. And at the end of it, uh, you know, we went before the congregation and there was a vote and I got enough votes to become the next lead pastor. Rich Birch — Love it. Eric Holmstrom — And the baton was passed and it was such a healthy transition. Our, our former lead pastor, pastor Glenn, I’ll never forget on that that ah Sunday when he passed the baton to me, he said to our whole church, he said, this is Eric, your new lead pastor, and this is Eric, my new lead pastor.Rich Birch — Oh, wow. What a gift.Eric Holmstrom — And so he just got it. It was a powerful statement and very humbled. And and yeah, and then he him and his family kind of for six months ah gave a little space for me to bond with the congregation.Eric Holmstrom — And then their, you know, they’re back in the rotation now. We see them about once a month and then they’re with their grandkids and doing other things. But ah but he preaches here still. Pastor Glenn preaches here about three or four times a year still. Rich Birch — Love it. Eric Holmstrom — And so it’s been a beautiful, healthy transition.Rich Birch — That’s so cool. I love the fact that you’re, you know, you know, there’s 19 pastors been there over those 150 years. I love that context of you setting yourself in like, hey, ah you’re in one in a line.Rich Birch — A couple of years ago, I was in London, England, and was at a church and was talking to the vicar. And he was, we were just walking around their building… Eric Holmstrom — Wow. Rich Birch — …and he said, yeah, this wall over here is a thousand years old. Eric Holmstrom — Yeah. Rich Birch — And, and then he had similar, they have ah really literally written on the wall, all the pastors through the years.Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — And he pointed at some guy and said, that guy is written in a play by Shakespeare. Like he’s literally a character in Shakespeare.Eric Holmstrom — No way.Rich Birch — Yeah. So I was like, man, that’s just a, you know, thinking about legacy this is a very different way to think about it.Eric Holmstrom — Oh, oh, oh.Rich Birch — Right. And I’ve been around forever. Well, let’s go back to those early…Eric Holmstrom — And Rich, I, I…Rich Birch — Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead.Eric Holmstrom — Oh, was just gonna I wish you could come and see our church because we have this like heritage wall of like, you know, our church, different seasons, doing different things, buildings, groups, whatever. And there’s a wall of all of us like lead pastors. And you should see that wall. These lead pastors are like the most distinguished, like, you know, FB then their last name, Reverend, Doctor. And they’ve got the suits and the glorious beards and they look amazing. And then there’s me, this buffoon, who is this guy? Like who how did if he make this cut?Rich Birch — One of these things doesn’t belong.Eric Holmstrom — I don’t fit in, but I’m just humbled and honored that God would choose me. D.L. Moody has that line, or his son, Paul Moody. D.L. Moody is one of my mentors, and ah you know historical mentors. But his son, Paul, said that ah about his dad, he said, D.L. Moody never got over that God would use him, despite all of his handicaps. And that ah his wife, the love of his life would choose to love him.Eric Holmstrom — And I just feel like I’m that I'm that man. I'm just I’m so amazed and honored that I get to be a part of this legacy church and that my wife and my family love me. And that, you know, I’m just, I feel very grateful and humbled.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so cool. Well, let’s go back to those early days of the transition. You know, what’s going through your head when you’re following in the footsteps of someone who’s been there for 31 years? That’s a significant time to step in on. What were what were you aware of, you know, in those early days? What was kind of thing that was bubbling around in your head?Eric Holmstrom — Oh, oh my gosh. Okay. The thing bubbling around my head is, am I an idiot? Like why? This is like following Rick Warren. This is like following Billy Graham. Like why? I mean, Pastor Glenn Gunderson is one, just he’s nationally known, internationally. He’s he’s just such an incredible, amazing pastor and leader, and 31 years here at our church, just faithfully leading.Eric Holmstrom — And so why would I want to follow him? Like that, it just, ah you know, so there was a lot of insecurity and just fear around that. I’m thinking through the whole process for anyone that’s gone through a similar process, just feeling very vulnerable, honestly. Eric Holmstrom — I mean, lots of people in our church and different groups were having conversations about me and whether they saw me in this role and, ah you know, that that just felt very exposing and and made me feel very vulnerable.Eric Holmstrom — And at the same time, like really excited, like really the going, wow, like this, this would be a dream. You know, I think for me, I went through kind of a life planning, my wife and I went through a life planning process with an executive pastor of another church and and and a life coach. It was amazing experience. And basically what surfaced for me is, you know, I feel like my calling is to lead every generation to leverage everything they have to advance God’s kingdom.Eric Holmstrom — And so I really kind of grew through my ministry years of going, I really am passionate about leading every generation. And leading every generation to make a mark, to to leave a legacy, to do something great with their lives.Eric Holmstrom — When I gave my life to Christ going into my freshman year of high school, I remember praying, Lord, ah I’ll follow you. I’ll become a Christian, but you’ve got to make it an adventure. Because to me, I felt like, well, maybe being a Christian would be a boring thing. And I felt like God was laughing going, you have no idea what adventure is. Adventure is being a Jesus follower. And and so I just want people to wake up to the adventure of following Christ. Eric Holmstrom — And so I had those mixture of emotions of insecurity, fear. I remember the morning of the congregational vote where, you know, we had done this like six months of work and interviews.Eric Holmstrom — And it all came down to how many people were going to gather in the room, how many people were going to vote.Eric Holmstrom — There there had to be at least in our polity structure, at least two thirds of the people had to vote in favor of me being the next lead pastor. And I’m getting calls and texts from buddies who are like, Eric, we’re cheering you on. Can’t make it tonight. Sorry, man, have this pizza dinner. And I’m like, I’m like, bro, I need you there. Like I need you in the room.Eric Holmstrom — But but anyway, that morning, I was on a run and just feeling so insecure, feeling, you know, Satan was just bringing to mind all my sin, all my shortcomings. And man, the Lord met me. I feel like I got this vision and this picture of Jesus holding my right hand. And I was going, wow. Like it was just powerful. But then I’m like, okay, where is that in the Bible? And then the Lord led me to Isaiah 41:13, “for I am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear. I will help you.”Eric Holmstrom — And was going, okay, if, if, if we’re going to step into this next season and Lord willing, you know, we, we’d love to be here 20, 30 years, however long the Lord would have us here. I believe Jesus is holding my right hand and he is leading me and helping me through our amazing staff and our board and our congregation and our volunteers and everyone involved.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. And, you know, for context, a part of the reason why we’re talking to you is because your church has been flagged as one of the fastest growing churches. Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — So listeners, like, let’s put this in context here. This transition happened and the church continued to accelerate and reach more people…Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — …which I think can be a fear on the on the side of maybe the departing leaders. They’re like, hey, what’s going to happen? Is this thing going to go sideways? Well, it hasn’t. It’s actually continued to accelerate. So, and I even have seen this even as we’ve you know kind of interacted today. Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — How do you think about honoring what’s happened, so honoring the past…Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — …honoring the leadership and what’s happened there, but still really continuing to lead god lead the church into what God has for the church, into something new. How has that tension, I’ve seen you model it already in this conversation…Eric Holmstrom — Yeah, yeah. Rich Birch — …but how does that work out you know in your leadership?Eric Holmstrom — Oh, that’s such a great question. And what’s awesome is like, we don’t have to fake it here at Purpose Church because our lead pastor, our former lead pastor, Glenn Gunderson, did such an amazing job creating a church culture here where, you know, he used to always say, ah this church is is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.Eric Holmstrom — He would always talk about, um we’re a church that goes after the one.Eric Holmstrom — And we have ah a… a high celebrate recovery culture here, model here of people come as they are. And and really it’s it’s it’s a beautiful church to be a part of in terms of, you know, we’ve had people on our staff who were homeless sleeping on our church campus and then we offered them a job. They went through recovery. Now they’re leading different ministry areas. Eric Holmstrom — We’ve got people on our staff who were very high up in, in, industries that ah are just really dark and broken. And God has redeemed them and we brought them on our church staff and now they’re working for God’s kingdom and doing great things.Eric Holmstrom — And so, our church culture has always been one of, especially under Pastor Glenn’s leadership, of we want to reach people that are far from God. Our vision is everyone everywhere following Jesus.Eric Holmstrom — We literally mean everyone, wherever they’re at, following Jesus, which means there’s a starting point for their relationship with God. And they continue, that we continue being discipled, continue growing in our relationship So what I’m trying to do is, especially as I started in this role, is honor what’s been, because we’ve got this amazing momentum moving forward because of their hard work.Eric Holmstrom — And because of this church culture that has been created. So we’re trying to honor the past, trying to thank God for the ways that he has led our church and then continue to move into the future and and start new ways of reaching people through some invite Sundays that we’ve done through different sermon series, through reaching out to our neighborhood and our community more.Eric Holmstrom — And so, it’s been an awesome progression and you’re right. We have seen a lot of growth ah while Pastor Glenn was our lead pastor and by God’s grace, he’s continued to grow this church over the last almost two years that I’ve been the lead pastor.Rich Birch — Yes, that’s great. So let’s again, we’re thinking about these early days, you’re in this chair. How did you get clarity on where you should be spending your time? It’s an interesting shift, right?Eric Holmstrom — Yes.Rich Birch — You go from being the person on the team to now you’re responsible for the team, ultimate flexibility, you can make up your own day.Eric Holmstrom — Yes. Yes.Rich Birch — How did you figure that out?Eric Holmstrom — Yes. Yes. And that’s the word, that’s the hardest part for me is in this role as lead pastor, I could get involved in anything I wanted to, right? I could schedule a meeting with anyone. And and so I had to quickly discern, okay, what does the church need most from me? And what is it that only I can do and only I should be doing? Eric Holmstrom — And so what kind of quickly surfaced for me is I need to be giving my best energy towards what’s the vision and direction of our church.Eric Holmstrom — What’s the spiritual direction of our church? Now, I’m not just casting vision by myself. I’ve got an amazing executive pastor, Pastor Greg, who he he’s he’s a rock star. I mean, he hired me here at this church. And then through this process, I became his boss. Rich Birch — Oh wow.Eric Holmstrom — And he is just, he is such an amazing, humble, incredible executive pastor.Eric Holmstrom — He’s been a lead pastor before and has no desire to be a lead pastor again. So he is just been, he was such a champion carrying our church through that season of transition and now being an amazing executive pastor.Eric Holmstrom — So, you know, we’re developing vision through time with my executive pastor and our strategic team, our pastors. But at the end of the day, I’m seeking the Lord going, okay, God, taking in all of this inside and time away with you. What’s the vision and direction you’re leading our church in? What’s the spiritual direction? And then for me, a core role that I have here is developing and discipling and training up our staff, our pastors and our leaders. And then, of course, as a pastor, I love doing congregational care and and there is time built into my schedule for that. But honestly, if I’m doing my job best, according to Ephesians 4:12, I’m equipping the saints for ministry. Rich Birch — Yeah.Eric Holmstrom — And so really what I need to be doing is pouring into our staff here, who are then caring for and ministering to our congregation, many of whom I only interact with, you know, many of our, much of our congregation, I only interact with on Sunday morning when I see them or, um you know, if they happen to come forward or we send an email, it’s really our church staff and then our high capacity volunteers who are discipling, mentoring, coaching, walking with the rest of our church. So that’s where I’ve been focusing a lot of my attention.Eric Holmstrom — Also on culture. That’s become a really important one. You know I’m constantly thinking through, okay, what do I need to be focusing on externally for our church?Eric Holmstrom — But then what about internally? How do we be the healthiest we can be as an organization and as a church? And so we did something this last year, we basically took a year and said, we are going to develop ah what we ended up calling an employee spiritual commitment, where we are making some decisions as a staff and a team This is who we are going to be. This is going to be our culture. Eric Holmstrom — Because Rich, I have discovered that the longer you become, longer you’ve been a Christian and and and once you get on staff or become a high capacity volunteer or whatever, Satan likes to trick us into thinking that we become the exception. Eric Holmstrom — And so what I’m telling our staff all the time is you are not the exception. You are the example. Rich Birch — good.Eric Holmstrom — As soon as you join a staff, you start thinking, you know what? I don’t need to tithe here or give, that’s what other people do. I don’t need to serve because I work here at the church. I don’t need to read my Bible for my own intimacy and time with the Lord. I just read my Bible to prepare sermons. I don’t need to be in a life group. That would be hard for me as a church staff member. That’s for ever…. So I’m gonna tell everybody else, you need to be reading your Bible, you need to be tithing, you need to be serving, you to be in a life group, but those things don’t apply for me because I’m the exception.Eric Holmstrom — Wrong. Peter talks about it in 1 Peter 5. Be an example. Be an example the flock.Rich Birch — Love that.Eric Holmstrom — So we made some commitments and we worked on them. We prayed through them. We talked about them with our staff and we shared them and then gave people four months to say, hey, if you’re not about this, that’s okay.Eric Holmstrom — You’re still Christian. You just can’t work here, right? And like try to be as gracious and kind as we as we could be say, hey, we’re not saying you’re not a Christian.Rich Birch — Wow. Yes.Eric Holmstrom — We’re not saying you don’t love Jesus. We’re just saying. These are going to be the commitments we are going to keep as the staff and the leaders of Purpose Church so that we can look at our congregation and say, we want to be an example to you, not an exception to you.Eric Holmstrom — So I’ve been really wrestling with that culture of our staff, culture of our church, and then also kind of vision direction, spiritual direction of of where we’re going and developing.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. I’d love to talk a little bit more on the rollout of the commitments. I think that’s that’s amazing. Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — And um you know you know you brought it up there. Hey, we’re going to give the four months for you to wrestle through this and think about it. Maybe just double click on that because I think it’s great that you’re calling your team to that.Eric Holmstrom — Okay.Rich Birch — But just give me a little more about well how that went. What would you do different if you’d done it again? What went well? What didn’t go well?Eric Holmstrom — Totally.Rich Birch — What would you advise the clients if they called and said, hey, we’re thinking about doing something like that?Eric Holmstrom — Yeah, so it really started with me and our executive pastor and our chief of operations here. We were in a meeting and we were like, look, we just think it’s important that our whole staff embody these values. And then we asked each other, hey, would we be willing to lose amazing people who are doing amazing work, but don’t necessarily fit with our culture? Like, would we be willing to lose them? And we all looked at each other and said, you know what? It’s worth it. It’s worth it. It feels like the right thing to do. It feels like the step that honors God.Eric Holmstrom — And so it started with that commitment and that that, you know, recognition, like we may lose people in the process. And then, you know, we started to work on it with our pastors and our staff, roll it out. But before we did that too, we we sent it to our lawyer and we sent it to our trustees.Eric Holmstrom — They looked through it. We sent it to our lawyer because they’re like, are we doing anything illegal here? And ah our lawyer wrote back the most beautiful, you know, I guess maybe this is one of the ways you know, like, you’re you’re a lead pastor is like when when when you get an email from your lawyer that’s like really affirming, you start crying.Eric Holmstrom — And so I’m just like, she she she sent me an email, she sent us an email and she said, I stand by all of these commitments. And if I lived in your area, because she’s, think she’s in Alabama. She said, if I lived in your area, I would go to your church because I would want to be led by a staff like this. Rich Birch — That’s so good.Eric Holmstrom — And so it was very, very affirming. So it was important to run it, you know, to collaborate with our pastors, run it through our lawyer, ah run it through our trustees, getting all the input, all those things. And then we shared it with our staff.Eric Holmstrom — I wrote kind of like a cover letter for, hey, here’s my heart behind it. It’s because I want you to be a healthy leader.Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Holmstrom — It’s because I want you to be an example. It’s because I want your work in ministry to be meaningful. And I care about you as a leader. And I care about the health of our church. And then we shared it with the staff and said, hey, you’ve got, I think it was three three months to pray on this. And then we need you to sign this and commit to this as we go into the new year together.Eric Holmstrom — And and and thankfully, everybody committed to it. We had, but but that three to four months also gave opportunity for conversations. And we invited those. You said, hey, there’s anything unclear in this for your situation or your season of life, like, let’s talk about this.Eric Holmstrom — And it was really, really great. It gave us a lot of opportunities to have conversation, clarifying conversations, and to help people not misunderstand things, but to understand the heart and and how it might apply to them.Eric Holmstrom — And it’s been really cool to see our staff… Rich Birch — that’s cool. Eric Holmstrom — …invested more in groups, invested more in setting that example for our church.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. I love that. And, you know, what even a great kind of alignment thing to go through as you’re starting to lead, you know, to say, hey, let’s try to define what is going to be really important for us. Rich Birch — So going in a totally different direction. You mentioned it as we kind of flew through there and love invite culture stuff. And so you mentioned invite Sundays. And so that caught my eye. Tell me about those. How have they function? How does that look different than from what you’ve done before? Yeah, just kind of unpack that a little bit for us.Eric Holmstrom — Yeah. Yeah. Well, Rich, I’ve heard on your podcast, which by the way, I’m a big fan of unSeminary. I think your podcast is awesome. And I’m a big fan of seminary. I went to seminary. I went to two different seminaries.Rich Birch — Yes.Eric Holmstrom — I love seminary, but I think we can learn so much from each other. And so to everyone listening, I’m just so grateful you’re joining us today. And I’m always getting on our staff here as they’re joining, as they’re, you know, becoming a seminary student, as they’re going to graduate school to, hey, continue to serve in a local church.Eric Holmstrom — When I went to seminary, there were several students, colleagues who were only doing seminary. They were disconnected from the local church. And I’m like, what are you doing? You’re missing out on applying what you’re learning. Rich Birch — It’s so true.Eric Holmstrom — But there’s so much that seminary can’t teach you or doesn’t teach you. And so podcasts like yours, Rich, like the one you have here is absolutely amazing. Eric Holmstrom — One the things you’ve talked about on your podcast is how most people are invited to church by somebody else. So so we do you know promotions on social media and on our website and you know all that stuff. But we wanted to prioritize equipping our church and giving our church family an excuse for to invite their friends and their family to church.Eric Holmstrom — And so we have four or five of these invite Sundays every year where we try to keep them very similar to what somebody would experience on a Sunday morning, just heightened a little bit. So we’ll get bounce houses. We’ll we’ll bring a food truck in. We’ve even kind of experimented with like launching into a series. So we did a spiritual warfare series in the fall called “The War You’re In.”Eric Holmstrom — And it launched on our invite Sunday. And the the the idea was, let’s give these new people who are coming chapter one of this story of this book and see if it piques their interest. But weeks leading up to that, we’re telling our church family, we call them Sunday Funday. how we kind of brand them, but we tell our church family, hey, Sunday Funday is coming up. Don’t come to church alone. Invite your neighbor, invite your friends. Who’s your one more that doesn’t know Jesus? This is a great opportunity to invite them. And and every Sunday here at Purpose Church is a great Sunday to bring somebody. Rich Birch — Right.Eric Holmstrom — I do a salvation message about once a month or so. We’ve seen a lot of people surrender their lives to Christ this year. We’ve had more baptisms this year than we had in the last 10 years. It’s just been incredible. So we’re seeing people take those first steps, but we’re trying to equip our church family. We’re telling them, hey, here’s what we’re talking about.Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Holmstrom — Leading into Easter. I mean, Easter is an invite Sunday for us. It’s a big outreach Sunday for us. So multiple weeks leading up to Easter, I’m telling our church family, this is what I’m talking about. You know, this this Easter, last Easter, our theme was a second chance. So I’m telling our church family, hey, if you’ve got somebody in your life who needs a second chance, this is their Easter. This is the service for them. Eric Holmstrom — So I’m trying to, we’re trying to help our congregation get excited about what’s happening here, equipping them with flyers, talking about what we’ll be talking about, making it an environment through ah worship, greeting the message through the atmosphere and the environment. I mean, I think one of our secret sauces here at Purpose Church is we don’t have the biggest budget, but we’ve got big hearts. Rich Birch — That’s right.Eric Holmstrom — The people of Purpose Church have big hearts. They love people well. They make people feel at home and welcomed here. And so we want to leverage that. We want to see new people coming on our campus and and giving all of us an opportunity to welcome them, love them. And and and we’re seeing people stick around, which has been exciting.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so cool. Love that. Just to call out friends, ah there’s a lot there that you should rip off if you’re listening in. There’s so good. I love that. But one of the things that many churches miss on trying to build invite culture is we we think that like if we kind of surprise our people, that they’ll like that. It’s like, oh, there’s some big thing happening on that day. You’re going to want to invite your friends to be here.Rich Birch — That’s actually not how people think. You need, they need to be very predictable. The fact that you’re saying, this is exactly what we’re going to be teaching on. Do you know someone who asks questions like this, this, and this? You need to get them to be here that day. That is a great best practice there for sure. I love I love that.Eric Holmstrom — Oh, thanks Rich.Rich Birch — As opposed to like, oh, hey, it’s going to be great, um you know which just doesn’t mean anything to people.Eric Holmstrom — Yep. And and we used to do like Easter services at a different location, you know, with more seating.Rich Birch — Right.Eric Holmstrom — But we’ve just gone, man, we want the experience to feel as similar as possible on a Sunday morning. So our church family’s equipped to know what are we going to be talking about? What’s going to be happening? But then for that new person who comes, we want them to feel the familiarity of the parking experience, of dropping off their kids, of where they’re sitting.Eric Holmstrom — And so that as they’re making that decision, “Am I going to come back again?”, they’ll know what that experience is going to be like. And then of course, we have an amazing next steps team that’s following up with these people. That is, we’re getting information. We’re inviting them to scan a QR code to connect with us. We have a gift for them. And then our team is doing a great job of following up with them and helping them take the next steps that they want to take.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good. Well, let’s think about the succession question again, you know, going back to that conversation. So for a pastor who might be listening in today, who is, they are the person that is going to be, you know, taking the baton. Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — Maybe they’re before the actual transition, but they’re thinking about their first 90 days, 100 days.Eric Holmstrom — Yes. Yes.Rich Birch — What would what advice would you give to them? How how would you help them think about their their their initial days as they’re launching off?Eric Holmstrom — Oh, that’s so great. Okay. So the first thing I tried to do was to make a commitment that I’m going to shepherd people and pastor people right where they are. And what I mean by that is there were people in our church who were grieving that our former lead pastor was leaving. And what they didn’t need from me was vision, vision, vision. What they needed from me is, Hey, I get it. I’m I’m sad too. Like I’m going to miss him.Eric Holmstrom — And and so our job was to shepherd and pastor them. And by the way, I told this to all of our staff and our pastors. I said, don’t feel like you have to you know hype me up or or if people are sad that things are changing, that you have to try to convince them. Like there’s that whole change curve. It’s going to take people time and people are on different places. And so shepherding and pastoring people who were really struggling and and having a difficult time with the change, meeting them where they’re at.Eric Holmstrom — There were also people who had recently come to our church. I just met ah a guy last Sunday who’s been coming for like a couple months now and he’s brand new to our church. And he’s like, man, I love it here. Love you, Pastor Eric. And and there was a guy who preached like a couple of weeks ago. I think he like led the church for like 30 years or something. He was great. He was amazing. Eric Holmstrom — I’m like, Oh my goodness. You don’t know pastor Glenn Gunderson at all. You don’t know him.Rich Birch — Yes.Eric Holmstrom — And and so what he needs is vision for where we’re going.Rich Birch — Yes.Eric Holmstrom — So pastoring and shepherding people right where they are, instead of trying to force everybody into one category.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Eric Holmstrom — Second thing that I just felt the Lord leading me to do that I’ve just continued to do is I start every single sermon the exact same way. I tell our church every single Sunday, I greet the new people and it’s it’s a for everybody, whether you’re new or you’ve been a part of our church forever.Eric Holmstrom — I greet them the same way. I say, I love you. And most importantly, God loves you. And that sort of came out of me asking this question, what do I wanna be remembered for? Like, what’s the thing that at the end of the day, these people are not gonna remember all my sermons, all my points, but if they if they remembered one thing about me as their pastor, what would it be? And it’s that I would want them to know I love them and that God loved them.Rich Birch — That’s so good.Eric Holmstrom — And 1 Thessalonians 2:8 really like has been my ministry motto. Paul says, because we loved you so much, we cared for you, we shared the gospel and we shared our lives as well. Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Holmstrom — So Paul’s talking about this this ministry that’s born out of a deep love for the people that you’re pastoring. And so I I’m always praying right before I preach. I pray the same thing. God, would you put your message in me like a fire in my bones? And would you help me to see these people the way you see them and to feel about them the way you feel about them?Rich Birch — That’s so good.Eric Holmstrom — And I’ve had moments when I’ve been preaching where it’s like, I just feel like the Spirit of God deposits into my heart his incredible love for them. And I start tearing up over something.Eric Holmstrom — But but I tell them every Sunday, I love you. And most importantly, God loves you. So that when I give them a convicting word, a challenging word, something where I’m calling them to a higher standard, they know it’s coming from a pastor that doesn’t want to beat them up or that doesn’t care about them or is trying to build some platform.Eric Holmstrom — It comes from a pastor who loves them and who is deeply, deeply convinced that God loves them. So I’m sharing that with them um each Sunday. And I’ve heard from a lot of people that that that really resonates and and feels significant for them.Rich Birch — Yeah it’s good. Eric Holmstrom — Yeah. Rich Birch — I think that’s great. I think the the thing to point out there that I think is, I just think is amazing is good is I think oftentimes we when we think about that kind of transition we can go to the like immediate the tactics or the whatever you know like oh make sure you meet with all these people or whatever. And what I’ve seen in churches that this transition has gone well is there’s a humility with both leaders, which both of you, which you have described him in these conversations today, like that, you know, when Glenn passed it to you, there was ah that humble moment. And he obviously continues to, you know, he gave some space, but has continued to handle himself in a humble way.Eric Holmstrom — Yeah.Rich Birch — You’re handling yourself with humility as well. And, you know, the, I like that you’re pushing on really ah a deeper issue, which is like, do you love these people at the end of the day? You know you’re not taking over some organization this is a family that you’re called to lead. And so I mean I think that’s just so good. That’s fantastic. Eric Holmstrom — Yeah. And then, Rich, I would just want to say too, in addition to that is then starting to cast some vision and direction for, okay, where is God taking this church? So one of the things we did is we started to a new rhythm of Vision Sunday once a year. So we actually, it’s coming up in a couple Sundays. We try to do it right before summer. We do it actually, it aligns with our fiscal budget year. So one of the things that we tried to make a a commitment around is, hey, we’re gonna be a vision-driven church. We’re gonna have vision-driven budgeting. So it’s not just, hey, can I get $1,000 more than last year or whatever? It’s it’s what’s the vision that God has given you for your ministry, for your department, and we’re budgeting around that. Eric Holmstrom — But that starts with me as I’m with my team, I’m a collaborative visionary. And as I’m hearing from the Lord, what’s the vision and direction for our church? And so ah first Sunday of June, we do a big vision Sunday where we celebrate what God has been doing. And where we cast vision for the next year. And so that’s part of what I’m doing too.Rich Birch — That’s good.Eric Holmstrom — And what I did early on and continue to do is to keep vision in front of our church of where are we going? What things are we starting? What are we praying and hoping to see the Lord do? And what’s their part in that?Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. Well, this has been a fantastic conversation. Any final words just as we wrap up today’s discussion?Eric Holmstrom — Yeah, absolutely. Well, I would just say that the last thing I would want to say is I think as as a lead pastor or, and if preaching is a high priority for you, recognizing that we do so much leadership through our preaching. Rich Birch — That’s the truth.Eric Holmstrom — And so that that became a really important thing for me in terms of figuring out, okay, how do I go about writing the sermon? How do I edit the sermon? How do I prepare and practice the sermon and then ultimately get some evaluation on the sermon?Eric Holmstrom — And so that’s been a journey for me of of learning how to do that well. And I think some of the things I’ve I’ve learned along the way is there’s parts of it you don’t love and that are more challenging. For me, it’s the editing. Eric Holmstrom — And I think a lot of preachers and pastors are probably like that. You know, on Mondays, I’ll start going, man, I think I only have a 15 minute sermon here. By Thursday, I’m like, I’ve got an 80 minute sermon here. And so the the I think the difference between good sermons and great sermons is great sermons are are are ones where we cut out the good stuff. It’s all good stuff, but we cut out the good stuff to make enough room for the great stuff. Eric Holmstrom — And then getting people’s feedback, you know? So after i write the sermon, I edit it, I still practice my sermons even before delivering them I have a rhythm of, they gotta be done by Thursdays because I wanna enjoy some of my weekend. And so I’m practicing my sermons, but then, after preaching my sermons, I have kind of an evaluation form that I give different people in our church to give me direct feedback because there’s things I’m not seeing.Eric Holmstrom — And especially leading up into Easter and some of these invite Sundays, I’ll actually deliver my sermon to several people on our staff. They’ll give me direct feedback. And sometimes it’s not what I want to hear. Sometimes the story I’m so excited about, they’re going, hey, you know what? I don’t think it fits here. Or and my sermons have always been better because of their feedback.Eric Holmstrom — And so that’s something I’m really passionate about is helping. Rich Birch — That’s good. Eric Holmstrom — We started a preacher’s club. That’s part of the, one of the things that I’m trying to do in terms of developing our ministry leaders. And so we started a preacher’s club where we meet once a month and, everyone gives, you know, or one or two people will give a 10 minute sermon and we give each other feedback. I share with them some tips and tricks, things I’m learning, and we watch other sermons and evaluate them. Eric Holmstrom — And so ah that that’s been an important aspect, I think, for me is really is realizing that that for for our church, 90% of our community interacts with me on a Sunday morning through my sermon. And so I want to be really intentional to shepherd and pastor and care for them and to give them the very best that I can. And so that’s been some of the process for me. Rich Birch — So good. That’s, that’s fantastic. That’s like a little preaching clinic you just gave us there. That’s so good. So many good things to unpack there. This has been a fantastic conversation, Eric. I really appreciate your time today. If, where do we want to send people online? If they want to track with you or with the church, where do we want to send them?Eric Holmstrom — Oh man, well, you could go to our church webpage, purposechurch.com. We’re on Instagram, Purpose Pomona. You could follow me on Instagram, eric.h.holmstrom. Good luck spelling that. But I would love to you know I would love to interact with you on Instagram. That’s kind of the only place that I’m at. But yeah, thank you. And Rich, this has been a really rich conversation rich rich conversation I appreciate you, man.Rich Birch — Nice.Eric Holmstrom — And I’m I'm grateful for your ministry.Rich Birch — Thanks so much for being here today.

The Fast Lane with Ed Lane: Thursday, July 2, 2026

562. You're hitting your goals. You're showing up. You're making it look easy. And you haven't had a full night's sleep in months. High-functioning anxiety is one of the most common — and most invisible — experiences in modern adult life. This week, Dr. Judy Ho unpacks what it actually is (and what it isn't), why the people who have it are often the last to get help, and three evidence-based tools to start treating the root rather than just managing the output.Have a mental health question? Email Dr. Judy's team at at psychologist@quickanddirtytips.comFind Savvy Psychologist on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more psychology tips.Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@SavvyPsychologistMore from Dr. Ho on her other channels:Dr. Ho's website, Substack, LinkedIn.Savvy Psychologist is a part of Quick and Dirty Tips. Find a transcript at QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ROI in staff roundtable kent editionInterview with James McComas - GM, Champneys Eastwell ManorAnother agile year unfoldingPredicting demandClashing of brands and audiencesWhy working together is needed in KentPartner - HOSPA - Janel Clark, Succeeding at peopleProfessional development, keeping hospitality a people business, making a career from a service industry.What courses are there?What level of experience is needed?How are learners supported?POV - Nicola Phillips - Hospitality Action - How to support staff emotionallyWhat are the concerns of hospitality workers?What type of management and support network is needed?Where does Hospitality Action come in?Engaging in schools and collegesIn this episode of the ROI in Staff roundtable (Kent Edition), we dive into the critical intersection of modern hospitality management, regional collaboration, and staff well-being. We begin with James McComas, GM at Champneys Eastwell Manor, who unpacks the realities of an "agile" year in the industry. James explores the challenges of predicting fluctuating demand and navigating the complex "clash of brands and audiences," ultimately advocating for stronger regional cooperation across Kent to navigate these shifting tides.Transitioning to professional development, Janel Clark from HOSPA joins us to discuss "Succeeding at People." We examine how to keep the sector human-centric while creating clear, sustainable career paths within the service industry. Janel provides valuable insights into available educational courses, the experience levels required for advancement, and the support systems available for learners.Finally, we address the human element of the industry with Nicola Phillips from Hospitality Action. This segment focuses on the emotional support systems necessary for a resilient workforce. Nicola highlights the specific concerns facing today's hospitality workers and details the management networks required to support them. We conclude by looking at the importance of actively engaging schools and colleges to foster the next generation of hospitality talent - and initiatives some hoteliers are taking to connect with staff on a deeper more meaningful level.

Today we jump back 15 years to two back-to-back episodes of the PWTorch Livecast from June 13 and 14, 2011.On the June 13, 2011 episode, PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell and PWTorch columnist Bruce Mitchell discussed with live callers last night's TNA Slammiversary PPV and the predominant issues all captured by one anniversary show, whether dying-days-of-WCW comparisons can be found in WWE with cracks starting to show on Smackdown, tonight's Raw episode and what to expect, issues with Sin Cara replacing Rey Mysterio, why Randy Orton wasn't working as Smackdown's top star, why Syfy wouldn't move Smackdown to Thursdays, possibility of Ultimate Warrior in WWE Hall of Fame, how to fix NXT besides ending it, and more. Plus, Pat McNeill dropped in late in the show for a quick cameo.Then on the June 14, 2011 episode, PWTorch editor Wade Keller and ProWrestling.net's Jason Powell took live calls for most of the live hour including a lot of discussion on the previous night's three hour Raw with Steve Austin and Roddy Piper, plus TNA Slammiversary reaction, looking ahead to Destination X, Gunner's push, Zach Ryder's lack of a push, and a single call for a Powell vs. Keller match. In the previously VIP-exclusive Aftershow they discussed WWE's introduction to the Top Managers List and more on Slammiversary.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-podcast--3076978/support.

That Solo Life Episode 344: The Secrets that Filmmakers Know About Marketing That Most Business Owners Never Learn with Jake Isham Episode Summary Jake Isham describes himself as an accidental marketer. He went to film school, realized he wasn't going back for a grad degree, and spent his 20s learning to build a business the hard way. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Creative Minds, a creative agency rooted in filmmaking and storytelling that helps entrepreneurs build personal brands through video content, photography, and a signature podcast model that takes clients out of the studio and into the environments where they actually come alive.  In this episode, Jake joins Karen and Michelle to talk about his journey and the hard-won lessons along the way.  He breaks down how a filmmaker's lens changes the work he does for clients, why the Hero's Journey is a more useful brand-building framework than most marketing playbooks, how his on-location podcast model turns a client's hobby into a content engine, and the business development principle that he wishes someone had told him on day one: promote at a volume that feels impossible, measure the results six weeks later, and get 1% better every time.   Episode Highlights [01:43] The Accidental Marketer Origin Story: Jake went to film school, considered grad school for about a semester, and decided he'd already spent four years doing what he was about to spend two and a half more years doing. What followed was a decade of figuring it out, freelancing, building, and course-correcting, guided by a piece of advice from his father. [07:35] The Filmmaker's Lens: Why the Hero's Journey Is the Real Brand Framework: When everyone claims to tell stories, the differentiator is understanding what storytelling actually means. Jake draws the line between sharing an anecdote and structuring a narrative. payoff. He uses Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey as a practical brand-building tool: who is your hero, who is your enemy, who are your allies, what are you standing for, what are you standing against. These are the questions that build a brand identity rather than a content calendar. [10:24] Getting Clients Comfortable on Camera: Jake's superpower as a director is making people comfortable in front of a camera, and he leverages that in his work with clients.  He describes a client whose first shoot took four hours with a teleprompter. Their most recent shoot took one hour, no teleprompter, off the top of his head, and produced more usable content than the first session ever did. The skill is not just technical but the accumulated experience of working with actors, directing scenes, and creating the conditions for someone to be fully themselves. [12:30] The Signature Series Podcast Model: Rather than building another studio podcast, Jake developed a signature format: take the client's hobby or genuine interest and build a location-based show around it. A golf enthusiast on the course. A client at their place of worship. The host is in an environment that makes them feel natural and engaged, which changes everything about how they show up on camera.  [20:12] The Business Development Truth Nobody Tells Creative Entrepreneurs: When asked what he wishes someone had told him at the start, Jake doesn't hesitate: promote, promote, promote, promote. He describes watching a gym owner tell his mentor he had distributed 300 flyers. The mentor's response: I do 5,000 a day. The lesson is not that what you're doing is wrong. It is that you are almost certainly not doing it at anywhere near the volume required. Jake shared the experiment he used and the data that he relies on for business development success.   [23:04] The Six-Week Lag: How to Measure Business Development Without Losing Your Mind: Jake has identified a consistent pattern in his own practice in which promotion activity produces income results approximately six weeks later. The implication is practical and clarifying. Don't judge a business development effort in the first six weeks. Measure from week six to week twelve.  [26:52] The 1% Better Principle: Why You Don't Need to Leap to Progress: Jake co-hosts a filmmaking show called The Creative Lens. He shows his first episode as an example: his setup was visibly rough next to his co-host's polished rig. By episode eight or nine, the gap had closed — not through a single overhaul, but through consistent incremental improvement. One better backdrop. One better light. One more structured opening. He applies the same logic to business development: not 100 posts more, but one more post. Not a complete brand overhaul, but one sharper headline. Get 1% better. Then do it again.   About Jake Isham Jake Isham is a filmmaker, photographer, and the owner and founder of Creative Minds, a creative agency focused on personal brand building through video content, photography, and signature podcast production. After film school and a brief flirtation with grad school, Jake spent his 20s learning how to build a business without a mentor and without a safety net — and has turned that hard-won experience into a practice that helps entrepreneurs show up authentically on camera and build content strategies that compound over time. He is also the co-host of The Creative Lens, a podcast about filmmaking, gear, and the business of visual storytelling. Jake is based in the Los Angeles area and works with entrepreneurs building personal brands at every stage. Website: creativemindsofficial.com Instagram: @JakeCreativeMarketing LinkedIn: Jake Isham Resources & Related Episodes The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell: Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey That Solo Life, Episode 308: Branding, Bravery and Breaking Through with Melissa Vela-Williamson That Solo Life, Episode 296: The Big Idea with Jess Sato That Solo Life, Episode 319: Succeeding at Business Development in a Tough Year Join the Solo PR Pro membership community: Solo PR Pro Host & Show Info That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape. Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com. Did this episode inspire you? If you found value in this conversation, please take a moment to leave us a review. Your feedback helps us reach more solo pros just like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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Andrew Mayne and Brian Brushwood dig into one of the most immediately useful applications of AI agents: hunting down waste, friction, and forgotten costs in everyday business operations. Brian explains how connecting ChatGPT to his finances helped him uncover orphaned subscriptions, duplicate services, and even a long-forgotten annual GPS dog collar charge, while Andrew describes using Codex to audit AWS charges, recurring billing in Gmail, Apple Card statements, and an overpriced web host for the podcast. Along the way they make the case that Codex is different from a normal chatbot because it can persist on tasks, work through files and folders, use connected accounts, operate websites without APIs, and function more like a capable intern than a search box. They also talk through the learning curve, privacy concerns, trust-building in stages, using AI to generate business experiments and revenue ideas, and why speed of adaptation matters more than trying to pause technological change. The recurring theme is simple: use AI to find the stupid in your systems, save real money, and free up time for more creative work. Picks: Andrew Mayne: Riley Brown’s YouTube quick-start tutorials on Codex Brian Brushwood: Just Evil Enough by Alistair Croll and Emily Ross

Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood explore how new AI video tools are changing filmmaking by making real footage more editable and steerable, letting creators keep human performances while using AI for sets, lighting, costumes, and polish. They compare that shift to earlier changes in digital editing and game engines, then turn to viral robot mishap clips to separate remote-controlled demos from true autonomy and to ask the bigger question of who carries legal and moral responsibility when future robots inevitably cause harm. From there they jump to a possible primordial black hole candidate as evidence related to dark matter, a promising one-time gene therapy approach for cholesterol, and the broader effects of GLP-1 drugs on appetite, addiction, gambling, alcohol use, and the business models built around those habits. They wrap by sharing how tools like Codex are already helping them build websites, automate repetitive tasks, migrate infrastructure, and dramatically cut costs, arguing that AI is most useful right now as a way to remove drudgery and free up more time for actual creative work. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Spider-Noir Justin Robert Young: The Hulk Hogan documentary on Netflix Justin Robert Young: Rocky Balboa

I don't end many podcasts by inviting someone to come hang out at the farm, but this was one of those conversations. In this episode, I sit down with Patrick Engasser, a bestselling author, speaker, and coach who's built and led a seven-figure sales team…all while being blind since birth.  This isn't a “feel good” story. This is a wake-up call. We talk about what it actually takes to succeed when the odds aren't in your favor, how to stay aware of opportunities most people completely miss, and why building the right systems is the difference between being stuck and having real freedom. Patrick also shares powerful perspective shifts around adversity- how the very thing you think is holding you back might actually be your greatest advantage. And yeah…we even get into guide dogs.  If you've been waiting for the “right time” or better circumstances… this episode will challenge that hard.   Find Patrick at www.TalkwithPatrick.com  If I Can Do It, You Can Do It!: Inspiration for Eliminating Excuses, Overcoming Challenges, and Succeeding in Business and Life by Patrick Engasser https://amzn.to/4cIg1VH    Things mentioned in the show: 10X is Easier than 2X by Dan Sullivan https://amzn.to/4mErRok  4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss https://amzn.to/4cB3XFF  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey https://amzn.to/489fc72  Goals: How to Get the Most Out of Your Life by Zig Ziglar https://amzn.to/4twO7mY  The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer https://amzn.to/4cX7rUk    --- Click here to change your life- http://eepurl.com/gy5T3T   Hit me up for a one-on-one brainstorming session- https://militaryimagesproject.com/products/brainstorming-session-1-hour    Check out my Linktree for different ways to rock your world! https://linktr.ee/ruggeddad    Check out the sweet Hyper X mic I'm using. https://amzn.to/41AF4px    Check out my best-selling books: Rapid Skill Development 101- https://amzn.to/3J0oDJ0 Streams of Income with Ryan Reger- https://amzn.to/3SDhDHg Strangest Secret Challenge- https://amzn.to/3xiJmVO This page contains affiliate links. This means that if you click a link and buy one of the products on this page, I may receive a commission (at no extra cost to you!) This doesn't affect our opinions or our reviews. Everything we do is to benefit you as the reader, so all of our reviews are as honest and unbiased as possible. #passiveincome #sidehustle #cryptocurrency #richlife

In this empowering episode, Kim Sawyer, Founder of theWealthSource®, shares how to take ownership of your career as a pre-founder in stage 1. If you're feeling stuck in a job, dissatisfied despite a good paycheck, and wondering if you should make a change, you won't want to miss it.You will discover:- Why treating your career as a business where you are the CEO gives you real control- How to discern between your current job, long-term career, and overall life priorities- What active participation looks like to build your desired future instead of leaving it to chanceThis episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 1 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quizKim Sawyer has extensive business experience and has been a professional coach for more than 20 years. His coaching firm, theWealthSource®, coaches and facilitates key professionals, executives, teams, and organizations to create extraordinary wealth — in all its forms. They accomplish this by developing unique and powerful models, tools, and approaches that elevate the performance and success of the executives they coach to the next level. Kim has coached leaders across some of the most respected organizations, including Continental Airlines, JP Morgan Chase Bank, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), IBM, Chevron, and Spectra Energy.Want to learn more about Kim Sawyer's work at theWealthSource®? Check out his website at https://thewealthsource.com/Connect with Kim through his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkimsawyer/Are you a successful executive who feels stuck in your career and not sure what to do about it? Kim is offering you his $300 Career Mastery Session - FREE when you mention this podcast. There are limited spots, so sign up now: https://calendly.com/thewealthsourceMentioned in this episode:Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz TodayIf you're a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you're doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.Founder's Quiz

In this insightful episode, Yarin Gaon, Founder of Fractional Partners, shares why outside capital often destroys more value than it creates for stage 4 founders. If you're generating more revenue but watching profits shrink, feeling overwhelmed by complexity, and tempted to raise money to fix it, you won't want to miss it.You will discover:- Why giving capital to an unclear business model is more likely to destroy value than create it- How to shift from growth by addition to growth by subtraction to tighten your core engine- What it takes to identify your most profitable 20% before scaling with outside capitalThis episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 4 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quizYarin Gaon is an entrepreneur-turned-investor with a proven track record of founding, scaling, and exiting companies. He launched his first company at age 14 and went on to build Israel's largest e-commerce platform for military goods, which he later sold before relocating to the U.S. He also served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at a venture capital firm, where he specialized in turning around distressed startups. With an MBA from Tel Aviv University (and time spent at Kellogg School of Management), Yarin now helps growing companies mature into strong, cash-flowing assets. Yarin has mentored over 400 businesses through SCORE and the University of Chicago's Polsky Center.Want to learn more about Yarin Gaon's work at Fractional Partners? Check out his website at https://www.fractional.partners/Connect with Yarin through his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaringaon/Mentioned in this episode:Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz TodayIf you're a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you're doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.Founder's Quiz

In this eye-opening episode, Nick Avaria, Founder of Agency Acquisitions, shares why many stage 4 founders get trapped in the missing middle. If you're growing revenue but profits are shrinking, complexity is overwhelming you, and your team feels misaligned, you won't want to miss it.You will discover:- Why growth rewards you with more problems and a dangerous chasm called the missing middle- How to stop promoting individual contributors and build real middle management systems- What it takes to transition from founder to CEO so you stop being the speed limitThis episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 4 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quizNick is a serial agency owner and strategist who's scaled multiple marketing agencies beyond 7- and 8-figures, bought and sold 7 firms, and built a system that's helped countless agency owners finally get their time and sanity back, all while growing profits significantly. Nick's not just another “consultant.” He's still in the trenches. He owns two agencies today that run without him (under 4 hours/week of his time), and he's now on a mission to help 100 agencies scale to $10M+ or hit $1M in profit annually while building workplaces where people thrive.Want to learn more about Nick Avaria's work at Agency Acquisitions? Check out his website at https://www.agencyacquisitions.io/Connect with Nick through his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickavaria/Mentioned in this episode:Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz TodayIf you're a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you're doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.Founder's Quiz

In this profound episode, Les McKeown, Founder and CEO of Predictable Success, shares how to navigate your current stage with clarity across all seven stages of the Founder's Evolution. If you feel uncertain about where you are, sense misalignment in your team, or wonder if you're truly in predictable success, you won't want to miss it.You will discover:- How to use simple tests like "If you have to ask, you're almost certainly in fun" to diagnose your current reality- What strong leadership and systems look like to successfully transition between stages without skipping- Why individual perception often clouds your view of the organization's true stageThis episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stages 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quizLes McKeown, the Founder and CEO of Predictable Success, is not just an advisor to CEOs and senior leaders but also a sought-after speaker for Fortune 500 companies. His expertise lies in helping organizations achieve scalable, sustainable growth, and his breakthrough strategies have been widely recognized and implemented. Before founding Predictable Success, Les established himself as a serial founder/owner, starting more than 40 companies. He was also the founding partner of an incubation consulting company that advised on the creation and growth of hundreds more organizations worldwide. He's the bestselling author of Predictable Success, The Synergist, Do Scale, and Do Lead.Want to learn more about Les McKeown's work at Predictable Success? Check out his website at https://www.predictablesuccess.com/Connect with Les through his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesmckeown/Mentioned in this episode:Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz TodayIf you're a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you're doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.Founder's Quiz

Do you want a wildlife, conservation, or environmental sciences career, but feel that it is not physically possible for you? Do you have health challenges or a condition that limits you and are worried that it prevents you from working in a field that is notoriously demanding? Or do you feel discriminated against because of these circumstances? You are not alone! I have heard from aspiring wildlife biologists all over the world that they struggle with conditions like chronic fatigue, anxiety, sight disabilities, strokes, ADHD, and more and are concerned that they can't work in this field, which they love so much. I, myself, struggle with an autoimmune condition that greatly slows down my metabolism, and has made me heavily fatigued at key points in my career. Well, in this week's episode of the Fancy Scientist Podcast, I'm showing you that it's possible for you with an interview with a young conservationist who blew me away with her unstoppable attitude. When I first heard Grace O'Dea speak on a Green Jobs webinar event, I was so inspired by her story that I knew I had to have her on the podcast. Grace has cerebral palsy, and at 17, she was told by someone that her lack of upper-body strength meant that she could never work in an animal career. But that's not where her story ended…In fact, she used that “no,” as ammunition to propel her wildlife career. Today she is a permanent educator at a major aquarium and has previously worked in physically demanding jobs at farms and zoos, proving that naysayer wrong.This week's episode of the Fancy Scientist Podcast is all about NOT accepting no as an answer when it comes to pursuing your dreams or whatever conservation goal you want to accomplish no matter what your circumstances are. If you want to work in the wildlife field, you'll want to listen for sure, but this episode is for everyone. No matter what you were going after in your career or even your life, the lessons that Grace shares will apply to the seemingly impossible situation that you are going through. Through our conversation, you'll learn how Grace navigated her path by refusing to let her disability define her. She didn't let being questioned stop her; instead, she purposely built her physical strength at the gym. She didn't hide her disability either. Rather, she voiced her concerns to employers so that they could find ways to work with her condition rather than around it. Grace shares her experience working with everything from hedgehogs to wild deer, and how she uses positive messaging and hope to impact the public rather than the typical conservation messages of doom and gloom. She explains how she handles the physical aspects of her current and past jobs and why being "ballsy" and confident is your greatest asset, even if you are naturally shy or introverted.And the results of her boldness are incredible! Grace started as a seasonal employee, but she didn't just wait for it to end and look for something else. Instead, she took the initiative to email her bosses and ask if her position could be made permanent. And it worked! She now has a full-time permanent position as a conservation educator delivering daily talks to aquarium guests and teaching the next generation about ocean conservation.Grace also excels at networking. She lets us in on her strategies, which led to her being invited as a guest speaker for her university's graduation and connecting with influencers in the green jobs space. We talk about how she leverages LinkedIn by active and intentional posting, using hashtags strategically, and attracting professionals to her profile through sharing her personal and professional achievements. I also noticed that Grace is a fancy scientist herself. We discuss her fancy side and how she owns her personal style and unique comedic value to be an unconventional, yet highly effective educator. After the interview, I break down key take-home points for you to apply to your own career or situation, including sharing resources helping you adopt Grace's unstoppable mindset, using LinkedIn as a search strategy, and why you should never be afraid to ask for a job extension or a permanent role.If you ever thought you couldn't pursue conservation because of a health condition, your background, or a lack of financial resources, Grace is living proof that it's all possible! After listening to this episode, I know you'll walk away filled with hope, and ready to face the challenge in your career head on.Specifically, we talk about:Grace's career path from graduation to securing a permanent educator role at an aquariumWhat it was like for Grace to work at various kinds of animal organizations and places including farms and zoosMagical wildlife moments from Grace's career such as stampeding deer and circling buzzards, and humbling moments like collecting hedgehog poopWhy you shouldn't "play it safe" if you have a passion for animals and want to pursue this kind of workThe critical importance of a resilient mindset when facing physical or psychological barriers in the fieldHow to navigate a wildlife career while managing a disability or other health condition including when and how to disclose health conditions and get accommodationsHow to ask for what you want in wildlife work The power of LinkedIn for attracting employers and why posting once a week can change your career trajectoryGrace's dissertation research on positive vs. negative messaging in conservation campaignsHow to give the public hope through small, actionable steps like beach clean-up And more!Jump links:03:53 Meet Grace O'Day06:02 Told No at 1707:54 Finding Her Why08:42 Aquarium Career Path11:55 Turning Seasonal Permanent16:14 Impact Through Education19:20 Navigating Cerebral Palsy at Work25:52 Networking With LinkedIn29:50 LinkedIn for Wildlife Careers Masterclass 31:33 Hedgehog Sanctuary Stories34:08 Being A Fancy Scientist35:25 Advice And Future Plans38:00 Key Takeaways And WrapDream of being a wildlife biologist, zoologist, conservation biologist, or ecologist? Ready to turn your love of animals into a thriving career?

In this functional episode, Jorge Chavez, President of Topaz Sales Consulting, shares how stage 3 founders can successfully hire and scale their first salespeople. If you struggle with inconsistent sales, bad hires, or feeling like no one sells the way you do, you won't want to miss it.You will discover:- How to use a specialized sales hiring process that screens for real sales competencies- What to do after hiring so you inspect what you expect instead of fully handing off- Why hiring salespeople the same way as everyone else leads to expensive mistakesThis episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 3 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quizJorge Chavez is the President and Co-Founder of Topaz Sales Consulting in Austin, Texas. With over 30 years of sales expertise, he developed the Buyer Facilitator Philosophy and Process, empowering CEOs, founders, and sales leaders to build teams that deliver revenue through trust, clarity, and mutual fit. Through targeted sales training, executive coaching, and proven hiring systems, Jorge and his team enable organizations to scale effective sales cultures. He is also a keynote speaker and mentor committed to transforming how companies approach sales and leadership.Want to learn more about Jorge Chavez's work at Topaz Sales Consulting? Check out his website at https://www.topazsalesconsulting.com/Connect with Jorge through his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrchavez/Mentioned in this episode:Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz TodayIf you're a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you're doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.Founder's Quiz

Lucinda talks to HR transformation specialist Sharon Green to demystify the evolving world of independent people professionals. Sharon draws on her extensive 20-year career to clearly distinguish between traditional interim management and the emerging trend of fractional HR, which offers scalable, long-term strategic leadership for growing businesses that don't yet need a full-time executive.  Packed with practical advice, the conversation explores the mindset, adaptability, and relationship-building skills required to thrive as a solo practitioner in a changing corporate landscape. KEY TAKEAWAYS While interim roles are typically full-time, project-driven, or coverage-based for a finite period, fractional roles provide ongoing, long-term strategic leadership on a part-time basis tailored to a company's growth stage. Succeeding as an independent consultant requires a high tolerance for ambiguity, as practitioners must frequently step into unfamiliar corporate cultures and hit the ground running without formal onboarding. The value of a senior interim or fractional professional lies less in highly specialised industry knowledge and more in transferable leadership skills and the ability to view business challenges from an objective, outside perspective. Managing the exit phase of a consultancy contract with a thorough handover is just as critical as the onboarding phase to ensure long-term trust and sustainable change for the client. BEST MOMENTS "You're not really leveraging off your domain knowledge... it's more about the transferable skills and experience that you bring to that organisation and the outside-in perspective." "Clients aren't paying to manage you... they're paying for you to manage the work that they are engaging you to deliver." "Doing a good job at the ending is just as important as doing that good job right at the start to build those trusting relationships." VALUABLE RESOURCES The HR Uprising Podcast | ⁠Apple⁠ | ⁠Spotify⁠ | ⁠Stitcher⁠   ⁠The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group⁠ ⁠How to Prioritise Self-Care (The HR Uprising)⁠ ⁠How To Be A Change Superhero - by Lucinda Carney⁠ HR Uprising Mastermind - ⁠https://hruprising.com/mastermind/⁠   ⁠www.changesuperhero.com⁠ ⁠www.hruprising.com⁠            Get your copy of How To Be A Change Superhero by emailing at ⁠info@actus.co.uk⁠ CONTACT SHARON LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongreenchiara/ Chiara Consulting Website: http://chiaraconsultancy.co.uk/ ABOUT THE HOST Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles and a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. It was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up' together. “If you look up, you rise up” CONTACT METHOD Join the LinkedIn community - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13714397/⁠ Email: ⁠Lucinda@advancechange.co.uk⁠ Linked In: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindacarney/⁠ Twitter: @lucindacarney Instagram: @hruprising Facebook: @hruprising This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. ⁠https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

In this eye-opening episode, David Barnett, Owner of www.DavidCBarnett.com, shares how to protect and strengthen your business as you grow in stage 3. If you're growing fast but feel exposed to hidden risks, or worry that one mistake could wipe out years of work, you won't want to miss it.You will discover:- Why focusing only on revenue and profit leaves your business dangerously vulnerable.- How to use your balance sheet to spot and manage risk before it becomes a crisis.- What changes to make now so you can grow profitably while protecting what you've built.This episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 3 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quizDavid C. Barnett is an author, consultant, and international speaker who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes and achieve successful business exits. Having personally started, bought, sold, and closed multiple businesses, David brings hands-on experience rather than theory. He specializes in the critical areas of buying, selling, financing, and managing small- to mid-sized businesses—the key leverage points that determine whether an entrepreneur can truly scale and succeed. His insights equip entrepreneurs to move forward with clarity and confidence, helping them prepare for a profitable exit even years in advance.Want to learn more about David Barnett's work at www.DavidCBarnett.com? Check out his website at https://www.investlocalbook.com/Connect with David through his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbarnettmoncton/Check out David's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@DavidCBarnett Get a copy of his book The Business Fortress: How to Grow, Protect, and Exit Your Business with Confidence at https://www.amazon.com/Business-Fortress-Grow-Protect-Confidence/dp/B0F99NVR38Mentioned in this episode:Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz TodayIf you're a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you're doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.Founder's Quiz

In this insightful episode, Stacey Bailey, Senior Consultant & Executive Coach of The Intention Collective, shares how creative founders can successfully lead their first team in stage 3. If you feel frustrated that no one else can keep up, think like you, or deliver the way you do, you won't want to miss it.You will discover:- Why expecting your team to think and work like you creates unnecessary struggle and misalignment- How to create clarity around vision and expectations so everyone rows in the same direction- What it takes to build real trust and give effective feedback instead of being “nice.”This episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 3 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quizStacey Bailey is a leadership coach, strategist, and facilitator who helps entrepreneurs and creative leaders build businesses with heart. A certified System and Soul™ Implementor and Dare to Lead™ Certified professional, she brings more than 15 years of experience in leadership and operations within the creative services industry. Today, through Intention Collective, Stacey partners with founders and leadership teams of creative agencies generating $1M–$15M in revenue to build scalable, values-driven businesses. Her expertise includes leadership development, operational alignment, and strategic planning, and she has successfully supported organizations through private equity transitions, B Corp certification, and international expansion. Want to learn more about Stacey Bailey's work at The Intention Collective? Check out his website at https://intentioncollective.co/Email her at stacey@intentioncollective.coCheck out Stacey's personal website at https://www.stacey-bailey.com/ Connect with Stacey through her LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceylbailey/Mentioned in this episode:Take the Founder's Evolution Quiz TodayIf you're a Founder, business owner, or CEO who feels overworked by the business you lead and underwhelmed by the results, you're doing it wrong. Succeeding as a founder all comes down to doing the right one or two things right now. Take the quiz today at foundersquiz.com, and in just ten questions, you can figure out what stage you are in, so you can focus on what is going to work and say goodbye to everything else.Founder's Quiz

Acts 4:23-37 reveals that success in adversity comes not from waiting for trials to pass but from seeking the Lord, resting in His sovereignty, and praying for boldness even when afraid. When threatened by authorities, the early church didn't pray for comfort or revenge but for courage to continue speaking God's Word. Their faith was proven genuine through selfless living, biblical unity, and radical generosity—demonstrating that a ground-shaking God enables His people to remain unshakable.

Andrew and Justin spend most of the episode comparing OpenAI's GPT-4o rollout with Google's AI announcements. They describe GPT-4o as a multimodal system that combines text, image, sound, and voice into one model, and emphasize that OpenAI's live demos felt fast, real-time, and more transparent than Google's earlier staged or prerecorded presentations. They also discuss latency, the shift from separate speech/transcription models to a single model, and how native desktop and mobile apps, along with ChatGPT for Enterprise, fit OpenAI's product strategy. The second half of the conversation broadens into release timing, safety, secrecy, and organizational interpretation. Andrew says OpenAI often holds capabilities back for safety or product timing, that people overread departures and rumors, and that claims about AI hitting a wall are premature given the field's growth. The episode closes with Andrew recommending AMC's Interview with the Vampire and Justin offering OpenAI's YouTube channel as a place to watch the demos. Key topics GPT-4o as a multimodal model: Andrew explains GPT-4o as one model that can handle text, images, sound, and voice together, replacing a pipeline of separate transcription, language, and speech systems. Live demos versus prerecorded demos: The hosts contrast OpenAI's live GPT-4o presentation with Google's earlier Gemini/Astra demos, which Andrew criticizes as controlled, prerecorded, or misleading. Latency and real-time interaction: A recurring point is

The episode opens with a long discussion of the OpenAI / Scarlett Johansson controversy. Andrew says he had a direct view of GPT-4o voice development, that OpenAI hired actors with disclosures and fair pay, and that there was never an intent to copy Johansson's voice. The hosts argue that the resemblance was driven by audience expectations shaped by Her and by a familiar voice archetype, not by a plan to mimic her. From there, the conversation moves through AI's strengths and weaknesses: emotional companionship, chatbot use for counseling and rewriting messages, multimodal video analysis for inventorying property, and hallucinations or odd outputs from models. The latter half shifts into space news and speculation, covering Ed Dwight's Blue Origin flight, NASA's Artemis and Starliner problems, commercial launch competition, the X-37 military spaceplane, whale communication and alien contact analogies, Dyson sphere detection, and finally a recommendation for Severance. Key topics OpenAI voice casting and the Scarlett Johansson controversy: Andrew says OpenAI hired real actors, gave disclosures, and had no intent to copy Johansson's voice. They discuss how people linked the voice to Her and to a voice archetype, and why the public narrative became simplified. AI companionship and emotional dependence: The hosts discuss AI as a personal companion, including pretend girlfriends and emotionally supportive chatbots. They treat it as potentially helpful for some users but also poten

The episode opens with the news that philosopher Daniel Dennett has died, and the hosts reflect on how influential his books, especially Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained, were on Andrew's thinking about arguments, thought experiments, consciousness, and where the boundaries of sentience may lie. Brian adds his own examples from dogs and consciousness, reinforcing the sense that Dennett was especially good at exploring philosophical borderlands without always forcing tidy conclusions. The middle of the episode is a long riff that starts with dog-powered historical machines and novelty inventions, then moves into Meta's Llama 3 release and a humorous discussion of Mark Zuckerberg's new public image. The conversation then turns to Boston Dynamics' new Atlas robot, broader robotics manufacturing and patent issues, cheaper robot dogs and quadrupeds from Unitree, and finally a fossil snake discovery from India that may have been about 50 feet long. The episode closes with pick discussions, including Andrew recommending Consciousness Explained and Justin recommending Shogun, while the later discussion also covers Never Split the Difference as a book they found interesting. Key topics Daniel Dennett and consciousness: The hosts discuss Dennett's death, Andrew's admiration for his writing, and his use of examples involving the soul, sentience, severed limbs, and gradual brain replacement to explore consciousness and unclear boundaries. Dogs as workers and dog-powere

The episode opens with a discussion of AI-generated music, starting from a Weird Things intro written by Suno and moving into comparisons between Suno and Udio. The hosts note that Udio produces cleaner vocals but shorter initial clips, while Suno can generate longer clips and be extended. They treat the tools as a major sign of how quickly AI-generated creative content is improving. The conversation then broadens into practical uses for generated songs, especially study aids and mnemonic tools. Andrew demonstrates songs about Roman history and Broca's area, and the group talks about how music can help memory, how cheap and fast generation changes creative work, and how AI may become embedded in everyday life. The latter part of the episode shifts into a long discussion of technology adoption, AI limits and risks, media bias and journalistic self-correction, and then ends with TV picks. Key topics Suno vs. Udio quality and format differences: The hosts compare AI music generators directly. Udio is described as having cleaner vocals, while Suno is described as producing longer clips and being easier to extend. Obscurist Vinyl and AI novelty songs: The show discusses the TikTok account Obscurist Vinyl as an example of AI-assisted novelty music with convincing retro-style packaging and an obscene or raunchy reveal. Music as a mnemonic technology: Brian explains that setting facts to music is an old study technique, and Andrew suggests AI can make customized study songs quickly a

The episode centers on a long discussion of AI's rapid move from novelty to everyday utility. The hosts describe using AI for transcription, editing, text simplification, image cleanup, and coding help, and Andrew demonstrates how tools like Groq and Cursor make inference and programming feel dramatically faster and more accessible than earlier AI systems. The conversation also walks through tokenization and why newer, cheaper models are changing how products are built. A second major thread is the cultural and ethical backlash to AI, especially in creative fields. Brian raises the objection that generative systems are trained on prior human work without permission, and the hosts debate whether that makes AI theft, derivative influence, or just another technology panic. They also discuss regulation, especially in Europe, and close with picks that include TV, film, and AI tools, while arguing that abundance and personalization will reshape music and social media. Key topics Personal AI usage in daily work: Justin describes using AI for transcription, editing, text simplification, art generation, and background removal, and Andrew talks about using ChatGPT and Cursor regularly in coding workflows. AI as a replacement for human labor and consultation: Justin recounts a story about someone planning to retire by setting up AI to do consultations, and Andrew warns that if something becomes easy for one person it becomes easy for everyone. How large language models predict tokens: A

Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through a variety of topics, starting with a real-world disaster involving a boat crash and a collapsed bridge. They speculate on the implications of tainted fuel and the role of the National Transportation Safety Board in such incidents. The conversation then shifts to the potential for economic and infrastructural disasters, including the hypothetical use of nuclear weapons to disrupt GPS systems. The hosts also discuss the fragility of modern infrastructure and the importance of disaster preparedness. The conversation takes a turn into the realm of technology and security, with a focus on the challenges posed by AI and deepfakes in authenticating identity. They explore the idea of a secure, emergency communication system to verify callers during crises. Finally, the hosts share their picks, including a book recommendation and thoughts on the Netflix adaptation of ‘The Three-Body Problem', noting its strengths and weaknesses. Picks: Brian Brushwood: ‘Super Communicators' book Justin Robert Young: ‘The Attention Factory' book Andrew Mayne: ‘The Three-Body Problem' on Netflix

The episode opens with a discussion of Boom Supersonic and its attempt to revive commercial supersonic air travel. The hosts talk about Boom's successful test flight of a scaled-down prototype, the plan for the Overture airliner, the role of Japan Airlines, and the history of Concorde, including sonic booms, U.S. restrictions on supersonic flight, and the Concorde's drooping nose and hot exterior. A large middle section focuses on AI as practical tooling: how to prompt ChatGPT and vision models more effectively, how OCR and form-filling could save huge amounts of time, and how Andrew's robot demo uses GPT-4 vision to navigate toward butter in a 3D simulation. The discussion expands into agent-style systems such as Cognition Labs' Devon, AI-assisted research and source gathering, productivity gains in editing and transcription, and the idea that AI is best understood as very powerful software rather than a magical wish box. The final stretch moves through several offbeat stories: a Montana Franken sheep case, a feral hog joke discussion, a toxic cat from a plating factory in Japan, and then a long conversation about Dune: Part Two. On Dune, they debate Paul Atreides' moral ambiguity, Chani's role, prophecy, the Butlerian Jihad, and whether the adaptation captures the complexity and unease of the book. Key topics Commercial supersonic aviation revival: Boom Supersonic is discussed as trying to build a modern supersonic airliner, with a successful prototype test flight, a plan f

The episode opens with Justin describing a Cameo birthday message he received from Kirstie Patterson, the performer associated with the viral Willy's Chocolate Experience disaster, and the hosts discuss how the incident became internet-famous, the “depressed Oompa Loompa” label, and how Cameo can be a practical way for someone caught in online notoriety to earn money. They also briefly discuss the “unknown” character from the event and the broader weirdness of the production. A major middle section focuses on SpaceX's Starship test launch, which the hosts describe as a successful suborbital flight that reached space, separation, and orbital speeds even without a landing. From there they move into broader reflections on iteration, feedback loops, AI and robotics progress, the pace of change in the tech world, and the question of how long adoption takes compared with technical feasibility. Key topics Cameo and the Willy's Chocolate Experience aftermath: The hosts talk about a birthday Cameo from Kirstie Patterson, whom they refer to as the depressed Oompa Loompa, and they discuss how the viral Willy's Chocolate Experience became a meme, including the badly shoddy production and the branding around the character. Starship's successful suborbital test launch: They celebrate Starship getting into space, separating, and reaching orbital speeds on a suborbital mission, while noting that booster and ship recovery are still future goals. Iteration, feedback loops, and learning from la

The episode opens with a long discussion of SpaceX test launches and the broader idea that visible failures are part of iterative engineering. Andrew and Brian contrast that with the Space Shuttle program, noting that shuttle design involved practical compromises, unexpected hazards, and a much messier reality than the idealized version often told. They also briefly touch on the value of publicity and storytelling in aerospace, including drone ship landings and fairing recovery attempts. The conversation then shifts to the Apple Vision Pro, which Andrew describes as an impressive demo but a compromised device lacking a compelling everyday use case. After that, the episode moves through several science and tech topics: early nonlinear video editing systems like Edit Droid and Avid, de-extinction efforts around woolly mammoths and proxy mammoths, dinosaur DNA preservation and decay, Europa's oxygen uncertainty, and naturally occurring hydrogen or 'white hydrogen.' The episode ends with picks and recommendations, including The Plasma Channel and Brian's enthusiastic reaction to Dune Part Two. Key topics SpaceX's failure-driven development model: They discuss SpaceX as an example of iterative engineering where failures are visible and expected, rather than hidden. The contrast is drawn against more traditional aerospace development. Shuttle-era engineering compromises and risk: The Space Shuttle is described as an extraordinary but highly compromised system, with issues including

The episode opens with the hosts riffing about recording and editing workflow, including the value of planning for cuts, trusting the edit, and how much polished media depends on invisible post-production. From there, Andrew introduces a preprint about panspermia via cosmic dust, then the conversation shifts to a monkey-raft explanation for how monkeys may have crossed into South America on floating vegetation islands rather than by land bridge. The middle of the episode becomes a broad science-and-cosmology segment in which Andrew leads a tour through the early universe: inflation, quark and hadron epochs, nucleosynthesis, the photon epoch, recombination, cosmic dark ages, structure formation, and the universe's possible heat-death future. The latter half turns to astronomy experiences and tools, including telescope viewing, iTelescope.net, and amateur observing, before closing on entertainment picks and a long discussion of the Glasgow Willy Wonka event, The Wheel of Time, and the live-action One Piece adaptation. Key topics Editing, performance, and planning for the cut: The hosts discuss how recording and editing change the final shape of media, with examples from magic videos, podcasting, demos, Scam School, and Scam Nation. Brian explicitly says to 'trust the edit,' and Andrew emphasizes that creators should plan for future edits instead of trying to capture everything in one take. Panspermia and cosmic dust transfer: Andrew explains a new panspermia idea in which micro

Andrew apologizes to the Weird Things audience for the lack of recent episodes and says the show has still been recording. He explains that the delay is due to changes in how the show is handled on the backend, and says they hope to have episodes out soon. He adds that if listeners can hear this message, the new fix is working. He describes the fix as using AI to handle some of the process and calls it the wave of the future. Key topics Lack of episode releases: Andrew directly apologizes for the absence of episodes and says the show has been recording despite the delay. Backend workflow changes: He says the team has been changing how they do things on the back end, which is presented as the reason for the episode delay. AI-assisted fix: Andrew says the new fix is working if listeners can hear the message and explains that it uses AI to handle some of the process. Picks

The episode opens with casual chatter about a possible Starship launch while the hosts are near Brownsville, followed by a long discussion of major AI announcements from Google and OpenAI. Andrew explains Gemini 1.5's large context window claims and the limits of simply increasing tokens, while the group shifts into a detailed examination of Sora's text-to-video results, including improved realism, physics, camera motion, and remaining failures. They repeatedly return to the role of compute, model scaling, and the economics of AI progress. The latter half of the episode focuses on how AI tools may change creative work and how people should adapt by learning to code, prompt, and experiment rather than resist. The hosts also discuss ChatGPT memory, personalized interactions, and Andrew's experiment turning Sora footage into 3D video for Vision Pro. Near the end, Justin gives a Suno Valentine's Day song generator pick, Brian recommends Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the panel briefly covers Rick and Morty, Dune 2, Madame Web, and speculation that the new Fantastic Four film is set in the 1960s. Key topics Token counts and what context windows enable: Andrew explains tokens, context windows, and why Gemini 1.5's claimed 10 million-token context is significant for reading large documents and answering questions across them. He cautions that retrieval is easier than true reasoning over long inputs. Compute cost as the limiting factor in large-model features: The hosts repeatedly note

This week's guest on Women of Impact is Vanessa Van Edwards. Vanessa Van Edwards is a behavioral investigator, speaker and the national best-selling author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People.In this episode, she talks about how to set boundaries, how to be more likable, and how to talk to people at parties.[Original air date: 4-17-19]. SHOW NOTES:Tips for feeling less awkward at any event [03:08]Why you should never "fake it til you make it" [07:14]What to do when you feel anxious [11:17]Why sharing your falls makes you more likable [15:34]What makes people popular vs unpopular? [18:33]A mental hack to get other people to impress you [21:13]How to actually connect with people using 'hot buttons' [24:16]Why saying no is harder for women than it is for men [26:15]How to re-evaluate career motivation after having children [32:27]Weighing the highs and lows of life after having children [38:28]Why all of your relationships follow the same pattern [44:09]Why knowing your love language can improve your relationships [47:32]The power of "fill in the blank wishes" [50:34]FOLLOW VANESSA:WEBSITE: https://bit.ly/2SahZTFINSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/28MKLDfFACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/2IumPL9TWITTER: https://bit.ly/2UHFxVSYOUTUBE: https://bit.ly/2uLGzTbSPONSORS:If you purchase an item using these affiliate links, Impact Theory may receive a commission.Turn back the clock on your skin with OneSkin and save 15% on your order at https://oneskin.co  when you use the code WOI.ButcherBox is offering our listeners their choice of meat—2 lbs of ground beef, 3 lbs of chicken breasts, or 2 lbs of salmon—for free in every order for a whole year! Plus, get $20 off your first order. Sign up today at https://butcherbox.com/woiSign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/lisa now to grow your business–no matter what stage you're in.Take charge of your fitness and go to https://tryfuture.co/WOI to get 50% off your first month.Let Aura handle your online safety by going to https://aura.com/WOI and start your free 2-week trial.Go to https://tryviome.com/LISA and use code LISA to get 20% off your first 3 months, and take control of your gut health today!Try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase by going to https://drinkAG1.com/lisa.***CALLING ALL BADASSES!***If you really want to level up your confidence game, check out the WOMEN OF IMPACT SUBSCRIPTION, specially designed to turn you into the badass you were born to be! *New episodes delivered ad-free, EXCLUSIVE access to hundreds of archived Women of Impact episodes, and so much more!*Don't settle for mediocrity when you can be extraordinary!*****Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/457ebrP*****Subscribe on all other platforms (Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castro, Downcast, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, Podcast Republic, Podkicker, and more) : https://impacttheorynetwork.supercast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.