Podcasts about Talk

Paul Forgie MSR 2026 Paul Forgie discusses his plan for moving JLB and Zac Bates to the front of the Supercars field in a completely revamped Matt Stone Racing for 2026. From the race track to your device with Tony Whitlock on Inside Supercars Inside Supercars Podcast: Subscribe Apple Podcasts I Spotify I Google Podcasts Supported by: P1 Australia Link:P1 Australia MusicCreative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com MusicComa-Media from Pixabay #RepcoSC #TCRAust #Supercars #Motorsport #ADL500

Tracy shares her desire to see the rest of the letter that was quoted in this week's episodes on Anthony Burns. Talk also turns to the fact that many of the things that are surprising people today are, in fact, precedented.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mal and Jo celebrate another Valentine's Day together by pairing their annual V-Day Quickie with the next installment of the Best of the Century (So Far) series. Talk about a hookup! They share their favorite descriptions of love, sex scenes, surprise pairings, and more!(00:00) Intro(05:12) The Rules(10:38) Favorite Couple That We Actually Got(21:21) That's What the FanFic Is For(36:05) Surprise Pairing You Wound up Caring About the Most(43:00) No. 1 Champion Yearner(50:05) Passionate First Kiss(56:27) Hottest Sex Scene(01:05:57) The Sex Scene That Made You a Romantasy Fan(01:20:37) I Have Questions About the Physics(01:38:26) Most Gorgeous Description of Love(01:46:32) Poignant PartingHosts: Mallory Rubin and Joanna RobinsonProducer: Carlos ChiribogaSocial: Jomi AdeniranAdditional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Larry and Gloria Grover jump on the “redo season 8 of Game of Thrones” bandwagon. Jay Santos and his sub-commanders are strong arming people at the beach to raise retirement money for “The Newton.”**Major Elvis Newton. Sign up for a Backstage Pass and enjoy Hours of exclusive content, Phil's new podcast, Classic podcasts, Bobbie Dooley's podcasts, special live streaming events and shows, and oh so very much more…See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a text!What are we fighting for, saints? Some kind of radical utopia? Some crazy internet fever dream? Something extreme, fringe, cultic, and crazy?No.We're at war for normal. Join us in this episode of the King's Hall, as we discuss the importance of assuming the center and holding frame against the degenerates.Join us at the New Christendom Press conference, The War for Normal, this June 11-14 in Ogden, Utah. https://www.newchristendompress.com/2026 Did you know supporters of the show get ad-free video and audio episodes delivered early and access to our patron exclusive show the After Hours and interactive live streams with Eric and Brian?       https://www.patreon.com/thekingshallOur new books are now in stock and shipping. Save 15% if you order them together! Get them here!This episode is sponsored by: Lux Coffee Company; Caffeinating the New Christendom with artisan roast coffee. Get 15% off your coffee with code "NCP15". https://luxcoffee.co/Armored Republic: Making Tools of Liberty for the defense of every free man's God-given rights - Text JOIN to 88027 or visit: https://www.ar500armor.com/ Talk to Joe Garrisi about managing your wealth with Backwards Planning Financial.       https://backwardsplanningfinancial.com/Receive top-tier musical training from Bohnet Music Academy. https://www.bohnetma.com/ncpSmall batch, hand-poured candles. Welcome to the resistance. https://resistancecandles.com/Christian business owners go to reformedbusinessalliance.com/ncp and use code NCP to claim your free month. Invest in your business, your family, and your future go to http://Appalachiadigital.com/ncp to book a strategy call.Go to Mt Athos for sustainably sourced goat dairy protein and other performance products. Listeners of the show get a 20% discount site-wide with code "NCP20".     https://athosperform.com/Book your free strategy call at https://www.bonifacebusiness.com/ Support the show:https://www.patreon.com/thekingshall

The Ole Miss Spirit was LIVE for over nine hours on Thursday as Trinidad Chambliss had his (successful!) court date with the NCAA. Cleveland, Mississippi-based lawyer John Cox contributed to the Spirit's ‘Talk of Champions' podcast for nearly the entirety — including joining Sudu Upadhyay shortly after the ruling came down.“You would assume [the NCAA] is going to appeal,” Cox said, in the included 22-minute explainer. “Eventually it's going to go up to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The standard is manifest error — whether or not it's a complete misapplication of the law. That's why it was important to win this one.“Judge [Robert] Whitwell was very good during the hearing of explaining that the facts of this case are different than the facts of every other case. The Alabama case, that was apples to pizza. “As far as the long-term, if you're willing to fight the NCAA in a court of law, you've got a very good shot right now. Their rules are not set up to win in court the way they're applying them right now.”Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Underdog Fantasy and use my code CHAMPIONS for a great deal: https://underdogfantasy.com* Check out Underdog Fantasy and use my code CHAMPIONS for a great deal: https://underdogfantasy.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Internal family systems Founder Richard Schwartz does an IFS therapy session with Emma McAdam, we work with her inner critic and Self in IFS Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership In this conversation, Emma McAdam interviews Dick Schwartz, the creator of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a therapeutic approach that emphasizes understanding the mind as composed of multiple parts. Schwartz explains how these parts can be influenced by trauma and how IFS helps individuals connect with their true Self to facilitate healing. The discussion covers the roles of different parts, the impact of trauma, and practical applications of IFS in daily life. Schwartz also shares insights on how individuals can access their Self without a therapist and the importance of addressing legacy burdens that may affect one's mental health. The conversation concludes with a focus on the goals of IFS therapy and the transformative potential of this approach. Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell FREE Mental Health Resources: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/free-resources Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger Institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Trump posted a racist video of the Obamas :: Steph Curry an Israeli intelligence agent? :: Update on OpenAI sending subpoenas to people who talked to their employees :: Suing someone just to waste their time and money :: AI likely headed toward financial bubble :: Bonnie found Epstein email of JE making fun of Ross Ulbricht after arrest :: Tech companies to replace banks as secretive rulers of the world :: Zionism 2.0 :: Venezuela's prison for torture revealed after Maduro arrest :: Speeding cameras of different sorts :: WhistlinDiesel arrested in TN for Montana plates :: 2026-02-07 Hosts: Bonnie, Riley O'Bill, Angelo

Dems Block Bill, Leading To Potential DHS Shutdown, Senator Demands Minnesota AG Ellison Be Indicted & Much More

 Is Trump Admin Cooked? Establishment Flounders Amid Devastating Epstein Fallout, As Obama Lawyer Resigns from Goldman Sachs…PLUS, Alex Jones Files MASSIVE Civil Rights Countersuit Against Entities That Waged Lawfare Against Infowars, Conspired To Deprive His Rights

Caught Red-Handed! Alex Jones Files Major Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Democratic Party For Conducting Tyrannical Lawfare Against Infowars & The American People! Plus, New Epstein Revelations Continue to Devastate Entire Political Class!

Send a textJames Verschoyle was about to head to Thailand on a fasting retreat, and had just been to the gym when he sat down to have a healthy breakfast as suggested by the trip organizers. James didn't usually order 'plant based' options from the menu, so opted for something simple, yoghurt, fruit, and a smoothie.. but little did James know that this was very close to being his last meal, ever! Join us for this amazing, nail biter of an episode, as we hear how one meal nearly ended James' life. Find out what happened, and listen as James discusses the lasting trauma, the panic attacks, and how this event has unlocked childhood traumas and mental health conversations he didn't even know he needed to address! Fascinating and honest, thank you Jimmy!Helpline: https://mentalhealthhotline.org/california/UK Helpline: https://www.mind.org.uk/BEE POLLEN WARNING: individuals with allergies to bee stings or severe allergies to pollen and pregnant or nursing individuals and young children under the age of two should avoid consuming bee pollen or consult with a state-licensed medical professional before using it!!!Support the show

FBI reveals new suspect details. DHS funding standoff. BIG announcement on Talk 99.5See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FBI reveals new suspect details. DHS funding standoff. BIG announcement on Talk 99.5See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FBI reveals new suspect details. DHS funding standoff. BIG announcement on Talk 99.5See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Dutton Triple 8 2026 Triple Eight Race Engineering team boss Mark Dutton sits down with Tony Whitlock to unpack one of the biggest shake ups in recent Supercars history: Red Bull Ampol Racing's move to Ford for 2026. Dutton reflects candidly on the frustrations and missed opportunities that defined their 2025 campaign, the internal soul searching that followed, and why the team believes a bold manufacturer change is the reset they need. He outlines the technical, cultural, and competitive implications of the switch, and why he's confident Triple Eight will continue its front running standards. From the race track to your device with Tony Whitlock on Inside Supercars Inside Supercars Podcast: Subscribe Apple Podcasts I Spotify I Google Podcasts Supported by: P1 Australia Link:P1 Australia MusicCreative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com MusicComa-Media from Pixabay #RepcoSC #TCRAust #Supercars #Motorsport #ADL500

To mark the 50th anniversary of the still UNSOLVED Oakland County Child Murders, I have rewritten, updated, and re-recorded the 2018 series "Don't Talk to Strangers." I am re-releasing it in the Already Gone feed.Episode 4 is The murder of Jill Robinson of Royal Oak.Written & researched by Nina Innsted. Production support by Charity Dodd. Audio production by Bill Bert.Additional reading - https://catherinebroad.blog/#unsolved #serialkiller #Michigan #OCCKSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on CockTales: Dirty Discussions, we're asking the real question: Who has shut-up money?!We kick things off with travel nostalgia and vacation dreams before running straight into the hilarious reality of adulthood. We dive into the chaos of planning family vacations, organizing group trips, setting budgets, and why everyone wants a luxury trip until it's time to pay the deposit.In this episode, we talk about:• The stress of planning trips with friends and family• Budget conversations nobody wants to have• The difference between work travel vs real vacations• Why group chats can't plan trips to save their lives• Dream destinations vs real-life responsibilitiesThen it's time for Weird Sex, and this story is truly unforgettable. A shocking medical discovery sparks a conversation about embarrassment, health, and the wild things people do in relationships.We wrap things up with Valentine's Day vibes, listener advice, and plenty of laughs along the way.Cocktail of the Week

Steve Dooley has fathered a child in the upper Peninsula of Michigan. Or has he? Bobby and Steve Dooley report today. Ted Bell doesn’t wanna talk about his failed restaurant efforts in DC Honolulu and Miami Beach.Sign up for a Backstage Pass and enjoy Hours of exclusive content, Phil's new podcast, Classic podcasts, Bobbie Dooley's podcasts, special live streaming events and shows, and oh so very much more…See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Talk to Dr. Berg LIVE ➜ ➜ https://forms.gle/X7hdvwt2GMDmPSTo9To be considered, click on the link below to fill out the application! If you'd like to join next week's show, make sure you fill out the application by Tuesday night, the week of the live show. Fill this out to be a part of the LIVE show! — https://forms.gle/X7hdvwt2GMDmPSTo9Participants will be selected on Wednesdays, and an invitation with the unique link to join the show will be sent out on Thursday afternoon before the Friday Live Show.Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:Dr. Berg, age 60, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals®. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.Disclaimer:Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full-time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. The Health & Wellness, Dr. Berg Nutritionals and Dr. Eric Berg, D.C. are not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis or any other information, services or product you obtain through this video or site.

HEEEYYYYY BESTIESSSS HAPPY LOVE WEEK AND Happy Thursday!! This week we have a Creepy Account episode for you and LOTS of requests for stories soooo PLEASE send those into us via our email: creepsandcrimes.ca@gmail.com, our Reddit r/CreepsAndCrimes, or the portal on our website creepsandcrimespodcast.com !! Thank you so much to everyone who wrote in their stories today! Love you all sooo much! Talk to ya on Tuesday for TBB!!!! ----------------------- Need to Call Susan (Angel Wings and Healing Things)? Text Ellen at 704-562-3476 to book!! Make sure to tell her we sent you for a Besties only Special discount!! If you have a Creepy Account of your own you would like to submit, you can go to our Reddit (CreepsandCrimes) or email it to us at CREEPSANDCRIMES.CA@GMAIL.COM Creeps and Crimes Merch: ⁠⁠https://creepsandcrimesmerch.com/⁠⁠ Join our OG Pick Me Cult (Patreon): ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/creepsandcrimes⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE AND SUPPORT WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS: - Apple Podcast: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creeps-and-crimes/id1533194848⁠⁠ - Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/0v2kntCCfdQOSeMNnGM2b6?si=bf5c137913dd4af7⁠⁠ - Youtube: ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@creepsandcrimespodcast?si=e6Lwuw6qvsEPBHzG⁠⁠ Business Inquiries please contact Management: ⁠⁠maggie@MRHentertainment.com⁠⁠ FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS: Creeps and Crimes Podcast - Insta: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/creepsandcrimespodcast/?hl=en⁠⁠ - Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/creepsandcrimespodcast/⁠⁠ - TikTok: ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@creepsandcrimes⁠⁠ Taylar Jane (True Crime Host) - Insta: @Taylarj - TikTok (True Crime Channel): @TaylarJane98 - TikTok (Personal): @TaylarJane1 Morgan Harris (Paranormal & Conspiracy Host) - Insta: @morgg.m - Tiktok: @morgg.m Want More Info? Check out our Website: ⁠⁠www.creepsandcrimespodcast.com⁠⁠ Send Us Mail & Fan Art to our PO Box!!! CREEPS AND CRIMES PODCAST PO BOX 11523 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37939 Have a Creepy Account You'd like to share and be featured on the Podcast? Email it to: ⁠⁠CreepsAndCrimes.CA@gmail.com⁠⁠ Submit it through the Portal on our Website (Listed above) or Post in on our Reddit Thread with the tag "creepy account" Love our TBB episodes and want to get in on the Action or submit an AIMS? Head over to our Reddit Community: @creepsandcrimes Need to contact us or request sources? Email us at ⁠⁠creepsandcrimespodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Darius Carter is the creator and founder of Prosperity College, a nonprofit that equips individuals and families with financial education that helps them achieve their financial goals and live out true biblical prosperity. He has dedicated his life to helping families realize their personal financial goals through large seminars, small group counseling, family sessions, and even individual counseling. To contact Darius and find out more about Prosperity College - go to http://www.prosperitycollege.org     ----------------------     Talk with Dr. Joe 1-on-1: Are you tired and stuck? Want to go to get your faith, marriage, family, career and finances back on track?  Then maybe it's time you got a coach. Every CHAMPION has one. Schedule an appointment to chat with Dr. Joe. He takes on only a few Breakthrough Calls each week.  The call is FREE, but slots are limited to ONE call only.  NO RESCHEDULES.  Just click on the link below and select the BREAKTHROUGH CALL option to set up an appointment: http://TalkwithDrJoe.com  If no slots are available, please check back in a week.   Also join us on: Online Podcast Community (on Station):  https://station.page/realmen Facebook: @realdrjoemartin YouTube: http://www.RealMenTraining.com Instagram: @realdrjoemartin Twitter: @professormartin Website: https://RealMenConnect.com

San Francisco defensive lineman and third-year pro Keion White was the victim of a shooting downtown following an incident at a nightclub. According to the team, he had successful ankle surgery this week after not sustaining any career-threatening injuries and will continue to rehab through the offseason. On this episode of '49ers Talk,' Matt Maiocco details the fallout from White's harrowing experience, which brought back memories from Ricky Pearsall's shooting in SF in the not-so-distant past. Matt then switches gears and dives into the 'genius' of head coach Kyle Shanahan. Former players Logan Ryan and Chad Brown each detail their short but productive times learning under Shanahan and how he's evolved as a play-caller and coach over the years.--3:00) The details of Keion White's shooting -- linked to Atlanta rapper Lil Baby (via SF Standard source)(14:00) Seattle dominated the SB on the defensive line, 49ers will have to beef up in draft or free agency(22:00) Logan shares how the 49ers have found their nickel corner in Upton Stout(23:00) Logan shares Kyle Shanahan's genius, compares him to playing under Bill Belichick(27:00) Shanahan broke down the origins of his offense and his father's offense often for players and coaches(28:00) Shanahan's aim is always to put defenders in conflict with their assignments(29:00) How Brown has seen Shanahan's offense evolve -- setting up his targets different, but concepts are still the same Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sign up now to access the daily Notre Dame news and recruiting scoop on the Four Horsemen Lounge and all of the premium Notre Dame stories on IrishIllustrated.com!Get your first month for only $1.00 -- sign up today.What's on your mind?Talk about it at the Four Horseman LoungeSign up for our FREE Notre Dame Newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Amina AITai (pronounced AH-MIN-UH) is an executive coach and leadership trainer, proud immigrant and chronic illness advocate.  A leading coach to notable leaders, executives, and founders, Amina's mastery is in connecting us to our brilliance and teaching us to live and lead from it each day. She is the bestselling author of The Ambition Trap: How to Stop Chasing and Start Living, with Penguin/The Open Field. Today on the show we discuss: why ambition becomes self-destructive, how core wounds secretly drive overachievement, the difference between painful ambition and purposeful ambition, why external validation never fills the void, how to redefine success without burning out, how to build a life that feels good not just impressive on paper and much more. ⚠ WELLNESS DISCLAIMER ⚠ Please be advised; the topics related to health and mental health in my content are for informational, discussion, and entertainment purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your health or mental health professional or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your current condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard from your favorite creator, on social media, or shared within content you've consumed. If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. If you do not have a health professional who is able to assist you, use these resources to find help: Emergency Medical Services—911 If the situation is potentially life-threatening, get immediate emergency assistance by calling 911, available 24 hours a day. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org.  SAMHSA addiction and mental health treatment Referral Helpline, 1-877-SAMHSA7 (1-877-726-4727) and https://www.samhsa.gov Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You do not want to miss out on DOME! It will change how we shop, how we sell and it is not a matter of if it is just when! CEO of Sparxworks Billy Newell and long time ecommerce Advisor to Sparxworks John Casey join the show to explain why DOME is a no brainer for brands and retailers. It basically makes your site into an LLM/Answer Engine. This new startup is going to catch fire and Summer, Hayley and Scotty had a great time learning more! Enjoy Always Off Brand is always a Laugh & Learn!    FEEDSPOT TOP 10 Retail Podcast! https://podcast.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/?feedid=5770554&_src=f2_featured_email   Guest: William Newell  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamnewell/ Website: https://sparxworks.com/   Guest: John Casey  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocasey/ Website: https://sparxworks.com/ QUICKFIRE Info:   Website: https://www.quickfirenow.com/ Email the Show: info@quickfirenow.com  Talk to us on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quickfireproductions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quickfire__/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quickfiremarketing LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/quickfire-productions-llc/about/ Sports podcast Scott has been doing since 2017, Scott & Tim Sports Show part of Somethin About Nothin:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/somethin-about-nothin/id1306950451 HOSTS: Summer Jubelirer has been in digital commerce and marketing for over 17 years. After spending many years working for digital and ecommerce agencies working with multi-million dollar brands and running teams of Account Managers, she is now the Amazon Manager at OLLY PBC.   LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerjubelirer/   Scott Ohsman has been working with brands for over 30 years in retail, online and has launched over 200 brands on Amazon. Mr. Ohsman has been managing brands on Amazon for 19yrs. Owning his own sales and marketing agency in the Pacific NW, is now VP of Digital Commerce for Quickfire LLC. Producer and Co-Host for the top 5 retail podcast, Always Off Brand. He also produces the Brain Driven Brands Podcast featuring leading Consumer Behaviorist Sarah Levinger. Scott has been a featured speaker at national trade shows and has developed distribution strategies for many top brands. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-ohsman-861196a6/   Hayley Brucker has been working in retail and with Amazon for years. Hayley has extensive experience in digital advertising, both seller and vendor central on Amazon. Hayley lives in North Carolina.  LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-brucker-1945bb229/   Huge thanks to Cytrus our show theme music "Office Party" available wherever you get your music. Check them out here: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cytrusmusic Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cytrusmusic/ Twitter https://twitter.com/cytrusmusic SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6VrNLN6Thj1iUMsiL4Yt5q?si=MeRsjqYfQiafl0f021kHwg APPLE MUSIC https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cytrus/1462321449   "Always Off Brand" is part of the Quickfire Podcast Network and produced by Quickfire LLC.  

Border Czar Homan Announces End To ICE & Immigration Enforcement In MN, House-Passed Voter ID SAVE Act Set To Die In Senate! Plus, Trump Committed To Iran Talks After Netanyahu Meeting & AG Bondi Clashes With Lawmakers Over Epstein Questions Sky Pilot Radio 60's thru the 80's Listen and Remember

War Room Corrupt Obama Judge Orders Trump Admin to Return Venezuelan Illegals Deported Under Alien Enemies Act, PLUS…Rep. Mace Says Names On Epstein Client List Will Shock Entire World

Bondi Botches Epstein Questions In Congressional Hearing, House Approves Voter ID Bill & Viral Post Warns AI On Brink Of Humanity-Altering Breakthrough

Should women demand employers to pay MORE to cover their beauty costs? Women are paying out of pocket to be seen as credible, competent, and professional at work. Hair. Skin. Clothes. Time. Money. Face lifts. All of it. Not to mention the societal expectation that women should remain youthful, polished, and "camera-ready" especially when in a visible position whether it's in leadership, on stage, or otherwise. Spicy, right?In this episode, I sit down with Eleanor Beaton, powerhouse CEO and founder of Safi Media, to talk about why these costs are not vapid vanity, but part of the infrastructure of expectation and what is required to stay relevant, and why pretending otherwise keeps women underpaid and exhausted.Listen, I pushed back HARD on how outrageous this idea is - but also, WHAT IF it could be a way forward for us as women? We chat about the economics of beauty standards, ageism in the workplace, and why professional women are stuck absorbing costs, financial and emotional, just to appear relevant and polished.Eleanor peels back the curtain on why grooming, wardrobe upgrades, and even the ruthless battle against gray hair aren't just personal choices, they're part of a larger social infrastructure expected from women in high-visibility roles. We get real about the financial toll (think: $20,000+ a year!) and the invisible expectations that men just don't face. If you're an entrepreneur, founder, or ambitious woman in a corporate setting, you'll learn why it's time to stop treating these “upkeep” expenses as shameful and start seeing them as legitimate business investments.We also talk about negotiating for the true cost of visibility, dismantling patriarchal narratives, finding the right communities for support and strategic advice, and why transparency and discernment are superpowers for the next generation of female leaders. This episode isn't just a conversation, it's an invitation to step up, get strategic, and redefine what it means to show up powerfully in a culture that's overdue for a change.We talk about:The hidden costs of female professional visibilitySocietal beauty standards and agingThe gender wage gap and structural imbalancesNegotiating compensation as infrastructureEmotional impact of relevance and confidenceThe power of networks and access to informationDiscernment in choosing professional communitiesTimestamps:00:00 Choosing Gray: A Personal Choice03:11 Blind Spots and Relevance08:16 Beauty Expenses and Tax Challenges10:32 Accounting for Appearance Costs13:03 Gender Stereotypes and Ageism Debate19:07 Negotiating Workplace Costs20:47 Negotiation Tips for Employment Logistics26:24 Confident Women in Daily Life29:36 Empowering Women Entrepreneurs33:29 Structuring Success for Entrepreneurs35:18 Discernment and Evolving StandardsPrefer watching on YouTube? https://youtu.be/crrVBwgUfSo—---------------------------------------------------------To Connect With Eleanor:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/Website: https://eleanorbeaton.com/To Connect With Me:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allison__hareLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonhare/Website: https://allisonhare.comBook a free clarity call with Allison: https://allisonhare.com/freecall Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!Sign up for the free weekly emailAllisonHare.comFollow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording todayReb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.Feedback and Contact:: allison@allisonhare.com

Do you feel truly loved? In their new book, psychology professors Harry Reis and Sonja Lyubomirsky explore the connection between love and happiness. According to their research, a key to happiness is feeling loved. They argue that the actions we usually associate with being loved, loving someone, or falling in love differ from truly feeling loved. So how can you nurture that feeling? This hour, we sit down with Reis and his University of Rochester colleague, psychology professor Bonnie Le, to explore the science of love and happiness and what it takes to feel more of both. In studio: Harry Reis, Ph.D., professor of psychology and Dean's Professor in Arts and Sciences at the University of Rochester, and co-author of "How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most" Bonnie Le, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at the University of Rochester ---Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Assemblymember Stephen Hawley is our guest. This is the latest in our series of conversations with local state lawmakers about the State of the State address. Hawley answers our questions and yours about taxes, affordability, energy issues, the role of ICE, and more. Our guest:Assemblymember Stephen Hawley,  District 139---Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're talking with Jason and Nan Britt from Bethlehem Church, one of the fastest-growing churches in the country with three campuses in Georgia—and a fourth on the way. Jason serves as Lead Pastor, while Nan has pioneered a powerful inclusion ministry called Bethlehem Buddies, designed to help children, students, and adults with special needs fully participate in the life of the church. In this conversation, they unpack how inclusive ministry became a defining part of Bethlehem's culture and how any church—regardless of size—can take meaningful steps in this direction. Is your church unsure how to serve families affected by special needs? Do you feel overwhelmed by where to start or afraid of doing it wrong? Jason and Nan offer practical, hope-filled wisdom rooted in real-life experience. Revitalization with intentional mission. // Bethlehem Church is a revitalization story at every campus. When Jason arrived 14 years ago, the church had plateaued and was struggling to reflect its surrounding community. Rather than questioning the church's heart, Jason focused on intentionality—helping the congregation shift from insider-focused habits to an outward-facing mission. Located near Athens, Georgia, Bethlehem serves a family-centric community, prompting leaders to double down on reaching families and the next generation. That commitment laid the groundwork for inclusion ministry, even before the church realized it. Seeing an unreached community. // Nan's background in special education played a critical role in shaping Bethlehem Buddies. Long before it became a formal ministry, Jason and Nan were deeply immersed in the lives of families affected by disability. When they arrived at Bethlehem, they recognized that many families in their community wanted to attend church but lacked the support to do so. Rather than being opposed to special needs ministry, churches often feel overwhelmed by it. Bethlehem chose to take a different approach—starting small, stepping in with humility, and learning along the way. Inclusion, not separation. // Nan defines inclusion as inviting people with disabilities into the same environments as everyone else—preschool, kids ministry, student ministry, and adult worship—rather than isolating them into separate spaces. Inclusion honors the individual and recognizes that people with disabilities don't all look the same or need the same support. A five-year-old with autism and a 30-year-old man with Down syndrome should be welcomed into age-appropriate environments, with individualized support when needed. The goal isn't just inclusion, but belonging—creating space for people to contribute and use their gifts within the body of Christ. The buddy model at scale. // Bethlehem Buddies pairs each individual with a trained volunteer—called a “buddy”—whose role is simple but powerful: be their best friend for 90 minutes. Buddies focus on connection over compliance, valuing relationship more than control. While some individuals prefer quieter environments, most are included directly into existing ministries with one-on-one support. Parents can attend worship knowing their child or adult family member is safe, known, and loved. Over time, this model has grown from serving one child to serving more than 300 families every weekend. Unexpected volunteer impact. // One of the biggest surprises has been how Bethlehem Buddies shapes volunteer culture. The ministry attracts people who might never serve in traditional kids or student roles—men, teenagers, business leaders—and cultivates empathy, humility, and ownership. Jason notes that the ministry has become one of the strongest volunteer-recruiting pipelines in the church, strengthening the overall mission and heart of Bethlehem. From program to culture. // Early on, Nan personally recruited volunteers by tapping shoulders and inviting people she saw potential in. Over time, inclusion became embedded in the church's DNA. Today, the culture itself recruits. Serving families affected by special needs has reshaped Bethlehem's understanding of the gospel—reinforcing the truth that the kingdom of God is for everyone, especially “the least of these.” Jason emphasizes that while inclusion started as the right thing to do, it has become one of the most spiritually formative aspects of the church. Simple steps for churches. // For churches wondering where to begin, Nan encourages leaders to start with one service, one plan, and one conversation. Decide how you would respond if a family arrived this Sunday. Identify a few volunteers who could serve as buddies. Use a detailed family intake form to prepare volunteers and build trust with parents. Jason urges pastors to see opportunity rather than obstacles—and to remember that you don't need to be an expert to start, just willing to learn. To learn more about Bethlehem Church and the Bethlehem Buddies Network, visit bethlehemchurch.us. Churches interested in starting or strengthening inclusion ministry can email Nan directly and take take a look at Bethlehem’s Buddies Volunteer Handbook. 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/unseminary 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 that you have decided to tune in. I really want you to lean in today. This is one of those issues that we see in churches all the time that I really hope tons churches that are leaning in or listening in today will lean in on this issue, particularly if you’re a growing church. This might be one of those just up over the horizon issues that it that you can get ahead on and work ahead on now and and actually create more space for more people in your community. Rich Birch — Really excited to have Jason and Nan Britt with us. They’re from Bethlehem Church. It’s repeatedly one of the fastest growing churches in the country with three locations, if I’m counting correctly, in Georgia. Jason is the lead pastor and Nan has championed a program called Bethlehem Buddies. And we’re really looking forward to pulling this apart. They offer that all campuses and they provide inclusive support to help preschooler, child, teenager, and adults with special needs transition smoothly into one of the church’s worship environments. So Jason, Nan, welcome to the show. So glad that you are here.Nan Britt — Thank you. Jason Britt — And we’re thankful, thankful for for you having us.Rich Birch — Yeah, Jason, why don’t you tell us, kind of give us the picture of Bethlehem Church, kind of tell us a little bit about the church, kind of set the picture. If we were to arrive… Jason Britt — Yeah. Yeah. Rich Birch — …on a typical weekend, what would we experience?Jason Britt — Yeah. It’s three campuses, hopefully four soon. They’re all revitalization story. We just actually relocated our broadcast campus about a mile down the road. We’re a year in now… Rich Birch — Nice. Jason Britt — …December when you’re broadcasting this. And so we opened, new and it’s a revitalization story, multiple services, and it’s just a church that had history. And all of our campuses, Rich, are revitalization stories, too.Jason Britt — And it was a church with history that just had the courage, if you will, to envision a new future or be open to envisioning a new future. And we’ve been here for 14 years. It was my first senior pastorate, and it’s been a phenomenal year. And the church has just embraced the mission of leading people to discover new life in Christ in all areas of our ministry.Rich Birch — Why don’t we stick with you, Jason, and double click on revitalization. Jason Britt — Yeah. Rich Birch — Kind of pull apart that picture a little bit, help people, because I know there’s people that are listening in today that are on the other side of revitalization. And they’re thinking, hey, you know, what were some of, you know, you first stepped into that journey. What were some early questions that you were asking that really about that kind of led you to the place of like, hey, this is what I think the church could become. Where what started that journey for you?Jason Britt — Yeah, I think even in the process of, you know how it goes in different denominations or tribes have different ways of calling a pastor. And so for me, as I talked with the group that was selecting a pastor, the church had been plateaued for a number of years, plateaued, declining, kind of fell on that. And ultimately, my question for them is, what’s your limiting, have you guys considered your limiting factor? You know, and I think our church, although the heart was there, it did not reflect the community as a whole. And so by that, I mean the heart for mission was there, but not the intentionality of mission, if you will.Jason Britt — And so we really kind of began a two to three year journey of what would it look like for our church to reflect our community. And our community, Rich, we’re outside we’re kind of the bedroom community of Athens Georgia. Rich Birch — Okay. Jason Britt — All of our campuses surround the college town of Athens and it’s very family-centric, very kid-centric. I mean it’s not a high single adult population out here, if you will. This is where families live. And so we really needed to double down and become incredibly serious about the next generation and reaching families.Jason Britt — And I think it was just the reality of getting intentional with what our mission and heart was. The church wasn’t, I think I heard years ago, maybe on your podcast or somebody else, a pastor say, when you take over a church, one of two things are happening. They either believe they won the Super Bowl or they believe they’re losing every game.Jason Britt — Neither he goes, neither—I think it was Jud Wilhite said, I’m not sure… Rich Birch — Okay. Yeah, yeah. Jason Britt — …He goes, neither are true. Rich Birch — Right. That’s good. Jason Britt — But you have to understand their psyche… Rich Birch — Right. Jason Britt — …and the way they see their ministry. So for me, the gift of Bethlehem, Rich, was they were, they were, they were ready to win. I didn’t have to convince them they had to change a ton. I just had to, in many ways, give permission to see things differently. That if you will, the local church tends to be drift toward insider focused…Rich Birch — Yep, that’s true. Yeah.Jason Britt — …and the gospel is very outsider focused. And so for us, it was a lot of, if you will, deconstructing some things before we reconstructed, a lot of examining the fruit of what we were doing, not the intent. You know, that was a lot of the earliest, probably where lot people that you’re listening, your listeners are in revitalization. A lot of it’s not what we, early on, is not what we need to do that we’re not doing is what we need to stop doing that we’re doing.Rich Birch — Right. That’s good.Jason Britt — Right. And that’s the hard part, the deconstruction.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. That’s true.Jason Britt — That was my first two or three years. It’s when I had a full head of hair and no gray, you know what i’m saying, bro? And so it was good though, man.Rich Birch — Yes, for sure.Jason Britt — And so that was our early days of really the heart didn’t need a lot of work. The direction and the intentionality to mission, if you will, strategy and vision. So.Rich Birch — Well, I think there’s a lot of churches that are listening in that I think can relate with that idea of like, hey, the heart of our church is is right, but we’re not really taking intentional steps. And at some point as a leadership team, you realized that there were families that wanted to participate fully, but needed something different in order to do that. That’s ultimately what led us to what we’re talking about today. Rich Birch — What opened your eyes to that gap? What kind of got the ball rolling for you as a leadership team, for you specifically or for our leadership team as you were thinking about this issue?Nan Britt — Yeah, so, um you know, we’ve always been in ministry, Jason in ministry, but really my calling has been early on in special education. You know, that was my training and experience.Rich Birch — Okay.Nan Britt — And ah so professionally, you know, that was my job as a teacher. And so really for the first 10 years of our marriage, Jason walked alongside that road with me. And so the students that I taught really had a lot of needs. And so we really got to know those families. We were really immersed in the special needs community of families.Nan Britt — And so as we came to Bethlehem, we knew, we just knew this was such a great need. This was really an unreached group of people in our community. And so we were excited at the opportunity to be able to serve these families. You know, with him taking that role as as lead pastor, we wanted to make that a priority with our church.Nan Britt — And so that was that was an easy way for me to get involved as a volunteer. So I served as a volunteer for several years because that was just my experience and training and gifting and, you know, what I felt called to to do to to take what I had learned and really use that, you know, in the church.Jason Britt — Yeah, I think we’ve been to some great, we served at two great churches before we came here, awesome churches. If I said them, many of your listeners would know they were awesome and we have nothing, but I remember us being there. A lot of times it was, as we as we were serving there, it was not a, nobody’s against special needs ministry. It just seems overwhelming. Rich Birch — That’s true. Yeah.Jason Britt — Right. And that’s what you find is nobody’s against doing it. It’s just kind of what it seems overwhelming, if you will, or where do we even start? And so I think for us, when we came, our kids were young. And as Nan began to It just began as with one person. Rich Birch — Right.Jason Britt — And really beginning inclusion there. It was more of instead of being overwhelmed by it, almost, if you will… Nan Britt — Yeah. Jason Britt — …taking a step in and giving the example of what of what that looks like.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. I love that. And let’s let’s start, we’re going to get into some tactics in a second, but Jason, I want you to think about from like at a 30,000 foot point of view. My impression as an outsider, looking at this, you know, what you guys are doing, it’s pretty robust. You’ve created a pathway for children, students, adults with special needs to be fully included. And we’ll talk about what that means in a minute. But it to me, i think this could struggle if it’s just a tactic. It seems like what you’ve done has been able to talk about it really at kind of a cultural, this who we’re trying to be. So talk to us how we do that as senior leaders. How do we move this from beyond just like this is another thing we do to like, oh, this is a part of who we are. This is how we see ourselves.Jason Britt — Yeah, and and Nan could probably fill a little bit of the gaps here, but I think for me, I would say two things to senior leaders or senior teams if you’re talking about that. I think the cultural piece is when it becomes a kingdom of God, everybody’s invited at the table. Nan Britt — Yes. Jason Britt — The least of these, marginalized, which we know the gospel – Jesus is more drawn to empty hearts and empty lives than he is full rooms, if you will, you know? And so then in our society, the poor, the marginalized or the least of these is not only poor and impoverished, but oftentimes it’s families who have lived and wrestled with and, walk through this. And so creating space for everybody, I would say was a very, for us, Jesus-centric type thing. Nan Britt — Yes. Jason Britt — It was like this, if we are for the least of these, if we are for all people, that was one of our kind of core values as Bethlehem Church is a church for all people, right? Gospel, for God so loved the world. That’s a pretty broad path right there, the world.Rich Birch — Right. Yes.Jason Britt — So then let’s be intentional there. And, and the thing that I would tell you now, and as Nan gets into the tactics, we didn’t do this to start. This wasn’t the reason. The reason was it was the right thing and we could do this, but, Rich, man, I am telling you, when you begin to serve these families and and you see the joy and the blessing and what it does to the heart of the church, you cannot exchange.Rich Birch — That’s true.Jason Britt — Serving these families, when I talk to other pastor buddies that are stepping into this or some good friends that are in the Buddies Network who would do this, I’m like, man, what it does for the whole of your church when it comes to the heart of Christ, you know, and we’ve seen it go from one kid to three serving 300 families a weekend now. And so it’s been a crazy thing. But what it does for the overall mission and heart of the church and the volunteers and the church seeing this is a powerful thing.Rich Birch — Yeah, I would agree. You know, we talked a little bit beforehand about yeah when I esrved at Liquid Church for years, and this has been a part of our story there. It’s like of my proudest things that we had been a part of. And but but I want to take a step back. And Nan, can you help us understand when you say the word inclusion, what do you mean by that as opposed to separation?Rich Birch — So I’ll paint a bit of a picture for you. Maybe I’m a church of, I don’t know, 5-, 600 people. And sure, there are some kids that we can see. There are kids with special needs. And and I’m like, don’t don’t we just want to create a place where we can like put those kids away so they don’t bother us? Again, I’m I’m using hyperbole. Nan Britt — Right. Rich Birch — Obviously, I’m playing a bit of the devil’s advocate. I don’t actually believe that. Nan Britt — Right. Rich Birch — But what what do you mean by inclusion, not separation? What does that look like?Nan Britt — Yes. Well, inclusion simply means that you are, in the church setting, looking at preschool ministry, kids ministry, students, adult ministries, and really just looking for opportunity to include everyone into those environments. You know, and we know that some people, individuals with disabilities, just may need some individualized love, care, and support. But I think inclusion also speaks more importantly to honoring people and seeing people as individuals. Rich Birch — So true.Nan Britt — And so, for example, we know that a 30-year-old man with Down syndrome looks very different than a five-year-old with autism. And so inclusion is honoring and seeing a person for who they are. And so we want to invite a 30 year old man with Down syndrome into the same opportunities that we’re inviting other 30 year old men in in the church. Nan Britt — And so, so that just gives an example and it actually simplifies things a lot. You know, you you’re really whatever is being offered, you know, at your church, for each age group, you’re you’re simply just opening up that opportunity for our kids and adults with disabilities and special needs to be a part of that.Nan Britt — And then, like we said, we just know sometimes that may mean they need some individualized support in order to be a part of those ah great ministries happening. But it I think inclusion really speaks to honoring that individual and seeing them, what they can contribute to the body of Christ. Nan Britt — And so we know everyone wants to be included, but belonging is really the goal. You know, people, we we know the difference, you know, as people when we’re included in a place, but when we’re invited to to to contribute back… Rich Birch — So good. Nan Britt — …and to use our gifts and strengths, you know, that’s when you really feel a sense of belonging. And so I think that’s the power of inclusion versus just, hey, let’s just provide a separate space and because this is what we’re supposed to do.Rich Birch — Right. Right. So can you get tactical on that? What does that actually look like for, because I, you know, I, I understand doing this at a one or two people, but at scale, 3-, 400, 500 every weekend over a year, like that’s, how do you actually do that? We’ll stick with you, Nan. If I’myeah, what what does that look like? How do how do we provide that care? How do we and how do we learn how we can best support people and then communicate with them and all that? What does it kind of… Nan Britt — Yes. Rich Birch — I know there’s a lot there, I understand… Nan Britt — Yes.Rich Birch — …but but give us kind of an overview. We start there.Nan Britt — eah, that’s a great question. I think it’s really important to first define your goal of like… Rich Birch — Right. Nan Britt — …okay, what is our goal and why are we we providing disability ministry, special needs ministry? And what I believe is the goal of it is that so a family can attend worship, can attend a worship service together on a Sunday morning.Rich Birch — Great.Nan Britt — That is the goal. You know, first, over other nights of programming happening at your church, we believe that we want our families to hear the gospel message, the hope of Jesus, to experience worship, prayer, sit under preaching. And so that’s why we we want to focus on inviting them and providing support around a worship service. We know most likely for parents to be able to attend the service, then that means their child or adult is going to need some individualized support and care.Nan Britt — And so that’s that’s where the Buddies team, the Buddies ministry comes in. And so ah you’re going to need some some volunteers. And so really, i think that simplifies it a lot because I think churches get overwhelmed to think, man, do we need to provide something every time the doors of our church are open? And I would say a great place to start and focus on is we want families to be invited to your worship service. Nan Britt — And then equally, ah we want our individuals to experience the love of Christ, grow in their faith, be be in community um with others. And so I think that’s the place to start is while mom and dad get to attend a service and they’re siblings, then we provide a volunteer to pair up with kids and adults with disabilities.Nan Britt — And then from there, you already have these great ministries happening in your church, kids ministries, student ministries, sometimes on a Sunday morning. And then you’re able to just join in the great ministry happening with that buddy support with a child.Nan Britt — And then I do think that if you have the space at your church, you can also offer a classroom space for kids and adults who prefer a quieter setting or do better in a small group setting. Then you can offer another space that that also has the same great ministry happening. So I really think those volunteers drive the ministry… Jason Britt — Yeah. Nan Britt — …and then just get to participate in with with all the great things happening on a Sunday morning at your church.Rich Birch — I love that. Jason, can you, let’s talk about it from the side, because Nan was talking there about the volunteer side of the equation. Let’s talk about it from that end.Rich Birch — What have you seen, kind of what impact has adding buddies and adding a really robust inclusion culture to your church?Jason Britt — Yeah.Rich Birch — How has that kind of impacted the volunteers who are and engaged in this ministry?Jason Britt — Yeah, I think a couple things and our kids will be examples, but they’re friends as well. What you see is there, and and we’ve seen this with male leadership, is there are people that would probably not raise their hand and say, hey, I want to be in preschool or kids ministry. But the chance to pair up and walk with a teenager with special needs, to be included, to be a one-on-one individualized and walk into our kid’s town or our midtown, which is our younger environments, it’s very empowering. And, I mean, it just opens opportunities for connection. And that’s one thing that we’ve seen, that we see people who may not want more than handing out a, but if you will, just on the Sunday service, if you were the Sunday morning weekend environment, serving opportunities, obviously there’s more in the church, but those coffee, parking lot, greeter, than kids ministry. A lot of your churches that you minister to look similar ours, you know what I mean? Jason Britt — And so what we found was that stream of empowering and inviting, and candidly our buddies ministry, is stronger in the recruiting aspect than our kids or student ministry because it’s so unique and it calls things out of people that maybe the other don’t, if you will. We’ve seen that. And so I would say that that was one of the benefits that we didn’t know early on. Nan maybe did just because of her background in special needs. But as we’ve seen it, I mean, you know, students, it’s a powerful thing when you’re watching a 16-year-old, 17-year-old high schooler, when you’re watching them walk with a five-year-old with autism or Down syndrome into a children’s ministry class. That’s just a pretty powerful thing. The humility, the ownership, there’s just… Nan Britt — Empathy. Jason Britt — …empathy. That rich, the discipleship piece of that’s incredibly strong. You know… Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. Jason Britt — …that just in this simple, it’s not filling a hole, it’s empowering. And so that’s one of the things we’ve seen. I mean, I know you’ve been around, if you were Liquid, even the Night to Shine, obviously the the Tim Tebow thing. Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s fantastic. Jason Britt — Even that, that’s probably the big mass on a mass scale we do where the church is incredibly involved. But then the opportunities it’s opened up for us on the outside of the church to partner with other nonprofits and bring nonprofits that for serve families with special needs, but we get to bring a gospel presence to that. Rich Birch — Love it.Jason Britt — And that’s because of what we’re doing internally. So I’ve seen both of those things that the mission fulfilled in ways that it’s not just serving those families with special needs, but taking the church to a place we’ve never been.Rich Birch — Yeah, I love that. And, you know, to underline something you said there that we’ve seen through multiple conversations that I think when we cast a big picture and a big responsibility to volunteers, they will step up to that. In fact, they’ll actually lean in. They’ll be like,I’m this is great. This requires a lot of me.Jason Britt — Yes.Rich Birch — I would love to lean in.Jason Britt — Yes.Rich Birch — So Nan, what have you learned about, let’s keep keep on this whole topic here, volunteers. What have you learned about recruiting, finding these volunteers, training them so they feel prepared, confident, like, you know, this is your professionally, you said this… Nan Britt — Right. Rich Birch — …your this is your professional background, but, you know, you take your average 16-year-old, they’re not professionally equipped for this. And so how do you help them get to a place where they can be a buddy?Nan Britt — Right.Rich Birch — Talk us through what that looks like.Nan Britt — Yes. It’s, it’s really, it’s so exciting. That’s something that I’ve always been passionate about to connect people to purpose. And so, and then like you said, to take what I have learned and, and really, put it into terms and, and easy ways, easy strategies for, everyday volunteers to feel equipped.Nan Britt — And, and, and so I think that we, a lot of our training materials have come from that that we love to share with churches because we that’s something that we prioritize is we we have many volunteers that serve that do have a background in special education a lot like myself with experience, and I think they’re needed for sure in this ministry. But we have the majority of our volunteers are teenagers and adults who are businessmen. They own their own construction company. Women who you know are stay-at-home moms. Teenagers who, yeah, who would say, hey, I have a heart for this. I’m available. And we love that. We think that that is absolutely the right person to serve. And so we’ve just found some easy ways. Nan Britt — We are highly prepared on our end as a staff. to ah provide the best experience possible for the volunteer and the child on a Sunday morning. And so we do that with, we have a great family form that we have all of our families fill out. We’ve done that for 11 years. It’s a really detailed form. And so we feel like that gives us so much great information about the child or adult that we’re working with, that the parent has given us. Their interests, their likes, things that their dislikes, what to do to to help them stay calm and engaged. We utilize that every week. We get that in the hands of the volunteers so they feel equipped to to know the child they’re paired up with. Jason Britt — Yeah. Nan Britt — And then we we have great just engaging activities and and Bible stories and worship that that just provide the best experience possible for for an hour and a half on a Sunday morning while they’re with us. We want our volunteers to feel supported, to just enjoy being with their child or adult. You know, we say your role is to be their best friend on a Sunday, to hang out. We really prioritize connection over compliance. You know, we’re highly relational. It’s very individualized. And so we, I think that takes away a lot of the nervousness for our volunteers. Jason Britt — Yeah.Nan Britt — And we really, do have great experiences because church is different. Church is different and should be different than school, than therapy, than camp.Rich Birch — Right.Nan Britt — And so you really can have such a a great experience, you know, for an hour and a half, you know, during a service and people feel equipped. We encourage them. We support them. And, and as you know, Rich, people step in to, to volunteer and, but they always come back to us and say, they are so much more of a blessing to me.Jason Britt — Yeah, yeah. Nan Britt — You know, they, they are really ministering to me because our kids and adults, you know, just have such a, a peaceful presence and unhurried spirit, gracious. They’ll pray for you. And so they turn around and bless our volunteers and minister to them. And in so many greater ways than we, than we ever really do for them. Jason Britt — It’s good.Rich Birch — Yeah, love that. And you use the word buddy, and I’d love to double click on that. You you talked about this, Nan, this idea of be their best friend that, you know, for that 90 minutes every week. It’s not about compliance. Talk us about talk to us about that a little bit more, kind of unpack that a little bit. What does that look like? Because that’s a nuance that I think people might, who have not been around this kind of ministry might not understand that. So unpack that a little bit more. What’s that look like?Nan Britt — Yes. So that’s, that’s what we choose to call our volunteers, buddies, buddy volunteers. And we we think it’s, it fits whether you’re with a child or with your, whether you’re with an adult with a disability. And I think that, the the beauty and the success of the ministry is it’s just individualized, you know, undivided attention for a whole, like you said, 90 minutes where we want our kids and adults to feel seen and heard and valued.Nan Britt — And so if you’re a buddy volunteer, you you have that permission to just celebrate and make that morning just all about their child and get on their level, play with them. You know, we we give a lot of direction around ways to interact with people that have differences. You know, if they’re in a wheelchair, if they don’t verbally communicate, hey, here’s some creative ways of of how you can interact with your buddy. And just to that, you know, to to just place such a high value on that child or adult. And yeah, and there there’s so much celebration around it and so much joy. I think people who walk by buddies or around our ministry, that’s the culture of it’s just so much joy and celebration.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s great.Nan Britt — Even when they’re you’re in the presence of so many complex needs, you know, this is a group of people who have a lot of hardships and and very complex needs on paper, but yet you can still just have such a great experience as a buddy volunteer. And like I said, I think that the reason for it is it’s so individualized and it’s ah based around their interest, what they like, and really valuing them and then sharing the love of Jesus. Jason Britt — Yeah.Nan Britt — You know, that unconditional love. That is what we are we strive to share, you know, as a buddy volunteer to our kids and adults. Jason Britt — And I think, we’re Rich, I would add, I think in your churches that are listening, now, then we’re 10 years in, the culture recruits. Nan Britt — True.Jason Britt — Early on, early on, I would say Nan, and she doesn’t give herself enough credit for this, she shoulder tapped a lot of people and would say, hey, you know this is when the church was very smaller and it was. But in the early days, it was a lot of, just like there’s individual care, I would just say the recruiting was individualized… Nan Britt — Yes. Jason Britt — …by Nan, tapping shoulders, saying, hey, I see this in you, or hey, I think you could help me. I mean, I think about… You know, our friends, Richard, Andy, some of these guys who were men’s men that are friends of mine that and and she would just be very specific. Would you and and all of them were like, absolutely. Nan Britt — Yeah.Jason Britt — Before they even knew what they were getting into.Rich Birch — Right.Jason Britt — I just think early on, I would tell you now our culture does a lot of the recruiting.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Jason Britt — But early on it was individualized. I see this in you, that shoulder tapping. Nan Britt — Yep, that’s true. Jason Britt — It was never necessarily my vision for it, recruiting people. It was more of the individualized. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Jason Britt — And then now it’s part of our culture, but I would say it didn’t start. It just became a part of our culture. Nan Britt — Yeah. Jason Britt — Does that make sense?Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s 100%. 100%. That’s a great thing to underline, even just in general… Jason Britt — Yes. Rich Birch — …but specifically in this this ministry, that those early people that we get involved really do kind of cast vision for the future of like, oh, we’re looking for more of these kind of, like you said, whoever those guys are, your men’s men guys.Jason Britt — Yeah.Rich Birch — It’s like, well, that then creates a door for like other guys like that to say, hey, I want to be a part of that.Nan Britt — Absolutely.Rich Birch — And yeah, that’s good.Nan Britt — Yes.Rich Birch — I was also don’t underestimate the the power of the person asking. I know you highlighted this celebrating your wife, but that’s very true. Like that you want to, the person you put in in charge of this wants to be the kind of person that is trusted and is loved and has got some wisdom. So Jason, sticking with you, I’m sure you get calls from leads, from other lead pastors or executive pastors that might have some like common misunderstandings or fears that about starting a special needs ministry. What are some of those fears that they have and what do you say to them to try to say, no, no, you should do this. What are what are the things that come up in a conversation like that?Jason Britt — It’s great question. I think a lot of times it’s not, it’s, if you don’t have a background or awareness or someone in your family or close to you that has special needs or disabilities, there is a lot of what if, what if, what if.Rich Birch — Right.Jaon Britt — And so like, what if the needs extreme, you know, they have feeding tube or they kind of create the worst case scenario or the hardest situation to go, I don’t know if we could ever. Rich Birch — Right. Jason Britt — And what you realize is the vast majority, the, the, the, the needs not that extreme. So it’s kind of almost right size and go in. No, no, no, no. I think you’re, you’re out thinking, you know, in church, you’ve been around church, Rich, you know, we have a way of out-thinking ourselves somehow of going, well, what if…Rich Birch — Sure. Sure.Jason Britt — Hey, Hey, Hey, there’s a really good chance, you know?Rich Birch — Right.Jason Britt — And so I think that’d be one of going, no, I think, but a lot of times it’s not from against, it’s just a lack of awareness. Rich Birch — Right. Jason Britt — You know, it’s not, we can’t do this because. I think liability, something that comes up, I mean, candidly, Rich, you know, in this day and age of liability and stuff like that. And I think again, the reality is, we are 10 years in, 300 families. It’s just not something we’ve ever dealt with. Nan Britt — Yeah. Jason Britt — You know, got think these families love these kids more than we could ever love these kids.Rich Birch — Right.Jason Britt — And so we’re going to be fully equipped and they’re, they’re not, if there’s great needs that, that are, that, they’re probably not going to check them in. They’ll sit with them in the service. You know what I mean? Something like that.Rich Birch — Yep, sure.Jason Britt — I think sometimes that would be one. And then… Nan Britt — Well, yeah, and I would just say, I think that’s when it’s important to have have humility and invite in someone that, like myself that, and I only say myself because like a teacher. Someone who has experience and training professionally in this field so that they’re able to to answer those questions, and to really right size and give a realistic. You know, and I’ve been in some of those conversations before to say, you know, in 11 years, that’s not something that we’ve ever dealt with the church… Jason Britt — Right. Yeah. Nan Britt — …but, but, Hey, here’s something else that you need to think about.Jason Britt — Yeah.Nan Britt — And so I think it’s, it’s really important. I have a lot of respect for leaders who show humility in saying, Hey, I, I even admit I have some ignorance about this conversation… Rich Birch — Yeah. Right. Nan Britt — …and I’d like to invite in so ah someone, an expert in this area to help us move forward in this conversation. Yeah.Jason Britt — Yeah, that’s been the, I think that’s the, yeah, that’s what we have talked to. Again, it’s almost permission, that Nan’s right, humility and just going, okay, we don’t know what we don’t know, let’s just ask some questions. Rich Birch — Right.Jason Britt — But the other thing I would say is, like, we don’t have, um if you will, a room. We don’t have space. We don’t, we’re we’re for it. And I think we go back to our early days, neither did we. You know It was all inclusion-based and all still is before we had a safety room, if you will, or before we had, what do you call it?Nan Britt — We don’t call it a safety room. It’s just a buddy space. Jason Britt — Buddy Space. Like like you know if there’s a kid that’s having an issue or or you know something. We didn’t we have a little more now than we did, but back in the day, it was more inclusion and just start where where you’re at. Nan Britt — Yeah. Jason Britt — You can do something.Nan Britt — That’s right.Rich Birch — Yeah. I think that’s a good word, Jason, that I think we get way too far ahead of us. And we’re like, we and we picture 300 families and like, oh my goodness, what’s going to happen? It’s like, well, how about but we start with the two kids that are right in front of us?Nan Britt — That’s right. Jason Britt — That’s it.Rich Birch — And what can we do to support those families? Nan, you said this, I’d love to invite you in on these conversations. I’m sure there’s churches that are listening in there like I would love Nan’s help. Talk to me about the buddies network. This is a way—I love this—you guys have stepped out to try to help more churches. Talk us through what that is. How do you help churches? How can you engage with them that sort of thing.Nan Britt — Yes. I mean, you’re exactly right. That’s that’s where the idea came from, is that in our area, you know, around metro Atlanta, around Athens, we are in weekly conversations with churches of of how to start a ministry or just begin, like you’re saying, what are some easy steps, tangible ways to serve families, bring awareness to it. And so we just decided, you know, out stewarding, being a good steward of the the great work God has done at Bethlehem, the resources he’s provided for us that we love. Nan Britt — Jason and I, we, we, our big kingdom church people. We love partnering with churches. We love knowing other pastors. And, and so that’s been exciting for me just to work with other churches and share with them. I think we’ve learned so much at Bethlehem, like Jason said, from being very small with no budget, no space, being very conservative in, in what we’ve done to now having a huge ministry, a large ministry, having great space. Jason Britt — Right.Nan Britt — I think we just have learned so many ways to be able to equip churches. And and that’s really the heart behind it. And so we’ve done this last year, really, I have I’m leading that and and kind of initiating that. We just have put in quarterly quarterly lunches if you are nearby and close to us to join us for that. Quick things to your inbox that give ideas. We share our resources. We’re where we don’t want you to recreate something, spend time on that.Bethlehem Church — Because like you said, a lot of that a lot of times it’s kids’ ministries, people who already wear a lot of hats at their churches. I mean, they are overwhelmed. They are leading kids’ ministry. We have some a part of our network that are family pastors, and then they have also been given this task of, hey, figure out special needs ministry as well.Jason Britt — Yeah. Nan Britt — Or volunteers. They’re not paid. So it’s our desire just to get in there and help equip. Jason Britt — Yeah. Nan Britt — And to make it fit the structure of your church. You know, every church is unique. And so ah we just want to make this tangible and easy. And so, yeah. And so we we walk alongside churches really at their own pace, you know, of what they say, hey, we need help with this. Jason Britt — Yep.Nan Britt — And in 2026, we hope to keep expanding resources and more so online that really allow churches outside of Georgia, you know, to access more resources.Rich Birch — Yeah, that which you’ve provided and we’ll link to this, the Buddies Volunteer Handbook. I thought this was great, kind of a I know I love this kind of thing. I’m always like diving deep on, wow, it’s so cool to see what people do. I love this. Talk to us a little bit about this resource. How does it fit in your… Nan Britt — Yes. Rich Birch — …like in your process with Buddies and all that?Nan Britt — Yes. For sure, you know, the first few years, like we’re saying of our ministry, that our our procedures and systems looked more like just a Word document. Rich Birch — Right.Nan Britt — You know, something that I would share onboarding volunteers of, hey, this is your role as a buddy. You know, this is what it means to serve at our ministry. This is these are the expectations. This is… And then in time, you know, we created that. It turned into a handbook, you know, a nicely you know printed handbook that that matched really what our kids ministry handbook and our student ministry handbook looked like. And so it is a great resource that that’s how we onboard volunteers and kind of their their first invitation into the ministry of we go through that handbook with them. We prioritize, hey, this is what we say is your role and what a win is in our ministry. So it goes through a lot of our our systems put around the ministry, the procedures. And what I like to share with churches is kind of what Jason was saying. Really, special needs ministry fits neatly into that that umbrella of all the systems and procedures and policies that a church already has in place for kids ministry… Rich Birch — Yeah. Nan Britt — …and student ministry, special needs ministry fits within that. And that is the way we function at our church. And so there, back when you said there really is not additional liability or additional policies for special needs ministry. So, that’s contained in our handbook. And yeah, it’s a great resource to share with our volunteers and drives the the goals and expectations of the ministry. Jason Britt — Yeah . Rich Birch — That’s so good. Nan Britt — And that’s what we share a lot with we share our handbook with churches and then our family form. Most churches are saying, hey, you mentioned the form that you give to parents.Rich Birch — Yeah. Help us understand that. Yeah. Yes.Nan Britt — Hey, can you share that with us? And we say, absolutely. Just just take our logo off of it. You put your church logo on there. Rich Birch — Yes. Nan Britt — And you just just just start using that because that’s that’s another great resource we share.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. So as we’re coming down to land, kind of a same similar question to both you. I’ll start with you, Nan. Let’s picture that you’re a leader within a church who’s got a passion for this area and is like thinking, hey, we we need to take some steps in the next, maybe the next six months, next three months to kind of move this from, hey, we’re helping a couple kids to we want to create a bit more structure there. What would you say to them to like, Hey, here are some first steps that you should be taking to try to expand this beyond something that’s informal to like, we’re trying to make this a little bit more part of what we do, not just something we’re kind of dealing with. It’s like, we’re going to actively add this.Nan Britt — Right. Yeah, I think that’s a great question. I think something immediately that churches can do is to have a conversation, you know, around kids ministry, around the team on Sundays, and essentially just to have a plan in place of, okay, what would we do if a family visited our church? And just by having a conversation and being prepared, really just allows you to welcome that family without the stress and panic on your face. Rich Birch — Sure. Right. Nan Britt — You know, of that we know it’s unintentional, but we never want a family to feel like an inconvenience or a burden or unwelcomed at our church. But simply by having a plan of okay, what would we do if a family came? And I think that that could easily be we’re going to get them checked in and they’re going to go into our kids’ ministry environments. But maybe we can have two or three extra volunteers on call that we would utilize or we might pull from our existing kids ministry classes to be a buddy for that morning for that child in the second grade class. That’s that’s pretty easy to do. But if you have already talked through that, then when a family comes, it doesn’t send you in a into panic mode.Rich Birch — Right. Yeah. Nan Britt — And and then, like because as we said, the parents are still there. They’re in service. You can always call them or text them with a question or a need that you might have. And then from there, I think it gives you time to put some systems in place. What that might be like is you you prioritize a Sunday morning service. If you if you offer multiple services, I always tell churches, hey, you know, pick, choose a service and build your volunteer team around one service. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good.Nan Britt — And then that is a service you can communicate to the community of, hey, we’re offering our buddies team at the nine o’clock service on Sunday morning. We’d love to invite you to attend at this time. That’s pretty manageable for churches rather than feeling overwhelmed of, wow, do we need to offer her volunteers at every service that we have on a Sunday? So just starting small. Jason Britt — Yep, yep. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good.Nan Britt — And then, like I said, an easy step is, is, getting access to a family form. Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah. Perfect. Nan Britt — And like I said, we can easily share that with you because you collect such great information that really helps you feel prepared for the hour and a half that the family’s with you on a Sunday morning.Rich Birch — Yeah. That’s great. So similar question, Jason, let’s say you’re, imagine you’re a lead pastor and, you know, somebody on their team comes to you and says, Hey, we, we had this conversation as a huddle, like, Hey, what could we do? And we realized we’ve got to add some more emphasis on this. We, you know, if, if we had a family come today, oh, I’m not sure, you know, we might be able to serve one kid or two kids if they came or one or two people if they came, but we’re not, I’m not sure if we had any more than that, that we, and we’d like to add some more volunteer time. We’re not looking for money, just kind of some more emphasis. What would you say to a lead pastor who had someone come to them? How would you kind of coach them to respond to that, to a, to a leader that came with them with that kind of request?Jason Britt — Yeah, I would say just because I know how does a senior pastor would, hey, we got this, we got this. It seems like there’s always about five things pressing and and and it’s like another thing, you know. I would say see the opportunity.Rich Birch — Love it.Jason Britt — That’s what I would just go, man, the opportunity and, you know, see the opportunity for gospel presence. I mean, I think some of my favorite stories, and we don’t have time to get to them, have been families that came or brought their special needs adult or student, or and they’ve been baptized because of that, you know. So the opportunity of it, it is a communit… Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good. Jason Britt — …of people that in the local church we are for, but oftentimes unintentionally we haven’t been prepared for or, and again, it’s legitimate and get it. I think it’s the, also there’s just great resources. Like I just got, we just came off, I mean, you know, this stuff, Rich, there’s just like there’s people who help out. We just came off of a two-year generosity initiative. And I need help thinking strategically. Rich Birch — Right.Jason Britt — I don’t need, you know, and and they help that. Well, there’s people like Nan. Uh, there’s people that are out there that are there to help.Rich Birch — Right.Jason Britt — And I think there’s a lot more similarities in churches with people who can help… Nan Britt — Yeah.Rich Birch — Yes. Jason Britt — …than just like I needed in the general there. That’s the same thing I would tell a pastor. Don’t be overwhelmed. See the opportunity. Nan Britt — Yeah.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good.Nan Britt — I would add, I think that’s key that, you know, in the same way that, like you’re saying, in the world of production or other ministries, we are familiar with contracting with people who that’s their specialty. That’s their skill. That’s their experience. I think it’s the same way in this conversation with special needs ministry. I think that is the quickest way to… Jason Britt — Yep. Nan Britt — …move along the conversation is to maybe to consider contracting with a person that that has that is a professional in this. It it it will eliminate all of those what-if questions… Jason Britt — Yep. Nan Britt — …the fear around it, and someone who knows this this ministry and knows what to do. Jason Britt — Yep. Absolutely. Rich Birch — That’s so good. Nan Britt — You know who’s not surprised by the needs of people with disabilities and special needs. So I think that for churches that And like we said, it’s it’s similar to contracting with other needs around the church.Rich Birch — Right. Good.Nan Britt — So just as quickly as you can, get someone in the conversation that is an expert and kind of knows ah you know what how to care, how to care for these kids. Jason Britt — Yep, yep.Rich Birch — So good. Well, Nan, we’ll give you the last word. If people want to get in touch with with you, with the church to talk about the network or to just just even learn more, where do we want to send them online so they can access more information, you know, that sort of thing?Nan Britt — Yes. So ah they are welcome to email me, nan@bethlehemchurch.us. I would love that to just, like I said, eat weekly, that’s really my role on our staff now is is talking and training and and just working alongside churches. So I would love to connect. And then our website is BethlehemChurch.us, which they can find our Bethlehem Buddies page. Just see a lot of great resources there and then get in touch with our staff there as well. Jason Britt — Yep.Rich Birch — That’s great. Appreciate you guys being here today. Thank you so much. And thanks for what you’re doing. Appreciate being on the show today.Nan Britt — Thanks so much. Jason Britt — Thank you.

Hey DITD listeners! Charlie here with another WG interview that I thought you'd enjoy. I talk to producer Kiyan Foroughi as he embarks on the release of his debut concept album "inner light. OUTER SPACE" which drops 27th February. In the meantime, here is my WG interview with him.Thanks for listening. Below are the Social accounts for all parties involved.Intro Music - "Baxter" By Brock BerriganInterlude - "Break The Beat" By BasstiChillHop MusicHHBTN (Twitter & IG) - @HipHopNumbers5E (Twitter & IG) - @The5thElementUKChillHop (Twitter) - @ChillhopdotcomOther Podcasts Under The 5EPN:"What's Good?" W/ Charlie TaylorIn Search of SauceBlack Women Watch...5EPN RadioThe Beauty Of Independence

In this episode of Mastering eCommerce Marketing, host Eitan Koter sits down with Daniela Bolzmann, Founder of Mindful Goods, to talk about what actually moves the needle on Amazon today.Daniela works with brands around the world on Amazon creative, SEO, and conversion, and she spends her days testing what works and what does not. The conversation opens with how Daniela thinks about business, from abundance and gratitude to building systems that support long term growth.From there, they get into the real work. Daniela breaks down the Amazon funnel in plain terms, starting with getting found through titles and bullets, then earning the click with main images, and finally converting shoppers once they land on the listing. She explains why so many brands still treat Amazon like Shopify, and how that mistake shows up in missed sales.They also talk about testing, creative refresh cycles, and how competition reacts when something starts working. This episode feels like two operators comparing notes on how Amazon actually works right now.Website: https://www.vimmi.net Email us: info@vimmi.net Podcast website: https://vimmi.net/mastering-ecommerce-marketing/ Talk to us on Social:Eitan Koter's LinkedIn | Vimmi LinkedIn | YouTube Guest: Daniela Anavitarte Bolzmann, CEO & Founder at Mindful GoodsDaniela Anavitarte Bolzmann's LinkedIn | Mindful GoodsGet The ULTIMATE Amazon Product Image Swipe File!Takeaways:Abundance is a mindset that opens doors.AI tools are essential for modern creative processes.Optimizing titles and bullets can significantly increase sales.Main images are crucial for attracting clicks on Amazon.Every image should address customer objections or questions.

Mark Fenning DJR 2026 Mark Fanning discusses the changing roles at DJR in 2026. From the race track to your device with Tony Whitlock on Inside Supercars Inside Supercars Podcast: Subscribe Apple Podcasts I Spotify I Google Podcasts Supported by: P1 Australia Link:P1 Australia MusicCreative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com MusicComa-Media from Pixabay #RepcoSC #TCRAust #Supercars #Motorsport #ADL500

Adrian Burgess Team 18 2026 Adrian Burgess talks to Tony Whitlock about moving into 2026 with Team 18 as the homologation entity for Chevrolet. From the race track to your device with Tony Whitlock on Inside Supercars Inside Supercars Podcast: Subscribe Apple Podcasts I Spotify I Google Podcasts Supported by: P1 Australia Link:P1 Australia MusicCreative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com MusicComa-Media from Pixabay #RepcoSC #TCRAust #Supercars #Motorsport #ADL500

How to Scale Faster with B2B Brand Strategy Here's a common scenario in B2B marketing: you launch campaigns, hit the deadlines, and fill the pipeline, but the results feel disconnected from your long-term goals. Internal messaging discussions resurface, campaigns feel shallow and reactive, and when you ask people what your brand stands for, you get 50 different answers. This inconsistent approach creates friction and impedes scalable growth. So what can B2B marketers do when their tactical execution is outpacing their brand strategy, and how to do you realign for lasting impact? That's why we're talking to JoAnne Gritter (COO, ddm marketing + communications), who shares her expertise and actionable insights on how to scale faster with B2B brand strategy. During our conversation, JoAnne underscored why a foundational strategy is crucial for building credibility and trust in competitive markets. She also discussed the role of AI in marketing, commenting that while it can support with idea generation and research, it shouldn't replace direct communication with customers and employees. JoAnne shared some common pitfalls such as messaging misalignment and inconsistent branding, which can lead to distrust and reduced credibility, She explained the importance of having a cohesive brand strategy that aligns values, messaging, and customer experiences across all company touchpoints through proactive brand management. https://youtu.be/_Alwkinhw-g Topics discussed in episode: [02:36] The “Soul vs. Body” framework: Why marketing is just the body in action, while brand strategy is the soul that provides direction and values.  [06:51] Red flags that your marketing has outpaced your strategy: When content feels fragmented and sales teams are telling completely different stories.  [08:52] Defining true brand strategy: Moving beyond logos and colors to include deep research, stakeholder analysis, and internal alignment.  [14:41] The critical differences between a brand refresh (auditing existing assets), a complete revamp (starting from scratch), and branding during a merger.  [24:10] Actionable steps you can take to realign your brand: – Audit your customer journey – Define messaging pillars – Ensure HR and onboarding match the brand promise  [29:37] Why “data-only” marketing fails: The importance of human emotion and psychology that performance data often misses.  Companies and links mentioned: JoAnne Gritter on LinkedIn  ddm marketing + communications  Transcript JoAnne Gritter, Christian Klepp JoAnne Gritter  00:00 AI can be used as a tool. It should not replace thinking and actually talking to your customers and your employees and your sales team. So you can use AI as a crutch to to like, ask it for ideas, idea generation. You can use it for deep research on your on your audience, and stuff like that. But nothing replaces the gold standard of talking to people. I see this in messaging misalignment or content misalignment. If content feels like it’s been written by four different people or completely different companies, that’s a red flag. Christian Klepp  00:37 This is a common scenario for B2B Marketers. You launch campaigns, hit the deadlines and fill the pipeline. It all looks great on paper, but something is still off internal messaging discussions resurface. Campaigns feel shallow and reactive, and when you ask people what the brand stands for, you get 50 different answers. So what can B2B Marketers do when their marketing is outpacing their brand strategy? Welcome to this episode of the B2B Marketers in the Mission podcast, and I’m your host, Christian Klepp, today, I’ll be talking to JoAnne Gritter, who will be answering this question. She’s a member of the leadership team at DDM Marketing Communications that provides integrated marketing solutions to drive business success. Tune in to find out more about what this B2B Marketers Mission is and here we go. JoAnne Gritter, welcome to the show. JoAnne Gritter  01:25 Hi Christian. Happy to be here. Christian Klepp  01:27 We you know, we had such a wonderful, like, pre-interview conversation. I almost feel like we’re neighbors or something, and something to that extent. But I’m, I’m really, like, happy to have you on the show, and I’m really looking forward to this conversation, because this topic is, I’m a little bit biased because I am in the branding space, so it’s a bit near and dear to my heart, but it’s also something that’s extremely important, because you’ll agree. I mean, you, I know you’ll agree because you wrote an article about it. JoAnne Gritter  01:54 Yeah Christian Klepp  01:55 It’s something that marketing teams tend to overlook. And good, goodness gracious me, I’m gonna, like, stop keeping people in suspense. We’ll just jump right in all right. JoAnne Gritter  02:04 Okay Christian Klepp  02:04 So JoAnne, you’re on a mission to provide integrated marketing solutions that drive B2B business success. So for this conversation, let’s focus on this topic, how brand strategy helps B2B organizations to realign for long term growth. So I’m going to kick off this conversation with the following question. In our previous conversation, our previous discussion, you talked about how marketing without a brand is a strategy without a soul. Could you please explain what you meant by that? JoAnne Gritter  02:36 So I just made the comparison kind of to the whole human, as in, like the brand is your soul, meaning like your values, what drives you, why you’re here, what differentiates you, what makes you different than the person standing next to you, whereas, like marketing is your body in action, or action in general, where you hopefully, if you if you’re a trustworthy person, what is, what are your values internally are matching your actions externally? And that is often where we see a divergent in companies, because they don’t think about those as like two sides of the same coin. It is really important that you make sure that you know the direction that you’re going as a company and what you stand for and who you’re there to support or serve, and what markets you’re there to do, and like your whole company, everybody that’s part of interfacing with customers understands that and is and is speaking the same language. Christian Klepp  03:37 Yeah, no, absolutely. And I suppose the the follow up question to that is like, where do you see a lot of, like, marketing teams go wrong. Because, like, you know, more often than not, a lot of teams are like, Okay, we’ve we’ve implemented the campaigns check. We’re generating results and driving pipeline or filling the pipeline, rather check. So where does it all go wrong? JoAnne Gritter  04:00 If you are not paying attention to your branding, you can have a lot of activity without a lot of traction. So or you can have a lot of different messages going out that seem not cohesive or fragmented. And so you can or more examples you can have, like your sales folks going out and telling different stories about about what your company stands for and what you do and how you’re different, that creates a lot of waste, because then you’re continuously trying to get more activity and more campaigns going more sales people out there, because you’re not getting the quality leads that you need, because nobody really knows what you stand for. Everybody says it a little bit differently, and that goes for customer service too. Branding. People think about branding as a marketing problem, or a marketing, you know, teams problem. But if, let’s say part of your brand is your brand identity or values is to put the customer. First, if you don’t really solidify that from your sales team and your customer support team, then there would be a mismatch there, right then you’re just putting out into the world that customers first, but that doesn’t match up with what the customer is experiencing. Christian Klepp  05:16 Yeah, there’s certainly some kind of misalignment there, and you touched on it, like, briefly. It’s interesting to me, like, even in my own experience, one of the telltale signs of that is when you ask people within the organization, well, what makes you different? And you get 50 different answers, and some of them are similar, and some of them are completely, like, different. And it’s like, okay, yep, okay, I see where this is going, or to your to your other point, when sales teams are having those discovery calls, and you listen back to some of those recordings, which I hope you marketing people out there are doing, and you listen to the way that the sales deal with objections, and maybe the procurement team or people like, you know, on the prospect side, they’re probably not phrasing it exactly the way I’m going to say it right now, but like, but they probably are asking something to the effect of, okay, what makes you different from vendor B, C and D, right? What is different about your solution? Like, why are you charging this guy? Why are your rates like, this high. JoAnne Gritter  05:16 Right. Absolutely. And if they have different answers, or if you go and you listen in on four different sales calls and they’re all a little bit different, then that tells you have a branding issue that people don’t fully understand your brand and how you’re different and who you support and serve. Christian Klepp  05:16 Yep, absolutely, absolutely. So you’ve touched on it a little bit, but like, tell us about some more of these. I’m going to call them red flags, right? That signal when marketing has outrun brand strategy. JoAnne Gritter  05:16 Sure, I see this in messaging misalignment or content misalignment. If content feels like it’s been written by four different people or completely different companies, that’s a red flag. If, like we mentioned, your sales team talks about your company completely differently, it’s okay that they put their own little spin on it, as long as you’re still hitting like the purpose of your company, why you’re here, how you serve whatever your target audience or audiences are what your values are. If that’s not coming through in in those different places, then you may have a brand issue, or your training issue, or your brand is not being carried out through the company. So when you have a solid brand, it should be, should be repeated in in like your onboarding process, in HR kind of things, in performance conversations, in obviously, your sales and marketing and your customer service, so that everybody is aligned to that brand, and so that there’s a common message, common theme, because repeatability is is super important. Consistency is super important in marketing. I’m sure a lot of people have heard that it takes multiple multi multiple times of hearing the same message for it to actually resonate, and if they’re hearing multiple different messages, it’s causes confusion and a lack of trust in whatever the company is offering. Christian Klepp  05:16 Yeah, that’s absolutely right. JoAnne, I’ve got a I just thought of another fall off question, and you’ll indulge me here. Um, you know it, I know it. But let’s, let’s clear the air here for a second. Because I’ve been hearing this like, and I’m sure you have as well, in the B2B world, it’s just been thrown around, like, very loosely. Let’s clear the air here. Like, what do you mean by brand strategy, because I’ve heard people, especially at senior level, say, like, Yeah, we don’t need branding. We’ve got a logo and we’ve got a website. We’re good, so maybe just clear the air on that one, please. JoAnne Gritter  05:16 Well, brand strategy is, let’s see, like, I think of strategy in like, four or three different tiers. Like, we have your business strategy, it’s how you win in the marketplace. Then you have your brand strategy, which is positions you in the market and in the minds of your consumers or your customers. And then your marketing strategy is how you take that and communicate it out and you deliver that message in multiple different channels. So if you have marketing running without, without laddering up to that business strategy and and brand strategy, then it’s just, it’s just running and putting stuff out there. So it’s just activity without, without purpose and strategy. So like a brand strategy is so much more than just a lot of people think about it as their logo, their identity suite, whatever, but there should be research that goes into it. They should be stakeholder analysis. They should talk to your customers and kind of understand what they value about about your company compared to another company. So then, using. Their language in some of your brand messaging is super helpful. So if you have like, customers that say, you know, like, I just love working with, you know, Company X, Y and Z, because the people are great. They’re super responsive. They they get me what I need, etc. Like, using some of that as part of your brand is going to be really important. So like, a strategy may may include, like, the focus, the brand, promise your your core values can be part of that. The naming can be part of that. Obviously, the the design part that a lot of folks actually think about and listen or think about and recall would be, like the visual identity that also needs to be consistent, from your logo to your fonts to your colors, and then like, multiple touch points on that, like, again, like repeating that consistency from like the stationary, the collateral, the assets, all that stuff, but then also making sure that the messaging and the voice carries throughout your company, past past your your marketing team, past your sales team. Christian Klepp  05:16 Yeah, that’s absolutely right. I mean, I like to tell people that all of these things that you mentioned, especially the visual aspect, the the sexy part of it, right, like the the visual identity, the logo, the web design and all that. It’s the end result. It’s one of the outcomes of right branding, right? JoAnne Gritter  05:16 That doesn’t come out of a vacuum, right? You don’t show a designer that’s like, I’m super excited about the color red, so we’re gonna do it’s what do our customers, current customers, feel about us, and what do we want our prospective customers to feel about us? And then there’s a lot of strategy behind that. Christian Klepp  05:16 That’s right, that’s right. I’m gonna move on to the topic of key pitfalls to avoid. So what are some of these key pitfalls that B2B Marketing Teams should avoid, and what should they do instead? JoAnne Gritter  05:16 So pitfalls that I see is companies teams that get really excited about certain trends. I’m just going to pick on Tiktok. There’s time and a place for Tiktok, but like, for B2B, they’re like, oh, man, everybody’s on Tiktok, or this latest, you know, social media platform, channel, we really got to get on there. It’s or we got to use AI in some specific way without, like, thinking about the strategy behind that and just like going forward, because you know that that’s the hottest trend right now. So always make sure it ladders up to where your customers are and what you want them to think about you. If you’re a B2B company, it’s likely that your customers are more on LinkedIn than they are on Tiktok. That’s just an example. I can’t say that across the board, but like picking picking things that are always centered on on your customer and your brand are super important. So that’s a pitfall, and then what to do about it? Also treating the brand as a one time exercise, like set it and forget it, kind of thing. A lot of people are just like, Okay, we did the brand. We got a great logo, we got stationery, we even got PowerPoints that are branded and then never think about it again, except for, like, just the, you know, the colors and the logo on all of your media assets, right? So, but the brand is so much more than that. The brand is so much about, like, how you want them to feel, what the differentiators are, what makes you different, what you deliver and like, how you talk about it, how you position yourself. So like, every bit, every asset that goes out the door, should be aligned to that there should be almost a hierarchy. Christian Klepp  05:16 Yeah, no, exactly, exactly. And I’m gonna throw another follow up question at you, only because I know you can handle you can handle it. You probably hear this a lot, and you hear this a lot, most likely also from marketing teams that perhaps don’t have as much experience in the branding space as you do, and they say things like, JoAnne, you know, we’re looking at our company, and we feel that, you know, the overall look and feel and the direction, it’s not really in line with what we aspire to be. So we’re looking for a revamp. And then, and then, as the conversation progresses, they say, Oh, actually, we want maybe, maybe just a refresh, right? And then you hear another prospect say, Well, you know, we just merged the two companies. So like, what do we do there? So maybe just, just to, again, clear the air, so people don’t throw around these terms so recklessly, what actually is the difference between a brand refresh, a brand revamp, and branding as a result of a merger, Speaker 1  06:02 like a brand like from scratch, is going to take a lot of different kind of research efforts than like a brand refresh. Like, if you’re doing a brand refresh, then you’re looking at assets that already exist, you know, and and you’re looking at reasons why they might change or are no longer working. So you’re doing more. Of an audit kind of thing, like, what’s different now than it was 20 years ago when we created this brand, and where are we going? Their new leadership? Are they focused on different parts of this like even even DDM, the marketing agency that I work with or that I work for. We, every once in a while, look at our brand, and not just the visuals, but like the things that make us unique. And we say, hey, those are still unique, but we’re talking about them slightly differently now. So we need to take a look at that and change the messaging a little bit. We’re heading in a slightly different direction lately with our creative so let’s, let’s make sure that we’re still in line, so that everything, everything matches. And if they see us on Instagram versus if they see us on LinkedIn or on our website, that it still looks like ABM, you know, and then a merger is slightly different, because you’re putting together two brands, and a lot of times they’re creating a new brand from that, or they might keep one of the brands and then just bring another like, you know, Company X is now a, you know, Company Y brand. And there might be, like a sub. There’s all kinds of different ways hierarchies of brands in that kind of scenario. But more recent one that we did, they created a new brand, which was a combination of the two names, and they completely they went through the whole exercise with the new leadership team. So it’s more similar to like starting from scratch, but also taking bits and pieces that they want to keep from both brands and what’s working. So you kind of look at what clients from both brands like about those brands, and make sure that you keep those and you preserve those, and make sure that it’s it’s heading in the direction that the company wants to go a lot of discovery and research and questions, Christian Klepp  06:16 Absolutely, absolutely. And I love that you keep bringing that up, though, because that is, again, one of these components that people tend to overlook, that this comes with a lot of research. It’s not, as you said, it’s not okay. Here’s the brief. Graphic designers or design team have at it. JoAnne Gritter  17:07 Right? Christian Klepp  17:07 Come up with something, something else, great, right? Yeah, my favorite briefs are always the ones that said we want something modern, clean, yet traditional and exciting. It’s like, JoAnne Gritter  17:17 Oh yes, creative. Make it creative, splashy mean to you? Christian Klepp  17:25 Yeah, yeah, open to interpretation, I suppose. Why do you believe that inconsistent messaging and internal misalignment cost organizations credibility and dollars? And you did touch on it earlier on the conversation. JoAnne Gritter  17:41 It’s a misalignment of what you say versus what you do. If you have on your website that you are there to serve X population and that you are like your mission and purpose in in this world is to support that population in in achieving whatever goal, whatever needs that that population needs, but then that customer or population that comes and interacts with your brand does not get that from the people or get that from their experience with your product. Then then that’s a misalignment, and that creates, you know, instant distrust, like you are not following through on, on what your brand promise was, or if you have multiple people saying they’re promising different things and they don’t get that, that’s a lack of trust. Christian Klepp  18:27 I’m kind of slightly grinning here, although I know that anyone who’s been in this situation probably will not see any humor in it, but like, I’m just thinking about anyone that’s experienced a flight delay, JoAnne Gritter  18:37 right, Christian Klepp  18:39 or been trapped at the airport, and whichever airline it is you’re flying with, and you have to deal with ground staff that are either unprofessional and rude or you just have zero transparency. And I’m sure, like, I’ve certainly gone through it like I’ve experienced a 10, 12 hour flight delay, right where I was at the airport until like, one or two in the morning, and then they finally come and say, well, the plane’s not coming. JoAnne Gritter  19:04 Yeah, that really rocks the brand reputation. I also see that in health care a lot, which, God bless everybody in health care, it’s hard, but like, if all those services are disjointed and the scheduling gives you a different feeling than the doctor gives and trying to do things online, it doesn’t match what your experience is in person. People don’t want to go to that provider anymore. You know, they’re like, this is confusing. I just want help. Just want to get what you’re promising. Christian Klepp  19:35 It’s a very for lack of a description of fragmented ecosystem. JoAnne Gritter  19:39 Yeah, absolutely. And that’s a bigger issue than we can solve here, but Christian Klepp  19:43 Yeah, no amount of branding is going to fix that. JoAnne Gritter  19:47 You got to follow through on it. Christian Klepp  19:49 That’s absolutely right. That’s absolutely right. Talk to us about how aligning, and you’ve touched on it briefly, how aligning soul and action will help to build. Trust, loyalty and resilience and please provide examples where relevant. JoAnne Gritter  20:04 Let me think of an example. We work with a very large medical device manufacturer, and we’ve worked with them for 15, probably close to 20 years now. And so 15 years ago, they were very product centric. They also grow by acquisition. So they have, like several different companies that came in under this master global brand. And even though they have the same logo, they still had their own kind of visual identity. They all talked about their stuff differently. And as a result of that, in those different teams, the customers were getting wildly different experiences from this company, even though they were all under the same master company. So they rebranded. We helped them rebrand seven years ago, maybe, and this is a global organization where they brought all their business units under the same brand. They have a very strict, robust brand now. And I’m not saying that everybody needs 100 page brand guidelines. They don’t, but, like they they went all in on branding, and they make all their new employees do their brand training. It’s worked in through their onboarding. It’s worked in through their like, performance conversations, and they have just really exploded and created this, this amazing reputation as a leader. Christian Klepp  21:25 I’m sorry you’re talking about, you’re talking about real branding, then JoAnne Gritter  21:27 Real branding. Yes, they are now a leader in their industry. I mean, they were big before, but they have just really exploded in the last seven years since rebranding, and it’s been really helpful for them, because now they still grow by acquisition, but they bring in a new company, and they know what the process is to get them on board, not just from a visual identity, like rebranding all the collateral, like the sales enablement and stuff like that, but bringing the internal teams up to speed about like, what what we stand for, what we hire, like, what kind of values we Look for, so that every customer gets the same experience Christian Klepp  22:04 from your experience. How did that exercise of helping them to re brand and take all of this because, you know, there’s that situation of taking all the business units and putting them under one roof, so to speak. How did that exercise help to improve them as an organization. JoAnne Gritter  22:22 It’s been a long time, like in multiple phases. So it improves their organization. It creates a lot of clarity for them. So they’re not like redoing each other’s work, and they’re not all creating the same or they’re they’re not all creating from scratch anymore. They have a they have a similar starting point on, like, the different messaging pillars that they need to hit, even for just their products, you know. So this goes into product messaging and product launch. So like, if they are medical device, they are they want to sell, you know, knee replacements or or stuff along those lines, they know that they need to hit on a couple core values, and they need to make sure that they are targeting the same audience, and that they need to make sure that they that what they’re saying out there aligns with the master brand. Of course, there’s they still need to do the differentiators on the product level, but they also have the full brand that that supports it. So it’s just a higher level like reputation. I like to, I like to compare like branding to your reputation. So that goes along with every product that they bring in. Christian Klepp  23:32 Yeah, no, absolutely, absolutely. Okay, we get to the part in the conversation. We’re talking about actionable tips. And you’ve, you’ve actually given us quite a bit already, but if we were to summarize it, okay, JoAnne, like, if there was somebody out if there was somebody out there that was listening to this conversation, and they were listening to what you were saying, and they were like, oh my goodness, this is exactly what we’re going through right now, right? I mean, besides contacting you, right, what are like three to five things that you would recommend they do right now to realign for long term growth using brand strategy, JoAnne Gritter  24:10 I would take a look at what brand strategy you already have, if you have one otherwise kind of creating at least the bones of that. Like, what are our values? What are we focused on? What is our purpose here and mission? And then, like, what are messaging pillars or groups that align with those values? And then once you have those making sure that you have a succinct narrative or story, or even, like an elevator pitch, that everybody is aligned on. Having that is kind of a simple, hopefully a simple thing for you to figure out and align on, and then auditing the customer journey for those promises and values. So like, if you have a customer journey, they’re going from, you know, awareness of you. Or a problem to consideration between you and your company, and, you know, multiple other companies, and then you’re they’re making a decision, then they’re purchasing, then they’re hopefully your customer experience, and your delivery teams are delivering on those promises, and then you’re creating loyalty. So that’s the customer journey. So of these phases are, they are the customers still experiencing the brand that you want them to experience. So that’s like a little audit that you can do. And then from there, also making sure that all of your content that’s out there, from your like your brochures, your website, your sales enablement kind of stuff, making sure that that’s still aligned to the brand and the message that that you want it to and then making sure that, of course, throughout the company, in your like, HR documentation, you’re, I’ve said onboarding a million times, but like, making sure that everybody that’s coming into your organization understands who you are and who you who you serve, and why? Christian Klepp  26:01 Absolutely, absolutely. And that’s a really good list. And I have to ask you this question, because you know, at the time of the recording, we’re at the end of 2025, and you did bring up AI, so I’m going to bring it up again. How, how has in your experience, from what you’re seeing out there, how has AI impacted brand strategy and all the work that comes along with that. JoAnne Gritter  26:24 Well, that’s a loaded question, right? So as far as brand strategy, I kind of see it. AI can be used as a tool. It should not replace thinking and actually talking to your customers and your employees and your sales team. So you can use AI as a crutch to to, like, ask it for ideas, idea generation. You can use it for deep research on your on your audience, and stuff like that. But nothing replaces the gold standard of talking to people. So like, the the best resources from that research perspective are your customers, or your prospective customers and your sales team, if you can’t get to those customers, will often hear those like, you know, positive and negatives about your products and services. So getting to those and aligning on stakeholders, AI can be used as you know, you can use it to help think of ideas for like, let me think if you were thinking of like values, like core values, like in and messaging pillars, you can say, hey, you know, I really want it to be something along these lines. We’re circling around on like, exactly right the what the right way to phrase this is. And it can give you 50 different ideas, and you can cross out 45 of them and then land on like the top five that you communicate with your team. Don’t ever take it for rate for like per vatum, sorry, exactly as chat GPT gives you, Christian Klepp  27:55 at face value. JoAnne Gritter  27:57 Thank you. I see that that is a lot harder for early career individuals because they don’t have that discernment yet. So they, they will, they will use it as a crutch, and then, like, oftentimes not have that same kind of editing expertise to see what actually works and what doesn’t. So like pairing AI as a tool with with human intelligence and empathy, for sure, Christian Klepp  28:23 Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, at least in from my observation, and this is where I think AI really falls flat, especially when you’re coming up with the verbal expression component of brand strategy. AI doesn’t really have any soul or character, like everything, it turns out, is very, for lack of a better description, lifeless, so, and that’s where the human element, or to your point, the human intervention, can then come into play, because then you can inject that story, you can inject that human emotion, which also is a very crucial component in B2B, right? As much as people like to say, oh, B2B is all factual, right? And I would, I would disagree with that, JoAnne Gritter  29:06 yeah, it’s, it’s quality over quantity. Now, you know people, people can spot, can spot the AI generated content, and there can be a whole bunch of it, and that can help you in a variety of ways. But if it’s not actually, if it doesn’t sound human speaking or human human sounding, then, then people reject it and they don’t trust it as much. Christian Klepp  29:28 Okay, get up on your soapbox a status quo that you passionately disagree with, and why? JoAnne Gritter  29:37 I passionately disagree with data only marketing. So the big push for data driven marketing, I am, I am on board with that at face value, but it still doesn’t tell the whole story, because you can still look at data from, let’s say you did like a. Um, a focus group about about what customers want from a like a beverage or something. I’m thinking of Coca Cola, and they and they say that they they want it to be healthy. They want it to be low sugar. They want it to taste amazing. They want it to make them, you know, feel great, and stuff like that that does not you’re gonna try to create like this Frankenstein kind of soda instead, instead of recognizing that, like, there’s more psychology to this. Like a Coca Cola has, like, a whole traditional, like branding kind of way that, or traditional and emotional way that they make people feel, and that doesn’t show up in the data, necessarily. That doesn’t show up in the performance data. You know that that is a totally different kind of research too. Christian Klepp  30:51 Yeah, yeah, JoAnne Gritter  30:55 You know, that’s performance, marketing and branding. Christian Klepp  30:58 I totally agree. I totally agree that, as much as there is a big camp out there that says the future is data driven now when it comes to B2B Marketing, and I’m like, Yeah, JoAnne Gritter  31:11 humans are tricky. Christian Klepp  31:13 We’re not robots. Absolutely, absolutely, okay, here comes the bonus question. So Rumor has it that you like to draw. JoAnne Gritter  31:23  I do. Christian Klepp  31:24 Yes, and from one enthusiastic sketcher to another, I thought, I thought deep and hard about this question. Tell us about one of the most well exciting, yes, but more importantly, one of the most challenging works that you’ve created to date. So what was the theme and subject? What made it so challenging to draw, and what did you learn from that experience when you when you completed it? JoAnne Gritter  31:50 I really like to find, like, kind of micro moments I have. I have three children at home, and I like to take pictures, or, like, capture, like small moments of, like one of them snuggling the cat, or like holding hands or doing something unexpected. And in, like, not a macro view, but in a micro view of like, the different connections that people have. And then, usually, I’ll take a picture, and then I will sketch those out after they go to sleep and stuff like that. And that’s just kind of my own personal way to, I don’t know it’s it’s therapeutic. It’s a way to see, see the beauty in the world, you know, and to slow down in the moment. Christian Klepp  32:37 100%. I like to call it Balsam for the soul. JoAnne Gritter  32:40 Yeah, Christian Klepp  32:40 all right, I don’t know about you, but like, I like to sketch in the in this very room where we’re doing the recording, and I usually play classical music. So like, show pen, so something like, with with piano. Like, no opera, because that can get a bit too dramatic. JoAnne Gritter  32:59 I like classical too, when, when I’m focused at classical music, and I also like binaural beats, or it’s more like meditation kind of music. So kind of zone, zone into the moment, instead of all the crazy thoughts that go through your head and all the things you have to do. Christian Klepp  33:17 Very nice, very nice. One of the things I learned about drawing is pretty much like certain aspects of our professional work, you know, like marketing and branding. It starts with a line, and then you just keep adding the layers, right? And it’s almost the same like when you’re implementing a campaign, you know, some especially nowadays, right? You try to start small first, and do a lot of testing to see if it works. And you scale from there. And I like to, I like to think of drawings that way too. You start, you start not by adding the details. You start like, you know, with a lighter pencil. And there’s a certain, there’s a certain way of holding the pencil tool, right, so you have lesser control. And just, it’s just a bit free flowing. And for me personally, it took me a long time to start drawing like that, because I’m like, No, then I don’t have control of the process. But that’s kind of the point, right? Let go of the perfectionism, right? JoAnne Gritter  34:18 You outline it first, and then you start filling in. You know that the shadows and the light marks, and then you slowly bring in the detail. I mean, that you’re totally right, that that is like a marketing or branding strategy. You got to outline it first before you go fully in on any specific detail. Otherwise, you’re you may be way off target. Christian Klepp  34:38 That’s it. That’s it. I mean, JoAnne like I think we just found our next podcast interview topic. But thank you so much for coming on and for sharing your expertise and experience with the listeners. So please a quick introduction to yourself and how people out they can get in touch with you. JoAnne Gritter  34:57 JoAnne Gritter, I’m at DDM Marketing and Communications headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. And I am COO, Vice President of our company. You can get a hold of me at joanneg@teamddm.com or you can just check us out at Teamddm.com Christian Klepp  35:18 Fantastic, fantastic. And we will be sure to like drop all those links in the show notes. So once again, JoAnne, thanks so much for your time. Take care, stay safe and talk to you soon. JoAnne Gritter  35:27 Thanks, Christian. Bye. Christian Klepp  35:29 Bye, for now you.

If You Missed Romeo In The Morning We Talked About: Fake Id's, Raider Dave performing and The one that got away.

Once in a while, Sgt. Kevin Coates and Officer Larry Reynolds take a detour from the usual police discussions to talk with interesting people from around the community and in this episode, that detour happens to be delicious. Because after a shift, you don't need a citation. You need a meal!In this episode of Talk'n the Beat, the guys sit down with Chef Jared Bobkin, a two time Hell's Kitchen contestant who appeared on Season 15 and later returned for Season 17 All Stars. Jared shares what it was really like behind the scenes, what the experience taught him, and how it shaped the way he approaches the kitchen when the heat is on.They also talk about how he fell in love with cooking in the first place, and what he is juggling now, from guest chef work and local projects to launching his own food truck, The Dump Truck, where he specializes in Asian style dumplings.The guys brought their appetite to this one, and if you are up for an off course episode with plenty of laughs and a little kitchen chaos, we think you are going to eat this one up.Send Your Questions to Sgt. Coates and Officer Reynolds!Email us at ttb@sterlingheights.gov and your question may be used in an upcoming podcast episode.

Transforming Real Estate Obstacles into Opportunities: A Lesson on Mindset For Top Producing Realtors!In this episode, we dive deep into the idea that 'obstacles are opportunities in disguise'. We explore how mindset and perception shape our responses to challenges and illustrate this with a practical example involving Stewart's experience with bounced emails in a business setting. We'll share strategies to turn these setbacks into success, including targeting the right audience, using enhanced skip tracing tools, and the power of direct mail. Join us as we uncover how to change our view on problems and leverage them as opportunities to grow and thrive.See how many leads are available in your zip code (and take a FREE test drive) at: https://LeadDeck.AI

Send a textVictor, Evelyn, and Mark are joined by Anthony from League of Ridiculous Conversations to talk about the Bad Bunny halftime show, Super Bowl commercials, asking someone to be your valentine, and making Cameos.

Arab-Muslim discussion and interviews with hosts Samar Jarrah and Ahmed Bedier.

I Timothy 1 & 2 Find out about the addition of “mercy” to Paul’s traditional tidings of grace and peace from God.We’ll consider the importance of doctrine in Paul’s letters and list the evidence that Paul was likely acquitted once … Continue reading →

Mike Matthews investigates the fascinating news from the middle of the week and Mike answers what is happening in the odd world of amusement parks. Join Mike as he podcasts live from Café Anyway in podCastro Valley with Chely Shoehart, Floyd the Floorman, and John Deer the Engineer. Next show Mike Talks to Benita, the Disgruntled Fiddle Player, and the Brewmaster.

BRX Pro Tip: 2 Sales Tips for Introverts Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here. Lee, you have gone on record as being an introvert. Talk a little bit about being effective in a selling profession as an introvert. Lee Kantor: Yeah, I classify myself as a […]

Pat Brady, SVP of Mercury Public Affairs, former chairman for the Illinois Republican Party, and former federal and state prosecutor, joins Jon Hansen, filling in for Lisa Dent, to discuss the Cook County board president election. Brady joined Alderman Brendan Reilly, 42nd Ward, at an event. Ald. Reilly is challenging Toni Preckwinkle. Brady believes that […]

Kate Armanini, reporter for Chicago Tribune, joins Jon Hansen, filling in for Lisa Dent, to discuss her article. Armanini shares the reasons that more Chicago families are choosing to homeschool their children in recent years.

Erin Russell of The Russell Firm joins Jon Hansen, filling in for Lisa Dent, to discuss music copyright law. In recent years, Olympic figure skaters have turned toward popular music for their routines. This has caused some skaters to face problems with copyright claims. Russell explains the procedures that are needed to clear the music for use […]