Podcast appearances and mentions of thomas nelson publishing

The lessons I carried away from September 11 did not begin that day, and they certainly did not end there. In this solo episode, I reflect on how my parents taught me not to accept the limits others placed on blindness, how my guide dogs taught me about trust and teamwork, and how September 11 confirmed so much of what I already believed about fear, leadership, change, and possibility. I share why I work hard not to worry about things I cannot control, why I believe we can never truly go back to “normal,” and why strong teams are built through trust rather than control. I also challenge some of the ways we think about blindness and disability, because different does not mean less capable. I hope these lessons help you think differently about fear, change, leadership, and what it really means to live with an unstoppable mindset. Highlights: 00:46 – Why the lessons of September 11 began long before that day. 08:56 – How Michael learned that blindness is not the real barrier. 17:13 – Why focusing on what you can control can reduce fear. 24:28 – Why getting back to “normal” is not always the answer. 32:30 – What guide dogs taught Michael about trust and teamwork. 1:01:37 – Why disability does not mean a lack of ability. About the Host: Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He has served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael has held a seat on the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. He is the chair of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center for the Blind  and is the vice chair of the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind. Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. He held this position through June of 2026. He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: “Thunder dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust” – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2013 Mr. Hingson published his 2 book “Running with Roselle”- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Mr. Hingson's third book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”, was released on August 20, 2024. This book shows readers how they can learn to control fear and not, as Mike would say, “become blinded by fear in the face of crisis”. Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world. In June, 2024 Mike was inducted as an alumni member into the honors Fraternity Phi Beta Kappa. Currently Michael lives in Victorville, California with Alamo, Michael's eighth guide dog and his rescue feline, Stitch. More information on Mr. Hingson is available on his website. Here also is a link to Mr. Hingson's press kit: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/q8uxu9u7pap4puj5de7rg/h?rlkey=22bziy0wmghf8111kad73685y&dl=0 http://www.michaelhingson.com/live-like-a-guide-dog www.michaelhingson.com www.michaelhingson.com/podcast Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mhingson https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://www.facebook.com/Roselle911GuideDog/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568642850718948 https://www.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfZNi2VDR2R4nC6SveyCvZIyKtyi9VOLOzOKcG-v0Hk1glaVssEHwdR920w1_u-8B-k&_rdr https://www.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfZNi2VDR2R4nC6SveyCvZIyKtyi9VOLOzOKcG-v0Hk1glaVssEHwdR920w1_u-8B-k&_rdr Twitter, https://twitter.com/mhingson LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCx2L9OVN38Dv4mX6udP8g Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! 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Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head-on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Well, hello, everyone. I am Michael Hingson. I am your host on Unstoppable Mindset, and this happens to be episode 475. Yeah, we've done a lot of these, and most all of them have been conversations with people who said that they wanted to come on the podcast and talk about one thing or another. And I was really pleased to have them. This episode is going to be a little bit different, as the last few have been. Episode 472, which we published on September 4, was a talk I gave in April of 2024, which told my story of being in the World Trade Center on september 11, on episode 473 on the eighth of September, Michelle Abraham interviewed me, and we talked about a number of things around september 11 and so on. Episode 474, which was published on the 11th of September, 2026. was a conversation with Bob Ellis, who was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, an escape, and we hear his story, and we got to chat and kind of talked about notes from both of us. Now it's episode 475, and it was suggested that I ought to talk about things that I learned from September 11th and how my life has changed, and I'm going to do the best I can to talk about all that. So you're just going to be hearing me today. I hope you won't go away. I hope that you'll enjoy it. I just returned from speaking all week from September 9th through September 11th in Kilgore, Texas, at Kilgore College, they did an incredible job of doing some things to help people become aware of September 11th. They actually had in the library and around the library at Kilgore College a monument to September 11th. They had some columns or portions of columns from the World Trade Center. They had a list of all of the names. They had flags in a in a in several rows with the names of all of the people who were lost on September 11th. They had a timeline from my book Thunderdog: The Story of a Blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of trust at Ground Zero-a timeline of what I experienced, and they also had, I think, a timeline of just the World Trade Center events in in general. Well, okay, so all of that happened. I got back last night, and now here it is, Sunday. It is the 13th of September, and I'm recording this so that we can publish it on Tuesday, september 15. So that's a little bit of a long way to get to where we are. But as I said, people asked me to talk about what I learned that day, and how I proceeded and progressed from that day, but I have to go back to long before September 11th to really do everything justice and to put it all in context. So let me start this way. I believe that I have said a few times on this podcast, and certainly in some of the speeches that I've given, that I was born two months premature, and I was given a pure oxygen environment when I was born, because I was born early. Medical science had started to hear that even too much oxygen might not necessarily be a good thing, but the doctors in Chicago where I was born didn't buy into that concept yet, and so the result was I was given a pre-oxygen environment, and my retinas didn't develop as they should, and I became blind. So was I born blind? If you're very technical, no. But for all intents and purposes, yes. The doctors told my parents to send me to a home, to send me away, because no blind child could ever. Michael Hingson  04:59 Grow up to amount to anything, and all I would be would would end up being a drain on my family, sucking up all the love that my parents might have had for their older son, two years older than I, my brother Ellery. But the reality is, my parents said you're wrong. He can grow up to do whatever he chooses, and we're going to give him that opportunity. And I grew up with that idea. I grew up with that concept. My parents told me at some point when I was still fairly young about what the doctors had said, and they said, "You know, we think that you can do whatever you want. We want you to have that opportunity. Well, they did a number of things to help the process along. For example, we lived in Chicago until I was five, but at the age of four, typically children in in Illinois start or in Chicago start kindergarten, and I did as well. My parents worked with other parents and the school district to start a kindergarten class for children who were blind, and there were a number of preemies in the Chicago area. In that class, Miss Lapree, my teacher, taught me Braille. See, I remember her name. Taught me Braille. Taught me other skills. Taught the other blind kids because it was a kindergarten class for blind children. Taught us all a variety of different things that we could use, and then unfortunately, in a sense, I guess after kindergarten at the age of four, and it was over, my father had gotten an offer and took a job out in California, and we moved to California. Well, in California, kindergarten starts at five, and even though I had had a course in kindergarten already, I had to go through a second year of it, but we didn't have any kind of facilities to teach us or teach me about Braille going forward, getting me Braille books and so on. So kindergarten, first, second, and third grade, I didn't have access directly to textbook material. My parents helped me though. My father taught me math. He was an electronics and electrical engineer. I was doing algebra in my head by the time I was six. My mother read other assignments to me, taught me the spelling words because in first, second, and third grade you learned to spell, and in theory beyond third grade as well, of course. But what happened for me was that I learned about spelling by my mother teaching me how to spell the words, and then she would say the words, and then I would spell them. Well, that ended up going even further because typically in classrooms, what happened was that when it came time to take the actual spelling test, which happened on Fridays, the teacher would say the words. All of us or all the children in the class would write down the answers. Then we would exchange papers, and the teacher would then write the correct spellings on the board. Not in my class. I had to. Well, I got to get up. I. I don't want to say I had to. That's a lesson that I want to get to. wasn't that I had to get up. I got to get up, and actually spell the words out loud. I remember once missing a word, at least starting to miss a word, and somebody made a noise, and I realized, oh, that must be wrong, and I corrected it. But I learned how to spell words, and I learned to spell them out loud for the whole class, and not be afraid of them, and that way students could grade each other's papers. And so, in a sense, I could say that's where I started to learn how to be involved in doing public speaking, and I learned not to be afraid of standing up and and saying things as long as they were the right kinds of things. Well, between third and fourth grade, I got access to Braille books. Cora Hershberger was hired by the school district to come in. She was a resource teacher with training in dealing with blindness and blind kids and so on. Michael Hingson  08:56 And there were a number of us, and she she was able to get us books, she was able to work with each of us and prove our Braille skills and my Braille skills especially, and so on. So I tell you all of that because I want to put things in perspective, and I think that the most important thing is the doctors told my parents that I couldn't do anything. My parents said, "Of course he can, and they brought me up believing that I could. So I rode a bicycle to school. Everybody still thinks that's amazing. One of the important things that I have learned over the years, and I've learned to articulate it even more effectively. I hope, certainly, I believe better since the World Trade Center, and I became a full-time keynote public speaker, which I've been doing for 25 years, I have learned to discuss this whole concept of blindness and accept the fact that there are going to be a lot of people who have eyesight who get it wrong. They think that, like the doctor said, blind people really can't do anything. You can't absorb the same material, or at least you don't get the same. As sighted people do, so you really aren't going to be able to do the things that we can do. And I have learned that I can't be angry at that. I've learned that in reality, I need to articulate the fact that blindness isn't the problem. The problem happens to be the misconceptions and poor attitudes that people have about blindness. It would be so easy just to be upset every time I hear some comment that talks about what I can do and what I can't do. You can't really ride a bicycle. That's amazing that you could do that. I can't imagine anybody else doing it. I know lots of blind kids who rode bikes, and I'm sure that they still do. Blindness isn't the problem. The reality is the problem consists of the misconceptions and poor attitudes that sighted people have about blindness. Whether you like it or not, that's the way it is. Blindness isn't the problem. We can learn to do the same things pretty much that you can do, and we can learn to do things that you can't do, and we learn all of that and use that knowledge to help us move forward and be more effective. What can I do that you can't do? Try walking around in the dark. You can't do it. You don't know how to do it. You don't have the techniques to do it. One of the things that has cropped up over the past significant number of years is restaurants do something called dining in the dark. Dining in the dark, and there are organizations that promote that, and they say, "Oh, you get to learn how blind people eat and how much of a challenge it is. That is so disgusting that people do that because dying in the dark isn't going to teach you anything about blindness. You don't get the training that you need in order to function as a blind person. Just like I don't get the training to learn how to function as a sighted person. Although I've spent a lot of time observing sighted people, and I understand a lot about eyesight, and I understand what you can do, and I accept that. But I expect, and I think it is reasonable for you to understand and accept that I can do lots of things. That it's not about eyesight. I wrote a book in 20, and it was published by Thomas Nelson Publishing in 2011. I and Susie Florey wrote the book. It's called Thunderdog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dogs, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero. And there is a section near the end of the book called Guide Dog Wisdom. And number two in Guide Dog Wisdom includes a sentence that says, "Don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. You all strictly deal with eyesight, and if it's not something that you can see with your eyes, or you don't really separate eyesight from vision, you tend to really misunderstand so many things. But the reality is, don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. Recognize there's a whole lot more to life than eyesight. Michael Hingson  13:01 SEAL Team Six, other military teams, so many other people learn how to use those other senses, and that's the same thing that we as blind people do. We learn to use our other senses. They're not magically enhanced simply because we go blind, but rather we learn how to use those senses? I hope, or we try to, and by doing so, we improve them and we develop them. And those of us who truly do that are a lot more better off, and we're able to do so many things that people think are amazing, but they're not. They're not really amazing. They're certainly not amazing to me. Anyway, I grew up believing all of that, and of course, I was also very fortunate to have a number of jobs throughout my career. And the final result of all of that was I ended up getting the opportunity to open an office in the World Trade Center for Quantum ATL, the company that hired me to open an office in New York, and there we were on September 11th when everything happened. The night, as September 11th ended, was spent by me and my wife Karen. By the way, Karen was in a wheelchair her whole life. We got married in November of 1982, and we were married through into November of 2022. We were married 40 years. Karen was in a wheelchair her whole life. It was a great marriage, as I love to tell people. She read, I pushed, worked out well. How do I push a person in a wheelchair? Well, she used a manual chair, and when we got to curbs and so on, she would stop, and she would hold the wheels, and and I knew that she had stopped. And I would tip the chair back. She might say, "There's a curb. I would tip the chair back onto its back wheels. We'd roll down off the curb, put the chair down. We'd cross the street, tip the chair up. Front wheels go up on the curb on the other side, unless there was a ramp to go up. And we continued on our way. It's not that magical. It is just what I learned to do, and I enjoyed it. and And I enjoyed Karen's company and so on for 40 years. We were locked down during the pandemic and so on. We'll get to some of that in a bit. But I learned overall that in reality, what my parents taught me was true. Blindness wasn't going to be the problem; eyesight was going to be the problem. And that night after September 11th, we kind of tried to make sense of it. It was me and Karen and a friend of Karen's who I also got to know, and who became a friend of mine. Tom Painter had come down. Tom and Karen went to the same high school, but we all ended up in New Jersey. And Tom came to visit us, actually visit Karen after September 11th started. When he heard about the terrorist attacks, he just came down, not knowing whether I was in the office or not. But I was, and Karen and Tom, well, Tom stayed with Karen and and drove her to pick me up at the Westfield, New Jersey train station at about 7p.m. on september 11. We went home with my guide dog Roselle. When we got home, I took Roselle's harness off because I was going to take her outside. She would have none of it. She ran off. She grabbed her favorite tug bone and started playing tug of war with my retired guide dog Linnie. Well, that was kind of fun, and I didn't think a lot about it. But I went. That was interesting. The next day, I contacted Guide Dogs for the Blind because several people from there had visited us in the World Trade Center, and among others, I spoke to the head of the veterinary department, and I said, "So, tell me, how is all this going to affect Roselle? Because everybody's talking about how it's going to affect everyone and all that, and and he asked me, "Did anything threaten directly Roselle? Did anything really threaten her? And I said, No, not really. Nothing directly affected her. And he said, Well, there you go. Dogs don't do what if. They live in the moment. Michael Hingson  17:13 And when you took the harness off, it was over for her, and she was ready to go play. She wanted to relax. She wanted to play, and she did. Oh, and yes, we did eventually get her outside. But the bottom line is, I think that's one of the most important things that I learned coming out of September 11th, and I, I kind of knew it beforehand, but I really got to understand it afterward. We what if everything to death? We what if anything that comes into our lives, well, we're we're in a war with Iran. Well, what if Iran bombs us? What if Iran does this? What if the Hooties do that? What are we going to do? What if our government takes us to war in the first place? Well, they have. The bottom line is, though, we don't have control over all of that. We do have control over some things in our lives, and those are the things that we should worry about. We should stop worrying about everything else. And people say, "Well, it's natural to worry. No, it's not. Not any more natural to worry than it is not to worry. We learn to worry because we're taught that. But the bottom line is, if we learn only to focus on the things over which we truly have control, and be aware of the other things, but don't let them worry us. Don't let them cause fear in our lives. We will live much less fearful and much more stress-free lives than in any other way. If you want another example of why I believe this, on September 11th, David Frank, my colleague who had come in to be involved with the seminars, David had come in the night before, and he came to our office about 8o'clock in the morning on the 11th of September. When we were escaping from the towers, we ended up downstairs and outside. David saw fire in Tower Two, and the way we happened to walk took us very close to Tower Two. We were at Broadway and Vessi Street, maybe 100 yards away from Tower Two. And when David stopped, he said, "You know, there's fire in Tower Two. I want to take pictures of it. And and I also wanted to try to call my wife Karen to let her know that we had gotten out of the towers, I couldn't get through. The circuits were busy because, as we later learned, people were calling and talking to loved ones. But anyway, David had just started putting his camera away. I had put my phone away, and a police officer yelled, "Get out of here! It's coming down right now! And we heard this sound I describe as kind of a combination of a freight train and a waterfall. I could hear glass breaking, metal clattering, and then just the building collapsing straight down. We didn't necessarily know that it was going to do that, but it did. It did exactly what it was designed to do. Anyway, everyone turned and ran. David ran. I turned 180 degrees. With Roselle, and started running back the other way. And as soon as I started to run, I thought to myself, "God, I can't believe that you got us out of a building just to have it fall on us. And I heard in my head a voice as clearly as you hear me right now-a voice that said, "Don't worry about what you can't control, focus on running with Roselle, and the rest will take care of itself. And I had this absolute sense of conviction that if we worked together, we would be fine. Well, we were. Where'd that voice come from? It was God talking to me. I grew up with my father very seriously believing in the concept of God. If you don't, that's fine. That is your choice. I've had people on my podcast who don't necessarily have strong beliefs and convictions about God. I do, but it's not my job to force people or compel people to believe in God. I will tell my story, and people can accept it or reject it as they choose. But that's what happened to me, and I've realized from that time on: don't worry about what you can't control. And I really, truly work very hard to focus on not worrying about the things that I don't have any influence over. Michael Hingson  21:16 I like to be aware of them. I hear from people all the time today about don't watch the news. I don't like to watch the news because it just makes me so angry and so fearful. And my response is, I'm going to watch the news because I want to know what's going on. And sometimes I'll yell at politicians through the TV, but I won't really overall get angry at them. I will hear it. I will either accept it or decide I don't have any influence over it, so I'm not going to worry about it, and I don't because it isn't going to help me to worry about it. It isn't going to help anyone else to worry about any of those kinds of things. Don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on what you can and leave the rest alone, and that's one of the basic premises of the third book that I wrote, which was published in 2024, entitled "Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and His Dogs About Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and Moving Forward in Faith. And that book was written by me and Carrie Wyatt Kent. The book was published by Tyndale House, and is out there for people to to read. The first book was published by Thomas Nelson Publishing, which is now part of Harper Collins, and a lady, Jeanette Hanscom, and I wrote the second book, which is called Running with Roselle, which is really a book more for children, teaching them about me growing up, Roselle growing up, and how we met. A little bit about the World Trade Center. That one was self-published, but all three books are available wherever you can find books, so you can get them always from Amazon, of course. And so I hope that that you'll get them and read them. They will help. Live Like a Guide Dog probably is the best book for me to talk about in terms of things that I learned over the years, but if I really summarize mostly what happened for me after September 11th, it is that what happened on that day validated everything that I've believed about me. Certainly, what I believe about God, but it validates everything that I've ever thought about blindness, blind people, what we can do, the challenges we face, some of the issues that other people have, and the validation is certainly something that helped what I learned. But I learned other things along the way, and you know I want to talk about some of those things. The first, as I said, is don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on what you can, and let the rest take care of itself. Speaker 1  23:56 If you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes, thank you for being part of the Unstoppable Mindset Community. One Michael Hingson  24:28 of the things that happened to me almost immediately after September 11th is I started hearing people say, "We got to get back to normal. If we don't get back to normal, that's a problem. We got to get back to normal. And I always reacted internally, at least pretty negatively to that. And I finally realized why I reacted to that statement about we got to get back to normal. The reason I reacted to that statement, and I still react to to myself to that statement, is normal will never be the same again. We can't get back to normal. If we get back to normal the way it was prior to September 11th, the same thing will happen again. We can't do that. We have to get back to a different normal, and and in fact, normal is probably going to be an ongoing, constant process of change. We ought to learn not to fear that either. Change is all around us. We always say that, but then we don't like change. It's kind of a paradox. But the reality is, change is all around us. And what we really need to do is to learn how to focus in change. And we need to learn that in reality, we can deal with change. And if we have any influence over it, then we should do something about that too. But the bottom line is, getting back to normal prior to September 11th isn't going to help any of us, and and it isn't going to happen. So that is an one thing that I will say definitely. I learned from September 11th: normal will never be the same again. As I said a lot earlier, I think I probably learned about public speaking at least the beginning of it by doing the spelling tests and so on. But after September 11th, the media got my story, and that happened because Joanne Ritter, the public and information services person at the time at Guide Dogs wanted to write a story, and I kind of agreed. And I said, "That's fine. And then she said, "I'll bet you'll be on TV. What television show do you want to be on first? So I kind of just sort of flippantly said, "Larry King Live. That was on the 12th of September when I talked with her. On the 13th, she called back and she said, "Larry King wants you on his show on september 14, which was a Friday, and they sent a car to pick me up, and and I recall Karen and and Tom one as well, and anyway, we went into the World Trade Center, not to the World Trade Center, but we went into New York, and I appeared on CNN, which was the first of five interviews with Larry. Larry also, by the way, at my request, wrote the foreword for Thunderdog. So when you read Thunderdog, you'll get to read Larry's words as well. But after being on Larry King, the media really got my story, and a lot of things happened after that. I started getting literally calls every day for interviews. People wanted to talk to me about September 11th and ask questions and so on. And one of the things that I learned was that talking to reporters could be a great therapy because they would ask virtually any kind of question you can imagine. And of course, a lot of people said things like, "Well, did you know what happened on September 11th when it was happening? And I said no. And they said, well, of course you didn't. You're blind, you know. And my response is, anybody who says that really needs to not let their sight get in their way or their vision to be polite about it. The fact of the matter is, as we were going down the stairs, no one knew anything about what was going on. When I got into the stairwell, I began smelling an odor, and it took me four floors to realize I was smelling the fumes from burning jet fuel. I did a lot of travel for my company, and so I was in airports a lot. So I recognized that smell. People were speculating about what they were smelling. People were speculating about what was going on. Nobody had a clue. Michael Hingson  28:20 When I realized I was smelling jet fuel, I observed it to everyone around me, and they said, "You're right. That's what we're smelling. It's burning jet fuel. We must have been hit by an airplane. You see, no one knew. We had no clue. Superman and X-ray vision just aren't real. And the bottom line is, nobody knew what was actually happening on September 11th. Blindness have nothing to do with it. People want to feel more comfortable by saying, "Well, most people probably did know, but you're blind. You didn't know. We've got to get away from these habits of thinking that just because somebody is different than we are, that they're less than we are. That's just not true. In any case, the bottom line is that we we really deal with those kinds of things, and that helped me as as time went by recognize and realize that normal would never be the same again, and it validated more my belief that blindness isn't the problem; it's the misconceptions and poor attitudes that people have about blindness that tends to truly be the problem that we face. So, as I began to talk with reporters, I didn't think about what was actually happening. But later, I realized when people started saying, "Well, did you ever get counseling or therapy, and I said no. And then it just popped into my head to say I probably had the best therapy around. I got interviewed by hundreds of reporters that asked basically any question that you can imagine, and I learned to answer those questions without being upset, especially when they were asking pretty derogatory questions or making derogatory comments. Your dog led you down the stairs. No, my dog did not lead me down the stairs. Guide dogs do not lead; they guide. And I understand the definition of lead, but it's a little bit different than what people were truly saying. What they were saying is you didn't know anything, and the dog took you all the way down the stairs because the dog could see. No, in fact, Roselle didn't lead me. Roselle's job wasn't, and no guide dog's job is to lead a person or to take charge. The dog's job is to make sure that we walk safely. I also have a job on the team. My job is to make sure that I know where we're going and how to get there. A lot easier now than it was 25 years ago, but the bottom line is that I'm the one that has to direct the dog and give the dog commands, and the dog needs to make sure that we carry out those commands safely. We are a team; we work together. I've always kind of known that guide dog schools didn't necessarily early in my guide dog career, express it that way, but it's it's a much stronger statement now. They recognize that truly we're a team. We each have a job to do on the team, and we have to work together to make the team work, which is true of any team. I've mentioned Seal Team Six earlier. They're a team. They work together. The firefighters in the World Trade Center and the other people who who were around there worked as a team, and they had to work as a team in order to develop a level of trust and a relationship where essentially each person knew what the others on their team were going to do, and it gave them more of a confidence to be able to function. Teamwork is so crucial in our world, and I learned, and and again on September 11th, it was totally validated how teamwork is so important. Roselle and I worked together well. The firefighters worked together well. Yes, we lost people, but the team really is so important, and we need to recognize that anyone listening to this ought to work in any of the things that they do to develop teams. Being alone makes no sense; it isn't going to work. You're going to have to and should learn to work with other people to make teams work better. I've seen companies where when they have award ceremonies, the leader of a team or the boss of a team gets an award, but the rest of the team doesn't really get the same recognition. Michael Hingson  32:30 If a leader is truly doing a good job at creating a team and being a part of a team, then that leader is really enhancing everyone else on the team, and that leader is the person who should help to make sure that when awards are given, that everyone on a team is recognized. We need to to learn and realize that a team is a bunch of people. It's not just one people, but they learn to work together, and that is also so important. And as I learned more and more about the events of the World Trade Center, I learned and realized more about the whole understanding of teamwork and trust and the value of it. I knew about it with me and Roselle, and I recognized the concept of teamwork. But certainly, September 11th again validated that a whole lot more effectively than anything else that I could think of, but I worked with eight dogs over the years, and working with eight dogs from my first guide dog Squire, who was a golden retriever, up through my current guide dog Alamo, I've learned probably I think more than I ever learned from experts and teamwork and sales and so on and motivation. I learned more from those dogs than I ever learned from the human experts because of the fact that one, I had to build a team with a creature who didn't think the same way I did, who didn't talk the same language that I did, and that expected things from me, and and as one of the things that I've learned is that dogs who are guide dogs really want the human to be the pack leader because it is the pack leader, it is the human who's supposed to tell the dog what they want the dog to do, and dogs take that so incredibly seriously. I mentioned Linny. Well, I didn't mention her, I think, by name. But Lenny was my fourth guide dog, and we were out in in San Diego at a company meeting one Friday in May of 1999, and we came home. It was a Saturday morning that we got home. I flew a red eye home, fed Lenny, and then rested and and all that. But Saturday night, when it came time to feed Linny, I called her. She wouldn't come. Karen even called her. She wouldn't come. We went. Upstairs and found her lying on her bed, kind of really not very responsive. We got her to a veterinarian, and it took a few days for the veterinarian to diagnose what she had as something called glomerular nephritis, which is a disease where the kidneys, the glomeria of the kidneys, which would normally pass out bad stuff from the kidneys but not the good stuff. They were passing out the good stuff as well, and Lenny was was not doing well. We were able to reverse that, but she had to retire from being a guide dog. In fact, we thought in late June of 1999 that we were going to lose her. We went off to a a meeting, not a meeting, but we went off to a hotel to say goodbye to Linny, if you will, on like the second of July. But Linny didn't pass away then, and she did get better. And then Roselle came into our lives, and Roselle and Linny became really good friends, but I mention all of it because I had no clue what was happening to Linny. Guide dogs love their jobs; they take them very seriously. And the fact of the matter is, as I learned, and especially after September 11th, I learned that these dogs will work till they drop. They will. They will do everything they can to please us, because they love what we do. They love us, and we need to bestow the same kind of love on them, which is all part of what teamwork is all about. Well, the bottom line was with Linny. She was with us for three more years, and she got to play with Roselle a lot, and so on. Michael Hingson  36:41 Of course, as I also mentioned after September 11th, but I again, especially because of what happened to Linny, but then afterward on September 11th, I realized how much it was important for me to do all I could to keep the team relationship a positive, strong one, to recognize that in reality these dogs work so hard on their own part to make the team's relationships work. They they deal with what they have to deal with. They get very stressed if we're upset. They take it very personally if we get upset, even if we're not necessarily upset at them; they still take it very personally. The more stress that a guide dog faces in their lives, the harder it's going to be for them, and frankly, the shorter their lives are going to be. So I learned, even before September 11th, but especially after September 11th, to do all I could to keep the stress away from the dog. As we were going down the stairs on September 11th, I constantly encouraged and praised Roselle. What a good dog! Keep going. What a good job! Good girl, Roselle. Even if I wasn't able to hold the harness because the stairs were so crowded that Roselle couldn't walk next to me and had to walk behind me at heel, and I would just hold the leash. I kept praising her because I wanted her to know for her I was okay, and I had to focus on not being afraid and letting that fear come out. Well, I was fearful like anyone was, and in fact, I love to tell people. Being a great fan of science fiction, I have a great imagination, and I was listening for the building to make creaks and groans, and you never knew what was going to happen. Fortunately, it didn't all the way down. But the bottom line for me was that doing so kept me focused. And I and I learned later that while I might have been afraid on September 11th, partly because I was encouraging Roselle and working to sound very calm and confident, I was able to also help other people, but help Roselle and keep Roselle from being afraid and and being stressed. And I work very hard to do that with my guide dogs that I've had since even more than prior to September 11th. My current guide dog Alamo and I travel the world speaking all over the place, if you will. We've been to Israel. We've been well, actually, Alamo didn't get to go to London, but we've been to Israel with my seventh guide dog, Africa. We went to the Netherlands, Alamo and I have been to Wisconsin. I've been to a variety of places, and of course, all around the the world, all around the United States, to Canada, everywhere. And again, I don't necessarily know a lot about where we're going in advance, but I ask a lot of questions so that I can learn where we're going to go, so that I can give the dogs the appropriate commands. I mentioned Wisconsin's. I've been all over the United States. It's been an honor, and I'm going to continue to do that. If anybody wants a public speaker to come and talk to their organization, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear from you. My email address is really simple. It's speaker@michaelhinkson.com. We'll put that in the show notes, and love to hear from you. So anyway, I learned a lot about teamwork from working with eight guide dogs, and I continue to learn every day. I think it's very important for me to learn and to focus all that I can to make sure that I do what it is that's necessary to make a team work, and I believe it is all about the team. I've mentioned that I've written three books, and each one was a collaboration with someone else: Susie Florey with Thunderdog, Jeanette Hanscom with Running with Roselle and Carrie Wyatt Kent with Live Like a Guide Dog, and and the fact of the matter is those collaborations I think were very important. Michael Hingson  40:49 They made the books come out a lot different than I might have imagined them coming out by themselves and the way I would have written them without having collaboration, and probably Live Like a guide dog more than more than the other two, just because of the way it all went. But with live like a guide dog, we focused on each of my my guide dogs and the lessons that we learned. So I mentioned Squire, who I worked with in high school and then went to college with Squire, and Squire was was all around where wherever I was. One night in a dorm, I was with a roommate. Well, actually, a person who lived in a room next door to mine, and I was in his room. We were dealing with a physics problem. By the way, my master's degree is in physics. I have a secondary teaching credential, but I was in with Richard dealing with a physics problem. When I went back into my room, there was no Squire. I didn't realize that a couple of the students decided to play a trick and kidnap him. I went looking around the dorm. I even went into the bathroom and opened the shower door and called Squire, and nothing was totally quiet, and finally, I was getting a little bit concerned. And one of the people said, "Oh well, look, we took the dog. We'll show you. They went into the bathroom, opened the shower door, and out comes Squire. He was in on it. He didn't do a thing when I opened the door, but when the other people did, then then he came out. I wasn't mad at him. Sneaky dog that he is, he had a great sense of humor. But I got vengeance because that that person didn't tell the other people that they showed him where showed me where Squire was. I went and hit Squire somewhere, and then I went back out into the main part of the dorm and I started going, "Who took my dog? What's going on? Where is he? And all the other people said, "Oh, come on, he's in the bathroom. And they went in and opened the door to the shower. No Squire, and they were starting to worry about what happened to him. And Squire, of course, was again not making noise. But eventually, I brought him out and I said, "Okay, I found him. I knew where he was. We're playing a trick on you just like you played a trick on me. That'll teach you. I learned that dogs have a sense of humor that day, but I also learned how much I valued having Squire around, and so Squire worked with me up until and through my first graduate year in physics at UC Irvine, and then Squire retired and went to live with my parents. And in 1973, I got my second guide dog, Holland. Holland was with me through 1986. He worked for almost 13 years, and in fact, was two weeks from retiring when he collapsed in our backyard one day, and we took him to the vet. And the vet said, "I could probably bring him out of whatever he's got, maybe a stroke or a heart attack or both, but he won't have a good quality of life. And so we said goodbye to to Holland. Holland and Squire were both golden retrievers, but again, Holland so strongly reinforced all the things that that I had felt about teamwork, and I learned so much more from him about what I needed to do in order to to function well, not just with a dog, but in my whole life. Then I got Klondike, who was my third guide dog, who was also a golden retriever. Soon after I got Klondike, well, about a year after I got Klondike, suddenly one day he had a very strong grand mal epileptic seizure, and we took him to the vet, and they put him on some medication that wasn't really helping that. And we then kept trying to to deal with it, and finally, and during that same time, I was looking for a job. I had owned my own company for four years, but decided I wanted to go back into the workforce, and and I finally got a job with a company. Michael Hingson  44:52 And on one of the first days that I worked there, Klondike had four grand mal seizures in the. Period of time, and we thought we were going to have to say goodbye to Klondike. But I talked to our veterinarian, and he said, "You know, before we do that, I want to send him to a neurologist who did an electroencephalograph. And he said, "I didn't see much, but he said one thing he did was to take some blood tests, and he said I noticed that his Klondike's thyroid level is low, and low thyroid levels in dogs like Klondike can make them more susceptible to have seizures, just like it can for children. Well, we put Klondike on synthroid, synthetic thyroid, as well as on phenobarbital to control the seizures. The synthroid had much more of an effect than the phenobarb did, Klondike actually became a much more active and playful and interactive dog, and did not have from that time on for the next seven years that he worked for me as a guide dog never had a single seizure. So the thyroid theory was a good one. Again, with with Klondike, it was about developing a team and recognizing that we had to work together. Well, then I got Linny, and again I mentioned Linny only worked for three years. Linny had glomerular nephritis that was really probably from a tick bite where the tick had Lyme's disease, and we didn't know any of that was happening until that night that Linny didn't wake up at all or didn't get up from her bed, and we finally got it diagnosed. And then I got Roselle. Now Roselle was a a wonderful dog. One of the things that I've always said is that when I get a new guide dog and I tell the trainers I want a dog with an on-off switch. That is, I want a dog that knows when the harness is on, it's time to work, and when the harness is off, then they can play. Clearly, Roselle had that when she was in harness. She was very focused. She did develop a phobia of thunderstorms, but there were a few times that we had thunderstorms, and she was able to continue to guide, even though she would shake and she would shiver a little bit. But she continued to guide. She focused. In fact, there was a thunderstorm the morning of September 11th, about 12:30 in the morning. But there was no thunder when we were going through what we did in the World Trade Center, so none of that caused her to be fearful. But again, Roselle was a dog that that taught me a lot about observation, learning what the dogs do, what what they fear, and how to help keep them focused and calm. And so I did that. My sixth guide dog was Meryl. Meryl only worked for about a year. Roselle retired in 2007. Merrill worked from 2007 to 2008, but Merrill became very fearful of guiding, and so ended up not being a guide dog very long. And I I'd never experienced that, although I had heard other people who had issues where dogs didn't work very long. Lenny only worked for three years, but a dog that didn't work for more than a year-that was unusual for me. However, poor Meryl wasn't able to do well as a guide, and so she retired. And then we got Africa. Now Africa was my seventh guide dog. Africa's mother was Fantasia. In January of 2006, we were working. I was working at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and we applied to be what were called breeder keepers. That is, they were the the people who would keep a breeder dog in their home because the guide dogs for the blind bred their own guide dogs and so on. And breeder keepers would keep dogs in their homes so that the dogs weren't just cooped up in kennels all day, and we volunteered to do that. And the director of breeding, Marina Hall, called us and said, "I've got four dogs for you to look at. I think one's better than the others for you, but I want you to come and meet these dogs. So we went down, and and she made the comment again. I think one dog is going to be better than the others. Michael Hingson  49:02 And and I said, well, if you think so strongly, but which one is it? Well, she finally sort of told us. She said, I didn't want to tell you, but I'll tell you. So she did. But anyway, the first dog who came in was a dog named Fantasia, and it works sort of the same way that when people get guide dogs, you're in a room. The dog is allowed to come in, and you see how the dog reacts to you. When I met Squire for the first time, I was sitting in a chair. They let Squire in. He came over and started sniffing me all over. Didn't leave me. He just started sniffing. And Bruce Benzler, who was the apprentice instructor at the time, later became director of Guide Dogs for the Blind, CEO anyway, anyway. Bruce then said, "Looks like you found a friend already, and we became friends. But anyway, when when Fantasia came into the room, she took one look at Karen and leaped into Karen's lap. She had no fear of the power wheelchair that Karen was using by that time. The other three dogs, we still looked at them, and they all expressed one level of fear or concern about being around this wheelchair. But Marina said Fantasia was the one that we thought you'd like best and would like you best, and she was. So anyway, in 2006, we got Fantasia in January, and later that year, she had a litter of puppies, and then in early or mid 2007, she Fantasia had her second litter. I guess it was late in 2006 she had the second litter, but anyway, by the middle of 2008, when we had to retire Meryl because she wasn't working out very well, we were notified that they found a dog that they thought would be a really good replacement for Meryl, and that's a dog named Africa. And Karen and I realized Africa was a name that we suggested as as breeder keepers that they could name one of their puppies if they had puppies who came from an A litter. And the way it works, by the way, is when a litter is born, they're assigned a letter of the alphabet, and they got a big book, and they go into that book and they get the next names that are available. They don't use names of current guide dogs, so when a dog retires, then they can start using that name again. But anyway, Africa was a name that we suggested, and as soon as we saw the email that said Africa, we knew Fantasia was Africa's mother. Well, Africa came and joined us, and mom and daughter did really well, and Roselle was still with us. So the three of them have a lot of fun together, but again with Africa, I learned about teamwork and doing the things that I needed to do. Every dog is different, and one of the things that I developed over the years was an understanding that to truly develop a relationship with a dog takes probably close to a year by the time we really are totally comfortable with each other, but I worked with Africa. We became good friends. Africa became good friends with Roselle. Of course, Africa liked her mom, and all worked out really well. Developing those teeming relationships is so important, and you can learn a lot more about them if you get live like a guide dog. I think you'll find them all very interesting to to read about. So in 2017, I noticed that Africa was starting to slow down and not do as well. She wasn't able to see as well at night. Sort of typical signs of a dog getting older, even though I work to to keep stress out as much as possible, but I applied and in 2018 on the 9th of February, Africa's puppy raisers, Bill and Peggy Sproul from San Francisco or San Diego rather, came to visit us in Victorville, and we had offered them the opportunity to take Africa because we had Fantasia, and we had Africa. And if we kept Africa and Fantasia, and I got a new guide dog, Karen would have a hard time taking care of two dogs when I traveled, because I was doing a great deal of travel by then as a keynote speaker, and so the Sprouls came and got Africa. Michael Hingson  53:26 Left our house, Africa didn't even look back. She was gone. We had visited her several times since then, and and in in the Sprouls home, Africa died in 2020. But we we got to visit Africa several times and it was a lot of fun and and she she loved us and all that and remembered us anyway on the 11th of February two days later I went to Guide Dogs for the Blind and I met Alamo who was my first black Labrador and I met him we we met in the room and he kind of sniffed me a little bit and walked around the room. But then came back and sniffed me, and then I took him on leash back to our our dorm room at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and I decided I'd sit on the floor to to visit with him. And the next thing I know, this big, huge, 60 pound Labrador is in my lap. Alamo was and is a lapdog, but he doesn't know a stranger, which is great. I mentioned earlier that I always said that when I get a guide dog, I want a guide dog that has an on and off switch. Another thing that I require is that guide dogs that I get be raised by cats. I have known of animals who of guide dogs who don't like cats, and I would not want that because we always have had cats. And by that time, when we got Alamo, we had Stitch, who we rescued in January of 2015. So now here it is, February of 2018. So I knew that we needed to have a dog that wasn't going to be. Be afraid of cats. Well, so Stitch and Alamo kind of walked around each other a little bit when we first went home, but they got to like each other pretty well pretty quickly, and they have been together ever since. Alamo has been on a number of aircraft, as I've mentioned over the years, he went to Israel with me. He didn't go to England when I spoke in 2024, but he's been to other places and will continue to travel with me. I work really hard to keep the stress out of his life. I don't want him to become any more stressed than he ever has to be, and he feeds off of how I behave, as as I've learned guide dogs do. So that's one of the most important things that I've learned is to keep that stress out of his life. I would point out that is just as much true for human teams. Don't stress out your team. If you are a leader, your job is to enhance what those leaders, what the team does. Your job isn't to boss them around. If you're doing that, you're only causing more stress, and you're going to find you're going to have a big job turnover, much more than you really should. I've always felt that my job isn't to boss people around when I hire them, my job is to enhance their abilities by using the skills that I have and learning to work with them to give them the benefit of what I know and to use the benefits of what they know to learn myself as well, so that we become more effective. And the people who really get that do very well. The people who didn't get that tend not to last very long at the company because they don't perform very well. Because I know that in reality, I add value to the team by working to add value, not bossing the team around. I think there's a big difference between leaders and bosses, and I've learned that over the years. That leaders are people who can enhance what other people do, who work to make the whole team effective and not just try to boss people around. In late 2020, I discovered a company called Accessibe, A C C E S S I capital B E. Website is accessibee.com. Was a company that made products to help make internet websites more inclusive, and at first, they had some challenges because they were using a lot of AI stuff to make their products work, and they sort of did. But there were there were challenges. But one day in January of 2021, the founder of the company, Sheer Eckerling. Michael Hingson  57:41 contacted me and said we're interested in you joining the company. I had been looking at possibly selling their products because the pandemic had hit, and I thought I could sell them from home because we were locked down. And and he said, well, you know, we we'd like you to not sell as a partner, just on your own, we'd like you to join the company. Well, he asked what I was doing, and by that time I had started to learn about podcasting because I couldn't travel and speak all over the world. So what I decided to do was to look at using podcast as a revenue source. And Shear said, "Well, you know, we we're really interested in having somebody do a podcast for us. And I said, "What do you want? And he said, "I want to just get somebody who will do a podcast to show that we're part of the world. And you join the company; you could do that in part. I joined the company, and he didn't have any specific agenda for the podcast. So, in August of 2021, I began Unstoppable Mindset, and soon it became unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. And I'll explain all of that in a moment. But the point is that we started the podcast. I created the title. I recreated the description, and I wanted the podcast to be conversations. And as anyone who has been on the podcast knows, we don't do interviews as such. We do conversations, and I ask people to send me materials to help me prepare to be able to do the conversation. And so a number of times we've had diversity experts on people from the DEI world, and when I ask them what they do, they say, you know, we focus a lot on diversity, and I say, what does that mean? And they say, well, we deal with race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on. And we chat for a little while, and then I say, but you haven't talked about disabilities. And they say, oh, disability is not a minority. And I say, what do you mean? He said, well, disability is a social justice thing. It's not like race, gender, or sexual orientation. And my response to that is balderdash. I like to use balderdash. I could go back and use what Colonel Sherman Potter did on Mash and say monkey muffins. But anyway, balderdash because diversity should include disability because it is a minority. Even the Center for Disease Control says that. Adversity, or that that people with disabilities are a minority of about 25% of people in the United States. Well, so the bottom line for me is that I would say to them, "What do you mean you're you're not including it? And they say, "Well, it's a it's a disability, but it's social justice. It's always about being a lack of ability, and as I have learned, especially since September 11th and and beyond, disability does not mean a lack of ability. You might want to think it does. You might want to try to make that fit, but it doesn't. And I learned that most effectively in March of 2023 when I went to something, by that time Karen had passed, and I was working with a person who had been Karen's caregiver, who decided to work for me. Very grateful for Josie doing that. Josie entered my name in the contest to be a guest at the Kelly and Ryan Oscar after party, which was going to be held the Monday after the Oscars at the Dolby Theater, well, I didn't even know she entered me, but I got a call the Tuesday before the Oscar after party and the Oscars, and I was and I picked up the phone and they said congratulations, and I said for what? Oh, you won an invitation to come to the Kelly and Ryan Oscar after party, and I went really well. Anyway, I went down with my niece and nephew, Tracy and Charlie Green. The there wasn't room for taking Josie, her husband, and her mother and her five kids. So it was just me, Tracy, and Charlie. Michael Hingson  1:01:37 We got up to our room about 3o'clock in the afternoon on the Saturday before the Oscars, the day before the Oscars, we put our luggage in our room and we were coming back down the main stairwell staircase actually from the third to the first floor in the Hollywood Roosevelt. It's a very open staircase, and all of a sudden I heard people screaming, and it took me a while to to try to understand what's going on, and finally I couldn't figure it out. I said, Tracy, what's going on? And she said, Oh, we just lost power and lighting on the stairs, and and power and lighting in and around the entire hotel. Now it didn't bother Tracy. Tracy had known me for a long time, but people were panicky because they weren't getting all the light they expected, even though the windows were open, the the shades were up on the first floor in the lobby, and so on. Lots of light, but it wasn't all that people expected. And I thought about that, and what I learned from that was, it proves that disability isn't a lack of ability; it proves that disability is a characteristic that we all have. Thomas Edison and others worked on the light bulb, and Thomas Edison is credited with developing the electric light bulb back in 1878. But in the 148 years since the light bulb was developed, all society has done in that regard is worked very hard on coming up with better ways of providing light on demand, so that you sighted people could have all the light you want when you want it. Nowadays, we have smartphones, we have flashlights, we have other ways of getting light on demand. But as the Americans with Disabilities Act would describe it. The light bulb is simply, or any piece of technology that produces light on demand, is simply a piece of technology that provides light on demand to light-dependent people who otherwise don't function well without it. The bottom line is, disability is not a lack of ability. We got words like discrete, discern, disciple. What is discern? Is it a lack of discern? What is it? What is disciple? A lack of viple? No. Disability is not a lack of ability. Disability is a character

The Pugs continue their interviews at the PCA General Assembly in Chattanooga, TN with a conversation with Matthew Everhard, the editor of The Jonathan Edwards Study Bible; soon to be released by Thomas Nelson Publishing. The towering influence of Edwards casts a long shadow over American evangelicalism, and even more broadly into the national memory. It's a fun and free-wheeling conversation which will give you an even greater appreciation for the man even secular liberals consider the greatest mind our nation has produced. Enjoy! Find Matthew Everhard on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MatthewEverhard Connect with SHM Architects: https://www.shmarchitects.com/ Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Pugs continue their interviews at the PCA General Assembly in Chattanooga, TN with a conversation with Matthew Everhard, the editor of The Jonathan Edwards Study Bible; soon to be released by Thomas Nelson Publishing. The towering influence of Edwards casts a long shadow over American evangelicalism, and even more broadly into the national memory. It's a fun and free-wheeling conversation which will give you an even greater appreciation for the man even secular liberals consider the greatest mind our nation has produced. Enjoy!Find Matthew Everhard on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MatthewEverhardConnect with SHM Architects: https://www.shmarchitects.com/Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Pugs continue their interviews at the PCA General Assembly in Chattanooga, TN with a conversation with Matthew Everhard, the editor of The Jonathan Edwards Study Bible; soon to be released by Thomas Nelson Publishing. The towering influence of Edwards casts a long shadow over American evangelicalism, and even more broadly into the national memory. It's a fun and free-wheeling conversation which will give you an even greater appreciation for the man even secular liberals consider the greatest mind our nation has produced. Enjoy! Find Matthew Everhard on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MatthewEverhard Connect with SHM Architects: https://www.shmarchitects.com/ Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Pugs continue their interviews at the PCA General Assembly in Chattanooga, TN with a conversation with Matthew Everhard, the editor of The Jonathan Edwards Study Bible; soon to be released by Thomas Nelson Publishing. The towering influence of Edwards casts a long shadow over American evangelicalism, and even more broadly into the national memory. It's a fun and free-wheeling conversation which will give you an even greater appreciation for the man even secular liberals consider the greatest mind our nation has produced. Enjoy! Find Matthew Everhard on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MatthewEverhard Connect with SHM Architects: https://www.shmarchitects.com/ Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

My friend, Susan Davidson, is sharing her reflection of Psalm 82 with us. As she does, I pray John's words become the cry of our hearts together. When we face injustice, may we learn to steward our suffering well by praying fervently, "Come, Lord Jesus, come!" Susan Davidson, in her own words, is a simple country girl at heart. She spends a big chunk of her days in a pair of jeans and sneakers, walking her dog and watching for woodpeckers and squirrels. She draws strength from her Jesus and the mountains she calls home. She is a blogger, devotion writer, a Compel Training volunteer and challenge winner featured in the Proverbs 31 Ministry publications entitled Hope When Your Heart is Heavy and Clear Mind, Peaceful Heart, the latter of which was released Thomas Nelson Publishing and will include ten new devotions written by Lysa TerKeurst. When not busy serving from the home front, you can find her sharing her words and heart on her blog and on FB and IG. C A N D A C E  C O F E R author + speaker ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠instagram⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠youtube⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠facebook⁠

Bishop Derek Grier joined the show to discuss National Unity Weekend, a nation-wide initiative in pursuit of unify the church and break racial barriers.National Unity Weekend Next Action Steps1. Go- to the website unityweekend.com2. Sign-  Statement of Change3. Register-  yourself, your church or Christ-centered organization to support the vision and mission of National Unity Weekend4. Participate-  by preaching on unity on June 11 and serving during the Community Day outreaches on June 10.5. Stay actively involved-  being an advocate for the vision and mission of National Unity Weekend by helping your church and the Church at large build unity across all lines of division  inside the Church and affecting the communities you serve (particularly along racial and ethnic lines).Bishop Derek Grier currently serves as the founding pastor of Grace Church inDumfries, Virginia. Grace Church began in 1998 with 12 people and has grown to more than 6,000 members. Grace was listed in Outreach Magazine's annual  Fastest Growing Churches in America; as the 7th fastest growing church in the UnitedStates. His radio and television programs are heard and viewed by millions in the United States and around the globe. Grier was ordained a bishop in 2008 by the late Dr. Myles Munroe. He currently mentors hundreds of Christian leaders and business owners through the Renaissance Leadership Network (RLN). He serves on several boards – including the Board of Directors for the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), which provides accreditation to leading Christian nonprofit organizations that faithfully demonstrate standards for financial accountability and transparency.He has also served as an associate trainer for Equip, founded by John Maxwell. In 2011, he founded the now fully accredited Virginia Bible College, a world-classChristian learning institute, where he serves as Chancellor. Grier studied businessadministration at Howard University and earned a Master of Education degree fromRegent University, and a Doctorate in Practical Ministry from Wagner University. He has received numerous awards and was honored in the United States CongressionalRecord on several occasions.He is the author of several books, including his latest release, When God Stops,published by Thomas Nelson Publishing in August of 2019. Derek and his wife, Yeromitou, reside in northern Virginia and have two adult sons: Derek Jr. and David.

In this episode, we welcome Gabe Wicks to the show. He's been a part of the Nashville, TN creative scene for over 25 years in the film, video, and publishing worlds. He joined Thomas Nelson Publishing in 2002, which was purchased by Harper Collins in 2011. He is the VP of the Creative Services group, and he produces around 900 audiobooks annually. One of his recent projects is Country Gospel which features country music stars like Charlie Daniels, Josh Turner, Hillary Scott, Randy Owen, Ricky Skaggs, and more reading the New Testament. In this interview, we discuss how he got into the world of film and publishing, his time working with John Eldredge, why ebooks seem to have plateaued as audiobooks have exploded, why men don't read, stories from when Johnny Cash recorded himself reading the New Testament, where the idea for Country Gospel came from, how they were able to include Charlie Daniels on the project even after his death, the artists he targeted but didn't get for this project, upcoming projects that he has in the works, and much more. Let's get into it…  Episode notes and links HERE Donate to support our mission of equipping men to push back darkness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Chad Cannon, Founder & CEO of Chadwick Cannon Agency, full-service digital marketing firm dedicated to amplifying brands and ideas. Chad is an entrepreneur and a key player in the growth of Thomas Nelson Publishing and Michael Hyatt & Company (home of the Full Focus Planner). Chad expounds on the key decisions that have shaped his life's path and helped him find balance at home and work. It is an encouraging conversation about how God shapes our gifts and directs our path. Don't miss out!

Philippians Chapter 1 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. The Message - Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. In Philippians 1 Paul models for us the ability to choose joy in spite of difficult circumstances. He views the world through an eternal lens and is convinced that as we obey, Christ will be exalted and the Gospel will be advanced. He encourages us by saying that God has begun a good work in us and will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Learn More Earn More Business Growth Podcast Host: Brian Webb Guest: Lisa Moscarelli Episode 13: Top Secrets For Selling Your Business For Big Bucks __________________________________ SUBSCRIBE Apple  |  Google Play |  Spotify  |  Pandora |  Amazon Music | Stitcher ________________________________ RESOURCES & HELPFUL LINKS Whatbox Digital Moscarelli Media Diamond Client Group/Good Bull Investments Learn More, Earn More Podcast Episode #6: Luke Cheatham ________________________________ WHATBOX DIGITAL PLAYBOOK PROMO:  Whatbox Digital - Marketing Strategy Playbook Promotion  ________________________________ TRANSCRIPT:  Brian Webb: Hey there, everyone. Welcome to the Learn More, Earn More Business Growth Podcast. I'm your host, Brian Webb. This podcast is your premier place to learn the frameworks, secrets, and growth hacks to grow and scale your business and revenue faster. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a thriving business owner, this podcast is designed and produced just for you, so you can learn from the best industry experts in the world. I'll bring you exclusive interviews with authors, thought leaders, and successful business titans who share their stories and business journeys so we can draw insights and learn from their successes and struggles together. As you're working on growing your business and pursuing your dreams, I'll be here to help you make better decisions and avoid costly pitfalls and expensive mistakes along the way and we'll have some fun in the process. Let's go ahead and jump into today's episode. Brian Webb: Before I jump into today's interview with Lisa Moscarelli, my guest, I want to tell you a little bit about her. Lisa actually co-founded one of the top five largest ad agencies in Houston, according to the 2011 Houston Business Journal and she sold it to a top 500 company, Thomson Reuters, I have no doubt you're familiar, for a high seven-figure exit, so Lisa knows a thing or two about selling a business and about how to do it right. On top of that, she's got an amazing heart. She's just a great human being. Let's go ahead and jump into the interview. I think you're going to enjoy it. Brian Webb: I'm so happy to have you here today, Lisa, here on the podcast. It's awesome to have you. I know we're going to talk about how to sell your business for big bucks. A lot of business owners in my experience don't even have an exit plan. They don't even think about selling their business one day, they just kind of operate it until it just goes away because someone dies or retires. But obviously, if you're wanting to really be strategic, an exit plan is a great thing, and selling your business is usually the last step. Tell us today, how do you even know if you have a sellable business? Lisa Moscarelli: Brian, thanks for having me. We go back quite a way. Well, I want to back up for a minute. If you own your own business, having a long-term exit strategy, if you're in your 30s or 40s or even 20s can seem like, "I'll think about that later." But actually, if you run your business with the knowledge of what you need to have in your business to sell it, you're going to have several things happen that are going to be great. You're going to have a healthier business. You're going to know what your profits are down to every last red dime. You're going to have a great stirring up of your vision and the ability to build a legacy, if you wish, for other generations in your family. I mean, how do you know if you have a sellable business? Lisa Moscarelli: Well Brian, a lot of people like you and I with service businesses that are in the business arts and business advertising space, think, "How do I sell my business? I mean, it's my relationships. If I'm not here making all of the posts and doing all of the Google analytics reports and seeing how well my clients are doing with what I'm doing for them, if I'm not here, that doesn't really go on in the way I would like it to." Essentially, you have a sellable business if you own... Do you own a niche? Do you own a vertical group of clients that really sets you apart? In our case, we did advertising for attorneys. Both my partner and I had varied backgrounds in advertising and in marketing and we built a vertical market for attorneys. It wasn't something we set out to do, but it was something that happened and it was very, very lucrative. Lisa Moscarelli: One client tells another client and you become what they used to call category busters. That's really, really a strong way to approach it. Now, if you're like me, you tend to lean more to the creative cells in your brain and it seems sort of antithetical to job fulfillment to have to be doing the same type of project every day, but I think once you get it down and if you have systems, processes and the right people in the right place at the right time with you, shoulder to shoulder, as you trudge on through exponential growth, it can be very satisfying. I'm going to give you a cursory view, Brian, because I am not a business consultant. Okay. But we paid a lot of money to attorneys and business brokers to advise us on what our business was worth. We had been doing it for about 12 years, you really kind of need... Is your business mature? Lisa Moscarelli: Is your business mature? And if you have let's just say gross revenues over a million dollars, there's something to look at. If you decide it's valuable enough for you to walk away, you need to look at things like how much longer do you want to be working? Are you going to be still working in that arena? And usually, if you want to continue to work in that arena that you sold your business, they're going to either hire you for a period of time or indefinitely depending on how you negotiate it, but you will have partners or you'll be an employee or you're going to go and do it on your own, but you'll have a non-compete, which may tie you up anywhere from one to five years. Those are just things to be cognizant of. Lisa Moscarelli: As you're building your business, always just look 10 steps down the road, I always like to look where am I going to be in five years, six months, one year, 10 years? Do I want to be doing this when I'm 60? That kind of thing. I just think it's really important to have the top of the bleachers view. It's so easy, Brian, and you and I know this, to be the little hamster in the wheel running the operation, dealing with employee issues, dealing with lawyers and rent and lease negotiations, and all these other things that you have to do to have a business and you're not really thinking strategically. I think that's really one of our discussion today is to... Hopefully, some people out there that are listening will start to think strategically about what am I going to do with this business? Brian Webb: 100%. Let me ask you this, Lisa, where does good solid company branding and marketing and audience development fall into this equation? Lisa Moscarelli: Well, when you go, Brian, to sell your business, you can sell your business for whatever someone will pay. If you would've told me 10, 11 years ago that Thomson Reuters was going to come in and buy our boutique agency for what they paid for it, I would have said, "You are smoking crack," but we had something they wanted. They had a legal division of their business where they would help prep attorneys for their bar exams, et cetera, et cetera, so this seemed like a natural progression that they would have a marketing arm as well. That being said, in today's digital age, you are evaluated by how well you've built your universe or, it doesn't have to be a large universe but is the universe that you built online, your social media universe, your prospecting email list, your snail mail list, all of your PR, it's very, very important. People don't understand... Lisa Moscarelli: There's a lot of businesses out there, Brian. Have you ever had the company that is wildly successful, but they've never done any branding or advertising? Brian Webb: Yes. Oh, absolutely. Lisa Moscarelli: You just think, "I really wish that I could impart this to them." When you sell a business, you have to do what's called an executive summary. Brian Webb: Right. Lisa Moscarelli: That's basically the pitch deck for prospective buyers to say, "Hey, this company has Brian and Brian is an absolute all-star, Hall of Fame guy. This is what he brings to the table because... And this is why this company is great." Unfortunately, in the process of selling a business, those pitch elements that would be done through a professional branding exercise, that would be done through properly, regularly managed social media channels and PR efforts and community efforts, those pitch decks are done by attorneys and business brokers who don't have nearly the marketing savvy that someone traveling in our language, so branding is an investment in putting up the face of what your company is worth. We always say, Brian, "Let's make you look way bigger than you are. Way bigger than you are." That carries weight when you're at the table of selling your business. Brian Webb: Yeah. Even Michael Hyatt, who is the former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, the one thing that he has shared numerous times... By the way, the biggest Christian Publishing Company in the world, to put some perspective on that. He'll have authors give him scripts for their books. Even just as authors, one of the things that publishing companies will look at before they'll take on a new book is they want to know how many people are following you on Instagram, how many people were following you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, where have you, YouTube, because they want to know, are you bringing the audience with you? That's always going to be the biggest asset. That's one thing I even teach our clients is people think that Facebook is a social media platform. No, it's an audience-building advertising platform. People think that television is for television shows. No, the TV shows just get the audience so they can sell advertising to that audience. Right. I guess if you've built that audience up, that's going to be an asset that's going to be valued in the process. Lisa Moscarelli: Absolutely. Because not only is a prospective buyer of your business... And this is especially true. Again, we were a service business, which can be tricky because there's a lot of intangibles. Are these key players going to stay on? Because how do you sell a business that's dependent on two or three people and the goodwill and relationships and the hustle and the talent that they have? Brian Webb: Yeah, your assets drive home each night, right? Lisa Moscarelli: Yeah, exactly. And the culture that's created in that business, those can all be bolstered by how do you look? How does your branding face look? How is your universe? And whether you're going to use it as direct response and get an ROI, there could be a huge ROI on investing in these kinds of things if you have an eye to sell your business. Brian Webb: Yeah. Yeah. I know you don't want to go in the weeds on this, but especially for our younger or smaller business owners who aren't as savvy as some of the more mature business owners or advanced business owners who understand this, but tell us a little bit... tell the audience a little bit how you determine worth or the value of your business. Brian Webb: We'll get back to the show in just a moment. But first, a quick word from our sponsor, Whatbox Digital. Do you want to grow and scale your business better and faster, make fewer mistakes and stop wasting money on marketing that does not work? I already know that you do. Like so many others, you're tired of relying on a failed hope marketing system. Hope marketing is when we spend valuable time and money on marketing and we hope that it works. You've worked so hard to get where you are. Like most business owners and leaders, you're frustrated with wasting money on marketing that doesn't work. You've thrown tons of money towards marketing mistakes and failures and you wish you could get all of that money back, but you can't. Brian Webb: By failing to take ownership of your marketing problems and pivot to proven marketing systems that actually work, you're going to lose potentially hundreds or thousands of customers and millions of dollars to your competitors. When you don't have a reliable system for generating leads and acquiring new customers, then you're doomed to suffer from industry downturns, lumpy cashflow, and ultimately higher stress. It pains me to watch business owners and entrepreneurs suffer from relying on hope and bad advice that simply doesn't work. I've had the privilege of owning and leading a successful marketing agency here in the greater Houston Metroplex for over 17 years and having worked in over 60 industry verticals, I've led my team and clients to achieve business growth and collectively tens of millions of dollars in new revenue opportunities time and time again and that's exactly what I want to do for you. Brian Webb: Our marketing strategy playbook consultation allows us to do just that. Typically, in just four weeks or less, we'll take you through our three-step process that will open your eyes to the readily available growth opportunities you need, want, and deserve. First, we'll schedule a discovery meeting where we will ask you a series of questions about the current state of your business and your revenue growth goals for the next 12 to 36 months. Second, our team goes away and does the necessary research on where the best places are to hyper-target your ideal customers so that you don't unnecessarily waste money on marketing or advertising in the wrong places. Brian Webb: And last, we schedule a strategy meeting with you and your team. This is where we'll present you with a customized marketing strategy playbook to help you grow your business. We'll present the data from our research and guide you to make better marketing decisions moving forward. Here's the special offer. Our digital marketing strategy playbook typically sells for $6,500, which is a great deal because it's worth every penny, but if you get started between now and the end of June 2021, we'll discount this fee by $1,600, bringing the price down to just $4,900. That's a huge saving and I promise this consultation will help you to know you're making smarter marketing decisions that will actually work and help you grow your business. Again, the $1,600 discount is only valid between now and the end of June 2021. To work with us, simply go to whatboxplaybook.com and give us your information. Brian Webb: A friendly rep from our office will reach out to you to answer your questions and help you get started. It's that easy. Again, just go to whatboxplaybook.com and give us your info or you can text the word playbook to 832-324-2432 and you'll be on the way to making better and smarter marketing decisions that will actually help you grow your business more effectively. Imagine a life where you'll never have to worry about generating leads and acquiring new customers ever again. Don't waste another day or another dollar on failing hope marketing strategies that don't work. Go to whatboxplaybook.com or text the word playbook to 832-324-2432 to take advantage of this promotional offer. It will save you $1,600 on the consultation and it will save you a fortune on the money you're likely wasting right now on marketing that's doing nothing to grow your business. If you want to grow and scale your business better and faster and with fewer mistakes, you're in the right place. Let's get started today, right now. Brian Webb: I know you don't want to go in the weeds on this, but especially for our younger or smaller business owners who aren't as savvy as some of the more mature business owners or advanced business owners who understand this, but tell us a little bit... tell the audience a little bit how you determine the worth or the value of your business. Lisa Moscarelli: Well, businesses are sold on multiples of a profit figure. It's kind of like if you go and buy a house in a specific neighborhood and you look at what is the cost per square foot of this house in this neighborhood and how much can I really pay? So basically, that multiple of the profit figure... For example, in the ad world, 10 years ago when we sold our business, I want to say that multiple was around three and a half to four. It would be, let's just say, four times... This profit number is called the EBITDA. It's basically your profits before taxes, interest, depreciation, and amortization. It's basically your earnings. That number, if your profit after it's been scrubbed clean of those other things, let's just say you come up with a million dollars and the multiple that the industry that you're in is two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, whatever it is, let's just say, if it's five, then you could potentially sell your business for $5 million if you had a profit of a million dollars a year. Lisa Moscarelli: Like I said, I don't want to get the weeds because I am not a business consultant or a lawyer for that kind of thing specifically. But again, you can increase that number or decrease that number just by doing smart things, like getting all of your contracts in order and making sure that you're getting as much billing as possible through your company to get that number up. Brian Webb: Yeah. One of my mentors shared with me, I think it was about a month and a half ago, about a company that they were selling. What he had learned was... This company was a services-based company. Based on where they were in revenue, by the way, a very large company, they were going to get a two to three X on EBITDA. They were told that if that business had been more of a recurring revenue business, it would have increased their multiple up to about seven or eight. Lisa Moscarelli: Wow. Brian Webb: Which in that particular case is literally millions and millions and millions of dollars of difference. The more you can get recurring services, repeat revenue that also can really affect that multiple as well. Lisa Moscarelli: I think it's good to mention, Brian, on that note, if you have the vision to sell your business, you have to know when it's mature enough to be sold. Brian Webb: Yeah. Lisa Moscarelli: Because selling your business for a million dollars nowadays, by the time you pay attorneys and taxes, that's not really enough to retire on or anything like that, so you really have to have... you have to make sure that if you're going to do it, if you're going to give your baby away, you have to be sure that it's the right time. Brian Webb: Yeah. Let me ask you this. I know we were talking... You were talking about this a little bit earlier, but whenever your assets are driving home every night, when you are that services-based business, I thought people in services businesses, or at least as of my understanding, like marketing, advertising, you could even say law, that are built on relationships, meaning if you interview the top 10 customers of that particular business and they ask, "Why do you work with them?" and they say, "Because we love Lisa Moscarelli," well, that's a big red flag to a potential buyer. So when you are a services business, which a lot of times it is those relationships, what do you do to be more attractive to a larger corporate buyer? Lisa Moscarelli: Well, that's a loaded question. A lot of successful businesses in today's world are successful because they have systems, processes and they're able to be replicated and automated on some level. I think if you can have some level of automation and infrastructure that you show, if you can have some way of showing that you... A process would be defined by transferring the culture of your business. Let's say you have a culture of really building relationships with your clients and that culture is built on certain things that you do differently than other agencies. That is really, really important. And truthfully, a lot of times when these guys come in to buy you, they're attorneys and people in the corporate world who a lot of times have very low emotional intelligence. Lisa Moscarelli: I'm just saying that because they're coloring in the lines and they're looking to buy something and they feel that they can come in and put their corporate suit on your business and take it further than you took it. Well, that's not always true in a lot of cases, they tank it. But if it's a big enough buyer, they don't care because they have to offset all of their bigger profits and bigger fish. Every deal is different is what I'm saying. Every deal is different. Every deal is different. Brian Webb: Absolutely. Lisa Moscarelli: You have to show that the things that you're doing are transferrable through systems, processes, the right team, replication, automation. Brian Webb: Yeah. Not too long ago, just a few episodes back, I had the privilege of interviewing Luke Cheatham, who's a great friend, also happens to be a great client. He runs Diamond Client Group, which is a very... It's an advanced financial strategy firm and just launched a fund called Good Bull Investments. One of the things that he shared that was really interesting, even though in your path, you sold to a big Fortune 500 company,.but one of the things that he shared is that a lot of the times when companies are going to... when the owner wants to exit and sell, a lot of times, the best people to sell it to, and there has to be a plan in place to do this, is to people inside the organization. Sometimes the right fit is what you did selling outside externally to a large company and then sometimes the model can also be selling to your internal stakeholders, your employees, your leaders. Brian Webb: And again, if you're going to do that, go back and check out that episode with Luke Cheatham. He talks about that really well. But let me ask you this, Lisa, what are some words of advice, generally speaking, that you would give to a company that's growing with an owner that knows that they want to exit or they think about it. They dream about that exit and selling their company someday. What are some things you would share with the audience? Lisa Moscarelli: I think, first of all, you have to look at the emotional aspect of it. You have to look at what are you really called to do. A lot of times when people, entrepreneurs have been trudging along in a particular business for 10 or 15 years, you get burnt out. It's just the way it is, especially with service businesses where you don't work really nine to five, you work sometimes anytime clients have a need and that can be exhausting over time, so you just need to determine your timeline. Determine your timeline, thoughtfully, prayerfully. Talk it over with your wife. Talk it over with people who've done it. Find mentors who've done it before. I always like to find people who have done what I'm trying to do and have been successful at it. I think that's probably one of the smartest things you could do. Lisa Moscarelli: The other part of that is you need to be sure you clean up your financials Be sure you fully understand P&L sheets. I know that sounds elementary, but you would be surprised how many people just leave it to a business manager and that business manager gets cancer, this was a true story, and got cancer and the guy was basically in the dark because they didn't have a succession strategy. They didn't have layers of backups of understanding and insight into how everything worked and it cost her business some money. You really need to be sure your financials are in order and that you are well-versed on how profitable your business is and what would that EBITDA look like if it was sold today? Obviously, the obvious is boost your sales, but I think that sometimes again, hamster in the wheel says, "Let's just go out and hustle up as much business as we can," which is [inaudible 00:25:38]. Brian Webb: Yes, absolutely. Lisa Moscarelli: But depending now, if you're the person that has to do the work, that's not scalable, so you're just going to have to figure out how can I boost my sales? How can I best boost my sales? But the caveat is with increasing my cost the less. Brian Webb: Yes. Yes. Lisa Moscarelli: [inaudible 00:25:59] Digital businesses have been sold for so many millions of dollars because of the quick scalability. Then I think also if you want to... Just be sure you have your contracts in order. Be sure if you have leases, if you have investments, if you have contracts with your clients. Contracts with your clients, if you get clients signed on multi-year, multi-angle contracts, that is a very shiny, beautiful, attractive thing to buyers, especially in service businesses, because then they feel like it's not so much to do with market forces, so they're sort of betting on what can happen, which maybe they may to consider paying less. But if you kind of show them, "This is what will happen because I have these," minimum and then you add to that what can happen with what your business prognosticators say, then it's a really attractive package. So if you can get people signed into long-term contracts, that is sublime. Brian Webb: Absolutely. Let's do this Lisa. One, thank you for being here. Tell us about what you're doing now at Moscarelli Media and the services that you're providing to your clients now in this newer initiative, obviously, post the exit of your first business? Lisa Moscarelli: Well, I took a couple of years off caring for a family member who is in heaven now. I decided that I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to be sure that the places that I invested my time, talent and treasure professionally would be businesses that were needing to have a son or daughter takeover or businesses that did great things in the world. I worked a lot in the global relief nonprofit space and created content. I'm a content creator, producer. I'm a digital strategist. I help people kind of bridge the gap between both worlds. We have a generational divide somewhat in really understanding how it all works together. Everything heretofore been so siloed that integration specialist, there's a market for us, people that can put reports together and analysis together to help people kind of get to the next level. I help people with their ecosystems. I can confer and really just get to the heart of what your visions and dreams are and hopefully get you there. Brian Webb: Okay. Where's the best place for someone who wants to reach out to you or possibly discuss your services, where's the best place for people to reach out to you online? Lisa Moscarelli: I think you best send me an email, just do info@moscarellimedia.com. Brian Webb: Info@moscarellimedia.com. I'm sure they can find you on LinkedIn. Obviously, your website address is www.moscarellimedia.com. Lisa Moscarelli: That's correct. Brian Webb: Well, thanks for being on the show today. I think this is tremendously valuable. As I already said at the beginning of this episode, I think you're just an amazing soul, a great human being, so it's great to have you on the show today. Lisa Moscarelli: Likewise, my friend. Blessings to you and go forth and prosper today. Brian Webb: Thanks for joining me today and listening to this episode of the Learn More, Earn More Business Growth Podcast. We can be found on all the major platforms like Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher and even Amazon Music. I genuinely hope you enjoyed today's episode. If you did, I'd be honored if you'd subscribe to the show and leave us a rating and an honest review. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram. You can find me at, @BrianWebb and the show sponsor Whatbox Digital can be found at, as you might guess, @Whatbox Digital. You can also find me in Whatbox Digital on Facebook and LinkedIn with the links in the show notes. This will allow you to stay up to date and never miss out on exciting new announcements, events, special offers and opportunities and you'll be in the know when we drop a new episode of the Learn More, Earn More Business Growth Podcast. Brian Webb: If you'd like to send me a DM on Instagram to say hello or share your thoughts on how we can make this podcast even better for you, I'd love to hear from you. Again, thanks for listening. Let's go and grow together. I'll see you on the next episode. ________________________________ FIND & FOLLOW WHATBOX DIGITAL Website | Linkedin | Facebook | Instagram ________________________________ CONNECT WITH BRIAN WEBB Linkedin | Facebook | Instagram Email: brianw@whatboxdigital.com  Clubhouse: @brianwebb __________________________________ CONNECT WITH LISA MOSCARELLI Linkedin Email: info@moscarellimedia.com  Website __________________________________

James Chapter 4 read from the following translations: The Message - Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. New Testament for Everyone (NTE) - Scripture quoted from The New Testament for Everyone, copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011. Used by permission of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, UK. All rights reserved. English Standard Version (ESV) - Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Do you have worldly passions at war within you? It is time to get serious, humble yourself, and repent. Desire God and God alone. Life is short. Do what is right. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

James Chapter 1 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. New International Version (NIV) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Be a doer of the Word of God, not a hearer only! As a Christ-follower, the Word of God has been planted in you and can save you. Read it! Hear it! Study it! Meditate on it! Obey it! It can change your life! It will change your life! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. New Century Version (NCV) - Scripture quoted from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New International Version (NIV) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. How to live a life that pleases God. God's plan for sex. Love one another. Jesus is coming back again! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

1 Thessalonians Chapter 3 read from the following translations: The Message - Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. New International Version (NIV) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. English Standard Version (ESV) - Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Timothy comes back from Thessalonica to report on the new church. Paul had warned them they would face persecution. Were they able to hold up or had Paul's work been in vain? Join us to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Jude read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. The Message - Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. New International Readers Version (NIrV) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version®, NIrV® Copyright © 2014 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. New International Version (NIV) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. The Amplified Bible - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright © 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright © 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Jude wanted to write about our shared salvation but felt an urgent need to address an erroneous message being taught by false teachers -- that God's grace was being used as a license for sin. This should not be! God's marvelous grace is such a precious gift. He calls us to fight strenuously, to contend earnestly for the faith! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

2 Peter Chapter 3 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright © 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Apostle Peter's final words to us are to stimulate our wholesome thinking and refresh our memory to: 1) live a holy life, 2) beware of scoffers and unprincipled men who distort doctrine, 3) get ready for Jesus' return--He is coming back again, 4) give God all the glory, now and forever! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

2 Peter Chapter 2 read from the following translations: The Message - Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Be warned, there will be false teachers among you! Keep reading the Bible and walking closely with God so you will have wisdom to discern truth from lies. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

1 Peter Chapter 5 read from the following translations: The Message - Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. New International Version (NIV) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Instructions for church leaders and those who follow them. To all, may we embrace humility and enjoy God's favor. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

1 Peter Chapter 4 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Daily Walk Bible New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Amplified Bible - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Spirit Filled Life Bible New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Apostle Peter says the end is near and gives us some instruction on how to prepare. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Hebrews chapter 5 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible copyright © 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible (AMP) - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright © 2015 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Jesus is our high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek! That's good news! Are you trusting in His finished work or have you placed your faith in something on this earth--a routine, a ritual, an object, a behavior, or restricting behaviors to make you feel and appear holy? Let's read His Word and learn the truth together! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Hebrews chapter 5 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Daily Walk Bible New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible (AMP) - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Hebrews chapter 5 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.   Daily Walk Bible New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.   New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.   The Amplified Bible (AMP) - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.   New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Hebrews chapter 4 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Daily Walk Bible New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible (AMP) - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Hebrews chapter 3 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Daily Walk Bible New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible (AMP) - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

Hebrews chapter 2 read from the following translations: Simplified Living Bible - Scripture quoted from the Simplified Living Bible, copyright ©1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Daily Walk Bible New Living Translation (NLT) - Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. New American Standard Bible (NASB) - Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Amplified Bible (AMP) - Scripture quoted from the Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. New King James Version (NKJV) - Scripture quoted from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marjorie-bozer/support

After graduating from college, Wayne Kinde felt called to go into the pastorate... but God had other plans. God led him to work in book publishing for many years until he was ready to pastor. Wayne currently serves as senior pastor of The Walk Church in San Diego California where he uses his love for God, his family and his congregation to teach and lead. Church Website: WalkChurch.orgPersonal Website: WayneKinde.comEmail: wayne.kinde@gmail.comTuckman's Rule of Management 1. Forming2. Storming3. Performing4. Norming

The phrase, "Make Ends Meet" is shrouded in historical mystery and could have arisen from several sources. We investigate the evidence for each possibility as we journey back to the 1600s.Host: Stephen CarterEmail: CarterMethod@gmail.comMic: EV RE320References for this episode:References:Webb Garrison, “Why You Say It”; Thomas Nelson Publishing, Copyright 1992; page 147.Robert Hendrickson, “The QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" - 4th Edition; Checkmark Books; Copyright 2008; page 531. Michael Quinion, Website: "World Wide Words - Investigating the English Language Across the Globe", Copyright 1996, updated 2017. https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-mak1.htm

If you're a lawyer, business person, or a politician who wants to weasel out of a promise, avoid taxes, or otherwise shirk responsibility, you feverishly look for a loophole in a contract, law, or agreement that will allow you to escape fulfilling a promise or avoid an obligation. But did the term “Loophole” always refer to legal agreements, taxes, or promises? We'll discover how the term Loophole came to be in this episode of, “History of Everyday Sayings”.This show is for you if you are a logophile - meaning of course lover of words - a writer, speaker, a philomath, or someone who simply loves history tidbits you can use to impress friends and family.Each episode is short and bitesized for easy listening and recall. By listening, you'll discover how phrases and words we use everyday came to be. There will be many surprises along our language journey, so pack your curiosity and let's explore our phrase of the day.LoopholeTo find the origin on this rather odd word, let's climb into our Wayback Time Travel machine and set our coordinates for 1591. That was the year according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary online when the term “Loophole” first appeared.In the late 16th Century, European battles often involved attempts to capture castles. In the days when archers used longbows and later crossbows, arrows filled the sky in attempts to kill or wound soldiers and noblemen who had taken defensive positions in massive castle fortifications. As you might imagine, this was not a welcome experience by those people taking refuge in the castles.Wealthy barons and kings hired the best and brightest castle architects and builders to erect fortifications capable of withstanding these prolonged sieges. Some creative architect, whose name is lost in the dust of history, came up with the brilliant idea to create narrow slits to allow archers within the castle to fire arrows at opposing troops. These narrow slits were known as loopholes.While there's no record as to who was the first to employ loopholes in castle fortifications, by the early 17th Century they were a common defensive feature. The term loophole, most likely derived from the Dutch word lûpen meaning to watch. Later in the seventeenth century loophole came to be used in everyday English to mean a small opening or an outlet of escape.Few people know the origins of this often used phrase, but you can now count yourself among the tiny minority of people who do.If you're curious about exploring more about this term, Loophole, you'll find the references I used for this podcast episode below.For more “Amazing History of Everyday Sayings” tasty auditory tidbits you can use to amaze friends and family, subscribe for free where you get your podcasts.If you would like to comment on this or any other episode, email me at CarterMethod@gmail.com. Host: Stephen CarterHost Contact: CarterMethod@gmail.comMic: KBKeywords: loophole, philomath, logophile, medieval, fortifications, knights, castles, middle ages, longbows, archers, crossbow, medieval,References:Merriam-Webster Online: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loopholeGrammarist: https://grammarist.com/interesting-words/loophole/Web Garrison, Why You Say It, Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1992. Page 146.

Selling Like HotcakesI know you've heard the phrase, “Selling Like Hotcakes”. But how exactly did that phrase come to be?To discover the answer we climb into our Wayback Transport Ship and set our coordinates for Colonial America in the mid and late 1700s. What we know today as pancakes and hotcakes, were known as hoe cakes, Johnnycakes, and flapjacks in the American Colonies. The term, “Pancake” appeared in England as early as the 1400s, but “Hotcakes” is distinctly American and comes from America's Colonial heritage.Let's meet Amelia Simmons who authored what is believed to be the first cookbook in the new world entitled “American Cookery” published in 1796. In Ms. Simmons's cookbook, we see two recipes, one for “Johny Cake or Hoe Cake” and a second for “Indian Slapjack. Ingredients for hoe cakes included milk, “Indian meal”, and molasses. The recipe for “Indian Slapjack” included milk, “Indian meal”, and four eggs.Whether you were a frontiersman, a farmer, or a townsperson, you very likely had eaten and loved these tasty delicacies. Some liked their hoe cakes fried in bear grease, while others preferred lard. Whichever camp you were in, everyone agreed they were delicious.By the early 1800s, hoe cakes were more commonly known as hotcakes. Hotcakes became big sellers at community and church social fundraising events. By 1825, any item that sold well was said to be, “Selling like hotcakes”.The phrase "selling like hotcakes” has flourished as an American saying for 200 plus years and continues to be popular today. If you're curious about exploring more about hotcakes, you'll find the references I used for this podcast in our show notes.If you would like to comment on this or any other episode, email me at CarterMethod@gmail.com. Until our next visit, I'm your host Stephen Carter wishing you blessings in abundance.References: Rebecca Rupp, “Hot off the Griddle, Here's the History of Pancakes”. “National Geographic”; February 27, 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/food/the-plate/2014/05/21/hot-off-the-griddle-heres-the-history-of-pancakes/Matt Soniak, “The Origin of 10 Food Phrases”; “Mental Floss”; October 10, 2010. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/26034/origins-10-food-phrases.Webb Garrison, “Why You Say It”; Thomas Nelson Publishing. Page 152.Microphone used: BY

Continuing with a few thoughts from Psalm 34, in today's episode we discuss the reassurance we can find in God's Word. There are times when we feel alone and isolated. Does God leave us? Can we find comfort in His promises? Join us today as we discuss the reassurance we find in God's Word. Links & Notes: simplyrevised.org subscribe for email updates contact simplyRevised music provided by Eric Gwin: ericgwin.com  Scripture references are from The New King James Version copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing

David provides a key for us in living a meaningful and fulfilled life. In Psalm 34, he talks about fearing the Lord. A key we find in living a life of purpose is to fear the Lord in our desire Him.  Notes & Links simplyrevised.org contact the show Subscribe to the simplyRevised newsletter Music for simplyRevised is provided with permission by Eric Gwin. Visit ericgwin.com  Scripture references are from The New King James Version copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing

On this week's podcast, Marcus sits down with Rick Miller, Jr. Rick is the president of Pro356 Consulting and the director of a new incubator called "Hatched". He learned everything he needed to know about business from working a paper route as a kid, he just didn't know it. Listen to see how all this comes together in his consulting and business incubators.   Rick: Hi, I'm Rick Miller and I'm president of Pro356 Consulting, and I'm also the senior director of a new incubator called "Hatch." Marcus: Awesome. I am so happy to have you with us today, Rick. Rick: Man, it is so good to be here, and knowing you as long as I have, and worked with you I have this is just kind of way too much fun for us to talk about what's going on. Marcus: So, full disclosure and on top of everything else this man has going on, he is also the facilitator, right? Rick: Yes. Marcus: Is that correct? Okay. So, facilitating for Emerging Leaders and today is graduation day. So, in two hours I will be graduating from the Emerging Leaders program. This guy has been responsible for walking me through about seven months of materials. It's good stuff. Rick: I can't tell you how excited I am for you to graduate. Marcus: Yeah, you and I both, man. Wow, you and I both. Rick: I gotta tell you just before we go into Hatch, the Emerging Leaders program is one of the great things the Mobile Chamber's put together. I'm just fortunate to be able to facilitate, which is the right word. Great companies like Bluefish and the other 19 companies in there. Marcus: We won't mention the other companies that have graduated from that program. There's one in particular that's not allowed to be mentioned on this podcast anymore. Rick: And now we go there. All good. Marcus: He knows who he is. No and hats off to Danette and Brent for the efforts that they put forth in making sure that program takes place. If you are listening to this and you have a business that's over 400000. If you have a business that's doing over $400000 in revenue and you have any interest in learning more about running a business and what it means to accelerate your growth I can speak from experience 'cause I just finished the program. That there's a lot of information to be learned by going through Emerging Leaders. Definitely contact Danette at the Chamber. I think it's dannette@mobilechamber.org if I remember correctly. Rick: You got it. Marcus: And tell her that Marcus sent you and Rick. 'Cause I'm sure they'll be looking for people. They have been approved for next year, so 2019 we'll see another Emerging Leaders class, which is really exciting. So, another 20 some odd people will go through that program and anyway. We digress, but I am very excited to have you here because we've spent a lot of time together over the last seven months. This is a chance for me to tell your story. Rick: Okay. Marcus: Yeah. Let's go there. Why don't you tell people some of your backstories. Where are you from? You are from high school and college, but let's get some of your education out of the way, and who you are, and what you've done, some of that stuff. Tell us some of your backstory. Rick: I'm a Mobile native. Born here, Murphy High School, Alabama undergrad in accounting. Went to work in New York for a big ad accounting firm. Now I think there's two of them left. Went from there and got an MBA in Harvard and then decided to head out west 'cause I always wanted to get out there, and worked for about 20 years in a lot of different startups some of which were technology. Mainly just went to big companies to trying to go to small companies, set up a consulting business, and ran into a lady I went high school and college with out there. We got married and had a kid, and then at that point I was running a consulting business in Oregon. We decided that's a little far for our relatives to visit. In the mid 90s, we moved back to Fairhope where I live now. Interesting along the way while we were trying to figure out do you migrate from Colorado back to Alabama. I found an opportunity in Birmingham and I talked to folks, and got offered a job to run the UAB business incubator. At the time, the money they could afford to pay was less than I could afford to live on with the family. I had to say "no," but I spent a year back in the 90s looking at business incubators I always thought what a cool concept. Fast forward to moving back here in the 90s, having a consulting business, working with small businesses, and doing projects. Last year, got a chance to talk about setting up a small town business incubator in Fairhope, and I just at the chance. Marcus: And that's a program with Georgia? Rick: Well, it's modeled after Clemson model in South Carolina, but it's a collaboration between the University of Alabama has got an office of business transfer where they try to commercialize intellectual property, and various ideas coming out of the university, and connect those with the business market. They're providing the base research and kind of collective connections. The model in South Carolina, an entrepreneur set up five small communities. Call them "technology villages" and they basically said entrepreneurs in this electronic flat world don't have to live in a big city. Let's put some incubators in small communities that don't have the big city incubators like Mobile or Birmingham. Fast forward, that worked quite work there, and Alabama said "Let's do it here." They spent a year looking for the right markets and they picked Cullman, Alabama and Fairhope, Greensboro, and a couple other communities. We launched it, got a little training, and up we go. Marcus: Nice. Very good. Rick: Yeah. Marcus: Now, go back to your consulting stuff, too though because I wanna touch on that just a little bit. When you say you do business consulting, what does that usually entail? Rick: Well, it's interesting because its evolved. Initially, because my background is accounting, CPA in New York, MBA, I had spent most of my first 10 years working up the financial side of things. CFO, those type of things, but I found somewhere along the line that really if you look at my DISC profile I'm more of a people person. In the last 10 years, I've evolved my practice into working more in team building, and working with coaching and mentoring. My passion is first tier managers or first level, so that the guy who is a great hourly worker and gets promoted to supervisor. In variably, he gets promoted or her because of their work ethic, but they get no training in how to manager their co-workers who used to be their colleagues. That's where I kind of focused trying to help organizations deal with that level of productive and management. Marcus: Nice. Now, what was your and I always say this is your first crap job, not your first job after you got your fancy Harvard MBA, but your first crap job flipping burgers, sweeping floors. What was your first job and what were some of the lessons that you learned from that? Rick: I was a paperboy apprentice at Hannon Park. What I mean by apprentice- Marcus: Not even just a paperboy, you were a paperboy apprentice. Rick: I had to get in line to get a route. For a year, I folded papers for the guy who was older than me, which meant I got paid a RC Cola and some kind of sandwich; ice cream sandwich was my pay for that. As a result of doing that when I was 10 or 11 when I was 12-years-old I got a weekly route, throw in about four blocks from here in what is now Midtown around the deer drop. My first job was being a morning, weekly paperboy. Marcus: What lessons do you remember from that you took away that- Rick: Well, I learned everything I needed to know about business, but I didn't know it that I learned it. When I got older, took all these other degrees, and then look back and say, "Okay, here's what I learned." Number one, I learned about various cost structures because the gig was you basically paid for your papers upfront, okay. I took all the risks. The paper got no risk, whether I sold them or not, I had to pay for 'em. Then I learned how to deal with people and dealing with collection problems because a weekly route meant that I had to go to each house on Friday, and get paid my 75 cents for that week. I learned that maybe you wanna go on a monthly route where you got the same amount of money, but you don't have four times as many activities to get that money. I also learned a lot about people because there's nothing that you'll ever forget where you're on a bike. You're 12-years old. It's Friday night, it's dark, you're walking up to the door, and you see the lights on in the living room. All of a sudden, the lights go off, and you ring the doorbell and you ring it, and you're thinking, "I'm talking about 75 cents and these people won't even come to the door." Finally, I learned that service and execution matters because when you throw a paper, you had an option. If you couldn't find your paper and there are little old ladies that's right underneath their steps and they don't see it from their door, they don't think it's there. They have an option to call the press register for a paper. Now, that seems funny today that we don't have papers, but the press register would say, "Yes ma'am, I'll deliver you the paper." They charged you 50% of your profit for the month to deliver that extra paper. Marcus: Wow. Rick: If you don't execute, if somebody calls twice in a month at that house, you threw that house for free. Now, you tell me that isn't great business experience that at the time I didn't think about business I just learned it, but now looking back I tell people everything I needed to know about business as an entrepreneur I learned I just didn't know it. Marcus: Now, that's really cool, man. Now, as far as the consulting business goes, though, how did you get started? I mean, was there someway? Did you leave a company and decide that this is how you want it or was it? I don't know. I mean, I don't know what I'm looking for there. How did you get started in consulting? Rick: Well, like most consultants, a necessity. Marcus: Okay. Rick: I had moved to California to Oregon, a venture capital firm recruited me to go help start a startup to put some money in. In the middle of it, I ran into a problem with the inventor, the majority owner he had an affair, and it kind of threw everything wack. I'm sitting there going, "I can't work with this company. I need to do something and I'm 500 miles away from all my friends in San Francisco." You get on the phone and you start talking, and you realize, "Well, at least I have some credentials." The good news is I invested in the right degrees. I started looking around and saying, "Okay, we'll do something like Brent McClure does here." A guy from San Francisco who wanted to go out on and then myself set up a regional consulting business out there. We would rent an executive. We were in the 90s, we were rent a C-suite. We would come into small companies like your company and say, "Okay, we'll be your CFO. We'll do it for 20% of the time. Charge you so much and if it takes off then we want a few. If you sell the company we want a piece of that." Marcus: Yeah. Rick: Did that and invariably what happens like most consultants, you do a good job, and I'm doing this for Bluefish and Bluefish says "We really wanna hire you full-time as our CFO" or some position. I vacillated or count of rotated back and forth between consult for a while, get this going, and somebody makes me an offer that's hard to turn down. Finally, I just reached the point where I said, "I'm a terrible employee, I'm ADD and I really like change. I like being a consultant and that's what I'll always try to be." Marcus: It's interesting that you say that 'cause one of the things that I've said over the course of the last couple of years is that I'm unemployable now. Rick: Yeah. Marcus: Right? Rick: Yeah. Marcus: The only thing that I think, the thing that I go back to with Bluefish that I really enjoy isn't necessarily that I do like the fact that I can control the business. It's not just that, it's that we work with a lot of different people, so we have a lot of problems that we're working to solve. It's that ADD aspect that you mentioned. That there are a lot of different problems that are presenting themselves to you and I'm a teacher first and foremost. That's really kind of my leanings, but then I'm a problem solver. When someone comes to me with a problem like I want to help them solve it because I know that on the other side of that there's some sort of reward. There's a financial reward or kudos, or something. Yeah, that's very interesting. Rick: I think every service business at some level is an entrepreneurial consulting business, if you're good. Marcus: Yep. Rick: I mean, what you're doing everybody here is you're consulting for clients, and I'm doing the same thing. You just may say I've got a contract. You change the terms, but when you get down to what makes a company successful is you gotta have a whole bunch of clients that they're serving in some manner. For me, it just fits because I've tried it, and I found as a financial person I can go about two or years, and then I get bored. In a financial role, you need somebody who loves the same thing over and over again. I am the exact wrong personality fit for what I was doing for 20 years. Thank you lord that I figured out where my ladder should be leaning, and I'm much happier even though there's more uncertainly where's the cashflow. I'm not complaining. It's what I should be doing. Marcus: Right. That's good. This question was perfectly targeted for you. Are you ready? Just prepare yourself. Rick: I'm glad there's no camera here. Marcus: Now, if you were talking to someone that is getting started in running their own business, what's the one bit of wisdom that you would impart to them? Rick: I've heard the [crosstalk 00:14:55] Marcus: I've stumped him. Rick: Oh, you blew it. I heard five seconds of silence gets everyone's attention. I was trying to count to five. Marcus: Sorry. Rick: Nothing like it. I would say make sure you understand your why. Marcus: Yeah. Rick: Just make sure that if you ... Simon Sinek's books really a good book on getting back to if you understand why you're doing that. Either it's because my personality, I need to, or I have some goals that I just really wanna achieve. If you got that down, you can weather the fact that life is never what you expect it to be. I mean, you and I know each other through spending seven months trying to do a plan, and yet my wisdom would be do a plan, but expect it to be long because it's gonna change. The people I have seen that have succeeded as being entrepreneurs when you step back from it, you see they had a clear why. Their why was bigger than the what. When your why is big enough, the facts don't matter is a cliché, but it really is true. You know how many times the facts would have told you to quit. Marcus: Yes. Rick: We all do. If you're married, you've been told that you should quit a few times, but generally speaking most entrepreneurs are just dumb enough because their why is big enough to keep going. The other side of keeping going is where the success lies. Marcus: That's good stuff, folks. That's really good stuff. Who's the one person that motivates you from the business world? Is there anybody? We've been getting a lot of, "Well, my grandfather and my principal from high school" or stuff like that. I don't want that. I want you reading Entrepreneur Magazine or you get Entrepreneur Magazine, and there's somebody who's on the cover that really gets you excited that you're like "Man, I can't wait to read this." Anyone? Rick: Well, I gotta think for a minute because I think John Maxwell. Marcus: Okay. Rick: What I'm inspired Maxwell is his longevity. Marcus: Let's pause for just a second. John Maxwell was the president, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing and has transitioned ... No, I'm sorry, John Maxwell. I'm thinking of whatshisname. Rick: I'm going blank on the other 'cause I'm still fixated on Maxwell. Marcus: Sorry, Maxwell is an author who's written a lot of books on leadership and stuff like that. He was published by Thomas Nelson, I think. Rick: Yeah, he still is. Marcus: Anyway, so I digress. Rick: The 17 laws of leadership. The 21 laws or teamwork, or whatever those are. He's known for those books, but some many other people in that field, he started out as a pastor, which is probably the ultimate leadership position. Because you have a voluntary workforce. You have a small staff that most of the people you have to motivate to achieve your mission are there. He transitioned because his calling was leadership. What I'm impressed about him is the fact that he is ... The volume of work that he has done inspires me because he just keeps writing a book every three or four months. He's figured out to grow his organization to each different level. When he writes about stages of growth, you can look at his example, and mainly he also always tries to bring back in the people side of servant leadership. Marcus: Yeah, Michael Hyatt. Rick: Yep. Yep, yep. Good job. Marcus: It was gonna bug me. Don't get lost on that. John Maxwell stuff especially his ... I think it's the "21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" was one of the most influential books that I've ever read. That and "Courageous Leadership" by Hybels was extremely good, as well especially if you're geared towards that kind of thing. You know you're gonna be in a position of leadership. Hybels book was really interesting because it helped me understand that there are different types of leaders. I leaned towards the entrepreneurial leadership role. It helped me kind of- Rick: Let me throw in a plug for Maxwell 'cause it's something I do that I buy. I buy 20 of these or 30 of these a year. He's got a book called the "Maxwell Daily Reader." It's 300 every day. It's like any other devotional, but it's a management devotional if you will. He takes a page out of his 25 pages, so one day it may be on a one-page day of being a person of influence. Another one may be on teamwork. I've been reading that thing for three years and I give it to all my clients 'cause what it does is it reminds me every day of an aspect of leadership that I probably know, but I forget. You can read a spiritual one. I read it and I give it to clients because Lisette Norman who we're gonna see tonight is an example. The Fairhope store, I gave it to her, and I'll be talking to her, and she'll say "Did you believe what we read today?" It's usually on management. I highly recommend any one go. You've almost gotta go look for it 'cause it's out of print, but the paperback is still great. Marcus: Great stuff, yeah. Are there any books, podcasts, people, or organizations that have been helpful moving you forward? Rick: Ah man. There's so many. Right now, I'll say David Jeremiah's morning podcast called "Turning Point" I listen to and I always put me in a servant leadership role. A guy that's a motivational coach for Alabama, Kevin Elko's got a Monday morning cup of inspiration. I listen to it every Monday and it's three minutes. I'm an avid reader, so it's hard for me because I'm really on the latest book. Marcus: I mean, what are you reading right now just out of curiosity? Rick: I'm reading "Things That Matter," it's written by the John Doerr who was the original venture capitalist. He's a very famous one who invested in Google. It's talking about what they measure Google that's made the behemoth they are. It's a great book on getting back in. I was telling you about that "Traction" book. Marcus: Yeah, the "Traction" book that he suggested to the class. It's geared towards helping you understand how to get traction. I would admit I haven't read it yet 'cause I have some other things on my plate. Rick: There's a book by a guy named Schwartz called "Turn the Ship Around!" It's about a submarine captain who got given a different type of submarine and that's like going from a Mac to a PC only you've been training to run a Mac and they gave you a PC two weeks before. You're now in charge of the entire company. It talked about how he learned. How he learned how to trust people and delegate. It's a great read. He's YouTube has some really nice graphics in there that you can watch a nine-minute YouTube video that explains it all. Marcus: Yeah, that's cool. Now, what's the most important thing that you have learned about running a business? Rick: Staying positive is incredibly important and incredibly difficult. Marcus: Poof. Rick: Did I hit that one right? Marcus: Yeah. No, it's just say that again for those who are listening. Rick: Well, you can see my expression. Staying positive is incredibly important, but incredibly difficult. I say that because running a business means that you get slapped the hardest and the most often. Marcus: Right. Rick: When things don't happen, you take responsibility for it, or when bad things happen. Yet, if you run an organization where you have employees, they look to you for a response just like your kids do. Probably even more so, so the ability to take the blow and still find someway to act positive even though inside you're just dying is one of the keys to being a successful entrepreneur. I wish I had more of it. Marcus: No. Yeah, so I read you touched on things, yes. I mean, the being able to keep that positive, mental outlook is just like incredibly difficult at times. You've touched on servant leadership a number of times, too. One of the books that I'll throw out there that if you are bent that way is Jocko Willink's Servant Leadership. He talks about that whole aspect. I don't know if you don't know Jocko's story, he's been a number of podcasts, and he even has his own podcast. He was SEAL team commander. He was responsible for training SEAL teams. After they've made it through [inaudible 00:24:14] and they've been assigned to a team, he was one of the commanders that was actually responsible for training the teams to work as a team to go out and do the missions. It's such an incredible responsibility. His whole take on that is that if you are the owner of a business then it doesn't matter what it is, it's your responsibility. Rick: I may have drawn it in our course, but I probably didn't. With most companies I do occasionally I'll do quarterly retreats and strategic retreats. The way I introduce servant leadership is I draw the traditional pyramid, which is customers below. Then you have the tiers of employees all the way to the small top of the triangle is the CEO, then I flip it. If you get that then your job, Marcus is to serve the rest of Bluefish. If you can teach, but it had to start with you. You have to model that servant leadership and yet I know from having been the numbers kind of traditional drive it down, that doesn't work. If you wanna know why employees are unhappy, I'm certified in Gallup's employment engagement because I think they're the best at it. The reason people live or businesses are unhappy is because of their direct supervisor, and where I translate that in servant leadership is most people don't wake up thinking, "What can I do to serve my team?" That guy Jocko gets it because you can't fake it when it's life and death. In a company, your emotional life and death is real, too. Most of us don't think about it. We've been raised with this hierarchy, I mean, this paradigm that's just wrong. For me it's wrong. Marcus: It's more traditional. Yeah, traditionally it's wrong. Yeah, it was probably one of the most influential that I've read this year. 'Cause it was a slap up against the face. In the face realizing that if someone's not performing then it's my responsibility because they either need more training or they need me to tell them and guide them, and ultimately if they're not performing and they're still here, and I'm upset about that it's my fault because I'm the one that hired them. I haven't fired them, yet. Like everything, you can't make it about the person it's really about you as the leader of the company. There have been a number of other things that came out of that book, too that I really appreciated it. He's a gruff guy, though. If you listen to his podcast, if you're out there listening to this, and you listen to his podcast then just know that you're in. I mean, he's a SEAL. Let's be real. Rick: I went back when I heard the term and I read a book, I can't remember the author, but I went back to read James Greenblatt. The Greenblatt Center for Servant Leadership, he's the original AT&T guy in the 60s who coined the term. His book is a hard read 'cause it's kind of cut dry, but he goes back and he explains how he spent inside of AT&T trying to bring this concept about. If you know anything about AT&T, it's the ultimate bureaucracy that's not a government. It truly was back then, but he was convinced that in his work led to the I guess it's James Greenleaf Center, which is in Indiana. They have courses and you can get a lot ... They have an annual conference on servant leadership. Marcus: Very good. How do you like to unwind? Rick: Say that again? Marcus: How do you like to unwind? That was such a bad transition, I'm sorry. Rick: I thought you said another term that I'm wide and that's why I gave you that look. Marcus: Yeah. Rick: I like to exercise. I like to play golf. Marcus: What's your form of exercise? Rick: My form is golf and swimming. Marcus: Okay. Rick: Golf because I played it all my life and it's the only game you can play three generations together- Marcus: And not know who's gonna actually beat the crap out of somebody. Rick: Swimming is just ... I was overweight as a kid. I didn't make all the high school teams. To punish myself in college, I started running and I lost a bunch of weight, and I've just been very blessed for 45 years I've been into fitness. I'm well as a result of that. I didn't know wellness was a term, but I invested in it. My knee has finally given out, so I get in the pool because it doesn't hurt. It's the same type thing. I'm in there swimming laps and I unwind, and I have conversations with God because no one can interrupt you when you got your googles on and you're just going up and down. Marcus: Yeah. No, it's amazing to me and I probably need to start asking more questions about this, but the importance of staying physically active when you are running a business. It can't be overstated. You have got to have some sort of exercise regime because the stress will absolutely put you in the grave if you don't get that energy out in some healthy form. And then the other thing, too let's just be real, it's really easy to go to breakfast, lunch, and dinner at some function and before you know it you've gained 20 or 30 lbs. I've recently lost like 30 lbs. Now, granted some of that was stress related because of the building that we're currently in. The reality is I've been trying to lose this weight for a decade and just not been able to. It's a long game like you're saying. Finding something you can do for a long period of time that you enjoy that allows you to kind of keep things in check because it's real easy just to look down one day and realize I spent the last 10 years of my life sitting in a chair. I'm now 30 lbs overweight. I'm not happy. I get winded walking to the car. I don't look good when I go to the beach. I'm not happy with myself. All those things. Those are all things that I've said to myself. Rick: Most of us do. It's not the quantity, it's the consistency that matters. Marcus: Exactly. Rick: I mean, I have a doctor friend that we go through this issue all the time because he's afraid to tell his patients what he knows to be true. He and I have jogged for 30 years and I said, "You need to tell your patients they need to get off their butt and go exercise." He's like, "I can't. I got to do that bedside manners thing," but he and I laugh about it when we're jogging because he says the reason they see me is 'cause they don't what they could do. It's just walking for 15 minutes is worth it, if you do it five days a week. Marcus: I mean, obviously I've been spending a lot of time here at the building over the course of the last five months. Often times I'll come in, in the morning, get started, and not have anything to eat until I leave at six or seven o'clock at night. I'll do an 8-hour, 10-hour, 12-hour day, and not eat anything. It's like fasted cardio, basically. The other thing too is people have been asking me like what I've doing, well besides that it's just cutting back on what I've been eating, and just making sure that I'm exercising consistently. Even if it just means going to the gym for 30 minutes or 20 minutes just going and doing something. Rick: Do you know a guy named Daniel Amen? Marcus: Don't ring a bell, no. Rick: Go on YouTube and look him up. He is a brain doctor, whatever. He's developed all these scans of the brain. His whole thing is it you need exercise for your ability to think. If you go look up Daniel Amen and he's got a diet and more importantly he says if you want to be a thinker and as an entrepreneur you know you need to have your brain working. You already have it working pretty hard, but for longevity, exercise is good for the brain. Not just the cardiovascular. Your brain, your ability to think and process, and deal with things it's better as result of investing in that. Not only is it going to make you look better at the beach. If you need to make critical decisions, it's worth it to make sure you put some exercise in the mix. Marcus: I couldn't agree more. Where can people find you? Rick: Well, . I'm always there and they can actually see what I look like 'cause I put some videos on there, some testimonies. Marcus: Awesome. Rick: We were talking about earlier, Hatch if you go to hatchfairhope.com, that's the hi-tech incubator that we started in downtown Fairhope. Even though I do consulting, I live there more than anywhere else. Marcus: Well, Rick, I wanna thank you again for coming on the podcast and more so I wanna thank you for pouring into all of our lives for the last seven months. Seems like it was just yesterday that we got started on Emerging Leaders. To wrap up, any final thoughts or comments you'll like to share? Rick: Well, Marcus I appreciate you and I can say this just looking at you 'cause people can't see it on a podcast that one of the joys working with you and all those other companies was to watch the growth. And the fact that anybody who gets into a position where they can facilitate the growth of other group or other organizations, the blessing's mine. So my thank yous to you because nobody knows how great it feels when you're sitting there helping other people get somewhere they're trying to get to and they need you to help them. Marcus: Yep. Rick: I go home after those classes every time just saying thank you lord for having the opportunity to deal with great companies, great people, and to help them be a little clog keeping them moving. Marcus: Very good. Well, Rick I appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as a business owner and entrepreneur. It's been great talking with you. Rick: My pleasure.

There’s nothing like the guys on your own team—Allen Arnold founding the fiction division at Thomas Nelson Publishing, published between 500 and 600 novels as VP of that division, and has a better grasp on story than most people earn in their lifetime. Blaine and Sam jump in to ask about engaging story, how to create while inside conflict, and what it takes to set good stories, lived and read, apart. We like to say that we need to learn to read our lives as stories; that’s well and good, but to be able to do that, we need to learn more about the odd animal that story is.

In this episode of the DREAM. THINK. DO. podcast, let's figure out how to create your best year ever! Listen To The Podcast:                         Click here to get Hyatt's free ebook --> "Achieve What Matters in 2017: The 8 Strategies Super-Successful People Are Using Now to Accomplish More Next Year"   Have you ever wanted to reinvent yourself? Have you ever wanted to break out of a rut and try something new? Would you love to make 2017 your best year ever? Well… if you answered “heck yes” to any of these questions… my DREAM THINK DO guest, Michael Hyatt can help! After being the President of a top publishing company, Michael Hyatt reinvented himself by first giving himself permission to try some new things.  He went on to launch his own organization which is now a multi-million dollar online leadership development company which provides training and useful tools for high achievers. Plus, as a success coach, Hyatt helps people to remove the roadblocks to their success, and intentionally move towards achieving their dreams. His blog is ranked by Google in the top 0.5% of all blogs. He is the author of 8 books, including his highly acclaimed Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, which was a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon bestseller. And I'll say that Michael is one of my heroes because of his extraordinary success and the classy way he's achieved it. This week, we discuss: [03:30] How Hyatt began his first blog, Working Smart when he was the President and COO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. [13:30] We talk about some of the surprises that came when he published his book, Platform [14:50] How the concept of "The Best Year Ever" was born. [17:40] The invisible fence story. (You're going to love this one!) [20:00] Hyatt shows how reframing fear can change your life. [23:00] We talk about the trap of setting too many goals, plus Michael explains how to avoid it. [25:44] We dig into how you can avoid letting your past trip you up. [32:25] Final words of wisdom from Hyatt. EPISODE RESOURCES "Achieve What Matters in 2017: The 8 Strategies Super-Successful People Are Using Now to Accomplish More Next Year"   Here's some additional information about Michael and our conversation: Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World Michael Hyatt is one of the world's top business bloggers and most sought-after speakers. He is the founder and CEO of Michael Hyatt & Company, a multi-million dollar online leadership development company which provides events, online training, and other useful tools for high achievers. As a success coach, Hyatt helps others remove the roadblocks to their success, and intentionally move towards achieving their dreams. His blog is ranked by Google in the top 0.5% of all blogs. It is no wonder that his powerful book Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World hit the top bestseller lists. A concise roadmap for anyone who wants to use social media to build a business, the pages of this highly reviewed book contain Hyatt's step-by-step plan for building a powerful platform. He discusses why, with social media, this is the best time in history to get noticed. From personal experience, Hyatt advises, "It has never been easier, less expensive, or more possible than right now." 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever Hyatt's video course concept was born out of a personal assessment that he began in his own life in the year 2000. He made it a practice to take the time between Christmas and New Year's Day to ask himself one question, "How can I make the upcoming year the best year ever?" Looking at his personal life, business, health, finances, goals, and dreams, Hyatt formulated a plan to make the upcoming year the best one ever. He continues the practice every year. The assessment works so well for him that he decided to share the idea with others to help them do the same. Most people drift from one year to the next and wonder where the ti...

Stephen offers a review of Randall Wallace's new book, Living the Braveheart Life: Finding the Courage to Follow Your Heart. [custom_font font_family='Open Sans' font_size='11' line_height='26' font_style='none' text_align='left' font_weight='300' color='' background_color='' text_decoration='none' text_shadow='no' padding='0px' margin='0px']Image courtesy of Thomas Nelson Publishing[/custom_font]  

Many pastors and leaders feel the call to write. Perhaps there is a desire that stirs within you to steward the message God has given you through writing. Where do you start? How do you craft your message? Should you write a book? If so, how do you navigate the publishing industry? These are a few of the questions Gabe Jenkins and Allen Arnold will discuss in their session, "The Call to Write." Gabe has served on the pastoral staff at New Life for the past ten years and is the author of the book, "Deep Waters: God's Invitation To Go Deeper." Allen currently oversees all of the content and resources for Ransomed Heart ministries, and previously spent 20 years as an executive at Thomas Nelson Publishing

In this episode of the Inside Social Media podcast, I talk with NY Times Bestselling Author and host of the top-rated podcast “This is Your Life,” Michael Hyatt. Michael is also the former Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, one of the largest publishing companies in the US, he was recently named one of […] The post ISM 045: Why Businesses Can’t Afford NOT to Do Social Media with Michael Hyatt appeared first on Rick Mulready.

In this episode of the Inside Social Media podcast, I talk with NY Times Bestselling Author and host of the top-rated podcast “This is Your Life,” Michael Hyatt. Michael is also the former Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, one of the largest publishing companies in the US, he was recently named one of... The post ISM 045: Why Businesses Can’t Afford NOT to Do Social Media with Michael Hyatt appeared first on RickMulready.com.

I received a fat envelope from St Jude Children Research Hospital this weekend. It is one of several I have received this year after we chose to financially support their efforts. Each one we receive includes free gifts such as a notepad or personalized address labels. These gifts are included with their request for support because St Jude understands the Law of Reciprocity. Please understand that I trust St Jude and I am not offended by their actions or feel I am being manipulated. They understand that they dramatically increase the chance of raising money if they act out in kindness first. Reciprocity is responding to one positive action with another positive action. “One of the most potent of the weapons of influence around us is the rule for reciprocation. The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us.” ~ Robert B. Cialdini, Author of Influence; The Psychology of Persuasion How does this principle apply to you and your success? Instead of worrying so much about what you need, focus on how you can add value to your customer. I had the opportunity to hear Michael Hyatt, author and former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, speak at Dan Miller's September Innov48 event. He referred to the 20:1 rule from his best selling book Platform; Get Noticed in a Noisy World. “It represents a ratio. It means that you have to make twenty relational deposits for every marketing withdrawal. If you want to build a social media platform – one where people listen to you – you must be a giver, not a taker.” ~ Michael Hyatt 2 Corinthians 9:6 – Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Have you ever felt the slightest amount of guilt when you take those free samples at Sam's and Costco and then walk away without buying? Just saying. Have a great week! Pierce

Warriors, today were talking about the World of Promise CD collection of Thomas Nelson Publishing. We started using the CD's a few months ago in Mother Superior's Bible Study class. I thought it would be nice if she would elaborate on the product as well as to hear from a few of those in the class. Getting their point of view as well. So be sure to tune in and check out this broadcast of the Christian Warrior Network, here on Celtic Cross Radio.

Back after Christmas break San Juan, CA: You can have a Bible Study in your home Rupert Murdoch: But just try having one without paying me Sweden: It's OK if your Bible study consists of file swapping Canada: But with only one spouse Geron Corporation: We suggest a study on stem cells

Back after Christmas break San Juan, CA: You can have a Bible Study in your home Rupert Murdoch: But just try having one without paying me Sweden: It's OK if your Bible study consists of file swapping Canada: But with only one spouse Geron Corporation: We suggest a study on stem cells

Tuesday May 4th at 1030am ET, Burke welcomes to the WAMS microphones best selling author Tim Downs. Perhaps best known for his "Bugman" series of novels, Tim's latest novel WONDERS NEVER CEASE goes in a completely different direction. It's a medical mystery featuring on a famous actress, a sneaky nurse, a corrupt agent and a little girl who sees angels. Even Oprah Winfrey makes an appearance in WONDERS NEVER CEASE, available this month from Thomas Nelson Publishing. Call in with your questions for Tim, and don't miss this fascinating conversation!