Podcasts about toastmasters

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Quang Pham went from being a 10-year-old refugee airlifted out of Vietnam to becoming a Marine pilot, and the CEO of a NASDAQ-listed biotech company. In this conversation, he shares the exact lessons that guided each transition.   Key insight: On decision-making: “As a young officer, we were taught to make decisions… there's not enough time to consult with everybody. You gotta make a decision to keep moving and then adjust along the way.” This became his foundational leadership principle across sectors. On capital discipline: “In the private sector and entrepreneurial world, resources are scarce… you have to treat it with the utmost respect and spend it wisely.” Military spending habits do not translate to startups. On performance and promotion: “You work hard, but you have to produce results.” Early in his corporate career, he assumed promotions would come automatically. They did not. On defining success: “You have to follow and pursue what makes you happy. Not what your family or your culture or society wants.” As a Vietnamese refugee, choosing the military was going against all cultural expectations. On raising capital without pedigree: “I lacked the skills to present to venture capitalists… so I spent a lot of time at Toastmasters picking up new speaking skills.” Within 90 days of leaving his corporate job, he secured venture funding as a first-time CEO. On pitch strategy: “You have to get to the key points… in the first seven or ten minutes, if not sooner.” Investors have limited attention. He focused his pitch on buyer, payment frequency, and execution, not theoretical market size. On cold outreach: “It was just three sentences. Who I was, what my company did, something about our common [background].” This approach led to two successful VC rounds. On leadership transitions: “I knew that I had the skills and the backing and that the baton had to be passed… the company flourished and I was then just a shareholder.” Founders must be willing to step aside to scale. On AI and decision-making: “There is somebody making decisions for AI, the decision to use AI, the decision to pay for AI… at the end of the day, we still need entrepreneurs and leaders.” This episode offers practical reflections for those navigating leadership transitions, capital formation, and decision-making in complex, resource-constrained settings.   Get Quang's new book here: https://quangxpham.com/   Here are some free gifts for you:   Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

In this Episode: This podcast from "Achieve Results NOW!" with Mark Cardone and Theron Feidt focuses on troubleshooting goals when things don't go as planned. They use the analogy of a printer that "should" work but doesn't, relating it to how goals sometimes fail despite our best efforts. Three key steps to troubleshoot your goals: 1. Run a Systems Check: Re-evaluate Your "Why": This initial step emphasizes the importance of understanding your motivation for a goal. By deeply exploring "why" you want to achieve something, you can gain clarity and renewed drive. The hosts suggest that sometimes, this re-evaluation might even lead you to postpone or scrap a goal if it's no longer aligned with your core values or priorities. They highlight the concept of creating leverage by involving others or making commitments, which can increase your motivation to follow through. 2. Pinpoint the Specific Obstacle: Identify Error Messages: This step encourages listeners to act like a troubleshooter looking for an error message. Instead of blaming external factors, the hosts urge listeners to look inward and identify specific internal obstacles, often related to bad habits. They suggest that many obstacles are a result of our own behaviors and routines, emphasizing that these habits can affect multiple areas of life, not just the goal in question.   3. Software Update: Learn and Adapt: The final step is about personal growth and change. This involves adjusting your thinking, learning from past mistakes, and adapting your approach. The hosts stress that if you remain the same person, you'll likely encounter the same problems. They encourage listeners to challenge negative self-talk and ingrained mindsets, particularly around time management. Additionally, they suggest identifying skill gaps and actively working to improve them, using examples like public speaking and joining groups like Toastmasters. The hosts conclude by recommending finding a trusted person who can provide honest feedback and help you identify your blind spots. ARN Suggested Reading: Blessings In the Bullshit: A Guided Journal for Finding the BEST In Every Day – by Mark Cardone & Theron Feidt https://www.amazon.com/Blessings-Bullshit-Guided-Journal-Finding/dp/B09FP35ZXX/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=blessings+in+the+bullshit&qid=1632233840&sr=8-1 Full List of Recommended Books: https://www.achieveresultsnow.com/readers-are-leaders   Question: 1.   Do you have a question you want answered in a future podcast? 2.   Go to www.AchieveResultsNow.com to submit. Connect with Us: Get access to some of the great resources that we use at: www.AchieveResultsNow.com/success-store www.AchieveResultsNow.com www.facebook.com/achieveresultsnow www.twitter.com/nowachieve Thank you for listening to the Achieve Results NOW! Podcast.  The podcast that gives you immediate actions you can take to start seeing life shifting results NOW!

I always enjoy having the opportunity to speak with business professionals and leaders. Fidel Guzman not only is such a professional, but he also works in the corporate training arena teaching his company's employees and leaders about leadership and continuous improvement. Fidel comes by his talents honestly. He grew up in an environment where he needed to learn and grow. He secured a Bachelor's degree and an MBA both from Northeastern Illinois University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Fidel started out wanting to be a kindergarten teacher, but he ended up taking a different road. He went to work for a company where he helped people progress within various industries. The company he worked for was bought by ION Group in Chicago, IL. Fidel flourished and became the Manager of Internal Training for the company. Mr. Guzman is quite adaptable and can train people within the organization even though they may well have their own expertise in different industries. Fidel and I talk about everything from leadership, the future of corporate training and we even take time to explore how AI is and will become more a part of his work and the work we all do. When not working Fidel has various outside activities. His most loved efforts go, of course, into being part of a family. He also serves as Vice President of Education for Toastmasters International. He loves to be involved in Mixed Martial Arts. He keeps quite busy at a variety of activities and clearly loves the challenges he gets to address along the way. About the Guest: Fidel Guzman is a dynamic and enthusiastic Learning & Develoment professional with a proven track record in instructional design, project management, and training development. With a Master of Business Administration from Northeastern Illinois University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, Fidel has consistently demonstrated his commitment to excellence and continuous improvement. His extensive experience spans various industries, including finance, telecommunications, and fitness, showcasing his versatility and adaptability. Currently serving as the Manager of Internal Training at ION Group in Chicago, IL. Fidel and his small but mighty team facilitate onboarding programs and training initiatives for over 13,000 employees globally. He has experience developing comprehensive new hire onboarding curricula and career progression pathways for multiple departments, ensuring effective and innovative learning solutions. Fidel's leadership extends beyond his professional role, as he actively participates in numerous company committees focused on community volunteer events, work-life balance education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Fidel's passion for personal and professional development is evident in his certifications, including “Creating a Coaching Culture” from SHRM and “Coaching Skills for Leaders and Managers” from PMI. Fluent in both Spanish and English, he leverages his bilingual skills to connect with a diverse audience. Outside of his professional endeavors, Fidel enjoys podcasting, judo, triathlons, hiking, and poetry, reflecting his well-rounded and adventurous spirit. In addition to his professional achievements, Fidel has a strong commitment to volunteerism and community involvement. He is serving as the Vice President of Education for Toastmasters International and has been an MMA class instructor and coordinator at St. Bruno Elementary. His dedication to helping others is further demonstrated through his role as an academic tutor at Berwyn Public Library. Ways to connect with Fidel: (1) Fidel Guzman, MBA | LinkedIn New Podcast- The Hero in the Mirror on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/44xD76FcF5YFMNyuigFmBm?si=2so3OWJdQby6F91ZaY1AUg The Hero in the Mirror also on Youtube: (3) HerointheMirror - YouTube About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Greetings, everyone. I am Michael Hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet, and today we get to do the unexpected. And of course, what the unexpected is is anything that doesn't have anything to do with inclusion or diversity. So that's most things you know, in a lot of ways. Anyway, our guest today is Fidel, and am I pronouncing it right? Guzman, yes, you got it. Oh, my goodness. Comes from listening to Guzman's who play baseball. Okay, I'll take that. That's a way. So Fidel reached out to me some time ago. We're going to be doing some speaking to his company ion. But in the meanwhile, I also convinced him that he had to come on unstoppable mindset and talk with us, tell us about himself, tell us a lot about what he does and why he does it, and help to contribute to our general theme, which is that we're all more unstoppable than we think we are, and we usually underrate ourselves. So we we try to improve by discovering that more people are unstoppable than we think they are, and that we thought they were. So that works out. Well, Fidel has a degree in business. He has a Masters of Business Administration. You graduated sigma cum laude, which is pretty cool. And I did cum laude, but I didn't get to do sigma or Magna, but that's okay, but that's okay anyway. Fidel, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Fidel Guzman ** 02:56 Michael, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.   Michael Hingson ** 03:00 Well, my pleasure, and I'm looking forward to to chatting and talking about some businessy things and anything else that you want to talk about. So let's start this way. It's always fun to do this. Why don't we start by you telling us kind of, maybe, about the early Fidel growing up and some of that stuff, and what got you started down the road of life as it were.   Fidel Guzman ** 03:20 Yeah, yeah, that's all right, yeah, let's let's go back. Let's go back to where it all started,   Michael Hingson ** 03:25 long time ago,   Fidel Guzman ** 03:30 definitely. So I'm born and raised in Los Angeles, Compton, Huntington Park area. I come from Mexican parents. They they they came here to the United States to give their their family a better future. Some first generation Mexican American, very proud. So actually, we do have a little diversity in here on this call. Oh, good. There we go. Yeah. So first generation Mexican American, my family traveled a lot when I was young. My dad's a truck driver, so wherever there was work, he would take us along. So we grew up and raised Los Angeles. I was seven or eight, then we ended up going to Mexico for a couple years, in Dallas, then St Louis, and then we ended up here in Chicago, here in the Midwest. Wow. Winter, the winters here were a bit surprising and tough. When I was in elementary school, I remember the first snow that I saw. It was, it was beautiful. After two weeks, I was like, All right, when is it? When is it gonna go away? And I was in for the the rude awakening that it's gonna it's gonna stick around for, for a few months or so, yeah, but I've had, you know, since then here, here in Chicago, we started to grow our roots. And I have five brothers and a sister. So I have a big family, a big Hispanic family, and I went to high school. My freshman year, I went to Lane Tech. Tech for all my folks who are familiar with the Chicagoland area. And then I ended up going to transferring over to Morton West in Berwyn. After I graduated high school, I went to Northeastern Illinois University, my alma mater, I got my undergrad in business management and marketing, and also got my Masters in Business Administration. So I am a proud double alumni from Northeastern Illinois University, and I really owe this, this community of Northeastern Illinois University, a lot with respect to the great teachers that they have there, the community that they try to build, and the friends and that I made along the way, as well as the education, of course, that helped, really helped me expand my career opportunities. After I graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with my undergrad, I started my first real corporate role inside of backstop solutions. And backstop solutions was a still, you know, it was a great company to be a part of lots of mentors. If I can, actually, I would like to give a quick shout out to a few mentors that I had along the way, such as Deanne Falk, Richard fu our CEO, our legacy CEO, Clint Coghill, Sarah Schroeder, and the current head of learning and development under ion. Alexander Lloyd and I really want to thank them for all their mentorship and leadership, because it's really helped me get and grow to the person that I am today. So with that, yeah, I am the manager of internal training at ion. We came I came in via an acquisition, when backstop was acquired, and throughout that period, like I was, I had some some free time, so to say, and ended up getting my Masters in Business Administration.   Michael Hingson ** 06:48 And so along the way, did you get yourself married and all that? Oh, my   Fidel Guzman ** 06:52 wife is going to kill me. Yes. Along the way, sorry about that. No, yeah, yeah, of course, yeah. Can't forget, can't forget about those significant others. But yes, I am married. My wife has a master's in occupational therapy, so she's in the medical field, and I'm in, like, the business learning and development side of things, so our conversations are pretty interesting, as well as our perspectives on things. I also have a daughter. She's 16, going on 17 people are usually very surprised when I tell them the age of my daughter, but had her early when I was in my early 20s, so young dad and she was a blessing. I wouldn't, wouldn't have it any other way.   Michael Hingson ** 07:33 That's that is great. Why did you decide to go into business and study business in college.   Fidel Guzman ** 07:42 So interestingly enough, when I got into college, I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. I wanted to be cool Mr. Guzman, because I also really I love kids. I love working with kids. I was also a mixed martial arts program coordinator and instructor at an elementary school on the south side of Chicago for three years, and that was during my undergrad. And I taught all grades kindergarten through eighth grade, some of the basics in boxing, wrestling, jiu jitsu and kickboxing, so a bit of both. But as I was going through through my clinicals, as I was going through the the Yeah, the education aspect of it, I ended up wanting to switch majors. So I was like, I was like, hey, there's probably a lot more opportunity, a lot more opportunity for growth inside of the business segment. So I ended up switching my majors to business management, marketing, and somehow learning just found its way back into my life. So a lot of the stuff that I learned from some of those, those preliminary courses in in education. I mean, still, still resonate to this day, right? Understand your audience. Understand which students are visual learners, which ones are experiential learners. Which one need more repetitive exercise to to drill something in? So, yeah, the universe did not, did not lead me too far away from, from from teaching and being an instructor, and here I am. I know   Michael Hingson ** 09:08 that feeling well. So a couple things. First of all, I was born in Chicago, but we moved to California when I was five, but in Chicago, you start kindergarten at the age of four. So I went for a year to a special kindergarten class that my parents and others advocated for, for premature, blind kids, because there were a whole bunch in the Chicago area during the whole baby boomer area, a number of children were born prematurely and given a pure oxygen environment, which caused them to lose their eyesight. And so the bottom line is that happened to me among others. And so I went to the Perry school. I don't even know if it's around anymore. Somebody told me it wasn't around anymore, but that's where I went to school. And went there for a year of kindergarten, learned braille and other things. And then we moved to California. So I always wanted to be a teacher as well, and I came at teaching from a different standpoint, as you did. That is to say, Well, I wanted to be a teacher. My first job out of college wasn't directly teaching, except I ended up having to write training materials and do other things like that, and then I ended up going into sales, and what I learned is that the best sales people are really teachers. They're counselors. They guide and they help people, especially when you're dealing with major account sales, they help people look at products. They teach about what their product does and the really good sales people are brave enough to admit when their product might not be the best fit for someone, because it's also all about building trust. And good teachers are concerned about building trust as well. Of course.   Fidel Guzman ** 10:57 Yeah, one of my teachers when I was close to graduating, you know, one of the things that you know this teacher, Dr funk, if I remember correctly, he instilled in us, if you're able to synthesize what you learned and explain it to a five year old, you've done a good job. Like you, you you yourself understand that particular concept or that particular topic. And I really took that to heart. So now, you know, and a lot of these roles, if, from the the main instructor, I want and need to be able to explain it, you know, to my kid, to explain it in in simple terms. And, of course, you know, expand on it if needed. But, but   Michael Hingson ** 11:40 it ultimately comes down to you can provide all the information you want, but they have to teach themselves, really, and they're not going to do that, and they're not going to listen to you if they don't trust you. So trust is a vital part of what we do,   Fidel Guzman ** 11:56 exactly spot on,   Michael Hingson ** 11:58 and I have found that that developing that trust is so extremely important. I learned a lot about trust from working with guide dogs, right from the very first guide dog that I obtained back in 1964 when I was 14. It was all about building a team and I and although I didn't know how to really externally, say it necessarily, until many years later, internally, I understood that my job was to build a relationship and that I was going to be the team leader, and needed to be able to gain trust, as well as trust my teammate in in what we did. So worked out pretty well, though. So, you know, I was that was pretty cool. So what does ion do? What is ion?   Fidel Guzman ** 12:49 Yeah, I yeah for sure. So ion is a essentially, you can, you can think of it as a software company for the investment community. We provide a number of different platforms for them to streamline their processes and track information, or be end users of that of data.   Michael Hingson ** 13:07 So people buy your software and do what   Fidel Guzman ** 13:11 they can either leverage the data that's being provided to them, or they can include data within specific platforms.   Michael Hingson ** 13:20 Are you starting to see that this whole concept of so called AI is valuable in what you do, or, as I am working with that yet,   Fidel Guzman ** 13:30 yes, definitely, we are big on streamlining processes and making sure that we're maximizing the best use of everyone's time, and AI really has a really important component in that. So for for learning and development, one of the ways that we're using AI is for content creation, so whether it's just creating a simple outline for a course or starting to use that to create slides, but there, we're also taking a look at the way AI can be used on a regular basis to provide feedback for reps like let's say someone finishes a demo. If they want to do some self reflection, they can leverage AI to get some feedback on what worked well what didn't. Was there enough engagement? How was my use of technology, so on and so forth. So not only is AI being used from, you know, creating content, but also as, like a ad hoc instructor and and way to generate feedback,   Michael Hingson ** 14:31 well, and it offers so much versatility, you can really have it go many different ways. So it is very possible it can be an instructor, as you say, an ad hoc instructor, but it really can present its information in a good teaching way too. So you can have conversations with it. You can do the same sorts of things that you would do with a teacher. I think that AI clearly, is here to stay, but I think. Think over time, AI is going to evolve a lot. I am not of the opinion that AI will replace people for a variety of reasons, but I think that it's here and it's up to us to be smart as to how we use it.   Fidel Guzman ** 15:14 Definitely. I think one of the the tips that we always give people is AI does a really great job of a number of different things, but it's always going to need that human touch at the end of at the end of the day. So don't just take don't just take some content that AI has created and take it to heart. Make sure to review it. Make sure to put that personal touch on there and have it speak your language. Have it really resonate with the audience as well, especially that, oh, go ahead. Or also just on Super mechanical, super scripted,   Michael Hingson ** 15:49 well, and I think as AI grows, it's going to try to emulate, or we're going to use it to try to emulate people more and more, but it still isn't going to get to the point where it truly is me or you, and we do have to put our mark on it. I've used it to help create several articles, and what I've done when I do that is I'll tell it what I want it to write about, and let it do it, and it comes up with some pretty good ideas that I incorporate into the article, that I create, between what it provides and what I add to the mix. And it really should be that way. Exactly what I've really found interesting is the number of people like in classrooms, who say teachers, who say, you know, it's really harder and harder and harder to tell when a student uses AI to write a paper or if the student is doing it themselves. And the first time I heard that, immediately, my idea of what to do was something like this, let the student use AI if they want to, let the have ai do the whole paper. What you ought to do is to have one day after all the students turn their papers in, where you bring each student up to the front of the class and say, defend your paper. Now you have one minute if they don't really know, yeah. I mean, if they don't know what's going on, then they're not going to be able to do very well, and they fail.   Fidel Guzman ** 17:19 Yes, I am a big proponent of comprehensive exercises and also public speaking. How well? How well can you articulate the thought that you gave in that paper? Right? Some of those different talking points, right? Can you convey the same message in front of the classroom?   Michael Hingson ** 17:38 Yeah, and, and, you can tell if a person is just not necessarily a great public speaker, they're nervous, as opposed to whether they know the subject. And those, in a sense, are two different things. But you can use the fact that students are at the front of the classroom to help make them better speakers, too, which is a good thing.   Fidel Guzman ** 17:59 Yeah, no, yeah. I agree with you. If they are using AI, just, you know, turn around a paper, have them present in front of the classroom. Yeah, let's, let's talk a bit more about your paper, yeah, and, and really have it be an interactive exercise. I think that's really where the end goal is going to be, now that AI has really taken over the way the classroom dynamic has changed. So having more of those interactive exercises, really taking a look at comprehension, whether somebody really understands that topic, and giving giving students and an audience an opportunity to discuss, how do we how do we create a hive mind mentality around this particular topic, especially in a classroom, right whether, whether that's in a school setting, in academia, or whether that's in a corporate setting, inside of an office.   Michael Hingson ** 18:54 Several months ago, we had a guest on unstoppable mindset, who's an executive leadership coach in Northern California who was a major proponent of AI. And when he worked with companies, and especially with presidents and leaders who were stuck on how we evolve and how we grow, he would bring AI into all those meetings, and one day he was dealing with one such situation where he told the president, you got to use you ought to use AI to get some great ideas. The President took that to heart, called his senior leadership staff in and said, take the rest of this day and create ideas about how you think we ought to do things better, and so on, and use AI to do it. And when everyone came in the next day, they had a lot of innovative and creative ideas, and all loved the fact that he encouraged them to use AI. And that led to. Us having a discussion about, is AI going to really take over the jobs that people do? And both of us agreed, no, AI won't. Ai can't replace anyone. We can fire somebody and then put AI in their place, which doesn't really work well. But what is a better thing is let ai do what it does well. So example that he gave was say, you have autonomous vehicles. As autonomous vehicles become more and more prevalent, like trucks that are delivering supplies, like shipping vehicles and so on, let the autonomous vehicle drive, but the driver needs to still be in the cabin and needs to be behind the wheel, even though they're not doing anything, because they are going to let the autonomous vehicle do what it can do. But you can give those people other assignments to do for the company that will keep them busy and do things that otherwise might not be done quite as efficiently. So the bottom line is, you keep people busy, you use the autonomous vehicle, and it's a win win situation all the way around.   Fidel Guzman ** 21:08 Yeah, great. I I've heard something very similar to that, and maybe if I can, if I can synthesize this, it's going to be that we want to remove manual task out of people's times, and we want them to focus on more higher value add activities. Do   Michael Hingson ** 21:29 you think that's fair? I think that's true. Isaac Asimov, years ago, the science fiction writer, wrote a really wonderful science fiction story about a young man who lived in a society where everyone had a particular job to do, and you were matched with your talents. And so there you you're you take a test when you're, like, eight years old and or or even younger, and that starts you down the road of what it is you're supposed to do for the whole country. And then you take another test several years later, and that locks you into what you're trained to do. So you always do the same task, but you do it well, because that's what you're trained to do. Well, this kid was in the whole process taking his tests, and he just wasn't comfortable with what was going on. And eventually he ran away. And what, you know, he he took the last test, apparently they looked at him kind of funny when they looked at the results and he didn't like what was going on. And he just left. He said, I'm not going to do this. I don't, I don't. I don't want to be an engineer. I don't want to do whatever it is that they want. And they eventually caught up with him, and they caught him, and they said, Why'd you run away? And he told them, and then said, No, you don't understand what just happened. Some people in society are the people who create the tests, create the processes, and don't get trained to do a specific thing, because they're the innovators and the inventors that keep society going, and you're one of those kids, and this was like, what, 50 years ago that he wrote that? So it's, it is, it is really interesting, but, but very true and, and the reality is, we can be as creative as we choose to be, and some people are more creative than others, but there are always tasks that we can find for anyone to do, and that will make them very happy,   23:40 absolutely, definitely.   Michael Hingson ** 23:42 So it works out. You know, it does work out really well. Well, a question for you. You have a leadership philosophy, needless to say, and you lead a lot in instructional design, what, what are the core principles, or what are the things that kind of make up how you teach leadership, and what it is that you teach people to do, and how do you go about team development?   Fidel Guzman ** 24:13 Yeah, I think some of the core principles that I that I really focus on with learning and development and instructional design. Number one, it has to be collaboration. It really does take a community to put some some really good training sessions and training opportunities in place, and it's really leveraging all the expertise from different subject matter experts. Give them a chance to share their perspectives and their insights on certain things, but also, really, just to enhance, you know, the the use of these training programs, because people are more keen to listen to like, oh yeah, this guy's a subject matter he's an expert in this particular. Their space and for them to to hop on. So I think that collaboration aspect is, you know, getting the Lean In from managers like, hey, this training is important. Your employees are going to benefit from this training, whether it's just for to develop their their education, to develop their career, whatever that may look like. But I want to say one of the, the first guiding principles is going to have to be collaboration. The second one is going to have to be most likely continuous improvement. As we start to roll out a lot of these different training sessions, whether it's public speaking, whether it's product training, whether it's industry training, if we roll it out, we keep our ear to the ground and make sure that we're receptive to the feedback. We take a look at what works well, what doesn't work well, what needs to be tailored. How can we, how can we also manage this across different time zones? So ion is super global company, I want to say, over 13,000 employees in over 13 plus countries. So also managing what those training programs look like for everyone, for everyone, across the board. So besides the collaboration, besides the continuous improvements or the I like to also say that the Kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, right, making those small improvements, the last one I want to say is going to be innovation. How can we incorporate, right? We were talking about AI. How can we incorporate some of these ladies, latest tech trends into what our training delivery looks like, whether it's something as simple as, how do we include more polls throughout a lecture to keep people engaged and participate? How do we include knowledge checks at the end of every session to make sure that people are walking away with some of the key takeaways. So, yeah, collaboration, continuous improvement and innovation. Yeah, how do we stay innovative and stay creative? I think having having some fun, staying creative along the way Definitely, definitely resonates with your audience as you're trying to do different things and trying to keep things as engaging and and fun as possible.   Michael Hingson ** 27:06 What do you say to someone who says, Look, I've really learned all I need to learn. I'm not really interested in learning anything new. That is, I know, isn't that? Yeah, but you hear it a lot, I'm sure, or too much. I   Fidel Guzman ** 27:22 think some people get comfortable right, like, Hey, I'm comfortable with what I know. And learning does require a certain level of mental energy, and it also requires a certain level of you being willing to take on a new challenge, to take on and learn something new. So to them, I would genuinely ask, what's your interest? How can we supplement what this interest looks like? You know, what are your interests in other avenues? And I think that will plant a seed to let them know that learning and development should be something learning, right? Just learning in general, it should be something that you should do throughout your life. I recently started a podcast called the hero in the mirror, and I wanted to take a moment and actually, thank you, Michael. I don't know if you remember our initial conversation. But we were talking, we were talking about, you had asked me, What ideas do you have? What are you working on? Are you working on, any books, any podcasts? And I had mentioned, I was like, Hey, I actually have an idea for a podcast. And you pause for a moment, and you were like, what's stopping it? Yeah, and it was, it was kind of like, it kind of took me back. I'm like, What? What is stopping me? Right? And sometimes, and in coaching, we call it interference, like you're you probably have a fear of failure. You have a fear that something's not going to go right, or this task seems enormous, that you don't know where to start. Yeah, so making small, small mental changes, making small steps, I think, definitely add up. Since then, Michael, I've had I've had three episodes. I've had some great guests hop on and share their story of resilience and triumph. And as I'm starting to do more episodes, I'm I'm hearing stories of people willing to have that, that mindset of, I want to continue to learn, I want to continue to expand on the person that I am and make myself well rounded in these different, different areas. So So, long story short, if somebody says I don't, I don't need to learn anything, there's always room for growth. There's always room for interest, what, what interests you, and how? And how can we follow that interest and and supplement it with some some training content.   Michael Hingson ** 29:49 I know, for me, I'm extremely comfortable with what I know, and I'm extremely comfortable with what I've learned, but I'm also very uncomfortable in knowing there's a lot of stuff I don't know and that i. Still need to learn. So I love to learn right from the very beginning, when I first discovered the internet, I regarded it and still do, no matter what there is with the dark web and everything else, I think the internet is a treasure trove of information, and it's so fun to discover new things online. And there's so many ways to go. We've got so many places where we can go get books that we never had access to before all of us. There's so many places where we can go to learn about organizations, about people. They're just so many wonderful things, and it's only one way, because I also think there is a lot to be said for real personal interactions, but I think the internet is a wonderful treasure trove that gives us the opportunity to learn a whole lot that we don't necessarily know about, subjects that we don't know anything about.   Fidel Guzman ** 30:55 The Internet is a double sided sword. It is. You can find information that will support right? Maybe you know an opinion that you have on the other side of that, you can find lots of information that does not support independent opinion that you have. And also it's a rabbit hole. Soon as you start going out that rabbit hole. But the one thing I do appreciate from the internet is the channels of communication that it's built. Yeah, and I'm appreciative of being able to have connected with you on LinkedIn, and that's turned out to us having this podcast here today.   Michael Hingson ** 31:34 I think that for me, I'm not as interested on going online and in finding something to change an opinion as much as I am finding something that will tell me about something that I didn't know as much about. Now I might change my opinion from what I thought it might be, but I I really love to try to really get as much as possible into dealing with facts or substance to teach me things, and then I'll form my own opinion from that. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. Of course,   Fidel Guzman ** 32:11 gets a good grounding of all the all the materials, synthesize it yourself.   Michael Hingson ** 32:19 Yeah, I think we should do that. I think we have to be the one to synthesize whatever it is we're dealing with. That's That's our responsibility, and that should always be the way it is, which is, and I don't want to get political or anything, but which is one of the reasons that I say any politician who says, Trust me will be the first person I won't trust until I verify. I am a firm believer in trust, but verify. I don't care who it is. I think it's so important that we really take the time every single person needs to take the time to study what's going on, and and, and really look at all sides of something. I think that's important. I listen to newscasts regularly, and I like to listen to newscasts from all sides. Some I find why I don't want to listen to them very much, because of what they do or don't do, but I still think that it's important to really understand all sides of a subject.   Fidel Guzman ** 33:29 Absolutely, I totally agree with you.   Michael Hingson ** 33:32 So you know, I think it is kind of neat to to have that opportunity, and I think we learn so much when we take the time to really study. I'm amazed. I was at a restaurant once, and my wife and I were there. We were talking about newspapers and what we get from newspapers or online, and our waitress came up and Karen said, so do you read the newspaper? And this woman's 30 years old, and she says, No, I don't. I don't have time, you know. And how little she learns, because she doesn't really seek information, which is too bad.   Fidel Guzman ** 34:07 Yep, you people have to be receptive. People have to be receptive to to gaining new bits of information. And sometimes people are just happy knowing like you, like you mentioned earlier, just happy knowing what they're what they know, just comfortable in in their own space, until some more power to that, more more power to them, more power to them,   Michael Hingson ** 34:31 until something happens to disrupt the happiness and surprises them, because they really didn't learn enough to know that that was a possibility. Yep, I never thought I would be doing a podcast, but when the pandemic occurred, I started to learn about it, and learned all the value of it. Now, I had been at our campus radio station at UC Irvine for six years, and I was program director one year, so I understood radio, and when I started learning about podcasts. They went, this is really pretty cool, and I had never thought about it, and had never been interviewed on a podcast, but I realized I know what I can can do with this, and I know that I can sound intelligent on the air. And so I started to learn about it, and here we are now, just today, actually, we published online and in YouTube episode 324 of unstoppable mindset since August of 2021 Congratulations, Michael. Well, thank you. It's a lot of fun. We actually went to two episodes a week in August of 2022 Oh, wow, because we had such a huge backlog. Yeah, and I don't mind having a huge backlog, but it was growing way too much. So we went to two episodes a week, and and it's a lot of fun to to do it. And as and as I love to tell people, for me, the most important thing is I get to learn from every single person who comes on the podcast. It's so neat to be able to do that, of course. So it works out really well. Well for you, what kind of challenges have you faced? What have you done to overcome challenges, and what are some of the biggest challenges you faced, and how you did you deal with them?   Fidel Guzman ** 36:17 Okay, yeah, that's great. That's some of the questions I use on on my podcast, here in the mirror. So I'm on the I'm on the other side of that chair today. Yes, no, it's good. It's good. It's a good question. So I want to say, you know, there are, there are three main, three main challenges that really stand out for me. One I'm very vocal about, and that is my speech impediment, my stuttering problem. It was really bad when I was little kid. I had a speech pathologist. Even now, talking to you on this podcast, I have to be very conscious with what I'm saying. Some of the listeners might might have caught it in the beginning when I get too excited about a particular topic, or if I haven't formulated my thought yet, but the speech impediments is something that has really made public speaking a passion for me. It was hard for me to have a voice when I was a little kid, I used to try to raise my hand and answer a question when I was in elementary school, and the teacher would be like, All right, next one like you had, you had your turn. And so I, you know, I've struggled, you know, to have a voice. I struggled with just completing sentences, and the way that I overcame that is through a speech pathologist that really gave me the confidence to believe in myself. I remember one exercise she gave me one day is she grabbed me from my classroom. She would pick me up from my classroom every Tuesday and Thursday, and she picked me up one day, and I was kind of down in the dumps. I didn't really like going to the class. We weren't really advancing much. And she's like, Hey, we're going to try something different tonight. Different today. She's like, today I'm going to have the order of pizza. And I was still a little little fat kid, like fourth or fifth grade, so I was like, oh, yeah, I'm all for it. What's going on here? And she was like, but the catch is, you need to order this pizza without stuttering. And you know, right away, kind of my heart dropped. And she's like, okay, like, don't, don't worry, we're gonna practice exactly what you want to order. And she's like, What do you want? And I'm like, Well, I want a large pepperoni pizza with an RC, a two liter RC Cola delivered to McPherson Elementary. And she's like, okay. She's like, write it down. I'm like, Alright, great to like, write it down again. I must have written it like, 10 times. She's like, No, now practice it. So about 15 minutes of doing that, she was like, All right, I think you're ready. She hands me the phone and, you know, I pick it up. My heart's in my throat, and I'm just like, like, I'm like, hi, you know, I want to order a large pepperoni pizza with a two liter RC Cola delivered to McPherson elementary for Fidel Guzman, and I was just astonished. I hung up the phone. I was happy for two reasons. Number one, I was going to get some pizza. Number two, I was able to say it a complete, full sentence without stuttering. And she she really believed in me and instilled in me that confidence that I could overcome this. But it wasn't an overnight success. It still required me go going to the speech pathologist, you know, throughout my elementary school, throughout all those years, and even as an adult, continuing to practice and hone that in in high school, doing presentations, in college, doing presentations. So right now, I am the VP of education for our America's Toastmasters Club, and this is one story i i always tell people, and they're like, No, you don't stutter. I'm like, if I get too excited, I'll lower my words. But that was that was one challenge, that was one challenge, and it's. Is it's still something I have to be very conscious of. And I've caught myself a couple times earlier in this podcast where I kind of mumble a little bit or get caught up in a particular word. But besides that one, I want to say that the second one was more of my in college. In college, I struggled paying for school. I mentioned I'm first generation Mexican American, and I was one, one of the first, first of my brothers to attend college full time. And I did all I could to make ends meet, two, three jobs, just paying for tuition. Financial aid was great, you know, it really helped me with a portion of that, but a lot of it really ended up, you know, being due onto me. And then I had my daughter, and it was just a struggle. I was like, How can I be a dad? How can I be a student? How can I work on my career? And I had gone to a financial aid workshop, and the one thing that stood out in this workshop was when they were talking about scholarships granted in high school when you're about to graduate, they talk to you about it, but it doesn't. It doesn't really materialize until you're until you receive that bill. Yeah, you're just like, hey, here's, here's a $2,000 bill for this college class. And you're like, oh, man, this is, this is not, this is not cheap. It's pretty expensive. And the one thing you know that stood out was, you know, let the scholarships, and they started talking about scholarship applications, and I found that there were a couple common denominators with the scholarships. Number one, they wanted two letters of two letters of recommendation. Number two, they want an essay. What are you going to do with your degree? How are you going to make a positive impact in the community? And number three, sometimes, typically an interview. And so I ran with it. I was like, they want two letter, letters of recommendation. They want one essay. They want an interview. No problem. And I made that my part time job. On the weekends, I would just apply, apply, apply. And I started getting some small wins. I started getting a $250 scholarship here, a $500 scholarship there, $1,000 scholarship, you know, here, and all of it started to add up, and it started to gain momentum. And I was lucky enough to get, get, get accepted for a number of different scholarships and complete my my college education, and even, you know, be strong willed enough to go back and do it again and try to try to get my masters. So those were two, two big ones, but I'll pause here and see if you have any questions around those two challenges for me. Michael, no,   Michael Hingson ** 42:41 but I I really admire what you did. You You made a choice and you followed it through. And I think that's of course, the whole issue is that we have to make choices and we need to follow through. And if we find that, we need to refine our decisions. We do that. I know when I was a student and a program director at the university radio station, I wanted everyone to listen to themselves. I thought it was a great idea to have everyone listen to themselves on the air. And the way you do it is you record it and you give it to them. And I didn't anticipate how hard that was going to be, because for me, I was used to doing it for myself, yeah, but I I didn't realize how much resistance I was going to get from literally everyone at the radio station, they were not interested in and I'm thrilled about doing it at all. What I and the engineer at the station did eventually was to put a cassette recorder in a locked cupboard, and whenever the microphone was activated, the recorder would go on. So, you know, you didn't have to hear the music. You just wanted to hear yourself talk. And we, we really took a major step and said, You have to listen to these recordings. We gave each person a cassette. We expect you to listen to these recordings and improve accordingly. What I didn't say much was, I know what it's like. I'm my own worst critic, and I have to listen to it, so you guys do now. I've changed that, and I'll get to it in a second, but we pushed everyone to do it, and it wasn't long, not only before we started seeing improvement, but before the people themselves started recognizing that they were really getting comfortable listening to themselves and that they were taking this to heart, and by the end of the year, we had people who were loving it and wanting their cassette every day or every week, and also a. Some of them went into broadcasting. For me, what I learned, and it took many years before I learned it is I'm not my own worst critic. I shouldn't be negative, as I said earlier, I'm the only one who can really teach me. I'm my own best teacher. And I think when you make that mind shift from being your own worst critic to your own best teacher, it really puts things in a much more positive light. And I've said that before on the podcast, and I will continue to say it, because I think it's a very important   Fidel Guzman ** 45:29 concept. We actually have a similar exercise for our America's Toastmasters Club, where we'll we'll record some speeches, and we'll have people listen back to their recorded speech. And a lot of people say like, man, it's cringe to hear yourself on the on the other side, on the other side of those iPhones, but it is a very useful exercise. You get a better understanding of your your filler words, your eyes, your arms, your vocal variety, your body language. And if you're looking to be a great, I don't want to say public speaker, but if you're just looking just to speak better in general, even when it's an on a presentation, on a call, or if you have to give up a toast at a wedding or a quinceanera, for you to be able to, yeah, critique yourself and gather feedback from your from your own recording   Michael Hingson ** 46:23 well. And the reality is, the more of it you do, and the more you listen to it, having been up there in front giving the speech, you also see how people react. And if you continue to observe and listen to the recordings as you go forward, you will improve, yeah, for sure, which is which is really important. And one of the things that I try to do regularly now is to record talks. When I go and give a speech somewhere, I will record it so that I can listen to it and I enjoy it, because I discover Did I really say that I shouldn't have said it quite that way, but I'll do better next time. But listening to it helps such a tremendous amount,   Fidel Guzman ** 47:13 especially with those filler words. So when you really listen to the recording, you'll be like, Man, I use a lot of likes or SOS or ands or buts, and if you want to speak eloquently, it is, I mean, like anything, you just gotta practice it. You gotta practice it, and you have to be receptive to that, the feedback. And you have to also celebrate the small wins. One thing I am a big proponent on is celebrate the small wins. Yeah. So if you are able to do your your first speech at a Toastmasters clubs like we, we give you tons of accolades, because it is not an easy fit, an easy feat. If you're able to do the second one, even better. You're, you're progressing, and you're, you know, you're increasing your understanding of some of the fundamentals of public speaking. Yeah, so you're preaching to the choir here.   Michael Hingson ** 48:05 Yeah, no, I understand. Oh yeah, it's good, but it is really important to do, and it's fun to do. If you decide to make it fun, and if you decide that you want to become a better communicator there. There are lots of us and all that sort of stuff that people do. I've heard some people say that's really not such a bad thing. Well, I've got to say that I've never really been used to having a lot of us. And you know, there's a guy out here who I don't think he's alive anymore. He used to be a sports announcer out here. His name was Jim Healy, and you may have heard him when, well, out here in Los Angeles, anyway, he was on K lac, and he had somebody, well, he had a recording of somebody, one of the sports jocks, and he announced that he was going to play this recording, and what you're going to hear is this guy in 60 seconds say, you know, 48 times, that's and he did what's amazing, that   Fidel Guzman ** 49:17 when you when you get to Some of those, it's like, what do they say? Nails on a chalkboard? You're like, Oh, yeah. Like, what are you trying to say? Just, just say it. To say, to say the damn thing.   Michael Hingson ** 49:30 Yeah, talk a little bit slower and just say it.   Fidel Guzman ** 49:33 One thing that I'm trying to be conscious, more conscious of is pauses, like those deliberate pauses, those deliberate pauses to collect your thoughts, like I often need, just to collect myself, but also to build suspense the message and the message that you're trying to give, especially when you're in front of a group of people, in front of an audience, and you're pausing there, they're just like, oh, what? So what is he? What is he gonna say next? What's up? What's going on with this pause? So it's also you have this arsenal of tools when it comes to to public speaking and to engage with an audience and to keep them, to keep them interested in what your next thought is going to be. What What am I going to say next? How am I going to, you know, align this topic to something else that I want to discuss.   Michael Hingson ** 50:24 I love, yeah, I've discovered the value of pauses. You can make a pause last too long, and one of the things you learn is how long to make a pause. But I love pauses. They really do add a lot of value. There they get. Well, you talk a lot about continuous improvement, and clearly you you really love the whole concept. What's an example of a project where you instituted continuous improvement, and how do you make that happen? Thanks, Michael.   Fidel Guzman ** 50:56 Let's pause again. Yeah, right. I know. Yeah. All right. Michaels, Michaels, throw me. Well, not much of a curveball, but yeah, no, that's good. So I know continuous improvement. And one project that I worked on, I want to say one that comes to mind is last year I hosted a series of product boot camps. And what these product boot camps really were, were product training and networking opportunities within ion. I had just gone through the acquisition of backstop into the into the ion family, and I saw a need. I saw a need there for some product training. And what I did is I started to coordinate with subject matter experts, hence the collaboration and community principles that I have with learning and development. And started to piece together a boot camp. So a series of training sessions, and we discussed location, we discussed different components that we can include on there. We discussed remote hybrid in person, what some of those options were, and we had about, I want to say, five or six of these boot camps in 2024 and what I noticed is that for each of the boot camps we would tailor it a little bit, because each of these different products that were under specific umbrellas were for certain audiences, you know, for certain segments of the business. So we had to, I had a template, but we had to tweak that template a little bit. Who do we want to come in here? Who do we want to come in for this particular topic? When do we take breaks? If it's in person, you know? Do we take longer breaks if it's in person? How do we include some interactive components to it? How do we test people's knowledge, whether it's through live polls, whether it's using an LMS platform to do knowledge checks? How do we create a certificate based program around this? And for each of those, it was a learning experience. It was a learning experience because we, every subject matter expert, is different, right? You're building different relationships with different people, and even their style of talking or their style of teaching on a particular topic is going to be different. So those continuous improvements throughout each of those boot camps really started to to resonate and just to showcase themselves. And for each of those, we had a similar template for all of them, but we made minor tweaks to make sure that it was as engaging and and thoughtful as possible.   Michael Hingson ** 53:36 Wow. Well, that's pretty cool. Um, and I think that the very fact that you would make the tweaks and you recognize the need to do that was pretty insightful, of course, because for me, I know when I speak, some people early on told me you should write a talk and you should, you should just give that talk. I tried that once. I didn't like what I sounded like when I read a talk, and I haven't done it since. And I also realized that I do better, and sometimes it isn't necessarily a lot, but when I customize every talk so I love to go early and try to hear speakers who speak before me, or get a chance to meet people at an event, because I will learn things invariably that I will put into the talk. And sometimes I'm tweaking talks up to and including the start of the talk, and sometimes I will tweak a talk when I'm speaking and I'm getting the impression just from all the fidgeting, that maybe I'm not getting through to these people, or I'm not really doing this in the best way possible. And I will change until I get what I expect to be the audience. Reaction, because I know what an audience is like when they're fully engaged, and I also know that not every audience is the same, so I hear what you're saying. I think it's important to do that.   Fidel Guzman ** 55:13 Yeah, for you to be able to do that on the fly, kudos, kudos to that. But yeah, we you got to be able to understand that audience, understand that audience, understand what's what's going on, the dynamic of that, of that situation. So you're, you're a veteran at at this, so no surprise there.   Michael Hingson ** 55:31 Well, that's a lot of fun. Well, what do you do when you're not working you, I know you're involved in various activities and so on. So what do you do when you're, yeah, not an eye on writing, doing, training, stuff and all that.   Fidel Guzman ** 55:45 A number of different hobbies. My wife calls me the Energizer Bunny, because I'm always running around doing something, but some of my main things is right now judo. I did wrestling in high school, and I did mixed martial arts when I was getting my undergrad. And I love martial arts. I think iron sharpens iron. It's good to be around a good group of, good group of people, people who are who are like minded, people who are looking to continue to develop themselves. And yeah, if you're in a room full of tough guys, you have no other choice than to start to be a tough guy yourself. So I love martial arts. I did a couple Judo tournaments, judo and jujitsu tournaments last year, where I placed. And let's see, besides that, triathlons, I love to run, I love to bike, I love to swim. I did my first triathlon last year. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a phenomenal experience. I mean, it's two three hours of non stop movement, but it was, it was great just to be part of that, of a huge event like that, besides the martial arts and the constant running and swimming and biking, the last thing I want to say is writing and poetry. I have started to compile all all my poems. Hopefully, in the next year or so, I'll, I'll launch a small book of poems. And, yeah, I'll keep you, I'll keep you posted on that. But I do, I do like to write on the sign, you know, hopefully a book of poems. And, you know, since since having my daughter, I've always liked children's books. I would, I would love it if I could launch my my own series of children books, and I'm working on a couple templates with that. So, yeah, stay staying busy, staying busy, physically active, but also mentally   Michael Hingson ** 57:40 active. So you haven't written any books yet. I have a   Fidel Guzman ** 57:44 couple ideas, a couple ideas of what, what kids books want to do, but you don't have any books published yet? No, none yet. None yet. Well, we're anxious to see that happen. You got, you got it, you're gonna, you're gonna light that fire. You're gonna light that fire as well. No, and again, right? I do appreciate you for for really, really motivating me to start my own podcast, because you had really said, like, what's stopping you? Like, like me, I'm stopping myself, you know. But even yet, yeah, even like, you know, being an author, I know that you're an author, you know, I would love to have a conversation offline with you. You know what that publishing experience was like, because I think that's my biggest interference right now with that, is like, I don't know where to start with the publishing. I know I can self publish. I know I can go through publishers and like, the internet, like we said, a double sided sword, yeah, you have information that tells you you should just self publish, and then you have other bits of information. Was like, You should go through a publishing company and just like, where do I Where do I choose? But I think that's why having mentors, you know, and getting to network with people who are experienced, such as yourself, and these different avenues of public speaking and being a keynote speaker and having a podcast, being a podcast host and being an author. I think, I think it's great, and you are definitely an inspiration to me. Michael, well, thank you.   Michael Hingson ** 59:11 You're familiar with Jackson Hewitt, the accounting and tax company. You got it? Okay? So I can't remember whether it was night, whether it was 2016 or 2017 but I got invited to go speak at one of their events, and I did. And while I was there, I met a woman, and I didn't know what she did, and she she, she worked at a Jackson Hewitt, and I just happened to say, what do you own of a firm? Because most of the people there were supposed to be company owners. And she said, No, maybe someday. And I said, why not? You ought to own a company. You ought to you ought to become a company owner. You'll go further Anyway, last year, she sent me an email, and she said, I've never forgotten that, and I think it was like a year later, or two years later, she's. After I and she met, she said, I got my first company, and I now own 10 branches. Wow. Back, I said, that's pretty cool. Oh,   Fidel Guzman ** 1:00:09 Michael, Michael, you are just making ripples in the universe. Just ripples doing something. Yeah, that's good. I don't want to get too religious, but you're doing God's work, man, well,   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:18 I hope so. You know, expect Hill. Hill. Guy, guide, or she'll guide, yeah, but so what do you think is the future of work, of workplace training and learning?   Fidel Guzman ** 1:00:30 Yeah, I think we, we touched a little bit upon this. But you know, AI, you know, definitely, how can we leverage AI for content creation, creating outlines and also using it as feedback. But I also want to to bring back the the in person training. I know we've all gotten very comfortable with, you know, doing stuff remote, but similar to the example that we talked about earlier, where that teacher was like, oh, all these, all these kids are using AI for these papers, and how do I really test their comprehension? That's, that's something you know, that in person activity, yeah, I think definitely has a tremendous amount of value, not just for the instructor, but for the end learner. Yeah. So I think, I think a mixture of like, okay, great, you know, how can we use AI to create content? How can we use it to provide, you know, feedback for people to continue to improve on certain areas. But how can we bring back that in person component?   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:38 Well, see, oh, go ahead,   Fidel Guzman ** 1:01:39 yeah, to, to to unify. It was probably that pause, that to to unify, to unify a vision, you know, a vision of of continuous improvement. You know that to unify, that vision of what a team might be aiming for, yeah. So, yeah. So, I think, I think, you know, long story short, it's going to be, you know, leveraging a bit of AI and still bringing back that, that in person aspect. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:05 you know, I I've done virtual presentations as well as, of course, lots of in person presentations. I much prefer in person to virtual but my main reason for that is that I can tell what the audience is feeling. I get a lot more information if I'm doing an in person talk than I would get if I'm just doing a virtual talk. Now I've done it long enough that I mostly can do pretty well at a virtual talk, but it's still not the same, yeah, and I still don't get exactly the same information, but I can do virtual talks, and I do and it, and it's fun and and I can play games with it, because I can always turn my video off and really drive people crazy. But you know what? What advice would you give to an aspiring leader who wants to to evolve and make make changes to their organization or to themselves and so on.   Fidel Guzman ** 1:03:06 So advice I would give for aspiring leaders. I think the the main one that I really focus on is opportunities and challenges. Be ready to embrace any opportunities that come your way, but just know that each of those opportunities, it's going to come with its own set of challenges, and be prepared for both, and be okay with dealing both at the same time. And you know last, but you know not least, is that there are there are lots of stories of triumph, and to really curate yours. What does your story of triumph look like? What is your passion and how does, how does all of that connect?   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:53 And it may be evolving, and it may be different in five years than it is today, but both memories are important, yeah, which is cool. Well, Fidel, we've been doing Can you believe we've been doing   Fidel Guzman ** 1:04:08 this for over an hour? Time flies and you're having fun,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:12 absolutely. And I really appreciate you being here and being a part of this, and I really appreciate all of you who have been listening to us and watching us. We're really excited that you're here. I hope that this has been valuable for you as well, and that you've learned something. Fidel, if people want to reach out to you, how can they do that? I   Fidel Guzman ** 1:04:31 want to say LinkedIn, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. What's your LinkedIn identifier? You can find me as Fidel Guzman, comma, MBA, and I'll also give you a link so you can, you can accompany it alongside this episode, yeah, but feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. That's going to be the easiest way to get in touch with me. And I'll also have some links if you want to check out my podcast. And hopefully I'll have, I'll have that book of poems out, yeah, soon.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:59 Well, that will be. Good. Well, thank you again and again. Thank you, all of you. If you'd like to reach out to Fidel, I'm sure he would appreciate it. I would, and you're welcome to reach out to me.

Rosalyn “Roz" Carter is the co-host of the I Found Her podcast and Taya's birthmother. At the age of 16, Roz became pregnant and placed Deana, now Taya for adoption. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from University of Phoenix and is a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). She was a member of Toastmistress in the early 1970's before women could join Toastmasters. In 2005, she joined Toastmasters while employed at the City of Moreno Valley, and has served in many leadership positions, including District Governor in 2012-2013 and Region Advisor in 2017-2019. Roz has presented workshops and keynote speeches on corporate relations, leadership, marketing, mentorship, coaching, program quality, club growth and retention, public relations, staff development and team building for Toastmasters, Chambers of Commerce and other community organizations. She received Humanitarian of the Year from Moreno Valley Black Chamber of Commerce in 2011 and awards for marketing, education and training. Please contact Roz Carter to share her expertise, the benefits and value of Toastmasters, and lessons learned with your organization's employees and members.https://ifoundherpodcast.com/Music by Corey Quinn

Sometimes the conversation is too good to stop!  In episode 151 we started a roundtable discussion about rentals, all from the Toastmaster's Club called Money Matters.  The 15 table topics questions that Karen Hall created generated so much discussion, we had to create a part two!  Join Karen, Dan Dyble and me as we continue our lively awkward discussion about rentals, Toastmasters style. 

Tracey Napier is an intuitive life coach, author, speaker, and Reiki practitioner dedicated to personal and spiritual growth. In her book GET CHANGED, she guides readers through self-discovery and transformation. Born with a cleft palate, she once saw her voice as a limitation but now uses it to inspire others to reclaim their power and rewrite their narratives. Through her podcast and speaking engagements, Tracey helps people reframe challenges and step into their full potential. https://www.traceynapier.com/

In this episode, our 48th episode, we talk with Kate Domenichella of West Boylston, MA, USA.  Kate has been in Toastmasters since May 2023 and has completed the Presentation Mastery Path and 4 levels in the Dynamic Leadership Path.In this episode, we discuss:MembershipBloggingLeadershipKate Domenichella can be contacted via:>Facebook: Kate Domenichella >LinkedIn: Katherine L. Domenichella >Instagram: @kdomenichella_fit >Blog: https://taking-back-kate.com/>Website: https://katherineldomenichella.com/>Taking Back Kate, the Podcast (Spotify only at this time): https://open.spotify.com/show/2VdaUxLj10vVw6gO0kd8vR?si=UIpxU-2YSVOYkwfZiVyYiQ>Email: kdomenichella@gmail.comThis podcast episode is sponsored by our 2024 & 2025 Calendar Year Sponsor District 31 Toastmasters ~ serving Eastern Massachusetts, USA, and Rhode Island, USA.  District 31 (“D31”) helps toastmasters become better Communicators, and Leaders.  Learn how D31 Toastmasters can help you become a more powerful speaker and impactful leader by visiting district31.org/talkingtoastmasters.

[33:30} Past Int'l President reveals what's ahead for the 2025 Philadelphia Convention—surprises, insights & how you can help shape Toastmasters' next century!

Our June episode is a two-for-one, as we have two credit union leaders and recent graduates of WCMS for you. Marlene Nielsen is the Payments Manager at Granite CU and Elise Schexnayder is the Director of Professional Development for the California Credit Union League. Both graduated from WCMS last year as part of the Phi Class. They join the Frogcast today to talk about public speaking skills. Third year students are required to present a topic to a panel before graduating, and Marlene and Elise had very different reactions to learning this news. Along with their classmates, they decided to schedule some formal practice time for their class. This practice, however, continued well beyond the class presentation itself and became a CU-based Toastmasters group in partnership with the WCMS Alumni Association. Marlene and Elise share with us the growth, skills, and takeaways they gained from their Toasmasters and WCMS experiences.

I'm examining how love transforms people—it truly does! Researchers tell us that loving and being loved actually changes our brains, our thought patterns, and our reactions. That's what God's love for us can do. It has the power to make us productive, grateful, kind, and generous toward everyone, even people who are not easy to love. For example, here's one of the changes we will see in others as we become better and better at sharing God's love with them: Love has the power to inspire someone to greatness. Do you know someone who is wasting their potential? Maybe they don't even know they have potential, or perhaps they're fearful of trying. I wonder—if they knew you see potential in them, if you loved them by encouraging them, could it empower them to reach their potential? Do you remember when Jesus called Simon as a disciple and gave him the name of Peter? He referred to Peter as a rock and said Peter would play a pivotal role in establishing the early church and spreading the gospel. Was Simon Peter a rock when Jesus called him? No, he had a long way to go before he reached “rock status,” but Jesus called him what he would become, and Peter became the rock of the early church. I have a dear friend who many years ago was bothered by a stutter. But I saw potential in her; she had the instincts of a performer, and I encouraged her to take small parts in a ministry at church that put her in front of people. She loved doing it, so she joined Toastmasters, where she learned to make presentations. Now she is very polished and gifted as a speaker and actor, and that stutter has been conquered. I just loved the potential I saw in her, and she has done what she never thought she could do as a result. Your love of encouragement could transform someone's life. Don't underestimate the transforming power of love.

Let's welcome returning guest Stephen Shaner!He is an award-winning international speaker, mentor, and host of the podcast Are You Awesome Today. With over 35 years of experience studying the power of attitude and its impact on personal and professional success, Stephen has inspired audiences worldwide. A former facilitator of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and a Toastmasters leader for over two decades, Stephen continues to help others grow through engaging talks, personalized coaching, and thought-provoking content. He now lives in Tennessee and continues to share his contagious positivity with global audiences.This episode is packed with wisdom, warmth, and a few nuggets of hope you won't want to miss!Let's bounce some fear and boost your attitude!#LetFearBounce #StephenShaner #PositiveAttitude #MindsetMatters #LeadershipDevelopment #AreYouAwesomeToday #MotivationalPodcast #PersonalGrowth #MentalWellness #Inspiration #Toastmasters #PodcastGuest #AttitudeIsEverythingLearn more about Stephen here: www.awesomeattitude.netWant to learn more about your host, Kim Lengling?www.kimlenglingauthor.com

They say most people would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy at a funeral.  The fear of public speaking is a real thing and feels an awful lot like the fear of being a first-time landlord.  Toastmasters is a great organization who helps build confidence in not only public speaking, but in life.  Recently I was asked to speak about rentals at a Toastmasters Club called “Money Matters” and the meeting was all about rentals.  In fact, the meeting was so much about rentals, that I have asked two of the Toastmasters from the Money Matters Club today to join me in a roundtable of rental questions.  Hear us discuss many topics that we didn't get to during the meeting.  Enjoy!

It turns out I really struggle to resist a dare.  Challenge me to do something and I have the urge to prove myself.  It shows up in everything from reading challenges (check out the cool connections challenge I'm doing this summer) and even my Toastmasters journey.  It's like a game and it brings momentum.  It's a way to think outside the box and get stuff done.  My weekly newsletter includes a crafty challenge to motivate you!  Sign up now to give it a try https://bewitchedcrafts.convertri.com/congratscard

Feeling stuck in silence during meetings, even when you have something valuable to say? You're not alone. In this episode, I respond to a listener question about how to speak up more in meetings – a common challenge for many thoughtful, quieter leaders. If you're someone who finds it hard to contribute when others are dominating the conversation, or you feel like everything worth saying has already been said, this one is for you. What You'll Learn Why this is only a problem if someone sees it as a problem – like your manager Why relying on a more introvert-friendly workplace isn't always an option Simple preparation techniques to help you contribute with confidence How visualisation and practice can help you feel more comfortable when it's time to speak. Resources & Links The Useful Thinking Journal – to support reflection and confidence Toastmasters – a safe space to practise public speaking Leadership Confidence Online Course – build presence and authority your way Thoughtful Leader Podcast #104 – Why Leaders Must Set Boundaries at Work

Stacy Bruce, PharmD is a pharmacist in Alabama. Listen to her list of accomplishments with speaking and how she got to where she is today. Her roles at the hospital place her in numerous public speaking situations. She is a member of two Toastmasters clubs. Stacy spoke with me at the SHAA convention in Birmingham in February, 2025. She recently participated in a panel discussion about stuttering with graduate students in SLP. We discuss a holistic approach using CBT and SLP.

Whether it's in the workplace during a meeting, or in your personal life such as weddings or birthdays, opportunities for getting up and saying a few words in front of a crowd often happen.

Send us a textIn this inspiring episode, get ready to meet a true powerhouse: Bridgett LaRé! Bridgett is a best-selling author of the captivating "First 33" book trilogy, a sought-after transformational coach who empowers individuals to unlock their full potential, and a captivating TEDx Talks speaker whose words have resonated with audiences around the globe.Adding a unique and deeply human perspective, Bridgett also brings her experience as a former nurse, radiating an incredible energy that truly ignites the hearts of those she connects with.Prepare to be uplifted, motivated, and deeply inspired as Konstantin dives into a conversation with the incredible Bridgett LaRé. You won't want to miss this!✨ Selected links from the episode: ✨Next Level Speakers Academy:https://www.nextlevelspeakersacademy.com/Bridgett LaRé IG:https://www.instagram.com/bridgettlare/Bridgett LaRé Website:https://bridgettlare.com/

In this recap, Lesley and Brad reflect on their convo with Aletta Rochat, a trailblazing and executive presence coach, who shares what it really takes to show up with confidence. Together they unpack why owning your strengths—and saying no when it matters—can shift how you lead, speak, and connect with others. With this episode, you'll leave feeling grounded, energized, and ready to give yourself full permission to belong. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The real-world script for gracefully exiting client relationships.Why permission and belonging unlock authentic confidence.The danger of saying yes out of guilt or reflex.The difference between reaction and intentional action.Why your greatest strengths may be things you take for granted.Episode References/Links:OPC Summer Tour https://opc.me/eventsOPC UK Mullet Tour https://opc.me/uk eLevate Mentorship Program - https://lesleylogan.co/elevatewaitlistPilates Income Accelerator … prfit.biz/accelerator Cambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comAletta Rochat Website - https://www.alettarochat.comFemGevity - https://www.femgevityhealth.com/?via=lesleyCliftonStrengths by Gallup - https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Brad Crowell 0:00  Because we don't recognize this as a strength, we hold back articulating our value. We don't identify that we have something that most people might not have, and that becomes our superpower. Lesley Logan 0:13  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:55  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the emboldening convo I had with Aletta Rochat in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that episode yet, you are missing out. She's amazing. She's a badass. You're gonna wanna listen to it after you listen to this one, if you can just go back into your feed. I mean, she's the first president-elect who's a female for the International Toastmasters. Brad Crowell 1:19  Yeah, international president-elect, yeah. Lesley Logan 1:21  Insane, amazing. And that's not even what she went to school for, or thought she'd be doing. So I just think it's great. We'll get into her in just a second. But first, today is May 29th 2025 and it's World Digestive Health Day. World Digestive Health Day is celebrated every year on May 29th around the world. I think it's really funny whenever they describe the day, and then the description is the same thing with the words. Brad Crowell 1:44  Yeah, it's also like today is May 29th. On May 29th we celebrate. Yes.Lesley Logan 1:51  The holiday provides resources and tools for gastrointestinal (G.I.) diseases to help more people in the general public make better decisions around their health. Awareness can lead to early diagnosis and treatment of G.I. diseases including cancer. It should also be known that G.I. diseases can lead to obesity. It can also create more understanding and better support for patients experiencing digestive diseases when their issues and conditions are better understood by the general public. I just think it's so important, if you are dealing with some stomach stuff, most people are not realizing how long they've been dealing with it, and it can lead to, as I mentioned, diseases, cancer, crazy stuff. You can have an imbalance of hormones, your mind, your actual mindset, how you feel, your emotions, are related to your gut, and if your gut biome is a fucking mess, and then you are also like, why does the world hate me? No amount of therapy is going to help you if your gut is telling your brain some other things. And so I highly, highly recommend, if you've got gut stuff going on, go advocate for yourself. If your G.P. is not listening to you, go talk to somebody else. We just had someone come to the house, which blew our mind. Our crappy insurance sent works to the company, and that company came to our house and literally sat down was like, what doctor referrals do you need? And I was like, oh, you can do that for me? And so you all know from over the last year how much FemGevity helped me with my gut stuff. Like, it's been really amazing to know the difference between like, I'm not feeling awesome, and, oh, this is my gut problem and. Brad Crowell 3:22  But it still doesn't change the fact that you have to go to a doctor locally to get blood drawn or things like that, right? Lesley Logan 3:28  Yeah, you still have to go do stuff, yeah? Well, FemGevity sends something to you, but you don't have to use it, like, you have to go, like, it is annoying to go advocate yourself. It is annoying to feel like you're crazy. It's annoying to feel like you're not being listened to. But literally, if you have H. Pylori, and you let it go on its own thing, it can lead to cancer, okay? If you have other things, it can lead like you don't get to ignore your gut, you don't get to. So I'm really excited that this day has its own day, which is May 29th, and it's a world holiday. Brad Crowell 3:56  It's a world holiday. Lesley Logan 3:58  Go talk to your G.I. about your shit, like literal shit. Okay, OPC Summer Tour tickets.Brad Crowell 4:06  Don't tell us about your shit when we meet you on tour. Lesley Logan 4:09  No, please don't. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to talk about my shit. I don't want to hear about your shit. But do you want to go on the West Coast tour? The tickets are already available. I actually don't even know how many cities we're going to at the time that we're recording this, but the team does.Brad Crowell 4:22  I haven't actually. Lesley Logan 4:22  We are, here's what I do know, we are spending a fuck ton of time and money to cross the border and go to Canada. So we are finally adding an international options to our West Coast tour. And so you're going to definitely want to the other Canada stops and or I know that we're hitting when I say West Coast, I mean California, Oregon, Washington. I know that we are hoping to do Idaho and Utah. Obviously while we're recording this, I don't have it in front of me, but I do know that the tickets sell fast, because our seventh tour, which is our winter tour, our last one, had literal cities sell out in 24 hours. So go to opc.me/events to see all the locations. Next up is September. We're going to be in the U.K. We have two cities with two day events at each one, Leeds and Essex.Brad Crowell 5:06  Nineteen.Lesley Logan 5:08  19 cities? Brad Crowell 5:08  I think we're on track for 19 cities with classes. Lesley Logan 5:12  Cool. Brad Crowell 5:12  Yeah, on the Summer Tour. Lesley Logan 5:13  Okay, well, thank you. So now we're on to Essex and Leeds and so this is our business in the front, Pilates in the back event, and it's two days long. Super fun, super affordable. You get six workshops, two classes for 550 pounds. Brad Crowell 5:29  I mean, it's kind of a steal, not a lot, yeah. Lesley Logan 5:32  Yeah, it's nuts, it's insane, and it's really fun. We get to spend a lot of time together, and the space is really limited and Leeds is like (inaudible).Brad Crowell 5:38  I think it's 485 pounds, 400, it's like 500 pounds. Somewhere around. Lesley Logan 5:41  Oh, maybe it's only 500 pounds. Brad Crowell 5:42  Yeah, because this is exchange thingy, so I can't remember exactly, but. Lesley Logan 5:46  Don't, don't listen to either of us quote a price. Just go to opc.me/uk. Brad Crowell 5:51  Yes. Lesley Logan 5:51  Because the early bird is over, but they're still a deal. Because the actual events, if we were to charge you for each one by itself, is like 2000 pounds, it was something ridiculous. Brad Crowell 5:59  That's way, way, way, way, way more. So yeah. Lesley Logan 6:02  So, opc.me/uk for the Leeds event or the Essex event. Leeds only has 16 spots, and I know we only have four left at the time we're recording this and then (inaudible).Brad Crowell 6:11  And it's not just Lesley who will be teaching, it'll be me, too. I'm actually gonna be there helping out. We're gonna do a couple of business life workshops, and then we're gonna do four Pilates workshops where you're digging into actual Pilates stuff, then I'm not teaching those. And then Lesley is also going to do a couple of classes and all the things, and then we're going to hang and, you know, all of it's going to be a blast, so. Lesley Logan 6:32  It's going to be so fun. And here's the deal, if you're like, oh, I'll go to the next U.K., I'm already in talks. Brad Crowell 6:37  Literally don't know when that's going to be. Lesley Logan 6:38  Yeah, I'm already in talks with several other countries that are across the world. And to be honest, Brad and I actually do like living in Vegas. So we are no longer doing multiple 12 hour flights in a year, just like not a thing for us. So I don't know that we'll hit the U.K. in the next two years after this. Brad Crowell 6:57  Yeah, at least.Lesley Logan 6:57  Even though that Brad loves it, we'd be there for vacation and not for work. So opc.me/UK is where you get your tickets there. What else, Brad? Brad Crowell 7:04  Okay, next up we got eLevate, y'all. If you've not heard of it, it's Lesley's Pilates mentorship program. It's a nine-month program, and you should do it, because it's going to change the way that you teach in incredibly dramatic way. You're going to feel way more confident about everything. People who take this program have told us they've stopped class planning. Their voices are not shot by the end of the day. They are not afraid of a random client walking in the door that they wouldn't necessarily know what to do with or prepare for. They don't have to do those things anymore, because when you go through this program, what you're going to do is you're going to dig in to all the different pieces of equipment, okay? And you're not just like learning exercises on them, although you will do that, you will learn everything that Lesley learned from Jay Grimes over the more than 10 years she studied with him and with Sandy Shimoda. You are actually going to be connecting the dots across the pieces of equipment that is going to allow you to understand why are you doing this thing with this person on the chair? Why would you then take them over to the barrels and do this other thing over there? And then, you know, because ultimately, you're understanding what their goals are, and then you can create the path through the equipment and through the exercises for them to reach their goals. Okay, how cool is that for you to just be able to understand that and not necessarily have to, like, go hit your books and be like, oh, I can't remember what I need to do with this person. No, when you go through elevate this stuff really comes together. And the the amount of confidence that has brought the people who have finished, which at this point, we got about 50 grads and 25 more people going through it this year. It's just been overwhelming feedback and in a positive way. And we want you to come. We're gonna do just the workout. Come get you know, move with Lesley, and then hang out afterwards. We're gonna do a Q&A talk all about eLevate. We are literally more than 50% sold out for 2026 so there's not that many spots left, but to find out about when this class is going to happen, go to lesleylogan.co/elevatewaitlist elevatewaitlist.Lesley Logan 9:09  I love this program so much. It's so much fun, and I'm really excited because next year we are going to do the two, two rounds again. We're not going to do it for the following year. This is the last time we can really commit to doing that, mostly because we just had so many people interested. We really, really didn't want you to wait. So we opened up another section, and like Brad said, it's almost sold out. It's just one of my favorite things. I get to spend so much time with you guys, and you, the progression, and then also, when you graduate, you're in the alumni group, and then I get to and then we're still together, and I'm still watching people elevate it's just (inaudible).Brad Crowell 9:25  We actually have a smaller group inside of the alumni who all virtually get together once a week to take an OPC class together and encourage each other and just get their movement. Lesley Logan 9:51  From around the world. Brad Crowell 9:52  From around the world. It's super cool. You know, we didn't set that up. They set it up. It's awesome. Anyway you want to be at this class. Go to lesleylogan.co/elevatewaitlist that'll be this summer. Brad Crowell 10:04  All right, next up, we got the Pilates Income Accelerator. If you are taking money from any person to teach them anything, whether that's Pilates or yoga or whatever, probably Pilates, because of who our audience usually is, I want you to come to this free workshop that I'm doing called the Pilates Income Accelerator. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator that's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. We're going to be covering three major secrets, about mindset, about money, about the numbers, and about marketing, and the messaging, the language you're using. We're going to be digging into those things, and then afterwards, I'm going to be able to answer questions about your business. So you can send in a question early, and I'll have it prepared so I can read through these questions and make sure everybody gets some kind of an answer here. I want you to come. It's free. You should do it. So go to prfit.biz/accelerator. Finally, Les, where are we going in October?Lesley Logan 10:59  Crowsnestretreats.com that's where we're going. We're going to our house in Siem Reap we have a lovely retreat planned for you. Oh my goodness. It's so wonderful. It's so cozy. It's a small group that can attend this event. We do Pilates five days. We go to the temples for two days. We take you to a lotus farm. We take you on a water tour. You get massages, and you also get to, like, really figure out what it is that you want when you leave, when you go home from the retreat. Brad Crowell 11:26  Yeah, so those are all what are we doing, but why would they go? Lesley Logan 11:30  Oh, I mean, because you're gonna feel like a freaking rock star when you come back, like you're actually gonna feel so good, you're gonna feel like you actually were in wonderment for a week. Wouldn't you like to get in wonderment for a week? I think so.Brad Crowell 11:43  Yeah. Wonder. Lesley Logan 11:45  Why do you think? Brad Crowell 11:46  When you think about Angkor Wat, it does create that intense curiosity, that wonder. How was it possible that they did what they did 1000 years ago, and for it to still be standing today, with all this epic, intricate carvings and all this stuff. You know, when you go on a journey like this, it's an adventure. You get to meet other amazing, adventurous people. We've also had, similar to eLevate, we've had retreaters stay connected afterwards. We've had like group retreat calls afterwards. We've had retreaters come back, bringing other people, because it was so inspirational. Lesley Logan 12:24  This coming one in October has someone from the last one, and then someone she's bringing her friend. And then last October, we had someone coming for the second year in a row, so like, just fun. Brad Crowell 12:34  Three or four times now, you know, yeah, we've had it happen over the years. Lesley Logan 12:38  It's a true like, when we hear the word retreat, it's like a true retreat. You get to really turn off what's going on in the world and focus on you and being in awe.Brad Crowell 12:47  Yeah, that's what's in it for you, y'all and you should join us. Go to crowsnestretreats.com. Before we get to Aletta, we have an audience question but. Lesley Logan 12:55  Yes, okay, I'm hijacking the questions again. Brad Crowell 12:57  Yeah, before you ask the question, I'm just gonna give it a quick preface. We spent the better part of a year building a tool that allows you to effectively have your own internal Google search situation going on through an AI tool that allows you to understand all the answers that Lesley and I have been giving to people for the past 10 years of coaching for fitness business. We call it the Pocket LL. And this tool, it was trained on 10 million words, where blog posts, webinars, courses, coaching, calls, group coaching calls, all these things where we're answering all these questions. And then we compiled it all into this insane database. And then we've got this awesome tool that you get to use when you're an Agency member. And today, we wanted to feature a question anonymously. We're not going to say the person's name, but we're going to feature a question that somebody actually asked the Pocket LL, so here you go.Lesley Logan 13:48  Yeah, so I have a problem client that gives me anxiety every time she comes in, but I owe her another six sessions in her 10 back. How do I fire her? Brad Crowell 13:57  That is, that's tough. Lesley Logan 13:58  And Pocket LL, said firing a client is never easy, but it's often necessary for your peace of mind and the health of your business. The image you see here captures an essential truth, it will never feel good to fire a client, but the sooner you take action, the fewer issues you'll have. Holding onto a problematic client can cost you more than just your sanity. It can affect your energy, your other clients and even your team. Here's how you can handle this gracefully. One, acknowledge sessions owed. You can refund the remaining six sessions or offer them to another instructor if you have one available, this ensures you're honoring the financial commitment without continuing the relationship. Two, be direct, but kind, say something like, thank you so much for working with me. I've realized that I'm no longer the best fit for your Pilates journey. I'd be happy to recommend another instructor or studio that might suit your needs better. Three, stick to your boundaries. If this client has been violating your policies or creating undue stress, don't feel obligated to explain or justify your decision. As I said before, you're not going to convince crazy. Keep it professional and move forward. I love when she quotes herself, which is me. Brad Crowell 15:00  You're not gonna convince crazy. That is amazing.Lesley Logan 15:03  I know. I mean, like I said that, so that's what I love about this. Okay. Four, prepare for pushback. Some clients may try to argue or guilt you into staying. Stay firm. Remember, you're creating space for better clients who respect your time and energy. And number five, focus on the opportunity. Once this client is gone, you'll have room for someone who uplifts you and aligns with your business values. Trust that the universe will fill that space with someone amazing. And then she always prompts with other questions. If you want to continue the conversation or you can just go start it's all good. Brad Crowell 15:32  Yep. Yeah. I mean, listening to those answers, I actually know the story behind every piece of that answer, because it's multiple conversations, over multiple calls, over multiple years, over multiple courses. And it's amazing that this, this tool is a, this search tool, is able to gather all that information and turn around and present it to you in a way that is cohesive, concise, and also you can actually use to take action. So. Lesley Logan 15:57  And it's and it's from all the years of experience of coaching thousands of businesses, and also all of my years of being and everything in this industry you could be. So I just really am so proud of the Pocket LL. And I do go through once a week and edit anything. And I'll, first, I stick with the things where people trigger an alert, because you could say avocado, if she makes sense to you. And then also I'll just go through for quality control and just read some of our answers. Sometimes I add another sentence because I'm like, oh, here's another idea. You know, now that I'm this many more years or I've helped this many more people, so it's always evolving. It's always getting better, and it's there for you no matter where you live in the world, as long as you're an Agency member. Brad Crowell 16:36  Yep, yeah. So if you're interested in what that even means, what that is, come to my free webinar like I was talking about go to prfit.biz/accelerator we will talk about Agency at the end, before I answer questions and come check it out.Lesley Logan 16:48  And then also, we'll go back to answering the questions you send in. I just wanted to hijack it because it's my podcast. Brad Crowell 16:53  I love it. I love it. All right. Well, stick around we'll be right back. We're going to dig into the conversation you have with Aletta Rochat. It was very inspirational. She is really good at bringing out excellence in people, so we'll be right back. Brad Crowell 17:09  All right. Welcome back. Let's talk about Aletta Rochat. Aletta is a public speaking coach and executive presence mentor based in Cape Town, South Africa. So an executive presence mentor, okay? She coached and trained in 21 countries, and will soon become the first woman from Africa the and only the 10th woman in 100 years to be the international president of Toastmasters International. So the 10th woman in the in what the last 100 years. She helps clients become more confident presenters by communicating with clarity, owning their presidents and reclaiming their sense of belonging. She also has been involved with Toastmasters since 2008. She has gone through all their educational material, and she's like the highest educator that they certify all the things she actually had a really great story about how she started to realize public speaking became like her survival mechanism, and then how it went on to now become her, you know, how she's supporting others succeed. I thought that was pretty cool. Lesley Logan 18:10  I also just, you know, like you like you hear, I heard about Toastmasters, like. Brad Crowell 18:14  I've heard about it so many times and I've never done, I don't even know what it was. Lesley Logan 18:16  And you kind of think like, oh, it's kind of like a Moose Club, like the Moose Lodge. Like, it's just, you know what I mean, but it's not, it's like, still going so strong, and it's helping a lot of people.Brad Crowell 18:26  She said they're in 150 countries. Lesley Logan 18:27  Yeah and it made me go all the people who are like, I need a friend. Go to fucking Toastmasters. Like, hear their stories. You'll connect. Yeah, you have to publicly speak, but you're gonna be around people.Brad Crowell 18:37  Well, she said you're guaranteed claps and guaranteed support, or you're guaranteed an audience and you're guaranteed claps. Lesley Logan 18:43  It sounds better than AA, where you also get both of those. I just think it sounds amazing. I'm so excited we're gonna highlight this. She said, "I show up differently when I think I belong." And she said that someone once told her, remember that you belong. That phrase helped her stay relaxed and be more spontaneous and likely to share her ideas. And I think that that's so important because for her to be where she's at in, in the world, but also in Toastmasters, each time she leveled up, there'd be, like, a reason to go, oh my God, who let me in here? They're gonna find out, like Maya Angelou is like, someone's gonna find out that I don't know what I'm doing. But if you remember that you belong, it changes how you show up. And you show up willing to be more yourself, which is going to allow you to connect with more people. And it's just so, so important. Brad Crowell 19:32  Well, I think also not only the vibes, the vibes are weird when you feel like you don't belong, but when you feel like you belong, you will approach the group, the conversation, the experience, in a much different way, because you're gonna participate. I mean, honestly, that's like the biggest thing. When you feel like you belong, you feel like you're allowed to participate, and if you feel like you don't belong, what do you do? You stand there and listen. You don't talk, you don't do anything. So I thought it was really, also, like, amazing that advice, hey, remember that you do belong. Remember that you do and she said, this was instantaneously a life-changing statement for her. Lesley Logan 20:11  Yeah. And so she even said, even though it wasn't a Be It Action Item yet, she said, "If you belong, how would you show up? How would you speak up?" And she says, like, it's like a fundamental building block of confidence and executive presence. And I just thought, yeah, we need to put that on our mirrors everywhere we can read them before we walk into a room where it's new for us. We're feeling a little nervous. I just thought was brilliant.Brad Crowell 20:32  I really dug in when she was talking about when to say yes, because you, you were asking her, it's like, wow, you seem willing to say yes to things. And she said, to my own detriment, sometimes I've said yes when I shouldn't have, but she said, the worst thing you could do is say yes to something that you don't want to do. And she was talking about, I think her example was like the Boy Scout troop, they asked her to do some specific role and and she said, thanks, but that's not the right role for me. I you know, she said there was nothing about it that lit me on fire, nothing that was exciting in any way to me, and to other people it might be really exciting, but for her, it wasn't. And she she said something very specific. She said when you say yes to something that you don't want to do, you literally start off building resentment from the, from day one. Lesley Logan 21:19  Yeah, she's correct. Honestly, I can look back going to the question, like, how do we fire a client? I remember taking the check going, I don't really want to teach her. And then the moment she texts me the next week, can I change my time? I'm like, like, it was, like a zero to 60 resentment, as opposed to someone I was really fired up to teach but like, oh yeah, this is your first time. We can do it, but not after that, you know. So she is 100%.Brad Crowell 21:44  Yeah, that was so poignant that she identified the resentment factor right out of the gate, you know. And we, why do we say yes to things that we don't want to do? Probably because we feel stuck, you know, like we feel like we have to. We feel like we're, you know, social pressure, guilt, money, something. There's underlying fear there that is making us do it. Could be family. That's like forcing us to do it, and it just builds that resentment. She said it should be both sides of the coin. You want to say yes because you want to do it and you also want to learn. I mean, what are the stories we tell ourselves? I have to say yes because I'm the right person for the job. I have the most experience. I just have to do it. No one else is going to do it, so I'm going to do it. These are a lot of reasons why we say yes, but we don't want to. Ultimately, it's important to offer service. I'm not arguing that we shouldn't be serving people, but even that service should be also doing something for you.Lesley Logan 22:37  Yeah, because you won't show up the same you just won't show up the same way. And I had someone who we actually really love and support in a lot of ways financially, and they'd ask me to be on a board. And if you guys have ever been around me, you know I've been on a board before I got burned. It was traumatizing. It was a whole thing. And I was like, I'll never be on an unpaid board again. And of course, I get this invite to apply. And I was like, there's a part of me is like, oh, they want me. And then I was like, oh, I can't do this. And then I was like, oh, I'm gonna let them down. I have, I know they need someone. Maybe I could do it if it's just, like, this much time a week, I was literally doing like, mental gymnastics to figure out how to say yes to the thing I already knew would not be the right thing. And then it took me forever to write up a thank you. But no, thank you. And you know what they said? We totally understand and thank you for being so honest. We don't want anyone to do this because they feel obligated, you know, and know that the door's always open if you, if anything ever changes and I was just like, oh, it could be that simple. It could be that simple. And honestly, if they'd answered any other way, I've been like, we're so disappointed. That is a fucking red flag to run away from. But if they're willing to be grateful, and you know, if they asked me, like, Who else do you do you know anyone else who could be right for this? I would have absolutely sent them some people, you know. So I just think that, like you can also see the true colors of the person if you're, if you're being authentically honest about whether you can say yes or no. Brad Crowell 24:09  I was laughing when she started to, to, she basically said, if you have helium hand, where just your hand goes up and you can't seem to stop it. I was laughing. I was like, what did she say? I literally rewound it. Listened to it twice. She said she's now learned to sit in her hands every now and again. So, good for her. And she said, you know, just make sure saying yes is not a reaction or a reflex reaction, but it's a concerted action. It's a decision that you're making. So awesome. Brad Crowell 24:37  Well anyway, great takeaways right there from Aletta. Stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to dig into those Be It Action Items. Brad Crowell 24:46  All right, welcome back. Let's dig into those Be It Action Items from Aletta Rochat. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo? She said, hey, here is how you identify your superpowers, which I'm all about. She said what are the clues to your superpowers? It's what other people keep asking you for help with. What is, what is it that you are consistently asked about, like, hey, can you help me, like, prep this thing or cook this dish or organize this event or be on the board or whatever. What is the thing that you keep being asked to do? She shared that most people overlook their strength, strengths because A. they come supernaturally to you. You might not even realize that they are a strength that you have, that others don't. They often become the most powerful gifts, right? Like, my mom has the gift of gab. That's what everybody said. Wow your mom, she's amazing. She talks to everybody. She's got the gift of gab, right? Well, sometimes the gift of gab was like, my dad was like, are we ready to go? Are we ready to go? So the way that I grew up, sometimes the gift of gab was a negative thing, because it was like, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, right? And it wasn't until later that I realized that it can also be a positive thing. So sometimes we look at what actually is a strength in the wrong light.Lesley Logan 26:04  Because somebody may have told you, yeah, told you you talk too much, or you're a big jokester, or you don't take things seriously, but there's always a positive side to a coin. Brad Crowell 26:12  Yeah, and I'm not trying to do my dad a disservice there, but I called him out, that's not what I meant.Lesley Logan 26:17  If Steven listens to this. Hi, Steven. You can come visit anytime.Brad Crowell 26:30  Aletta said that somehow society, that's a very inside joke, y'all, and I don't think literally, anybody except for my family, would get that. Aletta also said somehow society has conditioned us that we tend to verbalize what we're good at saying, oh, it's nothing, no big deal. Oh, yeah, you know, glad to help. You know, but we don't actually identify that it's really a superpower. An example that I didn't understand when I was in my band in when I first moved out to L.A. and I'm like, running around getting us set up to do the get the show, I talked to the venue owner, I like, figured out the night of the week that the band could do it. We rehearsed. We had to do a bunch of rehearsals. We get in there. We made a little marketing flyer. We distributed the marketing flyer, got it out into the community. All to do what? I just wanted to play. I just wanted to play on stage, right? And so I'm doing all the things to so that I can get up on stage and play. And what I didn't understand was that doing all those things that's actually part of my superpower. I saw the path through, how do I get to the end goal, you know? And then what are the steps that we need to do to do it? And ultimately, when I, when I finally identified that this was a strength of mine by doing the Strengths Finders exam, the first time I took it in 2010, it was this mind-blowing thing, because I was like, oh, everybody doesn't do that. I thought this was just the what you just do, what you have to do. I guess. That's the way I saw it. And it wasn't until I understood that this was actually valuable that I was able to go get a job to do literally that, and that's how I got into operations instead of companies. Kind of crazy. (inaudible) Yeah, you know, she said, We trivialize it because we don't recognize this as a strength. We hold back articulating our value. We don't identify that we have something that most people might not have, and that becomes our superpower. It can, it should. When we look at it through that lens, suddenly you're like, oh, this is something I'm inherently good at, and that is really a superpower. It's amazing. Like my mom's gift of gab is a superpower. You know, figuring out a way through the chaos is my superpower. But how do you identify that? Right? Then, when you finally are able to identify that again, I do recommend Strengths Finders, Clifton Strengths, they call it now. Now you get to finally say, my superpower is x, right?Lesley Logan 28:48  Yeah. Brad Crowell 28:49  What about you? Lesley Logan 28:50  Okay, so I said it before, but I think it's real. I really love that it's back here in the Be It Action Items, just in case you need to hear it again. She said, reclaim your sense of belonging and give yourself permission to belong. Aletta urged us to reclaim the feeling of belonging if we've lost it. She emphasized, it's within our power to grant ourselves permission to belong. And once you reclaim it, start playing with it. You can start thinking and start speaking and start acting as if you belong. It might feel like you're this is like the true be it till you see it, it's gonna feel like you're acting. There was an interview that's coming out, or it may have already been out, where someone talked about how they love the podcast name, because every day, we allow actors to play a role in a movie, and we believe them, right? We believe that they are that person for that period of time. And being it till you see it is like acting as it. And so you are going to reclaim it, and you're gonna play with it. You're gonna play with belonging, all that stuff, and before you know it, you'll have played it so much that you become it. That's it. You become the person that belongs. You're giving yourself permission. So I just thought, I was like, that's a be it till you see it right there. That's why this exists. So thank you, Aletta, for being you. You're so amazing. I'm so glad we're able to make this happen. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 30:03  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 30:04  Thank you so much for listening. I hope this was really awesome for you. I really loved it. I also just love her voice. I love the way she explained things, the helium hand, like there's just so many things to go back to and listen. So please take another listen through if you haven't already, share it with a friend who needs to hear it, especially the ones who need to sit on their hands, but also the ones who need to be reminded that they belong and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 30:26  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 30:28  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod. Brad Crowell 31:10  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 31:15  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 31:19  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 31:26  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 31:30  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What happens when we finally break the silence about one of humanity's most natural yet stigmatized experiences? Periods affect half the world's population, yet remain shrouded in shame and misunderstanding. This candid conversation bridges generations and cultures as Mia and and her guest Urmi Hossain share their personal experiences with menstruation across different backgrounds.The stigma begins early—Urmi recalls being forbidden from attending school classes about periods, while advertisements portrayed menstruation as a joyful experience with blue liquid instead of blood. Both women share cringe-worthy stories of workplace period emergencies and the complex mental gymnastics required to hide a perfectly normal bodily function from colleagues. Their experiences, despite being decades apart, remain disturbingly similar.The statistics are sobering: 30% of adolescents lack access to needed menstrual products, while 64% of adults report being unable to afford period products at some point in the past year. Globally, 500 million people lack access to basic menstrual necessities. Beyond the physical challenges, cultural taboos label menstruating women as "impure" and restrict their participation in religious and community activities.This episode doesn't just identify problems—it explores solutions, from workplace "period days" to better education for everyone, especially men. As Mia pointedly suggests, "If men had periods, there would be baskets of tampons and Advil everywhere." The conversation concludes with information about organizations working to address these issues, including Women in Leadership Canada and Femme Influence.Whether you menstruate or not, this conversation offers critical insights into an experience that shapes lives, workplaces, and communities. Breaking the taboo isn't just about comfort—it's about dignity, equality, and recognizing biological realities that affect millions. Listen, learn, and join us in normalizing this essential conversation.Urmi Hossain is a woman who wears many hats.; Urmi is a self-published author, speaker, blogger, polyglot, mentor, and holder of both the CFA ( Chartered Financial Analyst) and CAIA ( Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) designations. She works in the financial services industry in Canada, where she lives.Her first book, Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle, reflects her journey as a third-culture kid.Passionate about women's empowerment, Urmi is the Social Media Lead for Women in Leadership's Victoria Chapter and the Campaign Manager at Femme Influence. She is a big proponent of learning and self-development; one of her passions is public speaking. She has been part of the Toastmasters club since 2019, where she served as both VP of Education and President.She enjoys reading thrillers and mystery books and working out in her free time, such as boxing, HIIT workouts, and running.Find Mia On Social Media ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen and subscribe to the podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Lesley Logan sits down with public speaking coach Aletta Rochat—president-elect of Toastmasters International—to explore how communication shapes confidence, leadership, and executive presence. If you've ever held back your voice or downplayed your strengths, this is your reminder to reclaim your space, speak with purpose, and lead with clarity. Whether you're leading a team or learning to own your story, this conversation will change the way you show up and speak up. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why your “yes” should come from alignment—not fear.How to use your voice with clarity and intention.The power of naming and owning your superpower.What executive presence really is—and how to build it.Why Toastmasters helps far beyond public speaking.Episode References/Links:Aletta Rochat Website - https://www.alettarochat.comAletta Rochat Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alettarochatAletta Rochat Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aletta.rochatAletta Rochat Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/alettarochatToastmasters - https://toastmasters.org"I Belong" Playbook - https://beitpod.com/belongingMastering the Art of Exercising Authority - https://beitpod.com/exercisingauthorityThe Artist's Way by Julia Cameron - https://a.co/d/9CwCcIpGuest Bio:Aletta Rochat is a certified World Class Speaking Coach, professional speaker, and president-elect of Toastmasters International. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, she has coached clients in over 21 countries and is the first woman from Africa elected to lead Toastmasters in its 100-year history. Aletta helps leaders and professionals communicate with clarity, confidence, and executive presence—whether they're stepping into boardrooms, big stages, or everyday conversations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Witwatersrand and a diploma in marketing management from the University of South Africa. Aletta is also the author of two books on public speaking and the creator of the “I Belong” playbook, a self-reflection tool designed to help individuals reclaim their sense of belonging. Through one-on-one coaching and group programs, Aletta empowers people to lead not by being the loudest voice in the room—but by being the most intentional. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! 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And once you get over that and saying, my superpower is, and this is how it can help you, you become someone who contributes to problem solving on a personal level, in your job, in your community.Lesley Logan 0:27  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:05  All right, Be It babe, this is for you. If you have ever downplayed an idea or thought about doing something on a whim, maybe you've downplayed yourself. Today's guest went from like being a stay at home mom to kind of following this urge to go to a Toastmasters to then being, correct me if I'm wrong, Aletta, but like, the head of Toastmasters for the world, 150 countries and like that. So I am really excited because we talk about public speaking, but we also talk really about how to belong, and I think it's an important message that every single one of you needs to hear. And hopefully, we inspire you to check in with yourself, and maybe, and maybe think about the words that you want to communicate in this world, and how you can get them out there and not be super scared about it, because we all actually are so blessed and so lucky to have special gifts and superpowers. And Aletta Rachat, our guest here today, really helps you kind of be proud of that and own that. And so here she is. Lesley Logan 2:12  All right, Be It babe, we're about to have a very fabulous, wonderful conversation, and I think you're also just going to love to listen to our guest, because she's got one of those accents you just want to all the time. Aletta Rochat, thank you so much for being here. Will you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?Aletta Rochat 2:26  Thank you, Lesley, wonderful to be with you. My name is Aletta Rochat. I'm speaking to you all the way from beautiful Cape Town South Africa. And my passion is helping people be more successful through the way they communicate. And the first person from Africa, never mind the first woman from Africa, who will soon be the international president of Toastmasters International, which I'm so excited for, and only the 10th woman in 100 years of the organization's history. So we are really helping, hopefully inspiring many other women to follow in my footsteps. I've coached and trained in 21 different countries, and I currently spend a lot of my time coaching clients to build executive presence, which is rooted in the way we communicate with each other and what we think about who we are and what we have to offer the world. And the author of two books on public speaking, so you can see, I'm just in the communication game. I love it. Lesley Logan 3:27  Okay, so first of all, congratulations. That is amazing, the accomplishments, and it's a little shocking in the length of time that you'll be the 10th but I, but I love that. I think it's important. I was really drawn to you because so many people are afraid of public speaking. So many people have a desire to share a story. Now, more than ever, I meet people who want to talk about the things that they do. They want to help people. They want to take their story and give it out there. But they could write the book. They could put the posts, but once they have to actually, like, put their face to words in front of people, and now public speaking isn't even just being on stage it's even just like putting stuff out on social media, people have a hard time communicating because they get so scared. Aletta Rochat 4:09  Yeah, they do. And it's, you know, people are scared for different reasons. Sometimes it's you've had a bad experience when you were at school and somebody laughed when you spoke up. Sometimes it's a comfort zone thing. So you find speaking to your friends, but should you be in a meeting at work and speaking to senior management? Suddenly your brain evaporates and you just can't get out. And it's not that the thoughts aren't within you. You've got the ideas, you've got the talent, you've got the commitment, but somehow articulating that in front of people can be very difficult. The thing that I've noticed in myself and other people, when you get anxious, your brain is thinking, oh my gosh, what am I going to say? And you're trying to formulate those words. At the same time, you're watching yourself make a fool of yourself. So the anxiety just explodes and it becomes almost impossible to be you. And ultimately, if you and I were sitting across the table having a cup of coffee together, you'd easily be able to tell me what your ideas were and why they're important. But, somehow, some context freak people out and then they just shut down. And then we don't see the real them. We don't see the value that they can offer.Lesley Logan 5:24  Yeah, well, thank you for, like, kind of normalizing it, because it's a common thing that people are going through. So, can we go back how did you get started in even helping people speak and communicate? Because that's not something, when you're a child, I wonder, like, is that something you dreamed of doing? Well, how did you get into this?Aletta Rochat 5:42  It was a survival skill. I had a very nomadic childhood. My dad was in mining, and from a very young age, we moved around a lot. So I was born in South Africa, we moved a couple of times there. By the time I was five years old, we moved to Zambia, and then we moved to Canada, and then we moved to Tasmania, and then we moved back to South Africa. So I can have I've got such a clear memory of being about eight years old, going to my next new school on my third continent, and standing in front of this classroom of people I didn't know, and innately knowing that the way I spoke to them would determine whether or not I had friends at break time. And of course, very importantly, if you're eight years old, whether or not you get an invitation to a birthday party. And I remember holding my mom's hand, you know, before she said goodbye and saying to myself, Aletta, you've done this before, you can do it again. And at that young age, I figured out a few basics. When you're new in an environment, you listen before you speak, because you've got to find out what's important to that group. And once you know what's important to them, then you can slot in on the conversation. That type of thing. So I had many opportunities to practice that as a child, I was always a kid with a funny accent, the one who started not at the beginning of the year, but midterm. And that happened again and again. And as an adult, with my husband's job, we moved and stayed in America, in Pittsburgh for a while. We lived in London. So, I got to repeat those practices many times. And then when I started coaching, I suddenly thought, where did I learn this? And it all went back to my childhood. So it was just very important to me to fit in, like for all of us, whether it's a new job or a new team or, you know, you're dating someone and they've got friends and family you want to fit in with, these skills are applicable in all those situations.Lesley Logan 7:40  Yeah, thank you for saying that because I also think people could hear, like, you're Toastmasters or not, because I could get coached for these things. But really, we all need these skill sets, even in family dynamics, especially now in family dynamics, not everyone agrees. How incredible, as a child that you're like you learn to observe and also to clearly state who you are and what you like, so that you could be accepted in. That's a superpower that you have. They were traveling and everything. But how did you get into Toastmasters and public speaking? Did your job have you doing presentations or did you decide, because you're a coach, you wanted to go out and talk? What was the impetus to make you want to go out and speak more?Aletta Rochat 8:20  So Lesley, I'm one of these strange people that actually has always enjoyed public speaking. I know I'm not the normal. But it never, it never freaked me out. So I've always enjoyed it, and I did it as part of my job, before I started raising kids, and then I got to the point I had three beautiful children and love being a stay-at-home mom, but I was wanting something for me, and when I went to my first Toastmasters meeting, it wasn't to become a better speaker. I joke that I was running away from my kids. I just wanted me time. And when I got there, I want to, I'm a lifelong learner. And immediately, I was so impressed with the people who were, you know, speaking that evening, and I knew I could learn, so I just followed the desire to learn. And of course, I loved communicating in any event. And I just there was a path I could never have foreseen that I would become the leader of this global organization at the time. But I just kept on saying yes to the next opportunity. They started asking me to do PR for the club, and I said yes. While I was doing that, someone called, and I said, well, come along to our meeting and see what it's like. And then she said, I'm phoning for my boss. He's too busy. Can't you help him? So I just said, oh, yes, I can. And that became my first client. And so it was an unintended consequence of joining Toastmasters was stepping into this role of coaching other people, and subsequent to that, I've got coaching certifications, and it's really my happy place training and leading and coaching is, feeds my soul, so I really enjoy it, and that means it doesn't feel like work.Lesley Logan 9:56  Yeah, you are seeking out things and then you would say yes to things. And I wonder, you know, some of the people who listen get themselves into places because they say yes too much. How did you make sure that when you were saying yes to things, that it actually was enhancing what you were doing and not compounding or stressing or causing you to not be able to do the things that you love? Is there something that you, you measured each yes with? Was it like a gut feeling? How did you do that? Because I'm wondering how we can take your like saying yes to these amazing things, to people who might be saying yes to not amazing things.Aletta Rochat 10:33  I think the reason you've got to, you've got to understand why you're saying yes. So if you're saying yes to get validation or you're saying yes to feel accepted, or you're saying yes because you're afraid of saying no, those could all lead you down very strange paths. So you've got to say yes to something that means something to you. You know, I've always been a volunteer. I love volunteering, but I remember when my kids, my son, was involved in scouting, and they wanted me to take on a role of quarter master, which was looking after all the scouting equipment. I just knew I had to say no because it didn't feed my soul, you know, I couldn't imagine anything. You know, I know they're talented people who do that job, but it wasn't me. So you've got to be true to yourself when you say yes, and it's got to bring you joy at some level, but it's not yes out of a sense of duty, and then you've got resentment for it. It's got to be something where you say yes because you want to give and you also want to learn. So to me, that, it's both sides of the coin. You can't just say yes to give and you're not learning or getting anything back. There's got to be value in it for you. And we've all got busy lives, and we've got to fit this into whatever else you've got going, your job, your family, looking after you as a person, your emotional and physical well being. So sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get it wrong, but I've always been one of these ones. I joke that I suffer from the Helium Hand Syndrome. So when people say, do you need anything? The hand magically goes up and, to your point, I've said yes to too many things in the past and then been burnt out. So I've learned to sit on my hand every now and again and make sure that I don't just it's not a reflex reaction. It's a considered action where I can add value and where it adds value to me.Lesley Logan 12:20  I love that you broke down all of that. And why are you saying I think that that is so important, you guys, I think you can all just take that clip apart. Everyone could just put it as a little card. Am I saying yes because I'm afraid of saying no. Am I saying yes because it's like, I'm like, you know, until it becomes an innate muscle, you know? I think that's really helpful because it is true. I know I had someone to send me a thing, and of course, I wanted to say yes to it. The yes was, like, a no brainer. The reason I said no is because the timing that just didn't work. There was no way I could do it. And so there's that part, that old version of me who's like, oh my God, if you say no to this, they're never going to ask again. And it's like, that is actually a story. If they are never going to ask me again, because I said no one time, I probably don't want to actually be with that kind of demanding space. But typically, I said, Oh my God, I'm so thrilled you asked me. I'm, I would love to do this. The date is wrong. I could do the weekends before, I could do the weekends after. I can't do that weekend. So you know, if the date changes, please consider me again. And they respond, of course, like that would be, thank you so much for letting us know. So it's like, you know, it's not, sometimes we, like I, could I have moved my other things to say yes? Not really. So I think it's really important for us to kind of understand why we're saying yes and what fears are coming up if we are struggling with it, you know, just paying attention to that stuff. What are some of the things that you, tools or sayings that you have that help you show up for all the things you want to do. Is there, like, a saying that you have, or something that someone taught you that helps you because you have so much confidence, and I imagine there was some of that you were born with, but like, what keeps you going in that way?Aletta Rochat 14:01  When I was running for election to a position, I've spent a lot of time speaking to past leaders and trying to glean information from them, and I'd chat to them and get their ideas and share my ideas, and at the end of every call, I would always say to them, what's the one thing in your opinion that I should remember as I go on this journey? And there was one of my colleagues who was senior to me in the organization, and he said words I've never forgotten, and he said to me, Aletta, remember that you belong. And that, to me, was so profound, because if I believe I belong, I'm likely to be more relaxed, more spontaneous, I'm more likely to share my ideas, and if I believe I belong, then I would probably be thinking at a different level. If I'm aiming for a senior position. And I thought, well, if I was in the C-suite, what would be important to me if I belonged, if I already had that position? How would I approach this? And that, to me, became quite a powerful mindset shift to check whether I'm waiting for someone else to tell me I belong, or whether I'm taking ownership and reclaiming my sense of belonging. And when I realized that I show up differently when I think I belong, and I thought, well, why don't I grant myself permission? Why does it have to be delegated to the world to give me a tick and say, yes, you can go the next step? So it's a powerful concept that's meant a lot to me personally, and when I've shared it with clients, it somehow resonates with people. If you belong, how would you show up? How would you speak up? Why would you share your ideas, or why wouldn't you share your ideas if you belong? So for me, it's almost like a fundamental building block of confidence and executive presence is this concept of belonging, but we can't give it to ourselves, and that was a game changer. Lesley Logan 15:55  Aletta, I'm obsessed with this because that is Be It Till You See It. If I belong, I show up differently. If I believe I belong here, if I believe I belong in the role I'm applying for, if I do that, your energy is different, how you answer the questions, you're not waiting for validation. I'm obsessed with this whole thing. So is this a mantra that you have people say? Is this something you repeat to yourself? Is it on Post-It notes like, how do you how did you incorporate it. How did you remind yourself?Aletta Rochat 16:22  It was so powerful to me that it suddenly became part of everything I did. If I belong. Because as soon as I felt as if I didn't belong, the clue was, that's when I'm not so sure of myself, and I start doubting myself. Where I start saying, well, you know, why am I here? So and so is better than me. Any of those negative voices that camp in your head. As soon as they became prominent, then I'd start to say to myself, but no, calm down. Take a step back. You belong. And if I can get into that calm state and say, actually, I do belong, then it's like a whole, my body calms down, my anxiety goes down, and then I can have clarity of thought, because it's not the anxiety tripping me up. So to me, it was just such a powerful saying that it I just embraced it and didn't let go of it. And now I've woven it into the coaching tools I have. I've created the I Belong playbook to get people to start thinking which areas of their life do they have a sense of belonging, and which is there a lack of a sense of belonging, and can we fix that by spending some time and saying, actually, if I did belong, what would I do? And a lot of that is linked in with self-acceptance, because if you belong, you're not wanting. You are enough if you feel you belong. And that's such a empowering thing. And it also just allows you to relax and be you, as opposed to trying to be something that you wish you would be, or you think someone else needs you to be. So it gives you permission just to just make it so much easier. Lesley Logan 17:56  Yeah, oh, my God, it there is an easy button. It's that mantra. But I, I, you hit something, you hit like on self-acceptance. And I think that is difficult. I think we have a lot of perfectionists who listen, a lot of over achievers, a lot of women. They're so amazingly powerful. They're awesome. They handle everything. They're handling their parents, health that's going on. They're handling their work, they're handling their kid's stuff. And yet I feel like sometimes they're where, like you can have the I belong in some areas, I feel like there is a lack of feeling they belong in the areas that they want to be going towards. And it's easy for them to use all this other stuff as an excuse, as a distraction to maybe not exploring the I belong, but also, like self-acceptance on that thing that they're desiring. Do you find that, like, have you worked with people in your coaching practice who, like, they can, they have some amazing areas where they belong, and then they're just not accepting themselves in the area that actually is where they desire to grow?Aletta Rochat 19:00  Exactly. One of the starting points for any coaching conversation I have with clients is trying to identify their superpowers. We all have them. But somehow society has conditioned us to say, oh, it's nothing. I can do this. It's nothing. It's, then we trivialize it, and once I start asking questions like, one of the clues to your superpowers is, what do other people ask you for help with so now you're really good at doing Excel spreadsheets and pivot tables and all this. And people come to you because you can do it in a heartbeat and they take three hours. You think it's nothing, because it's innate to you, but it's a gift you've been given. But where I find the disconnect is we know, maybe at a deep level, we're good at something, but we're almost scared to admit it or to articulate that to someone else, and therefore we hold back articulating our value and how we can help solve problems. And how we can move projects forward, because we somehow have this incredible anxiety around saying what we're good at, and once you get over that and saying, my superpower is, and this is how it can help you, you become someone who contributes to problem solving on a personal level, in your job, in your community, but if you aren't willing to share your God given talent, we don't know how wonderful you are, and you get overlooked. So that sense of belonging often is related to this trivialization of what we're good at, and if we can get over that, so much opens up. Lesley Logan 20:37  Yeah, yeah. I think it takes time. It always takes an outsider to help you with that. It's kind of hard to do, you know, like, there's some things you become aware of on your own, and some people a light bulb can turn on, and there's like, a lot like, I remember I did The Artist's Way once, and I was answering one of the questions, and I had an aha moment that I never had, ever thought about. And I was like, oh, no wonder I never cook. Like, when I was eight years old, my grandfather told me, like, are you fucking idiot? Why would you do this with the bread? And I did not realize that, oh, at a young age, I just kind of learned, you know, even though I was following a recipe, you know. So sometimes things can be done with an, with an, a book or, or a hearing something, and then other times, if you are hearing it and you know it, and you're struggling with it, you need support of someone to kind of guide you. How long have you been coaching and what drew you to supporting others?Aletta Rochat 21:29  I've been coaching probably for about 15 years now, and what drew me towards it? It's I get such a kick out of seeing other people blossom. It, to me that's, the best reward ever is when I share something, someone takes action on that, and they sent me a letter it worked. And to see clients growing in confidence, in whichever way is important to them. You know, it doesn't matter whether they're IT professionals or entrepreneurs or whatever, but to see them grow is just so powerful. So that feeds my soul, and it's something that I just as I say, it doesn't feel like work to me. I feel it's my purpose in life. That's my God-given talent is helping other people be more successful. So, for me, it's just natural to do it, and I enjoy doing it. And you know, I do it one-on-one. I do it in group coaching programs. I do it often with no reward whatsoever, just because I love it and it feeds my soul. So it makes sense. Lesley Logan 22:30  I think that's so fun about a lot of things we get to do on this world now. And so many of us have a superpower, and then we can make it be the thing that we do. And it doesn't have to feel like work. It can feel like part of any wonderful day that we're given to do. I have some questions, because I know some of our listeners have probably heard Toastmasters, but probably thought it was like the thing that their parents did in the 90s. Is that something that everyone should be doing, is it something only people who wanna publicly speak do? What drew you to it? I mean, obviously you run it, so obviously you're obsessed. But I would just like to know, because I remember when I was a young adult hearing about Toastmasters, but not necessarily something that, I've been told I should do it, and I just never did it. So I would love I'm curious now I'm asking you.Aletta Rochat 23:15  Toastmasters, for those who aren't aware of it, is an organization that teaches people public speaking and leadership skills, and we do that in clubs. So clubs usually about 20 people, some of them are bigger, some of them are smaller. And you come to club meetings and you choose your own speech topics. There's a curriculum that you can personalize. We call them pathways, and you decide which one you want to go to. And your first project, for instance, is called your icebreaker, where you simply introduce yourself to the club. We give you a few criteria. We tell you how long to speak for. So we time everything to try and train people not to go on and on or speak too short. And the beautiful thing about Toastmasters is two things, you're guaranteed an audience which often is hard to find, and you're guaranteed applause, and then, which is something very precious. And then in that audience, somebody will be given the task of giving you feedback. And if you were speaking, let's say, Lesley, we love that you did this, this, and this. Next time, challenge yourself. Here's my suggestion to improve that. So it's an incredibly positive, supportive environment. Everybody is there for the same reason. So it's an incredibly safe space. If you want to make mistakes, that's the place to make it. But that if you participate, within three months, you see such a tangible increase in confidence, which you take back to your family, your community, your career. So my advice is go to toastmasters.org and there's a Find a Club feature, and look for clubs in your area that meet at a day or a venue that suits you or a time, and go and visit a few clubs. They've each got their own personality. And don't be put off if they look different to you. They're older or younger than you. Just go and give it a go. You actually will be amazed. And one of the best things about it is you meet people that are different to you, people from different backgrounds, different experience sets, so your life, just by hearing their stories, is enriched. But it's a lot of fun. But you know, it's the best way to do it is just go attend a meeting and see what you think. Lesley Logan 25:23  What a fun hobby. I think that could be, even if you're not wanting to, I love that you brought up like you bring the confidence to the other parts of your life. We hear a lot of people, they struggle to make friends as an adult, because it's so much harder, like especially when you have kids, if you move to a new city, good luck making new relationships, new friends. It can be really difficult. But I sound, it sounds like Toastmasters would bring multiple facets of people to the same place, and so you can connect with other people. I mean, guaranteed applause. Who doesn't want that? But also, like. Aletta Rochat 25:53  In 150 countries all over the world, so, it's very hard to find a country that there isn't a Toastmasters club. So it's probably closer and easier than you imagine.Lesley Logan 26:02  I'm gonna look it up after just to see, because I've lived in the city four and a half years, but I find I have a great group of connections. But also I'm like, well, how would I meet more friends if I wanted to add more friends? Because, you know, it becomes, the city can come really small, if you like, stay in your group and you just have that network. So I think that it could be really cool. And also not that you have to want to go and be a public speaker, but also if you want to present in your office. You know.Aletta Rochat 26:26  In your office, at a wedding, at a friend's birthday, at a funeral. You know, there's so many opportunities we get to, especially these special occasions, speaking, where your speech is a gift that only you can give and you really want to do it well, you know, whether it's a friend or someone who's retiring or someone getting married, what a wonderful way to pay tribute to someone. And if you have a bit of practice, and you can even practice those speeches at Toastmasters and get feedback before the event, so that when the day comes, you can shine.Lesley Logan 26:59  Ah, that's so cool. That would have been very helpful when I had to speak at a funeral a few years back. Aletta Rochat 27:05  It's just so hard to do. It's not easy.Lesley Logan 27:06  So hard, you're so, you're so emotional, you're trying to, like, share your love, but you're also feeling your emotions. But I mean, you know, even though it's my company that I'm running, sometimes I have to present an idea. We talked about, at the beginning of this, it's like getting, in one-on-one, I could, like, totally share the idea, but then you got to present the idea to people who are the marketing department for it. They're the payroll department going, can we afford this? They're the ops department who has all these questions. And sometimes you're like, okay, now my idea doesn't, I don't have as much confidence in it. I feel a little muddy around it. I'm actually nervous, because now I have to translate it to all of you and get you excited, because I want to do it. It's hard. Aletta Rochat 27:45  Yeah, it's not easy, but with a bit of practice, you'll be amazed at how much easier it will get and how quickly you can achieve that.Lesley Logan 27:52  This is, I love this a lot. So what are you most excited about right now? We're in the new year when we're recording this. Is there something that you're super excited to do this year that you haven't been doing before, or is it more of the same?Aletta Rochat 27:59  I think it is growing what I've already done. I've got a beautiful group coaching program, and I want to invite more people into that, where I mentor them for a 12-month period on executive presence, and that group has just achieved so much that that is very exciting. I've also planning to publish a book on executive presence, putting all the tools that I've created and publishing that. Don't ask me for a publication date, because I don't know yet. I'm still trying to get it done, but it's a dream that excites me. Lesley Logan 28:37  Oh, around here, we love reading books, so you'll just have to let us know if there's a waitlist thing or something. Executive presence, is that something we all have inside us innately, or is that something that we have to cultivate?Aletta Rochat 28:49  I think people probably have an ability for it. Whether they nurture that ability is a different question. I remember when I was at school, the headmistress of my school, describing in a reference she wrote for me, she said a letter has a quiet authority, and in those days, maybe that was what executive presence was. So you don't have to be the loudest voice in the room. You don't have to be the best brain in the room, but if you have executive presence when you speak, people will listen because you're adding value, and you will speak in a way that contributes to the group and contributes to the bigger picture. So I believe everybody needs it and can cultivate it and can benefit from and it covers so many things. It covers the confidence, the self-belief, the sense of belonging, the way you articulate your message. So whether you're having to say no to someone, or whether you're giving feedback, or whether you're inspiring a team, if you've got executive presence, it's easier. So it's something that I think all of us should develop as a muscle, because the benefits are multifaceted, and it's not out of reach of anybody. We just have to become self aware, and then learn a few tips and tricks, and then have, build our awareness of others, because that's also part and parcel. You can't just be an island with your executive presence and nobody around you. You've got to learn to get the best out of people and give the best to people so that we all benefit.Lesley Logan 30:16  Beautiful. I think that what you're doing is really cool. You have such a calm, like this headmistress said, like this calm leadership about you, there's just something, and I think that's so nice. Sometimes people have so much fluttering energy. And there's something about you that everything that you say feels possible and doable, even, even if I've heard it before, but the way you say it, it's easy, like the I belong, and how that that can change the way we feel, and how all that can work. Lesley Logan 30:44  I wonder, before we take a brief break, what are the ways that you prioritize yourself because you are so passionate helping people and it doesn't feel like work, how do you make sure that you are prioritizing you in your day?Aletta Rochat 30:58  Got quite a good sense of when I'm not feeling at my best, and when that anxiety comes up when I'm just kind of not feeling me, my remedy is to go into nature, either go walk the garden, or take a dog for a walk or to have a run. Exercise and outdoors really helps me. My husband is very good. He'll just say, you know, what's going on? You know when, if it's Toastmasters related, he'll say, you joined to have fun. If you're not having fun, change something. So I'm also very aware of my energy levels. So, you know, I try and surround myself with people who lift my energy, and hopefully I do the same for them. So I've learned over the years to say no to things that aren't good for me, but I think it's just, it's almost like that barometer you've always just got to check how you're feeling today and if you're feeling off, why? I was trying to track it back, when did it change and what was it? And sometimes it's anxiety. You're worried about something, and then suddenly your energy changes, and then you become contracted inside, and then you can't be at your best. So how do you remedy that? Is it going back inside and reminding yourself that you belong? Is it taking a walk? Is it phoning a friend? It's just being aware of when you can recalibrate to get back into the position that you can be creative and spontaneous and add value, but knowing what it feels like when it's right and knowing what it feels like when it's wrong is a key to looking after yourself.Lesley Logan 32:29  I love that. I think that that's important to give ourselves time to do that, you know, I think that's really key. And it takes, it takes a muscle, it takes practice. I'll let everyone take a brief break and then find out how people can find you, follow you, work with you, and your Be It Action Items. Lesley Logan 32:44  All right, Aletta, you mentioned you have a I Belong playbook. I would like to know more, because I feel like that is the be it till you see it playbook right there and you've made it. So we may as well make sure people have it.Aletta Rochat 32:58  Well, I created it in the process of trying to challenge myself to identify which parts of my life I belong and which I don't feel I belong and why, and to kind of have a playbook where I can say, okay, that's the area I want to pick up on. So it's very simple. It's just prompts for you to follow. But the idea is that you do an inventory of your belongingness, of I can put it that way, I've never expressed it quite like that, and then that'll help you take the next step and inform yourself and just create that awareness that you can take further to get that sense of belonging and to cultivate it, nurture it. Because it's not a once and done deal. It's a practice, yeah, but it's a very powerful practice. So if people would like to download that they go to, I'm going to give you lots of letters here, H-T-T-P-S, you know the story, coaching.executivepresenceformula.com/belonging.Lesley Logan 33:55  We will put that in the show notes, guys. We will put that in the blogs. It's easy to click. Yes, that is wonderful. And do you hang out on any of the socials that people can find you, follow you on?Aletta Rochat 34:07  The best one to find me on is LinkedIn. And if you just Google my name or search my name on LinkedIn and send me a message, I'd love to have a conversation with you, and it's just, yeah, finding out, when I have a conversation with you, how I could be of service and, you know, whether we're a good match. And a conversation is the easiest way to determine that and then to see what's next.Lesley Logan 34:31  Love that. I love that. Thank you for that. Okay, you've actually given us so many great things. But for the people who may skip to the end, or they get to hit this point, and they are like, okay, but what, what should I do next? The bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it, what do you have for us?Aletta Rochat 34:48  The first thing I have is to own your sense of belonging, reclaim it if you've lost it. Second thing is you be the one to grant yourself permission to belong. It's within your power. You've got agency. It's a choice you have. And the third one is then start playing with it, start thinking, start speaking, start acting as if you belong, and watch the difference that results once you have that mindset. So it's reclaiming our sense of belonging. And that'll unleash so many possibilities for you, and it's something it's a gift you give yourself. Lesley Logan 35:26  Yes, yes. Oh my gosh, I love this so much. I think it's a great reminder and a wonderful tool. And so also, thank you for your playbook, because I do think the inventory of belongingness is, is key. People who listen to this, obviously, y'all want to know more about yourself, and I think what a great place to evaluate and have some aha moments. So, Aletta, thank you so much for being here and sharing your gifts with us and your positivity and your tools. You are wonderful. and you're doing great work. Lesley Logan 35:56  Y'all, make sure you share this with a friend. Share this with someone who needs to hear it. Make sure you hit up Aletta on LinkedIn and let her know your favorite takeaways and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 36:05  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 36:49  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 36:54  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 36:59  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 37:06  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 37:09  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Braxton Critcher welcomes Jimmy Lea from the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. Why? Because Jimmy actually did something newsworthy! Bout time! Jimmy is now, to our knowledge, the ONLY presenter in the automotive aftermarket certified as a Certified Speaking Professional. It was quite the journey to get here, though! Hear Jimmy walk us through the process and tell us why this is important for other speakers to try and get as well.00:00 Jimmy's choice in suit coats05:46 "Reapplying for CSP Certification"08:11 Failed Speaker Review Video11:08 Videographer Hire: Costs & Requirements16:06 Speaker Recognition and Status20:11 Becoming a Professional Speaker21:01 Joining Speaking Associations Explained25:58 Collaborative Industry Improvement Insights28:35 "Shopmonkey Expert Series in Chicago"

I recently attended my first Toastmasters conference.  Reflecting on my Toastmasters journey, I've learned that this organization is about so much more than public speaking.  It truly is about finding your voice and learning to share your unforgetable story.  Learning and growing with this incredible community has my creative energy flowing.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!

District 23 (2020) International Speech Contest Winner Eva Fanari shares about earning her Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award. While less than 1% of members earn their DTM, all members are eligible to do so.

Beacon4Hope: Veterans and Youth Suicide PreventionWelcome to the Lean to the Left Podcast as we explore the pressing issue of suicide among veterans and young people. Our guest, Douglas Brinker, founder of Beacon4Hope, Suicide Prevention, and author of 'My Shadow From a Suicidal Self to a Purpose with Hope,' shares his incredible story of overcoming his own suicide attempts and turning his life around to become a beacon of hope for others. Doug discusses the vital work his organization does in suicide prevention through speaking engagements, one-on-one coaching, and group coaching sessions. He emphasizes the importance of having open conversations about mental health and the critical need for better support systems. Tune in to hear Doug's inspiring journey and learn how you can help combat suicide in your community. CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Today's Topic00:27 Meet Douglas Brinker: A Beacon of Hope01:09 Douglas Brinker's Personal Journey02:31 The Mission of Beacon for Hope03:52 Strategies for Suicide Prevention07:10 Douglas Brinker's Military Service and Struggles14:38 The Impact of Bullying and Teenage Suicide16:13 Toastmasters and Public Speaking22:26 Challenges Facing Veterans and the VA28:38 Douglas Brinker's Memoir and Future Plans33:15 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Ron Papke's journey from addiction and homelessness to building a thriving cleaning restoration business is nothing short of inspiring. With just $2,500 and a few lawn mowers, he laid the foundation for what would grow into a million-dollar company specializing in water restoration, mold remediation, air duct cleaning, and more.What makes Ron's success stand out is his mastery of organic marketing—achieving massive growth without relying on hefty advertising budgets. His company's leap from $500,000 to its first million in revenue came largely from a simple yet powerful strategy: customer yard signs. By placing signs at every job site and leaving them up until a client objected (which almost never happened), he created an unstoppable local presence. The proof? His business boasts over 700 Google reviews, while his nearest competitor has just 40.Beyond marketing, Ron's business approach is full of game-changing strategies. His innovative “scheduling close” technique shifts the focus from price to value by first asking if customers qualify for special discounts (like first responders, teachers, and veterans) before offering time-sensitive pricing incentives. He also requires a $50 deposit on every job, which not only reduces last-minute cancellations but reinforces his company's professionalism.Ron is a firm believer that strong communication skills are key to success—so much so that he recommends every business owner join Toastmasters. Not only does it refine public speaking, but it also serves as a powerful networking tool with management-level professionals. He also leans heavily into video marketing, stating, “People trust videos on a whole other level.” His email campaigns are equally strategic, with segmented messaging that tracks engagement to fine-tune follow-ups.Perhaps one of Ron's most impactful business practices is how he nurtures relationships with referral sources. Whether it's insurance agents or property managers, he keeps his business top of mind through thoughtful, memorable gestures—homemade jerky, bottles of liquor that double as constant reminders of his brand, and seasonal gifts that create natural touchpoints throughout the year.Want to revolutionize your cleaning business? Connect with Ron on Facebook to learn more about his strategies or join his private group for exclusive insights on building a thriving cleaning empire.This version keeps the energy high, refines the flow, and makes Ron's strategies even more compelling. Sign up for my email list here: Send us a text It can be crowed when trying to figure out who you are going to learn from Erica Paynter is the brains behind My Virtual Bookkeeper, a bookkeeping firm for cleaning companies, and the creator of Clean Co. Cash Flow Academy and the Clean Co. Collective. She's on a mission to help cleaning business owners make sense of their numbers without boring them to tears! Erica's all about turning messy books into profit-packed powerhouses. support@myvbk.com Up your cleaning game, join over 6000 Cleaning Business Owners most of whom are located here in the United States. Support the showQuestions? Feel free to reach out!Shannon Miller: cleaningbusinesslife@gmail.com Join my FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583362158497744YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjMz_-9YyiFvNVIgb61iYgSee Shannon's latest courses: www.KleanFreaksUnversity.com

What happens when someone dares to speak up—not just clearly, but confidently—in the moments that matter most? Aletta Rochat, International President-Elect of Toastmasters International, joins Mary Ann Faremouth on this episode of Career Can Do to explore how powerful communication and leadership skills can shape careers, strengthen confidence, and create lasting personal impact. Aletta shares insights from her global leadership journey, emphasising the unifying nature of Toastmasters: “We come from different countries who might speak different languages and have different cultures. But as Toastmasters, we unite and connect. And we're there for a common purpose. And that's why it works so well.” In times of crisis, communication can be your greatest tool. Aletta recalls a moment shared by a longtime Toastmaster she mentored: “Suddenly, with the confidence she built up through Toastmasters, she was able to take charge in a very stressful moment… and to keep calm in the midst of something that could have been exceptionally stressful.” Experiences like these, she says, highlight how communication skills, built over time, become instinctive when you need them most. She also tells the inspiring story of Emil, a new member who gave his first speech—despite a profound stutter: “It took him 16 agonizingly long minutes to get those words out.” With ongoing support, Emil went on to become a confident leader. “He learned, and he improved because of the support of the members around him. He couldn't have done that by himself.” Looking ahead to her conference session, Building Clubs That Are Member Magnets, Aletta promises to keep things practical and impactful: “I'm not going to give you the theory. I'm going to give you the stuff that works.” Reflecting on her 16-year Toastmasters journey, Aletta sums it up in one word: “Enriching.” She explains, “Toastmasters is not a spectator sport. The more you get involved, the better the return on investment.” This episode is a powerful reminder that communication isn't just a skill—it's a life-changing asset, and one that's more essential now than ever. Resources Toastmasters on the Web | District 65 Annual Conference 2025 Aletta Rochat on the Web | LinkedIn Mary Ann Faremouth on the Web | X (Twitter)

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM FULL SHOW NOTES https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/687 What happens when a finance professional clicks a mysterious purple icon in Excel and discovers a whole new world? For Mate Tóth, that moment sparked a journey from spreadsheets to becoming a Microsoft MVP. In this episode, Mate shares how curiosity, community, and a passion for learning transformed his career. From building his first Power App in production to leading Hungary's Power Platform user group, Mate's story is a masterclass in grassroots tech leadership and the power of showing up.KEY TAKEAWAYSStart Small, Think Big: Mate's Power Platform journey began with a single Excel task—proof that big transformations often start with small curiosities. Community as a Catalyst: His involvement in Toastmasters and local tech groups helped him grow as a speaker and leader, eventually leading to his MVP nomination. Localization Matters: Language barriers and cultural nuances shape tech adoption—Mate shares how he's bridging gaps in Hungary's tech scene. AI with Purpose: While enthusiastic about AI, Mate emphasizes ethical considerations and the importance of understanding each model's strengths. From Goals to Impact: Ironically, Mate became an MVP the year he stopped chasing the title and focused solely on helping others. RESOURCES MENTIONED

In this Humans of Meraki episode, Helen Fream takes us on her dynamic Cisco journey—from designing the popular Meraki e-learning program to championing mentorship and leading Women of Meraki. With humor and heart, Helen shares how she's created opportunities, mastered public speaking, and pursued her love of sustainable fashion. You won't want to miss this uplifting conversation, full of insights on inclusion and growth and making bold moves in the workplace!Embark on the Meraki FIT journey https://community.meraki.com/t5/Meraki-FIT/ct-p/merakifitHostSammy Brenner, Virtual Sales Leader, Cisco MerakiGuestHelen Fream, Instructional Designer – Join & Connect Enablement Hfream@cisco.comHelen is a Learning & Development professional with a strong background in instructional design, program management, and digital learning solutions. Throughout her career at Cisco, she has built global onboarding initiatives and created impactful learning experiences for diverse audiences. Known for her creativity, organization, and cross-functional collaboration, she is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, having led the ERO Women of Meraki, as a sustainable fashion enthusiast, and as a dedicated Toastmaster!

My guest today is Jen Oliver. Jen is a speaker, writer, and coach. She founded Speaking REAL Communications to help clients bring their truest voice to work and personal life; Jen believes communication should be relational, engaging, authentic and life-altering. Showing up REAL matters. With roots in Toastmasters, training in Fierce®Conversations and licensing as a leader in the WomanSpeak™ method, Jen also offers private and group coaching for high-stakes talks and keynotes. She is the Director of Curation and Speaker Coach for TEDxFolsom and several other U.S. based speaking events. Jen converses with vulnerability and candor with guests on the Listen for REAL podcast. And in recent years, she hosts The REAL Conversations Speaker Series – pop up events designed to equip and synergize people around ideas while building connection and community.. In this episode we discuss public speaking, personal growth, vulnerability and speaking tips .Website - https://www,realjenoliver.comIG - https://www.instagram.com/realjenoliverLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/realjenoliverFB - https://www.facebook.com/realjenoliverPodcast - https://www.listenforreal.comIn this episode you will learn:1. How to re-frame your anxiety around public speaking and partner with your energy rather than fearing it.2. Understanding why listening is a crucial skill in both personal and professional conversations.3. Why being your true self is more powerful than following any formulaic approach to public speaking. “You need to show up as you. This is probably the biggest thing I capitalize as a speaker coach is, and that makes me a little bit different. I'm so about them being them, not following formulas. ” - 00:03:43“When I equip speakers with tools, each one is about getting them into this new habit developing the new neural pathways that don't immediately jump to what the mind and the chatter is giving them, but slowing down, almost like meditation." 00:27:49“So storytelling is just, it's so beautiful in that it can make an idea that's worth transmuting or research. that needs to be shared, or a new technology or innovation, it suddenly makes it sticky and memorable and relatable. ” 00:40:27

Get More LVWITHLOVE Content Guests: David Robertson – Founder & Executive Director, JOSHWAY Glenn Breslauer – JOSHWAY Board Member In this episode of the Lehigh Valley with Love: Off the Record podcast, hosts George Wacker and Jeff Warren sit down with David Robertson and Glenn Breslauer of JOSHWAY, a new nonprofit based in Easton, Pennsylvania that's using technology, collaboration, and lived experience to connect with and uplift the youth of Northampton County and beyond. Learn more about JOSHWAY at: https://joshway.org Watch Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC2J-Fca-wc www.lvwithlove.com Thank you to our Partners! WDIY Lehigh Valley Health Network Wind Creek Event Center Michael Bernadyn of RE/MAX Real Estate Molly’s Irish Grille & Sports Pub Banko Beverage Company Episode Recap JOSHWAY: Building a Future Where Vision Meets Action JOSHWAY began as a personal mission after founder David Robertson lost his brother Joshua to “modern day challenges.” What started as a response to grief has become a movement grounded in digital literacy, financial education, public speaking, and youth mentorship. “Joshua was the response to a loss,” David says, “but what was lost became something beautiful.” Tech-Driven, Vision-Focused JOSHWAY's programming is uniquely collaborative—partnering with nonprofits and schools to bring modern tools and leadership development to young people. From Toastmasters-style public speaking to Apple-powered media literacy, JOSHWAY isn't just meeting kids where they are—it's helping them lead. They're not reinventing the wheel—they're upgrading it. “We're not just starting new programs,” says Glenn. “We're transforming existing ones for the 21st century.” Digital Skills Meet Real-World Impact Through partnerships with Apple and others, students are learning how to use Keynote to build presentations, GarageBand to create podcasts, and financial literacy tools to better understand money. And the team's entrepreneurial spirit shines: “We're scrappy. We're flexible. We move fast,” David adds. Community First, Always JOSHWAY's new headquarters on Northampton Street is just the beginning. The team is now running inbound and outbound workshops and collaborating with organizations like El Sistema and Century Promise to scale impact. They're calling for others—especially those aged 35 to 45—to join the movement. “If you're not ready to start your own thing,” David says, “take a board seat. Get involved.” What's Next? JOSHWAY is working on expanding into school curricula, launching youth Toastmasters programs, and publishing Joshua and the Power of Resilience, a forthcoming book co-authored by Glenn. The message is clear: This is just the beginning. And they're building a blueprint for a new kind of youth empowerment—visionary, modern, and deeply rooted in community. Learn more, collaborate, or donate: https://joshway.org

In this episode of the Learning from Smart People Podcast, Rob Oliver talks with Chris Castanes—an award-winning insurance agent, speaker, and author of You Are Going to Be Great at This. Chris brings decades of sales wisdom with a refreshing blend of humor and authenticity. Whether you're a reluctant entrepreneur or a seasoned salesperson, you'll appreciate Chris's real-world insights on what it really takes to succeed in sales—without the sleaze.Here are some of the key takeaways from Chris Castanes' conversation with Rob Oliver:Sales success starts with learning how to find people to talk to.A full pipeline and consistent networking are essential to growth.Rejection is part of the process—develop “Teflon coating” and keep moving.Toastmasters and public speaking can help introverts build communication confidence.Sales isn't just about product—people buy from people they trust.Building rapport and demonstrating integrity beat pushy tactics every time.Relationship selling means showing up sincerely, not just closing a deal.You're always selling yourself—in business and in life.Humor and resilience can defuse rejection and create memorable moments.“Selling on the approval of others” taps into a powerful psychological motivator.Real-life examples (like Popeye and spinach!) make sales techniques relatable.Listening is more powerful than talking—find the client's real pain point.Be genuinely curious about your client's needs, not just your pitch.Follow up consistently; a client's circumstances can change unexpectedly.Keep multiple solutions “in your quiver” to serve evolving needs.Transitioning to virtual and social media-based sales requires creativity and adaptability.The barrier to entry on social media is low—standing out requires strategy.Your name is your brand—keep it consistent and focused.Avoid diluting your identity with conflicting side hustles.Chris's humor-infused book was a passion project turned powerful teaching tool.You can learn more about Chris Castanes and connect with him through the links below:Website: www.chriscastanes.com Twitter: @ccastanes Instagram: @chriscastanesThanks for listening to the Learning from Smart People Podcast!Subscribe, leave a comment and follow us on social media:Twitter: http://twitter.com/LFSPPodcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/LFSPPodcast Facebook: http://facebook.com/LFSPPodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lfsppodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imroboliver/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbWV_LuUad7ZWuE9j5D9v-wYou can also use the "Contact" page on the "Learning from Smart People" website:https://www.learningfromsmartpeople.com/contact

In this raw and empowering episode, Carrie takes us behind the scenes of a life-changing moment at a Toastmasters speech competition, where an unexpected disqualification could have crushed her public speaking dreams. But instead of letting disappointment define her, Carrie chose to rise.She opens up about how she leaned into emotional intelligence, reframed the situation, and made the courageous decision not just to move on, but to compete again—stronger than before.This episode is a masterclass in turning setbacks into comebacks and a powerful lesson in resilience, leadership, and effective communication. Carrie shares the importance of feeling your emotions, seeking wise counsel, and turning adversity into fuel for growth.If you're facing a challenge, a disappointment, or a roadblock, this episode will inspire you to stand tall, pivot with purpose, and keep moving forward. Because you can't let one moment define you.Radical Empowerment Method Book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Bdp2BCBook CarrieVee for a Speaking Engagement:  https://www.coachcarriev.com/contact-meJoin the Confidence and Clarity Membership!  https://carrievee.com/confidence-clarity-1Schedule your Discovery Call with CarrieVee!https://schedulewithcarrievee.as.me/?appointmentType=12343596Step Into Your Big Life Freebie: https://www.coachcarriev.com/stepintoyourbiglifefreebieThe Radical Empowerment Method 2.0 Online Course https://www.coachcarriev.com/radicalempowermentmethod2Get to an EVENT!  www.carrievee.com/eventsContact CarrieVee!IG: @iamcarrieveeLI and FB: Carrie Verrocchioemail: carriev@coachcarriev.com 

This week's guest is Kimberly Winters, vegan coach, consultant, and host of “Did You Bring the Hummus?” Kimberly's path to podcasting started as a Toastmasters speaking project (before she even listened to a podcast herself!).  You'll hear how Kimberly found confidence and community through her vegan storytelling, and why every small choice matters—even when no one seems to notice.Kimberly unpacks the philosophy and ethics behind veganism, offers actionable tips for effective communication, advice for individuals, and helping restaurants to see inclusivity is just good business. Topics Covered:Kimberly's podcasting journeyStorytelling vs. “conversion”: Planting seeds with authenticityHow to navigate vegan communication—without “bumming out” your friendsPractical vegan hospitality tips for restaurants and businessesHow every small choice and action makes a differenceThe power of community: You never know who's watchingSystems, self-talk, and showing up messy—why it's worth itFind Kimberly:Instagram: @DidYouBringTheHummusPodcast: Did You Bring the Hummus? Website: didyoubringthehummus.comRecommendations:Listen & subscribe to “Did You Bring the Hummus?”Follow, rate and share to help boost vegan and plant-based podcasts Subscribe & Review:If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us grow and share the message of plant-based living with more listeners.For more information, to submit a question or topic, or to book a free 30 minute Coaching session visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠micheleolendercoaching.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@micheleolendercoaching.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music, Production, and Editing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Charlie Weinshank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For inquiries email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠charliewe97@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Virtual Support Services: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://proadminme.com/⁠

Send us a textNikolaj Kloch shares his unique journey from aerospace engineering to becoming a leading videographer specializing in content creation for public speakers. He discusses how engineering skills translate into entrepreneurship, content creation, and business development.Main Topics:Transitioning from aerospace engineering to videographyBuilding a business by leading with valuePublic speaking tips for engineersLeveraging engineering skills in content creationSocial media and networking strategiesCareer change advice for professionalsAbout the guest: Nikolaj Kloch is a former aerospace engineer turned videographer who specializes in creating content for public speakers. With over four years of experience, he helps speakers boost their visibility, book more engagements, and increase their income—serving clients who've spoken for top companies like AWS, Jaguar, and Airbus. Previously, he worked at Boeing as a Propulsion Design Engineer and was part of the MSTEP Steering Committee. He holds engineering degrees from Georgia Tech and the Technical University of Denmark. Outside work, he's an ultramarathon runner and Eagle Scout, known for his dedication, versatility, and inspiring career journey.Links:Nikolaj Kloch - LinkedInThrivr Design Website 

This installment of eponymous food stories is entirely about fruits. We’ve got a berry, a pome, and a citrus, all with varying degrees of documentation. Research: “A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Algeria.” Office of the Historian. U.S. Department of State. https://history.state.gov/countries/algeria#:~:text=Algeria%20under%20French%20Control%2C%201830,Algeria%2C%20Oran%2C%20and%20Constantine. “Anaheim Pays Last Respects to Park Superintendent Rudy Boysen.” Anaheim Gazette. Nov. 28, 1950. https://www.newspapers.com/image/866864789/?match=1&terms=rudy%20boysen “ANAHEIM WILL PLANT 4400 TREES IN CITY.” Los Angeles Times. January 22, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/380543208/?match=1&terms=%22rudolph%20boysen%22 Bartlett, Thomas Edward. “The Bartletts. Ancestral, genealogical, biographical, historical. Comprising an account of the American progenitors of the Bartlett family, with special reference to the descendants of John Bartlett, of Weymouth and Cumberland.” Stafford Printing Co. New Haven, Connecticut. 1892. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/bartlettsancestr00bart Brown, L. Carl, Zaimeche, Salah, Sutton, Keith, Chanderli, Abdel Kader. "Algeria". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria Caramanna, Carly. “The Tangled History of the Boysenberry.” Paste Magazine. March 21, 2022. https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/history/history-boysenberry-pie-knotts-farm The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "boysenberry". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jun. 2015, https://www.britannica.com/plant/boysenberry Hendrick, U.P. et al. “The Pears of New York.” State of New York—Department of AgricultureTwenty-ninth Annual Report—Vol. 2—Part II. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46994/46994-h/46994-h.htm#illus-0124 “Horticultural festival.” New England Farmer. Oct. 10, 1832. https://www.newspapers.com/image/404574942/?match=1&terms=%22enoch%20bartlett%22 “Horticultural festival.” New England Farmer. Sept. 25, 1829. https://www.newspapers.com/image/404563194/?match=1&terms=%22enoch%20bartlett%22 “Horticultural Premiums.” New England farmer. Dec. 26, 1832. https://www.newspapers.com/image/404576179/?match=1&terms=%22enoch%20bartlett%22 Karst, Tom. “Clementine and Mandarin Category Continues to Soar,” The Packer. January 31, 2023. https://www.thepacker.com/news/produce-crops/clementine-and-mandarin-category-continues-soar Kayal, Michele. “Clementines Darlings of U.S. Fruit Crop.” Cape Cod Times. Jan. 2, 2008. https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/lifestyle/food/2008/01/02/clementines-darlings-u-s-fruit/52691796007/ Laszlo, Pierre. “Cirtus: A History.” University of Chicago Press. 2007. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780226470283/page/24/mode/1up?q=clementine “Memorial Day Program to Honor Nation’s Dead.” Anaheim Bulletin. May 28, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/966752153/?match=1&terms=%22rudolph%20boysen%22 Mendonca, Melissa. “Berry Delicious.” Enjoy Magazine. April 26, 2024. https://enjoymagazine.com/2024/04/berry-delicious-2/ Munch, Daniel. “U.S. Citrus Production – An Uphill Battle to Survive.” Farm Bureau. April 25, 2023. https://www.fb.org/market-intel/u-s-citrus-production-an-uphill-battle-to-survive “New Type of Orange Grown in Valley; of Hybrid Origin.” Bryan-College Station Eagle. Sept. 30, 1932. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1000979455/?match=1&terms=clementine%20orange “Parnet of Clementine Orange Tree Lives.” The Daily News-Journal. May 10, 1937. https://www.newspapers.com/image/358917936/?match=1&terms=%22clementine%20orange%22 “Rudy's Original Boysenberry -- The 100 Year Journey.” Boysen Berry farm. June 25, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijVK-I1A2AM “Toastmasters to Foster Oratory.” Anaheim Bulletin. Jan. 18, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/966818953/?match=1&terms=%22rudolph%20boysen%22 “Tree Planting Now Underway in City.” Anaheim Bulletin. Feb. 14, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/966748082/?match=1&terms=%22rudolph%20boysen%22 “Week to Honor Creator of Famed Boysenberry.” Los Angeles Times. June 14, 1959. https://www.newspapers.com/image/380671622/?match=1&terms=rudy%20boysen White, Joan S. “’Rudy Boysen’ Garden at Palm and Water Still Bears Berries Developed by Famed Hosticulturalist.” Anaheim gazette. May 29, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/866195421/?match=1&terms=rudy%20boysen “Who created the Boysenberry?” Rotary Club of Anaheim. March 1, 2021. https://www.anaheimrotary.org/who-created-the-boysenberry/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode with Phil Barth is a refreshing affirmation of life. Phil is a public speaker, author, and heart attack survivor. Get ready for some fun as we discuss the importance of rubber chickens in romance, chat GPT, and the importance of Ohio in the American story. connect with Phil here: Phil Barth Squawk squawk. […]

Welcome to the Personal Development Trailblazers Podcast! In today's episode, we're going to be talking about how to break free from a limited life controlled by debilitating social anxiety and public speaking phobia.Marla Genova began having panic attacks while speaking at the podium at age 12. She lived a very limited life until her late 20s when she began facilitating support groups and sharing many different methods and resources. She has worked with thousands of people with social anxiety and/or public speaking fear for the past 19 years through individual and group sessions, workshops, including a 16-hour intensive weekend workshop for many years. Marla uses a cognitive-behavioral therapy approach that focuses strictly on anxiety, not presentation techniques or Toastmasters-like tips. She teaches you how to genuinely connect with your audience, calm your physical symptoms and empower your thought patterns, by shifting the critical, negative thoughts about yourself into much larger, positive perspectives. She has the unique combination of her own personal anxiety journal, a Masters in Psychology and a professional background as a researcher and author of scientific journal publications in mental health clinical trials at Yale University and at the University of Connecticut Health Center for 25 years. Marla became a certified master coach through the International Coaching Federation in 2017 and founded Socially Speaking LLC in 2018. She offers in-person in Connecticut services and remote services worldwide: complimentary support groups, individual and group sessions, workshops, finds customized resources for loved ones trying to help someone with this type of anxiety. She mostly works with ages 18 and up but has recently been working with teenagers and youth to overcome the fear of phone calls, and job and college interviews anxiety. Having suffered from intense social anxiety from ages 12-30, she strongly advocates for transitioning youth as early as possible, before it severely limits their personal and professional lives. Connect with Marla Here: https://lnk.bio/MarlaGenova_SociallySpeakingLLC/ - everything is linked here and up to datehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/marlagenova/https://www.meetup.com/connecticut-ct-social-anxiety-public-speaking-support-group/https://www.instagram.com/anxietycoachmarla/https://www.facebook.com/SociallySpeakingPlus/https://calendly.com/marlagenova/30-min-complimentary-call/https://sociallyspeakingplus.com/Grab the freebie here: https://sociallyspeakingplus.com/===================================If you enjoyed this episode, remember to hit the like button and subscribe. Then share this episode with your friends.Thanks for watching the Personal Development Trailblazers Podcast. This podcast is part of the Digital Trailblazer family of podcasts. To learn more about Digital Trailblazer and what we do to help entrepreneurs, go to DigitalTrailblazer.com.Are you a coach, consultant, expert, or online course creator? Then we'd love to invite you to our FREE Facebook Group where you can learn the best strategies to land more high-ticket clients and customers. QUICK LINKS: APPLY TO BE FEATURED: https://app.digitaltrailblazer.com/podcast-guest-applicationDIGITAL TRAILBLAZER: https://digitaltrailblazer.com/

Welcome to the Personal Development Trailblazers Podcast! In today's episode, we'll talk about grief—how to come to terms with loss, find peace of mind, and move forward into a hopeful, meaningful future.Pat's 1st loss was miscarrying a daughter, then her 23-year-old son to suicide. In a recent 2-year period, she lost 7 immediate family members, a brother & 9 days after, her husband. She does understand how deep the pain of grief goes. She had no safe place to fall & did not have the finances to hire a therapist. A fellow Life Mastery Consultant suggested she look into becoming an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist. She took the training, understood what she was experiencing in her grief, became licensed to help others & be a soft place to fall for them.Pat specializes in helping people who have suffered a significant loss, be it a death, divorce, loss of a child, sibling, parent, friend, divorce, or any of the other 40+ types of loss that create grief. She takes them through an 8-week program to find their peace of mind & a new lease on life. She can then offer to transform them into "A New Beginning" program, where in 12 weeks they can create a new life, build their dreams, accelerate their results, and create a rich, fulfilling life.For 11 years, she has studied and implemented transformational life & grief recovery success principles and is also a public speaker. Pat's workshops and coaching programs help people break through limitations and achieve greater results than they've ever known before. If you're looking to increase your clarity, amplify your confidence, and achieve your next level of success, Pat's coaching programs can help you get there.Pat is also a 6-year Toastmaster & currently serving her 2nd year as Club 1294 President, which has enriched her teaching & speaking.Connect with Pat Here: www.PatAcklieRoth.comGrab the freebie here: 1-hour free conversation with Pat for grief or life & signed copy of Short, Sweet, & Sacred which contains her story of overcoming a situation with resilience.===================================If you enjoyed this episode, remember to hit the like button and subscribe. Then share this episode with your friends.Thanks for watching the Personal Development Trailblazers Podcast. This podcast is part of the Digital Trailblazer family of podcasts. To learn more about Digital Trailblazer and what we do to help entrepreneurs, go to DigitalTrailblazer.com.Are you a coach, consultant, expert, or online course creator? Then we'd love to invite you to our FREE Facebook Group where you can learn the best strategies to land more high-ticket clients and customers. QUICK LINKS: APPLY TO BE FEATURED: https://app.digitaltrailblazer.com/podcast-guest-applicationDIGITAL TRAILBLAZER: https://digitaltrailblazer.com/

Thanks to our Partners, NAPA TRACS, and Today's Class Recorded at Vision Hi-Tech Training & Expo 2025, two attendees of a communications class, led by Chris Cloutier and Craig O'Neill, were chosen as the top speakers during a Toastmasters style mock run-through. Their heartfelt and authentic stories resonated so strongly with the audience that they were invited to share their experiences on the podcast. What began as a simple role-play exercise turned into a powerful conversation about the role of communication and relationship building in the automotive shop industry. Our guests reflect on the value of active listening, vulnerability, storytelling, and how these traits fuel strong leadership and team culture in repair shops. This episode is a reminder that sometimes the most meaningful moments are unplanned, and communication is at the heart of every successful business. Corey Evaldi, Olmstead Auto Care, Olmstead Falls, OH. Listen to Corey's Episodes HERE. Allen Garcia, A+ Auto & Diesel, Syracuse, KS Show Notes: Watch Full Video Episode Vision Hi-Tech Training & Expo: https://visionkc.com/ Guest Introductions (00:00:00) Toastmasters Roleplay Overview (00:01:37) Importance of Communication (00:03:00) Corey's Speech Experience (00:03:57) Alan's Leadership by Example (00:05:03) Value of Communication (00:07:30) Vulnerability in Communication (00:08:08) Corey's Emotional Connection (00:15:01) Building Relationships (00:17:35) The Value of Training (00:19:12) Energy and Growth (00:22:04) Comfort Zone and Growth (00:24:03) Toastmasters Experience (00:25:45) The Importance of Storytelling (00:27:14) Thanks to our Partner, NAPA TRACS NAPA TRACS will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with onsite training and six days a week of support and local representation. Find NAPA TRACS on the Web at http://napatracs.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Today's Class Optimize training with Today's Class: In just 5 minutes daily, boost knowledge retention and improve team performance. Find Today's Class on the web at https://www.todaysclass.com/ Connect with the Podcast: -The Aftermarket Radio Network: https://aftermarketradionetwork.com -Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RemarkableResultsRadioPodcast/ -Join Our Private Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734687266778976 -Join Our...

Today, I interview Julia Miron, who grew up in a home where speaking her truth wasn't safe. As the youngest in a household filled with anger, control, and emotional chaos, she learned to stay silent to protect herself. She retreated into journaling, music, and nature—places where she didn't have to explain herself, where she could finally breathe. Her voice, however, remained hidden. Her words barely above a whisper, while the other kids laughed and played freely.Years later, when a loss made her realize that she wanted to speak, the fear of being seen and heard still held her tightly. The idea of standing in front of people terrified her. She had tried Toastmasters, but the pressure to perform only made things worse.Then someone told her about Speaking Circles. Skeptical but curious, she walked into her first session—and everything shifted. For the first time, she stood in front of others and didn't feel the need to hide. There were no judgments, no corrections, just presence. Even though she was sweating and trembling, she was allowed to simply be. She began showing up not only on the page but in her voice.Today, she is a certified mindfulness teacher and coach, supporting individuals through one-on-one sessions that blend mindfulness and Speaking Circles. She's also launching her podcast, The Messy Meditator, where she opens honest conversations about the beauty and struggle of being human. Through her work, she helps others find the safety, stillness, and self-acceptance she had searched for most of her life.__________________Julia Rebecca Miron is a mindfulness teacher and coach, qualified by Brown University as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. Her mission is to make mindfulness accessible to more people by demystifying the idea that you need to be perfect and Buddha-like to practice it. She believes that showing up messy is better than not showing up at all.She's also a writer, and her work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul. She's currently preparing to launch her podcast, The Messy Meditator, which explores mindfulness, messiness, and life.In her free time, she loves hiking, listening to R&B and hip hop, connecting with loved ones, and doting on her dog, Disco.__________________Find Julia here:https://www.instagram.com/the.messy.meditator/https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliarebeccamiron/https://www.themessymeditator.com/Support the showI'm Dr. Doreen Downing and I help people find their voice so they can speak without fear. Get the Free 7-Step Guide to Fearless Speaking https://www.doreen7steps.com​.

On this episode of Mastery Unleashed, Christie Ruffino sits down with Renee Cooper, an accomplished speaker, corporate fundraising expert, and Toastmasters leader, to discuss the art of speaking with confidence and connecting with an audience.Renee shares her inspiring journey, from a childhood dream of becoming the next Oprah Winfrey to overcoming self-doubt and societal expectations, ultimately stepping into her true calling as a speaking coach. With over 15 years of experience in corporate fundraising and public speaking, Renee reveals how storytelling is the key to capturing attention and making a lasting impact.She provides three powerful strategies to help entrepreneurs, professionals, and aspiring speakers connect more and present less:Know Your "Why": Stay grounded in your message and ensure clarity in your purpose.Start with a Story or Powerful Question: Grab attention immediately and engage your audience emotionally.Master the Power of the Pause & Nonverbal Communication: Own the stage, make eye contact, and let silence work for you.Listeners can download Renee's exclusive empowerment speaking tips, a printable resource to boost confidence and elevate their speaking skills in any setting.ABOUT RENEERenee is a Communications expert and has been a Speaker for 15+ years, raising millions of dollars in Corporate Fundraising. Along her journey, many executives and leaders on all levels would ask her how she enjoys speaking so much and how they could consistently appear more authentic. Renee turned her lifelong love for speaking and educating to mentoring, coaching, and training individuals, teams, and organizations to improve their sales and leadership skills, by discovering, developing, and amplifying their voice, the most important instrument we were given. Renee uses a unique and customized interactive approach to help her audience's create authentic and engaging connections with their audiences, big or small. By using science-backed techniques including Improvisation, coupled with specific voice techniques and her own story overcoming adversity in the workplace, Renee is passionate about improving Communications in the workplace by getting her clients and audiences to walk through the discomfort of speaking, or working through conflict by doing a deep dive in Communications Training so they can reach the next level in their success journey - personally or professionally.Renee is a Toastmaster through Toastmasters International and a graduate of Dale Carnegie Leadership program. Renee is a speaker for the United Way of Broward County, has been a Speaker for Eagle's Haven in Coral Springs, FL, appears on Virtual Stages, leads Communication Masterclasses on Eventbrite, and runs a private Communications Coaching practice as a Transformative Communications Coach, supporting individuals and leaders in all industries in person and via Zoom. Renee, an educator by heart, was an Improv teacher and has led Improvisation classes at her local community center, to give back to her community.We have been conditioned, especially throughout school and in our careers, to get our presentations done and over with. Yet most people throughout every industry are still simply presenting. This is because most people simply share their message and hope that it will land for their audiences. Having the ability to take your message, while being able to transform your experience with them, through your voice, so that your audience will step into that message with you, is where authentic connection happens as a Speaker.GET RENEE'S GENEROUS GIFTSelf-Trust, Empowerment Tips when you speak to ANY-sized audienceACCESS THIS GIFT AND MANY MORELINKS...

In this episode, our 47th episode, we talk with Renate Devin of Hull, MA, USA.  Reante has been in Toastmasters since June 2024 and has given three speeches, including the Ice Breaker Speech.In this episode we discuss:MentorshipEtiquetteCommunicationsRenate Devin can be contacted via:Email ~ rdevin@bostonschoolofetiquette.comThis podcast episode is sponsored by our 2024 Calendar Year Sponsor District 31 Toastmasters ~ serving Eastern Massachusetts, USA, and Rhode Island, USA.  District 31 (“D31”) helps toastmasters become better Communicators, and Leaders.  Learn how D31 Toastmasters can help you become a more powerful speaker and impactful leader by visiting district31.org/talkingtoastmasters.

In this episode, host Mark Jewell sits down with Jared Flinn, Co-founder and Operating Partner of BulkLoads, for a conversation that spans leadership, innovation, faith, and the untapped power of curiosity. Jared shares how his journey—from managing freight at Bartlett Grain to building a top-tier digital freight platform—was rooted in one powerful revelation: “We're a transportation company that moves grain.”What follows is an inspiring deep-dive into intentional leadership, servant-hearted business practices, and how obsession with solving real problems leads to massive impact. Whether you're in logistics, ag retail, or managing a team of young sellers, this episode will challenge and refresh your approach to leadership.Key Takeaways:

What if the breakthrough isn't about fixing your speech but letting go of the pressure to hide it? As a kid, Dennis did everything he could to try and keep everything under control, especially his stutter. Now a PhD engineer and public speaker, he opens up about the real work behind his personal and professional growth: learning to meet himself where he is and speak from a place of presence. In this warm, story-rich episode, Dennis and I explore what personal growth through self-expression really looks like. We talk about overcoming perfectionism in communication, the emotional cost of always trying to “sound right,” and how learning to communicate more authentically changed Dennis's confidence, career, and relationships. Whether you're a high-achieving professional who struggles with speaking with confidence, or someone navigating the internal tension between how things look on the outside and how they feel on the inside, I invite you to listen to Dennis' story and remember that communication growth starts with self-compassion. In this conversation on personal growth through self-expression, Dennis shares the personal and professional growth that came from embracing his stutter rather than hiding it. Here's what you'll discover: How perfectionism shaped his early communication and why he's let it go Why speaking with presence matters more than speaking “right” The connection between mental state, mindfulness, and confident communication How spontaneity became more powerful than fluency A real-life “Billy Madison moment” that unexpectedly shifted his relationship with stuttering What it means to meet yourself where you are and how that changes everything And much more TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Introduction to TranscendingX 00:39 – Meet Dr. Dennis: the people-person PhD who stutters 01:34 – The personal growth journey of Dennis Szymanski 02:07 – Diving into semiconductors: life as a high-performing engineer 05:13 – Life and career of a semiconductor engineer 07:08 – Overcoming stuttering: childhood stories and mindset shifts 12:28 – How mindfulness and yoga support confident communication 21:37 – Spontaneity vs. fluency: a new paradigm for speaking with confidence 35:48 – The pressure of unscheduled conversations 36:23 – How mental state impacts stuttering and speaking performance 37:11 – Using yoga and mindfulness to improve self-expression 39:32 – Embracing imperfections 40:01 – Meeting yourself where you are 40:48 – Mental resilience and its role in effective communication 41:29 – Saying no without guilt & setting boundaries 41:53 – Navigating social interactions 42:15 – A speech science hack for smoother, more natural speaking 42:31 – Language constraints, adaptability, and confidence in speaking 50:41 – The power of mantras in reframing your communication mindset 55:53 – High school memories and stuttering: a Billy Madison moment 01:03:24 – Advice to a younger self: letting go of perfectionism 01:04:55 – Final reflections   ABOUT OUR GUEST Meet Dennis Szymanski, a Long Island native who has lived up and down the East Coast while developing his relationship with stuttering. Now settled in a quiet North Carolina beach town with his partner Sam, their dog Rocky, and turtle Lennie, Dennis fully embraces coastal living. With a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from NCSU, he works as a Product Engineer for a British semiconductor firm. When not in the lab, Dennis hits the disc golf course, practices yoga, plays trumpet, explores entrepreneurship, and enjoys all things water-related. The beach remains his sanctuary - a place to truly "Be As You Are" (yes, that's a Kenny Chesney reference - he's a country music fan). Dennis began speech therapy in public school, later transitioning to private practice, but that was just the beginning. His journey through stuttering has involved numerous highs and lows that shaped his entire being. Various therapeutic approaches beyond speech therapy have helped him develop a more mindful relationship with his stutter. As an active Toastmaster serving as Treasurer for his Jacksonville, NC club, Dennis continuously pushes beyond his comfort zone while building his speaking toolbox and competing in speech competitions. His philosophy? Growth happens outside your comfort zone - and for those who stutter, joining a public speaking club definitely qualifies. But as Dennis would say: You can do it. You will do it.   ABOUT YOUR HOST Uri Schneider, M.A. CCC -SLP is co-founder and leader at Schneider Speech; creator and host of Transcending Stuttering; and faculty at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.   SEE FULL SHOW NOTES https://www.transcendingx.com/podcast-episode/dennis-szymanski  LEARN MORE Visit http://www.transcendingx.com or http://www.schneiderspeech.com

Market Proof Marketing · Ep 381 - The Scooby-Doo MethodBeth, Jackie, and Julie uncover the value of process-driven problem-solving in marketing, from diagnosing odd data spikes to rethinking event strategy. They explore how tools like Loom, AI creator hubs, and collaborative data practices can transform communication and performance. Plus, honest talk about what Mercedes at The Masters can teach builders about intentional brand experiences.Story Time (02:06): Jackie's knee injury turns into a masterclass on data diagnosis and marketing analysis—hello, Market Proof Algorithm IRL.Julie shares a case of suspicious ad results that weren't what they seemed, and the importance of digging deeper.Beth compares marketing detective work to an episode of House (or Scooby-Doo), and how uncovering truth takes time.SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTSUnlock Your Digital Marketing Potential: Master Proven Strategies With The Upgraded Market Proof Marketing Academy!Over 50% of tickets have been sold! Class begins May 6th.Online Sales & Marketing Summit VIP Tickets Now On Sale!In The News (21:13): Meta's Instagram Announces New AI-Powered Tools, Creator Marketing SolutionsBad Data Bleeds Homebuilder Profits - Time to Stop The Loss(Referenced) Attribution is B.S. - 3 Part GuideThings We Love - Things We Hate (31:33):Jackie: Winning her Toastmasters speech competition—proof that exposure therapy works!Julie: Her 16-year-old's joy over his first car (older than he is).Beth: Watching her Marketing Leadership Collective cohort bond and pour into one another.Like and subscribe on your favorite platform! The post Ep 381 - The Scooby-Doo Method appeared first on Online Sales and Marketing for Home Builders - DYC.

Have you ever wondered what God's plan is for you?Perhaps you've had the thought: "there must be more!"Or maybe, you're not sure what the Body of Christ even is. In today's episode, I'm chatting with my client Marty Mitchell, the Catholic author of The Capillaries of Christ, Speaker, and Life Coach, who helps Christians embrace their uniqueness, live their unique God-given purpose, and reachtheir potential in the body of Christ. Tune in to hear:How Marty turned his life of partying around to glorify GodWhat it means, according to his extensive research, to be a member of the Body of ChristHow Marty helps his clients find their unique purpose and use their gifts to grow the body of ChristWhat he learned as a student of the Captivating Speakers' Academy (even after years of attending Toastmasters).Marty is CEO of Marty Mitchell, LLC and founder of the ‘ShineLike a Saint!'™ Course and Coaching Program.  LEARN MORE HERE Now I'd love to hear from you! What's one thing you learned and how will you take action today? Let me know by: leaving the show a review. singing me a DM on Instagram at @emanuela.hall YOUR NEXT STEPS: Master the skills to become a captivating speaker online, on stages, and in the boardroom

SHOW DESCRIPTION Ever wondered how to land your first speaking gig without waiting for an invite? In this solo episode, I'm sharing exactly how I created my own stage and positioned myself as an expert by hosting my first event. Discover how this bold step quickly grew my community, visibility, and income—and how you can confidently do the same! CONNECT WITH ATI Ready to build a personal brand you're proud of? ✨ Free Quiz: Profitable Personal Brand Quiz ✨ Free Download: Visibility Power Play Connect with me: Instagram Website FB Community for Female Entrepreneurs RESOURCES MENTIONED Build Your Own Algorithm Program Visibility Power Play Freebie Toastmasters International EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS The surprising truth behind my first speaking gig Why waiting for invitations keeps you stuck (and how to change that) Exactly how hosting my own event rapidly built my brand and community The power of collaboration vs. competition How to position yourself as an authority quickly KEY TAKEAWAYS You don't wait for authority; you create it by stepping into the spotlight. Hosting your own events positions you immediately as a leader, accelerating client attraction. Strategic follow-up is crucial; it's the goldmine most entrepreneurs overlook. The perfect collaborators share your audience but have different offers. Local events can amplify your brand faster and more effectively than social media alone. QUOTABLE MOMENTS “I wasn't waiting to be chosen—I chose myself. Don't wait to be invited to the table; build your own.” "You don't wait until demand or authority magically appear—you create them." "Collaboration beats competition every single time." EPISODE TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro: The truth about my first speaking gig (hint: no invite needed!) 02:32 - How I created my first event (the birth of Power Tribe networking) 04:51 - The magic of creating your own stage and its immediate benefits 07:09 - Eye-opener: You only need a handful of clients for your first 10K month 09:27 - Why building your own algorithm and local community is crucial 11:28 - Golden nugget: How Toastmasters changed my public speaking confidence 13:41 - The perfect collaboration formula: same audience, different offers 18:15 - Understanding different event types and their strategic purposes 20:37 - How intentional networking creates endless speaking opportunities 23:03 - Accelerating online growth through offline positioning 25:15 - Opportunities to practice your pitch: enter speaking contests! ABOUT YOUR HOST Ati Grinspun, your Personal Brand Whiz, empowers women entrepreneurs to confidently build profitable, impactful brands. From world champion flair bartender and portrait photographer to coaching hundreds of successful women, Ati brings unique insight and a powerful energy to help you step fully into your potential. ABOUT THE SHOW Be You Brand Podcast is your go-to resource to build your million-dollar personal brand, income, mindset, and impact. Stop doubting, overcome imposter syndrome, and start creating a brand and life you truly love. Show Categories: Entrepreneurship Business Marketing Self Improvement Core Pillars: Personal Branding Business Mindset Energetics Purpose Life

In this episode, I invite you to reconnect with your inner dreamer and visualize the career and life you truly desire. Through guided reflection and real-life stories (including how Toastmasters helped me conquer public speaking), I share how tiny, intentional steps can lead to massive transformation. Tune in to reignite your purpose, define your “why,” and take one brave step toward your future self—because the life you're meant to live is waiting.