Podcasts about tower one

Fate, Faith and Teamwork: How Michael Hingson and his dog escaped 9/11 Did you know that Michael Hingson, who was born blind, not only climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but also survived the 9/11 attacks while helping others escape? His life is full of incredible adventures! Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog.  He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork.  Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world.  Schedule a complimentary coaching call with Rebecca https://calendly.com/rebeccaelizabethwhitman/breakthrough https://modere.io/QwoNYU https://modere.io/CtlaDw To learn more about Rebecca… https://www.rebeccaelizabethwhitman.com pillar.io/rebeccaewhitman #MichaelHingson#InspirationalStories#OvercomingChallenges#Resilience#PersonalGrowth#CanDoAttitude#LifeLessons#MotivationalSpeaker#DisabilityAwareness#VisualImpairment#BlindCommunity#AdaptiveTechnology#AssistiveDevices#Braille#InclusionMatters#AccessibilityForAll#ChicagoInspiration#PalmdalePride#ChicagoEvents#PalmdaleCommunity#BreakingBarriers#EmpowerThroughAdversity#StrengthInDiversity#AbilityNotDisability#UnstoppableMindset

Fate, Faith and Teamwork: How Michael Hingson and his dog escaped 9/11 Did you know that Michael Hingson, who was born blind, not only climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but also survived the 9/11 attacks while helping others escape? His life is full of incredible adventures! Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog.  He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork.  Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world.  Schedule a complimentary coaching call with Rebecca https://calendly.com/rebeccaelizabethwhitman/breakthrough https://modere.io/QwoNYU https://modere.io/CtlaDw To learn more about Rebecca… https://www.rebeccaelizabethwhitman.com pillar.io/rebeccaewhitman #MichaelHingson#InspirationalStories#OvercomingChallenges#Resilience#PersonalGrowth#CanDoAttitude#LifeLessons#MotivationalSpeaker#DisabilityAwareness#VisualImpairment#BlindCommunity#AdaptiveTechnology#AssistiveDevices#Braille#InclusionMatters#AccessibilityForAll#ChicagoInspiration#PalmdalePride#ChicagoEvents#PalmdaleCommunity#BreakingBarriers#EmpowerThroughAdversity#StrengthInDiversity#AbilityNotDisability#UnstoppableMindset

Dave Murphy – An Ordinary Bloke with Extraordinary ExperiencesHi, I'm Dave. I consider myself an ordinary guy, but life has thrown a series of extraordinary events my way.I grew up in Basildon, Essex, and started my career as an animator and graphic artist before transitioning into computer programming. Before long, I was headhunted by a New York consultancy firm and found myself working for some of the most prestigious (read: "evil") and successful (read: "greedy, dishonest, and manipulative") Fortune 500 companies in the city.While navigating corporate life, I also joined the local volunteer Fire Department and started my own business on the side. It wasn't long before I was making serious money. My wife and I bought our dream cars, remodeled our home to twice its size, and I built a man-cave filled with the latest gadgets and toys. But despite the material success, something didn't feel right—I was deeply entrenched in what I now call The Matrix, believing the world worked exactly as it was presented to me on TV.Everything changed after a layoff when I turned down a job offer on the 40th floor of Tower One at the World Trade Center. Instead, I took a position across the Hudson River in Hoboken, NJ—where I watched in disbelief as the events of 9/11 unfolded before my eyes. That moment shattered my perception of reality and set me on a path of questioning everything I thought I knew.

 Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He has served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael has held a seat on the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. He is the chair of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center for the Blind and is the vice chair of the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind. Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. AccessiBe provides an artificial intelligence-based product that makes web sites accessible to many persons with disabilities. He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: “Thunder dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust” – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2014 Mr. Hingson published his 2 nd book “Running with Roselle”- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Mr. Hingson's third book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”, was released on August 20, 2024. This book shows readers how they can learn to control fear and not, as Mike would say, “become blinded by fear in the face of crisis”. Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world. Body Transformation System!https://modere.io/NbOyU2https://calendly.com/rebeccaelizabethwhitman/breakthroughTo learn more about Rebecca…https://www.rebeccaelizabethwhitman.com/#homehttps://everydaywomantv.com/tv_shows/the-balanced-beautiful-and-abundant-show/

Nugget of Hope: "Be more open to trust." Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike, did advanced math in his head, and learned to read and write – Braille, that is! Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001, when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Michael wrote a book about his experience, Thunder Dog, which became a New York Times Best Seller, and soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight, where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. Michael is now the author of three books and hosts The Unstoppable Mindset Podcast. The Unstoppable Mindset Podcast https://michaelhingson.com/ Michaels Books Thunder Dog Running with Roselle His newest book, released in August of 2024, Live Like A Guide Dog is available on Amazon and pretty much wherever you can buy a book! The Roselle's Dream Foundation Roselle was Michael Hingson's guide dog and trusted companion for many years. Her life and her heroic actions on 9/11 inspired the formation of The Roselle's Dream Foundation. The mission of the foundation is to assist the blind with obtaining new technologies, empowering them to learn, to work, and to maximize their success in today's challenging world. Learn more about your host, Kim Lengling: www.kimlenglingauthor.com Kim's Books: Available on Amazon https://amzn.to/3V84UNU

What can we learn about bravery and trust from a guide dog? In this episode of Empowering Homeschool Conversations, co-host Stephanie Buckwalter sits down with Michael Hingson, New York Times bestselling author of Thunder Dog, to explore the incredible story of his survival on 9/11 and the life-changing lessons guide dogs can teach us. Michael and his guide dog Roselle escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One during the attacks on the World Trade Center, and his story has since inspired millions. As an internationally sought-after speaker, Michael has addressed audiences at ExxonMobil, FedEx, the American Red Cross, and many other prominent organizations, sharing insights on leadership, resilience, and overcoming adversity. Beyond his work as an author and speaker, Michael serves as Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe, a company that promotes digital accessibility for people with disabilities, and is the National Federation of the Blind's ambassador for its National Braille Literacy Campaign. Tune in to hear how the unique bond between a man and his guide dog helped them navigate one of the darkest moments in history and what it can teach us about facing challenges with courage and trust. To join in the after-show conversation, join the Empowering Homeschool Conversations Q&A group here:https://www.spedhomeschool.com/groups/tuesday-empowering-conversations *You must have a Navigator Membership or higher on Homeschool Heroes to be part of this group. To get a membership or upgrade your membership, visit: https://www.spedhomeschool.com/membershipTo connect with Michael and his resources, visit:https://michaelhingson.com/ Viewers like you funded similar episodes, and other free resources from SPED Homeschool. To learn how you can support the nonprofit work of SPED Homeschool and this broadcast, visit https://spedhomeschool.com/donate/ To find out more about SPED Homeschool, visit our website at https://spedhomeschool.com/ To learn about the other Empowering Homeschool Conversations Co-Hosts and their resources, visit: https://annieyorty.com/https://www.leilanimelendez.com/https://elarplearning.com/https://solimaracademy.com/ Join our mission to empower homeschool families!: https://spedhomeschool.com/donate/Join our mission to empower homeschool families!: https://spedhomeschool.com/donate/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

He was in Tower One on 9/11. And he relied on his guide dog, Roselle, to escape with his life that day. Hear more of Michael Hingson's story on Wednesday. During his decades of walking with guide dogs, he's learned surprising truths, such as, "Being afraid can be a positive thing." Hear lessons learned from a lifetime with guide dogs on Chris Fabry Live.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Return with us now to yesteryear ....As we approach another anniversary of that terrible day The National September 11,(2001) Memorial & Museum leads the nation, and the world, in marking the the day that changed our lives forever. The 23nd anniversary commemoration ceremony will take place next week in Manhattan at the WTC Memorial Plaza, focused as always on an in-person reading of the names of the 3000 souls lost in the tragedy, by family members and friends who like all of us will never forget. But what of the people that were inside that somehow made it to the outside and live on today? Our friend and head air cargo guy for Port Authority of New York & New Jersey is one of those people. Today Jim Larsen who was ex Seaboard World Cargo when he became the second and so far greatest most innovative airport cargo executive you ever met lives quietly by himself in Lakehurst New Jersey about an hour from New Yok City. But on that bright beautiful day September 11 and 08:00 he sat down inside Tower One, and as the first plane crashed into his building thought the tower was going to turn over, and it was curtains for him and everyone else on the 65th floor of the building. Here is a timeless story of true courage and greatness told once again just as he told us a few days after his miraculous survival and great courage as Jim became a great hero of that terrible day walking all the way down and out of that soon to crash building with others including physically challenged people.

Dr. Alessandra Wal spent her first seven years of life living in the Middle East. She then spent ten years in France. All of these experiences gave her a rich view of different peoples and cultures which still serve her well today.   At the age of 18, she came to the United States where she attended undergraduate school at Duke University. She will tell us how “different” life was for her in a major college sports town, at least different from the kind of environments she had experienced up to that time. She attended graduate school at the University of Texas Medical center in Dallas where she eventually earned her PHD in Psychology. From an early age she loved to read, learn about people and wanted to understand them. For her, Psychology was the natural route to take.   Fairly recently Dr. Wal decided to shift from being a practicing psychologist to being a leadership coach for women. She has fascinating stories of the kinds of efforts her coaching practice has undertaken. She specializes in helping smart, ambitious executive women in male-dominated industries build wildly successful AND deeply fulfilling careers. When asked, she is quick to point out that men are very much a part of the equation. I leave it to Alessandra to explain and teach.   Dr. Wal and I had a wonderful and natural conversation. I came away blessed for the opportunity to speak with her and to better understand how all of us need to work harder and better at communicating and supporting each other.   About the Guest:   Dr. Alessandra Wall made a major career switch from a busy psychologist to successful founder & high-impact executive coach at Noteworthy. She specializes in helping smart, ambitious executive women in male-dominated industries build wildly successful AND deeply fulfilling careers.  Dr. Wall is on a mission to build a world where seeing women access the highest levels of leadership and success is so common, it's no longer noteworthy. She's confident that she can move the needle for women both through her 1:1 work with women and through her training, consulting, and partnership with companies that understand and value the impact of women leaders. You can find out more and access free resources at noteworthyinc.co.   When she's not busy helping executive women balance ambition, corporate dynamics, and personal well-being you will find her curled up in an armchair with a good book and an a piping hot cup of coffee.   Ways to connect with Dr.Alessandra: Website:Noteworthyinc.co LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralessandrawall/   About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Hi and welcome once again to unstoppable mindset we get to meet every so often and chat and we get to have a number of people come on the podcast to have interesting stories to tell. And it is no different today we get to talk with Dr. Alessandra Wall. And she is a psychologist. Am I saying that right? Yes. Yeah. Are you psychologists to the founder and CEO of noteworthy and we'll get to that. But Alessandra and do you go by Alessandra or anything else?   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 01:59 Now? Full name. I forgot, Alessandra. Oh, no, it is. Yep.   Michael Hingson ** 02:02 Perfect. So welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 02:07 I am very glad to be here. Thank you.   Michael Hingson ** 02:10 Well, thank you for taking the time to be here. Well, let's start talking about maybe a little bit of the earlier Alessandra growing up and all that sort of stuff. That's always fun to do that.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 02:22 Who doesn't love waxing poetic about their childhood? There   Michael Hingson ** 02:26 you go. So wax poetic as long and as much as you wish.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 02:29 Let's see. Most important things about my job most interesting things   Michael Hingson ** 02:34 are unimportant either way. So   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 02:37 things you can't hear when I speak anymore. Although somebody the other day at the airport said I had an accent and I'm like an accent. I have an accent. I don't hear it. But if you say so, I grew up. I grew up in I was born in Iran, moved to Kuwait, moved to Saudi Arabia, moved from there to France, which is where my mom was born and raised, and lived there until I was 18. And I didn't move to the States until I was 18. My father is from Kansas. A lot less traveling for him. But apparently I still have an accent. But the person in the airport was adamant it was not a European accent. He said maybe Midwestern. And I'm like, there's really just no chance of that, based, at least geographically on where I've lived in the world.   Michael Hingson ** 03:27 Interesting. Well, how long were you in Iran and Kuwait and the first   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 03:33 seven years of my life, my parents spend a total of 10 years in the Middle East, okay. I got to I got to spend the first seven years of my life and then move to France in what was at the time right outside of Paris, which is in one of the coldest winters they've ever had. That was a that was quite a shock making the move, but not not not too uncommon. We'd spent a few Christmases in Goodland, Kansas, and it snows a good deal there.   Michael Hingson ** 04:02 Yeah. So what what are what were your parents doing in the Middle East? What was work or whatever I assume? Go?   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 04:10 For my dad. Yes, my mom didn't work put into in some of the places we live. But she my father was an engineer. Also all the things that engineer, engineer and electronics. So all the things that engineers and electronics do, or did at the time, this is the late 70s, early 80s in the Middle East and then just made interesting choices. He's a man who was very bold with his choices from life, given that he was born in 1928 in the Dust Bowl, and those weren't necessarily typical choices for his background.   Michael Hingson ** 04:49 I had friends they've, he's passed away now. And my wife actually knew them first and introduced me but he worked for us. And they spent several years in the late 70s In Iran, and actually were there when the Shah was overthrown. And it was a major challenge to get her and their cats out. And then he got out as well. But they, they made it happen. But it was a definite tense time all the way around. It was   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 05:27 my father worked for us too, but not by the time he moved to Iran. And we left right before the Scheifele. Yeah, both my parents learned Farsi. I had siblings who spoke, my brother spoke four languages. By the time he was five from traveling, French and English, Italian because they were living in Rome before and my mom is a first generation French of Italian descent. And then Farsi, they all spoke Farsi.   Michael Hingson ** 05:56 So what do you remember about living in the Middle East? And what was it like as a child kind of growing up there?   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 06:02 I have very fond memories. And I mean, for a variety of reasons. I remember I remember the kindness of people, and how welcoming most people were. I remember, I mean, depending on what years there were times where we lived in compounds, which with all expats and all foreigners, right. And those those experiences were fun, but very different, very Western. But I also remember sitting outside a house in Kuwait, with the neighbors right around Ramadan and watching them, you know, butcher chickens to cook I. I tell people in the states we don't think about late, but I when I hear the call to prayer, the Muslim call to prayer, I have very fond memories in the same way that when I hear church bells, and that was that was my recollection for moving in France, right is hearing church bells and doves on a regular basis. Like they, they're fond memories, like some people might, you know, have a smell that brings them back to childhood. And I had a brother who would wear navy blue corduroy pants in the desert, which is also very interesting to me. So it speaks you know, we talk about being adaptable. And it speaks to human adaptability.   Michael Hingson ** 07:23 Yeah, it must have been wearing corduroy pants and so on, it must have been pretty hot over there. It   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 07:31 was pretty hot. I'm not strange one Strangely, I didn't I didn't start talking in Fahrenheit until I moved to the States. And then there's never got that bad, but my understanding is, so at least 40 degrees Celsius Celsius, if not more and humid, apparently very humid, certain times of years. But again, like for my brother, he was in the middle east from the time he was two or three until 13. He spent the full 10 years of his life there. So really, it's bouncing around from country to country bouncing around from culture to culture, will having to learn having to integrate having to getting not having to in this case, like getting this opportunity to develop richness in your practices from living in so many places and meeting so many different people. That for me, those are part of the reasons why all of that is so fond, and yeah, moved later on both to like my first friends in France where they were mixes right there were like my best friend was his mom was British and his dad was French. And then my other best friend her. She her parents were on the dad's side he was a first generation French of Italian. Parents mom was all French but same thing in college when I moved my first friends were all people who had multicultural backgrounds because there was an ease of fitting in.   Michael Hingson ** 09:01 It certainly must seem a lot different. Now over there, as opposed to what it was when you were living there.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 09:10 I am told it is very different. I know that for the Middle East, my for Iran, specifically my mother, my mother loved it. She loved she loved the language. She loved the culture. had wanted to go back but every time we spoken to people who who stayed or who let who had to leave and who came back. They talked about how jarring the differences. As for the Middle East. I am still looking for opportunities. I'm crossing my fingers for opportunities actually to go speak in the Middle East. So if anybody's listening and he's a speaker, I'm just gonna throw that out there. They keep on telling my mom the second I get an opportunity. I'll invite her to come with me. I   Michael Hingson ** 09:54 spend time this past August August 2023 I add excessively in Tel Aviv, this first time I'd been to Israel. And we also then went to Jerusalem. So we went through the West Bank and into Jerusalem. I very much enjoyed it. It is so sad as to what's occurring there now. And it's the usual thing that so often politicians and others just don't tend to listen to others. And it certainly makes it a lot more difficult to try to create some sort of meaningful and peaceful relationships, doesn't it? Definitely.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 10:32 Right. I mean, that's the challenge of leadership, ultimately, actually, can you? Can you rise to a position where you have the privilege, and therefore the responsibility of leading well, and still stay in touch with the people you're supposed to be? Leading, I was thinking about the word the other day, actually, just this weekend talking to my husband about a civil servant, which is, which is ultimately, what politicians are supposed to be their civil servants. Hello, hello,   11:06 people.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 11:10 And whether it's politics, or the corporate world, they just think that it's very easy to forget that. To quote Uncle Ben, in Spider Man, you know, with great power comes great responsibility.   Michael Hingson ** 11:26 It is very true. And the and the problem is it's so easy to and we seem to easily forget all of that. And we forget that leaders really are supposed to be servants. They're supposed to guide and they're supposed to help people vision and make the vision happen but not dictate. And that's just not what goes on isn't? Nope,   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 11:50 not anymore. Well, realistically, I say not anymore. I think not mostly many points in history where that wasn't the case, either. We had a brief period where things look that way. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 12:05 So when you came to the US, at 18, that must have been a major culture shock compared to what you had experienced in Europe in the Middle East. It   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 12:18 was I wasn't expecting it. My father, as I said, was actually born in Nebraska, I grew up in Kansas, we would come back to the States to visit my cousins and aunts and uncles who had, for the most part, migrated to California and Los Angeles and like the golden age of Los Angeles. So my assumption was that I would walk in and I would fit in because in France, I was, you know, here's my friend, she's American. Right? That's that's how I was introduced very often. But coming to the states, it was there was a massive culture shock and one that I don't think a lot of people realize, because if people look at me, I, I look the part of you know, white, I'm white, I speak with no accent I do sometimes, especially when I get tired to say weird things because my brain literally translates from one language to another. So I when he would come here, and I would say to offer a gift, because in French you offer gifts, give a gift. And I use some British expressions, such as to q where a booth or to talk about the trunk of a car. They, I as my mom would point out to me, I articulated far more before I moved to the States and was easier to understand, apparently, but the big thing was just habits I remember, you know, there going I went to Duke University for undergraduate and I remember being handed a a leaflet about things that that were okay to discuss in America and things that weren't okay to discuss, or the notion of small talk and how important it is to the social interactions in the US. I remember being asked my very, very first night feeling very homesick and alone. If it's true that French people were really rude and they didn't shave and they smell bad. And my response to the young woman who asked me that question was, well, far less rude than you're being right now. The women wax and yeah, sometimes a second shower would work well. So getting in the habit of kind of figuring out simple things that make sense to people in America like in dorm room experiences. One thing that makes sense in America is you leave your dorm room open. And so as people walk down the hallway, they might walk in pop their head I didn't understand those things. I close my it was my bedroom door I closed bid, which also meant that I was harder to make friends, because they didn't understand the social patterns. Interestingly enough, nowadays and the work I do I spend a lot of time teaching people how to build relationships, make connections relate to other people in the in the American culture, and sometimes I get to work with with people who are working for large American corporations or have moved to branches of their corporations in the US and are really struggling with that disconnect between the way things are done in their cultures or their enter their country and the way things are done here.   Michael Hingson ** 15:39 Well, when you went to Duke, did you learn to play basketball? Because that's a rule in North Carolina, of course,   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 15:45 well, here's the thing, I had no idea what Duke basketball was about. None. I didn't get why it was a big deal. I also remember walking around and telling my Mother, why are these people walking around wearing shirts and baseball caps that say, Duke we know you're here, like, it's good. You're okay. Like, all those things that seem so again, commonplace things we do not think about because they're part of our lived experience. To me, were so awkward. So now I did not learn how to play basketball. I too, went to the UNC campus. I think on my second weekend, totally made friends with a bunch of Tar Heels. They broke all the rules. There was a massive failure in some ways.   Michael Hingson ** 16:30 There is relevance in communicating, though I've went to speak in North Carolina. And I will also say if anybody needs a speaker, I'd love to talk with you about speaking. Having been in the World Trade Center, and all the things that I've done, it's it's fun. And I'd love to travel abroad again, as well. But I went to Carolina to North Carolina to do a speech several years ago. And Duke, UNC and NC State were all poised to make it into March Madness, except that NC State and UNC had a game of the Thursday night I arrived. And I expected just to be able to watch some television and turn on the TV only to hear the announcer say shows are not going to be on tonight because of the game went okay. And I was in Kentucky when the Wildcats were actually not only in March Madness, but it was the final game. And they were one of the two teams in the final game. And I was doing a speech somewhere and was told, we have to end this entire event at 630. If you go beyond by one minute you will speaking to an empty gym. And we ended it on time. And sure enough, by 631, there were only about two or three people in the gym. And one of them was me and the other person was the person who was going to take me back to my hotel. Amazing. It is   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 18:00 really really you know, if we bring it back to like this larger concept that for people who don't, maybe listening who don't get it or understand it, it really comes down to when you walk into a space, do you understand what the people around you are about? What's important to them? Like what defines that our culture? And can you adapt to it? And I could absolutely and totally see what you're talking about happening. Like there's going to be nobody here.   Michael Hingson ** 18:30 And there wasn't, it was, I have never seen a gym clear out like that. And it wasn't even an emergency. But they were they were all gone. But it is interesting that as you point out and around this country, there are a lot of different cultures living in and I've been in Massachusetts and live there for three years, and I've lived in other places as well in New Jersey. And the cultures are so different in a lot of ways than here in California. And at the same time, unless you experience a number of those different cultures, you don't tend to get a flavor for or get some sort of depth of knowledge to be able to understand how to adapt. I, for example, met a person in New Jersey, who lived within 20 miles of New York City. This was a grown woman in her 50s and had never been to New York City. She had never really been out of Springfield, New Jersey and then the surrounding areas but it never been to New York City just wasn't even a priority to travel 20 miles   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 19:39 that that I cannot that does not compute for me. I mean, I know people like that I've very good friends in San Diego who have been born and raised here and we talked about the love for travel that like if they travel they traveled to go see friends in Oregon. And that's about it and there's no curiosity and Don't judge them for that it just does not compute. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 20:02 it's not, it's not a judgment issue at all. Whereas my wife, who was married to me for 40 years, she passed away last year, which is sad. But I've got 40 years of marriage, and I know she's monitoring. So if I'm ever not a good kid, I'm going to hear about it. So it works out. But the thing is that she had no fear of driving, when we were in New Jersey, into New York, and she drove all around California, when, when we needed to go and do different things, and all that and, and loved to see different places. And so I always grew up with that kind of attitude. And so it helped me when I went to different places, and went to places like West Virginia and an experience the foods that they have there, which are significantly different than in California. And just all the different things. It's I think, important that we find ways to broaden our horizons and at least learn to respect those and those environments that are different than ours. I   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 21:07 agree that I mean, on so many levels, right, to go back to some of the things we're talking about. I was reading articles this week about the risk of loss of the ability for people to have civil discourse, and a reading call about that very specifically in the workplace, that it's this huge potential risk for workplace initiatives for innovation for companies to be able to work together also for companies to be able to access like a broad spectrum of talent, because if people now only start working in companies where there's a one to one alignment on culture and values, and then then we lose, we lose that diversity of that creation. So the it's a, it's a big kind of space that people need to start thinking about in 2021. But part of what it takes to be able to move the way I did as a child or even in the state, so I moved to North Carolina, very different from Paris, France, in so many ways, but took the time to travel up and down the coast many times then left North Carolina moved to Texas to Dallas for graduate school. And as I was reminded day three in Texas when I asked for a sweet tea, I was like they told me Honey, this is not the South is the southwest. I'm like, okay, very different set of cultural norms, very different set of habits. For people who aren't, who haven't lived in both of those places. They might just put lump everything together in Boston. I've spent enough time in New York City I've been now in Southern California moving to Southern California. I don't know how things are in Victorville. But in San Diego, there's this thing that I later learned was called the SoCal flake. Buddy moving to Southern California. So let's take LA County all the way south, if you have plans with somebody, and they cancel on you about 10 minutes before your due to me because they're tired, and they just decide they'd stay home. It's not you. It's them. Yeah, but that is a typical, that is a typical culturally acceptable thing to do here. And I would, first of all, when I moved, I found it very difficult. But when I was still practicing, as a psychologist, and I would talk to people who moved here and felt very isolated very alone, I often brought that up and the sense of relief, they just didn't understand why it was so difficult to meet people why people were so inconsistent or flaky, thus the name so Catholic, and to just explain like that is just that you, your plans need to always be very agile and ready to switch. You know, this is these are just habits. So that ability to adapt, and the ability to have distress tolerance. Right, which is really what we're supposed to learn when we're toddlers distress tolerance. Yeah. becomes essential.   Michael Hingson ** 23:59 My inlaws spent most well a significant amount of their lives in California. My father in law was born in Canada, but moved here fairly young, my mother in law grew up in Arizona, but they really spent most of their time from maybe late 20s on in California. So they also went the other way. They would decide on a Saturday or a Sunday or whatever, let's have a party and they had a whole bunch of people who were friends, what they call the instant party group, and all they had to do is call and everybody show up. Love it. No plans just showed up. And people would bring things or not, and it didn't matter. But yeah, but the whole, the whole environment is definitely different than the structured environment of, say the east coast, where things are expected to be a certain way and That's just the way it is. And it's okay. But we need to learn to tolerate it and understand it. And as you pointed out this whole concept of social discourse and in the workplace and elsewhere, we're losing the art of conversing. Because there are so many people who don't necessarily think the way we do. And unfortunately, there are some people who have led so many people down that path of saying, Well, if you don't think the way I do, then you can't be good.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 25:33 It's, you know, my opinion is that there's a tendency to take a lot of it very personally, that if somebody doesn't agree with you on something, that it's that it's personal, it's about you, and it isn't. And a lot of the work, a lot of I do a lot of work around, mastering difficult conversations, I work with people in high stakes situations, right. So they're, they're often big personalities. And because I work with women, sometimes they know how to stand and tall and big in front of those personalities. And other times, it feels very unfamiliar to counterculture. And a lot of it is learning how to calm yourself down how to recognize what you are thinking, recognize what you what's triggering you. And making sense of whether the things that are triggering you pertain to the situation that's in front of you, or it's like your own history, it's your own baggage. That's where there's a massive crossover between what I used to do as a clinical psychologist, and then the work I do now,   Michael Hingson ** 26:41 one of the one of the things that people just don't do nearly enough, though, is to end in an in a nice way, in a curious way, ask questions, we are afraid. And I think we're taught that, you know, I see it all the time is I am somewhere and a child will want to know about my dog and they'll say to their parents, I want to go pet the dog or they'll compensate something to me in the parents will go don't talk to that man, he may not want to talk to you don't talk to that dog, it might bite. And I will stop no matter what I'm doing when some of that happens. especially dealing with the dog. And I'll take the dogs harness off and say absolutely, the dog won't bite come on over and visit. And the reality is the dog loves it even more than the child no matter what child it is, because they love the chance to take a break and get attention. But people are just taught how not to ask questions and how not to be curious. Which is so sad. Yeah,   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 27:42 because they don't get practice on how to frame a question. And I understand the the impulse of the parents, I think a lot of time the impulse is we don't want to make somebody feel different or feel bad. Certainly having done a lot of work in di there's that idea of you're you think you're the first person to ask the question. That's the 20th time this person has had to feel this question that day. The same time? If if the questions are never asked if the answers are never given, then things don't nothing gets normalized. Then people stand out as outliers because I have to stare at them and try to make a story in my head. Now I'm staring at somebody instead of asking them living in living in San Diego, we have a lot of wounded warriors, right. I would always tell my kids, when they would ask what do you think happened to that person's legs or their arms or whatever? I said, Listen, if you really, really, really want to know, you can respectfully ask them, Would it be okay? If I asked you a question? And they're not idiots? They know exactly what the question is, pertaining to. And then they have the right to say, No, I'm tired. I'm sorry, I'm busy, whatever blow you off, or you can simply ask. But what I don't want you doing is that like whispering pointing can sound like either you're truly curious asking with children, you get away with that a lot more, especially if they're cute and polite. Or you're not curious enough to ask in which case, then walk on by and go on and go, like live your life and do your day. But don't sit and stare at somebody and like whisper behind their back that's humanly evolutionarily, that's an incredibly uncomfortable position to be placed in as a human.   Michael Hingson ** 29:23 The media is what the media is, but I have to say, for me, and I've said it before on this podcast, after September 11, I made the choice to allow the media to come and interview me and I've been literally brought before cameras and had hundreds of interviews and I've been asked the dumbest questions in the world up to the most intelligent and smartest questions in the world. And I will not say even today, there is not a question that hasn't been asked because every so often, I'm surprised Somebody will come up with a new question that that makes me think. But I made the choice to do that. And it has been such a blessing to have all of that because it actually was great therapy for me because it made me talk about September 11. And all that was involved with that. But at the same time, it was a way to really get into discussions, and then learn how to frame responses. And the more times people wanted to interview me, the more I had to learn to deal with it, and did learn to deal with it to the point where it got to No, I wouldn't say be automatic to answer questions. But I was always open to answering questions, because the other part about it for me was being blind and different than 99.95% of the population. I figured that I needed to be a teacher. So I very rarely would refuse to answer a question. Because if I didn't, the odds are they wouldn't get the question answered. And usually, questions came as I understood them from misconceptions about what blind people could and couldn't do. And what I say wasn't what I say wasn't. So it was important to answer questions, and I really enjoyed and enjoy doing it.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 31:26 So I'm really curious, I have two questions for you. Do you? Yeah. If you feel free not to answer them if you don't want to. So I'll give them both. And you can answer them both, or in any order. So one of the questions is I have to ask, I mean, you said, I've been asked some of the stupidest questions. So I'm really curious what the stupidest question you've ever been asked is. And then the other question I have, because again, this is something I've worked on myself. This is something I've worked with other people, it's, there's an art to being able to answer things on the fly or process information on the fly, especially high stress or demanding environments. And so I'm wondering if you have any tips on how to do that?   Michael Hingson ** 32:12 Well, I'll answer that one first, just because you asked it. Second, we're talking about it. It's just practice. For me, a lot of times I had to when people asked questions in interviews, sometimes had to stop and think about how to answer and what to answer, because I hadn't been asked a particular question before, but the more I practiced at it, and the more I answered, the easier it became to think of doing things on the fly. And I'll and I'll tell you another on the fly story in a moment. But to go back to your first question. So the reason that I got very exposed in the media was that Guide Dogs for the Blind after a while on the 12th. I called and told them what had happened, Guide Dogs for the Blind up in Santa fell, because that's where I've gotten all of my guide dogs. And some of the people from there had visited me in the World Trade Center. So my wife reminded me that somebody was going to remember that at some point, so I called and anyway, they put out a story. And it was clear what happened, right? I was in the World Trade Center, I got out I worked in the World Trade Center was reported, I was the Mid Atlantic region sales manager for a computer company, a fortune 500 company and other things. You can't imagine the number of times that people would still say to me, what were you doing in the World Trade Center anyway? Hello, don't you read? And, and of course, the other thing was, they would say, Well, did you know what happened? And I said, No, not until later. Well, of course you didn't you couldn't see it. And so Mike, stock response to that is the last time I checked, Superman and X ray vision, were fiction. And the reality is, I was on the south side of Tower One, when it was struck. On the north side. 18 floors above be no one going down the stairs where I was had any clue what happened, eyesight had nothing to do with it. Yeah. And it is so difficult to get people to recognize that because they really don't understand that disability is not a lack of ability. And I know you mentioned Dei, earlier, but if you ask the average expert in diversity and so on about what diversity means they'll talk to you about race, gender, sexual orientation, so on and will not mention disabilities, which is so unfortunate. We're not part of the conversation. And that just bleeds over into almost everything. But the fact of the matter is, is I love to tell people, sighted people have disabilities to your biggest disability is your light dependent, and you can't do a lick if suddenly the power goes out. you'll lose all your lights until you can find a light source. Thomas Edison fix that for you guys originally, but the reality is that light dependence is just as much a disability as light independence. The only difference is that we are so technologically advanced in terms of providing light sources, that your disability gets covered up so often because you can turn on us flashlight or a smartphone or we have lights everywhere, it doesn't change the fact that the disability is there. And, and I don't mean any of that in a sarcastic or negative way. But I'm using that tool to try to start to get people to understand that disability isn't what you think it is, of course, some diversity. People say, Well, disability doesn't mean a lack of belief, because it starts with this. And I say, yeah, and tell me what it is about the word discrete, that makes it negative. You know, there's a dis indiscreet. Tell me about that, you know, and they can't, because the reality is that it has nothing to do with this disability is a characteristic. And it manifests itself in so many different ways. And very frankly, I've learned a lot of that by articulating it on various episodes of unstoppable mindset. So some people are probably getting bored with me saying it all the time. But it is still true, that we need to recognize that everyone has differences. It doesn't make any of us less than anyone else. Think   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 36:27 about this, you You're right, the majority of conversations that take place around D I have to do with race and gender. Let's just start there. Right. The majority of my conversations have to do with those, those two things are the intersection of those two things. And there's a lot of conversation that is starting to take place around like neurocognitive since right and when I when I talk with people who for example have pretty bad ADHD often present it like it's just really bad thing I'm like hold on because there's somebody who has a DD ADHD what I will say is, is it a disadvantage when I have to remember numbers absolutely terrible person cannot argue with my husband and win an argument the man can watch a movie quote the whole movie. Remember? Literally he will. He will say you remember we met at college, they'll say you remember that night we were playing spades. And so you played this card this person played and he'll go through the whole thing. Like everybody's hands on like, no, yeah, what was on TV and was I eating pickles like that might help me place the night who was there? Right? I'm a good person. I remember like broad strokes themes. But where it becomes an incredible advantage is and coming up with solutions. Because the brain constantly like I call it. I said, I say you know, it's the star blasts like a thought comes and you have 10 Other thoughts that spring from it. And then 10 others in 10 others and 10 others. If you can rein that in. If you can gain some control over that. It's a huge advantage. You talked about sidedness right and, and the advantage of being able to work in spaces with low light is somebody who's entering middle age or who's fully middle aged and whose eyesight went from perfect. To me wondering why people ever thought that six point font was a reasonable font, for any kind of label, and being very dependent suddenly on readers, especially in low light, right, looking at having to figure out the world in different ways becomes interestingly challenging. So there is this advantage. It's about looking at and this growth mindset, among other things, right. It's about being able to look at where where's there an opportunity here, as opposed to just thinking different equals bad? Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 38:54 It is, it is something that we need to do and it can I submit, it still all goes back to curiosity, the more curious we are, and the more curious we allow ourselves to be, the more we will open ourselves to being able to learn and it is just the thing that we're not taught to do from an early age. So when you went to Duke, what did you major in psychology?   Michael Hingson ** 39:21 Of course you did.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 39:22 I started off I so I was an avid reader of as Pat Conroy, and ever read any Pat Conroy his stories are all about people being incredibly twisted and broken and in one way or another family dynamics. One of the books I read was The Prince of Tides. Now, I'm going to add to this contextual story. I was born because my older sister too at the time drowned and died. It was not planned. My mother neither my parents were not planning on having a kid actually. They would have been empowered. First of all, if not for the fact that my mother's an obstetrician told her when she went to get her tubes tied the year before, wait a year, and if in a year you still want this will do it. And in that year my sister died. So I came into a family with a lot of psychological trauma from all of that. So sometime in as a young teenager, I decided I want to be a psychologist. Right, that was the decision. I am going to be a psychologist and I had it all planned out what my career was going to be like. So I, I majored in psychology I specialize in as a child psychologist, I went directly to graduate school for clinical psychology specialize in child psychology. Where did you go? The University of Texas, Texas Medical Center in Dallas. It's a mouthful, but it is. And then came to came to here to San Diego because my husband got matched for residency with UCSD and same thing went directly got a postdoc, and as a child psychologist, open a practice as a child psychologist had my kids. And then I thought, who all the stuff that was fun about interacting with kids all day long, every day suddenly was not as much fun when I had to come back home and interact with his all day. So move to working with adults very specifically in anxiety, stress, what would be called burnout nowadays, yeah. Name back then. You perfectionism and, and then I did that for a few years and fell out of love with it. And then looked at what I did love about being a therapist, and the people I really enjoyed working with and fast forward a decade. I am where I am now.   Michael Hingson ** 41:49 So how did you come up with the name noteworthy.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 41:53 My mission for my company for what I do professionally, was to build a world where women could access the highest levels of leadership and empower at such a regular level that it was no longer noteworthy. Right now is very noteworthy, right, we'll say so and so the first the second CEO, female CEO of Pepsi, the first whatever, we haven't had our first female president, I don't think we'll have one for a very long time, right, those those kinds of things. They just want to get to a place where we can do see so and so CEO of Yeah, president of Yeah. And when I rebuilt my website, I showed it to two friends who are part of my, my board of advisors, personal board of advisors, and I said maybe maybe I should come up with a new name. The company's name is life and focus coaching, right? Because that I started as a life coaching business was my first transition. And one said, why don't you do noteworthy? Just like it is in your mission? That is where you're trying to women right now. We're still very noteworthy. So that's, that's, that's the story. I just need to get some of my clients for, say not worthy. And I'm like, no, no, no, not not worthy. No, worthy. You are worthy.   Michael Hingson ** 43:14 Yeah. So no, worthy certainly is, I think, a cool title. And I'm glad that you're doing it. So tell me a little bit more about exactly what you do. And why you do it.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 43:30 These days, I spend my time I'm really lucky. We just had a holiday dinner with my San Diego clients I have, I've worked with women all around the world. But because I'm San Diego base, I have a large contingency of current and former San Diego clients. And towards the end of dinner when most of them are gone. Because I cannot do a speech about something that moves me without tearing up and I'm like, I did still want to cry again. I looked down at the table, there were about five women left. And I said I just I just need you all to know that you are my dream come true. Right, which is true. I am very privileged to get to work with women who I genuinely believe are extraordinary. I do believe they're no worthy in their own right, whether they feel that way or not. And they tend to be by design for what I'm trying to achieve for them women who are executives, usually VP to the C suite. And these are women who have a track record of excellence. They're at the top of their game. But the cost, the price to pay, the effort that they've had to put forth in order to reach where they are in their careers tends, historically to have been much higher than their male counterparts. That's just the fact it's not a judgment. It's just a fact. And so when they show up in these situations, there are some habits that need to be broken. The habit of raising your hand to do all the things you can do versus positioning yourself to do what you do best and building your brand and your reputation around your top value. Knowing how to set boundaries without feeling guilty, the a lot of women I work with have fantastic titles, but they don't always feel or sometimes it's not about feeling it is the reality, they don't always have the authority that they need, with those titles to be able to lead very effectively or with impacts. That's, that's the work we do with these women and I, I get to leverage all the things I love about being a psychologist, so building trust, getting deep, understanding what what holds people back internally, and breaking down those barriers, plus all the behavioral, like everything I learned about being a psychologist working with children, and teaching parents how to parent effectively conditioned behavior, all of that gets applied to the these workplace interactions. So I do that with individual women. And then more and more, we're getting an opportunities to also work with companies and come into companies and either help them support and elevate individual women or build programs that will allow the woman that they have on staff to show up much more effectively to be really successful, which is great for the company and tends to drive retention. It is it is it is a dream come true. Because I'm one of the few privileged people that I know of who when she was really miserable with her job just got to rewrite kind of how she wanted to work and what she wanted to do. So that is that is what I do.   Michael Hingson ** 46:43 So in working with women, and so on, where can or do men get involved in the equation at all,   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 46:49 they get involved in a couple places, a lot of the work I do around actually I'm on a, I had a committee I co founded a committee is around male ally ship. So simply teaching, helping good men understand why the experience is different for women, and helping them understand how to position themselves actively. So that they can be the men they think they are when it comes to supporting folks, in this case, women but I but I often make the case I'm like whatever I'm talking about that has to do with gender, it has to do with anybody and everybody this is human dynamics. So men have this like really great opportunity to kind of take off blinders and see situations for what they are and intervene and a couple of capacities. One capacity is simply sometimes to call out things that they see that have been normalized. Because as women when we call them out, or label this hysterical or emotional or too sensitive, or bra burners, whatever, just you know, another great way for men to step in is by using sponsorship really sitting there and opening doors. That's literally what sponsorship is, it's what we all do. You know somebody you know, you like them, you know that they do a good job like you recommend them to other people. That's what sponsorship is all about. So being able to do that having conversations with other men about stuff, right these are these are this is where men can really play an incredibly powerful role. So I we run trainings for male allies, which are fun. i It's a five part training and we don't start talking to them about techniques until we talk to them about constantly talk to a bunch of women and get their perspective. And then we'll come back then they'll say I didn't realize like, I never thought about the fact that when I leave on a business trip, I just need to like, take one pair of shoes plus my comfortable tennis shoes and think about this, but she needs an extra 30 minutes to get ready because there's an expectation that she's going to look a certain way. We talk about roadblocks all the reason why men despite having the best of intentions, despite like morally really being like solid human beings might not take action. And again, these are human patterns. They don't just pertain to gender, but things like being afraid of screwing up. What if I say what if I'm trying to help and I say or do something that's wrong and I make things worse, or being afraid to step in and do something nice for somebody who doesn't want your help? And I'm my guess is that comes up a lot when we talk about ABLE like ableism right? People somebody who might try to open the door for somebody or help somebody or give their seat another person I don't need you to do this. I don't need your help. Right and so that's another fear and of course the third one is what if I stand up and speak up and because of that I lose my status that I get I get told them all these things too sensitive to whoa too. And and then I start losing opportunities and to men and Generally, I'll say, those are all good things to be afraid of, they will all happen. Like every single one of them, you will put your foot in your mouth, you will make a mistake and trying to do something helpful, you will screw it up, you will one day try to help somebody who's going to look at you and be pissed off that you tried to help them because they didn't need your help. And you will get called out by somebody somewhere and at the end of the day, you'll survive, like you will just be fine. It's uncomfortable. And that's just the price of showing up for people. It's uncomfortable sometimes.   Michael Hingson ** 50:36 It gets back to what we talked about earlier. How much of that? And the answer is, I'm sure a lot how much of that is learned behavior?   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 50:46 I mean, I think most of it is learned. Yeah. I you know, and I actually will say this, I think most of the non action is learned behavior. If you ever watched a little kids, I mean, children, by definition are humans, by definition are egocentric, and children are like the, the the ultimate egocentric, like stage of human beings are completely focused on their world. And what's happening with kids are, we talked about this, like, relatively curious. When you teach them basic manners, it comes kind of naturally to them to open up doors to help to do things. We teach people to be afraid, we teach people to worry about making mistakes, we teach people to like stay in your lane, just stay in your lane, right. And then that gets carried like, to our adult selves and our adult behaviors.   Michael Hingson ** 51:38 Yeah, and that's, of course, the issue, we, we don't learn to be more open, we don't learn to be more curious. And we don't learn to be willing to step out or step, step back, and then step out and explore.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 51:57 And the same things that I teach men, by the way, I teach women to do for other women, and I teach women to do for other people, period, I am very selective. And one thing about all my clients is, they have to be the kind of women who will lift while lift others while climbing, they cannot be women who are going to get to the top, and we're going to guard their place. And we're going to put other people through the same hazing through the same, like, hurdles that they face just because well, I had to. Mm hmm. So this is a skill set to teach. And he's just about being a good human. I really like ultimately, it's what it comes down to.   Michael Hingson ** 52:40 What's the most important skill you think that a woman should learn as, as they're working in advancing and integrating in society,   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 52:49 I will say that data shows that the most important skill a woman needs to learn for advancement is visibility, and how to build visibility. But what it comes down to, if we tap into like my, my experience, as a psychologist, what it comes down to is the ability to recognize and own what your true value is. Right. And that's such a gift. Once you do that for yourself as a as a woman in the workplace. First of all, yes, you can build visibility. So you can you can speak about what you bring to the table, you can articulate how that skill set can really drive impact in certain spaces, you can start building like your reputation as an expert, or your expertise in a field, like all of those things are really good. But the back end of that is also it's about owning it. It's about walking into the world and being clear about what you have to add to the conversation into the space. And to do that without false humility, or a sense of shame. And for a lot of women and a lot of girls, we're taught to not do that little girls from the time from the time they're in, like they're in sandboxes, I would say are taught to be collaborative and be helpful and share and give it to to their own detriment. So I've worked with women all around the world. And on every single continent, every single basic, general culture, larger culture, every woman tells me Well, in my culture, in my family, it's not acceptable to speak about myself, it's not acceptable to say I'm really good at this. It's not acceptable to say, well, you know, part of the reason we won that game, part of the reason we moved the needle forward on this project was because I was able to dot dot, dot. But if as women we learned to do this, not only will it benefit us, but it actually benefits the people we work with and for because by being very clear about what our top skills are and how best to leverage them, what we're actually communicating to people is how we can help them And the best way to help them.   Michael Hingson ** 55:03 And the reality is sometimes to break in as being a part of a team is to really be willing to say not in an egotistical way, but to say, what skills you bring and why you're a valuable part of the team. Yep,   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 55:17 I was just having a conversation with a client of mine, who's a returning client. And she recently got a promotion, which is why she came back. And she has she's suddenly working on we talked about, like, her team is all pros, meaning they're like the top of the top. And initially, she's like, well, I don't even know what I bring to the conversation. They're all so autonomous, in some degree need to go back to the basics. What is it that you do really well? How can that skill set support? You support them? And how can you position that and rethink about what your value is to this team and communicate it to them so that you can support them what she's done very well in six months. And she's just onboarding a new, a new team member. She said, What should I do to help him integrate better? And I said, ask him the same questions. What does he love doing that he's really good at? How does he? How does he want those skills? Leverage? Where can you make the greatest impact? How does that fit in your team communicate that we build? The sense of togetherness? Those   Michael Hingson ** 56:16 kinds of questions will tell her more about the person she's talking with than most anything else she could do.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 56:24 And time and time again, it pays off.   Michael Hingson ** 56:27 Of course it does. It has as it should. So is there a book in you? Have you written a book? Are you thinking about it? Yes,   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 56:34 I have co authored chapters in many books. There is a book in me, I want to write a book that will be called. Now you see me about this idea of visibility and everything that goes into it. I don't know when I'm going to have the time to do this isn't that every would be one of the author's excuse. If you talk to my very first coach who I hired in 2018. He would he would tell you all summer has been saying I've been telling her to write a book since 2018 24. I don't know No,   Michael Hingson ** 57:08 you just have to decide that that's the priority and take the time to do it. That is true, then it will happen at the right time. If it matters enough, it will for matters to you or to whoever you'll you'll make it happen. Well, this has been fun. And I really have enjoyed doing it. I know you've got children to go pick up so I don't want to make you too late for that. So I want to thank you again for being with us and doing this episode with us. I appreciate it.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 57:38 And Michael, thank you. It's a delightful way to end the year. So I really, I have very, very much enjoyed our conversation.   Michael Hingson ** 57:46 Well, this has been fun. We'll have to do another one. We don't even need to wait till you you have a book but I want to thank you. I want to thank you all for listening to us on unstoppable mindset please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening. And please transmit your opinions, your views your thoughts Melisandre would like to know and I would love to know what you think so feel free to do that. If people want to reach out to you and possibly work with you or usually as a coach, how do they do that?   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 58:11 There are two way places to find me one is the website which is noteworthy inc.co So noteworthy i n c.co. And then the other one is LinkedIn. So I'm there under D at whatever Dr. Alessandra Wall, but those are best places to reach me   Michael Hingson ** 58:30 and Alessandra A l e s s a n d r a Yep.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 58:34 And while is like the Pink Floyd album, W a l l, W   Michael Hingson ** 58:38 L. Well, thanks again all of you for listening. I'd love to hear from you. Please email me email, email me at MichaelHi at accessibe A c c e s s i b e.com Or go to our podcast page www dot Michael hingson.com/podcast. And Michael Hingson is m i c h a e l h i n g s o n i love to hear from you really appreciate your thoughts. And Alessandra, for you and for everyone listening if you know of anyone who might be a good podcast guest or you'd like to suggest anyone, please reach out. I'm always looking for folks. And since we've both mentioned it Alessandra and I are speakers, we are always looking for speaking opportunities. She wants to go to the Middle East, I'll go there, but I want to make sure it's a little bit more peaceful when I go but I'd love to speak so if anybody knows of any speaking opportunities, let us both know, right? Yep, please. Are we speaking? We appreciate it. So again, Alessandra, for you one more time. Thank you very much. This has been fun.   Dr. Alessandra Wall ** 59:39 Thank you so much. Have a wonderful rest of your day.   Michael Hingson ** 59:48 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Hey Friends~  We welcome Michael Hingston, as our guest!  He is an extraordinary human who has been blind since birth.  Andy today, he shares his incredible story of escaping the World Trade Center with his guide dog, Roselle.  He offers  insights for parents of children with disabilities.  He will shift your perspective on disabilities and how you can empower your children to thrive! Today's inspirational guest will tell first hand what his parents did that helped him be strong, independent,  and enabled in the presence of disability.      Michael declares, “ Whether a disability is present or not, “the fact of the matter is that every child, every person, has gifts.  And as parents, you need to let those gifts develop in your child and you need to help encourage them.”  You will surely learn something today. I know I did!     Always cheering you on!  Dinalynn CONTACT the Host, Dinalynn:  hello@thelanguageofplay.com   ABOUT THE GUEST: Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born to sighted parents who raised him with a can-do attitude., Michael rode a bike and learned to do advanced math in his head! He moved to California and attended college receiving a master's degree in Physics and a secondary teaching credential. Michael worked for high-tech companies in management roles until September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the WTC. They were then thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share lessons of trust, courage, and teamwork as a public speaker. Mike is the author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller: “Thunder dog” – selling over 2.5 million copies. In 2014 he published his 2nd book “Running with Roselle”, A story for our youth. In August of 2024 Mike's third book, Live Like A Guide Dog, will be published. It can be preordered at https://www.christianbook.com/stories-overcoming-adversity-moving-forward-faith/9781496476555/pd/476555. Mike has Spoken to the world's elite including George Bush, and Larry King. He has appeared on hundreds of TV and Radio programs. Now he is hired by major organizations Speaking on perseverance, the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, and offering Adaptive Technology Training. CONTACT THE GUEST: speaker@michaelhingson.com   RESOURCES from The Language Of Play Sign Up for Free Summer - Parent Group Coaching:  Available Summer 2024 ONLY!   June 27,  July 24,  August 20   -  Register Here:   https://dinalynnr.systeme.io/group-coaching-2ddd5182-38d33cf4   Let's have a conversation about your thoughts, concerns, & wonderings!  Sign up for my newsletter! Newsletter Opt-in Sign up for FREE 21 Days of Encouragement in your inbox! Encouragement Sign-up Join my new FREE Facebook Community HERE! Sign up for a 15 min "Let's Meet Session" on zoom!  Let's Meet Session For Speaking Engagements or For 1:1 or Group Parent Coaching (virtual or live), contact me at hello@thelanguageofplay.com   If You Liked This Episode, You Will Want To Listen To These Episodes:  125 Kelley Coleman: Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child 147 What? Your Child Can't Read - And Has A HIGH IQ?? Lynne Roe shares a success story with dyslexia and dysgraphia 155 Does Your Language Build Courage In Your Child? Here Are 12 Examples of Courage-Building Phrases! 154 A Single Father of Triplets Shares His Success Story. Happy Father's Day! 156 Raising Your Creative Independent Thinker? Sharon Fillmore Helps You With These Wonderful Curious Children!    

From The Heart, Inspiring Stories told by Inspiring Women In this powerful episode of "From the Heart," host Katie engages in a deeply moving and inspiring conversation with Genelle Guzman-McMillan, a remarkable 9/11 survivor who found herself in the heart of the unimaginable tragedy that unfolded in Tower One. Genelle shares her gripping personal account of being inside the tower as it collapsed on that fateful day. As Genelle recounts her harrowing experience, listeners will gain profound insights into the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. This episode goes beyond the surface, delving into the aftermath of surviving such a traumatic event and the strength it takes to rebuild one's life. Genelle's story serves as a testament to the enduring power of hope, courage, and the indomitable will to overcome even the darkest of moments. Whether you're a 9/11 history enthusiast, seeking inspiration in the face of adversity, or simply looking to connect with stories that touch the heart, this episode of "From the Heart" is a must-listen. Join Katie and Genelle as they navigate through the depths of survival, resilience, and the transformative journey towards healing. Get Genelle's Book, Angel in the Rubble on Amazon: https://a.co/d/444ItOM Follow MOMnation and connect with all of our podcasts here: https://direct.me/momnationusa Connect with Katie at: www.katiehallelambert.com Brought to you by Team EvoAZ at eXp Realty. Music and Lyrics by Susan Goyette. Have a topic you want us to cover? Comment below to share your idea! http://MOMnationUSA.com

ennifer Sands' journey begins on 9/11 when she tragically loses her husband in Tower One of the World Trade Center. Initially relying on prayer, she grapples with anger after his loss. However, a turning point occurs when a Salvation Army bell ringer places something in her pocket, transforming her story from tragedy to triumph. This powerful story of how God, through unexpected moments, draws Jennifer closer to Himself. #healing #911 #twintowers #jennifersands https://youtu.be/InNrrN2CKe8 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nancy-sabato/message

On this timely episode, coming the day after Tom Brady Day at Gillette Stadium and on 9/11, we speak with someone familiar with both topics, Joe Andruzzi. We talk to Joe about college and getting to the NFL and how the team had fun with a skinny, 4th string rookie QB in 2000.  Joe then gives us a detailed account of he and his family's thoughts and feelings on 9/11. (Joe has 3 three brothers who were FDNY including one who ran into Tower One.) Mr. Kraft had the foresight to make his brothers captains for the first game back after the September 11th attacks, 9/23/01 vs The Jets.  As Pats fans know, September 23rd is also a milestone day in the history of the Patriots. Joe talks about this and explains the team's process moving from Drew Bledsoe behind center to Tom Brady and their drive to Super Bowl XXXVI.  We also have some fun conversing about Super Bowl 38 and compare the two Patriots starting quarterbacks Joe protected in New England with the gunslinger he paved the way for prior in Green Bay, Brett Farve.Take a listen to this emotional yet entertaining episode.

Hello everyone and welcome to a very special 100th episode of the Resilient Journey podcast. Today I'm joined by Chris Platt. Chris was on the 40th floor of Tower One on the morning of September 11th, 2001. Today's episode focuses on the resilience of a nation and the will to survive of those involved in the day that changed America forever. The Resilient Journey podcast is a Resilience Think Tank production.   Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.

BCK? Right. We get to learn all about that during our conversation this time with Milam Miller. Milam began life in Texas, but has moved around quite a bit over his life. He always has had some interests in sports as he will tell us.   During his time in New York years ago he dreamed of securing a job with his favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees. He decided that he didn't really want to see “the behind the scenes” of the Yankees or any other team. He ended up more on the sales and promotions side of sports.   His jobs eventually took him to the UK, but eventually, the pandemic happened. For the first two years of the pandemic, he went back to Texas. In 2022 his wife's job caused the two of them to move to Toronto Ontario where they are today.   As he looked for things to do at the start of the pandemic he hit on what became for him a watch phrase, “BCK”, (Be Confident and Kind) As he describes, what was a watch phrase for him has grown not only into a coaching business for him, but an actual movement. I leave it to Milam to tell us about that. I think why I say that there is no doubt that Milam is definitely unstoppable.     About the Guest:   “Be Confident & Kind” (or BCK) was a personal mantra that Milam Miller created in July 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Life was uncertain and he knew one thing to be true–showing up in a confident & kind manner kept his inner light burning bright.   What was once a private motivating statement is now a public movement. Milam launched BCK in order to offer his whole self to organizations looking to invest in its people.    BCK believes in a confident and kind approach to work, in which people are put before profits. A coachable workforce - that is already skilled and, hopefully, well trained - will, in fact, yield higher profit margins. Milam is an expert in encouraging leaders and cultivating collaboration amongst teams, especially innately competitive sales teams.   When he's not facilitating in the boardroom or on 1:1 coaching calls, Milam can be found teaching in the yoga studio. One of the greatest gifts in life is to be able to move somebody - whether that be physically, mentally or emotionally - to a place of transformation.     Ways to connect with Milam:   Website: https://www.bckconsulting.org/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/milam-miller-bck Instagram: @milamrmiller   About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes      Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, howdy, everyone. I am Michael Hingson, sometimes known as Mike Hingson. We were just having a discussion about that our guest and I because if I say Mike Hingson People always want to say Kingson instead of Hingson. A little factoid but it's actually Hingson with an H. So I've learned to say Michael Hingson took a while to figure that out. But here we are. Anyway, I would like to welcome you to unstoppable mindset, where inclusion, diversity in the unexpected meet. We've got a lot of things about a lot of that today. I really appreciate you listening in and hope that you like what we have to go through today. I'd like you to meet our guest Milam Miller, who lives in Toronto, be confident and kind. And he's going to tell us about that as we go through the hour or so that we spend. But for now, Milan, I want to welcome you and thank you for joining us.   Milam Miller ** 02:13 Yeah, thank you, Michael for having me. I'm very happy to chat with you this evening. My time here in Toronto. I have learned how to say that Toronto, they kind of the words mumbled together. I'm getting better at it. I'm practicing.   Michael Hingson ** 02:27 It's not like in Maryland is Baltimore.   Milam Miller ** 02:29 That's right. That's right. Yeah, Baltimore. So yeah, it's a pleasure to be with you. I love your story and what this podcast is all about and anxious to dig into to BCK and what that means to me. And hopefully anyone listening today that might be intrigued by our mission.   Michael Hingson ** 02:48 Of course everybody always wanting to be different and all that. We know it's not pronounced Worchester in Massachusetts, it's Wista.   Milam Miller ** 02:56 There you go. I don't know that one. I haven't been there yet. But maybe someday I'll get oh, you should   Michael Hingson ** 03:00 go. It's less. It's actually Wister. But of course, when you live in Massachusetts, it's Wista.   Milam Miller ** 03:05 Wisdom is the same as is, as in Texas, we say wish to share sauce is like the Western sauce is the same thing or no.   Michael Hingson ** 03:14 Well, same spelling, but yeah. But in Massachusetts, it's when you live there, wisdom,   Milam Miller ** 03:21 wisdom. Okay, let's   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 see, you're gonna make it you might make it as a Massachusetts person yet. Well, thanks again for being here. Why don't we start by you telling us a little bit about you growing up and kind of the early myeloma and all that sort of stuff?   Milam Miller ** 03:35 Sure. Happy to, you know, rewind the clock. So I tell everyone, I am a Texan in Toronto. Originally, from the big great state of Texas, I grew up in a small town. I was actually born in a town that everyone knows called Waco, Texas. Unfortunately, it's made headlines for not always the best of reasons. Although I'd like to think Chip and Joanna Gaines and other people in the Waco communities have really put it on the map for delightful things like making your home more, more enjoyable to be in. So it's Chris, did   Michael Hingson ** 04:12 you ever know Chip and Joanna, you know, I   Milam Miller ** 04:14 can't say I haven't met them. So if this podcast reaches them, hey, Chip. Hey, Joanna. i Let's let's meet old friends. I love what you've done in the community. Yeah, I still have family in Waco. My grandparents had been married for 70 years. They're both in their 90s now and sharpest attack. I'm very grateful to have them in my life. They highschool sweethearts met at Baylor. My father comes from that side of the family. He also went to Baylor met my mom there and then here Here I am. So you would think that I would have gone to Baylor but we decided to move south to Central Texas and I became a Longhorn a proud one at that. So I bleed orange, the School of Matthew McConaughey and many others.   Michael Hingson ** 04:59 So I voc several years ago, or a couple of meetings at the San Francisco Lighthouse, excuse me, the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. And the CEO is from TCU. So I obligated to talk about Go Frogs, you know,   Milam Miller ** 05:16 there you go. That my mom is from Fort Worth and my in laws, actually, my sister in law and brother in law are both TCU alum. They were at the national championship this year. So I was happy to see them so much as it hurt a little bit that Texas wasn't back there. I was happy to see a Texas school make it that far.   Michael Hingson ** 05:35 Yeah. Well, I was disappointed that USC didn't go all the way. But you know, we try. There you go. There you go. There is next year.   Milam Miller ** 05:42 That's right. There's, you know, that's what gives Dallas Cowboys fans hope. There's always next year.   Michael Hingson ** 05:47 In Massachusetts. I lived there for three years. And I remember, every year when the Red Sox started their season. In the first game, if they lost, everyone started saying wait till next year. Hmm. Tough crowd. Tough crowd. That's right. So anyway, so you became a Longhorn? That's right.   Milam Miller ** 06:09 You've got it. I studied finance at Macomb School of Business at UT Austin. And I gotta be honest, Michael, it was not for me, I hated it. Without a shadow of the doubt, I, my dad was a finance guy. And I remember I recall a time there being a lot of pressure. Within the McCombs community, it had the top rated accounting program in the country. And it was a big pipeline to go to the big four accounting firms. And then many people, of course, studied finance, too, and wanted to go work on Wall Street. Coincidentally, I was in college in 2008, during the financial crisis, the big collapse. And I didn't honor that gut intuition that told me finance wasn't for me, I thought I wanted to do manage mix, I love people. And I was told that was too woowoo, or maybe not practical enough. And marketing, I found really interesting, but again, also was told there's so many marketers out there. So I didn't, didn't honor my own intuition. And that was a great learning lesson, in my own life, to, to get in touch with my intuition and not neglect it like I did at that point in time.   Michael Hingson ** 07:24 You know, we all too often tend not to, to pay attention to our intuition. To our own consternation, I love to use the example of I watch or not watch, but I play a lot of Trivial Pursuit. I haven't so much lately, but invariably, both for me and for other people. While we're playing it. Somebody asks a question. And the answer pops into a person's head, whoever's having the question asked of them, and they go, No, it can't be that easy. And they don't answer it that way. And invariably, what popped into their head was the right answer. Mm hmm. And that happens so often. It's all because we really do know more than we think we know. We just don't always tend to want to pay attention and recognize that maybe our intuition and God and all that are are really giving us the answers. So I'm glad that you learned a lesson from that.   Milam Miller ** 08:21 That's right. That's right. And I will say this, I don't know if I knew the right answer that point. But I knew what it was. And I knew it wasn't finance, right and it takes doing the work you're doing the classwork because I got a D in that class, if I recall correctly, that I was like this, this this thing for me. So it was a great experience to set me on a path that was more in alignment with my childhood dreams and aspirations, which ultimately led me not into finance, but into the sports career. And that's where I got my start.   Michael Hingson ** 08:54 And so what did you do in the sports world?   Milam Miller ** 08:57 Yeah, thank you for asking. Good question. So bad news. I'm a Yankees fan. I heard you mentioned the Red Sox earlier. And you're wearing my favorite color red today. So if you are a Red Sox fan, I apologize. My I'm a Dodger fan, but that's okay. Well, that makes more sense. But to all the Red Sox listeners out there, they've won a couple championships. You know, since then, you know, the the rivalry is, is maybe not as heated or the curse as it once was. Right. But I grew up in big Derek Jeter fan. And also being a fan of the University of Texas, Roger Clemens came over to the Yankees. And I still remember when I was a kid sitting right field behind Paul O'Neill, and just being in the bleachers, and I was like, This is so epic. And they were winners. They were they were a team. And there were so many great leaders on that team. Yeah. And I've always been enamored by by leadership and and teamwork. So I thought I'm gonna move to New York and work for the New York Yankees, done, signed, sealed delivered very clear and specific ambition. What unfolded for me was not that As our life life journey happens i Upon graduating ut I, my criteria for a job was twofold. Live in New York City and work in sports. My entry point into the industry was actually through an agency that did sponsorship activation. So if if modells is a sponsor of the New York Yankees, I know a lot of people know that retailer in the New York area. Or let's say it's Miller Lite as their official beer. I was handling a lot of those contracts, but more specifically in the golf space. Yeah. And what else? I'm sure you're thinking, Yeah, I've maybe I've got you on the edge of your seat. I actually had a colleague who worked for the Yankees, and she had come over to our agency and hearing her firsthand accounts of what it was like to to work for a family run business, this time burners, right and kind of the change of power at that time from Mr Steinbrenner passing away to his sons. I decided I made the conscious decision at that point in time. That that was my passion. And a lot of my favorite players I mentioned Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettit, they were all retiring and I didn't really want to see under the hood of the business side of things my passion in a lot of it I you know, it's come out in recent years the captain the the Docu series about Derek Jeter just about his his contract negotiation as he was aging. I thought maybe it's better I keep that my passion and I can go there and ignorance is bliss. And I cheer on my team without knowing the politics and inner workings of it being my my employer. And so, yeah, I was open to opportunities in New York's a great market to be in if you're open to opportunities,   Michael Hingson ** 11:46 yes. And so what did you do? Who,   Milam Miller ** 11:50 so what did I do? I did the work I was responsible for activating omega the or omega however you pronounce it the luxury timepiece company. I always tell people this is a fun case study. People know of omega from the Olympics. They've had a long standing association with the touchpads in the pools when Michael Phelps fingers hit the touchpad and he wins gold. Or when you same bolt leans across the line and wins yet another gold. So from a marketing perception, a lot of people thought of omega as a timekeeping company right there. They're accurate, precise, but they didn't think of them as a luxury timepiece, business. So trying to pull away market share from Rolex Omega decided to sponsor golf and activate around the major championships. So I would literally go around Michael and be wearing a red polo such as your own, because that's omegas brand colors, and I would set the Swiss clocks, and I'd put them on the first tee potensi the putting green and I had to make sure that they were on time and the most. The irony in all of this, Michael is that I am not a punctual person at all, I am chronically late, despite best efforts getting from point A to point B I always underestimate time. So it was kind of a running joke in my close circles and family. How the heck did you get that job, you are never on time. You got to just stretch and grow. That's it. That's it. And it did stretch me I was fortunate to travel all across the US to very remote golf, country clubs, golf course locations, and I loved it. It was it actually taught me to be on time. So I think I was on time for our call today, which is good news. It's more when transports involves that I struggle, but I've gotten better over the years so that was a good learning lesson for me.   Michael Hingson ** 13:44 So you went around to golf courses all over the country and set time pieces and made sure they were on time right? That's right I may go see   Milam Miller ** 13:53 Yeah, manage their brand identity and it was a wonderful program to work on. But it was very much rinse and repeat and I'm a type of person that there's a time and place for certainty but I also crave variety and while there was variety in the the the courses that these tournaments were held at, I was looking for a little bit more of a way for my extroverted self or outgoing self to be on actually the sales side and not just on the fulfillment side activating and managing but actually having a seat at the table negotiating the rights because I got to see what rights they got on and it got me curious a core value man like Well, why didn't you negotiate rights to that or why does this sponsor have that and we don't and so that's when I realized I wanted to make a jump into in a very niche and sponsorship sales in sports but really just working on behalf of a team are right told her similar to the Yankees but not the Yankees again, they're my passion, but somebody else and all that to say it is me being open to opportunity. I got connected with a gentleman and who owns a professional football club, aka soccer team overseas. And he sold me on his vision, which was to build a modern day Coliseum in Rome. That's where the team played. And coincidentally, I had gone there when I was 15. My sister graduated high school she was 18. And we did a trip for city I ever stepped foot in Europe, capital city, and the Eternal City at that. And I didn't even know the team existed when I was 15 years old. So to hear this owner laying out his vision for a new stadium I was I was bought in I was I was drinking quite literally from you know, the Roman Aqua docks, I was like, I want to take your your vision to market and sell that on your behalf and was fortunate to do so.   Michael Hingson ** 15:46 So when did this happen?   Milam Miller ** 15:49 So I went to work for the ownership group previous one of AS Roma spoiler alert, back in 2016. No, excuse me, actually, 2015 and 2015 is when I went to work for them. I moved abroad in 2016.   Michael Hingson ** 16:05 And how long were you there?   Milam Miller ** 16:07 Yeah, so there specifically is a tricky answer. Because I didn't actually move to Rome. I spent the majority of my time in Rome while I was sorting out a British visa. But this was around the time the Brexit vote happened and getting a visa was a very complex process. I also unfortunately did not speak Italian. So me being in Rome, was not the wisest business move being on the commercial side of the business. However, many European football clubs Manchester United being in Manchester, they had a commercial office in London and we saw an opportunity in the market to be the first Italian team to plant roots in London and so that's where I relocated to   Michael Hingson ** 16:53 Wow Well, that was was easier as long as you can speak the language so you you didn't have to learn how to do New Jersey Italian you know, forget about it and all that sort of stuff.   Milam Miller ** 17:06 That's right. That's right. I   Michael Hingson ** 17:07 learned didn't learn good Italian.   Milam Miller ** 17:09 Yeah, perfect, though. Everything was perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 17:11 That's a nice thing. Yeah. So how long were you over there? Because you're not there now.   Milam Miller ** 17:21 That's right. So I'm, I can hear my wife saying my lawn, land the plane, hurry up, move abroad. 2016 And, again, did the work you gotta you gotta be in it, live it to Yeah, to figure it out. And a lot of life happened in those years. And my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2017. That a lot of the forward progress I was feeling it kind of stopped it to be president and attend to those needs. In 2018, we made a really deep run in the UEFA Champions League, which is the top teams across not only Italy, in Germany and France and Spain, really all across Europe. They're they're playing one another so it was outside of our domestically. And we beat Barcelona they had a player you may know a guy named Lionel Messi, who today announced he's going to take his talents to South Beach, like another athlete did about a decade ago. And so Messi Messi is headed to inter Miami David Beckham's club. And we beat we beat FC Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals only to get knocked out in the semi finals by Liverpool, which also had a Boston based owner, my my, our ownership group was out of Boston as well. And so it allowed us on the commercial side of the business to really capitalize on the performance side, the momentum the team was having, almost going to the Champions League final to secure some sponsors. And that was a really, really fruitful time for us commercially. And we were still riding that wave until 2020. And you know what happened then?   Michael Hingson ** 19:02 Yeah, those little bugs started escaping from somewhere.   Milam Miller ** 19:07 That's right. That's right. Now there were other like challenges that the team I'd be remiss not to mention, but that's the nature I think   Michael Hingson ** 19:14 it's the nature I think any team and it's got its ups and downs,   Milam Miller ** 19:18 or any business for that matter. Even Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 19:20 yeah. So where were you living at the time?   Milam Miller ** 19:23 So I was still in London when the pandemic hit and you know, I think about the, the rate with which my life the speed with which my life was moving at my goal, the travel we were doing living in London on Europe's back doorstep. I think that March, my wife's birthday is in early March. We had a ski trip planned and that ski trip did not happen at least for us. We we canceled I know some people ended up going and getting stuck and that's a story for another day. But yeah, we we were in the proper UK lockdown. On from middle of March until July when they lifted it and then there was a whole start stop situation from then on.   Michael Hingson ** 20:08 Yeah. And, of course, there were additional lockdowns and all sorts of challenges, because we were still learning a lot about COVID. I think we're still gonna continue to learn a lot about COVID. But we are a lot better situated than we were.   Milam Miller ** 20:24 Absolutely, absolutely. It was a time of unprecedented change. And I think, you know, from my, my story change is something that collectively we as humans went through, at least on this planet, the collective human experience of dealing with COVID. And it impacted us all in unique ways, different ways. And changes is hard. It's scary. And it's it's I think some people are still wrestling with the Yep, permanency of changes that cause myself included, my career changed drastically from that point onward.   Michael Hingson ** 21:03 Well, so when did you leave London and I guess, move to Toronto, or excuse me, Toronto?   Milam Miller ** 21:10 Yeah, there was an intervening step. We hopped home to Texas for two years, 2021 and 2022. This Toronto opportunity came about through my wife's employer, the same one she had in London, they've been very good to us and grown her. But Toronto is new. We've only been here since the start of the year. And I I've been at my own business for the last year, it was something I launched following a pandemic pivot that didn't work out. And then really realizing it was time to trust my gut instincts and that intuition that I got connected with in college. And by this point in my career, I was like, it's time to bet on myself and take a leap of faith. And so that's the you. That's how I got here.   Michael Hingson  21:57 So I have a couple questions, because I really want to get into change and all that. But I'm just really curious. Sure. It was announced a couple of days ago that the PGA and the other organization what is it? Live golf? Yeah, live golf. Yeah. have merged. What do you think about that, given especially all the furor over the last year, you've had enough connection with golf, and I assume you got to know, golfers and things like that. But what do you think   Milam Miller ** 22:24 about that? Yeah, you know, great question. This will be it's all still so fresh that yeah, that news was announced yesterday. I got. I saw it first. I get Wall Street Journal, email alerts. And I think I spit my coffee out, Michael. I was like, wait, what?   Michael Hingson ** 22:39 I saw it on a CNN alert. Why what?   Milam Miller ** 22:44 Yeah, yeah, I posted it on my Instagram pretty immediately, because I just was so recent. I do have friends who are played golf in college are professional caddies. I am friendly with players on the tour. I don't have close friends. But obviously it's you know, it's humans that do extraordinary things. And that's what they're out the golfers that are out there are all human and we're all on a work in progress. So what do I think about it? I think that it's really unfortunate if I'm honest, that again, I my calling card is leadership. I believe in dynamic leadership and servant hearted leadership. And without calling out certain names, I think there was pressure by the tour as a as a body a governing body and entity, not one person in particular. But I think the the tour is a collective as a unit, to keep people loyal because of the history and legacy of the body and to deter them from moving to a new flashy, different format that paid better or paid well, with also questions about where that money was coming from. And it was, in fact, sports washing. So it's for them to turn a blind eye now to that argument around sports washing, and is it clean money or dirty money to then take the money? It feels? Feels a little disingenuous, like I would if the PGA Tour were on this call or was listening to this. This podcast, I would say, what are your core values? What are your corporate values? And how did that influence or impact this decision making process?   Michael Hingson ** 24:26 I'll be anxious to see how it goes over time because I think we're only starting to hear the different sides of this and what it's going to do. But I know that the whole issue of flipped Golf was was all about money. And the the problem with a lot of professional sports, it seems to me is it's way too much about money. I appreciate that players and so on do need to earn a living and they and the better they are the more they ought to earn. But I also think that there is just so much based on money, that we're losing sight of the games And then the activities themselves. And it's just kind of the nature of the beast, I think it's coming into the NCAA now with of course, the better players who can now get money in, we're going completely away from the sports. And it's just becoming much more money oriented, I'm sure that there will be people who will disagree with me and yell at me, and, and so on. But when do we get back to the basics of the competition of the game, you know, in the Olympics have done the same thing and so many same things in so many ways to that. It's been be it's become very political with some countries and organizations have turned a blind eye to it. When do we get back to the basic core values, as you just said,   Milam Miller ** 25:46 Well, there's there's so many stakeholders involved in sport as we know it today. And as somebody who worked closely with sponsors for years, I can only imagine if I been representing either entity, pitching from a PGA Tour perspective of, you know, us, this is what we're about, as opposed to live golf, hey, we're new, we're going to do things different, we're going to do it better for you sponsors, we're gonna give you better access to players or whatever it may be, you know, they've, they've been at odds. So now that now that the two entities were competing against one another, now that they're, they're merging, let's think of it as a classic m&a deal. It's two different corporate cultures, it's two different sponsorship sales. Now, it's two different. So there's going to need to be a learning and development function or core curriculum to really refer to these two bodies, and also do it in the name of caring about your people, your employees, not just the players on the tour, that maybe you feel wronged because a lot of them do. But I just I worry that there could be layoffs in the name of efficiency and productivity. And that's so unfair for either entity and and skilled people that have talents that they could bring to grow the game, because I do think at the end of the day, some fans will be happy, this is a way to grow the game in a way that's that's centralized or organized. Sure. But there's a lot of stakeholders, again, that are going to be impacted by this. So just approaching it from a place of care, I think is really important.   Michael Hingson ** 27:24 I agree, I think it's going to be very interesting to see how golf as an overall sport, now changes. So we have one entity again, but it's a completely different entity by any definition. And I hope that it changes for the better, but I don't know enough to be able to comment on that. But I've hope that in the long run, or as they say, at the end of the day, that that people will find that it really was an improvement for golf. And that has to be by actions, not by words. So we'll see what happens.   Milam Miller ** 28:02 That's right. Time will tell. Time will tell. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 28:05 But you know, you, you talk about change. And we've we've both experienced a lot of change. And I hear people say all the time, the change is all around us. It's there. But yet, as you said, it's very hard. Why is changed so hard? What is it that we have learned or not learned? That makes change so hard? Especially even in the light of the fact that it's all around us all the time?   Milam Miller ** 28:35 Hmm. Yeah. It's such a good question. One thing I have Michael, I think people find change hard or exhausting or challenging is because it's outside of our comfort zones. As simple as that may sound, we we get so accustomed to doing something a certain way or conditioned to do it a certain way that it's, it becomes second nature, just what we know. And if that is taken away from us, or we're told there's a different way to do it. There's a bit of resistance or agitation. I'd love to know your perspective on this just given up being on this planet, you have a little bit more wisdom than me. Some years, you're a couple years ahead of me. But I yeah, I find that change is hard for people. Because once we get good at something that will that feels nice. And so to to change it up. If it's not serving us, we start to second guess or wonder if we've made the wrong decision, instead of sitting with the discomfort and agitation to a place of actually growing our comfort zones. And I think that that's really where where growth happens is out of our comfort zone.   Michael Hingson ** 29:46 Yeah, I think the the issue is that our comfort zone needs to be broader. So I remember after September 11, I've talked about it here a few times. I started hearing people We'll say we got to get back to normal, we got to get back to normal, we got to get back to the way normal was. And I remember that I always reacted to that I always bristled at it, I didn't like it. But it took me a long time to finally realize that the reason I didn't like that comment was because normal would never be the same again. And we really need to recognize that that's really what change is all about. And so what we need to do is not necessarily look for a new normal, but instead, recognize that normal is evolving. And while we're comfortable doing things in a certain way, we get used to doing things in a certain way. If we don't explore how do we enhance that, and make that different way, or that way that we do things better, then we're going to be stuck in the same old way of doing things. So even talking about live golf in the PGA. Is that a good change? Is it a bad change and time will tell? It's a change? And rather than necessarily condemning it unless you know something that others don't? The bottom line is with any kind of change, we need to really explore and think about how we enhance because of change. And oftentimes, how do we be the ones to bring change into the world because something has to be better. I was the program director at our radio station. And one of the things that I did at the station when I was program director at K UCI when I was going to college was listen to all of our DJs. And some of them really sounded horrible. They just didn't sound good. And I thought, How do I deal with that? How can I get them to be better? How can I make them change? And I something that dawned on me is that I'm listening to them, too. They listen to themselves. And I went to them and I said, Look, I want you to record your shows. And I want you to go off and listen to them. And they wouldn't do that. And so what we did was to set up a system, I did it with Dave McHugh, our engineer, he set up a recorder in a locked cabinet. Because we had the locked cabinets where all the equipment was anyway. But anytime the mic was activated, the recorder would turn on. So we were able to make recordings of what the people said we didn't really worry about what's the music that wasn't what what we were worried about not evaluating but dealing with, we wanted the announcers to get better. And I would give them each a cassette member cassettes you don't hear you're not I don't know if you're old enough to remember cassettes. I'm a CD guy. There you go. So yeah, they're gone. But we would give them a recording of their week shows. And I said, You've got to listen to the shows. If you don't do that, then you're not going to be able to continue to be here. But you know what? People started doing it. And they started hearing what they sounded like. And by doing that, I was actually very amazed at the quality improvements in most people by the end of the year, when they decided that they would at least think about the change. And then they embrace the change. Because they started hearing themselves the way other people heard them. Some of those people went on into professional Radio One went to NBC and there are people Yeah, that was really great. But we we really, you're right, we get locked into our comfort zone. But the part of it that is the problem is we do get locked into our comfort zone. And we don't think about or explore ways to enhance or improve and maybe stretch our comfort zone. And that's kind of my thought.   Milam Miller ** 34:04 Totally I love that word enhance and also improve. I'm curious, what was the number one thing they changed? Or rather was there a through line of changing pitch tonality? What in perhaps there wasn't a through line? It was it was uniquely individual, but I I'm I want to know what that feedback you gave them resulted in.   Michael Hingson ** 34:28 It was different for different people, probably for most people, they started seeing a whole lot less, they actually started completing sentences more. They spoke in a more consistent way into the microphone. They became better speakers by any standard because they heard themselves and everyone was a little bit different. But those are the basic things they really became better speakers. And one of them actually is this is the main guy who does a lot of the work at one of the local planetariums. And he met was a good speaker anyway. But everyone got better when they started hearing themselves. When I speak, I listen to myself, because I want to hear what I say. And even today, I will listen to recordings of my talks. Sure, so that I can figure out anything that I can do to improve and we all don't like to hear ourselves talk. But I've learned that I'm also not my own worst critic, I think that's also a negative way to look at it. I'm my own best teacher. Because no one else can teach me I've got to be the one to teach myself, even if it's getting input from instructors and all that. I'm the one that has to teach. And so when I take the time to do that, I will get better. And as a result, of course, what that really means is, I change   Milam Miller ** 35:55 what a beautiful reframe not I am my own worst critic, but I have the power or capacity or potential to be my own best teacher. I love that. I love that. I love that. I think when we can also reframe change as being hard as being a means to you said the through line is they all got better changes a means for us to recalibrate, reevaluate, to improve, enhance or get better than we've become more willing to embrace it and build the new and improved or enhanced and evolved version of whatever it is,   Michael Hingson ** 36:29 right changes is something that is around us. And the other part about change is if we really look at something that is trying to get us to change whatever it is, if we truly recognize that there is a something there, then we can analyze that. And so I say to ourselves, do I really want to change this? But then you make it a real conscious decision. Now, things happen that we don't have control over. Did we have control over the World Trade Center terrorist attacks happening? No. Should we have I'm not convinced yet that we would have been able to know that. But it doesn't really matter. I didn't have control over it. The other people who were there didn't have control over it. But what we did have control over was how we chose to deal with it after it occurred.   Milam Miller ** 37:20 Amen. Amen. I love that. Just for anyone who's listening in my community, can you quickly share what you experienced on that day 911?   Michael Hingson ** 37:32 Well, I worked in the World Trade Center on the 78th floor of Tower One. And I was in the office because we were going to be conducting some seminars that day, to teach our reseller partners how to sell our products, when the plane hit the building actually flexed. Because tall buildings are like Big Springs, when it got vertical, again, a colleague's I'll fire above us. But I have spent a lot of time in the the year and a half before actually, September 11 happened, I spent a lot of time learning what to do in the case of an emergency and learning all about the World Trade Center. Because I was the leader of that offense. So I had to be able to function like any other leader would, which meant I had to know what to do and where to go. And even more so than most people because I didn't have the opportunity to rely on signs. So I learned at all. But what I realized much later was that was also helping me develop a mindset that said, you don't need to be afraid if there's an emergency, you know what to do. And you know what your options are as to where to go based on whatever the circumstances are. So don't panic. And I never realized that I learned that but I did. And so I was able to go down the stairs. I had my guide dog at the time Roselle and we traveled down the stairs all 78 floors. Mathematically if I recall, right, it was 1400 63 stairs. Wow. But you know was at least we were going down right?   Milam Miller ** 39:07 That's nice comic relief. I love that. But the   Michael Hingson ** 39:09 issue is that we we went down and we got out and then we were very close to tower two when it collapsed. That was a little bit different session situation because there I think I started to panic a little bit. But as I wrote in Thunder dog things happen that that helps to deal with that. And we did write a book later about a called Thunder dog the story of a blind man has guide dog on the train from Trust, which is available anywhere books are sold. So hopefully people will will get that and keep my current guide dog Alamo and kibbles we appreciate that. But you know, the the issue is that I discovered during COVID and I want to talk about your changes in COVID. And I discovered that while I talked about not being afraid I never really spent any time helping other people learn how to control their fear and as I put it not being blinded by fear when something unexpected happened So we're writing a new book about that. And it'll be out when it comes out. But the whole idea is to say you do have the ability to deal with whatever comes along, you can choose to create a mindset that will allow you to do that and not allow your fear to overwhelm you. It isn't to say, you aren't afraid, I guarantee you, we were afraid going down the stairs. But I used it as a positive motivator to be more observant to encourage my guide dog to go down the stairs. And the job of a guide dog, of course, is not to get lead, but to guide so the dog doesn't know where I want to go and how to get there. That's not the dog's job. But the dog's job is to keep us safe. But I knew that my dog was going to sense all the fear of everyone going down the stairs. So I had to encourage her to focus and do well. And we did, we got out. And we survived. And I've been a speaker, traveling the world talking about trust and teamwork, and dealing with change, and the human animal bond and moving from diversity to inclusion, one of my favorite speeches, but doing a lot of talks around the world ever since. So I'm a full time public speaker, and in addition to working for accessibility, so as a plug, and of course, to any of your friends who might need a speaker, let me know we're always looking for speaking opportunities. And it's been a while since I've been to Toronto, so I gotta get back there.   Milam Miller ** 41:22 There you go. Well, I I just, I think your stories so remarkable, Michael, and that you've used it to be of service to others across all those buzzwords that carry a lot of significance, right, and they hold real meaning to people. When 911 happened for me, I was in the fifth grade. And it was a year of change for me because it was actually the first year I transferred from private Catholic school to public school. And, you know, there's, there's a, what's the word I'm searching for, there's something in an 11 year old boy or girl, whomever at that age, that is striving to find themselves in a new environment, right. And so, when we talk about mindset, the mindset of a child at that time is hate. transferring schools, it's, it's maybe there's some grieving a sense of loss and welcoming in that and there's an opportunity to gain new friends are widening your circles, you know, bridge the gap between the two schools. So I just, I love that in the midst of all that adversity and things that you couldn't control. Your mindset was one in which it stayed calm and was able to self regulate is also I think, what came up for me is, is be able to get yourself to a place of, of safety.   Michael Hingson ** 42:49 My equivalent to your story is that when I was 13, I was in the eighth grade and was in November of 1963. And President Kennedy was shot. And we had to deal with all of that. Sure. It was a little bit more removed, of course, than being in the World Trade Center. But the next summer, I went and got my first sky dog and then went into high school and had to do the same sorts of changes that you did. And I did embrace it as I get to go into a whole new world. And I think that's the issue is that we learn to be so negative and pessimistic about things, rather than recognizing maybe life is an adventure. And we should really embrace more of the adventure. The internet is a great treasure trove of knowledge. And I love the net, I realized that there's a dark side to it, which I've never visited and don't have any need to. But it's like artificial intelligence and chat GPT and so on today, again, we can always look for the negatives. But why do we need to be negative about everything? Why don't we look for the positive things, recognizing that there are negative issues that we might have to deal with, but if we approach it the right way, one will take care of the other.   Michael Hingson ** 44:12 Of course, just because there's real issues going on doesn't mean they need to be approached from a negative mindset or Outlook i i think negativity is such a dream killer for lack of better word and um, if you can't tell already big glass half full kind of guy I on my report card, probably even that same fifth grade year, my teachers or whatever, enthusiastic, that was my calling card. I use enthusiasm as fuel, to embrace change to build the new and instead of fighting the old, how do we navigate this with more? Or how do I navigate this with more confidence and how do I navigate it with more inner kindness the way I'm speaking to myself in my own developmental journey, navigating the new so that's it I guess that fast forwards is back to present day what what happened during COVID. And the result of it Bck, my private coaching, speaking and consulting practice is the football club, I was working for Roma, we sold it during 2020 year. And I mentioned I made a pandemic pivot into sports media tried something out, I thought at that time content is king, everybody's at home. You know, this is a good place to be to negotiate live sports media rights. But unfortunately, that wasn't my reality. And you mentioned having agency to choose, I think that's so important. And if I could have gone back to college, and knowing that I had agency to choose a different major than I would have, and I would have done it with discernment and confidence. But in this case, it was the first time in my professional career that I realized, I have agency to walk away from this because I'm destined for something greater. And so I, after one year of of learning the business, I stepped away, I resigned, and it was actually empowering. Instead of I think so many people feel that quitting is a bad thing. And I, I like to think of do you need to grit through this? Or do you need to quit this because it's not in alignment with what makes you feel alive? And so in my case, I'd done all the grading I could do. It was time to quit not grit, and I started my own business BCK, which stands for be confident, and kind.   Michael Hingson ** 46:30 How do we get people to be more confident in a time of change or when they're when change comes to them? Sure.   Milam Miller ** 46:39 It's such a good question. I think in my own experience, and there's probably other perspectives on this. In the midst of so much newness, I like to find slivers of sameness. So whether that's a fitness modality that serves you, so in my case, I love going to a yoga class or a spin class or a Barry's Bootcamp class, a format that I know. And that brings me confidence that when I'm done, I know I'll feel better. In the midst of so much newness lean into things where you can have just like a little sliver of sameness, it will remind you that you are an expert in some things. And even though you may feel a beginner in whatever it is, I feel like a beginner finding the new grocery store in my neighborhood in Toronto. But in time, you will grow more confident of I prefer this one over that one, or it's worth the extra commute to go to that one, I know how to navigate it with confidence, get my groceries get in and out. So I tell my clients that confidence is a doing energy, it's action oriented. And if you're taking actions or steps, it will build your confidence in time, you just have to be moving in forward direction in a direction that's serving you. Because if you're languishing, then you're going to stay in that stuck or stagnant place.   Michael Hingson ** 48:01 Right. And it's all about moving. And as you're moving, thinking about what you're doing. The other part about it is really analyzing what we do, I'd love to tell people that I think one of the most important things we can do is at the end of the day, take a little bit of time just to do self examination, looking at what happened during the day, and even the good things. Could I have done it better. How did that go? Why did it go the way it did the bad things? Not? Why did I do so badly? But what do I do to make sure that that doesn't happen again? Or what really happened? self examination is such an important thing.   Milam Miller ** 48:44 It is Do you journal Michael?   Michael Hingson ** 48:47 No, I don't write things down just because, you know, it's, I write it down, it's still out of sight out of mind, I have to make a very conscious effort to then to go back and look at the journal. So I just tend to remember things a lot. Well, let   Milam Miller ** 49:00 me let me clarify, because that's probably good for listeners, do you Digital Journal or have any sort of voice memos that you record? And like listen back to kind of going back to the feedback thing or on the radio station? Or is it purely just a mental exercise for you,   Michael Hingson ** 49:16 me it's more of a mental exercise, I find that that works pretty well. If if something comes to mind, and I feel I need to to write it down somewhere, then I will record it. I'll make a note. And I have done that and gone back to it. Or if I want to remember something in six months, I will create a reminder, so it will remind me so I do some of that. But mostly, I just think about things at the end of the day. And I've learned to but I've learned to do that right? Sure. So I'm not saying that journal doesn't help. Journaling doesn't help, but I've learned to do it mentally. And so for me that has worked pretty well,   Milam Miller ** 49:56 of course and what a great way to get pushing yourself to to do that self examination that mindfulness practice. I work with my clients to have a very clear evening routine to set them up for success, so to speak the next day and then a morning ritual in the morning asking, what's my intention for the day, and then in the evening, Am I satisfied. And because I think so many people, their head hits the pillow, and they're thinking about what they didn't get done, which is a lack mindset, as opposed to being grateful for the things they did. And so a gratitude practice is something during the pandemic, I actually had to, I started experimenting with and writing down three things. I'm grateful that the sun came out today in London, I'm grateful I got to read 10 pages in my book, I'm grateful that we cooked a delicious home cooked meal, you know. And it's, it's those little simple things that remind you have how abundant and special your life is, even if you're living in lockdown in a global pandemic. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 51:02 And the reality is that we can take a much more positive approach to anything that we do. But it's a conscious decision to do that. And there's no reason for us to be so negative. The problem is, we also do have so many political leaders and other people who we regard as role models who are very negative, and that doesn't help either. And so we have to be able to learn to step back and say, Wait a minute, do I really want to model that when it's so negative? Or do I want to look at alternatives and that doesn't mean that you look at things through, as they say, rose colored glasses, but it does mean that you need to recognize that there is much more value in positive advancement than running things down and being negative?   Milam Miller ** 51:50 Absolutely. I think being able to discern what works for you, is so important in life. And that goes back to my own gut instincts. It's great for things to be modeled. But that doesn't mean we can carbon, copy everything, we have to really get curious and play scientists on ourselves to figure out what works for us. Because I think sometimes if we look to too many role models, we lose sight of our own intuition. And we're no longer operating according to our code of conduct, but another and it leaves room for disappointment when they let us down or judgment. And we're not being discerning of our own experience in the fact that we're all human. We're all figuring it out.   Michael Hingson ** 52:34 Well, you talk about inner kindness, and it's, it's an important thing. We need to learn to be kind to ourselves, and we yeah, we don't do that.   Milam Miller ** 52:46 So I call myself a recovering perfectionist Michael, releasing a lot of the Type A expectations of myself the shoulds. And speaking kindly of you said it best earlier I can be my own best teacher, instead of I. I'm speaking critically of myself. So I remember the first couple months I moved here in Toronto, it might have been the first couple weeks in fact, I had taken one of those blender balls, you know, like a protein shake with me. And it was so cold out I didn't have gloves on. And I dropped it and of course the way the water bottle hit it cracked and my protein shake went everywhere. And I thought oh man, I just cracked my my blender ball like I'm gonna have to go buy another one and I noticed this negative self talk I was engaging in and then I caught myself I just said oh, well you know next time wear gloves. It's it's it's a thing it can be replaced. All good. Yeah, your hands are sticky, but you still have your fingers like Oh, well. And so embracing the oh well. Like I'm I'm not perfect. I wasn't intended to be perfect has been so liberating in my own journey. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 54:00 We we need to recognize all sides. But we need to really remember that. We have control over how we deal with things. And that's that's ultimately it, you know that there are some changes that are very overwhelming. I mean, the World Trade Center, the pandemic and so on. How do we deal with protecting our own mental health during these kind of incredible seasons of change?   Milam Miller ** 54:28 I love that question. Just as a as an advocate for mental health, especially for men, because I find women do a really good job of asking for help. Opening up being vulnerable men have a tendency to wanting to be stoic or not show any cracks in the facade, hold it in or playing to traditional gender norms. I need to be the provider. I can't show any emotion just just do. And so we all have Mental taking care of our mental health is important to everyone. And in times of change, it can seem on the surface like this is overwhelming. This is a lot. But really when we look underneath I almost think of like the tip of an iceberg asking ourselves, what am I really experiencing? What am I feeling, and taking measures that calm that anxiety, whether it's going on a walk, cooking yourself a nutritious meal, I find that you know, past seasons of life, when I when we moved him to Texas, during the pandemic, we were so excited for fast food for Chick fil A and things that maybe I've been deprived of for a year. And then I started noticing my mood, and I tell friends, clients, food affects your mood. So it's taking care of ourselves with what we're eating, how we're, we're moving is so important, I think not just for what may seem like physical health on the surface, but really, it actually does impact our mental health too.   Michael Hingson ** 56:05 Well, you you've said it several times, doing things like taking a walk, and so on. The reality is that we do better again, when we step back, we're in the middle of something, we feel overwhelmed. If we can step back and gain perspective, then we learn how to deal with it. And that's the other part about it. We're so conditioned to work hard work all the time, and not do any kind of self analysis that we don't learn to step back when the people who do best are the ones who truly can step back unplug. One of my favorite stories is when BlackBerry was still around the BlackBerry device and so on. Sure, the company one day, had a server failure, and everybody's blackberries died, they didn't work, Research In Motion, just wasn't getting anything to anyone. And I heard a few days later that there were even people who committed suicide because they couldn't connect at 12 o'clock at night. You know, and they didn't have any control over that we don't learn to step back and deal with some of those issues and put it in perspective, which is what it's all about. Well just change her mental health. Do you think?   Milam Miller ** 57:28 Before I answer that, I want to address that case study you share because I find that fascinating and present day. I'm hearing so many Gen Z, the cohort below my millennial cohort are purchasing razor flip phones and other sort of non smart devices which I want to be clear I think is great if that if taking that measure helps protect your mental health go for it. Because we live in such an instantaneous society, what you call stepping back, I call reconnecting to myself, disconnecting from my smartphone and reconnecting to myself. It's as silly as it sounds, we learn it on the playground, I think or in some family, some households, like take a deep breath. You know, if we take three deep breaths, we it's scientifically proven and back that we will feel a sense of calm and can come back to our sense of self or reconnect ourselves. So all that to say to answer your question, do I think change is bad for our mental health? Absolutely not. I'm gonna go with with false that's that's fictitious. And I'll tell you why. Change is scary. And it's it's, it's it's not intended to be. But that's our brain trying to protect us and keep us in that comfort zone. And like we talked about earlier, if we can realize that the brain is actually just trying to be our friend and whatever, freeze fight flight mechanisms going off. It's saying proceed with caution. But it's not saying don't proceed at all. It's saying, try on the change, see if it works and in time, you'll grow more comfortable with it, you'll see if it's if it's if it's if it's working for you. And then worst case, you can always change your mind and go back I think in society, we forget that part two if, if maybe we get it wrong, or we want to go back there's no shame in doing that. And so kind of releasing the expectation of, of changes incessant, it's, it's, it's around us, and we can always change our mind again.   Michael Hingson ** 59:33 And there's nothing wrong with that. That's right. The The reality is that the whole idea behind change is you can you can look at it and as you said you can then change again and go back to the way it was or you'll probably never go back to exactly the way it was because even if you discover that whatever change you tried, doesn't really work. It still gave you more knowledge. So you're still a different person than you were Oh,   Milam Miller ** 1:00:00 absolutely 100%.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:03 And I think that's really kind of important to, to remember, it's something that we we need to learn. I, I've had a lot of changes happen in my life. And you know, we all have my latest probably huge changes my wife passed away last November, I didn't really see it coming until very close to the time that it occurred. But now I live alone. Except I have a cat who wants to be petted every time she wants to eat. So I get her ministrations every day. And even in the middle of the night, she'll wake me up saying Phoebe. And I'll do that once. I've told her you only get it once a night. And I have of course, guide dog Alamo. So I have some company here and other people who come and help. But it's a it's an incredible change. And I've heard other people when they had a loved one pass? How could you do that to me, I'm mad at you for doing it. And I cannot say in any way shape or form that I resent Karen's passing, I didn't like it. I'm very sad about it. I also tell people that I will not move on from Karen, I will move forward. But I won't move on. Because I'm not going to forget her. And I'm sure that she's watching from somewhere. And if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it. So you know, I have to do that. But the reality is that it's still a huge change. And what it really did for me, was caused me to learn to remember and use tools that I didn't have to use so much while we were married for 40 years. And that now I might have to use some of those skills in a different way. Sure. But, you know, change happens. And one of the things that I feel is important is you can't be angry at change, you decide what you want to do with it.   Milam Miller ** 1:01:57 How do you want to respond to it? Yeah. What a beautiful way to to honor your your wife, Michael, Your late wife, I am curious, the new tools, or rather maybe old tools that you've had to revisit by by doing it on your own and moving forward? Not moving on from her? Has that brought you a sense of newfound confidence or self efficacy? If I can? I don't, I wouldn't. I don't maybe I don't want to do it alone. I would prefer to have her here. And I'm confident and every day taking a new step. And you're actually I'm curious what that looks like for you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:34 Well, I think you just described it very well, the reality is that I also did travel a lot while she was alive. So I'm used to not always being home. But the the other part of it is that I'm reminded that I do have the skills to be able to function and do things and be able to live and move and grow. And I'm going to continue to do that. And I think in part that's also honoring her.   Milam Miller ** 1:03:04 Yeah, amen. live, move and grow. I love that.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:09 So it is kind of an important thing to do. So   Milam Miller ** 1:03:14 thank you for sharing that. Michael. I know it's grief is so complex. And it's it's not a linear process. So I really commend to you for opening up in this forum. It's it gives people permission to open up about similar loss. Well, thank   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:30 you I you know, I will always honor her and remember her and that's the way it ought to be. Amen. If there were one thing that you could change in the world, what would it be?   Milam Miller ** 1:03:42 Hmm, how long can my list be? I know you said one one thing I'm thinking of Christmas like Hey, Santa Claus, I want world hunger. Where do we start? You know I I've always been fascinated by people and human connection. What makes the Earth Spin on its axis isn't super heroes like spinning planet Earth. It's It's It's we make the world go round with the decisions we make. And not just the things we do but the the way in which we embody doing it like our actual beings. So I think I would, I would love for there to be more harmony that starts, from leaders from leaders around the world. And that may sound a bit like woowoo like world peace, but I really believe that if we lead from servant hearted leadership, if everyone believed they had the capacity to lead and tapped into cultivating confidence and kind to actions, then this would be an even better planet planet to live on.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:56 Well, I absolutely agree with you if we really want would go back to the whole idea of servant leadership, servant hearted leadership, and truly brought that into being around the world, it would be a much better thing. But unfortunately, you know, right now we've got too many people who are in it for them. And, yeah, they're not, they're not recognizing how much better they would be if they truly learned to be the servant leaders that they probably could be. And if they can't do that, then they really shouldn't try to be leaders. And we need to recognize that and feel empowered to say to them, if you can't really be a servant, to lead appropriately, then we're not going to accept that, and we're not going to acc

My guest, John Cerqueira, shares his take on gratitude and how he uses it – and helps his clients use it – to combat stress in the corporate world.  He also talks about the 3 reasons why we might resist using gratitude, and I think he's 100% on point!A little bit about John. He is the founder of Pinwheel Associates,  where he helps organizations address the common friction points during times of change so people can show up as their most balanced, capable, and productive selves. He has also been recognized as one of the heroes on September 11, 2001.  At 22 years old, he emerged from the debris after escaping the 81st floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center minutes before the building's collapse. Along the way he helped a fellow human being and wheelchair user to escape from the 68th floor.  This revealed to him the power and fulfillment that comes with service to others and provided the opportunity to share this message through features on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, People Magazine, USA Today, The History Channel, and PBS.If you want to hear more of that story check out episode 1 of this podcast (link below).https://www.pinwheelassociates.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-cerqueira-5a22963/https://www.bobbikahler.com/podcast/episode001Follow Bobbi at: Sign up for Bobbi's free newsletter, Find Your Forward and receive her free guide: Thriving Forward: Master Your Inner Game for Greater Happiness, Well-Being and Success: https://www.bobbikahler.com/newsletterhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbikahler/

Lisa is joined by Michael Hingson who talks about his book Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero.Michael Hingson is a #1 New York Times best-selling author, technologist and motivational speaker. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks with the help of his guide dog, Roselle. This story of teamwork and his indomitable will to live and thrive is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog and the major motion picture currently in production, coming in September 2013. Michael Hingson and his guide dog, Roselle, saved dozens of lives by guiding him and his co-workers down 78 floors and out of Tower One just before it collapsed on 9/11. In Thunder Dog, Michael leads us through his moment-by-moment account from inside the tower. The book is also an inspiring look at Michael's accomplishments in life. Sadly, Roselle passed away in July 2011 but posthumously won the American Humane Association Hero Dog Award for 2012 in a star-studded gala in Beverly Hills, and televised in a special feature presentation on Hallmark Channel. Despite being blind all his life, Michael has a master's degree in physics from University of California Irvine and is an accomplished technologist. Michael has worked with inventor, futurist, Ray Kurzweil for more than 30 years and was instrumental in the development of the first reading machine for the blind. Today, the Kurzweil brand is the preeminent name in educational software and technology for students with disabilities for which Michael is a national sales manager—improving the lives of children, students and adults with physical and learning disabilities through assistive technologies. Michael Hingson has a deep commitment to education and is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's Hero Dog Awards. Innovative Speaker's Network named Michael Hingson “one of America's top 10 educational speakers”. Michael is a member of NACA and a member of the National Speaker's Association. In countless TV and radio appearances, newspaper features and magazine articles, Michael Hingson does much more than recount his 9-11 story; he continuously explores the broader lessons of his life and experiences as a blind person in today's world and shares these lessons to educate, inspire and empower audiences world-wide. Michael has appeared on Larry King five times, and other major national broadcasts such as the Today Show, Fox and Friends, the 700 Club, Joy Behar, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the Hallmark Channel.BOOK DESCRIPTION:An instant New York Times bestseller, Thunder Dog tells the true story of a blind man, his guide dog, and the life-changing power of faith and trust in the face of terror.When one of four hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center's North Tower on September 11, 2001, Michael Hingson, a district sales manager for a data protection and network security systems company, was sitting down for a meeting. His guide dog, Roselle, was at his feet.Blind from birth, Michael could hear the sounds of shattering glass, falling debris, and terrified people flooding all around him. But Roselle sat calmly beside him. In that moment, Michael chose to trust Roselle's judgment and not to panic. They were a team.As you relive that fateful day in September 2001 alongside Michael and Roselle, you'll learn:The ways that grief and loss can lead the way for changeHow the rare trust between a man and his guide dog can inspire your own unshakeable faithThe healing power of telling your own storyPraise for Thunder Dog:"Chapter by chapter of this intriguing work will keep you spellbound. Thunder Dog celebrates the

Michael Hingson is a #1 New York Times best-selling author, technologist and motivational speaker. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks with the help of his guide dog, Roselle. This story of teamwork and his indomitable will to live and thrive is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog and the major motion picture currently in production, coming in September 2013. Michael Hingson and his guide dog, Roselle, saved dozens of lives by guiding him and his co-workers down 78 floors and out of Tower One just before it collapsed on 9/11. In Thunder Dog, Michael leads us through his moment-by-moment account from inside the tower. This podcast will certainly change your perspective about life and not to take anything for granted. Listen on how this blind man found a way to get down from the 78th floor of the First tower that got hit at 844am on that Tuesday morning. Very inspiring to say the least. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/happinessjourney/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/happinessjourney/support

How can organizations effectively transition from a focus on diversity to creating a truly inclusive work environment? What steps can individuals and communities take to foster a culture of inclusion that goes beyond just acknowledging diversity? Join me as I talk with Michael Hingston about Moving from Diversity to Inclusion. Shifting from a mere emphasis on diversity to genuine inclusion is not only crucial for fostering equality and fairness but also for harnessing the true power of diverse perspectives and experiences. Key Notes:  Disability does not mean a lack of ability.  Everyone on the Earth has a disability.  How well do we prepare for emergencies?  You can control fear and make it a positive tool. Links: www.michaelhingson.com  Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mhingson https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://www.facebook.com/Roselle911GuideDog/   Twitter, https://twitter.com/mhingson LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson  YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCx2L9OVN38Dv4mX6udP8g Offer: You can download a free eBook about learning how to control fear by visiting www.blindedbyfear.net Bio:Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike, did advanced math in his head, and learned to read and write – Braille that is! He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001, when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: Thunder Dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2014 Mr. Hingson published his 2nd book Running with Roselle- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of America's Darkest Days. Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! Support the show

Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write - Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He serves as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael holds seats on other agency boards including the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind, the Earle Baum Center for the Blind and the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind. He is the Founder of the Roselle's Dream Foundation - helping the blind obtain the technology they need to not only excel in school and at work, but to live out their dreams! Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: "Thunder dog -The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust" - selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2014 Mr. Hingson published his 2nd book "Running with Roselle"- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training - spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world. Currently, Michael lives in Victorville, California with his wife, Karen, a professional quilter, Alamo, Michael's eighth guide dog and their rescue feline, Stitch. https://michaelhingson.com/books/

the heartwarming story of Michael Hingson and his guide dog, Roselle, who together saved dozens of lives during the 9/11 attacks, plus discover how Michael's incredible life journey led to his inspiring accomplishments despite being blind since birth.In this captivating episode, we explore the extraordinary bond between Michael Hingson and his guide dog, Roselle, who together navigated the treacherous descent from the 78th floor of Tower One during the 9/11 attacks. Through Michael's compelling account in his book, Thunder Dog, we not only experience the harrowing events of that day but also learn about the remarkable life and achievements of this inspiring guy!JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP!THE GRIT, GRACE, & INSPIRATION COMMUNITYHope you will JOIN us inside the group!MICHAEL HINGSONLINKS FOR TODAY'S GUESTWEBSITE: MichaelHingson.comBUY MICHAEL'S BOOK: Thunder Dog on AmazonLINKS FOR THE PODCASTGrit, Grace, & InspirationHosted By Kevin LoweWEBSITE: www.GritGraceInspiration.comSEND KEVIN A VOICE MESSAGEBOOK A CALL WITH KEVINJOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITYGuided by Faith. Inspired by life itself.Podcast artwork © 2022 Kristen Girard of Radiance and Grit and Used with Permission by Lowe Down Media LLC© 2023 Grit, Grace, & Inspiration

Ari Schonbrun was on his way to work on September 11, 2001, when he was asked to fill out a book order for his son. Delaying him, he arrived at the World Trade Center twenty minutes after nine, only to experience a blast that shook the building. Through a series of coincidences, he was saved from being in the elevator when the plane struck the building. Experience the incredible journey of survival with Ari Schonbrun, a 911 survivor, and find out how miracles, fate, and inspiration can help you to overcome anything. Ari Schonbrun is a retired motivational speaker, author, life coach, and podcast host of Whispers and Bricks, who survived the events of 9/11. He uses his platforms to share his story of miracles, fate, and inspiration.In this episode, you will learn the following: 1. How did Ari Schonbrun's brush with death on 9/11 reveal a series of coincidences that saved his life?2. How Ari Schonbrun helped a coworker in pain?3. How did Ari Schonbrun's cell phone miraculously get reception in the middle of the World Trade Center on 9/11?4. Why not taking life for granted is so important. Whispers and Bricks podcast:https://whispersandbrickspodcast.com/Whispers and Bricks Coaching:https://whispersandbrickspodcast.com/whispers-and-bricks-academy/Learn about Ari or book him as a guest speaker:https://www.arischonbrun.com/National Help hotlines:https://ineedblue.net/resources-%26-productsStay safe tips:https://ineedblue.net/resources-%26-productsPurchase  my book: Why I Survived:  How sharing my story helped me heal from dating abuse, armed robbery, abduction, and other forms of trauma by Jennifer Leehttps://whyisurvived.com/This book recalls four personal experiences of suspense, suspicion, and survival that ultimately lead to Jen's life purpose of helping other survivors.The first story shares her long-distance relationship with a man who poisoned her self-worth and created self-doubt on every level. As if that weren't enough, her boyfriend of three-years was harboring a secret. How she finally ended this relationship will shock you. Six years later, she heard the words “give me all your money!” When she turned around, she couldn't believe what happened next!Ten years later, she met a creepy guy at a work conference who forced his way into her personal space. The final story is different. It's heart-touching and impactful, inspiring you with the lessons she learned about intentions, faith, and fear that will reinforce your purpose on this Earth.  Throughout all the suspense and triumph over fear, you'll find words of support and pages of resources, helping you to know that you are never alone. Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ineedbluepodcast/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/needbluepodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp1q8SfA_hEXRJ4EaizlW8QWebsite: https://ineedblue.net/Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/i-need-blue/cf77fdb3-396e-4c1c-82aa-c2c3f6d1eee2/ratings-and-reviewsThe background music is written, performed and produced exclusively by Char Good.https://chargood.com/homeLearn 2 Podcast PDF now available. Download this 33 page informational packet today! https://ineedblue.net/learn-2-podcast-1

It is so enjoyable and refreshing for me, and I hope you, to hear from a wide variety of guests here on Unstoppable Mindset. Our guest this time is Daniel Mangena. Daniel had what he says is a normal and somewhat boring childhood with no major events along the way. Even so, he grew up to be quite a thinker and person who likes to help transform lives as you will hear.   Daniel talks with me about choices and how we are the ones who most of all limit our life and other choices. He uses, as an example, the story of Roger Banister who was the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes. Wait until you hear what Daniel says about that.   Like many of our guests, Mr. Mangena offers many good nuggets of wisdom and life lessons we all can use and that can help us anchor ourselves to a better and richer life.     About the Guest: Daniel Mangena is a successful entrepreneur, best-selling author, podcast host of Do it with Dan and Beyond Success, a life & business transformation coach, and an international public speaker who is known for programs and content that take clients and students to next level living. He has helped thousands of people across the globe achieve wealth mastery and truly abundant lives.     Featured on CNN, CBS, FOX, the Jack Canfield show, and in Forbes and Entrepreneur magazines, Daniel's mission is to spread his teachings worldwide with the intention to “spearhead an evolutionary uplift in universal consciousness by awakening people to the importance of their unique role and enabling them to manifest their dream life”.   How to connect with Daniel: FB - https://www.facebook.com/thedreamerceo Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dreamerceo/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/danielmangena.official Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMdAvGk6xa5fptmdULliJrg Twitter - https://twitter.com/dreamerCEO Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/do-it-with-dan/id1381226331     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Welcome once again to unstoppable mindset. Glad you're here with us. Thanks very much for for joining us. We hope that you enjoy our episode today. We're going to have a lot of fun with it one way or another. It's all about having fun, and it's all about being educated. Daniel, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Daniel Mangena  01:40 Thank you for having me, Michael, very excited to be here and dive in.   Michael Hingson  01:45 Well, so we're a little jealous. You're down in Cabo San Lucas, where you live for a good part of the year. That's no fun.   Daniel Mangena  01:54 I just escaped the summer heat. Well, that was really funny. This year, I escaped to Europe thinking that it will be cooler. And actually it was infinitely more hot because of the heatwave. So I was to die. I was still dying from heat, but it's so good.   Michael Hingson  02:08 Well, at least you're here. And that's always fun. Yeah. Well, let's, let's start a little bit, I know that it's fair to say you're a best selling author, you've got your own podcast, you talk about a variety of different things. But let's start a little bit before that. So tell me a little bit about you growing up and what life was like and anything else that you want us to know. And the things you don't want us to know. Tell us those anyway, too.   Daniel Mangena  02:33 Yeah, so I don't really have the early on sub story that some people might have. And I don't say to stop story to a throwaway line. I mean, it you know, some people do have stories that are really quite sad, you know, I didn't have an absentee parent, I didn't have any alcoholism or drug addiction in my family. It was actually quite a normal, middle class upbringing. But what actually happened is, I create some success quite early in my life, and unfortunately didn't have the the experience and the know how to keep that which I created and ended up making and losing to multimillion pound fortunes by the age of 23. And falling into quite deep, dark place of depression. And it was a really dark place I found myself in. And what ended up happening off the back of that was that I got the gift and the gift was learning why Why create couldn't stay. And also learning to be a nicer human being from the humanity of my experience. And what I get to do now is to empower people to take the pain of what I went through through a lot of that, and to create an abundant, joyful, purpose driven life for themselves as they go through life today.   Michael Hingson  03:46 So how's that working out for you?   Daniel Mangena  03:49 We're having fun loving life, we've got to say,   Michael Hingson  03:51 that's, that's great. So how long have you been doing what you do now?   Daniel Mangena  03:57 Since 2018, actually isn't my first. So we started the podcast in March of 2018 or so about March. And I did my first event the 15th of July 2018. And since then, we've now helped literally 10s of 1000s of people around the world through the content that we put out through the podcasts, maybe more than that, through social media. And you know, people from literally all walks of life and all parts of the world.   Michael Hingson  04:25 Do you also do any kind of courses or other kinds of things that people can relate to? Or? Yeah, that helped people   Daniel Mangena  04:32 to do this? Yeah, we do do this. We do some stuff. I've got my next alchemy of abundance. In person workshop. We're starting here in Cabo. In a couple of days at the point of recording this, we're doing the next one, the 31st of March to the second of April, and we've got some programs. micromillions is our signature program that takes people really through this journey of creating a life of abundance in a way that really honors their natural gifts to the natural flow. And what they want to live their life to do.   Michael Hingson  05:03 So what did you do before you were doing this?   Daniel Mangena  05:05 I had a consulting business. I started that in 2000. And God Lord, when did I start quarter four, I started corner for consulting 2005. I think 2000 14,005. That was a business that I took to, you know, quite a lot of success that I ended up losing, I really rebuilt it up again, probably starting about 2011. And then I closed it down in 2018 to 13, February 2018, closed it down to come and do what I do now. But since then, I've gone back to doing a little bit of consulting to do some of it on the side.   Michael Hingson  05:43 What did you do before you were consulting?   Daniel Mangena  05:46 Before that I had entrepreneurship by businesses and those the ones that I built up and lost when I was younger, and money, man 38. Now, my first big business when I was 19. And then another business round, 21 loss at age 23. Built up off the back of that. And proof I've never really had, I worked in a cinema when I was about 15 for a summer. And then when I was rebuilding, or around 2011 2012, I had a job in a call center for six months just to cover the bills while I was building up the business.   Michael Hingson  06:23 So you didn't do college or anything like that.   Daniel Mangena  06:26 I did a year of college, I never finished my degree I did one year exactly one year of university, I took a gap year that's lasted 20 years. That's a good gap year that's lasted 20 years. Finally, though,   Michael Hingson  06:39 I think there's a lot to be said for what you learn in the College of life, as opposed to just going to college. And that's kind of what I hear you saying it's, it's all about what you learned, and then how you deal with it.   Daniel Mangena  06:54 Yeah, and also, I think it really comes down to what your goals are. I mean, if we go back to the original, you know, the old school, where college and universities really, really stepped up and started, they had a purpose. And that was really preparing people for specific roles in society. As that level of education sort of moved out to more people, that became a little bit more, a bit more varied. And when you look at the benefit, especially for the amount of debt that you need to go into, in America, for example, to go, I mean, when I did my degree, it's about three grand a year, maybe including your accommodation, and you could get a student loan for some of it. Now the costs have gone up, I think it's about 10 to 20,000 pounds a year, depending on on where you go, and what city that you're in for your living costs and so on. But you know, people in the US, you guys go into six figures of debt, or for a degree and you have to ask yourself, Is this degree me following a formula that other people told me that I should follow? Or is this contributing to what I want to create for some of us, it's going to contribute to what you can kind of create. For some people, the experience of going to university is a big part of who then growing up and maturing as a person, you think it really should be case by case and you having a personal relationship to that choice, versus I'm going to go and do a degree just because that people told me that's what I'm supposed to do.   Michael Hingson  08:14 I remember when I went to the University of California at Irvine, which is a long time ago, I started there in 1968. And registration was I think, $273 a quarter. But I remember my dorm room and I had a single room was $1,200 a year. And that was room and board and all that. And of course $1,200 wouldn't buy you anything anymore. But yeah, it's it's it's grossly expensive. I do think there is a value in college for the for those who can go and I think that you hit it on the head, a lot of its maturity and a lot of us learning and learning to get along with people. I do think that sometimes we tend to get molded and not always learn to think as, as as creatively as we can. I would hope that college teaches more creativity. But I know that in some places it doesn't and for some students it doesn't. And the reverse is also true.   Daniel Mangena  09:20 Again, I think it's just what are my goals and this is what I'm I'm really big on intentionality and intentionality is a big part of what we do and what we support people in creating for themselves. But when I have a level of intentionality behind what I'm doing, I can start to look at what actions are going to support me getting to the goal that I that I want to get to. If for example, you want to be a medical doctor, you're gonna need to get you back to college. If you want to be in construction, you may not need to go to college. If you want to be in business. Yes, you can go and get a business degree and go and get an MBA. But I can tell you that for the most part. The people who are going to be teaching you about business probably haven't run a business and getting there and getting your Getting your feet, your toes wet and actually just going out and trying, and getting support and mentorship and guidance from in the field is probably going to be better for you. But it really does come down to who am I? What do I want to create? What is my goal or intention? And does this choice actually lead me in that direction?   Michael Hingson  10:17 How do we get colleges to teach that concept to enhance what they do? Because that would clearly enhance what they do? I think we don't teach intentionality. And we don't always necessarily teach as much as we could about taking people through that process.   Daniel Mangena  10:37 Yeah, but I mean, colleges and universities, businesses.   Michael Hingson  10:41 Yeah, that's true.   Daniel Mangena  10:44 People hang let's ease people in.   Michael Hingson  10:48 But it doesn't mean that they can't. But it doesn't mean that they can teach people to be creative, I don't think it necessarily means you're going to talk somebody out of going to college. But rather, what you're doing is teaching them to be more intentional about what what they do in college,   Daniel Mangena  11:02 I think it's going to come down to it's going to come down to the institution, their intentions, their goals. I know, for example, a friend of mine is dear friends with with the dean of a university, that potentially is going to be giving me an honorary doctorate, which is always always fun. And I know that for a fact, that particular institution is really committed to the excellence of their students and for bringing out the best in their students, someone like that, for example, probably would be open to ideas about that, if you've got sort of a, a churn and burn institution that really just cares about getting that tuition fee, they're probably you're probably not going to be able to convince them at all. All that being saying that the approach to getting the university to, to look at these alternative approaches to get the most out of their students really, I believe is going to come down to does the university does the institution actually care? And if so, then can we collaborate with them based on that care, so that they can actually be open to ideas that are going to support them, and then sharing in a way that they're going to understand?   Michael Hingson  12:01 Yeah, it all comes back down to relating to people and to individuals, and it is different for different people. One of the things that society in general doesn't do, and colleges are certainly part of society is that we don't necessarily nearly as well as we could address, the issue of dealing with people who are different or dealing with differences among people, we talk about it, we do some of it, but we don't really do nearly as much of it as we could.   Daniel Mangena  12:31 But again, I think that really comes down then to really comes down to, to your goals, your intentions, what you're looking to create. And then if you've got that nailed down, then you can start to plot a path to where you want to want to get to I think far too many people are just running around with no intentionality with no direction and wondering why they don't actually get somewhere. That's my personal experience and witnessing.   Michael Hingson  12:59 Yeah, well, I think that's, that's very true. We also have, I'm gonna I'm thinking specifically of the category of people who happen to be blind or very low vision. The problem is that most of us are still taught. If you're blind, you can't do anything. And so we're not taught how to be creative, and how to be intentional. And to really set goals and create a mindset. I could call it an unstoppable mindset. But to create a mindset you could create, to create a mindset that says, I'm going to really figure out how to do this, go for it, and make it happen. And, and also be willing to accept setbacks along the way, but still, intentionally getting there. And I and I think that that's part of something that's not just true for blind people, but for a lot of people, we don't teach people that they are really a lot more able to do things and they think or to win, we might as well use it to be on they're not as nearly they don't learn to be as unstoppable as they can be.   Daniel Mangena  14:12 So here's where I sit with with that one. There's a universal or one of the universal laws, the law of vibration, and the law of vibration states that we can only operate in terms of answer to the same level of the question. And so when we look at things like the the was it the one minute the 10 minute mile or the five minute mile, I can't remember which one is probably a five minute mile, whatever it is all the 10 So I think   Michael Hingson  14:50 it was originally the Yeah, I think it was originally the four minute mile formula, which is the one Yeah, I know where you're going. Go ahead.   Daniel Mangena  14:57 So everybody was awkward. Eating on the basis of the belief that you couldn't do the mile run in less than the four minutes, assuming that we're right. And so everybody was operating on that belief. Everyone was coming from that place. And nobody was was doing this. Now, the second that somebody stepped up and broke that four minute mile that it became the norm. Yeah, that the level of ability that people had to meet that new opportunity, that new outcome was presented, and more people than were able to go and create these four minute mile situations.   Michael Hingson  15:33 Yeah, it was amazing what happened after Roger Bannister did it and then suddenly, everyone everyone could do it figured out, they could do it. Because people even said to him, when he said he was gonna do it, you're gonna die, you can't physically do it physiologically, it's.   Daniel Mangena  15:48 And again, their ability to see response was limited to their questioning, they were questioning from the perspective of, oh, I can't this is what's wrong. This is what's not possible. These are my limitations. When we look at people who are in society, who are facing the choice as to whether they're going to stick with AI or whether they're going to move forward. They as individuals are the only one that can be responsible for what's going to happen, if we're waiting for society to step up and say, I'm going to empower you, if you're waiting for the Dean of the University to say, I'm going to give you the tools, we're always going to stay stuck. I would invite anybody who's listening to this episode, who has anything in their life that they're being told from outside of themselves, or even inside of themselves? That they can't do it? Just to play with the question? What would happen on what would it look like if I did? Not even to say, I'm going to do it I have to do I'm certain I can do it, just to toy with the idea? What would it feel like? What would it look like? If I did actually do this? What could that look like? All of a sudden now, where we're operating from changes we're no longer operating from I can't, we're suddenly operating from a maybe. And one of the things that we teach in the work that we do is all that you need is a maybe to open up the doors of possibility, to new opportunities to new insights, to new inspiration to new evidence from outside of yourself, and maybe then a new outcome.   Michael Hingson  17:15 Yeah, it is, it is about getting people to move to that maybe or to move to the CI, maybe this really is possible, or I ought to really explore that better. And as I said, unfortunately, too many people are taught way too often, that you can't do that, and they don't go beyond it. And that's where it really gets to be an extremely unfortunate occurrence in life that so many people have just decided, or have been taught for so long that they can't do more than they do, that they, they believe it and it becomes a very hard wall to break through.   Daniel Mangena  17:57 And this is where podcasts like your stories like yours, these give people that opportunity to have a new choice. But the choice has to be made as an individual. Yeah, we can't, we can lead that we can lead the masses to the well. But we can't make them drink, you know, and, and part and parcel of My journey has actually just being okay with playing that role of bringing people to the world. But at the end of the day, anyone who's depending on someone or something outside of them, to get them over the finish line is never going to get there if you want to. Or if you're feeling a desire, a feeling within you to go and create a beast and do something different, then there has to be a desire within you to actually do the work to get there. And to follow through and make that happen.   Michael Hingson  18:41 Do you think there's room for mentors in a person's life and coaches to help them?   Daniel Mangena  18:46 Not only do I think there's room for it, I think it's an a completely imperative part of the process. I spend multiple six figures a year on my personal development, multiple, six figures. There's always coaches, for me, healers, mentors, guides, I was on the call with one of my coaches earlier. And even if it's a skill that I think that I've got down, I still look to be guided and mentored in that in everything, every part of my life and business. Because, you know, I always joke that, you know, I've never seen my own backside. I've never seen my own face. I've seen a picture of it. I've seen a reflection of it. I can see the video here. But I've never actually seen my own physical face. A man has never seen his own faces and backside. How can he think that he's going to have everything worked out about about his life, there are always going to be blind spots and having guidance, guidance, having leadership having coaching mentorship is what's going to enable you to see those so that then you can have the data and have the insights that can support you in following through on that decision that you've made to move through and create something different.   Michael Hingson  19:50 Yeah. Those people, those individuals who mentor and coach you clearly are people who are helping to open your mind to possibilities, and I think you're right, all of us need mentors, all of us need coaches. What about spending time just by yourself being more introspective? Like one of the things that I advocate is every day, people should take a few minutes at the end of the day and just stop me even when they're lying in bed. Think about what happened today. What worked, what didn't work? What did I do? Well, why was it well, and could I have done it better, and what didn't work and all that I'm a firm believer in introspection, and I used to use the words, I do that because I'm my own worst critic. And I realized that's not the really, that's not the right thing to say, it's, it should be, I do that, because I want to grow. And I'm in the best position possible, if I truly do it, to take that information, and learn from it.   Daniel Mangena  20:52 I mean, I'm a firm advocate in journaling has been a really great practice to use in your day. I've got particular prompts that I use in the morning, and in the evening, just to reflect on what I've created. Because, you know, we're talking about personal responsibility, in terms of, you know, showing up for ourselves and so on. And if I'm not taking audit, then how am I going to know the impact or the effects of the choices that I'm making, so that I can cause corrected, and continue to move forward in a positive direction. So yeah, taking that timeout, and engaging with that, in that time in a way that's going to work for you, and it's going to serve you I think, is imperative. But certainly, recognizing that if you're not taking score, it's gonna be very difficult for you to stay on point and stay on target and get to your end goal.   Michael Hingson  21:37 Yeah, much less even. Figuring out what your end goal ought to be. You've got exactly got to take the time to do it. Yeah. I, since September 11, I have spent a lot of time talking about the fact that I created a mindset, where I wouldn't be afraid. If an emergency happened. Of course, if something happened, where I couldn't do anything about it, then I probably wouldn't be here. But otherwise, I created a mindset that said, you know, what you can do in an emergency, you know how to do it. I learned all about the World Trade Center and such things and spent a lot of time regularly going through different things that I learned and always asking if there's more to learn. But I didn't realize at first that I had created a mindset. But then when September 11, happened, the mindset kicked in, it was just an automatic thing that allowed me to focus and help others and help me and keep my guide dog focus as we went down the stairs and doing all the things that needed to be done to successfully escape from the towers. And as I said, of course, at any time, the building could have come down, and that wouldn't have been anything I had control over.   Daniel Mangena  22:58 So what can we control? What can we look?   Michael Hingson  23:00 Right? That's right, and we'll get to them. But but the thing is, I developed the mindset, but I never really started talking about how others can develop that mindset. And what I've come to realize is, it really started with a concept that was on subconsciously or unconscious to me at the time, I was saying, there's no need to really have such a blinding fear that you can't move beyond it, that you need to use fear as a tool to help you focus on heightened senses. But if you become as I call it blinded by fear, then you've given up and you don't have a way to move forward. And so we're getting ready to write a book, actually, we're started writing a book, we're looking, I'm looking at the first draft of it now. We're calling it a guide dogs Guide to Being brave, because we use dogs throughout the book to talk about what they go through and what people go through and so on. But it's all about teaching people you don't need to be blinded by fear in unexpected situations you can be to use your words intentional about being able to move forward and developing a mindset that allows you to cope with things you don't expect.   Daniel Mangena  24:09 And recognizing, accepting and understanding there's always going to be things that you don't expect. That's like, that's life life has got stuff that's going to show up, there's going to happen that you don't understand that you're not ready for. There's always a tower that can come down on you physically or metaphysic or metaphorically, but it's do you hold on to your guide dog, whether that is a physical dog, whether it's a mentor, whether it's a book, whether it's a podcast, and allow that to be the support for you because the guide dog can lead you out, but it can't walk for you, your coach or your mentor, your your your your guide, they can give you the tools but they can't make you use them. We still have to step up and do that ourselves. Well, it's   Michael Hingson  24:53 even more subtle because a guide dog doesn't lead and that's what most people say and you know, not picking on you for the terminology but what a guy dog does his guide that is to say, it's not the dog's job to know where to go and how to get there. That has to be my job. And my job is to direct the dog. So I will tell the dog when I want the dog to go forward or left or right, the dog's job is to make sure that we walk safely in the process. So we are a team, we each have a job to do to make the team successful. But the reality is it is a team. And the last thing, in fact I want is a dog that thinks it knows where I want to go. So for example, at the World Trade Center, I spent hours and this is one of the ways that helped me, I spent hours trying to walk different ways to get to the same point just so the dog wouldn't get in the habit of going one way to get somewhere because what would happen if that way, were blocked by fire or something else. Now, doing that in a in a building or complex of buildings is a little bit challenging, because there aren't that many ways to get from point A to point B. But even if you have two or three and even if one is instead of going up an escalator, and walking through the arcade in the middle of the World Trade Center, and then going into Tower One, which we did or another time going on the fourth level down through a parking lot and up an escalator right into Tower One, or sometimes going up the escalator to the arcade and then turning left, walking around a little bit. And then going back the bottom line is what I didn't want the dog to do was to get into the habit of knowing where to go, because that could be a dangerous situation. And it's my job to know where to go and how to get there and then instruct the dog command by command. And I think that's sort of the same thing, in a sense that you're really talking about, the individual has to be the one to consciously make the choice and learn the information necessary to make a conscious good choice.   Daniel Mangena  27:03 We need to have the tools and the resources to do what's going to move us forward. But I think it's even more potent in that the guide dog doesn't guide it supports in Go.   Michael Hingson  27:14 Because if you have a guide dog guide, but but it doesn't lead,   Daniel Mangena  27:18 leave this one sorry, the great fig, right? Because even when you're looking at having a coach or having a mentor having a think they can't live your life for you. And if you're waiting for them to tell you, then again, you you've given your power away. So it's actually even more beautiful, that the guide dog guides and doesn't lead. Yeah, it makes the point even more.   Michael Hingson  27:39 You mentioned and I think we both kind of mentioned control a little bit. One of the things that happened to me after September 11 Was I kept hearing people say, We got to get back to normal, we can't, we can't stay the way we are, we got to get back to normal. And it took me a long time to realize that when I felt anger or frustration over that, it was because the reality is normal would never be the same again. And we can't control going back to something that we'll never be able to do again. So I guess they're really two questions. One is getting back to normal. And we always change and we're going to do that. But the other thing is, we stress ourselves by worrying about so many things over which we don't have control.   Daniel Mangena  28:26 Well, I'll tackle the first bit first, in my opinion. So I like to refer back to nature and in nature. If at any point something stops growing, that's when it's dead. We as humans, when we die, something stops functioning, or if we die of old age, what happens is the telomeres in our DNA strand stop replicating. And therefore we lead to expiry, that's literally what happens. A plant that stops growing dies. And so when we say go back to normal, that's assuming that things are not growing and changing much to your point that if they're not growing or changing them, they're dying. So if we are at the same place of normal, then we're on the road to degradation. And so because of that something that's in a healthy space, healthy growing space is never going to be the same same, because it's always going to be move forward. So if we're looking to move back into space of degradation that's never going to be supportive. We want to be looking forward to Okay, based on the new information I've learned today, going back to what I was discussing earlier about reviewing at the end of the day, based on what I love based on the new things that come into my experience, the new input, the new skills, the new challenges, new questions, the new things have been uncovered. How am I going to approach tomorrow from a grown expanded place? Because we are looking for probably this control, we want to go let me go back to places familiar. So that can try and control things. But control is an illusion. And then when we look at the net, you know another big thing that's happened in our lifetimes, which is you know, it's a pandemic that is reportedly coming down to a close or whatever. I think one of the reasons why so many People are thrown into disarray is because they realize just how little control that they actually had, within a very, very short period of time, a lot of illusionary ideas of control was shown to be just that were shown to be illusions. And that's something that people struggled, I think to deal with. But control is an illusion, what we do have is creative capacity. But once the balls rolling, once those things are turning, it's what do I do with what's shown up based on what I can control, which for the most part is only me, my reactions, my choices in terms of Hamelin respond to something and my preparedness to deal with things that may or may not show up in my life. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  30:41 And the problem that we have is that we think we can control everything about us. And so when we don't have control, and we get that rude awakening, from time to time, we get very frustrated rather than going, Oh, why am I even worried about that? What am I going to be able to do about it? I'm in politics, for example, and politicians are always trying to control us through fear. And they don't have that control over us unless we let them. Likewise, we can't control what they do other than to step back in the case of the United States. And the House of Representatives, for example, every two years, we can decide whether this person is best representing us or not, and then say, you're welcome to stay or go away. That's the control that we have. But we we don't have a lot of the control that we think and there's so many other things, people are talking so much about climate change. In this country, it's discussed a lot in this country, we talk about inflation, I'm sure that's something that happens. Most places, the reality is a lot of the factors relating to that we don't have any control over. But we're allowing ourselves to be made to be afraid, by people who are just as clueless about that, but they want to blame somebody else rather than recognizing we don't have control over those things. How do we deal with what we have control over?   Daniel Mangena  32:18 I mean, in the US, for example, is a democratic country, what you've got is you've got the voting booth. Right? And then you've got discernment in terms of listening to people who haven't had a track record in leadership, or provided results or even, I mean, a lot of career politicians, or parts of the world. You look at their track record, what did that what have they done since they've been in office? Besides a career politician? They made promises and been voted into different offices at different points in their career? Have they actually been in integrity to those two points? What are they have they shown up? If you're going to get lost in return, you can get lost in, you know, at the height, which happens, I think, a lot in election cycles. Oh, yes, you know, the hype and all of the things, then that's where your power was your power was in was right there in who you voted in. If once someone's voted in, you're not going to do anything about using your voice in the voting booth or whatever. A lot of people don't bother voting, it doesn't change anything. Anyway, what you saying is, look, they're all the same. Okay, well, then find someone that's not the same. But not every person is the same.   Michael Hingson  33:28 Yeah, right. Well, and true. And yeah, you know, I hear so many people saying, well, why trust this guy, he speaks my language. That's not the issue. The issue is, what is he really done? What can you point to about this man or this woman? Not what other people say, but what has he really done or not done? Or the new person who wants to come in and says, I'm going to make all these changes? The issue still is, what have you done to demonstrate that you can do that don't talk in generalities gets   Daniel Mangena  34:06 not only what, what have you done? To say you can, what have you done to demonstrate that? You will?   Michael Hingson  34:13 Yeah, that's a good point. Absolutely. That's a good point. How do we know you're going to do it, you have to convince us or we should create that mindset. And ask those questions. I think that's really the issue. You're internationally right now than worrying about all the things that we can't control, we need to become more intentional about the way we vote.   Daniel Mangena  34:36 That's one thing. That's one thing. I was speaking to somebody a little while ago, and he was saying, you know, he's creating disruption in entrepreneurship. They said when a lot of these social issues were coming out what he did was he said, Okay, guys, I can talk about the social issues, but that's not going to change anything. Instead, what I'm going to do is we're going to make the voting day, a paid day off in this company, so that you You can actually go and do something real, we're not gonna sit here and talk about it and create division in the workplace, you have a way that you want this country to be run, head over to the voting booth, go and get involved in your local community, go and do something, read about it, and I will give you a paid day off to do that. And that's what he's doing instead, that, I think is a powerful way to approach   Michael Hingson  35:20 things. Yeah, you're giving people the opportunity, and you're sending a strong message, go do it. Mm hmm. Which, which makes a lot of sense. So as people are pondering when we talk about intentionality, and we talked about looking at what happens every day and analyzing what you do, some people might call that meditation what what do you think about the the idea of meditation? Or is that meditation? Or what do you think about all that?   Daniel Mangena  35:49 Meditation, for me is a tool to get into what scientists have measured to be a meditative state. That's literally the brainwaves in your brain operate in a certain speed. And that shows that your brain is then functioning a certain way. Now, not everybody gets to that place through the same medium, some people will try different types of traditionally taught meditation, some people can play a sport or go for a walk or spend time in nature, spending time with a loved one, spending time and just general science, it doesn't necessarily require sitting in lotus position. So there are many different ways to get back to that place. And I think that people should find the way that work for them, rather than looking at the cookie cutter approach to what they believe is going to actually work to get them to that place.   Michael Hingson  36:33 I took a course while in college on Transcendental Meditation. And I think that there's a lot of value and what it can offer. But even there, that as as people said, it's all about getting to a particular state of consciousness. And it's a way that can be very successful. And a lot of it has to do with taking your mind out of just thinking about the typical day to day things that go on in your world, and giving yourself the the opportunity to relax. And, and to get to that meditative state, if you will, which is what we don't do. And, you know, we have, I don't know whether you've Have you ever read read the book 10% happier? No, I've not read Dan, who used to be on Good Morning America. He, he wrote this book called 10%, happier, because he got involved in meditation. And one of the things that he talks about in the book is, there's more than one way to meditate. But And meditation is really all about getting to a particular state of consciousness and getting to the place where you can back off from the typical day to day things, especially those that you don't have any control over.   Daniel Mangena  37:51 Which again, so many of us are just caught up in what we're scared of what we don't want, what we want other people to do what we want from other people versus what is it that I actually desire to create, and what can I do here and now to support my movement towards that? And then doing it?   Michael Hingson  38:07 Yeah. And at the same time, if you suddenly discover well, maybe I need to have a course correction. That's okay, too. Great. We don't tend to do nearly as much as we could about do do court doing course corrections.   Daniel Mangena  38:28 Yeah, but coursework correction often means moving outside of the known moving into the unknown. Sure, nothing moving beyond what feels safe and comfortable. And that's not what we as humans often do, we're often looking for the easy way out, because,   Michael Hingson  38:46 well, that's the society we taught. We taught that.   Daniel Mangena  38:49 Yeah, but guess what, there is also available information for another way to do things. And we have to take responsibility for what we do. I mean, this information that this conversation is going to be out in the wild, right? So people have the opportunity to have an E, an E shop, you know, conversations like this that are happening, there are literally millions of pieces of content out there probably have a positive nature. But if I'm going to be focused on the negativity or fear and doubt and anxiety, then how am I even going to be available for different kinds of input? And it's only my responsibility as to whether I'm going to tune into the uplifting expansive one or get lost in the negative side one.   Michael Hingson  39:32 Yeah. And what we need to do is to really be curious enough to go look for them again, and that gets back to the whole college discussion. I think that way too many of us in what we do we expect somebody just to give us the answers, and we don't tend to be nearly as curious as we ought to be. I remember when I was just a child living in Chicago, before I was five, my father owned a business to repair televisions that was back in the days when you unplug vacuum tubes and you put in new ones, or you replaced a picture tube or you smelled a burn resistor and you replaced it and the TV worked again. And I would go with him occasionally. And one of the things that he said is, don't put your hand inside the TV. And I didn't necessarily deliberately do that. But I remember one time when I got shocked, because I put my hand on something. And I'm, as I sit here and think about it, I think it was an accident, I   Daniel Mangena  40:44 don't think I was going well, what why can't I put my finger in there? What's going to happen? But I learned what an electric shock was all about.   Michael Hingson  40:52 And that actually made me curious more than anything else. And so then he showed me a TV that was not plugged in and discharged. But but I used it as a learning experience. And and I was curious to understand what it was all about. But I think we tend to not grow up to be as curious as we ought to be. There's a lot of validity. And when somebody says, Well, why that you say why not? You know, there's nothing wrong with that.   Daniel Mangena  41:25 When it goes back to we were talking about earlier, when we spoke about about people's challenges in the law of vibration that if I'm only asking for thinking from a place of why not? What can't happen, what's not possible that those are the only quality of answers that I can get, I can only get the quality of answers that matches that level of inquiry.   Michael Hingson  41:44 Right. Right in but you know, for somebody who says, Well, why why should we do that? And then my response is still why not explore something new? Mm hmm. Which, which makes perfect sense. Tell me what what you think about or know about things like the law of attraction.   Daniel Mangena  42:06 Law of Attraction is not a primary universal law. It's a secondary universal law. So primary universal laws are the ones they're like elements. And then you've got compounds which form the secondary laws. So the actual primary law against a from which the law of attraction is is drawn is the law of vibration that we've been speaking about, which is like attracts like, basically, we experienced what we're a vibrational match to, and thought is one of the components of, of that vibrational match, you've got emotional state as well. So I think, in my opinion, the law of attraction has become popular because it feels like the easy way out when actually fully operating to the primary law really means a complete overhaul of what we're doing in terms of how we show up in the world, what we're thinking, what we're feeling, the actions and choices that we're making, because all of those things encompass our vibration. And once we are vibrationally aligned to a particular outcome, the law of attraction kicks in. And we find ourselves being attracted to and being and things been attracted to us that match that state of that state of being that we're in. And so your attraction is real. However, it is not a primary law, it's a secondary law. And it's not more work than people have been led to believe that it is, in my opinion. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  43:20 A lot of it has to do with vibration. And when we, when we aligned vibrations, we are also projecting that whether we realize it or not whatever our vibration or our state is, we do project it. We one person on this podcast a while ago, talked about an experiment that someone did with plants. And when people projected a more positive image in their own mind, the plants reacted differently than when they thought about killing the plant or pouring hot water on the plant or digging the plant up. There was a noticeable difference in the way the plants and what they did were through measurements, actually how they were behaving was all done simply mentally.   Daniel Mangena  44:18 I mean, thought is real thoughts have ideas can be measured. They can be measured, they can be weighted, there's some substance to it. And if we honor that, and, and bring a level of intentionality to how showing up with our thoughts and emotions, we'll start to see that measured things showing up in a measured way in our physical life every day.   Michael Hingson  44:38 One of the things I think you do is you encourage people to manifest money. Tell me about that.   Daniel Mangena  44:44 Yeah, I mean, I'll be quick about this because we're running low on the clock now, but I'm okay. I mean, if you're okay, no, I've got I've got something. I've got something afterwards. We had a lot of people come into our world that wanted to create new license ourselves. And time and time again, what we're finding is that people were using that they don't have enough resources to live that life, it was more concerned with people living a life that was joyful, that was contribution contribution, that nourished and filled them and had meaning. But this excuse of resources kept coming up. And so the move to going a lot more deeply into supporting people around the money was twofold. Firstly, if people have resources, they have less space for that excuse. And secondly, the playbook for creating our reality is the same across the board, there isn't a different playbook for creating different relationships and creating money and creating health. It's the same playbook, but our perspective creates a distorted lens that gives the illusion that all of these playbooks are different, right. And so when we have a measured playing field, that we can develop the skill of manifesting what we want, then we can take that skill, take that level of mastery and start to apply it to other areas. If I tell you, I'm going to help you be happy, we can't really measure that maybe we can have you fill a form in or check your emotions, but your emotions can change second, a second. But if I say here's a playbook for you to bring $100 into your account, and it works, then you know, it works, when you know we've had people that we've taken to be millionaires to be being financially free to having six figures to pay off their debts and all sorts of things. They've got a measured result, and they've gone on a journey with that measured result that they can go and take and apply to other areas. So it's not because I think money is more important than other things. Because when we have resources, we've got more choice number one and number two, when we've got a measured journey that we've gone on, of learning to create a life for ourselves, we can take that skill and apply it to any part of our life.   Michael Hingson  46:44 Money is a great resource and visible item that people can use to discover that playbook. And of course, that makes a lot of sense that that's one of the reasons you would use something like money as a perfect example. Because it is measurable. What is micro shifting?   Daniel Mangena  47:06 Micro shifting is defined as a consistent series of baby steps made in the direction of a consciously chosen outcome. That's literally the dynamism of this definition. And what micro shifting is all about is recognizing that everybody can make big leaps. They can, but will they are but everybody can make baby steps. Everyone has the capacity. So we've all got the potential for big leaps, big Quantum Leap, but everybody has the capacity for baby steps. And we make when we make those on a consistent basis, we can always get to that end goal no matter how big it is.   Michael Hingson  47:36 So you've written how many books now, from time   Daniel Mangena  47:39 to time dream is manifesto for books.   Michael Hingson  47:43 Gotta go figure him out again.   Daniel Mangena  47:45 Hello books. I've contributed in a few more. I've had the honor of being in a book with one of my mentors, Greg Reed. I was in a book with Jack Canfield success and omics. I think that was last year, that book came out. I've contributed chapters to a few other books, but I have four of my own   Michael Hingson  48:00 four of your own. Well, I know that you don't have a lot of time, it's getting late and in time to do whatever one does in Cabo. But how can people reach out to you and learn more about what you do and perhaps contact you and have a chance to visit?   Daniel Mangena  48:23 Definitely get head over to dreamwithdan.com dreamwithdan.com. And we've got a really cool resource, we've actually got a quiz that we developed, that helps you to discover what your block to abundance is, and gives you some resources to actually move through those. So head over to dreamwithdan.com. There's a lot of free resources, including that quiz that they can go and have a go of in there. And just let us know how you get on.   Michael Hingson  48:45 Can they? Can they contact you through that site? Or is there a better way   Daniel Mangena  48:48 that they can always contact through the website? Yeah,   Michael Hingson  48:50 so dreamwithdan.com? Well, I hope people will do that. Have any of your books I always ask this when people have written books, have any of your books to your knowledge been converted to audio,   Daniel Mangena  49:01 yet, we've got stepping beyond intention, but we're doing the re the RE release of that book right now that we got, I got a book deal early this year. And we're releasing that book, when that book is re released, I will be personally re recording the audio books, I'm probably going to do that I'm stopping work in November this year. I'm gonna have a lot of time off. I'm looking to sit down in there and get that audio book re recorded.   Michael Hingson  49:23 Cool. Well be excited to to read it. And I know other people will as well. And hopefully, they'll they'll go out and find some of your other other books and that they will learn and I think we all will I found this instructive and inspiring. And I'm really glad that you came and we appreciate it. And if you want to come back on and we find more to talk about I would love that anytime you'd like to watch as well do it and what's your podcasts so people can find you your podcast?   49:53 Yes, everything's on the website. This is a really great sort of roadmap to everything but we've got Do It With Dan which is my motivational podcast. And we've got beyond success, which is my business podcast. But the links to that information about them and some of the guests that we've had both on the website drew with dan.com.   Michael Hingson  50:08 Cool. Well, Dan, thanks again. And we really appreciate you being with us. And for all of you listening, thanks very much, I hope you'll give us a five star rating, I would appreciate it if you would give us a five star rating right now as we finish, wherever you're listening to us. I would also be very happy if you'd reach out to me directly. If you've got any thoughts or comments. You can email me at Michaelhi at accessibe.com. And or go to our podcast page, Michael hingson.com/podcast. And of course, you know how to now get to Dan dreamwithdan.com. So Dan, is the website accessible? I should ask that Do you know?   Daniel Mangena  50:50 I don't know. But it's definitely something that I'll be looking into having?   Michael Hingson  50:53 Well, we'll talk about that. And we can we can talk about that and accessibe. Which is a great tool to help with that. But Dan, thanks again for being with us. We really appreciate it. And we hope to have you on again.   Daniel Mangena  51:05 Of course. Thank you so much.   Michael Hingson  51:07 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

I'm flying solo for episode 103 after a terrific past few days with my daughter.Buzzsprout sent some fun stats for our 2022 year, and here are the highlights:The podcast has grown by 50% over the previous year. 37 countries are listening! Your favorites in review--You will learn:5.What Happens When a Stranger Shows Up for the First 12 Years of Life to Take You Away? (Guest Bee Baumann) 4. Miracles and Fate on 78 Author Ari Schonbrun Shares His Transformation After Surviving 9/11 in Tower One 3.When Stand-Up Comedian Karen Mills Found Something Funny in Her Belly 2. How Kerryn Vaughan Allowed the Loss of Her Sister to Help Others and Change Her World1. The Truth About Happily Ever After and the Journey of Recovering (From Anything!)It's me! Just before #stolenbytheirfather was released, based on my book, Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Father, I talked about my thoughts on recovery from trauma.Thanks for your reviews, your questions, your shares, your participation. Massive gratitude!Want to support the podcast even more?Consider being a patron.See you next week.Resources: Home Where You Belong Podcast by Chip AlfordLizbeth's links Support the podcast and Lizbeth's writing for $2 or $5 a month on Patreon HEREOR Buy Lizbeth a Coffee Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters

Michael (Mike) Hingson. I am president of The Michael Hingson Group, Inc. and the chief vision officer for accessiBeBlind since birth, Michael Hingson was born to sighted parents who raised him with a can-do attitude. Always a high achiever, Michael learned how to ride a bike, and was able to do advanced math in his head! He received a Master's Degree in Physics, and a Secondary Teaching Credential. Michael worked for high-tech companies in management until September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog Roselle escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the WTC. Thrust into the international limelight, Michael began to share lessons of trust, courage, and teamwork based on this experience. Mike is the author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller “Thunder dog,” selling over 2.5 million copies, and his 2nd book “Running with Roselle, A story for Our Youth.” An international public speaker, Mike delivers inspiring and thought-provoking messages to the world's elite, including President George W. Bush, and has appeared on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, including Larry King. Hired by major organizations, Michael speaks on perseverance, the importance of trust and teamwork, and moving from diversity to inclusion. www.michaelhingson.comwww.marlanasemenza.comAudio : Ariza Music Productions

Jennifer Lieberman comes by her writing and creativity honestly. She has been writing, organizing, and working toward a career in theater writing ever since she was a student in school. She has written her own one-person play as well as a book entitled “Year of the What” based on the play.   As Jennifer tells us about her life, she discusses living in New York City during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. She will discuss how her life changed after that day.   Jennifer clearly is a person who set goals for herself and then worked to achieve them. She is absolutely unstoppable. I think you will enjoy this interview and the creative personality of this wonderful person.   About the Guest: After years of pounding the pavement and knocking on doors with no success of breaking into the entertainment industry, Jennifer decided to take matters into her own hands and created the solo-show Year of the Slut. This show proved to be her break and the play went on to win the Audience Choice Award in New York City and is now the #1 Amazon Best Selling novel Year of the What? and was awarded the Gold Medal at the Global Book Awards 2022 for Coming of Age Books. Since deciding to make her own break Lieberman has appeared in over 30 international stage productions, has produced over 40 independent film and theatre productions and has helped over 100 creatives make their own break through her coaching and consulting work. She has penned a number of stage and screen plays and her short films have screened at the Festival de Cannes Court Métrage among other international festivals. She is currently gearing up to direct her first feature film.   Social Media Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamjenlieberman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamjenlieberman/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamjenlieberman Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-lieberman-33b20426/       About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Hi, again, it's Michael Hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset, the podcast where inclusion diversity in the unexpected me. And today, Jennifer Lieberman, our guest I think certainly has lots of unexpected things that she's going to tell us about. If you don't know, Jennifer, and you may or may not know who she is, I will just tell you that you want to talk about unexpected. She wrote her own one person play called The year of the slug, and we're gonna get into that I am sure, along with a lot of other things. So Jennifer, welcome to unstoppable mindset. How are you?   Jennifer Lieberman  02:00 I'm fabulous. Michael, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to chat with you today.   Michael Hingson  02:07 Well, we're really excited that you're here. And I know you do have lots of stories and you faced a lot of challenges. And it will be good to go through some of those. Why don't we start new sort of telling me a little bit about your early life and how you kind of progressed a little bit?   Jennifer Lieberman  02:21 Sure. So I started off as the competitive gymnast. And I was in competition. By the time I was five, and was training almost every day after school. By the time I was eight years old. I kind of had a natural aptitude for the sport. And that was my main focus for a really long time. And then I ended up coaching, I founded a high school team. And I think it's relevant because from a very early age, I had to have like a certain amount of discipline. And that discipline has really helped me with longevity in the creative world where it's It's a thankless business a lot of the time.   Michael Hingson  03:11 So where are you from originally?   Jennifer Lieberman  03:13 Oh, yes, I'm from. I was born in Toronto raised in Maple, Canada, just outside of Toronto. I went to York University in Toronto, I studied philosophy and English Lit. And when I graduated, I moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. I started writing at a young age, I was about eight years old when I started writing scripts. Originally, it started off as fan fiction for shows that I wanted to be on as a child. And then by the time I was 12, I my imagination evolved enough to create my own plots and characters and storylines that weren't borrowing from worlds that were previously created by other writers. So it was always something in me. But like I said, gymnastics was the main focus, you know, until halfway through high school when I had a career ending knee injury. But like, I still love the sport and love being in the gym. So coaching kind of allowed me to stay in the world that I was used to. And then in university is when I started taking acting classes, and I just kind of never looked back like I am in love with the creative process, whether it's writing performance, filmmaking, and I've developed a lot of skills over the years in order to stay working and stay in the game. Because especially as an actor, you don't have a lot of agency or control over when you get picked And what you get picked for.   Michael Hingson  05:02 So for you, philosophy ended up sort of being a means to an end, as opposed to being a career that you are going to go into in some way. Well,   Jennifer Lieberman  05:11 actually, I studied philosophy, it's interesting that you bring it up, but the Greeks are who invented theatre. That's where a theater was born in these Greek Dionysian festivals, and, you know, East Escalus. Like all of these writers wrote, theatrically, and that's kind of, you know, philosophy played on these stories, or at least in the earlier days, so it always felt connected to me. Philosophy, Greek philosophy, mythology, it was all kind of wrapped up in some sort of performance.   Michael Hingson  05:53 But you went through and got a degree in philosophy, and then you move to New York, is that because you wanted to go into Broadway? Oh, yeah. And   Jennifer Lieberman  06:01 also, like, my parents didn't consider a degree in theater a degree, you know. And I knew, I also knew that I was a writer. And then I wanted to tackle, you know, topics that were, you know, that would challenge people. And that would make people think and different points of view. So I thought, for the writing side of it, because it was never just to be an actor, it was always an actor who wrote projects. So the philosophy and the English Lit just seemed like a great jumping off point in order to develop my skills, grappling different difficult subject matters and structure and theatrical writing and all of that stuff.   Michael Hingson  06:49 Well, so you move to New York. And I guess something that none of us would know. Listening to you and talking with you here is your half African did that have a an impact on you and being able to break into this industry? Or?   Jennifer Lieberman  07:07 No, not at all, because I look, I look like a white girl, I'm my dad's side is Polish. My mother is tunisienne from Tunis. 10 is yeah, she immigrated to Canada with her parents and siblings, and she was the young girl. So so nobody has any inkling of my African roots, unless I actually mentioned it. So, um, so yeah, that's kind of something that's very unexpected, and people don't really place me in that category. Even though I really identify with my 10 ASEAN, heritage and culture, especially traditions, you know, family traditions, things like that my was very close to both of my 10 ASEAN grandparents, I they grew up five houses away from where I grew up, so I saw them almost every day. And that is just ingrained in who I am.   Michael Hingson  08:12 So does that make you essentially a bi racial person?   Jennifer Lieberman  08:16 Um, you know, it's funny, cuz my sense, it's, my family is North African. And like I said, like, my grandfather had dark skin, but my grandmother had light skin. I don't even know if I would be considered biracial. Because once again, like, by looking at me, you couldn't really tell I don't appear to be bipoc. So it's not something that really comes up. Actually. I don't even know what people would consider me to be honest.   Michael Hingson  08:49 A writer and an actress. Yes, so so it really didn't have much of an impact, which is, which is cool. Well, it shouldn't anyway, but it seemed relevant to ask the question. You know, so you, you move to New York. Tell us about that. Where did you go? What did you do in New York? And and what's your favorite bagel place? You know, all the important things?   Jennifer Lieberman  09:17 Yes. Um, so I basically after my last exam, I didn't even wait around for graduation. I wasn't there. On the day, they gave out diplomas because I really didn't care about a diploma. I felt like that was more an obligation I had to fulfill for my parents sake, and then I could start my life. So I showed up in New York and like I say, with a duffel bag and a dream and I was just like, I'm here and stumbled my way. I had rented an apartment sight unseen, which was not a great apartment and last in there very long. And I'm Just basically there was a newspaper back then called Backstage, it used to be a physical newspaper, now you can get an online subscription. And I just started looking in the newspaper that was specifically for the acting world and started circling different auditions I could show up at or submit to. And that's how it all began. And I was fortunate enough to get in with a couple of different theatre companies. And I was able to work with the same people. consistently over time, there were three different companies that I was working with consistently. So that helped me grow and develop as an artist. And one of the companies I ended up becoming a producer at 22. So I learned every aspect, from carpentry using power tools to help get the sets made to running the lighting and sound stage management, costuming, anything that was needed. You just kind of when you're an off off Broadway company without any real funding. You just scraped together whatever you can to make it happen. But also, pardon? Go ahead. Oh, but also those lessons have been invaluable for where I am now. Because, you know, not having the perfect sort of circumstances, or the amount of money we wish we had has never deterred me from making something happen.   Michael Hingson  11:37 So you wore many hats. And you obviously learned a lot as you went along. What was kind of the biggest challenge that you had back in those early days?   Jennifer Lieberman  11:47 Oh, well, I grew up in a really small town. My neighbors were trees. So getting used to the fast paced kind of hustle and bustle of New York City. It was a huge culture shock for me, I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and then move to the center of the world, with everything happening. And just as I was starting to get my footing in New York, 911 happened. And   Michael Hingson  12:18 where were you at the time,   Jennifer Lieberman  12:21 I was on my way to work. I was walking towards the subway at Astor Place, I was living in Alphabet City, and witnessed the first plane, fly into the World Trade Center and thought it was a fluke accident and got on the subway and continued with my day.   Michael Hingson  12:49 So for people who don't know where is Alphabet City, and what is   Jennifer Lieberman  12:52 Oh, yes, so Alphabet City is like the East most part of the East Village. So I was at Avenue D and 10th street. That's where I was living. I didn't last very long in that apartment. I moved in there. And on September 1, and I think by the 15th of September, I had packed everything up and went back to Canada for a while because I couldn't handle the reality of what happened. And I needed to go home. As   Michael Hingson  13:31 I went, he didn't last long either. You just   Jennifer Lieberman  13:35 got damnit, I'm going back to New York.   Michael Hingson  13:38 So you, you said you argued with people, as you were going on the subway and so on. Tell us about that if you want.   Jennifer Lieberman  13:46 I argued with people who were saying it was a terrorist attack. Because at that age, you know, the level of innocence being raised very sheltered in a small town in Canada. I was just like, This doesn't happen, like we're living in, you know, 2001 like, What do you mean? No, this is impossible that somebody hijacked a plane and flew it into a building in the United States. Like it's impossible. I just thought it was a freak accident and continued to work. And you know, there were arguments on the subway because some people saw it as we were all getting on the subway together. But then there were other people who had been on the subway for a while and are hearing it for the first time. So there was a panic. And then I got to two I was working at 34th and Park at a real estate company. That was my side hustle at the time. And I told my boss what happened. And he got really angry with me. And he said that it's not funny, like we don't joke about these things. And I was like, I'm not joke like, who wouldn't joke about these things? Like, turn on the radio. And he did. And that's when we heard about the second plane. And I just remember, like my soul leaving my body at the realization that it couldn't be an accident if there were two that happened in that short amount of time. Like, it was just literally, I felt my innocence Leave me. And yeah, I became a different person that day.   Michael Hingson  15:32 I think a lot of us did. One of my employees was on the PATH train paths stands for Port Authority, trans Hudson, it goes under the river. But he was on the PATH train coming in from Hoboken. They just pulled into the path station under tower Well, under the central part of the World Trade Center. Yep. At the fourth sub level when the second plane hit. And he told me later, the train just started shaking and so on in the pilot, the pilot, the conductor, and the engineer just said, don't leave the train. And they just literally turned around and went back. Right, in Hoboken, because I think they may have known that something was going on. But they didn't know, of course, about the second plane, because it was happening in real time. But nevertheless, they just turned around, went back to New Jersey. Yeah. Yeah, it was just Well, and, of course, who would have thought, right? Exactly. It's one of those things that it's really hard to imagine. And I can understand your reaction. And it did change all of us who were there. And as I've said to many people, and my wife has really pointed this out the problem for most people, certainly the people outside of the immediate area where this occurred that is outside New York City and so on, or further away, who just couldn't see what was happening. Your view, not yours, because you were there. But the view of people was only as large as your TV screen or your newspaper. And you couldn't have the same impact in your mind as all of us who were there at the time did. So you went back to Canada for a couple of months. And that's sort of understandable. You had a place to escape to as it were.   Jennifer Lieberman  17:33 Yeah. First I went to the Poconos. So I had a good friend Heather. She was initially my roommate. And then we, you know, we both ended up living in Alphabet City, actually. But she moved in with a boyfriend. And you know, no cell phones were working. As you know, all the cell towers were down because they were in the Trade Center. So we couldn't get I couldn't call my parents. I couldn't call anyone in Canada. But Heather and I somehow found each other on the street. And I guess it took two or three days for her dad to be able to drive to the city and get us because the city was closed. They weren't letting any vehicles in or out of the city. And I ended up going her dad picked us up. It was her boyfriend at the time. She and myself. And we went to their house in the Poconos for a few days. And then I got back to the city. And I don't know if planes were back up in the air yet, but I took the train home to Toronto, it was like a 12 hour train ride. And I just like packed up everything I had and just hopped on the train. Because I also felt like my dreams were so trite and insignificant compared to the weight of what happened. And I felt silly. I felt you know that everything that was so important to me the day before, was completely superfluous after that incident.   Michael Hingson  19:12 Yeah, what could you do? And it it makes perfect sense that you just left. You're fortunate to be able to do that. Some cell phones were working that day because I was able to call my wife in New Jersey. She couldn't call me. But I could call her interesting. And we were able to, to communicate learned later that day that the trains had started running from Penn Station in New York to Penn Station in Newark. So I was able to get a train later that evening, back to Newark, and then catch the train going from Newark out to Westfield, where we lived. So we got home at about seven that night. It was interesting being on the train, going from New York to New Jersey, people came up to me and said, You're really dirty. Were you downtown? And I said, Yeah, I was in Tower One. And it was interesting while we were going to the train station, from the apartment of a friend of my colleague, David's who I was with, although it wasn't the same as typical, still cars were moving, there was traffic. And it seemed like even only being a few miles away, it was already so significantly different than what we were experiencing downtown.   Jennifer Lieberman  20:40 Oh, yeah, the whole world stopped. If you were on the island of Manhattan, the whole world stopped, you know, and I ended up in New Jersey as well, actually. Because I was beneath 14th street and they didn't really want anybody coming back home if you were below 14th street because they didn't know. Like we talked about before we started recording, you know, gas leaks, fires under the city, things like that the fires could travel through the subway lines, you know, through the tunnels and stuff. So I ended up in New Jersey at a colleague's place for I guess, the first couple of nights. And yeah, it was it's It's surreal. It was just, that's the only word. You know, I can think   Michael Hingson  21:30 of was just how did you get to New Jersey?   Jennifer Lieberman  21:32 I believe I took a train from Penn Station.   Michael Hingson  21:35 Okay, so you were able to catch a train too, which was cool.   Jennifer Lieberman  21:39 Yeah, I was able to catch a train. Yeah, it was. I can't even   Michael Hingson  21:45 Well, let's, let's go back to you. So you moved back to Canada for a little while. Yeah.   Jennifer Lieberman  21:50 Canada. And you know, that didn't last? No, it didn't last because, you know, after I got over the initial shock of what actually happened. I was like, Yeah, you know, my dreams are important to me. And art is just as important as ever, especially during a crisis, having writers and having theater and having stories and people who are able to tell stories in compelling ways. And I basically did a, I did a one ad. And when all I went right back to what I was doing before, with an even stronger conviction than I had previously.   Michael Hingson  22:37 So what happened?   Jennifer Lieberman  22:40 So I continued with the theatre company that I was with, and I got into, like I said, couple other theatre companies I was performing off off Broadway pretty regularly. I was with a mime company called the American mime theatre, and trained and performed as a mime for a few years. And this company was quite special. It was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. And it was its own medium. It wasn't a copy of French pantomime. It was its own discipline. And that was actually coming. You know what, when we got to the one woman shows, but doing the mind training was the best foundation I could have asked for moving forward and doing one person shows where I was playing multiple characters and had to snap in and out of them very quickly. And being able to just snap into a physicality that made it very clear to the audience that I was somebody new, or somebody different as to the character who was previous. So yeah, I ended up producing a bunch of shows off Broadway got into film production. I was in New York for about six years and, and just try to learn as much as I could and craft as much as I could. I started working with a director named Jim craft offered rest in peace he passed a couple years ago during the pandemic, not from COVID. But he was a phenomenal writer and director he studied under Ilya Khazanah at the actor studio, and his play to patch it was a real tipping point in my artistic career. I had to play a mentally challenged girl who was raped and murdered. And once I was able to get through that, I realized like yeah, I really prove to myself like okay, this is where I belong. You know, I have the I have the chops. I have the stamina, I have the drive and you You know, that was like a big milestone, also, in terms of it was the most challenging role that I had ever come across. And I really had to rise to the occasion. And a lot of times in creative work, like until you were given the opportunity to rise to the occasion, you don't know what you're made of. So that was a huge milestone for me. And then, while I was working after I was working on capatch it, my grandma got sick, and I ended up back in Toronto for about a year and a half to help my mom, and my grandma got better and which was great. And then I decided to give la a try. One of the films that I had produced in New York was in a festival in LA and I went to the festival, the film won a couple of awards. And I was like, Okay, I'm gonna give Hollywood a shot now. And that's, that's what happened next.   Michael Hingson  26:01 Well, typically, people always want to get noticed and seen and so on. So what kind of was really your big break? And in terms of whether it be Broadway or wherever? And why do you consider it a big break?   Jennifer Lieberman  26:16 Okay, um, so I, when I was in LA, I had been there for about a year and this is where Europe the sled came into play. A friend suggested that I create a vehicle for myself that, you know, everybody comes from all over the world, to have their, you know, hat in the ring and give it a try to be a star in Hollywood. And very, very, very few people make it. And you have to kind of come up with a way to get noticed. So a friend of mine suggested, do a one woman show, showcase your writing, showcase your acting ability, and you can invite agents, you can invite directors, you can invite people that can hire you people that can represent you, and that will be a good vehicle. So I did what she said. And nobody from the industry really showed up, I kind of compare it to the movie lala land with Emma Stone where she does this one woman show and there's like one person in the audience, I had more than one person, because I had supportive friends from acting class and my mom came from Canada. But in terms of industry, nobody, nobody who could represent me or hired me show up showed up. However, I had so much fun creating the characters working on the show, and taking so this was like the next plateau in my career to patch it, where I played the mentally challenged girl was like the first kind of plateau of being like, okay, you know, you really have to rise to the occasion, doing an hour and a half on stage by yourself playing 10 characters was a whole different level of rising to the occasion. And I did it successfully expecting to fail. And not only that, so much of my time in LA up until that point, had been trying to get in the door, trying to get the job trying to get the audition. And none of that was actually doing what I went there to do, which was being creative, and performing. So I realized, like, okay, of course, I'm still going to submit to auditions. And I'm still going to try and get an agent and all of that. But in the meantime, I have the agency and the ability to create this piece and develop it and keep going with it. And I did and I did a few different workshops in LA and then I got invited to be in a festival in New York, I won the Audience Choice Award at the festival and then Doom like that was the next kind of plateau because now not only could I did I prove to myself, I could do a one woman show, but I proved that it could be recognized and successful. And that led to another one woman show in Australia. And then when I got back from Australia, because at this point in time, I had been a producer for hire for many, many years I had been producing since I was 22. And I had produced well over a dozen film and theatre projects at this point. And I was like huh, I I can help other actors who are frustrated spinning their wheels achieve what I achieved. And that's when I founded my company make your own break. So you know, nobody ever gave me a big break. I'd like them to if anyone has a big break waiting, I'll take it. But, um, but also realizing that I could do this for myself and I can do this for other actors and writers on a small scale was really exciting to me, because I love the creative process. And I love working with actors, and I love working with writers and storytelling, and I love helping I call it I love helping people dig for the gold that's inside of them, because everybody has a treasure buried inside. But a lot of times we're we're not put in situations that push ourselves to actually dig for it. Especially when we're in situations where other people are giving us opportunities, as opposed to us having to really dig down inside and figure out how do I create this opportunity for myself?   Michael Hingson  30:53 Well, and it's also true that oftentimes, we don't necessarily recognize the opportunities are right there for the taking.   Jennifer Lieberman  31:02 Exactly, exactly. And then so creating the one woman show set me on this whole trajectory of I'm just going to keep creating my own stuff. And I created a web series with a friend of mine from acting class, we wrote it together, we produced it together, we both starred in it. You know, it wasn't like commercially successful, like, there's dismal. You know, we did this almost 10 years ago, and there's like dismal YouTube views. It's very embarrassing, but it's also one of the things I'm the most proud of, I had the most fun working on it, I loved everything about it. And it's one of those projects where all the problems with it could have been solved if we had more money. And, to me, that's a success. Because, you know, we couldn't help the fact that we didn't have more money to make it. And the fact that you know, okay, fine, you know, the, the camera work wasn't fantastic, or the stats weren't fantastic, you know, but all the actors were fantastic. The directing was fantastic, the writing was fantastic, you know, so so I'm so super proud of that. And then Rebecca, my partner on that we made a short film together. And then I finally finally after decades of being a writer, because I started writing when I was eight, had the confidence to produce something that I had written on my own. And that was my short film leash. And that ended up screening at the short film corner at the Cannes Film Festival, which was like another huge milestone, I still couldn't get any agents or managers or anybody to take me on or represent me. But at this point, it's like, I got my film that I made that I wrote that, you know, that I produced that I was in to the biggest, most important film festival in the world. And I'm like, okay, that like, you know, even though the industry quote unquote, you know, hasn't recognized me yet. In terms of like, the agents and the managers and staff that's like, there must be something valid to my creativity. And then I made another short film, and it also got screened in the short film corner at the Cannes Film Festival on screen at the Cambridge Film Festival in the UK, and it just kind of, you know, so all these little bits of validation, they haven't turned into, you know, the career that I'm aspiring towards, but it's all encouragement. That helps me keep going.   Michael Hingson  33:57 You certainly are unstoppably optimistic.   Jennifer Lieberman  34:01 Well, the thing is, I don't even think it's that. I think it's just I don't have a choice. This is just who I am. It's what I do. I just keep creating, I can't help it. There was this movie years ago with Jeffrey rush called quills about the marquis decide, and how he was imprisoned because of his writing and how he was persecuted. And, you know, he kept writing no matter what he kept writing, he would write in blood on his bedsheets. And eventually he was just nude in a in a cell with nothing, because they needed to stop him from writing the depraved material that he was writing. And, you know, it was just I wouldn't say my my compulsion is that extreme. But yeah, I don't feel like this is something I chose. I feel like it chose me It's something inside of me. And I get very depressed when I'm not able to have a creative outlet. You know, it's almost survival, which I know sounds completely absurd, but any other creative who has the same conviction? I do, it makes complete sense to them.   Michael Hingson  35:23 Well, you wrote starred in and did everything regarding, of course, your, your one woman show your of the slot what happened to it? Because it did oh yeah appear and you had some awards with it and so on. So what happened?   Jennifer Lieberman  35:39 So, um, in the interim, so once we won the award in New York, some people, like lots of people, actually friends, colleagues, people that I didn't know, suggested that it would be a great Chiclet book, and that I should write the novel. So I did, I wrote, I wrote the novel and shopped it around for a couple years. But once again, I was so green, it didn't even occur to me, like, oh, you should hire an editor, and you should hire a proofreader. And you should get a whole team of people together before you start sending it to agents and, and, you know, publishing companies. So I gave up on it. Over a decade, I probably gave up on it about three times. You know, the first time, I was completely unprepared. The second time, I did hire an editor, and she just was the wrong fit. And it didn't resonate with her. So she was just very cruel in her feedback. And I couldn't look at it for another two years. And, and then finally, a friend of mine encouraged me to finish it and self publish it not to be successful, but just to get to the finish line, and not have one more project hanging over me that's unfinished. So with that state of mind, it was actually kind of a relief, because it's like, Oh, I'm not even trying to make this book successful. I'm just trying to get to the finish line. And then I did, and I, I self published Europe, the sled and it was censored. And for a good year, I tried my damnedest to get around the censorship issues with Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, in terms of advertising. It was allowed to be on Amazon, I was allowed to have a Facebook page, I was allowed to have an Instagram account, but it couldn't do any advertising, which means I couldn't break through my audience of peers. So if you weren't already my friend, I couldn't get the information to you. Which kind of made it dead in the water. A colleague of mine after a year suggested to change the title since that was the only barrier. And I was like, No, the title is what's you know, is why it was a success in the first place. That's what packed houses. Village Voice had no problem. Printing ads with the title timeout in New York had no problem none of the, you know, none of the entities that came to review the play had problems publishing the title. But I guess since it was published after the ME TOO movement, the climate had changed a little bit. And we weren't able to. Yeah, well, I just wasn't able to get it out there. So after a few months of hemming and hawing over the whole situation, because I had the title before I had the story. I'm just I was just pretty good at coming up with catchy titles. So I was really married to it and then finally revamped it, retitled it, rebranded it, relaunched it. And it's now a number one bestseller on Amazon. It recently won the gold medal at the Global Book Awards for Best Coming of Age book, it won a bronze medal at the independent publishing Awards for Best romance slash erotica ebook. And, yeah, it's won a couple more, but those are the most notable and it served me well to to retitle the book so,   Michael Hingson  39:30 and the title of the book is   Jennifer Lieberman  39:32 near of the what, so it rhymes with slut. But it's not as controversial. And it actually serves me because in the process of, of publishing this first one, I realized that it's a trilogy and Book Two is going to be year of the bitch and I'll have the same problems. So I'm just going to keep it under the year of the white umbrella. a lot.   Michael Hingson  40:01 I would I would submit, maybe not. I know there is, well, I suppose anything's possible. But my wife and I love to read a variety of books. And we've written or we've read a number of books by an author Barbara Nino. So she wrote the Stasi justice series. Have you ever read any of her books? I haven't been on familiar with her. So she's also written the bitches Ever After series published with that name, so maybe it won't be quite the same? Well,   Jennifer Lieberman  40:34 there's a big book out called the ethical slut, that? Well, you know, and they had no problems with censorship, either. But I think sometimes it can, it depends on who your publisher is and who you're connected to. But um, but anyway, I think the year of the web series serves me because as soon as someone opens the first page of the book, The subtitle is right there, right. Yeah,   Michael Hingson  41:00 so people should go look for year of the what? Yes. Well, I'm glad it has been really successful. And you have worn a lot of hats on, off off Broadway and Hollywood and so on. And now you're back in Canada, and so on. What do you like best of all those hats and all those jobs or opportunities.   Jennifer Lieberman  41:27 That's number one. That's always been my number one passion. That's why I started writing fan fiction when I was eight, is because I just wanted to be in these movies and shows that I watched, and I really enjoy writing, I actually really enjoy producing and helping bring projects to life, whether they're mine or somebody else's. But the there's something magical about performing and living and breathing in somebody else's skin and a different world that a writer created. And it's just incomparable. So   Michael Hingson  42:14 year of the well, we'll, we'll do the slot. What? Is it funny?   Jennifer Lieberman  42:21 It is yes. So what are the words that one was best rom com of 2021. So when I submitted it to book life through Publishers Weekly, one of the reviews was that it doesn't fit neatly into the romance genre. And it doesn't fit neatly into the erotica genre. And it doesn't fit into this genre and doesn't fit into that genre. They didn't even review the book, like didn't even give like a positive or negative review. All they did was list all the genres it didn't fit into. And, but it is quite humorous. Because it's about these dating misadventures, and coming of age and coming to terms with sexuality, being a young woman in New York City, and kind of having to reevaluate a lot of the stories or, you know, kind of expectations that were ingrained in the character. So it's not even about her being a slut. It's about her reevaluating what that word means to her, because she only planned to be with my one man. So anything more than that would put her in the slot category. But yeah, so it was her kind of, you know, reevaluating her perception of what is the slot? And, you know, how many partners is too many and all of that stuff? Because, also, in today's world, how realistic is it? For someone to be with just one partner for their whole life? I don't know. Especially like in Western society? I don't know.   Michael Hingson  44:14 Well, since you have been involved in writing something that's humorous and so on, have you at all been involved in comedy stand up comedy or any of those kinds of things?   Jennifer Lieberman  44:26 Yeah, I did do stand up comedy. I do it from time to time. I wouldn't call myself a stand up comedian. Because I don't love it enough to be hitting the clubs every single night trying to get on stage, which if you're trying to make a living as a stand up comedian, you have to be hitting the clubs every night. All of the legit stand up comedians, I know will hit 234 Different clubs at night to get up. And I'm not that committed to it. It's a nice muscle to flex, it's nice to know that I have the courage to get up and do it that I can make an audience laugh. But I'm no by no means a professional stand up. I got into it by accident, I responded to a casting notice looking for females who could be funny. And it was a promoter looking for more female comics to be on his shows. And he was willing to train and coach to coach women because he just felt like he wasn't getting enough women applying to be on his on his lineups. And he wasn't meeting enough women. This was this was a few years ago, this was like I think 2014 is when I started, it was just before Amy Schumer, like, had her breakout success and became a huge household name. Now, now when you go into the comedy scene, there are so many more women than then there was, you know, about eight years ago. So now, it's not the same climate. So his name? Matt Taylor, his name's Matt Taylor. So he kind of convinced me to give it a go and try five minutes. Because I was like, oh, no, like, That's too scary. I don't do that. But after doing two one woman shows where I was on stage by myself for over an hour, each one I was like, Okay, what's five minutes. And I did it. And when I was a hit, it was great. Nobody thought everybody thought I was quite seasoned. All the other comedians on the lineup thought that I had done it dozens of times before. And I, I did it pretty consistently for a couple of years. But once again, like I said, I just didn't love it enough. Like I'd rather I would run, I would run to a theater every night to do Shakespeare or Tennessee Williams, I wouldn't run to a theater every night to do stand up. So it's just not the type of creative that I am. But once again, nice to know that, that I can flex that muscle.   Michael Hingson  47:14 So how many books have you written so far? One novel,   Jennifer Lieberman  47:17 which we discussed, and then under Mike, my consulting business to make your own break business I've published to during the pandemic, I always intended to publish books, under the Make Your Own break umbrella, about low budget, film production, low, no budget is more accurate, no budget theatre production, how to develop a solo show. So all of those are still coming. But during the pandemic, I was asked to coach a few executives, to help them with their presentation skills and engaging their team. And I'm kind of like a nerd and I didn't feel qualified to coach these people. So I was like, Okay, I have to come up with a system before I feel confident enough to like go and actually, you know, do this and charge money. So I came up with these seven steps on how to master your virtual meeting. So that's one of the books make your own break, how to master your virtual meeting in seven simple steps. And then I also recorded my AUDIO BOOK during the initial lockdown, and I messed up a lot. And I had to I recorded the entire book and had to throw it in the garbage and start again from scratch. And then the same friend colleague who suggested I changed my title suggested that I write a how to book geared towards self published authors and indie authors on how they can record and publish their own audio books. So that's book number two how to record and publish your audio book in seven simple steps once again under the Make Your Own break umbrella. And yeah, so there are those two books and like I said, I I will be publishing more How To books under the Make Your Own break, but those will probably pertain more to film theater production and creative process.   Michael Hingson  49:23 And then the what? At pardon. And then more year of the what and then more   Jennifer Lieberman  49:28 year of the wet because that I've realized as a trilogy. You know, when women are young, if people want to attack us in our teens and 20s Regardless of what our personal lives are, people call us a sloth. Whether it's male or females, it's a woman it's a it's a word is weaponized against women. And then as we get older, more assertive, more confident, we're we're called a bitch. So I'm kind of going through the trajectory of words. are used as weapons against women, and how we can reframe them and own them, instead of being ashamed of them.   Michael Hingson  50:09 Then you can write the fourth book what bitch. But anyway, that's another story. Exactly. So did you publish an audiobook?   Jennifer Lieberman  50:18 I did, yes. This year of the what is available on Audible? Yes. So I did I, I was I finally recorded a successful version. And it was after that, that I decided that okay, yeah, maybe I can write the how to book on how to do this. And it's specifically encouraging self published authors. Because if you have enough conviction to write your story, you should be the one telling it.   Michael Hingson  50:47 It's interesting in the publishing world today, that and people will tell you, this agents and others will tell you this, that it isn't like it used to be, you have to do a lot of your own marketing, even if you get a publisher to take on your book and take that project. So the fact is doing an indie publishing project certainly uses a lot of the same rules, you still have to market it, you're gonna have to do it either way, you're still going to be doing a lot of the work, the publishing industry can help. But you still got to do a lot, if not most of the work.   Jennifer Lieberman  51:29 Yeah, and not just that, I don't know, if if you follow any celebrities, on on Twitter, or Instagram, but I believe nowadays, like I'm a, I'm a member of the Screen Actors Guild, that union in the US, and a lot of contracts now have social media obligations written into them, that you have to tweet that you have to post a certain amount to help promote the show. And a lot of decisions are based on how big of a following you have, there's actually, I'm not sure if you were a Game of Thrones fan, I was a big Game of Thrones fan. But one of the characters, it was between her and another actress and she had a bigger social media following. And that was the tipping point of how she got cast. So it you know, self promote, like that's what social media is, it's all self promotion. So it's not just the publishing world, it's the acting world, I think it's just become the norm of it doesn't matter what business you're in. It used to be that you needed a.com. In order to exist now you need a social media following in order to exist.   Michael Hingson  52:53 I know when we originally did fender Dogg, and Thomas Nelson put, picked it up and decided to publish it. Even then back in 2010, and 2011. One of the main questions was, how much will you be able to contribute to the marketing of the book? How much will you be able to help promote it? Now? We have a contract to do our next book, A Guide Dogs Guide to Being brave, unless the publisher decides once we're done to change the title. But still, it is all about how big of a following do you have? How much are you going to be able to contribute contribute to the book because you're probably not going to get some sort of big book tour or anything like that paid for by the publishing company, unless there's some compelling reason to do it. And it is all about what you can do. So publishing is changing, the landscape is changing. mainstream publishers are great, they do add a lot of value. But you do need to learn to sell and to market and be intelligent about it as an author, no matter how your book gets published.   Jennifer Lieberman  54:03 Yes. And, you know, it's a double edged sword, because it gives lots of opportunities to indie, indie authors, but it also, it's sad for me because it becomes a popularity contest. And it's not necessarily about how good your book is, or how good your work is. It's just if you, you know, have a buzz factor. And if you have a following or if you had, like some mishap in your life that went viral, then all of a sudden, you have this huge platform for all these opportunities, regardless of how talented or prepared you are for those opportunities. And you know, it like I said, it's a double edged sword. There are benefits to it. And there are, you know, there are detriments to it but also like I'm the type of artist. I'm gonna I'm willing to go outside of my integrity. So let the chips fall where they may.   Michael Hingson  55:05 Well, you have written both in the literary world, if you will. And in the theater world, which do you prefer? And why? Oh, that's a toughy. Because you're doing a lot with each one, aren't you?   Jennifer Lieberman  55:21 Yeah. And I'm still like, I'm, you know, and that's the thing, like I write plays, I write scripts for film, and I'm writing a TV pilot right now. And in the literary world, the benefit of writing in the literary world, is once the writing is finished, and when I mean writing, I mean, also the editing and the proofreading. Your job is done, like the project is complete. When you're writing theatrically, whether it's film or theatre, that's just step one, there's still a very, very, very long road ahead of you, you know, and trying to get into the right hands, trying to raise the money, trying to, you know, get the right team together, and the right actors, the right, you know, then you had, then there's the feat of filming it, and then the post production process, and then the distribution process. So there is something very satisfying when writing a book that's finished. But there's also something very exciting to me, you know, in the whole process of getting a project produced from you know, from step one to step 55.   Michael Hingson  56:45 So, as a writer in the theatrical world, you really can't just be a writer, and then you turn it over to someone, if you're going to make it successful, I gather, what you're saying is, you really have to be the driving force behind the whole project, not just the writing part.   Jennifer Lieberman  57:01 Well, at my level, because like I said, I don't have an agent, I don't, I'm trying to get things into other people's hands. So right now, I'm shopping around here of the what for theatrical opportunity, I went to the Cannes Film Festival to the market there, I've met with a certain number of people. And one of the questions was, how involved would you want to be in this project? And my answer is, however involved you would like, you know, because I'm not married to this project. Like I, I've been living with this for a decade, between writing it, workshopping it, and then the novel between the play and the novel, like, I'm ready to let this go. If somebody wants to write me a check. Go ahead, do what you will with it. You know, but then there are other pieces that are closer to my heart that I'm like, oh, no, like, this isn't for sale. We can partner on this and make this together. But this is, you know, staying under my under my wings, so to speak. But I have another I have a short piece, a short film, that a friend of mine is shooting in LA next month, and I'm not really gonna have any creative involvement in it.   Michael Hingson  58:26 Out of curiosity, when somebody asks you that question, is there sort of a general trend as to what do they want the answer to be? Or is it really something that varies? They they're not necessarily looking for you to be involved typically, or they'd like you to be involved typically, as a really an answer that makes more sense to most people than not,   Jennifer Lieberman  58:47 you know, it's interesting, because I've gotten both, I've gotten both opinions. You know, for, I guess the higher up people are on the food chain. They're very relieved to hear that I don't need to have any involvement in it at all, because they know how hard it is to get something made in the first place, let alone having all of these, you know, kind of stipulations. It's like, well, I can only get made, you know, she gets to approve the script and this and this and this and that, you know, so the less I think the less involvement I have, the easier it is for the producer because they have more freedom to negotiate. Right. But that's an instinct once again, I don't know, you know,   Michael Hingson  59:32 it probably does very well. How do you keep such a positive attitude and keep yourself to use the terminology of our podcast unstoppable as you get a lot of rejections as you face a lot of challenges. And as you said, you haven't had that huge break. But how do you keep yourself going?   Jennifer Lieberman  59:51 I love it. This is a love affair. This is a lifelong love affair for me. And I was on a podcast A few days ago, we had to write a creativity statement. And my creativity statement is that being a creative is like being in a one sided relationship, and you have to love it enough for both of you. Because the the industry isn't necessarily going to love you back. But if you love it enough, if you love the creative process enough, you're just gonna keep going.   Michael Hingson  1:00:22 I want you to extrapolate that to just anyone even outside the theatrical world. What would you tell somebody if they come up to you and say, How can I just keep myself going,   Jennifer Lieberman  1:00:35 find something that you love and do it as often as possible? It doesn't have to be your job, you don't have to make money at it. You just have to have something in your life that you really love and enjoy doing. You know, whether it's dancing, whether it's singing, you know, and that's the thing like, you don't have to be a superstar. I'm not a superstar. Maybe one day I will be universe. But I, I'm not going to stop what I do, because it just brings me so much joy. And I'm so happy and I do I get in a funk. I get in a funk when I'm not able to create. And, you know, for some people it might be hiking or kayaking or camping or connecting with nature. That's something that that I love to do. Also, that brings me joy. But yeah, I think a lot of us get so caught up. And also I would say close your screen. Go dark, go dark for a few days. Don't worry about what's going on on social media. Don't worry about the internet, like go outside and actually be in the real world connect with real people connect with nature. Be in your body. I find when I get in my head, too much I can spin out. But when you're in your body, you can you can feel your you can feel your essence. You   Michael Hingson  1:02:04 know, always good to step back.   Jennifer Lieberman  1:02:07 So that would be my advice.   Michael Hingson  1:02:10 It's always good to step back and look at yourself and just relax. And we don't do that often enough. We get too involved in that social media and everything else as you point out.   Jennifer Lieberman  1:02:22 Yeah, exactly. And it's proven like there are statistics, social media makes people depressed. People only put their Insta life best moments on social media. I'm sure someone will mention if they're going through a hard time or whatever. But that's not the majority of people. People will sift through their life find take a million photos of one of one scenario, find the best photo doctorate with with face tune filters and whatever and make their life look fabulous. And you know, everything's curated. I'm actually I wrote a poem about this. Would you mind I've never shared this publicly. Can I? Really?   Michael Hingson  1:03:09 Sure. Go ahead.   Jennifer Lieberman  1:03:11 Okay. It's called Black Sabbath. And basically, it's about going dark. Can we all just go dark for a day? Turn off the devices be still be silent and pray? No posts, no distractions? No waiting impatiently for strangers reactions. Can we all just go dark for a day? No selfie indulgence? No curated inspiration. No unsolicited motivation. Be present. Be awake. Meditate. Can we all just go dark for a day hold our loved ones dear if not in our arms in our consciousness spear. Make amends with our Maker, the true force of nature and submit to the power of our sublime creator. Can we all just go dark for a day, shut our screens, search our souls reclaim our minds that get hijacked every time we scroll. And finally take back our grip of the only thing we can control. That's it.   Michael Hingson  1:04:24 That's as powerful as it gets. And it is so true. Yeah. Yeah. It is absolutely so true. So what you've already alluded to it, what do you do when you're not writing and being creative? What do you like to do to relax? You said some of   Jennifer Lieberman  1:04:41 it. Yeah, I'm a yoga Holic. Like I said, I spent the first half of my life as a competitive gymnast. So I'm super active. I love physical activity. I don't work out in terms of like, I don't go to the gym and I don't do a certain amount of reps and I I'm on a treadmill for 20 minutes a day I do physical activities that I enjoy, so I enjoy yoga. I'm quite advanced at it with a gymnastics background so it's fun and acrobatic for me. I love hiking. I love connecting with nature whether it's stand up paddleboarding, kayaking, canoeing, waterskiing, I love all of that stuff. Not much of a snow skier though I don't really love the cold, even though I'm Canadian.   Michael Hingson  1:05:30 How lucky you were you live in? You don't like to call it okay.   Jennifer Lieberman  1:05:34 Yeah, I don't. But basically anything active and outdoors. There's a treetop trekking course not far from where my parents are. And like, that's next on the list. I'm really excited to do that. What is that? Basically, they have these like, kind of obstacle courses up in the trees. So you're on harnesses, and you know, whether it's like platforms that you walk across, or ropes courses that you have to, you know, I don't know, I haven't been but it sounds fun.   Michael Hingson  1:06:12 Well, you have to let us know what it's like after you, you get to go clearly not wheelchair accessible. So I'm sure my wife's not gonna want to do it. But nevertheless, you got to let us know how it goes once you do it.   Jennifer Lieberman  1:06:27 Yes, I will. I will. It's very exciting. Oh, and I love live music. So like rock shows. That's my jam. I'm a rocker chick.   Michael Hingson  1:06:36 There you go. Well, I want to thank you for being here. And spending the last hour and a little bit more with us. This has been fun. Clearly, you keep yourself going you do move forward, you're not going to let things stop you, you are going to be unstoppable, as I said, using the parlance of the name of the podcast, but I want to thank you for being here and inspiring all of us and telling us your story. If people want to reach out to you and contact you and learn more about you find your books or anything else. How will they do that?   Jennifer Lieberman  1:07:10 Okay, so year of the what.com is the website for the book, but it'll link you to almost everything. Or you can go to make your own break.com. Both of those have links to all of the books and all the social media. And they also have contact pages that will come to my inbox directly. So that's the best way. If you want to find out more about me, and on social media, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I am Jen Lieberman. So the at sign, and then I am Jen. J e n Lieberman L i E,B E R m a N.   Michael Hingson  1:08:00 Well, I hope people will reach out oh, I should ask you you written in your writing the How To books? Are you going to do anything like create any online courses or anything?   Jennifer Lieberman  1:08:10 You know, it's funny I was doing in person courses. I haven't gotten around to doing the online ones yet. But yes, that is also in the works. There's a laundry list. Bed. And like we talked about, I wear many hats. And I'm always more interested in the creative stuff. As opposed to the as opposed to the business side. So I you know, I always feel like, oh, there'll be time for the course there'll be time for that. And as it as it so happens, the more successful my creative career is, the more validity I have to teach these other courses. So it's all in good time.   Michael Hingson  1:08:49 Great. Well, again, thank you for being here with us people, please go visit your of the what.com or make your own break.com. And reach out to Jen, she would love to hear from you. And I would love to hear from you. I'd love to know what you thought about today, I would really appreciate you giving us a five star rating. Jennifer Lieberman needs a five star rating. So let's give her one you all. And I want to thank you all for for being here. Reach out to me, feel free to do so by emailing me at Michaelhi at accessibe.com Or go visit WWW dot Michael hingson.com/podcast. Or just go to Michael hingson.com and learn more about the things that I do. But either way, please help us give Jen rave reviews. And Jen one last time. Thank you very much for being here.   Jennifer Lieberman  1:09:48 Thank you so much, Michael. This was such a treat. I really appreciate you having me on.   Michael Hingson  1:09:53 Well, the fun and the honor was mine. So thank you you   1:09:59 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Ari Schonbrun was the Chief Administrative Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, and is an author, speaker and 9/11 survivor. Ari was on the 78th floor of Tower One when the first plane hit on September 11, 2001. He helped a colleague suffering third-degree burns to safety and was thrown into the national spotlight thereafter. His miraculous first-hand account of survival has been retold in newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets, and books. Mr. Schonbrun is a native New Yorker. He is passionate about philanthropy and serves as a board member of Strength to Strength, a global non-profit organization that works with victims of terror across the world. Ari and his wife, Joyce, live in Cedarhurst with their five children and several grandchildren. ____________________________________ This episode is brought to you by Touro University! To learn more about how you can excel at Touro University, Visit Touro.edu/more ____________________________________ This episode is brought to you by Bridge Credit Solutions! If you're looking for a reputable credit repair company that can clean your credit within 6-60 days or your money back, Bridge Credit Solutions is your choice.  Serious Inquiries Only https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=12126602991&text=Hi,%20Im%20interested%20in%20more%20information.%20Saw%20on%20MM%20 ____________________________________ Subscribe to Meaningful Minute on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/15166687800?text=Please%20subscribe%20me%20to%20Meaningful%20Min Ute ____________________________________ Subscribe to our Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2WALuE2 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/39bNGnO Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/MPPGooglePodcasts Or wherever Podcasts are available! Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/meaningfulpeoplepodcast Like us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/MPPonFB Follow us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/MeaningfuPplPod Editor: Sruly Saftlas Podcast created by: Meaningful Minute For more info and upcoming news check out: https://MeaningfulPeoplePodcast.com #jew #jewish #podcast #frum #rabbi #frumpodcast #meaningfulpeople #torah #mitzvah #hashem #jewishmusic #jewishpodcast #israel #kumzitz #nachigordon #jewishpod

Every year I dedicate myself to keeping the flame of remembrance alive for those who lost their lives in the Islamofascist attacks on our nation on September 11th, 2001. For those of us who lived through that day, the images, the sounds, and for those who had boots on the ground – both civilian and first responder alike, the smells are forever etched into our memories for all eternity.I remember exactly where I was and what I was thinking as I saw the smoke billowing out of Tower Two of the World Trade Center on that day. It was a surreal moment, a moment of the unthinkable. As a former professional firefighter and paramedic, my immediate thoughts were centered on the tasks the first responders had before them in trying to both save lives and battle the fire.Then I watched live as the second plane hit Tower One and I knew we were under some kind of attack. Everyone did. It was obvious...RELATED LINK(S):https://www.undergroundusa.com/p/september-11th-21-years-onhttps://youtu.be/sw_8o7X0mOE?t=10Sign-up for our mostly daily mail out here:https://www.undergroundusa.comSupport Underground USA (BTC)https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/7b2d8c35-55b9-49ed-9918-f7cc6f2a488dSupport Underground USA (USD)https://checkout.square.site/merchant/SW8KGEWAS2A22/checkout/SXG24XFCOWMROX3D5IN42TB2Convention of Stateshttp://ConventionOfStates.com/?ref=69171

77WABC Early News Host Deborah Valentine spoke to former FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro ahead of the 21st commemoration of 9/11 to pay tribute to his colleague Chief Peter J. Ganci, who died when Tower One fell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 The critical key to surmounting obstacles, conquering challenges, and reaching your goals lies in your mind. You have to believe with your whole being that you can do it. Often what holds you back is fear. Today I talk with Michael Hingson, author of Thunderdog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero, about diversity, inclusion and conquering the mindset of fear.Michael has an incredible story to tell. When he was 6 months old, his parents were told that he was permanently and totally blind. He was one of more than 10,000 premature babies in the US who developed retinopathy due to excess exposure to oxygen, irreversibly scarring and destroying the retina, so no visual information was transmitted from the eye to the brain.  But Michael's sighted parents believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike, did advanced math in his head and learned to read and write in Braille. Michael's family relocated to Palmdale, California when he was five years old. It is here that Michael had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later earned  bachelor's and master's degrees in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. On September 11, 2001, Michael and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed, only to be enveloped in a thick cloud of pulverized concrete dust. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. The story of their escape from Tower 1 was engrossing.  But most important  was how his parents raised him to acquire the survival skills and mindset that enabled him to survive the 78 story stairway descent of World Trade Center Tower 1 on Sept 11, 2001 and then to shake off the dust and move forward.Mike enjoys a successful 41-year sales career, first in high-tech and now inspiring adventures and joyful living for audiences around the world. He is a long time Social advocate for change concerning disabilities through his involvement with the National Federation of the Blind.  Contact Michael Hingson. Gift: Free ebook Blinded by Fear www.blindedbyfear.net  www.michaelhingson.com and https://accessibe.com/a/6eybb9o https://www.facebook.com/mhingson https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://www.facebook.com/Roselle911GuideDog/ LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCx2L9OVN38Dv4mX6udP8g Contact Dr. Gillian Lockitch to learn how you can live younger as you grow older: Order a copy of Growing Older Living Younger: The Science of Aging Gracefully and The Art of Retiring Comfortably  Schedule a free  Discovery Call with Dr. Lockitch Join the Growing Older Living Younger Community 

Michael Hingson, blind since birth and raised by sighted parents who taught him a can-do attitude, lives life fully every single day. He is working hard to change the attitude of sighted people around their beliefs about what blind people can and can't do.  Blind people are not “disabled”, they are ‘people with disabilities, as every single one of us is, if we stop to think about it. We all have abilities and disabilities.  Michael has his own podcast, “Unstoppable Mindset”, and is an international speaker and author. His book “Thunderdog” is the story of him and his guide dog, Roselle, escaping from the 76th floor of Tower 1 on 9/11. They had an interdependent relationship, based on trust, an ideal partnership, in other words, that got them out alive and has allowed Michael to share his story to millions around the world and now it's coming to you here on this podcast!  Enjoy and don't forget to check out his free gift too!  I thought this would be a wonderful ‘feel good' episode to share with you during my theme of “ideal partnerships”.   Gift: http://www.blindedbyfear.net (www.blindedbyfear.net). On this site people can download a free eBook I have written about fear. They will be able to use this book to begin their own journey to eliminate being blinded by fear when they are confronted by something unexpected that occurs in their lives. Your Guided Health Journey Membership – 1 month FREE Trial: https://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/membership-programs/ (https://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/membership-programs/) Health Kickstart Program: https://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/health-kick-start-detox/ (https://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/health-kick-start-detox/)  Complimentary 15-minute consult: https://YGHJappointments.as.me/free-consult (https://YGHJappointments.as.me/free-consult) Discover Your Toxic Load Quiz:  https://welcome.yourguidedhealthjourney.com/yourtoxicload (https://welcome.yourguidedhealthjourney.com/yourtoxicload)   About the Guest: Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born to sighted parents who raised him with a can-do attitude., Michael rode a bike and learned to do advanced math in his head! He moved to California and attended college receiving a master's degree in Physics and a secondary teaching credential.  Michael worked for high-tech companies mostly in management roles until September 11, 2001, when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the WTC. They were then thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share lessons of trust, courage, and teamwork. Mike is the author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller: “Thunder dog” – selling over 2.5 million copies. In 2014 he published his 2nd book “Running with Roselle”, A story for our youth. Mike has spoken to the world's elite including George Bush, and Larry King. He has appeared on hundreds of TV and Radio programs. Now he is hired by major organizations Speaking on perseverance, the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, and offering Adaptive Technology Training. In addition to speaking throughout the world, Mike serves as the chief vision officer for accessiBe, an Israeli-based company that makes products to help companies make their websites accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities.   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ (https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/), https://www.facebook.com/mhingson (https://www.facebook.com/mhingson), https://www.facebook.com/Roselle911GuideDog/ (https://www.facebook.com/Roselle911GuideDog/) Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhingson (https://twitter.com/mhingson)  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson) Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCx2L9OVN38Dv4mX6udP8g...

Ari Schonbrun is a 9/11 hero & survivor turned Author, Speaker, Podcast Host and Executive Performance Coach.  Mr. Schonbrun was on the 78th floor of Tower One at The World Trade Center when the first plane hit on September 11, 2001. He helped a colleague suffering third degree burns to safety and was thrown into the national spotlight thereafter. His miraculous first-hand account about survival has been retold in newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets, and books. Mr. Schonbrun is a renowned inspirational speaker and the author of ‘Miracles & Fate on 78'. He draws from the personal heartbreak he endured during the devastation of 9/11, deftly weaving in his capital markets expertise after more than three decades of working on Wall Street. He speaks with energy, fluency and wisdom, utilizing his humorous and engaging personality to stir and inspire audiences worldwide.Mr. Schonbrun is a native New Yorker. He is passionate about philanthropy and serves as a board member of Strength to Strength, a global non-profit organization that works with victims of terror across the world. He is also the host of Whispers & Bricks Podcast and the creator of Whispers & Bricks Coaching Academy, focusing on middle management and executive life coaching. You can catch Ari on his podcast: https://whispersandbrickspodcast.com/Thanks For Listening! Follow us on: - Website: https://victim2victor.net/ - FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/victim2victor - TWITTER: https://twitter.com/V2V_healing - INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/victim_2_victor_podcast/- Victim 2 Victor Audio Book Audible: https://adbl.co/3akVNCu - Victim 2 Victor Book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/34MQQyu - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3wHvUof - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36D6ZYE 

Episode Summary Myrna Daramy is called “The Oprah of Tech” by her clients. She has an incredible gift to break tech down into simple concepts that anyone can understand. Even more important, Myrna regularly demonstrates that she is a visionary who can assimilate and encompass new concepts. As a “marketing technologist” Myrna discovered early that she has a knack for not only relating to people but that she can help them solve difficult problems. Her interests are varied and far ranging. Two years ago, for example, she first encountered the concept of what we call the “accessibility gap” regarding the availability and usability of websites by persons with disabilities. What did she do? She made providing access a part of her business. She already has helped over fifty customers ensure that their websites are inclusive. Along the way, she discovered accessiBe and uses it to her great advantage in helping to promote inclusion for all. Myrna's story represents the unstoppable mindset as the best part of her life. I am sure you will be inspired by what she has to say. After listening, please let me know your thoughts via email at michaelhi@accessibe.com. About the Guest: Myrna Daramy is a Marketing Technologist and the founder of Myrna & Co, a technology coaching firm specializing in digital media marketing strategy, analytics, and ADA Compliance. Over the last 15 years, Myrna's obsession with optimization has led her to educating over 500,000 professionals and transforming countless small business brands' digital footprints. Myrna's clients often call her the “Oprah of Tech” for her unique ability to translate ‘tech talk' into simple and actionable concepts that make sense to even the most non-technical business owners. She takes pride in helping her clients peel back the layers of their brand, establish connections with prospective customers, utilize the latest and greatest technology tools, and return to them an optimized digital footprint that converts better than ever before. About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Ad  00:01 On April the 16th at 2pm North American instant time, blind musicians from across the globe are getting together for an online benefit concert for Ukraine. It's called we're with you, and all money raised goes to the world of blind unions unity fund for Ukraine. To learn more, including how to listen and how to perform it were with you visit mushroom fm.com/withyou that mushroomfm.com/withyou UM Intro/Outro  00:30 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  01:49 Well, hello again, everyone. This is Mike Hingson welcoming you to another episode of unstoppable mindset. And today we have a marketing technologist I'm really interested to learn what that is all about. She's formed a company called Myrna and CO and company which is pretty cool. Myrna Daramy, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Myrna Daramy  02:14 One, I'm so happy to be with you today, Michael. Michael Hingson  02:17 Well, we're honored to have you and we'll get to how we met as we as we proceed. But tell me a little bit about kind of your early life and all that what, what got you into the world and all that kind of stuff that you think people would want to know about? And even if they don't tell us anyway, Myrna Daramy  02:36 I love it. Okay, so what got me into the world, yes, of marketing technology, I will say I started not in that realm at all I started in the world of architecture, that's what I went to undergrad for. But architecture is one of those degrees that I literally cherished, because it is that one space where I now in retrospect, when I look at, you know, the career that I have, it told me and, and molded me in a way that allowed for me to create something out of nothing. Because throughout my whole class curriculum, we would always have these projects. And these projects would literally be like, you know, create, that was the whole goal. So there was no textbook, there was no reference, we just had to be very creative and concoct these designs that we made up and then would have to present it to a board. And they would critique it. And so in those exercises of doing that, it allowed for me to free myself enough to realize that I can create as much as I wanted. And you know, hopefully in critique of those things that I created, it would do some good. So you fast forward to today, I ended up getting an MBA in technology management. And in that, I realized that there were several holes in the market space for people who were able to not just speak tech, or be very tech savvy, but also be very equally as creative from the business and marketing side of things as well. And so I kind of infused myself into the mix, because I can think on both levels, and have been working with clients ever since bridging that gap between marketing and technology. Michael Hingson  04:39 So what kind of holes do you find? Where do you what do you find our biggest? I know weaknesses are. Myrna Daramy  04:46 So the biggest holes I will say the people who are very technical or that are deemed more tech savvy, the web developers, the programmers, they tend to be very detail oriented. down to the granular approach. And they also tend to not be able to think much out of the box, because I think in their world, they are very zeros and ones black and white. And so there's a level of I wouldn't say they don't explore, because they are very cool. They are creative in their own right in their own way. But when it comes to marketing, and speaking, layman's terms, and connecting those dots, so that you can actually bring more brand awareness and attract more audiences, they're lacking sometimes. So I realize that on the flip side, a lot of the people who deem themselves more creative and more on the marketing or the business side of things tend to shy away from or run away from anything that seems techie. Where it's, it becomes too much. And they will quickly say, you know, oh, no, you know, I don't know, tech, or, you know, I don't know how to code or I don't know how to how to understand this program. So it always seems to be that there's this like, you're on one side or the other. And so I've seen holes on both. And so I guess for me, I've just always been able to teeter totter on either side, and translate from there. So Michael Hingson  06:26 I know exactly what you're talking about, I find that a lot of people are focused, where they're focused. And we never like to go outside of our, our world or our sphere, or what we're comfortable with, if you will, the usual, people don't like to go outside their comfort zone. It does tend to make a real problem. For me, as a person who happens to be blind, and I've been blind on my life. I'm not sure what my comfort zone is, well, I do know I have a comfort zone, I'm being a little sarcastic. But I always have to go outside of it, it can be as simple as walking across the street, and suddenly hearing a car when I expected there to be no cars, because there were none that were coming in front of me. And suddenly, I have to deal with it to going to a strange place and all that. So I do tend to like to take a different approach than I think what a lot of people do. And I noticed that having grown up and spent most of my adult world in the sales and sales management world. It's just as relevant their salespeople, I'm not techie techie, or really don't like to do the technical stuff I just sell. But the reality is, if people would learn a little bit about the other side of the fence, they would be much better at doing what they normally do. Exactly, Myrna Daramy  07:56 yes. It's like whatever lens you're looking through, having the openness to be able to explore. And, you know, just ask the question of what if or just being able to, to your point, you know, not all the things you don't need to be a programmer. But to understand that some of the nuances definitely does help and give you a new perspective for sure. Michael Hingson  08:21 One of my favorite stories is my best sales guy who I ever hired, and I went to do a sales presentation. I kind of am technical enough that I can be an additional sales engineer to the ones that we normally had at the company. And he and I went to do this presentation. And they got fairly technical. My master's degree is in physics, which opened me up to being curious. And so I learned how to be somewhat technical. I'm not a programmer. I'm not normally a fix it guy, but I can analyze problems and sometimes help fix but we went to this presentation. And when we left. When we got outside, Kevin asked me how is it that you know, this stuff, all this technical stuff about the product? And I don't? And and what I said was Did you read the bulletin that came out last week that Kevin came out to all of us? And he said, No, I was really pretty busy. I said, Well, there you go. It was all there. Myrna Daramy  09:23 Exactly. Michael Hingson  09:25 And it's it's not that the information is not available, it's that we don't take advantage of it all too often. Because we don't consider it a priority to grow. Myrna Daramy  09:35 Exactly. Now that's so true. I see that a lot, especially in you know, I work with a lot of creative entrepreneurs and they did to your point, I want to stay in my lane and create and do all the fun aspects. So when it comes to things like search engine optimization, or website optimization, they're like, No, I don't want to do that. So, Michael Hingson  10:01 and I don't necessarily want to do it, but I know enough about how to do it, then I can interact with the people that I want to do it for me. And I know that those people can do the job better than I. But having the knowledge helps me interact with them, and make us all more efficient. Myrna Daramy  10:23 Exactly, yes. Because you don't know what you don't know. So if you can get yourself to have better understanding, you'll be able to not only communicate better, but to your point, you'll have a better outcome. So 100% agree. Michael Hingson  10:38 That's just another way of saying you should learn to know what you don't know. Myrna Daramy  10:43 Right? Is knowing that you don't know what you don't know is very important. It's a big that's a big step in the right direction. Michael Hingson  10:51 It can help well, so you, you started an arc you. So you, you actually started in architecture, and were you an architect for a while, or did you deviate before then? Myrna Daramy  11:03 So the funny story on that Michael is I tried, I mean, I interned with an architect for a year, I worked at an interior design firm, for about a year and a half, I think after that, but every time I was in those positions, where I would be considered architectural intern or architect, staff architect, I was promoted to become management. And so they always kind of said, Let's push you out. So you can be more with out facing with the with the clients. And so I realized at that point, I was like, well, maybe I'm not supposed to be doing this, maybe I am supposed to be doing something a little bit more front facing or outward. Because I am, I call myself an introverted extrovert. But I do love people. So I'm in that that's when I think the light bulb moment went off and said, you know, and I said to myself, maybe I should actually pursue, you know, something more along the lines of business, or, you know, management. And so that's where I ended up getting my MBA. Michael Hingson  12:07 Did you apply any of that and go back to doing architecture work? That is did you? Did you work with architectural companies? Or did you just go off in a completely different set of directions? Myrna Daramy  12:19 The funny thing, I did start off working with architectural companies, but I did it from a marketing standpoint, right? after the fact. And then from there, I branched off. But yeah, that's where I started. Michael Hingson  12:32 So I, I appreciate all of that. I've worked with the architectural world from the standpoint of being one of the first people or starting an organization that was one of the first to sell PC based CAD systems. Wow, that was a revolutionary thing back in the 80s, for architects to consider using a computer, instead of drawing boards to do their work. Myrna Daramy  12:59 Exactly. That's huge. Michael Hingson  13:02 We had a lot of fun with it, it was it was pretty interesting. And when the light bulb went off, and an architect could realize they could do in hours or a day or two, on a computer, what they would normally take days and days and lots of paper to do with the drawing board. They went, Oh, I like this. Myrna Daramy  13:21 It was a smart move. Yeah, it's funny, because when I was in school, Kevin was out, of course, but they wanted us to learn the traditional way. So we did spend a lot of time hand rendering things, which was, you know, and I appreciate it now. But at the time, it was, why can't we just use CAD? Michael Hingson  13:44 Do people do hand rendering and do a lot of stuff during their educational phases, as opposed to CAD? Or is CAD pretty much now use right from the outset? Transition Point Myrna Daramy  13:57 is definitely more of a standard. But I think in in my day, early, you know, 2000s, I think it was still they wanted to make sure we owned the the craft, yeah, and, and used it as a tool, not necessarily as the actual application all the time. But now it's totally everything's all CAD. Michael Hingson  14:20 Being a physics oriented person, it still seems to me that it's important for young children to learn to do math, with pencil and paper as opposed to using a calculator because the calculator doesn't give you the ability to learn the process. I'm not convinced that that's true with CAD because I think with CAD, you still have to create the process. And you have to know what to tell the CAD system to do to make the process work. Whereas with a calculator, you don't learn about units you don't learn about other things. Myrna Daramy  14:54 Exactly. I agree with you on that Michael like yeah, you still have to learn you still have to understand what it is 3d rendering or like a 3d image looks like. And to your point you use the the application to create that. But yeah, it's your Yeah, I 100% agree. Because when it comes to other tools out there like calculator, or even down to like an iPad or something that allows for multiple ways of doing things, as opposed to hand writing something, I do believe that there's definitely a detriment that happens when there's that. I don't know what you want to call it, it's almost like you fast forward, you went from like A to F as opposed to going through all the steps. Michael Hingson  15:38 And getting CAD doesn't take away the steps. CAD just takes away the the pen and paper but it doesn't take away the steps. Exactly. I remember being in college, working at a campus radio station, you want to talk about steps. If you wanted to create a program or edit audio, you sat down with a slicer or a razor blade, you recorded it, you cut tape, and you spliced it together. And if you were neat enough, you could get this places to go through and you could hear a completely smooth recreation without whatever it is that you didn't want, or you added in the things that you don't want. Today I use a tool called Reaper, which is an audio editor. Yeah, I got to tell you, it's a whole lot easier than cutting tape. Myrna Daramy  16:32 I was about to say this splicing the word splice in itself, like people don't realize what that means when they say it in today's day and age of splicing things together. But to hear you say it tell that story about splicing would literally That's intense. So yes, it can be appreciated to say right now that Michael Hingson  16:54 you're sitting there with reels of tape, you have a little roll of what's called splicing tape, which you you have around and you have a razor blade or some sort of way to cut and literally put the pieces of the recorded tape together and use splicing tape to connect them and glue them if you will, together. And if you do a good job you can you can make it work. I was not the greatest splicer in the world. Myrna Daramy  17:20 That's a school. Yeah. Michael Hingson  17:26 But life is fun. But you know, we we grow, but that's okay. But I understood the process. And now audio editing, I understand the process and find that the audio editor doesn't change the demands of what my creative skill needs to be, but it, it helps with the technique, but I still have to know what to do, which is good. Exactly. I love that too. It's a lot, a lot of fun. So you went off and you started marketing? And you have you have obviously been pretty successful with that. And you're a coach, and you're a coach, and you train and manage teams and so on. Tell me about that, if you would. So Myrna Daramy  18:03 yeah, so fast forward to what I'm doing today, I often consider myself and I said this a little bit in the beginning translator, I have become a technology translator for a lot of businesses where I assist business owners and their teams, and understanding how to leverage the use of technology in their business. So whether it be that they're focused on marketing, there's, you know, how to how to how do they utilize, whether it's the web, whether it's, you know, any type of technology device to help them in marketing their businesses or their brands to internally if they wanted to help streamline their practices or their processes. I assist with that with that as well. So it's been fun. Um, you know, I joke on this, but I mean, I have worked from penile implant surgeons to Funeral Home directors, I have assisted in business, because I have I see in business, there's a lot of parallels. And everybody who's trying to market themselves, you usually need some assistance when it comes to utilizing tech. So it's been a very amazing and fulfilling career. So it's been great. Michael Hingson  19:24 What are some of the challenging situations that you found yourself in where you've, you've been tested pretty well trying to break through and get people to market? Right. Myrna Daramy  19:37 Well, you know, some of it always good to have Michael Hingson  19:39 stories. Myrna Daramy  19:40 It's always good to have stories. I mean, a lot of it is people's fear of tech, which is, you know, interesting too. We talked about this a little bit of people wanting to stay in their own lanes. And I mean, I I've seen it where I've literally had to almost act as a therapist at times in coaching and advising my clients and their business owners To make better decisions on what type of technology they're using, whether it's, you know, if their websites are not as effective, you know, obviously, we jump on that to make sure that that's as optimized as it could be, which is, I think, how we actually probably connected. But you know, it can run its course. I mean, I've had scenarios where the teams were at odds, because one person felt that something should happen one way versus the other. And I would basically come in as mediator to help them again, to streamline and bring people to the next level. You know, husband and wife team is the one I'm thinking specifically where she wanted to advance and utilize like a new customer relational database, scenario, CRM, but the husband wanted to use the antiquated system. And so they were at odds, and I came in and acted as mediator, and help them so that they could be more streamlined and work more efficiently. So, yeah, there has been amazing story. I mean, there's there's stories for days on this. But one thing's for sure, I think something that technology seems to do to people is make people not as Sure. And so I think my as my job and my role in a lot of these clients and with my clients, is to help them feel reassured that they're making the right decision, or they're making the best decision for their business. So it's been fun. Michael Hingson  21:34 Yeah, it's always a challenge. One, we're used to doing things one way and I, I know, my wife and I have discussions about technology, and she's extremely resistive to learning technology skills, she just doesn't like to do that at all. She'll even tell you that math lies, because she can use a calculator and perform the same calculation three times and get times and get three different answers. So she says math lies. But, but you know, at the same time, she, she has learned to use stuff, she's learned to use QuickBooks and quicken and other things like that, that she never used to do. She wanted to be a librarian, and also thought she would be a good architect. Karen happens to use a wheelchair, and has been the lead designer, at least conceptually, on building two, three houses, and modifying other houses to make them accessible. And we learned along the way, it's, it's clearly better to build a house from scratch, if you need to make it accessible than buy a house and modify it just because of all the extra costs of, of having to tear things down and so on. Whereas if you modify it, or if you build it into the design doesn't cost anything. Myrna Daramy  22:59 Exactly, exactly. And foundationally, that's just so much better in the long run. And I think that's probably why I love accessibility so much as a whole anyway, because I'm like, it's not just, you know, allowing for making things easier and making things you know, making things more able for people. But it's also freeing and giving more opportunity as well. So, love Michael Hingson  23:32 it. What got you looking at or becoming exposed to the concept of accessibility and inclusion? And in the other part of that, well, let's do that. First, I have another part. Go ahead. Myrna Daramy  23:47 Okay, there we go. So what got me what got me started, I have always been and I think I mentioned this, you know, in terms of optimization, I have actually always had a love affair with optimization, especially, I mean, down to and I say this, you know, in, it's kind of funny, like, the way that I even fold my clothes, or, you know, when I'm looking at just anything, my I'm always like, how can we make this even more optimized or even better than, you know, what it is today. So when it comes to business, and specifically when it comes to the web, I have always loved, you know, helping businesses in optimizing their web presence. And a lot of my expertise comes from search engine optimization, and again, user experience, in terms of how someone would utilize a website or get to, you know, that next stage of conversion, and so, accessibility just kind of fell in place. And it was like the next step for me, I guess, in terms of becoming more optimized. And I think, you know, if I could be, you know, really Frank 2020 Was that year that Think exposed a lot of areas where we could improve. And I, you know, I say this to all my clients, I'm like, You know what, you know, we can say whatever we want to say about the challenge of 2020. But when it came to technology, I mean, it brought us three things in, it gave us the ability to connect, it gave us the ability to communicate. And it also allowed for us to either create some kind of community or establish some kind of community somehow, someway. And in that way, there was this responsibility I felt for the web to be something and apply, you know, it's in terms of a platform that can be as accessible and inclusive as possible. And so it kind of got me on this quest of, you know, how do we do that? And of course, you know, there were some other influences, like, you know, the the Black Lives Matter, movement, and just thinking through diversity as a whole, and what does it mean to really, truly be diverse or inclusive. And so I felt that accessibility was just that next progression in, especially when it comes to the web, actually, in making something inclusive, that means that it should be open and accessible for all. And so that's what started me on this class. And I've been passionate about it ever since? Michael Hingson  26:24 How did you learn about the lack of accessibility saying, in the internet or on the web, Myrna Daramy  26:30 I started the diving, I mean, I will say I did have a clients who about and I want to say it was like maybe 2019 received a letter from someone claiming that their website was not accessible. And they, you know, wanted to know whether or not they're going to make changes. And that kind of opened the doors to me for ABA compliance and what that actually meant, because prior to that point, I knew enough about it to know that from a federal level, if you were a federal agency, or something that was more public, facing, quote, unquote, that you definitely had to abide by some rules and regulations. But I knew that those rules and regulations were very gray. And so I started to do a deep dive into what those guidelines were, and what it meant to be compliance. And of course, with that also escalated with 2020, the usage of the web and how dependent we all became on the web. So it all was this, like, perfect storm, where it just, you know, allowed for me to deep dive and really, really get a firm understanding of the fact that 97 to 98% of the websites out there in the world are not even accessible. So that's kind of where that whole process and journey began for me. Michael Hingson  27:56 So you, you start obviously, in the way you do you started to, to learn more about it, and wanted to try to do what you could to, to help the process. How do you distinguish I'm going to change and then come back to it, but how do you distinguish between? Or do you diversity and inclusion. Myrna Daramy  28:22 So in my minds, I see diversity as being the ability to have this array, and very, you know, variety of ways, and things to get to the same result. Right? You know, and and equaling and leveling off the playing field. So regardless of who you are, what you do, what abilities you have, I feel like that's creating a diverse environment, right. And then when you think inclusivity or inclusion, that means that you're making it an intentional point, to ensure that the playing field has been leveled, and that you're making it so that there is this consideration and intention behind making sure that everyone is being accommodated or that there is this leveling of the playing field, so that everyone can experience or do the same. Michael Hingson  29:31 I love to talk about Hollywood, which lately has been a place where they talk about, we have to be more diverse, and we have to bring diversity into to what we do, but yet they don't ever or very rarely have included disabilities. Right? And for me, a few years ago, I started to draw a line and say the problem with diversity City is a diversity doesn't include disabilities, they have Warpath, the word. And diversity doesn't include disabilities anymore. Which is why I developed a speech that I love to give from time to time called moving from diversity to inclusion because you either are inclusive or you're not I don't, I don't even allow or love to try to help people not allow someone or or their own company to say, well, we're partially inclusive. Oh, you are inclusive, or you're not? Myrna Daramy  30:29 Yeah, it's it's yes, it's a yes or no. And I agree with you full, full wholeheartedly on that. Because, for me, yeah, I mean, I happen to be a woman of color. So I'm very sensitive to the diversity label as well. And to your point, I say, like, you know, if you're not inclusive, meaning that you're not considering all different things, all different variables, you're truly not diverse, and you're truly not inclusive at all. So I do agree with you that I feel like the the term diversities seem to kind of get almost, I want to say put in this box of thinking through, you know, race or, you know, culture as opposed to thinking of all the things including disabilities in that for sure. Michael Hingson  31:24 It's ironic, of course, that between 20 and 25% of people have a disability. And we are the group that is most left out. Why do you think that is? Myrna Daramy  31:36 I think that's the most bizarre and rare thing ever. I feel like because so many of the disabilities, I think, are not visible, quote, unquote. And I think people have this stigma about them, that it gets lost in the shuffle. But to your point, it's, it's more normalized than we realize. And I think the the conversation needs to be had in normalizing it all, because it does not make anything, you know, I don't know, in my mind, I'm like, I value human beings, and I value all human beings. And I feel, you know, very sensitive to know that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. And in that, that is being human. So valuing that, and honoring that is important. And I think that's a large part of it, too. I feel like a lot of people feel like they want to level and say, Well, this is worse, this is better. Now, it's not really it's everyone is a combination of things. And I think that we need to just really, really just focus on the beauty of that, you know, of that imperfection, quote, unquote, as you want to call it. And really relish in it. But I think it's a rarity thing for me, I don't understand it. And I never probably will understand it. But I don't know why. Truth be told? Well, Michael Hingson  33:15 I think there's a an issue. Also, when you talk, you mentioned Black Lives Matter earlier. And there's there's a lot of validity there, in terms of dealing with that and you don't hear Asian lives matter as much, although I think that black lives matter, really sends the message that all lives matter. But it's mainly addressing it from the standpoint of how you look. Right? And it doesn't deal with discipline, persons with disabilities lives matter. And the other problem that we have in the world of persons with disabilities is one label, in a sense doesn't fit all the needs of a person using a wheelchair are technically different than the needs of a person who happens to be blind as opposed to a person who happens to be deaf or hard of hearing. attitudinally and emotionally and intellectually, the need is the same to be included. But what we need is different. And that tends to create a problem as well that we haven't really learned to deal with as a society. Myrna Daramy  34:30 Correct? Yeah. To your point. And I think yeah, the individual aspect of it is what makes it challenging for people. But that's where I say the conversations need to be had and you know, it may need to be looked at more in a different light. Totally as opposed to trying to create a generalization. Michael Hingson  34:54 What do you think about the idea that it also has to do with people are just afraid of People who are living well living with who happens to have some sort of a disability, that we're taught to be afraid of them? Myrna Daramy  35:08 Mm hmm. Yeah, no, I, I think that too, I think people, you know, sometimes when things are not what like, we like them, I'm fearing the unknown is is, is real. But I also know in that, you know, conference, you know, conversations and talking about it and being exposed to it. And embracing it does allow for that fear to dissipate. I mean, I'll be honest, like, well, I spent, when I started this whole journey of just learning more about accessibility, I spent hours every week in clubhouse, I actually because there were several diverse groups, because I wanted to, actually, I wanted to immerse myself in understanding as much as I could. So every week, I would go on with different chats and listen to several different disability groups. I mean, I know it was, it was the best experience just learning from everyone, and meeting such amazing people. And it just blew my mind. So that was really the catapult for me to, to really, you know, I guess take heart in doing this and really trying to educate people on being more inclusive as a whole. But yeah, I think that's that's the thing. It's like fear, definitely, of the unknown, or things that are not like you hate, you know, even though I found myself with more things in common with many of the people in those chat rooms, then some people that I've known, who wouldn't be deemed as having a disability. So I don't know. Michael Hingson  36:52 It's It's better now, of course, but for a while clubhouse was extremely inaccessible for people to be blind. Yeah, it was horrible. Myrna Daramy  37:01 Yes. Yeah, I was in one chat one day, and we did an experiment to see wonder how one of the transcribing applications could be applied in there and what it did. And it blew my mind. I was just like that. Yeah, to your point. They have come a long way. And they were listening, because I was a part of one of the club shots that was helping them to become more accessible. And so they took a lot of feedback from them, which was great, and made, and they've made some strides. But yeah, in the beginning, it was rough, for sure. Michael Hingson  37:35 They have made actually really tremendous strides, and it's a lot more usable. Now. The iOS app is usable. Yes, yeah, of course, they're now now actually making it available on the PC and other things like that. But the iOS app has become more accessible. And they're bringing it up in the Android world as well. So they're becoming a here we go more diverse, more diverse. They are making in and they are making him more inclusive, which is which is great. And it's it's important to do that as well, for the very reasons that we've been talking about. Well, how did you run across accessiBe, I have to ask. Myrna Daramy  38:15 So I came across accessiBe to me, because I was searching for something I was searching for a solution, because you know, I was going through learning about all the WJC guidelines and ADA compliance. And I also, and I mentioned this earlier, I work with a lot of creative entrepreneurs, and a lot of creative business owners, a lot of them are in the fashion realm and in the bridal space. And so they they very much had a definitive feeling about their aesthetics online. And so I was like, what could be out here, aside from stripping their website, and you know, trying to make it user friendly and accommodating and inclusive for various elements and various abilities in order to manipulate the website. I was like, What can we do and I just stumbled upon and searching accessiBe, and it was like a light bulb moment. And I was like, Oh, my goodness, this is amazing. This some this is something that can meet people where they are, this is something that even if someone is not deemed, quote, unquote, disabled, which even the word disabled to me I have sometimes issues with, but I'm someone who may need assistance, who you know, can use it and manipulate as they see fourth, which I thought was brilliant without damaging or hindering the aesthetic of the website. So that's how I stumbled on it. And of course, in that, I contacted them and I was like, This is amazing, you know, I'd love to, you know, become more of a part of this. And so that's how I became a partner and have been You know, advocating for making websites more accessible as a whole. So Michael Hingson  40:07 how have your clients received the idea of accessibility and how they received accessiBe and so on. Myrna Daramy  40:15 My clients have loved it, they felt that it was a total win win, they felt that, again, 2020. And, you know, we talked about this, I think it was also a time where people had to reflect on what they value, what they felt was important to them. And if they weren't going to say that inclusivity or diversity was important to them, this was something they needed to make sure they incorporated as well. So it became a mission, and also an opportunity for them to open up their awareness and some of their branding and some of their marketing to a demographic that they may not have even served to before. So it was a win win. And so they see it as something very positive. And making a difference in the world, which, which I love. Michael Hingson  41:13 As, as humans do, I'm sure you've seen various degrees of acceptance or excitement or interest in, in dealing with accessiBe to be Have you had some really big challenges in that regard. And people who resist it, or are you just really good, and you can show everybody the value of it upfront, which is always better? Myrna Daramy  41:35 Well, you know, it's funny, I haven't had too much resistance. Truth be told, I, I mean, when I have had resistance, my argument was always, you know, you're doing something that's at least in the right direction, as opposed to nothing at all. And so it always tended to win them over. But now, to your point, yes, there's always going to be the people who are for something or against something. And I mean, the one good thing I will say is, you know, talking about it, I mean, you know, I, I made sure I talked to several of my friends and confidants who are disabled. And I asked them, I said, Look, how does this work for you? Like, I want to know, like, if I'm going to advocate for something that, you know, because I want it to hopefully, make something more inclusive, like, does this work for you or not. And throughout all of my experiences, everyone has been supportive, they love it, they there was no negative. So I, you know, chalk that up to know that it is doing more good. And I love the fact that it's doing more good. So that's why I can rally behind it. And to your point, like I said, majority of my clients, they are I win them over. So Michael Hingson  42:52 we are philosophically, whether it's accessiBe to be or people who really think about it, who happened to have disabilities, as we think about it, we love to point out that accessiBe to be well, let me rephrase that, that accessibility and inclusion ought to be part of the cost of doing business. Just like having the ability to provide lights for you light dependent people who can't get around in the dark at all and handicapped people. And it is, it is really part of the cost of doing business that ought to be taken into account right from the outset. And that's a marketing challenge sometimes that I've seen with some companies, they say, but we've got other things that are higher priorities, and how could you is really the question. Myrna Daramy  43:46 Exactly, no, I know, I say this all the time. Like I had a saying for myself that I did in a presentation, where I was like, Yeah, diversity, because a lot of people seem to love that buzzword. And they felt like that was important enough that they would invest their time and energy towards that. I was like, diversity equals innovation, for sure. I mean, when you have a diverse internal staff, and you're promoting to a diverse demographic, it, you know, creates an innovative experience, but accessibility to me, is equal to opportunity point blank, because, you know, again, and I say this, you know, depending on me the whole goal of meeting someone where they are, should be what every business wants to do. And I think accessibility allows for that. So to your point, yes, absolutely. I feel like it is literally the cost of business and needs to be a priority for sure. Michael Hingson  44:44 It's just much the cost of business, as I said, as having lights a coffee machine, computers and monitors on a desk and so on, because it's just the way it Myrna Daramy  44:54 is. Exactly. Michael Hingson  44:57 So how many how many cups Have you been able to, to get to start to really make their products and their websites and so on accessible? Myrna Daramy  45:07 So we I started what, a year ago. And so today, I probably have about 50 of them. So yeah, Michael Hingson  45:16 you can you kind of alluded to this, but you say that the pandemic has a silver lining. And I think we sort of talked about it. But can you kind of explain that a little bit more? Myrna Daramy  45:29 Yeah, I mean, through all the challenges, I feel like we faced with this pandemic, the silver lining, I feel like is that, you know, we were able to leverage the power of the web. And the web allowed for us, like I said, during the beginning, is it allowed for us to one, stay connected, for sure, because I feel like we relied on it more heavily. Because we could not connect physically, it allowed for us to communicate, and share information much more. And we utilized it in a way where, you know, zoom and virtual meetings became the new norm. And then it'll allow for us to if we didn't have any type of community, that whole concept of we're all in this together was a whole different level when it came to communicating and connecting on the web. Because people were establishing communities and building communities in order to do all three. So that's why I feel the silver lining of the pandemic is evident, because thing going to fast forward to today. And I think it made us stronger. And again, it allowed for us to even see the vulnerability and then areas where we need to improve in that. So you know, that's why I'm loving the fact that more people are speaking about accessibility, more people are really trying to define what diversity and inclusion means to them, as well. Michael Hingson  47:07 I, I guess I'm different than that a lot of people and maybe a lot of blind people are the same way. But I hear people constantly talking about the fact of being tired of the pandemic, we're pandemic, over overdose, over overload and so on, to get back to being with people, and that the pandemic has just caused us all to become very insensitive and very tired of having to do something in a different way. What do you think about that concept? Myrna Daramy  47:45 It's funny, I don't feel that I kind of feel like it made us better. You know, again, anytime you have the opportunity to go internally, you know, and reflect for a second because we all had to go inward, whether it was stay home or you know, not be around people and really think through things and be willing to adapt and or quote unquote, that magical word pivot. I feel that that's, that's a strength, like, that's building resilience. So, you know, to that point, you know, not to discount the need to connect and you know, for physical engagements and all that, because I know how important that is. And I know that that still is, is something that we all want to do. I personally feel that this is now just created us to become more versatile and flexible and resilient. Michael Hingson  48:46 For me, probably my best example of talking about that is 20 and a half years ago, working as the Mid Atlantic region Sales Manager on the 78th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center, and escaping with a guide dog with my guide dog, Roselle and, and others and working with people to get out. But after the attacks, I started hearing people say we got to get back to normal. And it took me a while to understand in my own mind why I was reacting to that. And the reason was because normal will never be the same again. No, it won't. Yeah. And I and I hear that today we've got to get back to normal, normal will never be the same again. Myrna Daramy  49:33 You can't undo and undo what you've done. And we've done. Michael Hingson  49:38 Right, whatever, whatever it is. And for me, personally, I have tended not to be too bothered by COVID. Yes, it'd be nice to be out. Yeah, it'd be nice to go out to dinner. But as I love to say Instacart and Grubhub are our friends. And we do pretty well. Today is Christmas Valentine's Day and it's also My wife's birthday, but we're not going to go out. She's there's a little bit of immune compromising situation that she deals with. So we'll just eat here, we're going to order something in there. But in general, I have found COVID to be a great advantage of being able to deal with people and interact with them. Because of the fact that Zoom, which was very smart about it has become or was and continues to be extremely accessible. So they make it possible to really be involved in doing the same things that I would do if I went somewhere. But I also used to selling on the phone anyway. So it's it really not a whole lot different. But we're so many of us are, again, only comfortable with doing things one way and as you pointed out, we need to be learning to be more versatile. Exactly. Myrna Daramy  50:55 Yeah. I mean, I It's funny, you say that because yeah, I mean, I've been using Zoom since before the pandemic, it was probably 2017 When I first encountered it and started using it. And I thought it was the best thing ever since I didn't have to travel as much for my clients, which was great. But um, you know, when it comes to accessibility, I'll say this, like I received something from PayPal the other day, because I was I was getting a new credit card, the old credit card was expiring. So they were like, Oh, we're gonna send you a new credit card. And when they sent me the credit card, they had a postcard in there. And on that postcard it said to you to activate your pay your credit card, here are three ways you can do it, you can call, you can, you know, take a photo of this QR code, or you can visit the website. And that to me, was a beautiful, accessible paper or postcard because it allowed for me multiple ways to do the same thing. And I got to choose which way it was that was best for me. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is genius. Like, I wish other people could just appreciate the value in being more accessible and allowing for people to have options, because it would then make it so much better and much more effective. So I don't know, to your point. Yeah, I feel like it is being more versatile, being more flexible, is such a good thing. And yeah, there is no normal anymore. Like it's now every day is a new normal pretty much. So of Michael Hingson  52:34 course, the obnoxious blind guy did the postcard happened to also come in Braille. Myrna Daramy  52:39 It didn't however, it did have a did have something on there for hearing impaired. And also they did have a little disclaimer for blind as well. But it did not have Braille on it, though, which I was. And that's something I feel like another level where people need to realize like there's, you know, adding this would make it so much more accessible. Michael Hingson  53:03 One of the interesting things about technology is carrying over into the whole world of persons with disabilities, that we don't take advantage as a society of some of the things that say blind people really do cause to happen and make available. So for example, in the mid 2005 2006 Arena in the first decade of the century, Apple wasn't making their products accessible, right and a lawsuit was created I was part of that actually, that would cause well there that would be filed against Apple because they weren't making the iPod available. The new iPhone available. They weren't making iTunes you available. They weren't doing well, because of another lawsuit that someone else had to settle that cost them several million dollars because they wouldn't make their products accessible. Apple said, Oh, we're going to fix this. And they did. What surprises me about all of that is that well, Apple built voiceover, for example, into all of their products so that if you buy any Apple product like an iPhone or an iPod or an iPad, or a Mac, you can activate voiceover because it's built into the operating system. What they have not done is started to look at how to take advantage of that for the non blindness or market for persons without a disability to enhance what they do. So when you are in a car and get an iPhone phone call, you still have to look at the screen to hear who it is. Unless you do some specific things to cause it to verbalize. You don't Have as much of an easy way to use the iPhone to dial series. Okay. But the but the point is they don't take advantage of that technology. Yet we've made it possible because Apple decided to create this technology for persons with disabilities, we've made it possible to expand that far and wider, further and wider, hence helping to open up the conversation. Right? Myrna Daramy  55:27 No, absolutely. No, that's huge. And I agree with you. I feel like again, I'm like, if once people get the memo, I think that accessibility equals opportunity. I think there's going to be a shift in the intention behind the drive of it all. But we need to get there because that's basically the situation for sure. Michael Hingson  55:53 We do need to get the fear out of it. Yes, I understand that people who have eyesight, don't want to lose it. But you shouldn't be afraid that if you do, and more and more people are for whatever reason. It's not the end of the world. And we don't teach that to people. We don't teach people to get over that fear. Myrna Daramy  56:13 Right? And realizing that you're still going to have a wonderful life and experience amazing things. So yeah, Michael Hingson  56:23 agree. Or at least you can. Myrna Daramy  56:26 Or at least you can exactly, exactly option. Michael Hingson  56:30 Well, I think we've been doing this a while. But I'd like to give you a chance to maybe talk a little bit more about your coaching programs. And if you would like people to be able to reach out to you to learn more of what you do or maybe engage you how do they do that? Myrna Daramy  56:45 So yeah, if anyone has any questions about how I can assist them in again, leveraging the use of technology in order to become more effective and make better decisions in their businesses, you can simply go to Myrna and co.com or you can email me at hello at Myrna nyrr na P as in Peter D as in David calm, and I will definitely reach out and connect Michael Hingson  57:14 for sure. And the website again is Myrna and co.com. Correct. miRNAs MYR Na, Myrna Daramy  57:23 my RNA and a nd co.com.com. Michael Hingson  57:28 Well, Myrna Thank you very much for taking so much time and being here today. This has been fun. And I would love to I'd love to continue this. And if you think of other things that we ought to talk about, please let me know. And I will also because I'd love to have you back on and continue the discussions and tell some more stories. And I'm sure there are lots of things that we can talk about. Myrna Daramy  57:54 Oh, I would love that this has been so much fun. I've enjoyed our time together for sure. Michael Hingson  57:59 Well, and you keep making sites accessible and helping people get their sites and their minds inclusive and accessible. And you certainly have our well wishes and thoughts and support in any way that we can help to make that happen. Myrna Daramy  58:15 Oh, I love that. Now same here if you ever need me, Michael, you know, I am here as well. Michael Hingson  58:20 Well, I appreciate that well people reach out to Myrna and learn more about her. And again, as many of you know, if you'd like to reach out you can contact me Michael Hingson at M I C H A E L H  I at accessibe A C C S S I B E .com that goes directly to me. I'd love to hear from you your thoughts, your ideas, your suggestions and input. You can also visit www.michaelhingson.com That's M I C H A E L H I N G S O N.com/podcast. To learn more about unstoppable mindset. And you can also go to anywhere podcasts are available and see all of our episodes and listen to our episodes. We'd love to get your thoughts. And please, when you go and you listen, give us a five star rating. We would love to have your support. We were honored at the beginning of February to be mentioned and named as podcast magazine's editor's pick for February. So I guess we're doing something right. And we would like your continued support so that we can continue to educate and inspire and be a place where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. So thank you very much for listening, and we'll see you next time. We're gonna thanks again. Myrna Daramy  59:40 Oh, you're so welcome. That was fun. UM Intro/Outro  59:46 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Ari Schonbrun is an author, speaker and 9/11 survivor.  He was the Chief Administrative Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald and Co., one of the world's leading financial services firms.   Mr. Schonbrun was on the 78th floor of Tower One when the first plane hit on September 11, 2001. He helped a colleague suffering third degree burns to safety and was thrown into the national spotlight thereafter. His miraculous first-hand account about survival has been retold in newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets, and books.   Mr. Schonbrun is a renowned inspirational speaker and the author of Miracles & Fate on 78. He draws from the personal heartbreak he endured during the devastation of 9/11 and has inspired audiences worldwide.  He is also the host of Whispers & Bricks Podcast and the creator of Whispers & Bricks Academy, a 7 week program focusing on “your personal breakthrough”.   Mr. Schonbrun is a native New Yorker. He is passionate about philanthropy and serves as a board member of Strength to Strength, a global non-profit organization that works with victims of terror across the world. Mr. Schonbrun and his wife, Joyce, live in New York. They have five children and several grandchildren.  

Conrad Hall is an author of a number of successful business and marketing books. He also authors a “Getting Happy” book series. But he was not always so centered on success and moving forward in life. On our episode today you will have the opportunity to hear his story and see how he turned many life challenges into a tool for moving forward. His experiences and his personal challenges have created a person who is successful and wants to help others be successful and unstoppable as well. Some directories do not show full show notes. For the complete transcription please visit https://michaelhingson.com/podcast About my Guest: Conrad Hall is the bestselling author of six books on marketing (including two international bestsellers), host of Social Media: Cheap and Easy, and the founder of the Getting Happy book series. Conrad's marketing titles include The Business Owner's Guide to Social Media, Writing e-Books for Fun and Profit, and The Ultimate Marketing Sin. Inspired by Jack Canfield's Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Conrad has launched the Getting Happy series. Think Chicken Soup for the 21st century. Each book tells a motivational, inspiring story of encountering a life event, being unhappy about it, and finding your way back to Getting Happy. And with each book in the series goes a workbook for those who need a helping hand with making practical progress. Conrad is also responsible for coaching thousands of local business owners, just like you, to increasing their revenue, their customer count, and their free time. Using Relationships as the foundation for marketing, Conrad has helped business owners implement loyalty programs to foster customer loyalty and retention. He has used local and inter-state joint ventures to make businesses more resilient and diversified. And he built referral programs that required owners to hire new staff, and even open new locations. He has learned from experts like Dan Kennedy, Mark Hall, and John Forde that all marketing comes down to relationships. It is the rapport you build with a person, not a prospect, that opens the door to doing business together. conrad@ceriohs.org Share your Personal Story at: https://GettingHappySeries.com/shareyourstory About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes UM Intro/Outro 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 Welcome to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. And today we get to meet Conrad Hall. Conrad is an author full time now. He retired from doing other work, which I'm sure we'll get a chance to hear about. He's has been and is a veteran, and I think has some interesting stories to tell. And clearly has been very flexible and wise as he moves from one thing to another to know what to do and when to do it. So Conrad, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Conrad Hall 01:52 Thank you, Michael. I'm happy to be here. Michael Hingson 01:54 Can you tell me a little bit about your early years to start us off? Conrad Hall 01:59 Um, yeah, cuz that will bring us back around to the book series. Guess the easiest way to phrase it or explain it is? I grew up being the third child in a family with only two kids. And I had parents who never let me forget it. Michael Hingson 02:22 How did that work? Conrad Hall 02:24 Well, it was, it was adventuresome. I grew up very much disconnected, grew up very much angry. And, you know, when you talk about unstoppable mindset, by the time I was 28, I had 32 suicide attempts, several of which came very close to succeeding. And in spite of that, something that was always with me was this mindset of, if I really do succeed, then they win. You know, the people telling me that I'm worthless, I'm not lovable, that, you know, or any other negative thing, they end up winning, because I've just bailed. And it took me a long time to get past the whole suicidal mindset. It's like any other pattern of thought, you know, if you, if you grew up learning how to succeed and how to encounter challenges and overcome them, well, that becomes your pattern of thought. If you grew up being told that you're worthless and unlovable, then that becomes your pattern of thought, especially if you buy into it. Exactly. And, you know, as a kid, you're getting that fed to you, it's pretty hard to deal with. And then as a teenager, you know, I just, I found my refuge in anger. And, you know, when I'm working with folks today, and especially when I'm working with kids, you know, I'm honest with them, and if that's the only refuge you can find, then take it and hold on to it. Get through, just understand, there's going to be a big price to pay when the time comes that you want to let go of that anger. And understand that it's always a stopgap. You know, belonging is something that we all require. Genetically, biologically, it's built into us. Babies who don't have belonging who aren't being held and cuddled on a regular basis, wither and suffer poor health and throw your life if you're in that situation where you are not getting hugs, you're not getting physical Attention, then it does have a negative effect on both your physical and mental health. And the great thing is, the older you get. And hopefully the sooner you realize that your life is a result of your choices. And so whatever your past was, at any point in time, you can say, You know what, I'm done with that past, I no longer need it. I don't want to be associated with it. And I want to go out a new direction in life. I want to choose to build a strong positive self image. I want to choose to find good healthy relationships. And I'm going to take responsibility for me, and for my life. And the way you go, Michael Hingson 05:52 you just said something really interesting. And I want to follow up on on it with a question, you talked about making choices, something that I have felt for a long time. And I believe that doing a lot of self analysis, I can trace how I got to where I am, by the choices I've made. I've gathered that you are saying you can do sort of the same thing that you can go back and look at the choices that you made and the results that happened from them, and how that led to other choices and so on that got you to where you are. Conrad Hall 06:25 Absolutely. Now even a really big life event that resulted in the writing of this book, and the launching of the book series is I got divorced in 2012. And it absolutely turned my life upside down. And when I, I worked on writing the book, I got the manuscript finished. I showed it to a friend of mine, who was also an author and a copywriter. And he does a lot of editing. And I asked him what he thought, and he was not non committal. He didn't want to say, and I'm like, dude, okay, I'm not gonna break now. Tell me what's going on. And he said, Well, you do a lot of blaming in this manuscript. And we ended up doing two rounds of edits, focused solely on scrubbing out that blaming language. Other because we always get this thing? Well, I only did that because she did this, or I only did that because he did this. And it's this almost natural thing that rather than say, You know what, I did it. And it was the wrong thing to do. And I'm taking responsibility for it. Which I can tell you from personal experience, that's really hard to say, you know, I goofed, I got it wrong. And now I need to go make it right. It's far easier to say, Well, I only did it because he upset me or she took my apple or, you know, finding some reason to blame somebody else. That's easy to do. But it gets you know, where it lands, you being a victim, instead of being empowered and moving forward and building your life. Michael Hingson 08:24 Why is that? So easy to do? Conrad Hall 08:29 Why does dirt roll downhill? Yeah, because we we will live up to or down to expectations. And if we can get away with saying it's someone else's fault. We do. And it I am convinced that we get into that pattern. Because it's what we learn as we're growing up. You know, our parents let us get away with saying, Well, I did it because you know, my sister did this or my brother did that rather than holding us accountable. And then when we get into adult life it's really easy when you're at work to say well, I didn't get all the welding done because the parts didn't show up. Which is true. And if you couldn't do it because that stuff didn't show up. It's really easy to carry that over into areas where you absolutely do have control. And like I mentioned a little while ago it's you know if I love you is a powerful statement. Please forgive me and I'm sorry, while being equally powerful statements are so often much more difficult to say. You know, you can tell your wife You love her might be like pulling teeth. Okay, I love you. But to ever admit you were wrong to apologize. It's almost as though if you do that you are somehow weaker. When the truth is, you know the person that can admit to being wrong, and say, Okay, let's find a solution. That's a very strong person, that is someone who's very confident in themselves, and who is willing to admit to being wrong, and then look for the solution. Michael Hingson 10:45 Many years ago, I participated in an accountability group, I was actually part of a Christian program run by the Methodist church called Walk to Emmaus. And we had a pretty close knit group, where we lived in Vista, California, and we met every week. But it was interesting to see those who lived up to the concept of accountability. And those who didn't really want to be held accountable for what they did, or what they committed to. And it is something that we face a lot. One of my favorite books is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. And he talks a lot in the whole concept of team building, about accountability, and using that to help grow and develop trust. Right. And it's, it is so often that we just don't want to be held accountable. And I think though, and as you imply it, I think it is a, it is a learned skill, to learn not to be accountable, but it could just as easily go the other way. And nowadays, there's so much craziness going on and everything that we see in the world, that most people just don't want to be held accountable. They're not held accountable, and they they ridicule those who choose to really live up to the whole concept of accountability. Conrad Hall 12:19 Yes, yeah, it's, I'm wrong. I want to be free to be wrong. If there are consequences, I want you to clean them up. And I want you to pat me on the back for being wrong. And tell me that I'm a good little boy for being wrong. You know, one of the things that I use because with getting happy series, every book in the series comes with a workbook. So if you want to make practical progress you need you need a helping hand. There's a workbook so you can work your way back toward getting happy, through whatever life event it is that you're experiencing. And one of the things that I use is I talk about PAP and poop. And pap is personal empowerment practices. Poop is personally offensive, obstructive practices. And the approach I take is to say, you know, Pap, or poop, which would you like more of in your life? People invariably put their hand up and say, oh, I want more pap. Mm hmm. And then when you talk to them about what they're actually doing on a day to day basis, they're filling their lives with poop. They're lying and saying it's a good thing to do. They criticize people, instead of caring about them. They complain, they threaten, they nag. They, they just do things that are easier. You know, which is easier to make sure that your child eats good food, or just give in and let them have ice cream and you know, fast food and whatever it is that they want. It's absolutely a question of which are you going to learn which are you going to put into practice. And I use the analogy regularly about a garden. And so, you know, if you're going to empower your garden to grow, you need to turn the earth you need to plant your stuff in nice straight rows, you need to weed the weeds. Take those out, you need to water your garden. But you also need a little bit of fertilizer. So you need a little bit of poop to make that garden a really healthy productive garden. And that's where we fall down. You need a little bit of poop. You don't need truckloads of poop. You don't need to fill your life with it. Michael Hingson 15:01 So, essentially good poop. Yeah. So what's, what's an example of good poop? Conrad Hall 15:10 Well, and it's one that requires, you know, you and me to listen, and it comes up with kids all the time. So pap is to encourage your kids to do well, you know, to have them do the things that they're supposed to do. Nagging is when you just, you're just constantly after them. And the simple example is, you know, you're encouraging your children to take responsibility. So one of their chores is to take the garbage out. You're encouraged them to do it. You encourage them again to do it. And then at some point, your child lashes back and says, Would you just quit nagging me about the garbage? Well, there's the learning opportunity. You know, sweetheart, I love you. I'm trying to encourage you to do what you're supposed to do. But you haven't done it. So yes, I am nagging you. And the nagging will stop when you take out the garbage Michael Hingson 16:13 you got. And hopefully, hopefully, they learn, you know, you said it's easy to do the bad stuff, and so on. So the question that comes to mind is, is it really harder to do the good stuff? Or is it only harder, because that's the environment in which we live? In other words, if somebody truly grows up, recognizing and internalizing being accountable, then is it really hard for them to do things that address the issue of incorporating and bringing in more pep? Conrad Hall 16:56 You are exactly right. You absolutely haven't grown up in a violent, very negative family environment. It has throughout my life been easy to do, you know, to be criticizing people to be complaining about people to be even threatening and lying. And I have seen other kids. And I've seen a dynamic in their home. And I remember it from growing up, where their parents were consistently encouraging. And I remember it, because I remember thinking I'd really like to live here instead of living where I do live. So I remember those examples. And in the same way that I, in my teens, and in my 20s would just veer toward negative behaviors. Those friends of mine who have parents that are consistently encouraging them, and holding them accountable, and who are who are consistent about the rules to so what is a No, today is always enough. And what is a yesterday is always a yes. They just it never would occur to them to do the kinds of things I would do. And I can remember, throughout my teens, having friends who were upset and put off when I would start engaging in those negative behaviors. Michael Hingson 18:43 So what did you do? Or maybe you didn't do anything at the time? Conrad Hall 18:49 Well, I would say most of what I did was retreat further into the negative behaviors. Almost as a way of saying, You know what, I can do this. And I don't need you to tell me I'm wrong. You know, I have people at home telling me I'm wrong all the time. And it it was a big part of my life where I got into a situation where I would push people away before they would have an opportunity to reject me. Because I grew up in an environment where I was consistently told that I was unlovable that I wasn't wanted around. And I allowed that to take root. And in my adult years I can remember seeing people would meet me and they would say positive stuff. And very often I would correct them and say yeah, you You just don't know me very well. Because I had done so many negative things because I so readily engaged in negative behavior. And because for a lot of my life, I was filled with rage, not just anger, but rage. And having grown up in such a crap environment, to be honest. And I had it in mind that if people really knew who I was, they just naturally would not like me. But now I'm now 55. I actually had time of recording, my birthday was yesterday. So I'm now 35 years of age. Thank you. And now when I look back, I think, you know, the natural me, the kid. Everybody loved me, because I was happy. You know, it just enjoyed having fun. I just naturally think well of people. I'm pretty easy to get along with person. It wasn't until I got into my teens and my early head all years that I was just a flat out jerk. And I was joining the military. I encourage anybody to do it, who that's what they want to do. For me, it was a bad choice. Because it just was a place that allowed me to be angry. And, you know, kind of rewarded the results that would get. Michael Hingson 21:52 Youmentioned that by the time you were 28, there had been a significant number of suicides and so on, did something happen when you were 28. Conrad Hall 22:01 Actually, several weeks before I turned 28, I was involved in a car crash. I was in the military. I was going home to say goodbye to my parents. And I hadn't spoken to them in five or six years. But I was going home to say goodbye because my unit was going to the former Republic of Yugoslavia. And I had no intention of coming back. Now that would be a very easy place to get involved in a fight and end up dead. So in the process of going home, I goofed on the roadway, and crashing my car at 84 kilometers an hour. And for several minutes was vital signs absent. So it's now you know, almost 30 years later I can look back and say it's kind of laughable. It isn't anywhere near laughable. But it is odd that I had tried so many times to kill myself. And then the thing that convinced me that I wanted to live was ending up dead in a car crash. Michael Hingson 23:28 Why did it change? Why did your attitude change? Conrad Hall 23:35 Well, as strange as it may sound in that car crash I had a direct and personal experience with God, the Creator, the being that made all of this and I'll tell you what, you know what? Meeting him is terrifying. It's not fun. But maybe we're Yeah. Yeah made clear. I always believed, you know, God was out there. But then when you come face to face with what I feel is evidence of his existence really changes your mind about throwing away this gift he has given you. Michael Hingson 24:40 I wrote a book called Thunder dog the story of a blind man his guide dog in the triumph of trust, which was number one New York Times bestseller and is still published. And in that book, I tell specifically about my experience, hearing the voice of God because it did happen on September 11. We were very close to tower two when it began to collapse. And I was with someone who ran off. And I turned and started running away from the tower which needed to do just to survive, right. But I remember thinking to myself, God, I can't believe that you got us out of the building, we come out of Tower One, I can't believe he got us out of a building just to have fall on us. And I heard a voice it said, don't worry about what you can't control focus on running with Roselle, who is my guide dog. And the rest will take care of itself. And I knew it was the voice of God, I had always believed in God. And I believe that I've had many conversations with God, but never with a voice that was that clear and definitive. So I understand exactly what you're saying. In my case, the voice wasn't angry. It was just it was very clearly saying just keep going and do what you're supposed to do. And it will be fine. And don't worry about what you can't control. So I think it is. I'm not surprised, or in any way put off by your comment. I think that it is something that all of us should do more of is listening, hear that voice or hear what there is to tell us we would be so much better off if we did. Conrad Hall 26:23 Yes, I agree. I woke up in the car and could not breathe. Turns out my left lung had collapsed. And somebody from in front of the car or for what felt like in front of me said don't worry. It'll be okay. And then I passed out. And then at some point died. And I never really had the impression of anybody being angry with me. I kind of it's more of an impression of I'm sorry, it took this much to get through to you. Michael Hingson 27:11 But that was your choice. Conrad Hall 27:14 Exactly. Yeah, even the car accident was my choice. I was driving home on a road that is locally known as snake road. And it follows the Niagara Escarpment, and it goes up and down the escarpment as well as back and forth along the escarpment. And I know better you don't drive a road like that, at 80 kilometers an hour. Somewhere in the realm of 5055 miles an hour. And the place that I got into the accident, I didn't realize where I was. And then I did because I saw a sign for hairpin turn. That is signed for 10 miles an hour, 20 kilometers an hour. And the last time I looked at the speedometer, I was doing 84 And I just I pulled my feet back off the pedals. I crossed my arms over my chest and bowed my head and said if I have to die, you know, I get it. Just please don't let me go to hell. And I got an answer. Michael Hingson 28:34 And you came out of it. And what did you do? Conrad Hall 28:40 Well, in true human fashion, I tried to turn my back on it and say oh, it was nothing, you know, and go back to life in the military. God clearly had different ideas because in a few months, I was medically discharged. They're saying you can no longer do the job. And I had to look around for something. And by the time I got out of the military I was my mindset was okay. I will start to listen. Clearly you have something to say? Clearly you have something you want me to do. And I will start to listen. And it was about that time that I also started making a shift away from being angry all the time away from pushing people away. And I started experimenting with letting folks into my life and you know, exploring new relationships. And I certainly had my ups and my downs, just like anybody. But I'm now a much happier and more fun to be around guy. Michael Hingson 30:17 There you go. What kind of work did you get into after the military? Conrad Hall 30:24 I came out and went into construction. Okay. My father was a carpenter. So I grew up with it. Probably by the time I was seven, six years of age, something like that. During summer break, I would be on construction sites, pulling nails. So you just hammer them back and then pull the nail and because my father was saving lumber to build a new house. And I figured, okay, that's something I know how to do. I was still at a state where I wanted his approval. And I thought, Okay, I'll do what he did. He will have to approve of that. Which didn't work. But I enjoy carpentry, I enjoy woodworking. I really enjoy building things. And so building houses, putting additions on houses, I worked my way up to being a field engineer. I have no degree, never attended university. But worked my way up to being a field engineer. And then in 2007, that summer, I realized I was spending a lot of time at the edge of the building, looking down wondering if it would hurt when I hit the ground. And I just picked up one day and said that's it. I'm done. I quit. And spent a few months looking around going, what do I do? What should I do? And a couple of folks suggested writing. And I discovered that the average annual income of a Canadian author is $12,500. And that was so attractive. That's what I decided to do. Michael Hingson 32:38 Why did they suggest writing? Conrad Hall 32:42 I've been writing since I was a kid. Okay, I'm good with words. I actually know how to spell that's a good thing, if you're going to be an author helps. It does. And I have been published several times throughout my life, essays, you know, articles and magazines, that kind of thing. An Anthology of poetry that was published. So what I actually went into was copywriting. I got got involved with some folks, American writers and artists in Delray Beach, Florida. I went down and I listened to the, you know, I listen to them describe copywriting. And I'm sitting in this room with, like, 600 people. And I'm getting progressively more upset. And a couple of folks do what's wrong. This is crazy. This is the kind of stuff I would do on weekends for friends, just to blow off steam and relax. They would ask me to do a an ad for them or to write a letter that they could send for a referral program or whatever. And I would just do this stuff because it was more fun than the carpentry. And I've been doing it for like 20 years for free. Michael Hingson 34:12 You you missed out, I missed out. What kind of books are you writing now? Conrad Hall 34:20 Well, the first six, were all about marketing, all about how to sell your stuff. I've had my own business since I was 19. And so there's always even while I was in the military, I would go out and do little renovations on people's houses and stuff. And then when I came out of the military and I got into high rise construction, I ran a construction business on the side with several crews working in different places. So I've always been able to get people to buy into a solution. I don't quite agree with selling stuff. I think a salesperson a good salesperson is actually just helping you solve a need, you know, whether it's you need a new car, or you need a new washing machine or, you know, you're in the store and you need new clothes. A good salesperson just helps you, you know, solve the problem you're trying to solve? Absolutely. And it just worked out. The first book that I wrote, was a commission by Bob Bly. And he asked me to write a book of all things. The first book I wrote, was a book about how to write books. And it turns out, you know, about 70 to 80% of that manuscript is actually how to sell your book. Because writing it is the easy part, selling it, getting people to see that you have presented them with a solution and getting them to buy into it. That's, that's the hard part that requires some effort. So the first six are all about marketing. And then number seven. And for the foreseeable future, these books are about personal development and self help, you know, about encountering a life event, realizing that you're less than happy about it, and working your way back to getting happy. Michael Hingson 36:42 In addition to doing the books, do you have any kind of a coaching program or a course? Are you thinking about doing anything like that, so that you not only write about it, but you you guide people directly? Conrad Hall 36:55 I do I do coaching. And it's, I'll be honest, I don't say yes to everybody. One of the first qualifiers is, you know, do you believe you are responsible for where you are? And if somebody answer's no, I, you know, I am where I am. Because of this, that the other thing I recognize in myself, I, I do not yet have the strength to deal with that. So I need somebody to at least be at the stage where they're willing to say, you know, I don't know if I get it 100%. But I, I understand where you're coming from, that I'm responsible for the choices I make. And then we can move on with coaching from there. I am looking at several things that I want to build as, sort of do it yourself courses. There, you know, 10 things for self image strengthening three keys to successful achievement. Things that I've learned along the way from people like Dr. Maxwell Maltz, who did, he published Psycho Cybernetics back in 1960. John Maxwell and everything that he has put together. Oh, actually, I should mention Jack Canfield, not only because he has been a terrific mentor, but because he has written the foreword to this first book in the series. So I explained to him that the series is actually inspired by his chicken soup series. And, you know, I'm inclined to call it chicken soup for the 21st century, which I think Jack is just okay with, I'm not sure he likes the idea, but he's okay with it. And it was after I explained that to him, and I said, you know, would you write the foreword for this first book, and he did. So that was terrific. I'm very proud of that. Michael Hingson 39:17 Well, our time is running short, darn it. So we need to do more of this in the future. And I definitely want to chat with you more and get more insights. But for now, how do people get a hold of you? How can people reach out to you? Conrad Hall 39:33 Well, there are a couple of ways if you just if you're, if you're interested in something like coaching or counseling, you can send me an email. And it's a nice easy email address. It's my name conrad@ceriohs.org conrad@ceriohs.org. But maybe more importantly, you If you have a story of encountering a life event, getting unhappy and working your way back to being happy, I would love to hear it. And there's a webpage. If you go to GettingHappySeries.com/shareyourstory, all one word, all lowercase. That takes you to a form where you can start sharing your story. And I would love to hear what it is, I'd love to read it. And when we get to that point where we're doing that life event is one of the titles in the series. I'd be happy to come back and ask if we can use your story. Yeah, immortalize it. Michael Hingson 40:51 Super, and it gives people a way to, to talk and express things. And as we all know, one of the most successful ways we have of moving forward is talking about what we are and who we are, and helping to use that to direct us as to where we want to go. Conrad Hall 41:13 Absolutely. Michael Hingson 41:15 Well, Conrad, thank you incredibly much for being on unstoppable mindset. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. And as I said, I want to continue this discussion and hope that we'll be okay with you. Conrad Hall 41:30 Yes, sir. I'd love to. And I really, truly appreciate the opportunity to be here. Michael Hingson 41:36 Well, you've been wonderful and and I've been extremely fascinated by listening to you. And I think there are a lot of ways that we, we, I won't say always had similar experiences, but we have come to the same decisions and conclusions, which is the important part, I think and how we live our lives on what we do. Yes, sir. Absolutely. Well, everyone who's listening, thank you again, for joining unstoppable mindset. We hope that you enjoyed it, I would invite you to go to Michael hinkson.com/podcast and subscribe. And also, wherever you're hearing this podcast, please go give us a five star review. I appreciate it. I and I would hope that you will reach out to Conrad and learn more about his story. And if you have stories to tell, as an author myself, I am a speaker. I believe that it's all about us telling stories. And I think everyone has a story to tell. So reach out to Conrad and tell him yours. So Conrad again, thanks very much for being here. Thank you, Michael. UM Intro/Outro 42:41 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

This past December I participated in a program called Podapalooza during which I had the opportunity to conduct five podcast interviews in one day. Challenging? You bet, but it was an incredibly fun experience. When the next one rolls around, I'll notify you so you can register and join in, especially if you have an interest in podcasting yourself.   For now, I want you to meet Dr. Gabe Roberts, my first interviewee of the day. Dr. Gabe specializes in Psychosomatic illness. This relatively little-known field is incredibly successful at literally healing many things that ail you. Dr. Roberts will describe how he helps thousands of people find illness cures by going back into their holographic memories to what he discovers are the root causes of their physical ailments. “Holographic memories” you may ask, Listen in and discover for yourself not only much you may not know about your own memory processes but how you can improve your life and outlook.   Some directories do not show full show notes. For the complete transcription please visit https://michaelhingson.com/podcast About Our Guest Dr Gabe Roberts is the Co-Founder of Holographic Manipulation Therapy and is a specialist of psychosomatic illnesses including autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, digestive illnesses, neurological conditions, depression and a host of mystery conditions that have at their root cause repressed emotions.  He has extensive experience working with patients from around the world helping them resolve their body's health challenges by reconciling conflict in their unconscious mind.     Dr Roberts is a Holographic Manipulation Therapist, Clinical Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, Self-Sabotage Coach, Quantum Integration Practitioner, has a Doctorate in Metaphysics, a Doctorate in Chiropractic and is Certified in Functional Medicine.    Dr Roberts wrote a modern view of As A Man Thinketh and Gains Rapport with his Subconscious Mind.   https://thesubconscioushealer.com/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  01:47 All right. Thank you, Michael, for having me today.   Michael Hingson  01:50 We're We're glad you're here. So I'd like to start by not dealing directly with psychosomatic illnesses, but rather, how did you get started in all this? Tell us a little bit about you.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  02:02 Okay, so for the last decade, my wife and I have ran a functional medicine clinic in Kansas City where we worked with a number of chronically ill people, including, you know, Lyme disease and mystery illnesses, everything from chronic pain, depression. And most often, these people have exhausted conventional resources, basically, they were looking for deeper answers. So they would come to us and we would run more sophisticated lab tests than what they were used to seeing. And we would use advanced nutritional protocols and herbal medicine, and energy medicine, including acupuncture. I was a best practitioner, which means bioenergetic synchronization technique. So just a variety of energy medicines and, and nutritional support to try to stimulate healing. And what we noticed over this 10 year period, and with nearly 2000, patients from all over the world, that many of the times within a year and a half of doing our care, the six months to a year to year and a half, that they would be ill again, they would have some kind of ailment that came back. And so this kind of troubled us. And it it what it did was it made me dig deeper. And to figure out what it is that really is the root cause of why people get ill. And what we found was it has to do with a significant amount of turmoil, traumas, things like that, in the ages of zero to six years old, it always goes back to something that occurred to them. And this might be foreign to some people. But what we want to understand is, at that age, our brain is growing so fast, a million connections per second, that by the time a child reaches the age of seven, they've already learned half of what they'll know the rest of their life, including their beliefs, including how they feel about themselves, including how they feel about life itself, if it's threatening or if it's welcoming. Many things like that. So today what we do is we don't use nutrition and we don't use all these fancy lab tests, but we do encourage people to eat good and drink good water. But we what we do is we go back and their timeline using advanced holographic manipulation therapy work to go back and find a memory that has to do the exact millisecond that has to do with why their body's not healing correctly. We resolve that and their neurology. Their nervous system has no choice but to follow the deepest orders of the unconscious mind and their issues begin to resolve whether it's autoimmune or chronic. pain or digestive disturbances, and so forth.   Michael Hingson  05:04 When you when you say holographic memory what what do you mean by that.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  05:08 So each memory, we have all our thoughts, all our memories, all of our five senses work through a holographic image inside of our neurology and what a hologram is, is a three dimensional image. It's basically a, a sealed and capsuled ball of light. So anytime we have a, an experience, for instance, let's say we have a traumatic experience. And what I mean by trauma is just anytime that the nervous system is overwhelmed, it doesn't have to be a battlefield, it could be, it could be a playground incident. And what happens is our conscious mind splits, it splits in two, part of that split continues to go on with our day to day life. The other part of that actually gets walled off and contained in a holographic container. So it's basically a three dimensional image where everything in that memory is running on an endless loop. So the energy, the mood, the frequencies, all the if it was painful, all the pain, everything is stored, and that basically an envelope, and it's running all the time. And the part of the neurology that understands and interprets this has the impression that it's still continuing, it's still going on. And this is basically the mechanism for things like post traumatic stress, where they That's why they say that the soldier can leave the battlefield, but the battlefield doesn't necessarily leave the soldier. And I know this too well, because I was a Marine for eight years as well. So mechanisms are of this are very familiar with me.   Michael Hingson  06:55 And so what you do is, essentially, if I, if I'm reading it, right, go in and try to penetrate the hologram or break the hologram and, and change the interpretation of what's there or updated.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  07:10 That's correct. And and what we do is we use a specific technique to exactly find that millisecond of overwhelm. And once we locate that hologram, that traumatic memory, we can insert the missing frequencies, we can actually, if there's any kind of safety lessons that the unconscious mind has a LinkedIn and encoded in part of that we can address those as well as reframe it in a way to where now it's a now it's an it's a situation where the person survived and did fine. It's not the situation where the person is still in a threatening circumstance. So you are correct, we actually find that, reframe it, address all the fragments of the hologram, and use a few specific mechanisms to allow the nervous system to latch on to that   Michael Hingson  08:08 I can relate for me. 20 years ago, I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center, and was there on September 11, with a guide dog, Roselle. And, of course, everything happened that happened. But I had done a great deal of work ahead of time, learning how to if you will live survive and function in the World Trade Center as a blind person. I chose not to rely on depending on other people to get me out. But rather I learned what to do in the case of an emergency. I learned the whole complex and so on. And what I realized significantly later, and especially over the last two years and thinking about it took a long time to think about it was that in reality, I had learned to control what could have been my fears and that with things like the pandemic, we see so many people today afraid of so many things. And it's not just the pandemic. It's been there all along. I've met any number of people who still can't really move forward from September 11. And what I realized is that I had changed or adopted a mindset. And so when things happened on September 11, the mindset kicked in. And the mindset basically said, You know what to do. You don't need to run in panic and be, as I described it blinded by fear. And it seems to me that we live in a world today where so many people in so many ways are just encouraged to live in fear and if you will have all these little holograms inside of that are sending these horrible messages that they never learned to address.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  10:06 Correct. And that's correct. And literally, these holograms come to the surface to our conscious awareness, it's important understand that our unconscious mind is literally mathematically 99.994%. So what we're aware of is less than a 1,000th of a percentage of our mind. And these holographic memories come to the surface of our conscious awareness, anywhere from 15 to 50 times an hour, we constantly leave the, we constantly leave the present moment, and we revisit the past over and over and over. And whatever's in that hologram actually gets interpreted to the nervous system. And we know this for sure, we don't know the difference between the event, or actually the memory of the event. And what you're describing is basically strengthening a part of your consciousness, to where you can maintain that control, most people don't. And what I mean by that is when something hits, when a when an emotional disturbance hits, or a huge event happens, a tragedy, perhaps like like September 11, you had a mindset to where you could keep your conscious part in control. Because typically, what happens is that conscious mind of us that we are aware of, we listen to the voice in our head, and we're, you know, aware of our names and some basic things like this, like we're sitting in a room right now. And it's, you know, the 18th of December, we're all aware of those things. But that part of us also immediately clocks out the minute, something of a huge emotional shift happens. And what happens, we go to the autopilot, which is where these holographic memories are stored. And we kind of start going off of primal responses, rather than being in control of the situation. And that's what I would say, you learn to do, and this can happen with people that are trained in military situations also have this the same ability to basically keep a cool head when things go south,   Michael Hingson  12:20 it doesn't mean that they're not aware or don't have fear, or that that things are occurring that go in and create those holograms that may be negative, but they have learned to overcome that. And essentially, change the vertices, if you will, and make the experience one that doesn't have to be so negative as I gather it.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  12:45 Right. Right.   Michael Hingson  12:48 And, and, you know, so is it appropriate to say what you do in part is to try to help people kind of couple their conscious and unconscious minds together more so that they become more aware of what's in their unconscious mind and tried to also use the positive parts of that and deal with the negative parts and be able to maintain control.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  13:19 Not so much help them be in control. What we do with holographic manipulation therapy, is we go to the very, very first source of that challenge. So let's say a person comes to me and they have severe digestive disturbances. And actually, this just happened last week, I had a woman in Canada, seeking out severe digestive disturbances for years, and like 20 years and has tried everything, every kind of lab tests and every kind of nutritional supplement. And she comes to me, I work 100% through zoom. And so I told her that this has a specific spot. This this feeling because everything in our bodies is governed by feelings. Everything about human nature has to do with a feeling of feeling we want more of, or a feeling we want less of, and feelings give us an access route to those holographic stored memories. So using a specific set of questions, we went right to the center of that stored hologram that's responsible for why her digestive system is not functioning properly. And they say no, she's six years old getting spanked and that and so what we did, so instead of trying to teach her how to control her mind a little better, we went to the very, very primary. When this first occurred when her nervous system first recorded this incident and reframe that to where her dad was welcoming to where the energy was completely different in that room. We supplied the missing frequencies. So that entire three dimensional hologram was completely different. There was a completely different structure. And just doing that one time she went from having, I think it was 15 bowel movements a day to having one. Just that one, that one, changing that hologram, and the neurology absolutely changed her physiological health because, again, we don't know that that's over and why, why do we have to go all the way back, because those are the very, very, most important memories a person has the very first time something like that occurs, it becomes the standard, by which everything else is measured by whenever we see people living in fear today with a about the pandemic or about September 11, or about anything else you care to name off. I mean, it could be global warming, I mean, it could be just anything you could care to name off. That fear is not from these current circumstances, they aren't thinking they're remembering, unconsciously, they're remembering some kind of incident that occurred long ago, that is being re triggered by events. The same with a person that has road rage, a person that has anger or rage, they're never upset that somebody cut them off, it appears that way. And they, they could even tell you, this guy really upset me because he cut me off. It's not that it's all the previous occurrences of anger, that have ever been that have you ever been stored in his body through holograms, starting with a very, very initial one as a child, that are all getting re stimulated, replayed over and over again. And the momentum from those makes it to where he has this burst of outrage when someone cuts him off.   Michael Hingson  16:48 I guess what I was meaning by control was not so much controlling the whatever it is, but rather controlling. Or maybe it's better to just say that people connect conscious and unconscious to be able to reframe, or even in current events, properly frame, how they remember and how they record it.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  17:15 Right, because that that does change a significant amount of how they, how they operate, how their body functions, how they're basically how their entire endocrine system begins to function, their fight or flight mechanisms, everything by remembering something different, because memories are pliable memories are just like recordings.   Michael Hingson  17:39 Right. And I think that the, the, the whole issue with with fear. And I use the words controlling fear, and maybe there are better ways to phrase it. And we're beginning to write a new book about fear and controlling or helping people move on from being afraid. The premise is that we mostly all face unexpected life events or in life changes. And we don't know how to deal with those life changes we just become, as I described, but blinded by fear. And the reality is that it probably isn't so much that we don't know what to do, but we haven't learned to reframe our experiences in a way that enhances our ability to, to truly interpret it, or maybe better to say, strengthens our ability to handle it in the right way.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  18:41 Right. And, and to and to know, you know, in those kind of circumstances to know that if we trust our gut instincts, if we learn how to trust our intuition, go with our gut feelings. Those ways will be shown to us. But oftentimes, whenever we have suffered trauma, especially as a child, and it can be, again, mechanisms that are not so drastic, that has to do with violence, and all these other things, but just maybe not being held enough, or maybe even I mean, I've regressed people back and they were the waking up in their bedroom at night alone, and there was a bad thunderstorm. And they were scared. And you know, that's nothing the parents did wrong. It's just an incident where a child felt frightened. And it his to his nervous system. It's all data, it's all the same. It's all the same thing. Whenever this occurs to us, oftentimes, we, we we kind of let that intuition go, we start to trust which we start to trust, our conscious mind to navigate us, instead of our unconscious mind and we listen To the voice in our head that tells us things. And that conscious part of us that generates the voice is the least informed. And the last to know anything, if we listen to that, it's usually the one that justifies rationalizes and tells us in our head, everything's fine, you got this under control. Meanwhile, the vehicles going off the road. So it's our, it's our gut feelings that we need to learn to listen to. And they're the silent ones. They're the ones that if you've ever been in a circumstance, perhaps driving a car or something, and you get this urge, take this exit instead. And another part of you says, No, I'm tired, I just want to get home and relax. And you go around the curve, and suddenly traffic is backed up, we talked ourselves out of listening to that intuition, where the intuition is there to kind of guide us and, and give us these assistance, you know, through life to where we can, you know, navigate it much, much easier. It's like a built in GPS.   Michael Hingson  21:01 My favorite example, and I use it a number of times of dealing with instinct and talking about the thing that you mentioned exactly is trivial pursuit, I like to play Trivial Pursuit. And I can't count the number of times that a question has come up, that I didn't know the answer to, or in talking to other people that they didn't know the answer to. But something said to me, this is the answer. And every time I listen, I mean, every single time I listened to that inner voice, that intuition, it was the right answer. And every time I haven't listened, it was the wrong answer. And it's, so I absolutely believe in what you're you're talking about. And as you said, dealing with traffic and so on. And what I've learned to do, and it takes work, because of what we're taught in our conscious world is to really listen to that intuition. Listen to that inner voice, because it is so often right, that we're missing a lot by not paying attention.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  22:13 Right? That's correct. One of the one of the ways I helped us with patients, to help them trust that intuition, because that's what's going to guide us. That's where we find the holograms. That's where we find the real answers, not the answers that the conscious mind generates. But the answers that the unconscious has started generates is, as well as the therapist I teach, I have a school now where I teach this to doctors and therapists how to effectively clear trauma and patients. And one of the things I teach them is, the unconscious mind always answers first. Three seconds, within three seconds, when you ask a question, such as a trivial pursuit, answer. Within three seconds, your entire gut, which is a major sensory organ, scans the entire environment, you have 13 trillion neurological cells in your body instantly scanned, and it gives you an answer within three seconds. Oftentimes, that answer is so faint. We think we're making it up. We have an insane urge to want to edit it. And because it's not loud, it's a faint little feeling, we oftentimes talk ourselves out of it.   Michael Hingson  23:28 How do we teach more people to pay attention to their intuition, their their inner mind, their unconscious mind talking with them? I mean, you you deal with patients and so on, but how do we get people to move beyond what we have been unfortunately trained to do to get to? Excuse me a point where we start to listen to that more?   Dr. Gabe Roberts  23:56 Well, I think, I think that's a great question. I think a big part of it is to realize that, you know, first off, are what you what you call this a conscious culture, basically, okay. I'm a Doctor of Chiropractic and they never really trained us on any kind of intuition during my whole four years there. Eight years of school. So it's not in academia. It's not taught in our educational system. It's the dominant thought in all our health care today about this, this subconscious, this, you know, inner mind is almost looked at, like taboo. Yeah, so So a big part of my work has been learning how to address this. So the big part that I think, is to have people understand that there is plenty of science, there's more than a science showing that we are far more than we perceive to be a man named Massaro who Muto in Japan actually demonstrated this on water. Basically, he had a group of students put an intention, intention towards water, they froze the water. And then they looked at it under a microscope. And you can see different types of intentional thoughts, put in water reveal itself as these beautiful patterns through looking at our microscope, like joy, and love, and bliss, or just beautiful symmetrical patterns under a microscope. And contrast that when they work the word hate or disgust, and they froze that and looked it looked like an oil spill or broken glass. Now that might sound like one isolated event. But Cleve Baxter, in the 1960s is another. He's FBI his most trusted polygraph analysis in the United States that time, he basically taught people around the world how to pass lie detectors, and how to how to do polygraph tests on criminals and things like that. And basically, he put a lie detector test on a plant and decided that he was going to see if it would stimulate his machine. And he thought, well, he first dumped the leaves in hot coffee and nothing happened. Then he thought, well, I'm going to up it a bit, I'm going to up the threat mode of this plant. And he goes, I'll burn a leaf, the minute he reached for a match, the plant jumped up on his machine. So the plant read his thoughts. And now this might sound kind of out there. But Mythbusters, the popular scientific group on Discovery Channel, heard about this, and they successfully reproduced it. And this is all you can find it on YouTube, you can find where these guys look at a plant. And they threatened to burn it with nothing more than thinking and the plant registers. So this goes to show that our mind is far more than just some electrical activity inside of our brain. And what happens with our thoughts, especially our dominant thoughts, which are the ones that run below the surface of awareness, when we start to get those harmonized in a way that works for us, you know, the way where we start to feel empowered, where we start to feel like we're lovable person, where we feel important, where we feel that we are enough. And we can do the things we want to do without the you know, if we have a dream or desire we want to do or if we have a condition we want to heal from all that is purely possible. But it's just a matter of understanding that there's something new somewhere along the line, you've learned that you can't do it. And your mind is extremely powerful. And if you can start to understand that the memories you have are not you. There's simply recordings. And, you know, you start to envision and you start to put a lot of emotion towards what you want, and start to isolate the things that say you can't and look at those and understand that they're not really you. They're just simply recordings that you heard as a young kid, that you you can be right on the path of absolutely change your life change in your life. And I've read dozens, hundreds of archives of people that have had miraculous healings from anything from being paralyzed. Two people that were paralyzed, and hospital in India, and a cobra came in the room and within 30 seconds, a cobra came through the window within 30 seconds. Everyone ran that Ward, and some of them have been paralyzed for, you know, 12 years. And this is no different than we see and clinical trials involving placebos. What happens when a person has diabetes and they are under the belief they they, they're under the impression this medication is going to help them out. They take it and all sudden their blood sugar stabilizes. And it turned out to be just a sugar pill. What what happened, that person instantly changed their identity. And that basically opened up a new basically a new cosmetic or I would take cosmic Internet of possibilities and probabilities including healing.   Michael Hingson  29:36 Go back to the Cobra second. The other side of that is how would the Cobras react if we reacted mentally to them differently if we didn't just exude fear or terror, but rather put forth calm conscious efforts of love and so on. And I think that there's been some there have been so many examples of how animals have reacted positively to that.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  30:10 You're exactly right. So it's not just water. And it's not just plants, but it's actually animals. And we can see that because there's people that can actually get close and touch these, you know, these these things that would generate fear. And most people Cobras and, and even even talking about someone like the Crocodile Hunter Stever when, you know, whenever he would get down close to one of these cobras, you know, deep down his intuition was nothing but admiration for this creature. And a sense that versus someone else that would have a complete fear, or even try to, you know, run from it or even try to hurt it. He in doubt in his intuition. He never had that. And so the Cobra since that he was okay. And even though I get annoyed with him, but it wouldn't ever go into a full threat response. Right. So a man named Rupert Sheldrake actually has demonstrated some of what you're talking about, in our ability to influence animals. And particular cats, there's an interesting correlation with this in the UK, against London, there's 5858, out of the 60 major veterinarian clinics, if you contacted them and said, I'd like to bring my cat in on this Wednesday, to have this kind of procedure or this appointment done. They'll actually say, we don't schedule ahead for cats. Just bring your cat in whenever you get to chance. And we'll see him then. And why would they do that, because most cat owners had to reschedule. Throughout, you know, they've had a hitch because the cat picks up on the intuition to go to the vet that day, and actually disappears or runs and hides somewhere. So what you're talking about us being able to communicate in a way with animals, based on our intuition is actually reproducible, scientifically validated. And it's very interesting. It just goes to show that we're connected in many ways that, that go beyond what we what we hear about what our educational system discusses in what our healthcare system acknowledges.   Michael Hingson  32:27 We have a cat, who I'm getting to the point where I think it's a game, but she absolutely hates to go to the vet. That is to say, if we give her any advance warning, she will hide. If we don't say anything, and try to keep that out of our mind. We can get her put her in her crate, put her in the car and go to the vet. she'll yell all the way there. But when we get there every single time, she's as happy as a clam at high tide loves to be there goes in, they never have a problem with her. And we've had other vets who have just said to us well, we don't do cats for like trimming nails. And so we just don't because they're too much of a problem. But this cat loves it when she's there. So I'm almost getting to the point where I think it's just part of the game. Because she really and then coming home she is just as sedate as could be. And never acts traumatized at all. So, you know, they do play games, too.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  33:26 Right? And you know, so you notice how you and see cats are a little more sensitive than than other animals. But, but you notice when you said we keep it out of our mind. Yes, we can get her in, we can get her. I would say that if you even had the intention. If you were thinking about it, you're like, Okay, today's today, we're taking it to the vet hope everything goes well hope she's not you know, crazy. And you give no outside influences. Yep. No case sitting out nothing like that for the cat to know. The cat will still pick up on your intuition and, and run and hide. Well,   Michael Hingson  34:03 again, it's interesting. It's pretty clear. She's not really afraid when she goes in hide. And that's why I think it's more of a game. She likes to play games with us anyway. She never acts fearful. And like with with people, if somebody comes into the house, she generally will stay away. But if we pick her up and take her out in introducer you can't get rid of her. I think she's a very interesting cat. She's the most vocal cat and the most articulate cat that we've ever had. I've heard instances of people who are blind using guide dogs I know of one person who went to a guide dog school to get trained with a dog. It wasn't just first dog. But he started saying to the trainer's we're not hitting it off at all. And the train trainer said that you guys are working so well together. And this person, I don't even remember now who it was. But he said, I can't describe it. But we're just not hitting it off there something in the psyche that's just not working between us. And they eventually respected that and gave him a different dog. But again, I think it's something in the intuition, or in the relationship between the two creatures wasn't wasn't melding very well. And again, that's part of the the overall issue, when I go to get a new guide dog, and I'm on number eight since 1964. I tell everyone, and I've been I've been able to establish a relationship with everyone, but I tell everyone, it takes a year to truly develop the relationship that we want to have. Because although a dog may indeed, truly, unconditionally love, what they do not do is unconditionally trust, and trust has to be earned. And that bond has to be created all the way around.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  36:08 Right? Absolutely.   Michael Hingson  36:11 And it's, it's, it's fascinating to, to see that relationship grow, and I'm very aware of it. And so I love to, to, to develop those relationships. And I think that so often, once again, we just tend to be afraid of so many things that we teach fear, like, like with dealing with disabilities, one of the things I talk a lot about on on unstoppable mindset is disabilities and especially blindness. For years, one of the top five fears in this country, according to the Gallup polling organization, was going blind, not even becoming disabled, because we teach everyone that I say it's the only game in town, when, in reality, all of you sighted people only get to do things at night, because Thomas Edison and others invented the electric light bulb for for light dependent people, right, and you don't get along very well without light. But but the reality is we learn to fear something that is so different than than what we're used to. And we never go back and think more about the fact that will, why is it such a bad thing to be blind? We live in such a technological world today. That means that so many things can be made available. And ironically, because we live in a technological world where it's possible to make everything accessible, we're also seeing much more graphics and things are becoming more inaccessible, which is very frustrating. Right? You know, and how do you deal with that? And so, it, it still gets back to how do we deal with breaking some of the cycles? And it is all about education, of course, isn't it?   Dr. Gabe Roberts  37:51 It is, it isn't a sense for the people that are definitely wanting more that people are definitely wanting to know more. You know, I've studied the mind in depth. And one thing I do know is people will unconsciously reject anything that doesn't match their own identity, they just unconsciously, unintentionally, sometimes unwillingly, they just reject it. And, and they'll also reject something that doesn't match with what they believe, to be true. And so the people that have flexible truths that allow new information in new information is available and and perhaps even more beneficial information. Those are the ones that will actually, you know, absolutely thrive. And those are the ones that will be able to produce changes in the in the life they want. Where sometimes if a person is not willing to change, there's no amount of education actually worked for them.   Michael Hingson  38:56 We're seeing a lot of that today, aren't we with the pandemic and just the whole fractured political environment, there's so many people who just don't trust and aren't willing to look at alternatives for what they believe. And it is. It's hard to figure out how to deal with that.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  39:15 Right? I would say that's absolutely true. And it goes down to, you know, when one of the things that I think is responsible for that is the fact that we lost connection, on purpose. And we found that connection through like the television and, and when we're hooked to something like that, it becomes almost a substitute for that connection. And now as as harmful as it might be. We are you know in a time now where we are fearful we are using we're using our own third. I'd say the powers to be are using our own neurology And first, people that are that have families are conflicted. There's a great amount of fear. And you know, it's just, it's just a very odd time.   Michael Hingson  40:13 It is. And we, we, we never step back and look at what we do. Or we very seldom ever step back and look at what we do. One of the things I like to do, especially when I speak and I do a fair amount of speaking to the public, is I record them and listen to the more like doing podcasts. I like to go back and listen, because I want to hear what I did. I am a firm believer, and I'm my own worst critic. And that's a good thing. Because I will learn from, from what I do. And I think it's important that we all should do that we shouldn't just go through the day doing what we do. At some point, we should step back a little bit and think about what happened. And was this the right choice? Or what could I have done better and look to that inner part of us to help create change, and you're right, people often just don't want to change at all.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  41:09 Right? It's just, it's just the way we're wired. Yeah. If you become aware of that, it's something you can easily overcome. It's something you can easily overcome, just to be aware of how your system works. And it's natural to, it's natural to reject those things. But you often want to ask, well, what's this new information? What if what if it benefits me? It might even be uncomfortable to step into this? You know, this new unfamiliar territory? And, but that's where that's where positive change comes? Otherwise, we, we tend to just keep doing the same things. And we keep doing the same thing. We get the same result.   Michael Hingson  41:52 Well, you just said, we're, we're we're wired and we're wired the way we're wired. The the question ultimately is, can we change the way we're wired? And I'm kind of hearing you say, we can and there's a way to do that.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  42:09 Right. And that's just that's becoming aware of the resistance, the way our body naturally resists things. We resist anything that doesn't match with how we see ourselves. That's why oftentimes, whenever I talk with people, I'll even talk with women. And I'll say, can you take a compliment? If your spouse gave you a compliment, or a partner, or if you were single, and you were dating again, and you you met a guy, and he gave you a compliment? Would you be able to take it, and in most cases, it might be flattering to them, but they really can't accept it. Even if these women put a lot of work into making themselves groomed and looking good. They still have trouble accepting that compliment. That's just one example of how they reject something that doesn't match what was there first, maybe they weren't, maybe they weren't told, as young child that they are a beautiful, you know, beautiful young girl or something. So that we also resist anything that conflicts with how others will see us. So we always try to put on show we create stories, we do things to make sure we always look the best for people. And we also want to do with the consensus we don't want to. And again, this is just it doesn't mean it's right. It just means this naturally how we're wired, they've done a lot of social experience, or people will. They'll do what the consensus is, even if they know it's wrong.   Michael Hingson  43:35 Yeah. Oh, we, oh, I'll go ahead.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  43:39 And then we reject anything that, that conflicts with what we believe to be true. I believe, if we understand those, that starts just a path of of that starts us on the path of going beyond that, and working against how we're wired to do and that's where that's where fantastic changes as in through history, there's been a number of people that have understood this. They stood out Buckminster Fuller Edison with the lightbulb you mentioned. Even today, Elon Musk, you know, so these are people that that fully accepted information. They didn't care what others thought, and they did what really made them feel good.   Michael Hingson  44:22 Like go back to dogs again, you know, the I'm talking about dogs don't necessarily unconditionally trust but the difference between dogs and people is it dogs unless something incredibly wretched happen to them are more open to trust. So you talked about the the women accepting a compliment, you know, they're also probably unconsciously if nothing else wondering and consciously wondering, well, what's the real reason for saying that and we we live in that kind of a world that trust is so under attack.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  44:57 It is. It is. I mean, we try trust and connection. You know, we have a tremendous amount of divorce rates in the United States. But we're also in a society to where if you go to the supermarket, and you're getting groceries and you accidentally, you accidentally brush hands with strangers, it's almost awkward. Yeah. So it's like we're not taught in this culture, and it's not anyone's fault. It's just something we've lost. It's something we've lost as a human species. And that's where a lot of my work comes into play. dealing with trauma is, you know, you rewind the clock back several 1000 years ago to where we as humans were much more mobile. And we were in big groups where the men hunted, the child was held for the first three years of life held by the mom, the dad, the grandma, grandpa, the aunt, uncle, everyone in this tribe was willing to hold the child for the first three years. And that had a huge impact on their brain development. Because of the intuition of, you know, connection, the child needs connection. And even if a parent would say in that situation, a dad went out for a hunt, and actually was killed in an accident, the child wouldn't be as traumatized because someone would step up and there'd be that connection, that connection would be fulfilled. So the child would still grow up growing up hold with the biological need met. Now, today, it always goes back to that that's where most traumas today, whenever I regress people back to that first circumstance, it always goes to an emotional need not met. And it's not because the parent was bad, because we've lost that as a society. And chances are, that parent didn't get that emotional needs met either, and so on and so forth. It's not genetic, it's behavioral, that gets passed down. And and I would say, with, with your instance, about dogs, and having that year, to fully bond where you really trust each other, and the dog trust you, I would say if you had the intention of this dog, if you really just focus your inner thoughts on the stock, of welcoming it, and you're in your presence, and you die, day one, when you got that dog home, if you literally thought I welcome you in my presence, and I'm full of joy, to have you in my presence, I would, I would guess that that trust a dog begins to build with you will happen much, much, much sooner, within probably within probably days, two weeks verse a full year,   Michael Hingson  47:55 I think the trust develops very quickly. But I think what takes a while is just really learning how to interpret each other. From up from a physical and practical standpoint, it's just a process of really getting to know each other. But I agree with exactly what you're saying. If you're open to trust, and you convey that the trust itself happens very quickly. It's just the whole process can take a while to learn the logistics, right? Well, we're going to have to stop, unfortunately. But would you be willing to do more of this and do it again?   Dr. Gabe Roberts  48:30 Absolutely. Michael, perfect shave. I appreciate you calling me in this was this was great.   Michael Hingson  48:35 How do people get a hold of you, if they'd like to talk with you and learn more about you or adopt you as as a doctor in their lives?   Dr. Gabe Roberts  48:47 I put a tremendous amount of content on social media. So if some, the biggest one today without a doubt is Facebook. So just go to Gabe Roberts G A B E Roberts on Facebook, Dr. Gabe Roberts, I do have a professional page on there. And I put a lot of educational content there for people to kind of read and understand some of the things we talked about today. As well as an email to get to contact me directly would be info@elevateyourfield.com so it's ElevateYourField.com   Michael Hingson  49:28 info at Elevate your field calm. Yes, sir. Well, Gabe, thank you very much. You've been wonderful. I've learned a lot today. And definitely look forward to continuing this discussion and doing it again.   Dr. Gabe Roberts  49:45 Excellent. Michael, thank you very much. I look forward to it as well.   Michael Hingson  49:49 So there we have another unstoppable mindset podcast and it is as unexpected as it gets. And we got to talk about lots of different things. I hope that you will Give us a five star rating. Wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to learn more and to subscribe directly, feel free to visit me at www.MichaelHingson.com M I C H A E L H I N G S O N .com/podcast. Thank you again for listening. Join us again for more episodes of unstoppable mindset.    Michael Hingson  50:34 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Susan chats with Michael Hingson, podcast host of Unstoppable Mindset, author of “Thunder Dog” and “Running with Roselle, A Story of Our Youth”. Blind since birth, Mike was born to sighted parents who raised him with a can-do attitude. After he and his guide dog Roselle escaped the 78th floor of Tower One at World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001, Mike found himself telling his story across international news outlets to share lessons of trust, courage, and teamwork based on his experience. Today Mike is a global speaker delivering inspiring and thought-provoking messages on perseverance and trust in teamwork.   Mike Hingson: contact@michaelhingson.com Website: https://michaelhingson.com FaceBook: Michael Hingson Author Speaker LinkedIn: Michael Hingson    Dreams and Detours: https://www.dreamsdetours.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreamsdetours/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dreams-and-detours/   Thanks for listening! It means so much to us that you listened to our podcast! If you would like to continue the conversation with us, head on over to LinkedIn or Instagram @dreamsdetours. With this podcast, we are building a community of life storytellers that we hope inspire, encourage and challenge our listeners to step toward their desires. If you know somebody who would benefit from this message, or would be an awesome addition to our community, please share it using these social media links and reach out to us.   Do you have feedback or questions about this episode? Please leave a note in the comment section below and rate, review and subscribe. We appreciate every bit of feedback to make this a value-adding part of your day. Ratings and reviews from our listeners not only help us improve, but also help others find us in their podcast app. If you have a minute, a review on iTunes goes a long way. Thank You!!

Ari Schonbrun was late to work for his job on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center. He was inside an elevator when the building was struck by jets,  one of four survivors from his workplace of more than 600 employees.You will learn:* How a life-changing experience can refine rather than define you.* The desire to change our conflicted world begins with change inside of  you.*Put the change you plan to make on a sticky note where you see it every day to help your motivation stick.For show notes, click HERE

Ron relives with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun the fateful day he escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One  of the World Trade Center and his miraculous rescue of a third degree burn victim.    Ari also tells us how the event changed his life. Sponsor: Author Maria Balestrieri-Saved By Grace Links: www.arischonbrun.com www.whispersandbricks.com https://itsawrapwithrap.com #HC Universal Network

Ron relives with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun the fateful day he escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One of the  World Trade Center and his miraculous rescue of a third degree burn victim.   Ari also tells us how the event changed his life. Sponsor:  Author Maria Balestrieri- Saved By Grace Links: www.arischonbrun.com www.whispersandbricks.com https://itsawrapwithrap.com #HC Universal Network

Ron relives with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun the fateful day he escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One of the  World Trade Center and his miraculous rescue of a third degree burn victim.   Ari also tells us how the event changed his life. Sponsor:  Author Maria Balestrieri- Saved By Grace Links: www.arischonbrun.com www.whispersandbricks.com https://itsawrapwithrap.com #HC Universal Network

Ron relives with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun the fateful day he escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One  of the World Trade Center and his miraculous rescue of a third degree burn victim.    Ari also tells us how the event changed his life. Sponsor: Author Maria Balestrieri-Saved By Grace Links: www.arischonbrun.com www.whispersandbricks.com https://itsawrapwithrap.com #HC Universal Network

Ron relives with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun the fateful day he escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One  of the World Trade Center and his miraculous rescue of a third degree burn victim.    Ari also tells us how the event changed his life. Sponsor: Author Maria Balestrieri-Saved By Grace Links: www.arischonbrun.com www.whispersandbricks.com https://itsawrapwithrap.com #HC Universal Network

Ron relives with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun the fateful day he escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One of the  World Trade Center and his miraculous rescue of a third degree burn victim.   Ari also tells us how the event changed his life. Sponsor:  Author Maria Balestrieri- Saved By Grace Links: www.arischonbrun.com www.whispersandbricks.com https://itsawrapwithrap.com #HC Universal Network

Tower One Wireless (OTCQB: TOWTF) is an owner, operator, and developer of wireless infrastructure. The Company offers tower-related services in Canada, Latin America, and the United States. President and CEO, Alejandro Ochoa, joins us to discuss the company's global footprint.

Michael Hingson, shares his Keynote speech created on October 3 2019 at an event sponsored by San Joaquin County Office of Education, CEDR Systems help in Monte Ray, CA. There were nearly 1,000 people in attendance at this keynote address delivered by Mr. Hingson to kick off the 2019 Inclusion Collaborative conference. In this presentation, Mike Hingson discussed his life experiences as a student who happened to be blind. He discussed some of the challenges he faced as well as how he prepared to overcome them. As a major part of this talk and our inaugural podcast episode, Mike tells his story of emergency preparation and how he was able to use his knowledge and his unstoppable mindset to survive the terrorist attack on Tower One of the World Trade Center. Some directories do not show full show notes. For the complete transcription please visit: https://michaelhingson.com/podcast 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 an Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast we're 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 01:19 I really am honored to be here. I am, I guess in a sense, a product of special education in California. Let me tell you a little bit about me. In all seriousness, I was born in 1950, February 24 1950. You can do the math. Yes, I'm 69. People say I don't sound it. So I'm very happy about that. And I hope that that continues for a long time. But I was born sighted. But I was born two months premature. And the result of that was that I was put in an incubator with a pure oxygen environment. You've probably heard something about what today is called retinopathy of prematurity, which back in the day, I don't where that expression came from, but it was called retro dentro fibro pleasure. It was something that was discovered and named by Dr. Arnold Patz at the Wilmer Eye Institute. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago before he passed, and we discussed what was originally called rlf, which is now our LP, but the bottom line is, is I was put in an incubator, the retina malformed and I became blind after about two days. We didn't know that for a while. I certainly didn't know it, but my parents didn't know it. About four months after I was born, an aunt said to my mother, you know, he's not really reacting to sunlight. I wonder if there's something wrong with his eyes? Well, sure enough, we went to the hospital and the doctors eventually came out and said, PSC is blind, you can't see. And you should send him to a home because you shouldn't keep him with you. If you do, he will not be good for your family. He'll certainly make it harder for your older son who can see who was two years old, you should send him to home. My father had an eighth grade education. My mother had a high school diploma and they told the learning Medical Society in Chicago nuts, too, you were taking him home. The doctor said he'll never be able to contribute to society and they said sure he will. It doesn't matter if he's blind or not. What matters is what he learns. These people who certainly didn't have the the vast knowledge of the learned medical profession in Chicago, bucked the system, I did go home. I was born on the south side of Chicago. Michael Hingson 03:47 If we if we take geraldo rivera into account two blocks from Al Capone's private vault, but I was born in Chicago, I grew up there for five years, went to the candy store when I was old enough to do it with my brother and cousins, who lived next door every day and walked around the neighborhood and so on and did it just like anyone else. I never even thought about it because my parents didn't think about it. They were risk takers, although I'm sure they didn't think of it that way. But they were they let me go outside and be a part of the rest of the kids in the neighborhood and growing up. They although I didn't know it early on, were a part of a group of parents who fought for special education classes for blind kids see, there were a number of premature births. During the baby boomer era, it actually brought the average age of blind people down from 67 to 65. Because there were so many, but there were enough in Chicago, my parents fought with other parents for special education classes. Well, kindergarten starts at age of four in Chicago. And so at four years old, I went to Korea In the garden in a special class with a teacher who was going to teach me and a bunch of other blind kids something about school, I actually began to learn Braille in kindergarten. I remember I wish I still had it. I remember, she, in teaching me Braille said, the best way for you to learn Braille is to write something. I'm going to read you a story about nasturtiums. Anybody know how to spell illustrations, I don't remember. But I had to write the story down that was in what was called grade one or uncontracted Braille. I had learned grade two yet, but I learned the Braille alphabet in kindergarten, hello. And then my father was offered a job in Southern California and we moved to California, Palmdale, California. And the problem with moving to Palmdale, California was that there were no provisions at all for blind or any other kinds of kids with what we call today's disabilities, or special needs, or whatever you politically want to call it. I'm not really a great fan of political correctness. So let me be real blunt, I am blind, I'm not vision impaired, I don't have a visual handicap, I am blind. By the way, I am trying to help start a movement, what I am not is visually impaired. The last time I checked, being blind didn't have any effect on how you looked. So visually impaired really doesn't count. If you're going to do it, vision impaired is more accurate than visually impaired because I really probably would look the same. If I am blind or sighted. We'll deal with the glasses later. I normally don't wear glasses, but that's another story and we'll get to it. vision impaired I understand visually impaired really is ridiculous. But it's the term that people have used. So you need to help us change the habit. But in reality, I am blind. Let me define blind. A person is blind when they lose enough of their eyesight that they have to use. Let me rephrase that, that they will use alternative techniques to eyesight in order to accomplish tasks, whether it be reading or whatever, yes, you can get very thick lens glasses or CCTVs, and so on, to help a person use their eyesight to read, but they're blind by any standard of intelligence. If you think about it, they are blind, not that they don't have any eyesight, but they have to use alternative techniques. And they don't have to use eyesight. I have been in environments I've been involved in projects as an adult, where I've been in special education, schools where we've been discussing how to teach Braille reading and so on. And I've had teachers who would come up to me and talk about the fact that they have kids who are blind and kids who have some eyesight. They're legally blind, but not totally blind. Sally has some eyesight Johnny doesn't have any Sally gets to reprint Johnny has to read Braille. Michael Hingson 08:05 That attitude is so backward, or it should be considered backward. The problem is Sally may get to reprint, but she's going to have headaches, she's going to read very slow. And if Johnny gets to truly learn Braille, he's going to be reading at several 100 words a minute, while Sally is kind of poking along, and having headaches and not doing very well. I have no problem with children or adults using their eyes. If they have eyesight, I do have a problem with them not also having the opportunity to learn the techniques that blind people use. Because if they learn those techniques, then you they can use both worlds to live much more productive lives. And so for those of you who are special ed teachers, even if your children have some eyesight, and even if the parents resist, try to push back, they need to learn Braille. A lot of special education teachers have said to me well, but blind people don't need Braille anymore. It's passe. You can listen to books and so on. You've got recordings we've now got Of course, files and you can use synthetic speech to hear the books read. Yeah, listen to one of those books with synthetic speech and see how much you enjoy it. But But yes, it's available. But my question to any of those people is tell me why you still teach sighted kids to read print? My they could watch cartoons, they could watch TV? Why do they need to learn to read print? The bottom line is blindness isn't the problem that I face. The problem I face consists truly of the attitudes and misconceptions that people have about blindness and it still comes back down to the fact that in reality people think That blind people can't truly be as productive in society as people who can see. Ah, and I wanted to do something before we go on how many heroes special ed teachers? Let me just see. Alright, how many are HR people? All right, a few of you get it. So I'm going to stop right now and say for those of you who didn't clap, how many of you think it's bright when a lecturer asks you a question and they're blind that you raise your hands? And you prove my point. So the bottom line is blindness isn't the problem. There are so many people in the world who are blind who have accomplished every bit as much if not more than most people in society, because they've learned that eyesight isn't really the gating factor. The gating factor are our attitudes about blindness. Jacob Salatin was a cardiologist who didn't live a long life. I think he died at 36. He was in the early he lived in the early 1900s. He was blind. And he was one of the most famous heart doctors in the Chicago area. There's a book about him called the good doctor, you gotta try to find it and read it. It's fascinating read. There are so many others. Jacobus tenbroek, was the founder of the National Federation of the Blind. He was born in Canada, but lost his eyesight at the age of seven lived most of his life in the United States. Dr. Tim Brooke, was taught by Dr. Newell Perry in in Albany at the School for the Blind at that time, and learned that in fact, he could do whatever he chose to do blindness was the problem. Dr. Tim Brooke went through the standard education courses and eventually had I had taken lectureships in at the University of California at Berkeley, did his undergraduate work there, he wanted to go into law. But when he graduated, and expressed that interest, the school said, No, you can't because a blind person can't do that. You could get a degree in psychology, you can get your PhD in psychology. But you can't get a law degree because blind people can't do that way too much reading way too complicated. So Dr. Tim Britt bowed to the pressure and got his degree in psychology, and then was hired to teach at UC Berkeley. Michael Hingson 12:29 I don't remember the exact year but somewhere along the line, he was asked to chair the speech department at the University of California at Berkeley. Now Dr. Tim Brooke, who was by then married to his wife, Hazel was pretty bright guy and kind of guy. Dr. Hambrick, accepted the position and said to the entire university, I want faculty members to join my speech department. But if you're going to join this department, what you need to understand is that you have to undertake a discipline, different from your discipline of education. So if you're a physicist, for example, and you want to join my department, you got to do research on something other than physics, you can tie it back to physics, but you have to do something other than physics is your main effort of work in our department. Well, Dr. Turmeric was one of these guys who believed in practicing what he preached, what do you think that he decided to do his discipline on? Dr. temperate became one of the foremost constitutional law scholars of the 20th century. There are still many cases that use his treatise is on tort law. And many examples of his works on discrimination and so on, are used today. In 1940, he formed with others, the National Federation of the Blind, the largest organization of blind people, consumers in the United States. And we don't have time to go into a lot of his work. But the point is, it didn't matter that he was buying, he did get to law. And he did it in a roundabout way. But he did it in a way that the university had to accept. And they loved him for it, in fact that Dr. Tim Burke was one of the few people in California who has ever been asked by both political parties to run for the United States Senate. And that happened after senator Claire angle, had a stroke and and he obviously could not continue as a senator and passed away. Dr. Tamarack was asked by both parties to run and he refused. Because he was enjoying his work with the National Federation of the Blind. He was involved in forming the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley and so on and doing so much constitutional law work. He knew that's what he needed to do. blindness isn't the problem. And so the question that all of you need to consider is are you going to hold people back? Or are you going to truly embrace a positive philosophy That says bind people bind students can do whatever they choose. And we're going to challenge them just like we would challenge any other student. And we're going to challenge them to do the best that they can truly do. And we're going to help teach them what they need. And sometimes that's going to mean you need to do as much work to educate parents. Because parents are frightened. They don't know. They're victims. I won't say products. They're victims of the same society that has negative attitudes about blindness. And I know there's only so much you can do, but you can set the tone. All of you here, not just in special education, but all of you here can set the tone. To give you an example of the kinds of attitudes that I faced. We moved to Victorville California in 2014. Where do you live in Victorville? Where do you live? Okay, we live in Spring Valley lake. Yeah. Other side. We chose property and build a house on it. My wife happens to be in a wheelchair and it's been in a chair her whole life. So we, we knew that if you buy a house and modify it, it costs a lot of money. If you build a house, it doesn't cost anything to build in the accessibility. And we found a piece of property very close to the Victorville Spring Valley Lake Country Club. So we get to walk to breakfast, or to go to dinner when we want to go out to eat, which is great. Anyway, before we moved to Victorville, in 2013, my wife and I were in an IKEA store with a couple of other people. And this young 13 year old boy comes up to me and he says, I'm sorry. And I stood there for a second. I said, Well, what are you sorry about? Well, because you can't see. I didn't know this kid. But that was his attitude. And I probably didn't answer in the best way that I could. But I said, Well, I'm sorry that you can because you don't get what I get. Michael Hingson 17:05 And by that time, his mother saw that he was tying this blanket and called him away and told him that not bothered the blind man. But you know, the bottom line is, we're no different than anyone else. We don't have the disability that all of you house. You know, in the 1800s, Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb. Why did he do that? Because as we now understand, with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it was a reasonable accommodation for light dependent people who can't function in the dark. Michael Hingson 17:39 You light dependent people I know there are more of you than there are of me. But we're gonna get you in a dark alley one night, and we'll see if we can read. You know, again, it isn't. It isn't a blindness issue. I did go to college, I graduated I had several jobs that eventually led me to be in the World Trade Center on September 11 2001. I was there as the Mid Atlantic region sales manager for quantum Corporation, which was a fortune 500 computer company. I had been hired two years before to open an office for quantum in New York City. I was living back there because I had been transferred by another company from California to sell in New York City because I had been doing it by phone. And I made the case for the fact that we needed to do it on site. So I was asked to open an office because I had been recruited by quantum to do that. We opened the office on the 78th floor of tower one of the World Trade Center. The 78th floor is what's called a skylounge a sky lobby. That meant that elevators would go straight from floor one to 78 without stopping the World Trade Center. The way it was structured was that you could take elevators to go from floor one up to some number of floors but there were also direct elevators to floor 44 and floor 78. The 44th floor was where the cafeteria was the Port Authority cafeteria that everyone use 78 was the next jumping off point. You would then go to other elevators to go to other floors are you take the stairs, or in our case we were fortunate to have our office right on the 78th floor and on September 11 we were going to be holding some sales seminars to teach some of our resellers how to teach how to sell our products. I Arctic con they are excuse me quantum the company that worked for then artic con move me to the east coast but quantum work through a two tier distribution and sales model. So typically most of our products were sold to a few very large distributors and they in turn sign the smaller resellers and the major distributor we worked with Ingram micro wanted to make sure that their resellers knew how to sell our products. So they asked if we do the seminar and we set it up for of course September 11. By that time, I Had my fifth guide dog Roselle was that was a yellow lab. Roselle was also a dog with a great sense of humor, she loved to steal socks. She wouldn't eat them, she hid them. And I was warned by her puppy raisers that she'd like to do that. And she did. She stole my wife slippers once and hid them. And we had to find them. So in any case, we we in, Roselle and I were matched in 1999. And in 2001, she was very used to working in the World Trade Center with me, I had spent a lot of time when we started the office and started preparing to open the office, I had spent a great deal of time learning where everything in the World Trade Center was that I could possibly want to know about, I knew what was on most every floor, especially that would be a place where we might want to reach out and, and try to sell. I knew how to get around. I spent a lot of time studying emergency evacuation procedures. And almost every day when I went into the office, I remember thinking, if there's an emergency today, how am I going to get out? What am I going to do? And I made sure I knew the answers to those things. Because many times I would be in the office alone, nobody else would be there. Because I had a staff working for me great sales guys. And their job was to go out and sell and support their manager, right. So that was me. And my job was to be inside supporting them going on sales calls with them from time to time. But a lot of times I would be in the office alone, fielding their questions, helping them in any way that I could, working to make sure that I knew everything that they might need to know so that I could enhance them out in the field. In fact, every salesperson I ever hired, I said, Look, I know you're working for me. But I want you to understand that I view myself as a second person on your sales team. And what you and I need to do is to learn how we work together so I can add value to you and enhance what you do. My favorite example of that was with a guy named Kevin, who I hired. Michael Hingson 22:14 I really liked Kevin, because when we were doing the interview, I said to him like I did to everyone, tell me what you're going to be selling for us and how you're going to do it. Now the typical answer for most people was, well, you're selling tape drives, we're going to be selling the tape drives, I'm going to learn all about those. And I'm going to go off and tell people how to do it. And what what they need to know so that they can buy it. That's the typical answer. Kevin's answer was the only person who ever gave it and it was the answer I wanted to hear. The only thing I have to sell is me and my reputation. And I need your support. I won't do anything without telling you. But when we agree on something, I'm going to go sell me and through them will and through that we'll sell the products. But if they don't believe me, they're not going to be interested in our products. And I have to rely on you. What an answer. But it was the right answer truly. So one day Kevin comes into my office and he says, Hey, we have sales opportunity at Salomon Brothers. I said, Okay. He said, they want me to come out and talk about our products for a project they have, I'm not sure that our products will really be what they want. But they want us to come and talk about it. And they wanted me to bring my manager along a decision maker. I said, Okay, he said, so they don't know you. So I didn't tell him you're blind. Michael Hingson 23:51 So we got to the meeting. We entered the building right at 10 o'clock. We I wanted to arrive a minute or so late. I knew what Kevin meant. When he said I didn't tell him you're blind. Because we were going to hit him right between the eyes with that. So about 1001 we're walking down the hallway here, a bunch of people talking a few and we're going where are these quantum people in all that we walk in the door and the room goes totally silent. We stand there for a moment. And I turned to Kevin, I said, So where are we going to do this? He says all right up here in the front. So we went up to the front I had a laptop projector in hand on my laptop also opened up the cases took things out and says where do we plug this stuff in? And he says I'll take it and he plugs it in. And meanwhile, I'm standing there facing this audience. And so I turn to my left. And I said to the person sitting right in the front row on the corner who I heard as we walked by, I said, Hi my name is Mike Kingston, who are you? Nothing. Really, who are you? Nothing. So I kind of walk over near him and I'm looking straight at him. And I said I heard you when I walked by, who are you? So finally he said, Oh, my name is Joe. I said, Good, glad to meet you. And when I shook his hand, I said, you know, doesn't matter whether I'm blind beside, I know you're there. I don't know a lot about you yet, but I'm gonna learn about you. So tell me, Joe, why are you interested in our tape drives? I didn't ask if he was interested. I asked him why? Because I knew from my Dale Carnegie sales course you don't answer ask yes or no questions unless you really know the answer. But you don't ask yes or no questions. That doesn't give you a lot of information. So Joe, kind of hemmed and hawed and finally gave me an answer to that. And then I said, So tell me a little bit more about the project, if you will. And he did. And then I went to the next person, and I went around the room. And I talked to those people, learning a lot, including our product wasn't gonna do anything to help these people. But we were there. So we did the presentation. I did the presentation, I had a script, I did the PowerPoint show. And on my script was in incredible detail. And it said, everything that I needed to know including even on the screen, what picture appeared where so I could point over my shoulder and say, on the left side of your screen, you'll see the A TLP 3000, which holds 16 tape drives and 326 tape cartridges, we use a special technology called prism technology, our system is very modular, we can actually connect five of those drives together five of those libraries together, so that you could have a total of 80, tape drives, and 16 120. Tape cartridges, all in one big library. And on the right side of your screen, you can see the ATL p 1000, which is a small single drive library with 30, tape drives, and some things like that, and talk on and on and on. And we went off and we talked and all that, and we did the whole show. And then I said at the end, and as you can see our product won't do what you want. But I wanted you to know about it, because I want you to understand what different systems can do. Now let me tell you a little bit about who has a product that will help you. My bosses would shoot me if they heard me say that. But it's the ethical thing to do. And so we talked about that a little bit. And then we ended the day and people will come up to me and we chatted some and a couple came up and they said we're really angry at you. And I said Why? He said Well, usually when people come in, they do these presentations, we just kind of fall asleep and vege out, you know, because they just keep talking and talking. But you never looked away and looked at the screen. You kept looking at us, we forgot you were blind. We didn't dare fall asleep. And I said, Well, you could have fallen asleep. The dog was down here. You may think he's asleep, but he's taken notes. Anyway, we ended and we went out and Kevin said, How can you know so much about our products? And and you knew some of these later things that I don't know. And I said, Well, did you read the product bulletin that came out last week? Well, no, I really didn't have time. I said, there you go. message received and understood. But about two weeks later, the Solomon people called back and they said, We really do appreciate all that you did and coming out and talking with us. And we have something to tell you. And that is that there's another project. Because of everything that you taught us, we know that your product is perfect for it, we're not even putting it out for bid, just give us a price. That's the ethics of it. That's the way to sell. Michael Hingson 28:31 And that's what we did. So, in any case, I spent a lot of time learning what to do in the case of an emergency, so that I could get out when necessary, because I knew that people like Kevin and the rest of our sales and support staff would be out working a lot of times. And so I knew everything that I could possibly know about what to do in any kind of an unusual situation. On September 10, I went home as usual, I took my laptop, which is what I used in the office, I backed up my data at home. I'm a good Scout, I know how to be prepared, and sometimes I would work at home. So I always made sure I had my data backed up at home as well as on the job. By the way, speaking of scouts as long as I'm bragging, I happen to be an Eagle Scout with two palms and vigil in the order of the arrow. blindness isn't the issue. Michael Hingson 29:33 A lot of fun. I had some great scout leaders who accepted me for who I was and that made all the difference. In any case. I backed up my data later that night we went to bed and about 1230 Roselle started nudging me. Now Roselle was afraid of thunder. And of course we had rain storms in New Jersey. We lived in Westfield, great town. Again there we build our house that was a two story house. We put an elevator in So we could go to the two stories and the basement. So we had this nice elevator and nice house. But Roselle now was bugging me at 1230. And I knew that there must be a storm coming. She usually gave us about a half hour warning because she could sense it, as we know because the static charge would build up on her for as well as the fact that she probably heard the thunder before we do and so Rosa was shaking and shivering and panting and so I took Roselle Karen, my wife was awake by that time and we both agree there must be a storm coming. So we went downstairs to my basement to our basement. I put Roselle under my desk and I sat down and decided to try to do a little bit of work that I was going to do the next day before our sales seminars began. I turned on the stereos and had a pretty loud hopefully masking some of the thunder sounds. But God has a sense of humor. I guess. The storm literally came right over our house. It sounds like bombs going off outside and pours it Roselle was just shaking. At least she didn't see the lightning because she was under the desk. We were there until about two o'clock. Then the storm left. And so I went back up and we got three more hours asleep and then got up to go into the office. I didn't think it was a bad sign of things to come. Some people have said well, didn't you get the warning? No. So we got to the office at 740. And there was a guy there he just pulled up with a cart. He was from the Port Authority cafeteria, he was bringing the breakfast that we ordered for the early arrivals. And for the first group of seminar people we had 50 people scheduled during the day to come to one of four seminars. by eight o'clock. Some of our distribution people from Ingram micro arrived along with David Frank from our corporate office, David was in charge of the distribution sales, then he was there to help the Ingram micro people talk about pricing. I was there because of course I'm the technical contact the guy who would be on site in New York all the time. David was from New York, but he transplanted to California. And so so he was there and I was there we were the two quantum people, the Ingram micro people were there for about five Ingram micro people, six, actually, I guess. And then one of them decided about quarter after eight or 830, to go downstairs and to wait in the lobby, and a score our distribution people to where they needed to go. The last thing we needed to do before the seminars or to start was to create a list of all the people who would be attending that day, if you wanted to go to the World Trade Center and go up and see anyone at that time, because of the bombing in 1993, you either had to have your name on a previously prepared list that was created on stationery from the company where you were going. So they could check your name off after looking at your ID, or they would have to call us and say is so and so allowed to come up. We didn't want to have 50 phone calls. So it was easier to create the list. David and I finished the list and at 845 in the morning I was reaching for stationery to create the list and print it out when suddenly we felt a muffled thump. And the building sort of shuttered a little a minor kind of explosion not overly loud. And then the building began to tip. As I'm tipping my hand and it just kept tipping and tipping and tipping. We actually moved about 20 feet. Michael Hingson 33:37 The building kept tipping. David said What's going on? I said I don't know what do you think? I said do you think it was an explosion? You said it didn't sound like it? He said was it an earthquake? I said no. Because the building's not shaking from side to side or anything it's going in one direction. Now I knew that building the towers were made to buffet and winds although I wasn't really thinking about that at the time. But the building kept tipping and hey I grew up in Palmdale right building musco Santa doorway, so I went and stood in the doorway to my office. Yeah, a lot of good that's really going to do your 78 floors up but hey, there I was. David was just holding on to my desk. Roselle was asleep under my desk. And finally, David, I say goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor punch to the street. Then the building slowed down and it stopped. And it came back the other way. And I remember as soon as the building started to move back, I let out my breath. I didn't even realize I was holding it. The building eventually got to be vertical again. As soon as it did, I went into my office and I met my guide dog Roselle coming out from under my desk. I took her leash and told her to heal, which meant to come around on my left side just like Alamo did good boy, he gets a reward for sitting and Roselle came and sat and was just wagging your tail And about that time, the building Straight down about six feet. Because as we know, the expansion joints went back to their normal configuration. We didn't really think about that at the time, but that's what they were doing. As soon as that occurred, David let go of the desk, turned around and looked around outside and said, Oh my god, Mike, there's fire and smoke above us. There are millions of pieces of burning paper falling outside the window. We got to get out of here right now. We can't stay here. I said. Are you sure? Yeah, I can see the fire above us. And there millions of pieces of burning paper falling outside our windows. I heard stuff, brushing the windows, but I didn't know what it was. Now I did. And our guests began to scream the ones that were in eating breakfast, waiting for the seminar to start, they started moving toward our exit and I kept saying slow down, David. No, we got to get out of here right now. The buildings on fire. Slow down. David will get out. Just be patient. No, we got to get out of here right now. We can't stay here. For me, emergency preparedness training kicked in. Because I, as you know, kept thinking What do I do? Emergency Well, here it was. Then David said the big line Mike, we got to get out of here. And I said slow down. He says no, you don't understand you can't see it. The problem wasn't what I wasn't seeing. The problem was what David wasn't seeing when I tell you about Rozelle with thunderstorms. She wasn't doing any of that she was wagging her tail and Jani and going, who woke me up. She wasn't giving any fear indication at all. And so I knew that whatever was occurring, we weren't imminently immediately threatened. So I finally got David to focus and say, get our guests to the stairs and start them down. And he did. While he was doing that, I called Karen, my wife and said, there's been an emergency and something happened. We're going to be evacuating, I'll let you know later What's going on? And she said, what's, what is what is going on? I said, Oh, no. The airplane hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building. Afterward, when reporters started interviewing me. They said, Well, of course you didn't know what happened because you couldn't see it. I said, Wait a minute, helped me understand. The plane hit on the 96th floor roughly. On the other side of the building from us the last time I heard there really wasn't such a thing as x ray vision. None of us knew blindness had nothing to do with you can't justify that. None of us knew. And on the stairs, none of us knew. And we were with a whole bunch of people on the stairs. Anyway, David came back. I just disconnected with Karen. We swept the offices to make sure we didn't miss anyone. We tried to power down some equipment, didn't really have time to do a lot of that and we just left a went to the stairs and started down. Almost immediately I began smelling an odor and it took me a little while to recognize that what I was smelling was burning jet fuel. I traveled a lot through airports about 100,000 miles a year. So I knew that smell but I didn't associate it with the World Trade Center. Now suddenly, I smelled it and I recognize it finally after about four floors, and I observed it to others who said yeah, that's what it is. You're right. Michael Hingson 38:12 So we kept walking down the stairs. Got down about 10 floors and then from above us we heard Brian victim coming through move to the side let us by the stairs were wide enough that you could walk like two or three abreast but we moved to the outer wall stood facing in and a group of people passed us and David described how they were surrounding a woman who is very badly burned over the upper part of her body, probably from the little vapor droplets that can busted as she was standing in front of an elevator. We then started walking again and then we heard it again burned record coming through moving to the side, let us buy and another group pass us with someone who is burn. As David said even worse, we knew it had to be pretty bad above us. We kept walking down some conversation. We got to about the 50th floor David wasn't talking very much. And suddenly he said Mike we're gonna die. We're not going to make it out of here. And I just said stop it David if Roselle and I can go down the stairs. So can you see I took that secret teacher course that that all of you as teachers have never told anybody about because you're sworn to secrecy, right? voice 101 where you learn to yell at students, right? And so I literally very deliberately spoke very harshly to David. And he told me that that brought him out of his funk. But then David made a decision, which I think is still one of the most profound and incredible decisions and follow throughs that I experienced that day. David said, You know, I got to keep my mind on it on what's going on. But I don't I don't want to think about this. I want to think about something else. So I'm going to walk the floor below you and shout up to you everything that I see on the stairs, okay. And I said Sure, go ahead. Did I need David to do that? No. Right, you're going down the stairs, what can you do, but it was okay. And I'm glad to have more information. I love information. And so I thought it was fine. But the reason that I thought that what David did was so incredible will come up in a moment. So suddenly I'm on the 49th floor when I walked down the floor and David walked ahead of us and suddenly, Hey, Mike, I'm on the 48th floor, everything is good here going on down. I'm on 49 go into 48 get to 48 David 47th floor all clear. What David was doing, although he was shouting up to me, he was providing information that hundreds or 1000s of people on the stairwell could hear. He gave everyone a focus point. Anyone who could hear him knew that somewhere above them or below them on the stairs, someone was okay. And that it was clear and they could keep going. He gave everyone something to focus on. And I think that that was the one thing more than anything else. That had to keep more people from possibly panicking like he started to do on the stairs. We didn't have any other incidents that that after David started shouting 46 floor all clear. Hey, I'm on 45 everything is good here. 44th floor This is where the Port Authority cafeteria is not stopping going on down. Michael Hingson 41:31 And we continue down the stairs. We eventually got to the 30th floor. And when we did actually David did and I was at 31 he said I see I see firefighters coming up the stairs. We're going to have to let them by everybody moved to the side while I went down to where he was and they hadn't got there yet. I said what do you see? And he said, Well I just see him coming up the stairs they got heavy backpacks on and they're carrying shovels oxygen cylinders by our axes the first guy gets to us and he stops right in front of me and when let me bike goes hey buddy you okay? You know that's how you sound in New York right? Hey buddy. Yo, in New Jersey, it's yo and I said yeah I'm fine well that's really nice we're gonna send somebody down the stairs which should make sure you get out and I said you don't need to do that I'm good. What's really nice we're gonna send somebody which anyway I said Look, I just came down from the 78th floor here we are at 30 I came down 48 floors I'm really good. Wow, it's really nice. We're gonna send somebody down the stairs which I said Look, I got my guide dog Roselle here and and everything is good. We're doing fine. Now what a nice dog and he reaches out and he starts petting Roselle. It wasn't the time to give him a lecture don't pet a guide dog and harness. But I'll give you the lecture dump had a guide dog and harness, dog and harness do not come up Don't say name don't interact with even don't make eye contact dog in harness is working harness is symbol of work. Don't distract dog. If you do, I will first correct the dog before I deal with you. Because rose Alamo should know better. He is still a puppy though. And dogs love to interact. And so when you start trying to talk with them, they're going to talk to you, they're going to try and then I have to bring him back and focus him. I don't want to do that. So don't deal with a guide dog and harness. Now as I said before, when we're out selling books later harness will come off, and you're welcome to visit with him all you want. Of course, I'd love you to buy books too. And take business cards because if any of you know anyone who needs a public speaker, whether it's in your district or or their organizations, I would love you to to let me know or let them know, because this is what I do. And I really would love your help to do more of this to educate people. We can talk more about that later. Any case wasn't the time to give them that lecture and it wasn't the time to say to the fire person. blindness isn't the problem. It's your attitude, you know, so I finally just played the card. Look, I got my friend David over here David can see we're working together okay. And he turns to David here with him. David goes yeah, leave him alone. He's good. He says okay, and he goes, then he pets Roselle a few more times. She gives him a few more kisses. And he goes on up the stairs. Probably just having received the last unconditional love he ever gotten his life. Michael Hingson 44:21 And I remember that. Every time I say it. I don't know I never heard whether they survived or not. But don't know that he did. But he was gone. Other firefighters were coming up 50 men and women pastors going up the stairs to fight that fire. Several of us on one or more occasions said can we help you guys and they just said no Your job is to go down and get out ours is to go deal with this. We got it. David we assumed a scouting position and we kept going down the stairs. Finally David said well at about the 26th floor by the way Somebody started passing up water bottles. Roselle was panting I was getting pretty warm with all the the massive human bodies. So we we gave Roselle some water somebody passed up bottles and David brought one up and he took some drinks I took some drinks we gave Roselle some we made our hands into kind of cups and so everybody got some water and then we continued and finally he got to the first floor. I was on four second floor two and he said hey Mike, the water sprinklers are on here you're going to have to run through a curtain and water to get out of the stairwell. And the water was running to create a barrier so fire wouldn't get in or out depending on if it ever broke out. He was gone. I got to the first floor picked up the harness results forward hopper speed up, which is the command to give. we raced through this torrential downpour of water and came out the other end soaking. But we were in the lobby of tower one. Normally a very quiet building and quiet lobby office type environment. But now people were shouting dunk on that way. Don't go outside go this way. megaphones don't go over their gun this way. Go to the doors into the rain, main part of the complex don't go outside. They didn't want anyone going out because that would have put them right below where people were jumping. We didn't know that at the time. So this guy comes up to David and me. And he says, Hey, I'm with the FBI. I'll get you where you need to go. And I'm sitting there going the FBI. What did I do? I didn't do it. sighs I'm not talking to anybody about McGarrett from five Oh, I didn't think that. Anyway, I said What's going on? He said no time to tell you just come with us. So he ran us through the whole complex and out a door after going up an escalator by borders, books as far away from the towers as we could be. And we made it outside. And we were told to leave the area. But David looked around and said, Mike, I see fire in tower two. I said what? Yeah, there's fire in the second tower. Sure. Yeah. And I went, what's going on? We had no idea where that came from. We didn't feel thing in our building when we were going down the stairs. So we thought perhaps it was just fire that jumped across from our building when the building tipped it was mashing pointed toward tower to we didn't know. So we left the area we walked over to Broadway, we walk north on Broadway and eventually we got to Vesey street where we stopped because David says see the fire and tower to really well. We're only 100 yards away. I want to take pictures. So we stopped. He got out his camera. I got out my phone. I tried to call Karen. I couldn't get through the circuits were busy because as we now know everyone was everyone was saying goodbye to loved ones. But I couldn't get through to Karen. I had just put my phone away and David was putting his camera away when a police officer to get out of here it's coming down and we heard this rumble that quickly became this deafening roar I described the sound is kind of a combination of a freight train and a waterfall. You could hear glass tinkling and breaking metal clattering in is white noise sound as tower to collapse it pancake straight down. David turned and ran. He was gone. Everyone was running different directions. I bodily lifted, Roselle turned 180 degrees and started running back the way we came. Come on was I'll keep going good girl keep going. We ran got to Fulton Street, turned right onto Fulton Street. And now we're going west. At least we had a building between us and the towers. I ran about maybe 100 feet or so. And suddenly there was David. It turns out we had both run in the same direction. And then he realized that he had just left me he was going to come back and try to find me. But I found him first and he started apologizing. I said David, don't worry about the buildings coming down. Let's keep going and we started to run. And then we were engulfed in the dust cloud all the dirt and debris in the fine particles of tower two that were collapsing that we're that we're coming down. And so David and I were now engulfed in this cloud. He said he couldn't see his hand six inches in front of his face. I could feel with every breath I took stuff going through my mouth and through my nose into my throat and settling in my lungs. That's how thick it was. I could feel it settling in my lungs. Michael Hingson 49:19 So we kept running and we knew we had to get out of that. So I started telling Roselle right? Right with hand signals and voice I don't know whether she could hear me and because of the dust. I don't even know if she could see me. Right? Roselle right? But I was listening for an opening on my right and the first opening I heard I was gonna go into it. And obviously Roselle didn't know what I want because when that first opening appeared, I heard it but she immediately turned right she took one step and she stopped and she wouldn't move. Connor was I'll keep going, she wouldn't move. And I realized there must be a reason. So I stuck a handle on a wall and stuck out a foot and realized and discovered that we were at the top of a flight of stairs. She had done her job perfectly. We walked down two flights of stairs and found ourselves in little arcade, a lobby of a subway station. We continued to well, we just stayed there for a while. And then this guy comes up. He introduced himself as Lou, an employee of the subway system. And he took us down to the lower levels of the subway station to an employee locker room. And when we got to the locker room, there were benches there were about eight or nine of us who were in the lobby at that point, that little arcade, there were other people that he had already escorted down. So we were all in this employee locker room, there was a water fountain, there were benches, there was a fan. We were all hacking and trying to get rid of stuff from our lungs, and not saying much what the heck was going on. None of us knew. We were there for a few minutes. And then a police officer came and he said, the air is clear up above you're gonna have to, to leave and and go out of here right now. So we followed him up the stairs, he went to that little arcade lobby where we had been, and then he went on up the stairs. He said the air is a little bit better up there. And we just followed him. And finally we went outside after getting to the top. David looked around, and he said, Oh my god, Mike. There's no tower to anymore. And I said, What do you see? And he said, All I see are pillars of smoke where the tower was it's gone. Pretty sure. Yeah, it's gone. We stood there for a moment. And then we just turn and continue to walk west on Fulton Street. We walked for about maybe a quarter of a mile. And we were in this little Plaza area. Just still trying to figure out what was happening when suddenly we heard that freight train waterfall sound again, and we knew it was tower one collapsing, David looked back and saw it. And he saw a dust cloud coming toward us again, it was still pretty concentrated. So we kind of ran to the side to get out of most of it hunkered down behind a wall and just waited until everything passes by and the wind subsided, the noise stop. And then we stood up. Turn, David looked around and said, Oh my god, Mike. There's no World Trade Center anymore. I said what do you see? And he said, fingers of fire and flame hundreds of feet tall and pillars of smoke, the towers are gone. We're gone in three hours before less than three hours before just to do our job. But now in the blink of an eye, it was gone. No clue why we stood there for a moment. And then I decided I better try to call Karen and this time I got through. And after some tears on both sides of the phone, she told us how to aircraft had been crashed into the towers went into the Pentagon and a fourth was still missing over Pennsylvania. We walked up toward Midtown and eventually got near Midtown Manhattan to the subway station and the train station at 33rd and sixth and seventh Avenue. And David and I set parted and went different ways. I wanted to get back home to Westfield he wanted to get up to the Upper East Side to his sister's house, which is where he was staying when I was back in New York. And so we went our separate ways. Michael Hingson 53:42 And never, never thinking that that was the end. And a lot of ways. We did try to reopen the office elsewhere, but didn't get a lot of support from the company and decided that, for me, it was time to do something different. The reason I decided that was that the day after September 11, the 12th. Karen said you want to call the folks from Guide Dogs for the Blind. That's where you've gotten all your guide dogs got to let them know that you were in the trade center and got out because eventually they would remember it a number of them had visited us in our office, because it's such a cool view. I don't know how to tell you about the view so much other than to say we were so high up that on the Fourth of July, people would go to our office to look down on the fireworks displays. So I called them and talked to a number of people including their public information officer, Joanne Ritter, who wanted to do a story and I said sure, and she said, You know, you're probably going to get request to be on TV. What TV show Do you want to start with? So yeah, I'm not really thinking about that sort of stuff, right? kind of still in shock. So I just said Larry King Live. Two days later on the 14th. We had the first of five interviews with Larry King. And so we started doing that and eventually Guide Dogs asked me to come and be a public spoke serve their public spokesperson. And I was being asked by that time to travel and speak and tell my story. And people said, we want to hire you. Being a sales guy, I'm sitting there going, you want to hire me just to come and talk. That sounds a whole lot more fun than working for quantum. And we wanted to move back to California anyway. So I accepted Guide Dogs position, and I've been speaking ever since. Other things have happened along the way very quickly, including I was asked in 2015, by a startup company, AIRA, a IRA to join their advisory board and AIRA makes a product called a visual interpreter. It consists of an app on a smartphone. And it may also include smart glasses with a high resolution video camera. And what I wrote allows me to do is to contact an agent who has been hired and vetted and trained to describe whatever the camera sees, and whatever information I need so they can help with an accessible websites. They helped me put together products when the instructions were all visual pictures, the Chinese have learned from IKEA, and in so many other ways that literally now, any visual information becomes available with AIRA. I just really want to quickly show you like hierro and we can we can talk more about AIRA this afternoon in the the session at 345. I want you to see what AIRA does. So hopefully AIRA 56:37 connecting to agent Kenyon starting video we're gonna wait. Oh, Michael, thanks for calling. I read this is Kenyon. What would you like to do today? Michael Hingson 56:48 I'd like you to tell me what you see. AIRA 56:50 I see a very large crowd, right? Michael Hingson 56:54 Yeah, what else? AIRA 56:56 podium to mic. And it looks like a very large auditorium, see some doors toward the back exit signs, and very captive crowds. Michael Hingson 57:09 Here's the real question. Do they look like they're awake? AIRA 57:16 They are now. So we're good. Michael Hingson 57:21 So tell them what you do. AIRA 57:26 I assist those who are sight challenged with independence on a daily basis. We allow them to be more independent in their daily lives to get around with minimal help. And we basically help them to see Michael Hingson 57:41 how do you do that? What do you do? 57:44 We use descriptives we use, we call in as we did now. And we ask them, What would you like to do and we assist them with whatever their task may be for that day, whether it be for reading, navigation, calling an Ubers, travel, descriptives, you name it, we can do it. We do that through either, believe you're using the glasses right now. We have horizon glasses we use and then or through technology in the phones, we use remote cameras, to help them to see the world around them and describe it to them. And to help them navigate through Michael Hingson 58:17 it to real quick stories. One, one IRA agent helped someone once while they were on an African safari to describe what was going on. But my favorite IRA story is that a father once wanted to find out if his daughter was really doing her homework. So he activated IRA. And he went in with the agent and said, How are things going? And she said, Oh great. I'm almost done with my homework. And the Irish said Irish and said, No, she's playing a game on her iPhone. AIRA 58:48 Yes, we also bust children whenever we need to. Michael Hingson 58:54 Kenny, I appreciate your time. I'm going to go ahead and finish chatting with these folks. But appreciate you taking the time to chat today. AIRA 59:02 You bet. Thanks for calling AIRA. Michael, we'll talk to you again soon. Michael Hingson 59:04 Thank you, sir. Bye. And that's what and that's what I read is all about. The whole the whole point is that I get access to all the information I otherwise don't have access to. Because ironically, in our modern technological world, sometimes it's actually becoming harder for me to get access to information. Too many websites are inaccessible and shouldn't be too many books may be scanned, but they're not put in a textual form that I have access to. There have been lawsuits over that. But the bottom line is that IRA creates access, or I should say it creates inclusion it gives me access to the information that I otherwise wouldn't have access to. So be glad to show that to any of you What I'd like to do is to end this now, with some words from Dr. Tim Brooke, that the person I mentioned earlier, this is part of a speech that he gave at the 1956 convention of the National Federation of the Blind in San Francisco. So it is a convention of blind people. But what I'm reading to you now could just as easily apply to any group. And I'm sure that Dr. Tim Burke intended it that way. And this is what he wrote. In the 16th century, john Bradford made a famous remark, which has ever since been held up to us as a model of Christian humility, and correct charity, and which you saw reflected in the agency quotations I presented earlier, seeing a beggar in his rags creeping along a wall through a flash of lightning in a stormy night, Bradford said, but for the grace of God, there go I compassion was shown. Pity was shown, charity was shown. Humility was shown. There was even an acknowledgment that the relative positions of the two could and might have been switched. Yet, despite the compassion, despite the pity, despite the charity, despite the humility, how insufferably arrogant there was still an unbridgeable gulf between Bradford and the beggar. They were not one but two, whatever might have been, Bradford thought himself Bradford, and the beggar a beggar one high, the other low one Why's the other misguided, one strong, the other weak, one virtuous, the other depraved. We do not and cannot take the Bradford approach. It is not just that beggary is the badge of our past, and is still all too often the present symbol of social attitudes toward us, although that is at least a part of it. But in the broader sense, we are that bigger, and he is, each of us, we are made in the same image. And out of the same ingredients, we have the same weaknesses and strengths, the same feelings, emotions, and drives. And we are the product of the same social, economic and other environmental forces. How much more constant with the facts of individual and social life, how much more a part of a true humanity to say, instead, there within the grace of God, do go I. And I want to leave you with that, because I think that sums it up as well as I can possibly do. We're all on the same world together. And you have the awesome responsibility to help children. And perhaps their parents grow, and truly become more included in society. So this afternoon, I'll be talking about the concept of moving from diversity to inclusion, and I'll tell you why choose that title. And I'll tell you now, when you watch television, you hear all about diversity. How often do you ever hear disabilities mentioned? You don't? Hollywood doesn't mention us. The candidates aren't mentioning us in all the political debates. Michael Hingson 1:03:46 Even though 20% of the population has some sort of a disability, not concluding politicians who have their own disabilities, but we want to go we need to demand and we ask your help to create a true inclusive society. I challenge you to do that. I hope we get to chat later. Come to the presentation this afternoon and come and see us. We'll be selling Thunder dog books, and you can visit with Alamo. And also again, if you know anyone else who needs a speaker, it's what I do, as you can tell, did you all feel you'll learn something today? vendors and everyone like Thanks very much, and I hope we get to chat some more. Thank you. Michael Hingson 1:04:43 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Ari Schonbrun gives you a riveting and chilling minute by minute account of how he escaped death thanks to several "Angels" along the way.Ari Schonbrun was the Chief Administrative Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald and Co., one of the world's leading financial services firms. He was responsible for overseeing and directing the day-to-day operations and administrative processes across Cantor Fitzgerald's Capital Markets group. In addition, he is an author, speaker and 9/11 survivor.

Today's podcast guest is with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun whose intuition had him escape from the clutches of death not just once, but several times on September 11th when he found himself trapped on the 78th floor just after a plane hit Tower One of the New York City Twin Towers. In this podcast interview, Ari and I talk about how intuition saved his life, time after time, starting with making him late for work that morning, saving a co-worker who was also trying to escape, having someone steer him away from escaping from the building garage with no escape route and climbing into an ambulance that sped away, saving him from being crushed by the building coming crashing down. Website: https://www.arischonbrun.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arischonbrunspeaksandcoaches/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arischonbrun_llc/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ari-schonbrun-67ab331/ Schedule a Call With Me: https://calendly.com/intuitionology/30-minute-discovery-call

Jeff Heggie Daily Success Strategies https://jeffheggie.com/ https://jeffheggie.com/ConfidentAthlete https://mindset.jeffheggie.com/ Book: Miracles & Fate on 78 - a 9/11 Story of Inspiration https://amzn.to/3jOgev0 www.AriSchonbrun.com On September 11th, 2001, Ari Schonbrun went to his office at Cantor Fitzgerald – the Wall Street firm that occupied the top five floors of Tower One – and he happened to be on the 78th floor changing elevators when the first plane hit. In the midst of the smoke and chaos, Ari found a fellow employee who was terribly burned and who needed his help to walk her down 78 flights of stairs. Of the 662 Cantor employees on the upper floors in the World Trade Center that day, only four survived. Everyone else was killed. Why did they survive? Was it simply luck? Or was it something more? Ari believes that God was looking out for him that day. There were many large and small miracles and if there's anything that Ari does know it is how that day ended up being a day of rebirth. Before 9/11, Ari had been focused on the wrong things. All he cared about was his job. He didn't get it. He had lost sight of what matters most in life. After 9/11, Ari changed his life by putting his family first, by volunteering and giving back to the community, and by speaking to groups of people around the country. Ari has been sharing and retelling his story to audiences worldwide since that day, and after repeated requests and testimonials to the power of his message he decided to take the next step and write a book. Miracles and Fate on 78 reveals the power of creating meaningful connections to transcend the differences that often polarize and divide us from one another. A great and enduring reminder about what matters most in life 9/11 Never Forget

Today's podcast guest is with 9/11 survivor Ari Schonbrun whose intuition had him escape from the clutches of death not just once, but several times on September 11th when he found himself trapped on the 78th floor just after a plane hit Tower One of the New York City Twin Towers. In this podcast interview, Ari and I talk about how intuition saved his life, time after time, starting with making him late for work that morning, saving a co-worker who was also trying to escape, having someone steer him away from escaping from the building garage with no escape route and climbing into an ambulance that sped away, saving him from being crushed by the building coming crashing down. Website: https://www.arischonbrun.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arischonbrun_llc/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ari-schonbrun-67ab331/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/arischonbrun2 Free 7-day challenge!

On this 20th anniversary of 9/11, Americans and likely others around the world will pause and remember the 2,977 precious and innocent lives that were taken and the thousands of others who were injured but survived. At a 2002 memorial, Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl, said, "If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.” Her words were poignant then and oh how we need to be reminded of them now.I was honored to interview 9/11 survivor, Michelle Cruz. In my interview with her, she describes her journey during that horrific day, as well as how that day led her to finding her purpose. As an eager and driven 28-year-old professional at Fidelity Trust, Michelle arrived early to work on the 95th floor of Tower Two that day at her manager's request to put the finishing touches on that morning's presentation. Before she had a chance to unpack her briefcase, she heard the roar of the first plane's engine as it flew by Tower Two and into Tower One. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, she ran for the elevator. When she reached the ground floor, she ran outside only to see the second plane crash into Tower Two. Her co-worker, Andrew, encouraged her to keep going. After nearly 40 blocks, she and Andrew parted ways as he took the ferry to New Jersey and Michelle took a taxi to her mother's house. Michelle describes how she's certain the sudden appearance of the taxi driver and his powerful words to her were that of an angel. Over the next few weeks, Michelle processed the events of that day and began making plans to move forward with her life.Michelle and I discussed the book she co-authored titled "Pursuing Your Destiny: How to Overcome Adversity and Achieve Your Dreams." Her book gives a full account of her journey on 9/11, as well as the many experiences she's had since then. Follow Michelle on Instagram @mikaila_nyc or on Facebook at mikaila_cruz_nycMichelle is working on her second book, which will dive deeper into her philosophy about finding empowerment within and pursuing your purpose.

The Reverend and the Reprobate sit down with a 9/11 Survivor who tells a harrowing story about his escape from Tower One and the search for his wife and unborn child as Tower Two collapsed. As they observe the twentieth anniversary of this tragedy their guest tells the Rev and Rep how his survivor's story has motivated him to start "You Can Free Us" an organization that helps to free victims of human trafficking around the globe.  How to get involved: https://youcanfreeus.org/ More from the Rev and Rep: https://reverendandreprobate.com/

John Reilly, who lives in Appleton, was on the 61st floor of Tower Number Two, twenty years ago, when the first plane crashed into Tower One. He joins us today to talk more about his experience.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, President Bush vowed revenge against the perpetrators, but not everyone found his words comforting. Around this time, a small but vocal group of people got together to speak out. They were the parents, spouses, siblings, and children of people who were killed in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and they said they didn't want the deaths of their loved ones to be used to justify military attacks that could harm innocent civilians on the other side of the world. They called themselves “September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,” and in late November of 2001, they took part in a walk for peace from the Pentagon to the World Trade Center site. I was a young reporter at the time, and I tagged along and interviewed several members of the group, later producing an hour-long documentary featuring their stories. On this 20th anniversary of the attacks, I'm re-releasing that documentary, along with an interview I conducted a few weeks ago with David Potorti, whose brother James worked on the 96th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. David has just co-edited an anthology of poetry from over 100 poets who've written about September 11th. It's called Crossing the Rift: North Carolina Poets on 9/11 and its Aftermath. As always, you can find, follow, and message Far From Home on Facebook or Instagram or contact me on Twitter. Or you can drop me a line at info@farfromhomepodcast.org ————————- On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org

Escape From The World Trade Center The Jim Larsen Story As the twentieth September 11th since the World Trade Center tragedy in New York City is upon us, somber memorial services and recollections continue around the world recalling that terrible day. We remember being at home when the doorbell rang on September 13, and there stood our friend Jim Larsen, Manager of Air Cargo Business Development for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. We were so glad to see him, we hugged, and poured him a cup of coffee. After a few minutes he produced a manuscript of how he escaped from the 65th floor of the World Trade Center, minutes before Tower One came crashing down. Our FlyingTypers issue today tells Jim's epic story with some pictures of him in our kitchen September 13, 2001. Our FlyingTalkers Podcast today allows you, the listener, a word picture and some extra observations. Jim, not only got out, but cool as a cucumber he saved lives as well. It's a tale of courage and hope from someone who was inside sitting at his desk on the 65th floor when that first aircraft smacked into the side of The North Tower. Today Jim and his wife Annette are alive and well, living in Lakehurst, New Jersey. For years after 911 Jim would commute to the World Trade Center site and conduct tours telling his story from the inside out of that fateful day. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/geoffrey-arend/support

Annabel Quintero is a Certified Holistic Health coach & DEI Advisor with an unforgettable story of surviving September 11th where she transforms trauma into triumph from the 46th Floor.  Her best-selling book Step Step Jump is a story of hope dedicated to helping others transform trauma into triumph. Annabel's life was irrevocably altered on September 11th, 2001 when she narrowly escaped from the 46th floor of the World Trade Center's Tower One during the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.   Quote: Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle! - Stevie Wonder   Book: Step, Step, Jump https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095L171BR   Show hashtag: #TrinaTalk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trina-l-martin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrinaTalk Instagram: @trina.l.martin  Twitter: @TrinaLMartin    

Book: Miracles & Fate on 78 https://amzn.to/2W5SY3Vhttps://jeffheggie.com/2021/08/19/miracles-fate-on-78-a-9-11-story-of-inspiration/Ari SchonbrunOn September 11th, 2001, Ari Schonbrun went to his office at Cantor Fitzgerald – the Wall Street firm that occupied the top five floors of Tower One – and he happened to be on the 78th floor changing elevators when the first plane hit. In the midst of the smoke and chaos, Ari found a fellow employee who was terribly burned and who needed his help to walk her down 78 flights of stairs.Of the 662 Cantor employees on the upper floors in the World Trade Center that day, only four survived. Everyone else was killed. Why did they survive? Was it simply luck? Or was it something more? Ari believes that God was looking out for him that day. There were many large and small miracles and if there's anything that Ari does know it is how that day ended up being a day of rebirth.Before 9/11, Ari had been focused on the wrong things. All he cared about was his job. He didn't get it. He had lost sight of what matters most in life. After 9/11, Ari changed his life by putting his family first, by volunteering and giving back to the community, and by speaking to groups of people around the country.Ari has been sharing and retelling his story to audiences worldwide since that day, and after repeated requests and testimonials to the power of his message he decided to take the next step and write a book.Miracles and Fate on 78 reveals the power of creating meaningful connections to transcend the differences that often polarize and divide us from one another. A great and enduring reminder about what matters most in lifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Where were YOU on 9/11? My guest, Ari Schonbrun , was on the 78th floor or the World Trade Center, Tower One, after arriving 20 minutes later than he USUALLY got to work. His son's Scholastic Book Order saved his life. Waiting for the elevator to take him to the upper floors, Ari recalls the EXPLOSION, sirens, smoke, and Virginia. He then walks us down the 78 flights of Tower One stopping at the 75th Floor for "The Call"...the 50th for some encouragement...Down step by step. Listen in for the other stories. "RIVETING" and a first hand account from one of the few Cantor-Fitzgerald employees to survive that day. "Daddy's Gotta Work" mantra changed that day and Ari will forever believe that God has a sense of humor and works in mysterious ways. Join us and REMEMBER where you were on 9/11/2001. #motivation #inspiration #gratitude #9/11 #benfotiamine #thewomanbehindthesmile

Episode 41 Sounds for Museums Sound Art to Accompany Exhibits Playlist François Baschet, Bernard Baschet, and Jacques Lasry, “Sonatine (3 Mouvements)” from Structures for Sound (1965 BAM). The exhibition 'Structures For Sound-Musical Instruments' by François and Bernard Baschet was shown at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, from October 4 to December 5, 1965. Although not heard in the exhibit, this set of compositions was co-marketed by the museum and BAM and clearly intended as a takeaway souvenir. The recordings were made in France, and released there as Les Structures Sonores Lasry-Baschet, then repackaged for the US market and exhibit. The piece was written by Jacques Lasry. Various Artists, Art By Telephone (1969 Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago). Artists were asked to phone-in instructions for a work of art to be exhibited at Art by Telephone, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The museum released a recording of the phone calls and sold it at the exhibit. Here are four excerpts by John Giorno, Dick Higgins, Sol Lewitt, Richard Serra, and Jack Burnham. In total, 38 artists provided instructions that were included on the album. Audio Arts: Volume 3 No 4 Side A (1977 Audio Arts). Excerpts from a radio work by John Carson broadcast by Downtown Radio, Belfast in 1977. The program was a compilation of recordings made in June 1977 at Documenta VI, an international exhibition of contemporary art in Kassel, West Germany. We hear two excerpts, the first from artist Wolf Vostell which opens with the sound of bubbling water and the second a sound work by Achim Freyer. These audio works played in the exhibit. Other portions of the complete cassette recordings alternated between statements/interviews and sound environments/installations. Audio Arts was a magazine in continuous publication for 33 years and ran to 24 volumes, each of four issues. Various artists, from Sound (1979 Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art). Four of the tracks from this collection are included: Terry Fox, “Labyrinth Scored For II Cats” (1979); Jim Gordon, “Piece For Synthesizers, Computers And Other Instruments” (1979); Doug Hollis, “Aeolian Harp” (1975-76), composed 1975-76 at the San Francisco Exploratorium; Bill Fontana, “Kirribilli Wharf” (1979). Album produced for SOUND. An exhibition of sound sculpture, instrument building and acoustically tuned spaces. Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art July 14-August 31, 1979. P.S.I. New York, September 30-November 18, 1979. Jeff Gordon, “Everyone's An Artist” (1984). Vocal Jeff Gordon and Mug Maruyama; Programming, Graham Hawthorne; Emulators/Keyboards, Jeff Gordon. Gordon produced Revolutions Per Minute (The Art Record), a collection of audio tracks by artists released as a double LP. This track by Gordon was not included in that release but I think was used for a traveling exhibition featuring sound, The RPM Touring Exhibitions, designed by Gordon and his wife Juanita, that toured the US and Europe for over four years, including The Tate Museum in London. Laurie Anderson, “The telephone,” “The polaroid,” “The sheet,” “The wedding dress,” “The bathrobe” from La Visite Guidée (1994). Music: Laurie Anderson; Voice: Sophie Calle. Exhibition catalogue consisting of artist's book and Audio CD published in conjunction with the show held March 27- 29, 1994. The work consisted of a total of 21 short compositions. We hear five consecutive tracks from the collection. This audio was provided on a cassette for the exhibit, which visitor's played on a Sony Walkman while taking a guided tour of the Sophie Calle's exhibition Absent. Steven Vitiello. World Trade Center Recordings: Open House Bounce (1999). A recording from the 91st floor of the World Trade Center, Tower One made with contact microphones placed on the inside of the windows. This recording was only published as part of a CDR sold at an Open House Exhibition in the fall of 1999. Various recordings were made during a 6-month residency. This one in particular picked up a number of passing planes and helicopters. Various artists, Whitney Biennial 2002 (2002 Whitney Museum Of American Art). A CD was included with the 292-page hardcover catalogue "Whitney Biennial 2002" published for the same-titled exhibition at the Whitney Museum Of American Art, March 7-May 26, 2002. Four tracks are heard: Maryanne Amacher, “A Step Into It, Imagining 1001 Years Entering Ancient Rooms” (excerpt); Meredith Monk, “Eclipse,” with performers Ching Gonzalez, Katie Geissinger, Meredith Monk, Theo Bleckmann; Marina Rosenfeld, “Delusional Dub;” Tracie Morris, “Slave Sho' To Video A.k.a. Black But Beautiful.” 33 RPM: Ten Hours of Sound From France (2003 235). Exhibition companion compilation to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Sept. 6-14, 2003, listening room program. 33 RPM consisted of ten one-hour segments that were played on a rotating schedule at the museum during the exhibition. This was the fourth installment of an ongoing series at the museum that presented sound art scene in a variety of countries. We include the following tracks from this compilation: Kasper T. Toeplitz, “PURR#2” (2003); Jean-Claude Risset, “Resonant Sound Spaces/Filters” (2002); Mimetic, “evolution” (2003); and Lionel Marchetti, “À rebours” (1989). Jane Philbrick, "Voix/e" (2003-04 SW Harbor Songline). Installation two lightboxes, with color Duratrans (large-format backlit color transparency film), 48 x 24 x 6; two inset Alpine speakers, synthesized voice track, 9 1/2 mins. looped.; two companion LCD-screen DVDs. On view at Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, and Consolidated Works, Seattle (2004). Audio work created by Jan Philbrick at the Center for Spoken Language Understanding, Oregon Graduate Institute. The piece consists of Philbrick's reading of the "Song of Solomon," modified and edited using voice-gendered speech synthesis to speak bride, groom, and companion parts. Marko Timlin, “Audible Light” (2017), Created by Marko Timlin, a Finnish sound artist whose work has frequently been integrated into museum installations. This installation, Audible Light, created sound directly out of light, “work inspired by Evgeny Sholpo's Variophone instrument developed in 1930.” Solo exhibition, Oksasenkatu 11 in Helsinki. Not to be confused with the 2000 museum exhibition called Audible Light at the Museum Of Modern Art, Oxford, to be featured in a future podcast. Opening montage: sounds from the recordings of Art By Telephone (1969 Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago) and Audio Arts: Volume 3 No 4 Side A, cassette (1977 Audio Arts). Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. For additional notes, please see my blog Noise and Notations.

In this episode of the Learning from Smart People Podcast, Michael Hingson discusses living a full life regardless of the thoughts of others. He is a New York Times best-selling author and a keynote speaker. His story of survival on September 11, 2001 from the 78th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center is riveting. Additionally, his thoughts on disabilities, inclusive Internet access and living a full life are something everyone should hear! Here are a few of the items discussed by Michael Hingson and host Rob Oliver: His outlook on employment for people with disabilities Michael's fascinating story of the events of September 11, 2001 An introduction to Michael's guide dog Roselle Michael's efforts for disaster preparedness for people with disabilities A reminder that just because you can't "see" doesn't mean you can't sense… The difficulty of inaccessible visual content, including websites Understanding that we all need help sometimes, not just people with disabilities, everybody! What the law requires for accessibility and websites Michael's work to simplify accessible website design You can find out more about Michael Hingson on his website and through social media. Check out his two books as well, "Thunder Dog" and "Running with Roselle". Ask him about how to make your website more accessible for people with low vision. Website: http://www.michaelhingson.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhingson Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mhingson Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson Thanks for listening to the Learning from Smart People Podcast! Please 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/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbWV_LuUad7ZWuE9j5D9v-w You can also use the “Contact” page on the “Learning from Smart People” website: https://www.learningfromsmartpeople.com/

Everyone remembers where they were on that fateful day Sept 11th 2001 in NYC when a terrorist attack shocked the world. I'm personally going to take you back WITH me to Tower One of the World Trade Center when shock, terror, flames, and chaos burst into the building.

Hi, I'm Dave. I'm pretty much an ordinary bloke but I've had a lot of extraordinary things happen to me. I grew up in Basildon, Essex and started my working life as an animator and a graphic artist but soon transitioned into Computer Programming. After a few years, I was headhunted by a New York consultancy company and before long I was working for the most prestigious (read "evil") and successful (read "Greedy, dishonest and manipulative") fortune 500 companies in the city. I joined the local volunteer Fire Department and also started my own business that I ran in my spare time and it didn't take long before I was earning serious amounts of money. ABOUT ME In The Matrix Hi, I'm Dave. I'm pretty much an ordinary bloke but I've had a lot of extraordinary things happen to me. I grew up in Basildon, Essex and started my working life as an animator and a graphic artist but soon transitioned into Computer Programming. After a few years, I was headhunted by a New York consultancy company and before long I was working for the most prestigious (read "evil") and successful (read "Greedy, dishonest and manipulative") fortune 500 companies in the city. I joined the local volunteer Fire Department and also started my own business that I ran in my spare time and it didn't take long before I was earning serious amounts of money. Firefighter Murphy - Rescue Truck 640 We bought a large house and soon remodelled it, doubling its size, my wife and I bought the cars we had always dreamed of, and I had a man-cave full of the latest gadgets and toys. Meaningless trinkets deep within the matrix. I was deeply ensconced in the Matrix and I truly believed that the world worked the way I was shown it worked on television and that life, as it was presented to me, was way it was supposed to be. The Red Pill After a layoff, I turned down a job offer on the 40th Floor, Tower One of the World Trade Center and took a job almost directly across the Hudson River in Hoboken NJ and watched in disbelief the events of 9/11 at very close range. https://www.allegedlydave.com

Welcome back, listeners, to the podcast that celebrates the professional and private lives of working dogs of all disciplines. I'm so glad you're here! In this episode, I speak with Michael Hingson, who is a New York Times Bestseller as well as a speaker and business owner. Michael is blind and shares with us the ins and outs of working with a guide dog, some common misconceptions that sighted people often have about blindness, (and blunders we often make as a result), as well as his experiences escaping from the World Trade Center with his guide dog, Roselle, on 9/11. Michael and Roselle were able to navigate their way down from the 78th floor of Tower One after the first plane hit, and he says he was not afraid that day. Now Michael has begun a coaching program to help others face and overcome their fears. You can find out more about the program, Blinded by Fear, by contacting him via michaelhingson.com, and remember to check back soon for the blindedbyfear.net. You can also read about Michael and Roselle's escape on 9/11 in his bestselling book, Thunder Dog, or teach the children (and adults) in your life about blindness and guide dogs with his other book, Running with Roselle. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing to it, rating it, leaving a positive review, and sharing with people you know who are interested in the topic. This show exists in support of its sister photography project on the same topic and of the same name. You can learn more about that by visiting www.herobeside.me. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, recommendations and ideas concerning this podcast. Please reach out at hello@herobeside.me or on Instagram @herobesideme. Thanks for listening! Be sure to give the furry hero beside you some extra love today.

Despite being blind since birth, Michael Hingson biked, worked out advanced math problems in his head, and worked at several high tech companies for over 30 years. Our guest’s life, like many of ours, changed on September 11th. He was on the 78th floor of Tower One during the attack and managed to escape with the help of his guide dog moments before the tower collapsed. He went on to serve at multiple nonprofit organizations aimed at training guide dogs and helping blind students live out their dreams. His book Thunder Dog captures his journey and has sold over 2.5 million copies.   Here are the key links from the episode: Email Michael at contact@michaelhingson.com  Michael's site Get your copy of Thunder Dog   Marc's Links 5 Day Podcast Launch Mini Course From $0 To $100K+ With Content Marketing Schedule a free strategy call

It has been one year since we released the first episode of The Tower. To mark the occasion, the cast of the show; Katrina Allen, David Pellow, Mark Gallie and Sarah Golding, came together to share their thoughts one year on. We also have an update on the next part of the story.

John Cerquiera was one of the heroes of 9-11, carrying a disabled woman from the 68th floor of Tower One just minutes before it collapsed. Through this experience and his career as a strategic sales professional, he has helped people learn to work through adversity, grief, and to build more meaningful, satisfying lives.

CSE's Anil Mall chats with Tower One Wireless (CSE:TO) CEO and President, Alejandro Ochoa, about their focus on owning and operating wireless telecom infrastructure sites in Latin American markets that are experiencing strong growth. Here's an overview of what they cover in this podcast:1:55 - Tower One - a specialty real estate play first.4:00 - Why they went public and how they are different than their competition (Build. Own. Operate.)5:05 - A focus on building new infrastructure with anchor tenants in place.5:55 - Why Alejandro is focused on Latin America.6:50 - The challenge of building a qualified team in this industry.10:15 - The potential of the Latin American telecom market.12:40 - How COVID-19 is impacting network design.15:05 - Other business impacts of COVID-19.17:07 - Meeting demand in Mexico and Colombia, and divesting assets from Argentina.18:10 - Working through COVID-19 with creativity.19:49 - Addressing the 5G “controversy”.21:46 - Working with remote communities. 25:35 - Recent developments including the new master lease agreement in Colombia.Tower One Wireless' core business is providing access to its infrastructure to major national and multi-national cellular carriers through long-term leases (10 plus years). With the migration to fourth generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) and (5G) networks in Colombia and Mexico, the company pursues markets with a large demand for additional telecom infrastructure.Related linkshttps://www.toweronewireless.com/https://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/tower-one-wireless-corp

Originally broadcast September 22nd 2020It has been one year since we released the first episode of The Tower. To mark the occasion, the cast of the show; Katrina Allen, David Pellow, Mark Gallie and Sarah Golding, came together to share their thoughts one year on.We also have an update on the next part of the story.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Media information about this sermon Title: Babel Tower – One People One LanguageType: MediaAuthor: Pastor A. SamuelLanguage: TamilEvent: Sunday WorshipSession: Morning @ 8:30 AMTotal Duration: 2 Hour 42 Minutes Note: For any questions, please reach us from here The post Babel Tower – One People One Language appeared first on Calvary Tabernacle.

President Donald Trump participated in somber memorial services with First Lady Melania Trump today on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks In the U.S.. We recall when New York/New Jersey Port Authority Director of Air Cargo Jim Larsen showed up at our house on September 13, 2001 with a manuscript of how he escaped the World Trade Center minutes before Tower One came crashing down. Here is that story, word-for-word as Jim wrote it 18 years ago.. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/geoffrey-arend/support

Let’s Fix Work Episode 74 We talk about and “remember” 9/11 in America in a very callous way, without truly remembering that nearly 3,000 people died at work. Nearly 3,000 people.  The 2996 project aims to remember those people. For years, I've been writing about Claudia Martinez Foster. Claudia had a fun life.  She wanted to start a family. She loved children. She loved makeup.  She had a job on the 105th floor of Tower One, World Trade Center. And, she lost her life on September 11th, 2001, at work.  I will never stop writing or talking about Claudia.  This week I wanted to share with you my thoughts on old Labor Day traditions, the emergence of the “new” Labor Day and remembering 9/11.  If the topic of terrorism is hard for you (as it is for many of us) or you’ve lost someone on 9/11, this episode might be one you want to skip.  In this episode, you’ll hear: My memorial to Claudia Martinez Foster Why the idea of Labor Day as a union holiday is an old and stupid idea The new Labor Day, a day for remembering, a day of service and moving towards self-awareness A reminder that you have a chance to do something great, don’t blow it Resources from this episode: Claudia Foster, 26, broker's assistant, loved children Claudia Martinez Memorial It’s Important to Remember Cocktails Before the Collapse Project 2996 And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Project2996/   Laurie on Instagram Read more from Laurie Work with Laurie *** EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

A story of faith from inside Tower One of the World Trade Center on 9-11-01. Guy Yasika joins us, tells us a little about where he is from, and his background. Hear his harrowing first hand account of what it was like to be there on the 43rd floor. It was a lot, both during, and after that fateful day in 2001. Likely you remember where you were on September 11, 2001. Guy does… It’s etched on the permanent walls of his memory. Impactful. I promise. Here is a written account of Guy’s day on 9-11-2001 - http://www.onedollarapologist.net/personal-blog/my-9-11-account-at-the-world-trade-center-tower-1-78-floor To find out more, reach out to Guy at www.onedollarapologist.net or gyasika@gmail.com.

Who's in life guard tower one? THE TWINS. Are you ready to join Olympic swimmer Troy Bolton and the Scorpion King in saving THE BEACH from JELLY FISH and....drugs?.....with fireworks? Also Hannibal Buress is in this, so that's Twin Certified FRICKIN COOL. Shout out to BaconLake for creating our podcast art! Song credit goes to: "I dunno" by grapes 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Who's in life guard tower one? THE TWINS. Are you ready to join Olympic swimmer Troy Bolton and the Scorpion King in saving THE BEACH from JELLY FISH and....drugs?.....with fireworks? Also Hannibal Buress is in this, so that's Twin Certified FRICKIN COOL. Shout out to BaconLake for creating our podcast art! Song credit goes to: "I dunno" by grapes 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Who's in life guard tower one? THE TWINS. Are you ready to join Olympic swimmer Troy Bolton and the Scorpion King in saving THE BEACH from JELLY FISH and....drugs?.....with fireworks? Also Hannibal Buress is in this, so that's Twin Certified FRICKIN COOL. Shout out to BaconLake for creating our podcast art! Song credit goes to: "I dunno" by grapes 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Hard to believe we have been at this for over a year, but what a year it has been! And to commemorate one year of…Continue readingPromo #3: Happy Hour from the Tower, One Year Later…

Hard to believe we have been at this for over a year, but what a year it has been! And to commemorate one year of…Continue readingPromo #3: Happy Hour from the Tower, One Year Later…

We review the second season of Tower Of Druaga, talk what we've been watching and how we dislike bad sounding podcasts.

On the UK’s south coast, last Thursday saw a major new milestone in the progress of Brighton's newest attraction, the £46 million i360 observation tower.

 Losing a loved one under any circumstances is tragic. But for families who lost a loved one on September 11, 2001  in an act of terrorism, the traumatic nature of their loss can become overwhelming,  even after all these years.  Today on Fordham Conversations, Terry Sears, and The Executive Director of “Tuesday’s Children” talks about the organization which provides programs to families who’ve been directly impacted by the events of 9/11.  Also, Kevin Clyne remembers his mom Susan who died in Tower One of the World Trade Center site.  Kevin is a Fordham University Junior, Member of Tuesday’s Children and also a reporter with WFUV-News.

Canada's Ban On Pets "Plane cabins should be as pet-free as they are peanut-free," says The Canadian Medical Association. They have voted in favor of supporting a ban on all pets traveling inside aircraft cabins on all Canadian passenger planes. 9/11 Anniversary Michael Hingson was in Tower One when it was hit on 9/11. He's blind and his guide dog helped him return to safety. Roselle was just one of many hero-dogs that helped recover bodies from Ground Zero. Michael returns to share his new book, Thunder Dog. You're Not Delusional Does your skin crawl with bugs and everybody says "you're crazy?" That happened to a 40 year-old lady who was diagnosed with Morgellon's Disease. This rare sickness can be transmitted by your pet. Dr. Neelam Taneja-Uppal is on the cutting edge of research and she joins us to explain. Air Contaminated By Dog Feces Air samples taken in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit showed elevated levels of airborne bacteria from dog feces. "We breathe in bacteria every minute we are outside, and some of these bugs may have potential health implications," says Researchers. More this week