Podcasts about Transparency

News flash: other people can't read your mind! Want to test yourself on how well you can recognize fallacies in real life? Take the Meme Fallacy Quiz! www.filteritthroughabraincell.com/quiz Learn more about Crazy Thinkers membership where you can practice critical thinking using real-life memes, articles & headlines: www.filteritthroughabraincell.com/crazy Here's how you can purchase the Logical Fallacies ebook: https://www.filteritthroughabraincell.com/offers/z6xbAcB2 Send me any questions, comments or even the fallacies you're seeing around you! think@filteritthroughabraincell.com Or, tag me on Instagram: @filteritthroughabraincell Sign up on my email list at: www.filteritthroughabraincell.com/contact Learn more about Classical Conversations: www.classicalconversations.com/filterit Thank you to our sponsor, CTC Math! Website: https://www.ctcmath.com/?tr_id=brain Homeschool page: https://www.ctcmath.com/how-it-works/home-school?tr_id=brain Free trail: https://www.ctcmath.com/trial?tr_id=brain Special offer! Get 1/2-off discounts plus bonus 6-months free! Critical Thinking for Teens Logical Fallacies for Teens Cognitive Biases for Teens Homeschool Logic Critical thinking for Middle schoolers

SummaryIn this episode of The Compliance Guy, Sean Weiss interviews Joe Rivet, a healthcare attorney with extensive experience in federal matters, including prior authorization processes and the No Surprises Act. They discuss the potential changes in legislation regarding prior authorizations, the challenges faced by physicians in getting necessary treatments approved, and the implications of recent Supreme Court rulings on healthcare legislation. Joe shares insights on navigating appeals, the importance of advocating for patients, and the complexities of the IDR process.TakeawaysPrior authorization processes are being scrutinized for their impact on patient care.The proposed 'Doctors Know Best' bill aims to empower physicians.Advocating for patients is crucial, especially in off-label drug use cases.The No Surprises Act has significant implications for healthcare providers and patients.There is a lack of private right of action under the No Surprises Act.The IDR process is complicated and often exploited by private companies.Medical necessity determinations can be challenged, even after prior authorization approval.Physicians should not accept denials without exhausting all options.Recent Supreme Court rulings have clarified the limitations of private actions in healthcare disputes.Transparency in enforcement actions is needed for better accountability in healthcare.

Allie tackles the disturbing weekend incident at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where Black Lives Matter and anti-ICE activists stormed a worship service, shouting obscenities, terrorizing families, and disrupting prayer — while the intrusion was livestreamed and covered by Don Lemon, who was invited and knew about the planned protest. She exposes the manufactured outrage, the double standards in media narratives, and the real agenda: using toxic empathy to shield criminals, some of whom are convicted child sex offenders, while demonizing law enforcement and Christians. Allie also addresses Russell Moore's interpretation of Romans 13 and brings biblical clarity to the matter. And lastly, she responds to James Talarico's New York Times interview, criticizing his terminology of "progressive Christianity" that distorts biblical teachings on abortion, homosexuality, and government welfare. A sobering call to discern truth, reject selective empathy, and stand firm for order, sovereignty, and the gospel. Buy Allie's book "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.toxicempathy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Timecodes: (00:00) Intro (03:30) Minnesota Church Protest (14:00) Left-Wing Mobs (21:00) Who Organizes These Protests? (30:55) Don Lemon (42:00) Who Is ICE Trying to Detain? (51:40) Russell Moore & Romans 13 (01:04:45) Response to James Talarico --- Today's Sponsors: Good Ranchers | To support a company that's committed to honoring America's past, present, and future, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GoodRanchers.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ today. And if you subscribe to any Good Ranchers box of 100% American meat, you'll save up to $500 a year! Plus, if you use the code ALLIE, you'll get an additional $25 off your first order. We Heart Nutrition | Check out We Heart Nutrition at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WeHeartNutrition.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use the code ALLIE for 20% off. Re-Prev | Re-Prev supports your body in shifting out of fight-or-flight mode to a relaxed state of calm. Go to ⁠WholesomeIsBetter.com⁠ and use discount code ALLIE at checkout for 20% off your order.   Paleovalley | Small American farms. Regenerative agriculture. Transparency in food. When you choose Paleovalley, you're not just snacking — you're making a statement. Right now, you can get 15% off your first order at ⁠Paleovalley.com⁠ with code ALLIE. Range Leather | The quality is absolutely top-notch. Go ⁠RangeLeather.com/Allie⁠ to receive 15% off all Range Leather products when you visit my landing page. --- Episodes you might like:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ep 1283 | Is Tucker Carlson Right About Islam? ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000743878076⁠ Ep 1287 | Why Your Aunt Hates ICE: A Spiritual Analysis of Liberal Women ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000744895339⁠ Ep 1289 | 'Civil Rights' Were Weaponized to Crush Christians. Now the Trump Admin Is Fighting Back | Harmeet Dhillon ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000745478509⁠ Ep 1273 | Autism Fraud, Islamic Corruption & a Crucial Tennessee Election ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000739184571⁠ Ep 328 | Cancel Culture, Antifa & BLM Strike Again ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-328-cancel-culture-antifa-blm-strike-again/id1359249098?i=1000499199303⁠ --- Buy Allie's book "You're Not Enough (and That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.alliebethstuckey.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Relatable merchandise: Use promo code ALLIE10 for a discount: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthropic continues to project strength in the AI race. How OpenAI is rolling out ads on ChatGPT. Netflix wants to become TikTok faster than TikTok can become them. YouTube wants to have it both ways when it comes to AI. And Elon wants SpaceX to win the great IPO race of 2026. Anthropic's CEO stuns Davos with Nvidia criticism (TechCrunch) OpenAI rolls out age prediction on ChatGPT (Reuters) OpenAI Lines Up Advertisers, Reveals Key Details Ahead of Ads Launch (The Information) Netflix Is Testing Vertical Video Features For Mobile (THR) YouTubers will be able to make Shorts with their own AI likenesses (The Verge) YouTube CEO Neal Mohan's Big Ideas for 2026: More Superstar Creators and Transparency, Less AI Slop (THR) Why Elon Musk Is Racing to Take SpaceX Public (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for more This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. www.InsightGlobal.com/LearningLeader Jimmy Wales is the founder of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. After his daughter Kira's birth faced medical challenges and he couldn't find reliable information online, Jimmy launched Wikipedia in January 2001. In this conversation, Jimmy shares why extending trust before it's earned creates better outcomes, how to deal with bad actors, and the seven rules for building things that last. Notes: Key Learnings (in Jimmy's words) Wikipedia launched 20 days after my daughter was born. When Kira was born, I realized that when you go on the internet, and you've got a question like, "what is this condition my daughter has?"  It just wasn't there. There were either random blogs or academic journal articles that were way above my head. Kira was born on December 26th, and I opened Wikipedia on January 15th.  Nupedia failed because of the seven-stage review process. Before Wikipedia, we worked on Nupedia. We recruited academics to write articles. You had to send in your CV showing you were qualified before you could write anything. We had very slow progress. I was on the verge of giving up. This top-down approach with a seven-stage review process before you publish anything that's no fun, and nobody's doing it. We let anyone edit and figured we'd add structure later. We thought we'd have to figure out who the editor-in-chief of the chemistry section is. You're gonna have to have some kind of authority and hierarchy. But I thought, let's just not have too much structure for as long as possible.  "It's fun. You could be the first person to create a page." There was a point in time when you could write, "Paris is the capital of France". That's amazing. It's not much of an encyclopedia article, but it was fun. It's like, oh, we can just start documenting whatever we know. People started just doing all kinds of stuff. The magic is when you come back and see others improving your work. You could just write a few facts down and hit save, and it's not very good yet. But you'd go back a few days later and see somebody dug in, and they added more information. That element has always been really important. Is it fun? Do you enjoy the activity? Do you meet interesting people? You spend one afternoon, you add a few facts, and then you think, you know what? The world's just ever so slightly better. Trust is conditional, not naive. Out of every thousand people, probably a small handful are gonna be really annoying. But it's really rare to have somebody who's actually malicious. The idea of assuming good faith, as we call it in Wikipedia, is extending trust first before it's been earned. It's conditional. You extend that friendly hand of trust. And if the person proves themselves to be super problematic, then you have to deal with it. To get trust, give trust.  Most people are decent. It also creates an environment where trustworthy behavior is rewarded. As a boss, wouldn't it be fantastic if you said, I'm going to go off and do this other thing, but I just trust my people are so good, they're gonna crack on with the work? Sometimes they'll make a call I would've made differently. That's okay. They're smart. Sometimes they're going to get it better than I did. "You haven't earned my trust." When somebody looks you dead in the eye and says, "You haven't earned my trust," that's destruction. It's the opposite of building a culture where people can thrive.  Extending trust works in parenting, too. When teenagers say, "Well, it doesn't matter what I do, they're going to think the worst anyway, so I might as well do the bad thing." That's really unfortunate. As opposed to saying to your teenager, "Yeah, you want to go out and stay a little later than before. I want you to do that. I trust you, but you gotta do it the right way." You give that trust and believe me, they come home right on time because this is my chance to actually nail this. Give your children an opportunity to live up to building trust.  When trust is broken, you can rebuild it faster than you think. Frances Fry is a Harvard professor who had a huge job at Uber when they had an enormous crisis of trust. People say once you've broken trust, that's it, you can never get it back. But is it really true? No, it's actually not true. She thinks companies can rebuild trust faster than you think. A teenager who's broken a rule can rebuild trust pretty quickly. And our job is to let them rebuild that trust.  The eighth rule is walk the walk. The rules of trust aren't just a lot of good words. You actually have to walk the walk. If you say "I screwed up" and you own that, but then you go back to being the same as you were before, you're not going to rebuild trust. But if you walk the walk, people will see that.  Airbnb rebuilt trust by walking the walk. Really early in Airbnb's history, someone rented out their apartment and came home and it was absolutely trashed. Airbnb handled it very badly. They were stonewalling. In this era, that's often the wrong advice. Not saying anything just means it goes viral. So they ripped off the band-aid. They said, Look, we screwed this up. They started requiring ID's for people renting apartments out, ID's from customers, and substantial insurance for owners. They walked the walk. Transparency doesn't mean sharing everything; it means sharing the process. If people can see your workings, they can see what you're doing and how it works, it gives them assurance in the process. It's about judgment calls. What would be helpful for us to share so people can trust the whole process?  If you think people are fundamentally rotten, you can't work with them. It's very easy when we look at the state of the world to be downtrodden, cynical, and don't trust anybody. If you think people on the other side of you politically or people at your workplace are fundamentally just rotten people, then you're going to have a hard time listening to them. You're going to have a hard time understanding where they're coming from. You're not going to do the right things that make sense to people. Which hurts all of society.  When you've been beaten up by life, change the channel. If you work somewhere where your boss doesn't trust you and your coworkers are all backstabbing freaks, it's time to change the channel. Every night, you should be trying to find a better position. Your number one criteria in looking for that next position is finding somebody who you think is a proper person to be your manager. Think of it as you're interviewing the company just as much as they're interviewing you. When you give trust, you attract trustworthy people. When you become known as a person who gives trust before it's earned, you magically attract trustworthy people. It's kind of cool how it works. Will you get burned every once in a while? Maybe. But you attract the type of people that you wanna be around. Curiosity is the ultimate love language. Get out there in the world and be curious. Asking people questions and being genuinely curious about their stories and learning about them and asking follow-up questions is a great way to show love and to connect with people. When you find yourself in a curiosity conversation where everyone's asking and learning, and they're head nodding and into it, there's nothing better. That's human nature connecting. We are born to connect and collaborate with others. It's quite easy and natural for people to fit into whatever culture is around them. We naturally like to work together to build something good. We're social, and we like to be social. We collaborate to build experiences together. A party with only yourself is not a party. Do what you love, even if it takes time to get there. One of the things that I think is really important is do what you love, do something that you really care about. Oftentimes for young people, there's this struggle between here's the thing that I really want to be doing, and here's the thing that's going to make me some money. Work really hard to find a way to put those together.  Reflection Questions Jimmy says extending trust before it's earned creates better outcomes, but it requires not being naive when someone proves untrustworthy. Think of a situation where you're withholding trust. Is it because of actual evidence that this person is untrustworthy, or are you bringing baggage from past experiences with different people? What would it look like to extend conditional trust in this situation? If you're in a leadership position, honestly assess: are there team members who feel you don't trust? What specific actions could you take this week to demonstrate trust before they've "earned" it in the traditional sense? More Learning #605 - Seth Godin: The Power of Remarkable Ideas #598 - Sam Parr: Bold, Fast, Fun (Founder of The Hustle) #645 - Ryan Petersen: Take Action - From Crisis to Solution Audio Pod Timestamps 02:07 Jimmy Wales' Early Fascination with Encyclopedias 04:28 The Birth of Wikipedia 07:35 The Trust Factor in Wikipedia 12:04 Managing Bad Actors on Wikipedia 15:28 Personal Reflections on Trust 27:05 Setting Reasonable Boundaries for Teens 28:18 Rebuilding Trust After It's Broken 32:37 The Importance of Transparency in Leadership 36:50 The Power of Positive Purpose 39:06 Practical Advice for the Trust-Broken 43:01 Connecting and Collaborating with Others 45:17 Career Advice for Young Professionals 49:41 EOPC

Today, I'm joined by Carter Barnhart, CEO and co-founder of Charlie Health.   Charlie Health provides virtual intensive outpatient treatment for serious mental health and substance use disorders — serving children, teens, and adults across 40 states.   In this episode, we discuss making life-saving behavioral healthcare accessible at scale.   We also cover:   Securing over 850 insurance contracts Proving the ROI of virtual intensive treatment Leveraging group-based connection for healing Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast  Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe  Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider    Charlie Health Website: www.charliehealth.com  Charlie Health is Hiring across all roles - reach out to join the team   -   The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities.   Fitt Talent: https://talent.fitt.co/  Consulting: https://consulting.fitt.co/  Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/    Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:15) Charlie Health's mission (03:10) Proving virtual intensive treatment works (05:06) COVID as the catalyst (06:33) Building a world without suicide (07:10) The care model (08:25) Community-based referral network (09:00) Personalized matching and group-based treatment (10:15) Connection as the foundation (11:15) Long-term outcomes tracking (12:26) Insurance accessibility (13:20) Quality care at scale (14:32) Transparency (16:00) Building trust with clinicians (17:05) Core values (19:00) Bridging the gap in behavioral healthcare (20:30) Trust as the foundation of data collection (21:20) Success stories to combat stigma (22:35) Destigmatizing high-acuity mental health (24:15) Moving the needle through shared stories (26:00) AI augmenting clinician work (27:50) Charles the AI scribe (29:00) AI vs. human connection (30:15) Expansion (31:30) KPIs (32:27) Profitability and scholarships (33:10) Learn more and join the team (33:40) Conclusion  

Todd Caponi, bestselling author of The Transparency Sale and now The Transparent Negotiation, joins to talk about what sellers and leaders are still getting wrong about closing deals. He breaks down the four key levers every negotiation hinges on, and why transparency, when used right, is your strongest closing strategy.From reframing discounts as a payment for revenue predictability to exposing how fake deadlines and end-of-month pressure tactics actually kill pipeline momentum, Todd shares how to negotiate with integrity, speed, and trust. Plus, there are some hilarious history lessons along the way involving sweaters, cheeseburgers, and sales tactics from the 1800s that still (shockingly) show up in boardrooms today.Whether you're a frontline seller tired of price-pushing or a CRO trying to build a high-trust revenue engine, this episode will give you modern, actionable negotiation strategies that actually work.Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/Connect with John on IG: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/Check out John's Membership: https://go.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-membership?ref=3edab1Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletterConnect with Todd on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi/Check out Todd's Website: https://toddcaponi.com/Get Todd's Book "Four Levers Negotiating" Here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Four-Levers-Negotiating/Todd-Caponi/9781637748404Visit the "Four Levers Negotiating" Website Here: https://toddcaponi.com/four-levers-negotiating/Check out Todd's Podcast "The Sales History Podcast" Here: https://saleshistory.buzzsprout.com/

Join Ivoclar (AND US!) this February at LMT Lab Day in Chicago. Ivoclar will be offering 16 different educational lectures over the three-day event, giving dental professionals plenty of opportunities to learn, connect, and grow. Visit labday.com/Ivoclar to view the full schedule and register, and be sure to stop by and see the Ivoclar team in the Windy City. Cal-Lab Association Meeting in Chicago Feb 19-20 https://cal-lab.org/ LMT Lab Day Chicago Feb 19-21 https://lmtmag.com/lmtlabday Almost three years after his last appearance, Rob Nazzal returns to Voices From the Bench, this time joined by Mike Alessio of Bonadent Dental Laboratory (https://bonadent.com/). The conversation dives deep into lab leadership, culture, transparency, and how data—when used the right way—can empower teams instead of policing them. Mike shares his 32-year journey with Bonadent, from starting as a pickup-and-delivery driver to leading the Danaren division, and explains how a family-owned lab has grown into a multi-location organization without losing its people-first culture. Rob and Mike unpack the realities of tracking productivity on the lab floor, the challenges of sharing metrics openly, and why transparency builds trust, alignment, and accountability when done with intention. The discussion shifts to quality vs. productivity, the difficulty of truly measuring “quality,” and why labs must lead with craftsmanship before numbers. They also explore how digital workflows, QC processes, and proactive communication with doctors impact remakes, efficiency, and relationships. On the sales side, Rob breaks down how icortica (https://www.icortica.com/voices) helps labs grow by focusing on existing customers, improving retention, and giving sales teams real-time insights into what conversations they should be having—right before they walk into an office. Mike and Elvis share firsthand experiences using icortica (https://www.icortica.com/voices), highlighting how real-time data, centralized notes, and smart alerts change the way sales reps prepare, prioritize, and perform. The episode wraps with a look at Bonadent's unique culture (including their famous converted Walmart lab), long employee tenure, and why investing in people, transparency, and the right technology is the real key to sustainable growth in today's dental lab landscape. If you want to grow your business, you need clear insight into what's happening inside your operation and across your customer journey. That's where Icortica comes in. At Canadian Dental Labs, Icortica has become a cornerstone of how we operate—giving us at-a-glance visibility into performance, helping us focus our efforts, spot opportunities early, and solve problems before they grow. It takes the guesswork out of decision-making and shows us what to do next. Plus, the Icortica team is incredibly responsive and feels like a true partner in our success. If you're serious about growing your business and understanding your customers better, Icortica can get you there. Learn more at icortica.com/voices — Icortica, helping dental labs grow. Special Guests: Mike Alessio and Rob Nazzal.

On this episode of Vitality Radio, Jared St. Clair explains why supplement companies and their labels—and even educators like Jared—have to sound so careful about the claims they make. You'll learn how DSHEA (the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) reshaped the supplement industry in the 1990s, why brands can say “supports healthy joints” but can't say “treats arthritis,” and what “structure/function claims” really mean. Jared also breaks down the FDA-required disclaimer (“These statements have not been evaluated…”) so you know what it does and doesn't imply about whether a product works. Finally, he gives a practical label-reading skill most shoppers miss: serving size math, so you can tell what you're actually getting per capsule and per day.Additional Information:Vitamin Raid YouTube VideoEpisode BlogInventory Reduction Sale!For the first time ever, we're bringing to you our inventory reduction sale online. Over 200 trusted products are already deeply discounted, including clearance items, overstock, and some short-dated products (all still in date). On top of the markdowns, the more you buy, the more you save, with stacked discounts that can reach up to 70–80% off retail. This sale runs through January 31st or while supplies last—when it's gone, it's gone. Shop Here!Visit the podcast website here: VitalityRadio.comYou can follow @vitalitynutritionbountiful and @vitalityradio on Instagram, or Vitality Radio and Vitality Nutrition on Facebook. Join us also in the Vitality Radio Podcast Listener Community on Facebook. Shop the products that Jared mentions at vitalitynutrition.com. Let us know your thoughts about this episode using the hashtag #vitalityradio and please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Thank you!Just a reminder that this podcast is for educational purposes only. The FDA has not evaluated the podcast. The information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The advice given is not intended to replace the advice of your medical professional.

(The Center Square) – As Illinois state senators return to Springfield, Democrats and Republicans disagree over the level of transparency in the state's budget process. The state Senate's first meeting of 2026 is scheduled Tuesday afternoon at the Illinois Capitol. A reporter asked Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, about lawmakers routinely passing the state budget in the middle of the night with line items stuffed into a shell bill. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In today's episode of Friday Field Notes, Ryan Michler challenges one of modern self-help culture's most sacred ideas: vulnerability. While honesty, humility, and emotional awareness are essential to growth, Ryan makes the case that vulnerability - when practiced without discernment, responsibility, or purpose - often becomes performative, destabilizing, and counterproductive, especially for men in leadership roles. This episode is not an argument against emotion. It's an argument for self-mastery, containment, and earned honesty. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS 00:00 - Intro 00:37 - Why Vulnerability Became a Sacred Cow 02:45 - Emotional Awareness vs Emotional Exposure 04:55 - Vulnerability Without Discernment = Emotional Exhibitionism 07:40 - Oversharing Shifts the Emotional Burden 09:50 - Why Emotional Dumping Kills Trust & Attraction 12:55 - Leadership Requires Stability, Not Collapse 14:40 - Transparency vs Discernment 16:30 - Honesty Is Not a Lack of Self-Mastery 17:40 - Regulation vs Repression 19:20 - Lessons from Stoic Men & Great Leaders 21:10 - Earned Vulnerability Explained 23:00 - Secure Containers, Not "Safe Spaces" 25:05 - Responsibility Over Emotional Relief 27:00 - What Men Actually Need More Of 28:20 - Vulnerability Is Not the Goal—Integrity Is 30:20 - Final Thoughts & Call to Action Battle Planners: Pick yours up today! Order Ryan's new book, The Masculinity Manifesto. For more information on the Iron Council brotherhood. Want maximum health, wealth, relationships, and abundance in your life? Sign up for our free course, 30 Days to Battle Ready

The "Black Box" of freight brokerage is under fire. On this episode of #TheFreightCoach, we break down the explosive petition calling for the FMCSA to suspend TQL's authority over broker transparency waivers. Is the era of contracting out of 49 CFR § 371.3 finally coming to an end? We're diving deep into the 2026 Regulatory Purge: FMCSA vs. TQL: Why carrier advocacy groups are pushing for a total suspension of authority and what it means for your right to see the records. The ELD Blacklist: The FMCSA isn't slowing down. We discuss the latest hardware revocations and the March 15th deadline you can't afford to miss. State-Level Teeth: Why Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Missouri are bypassing federal norms to implement $3,000 fines and jail time for English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations. Carrier Liability: The "12-Hour Rule" that could see your cargo forcibly transferred if your driver fails a roadside language test. Stop operating in the dark. Whether it's transparency, tech, or new state laws, we're giving you the data you need to protect your authority.  

Ep. 231 Ever hovered over a checkout page for an honorary doctorate and felt that pit in your stomach like, “Something about this doesn't sit right…” — you're not alone. In this episode of Healing Her Within, Maryann Rivera- unpacks the rise of honorary doctorates in social media and coaching spaces — and the blurred line between recognition and status chasing. As someone who actually holds an honorary doctorate and earned academic degrees, Maryann speaks candidly about the ethics, the pressure to look “credible,” and the quiet discomfort many feel when titles start doing more talking than truth. This conversation isn't about judgment. It's about clarity. Hot Takes: Honorary doctorates are recognition, not earned degrees Accredited institutions matter Paying for ceremonies ≠ , buying titles Misrepresentation can cause legal and ethical issues Transparency protects your credibility Integrity always outlives titles

After three powerful seasons, The Luke Coutinho Show is evolving. Introducing our new identity – The Wellness Reset.Season 4 kicks off with Manjunath Marappan is the founder & CEO of Happy Hens, one of India's pioneering free-range egg brands built on ethical, humane farming and quality nutrition.Join us as we uncover:Are eggs actually unsafe or are we being scared by half-truths? We break down what no headline explains.Brown eggs ≠ healthier eggs. The truth behind colour, marketing myths, and what really defines quality.Eggs are “50 grams of magic,” yet they're treated like a ₹5 commodity. What broke this system?Healthy eggs start with stress-free hens, not labels. What ethical farming really looks like on ground level.Antibiotics, adulteration & confusion: What's real and what's exaggerated? Facts over fear.Why a founder came on the show to answer tough questions himself. Transparency you rarely see in food brands.And much more…

On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway reports from a literary conference setting as Agatha Christie's The Body in the Library enters the public domain. He unpacks new reporting on the Anthropic settlement, including unresolved issues for textbook authors and questions over how much claimants may ultimately receive. Dan also looks at a shift toward video in audio discovery, with Audible testing in-app video promotion and Spotify lowering the bar for podcast monetization. Show Notes Sage, Textbook Authors Settle Dispute Over Anthropic Settlement Guidance (Publishing Perspectives) Sponsor Self-Publishing News is proudly sponsored by PublishMe—helping indie authors succeed globally with expert translation, tailored marketing, and publishing support. From first draft to international launch, PublishMe ensures your book reaches readers everywhere. Visit publishme.me. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. About the Host Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet, and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines, He competed at the National Poetry Slam final at the Royal Albert Hall. His latest collection, The Transparency of Sutures, is available on Kindle.

Great podcast with Miss Dany on life and the lessons God desires to teach each one of us.

If you want real improvement—not just more dashboards—workflow efficiency metrics have to start with something most teams avoid: visibility. In Part 2 of our interview with Michael Toguchi, we move from "big ideas" into the operational reality leaders face every day: shadow tools, duplicate systems, fuzzy ROI, and the pricing pressure that shows up when AI makes work faster. This conversation is a reality check for ops leaders, engineering leaders, and consultants trying to scale without drowning in tool sprawl—or measuring productivity in ways that break trust. Workflow efficiency metrics only work when the workflow is visible. If work lives in shadows, your data will lie. About Michael Toguchi Michael Toguchi is the Chief Strategy Officer at eResources, where he leads strategy for technology that supports complex, high-stakes workflows across higher education and mission-driven organizations. With 25+ years in digital transformation, Michael helps teams reduce tool sprawl, eliminate manual bottlenecks, strengthen compliance, and measure improvements in ways that translate into real operational capacity and impact. Tool Sprawl Starts as "Helpful" (Until It Becomes Expensive) Every organization eventually meets the "skunk works" problem: someone builds a spreadsheet, a quick app, a mini database, or a side process that solves a real pain—fast. It's well-intentioned. It's also how silos form. Over time, those small fixes become a parallel organization: Data gets duplicated in multiple places Teams report numbers that don't match Leaders lose confidence in what's "true" Tech debt grows quietly because no one owns it end-to-end Michael's warning is simple: when every department solves problems in isolation, the organization pays for it later—usually in rework, compliance risk, and decision-making paralysis. Shadow tools don't just create tech debt—they create decision debt. Workflow Efficiency Metrics Start With Transparency, Not Control The fix isn't to ban spreadsheets or crush experimentation. Michael's approach is more practical: shine the light on the workflow, then standardize intentionally. That means asking better questions: Who is doing this work today—and why? Where does the data enter, and where does it leave? Which steps exist because the system is unclear… versus because the work is truly necessary? What systems must integrate so people aren't forced into duplicate entry? Transparency isn't micromanagement. It's a shared map. And once everyone sees the same map, you can make changes that stick. "Shine the transparency light on the workflow." Then decide what to standardize and integrate. Workflow Efficiency Metrics That Matter: Time Saved → Capacity Gained A big takeaway from Part 2 is how Michael thinks about measurement. Leaders often struggle here because "value" feels subjective—until you translate it into something tangible. Instead of measuring activity ("tickets closed" or "hours logged"), focus on outcomes: time reclaimed errors reduced handoffs eliminated cycle time improved compliance risk reduced Michael shares a practical framing: if you reclaim even a slice of time—say 15% of a team's capacity—that's not just a feel-good metric. It's a lever you can pull: that capacity becomes more customers served more projects shipped more support coverage fewer burnout-driven departures In other words, the metric isn't "time saved." The metric is what the organization can now do because time was saved. Time saved is only "real" when it turns into capacity, quality, or revenue. When AI Shrinks Time, Time-and-Materials Pricing Breaks Then Michael hits the business-model shift that a lot of teams are quietly wrestling with: AI compresses time. Work that took weeks can take days. The value may be the same—or higher—but the hours shrink. If you sell hours, you're forced into a bad choice: charge less (even if the impact is huge), or justify hours that no longer make sense Michael's answer is to move up the stack: value-based pricing, retainers, and partnership models—ways of charging for outcomes, access, and expertise instead of minutes on a clock. That shift requires maturity: you must be able to explain your value clearly and measure the results you're creating. Which brings us right back to the point of the episode… Workflow efficiency metrics aren't just internal tools. They're how you prove impact when "time spent" stops being the story. Value-priced work + retainers make sense when time shrinks—but outcomes still matter. Closing Thoughts on Workflow Efficiency Metrics Part 2 is a playbook for modern leaders: reduce tool sprawl with transparency, measure efficiency without eroding trust, and adapt your pricing model as AI changes the relationship between time and value. In a world where speed is easier to buy, the winners will be the teams who can see the workflow, measure what matters, and price the impact. Stay Connected: Join the Developreneur Community We invite you to join our community and share your coding journey with us. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting, there's always room to learn and grow together. Contact us at info@develpreneur.com with your questions, feedback, or suggestions for future episodes. Together, let's continue exploring the exciting world of software development. Additional Resources Boost Your Developer Efficiency: Automation Tips for Developers Upgrading Your Business: Save Time And Improve Efficiency Invest In Your Team – They Will Want To Stay Building Better Foundations Podcast Videos – With Bonus Content

Welcome to NAA's Apartmentcast, the official podcast of the National Apartment Association. On this sponsored episode, we sit down with Kyle Nelson, Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Snappt, and Maitri Johnson, Vice President, Tenant and Employment at TransUnion, to discuss how fraud prevention isn't just an operational task anymore; it's shaping the renter experience and influencing where people choose to live. Trust-building technology is becoming a competitive edge for multifamily communities:  From faster approvals for qualified applicants to stronger protections against fraud, we discuss how modern tools enhance the leasing journey, support onsite teams, and attract high-quality renters. We also break down how trust and transparency can function as powerful amenities that boost operational efficiency and elevate resident satisfaction.Visit Snappt.comPlease note that as is the case for all NAA Apartmentcast episodes, nothing contained within this podcast should be treated as legal advice. The information presented is for educational purposes only. 

AI is reshaping the data center industry faster than any prior wave of demand. Power needs are rising, communities are paying closer attention, and grid timelines are stretching. On the latest episode of The Data Center Frontier Show, Page Haun of Cologix explains what sustainability really looks like in the AI era, and why it has become a core design requirement, not a side initiative. Haun describes today's moment as a “perfect storm,” where AI-driven growth meets grid constraints, community scrutiny, and regulatory pressure. The industry is responding through closer collaboration among operators, utilities, and governments, sharing long-term load forecasts and infrastructure plans. But one challenge remains: communication. Data centers still struggle to explain their essential role in the digital economy, from healthcare and education to entertainment and AI services. Cologix's Montreal 8 facility, which recently achieved LEED Gold certification, shows how sustainable design is becoming standard practice. The project focused on energy efficiency, water conservation, responsible materials, and reduced waste, lowering both environmental impact and operating costs. Those lessons now shape how Cologix approaches future builds. High-density AI changes everything inside the building. Liquid cooling is becoming central because it delivers tighter thermal control with better efficiency, but flexibility is the real priority. Facilities must support multiple cooling approaches so they don't become obsolete as hardware evolves. Water stewardship is just as critical. Cologix uses closed-loop systems that dramatically reduce consumption, achieving an average WUE of 0.203, far below the industry norm. Sustainability also starts with where you build. In Canada, Cologix leverages hydropower in Montreal and deep lake water cooling in Toronto. In California, natural air cooling cuts energy use. Where geography doesn't help, partnerships do. In Ohio, Cologix is deploying onsite fuel cells to operate while new transmission lines are built, covering the full cost so other utility customers aren't burdened. Community relationships now shape whether projects move forward. Cologix treats communities as long-term partners, not transactions, by holding town meetings, working with local leaders, and supporting programs like STEM education, food drives, and disaster relief. Transparency ties it all together. In its 2024 ESG report, Cologix reported 65% carbon-free energy use, strong PUE and WUE performance, and expanded environmental certifications. As AI scales, openness about impact is becoming a competitive advantage. Haun closed with three non-negotiables for AI-era data centers: flexible power and cooling design, holistic resource management, and a real plan for renewable energy, backed by strong community engagement. In the age of AI, sustainability isn't a differentiator anymore. It's the baseline.

What happens when a financial coach faces real-life money struggles? In this powerful and transparent episode, Coach Nino Villa shares his personal financial journey, including navigating credit card debt, fluctuating income seasons, and difficult financial decisions. Nino opens up about the emotional weight of money, the lessons learned through financial setbacks, and how his perspective on debt, accountability, and stewardship has evolved over time. This episode explores the importance of financial transparency, trusting God during challenging seasons, and staying grounded in basic financial principles even when circumstances feel overwhelming. Nino also discusses the role of giving, tithing, and faith in his financial decisions, offering encouragement to anyone walking through financial uncertainty. Whether you're working through debt, facing income instability, or seeking peace in your financial life, this episode provides honest insight, practical wisdom, and hope for moving forward with clarity and confidence. Join the New Money Habits Community Join our free community and connect with others building healthier money habits Become a member starting at $5/month Start your 7-day free trial today Helpful Resources Mentioned in This Episode Watch on YouTube: Full video version of this episode Payday Power Planner (FREE): Streamline your budgeting processhttps://www.newmoneyhabits.com/budgeteers/helpful-tools Food Number Calculator (FREE): Simplify food budgeting and planninghttps://www.newmoneyhabits.com/budgeteers/helpful-tools Submit Your Questions: Email us at podcast@newmoneyhabits.com Join Our Free Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/newmoneyhabits Schedule a Free Call with Coach Nino:https://www.newmoneyhabits.com/budgeteers/contact Online Course: How to Create a Better Budget: Your Foundation to Financial Freedomhttps://www.newmoneyhabits.com/bootcamp Music CreditsThis episode features music by Summer School. Connect With UsFollow @newmoneyhabits on social media for more insights, tools, and updates.

In this episode, Kelsi Sheren discusses the significant financial aid provided by Canada to Ukraine, raising concerns about corruption, accountability, and the impact on Canadian citizens. She emphasizes the lack of transparency in government spending and the need for public debate on these issues, warning that the current trajectory could lead to further decline in Canada.00:00 Introduction to Uncomfortable Topics01:06 The Financial Aid to Ukraine02:59 Concerns Over Corruption and Accountability05:14 Impact on Canadian Citizens09:01 The State of Canadian Democracy12:46 The Need for Transparency in Government Spending16:09 Conclusion and Future Discussions - - - - - - - - - - - -One Time Donation! - Paypal - https://paypal.me/brassandunityBuy me a coffee! - https://buymeacoffee.com/kelsisherenLet's connect!Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@thekelsisherenperspectiveInstagram -  https://www.instagram.com/thekelsisherenperspective?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw%3D%3DX: https://x.com/KelsiBurnsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelsie_sheren/Substack:  https://substack.com/@kelsisherenTikTok -   https://x.com/KelsiBurnsListen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1O3yiobOjThKHtqyjviy1a?si=6c78bdc2325a43aeSUPPORT OUR SPONSORS - - - - - - - - - - - -MasterPeace - 10% off with code KELSI - MasterPeace.Health/KelsiKetone IQ- 30% off with code KELSI - https://ketone.com/KELSIGood Livin - 20% off with code KELSI - https://www.itsgoodlivin.com/?ref=KELSIBrass & Unity - 20% off with code UNITY  - http://brassandunity.com- - - - - - - - - - - - -CHARITYHeroic Hearts Project - https://www.heroicheartsproject.orgDefenders of Freedom - https://www.defendersoffreedom.usBoot Campaign - https://bootcampaign.org

Zoe Feldman got some surprising advice just as she was starting to feel settled in her business: While she thought she couldn't afford to hire more employees, she was told that if she wanted to keep delivering a high level of service, she couldn't afford not to. On this episode of the podcast, she shares why she's introduced a scaled-down option to her design offerings for clients who just want good advice, the many ways she has built philanthropy into the fabric of her firm, and why she insists that clients don't really want full transparency.LINKSZoe FeldmanKaitlin PetersenBusiness of Home

Cameron is joined by Keeley Walker, NP, a board-certified nurse practitioner and entrepreneur in the aesthetics field, and they discuss her journey into medicine, the importance of patient comfort, and the entrepreneurial aspects of running a MedSpa. The conversation delves into effective marketing strategies, the significance of before and after photos, and the role of patient reviews in building a successful practice. Keeley emphasizes the need for continuous education, networking, and maintaining trust with patients while navigating the evolving landscape of aesthetics, including the potential impact of AI. They also provide insights on balancing work and personal life as a practice owner and the future of aesthetics. Listen In!Thank you for listening to this episode of Medical Millionaire!Takeaways:Keeley's journey into aesthetics was influenced by her mother's nursing career.Patient comfort is crucial in aesthetic treatments.Marketing strategies are essential for attracting clients in a cash-pay business.Before and after photos are powerful tools for showcasing results.Collecting patient reviews can significantly impact practice reputation.Rebooking rates are vital for patient retention and business growth.Continuous education is necessary to stay ahead in the aesthetics industry.Networking with other professionals can provide valuable insights and support.Trust and transparency with patients lead to long-term relationships.AI technology may play a significant role in the future of aesthetics.Medical Millionaire: The Blueprint for Scaling a World-Class Medical Aesthetics PracticeWelcome to Medical Millionaire, the go-to podcast for forward-thinking Medspa owners, Medical Aesthetics leaders, Plastic Surgery & Dermatology practices, Concierge Wellness clinics, and Elective Healthcare entrepreneurs who are ready to scale with intention and operate like a true, high-performing business.If you're building, growing, optimizing, or preparing to exit your aesthetics or wellness practice, this show is your competitive advantage.Hosted by Cameron Hemphill Your Guide to Sustainable, Scalable Growth Your host, Cameron Hemphill, is one of the most trusted growth strategists in Medical Aesthetics and Elective Wellness.With over 10 years in the industry, Cameron has helped scale 1,000+ practices and more than 2,300 providers, working alongside the most recognized KOLs, national brands, EMRs, tech companies, and private equity groups, shaping the future of aesthetics. From marketing to operations, from finance to leadership, Cameron brings a real-world, data-driven perspective on what it takes to turn a practice into a powerful business engine.What This Podcast Is All About: Each episode takes you behind the scenes of the fastest-growing practices in the country, revealing the systems, strategies, and mindset required to win in today's Medical Aesthetics landscape.Expect tactical insights, step-by-step frameworks, and conversations with:Industry thought leadersTop injectors & medical directorsEMR & tech innovatorsOperations expertsMarketing strategistsPrivate equity & M&A advisorsWellness and longevity pioneersThis is where aesthetics, business, technology, and wellness converge. What You'll Learn on Medical Millionaire Every week, you'll access expert guidance to help you scale profitably and predictably, including:Marketing & Brand PositioningCRM + Lead Management SystemsPatient Acquisition & ConversionEMR Optimization & Tech Stack ArchitectureSales Psychology & Consultation MasteryFinance, KPIs, and Practice EconomicsOperational Workflows & AutomationIndustry Trends Backed by Real Benchmark DataPatient Retention & Lifetime Value ExpansionMindset, Leadership & Team DevelopmentWhether you're opening your first location or running a multi-million-dollar enterprise, you'll gain the clarity and direction to grow with confidence. A Show Designed for Every Stage of Practice Growth Medical Millionaire breaks down the journey into four essential stages, showing you exactly how to move from one to the next:Startup – Build the foundation and attract your first wave of patientsGrowth – Scale revenue, expand services, and strengthen operationsOptimize – Increase efficiency, margins, and customer experienceExit – Prepare your practice for maximum valuation and acquisitionIf You're Ready to Grow, This Is Where You Start. Tune in weekly for actionable insights, expert interviews, and the exact playbooks high-performing practices use to dominate their markets. This is the podcast for Medspa owners who want more than a job; they want a scalable, profitable, industry-leading business. Welcome to Medical Millionaire.Let's build your practice into the empire it deserves to be.

In this episode of the Finovate Podcast, host Greg Palmer connects with Brent Biernat, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at COCC, a finalist in the Finovate Awards for Best Back Office Solution and Executive of the Year. Brent shares his journey of over 30 years with COCC, highlighting his passion for community banking and the company's mission to support small businesses and consumers. COCC, a core and digital banking services provider for over 150 clients in the Northeast, operates under a unique cooperative structure that fosters long-term vision and prioritizes customer needs over short-term profitability. Brent delves into the advantages of COCC's cooperative model, which ensures that all shareholders are active customers and board members are CEOs of financial institutions. This structure promotes trust, transparency, and open communication, allowing COCC to tailor its technology and services to meet the specific needs of each institution. Brent emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships with customers, where mutual understanding and collaboration lead to better outcomes. He also discusses how COCC's Strategic Development Council and regular executive visits help maintain alignment with customer goals and ensure continuous improvement. The episode also highlights COCC's recent recognition in the American Bankers Association (ABA) survey, where it ranked number one across multiple categories, including service, technology, and contract fairness. Brent shares insights on the importance of fully utilizing technology and maintaining transparent, long-term partnerships. He offers advice to financial institutions evaluating core relationships, encouraging them to prioritize adaptability, trust, and shared growth. This engaging conversation underscores the value of collaboration and innovation in the fintech and banking sectors. More info: COCC: https://www.cocc.com/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/cocc/ Brent Biernat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-biernat-b542bb/ Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/ Finovate: https://www.finovate.com;https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/ Finovate Awards: https://informaconnect.com/finovate-industry-awards/ #Finovate #COCC #Banking #CreditUnions #banks #finovateawards #awardsfinalist #digitalbanking #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #innovation #backoffice #ai #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #communitybanking

Rep. Karen Peterson joins the show to discuss changes being considered to create more transparency with property tax increases and the idea to requiring holding truth and taxation before money is spent.

Special guest Von Kliem from Force Science, co-host Banning Sweatland, and I are live in-studio. No agenda, just shooting the

Some manufacturing businesses grow because of timing, technology, or market opportunity. Others endure because of values. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I sit down with Bill Cox of Cox Manufacturing, a nearly 70-year-old family business whose legacy was forged through resilience, faith, and an unwavering commitment to people. Bill shares the remarkable origin story of Cox Manufacturing, which began with a single Swiss machine purchased at auction in the 1950s and grew into a high-volume precision operation shipping millions of parts each week. Along the way, the company played a quiet but critical role in some of the most important moments in American history, including supplying components for the Apollo space program. The conversation takes a deeply personal turn as Bill recounts losing his father at just 12 years old and being thrust into the business at an age when most kids are just learning multiplication. With guidance from his mother, Bill learned to read financial statements, understand inventory, and appreciate the connection between productivity, profitability, and people. We also explore the darker chapters of the journey: customer concentration, outsourcing, bankruptcies, negative net worth, and hitting personal and professional rock bottom. Bill speaks candidly about how faith reshaped his leadership, ultimately becoming the foundation for the company's purpose: love God, love people, and advance American manufacturing. This episode is a masterclass in long-term leadership, operational discipline, and values-driven growth. Whether you're a first-generation owner or stewarding a multi-generation legacy, Bill's story is a powerful reminder that the most enduring businesses are built on more than machines. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... (0:49) Bill Cox and the humble beginnings of Cox Manufacturing Co. (3:03) A snapshot of Cox Manufacturing Co. as it stands today (4:27) Cox Manufacturing's origin story and growth (11:06) Unlock real sales opportunities in your market with Factur (13:06) What fueled early growth and whether it was truly linear (15:04) Bill recounts losing his father and his decision to carry the business forward (17:34) Learning inventory, P&Ls, and why monthly WIP matters (18:58) Growing up in the shop and starting hands-on work at age 14 (23:07) Choosing engineering education while planning to return to the business (25:11) Early investments in multi-spindle machines and scaling for volume (27:48) Losing major customers to outsourcing and surviving the oil downturn (29:18) Hitting financial rock bottom and selling a personal home to save the business (30:00) Faith, humility, and a leadership reset during the hardest years (31:02) A pivotal CNC investment that unlocked new capabilities (32:04) Why you need to come to the 2026 IMTS Exhibitor Workshop (34:09) Finding success with sales representatives and internet marketing (41:12) The evolving challenge of hiring and developing skilled machinists (42:13) Launching a registered apprenticeship program and internal training systems (43:11) Using personality profiling to place people in the right roles (45:25) Tracking value-added labor and understanding true profitability (50:55 Transparency, open-book management, and department-level accountability (52:46) Bill shares the company's purpose: love God, love people, and advance manufacturing (54:40) Advice for shop owners: don't be an island, seek peers and community (56:48) Where to learn more about Cox Manufacturing and explore shop tours (57:22) Why you need to listen to the Lights Out podcast Resources & People Mentioned Get a free custom report from Factur: Unlock Real Sales Opportunities in Your Market Register for the 2026 IMTS Exhibitor Workshop The Culture Index The Predictive Index Connect with Bill Cox Connect on LinkedIn Cox Manufacturing Connect With Machine Shop Mastery The website LinkedIn YouTube Instagram Subscribe to Machine Shop Mastery on Apple, Spotify Audio Production and Show Notes by - PODCAST FAST TRACK

In this Season 4 premiere of The Right Idea podcast, TPPF Chief Communications Officer Brian Phillips and Chief Policy & Research Officer Derek Cohen dive deep into one of the biggest government fraud stories in America: Minnesota's massive daycare and nutrition program scandals.Guest John Hart, CEO of Open the Books, joins the show to break down:– How systemic loopholes and weak oversight enabled billions in fraud– Why real-time transparency (every dime online, instantly) is the best defense– The difference between waste vs. fraud and how AI + citizen journalism can expose it– Lessons from the federal earmarks moratorium that saved ~$140 billion– Why empowering parents and consumers beats centralized bureaucracy– Healthcare's perverse incentives, state-level variation, and reforms that actually workIf you're concerned about taxpayer money, government accountability, or the future of fraud prevention in Texas and beyond, this episode is a must-listen.Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro & Season 4 Launch01:30 – Hot Take: It's Hollywood Award Season: avoid it or watch the trainwreck? 05:01 – Guest Intro: John Hart, CEO of Open the Books05:57 – Anatomy of Government Fraud – Bug or Feature?07:04 – History of Federal Transparency (Coburn-Obama Law)10:46 – Real-Time Transparency: Why Every Dime Should Be Online Now12:34 – Counterarguments to Full Transparency & How to Overcome Them14:30 – Waste vs. Fraud: Definitions & Real-World Impact16:00 – Transparency as a Force for Freedom18:09 – Minnesota's Mistakes (No Treasurer + Enrollment-Based Payments)19:44 – Texas vs. Other States: Voucher Systems & Oversight22:14 – Performance Audits and Measuring Bang for the Buck26:21 – AI for Fraud Detection + Surveillance Citizenry28:22 – Preventing Fraud Upfront (Income Verification, Parent Empowerment)30:49 – Healthcare Fraud & Perverse Incentives33:16 – Price Transparency & State Innovation in Healthcare36:21 – Where Fraud Is Worst: Federal vs. State Level37:36 – Wildest Fraud Examples (Social Security "Adult Baby" Case)40:22 – Current Efforts to Stop Fraud (OMB, DOGE, Chip Roy Bill)42:10 – The Return of Earmarks: What Changed & Why It Matters44:00 – $140 Billion Saved by Earmarks Moratorium47:39 – Best States for Transparency & Reform (Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma)49:18 – PIA/FOIA Abuse & Outrageous Costs for Public Records50:39 – Rise of Citizen Journalism (Nick Shirley & Viral Exposés)

In this episode of Sales & Cigars, Walter sits down with Alan Ward, CEO of Securely.io, for a thoughtful conversation that spans entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, and the realities of disrupting long-entrenched systems. Alan shares how his worldview shapes the way he leads and sells, why transparency is missing in traditional payment systems, and what it takes to introduce truly revolutionary ideas into the market. From cutting a house in half at 19 years old to building a fintech platform designed to serve businesses—not extract from them—this episode is about values, conviction, and selling change the right way. In This Episode: Why Who Not How shaped Alan's approach to leadership and business The Golden Rule as a foundation for sales, culture, and decision-making How worldview influences leadership and organizational behavior Alan's entrepreneurial origin story and early risk-taking Why businesses don't truly understand their payment costs What "open banking" means—and why it's a game changer Evolutionary vs. revolutionary change in technology and sales Why education—not pitching—is required to sell disruptive ideas Selling vision to customers, teams, investors, and boards The role of trust, transparency, and alignment in long-term success Celebratory cigars and the moments that make business memorable Key Takeaways:  Sales is often about helping people see what they couldn't see before Transparency builds trust—hidden systems create resistance Entrepreneurs are always selling, even when they don't realize it Revolutionary ideas feel risky until they become obvious Values-driven leadership scales better than tactics alone Connect with Alan: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alan-ward-63938020a  Website: Securely.io Connect with Walter Crosby and Sales & Cigars: Website: Helix Sales Development LinkedIn: Walter Crosby Instagram: @wcrosby248 Facebook: Helix Sales Development   Share Your Thoughts: We'd love to hear your feedback and experiences! Drop us a line and join the conversation on social media using #SalesAndCigars.   Never Miss an Episode! Join the Sales & Cigars community by subscribing to our podcast and YouTube channel: Subscribe to the Podcast: Apple Podcasts: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Spotify: Follow on Spotify ...and wherever you listen to podcasts!   Subscribe to Us on YouTube: Stay updated with our latest video content by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Hit the bell icon for notifications on new uploads! YouTube: Sales & Cigars Channel   Stay in the loop: By subscribing, you'll get instant access to new episodes, insightful conversations, and bonus content designed to elevate your sales skills and more. Keep savoring those cigars and stay sharp in sales! Until next time, keep listening to Sales & Cigars—the podcast where the only smoke we blow is from cigars.

Send us a textNegotiated payer rates are public… sort of.For decades, some of the most important numbers in healthcare lived behind locked doors. The actual negotiated rates between payers and providers—the numbers that determine whether a practice thrives, survives, or quietly bleeds margin—were treated like trade secrets. You were expected to negotiate them, manage against them, and forecast your future with only partial visibility. (Which may also be referred to as guessing.) And now, suddenly, those rates are posted online. Publicly available. Downloadable by anyone. Often buried inside massive machine-readable files that can be tens or even hundreds of gigabytes in size, split across dozens of links, and structured in ways that make them nearly impossible to interpret without specialized tools.So yes, the data is “public.” But that doesn't mean it's usable. And that gap—between availability and usability—is where the real story begins.This episode isn't about patient shopping tools or consumer price estimates. This is a conversation for physicians, administrators, and revenue leaders who live in the real world of payer contracts, underpayments, denials, and annual budget pressure. It's about what the price transparency laws actually unlocked on the payer side, what data is now available because of them, why payers released it so reluctantly, and why a whole new category of software has emerged almost overnight to turn that raw data into something you can actually use. And most importantly, it's about why renewing insurance contracts—every single year—is no longer optional best practice, but essential financial governance.Please Follow or Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they drop! Visit Jill's company, Health e Practices' website: https://healtheps.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter, Health e Connections: http://21978609.hs-sites.com/newletter-subscriber Want more formal learning? Check out Jill's newly released course: Physician's Edge: Mastering Business & Finance in Your Medical Practice. 32.5 hours of online, on-demand CME-accredited training tailored just for busy physicians. Find it here: Purchase your copy of Jill's book here: Physician Heal Thy Financial Self Join our Medical Money Matters Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3834886643404507/ Original Musical Score by: Craig Addy at https://www.underthepiano.ca/ Visit Craig's website to book your Once in a Lifetime music experience Podcast coaching and development by: Jennifer Furlong, CEO, Communication Twenty-Four Seven https://www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com/

Host Radell Lewis sits down with Dakarai Larriett, U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, for an in-depth conversation about police reform, racial discrimination, and his proposed Motorist Bill of Rights. After experiencing a false arrest in Michigan in 2024where officers allegedly attempted to plant drugs in his vehicle and subjected him to humiliating sobriety testsLarriett was inspired to run for office and fight for systemic change. When all three branches of government failed him, he decided to become the change himself. In this episode, we discuss: The Motorist Bill of Rights: transparency, probable cause standards, and scientifically-validated sobriety testing Why body cam and dash cam footage should be uploaded to neutral third-party systems in real time Community-based policing and building trust between law enforcement and citizens Alabama's school-to-prison pipeline and incarcerated labor workforce How prison labor suppresses wages for everyday Alabamians Bridging the political divide with solutions-focused policy This isn't about demonizing policeit's about accountability, transparency, and protecting all Americans on the roads. Guest: Dakarai Larriett | www.dakarailarriett.com Keywords: Police reform, Motorist Bill of Rights, Alabama Senate race 2026, criminal justice reform, body cam transparency, false arrest, community policing, prison reform, school to prison pipeline, police accountability, midterms 2026, Back the Blue, racial discrimination, sobriety testsStandard Resource Links & RecommendationsThe following organizations and platforms represent valuable resources for balanced political discourse and democratic participation: PODCAST NETWORKALIVE Podcast Network - Check out the ALIVE Network where you can catch a lot of great podcasts like my own, led by amazing Black voices. Link: https://alivepodcastnetwork.com/ CONVERSATION PLATFORMSHeadOn - A platform for contentious yet productive conversations. It's a place for hosted and unguided conversations where you can grow a following and enhance your conversations with AI features. Link: https://app.headon.ai/Living Room Conversations - Building bridges through meaningful dialogue across political divides. Link: https://livingroomconversations.org/ UNITY MOVEMENTSUs United - A movement for unity that challenges Americans to step out of their bubbles and connect across differences. Take the Unity Pledge, join monthly "30 For US" conversation calls, wear purple (the color of unity), and participate in National Unity Day every second Saturday in December. Their programs include the Sheriff Unity Network and Unity Seats at sports events, proving that shared values are stronger than our differences. Link: https://www.us-united.org/ BALANCED NEWS & INFORMATIONOtherWeb - An AI-based platform that filters news without paywalls, clickbait, or junk, helping you access diverse, unbiased content. Link: https://otherweb.com/ VOTING REFORM & DEMOCRACYEqual Vote Coalition & STAR Voting - Advocating for voting methods that ensure every vote counts equally, eliminating wasted votes and strategic voting. Link: https://www.equal.vote/starFuture is Now Coalition (FiNC) - A grassroots movement working to restore democracy through transparency, accountability, and innovative technology while empowering citizens and transforming American political discourse. Link: https://futureis.org/ POLITICAL ENGAGEMENTIndependent Center - Resources for independent political thinking and civic engagement. Link: https://www.independentcenter.org/ GET DAILY NEWSText 844-406-INFO (844-406-4636) with code "purple" to receive quick, unbiased, factual news delivered to your phone every morning via Informed (https://informed.now) ALL LINKShttps://linktr.ee/purplepoliticalbreakdownThe Purple Political Breakdown is committed to fostering productive political dialogue that transcends partisan divides. We believe in the power of conversation, balanced information, and democratic participation to build a stronger society. Our mission: "Political solutions without political bias."Subscribe, rate, and share if you believe in purple politics - where we find common ground in the middle! Also if you want to be apart of the community and the conversation make sure to Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/ptPAsZtHC9

The conversation delves into the legal implications surrounding executive sessions held by city councils, particularly focusing on a potential settlement related to a police shooting case. Legal expert Steve Gooden discusses the protocols that should be followed during executive sessions, the authority of city solicitors in settling lawsuits, and the political sensitivities involved in such cases. The discussion highlights the importance of transparency and accountability in local government actions, especially when dealing with sensitive legal matters. Takeaways Executive sessions must state the subject matter before convening. Public officials can only discuss certain topics in executive sessions. Voting on settlements must occur in public sessions. Transparency is crucial for taxpayer trust. Legal protocols exist to guide executive session discussions. City solicitors have limited authority to settle lawsuits. Council approval is needed for significant settlements. Political sensitivity is heightened in wrongful death cases. Taxpayer lawsuits can be a recourse for violations of transparency. Public response can influence political accountability. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a textEpisode # 151: Start the year with leadership that actually moves the needle. We walk through the strategic actions that make teams faster, clearer, and more resilient—without adding noise. We begin with the culture you model when pressure hits, because people copy what you do, not what you say. Calm, integrity, and active listening create psychological safety and higher standards at the same time. From there, we narrow in on priorities: how to publish a short, ranked list, tie it to forecasts and analysis, and adjust in real time so finance and accounting stop guessing. You'll hear practical ways to align tasks to business objectives using specified, implied, and essential work—an approach that reduces miscommunication and keeps execution honest.Governance becomes your engine for speed. We outline how to set clear escalation thresholds, run effective risk and operating reviews, and reward early warnings over last‑minute heroics. Then we tackle direct engagement and decision timeliness: structured operating rhythms, skip‑level listening, and defined decision rights that accelerate choices without micromanaging. The throughline is clarity—who decides, what matters now, and why trade‑offs are worth it—so people can move with confidence.By the end, you'll have a checklist for today: model one cultural behavior, publish your priorities, and set a simple escalation path. Whether you lead FP&A, accounting, or the broader enterprise, these moves build trust and momentum that last beyond January. Episode outline:Set a positive team culture,Establish clear priorities, transparency, and accountability,Encourage risk issue escalation with good governance, and Lead with more direct engagement and better decision timeliness. Please connect with me on:1. Instagram: stephen.mclain2. Twitter: smclainiii3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiiiFor more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy:  financeleaderacademy.com.Support the show

Mark Hill, founder and CEO of MyCardPost, joins Jeremy (with Joe Poirot jumping in from the sick bay in Santa Cruz) for a hobby-wide conversation that starts light with recent pickups, then turns into the stuff that actually matters right now: comps, trust, shill bidding, platform incentives, and the new wave of buyer scams powered by AI. Mark breaks down how MyCardPost thinks about comps differently in a no seller-fee environment, why net proceeds matter more than headline price, and how the archive makes research possible across single card and multi card deals. He also gives a quick peek behind the curtain on Crown Auctions, what the Hobby Awards bump meant for awareness, and the platform ideas he is exploring to reduce bad actors, including post auction bid history visibility and bidder trust signals. Later, they get into the growing tension around card show mapping apps, plus the reality of scams on eBay and what sellers can do right now to protect themselves. In this episode: Joe's latest pickup: a Steph Curry 1 of 1 Platinum and why “off brand” can be the play Mark's recent pickup: Bryson DeChambeau Exquisite Rookie Auto out of 49 How MyCardPost comps compare to eBay and why net proceeds change the conversation Multi card deals, why they complicate traditional comp tools, and how auctions shift that Card show mapping apps: efficiency vs discovery, and who should get dibs on show inventory Shill bidding: what can realistically be done, plus ideas like bid history transparency and bidder trust scores Vetting buyers and sellers, verification signals, and how unpaid bidders get restricted The new AI damage scam on eBay and practical ways to push back (video requests, multiple angles, community verification) POPs & COMPs update: Chapter 72 and the “it's only worth what someone will pay” fallacy Quick hits from the chat, plus a Bears comeback win that derails the moment in the best way Sponsor shoutout: CIA Auctions (January auction live now at CollectorInvestorAuctions.com) Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating and review if you get value from the show, it helps more collectors find it. And join us live for Sports Cards Live on Saturday nights on YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can you build iconic characters that your readers want to keep coming back to? How can you be the kind of creator that readers trust, even without social media? With Claire Taylor In the intro, Dan Brown talks writing and publishing [Tetragrammaton]; Design Rules That Make or Break a Book [Self-Publishing Advice]; Amazon's DRM change [Kindlepreneur]; Show me the money [Rachael Herron]; AI bible translation [Wycliffe, Pope Leo tweet]. Plus, Business for Authors 24 Jan webinar, and Bones of the Deep. Today's show is sponsored by Bookfunnel, the essential tool for your author business. Whether it's delivering your reader magnet, sending out advanced copies of your book, handing out ebooks at a conference, or fulfilling your digital sales to readers, BookFunnel does it all. Check it out at bookfunnel.com/thecreativepenn This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Claire Taylor is a humour and mystery author, the owner of FFS Media, and a certified Enneagram coach. She teaches authors to write stronger stories and build sustainable careers at LiberatedWriter.com, and her book is Write Iconic Characters: Unlocking the Core Motivations that Fuel Unforgettable Stories. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Why Claire left social media and how she still markets her books and services What the Enneagram is and how core fears and desires shape character motivation Using Enneagram types (including Wednesday Addams as an example) to write iconic characters Creating rich conflict and relationships by pairing different Enneagram types on the page Coping with rapid change, AI, and fear in the author community in 2026 Building a trustworthy, human author brand through honesty, transparency, and vulnerability You can find Claire at LiberatedWriter.com, FFS.media, or on Substack as The Liberated Writer. Transcript of the interview with Claire Taylor Joanna: Claire Taylor is a humour and mystery author, the owner of FFS Media, and a certified Enneagram coach. She teaches authors to write stronger stories and build sustainable careers at LiberatedWriter.com, and her book is Write Iconic Characters: Unlocking the Core Motivations that Fuel Unforgettable Stories. So, welcome back to the show, Claire. Claire: Thank you so much for having me back. I'm excited to be here. Joanna: It's great to have you back on the show. It was March 2024 when you were last on, so almost two years now as this goes out. Give us a bit of an update. How has your writing craft and your author business changed in that time? Claire: One of the things I've been focusing on with my own fiction craft is deconstructing the rules of how a story “should” be. That's been a sort of hobby focus of mine. All the story structure books aren't law, right? That's why there are so many of them. They're all suggestions, frameworks. They're all trying to quantify humans' innate ability to understand a story. So I'm trying to remember more that I already know what a story is, deep down. My job as an author is to keep the reader's attention from start to finish and leave them feeling the way I hope they'll feel at the end. That's been my focus on the craft side. On the author business side, I've made some big shifts. I left social media earlier this year, and I've been looking more towards one-on-one coaching and networking. I did a craft-based Kickstarter, and I'd been focusing a lot on “career, career, career”—very business-minded—and now I'm creating more content again, especially around using the Enneagram for writing craft. So there's been a lot of transition since 2024 for me. Joanna: I think it's so important—and obviously we're going to get into your book in more detail—but I do think it's important for people to hear about our pivots and transitions. I haven't spoken to you for a while, but I actually started a master's degree a few months back. I'm doing a full-time master's alongside everything else I do. So I've kind of put down book writing for the moment, and I'm doing essay writing and academic writing instead. It's quite different, as you can imagine. It sounds like what you're doing is different too. One thing I know will have perked up people's ears is: “I left social media.” Tell us a bit more about that. Claire: This was a move that I could feel coming for a while. I didn't like what social media did to my attention. Even when I wasn't on it, there was almost a hangover from having been on it. My attention didn't feel as sharp and focused as it used to be, back before social media became what it is now. So I started asking myself some questions: What is lost if I leave? What is gained if I leave? And what is social media actually doing for me today? Because sometimes we hold on to what it used to do for us, and we keep trying to squeeze more and more of that out of it. But it has changed so much. There are almost no places with sufficient organic reach anymore. It's all pay-to-play, and the cost of pay-to-play keeps going up. I looked at the numbers for my business. My Kickstarter was a great place to analyse that because they track so many traffic sources so clearly. I could see exactly how much I was getting from social media when I advertised and promoted my projects there. Then I asked: can I let that go in order to get my attention back and make my life feel more settled? And I decided: yes, I can. That's worth more to me. Joanna: There are some things money can't buy. Sometimes it really isn't about the money. I like your question: what is lost and what is gained? You also said it's all pay-to-play and there's no organic reach. I do think there is some organic reach for some people who don't pay, but those people are very good at playing the game of whatever the platform wants. So, TikTok for example—you might not have to pay money yet, but you do have to play their game. You have to pay with your time instead of money. I agree with you. I don't think there's anywhere you can literally just post something and know it will reliably reach the people who follow you. Claire: Right. Exactly. TikTok currently, if you really play the game, will sometimes “pick” you, right? But that “pick me” energy is not really my jam. And we can see the trend—this “organic” thing doesn't last. It's organic for now. You can play the game for now, but TikTok would be crazy not to change things so they make more money. So eventually everything becomes pay-to-play. TikTok is fun, but for me it's addictive. I took it off my phone years ago because I would do the infinite scroll. There's so much candy there. Then I'd wake up the next morning and notice my mood just wasn't where I wanted it to be. My energy was low. I really saw a correlation between how much I scrolled and how flat I felt afterwards. So I realised: I'm not the person to pay-to-play or to play the game here. I'm not even convinced that the pay-to-play on certain social media networks is being tracked in a reliable, accountable way anymore. Who is holding them accountable for those numbers? You can sort of see correlation in your sales, but still, I just became more and more sceptical. In the end, it just wasn't for me. My life is so much better on a daily basis without it. That's definitely a decision I have not regretted for a second. Joanna: I'm sorry to keep on about this, but I think this is great because this is going out in January 2026, and there will be lots of people examining their relationship with social media. It's one of those things we all examine every year, pretty much. The other thing I'd add is that you are a very self-aware person. You spend a lot of time thinking about these things and noticing your own behaviour and energy. Stopping and thinking is such an important part of it. But let's tackle the big question: one of the reasons people don't want to come off social media is that they're afraid they don't know how else to market. How are you marketing if you're not using social media? Claire: I didn't leave social media overnight. Over time, I've been adjusting and transitioning, preparing my business and myself mentally and emotionally for probably about a year. I still market to my email list. That has always been important to my business. I've also started a Substack that fits how my brain works. Substack is interesting. Some people might consider it a form of social media—it has that new reading feed—but it feels much more like blogging to me. It's blogging where you can be discovered, which is lovely. I've been doing more long-form content there. You get access to all the emails of your subscribers, which is crucial to me. I don't want to build on something I can't take with me. So I've been doing more long-form content, and that seems to keep my core audience with me. I've got plenty of people subscribed; people continue to come back, work with me, and tell their friends. Word of mouth has always been the way my business markets best, because it's hard to describe the benefits of what I do in a quick, catchy way. It needs context. So I'm leaning even more on that. Then I'm also shifting my fiction book selling more local. Joanna: In person? Claire: Yes. In person and local. Networking and just telling more people that I'm an author. Connecting more deeply with my existing email lists and communities and selling that way. Joanna: I think at the end of the day it does come back to the email list. I think this is one of the benefits of selling direct to people through Shopify or Payhip or whatever, or locally, because you can build your email list. Every person you bring into your own ecosystem, you get their data and you can stay in touch. Whereas all the things we did for years to get people to go to Amazon, we didn't get their emails and details. It's so interesting where we are right now in the author business. Okay, we'll come back to some of these things, but let's get into the book and what you do. Obviously what underpins the book is the Enneagram. Just remind us what the Enneagram is, why you incorporate it into so much of your work, and why you find it resonates so much. Claire: The Enneagram is a framework that describes patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions that tend to arise from nine different core motivations. Those core motivations are made up of a fear–desire pair. So, for instance, there's the fear of lacking worth and the desire to be worthy. That pair is the Type Three core motivation. If you're a Type Three, sometimes called “The Achiever,” that's your fundamental driver. What we fear and desire above all the other fears and desires determines where our attention goes. And attention is something authors benefit greatly from understanding. We have to keep people's attention, so we want to understand our own attention and how to cultivate it. The things our attention goes to build our understanding of ourselves and the world. Being intentional about that, and paying attention to what your characters pay attention to—and what your readers are paying attention to—is hugely beneficial. It can give you a real leg up. That's why I focus on the Enneagram. I find it very useful at that core level. You can build a lot of other things on top of it with your characters: their backstory, personal histories, little quirks—all of that can be built off the Enneagram foundation. Why I like the Enneagram more than other frameworks like MBTI or the Big Five is that it not only shows us how our fears are confining us—that's really what it's charting—but it also shows us a path towards liberation from those fears. That's where the Enneagram really shines: the growth path, the freedom from the confines of our own personality. It offers that to anyone who wants to study and discover it. A lot of the authors I work with say things like, “I'm just so sick of my own stuff.” And I get it. We all get sick of running into the same patterns over and over again. We can get sick of our personality! The Enneagram is a really good tool for figuring out what's going on and how to try something new, because often we can't even see that there are other options. We have this particular lens we're looking through. That's why I like to play with it, and why I find it so useful. Joanna: That's really interesting. It sounds like you have a lot of mature authors—and when I say “mature,” I mean authors with a lot of books under their belt, not necessarily age. There are different problems at different stages of the author career, and the problem you just described—“I'm getting sick of my stuff”—sounds like a mature author issue. What are some of the other issues you see in the community that are quite common amongst indie authors? Claire: One that comes up a lot, especially early on, is: “Am I doing this right?” That's a big question. People say, “I don't know if I'm doing this right. I'm going to mess it up. This person told me this was the way to do things, but I don't think I can do it this way. Am I doomed?” That's the fear. A lot of what I help people with is seeing that there isn't a single “right” way to do this. There's a way that's going to feel more aligned to you, and there are millions of ways to approach an author career because we're all constructing it as we go. You were there in the early days. We were all just making this up as we went along. Joanna: Exactly. There was a time when ebooks were PDFs, there wasn't even a Kindle, and there was no iPhone. We were literally just making it up. Claire: Right. Exactly. That spirit of “we're all making it up” is important. Some of us have come up with frameworks that work for us, and then we tell other people about them—“Here's a process; try this process”—but that doesn't mean it's the process. Understanding what motivates you—those core motivations—helps you see where you're going to bump into advice that's not right for you, and how to start making decisions that fit your attention, your life, your desires in this author role. Early on we do a lot of that work. Then there are the authors who started a while ago and have a bunch of books. They hit a point where they say, “I've changed so much since I started writing. I need to figure out how to adjust my career.” Joanna: Tell us more about that, because I think that's you and me. How do we deal with that? Claire: Well, crying helps. Joanna: That is true! There's always a bit of crying involved in reinvention. From my perspective, my brand has always been built around me. People are still here—I know some people listening who have been with the podcast since I started it in 2009—and I've always been me. Even though I've done loads of different things and changed along the way, at heart I'm still me. I'm really glad I built a personal brand around who I am, rather than around one genre or a single topic. How about you? How do you see it? Claire: I'm the same. I just can't stick with something that doesn't feel right for me anymore. I'll start to rebel against it. There's also that “good girl” part of me that wants to do things the way they're supposed to be done and keep everybody happy. I have to keep an eye on her, because she'll default to “this is the way it should be done,” and then I end up constricted. As we advance through our careers, positioning around what motivates us and what we love, and allowing ourselves to understand that it's okay to change—even though it's painful—is crucial. It's actually destructive not to change over time. We end up forfeiting so many things that make life worth living if we don't allow ourselves to grow and change. We end up in this tiny box. People sometimes say the Enneagram is very restrictive. “It's only nine types, you're putting me in a box.” It's like: no. These are the boxes we've put ourselves in. Then we use the Enneagram to figure out how to get out of the box. As we start to see the box we've put ourselves in with our personality—“that's me, that's not me”—we realise how much movement we actually have, how many options we have, while still being ourselves. Joanna: So many options. This kind of brings us into your book, because part of the personal brand thing is being real and having different facets. Your book is Write Iconic Characters, and presumably these are characters that people want to read more about. It uses the Enneagram to construct these better characters. So first up— What's your definition of an iconic character, as opposed to any old character? And how can we use the Enneagram to construct one? Claire: An iconic character, in my imagination, is one that really sticks with us after we've finished the story. They become a reference point. We'll say, “This person is kind of like that character,” or “This situation feels like that character would handle it this way.” It could be our friends, our enemies, someone we meet on the bus—whoever it is might remind us of this character. So they really get lodged in our psyche. An iconic character feels true to some fundamental part of the human condition, even if they're not strictly human. So, all the alien romance people listening, don't worry—you're still in! These characters take on a life of their own. With an iconic character, we may hear them talking to us after the book is done, because we've tapped into that essential part of them. They can become almost archetypal—something we go back to over and over again in our minds, both as writers and as readers. Joanna: How can we use the Enneagram to construct an iconic character? I'm asking this as a discovery writer who struggles to construct anything beforehand. It's more that I write stuff and then something emerges. But I have definitely not had a hit series with an iconic character, so I'm willing to give your approach a try. Claire: It works with whatever your process is. If you're a discovery writer, start with that spark of a character in your head. If there's a character who's just a glimmer—maybe you know a few things about them—just keep writing. At some point you'll probably recognise, “Okay, it's time to go deeper in understanding this character and create a cohesive thread to pull all of this together.” That's where the Enneagram becomes useful. You can put on your armchair psychologist hat and ask: which of the nine core fears seems like it might be driving the parts of their personality that are emerging? Thankfully, we intuitively recognise the nine types. When we start gathering bits for a new character, we tend to pull from essentially the same constellation of personality, even if we don't realise it. For instance, you might say, “This character is bold and adventurous,” and that's all you know. You're probably not going to also add, “and they're incredibly shy,” because “bold and adventurous” plus “incredibly shy” doesn't really fit our intuitive understanding of people. We know that instinctively. So, you've got “bold and adventurous.” You write that to a certain point, and then you get to a place where you think, “I don't really know them deeply.” That's when you can go back to the nine core fears and start ruling some out quite quickly. In the book, I have descriptions for each of them. You can read the character descriptions, read about the motivations, and start to say, “It's definitely not these five types. I can rule those out.” If they're bold and adventurous, maybe the core fear is being trapped in deprivation and pain, or being harmed and controlled. Those correspond to Type Seven (“The Enthusiast”) and Type Eight (“The Challenger”), respectively. So you might say, “Okay, maybe they're a Seven or an Eight.” From there, if you can pin down a type, you can read more about it and get ideas. You can understand the next big decision point. If they're a Type Seven, what's going to motivate them? They'll do whatever keeps them from being trapped in pain and deprivation, and they'll be seeking satisfaction or new experiences in some way, because that's the core desire that goes with that fear. So now, you're asking: “How do I get them to get on the spaceship and leave Earth?” Well, you could offer them some adventure, because they're bold and adventurous. I have a character who's a Seven, and she gets on a spaceship and takes off because her boyfriend just proposed—and the idea of being trapped in marriage feels like: “Nope. Whatever is on this spaceship, I'm out of here.” You can play with that once you identify a type. You can go as deep with that type as you want, or you can just work with the core fear and the basic desire. There's no “better or worse”—it's whatever you feel comfortable with and whatever you need for the story. Joanna: In the book, you go into all the Enneagram types in detail, but you also have a specific example: Wednesday Addams. She's one of my favourites. People listening have either seen the current series or they have something in mind from the old-school Addams Family. Can you talk about [Wednesday Addams] as an example? Claire: Doing those deep dives was some of the most fun research for this book. I told my husband, John, “Don't bother me. I need to sit and binge-watch Wednesday again—with my notebook this time.” Online, people were guessing: “Oh, she's maybe this type, maybe that type.” As soon as I started watching properly with the Enneagram in mind, I thought: “Oh, this is a Type Eight, this is the Challenger.” One of the first things we hear from her is that she considers emotions to be weakness. Immediately, you can cross out a bunch of types from that. When we're looking at weak/strong language—that lens of “strength” versus “weakness”—we tend to look towards Eights, because they often sort the world in those terms. They're concerned about being harmed or controlled, so they feel they need to be strong and powerful. That gave me a strong hint in that direction. If we look at the inciting incident—which is a great place to identify what really triggers a character, because it has to be powerful enough to launch the story—Wednesday finds her little brother Pugsley stuffed in a locker. She says, “Who did this?” because she believes she's the only one who gets to bully him. That's a very stereotypical Type Eight thing. The unhealthy Eight can dip into being a bit of a bully because they're focused on power and power dynamics. But the Eight also says, “These are my people. I protect them. If you're one of my people, you're under my protection.” So there's that protection/control paradox. Then she goes and—spoiler—throws a bag of piranhas into the pool to attack the boys who hurt him. That's like: okay, this is probably an Eight. Then she has control wrested from her when she's sent to the new school. That's a big trigger for an Eight: to not have autonomy, to not have control. She acts out pretty much immediately, tries to push people away, and establishes dominance. One of the first things she does is challenge the popular girl to a fencing match. That's very Eight behaviour: “I'm going to go in, figure out where I sit in this power structure, and try to get into a position of power straight away.” That's how the story starts, and in the book I go into a lot more analysis. At one point she's attacked by this mysterious thing and is narrowly saved from a monster. Her reaction afterwards is: “I would have rather saved myself.” That's another strong Eight moment. The Eight does not like to be saved by anyone else. It's: “No, I wanted to be strong enough to do that.” Her story arc is also very Eight-flavoured: she starts off walled-off, “I can do it myself,” which can sometimes look like the self-sufficiency of the Five, but for her it's about always being in a power position and in control of herself. She has to learn to rely more on other people if she wants to protect the people she cares about. Protecting the innocent and protecting “her people” is a big priority for the Eight. Joanna: Let's say we've identified our main character and protagonist. One of the important things in any book, especially in a series, is conflict—both internal and external. Can we use the Enneagram to work out what would be the best other character, or characters, to give us more conflict? Claire: The character dynamics are complex, and all types are going to have both commonalities and conflict between them. That works really well for fiction. But depending on how much conflict you need, there are certain type pairings that are especially good for it. If you have a protagonist who's an Eight, they're going to generate conflict everywhere because it doesn't really bother them. They're okay wading into conflict. If you ask an Eight, “Do you like conflict?” they'll often say, “Well, sometimes it's not great,” but to everyone else it looks like they come in like a wrecking ball. The Eight tends to go for what they want. They don't see the point in waiting. They think, “I want it, I'm going to go and get it.” That makes them feel strong and powerful. So it's easy to create external and internal conflict with an Eight and other types. But the nature of the conflict is going to be different depending on who you pair them with. Let's say you have this Eight and you pair them with a Type One, “The Reformer,” whose core fear is being bad or corrupt, and who wants to be good and have integrity. The Reformer wants morality. They can get a little preachy; they can become a bit of a zealot when they're more unhealthy. A One and an Eight will have a very particular kind of conflict because the One says, “Let's do what's right,” and the Eight says, “Let's do what gets me what I want and puts me in the power position.” They may absolutely get along if they're taking on injustice. Ones and Eights will team up if they both see the same thing as unjust. They'll both take it on together. But then they may reach a point in the story where the choice is between doing the thing that is “right”—maybe self-sacrificing or moral—versus doing the thing that will exact retribution or secure a power-up. That's where the conflict between a One and an Eight shows up. You can grab any two types and they'll have unique conflict. I'm actually working on a project on Kickstarter that's all about character dynamics and relationships—Write Iconic Relationships is the next project—and I go deeper into this there. Joanna: I was wondering about that, because I did a day-thing recently with colour palettes and interior design—which is not usually my thing—so I was really challenging myself. We did this colour wheel, and they were talking about how the opposite colour on the wheel is the one that goes with it in an interesting way. I thought— Maybe there's something in the Enneagram where it's like a wheel, and the type opposite is the one that clashes or fits in a certain way. Is that a thing? Claire: There is a lot of that kind of contrast. The Enneagram is usually depicted in a circle, one through nine, and there are strong contrasts between types that are right next to each other, as well as interesting lines that connect them. For example, we've been talking about the Eight, and right next to Eight is Nine, “The Peacemaker.” Eights and Nines can look like opposites in certain ways. The Nine is conflict-avoidant, and the Eight tends to think you get what you want by pushing into conflict if necessary. Then you've got Four, “The Individualist,” which is very emotional, artistic, heart-centred, and Five, “The Investigator,” which you're familiar with—very head-centred and analytical, thinking-based. The Four and the Five can clash a bit: the head and the heart. So, yes, there are interesting contrasts right next to each other on the wheel. Each type also has its own conflict style. We're going into the weeds a bit here, but it's fascinating to play with. There's one conflict style—the avoidant conflict style, sometimes called the “positive outlook” group—and it's actually hard to get those types into an enemies-to-lovers romance because they don't really want to be enemies. That's Types Two, Seven, and Nine. So depending on the trope you're writing, some type pairings are more frictional than others. There are all these different dynamics you can explore, and I can't wait to dig into them more for everyone in the relationships book. Joanna: The Enneagram is just one of many tools people can use to figure out themselves as well as their characters. Maybe that's something people want to look at this year. You've got this book, you've got other resources that go into it, and there's also a lot of information out there if people want to explore it more deeply. Let's pull back out to the bigger picture, because as this goes out in January 2026, I think there is a real fear of change in the community right now. Is that something you've seen? What are your thoughts for authors on how they can navigate the year ahead? Claire: Yes, there has been a lot of fear. The rate of change of things online has felt very rapid. The rate of change in the broader world—politically, socially—has also felt scary to a lot of people. It can be really helpful to look at your own personal life and anchor yourself in what hasn't changed and what feels universal. From there you can start to say, “Okay, I can do this. I'm safe enough to be creative. I can find creative ways to work within this new environment.” You can choose to engage with AI. You can choose to opt out. It's totally your choice, and there is no inherent virtue in either one. I think that's important to say. Sometimes people who are anti-AI—not just uninterested but actively antagonistic—go after people who like it. And sometimes people who like AI can be antagonistic towards people who don't want to use it. But actually, you get to choose what you're comfortable with. One of the things I see emerging for authors in 2026, regardless of what tools you're using or how you feel about them, is this question of trustworthiness. I think there's a big need for that. With the increased number of images and videos that are AI-generated—which a lot of people who've been on the internet for a while can still recognise as AI and say, “Yeah, that's AI”—but that may not be obvious for long. Right now some of us can tell, but a lot of people can't, and that's only going to get murkier. There's a rising mistrust of our own senses online lately. We're starting to wonder, “Can I believe what I'm seeing and hearing?” And I think that sense of mistrust will increase. As an author in that environment, it's really worth focusing on: how do I build trust with my readers? That doesn't mean you never use AI. It might simply mean you disclose, to whatever extent feels right for you, how you use it. There are things like authenticity, honesty, vulnerability, humility, integrity, transparency, reliability—all of those are ingredients in this recipe of trustworthiness that we need to look at for ourselves. If there's one piece of hard inner work authors can do for 2026, I think it's asking: “Where have I not been trustworthy to my readers?” Then taking that hard, sometimes painful look at what comes up, and asking how you can adjust. What do you need to change? What new practices do you need to create that will increase trustworthiness? I really think that's the thing that's starting to erode online. If you can work on it now, you can hold onto your readers through whatever comes next. Joanna: What's one concrete thing people could do in that direction [to increase trustworthiness]? Claire: I would say disclosing if you use AI is a really good start—or at least disclosing how you use it specifically. I know that can lead to drama when you do it because people have strong opinions, but trustworthiness comes at the cost of courage and honesty. Transparency is another ingredient we could all use more of. If transparency around AI is a hard “absolutely not” for you—if you're thinking, “Nope, Claire, you can get lost with that”—then authenticity is another route. Let your messy self be visible, because people still want some human in the mix. Being authentically messy and vulnerable with your audience helps. If you can't be reliable and put the book out on time, at least share what's going on in your life. Staying connected in that way builds trust. Readers will think, “Okay, I see why you didn't hit that deadline.” But if you're always promising books—“It's going to be out on this day,” and then, “Oh, I had to push it back,” and that happens again and again—that does erode the trustworthiness of your brand. So, looking at those things and asking, “How am I cultivating trust, and how am I breaking it?” is hard work. There are definitely ways I look at my own business and think, “That's not a very trustworthy thing I'm doing.” Then I need to sit down, get real with myself, and see how I can improve that. Joanna: Always improving is good. Coming back to the personal brand piece, and to being vulnerable and putting ourselves out there: you and I have both got used to that over years of doing it and practising. There are people listening who have never put their photo online, or their voice online, or done a video. They might not use their photo on the back of their book or on their website. They might use an avatar. They might use a pen name. They might be afraid of having anything about themselves online. That's where I think there is a concern, because as much as I love a lot of the AI stuff, I don't love the idea of everything being hidden behind anonymous pen names and faceless brands. As you said, being vulnerable in some way and being recognisably human really matters. I'd say: double down on being human. I think that's really important. Do you have any words of courage for people who feel, “I just can't. I don't want to put myself out there”? Claire: There are definitely legitimate reasons some people wouldn't want to be visible. There are safety reasons, cultural reasons, family reasons—all sorts of factors. There are also a lot of authors who simply haven't practised the muscle of vulnerability. You build that muscle a little bit at a time. It does open you up to criticism, and some people are just not at a phase of life where they can cope with that. That's okay. If fear is the main reason—if you're hiding because you're scared of being judged—I do encourage you to step out, gently. This may be my personal soapbox, but I don't think life is meant to be spent hiding. Things may happen. Not everyone will like you. That's part of being alive. When you invite in hiding, it doesn't just stay in one corner. That constricted feeling tends to spread into other areas of your life. A lot of the time, people I work with don't want to disclose their pen names because they're worried their parents won't approve, and then we have to unpack that. You don't have to do what your parents want you to do. You're an adult now, right? If the issue is, “They'll cut me out of the will,” we can talk about that too. That's a deeper, more practical conversation. But if it's just that they won't approve, you have more freedom than you think. You also don't have to plaster your picture everywhere. Even if you're not comfortable showing your face, you can still communicate who you are and what matters to you in other ways—through your stories, through your email list, through how you talk to readers. Let your authentic self be expressed in some way. It's scary, but the reward is freedom. Joanna: Absolutely. Lots to explore in 2026. Tell people where they can find you and your books and everything you do online. Claire: LiberatedWriter.com is where all of my stuff lives, except my fiction, which I don't think people here are necessarily as interested in. If you do want to find my fiction, FFS Media is where that lives. Then I'm on Substack as well. I write long pieces there. If you want to subscribe, it's The Liberated Writer on Substack. Joanna: Brilliant. Well, thanks so much for your time, Claire. That was great. Claire: Thanks so much for having me.The post Leaving Social Media, Writing Iconic Characters, and Building Trust With Claire Taylor first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Message Date: January 11th, 2026 Location: Sandy Campus Vissioneering “How a church board stewards finances with transparency & accountability” Pastor Jason Parrish & The Well Board

SummaryOn this episode of Startup Junkies, Robin Atkinson, founder and CEO of Upkept Inc., shares her fascinating entrepreneurial journey, which began in the nonprofit arts sector before evolving into building a tech-driven apparel repair company. Hosted by Daniel Koonce and Caleb Talley, this lively conversation dives into Robin's unique approach to solving consumer challenges in the world of clothing repairs.Robin reflects on her early start in nonprofits, launching an arts collective at seventeen, and the creative problem-solving skills she brought to every role since. Her latest venture, Upkept, aims to make apparel repair accessible and straightforward, transforming an industry where price transparency and convenience have been lacking. She candidly discusses the tough early days of a startup, referencing the “trough of despair” every founder knows well, and highlights how humor, self-awareness, and a bit of delusional optimism keep her moving forward.Listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at Upkept's operations, how their Repair Wizard simplifies the process for customers, and why keeping clothes longer is vital for both your wallet and the planet. Robin also offers advice to fellow entrepreneurs, emphasizing that grit, adaptability, and community support are key ingredients for success.For anyone contemplating the realities of building something new, Robin delivers honest insights, actionable advice, and a refreshing reminder: if you create a genuinely useful service, people will find you. Tune in today!Show Notes(00:00) Introduction(03:37) The Journey of Starting a Nonprofit(05:58) Tackling Startup Challenges and Slow Progress(12:18) Optimizing Simplicity and Transparency(15:30) Building a Niche Industry(17:44) Overcoming Workforce Barriers(20:53) Defining Minimum Value Product Before Branding(29:32) Direct-to-Consumer Growth Potential(34:09) Closing ThoughtsLinksDaniel KoonceCaleb TalleyStartup JunkieStartup Junkie YouTubeRobin AtkinsonUpkept Inc.

In this conversation, Richard Hooker Jr. shares his journey from a small town in North Carolina to becoming a prominent leader in the Teamsters union. He discusses his early life, the challenges he faced in understanding union dynamics, and his rise to leadership within Local 623. Richard emphasizes the importance of member empowerment, transparency in union operations, and the need for education on union rights. He reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on labor negotiations and the necessity of supporting union members beyond their work. Richard's vision for the future includes uniting members across divisions and building power from the grassroots level. In this conversation, Richard Hooker Jr. discusses the importance of empowering union members and addressing real-life issues they face. He emphasizes the need for unity among members and transformational change in union leadership to combat systemic problems. Hooker shares his experiences in leadership and the challenges posed by current union politics, advocating for a more engaged and fearless membership. WEBSITES MENTIONED www.patreon.com/aitdpod https://discord.gg/hm8WMUKVF8 https://be-fearless.org/ Takeaways Richard Hooker's journey reflects resilience and commitment to union values. Understanding union politics is crucial for effective leadership. Empowering members through education is a key focus. Transparency in union operations fosters trust among members. COVID-19 presented unique challenges for labor negotiations. Supporting members' needs extends beyond workplace issues. Racial dynamics play a significant role in union leadership. Building a strong grassroots movement is essential for union strength. Engaging members in the political process is vital for change. Leadership should prioritize member empowerment over personal gain. Empowerment of union members is crucial for effective representation. Real-life issues faced by families should be prioritized in union discussions. Unity among members is essential to combat divisive tactics. Transformational change in leadership is necessary for progress. Systemic issues within the union must be addressed for effective change. Open bargaining can help eliminate loopholes and protect workers' rights. Leadership should be accountable and transparent to the membership. Retaliation and intimidation tactics undermine member participation. A strong, united front can lead to successful grievances and negotiations. Fearlessness in voting is vital for true representation.  Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Richard Hooker 01:13 Richard's Early Life and Background 03:31 Journey into Union Work 06:27 Politics and Leadership in the Union 10:17 Running for Office and Racial Dynamics 12:40 Changing the Local's Bylaws 15:56 Winning Elections and Transforming Leadership 21:00 Navigating COVID-19 Challenges 27:00 Supporting Members Beyond Work 29:23 Current Issues and Future Focus 35:10 Vision for the Future of the Teamsters 37:35 Empowering Union Members 40:52 Unity in the Face of Adversity 44:01 Transformational Change in Leadership 49:00 Addressing Systemic Issues 56:31 Challenges in Union Politics THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED OR VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THIS PODCAST ARE THOSE OF THE HOSTS AND GUESTS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT ANY DELIVERY COMPANY  

Today from SDPB - tribal leaders are speaking out following allegations of tribal members detained by ICE in Minneapolis and a look into what state lawmakers are saying about the sale of shares of a government-leased building.

Goal Planning & Strategy — Reviewing 2025, Setting 2026, and the Systems That Make It Happen! In this episode, I take you inside my personal goal-planning process — from reflecting on everything I set out to achieve in 2025, to breaking down what I'm aiming for in 2026, and most importantly, the daily, weekly and monthly habits and strategic systems that keep me moving forward. I start by reviewing my 2025 goals — what I hit, what I missed, and the lessons behind each win and loss. Transparency is everything, and I share real insights into how goals evolve when you commit to growth over perfection. Then we shift into my 2026 vision. Together we explore how aligning your goals with your values turns intention into action. CHEERS TO A NEW YEAR MY GIRLS!! And remember, your life is entirely UP TO YOU! I love you and believe in you. If you want this episodes worksheet, get it here: WORKSHEET ⁠⁠⁠Shelby's IG⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sad to Savage IG⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Habit Tracker⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Shelby's TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sad to Savage Six Week Program!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sovereign debt scholar Anna Gelpern, Scott K. Ginsburg professor of law and international finance at Georgetown University, joins Mark Sobel, US chair at OMFIF, to discuss the theory of the case for debt transparency, the need for more and better public debt disclosure and the impact of poor disclosure on low-income countries and emerging markets.    Gelpern also explores ideas on how to tackle the challenge, and shares an update on the Sovereign Debt Forum's Public Debt Is Public project with Georgetown's Massive Data Institute.

Are You Part of the Hybrid Agenda? Discover Geraldine Orozco's shocking abduction, her hybrid children, and the interdimensional councils managing our DNA. Explore soul fractals, cosmic contracts, and the multidimensional war for human consciousness. Truth hidden in plain sight. 00:00 – When You Live From the Heart 03:30 – The Cost of Truth: Not Everyone Will Like You 07:00 – Why Speaking Truth Triggers Others 10:15 – Holding the Line: Never Sacrifice Your Vibration 14:00 – Staying True to Your Soul's Frequency 18:00 – The Power of Self-Priority in Sovereignty 22:00 – Walking Alone, But Aligned 27:15 – Energetic Integrity: Holding the Field 31:00 – Trusting the Process of Divine Alignment 35:00 – Final Reminder: Be the Frequency The Portal To Ascension platform is a resource for awakening to the truth of our existence while exploring the nature of reality and the cosmos. Our efforts are aimed at manifesting full disclosure of: • Humanity's ancient origins • The truth of the Extraterrestrial presence • The release of advanced technology • Transparency within business and global economic affairs • An understanding beyond our third dimensional perception Official website: https://portaltoascension.org/ Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PortalToAscension/ Official Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/portaltoascension Official Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/p2ascension Official Telegram Chat Room: https://t.me/portaltoascension Join Our Rapidly Growing Mailing List: https://portaltoascension.org/sign-up/ Portal To Ascension Conferences: In Person: https://ascensionconference.com Online: https://portaltoascension.org/upcoming-events/ Also Find Us On : Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3uolCCJknWQV9I3i07OZtC Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portal-to-ascension-radio/id1544194663

AI is no longer just for big-box retailers with massive budgets. In this episode of Rooted in Retail, Crystal Vilkaitis sits down with AI entrepreneur RJ Talyor to unpack how small and independent retailers can realistically use AI to save time, boost sales, and stay competitive—without losing their brand soul.RJ shares his journey from Salesforce to launching and selling AI startups, and explains how tools like predictive AI, real-time marketing, and automated creative can help retailers move faster, test smarter, and respond to what's happening right now. From email templates and photo generation to habit-building and ethical AI use, this conversation breaks down what matters—and what doesn't—when it comes to AI in retail.If you're a retailer feeling overwhelmed by AI but know you can't ignore it anymore, this episode will help you cut through the noise and start using AI with confidence.[2:34] RJ's background and entry into retail tech[4:18] Non-obvious ways small retailers can use AI today[5:41] Using AI to create email and website templates faster[7:37] How predictive AI works and why testing isn't enough anymore[11:07] How much time retailers should realistically spend on AI[13:40] Should retailers become AI experts—or rely on vendors?[17:00] How AI gives small retailers a real competitive edge[19:19] Transparency, ethics, and being honest about AI use[21:18] Using AI to respond to real-time events and local moments[24:21] What retailers should start doing now to prepare for the future of AIJoin the Rooted in Retail Facebook Group to continue the conversation Join our newsletter for all the latest marketing news for retailers Show off your super fandom by getting your Rooted in Retail Merch! Go to http://indera.co/prompt to access the prompt

This week has been BUSY with activity in Low Earth Orbit on the Space Station! This episode is a recap from our LIVE Hangout broadcast on social media during NASA's International Space Station Update. We hear from the new NASA Administrator (Jared Isaacman), the Associate Administrator (Amit Kshatriya), and the Chief Space Medical Officer (Dr. James D. Polk) as they answer questions from NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. as the ISS operation teams at JSC in Houston were prepping Crew 11 to come home.  Hear my thoughts at the start and close - this conference was really good and a sign of the kind of leadership Jared Isaacman is bringing to NASA. One major takeaway, aside from wishing the now stable Astronaut gets home safetly, is that NASA really has a good head on it's shoulders. There is a lot of work to do - but in this I feel confident there are good winds of change under NASA's wings. Looking forward to the rest of 2026! #SpaceMedicine #NASA #SpaceSafety #HumanSpaceflight #TodayInSpace Timestamps: 00:00 ISS Update and Initial Reactions 02:04 Background and Initial Information 08:04 NASA's Response and Transparency 08:28 Details of the Medical Incident 09:56 Q&A Session with NASA Officials 13:23 Further Questions and Clarifications 19:20 Crew's Training and Medical Capabilities 32:10 Impact on ISS Operations and Future Missions 50:19 Final Thoughts and Next Steps We'd like to thank our sponsors: AG3D Printing (go to ag3d-printing.com to learn more & start 3D printing today!) Support the podcast: • Buy a 3D printed gift from our shop - http://ag3dprinting.etsy.com Today In Space Merch: James Webb Space Telescope Model (3DPrinted) https://ag3dprinting.etsy.com/listing/1839142903 SpaceX Starship-Inspired Rocket Pen (3DPrinted) https://ag3dprinting.etsy.com/listing/1602850640  • Get a free quote on your next 3D printing project at http://ag3d-printing.com • Donate at todayinspace.net

If you listen to Life at Liberty, we need your help. We've put together a short survey. It's for listeners only. Click this link to complete is under 3 minutes: Life at Liberty Podcast Survey In this episode of Life at Liberty, host Cinelle Claassens sits down with Dr. Elizabeth James, founder of the International Liberty Horse Association (ILHA), for a milestone conversation about where the association is headed next. Elizabeth announces Cinelle as the new official host of the podcast and shares the heart behind the transition. Together, they unpack why the ILHA established its first Board of Directors, what the process looked like behind the scenes, and how members played a direct role through nominations and voting. Elizabeth explains the balance between elected and appointed seats, the intention to avoid “popularity politics,” and what this shift means for the future of the ILHA and Liberty as a legitimate discipline. The episode closes with an invitation for members to stay engaged, share what they want to hear next, and step into a greater sense of ownership within the community. Highlights: Elizabeth James announces Cinelle as the new official host of Life at Liberty Why the ILHA established its first-ever Board of Directors The behind-the-scenes research that went into building the board structure How nominations and member voting actually worked Why the ILHA avoided popularity politics and donor-driven seats What this transition means for ILHA members and the future of Liberty Elizabeth reflects on leadership, sustainability, and letting go A teaser for upcoming projects and future podcast conversations Key Moments: 00:00:26 Opening context: why this episode matters00:02:10 Elizabeth's announcement: Cinelle named new host00:06:30 Why Life at Liberty needed its own voice00:09:45 The origin of the ILHA and the long-term vision00:13:40 Sustainability, leadership responsibility, and “what happens if I'm gone?”00:18:20 The research phase: boards, term limits, and hard lessons learned00:24:50 Why donor seats and popularity contests were intentionally avoided00:31:10 How nominations and voting worked for board seats00:37:40 Transparency, protecting feelings, and member trust00:41:55 What excites Elizabeth most about the new board00:45:30 What this milestone changes for members00:49:10 Liberty as a legitimate discipline, why this matters beyond ILHA00:54:20 Early board meetings and what's already in motion00:57:40 Clubs reopening and community growth01:00:15 Elizabeth's personal reflections and what's next01:02:00 Closing reflections on ownership, belonging, and the future Summaries: 00:00:26 Opening context: why this episode mattersCinelle sets the tone for a milestone episode, explaining that this moment has been years in the making and quietly shapes where the ILHA is headed next. 00:02:10 Elizabeth's announcement: Cinelle named new hostElizabeth announces Cinelle as the new official host of Life at Liberty, sharing why the podcast needed a dedicated voice and how this transition reflects the original vision of telling the community's stories. 00:06:30 Why Life at Liberty needed its own voiceElizabeth reflects on the evolution of the podcast and why separating the association from the storytelling side was always part of the plan. 00:09:45 The origin of the ILHA and the long-term visionElizabeth revisits why the ILHA was founded in the first place: to legitimize Liberty as a discipline and give people a place to grow, compete, and belong. 00:13:40 Sustainability, leadership responsibility, and hard questionsA candid discussion about sustainability, leadership pressure, and the realization that the association couldn't rely on one person long-term. 00:18:20 The research phase: how the board structure was builtElizabeth explains the eight-month research process, including calls to other associations and the challenges of finding real answers about governance. 00:24:50 Avoiding popularity politics and donor-driven boardsElizabeth shares what she learned about boards that don't work—and why the ILHA intentionally chose a different path. 00:31:10 How nominations and voting actually workedA clear breakdown of how members nominated candidates, how voting was structured, and why each member received two votes. 00:37:40 Transparency, fairness, and protecting community trustElizabeth talks about the balance between transparency and care, and why protecting members' dignity mattered throughout the process. 00:41:55 What excites Elizabeth about the boardWith the board now in place, Elizabeth reflects on new energy, fresh perspectives, and the excitement of stepping back and watching others lead. 00:45:30 What this milestone changes for membersThe conversation shifts to what members gain: influence, ownership, and a stronger voice in the association's future. 00:49:10 Liberty as a legitimate disciplineElizabeth explains how this milestone further establishes Liberty as a real, respected discipline governed by its community. 00:54:20 Early board meetings and next stepsCinelle and Elizabeth discuss early board meetings, current priorities, and how members will start seeing changes roll out. 00:57:40 Clubs reopening and community growthAn update on clubs reopening, new communities forming, and why local connection remains at the heart of the ILHA. 01:00:15 Personal reflection and what's nextElizabeth shares what this transition means for her personally and teases future creative projects and podcast conversations. 01:02:00 Closing reflections on ownership and belongingThe episode closes with a reminder that the ILHA exists to celebrate members at every stage of their Liberty journey, and that this milestone belongs to the whole community.

In this final segment of Mike Drop Ep. 273, host Mike Ritland sits down with Nick Tran. Expect a candid, no-filter conversation covering Second Amendment absolutism, border security & immigration realism, energy independence, transparency in government (including frustrations with the Epstein files handling), term limits, and what truly sets apart a citizen-legislator from career politicians. Raw, principled, and America First. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

90,000 wholesalers entered the market and only 12,000 will survive.In this live training, Brent Daniels sits down with RJ Bates III to break down what's really happening in the wholesaling industry and what it will take to win in 2026 and beyond. They dive into why most wholesalers fail, the danger of chasing vanity metrics, and how staying disciplined, profitable, and “boring” can be the key to long-term wealth.From seller motivation and closing philosophy to marketing mistakes, scaling traps, and why manufacturing deals can destroy your business, this episode delivers hard truths every wholesaler needs to hear.If you want to stay in the game while others wash out follow the TTP Training Program for more.---------Show notes:(1:55) Beginning of today's episode(3:47) Why most wholesalers fail after early success(6:08) Wealth-building vs. chasing vanity metrics(7:41) The danger of scaling before your business is self-sustaining(8:41) Why “boring” marketing wins in 2026(13:10) Doubling down on what already works(14:25) Coachability as the key separator in wholesaling(18:55) Aggressive rehab, conservative ARV, and buffer strategies(20:22) Asking the right questions to uncover seller motivation(21:33) Why not every lead should get a creative finance offer(22:57) The danger of manufacturing deals(25:03) Confidence, honesty, and closing the right deals(27:55) Legal risks of wholesaling sub-to deals(29:20) Transparency, disclosure, and protecting your business(1:03:45) 70% of your income comes from the last 6 months(1:41:57) Getting leads just by swiping your credit card----------Resources:Connect with RJ on InstagramDealMachinePropStreamBatch LeadsTo speak with Brent or one of our other expert coaches call (281) 835-4201 or schedule your free discovery call here to learn about our mentorship programs and become part of the TribeGo to Wholesalingincgroup.com to become part of one of the fastest growing Facebook communities in the Wholesaling space. Get all of your burning Wholesaling questions answered, gain access to JV partnerships, and connect with other "success minded" Rhinos in the community.It's 100% free to join. The opportunities in this community are endless, what are you waiting for?

This Flashback Friday is from episode 511, published last May 5, 2015. Jason invites his mother, Sara, Fernando, and Brad to do a mini recap on the Memphis property tour they just had. Fernando shares his property performance statistics to the audience and Brad talks about the Mississippi real estate market. Our guest today is Doug Hall of the National Priorities Project. He talks to Jason on the federal discretionary budget and how his company is trying to make the federal budget more transparent to taxpayers.      Follow Jason on TWITTER, INSTAGRAM & LINKEDIN Twitter.com/JasonHartmanROI Instagram.com/jasonhartman1/ Linkedin.com/in/jasonhartmaninvestor/ Call our Investment Counselors at: 1-800-HARTMAN (US) or visit: https://www.jasonhartman.com/ Free Class:  Easily get up to $250,000 in funding for real estate, business or anything else: http://JasonHartman.com/Fund CYA Protect Your Assets, Save Taxes & Estate Planning: http://JasonHartman.com/Protect Get wholesale real estate deals for investment or build a great business – Free Course: https://www.jasonhartman.com/deals Special Offer from Ron LeGrand: https://JasonHartman.com/Ron Free Mini-Book on Pandemic Investing: https://www.PandemicInvesting.com    

(00:00) — The first spark: Dr. Gray asks when medicine became real.(01:34) — Military plans, cold feet, and choosing community college: He skips the Air Force and starts at McDonald's while exploring options.(02:50) — Hospital volunteering clicks: Serving patients water and meals feels right.(03:57) — Dodging family careers, then trying healthcare: After business, HVAC, and computer science, healthcare gets a look.(05:03) — PA vs MD crossroads: Realizing his reasons for PA pointed to wanting to be a physician—and surgery.(06:35) — Work ethic and upbringing: Family moves from a tough neighborhood shaped his drive.(09:41) — Early C's and the “not a science person” myth: Motivation and maturity change outcomes.(11:28) — Six-year undergrad and the pivot: Business transfer degree to UMBC biology and honors in philosophy.(13:12) — Why gap years: YouTube guidance, mentors, research, and phlebotomy.(15:36) — Inside admissions at Brown: The competition he witnessed.(16:36) — What likely stood out to Brown: Authentic story, first-gen identity, jobs, and solid metrics.(18:09) — Getting personal in the personal statement: Why vulnerability matters.(19:57) — One-and-done and the gift of virtual interviews: COVID made it financially possible.(21:48) — Will AI end virtual interviews?: Concerns about cheating and tech trust.(24:34) — AI in the OR and pathology: Augmenting surgeons and decoding tumors.(25:30) — The first interview invite memory: Relief and pride in the lab.(27:06) — If he could change admissions: Predicting academic success and centering people over scores.(29:03) — Transparency, the MCAT, and US News incentives: How rankings skew behavior.(33:09) — Final words to struggling premeds: Your timeline is your own—keep going.Ryland didn't grow up planning on medicine. After high school, he nearly joined the Air Force, worked at McDonald's, and enrolled at community college to explore paths—from business and HVAC to computer science. Hospital volunteering felt different. He became a phlebotomist, considered PA school, and then realized the reasons drawing him to PA actually pointed to becoming a physician—with a strong pull toward surgery.It wasn't linear. Early C's in science and a six-year undergraduate path (business transfer to UMBC biology with honors in philosophy) forced him to confront the “not a science person” label. With time, maturity, and motivation, he turned it around, took two gap years for research and service, leaned heavily on YouTube guidance, and sought mentors who helped shape his essays and application strategy.Ryland shares why he aimed for a one-and-done application, how virtual interviews during COVID made that possible, and what it felt like to see his first interview invite. He reflects on serving on Brown's admissions committee, what authentic stories communicate beyond metrics, and why getting personal matters. Plus, a candid discussion on AI's impact on interviews and training, the perverse incentives of rankings, and his message to premeds: your timeline is your own—and you can do this.What You'll Learn:- How to pivot after early C's and reframe the “not a science person” myth- Deciding PA vs MD by clarifying what truly draws you to patient care- Using community college, gap years, and mentoring to strengthen your application- What admissions values beyond MCAT and GPA—and why authenticity matters- How AI and rankings may shape interviews and the premed landscape

Tim Conway Jr. covers a baby death investigation in Santa Monica, a Pasadena resident’s move into a new fire-resistant home after the Eaton Fire, and a shocking mountain lion attack that killed an ultramarathoner in Colorado. The show also marks one year since the Palisades Fire with LAFD Chief Jaimie Moore’s push for transparency, celebrates Camila Cabello’s “Havana” as a Conway crew favorite, examines a surge in doctor visits to a 30-year high, and shares how Mark Thompson spent New Year’s Eve on the air with Marc Rahner.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.