Podcasts about Twin cities

In this Q&A episode, Mark sits down with his friend Mike Weaver for a really honest chat about learning from mistakes—both at work and in life. Mike opens up about a big blunder early in his career that taught him why being upfront with clients matters so much, and he also shares his incredible journey losing 170 pounds (seriously impressive!). It's a fun, down-to-earth conversation with plenty of laughs, hard-earned wisdom, and tips for turning your biggest fails into wins. Support the show - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/shop See our upcoming live events - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/events The host of the Curious Builder Podcast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you're looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life. Sponsors for the Episode:  Pella Website: https://www.pella.com/ppc/professionals/why-wood/  Contractor Coalition Summit: Website: https://www.contractorscoalitionsummit.com/ Adaptive  Website: https://referrals.adaptive.build/u8Gkiaev  Where to find the Guest:  Website: https://www.emser.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michealweaver289/ Where to find the Host:  Website - https://www.mdwilliamshomes.com/  Podcast Website - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markdwilliams_customhomes/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkDWilliamsCustomHomesInc/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-williams-968a3420/  Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/pro/markdwilliamscustomhomes/mark-d-williams-custom-homes-inc

Mayors from up and down the Mississippi River are gathering in the Twin Cities this week for their annual conference. The event, organized by the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, brings together local leaders from 107 cities across 10 states that border the river.It marks the first time these mayors have met in person since federal funding cuts reduced support for disaster mitigation and assessment, which are tools many river communities rely on as they face more frequent flooding, drought and other climate-related threats.Colin Wellenkamp, the executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, and Red Wing Mayor Gary Iocco joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about what's on the agenda for mayors who lead cities along the Mississippi River corridor.

"I belong to my lover, and my lover belongs to me; he feeds among the lilies."~ Song of Solomon 6:3Why isn't my sex life going the way I hoped it would?How do I talk to my spouse about sex after we've gotten into ruts?Is it possible to have more sex and better sex in our marriage?In Episode 82 of This Whole Life, Kenna is joined by Vonda Tiede, LMFT and Daniel Merboth to kick off a powerful three-part series on “Holy Sex” in marriage. Together, they dig deep into the “good news” about sex from a faith-filled, psychologically-informed perspective. Through candid conversations, the trio explores the prevalent myths and cultural lies surrounding sex, the harms of "obligation sex", and the importance of mutuality, communication, and healing within intimacy. They highlight how a couple's sexual relationship reflects God's creative genius and the need for curiosity and grace—not shame or rigid expectations. With personal stories, practical insights, and a compassionate challenge for listeners to reimagine intimacy, this episode offers hope, encouragement, and a fresh perspective on cultivating joy and connection in marriage. Whether you're newly married, have been married for years, or want to better support holy marriages, this episode invites you to approach sexuality as a sacred gift of love.Vonda Tiede is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in Minnesota. Vonda lives outside the Twin Cities of Minnesota with her husband, and together they have 6 children.Daniel Merboth is currently pursuing a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy degree at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Daniel lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children.Episode 82 Show NotesChapters:0:00: Introduction and Highs & Hards15:17: Falsehood about sex in marriage26:21: The consequences of "obligation sex"34:45: Moving from obligation sex to open communication45:17: It's not just about an orgasm1:01:50: Challenge By ChoiceReflection Questions:What is one specific thing that stuck with you from this conversation?When and how did you learn to communicate about sex? What were you taught about conversations involving sex?What falsehoods and obstacles keep spouses from being joyfully connected in their sex life?What "great news" about sex did you draw from this episode?How can you move toward greater connection and closeness in your emotional and sexual relationships with your spouse?Send us a text. We're excited to hear what's on your mind!Register for Figuring It Out: Real-Life Skills for Healthy Minds, Relationships, and Habits, a live, online course for anyone who's ready to thriveSupport the showThank you for listening, and a very special thank you to our community of supporters! Visit us online at thiswholelifepodcast.com, and send us an email with your thoughts, questions, or ideas.Follow us on Instagram & FacebookInterested in more faith-filled mental health resources? Check out the Martin Center for IntegrationMusic: "You're Not Alone" by Marie Miller. Used with permission.

In this episode of The Curious Builder Podcast, host Mark Williams chats with Jen Veralle and Sarah Whicher about the behind-the-scenes journey of launching the AIA Minnesota Homes by Architects tour, now celebrating its 18th year. They dive into how the tour started, what makes it unique, the challenges and successes they've experienced along the way, and how the event has fostered community, education, and a love for residential architecture. With stories from the early days, insights about building a successful home tour, and a look at how the tour continues to evolve, this episode is an inspiring peek into the power of collaboration and creativity in the architecture community. Support the show - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/shop See our upcoming live events - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/events The host of the Curious Builder Podcast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you're looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life. Sponsors for the Episode:  Pella Website: https://www.pella.com/ppc/professionals/why-wood/  Contractor Coalition Summit: Website: https://www.contractorscoalitionsummit.com/ Adaptive  Website: https://referrals.adaptive.build/u8Gkiaev  Where to find the Guest:  Website: https://www.homesbyarchitects.org/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homesbyarchitectstour/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hbatour Jen Veralle's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenveralle/ Sara Whicher's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiselarchitecture/ Where to find the Host:  Website - https://www.mdwilliamshomes.com/  Podcast Website - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markdwilliams_customhomes/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkDWilliamsCustomHomesInc/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-williams-968a3420/  Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/pro/markdwilliamscustomhomes/mark-d-williams-custom-homes-inc

Alec Lewis, the Vikings beat writer at The Athletic, hosts The Alec Lewis Show. He talks about J.J. McCarthy's ankle injury, McCarthy's performance, the offensive issues, Carson Wentz's debut, Max Brosmer and more. This show is presented by First Resource Bank, which serves the needs of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. For more information, here is their website:   https://myfrbank.com/   And here is a link to all of their locations!   https://myfrbank.com/locations-hours/   Sponsored By: Minnesota Lottery (mnlottery.com/)   Sponsorship inquiries: aleclewis54@gmail.com

From Amy:Ten years ago this month, I started my 21st year of teaching with painful confirmations that my career was on its last legs: betrayal by people in power and a frozen right shoulder (my dominant side) that made it hard to write on the board.I didn't know how or when I would make the leap to the life of a working creative. But I knew I had run out of options in my longtime school district.It turned out to be two things. First: I had to leave. When the semester ended in January, I did. My body insisted I do so. Certain people made sure it happened… some who didn't have my back, some who absolutely did. Thanks to them, even (especially) in that fearful passage, I experienced HOPE.Second: After my escape, I kept hope alive by cobbling together activities in person and online, including a book revision cohort that met around a dining room table in South Minneapolis, led by an occasional mentor of mine. I got admitted by promising to finish my manuscript in time for my critique, several months in. That's where I met Keri Mangis, also processing the end of a dream.When my book's turn came to be read, my draft was done, but I backed out for reasons that boil down to a still-raw and reactive nervous system. Of that group, I only trusted Keri to read my draft.And when we reached the milestone of being published—our respective book launch parties—you better believe we were there for each other.I pulled oracle cards, doing readings for guests at Keri's February 2020 launch, just before the world shut down. And of course I was going to podcast about Keri's TEDx Talk experience this summer.See, every time I get to witness Keri's path or she mine, we both have something to offer and we both take something away. I feel a bit more courageous. Every time, without fail. This time as well. Keri's talking about menopause: One life period ending, a promising period starting. Her TEDx idea is to celebrate that passage with women.I'm here for the celebration.And we'll both keep walking.Keri Mangis is more than just an author and speaker—she's a guide for those seeking deeper meaning and transformation in a chaotic world. With over 20 years of experience as a wholeness advocate and spiritual teacher, Keri understands the frustration of feeling stuck and disconnected. Through her writing and teachings, Keri helps people break free from limiting beliefs to rediscover their true essence and align with their core values. Her spiritual and personal growth studies and certifications have run the gamut over the years from yoga, Ayurveda, energy work, and meditation. Most recently, she has taken on studying Alchemy, Jungian Psychology, archetypes, and rites of passage. Her writing has appeared in Spirituality and Health Magazine, Star Tribune, Elephant Journal, and others. Her first book, Embodying Soul: A Return to Wholeness, received multiple awards, including the 2020 IPA award for Mind, Body & Spirit and the 2020 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal in Non-Fiction Spiritual and Supernatural. She is currently working on her second book, an illuminating exploration of personal and collective transformation that will empower readers to evolve their consciousness for an uncertain future.Keri's Links:BookInstagramFacebook Amy Hallberg is the author of Tiny Altars: A Midlife Revival and German Awakening: Tales from an American Life. She is the host of Courageous Wordsmith Podcast and founder of Courageous Wordsmith Circle for Real-Life Writers. As an editor and writing mentor, Amy guides writers through their narrative journeys—from inklings to beautiful works, specifically podcasts and books. A lifelong Minnesotan and mother of grown twins, Amy lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two cats. Get Amy's Books and AudiobooksLearn about Courageous Wordsmith Circle for Real-Life WritersWork with Amy 1:1

In recent days, many of us have heard stories of the senselessness of evil. Not just faraway in Charlotte and Colorado and Utah, but right here in our own Twin Cities.Our family spent much of our summer with four dear Annunciation families on our sons' baseball team. All of them had kids in the room where the gunman opened fire. One little girl, a friend of our daughters, was shot three times. And all our Annunciation friends know well the students who died and others who were injured. What's been so unsettling is the sheer senseless evil of shooting up a room of children. It is profoundly wicked, like the devil himself, to go after children.Sensible people understandably look for motives and rationale. But it's not always so easy. Someone read aloud to me some of the gunman's words, and I don't know what to say but senseless. Irrational. Sheer evil — that would open fire on children, and be so deeply deceived as to pretend in writing the day before to be a good person.We might wonder if such an evil person is possessed by the devil. The better answer, I think, is to say that such a person, like the devil himself, has become deeply enslaved to his own evil and indwelling sin. The deep anti-God and anti-Christ impulse in the devil himself is the same anti-God and anti-Christ impulse in all sinners, but for God's common and saving grace. It's called sin. Left unchecked, it will devolve into senseless anti-God evil and the ultimate slavery.Which relates to our passage this morning. As the back and forth escalates, let's go first to where the dialogue ends up in verses 44–47. Jesus says,You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.Last week Jonathan said, Wait till you hear what Jesus says next week. He was talking about verse 44: “You are of your father the devil.” And then the end of verse 47: “The reason why you do not hear [my words] is that you are not of God.”So, that's where this is going, but look where it begins. Verse 30: “As [Jesus] was saying these things (verses 12–29), many believed in him.”Verse 31: “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him . . .”Jesus is talking to believers — at least people who have believed thus far. They've started to believe, but the question before us this morning is whether they will keep on believing as Jesus keeps speaking. Many of them have fickle faith. We've seen Jesus confront groups like this already in 2:23–25 and chapter 6. Isn't Jesus's instinct with a crowd amazing? A crowd gathers, and Jesus doesn't think, Hmm, this is a thrill. I better not mess it up. How can I lower the bar so that every stays and even more come? Rather, Jesus's instinct seems to be, There's a crowd; they can't all be real. I need to raise the bar. Whittle down the crowd; narrow it down to genuine believers, to true disciples. Jesus doesn't cater to those with fickle faith; he challenges them. If they stay fickle, they'll spoil the movement, not help it. But if you challenge their faith, some will go, but some will stay — remain, hang on, hold fast, and be true disciples.So, let me pause at this point to ask: What would this be for you? For Jesus's audience, it's their Jewishness. They are sons of Abraham, which they retreat to twice in verses 33 and 39. Very few in this room are counting this cost: if I believe and keep believing in Jesus, then my life of faith and faith-community as I've known it will be upturned. Or is it?Social appeal is powerful; community pressure is real. That might be the challenge for you this morning. Your people are secular to the core. Or Muslim. Or Buddhist. Or just unbelieving American conservatives or progressives. Or professing Christians who are fickle in their faith. Whatever level of interest in or openness to Jesus you have this morning, what group tempts you to not believe and stay with Jesus? (So many today are slaves of their own conception of others' opinions, whether adopting it or reacting to it; either way you're a slave to your own sense of what's mainstream, what the majority thinks, where the trends or counter-trends seem to be going.)And the main point for us this morning in John 8 is that those who are “of God” stay with Jesus. They bear with his word, and no matter how uncomfortable, his words find place in them, and he bears fruit through them.The main claim in this passage is verses 31–32, then the rest fleshes this out or defends this leading claim. Look there:So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”Jesus makes the claim, then they go back and forth about it. And in verse 47, we find that, at bottom, to stay with Jesus shows one is “of God” or not. So, that's how I'd like to frame it for us this morning, very personally. I take it that this room is filled with people who have believed in Jesus, but the emphasis this morning is on staying, remaining, abiding, holding fast. And for those who haven't yet believed, you get an inside look into what Christian belief is. It is not a past belief or a momentary belief that makes you a Christian, but an abiding belief, a belief that remains, a belief that holds fast to Jesus, a belief that persists and endures and perseveres the ups and downs of this life and keeps believing in him — stays with him.So, here's how we'll ask the question, to get at the three parts of the text: How do I know if I'm “of God” or not? Or how do I know if my belief is real and will endure?The realities of this text fall neatly into two columns: “of God” and “not of God.” That's the bottom-line reality, and this is what we'll spend the next few minutes filling out. So, here are three questions to confirm you are “of God.”1. Are you getting free from sin and enjoying it?Oh we love this word “freedom.”Verse 32,“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”But the question to ask is, Free from what, and free for what? We get a piece of it in verses 31–34:If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free'?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”Jesus offers freedom, and they hear in that offer that he's implying they are presently enslaved. They take offense at this, and retreat to their ethnic status: “we're offspring of Abraham; we've never been enslaved.” Which, of course is ridiculous. Ever heard of Egypt? How about the Philistines? And Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. There's hardly any power in the ancient world that Abraham's offspring weren't enslaved to at some point. But it's a senseless diversion. Irrational. And Jesus doesn't take the bait by arguing about it. He brings it back to the point: “everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”Freedom from sin is the freedom from that Jesus is offering.But what about freedom for? Freedom from sin. But free for what? Now, verses 38–41:I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.”Doing matters. Last week, Jonathan talked about not having a do-have-be mentality, but be-have-do. And he didn't say no doing. He said get the doing in the right place. And this first question is about the doing. The unbelieving show they do not have faith and they do not belong to God by what they do. And so too, those of God, who have faith in Jesus, get free from sin which is freedom to do good for others. This is the right place for good works. Your life matters. What you do matters. And freedom from sin doesn't mean you just sit around and watch clean videos, but that in freedom you love others and seek to do them good.But don't miss the greatness of Jesus in this. He is the one who sets free for real, free from sin, free to actually do good, to love others, to get past self and see others' needs and take initiative and expend effort and experience the joy and reward of doing someone else in need some genuine good, in the name of Jesus. And now we'll see in verse 36, that it is not only sons who are free but “the Son” who sets them free. Which leads to our second question.2. Does Jesus's word find place in you? Now, we come to the main focus on abiding or staying with Jesus. It's one thing to believe in a moment or believe in the past or believe initially in Jesus with fickle faith. But it's another thing to keep believing, to abide, to remain with him, stay with him when challenges come — for Jesus's words to “find place in you.” Jesus first mentions “abiding” or “remaining” in verse 31, but then he comes back to precisely this in verse 35, and it's easy to miss because the word changes in our English. Verse 31 has abide. Verse 35 has remain. But it's the same word in the original. Look at verses 35–37:The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.Jesus speaks to room full of people who “have believed” so far. And he says, if you don't remain with me, stay with me, you're a slave. Slaves come into a household for a time, but don't stay. They're not really part of the family. They're temporary members of the household. Eventually the slaves leave, but the sons stay. They abide. Sons remain.The word to us is this: if you stay with Jesus, if his word “finds place in you,” if you remain by faith in the house with him, you show yourself to be sons, true disciples. And those who seem to believe but do not stay reveal their ongoing slavery to sin.Over the years, we've sung together “He will hold me fast.” One of the most unnerving things in our life together as a church has been those who have sung with us and slowly walked away. And we ask, Did he not hold them fast? Will he hold me fast?Based on John 8, and the book of 1 John, and Hebrews, and elsewhere in the Bible, here's how I sing “He Will Hold Me Fast.” As I stay with Jesus, as I hold him fast, he holds me fast. And it's not that my holding fast causes him to hold me fast. It's the other way around. His holding me fast is manifest, in part, through my ongoing holding him fast. From my finite, limited, human perspective, I don't know for certain that I'll always hold him fast. If I give myself to sin and its slavery and do not hold fast to Jesus, it will be revealed that I wasn't “of him,” and he wasn't holding me fast. But right now, as I sing this song, I hold him fast, and as I sing, I resolve afresh and pledge anew to keep holding him fast — and as I hold him fast in faith I see and show that he is holding me fast.And there is something more we can say here about those who stay with Jesus and remain in him and have his word “find place” in them. This is one of the most shocking things Jesus says to these Jews. Not only does he call them to believe in him and abide in that belief, but he says in verse 42:“If God were your Father, you would love me.”Love me, he says! Perhaps the one question that would clarify that your faith is not fickle, but that you truly are his disciple, is this: Do you love him?Which leads to our third and final question.3. Can you bear to hear the words of Jesus? In these three questions, we've worked from the outside in, or from the top to the bottom: from doing good, to staying with him, and now back to where it all begins: believing in Jesus, hearing his words with faith. Believing his words that he came from God, and shares in the divine identity, even as he stands before us as fully human. And not just believing some of what he says about himself, as we find it convenient and socially acceptable. But believing all of what Jesus says about himself even and especially when it's at odds with whatever social group appeals to us most. Let's finish with verses 42–43:Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.When Jesus says that he “came not of my own accord” (literally, “not from myself I have come”), he speaks as man who is no mere man. Jesus is no mere human, putting himself forward, saying, Hear me, believe me, love me, stay with him, do others good in my name. No, this man “came not of his own accord” but is God the Son sent by God the Father. (For Jesus's various “not my own” claims in the Gospel of John, see also 5:30, 43; 6:38; 7:28; 8:50; 12:49; 14:10). To hear Jesus and believe Jesus is to hear the one sent by God to speak for God and who is God himself (as we saw in verses 24 and 28, and will see next week in verse 58).To hear the word of Jesus is to hear the word of God. To believe what Jesus says about himself, and everything else, is to believe what God says about Jesus and everything else.So, in this sermon, we've worked backwards, in a sense. We started with true freedom, then came back to staying with Jesus, then came to the bottom and center: how you hear Jesus's voice.Now we've worked through the chart, and I'll fill it in: And if you're really struggling with the question, Am I of God or not? I have good news for you: if you are genuinely asking and genuinely concerned, that's a first indicator you're of God. Those who are not of God don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. Thank God you're concerned, and lean into Jesus. At the end of the day, the question for you, and for everyone in this room is, What do you do with Jesus? What do you think of him? Do you believe him? Do you love him? Do you fully intend to stay with him? How you respond to Jesus is the test, is the indicator, of whether you're “of God” or “not of God.” There's no way around Jesus to figure out if you're of God or not apart from how you orient on Jesus.So, here's my prayer for you and for us as a church: that we (those “who have believed” till now) would keep hearing Jesus even (and especially!) when it's uncomfortable and we don't like it at first (because we think other people in our lives won't like it), and so love him and stay with him (through life's trials), and so enjoy freedom from sin to do others good.Table for the FreeThis is the Table of those set free, and being increasingly set free, by the Son, from sin and for enjoying him and for expressing that love for him in doing good for others. This is a Table of true freedom. It celebrates his victory over death, our liberation from sin by his offering of himself for us at the cross, and our tasting and seeing that he is good.True freedom is from sin and its misery. True freedom stays in Jesus's word and loves him, which overflows into the freedom to love and do good for others.

In this sermon, Pastor David Mathis expounds upon John 8:31-47. With the sheer senseless evil in recent days across our country and in our own Twin Cities, the main point of this passage reminds us that those who are “of God” stay with Jesus. How do we know if our belief is real and will endure?

Jon Ledyard, who writes the Audibles & Analytics substack and who co-hosts the Read Optional podcast with Ollie Connolly, joins The Alec Lewis Show and Vikings beat writer Alec Lewis to talk about the Vikings-Falcons matchup on Sunday Night Football. They chat about J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr., the Falcons defense, Brian Flores and much more. This show is presented by First Resource Bank, which serves the needs of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. For more information, here is their website:   https://myfrbank.com/    And here is a link to all of their locations!   https://myfrbank.com/locations-hours/    Sponsored By: Minnesota Lottery (http://mnlottery.com/)    Sponsorship inquiries: aleclewis54@gmail.com 

Prosecutors say a Twin Cities man charged earlier this week with threatening to kill a federal judge also threatened a U.S. Supreme Court justice and a defense attorney. Robert Ivers, 72, went to prison in 2019 after a jury convicted him of threatening to kill Judge Wilhelmina Wright, now retired, after she ruled against him in a civil suit.Also, organizers of Farm Aid say they won't cross a picket line at the University of Minnesota's Huntington Bank Stadium until there's a resolution in the strike by custodial, food service and maintenance staff. U officials say they want the strike to stop so the benefit concert can go on next weekend.This is the evening MPR News update, hosted by Gracie Stockton. Theme music is by Gary Meister.

On this episode I sit down with Sugarcoat, a millennial dad emo band from the Twin Cities. We talk about some band lore before diving into their debut EP "This Is All Normal". Before we end we talk about some of out favorite EPs. Be sure to follow Sugarcoat and check out "This Is All Normal"!!!This episode features the songs "Projected" and "Outside" from the album This Is All Normal.You can find Sugarcoat at the following links:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarcoatmpls/Bandcamp: https://sugarcoatmpls.bandcamp.comEverywhere else: https://linkin.bio/sugarcoat/_______________________________________You can find Beers With Bands here:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeersWithBands2Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeersWBandsPodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/beerswithbandspod/Bandcamp: https://beerswithbands.bandcamp.comEverywhere else: https://linktr.ee/BeersWithBands

In this Q&A episode of The Curious Builder, Mark Williams talks about why we need more young people in the trades and how social media is actually making these careers look cool again. He shares why trade jobs are a great option—think good money, clear paths to grow, and that awesome feeling of building something real. Plus, he offers some down-to-earth advice on how business owners and schools can help get the next generation excited about jumping in. Support the show - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/shop See our upcoming live events - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/events The host of the Curious Builder Podcast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you're looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life. Sponsors for the Episode:  Pella Website: https://www.pella.com/ppc/professionals/why-wood/  Contractor Coalition Summit: Website: https://www.contractorscoalitionsummit.com/ Adaptive  Website: https://referrals.adaptive.build/u8Gkiaev  Where to find the Host:  Website - https://www.mdwilliamshomes.com/  Podcast Website - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markdwilliams_customhomes/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkDWilliamsCustomHomesInc/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-williams-968a3420/  Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/pro/markdwilliamscustomhomes/mark-d-williams-custom-homes-inc

Samantha Carwyn is a graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, where she earned a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Social Transformation and Church Leadership. Her thesis, Finding Sacred Inherent Worth Despite Adultification & Misogynoir, explores the intersections of gender, race, and the societal expectations placed on Black women. She is currently in care for ordination with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. In her community, Samantha engages in transformative resistance through education, storytelling, and artivism. As a public theologian, she is committed to building bridges between the church, academia, and everyday people to cultivate meaningful conversations. Visit Sacred Writes: https://www.sacred-writes.org/2025-carpenter-cohorts-summer Visit Samantha Carwyn: https://carwyncollaboration.com/home/  

Sunday is a “Day of Hope” for Yue Wu, music therapist and founder of a Twin Cities nonprofit called Light in the Well. Dancers, singers and musicians with and without disabilities will come together for a performance at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. Wu joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the event and her work.

Hundreds of University of Minnesota workers are on strike at campuses across the state.Teamsters Local 320, which represents food service, custodial and maintenance workers, rejected a final contract offer from the University of Minnesota last week. The union represents about 1,400 employees.Reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox was at the picket line on the Twin Cities campus this morning and joins MPR News host Nina Moini to share more. Read the full report at MPRNews.org.

Alec Lewis, the Vikings beat writer at The Athletic, hosts The Alec Lewis Show. He gives his thoughts J.J. McCarthy's debut, Brian Flores's plan vs. Caleb Williams, Christian Darrisaw's absence, Blake Cashman's injury, Jordan Mason's introduction, Kevin O'Connell's offensive design and much more. This show is presented by First Resource Bank, which serves the needs of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. For more information, here is their website:   https://myfrbank.com/    And here is a link to all of their locations!   https://myfrbank.com/locations-hours/    Sponsored By: Minnesota Lottery (mnlottery.com/)   Sponsorship inquiries: aleclewis54@gmail.com 

This conversation explores AASA's Public Education Promise, a framework designed to guide education leaders in navigating the complexities of modern public education. The discussion highlights the importance of student-centered learning, real-life skills, teacher retention, community partnerships, and measuring success beyond traditional metrics. Education leaders share insights on how they are implementing these principles in their respective districts, emphasizing the need for collaboration and innovation in the face of challenges. Follow on X: @Supt_Balderas | @drgoffney | @larawadem | @Jonharper70bd | @BAMRadioNetwork Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney is the Superintendent of Schools for the Aldine Independent School District in Houston, Texas. Since taking the helm in July 2018, she has dedicated herself to the district's over 60,000 students and nearly 9,000 employees, as well as the entire Aldine community. She began her career as a teacher at Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD in 1999 before eventually leading COCISD as superintendent from 2008 to 2013. In 2013, she was named Superintendent of Lufkin ISD. Dr. Goffney is the AASA president-elect. David Law is the superintendent of Minnetonka Public Schools, one of the top school districts in Minnesota. Law earned a BA from Hamline University with a major in mathematics and a minor in education. His teaching career includes experiences in California and Minnesota at the middle school and high school level. In 1998, he began his administrative career. Law completed his K-12 principal and superintendent license at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and earned his Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2010, he was named assistant superintendent for White Bear Lake Area Schools. Dr. Gustavo Balderas is President of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents and President of AASA.Balderas has been and is involved in numerous state, regional, and national organizations and committees, including having served on the Oregon State Board of Education as a superintendent liaison, the AASA Executive Committee, Chiefs for Change Board, is a co-founder and inaugural president of the Oregon Association of Latino Administrators. Dr. Balderas is also a volunteer consulting superintendent for the Educational Research and Development Institute, Suburban School Superintendents, and the Institute for Educational Innovation national organizations.

Wes talks about his favorite Reddit forums...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What do Nordstrom cosmetics and concrete pours have in common? Turns out, a lot. In this heart-filled episode, Mark sits down with Michelle VanVolkinburg—Baldwin General's head of marketing and HR—to talk about company growth, the power of people-first leadership, and how Baldwin scaled from a pickup truck in Oregon to multi-family towers in Washington. It's equal parts inspiring and tactical, with culture tips, hiring truths, and one surprise helicopter pitch. Support the show - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/shop See our upcoming live events - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/events The host of the Curious Builder Podcast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you're looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life. Sponsors for the Episode:  Pella Website: https://www.pella.com/ppc/professionals/why-wood/  Contractor Coalition Summit: Website: https://www.contractorscoalitionsummit.com/ Adaptive  Website: https://referrals.adaptive.build/u8Gkiaev  Where to find the Guest:  Website: https://baldwingeneral.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baldwingeneral/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaldwinGeneralContracting/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/baldwingeneralcontracting/ Where to find the Host:  Website - https://www.mdwilliamshomes.com/  Podcast Website - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markdwilliams_customhomes/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkDWilliamsCustomHomesInc/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-williams-968a3420/  Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/pro/markdwilliamscustomhomes/mark-d-williams-custom-homes-inc

Hundreds of people gathered in Minneapolis on Sunday for Fletcher Merkel's funeral, the 8-year-old boy who died in the Annunciation mass shooting. Reporter Nicole Ki shares more from the service where Fletcher was remembered as a colorful and caring kid. This week, we're taking a look at how AI is having an impact in the classroom. You'll hear from an educator helping other teachers learn about the new technology.Plus, today is 988 Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about the national suicide and crisis lifeline. We'll talk to the director of the call center in the Twin Cities.A new report found Minnesota has the highest share of transgender adults in the country. And Monday night is the season opener for the Minnesota Vikings. We'll get a preview of the football game with our sports contributors. Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Free Treasure” by Adrianne Lenker and our Song of the Day was “All of You” by Jett Hertz.

Monday, Sept. 8 (or 9/8) is National 988 Day. It's a day meant to boost national awareness of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The Minnesota Department of Health has four call centers throughout the state to support the mental health of anyone who calls. The biggest of those centers is in the Twin Cities, operated by United Way. Julie Ogunleye is the director of that call center. She joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the program and its future.If you or someone you know is struggling, you are not alone. Call or text 988 to get connected with trained counselors who can help. The 988 suicide and crisis lifeline is available 24/7. 

A former Cretin Derham Hall student will be trying his best to make everyone laugh on Saturday nights at 10:35 pm on NBC. Details from the Star Tribune's Neal Justin.

Paulus Shafer is known as one of the greatest living Jazz guitarists. And Paulus makes his first Twin Cities appearance with guitarist Ryan Picone and bassist Matt Blake, from 6 till 7:30, Sunday, September 14 at Crooners Supper Club in Fridley. Ryan visited with Phil Nusbaum, and when the two got together, they first talked about Ryan's composition, Waltz for Chacho, composed when Ryan was a student. and then they talked about the coming of Paulus Shafer.

Kevin Fishbain, The Athletic's Bears beat writer, joins Alec Lewis for a preview of the Monday Night Football game between the Vikings and Bears. Fishbain talks Caleb Williams, Jaylon Johnson's health, Ben Johnson's coaching, running backs in pass protection, the defensive line and more. This show is presented by First Resource Bank, which serves the needs of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. For more information, here is their website:   https://myfrbank.com/   And here is a link to all of their locations!   https://myfrbank.com/locations-hours/   Email for sponsorship inquiries: aleclewis54@gmail.com

Bailey tells us about a procedure she got done, Stephanie is in to tell us what's up around the Twin Cities this weekend, and more!

Bailey tells us about a procedure she got done, Stephanie is in to tell us what's up around the Twin Cities this weekend, and more!

She provided a formula for all the nutrient-dense foods your body needs, at a calorie count that seemed doable while still creating Satiety.Here's the basic, per-meal formula (adjust according to your weight and health goals and your calorie needs). Are you ready? Write this down:30 grams protein + 40 grams carbs (5 or more grams of fiber) + 2 colors of non-starchy plants + 15 grams of healthy fatDo that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A snack is half of that, but still the combo.You can (and should) read the whole post here and subscribe to her newsletter…It was like a lightbulb went off, and I knew I needed to talk with her for the podcast.Get Stephanie's RecipesOriginal Episode Transcript Follows:Stephanie Hansen:Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. Sometimes it's cookbook authors, sometimes it's people that make things, Sometimes it's chefs. And today I am talking to my friend Stephanie Meyer, who you all may know of as Fresh, Tart Steph and as now, Stephanie Meyer, a. I always get it wrong. Stephanie.Stephanie A. Meyer:Stephanie A. Dot Meyer. But yes, got it.Stephanie Hansen:And Stephanie has been in our friend group for a very long time and a friend with me for a long time. And Stephanie is always. I feel like a trendsetter. Do you know that you're a trendsetter?Stephanie A. Meyer:No. That's amazing. I don't think anyone's ever called me that before, but. Well, that's really.Stephanie Hansen:Here's what I think. Like, you're not in the trends, like people would think of trends, but you are thinking about things before other people are thinking about them. Because I think you're super well read. You're very bright. You spend a lot of time thinking about science things. So you were the first person that I came across in the food space that was really thinking about blogging in a robust way.Stephanie A. Meyer:Sure. Wow. That was a long time ago.Stephanie Hansen:It was. But that was what you were doing, and you were bringing bloggers together and creating community, which was amazing. Then you were writing a cookbook about Twin City chefs, which also seems probably like a long time ago, but I just picked it up the other day, and the stories and the heartfelt feelings about the Twin Cities chef community was still there.Stephanie A. Meyer:Love it. Thank you.Stephanie Hansen:Then you sort of started thinking about healthy eating and healthy food, and your green broth kind of blew up before anybody else was really talking about that. And you've really gone full circle here into this food journey, as many of my peers start to enter the midlife, menopausal middle, trying to think about not only foods in terms of health, but also some of us have been packing the pounds on over the years and just really like, you wrote something the other day, and I follow you on substack and I follow all your stuff, but you wrote something the other day that just, like, leapt off the page at me. And I sent it to a friend and I thought, I have to podcast with her, and I'm going to see if I can find it here, because I'm going to read it, because I think it will really resonate with food people, but also people that might be in the menopause space, which. So you are on trend, because when Oprah starts talking about Something that you've been talking about for a long time.Stephanie A. Meyer:Right? It's, I mean that. It's very true. And honestly, in this sense, a lot of it is just sort of following what people ask me for. So maybe my, maybe my clients are the trendsetters and I'm just answering their questions.Stephanie Hansen:Okay, so here is what you wrote as we'll say, a nutritional coach. You said, write down this solution and implement it today. Here's the basic per meal formula and adjust according to your weight and health goals and calorie needs. Are you ready? She said, write this down. 30 grams of protein plus 40 grams of carbs, 5 or more grams of fiber, plus 2 colors of non starchy plants and 15 grams of healthy fat. Do that for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A snack is half of that, but still the combo. And I was like blown away that nobody had ever just like spelled that out in a way that felt so clear to me.So can you talk a little bit about your journey and how you got there and how you got to this specific metric and why it's working for people?Stephanie A. Meyer:Oh, I love it. Well, I call that particular formula, I call it the satiety formula. That's how you pronounce that word, by the way. Like, often people will just write back and say, oh my God, huge relief because I was saying satiety. Satiety. I wasn't really sure how to say it. Whatever. So anyway, it's satiety.Right, satiety. And so it is satiety. So that could be your little word nerd, you know, for the day and the week. And it's a very powerful word. And, and I just am kind of hooked on it. And I keep repeating it and I keep hoping that people get on board with me, but I call that the satiety formula. Because when I work with clients, I have been able to see that the thing that gets in people's way is that they're hungry. And, you know, perimenopause, menopause makes you hungrier.Stephanie A. Meyer:And a lot of women notice it. They think it's. Oh, it's because of, you know, hormones. That's it. That, you know, estrogen and progesterone directly affect your appetite. That's not really exactly. It's not that direct. However, it is true because as, as you know, perimenopause sets in.We know what happens. Sleep disruption. Nothing, nothing affects your appetite more than sleep. And you have a bad night of sleep. We know that the average person eats like 3 to extra, 3 to 500 extra calories the next day without trying or knowing it. And so a lot of women come to me and say, I'm doing exactly what I did before. This is like this mysterious 10 pound weight packed on and, and, and I think it's because of estrogen. And then we dive in.I have them take a look at what they're eating, we talk about their appetite. And what I just saw over and over and over again is, oh, women are just hungrier. So we need to get more knowledgeable about what makes you full and a little bit more purposeful about it. And then along came Ozempic and made it all kind of make sense, because ozempic works, or GLP1 medications work because they decrease your appetite. And all of a sudden people realized, oh, I was eating much bigger portions than I realized. Oh, I have a naturally bigger appetite than my sister. I didn't realize this is how she felt. I didn't realize what it feels like to not think about food all day.I didn't realize what it feels like to not, like, be hungry after dinner. And I, and Oprah even said it, she's like, wait a minute, is this what normal people feel? And I have been beaten up my whole life for like, you know, being overweight and having a bigger appetite. And it's just my biology. And so knowing that biology is happening, appetite is bigger. What can you do about it? Maybe a GLP1 medication is an answer. Lots of people don't want to go that route right away. They would rather experiment with creating satiety, which is what GLP1 medicine medications do. Creating satiety with food.Because we naturally have GLP1, we naturally have other satiety hormones. We can eat very specific foods in combination to, like, elicit as much of that, that release of satiety hormone as possible. It's not as powerful as meds, but it's a good experiment. And a lot of people are like, okay, I have a lot of clients. I just met with one this morning who said, I'm too full. And so let's adjust. I love it when I get people there. It's like, oh, now I'm too full.How do we fix that?Stephanie Hansen:It's funny because my first thought after reading your formula was thinking about, I see the plates of food you eat a lot on Instagram. So I was thinking about, like, okay, thinking about what Stephanie's plates look like and then thinking about, like, if I actually ate that amount of food three times a day. Yeah, I haven't eaten that much food since like the fifth grade.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Stephanie A. Meyer:Right.Stephanie Hansen:It felt like, wow, would this be what that felt like? And I'm not sure. I'm always on the search and you know, people probably think I have an eating disorder and maybe I do and I don't even know it, but I feel like a lot of women, we are conditioned and we think about food a lot. When it's your business too. I'm always thinking about creating and food is like my art. So it's hard for me to separate the creation of food and wanting to express that way through. They're actually making recipes or thinking about recipes or gardening or creating a beautiful table. Like I'm always thinking about that and then the actual eating piece of it and it gets kind of all mixed up. But some ways in a beautiful way, some ways in a way that feels onerous.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yes, very well said.Stephanie Hansen:And I just think about it all the time and I eat way less than I think about because if I ate all the time, like, But I know, like I have a friend right now who she has an eating disorder and has her whole life. And for the first time as a 55 year old woman, she feels like she's really got a handle on it because she's back to, I hate to say it, but calorie counting. And she was afraid of calorie counting her whole life. Exactly. Like you said, she's like, I wasn't eating enough. I was eating one meal a day. I was eating all the wrong things. And now that I'm like more managing that, eating throughout the day and eating more fruits and vegetables and just like not being so hung up on it, she's like, I feel so much better.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah. Yeah. Wow, you said a lot of great things there. I don't think you have an eating disorder. I mean, welcome to being a woman in the United States. It is just relentless. And then social media has probably made it worse. Although frankly, it wasn't all that great, you know, pre social media.So I don't know. There's, there's a lot of good info. I see a lot of better info. Maybe it's because of the way I curate, curate my social media feed, but I feel like the messages are shifting and changing and I think that's good. But you're right, I mean, it's just, it's insanity and it's really difficult. Calories, you know, matter, like buried in that formula is, you know, carb or macros, the macronutrients of protein, carbs and Fat, they each have calories associated with them. So carbs have 4 calories per gram, protein has 4 calories per gram, fat has 9 calories per. And so when you build a meal around the satiety formula, there is, there's calorie control kind of built into it.And so that meal, if you put together that exact formula of a meal, is going to come out to around 400 calories. 400 calories per meal is a pretty good place for women to start. I mean, it's probably not enough. And I say that in that, in that particular essay. 400 calories per meal, if you only ate three meals a day, would obviously be 1200 calories. A lot of women historically have been aiming for 1200 calories a day and it's not enough, right? It backfires because you end up so hungry that you do overeat in the evening and invisible ways. It's not enough nutrients to, you know, build muscle. And muscle is really how you keep your metabolism ticking along, especially as we age.Uh, so 1200 calories, isn't it? That, that's the calorie count for like my three year old niece, that's how many calories a day she should be eating. So not a grown woman. Unless of course, you're, I don't know, Sue Ellison, you're like 4 foot 10 and you're, you know, an older age. Like she doesn't need a ton of calories and I'm quite sure she probably doesn't eat a ton of food because she's just like an adorable tiny little thing. Um, I'm six feet tall and I'm super active and 1200 calories a day would be insane. Lots of bad things start to happen if you do that. Your hair falls out, you start to lose muscle, you start to lose bone, you start to have low energy. It's depressing.You compromise your gut health. Like, we're not going there. Nuance is very hard to portray on social media. And you know, anywhere the nuance is that yes, 1200 is too low, but most Americans are actually over consuming calories and our food environment is high calorie, low satiety. You just, we know that that's what restaurants tend to sell. It's what snack foods are. It's what, you know, most of our food environment, kind of the ultra processed food stuff. And so once you know that, you can start to push up against it.And most women, I find this, really feel like they are going to gain weight if they're full, which is a Little bit getting at what you said. Like, you look at that plate of food that I put on Instagram, most of those plates of food are, like, between 300 and 400 calories. Like, they're not even that many calories. But I'm really good at getting a lot of food packed into 400 calories so that you can experience satiety, but also the nutrient density part of it. It's a lot of color, a lot of veggies, a lot of fiber, you know, the right amount of protein, that kind of thing. And I think that's a really. It. It's a worth thinking about.Wow. I have been programmed to feel healthy when I'm hungry and to feel like I'm doing things right if I'm hungry and that if I'm satisfied and full, then I'm going to gain weight. That's a very real fear. And it's not just for people who have an eating disorder. It's. I would say it's pretty typical for all American women. So you hit on it.Stephanie Hansen:We're always trying to balance not only for our. Our health, for ourselves, but also our partners, our children. You know, a lot of women are the caregivers, and we're putting this food out there.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah.Stephanie Hansen:And wanting to also, like, I don't want. Just speaking for myself, I don't want food to be, like, depressing, not fun. Like, also creating an environment where food can be celebration and all those things. How, like, okay, so I know you're coaching all these women and they're having all this success because they're feeling more full, they're eating more well balanced, they're following your formula. But then it feels like real life enters in sometimes and we have that third glass of wine, or we're going out to dinner on Friday and Saturday night. My challenge, like, I could never calorie count because if I go to dinner at a good place on a Friday night, the calories in that food, I know I can't even keep track of because they put so much butter in it. Or it's just you. You don't know how restaurant food is made and why it tastes so good.Stephanie A. Meyer:And all those things you fear are true.Yes. It's so true. I have that conversation actually with my clients because we strategize around. Okay. There's a couple of ways you can approach it. One, if you are going out for dinner too often, obviously it's a little bit of a job hazard for someone like you and our friend group. But if you're eating out too often then then you're going to have to make some decisions about the food that you order in restaurants that are probably more restrictive than what I would tell someone if they were going out for dinner every other week. Right.Like if you're going out for dinner, you know, once every couple of weeks and you really are hungry and you want to go to Bar La Grassa and get pasta, then go do that, enjoy it, it's fine. If you, if you are made this other decision, like you're going to eat out a lot and you have health goals that you want to meet, then you're going to have to strategize a little bit more thoroughly about how you approach eating in restaurants. Because everything you said is just true. Like their job is to coax as much fat and sodium into a dish so that you crave it and you want to come back for it. Like they're in the midst of selling food, which is fine. But when you know that, then you can kind of plan around it. So one way that we strategize and again, it comes down to very individual, you know, response. Which is why I don't really do a lot of group coaching.I really do one on one coaching because everybody's so different. Like the group stuff. Teaching a course has been amazing and gives a good overview, but this is where we kind of get into this nitty gritty and make a decision. Okay, I am going out for dinner. The old way is to try to save up the calories and not eat much during the day and then try to be moderate at dinner. Well, good luck with that because those meals, you know, if you had a per bite calorie count, it would be really high, let's say. And even if you did, you know, a pretty good job of ordering like, you know, some protein, some veggies, you know, had only two glasses of wine, let's say, kind of a thing, you're still going to end up blowing past where you would want to be, especially if you didn't eat anything earlier in the day. So what I like to have people do is take a look at the satiety formula, eat the real breakfast.Because what you eat for breakfast has a huge influence of how hungry you are at 4 in the afternoon. So eat the breakfast, eat the lunch, have a snack that is, you know, that same balance of things where it's protein, it's some carbs and it's some colorful veggies because then you're turning up the volume on your own satiety and that gives you natural discipline, like when you're full and you arrive at the restaurant, and let's say I'll just use the parallel example of someone taking a GLP1 medication, which is much more powerful, as we've said. But if you're taking a GLP1 and you're not hungry, you're not going to overeat at the restaurant. So let's back it up to the person who's just using food to create satiety. If you show up at a restaurant and you're not starving, you are going to have discipline that you wouldn't have otherwise. You're going to be able to make better decisions and then you're going to have the knowledge, okay, well, I'm going to have a pretty high fat meal, right? I'm going to do steak, I'm going to do roasted veggies. Then in that case, I tell women, you can probably back off on the carbs in that meal. I'm not saying be keto and low carb and, you know, go eat like a stick of butter for dinner.But when you're doing a good job, most of the meals, most of the days, when you get to a restaurant, if you still enjoy it, maybe skip the carbs because a lot of them aren't that great. It's like you can have rice at home. Is that that special thing about this restaurant? Fries? Sometimes they're amazing. They're like my favorite food. But if they're marginal, I am not going to eat crappy fries. Like, that's not going to be my thing. I'm going to focus on having, you know, a great burger. And I'm gluten free.Gluten free buns are bad. And so if I get a burger, I just get a really great burger. I probably get cheese on it, I get an amazing salad. I eat those two things together, skip the fries or just have a couple. And I love that meal. It's special. It's much richer and kind of more fun than anything I would make for myself at home. And it's going to work.And so that's the way you can kind of strategize. And that means nuance. That means that calories matter, but we don't have to completely obsess over them and count points and, you know, try to estimate, you know, the calories in, you know, whatever, a plate of pasta, bar la grassa, which would be impossible and also might really freak you out. And so you just have to write, have, have knowledge. And so when I do have people track, but I have them track in order to, to create and plan. So I have their track ahead of times. Like you're about to eat breakfast, use an app to create a meal that's going to fit the formula. And the app can help you do that because it's just a database full of, you know, tons of food and tons of info about food.So what, does that make sense?Stephanie Hansen:Yeah, it does. It's exactly the opposite of what I do because I starve.Stephanie A. Meyer:I noticed it like when, when I was writing more about restaurants in the Twin Cities and I learned pretty fast. If I show up at a restaurant starving, it is like, you know, game on, and it's not going to work. It works a lot better if I show up and I'm like normal hungry for dinner and I make the effort to eat some salad first, eat some veggies first, start with protein way, play down the carbs and you know, and if I'm going to have something to drink, I'm probably going to go for a glass of wine versus a cocktail because the cocktail is just going to have so many more calories in it. So. Yeah, because calories matter. So it's like that's the nuance. If you think that calories don't matter, then you're completely losing the script. But if you're completely obsessed with them and you try to restrict yourself, down, down, down, down, down, that's going to backfire and fail too.So we're aiming in that middle place.Stephanie Hansen:I, I love this about you, that you're very moderate in your approach and there's room for error and there's room for Oops. Fell off the wagon last night. Like, let me get back started this next morning. What apps do you like for people?Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah, I really. Whatever one people enjoy using. So I have a lot of clients that used to do Weight Watchers. The Weight Watchers app used to be completely worthless because you couldn't see the macronutrients on it. You couldn't see protein, carbs and fiber and fat. Now you can. Like they've updated the app. So I have.If you are a person who's really comfortable in the Weight Watchers app, then there's no need to switch, you know, to something else. Some people pay for MyFitnessPal, that's fine and great. The free My Fitness Pal isn't so helpful. It's really hard to see what you're doing. I have clients use Carb Manager if they've never used an app before because it's free. And it's like so easy to use. The database is fantastic. The caveat with that is you can tell by the name that it's meant for people who are really obsessed with carbs.Maybe they have diabetes, they're doing keto, we don't use it that way. So we have to go in and change the settings to custom and then plug our formula that we map out for people in it. And then they know, they're like, okay, this is how many grams of protein I need to be aiming for in a meal. And the way you figure that out is by putting, you know, okay, I'm thinking about having two eggs and a couple of chicken sausages and you know, some of this Dave's killer bread toast and, and some strawberries. Where does that get me? And then, you know, okay, well that's not quite there. How can I change it? And then we work on changing it so that you really get that satiety with little tweaks.Stephanie Hansen:What is a typical client of yours look like?Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah, there kind of isn't one, which I think is so fun. I mean, I've had women, I've had moms who've bought coaching for their 20 year old daughters. How fun is that to have a mom who wants their daughter to ignore diet culture and understand. And I love coaching those young women because they are, they catch on so fast and, and, and then all of their friends want to know what they're doing and all of a sudden they're telling their friends how to do things differently. And they're, you know, they're just a health conscious group of people. They're drinking a lot less, they're already kind of working out, they're great about water, you know, and they have their little Stanley cups and they take them everywhere. It's very fun. I have clients who are in their 80s who are, you know, definitely not perimenopausal, but who are really wanting to not be frail and who do not want to lose their independence and their mobility.And that is really fun because talk about a generational shift in how to eat, just very, very different. And then the majority are probably somewhere between the age of 40 and 65. Mostly women who are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms or menopause and starting to gain weight, feel like they don't know why and really want to like, stop. So that's, that's the majority. And then, and then I've got, you know, women who are, I've probably got, I don't know, six clients Right now who are taking Ozempic, and they want to make sure that they're really covering their basis with nutrition, because Ozempic is a pretty miraculous medication. But you can also screw it up. I mean, if you just don't eat, then you're going to create a mess. And so all of the ways that I talk about eating like that satiety formula, absolutely applies to Ozempic.You have to make sure you're eating enough protein, you have to make sure you're eating fiber. You have to get that. You have to work to get the nutrition in when you're not that hungry.Stephanie Hansen:So, yeah, and, and when you look at what, what do you think gets someone to the point where they hire a coach about nutrition?Stephanie A. Meyer:I love this question. I just, I asked ChatGPT this question the other day, like, I was having a conversation with our friend Tracy Morgan, because we were talking about women who are, you know, even if they're getting laid off from a job, they will still go get their hair done. They will still get Botox. They will still, you know, those are essential. What makes. I'd love your feedback on this, frankly. What makes. Because you're an amazing marketer, what makes your health and nutrition feel as essential as, like, getting your nails done, getting your hair done in skin care, where you will absolutely, you know, budget however much that is for you and, and keep it vital.And, and I think the answer in terms of people that hire me is that they, they, they just realize that their same groove repeated is not working. You know, they've like, given it their all. They have decided to join a gym, they have decided to eat more protein, and it isn't getting them where they wanted to. And the promise of doing those things is not showing up. And they realize, okay, I do need a little bit more information than just work out and eat protein.Stephanie Hansen:And I feel like we're for sure in recessionary times, but no one has called it that yet.Stephanie A. Meyer:Oh, God. For sure. Yes.Stephanie Hansen:The way that people are spending money is shifting the way that people are. I mean, food is costing 30% more, so that's part of it and also what we value. So I guess the answer to that is to see yourself as worth it because you prioritize your kids, you'll prioritize your dog, you'll prioritize basically everything in your life before yourself. If you're like most women that I know.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yep, I think that's absolutely it. And I think there is fear. There's fear of the food being depressing or feeling Restrictive. There's fear of, you know, being told to go do super hardcore workouts. There's fear of the loss of, you know, a whole time in your life where you didn't have to care about this stuff and now you have to start. And grief and shame around all of it. And all I can say is that it's. It's none of those things like it is.And then there's also guilt. There is the guilt of focusing on yourself. That one we are going to do. We are going to create a focus on you and your health. Sometimes it brings up some, you know, conflict with a partner. You know, if you've got a partner who likes to eat a certain way and all of a sudden you're wanting to make some shifts that can be in the mix. There's. We have very deep conversations about the fact, you know, I've got some women who have had a terrible relationship, not a terrible relationship with their mom, but a terrible conversation, a lifetime conversation with their mom about their weight, a mom critical of their weight and critical what they're eating.And they just don't even want to open Pandora's box. They don't want to look inside and see the grief there. And so I understand all of those reasons, but that's why I try to make it really fun and very doable. I mean, the formula piece really kind of came out of me just constantly challenging myself. What can I offer that can tell you exactly what to do? Yeah, and I love do it is up to you.Stephanie HansenI feel like a book is coming for you too. I don't know if you're thinking about it, but I'd love to see, like, the plates and the size of portions and like, really taking this formula to the next level. Of course I'm always thinking about books because that's what I do.:Stephanie A. Meyer:But, yeah, I'm not. I'm not super dying to write a book. I gotta say, so hard.Stephanie Hansen:Stephanie, if people want to hire you as a nutritional coach, how do they do that? Because I know a lot of people are going to listen to this podcast and want more information.Stephanie A. Meyer:Oh, I love it. Thank you for having me. I miss you. This is really same laughing, awesome. So I would say, I mean, a couple different ways. One, I am stephanie.ameyer on Instagram, and that's a great way to reach out to me. And I post these meals that we're talking about almost every day to help people. My substack is the Project Vibrancy newsletter.You can definitely reach me there. And then my Blog Fresh Tarts. You can reach me there. So I'm pretty easy to find, actually. I'm kind of all over the place. But yeah, send me a note through Instagram or reach out through substack, I would say are the two best ways. Plus you can see a lot of how I think and talk about food and share recipes and all of that is happening in both of those places.Stephanie Hansen:And one last question, because we talked about budgeting and that people don't prioritize themselves. Is there, if someone was going to budget for you in their life to make some substantial changes, like is there a weekly or a monthly just sort of cost that people can plan for so they can put the emphasis back on themselves?Stephanie A. Meyer:Right. So in a few different ways, I mean, I. If someone is really wanting to make a shift and they've been failing, I really just recommend coaching with me because everything is included with that. I include my course, which is where we learn about menopause and perimenopause and what that means for nutrition. I include the project, pregnancy, meal plans, all sorts of other recipes, everything else. And then we meet and talk about where you are, your age, your activity level, whatever. And it's very affordable. It's like 100 bucks an hour.But I include all the other things and I do four sessions. If someone think about that because like.Stephanie Hansen:My Gym membership is $225 a month, so I can play pickleball eight times a month.Stephanie A. Meyer:I mean that is exactly it. It's like. And I have several clients who continue on with me. You don't have to, but because we develop this relationship and I hold people accountable and then that can go on. I do meal plans. If people just want meal plans, that can happen. And that's a monthly fee of like $25. And it's just an entrepreneur so cheap and, and save so much money.That's the really fun thing about meal planning, especially with grocery costs, is that, you know, we. I forget what percentage of American food ends up in the trash. It's a third. And it's probably true for a lot of people's refrigerators too. And so when you meal plan, that is a great thing. You really do. Less takeout, any throwaway, a lot less food.Stephanie Hansen:I love it.Stephanie A. Meyer:So those things are those, those things are possible. So yeah, I've got different ways. And then of course I suggest for a lot of people two other things. One, a lot of health plans cover nutrition coaching. And so I generate a receipt for people. You get reimbursed and that is free, then free. Obviously not free, but you know what I mean. And then if you use PayPal, Shop Pay, I've got a lot of people who pay in installments, and then you just spread the fee out over.So anyway, it's all of those things. And I love the question about where do you prioritize the cost of your health? Not just on the healthcare side, where things are going wrong, but on the prevention side, where it's going.Stephanie Hansen:Right, Right.Stephanie A. Meyer:And that's just a question we can leave people with to ponder.Stephanie Hansen:Okay. I love it. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm gonna put this podcast up. I'm gonna present it on Friday. I'm gonna release it. I'm gonna put the show notes in.Stephanie A. Meyer:Beautiful.Stephanie Hansen:Just keep on keeping on. I just was moved by what you wrote, and it was so clear, and it just really struck home with me. And I thought people need to hear this message. So thanks for joining me today.Stephanie A. Meyer:Thank you so much. I love it.Stephanie Hansen:We'll talk soon. Okay, bye.Stephanie A. Meyer:Bye.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

She provided a formula for all the nutrient-dense foods your body needs, at a calorie count that seemed doable while still creating Satiety.Here's the basic, per-meal formula (adjust according to your weight and health goals and your calorie needs). Are you ready? Write this down:30 grams protein + 40 grams carbs (5 or more grams of fiber) + 2 colors of non-starchy plants + 15 grams of healthy fatDo that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A snack is half of that, but still the combo.You can (and should) read the whole post here and subscribe to her newsletter…It was like a lightbulb went off, and I knew I needed to talk with her for the podcast.Get Stephanie's RecipesOriginal Episode Transcript Follows:Stephanie Hansen:Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. Sometimes it's cookbook authors, sometimes it's people that make things, Sometimes it's chefs. And today I am talking to my friend Stephanie Meyer, who you all may know of as Fresh, Tart Steph and as now, Stephanie Meyer, a. I always get it wrong. Stephanie.Stephanie A. Meyer:Stephanie A. Dot Meyer. But yes, got it.Stephanie Hansen:And Stephanie has been in our friend group for a very long time and a friend with me for a long time. And Stephanie is always. I feel like a trendsetter. Do you know that you're a trendsetter?Stephanie A. Meyer:No. That's amazing. I don't think anyone's ever called me that before, but. Well, that's really.Stephanie Hansen:Here's what I think. Like, you're not in the trends, like people would think of trends, but you are thinking about things before other people are thinking about them. Because I think you're super well read. You're very bright. You spend a lot of time thinking about science things. So you were the first person that I came across in the food space that was really thinking about blogging in a robust way.Stephanie A. Meyer:Sure. Wow. That was a long time ago.Stephanie Hansen:It was. But that was what you were doing, and you were bringing bloggers together and creating community, which was amazing. Then you were writing a cookbook about Twin City chefs, which also seems probably like a long time ago, but I just picked it up the other day, and the stories and the heartfelt feelings about the Twin Cities chef community was still there.Stephanie A. Meyer:Love it. Thank you.Stephanie Hansen:Then you sort of started thinking about healthy eating and healthy food, and your green broth kind of blew up before anybody else was really talking about that. And you've really gone full circle here into this food journey, as many of my peers start to enter the midlife, menopausal middle, trying to think about not only foods in terms of health, but also some of us have been packing the pounds on over the years and just really like, you wrote something the other day, and I follow you on substack and I follow all your stuff, but you wrote something the other day that just, like, leapt off the page at me. And I sent it to a friend and I thought, I have to podcast with her, and I'm going to see if I can find it here, because I'm going to read it, because I think it will really resonate with food people, but also people that might be in the menopause space, which. So you are on trend, because when Oprah starts talking about Something that you've been talking about for a long time.Stephanie A. Meyer:Right? It's, I mean that. It's very true. And honestly, in this sense, a lot of it is just sort of following what people ask me for. So maybe my, maybe my clients are the trendsetters and I'm just answering their questions.Stephanie Hansen:Okay, so here is what you wrote as we'll say, a nutritional coach. You said, write down this solution and implement it today. Here's the basic per meal formula and adjust according to your weight and health goals and calorie needs. Are you ready? She said, write this down. 30 grams of protein plus 40 grams of carbs, 5 or more grams of fiber, plus 2 colors of non starchy plants and 15 grams of healthy fat. Do that for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A snack is half of that, but still the combo. And I was like blown away that nobody had ever just like spelled that out in a way that felt so clear to me.So can you talk a little bit about your journey and how you got there and how you got to this specific metric and why it's working for people?Stephanie A. Meyer:Oh, I love it. Well, I call that particular formula, I call it the satiety formula. That's how you pronounce that word, by the way. Like, often people will just write back and say, oh my God, huge relief because I was saying satiety. Satiety. I wasn't really sure how to say it. Whatever. So anyway, it's satiety.Right, satiety. And so it is satiety. So that could be your little word nerd, you know, for the day and the week. And it's a very powerful word. And, and I just am kind of hooked on it. And I keep repeating it and I keep hoping that people get on board with me, but I call that the satiety formula. Because when I work with clients, I have been able to see that the thing that gets in people's way is that they're hungry. And, you know, perimenopause, menopause makes you hungrier.Stephanie A. Meyer:And a lot of women notice it. They think it's. Oh, it's because of, you know, hormones. That's it. That, you know, estrogen and progesterone directly affect your appetite. That's not really exactly. It's not that direct. However, it is true because as, as you know, perimenopause sets in.We know what happens. Sleep disruption. Nothing, nothing affects your appetite more than sleep. And you have a bad night of sleep. We know that the average person eats like 3 to extra, 3 to 500 extra calories the next day without trying or knowing it. And so a lot of women come to me and say, I'm doing exactly what I did before. This is like this mysterious 10 pound weight packed on and, and, and I think it's because of estrogen. And then we dive in.I have them take a look at what they're eating, we talk about their appetite. And what I just saw over and over and over again is, oh, women are just hungrier. So we need to get more knowledgeable about what makes you full and a little bit more purposeful about it. And then along came Ozempic and made it all kind of make sense, because ozempic works, or GLP1 medications work because they decrease your appetite. And all of a sudden people realized, oh, I was eating much bigger portions than I realized. Oh, I have a naturally bigger appetite than my sister. I didn't realize this is how she felt. I didn't realize what it feels like to not think about food all day.I didn't realize what it feels like to not, like, be hungry after dinner. And I, and Oprah even said it, she's like, wait a minute, is this what normal people feel? And I have been beaten up my whole life for like, you know, being overweight and having a bigger appetite. And it's just my biology. And so knowing that biology is happening, appetite is bigger. What can you do about it? Maybe a GLP1 medication is an answer. Lots of people don't want to go that route right away. They would rather experiment with creating satiety, which is what GLP1 medicine medications do. Creating satiety with food.Because we naturally have GLP1, we naturally have other satiety hormones. We can eat very specific foods in combination to, like, elicit as much of that, that release of satiety hormone as possible. It's not as powerful as meds, but it's a good experiment. And a lot of people are like, okay, I have a lot of clients. I just met with one this morning who said, I'm too full. And so let's adjust. I love it when I get people there. It's like, oh, now I'm too full.How do we fix that?Stephanie Hansen:It's funny because my first thought after reading your formula was thinking about, I see the plates of food you eat a lot on Instagram. So I was thinking about, like, okay, thinking about what Stephanie's plates look like and then thinking about, like, if I actually ate that amount of food three times a day. Yeah, I haven't eaten that much food since like the fifth grade.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Stephanie A. Meyer:Right.Stephanie Hansen:It felt like, wow, would this be what that felt like? And I'm not sure. I'm always on the search and you know, people probably think I have an eating disorder and maybe I do and I don't even know it, but I feel like a lot of women, we are conditioned and we think about food a lot. When it's your business too. I'm always thinking about creating and food is like my art. So it's hard for me to separate the creation of food and wanting to express that way through. They're actually making recipes or thinking about recipes or gardening or creating a beautiful table. Like I'm always thinking about that and then the actual eating piece of it and it gets kind of all mixed up. But some ways in a beautiful way, some ways in a way that feels onerous.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yes, very well said.Stephanie Hansen:And I just think about it all the time and I eat way less than I think about because if I ate all the time, like, But I know, like I have a friend right now who she has an eating disorder and has her whole life. And for the first time as a 55 year old woman, she feels like she's really got a handle on it because she's back to, I hate to say it, but calorie counting. And she was afraid of calorie counting her whole life. Exactly. Like you said, she's like, I wasn't eating enough. I was eating one meal a day. I was eating all the wrong things. And now that I'm like more managing that, eating throughout the day and eating more fruits and vegetables and just like not being so hung up on it, she's like, I feel so much better.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah. Yeah. Wow, you said a lot of great things there. I don't think you have an eating disorder. I mean, welcome to being a woman in the United States. It is just relentless. And then social media has probably made it worse. Although frankly, it wasn't all that great, you know, pre social media.So I don't know. There's, there's a lot of good info. I see a lot of better info. Maybe it's because of the way I curate, curate my social media feed, but I feel like the messages are shifting and changing and I think that's good. But you're right, I mean, it's just, it's insanity and it's really difficult. Calories, you know, matter, like buried in that formula is, you know, carb or macros, the macronutrients of protein, carbs and Fat, they each have calories associated with them. So carbs have 4 calories per gram, protein has 4 calories per gram, fat has 9 calories per. And so when you build a meal around the satiety formula, there is, there's calorie control kind of built into it.And so that meal, if you put together that exact formula of a meal, is going to come out to around 400 calories. 400 calories per meal is a pretty good place for women to start. I mean, it's probably not enough. And I say that in that, in that particular essay. 400 calories per meal, if you only ate three meals a day, would obviously be 1200 calories. A lot of women historically have been aiming for 1200 calories a day and it's not enough, right? It backfires because you end up so hungry that you do overeat in the evening and invisible ways. It's not enough nutrients to, you know, build muscle. And muscle is really how you keep your metabolism ticking along, especially as we age.Uh, so 1200 calories, isn't it? That, that's the calorie count for like my three year old niece, that's how many calories a day she should be eating. So not a grown woman. Unless of course, you're, I don't know, Sue Ellison, you're like 4 foot 10 and you're, you know, an older age. Like she doesn't need a ton of calories and I'm quite sure she probably doesn't eat a ton of food because she's just like an adorable tiny little thing. Um, I'm six feet tall and I'm super active and 1200 calories a day would be insane. Lots of bad things start to happen if you do that. Your hair falls out, you start to lose muscle, you start to lose bone, you start to have low energy. It's depressing.You compromise your gut health. Like, we're not going there. Nuance is very hard to portray on social media. And you know, anywhere the nuance is that yes, 1200 is too low, but most Americans are actually over consuming calories and our food environment is high calorie, low satiety. You just, we know that that's what restaurants tend to sell. It's what snack foods are. It's what, you know, most of our food environment, kind of the ultra processed food stuff. And so once you know that, you can start to push up against it.And most women, I find this, really feel like they are going to gain weight if they're full, which is a Little bit getting at what you said. Like, you look at that plate of food that I put on Instagram, most of those plates of food are, like, between 300 and 400 calories. Like, they're not even that many calories. But I'm really good at getting a lot of food packed into 400 calories so that you can experience satiety, but also the nutrient density part of it. It's a lot of color, a lot of veggies, a lot of fiber, you know, the right amount of protein, that kind of thing. And I think that's a really. It. It's a worth thinking about.Wow. I have been programmed to feel healthy when I'm hungry and to feel like I'm doing things right if I'm hungry and that if I'm satisfied and full, then I'm going to gain weight. That's a very real fear. And it's not just for people who have an eating disorder. It's. I would say it's pretty typical for all American women. So you hit on it.Stephanie Hansen:We're always trying to balance not only for our. Our health, for ourselves, but also our partners, our children. You know, a lot of women are the caregivers, and we're putting this food out there.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah.Stephanie Hansen:And wanting to also, like, I don't want. Just speaking for myself, I don't want food to be, like, depressing, not fun. Like, also creating an environment where food can be celebration and all those things. How, like, okay, so I know you're coaching all these women and they're having all this success because they're feeling more full, they're eating more well balanced, they're following your formula. But then it feels like real life enters in sometimes and we have that third glass of wine, or we're going out to dinner on Friday and Saturday night. My challenge, like, I could never calorie count because if I go to dinner at a good place on a Friday night, the calories in that food, I know I can't even keep track of because they put so much butter in it. Or it's just you. You don't know how restaurant food is made and why it tastes so good.Stephanie A. Meyer:And all those things you fear are true.Yes. It's so true. I have that conversation actually with my clients because we strategize around. Okay. There's a couple of ways you can approach it. One, if you are going out for dinner too often, obviously it's a little bit of a job hazard for someone like you and our friend group. But if you're eating out too often then then you're going to have to make some decisions about the food that you order in restaurants that are probably more restrictive than what I would tell someone if they were going out for dinner every other week. Right.Like if you're going out for dinner, you know, once every couple of weeks and you really are hungry and you want to go to Bar La Grassa and get pasta, then go do that, enjoy it, it's fine. If you, if you are made this other decision, like you're going to eat out a lot and you have health goals that you want to meet, then you're going to have to strategize a little bit more thoroughly about how you approach eating in restaurants. Because everything you said is just true. Like their job is to coax as much fat and sodium into a dish so that you crave it and you want to come back for it. Like they're in the midst of selling food, which is fine. But when you know that, then you can kind of plan around it. So one way that we strategize and again, it comes down to very individual, you know, response. Which is why I don't really do a lot of group coaching.I really do one on one coaching because everybody's so different. Like the group stuff. Teaching a course has been amazing and gives a good overview, but this is where we kind of get into this nitty gritty and make a decision. Okay, I am going out for dinner. The old way is to try to save up the calories and not eat much during the day and then try to be moderate at dinner. Well, good luck with that because those meals, you know, if you had a per bite calorie count, it would be really high, let's say. And even if you did, you know, a pretty good job of ordering like, you know, some protein, some veggies, you know, had only two glasses of wine, let's say, kind of a thing, you're still going to end up blowing past where you would want to be, especially if you didn't eat anything earlier in the day. So what I like to have people do is take a look at the satiety formula, eat the real breakfast.Because what you eat for breakfast has a huge influence of how hungry you are at 4 in the afternoon. So eat the breakfast, eat the lunch, have a snack that is, you know, that same balance of things where it's protein, it's some carbs and it's some colorful veggies because then you're turning up the volume on your own satiety and that gives you natural discipline, like when you're full and you arrive at the restaurant, and let's say I'll just use the parallel example of someone taking a GLP1 medication, which is much more powerful, as we've said. But if you're taking a GLP1 and you're not hungry, you're not going to overeat at the restaurant. So let's back it up to the person who's just using food to create satiety. If you show up at a restaurant and you're not starving, you are going to have discipline that you wouldn't have otherwise. You're going to be able to make better decisions and then you're going to have the knowledge, okay, well, I'm going to have a pretty high fat meal, right? I'm going to do steak, I'm going to do roasted veggies. Then in that case, I tell women, you can probably back off on the carbs in that meal. I'm not saying be keto and low carb and, you know, go eat like a stick of butter for dinner.But when you're doing a good job, most of the meals, most of the days, when you get to a restaurant, if you still enjoy it, maybe skip the carbs because a lot of them aren't that great. It's like you can have rice at home. Is that that special thing about this restaurant? Fries? Sometimes they're amazing. They're like my favorite food. But if they're marginal, I am not going to eat crappy fries. Like, that's not going to be my thing. I'm going to focus on having, you know, a great burger. And I'm gluten free.Gluten free buns are bad. And so if I get a burger, I just get a really great burger. I probably get cheese on it, I get an amazing salad. I eat those two things together, skip the fries or just have a couple. And I love that meal. It's special. It's much richer and kind of more fun than anything I would make for myself at home. And it's going to work.And so that's the way you can kind of strategize. And that means nuance. That means that calories matter, but we don't have to completely obsess over them and count points and, you know, try to estimate, you know, the calories in, you know, whatever, a plate of pasta, bar la grassa, which would be impossible and also might really freak you out. And so you just have to write, have, have knowledge. And so when I do have people track, but I have them track in order to, to create and plan. So I have their track ahead of times. Like you're about to eat breakfast, use an app to create a meal that's going to fit the formula. And the app can help you do that because it's just a database full of, you know, tons of food and tons of info about food.So what, does that make sense?Stephanie Hansen:Yeah, it does. It's exactly the opposite of what I do because I starve.Stephanie A. Meyer:I noticed it like when, when I was writing more about restaurants in the Twin Cities and I learned pretty fast. If I show up at a restaurant starving, it is like, you know, game on, and it's not going to work. It works a lot better if I show up and I'm like normal hungry for dinner and I make the effort to eat some salad first, eat some veggies first, start with protein way, play down the carbs and you know, and if I'm going to have something to drink, I'm probably going to go for a glass of wine versus a cocktail because the cocktail is just going to have so many more calories in it. So. Yeah, because calories matter. So it's like that's the nuance. If you think that calories don't matter, then you're completely losing the script. But if you're completely obsessed with them and you try to restrict yourself, down, down, down, down, down, that's going to backfire and fail too.So we're aiming in that middle place.Stephanie Hansen:I, I love this about you, that you're very moderate in your approach and there's room for error and there's room for Oops. Fell off the wagon last night. Like, let me get back started this next morning. What apps do you like for people?Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah, I really. Whatever one people enjoy using. So I have a lot of clients that used to do Weight Watchers. The Weight Watchers app used to be completely worthless because you couldn't see the macronutrients on it. You couldn't see protein, carbs and fiber and fat. Now you can. Like they've updated the app. So I have.If you are a person who's really comfortable in the Weight Watchers app, then there's no need to switch, you know, to something else. Some people pay for MyFitnessPal, that's fine and great. The free My Fitness Pal isn't so helpful. It's really hard to see what you're doing. I have clients use Carb Manager if they've never used an app before because it's free. And it's like so easy to use. The database is fantastic. The caveat with that is you can tell by the name that it's meant for people who are really obsessed with carbs.Maybe they have diabetes, they're doing keto, we don't use it that way. So we have to go in and change the settings to custom and then plug our formula that we map out for people in it. And then they know, they're like, okay, this is how many grams of protein I need to be aiming for in a meal. And the way you figure that out is by putting, you know, okay, I'm thinking about having two eggs and a couple of chicken sausages and you know, some of this Dave's killer bread toast and, and some strawberries. Where does that get me? And then, you know, okay, well that's not quite there. How can I change it? And then we work on changing it so that you really get that satiety with little tweaks.Stephanie Hansen:What is a typical client of yours look like?Stephanie A. Meyer:Yeah, there kind of isn't one, which I think is so fun. I mean, I've had women, I've had moms who've bought coaching for their 20 year old daughters. How fun is that to have a mom who wants their daughter to ignore diet culture and understand. And I love coaching those young women because they are, they catch on so fast and, and, and then all of their friends want to know what they're doing and all of a sudden they're telling their friends how to do things differently. And they're, you know, they're just a health conscious group of people. They're drinking a lot less, they're already kind of working out, they're great about water, you know, and they have their little Stanley cups and they take them everywhere. It's very fun. I have clients who are in their 80s who are, you know, definitely not perimenopausal, but who are really wanting to not be frail and who do not want to lose their independence and their mobility.And that is really fun because talk about a generational shift in how to eat, just very, very different. And then the majority are probably somewhere between the age of 40 and 65. Mostly women who are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms or menopause and starting to gain weight, feel like they don't know why and really want to like, stop. So that's, that's the majority. And then, and then I've got, you know, women who are, I've probably got, I don't know, six clients Right now who are taking Ozempic, and they want to make sure that they're really covering their basis with nutrition, because Ozempic is a pretty miraculous medication. But you can also screw it up. I mean, if you just don't eat, then you're going to create a mess. And so all of the ways that I talk about eating like that satiety formula, absolutely applies to Ozempic.You have to make sure you're eating enough protein, you have to make sure you're eating fiber. You have to get that. You have to work to get the nutrition in when you're not that hungry.Stephanie Hansen:So, yeah, and, and when you look at what, what do you think gets someone to the point where they hire a coach about nutrition?Stephanie A. Meyer:I love this question. I just, I asked ChatGPT this question the other day, like, I was having a conversation with our friend Tracy Morgan, because we were talking about women who are, you know, even if they're getting laid off from a job, they will still go get their hair done. They will still get Botox. They will still, you know, those are essential. What makes. I'd love your feedback on this, frankly. What makes. Because you're an amazing marketer, what makes your health and nutrition feel as essential as, like, getting your nails done, getting your hair done in skin care, where you will absolutely, you know, budget however much that is for you and, and keep it vital.And, and I think the answer in terms of people that hire me is that they, they, they just realize that their same groove repeated is not working. You know, they've like, given it their all. They have decided to join a gym, they have decided to eat more protein, and it isn't getting them where they wanted to. And the promise of doing those things is not showing up. And they realize, okay, I do need a little bit more information than just work out and eat protein.Stephanie Hansen:And I feel like we're for sure in recessionary times, but no one has called it that yet.Stephanie A. Meyer:Oh, God. For sure. Yes.Stephanie Hansen:The way that people are spending money is shifting the way that people are. I mean, food is costing 30% more, so that's part of it and also what we value. So I guess the answer to that is to see yourself as worth it because you prioritize your kids, you'll prioritize your dog, you'll prioritize basically everything in your life before yourself. If you're like most women that I know.Stephanie A. Meyer:Yep, I think that's absolutely it. And I think there is fear. There's fear of the food being depressing or feeling Restrictive. There's fear of, you know, being told to go do super hardcore workouts. There's fear of the loss of, you know, a whole time in your life where you didn't have to care about this stuff and now you have to start. And grief and shame around all of it. And all I can say is that it's. It's none of those things like it is.And then there's also guilt. There is the guilt of focusing on yourself. That one we are going to do. We are going to create a focus on you and your health. Sometimes it brings up some, you know, conflict with a partner. You know, if you've got a partner who likes to eat a certain way and all of a sudden you're wanting to make some shifts that can be in the mix. There's. We have very deep conversations about the fact, you know, I've got some women who have had a terrible relationship, not a terrible relationship with their mom, but a terrible conversation, a lifetime conversation with their mom about their weight, a mom critical of their weight and critical what they're eating.And they just don't even want to open Pandora's box. They don't want to look inside and see the grief there. And so I understand all of those reasons, but that's why I try to make it really fun and very doable. I mean, the formula piece really kind of came out of me just constantly challenging myself. What can I offer that can tell you exactly what to do? Yeah, and I love do it is up to you.Stephanie HansenI feel like a book is coming for you too. I don't know if you're thinking about it, but I'd love to see, like, the plates and the size of portions and like, really taking this formula to the next level. Of course I'm always thinking about books because that's what I do.:Stephanie A. Meyer:But, yeah, I'm not. I'm not super dying to write a book. I gotta say, so hard.Stephanie Hansen:Stephanie, if people want to hire you as a nutritional coach, how do they do that? Because I know a lot of people are going to listen to this podcast and want more information.Stephanie A. Meyer:Oh, I love it. Thank you for having me. I miss you. This is really same laughing, awesome. So I would say, I mean, a couple different ways. One, I am stephanie.ameyer on Instagram, and that's a great way to reach out to me. And I post these meals that we're talking about almost every day to help people. My substack is the Project Vibrancy newsletter.You can definitely reach me there. And then my Blog Fresh Tarts. You can reach me there. So I'm pretty easy to find, actually. I'm kind of all over the place. But yeah, send me a note through Instagram or reach out through substack, I would say are the two best ways. Plus you can see a lot of how I think and talk about food and share recipes and all of that is happening in both of those places.Stephanie Hansen:And one last question, because we talked about budgeting and that people don't prioritize themselves. Is there, if someone was going to budget for you in their life to make some substantial changes, like is there a weekly or a monthly just sort of cost that people can plan for so they can put the emphasis back on themselves?Stephanie A. Meyer:Right. So in a few different ways, I mean, I. If someone is really wanting to make a shift and they've been failing, I really just recommend coaching with me because everything is included with that. I include my course, which is where we learn about menopause and perimenopause and what that means for nutrition. I include the project, pregnancy, meal plans, all sorts of other recipes, everything else. And then we meet and talk about where you are, your age, your activity level, whatever. And it's very affordable. It's like 100 bucks an hour.But I include all the other things and I do four sessions. If someone think about that because like.Stephanie Hansen:My Gym membership is $225 a month, so I can play pickleball eight times a month.Stephanie A. Meyer:I mean that is exactly it. It's like. And I have several clients who continue on with me. You don't have to, but because we develop this relationship and I hold people accountable and then that can go on. I do meal plans. If people just want meal plans, that can happen. And that's a monthly fee of like $25. And it's just an entrepreneur so cheap and, and save so much money.That's the really fun thing about meal planning, especially with grocery costs, is that, you know, we. I forget what percentage of American food ends up in the trash. It's a third. And it's probably true for a lot of people's refrigerators too. And so when you meal plan, that is a great thing. You really do. Less takeout, any throwaway, a lot less food.Stephanie Hansen:I love it.Stephanie A. Meyer:So those things are those, those things are possible. So yeah, I've got different ways. And then of course I suggest for a lot of people two other things. One, a lot of health plans cover nutrition coaching. And so I generate a receipt for people. You get reimbursed and that is free, then free. Obviously not free, but you know what I mean. And then if you use PayPal, Shop Pay, I've got a lot of people who pay in installments, and then you just spread the fee out over.So anyway, it's all of those things. And I love the question about where do you prioritize the cost of your health? Not just on the healthcare side, where things are going wrong, but on the prevention side, where it's going.Stephanie Hansen:Right, Right.Stephanie A. Meyer:And that's just a question we can leave people with to ponder.Stephanie Hansen:Okay. I love it. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm gonna put this podcast up. I'm gonna present it on Friday. I'm gonna release it. I'm gonna put the show notes in.Stephanie A. Meyer:Beautiful.Stephanie Hansen:Just keep on keeping on. I just was moved by what you wrote, and it was so clear, and it just really struck home with me. And I thought people need to hear this message. So thanks for joining me today.Stephanie A. Meyer:Thank you so much. I love it.Stephanie Hansen:We'll talk soon. Okay, bye.Stephanie A. Meyer:Bye.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Bailey tells us about a procedure she got done, Stephanie is in to tell us what's up around the Twin Cities this weekend, and more!

Connor McCarthy, senior vice president of commercial development at United Properties, talks to F&C reporter Brian Johnson. McCarthy talks about his expanded role with United Properties and the current state of the Twin Cities industrial market, among other topics.

Hiring mistakes, financial setbacks, and communication misfires—yep, Adam's got the receipts. In this candid conversation. Mark talks with Adam Copenhaver of CopeGrand Homes about hiring wins, hiring woes, and what happens when your culture isn't strong enough to catch a bad fit. From cultural index tests to writing painful checks, Adam opens up about what it takes to build a resilient team—and how building with your twin brother might just be the ultimate hack. Support the show - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/shop See our upcoming live events - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/events The host of the Curious Builder Podcast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you're looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life. Sponsors for the Episode:  Pella Website: https://www.pella.com/ppc/professionals/why-wood/  Contractor Coalition Summit: Website: https://www.contractorscoalitionsummit.com/ Olive and Vine Socials Website: https://oliveandvinesocials.com/ Adaptive  Website: https://referrals.adaptive.build/u8Gkiaev   Where to find the Guest:  Website: https://www.copegrandhomes.com/  Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/copegrand_homes  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CopeGrand  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/copegrand-homes Where to find the Host:  Website - https://www.mdwilliamshomes.com/  Podcast Website - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markdwilliams_customhomes/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkDWilliamsCustomHomesInc/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-williams-968a3420/  Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/pro/markdwilliamscustomhomes/mark-d-williams-custom-homes-inc

Most shootings in the Twin Cities, gratefully, are not school or church shootings. DFL fundraising efforts are being played off the tragedy at Annunciation. Student brings gun to school at Johnson High School in St Paul. Johnny Heidt with guitar news. Heard On The Show:VP Vance, second lady travel to Minneapolis, visit Annunciation Church in wake of shootingExclusive: Annunciation shooter seen on gun shop surveillance video days before attackEpstein survivors implore Congress to act as push for disclosure buildsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A shooting inside a Minneapolis church during a back-to-school Mass left two children dead and several others injured. The Annunciation Catholic School community was shattered. The country watched. And almost immediately, public officials and school leaders stood in front of microphones, tasked with speaking into heartbreak.In this episode, examining what was said—and how it was said—during the press conferences that followed.Joining the conversation with Molly is Greg Floyd, evening anchor and investigative reporter at WRGB-TV in Albany. A six-time Emmy winner with multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards, Greg brings deep experience in live coverage, newsroom leadership, and the complexity of reporting local stories with national weight.Together, we break down the structure, tone, and delivery of each speaker—from elected officials to faith leaders—and explore what communicators can learn from how these moments were handled.What We Cover:The context behind the headlines: children, a church, and the first week of schoolMayor Jacob Frey's restrained approach, and why one line (“These children were praying”) shaped the narrativePolice Chief Brian O'Hara's directness, structure, and use of the repeated-question techniquePrincipal Matt DeBoer's calm, clarity, and emotional authority—including a powerful reflection on older students protecting younger onesThe possible public misstep by Archbishop Bernard Hebda, and the risk of correcting others in a crisis momentHow local media elevated the story's tone, and why Twin Cities press markets matter in national perceptionThe visual language of crisis: from rolled-up sleeves to school-branded t-shirtsWhy the absence of scripts—and the presence of emotion—can carry more weight than any prepared statementWant More Behind the Breakdown? Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider's hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.mediaClick here to subscribe to Molly's live events. Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting. This podcast is supported by Muck Rack, the PR management platform I use to monitor media coverage, track journalist activity, and inform high-stakes strategy with real-time data. Click here to try Muck Rack for yourself. Follow & Connect with Molly: https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson ...

Dawn has been doing Face Yoga; A new SNL cast member is from the Twin Cities! Dawn and Leah watched Meghan's new season of With Love, Meghan; Dreamweaver Dawn: Dawn interprets your dreams; George and Amal relationship trouble news; Leo gossip: will his straightforward attitudes after turning 50 ruin his relationship?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School that killed two students and injured 21 others in Minneapolis has reignited calls for gun reform and policy changes at the city, state and federal levels. A group of Twin Cities-area mayors gathered at the Capitol Tuesday to call for more authority to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines if the Legislature refuses to do it at the state level. Gov. Tim Walz is mulling whether to call lawmakers back for a special session to address gun violence. Megan Walsh, the director of the Gun Violence Prevention Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School, joins MPR News host Nina Moini with more on the state's gun laws.

Pete Bercich, the analyst for the Vikings radio network and Vikings entertainment network, joins The Alec Lewis Show to talk about the Week 1 game between the Vikings and Bears on "Monday Night Football." Bercich and Lewis talk about Ben Johnson versus Brian Flores, J.J. McCarthy's debut, Caleb Williams's play, the Vikings' run game and more. This show is presented by First Resource Bank, which serves the needs of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. For more information, here is their website:   https://myfrbank.com/   And here is a link to all of their locations!   https://myfrbank.com/locations-hours/   Link to Bercich's Eye in the Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59VaFFmj_O8   Email for sponsorship inquiries: aleclewis54@gmail.com

No winner from Monday's Powerball jackpot - there were six $50,000 winners in the Twin Cities metro area - but we sift through the possibilities of what we would use with our big time winnings!

There is a push by mayoral leaders in the Twin Cities metro area - we invited Bloomington Mayor Tim Busse to discuss and elaborate more on what he, Jacob Frey, Melvin Carter and others hope to accomplish by possibly taking on the actions of preventing more assault rile and gun crimes in Minnesota!

With European captain Luke Donald making his 6 captain's picks today, the teams are set for the Ryder Cup later this month in New York at Bethpage Black. The European team is essentially the same as the last Ryder Cup in Italy, with the only exception being that Rasmus Hojgaard is on this years team instead of his twin brother Nicolai. The United States team has been set for about a week now, with the big talker being captain Keegan Bradley opting to not pick himself to play. The United States team will look to keep the run of home teams winning the Ryder Cup. The podcast guys played a round at the historic Keller Golf Course in the Twin Cities and had a round for the ages. Keller Golf Course has hosted two PGA Championships and also was the host venue for the St. Paul Open, which was played for many decades on the PGA Tour. The group had 20 birdies, including a couple improbable ones from Timothy after hitting into a nature area, Jeff making 8 birdies and still shooting even par and Mike with a bogey-free 65. We will talk all about it and discuss where our games are at as summer winds to a close. Subscribe to the Break80 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and YouTube for weekly golf content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amber & Nikolai Puchlov of Pro Kettlebell open up about the challenges and breakthroughs of building a kettlebell business. From design setbacks and manufacturing hurdles to the validation of seeing athletes worldwide embrace their bells, they share lessons learned and how these experiences shape their vision for the future of kettlebell sport in the U.S. and beyond.Whether you're a lifter chasing PRs, a coach building something meaningful, or just curious about resilience and innovation, this episode delivers.

In the final episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow closes out the series with a powerful conversation featuring Chanda Hermanson, Director of Montana Combined Vocational Rehabilitation (VR). Chanda's lifelong passion for the field—shaped by family connections and early volunteering—has guided Montana's innovative approach to serving people with disabilities across a vast and rural state. Together, they reflect on Montana's recent breakthroughs, including legislative support for counselors, expanded telecommunications access, and the funding of a Blind Adjustment program. They also discuss the tough but necessary decision to enter Order of Selection, and how aligning with state priorities in behavioral health and foster care strengthens VR's impact. This inspiring finale reminds VR leaders nationwide to stay mission-focused, innovative, and unwavering in their commitment to meaningful employment opportunities for all.   Listen Here   Full Transcript:   {Music}   Chanda: What are their priorities? The people that are making these decisions. Who's the chair of the committee? What do they want? Right. And really figuring out what the governor's office priorities are. These types of things. And then figuring out how to get ourselves into those conversations. Listen, listen, listen and then infiltrate.   Carol: I know you don't have a crystal ball, but if you did, what do you have for some thoughts on what VR leaders need to pay attention to and what's on the horizon for VR?   Chanda: That's tough. I wish I had a crystal ball. I think all of our crystal balls are broken right now.   Intro Voice: Manager Minute brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management, Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host Carol Pankow.   Carol: Welcome to the manager minute. Joining me in the studio today is Chanda Hermanson, director of Montana Combined. So, Chanda, how are things going in Montana.   Chanda: It's good, busy, busy work and lots going on, but going good overall.   Carol: Well, it's so great to have you back on the podcast. I looked back through the archives. Saw you were last with me November of 2021 and we were talking about, "Is Your Fiscal Management Managed Building a Solid Foundation for Fiscal Fitness". And you've done and you continue to do so, an outstanding job assembling a stellar team to support the fiscal side of the House. And of course, Anna Montana is one of our very favorite people. So for our listeners, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Chanda during the region eight meeting in South Dakota, and 45 incredible staff from the region came together for training, connection and sharing and it was a really fun two days. Eric, director of South Dakota General, was leading a portion of the meeting and folks were going around sharing about challenges and opportunities when it got to Chanda. She shared some truly inspiring things happening in Montana. And I thought right then and there. That is what I want to talk about on my last podcast. Over the last five years, we've covered so many meaningful topics, and we need to go out on a high note. This is our 54th and final episode of The Manager Minute. So together we started conversations, started a movement of rapid and meaningful engagement, tackled tough topics like order selection and finance work to bridge the gap between the DSA and the DSU highlighted so many innovative Diff grants and exciting initiatives from across the country. I truly believe we've helped plant seeds of change nationwide, so let's dig in. So, Chanda, for those who may not know you, can you remind our listeners about your background and how you got into VR?   Chanda: Sure. I have been in the field about 20 years formerly, but I was in the field volunteering and doing other things previous to the formal employment with Voc rehab. My parents both worked in the field, so I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where this was our daily dinner conversations, and my parents and my siblings are recipients of Voc Rehab services, so the program's near and dear to me. When I was 19, the Montana started the Youth Leadership Forum. That was my mom's program at the time, and I was able and told that I she needed volunteers to work this summer program for youth with disabilities. And I came home and helped through that and fell in love with the work more directly than I did growing up. So since then, I tried other things along the way. But this is definitely where I'm meant to be and I'm so lucky to be here. I love it.   Carol: That is super cool. I didn't remember that about you, I love it. My mom, she had been volunteer coordinator at our state hospital back in Faribault, Minnesota when I was growing up, so I remember very well going with her and helping, and I would volunteer for things and ended up working there before it closed and kind of just gotten into the whole field of disabilities. So our parents definitely can help us, like lead the way. That is just cool.   Chanda: I didn't realize you had also.   Carol: Tell us about Montana Combined, how many staff and consumers do you serve? And kind of what's your budget?   Chanda: Like our budget's about $19 million a year annually, give or take, where things are going on. We have about 100 staff supporting the rehab program in our blind and low vision service programs, too. So that's the number of staff we have on board. We also have separate things out differently. So we have Pre-ETS in there. They're their own bureau. We have blind and low vision. They're their own bureau. And then we function together as a combined voc rehab program. Though we are serving about 5000 people under voc rehab and 3000 students in Pre-ETS.   Carol: Wow. So you're not small. Sometimes people are thinking, oh, maybe you're from a small state. You're not a smallish program, you're more a mid-size.   Chanda: And people are very far apart here. The numbers maybe don't look that much, but when you need to get to everybody in every corner of Montana, it's a trek.   Carol: Yeah, and travel is rough. Like, it's not an easy haul.   Chanda: No.   Carol: So let's talk about your good news. What exciting developments do you have to share?   Chanda: Yeah. So we just ended our 2025 legislative session in May. Our legislative body meets every other year for 90 days. So it is a fast and furious process. But we survived. That's always the first thing we did get through it. But we did get out pretty successfully compared to a lot of our peers in public health and human services and a lot of other programs just statewide. We went into the session asking, well, just start this off to we are lucky enough to traditionally get our state match without a problem. It's always just part of what they, it's our start of our base budget so that we are fortunate for that. Where we struggle is our staffing levels and getting the appropriation to get the FTE, we need to really provide a quality service to people more than managing those cases. We don't have autonomy over the number of employees we can hire, so that's always our struggle. So we went in asking for four FTE to support the individualized placement and supported employment model, and serving the serious, disabling mental illness population for counselors for that project and then one FTE to work in the state hospital. We are in and out of the state hospital, constantly taking applications and helping people prepare for work before discharge. We just thought that it would behoove us to actually just have a staff member in the hospital setting, rather than being disruptive going in and out. We also, outside of Oak Ridge, have asked for some more appropriation to support our telecommunication access work and two more FTE there, just given the high increase in need and work. And then we also requested funding and an FTE to create a Blind Adjustment program to meet the gap in services that we created when the homemaker was no longer allowed as an employment goal. So those were our asks. We didn't get everything we asked for, but we did come out with two new counselors for the STMI-IPS work and our telecommunication money into FTE. So while that's not directly related to VR, it does help our voc rehab program and help those participants in gaining access to equipment and services to make sure their communication needs are met. And then we also did get the funding for the Blind Adjustment program. So that was really exciting. It's been hard for us to turn away people that are going through the onset of vision loss, and if they're not really wanting to talk about work, it's under the age of 55. That's definitely been an area of opportunity. So we're excited to get to serve those folks now in a different way.   Carol: That is super amazing, because it's almost like unheard of lately where people have kind of good news where you went in, you asked for these things and you got stuff.   Chanda: That some of it not all, but some of it. And I also we didn't ask for it. It wasn't part of our decision package request. But our providers did a great job lobbying this year and they got themselves a couple of provider rate increases, so it amounts to about a 17% provider rate increase. And so that comes along with more state general funds. So that's going to give us more ability to draw down some realignment that maybe we wouldn't have been able to if those guys didn't lobby for those provider rate increases.   Carol: So good on you. That is pretty incredible. I know IPS is a really popular program across the country and successful. It's wanted and very foundational. It's got good statistics about what has happened with that. Your telecommunications project. You talk a little more about that, what it all does.   Chanda: Yeah. Our telecommunication access program provides phone equipment and maybe cell phones or some of your old big button phones and different speaker system type of things that we also cover the relay system in Montana, and we provide for transcription on zoom and public meetings and various groups around the state. So with the increased need for people to access broadband and internet. Type of activities we are seeing. Not only is the need increasing, but the cost of all of it's increasing too. So we're really happy to get to support that.   Carol: Yeah, that is very cool. I know broadband was a big issue in Minnesota for a long time. When I was working at the Department of Employment and Economic Development, we had a broadband initiative because I wondered if yours had a little to do with that, because we have super rural areas. I mean, you definitely we have the Twin Cities, you know, metro area, but you get out state. It's tough. And people are talking about, you know, if you wanted to be self-employed or different things you can do via internet. Well, yeah, only if you can access that. If there's no connectivity, you're done. Like you don't even have that option out there. So I really get to pay attention firsthand at how important access to communication is for everybody.   Chanda: So important. And we already are experiencing, you know, in the disability community, isolation issues just in general. So this is really a great solution to get to people if they're out in a very frontier part of Montana. This can help really get them a sense of community in other ways.   Carol: Yeah, that's just direct boots on the ground. Wonderful access for folks, I love that. So I'm sure you had to do some background stuff. You didn't just waltz in and go, hey, I want this stuff. Give it to me. They're not likely. They're like, yeah, we like you, Shannon, but not that much. We need something. What kind of things did you pull together, like, data wise, to support your request?   Chanda: Sure. Well, first, it's just paying attention to what elected officials priorities are. That's the first kind of anecdotal data to be gathering. So really listening to the governor's initiatives and what his priorities are, along with, again, these elected officials that are on our committee subcommittee making the decisions about are the first decisions about our budget, which is the most important decision as it works our way through the entire session. So through that, we really observed that there's strong emphasis on behavioral health systems change in Montana in foster care, too, and we realize we are part of that system, not in the way that everybody was talking about it or thinking about it. I'm a lot more of what they're having to talk about, right? As case management and housing and all the other things. And employment doesn't even rise to the surface when you're hearing those things, because it's just different mindset. And so we took that and leveraged it to start joining those conversations and talk about how employment is a social determinants of health for the population, and all the benefits of employment that augments and assists all the things that they are talking about. It helps with treatment and recovery and provide stability can help with the housing issues. It gives people a sense of purpose. All of this prevents relapse and homelessness. And so just really getting to take the opportunity to join the conversation and talk about it in a different way to just educate folks on how employment can support all of this other work they're doing. A lot of people tend to lean into safety, safety, safety, when they're making these decisions, not realizing that employment is part of that safety. And I think a lot of times people really get linear thinking like, okay, you need x, y, and Z, and then you're going to be ready for employment, not realizing that employment can come in any step of the way and really change the trajectory of all those other things you're providing them. So through that, we dug into the data. What are our caseloads look like? What is the general population for people needing behavioral health services in Montana? And we found that 34% of Montana's caseload are individuals with behavioral health disabilities. So that equates to about 1500 people on our caseload right now. And when you look at the general census in Montana, there's about 163,000 people with health disability. So we are only serving a sliver. And we know that typically through our research that two thirds of people with behavior, health disabilities typically want to go to work. So through combining all of that data and telling a story and telling stories of people successfully navigating this in their communities. I do believe that that's what helped us get across the finish line, to make sure that we can really do more work, and we're excited. It is important to us.   Carol: Yeah, you were really smart. I mean, you were listening. I can hear you. You were listening to what people were talking about. And how could you leverage and be part of that conversation, which takes time. I'm sure you didn't do this in a day. I mean, this takes years. Like building relationships and getting invited to those meetings and being able to discuss those ideas. I think that is brilliant. What would you say to your fellow colleagues across the country who might be wanting to consider something similar in their state? Like, what would you suggest to them on how to start or how to get kind of involved or part of those conversations?   Chanda: I'm just going to reiterate again. Listen, listen, listen. It's the beat of our drum. The last 2 or 3 years of the leadership team here in Montana has been listen. Listen, listen and then infiltrate. So what are people talking about? What are their priorities? The people that are making these decisions. Who's the chair of the committee? What do they want? Right. And really figuring out what the governor's office priorities are, these types of things, and then figuring out how to get ourselves into those conversations. And we're really lucky in rehab because we touch everything, whether it's manufacturing coming into the state or behavioral health issues, or what can we do to improve foster care systems in Montana, you name it. Many of the things that the legislators are worried about and are making decisions about, we touch so we can get ourselves at the table and talk about how we can influence what they're talking about and how we're already making an impact. It's so cool what we do.   Carol: It is cool because we have such variety. It makes the job super creative, like you can really do a variety of things that are amazing and wonderful and impact people's lives in such a big way. Like you say, with employment, you know that trajectory. Sometimes people think you need all these things first? But boy, you get that job, which also helps in with your housing and all the other things that are going on. You can intersect at any point. I love that, I think that's really good. I know you don't have a crystal ball, but if you did, what do you have for some thoughts on what VR leaders need to pay attention to and what's on the horizon for VR?   Chanda: That's tough. I wish I had a crystal ball. I think all of our crystal balls are broken right now. I don't have a thought of what is on the horizon, but I do know that we just need to stay focused on our mission and values and the vision of what we have and don't falter. We have and work for one of the coolest programs out there and get to be innovative and creative and like we were just referring to, we can pivot and message around so many things that make what we do compelling to different decision makers. I think that's pretty unique, and I think there's ways to take advantage of that to make sure that we survive and thrive regardless of what happens, because we do have so much impact across the board. So but if we don't, we need to stay focused on our mission and values to make sure we're successful and don't get lose sight of that along the way.   Carol: I agree with that 100%. I think living into our mission and doing it well and not drifting kind of all over the place. If we get people disabilities into employment and good employment, not just food, filth and flowers, but real employment, that's what it's all about. And when we get distracted by other stuff, or maybe our performance doesn't look as good and all of that, we got to stay focused early, head down. Here's what we're trying to do, because that's the whole reason this wonderful program has existed for over 100 years. So head down, do the thing.   Chanda: Yes.   Carol: 100%. That is awesome. Well, this actually wraps up our final episode of The Manager Minute. Now, I know you have some other news. Probably. Do you want to talk about it today? Because you are going an Order of Selection, and I know states are facing that as well. We've talked to a couple states lately about that, talked with Indiana, talked with Cora in Kentucky. And while we have all this wonderful work going forward, we still have this lever that Congress lets us pull when we don't have all the resources to serve every single person coming at the door. And for you, this is a really live situation that's happening as we speak.   Chanda: Correct. We actually went into Order Selection today. We closed categories two and three. So it's been a long process working with RSA since February. But we're happy. It's bittersweet. I mean, we're not happy to get order of selection, but for the health of the program and to make sure that we can continue to provide high quality services and to not dilute client services, it's what needed to happen. Our caseloads are unmanageable. We're looking at caseloads that are about 170, on top of just the general cost of services continuing to increase. Our fiscal forecasting was clear we needed to get into order sooner than later so we could manage the best we can.   Carol: It's a good way to look at it, because you don't want the services to dilute, because it ends up where staff are kind of applying an order without the order being in play. You get a lot of people getting a little bits of stuff instead of people really getting what they need. And so it does provide a more organized way in which to structure and to handle all of this. And I like that about it. I think Congress wouldn't put it into place. If we weren't allowed to pull the lever and make that happen, it does make it organize it. It helps your staff to be able to do the work that they want to do and to help people to get into employment. So I think that is very good. Do you have any thoughts for your colleagues on that too? Because I've had several calls, even in the last week. Again, people are like, I think we're looking at this. Any tips for people out there?   Chanda: The one thing I would say is relook at your CSNA, get familiar with your data that's out there. That's going to be important as you look at amending your state plan and contact RSA sooner than later. I had received that advice from a colleague and that was I wouldn't, I don't think have naturally contacted RSA that soon in the process and I'm glad I did.   Carol: Yeah, that's 100% smart advice. Definitely talking to your team sooner than later. They can help you along the way, for sure, with that. Well, I wish you good luck with all that implementing. I know it's tough. I mean, it is tough in the messaging, but I know also you have built back from even when we talked in 21 that financial solid group. And so your fiscal forecasting is on Anna is on it. You have really good people and they are doing really good stuff with making sure you have the data for making good decisions. I just think your team has been very amazing and that has been an a lot credit to you in helping to build that foundation.   Chanda: Well thank you. We have an awesome team and I truly can't believe that that podcast was four years ago. That was definitely a different time. And we have improved and built infrastructure now, sound methods and internal controls. So it's good to know that the decisions that we're making are dead driven, inaccurate, and that is what we need to do to stay healthy.   Carol: It's a whole different world. It really is. And it is funny. It's been four years, but I sure appreciate you being on today. And so this does wrap up my final episode of The Manager Minute, and I want to say thanks to every listener, guest, and colleague who's been part of this journey. Keep leading with purpose and passion because what you do changes lives every single day. And Jeff, you get the honor of hitting the lights. We're `out.   {Music}   Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time, brought to you by the VR TAC for Quality Management. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening!

This week we're diving into the fall 2025 Twin Cities real estate market—and it's not as simple as the headlines make it sound. Are homes really sitting unsold, or is this just the usual seasonal slowdown? We'll break down what's actually happening with interest rates (spoiler: they're the lowest they've been all year), why buyers are hesitating despite a flood of online searches, and what a 25% bump in inventory really means for both sides of the market. If you're selling, we'll talk about realistic expectations, smart pricing, and how to stand out in a crowded field. If you're buying, you'll hear why this market might finally give you a little leverage. Real estate is always about more than numbers—it's about psychology, strategy, and timing. Tune in for a fresh take on today's market and some practical insights to help you make your next move with confidence. Let's dive in!

What does it mean to design a yard that's not just pretty—but purposeful? Mark sits down with Jonathan Blaseg of PEBL Design to dig into the wild (and often overlooked) world of landscape architecture. From plant psychology and drainage drama to why “just put a tree there” won't cut it—this episode uncovers how smart outdoor design shapes how we live, feel, and even parent. Plus: the shocking truth about how few landscape architects actually touch landscaping. Support the show - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/shop See our upcoming live events - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/events The host of the Curious Builder Podcast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you're looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life. Sponsors for the Episode:  Pella Website: https://www.pella.com/ppc/professionals/why-wood/  Contractor Coalition Summit: Website: https://www.contractorscoalitionsummit.com/ Olive and Vine Socials Website: https://oliveandvinesocials.com/ Adaptive  Website: https://referrals.adaptive.build/u8Gkiaev  Where to find the Guest:  Website: https://pebl.design/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pebl_design/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pebl.design Where to find the Host:  Website - https://www.mdwilliamshomes.com/  Podcast Website - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markdwilliams_customhomes/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkDWilliamsCustomHomesInc/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-williams-968a3420/  Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/pro/markdwilliamscustomhomes/mark-d-williams-custom-homes-inc

Cody Alexander, who writes the MatchQuarters Substack and is a former college coach and podcast host of “Let's Talk Ball”, joins The Alec Lewis Show to give his thoughts on the Vikings' defensive plan for 2025. They discuss Brian Flores as a coordinator. They talk about why the team would trade Harrison Phillips. They predict what might be different in 2025, and how Minnesota is going to manage its lackluster cornerbacks room with Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers and Jeff Okudah. This show is presented by First Resource Bank, which serves the needs of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. For more information, here is their website: https://myfrbank.com/ And here is a link to all of their locations! https://myfrbank.com/locations-hours/

Janet and Isaiah talk about Janet going international to attend Gamescom 2025 in Cologne, Germany. From Opening Night Live, to playing indie games, Janet and Isaiah recap some of the announcements and go over what games caught their attention (GAMES). Then they talk about their trip to Minnesota, trying out the (in)famous Juicy Lucy, seeing some Gangcast fans at the MinnMax meetup, and exploring the Mall of America (NOT GAMES).Poll of the Show:https://gamesandnotgames.com/pollTimestamps:00:00 Intro00:18 Catching Up02:40 Games / Gamescom 202501:12:27 Not Games / Visiting Minnesota02:04:49 Poll of the Show02:11:20 OutroSend your questions and topics to the email address Inbox@GamesAndNotGames.comFor more Games And Not Games:YouTube.com/@GamesAndNotGamesTwitch.tv/GamesAndNotGamesBlueSky: @GamesAndNotGames.comTikTok, Instagram, Threads: @GamesAndNotGamesTwitter/X: @GamesAndNotFollow the hosts:Janet: @gameonysus.bsky.socialIsaiah: @isaiahsmith.dev

Send us a textAfter taking a couple week off, the Crew return to talk some #StarWars : #Visions - Volume 1.  Before jumping into that, the Crew talk about some interesting news items as it relates to #GinaCarano [#CaraDune] and her settlement with #Disney, along with the recent admittance from Disney that they have lost viewership amongst the male audience.Even though the DetBlock Crew have talked Visions Volume 1, Bogie had not joined the team yet.  So, with it being a bit of a slow time for Star Wars news and content, Bogie watched episodes 6-9 of volume 1 of Visions, which Mike and him look to discuss.Thoughts and prayers go out to all those impacted, especially the children and parents, from the school shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in #Minneapolis , MN.  Being that both Bogie and Mike are from the Twin Cities and it hits close to home, they felt the need to address it.Social Media Handles:TikTok: @DetBlockAA23Twitter: @DetBlockAA23PodInstagram: detention_block_aa_23FB Group: Detention Block AA-23: A Star Wars PodcastYouTube: Detention Block AA-23: A Star Wars #PodcastDon't forget to #SUBSCRIBE to our #YouTube channel for #podcast episodes and other content! #Prize #giveaway at 200 subs! Goal = 500!Sponsors:Under Pressure #BrewingGolden Valley, MNMirror Twin BrewingLexington, KYSource: #Comics & #GamesRoseville, MNStar Wars ComicsStar Wars Games: X-Wing & Armada strategy games; Star Wars: Legion strategy #gameTwin Cities Geek - Magazine & Online #CommunityMy Star Wars Life - FB Group (Join Now!)

In this episode, Mark gets real about the ups and downs of running a business, parenting, and life in general. He shares some of his go-to quotes, talks about why having a solid company culture matters way more than any fancy strategy, and opens up about learning from failure (and why you shouldn't stress about being perfect). It's an insightful and down-to-earth episode packed with practical advice and a healthy dose of encouragement for anyone leading a team or building a business. Support the show - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/shop See our upcoming live events - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com/events The host of the Curious Builder Podcast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you're looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life. Sponsors for the Episode:  Contractor Coalition Summit: Website: https://www.contractorscoalitionsummit.com/ Olive and Vine Socials Website- https://oliveandvinesocials.com/ Lake Society Magazine:  Website: https://www.lakesocietymagazine.com/ Where to find the Host:  Website - https://www.mdwilliamshomes.com/  Podcast Website - https://www.curiousbuilderpodcast.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markdwilliams_customhomes/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarkDWilliamsCustomHomesInc/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-williams-968a3420/  Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/pro/markdwilliamscustomhomes/mark-d-williams-custom-homes-inc

The Twin Cities have experienced multiple shootings over the past 24 hours, one of them being at Annunciation Catholic School, a school for young children just a couple hours before today's show started. Updates flowed in as we continued, but there's still much we don't know.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Twin Cities scream club builds community through relieving stressHollie Carr started the group after seeing a Chicago scream club on TikTok. Many people found her group the same way.“Are you here to scream?” Hollie Carr asked people who strolled by her Sunday night as the sun began to set near the Cedar Nichols Trailhead in Burnsville.Carr founded Scream Club Twin Cities MN in early August. The group travels to different lakes, rivers and streams every week to scream across the water. And they're always looking for new participants.“Screaming is inclusive of everyone,” Carr said. “It doesn't matter what your issues are or what your stress is. Our goal is to scream in community.”Minnesota spent nearly $46,000 on welfare per person in poverty in 2023Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau publishes the Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. This is the country's only source of state and local spending data, allowing a detailed state-by-state comparison. The survey also divides spending data into categories, making it possible to analyze which public services states prioritize.Overall, public welfare is the largest expenditure for most states. However, the level at which states prioritize assistance programs over other public services, such as roads and police, differs.Minnesota, for instance, has a massive welfare system, dedicating a larger share of its revenue to assistance programs than most states. Additionally, Minnesota ranks among the top states for poverty-adjusted welfare spending, making it one of the most generous in the nation. In 2022, Minnesota spent approximately $42,000 (in 2023 $) per person on poverty, ranking second-highest in the entire country.This trend continued in 2023, as newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.