Podcasts about University High School

Today on another brand new episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast we are talking to Adam Nimoy, son of actor, director, pilot, musician and much more, Leonard Nimoy. We spoke to Adam about growing up the child of one of the most beloved actors of his generation because he portrayed one of the most iconic characters of the 20th century, Spock from Star Trek in television and film. Of course, not too long ago we spoke to Adam's sister Julie Nimoy and brother-in-law David Knight and we learned a few things about Leonard. But this one is just a bit different. On this episode, we learn from Adam about the relationship, struggles and finally  acceptance he had with his father which was outlined in two books, 2008's My Incredible, Wonderful, Miserable Life:An Anti Memoir and 2024's The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy. Among other things, it was with the help of getting sober and a 12-Step program that both father and son leaned on to connect after a period of estrangement and also how it helped to be open and honest and share – something that was in limited supply for most of Adam's life. Along the way, we take a deep dive in L.A. nostalgia including our shared education at University High School in West L.A, restaurants he and his family frequented, several of his father's automobiles, the Paisley Underground scene of the 1980s, how the band the Rain Parade were his first clients when he was becoming a lawyer via his relationship growing up with them as a kid, Leonard's TV movie Baffledwhich holds a special place in host Josh Mills's heart and how the last vestiges of the beloved Stan's Donuts in Westwood has finally closed shop. This is the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story. Live long and prosper friends. Take a listen.

What if the real secret to business growth is not creativity but competition? I sat down with Chris Dreyer, founder of Rankings.io, who built one of the fastest-growing legal marketing companies by mastering SEO, niche focus, and relentless execution. Chris shares how his early work ethic shaped his path, why he chose the highly competitive personal injury space, and how treating business like a math-based game helped him scale. You will hear how content, reviews, and authority drive Google rankings, why most lawyers misunderstand marketing, and how narrowing your focus can actually expand your results. I believe you will find this useful as Chris shows how discipline, data, and consistency can turn any business into an unstoppable force. Highlights: 00:56 – How early work and family habits built a strong work ethic05:00 – Why taking the hardest job created resilience and grit12:12 – How serving people helped develop communication and confidence24:22 – Why choosing a competitive niche leads to greater success37:08 – What it takes to rank at the top of Google consistently51:16 – How doing free work early builds skill and long-term growth Bottom of Form About the Guest: Chris Dreyer is the CEO and Founder of Rankings.io, the category-defining SEO agency built exclusively to help elite law firms and personal injury lawyers dominate Google's organic search results. Under his leadership, Rankings.io has become synonymous with measurable results, helping attorneys secure life-changing cases through visibility at the exact moment potential clients are searching for help. The company has achieved what few in the legal marketing space ever have, earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for eight consecutive years, proof of both sustained growth and relentless execution. Beyond Rankings, Chris is a builder of platforms and a voice of authority in legal marketing and entrepreneurship. He is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Niching Up: The Narrower the Market, the Bigger the Prize, where he details how focus creates outsized impact. He is also a seasoned real estate investor and the host of the Personal Injury Mastermind podcast, where he interviews top attorneys and business leaders shaping the future of law. His influence extends across respected councils and networks, including the Forbes Agency Council, Rolling Stone Culture Council, Business Journals Leadership Trust, Fast Company Executive Board, and Newsweek Expert Forum, cementing his reputation as both a practitioner and thought leader. Chris's path to entrepreneurship has been unconventional yet relentlessly instructive. Once a world-ranked collectible card game competitor, he carried that same strategic mindset into business. After earning a History Education degree, his first professional role was as a detention room supervisor, hardly glamorous, but it provided the unstructured time that sparked his obsession with digital marketing. He began experimenting with affiliate sites and, at his peak, managed more than 100 properties simultaneously. This side hustle soon eclipsed his day job, propelling him into full-time entrepreneurship. When affiliate marketing's golden age waned, Chris pivoted into legal SEO and quickly carved out a niche. Along the way, he also became a top-ranked online poker player, honing skills in risk management and probability that would serve him well in scaling his companies. Today, Chris runs Rankings.io with the same competitive fire he once brought to cards and poker, driven to outthink, outwork, and outlast the competition. His mission is simple: help the best personal injury law firms win more cases, build enduring legacies, and dominate their markets. Ways to connect with Chris**:** website: rankings.io https://x.com/chrisdreyerco https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdreyerco/ https://www.facebook.com/chrisdreyerco https://www.instagram.com/chrisdreyerco/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe Welcome to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. I'm your host. Michael Hingson, speaker, author and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear, together, we focus on mindset resilience and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Hi everyone, and welcome to another edition of unstoppable mindset. Today, our guest is Chris Dreyer. Chris, Chris has formed a company called rankings.ai. And I'm going to let him describe what all that is about. And he's done some pretty interesting things with it. It has been on inks top 5000 companies, growing companies for the past eight years. Eight years is a long time, which is pretty cool. So I'm sure he's got lots of adventures and lots of stories to talk about. So Chris, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're Chris Dreyer  01:35 here. Yeah, thanks for having me, Michael. I'm excited to chat. Michael Hingson  01:39 Well, let's start with kind of the early Chris growing up and all that, and see where we go from there. It sounds Chris Dreyer  01:45 good to me. So yeah, Michael Hingson  01:46 let's go. Why don't you tell us a little bit about Yeah, school and all that stuff. Chris Dreyer  01:51 Okay, yeah, let me, let me, and then you just cut me off at any point, because I can be a long Michael Hingson  01:55 talker the so can I? I Chris Dreyer  01:56 know what you mean. I, I grew up in a very small city, elkville, Illinois, my high school had 100 people in it. I was a graduating class of 28 I grew up, I would say it's kind of weird. My mom and dad, if they heard me say poor, would not love me saying poor, but I we weren't. We were certainly at the bottom of middle class or the upper or poor. I had a lot of chores. I every single weekend, I cleaned a law office with my mom or did something at the farmers market. So and at the time, it wasn't work. It was just what we did as a family, right? I didn't even understand it. We had, we didn't have city water. We had to get a truck and bring in our water, and we had well water, right? And in my family, and that was, that was early on, right? My dad was a milk carrier. My mom was a cook and and ultimately, they did better over the years and made more money. But it started off, it was a lot, a lot of grit, perseverance, working hard. And I like to share that, because my parents work ethic is very strong, very dependable, very consistent. And that's kind of where I got my drive. But that's, that's kind of how I grew up, small, small town, you know, a lot of side hustles with the parents. And once I went to college, I got that, that shock of, oh, here's a whole bunch of go from 100 to, you know, 20,000 Yeah, it's a bit of a shock there. 03:35 Where'd you go to college? Chris Dreyer  03:36 Yeah, I went to SIU, Southern Illinois University. There in Carbondale, Illinois. I actually live in Carbondale today. And, you know, I went to college. I was always had that entrepreneurial bug, and, but I went to college, it was kind of to make mom and dad happy to get that degree and, but I just knew that I was going to own my own business. And I kind of had that conversation with them out of the gate, but so I was a terrible student. Partied a lot, you know, chase the women, so to speak, and but somehow, ended up with a degree, got a job at a high school as their JV basketball coach, and I started doing internet marketing on the side to make a little extra money because I had some downtime. And by the end of my second year teaching, I was making about four times the amount doing that that I was teaching. So that was kind of my sign, and to go pursue that full time, and that's what I did. That's when I left to do affiliate marketing and digital marketing full time was after Michael Hingson  04:41 that second year, of course. Now the real question is, you were chasing the women? Did any of them 04:44 chase you? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Just Michael Hingson  04:49 want to make sure it's reciprocal here. Yeah, that's that's pretty cool, though. And I was going to ask you, and you sort of answered it, about your workout. Ethic and so on. I find that if people do grow up in an environment where they're working and they appreciate what they do get and the amount of work that they do, and they develop a strong work ethic, or their parents have it, they generally do as well, although sometimes there's some rebellions, but still, ultimately, the right stuff shows through. Chris Dreyer  05:24 Can I tell just a brief story about that? My mom, when I turned 16, it was like, you're getting a job, son, right? And it was not, we had, we were fine without, but it was like, so she took me to this place. It was called Ken's antiques, and they used to do the semi truck deliveries of aluminum, and I used to go to auctions and unload furniture. And I asked her, I was like, Why did you take me there? Well, you know, why didn't you take me to the mall? Why didn't you know to go work at a the buckle or the gap or something, you know, why did you take me? There she goes. Well, I knew if you could, if you could succeed here, you'd be fine anywhere, because it was the hardest job that I could think of. And I was like, Oh, really, thanks, Mom. Like, send me to the to the hardest job that you could think of and see if I could thrive. And I did well there. But that just kind of goes to show you the mindset that my mom had racing me, which also kind of, you know, attached to me as well. Michael Hingson  06:26 Yeah, well, and I can appreciate course, now looking back on it, of course, but I can appreciate what she said, because if you can survive in one place, and you can if it's if it is a tough job and you approach it the right way, then you'll probably be good anywhere, and there you go. Chris Dreyer  06:47 Yep, yep, to her credit, it was a very tough job. It is as still to this day, the hardest job from a physically demanding perspective that I had, but, but yeah, and it was good. It built resilience, you know, kind of helped me get that that put that true grit on and yeah, so that's kind of my background. Michael Hingson  07:08 I never did really work at a job growing up, my brother did. He worked at a restaurant and so on and bus tables and did other things. But I remember, when he got his first job, he went and applied at a at a restaurant, and the owner or manager, I guess probably both said, so, you know, we'll, we'll consider you. Would you do us a favor? There's some weeds out in the in the front, would you go pull those? And he said, within about a half hour, he got the whole place completely cleaned up of weeds. And the boss came out and said, You did all of that. And my brother said, Yeah. And guy said, You're hired. You know, amazing, you know, because my brother didn't even realize, I think at first, that that was really a test, but it was, and of course, he passed, which was cool. That's a great story, but I never got really to do much work. I kind of was more the intellectual guy in the family, and finding jobs would have been a little bit more of a challenge for me. I did do some babysitting, but that was about all I could do. I've been blind my whole life, and a lot of the jobs that were available in Palmdale, where I grew up in Southern California, were not jobs I was going to realistically be able to do anyway, but I could babysit, and that worked out pretty well. Yeah, yeah. So I mainly studied, Chris Dreyer  08:41 love it. So So studied. Can I? Can I do the reverse interview? What's some of your your top motivational books, business books? Because I'm sure you've got some that just pop top of the dome. Well, sort of, kind Michael Hingson  08:55 of, I really have a slightly different idea about that, but I'll tell you, I've read a number of the main books in the whole motivational and and management world. One Minute Manager is a book I appreciate a great deal. And I also like Dale Carnegie books like How to Win Friends and Influence People. But for me, I point out, and even to this day point out that I've learned more about teamwork and trust and leadership from working with eight Guide Dogs for the last 61 years than I ever learned from all the management and leadership books and everything else that's out there, mainly because working with dogs, you have several things that are An issue, first of all, respecting them and the job that they do, knowing that you're really forming a team with a guide dog, where each member of the team has a job to do. So in my case, the dog, and the case of people who use guide dogs, the purpose of the dog is to make sure that we walk safely as. We're walking somewhere, but my job is to know where to go and how to get there, and then I have to learn how to communicate that to the dog, and also be the leader of the pack in the truest sense of the word, which also means that if the dog is upset, or there is any kind of an issue with the dog, I have to figure out what that is, and I have to read what is going on so that I understand that and can then figure out what is occurring and make sure that the dog stays happy so it's you. There's so much to learn about trust, and one of the main things I've learned over the years is while dogs do, I think love unconditionally, unless they're just so badly traumatized by somebody for some reason they don't trust unconditionally. But the difference between dogs and people is that dogs are open to trust a whole lot more than we are. We have just had so many things go on. We read we bought them in the newspapers, we see it on the news and so on. Nobody trusts anyone. The feeling is basically everyone has their own hidden agenda, and so you can't trust anyone. And so there's very little communications today. There's very little real interaction. And people, by definition, don't trust. Dogs are open to trust, and you can earn their trust, and likewise, they get to and can earn your trust, and it is a it is a combination and kind of thing. So what I really learn when I go to get a new guide dog every time is I'm learning how to form a team with this other dog who doesn't speak the same language I do, who doesn't think the way I do. But I have to figure out what this dog does, what this dog is all about, and I'm the one that has to become the leader of the of the team and make things work. So I think that working with a dog is a lot more of a practical experience kind of thing than just reading about whatever there is to read about in books and so on. So that's why I say that. I think I've learned a lot more by working with dogs than I ever got from all the management books in the world, any of the Tony Robbins books, or any Chris Dreyer  12:07 of those. I love, every bit of that I just I was on x the other day, and it was talking about the the new CEO for Starbucks, right? Because the former CEO was McKinsey trained, right, but didn't have any actual experience at the helm. And then they brought back the former CEO of Taco Bell over to Starbucks, and the stock immediately shot up because of the application aspect of it. He had, he had done the job and been in the grind. So it's kind of interesting, kind of corollary there. But yeah, thank you for sharing. I was really intrigued, and I had to jump in and and ask, Michael Hingson  12:45 Oh, fair question, and then this is a conversation, so nothing wrong with asking questions on either side. So it's perfectly fine to to be able to do that well, so what did you do right out of college? Chris Dreyer  12:59 Right out of college, the one thing I'll tell you that I still to this day, I call myself an introvert. I don't think that, you know, introvert, extrovert. I think we have the tendencies at all times to be either one, right? But I think for me, I was more shy, but I built a lot of friends because I played sports and I knew them in college, and then they met, they introduced me to their friends. Because you got to imagine, when I had a class of 28 kids, it's like super small community versus, you know, everybody I'm interacting through their connections and their extended connections. So through college, I'd say the main education thing I got was, I did get a job waiting tables for three years, and so I got a lot of client service training, dealing with people having a ton of conversations through that, through my through my job, and also through my personal relationships with my friends and and other, you know, Students at the University, but so I think that kind of helped, helped me succeed afterwards, but afterwards, really, when I student taught at Heron, they saw my work ethic. They saw a shoe up, that I showed up, that I listened and I took action. So they, they hired me immediately, and I did the same when I was a JV basketball coach. I never missed a practice. Was always on time. Really tried to develop the kids and bring the most out of them, treated the parents well, and so I think that's what I did well, and it kind of put me in the position to have time to learn internet marketing. So I think that's kind of how it all started, Michael Hingson  14:47 when I was getting my teaching credential at UC Irvine, and I also got my master's degree in physics from there. But I student taught at the local high school, at University High School, and I student. Taught two classes. One was a physics class, and it was kind of for they called it dumbbell physics, but you know, it was kids who were sort of interested in science, but really didn't know where they wanted to go. But the other class was algebra one, and I remember one day I was teaching, and one of the students asked a question, and I didn't know the answer to it, and I probably should have, but I didn't. But what I said was, I don't know the answer right off, tell you, what do you mind if I look at it tonight, get you the answer and bring it back tomorrow. And the kid who was an eighth grader, actually accelerated, so it was high school algebra one, but he was from the eighth grade. He said, Sure, so I went home and found the answer in the book, when I should have known that, but anyway, came back in the next day, and even before I could say anything, he said, Mr. Hingson, I went home and got the answer, and I said, Well, come up and write it on the board. And one of the things that I did with with all of my classes when, of course, we had blackboards and all that, back in those days, I would want a student to come up and be the board writer, because they write a lot better than I do. And so we, we had pretty good competitions of people who wanted to write on the board. They all thought it was kind of fun, and I did spread that wealth around, but Marty came up and I said, now you got to explain what you're writing. And he had actually found the answer, which was cool, but my master teacher was also the football coach, and when I first told Marty and the rest of the class, I don't know the answer, but I will get it after class was over, Mr. Redmond said you did something that's absolutely amazing and was absolutely the right thing to do, and most people wouldn't do it. And that was you admitted you didn't know the answer, but you would go get it rather than trying to blow smoke, because these kids can see through that in a second. And he said, So you did the right thing, and I've always felt that's the way to do it. If I don't know the answer, I'll go figure it out, but I will also tell you that I don't know the answer, and you can decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I think it's a good thing, to be honest, Chris Dreyer  17:22 I couldn't agree more. Michael Hingson  17:25 And so it was fun. And and what the the other part of the story, and I think I've told it a couple times on the podcast, is 10 years later, I was at the Orange County Fairgrounds, and this kid comes up to me, Well, he was, he didn't sound like a kid anymore. And he said, Mr. Hingson, do you know who this is? Deep voice. And I went, No, not right off. And he said, I'm Marty. I'm the guy that was in your algebra class 10 years ago. Nice to be remembered, but, but he he also just remembered what happened. And I think he even said it was so cool that I was honest with him about it, which was, you know, a life lesson anybody should learn. Chris Dreyer  18:09 That's incredible. That's incredible. So Michael Hingson  18:10 it was a lot of fun. Well, so you student taught and so on, but eventually you ended up deciding to go into the entrepreneur world. But you also were a card collector, right? A game collector, yeah. Chris Dreyer  18:25 And in high school, I played this collectible card game. I played a combination of two. I mean, most people are familiar with Magic, The Gathering, but I also played this other game called Legend of five rings. And both, you know, the collectible card games, but they're really math based games based upon advantage and and, you know, you so now it's applicable to today. I can look at any whether it's Pokemon or whatever card game there is. It's, it was very, you know, it's force based, you know, benefits to attack and things like that. It attributes everything. But anyways, I played it competitively, and I was a top I was a world ranked player at one time. I won four state championships or CO days. No one had done that at the time in a two consecutive years, and it was just a top player, and when you get to the top, you become friends with the other top players, and then you talk strategy and and that even takes you to an even higher level. And so I did that, you know, for many years, competed all over the country. It was a great experience. And so, yeah, that in my house. My dad very so he had, he was a civil engineer. He has an engineer degree, but he was traveling. He was on the railroad at all times, and he wanted to stop traveling, so he accepted this job as a mail carrier so he could stay put. And. Yeah, and that's what he did. He retired as a mail carrier, but, you know, a top math expert to the to the point where there would be conversations where you could, like, I couldn't understand him, right? He couldn't understand himself, right? And, and, and there's many conversations in different aspects of this. But when we played games, whether it was Yahtzee or monopoly or whatever, every game, there was a math based lesson to it, like, which dice you rolled for advantage at Yahtzee, which ones to hold after the first roll. Poker games, pitch games, Rummy, every single game it was, it was game theory. It was math on what was the precise the best role, like Monopoly, the best properties and the probability to get an orange property over other properties and and how much you should spend at certain points of the game. And I realized saying that outline that's that that's not normal. Some people just play yatse and roll the dice and they roll what they want, and some people play Monopoly and just buy the properties they want. That was not how games were played in my household, and it was very applicable to poker and to the collectible card games. Michael Hingson  21:22 Yeah. So how often did you want to buy Boardwalk and Park Place? Chris Dreyer  21:28 Not often. But I mean, so there. That was just how I was brought up. And yeah, and it turned into a lot of what I do today. Michael Hingson  21:42 Actually, I always like free parking. We had a thing where any money and and any kind of thing that you had to pay on all went into the free parking pot. So getting free parking was always fun. Oh yeah, but yeah, I hear what you're saying. I love monopoly and love to even play it against the computer, which was always a kind of a neat thing to do, but played Monopoly against other members of my family. Some we actually made a Well, we took a regular Monopoly board, and I think my father outlined the entire board and all the squares using elmer's glue so that we had raised lines for me to look at. Then we also did things to mark the paper money so I could tell what bills I had and and so on, and even Braille the cards. And I still have that game to this day, very neat, which is kind of cool, but monopoly spun. Chris Dreyer  22:36 Yeah, there's a lot of games that you know, there's no winner. You take my wife wants to play Scrabble all the time, and I'm like, there's just not a winner in Scrabble. Because if I challenge you on a word, and I'm right, you're wrong. You're mad if I beat you, you know, and then if I lose, it's not fulfilling for me. That's one of those games. There's no winner. Michael Hingson  23:02 I have a friend who plays Scrabble with his mother all the time, and and he, I think he loses more than he wins, but he's always proud when he beats her. And he's almost 60, so you know, she's, she's older than he is, but they, they play and have a lot of fun with Scrabble. Chris Dreyer  23:21 That's incredible. That's Michael Hingson  23:22 great. Yeah, it is kind of cool. But anyway, so you eventually decided to go off and go into the entrepreneurial world, and you started your company, or went well, when did you actually start the company? Chris Dreyer  23:37 Started the company officially in 2013 it was attorney rankings.org, that was the original name. Now it's rankings.io, I worked at a few agencies previously, while I was also doing the affiliate marketing, and kind of got to see the agency world of providing, you know, the professional services space. And after working at a few agencies. Thought that I could do it right. I got the confidence from the competence, and that's when I launched it. 2013 we've always been focused on legal. The difference today is primarily, we're focused on a sub niche of legal for personal injury law. And, you know, we work with other practice areas, criminal defense, family law, etc. But really personal injury is the is 85% of our business. Michael Hingson  24:27 So what is it that rankings.io? Does, Chris Dreyer  24:31 yeah, we do digital marketing. We do search engine optimization now, AI search, we do pay per click paid social web design. A lot of performance marketing, I would say more performance, less creative and branding. And that's what we do. We work with the top, the biggest pi firms, personal injury law firms in the country. We're in chiefs, I think every state we work with about. 250 law firms across the country. Michael Hingson  25:03 What made you decide to focus on law in the beginning? Chris Dreyer  25:09 Yeah, I'll say a few reasons. One, I had an experience working with attorneys, and I liked working with them. So there was the like component when I worked at an agency, I had a few firms that would I spoke with, and I enjoyed it. The second thing was, if I'm being honest, the status like I wanted to tell my parents that I did marketing for lawyers, and not just, you know, any industry. And then the other thing is, is I'm very, very, very competitive, and I kept seeing and hearing these reports about more and more attorneys going to law school and and just all this competition for legal and the thing that I differ you hear a lot of coaches and mentors. They'll say, hey, go to the blue ocean. You know, everyone's read the blue ocean book, or, you know, Peter thiel's zero to one, and everyone thinks so, go where there's no competition. And I'm like, That's fine if you're Elon or Peter Thiel or Zuckerberg creating something new, but if you're going into an existing category, you want to go where there is competition, because it demands expertise, and that's the way that I've looked at it. Like, you take the agency perspective, I don't want to go to, you know, lawn care, SEO like, do they really want to do search engine optimization? Do they really have a ton of competition? Maybe that's not a great example. But you get my point where, if you go into the city, there's a ton of personal injury law firms, but there's only a few that can rank at the top. And there's, they're all trying to gather cases from one another, so they want an expert to help them, you know, get that visibility. And that's, that's the mindset that Michael Hingson  26:58 went into it. What strikes me is interesting, though, is that with all of that, you bring a very competitive level to what you do. And I'm not sure that I find that a lot of people necessarily even do that, so you consider even search engine optimization to be a very competitive thing, I don't want to say sport, but you consider it all about competition, and you want to really bring the best and the most significant aspects of it to what you do. And that clearly has to show up when you're talking about Inc ranking you in the top companies for eight years in a row. Chris Dreyer  27:47 Yeah, it's very status orientation. You know, that's why I like working with trial attorneys. There's a winner and loser in court, and there's only one top position in Google or on these llms, and it's, who's gonna win, who's the best? Yeah, and it's right there for everyone. Here's here's the tally. Everyone can see who's the best. And I've always loved that. I think I heard a podcast recently by John Morgan. He's the founder of Morgan, Morgan, right? Of course. And you know, he's always a character and funny to listen to, but, yeah, he talks about being insatiable. Like, how did you grow this? He's like, Well, I'm insatiable. I I want to continue to grow. And for me, it's, it's the exact same thing. It's like, I'm insatiable. We hit a milestone. I want the next milestone. It is the game that I'm playing. I am playing like my hobby is my business. I enjoy it. I look forward to a Monday. It rewards me mentally. I enjoy the people I work with. And that's that's how we're at you know, Inc, 5008 years in a row, we'll definitely be on the ninth year next year, due to our growth this year. And it's that's just, that's just how I treat it. It's just a big game. And, you know, like any game, you play Sim City, whatever, you get a little bit more money, you get a little bit more buildings, right? You do a little bit better, you hire more talent, you expand your capabilities, and you just, if you don't stop, you're going to Michael Hingson  29:22 continue to grow. But it's a game in the mathematical sense, and it's it's a game in the the productive sense of what you're trying to do is, isn't the game just, although you obviously have to have fun in what you do, otherwise you wouldn't enjoy doing it. But it's a game in the mathematical sense of the word, oh, 100% Chris Dreyer  29:44 and so many people don't understand what I'm about to say. But like, every move that you make is a move based upon leverage in some capacity, yeah, and you take, because our time is all limited. You take. I'll give you some examples, like from a from a distribution perspective, hosting my podcast or being on your podcast is going to have more listeners than if I go speak on stage, if I go speak on stage now that that has its own benefits of authority and and different you know, belly to belly relationships from a trust perspective, but from a distribution perspective, I would be better off doing more podcasts than I would speaking on stage, sure. So there's an advantage there, right? And then there's also advantages through pricing arbitrage, and it's if, if I hire labor and talent in in the Midwest, and I pay them above average fees and salaries, and I pay my employees well, but compare that to New York or California. And I think some people, you know, these are things that they don't talk about, but when you start to look at leverage closely, it's everywhere. Capital, economies of scale, if I you know, there's leverage based upon my my buying power in certain areas, and that's what I look for. It's an interesting way to make decisions. Is based upon that leverage component. Michael Hingson  31:20 Do you think that that works in other kinds of arenas, other than just what you do? Chris Dreyer  31:27 Oh, I won 1,000% yes, yeah. It works in you could see it. You know, the closest would be, closest arena would be sports. There's so many, whether it's the salary caps or the talent of one person's labor based, you know, what they can do from a utilization or capacity versus another one's people talk about it on the business side of like, you know, You have one software programmer is worth, potentially 1,000x another one just because of that individual's capabilities. So it's literally everywhere, and it's also dissecting different scenarios into fractional leverage. So I'll take give you a different way of thinking about this. Is like, you take a an SEO specialist, a top tier SEO specialist might be 100 200 grand, right, technician, right? But you you break down their capabilities into the smaller parts. You know someone that just writes, someone that just does the title tags and the website, and someone that just does the links and that, like you can assemble, that individuals that that superstars talent through the FRAC breaking it down from a fractional perspective. It's just a big game of puzzles and how you get there and you look at like what your competitors are doing and how you can, I wouldn't say, exploit in a negative way, but, but what I mean is how you can take advantage in a positive way to to help your business succeed, right? Michael Hingson  33:15 Well, do you so if, if you're playing a game like football, of course, everybody, every team, wants to crush the other team, and it's all about winning and beating the heck out of the other guy. Is that really the way you view it, in terms of the game, as you play it, and do you enjoy being able to just crush the competition? Or is it a different mindset than that? Chris Dreyer  33:42 That's a really good question, because I am an abundance mindset. I don't think everything is a zero sum game. It's, I'll tell you something super nerdy. I was talking to my chief of staff the other day that he's we're big gamers, big nerds. And he, we were talking about Warhammer 40k and the dwarves in that game have a book of grudges. So anybody that that goes against the dwarves, they they're listed in the book of grudges, right? Yeah. And it's like all the dwarves are trying to, you know, right? This wrong. And I kind of look like that. I'm like, treat people respect like, you know, abundance zero, you know, like, abundance mentality. Do the referral thing until it's like, okay, you've done X, Y and Z, and I could give you examples of x, y, z, and it's like, okay, well, you're not my friend. You're not my ally, so now you are a true competitor by all since you know, by all definitions, right? That's how I've treated it. Michael Hingson  34:48 And so it isn't the joy of just beating everybody in sight. No, which is different, which is cool, because certainly. I would, I would also bet, though, that you have people who are competitors, but they're not unfriendly, so you can absolutely, yeah, you can develop Chris Dreyer  35:10 working relationships. Rattle off, and we have great conversations. We're friends, and people are surprised when they see us, and we're friendly, and it's like, no, it's like, we have families, we have life. We want to do good work. We want to and it's so you can absolutely have that too. Yeah. Michael Hingson  35:27 Why did you decide to specifically choose personal injury Chris Dreyer  35:33 for me? And it's this is turning into the math conversation. But really, I looked at our revenue, and it was like over 70% of our revenue. Was from less than 50% of our clientele. And it was a clear directional signal to pursue this area. And that's it was the math like, these are our best clients. They pay the most, they stay the longest we could do the best work. Also the PI space is the Super Bowl. Is the major leagues. In the legal arena, it's, it's very difficult to rank. There's a lot of competition versus, you know, I get a family law attorney. I don't care what market you're in, Los Angeles, it's like a sneeze to get them the number one or two? Yeah, it's and I like that. I like the competition. I like having to work at it and be creative and think about different things to try to obtain that top position. Michael Hingson  36:33 Yeah, well, so I would, I would presume that John Morgan's happy with you. Chris Dreyer  36:40 I, you know, I had Dan Morgan as a keynote for my 2024 conference, his son. And I haven't personally talked to John. I think he's well, he says he's retired, but he's not really retired, yeah, right. The I couldn't work with Morgan and Morgan, I can have a great relationship with them, but I can't work with them because they're in every market, and my I would, they would be my only client, so that's why, but certainly have a great relationship. I've got a text relationship with Dan, but yeah, they, I think they do everything in house. Michael Hingson  37:20 Anyways, you don't want to be the consularity for Morgan and Morgan, in other words, Chris Dreyer  37:25 your only client, right, right? That would put a lot of risk on the old client concentration problem, Michael Hingson  37:33 and it would, but still. So what does it mean for a law firm to dominate Google's organic search. And I guess the other question is, why is that the legal battleground that personal injury lawyers can't really ignore? Chris Dreyer  37:53 There's, there's so much here. Okay, where do I go? That's a lot of take. You take any channel, broadcast television has been the main vehicle for channel for distribution. It's the lowest CPMs cost per 1000. The distribution is very wide, because an individual doesn't know typically, when they're going to be in an accident, right? So you got to have a lot of reach and touch a lot of individuals. There's also radio and billboards. But typically, even if they watch you on television or hear you on the radio or what have you, they still convert. They go to Google to make that conversion that go to the website. Typically, it's not always and and things are changing due to these llms and the native experiences on platform. But even today, it's still the final destination before they contact a firm. So it's really important that you show up at the top of Google to capture all of those opportunities that you've advertised for in other mediums. Michael Hingson  39:09 How do you do that? Chris Dreyer  39:12 Well, so you know, I'll say, I'll try to simplify for the audience. Let's just keep it really, think of like a Venn diagram of, you know, the three circles overlaying and you've got the middle. You have to do all three. The first one is you have to have excellent content. You have to have, you know, if you're an auto accident attorney, you have to have content about auto accidents. You have to have, you know, you have to have content that targets phrases and words that consumers will search for, right? It starts with the content. It has to be thematically and topically relevant. Has to be excellent content. The second component would be related to. Views. You got to get Google reviews to show up on in the LSA, the local services ads location, you have to get reviews to show up in Google Map Pack. You need reviews now on Yelp to show up on and be discovered on these different llms, particularly a chat GPT. And just due to how okay for the SEO nerds listening, let me explain, because typically when you get reviews on Yelp and when you get reviews or recommendations on Facebook, they aggregate that information to other sites, which is then the listicles that form the basis of discovery for these llms. So you got to have a review background. So content reviews and then links. Google, the way that they differentiated, again, way against lo AOL was they use links as a categorization method. So if you're trying to win an election, you want to get as many votes as possible. If you're trying to win the first page of Google, you want to get as many high quality links as possible. High quality being authoritative, relevant, trustworthy, you know, sites that get a lot of traffic, so you need great content, lot of reviews and links. That is the very 8020, high end summer summary of of how to rank in Google search and on the llms, yeah. Michael Hingson  41:24 Well, and how does LinkedIn fit into what you do? Chris Dreyer  41:29 LinkedIn is a bit different. I you know LinkedIn more B to B platform. I think if you're a business attorney or a B to B firm, it's an excellent channel. I use it from a distribution perspective. I get a lot of reach. I get a lot of followers on there. A lot of attorneys congregate on there. And it's a great, you know, channel for recruiting talent, and it's cited frequently if you have some type of reputation perspective that you want to control around your name. LinkedIn typically ranks in one of the top three positions for your name if you have your profile set up properly. So yeah, it's, it's, it's got great distribution from a leverage perspective, and, you know, has other applications as well. Michael Hingson  42:15 If you were starting a law firm today, or you were advising someone who's starting a law firm, how would you deal with and start their marketing efforts? How would you organize marketing for them? Chris Dreyer  42:28 Yeah, in the beginning I would, I would do almost all performance marketing. I would not do. I would do very little with brands, because you need to get on your your cash acceleration cycle is very poor. From a PI perspective. I'm always thinking from an injury law firm perspective, because, you know, if you get an auto accident case by the time they get treatment and go through the whole process, you know, it could be 12 to 18 months before you get paid. So you know, I would think about performance marketing, Facebook ads, Google ads, LSA, SEO, a lot of the ads platforms that are, you know, very performance driven. That would be the majority of my investment. Facebook ads. So in a vacuum, you know, different markets are, there's different channels that are more effective. But in a vacuum, I would say today, right now, Facebook ads would be the best platform, the best channel for that, Michael Hingson  43:29 because so many, because it has such a high volume of viewers, or what Chris Dreyer  43:34 they're well, it's just the cost per lead. The amount that you pay on that platform to reach your target prospect is going to be cheaper than say, you go to Google ads and you're paying $600 a click for a phrase, or, you know, it's just now, there's, again, this is in a vacuum. There's very effective Google Ad strategies you can get, you know, creative with performance, Max campaigns and and different strategies. But I would say just in general, Facebook ads out of the gate would be one that I would start with, and I would start the SEO early, just because it takes time to develop. Michael Hingson  44:14 Yeah, well, that makes sense, and it does take a long time, and I think a lot of people don't necessarily understand how all of that works, but it's still something that they should, should deal with Chris Dreyer  44:28 1,000% and, you know, it's, it's a game of, it's a long game, but it, you know, even SEO can be on a shorter time horizon, if, if You're, like, if you target Car Accident Lawyer in that phrase and that segment, then sure, yeah, 12 to 18 months is, you know, you know, even two years before you start to get some visibility. But you target dog bites, you target, you know, some other case types that aren't as competitive like you can get traction sooner. Michael Hingson  45:00 Hmm, well, and that kind of brings up the question you You talk a lot about, and you wrote a book about niche. Why is it that going into like a smaller niche can yield sort of a greater opportunity, or by narrowing focus, you're creating bigger opportunities? Why is that? So? Chris Dreyer  45:22 What comes top of mind? Some of the biggest, the most important reason is it all centers around this word focus. When you focus in a single area, you become better. Well, because you were better, you can you can at your you can charge more because you're worth it. The other thing is, is when you focus on a single area, you you can create, create repeatable processes, and everything is not bespoke when it comes in. So you can set up your internal productization of a certain area. You it makes training easier by immersion. So there's a lot of benefits, even even the perception aspect of it, right? So when you think of like, who's better, a generalist versus a brain surgeon, you think a brain surgeon is a specialist. And you think, Well, who do you think, just offhand, whose fees would be higher? Well, you think the brain surgeon would would charge higher fees. And so from a perception perspective, and when you're thinking about trust, the that's the other one, right? You would think from a trust perspective, they would be more qualified because they're in this certain area. So, and when we're trying to convert someone in sales, it's always a conversation based upon trust. So those are some of the main advantages, the one heavy, heavy disadvantage. Disadvantage is Tam, total addressable market. It's you focus on personal injury. You're at 50, 60,000 firms. You focus on all law firms. United States, you're at 400,000 law firms. So there's trade offs for you know, there's pros and cons on both sides well Michael Hingson  47:03 and and that makes sense, but there is a lot of merit to the to the whole concept of specializing, and you've proven it with what you do, and you continue to be pretty successful about it. And then that makes a lot of sense, but you also do something else that I think is interesting. You've written a book, niching up, you've got a podcast, you have other things that you do, and, of course, just the company itself, but you put all of that together, and all of that not only has to help your brand, but it makes you more visible in the marketplace overall. Don't you think? Chris Dreyer  47:42 Yeah, it certainly does, and it is our flywheel, right? It's somebody that's on my podcast could be a potential quote in my book, and I have a personal injury lawyer marketing book, right? And there's quotes from the pod. I have now a quarterly magazine that goes out. We could cherry pick a couple episodes, you know, to include in the magazine. We have retreats that are quarterly. They're, they're in person that, because we have a community, they're easier to to fill. We have a yearly event for personal injury law firms called, you know, Pim con. So it's all this, this flywheel that kind of compounds over time due to the community aspect, Michael Hingson  48:25 but people obviously react well to it, because you continue to be successful. Chris Dreyer  48:32 Yeah, and I think the biggest thing for me is I am I am not the the expert. I am bringing on the experts in their field, the people that are eating their own dog food, so to speak, right? They're practicing what they preach. It is, I can orchestrate a great conversation because I know the space and can ask very specific questions based upon my knowledge. But I'm bringing on, you know, Dan Morgan's on the pod. I've had, let's see Morris Bart. You know, I've had frank Azar in Colorado. I've had the biggest of the big pi attorneys on sharing what works for them, which, which is very valuable, because it's not, you know, some, you know, a consultant or me or whoever, speaking about like, Oh, this is how you can grow a law firm. It's no this is the owner of a law firm explaining how he or she is growing their law firm right, Michael Hingson  49:31 and providing that advice for other people, which also helps you gain trust, which is pretty cool. What's the best way for an attorney who wants to stand out to truly build authority in the market? Chris Dreyer  49:50 Well, if you're if you're b Look, okay, so there's a couple types of firms. If you're a trial attorney and you want to get peer referrals, I would say. See, I would say start a podcast would be one of the best ways, you know, interview your peer, interview other attorneys around the country, talk shop, you know, speak at C les. You know, do the those types of aspects it, you know, a podcast. I'm not saying it's not good for B to C, but it's, it has to be a different type of podcast. So I think, I think B to B, if you're a litigation attorney, a podcast would be great if it's B to C. That's, that's tricky. I think I think probably social media in some capacity, but really it's just sharing your knowledge on a platform and being consistent. Michael Hingson  50:51 Yeah, consistency counts for a lot, and it is something you can you can show is being relevant in almost any kind of business. I mean, look at McDonald's. One thing you can generally tell about McDonald's is that their quarter pounder is going to taste the same everywhere, and it's going to be the same and, and, and companies and people can learn a lot by seeing a company that truly develops that level of trust, 51:24 yeah, couldn't agree more. Michael Hingson  51:26 And that's pretty important to do, to be able to get someone who is going to earn that trust by vigorously working to earn that trust. And so there's something to be said for that, needless to say, so you've built a very large company. What would you say are some of the pivotal moments that sort of helped shape your trajectory? I know you've talked about some things, but what, what kind of really, are the things that stand out that really helped you create all of that? Chris Dreyer  52:00 I think in the beginning, I did a lot of free work, and had to prove my work, prove my abilities. I think so many people just want to charge a lot out of the gate. And I think there's when you do things for people, they're more willing to reciprocate. And it from an application perspective, it makes you better. So I did a lot of free work early, a ton of free work. I took a lot of jobs or contracts that maybe not, maybe for certain, that I wouldn't take today, that were just not perfect, but like they were my opportunities that I didn't, you know, let them pass by. I think hiring the right people, having super high standards is incredibly important, people that share your values. In the beginning, I used to, every time I heard a speech or taught speech speaker talk about culture values, I used to kind of roll my eyes and say I just didn't get to get to work, right? But now I know it's more important than ever that they share my values, right? Because they're important to me, and that's how you move forward. And I think the other one, if I had to say, the bigger I get, the more important good data, is to make decisions like, if I just don't have good data, it's very difficult. I'm just guessing and and the better the data, the better decisions well. Michael Hingson  53:32 So the the other thing that comes to mind when you talked about doing a lot of free work and jobs that you wouldn't necessarily take today, I don't know how much it really entered into your mindset, but think of all the knowledge you gathered by doing that that you might not have ever gotten. Yeah. Chris Dreyer  53:49 I mean, that's true, and a lot of other people wouldn't have done those jobs, so that's kind of some unique perspectives. Michael Hingson  53:56 Yeah, I when I hired sales people, one of the first things I always told them was, you're coming into this be a student for at least the first year. Don't hesitate to ask questions of your customers, because they're not if you gain their trust at all. They're not in it to see you fail. They want you to succeed, but they want to be able to trust you. And so there's a lot to be said for being a student, asking questions and learning from that. I agree. I agree, which makes a lot of sense. What's the biggest misconception that lawyers typically have about marketing? Chris Dreyer  54:33 They underestimate how many dollars and what it takes for someone to actually be memorable or build a brand. I talked to, I heard Alex hermosi talking recently about, you know, no one really knew who Jennifer Lawrence was before the mockingbird movie, and they spent $50 million on advertising for that movie. And then, oh, suddenly, everyone knows who she is. But it took $50 million To do so. I think a lot of times people think they oversaturate a channel when they haven't even scratched the possibilities or the capabilities of a particular channel. Michael Hingson  55:10 How do you help lawyers break through that misconception? I agree with what you're saying. I hear it a lot, in so many ways, but how do you break through that and get them to understand the value. Chris Dreyer  55:22 It's a dance, yeah, you know, I try to get them to look at the blended cost to acquire a case, as opposed to, you know, the CAC to LTV ratio, versus trying to pinpoint each individual channel and but it is try to try to solve with data and proof over, you know, guesses, but or promises, but it is always a song and dance. Michael Hingson  55:52 The data and proof is out there. If people can learn to look for it, it's, it's, the reality is, mostly it's not a guess, but you have to know where to look or learn how to find the data to be able to get the answers that you need to demonstrate that marketing is just as valuable as anything else. I mean, there's so many strong lessons about marketing. We talked about Morgan and Morgan, but think about it, he's out there doing TV commercials all the time, and I'm sure that that's helping his company. He and Ultima continuing to to grow, and now they got the boys all in it. And the reality is they've demonstrated that they understand something about what marketing is all about. I remember back a long time ago when it was taboo for lawyers to even advertise. And then a couple of companies out here started to do it. And finally, people realized there's a lot of value in marketing. Chris Dreyer  56:50 Absolutely. And Michael, I should have said this in advance. I've got a I got a hard stop, I got a I got a hat, I got a client call here in two minutes. Michael Hingson  56:59 Well, then let me just ask, is there anything else that you want to add? Or how can people reach out to you if they'd like to do that? Chris Dreyer  57:06 Well, first of all, I really enjoyed our conversation, so thank you for having me. Yeah, you know, for anybody that has a question or wants to connect with me, the best way to get in touch with me is by email. I'm an inbox zero guy. It's Chris, C, H, R, i s@rankings.io I'm most active on LinkedIn. You'll just do a search for Chris Dreyer, and you'll find me cool. Michael Hingson  57:29 Well, I want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for tuning in today, wherever you are, I'd love to hear from you. Love your thoughts on the podcast. Give us an email at Michael h i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, also, you can listen to any of our podcasts. They're all available. And you can find us at Michael hingson.com/podcast and you can see and hear all the episodes that you want from there. Please give us a five star review and great rating wherever you're listening and watching us, we value it a lot. And if you know anyone who you think might be able to be a good guest, love to hear from you. Chris, you as well. If you know anybody else who you think ought to be a guest, I'd love to definitely get your help to bring them on, because we're looking for all the people who want to come on and show that we're all more unstoppable than we think. But again, I want to just thank you for being here today. Chris Dreyer  58:20 Thank you, Michael. I really enjoyed it. Michael Hingson  58:26 Thank you for being here with me on unstoppable mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about if you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others. I have a free gift for you. Head over to Michael hingson.com and download my free ebook, blinded by fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening, keep learning, keep questioning and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable mindset you.

The return of coach Greg Hunter!Howley Award winner Marcos Kniska of University High School. 

Fulton Walker Award winner Jimmy Gregg of University High School. 

Cast members from two productions of Irving Berlin's White Christmas — one at University High School and one at Lewis and Clark — join host Henry McNulty in the studio to discuss the show(s) and perform musical selections together.

N/S football with Ace Flores of MartinsburgTop ranked Class of 2026 punter Jimmy Gregg of University High School.

We hear a lot about politically engaged college students, but we don’t always hear about politically engaged high school students. This hour, we learn how high school students past and present have fought for change in their communities. We talk to two current students at University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford about testifying before lawmakers to increase their access to transportation. We'll also hear about high school activism of the 1960s and 1970s, including how the FBI monitored students. GUESTS: Nariyah Lindsay: High School Senior and President of the Social Justice League at University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford Oluwaseyi Oluborode: High School Junior and Vice President of the Social Justice League at University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford Aaron G. Fountain Jr.: Historian who researches high school protests. His book High School Students Unite! Teen Activism, Education Reform, & FBI Surveillance in Postwar America comes out in December. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rio Hondo Prep will take on University High School from Irvine in the CIF Southern Section Finals this Friday morning at 10:00am. Although RHP is the designated home team, the Trojans will feel right at home with the game being played at Deanna Manning Stadium just 3 miles from their campus. The Kares reached the Championship Game only one previous time 46 years ago back in 1979. The 2025 squad could potentially make history and hang a new type of banner in the very crowded rafters of the Stivers Center back in Arcadia. Our special guests today are Juniors Janna Taflinger and Madison Burl who both possess the energy, enthusiasm, and humility that embodies the true meaning of what it is to be a Kare. It is up to the faithful fans and passionate alumni of Rio to get out to support these young women early on Friday morning as they represent the proud tradition that is Rio Hondo Prep.

Episode 539 - Beau L'Amour - Son of best selling novelist Louis L'Amour, Striving to maintain a legacyAdvancing A LegacyBeau L'Amour is a writer and entertainment industry jack-of-all-trades. He is the son of best selling novelist Louis L'Amour and has managed his father's literary estate since 1988. Striving to maintain that legacy, he has done editorial work, revised unfinished manuscripts, managed a literary magazine and an audio/radio drama series, done art direction,been a comic book writer and producer and become an expert in marketing. In the years since his father passed away L'Amour has helped sell over 120 million books, nearly 5 million audio programs and placed a number of books of short stories (out of 16 posthumous collections) on the Best Seller lists.Beau is known for his Audio Publishing, Motion Picture Production & Book Publishing. Beau L'Amour was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was Louis L'Amour, a well known author of magazine and paperback fiction. His mother was Katherine Adams, the daughter of a silent movie actress and a southern California real estate developer.Throughout a good deal of his youth Beau lived in West Hollywood, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles county, known as a center of counter-culture and beatnik life. He grew up surrounded by his parents eclectic and eccentric group of friends; Austrian philosophers, American Indians, FBI agents, members of the Hollywood Ten, Eastern European refugees, Thai aristocracy, mysteriously talented dealers in primitive art and a wide array of writers, from Ray Bradbury to Jim Thompson.Beau attended West Hollywood Elementary School. In 1973 his family moved to West Los Angeles where he attended Emerson Junior High and University High School. After a year at Santa Monica College he went on to earn his BFA at California Institute of the Arts under the mentorship of director Alexander Mackendrick and illustrator and pioneering digital animator Ed Emshwiller. He also studied acting with Janet Alhanti and Harry Mastergeorge, and directing at UCLA with Ted Post.https://beaulamour.com/Support the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca

Longtime Coach and Florida Native Mark Barrett joins the podcast to share his journey and some Best Practices. Mark is the Assistant AD at Orlando's University High School and his story goes from Florida's Panhandle to a number of well known schools (and mentors) before he landed in Orlando. THIS is The Educational AD Podcast!

Brenna Foley speaks with Sarah Odell, PhD, Dean of Faculty at San Francisco University High School (CA), to discuss her research on gender equity and women in leadership. Sarah shares insights from her work on the challenges women face in the leadership pipeline, the evolving landscape of hiring and retention in independent schools, and strategies for fostering inclusive school communities. She also reflects on her personal journey, the mentors who shaped her career, and the importance of balancing innovation with institutional values. You can find some related NAIS resources from this episode by visiting nais.org/membervoices.

The six (ex-)wives of King Henry VIII joined host Henry McNulty in the studio for a conversation about U-High's upcoming production of "SIX."

We told you! University High School in West Los Angeles is a legendary place for a reason. The phrase "only in LA" comes to mind when you take a look at a list of the incredibly talented superstars - from film, music and elsewhere - that have attended this hallowed schoolhouse. Our pals Morty Coyle and Jordan Summers are also incredibly talented superstars in their own right, and they have wonderful stories to tell as they are amongst the subjects of this week's topic - Top Ten University High Alumni. Picks 5-1 are featured here in Part 2.If you missed Part 1, go back and check it out on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get yours:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-654-top-ten-university-high-alumni-part-1-w/id573735994?i=1000688509246What a wealth of amazing talent! Hear every song heard in Parts 1 & 2 at the official Top Ten University High Alumni Spotify playlist:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1AH2XMLvTRJWEln0eQ3Y4A?si=970268aac0a24340Morty and Jordan make great music as members of LA stalwarts All Day Sucker. Explore their catalog at their websitehttps://www.alldaysucker.net/We've lowered our prices, but not our standards over at the ATTT Patreon! Those who are kindly contributing $2 a month are receiving an exclusive monthly Emergency Pod episode featuring our favorite guests and utilizing our patent-pending improv format in which we miraculously pull a playlist out of thin air. It's the long-awaited return of Chrissy Olsen, in an all new episode, out February 1st! Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/c/alltimetopten

If you've ever heard the phrase "this could only happen in LA", you'll know that Los Angeles is a fascinating and bizarre city, with millions of transplants clogging up the freeways, trying to make their mark in the entertainment capitol of the world. For those who grew up here, this stuff is old hat. For example, Morty Coyle and Jordan Summers are LA natives and literally went to high school with rock stars and movie stars. University High School in West LA has a long and fascinating history, and to take a glance at a list of former students at Uni High is to have your mind blown. This place is legendary for a reason and ATTT is delighted to have Morty and Jordan give us a guided tour, and help us count down the 10 greatest musicians and singers those hallowed halls have yet produced. Picks 10-6 are featured here in Part 1.Morty and Jordan make great music as members of LA stalwarts All Day Sucker. Explore their catalog at their websitehttps://www.alldaysucker.net/We've lowered our prices, but not our standards over at the ATTT Patreon! Those who are kindly contributing $2 a month are receiving an exclusive monthly Emergency Pod episode featuring our favorite guests and utilizing our patent-pending improv format in which we miraculously pull a playlist out of thin air. It's the long-awaited return of Chrissy Olsen, in an all new episode, out February 1st! Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/c/alltimetopten

Sean Tomany is The Principal at The University High School of Science and Engineering. He joins us to discuss the free transit bus passes for students program he worked to start.

Join us as Coach Randy Bessolo unveils his remarkable journey from playing basketball at Columbia University to coaching inner-city youth in Chicago, and now mentoring at University High School in San Francisco. Gain valuable insights into his coaching philosophy, emphasizing the impact of sports beyond the game. Discover how Randy builds winning cultures, embraces competition, and fosters lifelong friendships among players. Explore the benefits of multi-sport participation, evolving coaching principles, and the power of trust and development in young athletes. Whether you're a coach, athlete, or sports enthusiast, this episode is packed with profound lessons and inspiration for all. 00:00 Introduction to Coach Randy Bessolo 00:14 Coach Randy's Journey to Coaching 01:42 Coaching in Chicago: Challenges and Rewards 02:54 Returning to California and University High School 04:00 Impact of Urban Programs on Youth 06:02 Coaching Philosophy and Values 07:20 Transition to University High School 11:45 Building a Winning Culture 15:35 Learning from Failures 17:56 Keys to Success and Fun in Coaching 19:46 Applying Fun and Lifelong Friendships in Coaching 20:06 The Blueprint for Runnin Red Devils Basketball 22:00 Substitution Strategies and Team Buy-In 25:08 Encouraging Multi-Sport Athletes 28:01 Lessons from Coaching Baseball 29:38 Evolving Coaching Philosophy 31:25 Leadership and Support in Coaching 32:46 Real Estate Principles in Coaching 36:22 Balancing Coaching and Fatherhood 38:23 Conclusion and Final Thoughts --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justin-clymo30/support

Cast and crewmembers of University High School's Guys and Dolls join me in the studio to discuss their upcoming production.

Sean Tomany is the Principal of University High School of Science and Engineering. He is spearheading an initiative to provide free transit city bus passes to students to get to school.

When you read about our guest this time, Lisa Kohn, the first thing you read is “The best seats Lisa ever had at Madison Square Garden were at her mother's wedding, and the best cocaine she ever had was from her father's friend, the judge.” Lisa's mother's wedding was a group affair with 4,000 marriages taking place. It wasn't nearly as romantic as one might think as you will discover. You will also get to read about her childhood drug use caused by her father in The Village in New York City. More important, you get to travel with me on Lisa's journey as she eventually overcomes these and other challenges.   Lisa did get to attend college and obtain a degree in Psychology and later an MBA in business.   Lisa's journey has been a hard and long one, but you will see just how unstoppable Lisa became and is today. She started her leadership consulting and life coaching business, Chatworth Consulting Group, in 1995. The business has thrived and grown.   Lisa shares with us her thoughts on life and how easy it can be for all of us to fall into traps that can take our lives in what she would call bad directions and down not good rabbit holes. This episode contains a lot of relevant content we all can use. I hope you enjoy it and, of course, feel free to reach out to Lisa.       About the Guest:   Lisa Kohn is a transformational keynote speaker, leadership consultant, executive coach, and award-winning author of The Power of Thoughtful Leadership and to the moon and back: a childhood under the influence, a memoir that chronicles her childhood growing up in the Unification Church (the Moonies) with her mom and a life of “sex, drugs, and squalor” in New York City's East Village with her dad.   Lisa's unique background has given her a perspective on life, people, and leadership, as well as an expansive array of tools, mind-shifts, and best practices she's found and created, that help her clients find their own paths to powerful, authentic, Thoughtful leadership. With over 25 years of experience supporting senior leaders in areas such as leadership, managing change, interpersonal and team dynamics, strategy, well-being, and life-fulfillment, Lisa partners with her clients as they not only uncover core issues to implement real changes in themselves and their organizations, but also successfully address their own inner challenges and effectively connect with others to ensure the changes stick.   Lisa has been described as “leading with love,” and she's honored to teach C-suite leaders of not-for-profits and Fortune 50 organizations about the compelling impact of self-compassion, self-love, fun, delight, and Thoughtful Leadership – being more present, intentional, and authentic. She works with organizations across a broad range of industries, in companies such as New York City Department of Education, GroupM/WPP, Verizon, World Wrestling Entertainment, American Civil Liberties Union, and Comcast. Lisa brings insight to clients that transforms the way organizations develop and manage their people and the way leaders lead their people and live their lives.   Lisa earned her BA in psychology from Cornell University and her MBA from Columbia University's Executive Program. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and New York University's Stern School of Business and has been featured in publications addressing topics on leadership, communication, effective teaming, authenticity, selfcare, and, of course, healing from trauma. She has been awarded the designation of Professional Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation. Lisa is an Accredited Facilitator for Everything DiSC®, The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™, The Leadership Circle™, and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®.   Lisa lives in Pennsylvania but will always tell you that she is “from New York.” Ways to connect with Lisa:   Instagram and X @lisakohnwrites LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisakohnccg/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisakohnwrites My websites are www.lisakohnwrites.com and www.chatsworthconsulting.com       About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hi, once again, you are listening to another episode of unstoppable mindset, and today, we get to speak with Lisa Kohn, who is the founder of the Chatsworth Consulting Group. She leads with love. Many people say she deals with nonprofits, C suite, people and others, and dealing with business coaching, life coaching, and I'm not going to tell you anymore, because she's going to spend the next hour telling us all about it. So Lisa, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We are really glad you're here.   Lisa Kohn ** 01:55 I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you for having me, Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 01:58 now I do have to tell everyone. I'm going to tell on you that we were talking before we started this. Lisa's had to postpone a couple times because she had a concussion, which in in a way, relates to skiing. And having never skied myself, I love to spread the rumor that the trees are out to get us all the time. So one of these days I'll probably ski but but in the meanwhile, my brother in law is as a great skier, and was a certified mountain ski guide for years, and I always tell him that the trees are out to get us, and he can not convince me otherwise, no matter what he says. And he says, No, it's really you the skier. And I said, That's what you say. So you know, that's my conspiracy theory of the day,   Lisa Kohn ** 02:37 but I will tend to believe it, because not this concussion, but the last concussion I did, ski into a tree, and I don't know how. I really don't know how. So I am convinced maybe to come out to get me. That makes sense. See,   Michael Hingson ** 02:51 there you go. I rest my case. Everyone. You're welcome to let us know what you think, but it is fun to tease about it. My brother in law used to take tours to France, and was, as I said, a certified mountain ski guide, and has done it for years in the winter in Ketchum, Idaho, where he lives, it is all about skiing first foremost and always, and everything else comes second. So that's fine. Well, Lisa, why don't we start by you telling us a little about the early Lisa, I love to start that way. Learn a little bit about you growing up and all that stuff and going to college or whatever you did and anything like that that you want to tell   Lisa Kohn ** 03:31 us. Well, I will do that. It's it's not the simplest story. So I'll give you the overview and the highlights, and then we can move on or go deeper, or whatever works for you. So I love lines, right? I have a line that describes my childhood. I say the best seats I ever had at Madison Square Garden were at my mother's wedding because my mom got married in 1982 with 4074 other people in a mass wedding. I was raised Unification Church, the Moonies. I was raised in a cult. So that's that's my life with my mom. And on the other hand, the best cocaine I ever had was for my father's friend, the judge. Because my dad, I lived with my dad and my dad. Life with my dad was, as I like to say, sex, drugs and squalor in New York City's East Village in the 1970s so I am, I am like this true child of the 60s and 70s, because both my parents were involved in the, you know, the hippie culture and then the cult culture of that era. So very short. You know, very long story, very short. After that synopsis, my parents got married way too young. Had my brother had me split up. We lived with my mom for a number of years, and when I was in third grade, we were about to we lived on the East Coast. Of America. We lived in Jersey, and we were about to move drive across country to California to move on to a commune. And my grandmother, my mom's mom, got sick with cancer, and so instead we moved, instead of cross country, moved across state and moved in with my grandparents and lived there. My grandmother died. My mom stayed with we stayed with my grandfather. My mom was taking care of the house and of him. And in 1974 my mom went to hear, actually, the person she with whom she said, hitchhik, cross country with every year, called her and said, You have to go hear Reverend Moon speak. And my mom went to hear Reverend Moon speak and came back a changed person, just enthralled with what she'd heard. And not much happened. And then a couple months later, members of the Unification Church convinced my mom to go up for a weekend workshop, and my mom went away for the weekend and came back and went back up for a week and came back and went back up and basically spent the summer being indoctrinated into the unification Church's ideology. And then, you know, somewhere that summer, my mom took us, my brother, I have an older brother, took my brother, and I have with her, and we the estates called barrytown, New York. We pull up to this estate. This this huge building. It used to be a Christian brother school, and we go down into the gymnasium, and all the women, the sisters, are sitting on the floor on the right side of the room, and all the brothers, the men, are sitting on the floor on the left side of the room. And with moments Moon Reverend Sam young moon walks in and begins speaking with his interpreter, and that was it. I had a Messiah, and we were Moonies, and again, synopsized down. Within about six months, my mom sat my brother and I down and said, kids, I really feel called to be more involved. What should I do? And we said, you should leave. And so she left, and we were with my grandfather, and I was in sixth grade and running the household. And then my grandfather, due to a variety of different things, was put in the hospital on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and we got shuffled around for a little while. And finally, my father came to get us, and we moved in with him in New York City, disease village, the life of sex, drugs and scholar, and live this dual life of like living the outside world with Satan and believing in a Messiah and a puritanical cult. And that continued for a number of years, until I can go into the details at some point. But through this whole soap opera experience, I started to eventually question. And we were literally taught if that, if we ever questioned, it was Satan inside of us, but I fully questioned and pulled away, and over the space of many years, kind of left it all behind. And yeah, went to college. I was, you know, I started questioning in my last year of high school, and then I went up to college. I was at Cornell University, and, you know, it's surrounded with gorges, and nearly jumped off the bridge into the gorge as I kind of self destructed having when I left the church. And, you know, went on to get worse and worse and worse in kind of my own psyche, until I really crashed and burned, and someone pointed me in the direction of getting help in the mid to late 80s, and it's been a journey ever since. So there, that's the that's the 10 minute version of, you know, what's in my memoir?   Michael Hingson ** 08:14 What a story. What's your memoir called   Lisa Kohn ** 08:18 to the moon and back the influence, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 08:21 yeah. So what about your brother?   Lisa Kohn ** 08:22 My brother? My brother, uh, he so I, my brother likes to say, I never actually left, I just slowly drifted away. And that was, you know, from like 1980 through 1985 my brother, who's a year and a half older than me, a year ahead of me, in school, he, when he was in college, he was in a place that was truly surrounded with with there were Moonies there who knew him. So he could not leave. But as soon as he got out of college, he went to Drew University. He literally sat my mom down and said, That's it. I'm out. So he he announced being out. I still haven't told anyone I'm out. And he is, you know. So he's also happy and thriving. And he lives in New York City, you know, very eager to get out of the city. I got out of the city years ago. Yeah. So we're still, well, there's a lot Go ahead. Go ahead. No, go ahead. No. He's the only person who experienced the weird dichotomy going back and forth between these two crazy worlds that I did. So, yeah, we're very close.   Michael Hingson ** 09:18 There's, there's a lot to be said for the city, and there's a lot that the city can contribute. But on the other hand, there are so many other parts of the country. I met a woman when my wife and I moved back to New Jersey, I stayed at an apartment for a while in Linden. I'm sorry, no, where was it? Not Lyndon, well, anyway, it was north of Springfield in New Jersey, and this woman, well, we met her because we were staying at a Holiday Inn in Springfield at the time, and she was one of the people who worked there. And she also. Then came to help me in just making sure my apartment was good and clean until Karen moved back and we had our house, and one of the things that we learned from her was that her whole life, she lived in the Springfield area and had never been to New York City, less than 40 miles away.   Lisa Kohn ** 10:20 Yeah, people   Michael Hingson ** 10:21 are afraid of it. Yeah, there's elizabeth new jersey, where I lived until Karen came back, and then we we had started and built a house in Westfield. But I'm always amazed, and I know of people who live in the city who have never been out.   10:35 That is true as well. Yes, and there's   Michael Hingson ** 10:38 so much more to the world, and I just love the fact that I've had the opportunity as a speaker to travel all over this country and enjoy going and meeting new people and seeing new places and seeing so many different aspects of our whole US culture. It's great,   Lisa Kohn ** 10:55 absolutely true. There's so much to be said for a lot of different places and and I will always be a New Yorker at heart.   Michael Hingson ** 11:01 Well, there you go. There you go. And there's nothing wrong with being a New Yorker at heart. No, I was born in Chicago, but I grew up being a Californian and and I am, and I'm a Dodger fan, but you know, there you go. Of course, there are those who say that the Dodgers, one day will move back to New York,   Lisa Kohn ** 11:19 back to Brooklyn. We'll   Michael Hingson ** 11:20 see what happens. Yeah, hasn't happened yet. So what did you major in college?   Lisa Kohn ** 11:26 I was a psychology major.   Michael Hingson ** 11:27 Ah, okay, so now, where do you live?   Lisa Kohn ** 11:31 I live in Wayne, Pennsylvania, outside of,   Michael Hingson ** 11:34 okay, I know where that is. So that's, that's pretty cool. So you, you certainly had a life that has had a lot of experiences. And I would think that you probably would agree that, yes, there were a lot of things that weren't necessarily great, but they taught you a lot, and it certainly helps you to be able to step back and think about all that and put it in perspective   Lisa Kohn ** 12:01 that is true, you know, I am. It's not quite the point you're making. But alongside that, similar to that, you know, when, again, when the memoir came out, people started reaching out to me. And some, you know, late teenager, young adult, I don't really remember, the age, Stranger reached out to me and was kind of giving me the lowdown of a situation, which was, you know, hard, lot of trauma, a lot of lot of tough stuff. And I said, What I often say is, like, I wouldn't wish difficulties and struggles or trauma on anyone, sure, but I do know that when you get through, you know, if you can get through, when you can get through, you have an appreciation of life that people who haven't experienced hardship don't really have so, like, I can look outside, I mean, I love the little gold finches. I can look outside and see a little yellow bird, or actually have about 40 in the house at this point, because people keep sending them to me, right? And I am just filled with joy because I've learned, like, I know how, how low can go. And so even just just okay is really great at times. So so it's a similar thing to what you said, right? You have a perspective. You have a you have, you know, coping mechanisms, some that are wonderful and some that are you really could let go of and be done with. But yeah, I do. I feel like I have more of an appreciation for life and joy and love than some people have who haven't had to go through things.   Michael Hingson ** 13:25 I spoke to a life coach on the podcast a couple of days ago, actually. And one of the things that she said, and it's really kind of what you're saying, is that the fact is, she's much better at what she does because she has had a number of life experiences and things happen in her life, and if she hadn't done some of the things that she did and experienced some of the things that she experienced, she would never have been able to be nearly as effective as she is,   Lisa Kohn ** 14:02 yeah, you know, before my memoir was published in 2018 I generally never brought up my background in my work, because it, once you say cult, it literally, it sucks the energy out of the room like nothing else matters when you say I was raised in A cult and but once it came out, and if you Google me, you know, before I walk in a room, if you look me up, you know my story, because I'm very public with it at this point, I now get to use it in all of my work, and I get to use what I've experienced, and the multitude of tools and practices and mindsets and positive psychology and neuroplasticity and mindfulness and all of the things I have learned over the years to be okay and to thrive. I get to use it in in like in the most corporate work I do, I'm still bringing up, you know, teaching people. To take care of themselves and love themselves and love themselves first. Most, you know, always, like, is tattooed on my arm, like, really, to change their perspective of themselves, to start and off in the world. So yeah, if I, if I hadn't gone through what I gone through, I wouldn't be who I am, and I wouldn't get to share some of the things I get to share. So yeah, that's and that's why I do it. If sharing my story helps other people, then it's all worthwhile. And yeah, that's why I do it.   Michael Hingson ** 15:26 And I I hear that very well. And going back to what we were discussing the other day, Mary Beth and I, she starts her story by saying she took her first drink at the age of 11, and she decided that she liked the taste of alcohol and was an alcohol for alcoholic, or was a drunk for many years. And actually she's near 50, and she only quit four and a half years ago, she became, she became a life coach six years ago, although she was always interested in helping people, but she began to make that her business, and did so six years ago, and she is very clear that having adopted that philosophy and process and undertaking that career, even though it was much later in life, the bottom line is that it did lead to her finally recognizing that she shouldn't drink, and that's not a good thing, and she has not had a drink in four and a half years. Good for her. That's so it is all about what you experience and what you choose to do with it. So I hear you, you know, I   Lisa Kohn ** 16:33 hear her. Yeah, last so this is 2024, so two years ago, what you experienced, I was diagnosed by cancer, and you never think you're going to be one of the people who have cancer, until they say cancer to you, and you're thinking, aren't you talking to the person behind me? And I heard, you know, when I was going through the process and going through chemo, which I do not recommend to anyone, unless you absolutely have to do it, I heard a saying from a dialectical behavioral therapy, therapist who did pass from cancer, but the saying was, I will take more from cancer than cancer takes for me. And that, that that just carried me through, right? And I you can look at that with everything, like all the all the different things we experience, I will. I remember when I was first diagnosed, a practitioner said to me, why do you think you got sick? As in, like, what hadn't I healed that caused the cancer? And I, I stopped going to that practitioner, and I very clearly, I've looked at this and I thought, it's never going to help me to think, what did I do wrong, that I had cancer, that I got cancer, I got sick, but it will help me to say I did get sick. And what do I want to learn from that, and how do I want to change and shift and grow from that? So exactly right,   Michael Hingson ** 17:45 yeah, and like I always say to people, I'm my own best teacher. I've dropped saying I'm my own worst critic, because such a negative thing, and you don't necessarily have something to criticize, but I'm my own best teacher. I can look at anything I do and go, can I improve on it? How can I improve on it? And adopting the mindset that takes that approach really makes us stronger?   Lisa Kohn ** 18:11 Yes, it's called a growth mindset, right? And when we have a growth mindset, when we know that we can grow, when we know that we can learn, when we and yeah, when we stop being so hard on ourselves, like so many of us are,   Michael Hingson ** 18:23 yeah, and we learned that, and that's unfortunate that that's what we're taught, and it's so hard to break that cycle, but if you can, you're all the better for it,   Lisa Kohn ** 18:33 absolutely and to, you know, I'm, I mean, I teach this stuff. I've been teaching this stuff for a long time. I've been using it for decades, and just today, I was watching my mind go down a rabbit hole of some negative thinking and thinking and thinking that wasn't going to help me and also. And I pause. I'm like, I was driving. I'm like, I put my hand on my leg. I'm like, Lisa, you're right here. You're right now. You're in the car. Look the sky. Pay attention to the road. You don't have to think that right now. You can just be in this present moment and feel better and poof, like magic, the crazy thinking stops, and you're like, Oh yeah, it's actually okay. I don't have to worry about that right now. But, um, yeah, our brains, our brains, we have that, like we have a negativity bias. Our brains are trained, have evolved to, like, look for danger. Focus on danger. Really think about the bad. Play it over and over. See it bigger than it is. Never look at the good. We're as Rick Hansen likes to say, Velcro for the bad and Teflon for the good. But we have a choice to shift that. So I feel like I'm preaching. Sorry, but I get excited about   Michael Hingson ** 19:34 it is it is perfectly okay to preach, and it is all about choice, as I tell people all the time, we had no control over the World Trade Center happening. No one's ever convinced me that we could have really foreseen it and not have it happen. But what we all, each and every person in the world, has a choice about, is how we deal with what happened at the World Trade Center, absolutely and how. We move forward or choose not to. And I've seen all sides of that. I've seen people who talk about the conspiracy of the World Trade Center. It really didn't happen. The government did it in so many different things. And I met one guy who had been a firefighter, and he decided to change careers and become a police officer because he wanted to go kill terrorists who were trying to deal with our country would not be the reason I would choose to go to often be a police officer. He did it because his brother was killed in the World Trade Center. But still, there were so many more positive reasons to do it, but that was his goal at the time, and I don't know, having never seen him since, whether that has changed, but it is still just always a matter of we can choose, and do have the right to choose. God gives us that right. That's why we have free will to choose how we want to deal with things or not.   Lisa Kohn ** 20:55 It is what it is, and what will I do with it, and how will I be with it? And yeah, yeah, and I can accept it, and then what do I want to do about it? Yeah? Yeah. All true. All true.   Michael Hingson ** 21:06 So what did you do after college? So you got a degree in psychology, so I got a degree in psychology, started to psychoanalyze gold finches, but, okay,   Lisa Kohn ** 21:15 you started to psycholize goldfinches. I just love my gold finches. Yeah, it's funny because when I when I was when I was writing the book, and there was a in my town, there's a author who lives here, kind of took me under her wing, and at one point she turned to me, she said, Do you realize, like, everything you experienced as a child and then you majored in psychology, and like, yeah, never dawned on me that I needed to cycle analyze myself, but I did. I got out of Cornell, and on the personal side. I very soon got engaged to someone who my dad, at that point, owned a restaurant, a French restaurant, and I got engaged as someone who worked for him and drank with him, and drank a heck of a lot, and was very not nice when he drank. And you know someone your cousin lovingly pointed me in the direction of the direction of the 12 step programs and to Alan on the 12 step program. For those of us with our arms, class Brown, the alcoholic and I crawled into my first meeting practically on my hands and knees, thinking like, tell me if he's an alcoholic, there's no way I would ever be with an alcoholic. I'm too smart for that, only to realize that there were tons of reasons why I would be and so that's that started my healing growth trajectory and journey. And on the professional side, I did a six month stint in direct mail, back when there was direct mail, a direct mail company, and then a six month stint in address, you know, do in advertising, the advertising agency, and then after that, got a job doing entertainment advertising for a small division of gray advertising, which I dearly, dearly loved. It was fun, it was exciting, it was a lot of good things, but I ended up getting I was running the Good Morning America account, and I ended up there wasn't enough work to fill me, but my boss wouldn't take me off the account because the client adored me, so they didn't want to move me. So I got really, really bored, and I decided to go to business school. And I somehow convinced my boss to convince his boss, the head of the whole agency, to send me to Columbia's Executive MBA Program, which you had to be sponsored by your A by your company, and they had to pay for part of it. And that just wasn't, didn't happen in the advertising world. I remember one of my professors once said, You're they eat, they're young in your industry, don't they like you. Just you did not, and they did not invest in you, but they did. They invested in me, and I went, I got my MBA in Columbia's Executive MBA Program, and there, found the disciplines where I now work in leadership and organizational behavior and organizational development, and began to have confidence in my own voice, business wise, and what I knew, and this is maybe why they don't invest you. I got out of the program, and within not too many months, quit, and I went to work, actually, for a large not for profit fundraising organization, which, you know, because I was like, I'm good, I'm smart, I'm going to go do good for the world. And I ended up in a job where, once again, I just it didn't engage me enough. And I literally had a boss who liked to fight with me, because he thought I was good at fighting, and I was just really not happy. And so then in 1995 I, you know, talked to a couple of so long ago, in 1995 I was talking to a couple of my professors saying, you know, I want to do leadership, and can I be a consultant? And they said, Yeah, go ahead, you can do it. And gave me a few gigs to start. And I, I was three months pregnant with my first child, and I hung out a shingle with Chatsworth Consulting Group and started doing leadership, not actually knowing what that was, and do it, a lot of training and different, different jobs. So I actually, I was, like, hugely pregnant, and I was, I almost. Took a job teaching computer skills for American Express at a very low rate, because I was just I was like, I say, I'm a consultant, but I'm not actually doing anything. And I luckily didn't take that job, that gig. And soon thereafter, I started getting different projects from former professors, and I've been doing and growing the business ever since, and of the 1998 I think I was in front of a client doing, you know, teaching leadership skills or doing some sort of program, and the head of the head of the agency, came over to me and said, I want to be you. Do you coach? And I said, Yeah, I coach. And I went and got coach. I got certified as a coach in the late 90s, before anyone was coaching. And yeah, I've been doing it ever since. And I say, you know, when I am not working, I never want to work, and when I am working, I never want to stop. So I'm that was actually true. That's true since I got sick. So I'm either certifiable or I figured something out. I happen to love what I do. I happen to get to make a difference in people's lives. And yeah, that's, that's my those are my stories   Michael Hingson ** 26:02 where the name Chatsworth consulting came from. Yeah, so   Lisa Kohn ** 26:06 when I founded the company, that is a good question. The funny thing is, when I founded the company, every good name I thought of was already taken, which is actually good, because the what I do and how I do it has so evolved over the years, over the decades, but I lived on Chatsworth Avenue. That's where I lived at the time. And what makes it extra special is, at that point, my you know, someone I met, I literally met my business partner on our first day going to Columbia's executive program. We met on the subway because I introduced myself to her, and she lived in the same building as I did on Chatsworth Avenue. She wasn't my partner at the time, and then number of years later, she said, Can I join you? And so she joined me in 2002 but so now it has even more meaning, because we were both Chatsworth, but it just it was the street on which I lived, because I couldn't come up with any other names, and I didn't want to say Lisa Conan associates. So that's it.   Michael Hingson ** 26:55 Hey, man, that works.   Lisa Kohn ** 26:56 Hey, what else   Michael Hingson ** 26:57 you said? You said you're the guy you were engaged to, drink. Is he still your, your your husband? No,   Lisa Kohn ** 27:03 I managed. Wondered about that. Yeah, no. You know, I was a I can tell you I was sitting in an Al Anon meeting. You know, I postponed the wedding, but I was still sticking it out. And I was sobbing my way through some lunchtime meeting in St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. And someone came over to me at the end of the meeting, and he said, you know, there are no victims, there are only volunteers. And I was like, Oh, I don't actually have to do this. And so, you know, when you're raised like I was, if I start talking about religious trauma and extremist thinking I was raised, I literally we were raised to live for the sake of others, to sacrifice everything for God and our True Parents, Reverend and Mrs. Moon, and saving the world. And that if we didn't, if we didn't, you know, live to the expectations we were supposed to, we would break God's heart. So I was raised to be a heavenly soldier. You know, when again, my mom left, and, you know, I couldn't cry, I couldn't miss her, couldn't be sad, couldn't be mad. It was all for God. So I just learned that I would do no matter what. And I till this day, I say, if you put something in front of me, I will do it. I will do it extremely well, even if it takes me down in the process, which isn't as true, because I've learned a lot since I got sick. But that used to be me, and so I was engaged to this man, and it was miserable, but I was gonna like, I have Al Anon. I can marry him. I can do it. And when this person came up to me and said, there are no victims, only volunteers, it's kind of was like crack that said you can do it. I just said this to a client the other day, you can do it, but just because you can do it, it doesn't mean you have to do it, or you should do it, and at luckily, at 24 I was able to say, I deserve a life that's easier and has more happiness than choosing to be with someone who was he was just really, he was really mean when he drank. So, so no, I didn't marry him. I didn't marry him. Think, you know I, you know people look at my life and it's like I, I've skirted disaster. I am, I am lucky. I have a steel rod for a spine. I don't know. I, you know, got out of the church. I almost jumped off a bridge, but I didn't I, you know, I became anorexic. And I can tell you, I am not heavy now, and I was almost 30 pounds less, you know, I was 82 pounds. I'm not tall, but I was really quits growing at 82 pounds. But then I started eating again. When I started doing cocaine with my dad, I did a heck of a lot of cocaine, and all of a sudden, every day, I was doing it. And then I just stopped doing that. And then I got into really more and more destructive and mildly or abusive relationships, and I stopped doing that. So I've, I've, I've managed to, like, avoid disaster numerous times. I'm incredibly lucky. So, yeah, well,   Michael Hingson ** 29:47 and your mind has, uh, has helped you progress from all this. So did you, did you ever find someone and get married, or have a husband, or any of that kind of stuff   Lisa Kohn ** 29:56 I did. I found someone, I my one of my best friends from high. School, set me up with one of his best friends from college as a joke, and we've been married 30 years. Where are you kids? Oh, yeah, we have two kids. So yeah, that's cool. Yeah, yeah. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 30:12 congratulations. Well, thank   Lisa Kohn ** 30:13 you very much.   Michael Hingson ** 30:14 I met my wife a friend introduced us, and he was actually my friend was dating this person, sort of even though he was married, and she said, you said you were gonna leave her, and he didn't, but he was, he was the kind of guy that always had a girl in every port. Well anyway, he introduced her, this, this lady to me. And 11 months or 10 months later, we were married, and it took for 40 years until she passed away in November of 2022 and yeah, as I tell people, she's monitoring me somewhere, I am absolutely certain, and if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it, so I have to continue to be a good kid.   Lisa Kohn ** 30:55 There you go. Well, I   Michael Hingson ** 30:56 gotta do Yeah, you know, but I've got 40 years of memories, and can't beat that, yeah, yeah,   Lisa Kohn ** 31:02 that's good. I'm glad you did. Yeah. So   Michael Hingson ** 31:05 you you formed Chatsworth, which is really pretty cool. I'm curious, though. So you didn't really have when you were growing up, at least early on, as much say about it, why do people join cults? Yes,   Lisa Kohn ** 31:20 yes. Why do people join cults? They're in the wrong place at the wrong time. So I used to say everyone is susceptible to extremist thinking. I was not everybody believes that, but I do believe it to be true. I was once corrected and someone said, unless you're a a sociopath, a psychopath, or already in a cult, you're susceptible. Or as there's two cult anti cult activists who were in Nixie and the sex cult a couple years ago, and what they say is, if you think you're not susceptible, you're even more susceptible. Why? Why? Because, as human beings, we crave purpose, certainty and community and having a messiah, believing anything that extremely is absolute certainty, it is, let me tell you, it is the most powerful drug to know that you have the truth, like the Absolute Truth, you have purpose. You know why you're here. You know what you need to do. There's not Sunday, Sunday night, Monday morning, blues, because you have a purpose for your life, and as long as you don't leave or disobey, you have absolute community. So it's you know. As humans, we want to know. We want to understand, right? We make up theories and reasons in our brains, even people who say they don't, they do right? Our brains crave it. And so as you know, I heard someone say a long time ago, I repeat, all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being the wrong person and being in the wrong state of mind, where you're just going to be a little bit open to something, and you're susceptible. And so the ones that are really successful, they know how to work with the brain to keep you in so again, as I said, we were literally taught that if you ever question anything, it's Satan. So as soon as you start to think for yourself, you you know, you do a 21 minute prayer, you fast for three days, you take a cold shower, you're being invaded by Satan, so you're afraid to think. And when you know when they're when they were first bringing people in to my cult, right? They would, one of the things they did so you would go to, they would get you away to, you know, a workshop. They would keep you not give you enough to eat, not give you enough sleep, keep you surrounded by people so you don't have time to think. And they would give you all the teachings. And then at night, they would say, just write one thing you agree with. Write it down in this journal, just one thing. And so you just want them to shut up. So you write one thing. And then you look back three days later, and your brain goes, Oh, I wrote that down. I must have believed it. So you like your brain. They work with the ways your brain wants to believe something, to get you to believe something. And as well, I don't know if you want me to curse, so I won't curse, but I'm going to quote mark Vicente on the vow, which is also about the the next scene cult. He says, No one joins a cult. They really they join a really good idea, and then they realize they were messed with because they join one human kind, under God, they join, you know, self exactly, actualization. They join some positive idea, and only exactly what they think is positive, or what's sold as a positive idea. And by the time you look back your brain, your brain wants to you. We want to think that we know what we're doing. So our brain starts to convince ourselves that we knew what we were doing, like it's just our brains crave, and you work with it, you can, you can get people to believe anything. You can get people to believe anything. It's the   Michael Hingson ** 34:58 same. I hear you. It's just. Same thing as just there's so many conspiracy theorists today, yes, and it's the same exact sort of thing. They get you to believe it. They make it sound plausible. There's a woman who is a physicist who has written a book about why the World Trade Center wasn't something that was caused by terrorists or anything like that. It was really the US government, because the the amount of of ground shaking when the buildings collapsed wasn't appropriate, and all sorts of things she brings into it. And she she says it in a very convincing way, unless you look deeper, unless you know what to look for, and but, but she talks about it, and the bottom line is that it wasn't a conspiracy. And my immediate response whenever anyone says that it is and talks about what she talks about, is, I just say the difference is, I was there. I know, yeah, yeah. And you can say what you like, but I know, yeah, and, and I think that it's, it's the usual thing some people say, you know, figures can lie, and liars can figure, and it's very unfortunate that that some people just have to fulfill their lives by by doing some of these things, rather than using that knowledge and using their skills in a much more positive way. So yeah, cults, conspiracies, it's all sort of the same thing, isn't   Lisa Kohn ** 36:26 it? It's all extremist belief is extremist belief is extremist belief. And once you believe, once you believe this person's conspiracy theory, then it you can believe the next things they say, like you, you, you keep going like Moon would preach things and do the opposite, and then say was providential, that God told me how to do the opposite, and then you believe. Because, again, we want to believe what we already believe. I was just ot occupational therapy for my concussion this morning, and I was just saying to the occupational therapists, right? We have a we have so many biases in our brain. I love the brain, and we have a bias that tells us we're not biased. So I have a bias that says I'm not biased. I know how objective I am. I'm careful and I'm reflective, but the rest of you are biased, but I'm not biased. So one of our biases is that we're not biased, right? And so once you believe it's you know, people saying, How could people do X, Y and Z, and how can they believe that? And I'm like, once you've chosen to believe, or you've been forced to believe, or you've been tricked to believe, you keep believing, and to break that belief is dangerous. I mean, it's just hard to leave extreme believing is extremely hard. It really is, and   Michael Hingson ** 37:37 it's dangerous because somebody told you it wasn't you believe it,   Lisa Kohn ** 37:40 yes, exactly, exactly yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 37:44 which is so unfortunate, but just so unfortunate, yeah, but it is, it is what we face. It's   Lisa Kohn ** 37:50 human nature. So how do we what do we do about it? Yeah, exactly, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 37:53 which is always that Yes. So with your life and all that is has happened, What messages do you want to share with people? What do you want people ultimately to know and to take away from today?   Lisa Kohn ** 38:07 Well, I will always start with extremist. Situations exist, and we're all susceptible. They're there. They're intoxicating. They're, you know, a slippery slope. And so beware. And there's places to learn. And if you are, I always say, if you are in what you think might be a cult of any sort, there is help. When I left, I never knew there was help. I never knew there was a community. There is a community. There are a lot of online places and therapists to go to. So   Michael Hingson ** 38:32 that's grown a lot over the years, hasn't it? Oh, it's   Lisa Kohn ** 38:35 grown so much. I did not know. Yeah, I did not know was there at all. When I left, I left cold turkey, when my book came out in 2018 I found the cult survivor community, and my mind blew open. It's, it's definitely grown. Awareness of it, concept of religious trauma, has grown, like a lot. It's, there's, there's so much more awareness of it now in so many places to get help. The other thing I would say, I always say, if you think you're damaged or there's no hope, you are not damaged, and there is hope. There is always hope. I, you know, when I in my memoir, my my older child read my memoir, and she got to the part where I wrote about meeting their father, and it said something like, I shared my stories and my demons, and I was afraid he would not, you know, he would be able to stay because of how damaged I was, and my kids said, Wait, what's this? And I just look at I think, well, that's, I literally believe that for a very long time, but there was something wrong with me, and there is hope, and you are not damaged. There are, I call them the lies in my head. There are lies. There are lies that were put in my head intentionally to control me, and there are ways many of us have been taught, like you said, to think poorly of ourselves. So there's hope, and there's a way out of that. And I truly believe that, you know, we all need a lot more self love and self care. I do have tattooed on my arm first most, always to remind myself to love myself first most and always, um. Them, because I just think as a, you know, they do call me I lead with love. They call me love embodied when I took my positive psychology course. But really, we, all, many of us, need a huge dose of self compassion, self love, self care, kindness and gentleness, first to ourselves and then to the rest of the world. So those are, those are probably the you know, and whether it's in like, individually, or in an organization or in an offer, profit, like all of that, it is true, we're human, and we make mistakes, but there's an opportunity to really connect on a deeper, truer level, and there's an opportunity to to, it's called Post Traumatic Growth, right to heal from the trauma and heal from the things that have happened to us. And I know there are people with a lot harder stories than mine, and they're people who have gone through things like I have, and there's always, there's always a way to get help and reach out. So yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 40:53 tell me about, if you would, your journey in Chatsworth consulting. You teach leadership, you teach people to lead, and you you go to leaders and or they come to you. And how do you how do you help them? Tell us a little bit more about all of that, if you would.   Lisa Kohn ** 41:09 So we do a couple of different things. We do executive coaching, one on one coaching, you know, again, one client came up to me and said, do you coach? And I said, Yeah. And I got trained to be a coach back in the late 90s. I was in Al Anon at the time, and I realized it's kind of like being a sponsor only professionally. So it's our coaching is really it's based on a lot of self awareness, self knowledge. We do a incredible there's an incredible online 360 we use with people called the leadership circle profile, which helps us not only look at what like what I'm doing that's working and not but a lot of my thought patterns and beliefs and where they come from. So they call them, you know, they call them the Protect, control and wow, comply behaviors. That's the concussion kicking in. And I call them fight, fight and freeze. But like looking at the ways I coped in the world that get in my way. So we work with leaders, one on one. I'm trying to help them see what they're doing that's effective, what they're thinking that's effective, how they're connecting with other people. That's effective, and what's not we do. We work with a lot of in tech teams, leadership teams, executive teams, helping them have the hard conversations, the strategic conversations, the emotional conversations. You know, we are all human, and we all have triggers, and we all get upset, and we all have agendas, and we all have so much that gets in the way of actually just connecting, one on one with each other. So I get to sit with a group of people and help them find ways to connect more effectively and to more really, more vulnerably, more authentically, you know. And I also, I teach all the general management and leadership skills, you know, connecting with others and giving feedback and authentic leadership and all of that stuff. But truly, what ignites me in the work we do now is really kind of the feel. It's kind of like systems thinking, right? What are the systems within our organization that are operating? Then, how do you look at it, and how do you shift them to be more positive? And what are the systems that's that are operating within me, the belief systems, the you know, the ways I was trained to act, whom to act, and how do I keep the good and shift the ones that are getting in my way. So I am very lucky to do the work I do. I feel very lucky to do it   Michael Hingson ** 43:25 and that, you know, that's great, and it's great to have that kind of attitude and to bring that kind of philosophy to it. What are some of the patterns that you see that a lot of leaders and so on bring to you and want fixed, or that you discover that they need to deal with. I mean, they're, they're probably a few at least, that you see a lot.   Lisa Kohn ** 43:48 So yeah, I would say, well, one thing that I see so often, right, human nature? So you do a 360 or you gather feedback for someone, and all they focuses on is the constructive feedback. All they focus on is what's wrong, looking for the problem. Again, that's the negativity bias in our head, and a lot of other things. But one thing that comes off so clear is, in general, almost all the time, right people, if they're good at something, that thing that they star a star at, that thing that is like second nature to them, the thing that people so admire about them, they think it's not a big deal anybody could do that, and the thing that they are that isn't their greatest skill, that's the thing they think that's important. And it's it just, I see it over Yeah? People, my clients, be like, Well, yeah, anybody can do that? I'm like, no, nobody does that. Like you do that. Like you do that, you do that in a different way. So it's, you know, I just see that over and over and over. I see so many people like and you talk about leadership, right? So we, we so often in the business world, we promote people for being really good at what they do. And being good at what you do as an individual contributor is very. Very different than actually being able to manage other people or lead other people. And so to a lot of leaders just have a hard time getting out of the details, getting out of the weeds, actually delegating, actually letting go. We we coach our leaders to be dispensable. Our clients not said that to one client. She said, indispensable. And I said, No, dispensable. And she she literally started to cry. She said, Lisa, I spent my whole career trying to be incredibly indispensable. And she was a senior, senior leader at a major Fortune 50 company. She was powerful, she was amazing, but it gets in your way, right? We coach our clients to you know you have to be so dispensable that the people who work with you can do your job so you can go do the bigger, better stuff, more like the next stuff you need to do. Yeah, so it's, it's really, and then, you know, so many of us, right, have, unfortunately, so many people have some sort of trauma in their background. And even people who don't have major trauma in their background have had hardships or whatever, and so it's really people get so caught in their own thinking that they can't even realize that it's their own thinking in their way. So I, you know, I learned to say for my own learning and growth, right? When my brain does its wonky, silly things, it says, I've learned to say, that's the cult talking like, that's the cult. That's the cult. That's what I was trained to believe. That's not true. That's the cult. And I heard a class I'm like, take the word out cult and put in alcoholic father, you know, narcissistic first boss, you know, you know, I had a client who no harm, no blame to her parents. She had immigrant parents. They both ran, they both worked three jobs in order to support the family. And so she was taking care of her siblings when she was six. Six, she was caring for other kids, right? So she was able to say, that's that's that. And my brain, like the helping people being able to see, you know, we're so close to our brains that we don't see the kind of loopy things that we do and why we do it, but helping clients see those loopy things, right? And two, again, honestly, I spent a lot of time with seniors, senior executives, talking about self care, self compassion, being kinder to yourself, that kind of stuff.   Michael Hingson ** 47:15 So that woman, who was six taking care of siblings, did she ever get to the point where she could say things like, I really learned a lot, or I value that experience because it helped me in this way or that way,   Lisa Kohn ** 47:32 absolutely, absolutely. And she but, and she also got to the point where she can say, I don't have to keep doing that. I don't have to keep sacrificing myself for everybody else, right? I can, you know, I can self selfishly in quotes, in air quotes, right? I can selfishly go home earlier, at the end of the day, and actually take care of my body, because I'm about to have a baby, you know, yeah, it was so so yes and right? It's not about Yeah, it is yes. And not about like, this is awful and it's all bad. It's it is what it is. It made me who I am, and how do I want to choose to be to go forward with it?   Michael Hingson ** 48:07 I was very fortunate when I started in sales. I took a Dale Carnegie sales course. The company I was working for sent me to it, because either I went from the job I was doing for them into sales, or I had to leave the company, and I, at the time, didn't want to go look for another job, especially as a blind person, with an unemployment rate among employable blind people in the 70% range, that's a real challenge. So I went into sales and took this course. And I don't even know where it came from or when I first started doing it, but one of the things that I learned as I became a manager and started hiring people and working with people, was to say, you have skills. I have skills, and my job is not to boss you around. If I'm hiring you, I'm hiring you because you convinced me that you can do the job that I'm hiring you to do, but at the same time, what I need to do is to work with you to figure out how I can enhance what you do, because my job as your boss is to enhance what you do and to make you success, or help make you more successful. But we have to do that together now, the people who really got that were successful and, and we found that there are a lot of ways that we could blend our skills together. The people who didn't get it and didn't want to do it ended up not working for the company very long. Yeah, but it was because they weren't successful, they weren't able to sell and, and I know that I have some skills that a lot of other people don't have, but it's my life upbringing, and it's my environment that taught me those things. So that's fine. It isn't to say that other people couldn't get them, and a few people would ask me from time to time, how do you do that? And we talk. It, and they got better at it too, which is fine,   Lisa Kohn ** 50:02 yeah, yeah. I mean, that is, that's brilliant, right? But not every manager, not every leader gets that or knows that. So that's your role, is to enhance them, and your role is also to kind of block and tackle, right? What's getting in their way that you can what are the obstacles you can remove, what are the bridges you can build for them to go forward? But yeah, so often again, we get promoted. We get promoted for doing something well, and then we think everybody should do it our way. And it's a huge learning to realize you can do it your way, and as long as it's successful, that's great, as opposed to trying to force other people to do it my way. But I quote, I love tower Brock. Tower Brock's a mindfulness a teacher, and the quote I saw recently was, the world is divided between people who think they're right. Exactly yeah, right. We are going around thinking we're pretty right and what we're doing and yeah. So yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 50:56 The other part about that, and the approach that I took, was that I was always so amazed, impressed and pleased when I was able to work with people who, as I said, Got it how much I learned, and I learned some of their skills, which helped me do my job even better, and We had a lot of fun doing it. I   Lisa Kohn ** 51:23 my clients, yeah, my clients as I hope they think they learn from me, yeah, and have a lot of fun doing it exactly. People together can be it's just a generative, beautiful process when you let it be absolutely   Michael Hingson ** 51:37 Well, I think that it's, it's important to do that. And as I tell people, if I'm not learning at least as much on this podcast and all the things that I get to do and interacting with people, if I'm not learning at least as much as other people, then I'm not doing my job very well. It's fun to learn, and it's fun to be open to exploring new ideas. And I sit back at the end of the day and think about them, think about what I like and don't like, but I base that on everything that I've heard, not only from a particular guest on a particular day, but everyone. So it's it's such a fun learning experience, I can't complain a bit.   Lisa Kohn ** 52:18 Yeah, that's good. Yeah, life. Life can be, life can be truly joyful when you are open to learning and seeing new things. Absolutely true.   Michael Hingson ** 52:25 So what do you love most about being a leadership consultant and an executive coach, you clearly sound like you're having fun.   Lisa Kohn ** 52:32 I definitely have fun, and fun is hugely important. Um, you know When? When? When you see a difference in your clients, when they get something that they needed to get, or they understand, or they move ahead in a way that they hadn't, or when they're, you know, finally standing up for themselves, or finally taking time for themselves, or finally, you know, working better with it, like when they're finally doing those things they set out to do, it is it? Is it is such a gift, right? It is such a gift. And similarly, you know, when you when we're working within tech teams, and you see them connect in ways they haven't connected, or move organization forward, or the team forward, or we were just working with a we're working with one client where there's a department in this organization, and the three areas in the that department are kind of at war with each other. And when you can get them in a room where they can actually start, you know, hearing each other and listening to each other and finding ways to move together forward, it's an organization that does a heck of a lot of good in the world, so they're going to be more effective on what they're doing, even more good is going to be done in the world. So it's, it's very ratifying to be able to be someone who can, I'm told, I inspire people, but I support people. But it's, it's very it's such a gift to be able to give people something that helps them feel better and therefore live and lead better. So   Michael Hingson ** 54:02 yeah, and what? And when you see the results of that, when you actually see them putting into practice the kinds of things that you talk about, and maybe they take it in a different direction than you originally thought. But of course, seeds get planted, where they get planted, and so it's the ultimate results that really count. But by the same token, when you start to see that happening, that has to be a wonderful feeling to experience,   Lisa Kohn ** 54:30 hugely gratifying. And it's the concussion brain kicking in, because I know there's an example just recently where a client told me of a conversation they had or something that happened. And we have a we have a whole conversation about how you realized six months ago, when I first met you, you never would have done it in that way. You never would have shown up in the way. But I can't remember what it was, but it did happen recently, but it's my short term memory that's the most messed up right now, but we'll get there.   Michael Hingson ** 54:55 Well, yeah, as I said, You just never know about seeds. And I've I've told. The story a couple times on the podcast, when I was doing student teaching in at University High School in Irvine, and I was in the teaching program, teacher credentialing program at UC Irvine, I taught high school freshman algebra is one of the two courses I taught. And there was a young man in this course. His name was Marty. He was from the eighth grade, but was very bright, and so he was accelerated for this class and a couple of things to go to a high school algebra class. And we were in class one day, and he asked a question, and it was a very easy question, and I didn't know the answer. Now, mind you, I didn't have a concussed brain. I just didn't know the answer. And immediately I thought, don't try to blow smoke with this kid. Tell him you don't know. So I said, Marty, I gotta tell you I should know the answer. I don't, but I'm gonna go find out, and I will tell you tomorrow. Okay? And he said, Yeah. So the next day, I came into class, and one of the things I love to do as a student, teacher, well as a teacher in general, if we back in those days, we use chalkboards, since I don't write, well, I would always have one of the students come up and be the official writer for the day. Everyone wanted to be the teacher's writer on the board on any given day. Well, I I came in, and I decided, because he hadn't done it for a while, that I'd have Marty come up and write when we started class. And I said, Marty, I got the answer. And he said, I do too. I said, Great, you're the Blackboard writer of the day. Come up and show us. Well, he had it right, and I had it right. So that was a good thing. But 10 years later, Oh, well. So the next thing that happened is, right after class, my master teacher, Jerry Redman, came up, and he said, you know, you absolutely did it the right way. Don't ever try to blow smoke with these kids. They'll see through it every time. Well, 10 years later, we were my wife and I at the Orange County Fair, and this guy comes up, and in this deep voice, he goes, Mr. Hingson, do you remember me? Well, if you didn't sound at all like Marty, and I said, well, not sure. Who are you? Said, I'm Marty. I was in your class 10 years ago, and I remember the algebra thing, you know, you never know where seeds are going to be planted. But that stuck with him all these years. And I didn't, I didn't think about it other than I was glad that Jerry Redman told me I did it the right way, but it was so wonderful to hear that he remembered it. So if I had any effect on him, so much the better.   Lisa Kohn ** 57:32 Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.   Michael Hingson ** 57:35 So what did you learn from cancer? What did I learn from other than, chemo is a pain. Chemo   Lisa Kohn ** 57:41 is not fun. I learned. I learned to slow down even more, like that, that again, the the amount My brother used to call me the little engine that will, no matter what you know, and I've learned to, and maybe this does, doesn't sound positive to people, but to go slower, to be gentler, to do less, to lower, you know, the push that was still in me. I mean, push is good, but too much pushes, too much of anything, is not good. I learned to appreciate life even more, nothing like a cancer diagnosis to kind of make you do that li

Jake Boyd is entering his second season as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at Eureka College (IL). Previously Jake coached for Illinois State University's Laboratory School, University High School in Normal, IL for four seasons from 2019-2023. Jake also works in player development for Handle University and coaches AAU basketball for Beyond Ball Basketball both based in Des Moines, Iowa. Jake began his coaching career with youth basketball programs in Iowa and Illinois after playing college basketball at Dana College (NE).If you're looking to improve your coaching please consider joining the Hoop Heads Mentorship Program. We believe that having a mentor is the best way to maximize your potential and become a transformational coach. By matching you up with one of our experienced mentors you'll develop a one on one relationship that will help your coaching, your team, your program, and your mindset. The Hoop Heads Mentorship Program delivers mentoring services to basketball coaches at all levels through our team of experienced Head Coaches. Find out more at hoopheadspod.com or shoot me an email directly mike@hoopheadspod.comMake sure you're subscribed to the Hoop Heads Pod on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and while you're there please leave us a 5 star rating and review. Your ratings help your friends and coaching colleagues find the show. If you really love what you're hearing recommend the Hoop Heads Pod to someone and get them to join you as a part of Hoop Heads Nation.Grab a notebook and pen before you listen to this episode with Jake Boyd, Men's Basketball Assistant Coach at Eureka College.Website - https://www.eurekareddevils.com/sports/mbkb/indexEmail – coachjakeboyd@icloud.comTwitter - @CoachBoyd3Visit our Sponsors!Dr. Dish BasketballOur friends at Dr. Dish Basketball are ready to fire up your team's training with $4,000 the Dr. Dish CT+ with a trade-in during their July Super Sale. Trade-in your machine, any make or model in any condition even if it's a competitor's model, and get the industry's leading shooting machine into your gym now. drdishbasketball.comFast Model SportsFastModel Sports has the most compelling and intuitive basketball software out there! In addition to a great product, they also provide basketball coaching content and resources through their blog and playbank, which features over 8,000 free plays and drills from their online coaching community. For access to these plays and more information, visit fastmodelsports.com or follow them on Twitter @FastModel. Use Promo code HHP15 to save 15%

We get to SPOTLIGHT another great Florida AD as this week we visit with Staci Hahn of University H.S. in Orange City! Staci does a great job with her teams and today she shares her story plus some BEST PRATICES on The Educational AD Podcast! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/educational-ad-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/educational-ad-podcast/support

Josh Jeffcoat pitched a brilliant five-and-two-thirds innings for the Eagles, throwing 11 strikeouts, while he and his teammates piled on the runs at the plate to win their third straight Class 1A Baseball State Championship.

Navigating Through Athletic Leadership with Anthony Thomas | Contacts Coaching Podcast In this episode of the Contacts Coaching Podcast, host Justin is joined by Anthony Thomas, Athletic Director at University High School in San Francisco. After six months of recruiting, Anthony shares his extensive journey in education and athletics, starting from his beginnings as a history teacher and baseball coach in Santa Monica to his current role. Anthony talks about the challenges and triumphs of building athletic programs from the ground up, the importance of mentorship, and the impact of diversity and inclusion in sports. He provides insights into interviewing for athletic director positions, fostering a sense of belonging, and the significance of student and faculty engagement. This episode delves into Anthony's philosophy of treating athletics as a vital part of educational communities and his vision for creating inclusive and supportive environments for student-athletes. X - @coachat3 Instagram- @coachat https://thenomadassociation.org/ 00:00 Welcome & Introduction to Anthony Thomas 00:24 Journey to University High School: The Early Years 01:07 Unexpected Turn into Athletic Directing 02:04 Building a Legacy: From New Roads to University High 07:43 Challenges and Triumphs at University High School 11:35 The Importance of Belonging and Career Choices 19:46 Empowering Through NOMAD: Mentorship and Diversity 25:30 The Essence of Our Organization 25:43 Authenticity in Job Interviews 26:23 Innovative Coaching Symposiums 28:00 Building a Community-Centric Athletic Program 28:28 Elevating Student Voices in Athletics 29:32 Creating Memorable Experiences Beyond Sports 31:12 The Power of Athletics in Community Building 34:38 Navigating Career Paths and Leadership Styles 35:04 Advice for New Athletic Directors 45:52 Breaking Down Silos Through Athletics 46:26 Fostering Faculty and Athletics Collaboration This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠LMNT⁠⁠⁠⁠! Spelled LMNT. What is LMNT? It's a ⁠⁠⁠⁠delicious, sugar-free electrolyte drink-mix⁠⁠⁠⁠. I tried this recently after hearing about it on another podcast, and since then, I've stocked up on boxes and boxes of this and usually use it 1–2 times per day. ⁠⁠⁠⁠LMNT⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a great alternative to other commercial recovery and performance drinks. As a coach or an athlete, you will not find a better product that focuses on the essential electrolyte your body needs during competition. LMNT has become a staple in my own training and something we are excited to offer to our coaches and student-athletes as well. LMNT is used by Military Special Forces teams, Team USA weightlifting, At least 5 NFL teams, and more than half the NBA. You can try it risk-free. If you don't like it, LMNT will give you your money back no questions asked. They have extremely low return rates. ⁠⁠⁠⁠LMNT⁠⁠⁠⁠ came up with a very special offer for you as a listener to this podcast. For a limited time, you can claim ⁠⁠⁠⁠a free LMNT Sample Pack⁠⁠⁠⁠—you only cover the cost of shipping. For US customers, this means you can receive an 8-count sample pack for only $5. Simply go to⁠⁠⁠⁠ DrinkLMNT.com/contacts ⁠⁠⁠⁠to claim your free 8-count sample pack. Taking a bunch of pills and capsules is hard on the stomach and hard to keep up with. To help each of us be at our best, we at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Athletic Greens⁠⁠⁠⁠ developed a better approach to providing your body with everything it needs for optimal performance. 75 vitamins, minerals, whole-food sourced superfoods, probiotics, and adaptogens in one convenient daily serving to bring you the nutrition you need. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://athleticgreens.com/contacts/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠for more.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justin-clymo30/support

Student cast members perform scenes and discuss their research into Frank's life

July 6, 2012, the first day without Skylar, was complicated. After a strange summer, Shelia and Rachel return to University High School for their junior year.

Ann talks with chef Michael Clinton Osborne the highly acclaimed University High School culinary arts program and is embarking on a new journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking the first steps

It's the start of hour number two here on Network Indiana's Indiana Sports Talk, Coach Bob Lovell and Nathaniel Finch are joined by David Eha from Ball State Radio. The Cardinals had a big 67-58 win over Bellarmine today in Men's basketball. Head Coach Barak Coolman from Bishop Luers High School joins the show to talk the Knights win over Mishawaka Marian. John Herrick from the ISC Sports Network calls into the show to talk the Sneakers for Santa basketball tournament today. Herrick had the call of Brownsburg 49-44 win over Warren Central. Herrick also talks his call of Ben Davis 71-57 win over Fort Wayne Wayne. Jackson Williams from Greenwood Christian Academy joins the show to talk their win over University High School. Len Clark from Notre Dame played in the NCAA Soccer Tournament today and the Irish won and will advance to the College Cup. Greg Rakestraw joins the show to talk with Coach about his calls of Lawrence North 72-47 win over Brownstown Central and Crispus Attucks 53-46 win over Center Grove.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the "Today in San Diego" podcast, a University High School teacher is being charged again, this time accused of possessing child pornography, the pilot in a small La Jolla plane crash has been identified and a fraternity at San Diego Sate is facing legal trouble over alleged negligence and sexual assault.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To Sanford Biggers, the past, present, and future are intertwined and all part of one big, long now. Over the past three decades, the Harlem-based artist has woven various threads of place and time—in ways not dissimilar to a hip-hop D.J. or a quilter—to create clever, deeply metaphorical, darkly humorous, and often beautiful work across a vast array of mediums, including painting, sculpture, video, photography, music, and performance. Among his standout works are “Oracle” (2021), a 25-foot-tall cast bronze sculpture that combines a Greco-Roman form with an African mask; his “BAM” series (2015) of gunshot statuettes; and his ongoing “Codex” series of quilts, which have, over his past decade of making them, become an especially potent and ritualistic part of his art-making.On this episode, Biggers talks about the influence that musicians such as Mahalia Jackson, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder have had on his art; why he thinks of himself as a “material polyglot”; and why religious and spiritual works like reliquaries, shrines, and “power objects” are the bedrock of his practice.Special thanks to our Season 8 sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.Show notes:[00:26] Sanford Biggers[03:55] “Sanford Biggers with Yasi Alipour”[07:14] “The Playful, Political Art of Sanford Biggers”[12:34] Moon Medicin[13:36] Mahalia Jackson[13:39] Ray Charles[13:40] Charles Mingus[13:41] Thelonious Monk[15:32] Stevie Wonder[16:06] Prince[18:00] Dick Gregory[18:01] Richard Pryor[18:02] Redd Foxx[18:47] “BAM” series[27:17] “re:mancipation”[29:05] Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture[30:08] John Biggers[31:41] “Codeswitch” at the California African American Museum[33:28] Dr. Leslie King-Hammond[33:30] Maryland Institute College of Art[37:47] University High School[38:23] Morehouse College[38:33] Art Institute of Chicago[47:34] Isamu Noguchi[47:36] Martin Puryear[49:06] “Lotus”[50:31] “Orin”[55:52] “Meet Me on the Equinox”[55:52] “Back to the Stars”

On October 27, 1988, McLean County Coroner William Anderson had just come from the Central Catholic vs. University High School football game. Afterward, he was due to meet with members of his re-election campaign to go over strategies. Before the meeting, Anderson was volunteered by the others to get beer for the meeting. He went to the closest store, S&S Liquor Store, located at 703 N. Clinton Street in Bloomington-Normal Illinois. Anderson grabbed a six-pack and headed home for the strategy session. Just two to three minutes later, after having made it only a few blocks, Anderson's pager went off, alerting him to go back to S&S Liquor Store. When he returned, he stepped straight into one of the worst tragedies in the town's history. Join me as I walk you through the tragedy known as the S&S Liquor Store Murders. Let's get social: Follow MURDERISH on Instagram & TikTok @MurderishPodcast. We're also on Facebook. Visit murderish.com to learn more about Jami and the podcast. You can also buy merch & sign up to become a MURDERISH | Behind the Mic Patreon member and get access to exclusive perks.  Listening to this podcast doesn't make you a murderer, it just means you're murder …ish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have kicked off another football season! For our first football Friday we are at University High School... talking with the Cougars! We chat with the cheerleaders and football players. We get a visit from the Student body president! We have the talent hour where we tell It's so hot jokes and we have the poetry slam. We end the show playing the list where Nurys took the W! We are all so close!

We have kicked off another football season! For our first football Friday we are at University High School... talking with the Cougars! We chat with the cheerleaders and football players. We get a visit from the Student body president! We have the talent hour where we tell It's so hot jokes and we have the poetry slam. We end the show playing the list where Nurys took the W! We are all so close!

Mr. Longstreet sits down to interview Mr. Sabbagh to talk about the music teachers that have shaped our music programs at University High School over the last 50 years.

In episode 35, Chris and Emma talked with Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden, an American licensed psychologist with offices in Colorado and Florida. Patty applies the theory of positive disintegration in her practice with the highly and profoundly gifted.Patty studied with Dr. Michael M. Piechowski as a graduate student when he taught at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the late 1970s, and he introduced her to the work of Dąbrowski and Maslow. Years later, they reconnected, became close friends, and worked together as Senior Fellows to help create Yunasa, a camp for highly gifted children run by the Institute for Educational Advancement.We learned about Patty's early work with the profoundly gifted in her role as the Director of Guidance and Counseling at University High School at the University of Illinois. She described falling in love with that population, and she's worked with PG individuals of all ages ever since. She talked with us about her holistic approach to the gifted, which is the basis of her book, Embracing the Whole Gifted Self. Patty talked with us about the necessity of honoring all five domains of the self: intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual, and social. Patty shared the importance of seeing gifted individuals as whole people and more than their minds.How can therapists of the gifted serve this population well? Patty shared several ideas on this topic from her own experience. Understanding one's own levels of giftedness and empathy is critical when working with clients. We learned some of the essentials for clinicians and how they can prepare themselves to be present and grounded in their work.In the final part of our discussion, Patty talked about the life journey inward toward the Golden Core, or our inner guidance system. Discovering our meaning and purpose in life and facing ourselves courageously are parts of this journey.Links from this episode:Patricia Gatto-Walden, Ph.D. (Patty's website)Embracing the Whole Gifted Self (Patty's book)Yunasa (IEA website)Piechowski archive (Dąbrowski Center website)Social links and other info:Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/positivedisintegrationpod)Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/positivedisintegration_podcast/)Twitter (https://twitter.com/DabrowskiPod)Join the Adults with Overexcitabilities group on FacebookJoin Dabrowski Center and Positive Disintegration Podcast Community on FacebookPlease, consider supporting the podcast. Positive Disintegration is brought to you by the Dabrowski Center.Subscribe here for the Dabrowski Center's monthly newsletter and information about the 2024 Dabrowski Congress.If you enjoyed this episode on Apple or Spotify, remember to click on the stars and leave a rating or write a review. Thank you!Thank you for listening to Positive Disintegration. Please share! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit positivedisintegration.substack.com

Mr. Longstreet and Mr. Altuner sit down with Neeraj and Rakhi to learn about the wonderful opportunities and resources available to our students here at University High School.

WVU football game times released. When defines a night game?University High School baseball coach Brad Comport previews the state tournament.

Welcome to the Green Room Meditations Podcast, presented by the Indiana Repertory Theatre and hosted by Devon Ginn. Tune in to hear from IRT's incoming Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director, Benjamin Hanna, as we talk about his hopes for the IRT under his leadership and discuss the 51st Season.  For our season finale, we are in conversation with: Benjamin Hanna (he/him) who begins his tenure as Indiana Repertory Theatre's newest Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director. A director, curator, and avid arts educator, Ben's passion for multigenerational theatre and dedication to equity and access fuels his investment in Indianapolis' community to generate art for–and with–all. As IRT's Associate Artistic Director for the past five years, his recognizable impact on the organization is unmistakable. Hanna inaugurated IRT's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access initiatives for the Board, staff, and community collaborators, directed many acclaimed productions, including Fahrenheit 451, The Book Club Play, and the farcical thriller Clue, evolved season selection and casting processes, and ensured IRT's quick pivot to virtual programming during the pandemic, allowing patrons to remain connected and engaged.   Before the IRT, Hanna's career spanned the country with tenures at the Tony-Award winning theatres Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis (the nation's largest theatre for young audiences) and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.  In his native Minnesota, Hanna served on the staff at the Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation's leading African American theatre, where he expanded education and community engagement programming. Hanna is the recipient of many distinguished awards for both arts and leadership, including a Theatre Communications Group Leadership University Award funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Richard O Morris Award for Exemplary Staff Service at the Indiana Repertory Theatre, and the Trailblazer Award from University High School in Carmel, Indiana. Hanna is also currently a member of the Class of XLVI in the Stanley K. Lacy (SKL) Executive Leadership Series for Leadership Indianapolis. About the Indiana Repertory Theatre: Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community. Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA): The IRT strives to celebrate and serve the diverse people and cultures that make up our whole community. The IRT is committed to providing access for all; to creating and maintaining an antiracist theatre that is inclusive, safe, and respectful. https://www.irtlive.com/ 

This week, Nate and Bobby are getting schooled at Marquette University High School! The building located on the city's near West Side holds so much history within its walls -- and it's even inspired an amazing upcoming field trip.Read more: https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/marquette-high-spelunkingProduced & edited by Kiri Salinas

On today's episode of the JKR Podcast, host Jayce Riegling sits down with University High School Coach and RoundTripper Academy Director of Baseball Operations. They discuss how he started with RoundTripper, Westfield's Miracle Field, coaching at University High School, and much more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jkrpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Build A Legacy | Blue Collar Mentality | White Collar Industry | Embrace The Personality | Continuously Evolve Follow The JKR Podcast on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more updates and fan engagement!

Episode 65: Jury Selection and Trump v. Stormy DanielsGuest: Ella Woodruff and Alexander JohnsonIn this episode, Dewhitt interviews two more of his Heartland Community College Introduction to Criminal Justice emerging adults, Ella Woodruff and Alexander Johnson. These two astute SUPERSTARS will enlighten you on the American jury system. Dewhitt, Ella, and Alexander discuss the following:  Their career goalsMajor or anticipated majorWhy they enrolled in the courseCollege NowTaylor v. LouisianaShould women be allowed to serve on a juryBench TrialJury TrialGrand juryThe most common type of trialPeremptory challengesChallenges for causeJury selection in a Trump Indictment5th Amendment6th Amendment8th AmendmentBlack Lives MatterWhite SupremacyLegalization of marijuanaFree community collegeWhat they'd like to see the Biden administration accomplishYou can listen to the JFA Podcast Show wherever you get your podcast or by clicking on one of the links below.https://dlbspodcast.buzzsprout.comhttps://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/ https://peculiarbooks.org   Also if you are interested in exercise and being healthy check out the Top 20 Triathlon Podcasts.https://blog.feedspot.com/triathlon_podcasts/

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, we have a guest host, Mathu Gibson, who is our Associate Director of Family Empowerment. Mathu is in conversation with Principal Glenn Starnes II, Harding University High School, and LeDuan Pratt, Garinger High School. Two Black Male Principals from our partner schools. In this episode: Influence and StoryHow did they get to where they are today? Who was their greatest influence? Community ImpactTell us about your school community and what makes it unique!What challenges do the families at your school face, + how are you working to overcome them?Vision + Hope:25 years from now:What impact do they hope to leave on their community?What changes within education and their community do they desire to see? Support the show

This week, Anthony is joined by Bryton Constantin. Bryton is a Baton Rouge native who attended University High School as a linebacker for the football team. He won two state championships with the cubs and committed to Clemson University, as the 5th ranked ILB in his class, nationally.Unfortunately, his career was cut short due to a series of knee injuries but he's since created a lane for himself on platforms like TikTok, posting authentic and relatable content about his family, and recovering mentally and emotionally from his injuries.

This is the first episode of three. These episodes will embark on African-American history, while involving Black students here at University High School. I hope to give them a voice and an outlet. I will also be talking to older members of the Black community as well as a way to tell their stories.

January is National Financial Wellness Month, so this month on the podcast, I'll focus on educating ya'll on improving your finances and overall financial well-being.  Reminders are necessary to keep us on track, so this month our series:  How To Transform Your Financial Well-Being In 2023, will deliver financial wellness concepts and strategies to put the concept into practice in your finances.  So what is your financial well-being; this determines your comfortability in life, meaning: Are you making a liveable or comfortable wage?  Are you able to save monthly, or are you constantly overspending?  Are your expenses and debt higher than your income?  Is your credit score in the lendable range to purchase a home(s), car(s), higher education cost, etc.?  I pride myself on being your financial accountability from afar through this podcast because more than half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, so I know there's a need for the good news I'm spreading!  So listen all this month as I focus on financial well-being topics to help you transform your Finance in 2023!Do you need help improving your Financial Well-Being in 2023?  Click Here to schedule your Clarity Call with Mindfully Rich to see how we can work side by side to improve your financial well-being!Mindfully Rich is looking for 30 business partners in 2023 who want to provide financial empowerment workshops to their employees, students, and/or audience. If  you are a gatekeeper at a:➖Large, Medium, or Small Businesses➖Non-Profit or Community Organization➖College or University➖High School or College Prep ProgramLet's develop a plan to provide your audience with financial well-being and education!  Click Here to schedule a call with me to discuss options that fit your organizational goals in 2023!If you'd like to advertise your business or sponsor a segment here on The Mindfully Rich Podcast, Click Here to email my team at mindfullyrich@iammindfullyrich.com to get the details and rates sheet!

Welcome Back To Another Great Episode of The Mindfully Rich Podcast, Ya'll!It's the holiday season, and I know lots of ya'll are buying gifts while many of ya'll be providing an experience.  You are probably wondering what you mean by an experience.  Well, check out the episode as we dive into some other ways you can make memories this holiday for you and your loved ones!Don't go into the new year lacking your finances. Come on to Mindfully Rich, and let me help you financially plan your year, lower your debt, increase your credit score, manage your money better, or assist you with changing your mindset so you can elevate your finances in the new year! Click Here to schedule your Clarity Call with me.Are you a gatekeeper at the following:➖Large, Medium, or Small Businesses➖Non-Profit or Community Organization➖College or University➖High School or College Prep ProgramI want to partner with you next year to provide financial empowerment workshops to your employees, students, and or audience. Click Here to schedule a call with me to discuss options that fit your organizational goals in 2023!If you'd like to advertise your business or sponsor a segment here on The Mindfully Rich Podcast, Click Here to email my team at mindfullyrich@iammindfullyrich.com to get the details and rates sheet!

Welcome Back To Another Great Episode of The Mindfully Rich Podcast, Ya'll!How many of you have a gratitude ritual?  Maybe not a ritual, but do you do it sometimes?  In today's episode, we'll talk about why you need to add gratitude to your life and how this can increase the abundance you receive in your finances!  Mindsets can make or break your joy in life and financially, so jump on into today's episode to find out how to get your mind right and increase your gratitude to increase your coins!   Don't go into the new year lacking your finances. Come on to Mindfully Rich, and let me help you financially plan your year, lower your debt, increase your credit score, manage your money better, or assist you with changing your mindset so you can elevate your finances in the new year! Click Here to schedule your Clarity Call with Mindfully Rich.Are you a gatekeeper at the following:➖Large, Medium, or Small Businesses➖Non-Profit or Community Organization➖College or University➖High School or College Prep ProgramI want to partner with you next year to provide financial empowerment workshops to your employees, students, and or audience. Click Here to schedule a call with me to discuss options that fit your organizational goals in 2023!If you'd like to advertise your business or sponsor a segment here on The Mindfully Rich Podcast, Click Here to email my team at mindfullyrich@iammindfullyrich.com to get the details and rates sheet!

Welcome Back To Another Great Episode of The Mindfully Rich Podcast, Ya'll!I know ya'll have been patiently waiting for me to drop a new episode; well, here I go. Baby, I needed a refill of something because I've been completely unmotivated, but I'm back and ready to drop these gems! It's the holiday season, and I said, what a great time to remind ya'll to be on the lookout for your family and friends who may try to manipulate you financially during the holidays. Today's episode focuses on ways to recognize financial manipulation, how to combat financial manipulation, and forming boundaries to ensure you don't get got in the future!You don't want to go into the new year lacking your finances. Come on to death row, and let me help you financially plan your year, lower your debt, increase your credit score, manage your money better, or assist you with changing your mindset so you can elevate your finances in the new year! Click Here to schedule your Clarity Call with me.Are you a gatekeeper at the following:➖Large, Medium, or Small Businesses➖Non-Profit or Community Organization➖College or University➖High School or College Prep ProgramI want to partner with you next year to provide financial empowerment workshops to your employees, students, and or audience. Click Here to schedule a call with me to discuss options that fit your organizational goals in 2023!If you'd like to advertise your business or sponsor a segment here on The Mindfully Rich Podcast, Click Here to email my team at mindfullyrich@iammindfullyrich.com to get the details and rates sheet!

Today, Xiao Ou Yuan talks about investing in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) bonds and how they can give you cash flow while offering liquidity for commercial real estate developments. Start impact investing today and learn how TIF completes a project's capital stack and the growth opportunities it can bring to local communities!   Key takeaways to listen for  When can you consider a nonrated bond risky How to make money from investing in bonds The usual size of development projects that are great for TIF bonds A basic overview of bonds What to expect when purchasing TIF bonds   About Xiao Ou Yuan Xiao Ou Yuan is the Managing Director of Hageman Capital and manages the day-to-day operations, leading all bond structuring and negotiations for the Hageman Capital portfolio. Hageman Capital is a purchaser of single-site, developer-backed TIF bonds. They structure the bonds in a way that maximizes the cash available to invest in the real estate project. As a result, their structure allows for better financing by decreasing the debt burden on real estate development, enabling greater odds of success for developers, investors, and the community. Before joining Hageman Capital, Xiao was a Principal at Fifth Third Securities, a regional investment banking firm primarily focused on high-yield TIF and municipal bond transactions in the Midwest. Xiao is a graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and a Master's in Public Affairs. Xiao is civically involved in many non-profit organizations in the Central Indiana community. He is an active member of the Penrod Society and serves on the boards of the Center for Performing Arts, University High School of Indiana, Reach for Youth, and Carmel Clay Public Library. Xiao also serves on the finance committee for Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.   Connect with Xiao Website: Hageman Capital | Hageman Group LinkedIn: Xiao Ou Yuan | Hageman Capital   Connect with Us To learn more about partnering with us, visit our website at https://javierhinojo.com/ and www.allstatescapitalgroup.com, or send an email to admin@allstateseg.com.  Sign up to get our Free Apartment Due Diligence Checklist Template and Multifamily Calculator by visiting https://javierhinojo.com/free-tools/. If you want to get involved in larger projects and grow your network with like-minded people, be part of the next BDB mastermind session in Guadalajara, Mexico on February 9 - 11, 2023. To join, go to https://javierhinojo.com/mastermind/ or https://javierhinojo.com/mm-spanish/ and to apply to his BDB Mastermind, see https://javierhinojo.com/mastermind/#apply_form and answer the form.   Follow Me on Social Media Facebook: Javier A Hinojo Jr. Facebook Group: Billion Dollar Multifamily and Commercial Real Estate YouTube Channel: Javier Hinojo Instagram: @javierhinojojr TikTok: @javierhinojojr Twitter: @JavierHinojoJr

Prior to joining Hageman Capital, Xiao was a Principal at Fifth Third Securities, a regional investment banking firm, primarily focused on high-yield TIF and municipal bond transactions in the Midwest. Xiao is a graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and a Master's in Public Affairs. Xiao is civically involved in many non-profit organizations in the Central Indiana community. He is an active member of the Penrod Society, and serves on the boards of the Center for Performing Arts, University High School of Indiana, Reach for Youth, and Carmel Clay Public Library. Xiao also serves on the finance committee for Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site. *DISCLAIMER - We are not giving any financial advice. Please DYOR* (00:00 - 02:02) Opening Segment - Xiao is introduced as the guest Host - Xiao shares something interesting about himself (02:02 - 36:58) How does Tax Increment Financing work - Xiao shares what kind of assets he personally invests in and why? - Xiao also shares what exactly tax is. - He also shares the role of Hageman Capital in the TIF space - He shares what he is looking for if he tries to buy these bonds - Xiao shares the risk of an investor - Xiao shares are they coming in as debt investors or equity investors - Also, he shares what returns he targets - He also shares why Real estate investors and developers care about TIF - And he shares as well how TIF beneficial - Xiao shares also does this only works on real estate developers. - Xiao also shares does this provides tax benefits to developers or investors - He also shares that when a developer starts paying the interest - Xiao shares the risks for the developers of taking this TIF (36:58 - 44:09) Fire Round - Xiao shares if he sees an impact on the mobile home industry - Xiao shares his investment strategy - Xiao also shares his favorite Finance, real estate book, or any related book - Also Xiao shares about the website and tools that they can recommend - Xiao's advice to beginner investors - Also shared how he gives back (44:09 - 45:06) Closing Segment -If you want to learn more about the discussion, you can watch the podcast on Wealth Matter's YouTube channel and you can reach out to Alpesh using this link. Check us out at: Facebook: @wealthmatrs IG: @wealthmatrs.ig Tiktok: @wealthmatrs