Podcasts about when diana

This week's episode is featuring  Diana Nguyen of Lux Second Chance! Diana is a former trader/analyst who now curates luxury goods from US, Canada and France.When Diana's banking career took her overseas to Asia, she discovered her love for designer luxury goods. Diana quickly noticed that the pre-loved consignment market in Asia was far more advanced compared to North American markets.  When she returned to Toronto, she decided to launch Lux Second Chance by selling 23 of her own handbags and applied the same knowledge of the stock market to secondhand -- buy and sell wisely. Lux Second Chance brings the world's best pre-loved designer luxury goods into the palm of your hands. Lux Second Chance source and curate beautiful collections of high-end brands, featuring both timeless classics, and trendy, in-the-moment items – many of which are not available in North American markets. Some rare pieces even come from private sales, having never been available on retail shelves. From only the most discerning, reputable, and prestigious consignment shops from London, Paris, New York, and other designer-obsessed cities, right to your front door.We talk about:- Transitioning from the banking world to being an entrepreneur and how it wasn't the 'slow-paced' path she thought it would be- Some background on fast fashion and how her company works towards sustainability- Expanding her business to a new country each year and how she has managed this growth- How people can shop second-hand wisely and what to look for- What marketing tactic she used to really get 'over the hump' - Putting processes in place and setting up her business for longevity And more!Resourcesluxsecondchance.com/www.instagram.com/luxsecondchance/Podcast Productionwww.elevatepodcastco.com/Get social with us!www.instagram.com/madeithappenpodcast/SponsorsThree Ships Beauty Code MADEITHAPPEN20Shop SheKind Code MADEIT20

Princess Diana made international headlines in 1987 at the opening of the UK’s first HIV/AIDS unit at Middlesex Hospital when she shook hands with a patient who was dying from AIDS.In an era of AIDS hysteria, this ordinary gesture marked the first time a royal or a prominent politician knowingly made public physical contact with anyone living with HIV. This simple act placed her in stark contrast to the aloof royal family and endeared her to gay men everywhere.Over time Princess Diana evolved into a fierce advocate for many great causes including HIV & AIDS, as well as leading a campaign against landmines.When Diana first entered the spotlight, she was shy and demure but after her divorce she became a strong and charismatic champion as “The People’s Princess.”But how did she do it? How did she go from someone controlled by the monarchy to a powerful advocate for the people?Today Princess Diana’s voice and presence coach, Stewart Pearce, joins us to look at how he helped Princess Diana tap into the power within to command an international stage.In his new book “Diana: the Voice of Change,” Pearce dives deep into his work helping guide people like Princess Diana on how to speak and act in public.BUY THE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3p7rK6YListen Stewart shares some of the techniques he uses on his celebrity clientele to perform their best and why does Lord Voldemort sound like Margaret Thatcher?STEWART PEARCE: http://stewartpearce.comPlus,➤ What does Stewart think of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the royal family?➤ The 25th anniversary of Princess Diana's visit to Chicago.

Chad and Lindsey take listeners behind the scenes and go deep into the nitty-gritty of recent thoughtbot company changes driven by the pandemic and the organization's need (and desire!) to go fully remote – all while reaffirming and revisiting the organization's values, mission, and purpose as part of the process. Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: CHAD PYTEL: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host, Chad Pytel. LINDSEY CHRISTENSEN: And I'm your other host, Lindsey Christensen. And we're back. Thanks for tuning in. CHAD: We've missed you. LINDSEY: Yes. We’ve been kind of busy. CHAD: We've been busy, and we knew we were going to take a break after the last season. We didn't necessarily know for quite how long, and then a whole bunch of stuff happened, which we're going to tell you about today. From the last episode, you heard about the change to the thoughtbot CEO, and we alluded to some changes that we've made to the company. And we're going to talk about those today. LINDSEY: Yeah. And in true thoughtbot Giant Robots fashion, we’ll go behind the scenes and give you the nitty-gritty of why things happened and how it's going because it's all really interesting. CHAD: Yeah. I think on the surface, it's really easy to think about how maybe these changes have been entirely driven by the need to go remote or the desire to go remote. And the reality was that's an important part of it, but it really was so much more than that. Some of these changes that we've made are ones we've been talking about for a long time. And it wasn't until almost a year of operating in a different way that we said, “We need to make some of these changes in order to accommodate remote and working from anywhere.” And we fell back on a lot of other problems we needed to solve along the way. LINDSEY: So we actually decided to break out remote work into its own episode, which will be the next episode. And I'm sure it's going to come up today, but it's a whole other area of changes and focus, whereas some of the reorg changes that we just underwent solved a lot or are trying to solve a number of challenges that we've been working on over the years. So I guess to start off, before we reorganized, how did we function? And that was largely geographically based. CHAD: Yeah. And the geographic basis means that we had a studio in a city, and in that studio, we offered the complete thoughtbot services. And that was driven by this idea back in 2012 when we started to expand. Prior to that, we really held the company to less than 30 people. And we were primarily a group of people all in one location working together, and we were all of what thoughtbot was. And we really liked that. We liked the structure. But people wanted to move and live somewhere else. And our purpose is that we believe that there's a better way to work. And we want to share it with as many people as possible, although we've revised that purpose now as part of this process. And so I really remember the day we were having a company meeting, and someone stood up and said, “If we really believe we have a better way to work, why are we not trying to bring it to more people? Why are we losing these great team members only because they want to live somewhere else?” But we also really liked the small, close-knit team of people who worked closely together on client work. We had done some client projects that were split across teams and across time zones and that kind of stuff. And it just didn't feel as good as we wanted it to feel, especially because it was hybrid. And so we said, “We know exactly what a great thoughtbot looks like. Instead of trying to expand what that great thoughtbot looks like, let's try to replicate it instead.” And so when someone wanted to move to a new city, we said, “That’s great.” We looked at the market in the city that they were moving to and said, “Let's grow another thoughtbot around them and use that as the starting point for a new thoughtbot studio that would be a full design and development team that offers and works with all the different kinds of clients that we work with.” And that was the model which brought us to being in six cities in the UK and in the U.S. and about 100 people working with a whole bunch of clients every year across those. But for the individual person working at thoughtbot, individual designer or developer, it felt very much like thoughtbot had always felt, which was you were working with a team of three or four other people directly on that client. Oftentimes, the client would be in the same city as you. And when we could meet face-to-face with people, they'd be working in our office, and we'd be working really closely with them. LINDSEY: Another interesting element of that structure was the marketing, and community was also very locally based, so engaging in and hosting local meetups. Actually, all of our offices -- We had offices, first of all, in amazing locations in all of these tech hub cities, and all the offices additionally had space for specifically events and community type of activities. And we thought a lot about nurturing local community, creating local partnerships. Obviously, we're thinking a lot about the hiring pool, and nurturing potential future hires in those cities as well. CHAD: Yeah, and that's what we had done in Boston where we got started, and it's very fulfilling to be part of your local community. And we wanted to embrace that as we grew. And for a good while, it worked pretty well. We were certainly able to grow quickly once we decided to do it. A lot of people who listened to the podcast a long time will recognize that we actually at one point had ten cities, some of which were pretty established and other ones which we were expanding into. And we learned a lot along the way about how much harder it is to build a local business than we originally were anticipating it would be. One of the things that we learned, and I've talked about this on the podcast in the past, is that with our reputation in the design and development community, we could often go into a major city and have a great first year because there was a lot of pent up demand for people who wanted to work with us, work at the company and as our clients. And that really led us astray in the beginning because we would go into -- We were expanding in three or four cities in the same year, and they were all super successful. So we were hiring teams to do all the work that we had. What we weren't doing was all the legwork we needed to do to build a sustainable local business. And so after the first batch of clients or the first batch and a half of clients we were done working with, we didn't have a sustainable pipeline of new local clients coming in. And so we learned a lot about how much we actually need to do when going into a new city to not only have that great first year but to have a great fifth year. And so we had a few failures where we had to close some studios just because we couldn't afford to operate them profitably, and that was pretty painful. I forget the episode numbers where we talked about it in the past, but we have. You can go back and listen to it. We can link them in the show notes. LINDSEY: In addition to having the designers and the developers in the local studios, at least in recent years, we also had the structure that each city studio had a managing director. And a lot of those managing directors actually came from design and development themselves, but they were in charge of everything local including, and especially the sale, so finding new clients, onboarding them, the actual profitability of their studio, hiring. And again, as you mentioned, that was across all kinds of clients, all kinds of projects, but primarily locally based. CHAD: And once we realized what it was going to take to build local businesses and make them successful, we refined that managing director position a lot. It wasn't one that we necessarily had in every studio, and so adding it or, in some cases, making the difficult decision to swap out the person in that with someone. Now that we understood what was necessary, making sure that someone in that position actually wanted that job and could do it. And that has been the journey we've been on; I would say for the past three or four years of making those changes, figuring it out so that when it was working well, each of the studios could work really well. And we've made a lot of progress with that. But one of the problems we had, so we have all the individual studios, and then we have the corporate-level people which are myself and you, marketing people, operations supporting all of the studios. And one of the things that we've struggled with over the years is being consistently profitable as we've grown or primarily operating break-even, which historically we were very comfortable doing because the whole leadership and shareholder of thoughtbot and ownership all worked here. We care a lot about paying people as much as we can possibly do and having the greatest benefits we possibly can while staying sustainable. And so it wasn't an issue. We're not running the company to generate lots of profits that then go to some investors or shareholders. So operating breakeven wasn't historically a problem, where it started to become a problem is as we grew and grew, the numbers became large enough that when things didn't go like we were expecting and we were managing to break even, then we would be very unprofitable very quickly if something didn't go the way that we were expecting, and it started to put the company at risk. So we started to focus more on profitability. And one of the things that was hurting profitability is that we were maintaining these small teams with offices, and just the overhead of a small team across many different geographies added overhead, which made it harder to be profitable because we needed to do everything in each individual location. LINDSEY: Right. So now, really getting into those big challenges that were pressuring us to rethink how we operate, profitability and margin was a big one, which once you look at the breakdown in the numbers, the overhead of having the different studios was one. I think that also bleeds into the MDs have really challenging positions. They're responsible for a lot: they're responsible for the happiness and fulfillment of their teams; they're doing business development; they're doing client management; they're in charge of their entire revenue sheet. So that was another area that I think over time, we were consistently looking at; how do we improve this role? How do we make it so that folks can be successful here? CHAD: Well, you can imagine, too, that designers and developers at thoughtbot we were seeing a similar thing, which is in a lot of ways, thoughtbot is modeled around me and other early developers. And I would often tell people I really like a lot of variety. I like to be working on one client and have huge scaling problems and challenges that we’re working at and growing their business to a whole nother level. And I like rotating off of that. And I then like working with a startup where we’re building the first version of the product. And for some people, no doubt that is exciting and challenging but worth it. And same thing on the sales side for managing directors, like being able to know how to effectively communicate and sell to the needs of each of those different kinds of projects. It's totally doable, but it adds to a lot of effort and angst being spent on just always trying to do everything, both on the development side and the managing director side, and it's hard. And that was one of the challenges that we were hearing either explicitly, or in a lot of cases, I don't think people realized it was happening. Everyone at thoughtbot is amazing and is great and very high execution level and all that stuff. And when you start getting challenges or feedback about poor performance from a great performer, you start to question why is that? What's going on? And it's an unrealistic expectation to have someone work in as part of a large enterprise for six months and then next week have them working on a brand new startup MVP that's got to go to production in six weeks and necessarily expect them to on a dime be able to change their approach to managing that product and making sure that it's successful. And like you said, we want to put people in a position where they can be as successful as possible in everything that they do and having good people spin their wheels even if it's not a performance problem -- if there's a level of interest or excitement for one kind of client over another, we have a system of collecting feedback about what you want to work on and rating the incoming projects. But the primary determinator for what project you work on was which one was starting at the time your other project was ending; that was the primary determiner. So people effectively had no choice about the kind of project that they would work on. And that was a common complaint that we heard from people is that lack of control. LINDSEY: And even though it wasn't supposed to happen, I think people did have reputations for a specialty, and the managing directors or whoever was staffing a project would seek out certain folks for certain projects. So even though we'd like to think of everyone as being able to handle any kind of project, and at a basic level, they could for sure, people with specialties were sought out for things. So that was already happening organically. CHAD: And related but even going deeper on it, when we're maintaining small groups of people that are a complete replica of everything that is thoughtbot, and it's a group of 9 to 25 people, that ability to specialize or to have a career path that extends -- The company you're a part of feels like a 20-person company, and in a 20-person company, there's naturally not going to be tons of room for a big career ladder and lots of advancement or specialization. You will trend towards having a team of people that are more generalized and less hierarchical. LINDSEY: Were there any other big challenges that come to mind for you when we were going into, like, let's revisit how we're structured? CHAD: Well, there was one that touched on all of what we just talked about, and that was design and thoughtbot. And this is one thing that's super interesting. And I think I've talked about it on the show before. But we started from day one as a design and development company. We've always done design, and we've always had people on staff that did it. And one of the things that happened, though, is being the first consulting company in the world to switch to Ruby on Rails and being a big contributor to that community, and building a reputation through our open-source and through our blog and everything on the development side, that part of the business has grown. The development team is much larger than the design team. And a lot of people in the world view thoughtbot as oh, they're a Rails development company and really it wasn’t -- What we've always talked about is Rails is in service of the products that we want to design and build and creating great products. And so design has consistently been a challenge over the years as the reputation there isn't as big as on the development side. And so what we saw in the individual studios were each individual studio needed to have a certain number of designers in order to feel like it had a design team and to be able to service the work that it did have locally and a management structure within that team that made sense. It had all those problems that we've just talked about. It was difficult to be profitable. It was difficult to have enough locals work for the two or three designers that were in a studio. And that specialization for what they would do and the kinds of projects that they would work on didn't always match the actual work that we had in a particular city at a time. And so because we were organizing the work that we did geographically, it wasn't uncommon for a designer to not have client work to do and that hurt the design team because we were attracting these great designers. And people are at thoughtbot because they want to build great products; they want to do great work, and then they join the team, and they're not doing it. And so design turnover has been much higher than other parts of the company for that and other related reasons. LINDSEY: Okay. So I have a question for you because you and Diana started on this process before I was involved. So for you, when did reorganization first start? CHAD: Well, as I alluded to at the top of the show, we had been talking about these kinds of things for a while. And I think you were part of most of those discussions as part of the management team where it'd be like, oh, should we break out design? And there wasn't really this clear -- Our strategy for the last many years has been strong local studios bound together by a common purpose and values. And we were feeling pretty good about that strategy. So these problems would crop up, and we would evaluate them in the context of that strategy and say, “No, we're reaffirming our strategy.” So it wasn't until having gone through 2020 and looking towards what 2021 was going to be like and saying, “We've got all these things that could be better. But one thing we know that needs to change is we can't go through another year of everyone planning for all of this to be temporary and to be back to the way that we were before.” We had already been breaking down the geographic barriers of studios because many projects were being staffed across offices at a much higher level than ever was before. And we had given everybody the thumbs up to move wherever they wanted, and we were going to support it. And we had about 20 people move from places where we had a studio to places where we didn't. And so it was really that that crystallized the need to -- I didn't know exactly what we were going to do going into it, but this feeling we need to do something because we can't stay in this limbo state for another year, which is what we were predicting in terms of how long we were going to be in the current operating mode. And even when it does come back, we now have 20+ people who don't live where we have offices anymore. So we can't go through this next period of time expecting things to just go back to the way that they were. So that was when we knew that we were going to do it. So I guess that was at the end of November or the beginning of December of 2020. LINDSEY: It was exciting to have this push to do it. As you mentioned, we talked about different options before. Like Joe had come up with, I remember, a really clever squad-based team proposal. We’d thrown around, “Should we do an industry-based team structure?” But I think what was really missing was a push, a driver, you know, you have to. Because it was “Everything else is kind of working okay the way it is. What if this is a big mistake?” And so we wouldn't move forward. So we had these major drivers to decide on something and then went into what I think is a really successful and fascinating series of brainstorming and iteration sessions pretty quickly as a leadership team to hone in on what we've ended up rolling out. CHAD: And I think one of the things that I appreciated, and it was Diana who did this, was saying, “Let's make sure we reaffirm or revisit our values and purpose as part of this process.” And when you have a company that is driven by values and purpose, it's important when you're making big decisions to revisit them so that they're helping guide what you actually do so that you don't get off track. And we anticipated that the change was going to be big enough that maybe even the value -- We need to be open to the possibility that the value or the purpose would change or should change in the process or had already changed and we hadn't reflected them. And so that was a part of it, like expecting to go into it doing that. And then we can't have a...or maybe we could, but we decided it wasn't realistic to have a 100-person meeting. So again, for a lot of the things we do at thoughtbot, we treat thoughtbot like a product in and of itself. And we use the tools and techniques as designers and developers on that product itself. And so we did survey the team to get their thoughts around purpose and values and around what it had been like to work remotely and just a few questions in general about how they felt about projects and work and that kind of thing. And then, we took that information that we had gathered from the team into the design thinking and brainstorming sessions with the leadership team, which was the managing directors across all the studios and the design and development directors, and then the corporate leadership. LINDSEY: And I'd say at the forefront of these exercises and decisions was how do we ensure thoughtboters are fulfilled? And also, how do we provide the most value to clients, and where those things intersect, how could we potentially reorganize ourselves? And these sessions are some of my favorite things to do, even though they can be maybe stressful times that are driving these exercises. But doing these kinds of really open brainstorming and design thinking exercises, problem-solving with our team, which is full of the smartest, most thoughtful, kindest people, I find incredibly fulfilling and really drive amazing outcomes. And I’m kind of sappy, I guess here. But I start to feel like, oh my gosh, I know why our clients love working with these folks. It's a really powerful exercise, and you come up with really amazing ideas and outcomes. CHAD: Yeah. I had a thought as you were saying that, though, that I agree, but I think you could do exactly the same thing but not be committed to actually making a change. If you were just doing it, it would drive me crazy. [chuckles] And I think that that's an important component is that we went into it saying something is going to change; we don't know what it is. We define problems, and then we come up with solutions to those problems, and we are going to make a change. And that was the difference between the previous we're all sort of venting or trying to do it in a leadership meeting. And I think off-sites and brainstorming sessions and that kind of thing get a bad rap, but when they're actually necessary and when they're done well, and when you have a group of people that are committed to improvement and actually making a change, they can be really great. LINDSEY: Yeah. And I think you all had set out a goal. You and Diana had set a goal schedule of how this would work, which is coming up with ideas as an extended leadership team which is maybe like 18 people. And doing that, we booked a half-day, maybe a bit more; obviously, this is all virtual. And we'd have different sessions where we were breaking out into smaller groups of maybe five people randomized each time and working through a specific challenge or coming up with a specific proposal, then reconvening as the extended leadership team and running through those proposals. So that would be the first individual day. And then you and Diana went off with those proposals and ideas to make some executive decisions around what you thought made sense and then re-proposed to the extended leadership team for feedback and iteration with the goal that every week we're getting closer to the final, final thing that we're going to roll out to the team. And also, by the way, how do we roll that out? CHAD: I'm curious from your perspective how that worked because we didn't go into the process expecting it to work that way. Well, I guess we did. When Diana and I were planning it, though, we initially started from a different place, and then we realized this is going to be too difficult for a group to converge on, and it probably does need us to go and force a convergence basically and then go back and make a proposal. But I'm curious what you think about that. LINDSEY: Oh, I think you absolutely have to do that. CHAD: [chuckles] Okay. LINDSEY: And that's the way I operate, too, even from a marketing perspective, is to take input and ideas and see what folks think. But at the end of the day, you can't make a group decision; someone has to make an executive decision based on what they've heard. So I thought that worked well. Plus, I was in the group that came up with the idea for the reorg we chose. I don't want to brag about it, but it was a great decision. CHAD: [laughs] LINDSEY: So yeah, I guess getting into what that actually was, what we ended up deciding and have moved forward with was breaking out the teams, so keeping a team-based structure but no longer geographically-based but actually each team based on the types of clients and client projects that they're providing services for. And obviously, those services are tailored to the type of client projects. CHAD: Shall we go through them? [chuckles] LINDSEY: Yeah, we should go through them. CHAD: [chuckles] Okay. LINDSEY: So the naming came after the fact, but we also had a lot of fun with branding and naming these teams and went all-in on the rocket theme, as you'll hear. So we've got four main service teams. The first one deals with the earliest stage products kind of pre-product so validating ideas, and that is thoughtbot Ignite. The next team deals with more MVP, V1 but not really a quick project, like longer MVP types of projects, and that is thoughtbot Lift Off. The third team deals with more established companies and teams who are elevating their product and teams to the next level that's thoughtbot Boost. And then finally, we've introduced more DevOps and maintenance services under thoughtbot Mission Control, and they also manage our PR reviews as a service, reviews by thoughtbot. So that's the quick overview of the four teams you've got Ignite, Lift Off, Boost, and Mission Control. CHAD: And the interesting thing about the team structure and what each team was going to focus on is that once we made the decision that this was -- there wasn't really a lot of question around what those teams would be. We knew these different project types existed. It was something that we have documented, and it's in our marketing. We have positioning statements already. A lot of these client types were already created. We have an internal consulting class that people take, about 20 people a quarter take it. And it goes over the different kinds of clients that we work with and the different needs that they have and how to work with them. And it was split along these lines. Now there were some small details on the edges to be worked out, but what was difficult was making the decision to do this. Once we made the decision to do it, what those teams would be was pretty clear. LINDSEY: Obviously, I love it. From a marketing perspective, breaking out these different types of clients makes so much sense. You're talking to them about different sets of needs, goals, pain points, so there's great focus and clarity there. And then that trickles to everyone's job. The managing directors now are responsible for one of these service-based teams. The designers and developers themselves are specializing and really enjoy that type of work. And in the breakout group during these brainstorming sessions that I was in, I remember when we were starting from this place of anything goes, I was asking the directors in my group, “What do you think makes our team fulfilled? Are they more interested in a specific industry? Are they more interested in a specific technology? Are they more interested in a type of client?” And the directors in my group all said, “I really think it is the type of project that provides fulfillment in different ways for different folks.” So we took that as a starting point, and then it was, “Okay, well, what are those different types of clients if we could put them into four or five buckets?” CHAD: And Ignite and Lift Off are really interesting to me because it's a good example of where the lines can be effectively drawn. So you alluded to it already, Ignite is for the earliest of products and teams where the idea hasn't even been validated yet, and they need our help determining whether it even makes sense to proceed at all. And then when we do validate it, the size of what we're building and the speed at which we're going to be able to get to market falls under 12 weeks. It will typically fall in the 8 to 10-week range where we've gone from that concept that we validated to a launch product in the hands of users. And they’re ruthlessly prioritized. They're usually pretty straightforward, both on the tech side but also in what we need to build. And I think one mistake we've made in the past is taking large finance and healthcare companies and these large companies that we also work with and trying to do the same thing that we do for those Ignite clients for them and ending up in a place where maybe we haven't done as good a job, or the project doesn't go as well because we're trying to squeeze it into a place where it doesn't fit. And that's what Lift Off is; it’s creating a space where it fits, realizing that a client who comes to us with this massive need it's not massive because they're doing too much. It's massive because they have a big problem that they want to solve, usually for a business that already exists, and it's a new product within that business. Maybe they've even already validated it. And the integrations that it's going to have, the systems it needs to talk to, the level of scale that it's going to have is different than is going to be possible in 8 to 12 weeks. And when we try to squeeze it in there, it's not going to be successful. So Lift-Off is giving a space for those projects to thrive in a way. And I also think it's one of those things where it's going to have an impact on our sales too because what would happen previously is that one of those clients might come to us and we're furiously trying to squeeze it down. And how a client perceives that is potentially like, “Oh, they don't know how to do what we need them to do, or they don't want to do it. Or they think our idea is bad because they're saying we need to validate it, and we've already validated it. We have an existing business that we're building this off of,” or something like that. And it causes us to lose that work, which we would otherwise love to have. And now a client like that comes and is talking to a managing director who gets the needs of that kind of project and a team of people that are going to work on it that understand that there's a process to run through and it's going to take six months or a year. We're going to launch along the way, and then we're going to continue to grow the product from there. It's just a different feeling all around, which I think is going to have a positive impact on our ability to actually grow those parts of the business. LINDSEY: And Lift Off by nature of working on those health, tech, and financial products is also dealing with highly regulated spaces, which is another reason why those projects are necessarily longer and more complex and lend themselves well to someone who's dealt with it before. CHAD: Right. Another thing, and we touched on this a little bit earlier with Boost, is a big part of our business historically is that those clients that have built-in Rails along the way, they've built a super successful business. They're scaling a lot. They're growing their team. They need technical leadership, experience mentorship, and those projects tend to be very development-heavy as well. Like, we have clients where we have four or five developers working with them and no designers, and it caused the design and the development team to be very lopsided. But we really liked that work, and it's very valuable to clients. And so same thing with Boost, Boost instead of that being something which is pushed off into the back where like, oh, well, it's not the project-based integrated team of designers and developers launching a new product, and so it's not our ideal work. It gives a space where that can be our ideal work, and the kinds of people who want to work on those kinds of projects with that level of experience and need feel like they are able to do that on a team that is focused on that. And that team doesn't necessarily need to have a design team that works or looks the same as every other place at thoughtbot. And it creates a place which can focus on what it needs to do in the best way possible that is the most fulfilling to the team and success for the customers. And it looks different than thoughtbot has historically looked, and that's okay. Because actually, when you pick it apart, it's not that different; it’s just taking the 20% of all of the thoughtbot studios where the 20% felt like something that wasn't quite right and putting it all together to make 100% of something that feels right. LINDSEY: And from the design perspective, Boost design is a lot around optimizing what already is in place or helping take care of design debt that's been neglected, making sure design and development are talking to each other and thinking about those processes to make them talk to each other better. Whereas Lift Off and Ignite are more introducing design or design processes or design frameworks like putting your design system together or thinking about your accessibility processes, those kinds of activities. And then Mission Control is probably the newest to thoughtbot in terms of services that we're offering clients. CHAD: And within Mission Control, there are two big areas that are different, so the first is maintenance. So we historically have been project-based at thoughtbot. And what that would mean is that well, it doesn't necessarily mean -- So historically, project-based plus everyone working on one project at a time, I think the combination of those two things meant that what we mostly did was we help people set up their own team of people who are going to take over from what we had done after we launched the first version of the product and level it up from there. And most of our clients got to the point where the goal was to become self-sufficient. And we also would meet people who had already built something and were just looking for our expertise to help take care of it but not necessarily have enough work for someone full-time. And for both of those clients, we didn't really have a solution for them. And so that's where the maintenance team in Mission Control comes into play because it's a team of people who have opted into splitting their time across multiple clients. The contracts are different where they're paying a monthly recurring maintenance fee for us to take care of certain things every month: security upgrades, patches, small bug fixes, and features. Maybe they even have a team on staff where they're doing the majority of the development work, but they just want our support in helping things go well. And also, you mentioned the pull request review service that's within Mission Control as well where we have a separate service where you can sign up, and you just request a pull request review from thoughtbot, and then one of our team members goes on and gives you feedback on that pull request. So that's one part of what's happening in Mission Control is that maintenance work. And then the other is DevOps, and infrastructure is an area where the majority of projects that we worked on across all of thoughtbot were deployed to Heroku or the teams had their own DevOps and infrastructure people and creating a specialization of that for a handful of projects for an individual studio that has that need, over the course of a year, never made sense. But once we started to do it and we took a more global view to it and said, “Across all of our clients, what is the need either met or unmet and what might we be able to do? And where is the interest of our team?” It became clear we could offer -- like, our clients need us to do this sometimes. And for the clients who need us to do it, we want to be there for them. We want to do it. And creating a team of people that is global, that can do it across time zones 24/7 is also one of the needs of the clients, and having that team span those geographies is one way we've been able to do that when historically we would have shied away from that. LINDSEY: And speaking of the team's interest in different areas, different services for the rollout of this new organization, we, by and large, had folks opt in to what they wanted to do even as far as the managing directors picking what team that they were going to head up. CHAD: So we said, “These are what the teams are going to be,” and we did a company-wide presentation. And then, we asked people to submit their first and second choice. And then we made the decision around which of the managing directors were going to do what and then we announced that to everybody. Am I saying this the right way? Did we announce the managing directors before we asked everybody or just before the deadline was up? LINDSEY: I think it was trickled in. At first, it was “What team do you want to be on?” But then, as that's going on behind the scenes, you and Diana are having discussions with the managing directors around where they want to be. And then, as that information became available, you shared that with the team also to help with decisions, same with the design and development directors. I think it was announced the design and development directors chose the teams they wanted to be on and lead. And then, once that was finalized, that was also shared with the team as they're voting on where they want to head. CHAD: And the majority of people got their first choice and the majority of people the person who was their manager also chose a similar choice. And so there was a lot of change but not too much churn, I guess is the way I would put it. We were able to do it in a way which I think people felt like they had a choice. And I think going into it; people were afraid of that like okay, am I going to make a choice here and then end up on a team of people I've never worked with before? That was not the case. Now there's certainly a big blending of the teams, particularly Boston and New York were the biggest studios. And so they make up the majority of the people in each of the Boost and Lift Off. But people are working with people that they have worked with before. LINDSEY: And it turns out the people they didn't work with before are also awesome, also, very cool. CHAD: [chuckles] So much effort over the years spent -- that strategy of replicating what was great about thoughtbot into other geographies is true. And so the standards that we had for hiring, and the kinds of people we hire, and the screening for values fit, and all that stuff led us to a place where everyone at thoughtbot is great. And so I wasn't really concerned about that, but other people may have been because there's always a fear of the unknown. LINDSEY: Yeah, definitely. I'm trying to think if there were other rollout things that might be interesting. CHAD: Well, one of the interesting things it's a little in the details. On the surface, that is the team, and those are the services we offer. But we also needed to contend with the fact that we are in the U.S. and the UK, and we didn't really feel like it makes sense to have those teams span 10+ time zones, that that would be too far of a stretch. And it would affect people's fulfillment on the team as well as the services we are able to deliver. So these services that we offer are actually fulfilled by two…do we have a word for it? [chuckles] LINDSEY: Geographies? CHAD: Geographies, yeah, I guess. LINDSEY: There are two geographies that we ended up naming Launchpad 1 and Launchpad 2, because rockets. CHAD: So Launchpad 1 is all of the Americas, and Launchpad 2 is Europe, Middle East, and Africa. And so they provide all of those services in those places. But they have teams that are formed across the whole geographic region. And then eventually, if all goes well, we'll have Launchpad 3, and that'll be [chuckles] the other side of the world. LINDSEY: I've got the icon ready and waiting. So I guess timing-wise, this all happened...rollout was by the beginning of the year, right? January? CHAD: Yeah. One of the things is more people took more time off between the December Holidays and New Year's and everything than they have ever done before, and we needed it. Everyone needed it. So we weren't able to finalize what team everyone was on and have a conversation about that with everybody before they saw it in a message somewhere, which we really wanted to do. So we ended up not being able to finish all of that before the end of the year. And so it rolled into the first couple of weeks of January as people came back, and we were able to talk to them. And then I think we made the internally public announcements about all the teams that everyone was going to be on, and we did a formal kickoff. What was it? January 8th or something like that. LINDSEY: Yeah. And I think that's actually a really good point to bring up is the communication to the individuals. It was important for them to hear it one-on-one from their manager before anything was announced more broadly and then to transition to their team if their manager was changing, which in a lot of cases, it didn't, but sometimes it did. Having one-on-one-on-one transition meetings to really ease that move was also important to not make this really abrupt and unnecessarily stressful in a time that is already very stressful for reasons we know. CHAD: And even if someone's direct manager wasn't changing, it was very likely that their director would change. And so, in those cases, we still did a one-on-one-on-one, but it was with the new director sitting in as well as a skip-level one-on-one on-one. And we did it quickly, but it was important to make it happen quickly. LINDSEY: And it was also important to not abruptly change on the clients because obviously, we weren't doing a full stop of client work just because we're doing some reshuffling internally. So that was phased, and we didn't even really make it a big deal to the clients because that probably would have just added confusion as we were making these changes. CHAD: Yeah, definitely. And we made the decision that we weren't going to just arbitrarily say, “This person is now on this team; therefore, they have to leave this project,” so we made that decision. And we have as natural points in the project for a rotation to happen. People will move to a project; if there's a mismatch between the project that they're on and the team that they're on, they'll move at a natural point. But the reality was that a lot of people also chose -- It's not like we have 57 different project types; we have three. And so a lot of people were already working on the project type that they chose just because the odds were good that they were. There's been very little customer-facing impact to it. So it's early days. It's March now, so it's been a couple of months. But how do you think it's going, or where do you think the growing pains are? LINDSEY: Good question. I think there's been more of a smooth transition than there have been growing pains, first of all, which has been nice. I think folks have been pleasantly surprised by really enjoying their new teams and new team members. I think growing pains-wise, on the operations side, obviously we've had to...I think we’re still in the process of figuring out how to best pipe certain kinds of inquiries into the right team and managing director. Sometimes it's a no-brainer. They're like, “I need to validate this idea.” It's like boom, “You're off to Dawn for Ignite, and you’re going to have a conversation there.” But if they come in and they say, “I'm working on an MVP, and we don't know if that MVP is one of the really fast ones or one of the more complex ones,” then it's like, okay, is this going to Dawn or Emily? CHAD: And we historically didn't need to have any handoffs because one person was able…one person and team; it was based on geography. So we knew exactly who was going to be having that conversation with them. So operationally, it's actually one thing we didn't touch. So no one was let go in this big reorg. There was a position for everyone, I guess, if they wanted it. But one area we haven't touched on is anyone who was local, who was in a support role moved up into the corporate level in a support or operations role. And there weren't that many of those people, but the office manager in Boston is now full-time in people operations. And the office manager in New York City is now the operations manager for the whole team, the whole company. Kelly, who was doing business development just in Boston, is now helping across all of thoughtbot, which is really good at using her skill set across the whole company. I think that that's good. And now, like you said, figuring out how to support everyone across the teams is a little bit of whether it be the operations manager figuring out how to get people computers when we hire new people to like what you were saying around inquiries coming in and making sure that they're sent to the right person. The thing that has made it more challenging for me is that just a confluence of events at the time where we were making some of these changes. And now it has made my involvement different than I was originally expecting them to be. I expected to be a little bit more involved in certain things, but because I've been pulled into several important client projects and was working on client work at the time that then expanded very rapidly, it's been challenging for me to manage the workload. But in some ways, there's a bright side to it, which is it's giving other people the space to operate without me, which I think can be good because I'm very confident in what everyone's bringing to the table. And when you go through a big period of change like this, if everyone was deferring to what I thought as the founder or looking for me for answers or permission to do something, I think that we would suffer for it. And so being forced in a way to not be available for everything that's going on is a way for people to have more ownership over it and not be relying on me, and I know that they can do it. LINDSEY: Cool. CHAD: So we never said what the new purpose was. So maybe we'll just talk a little bit about that, and then we'll use that as a wrapping up point. LINDSEY: Sounds good. CHAD: So I mentioned earlier our purpose had been we believe that there's a better way to work. There's always a better way to work, and we want to find it and share it with as many people as possible. We had written down that purpose several years ago, like a decade ago, I think. And I believe a good purpose describes what is the underlying motivation for the company and the people at it. And when we did that survey of people, a few of the questions we asked touched on it. And it wasn't that surprising to me about -- one of the threads in that was this idea of positive contributions to the world, making sure that the things that we work on and do have positive contributions to the world and that being a motivating factor. Like, that's part of what makes the team tick and what they want to be doing and are fulfilled by and that kind of thing. And so we incorporated that into the purpose. And so we adjusted the wording a little bit to make that incorporation, but we ended up that we believe that it's always possible to continuously learn and improve the way people work while building higher quality products that make positive contributions to the world. This resonated with me in a way that -- it's a little bit more wordy, and that's not why it resonates with me. [chuckles] Specifically, our previous purpose of we believe that there's always a better way to work and we want to find it and share it with as many people as possible lacked one thing that I think a good purpose can incorporate, which is what is a clear idea of what the alternative is like, what you're fighting against, or what you're trying to improve. It's there in the previous purpose. So, in theory, there maybe are people out there who believe that there's not always a better way to work that they've achieved it or something like that or that they have particular practices which aren't great. But it's not explicit or really even implicit in the purpose. And the new purpose we believe that it's possible to continuously learn and improve the way people work while building higher quality products and make positive contributions to the world. You can point to someone who might believe the opposite of that, that you can't build higher quality products that make positive contributions to the world while also continuously learning and improving the way that you work and everything, that to build higher quality products or make positive contributions to the world, you might need to compromise on the values of continuous improvement and learning. And our new purpose makes a statement that you don't need to compromise in order to achieve that result, and I like that about it. LINDSEY: I really like the addition of talking about the kinds of positive products because I think once you know thoughtbot at all, you know that that's underlying the purpose but take out the guesswork, just tell the folks. All right. Well, I think that's a good place to stop. I'm glad we didn't even go into the remote because there's obviously a lot to talk about. CHAD: Yeah. So we'll talk about that next time? LINDSEY: Yeah. We're going to talk about what changes we've made in going completely remote and what that looks like, what we think it looks like for the future. CHAD: Cool. LINDSEY: So you can subscribe to the show and find notes for this episode at giantrobots.fm CHAD: If you have questions or comments, and we'd love to hear them, email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm, or you can find me on Twitter @cpytel. LINDSEY: And you can find me on Twitter @Lindsey3D. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot. CHAD: It's good to be back. Thanks for listening and see you next time. LINDSEY: It's so good to be back. Stay tuned. This podcast was brought to you by thoughtbot. Thoughtbot is your expert design and development partner. Let's make your product and team a success.

This is a very heartwarming interview with Diana. As we talked about her books, we got into the inspiration for her books, which were her grandparent. Diana had story after story of how her grandfather shaped her and her family through decades through love. The characters in her books are based on her grandparents and how they fought to be together and how they created a family here in the US. Give her books a look, they are something special. Diana Rose is a Russian native who lives in New York. Her stories transport readers to the fantasy filled worlds where she brings royalty and magical beings to life, with colorful romantic scenes and characters that her imagination creates. She fuels her creativity while reading romantic novels. When Diana is not writing, she enjoys spending her time with her family and friends.   https://authordianarose.wixsite.com/online https://themagicoftruelove.wordpress.com/  

Episode 83! We are back! It really is good to be recording again! On the first episode of 2021 we play catch up on some of the things we have missed, as well as some of the things we have been working on. It would not be our show without a comic book trade review and this week we read, "Wonder Woman: Dead Earth"! When Diana awakens from a centuries-long sleep, she discovers Earth has been reduced to a nuclear wasteland. Now she is marooned in a dark and dangerous future, protecting the last human city from titanic monsters and struggling to uncover the secret of this dead Earth...and how she may be responsible for it. In the newest title from DC's critically acclaimed Black Label line, Daniel Warren Johnson, the celebrated creator of Murder Falcon and Extremity, mixes sci-fi and fantasy into a harrowing post-apocalyptic vision of Wonder Woman unlike anything you have ever seen. Be sure to check out "The YouTube Cut" over on our channel and you can find an episode that will be an uncut ad free version of the recording over on our Patreon. Get ready for long off topic conversations and technical difficulties! Join our discord and help us build the community! https://discord.gg/C8kX8kyKTM Support The Wednesday Pull List! https://www.patreon.com/wednesdaypull Check out our show sponsors! https://www.mycomicshop.com/?AffID=1881246P01 https://galactictoys.com/?rfsn=4874329.21dc80 https://www.xaviercalcustomsandcollectibles.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wednesdaypull/message

In today's episode, Zane interviews, Diana Rogers, R.D., NTP, LNP. She is the Co-Author of "Sacred Cow" with best selling author Robb Wolf and the Producer of the documentary based on the book. When Diana was younger, she struggled with digestive issues later to be diagnosed with Celiac Disease at 26. On a quest to live a healthier life., she went back to school to study nutrition and discovered "The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf. That's where Diana's story truly begins.   NINE BIG TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1. Meat is the most nutrient-dense food for humans Meat does not increase the risk of disease Nutrients in meat are more bioavailable than in plants or in supplements 2. Vegetarians do NOT live longer when other lifestyle variables are considered 3. Protein requirements per person: 1g of protein per pound of body weight or per pound of ideal body weight 4. Children fed meat perform better than children on a meatless diet in behavior, cognitive ability and physical development in only a controlled study on the effect of meat in the diet of children. 5. Little difference in nutrition between grass-finished beef and grain-finished beef 6. Farming with animals, especially grazing ruminants, is better for the environment. 7. Regenerative farming puts carbon back into the soil. A fake meat burger like "Impossible Burger" and "Beyond Burger" put as much carbon emission into the atmosphere as one regenerative farmed burger puts carbon into the soil 8. Regenerative Farming is scalable and sustainable as well as environmentally beneficial 9. Push for meatless diets and lab-created meat is pushed by Silicon Valley Tech Companies and Processed Food Corporations for financial benefit   LINKS: Sign up to preview the Documentary "Sacred Cow" Nov 22-30 and get more info at www.sacredcow.info Connect with Diana at: sustainabledish.com IG: @sustainabledish   Connect with Zane: Ready to lose weight for good? Check out my Metabolic Makeover program at the link below! https://zane-griggs-fitness.mykajabi.com/pl/213309   Questions? You can email your questions to zane@zanegriggs.com. Connect with me at zanegriggs.com or on Instagram @zanegriggsfitness   QUICK EPISODE SUMMARY Welcome Diana Diana’s health story Diana’s history in environmental issues The image-driven culture of plant based diet Meat is healthy, period How much protein should you have a day The best way to get nutrients Grass  vs. Grain finished The land cycle of animal grazing How coin and soy affect the birds Is old fashion farming coming back? Why we need to scale the ranching industry It doesn’t add up Why you should watch the film and read the book  

Channeling is a lifelong skill that can be used in everyday life. Just imagine: What life would be like if you needed to make a decision and you received specific information to help you. If you were not feeling well and you could receive a free healing instantly. If you connected to your soul and found out about your life's purpose. You connected to your deceased mom and talked with her again. All of this is possible for you plus more when you learn how to channel!   Valeria Teles interviews Diana Muenz Chen about her book: Know Your Soul: Bring Joy to Your Life. It describes the origin, purpose and structure of the Soul and provides instruction for connecting to your Soul. The authors vividly describe personal experiences and interactions with their Higher Self and Soul. Based on inspiration from their guides and the loving direction of Archangel Michael, rarely disclosed or understood information is revealed. Diana grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis. When she was 19, she decided to move to Boston, which proved to be a great city for her. She fell in love with jazz dance there, so much so, that she ended up being a professional jazz dancer, dance teacher and choreographer.  When Diana was in her 30's, to further my professional dance career, she moved to New York City. However, the Divine (as she says) had something else in mind for her: she sat in a spiritual mediumship circle with Clifford Bias, who was the grand daddy of a lot of New York City trance channels. In this circle, Diana started to meditate and to meet some of her spirit guides. She loved being with the spirits and decided to learn the skill of channeling.  In 1986, she began to channel professionally and have had a private practice since that time. Diana has been channeling her Higher Self, Lady Diana, for over 30 years now. To the delight of many people, Lady Diana loves to sit and chat over tea, as she talks to them about their goodness and their challenges, plus answers their important questions.  During the time Diana had a private practice, she has taught classes and has learned different techniques to assist people.   To learn more about Diana Muenz Chen, please visit her website http://www.dianamuenzchen.com For Intro-free episodes: https://www.patreon.com/aquestforwellbeingpodcast Podcast Page: https://fitforjoy.org/podcast   ** Bio intro and outro one by Heidi Lynn Peters. 

Diana's Chocolates was the perfect solution: When Diana's family needed her to be at home as both carer and advocate for her son, she knew she had to give up her demanding office job. Her love of chocolates and desire to still work led her to make small batches of delicious and beautiful chocolates. The business has grown organically and was accidentally, but now by design both vegan and environmentally sustainable.  http://www.dianaschocolates.co.uk/  #chocolate  @Radio_Gorgeous

In this episode, Diana reveals the key to winning inner battles. It starts with recognizing and taking control over the conclusions we make. Quick Episode Summary: Do you feel act like an island? Fighting the inner battle When Diana felt like she didn't fit in Revisiting inner vows Determining better health  

Chapter Two begins with Diana waking from her first sleep at the recovery house. We listen as Diana tells of a light-hearted picnic turning dark. Very dark. We get a glimpse of Ivy’s identity, learning she is from the Fantasy world of Diana’s childhood. When Diana ends her stay at the recovery house, Ivy and the Fantasy world will no longer be part of the story but they leave behind some deep background relevant to Diana’s search for an identity now that her transgressions have separated her from her spiritual side.

Stunning SoCal girl Diana Grace is one of Motley’s newer models. She has been in the adult entertainment industry since December ’18, and currently lives in Vegas where she is a pole/lap dancer at Sapphire. Diana shares her routine for staying active and in shape, along with her involvement in soccer, and how she could have played professionally, but that wasn’t what she wanted… Diana didn’t date in high school, which makes sense she was home schooled. She chats about her working for her neighbor’s hair accessories business. She shares the girl/girl experience she had with one of her soccer teammates. She also talks crushing on her older brothers friends. Post high school, Diana moved out-of-state and started studying personal training and nutrition. She also talks about her first serious relationship, and then later losing her virginity in a car! After that she started watching porn and learning from the videos. Being an athletic girl, Diana is like, bring on the stamina guys!! Diana didn’t date in high school, which makes sense she was home schooled. She chats about her working for her neighbor hair accessories business. She shares the girl/girl experience she had with one of her soccer teammates. She also talks crushing on her older brothers friends. Post high school, Diana moved out-of-state and started studying personal training and nutrition. She also talks about her first serious relationship, and then later losing her virginity in a car! After that she started watching porn and learning from the videos. Being an athletic girl, Diana is like, bring on the stamina guys!! She explains that her love for the arts led her to entertaining in the adult biz. She chats about the first agency with which she signed, her nerves while shooting and breaks- down the acting during the scenes. When Diana moved to the Vegas area, she connected with Motley and was immediately signed. Diana share details about after signing with Motley -- a foursome! Claustrophobia is in this girl’s DNA, especially movie theaters! She prefers reading, crafts and exercise to watching TV and movies… watching porn is of course a different matter! Diana doesn’t like to cook – she loves going out and getting Thai food and In n Out. She also enjoys traveling the world and shares more about drawing and painting. Diana talks about where she sees herself in the next five to ten years… Diana shares her first experience giving a lap dance in the VIP Room, along with her mindset while at the dance club, and keeping a positive and energetic attitude! Instagram: dianagrace.x Twitter: dianagracex

In this episode, Diana shares 4 domains of health to pay attention to as you develop a healthy self-care plan. Learn more about the Cultivate the Heart course at www.dianabigham.com/cth To schedule an Inner Healing Prayer Session, go to www.dianabigham.com/ihpm   Quick Episode Summary: Let's talk about self-care When Diana became a mother Understanding your capacity Honoring your self The four areas of self-care Self-care with no guilt What is your soul? What does your thought life look like Learning coping skills

Statistically, women are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and there are many programs encouraging girls to study STEM careers. In spite of the stats, women have made significant contributions in these fields. My guest today is one of those women. Diana L. Burley, Ph.D. is a globally recognized cybersecurity expert and Executive Director and Chair of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P) at George Washington University. Growing up, Diana was always interested in technology and how it affects the behavior of people involved with it. By going into cybersecurity, she found the perfect intersection of people and technology to research. She is at the forefront of the latest research in cybersecurity and the evolution of new threats like holes in the world of the Internet of Things. Diana has always been a problem solver and shares the aha moment she discovered in Graduate school along with her no-nonsense approach to everything cybersecurity. Show Notes: [03:16] Growing up, Diana was always very interested in technology and how it shapes people and their behavior around it. Her expertise is the intersection of people and Technology. She's now a cybersecurity expert. [04:39] Being a woman in cybersecurity can be lonely. Diana thinks of it in terms of the impact that she can make. [05:45] Diana suggests that young women follow their passion and be prepared for whatever field they're going into and don't let fear stop them. [07:03] Cybersecurity is a very broad field. Whatever your path make sure you are taking courses that help you solve complex problems, develop analytical abilities, and develop communication abilities. [08:21] You will need communication skills wherever you go. [08:56] Relationships are key for making introductions and seeing pathways that you wouldn't normally see. [10:27] One of the things you need to think about with cybersecurity is what are the motivators for the people involved. The issues need to be looked at holistically. [12:09] People, process, and technology takes a lot to get up to speed. There needs to be a constant state of vigilance because threats are always evolving. [14:29] Understanding and using technology as it involves is all about not being afraid to try things. [15:22] There's constant learning that has to take place in the cybersecurity field. If you have passion, it doesn't feel like work. [18:54] Even without reading the terms of service, you should assume that your data will be used online. [19:35] You can help yourself with cyber hygiene. Use strong passwords. Use different passwords for every site and change them regularly. Don't click on links from unexpected emails. [21:24] Tools like LastPass can be very helpful. [21:42] Diana runs a research institute and is developing some executive education courses for the university. [23:44] When a situation looks grim, Diana looks for solutions. Once you break the problem down into pieces, you can chip away at it. [25:59] One of the things that has surprised Diana is the impression that she has made on people. [28:32] When Diana was working on her dissertation, she focused on the individual tasks. She was actually stunned when, after completing a task, her advisor said she was done. Anything can be completed if you break things down into small doable tasks. [30:15] Diana is a researcher. Mistakes are more like options that didn't work and can be crossed off the list. [32:34] Diversity and different experiences and backgrounds help inform gut reactions. Bringing together differences of opinion and thought helps create very robust solutions. [34:31] Diana is primarily a researcher. She could be working with a client to develop a strategic solution for their cybersecurity program. She could also be working with a research team for deeper analysis. She could also be giving speeches or talking to students. She also has quiet days where she can just sit and write. [38:38] People can be a cybersecurity weak link. Changing behavior is very important. Another hot topic is cybersecurity and IoT devices. [40:44] The best advice Diana can give is to be proactive about your security in the digital space. Be an active participant. Links and Resources: Diana Burley George Washington University Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection LastPass Answers for Modern Communicators @dianaburley on Twitter Diana Burley on LinkedIn

Feeling clueless on what to say and do when your child is throwing a tantrum? In this episode, Diana gives a practical visual tool to help you confidently know how to respond to your child, defusing the tantrum without crushing your child's heart...or losing your mind. To learn more practical parenting tools, order your copy of "God, Help Me: Christ-Centered Solutions for the Frustrated Parent" at Amazon. This quick and easy read is perfect for the busy parent who needs effective solutions now. Click here to read! Diana and her husband's first experience with a newborn How Diana learned what her baby needed Aligning your parenting with Gods methods Letting your child trust you with their pain Sending your kids to TIME-IN Emotional traffic signals How to have parental composer Always part in love When Diana was in the red zone Self-care is key for parents Coping skills for your child All behavior has a function or a purpose Talking to your child in the yellow zone Shelf your emotions don't stuff them Always address what is going on in the heart The green zone Avoid shaming your child Remind yourself of your primary ministry LINKS:

Sheena and Tara’s 7 Must-Reads for 2018 The Lesbian Review Podcast Tara and Sheena’s 5 Must-Reads for 2018 it a mix of genres, authors and kinds of leading ladies. But these are 7 books that we highly recommend. 1 The Goodmans by Clare Ashton Available in audio no Synopsis The lovely doctor Abby Hart lives in her dream cottage in the quintessential English border town of Ludbury, home to the Goodmans. Maggie Goodman, all fire and passion, is like another mother to her, amiable Richard a rock and 60s-child Celia is the grandmother she never had.  But Abby has a secret. Best friend Jude Goodman is the love of her life, and very, very straight. Even if Jude had ever given a woman a second glance, there’d also be the small problem of Maggie – she would definitely not approve.  But secrets have a habit of sneaking out, and Abby’s not the only one with something to hide. Life is just about to get very interesting for the Goodmans. Things are not what they used to be, but could they be even better?   Get This Book On Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/2r0jEQo (this link works for Amazon Germany, US, UK and Canada plus if you use it we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra)   2 My Lady Lipstick by Karin Kallmaker Publisher Bella Books Available in audio no Synopsis Anita Topaz, Queen of the Bodice Rippers, is deliberately a woman of mystery. But pressure is mounting for Anita to reveal herself to her clamoring public. It’s scrutiny that writer Paris Ellison can’t allow, especially since the glamorous “Anita” is a work of pure fiction. Lady Diana Beckinsale excels at disappearing into a good role. Especially if that role gets her close to certain objects she desires. When Diana proposes the perfect solution to Paris’s predicament, Paris is less than enthusiastic. She can’t let someone as unsettling and observant as Diana get too close. But Diana is persistent. After all, if she and the handsome, secretive Paris both get what they want out of an unorthodox arrangement, then it’s a win-win for them both. My Lady Lipstick is high stakes on a merry-go-round of lies—it’s all fun and games until somebody loses her heart.   Get This Book On Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/2SaZ3EG (this link works for Amazon Germany, US, UK and Canada plus if you use it we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra)   3 The Music And The Mirror by Lola Keeley Publisher Ylva Publishing Available in audio No Synopsis Anna is the newest member of an elite ballet company. Her first class with her mysterious idol, Victoria, almost ruins her career before it starts. When she shows she might be a potential star, Victoria chooses Anna to launch a new season around. Now Anna must face down jealousy, sabotage and injury, not to mention navigate the circus of friends and lovers within the company. The pressure builds as she knows she must pour everything she has into opening night and prove to her rivals and herself that Victoria’s faith in her is not misplaced. In the process, Anna discovers that she and the daring, beautiful Victoria have a lot more than a talent for ballet in common, and that not every thrilling dance can be found on stage.   Get This Book On Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/2E2rKj8 (this link works for Amazon Germany, US, UK and Canada plus if you use it we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra)   4 Daughter Of The Sun by Effie Calvin Publisher NineStar Press Available in audio no Synopsis Orsina of Melidrie is a paladin of the Order of the Sun, sworn to drive out corruption and chaos wherever she finds it. She has been ordered to leave her home and travel around Vesolda in search of a great evil she is supposedly destined to destroy. But after two years of fighting monsters and demons and evil gods, she does not seem to be any closer to her goal—or ever returning home. Aelia is the Goddess of Caprice, the personification of poor decision-making. The Order of the Sun has classified her as a chaos goddess, meaning that her worship has been outlawed. During a run-in with Orsina, she is trapped in a mortal body, rendering her unable to leave Inthya. Aelia is found by Orsina again, but this time Orsina does not recognize her in her new body. So Aelia pretends to be a mortal woman who is fleeing an abusive family. Aelia plans to use Orsina as protection as she hunts down the magical relic that will free her from her mortal body. As Aelia and Orsina grow closer to one another, Aelia wrestles with her own desire to tell Orsina the truth about who she is, and her fear that Orsina will turn on her if she does. But the decision might not be hers after all, because their actions have not gone unnoticed by Aelia’s siblings.   Get This Book On Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/2r1uMMS  (this link works for Amazon Germany, US, UK and Canada plus if you use it we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra)   5 Marriage Of Unconvenience by Chelsea M Cameron Audiobook available Yes Narrator Eliza Cooper Synopsis Lauren "Lo" Bowman is in a bit of a pickle. She needs money, like ASAP. She lost her job, the rent is due, and her car needs repairs. Problem is, the inheritance left to her by her old-fashioned Granny has one stipulation before she can collect: She has to be married. Let's just say suitors (of any gender) are not knocking down her door.  And then Cara Simms, her best friend from childhood that she's recently reconnected with, pours her heart out and confesses that she needs money to pay for grad school. Lo has a completely brilliant idea: They should get hitched. Not married married. Like, fake married. All they have to do is play the part for the lawyers, get the money, and then get the marriage annulled. Easy as hell. Well, it starts out that way, but being fake married feels a lot like being real married, and Lo is flipping out. She cannot be falling for her best friend. Can she?   Get This Book On Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/2RCgaz6 (this link works for Amazon Germany, US, UK and Canada plus if you use it we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra)   6 The Way You Smile by Kiki Archer Audiobook No Synopsis Real life doesn’t play out like a movie. Electric connections mostly mean you’ve got static in your jumper. Camila Moore knows that; she’s not daft. She has two teenage boys and bills to pay, plus the only man she’s ever been with has traded her in for a gym bunny. Returning to work’s the answer, but when she finds herself in the wrong room, wrong place at the wrong time, the last thing she expects is to be promoted out of obscurity into the arms of Harriet Imogen Pearson, media darling, hotshot entrepreneur and notorious lesbian playgirl. Camila can’t believe it; she’s an ordinary woman, nothing special – in her view – so what’s Harriet’s motivation? What’s her end game? Are Camila’s feelings just infatuation or is it real life love? Kiki Archer is the mistress of chick-lit romance for women of all ages and inclinations.   Get This Book On Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/2Rzuicp (this link works for Amazon Germany, US, UK and Canada plus if you use it we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra)   7 The Sex Therapist Next Door by Meghan O’Brien Publisher Bold Strokes Books Available In Audio Yes Narrator Brittni Powers Synopsis Diana Kelley is a couple's sex therapist with a problem: It's her job to convince her clients of the importance of sexual and emotional intimacy, but after surviving a toxic relationship with an abusive ex, she's sworn off love and can't fathom ever making herself vulnerable again. When her best friend, Ava, is injured the night she is scheduled to assist with a hands-on sexual education workshop, Diana is forced to find a short-term replacement. The last thing she wants is a new lover, even a paid one.    After a year of living in the apartment next door, all Jude Monaco knows about her neighbor Diana is that she's a gorgeous older woman and the inspiration for more dirty fantasies than she cares to admit. So when Diana knocks on her door with a shockingly delicious favor to ask, Jude seizes the opportunity to learn more.   Their professional relationship is supposed to be a clinical erotic arrangement between a sex therapist and her assistant, but at the intersection of sex and intimacy, anything is possible. Even love.   Get This Book On Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/2E2dxmn  (this link works for Amazon Germany, US, UK and Canada plus if you use it we get a small commission and it costs you nothing extra)   Patrons Did you know that you get exclusive content when you become a patron? Find out more here.   About The Lesbian Review The Lesbian Review is a popular website that features book and movie reviews. We only review things we enjoy so you can be guaranteed to find a great read or watch. This podcast is a spinoff of the popular website.   About Sheena The Lesbian Review Podcast is hosted by the founder of both The Lesbian Review and The Lesbian Talk Show podcast channel.   Sheena Online You can contact Sheena via email on Twitter on Facebook come join The Lesbian Review Book Club come join The Lesbian Talk Show Chat Group   Tara Online email Tara Twitter

In this episode, we embrace the creepy with author Melissa Erin Jackson. We talk about her new book "The Forgotten Child," traditional vs. self-publishing, and Pitch Wars. When Diana's computer freezes Michele snaps an epic picture as we descend into randomness. Support our show through our sponsor, Winc at trywinc.com/wwwpodcast 

Our first VBAC show! Today we have Diana from Seattle, Washington with a true story of victory. Diana shares how her emergency c-section was caused by the interventions she received in her birth experience. Diana says, “I'd like people to know about how the cascade of interventions causes an emergency c section. The cascade being anesthesia > pitocin > heart decels from the pit and therefore causing an emergency and of course then needing a c-section to "save the baby”. When Diana found herself pregnant again she knew she needed to do everything she could to have a vaginal birth with her second, which was beautifully accomplished at home on her own terms, in the bed where her child was conceived. This is a true tale of overcoming fear, and learning to trust in ones ability to birth vaginally and naturally after a surgical birth. This is a healing and triumphant story.

Welcome the newest episode of Dark Discussions, your place for the discussion of horror film, fiction, and all that’s fantastic. Wonder Woman, one of genre’s most iconic characters, first appeared in 1941, created by William Moulton Marston, who also invented the polygraph test. Continuously printed in comics and graphic novels since, she is one of the longest running superheroes of all time. In the 1970’s, she appeared in a well received television series starring Lynda Carter. After many years, 2016 had her first appearance starring beauty queen and actress Gal Gadot in Superman vs. Batman: Dawn of Justice. Now in 2017, the character received her first starring role as lead in one of the year’s most anticipated movies, Wonder Woman. When World War I spreads to the hidden island of Themyscira, the home to the Amazons, Princess Diana rescues an allied soldier, Captain Steve Trevor, from drowning. Soon German soldiers land on the island and the Amazons are forced to fight off the threat. When Diana helps Steve on his journey back to Great Britain, she is forced to see a world that she had never seen before, filled with bloodshed and war. With the help of Steve and his friends, she heads to the warfront to help humanity in its efforts to win back the peace. Gal Gadot won praise for her role as the iconic warrior. The cast includes Chris Pine and Danny Huston in fantastic supporting roles. The film was directed by Patty Jenkins, who’s prior film, Monster, won Academy Awards. And with a script by Allan Heinberg, the movie has become one of the highest grossing films of all time. Dark Discussions takes a look at this phenomenon and gives their opinion. As always we welcome your comments: darkdiscussions@aol.com (written email or attached mp3 files) WWW.DARKDISCUSSIONS.COM

Diana Fayt’s primary medium is clay and refers to her one of a kind ceramic pieces as “etchings in clay.” Drawing on her background as a painter, sculptor, printmaker and clayer, her surfaces are alive with strange and exotic stories. When Diana is not working in clay, you can find her drawing in her sketchbook, carving rubber blocks or scheming about the next online ecourse she is going to teach. Diana also divides her time designing ceramics, teaching technique and inspiring creativity in workshops around the world. Her roster of clients include, Anthropologie, Heath Ceramics and Terrain. She’s taught workshops at destinations such as, Clay Push, Austraila, Arrowmont School of Crafts, Santa Fe Clay and Metchosin School of the Arts, online, at creativebug.com and via her self-created online e-course, The Clayer. Diana is a graduate of the California College of the Arts. After thirty years of calling San Francisco home, Diana recently left the big city for the Sierra Nevada foothills with her sweet pooch, Louie