I’ve been a big fan of Marianne’s writing, Be a Free Range Human, since my earliest days as a solopreneur; and in fact, she crossed my radar when my blog was just a budding baby side-hustle, but we hadn’t connected in real-time until this conversation. A longtime advocate for going your own way in life and work, Marianne shares where many solopreneurs go wrong: leaving a suffocating, one-size-fits-all corporate environment just to feel equally penned in by a box of their own making with shoulds ...
Oct 27, 2019•54 min•Ep. 141
What does horse whispering have in common with entrepreneurship? More than you might think; unless you are already running your own show and know exactly how fickle taming a wild new business can be! I loved this conversation with Eileen Kenney on her trials as a single mom building a business, her resilience in the face of dips and defeat, her obsession with horses, and how she navigates every next phase with joy, grace, and perseverance. If you enjoy this conversation, check out another one of...
Oct 20, 2019•25 min•Ep. 140
Quick reminder! Doors close for Momentum Enrollment on Tuesday, October 15 — learn more and enroll at PivotMethod.com/Momentum if you’re looking for super smart systems and strategies to design your ideal six-figure business in 2020 and beyond :) This week’s episode is another fun Podcast Row conversation, and this time I got to geek out on two topics I haven’t talked much about publicly: one of the first personal development books I read in my early twenties that changed the trajectory of my li...
Oct 13, 2019•24 min•Ep. 139
If you are a heart-based business owner, and you want to learn how to earn twice as in half the time, with ease and joy while serving the highest good, then I invite you to join us as an official Momentum Member! Visit http://PivotMethod.com/Momentum to learn more about my private community for side-hustlers and solopreneurs, and how we can support you with systems and strategies to build your ideal six- (or seven!) figure business in 2020 and beyond. 📝 Check out full show notes from this episo...
Oct 10, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 138
Do you ever experience “design block” or personal branding BLEGH when you think about how to present yourself and your business online? If so, you are not alone! That makes at least two of us :) You are going to love this episode with brand strategist Kaye Putnam on authentic expression, the 12 brand archetypes, and why sometimes understanding our own brand is like reading a label from the inside of a jar—and what to do about it. Kaye believes that when you have a clear brand, your clients love,...
Oct 06, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 137
Sometimes the Audio Gods just do not shine upon you, and that’s what happened during this super fun experimental interview with my brilliant friend Charlie Gilkey! My mic is “hot” (aka way too loud), but I hope you’ll forgive me and listen anyway, as Charlie shares SO. MUCH. GOLD!! We even go into “extreme coaching” mode together at the end, as we discuss topics from his new book, Start Finishing: How to Go From Idea to Done. A bit more backstory: we piloted a book club within Momentum for the f...
Sep 29, 2019•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 136
We have a verrrry special guest this week in honor of his big birthday month, and that’s my dad—Jim Blake! He happened to be in town visiting on a day that I was participating in Podcast Row, an all-day podcasting extravaganza at Stand-up New York. My first guest had a last-minute emergency and had to bow out, so with no notice I pulled my dad onto the main stage and interviewed him about his books, his music, his creative process, and what he calls “mouth management.” We had so much fun! If you...
Sep 22, 2019•37 min•Ep. 135
“When you witness a dark thought – you witness it, and love it. You love your dark thoughts. The witness is part of the soul, and the soul loves everything.” —Ram Dass from “Dark Thoughts” with East Forest In this episode, East Forest joins us to discuss his latest album, Ram Dass, and his time in Maui to record these exclusive new teachings from an enlightened master. After capturing Dass’ words of wisdom, East Forest returned to his studio to compose this incredible soundtrack to beautifully s...
Sep 15, 2019•53 min•Ep. 134
How can I earn twice as much in half the time, with joy and ease, while serving the highest good for all involved? This is one of the central questions in my solo+preneur-based business, one that builds a habit (okay, okay, obsession) of looking for simple systems and strategies to help free our time, mind, and money. This episode is preview lesson from my new—totally free!—mini-course, Free-up Founder Time. I cover strategies for time blocking and content batching, and walk you through exactly ...
Sep 08, 2019•31 min•Ep. 133
In her book, The Making of a Manager: What To Do When Everyone Looks To You, author Julie Zhuo takes us back to the childhood lemonade stand in a way that flipped a major “aha” lightbulb switch for me. As the founder of a budding business, you might be the best at making lemonade, or at least think you are, even as you hire helpers to (wo)man the stand. But if you only ever make lemonade you’ll only be serving an additive role in your business. Instead, if you hire a small team and teach them ho...
Sep 01, 2019•46 min•Ep. 132
What’s the difference between distraction and traction? Why don’t we do the things that we know we should do? And how can we learn from techniques that tech companies use to hook us into their products in order to redirect our attention toward what we really want to be, do, and create in the world? Nir Eyal and I discuss these topics and more in this week’s podcast conversation based on his new book, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. He also outlines the four st...
Aug 25, 2019•56 min•Ep. 131
This week kicks off a new Listener Q&A feature of the podcast, but before we dive in: I would love to hear from you! Yes, you. As a listener, you might think as a listener I’m getting lots of submissions already, but that’s not the case—things like this always take some momentum to get going. So drop me a voice note at http://pivotmethod.com/ask and share a challenge you’re facing or something you’re curious about, and I'll share my thoughts along with a BookRx: a book prescription of two or...
Aug 18, 2019•20 min•Ep. 130
Why do we hesitate when it comes to being more of ourselves? In this episode, which happens to be released on Penney’s birthday (woohoo!) we discuss why we fears and limitations that hold us back from our fullest expression. In this conversation, we talk about the cultural pressure to fit in, self-entertainment as spiritual practice, setting big goals and going too big or too small, willingness to be a “misfit,” why transparency attracts more joyful friendships, and what’s behind comparison to o...
Aug 11, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 129
Imagine landing in a country and not allowing yourself to speak your native language even once (for many Pivot Podcast listeners that’s English), even with your roommates or fellow travelers. You’d be diving into the deep end, but you’d integrate FAR more quickly and effectively than if you took the “pop out of the bubble” approach, of only speaking the second language when you’re comfortable, thus never truly gaining traction. As Scott Young, author of Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmar...
Aug 04, 2019•50 min•Ep. 128
As soon as Michael woke up and gave me the “what have I done?!” look after launching his latest project @LifeOfALebaneseArtist on Instagram just 24 hours prior, I knew we had a juicy creative gem on our hands. I also knew that he was experiencing what so many of us do when we release a put-yourself-out-there post or project—a major vulnerability hangover! All the more reason to talk about it, of course, especially in keeping with my new intention of truth while it’s fresh :) I love seeing someon...
Jul 28, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 127
This week’s episode comes fresh off the heels of a two-day strategy sprint that my team and I ran to tackle our biggest business frogs. One commitment we made at the end was to “share truth while it's fresh” — with delightful specificity and crazy-smart systems — so that’s what I’m doing! This is a behind-the-scenes peek at what we're building (and how) during my “JB 3.0 Business Renaissance,” in as real-time as we can. 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources menti...
Jul 21, 2019•51 min•Ep. 126
Penney and I are back in action, with the 9th (!) installment of our Penney & Jenny show. If you missed last week’s episode (#124) on liminal space and embracing the in-between, check it out here. This is installment is all about discriminating truth, just rightness, and making good choices. How do you trust your truth and anxiety signals? How do you know when it's time to Pivot? What's the difference between authenticity, honesty, and humility versus hiding, avoidance, and apathy? As poet D...
Jul 14, 2019•58 min•Ep. 125
Penney and I are back in action, with the 8th (!!) installment of our Penney & Jenny show. This week we dive into why it can be so difficult to embrace liminal space, also known as a transitional state of “in-between.” Penney equates the liminal space to the time when a caterpillar has created and entered the cocoon, but has not transitioned into a butterfly. It is the space in which we are given the chance to rest, reset, and recharge before moving into the next phase. It sounds lovely when...
Jul 07, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 124
I’m baaaaaack! Did you miss me? I sincerely apologize for (unintentionally) ghosting out on you. I hit a (Pivot) point of total overload and overwhelm with some BIG personal updates on school and my love life (you’ll have to listen in to get the full deets!). All while mid-way through second semester at seminary, moving to a new home in Manhattan, and traveling every week for speaking busy season this spring. Spotting burnout potential (I know it a mile away), and after hitting a clear decision ...
Jun 30, 2019•35 min•Ep. 123
What are the hidden costs of digital clutter? How can we counter screen addiction and phantom phone vibrations? We explore these topics in this episode with Cal Newport as we discuss his new book, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Cal Newport is a familiar voice on the Pivot Podcast and back by popular demand! On our first episode we discussed deep work—the increasingly important deliberate practice of focused work, especially in a world of cognitive junk. Now we turn...
Feb 08, 2019•51 min•Ep. 122
Nobody knows the daily grind of competition and mental game better than athletes and coaches. Today I’m thrilled to share a conversation with basketball and performance coach Alan Stein Jr. on how we can apply these hard-fought principles to building better businesses. Alan first blew me away with his networking skills — he joined a private group we’re both part of and quickly became an integral member, after I’d been mostly wall-flowering as the hidden introvert that I am. We talk about his str...
Jan 13, 2019•47 min•Ep. 121
What’s the difference between affirmations that feel fake and those that actually work? How can you move your body in a way that also transforms your mind? What falls under the category of spiritual bypassing versus actual transformation? Join me for a conversation with one of my favorite New York friends, Erin Stutland, as we discuss her new book: Mantras in Motion: Manifesting What You Want through Mindful Movement. Happy happy new year everyone! I’m thrilled to be jumpstarting the podcast aga...
Jan 09, 2019•41 min•Ep. 120
As I get up to speed in my first semester at Union Theological Seminary, I’m re-launching a few of my favorite podcast episodes from four years of archives: I hope you enjoy some of these oldies but goodies, particularly if you missed them the first time around! Here’s a conversation I loved with Cal Newport from April 2016. When was the last time you were in the zone?There’s nothing I love more than working with time flying. The sun rises and sets and I barely notice because I’m so engrossed in...
Nov 11, 2018•44 min
Laura Vanderkam is a productivity tour de force: she has written four books in the last several years, launched a podcast, and given talks all over the country—all while running a household with her husband and four children. I’d tell you that I truly don’t know how she does it, except that she already wrote a book to answer that question called, what else, I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time. One of my other favorites was her runaway bestseller among the Fas...
Oct 14, 2018•40 min•Ep. 119
“Welcome to Holy Hogwarts,” my fellow first-year Ariel said to me with a smile, as I walked through the Union campus entrance into the school’s small courtyard for my first day of orientation. I was grateful for his warmth and levity, a brief reprieve from my nerves about what to expect from my classes and fellow students. After those three days of orientation I felt like I was on a rickety, upward-climbing rollercoaster, ticking up toward a crescendo before the rush of adrenaline and momentum t...
Oct 09, 2018•30 min•Ep. 118
I had the great fortune of sitting behind Marcus Glover on a bus ride to Wallkill Prison for a Defy Ventures business mentoring day, and time flew as we talked about everything from him teaching yoga and meditation at Rikers, to criminal justice work, to his mission of funding minority-owned businesses through disruptive venture capital. I can’t wait for you to listen in on this conversation and get your own powerful dose of Marcus magic! You’ll hear about his passion for well-told stories, prac...
Oct 01, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 117
Are you getting sucked into endless scrolling in Infinity Pools like email, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook? It's okay, we all do. We all know these apps are designed to be addictive. After all, tech is the only industry other than drugs that calls its customers "users." It's so easy to look back on the day and wonder, "Where on earth did the time go?!" We've drained ourselves of all energy and yet often come up empty, feeling we have nothing to show for it. At least I'll speak for myself and sa...
Sep 16, 2018•45 min•Ep. 116
Mark Rufino is a social worker and audio engineer who works with adults with developmental disabilities and their families. However, even the term "developmental disability" or "intellectual disability" is becoming a misnomer. Mark is part of a growing movement of people who believe it's time we upgrade our old way of thinking "that we need to fix you to fit into our society." The term neurodiversity is growing in popularity, and implies that there is no “normal” way of thinking and “autistic” w...
Sep 09, 2018•46 min•Ep. 115
This is one of my favorite interviews, and a conversation that is crucial for understanding and revealing the hidden influences that shape many of our views on society, wealth and power. I have heard terms like white privilege (which applies to me), but I hadn't thought to look into the notion of invisible privilege until earlier this year. You may think it doesn't apply to you (as I used to), especially if you're not in the "Top 1%." 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to ...
Aug 26, 2018•1 hr•Ep. 114
So many of us are on a seekers journey—looking for greater knowledge, wisdom, healing, insight and transformation. And may even the ever-elusive holy grail of enlightenment, whatever that means. If you ask me, I believe we have three primary purposes on this planet: to learn, to love and to serve. And of course, to enjoy life along the way :) Daniel Aaron is a fascinating fellow seeker who describes his own journey as guided by a divine power, as he explores all variety of mystical and practical...
Aug 19, 2018•53 min•Ep. 113
