Christopher Booth produced his first album, "Journeys", in 2001 and that coincided with the 9/11 tragedies. Because of the calm and soothing nature of the album, he was invited on local TV and radio to play his music. He had tremendous success on a local level and learned that he was not a fan of being in the spotlight but loved writing music. Fast forward 20 years. Christopher and his partner had a baby girl in 2020. Part of the inspiration for doing the 2nd album, "A Reflection of Time", was f...
Mar 10, 2021•28 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Award-winning author, Terry Stafford, devotes himself to sharing stories of music and hope for those who long for the good ol’ days. Having entered writing in the second half of life, he now uses his project management background to help creatives transform from scatter-brained writers to prolific storytellers while helping leaders use story to succeed. Terry is a former NASA project manager turned novelist and writing coach. Learn more about him at https://terrystafford.com/...
Mar 04, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Kate Taylor's personal journey started with being a girl who lacked confidence, didn't think she was good enough. She went on to being a successful athlete in her teens, then attained a 4-year degree as a teacher. The teaching experiences led her to be a confidence coach because she recognized the students yearned for more guidance in life. As a coach, Kate focuses on helping you become a confident woman and create the future you want. One of the things she targets is long-lasting tenacity. Her ...
Feb 24, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Paul Jun has always put a lot of effort into learning new things. He discovered over the years that when you commit to something, you also can learn from each experience. Paul thrives going through the creativity process because of his desire to help others learn and gain new skills. His strength is being a community builder. He is a writer, photographer, and creative strategist. Learn more about Paul at PaulJun.me
Feb 15, 2021•39 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Ozlem Ozkan is grateful for her education and experiences. Yet having limiting beliefs were holding her back. She now recognizes that wisdom - seeing things with clarity - is what she gained during all her travels, work, living abroad, spending time alone, and interacting with various people from different layers of society. She embraces her energy to learn, create, evolve, and contribute to the world. She lives in Amsterdam and is the author of "The Student" and the podcast host of "Bridging. L...
Feb 09, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 5
We've all experienced tough challenges in life. Imagine being told your entire life that you’re too small! You’re not big enough! It would be best if you tried something else. Being considered an underdog didn't stop JJ Birden and he gives a lot of credit to his coaches and mentors for their support. JJ Birden's experience as a former NFL player for 9 years definitely provides inspiration for others. He's now a professional motivational speaker, entrepreneur and best selling author. JJ shares th...
Feb 01, 2021•28 min•Season 3Ep. 4
What can we do to make our vulnerability and imperfections our superpowers? Jenny Dilts can lead the way. Jenny is a Grieving Coach and provides some much needed support when dealing with traumatic events. She can help you rebuild your life with gratitude and love. In 2017, Jenny had the experience of sitting with a friend days after the sudden death of her friend's husband. Sharing that sacred space with her friend was a cathartic moment for Jenny. She found her purpose. The more Jenny has embr...
Jan 22, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Inspiration is about enthusiasm. It’s the excitement of your mind or emotion to a high level of feeling or activity. A lot of people use the word inspiration and motivation interchangeably, but they’re actually two different things. Inspiration is about sparking your energy when you’re going to do something. To me, inspiration is a way to wake your mind up. There are a lot of different things that inspire me, so I narrowed it down to my top three.
Jan 19, 2021•6 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Writing is a passion for Pamela Stephens and has a blog to share thoughts and experiences. This journey helps her learn more about herself, helps attain goals and dreams. When people ask what she does, her answer is "I'm in the business of making friends." Pamela joined the Hope Writers community several years ago to help with motivation and to demystify writing. She learned there is the "art of writing" and the "business of publishing." Writing can be overwhelming without the right support; you...
Jan 07, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Savi Barrowes is a great example of someone with a lot of tenacity, not just a high level of resilience. (My nickname for her is Savvy. ) She went from starting her life as a 15-year-old girl with no life prospects, to getting her MBA at MIT, holding multiple executive roles with global responsibilities and led initiatives that have been featured at The White House level. Now she helps turn people into high performers and help them develop the skills to get recognized by senior leadership, becom...
Dec 14, 2020•43 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Dr. Mike Rucker focuses on positive psychology and recommends creating moments of fun. Creating fun is being positive and a mental habit that we can develop. Being "fun" can also help build resilience and connections with others. That statement of "resilience and connections with others" is the foundation of the Real Things Living podcast. He provides great insight in this episode on how to reframe a situation. Mike is the Chief Digital Officer for Active Wellness. In 2016, he was named a Top 50...
Dec 04, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 25
"A problem tells me I'm growing." That statement is simple and to the point; and it helps you choose how to think and show up everyday. Jacob Roig is a Business and Mindset Coach. He learned to do the impossible, like creating a multi-million-dollar business, walking 36 feet on burning coals, and breaking bricks with his bare hands. Jacob learned all of success was 80% mindset, 20% everything else and an unwavering commitment to seeing things through. He learned it was all a matter of cultivatin...
Nov 19, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 24
"Wait to Worry, Live in the Present. It's time to Pause, Breathe, and Reflect." Michael O'Brien reminds us what's important in life from his near-death experience after being hit by a car while he was riding his bike. Michael learned a lot about himself healing from that accident; is grateful to still be alive and has vowed to inspire others. Remember to make time each day to pause, breathe, and reflect on the moment. You have control over your response to life each day. Michael is the Chief Shi...
Nov 10, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Why is understanding stoicism important? It's a philosophy designed to make you more resilient and to know yourself better. Stoicism can help you develop self-control to overcome destructive emotions. This leads to being more attentive with your surroundings and more rational with your reactions. William Farraiolo lives and breathes this philosophy. William received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oklahoma in 1997. Since then, he has been teaching philosophy as a Professor at San Jo...
Nov 03, 2020•37 min•Season 2Ep. 22
My favorite takeaway is when Angie Gallagher compares resilience to having a competitive edge, which is a motivating factor that can get you out of a rut. Angie shares her story of feeling like an outcast where she grew up because she's half Asian and was raised by a single mother. She learned to embrace being different and understood what she was capable of. Don't let words bring you down, be true to yourself and keep creating who you are. She also learned that connecting with others strengthen...
Oct 26, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 21
"Mental resilience is key." It's not easy dealing with any type of cancer diagnosis, and Grace Charrier was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer in April 2016. That was 4 years ago as of this writing. She has used this time to inspire others and became active with patient advocacy through love and wanting to help others. She also recently published a book about her experience, Impossicant: Quirky Inspirational Tales from a Cancer Survivor . Grace is a Global Goodwill Ambassador, Patient Leader A...
Oct 15, 2020•38 min•Season 2Ep. 20
This was a great opportunity to speak with entrepreneur, Anthony Russo, the founder of Double Down Strategy and #BeTheChange. His goal is to help create a world of positivity with a message of self responsibility. Anthony points out the best way we can help others is to use your talents to empower others. He's creating systems for empowerment through partnerships with two other charities, Regular Hero and Streetlights Unity Movement. A lot of the motivation was derived from growing up poor with ...
Oct 07, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Mary Guillermin has made a lot of contributions over the years to help others. She is an advocate for mental health with the goal to dispel the myth around it. She shares her personal journey around mental health issues and decided on a natural healing approach with no medications. Her calmness definitely shines through the conversation and is an inspiring role model. One of her projects is a play that she wrote and performed in...what she calls the " One Woman Show "....it's about dealing with ...
Oct 04, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Katrine Horn is a Life Coach based in Touslouse, France and her focus is to help women get out of their comfort zone through self-acceptance. We all tend to ignore ourselves while taking care of others. That is normal, unfortunately. Self-worth comes from focusing on who you are, not what you do. "Create a library of joyful moments you can access." This can help you feel more calm during a stressful time. This is just one of the tips she provided and I love the simplicity of it. Katrine's warm p...
Sep 28, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Paul Sewell, Founder of the non-profit Seven Wells, shares his crazy and amazing journey of the past year. The hardships he and his family dealt with put what they valued front and center, which was their health and to have authority over yourself. It started with his son being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, then extreme mold was discovered in their Atlanta condo from a roof leak, to having to move multiple times during the beginning of Covid. They literally had to start from scratch after thro...
Sep 21, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 16
It's not realistic to think you won't have any stress in life. You need to give yourself some grace - some time - to figure things out and deal with changes. Kristin Herr is a Life Coach and her mission is help women overcome their limiting beliefs. " You work hard. You love hard. You give hard. You do everything with passion and ferocity. Except, you forget one thing. You forget that sometimes you have to work on your own self in order to achieve the greatness you are meant to achieve." She per...
Sep 16, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Jill Johnson is the founder of Johnson Consulting Services, a professional speaker and the Chief Reality Officer for clients. She is very generous with her time, knowledge, sense of humor, and mentors others on a regular basis. Lack of confidence holds many people back. Being uncertain of yourself is normal and it just takes time to learn your way through situations. Jill points out that just wishing for something to happen isn't a strategy or tactic. You have to put in effort, do the discipline...
Sep 08, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 14
"Which kind of fear are you comfortable with?" This is the question Matt Tanner brings up in his conversation with Brigitte. Matt is the founder of Same Page HR, which is an HR Consulting firm in Atlanta. He started Same Page after he was laid off in March. This was the beginning of shelter-in-place for our county in Georgia. Matt is a trusted people-person, provides great advice and claims he is "a weirdo that loves HR." Brigitte and Matt met as classmates (cohorts) during Seth Godin's altMBA-1...
Aug 25, 2020•39 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Brigitte and George Schnitzer have worked on many book projects together over the years. She convinced George to share his perspective of the current state of publishing industry in 2020, which is constantly changing due to tech. George understands that you need to adapt to survive in an ever-changing industry. PPA (Premium Press America) has realized steady growth using that mindset and has released more than 150 gift/souvenir, mass-market, trade and private label titles. PPA now creates niche-...
Aug 19, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 12
What do you do when you have stay-at-home orders during a pandemic? Adapt where you can. Brigitte and Hannah Cranfill decided to sign up for an online screenwriting class in April 2020 through the Atlanta Film Society. This is where they met - virtually - along with another student, Esha. Hannah suggested to write a short-film and submit it to a "locals only" screening. Esha and Brigitte didn't hesitate. The theme of the short-film screening for 2020 is called "So Bad, It's Good." As a team, the...
Aug 14, 2020•29 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Dr. Shirley Raines is known for being personable, powerful, and prepared. Her first role out of college was as a preschool teacher and that path eventually took her to the role of President Emeritus of the University of Memphis for 12 years. She is also the first woman university president. Shirley provides a lot of inspiration for others based on her uncommon journey of being raised on a farm to being president of a university. This is because she was determined to make a difference in the comm...
Aug 03, 2020•34 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Jesse Iwuji wanted to be a race car driver when he was a young boy and made that dream a reality. Jesse attributes the military training he received to help him be more focused. (Jesse has a lot of energy too.) He also provides some great advice for youth regarding resilience. Jesse is an American stock car racing driver and officer in the United States Navy Reserve. He played football for the Naval Academy, is an entrepreneur, and currently competes in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series in...
Aug 03, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Fran Biderman-Gross is the CEO & Founder of Advantages, a creative agency that specializes in branding and marketing. She is also the co-author of "How to Lead a values-based services firms: 3 Keys to unlock Purpose and Profit." Positivity is one of Fran's top core strengths and chooses to look at the glass as "half full." Having a positive outlook leads to another core value and that is being open to possibilities. Dealing with a lot of loss in life has allowed her to view the world in a wa...
Jul 15, 2020•30 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Mark Simon is known as the Godfather of Storyboarding. He is an author of multiple books and on this podcast episode, he shares the story behind his most recent book, "Attacked! Bullied: Surviving Terror and Finding Justice." This memoir is based on when Mark was bullied by a gang in high school, and the gang proceeded to attack his family too. Mark's story is also about how he became the first person in the country to use a new law holding parents responsible for the violent actions of their ki...
Jul 09, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 9
The current pandemic has been a challenge for everyone. It has fundamentally disrupted our personal and professional lives; and it definitely took business owners by surprise and created additional challenges for them. Brigitte speaks with Julie McFarland on what Julie's team has put in place to keep employees and customers safe. Julie is the President and CEO of McNaughton & Gunn, a privately-owned book manufacturer in Michigan. Adapting to something new, almost daily, can be a challenge an...
May 28, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 8
