If you’ve ever thought your workplace environment was a challenge, wait till you hear this interview with our guest, Rachael Robertson. Rachael is a fascinating and successful team leader and keynote speaker from Australia who spent a year leading a team of 120 scientists in Antarctica. With no background in science or the environment she found herself in, she learned many leadership lessons during her time there and I’m thrilled for her to be sharing those with us today. Rachael is the author o...
Mar 10, 2021•38 min
Now more than ever, it is crucial to be ready. In the business world, that means to be Pivot-Ready and Impact-Ready, especially during these uncertain times. The last year proved to us that being in, what today’s guest calls, The Ready Zone, is crucial for moving forward. Today’s guest is Esther Weinberg, founder of The Ready Zone. Esther is a leadership-training expert that has earned a reputation in the entertainment industry as the secret weapon behind game-changing breakthroughs with executi...
Mar 03, 2021•35 min
Recently, the tables were turned and I was honored to be a guest on The Donald Thompson Podcast. Shared here is that very episode and it was such a great experience. Donald is a fabulous speaker and fellow business coach as well as a great podcast host. In this special episode, Donald and I discuss a topic that is very dear to my heart: Managing your career. In addition to our discussion on challenging yourself and ensuring that you are doing your current job well, the key message from this epis...
Feb 24, 2021•37 min
It seems that music and business couldn’t be more different. But our guest today has found that they are far more similar than we think. Today’s guest on A Life and a Living Podcast is Gerald J. Leonard, CEO of Principles of Execution and accomplished musician. The work he has done as a consultant is absolutely fascinating. Gerald started out as a musician that wound up in the field of IT. Over time, he then worked his way into the CEO position of Principles of Execution and is the author of two...
Feb 17, 2021•34 min
If you are looking for inspiration, look no further. Today’s guest is an extraordinary individual with a fascinating background that spends our interview describing his journey and his mission. Today’s guest is Andy Salmon. Andy has a 36 year background in the Royal Marines and as a first for A Life and a Living Podcast as a CMG OBE. He served in many global conflicts, including The Troubles, The Falklands War, Angola, Sierra Leone, The Balkans and Iraq. He now produces, directs and narrates eve...
Feb 10, 2021•37 min
Many books talk about how to be a good leader. Many episodes of this very podcast are on that topic. Yet almost no study focuses on the relationship between leaders and followers, even though the quality of this exchange is essential for a productive work environment. I read one of the most fascinating books by Sherri Malouf and I knew I needed her on A Life and a Living Podcast. Through her research, Dr. Sherri Malouf explains the science of relationships within business organizations and I am ...
Feb 03, 2021•28 min
What connections are there between the arts and science? Well, there happen to be more than we might initially think and that is why I have asked Eliza Lay Ryan onto A Life and a Living Podcast today. Eliza is the author of Supermindful: How to Tap Into Your Creativity which teaches us how to connect with our own genius more deeply and shift into new ways of seeing. Her interesting background in that arts as an actress and teacher of theater arts served as a catalyst for writing this book. She h...
Jan 27, 2021•35 min
Today’s guest on a Life and a Living Podcast is the best selling author Tommy Breedlove. His book Legendary has become a huge success and having read it myself, I can certainly see why. I am thrilled to have him on the show today to dive deep not only into his book, but his fascinating journey and to help give you the tools to build your legendary life. Tommy Breedlove took the opportunity to completely turn his life around through mentorship, hard work, accountability, and a lot of soul-searchi...
Jan 20, 2021•43 min
What was it like to lead a business that was deemed essential during the Covid-19 pandemic? For some businesses, teams and leaders couldn’t shut the doors. That is the case for Oonagh O’Hagan, today’s guest. Oonagh is the Managing Director of Meagher’s Pharmacy Group in Ireland. In her unique position as an essential business, Oonagh had to maintain the level of care and service to their clients while also discouraging them from coming in. With a combination of ingenuity, creativity, and trust, ...
Jan 13, 2021•29 min
The world is an ever-changing place with diverse people and cultures. Starting out as a way to promote multicultural marketing, The Diversity Movement has become so much more. The Diversity Movement was founded in late 2019, but with Covid-19 and the many ongoing racial injustice events in the United States in 2020, its mission has become even more important. Today’s guest is Kurt Merriweather, the head of products and co-founder of The Diversity Movement. He is an accomplished product strategis...
Jan 06, 2021•30 min
High-performers are constantly dreaming and working towards lofty goals. That’s great, but what our guest today points out is that the gap between a high-performer’s ability and their dream is vast. What can we do as goal-oriented, high-performing leaders to continue growing, adapting, and succeeding? To help answer that loaded question, I am thrilled to welcome back Tevis Trower. Tevis is no stranger to A Life and a Living Podcast, but this time she comes as a new author of the book The Game Ch...
Dec 30, 2020•28 min
With Covid hitting the United States in early 2020, leaders across the country were forced to make many changes. Fast forward to now and we are still dealing with those changes. How have leaders fared during this challenging time and how can we learn from those leaders who have found success? Today’s guest on A Life and a Living Podcast is Daniel Freeman, founder and CEO of Genius Talent. Genius Talent is a staffing and recruitment firm headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. In today’s episod...
Dec 23, 2020•27 min
As we continue to navigate the workplace during the Covid-19 pandemic, guidance in leadership and employee communication is a must. That’s why I’ve asked Pete Rawlinson to join us again on A Life and a Living Podcast. Pete has spoken with us before and his insight on engaging and connecting employees is so inspiring. Pete Rawlinson has twenty years of experience in technology marketing and is the Chief Marketing Officer at Workvivo. In today’s episode, we discuss many ways that Pete has connecte...
Dec 16, 2020•23 min
Do you have what it takes to be a transformational leader? Well, first we need to unpack this idea and define what it means to be a transformational leader, and I have just the right guest in mind for that. Nick Jankel is our guest today on A Life and a Living Podcast. He is the founder of Switch On Now, an educational service that supports individuals to transform their biggest problems in life, love, and leadership with their unique courses and programs underpinned by neuroscience-based and he...
Dec 09, 2020•30 min
Today’s guest on A Life and a Living Podcast is elite athlete Jenny Davis. What can we learn from an athlete that would be helpful in the business world? Well, you’ll find out that there’s quite a lot we can learn from Jenny. Jenny Davis is a silver medal elite athlete turned entrepreneur and business coach. As an athlete, she was asked to present how she improved her performance to her department manager and leaders. Having shared the principles of improvement, Jenny was asked to help lead and ...
Dec 02, 2020•35 min
Something we don’t always consider when building a team of employees is Second Chance Hiring. In the United States, where overcriminalization is a huge problem, the amount of prospective employees in our pool of applicants with a criminal record is very high. How high? Well, our guest today shares the staggering numbers with us and how business leaders can not only help turn lives around but can also discover a very loyal and engaged team member. Our guest today is Jessica Smith. Jessica is the ...
Nov 24, 2020•31 min
What is holding you back? Sometimes this is an easy question to answer, but oftentimes we need to do some work on ourselves to make this discovery. As a leader, we are looked to for guidance but we don’t always know how to move forward confidently. That’s why today’s guests are Mira and Peter Griffiths who are leadership coaches for teams and individuals. They help their clients have a better understanding of how we discover what is holding us back from becoming what we can become. Their promise...
Nov 18, 2020•34 min
Covid shut down so many facets of our lives, including the workplace. But for companies like Merck Pharmaceuticals, the business goals had to stay the same. Although everyone was and still are working from home, how did Merck’s leaders manage huge teams of people to maintain business objectives? Today’s guest is Drew Otoo. He is the Vice President of Marketing at Merck and Global Commercial Lead for Pneumococcal & Zoster Vaccines and our conversation today is such inspiration for leaders dur...
Nov 11, 2020•28 min
Leadership takes courage. Leading through Covid takes even more courage. What can you do to show you have the courage to lead through the challenges we are facing today? Today’s extraordinary guest is Sepi Saidi. Sepi is the founder and CEO of SEPI Inc, an engineering firm in North Carolina. She has won multiple awards not only as a business owner but as a woman in leadership. She joins me today to talk about how she has been able to build a successful business in a male-dominated industry, how ...
Nov 04, 2020•28 min
Learning new things is a big part of life: we always have to strive to learn and grow. But it takes time, and time is precious. To create an efficient study system, you must know how the brain works. If you know how to realize the potential, you will produce high-quality work. And the quality of the work will be reflected in another aspect of your life. For today’s podcast, let’s welcome our guest, Scott Young, to discuss the essential tips on how we can learn fast and how to retain that knowled...
Oct 28, 2020•33 min
How can we unleash the talent of the people we have? This can be a challenge in the best of times, but right now with the changes we’ve seen from Covid-19, it has become a different hurdle for leaders. Today’s guest has a lot of success in this area and shares with us what he and his team have been able to accomplish during these strange times. Gary Salamido is the president and CEO of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce. He was chosen as president and CEO in August of 2019 and had a great pl...
Oct 21, 2020•29 min
How prepared were you as a leader for the changes a global pandemic would force upon your company? For most, we weren’t prepared. But believe it or not, there are leaders out there who had a plan in place in the unlikely event that we would be in the predicament we are in now. One such company is M&F Bank and we have Jim Sills here today to talk with us about dusting off and implementing their pandemic plan. Jim Sills is the President and CEO of M&F Bank which is the second oldest minori...
Oct 14, 2020•24 min
If you could go back and change how you approached leading your team during the Covid-19 pandemic, what would you change? Would you change anything? In these unprecedented times, we are faced with many new uncertainties and challenges. As leaders, our teams are looking to us for guidance, communication, and encouragement, even when we aren’t entirely sure how to provide. Fortunately, some companies have very intuitive leaders who can share with us the things that have worked for them in building...
Oct 07, 2020•32 min
Do you remember when you were younger and people ask you what your dream job is? Some of us are lucky to have known their whole lives and hit it off at the very first moment that they stepped foot into the world of employment. But for others, not so much. Many people spend most of their lives soul-searching and looking for the perfect role that will give them a fulfilling and meaningful career. They either find themselves constantly switching jobs or stuck in one that they are unhappy doing but ...
Sep 30, 2020•42 min
Where we work, how we work, and how we lead were all changed drastically by Covid-19. How did we manage and how do we manage moving forward? We’re doing something a bit different today by kicking off a series of podcast episodes that dig into the subject of leading through the Covid-19 pandemic. I have a lot of great guests lined up from many high profile global organizations and I’m thrilled to have Tim Humphrey joining us today. Tim Humphrey is the VP of the Chief Data Office at IBM in North C...
Sep 23, 2020•34 min
What does it mean to “be brilliant?” How can you manifest brilliance? What does brilliant even mean? The amazing Janine Garner is with us today to help guide us to becoming brilliant and answer these questions. Janine is the best-selling author of It’s Who You Know and From Me to We . She also has a new phenomenal book out called Be Brilliant that we’ll be focusing on in this episode. Janine is also a business growth expert, keynote speaker, and consultant with a background in the corporate worl...
Sep 16, 2020•39 min
In today’s podcast episode, we have Barbara Moynihan - On Your Feet, Presentation skills specialist will discuss how to prepare, what to avoid, to nail a presentation or speech? What are the building blocks? Where do you start? How to build an effective presentation. How do you manage your fears and anxiety to channel it to add to your presentation. Slides - death by powerpoint. Show Notes: [2:10] - John and Barbara begin the conversation with why people have such a fear of public speaking. [3:3...
Sep 09, 2020•30 min
When we hear the word networking, we often see this as another business tactic that salespersons love to spread about everywhere. If you’re a salesperson, you probably know how hard it is to gather people and make business together. There’s no denying that networking is not a walk in the park. But if you make little changes in your strategies, you can be an effective networker and magnetize potential clients towards you. Today, let’s welcome our guest speaker Paul Edwards as we talk all about th...
Sep 02, 2020•38 min
While the world is fighting against the recent pandemic, many business owners—big or small—are also fighting to keep their businesses afloat. Company morale has reached an all-time low and leaders are having a hard time keeping everything and everyone together. However, finding the right way to inspire your team is crucial in boosting your company's performance. During these times where keeping a close watch over your team's productivity can prove to be challenging, working around it in an organ...
Aug 26, 2020•36 min
What is an Organizational Efficiency Warrior? Well, it is exactly what our guest is today. Trish Tagle is the creator of the SIEZE framework which stands for Summit for Internal Efficiency and Zipped-Up Evolution. This framework supports the discovery of leadership issues in organizations and with Trish’s help, is designed to create a strategy and action plan unique to each organization. Trish is also the best selling author of Everyone Knows You Suck: Bad Boss Stories. A Succinct Guide . In her...
Aug 19, 2020•24 min
