Shock Your Potential

Find the Fun - Caramel Lucas

"Any direction that you go with regards to art, it becomes beautiful if you put your time and energy into it." Caramel Lucas
Caramel Lucas is knowledgeable in the business and entertainment industry. She has been in both industries for over 15 years. She is also a Podcast Host with her show called ‘Keepin It Real with Caramel’ “As We Say 100” on Anchor, a wide range on a podcast digital platform. Caramel interviews entrepreneurs who want to be heard and give her listeners inspirational and motivational messages.
Caramel writes her newsletter with Substack called “Keepin It Real with Caramel.” This platform shows people the expertise in Caramel creative writing. The readers have the opportunity to relate to the articles and give the readers inspiration and motivation. Caramel’s newsletter has the scenario, the truth, and the conclusion with an inspirational poem at the end of each article. In 2018, Caramel became a Published Poet with Eber & Wein Publishing and Poetry Nation. Caramel continues to express herself in her poetry. She became published in the Upon Arrival Edition and Quarantine Edition. She received a plaque for both and became one of the best poets in 2019 & 2020.
To keep pushing her career, Caramel decided to continue her education at IAP Career College and became a Keynote Motivational Speaker. Caramel speaks about Relationships, Life Experiences, Online Dating, Parenting, and Motivation. She has a story to tell and a purpose of helping others in their life journeys. In 2013, Caramel became a Published Author and published a novel called “In Love With The Other Man” which became a best seller. She went and ahead wrote, produced, and directed her featured film of the novel.
The decision to make a perfume fragrance with Waft called “Taste of Caramel,” was inspired by the desire to go out of the box and do something unique and fun. The perfume fragrance has a cashmere smell.
Caramel also does Standup clean and adult comedy and has performed at many comedy clubs, fashion shows, etc. She also became a member of Comedy Network Live (thenativesociety.com), Florida Comedy & Entertainment Movement, and Entertainers Worldwide. She hosts a Comedy Open Mic Night at a local pizza restaurant called “Pizza Avenue.”
Caramel is a member of the Toastmasters (Voices of Maitland Club), National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), IAPO (International Association of Professional Motivational Speakers), Notary Association, Black Speakers Network, and a member of the American Legion since 1997 and still active. She has also been a model where she has appeared in many competitions and has appeared in many movies and directed many music videos and commercials. In all her adventures, Caramel has loved her experiences and she continues to move forward.
In today’s episode, Caramel talks to us about her journey and the different experiences she has had in her life. She will also dive deeper and talk to us about her creativity in multiple areas and why she believes that art is important in the world.
Listen in!
Social media handles
www.caramellucas.net
https://anchor.fm/caramel-lucas
https://caramel.substack.com/
https://Instagram.com/mscaramellucas/
https://twitter.com/Ms__Carame
https://www.facebook.com/Caramel_Lucas/ 
https://Linkedin.comCaramelLucas/ 
I love creating things and seeing and trying new things and I'm always curating something in my mind to find something new to do. [3:30]
I love motivating, inspiring, and impacting people because I want to show people that they don't have to do one thing but whatever they feel like they want to do consciously and make something out of it and be proud that they have done it. [3:48]
I believe that if you're working for something, you have to find something that you like so that you find the fun in whatever you do. [4:43]
At first, I was thinking about creating some kind of jeans, fashion, clothing wear, but then I thought that everybody does that. [5:31]
I decided to find something different than nobody does and fragrance came into mind. [5:46]
I called this company and told them I wanted to do a fragrance of essences that I loved to smell of which are cashmere, caramel, and vanilla and so we got together and made a fragrance that turned out to smell good. [5:53]
I wanted to something different that makes me feel good to say I did it. [6:18]
In 2013 I wrote a book ‘In Love with the Other Man,’ and I had a character that everybody loved and so I decided to take this character and let everybody see what she was really about. [6:53]
I had four girls in the book, Liz, Kesha, Denise, and Tanya, and everybody felt something about Liz. [7:10]
Liz was a married woman with three kids and a husband and she was going through so much in her life and I wanted people to see what she was going through. [7:24]
My friend of a long time who does productions asked me if I wanted to make a movie out of my book and I thought it was a great opportunity. [8:37]
I directed and produced the whole thing and with some of his input, we had the film done which was just amazing. [9:03]
I did everything out of my pocket without asking anybody for any funding because I wanted to do it on my own as I felt this was my baby. [9:50]
I'm always ready to take risks because I believe that you will never know the outcome if you don't take a risk. [10:36]
Commercial Break [10:52]
My next goal is my stand-up comedy which I do as well and so right now I'm on a project with a local pizza place to do an open mic to give the community a chance to come in and showcase their talents including poetry, music, and comedy. [12:28]
We have been sitting still for a year and now it's time to get out and get with the community and do something for them. [12:57]
I'm also working on a game called ‘Choices’ that is found on Play Store. [13:20]
I'm also doing my Portugal course and I just submitted poetry and now waiting to see if I am going to get an award from it. [14:02]
I feel like art is important because it shows it shows positive energy for me and shows people that you can do whatever you want. [14:35]
Any direction that you go with regards to art, becomes beautiful if you put your time and energy into it. [14:47]
When you have that positive energy, and have that wonderful art of letting people know the positivity, that's what I do. [15:14]
We were down for a year and we didn't have anyone around us but our family and now as we are opening up we need to embrace each other and calm everything down instead of being all hostile and all everywhere. [16:18]
Whatever art that you do it is a factor to unite people by accepting it or creating it and that is awesome. [16:35]
You only live once in life and so when you do whatever you don't be scared of what other people think but do what you feel is best for you. [18:24]
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The Infinite Magic of Art - Kira Bursky

“Art has the potential to be a reflection of someone's authentic experience, whether that be a story, an emotion, or just our perspective.” Kira Bursky
Creative imagination is always evident in the works that artists bring forth. The uniqueness of every artist is therefore reflected every time they put their talents to action. This is true with our guest today, Kira Bursky, who is a multidisciplinary artist with a passion for art and creative prowess. Kira has been an artist her whole life and believes that art allows us to step into other people’s realities.
Kira Bursky is the founder of All Around Artsy, an award-winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. She is on a journey to explore perceptions of reality with each of her magic-fueled films and projects. She is inspired by our capacity to heal from mental health issues and is driven to tell stories of our ability to transform our minds and hearts into a perspective of infinite possibility.
Khas produced over 60 short films and music videos that have screened at festivals around the world from Los Angeles to Berlin to Beijing. In 2014 Kira was recognized as National YoungArts Finalist and was a finalist in the White House Student Film Festival where she had the honor of screening her work in the White House. In 2015 Kira was selected as the Best Emerging Female Filmmaker at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY). In 2016 she was featured in Seventeen Magazine as the April issue's Power Girl and received the Emerging Artist to Watch grant through Le Couvent artist residency in France. Kira and her creations have been featured through NPR, Out Magazine, Pride, and No Film School to name a few.  
Kira’s YouTube channel has 40,000 subscribers and 14 million views. From November 2019 to June 2020 Kira produced "Considerations of Infinity." an immersive projection-based film installation. She is currently developing the script for her first feature film, designing and selling clothes and products featuring her original art, and collaborating with a diverse range of inspiring artists.
In today’s episode, our guest will tell us more about her art and why she believes that art is important.
Listen in!
Social media
Website: www.allaroundartsy.com 
https://www.Instagram.com/allaroundartsy/   
https://www.Twitter/allaroundartsy 
https://www.facebook.com/allaroundartsy 
Etsy: https://allaroundartsy.etsy.com/   
https://www.linkedin.com/company/allaroundartsy 
https://www.youtube.com/c/kiraburskyfilms
I run a video production company and also do multidisciplinary arts. [3:55
Recently, I have branched out into doing visual art as well and now I'm selling clothing prints and decorative prints of my art. [4:02]
I have been on this artistic journey my whole life ever since I was a child and I have been into many forms of art. [4:19]
It was very natural for me to go down to the filmmaker path because filmmaking is this amazing, incredible art form where all art forms come together and you get to work with all kinds of people and explore all these different stories and perspectives. [4:28]
When I was 13 or 14, I knew I wanted to pursue filmmaking and so I discovered this crazy cool school called Interlochen in Michigan which is a high school boarding school where you are allowed to major in art form in high school. [4:55]
I ended up majoring in filmmaking while in high school and studied filmmaking for three years. [5:12]
By the time I was done with high school I started building up my company just to see how that would go and it turned into a life of adventuring and business. [5:18]
I am always working on new projects and the range of clients is quite diverse and it is really fun. [5:38]
One of my favorite parts is just diving into these different worlds and going on many adventures with my clients and my collaborators. [6:09]
I love my music video projects because they are so fun and each is so different with a lot of creativity involved. [8:43]
I feel fortunate that I get to work with so many cool people and meet a lot of musicians that I've made videos for. [9:26]
In terms of the process, I always want to make sure that I'm capturing the essence of who they are, the story they're trying to tell, the brand they're trying to convey and some fusing that with what goes on in my brain as I hear the music. [10:09]
Commercial Break. [14:10]
Art has the potential to be a reflection of someone's authentic experience, whether that be a story, an emotion, or just our perspective. [16:34]
One thing for me that is a pressure in my life which I know affects a lot of people is social media and all the noise. [17:08]
I feel like art can cut through some of that noise and the pressures and the muck of all of this energy. [17:28]
The big thing for me is, is the ability for authenticity and vulnerability and how art can allow us to step into other realities. [18:47
It is just so fascinating how when you watch a film, listen to music, gaze upon visual art, whatever the medium is, how it can sometimes evoke something in you or you experience a sensation or an emotion, just a vibe that maybe you haven't experienced before. [19:15]
So my company does all sorts of projects and we work with all kinds of clients. [22:38]
For a lot of the projects, the main thing that I like to bring to the table is the creative and artistic way of portraying a brand. [22:46]
I especially love to work with clients who want to find that unique charm of throwing around some words here, but that gives you a little bit of the energy I like to bring to the table. [24:03]
The last thing I'll say is to experiment, have fun and try new things. Jump into projects that maybe you don't even know what is going to happen but just out of this curiosity bubbling within you. [24:25]
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Humor and Creativity in Conversations - Tom Kelly

“The problem with society right now is we all have multiple soap boxes and we all think our opinion is important and nobody wants to listen to another.” Tom Kelly
Comedy is entertaining and every comedian is perceived to be different based on their unique take on subjects that interest the audiences. Like in all other art forms, originality is key when it comes to stand-up comedy, and our guest today, Tom Kelly, scores highly on this. Tom is known to capture his audience by starting conversations that make people laugh while at the same time exposing truths that make people question their realities.
Tom Kelly is a stand-up comedian and is best known for a lot of his work as a warm-up comic at shows like Good Morning America, ABC, The View, $100,000 Pyramid, America’s Got Talent, and he is a funny guy. He also has a great ability to get people to do things in environments like that which they would normally never do. He also has a lot of biting wit that he masters between kindness and self-deprecation but everything is going to make you laugh.
Tom also has his podcast, the Tom Kelly Show podcast where he dances the thin line between comedy and therapy. It is really about introspection and people who are turning those 2020 lemons into 2021 lemonades. He is also a regular contributor to ABC World News Now and has a lot of things that he is doing in all these different shows. Currently, he is working with Tamron Hall Show. He is available for acting, stand-up, warm-up, hosting, zoom parties, private events and he can also officiate your wedding.
In today’s episode, our guest will talk more about his experience with Covid and how it has impacted his art, and his journey to recover from the effects.
Listen in!
Contacts
https://tomkellyshow.com/
I'm just having this revelation with you that maybe so we don't put too much pressure on ourselves we have to take our 2020 lemons and make 2022 lemonade. [4:03]
The best speech my father ever gave that I loved is nobody cares and one thing that I've learned this year is we care but we really don't. [8:36]
In stand-up comedy, I got laid off on a Tuesday and the paycheck stopped coming in on a Wednesday but nobody cared. [9:25]
I got Covid at a friend’s event that I went to for an hour and I was not very happy because I had exposed my parents. [10:30]
My highest rated podcast was at the time when I was rebranding my podcast and I talked about my Covid experience. [12:15]
Part of the reason I am podcasting away on a beach is I need to ease myself back into the real world. [14:48]
What bothers me about all of this is nobody has come up with a smart way to deal with all of this. [17:38]
Commercial break. [23:23]
I think the problem with society right now is we all have multiple soap boxes and we all think our opinion is important and nobody wants to listen to another. [25:39]
There is a lot of things that are wrong with the world. And we don't care enough to adapt. [31:32]
Part of why I started doing a weekly podcast, was because my therapist would only be deductible for one session a week. [31:55]
I lost everything overnight and if you look at what I had booked for 2020, I was going to have the highest earning year of my life. [32:33]
I feel like my podcast is about me pushing for a quantum leap or a breakthrough, which I feel like I'm close to but the pandemic derailed those plans. [33:25]
I am hoping this mess of skills I got out of COVID, my 2020 lemons, will be some form of 2021 lemonade. [34:39]
Right now I am one of the four most practiced zoom comedians in the country. [39:12]
In my standup, I usually am the guy that breaks through the ice. [40:36]
The pandemic is just an embodiment of what so many of us have been feeling in our hearts for years. [41:55]
Other than the drop in income, I have been pandemic Tom for many years. I found myself and I am only able to verbalize some of the mistakes I was making now. [42:00]
I'm only just starting to have my awakening now and I'm and I'm having it live on my podcast. [42:28]
When I didn’t hear ‘the voice of God,’ for me, I started exploring in a small way. [43:46]
I am waiting for that moment for the dots to connect and the struggles to be worthwhile and that is part of the reason why I started podcasting. [47:42]
I have been trying to do massive changes in short periods of time to experiment and refine. [50:18]
What I am currently doing in my podcast and life right now is I am trying to soak up life advice for years, which is things don’t change unless you change. [58:08]
If you think you have something you can share with the world, go ahead and share it. [01:03:22]
……………………………………………………………………………………
Thank You to our August Sponsor!
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Don't Be A Best-Kept Secret! - Maria Koropecky

“I believe all of us have stories to share and that by sharing our experiences, we connect in our humanity.” Maria Koropecky
Once in a while, people experience situations where they feel stuck and are unable to move forward in their lives. When this happens, people set out to look for ways in which they can overcome the blocks and one artistic solution to explore is to seek clarity through crystal mapping. This ancient practice which involves deep and interactive conversations is especially recommended for introverts who have a difficult time getting their thoughts and energies aligned towards the direction they desire to go. Our guest today, Maria Koropecky, is very familiar with crystal mapping and uses her expertise to help people get in touch with their inner selves.
Maria Koropecky runs a creative writing coaching business that is geared towards the quieter creatives amongst us, helping them to get their ideas flowing and overcome writer’s block. Her vision is to help budding authors write books of influence, by encouraging them to have a crystal-clear vision and smash through any roadblocks that stand between them and success. Maria helps her clients, either in one-on-one or in group sessions, to tap into the energy of colors, chakras and crystals, so they can find their voice, shine their light and share their gifts. She understands the immense power of crystals and gemstones and has used her knowledge of them to create a unique approach to coaching called Crystal Mapping. Her work seeks to help people figure out where they are in life and where they would like to go next by drawing on the wisdom of crystals.
Alongside her Crystal Mapping Sessions and Write From The Heart coaching program, Maria is also an up-and-coming novelist writing from Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Her forthcoming novel, Who is Donna Tiva? which will be the first in a three-part series, was inspired during her solo backpacking trip across Spain at 50, and it follows the journey of a single woman as she searches for love, her life being lit up and guided by the colorful characters she meets along the way. She also has a wealth of qualifications that inform what she does, ranging from an Honors BA in English Literature to certifications in Life Coaching & Mentoring, to Spa Therapy as well as Crystal Reading
In today’s episode, we will be learning about the art of using crystals to draw into the inner creativity and beauty that resides within introverts and have them express it more confidently through writing.
Listen in!
Social media handles
https://www.ammolitewellnesscoaching.com/
https://LinkedIn.com/in/MariaKoopecky/
I believe all of us have stories to share and that by sharing our experiences, we connect in our humanity. [4:26]
I want to encourage people to draw on their own life experiences and just put it out there. [4:43]
For me, it is a very creative and healing process for people to use their voices to express themselves and make a change, and be empowered. [4:56]
Introverts tend to keep it inside and it can be very lonely and so for introverts to be able to say out loud and express their feelings may not be easy. [5:57]
Crystal mapping is a heart-to-heart conversation that helps people figure out where they are and where they would like to go next using the wisdom of crystals. [7:26]
Crystals to me are metaphors for the universe which is very creative and dynamic. [7:36]
All crystals have their own stories, history, names, elements, and colors and they are all forged together by time, pressure, and heat. [7:50]
If they can go through this process of transformation and transcendence, then that means that we can as humans beings also. [8:19]
And so I draw on their inspiration and energy to encourage people to look around them and see the beauty of nature. [8:31]
What I love about nature is that it connects these dots that don’t seem related and it is the pace in between that is the magic. [11:20]
I help people come alive by expressing themselves and talking about what they want to create and that is always my joy. [13:10]
I coach people on opening their creative channels and being available to spiritual download through intuition and if there is anything on the way, you become aware of and clear it out. [14:47]
I am a very auditory person and to me when I write it has to sound right and it has to have a certain rhythm on to it. [16:17]
To me, writing is a craft and I have to put words together and choose the right words with the right beats and it is not linear. [16:40]
Commercial break [17:33]
I grew up in an artistic family where my mother is very creative and has a very good eye and both my brother and I are artists by nature. [19:51]
I found that art is healing for both the artist and the audience. [20:16]
That to me is why art is so important because it allows us to get in touch with the deeper parts of ourselves. [21:18]
I designed a crystal map and picked forty-four crystals that people pick from when we are having a conversation and fold them back into the conversation. [22:08]
They are very affirming and very positive and it is amazing the synchronicity that happens between the crystals that a person chooses and what they are talking about. [22:46]
Ammolite is the most amazing crystal because it is both a fossil and a crystal at the same time. [25:57]
If you have an interest in anything, explore it. Go into the world and uncover what is available. [27:37]
……………………………………………………………………………………
Thank You to our August Sponsor!
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Retelling Our History - Sylvester Boyd Jr.

“A person has to want to change in order to change,” Sylvester Boyd Jr.
Our history largely defines who we are as a people and explains why we do things the way we do them. Unfortunately, many people do not know their history leave alone that of other people that they live with. This lack of knowledge about history explains many ills that are being experienced today and could be avoided if people are taught accurate history. This is according to our guest today, Sylvester Boyd Jr, who has been a teacher and has lived to experience what it means to be historically informed.
Mr. Boyd has a passion for history and geography. He has been interviewed by radio and TV programs across the U.S., Great Britain, and other countries covering issues of race relations, perseverance, disparities in education, and current events. His laser focus on the truth, helps him make historical connections within these topics. He uses family stories across generations and his personal life experiences to write The Road from Money series; hoping to teach and uplift readers; while pointing out injustice and racism. Mr. Boyd’s expertise in business, education, motivational speaking, the entertainment industry, and world travel gives him a unique perspective and insight into current racial and poverty-driven tensions around the world.
Currently he can be seen on several major TV series and movies with Academy Award-winning actors such as Taraji P. Henson and Forest Whittaker. As a background actor, he has also appeared with other well-known actors in The Dilemma, Transformers 3, Empire, The Boss, Chicago PD/MED/Fire, Shameless, Lovecraft Country, Fargo, and other TV episodes.
In today’s episode, we will have a conversation about history and why people need to be aware not only of their own history but also of other people’s history. We will also discuss more on the reasons behind ‘The Road from Money’ book series.
Listen in!
Social media handles
http://www.boydbooks.net
 Author interview: http://www.boydbooks.net/bio
 FB links: https://www.facebook.com/sylvester.boyd.3
 https://www.twitter.com/SylvesterBoyd1
I have a degree in both history and geography. [4:04]
One of the problems we have right now is that we are not taught accurate history. [4:32]
History, as I read it from the books, doesn’t match with what I learned in high school. [4:38]
Once I got into college and got deep into history, I learned a lot of things that I thought were true or not true and a lot that were omitted. [4:48]
For example, we talk about a time when Colombus discovered America and generations upon generations believing it as their history. [5:03]
Europeans, Caucasians, or white people our history tend to make them better and diminish everybody else and that is purposeful. [6:32]
We have to start to look at the real facts because if you do not, falsehood will always lead you down the wrong path. [6:16]
I think all secondary schools should have a history as a requirement. [6:35]
History and where people come from and where they are, their customs and traditions should be discussed. [6:52]
Once you start going into history you may be shocked what it is versus what you think it is. [7:00]
People don’t know about history, and if they are not taught right, then they cannot act right. [8:32]
Our education system has played a part in that because I have been a teacher and I know we are not giving our kids the right education. [8:44]
To diminish black, brown, or native American history, you also have to diminish white history because history will always be true. [8:56]
An educated person not only knows their history, but they also know the history and culture of others. [9:58]
Our kids were not taught the right history and therefore they don’t know. [10:32]
Another thing is that you do not know what you lose and therefore hold your country back. [10:50]
Minorities are a big part of the country, coming up to be the majority of the country. [11:10]
Democracy without a vote is not a democracy because once you lose the vote and do not let people vote, you have lost your democracy. [11:22]
We have to look at ourselves as a people and question where we want to end up [12:10]
Commercial Break. [13:29]
Money Mississippi was the town that Emmet Till was killed and thrown in Tallahatchie River and that was the beginning of the American civil rights movements and it happened in the year 1955.[15:10]
My folks came from the town that started the civil rights movement in America. is a really important connection with history I have that most other people don’t have. [15:41]
Another thing I have been fortunate to do is to live in all different societies. [15:54]
My mother was incisive enough to know that she did not want her children raised in some of the environments that the kids did and so she moved her kids to an environment that she felt was conducive for their learning. [16:40]
These are things that people had to do to make adjustments to the society they lived in so that they could develop. [17:10]
I always say the minorities have to look twice than the majority. [17:50]
Culturally I have been able to live with everybody. [21:00]
You cannot make a person change their heart or what they think, but you can educate them. [21:52]
Race is a social construct of man and it has nothing to do with how smart you are. [22:55]
A person has to want to change in order to change. [25:50]
We have not taken of the environment the way we are supposed to and we are a society that uses and loses and that will come back to haunt us. [26:17]
My aunt deserved the honor of the book and it was important for me to put her story out there. [28:25]
It is also a story of all people who struggled to be part of what they should have been a part of from the very beginning. [28:40]
We are a country of many people and races, but we as a people have never accepted that we are all created equal. [28:55]
If you take from me you take from yourselves at the same time. [29:16]
Don’t be afraid of change and take advantage of the opportunities that come towards you because they last for only a brief moment and it is fickle it moves on to the next person if you are not ready. [32:24]
……………………………………………………………………………………
Thank You to our August Sponsor!
Tired of the time and expense to get a manicure or pedicure? Try Color Street today!
Base, color, and top coats of high-quality liquid nail polish in each strip results in a brilliant, salon-quality manicure in just minutes. No dry time, smudges, or streaks, and your mani/pedi lasts up to 10 days. Color Street is 100% real nail polish, not stickers.
Learn More: https://www.colorstreet.com/bhroberts/party/2095611
 

To the Moon and Back - Lisa Kohn

“Even those worst parts of us are helpful in certain actions at certain times and therefore the idea is to be in choice with your response.” Lisa Kohn
A lot of what we become in life is largely determined by the environment we get exposed to and the experiences we get to encounter. Notably, there is no formula for success and this then means that we can always rise above our molded selves and use our experiences to better our lives and the lives of those around us. Our guest today, Lisa Kohn, was able to do exactly that despite her adverse experiences growing up and says that healing from past adverse events entails changing not only the individual’s behavior but their mental models as well.
Lisa Kohn is the award-winning author of to the moon and back: a childhood under the influence: https://amzn.to/3isGg81 and The Power of Thoughtful Leadership https://amzn.to/2UPxPKw. She says that the best seats she ever had at Madison Square Garden were at her mother’s mass wedding, and the best cocaine she ever had was from her father’s friend, the judge.
Lisa is an accomplished leadership consultant, executive coach, and keynote speaker with a strong business background and a creative approach. Lisa earned her BA in psychology from Cornell University and her MBA from Columbia University’s Executive Program. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and New York University’s Stern School of Business, and she brings to others the tools, mind-shifts, and practices she’s found that have helped her heal and thrive, as well as the hope and forgiveness she’s been blessed to let into her life. Lisa will always tell you that she is a native New Yorker, but she currently lives in Pennsylvania.
In today’s episode, we will be learning about how our experiences shape our lives and behaviors, and why being aware of ourselves can make use of such experiences to propel us into leading more purposeful lives.
Listen in!
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I was a member of the Unification Church, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed Messiah from Korea and they did mass weddings where large numbers of people got married often to strangers. [4:22]
I grew up in Unification Church which my mum joined when I was ten years and it was my life and there is no more intoxicating drug than having a Messiah. It is the most powerful than I've ever felt. [4:43]
My mother left me and my nine-year-old brother with my grandfather who later fell into a nervous breakdown and then we went to live with my dad to New York City in the East Village. [5:12]
I had a Messiah but in my mind, I lived with my dad a life of sex, drugs, and squalor. [5:37]
I eventually pulled myself out of cults, and then tried to self-implode, explode, where I almost jumped off a bridge and got hugely anorexic. [5:50]
I did do a hell of a lot of cocaine, including with my dad and the judge who had a lot of amazing cocaine, got into abusive relationships, and finally hit a bottom and started to find help and heal. [6:04]
I did go to Cornell and got a degree in psychology because I like people and ended up working in entertainment advertising and later went to Columbia's executive program and got my MBA. [6:20]
A couple of jobs later I hung out a shingle in 1995 to do leadership and I have been doing it ever since. [6:43]
We do leadership consulting including everything from a full day, multi-day, intern, interpersonal skills, customized programs, leadership programs, and management programs. [6:55]
I like to say I'm the executive coach running around the C suite of Fortune 50 companies talking about love. [7:19]
I knew my childhood was weird. When I was young my dad was in a bar fight where he got a tooth knocked out and he made it into an earring and hung it from his ear and my mom got married in Madison Square Garden with 4000 plus people but I didn't realize It was bad. [9:38]
As I imploded and exploded and punished myself for living my bottom, I got engaged with someone who drank a lot and was mean. [10:03]
Someone in my family pointed me to Al-anon and I was in denial before I realized that you become your story and when you are damaged and broken it is a long path to get from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, to post-traumatic growth. [10:14]
I do think it is natural for human brains to blame themselves [11:01]
When you're a child and have a complex, traumatic life like I did or just a regular normal life, when something doesn't feel safe as a kid your brain knows that if you think the world is unsafe it becomes scarier and if you think that something is wrong with you, then it's less scary. [11:08]
It is a very human response that leads us to learn some massive coping behaviors to manage the instability. [11:51]
The issue becomes how to let them be there, move past them and not let them force and push me in a certain direction, and that is the conversations I have with my clients. [12:29]
I firmly believe that people believe that those coping mechanisms did save them, and they still think when they are in danger the mechanisms will still save them. [15:45]
When we are talking about changing thought patterns that saved my life I get terrified because there are parts of me that still know that they're necessary to survive. [16:26]
So it is not just changing behaviors but about changing thought patterns, assumptions beliefs, and things that I created and made up and were intentionally carved into my brain. [16:36]
Commercial Break. [17:29]
So many people came to me and said I need to write a book, you need to write a book. [19:30]
20 years ago I sat down with a coach and decided that I was going to write a hybrid half self-help half memoir. [19:37]
I got wonderful glowing rejections from so many agents who said I couldn’t sell a hybrid book and that I was not famous enough. 19:53]
I got a call from an agent who said if I wrote a memoir they will represent me and so wrote the memoir and the book soon came out. [20:08]
I did it, and what it has done is that it has blown apart up my personal life, my view of life, my recovery, and my work. [20:52]
Before the book came out, I did not know the community of cult survivors but I have found people who went through the same thing as me and were born and raised in my situation. [21:06]
It has cracked open my healing into much deeper levels, which is hard and amazing. [21:50]
The book has touched people and now I go to meet new prospects that I'm trying to win business from and they Google me and they know I grew up in a cult. [22:04]
I share it and it allows me to use my experiences to help my clients and so it has completely cracked open and blown up wonderfully. [22:25]
The book has also reached people who are in pain. The story is unique but the themes are universal. [22:45]
I get Facebook messages, tweets, Instagram messages from strangers telling me their story, and my next-door neighbor who had no idea read it and she said thank you for giving us all the courage to tell our childhood stories.[22:53]
Three messages I share in the book are first, extremists situations exist, they are prevalent and are all over, they are highly intoxicating and it is a powerful feeling and they are therefore very dangerous. [23:25]
Two, for anyone who feels hopeless or damaged beyond repair there is hope and you are not damaged. [23:39]
Third, as a species, most of us are at least way too hard on ourselves and we need a huge dose of self-love and self-compassion [23:55]
There is the possibility that my experience will mildly control me for the rest of my life but it doesn't have to control me anymore because I can make choices. [27:20]
I denied my story because the only way to almost survive was to pretend nothing happened to me and not look at it ever. [28:29]
Now I have gone back to every place and reconnected with almost every person and now it is me in a good way. [28:47]
I say to people that we are only as sick as our secrets and so I share just about everything as long as it's not about my current immediate family. [29:04]
You never know what people have inside because we looked fine on the outside. [29:38]
Even those worst parts of us are helpful in certain actions at certain times and therefore the idea is to be in choice with your response. [31:21]
When I tell my story or hear someone else's story and realize I'm not alone, they dissipate a little bit, or at least I have the courage to go through them with more strength and ease. [33:17]
Be nice and gentle with yourself. Love yourself first and more. Look for love in the world and find reasons to be happy and the rest of it after that falls into place or starts to fall into something. [34:35]
There's no complete panacea but it makes all the hard things easier and a lot of things go better with work in life. [34:51]
……………………………………………………………………………………
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Tales From the Day - Wayne McFarland

“I decided that like in other things I have done if I was going to fail, I wanted it to be spectacular.” Wayne McFarland
Everyone has a story to tell and many choose to tell their stories by writing biographies and memoirs. But how do you make sure you create a sensory experience for everyone that gets to read the story of your life? Our guest today, Wayne McFarland, chose to go the unconventional way to present his memoir, Tales From The Day; https://amzn.to/3zreUVj, in a very unique and interesting manner.
Wayne McFarland wandered away from a small, mid-western town some years ago. With no planning at all, his history is one of stumbling into one bog after another from the Dakotas to California, from Pamplona to Paris. His main claim to fame is mostly and surprisingly not being dead, plus getting involved with a lot of strange stuff, usually unwillingly or by accident. Yeah, this indeed is a memoir of sorts, if shark fishing in one’s underwear, roping a bear, getting drunk with your grandfather, or losing ten grand at the Hollywood Sign is a memoir. The Day Johnny Cash Hit On My Wife is on the roster as well, for the only name drop in all the stories. There’s also a thing about getting shot in Arkansas and a road trip with a monkey. I can’t deny these were life-shaping events, but truth be told they all happened under the heading of “oops.”
In today’s episode, we get to hear Wayne discusses the reasons why he chose to pen down his memoir in the manner that he did. We will also get to have from him the firsthand account of some of the stories in his memoir.
Listen in!
Social Media
Website: www.waynemcfarland.com
My wife and I sold a business we were running. [2:39]
I have always loved to read biographies and memoirs and so I started reading a whole bunch of them and I can tell you by and large they suck. [2:48]
Those kinds of books only look good or fall off that way in retrospect. [3:14]
So I decided to write a memoir about how things happen and the weird stuff you get involved with just by willing to get out there and live. [3:27]
I took it to the publishers and I got published but their initial reaction was that I had to have a narrative art. [3:40]
But I decided that like in other things I have done if I was going to fail, I wanted it to be spectacular. [4:07]
So, we put it out there and turns out that it struck a code. [4:14]
The riot story in North Dakota goes back a long way to when I was going to school and afterward, I needed money. [5:49]
A friend and I started a little business to throw rock and roll dances and we started with tracking through recorded music and ended up bringing in National Bands. [6:09]
I was then introduced to the world of people being stoned and falling asleep on the bass drum before the music started. [6:26]
One day we brought in a band which was receded in the midst of time. [6:36]
On the night of the concert, 10,000 kids showed up and were shouting and screaming. [7:28]
We hired a bunch of our friends who were letting in people through the doors for cash and thought that maybe were saving for us but it wasn’t so. [8:14]
That night is still whispered about in the far North Dakota. [9:32]
Commercial Break. [10:57]
It was really fun to take the time to put my stories down on paper. [12:41]
The story of pitching to loan sharks happened in Las Vegas. [13:07]
We decided to go sell a cash advertising contract to Big Jim’s Bail Bonds. [15:02]
We got a deal of one year of advertising with cash paid up-front. [17:26]
A study was done by Harvard Medical School where people who were in their 80s were interviewed and wrote a paper on it. [19:55]
What they expected to hear were ruminations of what regrets these people had on what they had done. [20:10]
What they heard instead was the not one person regretted the things they had done, but all of them expressed regret for the things they did not do. [20:20]
If you get a chance to do something, take a swing at it. [20:40]
……………………………………………………………………………………
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Recounting the Craftsman Journey - Dmitry Badiarov

“The results are literally in direct proportion with the actions we take and the actions are in direct proportions with the emotions, beliefs that we have.” Dmitry Badiarov
A lot of what we go through in life usually turns out to be the preparation for us to take up bigger responsibilities in the future. This is especially true when we are able to identify our purpose and passionately work to live it, as is the case of our guest today, Dmitry Badiarov.
Dmitry Badiarov is a professional designer of high-end, concert grade violins, as well as a musician, mentor, and entrepreneur and is fiercely passionate to the core. He currently sells his beautifully crafted instruments to world-class violinists, after many years of toil and turmoil studying the ancient secrets of acoustics, and several more of attempting to sell his wares in a competitive industry where factory-made instruments are now flooding the market. Now known within the classical music world as the Ambassador to Ancient Traditions, he credits his successes to the business skills which helped him get his name out there.
However, as true as this may be, there is another driving force that has helped Dmitry get to where he is today: dedication. From the very beginning, he knew that he wanted to create original instruments that paid homage to the thought processes of the ancient masters. But, after many years of intense study and substantial investment in his craft, he found that few people were willing to pay for his creations. He was told time and again that musicians would only buy standard designs, and even that he would never make it as an instrument maker. Try as they might, though, his naysayers couldn’t hold back a man with a vision who was destined for success.
In 2002, Dmitry opened up his violin-making studio in Brussels and was able to quickly build up a client list of famous concert musicians. 28 years later, his business is as successful as it ever was, thanks to the powerful combination of his exquisite design skills coupled with his impressive knowledge of marketing. Today, he passes on what he has learned in both areas to other ambitious instrument makers, working with them to improve their entrepreneurial skills, double their income, and get paid before they even begin crafting their instruments. He helps his students to thrive so that together they can ensure the ancient traditions live on and continue to enrich our culture. Ultimately, Dmitry believes that “if you are going to make instruments, leave a legacy, a mark the world can’t ignore or erase.”
In today’s episode, we will learn more about Dmitry’s journey to being among the best instrument makers as well as an entrepreneur. We will further discuss some of the defining moments he went through and the lessons he learned from those moments that led him to where he is today.
Listen in!
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I began playing the violin at the age of eight. [5:36]
The violin that I played as a child was cheaply and quickly made and was a factory mass-produced instrument. [5:43]
I imagine myself in the room of my professor and it was nothing spectacular and belonged to the local Opera Theatre. And this is where all the musicians lived and also where my parents lived. [6:01]
My father was a musician of the Opera Theatre and so he had a room in the dormitory. [6:14]
It was a very tiny room with just like a bed, the wardrobe, and a music stand, but through the window was the most spectacular view over an immense fruit garden all in blossom extending to the horizon. [6:20]
At the age of 11, I was playing squeaking, terrible, screeching sounds on the violin. [7:09]
I had my very handsome professor, an absolutely incredible pedagogue who I was in love with back then and we're still in a very warm and close relationship. [7:15]
He was telling me how to play and I tried over and over until finally with desperation, I stopped playing and said to him that no matter how hard I worked, I will never sound like him because my violin was not as gorgeous as his and so we needed to fix my violin first. [7:45]
He agreed and I asked him to introduce me to the violin maker in the town who was a kind of a magician. [8:28]
When I saw him I was hypnotized and I did not know what happened. I lost the gift of speech and froze and when I spoke I did not ask him to please fix my violin but asked if he could please teach me to fix my violin by myself. [9:23]
He had an incredible personality, a gentle and mysterious smile and radiating with kindness and love. [9:56]
He had musical instruments on the walls of his workshop and all of the musical instruments were very unusual and very, very exotic. [10:04]
To my surprise, he accepted me and asked me why I wanted to do that yet he could just fix it for me and I told him that I was a violinist and I wanted to know why the violin sounded like it did. [10:25]
He accepted me and so I started frequenting his workshop and this man whose family name is Olbermann, became my hero. [10:42]
When Olbermann settled into town, he decided to not only fix instruments for other musicians but also completely reconstruct the lost culture of folkloric music in that Republic which was lost during the years of communist rule. [11:16]
If people don’t take care of arts culture and music, these things tend to disappear and get lost completely. [11:57]
He noticed that there was an issue and that people wanted to have their own culture which was like national pride. [12:07]
And so over the next five years, I witnessed Olbermann reconstructed enough musical instruments which were completely lost and no one knew them. [12:35]
He traveled the mountains and went to villages where found elderly people who had those instruments and who still remember how to play them and the songs and tunes, recorded them all, and measured all of the instruments. [12:47]
As a result of this work, he created enough instruments for two orchestras which when they got to work for the first time they presented on the national TV and radio, and many other places. [13:15]
This brought a sense of incredible happiness in the air and people were so proud which made me think that if an instrument maker can produce that sort of happiness, fulfillment, pride, and achievement in people then I want to be an instrument maker. [13:40]
That I the role this man played in my becoming an instrument maker and set me on the path to what I'm doing today. [14:04]
Commercial break. [18:16]
Putting the part I played as an eleven-year-old out again is almost like anchoring in the powerful moments in the past so that you can overcome obstacles in the present and it is something that I'm very passionate to speak about to people who feel that they are stuck, and they want to achieve more. [21:38]
This experience from the 11 years of age and several other experiences I had afterward are the kind that are powerful psychological anchors that we create in ourselves which we can use and reuse again. [21:58]
Back in 1992 in St. Petersburg, I was making my first violin and I was studying music violin playing at one of the most elite schools in the country and the world. [22:25]
All of my peers had amazing instruments that cost millions of euros today or dollars and I still played quite a simple instrument and I was thinking how I could get a better instrument yet did not have the money. [23:05]
I thought that I had had a very good teacher of violin making in St. Petersburg, and I had started making my instrument, and I didn't have the tools and therefore was making my very first violin using tools that I had made myself from fingernails. [23:34]
I however had this burning desire not to feel inferior and compare myself with my peers, and so I wanted to have a wonderful violin therefore I was all focused on the process rather than obstacles. [24:19]
At one certain moment, the phone rang and I picked it up and it was my violin-making instructor from St. Petersburg who was informing me about somebody selling violin-making books. [24:40]
The next day I took take a train local train from St. Petersburg to the countryside and I arrived at a wooden Dasha, a Russian-style house. [25:28]
I entered the house and met a lady who was the widow of a violin maker who passed away 30 years ago who had decided to move to live with her relatives. [26:05]
She then showed me the books and they were the kind that was very hard to come by books on violin making belonging to her husband, who died 30 years ago. [26:54]
She also had these 19th century English handmade tools for violin making which she showed to me and I was very much interested and was like a dream coming true. [27:13]
She was selling the tools at $1,000 which sadly was money that I did not have and that made me frustrated and so miserable and destroyed. [27:49]
I decided that I was going to find that money, no matter what and so I made many calls, and by the end of that crazy calling day, I had this $1,000. [29:17]
When you commit to something that you feel is your thing to do, you unleash some kind of energy and you tap on the powers of the universe. [31:03]
I was flooded with work and in less than a year, I earned all this money and I paid all my debt and then earned some which I later invested into moving to go to Brussels to study with the celebrated Maestro to take my life in my career to the next step. [31:20]
So as a result of this story, I have learned that an entrepreneur is someone who believes that there is a mission for them, and they want to do something, but they are afraid that things might go wrong. [31:36]
You just feel the heart and listen to that tiny human voice telling you that there is something that you can you should do it and that is the thing where you will achieve something. [31:57]
The results are literally in direct proportion with the actions we take and the actions are in direct proportions with the emotions, beliefs that we have. [32:18]
Music is important because it is a direct language of emotion and emotion is what we need to feel to take action. [34:24]
That is why you see in all entrepreneurial events, the speakers on stage always provide music that changes the state of the audience because when the audience is in a changed state only then the audience will take the right action. [34:34]
But then what is music? What are musical instruments? And or what is art for that matter? All these things are related to what we call culture but what is culture? [34:18]
The opposite of culture as defined in that same dictionary is the savage hard truth. And this is something that we do not want to have in our lives. [35:50]
Mahatma Gandhi said that the culture resides in the hearts and in the minds of its people and this is why it is important to fill up those hearts and minds with something really valuable because the opposite is being savages. [36:10]
That is why I believe that music, arts, and culture are so important today more important than ever. [36:28]
Listen to your heart and always decide from the position of power because things can and will go right, it is just about commitment and action and the rest will just come to you in the avalanche of ever-increasing abundance. [38:05]
……………………………………………………………………………………
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Embrace Your Creativity - Rachel Brownstein

"There just needs to be a radical change in sex education." Rachel Brownstein
People join the adults film industry for various reasons, and many do not intend to work in the industry forever. However, the transition from being a sex worker can be quite a challenge for many for varied reasons, as experienced by our guest today, Rachel Brownstein, who had to deal with emotional and psychological trauma arising from the judgmental environment during her transition process. However, Rachel believes there are many misconceptions about the industry and sex workers and tries to change that.
Rachel Brownstein is a no-nonsense public speaker and actress, busting myths about the adult film industry and sex work. She is also a keen vegan chef and has her own vegan cooking channel on YouTube - Auntie Rachel's Chaotic Kitchen. Rachel is a UK-based public speaker and the face of YouTube vegan cooking channel Auntie Rachel's Chaotic Kitchen.
She talks openly about her experience working in the sex industry to educate people about the reality of sex work and dispel many of the misconceptions people have. Brought up in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Rachel first turned to sex work due to a desire for independence. Keen to earn her own money and choose when she worked, she started out working as an escort and a lap dancer before becoming an actress in the adult film industry, working with studios in Los Angeles. This saw her thrust into a completely different world where 13-hour sex scenes and STD-testing became a normal part of her working week.
After eight years working in the sex industry – including five appearing in pornographic films, Rachel is keen to unpick the stigma surrounding sex workers. Her career saw her earn a good living and travel the world, yet since retiring from porn, she has been fired from two jobs by bosses who couldn't handle her past. Now a public speaker, Rachel is keen to talk about the realities of being an adult film actress and is writing a memoir about her life in porn. She can speak candidly about her own experiences and the reactions she has had from other people since leaving the industry.
Rachel has strong views about the need for clear and honest sex education for young people not to grow up using porn as a yardstick for their sexual relationships. She also advocates for sex workers to be given more of a voice when it comes to the laws which govern their industry.
A Vegan Cooking Channel with a Difference Once an enthusiastic carnivore, Rachel decided to become a vegan after finding out more about the animal welfare issues involved in the meat industry. She had her final meat-based meal on Christmas Day 2017 and hasn't looked back. In October 2020, after spending most of her lockdown whipping up vegan creations in the kitchen, Rachel launched her own YouTube cooking channel – Auntie Rachel's Chaotic Kitchen. The channel aims to put the fun into vegan cooking and is aimed at everyone from committed vegans to meat-eaters wanting to try plant-based meal options. The channel is a no-holds-barred cooking experience, and Rachel always includes all her mistakes and successes. Talking to the viewer through WHY she is adding something to the dish, Rachel hopes to remove some of the mystery surrounding vegan cooking to make it more accessible to everyone.
Rachel can also talk about living with a hidden disability after being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS) – a group of connective tissue disorders – in 2019. She also has postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), a blood circulation disorder, which means her heart rate increases at an abnormal rate after sitting up and standing.
In today's episode, our guest will talk to us about her experience in the adult films industry and her motivation to transition towards exploring her creativity and what she is doing now: vegan cooking.
Listen in!
Social Media.
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http://www.racheltalksreality.com/
I have a disability called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder and it manifests in pain in my joints, and I've got the hypermobile type. [5:12]
I was working in the restaurant industry in front of my house and just hated working for minimum wage. [5:33]
I was thinking of how I could earn more money only with a GCSE level and little education, and my mind went straight to sex work. [5:45]
Sex work gave me freedom and choice to whether or not to go to work, depending on how I felt. [6:14]
I just went all in and started doing escorting and then kind of went backward, started lap dancing, then doing photography in magazines, and then started doing films. [6:34]
Being a US citizen, I could travel freely to the US, where they brought in a law, it's called statute 2257, where you have to have two forms of us ID to appear in adult films. [6:56]
It provided a real disposable income and the freedom and opportunity to go and visit different countries and meet many different people. [7:38]
There are so many different reasons people enter the sex industry, and for me, it was money and freedom and not having to work a nine to five job that stifled me. [7:47]
It got to the point where it just wasn't fulfilling my needs anymore as I wasn't using my brain and being creative. [9:03]
I also did start to see a side of the male psyche that I don't necessarily think women should be exposed to. [9:15]
I started trying to transition out of the industry and then started getting fired because I'd be recognized by men who can't keep their mouths shut. [9:31]
I left the industry, try to muddle along, keep my head down, but I would just be hounded across social media, and people would not let me leave. [9:50]
I realized that people need to hear what sex workers have to say about the industry because the voices speaking on it don't know what they're talking about. I think to say porn or sex work is inherently bad is just very reductive [11:03]
I think there needs to be, again, a radical change in sex education by being respectful towards kids as young humans. [13:57]
I started doing lectures about sex work, and I think we need to start involving sex workers in education. [17:00]
Commercial break. [ 21:05]
The kitchen came around because of the pandemic where I was spending full lockdown in the UK, and I couldn't leave the house. [23:06]
I got depression and anxiety and wondered what I would do, so I started cooking. [23:46]
I started adapting recipes that I'd found and trying different things with them, which I then posted. [24:06]
A couple of friends mentioned having my YouTube channel for my cooking, and I thought it was a good idea and started it. [24:20]
I also noticed that many TV chefs did not necessarily explain the ingredients, and I decided that I will be mindful of that, and l will try and always explain why I'm using a certain ingredient. [26:00]
I have had some nice and beautiful supportive messages. [27:19]
The other great thing about vegan food or plant-based food is that it's very hard to poison yourself. [28:50]
I enjoy seeing other people's vulnerability or their fallibility, and I think it just humanizes. [29:44]
I think it's important to stop letting other people put us in boxes that we're not comfortable in, and you need to burst out of them because it's just so limiting. And it's exhausting trying to conform to other people's ideals. [33:32]
I think trying to be someone that somebody else wants you to be can start having a corrupting influence on your life and make you not take care of your own needs. [33:52]
Just embrace your silliness and your creativity, and don't let anyone make you feel shame or embarrassment for the things that bring you joy. [35:05]
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Happiness Hall of Fame - Mike Duffy

“It is the daily progress that you make on your purpose that gives you sustainable happiness.” Mike Duffy
The meaning of happiness varies across different people yet still, there are areas of agreement within all these differences. One of the major areas where people agree on about the abstract concept that is happiness is that it involves the act of giving. Our guest today, Mike Duffy is all too familiar with this and even confirms that happiness is not only attainable but can as well be sustainable and it all has to do with how we perceive and treat others. 
Mike Duffy is a philanthropist and an author of five books on happiness including The Happiness Book: A Positive Guide To Happiness; https://amzn.to/2W5O7PT . The Happiness Book For Men; https://amzn.to/36Tt5Ga and The Happiness Book For Kids Volumes I & II: https://amzn.to/375Iaot . He has interviewed the top thought leaders, athletes, rock stars, CEO's and celebrities in the world on happiness, work/life balance, resilience, and success for his books. He was an MC at Woodstock '94 and gave a TEDx talk at TEDx Berkeley. He loves to speak about how you can gain greater happiness and joy in your precious life.
Mike Duffy is the CEO of Happiness Wealth Management in San Carlos, CA. He has over 27 years of experience in finance and he was a Senior Vice President at Merrill Lynch. He has worked with some of the wealthiest people in Silicon Valley. Mike also speaks about crucial, fundamental money management techniques and philanthropic giving. His audiences include corporations, organizations, and universities including Stanford University where he guest-lectures and has a scholarship award.
Mike started The Happiness Hall Of Fame to recognize, encourage and celebrate people and organizations that make other people happy. Members of The Happiness Hall Of Fame include Muhammad Ali, Dolly Parton, Jerry Rice, Serena Williams, The Golden State Warriors, The San Francisco Giants, The Wounded Warrior Project, and The Make-A-Wish foundation. Mike also founded the Happiness Hall of Fame Homeless Outreach which provides money, food, counseling, and hope to the hopeless.
In today’s episode, our guest will talk to us about how to get sustainable happiness and overcoming fear by being your cheerleader. He will also elaborate more on his business of wealth management and how it is aligned to his purpose.
Listen in!
Social Media Handles
The Happiness Hall Of Fame website is: https://www.happinesshalloffame.com
 The Happiness Hall Of Fame: www.happinesshalloffame.com
 TEDx Berkeley talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VRi6gWj98E
At any moment of the day, we are constantly bombarded by negative thoughts. [3:14]
I started the happiness hall of fame about a decade ago to be the antidote to all that bad news and to shine a light on people who do amazing things and the wonderful stories around the world. [3:24]
I decided to live in sustainable happiness because there are two kinds of happiness. [3:49]
There is hedonic happiness which is the happiness you get from making yourself happy and most people confuse it to be good but it not sustainable. [3:58]
Eudemonic happiness is what you can do to have sustainable happiness throughout your life and it is the happiness that we receive eternally when we are good to other people. [4:13]
When you look back on your life, it is the accomplishment story that makes you happy. [6:02]
One of the greatest joys of my life is the homeless outreach. [6:40]
There are moments in all our lives where words can affect the outcome and put us in a trajectory that changes our lives in either a good way or in an amazing way. [7:45]
I started the hall so that I could leverage on the good. [8:18]
Saint Augustine said that it is in giving that we receive and that is why I encourage people at the very least to do something good to someone else. [10:09]
The biggest hurdle that people have in their lives is fear and we all have this narrative that we cannot do what we want to do. [11:40]
My happiness formula is Purpose plus Progress equals Happiness and therefore is the daily progress that you make on your purpose that gives you sustainable happiness. [12:25]
Wayne Dyer said that when you stay on purpose and refuse to be discouraged by fear, you align with the infinite self in which all possibilities exist. [13:52]
Bren Brown uses the analogy, ‘live in the arena’ as an encouragement to shun away the haters. [14:35]
Commercial Break. [18:00]
I am an author and speaker but I learned that most men in the United States read no more than one book after high school. [19:43]
That means that if I am going to get my message out there, I have to be a speaker because they are not going to read my books even though my books are free on Amazon for a prime member. [20:11]
Art is all around us and there is no reason if you haven’t participated in your space, you can’t change that today. [21:00]
I started happiness wealth management about three and half years ago. [23:25]
I did not let fear keep me in my corporate job and so I went out on my own and started my own ship. [23:44]
I specialize in retiring on purpose where we sit down and figure out what makes you happy and how we can get more of that. [23:54]
People need to understand that they are the authors of the stories of their lives and therefore they should make their stories one of unbelievable adventures, generosity, heroic outcomes and sustainable happiness. [25:38]
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Thank You to our August Sponsor!
Tired of the time and expense to get a manicure or pedicure? Try Color Street today!
Base, color, and top coats of high-quality liquid nail polish in each strip results in a brilliant, salon-quality manicure in just minutes. No dry time, smudges, or streaks, and your mani/pedi lasts up to 10 days. Color Street is 100% real nail polish, not stickers.
Learn More: https://www.colorstreet.com/bhroberts/party/2095611