Finding Brave

Welcome to my “2018 Listener Favorites” Series! This August, I’m delighted to bring you the top four, most downloaded episodes of the 31 shows we’ve published since the start of the podcast (January 4, 2018). Today’s show was the inaugural episode, and in it, I share my deeply personal story about how I embarked on “Finding Brave” in my own life, and why mustering more bravery and courage is a vital endeavor for men and women around the world who want to live the highest version of themselves and reach their highest, most joyful potential. I define #FINDINGBRAVE as this: Recognizing — and courageously leveraging — what you’re made of as a human and spiritual being, and mustering the commitment, passion and courage to draw on all that you are to create the life you dream of, through the fear and the pain. And I offer 10 essential ways to find brave in your life, with specific tips to get moving on your brave path.

“Imitating these people, or trying to be these people, does not and should not equal being inspired by these people. Because if we can be inspired by these people and pull some of those qualities, characteristics and best practices that they’ve got, and apply them with a slight tweak to who we are and what we’re trying to do, that’s where the innovation starts.” - Eric Termuende Like many people, you may find yourself wanting the life that someone else may have, and look to imitate or emulate that person to get to where he or she is today. Is that the right thing to do though? Today’s inspiring guest on Finding Brave is going to explain why this is the wrong approach to take, and what we should do instead. Eric Termuende is the co-founder of NoW Innovations, a bestselling author, and an international speaker. His work has been featured in Forbes, Inc., Thrive Global, the Huffington Post, Globe and Mail, and other top media platforms. Eric was recognized as a Top 100 Emerging Innovator under 35 globally by American Express, is a TEDx speaker, and represented Canada at the G20 Summit. Eric is a thought leader on optimizing workplace culture, the future of work, and engagement in the workplace. He provides key actionable takeaways on how companies can drive engagement through connection and trust. Eric dispels generational groupings to re-humanize and gain more out of the workforce. Having given nearly 200 presentations, he goes beyond diversity and inclusion to help audiences understand people and patterns in order to optimize the workplace. He is the author of a new bestselling book, Rethink Work. Eric is an amazing young leader whose wisdom and thoughts around leadership will inspire you want to be yourself, because it’s often what we aren’t that will differentiate us the most on our journey. For more information about today's guest, visit: https://erictermuende.com/ 

“The reality is that we all struggle with confidence, just in different, varying levels. I mean, for me with my military experience, I think one thing that really helps is perspective. So I can step back and say, ‘you know what, let me get some legit perspective on where I’m at right now, and then look at where I have been.’” - John Lee Dumas Do you have a creative passion, podcast or show that you want to introduce to the world, but you’re struggling to find the confidence? Even if you had the confidence to launch it, would you know where to begin? Today’s inspiring expert guest is here to light us up and give us his strategic yet practical and empowering tips for both new podcasters as well as other creatives who want to launch their passion project in a successful way. John Lee Dumas is the host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, an award winning podcast where he interviews inspiring entrepreneurs every Monday and drops “value bombs” every Thursday. With over 2,000 episodes, 1.3 million listens every month, and seven-figures of annual revenue, John is, in his words “just getting started.” As you’ll hear, John is someone who really does set you on fire when you listen to him, and his thoughts and insights on confidence, perspective and mastering your craft will benefit anyone with a burning message to share. For more information about today's guest, visit: https://www.eofire.com/ 

“You need to not assume that things will happen to you. You have to say, ‘I want it, I need it and I love it.’” - Angie Ruan When you think of certain occupations such as engineer, is there an image of what you think that person should look like? Today’s inspiring and deeply talented female tech leader recognized her own immense gifts and had the confidence and belief in herself to identify supportive environments that would allow her to pursue her ultimate dreams in the male-dominated field of technology. Angie Ruan is a SVP of Technology at NASDAQ. Previously, she held various key executive positions at American Express, PayPal and eBay. She has successfully helped American Express, PayPal and eBay transform technology offerings and deliver incredible business results. One of Angie’s passions is to contagiously inspire others to make a difference, especially in the community of women. She served as the President of eWIT (2012~2014), eBay-Women-in-Technology, a grassroots organization that promotes the interest of women in technology with 2000 members globally. She was recognized as a Woman of Influence in 2014 by Silicon Valley Business Journal. After living in California for over 20 years, she relocated with her family to New York in 2015. She is a mother of two, an engineer by heart, a leader by training, a podcast fanatic, and a lifetime learner. Angie’s story is an inspiring one for the next generation of women leadership and shows the importance of finding a culture that naturally supports women, and then having the confidence to pursue the available opportunities and speak up and rise up powerfully to do your best, most inspired work. To learn more about today's guest, visit: http://business.nasdaq.com  https://www.linkedin.com/in/angie-ruan-2585aa/ 

“It was really a life-changing experience, but it made me realize I’m hard wired to connect, as we all are. When we don’t have that connection in our lives we dysfunction,and that’s what’s happening today.” - Mike Stallard In this episode of Finding Brave, you’ll be hearing how there’s an epidemic of loneliness today in America and other democracies around the world that makes people less resilient in coping with stress. Why is this something we need to pay attention to? Our expert guest today shares the serious outcomes of low connection coupled with a high level of stress, and how human connection is a superpower that makes you healthier, happier and more productive. Michael Stallard is a keynote speaker and expert on how effective leaders boost human connection in workplace cultures to improve the health and performance of individuals and organizations. He is president of the Connection Culture Group, a leadership training firm, and the author of two books, Connection Culture and Fired Up or Burned Out. His clients have included Costco, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NASA, and Turner Construction Company. Texas Christian University founded the TCU Center for Connection Culture based on Michael’s work. Not only does Mike share how strengthening our connections will benefit our overall well-being, but he backs it up with fascinating studies and data, as well as his own personal experiences. Reaching out and connecting with others may not be easiest thing to do for some of us, but it truly is time to “find brave” and connect with the people around us in a much deeper way, to enhance our life experience and strengthen our ability to live well and healthfully. To learn more about today's guest, visit: http://www.michaelleestallard.com/ 

“What I’m going to encourage listeners to do, and what I talk about in Leading with Emotional Courage, is to trust the emotions in a certain way and in a way that you don’t have to figure everything out with your head. Figuring it out with your head keeps the ego in control, and actually stops the emotion from moving on.” - Peter Bregman Being brave is about acting powerfully in the world, and emotional courage, or being brave on the inside, is what we’re talking about today. Our guest today shows us that if you are brave with what you are willing to feel, then you can be brave in what you are able to do. Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, a company that helps senior leaders create accountability and inspire collective action on their organization’s most important work. He is the bestselling author of 18 Minutes, and his forthcoming book, Leading with Emotional Courage, is being released this month. You’ll hear stories from Peter’s own personal journey about what emotional courage looks and feels like, and learn the value of being able to feel our feelings without fully understanding, analyzing or criticizing them. This is key because, as you’ll hear, if you’re willing to feel everything, you can do anything. To learn more about today's guest, visit: http://bregmanpartners.com/ 

“It’s all testing and all fighting through the limiting beliefs and the thought that your ideas aren’t good enough, and then realizing you can create anything that you want.” - Kristen Aldridge “If you want to be a leader today, it’s not about whether or not you like people. If you want to be a leader today, you have to LOVE people, period.” - Seth Mattison This episode of Finding Brave will undoubtedly inspire you to go out and find brave to do the amazing things you dream to do and be in the world, much like guests you’ll meet today. Kristen Aldridge and Seth Mattison are the co-founders of Luminate, whose mission is to connect, support, empower and inspire leaders and entrepreneurs to create work experiences that fill people up, rather than run them dry. In addition to founding Luminate, Kristen is an Emmy-winning journalist who has created content for hugely recognizable brands like Entrepreneur, ABC, CBS, Yahoo! and ESPN, and Seth is an internationally renowned author and expert on the future of work and leadership. Seth and Kristen share their real-life stories and experiences of the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly of what it is to refocus and combine their respective talents as a husband-and-wife team to launch a huge passion project that they’ve dreamed and designed to positively impact the world. In the show, Kristen shares openly about the unexpected and sometimes raw and vulnerable aspects of the entrepreneurship journey, and Seth describes all that he’s learning about how leaders can (and must) illuminate their work and their organizations through the power of love. To learn more about today's guests, visit: https://justluminate.com https://kristenaldridge.com https://sethmattison.com 

“I think in the middle of that storm, in the eye of that storm, is a new emerging consciousness of interconnection, and of a desire to bring hope and healing forward, and people are doing that in a lot of creative and different ways.” - Carla Goldstein Even with all the polarizing points of view and differences of opinions in the world today, there is an inner connectedness between all of us. Today’s guest on Finding Brave, Carla Goldstein, has made it her mission to help people build a deeper understanding of this idea and experience of connectedness, and to leverage that understanding to lead, manage and communicate differently. Carla Goldstein, JD, is a pioneer in women’s leadership with 25 years of public policy experience serving as Omega Institute’s chief external affairs officer to help Omega connect its work to change-making efforts around the world. She is also the cofounder of the Omega Women's Leadership Center, a hub for convening, inspiring, and training women to # DoPowerDifferently. The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies receives more than 500 teachers and 23,000 people annually to attend its workshops, conferences, and retreats in Rhinebeck, New York. How do we need to shift, and what must we need to address more effectively to connect with our universal humanity and support the deeper connection we need to thrive in today’s world? In this thought-provoking conversation, Carla shares helps us answer these questions and move towards healing, finding a different way to solve our conflicts with each other. To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://www.eomega.org/ 

“Unless you have consciously addressed it, you’re probably reliving many patterns from childhood that you actually aren’t aware of and wouldn’t choose.”- Kathy Caprino In January 2014, I had the opportunity to talk with leadership expert Dr. Tim Elmore and learn more about how we as parents are failing our children today -- coddling and crippling them -- and keeping them from becoming leaders they are destined to be. The resulting Forbes article went viral, with 7.8 million views to date, and from this, it’s clear parenting today is an issue that warrants more discussion and more research-based guidance. Today’s episode of Finding Brave offers my personal take on the question of how we parent our children so they grow up healthy, self-confident and self-reliant, and very able to lead their life from their own values, ideas and beliefs. I share my own personal experiences as a parent, marriage and family therapist and someone who coaches thousands of mid-life professionals through limiting and negative beliefs, mindsets and behaviors that, sadly, they acquired through their childhoods that have damaged them. You’ll hear how when it comes to parenting, everything we do for our children starts with us. I’m not judging here, as I’ve made every single one of these mistakes I’m talking about here, but the key is becoming more aware of the ways we are tripping up our children and getting in the way of their growing up successfully. If what I talk about today resonates with you, please comment below and feel free to connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. I’d love to hear about the topics that you’re struggling with, whether it be personally or professionally, so that I can discuss them on a future episode of the podcast.

“How am I going to do to deal with these hard challenges in a way that will add positivity? We don’t need any more negativity,, hate, blame and vitriolic tearing down of human beings. What we need is positive, effective, balanced, reasoned ways of dealing with the challenges.” - Kathy Caprino What’s happening in our world today that’s unleashed so much vitriol, rage and hatred? Everywhere we turn, whether it’s from public figures in the spotlight or people on social media, we’re seeing millions of people tearing others down mercilessly. It doesn’t have to be this way, and on today’s Finding Brave I share my thoughts on how we can all do our part to start taking the high road, and demonstrate values that support humanity, connectedness and compassion, not rip it apart. We each can use our voices powerfully and stand up for what we believe, but also do it in a respectful, caring way at the same time. If you want to be known as someone who elevates, enlightens and educates, I hope you find this show helpful on your path. I’d love to hear from you about how you take the high road or why you choose not to. Please comment below or connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. Whether you agree or disagree with what I share here, please respond respectfully so we can build helpful bridges and support each other on this journey through life.