427: Eat Your Feelings - A Cooking Show Demonstrating True Connection, Featuring Sam Nathews
427: Eat Your Feelings - A Cooking Show Demonstrating True Connection, Featuring Sam Nathews
Technically, this is a sequel to episode 423 featuring Cory Brown. Sam Nathews is the cohost for their YouTube cooking show, Eat Your Feelings.
Highlights from the show:
Sam initially wasn't sure about cohosting the show with Cory! He can be shy about performing or entertaining people he just met. It didn't take long to realize how grateful he was that Cory was persistant in starting the project and about Sam joining the show.
Sam shared how the show helped him process his grief over losing his mother, and how being able to talk openly about his emotions has been healing for him. He emphasized the importance of normalizing vulnerability, especially for men.
The Eat Your Feelings show's format of transitioning between lighthearted cooking and deeper emotional discussions resonates with Sam because he sees it as reflective of the ups and downs of real life.
Sam has been touched by the feedback from viewers (and the show's crew!) who say the show has helped them feel less alone in their own struggles and given them permission to be open about their feelings.
Sam hopes the show can continue to provide a model for men to be vulnerable and support each other, especially in smaller, rural communities where that may not come as naturally. He sees it as an important service the show provides.
Quotes:
"...especially when you're in the midst of raw, sudden, super traumatic grief, a lot of the feelings and thoughts that come up can make you feel like this is not normal."
"...we've all cried together. We've all laughed together, we've all burnt the skin off the roof of our mouth together, and it's really, it's just been a really fulfilling thing because of the relationships that we've gotten out of that and the personal growth I've seen ... with the crew on the show..."
"...the tagline of our show is 'everybody's got to eat and everybody's got sh*t to go through."
"...I think the feedback that I've gotten ...is 'thank you guys for talking about this stuff and just showing that it's okay for two guys to talk about hard things and what you're feeling and making it normal that it's okay to feel these things.'"
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About Sam:
Sam Nathews is a brand strategist and storyteller, and the co-creator of Eat Your Feelings, a conversation series that blends food, humor, and emotional honesty. With a background in building brands and campaigns, Sam is interested in what happens when we drop polish and talk about the stuff we’re usually taught to hide. He lives in Virginia with his wife, son, and golden retriever and believes some of the best conversations happen in the kitchen.
Be sure to check out Sam's Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. As well as Eat Your Feelings on Youtube and Instagram.
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About Sarah
Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team’s results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other’s “language”, learning to value each other’s strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.
Sarah’s nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness.
Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.
424 The Art of Story Making and Being Present
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins talks about her recent vacation and the reminder to remember a past lesson from her son about learning from your past regrets and choosing to live in the moment instead of allowing expectations or worries for the future to take away from the joy of the present.
424 The Art of Story Making and Being Present
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins talks about her recent vacation and the reminder to remember a past lesson from her son about learning from your past regrets and choosing to live in the moment instead of allowing expectations or worries for the future to take away from the joy of the present.
Highlights
Being present for the stories you want to share.
Learn to just go with the flow and to take ownership of your own happiness.
Don’t grieve for the future, instead live for the present. It will still hurt regardless, but to build the happy memories right now can help ease your regrets later.
Quotes
“When I’m fully present, I am making stories that I want to share later.”
“We must stop focusing on death as a medical concern. Death is a human matter, one that each of us will eventually face.”
“How many of us are so busy worrying about what our loved ones are forgetting, that we lose track of enjoying the time we still have together?”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
What are expectations you’re holding on to that need to be released? What is something you’re grieving before it’s gone? Maybe you’re experiencing a lot of last times with your high school senior; The last game, the last packed lunch, the last ride to school, and you’re grieving before they’ve actually left the house.
Maybe it’s a good time to think of the other side of the equation too. Like the first time your kid buys their own toothpaste or toilet paper, the first time your kid calls you from their first apartment or dorm room. The first time you hear your kid say, “Hey mom, you were right about-”
I’d love to hear your thoughts about finding the strength to enjoy the present moment. To avoid future regret by attaching too much expectations to a person or an event.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
A Letter to Students, Fall 2020
You Will Make Your Own Stories
You keep hearing the word unprecedented, right?
Mt. Helena, Helena, Montana 2020
For some reason, it seems to be coming with negative connotations.
What if, instead of thinking
2020 happened to me
you decide
2020 happened for me.
This is your time, friends.
Unprecedented doesn’t mean bad. It means unique.
It means no one has faced what we are facing right now, in the way that we are facing it.
What does this mean for you?
It means you get to create this year of school, whether it’s your freshman year or senior year of high school or college, or any other year in your education.
Your parents are grieving what they see as your loss, all the wonderful things they experienced as seniors.(Many of them won’t tell you that prom sucked, that graduation was boring and they slept through it, or that while there were fond memories of high school, the far more meaningful memories and stories came after those years.)
They are grieving things that haven’t happened yet. They are projecting their grief onto you.
It’s understandable because, as parents, it’s all we know. We don’t want to see you miss out on anything!
But what if we reframe this entire discussion to determine what CAN happen instead of focusing on what won’t happen.
What does that mean?
It means that you have a choice and an opportunity to create new traditions, new ways of doing things, new ways of addressing the issues our communities are currently facing.
You will not follow a traditional path. You already knew that. You’ve seen data coming from our economic and business experts, you know we’re facing a bigger and bigger gig economy, fewer traditional university and college education paths, and a majority of future jobs that we cannot even begin to imagine – all within the next 5 to 10 years.
So why not start RIGHT NOW with a non-traditional path?
Imagine yourself standing at the doorway of an institution, a school, your home, work. Imagine you are looking out at an open field with a few well-worn paths; the majority of what’s in front of you is wide open. (There’s a reason they call Montana Big Sky Country.)
You see a stunning, snow-capped mountain in the distance. You are tempted to step out of that institution, knowing going back means standing still while the world around you changes. You look out at the meadow full of giant boulders, yellow, red, and blue wildflowers, tall grasses, and very few footprints. You know there’s adventure ahead, and it makes your heart pound. You begin to smile, the corners of your mouth moving up, your eyes crinkling at the edges. There is company to be found in the wild, and you see someone in the distance that is taking an interesting journey ahead of you. You decide to head in that direction. You’re not committing to anything but leaving the institution, which you’re prepared to do.
Take the step. You have a role in your future, in the future of your community.
Our global communities are changing dramatically, and you are on the edge of that change. It’s not easy, and it feels like a huge responsibility.
You are up to it, friends.
You were born in a time of revolution in many ways, and your growing up environment prepared you for this moment. Truly.
You were raised with digital devices in your hands and learned quickly how they can get ugly. You watched your older siblings and parents become addicted to their phones, distracted from you, and many of you made the choice NOT to follow that path.
You cut your teeth on video games that actually created neural pathways to improve your hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Your schooling stayed traditional while you learned on your own how to connect with people all over the world, build communities around pictures, hobbies, and silly video production.
You can handle this. You WILL handle this with grace and innovation.
Stop grieving a future that never existed.
You were born for this time. Make it count.
If you are feeling like you’re standing at that doorway, but aren’t sure where to begin, send me a message. I’m offering a handful of Introduction to Strengths workshops for students. This might just be the tool you need to develop some clarity about what you do instinctively, intuitively well, and start being intentional about using those natural talents in your future.
Sarah Elkins loves to guide individuals and teams to improve communication, using storytelling as the foundation of her work. She is a Gallup certified Strengths coach and uses that tool to coach her clients to improve their communication in all relationships, and to find more satisfaction at work and at home.
Her book, Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will is available on bookshop.org (supporting independent booksellers), and on Amazon. The audiobook will be available in fall 2020.