podcast

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Episode 169: Do You Have a Diverse Personal Board of Directors?

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Humans are biased. We're designed to identify people who are different from us, people we have things in common with, and people who pose a threat to our safety - emotional & physical.

It's easier for our brain to make a decision about a person when we allow our bias to control it. But how many times have you misjudged someone you met, for better or for worse? When we rely on our bias to make decisions about a person's potential as a friend, foe, or neutral, we seriously limit the potential of the relationship.

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Episode 168: No Longer Virtual and the Worldwide Shutdown

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On this episode of the Your Stories Don't Define You podcast, I'm joined by three #NLVChicago2020 guests. Shelley Brown, Mike "Fritz" (the Fritziest) Fritzius, and Kevin Strauss shared their stories about those two days in our little #NLV bubble.

It was magical, truly, and you'll see I'm not the only one who feels that way.

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Episode 167: Keen Observation is the Key to Finding Humor Almost Anywhere

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Kat’s mom was a therapist and her dad a writer. They self-analyzed themselves into a mess, and she struggled to find ways to address her inner emotions. She craved something completely different, and worked hard to avoid a career in any field related to her mom’s.

What's the perfect contradiction & complement to therapy? Comedy, of course!

After finishing her degree, she moved to Chicago to try her skills at improvisation, and landed a career with Second City.

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Episode 166: Compare and Contrast Doesn't Always Mean Compete

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How many times have you listened to a story and wanted to jump in, interrupt, to share a story of your own? Is it because you think your story is better, more meaningful or entertaining? Is it because you want to connect with the person and you know finding something in common is a good way to do that?

When I read a recent article by my friend Tom Dietzler, and he posed those questions in the context of a story he listened to, I was intrigued and reached out to ask him to chat about that on a podcast episode.

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Episode 165: Don't Fight the Current. Embrace it. Use it to Propel You Forward

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Analogies are a powerful way to shift a mindset, taking all the emotion and knowledge of something familiar, and applying it to something completely different.

In our conversation, Joe demonstrated the analogy of taking small steps in business, testing them, and shifting them when necessary to adjust to external forces, and compared that to how a whitewater canoe athlete can roll with the force of the current, testing different positions of the paddle, their body weight, and the position of their legs. Each small adjustment, taken with thought and intention, can make the difference between fighting the current and embracing its power.

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Episode 164: Why I Added #Pronouns to My LinkedIn Profile Name

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I added the pronouns (she, her) to my profile name on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago, and left a comment on a friend's post shortly afterward.

That was the first time my name came up with the pronouns, and someone I love promptly responded with "lose the pronouns" in his response to my comment.

I was annoyed, why would he care what my title says? It felt insulting, critical, like a condescending comment you'd expect from your older brother when you were teenagers. I was being judged.

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Episode 163: Life Will Blindside You, Sometimes Literally

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Some of us make plans for the future, some simply let each day define and shape the next. I don't think any of us anticipate every potential scenario of change, transformation, or trauma. Even the most morbid or realistic of us cannot predict or prepare for the reality of tomorrow.

That's what Maria Johnson realized as she received the diagnosis of a rare disease that was quickly denying her the ability to see. She had been concerned about her eyesight, went for dozens of tests as she realized it was getting worse. It wasn't until 7 months after she went for her first doctor visit, and only one month prior to completely losing her vision and becoming legally blind, that she finally received her diagnosis. And there was nothing to be done. No cure. No treatment.