The Christmas Eve Episode

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Hi, and welcome to a special Christmas Eve edition of

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Podcaster Stories. In this episode, I'm taking a look back

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at some of the amazing stories my guests shared in

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season two of the show. Listen with me as my

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guests, tell us about some of the things that changed

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their lives and made them the person they are today.

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In episode one, Jenell Riesner and Rachel Bellotti of the

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True North Collective podcast spoke about why it's important to

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get messy when having difficult conversations.

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In my own journey. For example, we just launched a

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mini series called Amplify, and we're speaking with people basically

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about race/racism, being in a system that doesn't allow you

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to be authentically you or celebrate you. And I know

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that's something, you know, Rachel had this beautiful brain child

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have an idea and we set it up and I've

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been so grateful because those are the types of conversations

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that I have passion for, but I'm so scared to

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be a part of, because I feel like I don't,

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I don't know what to say. I don't know the

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right thing to say. And I think the podcast has

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been a platform, whether it be on that topic or

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other topics where we've really pushed ourselves.

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And I know I'd been pushed, but in a space

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that does feel safe where I'm publicly saying like, Hey,

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I don't know the answer here. I'm gonna get it

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wrong and I'm going to be a messy and can

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we all be okay with that?

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The following week, Jody Hanks and Chris Rash of The

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Digression, Podcast talked of their time in the US Air

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Force and why their show doesn't shy away from topics

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like suicide, death, and sexual assault in the armed forces.

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You know, those kind of things, we would deal with,

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you know, you know, we had our problems with substance

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abuse. We've had our problems with suicides. You know, the

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whole spectrum of the human condition is what we had

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to deal with day in and day out. So as

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much as we want to have fun on the podcast,

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we take what we, you know, experiences we had in

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the air force and we examined some of the things

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that are going on in the military today, and, you

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know, they were very, very serious subjects. We, you know,

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we, we know that we've talked to also in that

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episode about the sexual assault scandal in San Antonio, Texas

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for the air force, with the military training instructors. And,

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you know, that was, you know, those were kind of,

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those are the issues that a chief and a first

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Sergeant would have to work every day, every day. So

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we just incorporate that into our podcast because you know,

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a lot of our listeners relate to it, to, you

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know, you know, having to deal with the chief in

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the shirt, you know, in some way, shape or form.

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Episode 3 saw me chat with Michael Levitt of the

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Breakfast Leadership network, and how stress through the COVID pandemic,

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was causing so many issues for people and businesses.

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I think a lot of it boils down to we

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as humans don't have proper boundaries and how we live

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and the boundaries of what we consume, not just food,

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but the information that we consume. Yeah, right now is

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a stressful time. And if we're watching the news several

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hours a day we're consuming a lot of negative information

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and that stresses people out. It concerns us as governments

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opened things up and then closed things back down again,

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that's stressful for many people because they're worried they have

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fear that they can lose their job. There could be

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an income drop in their household. They won't be able

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to do the things that they like doing with the

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holidays coming up.

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There's a lot of concern of will I be able

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to go home for Christmas or see loved ones for

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the holidays or whatever holiday you observe. It's really, really

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problematic. And you know, that stress builds up.

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In episode 4, Sarah St John of the Frugalpreneur podcast

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shared how she found her passion when she became an

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entrepreneur.

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I don't know if it's like a gene or in

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your DNA or I feel like it's something that you

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must be born with. Because even when I was a

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kid, I would gather up like free candy and pencils

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and things like that and then sell them to my

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friends. But I didn't actually start a business until 2008

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was my first business. And it was actually a photography

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business. But after a few years I decided I wanted

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to switch to online business just because the overhead was

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getting so expensive with photography, with maintenance and upkeep of

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the equipment and stuff. And, and so it was, I

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think once I start online businesses that I really realized

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that that's the path that I want to go.

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In episode 5, Nate Garrison of The EXTRAordinary Podcast offered

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his advice on why success needs to be measured by

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the lifestyle you're able to craft and spend your day

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as opposed to just financial success.

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You know, it's really not so much about the, the

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money. The success success is very important because I think

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success leaves characteristics and traits that are very important. But

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when it's so tied up into money into the financial

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side of it, then there's these other things that get

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neglected. These are the things that get removed. And when

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you can, when you can realize your success based on

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the lifestyle that you're able to craft, when you're able

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to value success on how you spend your day. Okay,

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well now we're on to something that we can kind

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of say, okay, well let's craft the lifestyle that allows

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me to have the day that I want to have.

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Episode 6 saw my good friend Tim Jahn of We're

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Only Human explain why our lives were defined by us

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and we choose the paths we walk on.

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The biggest thing for me personally has been this idea.

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And this is why I keep going is every conversation

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as a reminder and inspiration of this idea that we

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can define our own lives like this isn't something I

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don't know if you've figured this out or not or

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anyone listening has, I did not figure this out, that

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like I am the one who can define my life.

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I think for a long time, I was just kind

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of asleep at the wheel and you know, sort of

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going through motions that, you know, whether someone else decided

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this was a good path for me or I believe

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this was a good path for me or you know,

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it was recommended or whatever. But you know this idea

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now that what I do for a living, what I

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do with my time every day and what I want

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to do next year, like this is all going to

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happen based on the intention, I put forth.

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In episode 7 Catherine Praisewater of Your Positive Imprint shared

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many inspiring and moving stories with us, including death threats

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to her guests, how a hospital visit changed her life

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forever, and why the small things in life are so

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important.

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And so when I came back to the United States,

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I was, I was teaching, I told the students this

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story and I said, do you know when you go

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to the grocery store, simple things like putting the cart

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in its spot makes a difference for people who work

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at the store. Don't don't put that cart in the

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middle of the parking lot. I mean, that's just such

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a little simple thing for little children to know, but

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tell your parents work with your parents because this woman

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has lived through hell.

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Finally, in episode 8, Mark-John Clifford of ADHD: It's All

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Mishegoss had some amazing personal stories to tell, including a

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prison stint that changed his life for the better, and

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one that he did for his uncle.

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They were offering him five years. And my lawyer said,

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you know, if you want, we can work this out.

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You could take his place. So what I did is

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I confessed to doing a lot of things which I

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had done. And the agreement was that I would get

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five years and take my uncle's place and they would

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come after me. Well, they decided that five years wasn't

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enough. The judge made a decision that there was more

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to me than met the eye. Everything she thought and

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read about from the FBI was true.

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I hope you've enjoyed this look back at the first

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half of season two. Podcaster Stories will be back in

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the New Year with more amazing guests and stories. So

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don't forget to subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts: Apple

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podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts, Amazon Music and more, or hop

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on over to the PodcasterStories.com where you can sign up

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for the free newsletter. Until the next time, have a

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wonderful holiday season and I hope it's a safe and